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Going a step further
Arborist Jim Oseychuk has taken his interest in trees and wood a step further, turning a sawmilling hobby into a successful business.
British Columbia arborist Jim Oseychuk of Golden, BC started a profitable 250,000 board feet a year small sawing business a few years back and quickly found himself in demand. Among his projects has been the production of all the lumber for an award-winning ski lodge at Alberta's Lake Louise.
More recently, Oseychuk has switched from contract sawing to marketing ready sawn lumber, which he says has effectively doubled his profit margin. The key to the conversion of his hobby into a solid business enterprise-which also gave him the fulfilment of building his own home-is his portable band sawmill. It is also due to the creative and artistic way in which Oseychuk uses the mill to produce unique, high quality products from what others might describe as distorted trees. These trees, which are often considered unusable in conventional operations, are turned into products that highlight the unusual nature of the wood.
Oseychuk saws with an aesthetic eye. He might select a tree because it curves like a snake fence through the forest, planning to yield two matching curved cants. He may mill one of his curving cants before deciding how he might incorporate it into a project, indeed before even having a particular project in mind. Oseychuk bought his first portable mill, a Wood-Mizer model LT40HD, in 1993 and operated it for five years before upgrading it to a Wood-Mizer LT40HD Super.
He has operated this unit for a bit more than two years from his workshop and farm at South Bench, near Golden. Oseychuk's previous work as an arborist had involved removing unsafe trees from the grounds of nearby houses. But when taking the logs to an old circular sawmill nearby for conversion to lumber, he experienced frustration at the lack of flexibility in shapes and sizes of wood available. Indeed, well before that, fresh from the University of Victoria, he conceived of and established the Mad Trapper Pub at Golden.
At that point, he was struck by the difficulty in getting the right sort of wood to make tables and chairs. However, it did serve to increase an interest in wood which he inherited from his father, a one-time logging contractor in the Columbia Valley, and from his maternal grandfather, a cabinet maker from Holland. "My dad, who retired in 1977, had a creative flair. He was an incredible chain saw carpenter which reflected on the nature of his profession."
Oseychuk proudly maintains his grandfather's fine tools and turning equipment, having travelled to the Netherlands to retrieve them. So when he heard about a local man, Doug Robinson, who was doing portable sawmilling, not only was his need for good, flexible sawing met but he was also able to see a way to turn his workshop into something financially rewarding and fulfilling. Robinson brought over his Wood-Mizer model LT30 to saw the trees which Oseychuk had felled on his five-acre farm and others collected from his work as an arborist.
He also bought bent logs from a local sawmill, which-seeing no use for these logs-assumed he was quite mad. Impressed by the ease with which Robinson loaded logs and sawed accurate, good quality lumber quickly, he immediately bought his own unit. While embarking on building his house, Oseychuk also started towing the 3,500-lb mill behind his Chevrolet truck to woodlot owners in a 20-mile radius around Golden. They would stack their logs and he would quickly set up the mill, load the logs with its hydraulic loader and cut them into pre-determined shapes and sizes.
The logs were mostly Douglas fir, Engelmann spruce, lodgepole pine and western red cedar which his customers used for building barns, developing camp grounds, fencing, shops and garages. Customers were farmers, local woodlot owners and people in the valley who wanted to build various structures. Sometimes there was a degree of added value to this work, for example when he sawed for people who wanted interior trim or stair material that wasn't available from the traditional sawmill.
Then he won a contract at Lake Louise to saw 500,000 board feet of alpine pine and spruce which was used to build and fit a 35,000-square-foot ski lodge. It took him two years to complete the project. Oseychuk sawed the logs into normal planks for floors and roofs and squared logs on two sides for beams. He also cut logs for purlins, the bars and bar tables, trim and fencing. Oseychuk says it is one of the most versatile uses of a portable sawmill he has experienced.
When it was finished and he returned home, he realized that he was now ready to move on from going out to saw other people's timber. In 1998, he started marketing timber and set up his mill on a permanent site. First, he upgraded his mill to the Wood-Mizer "Super" unit, which cuts 25 per cent faster than his LT40HD. Capable of sawing logs at 54 feet a minute, depending on wood species and quality, it was just what Oseychuk wanted. By now he was sawing the equivalent of 250,000 board feet per year, so the extra speed enhanced business growth.
The unit was even faster than this when sawing woods like oversized logs. It seemed as if the new machine was designed for his operation and he deliberately moved into the high end of the business, no longer restricted to just cutting boards. Oseychuk purchases high quality, oversize logs from the local plywood mill that cannot process logs larger than 28 inches in diameter. The Wood-Mizer cuts logs up to 36 inches in diameter.
His success lies in cornering a market for mantels, bar-tops, stair material, custom-cut wood, double siding (lap siding) and vertical grain (quarter sawn) lumber used by cabinet makers and finish carpenters. He has since complemented the saw with a re-saw which he describes as "fantastic". "I can turn one board into two pieces of double siding, which greatly increases the value of the board. In effect I can saw a piece of cedar worth $10 and it rises in value to $15 just by being cut in half," grins Oseychuk.
Oseychuk buys the wood now from the local mill after entering into a log purchase agreement and also gets some from his continuing arborist work. The mill has been very helpful and co-operative, putting aside unique or valuable logs when they come across them. Oseychuk has made a mental note to keep an eye on product development in portable sawmills and is considering another upgrade.
According to Oseychuk, the narrow kerf technology of his mill means that the 0.045 x 1 1/4-inch inch wide blades can yield up to 30 per cent more wood than conventional saws, depending on type and quality. They produce 60 per cent less sawdust and require lower horsepower engines, using less fuel. "If I want an inch of wood, there's almost no waste so long as I look after the blades," he adds. The current mill operates seven hours a day, four to five days a week and uses the equivalent of up to 10 gallons of gasoline a day to process between one to 3.5 thousand board feet per day, depending on what is being cut.
It uses from 50 to 70 1 1/4-inch blades a year. Oseychuk spends 15 minutes sharpening the blades after 1.25 to 1.5 hours of sawing and puts blade life at about 25 hours cutting. Business-wise, Oseychuk believes anything is possible in the future and continually experiments, using his mill in unorthodox ways to achieve unique and aesthetically pleasing effects. These are reflected in the many details and features of his family home-and they have earned him the loyalty of a growing group of customers far beyond the Columbia valley.
This page and all contents
©1996-2007 Logging and Sawmilling
Journal (L&S J) and TimberWest Journal.
last modified on Tuesday, September 28, 2004
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Tracts for the Times
ON THE APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION IN THE ENGLISH CHURCH.
WHEN Churchmen in England maintain the Apostolical Commission of their Ministers, they are sometimes met with the objection, that they cannot prove it without tracing their orders back to the Church of Rome; a position, indeed, which in a certain sense is true. And hence it is argued, that they are reduced to the dilemma, either of acknowledging they had no right to separate from the Pope, or, on the other hand, of giving up the Ministerial Succession altogether, and resting the claims of their pastors on some other ground; in other words, that they are inconsistent in reprobating Popery, while they draw a line between their Ministers and those of Dissenting Communions.
It is intended in the pages that follow, to reply to this supposed difficulty; but first, a few words shall be said, by way of preface, on the doctrine itself, which we Churchmen advocate.
The Christian Church is a body consisting of Clergy and Laity; this is generally agreed upon, and may here be assumed. Now, what we say is, that these two classes are distinguished from each other, and united to each other, by the commandment of GOD Himself; that the Clergy have a commission from GOD ALMIGHTY through regular succession from the Apostles, to preach the gospel, administer the Sacraments, and guide the Church; and, again, that in consequence the people are bound to hear them with attention, receive the Sacraments from their hands, and pay them all dutiful obedience. I shall not prove this at length, for it has been done by others, and indeed the common sense and understanding of men, if left to themselves, would be quite sufficient in this case. I do but lay before the reader the following considerations.
1. We hold, with the Church in all ages, that, when our LORD, after His resurrection, breathed on His Apostles, and said, "Receive ye the HOLY GHOST,as My FATHER hath sent Me, so send I you;" He gave them the power of sending others with a divine commission, who in like manner should have the power of sending others, and so on even unto the end; and that our LORD promised His continual assistance to these successors of the Apostles in this and all other respects, when He said, "Lo I am with you," (that is, with you, and those who shall represent and succeed you,) "alway, even unto the end of the world."
And, if it is plain that the Apostles left successors after them, it is equally plain that the Bishops are these Successors. For it is only the Bishops who have ever been called by the title of Successors; and there has been actually a perpetual succession of these Bishops in the Church, who alone were always esteemed to have the power of sending other Ministers to preach and administer the Sacraments. So that the proof of the doctrine seems to lie in a very small space.
2. But, perhaps, it may be as well to look at it in another point of view. I suppose no man of common sense thinks himself entitled to set about teaching religion, administering Baptism, and the LORDS Supper, and taking care of the souls of other people, unless he has in some way been called to undertake the office. Now, as religion is a business between every mans own conscience and GOD ALMIGHTY, no one can have any right to interfere in the religious concerns of another with the authority of a teacher, unless he is able to show, that it is GOD that has in some way called and sent him to do so. It is true, that men may as friends encourage and instruct each other with consent of both parties; but this is something very different from the office of a Minister of religion, who is entitled and called to "exhort, rebuke, and" "rule," "with all authority," as well as love and humility.
You may observe that our LORD Himself did not teach the Gospel, without proving most plainly that His FATHER had sent Him. He and His Apostles proved their divine commission by miracles. As miracles, however, have long ago come to an end, there must be some other way for a man to prove his right to be a Minister of religion. And what other way can there possibly be, except a regular call and ordination by those who have succeeded to the Apostles?
3. Further, you will observe, that all sects think it necessary that their Ministers should be ordained by other Ministers. Now, if this be the case, then the validity of ordination, even with them, rests on a succession; and is it not plain that they ought to trace that succession to the Apostles? Else, why are they ordained at all? And, any how, if their Ministers have a commission, who derive it from private men, much more do the Ministers of our Church, who actually do derive it from the Apostles. Surely those who dissent from the Church have invented an ordinance, as they themselves must allow; whereas Churchmen, whether rightly or wrongly, still maintain their succession not to be all invention, but to be GODS ordinance. If Dissenters say, that order requires there should be some such succession, this is true, indeed, but still it is only a testimony to the mercy of CHRIST, in having, as Churchmen maintain, given us such a succession. And this is all it shows; it does nothing for them; for, their succession, not professing to come from GOD, has no power to restrain any fanatic from setting up to preach of his own will, and a people with itching ears choosing for themselves a teacher. It does but witness to a need, without supplying it.
4. I have now given some slight suggestions by way of evidence for the doctrine of the Apostolical Succession, from Scripture, the nature of the case, and the conduct of Dissenters. Let me add a word on the usage of the Primitive Church. We know that the succession of Bishops, and ordination from them, was the invariable doctrine and rule of the early Christians. Is it not utterly inconceivable, that this rule should have prevailed from the first age, everywhere, and without exception, had it not been given them by the Apostles?
But here we are met by the objection, on which I propose to make a few remarks, that, though it is true there was a continual Succession of pastors and teachers in the early Church who had a divine commission, yet that no Protestants can have it; that we gave it up, when our communion ceased with Rome, in which Church it still remains; or, at least, that no Protestant can plead it without condemning the Reformation itself, for that our own predecessors then revolted and separated from those spiritual pastors, who, according to our principles, then had the commission of JESUS CHRIST.
Our reply to this is a flat denial of the alleged facts on which it rests. The English Church did not revolt from those who in that day had authority by succession from the Apostles. On the contrary, it is certain that the Bishops and Clergy in England and Ireland remained the same as before the separation, and that it was these, with the aid of the civil power, who delivered the Church of those kingdoms from the yoke of Papal tyranny and usurpation, while at the same time they gradually removed from the minds of the people various superstitious opinions and practices which had grown up during the middle ages, and which, though never formally received by the judgment of the whole Church, were yet very prevalent. I do not say the case might never arise; when it might become the duty of private individuals to take upon themselves the office of protesting against and abjuring the heresies of a corrupt Church. But such an extreme case it is unpleasant and unhealthy to contemplate. All I say here is, that this was not the state of things at the time of the Reformation. The Church then by its proper rulers and officers reformed itself. There was no new Church founded among us, but the rights and the true doctrines of the Ancient existing Church were asserted and established.
In proof of this we need only look to the history of the times. In the year 1534, the Bishops and Clergy of England assembled in their respective convocations of Canterbury and York, and signed a declaration that the Pope or Bishop of Rome had no more jurisdiction in this country by the word of GOD, than any other foreign Bishops; and they also agreed to those acts of the civil government, which put an end to it among us.
The people of England, then, in casting off the Pope, but obeyed and concurred in the acts of their own spiritual Superiors, and committed no schism. Queen Mary, it is true, drove out after many years the orthodox Bishops, and reduced our Church again under the Bishop of Rome, but this submission was only exacted by force, and in itself null and void; and, moreover, in matter of fact it lasted but a little while, for on the succession of Queen Elizabeth, the true Successors of the Apostles in the English Church were reinstated in their ancient rights. So, I repeat, there was no revolt, in any part of these transactions, against those who had a commission from God; for it was the Bishops and Clergy themselves, who maintained the just rights of their Church.
But, it seems, the Pope has ever said, that our Bishops were bound by the laws of GOD and the Church to obey him; that they were subject to him; and that they had no right to separate from him, and were guilty in doing so, and that accordingly they have involved the people of England in their guilt; and, at all events, that they cannot complain of their flock disobeying and deserting them, when they have revolted from the Pope. Let us consider this point.
Now that there is not a word in Scripture about our duty to obey the Pope, is quite clear. The Papists indeed say, that he is the Successor of St. Peter; and that therefore he is Head of all Bishops, because St. Peter bore rule over the other Apostles. But though the Bishops of Rome were often called the Successors of St. Peter in the early Church, yet every other Bishop had the same title. And though it be true, that St. Peter was the foremost of the apostles, that does not prove he had any dominion over them. The eldest brother in a family has certain privileges and a precedence, but he has no powers over the younger branches of it. And so Rome has ever had what is called the primacy of the Christian Churches; but it has not therefore any right to interfere in their internal administration; not more of a right, than an elder brother has to meddle with his younger brothers household.
And this is plainly the state of matters between us and Rome, in the judgment of the ancient Church also, to which the Papists are fond of appealing, and by which we are quite ready to stand or fall. In early times, as is well known, all Christians thought substantially alike, and formed one great body all over the world, called the Church Catholic, or Universal. This great body, consisting of a vast number of separate Churches, with each of them its own Bishop at its head, was divided into a number of portions called Patriarchates; these again into others called Provinces, and these were made up of the separate Dioceses or Bishopricks. We have among ourselves an instance of this last division in the Provinces of Canterbury and York, which constitute the English Church, each of them consisting of a number of distinct Bishopricks or Churches. The head of a Province was called Archbishop, as in the case of Canterbury and York; the Bishops of those two sees being, we know, not only Bishops with Dioceses of their own, but having, over and above this, the place of precedence among the Bishops in the same Province. In like manner, the bishop at the head of a Patriarchate was called the Patriarch, and had the place of honour and certain privileges over all other Bishops within his own Patriarchate. Now, in the early Christian Church, there were four or five Patriarchates; e. g. one in the East, the Head of which was the Bishop of Antioch; one in Egypt, the Head of which was the Bishop of Alexandria; and, again, one in the West, the Head of which was the Bishop of Rome. These Patriarchs, I say, were the primates or Head Bishops of their respective Patriarchates; and they had an order of precedence among themselves, Rome being the first of them all. Thus the Bishop of Rome, being the first of the Patriarchs in dignity, might be called the honorary Primate of all Christendom.
However, as time went on, the Bishop of Rome, not satisfied with the honours which were readily conceded to him, attempted to gain power over the whole Church. He seems to have been allowed the privilege of arbitrating in case of appeal from other Patriarchates. If, e. g. Alexandria and Antioch had a dispute, he was a proper referee; or if the Bishops of those Churches were at any time unjustly deprived of their sees, he was a fit person to interfere and defend them. But, I say, he became ambitious, and attempted to lord it over GODS heritage. He interfered in the internal management of other Patriarchates; he appointed Bishops to sees, and Clergy to parishes which were contained within them, and imposed on them various religious and ecclesiastical usages illegally. And in doing so, surely he became a remarkable contrast to the Holy Apostle, who, though inspired, and an universal Bishop, yet suffered not himself to control the proceedings even of the Churches he founded; saying to the Corinthians, "not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy; for by faith ye stand." 2 Cor. i. 24. This impressive declaration, which seems to be intended almost as a prophetic warning against the times of which we speak, was neglected by the Pope, who, among other tyrannical proceedings, took upon him the control of the Churches in Britain, and forbade us to reform our doctrine and usages, which he had no right at all to do. He had no pretence for so doing, because we were altogether independent of him; the English and Irish Churches, though in the West, being exterior to his Patriarchate. Here again, however, some explanation is necessary.
You must know, then, that from the first there were portions of the Christian world, which were not included in any Patriarchate, but were governed by themselves. Such were the Churches of Cyprus, and such were the British Churches. This need not here be proved; even Papists have before now confessed it. Now, it so happened, in the beginning of the 5th century, the Patriarch of Antioch, who was in the neighbourhood of Cyprus, attempted against the Cyprian Churches what the Pope has since attempted against us; viz. took measures to reduce them under his dominion. And, as a sign of his authority over them, he claimed to consecrate their Bishops. Upon which the Great Council of the whole Christian world assembled at Ephesus, A.D. 431, made the following decree, which you will find is a defence of England and Ireland against the Papacy, as well as of Cyprus against Antioch.
"An innovation upon the Rule of the Church and the Canons of the Holy Fathers, such as to affect the general liberties of Christendom, has been reported to us by our venerable brother Rheginus, and his fellow Bishops of Cyprus, Zeno, and Evagrius. Wherefore, since public disorders call for extraordinary remedies, as being more perilous, and whereas it is against ancient usage, that the Bishop of Antioch should ordain in Cyprus, as has been proved to us in this Council both in words and writing, by most orthodox men, We therefore decree, that the Prelates of the Cyprian Churches shall be suffered without let or hindrance to consecrate Bishops by themselves; and moreover, that the same rule shall be observed also in other dioceses and provinces everywhere, so that no Bishop shall interfere in another province, which has not from the very first been under himself and his predecessors; and further, that, if any one has so encroached and tyrannized, he must relinquish his claim, that the Canons of the Fathers be not infringed, nor the Priesthood be made an occasion and pretence for the pride of worldly power, nor the least portion of that freedom unawares be lost to us, which our LORD JESUS CHRIST, who bought the worlds freedom, vouchsafed to us, when He shed His own blood. Wherefore it has seemed good to this Holy Ecumenical Council, that the rights of every province should be preserved pure and inviolate, which have always belonged to it, according to the usage which has ever obtained, each Metropolitan having full liberty to take a copy of the acts for his own security. And, should any rule be adduced repugnant to this decree, it is hereby repealed."
Here we have a remarkable parallel to the dispute between Rome and us; and we see what was the decision of the General Church upon it. It will be observed, the decree is past for all provinces in all future times, as well as for the immediate exigency. Now this is a plain refutation of the Romanists on their own principles. They profess to hold the Canons of the Primitive Church: the very line they take, is to declare the Church to be one and the same in all ages. Here then they witness against themselves. The Pope has encroached on the rights of other Churches, and violated the Canon above cited. Herein is the difference between his relation to us, and that of any civil Ruler, whose power was in its origin illegally acquired. Doubtless we are bound to obey the Monarch under whom we are born, even though his ancestor were an usurper. Time legitimises a conquest. But this is not the case in spiritual matters. The Church goes by fixed laws; and this usurpation has all along been counter to one of her acknowledged standing ordinances, founded on reasons of universal application.
After the Canon above cited, it is almost superfluous to refer to the celebrated rule of the First Nicene Council, A. D. 325, which, in defending the rights of the Patriarchates, expresses the same principle in all its simple force and majesty.
"Let the ancient usages prevail, which are received in Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis, relative to the authority of the Bishop of Alexandria; as they are observed in the case of the Bishop of Rome. And so in Antioch too, and other provinces, let the prerogatives of the Churches be preserved."
On this head of the subject, I will but notice, that, as the Council of Ephesus controlled the ambition of Antioch, so in like manner did St. Austin rebuke Rome itself for an encroachment of another kind on the liberties of the African Church.
"When Pope Zosimus and Celestine took upon them to receive Appellants from the African Churches, and absolve those whom they had condemned, St. Austin and all the African Churches sharply remonstrated against this, as an irregular practice, violating the laws of unity, and the settled rules of ecclesiastical commerce; which required, that no delinquent excommunicated in one Church should be absolved in another, without giving satisfaction to his own church that censured him. And therefore, to put a stop to this practice and check the exorbitant power which Roman Bishops assumed to themselves, they first made a Law in the Council of Milevis, That no African Clerk should appeal to any Church beyond sea, under pain of being excluded from communion in all the African Churches. And then, afterwards, meeting in a general Synod, they dispatched letters to the Bishop of Rome, to remind him how contrary this practice was to the Canons of Nice, which ordered, That all controversies should be ended in the places where they arose, before a Council and the Metropolitan"
Thus I have shown, that our Bishops, at the time of the Reformation, did but vindicate their ancient rights; were but acting as grateful, and therefore jealous champions of the honour of the old Fathers, and the sanctity of their institutions. Our duty surely in such matters lies in neither encroaching nor conceding to encroachment; in taking our rights as we find them, and using them; or rather in regarding them altogether as trusts, the responsibility of which we cannot avoid. As the same Apostle says, "Let every man abide in the same calling, wherein he is called." And, if England and Ireland had a plea for asserting their freedom under any circumstances, much more so, when the corruptions imposed on them by Rome even made it a duty to do so.
I shall answer briefly one or two objections, and so bring these remarks to an end.
1. First, it may be said, that Rome has withdrawn our orders, and excommunicated us; therefore we cannot plead any longer our Apostolical descent. Now I will not altogether deny, that a Ministerial Body might become so plainly apostate, as to lose its privilege of ordination. But, however this may be, it is a little too hard to assume, as such an objection does, the very point in dispute. When we are proved to be heretical in doctrine, then will be the time to begin to consider, whether our heresy is of so grievous a character as to invalidate our orders; but, till then, we may fairly and fearlessly maintain, that our Bishops are still invested with the power of ordination.
2. But it may be said on the other hand, that if we do not admit ourselves to be heretic, we necessarily must accuse the Romanists of being such; and that therefore, on our own ground, we have really no valid orders, as having received them from an heretical Church. True, Rome may be so considered now; but she was not heretical in the primitive ages. If she has apostatized, it was at the time of the Council of Trent. Then, if at any time, surely not before, did the Roman Communion bind itself in covenant to the cause of Antichrist. But before that time, grievous as might be the corruptions in the Church, no individual Bishop, Priest, or Deacon, was bound by oath to the maintenance of them. Extensively as they were spread, no Clergyman was shackled with obligations which prevented his resisting them; he could but suffer persecution for so doing. He did not commit himself in one breath to two vows, to serve faithfully in the Ministry, and yet to receive the superstitions and profanities which man had, in course of ages, introduced into the most gracious and holiest of Gods gifts. On the contrary, we may say with the learned Dr. Field, " that none of those points of false doctrine and error which Romanists now maintain, and we condemn, were the doctrines of the Church before the Reformation constantly delivered or generally received by all them that were of it, but doubtfully broached, and devised without all certain resolution, or factiously defended by some certain only, who as a dangerous faction adulterated the sincerity of the Christian verity, and brought the Church into miserable bondage." Accordingly, acknowledging and deploring all the errors of the middle ages, yet we need not fear to maintain, that after all they were but the errors of individuals, though of large numbers of Christians; and we may safely maintain, that they no more interfere with the validity of the ordination received by our Bishops from those who lived before the Reformation, than errors of faith and conduct in a priest interfere with the grace of the Sacraments received at his hands.
3. It may be said, that we throw blame on Luther, and others of the foreign Reformers, who did act without the authority of their Bishops. But we reply, that it has been always agreeable to the principles of the Church, that, if a bishop taught and up held what was contrary to the orthodox faith, the Clergy and people were not bound to submit, but were obliged to maintain the true religion; and if excommunicated by such Bishops, they were never accounted to be cut off from the Church. Luther and his associates upheld in the main the true doctrine; and though it is not necessary to defend every act of fallible men like them, yet we are fully justified in maintaining, that the conduct of those who defended the truth against the Romish party, even in opposition to their spiritual rulers, was worthy of great praise. At the same time it is impossible not to lament, that they did not take the first opportunity to place themselves under orthodox Bishops of the Apostolical Succession. Nothing, as far as we can judge, was more likely to have preserved them from that great decline of religion, which has taken place on the Continent.
The following is from the Life of Bernard Gilpin, vid. Wordsworths Ecclesiastical Biography, vol. iv. p. 94. "Mr. Gilpin would often say that the Churches of the Protestants were not able to give any firme and solid reason of their separation besides this, to wit, that the Pope is Antichrist.... The Church of Rome kept the rule of faith intire, until that rule was changed and altered by the Council of Trent, and from that time it seemed to him a matter of necessitie to come out of the Church of Rome, that so that Church which is true and called out from thence might follow the word of God.. But he did not these things violently, but by degrees."
The Creed of Pope Pius IV., in which every Roman Priest professes and promises to maintain all the errors of Popery, was only imposed after the Council of Trent.
See Field on the Church, Appendix to book iii. where he proves all this. See also Birkbecks Protestants Evidence.
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For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart.
Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Mark 8:34
CONFESSION OF SIN
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us all our sins through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen us in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep us in eternal life. Amen.
INVITATORY AND PSALTER
Lord, open our lips.
And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God;
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth;
and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us bow down and bend the knee,
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!
Harden not your hearts,
as your forebears did in the wilderness, *
at Meribah, and on that day at Massah,
when they tempted me.
They put me to the test, *
though they had seen my works.
Forty years long I detested that generation and said, *
“This people are wayward in their hearts;
they do not know my ways.”
So I swore in my wrath, *
“They shall not enter into my rest.”
Psalm 69:1-23, 31-38
Save me, O God, *
for the waters have risen up to my neck.
I am sinking in deep mire, *
and there is no firm ground for my feet.
I have come into deep waters, *
and the torrent washes over me.
I have grown weary with my crying;
my throat is inflamed; *
my eyes have failed from looking for my God.
Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head;
my lying foes who would destroy me are mighty. *
Must I then give back what I never stole?
O God, you know my foolishness, *
and my faults are not hidden from you.
Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,
Lord GOD of hosts; *
let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me,
O God of Israel.
Surely, for your sake I have suffered reproach, *
and shame has covered my face.
I have become a stranger to my own kindred, *
an alien to my mother’s children.
Zeal for your house has eaten me up; *
the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.
I humbled myself with fasting, *
but that was turned to my reproach.
I put on sack-cloth also, *
and became a byword among them.
Those who sit at the gate murmur against me, *
and the drunkards make songs about me.
But as for me, this is my prayer to you, *
at the time you have set, O LORD:
“In your great mercy, O God, *
answer me with your unfailing help.
Save me from the mire; do not let me sink; *
let me be rescued from those who hate me
and out of the deep waters.
Let not the torrent of waters wash over me,
neither let the deep swallow me up; *
do not let the Pit shut its mouth upon me.
Answer me, O LORD, for your love is kind; *
in your great compassion, turn to me.”
“Hide not your face from your servant; *
be swift and answer me, for I am in distress.
Draw near to me and redeem me; *
because of my enemies deliver me.
You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; *
my adversaries are all in your sight.”
Reproach has broken my heart, and it cannot be healed; *
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but I could find no one.
They gave me gall to eat, *
and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.
As for me, I am afflicted and in pain; *
your help, O God, will lift me up on high.
I will praise the Name of God in song; *
I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.
This will please the LORD more than an offering of oxen, *
more than bullocks with horns and hoofs.
The afflicted shall see and be glad; *
you who seek God, your heart shall live.
For the LORD listens to the needy, *
and his prisoners he does not despise.
Let the heavens and earth praise him, *
the seas and all that moves in them;
For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; *
they shall live there and have it in possession.
The children of his servants will inherit it, *
and those who love his Name will dwell therein.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.
Jeremiah 5:1-9 (NRSV)
Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
look around and take note!
Search its squares and see
if you can find one person
who acts justly and seeks truth—
so that I may pardon Jerusalem.
Although they say, “As the LORD lives,”
yet they swear falsely.
O LORD, do your eyes not look for truth?
You have struck them,
but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
but they refused to take correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
they have refused to turn back.
Then I said, “These are only the poor,
they have no sense;
for they do not know the way of the LORD,
the law of their God.
Let me go to the rich
and speak to them;
surely they know the way of the LORD,
the law of their God.”
But they all alike had broken the yoke,
they had burst the bonds.
Therefore a lion from the forest shall kill them,
a wolf from the desert shall destroy them.
A leopard is watching against their cities;
everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces—
because their transgressions are many,
their apostasies are great.
How can I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken me,
and have sworn by those who are no gods.
When I fed them to the full,
they committed adultery
and trooped to the houses of prostitutes.
They were well-fed lusty stallions,
each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
Shall I not punish them for these things?
says the LORD;
and shall I not bring retribution
on a nation such as this?
Canticle: A Song of Repentance
Prayer of Manasseh, 1-2, 4, 6-7, 11-15
O Lord and Ruler of the hosts of heaven, *
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and of all their righteous offspring:
You made the heavens and the earth, *
with all their vast array.
All things quake with fear at your presence; *
they tremble because of your power.
But your merciful promise is beyond all measure; *
it surpasses all that our minds can fathom.
O Lord, you are full of compassion, *
long-suffering, and abounding in mercy.
You hold back your hand; *
you do not punish as we deserve.
In your great goodness, Lord,
you have promised forgiveness to sinners, *
that they may repent of their sin and be saved.
And now, O Lord, I bend the knee of my heart, *
and make my appeal, sure of your gracious goodness.
I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned, *
and I know my wickedness only too well.
Therefore I make this prayer to you: *
Forgive me, Lord, forgive me.
Do not let me perish in my sin, *
nor condemn me to the depths of the earth.
For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent, *
and in me you will show forth your goodness.
Unworthy as I am, you will save me,
in accordance with your great mercy, *
and I will praise you without ceasing all the days of my life.
For all the powers of heaven sing your praises, *
and yours is the glory to ages of ages. Amen.
Romans 2:25-3:18 (NRSV)
Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So, if those who are uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you that have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.
Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written,
“So that you may be justified in your words,
and prevail in your judging.”
But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved!
What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written:
“There is no one who is righteous,
not even one;
there is no one who has understanding,
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned aside, together they have become worthless;
there is no one who shows kindness,
there is not even one.”
“Their throats are opened graves;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of vipers is under their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery are in their paths,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Canticle: A Song to the Lamb
Revelation 4:11, 5:9-10, 13
Splendor and honor and kingly power *
are yours by right, O Lord our God,
For you created everything that is, *
and by your will they were created and have their being;
And yours by right, O Lamb that was slain, *
for with your blood you have redeemed for God,
From every family, language, people, and nation, *
a kingdom of priests to serve our God.
And so, to him who sits upon the throne, *
and to Christ the Lamb,
Be worship and praise, dominion and splendor, *
for ever and for evermore.
John 5:30-47 (NRSV)
Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
“If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.
“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings. But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
THE APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your Name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
Show us your mercy, O Lord;
And grant us your salvation.
Clothe your ministers with righteousness;
Let your people sing with joy.
Give peace, O Lord, in all the world;
For only in you can we live in safety.
Lord, keep this nation under your care;
And guide us in the way of justice and truth.
Let your way be known upon earth;
Your saving health among all nations.
Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten;
Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
Create in us clean hearts, O God;
And sustain us with your Holy Spirit.
Collect of the Day: St. David, Bishop of Menevia, Wales, c. 544
Almighty God, you called your servant David to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries for the people of Wales: Mercifully grant that, following his purity of life and zeal for the gospel of Christ, we may with him receive our heavenly reward; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Collect for Friday in the Second Week of Lent
Grant, O Lord, that as your Son Jesus Christ prayed for his enemies on the cross, so we may have grace to forgive those who wrongfully and scornfully use us, that we ourselves may be able to receive your forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Fridays
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.
Anglican Cycle of Prayer: Diocese of Masvingo, Central Africa
Prayer for Mission
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: Receive our supplications and prayers which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
A Prayer of St. Chrysostom
Almighty God, you have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications to you; and you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them: Fulfil now, O Lord, our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of your truth, and in the age to come life everlasting. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen. 2 Corinthians 13:14++
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The Times Misleads: Giuliani Speech Didn't Give Clinton's Terror Policies a Pass
Chief political reporter Adam Nagourney went to CPAC, the 3-day conservervapalooza gathering in Washington, D.C., and came back with profiles of Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, both trying to appeal tosocial conservatives despite their past liberal stands on some social issues.
But Nagourney also guarded the Clintons' right flank on terror fighting bymisleadingly suggesting former New York CityMayor Rudy Guilianigave the Clinton administration a pass in its response to terrorism before 9-11, although Giuilani in fact devoted several minutes of his CPAC speech to criticizing the Democratic mindset on fighting terror.
"Mr. Giuliani focused on what has been one of his electoral strengths: his performance as mayor after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Mr. Giuliani departed from a standard criticism of President Bill Clinton by Republicans, who have faulted him for not recognizing the emerging terrorist threat after the first attack on the World Trade Center and the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole.
"'I don't blame people for that,' he said. 'I don't think it's instructive or helpful to do that.'"
But asbloggerAce of Spades first pointed out, Nagourney misled by wrenching the quote out of context from Giuliani's speech, in which the former mayor makes clear he faults the pre-9-11 mindset of the Democratic party on fighting terror.
You can watch the relevant excerpt of Giuliani's speech at YouTube. Here's an excerpt of Giuliani's speech, with Nagourney's quote highlighted.
"They would attack us, and sometimes we would respond and sometimes we wouldn't. And when we responded we would not respond as if they were at war with us, we would respond as if it was a criminal act. That's what happened when they attacked us in 1993 in my city, in the same place. We prosecuted them as if it were one of the 1,900 or 2,000 murders that happened that year. We didn't get the fact that they were at war with us. And they attacked us a number of times after that, our interest and our people, and we responded, but never recognizing that it had to be a very, very significant long-term response. And then they attacked us on the U.S.S. Cole and we didn't respond at all. I don't blame people for that. I don't. I don't think it's instructive or helpful to do that. There were a lot of things going on, and very, very hard sometimes to see these things as they're developing. It's only with the hindsight of a shocking event or history that you can see these things. But I do blame people for not seeing it after September 11, 2001....we have to be on offense against them....you can see that the Democrats are very, very uncomfortable on all of this as they are on Iraq and everything else. And they want to, they want to, and here's what I really believe they want to do, they want to go back to the way they were doing it in the 1990s, which is, let's be on defense, let's negotiate, let's bring in the United Nations, or let's bring in France and let's bring in Germany."
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This is not about Joe Paterno.
If these boys really were molested, groped and raped by a middle-aged ex-Penn State football coach, then whatever misjudgment Paterno made will be a single lit match compared to the bonfire these boys will walk in for years to come.
Many of them won't be able to trust. Won't be able to love. Won't be able to feel -- nor trust or love themselves.
Don't feel sorry for Paterno. He's had his life. Feel sorry for these boys, because they may never get one.
In healing from an affair it's important to look at one's story from 0-18 years of age. Often times there is abuse (sexual, physical, emotional, verbal) or addiction that has never been processed. Without processing, the abuse stays inside slinging replications of the story from the past to the unsuspecting in the present. A single occurence can alter your perception leading to more pain and hurt from the actions that follow.
With processing it can still be a very long road of healing depending on the extent of sin, trauma and wounds.
The Denver Post carried an article that showed the time line of the abuse. It is heartbreaking how it went on more than a decade after the first report of wrongdoing. So many boys having their tender souls rampaged.
My primary focus in sharing this is to encourage you to get help if you have abuse in your past. An affair can be a reenactment of abuse. It can also be another way a dysfunctional family didn't learn to deal with life head on.
For males and females it takes a great deal of courage to walk through the shame and confusion to tell another living being. There is great fear of the perpetrator, fear of not being believed, fear of being rejected for being dirty. Summon courage, grab a friend's hand, get to a counselor and start telling your story.
Evil has its way in the dark. Bring it to the light with someone you trust to find healing.
Hammond's father was a shell shocked WWII vet and his mother seemed all Nazi. In this interview he shares his story of abuse and abandonment. The abandonment is the worst kind where the person is still physically in the room.
Darrell has been getting help and is experiencing some breakthroughs. It can take a while. But he is experiencing it.
An abusive past doesn't justify an affair in the present, but it can make it understandable.
Reach out. Get help.
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Member since 1986-09-01
Rainer Seegers comes from a family of musicians. His grandfather, for many years principal trumpet of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, gave his the necessary musical arsenal for his later career as an orchestral player. After settling with his family in Hanover, Rainer Seegers entered the city’s Musikhochschule to begin his training as a percussionist and timpanist with Albert Schober, and from 1973 to 1977 he studied school music with percussion as his chief subject.
Already active as a substitute in the orchestra of the Hanover Staatsoper from the age of 13, he took up his first permanent engagement as principal timpanist at the Braunschweig Staatstheater. In 1979 he moved to the same position with the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, and from 1977 to 1982 he was also a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. In 1984 Seegers joined the Berliner Philharmoniker – first as a regular deputy, then, from 1986, in a permanent position as successor to the orchestra’s principal timpanist Werner Thärichen.
His orchestral activities – including chamber music – are complemented by teaching engagements and master classes. Until 1983 on the staff of the Hanover Musikhochschule, he now teaches in the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Orchestra Academy and as a visiting professor at Berlin’s Hanns Eisler Hochschule der Musik. His free time is devoted to entomology. He has collected 100,000 day-flying and night-flying butterflies and written about a number of them. His reference to their acute endangerment has led to two areas in Germany being placed under wildlife protection.
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Howard County Executive Ken Ulman's recent column about Columbia was a timely reminder that the communities we care about do not become that way by accident ("Columbia reborn: Good planning created Rouse's 'Next America,' and good planning will revive it," July 29).
The valued places where we live, work, play and learn will only be there if we continue to invest in them, preserve them and plan for their sustainable future.
With strong, historic cities and towns and a passion for abundant natural resources, our state has a long tradition of valuing planning. However, that outlook is now being challenged in several communities in Maryland, and to some degree at the state level as well.
I ask Marylanders to get involved with planning to ensure that the places we care about will be there for our children 20 years from now and beyond. Winston Churchill is credited with the quotation, but many have uttered variations on it: "He who fails to plan is planning to fail."
Richard Eberhart Hall, Baltimore
The writer is Maryland secretary of planning.
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Obit: Jahr, Alfred
(1858 - 1916)
Surnames: JAHR DRESCHER
----Source: Clark County Republican & Press (Neillsville, Wis.) 06/29/1916
Jahr, Alfred (15 FEB 1858 - 23 JUN 1916)
Alfred Jahr was born Feb. 15, 1858 in the town of Trenton, Washington Co., Wis., and died at the home of his sister, Mrs. Louis Drescher in the town of Grant, Clark County, Wis., June 23, 1916.
Mr. Jahr suffered during his entire life from the results of a severe illness in childhood. He never married, living with his parents till they died and then with a brother. Fifteen years ago he came to this community where he lived with his sister till the time of his death.
Mr. Jahr was a member of the German Methodist Church from the time of his youth and was always deeply interested in its work. He was a consistent Christian faithful and willing to do all that he was able to do.
During the past six months he suffered from Bright’s disease and dropsy, which resulted in his death. He is survived by one sister, Mrs. Drescher, on brother, Emil Jahr of this vicinity, and six half-sisters and one half-brother. Funeral services were held Sunday afternoon, June 25th, at the Pleasant Ridge Church, Rev. L.B. Colman of the Methodist Church officiating, and the remains interred in the Grant Cemetery.
© Every submission is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.
Show your appreciation of this freely provided information by not copying it to any other site without our permission.
A site created and
maintained by the Clark County History Buffs
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A few days ago, I finally had a chance to watch the last of the Harry Potter movies, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″. The movies run the range from excellent (Deathly Hallows Pt.2, Half-Blood Prince) to competent (the first two movies, directed by Chris Columbus) to odd and head-scratchingly inconsistent with the characters of the novel in places (Azkaban). Overall, however, they’re a remarkable achievement because they manage to replicate in movie form what makes the books so unique: they progress and grow with the characters through seven years.
After I finished Deathly Hallows, I had the impulse to read the books and watch all the movies again from the beginning because I was sad to see the story end. This is what makes great storytelling to me–when you feel a nostalgia and sense of loss for a world that never existed except in your head and that of the author. it also reaffirmed my personal theory of storytelling: that a novel ultimately stands and falls with the author’s ability to make us care about the characters. Ideally, a good novel has both great characters and a great plot, but a novel with a humdrum plot can still be great if we care enough about the characters and the world in which they move. On the obverse, the best and most airtight plot will not save a novel with bland and uninteresting characters. If we don’t care about the people in it, the story becomes uninteresting even when the author is firmly in command of the plot and throws in narrative razzle-dazzle.
Harry Potter isn’t about witchcraft and wizardry. Those are the dressing on the salad, the tinsel on the tree, the swirl on the pastry. Harry Potter is about friendship and love and loyalty, about family and the nature of life and death, and about what’s truly important in life, the qualities that define us as human beings. That’s why the criticism of the series from certain segments of Christianity is not only misguided, but profoundly unfair. So much of the Harry Potter books could actually serve as Christian allegory (and far more effectively than C.S. Lewis’ heavy-handed pap in the Narnia books) that people who accuse Harry Potter of being the Devil’s work only show that they either don’t have a clue what the books are about (and many haven’t even read them), or that their version of Christianity is a particularly loveless and grim one.
I know that most Christians don’t have a problem with Harry Potter. Most of the Christians I know, for example, read the books and let their children read them, simply because they’re good entertainment that ultimately champions good values. But I have come to understand why some Christians reject the books, and why they’re invariably members of the inflexible and fundamental branches of Christianity. You see, the Christians I know and get along with have an understanding that books are a way to make us understand our nature and our place in the world, and that nothing is literal in fiction. They apply this attitude to the Bible as well–Jesus speaks in parables, the lessons of the New Testament are to be seen in context, and the spirit of the book is in the totality of its message.
There’s another kind of Christian, though, and they treat the Bible differently. For them, the important thing is that parts of it have lists of black-and-white rules, lots of “Thou shalt not” and so on. They are the ones who see the Bible as literal truth. What’s important is not the message or the intent or the spirit of the book, but the lists of printed rules that can be followed. They absolve the believer from having to apply their own judgment, from having to examine an issue from all sides and see it both in the context of human experience and the spirit of the book’s message. That would require having to attempt to understand the issue, when it’s much easier to hold it up against the go/no-go gauge of Leviticus et. al. The Bible says “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”, Harry Potter talks of witches and wizards, ergo Harry Potter is anti-Biblical and therefore un-Christian. It doesn’t require understanding, or exercising judgment, or even reading the books in question. In reality, Harry and his friends embody values that Christianity claims as virtuous. They are kind, fair, loyal, and concerned with the suffering of others. They face evil with courage even at the risk of their own lives. Most importantly, they love each other and remain loyal to friends and family even in the face of persecution. Those are all professed Christian virtues, aren’t they? I mean, if you’re going to encourage your kid to read, isn’t that the kind of stuff a Christian would want their kid to read and like? When it comes to moral lessons in literature, you could do a lot worse than Harry Potter.
Do I believe in the literal truth of Harry Potter, that reading the books will make my kid turn to witchcraft? Not any more than I believe in the existence of God or gods or divinity in general. I don’t believe that I can point a wand at an object and make it levitate by saying “Wingardium Leviosa”. But I do believe in the power of love and friendship and beauty, the things that elevate us above just being meat–and those are the essence of the Harry Potter books, not wands and spells and witchcraft.
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Start / Menu > Historical Photos
1952 First Commercial Eidophor (Swiss/USA)
1 Eidophor system, 2 Lens, 3 Color wheel, 4 Vacuum pumps, 5 Arc Lamps, 6 Drive Electronics
By June of 1952, Eidophor was giving the press and industry demonstration of their latest projector in a Fox theatre in New York City. GE had assisted with the electronics and CBS had provided its new field-sequential color system. Fox purchased two units with an option to purchase up to 1,000 projectors.
©Copyright 2003-2011 . All rights reserved.
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Exercise has no limits; however bodybuilding requires a little more involvement than most of them. This would be the case when you are attempting to manicure your muscles and fine tune your muscle structure. This crusade is not one that you should easily give up on once you have figured out the right techniques. After reading this article, you should be well equipped with the knowledge you need to proceed with your bodybuilding plan in a way that will ultimately be successful.
We are offering you solid pieces of advice here, but do be aware that some are more important to understanding bodyweight exercises.
But that can vary a bit, and it really just will depend on how you want to use the information. Yet you do realize there is much more to be found out about this. We are saving the best for last, and you will be delighted at what you will find out. We believe you will find them highly relevant to your overall goals, plus there is even more. There are those bodybuilders who cannot wait to start their workout program and do not do any type of stretching beforehand. This can be a serious mistake, as it makes it much more likely that youll experience an injury. Do not forget that once you have injured yourself; you may be laid up for awhile and will not be able to proceed with your workouts. Thats why spending a few extra minutes before, and even after workouts it well worth it. Aside from stretching, you should get on an elliptical machine or exercise bike for a few minutes. This will get your blood pumping and your body moving so that youre prepared when you start lifting. You may not see the significance at the time, but even a gentle type of warm up can decrease the probability of injury.
There are few activities where your mental attitude is more important than bodybuilding. Basically, how you are thinking and feeling at any point in time when you are working out can affect your results. Staying focused is very difficult to do, which is why, especially when exercising, is essential.
Ask any bodybuilder that you talk to and they will tell you that visualization is part of their success. If you can see large muscles in your mind, it will help you develop them in physical reality. Motivating and inspiring, visualization can help you get the job done. By putting attention on what it is you want to accomplish, you always do better than without this type of intention.
Is working out at a gym, or at home, a better way to exercise? It all depends on your circumstances, personality, and a variety of other factors that only you can actually answer. There is a wide selection of exercise equipment that can be used in a gym which may not be at your house. People that are exercising around you can motivate you to continue.
This is a distraction for many people. There is a little bit of time involved when traveling to the gym so also keep that in mind. If you have the right equipment, you may be able to get more done in less time at home. You need to choose an option that works best for you and stick with it in order to succeed. Achieving success as a bodybuilder has quite a few factors involved, as we have seen. Your body wont be built overnight, or even in a few months, so you will need to take a long-term view. You can, however, see consistent gains that will make it all worthwhile. If you focus fully on each exercise and each workout, the results will come, even if it takes a little time.
Maybe no one ever asked you, but absolutely everyone is generally speaking with me about How To Build Muscle . After you get to my age its absolutely a topic you might have covered. Nevertheless it could possibly shock you to know that numerous folks do not totally comprehend what it is! Through my private writing right here I seriously hope to offer as considerably of my personal understanding on the topic as is achievable.
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The holiday shopping season got off to a decent start this past weekend, but with the economy showing signs of a slowdown, the next few weeks will be critical -- and not only to the retail sector. Across the business world, corporate executives are watching consumer spending closely as they set their budgets, sales goals and hiring plans for 2007.
“For most companies in corporate America, the business planning process starts right around the turn of the year or in the middle of the holiday season,” said Gene Huang, chief economist for Federal Express. “So holiday shopping is a reference point for business planning for the following year.”
Because consumer spending accounts for up to 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, the final tally for this year's holiday season will play a crucial role in the outlook for 2007. So far, the outlook has been fairly upbeat, with low unemployment and fairly strong wage gains expected to keep the American consumer in a spending mood. But news that Wal-Mart sales in November were weaker than expected reinforced the notion that this holiday season is anything but a slam dunk for retailers.
Both public and private forecasters have been scaling back their estimates of how fast the U.S. economy is moving ahead. Lehman Bros. economists, for example, this month scaled back their fourth quarter growth estimate to 2.5 percent from 3.2 percent. Last week the Bush administration did the same, — shaving its 2006 growth forecast to 3.1 percent, down from a forecast made in June of 3.6 percent. For next year, the administration sees the economy growing 2.9 percent, down from its earlier 3.3 percent forecast.
Economists say a lot depends on how enthusiastically consumers spend when they hit the malls and retail Web sites in the coming weeks. A reversal of this summer’s spike in gasoline prices has come just in time to help ease one of the retail industry’s biggest fears for the 2006 holiday season. Since peaking at just over $3 a gallon in early August, pump prices have fallen by some 80 cents a gallon on average. That’s produced an estimated savings of some $90 billion.
“Credit card balances accumulated on the way up," said Gregory Miller, chief economist at SunTrust Banks. "So even though gasoline is a buck cheaper, it still doesn’t pay off your credit card.”
In past years, these kinds of short-term changes in household budgets presented huge headaches for retailers trying to balance orders with demand. Holiday orders — often representing a major chunk of annual profits — had to be placed months in advance, leaving stores vulnerable to a shift in economic conditions or consumer tastes. A bad bet could leave piles of unsold inventory, forcing big January clearance sales at discounted prices and taking a big bite out of profits.
But in recent years, those boom-and-bust cycles have been smoothed somewhat by better control over the flow of merchandise from manufacturers to wholesalers and retailers.
“Just-in-time inventory management has been a boon to retailers,” said Miller. “The computerization and the mechanization of inventory tracking for placing and holding inventory and for trucking it have delivered significant productivity gains.”
Retailers have also moved to spread the financial impact of the holiday shopping season by starting earlier and extending sales well into the new year. Where once companies held back on advertising and catalog mailings until Thanksgiving, the holiday promotion season this year was well under way by October.
Consumers seem to be going along with the idea: Although the so-called Black Friday after Thanksgiving has traditionally kicked off the season, some 40 percent of consumers this year had already begun their holiday shopping by Halloween, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation.
Increasingly, that early shopping is happening online, where sales continue to grow at a rapid pace.
“Online shopping has been growing around 25 percent year over year,” said Hueng. “That growth is very steady, and we haven’t seen any sign of that fading.”
The holiday shopping season has also been stretched well into January — and beyond — with the rapid growth of gift cards. Merchandise bought with gift cards is booked when the sale is made, not when the card is sold. This year, retailers expect to sell nearly $25 billion in gift cards, a $6 billion increase over last year, according to the NRF. As a result, January has become the biggest month of the holiday shopping season, according to Miller.
And to try to keep customers in spending mood, retailers are also borrowing a marketing technique that was widespread during this fall's campaign season — the automated telephone call. Dozens of companies plan to blitz customers with calls well into January, according to Marshal Cohen, a retail analyst with NPD Group.
“The bad news is that the more stores that do this, the less effective this becomes,” he said.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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"I wanted to welcome him," said Kyaw, a 19-year-old with a sweep of styled hair and a penchant for skinny jeans.
The next day, someone—a rival graffiti artist, suspects Kyaw—scribbled over his handiwork with a can of black spray paint.
Before dawn Saturday, as he watched for cops between tea breaks, he painted another wall with an image of Obama scrawled with the words "hello again." He sees it as a shout out from the youth of Myanmar, and hopes Obama will glimpse it during his six-hour visit to the country, the first by a U.S. president.
Word of Obama's historic visit has spread quickly around Yangon, which is readying itself with legions of hunched workers painting fences and curbs, pulling weeds and scraping grime off old buildings in anticipation of the president's Monday arrival.
Some here read symbolic value into Obama's itinerary. Obama is scheduled to meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as well as President Thein Sein, who is widely credited with driving the country's recent
Obama will not visit Naypyitaw, the muscular, desolate capital built in the middle of scrubland at great expense by the country's military leaders in 2006.
"I like that Obama will meet Aung San Suu Kyi. It's a very good point," said Than Lwin, a 47-year-old freelance teacher from Kachin state, where an armed insurgency continues.
"I'm glad he's not going to Naypyitaw," he added, laughing. "Naypyitaw is only the military."
Many hope that Myanmar's emerging friendship with the West will improve human rights in the country and help counterbalance the influence of neighboring China.
"I think America can work for the people. China only works for the government," said Wizaya, a 47-year-old monk from Mandalay who goes by one name. "This is our expectation, that they will help us. Whether they help us depends on them."
Others are less convinced and see in Obama's trip an attempt to further America's own economic and regional interests.
"This trip is not only for Burma," said Hla Shwe, 75, who fought with communist rebels and spent 25 years as a political prisoner. "America wants to balance power between China and Southeast Asian nations."
"For 50 years the American government did not help the Burmese people," he added. "American companies will do business and cooperate with Burmese tycoons and authorities and high officials. All the benefits and interests will be for the Burmese authorities and their community. Not for the Burmese people."
Among the many hungers in Myanmar is a desire for better stuff. One of the first things Paul Myathein, a 63-year-old English teacher, noticed after the military seized power in 1962 was a quick decline in the quality of toothpaste and soap. Many hope that warming ties with America will mean more and better things to buy.
Soe Wai Htun, a 21-year-old poet, said he had a lot of Chinese toys when he was a kid. "In our country, there are a lot of made-in-China toys," he said. "They don't have quality." But when he talks about the single toy car that friends of the family sent from Florida, his hands cup the air as if he could still caress it today. America, he said, has "quality items."
War War, a 34-year-old mother of two, said she'd really like to buy a car, a bed and a pillow from America.
"The products from America are better than the ones from China," she said. "Most American products are expensive. We can't afford to buy them."
For Myathein, the English teacher, Obama's visit is, he said, "a dream only."
In 1963, Myathein became a member of the American Center, a cultural outpost of the U.S. Embassy in Yangon with a well-stocked lending library, a popular book club and English-language classes. Gatherings of more than five people were once banned in Myanmar and during those years, the American Center was one of few safe places for public debate.
Myathein took refuge there, burying himself in books of English grammar and George Orwell novels.
He holds up American culture as a model of something he tasted in childhood, which was ground out of his society during half a century of military dictatorship—a drive to question, the boldness to say no, the space to speak freely, take initiative and connect with the world at large. Myanmar is changing many political and economic policies, but for Myathein the more important, deeper transformation has yet to take place.
"Superficially, you think it's quite OK, but if you penetrate deeper, you see the same thing. Everyone is the same. We don't want to raise questions," he said. "One thing I would like to say to Obama is give us a chance. Teach us to open up our mindset."
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Perhaps Benjamin Franklin got it wrong when he famously wrote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” These days, tax is very often far from certain, at least from the perspective of the taxpayer. Within jurisdictions, regulations frequently change and even a subtle recalibration of a tax system can have numerous – and global – implications for both corporates and individuals.
As tax affairs increase in complexity, clients need to have complete confidence in their tax advisors. This is why it’s vital that modern tax professionals constantly refresh their skills and knowledge. KPMG Tax Business School provides those who are seeking a worthwhile and progressive career in tax with a real advantage by elevating their professional status, through best in class learning and development opportunities. Our learning approach goes beyond the concept of the conventional training course, it supports the unified KPMG ethos of the power of ideas, progressive thinking and a culture of continuous learning.
KPMG’s commitment to ensuring that modern tax professionals have access to ongoing learning and development opportunities of the highest quality is underlined by the establishment of the Tax Business School. It aims to provide a holistic technical learning and development experience to enable future client success and a tax professional’s career ambition. Developed by some of the brightest minds within the field of tax, a national and global tax technical curriculum is offered. This is to ensure that participants will develop exemplary tax technical skills and a real understanding of the global market in which clients operate.
The difference of learning at KPMG
KPMG Tax Business School provides an immersive and collaborative learning environment. Classroom sessions are important but there is also ample opportunity to take part in seminars and access technology based learning such as virtual classroom and e-learning. But the learning continues beyond formal courses through the experience gained from working on global client engagements. The global curriculum of KPMG Tax Business School thrives on knowledge sharing and relationship building across borders with the brightest minds in Tax and has been structured to ensure learning can be readily applied to solve the complex tax issues faced by clients.
The advantages of e-Learning
KPMG e-Learning capitalizes on leading edge technology to enable professionals to distil the best that the global network has to offer without leaving the office. This promotes results-oriented and real time learning by exploring current complex issues facing tax professionals with some of the most experienced and forward-thinking tax leaders in the world.
The global curriculum of the Tax Business School supports the needs of KPMG Tax’s International Tax Service Lines therefore ensuring tax professionals have the skills and knowledge to work increasingly on international client engagements, build a global network across KPMG member firms and deliver service that is of the highest standard across the world.
What’s in it for you?
KPMG Tax Business School offers genuine benefits to KPMG’s tax professionals. The breadth of the curriculum spanning national and global tax technical content ensures professionals can access a wide range of technical training to meet their individual needs. In addition, through the broader KPMG Business School program, which extends beyond tax technical training, the modern tax professional at KPMG has access to business and leadership skill programs, which further enhance the quality of the services the firm provides.
KPMG Tax Business School ensures KPMG’s Tax professionals can be confident that in addition to receiving the best learning and development opportunities available, their skills will be consistent and recognized as best in class across KPMG Tax anywhere in the world. This is of huge value in terms of mobility and the ability of advisors to offer a truly global service to international clients. Through interactive discussion and sharing of best practice between global colleagues and faculty, Tax Business School participants are encouraged to develop their global mindset.
Simply put, KPMG Tax Business School enhances your ability to be the best tax advisor and take your career to new heights.
Making a difference
Just as KPMG Tax Business School is benefiting KPMG people it also provides a real competitive advantage to organizations at the national and international level. KPMG has an industry-recognized history of enhanced professional development. The investment in the Tax Business School underlines the KPMG commitment to providing high quality technical training to talented graduates. In a market where professional services firms rely on recruiting and engaging talented and motivated people, the importance of providing excellence in learning and development is key.
When considering a fulfilling and forwarding thinking career in Tax, KPMG Tax differentiates its approach to learning and developing through the KPMG Tax Business School and demonstrates its commitment to developing the very best talent.
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There are signs that the National Rifle Association’s power to block gun-control legislation is beginning to slip after the mass murder in Newtown, Connecticut, last Friday.
Most visibly, if also vaguely, President Obama said Sunday that he’d “use whatever power this office holds . . . in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this.” More surprisingly, and maybe more tellingly, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, an unyielding gun-rights supporter and NRA member, said Monday, “I don’t know anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle. I don’t know anyone that needs 30 rounds in a clip to go hunting. I mean, these are things that need to be talked about.” Joe Scarborough, the former Republican Congressman who is host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, said the shooting made his former pro-gun views suddenly “irrelevant” and called support for the assault weapon the killer used “nonsense.” Those people weren’t saying anything like that before now.
Meanwhile the gun industry is suddenly looking so unpalatable that Cerberus Capital Management has quickly announced that it will sell the company that made the gun used in Newtown, even though, according to Nathan Vardi, it will have to do so “as a desperate seller.” And the NRA itself has gone into hiding, apparently, its website and twitter feed strangely silent. In fact, NRA supporters have been strangely silent, too. On Sunday every single pro-gun senator, 31 of them, refused host David Gregory’s invitation to appear on Meet the Press.
Could this be the beginning of a major shift? The NRA’s power appeared for a long time to be virtually absolute. Last year after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot, her colleague Carolyn McCarthy of New York introduced a bill to ban high-capacity magazines like the one used in that multiple murder. More than 130 Democrats became co-sponsors, and not a single Republican. After the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, Congress tried to close the loophole that lets unlicensed dealers sell guns at gun shows without background checks on their buyers. That bill died a slow death in committee. Debra Maggart, a lifetime NRA member with a perfect voting record on gun issues, got driven out of the Tennessee legislature in this year’s election because of her position on a single bill that pitted gun rights against property rights. “Because of N.R.A. bully tactics, legislators are not free to openly discuss the merits of gun-related legislation,” she now says. “The N.R.A.’s agenda is more about raising money from their members by creating phantom issues instead of promoting safe, responsible gun ownership.”
Meanwhile the evidence that the laxness of America’s gun laws clearly correlates with its high level of gun violence mounts and mounts. The chart here presents it especially starkly. As Nicholas Kristof points out, “Children ages 5 to 14 in America are 13 times as likely to be murdered with guns as children in other industrialized countries” and “more Americans die in gun homicides and suicides in six months than have died in the last 25 years in every terrorist attack and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.” In Australia, on the other hand, a mass murder of 35 people in 1996 led to a ban on rapid-fire long guns, and the number of mass shootings in the country dropped from 13 in the 18 previous years to zero in the 14 years since.
The dominance of NRA-backed gun libertarianism in the U.S. is not as timeless as many think. It is a recent phenomenon in historical terms. As Jeffrey Toobin explains, courts agreed for more than a century that, in the Second Amendment,
the first part, the “militia clause,” trumped the second part, the “bear arms” clause. In other words, according to the Supreme Court, and the lower courts as well, the amendment conferred on state militias a right to bear arms—but did not give individuals a right to own or carry a weapon.
Then in 1977, Toobin writes, “a coup d’etat at the group’s annual convention . . . brought a group of committed political conservatives to power” and they “pushed for a novel interpretation of the Second Amendment, one that gave individuals, not just militias, the right to bear arms. It was an uphill struggle. At first their views were widely scorned. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, who was no liberal, mocked the individual-rights theory of the amendment as ‘a fraud.’”
But the NRA never let up. According to The New York Times, “Gun control proponents say that perception of the N.R.A.’s vast political clout largely dates to the 1994 midterm elections, when Republicans seized control of the House and Senate after passage of an assault weapons ban under President Clinton. That image was further enhanced in the 2000 election, when the N.R.A. claimed credit for helping elect George W. Bush to the White House.”
Now we’ve arrived at the curious situation where it is accepted that the Second Amendment, despite being about “the right to bear arms,” can allow the banning of military weapons but prevents any outlawing of handguns. That’s according to Justice Antonin Scalia’s majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller, in 2008. As Toobin writes,
Conservatives often embrace “originalism,” the idea that the meaning of the Constitution was fixed when it was ratified, in 1787. They mock the so-called liberal idea of a “living” constitution, whose meaning changes with the values of the country at large. But there is no better example of the living Constitution than the conservative re-casting of the Second Amendment in the last few decades of the twentieth century.
Toobin concludes that “it is clear that the scope of the Second Amendment will be determined as much by politics as by the law.” If that’s true, than it’s also true that there are signs that the politics of guns is starting to shift right now, from Senator Manchin’s and Joe Scarborough’s public changes of heart to the fact that the NRA spent $14 million to defeat President Obama’s reelection and failed.
There have been times in American history when public opinion decisively altered, never to go back. We can hardly believe that our nation once permitted slavery. We find it hard to comprehend that women were not allowed to vote, or that interracial marriages were illegal. Institutionalized racism became universally unthinkable only in recent decades. Will we someday look back and wonder how we could ever have allowed the legal ownership of assault rifles with high-capacity magazines, and why we felt that virtually anyone could possess a gun originally designed for military slaughter?
Nobody disagrees that the killing of 20 first-graders in a small town in Connecticut was a tragedy that must never happen again. Now the question is what will change to keep it from happening again.
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I'm interested in learning more about what they're doing because the Annie Casey Foundation is also working with courts in Dallas and Houston to reform their juvie systems, and Indiannapolis appears to be several steps further along in the process. Reported the Star:
Far fewer youths file into Marion County's juvenile lockup each day, a key result of a reform effort that has reduced crowding and diverted thousands of children into programs outside the center's walls.It makes a lot of sense that if such a mentality could take hold, it would happen first in the juvenile system. The Annie Casey Foundation (not to mention local officials) deserve a lot of credit for embracing this innovative and research-based model.
But architects of the overhaul of the juvenile justice system see the changes as only a starting point. In the third year of a program fueled by a national advocacy group, officials are aiming at ending racial disparities in punishment and transforming a system that many see as perpetuating delinquency rather than healing it.
Changes have come quickly. The county's juvenile court judge and magistrates reject more delinquency cases submitted by prosecutors or schools. Some get resolved short of court by involving offenders' families in the case.
And a reception center screens youths more stringently, sending more lower-risk offenders home before trial instead of locking them up.
That might sound like a way to promote crime rather than stop it. But juvenile court Judge Marilyn Moores says data collected through the project have helped earn police support for the approach.
"Kids who are low-level offenders need to be out in the community and stay connected with the community, because it positively affects them," she said.
In detention, "the low-level offenders become high-level offenders."
Local juvie justice officials in Texas will want to watch these pilot programs closely. Especially with Senator John Whitmire and others at the Legislature proposing a radical downsizing of the Texas Youth Commission - a move that would shift responsibility for most serious juvenile offenders to the counties - it's timely that the foundation and Texas' two largest counties have teamed up to pioneer new alternatives. Here's a little more about how the Annie Casey sponsored program is playing out in the ground in Indianapolis:
It'll be interesting to see what version of this model folks in Dallas and Houston come up with; if those two counties could achieve those kind of results, it might indeed reduce inmate populations enough to reasonably speak of downsizing TYC.
The Casey Foundation's aim is to tailor decisions to each child's circumstances, sending a child to detention as a last resort. Advocates say the Casey reforms drive down detention costs, make lockups safer and reduce repeat offenses, improving public safety.
In Indianapolis, early data show stark changes taking hold without a surge in juvenile crime.
In 2004, the detention center held 171 detainees on an average day, far more than the 144 beds could accommodate. Earlier this year, the same measure was below 100. Officials have closed units to reduce capacity to 112.
Detention admissions have fallen by more than half, to 2,214 last year.
A committee of court officials, experts and community leaders developed a way to screen kids who most need to be in custody. The goal is to allow detention only when an offender likely won't show up for court or is a danger to the community. Alternatives include electronic monitoring, home detention and a curfew.
The project has drawn in prosecutors, public defenders and other players in the system, spurring more changes.
Some problems now are resolved short of a criminal case. Minor misdemeanor case filings have decreased, and probation violation filings are down nearly 40 percent over two years. In the past year, the probation department offered informal administrative punishments to more than 600 violators, keeping them from being thrust back into court.
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tuesday's presidential election results showed the American voting public has not only become more permanently diverse in its makeup, but also in its mindset.
Obama bet, and won, on the assumption that the electorate would retain much of the age, ethnic and racial diversity he brought out in 2008. But across the country, voters affirmed changes in social policy that show a culture changing along with it.
The trend is troublesome for Republicans, who nominated in Mitt Romney a candidate who was more socially moderate than his rivals for the GOP nod and who tried in the campaign's closing days to reach out to the broader electorate.
"The country is changing and the people our party appeals to is a static group," GOP strategist Mike Murphy said.
Younger voters and minorities came to the polls at levels not far off from the historic coalition Obama assembled in 2008.
Voters also altered the course of U.S. social policy, voting in Maine and Maryland to approve same-sex marriage, while Washington state and Colorado voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana.
In the heartland, where the conservative Christian tradition still runs deep, Minnesota voters defeated a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. In Iowa, where opponents of gay marriage ousted three state Supreme Court justices two years ago, a fourth judge beat back a similar attempt Tuesday and Republicans intent on pursuing a constitutional ban failed to gain the single seat they needed.
The reality caught off guard Republicans, who banked on an electorate more monolithic and more conservative than four years ago. And it foreshadowed changes over the next generation that could put long-held Republican states onto the political battleground maps of the future.
"Clearly, when you look at African-American and Latino voters, they went overwhelmingly for the president," said John Stineman, a Republican strategist from Iowa. "And that's certainly a gap that's going to require a lot of attention from Republicans."
In exit polling Tuesday, voters mirrored the makeup of the electorate four years ago, when Obama shattered minority voting barriers and drove young voters to the polls unlike any candidate in generations.
White voters made up 72 percent of the electorate -- less than four years ago -- while black voters remained at 13 percent and Hispanics increased from 9 percent to 10 percent.
That flew in the face of GOP assumptions that the fierce economic headwinds of the past three years and the passing of the novelty of the first African-American president would trim Obama's support from black voters, perhaps enough to make the difference in a close election.
However, Obama carried Virginia, the heart of the Old South, in part by having increased his record support from black voters there in 2008, which reached 18 percent, to more than 20 percent, according to Obama campaign internal tracking polls.
It was also reflected in turnout that matched his 2008 totals in places like Cleveland, which helped Obama carry Ohio solidly despite Romney's all-out effort there in the campaign's final weeks.
"Republicans have been saying for months" that Obama's black support would slip, Democratic pollster Paul Maslin said. "And what happens? When African-Americans had the chance to affirm him, they came out in droves."
Obama won in 2008 by carrying several long-held Republican states, including North Carolina, Virginia and Indiana. And while Romney easily carried Indiana and narrowly peeled back North Carolina, the fact that Obama held Virginia points to a long-term demographic shift that survived the pressures of the poor economy.
Obama carried every contested state except North Carolina by aggressively registering first-time voters. He matched his share of the youth vote from 2008, and nearly matched his support from seniors.
In a sign these changes are more glacial than seismic, Obama, who announced his support for gay marriage in May, lost North Carolina, where voters there overwhelmingly voted against allowing gay marriage the same month.
There also were signs divisions between opponents had deepened.
Voters were more ideologically polarized than in 2008 or 2004. The share of moderates dipped slightly to 41 percent, while 25 percent called themselves liberal, the highest share saying so in recent surveys of voters as they leave their polling places. Thirty-five percent called themselves conservative, about the same as the previous two presidential contests.
The 2012 electorate mirrored 2008 in terms of party identification and racial makeup, with self-identified Democrats topping Republicans and independents.
During his victory speech, Obama nodded to the Democratic coalition he had held together.
"It doesn't matter if you're black or white, or Hispanic or Asian, or Native American, or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight," Obama told his crowd of supporters gathered in Chicago. "You can make it here in America if you're willing to try."
Assumptions by Romney about the minority and youth turnout weren't the only ones that turned out to be wrong.
While voters considered the economy the driving issue in the election, they did not hold Obama wholly responsible, as Romney long had assumed they would.
That realization forced Romney to pivot late in the campaign and attempt to turn the election into a choice of competing visions. Republicans argued late in the campaign that Romney's performance during the first of three debates had energized a groundswell of enthusiasm seen in their polling.
But it seemed Obama's support was quietly amassing with more vigor, GOP strategists said.
"There really wasn't an enthusiasm gap," said Republican strategist Charlie Black, an informal Romney adviser. "And independents didn't break our way."
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Thursday, May 23, 2013
AUGUSTA – Gov. Paul LePage's proposed two-year budget may drive up property tax rates much more than the administration has let on, says a group that represents Maine cities and towns.
Gov. Paul LePage gestures during a press conference at the University of New England's College of Dental Medicine Patient Care Center Building, Tuesday, January 15, 2013. A municipal group estimates all of his new budget initiatives would cost towns and cities $420 million.
Gabe Souza / Staff Photographer
Top 10 affected Maine cities
Below are the 10 Maine cities that would lose the most money in fiscal year 2014 if Gov. LePage sucesssfully ends the state's municipal revenue-sharing program. The fiscal year begins July 1:
• Portland $9.1 million
• Lewiston $6 million
• Bangor $5 million
• Auburn $3.6 million
• South Portland $2.7 million
• Sanford $2.6 million
• Augusta $2.5 million
• Biddeford $2.3 million
• Waterville $2.3 million
• Westbrook $2.2 million
The LePage administration announced last week that a plan to suspend municipal revenue sharing would result in a loss of $200 million to cities and towns. However, the Maine Municipal Association has released an analysis projecting a $420 million tax shift from several of the governor's initiatives, including the elimination of the business reimbursement tax program, a proposed General Assistance cap and town collections for registering tractor-trailer trucks.
Not only would the revenue sharing suspension cost about $83 million more than the administration has announced, said MMA legislative liaison Geoff Herman, but other measures in the budget would multiply the local impacts.
Herman said the association, which represents most of Maine's 496 communities, is still calculating the property tax impact and was not yet prepared to release precise figures.
LePage, in a statement issued last week, said the proposals are designed to strengthen the state's financial position. He said the state has to better manage its finances, and so do towns.
Herman said the strategy, and the governor's argument, are flawed.
"So let me get this straight," he said. "State government does its belt-tightening by appropriating nearly a half-billion dollars that is dedicated to local government? Is that how we define belt-tightening? It's kind of ironic."
Herman said the governor's plan to eliminate the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement program in favor of a newer program, the Business Equipment Tax Exemption, would cost towns -- particularly those with large commercial bases -- a combined $12 million.
The programs are designed to help the state attract businesses by reimbursing them for taxes they pay to municipalities on equipment, such as machinery and computers.
The first program, the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement, was adopted in 1995. Under that program, towns are allowed to tax the full value of business equipment, but the state reimburses businesses for those equipment tax payments.
The Business Equipment Tax Exemption was adopted in 2008 as a replacement for the reimbursement program. It fully exempts qualifying businesses from the equipment tax. However, the state reimburses towns only 50 cents on the dollar to account for the lost tax revenue.
The governor wants to quickly move towns from the old program to the newer one, with the goal of lowering the costs of administering both programs. But Herman said the proposal cuts tax revenues in half and ignores "a carefully worked out arrangement not to have a major, overnight impact on local government."
The governor has also proposed changes to General Assistance, money used to help needy families pay their bills, including a permanent $10.2 million cap. The cap, proposed in LePage's supplemental budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, would be made permanent in his two-year proposal. It would allow municipalities to shut down their assistance programs once the state's annual appropriation runs dry.
Another proposal would prohibit General Assistance if any member of a household has reached the 60-month limit for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.
The administration has estimated the proposals would save $6.7 million over two years, but Herman said the costs would be shifted to service centers such as Portland, Bangor and Lewiston.
Herman flagged other proposals, including a plan to divert excise tax collections on tractor-trailer trucks from municipalities to the state. The LePage administration said the plan is designed to beef up the state's Highway Fund, which pays for road and bridge projects.
Herman said the proposal would cost municipalities a combined $8 million over two years. The towns that are home to tractor-trailer fleets would be hit harder than others, he said.
Overall, Herman said, the budget unwinds policies that were designed "to take the regressivity out of the property tax."
"Systems have been designed as a matter of tax policy to blunt or soften the property tax," he said. "This budget takes us in a completely different direction."
It's unclear which of the governor's proposals will receive support from state lawmakers.
LePage's revenue sharing suspension is already receiving a cool reception from Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike.
Democratic leaders, who control the Legislature, have immediately dismissed the provision, which MMA estimated would shift $283 million in lost revenue to property taxpayers.
Augusta Sen. Roger Katz, the assistant Senate Republican leader, has said he's not a "big fan" of suspending municipal aid. Katz, the former mayor of Augusta, said he was familiar with the struggle of stringing together a municipal budget.
However, Katz has said there is a need for municipalities to consolidate services to ease the property tax burden. He said towns traditionally resist consolidation proposals, but the state's overall budget picture has heightened the need to share resources.
Senate President Justin Alfond and other Democratic leaders have been highly critical of the budget, calling it "the biggest tax increases that the state has seen in a very long time."
Herman said the response from legislative leaders has been reassuring. However, he worried that "raiding" municipal resources was becoming a trend for state lawmakers. He noted that former Gov. John Baldacci and two previous legislatures had plucked nearly $40 million from the state's revenue sharing fund to balance previous budgets.
Herman said it may be difficult to completely wipe out the governor's proposals even if they prove unpopular.
"As soon as the governor puts proposals like this into a budget, there is the immediate requirement to buy them back," Herman said. "It creates a whole new set of difficulties.
"It's created a threat, there's no doubt about it," he said.
Steve Mistler can be contacted at 620-7016 or at:
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Air district sued over dairy approval
A lawsuit filed Thursday against the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District contends district officials approved a proposed 6,120-animal dairy in southwest Fresno County without considering global warming or adverse effects on human health.
The Center for Biological Diversity and California Rural Legal Assistance said the proposed dairy near the community of Burrel violated the California Environmental Quality Act by not requiring equipment that converts methane gas into energy.
The lawsuit in Fresno County Superior Court also said megadairies produce large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions such as methane, particulate pollution, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia that are dangerous to human health.
"By illegally downplaying the project's impact on global warming, human health and the environment, the air district squandered a critically important opportunity to incorporate solutions ... to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutions from dairies," said Matt Vespa, a senior attorney for the San Francisco-based center.
The air board approved the proposed dairy owned by Charles Van Der Kooi on Sept. 17.
The two groups want the court to nullify an environmental impact report that led to the approval of the dairy and order a new report that addresses global warming and human health impacts.
The lawsuit also challenges the approval process, saying the Fresno County Board of Supervisors should have jurisdiction over whether the dairy gets built, not the air district.
Air district officials had no immediate comment, spokesman Anthony Presto said.
The two groups represent Eugenia Melesio, a Fresno County resident.
"All I am asking for is that the responsible agencies do a good job of looking at the environmental impact, or else people suffer," Melesio said in a statement.
The proposed dairy would adversely affect Fresno County residents, the lawsuit said, because nearly one in five residents has asthma -- at least three times the national average.
"Every year, 300 people die in Fresno County alone from pollution-related causes," said Alegria De La Cruz, a lawyer in CRLA's Fresno office. "The average Fresno resident will die one or two years earlier here than elsewhere due to our high pollution levels."
© Copyright 2008 The Fresno Bee
|Photo © Paul S. Hamilton||HOME / DONATE NOW / SIGN UP FOR E-NETWORK / CONTACT US / PHOTO USE /|
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© Tweed the Younger
I place this in this Board in a philosophy of life sense.
often we hear 'Ego' or 'dude has a big Ego' as a pejorative. Alcoholics Anonymous tells us "an alcoholic is an egomaniac with an inferiority complex". well, fine: but is the trick not to bring self-image in line with ego image, to find an equilibrium, to gain comfort with oneself? to be 'saved', for those who prefer the Christian language?
the second part of the problem is as follows: we can have two man whose ego-image and self-image are in equilibrium... however, the one has a very 'small' ego image, needs few concessions from reality to find it satisfied, while the other needs more attention, more centrality, and more deference, more success. is one preferable to the other? preferable in any sense: either from the perspective of the subject, or those around him.
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Motorhead died on Christmas day. A teenage schoolfriend of Zappa in the late 1950s, swapping records and performing in early bands such as The BlackOuts and The Omens. He moved into Zappa’s studio with Zappa living there for six months in the early 1960s and became a musician/roadie with The Mothers.
Here he is (in sunglasses) blowing up a storm and shaking his tambourine with The Mothers in 1968:
On the 24th June 1966 The Mothers were supporting Lenny Bruce. Bruce was not on his best form and would be dead by August. In 1969 Zappa would release an unedited recording of Bruce at the December 1965 Berkeley Concert (This has subsequently been reissued several times and can be found on Spotify). Zappa was a fan of Sea Shanties and had owned A.L. Lloyd and Ewan MacColl‘s Blow Boys Blow (another Spotify link). He had given the record to Captain Beefheart which led to a long running dispute between the two as to whether it was a gift or a loan. The record included the song The Handsome Cabin Boy
which Zappa often used in concerts as the theme for an improvisation:
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Defiance College is one of 119 U.S. colleges and universities selected by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to receive its 2008 Community Engagement Classification. The classification provides a way for institutions to describe their identity and commitment to the community with a public and nationally recognized classification.
“We are delighted and honored that the Foundation has recognized Defiance College for the Curricular Engagement and Outreach & Partnerships classification on its most recent selection process, ” said Dr. Charles Warren, interim president. “Our faculty, student and staff colleagues work creatively and successfully to carefully integrate academic, cultural and civic engagement in the service of our campus and broader communities.”
Institutions chosen to receive the classification were placed into one of three categories:
Curricular Engagement – describes teaching, learning and scholarship which engage faculty, students and community in mutually beneficial and respectful collaboration. Their interactions address community-identified needs, deepen students’ civic and academic learning, enhance community well-being and enrich the scholarship of the institution.
Outreach & Partnerships – describes two different but related approaches to community engagement. The first focuses on the application and provision of institutional resources for community use with benefits to both campus and community. The latter focuses on collaborative interactions with community and related scholarship for the mutually beneficial exchange, exploration and application of knowledge, information and resources (research, capacity building, economic development, etc).
Curricular Engagement and Outreach & Partnerships – describes institutions with substantial commitments in both areas.
Defiance College was classified in the Curricular Engagement and Outreach & Partnership classification.
Colleges and universities with an institutional focus on community engagement were invited to apply for the classification. In order to be selected into any of the three categories, institutions had to provide descriptions and examples of practices of community engagement that showed alignment among mission, culture, leadership, resources, and practices.
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is an independent policy and research center that classifies universities and colleges for research purposes. It defines community engagement as the collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity. The Community Engagement classification, released in 2006, gives institutions another way to differentiate themselves within the research parameters and relative to other colleges and universities. The new classification is elective, allowing institutions to choose to participate by completing an application.
Defiance College is an independent, liberal arts institution in Northwest Ohio offering more than 40 undergraduate majors as well as graduate programs in education and business. Defiance College has received national recognition for its educational experience of engagement. U. S. News & World Report ranks Defiance in the top tier of comprehensive colleges in the Midwest. The college website is www.defiance.edu.
December 23, 2008
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DALLAS, Texas -- As the nation counts down to 2013, lawmakers in Washington are counting down to the fiscal cliff.
The U.S. House of Representatives will not vote Monday night, missing the midnight deadline to avert the fiscal cliff. While that deadline will pass without a deal, passage of legislation by the time a new Congress takes office at noon on Jan. 3 would minimize or eliminate any inconvenience for taxpayers.
Under the Senate's emerging bi-partisan plan, tax rates go up for individuals making $400,000 and households making $450,000. There also would be an increase in the estate tax.
But the sticking point continues to be massive spending cuts.
Millions of Texas families could be taking a tax hit if no deal that gets enough votes.
At the Sal Y Pimienta Cafe in Mesquite, owner Art Nova hopes Congress and President Obama can serve up a fiscal cliff deal to extend the Bush tax cuts to middle-class families, because if they don't, it's bad for business.
"Well, of course [people would] be eating at home more often, they wouldn't come out as often -- it's just a cycle, if you will," Nova said. "The economy goes around when people have money to spend."
Neither Democrats nor Republicans have the appetite for a middle class income tax increase.
In Texas, that would mean 8.7 million middle class families would get an income tax hike, according the White House National Economic Council. For the median income Texas family of four earning $65,900 per year, taxes would go up $2,200 for 2013.
But Nova said increasing taxes on the wealthy is all right with him.
"I don't think President Obama is asking for anything more than fairness," he said.
But for Texas Republicans in Congress, the hot brewing issue is a federal government that spends and borrows too much, which future generations must pay off. If taxes increase, Republicans like Rep. Michael Burgess of Lewisville, expect cuts to sweeten any deal.
"If taxes are also going up by a lot of money, I would like to be sure that money goes for deficit reduction and not to spend for the President's new priorities," Burgess said.
Timing is the priority now. The House won't vote by midnight Monday, but that doesn't mean fiscal cliff effects can't be avoided, according to Burgess.
"Most of the pieces of this could be, in fact, enforced retroactively," he said.
There's still hope for approval of the extension of the sales tax exemption that some 2.3 million Texas taxpayers file for on their federal returns. It hasn't passed yet for 2012. But Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's office told KVUE sister station in Dallas WFAA it could be part of the fiscal cliff deal.
Even if it isn't, the next Congress could pass the exemption and apply it retroactively.
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A Life in Motion SPECIAL EDITION
Florence Howe has led an audacious life: she created a freedom school during the civil rights movement, refused to bow to academic heavyweights who were opposed to sharing power with women, and founded a feminist publishing house at a time when books for and about women were few. Sustained by her relationships with ironic writers like Grace Paley, Tillie Olsen, and Marilyn French, she traveled the world as an emissary for women’s empowerment. Howe’s memoir spans her eighty years of personal struggle and professional triumphs.
This special limited hardcover edition is signed and numbered by the
author. Available only at feministpress.org.
“A Life in Motion is the inside story of the birth of women’s studies as a discipline, the rise of an international feminist movement, and the role of women in publishing and education. A sharp and compelling memoir.”
"If words speak truth we have it here in Florence Howe's long awaited memoir. Out of the pain of childhood, the deprivation, the want, comes the story of a woman's endurance, the voice of a self searching out worlds in which to be, a tale told with startling honesty by one of the founding figures of the US feminist movement, giving us the treasures of a history that might otherwise have been lost."
"In this bold and courageous memoir Florence Howe transports us across class, gender, race divides—in and out of love, deprivation, and tragedy—along her activist journey toward profoundly creative work, and the abiding love of generations of chosen family. Everyone concerned about global feminism, women’s contributions, and humanity’s future will be enhanced and enchanted by A Life in Motion."
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Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Varazze, the beach
Unused and undated.
Varazze is on the Italian Riviera, between Genoa and Savona. It's a place with an interesting history - it started off as an offshoot of a Roman military post, then was fought over by various factions, once even becoming part of the Kingson of Sardinia.
By the time of this postcard, it looks as though the tourist industry was already becoming important. I'm hazarding a guess that this would be after the 1860s but before 1890s. The costumes are all long sleeved. I can see at least one belted waistline (about 1880) but the skirts are all below the knee. There are a couple of older style one-piece costumes and the colours all appear to be dark.
Does anyone have a better knowledge of swimwear fashion history?
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CLEMSON — A national leader in the local foods movement will speak at Clemson University Wednesday, offering a vision of how the nation can move toward a sustainable and secure future.
Farmer, professor and author Philip Ackerman-Leist will explore local-scale food from a national perspective and propose strategies for creating more democratic and secure food systems in his presentation at 6:30 p.m. at the Strom Thurmond Institute auditorium. The event is open to the public and free of charge.
With more than two decades of “field experience” working on farms, in the classroom and with regional food sy collaborators, Ackerman-Leist’s work focuses on examining and reshaping local and regional food systems from the ground up.
It’s not enough to say “local food” and declare victory, said Ackerman-Liest. “We need to invest in thoughtful planning, not just local foods, and we have to begin thinking about local food systems as citizens, not just consumers. We must also bring more diverse representation to the table and stretch our thinking from local realities to regional possibilities.”
Author of “Rebuilding the Foodshed” and “Up Tunket Road,” Ackerman-Leist is a professor at Green Mountain College in Vermont, where he established the college’s farm and sustainable agriculture curriculum and is director of the Green Mountain College Farm & Food Project. He also founded and directs the college’s Masters in Sustainable Food Systems, the nation’s first online graduate program in food systems, which features applied comparative research of students’ home bioregions.
Rebuilding the foodshed brings democracy back to the table through a focus on community-based food systems that are just and resilient, he said.
“Models abound for re-envisioning how local food systems can transform how we eat, shop, grow, connect and plan for the future,” he said.
With his wife, Erin, Ackerman-Leist farmed in the South Tirol region of the Alps and North Carolina before beginning their 16-year homesteading and farming venture in Pawlet, Vt.
The presentation is sponsored by the Clemson Sustainable Agriculture Program.
The Barnes and Noble campus bookshop will have copies of Ackerman-Leist’s books, “Rebuilding the Foodshed” and “Up Tunket Road,” for sale at the program, after which there will be a book-signing and refreshments.
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Rumor: Apple working on wearable iPod with Siri control
According to the NYT, Apple is rumored to be testing wearable iPod-like devices that fit around your wrist and are controlled not by touch, but with your voice using Siri.
Apple has also experimented with prototype products that could relay information back to the iPhone. These conceptual products could also display information on other Apple devices, like an iPod, which Apple is already encouraging us to wear on our wrists by selling Nanos with watch faces. [...] One idea being discussed is a curved-glass iPod that would wrap around the wrist; people could communicate with the device using Siri, the company’s artificial intelligence software.
Apple previously experimented with a nearly buttonless, voice controlled iPod shuffle but quickly returned to physical controls for the tiny device. Siri, which unlike the older VoiceControl system, currently requires a network connection to properly parse voice queries. Since no iPod other than the iPod touch currently has Wi-Fi, let alone cellular data, that raises the same interesting questions about the future of Siri and the iPod line both.
We've been asking for an iPod nano watch with Bluetooth connectivity for a while now. Perhaps the iPod will work as a tethered link to your iPhone?
Although it may be some time down the road before we actually start to see something like this materialize in Apple's product lines, it's still good to know they're considering ideas like this.
Source: NYTimes Bits
Concept image credit: Yanko Design
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2008-04-11, 10:08 AM
PARIS (Thomson Financial) - SES SA said its SES Americom unit has told its insurers that its recently launched AMC-14 is considered a loss because it's in the wrong orbit and not worth moving to the correct orbit.
2008-04-11, 05:36 PM
That's what happens when you contract out to foreigners. Trying to save a buck doesn't work. Insurance or not, that only hurts everyone else.
Actually, that's what happens when you contract out satellite service to an American firm (SES Americom). Boeing has been granted a patent on on the lunar slingshot orbit-boost technique by the US PTO (Patenting The Obvious), and used that to demand major concessions from SES Americom. Concessions so major, that SES Americom decided it was less expensive to scrap the satellite. If the satellite was owned by a totally non-American firm, the idiotic patent wouldn't apply to them, and they could've used the lunar slingshot orbital boost without additional cost. See http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Boeing_Patent_Shuts_Down_AMC_14_Lunar_Flyby_Salvage_Attempt_ 999.html for the gory details.
And as for reliability... who's supply rockets worked like clockwork and kept ISS operational when the shuttles were grounded 2 and 1/2 years after the Columbia tragedy? The first shuttle flight after Columbia (Discovery STS-114) was folowed by another 1-year shuttle grounding. So you're talking 1 shuttle flight during 3 and 1/2 years, during which time Russian rockets kept ISS from turning into another Skylab.
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Iraq Status of Forces Draft Protects U.S. Servicemembers, Gates Says
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2008 The draft status of forces agreement between the governments of the United States and Iraq contains adequate protections for U.S. military members, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said during a Pentagon Channel interview broadcast today.
Gates said he and other senior civilian and military leaders believe that the draft agreement contains satisfactory protections for U.S. servicemembers.
Among other things, status of forces agreements delineate how U.S. servicemembers are treated under a host nation’s laws.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, soon-to-be U.S. Central Command chief Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Multinational Force Iraq Commander Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno “have been very deeply involved in this whole process of negotiation” over the Iraq SOFA, Gates said.
The Defense Department would not put military members serving in Iraq at risk, Gates emphasized. “We think that the agreement does not do that,” he said.
Turning to Afghanistan, Gates noted that the U.S. government does not have the large numbers of people available for reconstruction missions it had before the end of the Cold War. However, he said, the United States is one of 42 nations providing expertise to help Afghanistan get onto its feet. The United Nations and the European Union, he said, also have representatives in Afghanistan.
“There’s a lot of civilian capacity out there, maybe not necessarily in [provincial reconstruction teams] or things like that,” Gates said, “but there’s quite a bit out there -- and more is on the way.”
The main issue regarding current reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, Gates said, is to identify how best to use the diverse elements working there.
“I think the real challenge in Afghanistan is bringing all that together and integrating it and coordinating it better,” he said.
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The federal government will likely be involved in running the ObamaCare exchange in at least 30 states, 26 of which expressly declined to establish state exchanges. One health-policy expert refers to it as an "administrative nightmare" for the Department of Health and Human Services.
Friday was the deadline for a state to let HHS know if it planned to establish a state exchange. Thus far only 18 states and the District of Columbia are planning on doing so.
As of right now only Utah and Florida remain undecided. Utah may still decide to set up a state exchange, but few expect that Florida will. When asked, a spokesman for Florida Gov. Rick Scott directed IBD to a letter Scott sent last month to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius requesting more information on the exchanges and a meeting with Sebelius. Sebelius has not responded to his letter.
Assuming Florida decides not to set up a state exchange, nearly 200 million people, or 64% of the U.S. population, will reside in a state with either a federal exchange or a partnership exchange. Although many of the people in those states such as those on Medicare or who have employer-based coverage will not be getting insurance through an exchange, millions of others will be.
Enrolling them will likely prove a daunting challenge for the federal government.
"HHS expected to be running zero exchanges," said Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. "They have been throwing money at states to bribe them to start exchanges. HHS maintains they'll have these things up and running by October 2013. I don't know anyone who is confident about that and I'm ready to predict that they will not."
The exchanges are where consumers without employer-based coverage will shop for insurance under ObamaCare and receive a tax credit toward its purchase if they are eligible.
Of the 26 states that have expressly declined to run a state exchange, 23 have decided to default to a federal exchange. The five most recent to do that are Montana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia.
The other three that have declined — Arkansas, Michigan and Ohio — will go with a partnership exchange. Four other states, including most recently West Virginia, will also be going that route, but none of those expressly declined a state exchange.
Under a partnership exchange, states can oversee insurance plans and assist consumers, but the federal government will handle duties such as enrollment and determining eligibility. States will also have the option to eventually transition to a state exchange.
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Now more than ever, we need your support! Become a Supporting Subscriber today.
The Witch Hunters
The Witch Hunters by Steve Lyons is a book following the exploits of the First doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara in the town of Salem during the infamous witch trials. This is an excellent book and one that I would thoroughly recommend. It manages to successfully maintain an accurate characterisation of the time-travellers while building on and developing their characters. Even the Doctor is given the opportunity to lay certain ghosts to rest. This is done within the context of an intelligently-written story which manages to educate, entertain and build a good level of suspense. It is true to the programme of the period, drawing on the little amount of back story and history that the programme had already managed to develop during its first series, such as the fragile relationship between the Doctor and his two abductees, and the telepathy which Susan had demonstrated during the Sensorites. Even the fast-return button makes an appearance. It is well-paced with dialogue true to the characters.
I won’t include spoilers but would encourage you to read this as an example of an intelligent Doctor Who novel.
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In-store Shopping Still Center of Shopping Experience, Says PwC US
PwC's Annual Survey of Online Shoppers Debunks 10 Myths of Multichannel Retailing
NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- While digital technology continues to reshape the way companies and consumers interact, social media is not replacing the in-store shopping experience, according to a new report by PwC titled, Demystifying the Online Shopper: 10 Myths of Multichannel Retailing. Based on a survey of more than 11,000 shoppers globally, the study debunks the conventional wisdom about online consumer behavior and helps companies better measure their approach to multichannel retailing.
Shoppers today have access to multiple channels throughout their shopping experience, with many resources available before making their final purchase decisions. According to the report, 49 percent of survey participants said they use social media every day, but only 12 percent are using social platforms to shop. Instead, a significant 59 percent use social media to follow, discover and give feedback on brands and retailers. PwC found that social media is not a major traffic driver to online stores, as 45 percent of consumers continue to shop in a physical store daily or weekly.
"Retailers should have realistic expectations when it comes to channels and devices, as shopping trends may not change drastically and social media and tablets are likely not taking over any time soon according to our survey respondents," said Susan McPartlin, PwC's U.S. retail & consumer sector leader. "While many forecasts point toward devices and social media dominating in retail, companies today need to utilize their multiple channels to engage with consumers and use social media as a marketing and communication tool to create value. Our report finds that the physical store remains the centerpiece of the purchase journey, while devices are used significantly for product research and deals."
The report addresses 10 myths about multichannel retailing and captures some ideas that companies can consider to keep up with their customers:
- Myth 1: Social media will soon become an indispensable retail channel
Social media isn't likely to become an important retail channel anytime soon and currently is a driver for more shopping across all channels, not just online stores.
- Myth 2: Stores will become mainly showrooms in the future
For most companies, the physical store remains the centerpiece of the purchase journey. However, companies need to determine how to best drive purchase activity across all of their channels both physical and online. There still is a place for the store to be a showroom—as a supplement for online pure players, rather than a new model for brick-and-mortar retailers.
- Myth 3: The tablet will overtake the PC as the preferred online shopping device
Tablets and smart phones won't catch up any time soon as these devices are used at the end of the purchase journey, particularly in-store, while shopping.
- Myth 4: As the world gets smaller, global consumers are becoming more similar
A wide range of local differences in consumer behavior exists, and retailers still need to cater to local trends.
- Myth 5: China is the future model for online retail
China is at the forefront of some key trends, but its multichannel and online model is unique to the culture, as shopping habits are dramatically different in China.
- Myth 6: Domestic retailers will always enjoy a 'home field' advantage over global retailers
Foreign retailers are making inroads into consumers' lists of favorite multichannel retailers. However, retailers need to keep in mind that it's not just the local base of domestic retailers they compete with, but with global players as well.
- Myth 7: Global online pure players will always enjoy a scale advantage over domestic online pure players
Many domestic online pure players are holding their own as they have better access to local market knowledge.
- Myth 8: Retailers are inherently better positioned than brands, as they are closest to the customer
Consumers are shopping directly from manufacturers and many no longer distinguish between retailers and their favorite brands. Retailers need to utilize core strengths including warranty programs and email promotions that drive traffic in-store.
- Myth 9: Online retail is cannibalizing sales in other channels
Consumers are actually spending more with their favorite multichannel retailers, not just shifting some purchases to a different channel.
- Myth 10: Low price is the main driver of customer spend at favorite retailers
Customers value quality, innovative brands over price when shopping at their favorite multichannel retailers.
"A multichannel retail strategy can be extremely advantageous. The more minutely retailers can identify how consumers are utilizing the different channels, the more success they will have," said Lisa Feigen Dugal, PwC's U.S. retail & consumer sector advisory leader. "Companies need a strategy that will create value by connecting with consumers and engaging with them directly online, while providing a meaningful, seamless shopping experience across all channels."
For more information and to download an electronic copy of Demystifying the Online Shopper: 10 Myths of Multichannel Retailing, visit http://www.pwc.com/multichannelsurvey.
About PwC US
PwC US helps organizations and individuals create the value they're looking for. We're a member of the PwC network of firms in 158 countries with more than 180,000 people. We're committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax and advisory services. Tell us what matters to you and find out more by visiting us at www.pwc.com/US.
© 2013 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the US member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.
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Learn about PR Newswire services
Request more information about PR Newswire products and services or call us at (888) 776-0942.
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An old gospel lyric goes like this: ?God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water?the fire next time.? These days, it seems as if that time has come.
Firefighters say they?ll have to fight the wildfire in Colorado for the rest of the summer. Now Arizona is burning as well. "This is a monster," says U.S. Forest Service fire information officer said Jim Paxon.
"We're at the mercy of Mother Nature right now,? says fire commander Larry Humphrey. ?There's not a whole lot we can do with it."
Arizona fires are burning in part of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, as well as heading for the Phoenix suburbs. City planners have been trying to get people out of the suburbs and back downtown for decades. Congested highways and rising gas prices didn?t do it, but maybe wildfires will, at least in the West.
"It's just a waiting game," says Bob Jackson, who fled his home with his wife. "All you can do is say a prayer."
There are now 19 major fires burning across the U.S., according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. To track the current wildfires,click here.
Is the kind of drought that leads to wildfires part of a natural cycle, caused by global warming?or both? To find out, read ?The Coming Global Superstorm,? now only $9.95 for a hardcover signed by Whitley Strieber, click here.
NOTE: This news story, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.
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April showers bring May flowers, setting a perfect stage for the BillionGraves’ Million More in May promotion! During the month of May, all BillionGraves users are encouraged to go out and take thousands of photos in their local cemeteries. You can join in by registering and downloading the free app to help BillionGraves reach one million new records in one month!
BillionGraves has had an amazing first year. The number of records is growing exponentially. During the month of May, with volunteers around the world contributing, BillionGraves hopes to add one million new records to the database.
The BillionGraves team breaks down the goal into feasible numbers: if two thousand users take 500 pictures each, they’ll reach 1,000,000 new images this month. This still seems like a lot, but a beginning picture taker will be able to document 500 images in 2 hours or less. Imagine how many records would be recorded in just two hours each weekend in May. The new records need to be transcribed as well, and once they are, BillionGraves will have their 1 Million records in May added to the database, searchable all over the world.
At the end of the month, the top 25 photographers and the top 25 transcribers will be rewarded with a free BillionGraves t-shirt! If you’re among the top 25 in either category, you’ll be publicly recognized on the BillionGraves Leaderboard on the website. You’ll help motivate others to continue adding new images and transcribing records.
The BillionGraves database is a valuable resource. The information being gathering is not available anywhere else. Volunteers are documenting entire cemeteries, providing exact locations for cemeteries and even specific headstones within that cemetery. Then, when you search for your ancestor, you have the ability to see all the headstones in the vicinity—many connections can be discovered by locating relatives buried nearby the one you searched for. This information is priceless, and that’s why BillionGraves exists. So, when we all contribute new records, we all benefit from the information collected.
You can get involved by registering on the BillionGraves site if you don’t have an account already. Then, download the app for your iOS or Android device. Finally, visit your local cemeteries to take pictures during the entire month of May!
In just over two weeks, the 1940 census will be released. This is a really big deal in the genealogical community, if you didn’t know! The census will contain a wealth of information to help you with your family history research. You will be able to access the census free on the website starting April 2. Not only will you be able to view the records for free (unlike previous census images), but you can download your research right from the site.
An index for the 1940 census does not yet exist since the images won’t be released until April 2, but FamilySearch and Ancestry.com are providing a way for volunteers to index the census so that it can be searchable and available to the public. The indexing project will greatly improve your ability to research the wealth of information included in the census, so to expedite the indexing process, you can join the volunteer effort! Visit the FamilySearch website to learn more and to sign up as a volunteer. You can also sign up on the 1940 Census website.
Besides the obvious excitement of gaining access to new family history research, the hubbub surrounding the release of the 1940 census is the fact that people today actually know people who are on it. Babies born in 1940 are only in their early 70s now, and their parents could still be alive as well. When you study the census, you’ll be able to make important family connections as well as find occupations, immigration data, and locations for your own relatives.
Use FamilyHistorynotebook to save and store the information you glean from the census. Keep the information organized into your various family notebooks, and cross-reference overlapping information using category tags.
For more information on the 1940 Census:
- Archives.gov: The official website of the National Archives, where you can learn more about the census itself, the questions asked on it, etc.
- 1940 Census Community Project: sign up to volunteer, learn about the 1940s, and read blog posts by census ambassadors.
- DearMYRTLE: just one of the many sources for webinars, advice, and tips and tricks for researching the census.
Image via the1940census.com.
RootsTech 2012 is this weekend! We’ll be there, and you are invited to attend our session: Rob Moncur and Curtis Tirrell will present on using smartphones and GPS to crowdsource cemetery data collection. The session will be held in room 255B at the Salt Palace Convention Center on February 4 at 1:45 PM.
We will also have a booth open throughout the conference. Be sure to stop by and learn more about BillionGraves. We’ll even be holding a contest in honor of RootsTech. The contest encourages you to recruit your family and friends to the BillionGraves project, and then you’ll earn points for THEIR hard work! For every family member or friend that joins your BillionGraves team, you receive one point. And for every photo that your teammates upload, you get one point. So the more people you refer to BillionGraves, the faster your point total will grow. The contest ends on February 29, 2012 at 5 PM PST. If your team earns 10,000 points, you, as team leader, will win a $10 Subway gift card. Then we will hold a drawing to select our Grand Prize winner. The more points you earn, the more entries you get in the drawing. We will make a grand announcement about our Grand Prize during RootsTech this weekend!
Visit our RootsTech Contest page to learn more about the contest. From this page, it is easy to tell your friends about BillionGraves by sending an email or posting to Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Start growing your BillionGraves Team and help us build to a billion.
We can’t wait to see you at RootsTech!
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Collins, Amy Fine. "When Hubert Met Audrey." Vanity Fair December 1995: 278-295.
According to this Vanity Fair feature, lifelong friends Audrey Hepburn and French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy met during the making of Sabrina. Hepburn, who would later favor Givenchy as her signature brand in both her movies and her real life, was relatively unknown in 1953 when she flew to Paris to enlist the then up-and-coming Givenchy to design her wardrobe for Sabrina. Like her character at the beginning of the film, Hepburn was not used to wearing high fashion clothing, but both she and Sabrina would become sophisticates. Though Edith Head was credited as the film's costume designer and even took home an Oscar for her work, it was Givenchy, in collaboration with Hepburn, who created the film's most iconic looks.
Collins points to the "jazzy suit" Hepburn's Sabrina wears at the train station when William Holden's David Larrabee first notices her, the floral white ball gown that essentially serves as Sabrina's coming out outfit, and the black cocktail dress that "spawned a thousand knockoffs." These couture looks featured different necklines and cuts than were typical at the time, and were tailored to emphasize Hepburn's slight frame. When Hepburn doubted her acting abilities, Givenchy's clothes provided her with the solace that she at least looked the part.
Collins writes that the clothes also went on to inform plot details of the film. Inspired by Hepburn's sophistication in the Givenchy suit, screenplay writer Ernest Lehman changed the script to make David Larrabee unaware of Sabrina's identity when he picks her up at the train station. Later, in the ball scene, Sabrina's simple but elegant dress distinguished her character. Lehman said of the film's wardrobe, "[The clothes] were extremely helpful to the character, the mood, the movie. They made the transformation believable."
Hepburn's star--and salary--shot up after the release and success of Sabrina. In addition to their impact on the film's success, Collins believes Givenchy's designs for Sabrina shaped Hepburn's public persona. The actress added to this effect by wearing clothes from the movie while promoting it in Europe. Hepburn-eqsue designs also continue to influence current fashion. Collins' article is an interesting, though not scholarly, take on the influence fashion can have in the success of a film, or in Audrey Hepburn's case, an entire personal image.
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And Obama can make all the difference.
Early in 2012, the U.S. housing market quietly woke up from its postcrash coma and began the recovery we'd all been waiting for. Today, home prices are rising, foreclosures are falling, and construction crews are back in business.
So what's left for President Obama to do, now that he has been reelected despite a checkered record on helping homeowners? Plenty. The administration could take a number of steps that might ease the debt burden on millions of families and jump-start our all-but-frozen private lending markets. And, even better, Obama might be able to take many of these actions without waiting for Congress.
Housing's comeback has been steady but fragile. According to CoreLogic, a data-crunching consultancy, nearly 11 million homeowners are still underwater, owing more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. New lending has slowed to a crawl. With banks skittish about credit risks, the Federal Housing Administration or the government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now back about 90 percent of new mortgages. Without Washington, in short, there would be no market to speak of.
All of this is crimping our chances for a robust recovery. In past economic revivals, housing has arguably been the single most important source of momentum. This time around, the Federal Reserve Board has kept interest rates at historic lows, in part to goose homebuyers and to return money to consumers' pockets by letting them refinance debt at cheaper rates. But making mortgages inexpensive means bubkes if the banks won't lend. And refinancing without government help is all but impossible for underwater families, who are at greater risk of foreclosure should the economy sink back into recession.
The Obama administration's early attempts to fix the housing market smacked of a bored kid toying with a Rubik's Cube--halfhearted, prone to trial and error, and ultimately futile. But the White House seems to have learned its lessons. Officials have quietly suggested that the president plans to sack Edward DeMarco, the intransigent acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie and Freddie's overseer. He refused to let the two mortgage giants forgive portions of their severely underwater loans, despite evidence that doing so would save the companies--and possibly the taxpayers who basically own them--money by staving off defaults.
Appointing a new director would clear the way for those reductions in principal, which would avert future foreclosures and act as a form of economic stimulus. It would also free up Fannie and Freddie to expand a mortgage-refinancing program that counts as one of the Obama administration's more successful efforts to bring the housing market back to life.
Regulatory changes could help, too. A swarm of rules covering everything from underwriting standards to securitization are pending at a slew of federal agencies. Many economists believe that banks, fearful of being sued, will be slow to lend until these regulations are final. That may be simply a bankers' excuse, but we won't know until the rules are in place.
Housing brought us the recession. It's the key to the recovery. And it's largely in Obama's hands.
This article available online at:
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• Replays if scores were level after the two legs of the qualifying matches
• Greece withdrew from the competition after they were drawn against Albania in the preliminary round • General Franco, Spain's Fascist dictator, who had banned his country from playing the USSR in the 1960, relented and was rewarded with being in the crowd as Spain beat USSR after extra time in the final
• England played their home qualifying match against France at Hillborough. England, who were managed for the last time by Walter Winterbottom, were booed off after a 1-1 draw.
• Denmark qualified for the finals with wins over Malta, Albania and Luxembourg.
• Only 3869 spectators were in the massive Nou Camp for the third-place play-off between Hungary and Denmark
Franco's refusenik approach to the first championship had seemingly altered four years later. The tournament's crescendo would see his national side host and beat the Soviets in Madrid.
There were more takers this time around too and 29 countries entered the elimination tournament. While the West Germans remained aloof, England took the plunge and in Alf Ramsey's first competitive tie crashed 6-3 on aggregate to France, inspired by Kopa. Politics played a part again as Greece refused to play the Albanians and were promptly banned from the tournament without kicking a ball.
Spain were on a rebuilding operation having lost the use of naturalised players like Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Ladislav Kubala. Coach Jose Villalong placed his faith in younger stars like Valencia's Vicente Guillot, Barcelona's Pedro Zaballa and Real Madrid's Amancio. He could also call on the huge talent of Luis Suarez, who had led Internazionale to the European Cup.
One of Suarez's club-mates, Sandro Mazzola, was part of the new generation of Italian talent. He formed an admirable inside-forward partnership with AC Milan's Gianni Rivera. The Italians demolished Turks 7-0 on aggregate while their Spanish counterparts destroyed Romania 6-1. The first round's major casualties were the Czechs at the hands of East Germany - just two years after being World Cup finallists.
The second round saw the Spanish new generation stutter to a narrow win over Northern Ireland while Yugoslavia, the previous tournament's losing finallists, exited at the hands of the Swedes. Holland, a few years away from the side that revolutionised football, lost embarassingly to Luxembourg while the efficiency of the Soviet Union ended the young Italians' participation. Yashin's saving of a Mazzola spot-kick was the Italians' last chance.
Spain cruised through the last eight with a 7-1 demolition of the Republic of Ireland but the French folded to the skills of Hungary's Florian Albert, as the Magyars despatched them 5-1. It was to be the last stand of Fontaine and Kopa's legendary Gallic partnership.
The Red Machine continued its progress with a 4-2 win over Sweden while Denmark squeezed past a Luxembourg side at the apex of its footballing achievement after a play-off was required after two legs. Striker Ole Madsen scored all six goals over the three games for the Danes.
So Spain took up its position as hosts and had to welcome two Eastern Bloc-ers in the USSR and Hungary. The Danes and Madsen ran out of gas as the Russians progressed easily in Barcelona's Nou Camp.
The hosts' progress was far less fluid. It took an extra-time strike just five minutes short of the 120 from Amancio to see off the Hungarians, who had to be content with 3rd place after a 3-1 win over the Danes. Madsen left the tournament with 11 goals to his name.
The final - a battle of rival political as well as footballing ideals - took place in the Santiago Bernabeu with Franco looking on from the VIP area. The Generalissimo must have been proud as his Suarez-inspired charges took apart the plodding Russians.
Though an early goal from Jesus Pereda was levelled by Galimzian Khusainov, a wonderful header from Marcelino won it for the hosts. A propaganda victory over the hated Communists had been achieved.© ESPN
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by Max Frankel
The U.S. wind market could fall by up to 80 percent in 2013 without an extension of a key tax credit, says the CEO of the world’s biggest wind turbine manufacturer.
“In the United States, the market this year is very, very busy,” Vestas Chief Executive Ditlev Engel told a gathering of EU European affairs ministers and other senior officials at Vestas’ research and development centre.
“But because of the potential lapse of the regulatory framework in the U.S., this market will probably go down 80 percent next year,” he said.”
The Federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) is a 2.2 cent per kilowatt-hour tax credit for renewable electricity producers. It is set to expire at the end of 2012, like it does periodically. The credit was created to allow the wind industry to compete with the fossil fuel industry, which has been supported by numerous permanent tax credits.
Every time the PTC expires, wind development has fallen between 70 and 90 percent.
Engel’s announcement strongly reinforces the prevailing opinion within the industry that the failure of Congress to renew the PTC would decrease investments in wind energy for the coming year as much as 90-100%. In this election year, it seems increasingly unlikely that the PTC will be extended before the end of December.
The effects of the uncertainly around the PTC are already being felt. In April, Everpower Renewables in Ohio, home state of House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), said that it would halt plans for a $20 million, 54-turbine wind project that would have created as many as 200 immediate jobs. Ohio is home to between 5,000 and 6,000 wind jobs that could be in jeopardy by Congress’ inaction.
Upwards of 75,000 Americans work in the wind industry. According to an estimation by the economic consulting firm Navigant, up to 37,000 jobs will be lost if the PTC is not renewed. In January, Vestas announced that it would lay off 1,600 American employees if the tax credit is not extended.
The wind industry has been plagued by PTC renewal questions for years: “The inconsistent nature of this tax credit has been a significant challenge for the wind industry, creating uncertainty for long term planning and preventing steady market development.”
Despite these continued difficulties, in the last 5 years, wind has brought the United States $20 million of private investment per year. The American company General Electric has attracted tens of billion of dollars in foreign investment and has been able to bring the cost of wind power below the cost of new coal resources.
Moreover, despite erroneous claims by some opponents of clean power, the Department of Energy has estimated that by 2030, wind could account for up to 20% of U.S. power generation. All of this is in jeopardy if Congress fails to renew the PTC.
Numerous coalitions, including a bipartisan group of Governors, have sent letters to Congress urging action on this issue:
Wind-related manufacturing is beginning to slow in our states because the credit has not yet been extended. If Congress pursues a last minute approach to the extension, the anticipated interruption of the credit’s benefits will result in a significant loss of high-paying jobs in a growing sector of the economy.
The leading wind project developers and manufacturers are slowing their plans for 2013 and beyond due to the current uncertainty. Some developers have no projects scheduled for 2013, and are beginning to lay off employees. The ripple effect of this slow down means reduced orders for turbines and decreased business for the hundreds of manufacturers who have entered the wind industry in our states. If the tax credit is allowed to expire at the end of 2012, there will be negative impacts on the high-tech manufacturing jobs that the industry has brought to or created in our states.
Their calls have been ignored.
Even as members of Congress delay action on the PTC, many continue to make false claims about “job killing” regulations. In fact, it is Congressional politicking and frustrating inaction that has put the wind industry — and its thousands of American employees — on the brink.
Max Frankel is an intern on the energy policy team at the Center for American Progress.
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A wave of census layoffs cut the nation’s payrolls in June for the first time in six months, while private employers added a modest number of jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent, its lowest level in almost a year.
The Labor Department says employers cut 125,000 jobs last month, the most since last October. The loss was driven by the end of
225,000 temporary census jobs. Businesses added 83,000 workers to their payrolls, an improvement from May.
The unemployment rate fell as more people out of work gave up on their job searches and left the labor force. People who are no longer looking for work aren’t counted as unemployed.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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With the first signs of spring comes the semi-annual opportunity for a man to inventory his wardrobe and clean his house, or rather his closet. For the intelligent acquisition of a man's wardrobe requires a plan, and the planning has several prerequisites.
First, he should review what he has and ruthlessly discard worn and stained things that are no longer wearable. Sentiment belongs in areas of life other than the wardrobe.
Second, he should give up his fantasy about losing the weight he gained two years ago and sort for charity any clothing that has not been worn for that long, whether it fits or, more likely, not.
Then he should send those items that still need repair (after all, they should have been fixed before he put the things into storage last season) to whichever places will do the required jobs.
When this less rewarding work is done, he is ready to update his list of whatever things he still needs for the new season, such as clothing for a planned vacation or major events like a wedding that has recently been added to the calendar.
Then, and only then, he can if necessary go shopping for clothes. And, though he may have enlisted assistance from other household members in accomplishing the prerequisites, the actual acquisition of his clothing is a task that should never be delegated. In fact, shopping for clothing is one thing that a man should do alone - but that is a topic for another time.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Photo: Alfred Eisenstaedt
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Standing. Waiting. Yet doing so much
© St. Petersburg Times,
The frat boys had him ticked off good.
Brian Helton was behind them in line Tuesday at the Home Depot on South Dale Mabry in Tampa. Like them, he was waiting to donate blood to the people injured at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Helton isn't so far from his frat days at Mississippi State University. He is 28.
But when he heard one of those kids joke how great it was to have this excuse to be out of class, he about flipped.
He wasn't alone. An older voice from further back in line sounded: "Do you realize what you're saying?"
Brian Helton went to the Home Depot right from work. His company, AT&T Wireless, had closed early. He waited in line three hours Tuesday to give blood before Florida Blood Services told everybody to go home.
Only so many people could be processed so fast.
Would-be donors were told to return Wednesday to the parking lot at Legends Field, where technicians working out of four buses took blood from as many as 40 people an hour.
Helton did as he was told.
He was going to donate one pint of blood, and it was going to be packaged and put on a small plane and shipped to New York, where they were crying out for Type O.
But first Brian Helton had to wait.
It was his scheduled day off.
Taking part in history was, to him, a fair way to spend it. Taking part in history was not wasting time.
Helton stood uneasily to one side as a line of men and women, and occasionally their children, made several loops across the parking lot. He spoke of himself as a very bit player. Only the stage was large, as big as the world.
"This is part of what I can do for everybody up there. It's part of being an American."
Brian Helton has spent his life in Tampa. Except in places like Mississippi, where his family comes from, and picnics sponsored by veterans groups, it hasn't been okay to say that -- it's part of being an American -- since I can't remember when.
Your politics were too hick or your music was too country.
You were one of the few who still talked of waving the flag out your front door, of missing parades through town on the Fourth of July.
No more. Four careening, killing aircraft changed that.
Giving blood is the only connection between the rest of us and the people in New York and Washington, those who will eventually heal and those who will eventually have to come to terms with speechless hurt.
The connection between here, the lucky, untouched here, and the blood-spattered, smashed-up there, is powerful, uneasy.
I start looking over my shoulder too? Should I fly again? Are we going to war?
Purplish clouds were piling up as Brian Helton and I talked. Cold rain fell, splat by splat.
Somebody else in line passed along the news that the airports were going to be closed even past Wednesday. The deepening crisis, like the wait to give blood, ran on an independent schedule. Nobody was in charge of time.
Brian Helton had already been waiting two hours. The word was, it would take two more before he'd get to the front, get strapped down to the chair, get that needle stuck in him. Volunteers came by with bottles of water and silvery packets of cold juice. A woman with a microphone announced that the Tampa fire department had set up a triage site on the parking lot for anybody who felt on the verge of collapsing from the heat.
When I left, Helton was standing quite straight, still off by himself, still waiting.
-- Mary Jo Melone can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org or (813)-226-3402.
© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-893-8111
Times columns today
Mary Jo Melone
From the Times Metro desk
Mary Jo Melone
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My name is Estephanie Balbuena and I’m from Sunset Park Brooklyn, New York. I am interested in visual arts and open to exploring new things.
The name of my project is “Express Yourself”. I was inspired by the ten by ten space that I selected, located on the corner of W 21St and 11th avenue. The objective of my project was to allow people to express themselves through graffiti. I chose graffiti because it is a very controversial topic and I thought that it would be interesting to see how people reacted to it. I put up a poster on which people were able to write whatever they wanted. I decided to leave the poster for three days, unfortunately when I went to retrieve it, it was gone. We believe it was taken down by the advertisers who had their advertisements near my poster but it is unclear who and why they did it. I also put together a slide show on this controversial issue and my opinions on it. Above are important slides from the slide show.
Kaome’s Final Project: Guess That Tune Gameshow
Hello my name is Kaome O’Faire. Pronounced Kay-Oh-Me easy right! I am a 17 year old high school student at Benjamin Banneker Academy. I am a very unique person I enjoy and partake in things most people don’t get a chance to. Such as the Eyebeam program I am in. I was told out of 100 applicants I was chosen out of the 20 accepted. I am a resident of East New York, Brooklyn. From my house to Eyebeam it is about a hour to a hour and a half travel time. It may sound long and bad but I spend more time in Air-Conditioned trains then I do outside in the sweltering heat.
Also I have a passion for music which inspired the 10x10 space idea. My idea was to make a mini game show. I will tell you how it is set up. First there are 4 speakers,4 chairs, 1 table, 2 ipods, 5 prizes, 4 notecards. There will be 4 chairs positioned in each corner of there 10x10 space. On top of those chairs there will be 4 speakers. Attached to every 2 speakers there will be an ipod. Coming out of each speaker will be a different song. According to the language the contestants chose there will be 4 notecards positioned on the table which they will placed on the speaker the contestant thinks matches what was played. They have to match the song or artist to the correct speaker in 1:00 minute. If the participating contestant correctly matches each song or artist with the correct speaker they will win one of the 5 prizes selected at random.
The project was based on Music. It was being screened, showing all the different footage of what we got. people playing instruments, dancing and singing. Being that my project is based around music and performing arts, I collaborated along with Mitia. We went around interviewing and asking different people why Music was important to them. Today, It was presented in the eye-beam gallery. It was a great experience to watch my work be presented to many others whom i did not know. being able to share my talents such as dancing and producing was something that made me feel accomplished. What a great day!
The final project was finally finished today with Ari and I completing it at the last moment. With our video showing how a single persons enjoyment of whatever form of music they do. Such as dancing, singing, art work or anything they put their minds to. Working with Ari was such a joyful experience because she is full of ideas and wonder and full of amazing talent. I hope that in the future we will be able to complete our work and show it to thousands of people around the world.
My name is Tanjhid Choudhury and I come from Astoria in northern Queens. I’m adamant about animation and design and go out of my way to engage in both when I can. I like to learn about things and try to take a D.I.Y. approach to things. I enjoy cooking. sewing, skating, and any activities that result in the creation of something.
My project is titled Childhood Indulgence and it encourages people to play with toys that they’d normally only play with as little kids. My target audience is children and adults alike and I’d want both to give in to their childhood desire to play. I’ve made 3 brightly colored boxes to act as containers for toys and I placed them on the bench in my 10x10 space. In front of the bench I placed a brightly colored mat for people to play with the toys on. The bright colors were to attract attention and to stand out against the earthy tones of the park. The mat is supposed to provide a playspace more comfortable than concrete and it is equally colorful. My overall goal is to help people like adults relieve stress and go back to a time in their lives where there weren’t any pressures pushing down on them and to help people like kids get used to a communal system of toys and get used to sharing.
10x10 BY IAN ANTONI
I am for the lower east side of Manhattan
My name is Ian Antoni and I like video games and graffiti
My box was inspired by an episode of chowder when one of the characters gets in to a fight with a giant box. So inspired but the show I wanted to make a box that would interact with people as they walk by the box. The point of the box is to get people minds off of somthing and distract them to have some fun. My plan was to have a big box that had a a radio with a CD that had voice recordings on it and I would have a remote that had a button for each recording and when people would walk i would hit one of the buttons and it would talk to the people. But after all this I ended up using a long sounds cable connected to speackers and and mic so a can talk thought it. So I will be the real brain of the box.
My name is Molly Donovan, and I’ve lived on the Upper West Side my whole life. I like tic tacs and ice cream and writing because I’m too messy for Monet, too shy for Shakespeare, and too tall for Tchaikovsky.
My project is called Dendroidal Diction. It’s stationed in an empty flowerbed, right on top of a cut-down tree. It serves as a sort of a replacement for the tree, and as a tower of books it almost represents the full cycle of the paper enclosed in the book covers. It also represents all of the fused together elements of a neighborhood, as it’s a rather odd amalgamation of authors, genres, and titles. The book tower stands victorious even though the tree no longer flourishes in a traditional sense.
The wooden planks lining the flowerbed emphasize the words trapped in the now glue-bound pages of the centripetal tower. They also bring out the most important ideas of the project, as the quotes celebrate the words and dreams embodied by the books. The planks, too, are wooden, and also attempt to recall to life the once-standing tree. In this small city square, I’ve tried to emphasize the full transgression of a tree and plant another seed in the concrete jungle.
THE inCOMPLETE ART GALLERY by TONI KOVAL
Hi my name is Toni Koval.
I live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I love all the interesting people and things that there are to do.
My projects name is The inCOMPLETE Art Gallery. It was done on a piece of wood that I painted white to make it look like a piece of wall was taken out of an actual art gallery. I created 12 frames that would have polaroid pictures placed inside them. I then took my “wall” outside and asked people who were walking by my tenbyten space to take a picture of anything they found interesting, after they took the picture they filled out an info card that you normally see next to an art piece in a gallery, they also had their own business card to sign and keep. My incomplete wall then became complete once all the pictures were taken :)
My name is Tasmin Rahman and I am fifteen years old. I was born and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. I am a Sophomore at the Academy of Medical Technology. I am really interested in photography and video editing.
My project “Dream Catcher” gave people an opportunity to write down their dream and get a cupcake in exchange. I wanted people to have an opportunity to write a wish and have some hope that it will come true. I chose cupcakes because it’s a delicious, happy treat that everyone loves. My first spot was by the Carousel in the Hudson River Park. However, the day I chose to do my project was too hot. The weather was really warm, therefore not many people came to the park. I decided to move my dream catcher stand to a more populated place. At first, things were going really slow. A few minutes later, summer day programs started ending at Chelsea Piers, so a lot of kids walked by. I got a couple of wishes from people of all ages. Out of the 36 cupcakes I baked, I had about 7 left.
After a long day of collecting wishes and distributing cupcakes, I finally finished. I had about 25 dreams. I rounded up all of the wishes and made a collage of the dreams.
My project is base on Brooklyn!Taking away negative thoughts from people minds. In addtion i want people to base their ideas on Brooklyn by not the Radio, tv,internet.The photoshop pictures show how i see people is seen in my eyes.Next the video show people thought of Brooklyn in their eyes.The whole point of my project is to let people be more open minded.Just to accept may things that may come their way.
My name is Troy Saunders, Photographer, dancer and swimmer.
My project is about people who live in the city getting a couple of seconds to relax in a semi jungle area.
My project consist of having jungle like animals and sounds etc.
I constructed a leopard out of cardboard and a bird out of stick and feathers.
They will have microphones in them to make them make noise.
I will have the music playing from a different speaker.
Eyebeam is an amazing program and the teachers are sooo sooo helpful.
Hello, my name is Victoria Freeman and I have lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan my whole life. I am very interested in photography and I tried to incorporate my skills of photography in my final project for Digital Day Camp.
My final project is called From the Ground Up because my intention is to show people through photos, of what they take advantage of seeing while walking by benches in the Chelsea Park. These items can be garbage, water bottle, a person sitting next to you, or an occasional person walking by. It also shows different views that you can see when your sitting on the end of the bench. These include birds, leaves, and trees.
This is all shown in a collage of photos that were taken by me. The whole idea is to make people look down and look at the ground and the photos. This is to take advantage of space that people walk by without even thinking about what it can be used for.
Hello, my name is Jarius Pierre-Toussaint. A child by nature, and a New Yorker By heart. I’m from Bushwick which is located in (Boogie Down Brooklyn) or Brooklyn for short.
My project is called Change New York. Its a project that focuses around a drop box that allows anyone to walk by and drop in a note answering the two questions displayed on the project.
- Name one thing about New York you wish could change.
- Name one thing about New York you wish would stay the same.
I found the idea of this project very intriguing because normally in a big city like this we are presented with things that will forever be here, and that we can never change. Like excessive cars, crowded subways, and lack of trees. The most unfortunate thing about this is, that New Yorkers have grown used to it. Many of them have come to believe that this is the way they will live, and its the only way.
Allowing someone to share their thoughts about their home (New York) , and then being able to see all the other things people think about it. Allows them to feel like they arent the only ones who feel the way they do.
By the end of my project presentation I hope that all the people who participated in this project see that their thoughts or wishes aren’t solo in this city, and might actually have a whole army besides it!
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Policy Forum Armenia (PFA) is an independent professional non-profit organization aimed at strengthening discourse on Armenia's economic development and national security and through that helping to shape public policy in Armenia. Its main objective is to offer alternative views and professional analysis containing innovative and practical recommendations for public policy design and implementation. Through its activities, PFA aims to contribute to the creation of an informed public and more effective and accountable government. PFA's main asset is its worldwide network of professionals and leaders in their respective fields, with dedication to Armenia.
We strive to build Armenia as a country and society where:
Government is transparent and fully trusted by its subjects; Its main objective is the current and future well-being of citizens and nationals abroad; Its members are equally accountable before the law in the same manner as any other citizen of the country and have no direct commercial interests.
Judiciary is free, fair, and incorruptible.
Legislature is competent and respectable.
Civil service is the most respected form of employment, because it provides an opportunity to serve the country and people, and is highly professional.
Society has high standards of living; It is well educated, tolerant, and humane.
Economy is at the frontier of progress and innovation, building upon the human capital of the Nation as a whole; It offers equal opportunities for everyone; It does not tolerate unfair competition and redistributes through efficient and fair taxation.
Environment and responsible management of natural resources are essential to the survival of the State, and are key elements of well-being of future generations.
Human rights are the most sacred set of values.
Citizens of Armenia - Armenians, Yezidis, Greeks, Kurds, Russians, and others alike - are the most valuable asset of the State.
Armed Forces are by far the strongest in the region by spirit and dedication of its men and women, by its advanced armament, and by significance of its mission to protect life, history, and culture.
Diaspora and Armenia form a single entity, the Nation. Its stake in Armenia and Armenia’s development are recognized and encouraged; Its potential is fully internalized; Its members have dual Armenian citizenship.
History is of essence. Future is where we aim.
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Trying to figure out where to vote tomorrow? You’re not alone: with the presidential elections and several local races being voted on tomorrow, the state is at a loss of how to deal with the thousands of displaced citizens who no longer have a place to cast their ballot–nor any information on how to do so. Several good government groups believe an expanded provisional ballot program could improve the chaotic situation, but Governor Andrew Cuomo has yet to approve the proposal. With less than 24 hours to go before the election, homeless shelters are overflowing with residents from all different boroughs, poll sites are changing by the hour and voting machines have not arrived at their designated locations. (And if they do, there’s no guarantee there will be electricity.) It’s no wonder the NYC Board of Elections is having a tough time. As of an hour ago, BOE’s website was unable to tell people about changes to their polling locations. Nor were they able to tell you whether you are registered to vote. (Though both functions are now operational again, for the time being.)
A source who was down at the BOE headquarters (which have been relocated in Manhattan to 450 West 33rdStreet) described the scene as “chaotic.”
“It was mobbed. Employees were screaming at people trying to get information on where to cast their ballot tomorrow.”
Susan Lerner of the nonpartisan lobbying group Common Cause is currently sending volunteers to canvas homeless shelters in an effort to organize for tomorrow’s election. But with a lack of cars to drive people to the polling destinations (as well as the general confusion of where to vote, especially if you’ve been placed in a different borough post-Hurricane), she’s calling the situation, “The opposite of the best of times.”
Some good government groups believe the situation can be mitigated if Governor Cuomo will allow affidavit ballots, which would make it legal for people displaced from their communities to to vote at any polling place within New York State. New Jersey has already adopted this measure.
Common Cause, the Election Protection Coalition and several other groups are currently lobbying Governor Cuomo to allow the ballots. With less than fourteen hours left until polls are scheduled to open tomorrow, time will tell whether he decides to take action.
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Point 1 One of the biggest decisions of my life was the day I decided not to be an alcoholic any more. I don't remember any decisions before that.
Point 2 Everybody remembers where they were on September 11, 2001. And everybody remembers where I was, including me. I was in a school in Florida, listening intently as some children read a story called The Pet Goat. It was about a little girl who had a goat that ate everything. Her parents wanted to get rid of it.
At some point my chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered to me that America was under attack. Immediately I made the decision to carry on listening to the children. I've faced some criticism for that, but I knew then that I was facing the hardest day of my presidency, with some tough choices ahead of me. I would need all my powers of concentration and judgment, and I couldn't afford to be distracted by wondering how the story ended. I had to find out what happened to that goat.
Point 3 The decision to invade Iraq was not taken lightly. At the time I thought Saddam and Bin Laden were working closely together on terrorism; in fact I was under the impression that they were somehow related, but that turned out not to be true. Even so, I was not sure I wanted to commit American troops to an invasion.
I remember the day I took Cheney and Rumsfeld into the Oval Office and told them what I had decided: that they must decide. In an executive position it's very important to delegate, and I've never for one moment regretted the Iraq war not being my fault.
Point 4 Not every choice I made was the right one. Sometimes when I have made a decision to choose someone to make decisions, that person has let me down. That's what happened after Hurricane Katrina, but of course I was still the president, so I had to take responsibility for the terrible mistakes of others, even though I was on vacation. Looking back, that seems totally unfair.
Point 5 Occasionally one has to make split-second decisions. There's no time to think, you know, should I lean to the left or right on this one? You just move – any which way! – and if you're lucky, the shoe flies over your head. That's also how I did my Supreme Court nominations.
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WASHINGTON, July 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A national survey announced today by Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA), sheds more light on why support for people affected by lung cancer remains low. The poll indicates Americans are more likely to view lung cancer as “hopeless” and “untreatable” when compared with a diagnosis of breast or colon cancer. In addition, 26% of Americans believe lung cancer is largely “self-inflicted.”
“Many believe that those impacted by lung cancer brought the disease on themselves. This is simply not true,” said Laurie Fenton Ambrose, LCA President & CEO. “Over 77% of those diagnosed today either quit smoking decades ago or never smoked at all. The fact remains that regardless of smoking history, no one deserves lung cancer.”
This survey was conducted to provide guidance to health marketers participating in a unique online and live learning experience, unNiched 2010. During unNiched 2010, participants will learn powerful collaboration and strategic marketing skills. In addition, attendees will apply their knowledge during an event-wide idea competition designed to help LCA correct misperceptions about lung cancer and encourage people to become involved in the movement to increase compassion and support for the disease.
“We believe unNiched 2010 will help us accelerate our ongoing efforts to combat the pervasive stigma and misinformation surrounding lung cancer,” continued Fenton Ambrose. “We are confident participants will come up with creative and exciting concepts intended to enhance the work that LCA is already doing to alleviate stigma and further activate the lung cancer community.”
The full results of this survey will be unveiled in November during the live portion of unNiched 2010. To download an executive summary of the study, please visit www.unniched.com/LungCancerPerceptions.pdf. Learn more about unNiched 2010, by visiting www.unniched.com.
Lung Cancer Alliance, www.lungcanceralliance.org, is the only national non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to patient support and advocacy for those living with or at risk for lung cancer. Lung Cancer Alliance is committed to leading the movement to reverse decades of stigma and neglect by empowering those with or at risk for the disease, elevating awareness and changing health policy.
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The Mandate of Hell
How Not to Change the World
In the fall of 1948, Harry Truman barnstormed the country by train, repeatedly bashing a “do-nothing Congress,” and so snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in that year’s presidential campaign. This year, neither presidential candidate focused on blasting a do-nothing Congress or, in Obama’s case, “Republican obstructionism,” demanding that the voters give them a legislative body that would mean an actual mandate for change.
We now know the results of such a campaign and, after all the tumult and the nation’s first $6 billion election, they couldn’t be more familiar. Only days later, you can watch a remarkably recognizable cast of characters from the reelected president and Speaker of the House John Boehner to the massed pundits of the mainstream media picking up the pages of a well-thumbed script.
Will it be bipartisanship or the fiscal cliff? Are we going to raise new revenues via tax reform or raise tax rates for the wealthiest Americans? Will the president make up with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or not? Will it be war or something less with Iran? And so on and so forth. It’s the moment the phrase déjà vu all over again was made for.
A Hell of Our Own Making
When a new Chinese dynasty came to power, it was said that it had received “the mandate of heaven.” We’ve just passed through an election campaign that, while the noisiest in memory, was enveloped in the deepest of silences on issues that truly matter for the American future. Out of it, a “mandate” has indeed been bestowed not just on Barack Obama, but on Washington, where a Republican House of Representatives, far less triumphant but no less fully in the saddle than the president, faces media reports that its moment is past, that its members are part of “the biggest loser demographic of the election,” and that its party -- lacking the support of young people, single women, those with no religious affiliation, Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans -- is heading for the trash barrel of history.
If true, that does sound like a mandate for something, sooner or later -- assuming you happen to have years of demographic patience. In the meantime, there will be a lot more talk about how the Republicans need to reorient their party and about a possible “civil war” over its future. And while we’re at it, bet on one thing: we’re also going to hear a ton more talk about how much deeply unhappy Americans -- the very ones who just reinstalled a government that’s a senatorial blink away from the previous version of the same -- really, really want everyone to make nice and work together.
But isn’t it time to cut the b.s., turn off those talking heads, and ask ourselves: What does election 2012 really mean for us and for this country?
Let’s start with one basic reality: we’ve just experienced a do-nothing election that represents a mandate from a special American kind of hell. (Admittedly, Mitt Romney’s election, which would have put the House of Representatives and Big Energy in the Oval Office, undoubtedly represented a more venal circle of that fiery establishment.)
That, in turn, ensures two different but related outcomes, both little discussed during the campaign: continuing gridlock on almost any issue that truly matters at home and a continuing damn-the-Hellfire-missiles, full-speed-ahead permanent state of war abroad (along with yet more militarization of the “homeland”). The only winners -- and don’t believe the outcries you’re hearing about sequestration “doom” for the military -- are likely to be the national security complex, the Pentagon, and in a country where income inequality has long been on the rise, the wealthy. Yes, in the particular circle of hell to which we’re consigned, it’s likely to remain springtime for billionaires and giant weapons manufacturers from 2012 to 2016.
How do we know that gridlock and a permanent state of war are the only two paths open to the people’s representatives, that Washington is quite so constrained? Because we’ve just voted in a near-rerun of the years 2009-2012, which means that the power to make domestic policy (except at the edges) will continue to slowly seep out of the White House, while the power of the president and the national security state to further abridge evaporating liberties at home and make war abroadwill only be enhanced. The result is likely to be stasis for the globe’s last superpower at a moment when much of the world -- and the planet itself -- is in the process of tumultuous transformation.
Here are things not to expect: a major move to rebuild the country’s tattered infrastructure; the genuine downsizing of the American global military mission; any significant attempt to come to grips with a changing planet and global warming; and the mobilization of a younger generation that, as Hurricane Sandy showed, is ready to give much and do much to help others in need, but in the next four years will never be called to the colors.
In other words, this country is stuck in a hell of its own making that passes for everyday life at a moment when the world, for better and/or worse, is coming unstuck in all sorts of ways.
Fiddling While the Planet Burns
The United States remains a big, powerful, wealthy country that is slowly hollowing out, breaking down. Meanwhile, on planet Earth, the global economy is up for grabs. Another meltdown ispossible, as the European, Chinese, Japanese, and Indian economies all continue to take hits. Power relations have been changing rapidly, from the rise of Brazil in what was once Washington's "backyard" to the Chinese miracle (and the military muscle that goes with it). A largely American system that long helped keep the Greater Middle East, the energy heartlands of the globe, under grim, autocratic control is unraveling with unknown consequences. Above all, from increasingly iceless Arctic waters to ever more extreme weather, rising sea levels, and the acidification of the oceans, this planet is undergoing a remarkably rapid transformation based largely on the release into the atmosphere of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.
Other than a few curious Republican comparisons of an American economy under the Democrats to “Greece,” a near obsessive focus on the death of Ambassador J. Christopher Stephens and three other Americans in Libya, and various denunciations of China as a currency manipulator, not a single one of these matters came up in any meaningful way in the election campaign. In other words, election 2012 boiled down to little more than a massive case of Washington-style denial. And don’t for a second think that that’s just an artifact of election year artifice.
Take climate change, which like the Arab Spring blasted its way into our unprepared midst in 2011-2012. There was the wildfire season of all seasons in a parching Southwest and West, a devastating drought that still hasn’t fully lifted in the Midwestern breadbasket (or corncob) of the country, and a seemingly endless summer that may make this the hottest year on record for the continental United States. It was staggering and, if opinion polls are to be believed, noted by increasing numbers of concerned Americans who could literally feel the world changing around them.
And yet none of this made global warming an election issue. Month after month, it was The Great Unmentionable. The silence of emboldened Republicans plugging their drill-baby-drill and lay-those-pipelines policies and of cowed Democrats who convinced themselves that the issue was a no-win zone for the president proved deafening -- until the campaign's last days. It was then, of course, that Hurricane Sandy, the “Frankenstorm,” swept through my town and devastated New Jersey. It provided the extreme weather coup de grâce of 2012. (And yes, there’s little doubt that climate-change-induced rising sea levels contributed to its fury.) Superstorm Sandy also revealed just how unprepared the U.S. infrastructure is for predicted climate-change events.
The extremity of Sandy and its 14-foot storm surge was stunning enough that global warming was suddenly forced out of the closet. It made magazine covers and gubernatorial press conferences. There was even a last-minute Romney vs. Sandy web ad (“Tell Mitt Romney: Climate Change Isn’t a Joke”), and in his victory statement on election night, President Obama did manage to briefly acknowledge the changed post-Sandy moment, saying, “We want our children to live in an America that isn't... threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet.”
Still, in just about every sense that matters in Washington, real planning for climate change is likely to remain off that table on which all “options” always sit. Expect the president to offer Shell further support for drilling in Arctic waters, expect a new push for the Keystone XL pipeline which will transport some of the “dirtiest” energy from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and so on.
Don’t count on anyone doing the obvious: launching the sort of Apollo-style R&D program that once got us to the moon and might speed the U.S. and the planet toward an alternative energy economy, or investing real money in the sort of mitigation projects for the new weather paradigm that might prevent a coastal city like New York -- or even Washington -- from turning into an uninhabitable disaster zone in some not so distant future.
Climate science is certainly complex and filled with unknowns. As it happens, many of those unknowns increasingly seem focused on two questions: How extreme and how quickly? It’s suggested that sea levels are already rising faster than predicted and some recent scientific studies indicate that, by century's end, the planet’s average temperature could rise by up to eight degrees Fahrenheit, an almost unimaginable disaster for humanity.
Whatever the unknowns, certain things are obvious enough. Here, for instance, is a simple reality: any set of attempts, already ongoing, to make North America the “Saudi Arabia” of the twenty-first century in energy production are guaranteed to be a climate-change disaster. Unfortunately, this election ensures once again that, no matter what the planetary realities or the actual needs of this country, no significant money will flow into alteration or mitigation projects.
Among the truly bizarre aspects of this situation, one stands out: thanks in part to a long-term climate-change-denial campaign, well-funded by the giant energy companies, the subject has become “political.” The idea that it is a liberal or left-wing “issue,” rather than a global reality that must be dealt with, is now deeply embedded. And yet there may never have been a more basic conservative issue (at least in the older sense of the term): the preserving, above all else, of what is already most valuable in our lives. And what qualifies more for that than the health of the planet on which humanity “grew up”?
The phrase “fiddling while Rome burns” seems to catch something of the essence of this post-election moment -- and it has special meaning when the fiddlers turn out to be slipping matches to the arsonists.
Just a week after the election, the Republican Party is already gearing up to produce a new, better-looking, more “diverse,” better-marketed version of itself for the 2014 and 2016 Hispanic and Asian American “markets.” The Democratic Party is no doubt following suit. In American politics these days, presidential elections last at least four years. The first poll for Iowa 2016 is already out. (Hillary’s way ahead). Elections are the big business, sometimes just about the only significant political business Washington focuses on with any success, aided and abetted by the media. So look forward to the $7 billion or $8 billion or $9 billion elections to come and the ever-greater hoopla surrounding them.
But stop waiting for change, “big” or otherwise, to come from Washington. It won’t. Don’t misunderstand me: as the residents of the Midwestern drought zone and the Jersey shore now know all too well, change is coming, like it or not. If, however, you want this country to be something other than its instigator and its victim, if you want the U.S. to engage a world of danger (and also of opportunity), you'd better call yourself and your friends and neighbors to the colors. Don’t wait for a Washington focused on its own well-being in 2014 or 2016. Mobilize yourself. It’s time to occupy this country before it’s blown away in a storm.
Tom Engelhardt, co-founder of the American Empire Project and author of The United States of Fear as well as The End of Victory Culture, his history of the Cold War, runs the Nation Institute's TomDispatch.com, where this article first appeared. His latest book, co-authored with Nick Turse, is Terminator Planet: The First History of Drone Warfare, 2001-2050. You can see his recent interview with Bill Moyers on supersized politics and election 2012 by clicking here.
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At 2280 meters the temperature was -5.5, and winds were 10-20 KPH from the ESE as of 06:00 hrs.
At 1550 meters the temperature was -2, 69% relative humidity and the barometer is on the rise.
In the valley it is +1.
For the updated Avalanche Advisory click here: Avalanche Advisory
Avalanches in Scotland: Cairngorms
Some avalanche Activity on the Hurley:
Just wanted to send out a Heads Up! Yesterday around noon a Size 3 - 3.5 avalanche crossed the Hurely FSR between Km 11-12. It came down from the east side of Green Mountain in an avalanche path that was a regular offender. The road had been cleared through previous avalanches in the same slide paths within the last couple of weeks.
What is special about this slide is that the slope is SE facing and has seen high temperatures for the last week, but didn't slide until yesterday. The difference yesterday was that the area received a little bit of rain from convective clouds. The gauge at Green Mountain only recorded one or two mm of precipitation, but local reports say there was more in isolated areas.
With the forecast for 10-20mm of precipitation this coming weekend take care out there. There is still enough snow to slide to valley bottom and block the road behind you. The slide on the Hurley was reported about 6 meters deep.
From Braden Douglas, a picture of the road under path 51 on the Duffy Lake Road. Recent activity!
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Friday, July 03, 2009
Billiard balls made of cellulose nitrate would occasionally explode on contact
Archiving your music is not easy: try to keep it in several media at once (as paper originals and copies, as data on permanent and non-permanent formats), make multiple copies of each, and distribute the storage (i.e. one copy at home, one copy for the safe deposit box, one sent home to Mom). Think plastics will last forever? Think again: here's a new aticle on the degrading of plastics.
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A collection of news and information related to National Parks published by this site and its partners.
Displaying items 1-12 of 1780 » View chicagotribune.com items only1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11-149 Next >
Story time in the Garden Join the West Chicago Library staff to explore some favorite stories and other activities in Cantigny's beautiful gardens at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 20. Contact Joslyn Jones at the library for further details and reservations...
Laura del Principe is not a Top Chef or an Iron Chef. She doesn't have tattoos running up and down her arms or a line of cookware created in her name. Plistia, the restaurant she runs with her husband, Cesidio Decina, is tucked away in the small...
Tags: Recipes, Restaurants, Lasagna, Pasta, Italy
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Canary Islands — These islands are Europe's Florida: a subtropical climate, sandy beaches edged with palms, even theme parks as large as those in the United States. Yet, many Americans don't have a clue where these seven...
MONTELLO, Wis. — When walking in the footsteps of greatness, it is of equal importance to follow where they lead and to discover where they began. In celebration of the life of the fervent conservationist John Muir in the year of his 175th...
GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — My cabin was the ultimate in location, location, location. Don't misunderstand; it was a perfectly pleasant little cabin, if not a bit small (some might say cozy), with log walls, matching wood furniture and a...
Another day, another outcry from President Barack Obama — this one in Newport News, Va. — about the parade of horribles that will arrive Friday when automatic federal spending cuts begin: air travel delays, weaker law enforcement, less money...
IN THE dark the safest way to attack the lions was to catch them in the headlights of a car and run them over. Once the adults were downed it was easy enough to dispatch the cubs with spears and arrows. When the killing stopped last year in Kitengela,...
Jackson, WY –Fourteen elementary school students traveled from Wheaton, IL to Jackson Hole on March 3rd for a week of outdoor exploration. The students stayed at the Jackson Campus of Teton Science Schools and spent the week exploring Grand Teton...
Hurry up and slow down. That's one way to look at a road trip. You don't hop a plane and zip off halfway around the world. You slide in behind the wheel and get a grip, you feel the planet, you experience the travel. Travel becomes part of the...
Though we are a nation of summer travelers, that season isn't necessarily the best time to explore. "I would argue Europe is better in the shoulder seasons," said Amy Farley, news editor at Travel + Leisure and author of the magazine's "Trip Doctor"...
A group of Chicago residents and preservationists are working to win federal approval to turn the entire Pullman neighborhood on Chicago's Far South Side into a national park. If approved by Congress or proclaimed a national monument by the president,...
Tribune reporterA Naperville man who enjoyed nature was in the midst of visiting national parks around the country when he died at Lake Mead in Arizona this week, according to authorities. Kenneth S. Ritter, 54, was found dead Thursday near an inflatable kayak along the...
Jun 20, 2013 |Story| Chicago Tribune
May 15, 2013 |Story| Chicago Tribune
May 25, 2013 |Story| Chicago Tribune
Apr 28, 2013 |Story| Chicago Tribune
Mar 26, 2013 |Column| Chicago Tribune
Feb 27, 2013 |Story| Chicago Tribune
Jan 30, 2013 |Story| NewsCred
Mar 13, 2013 |Story| Chicago Tribune UGC
Mar 5, 2013 |Story| Chicago Tribune
Feb 19, 2013 |Column| Chicago Tribune
Mar 10, 2013 |Column| Chicago Tribune
Oct 5, 2012 |Story| Chicago Tribune
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It’s no secret that this has been the hottest, driest summer on record for more than fifty years.
If you live in the Midwest like I do, all you have to do is look at your front yard to understand the impact the drought is having on our landscape.
But it isn’t just flower beds and lawns that are paying the price. America’s heartland farmers are suffering – big time. Corn fields are dried up. Soybeans never sprouted. Livestock are being “thinned” to adjust for burned-out grazing areas.
All of which means, whether you live in Manhattan, Kansas or Manhattan, New York, the price that YOU pay for food – everything from produce to poultry – will be doing up over the next year.
The government is forecasting that prices will go up 4 to 5 percent for beef over the next year, with only slightly lower increases for eggs and dairy products. And it’s not just animal protein. If the food has corn in it – or depends on corn to produce it – you can expect the prices to go up.
As someone who budgets $550 per month for food (and household items), these predictions do not bode well for my finances. Even an increase of $50 per month is a 10% jump!
You may wonder: Is there anything that can be done? How do we adjust our budgets and our shopping to accommodate these increases?
Here are five suggestions to prepare for the rising food prices.
#1. Stock up on meat and poultry now.
It pains me to pay $4.99 per pound for ground beef at Costco, but $5.99 will be even MORE painful! I plan to triple my Rosh Hashana stock-up trip to add ground beef, brisket, cholent meat, and whole chickens to my freezer.
Just remember: If you don’t have it in your budget to stock-up, you aren’t saving any money! Anticipating the price increase is smart; paying 18% interest on your credit card to do so – isn’t!
#2. Use more plant-based proteins.
We don’t eat much meat as it is – only for Shabbat and the occasional Sunday night BBQ in the summertime. Increasing prices might push us even further in the vegan direction.
Snobby Joe’s are 1/12th the cost of Sloppy Joe’s – and my kids eat them just the same.
If your family is more finicky, you can work toward using meat as a component of the meal, rather than the focus of the meal. For example, serve beef fajitas – using just a few ounces of meat, together with plenty of veggies, rice, beans and homemade salsa to fill up your tortilla – rather than an 8-oz steak for each person at the table.
#3. Update your price book.
Denial isn’t going to stop the food price increases! Get out your price book and start updating your “rock bottom prices” now.
When I see that peanut butter, for example, has increased in price over 200% in the past year, there’s no point in continuing to aim to pay $.50 per jar with a coupon and a sale. My target price is now $1 per jar – and when I can get it for that, I buy several!
Do the same with the rest of your family staples. The changes in your price book will allow you to realistically adjust your budget.
#4. Increase your savings in other areas.
Margin is the name of the game. You may not be able to do much about the price of beef, poultry, dairy and corn-based products – but you can still save in other areas of your budget.
Buy produce only when it’s in season and aim to spend no more than $1/pound. Explore buying grains in bulk, or joining a co-op.
#5. Check your portion sizes.
I hesitated about including this tip as I don’t want it to be misconstrued as an endorsement of rationing. I’m not talking about going hungry – not at all!
But I will say that since I’ve been on a diet this summer, I’ve really been paying better attention to serving sizes. A typical serving at our house of meat, fish or chicken, for example, is two to three-times the recommended serving size.
A serving size of pasta is one cup (ONE!). Likewise for rice, cereal and other grains.
My family eats a lot, so I can’t really stop the inevitable. But I have been working with them on realizing (a) what a sated tummy feels like and (b) how to make healthier choices when their tummies aren’t yet sated. Although this change is for health reasons, it certainly has (healthy) budget ramifications as well.
Are you worried about the rising cost of food? Have you started stocking up on anything in anticipation of the price increase? How do you plan to keep your budget in check over the coming month?
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Only a decade or so ago, branding was only for the big boys. Today, branding is no longer just for big business. Even if you’re a one-man (or woman !) band, branding yourself or your business effectively will add real value to you or your business. Small business or personal branding is all about identifying, packaging up and clearly communicating your, or your business’ unique selling points (USPs) or unique characteristics. These USPs or unique characteristics are the things people who hire you or buy from you get when they do biz with you (in addition to the product or service you sell them).
When it comes to really small business branding, things like your tenacity, your sense of humour and good communication skills may well play as important a part in your branding exercise as your product or service.
In short, your brand is the whole package of attributes you bring to the table.
Where do you start?
Your brand is the sum total of what really differentiates you from your competitors. In reality, these may be your personality, your attention to detail, your experience, your accomplishments, your skills or your values (or of course your products or services). Either way, these elements are the core values that you want people to associate with your business.
Branding yourself or your small business isn’t an easy process, but it’s a really important one. Start by clearly identifying your or your business’ strengths. What do you bring to the table when you join forces with your customers, what do you do better, more effectively or more efficiently than anyone else? Perhaps you offer a product that’s unique or you’ve have developed a completely new service, or you’ve maybe re-packaged an existing product or service to be more appealing or interesting? Either way, these are all possible features of your brand.
When you’ve identified these elements, try to summarise them into a sentence or two.
Packaging your brand
How you package your brand will depend to a large extent, on the size of your business, your target market and of course your budget. That said, in this day and age of cheap (but high quality) online printing; free website templates and free or low cost graphics packages, there’s no reason why you can’t really go to town with your branding exercise (even on a shoestring).
It’s essential to include your business name in your brand, but you should also try to incorporate some sort of tagline that sums up you or your business. Mine is “Marketing savvy professional copywriter”, because it pretty much says it all. Once you have your tagline, use this as the foundation on which you develop the remainder of your brand communication.
Remember to include your tagline on all your communication materials.
Giving your brand an image
Your brand image will have your website, your business card and your communication style at its core. Once you’ve decided on your image, get it out and about on the social media.
The social media are great places to get your brand noticed. They allow you to reach out to a targeted audience, which would have been impossible only a few years ago. A useful blog, integrated into your website, which is linked out to the social networks is a great way to get your brand noticed. LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook should probably be your first port of call.
Keep your brand image consistent and stay loyal to your brand, even in tough times. If you’re social networking, decide clearly on your target audience and promote your brand in a focused and professional way. Just because the social media are free, doesn’t mean you should put less thought into how you promote yourself there than if you were paying for a printed ad somewhere.
If you’re reading this page and nodding your head, that’s great because it means I’ve struck a chord. But, if you know in your heart that you can do all this stuff yourself, but you’ll never get round to it, gimme me a shout…. I can either provide you with the support you need or get the job done for you, whichever works best for you.
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Arizonans will not get to vote in November whether to kill public financing of elections.
A measure given preliminary approval Monday by the state Senate would curb some of the activities of the Citizens Clean Elections Commission in promoting the organization. The new version of HB 2779 also would end the ability of taxpayers to get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donations to help candidates run for office.
In exchange, though, foes of public financing have agreed to scrap plans to ask voters to kill the system outright, a ballot fight that likely would be expensive, with neither side guaranteed a victory.
The deal to avoid a ballot fight in November over the statewide public financing program also ends any threat to Tucson’s own similar system for mayor and city council. The now-scrapped ballot proposal would have banned all forms of public funding.
The 1998 voter-approved law allows but does not require candidates for statewide and legislative office to get public dollars for their campaigns if they agree not to take other outside cash. The amount is based on the office being sought.
A majority of the cash comes from a surcharge on civil, criminal and traffic fines. But nearly half comes from a state income tax credit available to donors, a system that takes money out of the general fund.
Last year business interests and other foes of public financing convinced lawmakers to approve a ballot measure asking voters to constitutionally ban any public dollars from being used by candidates.
That language was declared illegal by a judge. Foes of public financing had recast it to comply with the court ruling and were prepared to send it to the ballot.
But that led to another fight: whether the commission was trying to stack the deck.
State law does allow the commission to use 10 percent of what it collects for “voter education.”
Those trying to kill public financing, led by former state Sen. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, argued that much of that cash was designed to oppose the referendum. A state judge disagreed. But the issue was headed to an appellate court.
Monday’s deal resolves all that: The law will be amended to specifically prohibit the use of voter education funds “to promote the benefits of the Clean Elections Act.”
“In other words, no billboards at the hockey game, no TV ads saying ‘Clean Elections is a wonderful thing,’” said state Sen. John McComish, R-Phoenix, who helped broker the deal.
Exactly where is that line, however, may be subject to interpretation.
“In my view, we do exactly what we’ve always done,” said Todd Lang, the commission’s executive director.
He said the commission will still be able to use the money it gets to publicize why people should choose to run with public financing and how they can make that happen. And he said the billboards and ads on websites will remain.
“They’re very effective,” Lang said.
But where some have statements now like “Good politics,” and how Clean Elections is “Good for Arizona,” the new message instead will urge people to get involved in politics and run for office — and that public funding is available.
The other part of the deal relates to the source of the money.
Lang said about $6 million a year comes from those dollar-for-dollar tax credits. He said eliminating those credits will not hurt the system, pointing out that the commission has been giving an extra $10 million a year in surplus money to the state general fund.
That still leaves the commission able to collect the surcharges on fines which Lang said brings in about $15 million a year.
Lang said he believes that, had the repeal of public financing been put on the ballot, voters would have rejected it.
“Ultimately, we thought discretion was the better part of valor,” he said.
And McComish said he sees a negotiated deal as preferable to another ballot fight.
McComish also said restricting how the commission can spend its money is not part of some plan to undermine its public perception and then spring a new renewal effort for the 2014 ballot.
Paton said he had not seen the deal but said he was “open to it.”
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Getting Around Denver
Boasting the title of the largest airport by area in the U.S.A., you bet that Denver International Airport has one of the most sophisticated and well-developed ground transportation in the country. Serving about 50 million visitors every year, the airport does a great job to accommodate all forms of transportation needs for private and public use.
Upon arriving to DEN, passengers will immediately realize that the airport is like no other facility that they have seen. The sheer size and area of the airport's grounds make it difficult to navigate by foot, and that is why an entire underground rail system operates at the airport. The Jeppesen Terminal is linked directly to Terminal A, Terminal B, and Terminal C by an automated train service that runs all day and night. There is also a pedestrian bridge that connects the main Jeppesen Terminal to the nearby Terminal A.
After getting comfortable with navigating the terminals at Denver International Airport, visitors can start searching for ground transportation options. Driving by car is without a doubt the dominant way of getting around in the Denver area. This explains the presence of more than ten car rental companies that operate directly at the airport. Customers will want to take advantage of the courtesy shuttles between the Jeppesen Terminal to the rental car facilities and parking lots, because otherwise it would be a long walk.
The great thing about driving to and from Denver International Airport is the remote location that has minimum traffic congestion. The airport is situated in a rural undeveloped area just over 20 miles east of Downtown Denver. Driving to the heart of Denver from the airport is a matter of getting onto Pena Boulevard and then merging onto Interstate 70.
There are plenty of great and affordable hotels located near the airport off Pena Blvd, and courtesy shuttles are available from the main terminal building. Luxurious limousines, charter buses, and taxis line up outside Jeppesen Terminal level 5, waiting to pick up passengers. All of the ground transportation vehicles are nicely organized along multiple designated lanes outside the terminal waiting area.
Public transportation at the Denver International Airport is offered by RTD (Regional Transportation District.) The SkyRide is an express system of multiple bus routes that connect the airport with nearby suburban communities and Denver. In addition to running more than 100 other bus routes, RTD also operates five light rail lines throughout the Denver Area.
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Annual Report On Disability-Related Air Travel Complaints
Report of the Secretary of Transportation to the United States Congress
Pursuant to the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR-21)
The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA, 49 U.S.C. 41705) prohibits discriminatory treatment of persons with disabilities in air transportation. The Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR-21; Public Law 106-181) requires, among other things, that the Secretary of Transportation “regularly review all complaints received by air carriers alleging discrimination on the basis of disability” and “report annually to Congress on the results of such review.” This is the fourth such annual report to Congress, which covers disability-related complaints that U.S. and foreign passenger air carriers operating to, from, and within the U.S. received during the 2007 calendar year, as reported to the U.S. Department of Transportation (Department or DOT) by those carriers.
This report has two components: (1) a summary of the data reported to the Department by U.S. and foreign air carriers; and (2) a detailed breakdown of the data for each carrier. To allow readers to find areas of interest easily and grasp the essence of an issue quickly, this annual report employs a graphic-intensive format for its data presentation. The 2009 report to Congress covering disability-related complaints carriers received during the 2008 calendar year will follow this same format.
On July 8, 2003, the Department published a final rule to implement the requirements of AIR-21 (See 14 CFR 382.70, 68 FR 40488). This rule requires certificated U.S. air carriers and foreign air carriers operating to, from, or within the United States, conducting passenger operations with at least one aircraft having a designed seating capacity for more than 60 passengers, to record complaints that they receive alleging discrimination or inadequate accessibility on the basis of a disability. The complaints are to be categorized according to the passenger’s type of disability and the nature of the complaint. The passenger's disability must be recorded as one of the following types:
vision impaired hearing impaired vision and hearing impaired mentally impaired communicable disease allergies (e.g., food allergies, chemical sensitivity) paraplegic quadriplegic other wheelchair oxygen stretcher other assistive device (cane, respirator, etc.) other disability
The nature of the alleged discrimination or service problem related to the disability must be recorded in the following categories:
refusal to board refusal to board without an attendant security issues concerning disability aircraft not accessible airport not accessible advance-notice dispute seating accommodation failure to provide adequate or timely assistance damage to assistive device storage or delay of assistive device service animal problem unsatisfactory information other
The 2003 rule also requires the covered carriers to retain copies of the applicable complaints and records of the action taken for each complaint for three years, and to submit the required disability-related complaint data to the DOT annually. The first required report covered disability-related complaints received by carriers during calendar year 2004, which was due to the Department on January 25, 2005. Carriers are required to submit all subsequent reports on the last Monday in January of that year for the prior calendar year. For example, carriers were required to submit their 2005 calendar year disability-related complaint data by January 30, 2006, their 2006 calendar year disability-related complaint data by January 29, 2007, and their 2007 calendar year disability-related complaint data by January 28, 2008.
Summary of Findings
For the 2007 reporting period, 58 U.S. carriers and 116 foreign carriers submitted the required disability-related complaint data. The total number of carriers that submitted data for the 2007 reporting period increased by 12 compared to the 2006 reporting period; however, it should be noted that a number of U.S. and foreign carriers ceased operations or discontinued passenger service to the U.S. in 2007 while other carriers received authority to operate passenger service to, from, or within the U.S. during the same time period. The Department is continuing its efforts to inform new carriers of their reporting obligations as well as to identify carriers that the reporting rule may apply to that have not filed the required reports.
The 58 U.S. carriers that submitted data for the 2007 calendar year reported receiving 13,926 disability-related air travel complaints, and the 116 foreign air carriers reported receiving 1,364 complaints during the same time period, for a total of 15,290 complaints received by these 174 carriers. Similar to the last two years, more than half of the complaints reported (7,847) concerned the failure to provide adequate assistance to persons using wheelchairs. Overall disability-related complaints received by carriers for calendar year 2007 increased by 10 percent over complaints received by carriers for calendar year 2006, with 1,861 more complaints received by U.S. carriers and 337 fewer complaints received by foreign air carriers. Of course, domestic and international passenger enplanement by U.S. carriers also increased between 2006 and 2007 from approximately 750.8 million to approximately 775.8 million and overall consumer complaints received by DOT increased by approximately 58 percent from 2006 to 2007 reflecting a general increase in service problems in the air transportation industry. A table that presents a summary of the disability complaint data for 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 is set forth below.
|Total Number of Disability Complaints Received by Domestic Carriers||Total Number of Disability Complaints Received by Foreign Carriers||Total Number of Disability Complaints Received by All Carriers|
As noted in last year’s Report to Congress, although the overall number of complaints may appear to be large, it must be noted that millions of persons with disabilities in the United States travel by air each year, and the vast majority of them do not file a disability-related air travel complaint **1.
The substance of the complaints filed with the carriers has not been reviewed to determine whether the incidents constituted violations of the Air Carrier Access Act or the provisions of 14 CFR Part 382. Such an undertaking would require resources beyond the Department’s investigative capabilities. Therefore, the complaint numbers should not be interpreted as reflecting violations of law. Moreover, the data being provided were taken directly from reports submitted by carriers and have not been audited or verified by the Department. However, the Department’s Enforcement Office will audit carriers as it deems necessary in the future to ensure accurate reporting. The Department’s Enforcement Office also reviews complaints filed directly with DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division.
Four categories of information are being presented in this report: data from each carrier; summary totals for U.S. air carriers; summary totals for foreign air carriers; and summary totals for all carriers. The data are presented in charts similar to the charts in which covered U.S. and foreign air carriers are required to submit their reports; each chart contains 13 categories of disabilities on the horizontal axis and 13 categories of complaints on the vertical axis.
1** According to data obtained through the National Household Travel Survey conducted by DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics in 2001 and 2002, more than 17 million persons with disabilities in the U.S. travel by air each year. Data collection for the next survey will begin in 2008 and the survey results will be released in 2009.
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Summer may be months away, but if you have children, you'll do your wallet a favor if you start planning for camp—that annual rite of passage where kids learn to paddle a canoe, work on their breaststroke, and make lifelong friends.
The American Camp Association (ACA) estimates summer camps generate around $15 billion in annual revenue, with sleepaway camps charging an average of $85 per day per camper and day camps costing on average $43 per day per camper.
If that sounds pricey, Peg Smith, CEO of ACA, offers these words of assurance: "There's a camp for every budget, and there's a camp for every child."
Consider these strategies to find a camp that's the best fit for your child—at a price that works for your budget:
1. Start early. Give yourself ample time to research camp options. "There are often discounts for early registration, so it's important to start thinking about it sooner rather than later," says Smith.
Getting a jump on planning also gives you more time to save up for camp costs."I've set up a goal savings account that's just for short-term goals, like camp," says Paul Golden, a father of two and spokesperson for the National Endowment for Financial Education. "Figure out how much you need to save and divide that by the number of months until you need that money. If you sign up for a later [camp session], that gives you more time to save. Some of those programs later in the summer are also cheaper."
2. Look for discounts or scholarships. Some camps offer financial assistance programs, but many are on a first-come, first-served basis, says Golden. "Don't automatically think that [your] income level is a disqualifier," he adds. And if you're sending multiple children to the same program, you may qualify for a multi-child discount.
Andrew Townsend, camps director at Kennolyn Camps in Soquel, Calif., says some day camps are turning to daily deal sites like Groupon to boost enrollment. Last year, Groupon sold vouchers for several week-long summer camps in Arizona starting at $59, while the San Diego Union-Tribune offered a week-long camp at Mission Bay Sportcenter for $95.
3. Consult your accountant. Even if you don't qualify for scholarships or other discounts, you may be able to pay for day camp for kids under 13 using pre-tax dollars in a dependent care flexible spending arrangement (FSA). The IRS caps dependent care FSAs at $5,000 per year, and your employer withholds money from each paycheck to fund the plan.
Also consider the Child and Dependent Care Credit, which allows taxpayers to deduct up to 35 percent of their childcare expenses, up to a maximum of $6,000. "My best advice is to check with a tax planning professional and keep track of expenses," says Golden.
4. Look in unexpected places. If sleepaway camp is too pricey (or maybe your child has an aversion to tents and latrines), consider daytime programs, such as those offered by a nearby college or community center.
Leah Ingram, a mother of two teenage girls in New Hope, Penn., and founder of the blog SuddenlyFrugal.com, says some of the best values she's seen for summer programs have been at local universities or community centers. If a summer program offers children college credit, "that could save them or you money on tuition down the line," Ingram says. Churches, local libraries, nonprofits like the YMCA, or scouting groups might also offer affordable summer activities.
[Read: Fun Ways to Teach Kids About Money.]
5. Keep in mind extra expenses. Remember to factor in costs that aren't covered by the camp price, which may include a sleeping bag, canteen, or camp T-shirt. "There's always some extras," says Golden. "Kids almost always will want some sort of money for discretionary spending while they're there, so you need to think about all those costs." Talking to parents who've sent their kids to the camp in the past can give you a ballpark figure for some of these costs and help you gauge whether it is the right program for your child. Smith says camp directors are often willing to share references from other parents to give parents peace of mind.
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After two decades of poor financial results, the homeowners line is finally in the “sweet spot,” according to a new study by Conning Research and Consulting Inc.
The Conning Research study, “Homeowners Insurance: The ‘Curse’ Is Reversed Until 2008,” predicts a ratio of 104.5 percent in 2004 despite some of the worst catastrophe losses on record. The outlook is bright for 2005-2007, due to a favorable underwriting environment and a surge in insurer sophistication.
“From 1980 to 2002, the homeowners line found a way to lose money almost every year, often with new causes emerging just as older causes appeared to be solved,” said Bruce Hale, analyst at Conning Research & Consulting. “Insurers brought many of these problems upon themselves. While some remedial actions began in the mid-1990s, the rewards only became noticeable in the profitable 2003 results.”
However, the Conning study predicts an end to the recovery by 2008, since some of the current favorable factors are temporary opportunities. The turnaround will then be replaced by the old, margin-squeezing business cycle, according to the study.
“While the homeowners recovery is impressive, it appears that, overall, the line will revert to traditional market cycle dynamics,” said Stephan Christiansen, research director at Conning Research & Consulting. “Yet by analyzing those same dynamics, effectively managed market leaders can succeed in avoiding the pitfalls and ensuring their long-term returns.”
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Tunisia over the weekend and told an audience not to pay attention to anything Republican presidential candidates have to say about foreign policy. She went on to say they should listen to Obama.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested Sunday she may have been less than diplomatic when she told an audience in Tunisia to “not pay attention” to the rhetoric coming from the Republican presidential primary race. But she doesn’t take back the gist of her comments.
Speaking Saturday in the first country to undergo the transformation of the “Arab Spring,” the nation’s top diplomat was answering a question from an audience member who asked how Arabs can trust candidates on both sides who “run toward the Zionist lobbies to get their support in the states. And afterward, once they are elected, they come to show their support for countries like Tunisia and Egypt.”
Without addressing the audience member’s question about supporting the Arab “enemy,” Clinton, who was vanquished by Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary, said that Tunisians will learn as their democracy grows that “a lot of things are said in political campaigns that should not bear a lot of attention.”
“There are comments made that certainly don’t reflect the United States, don’t reflect our foreign policy, don’t reflect who we are as a people. I mean, if you go to the United States, you see mosques everywhere, you see Muslim-Americans everywhere. That’s the fact. So I would not pay attention to the rhetoric,” Clinton said.
She then added that the audience should “watch what President Obama says and does.” (Read More)
Oh yes, let the world listen to Obama as he apologizes.
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By Tim Herron, Boardroom Metrics
Tim Herron is the past President and Chairman of the Board with the Starlight Children’s Foundation. He is a Certified Governance expert working with not-for-profit organizations on governance strategy and execution. Tim is an Accomplished Executive with Boardroom Metrics.
**In the last blog, we talked about a new approach to Board Governance that utilizes three different perspectives. The Fiduciary side addresses financial oversight and stewardship; Strategic address policy making and Generative addresses how we make sense of what it is they do.
The duties and responsibilities that fall under the title of Fiduciary include many of the following:
- Financial oversight
- Legal responsibility and accounting to members, stakeholders, government and tax agencies
- Liability and risk management
- Board role and/or committee role
- Trustee role on behalf of the public, ensuring effective use of resources
- Supervision of the organization’s Executive Director of CEO
Boards and Board members are expected to govern their organizations, and act in a manner so that:
- The organization is legal (for example: funds designated for specific purposes are used for those purposes, and funds are directed to the mission of the not-for-profit)
- The organization is financially transparent and honest (for example: material financial facts are made clear, and key stakeholders receive the financial information that they need and are interested in)
- There is long term organizational financial sustainability (for example: over a three year period, the financial situation balances, and there are funds set aside for contingencies)
- The mission, purposes, and strategic directions of the organization are well achieved (for example: there are sufficient funds available to carry out the work, including retaining good staff, and there are funds to invest in new directions)
These “what’s” do not necessarily clarify the issue of true checks and balances. Some people have argued the Board in carrying out its fiduciary role, is a “check and balance” against the work of the staff. There is a need for “checks and balances”, no one would argue against that. However, the question really is “Are the checks and balances actually being done to ensure the mission, purposes or strategic direction to satisfy the stakeholders?”
The “what’s” can be contradictory. For example, in attempting to achieve long term organizational sustainability, the Board may come up against fulfilling the mission in where financial reserves need to be invested in research and development not held for a rainy day on its books.
There is also a critical issue of sphere of influence. When an organization receives funds, under contract or in a restricted nature for example, from a particular donor, given this level of funder involvement and oversight, what is the fiduciary responsibility of the Board? Some non-profit organizations have taken the position that the fiduciary responsibility here lies primarily with the funder in relationship to the contract.
The Board’s sole role is to ensure that taking on this contract fits within the organization’s mission, purpose, and strategic directions; and, does not put the organization’s sustainability and capital (for example: financial and reputational) at risk.
The issue of the financial information that the Board requires, in what format, and when, is essential. It is very easy for Board members to become uneasy, and want to see all of the detailed financial information. Receiving reams of information can be meaningless and in most cases does not bring about Board fiduciary responsibility. Board members will not know what to do with it, and all of this will just increase the work of staff for no sound purpose.
The toughest part of Fiduciary responsibility is the painstaking work of developing formal Board policies about: financial management, financial controls, financial spending, financial risks, and financial investments. It is the Board’s responsibility to outline what information it needs, in what format, when, and why. Unless the “why” and the “for what purpose” are clear, then the information will likely be useless. And, once done, while these policies may need to be reviewed every now and then, they typically stay solid for some years.
Collectively, all Boards should administer the fiduciary responsibility (the responsibility for funds entrusted to the board on behalf of the public) for the organization. The entire board is responsible for the financial health of the organization. The budget, the accounting information system and financial policies are the tools the board uses to exercise its fiduciary responsibility.
In the next blog, we will look at the second side of the triangle Strategic.
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NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) - The Coast Guard is saying that a mile-long oil sheen is spreading from the site off an offshore petroleum platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana.
The site of the explosion is west of where BP's massive spill occurred.
The Coast Guard said no one was killed Thursday in the explosion. The blast was spotted by a commercial helicopter flying over the site.
All 13 people aboard the rig were found floating in the water in survival gear.
GRAND ISLE, La. (AP) - An offshore oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of the April blast that caused the massive oil spill.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Casey Ranel says the blast was reported by a commercial helicopter company about 9:30 a.m. CDT Thursday. Seven helicopters, two airplanes and four boats are en route to the site, about 80 miles south of Vermilion Bay along the central Louisiana coast.
Ranel says it hasn't been determined whether the structure is a production platform or a drilling rig or whether workers were aboard. Ranel says smoke was reported but it is unclear whether the rig is still burning.
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New Leaders Council (NLC) is a national organization training the future generation of progressive leaders during a five-month Institute program. There are 25 chapters across the country, and we’re expanding to new cities every year.
New Leaders Council (NLC) was formed in 2005 to address a gap in progressive leadership development.
The mission of New Leaders Council (NLC) is to train and support the next generation of progressive entrepreneurs and civic leaders: those who are leading industries, setting trends, and building institutions that support robust civic and political life in a global America.
NLC believes in recruiting emerging leaders from outside of the traditional power structures, engaging them on both local and national levels, and equipping them to be civic leaders — in the private sector, in the public sector, for elective office, and in their communities and workplaces.
NLC accomplishes this mission primarily through the NLC Institute: the nation’s premiere progressive entrepreneurship training program that builds local teams of outstanding young professionals in 25 cities across the nation. NLC Fellows engage in an intensive ten days of training over a five-month period to learn cutting-edge entrepreneurship, leadership, political, and management skills from over 150 industry-leading volunteer faculty. Fellows are paired with career mentors, join a national alumni network, and agree to fundraise to support the next class of Fellows.
The result of NLC is a growing corps of diverse and highly-skilled new progressive leaders who rise to the top of their fields, working together across sectors and in their local cities to build, expand, and improve the progressive infrastructure necessary for strong democracy, social justice, and equal opportunity.
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While the foreclosure crisis might sound to some like duck soup, Professor John E. Campbell from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law has taken the time to dissect the issues in his Mortgage Crisis in a Nutshell video explaining precisely what has happened to homeowners and searching for the reasons why.
Prof. Campbell explains what has happened in the traditional sense and how Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. participated in part of the scheme. He also discusses how and why the homeowners were not intentionally at fault.
In this one-hour video, Attorney John E. Campbell explains the main aspects of the mortgage crisis that has devastated the U.S. housing market and the economy. Watch the video and then let’s discuss securitization in a little more detail below. Continue reading
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There was a time when anybody who was serious about photo quality used slides (also called transparencies). Slide nights proliferated, largely because family and friends could see the image at the same time and it was big enough to have a real impact. Technology has moved on and now all that's left is the slide night cliché and boxes of slides in the back of the cupboard quietly growing mould. The obvious solution is to scan them so they can be shared again. Or is it?
- Scanning slides is a slow process and if you have damaged or mouldy slides the cleaning process can slow it even further
- The flat-bed scanners in this test can scan slides quite well, but the lenses aren't as sharp as those on dedicated slide scanners
We tested five dedicated slide scanners and two flat-bed scanners that can scan slides. The latter also had to have a mechanism for getting rid of dirt or mould from the image.
- Canon CanoScan FS 4000 US
- Canon CanoScan 9900F
- Epson Perfection 4870 Photo
- Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Dual IV
- Konica Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400
- Microtek ArtixScan 4000tf
- Nikon Coolscan V ED (LS-50 ED)
Please note: this information was current as of November 2004 but is still a useful guide to today's market.
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For more than 20 years, parents Michel and Barbara Faure ran Golden Pheasant Inn before passing on responsibility to their daughters Briar Faure Mewbourne, Brittany Faure Booz, and Blake Faure. The three sisters have worked tirelessly to preserve the historical charm of the inn while enhancing it with contemporary amenities.
The Inn, built in 1857, is home to the longest continuously operating restaurant/hotel along the Delaware Canal, and is recognized on the National Registry of Historic Places. The tavern and former mule barn area of the Golden Pheasant Inn served as early commercial buildings constructed along the Delaware River and the Delaware Canal to serve mercantile traffic. An important gathering place, the tavern was the social hub for farmers, travelers, and later, canal men and vacationers.
Today, the property retains its architectural integrity and continues to be used as a lodging facility—as it has for its entire history.
Golden Pheasant Inn closed in January 2012 for a complete restoration by the Faure family, owners of the property since 1986. The Faure daughters took special care to preserve the historic heritage of the inn and restaurant. “The Golden Pheasant Inn emanates rustic elegance,” says Briar. “We’ve left the country charm that is Bucks County intact, and the rich heritage the Golden Pheasant Inn has to offer while providing updated amenities to make the Inn comfortable to today’s visitor.” Other highlights of the property include white-deep sill windows and exposed fieldstone walls in guestrooms, as well as marble counters and custom mosaics in all ensuite bathrooms.
The newly expanded front porch provides for stunning views of the Delaware River, which can be enjoyed from a rocking chair, while the Solarium dining room features updates such as dropped windows providing natural light and Canal views, a new oversized wood burning fireplace and an expanded outside dining terrace. Modern updates like in-room temperature control, iHome docking stations, wireless internet access, and a calming décor with a color palette of shades of blue, grey and soft brown make Golden Pheasant Inn the perfect, relaxing getaway.
It is our vision to ensure that guests will enjoy the updated look and feel of the intimate restored guest rooms
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Those who know Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, say he likes to test his opinions against robust argument, often at length. This column is an account of one such — imagined — conversation.
Netanyahu tends to see issues through the prism of the Holocaust, and the deep well of anti-Semitism it plumbed. On the part of the Nazis, of course, but also elsewhere in Europe — in Poland, Ukraine, the Baltic States, Hungary, Romania and France. After the war was over and the facts of the Holocaust became known, returning Jews were attacked and killed in the Polish countryside, and Stalin embarked on a murderous anti-Semitic program which — had it not been for his death in 1953 — seemed set to result in at least some major pogroms, if not another mass killing on the scale of the Nazis’. This realization, for anyone Decent, is at least sobering. For a Jew, it raises the specter of an eternal horror that can rarely be wholly dismissed.
Just as Anthony Eden, the British prime minister, viewed Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser as an Arab Hitler when Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in 1956, so Netanyahu tends to see Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the same reincarnation. That means that the Iranian president is, in the Israeli’s mind, not just a fanatical anti-Semite, but one who will pursue his fanaticism at all costs – including causing great damage to his own people.
Fanaticism trumps rationality. Rational people wish to stay alive; fanatics commit suicidal murder for a cause. Rational leaders weigh the costs and benefits of aggression; fanatical leaders pursue their aims to the point of killing their state. Netanyahu believes that Ahmadinejad is the latter sort of leader. And thus he is inclined to think that Israel has no choice but to launch a pre-emptive strike while Iranian nuclear facilities are still vulnerable and before Iran moves them deep underground to complete the final stages of producing nuclear weapons.
However, he knows that the Israeli political and military establishment, and society, is deeply torn on the issue. There is, as yet, no decision, no one line. The complexities of making such a decision are formidable, even by Middle Eastern standards. Thus, as one who likes to test his views, earlier this week he invited a distinguished political scientist, well versed in the threats and opportunities of Israeli security but known to be opposed to a pre-emptive strike, to argue with him one evening in his office.
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Focus on Obama as Supremes Take Race Cases
“In addition to its legal importance, this case [Ricci v. DeStefano] stands out because of its implications for both President-elect Obama and Sonia Sotomayor, one of his most likely Supreme Court picks.”Noting that “Obama’s election to the nation’s highest office has undercut the ‘uneven playing field’ rationale for racial preferences,” we concluded that
“the American people deserve to know where Obama stands on this case … After all, it is Obama’s judicial and political appointees who will determine whether injustices of the kind seen in New Haven continue and, most importantly for Obama, whether the resentment of white and Asian Americans [that he has acknowledged] builds in the four years before the next presidential election.”Equally important is the Supreme Court decision today to hear a challenge to the Voting Rights Act’s requirement that eight states – primarily in the South – and parts of another eight states get permission from the feds before modifying their election procedures. The Bush Administration defended the requirement, and the Obama Administration will undoubtedly do the same, but the arguments it makes will tell us a lot about whether Obama really believes that his election will help the nation move beyond race.
The Act’s requirement is premised on the assumption that certain states and localities are more likely to violate the voting rights of minorities. But this 40-plus year old assumption is called into question more than ever by the fact that seven of the 16 states involved voted for Obama in November.
The Washington Post notes that the case, Austin Municipal Utility District v. Mukasey,
“will go before a court that has become increasingly wary of race-based remedies. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has been among the most skeptical, writing in a 2006 legislative redistricting case that ‘It is a sordid business, this divvying us up by race.’”With Barack Obama’s approach to preferences still unknown, and both houses of Congress controlled by majorities that are firmly committed to racial preferences, the judiciary branch stands as the only reliable check on the sordid business of divvying up by race.
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SHANGHAI Chinas daily crude steel output in the first 10 days of February rose 4.3 percent from late January, the China Iron and Steel Association (Cisa) said.
Daily crude steel output totaled 1.9889 million tonnes in early February vs. 1.906 million tonnes in the preceding 11 days.
Cisa members, made up of state-owned and large steel mills, also saw daily output rise 6.1 percent to 1.7014 million tonnes.
"Maybe (the increasing steel output) explains why steel prices have remained stable but iron ore prices went up after the Chinese New Year," an iron ore trader told AMM sister publication Steel First.
A version of this article was first published by AMM sister publication Steel First.
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Was it only yesterday or was it the day before? Where did the time go? Seems like the older one gets, the faster the time goes. Just seems that way because time is constant, it does not change…we do.
The change isn’t something we plan or even take part in, nor do we notice it day by day, but when we realize it’s Saturday again…it’s a “where did the week go” kind of thing. One day blends into another and before you realize it, another week is gone.
Busy will do it…not enough time in the day to get things done. Retired does it too…that feeling of doing nothing and getting behind. Keeping busy is healthy for all ages…not too busy, but the “enough to do” kind of busy.
Listening to the ticking of a clock in a quiet room is an exercise in stillness. You sit, breathing in and out, listening to each tick as it becomes each beat of your heart. You remember that time is a gift…one day the ticking will stop and your heart will beat no more. You vow to pay more attention to time…it is all you have.
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Non-traditional gifts work for holidays
Gadgets, experiences are popular gifts
By Jean Marquit, Contributing writer
One of the most difficult tasks in gift giving can be finding a gift for the person who has everything -- or could buy it if he or she wanted to. In such cases, it requires some creativity to come up with something unique that can be used by your loved one.
It is possible, and it does not mean you won't spend money. But you do not have to buy a fancy car or arrange a cruise to get the job done. There are plenty of affordable ideas that can get your gift giving "out of the box," in more ways than one. The key is finding something unique that shows you have put thought into what your loved one might enjoy.
One of the best ways to get a gift for someone who has everything is to personalize it. Wine keys can be personalized, along with a variety of other items, including jewelry, nice pen sets, garden tools and handbags.
If you have the money, it is even possible to order personalized perfume and personalized vodka. These are haute couture products that are made specifically for one person and as such, they are unique.
It is possible to have one of the billions of as-yet unnamed stars claimed as a gift. The star registry will even send a star chart so that your loved one can locate the star.
New, Unusual Gadgets Work
Many people enjoy new and unusual gadgets. If you get wind of something your loved one has not bought yet, perhaps you can buy it instead.
Some gadgets include solar-powered battery chargers, robots with artificial intelligence, and the latest, hot-off-the-assembly line smart phone.
Consider gifts of once-in-a-lifetime experiences. These are things that the person who has everything may not have considered.
BASE jumping or helicopter flying lessons are interesting and fun, but they are not often thought of. These kinds of unique gifts can open your loved one's eyes to new experiences and perhaps even spark a hobby never before considered.
Material Goods Not Necessary
Sometimes instead of something material, a loved one just needs service.
A gift of your time and talents can be a great way to show your care and concern. If you are talented at decorating or remodeling, you can offer to create an outdoor dining room.
Or you can spend time with him or her, offering support and kindness. Sometimes the gift of yourself is the best gift you can give.
Copyright 2013, Internet Broadcasting. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Keld Jensen, Contributor
I write about negotiation, behavioral economics, and trust.
I recently attended a conference at Harvard University which featured an array of presenters ranging from Ivy League academics to some of the most renowned international consultants in the world. As I sat in the audience and observed the differences among the presentation styles of the speakers, I was astonished by what I saw. Many of them broke rules advocated by communication experts, and yet they still captivated the audience and delivered masterful presentations.
In this auditorium setting, the sound system required the presenters to be anchored to a stationary microphone. This is never a desirable situation because it prevents you from creating visual interest by moving from one side of the room to the other. Nor can you step forward or move into the aisles in order to remove the barrier between you and the audience. Despite this limitation, the audience was WOWed more than once by the panel of speakers, and here are four ways you can create the same effect:
Be the Smartest One in the Room
Having riveting content can trump powerful presentations skills—or at least stand them one-for-one. Dr. Thomas Schelling, a 91-year-old Nobel Prize winner, was one presenter at the conference and while his delivery wasn’t incredible, his ideas were. While few people are on this man’s intellectual level, if you can dazzle the spectators with your brilliant perspectives, the value of your insights will overcome the fact that you are too busy to master the skills of the podium.
Aim For The Heart (And No One Will Care About Your PowerPoint)
At this conference, I saw one of the most unattractive PowerPoint presentations I have ever seen. The graphics were not professionally rendered, the colors were harsh, there were too many words on each slide, and the font was too small. Even worse, the presenter read from his own slides throughout his presentation.
At the conclusion of his speech, everyone in the room leaped—I mean jumped to their feet to give this man a standing ovation. Everyone in the room was busting through their self-limitations and every heart in the house was filled to capacity with the ability to do extraordinary things. His content and stories were so powerful we all wanted to better ourselves and the world around us. If you can hook your listeners by making them smell and taste and emotionally connect your message, you’ll have your audience in the palm of your hand.
Shock and Offend? – If You Can Pull It Off
Perhaps most controversial, however, was the presenter who was so arrogant and egotistical at the podium that he initially alienated the majority of the audience. He outright attacked another speaker in a highly combative way, interrupting her as she attempted to defend her position. The moderator did not call a time out.
While this did not make him likeable, it did make him memorable. No one could take their eyes off of him, and no one in the room missed his message. His breakout session was standing room only. We did not necessarily agree with his tactics, but it was difficult to argue with his effectiveness.
Generate Electricity, If It’s Authentic
The second standing ovation was for a speaker who is often identified as one of the most compelling professional speakers in the world. His mastery of performance technique is unequaled. His ability to involve the audience emotionally and physically is beyond compare. He had the foresight to bring his own wireless headset so he was free to move about the stage. And he moved.
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Walnut Park East (WPE) is a north St. Louis neighborhood bound by West Florissant Ave to the north I-70 to the south, Emerson Ave to the east and Riverview Blvd to the west.
View Larger Map
Both Calvary and Bellefontaine Cemeteries confine the neighborhood to the north and a huge industrial area to the south of I-70. Both Walnut Park East and West combined to form a single link on the city's website. It's content is scant, but it does say this:
"The neighborhood proximity to major thoroughfares and interstate and the availability of public transportation provide easy access to shopping, services, and employment opportunities. The housing in this neighborhood is a combination of brick and frame single-family dwellings. Most were build between 1900 and 1930 by German immigrants. In addition, the neighborhood is supported by several churches and community groups. The area is home to many young families. Residents throughout this neighborhood are working together to strengthen and build their community. In response to the housing development needed by the neighborhood, Operation ConServ has established a community-based, not-for-profit housing corporation. Many residents have formed block units providing the opportunity to meet and to discuss ways to improve the area's surroundings."
As you may be able to grasp from the above entry, this place is struggling. Frankly, the housing stock that exists in WPE was probably never anything out of the ordinary or special in any way. Working class, small, mostly frame houses were built here. The brick bungalows that were built here are not in great enough numbers to be impactful or stand out. The housing in WPE is not really similar to any other neighborhood I've visited so far. Meaning, the structures just aren't that special. This is not as true for Walnut Park West, but I'll get to that in a separate post.
So, I don't like to kick a dog when it's down but I must be honest in saying this is the least intriguing neighborhood I've seen so far. Very little hope exists here. Dumping is rampant. I suspect crime is high here. Even if every home in the neighborhood were well maintained, and nicely cared for, it wouldn't be anything special. It doesn't seem to share any qualities that make other St. Louis neighborhoods unique and worth saving. To say the place has seen better days is honest. In fact, it looks like the people that choose to live here are willing to tolerate a lot of trash, filth, burned down homes, unkempt properties, etc. Some photos:
I couldn't find anything that spawns just too much hope, or signs of improvement or positivity. I couldn't find anything of any major historical significance, or any buildings that were really worth stopping and looking at with the exception of the Confluence Academy Walnut Park campus and the San Fran Christian Assembly Multiplex near Emerson between Thekla and Harney:
Confluence is a charter school. You can hear from the teachers about what this school brings to the neighborhood here. The school is on the former site of Cardinal Ritter Preparatory Academy.
I can't find any relevant info on the current use of the San Francisco Christian Assembly Multiplex building. It may have been the home of St. Mary's Female Orphan Asylum as early as 1909. If anyone has any info on this place, please comment or email me. I'd like to know more about it. Here's all I could find on the web:
This facility accepted Catholic girls ages 5 to 12 years. In 1859, it merged with St. Ann’s Infant Asylum.
1846 10th & Biddle Sts.
1853 11th & Marion Sts.
1900 15th & Clark Sts.
1909 Emerson & Harvey Aves. Source
I'm sorry if my description of WPE sounds too dire, but my opinion is that this is not a nice place; I can't see the area being invested in or gentrified anytime soon. Frankly, it wouldn't be a special place even if it was taken care of and pridefully cared for. It's depressing. Hamilton Heights and Visitation Park would be stunningly beautiful places if all the homes were saved/rehabbed and good infill was constructed. Not the case here in WPE.
I can't imagine who would choose to live here with so many affordable housing options available in nicer places within the city. And, I'm not off base in posing that question, as this neighborhood has bled residents from 1990 to 2000. A 27% decrease in residents occurred in that 10 year span. And in my observation of U.S. Census data from 1990 to 2000, it's unfair to use the term white flight when referring to St. Louis City population trends in the last 20 years. The white population seemed to have left in "white flight" numbers well before 1990. Whereas now, the mass exodus out of city neighborhoods, mainly on the north side, are from black flight. And who can blame you for leaving? In WPE, the population from 1990 to 2000 went from 210 white people down to 78; for blacks it went from 7133 down to 5197. In 2000, 97% of WPE residents were black. There claimed to be an 81% housing occupancy rate split 64/36% owned/rented. This is surprising to me based on my observations today, as most homes seem uninhabited, boarded up and/or burned. I would expect the numbers to look as bad or worse in the 2010 census data. Updated: my assumption was correct as another 21% packed it up.
Please correct me if you are familiar with the neighborhood and have opinions to the contrary. Or, if you have examples of positivity to share regarding WPE, please do. I'm sure there are church based organizations and such working hard to help those that choose to call WPE home, it's just these efforts were not immediately apparent to me on my tour today.
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***** This is part of the Virtual Book Tour for The Gladiator
Prince. Please leave a comment for a chance to win a $25 Gift
Certificate at the end of the tour in addition to the weekly prize.
Follow the tour at Goddess Fish Promotions. *****
One of the more interesting things I researched for this book was the Egytian galley The Ghost and his crew used to hunt down and sack merchant vessel with…
SLAVE GALLEYS – PIRATES OF ANCIENT ROME
“Name’s Grunion,” the toothless man stated pulling his oar into place. “Pull it hard to your chest, stand when the rest of us do, put your right foot on the footboard there,” he added with a nod. “Push the oars away from your chest up and into the water. When you pull, put your left foot on the bench in front and use both legs to get the oar through the water. The bench will meet your ass; you will rest for a full beat then do it again. Understand?”
Thane could feel Bahar trembling next to him, but his face was focused in hard concentration, listening to every word.
“Do not worry, lad.” Grunion barked a laugh. “I put you in the middle so the Brit here and I can help you.” He glanced up at Thane, but his face was not hopeful. “Keep his oar between ours.”
Thane gave a terse nod and another drumbeat sounded. As one, the men stood up. The Gladiator Prince, Chapter XXVI
Galleys were the battleship of their day. They were fast, sleek, and filled with slaves to move them through the waters propelled by giant oars. In The Gladiator Prince, Thane, Phaedra and Bahar are captured by an Egyptian pirate galley captained by the infamous Ghost. Thane and Bahar are forced to row while Phaedra is chained to the end of the captain’s bed, where the pirate captain… Well, you’ll see.
Galleys were used mostly in wartime, but also as pleasure ships by the Roman elite. Caligula had a luxury craft on Lake Nemi that outshined them all. Living gardens, hundreds of oarsmen, everything gold plated, this ship moved over the lake while aristocrats dined and debauched… and there were two of these!
But Mediterranean pirates loved the beautiful galleys. They were propelled not only by oars, but sails as well, and moved through the waters as if it were glass. Moving fast, they gained on fat merchant ships with ease, overtook them and rammed them with bronze rams to leave them helpless in the water. Most merchant ships had small crews of mostly slaves and were rarely escorted. The pirates were so widespread in the late hundreds BC, that Rome finally sent out war ships to clean them out.
The galley in The Gladiator Prince is one of the larger vessels with a ram shaped like a lion’s paw with extended claws. It is manned below deck by fifty rowers with a crew of about 30 men. The Ghost has a reputation for striking fast and scuttling ships, but leaving the crew alive (although he is known for stranding them on deserted islands around Greece). The Romans have been after him for years, but he and his crew are the last surviving pirates from the cleanup conducted by the Legion started in 64BC. A mortal enemy of Nero, it is rumored that the Ghost stole a famous Delicatae (a high class prostitute) from the Emperor’s own bed while he was still in it, leaving a black painted mustache on Nero’s lip that wouldn’t wash off for days. The bounty for The Ghost is the highest posted in Rome’s history.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Somewhere between thirty and dust...red hair, blue eyes...six kids, one slightly used husband, and any number of pets from time to time... wanttabe hippy... wanttheirmoney yuppie...pro musician and actress for 20 Years... native Oregonian... lover of music, beauty, and all things green. Willing slave to the venerable muse. Minnette currently resides in Portland, Oregon with her husband, having replaced the children with one dog. The dog, Pierre, pretty much runs the show.
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WASHINGTON — Over the past few months, the U.S. Census Bureau mailed 2012 Economic Census forms to 4.2 million U.S. businesses, including laundry services and dry cleaners. Those that received this form are required by law to respond, and the deadline for submitting completed forms is next Tuesday, Feb. 12.
All businesses have the option to file on paper or electronically. For more information or help completing the form, see the Census Bureau’s business help site at econhelp.census.gov or call 800-233-6136.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke has called this census “indispensable to understanding America’s economy.” Taken every five years, the Economic Census “assures the accuracy of the statistics we rely on for sound economic policy and for successful business planning,” he says.
There are a lot of interesting facts from the last Economic Census available about laundry and dry cleaning businesses at business.census.gov. Examples there illustrate how Census Bureau economic statistics are used by local businesses for marketing and planning, as well as by government agencies and researchers.
The first 2012 Economic Census reports are slated for release next December.
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Become a Fan
Lessons Learned from My Father
By Elaine D Walsh
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Rated "G" by the Author.
Father's Day is a time for remembering and recognizing all the wonderful things our fathers have taught us. I have compiled a short list of the top lessons I learned from my father.
Some things I learned from my father:
- Bowling balls don’t float. Ten thousand years from now, when a perplexed scientist discovers an ancient riverbed they will wonder how a bowling ball found itself there and never know if only that ball had behaved itself and hit the pins it wouldn’t have suffered a fall from the bridge into the water.
- A bowl of spaghetti tossed against the wall can look like modern art.
- The F word followed by “ing” is a versatile adjective. It describes buses one is caught behind in traffic, drivers who cut others off, drivers who ride slow in the fast lane, tailgaters and drivers who don’t have exact change in the exact change toll booth lane.
- “Hide and seek” can be played with inanimate objects Dad misplaces and sends the family out to find. These objects tended to be car keys and sunglasses. If not found, see number 3.
- Monopoly and other board games are competitive sports played with the same intensity as War Games and other combat maneuvers simulating life and death.
- When things go wrong, there is always someone to blame. Usually Mom.
- Men don’t stop and ask for directions no matter how lost or late they are, or how much their family begs them to ask. Because if they do, they will defy the odds by stopping a deaf mute walking on the side of the road who can’t help them anyway, further justifying their stubbornness to never ask for directions again. Ever! (True story)
- Young Marines might swear but little girls DO NOT.
- Ivory soap is not listed in the food pyramid. Good thing, because it tastes nasty. See number 8 for further explanation.
- Ivory soap doesn’t make for good toothpaste but can reduce the swearing recidivism rate. See number 8 for further explanation.
We grow throughout our lives. Circumstances and experiences shape and change us. My parents were both so young when they married and had children that their children were witness to their maturation into adults. We didn’t know this then because they were “Mom and Dad”, but to the rest of the world they were kids raising kids. Although I only have one sibling, I have always said my mother raised three children: my brother, my father, and me. He was a mere seventeen when he became a father. My mother was younger. What they did together as a couple and parents was amazing. On this Father’s Day besides sharing stories like the ones above that have gone into our family folklore, I will leave you with this list of life lessons I learned from my father that I hope to pass onto my daughter.
- Love is unconditional
- People will come and go in life. Family will always be there
- “For better or worse” aren’t just words
- Good friends are a treasure; rare and priceless
- Treat your word or your handshake as if it were a legal document
- We live in a great nation. Take care of it
- Honor veterans and the flag
- Stand up for what is right even if it is unpopular
- Take care of the young and elderly
- And of course, once a Marine, always a Marine
Happy Father’s Day, Dad and to all Fathers and Father figures everywhere.
Site: Elaine D Walsh, women's fiction author
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|Reviewed by Budd Nelson
sounds as though you have a terrific father..semper fi.
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Airsoft originated in Japan during the 1980′s and is a combat sport or hobby in which participants launch plastic projectiles (6mm bbs) at each other via spring, electric, or compressed-gas powered replica firearms. Similar to paint ball. Hits sting if they are on bare skin (similar to a bee sting), but not so much through clothing.
Real combat is never fun. We recognize the risks that our men and women in the armed forces face every day, sacrificing their safety and sometimes paying the ultimate price for our freedom. This is an honorable and necessary action as it is to often all that keeps evil from exploiting the vulnerable. Whether it is our local police or our military, we honor these heroes. They are real heroes and are worthy of our respect and gratitude.
Noble actions, or heroics often arise from the most average man when he is placed in dire circumstances. Our goal, both on the airsoft field and off, is to foster and promote the virtues that will cause us to also rise up in the middle of difficult circumstances and behave honorably no matter what the cost.
Honor, integrity, compassion, mercy, self-control and strength, virtues that can and will be released through a new life found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. A life not just talked about on Sunday mornings, but radically lived out by the power of the Holy Spirit living in the true believer. These virtues that are the foundation of everything we do at New Life Community and are the foundation for the friendships we hope to build both on and off the airsoft field.
Safety - Safety is taken very seriously. Within this ministry, airsoft is handled very responsibly and no serious injuries have occurred.
The most common and well known piece of airsoft safety gear is ballistics goggles. We require all players to wear ballistics goggles that are ANSI Z87.1 rated. These goggles can withstand multiple hits by even the most powerful airsoft gun without taking damage that would compromise their safety. We also require that players below a the age of 18 wear some form of face covering to protect their face and specifically their teeth from bb impacts.
The other side of airsoft safety which prevents players from accidentally shooting each other is standard firearm safety. This includes a range of standard practices that should be followed any time anyone is handling a projectile-firing device.
Four rules of firearm safety:
- Treat all guns as if they are loaded.
- Never point the muzzle at anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
- Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.
Legality - In the US, no state outlaws airsoft guns as a whole. There are, however, very strict laws against brandishing an airsoft gun in public, due to their highly realistic appearance. If one were to commit a crime using an airsoft gun as a prop, intended to be viewed as a real firearm, the legal system would charge that individual as if they had been using a real firearm without a license.
There is a great deal of confusion over what the law says about orange tips on airsoft guns. When you purchase an airsoft gun, it must have a blaze orange tip at the end of the gun that is no less than 6mm in length. Once you own the gun it is legal to remove the orange tip, but users should be cautioned that it does make it harder for law enforcement to know the gun isn’t real. There have been confirmed cases of law enforcement officers shooting a suspect believed to be brandishing a firearm, when in fact it was an airsoft gun. Public display of an airsoft gun is not something to be taken lightly.
People have no way of knowing that your replica firearms aren’t real, and will call the police if they see them.
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As a New Yorker, being a runner is almost as fundamental as complaining about your overpriced Con Edison bill. This past weekend was no exception. Over 10,000 women striving for personal achievement took to the pavement of Manhattan’s Central Park to push their minds and bodies to the limit in the More/Fitness Women’s Eighth Annual Half Marathon in conjunction with New York Road Runners.
As the largest women’s-only half marathon in the U.S., Elizabeth Hasselback hosted the event. She finished in an astonishing 1 hour and 44 minutes to raise money for Celiac Disease research, a disease she struggles with personally and is the topic of her book, The G Free Diet. Other famous faces joined the race, such as the U.S. Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Dr. Regina Benjamin, More Magazine Editor-in-Chief Lesley Jane Seymour and Fitness Magazine Editor-in-Chief Betty Wong.
The morning started out a brisk forty degrees, while the women gathered in pace groups around 7:30 a.m. Most women, coffee in hand, tried their best to warm up as best as possible in the cold weather before the race began promptly at 8 a.m.
Consisting of two and a quarter laps around Central Park, this race was arduous for all the runners, but the encouragement and support was plentiful. The Harlem Hill, located on the upper loop of the race course, tested all of the women’s endurance and tenacity but demonstrated the vocal and emotional support each of the women gave to each other by helping their running partners or even strangers to get through it.
But once the two laps were done and mile 12 was soon to become mile 13, the crowd’s cheers swelled the park, encouraging each runner to make it to the finish line. Sweeping emotions ran through many women as they crossed the finish line—with gasps of “I can’t believe I did that” and embraces of loved ones.
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Let’s get this straight. We’re totally anti-DRM. That’s our position. It’s not the position of all of our partners, but many of them. Anyway, for now, that’s our position. In fact for ever, that’s our position.
At the same time, anything sold via the App Store is automatically bundled with Apple’s Fair Play DRM system. This is not optional, and so all of our Apps sold via the app store, are in some way, DRM’d. Nothing we can do about that, and really, not that much of an issue for most app developers. Some people go a bit nutty about it, but seeing as the App store and the Apps within it are totally restricted to the Apple platform anyway, it’s a bit of an odd thing to get obsessed about.
Given the audio and video we embed in the apps (on which more later) some publishers also asked us to protect these files above and beyond the protection of Fair Play, in case people crack open the apps and upload them to file sharing sites. We looked at encrypting the text, audio and video, and de-encrypting it in the app. But this did such mental things to performance and development time, and user experience, as to make it a non-starter. So we dropped that idea. We also looked at streaming the content into the app, but this had other drawbacks: lack of offline support, violation of (at the time) the Apple SDK, big bandwidth costs for us, and the fact that (if memory serves) the file path of the content could be hacked anyway and downloaded onto a desktop and then uploaded to file-sharing sites.
In publishing however, DRM is most closely tied up for consumers – as in music – in interoperability. That’s the ability to buy a file that works on any device. So you can buy a book, and read it on your phone, iPhone, laptop, Sony Reader, Kindle, and so on. If a file is DRM’d, it tends to only be playable on one kind of device, which means it’s not-interoperable, and that therefore you don’t really “own” it, just rent it. And before you ask, there is no such thing as interoperable DRM in music or books. For the record, we’re all for inter-operability.
Unlike music (where MP3 and AAC are on the whole interoperable, and where the industry has reluctantly, slowly, and after years of damaging and expensive prevarication, opted to DRM-free, interoperable file formats), publishing does not yet have an interoperable standard. It does however have the next best thing, which is ePub. ePub is an open format, without DRM, which is fast being adopted by publishers and some retailers (with the notable exception of Amazon and Kindle).
We’re all for ePub.
So, Enhanced Editions are built around ePub. It makes a lot of sense for us to do this – ePubs are readily available from the publisher, and more importantly they are basically a special kind of HTML. Given that the iPhone rendering engine loves HTML, this made our decision about how to develop the underlying App for Enhanced Editions really simple.
What we really want to do, is to make the ePub exportable http://www.teleread.org/2009/07/29/e-book-apps-which-are-your-faves-which-do-you-hate-and-which-publishers-allow-epub-extraction/ from our app; so you can email the ePub to yourself, and read it in other devices.
And that’s the plan. We haven’t got there yet, and there are a load of other features we have to do first, but that’s the plan.
Still, we don’t know if it will work or not. We do magic things to the ePub, where we add in the Enhancements. All of this is done in line with the standards of the format, but we aren’t going to be able to export the Enhancements from the Enhanced Edition. We’re talking text only (and possibly videos). That kind of file can be emailed, for example, but the full ePub of Bunny Munro is in the region of 850MB, which can’t be emailed.
So, we don’t know how other platforms will cope with an ePub that has lots of references to files that aren’t there, but in the spirit of interoperability and owning what you buy, this is what we’d like to do. We’ll keep you informed on how we get on.
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Stress of KS
Your article on KS was very comforting ("Out Out Damned Spot," August 1997). When I was first diagnosed with KS, I shut down and chose isolation. After some time I decided to "get back out there." After five come-ones followed by five rejections when my potential suitors (two of whom were positive) found out about the KS, I went back into my shell.
I've tried most of the therapies Scott Williams mentions (and have scars, in addition to KS, to prove it). Protease inhibitors have worked the best so far, yet the marks are still there, and I just don't look in the mirror. I'm at the point where I can go to the beach or pool and brave the looks an comments, but I haven't been touched in way too long.
-Name withheldNAC Attack
Judy Shabert's article on low glutathione levels ("Those Darned Free Radicals," August 1997) presents good information on the benefits of n-acetyl-cystein (NAC) in immune-compromised individuals.
However, PWAs who are undergoing chemotherapy for cancers, such as KS, should be cautioned about using NAC at the level recommended (2,000-3,000 mg per day). According to the Herzenbergs, the leading researchers in the NAC study referred to in the article, NAC is the specific antidote for at least four cytotoxic drugs. Therefore, taking large doses of NAC could neutralize the cytotoxin, rendering it ineffective.
-Jeanette Dunn, RN, EdDTommy Gun
Sooner or later, without treatment, Tommy will feel the effects of the virus ("Tommy Morrison Wants You to Believe,' July 1997). I feel sorry for all the children he's lectured to. In some school systems it is difficult enough to get permission to educate kids about how to practice safe sex beyond abstinence, let alone having to worry that there's someone out there telling them they don't have to.
New Haven, Connecticut
Morrison's perspective is one of the sanest views of HIV I have read in any of the popular magazines. I, too, have no idea why a perfectly healthy person would begin taking a pharmaceutical drug like AZT.
Somebody once said: "He died from too many doctors." I think we could say this today about allopathic medicine's response to a syndrome actually caused by recreational and pharmaceutical drug abuse.
-Jennifer HillCoburn Conundrum
We read with great interest your interview with Rep. Tom Coburn ("Tom Coburn Talks AIDS," July 1997), in which he states that gay AIDS groups oppose his bill because they fear it will result in their losing money that the bill would redirect to women and "minorities" affected by AIDS. Wrong, Mr. Coburn! This is a distortion of your bill and a divide-and-conquer strategy.
We state here our unequivocal opposition to the Coburn bill and our support for the Pelosi/Morella alternative bill as part of a strategy to defeat Coburn.
On behalf of the thousands of women, children, youth and families we serve, our organization has committed all the resources at our disposal to see the Coburn bill go down in flames.
-Mildred Williamson and David C. HarveyLove Thy Neighbor
AIDS Policy Center
I support the position you took in your July editorial ("SOS"). I, too, am concerned about the "I've got mine and I don't care about anybody else" attitude that has become prevalent in American society, even among some people with AIDS who have access to adequate health care and treatment and who don't care about those who are less fortunate. Action is needed to better life for all of us.
-Howard J. McDonoughSmooth Palms
I disagree with Betty Dodson ("Masturbation Manifesto," July 1997) that masturbation is something to be celebrated. Masturbation is an empty and selfish activity. It allows us to remove ourselves from the real passion and pressures of life, numbs us to our loneliness and encourages our isolation and self-centeredness.
Simple self-restraint in all its forms is the hallmark of a healthy society and maturity. If our body needs release from time to time, we have erotic dreams. We can live quite healthily without sex or masturbation. Encouraging the act of masturbation as a solution to our problems with sex is just dodging the real issues.
Masturbation is natural, but it is something that we are meant to grow out of as we enter society and maturity, and learn to put our fate in the hands of others. Sex, all too often, has nothing to do with love or true intimacy. It is mutual masturbation, nothing more.
It is little wonder that AIDS continues to spread; we are so habituated to putting our own pleasures before the needs of society.
-Paul BjerkDecker the Halls
St. Paul, Minnesota
I applaud Shawn Decker ("The Fleecing of Oprah," June 1997) for renewing my faith that someone special is out there for me. As a straight, HIV positive female, I have dating challenges, but I am sure that when I hook up with the right person, he will be capable of loving me.
I have been rejected many times. I have felt the anger, fear and the emotional roller coaster that accompanies living iwth HIV. I have moved forward. I now want a fulfilling personal life.
-Bobbi Lee WillsStop the Insanity!
The truest thing Rodger McFarlane says ("Painful Truths," June 1997) is that Sexual Ecology
belongs on the shelf next to And the Band Played On
. Rotello shares Randy Shilts' sensationalism, his penchant for selective misrepresentation of science, his eagerness to have sex police stop gay multipartner sex, and the poverty of imagination about creating a gay culture that is not based on either compulsory marriage or "compulsive promiscuity."
Gay men who say that "gay men must be stopped from having sex" easily attain mainstream publishers and multimedia attention, so Rotello's visibility is not difficult to understand. However, it is regrettable that POZ
provides a platform for the propogration of ignorance from Rotello, Kramer, Sullivan and their fans.
-Stephen O. Murray, PhDCorrectionsIn "Examined Lives" (September 1997), the name of AIDS peer counselor Tracie Etheredge is spelled incorrectly on page 75.In the profile of Vimal Jairath, "Poet's Corner" (October 1997), was mistakenly credited to Henry Goldblatt; Anderson Jones wrote the article.In "Expended Access" (October 1997), a note was omitted that credits the People with AIDS Health Group and ACT UP/Golden Gate for their research assistance.
San Francisco, California
POZ regrets these errors.
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National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark V. Rosenker today told pilots and mechanics of corporate aviation departments that, while they are maintaining an enviable safety record, accidents in recent years have highlighted shortcomings in several important elements of their industry.
Addressing the 2007 Bombardier Safety Standdown Seminar in Wichita, KA, Rosenker today said that corporate jet and turboprop airplanes flown by professional crews under part 91 (non-commercial aviation) have accident rates that are comparable to scheduled air carriers. “Some flight departments, however, operate aircraft on a shoestring budget with inadequately experienced or trained crews or shoddy maintenance practices,” he says. “These types of operations are typically the ones that garner the NTSB’s attention. There is always room for improvement.”
In his speech, Rosenker touched on flight crew and mechanic training, preflight preparation, human fatigue, and maintenance issues. After recounting three accidents in which flight crews failed to perform their duties to an acceptable level of professionalism, he said pilots shouldn’t confuse getting paid to fly with the concept of professionalism. According to Rosenker, there are many elements to being a professional pilot that include preparation, team work, compliance with regulations and constant vigilance.
Rosenker also said that “regulation is not the only way to improve safety…Voluntary action by industry, in partnership with government, is one of the most effective ways to decrease accidents.”
The complete text of Chairman Rosenker’s speech may be obtained on the Board’s website at www.ntsb.gov/speeches/rosenker/mvr071023.html.
NTSB acting chairman speaks out in congressional hearing.
Rosenker briefs Kansas audience on recent NTSB actions and activities in the aviation safety arena.
WASHINGTON -- Fatigued air-traffic controllers were added Thursday to the National Transportation Safety Board's list of the nation's most pressing transportation safety problems. The NTSB...
A high-tech warning system recently installed at major U.S. airports can't be counted on to prevent runway collisions, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board said.
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A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily blocked an elaborate land swap designed to supply a crucial right-of-way for the controversial Jefferson Parkway just days before the year-end deadline to complete the $10 million deal.
The temporary injunction issued by a panel of U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals judges comes five days after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Golden, Superior and environmental groups WildEarth Guardians and Rocky Mountain Wild that sought to block the deal on grounds including the lack of a thorough environmental assessment.
The land transfer involves the trading of a 617-acre parcel near the southwestern corner of Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, known as Section 16, for a 300-foot-wide transportation right-of-way on the eastern edge of the refuge that runs parallel to Indiana Avenue. The right-of-way is viewed as a critical piece of the proposed Jefferson Parkway toll road, which proponents say will nearly complete a high-speed beltway around the Denver metro area.
The deal -- which involves multiple local governments, the Colorado State Land Board and the lawsuit's primary defendants, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior -- already has been extended twice in 2012. Monday is viewed as a critical deadline for the deal, and if money does not begin changing hands by that time, some feel it could unravel.
On Wednesday, WildEarth Guardians and Rocky Mountain Wild -- which already had moved to appeal last week's dismissal -- filed an emergency motion to block the land deal pending the outcome of that appeal, and the federal appellate panel responded by granting an injunction.
"We temporarily enjoin the land exchange and preserve that status quo pending our consideration of the briefing on the Plaintiffs-Appellants' emergency motion," the ruling read in part.
The panel set midnight Thursday as the deadline by which the lawsuit's federal defendants must file a response. Then, the plaintiffs will have until 4 p.m. Jan. 2 to file a response of their own.
"Our biggest concern was that there was series of transactions set up to take place before the end of year that would have made it impossible to undo," said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians' climate and energy program director. "We're not saying that we are for sure going to win this lawsuit, but we do know if these transactions go forward, then we won't get a fair day in court -- and the 10th Circuit apparently agrees."
Bill Ray, interim director of the Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority, on Wednesday confirmed that the more than $10 million pledged toward the purchase of Section 16 is set aside in escrow accounts. If transactions do not take place by the end of the year, he said, there are instructions that the money be returned to its sources, which include the city of Boulder, Boulder County, Arvada, Jefferson County and other governmental entities.
Ray said that even if the money is returned, he believes the deal -- which he referred to as a "major open space acquisition" of which setting aside a transportation corridor for the parkway is only a small part -- still will take place eventually.
He noted that the Fish and Wildlife Service has been granted the authority to transfer ownership of parts of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge as it sees fit, and that Congress already has designated the eastern portion of the area as a transportation corridor.
The U.S. Department of Justice, which represents the federal defendants in the lawsuit, appears ready to file a response to the injunction Thursday, Ray said, and he feels the federal attorneys will point out the fact that the injunction could impact the deal's delicate timeframe.
"I continue to believe the appellate court may want to revisit the decision in light of information that the Department of Justice will present to them," Ray said.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Joe Rubino at 303-473-1328 or firstname.lastname@example.org.
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Homeowners Rise Above Water on Mortgages
Fewer U.S. homeowners owe more on their mortgages than their homes are currently worth, according to a new report from online real estate company Zillow. Nearly two million came out from underwater in 2012, and Zillow analysts estimate another one million more will see positive home equity in 2013. That sounds like a lot, but an estimated 13.8 million borrowers are still lacking any home equity, or 27.5 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage.
(Read More: Americans Are Using Their Houses as ATMs Again)
"Freed from negative equity, homeowners will have more flexibility, and some will likely choose to list their home for sale, helping to ease inventory constraints and moderating sometimes dramatic, demand-driven price increases in some markets," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. "But negative equity is still very high, and millions of homeowners have a very long way to go to get back above water, even with current robust levels of home value appreciation in most areas. As a result, negative equity will remain a major factor in the market for the foreseeable future."
Still millions more are in a "near-negative equity" position, with less than five percent home equity. That makes it impossible for them to sell without having to pay various fees out of pocket. It also gives them nothing to put down on another home.
(Read More: Existing Home Sales Tick Up; Philly Fed Drops)
Zillow is not the only entity predicting negative equity moves, and the estimates vary widely. That is because it is difficult to know the exact reason any borrower comes above water. Much of it is home price appreciation, but some borrowers are also paying into their loans to get better refinance rate, while thousands are getting principal write-down, thanks to the $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement signed early last year.
In fact, 70,810 borrowers so far have received a collective $7.409 billion in loan principal forgiveness, averaging approximately $104,626 per borrower, according to a report released Thursday by the settlement's monitor. 25,000 more borrowers are in trial modifications with nearly $3.5 billion in principal forgiveness. That is $11 billion toward positive equity. Of course American homeowners with a mortgage are still collectively underwater by more than $1 trillion, according to Zillow.
The negative equity numbers also don't say anything about whether or not the loans coming out from underwater are delinquent. While the overall delinquency rate dropped dramatically in the fourth quarter of 2012 to 7.09 percent of all loans, according to a survey released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association, nearly 11 percent of all U.S. mortgages are either delinquent or in the foreclosure process.
"One cautionary note is that the 90 day delinquency rate increased by 8 basis points, reversing a fairly steady pattern of decline and the largest increase in this rate in three years," notes the MBA's chief economist Jay Brinkmann.
These so-called "seriously delinquent" loans are being processed more quickly now that new foreclosure rules are in place and will therefore be sold back to banks or investors in the next few months. Those sales would therefore be shown as loans coming out from underwater because they would cease to exist.
Another important factor in looking at negative equity, as with everything else in real estate, is location:
"Among the nation's 30 largest metro areas, those with the highest number of homeowners freed from negative equity last year were Phoenix (135,099 homeowners freed in 2012); Los Angeles (72,936 homeowners freed in 2012); Miami-Fort Lauderdale (70,484 homeowners freed in 2012); Dallas-Fort Worth (59,461 homeowners freed in 2012); and Riverside, Calif. (58,417 homeowners freed in 2012)," notes the Zillow report.
(Read More: Taking The Real Estate Recovery Local)
The highest volume of underwater borrowers were in the most distressed states, where the foreclosure rates are high and where investors are pursuing short sales fervently. It is therefore incorrect to make the assumption that all of the "newly freed" borrowers are either still in their homes with newfound equity or sold at any kind of profit. Of course this also means that negative equity may cure faster than anticipated, since it is so highly concentrated in certain hot investor markets.
The return of home equity is good news for the greater economy, as it makes borrowers feel better about their own personal wealth and therefore more apt to spend. It could also prompt more borrowers to sell their homes. Unfortunately that will not do much to ease the severe inventory shortage of homes for sale, as most sellers will be buyers as well. There are currently just 1.74 million homes for sale, the lowest since December of 1999.
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Today’s blog post was written by my friend, Daniel Fitzgerald. Dan is an attorney at Brody Wilkinson PC right here in Southport, Connecticut. A former college athlete, Dan also publishes the blog Connecticut Sports Law which, if you are interested in the world of sports, is a great read.
I asked Dan if he would talk about the recruiting process for student athletes – something he knows a lot about and here’s what he had to say:
My recruiting experience was rather unremarkable and probably similar to many of those who were interested in playing Division II and III athletics upon graduation from high school. After playing organized football for seven years, I simply wanted to keep playing. My college search was simple – I looked for a good school where I would have the opportunity to play football. My approach to recruiting was similarly simple – I responded to letters I received from schools and applied to a few others that I thought might be a good fit.
In hindsight, my approach was too reactive, when I should have been proactive. With school back in session, here are some ideas on handling the recruiting process:
1. Draft Your Team
The recruiting process is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For the coaches that are recruiting you, it is routine. To account for the vast difference in experience between you and a coach, you need to surround yourself with a team of individuals who can help navigate the process.
Parents can be good resources, especially if they have been through the process before. If your parents have not been through the process, they can still be a great resource, but consider seeking out other parents from your school or area who have been through the process with their children. Seek out your coaches and athletic director. Coaches from other sports at your school might also have experience with the recruiting process.
The team will look different for each student-athlete. It doesn’t matter who makes up your team, but be sure that you can consult with people who can provide guidance throughout the recruiting process. Remember, you’ve never done this before.
2. Make Your Plan and Share It
No matter the level of collegiate athletics, you should have a plan for navigating the process. If you are a top Division I athlete, the schools may come to you. If so, do your best to determine what you’re looking for (academics, athletics, extra-curricular activities, other important criteria to you) and match the schools that pursue you with your objectives. Otherwise, you might lean towards the last school to contact you, or the last school you visited, while losing sight of your objectives.
For most student-athletes who seek to play Division II and III athletics, a more proactive approach may be needed. You need not limit yourself to schools that contact you. Research the schools that you might be interested in and contact them. Make lists of the schools that interest you, or those that are interested in you. Find out if any of your coaches, athletic director, teachers, parents or friends’ parents have any contacts at those schools. If so, they may be able to provide valuable information and introductions.
Once you have a plan, share it with everyone: your recruiting team; all of your coaches (who may not be aware that you want to compete at the collegiate level); your teachers; your family and friends. You’ll be surprised how many connections you’ll find and how many helpful suggestions you’ll receive when a team of people are on the lookout for opportunities.
3. Sell Yourself
During my recruitment, I preferred one school over the others, but I was stuck on that school’s wait-list. The schools at which I was accepted were all fine options, but none stood above the others. I simply needed more choices.
I visited a school that had an excellent football program and solid academics, but hadn’t sent me a single letter. At an open house I introduced myself to the football coaches. As I later discovered, the head coach knew my athletic director, who helped me assess the opportunity, and helped the coach assess my ability to play football for that school. I applied, was accepted, and was invited to play on the football team. Once the first day of practice began, it didn’t matter that I wasn’t recruited. I had the opportunity to compete with everyone else.
The lesson is that even if a school is not recruiting you, that shouldn’t stop you from contacting that school. Explore your options. Send out more game films. Ask your coach to contact schools on your behalf. If you think you have the ability to be a scholarship athlete, there is no reason that you can’t take a proactive approach to your recruitment. The same applies to non-scholarship athletics. At the non-scholarship level, it doesn’t matter if you are recruited or you recruit yourself.
In recruiting, the most important thing is not that the right school finds you, but that you find the right school and the right athletic program for you. Taking control of this process should be the first step in planning your athletic future.
If you have questions about the recruiting process for student athletes, use the comment box below. You can also contact Dan directly at 203.319.7154 or firstname.lastname@example.org. You can also check out Dan’s blog, Connecticut Sports Law at www.ctsportslaw.com.
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The impactIf you're diagnosed with one of these conditions and have a health plan with Tier 4 prescription pricing, you could pay anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars a month for your medications. In addition, your health plan may cap your prescription benefit in terms of how much it will pay for over a month, a year or a lifetime of coverage.
Some consumers are encountering caps on the number of radiation and chemotherapy treatments they can receive in a month, leaving them with the choice of paying for needed treatments out of pocket or postponing them and risking their health.
For example, the biologics available for rheumatoid arthritis, which include Enbrel, Remicade and Humira, cost from $1,900 to $3,100 for a month's treatment, according to data supplied by PharmacyChecker.com.
A Tier 4 plan may require you to pay 25 percent of the cost of the drug, up to a certain amount, such as $300 per month. Many patients with chronic or life-threatening illnesses require long-term treatment with these medications and many require multiple medications, some of which are used to treat side effects of others.
Virtually none of these drugs are available in generic form and you can't save much, if anything, by shopping around. Pharmacy Checker, which has access to data from hundreds of U.S. and overseas pharmacies, found no variation in prices of the drugs for rheumatoid arthritis and little variation in other drugs for cancer and multiple sclerosis. Even when there is variation -- such as in the price of Tarceva, a cancer drug -- the low price is so high ($6,429) that most Tier 4 plans will cap the co-pay at a lower rate.
This leaves consumers with limited insurance or with Tier 4 prescription plans in a bind, as they may not be able to afford the medications they so desperately need.
"Consumers whose employers and health plans put these medications in a higher tier that requires a very high co-pay are facing an unacceptable situation," says Steve Findlay of Consumer's Union. "Companies and health insurance plans cannot shift the cost onto their workers and consumers, as the costs are much too high for even a middle-class or upper-middle-class family, and prohibitive for a low-income family."
For lifestyle drugs, the issue is more a matter of choice than necessity, so costs will likely continue to rise as insurance companies and employers seek to keep a lid on costs.
If you use a lifestyle drug, it pays to shop around locally and online to get the best deal. According to Pharmacy Checker, shopping around can net you a 71 percent savings on the fertility drug Clomid (50mg, 30 pills), reducing the cost from $410 to $119. For Viagra (100mg, 20 pills), there is a 35 percent difference between the highest and lowest price found; for Propecia (1mg, 90 pills) for baldness, there was a 58 percent difference, from $330 to $138.
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This is the first book I have read on my Kindle! It was very easy and fun to do. I would definitely recommend the Kindle! This month a friend in my book club suggested that we read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I enjoyed reading this book through the technique of letters going back and forth among the characters. The story takes place in 1946 when there were many countries recovering from WWII and its effects. Along with the main character, Juliet, we discover what happened on the tiny island of Guernsey during the German occupation. (The island is a real one that sits in the English Channel between France and England.) As Juliet discovers more and more about the people of Guernsey, we experience their warmth and their resilient spirit. The book is easy to read and has many funny stories, as well as tragic ones, about the families in Guernsey. It is a fictional account, not factual.
Juliet is an author who receives a note from a Guernsey farmer named Dawsey Adams. She is eager to write about the effects that the war had on the people of Guernsey. Through letters she is invited by the people who live there to come and stay with them. This visit has a life-changing effect on her. Her whole world transforms before our eyes as the book unfolds.
Maybe parts of this book are predictable, but it is no less enjoyable to read. The use of letters throughout draws us in and helps us to piece together what each person/character is like. Without a doubt, the book shows that if we are open to new things, we can make a change and affect those around us—for the better. This theme is truly a timeless one; no matter how drastically our methods of communication may change because of technology, we are still looking for the ultimate goals of happiness, friendship, and a place to call home.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court appears to be resisting an effort by environmentalists to use a lawsuit against Los Angeles area governments to crack down on pollution from urban storm water runoff.
The justices strongly suggested Tuesday they will throw out an appellate ruling in favor of the environmentalists in their lawsuit against the Los Angeles Flood Control District. At issue is responsibility for billions of gallons of polluted water that flow into the Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers, and eventually the Pacific Ocean, after heavy rainfalls.
The environmental groups say levels of bacteria from animal feces and toxic metals frequently exceed water quality standards.
But the only real question Tuesday was whether the justices would end the case or give it back to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
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The volume of paperwork involved in managing insurance claim forms, co-pays, benefits statements, etc., can be overwhelming for a mesothelioma patient who is trying to concentrate on their health care, but by keeping organized, accurate records, you can eliminate unnecessary stress.
Perhaps the simplest way of keeping information to be referred to when filing an insurance claim, is to use a paper calendar to make note of all doctor’s appointments, lab tests, procedures and treatments, as well as prescription drugs purchased. If this information is recorded on the day it occurs, you will have a complete chronological record when you need it. Other records you should organize in an expandable folder or binder include:
- Bills from all health care providers.
- Bills or receipts for prescription drugs.
- Receipts from co-pays or other health care related costs.
- Insurance claims filed.
- Reimbursements received.
Keeping medical expenses entered on a basic computer spreadsheet is another option, or, there is specialized software available for those who prefer a better display of information and the ability to search for and sort information. One of these programs is the “Medical Expense Manager” offered by Quicken. This program will allow you to track and organize medical expenses, tax deductions, medical and prescription history for multiple individuals, insurance payments and deductibles and billing or claims disputes.
Another alternative is to hire someone to manage your claims for you, and if you feel you need professional help, there are health insurance claims assistance services available in many areas. These professionals can file and track claims, contact health care providers and insurance companies to resolve claim issues, review medical bills for accuracy and appeal rejected claims. Fees for services rendered can vary significantly according to provider.
For those with Medicare coverage, a health insurance assistance program is available in every state. Counselors can help Medicare recipients understand their benefits, and can make suggestions on establishing a record keeping system.
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An essential part of going to college is remembering to eat. It is east to get caught up in your busy class schedule and other activities. You may forget about eating or even skip meals because you do not have time to sit down and eat. There are plenty of campus foods available for you to grab and go. You can find these foods available at campus area restaurants, which offer take out service.
Eating Campus Foods Is Part of the Expense of Attending College
Students can be concerned about expenses associated with attending college. Besides the cost of tuition, books and housing, you also have to factor in food expenses. Getting plenty of food to eat at the right times is important to keep your energy levels up. You can find affordable campus foods available at your college campus. You can even save money, by using coupons and taking advantage of special discount offers.
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Getting married or moving in together can have legal implications that impact your finances. Your right to jointly held assets such as a house if you break up, for example, can depend on whether you are married or living common-law.
In Canada, common-law couples typically do not have the same legal rights to property in the event that they break up as married couples do. For this reason, some couples decide to make a prenuptial or cohabitation agreement, which outlines clearly each partner’s rights to property and assets.
Marriage and common-law status can also affect the validity of your will or estate plan, so it is important to discuss these issues if you’re considering getting married or moving in together.
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Stanley, who died Saturday at age 76, was arguably as pivotal as Leary and Kesey for altering minds in the turbulent '60s. Among a legion of youthful seekers, his name was synonymous with the ultimate high as a copious producer of what Rolling Stone once called "the best LSD in the world … the genuine Owsley." He reputedly made more than a million doses of the drug, much of which fueled Kesey's notorious Acid Tests — rollicking parties featuring all manner of psychedelic substances, strobe lights and music. Tom Wolfe immortalized Stanley as the "Acid King" in the counterculture classic "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" (1968).
The music that rocked Kesey's events was made by the Grateful Dead, the iconic rock band of the era that also bears Stanley's imprint. His chief effect on the band stemmed not merely from supplying its musicians with top-grade LSD but from his technical genius: As the Dead's early sound engineer, Stanley, nicknamed "Bear," developed a radical system he called the "wall of sound," essentially a massive public address system that reduced distortion and enabled the musicians to mix from the stage and monitor their playing.
"Owsley was truly important in setting the example of someone who would go to almost any length, beyond what anyone would think reasonable, to pursue the goal of perfection … sonic perfection, the finest planet Earth ever saw," Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally said Monday. "They never would have done that without Bear. Furthermore, the greater San Francisco scene never would have been what it was without the opportunity for thousands of people to experience psychedelics, which would not have happened without Bear."
Stanley, who moved to Australia more than 30 years ago, was driving his car in a storm near the town of Mareeba in Queensland when he lost control and crashed, said Sam Cutler, a longtime friend and former Grateful Dead tour manager. He died at the scene. His wife, Sheilah, sustained minor injuries.
Described by Cutler as a man who held "very firm beliefs about potential disasters," Stanley relocated to Australia because he believed it was the safest place to avoid a new ice age. He was a fanatical carnivore who once said that eating broccoli may have contributed to a heart attack several years ago. In his later years he was mainly a sculptor and jeweler, and his works were sought by many in the music industry, including the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards, Cutler said.
"He was a very sophisticated man," Cutler said, "an amalgam of scientist and engineer, chemist and artist."
With artist Bob Thomas, Stanley designed the Dead's distinctive logo: a skull emblazoned with a lightning bolt. He also recorded about 100 of the band's performances, many of which later were released as albums. He once said that he considered preserving the live concerts one of his most important accomplishments.
Born Augustus Owsley Stanley III in Kentucky on Jan. 19, 1935, he was the grandson of a Kentucky governor and son of a naval commander. His nickname, Bear, reputedly was inspired by the profuse chest hair he sprouted in adolescence.
He studied engineering briefly at the University of Virginia before dropping out and joining the Air Force, where he trained as a radio operator. After completing his military service in 1958, he moved to California and worked at a variety of jobs, including a stint at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge. He also studied ballet, Russian and French.
He enrolled at UC Berkeley in 1963 as the Free Speech Movement was erupting and drugs such as LSD began flowing. He got his first taste of LSD in April 1964. "I remember the first time I took acid and walked outside," he told Rolling Stone in 2007, "and the cars were kissing the parking meters."
That experience convinced him that he needed a steady and trustworthy supply. He found a recipe at the campus library. Then, with a chemistry major named Melissa Cargill, he started a lab and began manufacturing a very pure form of the drug.
His lab was raided twice; Stanley spent two years in prison. According to "A Long Strange Trip," McNally's history of the Grateful Dead, Stanley estimated that he had produced enough LSD to provide about 1.25 million doses between 1965 and 1967.
After his release from prison in 1972, he returned to the Dead and began working on a new sound system, a monolithic collection of speakers and microphones that channeled the music through a single cluster of equipment. The band introduced it in 1974 at San Francisco's Cow Palace, but it was too expensive to sustain and Stanley later gave most of it away. But his ideas were later adopted by concert equipment makers.
Not everyone was a fan of the system. "It was always malfunctioning," Country Joe McDonald, of the '60s psychedelic band Country Joe & the Fish, said in an interview Monday. "The Grateful Dead and their extended family were like a unit, a nine-headed hydra. They did things their own way. People loved it. It was part of their mystique." Stanley, whom McDonald knew slightly and remembered as "kind of an obnoxious" person, "fit in really well."
For a brief time Stanley was the Grateful Dead's main financial backer and put them up in a pink stucco house in Watts, where he had moved his LSD lab. A 1966 Los Angeles Times profile described Stanley roaring up to a Sunset Boulevard bank on a motorcycle with wads of money crammed in his helmet, pockets and boots. The Times' and other accounts described him as an LSD millionaire, a status Stanley denied. But it inspired a Dead song, "Alice D. Millionaire." He also was immortalized in a Steely Dan composition, "Kid Charlemagne," and in a Jimi Hendrix recording of the Beatles' "Day Tripper," in which Hendrix can be heard calling out "Owsley, can you hear me now?"
Stanley downplayed his influence on the psychedelic explosion, explaining that he began producing LSD only to ensure the quality of what he ingested.
"I just wanted to know the dose and purity of what I took into my own body. Almost before I realized what was happening, the whole affair had gotten completely out of hand. I was riding a magic stallion. A Pegasus," he told Rolling Stone. "I was not responsible for his wings, but they did carry me to all kinds of places."
In addition to his wife, he is survived by sons Pete and Starfinder; daughters Nina and Redbird; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
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Last checks go out for 2 million jobless
Unemployment benefit extension supposed to come with fiscal cliff package
Some 2.1 million jobless Americans are receiving their last federal unemployment checks this week if Congress doesn't extend the deadline to file for extended benefits.
And another 1 million who exhaust their state benefits in the first quarter of 2013 will never see a federal unemployment payment, according to the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group.
Lawmakers are down to the wire to extend federal jobless benefits -- of up to 47 weeks -- that Americans can receive after exhausting their six months of state payments. The law expires on Wednesday.
An extension is expected to be part of a package to address the fiscal cliff, which is now bogged down in negotiations over tax changes. This would be the 10th extension since the Great Recession began five years ago. Lawmakers first enacted the federal benefits package in June 2008, and President Obama extended it to 99 weeks in November 2009.
Congress last lengthened the deadline to file for benefits in February, but lawmakers also restructured the program at the time. The maximum number of weeks the jobless can collect unemployment benefits was reduced to 73 weeks. And the jobless are no longer eligible for a separate federal extended benefits program that would have added up to another 20 weeks.
State and federal unemployment insurance programs have cost roughly $520 billion, according to a Congressional Budget Office report. Extending benefits for another year would cost another $30 billion.
Of the roughly 12 million people who are currently unemployed, 40.1% have been so for more than six months.
More than 6 million jobless Americans have exhausted their benefits since 2007, according to Judy Conti, NELP's federal advocacy coordinator. Advocates for the jobless are already lobbying hard for another extension, noting that unemployment remains at a stubbornly high 7.7%.
Copyright 2012 by CNN NewSource. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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The Persian Royal Road was built to facilitate rapid communication throughout the Persian Empire. Mounted couriers could travel across the Empire, approximately 1,677 miles; in seven days, the equivalent journey on foot took ninety days. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote of these messengers, “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor darkness of night prevents these couriers from completing their designated stages with utmost speed” this was later inscribed on the James Farley Post Office in New York and is sometimes thought of as the United States Postal Service Creed.
While communications certainly can be speedier these days, I thought about Herodotus’ quote when I read an article in the Corner Office Section of the Sunday New York Times, entitled “What’s Your Story” Tell It, and You May Win a Prize”. In the article reporter Adam Bryant interviewed Russell Goldsmith, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of City National Bank in Los Angeles, CA. The article focused on how Goldsmith, who came out of an entertainment industry background, brought the art of storytelling and other techniques which could be used by the compliance practitioner to help employees learn how to do business in an ethical and compliance manner.
City National Bank has a program called ‘Story Idol’. Each quarter the company puts on a competition among its 79 offices. It is designed to create a mechanism “to give colleagues a pat on the back and a moment in the sun for doing the right thing, and it democratizes and decentralizes positive reinforcement.” This is coupled with an annual Story Idol competition in a meeting with the top 300 employees of the company. Employees tell stories “about what they did that promoted teamwork or helped a client by going the extra mile. It’s like telling stories around a campfire, but they’re doing it around conference tables.”
The contest begins with an online submission, where all stories can be read and then voted on by all employees. The winner from each quarterly competition receives an iPad and for those employees who go the extra mile with assisting customers and clients; they are eligible to receive a cash award as well. The quarterly winners are then eligible for the annual prize.
As the CEO, any prospective hire that makes it up to him for an interview has been vetted from a technical competency perspective so Goldsmith focuses on character. He does this by directly asking the prospective hires what their expectations are in coming to work at City National because if the person is not a good match for the company, both parties will be better off if he or she does not go to work there in the first place. Goldsmith also asks if a prospective hire has any questions for him. Goldsmith believes it is important for a candidate to not only have questions but to ask them as well. He stated, “Not because I want them to kind of butter me up or something. It tells me several things. Sometimes people don’t have a single question. And if you have any curiosity, here is your window. I mean, you are thinking of changing your entire career and you have 40 to 60 minutes with the C.E.O., and you don’t have a single question about the company?”
He wants employees who are not so intimidated that they are afraid to ask questions. Further, he thinks that if “you have no curiosity, then you are in the wrong company.” Additionally, Goldsmith believes that from the questions a candidate asks, he can get a feel for what their character is. He said, “I can tell a lot by the kind of question. Is it a fawning question or is it a real question?”
Fresh Approaches to Leadership
Goldsmith appreciates taking a “fresh look at the company” through the eyes of new hires. One of the ways he does this is in large meetings where he will “will reach out to some of the new people beforehand, and I’ll just say, “When the meeting’s over, shoot me an e-mail and tell me what worked at the meeting, what didn’t work, what did you like, what didn’t you like.”” He believes that this technique communicates that City National is trying to build a culture of speaking up so that ideas and concerns are communicated in the company and those communications are acknowledged as important.
There are several items from Bryant’s piece on Goldsmith and City National which you can use in your compliance program. His Story Idol is an excellent concept to get compliance victories across in a teaching method which demonstrates companywide commitment to compliance and ethics. Goldsmith’s use of questions during interviews is an important technique for hiring personnel to incorporate in any prospective employee interview. What does a candidate think about compliance and ethics? Are they committed to doing business in an ethical manner? Will they report violations of the company Code of Conduct? These are just some of the questions which should be asked. Lastly, when you have the CEO bring up compliance in large meetings, it certainly communicates a tone from the top which is important and must be the starting point for any successful compliance program.
We began with Herodotus and the importance of the Persian messenger system to the Persian Empire. The messenger is still important even if the medium is different than an ancient Pony Express Rider galloping at full tilt. Story Idol is a medium to use to communicate important victories inside City National. It is a medium that you can use in your compliance program as well.
This publication contains general information only and is based on the experiences and research of the author. The author is not, by means of this publication, rendering business, legal advice, or other professional advice or services. This publication is not a substitute for such legal advice or services, nor should it be used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect your business. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your business, you should consult a qualified legal advisor. The author, his affiliates, and related entities shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person or entity that relies on this publication. The Author gives his permission to link, post, distribute, or reference this article for any lawful purpose, provided attribution is made to the author. The author can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.
© Thomas R. Fox, 2012
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MEMORANDUM OF INTERVIEW.
Date 18 March 1937.
Time 11.00 to 11.30
3.3O to 5.15.
Present Mr. W.H. Whyard Ernest A. Bell.
Mr. W.H. Whyard said he had called to see whether it was possible for a grant to be made to him from the Spanish Fund to enable him to get to his family who lived at Wavertree, Liverpool.
He said he had been employed as a bus conductor by the London Passenger Transport Board, but had thrown up his job in January last in order to join the International Brigade in Spain. He was a member of the Transport & General Workers' Union, attached to the Leyton (Garage) Branch.
Questioned as to his reasons for going to Spain, and for particulars of the group or organisation under whose auspices he joined the International Brigade, he said that his decision was taken on an impulse. He was not connected with any organisation or group, but made his own way to Paris, where he met three or four others who were also going to Spain. They journeyed to Barcelona together, after which he was posted to the International Brigade which was operating on the Malaga front. He was the only Englishman in the company, the rest of the International force being made up of Germans and Frenchmen. The company went into action soon after his arrival, and after fighting for two days he was blown up and suffered shell shock as a result. The Spanish authorities sent him to a field hospital, after which he was given his rail ticket for England, together with a few pesetas for food on the journey. He had arrived in London practically penniless.
Papers in his possession included a "safe-conduct" pass from the Barcelona authorities; operation instructions issued by the Government Command at Almeria; British Passport which showed his departure from this country on 17 January and arrival into Barcelona on 19 January.
On the suggestion of Mr. Tewson, I took the matter up with the Transport & General Workers' Union, and they, after checking his membership of the Union and finding that his last Union contribution corresponded with his date of departure from this country - agreed to supply him with a single ticket to Liverpool, and 16/- cash, the cost (£2), being borne by their Incidental Fund. The negotiations with the Union took place with their Area No. 1. Office.
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Tax and Ownership Incentives Seek to Lure Wary Foreign Investors
Foreign investors are to be lured with a five-year tax holiday and be permitted 100 percent ownership of firms registered in Burma.
Foreign businesses will also be allowed for the first time to lease privately owned land.
The incentives are part of the government’s next phase of reforms to help open up the country for development.
“Our investment policy should be competitive,” the deputy minister for national planning and economic development, Kan Zaw, told a business conference in Rangoon.
However, in key industries such as energy outside investors will be required to take on a Burmese partner.
The government has also said it intends to strengthen investment and finance laws to provide more confidence for foreigners.
But a new study suggests that many outsiders remain nervous about committing capital in Burma.
“The prevalence of corruption, a fairly unsophisticated legal system and a less-than-robust political structure which potentially underlies the threats for civil unrest top the list of concerns among multinational corporations and international financial institutions,” according to a survey by Trust Law, a service of Reuters which spotlights corruption and rights issues.
“Because it is considered to be the third most corrupt country in the world, then everything that sits under the government structure has to be questioned,” the executive director of Deloitte Forensic in Singapore, Peter Coleman, told the survey, which was published on June 21.
Coleman was referring to Burma’s current ranking of 180 out of 182 countries on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2011.
The Trust Law survey also quoted dispute resolution lawyer Alastair Henderson in Singapore saying many business in the United States and Europe would be hesitant about Burma for the time being because of the bribery and corrupt practices laws in their home countries.
Big Firms Tipped to Bid for New Offshore Gas Exploration Blocks
More than 40 gas and oil exploration blocks will be put up for international bids before the end of this year, according to a Ministry of Energy official this week.
Twenty-five offshore blocks will be offered and up to 18 onshore sites, the ministry’s assistant director of planning Aung Kyaw Htoo told a Rangoon investment conference.
No timetable for presentation of the block was given, although it’s widely expected they will be unveiled at an oil and gas forum to be held in Rangoon on Sept. 4-5.
“I expect international interest in the offshore blocks to be high because the big prizes, especially for gas, are thought to be under Burma’s territorial waters,” Bangkok energy industry analyst Collin Reynolds told The Irrawaddy on June 21.
“Interest in the onshore blocks is less hot, mainly because finds are anticipated to be relatively small,” he said.
Of 18 onshore blocks put up for auction in August last year only about half found takers, mostly small foreign businesses. Those which failed to attract interest are likely to be offered up again.
“Government officials have previously said that no blocks will be awarded to local companies in the [next bidding] round,” the oil industry magazine Upstream reported on June 20.
Fish Factories Forced to Import Stock as Domestic Catches Decline
Burma’s fish processing industry is suffering from a fresh fish shortage which threatens the viability of dozens of small factories, said the international fish trade website FIS.
The shortage is forcing at least 10 factories to start importing fish, some from as far away as Argentina, in order to stay in business.
FIS quoted one factory owner saying the industry has been suffering decline for several years, partly due to poor currency exchange rates. It’s not clear why fish catches in Burma’s offshore waters are poor.
With liberalization under the Thein Sein government, the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries is to issue fresh fish import licenses.
Ten factories have applied for reprocessing licenses out of the 13 which meet European Union standards, the chairman of the Crab Entrepreneurs Association, Hnin Oo, was quoted by FIS as saying.
The fish importation and processing will be known as CMP, for cutting, manufacturing and packaging—similar to the system which has been in use in Burma’s garment industry for some time.
Dawei Port Project Prospects ‘at the Crossroads’
The prospect of Burma’s sleepy southeast coastal town of Dawei becoming a regional industrial and oil transhipment port is “very much at the crossroads,” says the international industry magazine Port Strategy citing government officials in Bangkok.
The officials said that if the main contractor for the multi-billion dollar project, Italian-Thai Development (ITD), could not attract sufficient investment for its plans, the Bangkok government would have to review its promised contribution.
Thai oil and gas monopoly PTT Group is among several state-owned entities which had expressed interest in investing in Dawei.
“The news came as little surprise to sources in Bangkok where there has long been skepticism about Dawei’s viability, especially now that political reform in Myanmar is gathering pace,” said Port Strategy.
ITD published a blueprint for an oil port, a refinery and a petrochemicals complex, all powered by a massive coal-fueled electricity plant. But the plans ran into trouble when the Burmese government refused permission for a coal plant on environmental grounds.
ITD said in April it would be announcing details of investors and alternative power generating plans in June, but the firm has been silent since.
Instead, fugitive former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was in Japan this week trying to drum up financial investment support for the Dawei project, saying it was of strategy importance—but for Thailand, rather than Burma.
Gulf States Show Interest in Ports Construction, Tourism Services
A Dubai industrial infrastructure company which specializes in port construction has expressed interest in investing in Burma.
“We see great potential in [Burma]. It has old infrastructure and has active trade with China and other countries that require port and marine services,” Al Marwan Group general manager Ziad Attar told the New York Times on June 20.
Another Gulf state company, Qatar Airways, has expressed interest in investing a hotel in Rangoon, said the newspaper.
The airline plans to restart flights to Rangoon in October and is planning to expand its international business into tourism services.
“Gulf investors are particularly attracted by the opportunities offered by [Burma’s] underdeveloped infrastructure, swathes of arable land that could provide food security for the arid Gulf States, and the country’s proximity to China, the world’s No.2 oil consumer,” said the Times.
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There have been very few times in my life where I have been happy to be wrong; Bruce Springsteen’s new album, Wrecking Ball might stand out as the greatest instance. After finding lead single “We Take Care Of Our Own,” to be somewhat mediocre, and fearing the same thing for all of the album, having my expectations blown away is a wonderful feeling. With Wrecking Ball, Springsteen makes one of his most personal and expressive albums of his career, one that outshines 2009’s Working On A Dream by miles. If I had to described the album in to people more familiar with Springsteen’s work, I would say that it is a mix of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006) and Magic (2007).
Thematically, Wrecking Ball has close kinship with We Shall Overcome and Magic; Overcome for the overall folk sound and mentality of the album, and Magic for the attack on modern America. With Magic, Springsteen set out to paint a portrait of America under the Bush regime and with Wrecking Ball he paints a picture of America in 2012. Where I think Wrecking Ball succeeds Magic is that it is a better vehicle to carry the message. With Magic one had to do some thinking about the lyrics in order to understand what Springsteen was getting at (for example, I did not know until recently reading a review of Magic that “Livin’ In The Future,” was about wire-tapping). Wrecking Ball is about as subtle as a wrecking ball knocking on your front door when it comes to the messages in the lyrics; a very straightforward picture of modern America. As part of this modern America, Springsteen draws in modern musical influences; such as having Tom Morello, guitarist for Rap-Metal group Rage Against The Machine, play guitar on “Jack of All Trades,” and “This Depression,” and having part of the lyrics of “Rocky Ground,” rapped by singer Michelle Williams.
As a whole, the album’s message does not leave modern America as a lost cause, but instead, carries a message of hope and renewal in some of the songs. That feel of hope does not restrict Springsteen from digging into the raw, nerve endings of modern America, as best seen on the Irish-folk sounding track, “Death to My Hometown.” Springsteen really gets mad on this track, as when he sings “Send the robber barons straight to hell / The greedy thieves who came around / And ate the flesh of everything they found,” he embodies the frustration and anger across blue collar and small town America. Behind Springsteen, we can hear the voices of the “Occupy” protestors, the mom and pop shops shut down across the country, and all those in hard times today. With “Death to My Hometown,” and other songs like “Jack of All Trades,” and “Wrecking Ball,” Springsteen seems to channel a traditional folk mentality and transcend him from singer to almost a folk hero in persona and message.
While it is fun to get angry, Wrecking Ball’s true power and message can be seen with three key tracks of hope; the title track, “Wrecking Ball,” “Land of Hope and Dreams,” and “We Are Alive.” “Wrecking Ball,” is an interesting story in and of itself. The song was original written and performed in Springsteen’s four night stay at the old Meadowlands stadium, about the stadium and the people who have been part of the stadium and its history. Springsteen’s appropriation of the song is somewhat remarkable, as the version of the song on the album has become not only metaphoric, but much more defiant. Instead of a song simply honoring “Where Giants play the game,” the song has taken on a new life as an anthem for the people. Springsteen’s blue collar connection creates a song of defiance and standing strong; a song to unite people and stand together in the face of the future. Closer to the end of the song, there is a bit of call and response as Springsteen calls “Bring on your wrecking ball,” and his answered by a chorus of voices singing the same in response. This is, simply, one of the coolest parts of the album. In the choral responses, I hear hope and strength, and defiance in the face of these hard times.
“Land of Hope and Dreams,” is another song that was not exclusively written for the album, having been originally written and performed as part of the Reunion tour at the end of the 90s. That being said, there is a collision of modern and classic as traditional rock, folk, and gospel sounds collide with so modern influences, such as a drum machine in parts of the track. Let alone for the incredible beauty of the track, “Land of Hope and Dreams,” shines out for being the one track on the album on which we hear the only voice to match Springsteen’s; the belting saxophone of the late Clarence “Big Man” Clemons. The sax solos are excellent representations of the power that Clemons’s had, and helps spin the true magic of a Bruce Springsteen song as only that sax can.
The album closes with the very appropriate “We Are Alive.” While the song carriers some of the darkness of The Ghost of Tom Joad, in this case telling of tragic deaths suffered and being imprisoned in black graves, the message here is clearest. Springsteen’s parting words are ones of unity, love, and hope. “To carry the fire and light the spark / To fight shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart / To stand shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart / We are alive.” America as it should be; its citizens shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart.
- Jackson Sinnenberg, host of Sinn 6:66, a classic rock radio show on WGTB that airs Fridays at 11pm
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I’ve known NPS Historian Scott Hartwig of Gettysburg National Military Park for about a decade, and every time I’ve met up with him over the years I’ve asked him the same question: “How’s the Antietam book coming?” Well, I guess I’ll need to come up with a new greeting, because his massive work To Antietam Creek: The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, has been published by Johns Hopkins. This is the first of two planned volumes, and takes the reader to the eve of the Battle of Antietam. Scott took a little time to answer a few questions about this, probably the most important Civil War book of 2012.
BR: While I’m sure many readers know you from visits to Gettysburg or from dozens of PCN Anniversary Battle Walks, can you tell those less familiar a little bit about yourself?
SH: I am a supervisory historian in the division of Interpretation at Gettysburg National Military Park. What this means is I do public history and manage the park’s day to day interpretive program. I grew up in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, but had the itch to live out west and went to University of Wyoming. By pure luck I stumbled onto a Civil War historian teaching there named E. B. Long. For those today who don’t know him, E. B., or “Pete,” as his friends called him, was the research editor for Bruce Catton’s magnificent three-volume centennial history of the Civil War. E. B. knew more about the Civil War than anyone I have ever known and could talk about the people who lived the war as if he had known them. I ended up taking nine credit hours from him on the Civil War and he was a major influence on my decision to seek a career at a Civil War park in the National Park Service. I have worked 33 years for the NPS, almost all of it at Gettysburg. I can honestly say that I have never been bored there a single day. In fact, some days I wish things would be a little more boring. There is never enough time to get everything done. I have written a number of essays and articles for magazines and books, and seminar proceedings, and back in the 90’s appeared in a number of History Channel documentaries relating to Gettysburg, some of which still show but only really late at night.
BR: Who or what were your early Civil War influences?
SH: The earliest influence was the Time-Life magazines in the early 1960’s that followed the course of the war and featured original art of battles, which was the sort of thing that excited a 7-year-old. Next was probably Hugh O’Donnell, my 8th grade history teacher, who encouraged critical thinking not just about the Civil War, but about history in general. Bruce Catton was also a major influence. I read everything he wrote. My parents also always actively encouraged my interest in history.
BR: Why did you decide to study the Maryland Campaign?
SH: I think Catton’s Mr. Lincoln’s Army was the initial catalyst. His chapter on Antietam was unforgettable. The other reason was, when I first started contemplating this, the only two books on the Maryland Campaign were Jim Murfin’s Gleam of Bayonets and Francis Palfrey’s The Antietam and Fredericksburg, which had been written in the 1880’s. I thought the campaign could use a thorough study that employed the wealth of sources that had come to light since Murfin’s book.
BR: Besides the scale (652 pages of text, plus appendices and an online bibliography available here), what does To Antietam Creek contribute to the existing literature?
SH: This volume gives focus to several aspects of the campaign that have only really been brush stroked to this point. I spend two chapters carefully assessing the two armies so the reader can understand their strengths and weaknesses. This part of military campaigns is often overlooked, but when we know the character of an army it helps us understand why it performed well, or poorly, or was mediocre. The bulk of the book examines the Harper’s Ferry operation and battles of South Mountain in detail, but also in the context of the larger campaign. South Mountain has been studied by others but there is no in-depth study of Harper’s Ferry existing. So this volume gives needed attention to what precedes Antietam, which was quite significant, since this encompassed the largest surrender of U.S. troops until World War II, and Robert E. Lee’s first defeat as an army commander, at South Mountain.
BR: Your book has been in the works a long time – as long as I’ve known you. Can you describe how long it took, what the stumbling blocks were, and what you discovered along the way?
SH: It took at least twenty years. A big reason it took so long is working a full-time job and raising three kids is not conducive to writing. But I was very disciplined and pecked away at it. There were certainly times that I despaired I would ever finish it, but there was also something about the learning and writing process that I really enjoyed which always pulled me back. Much as I enjoy writing it does not come easily to me. There were many nights I would sit staring at the computer screen and never write a word, and more times that I would struggle to find the right words to describe something. It was like getting stuck in the mud. You had to keep pushing and eventually you broke free and started moving again.
There were plenty of stumbling blocks along the way. Many have faded from memory but George McClellan was one. He was not so much a stumbling block as much as he was a conundrum. The first chapter of the book is his story from his arrival in Washington after First Bull Run to his return to command after Second Manassas. I tried to avoid that chapter at first. Everyone analyzes McClellan. I thought I could avoid his controversial personality and history and just focus on the campaign but that proved a foolish thought. You cannot separate the McClellan of the Maryland Campaign from his history before that campaign. To understand the campaign the reader had to know McClellan’s history. I also wrestled with how to treat McClellan. My initial approach was to follow the lead of a host of writers and historians and bash him as a weak and vacillating commander with a monumental ego. McClellan is easy to bash, but the more I studied him, his campaigns and his relationships with the Lincoln administration, I felt my initial treatment too critical and I re-wrote the chapter, this time taking a more sympathetic perspective. I let this re-write sit and when I read it again decided that it too failed to achieve a balanced assessment. I had strayed too far in the other direction. This lead to more research and a third re-write, which is what ended up in the book. My final analysis of McClellan is critical but I think it is honest and evaluates him in the context of the circumstances and conditions he faced both politically and on the military front.
When you work on a project of this size and for this long you are constantly encountering things you did not know, or uncovering evidence that challenges convention. Two examples are the Army of the Potomac and Army of Northern Virginia. The legend is that the Army of the Potomac was an immense host that failed to win a decisive victory at Antietam because McClellan was too cautious and inept and the Army of Northern Virginia, vastly outnumbered and reduced by the summer’s fighting to a hard-core of less than 40,000 men, simply outfought them. I discovered the reality was considerably different. The Confederates fought well in every engagement in the campaign, but the reason they ended up with an army of 40,000 or less at Antietam was the result of straggling on a scale the army would not experience again until the Appomattox Campaign. Confederate logistics utterly failed their soldiers, and when combined with the arduous marching required during the campaign, men broke down by the thousands sick or exhausted. During the Battle of South Mountain some of Longstreet’s brigades lost far more men to straggling on the march from Hagerstown to Boonsboro than they did in the battle. If you don’t believe the Confederates experienced a crisis in straggling then read Lee’s correspondence immediately after the Maryland Campaign. As for the Army of the Potomac, it was not as large as is commonly believed, and was beset by numerous organizational and logistical issues the impaired its effectiveness.
BR: Can you describe your research and writing process? What sources did you rely on most?
SH: I typically like to assemble my research for a chapter before I start writing. The research also guides the story the chapter needs to tell. But I sometimes was so eager to write – because I really enjoy the process – that I would get started before I finished the research. I don’t recommend this method as it leads to an excessive amount of re-writing when you discover evidence that contradicts something you have already written.
The U.S. Army Heritage Education Center, Dartmouth College, the National Archives and Library of Congress were four of the most important archives among many I accessed for this project. USAHEC houses the finest collection of Union related manuscript material in the country and it is an absolutely first class resource to use. Besides all the official documents, correspondence, regimental books, etc., that the National Archives houses they had an obscure collection called Antietam Studies, which contained dozens of letters from veterans of the battle mainly to Ezra Carman, a veteran of the battle, and its historian in the late 19th Century, documenting in great detail their unit’s part in the battle, and sometimes, in the entire campaign. The Library of Congress had Ezra Carman’s massive unpublished manuscript of the Maryland Campaign, which is indispensable to any study of the campaign. Thankfully, Tom Clemens did a masterful job of editing this manuscript and it has been published by Savas Beatie. Dartmouth College housed the John Gould Collection. Gould was an officer in the 10th Maine Infantry at Antietam who in the 1890’s initially set out to determine where General Joseph K. Mansfield fell at Antietam, but the project expanded until Gould was receiving correspondence from dozens of Union and Confederate veterans who fought in the cornfield and East Woods. Although there is a great deal of correspondence from Confederate soldiers in the Antietam Studies and Gould Collection, for wartime manuscript material the Southern Historical Collection at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the largest.
When I started this project the web as we know it did not exist yet, but in the last few years I used it quite a bit. The best on-line source for the Maryland Campaign is [Brian Downey's] Antietam on the Web. It is an excellent resource.
BR: What’s next for you?
SH: Next is volume 2, which will cover the Battle of Antietam, the end of the campaign and the aftermath of Antietam, both in the battlefield area and nationally. My guess is it will take three years.
We’re all looking forward to that – but good luck with that three year schedule!
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while back, I showed the concept art for the halfling at the 2012 Gen Con keynote address, and then again later here on Dragon's-Eye View. Since that time, I've spent a lot of time talking to folks about the "cartoony look" of the halfling. It has been really difficult to get across the idea of what concept art is, what its purpose is, and how it is used. There are a lot of misconceptions about what concept art is—even among artists who don't work in concept art.
Concept art is not just "illustration" by another name. The purpose and intent of concept art is very different. I have often used concept artists that weren't technically proficient in their drawing skills, but what they excelled at was generating great and original ideas. They needed to be able to draw well enough to impart those ideas to others: illustrators, modelers, fashion designers, set designers, and so on. Too often we use the terms concept art and illustration as if they are synonymous. They aren't.
So rather than try to explain why the haflings won't look like the concept art in the published game, I figured I'd illustrate what's going on.
In case you didn't read the first article on the halfling, let me rehash for a second. We were trying to address a number of issues when we took on redesigning the halfling:
- We received a lot of feedback from the fans that the visual interpretation of the halfling didn't fit with the historical lore, and a lot of folks missed the old "hobbit-like look."
- I had significant issues with the current visual design due to the fact that it was essentially a micro-human and meant we had to put some visual scale in an image so that you could tell it was a halfling rather than a human.
- We couldn't just have a hobbit design in the game for obvious legal reasons.
So we took on this challenge and did lots of iterations and got to a place that we felt the "concept" was hitting what we had defined as the essence of the D&D halfling . . .
. . . and this is where we left it. The intent was never to pick this guy up and use it exactly like that. They would have looked weird and funny in context with other realistically rendered characters, right? So when I started talking to Jesper Esjing about doing some further concept work on the halfling, we came at it with a specific intent in mind: imaginative realism illustration and 3-D modeling. So, in this instance, we came at the design with a refined visual palette.
A lot folks get hung up on this term—even more so when they are discussing illustration and model creation in the fantasy genre. We talk about fantasy ideas as if they are actually reality. I get that. I do it too. Where I often trip myself up is when I start talking about a fantasy-based element that doesn't exist in the real world and try to apply the concepts of realism to that item. For instance, I can't tell you how many late night discussions I've had around the body to wing surface ratio of a dragon—as if weight to lift ratios actually exist in the fantasy realm or that gravity and magic have some logical way of dealing with each other.
I bring this up for a simple reason. I've had a lot of folks tell me that the halflings don't look realistic. If you are talking about the stylistic representation of them in the concept art, then you are right, they aren't. They are a stylistic interpretation of a humanoid figure. But if you are talking about the anatomical idea of a halfling, then we have a whole new discussion.
Just for illustration purposes, let's bring in Joe. Joe is today's model, and he will be subjected to all sorts of visual humiliation today.
As you can tell, Joe is a human. We recognize the anatomical form that defines him as human, right? Don't worry—this isn't a trick question.
We can even morph the body around a bit, and he still feels like a human, right? Even if Joe loses a body part, he's still identifiable as a human.
Now, at some point, we can push the form too far, and we start to question whether it still looks human—whether it is now a realistic interpretation of a human.
Somewhere between the extremes of a "normal" human form and an "un-natural" alteration of the human form, there are a few million variations that we identify as human and will call realistic. I'm sure you could have expressed this yourself, and probably a lot quicker, but hang with me for a second.
In truth, this entire time, we've been talking about a 3-D model. This is not anything real. It is a visual interpretation that allows us to let go of the idea of whether it is real or a model and instead say that it is "realistic." We are willing to call it realistic because it fits within our understanding of what a real human would look like. So, in short, we say that the model looks realistic. That makes sense, doesn't it?
I went through this whole exercise simply to circle back around on the halfling.
I talked to Jesper and said, "I want to do a realistic rendition of the halfling."
Jesper instantly responded in the same manner that I would have as an illustrator, "But halflings aren't real."
When we start talking about realistic interpretations of something that doesn't actually exist, we have to walk a very fine line. Step too far to the right, and you end up with something that looks so alien that folks don't relate to it. Step too far to the left, and you have a figure that just looks like a human (one of the millions of variants on the form that exist in reality).
In the previous article, I talked about some of the visual identifiers that we used as markers for hitting the essence of the halfling.
- We wanted a figure that harkened back to the original essence of the halfling and fulfilled the lore and legend of the race. Simple and in touch with nature. Quiet and fun-loving. So we went with a short, stout (almost plump) figure that had a soft and pleasant personality to it. Nothing earth-shattering in that.
- It should look short without any visual scale items being required in the scene. This one was a lot tougher. Here, let me show you. If I take Joe and make him shorter . . .
. . . well, he just looks like Joe. Unless I put something in the image to give him scale, we can't tell his size.
In the world of illustration and model making, we understand this issue, and we understand that there are visual cues that we use when we are looking at the human form to create visual references. The head to body ratio is one of the easiest ways to trick the eye into thinking we understand the size of something. For instance, what happens to our perception when we look at a representation of Joe through the years? Let's take him into Photoshop and do some quick warping to illustrate. Yes, this get's ugly, but I'm just trying to illustrate a point. So please don't mock me too much for my quick butcher job.
Subtle changes to the size of the head and placement of the shoulders, hips, and knees change our perception of the age of the subject. This was part of the game we were playing with the halflings when we played with the proportions of their anatomy. Granted, in the concept art, we have accentuated the proportion changes for effect, but it was done with the purpose of setting a visual cue in place. Whether you liked the stylized representation or not, most of you told me that you definitely felt that the figure did look short. Maybe the size of a young child. And that was the intent of the concept art. Well, one of the intents.
Now, if I want to take that initial race design and start to incorporate it into our current style of rendering, what would the race start to look like? That's the million-dollar question and the reason that all of you have probably read through this article, right?
Jesper and I had the same conversation that I went through above. We ended up asking these questions: What does it mean to be "realistic"? What are the most important touchstones for the character design? What is the essence of the race? How do we make it distinctive?
While the art pieces below are just sketches and rough direction for the moment, I think you can get a sense of how we use the concept art to inform and influence the final expression of the race. You can see that we start to render the form in a more "realistic" manner. Then we use the visual cues to try and make him feel short, and see if we can hold onto that essence that we started out with. I think we are getting close, but we're still not there.
What do you think of the halfling now?
And now I want you to consider what I have to do when I start having conversations with my partners in the comic and video game industry, and how they are going to depict the halfling.
For fun, here's a great video that discusses the differences between illustration and industrial design/concept art (the entertainment industry's term for industrial design).
Jon Schindehette joined Wizards of the Coast in 1997 as the website art director. In the intervening years he has worked as the marketing art director, novels art director, and creative manager. In January of 2009 he moved into the role of senior creative director for D&D. Jon is a long time D&D player (started in 1978), and currently plays in a Tuesday night game and DMs a random pick-up game for younger players. He can be found on Twitter (@ArtOrder) and at theartorder.com.
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Step one: Snowball your debts
First things first: work out how much you owe. If you've got credit cards, get all of the statements out and list their balances. Now write down how much your overdraft is. And very importantly - make sure you list down the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) payable for each, too (you can find this out from your statements).
Now, have you any other borrowings that need to be included - loans from family/friends?
Once your list is complete, rank them in order with the one with the highest APR first. Reason being that as it has the highest interest rate it is the one growing the fastest. So regardless of how much this debt is, this one must be dealt with first!
Be careful when snowballing
If you are struggling to meet all your bills, bear in mind that, even though some debts (like your mortgage) might be cheaper than others, they are more important to stay up-to-date with.
For example, you should always prioritise meeting your mortgage payments before your credit card payments, as if you fail to keep up with your mortgage payments you are immediately risking the roof over your head.
Similarly, you can get sent to prison for non-payment of council tax whereas you can't for defaulting on your credit card.
Thus, your mortgage and your council tax should always be your top priority debts, regardless of how cheap they might be and the snowballing system. Other priority debts include:
- The rent - the landlord could get a court order to evict you;
- Income Tax bill - you could be made bankrupt;
- Fuel bills - your gas or electricity could be cut off;
- Phone bills - the phone could be cut off
Examples of secondary debts which you can safely snowball include:
- Unsecured loans
- Credit cards
- Hire Purchase Agreements
- Store cards
- Catalogues and other Mail Order debts
Obviously these secondary creditors can't be ignored but there's usually more flexibility to negotiate if you get into trouble. Organisations such as the Consumer Credit Counselling Service and Payplan can negotiate with your creditors on your behalf and help you to set up a debt management plan.
Note, however, that anyone to whom you owe money can make you bankrupt if you owe them more than £750 so even secondary creditors will need to be dealt with at some point!
The next step
Once you've identified which debts are your top priorities, you need to work out how much money you have left over each month to throw at these debts. Take the next step to destroy your debts...
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Lie: Rick Scott Infers He's Better at Creating Job Than Obama
"Since I took office in January, Florida's unemployment rate has declined each month while the national unemployment continues to rise as a result of failed leadership on the federal level," Governor Scott said today as the believer in small government signed a law that create a new government agency called the Department of Economic Opportunity. "Here in Florida, we are seeing signs of improvement because we are moving in the right direction to make Florida the No. 1 place to do business."
That first part is totally true, mostly. Florida's unemployment level was 11.7 percent in December 2010, then rose a 0.1 percent in January, Scott's first month in office. Though it's since declined. It was 10.4 percent in April, the last month for which statistics are available. Scott might not have had much to do with that, but, yes, technically it's correct.
The part about "the national unemployment continues to rise as a result of failed leadership on the federal level" total lie.
The unemployment rate across America was 9.8 percent (that, mind you, is smaller than Florida's currently is). The federal rate, too, has not increased during any month in 2011, and it was 8.7 percent in April and May.
So, no, the national unemployment rate has not continued to rise. Between January and April it fell by 1.1 percent. Florida's fell 1.4 percent in the same time. You can make the strong case that Scott's policy, as a new governor who hadn't even signed his first budget, had little to do with that drop. You could make the strong case that policies enacted on the federal level had done more. Sure, Scott wouldn't be a lying if he merely stated the facts that Florida's unemployment level had fallen at a faster rate than the national level since he took office. It would just be slightly misleading, which is politics as usual. Instead, Scott went out of his way to misrepresent facts.
Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
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BLM Admits Helicopter Stampede Caused Wild Horse Deaths, Refuses Outside Observers in Nevada Census
HOUSTON, (Horseback) – The federal Bureau of Land Management, under siege by press and public for it’s handling of offshore drilling, again has proven it is an agency with a tin ear when it comes to public relations.
With 150 horses and foals now dead in the wake of the most deadly “gather” in BLM history, the agency continues with an apparent government cover-up of the number of horses remaining in Nevada’s remote Calico Mountains.
The BLM refused to allow outside observers on an equine census of the area in late June, according to national spokesman Tom Gorey.
It even covered up the fact that a census was being taken at all until after
the fact, despite pleas from wild horse activists to be allowed to go along on census flights as independent observers.
Last week, in a detailed report of an independent fly-over of the Calico “gather” area acclaimed naturalist Craig Downer saw only sparse evidence of any remaining horses on hundreds of thousands of acres of BLM land. He also recorded thousands of cattle.
Downer’s report was first published by Horseback Online and still can be read here in its entirety.
“The Calico Complex aerial census was completed Sunday and we expect to
issue a news release on the results shortly (within the next day or so),” Gorey said. “No third parties/independent observers were allowed to ride in the aircraft conducting the survey.”
Gorey cited existing BLM policy for the agency refusal to allow outside observers on the observation flights.
“This is in accordance with existing BLM policy and is done for reasons of safety and liability. Additionally, observers must be trained. Accuracy of the counts strongly depends on the skill of the observer and is affected by the ruggedness of the terrain and the presence of vegetation cover.”
Downer has spent decades observing wild horse in their natural habitat, both from the air, and from the ground.
BLM personnel have a long history of mathematical errors in their reports as cited in several Horseback stories last year.
Ironically, other government agencies routinely allow the press and other observers on flights, including in war zones where the media is often imbedded with soldiers, sailors, marines, and airborne troops in combat. The independent observers are acknowledged to deliver accurate reports, even in the stressful environment of war with little or no training before an engagement.
Gorey acknowledged a large number of deaths came from horses trying to escape a roaring helicopter chase by a Utah contractor hired by the BLM.
“Yes, the BLM acknowledges that at gathers some fatalities directly result from the horses being driven by the helicopter,” Gorey said. “The direct mortality rate resulting from helicopter-driven gathers is usually less than one percent.”
The BLM declines to acknowledge what is a statistically acceptable death rate on its roundups of wild horses. The Calico roundup took place in the dead of winter in rocky mountainous terrain where horses were run over miles and miles of rugged wilderness.
Gorey detailed the carnage.
“Seven died or were euthanized at the gather site; 101 have died or were euthanized at the Fallon facility. The BLM does not keep a count of miscarriages, but we did note in the daily reports those miscarriages that we observed.”
Two foals died after their hooves were run off as they tried to escape the roaring helicopter.
“Two foals died as you described,” Gorey said, “No other horses died of hoof abscesses.”
In the Calico “gather,” something went dreadfully wrong.
“In 2009, the number of direct fatalities (out of more than 7,500 horses gathered) was 0.53 percent,” Gorey said. “Some indirect mortality also occurs, usually associated with older horses in poor to very poor condition when gathered. These already weakened horses, many of which would likely die on the range if not gathered, are examined by staff professionals and veterinarians and are euthanized if they are unlikely to improve or do not respond to treatment.”
The government spokesman painted a benign word portrait of humane euthanasia of geriatric horses. Yet the BLM reports published on the Internet records what amounts to wholesale slaughter of wild horses from Calico in which some were routinely put down by government vets, one of whom was unlicensed to practice in Nevada.
Photo “Freedom” by Craig Downer
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Printer Buying Tips
There are a number of different printers out in the market today to meet the needs of every user. When purchasing a printer for the home or business, there are a number of things that you need to take into consideration.There are a number of different printers out in the market today to meet the needs of every user. When purchasing a printer for the home or business, there are a number of things that you need to take into consideration.
Common Kinds of Printers
There are three kinds of printers that are commonly used in the home and in small business establishments:
Inkjet printers. This is perhaps the most common kind of printer found in both home and business establishments.
Laser printers. These printers are slightly more expensive than inkjet printers but are more preferred, especially for business establishments. Aside from printing out materials with a quality that is higher than inkjet printers, they are less prone from smearing and smudging as in the case of inkjet printers.
Dot matrix printers. These printers are now more commonly used in business establishments than at home. Many complain of the noise that dot matrix printer emit when printing. However, these printers come in handy for printing receipts and regular status reports.
Use of the Printers
Printers found at home are used for the following purposes:
Printing of text documents (essays for schools, letters)
Printing of colored documents and images (photographs, greeting cards)
On the other hand, printers found in business establishments can be extremely varied uses, depending on the nature of the business establishments. All business establishments require a printer to print out documents to be disseminated to the employees of the business. It is a good idea, though, that business establishments use a variety of different printers depending on the operations of the business.
One of the most important things that are taken into consideration when buying a printer is the cost of the ink or toner cartridges. Ink and toner cartridges are the most replaced part of the printer because each time that this runs out, new printer cartridges would need to be purchased. It is important to first find out if there are alternative printer cartridges that are available. Examples are generic and remanufactured printer cartridges. These printer cartridges are sold for almost half the price of original printer cartridges which can cut down costs in the long run.
Service Centers and Warranties
Just like any equipment, printers would need to be repaired and serviced on a regular basis. This is especially true for business establishments because of the high volume of print outs done on a daily basis. Most printer companies would offer a full warranty for the printer and its accessories for a certain period of time. It would be beneficial to ask where the printer can be serviced whether you are going to use the printer at home or for your business.
This Article is written by John C Arkin from MyOfficePortal.org the contributor of Office Supplies Information & Resources. More information on the subject is at Printer Buying Tips, and related resources can be found at Tips for Choosing a Good Printer for Photo Printing.
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