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A baby, a canary and a Singer sewing machine: part eight of Augusta’s memoir
In Waterbury we started our life together in a small way with an apartment John had found for $8 a month. It was on the third floor and had three rooms: living room, bedroom, and kitchen. It was owned by a lovely family named Coley, who were very nice to us. My husband was 22 years of age, and so was I. He earned $14 a week, and each week I put $2 in the bank. We were very happy in our little home.
Together we had saved $100 before our marriage, and with this we bought furniture at Wanamaker’s in New York. We felt very rich. We saved the receipt for the furniture all our lives. In the store was a bed rocking chair that I wanted very much, but we didn’t have enough money left to pay for it, so the store gave it to us for a wedding present.¹
My new husband was a member of the Swedish Lutheran Church in Waterbury. He was very interested in music, an inheritance from his father in Sweden, who was the cantor (director of singing) in the church in Börringe to which we belonged. In Waterbury the church needed an organist, so John took ten lessons and became the church organist. We both sang in the choir, and John was prominent in the Men’s Society and I in the Women’s Sewing Society. We sewed at these meetings for worthy causes, but it was also a happy social time with wonderful refreshments. We met at the homes of the members, and each would try to outdo the others in producing her finest cakes and pastries. The meetings were enlivened by the presence of all under-school-age children of the members.
Outside of our home we lived entirely for the church and worked hard for it, organizing many fairs to earn money for its maintenance. If the minister had to be away, my husband preached the sermon. Because of our work for the church the Young People’s Society gave us a surprise party and a gift of a beautiful morris chair, the newest style in 1896.
He was a wonderful man, my husband. Right from the beginning of our marriage he began to try to further his education in every way he could. He took correspondence courses to achieve more knowledge, with emphasis on philosophy, history, and law. He won a law degree (by mail), and also a certificate as a notary public in the Swedish language. He did not earn much money as a result, because he could not bring himself to charge anyone for his services. He read constantly, everything from Shakespeare to the history of world religions, and he was never happier than when he had a book in his hands.
Two years after our marriage we were blessed with a baby, a blond and handsome little boy weighing nine pounds. He was born on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, at 9:30 in the morning while I was baking a cake. Dr Castle was the doctor, but the baby was in such a hurry to arrive that when the doctor came Clarence John was dressed and ready to greet him. Fortunately we had a good German nurse who lived nearby. In those days a doctor charged $10 for a birth at home, but the nurse argued with him, and said he had to split the fee and give her $5 because he was not there in time and she took his place. He agreed to this and gave her half the fee.²
Our baby was christened three weeks later, at home because it was too cold a day to take him outdoors for the walk to church. After the christening I had prepared a little party for the minister and his wife and our baby’s godparents. Clarence John wore a beautiful dress I had made for him by hand. As was the style at that time it was very long, far beyond his little feet, and hadmany rows of fine insertions of lace and also two petticoats with insertions of embroidery and embroidered ruffles. He looked beautiful, and his name was duly recorded in our family Bible.
We couldn’t have been happier. My husband had a different job, and was now working for the Standard Electric Time Company in a neighboring town, a concern that made electric clocks for schools, banks, and other large buildings. My husband’s job was to inspect all clocks that left the factory. I was kept busy with dressmaking, thus increasing our income by this means. In those days food and clothing cost very little. I remember clearly when the best pork chops cost only 12 cents a pound, and bread and milk 5 cents each. Our income was not big, but it went a long way, and I even saved a few dollars every week, depositing it in a savings bank.
I had a problem in making dresses because I did not have a sewing machine, and had to make all clothes by hand. But the people in the house offered to let me use theirs, and after I earned $35 I was able to buy a Singer sewing machine. It worked with a foot treadle – electric machines were not yet made. I was very proud to have a sewing machine. I thought it was a fine piece of furniture.
At this time we had an addition to our family, a pretty canary named McKinley for the President of the United States. I guess we thought we were showing our patriotism for our new country by naming the canary for the President.
And life went happily on.
¹This struck me as awfully generous, so I looked up Wanamaker’s. It was a New York institution during the early 20th century, but apparently it had only just opened when Augusta and John bought their furniture there. Perhaps this explains the store’s gift to a pair of newlyweds: it would have meant good word-of-mouth publicity to do this kind of thing from time to time. | <urn:uuid:a56045d8-bd6c-4c69-bb9a-666fad996ab4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whodoesshethinksheisblog.com/2011/08/12/a-baby-a-canary-and-a-singer-sewing-machine-part-eight-of-augustas-memoir/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=e60e0e8ee0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992987 | 1,247 | 1.554688 | 2 |
A Message from Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee
2011 National Family Caregivers Month
I join President Obama today in recognizing November, 2011 as National Family Caregivers Month. This is not only an opportunity for us to honor the millions of family members, neighbors and friends who provide care for their loved ones during times of need. It is an important opportunity for caregivers to recognize themselves.
Each day, caregivers take on the ultimate responsibility of providing care to a family member or friend with a long-term, chronic or disabling condition. Ironically, many family members do not see themselves as caregivers, nor do they identify themselves as needing assistance in their role. Instead, they see themselves as loving daughters and sons, spouses and partners, or parents, siblings and friends doing what anyone would do in their shoes.
The Administration on Aging (AoA) has long recognized these sacrifices. Through the Older Americans Act, AoA administers programs and services designed to support older adults and their caregivers. Included among them is the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP), which assists family and informal caregivers by providing them respite from their daily tasks and access to services, counseling, training and other supports. We remain committed to administering the programs that make a difference in caregivers’ lives, and working with Congress to reauthorize the Older Americans Act, which makes that possible.
This year, we celebrate National Family Caregivers Month by honoring the incredible commitment, dedication and sacrifice of family caregivers. We encourage each and every caregiver out there to do the same.
To read President Obama’s proclamation, please visit: Presidential Proclamation -- National Family Caregivers Month, 2011
|Last Modified: 11/2/2011 1:41:48 PM | <urn:uuid:e38180ef-92e9-454f-b093-a18e28e4f3d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/Press_Room/News/2011/2011_11_01.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953639 | 360 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Va. Senate Approves Red-Light Cameras
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
RICHMOND, Feb. 20 -- The Virginia General Assembly will allow local governments to set up cameras to catch drivers who run red lights, renewing a program that safety advocates say reduces accidents and aggressive driving.
The Senate voted 30 to 10 Tuesday to approve a bill that would let towns, cities and counties with populations of 10,000 or more install photo-monitoring systems at intersections with traffic signals. The House has already approved the measure, and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has said he will sign it.
Nearing the close of their 45-day session, lawmakers also voted Tuesday to phase out touch-screen voting machines because of concerns about their accuracy. And House Republicans blocked an effort to raise the state's minimum wage to $6.50 an hour. The session ends Saturday.
The red-light camera program would replace an experiment that expired in 2005 in Alexandria, Fairfax City, Falls Church, Vienna, Virginia Beach and Arlington and Fairfax counties. In addition to the District, Maryland and 11 other states use automated cameras for traffic enforcement.
"This is the best opportunity this legislature has had since I've been here for 12 years to establish a statewide safety program," said Sen. Martin E. Williams (R-Newport News). "This is for all localities in Virginia."
The real hurdle was in the more conservative House of Delegates, where lawmakers had approved the measure this month 63 to 35. It is one in a series of measures to be approved this year after historic resistance by House members who have argued against what they view as unnecessary government "nannyism" through regulation.
The House also has approved laws requiring restaurants to prominently display signs if smoking is allowed on the premises and requiring children to be restrained in a booster seat until age 8. Last week, a House committee approved a law prohibiting teens from using cellphones while driving; the bill is likely to come before the full House on Wednesday.
"Virginia is a very weird state," said Del. David B. Albo (R-Fairfax). "There's a vast difference of opinion about what the people want. I never thought we'd ever see photo-red get out of here. But a lot of the rural guys are just sick and tired of this fighting with the Senate. In order to compromise, we have to give up some of the things we like."
Others attributed the shift to election-year jitters. With all 140 seats in the General Assembly up for election in November, Republican lawmakers are mindful that Virginia's electorate has been trending toward Democrats in recent years and is turning to government to solve problems such as the traffic crisis in Northern Virginia as well as health and safety concerns.
"I think they are recognizing that all their ideological talk about the 'nanny state' not only isn't working, but it is also portraying them as callous and indifferent to measures that protect our families and kids," said Del. Robert H. Brink (D-Arlington).
Sprinting through their final week, lawmakers addressed dozens of other measures Tuesday. Responding to bipartisan concern that electronic voting machines are susceptible to fraud and error, the House approved a bill by state Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R-Fairfax) that would no longer replace them when they break down.
Local government agencies that administer elections will instead have to buy machines that offer a paper trail, most likely optical scanners. | <urn:uuid:3bcba5ed-ce24-4649-a886-b3b0bdea42e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001500.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970168 | 717 | 1.507813 | 2 |
GREENVILLE — Former President Bill Clinton said today that he would take Senator Barack Obama up on his challenge last night to prove himself as the first black president by entering a dance competition — against Mr. Obama.
Mr. Obama was asked at last night’s debate whether Mr. Clinton was “the first black president,” as Toni Morrison, the novelist, has said. Mr. Obama replied that he would first have to see whether Mr. Clinton can dance before calling him a brother. It was a brief moment of levity in a contentious slug-fest of a debate with Senator Hillary Clinton and former Senator John Edwards.
In response to a question at a town hall meeting here today, Mr. Clinton said, “I would be willing to engage in a dancing competition with him, even though he’s much thinner and younger than I am, but only if I got an age allowance.”
The audience laughed and applauded. No response from the Obama campaign yet as to whether they want to go toe to toe, literally, with the former president on the dance floor. They have been going head to head lately, but Mr. Clinton today had largely shed his combative persona and appeared more relaxed.
He was asked several other questions here specifically relating to race.
One young man, whom Mr. Clinton later suggested might have been from the Obama campaign, said to him: “A lot of us believe Senator Obama eventually will be the first black president. Are you going to be OK with having stood in his way? Do you think that will affect your legacy among blacks in South Carolina?”
“No,” Mr. Clinton replied. “Yes and no. Yes, I’m OK, but I’m not standing in his way; I think Hillary would be a better president.” This brought a round of applause as he went on to say that “with the severity of our economic challenges and the severity of our challenges abroad,” the country needs someone who is “ready for the job on the first day.”
He said this reasoning did not amount to standing in Mr. Obama’s way. “No one has a right to be president, including Hillary,” he said. “Keep in mind, in the last two primaries, we ran as an underdog. She was out there as the underdog winning in New Hampshire, where no one thought she could win, and in Nevada, where all the organized forces were against her.”
He said he hoped to have the chance to vote for Senator Obama “some day,” presumably after Mrs. Clinton has served two terms.
Mr. Clinton told the audience, about half of whom were black, “I think it would be just as much a change, and some people think more, to have the first woman president as to have the first African-American president.” The crowd whooped and cheered.
As for his legacy, he said: “My legacy, whatever it is, is done. I did what I did.” By his own measure, which is whether people were better off after he left office than when he started, he said his presidency was a success.
At yet another point, he said he understood the pride that African-Americans felt in Mr. Obama’s candidacy. “We honor your decision,” he said, “but we think you ought to support Hillary.”
He then went on to say it was a sign of progress that a black man and a woman could have such a spirited debate as they had last night. “I know you think it’s crazy, but I kind of like seeing Barack and Hillary fighting,” he said. “They’re real people, flesh and blood people, they have differences, let them have it. That’s America. I’ve been waiting all my life to see this sort of thing.”
He was applauded throughout, and the crowd thronged around him afterward seeking his autograph and pictures. | <urn:uuid:fbca83d1-7db1-4d04-834f-eea7f7a0a9c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/dance-off/?apage=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991024 | 850 | 1.59375 | 2 |
US 7172759 B2
Disclosed are methods of inducing maturation of antigen presenting cells and cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses utilizing agonist anti-CD40 antibodies that do not block the binding of CD40L to CD40.
1. A method for enhancing a human antigen presenting cell (APC)-mediated human cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response, comprising stimulating an APC with an agonist anti-CD40 antibody, or a chimeric antibody, humanized antibody, single chain antibody or CD40 binding fragment thereof, which is capable of blocking binding of CD40L on a human T lymphocyte to CD40 on a human APC by 16–88%, wherein said anti-CD40 antibody is produced by a hybridoma with American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) deposit designation PTA-2993, PTA-2994, PTA-2995, PTA-2996, PTA-2997, PTA-2998, or PTA-2999.
2. A method for enhancing an antigen-specific cytotoxic T cell lymphocyte (CTL) response, wherein said CTL is activated with a human antigen presenting cell (APC) and wherein said APC is stimulated via the CD40 receptor with an anti-CD40 antibody, or a chimeric antibody, humanized antibody, single chain antibody or CD40 binding fragment thereof, which binds to said receptor and blocks binding of CD40L to CD40 by 16–88%, and further wherein said anti-CD40 antibody is produced by a hybridoma with American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) deposit designation PTA-2993, PTA-2994, PTA-2995, PTA-2996, PTA-2997, PTA-2998, or PTA-2999.
3. A method for enhancing an antigen specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response according to
4. The method of
5. The method of
6. The method of
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/178,934, filed on Feb. 1, 2000.
This invention relates to a series of novel molecules and monoclonal antibodies that bind to and stimulate antigen presenting cells via the CD40 receptor expressed on such antigen presenting cells.
Activation of the Immune System:
The immune system is capable of killing autologous cells when they become infected by virus or when they transform into cancer cells. Such a potentially dangerous mechanism is under tight control. When they have not yet encountered their specific antigen, the immune system's T-killer cells (CTL) circulate as inactive precursors. To be activated, the precursor T-killer cell must recognize its specific antigen peptide, presented by MHC class I molecules on professional antigen presenting cells (APC). This antigen specific cellular interaction is, however, not enough to fully activate the CTL, notwithstanding the co-stimulatory signals from the APC.
Until recently it was believed that a T-helper cell that recognises the same antigen on the same APC as the CTL is needed to fully activate the CTL. Upon activation, the specific T-helper cell would supply cytokines such as IL-2 needed for the activation of the CTL. Guerder and Matzinger (J. Exp. Med. 176:553 (1992)), however, proposed the “licensing” model for CTL activation. In this model it was suggested that the T-helper cell, when recognising its antigen on a professional APC, would deliver an activation signal to the APC that as a result would be able to subsequently activate a CTL without the need for the T-helper cell to be present. Recently, the molecular mechanism of the licensing model was elucidated. Schoenberger et al. (Nature 393:480 (1998)), described the crucial role of the CD40L-CD40 pathway in the licensing model. Activation of the T-helper cell by the dendritic cell (DC) results in the up-regulation of the CD40L, which subsequently provides the signal that empowers the DC for CTL priming by triggering the CD40 molecule on the DC.
DC circulate through and are resident in the body tissues and at sites of antigen deposition or introduction. After taking up antigens, they migrate to the draining lymph nodes where they present antigen to the T cells. It is well known that a DC needs to be activated to perform optimally. Resting DC express only low levels of MHC and co-stimulatory molecules and are poor stimulators of T cells. DC can be activated by inflammatory cytokines and bacterial products, which results in up-regulation of MHC and co-stimulatory molecules. Therefore, DC that have encountered antigens under inflammatory conditions will readily activate T-helper cells when they arrive in the draining lymph nodes. It is thus very likely that the combination of inflammatory cytokines at the site of antigen uptake and the CD40L-CD40 interaction during the T-helper cell interaction result in an optimal capacity to license the DC for CTL activation.
The CD40 Molecule and the TNF Receptor Family:
The CD40 molecule belongs to the TNF receptor family of type I transmembrane proteins. The members of this gene family (which include among others, the two receptors for TNF, the low-affinity nerve growth factor receptor and the T cell activation antigen CD27, CD30, and CD95) are characterized by sequence homology in their cysteine-rich extracellular domains (Armitage et al., Current Opinion in Immunology 6:407 (1994)). The known ligands for the members of the TNF receptor family are homologous as well. Although TNF-α is a soluble cytokine, it is initially synthesized as a membrane associated molecule. Most of the members of the TNF/CD40L receptor and the TNF/CD40 families are type II trans-membrane proteins. These include: hTNF-α, hLT, hLT-β, hCD40L, hCD27L, hCD30L, cfECP1, myx VRh, mCD30, hCD27, hFas, m4-1BB, rOX-40, hTNFR-h, hTNFR-II, hTNFR-1 and hLNGFR. CD40 is best known for its function in B-cell activation. The molecule is constitutively expressed on all B cells. CD40L-CD40 interaction can stimulate the proliferation of purified B cells and, in combination with cytokines, mediate immunoglobulin production. Recent studies indicate that the distribution of the CD40 molecule is not as restricted as was originally postulated. Freshly isolated human monocytes express low levels of the CD40 molecule, which can be up-regulated by culturing them in the presence of IFN-α (Alderson et al., J. Exp. Med. 178:669 (1993)). Stimulation of monocytes via CD40 results in the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1 and TNF-α, toxic free radical intermediates such as nitric oxide and up-regulation of the B7 co-stimulatory molecules. Human DC isolated from peripheral blood can also express the CD40 molecule (Caux et al., J. Exp. Med. 180:263 (1994)). Ligation of CD40 on DC results in enhanced survival of these cells when cultured in vitro. As with monocytes, stimulation of DC via CD40 results in secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-12 and TNF-α and up-regulation of the CD80/86 co-stimulatory molecules. In addition, it was recently demonstrated that activation of CD40 induces the capacity to stimulate the activation of killer T cells (Schoenberger et al., Nature 393:480 (1998)). Accordingly, activating CD40 by binding it with a ligand, such as an antibody, would induce a number of humoral and cytotoxic effects, useful in inhibiting tumors.
The invention includes molecules able to bind to and activate CD40 expressed on both professional and non-professional APCs. These agonistic molecules, following binding to a cell surface receptor, induce intracellular signal transduction, leading to the activation of the APCs expressing CD40. The molecules of the invention include monoclonal antibodies, fragments thereof, peptides, oligonucleotides, and other chemical entities. Also included are peptides and genes inducing expression of anti-CD40 antibodies.
Such molecules can be used in combination, or in a bispecific or multivalent form, including as bispecific antibodies, to cross-link CD40 on the same cell, or to cross-link CD40 present on different cells. Either such cross-linking could cause a synergistic or additive agonistic effect.
Applicants hereby state that all restrictions imposed by the depositor on the availability to the public of the deposited material will be irrevocably removed upon the granting of a U.S. patent based upon this application.
In the figures and as described below, anti-CD40 antibodies produced by hybridoma clones generated by the methods of the invention are referred to as follows, in relation to the hybridomas deposited with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and given the following ATCC deposit accession numbers: clone 4 (hybridoma MAb 186-4-1, ATCC Accession No. PTA-2996), clone 7 (hybridoma MAb 186-7-2, ATCC Accession No. PTA-2997), clone 15 (hybridoma MAb 186-15-1, ATCC Accession No. PTA-2998), clone 21 (hybridoma MAb 186-21-1, ATCC Accession No. PTA-2993), clone 26 (hybridoma MAb 186-26-3, ATCC Accession No. PTA-2999), clone 64 (hybridoma MAb 186-64-1, ATCC Accession No. PTA-2994), clone 70 (hybridoma MAb 186-70-3, ATCC Accession No. PTA-2995). The hybridomas producing these antibodies were deposited with the ATCC (10801 University Blvd., Manassas, Va. 20110-2209, USA) in accordance with the provisions of the Budapest Treaty, on Jan. 31, 2001.
The molecules described and claimed include monoclonal antibodies, fragments thereof, peptides and other chemical entities. Monoclonal antibodies can be made by the conventional method of immunization of a mammal, followed by isolation of the B cell producing the monoclonal antibodies of interest and fusion with a myeloma cell. The preferred monoclonal antibodies include chimeric antibodies, humanized antibodies, human antibodies, Delmmunized™ antibodies, single-chain antibodies and fragments, including Fab, F(ab′)2, Fv and other fragments which retain the antigen binding function of the parent antibody. Single chain antibodies (“ScFv”) and the method of their construction are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,778.
Chimeric antibodies are produced by recombinant processes well known in the art, and have an animal variable region and a human constant region. Humanized antibodies correspond more closely to the sequence of human antibodies than do chimeric antibodies. In a humanized antibody, only the complementarity determining regions (CDRs), which are responsible for antigen binding and specificity, are non-human derived and have an amino acid sequence corresponding to the non-human antibody, and substantially all of the remaining portions of the molecule (except, in some cases, small portions of the framework regions within the variable region) are human derived and have an amino acid sequence corresponding to a human antibody. See L. Riechmann et al., Nature; 332: 323–327 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,539 (Medical Research Council); U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,585,089; 5,693,761; 5,693,762 (Protein Design Labs, Inc.).
Human antibodies can be made by several different methods, including by use of human immunoglobulin expression libraries (Stratagene Corp., La Jolla, Calif.; Cambridge Antibody Technology Ltd., London, England) to produce fragments of human antibodies (VH, VL, Fv, Fd, Fab, or (Fab′)2), and use of these fragments to construct whole human antibodies by fusion of the appropriate portion thereto, using techniques similar to those for producing chimeric antibodies. Human antibodies can also be produced in transgenic mice with a human immunoglobulin genome. Such mice are available from Abgenix, Inc., Fremont, Calif., and Medarex, Inc., Annandale, N.J. In addition to connecting the heavy and light chain Fv regions to form a single chain peptide, Fab can be constructed and expressed by similar means (M. J. Evans et al., J. Immunol. Meth., 184: 123–138 1995).
Delmmunized™ antibodies are antibodies in which the potential T cell epitopes have been eliminated, as described in International Patent Application PCT/GB98/01473. Therefore, immunogenicity in humans is expected to be eliminated or substantially reduced when they are applied in vivo.
All of the wholly and partially human antibodies described above are less immunogenic than wholly murine or non-human-derived antibodies, as are the fragments and single chain antibodies. All these molecules (or derivatives thereof) are therefore less likely to evoke an immune or allergic response. Consequently, they are better suited for in vivo administration in humans than wholly non-human antibodies, especially when repeated or long-term administration is necessary, as may be needed for treatment of psoriasis or other inflammatory skin conditions.
Bispecific antibodies can be used as cross-linking agents between CD40 of the same cell, or CD40 on two different cells. Such bispecific antibodies would have one specificity for each of two different epitopes on CD40. Bispecifics in which one specificity is a strong activator of binding of sCD40L to CD40, and one specificity is a partial or non-inhibitor of binding of sCD40L to CD40, could synergize the agonistic effect on cross-linking.
These antibodies and the method of making them are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,254 (Creative Biomolecules, Inc.). Different embodiments of bispecific antibodies described in the patent include linking single chain Fv with peptide couplers, including Ser-Cys, (Gly)4-Cys (SEQ ID NO: 1), (His)6-(Gly)4-Cys (SEQ ID NO: 2), chelating agents, and chemical or disulfide couplings including bismaleimidohexane and bismaleimidocaproyl.
Non-antibody molecules can be isolated or screened from compound libraries by conventional means. An automated system for generating and screening a compound library is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,901,069 and 5,463,564. A more focused approach involves three-dimensional modeling of the binding site, and then making a family of molecules which fit the model. These are then screened for those with optimal binding characteristics.
Another approach is to generate recombinant peptide libraries, and then screen them for those which bind to the epitope of CD40 of interest. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,322. This epitope is the same as that bound by the monoclonal antibodies described in the examples below. Molecules can, in fact, be generated or isolated with relative ease in accordance with techniques well known in the art once the epitope is known.
Another approach is to induce endogenous production of the desired anti-CD40 antibodies, by administering a peptide or an antibody which induces such production, or through gene therapy, where a gene encoding an appropriate anti-CD40 molecule or a fragment thereof is administered. The method of making and administering any of these molecules is well known in the art.
The molecules can be administered by any of a number of routes. In the case of peptides and antibodies, because they are subject to degradation in the gastro-intestinal tract, they would preferably be injected. Other compounds of the invention could also be injected. The injections could be intramuscular, intravenous or sub-cutaneous.
Non-peptide molecules of the invention could be administered orally, including by suspension, tablets and the like. Liquid formulations could be administered by inhalation of lyophilized or aeorosolized microcapsules. Suppositories could also be used.
Additional pharmaceutical vehicles could be used to control the duration of action of the molecules of the invention. They could be entrapped in microcapsules prepared by coacervation techniques or by interfacial polymerization (hydroxymethylcellullose or gelatin microcapsules) in colloidal drug delivery systems (for example, liposomes, albumin microspheres, micro-emulsions, nanoparticles and nanocapsules) or in macro-emulsions.
Excipients, for example, salts, various bulking agents, additional buffering agents, chelating agents, antioxidants, cosolvents and the like can be included in the final formulation. Specific examples include tris-(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane salts (“Tris buffer”) and disodium edetate.
The dosage and scheduling for the formulation which is selected can be determined by standard procedures, well known in the art. Such procedures involve extrapolating an estimated dosing schedule from animal models, and then determining the optimal dosage in a human clinical dose ranging study.
Examples of molecules of the invention are set forth below.
Making and Using Agonistic Monoclonal Antibodies
A. Materials and Methods
In the Examples set forth below, the following procedures were used, as indicated in the examples.
Cell Lines and Culture Conditions
The EBV-transformed B-cell line JY and the myeloid derived cell line THP1 were cultured in T75 culture flasks routinely in Iscove's modified Dulbecco's medium (IMDM) to which 50 μg/ml gentamycin and 2% heat inactivated foetal calf serum was added (FCS; BioWhittaker, Verviers, Belgium). The cells were cultured in a humidified incubator at 37° C. and 5% CO2. Once or twice per week the cells were split ( 1/20 to 1/100). To store the cell line, ampoules were made containing 5–10×106 cells/ml Hank's balanced salt solution (HBSS) supplemented with 20% FCS and 10% DMSO, and stored in liquid nitrogen.
Peripheral Mononuclear Blood Cell Isolation and Storage
Peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PBMC) were isolated from “buffy coats” of healthy donors by Lymphoprep™ (1.077 g/ml) density centrifugation and resuspended in Ca2+/Mg2+-free PBS-0.1% BSA. Autologous PBMC were stored in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 2 mM L-glutamine, 10% FCSi, 50 μg/ml gentamycin and 10% DMSO at −196° C. (for CD8 T cell purification, see below).
Monocyte Enrichment and Generation of Monocyte-Drived Immature DC
Monocytes were purified from PBMC by immunomagnetic depletion (monocyte-enrichment cocktail containing Mabs against CD2, CD3, CD16, CD19, CD56, CD66b and glycophorin A; StemSep™ from StemCell Technologies, Vancouver, Canada). Monocyte (>90% CD14+) preparations devoid of neutrophilic granulocytes, platelets, lymphocytes and NK cells were subsequently cultured in serum-free culture medium, StemSpan™ (StemCell Technologies), supplemented with 10 ng/ml GM-CSF and 20 ng/ml IL-4 (both cytokines from PeproTech, Rocky Hill, N.J., USA) at 37° C./5%CO2 during 6–7 days. These monocytes were seeded at a cell density of 1×106/2 ml/10 cm2 polystyrene surface (coated with 12 mg/ml/10 cm2 poly-hydroxethylmethacrylate; Sigma) and fresh GM-CSF/IL-4 was added at day 2 and 5. After 6–7 days, the nonadherent cells (with a dendritic morphology) were collected and displayed the following (flow cytometry, see below) phenotypic profile: CD1a+, CD14−, CD40+, C80+, CD83−, CD86+, HLA-DR+ and mannose receptor++.
CD8 T Lymphocyte Isolation
Autologous PBMC were thawed, and CD8 T lymphocytes were purified by immunomagnetic depletion of other cell types (CD8-enrichment cocktail with Mabs against CD4, CD14, CD16, CD56 and glycophorin A; StemCell Technologies). This procedure resulted in >90% CD3+/CD8+ lymphocytes devoid of monocytes, neutrophilic granulocytes, platelets, B and CD4 lymphocytes, and NK cells.
Flow Cytometric Analyses
Cells (0.1×106 cells/100 μl PBS-0.1% BSA/sample) were incubated with conjugated (to either fluorescein isothiocyanate, phycoerythrin or peridinin chlorophyll protein) Mabs (Becton & Dickinson, Woerden, The Netherlands) for 15 min. at 21° C., and then thoroughly washed in PBS-0.1% BSA and analyzed on a flow cytometer (FACSCalibur™; Becton & Dickinson, Woerden, The Netherlands).
Competition of CD40 Ligand and Anti-CD40 Monoclonal Antibodies on JY Cells
Blocking of soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) binding by anti-CD40 monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) was demonstrated by using JY cells, which express high levels of CD40. These cells (0.1×106 cells/100 μl PBS-0.1% BSA/sample) were pre-incubated with anti-CD40 Mabs for 15 min. at 21° C., and then thoroughly washed in PBS-0.1% BSA, followed by an incubation with a soluble fusion protein consisting of the extracellular domain of human CD40L fused to the extracellular domain of murine CD8α (CD40L-mCD8α; Kordia, Leiden, The Netherlands and Tanox Pharma BV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) for 15 min. at 21° C. Subsequently, CD40L-mCD8α was detected by using rat anti-mouse CD8α coupled to phycoerythrin, and analyzed by flow cytometry.
Well-characterized control Mabs were included as controls: M2 and G28-5 compete for the CD40L binding site, and 5C3 binds to a region distinct from the CD40L binding site. EA-5 partially inhibits the binding of CD40L to its receptor (Pound et al., Int Immunol 1999, 11, p11–20).
Inhibition of Binding of Anti-CD40 Monoclonal Antibodies to Membrane CD40L By CD40-Fc (IgG4).
As a source of membrane CD40L activated CD4+ T cells are used. To this purpose expression of CD40L on T cells is induced through culturing plastic non-adherent PBMC with PMA and ionomycine for 6 hrs in IMDM+5% human pooled AB serum. CD40-Fc (IgG4 made by Tanox Inc Houston USA) is directly added at a saturating dose to the activated T cells or after pre-incubation of CD40-Fc with excess of anti-CD40 Mabs. Binding of CD40-Fc to CD40L activated CD4+ (CD3+CD8−) T cells is monitored through FACS analysis after staining with PE conjugated goat anti human IgG-Fc, FITC conjugated CD3 and PERCP conjugated CD8.
ELISA plates (Immunon 2) were coated overnight at room temperature with 0.5 μg/ml, 50 μl per well of goat-anti-human IgG (Fc). Next the plates were treated with 1% BLOTTO for 60 min at room temperature. After washing 4 times with PBS/Tween, 50 μl/well of CD40-Fc plus 50 μl of supernatants of the fusion wells were added and incubated for 1 hour at room temperature. After another 4 washings with PBS/Tween, 50 μl of goat-anti-mouse IgG (Fc)-HRP conjugate was added and incubated for 1 hour. After 4 washings the substrate TMB was added at 100 μl/well to the plates which were incubated for 30 min. The reaction was stopped by addition of 50 μl/well of 0.2 M H2SO4 and the plates were read with an ELISA reader at 450/590 nm
Stimulation of THP-1 Cells
3×106 THP-1 cells were first cultured for two days in 10 ml of IMDM+2% of human type AB serum in the presence of 5×102 U/ml IFN-γ. Next the IFN-γ treated THP-1 cells were washed once in IMDM+2% human type AB serum. 104 THP-1 cells per 96 well plate were cultured for two days in 120 μl of culture medium diluted 1:2 with hybridoma supernatant. As controls CD154-mCD8 was used at 40 μg/ml maximum and 2× dilutions and LPS at 20 ng/ml maximum and 2× dilutions.
Measurement of IL-8
ELISA plates were coated with mouse anti human IL-8 antibody (Serotec) at 5 μg/ml, 100 μl/well for 2 hrs at room temperature on a plate shaker. The plates were then incubated with 1% BLOTTO for one hour on the plate shaker at room temperature. After four washings with PBS/Tween, 80 μl of supernatants harvested from the THP-1 plate were added to the ELISA plate. For the IL-8 standards, IL-8 was diluted with 1% BLOTTO to 1000 pg/ml, 300 pg/ml, 100 pg/ml, 30 pg/ml, 10 pg/ml, 3 pg/ml, and 1 pg/ml. The ELISA plates were incubated for one hour at room temperature on the plate shaker. After four washings with PBS/Tween, 100 μl/well mouse-anti IL-8 biotin conjugate (Serotec) was added at 1:1000 dilution in 1% BLOTTO and the plates were incubated for one hour at room temperature. After four washings with PBS/Tween, 100 μl/well AMDX SA-HRP at 1:1000 dilution in 1% BLOTTO was added to the wells and the plates were incubated for 1 hour at room temperature on the plate shaker. After 4 washings with PBS/Tween, 100 μl of TMB substrate was added to each well and the plates were incubated for 30 minutes at room temperature on the plate shaker. The reaction was stopped by addition of 50 μl/well of 0.2 M H2SO4 and the plates were read with an ELISA reader at 450/590 nm.
Induction of Mature DC
Immature DC (see above) are cultured in the presence of anti-CD40 Mabs under serum-free condition (StemSpan™) at 37° C./5%CO2 for 48 hours. In addition, CD40L-mCD8α, LPS and a combination of IL-1β and TNF-α are used as well-established controls for DC maturation. The change from immature to mature DC is determined by: (1) phenotype (CD1a+, CD14−, CD40+++, CD80+++, CD83+, CD86+++, HLA-DR+++, mannose receptor−), (2) IL-12p70 production (commercially available kit), and by (3) the capability of inducing influenza-matrix peptide specific autologous cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocytes (see below).
Immature DC are cultured in the presence of anti-CD40 Mabs (1μg/ml) with or without IFN-g (1000 U/ml) for 48 hrs. IL-12p70 secretion was measured in the supernatant using a commercially available kit from Diaclone Research, Becanson, France. Inhibition of IL-12 production was obtained by preincubation of anti-CD40 Mabs with 10 times excess of CD40-Fc (IgG4 made by Tanox Inc Houston USA) for 15 min at room temperature.
Induction of Cytotoxic CD8+ T Lymphocytes By Mature DC
Mature DC generated by agonistic anti-CD40 Mabs are loaded with a synthetic influenza matrix peptide (Flu-peptide 58-66); 1×106 DC/Flu-peptide 5 μg/ml StemSpan™) and co-cultured with 0.5×106 purified autologous CD8+ T lymphocytes at 37° C./5%CO2 during 7 days. Cytotoxicity of the CD8+ T lymphocytes is determined by: (1) enumeration of the number of IFN-γ producing T cells, which are representative for activated CTL (using flow cytometry with an IFN-γ detection kit from Miltenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany), and (2) a convential assay measuring cytolysis by CTL of target cells loaded with Flu-peptide.
Two immunization protocols were used to generate anti-CD40 monoclonal antibodies. In the first, female BALB/c mice were injected intraperitoneally with SF-9 cells expressing CD40 (3×106 cells/mouse), which were washed with PBS twice before injection. At day 17 and 31 the mice received a booster injection with SF-9 cells. Fourteen days after the last the last the injection the spleen cells were isolated and 108 cells were used for cell fusion with 108 SP2/0 murine myeloma cells using polyethylene glycol. The fused cells were resuspended in D15 (a modified DMEM medium) supplemented with HAT, followed by plating on fifty-one 96 wells plates. After 10–14 days supernatants of wells containing growing hybridoma cells were screened for anti-CD40 antibody production in an ELISA. This analysis showed that a total of 69 wells out of 4896 seeded wells contained hybridomas producing anti-human CD40 specific antibodies. Culture supernatants of these wells were selected for additional experiments, such as for studying the induction of IL-8 secretion from THP-1 cells (see below). Next limiting dilution was performed twice to obtain clones from a number of hybridoma lines that produced CD40 agonist antibodies. For this purpose hybridoma cells were seeded at densities of less than 1 c/well in 96 well plates and cultured for 3–4 weeks. Supernatant of positive wells was screened in the CD40 ELISA and the THP-1 assay for the presence of CD40 binding antibodies.
For the second immunization regimen, BALB/c mice were injected intraperitoneally with 2.5×106 monocyte-derived immature DC. At days 14, 35 and 55 mice received booster injections with monocyte-derived DC from different donors. At around day 100–120, spleen cells will be isolated and fused with murine myeloma cells in analogy to the above protocol. Supernatants of wells with growing hybridomas will be screened for the presence of CD40 binding antibodies in the ELISA. Hybridoma supernatants containing CD40 binding antibodies will be subsequently screened for potential agonistic activity as described for the hybridoma's originating from B cells isolated from the BALB/c immunized with CD40 expressing SF-9 cells
Screening the CD40 Binding Antibody Samples from Hybridoma Lines for Agonistic Activity on THP-1 Cells and Subsequent Cloning of Lines and Testing of Monoclonal Mabs
To screen for antibodies with agonistic activity, the selected supernatants containing CD40 binding antibodies were subsequently tested for their ability to induce IL-8 production in the CD40 expressing monocytic cell line THP-1, which had been pre-incubated with IFN-γ. Most supernatants contained anti-CD40 antibodies, which displayed agonistic activity in this assay. Supernatants were arbitrarily subdivided into four different groups on the basis of their performance in the THP-1 assay (strong agonists with an OD of >2.000, intermediate agonists with an OD between 1.000–2.000, low agonists with an OD between 0.375–0.999 and non-agonists with an OD <0.375).
A number of the hybridoma lines were cloned and monoclonal antibodies from the resulting clones were also tested in the THP-1 assay. Most but not all clones retained the reactivity pattern of the corresponding mother lines (data not shown).
Assaying the Ability of the CD40 Reactive Antibody Clones to Drive Maturation, IL-12p70 Production and Priming for CTL Activation of Immature DC
DC derived from monocytes after culture with GM-CSF and IL-4 represent immature DC. Anti-CD40 monoclonal antibodies have been assayed for their capacity to induce maturation of these CD40 expressing immature DC. Experiments from other investigators have shown that stimulation of monocyte-derived DC with sCD40L results in their differentiation into DC with a mature phenotype. Furthermore, sCD40L in combination with IFN-γ stimulates monocyte-derived DC to secrete IL-12p70. In contrast to immature DC, mature DC express CD83. In addition, compared to immature DC, mature DC display enhanced expression on a per cell basis of the co-stimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86, decreased expression of the mannose receptor and loss of the ability to efficiently take up molecules, as shown for dextran-FITC. At first the phenotypical changes that accompany the differentiation of immature to mature DC were monitored by FACS-analysis as a read-out for induction of DC maturation by the anti-CD40 monoclonal antibodies. Antibodies were first used on their own to stimulate monocyte-derived DC. As shown in
In addition, the IL-12p70 production of monocyte derived DC was tested after stimulation with the CD40 monoclonal antibodies and IFN-γ since dendritic cells require stimulation through at least two different pathways to produce IL-12p70 (Kalinski et al Blood 1997 90:1926). Our results show that apart from induction of phenotypical maturation, the CD40 agonist antibodies also induced IL-12 production in DC when used together with IFN-γ (
In the mouse, T cell help to CTL was found to be mediated through CD40 activated DC. Antigen dependent interaction of helper T cells with DC did not only result in the activation of the helper T cell, but through CD40L-CD40 interaction also in the activation of the DC. Only in their activated stage DC were able to prime CTL responses. In the absence of helper T cells no DC activation and therefore no CTL priming occurred. However, by means of in vivo administration of an anti-mouse CD40 stimulatory antibody, T cell help could be efficiently bypassed and DC directly activated.
To show that the same mechanism of CTL activation applies to man, an in vitro study was performed in which CTL activation was studied in a co-culture system consisting of purified human CD8+ T cells, monocyte-derived DC as APC and a minimal peptide derived from influenza virus matrix protein as antigen. This peptide constitutes a dominant HLA-A2 restricted CTL epitope. This experiment was carried out to establish whether our anti-CD40 monoclonal antibodies could empower monocyte-derived DC with an increased ability to stimulate CTL responses compared to untreated control DC. CTL activation was analyzed in this experiment through measurement of production of IFN-γ by activated CTL and enumeration of expansion of CTL with PE conjugated HLA-A2/influenza matrix peptide tetramers. As shown in
Analysis of the Inhibition of the Binding of sCD40L to CD40 by the Anti-CD40 Antibody Samples
Anti-CD40 antibodies that synergize with sCD40L in the induction of CD40 mediated activation of DC most likely show co-binding with sCD40L to CD40 and thus do not display strong blocking of binding of sCD40L to CD40. To screen for such antibodies, the percentage of inhibition of sCD40L binding to CD40 on JY EBV transformed B cells by the monoclonal antibodies was tested. This analysis revealed that there was strong variation in the degree that the monoclonal antibodies could inhibit the binding of sCD40L to CD40. Some antibody samples almost completely inhibited sCD40L binding, whereas other antibody samples could only partially block sCD40L binding or had no effect at all. The results were confirmed in the reverse way for a limited number of clones by testing the inhibition caused by the anti-CD40 monoclonal antibodies of the binding of CD40-Fc to CD40L expressed on the membrane of PMA+ionomycine activated CD4+ T cells. In this experiment clone 4 blocked binding of CD40-Fc to CD40L on the T cells for 88%, clone 7 and 64 for respectively 16% and 25%. Although there was no absolute correlation between the performance of the antibodies in the DC maturation and the THP-1 assay and their ability to block binding to CD40, all the clones that did not block this interaction were non-responders in both assays (data not shown).
Synergism Between Anti-CD40 Antibodies and mCD40L or sCD40L in Agonist Activity on DC
It is predicted that those antibodies that to a major extent block binding of sCD40L to CD40 will not display synergism with sCD40L in the induction of DC maturation or other agonistic properties exerted on CD40 positive cells. In contrast, some of the CD40 binding antibodies that efficiently co-bind with sCD40L to its receptor will presumably show synergism with sCD40L or membrane bound CD40L (mCD40L) in driving DC maturation. (As a source of membrane bound CD40L antigen or mitogen activated CD4+ T cells will be used) This will be demonstrated by the increased percentage of cells expressing CD83, by the increased expression on a per cell basis of CD80 and CD86 and the decreased expression of the mannose receptor. Also the level of IL-12p70 produced by the DC after stimulation by the combination of one of these antibodies with sCD40L and IFN-γ will be enhanced compared to the level induced by sCD40L and IFN-γ alone. Apart from synergism between sCD40L and an anti-CD40 antibody, two anti-CD40 antibodies may also show synergism with each other in the induction of IL-12p70 secretion. This synergism may occur most noticeably between antibodies that block binding of sCD40L to CD40 and those that are partial or non-inhibitors of this interaction, as these antibodies are expected to bind different epitopes on CD40.
In analogy to the experiment in which the maturation of DC was tested, the effect on CTL activation of the anti-CD40 antibody samples, used on their own or together with sCD40L, will be evaluated in future experiments. It is expected that, resulting from more efficient stimulation of the DC, synergism in CTL activation will occur between the same combinations of sCD40L and monoclonal antibodies as in the maturation assay. The same holds true with regard to synergism in CTL activation between two different anti-CD40 antibodies.
Enhanced Potency, in Comparison to CD40 Agonist Antibody, of a Bispecific Antibody Directed to CD40 and 4-1BB Ligand or a Bispecific Antibody Directed to CD40 and CD28 in the Ability to License DC for CTL Activation
Use of a bi-specific antibody with specificity for CD40 on one side and a determinant on T cells on the other side potentially has the benefit of bringing the activated DC in close contact with surrounding T cells. If the antibody part that recognizes the T cell determinant has agonistic properties, the additional benefit may be that the attracted T cell will be stimulated both through the signals delivered by the activated DC and the agonistic properties of the T cell part of the bispecific antibody. This possibility will be evaluated by comparing the effect of the addition of the CD40 monoclonal antibodies and the bispecific antibodies in the above described DC-CTL co-culture system, using flu peptide specific CD8+ T cell responses as read out.
The description and examples are exemplarily only and not limiting, and the invention is defined only by the claims which follow, and includes all equivalents, known and unknown, of such claimed subject matter.
Citations de brevets
Citations hors brevets | <urn:uuid:50c09c65-1ad1-4884-a1b6-52cd28766f54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.google.fr/patents/US7172759 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934855 | 9,017 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Daniel O'Neill RHA
Portrait of a Man - Pencil on Paper
foremost romantic painter, Dan O'Neill was the son a Belfast electrician. He took life classes at
the Belfast College of Art and the advent of his painting career coincided with
the outbreak of the second World War. After the 1941 Blitz of Belfast he took to salvaging wood
and experimenting with wood carving. His first exhibition was in 1941 and
within five years the Dublin
art dealer Victor Waddington had taken him in hand, granting a regular income
which allowed him to give up his day job and focus on painting full time.
O'Neill visited Paris in 1949, and there
absorbed the lessons of Rouault, Vlaminck and Utrillo. In the early 1950s,
O'Neill left Belfast
for Conlig in Co. Down which had a small-scale artists' colony at the time,
with George Campbell and Gerard Dillon also among the notable artists living there. In 1958 he left Ireland for London. His work from this time onwards was
increasingly introspective and often desolate. He died in Belfast in 1974.
1 products in this category, displaying products 1 to 1.
Portrait of a ManPencil Drawing on Paper,Framed18cm x 15cm (7" x 6") | <urn:uuid:a21bf6a9-66c2-433b-93d9-b559dc88ad7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dukestreetgallery.ie/store/category/376/228/O'Neill,-Daniel-(RHA)/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964238 | 276 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Sport has not forgotten you. You’re still part of the team
World Sports Team was formed in 2012 to bring sportspeople together – regardless of age, skill level, profession, country, language, religion or race – to form the world’s first all inclusive sporting community.
We are committed to providing exemplary services to any person who suffers catastrophic injury while playing sport.
The World Sports Team will run Visitor Programmes with the simple message to the injured sportsperson that “Sport has not forgotten you. You’re still part of the team.”
Sports stars from around the world are heavily involved providing tremendous strength and support to the individual, as well as to their families and friends.
In the longer term, the World Sports Team will organise new events such as International Sports Day and World Sports Week which will bring together and strengthen the world sports family.
The long-term impact of the World Sports Team will be far-reaching and will be a tremendous boon for all sportspeople.
It is the one sports team that every sportsperson should join and support. | <urn:uuid:a5dcd088-cb9c-42e1-a1c4-98714d921f85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.worldsportsteam.org/?page_id=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93906 | 224 | 1.625 | 2 |
by Elizabeth Friszell
High school football in the south is big. Real big. And 30 years
ago, it was even bigger. In 1973, a lab called Capitol Filmworks
touched down into the field of photographic processing. That is,
they first started out in the business of high school football. "We
started out by processing football film for high schools. The
coaches would shoot the football film and Rene would process it all
day and night to have it ready before the game the next Saturday,"
says Joan Brinsfield, vice president and director of professional
marketing at Capitol Filmworks in Montgomery, AL. "At first, we
would do black and white and E6, and then later on, we got into the
color lab business."
Nearly 30 years later, in March of 2002, Capitol went national with digital. They had to: they remodeled their store to accommodate their flow into digital and were gaining new business. "We had to add 4500 square feet to the lab because our affiliation with ProShots and our turn to digital were making it necessary for us to go national," she says. "We've been going to national trade shows and exhibiting our store since we began with ProShots five years ago. Now this year, we went to these trade shows and promoted our turn to digital. It really affirms the business."
Welcome to Digital
"Digital has been very positive for us. We use ProShots digital files as well. We have now become completely digital," Rene Brinsfield, owner, president, and Joan's husband, notes. The lab owns only the Kodak LED as its single optical printing. "The range of services is better, the turnaround and workflowdownstream nearly disappears." Digital also led the lab to save big on labor. Rene says, "We have about 30% less staff doing about twice the effect."
According to Capitol Filmworks, they provide digital output from photo paper, 35mm slides, inkjet paper, canvas, dye-sublimation prints, and overhead transparency material from an almost endless variety of input sources, with most services available on short turnaround schedules. They also write Kodak photo CD's from 35mm slides or negatives.
In addition to the digital output, they have a complete digital staff of experts in the field of photo restorations. "The original is scanned or photographed, depending on size, and all restoration work is done electronically. The original is never touched. There is hardly anything we can't restore on a photograph," the lab says. "We can recreate missing parts, clean up or replace backgrounds, isolate individuals or remove or replace them, add persons not present for the original photo, colorize a black and white print, and more."
Capitol Filmworks uses three Fuji Frontier systems linked with Fuji's PIC PRO software, the ZBE large-format printer, and the Kodak HR500 long roll scanner to convert film to scanned digital files. "These machines have really helped our lab to expand into digital. We now have three locations that are all using digital," Rene says.
Phil Scarsbrook, Digital Imaging Manager, designed the cover of this month's issue. He created the cover designs using Photoshop 7 only. Phil explains, "I shot the the Photoshop 7 box to get the sides of the box and the S2 camera. Other images came either from my personal portfolio or were downloaded from PhotoSpin.com (a website that provides royalty-free images for subscribers), aside from the cover images Photo Processing provided."
"As a certified expert in Photoshop versions 6 and 7, I use Adobe systems," Phil says. "And, as the recipient of a GURU award from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals."
The Wonder of ProShots
Capitol Filmworks is a digital ProShots lab. "ProShots is an exciting system that brings the magic and efficiency of digital image technology to the photographic business," Rene states. "It enables the elimination of all the mundane tasks that typically go hand-in-hand with ordering wedding and event photography. Tasks that cost time and money."
ProShots has a distinct advantage to photographers that Capitol Filmworks offers. "The ProShots Imaging and Printing System at Capitol Filmworks processes and proofs the film, and digitizes each image. The film is kept in long roll format and stored here at our lab. The digitized images are provided to them over the Internet," the lab says. Back at the photographers' studio, the ProShots system gives access to the images and gives the power to edit, crop, sequence, size, package, and reorder. "It gives photographers the ability to sit with their customers and specify all details of their order, without laying a finger on a negative or aperture card," Rene says. "They can even lay out the entire order and let customers visualize it right on the screen using Art Leather's Montage software, which is fully compatible with ProShots."
Capitol will even send a free copy of the ProShots Viewer software to professional photographers if they express an interest in the software. They can try it out and see the time savings and cost awareness.
"In the last few years, we spent about $1.5 million to remodel and expand. As we did that, we were expanding into new business because of ProShots," Rene says. "Most labs expand, but they're keeping the same customers, and the same business. For us, ProShots allowed our lab to pursue new business with more and more materials to offer."
This put Capitol further into the throws of being a family-owned and operated business, bringing in son Keith Hildebrand. "Rene decided to bring Keith in when we began with ProShots because it was time to go national," Joan says. "Rene flew to South Carolina and told Keith to put in his two weeks notice at his job, and come to Alabama to work with us." Keith asked his mother for her advice, but what did mom say? "I told him to go back to his job," she laughs. But, little did she know, he'd become a permanent figure in the family business, one who travels to all the trade shows with Mom and helps to promote the company nationally. "It's now fully a family business."
The latest thing Capitol Filmworks has to offer is classes at its Image Education Center, a classroom set up next door to the main lab. "We have started offering classes on Adobe Photoshop, digital cameras, 35mm SLR cameras, ProShots, and we plan to offer more," Rene says. | <urn:uuid:f137b0a7-5e60-4a98-9da9-c7ac0b30887d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.imaginginfo.com/print/Imaging-Business/Capitol-Filmworks-Scores-Big-with-Digital/1$292 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969312 | 1,379 | 1.765625 | 2 |
I have a couple of sites that use SSL for checkout etc but not for normal pages. I have noticed that in some circumstance Chrome reports secure pages (ie login through checkout) as having mixed secure and insecure content. When I look at the page source however everything is https. Firefox etc are fine and don’t complain, it just seems to be Chrome (I’m using Chrome 16).
The scenario to replicate this is as follows:
Add something to the basket.
Go to the homepage but use https://domain.com thus forcing the page to go secure
I get mixed content warnings and can see css/js is in deed insecure - not worried about this as you should not be under SSL
Now go to checkout. Chrome still moans about mixed content but when you look at the page source all seems to be under https
I’ve replicated this in 1.4.2 and 1.6.1 so it doesn’t seem to be version specific.
Personally I don’t think it’s Magento itself but something dodgy in Chrome but wondered if anyone else has experienced this either on Magento or any other sites.
I have also seen a Magento site where if you go to the homepage under https all elements render as https so the issue doesn’t manifest.
Do you use the CSS compiler? Please check your merged CSS file if there are urls to images which are using http.
Also try to refresh the css cache.
Some further digging around on this came up with the issue of it happening only on CMS pages by the looks of things so I have rewritten the cms controllers so they force a redirect to http if they are requested as https. We only ever want these to be http so this seems sensible.
Not sure if this would be the same on a stock install of Magento. We have our own block cache module and various others that may have caused this so I’ll check with a vanilla install.
We don’t use the css minifyer etc so not that but thanks for the info. | <urn:uuid:87936520-4c3e-48c5-ac5d-73fc8b5f1ddb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewthread/270185/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936303 | 435 | 1.570313 | 2 |
If You Receive An Email From The Better Business Bureau– Do Not Open It
The Better Business Bureau is alerting people that if you get an email from them, do not open it. It contains a very dangerous virus. If you get it, the email is purporting to be from a bbb.org email address about a recently filed complaint. It is a scam. The BBB has a similar policy as financial institutions and charities – They do not send complaints as an email attachment.
The email also appears to direct people to the BBB website. The BBB advises any person or business that receives the e-mail to take the following steps: Do not click on any links or reply to the message, completely delete the message from your inbox, and make sure that you run a full virus scan on your computer if you did click on any links.
Here’s what the email might look like:
If you get one of these bogus emails, you can help the BBB track down the perpetrator, by forwarding the message to email@example.com and also send it to bbb.org and then delete it. If you have any questions, please call the BBB at 877-478-8083.
The BBB is always here to help us out, now it’s our turn to help them. | <urn:uuid:d6f62b2c-7b68-432b-afee-c5c46f30be9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wgna.com/if-you-receive-an-email-from-the-better-business-bureau-do-not-open-it/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950924 | 281 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Alternative Options: Easing Fibromyalgia With Herbs and Supplements
If you're living with chronic fibromyalgia pain, these alternative treatments may help.
Chronic pain is one of the most common reasons why people turn to alternative treatments like herbal and nutritional supplements. And these remedies may help ease fibromyalgia symptoms without uncomfortable drug side effects. Nausea and stomach irritation, for instance, have been associated with use of over-the-counter analgesic medicines, such as ibuprofen.
Nehad Soloman, MD, FACR, a rheumatologist in Phoenix, Arizona, says supplements can be effective in treating many of the symptoms of fibromyalgia: "Supplements don't usually interfere with common fibromyalgia treatments." Some natural herbal and supplemental remedies target specific aspects of fibromyalgia. "Some help reduce inflammation, while others reduce the depression often associated with fibromyalgia or prevent muscle cramping," says Dr. Soloman.
Dr. Soloman recommends that before patients add supplements to their fibromyalgia treatment plan, they should check with their doctor to make sure an herb or supplement won't interact with their prescriptions or usual pain management plan. Proper dosage also depends on the individual patient. "Talk to your doctor about other treatments you're using to control your fibromyalgia to determine the dosage that's best for your height, weight, lifestyle, etc.," he says.
The following is a list of a few of the many supplements that may have therapeutic effects for patients with fibromyalgia.
Vitamin D isn't just for the bones. Some researchers have attributed fibromyalgia, as well as generalized aches and pains not associated with fibromyalgia, to a vitamin D deficiency. An Irish study found a strong correlation between low vitamin D levels and higher rates and longer duration of generalized bone and/or muscle aches and pains, as well as with fibromyalgia-related anxiety and depression.
Angela Snyder, MS, RD, LDN, a registered dietitian at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital in Rockville, Maryland, says several factors can increase people's risk of developing a vitamin D deficiency: "The sun is the best source of vitamin D, but vitamin D synthesis from the sun can be affected by age, skin pigmentation, sunscreen use, the season of the year, and the latitude of where you live."
Snyder suggests that people who can't catch the recommended 10 minutes of sun a day between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the sun's UV rays are most powerful, get their recommended daily amount through diet. "One eight-ounce glass of milk can yield about a quarter of your daily dose," she says, "and supplements are also a good source."
However, many experts believe the current recommended daily amounts for vitamin D are too low and suggest that most people need to take at least 1000 IUs each day. Talk to your doctor about how much you should take, which will depend on your diet, where you live, and your general medical condition. Your doctor may also recommend testing your blood levels of vitamin D to see if you are already deficient.
The body manufactures SAMe (S-adenosylmethionine) from the amino acid methionine and from adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an energy-producing compound found in all cells. Dr. Soloman says SAMe helps boost the spirits of those with fibromyalgia: "It helps maintain cell membranes and assists in the production and breakdown of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, all brain hormones that influence and regulate your moods." In one study, patients with fibromyalgia who took SAMe daily for six weeks reported less stiffness and fewer muscle aches.
Researchers believe that a deficiency in magnesium (found in many green vegetables, beans, and whole grains) can contribute to the muscle pain associated with fibromyalgia. People can take a magnesium supplement to help ensure that they're getting the recommended daily value (310 milligrams for women, 400 milligrams for men).
Commonly used as an alternative to prescription sleep aids, melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone that helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle, can be beneficial to some patients with fibromyalgia dealing with sleep disturbances. Preliminary research at the University of Texas also indicates that melatonin, when taken as a supplement, might be helpful in easing pain associated with fibromyalgia.
Honing in on Herbs
Certain traditional herbs also have been used to treat patients' fibromyalgia symptoms. They include the following:
Grape seed extract. The oil in the seeds of wine grapes contains powerful antioxidants and natural anti-inflammatory compounds called procyanidins. They may help to inhibit the inflammatory response, which is responsible for muscle pain and soreness in some people.
Siberian ginseng. Also known as eleuthero, this medicinal herb is said to enhance immunity, fight fatigue, boost energy, and assist the body in dealing with stress. It's frequently included in nutritional support programs for people with fibromyalgia.
St. John's wort tincture. This liquid tonic form of St. John's wort (not capsules or tea) is a common alternative to prescription muscle relaxers. Patients taking prescription antidepressant medication, however, should not use this herb without their doctor's approval.
Taken as a dietary supplement, valerian may help regulate sleep patterns as well as ease insomnia and anxiety, all common symptoms of fibromyalgia. One small study also showed that bathing in water laced with valerian oil may help to reduce the number of tender points and improve the quality of sleep for patients with fibromyalgia. | <urn:uuid:d4848339-212e-40fc-9886-88625cc59756> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.everydayhealth.com/fibromyalgia/treating/treating-fibromyalgia-with-supplements.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94562 | 1,177 | 1.835938 | 2 |
(File photo / Agence France-Presse)
Congress on Thursday gave final approval to legislation requiring the financial disclosure reports of some 28,000 federal officials to be posted on the Internet by August.
The Senate voted 96-3 to send the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act to President Obama for his signature. The measure passed the House last month.
While the bill's main purpose is to ensure that lawmakers and their staffs don't use non-public insider knowledge when dealing in stocks and other investments, it also mandates posting the disclosure statements — known as Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Form 278s — on a public website. Some 28,000 filers, including presidential appointees, Senior Executive Service members, and general and flag officers, would fall under the law, according to a recent analysis by the ethics office. Although the annual statements are already public, they are typically available only in paper form in response to a request.
Once Obama signs the bill, agencies must put the disclosure statements online on their own sites, the analysis said. Eventually, the bill requires the ethics office to create a searchable database on its site.
The ethics office last week posted online the disclosure reports for some 900 presidential appointees and nominees requiring Senate confirmation, as well as presidential candidates. But the analysis says the cost of an electronic filing system to meet the bill's requirements would exceed the ethics office's entire annual budget of about $14 million. | <urn:uuid:1c12a3b0-fa12-4023-a073-b9d5c89e6fb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20120322/CONGRESS02/203220306/Congress-approves-bill-requiring-feds-post-financial-statements-online | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947893 | 298 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Alan Keyes on War & Peace
Republican challenger for IL Senate; previously Candidate for President
A: There could have been a greater effort, over the beginning of our efforts there, to bring in others. I would have brought others in on the political side of the equation, to help deal with the business of putting together an Iraqi government. That could still be done. But, it's absolutely imperative that we keep the security dimensions of the Iraqi war under the control of the US, so that we can make sure that Iraq does not become a base for terrorist activity, that we are able to make sure a government does not come to power that will aid and abet terrorism, that we are able to do what's necessary to prevent weapons of mass destruction from falling into the hands of terrorists. Those national security goals are the proper goals of our effort, and we ought to be looking to the Iraqi people and to the international community to help deal with the political dimensions of establishing a stable government there.
A: They stay there until they get the job done. Kerry is preoccupied with an exit strategy, but if you get into a battle and the only thing you're thinking about is how to get out, I think we have a word for you-and it's not very complimentary. We are engaged in a war against terror that was started by the terrorists, that claimed the lives of thousands of Americans, that involves a global infrastructure of insidious individuals. We have seen the work they do against innocent lives in the most bestial fashion possible. To fight that war, it is not sufficient to have rhetoric, it is not sufficient to react after the fact. You have got to preemptively move against their bases, against their sources of supply, against their training camps, against the states the provide them with safe haven and infrastructure. If you do not, then they will simply prepare for further attacks.
A: There is not. One of the problems with folks who haven't really had much experience in dealing with terror is that they don't understand that we are in fact faced with a global infrastructure. Saddam was providing, for instance, payments to the families of suicide bombers who were moving against the Israelis. Bin Laden made it very clear he was doing so on behalf of, he said, the Palestinians and their cause. All of this suggests is the reality that we are not dealing with discrete elements here. We are dealing with a single war that has a front in Afghanistan, a front in Iraq that has a covert series of fronts that we don't hear much about, but in which our people are presumably going after the cadre of terror, that has a financial front & other fronts. To deal with this as if we're dealing with discrete little episodes is to show that you have no real understanding of the danger that we face.
KEYES: That's the fallacy, because you did make an argument just then from the wisdom of hindsight, based on conclusions reached now which were not in Bush's hands several months ago when he had to make this decision.
Q: I would rather see the issue be framed around other bad guys around the world watching this, and if we pull out and let a guy like Milosevic win, that is going to open the floodgates up to dozens of others.
A: I think that’s nonsense. I’m sorry. If you were going to consider that, [what about] the brutal Communist dictators with whom Clinton refuses to stop doing business? He wants to kill off half the population of Yugoslavia in the name of human rights, but he won’t even stop buying Chinese- made paper boxes? I don’t believe that this argument is made with sincerity. I think that a serious human rights policy requires that you build it and that you sustain it over the course of years in all the different aspects of your policy.
The best case we can make is at the level of our moral identity. When we come face to face with the ultimate issues of war and peace, all of those geo-strategic things go by the boards. [We should] appeal to arguments that stir the moral sentiments of this nation, and that call upon our willingness to moral commitments, to the things that we believe are right.
|Other candidates on War & Peace:||Alan Keyes on other issues:|
George W. Bush
(Republican for President)
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(Democratic nominee for Pres.)
(Democratic nominee for V.P.)
(Reform nominee for Pres.)
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2004 Senate Races:
(AK)Knowles v.Murkowski v.Sykes
(CA)Boxer v.Jones v.Gray
(CO)Coors v.Salazar v.Randall v.Acosta
(GA)Isakson v.Majette v.Buckley
(IA)Grassley v.Small v.Northrop
(LA)John v.Vitter v.Kennedy
(NH)Granny D v.Gregg
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Senate Votes (analysis) | <urn:uuid:8d751afb-c18e-40be-aba9-f61223cd5920> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ontheissues.org/International/Alan_Keyes_War_+_Peace.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936599 | 1,124 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Archive for the ‘danube river cruises’ tag
Cruising Along the Danube River
Cruise vacation is gaining more popularity nowadays; not only in ocean but also in great rivers such as the Danube that stretch along the European Union. There are many cruise lines offering Danube River cruises with different packages and facilities.
1. Avalon Waterways
Avalon Waterways offers 5 days long Danube River cruises. More extensive Danube River cruises add in the Black Sea and sail for 14 days. The line has a special offering called ‘Christmas time on the Danube’ cruises that last for 8, 9, 12 or 16 days. With these Danube River cruises, guests can experience the region’s holiday’s traditions. Guests of these Danube River cruises can enjoy visiting classic Christmas markets in cities including Nuremberg, Regensburg and Vienna as well as tasting traditional food such as warm spiced wine called Gluhwein and Lebkuchen, a classic German Christmas cookie.
Viking River Cruises offers a variety of Danube River cruises. The cruise line offers Danube River cruises that last for 8 to 16 days. The longer Danube River cruises include other European rivers. The Viking Danube ship accommodates up to 150 guests of Danube River cruises while the Viking Legend carries 189 guests. The later ship has 95 deluxe staterooms with either a French balcony or picture window. To make the most of your Danube River cruises, all of the ships have a sun deck that presents unbeatable views of the scenery.
3. Tauck Tours
Tauck Tours offers thorough and informative Danube River cruises on 3 riverboats, each holds only 118 guests. There is one Tauck tour director for every 40 guests of Danube River cruises, who manages the itinerary and keeps things running smoothly throughout the trip. A local tour guides is available at each stop to accompany the guests along the trip.
As one of the longest rivers in the European Union, Danube River is a potential tourist destination for you to explore. Go ahead and book one place on any of the available Danube cruises to enjoy the great river that flows through 10 countries and ends in the Black Sea. As you may not have enough time or money to enjoy the complete Danube cruises, why not choose to cruise along Hungarypart of the Danube?
Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is often referred to as the Queen of the Danube because it is located at the heart of the river. Budapest Danube cruises sail through the middle of the city. You can see the city’s important landmark such as the Parliament building and the Royal Palace when boarding one of those Danube cruises.
To enjoy the Budapest Danube cruises, there are some cruising companies ready to serve you. Hungaria Koncert offers lunch and evening Danube cruises that are available every day except on Christmas day. The lunch cruises leave at 2 p.m. while the evening cruises leave at 7 and 10 p.m. Even though they are basically dining Danube cruises, guests can take the cruise without dinner for a lower price. The price they pay will include one free drink and a glass of champagne.
Another company, Mahart Passnave, offers the Margaret Island tour on their Danube cruises everyday between May and August, and on weekend between April and May, and September and October. You will have no guide for these Danube cruises. The ferry will stop at several points on the island where you can enjoy the panorama. You can also buy a round trip ticket for this Danube cruises. Beside the Margaret Island tours, the company also provides dining Danube cruises for lunch and dinner daily. | <urn:uuid:9b995bed-7d04-4600-a7e5-7ebd66a341ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.danuberivercruises.net/tag/danube-river-cruises/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953744 | 793 | 1.546875 | 2 |
He has been frequently associated with the Beirut barracks and US embassy bombings, both of which took place in 1983 and killed over 350, as well as the kidnapping of dozens of foreigners in Lebanon in the 1980s. He was indicted in Argentina for his alleged role in the 1992 Israeli embassy attack in Buenos Aires.
One of his highest-profile attacks took place in the early 1980s shortly after the establishment of Hezbollah. Mughniyah is thought to have killed more United States citizens than any other militant before the 2001 US attacks.
Although information about him is limited, he is reported by the US FBI to have used the alias of 'Hajj' and to have been called 'Abu Dokhan', meaning "smoke-bearer" in Arabic or "father of smoke" due to his ability to vanish from the scene of the crime.
Mughniyah was placed on the European Union's list of wanted terrorists including that of the FBI Most Wanted with a massive reward bounty of US$5 million.
Imad met his end on February 12, 2008 after a bombing assasination. The explosive, planted on the drivers side, detonated as he walked past leaving enough remains to be able to identify him.
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[b-hebrew] one-to-one rendering of olam (was: Song of Songs1:12)
fournet.arnaud at wanadoo.fr
Fri Dec 10 08:58:35 EST 2010
From: Isaac Fried
2. Since the historical (or "genetic") relationship between, say, Hebrew and
Arabic is uncertain, the rest is merely useless cooked up ideas.
On Dec 10, 2010, at 8:21 AM, Arnaud Fournet wrote:
what are the reasons to accept that Hebrew exists?
you are just dodging issues.
We are back to square 1 and your dogmas.
You are unable to explain and define what it means to be a Hebrew dialect,
and ** for exactly the same reasons **, you are unable to handle the issue
of being a Semitic language.
To be frank, I'm getting sceptical that you have a training in maths.
Maths has principles, axioms, and methods to get from A to B without truth
conditions being lost in the reasoning.
You do not appear to be comfortable with basic logic issues.
The difference between being a Hebrew dialect and being a Semitic dialect is
mainly a hierarchy of inclusion.
Hebrew dialects share more linguistic features among themselves than they
share with Semitic non Hebrew dialects.
Or at least they should otherwise there's a problem.
More information about the b-hebrew | <urn:uuid:b4bee949-966d-47f1-bf29-ab4bc7a50304> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-hebrew/2010-December/044247.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932389 | 309 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Health care activity in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut is expected to rise as the market comes to grips with some of the uncertainties that slowed it down last year, including health care and insurance reforms. But hospitals, contractors, and other stakeholders are now grappling with a new problem in the wake of Superstorm Sandy's devastating blow to many of their facilities—how to prevent that from happening again.
While 2011's Hurricane Irene made these stakeholders rethink safety, security, and emergency preparedness, Sandy has brought them back to the table to come up with something much more robust, speakers told attendees at ENR New York's "A Closer Look at the Healthcare Construction Boom" conference, held March 1 in Manhattan (ENR is Architectural Record's sister publication). They say that health care stakeholders are now scrutinizing upgrades and expansions planned or already under way to determine how to greatly improve protections.
Factors to be taken into account include the duration of a potential crisis; site access; and location of key equipment in the facility, including generators and IT systems, both of which are usually placed in basements, says Sharon Greenberger, New York Presbyterian Hospital senior vice president of Facilities Development and Engineering, who gave the opening keynote address. "We can't underestimate the lessons learned from Sandy," Greenberger said. Her hospital, like many others in the region, has experienced a surge in patients since the storm, which forced it to take measures early on such as establishing a MASH unit in its lobbies to accommodate for patient overflow.
Charles Murphy, senior vice president and general manager of Turner Construction Co.'s New York Business Unit, says Hurricane Irene was just a dress rehearsal for Sandy, which "really overwhelmed all the best planning that we had done on all our campuses." Several speakers said that the tradition of locating mechanical, electrical, and plumbing as well as other equipment in basements may need to change or, at least be greatly modified, going forward. Sandy's waters rose to the ceilings of basements and even several feet into the first floors of some institutions.
The Harlem Hospital Center's recently completed upgrade project included installing generators on its roof instead of the basement, but it left some transfer switches in the basement, says Anita O'Brien, project executive of Harlem Hospital Center, which is part of New York City's Health and Hospitals Corp. (HHC). Even though the hospital was not flooded from Sandy, there was flooding about a block away, which is cause for concern, she says. Thus, "Harlem along with other HHC hospitals is preparing a study to see what is in the basement that is critical to the hospital," she adds.
Stephen Miller, Continuum Health Partners, planning director, says the issue is compounded by the fact that most hospitals do not have the room to put such equipment elsewhere. "What do we put in our basement? What do we put in our first floors? It's problematic," he says. Other factors that stakeholders are studying include how to get construction materials, fuel and other supplies and equipment in and out of a site, says Dino DeFeo, AKF Group's Healthcare Division partner.
The storm is also forcing institutions to consider including redundant operation centers, such as triage units as well as dialysis and cancer treatment units for emergency care during crisis. "If your emergency department is down and you only have one, then that is a problem," DeFeo says.
Sandy has also boosted demand for electrical workers and contractors, both of which "are hard to get right now," Murphy says. Many of them are doing Sandy-related work for the Federal Emergency Management Agency instead, he adds. Some speakers said they expect this situation to last until the summer.
Sandy issues aside, several speakers said they expect a continuation of the major health care trends that have been a boon to the A/E/C industry in recent years. These include demand for upgrades to aging infrastructure to make room for the latest technology; new building for ambulatory care facilities; and upgrading or expanding emergency departments and outpatient care units.
In the tristate region, many institutions have major building plans. This includes the redevelopment of the Goldwater North Hospital, another HHC hospital in Harlem, part of which was relocated from Roosevelt Island.
Meanwhile, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) plans to introduce BIM guidelines as early as this spring, says Ronald Gecsedi, DASNY chief project manager of the Construction Division. "These won't be vastly different than some of the other [BIM] guidelines, but we do need to tailor it for the clients that we serve," he says. DASNY's largest BIM project is the $348-million Bronx Mental Health Redevelopment. Gecsedi says that the project team includes local community workers, which turned out to be a big benefit post Sandy. "Because it employed some local workers, some of its workers could walk to work," he says. "It only lost one day of work due to the storm." | <urn:uuid:4b26e586-7593-47b7-8761-4bf21ffe9173> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archrecord.construction.com/news/2013/03/130304-After-Sandy-Hospital-Sector-Pushes-to-Avoid-a-Relapse.asp?WT.mc_id=rss_archrecord | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973574 | 1,034 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Furloughs of U.S. meat inspectors that could disrupt meat delivery throughout the country will probably be concentrated in July through September, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told lawmakers on Tuesday.
Vilsack said furloughs of meat inspectors required under sequestration, or automatic budget cuts that took effect this month, will disrupt the meat industry. He said USDA will send furlough notices to meat inspectors this week, but it will be several months before they will occur because of the extensive preparations needed.
The furloughs, which could lead to spotty shutdowns of meat plants and meat shortages, would be one of the most visible effects of sequestration, he said. By law, processors cannot ship meat without the USDA inspection seal.
"We will do everything we can to minimize disruptions," Vilsack said at a hearing of the House Agriculture Committee. "It will impact inspections."
USDA has said it would stagger the furloughs to minimize their effect on operations. "I don't think you're going to see a continuous furlough," Vilsack told lawmakers at a hearing on the state of the rural economy days after U.S. President Barack Obama signed the sequester order.
PLENTY OF WARNING TO MEAT PROCESSORS
The Obama administration says all 8,400 inspectors might be furloughed for a total of 15 days. Vilsack said the total was more likely to be 11 or 12 days.
The agency will need a substantial amount of time to deliver notices to inspectors, hold consultations and schedule furloughs, said Vilsack.
"We are looking at a several-month period, if you will, before a furlough could be implemented," he said. "The industry will have some notice of what will happen."
As a result, the furloughs could take place mainly in the final three months of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. "That's one of the problems," Vilsack said. One-third of USDA's 100,000 employees may be affected by furloughs.
"It's a process we have to follow," he told reporters. He said USDA was not trying to delay action in hopes that Congress would resolve the fiscal crisis and eliminate the furloughs.
The administration says furloughs of inspectors en masse would shut down meat packers and processors for two weeks and cost them $10 billion in production.
Meat inspectors are guaranteed 30 days' notice of a furlough, said the union that represents them. Inspectors could face a furlough of one day a week but not always the same day.
During the hearing, committee chairman Frank Lucas, a Republican from Oklahoma, chided the administration for "trying to scare the American people with worst-case scenarios." | <urn:uuid:208ef30d-55d3-47e3-a213-6f8e4c0d166f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dairyherd.com/dairy-resources/hot-topics/USDA-chief-says-meat-inspector-furloughs-still-months-away-195549901.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968194 | 584 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Lawmakers who said they were determined to avoid an unprecedented government default remained at an impasse over the raising the nation's debt limit Saturday as prospects of economic chaos loomed.
Senators were expected to continue talking even though their efforts publicly came to an abrupt halt Friday evening after the Democratic-controlled Senate voted 59-41 to table Republican House Speaker John Boehner's bill, effectively killing it less than two hours after the House passed it.
Democrats opposed the measure because it would require another debt-limit debate early next year.
After the tabling vote, Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky could not agree on how to proceed on a bill by Reid. McConnell wanted a filibuster, requiring a 60-vote supermajority to move Reid's bill forward, and Reid wanted a procedure allowing his bill to move with a simple majority. Reid said McConnell refused negotiate with him.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., told MSNBC's "The Last Word" that McConnell had said he will not negotiate with Reid, just with President Barack Obama.
The Senate adjourned until 1 p.m. EDT Saturday was scheduled to take up a vote on Reid's bill at 1 a.m. Sunday. The Republican-controlled House planned a 1 p.m. Saturday vote on Reid's proposal, McConnell said, noting the House vote on Reid's bill would precede the Senate's.
Boehner's plan, which passed the House 218-210 with no Democratic support, would have raised the debt ceiling $900 billion, cut spending $917 billion over a decade and call for a balanced-budget amendment before the limit could be raised again, presumably next year.
Senate Democrats had vowed to block it in favor of Reid's longer-term $2.4 trillion debt limit increase with about $2.2 trillion in spending cuts. Reid revised the bill Friday to essentially allow the president to raise the debt ceiling in steps, as McConnell had previously suggested. Through a complex legislative process, Congress could disapprove later debt-ceiling hikes with a two-thirds vote in each chamber, Reid said.
After the Senate vote, Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said, "For the second time, the House has passed a reasonable, common-sense plan to raise the debt limit and cut spending and, for the second time, Sen. Reid has tabled it. The responsibility to end this crisis is now entirely in the hands of Sen. Reid and President Obama."
Boehner said his bill was necessary "after I stuck my neck out a mile trying to get an agreement with the president of the United States. I stuck my neck out a mile. And I put revenues on the table in order to try to come to an agreement to avert us being where we are."
"But a lot of people in this town can never say yes. This house has acted and it is time for this administration to put something on the table, tell us where you are."
Boehner said his bill would cut spending by more than the increase in the debt limit, impose spending caps to restrain future spending, and require Congress to send states a balanced budget amendment before the ceiling could be raised again.
Boehner on Thursday failed to round up enough support for his plan, exposing a rift in the Republican Party. But he tweaked the bill and told the House Friday evening that it was necessary to pass his plan "for the sake of our economy" and to "end this crisis now."
Rep. Kathy Hochul, D-NY, told the House before the vote, "Never, never has there been an intentional disaster perpetrated by the very people who were sent here to be the caretakers of this country. ... Am I really supposed to tell the greatest generation that when they passed us the torch, we dropped it because we couldn’t compromise?"
After the vote, Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., was one of many House members react on the floor.
"This House, led by the Republicans, has put every state, city, every university that writes bonds at risk… because of this foolishness," McDermott said. "We need a clean lifting of the debt limit."
The White House called again for compromise.
"The bill passed today in the House with exclusively Republican votes would have us face another debt ceiling crisis in just a few months by demanding the Constitution be amended or America defaults," said a statement from the White House. "This bill has been declared dead on arrival in the Senate."
"Now that yet another political exercise is behind us, with time dwindling, leaders need to start working together immediately to reach a compromise that avoids default and lays the basis for balanced deficit reduction," the White House said, backing Reid's plan and echoing comments President Barack Obama made earlier in the day.
"Any solution must be bipartisan," said Obama from the Diplomatic Room at the White House. "We're in rough agreement," said the president. "There are plenty of ways out of this mess."
"The time for putting party first is over," he added. "It’s time to step up and show the leadership the American people expect."
He later reiterated his call to action on Twitter: "The time for putting party first is over. If you want to see a bipartisan #compromise, let Congress know. Call. Email.Tweet. --BO"
Shortly after the president's speech, GOP lawmakers announced plans to tweak the House bill with hopes of gaining the votes needed for passage.
The balanced budget amendment was a key demand of rebellious conservatives who withheld their votes from the legislation on Thursday night.
Earlier, an aide who attended Boehner's meeting with the GOP conference told NBC News, "If we pass this today, we will have sent not one, but two bills to the Senate that would end this crisis. All that will stand between the American people and a resolution to this crisis will be the Senate, which has passed nothing."
Reid, from Nevada, said he had invited McConnell to join him in negotiations. "I know the Senate compromise bill Democrats have offered is not perfect in Republican eyes. Nor is it perfect for Democrats," Reid said. "But together, we must make it work for all of us. It is the only option."
But McConnell dismissed the Democratic effort, arguing that it stands no chance in the Republican-controlled House, and he accused Obama of pushing the nation to the brink of an economic abyss.
Concerns about a U.S. default on Aug. 2 continued to reverberate around markets Friday, with stocks down again. While investors have been jittery for weeks, the inability this week of Republicans to even manage to get their own party to agree on a plan has reinforced those fears with just days to go.
Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:3bfe21b4-bbbd-4c83-ac52-2927148ed4a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.witn.com/news/nationalworld/headlines/Debt-Limit_Deadlock_After_Senate_Kills_Boehner_Bill__126443778.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970926 | 1,406 | 1.6875 | 2 |
LISBON, Portugal - The European Union-Africa Summit is set to proceed with President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and without British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Officials fear Brown's decision to boycott the two-day conference will make Mugabe the major issue, not the building of a new relationship between Europe and Africa, The Zimbabwe Independent said. No other European leaders have joined Brown.
The two-day meeting was to begin with a formal dinner Friday night.
Jose Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, criticized Brown for his decision to boycott the meeting, The Times of London said. Barroso also said European leaders at the meeting would criticize Mugabe's stand on human rights.
"If you are an international leader then you are going to have to be prepared to meet some people your mother would not like you to meet," Barroso said. "That is what we have to do from time to time."
The highest-ranking British representative at the conference is to be Valerie Amos, the first black woman to be a member of the cabinet, The Independent of London said. Amos, now in the House of Lords, left her ministerial post when Brown became prime minister.
© 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:4d538ff6-0b8a-4b93-9fe6-5630753d122d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bendweekly.com/Worldwide-News/11183.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961451 | 256 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Mixed economic news is fodder for both campaigns
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The final unemployment report before Tuesday's presidential election offered something for partisans of all stripes: more slow, steady progress for supporters of Democratic President Barack Obama and persistently high jobless rates and more than 12 million unemployed Americans for supporters of Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
The U.S. Labor Department said Friday the nation's unemployment rate rose slightly to 7.9 percent in October as more people looked for work. However, the economy created a better than expected 171,000 jobs during the month.
Most of the job growth came from retail trade, which added 36,400 jobs; health care, where 31,000 jobs were added; and professional and business services, which added 51,000 jobs.
Government employment fell by 13,000, while manufacturing added 13,000 jobs after losing 27,000 in August and September. Amid signs the housing market is beginning to recover, the construction industry added 17,000 jobs last month.
The 7.9 percent rate marks the second consecutive month the jobless rate has stayed below 8 percent. The rate was 8.9 percent a year ago and 7.8 percent when Mr. Obama took office in January 2009, before the full impact of the worse recession since the Great Depression was felt.
The jobless rate topped out at 10 percent in October 2009, when 15.4 million Americans were out of work. Both figures have steadily, but slowly, declined since then. The number of unemployed workers in October was 12.3 million, 170,000 more than there were in September and 1.5 million fewer than a year ago.
The jobless report "is consistent with an economy growing at about a 2 percent rate," said George Mokrzan, director of economics for Huntington Bank.
The number of Americans unemployed for 27 weeks or more increased by 158,000 last month to 5 million, leaving it 14 percent below year-ago levels.
Average hourly earnings for all workers fell 1 cent in October to $23.58 an hour. That is 1.6 percent higher than a year ago.
"The report is better than expected, which should help the incumbent, but not sufficiently so to be a game-changer," said IHS Global Insight economist Nigel Gault.
Economists said the report offers plenty of fodder for both campaigns to capitalize on in the final days of a dead-heat race.
Cornell University economics professor Sharon Poczter said Republicans can capitalize on the report by pointing to the fact "that nothing's changed that much." Mr. Obama can point to the fact that 578,000 people returned to the workforce last month, an indication that many believe their prospects of finding a job have improved, she said.
"That is part of the encouraging news from the jobs report," Ms. Poczter said.
But Mr. Mokrzan said the percentage of Americans working or unemployed but actively looking for jobs remains below historical averages. The labor force participation rate was 63.8 percent in October, down from 64.1 percent a year ago and 66 percent in October 2008.
"That is kind of the unexplained story, the workers who are not coming into the work force because wages are not high enough or because they feel it's too tough to get a job," Mr. Mokrzan said.
Economists were encouraged by upward revisions in the jobs numbers the Labor Department previously reported for August and September. The September number was increased to 148,000 from 114,000 while the August jobs number was raised 50,000 to 192,000.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said factory orders jumped 4.8 percent in September, fueled by orders for aircraft. Excluding transportation, factory orders rose 1.4 percent, double the increase reported in August.
"This year has not been the best year for the economy, but there are positive signs that things are going to get better," Ms. Poczter said.
First Published November 3, 2012 12:00 am | <urn:uuid:35002933-e09f-403b-86e4-197a6d17bd2a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/mixed-economic-news-is-fodder-for-both-campaigns-660366/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970891 | 830 | 1.679688 | 2 |
This obituary for William Key Howard, Jr. appeared in the Free Lance-Star in December, 1934.
W. K. HOWARD DIES;
FUNERAL ON SUNDAY
Resident of Fredericksburg for Many Years. Saved Kenmore Decorations.
William Key Howard, a resident of Fredericksburg for many years, died at his home on Main Street, this morning shortly after 1 o'clock, following an illness of a week. He had suffered from heart trouble for some time and Thursday, a week ago, contracted a cold which developed into grippe. Yesterday he appeared better, but in the night, his condition changed for the worse.
Member of a family prominently connected in Virginia and Maryland, Mr. Howard was a descendant of Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star Spangled Banner," and was the son of William Key Howard of Maryland, and his wife, Mrs. Clara Randolph Howard of Virginia. He was born in Richmond on December 11, 1861 and [spent the early part of] his life in Baltimore. Shortly after the war, the family moved to "Altoona," near Fredericksburg and in 1881 when the elder Mr. howard purchased "Kenmore," they came to this city to reside.
He was educated in private schools in Fredericksburg and at an academy in Hanover County. Early in life, he began a practical education in electrical engineering when he became connected with the Thompson-Houston Co., fore-runners of the present General Electric Co., in their shop in Lynn, Mass. Later he represented the company in the South in the installation of municipal electric light plants in Troy and Selma, Alabama, throughout the Carolinas, and in Griffin, Ga.
After installing the plant in the latter city, Mr. Howard remained there as superintendent of the city water and electric plant. In 1902, after nearly ten years in Griffin, Mr. Howard moved to Urbanna where he installed the first ice plant in that section of Virginia, remaining as its superintendent.
CAME HERE IN 1909
In 1909, he came to Fredericksburg where he became superintendent of the municipally-owned electric light plant, remaining in that capacity after the plant was taken over by Gould interests and later by the Virginia Electric and Power Company and located in South Boston, where he remained until he retired about three years ago.
More than any other individual, Mr. howard is responsible for the preservation of the decorations within Kenmore, former home of George Washington's sister. When the elder Mr. Howard purchased the place in 1881, the stucco ceiling decorations and over mantle designs were in such disrepair that it was at first decided to tear out the wall plastering in the rooms and replace it. Mr. howard, a semi-invalid at the time suffering from the effects of an injury to his back, prevailed upon his father to let him attempt the restoration.
WORKED AS AN INVALID
In the course of his work, lying flat on scaffolding close to the ceiling, Mr. Howard replaced 70,000 odd separate pieces, some of them infinitesimally small, in the three rooms at Kenmore. He also designed and executed the decoration in Kenmore Hall, which was not decorated by the Hessians sent here by George Washington to do the work. [Editor's note: while it was once believed that Hessian soldiers executed the ceilings of Kenmore in the 1700s, subsequent investigation has led to the conclusion that this was not the case. The ceilings were done by a craftsman identified by George Washington only as "The Stucco Man".]
Mr. Howard was, unconsciously responsible for another important thing, the release of his mother from the old Capital prison in Washington in which she had been confined for nearly two years as a spy. Both of his parents were arrested and confined in prison on the charge of being Confederate spies. An appeal made on behalf of Mr. Howard, then a baby, was partially responsible for his mother's release, it was said.
Mr. Howard was highly talented musically and artistically. He was for years a member of local bands, and other musical organizations. He was a Mason, member of the local lodge, and a member of Trinity Episcopal Church.
Mr. Howard is survived by his wife, the former Miss Florence Lamar Moore, of Griffin, Ga., and four children; John Howard of Clarendon; Mrs. D. R. Hill of Little Rock, Ark.; Francis Key Howard and Miss Betsy Howard of Fredericksburg. He is also survived by one brother, A. R. Howard, of Washington.
Funeral services are to take place from the home at 2 o'clock Sunday afternoon, conducted by Rev. J. J. Ambler and burial will be in Hollywood Cemetery beside the grave of his father and mother and his brother, City Treasurer C. R. Howard, who died here last month.
The pallbearers are to be: Cecil L. Reid, George W. Shepard, A. V. Warren, Kuzner Bauman, E. M. Young and Jack Bond.Return to the Howard Genealogy Page | <urn:uuid:469fdce6-1487-4c97-b598-6bc5a290e432> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kenmore.org/genealogy/howard/WKH_Jr_obit.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983892 | 1,061 | 1.625 | 2 |
Gov. Robert Bentley and legislative leaders today said they will consider revisions to Alabama's immigration law to make sure the law can be enforced and "reflects the hospitable nature of Alabamians."
Bentley issued a joint statement with Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, and Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh, R-Anniston, saying a bill will be drafted for the 2012 session. While the bill will make some changes to the law, the Republicans said the essence of the law will not change.
"We aren't going to repeal Alabama's illegal immigration law," Bentley said.
"The bill's purpose is to clarify and simplify the current immigration law to ensure that everyone working in Alabama is doing so legally, that law enforcement officers have the clarity, the flexibility and the tools they need to enforce immigration laws, that faith-based, medical and humanitarian services are protected, and that unnecessary burdens on legal residents and businesses are eliminated," said Bentley.
"The Legislature isn't going to repeal or weaken this law, but there may be ways we can make it work better," Hubbard said.
"From the outset, we have been open to adjustments to ensure more efficient and less burdensome application of the law for businesses and local governments. We must enforce the law while maintaining what we believe is the most business-friendly environment anywhere in America," Hubbard said.
The governor and legislators did not list in their statement the specific changes that will be sought.
Marsh praised Bentley for not caving to pressure to repeal the Alabama law, which considered the toughest in the nation.
"We are committed to keeping the spirit and intent of the law intact and will not consider any measures that will weaken the law, nor will we repeal it," Marsh said. | <urn:uuid:4345f209-5a25-49a6-9150-e8ee22a8a140> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/12/gov_robert_bentley_speaker_and.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956068 | 363 | 1.5 | 2 |
SHREVEPORT, LA -- Some 300 scientists and future scientists will gather at Centenary College Feb. 3-5 for the 74th annual meeting of the Louisiana Academy of Sciences (LAS) and the Louisiana Junior Sciences and Humanities Symposium (LaJSHS).
The Academy of Sciences, which meets on Friday, Feb. 4 only, will include discussions in 10 areas ranging from agriculture to zoology, with morning and afternoon sessions surrounding a luncheon and keynote speech by Dr. Robert Thomas of Loyola University. Thomas will speak on "The Process of Science vs. What the Public Hears: Why Scientists Hate to Talk to the Press." Sessions will be held throughout the day in Mickle Hall of Science, Bynum Commons and Kilpatrick Auditorium on the Centenary campus.
The LAS meeting marks a return to its roots for the organization, which was founded in 1927 at Centenary. This year, some 200 people will attend, with about 100 presentations and poster papers presented.
The LaJSHS, at its 27th annual event this year, will involve some 80 students and 25 teachers from high schools throughout the state. Students will be competing for $4,000 in college tuition awards at the state level and the opportunity to go to the nationals, where scholarships can be $16,000. Louisiana presenters won a first place at nationals in both 1998 and 1999.
During their three-day meeting, LaJSHS participants will present research papers in the areas of life/physical/social sciences, mathematics and engineering. They will also hear speakers such as Dr. John Daly of Louisiana Tech University, who will speak on "Apes Throwing Bones at the Sky: A Romp Through the History of Science," and participate in an awards ceremony. Most of the LaJSHS sessions will be held in the Smith Building, except for the Friday evening buffet dinner and Science Stage Show with "Dr. Sawdust" that are scheduled at SciPort Discovery Center.
During the LaJSHS welcoming session from 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. Feb. 4 in Kilpatrick Auditorium, speakers include Dr. Paul Ramsey, director of LaJSHS; Dr. John Knesel, president of the Louisiana Academy of Sciences; Dr. Kenneth L. Schwab, president of Centenary; Amy Waguespack, a Centenary student who was a 1999 LaJSHS presenter; and Col. David Lay, staff director of the 2nd Bomb Wing, Barksdale Air Force Base.
Saturday morning presenters include Centenary physics professor Dr. Jerry Lisantti and Centenary chemistry professor Dr. Tom Ticich, who will demonstrate "An Alloy with Memory and Some Physics Stuff."
Dr. Thomas, the LAS keynote speaker, is Loyola's chair in environmental communications. He earned a B.S. degree in zoology from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and a M.S. and Ph.D. in vertebrate zoology from Texas A&M University. He served a post-doctoral fellowship in biochemistry at Louisiana State University Medical Center.
His career has been spent in the field of environmental education. He was founding director of the Louisiana Nature Center, served as vice president for environmental policy at the Audubon Institute, and taught various biology courses at the University of New Orleans from 1979-1996. In September 1996, Dr. Thomas joined the Loyola faculty and holds the Loyola Chair in Environmental Communications. He continues as Senior Scientist at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species (ACRES, a facility which is part of the Audubon Institute - the local zoo, aquarium, nature center, and species survival center).
At ACRES, Dr. Thomas is part of a large research team who study migratory birds, in vitro fertilization of endangered species, and much, much more - all of which he gives access to for his Loyola students. Dr. Thomas is very active at the regional, state, and national levels, serving on a diverse array of boards, including the Council for a Better Louisiana, the Governor's Environmental Advisory Task Force, Business and Higher Education Council, and the U.S. Mineral and Management Service's Outer Continental Shelf Policy Advisory Council. He is very active on the board of the famed Asa Wright Nature Centre in Trinidad, and is and founding board member and former president of the Association of Nature Center Administrators.
LAS sessions will be held in the following areas: agriculture, forestry and wildlife; botany; chemistry; computer science and mathematics/statistics; earth science; microbiology; physics; science education (K-12 and higher education); and zoology.
For further information about the LAS meeting, contact Dr. Scott Vetter of Centenary College. For information about the LaJSHS, contact Dr. Paul Ramsey of Louisiana Tech.
- 30 - | <urn:uuid:c159a862-f0c8-4b56-a82d-7f74603ef068> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.centenary.edu/news/2000/February/academy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936476 | 1,002 | 1.796875 | 2 |
CAIRO (AP) -- Egyptian rights groups called Sunday for a repeat of the first round of the constitutional referendum, alleging the vote was marred by widespread violations. Islamists who back the disputed charter claimed they were in the lead with a majority of "yes" votes, though official results have not been announced.
Representatives of seven rights groups charged that there was insufficient supervision by judges in Saturday's vote in 10 of Egypt's 27 provinces and independent monitors were prevented from witnessing vote counts.
The representatives told a news conference that they had reports of individuals falsely identifying themselves as judges, of women prevented from voting and that members of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood were allowed inside polling stations. They also complained that some polling centers closed earlier than scheduled and that Christians were denied entry to polling stations.
Mohamed ElBaradei, Egypt's best known reform leader, was as frustrated by how the referendum was run as the rights groups.
"Is a referendum held under insufficient judicial supervision, clearly tenuous security and the violence and violations we are witnessing the road to stability or playing with the country's destiny?" the Nobel Peace Laureate and former U.N. nuclear agency chief wrote on his Twitter account.
The vote is the latest stage in a near two-year struggle over Egypt's identity since the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising. The latest crisis over the Islamist-backed charter evolved into a fight -- deadly at times -- over whether Egypt should move toward a religious state under Morsi's Brotherhood and their ultraconservative Salafi allies, or one that retains secular traditions and an Islamic character.
Underlining the tension, some 120,000 army troops were deployed to help the police protect polling stations and state institutions after clashes between Morsi's supporters and opponents over the past three weeks left at least 10 people dead and about 1,000 wounded.
Potentially adding to questions over the legitimacy of the vote is the low turnout in the first round -- unofficially estimated at 32 percent, which if confirmed would be far lower than the presidential or parliamentary elections following Mubarak's fall. A second round is to be held in the remaining 17 provinces on Saturday.
Those that did vote were deeply divided. The Brotherhood claimed about 57 percent voted in favor of the draft. The state-owned Al-Ahram daily published similar unofficial results in its online edition. The Brotherhood, which has in the past accurately predicted election results, relied on vote tallies announced at individual polling stations across the country and collected by its activists.
The strongest "no" vote was in Cairo, with 68 percent, according to the official website of Egypt's state television. The only other province where the "no" vote won the majority was Gharbiyah in the Nile Delta, north of Cairo.
The "yes" vote was strongest in deeply conservative, rural provinces of the south, Assiut and Sohag. It also narrowly carried Egypt's second largest city, Alexandria, where nearly 56 percent voted "yes," according to updated results after earlier, partial data showed "no" votes ahead.
The Brotherhood and other Islamists enjoy wide support in most of the 17 provinces voting next Saturday, something that could work in favor of the "yes" vote.
Wael Ghonim, an icon of the 2011 uprising against Mubarak, summed up the Saturday vote in a Tweet he posed on his account: "Out of every 100 Egyptians, 69 did not take place in the referendum, 18 said 'yes' and 13 said 'no.'"
The draft constitution would empower Islamists to carry out the most widespread and strictest implementation of Islamic law that modern Egypt has seen. That authority rests on the three articles that explicitly mention Shariah, or Islamic law, as well as obscure legal language buried in a number of other articles that few noticed during the charter's drafting but that Islamists insisted on including.
According to both supporters and opponents of the draft, the charter not only makes Muslim clerics the arbiters for many civil rights, it also could give a constitutional basis for citizens to set up Saudi-style "religious police" to monitor morals and enforce segregation of the sexes, imposition of Islamic dress codes and even harsh punishments for adultery and theft -- regardless of what the laws on the books say.
For Islamists, the constitution is the keystone for their ambitions to bring Islamic rule, a goal they say is justified by their large victory in last winter's parliamentary elections. Morsi rejected opposition demands that he cancel the referendum.
A statement by the seven rights groups called on the election commission to avoid the same type of violations in the second round and repeat the first round.
"The vote counting took place took place in darkness," said Negad Borai, the head of one of the groups. He alleged the election commission did not investigate thousands of complaints on alleged violations and irregularities.
Some of the charges made by the seven groups were echoed in a statement issued by the National Council for Human Rights, a state agency, adding weight to the claims. It added that some polling centers did not have voters' lists, that vote-buying took place outside polling centers and that monitors' permits to be at polling stations were not recognized.
While the charges are serious, they don't come close to the wholesale vote fraud that defined Mubarak's 29-year rule. While the charges raise more questions about the legitimacy of the vote, it is unlikely that the state election commission will order a do-over.
Some voters on Saturday said the presumed supervising judge at their polling centers refused to show them official documents to certify that they were indeed a judge. Others said some polling centers closed hours ahead of the 11 p.m. cutoff.
Still others complained of suspected members of the Brotherhood whispering to voters inside polling stations to vote "yes." And some voters alleged some of the supervising judges were influencing voters to choose "yes."
A group of women in Alexandria alleged the judge in their polling center was stalling to stop them from voting.
Egypt's tenuous security was on display on Saturday and again on Sunday.
Late Saturday, a mob of hardline Islamists known as Salafis attacked the Cairo offices of the liberal Wafd party, smashing windows and doors.
Egypt's latest crisis began when Morsi issued a decree on Nov. 22 giving himself and the assembly writing the draft immunity from judicial oversight so the document could be finalized before an expected ruling to dissolve the panel by the nation's highest court.
On Nov. 30, the document was passed by an assembly composed mostly of Islamists, in a marathon session despite a walkout by secular activists and Christians from the 100-member panel.
On Sunday, the head of the nation's highest court, the Supreme Constitutional Court, said he was prevented by Morsi's supporters from entering the tribunal's Nile-side building. The president's supporters have been staging a sit-in outside the court since Dec. 1, the day before the court was expected to rule to dissolve the constitutional panel.
If the constitution is approved by a simple majority of voters, the Islamists empowered after the overthrow of Mubarak would gain more clout. The upper house of parliament, dominated by Islamists, would be given the authority to legislate until a new lower house is elected.
If the draft proposal is rejected, elections would be held within three months for a new panel to write a new constitution. In the meantime, legislative powers would remain with Morsi, who won the presidency in June.
Associated Press writer Maggie Michael contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:ed15b63b-4971-42cd-bb16-f861fabdb572> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.recordpub.com/ap%20international/2012/12/16/egypt-rights-groups-say-constitution-vote-marred | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972823 | 1,528 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The nation's Medicare doctors, already facing higher costs and sluggish revenue, now face a pay cut because of the automatic spending cuts that were triggered Friday.
Under the so-called sequester, Medicare payments to health care providers, health care plans and drug plans will be reduced by 2% starting April 1, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The bottom line is that doctors who treat Medicare beneficiaries will only be reimbursed 98 cents on every dollar for a vast array of services. Reimbursement for low-income beneficiaries is exempt.
Overall, the cut will mean $11 billion less for doctors, hospitals and other providers in 2013. Last year, the agency doled out more than $500 billion in such payments.
A 2% cut may not seem large, but Medicare payments to doctors have been lagging, said Dr. Jeremy Larazus, president of the American Medical Association.
"Over the last 12 years, Medicare payments to physicians have increased by only 4%, while the cost of providing care has jumped 20%," said Lazarus.
The cuts could make it harder for patients to get care, Lazarus added. "One in five Medicare patients already is facing difficulties in finding a doctor to take them. If you cut their pay, this access problem will only get worse."
The threat of payment cuts isn't new for doctors who treat the nation's 47 million Medicare patients.
Federal law already triggers annual Medicare cuts to keep the program financial sound. But Congress has stepped in and blocked those cuts -- which now stand at 29% -- from happening more than two dozen times over the past decade.
Dr. David Wilt is an internist at a primary care group practice in Kansas City. About 60% of patients treated at his practice are Medicare beneficiaries.
Wilt agrees with Lazarus that Medicare patients are having a tougher time finding doctors. It's happening at his practice, which has already stopped seeing Medicaid patients because of "abysmal reimbursement rates."
"At some point, we will do what we have to if it means keeping the practice afloat," said Wilt. "This includes reducing the number of patients whose payments are too low for us to run our business."
Dr. Jeffrey Cain, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, is concerned that the 2% cut will catch on with private insurers, too.
"Most private insurers base their payment rates on Medicare. We anticipate that they will also reduce reimbursement by 2%," he said
If this happens, Cain said doctors with small practices will take a greater hit.
"Small practices, especially in rural areas, are small businesses that run on razor thin margins," he said. "These cuts will force them to make a choice. Do we keep seeing the elderly or do we keep our practice afloat." | <urn:uuid:dca1204c-c478-4338-905b-4f8f88b9ae75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.click2houston.com/news/money/Medicare-doctors-pay-to-be-cut/-/1735962/19150292/-/uyp4tbz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965563 | 570 | 1.578125 | 2 |
It's complicated, but be consistent.
I believe the answers here tend to miss the point. While Emre mentions that there is an international norm regarding typesetting mathematics that is very explicit about this topic, Hendrik Vogt makes the right argument, but doesn't take it far enough. This question doesn't have an answer as simple as yes or no, rather it depends on your field, your publishers standard, the location you hail from and your wish for consistency. It's like asking what bibliography style is the right one for science. There are established traditions for typesetting mathematics, in part by the mathematical community of a country or family of countries, in part by the publishers. This transcends this question by far, since this touches a lot of other subjects, e.g. how ellipses, vectors and tensors look (this one has even more variety to offer than our subject) or the appearance of relation symbols, for example.
For example as Beccari points out, this tradition of 'uprighting the differential' is more at home in the pure mathematics than it is in the applied variety or the neighbouring sciences. Physicists and engineers, for example, tend to lean towards the upright form more than the mathematicians.
This however is not even half of the picture, since there tend to be big differences when it comes to the nationality of an author. For example the style fans of slanted differentials are used to originates in the English speaking domain, and coincidental evidence, like all the books in your shelf adhering to that style, only tells us that the books you buy are likely by American publishers. Unfortunately not even the publishers are very consistent in what they put out. I once worked for a rather big European science publisher and on asking how they ensure consistency, they admitted they basically don't. They even just print a Word document, if that's what they get and \LaTeX ing it would be too much effort. Some things don't even have an established convention: I once tried to figure out the correct way to typeset the Laplacian symbol and literally every(!) book I picked up had a different style.
So for the issue at hand: in Russia the integral sign leans left instead of right(Grinchuck), while the upright school of thought (both integral and differential) originates in Central Europe, probably Germany. When you put the integrands at the end, like is common in parts of physics, the spacing also may change between the integral and the differential. Compare this sample to see what i mean:
This shows why in my eyes it is not a very good idea to prescribe upright or slanted for the differential, since people then tend to overlook the integral sign and spacing issues involved, and there is a good chance that whatever answer you give them will be wrong. Please note I had to fudge the Russian style with a bitmap and rotatebox, a properly designed font would look way better, I just didn't know where to get one. If a someone knows one, please edit it.
Also it is not set in stone where to put the limits, even when adhering to a right leaning integral style, as Knuth has said himself (http://tex.loria.fr/typographie/mathwriting.pdf) (also see Mathematics into Type by Swanson)
In German and Russian tradition, there are indeed conventions and norms where to put it that are adhered to, but even here discretion is advised. DIN, the German equivalent of ISO or ANSI, for example, has the norms 1302, 1304 and 1338 for typesetting mathematical formulas, similar to ISO 80000-2. These norms came out of the particular community and were mainly a write-up of the already established traditions. The ridiculous part comes in form of the DIN norms themselves, because they use the relation symbols inconsistently. The ones preferred by norm 1338 are and , but the majority of the norms published after 1338 use and !, so all of this has to be taken with a grain of salt.
Now you can make an argument for uniformity in the way math is typeset, to make it easier to read and parse. In the end, it really doesn't matter too much, the most important question is, if people can understand it. If you write an undergrad text in your native language then it's likely better to adhere to the traditional style your crowd expects.
I recommend looking at where you come from, who you are writing for, making a choice about those questions and sticking to them! Consistency, within your own documents and even across them, is worth a lot more for your readers than trying to guess the conventions the biggest subset of them may be used to. Defining a macro for yourself that wraps all this and makes it easy to change the look with a simple change in one place is the best practical advice one can give.
It's interesting to note that in a way Latex itself has changed the picture, given its ubiquitous use in the mathematics and the fact that some choices are made for you via the default. A lot of people don't want to mess with things like the issue mentioned. Also, as Zaitsev mentioned, some things, like properly scaling the left leaning integral, seem to be quite hard to achieve, since Knuth didn't have those in mind when designing TeX. | <urn:uuid:58ff30cb-133b-443b-b794-b052644369e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/14821/whats-the-proper-way-to-typeset-a-differential-operator | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962518 | 1,111 | 1.71875 | 2 |
In an interesting speech by the RBNZ governor Alan Bollard we are told that everyone needs to play their part during the economic crisis. Specifically he stated:
We would hope that the electricity industry does not take advantage of its market position and keep increasing rates, that local authorities realise they need to set rates increases below inflation for a change, that the construction materials industry respond to much weaker demand, that the food industry react to lower international commodity prices with price cuts, that petrol companies keep cutting forecourt prices, that the transport industry pass on fuel price cuts, and that the banks pass on interest rate cuts. Only then will all these firms be playing their proper role in New Zealand’s recovery.
Now, putting the hard word on industries that do not face market pricing (like local councils) is fine – but attacking businesses for setting prices in their own interest – what the hell!
Firms aren’t passing on costs because they aren’t. If they had increased prices as strongly as cost pressures demanded on the way up then the inflation figure would be a lot worse than 5.1!
Think of it this way – if businesses are pricing “too high” they will face a situation where prices are “relative elastic”. Then it is “in their own interest” to cut prices. If they aren’t doing so, then prices aren’t too high, and if the RBNZ is really worried about inflationary pressure they should batter away with their own instrument instead of making arbitrary calls about “sharing the pain”. If there is a competition problem, complain to the commerce commission, otherwise stop trying to create scapegoats because of the fear surrounding a potential policy failure!
Copyright tvhe.wordpress.com © | <urn:uuid:70e6edeb-18ea-40c8-9596-f838714ac209> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tvhe.co.nz/2008/12/10/everyone-needs-to-play-their-part/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957921 | 365 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Binghamton University joined the ranks of Harvard, Yale, and Duke in a recent list of school rankings, albeit a list most schools would rather avoid.
The Daily Beast, a website that features pop culture news, placed Binghamton among other public schools as well as Ivy League institutions on its list of “America’s 25 Most Crime-Rattled Colleges.”
NerdWallet, a personal finance and credit card comparison website, compiled their own crime study, which reported that BU’s crime rate significantly lowered from 2008 to 2010, dropping from 60 to 17 burglaries.
Anisha Sekar, vice president of credit and debt products at NerdWallet, and Jessica Ayala, public relations specialist at NerdWallet, spoke to Pipe Dream via email about the reports.
“We tallied each incident reported whereas the previous [Daily Beast] study created a weighing system that assigned severities to each crime,” Ayala said.
Sekar, who conducted the survey, disagreed with The Daily Beast’s system of weighing different types of crime.
“Daily Beast argued that murder is 20 times more ‘crime-rattling’ than burglary, and that forcible sexual assault doesn’t factor into the university’s safety environment,” Sekar said.
This means that one incident, such as the 2009 murder of anthropology professor emeritus Richard T. Antoun, would skyrocket the level of crime in the Daily Beast’s survey while not necessarily being representative of the overall or daily crime at the school.
NerdWallet also chose to exclude certain crimes from their study because they did not use a system to weight the crimes.
“Our study also excluded burglary, vehicular theft and arson because the data provided doesn’t always capture an accurate picture and could place a less serious crime with a violent crime,” Ayala said. “By limiting our analysis to violent crime, we can avoid an inaccurate depiction of a school’s overall crime level.”
According to NerdWallet, Binghamton University’s rates of robbery, aggravated assault and vehicular theft are below the national average. BU has only two crimes with rates above the national average; murder, with one incident between 2008 and 2010, and arson, with eight.
The websites drew information for the studies from public data that colleges and universities are required to submit to the Department of Education under the Clery Act.
The Clery Act, a federal law, mandates any institution of higher education that uses federal funding to annually release any reported crime. The Act was passed in 1990 after Lehigh University student Jeanne Clery was raped and murdered in her on-campus residence hall. Data can now be viewed publicly online, with information from 2008-10.
Connor McCormack, an undeclared sophomore, said he feels safe at BU.
“Not once have I felt I was in danger, especially with the blue light system in place,” McCormack said.
Undeclared sophomore Molly Allen agreed.
“I always feel safe on campus, everyone seems pretty trusting of one another,” Allen said. | <urn:uuid:7d83f641-5125-4f1f-96a8-859bb4a77382> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bupipedream.com/news/12532/crime-analyses-show-conflicting-results/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9517 | 655 | 1.640625 | 2 |
[Editor's note: This article (© 2013 by Rick Phillips) originally appeared at Reformation21.org. Reprinted here courtesy of the author and The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. www.alliancenet.org.]
Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge" (Acts 4:19).
It is possible that historians will look back on 2013 as a watershed in the relationship of Christianity to American culture. I say this because, while Christians have always needed to face what we might call "soft persecution" in the form of social and career consequences, it seems that starting this year we may experience official and legal persecution for upholding basic Christian values in the face of intolerant government demands. If this is true, it is essential that Christians not shrink back from facing this affliction. If the time has come for believers to accept the kind of persecution experienced elsewhere in the world--China, the Middle East, and Africa--then true disciples of Christ must embrace this challenge with courage, conviction, and prayer.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits Congress from passing any law that infringes the free exercise of religion. The question today is whether or not this freedom will still be permitted when it comes to the public life of Christians. The conflict is arising over the matter of contraceptives in health care plans. The Roman Catholic Church holds that all contraceptives are immoral. Most Evangelical Christians do not forbid all contraceptives, but hold that abortifacient contraceptives are sinful. (These are contraceptives that destroy a fertilized embryo, which we regard as destroying a human life.) The current issue is the mandate under the Affordable Care Act (popularly known as "Obamacare") for businesses, including those owned by Christians and formed to uphold Christian values, to provide abortifacient contraceptives in the insurance plans of their employees.
There are two things happening in this conflict for Christians to be aware. First, we should be praying for Christian businesses such as Hobby Lobby and Domino's Pizza, who are seeking legal protection from the demands of Obamacare. These are private businesses whose Christian owners refuse to obey a federal requirement that they believe violates God's law. They are joined by religious-based colleges such as Roman Catholic Belmont Abbey and Evangelical Wheaton College, who are also seeking legal protection through lawsuits. Christians should be praying that our courts will uphold the freedom of Christian organizations not to engage in actions they regard as sinful. (At present, churches are exempt from providing contraceptives in our insurance.) If the courts decide against these Christian cases, then legal precedent in America will permit the federal government to enforce laws that require Christian organizations to violate God's law.
Second, starting on January 1, Christian businesses have faced heavy government fines for refusing to obey the Obamacare mandate. Hobby Lobby, for instance, faces $1.3 million per day for refusing to provide abortifacient contraceptives to its 13,000 employees. These and legions of other Christians organizations, including seminaries, book publishers, and Christian schools, may be forced out of business, with thousands of jobs lost, by the government fines.
In my view, it is important for Christians to realize the grave nature of this new threat. What is at stake is our freedom to participate in the public life of our nation while upholding our religious convictions and our fidelity to Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation speaks of the "mark of the beast" without which "no one can buy or sell" (Rev. 13:17). This mark was given to those who bowed and worshiped the image of Caesar, and those who received it are judged by God (Rev. 14:11). I would not say that the Affordable Care Act is the mark of the beast, nor that our government leaders are intending to serve the Antichrist. Yet the principle informs Christians that we must not obey civil leaders who command us to disobey Christ, whether they intend this or not, at the expense of our jobs and businesses. | <urn:uuid:76efd41e-a3fa-4f77-aaf9-03dc5eac6371> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christianity.com/christian-life/political-and-social-issues/christians-in-conflict-over-obamacare.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95116 | 825 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Wed April 18, 2012
Drinking On The Job: Is 2012 The New 1966?
The TV show Mad Men has won fans for breathing life — and a heavy whiff of bourbon — into the fictional advertising world of 1960s New York. But surely no American company has such a liver-pickling culture in this day and age, right?
If you're unfamiliar with Mad Men, New York magazine has assembled a sampling of the show's drinking scenes.
And according to ABC's Alan Farnham, advertising firms are still at it — or at least, they're making sure that their employees have free access to liquor and beer while they're at work. And the ad companies are not alone.
Farnham reports that the list of agencies that serve liquor on the premises include names such as BBDO, TBWA/Chiat/Day, Grey Group, and Mindshare. Two other standouts include J. Walter Thompson, which reportedly boasts a 50-foot bar, and Kirshenbaum, Bond, Senecal + Partners, which creates advertisements for Glenfiddich whisky and Hendricks gin, among other liquors.
Company representatives say that most of the imbibing takes place after the day's work is done. And others say the drinks can help take the sting out of workdays that can easily extend past 12 hours.
But another common theme is the idea that drinking on the job helps co-workers bond — and it can also spark creative solutions. The ABC story was evidently inspired by a recent study titled "Uncorking The Muse: Alcohol Intoxication Facilitates Creative Problem Solving."
Here's part of the abstract for that study:
"Individuals were brought to a blood alcohol content of approximately .075, and, after reaching peak intoxication, completed a battery of [Remote Associates Test] items. Intoxicated individuals solved more RAT items, in less time, and were more likely to perceive their solutions as the result of a sudden insight."
And it's not just advertising companies that are providing more alcohol in the workplace — out west, tech and startup companies are putting beer taps into their break rooms, as Bloomberg reported in a similar story last month.
The business news service reported that Yelp has installed "kegerators" to keep a ready supply of cold beer on-hand. But the consumer website's workers are monitored as they drink — they must swipe their work ID on an iPad sensor to get a glassful. Other companies, such as Twitter, reportedly keep beer and wine in their break rooms.
One possible benefit to boozing on-site is that it might cut the chances that a worker will air the company's dirty laundry, spill the beans about a new idea — or simply leave a top-secret new product on a bar stool, as an Apple employee did back in 2010, when he famously lost custody of a prototype iPhone 4.
Here are other reasons companies cite for providing booze at work, from ABC:
"Whether alcohol helps or hinders problem-solving, says professor Dalton Conley, dean for the social sciences at NYU, is a matter of degree: 'It's a fine line to walk.' If consumed in moderation, alcohol, he says, shuts off the self-censoring aspect of the brain."
In that light, it's not hard to imagine a sudden spike in activity for Human Resources departments, if more companies adopt an open-bottle policy.
But in terms of personal safety, it should also be noted that Conley isn't talking about drinking on the job when it comes to workers handling heavy machinery or tools — he's thinking of people who wrangle computer mice, and maybe change the toner in their printer.
"In a knowledge economy, he says, productivity 'comes in fits and starts, not on an hourly basis,'" ABC quotes Conley.
As for the dangers of increased alcoholism rates among workers, the professor says the free access might help the companies "weed out" anyone who can't control their drinking.
That idea might strike an odd note to those who see alcohol not as a social lubricant but as a potential source of dire problems for both employees and their companies.
As NPR's Shots blog reported back in January, "binge drinking in America looks to be an even bigger problem than we thought," citing a national study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And one detail of that study will come as no surprise to fans of Mad Men: "As was the case in the last survey, the well-heeled had the highest rate of binge drinking, at 20 percent."
That statistic could prompt a debate over cause-and-effect — one that is better argued elsewhere. But it's a good time to note that despite its new fans in the business world, alcohol is also blamed for a host of social and health problems in the United States.
An article at the Mayo Clinic site gives a brief overview of alcohol's possible benefits when consumed strictly in moderation — along with listing the possible (very) negative consequences of overindulging, which range from high blood pressure to certain types of cancer.
And for a broader, and more sobering, view of drinking and work, you can check out Dr. Joseph Nowinski's post for the Harvard Health Blog, in which he writes:
"Given that so many Americans have trouble with alcohol, we could use fewer opportunities to drink, not more of them. Relaxed corporate policies toward drinking on the job could nudge more employees into the almost alcoholic zone or beyond. When it comes to drinking and work, there should be a clear boundary between business and pleasure. To riff on the Anheuser Busch commercial, good things don't necessarily happen to those who don't wait." | <urn:uuid:c49e7ef7-0287-479b-8798-889b93c73782> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wncw.org/post/drinking-job-2012-new-1966 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962365 | 1,179 | 1.554688 | 2 |
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie (realism)
- The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume One and Volume Two, by M.T. Anderson (realism)
- Postcards from No Man's Land, by Aidan Chambers (realism)
- The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros (realism)
- Sleeping Dogs, by Sonya Hartnett (realism)
- Slake's Limbo, by Felice Holman (realism)
- Toning the Sweep, by Angela Johnson (realism)
- The Tricksters, by Margaret Mahy (magical realism)
- A Step from Heaven, by An Na (realism)
- The His Dark Materials trilogy, by Philip Pullman (fantasy)
- Kindergarten, by Peter Rushforth (realism / fairy tale retelling)
- The Attolia books, by Megan Whalen Turner (fantasy)
- Peeps, by Scott Westerfeld (contemporary fantasy? SF? If I tell you what it actually is, you'll get the wrong idea)
- True Believer, by Virginia Euwer Wolff (realism / free verse)
- The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak (realism, sort of)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thus spake National Book Award-winning Sherman Alexie.
Here are a couple of myths about YA lit: (1) YA is all like Harry Potter. (A myth popular among those who've read little YA other than Harry Potter. And don't get me wrong, I love Harry Potter! But he's SO not representative of all YA. No single series could be.) (2) YA is only read, loved, lauded and applauded by young adults.
BWA-HA-HAHAHAHAAAA! LIES! ALL LIES!!!!!
Are you a person who hasn't read much YA? If so, I am now going to recommend some beautiful and complex YA literature that will knock your socks off, even if you're so old that you grew up in the 1920s wearing spats, making your socks more difficult to access.
I've included descriptors in parentheses just to give you a sense of genre, but click through to the links to get to the Amazon descriptions.
However! Before you buy the books from Amazon -- or even before you buy them from Powells -- I want to say one thing (with thanks to my pal, secret code name: Heroes Use Headsets, for reminding me of this). Did you know that a lot of independent bookstores do online ordering and shipping -- or, can take orders by phone and ship them to you -- or, can take orders by phone and then contact you when your books come in? And when you shop at local independents, your entire community benefits. :o) If you live in the U.S., the American Booksellers Association has a handy-dandy independent store finder right here to help you locate your local indie.
One final thing before I go: Graceling fell today in the Battle of the Books -- to The Lincolns, by Candace Fleming. Judge Nancy Werlin's wise decision is here; she's convinced me to read The Lincolns asap. Thanks, Battle, for throwing me in with so many great books! And good luck in the final two rounds. (You can keep track of next week's semi-finals on the Battle Blog.)
More YA recommendations are welcome in the comments -- and maybe I'll follow this up sometime soon with a middle grade list and a picture book list. Happy Thursday, everyone :o) | <urn:uuid:7205160f-6110-4e63-9f3f-e66041de47ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kristincashore.blogspot.com/2009/04/lot-of-people-have-no-idea-that-right.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93052 | 783 | 1.664063 | 2 |
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana House unanimously approved a measure Tuesday that aims to create a one-stop shop for those who are starting new businesses.
The bill by Rep. Suzanne Crouch, R-Evansville, would have the Indiana secretary of state’s office launch a website where Hoosiers can register with the requisite state agencies and obtain all the permits and licenses they need.
“We want to encourage start-up companies by making the process simpler and easier for business owners,” Crouch said. “Right now they have to register with multiple state agencies and fill out numerous forms. It can be overwhelming and confusing to start a business.”
The wide-ranging House Bill 1006 also includes several other provisions.
One would have the Indiana Economic Development Corp. include in the annual report it delivers to state lawmakers an analysis of how the state could better work with local economic development organizations and those in neighboring states.
Another would have the state Department of Education develop curriculum guides for high school entrepreneurship programs.
“If we can create an entrepreneurial spirit in students, we can help provide the necessary skills to build businesses and bolster the economy,” Crouch said.
The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration. | <urn:uuid:61b63963-572f-466a-bf75-6b290d3f6017> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/feb/15/indiana-house-approves-crouchs-business-bill/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946124 | 259 | 1.78125 | 2 |
October 23, 2012
The financial crisis decimated consumer wealth, and scandals such as J.P. Morgan’s “whale” and MF Global’s collapse have plagued the investment industry. But the next challenge advisors and money managers face may be even worse – interest rates.
Rising interest rates are the next big problem for the industry, according to Chip Roame, the managing principal of Tiburon Strategic Advisors, a consulting firm serving the financial industry. Roame spoke on October 16 in San Francisco, at his firm’s semi-annual gathering of top executives from the financial industry.
Fixed-income funds have enjoyed a flood of money over the last couple of years. But, as rates start to rise, Roame said that fund companies will suffer declining net-asset values (NAVs) in the short term.
Over the longer term, consumers will see the purchasing power of their assets erode as inflation accompanies higher rates, Roame said.
“There will be a rebellion when people realize bonds weren’t as safe as they thought,” he said.
Rising rates will affect all corners of the industry, from consumers to institutional investors, according to Roame. Banks that are booking fixed-rate mortgages at 3% today will sustain losses once rates start to rise, he said, which would foreshadow a replay of the S&L crisis. If those loans are sold off to FNMA or FHLMC, the burden will shift from banks to taxpayers.
Let’s look at some of the other trends that Roame sees as likely to have a lasting impact on financial advisors.
The erosion in consumer wealth
A hallmark of Roame’s analysis has been tracking changes in consumer wealth and their impact on advisors and financial institutions.
“Consumers are still poor, no matter what you measure,” Roame said. “They have less money that they did in 2007.”
Roame pegged the net decrease in consumer wealth over the last five years at $4 trillion.
Although investable assets have grown modestly over that timeframe – and now stand at approximately $30 trillion – the value of homes and small businesses are down – below their levels in 2007.
Those $30 trillion in assets are spread across 123 million households, meaning the average American has $200,000 in investable assets, Roame said. But that is not a meaningful number. A lot of assets are concentrated among the wealthiest families, so it’s more helpful to consider the median household, which has just $8,000 in investable assets.
“The average American household, whose wealth is driven by the value of their house, doesn’t feel their wealth is back,” Roame said.
That’s not a great situation for the advisory industry, although advisors who know where to look may still find opportunities to take on previously unmanaged wealth. About two-thirds of assets are managed by an advisor today, according to Roame.
Houses represent 70% of the wealth of the typical family, according to Roame. Meanwhile, small businesses – from restaurants to dry cleaners – represent approximately the same total value as homes, but only a “sliver” of Americans own one, he said. “That is a good market for advisors to go after,” Roame said.
The number of millionaires, on the other hand, decreased by 6.5% over the last five years. “The size of the market is down, if you are going after some version of high-net worth investors,” he said.
Roame also put in perspective the so-called great deleveraging by consumers that has taken place since the financial crisis. Consumer liabilities have decreased only slightly, he said, from $14 to $13.5 trillion. Consumers in the aggregate are not over-leveraged, he said, since liabilities are only 20% of the value of assets. The critical issue, according to Roame, is that debt is highly concentrated – and many of the most-indebted families face severe hardship.
Would you like to send this article to a friend?Remember, if you have a question or comment, send it to . | <urn:uuid:d5c65fe9-66d3-4a84-b130-de84cd70ea25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.advisorperspectives.com/newsletters12/Chip_Roame_on_the_Next_Big_Problem.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96666 | 883 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Henry F. McCance, M.B.A., has a special knack for spotting talent and helping young people to realize their aspirations. Over the course of a 40-year career at Greylock Partners, a venture capital firm in Waltham, Mass., McCance and his partners have shepherded almost 300 software companies from idea to reality, a track record that earned him the National Venture Capital Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.
When a family member was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease seven years ago, McCance decided to apply the skills he had honed during his four decades at Greylock into a plan of attack on the disease, which has stubbornly resisted effective diagnosis and treatments. In 2005, McCance co-founded the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund (CAF), which explicitly adopted a venture capital approach to fund research “with the highest probability of slowing, stopping or reversing Alzheimer’s disease by 2016.”
So when McCance first heard about the School of Medicine’s Yale Scholars initiative, which provides support to outstanding young faculty members as they embark on research careers, the concept had a familiar and appealing ring. McCance got on board enthusiastically with a $2.5 million gift endowing the Henry F. McCance Yale Scholar, an honor that will be bestowed every four years on a new faculty member in the medical school’s program in Cellular Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration and Repair. Yale University will match McCance’s gift to create a $5 million total endowment, and McCance has contributed an additional $250,000 in current-use funds to ensure that the first McCance Yale Scholar recruit will receive support immediately.
“Startups are often founded by and take their vision from a young, talented person who really ‘doesn’t know any better’ than to take on the incumbent legacy of a corporate giant,” says McCance, a 1964 alumnus of Yale College. “They haven’t been told it can’t be done, so they go do it. The idea of supporting the best up-and-coming research talent under the Yale Scholars program embodies that sort of entrepreneurial can-do spirit.”
Robert J. Alpern, M.D., dean and Ensign Professor of Medicine, says, “I am delighted that Henry has chosen to support our efforts to find a treatment for Alzheimer’s, and I am especially excited that he will do this through the Yale Scholars program, which focuses support on young investigators.”
Yale ties are strong in McCance’s family. His father, Thomas McCance, a member of Yale’s Class of 1925, was a partner at Brown Brothers Harriman and Co. in New York City, and his brother, Thomas McCance Jr., graduated from the university in 1955. Henry says that his father’s example inspired him to study economics at Yale. “I grew up with it at the kitchen table, and then continued at Yale.”
McCance went on to earn a master’s degree at Harvard Business School and then worked for two years for the Department of Defense during the Vietnam War. Venture capital was a new idea then, but McCance moved into the field soon after. In 1966 it was a nascent industry, and I wanted to get away from the 28,000-person office building that the Pentagon represented into something very entrepreneurial.”
When Greylock began aggressively investing in software companies in the 1970s, that industry was out of favor with investors, but it soon became McCance’s specialty. “Most people thought that hardware investments were more interesting and exciting,” McCance says. “We took a contrarian view. Now software touches every part of our lives in business and in the home.”
McCance says he now devotes about 40 percent of his time to his new foundation, sounding a clarion call about the urgent need to cure Alzheimer’s disease. He sees philanthropic channels like the Yale Scholars initiative and the CAF as necessary in an age of across-the-board cuts in National Institutes of Health research funding, and as a remedy for disproportionately low funding for Alzheimer’s disease in particular.
“Even though the disease was discovered 100 years ago, there is remarkably little understanding of the disease or effective therapeutics,” he says. “Statistics say that two out of five people will have Alzheimer’s by age 85 if there isn’t a cure. If you compare the research dollars spent on this disease to HIV/AIDS, cancer or heart disease, it’s out of synch. We’re not spending enough in this country to cure this disease.” | <urn:uuid:9c606744-7daa-4a75-b364-0c9b7ead7633> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://medicine.yale.edu/publications/medicineatyale/marchapril2007/features/coverstories/55865 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967631 | 994 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Thanksgiving Day is a natural time for many Americans to pause, and reflect on all of the things they have in their lives to ‘smile about’ (i.e., be grateful for). As I sit in my in-laws home, surrounded by family of all ages, smelling amazing food cooking, it’s easy for me to generate a list of things that currently make me smile::
- Everyone in this home is physically healthy. (Which is a true gift; health is such a treasure, and yet is something that I frequently take for granted.)
- Everyone in this home is free of serious financial concerns. At a time when so many people are on the brink of loss, we can all afford to make an abundant meal, shop for sales on Black Friday (if that’s a desired activity to do), and be on vacation instead of at work.
- Everyone in this home is happy. I hear laughter from the toddlers and the adults, and I see everyone smile throughout the day.
- Everyone in this home is loving. While various individuals may have differences of opinion or preference, the dominant tone is a caring one.
And I could easily keep going. But I don’t think that’s necessary. My heart is full of appreciation, gratitude, and genuine thanks; a wonderful place to be on Thanksgiving Day, and indeed on any day.
If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I sincerely hope you and yours all have an amazing holiday. And if you don’t participate in Thanksgiving Day, I still hope your day is full of health, security, joy, and love. Peace. | <urn:uuid:2f76e1a1-342d-414f-9aaf-98b03e8e1a20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://smilekiddo.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/thanks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956828 | 335 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Question: As you write your memoirs, which memories are the most fun and the most difficult to look back on?
Benoit Mandelbrot: Well, my life has been extremely complicated. Not by choice at the beginning at all, but later on, I had become used to complication and went on accepting things that other people would have found too difficult to accept. I was born in Poland and moved to France as a child shortly before World War II. During World War II, I was lucky to live in the French equivalent of Appalachia, a region which is sort of not very high mountains, but very, very poor, and Appalachia we are poorer even, so poorer than Appalachia of the United States. And for me, I was in high school where things were very easy. It was a small high school way up in the hills and had mostly a private intellectual life. I read many books; there were many books, a very good library. I had many books and I had dreams of all kinds. Dreams in which were in a certain sense, how to say, easy to make because the near future was always extremely threatening. It was a very dangerous period. But since I had nothing to lose, I was dreaming of what I could do.
Then the war ended. I had very, very little training in taking an exam to determine a scientist’s life in France. There were two schools, both very small. One tiny, and one small, which in a certain sense was the place that I was sure I wanted to go. I had only a few months of finding out how the exam proceeded, but I took the exam and perhaps because of inherited gifts, I did very well. In fact, I barely missed being number one in France in both schools. In particular I did very well in mathematical problems. The physics I could not guess, other things I could not guess. But then I had a big choice, should I go into mathematics in a small and **** school. Or should I go to a bigger school in which, in a certain sense would give me time to decide what I wanted to do?
First I entered the small school where I was, as a matter of fact, number one of the students who entered then. But immediately, I left because that school, again, was going to teach me something which I did not fully believe, namely mathematics separate from everything else. It was excellent mathematics, French mathematics was very high level, but in everything else it was not even present. And I didn’t want to become a pure mathematician, as a matter of fact, my uncle was one, so I knew what the pure mathematician was and I did not want to be a pure – I wanted to do something different. Not less, not more but different. Namely, combine pure mathematics at which I was very good, with the real world of which I was very, very curious.
And so, I did not go to École Polytechnique. It was a very rough decision, and the year when I took this decision remembers my memory very, very strongly. Then for several years, I just was lost a bit. I was looking for a good place. I spent my time very nicely in many ways, but not fully satisfactory. Then I became Professor in France, but realized that I was not – for the job that I should spend my life in. Fortunately, IBM was building a research center, I went there for a summer thing, for a summer only. I knew this summer, decided to stay. It was a very big gamble. I lost my job in France, I received a job in which was extremely uncertain, how long would IBM be interested in research, but the gamble was taken and very shortly afterwards, I had this extraordinary fortune of stopping at Harvard to do a lecture and learning about the price variation in just the right way. At a time when nobody was looking, was realizing that either one needed, or one could make a theory of price variation other than the theory of 1900 at which Bachelier had proposed, which was very, very far from being representative of the actual thing.
So, I went to IBM and I was fortunate in being allowed – to be successful as to go from field to field, which in a way was what I had been hoping for. I didn’t feel comfortable at first with pure mathematics, or as a professor of pure mathematics. I wanted to do a little bit of everything and explore the world. And IBM let me do so. I touched on far more topics than anybody would have found reasonable. I was often told, “Settle down, stay in one field, don’t go all the time to another field.” But I was just compelled to move from one thing to another.
And fractal geometry was not an idea which I had early on, for something was developed progressively. I didn’t choose to go into the topic because of any compelling reason, but because the problems there seemed to be somehow similar to the ones I knew how to handle. I had experienced this kind of problem and gradually realized that I was truly putting together a new theory. A theory of roughness. What is roughness? Everybody knows what is roughness. When was roughness discovered? Well, prehistory. Everything is roughness, except for the circles. How many circles are there in nature? Very, very few. The straight lines. Very shapes are very, very smooth. But geometry had laid them aside because they were too complicated. And physics had laid them aside because they were too complicated. One couldn’t even measure roughness. So, by luck, and by reward for persistence, I did found the theory of roughness, which certainly I didn’t expect and expecting to found one would have been pure madness.
So, one of the high points of my life was when I suddenly realized that this dream I had in my late adolescence of combining pure mathematics, very pure mathematics with very hard things which had been long a nuisance to scientists and to engineers, that this combination was possible and I put together this new geometry of nature, the fractal geometry of nature.
Recorded on February 17, 2010
Interviewed by Austin Allen | <urn:uuid:2eefb005-c4db-46c1-a187-03d68cbdfed6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bigthink.com/videos/from-an-uneven-life-a-theory-of-roughness | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.994288 | 1,282 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Azar Nafisi: Part of the urge to write memoir for me is first of all, whenever I want to express an idea, I cannot express it except through a narrative. And so narrative itself, which is mainly based upon your own experiences, becomes for me a vehicle of talking about the ideas and the passions and the feelings that I have. But memoir, I think it is because of my experiences in the Islamic Republic. Having lived there for 18 years, and, you know, when you live under an absolutist regime, the first thing that happens is the confiscation of your voice, and the fact that now, you're not the one acting out your story or telling your story or being who you are. Someone else tells you that this is who you should be, this is what you should do. And there has been in Iran, as the years progressed, this urge to both read about the past, memoirs, history, and also to speak about the experiences.
Jo Reed: That was Azar Nafisi talking about her memoir, Things I’ve Been Silent About. Welcome to Art Works, the program that goes behind the scenes with some of the nations great artists to explore how art works. I’m your host, Josephine Reed.
Azar Nafisi is best known as the author of the acclaimed Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. Reading Lolita in Tehran is a vivid portrait of the Islamic revolution in Iran and the subversive power of literature. Her second memoir Things I’ve Been Silent About: Memories of a Prodigal Daughter is, as the title suggests, a deeply personal reflection as Azar comes to grips with her complex and overbearing mother, a woman from a generation who had limited choices, and explores the inspiration she found in her father’s enchanting tales from classic Iranian literature. In the process, she gives us a moving account of her family’s struggle to survive the cultural and political upheaval of revolution and repression in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
I spoke with Azar Nafisi about Things I’ve Been Silent About and asked her about her decision to write such a personal book.
Azar Nafisi: I think it was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life. It was excruciating. And as I will be talking about it today, I didn't want to write it. I wanted to write, after "Reading Lolita in Tehran" I wanted to write a book tentatively called "Republic of Imagination," which was about the subversive role of imagination in terms of our political, social, cultural lives. And my mother died when I was writing the acknowledgements to Reading Lolita in Tehran. And our relationship was a very, very difficult one, and once she was gone, you know, I became even more obsessed with her. I felt as if there was an unfinished conversation that needed to be finished somehow, that I needed to carry on this conversation with her; I owed it to both of us. And then, of course, the most universal experiences come out of the personal. You need to empathize with one single individual in order to understand feelings and emotions and ideas. And through writing a personal memoir, I was very careful to not just talk about me, but to talk about me within a context which went beyond me. And so this memoir is also within the historical and cultural and social history of Iran, within the lifespan of the individuals.
Jo Reed: Well, you come from a very interesting household.
Azar Nafisi: Rather crazy, but that makes them interesting.
Jo Reed: You and your mother were in battle for you immortal soul.
Azar Nafisi: You know, that was the whole thing. She was such a-- all of us are paradoxical, once you get into an individual, but with her, she wanted to control and shape us, especially me. I was the first born and I was a girl. And for me, in order to keep my independent identity, I constantly had to resist her in one way or another, otherwise I would melt into what she was, but I also felt victimized in one sense, you know. And victimization always paralyzes you. The only way you come out of it is to denounce yourself as a victim, to think that you're a free agent. But in the last years of my mother's life, and after her death, I kept wondering, what was it that made her so bitter, because the way she was acting towards me was not out of cruelty. And I realized that it was out of a deep sense of vulnerability that she herself had lost her mother when she was very young and she had the proverbial stepmother, you know. And she wanted to go on-- she was very intelligent, top of her class--and she was not allowed to continue her education. Her best friend to say, "Another intelligent woman gone to waste." And so my mother wanted me to be all the things that she wasn't. She wanted me to continue my education, to be a public person, but at the same time. I feel that she was jealous of the mother I had that she didn't have. So she constantly would put me down while trying to elevate me.
Jo Reed: And your relationship with your mother was exacerbated by her relationship with your father.
Azar Nafisi: Yeah. And that relationship, from the start, was exacerbated because of the fact of my mother's first marriage. That was another loss that turned her bitter and inward. When she was very young, she fell in love with this handsome, intelligent young man who was actually the son of the prime minister at the time, and when she married him, on their wedding night, she discovered that they had not told her that he was afflicted with a fatal disease, nephritis of kidneys. And the doctor has said that he doesn’t have more than two years to live, and the doctor has said, "Let him have whatever he wants." And he wanted my mother, without telling her. So she basically nursed him to his death, you know. And so all of these experiences created in her a sense of suspicion. By the time she got to my father, she already had lost her trust, you know, and by the time she had reached my father, she was frozen in the past. And being frozen in the past is very dangerous, as I discovered through my political experiences in Iran, when you do not allow change. You want to retain a moment that is already gone. That is what she did. She wanted that husband, that life, which in reality she never had, and no one could replace it, you know. And so my father and I, and later on my brother, younger brother, we all became complicit, in order to survive this relationship, like a totalitarian system, you had to lie. You had to lie in order to survive, and then you hated yourself for having to lie.
Jo Reed: Azar, you’re very clear that your mother's history and your story are meshed with the history of Iran.
Azar Nafisi: Yeah, and this book for me was, I always liked to say, both a mourning and a celebration. In one sense, it was a reckoning with my parents and a declaration of independence. And when you declare your independence, you cannot do it without paying homage to what you're declaring your independence from. And it wasn't just about my parents; it was about Iran. It was about a country that, like the first love, no matter where else you go and what other loves you discovered, that first love always stays with you, you know. But it was also a first love that I felt in so many ways had betrayed me. You know, I had left Iran when I was very young and all my life I wanted to go back home, and I went home and home was not home. And I always quote, Adorno, the German philosopher, who used to say, "The highest form of morality is not to feel at home in your own home." So in a sense, it's good not to feel at home and to be restless, and I've learned that now. I want to be an outsider in a sense, to never feel completely smug and complacent anywhere. But in another sense, that was not the Iran I knew. That was not the Iran I had grown up with. That was not the Iran that my father had told me about in the poems that he would read to me at nights. That was not the religion I knew. It was a political ideology that had confiscated the religion and traditions, and in that name, it was ruling over us and I felt very alien and very alone.
Jo Reed: Let's put this in a historical context. You lived in Iran with your parents under the rule of the Shah….
Azar Nafisi: Before the revolution. And then I left Iran when I was very young at the age of 13, and then I returned to Iran after my studies where finished, and that happened to be the summer of 1979, when the Islamic revolution had happened, and of course, at the time, none of us knew what will happen. Like all revolutions of its kind, it had a few surprises in store for us. And, you know, religion for me had so many different faces. My grandmother, my paternal grandmother, was an orthodox Muslim, never took off her veil, but she was the kindest, most flexible and gentle woman I had ever known. We, her grandchildren, or my mother who never wore the veil, we would go swimming in the pool in our bikinis, and here she was with her veil, you know. And my mother, who claimed to be a devout Muslim and who went to the pilgrimage, actually, she never wore the veil. She was a very modern woman, like this country. Muslims came in all shapes and forms. And then there were Zoroastrians, which was the religion in Iran before Islam. If the history goes back to 2,500 years, half of it was Zoroastrian. Then we had Jews and Christians and Baha'is and agnostics and atheists. People forget that. All of a sudden, these people come and say, "No, everyone is Muslim." But that Islam is the way they interpret it. It's like saying that this country's Christian majority and all of you from tomorrow will act the way Jerry Falwell's version of Christianity is you know? Who is more Christian, Michelle Obama or Sarah Palin? Who's to say that Mr. Ahmadinejad's Islam is the genuine Islam? That is the right they took away from us, the right to choice. They confiscated everything that we had, including our religion.
Jo Reed: One way you subverted this was by reading, and through literature. And you document that so beautifully in Reading Lolita in Tehran.
Azar Nafisi: For me, literature is like blood in your veins. You don't see it, but if it stops running in the veins, life stops. I never imagined I could marry anyone who would not read. My brother and I used to be taken to these parties we hated by our parents, and we always went there in torn up jeans and a book under our arms, to show people, that is what we cared about. And my father, ever since I was a kid, he would tell us stories and he would tell us later on that this country is so ancient, Iran, and it has been invaded so many times. And the only thing that gives us identity as an Iranian is our poetry. And in this new book, I talk about our epic poet, Ferdowsi, who actually, 2010 is the thousand year anniversary of Ferdowsi, which we're going to celebrate all over this town, I hope. And Ferdowsi, after the Arab invasion of Iran in the seventh century when, for the first time, the Arab invasion force the Iranians to even change their religion, so their sense of identity was lost. He wrote a thousand pages of poetry, weaving in Iranian mythology, going back to 3,000 years ago until the invasion of the Arabs. And he said that, "I will be immortal." It's like Nabokov saying, "Governments come and go. Only the trace of genius remains." And so ever since I was a kid, literature was a place I would go where the life I could not control would become controllable. I think literature is a resistance again both the tyranny of time and of man.
Jo Reed: I was hoping you'd say it so I wouldn't mispronounce it, that's the "Shana--?"
Azar Nafisi: "Shahnameh."
Jo Reed: Say it again.
"Shahnameh," Ferdowsi's "Book of Kings."
Jo Reed: Yes.
Azar Nafisi: "Shahnameh." You talk to every Iranian, it is impossible for them not to have. It's like Bible. And it is not just elite; actually there are traditional coffee houses in Iran, where you have special people who sing "Shahnameh" to the beat of music, special music that is with "Shahnameh." And in these coffee houses, because it began with oral history, people would come and tell the stories of "Shahnameh" and in the Smithsonian and in the Met, there are these fantastic books, because in Iran, many of these books of tales and poetry came with illustrations, with miniatures. And there are such amazing illustrations, so it is both visual and oral as well as written. That is where we all agree. And of course, this regime, when they first came, in Iran, many of our streets were named after our poets. We had Khayyam Street, who was the agnostic poet, talk about wine and women, Hafez and then we had a Ferdowsi Square, and there was a statue of Ferdowsi in a square. And one of the things they wanted to do was bring down that statue and they couldn't. They could not change the name of our streets, the poets, and they could not bring down the statue. And in the end, they were forced to even acknowledge and have celebrations of him, which was always half hearted, because they hate him. And this year I heard that they almost closed down the celebrations of Ferdowsi. But this is how a people survive. They survive through music and art and literature. This is the best of humanity, and it's always universal. For me, since childhood, I read Mark Twain, side by side with "Pinocchio," side by side with "Little Prince," and side by side with "Shahnameh." For me, that was a republic of imagination, that I needed no passport based on my nationality, you know.
Jo Reed: You come from a family of storytellers. Your father one kind storyteller, your mother a little bit different. Tell us about your mother's stories.
Azar Nafisi: Yeah. Now when I think of it, and all through the writing of this book, her stories are the ones that break my heart every time, because her stories-- my father was very articulate and my brother is also, and I'm a writer. My mother was very inarticulate, and so there were stories that she would repeat almost verbatim each time, as if she had memorized them. And those were the snippets from the life that she had idealized. One was the story of her dance with her first husband, that, "The first time I saw him and he asked me to dance once, twice three times." One was those and one was the stories she would create about us and herself that never happened. And that is where I would say that it seemed like a totalitarian mindset, where she would turn me into someone that I wasn't, and even talk about incidents that had never happened. She said, "Do you remember that day when I said something to you, and you acted this way?" I had not. But she would not accept it.
So the tyrannical instinct is on one hand molding this person into that ideal. And yet, the things that I accomplished which she acknowledged, but then she also put me down for it, because she could never become that, it's that ferocious relationship where you both want to get away but there is an immense sense of empathy in me, for the waste, for the woman she could be.
Jo Reed: Your mother wouldn't come to America with you.
Azar Nafisi: No. She wouldn't come to America, and partly of course, both my parents were very courageous politically and socially. I mean, that I admire them almost unconditionally. People would think that they are crazy for the way-- but my mom would say, "I will never ask these people--" and she meant the government, "-- for a passport." And I said, "Mom, this is not asking them or begging them. This is your right." But she said, "No, I will not carry their passport." And when she would go out in the mornings, she was very proud of the fact that she would say things like, "You might not see me come back," because she would get in the bus on purpose, in the bus, and she would start badmouthing the government. So she loved it. She would always say, "I might not get back home." And when I came here, and I would be giving the talks or writing about the conditions in Iran, she was always supporting. She always sent messages through people who would come here, to tell her, "how proud I am that she's telling the truth." And she would say, "I know that I won't see her, because of that, and I'm very alone, but tell her that I'm very proud of my children, because they're standing up to these people." So there was that side to her as well, that I wished I had cherished more. We always thought about her as eccentric, but these eccentricities were very beloved in fact.
Jo Reed: Reading Lolita in Tehran was one of the many books that was banned in Iran. What I found surprising, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the books that are banned.
Azar Nafisi: No, there isn't. You see, the most frightening thing about this regime, like any regime like this, is the arbitrariness. You never know. When I wrote Reading Lolita in Tehran some people would say things to me, "No, you're not telling the truth, because they're not doing that now." I said, "That is the whole point. They don't do it." I mention in Reading Lolita that living in the Islamic republic is like the month of April, that there are showers and thunderstorms one moment, and then a little bit of sunshine and then rain. So you never know. And that is how they rule, that you're never sure. You're never sure that if you come out of the house, and you have no makeup, you wore the veil properly, they might get you. Or you wonder, you go out of the house, you have makeup and you look like what they call a harlot, and they don't get. Books, it's the same. Or they banned, like for example, from Othello they banned Desdemona, Laurence Olivier's film. They banned Desdemona from most scenes, and they banned Othello's suicide, because they said masses are depressed if they watch someone commit suicide. On the other hand, the book was there. People could read Othello. It is very arbitrary.
Jo Reed: You wrote, "Living in Iran is like having sex with a man you loathe."
Azar Nafisi: Someone told me Martin Amis had said this was his favorite quote. Well, I felt dirty, because the horrible thing about tyranny is how they make you complicit in the crime they commit against you. Because I am the way I look right now. Even my appearance is not under my own control, so when I go into the streets in the morning, I have to, as Eliot would say, "put on a face to meet the faces that I meet." And this face is not my face; the way I'm veiled is not me. The revolutionary guard who would arrest me if I don't look like that knows it. I know it. Everybody else knows it. So you become a lie. You are being someone whom you are not. It's in the same manner that people are scared to talk in public about certain things, because there will be consequences. Vaclav Havel in The Power of Powerless talks about the same system in communism.
Jo Reed: The Czech writer who became president.
Azar Nafisi: The Czech writer who became president of Czech--
Jo Reed: Of Czechoslovakia.
Azar Nafisi: And Havel talks about how like the greengrocer has to put something very pro system in his shop window that he does not at all believe in. So what they are teaching you is that you can be against yourself, you can negate yourself, and that is the only way you can survive. And that is one reason I wrote Things I Have Been Silent About, it is much easier to criticize others. It's much easier for me to talk about Mr. Ahmadinejad, but it is far more difficult to see ways through which I myself become complicit, and to admit. For me personally, and that is why personal life becomes so important-- personally, when I married my first husband, no matter what excuses I could bring, that I was very young, my father was in jail, my mother was driving me crazy, yet that act of marrying a man that you really didn't love, and justifying it to yourself, for me was an act that was dirty. And actually, I think that's where I got my metaphor for the Islamic republic, from my first marriage.
Jo Reed: Azar, I think you've answered this implicitly, but I want to end by asking you to talk quite explicitly about what you see as literature’s power and joy?
Azar Nafisi: I think that reading is one of the most sensual things we can do, because the whole idea of imagination is to evoke your senses. Our colleges and universities nowadays have turned the act of reading into a theoretical obscurity. But the whole idea of reading was, as Primo Levi says, and he says, "I write in order to reconnect to the world, to humanity." That is why we read and write. And for me, reading awakens your senses, because it constantly puts you in the experiences of others that you have not experienced before. The act of holding a book in your hand, touching it. It's a very tactile experience. Then the fact that you don't see those scenes, but you create them in your mind's eye, is a very, very satisfying experience for a reader. And the fact that it makes you connect to the whole world. It is always about another. Even when you identify, it is about that stranger within you that you hadn't known. Unfortunately, the kind of political correctness that we have in this society nowadays, it teaches you that you should read and write about yourself. The most boring thing in life, I should read and write about you, or the stranger in me, and you should read and interpret me. I mean, this is how the world should run. And so for me right now, the most important mission is to ask the question that I asked today: who will bail out imagination and thought? What will happen to a country that, as Saul Bellow says, "has lost its love of poetry and its soul?"
Jo Reed: And on that we'll end. Azar Nafisi, thank you so much.
Azar Nafisi: Thank you.
Jo Reed: It was a pleasure.
Azar Nafisi: It was gorgeous talking to you.
Jo Reed: That was Azar Nafisi, she was talking about her memoir, Things I’ve Been Silent About. You've been listening to Art Works, produced at the National Endowment for the Arts.
Adam Kampe is the musical supervisor. Excerpts from “Elixir of Life” composed and performed A.J. Racy and James Peterson, used courtesy of Lyrichord Discs Inc.
The Art Works podcast is posted every Thursday at www.arts.gov. And now you subscribe to Art Works at iTunes. Just click on Beyond Campus and look for the National Endowment for the Arts.
Next week, Isabel Wilkerson, author of The Warmth of Other Suns, talks about the impact of The Great Migration on American culture.
To find out how art works in communities across the country, keep checking the Art Works blog, or follow us @NEAARTS on Twitter. For the National Endowment for the Arts, I'm Josephine Reed. Thanks for listening. | <urn:uuid:05595673-9026-4487-ab97-d202896a1ed5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nea.gov/av/avCMS/Nafisi-podcast-transcript.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988379 | 5,233 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Cuba lauds subcontracting to private sector
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba praised state contracting of landscaping, construction and other services to the private sector on Thursday, in another sign a recent opening to small business is gaining momentum.
A long article in the communist party daily, Granma, focused on the recently created western province of Artemisa, a pilot project for reform of local government and state business administration under President Raul Castro.
"One of the most important benefits of this mechanism (subcontracting) is the rapidity and quality with which jobs are done," Miguel Angel Quijano, economic director of Artemisa, told Granma.
The newspaper said subcontractors were being used in public landscaping, housing construction and state office renovation with "impressive" results.
Small businesses have been part and parcel of the birth of Artemisa, spurring the strengthening of food and other services in which the self-employed have been key, Granma said.
Havana province was divided into the rural provinces of Artemisa and Mayabeque in 2010 and both were declared experiments for downsizing government, moving local businesses out of local government and other reforms.
There has been little official coverage until now of the reforms underway in Artemisa, with a population of 500,000. The province has some minor industry located on its eastern border with Havana, and to the west bordering Pinar del Rio, accounts for up to 50 percent of the wrapper leaf for the country's famous cigars.
Castro is encouraging private sector growth to create jobs for the one million employees he hopes to slash from bloated government payrolls over the next few years. His goal is to strengthen Cuban communism to assure its future.
More than 370,000 Cubans are now self-employed, more than double the number of two years ago, although most are small operations based in homes and 30 percent of the figure represents private sector employees.
But the ability of small businesses to grow has been hindered partly by a lack of capital and access to government business, which is significant because the state controls most of the economy.
That changed in December when new credit and banking regulations took effect, allowing small businesses for the first time to obtain loans and, along with private farmers, to open commercial accounts, a prerequisite for doing business with the state.
The measures also lifted a 100 peso (roughly $4) cap on business between state enterprises and private individuals.
The Granma report was just the latest to appear in the official media in recent months praising subcontracting.
"This kind of positive coverage was unimaginable and these transactions would have been illegal just a few years ago," Phil Peters, a Cuba expert at the Virginia-based Lexington Institute said.
"This is one more sign that the government wants the private sector to grow to boost productivity and to give laid-off government workers a place to go," he said.
(Editing by Tom Brown and David Adams)
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For 15 years now, I have been saying how great the food in Ireland is. I have been teaching cooking classes, appearing on television, writing articles and generally trying to spread the word. It is high time I clarified something. Why? In March this year, I did a series of radio interviews with FOX TALK RADIO. The responses are responses I have become all too accustomed to. "Ireland? Good Food?" I suggested a foodie tour and it was received with laughter.
Corned Beef and cabbage is an AMERICAN IRISH tradition introduced in New York. When the Irish emigrated they could not find/afford the quality ham available in Ireland , so they borrowed the Jewish tradition of brining beef. I did not dance at the crossroads and for those of you with visions of 'The Quiet Man'....well, sorry to disappoint you. The Cork Opera House, museums, vacations in Ardmore, Co Waterford were part of my youth. My mum cooked. EVERY DAY.
I will say this however. Ireland does have it's fair share of really bad cooks. Yes, we too have people that simply cannot cook. There, I said it. America has it's fair share of really bad cooks too. Does this make the food bad ?
Ireland , in my opinion , has the finest ingredients in the world. I have Irish American friends in New York who laugh about the Irish food that they grew up on. They grew up in New York. When I ask them to describe the awful fate of their food they describe the bland and boiled vegetables they received. Now, I ask you. Who's fault is that? ....by the way, this is a rhetorical question !
I visited quite a few places in Ireland that served french fries with almost everything. If I didn't ask for them, they offered them !
I visited places that are considered to be the best and let me tell you something...I will not go back.
Then, and this is where it really matters, I visited places and ate in places that make the Ingredients of Ireland so noteworthy.
One of these stops was to a place in Lisdoonvarna, Co CLare. The WIld Honey Inn. The ingredients were the stars. There was no 'personality' selling the lunch. Carrot and coriander soup made from locally sourced carrots. Nothing could be more perfect.
I ordered 'Apple Crumble' for dessert. Locally sourced apples.
I ask you. What is wrong with ordering simple meals from the sixties and seventies? Are we trying so hard to be something that we are not. On the luncheon menu, alongside the crumble was a trifle. A trifle made with local raspberries and white peaches.
This is food. No, this is good food, in fact this is great food. It tasted so good. I wanted to pay for the pleasure of eating these ingredients.
I wonder, have we become so obsessed with TV personalities and reality TV that we need this to make the food taste good?
The market seems to be absolutely flooded with foodies right now. Has it become vogue or have we turned a corner? I don't know, I'm asking you this.
There are two words that also concern me. Artisan and Passionate. They should be rationed. Have you noticed how everyone is an artisan and everyone is passionate about what they do. Some truely passionate people spring to mind for me.
Most believe that being passionate means that you absolutely love what you do. This is partly true but is not enough. I believe that passion is the absolute BELIEF in what you are doing, allowing you to persevere when naysayers let you know otherwise.
We can all look at the ladies I have mentioned below and see their cook books, TV shows, celebrity appearances and be in danger of not seeing the years and years of unwavering belief and commitment. Ladies who were ahead of their time. Ladies who wanted to bring the best of food to us and ladies who wanted to share the truth about food with us (however disdainful the truth may be at times)
Over time, I intend on sharing more about these wonderful women with you. In fact, some of them have even agreed to give away autographed copies of their books !
Myrtle Allen, Darina Allen, Georgina Campbell, Prannie Rhatigan, Suzanne Campbell, Ella McSweeney, Alice Waters to name but a few.
I remember reading this article from Saveur magazine. This was the opening quote. I think it says it all.
I was away at school when my mother told me she was opening a restaurant at our house," recalls Tim Allen, Myrtle Allen's son. "I was very excited. I thought I'd come home and have chips and mixed grills and all. I was so disappointed when I got back and discovered that she was serving the same food I'd eaten all my life." Though he didn't realize it at the time, the food Tim Allen had eaten all his life was something of an endangered species: fresh, honest Irish home cooking based on ingredients grown or raised around the house, or at least in the neighborhood. And his mother was to become the leading light of modern-day Irish cooking, a mentor and an inspiration, as important to her country's cuisine as Alice Waters was to America's.
I don't know Tim but I felt his disappointment when he didn't get the chips and mixed grills !
Every Friday, our fish came from the 'English Market'. Every Christmas we had the famous 'Cork Spiced Beef' from Donovans butchers. Early September we donned our wellie boots and gathered blackberries, went strawberry picking during the summer. My baby brother could not drink dairy so my mum sourced goats milk daily from a local farmer in Cork. New potatoes every Summer. Fresh lamb chops served with mint sauce. No sodas ! Chips were a treat.
Now, I live in the United States where sodas are consumed like water, served with every meal, and are refilled in restaurants without you even asking for it. To some Alice Waters is seen as elitist. To me, Alice Waters and Myrtle Allen are like the child in the famous fable 'The Emperors New Clothes'. Remember when the Emperor was walking down the street naked...the crowds cheering. The one child exclaiming....'But he's naked'
Yes, it really is that obvious.
Ingredients in Ireland really are that good. There are people who CANNOT cook and so give Irish Ingredients a bad name, when all it takes is a few classes !
'Forgotten Skills of Cooking ' by Darina Allen . This book is such a treat. If you want to buy someone you love something special, then look no further. Darina speaks to you in the introduction and for a moment I thought she was speaking directly to me ! You know what though, she was. She is speaking to anyone that wants to reconnect. A marvelous journey. The skills, the photography and the recipes are all waiting for you to explore. Darina is indeed from Ireland as am I but in this book she is speaking to everyone. Whether you are from Sweeden or Finland, Texas or Alabama, we all had people we learned from and still need to learn from.
Georgina Campbell is another leader and who I believe is and was ahead of her time.
'Ireland for Food Lovers' is the must have guide if you plan on visiting Ireland. Also filled with photographs, recipes and introductions to places to eat and stay.
She is a member of both the Irish and British Food Writers' Guilds. She too has written a number of cookery books and is the author of the comprehensive and critically acclaimed independently assessed guides to Ireland's best places to eat, drink and stay 'Georgina Campbell's Ireland-the Guide'
More recently Georgina has launched her own series of apps for the smart phone. By going to her web site you can browse them in the store. One of the cooking apps I urge you to look at, is one with Ireland's very own Neven Maguire. Now, you can call me biased and you would be CORRECT. I just think Neven hung the moon. I would probably buy an app of Neven teaching you how to fold laundry ! He's just a genuine nice guy and I always have time for genuine nice people. Neven Maguire is the owner of the award winning 'MacNean House and Restaurant' located in Co Cavan. He is a huge advocate for locally produced ingredients. In my humble opinion it is only a matter of time before the United States gets to know and love Neven too.
Many thanks to Georgina Campbell for agreeing to award one lucky winner an autographed copy of her book 'Ireland for Food Lovers'
All you have to do is share your POSITIVE IRISH FOOD EXPERIENCE in no more than 6 sentences and submit a photo if you have one.
- It may have been during a visit to Ireland.
- It may be an Irish Ingredient you tried
- An Irish recipe you tried
- Something someone else introduced you to.
Send your details to Rachel@Rachelgaffneys.com
Competition closes September 1st 2011
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BEIJING // A central government crackdown has led to the closure of hundreds of local government offices believed to have become havens for corruption, misuse of public funds and even the jailing of disgruntled residents.
More than 600 representative offices in the capital, opened by low-level provincial administrations, have been shut down, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Yan Jirong, a professor in the School of Government at Peking University, said many local government representative offices were believed to be involved in bribing central government officials.
"They want to cut the connections the local officials use these offices to make, specifically connections with central government. There are too many offices. It's a big problem," he said.
The offices were set up to liaise with central government, although they have been accused of wasting money by expensively entertaining officials from the home area in restaurants linked to them. Many also owned apartments and hotels. Reports have suggested that, together, the offices spent hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
They have also served, Mr Yan said, to deal with "social movements" from the home province, in particular individuals who have travelled to the capital to present grievances to the central government.
The most sinister allegation linked to representative offices is that their guest houses have served as "black jails", detaining these petitioners.
While 625 representative offices have been closed, estimates have put the total number set up by local governments at 5,000. When private companies are included, the figure grows to 10,000.
Because provinces, rather than lower level administrations, are supposed to liaise with central government over funding and policy, many representative offices are seen as unnecessary.
A list released by China's State Council, reported by Xinhua, has revealed that of the offices closed, eight were for major cities, 374 were for counties, which are two steps down from provinces in the administrative hierarchy, 189 for local government departments and 54 for development zones and other local government organisations.
The crackdown announced on Wednesday comes after the release in January of a circular by the State Council, China's cabinet, calling for representative offices to either be closed or cut costs.
"Applications to keep the offices open were strictly reviewed. The offices whose management was disorderly or unclear were eliminated, as were the ones that did not function satisfactorily," an official from the Government Offices Administration of the State Council said, quoted by Xinhua.
Mr Yan said it was the structure of the government system in China that resulted in so many lobbying offices being created.
"So many local officials want to get resources from the central government," he said.
In particular, the large amount of discretion that central government officials have in where funds are allocated has been cited as a factor, as it causes local governments to undertake intensive lobbying to avoid missing out.
Liu Shanying from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said problems are exacerbated by the fact the central authorities are taking a greater share of tax revenues from local governments.
"That's why they've been short of funds and feeling the need to come to the capital to ask the central government for more money," he said.
He acknowledged the actual number of representative offices was much greater than the number closed.
"But, after all, you have to solve the problem patiently, step by step," he said.
Officials allowed all the 50 offices from China's provinces or special economic zones to remain open, along with 296 from major cities. Those allowed to remain open have been told they must operate in a "high-quality, frugal and efficient" manner.
Audits must be carried out annually and spot checks will be done by the central government.
Closed offices have been told they must not re-open in another form, although reports indicate some have already done so, without even signs to indicate their location.
Despite allegations of wastefulness, some restaurants linked to representative offices are regarded as among the best in the city.
Chuan Ban, within the Beijing representative office of Sichuan province, is described by the listings magazine City Weekend as "nearly universally acknowledged as the best Sichuan eating in Beijing".
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Wheeling native to speak on anti-bullying initiative
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Former Wheeling resident Michael Anthony Nalepa knows what it's like to be bullied. He was a self-described "limp-wristed, overweight drama dork with imperfect skin and a pleather fanny pack" at Wheeling High School in his teens. Today he is a successful actor, writer and producer in Los Angeles, and the force behind the "anonymoUS initiative," an international nonprofit campaign dedicated to helping people of all ages, races and orientations overcome what bullies them through art and activism.
Anthony (who dropped his last name) will speak at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25, at the Indian Trails Library, 355 Schoenbeck Road, Wheeling, on the groundswell of the "anonymoUS initiative;" his book, "anthology of anonymoUS;" and the documentary "For Billy," scheduled for release in 2013. Admission is free, no registration is required.
"I returned to Wheeling in 2011," he says, "to film an inspirational anti-bullying documentary for local gay teens. My goal was to capture their stories of high school homophobia on film, start a dialogue about LGBTQ equality in the community and ultimately convince bullied gay teens that it does get better." Anthony found that while a few teens were willing to publicly share their experiences about being bullied, most did not want to speak openly about the bullying they endured.
"I began emailing them — nothing wordy, inspirational or preachy; just a simple question in the subject line: "What is it that bullies you?" he says.
"I wasn't sure if they'd respond; however they did — by the hundreds! And not only were the replies coming from Wheeling's gay teens — but also from their parents, their siblings, their straight friends and classmates," he says. "Some of these letters were pages long; others were only a single word or a poem or a drawing. But one thing they all had in common was an author trying to make sense out of the senseless in their life." From these emails the "anonymoUS initiative" was born.
Anthony has received thousands of letters and emails from around the country since sending that first email to Wheeling teens. His "anthology of anonymoUS" is a collection of 99 of these confessions. He published them exactly as received and as written by their authors because "the things that bully us may be unique, but the scars they leave behind are universal ... and even when life leaves us feeling anonymous, we are never alone."
For information, call (847) 459-4100.
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In the days of film photography, I was always more circumspect when it came to deciding when to press the shutter and capture an image. With the film and developing costing money, I was always strived to try and get value for my money. I didn’t always succeed.
With the advent of digital photography, once a memory card has been bought, whether you shoot 10 frames or 1,000, the operating cost is the same. I am not factoring in the cost of a camera, computer and the software needed to process the images. On a day-to-day basis of shooting photographs, digital photography is essentially free.
The downside to that situation is the tendency to shoot a lot more images, followed by a much longer process of deciding which are keepers and which can be deleted.
Nikon guru and photography sage Thom Hogan, what Thom doesn’t know about Nikon cameras isn’t worth knowing, advocates limiting the number of images shot in an attempt to reduce the processing workflow.
In article about dealing with lots of digital images, Thom even harks back to the days of film and advises photographers to wrap each memory card in a 20-dollar bill to remind themselves that images cost money. He recommends “chimping”, looking at the images just after they have been shot and deleting the failures.
On the computer, Thom advises classifying the images into three categories — winners; keepers; and delete. He then further classifies the first two categories into winners, stock and keepers. Thom rates the winners with five stars; stock images with three stars; and keepers with one star. The three rankings correspond to Galen Rowell’s ABC system of classification: A for winners; B for stock; C for keepers.
Winners — five-stars or A — are few and far between. Thom writes:
You don’t have very many. Ansel Adams once said that if you shoot a dozen great images a year, you’re doing well. If your A category gets much higher than a 100 images over a few years of shooting, you’re probably not being critical enough.
Three-star or B images are those sold for stock. Thom defines images in this category as “a very publishable and it’s an image that I’m proud to have my name associated with”.
One-star or C images are basically reference photographs. Thom defines them as “images that someone would find publishable, but you wouldn’t care if your name was or wasn’t associated with them.”
Renowned Danish photographer Thorsten Overgaard, a man whose photographs regularly grace some of the most presitigious publications in the world, takes a somewhat different approach. Thorsten advises never to delete anything and certainly not on the basis of reviewing the image on the camera’s LCD screen. For Thorsten time is more costly than hard drive space.
At the computer, Thorsten recommends reviewing a shoot backwards when trying to determine the merits of the various images shot. By the end of a shoot the creative process is likely in full flow and better images will result than at the beginning. In Thorsten’s words you are “warmed up”. He adopts a binary system of classification. Either an image is one worthy of saving or it is not and even the latter are not deleted, they just become images that he does not spend time on.
Hence you only have yes and no images. You don’t rate images with 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars. You either select it as an image or disregard it. You harvest images.
He marks his yes images with three stars. Those are the images he works on and eventually exports as high resolution JPEGs. His “harvest” will consist of “two, five, 10 or 14 images that are in fact professional”.
You may show your two, five, ten or fourteen images to people. And they will recognize that you have talent, because they have never met anyone who could make ten pictures that were all that perfect!
The emphasis must always be on quality when it comes to selecting images. I know at times that my quality control regarding what I post on various blog sites is not all that it should be. I kind of made a rod for my own back by starting a blog site called Tägliches Foto, which requires me to post a photograph every single day.
My method of sorting and selecting images consists of several stages. When shooting with the Canon 40D and the manual focus Zeiss lens, my initial selection is based on the image with the sharpest focus. This step involves using the loupe in Adobe Bridge and comparing several images of the same subject. The image with the sharpest focus is marked with one star.
I then review all the one-star images and more in keeping with Thorsten’s approach make a selection on yes and no. The former are marked with two stars and these are the images I will spend time working on. During the course of processing the RAW images in Photoshop CS5 and Silver Efex Pro 2, I usually come to the conclusion that some of the two-star images are not really worth spending time on. They remain as two-star images while the processed ones become three-star JPEGs.
With the Ricoh GRD III, I mark all the RAW files with one star. I do wish Ricoh would facilitate the ability to just shoot in RAW rather than providing RAW plus a JPEG image. I then choose those that are worth working on and mark them with two-stars. As with the Canon, the two-star list is not definitive at this stage and some two-star images fail to make it as three-star JPEGs.
When it comes to deleting. When I have processed all the images from a shoot with the Canon, I delete those RAW files that were not quite in focus but i retain all the rest. With the Ricoh GRD III, I eventually delete the in-camera JPEG images.
When it comes to deciding which photographs will eventually appear on Calvin Palmer Photography, the choice is made from the three-star JPEGs and those selected are designated with four-stars.
The important thing to remember is succintly put by Thorsten: “No photographer has a hit rate of 100 per cent.”
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Why do we tolerate prosecutors breaking the law for convictions?
The man in this case got 18 years in prison for robberty and murder, with 14 of that on death row. He was wrongly convicted. Was it an innocent mistake of the criminal justice system? No, it was because of the prosecution witholding evidence that would have shown he was not the guilty man. So, as you read this, wonder why there is still support for the death penalty. Also why prosecutors can blatantly break the law. The fact is, prosecutors are given at times absolute immunity.
That means if they knowingly withheld evidence, they are immune from prosecution. Not if they made a mistake but if they knowing perverted justice. Why do we tolearate that? We don't tolerate it from police, but from prosectors? By the way, the verdict in this case was overturned. Also, defenses of this conduct have included the absurd statements that a person who hasn't been convicted yet, by the withholding evidence hasnt' suffered a harm. Absurd. Being in jail waiting a verdict is a harm in itself.
I SPENT 18 years in prison for robbery and murder, 14 of them on death row. I’ve been free since 2003, exonerated after evidence covered up by prosecutors surfaced just weeks before my execution date. Those prosecutors were never punished. Last month, the Supreme Court decided 5-4 to overturn a case I’d won against them and the district attorney who oversaw my case, ruling that they were not liable for the failure to turn over that evidence — which included proof that blood at the robbery scene wasn’t mine.
Because of that, prosecutors are free to do the same thing to someone else today.
I was arrested in January 1985 in New Orleans. I remember the police coming to my grandmother’s house — we all knew it was the cops because of how hard they banged on the door before kicking it in. My grandmother and my mom were there, along with my little brother and sister, my two sons — John Jr., 4, and Dedric, 6 — my girlfriend and me. The officers had guns drawn and were yelling. I guess they thought they were coming for a murderer. All the children were scared and crying. I was 22.
They took me to the homicide division, and played a cassette tape on which a man I knew named Kevin Freeman accused me of shooting a man. He had also been arrested as a suspect in the murder. A few weeks earlier he had sold me a ring and a gun; it turned out that the ring belonged to the victim and the gun was the murder weapon.
My picture was on the news, and a man called in to report that I looked like someone who had recently tried to rob his children. Suddenly I was accused of that crime, too. I was tried for the robbery first. My lawyers never knew there was blood evidence at the scene, and I was convicted based on the victims’ identification.
After that, my lawyers thought it was best if I didn’t testify at the murder trial. So I never defended myself, or got to explain that I got the ring and the gun from Kevin Freeman. And now that I officially had a history of violent crime because of the robbery conviction, the prosecutors used it to get the death penalty.
I remember the judge telling the courtroom the number of volts of electricity they would put into my body. If the first attempt didn’t kill me, he said, they’d put more volts in.
On Sept. 1, 1987, I arrived on death row in the Louisiana State Penitentiary — the infamous Angola prison. I was put in a dead man’s cell. His things were still there; he had been executed only a few days before. That past summer they had executed eight men at Angola. I received my first execution date right before I arrived. I would end up knowing 12 men who were executed there.
Over the years, I was given six execution dates, but all of them were delayed until finally my appeals were exhausted. The seventh — and last — date was set for May 20, 1999. My lawyers had been with me for 11 years by then; they flew in from Philadelphia to give me the news. They didn’t want me to hear it from the prison officials. They said it would take a miracle to avoid this execution. I told them it was fine — I was innocent, but it was time to give up.
But then I remembered something about May 20. I had just finished reading a letter from my younger son about how he wanted to go on his senior class trip. I’d been thinking about how I could find a way to pay for it by selling my typewriter and radio. "Oh, no, hold on," I said, "that’s the day before John Jr. is graduating from high school." I begged them to get it delayed; I knew it would hurt him.
To make things worse, the next day, when John Jr. was at school, his teacher read the whole class an article from the newspaper about my execution. She didn’t know I was John Jr.’s dad; she was just trying to teach them a lesson about making bad choices. So he learned that his father was going to be killed from his teacher, reading the newspaper aloud. I panicked. I needed to talk to him, reassure him.
Amazingly, I got a miracle. The same day that my lawyers visited, an investigator they had hired to look through the evidence one last time found, on some forgotten microfiche, a report sent to the prosecutors on the blood type of the perpetrator of the armed robbery. It didn’t match mine; the report, hidden for 15 years, had never been turned over to my lawyers. The investigator later found the names of witnesses and police reports from the murder case that hadn’t been turned over either.
As a result, the armed robbery conviction was thrown out in 1999, and I was taken off death row. Then, in 2002, my murder conviction was thrown out. At a retrial the following year, the jury took only 35 minutes to acquit me.
The prosecutors involved in my two cases, from the office of the Orleans Parish district attorney, Harry Connick Sr., helped to cover up 10 separate pieces of evidence. And most of them are still able to practice law today.
Why weren’t they punished for what they did? When the hidden evidence first surfaced, Mr. Connick announced that his office would hold a grand jury investigation. But once it became clear how many people had been involved, he called it off.
In 2005, I sued the prosecutors and the district attorney’s office for what they did to me. The jurors heard testimony from the special prosecutor who had been assigned by Mr. Connick’s office to the canceled investigation, who told them, "We should have indicted these guys, but they didn’t and it was wrong." The jury awarded me $14 million in damages — $1 million for every year on death row — which would have been paid by the district attorney’s office. That jury verdict is what the Supreme Court has just overturned.
I don’t care about the money. I just want to know why the prosecutors who hid evidence, sent me to prison for something I didn’t do and nearly had me killed are not in jail themselves. There were no ethics charges against them, no criminal charges, no one was fired and now, according to the Supreme Court, no one can be sued.
Worst of all, I wasn’t the only person they played dirty with. Of the six men one of my prosecutors got sentenced to death, five eventually had their convictions reversed because of prosecutorial misconduct. Because we were sentenced to death, the courts had to appoint us lawyers to fight our appeals. I was lucky, and got lawyers who went to extraordinary lengths. But there are more than 4,000 people serving life without parole in Louisiana, almost none of whom have lawyers after their convictions are final. Someone needs to look at those cases to see how many others might be innocent.
If a private investigator hired by a generous law firm hadn’t found the blood evidence, I’d be dead today. No doubt about it.
A crime was definitely committed in this case, but not by me.
John Thompson is the director of Resurrection After Exoneration, a support group for exonerated inmates. | <urn:uuid:64524aa0-37b2-4dba-b822-aacf18ccc85a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nowpublic.com/world/why-do-we-tolerate-prosecutors-breaking-law-convictions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990615 | 1,762 | 1.71875 | 2 |
I was in charge, a few years back now, of parts of the Mechanical & Electrical installation of a very large project in the City of London. The actual site was huge, as it spread all over the area which was the Liverpool Street Station, with three large office blocks actually built on top of ten railtracks within the station proper.
The project part which I am discussing was the installation of the pipes or conduits which were to carry large, bulky high voltage cables across eight of the rail tracks. A huge concrete slab had been built over the whole station; which acted as the basement for the building structure, and we had to supply the power from the roadside to the switchgear which was across eight of the tracks. The pipes, which were made of steel, were six inches in diameter, and the task was to sling some twelve parallel pipe sections at 900 across the eight tracks and platforms.
We had from midnight Friday, until five a.m. Monday morning to get a gang of contractors to accomplish the following:-
- Erect a scaffold across all eight tracks and five platforms which would be safe and secure to carry all the workforce necessary to do the job.
- Drill and fix two hundred support fastenings into stressed concrete panels which formed the base of the slab across the station.
- Screw together, support, sling, fix and fasten all the pipework across all the platforms and double rail tracks which would carry the cables to the substation.
- Test the structure with appropriate weights to ensure structural integrity.
- Remove all the scaffolding, tools and equipment, and hand back the station to British Rail.
I, as the Manager for this particular sector of the works, worked out the method statement for the whole weekend, talked it through with the Contractor, and finally approved it.
The one thing which you should realise was that, to shut the whole Station down for a whole weekend was a big, big, big deal; there was a great deal of cost involved for British Rail, coaches would carry hundreds of passengers to and from a station down the line into the terminus area, lots of items were arranged, and nothing was going to go wrong!
In the world in which we live, I can just imagine the Gods up on Mount Olympus watching as we mere mortals made our plans, and reviewed our strategies, and silently laughing their socks off!
I live in the North-East of England, so I made tracks for the road north at four p.m. on the Friday; but before I left, I dropped my head around the contractor’s door, and just reminded him that I was expecting a clean run throughout the weekend. He nodded, and assured me that the team was on the ball!
I got back on site early on the Monday morning, checked on my paperwork, put my workboots and coat on, and trotted down on to the platforms to check on the progress of the job. Now, anyone who has ever walked on a railway station platform knows how long they are, so you can maybe picture me as I walked up the platform away from the old booking hall, aiming for the point where the pipes were to be fixed to the slab ceiling, which was some 130 yards up the platform. Wearing my hi-viz coat, helmet, boots; all dressed up for the party, I reached the actual spot where the cables were due to rise from the ground ducts and run across all eight rail tracks in the newly-installed pipes.
I looked up, and found; absolutely nothing. Nix, nada, zilch, zero! Just a blank slab some ten feet above me where there was supposed to be twelve runs of six-inch steel pipes! So I checked my positions, made absolutely sure I was in the right position, looked up again, and still saw absolutely nothing at all.
So I trundled slowly back down the platform, up the stairs and along the huge site until I got to the electrical contractor’s site office, walked in, sat down, accepted a coffee, then asked my buddy how the weekend had gone; and to my utter amazement, he grinned and replied that the whole job had gone off like clockwork. I gently asked if he was satisfied with the progress of the job, and once again he reassured me that everyone was delighted with the progress, as the station was actually handed back to British Rail some twenty minutes early!
So, not wanting to appear totally manic, I asked him if he would maybe drop back down to the platform with me, and talk me through the job as it had happened. So he put his hard-hat on, his coat, and off we trundled. Down on to the old booking hall, on to the platform, chatting all the while. We walked up the length, but then he stopped, pointed up and said, “There you is, Mike! Don’t they look wonderful?” And they did look pretty smart, all twelve six-inch steel pipes, correctly supported and clamped to the base of the slab, running all the way across the rail tracks and platforms.
I really hated to say the words which destroyed his morning, but I had to. “Paddy,” I murmured, “Paddy; yes, you’ve taken the entire weekend, yes, you handed the Station back twenty minutes ahead of time, but you have placed all twelve pipes some thirty yards short of the actual position as required on the drawings!”
X-posted from Fire, Pillage & Plague | <urn:uuid:eed6391e-6250-45b8-88ca-f48808651651> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.atangledweb.org/?m=201009 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981089 | 1,148 | 1.703125 | 2 |
It’s back to school time and once again we are faced with what to feed the kids at lunch in the cafeteria. For many of us, during the summer it is much easier to prepare meals, and lunch in particular, since we have a controlled kitchen and all the kitchen appliances to go with it. But once we send our kids to school we have to give up a little control unfortunately and provide lunches that can be prepared in the school cafeteria (with the use of a microwave or hot water dispenser), or prepare a sack lunch that we know our kids will enjoy and eat!
We at Glutenfreeda Foods, have been working very hard at producing food products that will not only please adults but also our little friends as well. Perhaps this is a shameful plug, but I really felt that it was worthwhile highlighting our products since they are all authentic in taste and kids love them! Not only are they delicious but they have all been created with convenience in mind.
New to the market this year are Glutenfreeda’s Burritos – the first wheat-free, gluten-free frozen burrito. Delicious and authentic in taste, our burritos are made from all natural ingredients, contain no trans fats, no hydrogenated oils and are a cinch to prepare. Simply take the frozen burrito, tear off the top strip and microwave in the bag (eliminating any possibility of cross contamination) for about 1 minute per side – the cooking time will depend on the strength of the microwave, but this is a fair approximation. Our burritos come in 4 flavors – Breakfast Beef, Chicken & Cheese, Bean & Cheese and Vegetarian & Dairy Free. My kids favorites are the Bean & Cheese and Chicken & Cheese – but they also enjoy the other two. For a great lunch, drop 1 frozen burrito (or two) in a thermo lunch bag (and tell your child how to prepare them – perhaps test them together first), along with some tortilla chips some salsa and some fresh fruit.
If your school is like ours where they also serve breakfast or if you find yourself rushed in the mornings and are looking for some healthy breakfast ideas for your child you should know about our other new product, Glutenfreeda’s Instant Oatmeal. Our oatmeal is naturally flavored with dried fruits, spices, and organic maple sugar and is made from certified gluten-free oats. We have intentionally kept the sugar and salt to a minimum – this is not like Quaker’s flavored instant oatmeals – but rather a wholesome, lightly sweetened oatmeal. If your child likes it sweeter you are in control of the additional sugar added. All of our oatmeal is also fortified with flax for added fiber and nutritional content. Our oatmeal comes in 3 flavors – Apple Cinnamon, Maple Raisin and Banana Maple plus we also have a variety pack. Each box contains 6 individual serving packets so you could just drop a packet into your child’s backpack and have them add hot water at school. Simple, easy and delicious.
And finally for the treats! Let’s not forget our first product line, introduced a couple of years ago – Glutenfreeda’s Real Cookies. Our cookies are pre-formed, frozen cookie dough made from all natural ingredients. No scooping, no mess, no fuss – just delicious, honest to goodness, yummy home-baked cookies that just happen to be gluten-free. These cookies are so easy to make – any busy mom or even a kid can make them. Just open the re-sealable container, take out as many frozen cookie dough balls as you want and set them frozen on a baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes….and voila you have perfect cookies that taste exactly like the real thing. No one will believe they are gluten-free! You can even send a full dozen or so of these cookies to school with your kid for class parties, school events or bake sales. Glutenfreeda’s Real Cookies come in 6 flavors: Peanut Paul & Mary (Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip – also dairy free), Chip Chip Hooray (Chocolate chip), Peanut Envy (Peanut Butter), Chocolate Minty Python (Dark Chocolate Mint), Snickerpoodles (Snicker Doodles) and Sugar Kookies (Sugar Cookies). Each container contains approximately 1 dozen cookies.
We are continuing to develop new and exciting food products that are authentic in taste and return convenience back to the gluten-free family. Please keep an eye out for new products from Glutenfreeda Foods in the near future. Our products are available at natural food stores and grocery stores throughout the US and on-line at Amazon.com and the Gluten-free Mall (search keyword ‘glutenfreeda’). If you would like your store to carry any or all of our products please ask your store manager to bring in our items or take in our Retailer Request Form.
For other great ideas for gluten-free back to school food items you can find either on-line or at the grocery store please check out our Back to School Special Section mid month.
- Chef Jessica | <urn:uuid:6b066937-222e-4d4b-8fe8-dc3366adcca5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.glutenfreeda.com/aug09-back-to-school-gff.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946021 | 1,076 | 1.59375 | 2 |
On 12/26/05, Rory McCann <ebelular at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi *,
>> I would like to put /etc under version control (subversion to be
> precise). However to do that I must import the existing file tree (ie
> /etc/*), remove all the files from /etc then check it out again (so
> that it's a proper svn working copy).
Are you quite sure? I haven't used subversion, but if this is truly
the case, I think you've found a great reason not to use it for /etc.
However, I'd expect that either a simple checkout which overwrites the
existing file is actually good enough, or there's some flag you can
use to make it so.
Maintained by the ILUG website team. The aim of Linux.ie is to
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used with permission. No penguins were harmed in the production or maintenance
of this highly praised website. Looking for the
Indian Linux Users' Group? Try here. If you've read all this and aren't a lawyer: you should be! | <urn:uuid:2a282fb9-42bc-4e0f-a73f-58f40682cb0d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.linux.ie/lists/pipermail/ilug/2005-December/085444.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943805 | 302 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Captain Marvel Troops for America! (Dec, 1941)
Apparently the only thing it takes to turn characterless, shiftless hillbillies into go-getting super soldiers is a proper diet and Jai Alai. Jai Alai, as any Mad Men viewer will tell you, is the sport of the future(video).
Captain Marvel Troops for America!
“Super Shock Troops” For The Army Will Soon Be In Action! Vitamins Are The Magic That Produce Them!
by W. M. Kimball
THE gray-clad ship moved into the quiet evening shadows of the secluded cove near Willapa Bay.
Three boats dropped from the davits. In each of them 20 men sat straight, alert on the thwarts. Purring motors beached the boats silently. The shadows were blackening, but the 60 men leaped ashore sure-footedly, their cat-eyes piercing the gloom. They were assured men—tall, lean, brown, certain of every movement.
An observer might have whistled in awe to look at them—and with good reason. For these were the United States Army’s “super-shock troops” going into action! The Captain Marvels of America!
Each of them had the strength of ten men. Into each, scientists had instilled the cold, fighting ferocity of a black jaguar. They were “made to order” fighting men, the culmination of all of mankind’s laboratory research—the cream of American manhood whose powers had been heightened and multiplied infinitely by a special course of training and forced vitamin feeding under the supervision of Army physicians and nutrition specialists.
On the beach they gathered about their leader, a squat, compact man with a maple leaf on his shoulder. Their equipment was on their backs, packed in light plastic cases. All were dressed in the same misty blue-green uniforms that blended with the Pacific Coast scene of their special mission—a mission that meant protection for the vital plane, power and water supply plants that extend from Canada to Lower California on the Coast. Their equipment was as unusual as the men, themselves; it was especially designed for this particular service: shin-high boots, calked semi-pliable soles; tough rayon ski-pants strapped tight at the waist over a rayon and wool jacket; a long knife at one thigh, a stubby automatic rifle on the other.
Slots in belts held extra ammunition; waterproof containers for tools, flares—and three tubes of pale, concentrated vitamins!
A special squad of eight men carried an even more unusual weapon, shaped like a monstrous claw but made of rattan woven to form a long, narrow, curving basket. This weapon was an adaptation of the cesta—the throwing device used in the Basque game of Jai Alai. These eight men with cestas constituted the super-grenade throwing squadron of the patrol—and more about them later.
The major spoke as the men gathered about him.
“I suppose you have guessed the purpose of this mission,” he said. “G-2 (Military Intelligence) reports an impending attempt to land sabateurs on the North Pacific Coast. Pacific Patrol reports an enemy aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Alaska. We have reason to believe an attempt will be made to land perhaps a hundred men on the beaches somewhere in the region of the Columbia Estuary. Their purpose will be to infiltrate; to cripple the Bremerton Navy Yards, the Boeing plane factory and the important power lines.
“These invaders are to be eliminated.” The major spun on his heel and walked toward a tall stand of fir that rose beyond the rocks skirting the beach. Three troopers went with him. The others shouldered packs and ran swiftly, two-by-two, spreading north and south from the major’s chosen point of command.
Sixty men had a job to do! Sixty men were to protect a coast-line of 20 miles!
But the major had supreme confidence in them. He knew what their training had been. He knew their super-capabilities. He knew the story behind the training of these Captain Marvel troops.
Do these Super Troops sound fantastic to you? Do they sound like something out of the fertile imagination of a comic book artist? Well, listen to what Colonel Albert P. Clark, head of the Fort Lewis, Wash., Base Hospital, said recently in a dispatch quoted by the Associated Press: “Let me personally select 5,000 men and feed them a specially prepared diet for sixth months and I can produce a small army of unbeatable men—men who will still fight with their bare fists after all their weapons are gone!”
Colonel Clark knows whereof he speaks. For the army is doing just exactly what he proposed, at this very minute—is producing actual “super troops” with the idea of forming divisions of shock troops who could turn Hitler’s “panzers” into “pansies” in no time!
How is it being done? Let’s take a look at a little building down in the Tennessee Mountains, where the government started research several years ago on the subject of the relationship between food and the personality and abilities of mankind.
The results of this research in the Tennessee Mountains have only recently been made public. The findings of scientists of the U. S. Health Service here undoubtedly are going to alter the lives of every one of us and of our children in the very near future.
The Health Service combed the hill country and got together a group of underfed and under-nourished “hill billies”—people who had lived most of their lives on salt pork and corn bread. They were as shiftless, lazy, lackadaisical a bunch of folks as you could find.
We cannot expect here to detail all of the many experimental plans which the Health Service applied, all of the disappointments they met, nor all of the technical details of their research.
We can, however, tell you this: After several years of experimenting with diet, the Health Service turned these character-less hill people into strong, healthy, ambitious, thriving, energy-filled citizens, all of them a credit to the community!
It was all done by scientific feeding of diets containing the proper vitamins, proteins and minerals.
But here is the amazing ending of this experiment: After having accomplished this miracle of scientific feeding, after having turned the hillbillies into “go-getters,” the researchers then put them back on their old diet of salt pork and corn bread—and, in a few short weeks, turned their subjects back into shiftless hill-billies again!
The researchers recite the case of one woman in particular of this group. When she arrived at the health center, her nature was so vicious that she frequently became embroiled in fights with her friends and with the scientists. She refused to do any work whatsoever. But after a few months of proper diet, fortified with vitamin “shots,” she became a perfect lady, co-operative, lovable, willing to work and level-tempered! Deprived of her vitamin-full diet, she once more relapsed to her former snarling, shiftless self.
Then, to complete the cycle of wizardy, the health experts once more changed the hill-billies into “go-getters” by means of diet and vitamin shots.
Now getting closer to our American shock troops, consider the RAF pilot they call “Carrots.” His photograph has been carried in all the newspapers. It was not his red hair that won him his nickname, but his habit of munching on carrots. “Carrots” has the reputation of being the best night fighter in the RAF. Why? Because he can see better in the dark than most of his pals. Why can he see better? Scientists will tell you it is because carrots are a particularly rich source of Vitamin A. And Vitamin A is a preventative of “night blindness.” Heavy shots of it will increase the ability of anyone to see in the dark!
What happened to the Tennessee mountaineers to change their personalities completely? Principally, Vitamin B-1 and its complexes. In the army, they call the Vitamin B complexes the “Morale Vitamin.” The Morale Vitamin promotes fearlessness, willingness to battle for a cause, endurance, unusual strength. It also heightens intelligence and perceptibility.
In conjunction with feeding of the Morale Vitamin, a forced feeding of calcium is also used. In the health service tests, from two to four times the amount of calcium that an average person ordinarily eats was fed. Calcium accelerates the rate of development and maintains a higher level of adult vitality, it was found.
Scientists have discovered that measured administrations of the male sex hormone also adds to the combativeness of the soldier.
Should our shock troops also be protected against wounds? They are being fed heavy dosages of Vitamin K, the anti-hemorrhage vitamin. The K element cuts down excessive bleeding in wounds and enables the blood to coagulate more quickly.
There seems to be no end to the magic of modern administrations. For instance, scientists have just recently discovered that they can restore your gray hair to its normal color—with vitamins! One of the B complexes, known as para-aminobenzoic acid, will do it.
Hitler, as usual, was the first to recognize the value in war of diet and vitamin concentrates. As a matter of fact, Hitler is using diet as a two-edged weapon. The rations of the German army are built on the lines of a simple peasant diet—whole meal, vegetables, potatoes, cheese, skimmed milk and dried fruit. These foods are vitamin-rich, mineral-and protein-rich, and contain elements which America’s white flour and highly refined foods, until recently, have lacked. Germans have also developed the famous Bratling Concentrate of foods—soy beans, meat and vegetables—which will not lose its value even though kept in cans. The Panzer troops also get highly concentrated vegetable and fruit juices and vitamin derivatives.
That is one edge of Hitler’s two-edged diet sword. The other is more terrifying. By depriving his conquered people of foods containing the Morale Vitamin, B-1, he is deliberately attempting to demoralize whole races of people and deprive them of their “will to victory.”
Dr. Thomas Parran, Surgeon General of the United States, and Paul V. McNutt, federal health and welfare coordinator, along with the Department of Agriculture’s economists and nutritionists, already have started a nation-wide campaign to make our entire populace conscious of these amazing forward strides in the knowledge of the importance of diet. Dr. Parran and Mr. McNutt have set a definite goal in this campaign. The government’s goal is to induce Americans to eat 70 to 100 per cent more fresh fruits and vegetables, 35 per cent more eggs, 20 per cent more milk and 10 per cent more butter. Great retail food chains, such as the A. & P. Tea Company, have been enlisted in this campaign. The A. & P., in particular, has conducted an eight-months’ educational drive and reported recently that American housewives in this time have stepped up their buying of foods containing the essential A, B and C vitamin foods by an average of 18 per cent.
By the end of this year, every grocer in America will be supplied with sample menus, sample diets for persons in every walk of life.
Out at Fort Snelling, in Minnesota, a platoon of soldiers have been on experimental diet for several months now. The same things are being done to them that were done to our Tennessee mountaineers—only with further refinements of technique. Preliminary reports—which haven’t been too freely publicized by our cagey military men— indicate amazing results from these tests. These experimental “shock troops,” it has been found, have overcome the fear connected with parachute jumping, have increased their vitality and combativeness as well as their endurance and perceptibility.
Recently, a special detail of the U. S. Marine Corps was formed. Known as the “Amphibious Detail,” this is a detachment of especially selected strong men who will be used to storm enemy positions in landing parties—on assignments which are too tough even for the ordinarily tough Marine Corps. The “Amphibious Detail” is being fed the same scientifically designed super-diet that is being tested on the experimental platoon at Fort Snelling. The “Captain Marvel troops” are on their way—rapidly!
So now let us go back to our fictional “Captain Marvel men,” who are guarding the Pacific Coast against invasion, and watch them in action!
What were those mysterious cestas with which eight of our super troops were equipped? Not long ago, the War Department had official observers at the Jai Alai courts in Brooklyn, N. Y. These observers watched the super-handball game played by the Basques and Spaniards with great interest. The cesta—the elongated, curved basket—is strapped to the player’s wrist. Catching the hard, goat-skin Jai Alai ball in the cesta, the players hurl the ball back with a force that is almost unbelievable. The ball is thrown with such force that frequently a player, hit by it, is killed outright!
The War Department observers made no bets on the Jai Alai game. What they were actually watching with such interest was the manner in which the cesta was used.
Think of what a strong man, equipped with a cesta, could do with a hand grenade!
Imagine the power with which a Captain Marvel Trooper could throw a super-grenade, so equipped!
Our Captain Marvel troopers ran easily through the brush and within an hour were stationed at their assigned posts. The major and his three men faded into the terrain like stalking cats and soon had their listening post established.
Midnight. One a. m.
“Planes, sir,” said the trooper at the “ears.” “Sounds like three, probably two-motored transport—150 miles.”
Minutes passed. The listener began to grin. “They are holding their course. They will be here in a few minutes.”
From the treetop came “Jim’s” voice.
“Three planes—flying boats, sir. About three miles out. Flying low . . . Ooops! There’s a landing flare.”
“Considerate of them. Sure they are hostile ships, Jim?”
“They’re hostile craft all right. I know the cut of their wings. Seem to be landing about two miles out. Coming down now, sir.”
“Right. Tell the boys”—this to the radio operator —”they must make contact within one hour. Let them land before we attack. Two cestamen to each plane. These planes must be destroyed.
Just beyond the heaving wave line that marked the shoals, not 200 yards from shore, the big water bird stopped. Little figures began popping out of a hatch. In the still night air the major heard the soft plop of the rubber boats as they hit the water.
Behind him he heard the quiet tread of his three men.
Jim dropped a round pellet into the pod of the cesta. His arm swung. The ball-like bomb left the basket with a swish and creak of the rattan. The terrific snap of the throw tripped a firing device inside as the super bomb hurtled toward the flying boat beyond the breakers.
The first bomb touched off the fireworks. It blasted a wingtip off the invader.
The major’s battle cry froze the landing party into a huddle. Four machine rifles raked them— two from each flank, crossing their fire.
Thirty men were in the invading party. Ten troopers faced them. The troopers accounted for eight in the first onslaught. Then the invaders dropped to the ground—a dozen of them gained the shelter of the rocks, whipped out wicked automatics and began a counter fire. Two leaped into the sea and started to swim toward the plane.
A flare went up from the plane, lighting the shore and the scattered Marvel men. The plane’s forward gunner let loose.
A trooper, fourth in the major’s crew, stepped out from behind a rock, set up a tall, limber tripod on the apex of which was swiveled a short barreled one-pounder. A cartridge the size of a corncob was in the breech as he pressed the trigger. The plane’s gut turret dissolved in splinters. Three more blasts and the hull caved in. The plane began to settle.
Four troopers raced for the rock that sheltered the invaders. They leaped on top as one man, fired twice below them and then plunged straight into the struggling mass. Thuds, screams, two pistol cracks and then silence. The last trooper out of the melee packed the leader, trussed like a pig, over his shoulder.
Southward rifle fire crackled over the less frequent of explosions of the super bombs. Flames lit the sky to the north.
To the south sounded four sharp explosions— then a devastating roar. Then the night was quiet again. The invader had been “eliminated.” | <urn:uuid:4d930aa1-0517-40d9-b39f-bfbcbd9afa68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.modernmechanix.com/captain-marvel-troops-for-america/8/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96395 | 3,687 | 1.601563 | 2 |
The Pharisees believe in making tons of laws to keep the people in slavery--
4For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
They believe that they are the elite and the elect, and everything they do is for show to reinforce the idea that they are better and smarter than other men because this is what they believe to be true--
5But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
They believe in controlling people and keeping them hungry and helpless so that they will not enter into the kingdom of heaven--
13But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
They are total hypocrites who steal from widows while making long prayers in public to prove their piety because they believe in fooling and cheating the people they consider inferior to them--
14Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
They believe they have a right to money and power, at the expense of others, and they are not above using even the temple of God to achieve this end, putting people in debt to them under the guise of religion--
16Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
Finally, as all narcissists who crave earthly power, they miss the true meaning of God's law, whether by accident or design--
23Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
The Pharisees rose to power in Babylon and after 70 ad many returned to Babylon where they polished and developed the above skills in pursuit of control of the world. Jesus calls them the sons of Satan, and Satan the prince of this world, thus the whole world system as we know it is the Pharisitic Babylonian system of Revelation.
1 John 4:4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. | <urn:uuid:7bf23b86-8522-4dbd-9342-fdb68a2e604d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tentmaker.org/forum/discussions-on-universal-salvation/what-was-the-pharisees-belief-endless-torment/msg88244/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952976 | 609 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Capital High School
Enrollment (2011)Total: 1111
Student Economic Level (2011)In 2011, Capital High School had 89% of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch programs. New Mexico had 67% of eligible students for free or reduced price lunch programs. Eligibility for the National School Lunch Program is based on family income levels.
Student Ethnicity (2011)
Santa FE Public Schools District Spending
In 2011, Capital High School had 14 students for every full-time equivalent teacher. The New Mexico average is 15 students per full-time equivalent teacher.Compare to other schools in Santa FE Public Schools School District | <urn:uuid:be7c4f74-ad41-4c61-9d1e-703dcc8020e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.education.com/schoolfinder/us/new-mexico/santa-fe/capital-high-school/?page=students-and-teachers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949613 | 129 | 1.789063 | 2 |
In this Oct. 13, 1978 file photo, band manager Malcolm McLaren leaves Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, after the arraignment of Sid Vicious of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, on second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. McLaren, 64, died of cancer, Thursday, April 8, 2010, in New York according to his agent, Les Molloy.
Joe Corre said his father died of an aggressive form of cancer in Switzerland, declining to give the exact location because he said he wanted to avoid a media scrum.
"He was the original punk rocker and revolutionized the world," Corre told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "He's somebody I'm incredibly proud of. He's a real beacon of a man for people to look up to."
The multitalented McLaren rose to fame as the colorful manager of The Sex Pistols, but the art college dropout is also known for the infamous clothes shop he opened on London's King's Road with his then-girlfriend Vivienne Westwood in 1971.
The shop changed its name and focus several times, operating as "SEX" and "World's End" and "Seditionaries" at various times before she and McLaren split.
Music journalist Jon Savage, who wrote "England's Dreaming," a history of the Sex Pistols and punk, said that "without Malcolm McLaren there would not have been any British punk."
"He's one of the rare individuals who had a huge impact on the cultural and social life of this nation."
Although the Sex Pistols broke up after only one album, 1977's "Never Mind the Bollocks," their rebellious antics and raucous music would set the bar for bands to come.
Their bassist, Sid Vicious, died of a heroin overdose in 1979 after he was accused of killing his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, in New York City in 1978.
McLaren's career in music wasn't limited to managing the Pistols. He also had a regarded solo career in which he blended genres and acted as a kind of music curator. In the early 1980s, he had key songs in hip-hop, including the hit "Buffalo Gals," and bringing different textures to the developing genre; in his career, he worked in electronica, pop — even opera.
In addition to music and fashion, McLaren also dabbled in journalism and filmmaking — working in Hollywood with directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg.
Corre, his son with Westwood, would continue the family tradition of blending shock with success, co-founding designer lingerie chain Agent Provocateur, which sells its risque, high-end wares across the world.
Earlier, the AP spoke with Les Molloy, which British media identified as McLaren's agent. Molloy said McLaren had died in New York but Corre said that was wrong, that Molloy was no longer McLaren's agent and that he was not authorized to speak for the family.
Repeated calls to Molloy since then have not been answered.
McLaren is survived by Corre and his longtime partner Young Kim.
Corre said that while funeral arrangements have yet to be made, McLaren had wanted to be buried in north London's stately Highgate cemetery, near where he was born.
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PLAY IT NOW: Stars Talk 2010 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction
PLAY IT NOW: 2010 Sundance Film Festival: 'The Runaways' Premiere | <urn:uuid:3d6ca083-bb59-457f-80b3-ce762c45ad07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcchicago.com/entertainment/music/Sex_Pistols__Former_Manager_Malcolm_McLaren_Dies_At_64-90303612.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978688 | 760 | 1.53125 | 2 |
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas — Charles R. “Chuck” Clement, founder of lint filter manufacturer Clean Cycle Systems and laundry/linen cart manufacturer Tecni-Quip, died Aug. 26 at the age of 94.
Tecni-Quip designed and manufactured the first enclosed aluminum and fiberglass linen distribution carts. In the 1980s, Clement developed the slimline dry-style lint filter and launched Clean Cycle Systems.
Clement was born Oct. 14, 1918, to Shelby and Charlene Clement. His mother died from tuberculosis when Chuck was 11.
In 1940, Clement was inducted in the U.S. Army. He served seven years as a first and second lieutenant and another 10 years as a reservist, earning the rank of captain.
During his tour in the Panama Canal Zone in 1944, Clement met Jane Reynolds, a civil service employee overseeing the canal's finances. They were married a year later.
After the war ended, they relocated to Los Angeles, where Jane worked as an executive secretary while Chuck attended college on the GI bill and earned a degree in aeronautical engineering. He worked many years in aircraft design and manufacturing as chief engineer for Hi-Shear Corp., Torrance, Calif.
The Clements founded Tecni-Quip in 1961 in Long Beach, Calif. She ran the office and he developed the cart product line. Sales were limited to local hospitals at first, but the company grew within a few years to encompass national distribution.
In 1984, after designing and manufacturing lint filters for other companies, the Clements created Clean Cycle Systems, which today offers domestic and international sales.
The couple worked as a team for more than 35 years and were involved in many industry trade associations as well as their church and local civic organizations. Jane died from cancer in 1994.
The companies relocated manufacturing and sales to the San Antonio area in 1996. Today, they are run by the Clements' daughter, Jo Beth, and son-in-law, Mike.
Clement met Edith Conner in 1998, and they were soon married. She died in 2010.
He remained involved in many activities, hobbies, and his church until the time of his death.
He was preceded in death by his first and second wives, his parents, and his sister, Louise Ray. Survivors include his daughter, Jo Beth Clement-Reilly, and son-in-law, Mike; a sister, Mary Tom Monette; and two grandchildren.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Eagle Scout 2012/2013 Troop 317 Projects benefiting the Seguin Community, c/o TQI LLC, P.O. Box 2050, Seguin, TX 78155. | <urn:uuid:1315fa15-94f3-4e14-b37d-95889ceac4a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanlaundrynews.com/topics/Shelby%20Clement | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979673 | 561 | 1.765625 | 2 |
The Marketplace and trade accounts
Every market participant can post advertisements for what they have to offer and also what they are looking for, which are published within the community on the internet. Advertisements are tied to a trade account. The marking of the account as either private or business type makes it clear whether it is a professional offer, for which also an invoice is to be provided by the person or firm offering it, or whether it is private neighbourly help without warranty.
There are private and business accounts. Every natural person of at least 14 years of age is eligible for a private account. Companies and participants which offer commercial or professional (normally taxable) services receive a business account. Self-employed people may thus have both a private and a business account.
The trading currency is the Grok, and each account starts with a balance of zero. It is marked as being of private or business type in a way which is visible to all participants.
Although there is no conceptual necessity, practical considerations suggest that trade accounts (both adverts and Groks) be managed online via the internet, using an advertising and online-accounting software. This saves cost, allows rapid and flexible modification, and gives its users full and instant control of their adverts and accounts. Access to a computer with internet (or the services of someone who has) is a prerequisite in this case.
Private accounts with a Grok creation facility take part in the distribution of surplus of the CPO, if it is decided that there should be one.
A trade account may, upon application, be suspended for a limited amount of time if there is a good reason (for example a prolonged illness). During this time no circulation safeguard fee is charged. The corresponding advertisements are no longer published. | <urn:uuid:f2c33c62-f082-46de-bc17-b7f689a824e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://regional-economic-communities.info/concept/market-community/accounts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958353 | 357 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Church agency-backed call for Israel to observe international law in Gaza
Church and development groups are expressing deep concern as the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip continues to escalate. In the past week alone 86 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military operations, and critics are raising fresh question about thelegaility of their actions.
In response UK foreign secretary Margaret Beckett has called on Israelis and Palestinians to ëmeet their obligations under international humanitarian lawí.
The deaths in the town of Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip have brought the total fatalities since the end of June to 342, most of them civilians.
Israel has been carrying out operations in Gaza to stop Palestinian militants firing rockets into Israeli population centres near the Strip. The rockets, aimed at targeting Israeli civilians, have killed eight people since 2004.
As a High Contracting Party to the Fourth Geneva Convention the UK has a duty to ensure Israel complies with its obligations. But as Gaza enters a fifth month of incursions, the churches' development and advocacy organisation Christian Aid believes Margaret Beckettís words will "ring hollow if they are not backed up by action."
Christian Aid says that its partners, both Israeli and Palestinian, along with United Nations officials, have expressed their shock over the continuing Israeli incursions in Gaza, asking how many more Palestinians need to die before the world acts.
Infrastructure and residential areas have also been widely destroyed, leaving many with sporadic fuel supplies, rationed electricity and limited drinking water.
"Israel continues to implement more force without implementing more wisdom," commented Hadas Ziv of the Israeli Physicians for Human Rights. "Weíve been trying force for forty years and it hasnít worked. Where does this all bring us?"
Israel has expressed regret over the deaths of 18 Palestinians on Tuesday after a barrage of tank shells hit civilians homes in Beit Hanoun. But the Israeli human rights organisation BíTselem has said the militaryís contention that they did not mean to kill civilians is "disingenuous lip service."
BíTselem have called for an immediate criminal investigation into the incident, which saw 13 people from the same family, including women and children, attacked while they slept. BíTselem argue the artillery shelling was not a defensive action and believe there is an argument that the action may constitute a war crime.
Artillery fire is often used by Israel in densely-populated residential areas, raising the likelihood of civilian casualties.
William Bell, Christian Aidís Middle East policy specialist declared this week: "We would like to ask Margaret Beckett precisely what action she intends to take to get Israelis and Palestinians to meet their obligations under international law."
He added: "An end to Israelís illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories should be at the forefront of her agenda, as well as putting pressure on those who violate international law. Without concerted action, words expressing concern are meaningless." | <urn:uuid:8bf08553-c375-4d7d-b03c-7c79a6e203f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_061111gaza.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955694 | 592 | 1.75 | 2 |
Is The Country More Secure Because of President Bush's Policies?
by Michael S. Rozeff
by Michael S. Rozeff
Is the country more secure because of President's Bush's policies? Although no one knows the answer to this question, trying to answer it, as I do here, is valuable if only because security is important to us.
My answer is "No." The Iraq War has recruited more jihadists who are set against the U.S. If its cost of $10,000 for each household in the U.S. had been spent by those households, greater security could have been achieved at home. The President's anti-civil rights laws and his approval of torture have made each of us less secure.
But those ideas are only the beginning of the story. A recent Bloomberg article reports: "There is one bright spot for the president: Half of all Americans still believe his policies on terrorism and national security have made the country more secure over the past six years, compared to 26 percent who say they've made the country less secure."
Is the country more secure now than six years ago because of the policies of the president? Since I side with the 26 percent who say it is not, I think millions of people have misjudged the issue. Why? This is another unanswerable question worth exploring.
I will not adopt the response that Americans are sheep, dumb, stupid, irrational, apathetic, uneducated, miseducated, etc. Even if Americans possess normal intelligence and rationality, most people who answer poll questions are rationally ignorant. They are not educated on various questions because it does not pay them to educate themselves on these issues. In that situation, we might expect half the people to say "Yes" and half the people to say "No." Since only 26 percent say "No," there are some factors encouraging people to believe that the country is safer. What might these factors be? Why might people exhibit a favorable bias toward President Bush's security policies? Public education with a statist bias is one such reason. What else?
The big threat
For one thing, the government says the country is safer, the media report what the government says, and people read and believe the media reports. It doesn't pay them to dig deeper. Majority public opinion coincides with press reports such as the mid-2005 Washington Post story that the "U.S. Sees Drop in Terrorist Threats." The source of the information is the government officials who keep lists of threats. It is a fact that the threat numbers have declined. The decline does not mean that the U.S. is more secure. Threats also declined prior to 9/11. What the public misses is often auxiliary facts and the interpretation of the facts. And this goes back to a public education that does not educate in how to think.
Furthermore, what matters regarding safety are the potential big threats. The press reports look backwards, not forwards. Maybe the President's oft-repeated message that the U.S. has gone five years without a major terrorist incident persuades the public that the U.S. is now more secure. We always have a tendency to extrapolate the present into the future, and President Bush's statements have reinforced that tendency. It is true that the other shoe has not yet dropped. Should this convince the public that it won't ever drop?
In early 2006, bin Laden warned the U.S. "The operations are under way, and you will see them inside your own home as soon as they are finished, God willing." He was speaking of a large terror event. The terrorist leaders of al-Qaeda are interested in high-profile and high-payoff destruction that they believe will have major psychological impact. They promise an event worse than 9/11. They can afford to wait and plan.
Most Americans ignore bin Laden's messages, thinking him some kind of nut or fanatic. Perhaps Americans are discouraged from listening carefully to the enemy's messages. Perhaps they find it emotionally unsatisfying or intellectually annoying to have to come to grips with anti-American views such as his. It is easier to avoid paying attention. Even those who hear his messages can rationally downplay his threats. We know that his political agenda includes rallying his forces and we know that a good many particular threats have proven empty. On the other hand, bin Laden needs to deliver upon his threats to maintain his credibility. Lacking the powers of a state, bin Laden's credibility is a major source of his ability to recruit and sway minds. For this reason and others, we should not ignore bin Laden's threats and messages. We should not infer that a few days of good weather mean that no more thunderstorms will occur.
U.S. officials give us assurances of security during election years and advertise threats the rest of the time. In the last election, Republicans strongly emphasized that they had done a top-notch job on security. This worked. The Republicans consistently maintained an edge over Democrats on this issue. But they had every reason to exaggerate their claims so as to be re-elected. Now that the election has passed, they will return to advertising terror threats. This helps them retain and augment their power.
Do many millions of Americans believe what their government officials say? Do they believe even now, even after decades of growing cynicism about the veracity of government officials? I'm afraid so. This is not only a matter of miseducation. The typical memory fades after about 5 years. Advertisers know this. It explains why they must keep having new ad campaigns for established products. Memories of ads (and other matters) are like capital goods that depreciate over time. Politicians rely upon this. They rely upon fading memories, usually memories of distant and confused political events that were not all that central to our lives in the first place. And the politicians rely upon their own current rhetoric to shape our thoughts. They supply fresh interpretations that block out failing memories.
Politicians also count on our general trust, our vague attitude that we fit into the society around us of which the state seems to be a permanent part. A person needs a good deal of thought and experience to shift the attitude of general trust into one of general distrust. The dots have to be connected, and one must reject the status quo. One must make what seem to be anti-social judgments since the politicians constantly claim that they are acting in the public interest. One must replace the rejected system with some other ideas. All of this is quite costly to the individual.
We should not automatically grant trust. We rationally place more trust in the words of those who have something to lose by not being truthful. This criterion excludes politicians. Politicians are more dishonest than ever before because they have arranged the political voting system so as to make their seats more secure than ever. They have little to lose by bending the truth, and it is easy for them to do it. All they need is a statistic to rely upon. They then can mis-interpret reality and get away with it.
Are we safer? It's government officials that are telling us we're safer. Why trust them? They also told us that Iraq was a terror haven and that we had a right to attack it. Were they truthful? Did they reduce terror there or did they enhance terror? The Baker-Hamilton report says that al-Qaeda has now become a self-sustaining movement within Iraq, a movement now able to recruit and fund itself from Iraqis. Was this the case before the U.S. attacked? Not at all.
Didn't our leaders also tell us 90 years ago that we'd fight a "war to end all wars?" Didn't they tell us then that we'd make the world safe for democracy? Didn't they promise 60 years ago that the United Nations would be the vehicle for world peace? And 40 years ago, didn't they promise to eradicate poverty?
Didn't President Bush promise to cut pork-barrel spending, reduce the Federal debt, balance the budget, and lock away the Social Security surplus? Hasn't he done the opposite?
Didn't President Bush promise 6 years ago not to engage the military in nation-building, saying "I'm worried about an opponent who uses nation building and the military in the same sentence. See, our view of the military is for our military to be properly prepared to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening in the first place." Isn't the U.S. now enmeshed in nation-building in Iraq, and hasn't nation-building become the centerpiece of President Bush's policies?
Do laws enhance security?
Perhaps public opinion is responding to all the headline-grabbing anti-terrorist legislation. In the minds of some, Congress has waved a magic wand: It has drafted laws, and the laws have made us safe. Example: The Congress passed laws concerning containers shipped from overseas that might be used to sneak in destructive materials and weapons. The laws were The Port and Maritime Security Act of 2001 and The Maritime Transportation Antiterrorism Act of 2002.
Passing laws is one thing. Implementing them is another. In 2005, the GAO investigated and found, according to press report, that "Two federal programs designed to identify and inspect potentially dangerous cargo before it arrives in Seattle and other U.S. ports are riddled with so many flaws they are unlikely to pose a serious challenge to terrorists intent on shipping people or weapons to this country, congressional investigators conclude." The two programs are the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and the Container Security Initiative.
Our laws demand more and more latitude to spy and search. We endure endless searching at our airports. We make ourselves secure by not carrying on hair spray and shaving cream. No airliner has blown up or been commandeered for some time. Ergo we are all safer, right? Our leaders have given us security, right? If they say we are more secure, then we are more secure. Right? Many Americans think so. Security is like punching a pillow. One end goes down, the other end goes up. What if terrorists target something other than airplanes? The number of juicy targets on the ground is infinite. Terrorists in Delhi, Madrid, London, Moscow, and elsewhere did not attack or use airplanes. Are we really safer?
The U.S. might be more or less secure. Neither I nor anyone else can prove the case, one way or another. But if we think about how government operates and do a modicum of reading about government capabilities and efficiency, we will not be so comfortably confident that we are more secure. The days of thinking about the super-efficient FBI and CIA are behind us. Hollywood propaganda about the wonderful work of our national police in controlling crime is behind us. Black and white film strips of punch cards sorting fingerprints and J. Edgar Hoover reassuring the American public are strictly for old movie buffs. If these films ever had any truth in them, which is doubtful, it has evaporated. Former FBI Director Louis Freeh has said of the FBI: "I think we have today something close to a failed agency." A 2004—2005 presidential commission, the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, heavily criticized the CIA and other intelligence arms of the government.
If the U.S. is more secure, it's the private sector that's making it more secure. Supplying internet security is a growth industry. Private protection and law enforcement is an industry that is now two to three times the size of public law enforcement. The domestic industry might be even larger if the Iraq War had not pulled resources into Iraq, where an estimated 20,000 private contractors are hired by the U.S. If the U.S. is less secure, it's the federal government and the president's policies that have made it less secure. If it's more secure, it's because many organizations are privately taking measures to protect their property.
Terrorists can cause damage and mayhem by attacking computer systems. The Congress recognized that government agencies are prone to computer deficiencies and vulnerabilities when it passed the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002. This Act requires each agency to put in place information security and to have Inspector Generals that test the systems independently.
Both before and after the Act's passage, the press has carried numerous reports of security problems with government computers. I provide a small sample. A report on the IRS dated September 21, 2006, states that the IRS lost $54.2 million when the Sasser Worm spread through its systems in 2004. The loss could have been avoided by installing available security patches. The report says that the IRS is still vulnerable: "Ineffective IRS patch management practices continue to put the IRS network at risk. The IRS continues to be exposed to network intrusions that could result in enormous financial impact..."
The Federal Election Commission not only flunked its financial audit ("The testing of internal control identified both reportable conditions and material weaknesses"), but also failed to have adequate information security.
The Department of the Interior has a history of problems. A 2003 audit lists a dozen internal control weaknesses said to be "longstanding weaknesses."
Despite numerous signals and clues, the FBI failed to detect the multi-year espionage activities of Robert Hanssen, which included information gathered from computer sources. The 2003 Inspector General's report wrote: "Our review of the Hanssen case revealed that there was essentially no deterrence to espionage at the FBI during the 1979 to 2001 time period and that the FBI's personnel and information security programs presented few obstacles to Hanssen's espionage."
How safe is the air traffic control system? A report issued on the FAA three months ago is encouraging to terrorists, but not to Americans: "GAO identified significant security weaknesses that threaten the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of FAA's systems — including weaknesses in controls that are designed to prevent, limit, and detect access to these systems. The agency has not adequately managed its networks, software updates, user accounts and passwords, and user privileges, nor has it consistently logged security relevant events. Other information security controls — including physical security, background investigations, segregation of duties, and system changes — also exhibited weaknesses, increasing the risk that unauthorized users could breach FAA's air traffic control systems, potentially disrupting aviation operations."
Department of Homeland Security
On December 11, 2006, the Investor's Business Daily criticized the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for being vulnerable to internet attack. Two DHS agencies, the Customs and Border Protection bureau and the Secret Service "failed to install software that can patch security holes." Internet security is important because of the potential for hacking into computer systems that control "air traffic...water treatment plants, pipelines, dam gates and ventilation systems, "and an imaginative terrorist can think up even more ways to wreak havoc via computer disruptions. Official sources confirm al-Qaeda's interest in recruiting people with skills that can be used in these ways. By contrast, the DHS has been embarrassed by incompetent hiring.
The IBD article added: "DHS is one of the most wasteful agencies in Washington. Spending is out of control. Audits have cited lavish trips, fancy office furnishings and bloated contracts. Yet last year the department spent 7% less on cybersecurity research than the year before."
Rich Lowry, in a scathing article on DHS titled "Bloated and Incompetent," used such words as stupid, senseless, blundering, dysfunctional, and corrupt to describe the DHS. The DHS for him is "the blundering bureaucratic monstrosity that is one of Congress' sorriest creations." Lowry even spoke favorably of P. J. O'Rourke's libertarian sentiment (!), citing O'Rourke's saying: "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."
Lowry did not recommend doing anything, while the IBD meekly concluded that the DHS must do a better job and get its priorities right.
Does the thought of getting rid of a monstrosity like the DHS never cross the minds of today's conservatives (and liberals)? Are they true believers who cannot think of dismantling any bureaucracy? Why is this? Why are stupid bureaucracies immune to death in the minds of state-lovers? Why must they be preserved, no matter how destructive they are?
If the thought of killing off a bureaucracy occurs to these popular media figures, do they suppress it? What are they afraid of? Are they afraid that one such radical thought might lead to another, and they might end up supporting small government and private initiative? Are they afraid that one hole in the dike will lead to more and yet more and bring the whole edifice down? Are they afraid someone will disapprove of their radical thoughts? Do they fear disapprobation? Do they fear loss of their livelihoods if they do not conform to the status quo? Do they fear unpopularity or being thought too radical? Are they afraid of being too different?
The DHS is an inefficient, ineffective, and intrusive monstrosity. It should be abolished. Every dollar it spends could be better spent by private individuals attending to their own security.
Reducing terrorism risk
Supposed terrorist cells have been broken up. Terrorist plots have been foiled. Suspected terrorists have been locked up in Guantanamo and other secret prisons. The U.S. has thrown away the keys. Torture is used to extract valuable information. People secretly rejoice. They think: "The government is doing a nasty job, but it's doing it. We are all safer."
Are we safer? The government likes to boast of its successes, as with the Lackawanna Six. It can arrest someone and threaten to label him as an "unlawful enemy combatant," foreclosing trial rights and raising the prospect of indefinite detention (imprisonment). This induces plea bargains to lesser charges, so that President Bush can triumphantly speak of hunting down killers. The Lackawanna Six included a number of Yemeni-Americans who traveled to Afghanistan and passed some time at a training camp for beginning jihadists. From various accounts, they are described as foolish, bozos, knuckleheads, and idiots, but not traitors, killers, or even men planning to kill anyone. The government never proved that they intended to commit a crime. They ended up doing long sentences for the "crime" of material support for the possible violation of a long list of statutes. In layman's language, material support is almost anything that can be construed as being an accomplice to a crime that might be committed.
Should we feel safer because the government is putting away men of this ilk in this manner? Hardly. There are legions of much more violent men out there, and the U.S. is materially supporting the growth in their numbers, albeit indirectly, just as it once directly supported bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.
Culturing the virus
Terrorism, like catching a cold, is the kind of risk that to some extent is within our control. If we tempt the virus to attack our bodies by standing in drafts, standing in front of people sneezing, and sticking our fingers in our mouths, we are more likely to catch a cold. The U.S. has been asking for trouble for a long time. It has been using its political, economic, and military muscle in many countries, like Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia. It has tempted the virus to attack, and the virus has at long last attacked. Now that the virus is circulating in the bloodstream and reproducing, it will not easily be stopped.
U.S. interference in the affairs of other nations was never right or just in the first place, which is reason enough to halt it now. But U.S. interference has also been inept, as all government programs are. John H. Kelly, the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon (1986—1988) chronicles some of the sad history of American involvement in Lebanon. He criticizes the 1982 U.S. military involvement in Lebanon as reactive, lacking a clear policy or mission, and fed by "emotionalism and hope rather than clear purpose." He notes that the situation in 1982 was perilous for strangers who were entering into a land with "armed Lebanese factions already embroiled in lethal contests and active warfare for the previous seven years." The U.S. attempted to portray itself as neutral, an attitude Kelly calls a delusion, but the Lebanese factions believed with good reason that the U.S. already had chosen its favorites to back including Israel, the Lebanese Christian militia, and the Lebanese President. The Lebanese intervention pulled the U.S. directly into the terrorist vortex.
Through its actions in Iraq and elsewhere, the foreign-interventionist U.S. is now culturing whole swarms of new and more potent viruses anxious to attack the U.S. The risks of an attack on the continental U.S. are growing, and the next attack may be pneumonia. Meanwhile to ward off these viruses, the domestic-security U.S. is going through the motions of washing its hands and keeping warm, but the water is cold and the coats are porous. The main results are destruction of rights and greater authoritarian rule in America, not greater security.
Are we more secure today than six years ago as a result of the president's policies? The U.S. is very good at arousing new generations of terrorists overseas, even as it is very bad at protecting Americans domestically.
December 18, 2006
Michael S. Rozeff [send him mail] is a retired Professor of Finance living in East Amherst, New York.
Copyright © 2006 LewRockwell.com | <urn:uuid:78b99e5a-b95b-4ad5-80fd-07f2315fdb5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lewrockwell.com/rozeff/rozeff122.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965168 | 4,452 | 1.828125 | 2 |
It’s not just students walking the halls of an Omaha college. A security guard is now at the school and soon off-duty police officers will be on the campus beat.
“Make sure everything is staying calm.” Security guard Jake Dingess helps protect students at Wright Career College at 84th and Hascall by doing his homework. “Know anything I should be concerned with?”
Records from 911 show two police calls to the college last month, one a disturbance after an administrator confronted a small group of outsiders. “We had some students that were in disagreement with one another and apparently one of them said we'll call in some friends,” said Wright’s John Mucci.
Nothing happened and administrators assure students nothing should. “You've seen the last couple of days we have a security guard,” said Mucci.
The 400 students can expect protection from more than a skeleton crew. Wright Career College will soon be exercising a change in security by going from private security guards to sworn officers working off duty who carry a badge and gun.
These students hope the officers will make the career college even safer. “It’s nice to know that we do have that connection here at our fingertips without having to call 911,” said student Rosalina Ross.
“We've had some problems here in the past and now they have security here with us, it makes us feel a lot more safe and secure,” said student Kim Fischer.
Wright students range in age from 19 to 60 years old, who can now concentrate on the assignment in front of them because security has their back.
It has cost the nonprofit college about $300 a day for uniformed security, but administrators say they'll spend more if necessary to have sworn off-duty officers on campus. That will happen as soon as law enforcement agencies approve the request. | <urn:uuid:6bf34034-8a43-4b68-ab6c-c4327b9eb987> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wowt.com/factfinders/headlines/College-Beefs-Up-Security-185714892.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972788 | 393 | 1.617188 | 2 |
On Friday, two seemingly related pieces appeared here on IHE: the piece on the National Research Council’s ten recommendations and the piece on how MOOCs may one day lead to actual college credit . We see these stories daily now, and it is no longer limited to the pages of publications devoted to higher education; we are seeing stories all over the mainstream-media (ok, the Internet) about the higher education bubble, what colleges and universities need to do to survive, etc, etc, etc.
I say seemingly related, because if you pay attention to what the two articles were saying, they are going in completely opposite direction. The NRC was pushing greater “efficiency and return-on-investment,” certainly not a new or particularly innovative recommendation. And I’m not saying that higher education can’t be more effective; poor graduate rates (among other things) tell me that we can and should be doing better. I’m not sure that “efficiency” is really the answer, and the MOOC story shows exactly why.
The story of receiving credit for MOOCs was actually recommending the exact opposite, in that the company was recommending portfolio evaluations in order to evaluate whether or not a student deserves to earn college credit for prior (or self-acquired) knowledge. The description of the process the student would have to go through in order to prove their knowledge, not to mention the evaluation process the portfolio would be subjected to. All for three (or maybe six) credits. It’s great pedagogy (if done properly) but really, really inefficient, for both the people offering it and the student doing it, if we are going by current understandings of the word “efficient.”
This process they are creating and defending might be cheaper (and, note I say might), but it carries an enormous costs of both time and effort. Not that this is a bad thing at all. In fact, this is the kind of pedagogical exercise I wish I could do with my own students but can’t because of limits on my time and limits on how I am supposed to evaluate my students. That for-profit start-ups are pushing a holistic form of evaluating a student’s knowledge and skills, not to mention embracing the variety of ways a student can acquire that knowledge and skill, and higher education is being pushed increasingly towards standardization requires such a degree of cognitive dissonance…
But it gets worse. I must have missed this op-ed in Forbes from May 29 because I was on my Big Adventure, but contributor Peter Cohan literally writes that To Boost Post-College Prospects, Cut Humanities Departments . He starts by stating (vague, unsubstantiated) numbers showing that humanities graduates can’t get jobs, but then insists that individual university departments be able to be self-sustaining, implying that humanities departments are the equivalent of university welfare cases. Never mind that it’s often the humanities courses that sustain the more expensive programs (see, that’s how you back up your statements in a blog post).
I’m tired of writing over and over about how important the humanities are more generally (there’s a whole blog devoted to it ; ok, more than one, share them in the comments). We can’t seem to make the argument artfully or convincingly enough to people who only care about the bottom line and worship at the alter of efficiency. So perhaps it’s time for some uncomfortable truths about the humanities and education in general: it’s hard, it’s complex, it’s long, it takes time, and it’s difficult to measure. In fact, measuring is perhaps the most inefficient part of education, at least if you want to do it well. The humanities can’t be easily quantifiable in bubble tests and simplistic rubrics, let along machine grading. And when we do manage to do that, we remove the very thing that makes the humanities valuable, trivializing it and making it easier to attack. It also doesn’t have the same built-in scores or milestones that other difficult and labor-intensive tasks provide: improving a score, a time, playing a more difficult piece, hitting a higher note. No, we can’t predict if and when something will click, nor can we predict what it will be.
If this sounds like a cop-out, I don’t mean it to be. But I do mean it to be a push-back with some hard truths. We need better ways to evaluate, and we need to do better communicating what it is we do. But communicating it accurately and honestly means keeping the complexities, the problems, the challenges, and, therefore, the great joys and rewards that confronting these realities can bring. And finally, we can say, I can be efficient or I can be a good scholar, a good teacher, but I can’t be both at once. The more we “simplify” the more we risk being viewed as simplistic. If we do that, they (whoever they happen to be), win. | <urn:uuid:932c8c1b-3f50-43f5-b403-fe13645e4304> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.insidehighered.com/print/blogs/college-ready-writing/enough-efficiency?width=775&height=500&iframe=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955813 | 1,073 | 1.773438 | 2 |
I feel like I have been talking to a lot of people this week about coming out, the process, the pain, the journey. I think I have been specifically connecting with people to this extent since the blog has been receiving a ground swell of support from people, and I am so happy to be connecting with each of you. A lot of people have been asking about how they should come out, whether to friends, family, or others. I have been putting a lot of thought into this the past couple days, and I wanted to share some resources that I have found really helpful all from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). As many of you may or may not know, I actually spent my fall semester of 2009 interning at the HRC, the largest LGBT civil rights organization in the United States. I specifically worked with their Public Education and Outreach Division, and put a lot of my hard work into the Coming Out Project.
Working four months in this program really changed my life, and has inspired me to focus my work on LGBT people in coming out of the closet. I want to specifically give some focus to the awesome work going on at HRC. Before I say anything, I will critique them in one way, I think they could really benefit from having a full time person working on the Coming Out Project. The site hasn't changed since I have been there, and its kind of sad. Coming out is the framework of helping create stronger allies, the publications and online resources should be updated regularly and kept fresh for all.
HRC publishes a lot of really awesome Coming Out publications that you may enjoy requesting some of, free of course, which you can request using the request form. You can also view any of the publications, plus others, completely free in PDF format. Its pretty awesome how connected they are.
The Resource Guide to Coming Out is the best concise guide with practical steps for coming out and living openly. It gives steps and support for assessing your sexuality, who you think you are, and then most importantly gives you conversation starters for coming out to people. My favorite section in this guide is the awesome reassurance that it gives for coming out to your family. The writers and editors in no way sugar coated the coming out process and have prepared it in a way that could suit people in more supportive environments to people in non-supportive, harsh ones.
My dearest girlfriend, Carmen, and I at the Human Right Campaign, getting ready to march.
The Straight Guide to LGBT Americans provides practical tips and ideas for becoming a supportive straight ally for the greater LGBT movement or just for a friend or family member who might need you. It addresses the issues in a fairly straightforward way. I printed this guide out from the PDF, and I wrote in the margins all these little notes and I gave it to a friend of mine who had never had a gay friend before. It was an opening for dialogue, and I really think he is grasping the idea of being a straight ally. My favorite aspect of this guide is when it addressed people mistaking straight allies with being gay, which I think prevents a lot of people from being vocal. It is put together with help from Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
Living Openly in Your Place of Worship is the final publication I'll talk about today. In Living Openly, you get a lot of ideas and thoughts for being gay and Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and anything else you could imagine, with a specific focus lying on Christianity. We've discussed a lot this week about Pray the Gay Away, the documentary on the Oprah Winfrey Network, and this provide support to people wanting to live openly in their faith.
National Coming Out Day is just important to touch on. HRC always promotes a lot of interesting opportunities on the weeks preceding and on October 11th. If you've never been involved in a Coming Out Day activity, look into it this year.
HRC's Coming Out Project provides other wonderful guides that I fully encourage you to check out from transgender resources to resources for Spanish speakers and African Americans. If you are interested in learning more about HRC and their Coming Out Project, click one of the links above and go to them. I am sure you won't be sorry for it.
I also encourage you to e-mail me, email@example.com. I would really love to be a point of support for you. Just know, I am proud of you as are soooo many people around me and even around you, even if you can't see them. | <urn:uuid:a8179c48-faef-4611-8a69-cad20c502571> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sanderchan.com/2011/03/new-post-coming-out-resources.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975085 | 938 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The BSA’s response to the Oregon Supreme Courts recent decision on ineligible Volunteer files.
There should never be a cover up, and we want those that are sick enough to engage in this activity to be punished severely. Further, we don’t want them in our organization. If we can screen them out early.. then let’s get them out or not let them in.
God help the sick bastard that try’s to hurt a Scout in my Troop.
A Scout is brave.. he is even more brave when he knows he can trust his leaders to tell when things are wrong. A Scout is also brave enough to stand firm on policy and say no to those that fail to live the values that we promote.
I’m glad that those of us in the BSA take this more serious than our Supreme Court. Arrgh!
OK.. so directly from the BSA website here are the facts about the ineligible volunteer files.
Know the Facts: BSA Ineligible Volunteer Files
The Boy Scouts of America refuses to compromise on the safety of our youth. As part of our comprehensive screening and youth protection efforts, prompt reporting of inappropriate conduct with youth is required of all Scout leaders. The BSA records such allegations in the Ineligible Volunteer Files—whether or not the adults involved were Scout leaders or the youth involved were Scouts. By being proactive and acting upon many kinds of information—including tips and hearsay that cannot be proven in a court of law—the BSA has successfully kept dangerous or potentially dangerous individuals, as well as inappropriate role models, out of our organization.
Scouts are safer because of the Ineligible Volunteer Files. Recent efforts have sought to make the files public and suggest that the BSA is trying to hide something by maintaining their confidentiality. That is far from the truth. The following provides additional information about how they help protect our members, and why their confidentiality is important.
- The Ineligible Volunteer Files are an important part of the BSA’s comprehensive focus on youth protection. Youth protection is of paramount importance to the BSA. Accordingly, the BSA developed a three-pronged youth protection program, including local and national screening of adult volunteers, education and training, and clear policies to protect youth members. The Ineligible Volunteer Files are used as part of the national registration process that follows a leader’s selection by the local chartered organization, prior to granting membership.
- The use of the files at the time of application is a long-standing and well-documented process. While the records maintained by the BSA are confidential, their existence is a well-known component of Scouting’s registration process. Their use has been referenced as far back as the 1930s in books, Scout publications, and news articles.
- The files provide an added layer of protection to criminal background checks. Today, any adult who wants to join Scouting must pass a criminal background check, but the BSA began collecting information on those ineligible to be volunteers well before computers and other electronic databases were available. The process that exists today is much the same as it was then and has proven to be effective in keeping potentially dangerous or inappropriate individuals out of Scouting. It is actually very simple: The Ineligible Volunteer Files links a name with information that led the BSA to determine that the individual was not suitable to lead youth. As part of the membership application process, the names of adult applicants approved by local chartered organizations are cross-referenced with the names included in the Ineligible Volunteer Files. If the individual appears in the files, he or she is not permitted to join Scouting.
- Files are updated any time a determination is made that an individual should not serve. Scouting policies require prompt reporting of any inappropriate conduct with youth, whether in a Scout unit or in the larger community. Whenever the BSA receives such a report from the local community, the national organization creates a record, whether or not the adults were Scout leaders and whether or not the youth involved were Scouts. In some instances, the allegations cannot be proven to the degree required by a criminal court, but the person is still banned from Scouting. Centralizing this information helps the BSA act more quickly (on suspicion alone in some instances) to identify and keep out persons who have been determined to be ineligible to serve as volunteer leaders.
- The sole purpose of the files is to prevent those deemed ineligible from registering as Scout leaders. The Ineligible Volunteer Files maintained by the BSA have always served solely as a barrier to entry preventing those who are ineligible to serve as Scout leaders from joining or rejoining Scouting. Suggesting that they would provide any greater insight from a research perspective reflects a misunderstanding of the purpose and content of the files. The BSA believes—and independent, third-party experts have confirmed—there is nothing in the files that would further the research field or help develop a profile to prevent abuse.
- The confidentiality of the Ineligible Volunteer Files encourages prompt reporting. BSA members are instructed to report any suspicion of abuse to local authorities and Scout executives, but BSA has always believed that victims and their families have the right to choose for themselves whether to share their stories publicly. People are more likely to come forward to report real or perceived misconduct if they can do so confidentially.
Have a Great Scouting Day! | <urn:uuid:3c4fb9db-9011-43e3-aa1d-e58521b41929> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thescoutmasterminute.net/2012/07/18/oregon-and-youth-protection/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=134bd2d71b | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959322 | 1,091 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013
AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW) -- It seems like a great deal. All you have to do is call the number on the card and you get a free $100 gift card. However, some people quickly learned it's was a scam to get your money and your information.
Carol Brockington is always on the lookout for a good deal, so when she received a postcard in her mailbox, she jumped on the opportunity.
"Walmart, Target? $100? Let me call!" she said.
The simple postcard did not list a return address or even a company name but did state she had an unclaimed reward, a gift card for $100.
"I can do some shopping! You know after Christmas? I can do some shopping," she said.
Brockington called the number on the postcard.
"And (he said) there is no hidden charges and no payment of nothing just one-time fee $6.95. I said $6.95? I thought you said no charges," she asked.
Brockington began asking more questions.
"I was like, OK. Where are you from? And he just hung up," she said.
But not everyone thinks to ask before giving out their personal information. Some viewers told News 12 they fell for the scam. They not only gave out their debit card information but also personal information like birth dates.
"I do not give my debit card number out, my Social Security or birthday date out," Brockington said.
"Beware, call ask questions, do not give your information out," she advised.
Bamburg County Sheriff's investigators say they've determined this to be an international scam. They are turning the fraudulent postcards over to postal inspectors for them to conduct a federal investigation.
Have information or an opinion about this story? Click here to contact the newsroom.
Copyright WRDW-TV News 12. All rights reserved. This material may not be republished without express written permission. | <urn:uuid:61b62118-1573-4029-93e7-79e3b8177438> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/News-12-On-Your-Side--Fake-Gift-Cards-Ploy-to-Get-Your-Info-186103182.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969932 | 426 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Washington --U.S. Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle this week helped place a national spotlight on the work of Vera House, the Syracuse agency that is dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault.
But in drawing the attention of Congress to Vera House’s work, Buerkle stepped into a controversy over federal legislation – the Violence Against Women Act — that helps fund the agency.
Buerkle, R-Onondaga Hill, spoke on the House floor Wednesday to show her support for Vera House’s White Ribbon Campaign. The annual effort raises money and awareness to help end domestic violence.
Buerkle picked up some high-profile bipartisan support for the campaign when both House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., put on the white ribbons distributed by the congresswoman.
"There’s nothing more heartening than being on the House floor and seeing Republicans and Democrats put on white ribbons," Buerkle said in an interview after the event.
Vera House notified its supporters about Buerkle’s efforts through the agency’s Facebook page. But the attention prompted some criticism of the agency’s relationship with the congresswoman, a longtime supporter and volunteer.
Vera House supporters wanted to know why Buerkle was not out front in the effort to support the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Since it was passed by Congress in 1994, the law has provided about $4 billion to states and local communities in support of law enforcement and other services aimed at prosecuting domestic and sexual violence crimes.
During the same period, Vera House and other Central New York organizations have received about $2.5 million in aid as a result of VAWA, according to Randi Bregman, executive director of Vera House.
The backlash against Buerkle was so strong on the Vera House Facebook page that the agency issued a statement explaining that Bregman would discuss the issue with the congresswoman. Bregman promised to update supporters after their conversation.
Buerkle said some people mistakenly believe she is opposed to reauthorizing the legislation, which has always enjoyed bipartisan support.
This year, the VAWA reauthorization proposed in the U.S. Senate has been opposed by some Republicans concerned about changes to the law that would guarantee services for gay and transgender victims, and expand temporary visas to support battered illegal immigrants.
Buerkle said the House has not yet taken up the issue, and has no VAWA reauthorization bill to consider. The congresswoman said she told Republican leaders in the House this week that she would like to be involved in writing and sponsoring their VAWA reauthorization bill.
Buerkle said it was premature to discuss what provisions would be included in the Republican bill, or if it would ignore the Senate proposal to expand services for immigrants, gay and transgender victims.
"I encouraged them to speed things up so we could get a bill out in June," Buerkle said.
Bregman said she discussed the issue with Buerkle on Thursday and asked her to support VAWA's reauthorization with the expanded coverage.
“I hope we will be able to work closely with the congresswoman to ensure passage of VAWA this year,” Bregman said.
Contact Washington Correspondent Mark Weiner at firstname.lastname@example.org or 571-970-3751. | <urn:uuid:022ff0e7-e722-4334-b80d-9cadb947dda0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/rep_ann_marie_buerkle_boosts_v.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957505 | 714 | 1.53125 | 2 |
A day care van crash in Louisville killed one adult and sent 14 children to the hospital when it crashed into a tree last week.
As our sister station in Louisville found out, this wasn't the first time there were transportation issues. Here's what they found:
-On the day of the accident there were 14 children in the van, but the law says only 13 can be transported and one time.
-The state investigated claims that van drivers drove too fast and that children weren't wearing seat belts. Those claims couldn't be substantiated, but records show the same van involved in the fatal crash was driven into a utility pole in April.
-The driver of the van at the time of the most recent accident, Keisha Tiller, was charged with driving without a licence in 2009 and speeding through a school zone in 2010.
-Day care van drivers are required to have a valid license for at least five years, but a form submitted to the state shows only one of the four drivers scheduled for the center in July of 2010 met that requirement. | <urn:uuid:48355854-9938-4725-bb88-787d7ef34c49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtvq.com/content/localnews/story/Reports-Day-Care-Involved-In-Van-Crash-Had-Other/HIH4G7nW9k-QosNuaxgsUQ.cspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973025 | 215 | 1.5 | 2 |
HPPR hosts & contributors
Tue February 12, 2013
Esquire Story On Bin Laden 'Shooter' Sparks Debate About Veterans' Benefits
With an excerpt of a 15,000 word story on the SEAL who allegedly killed Osama bin Laden, Esquire magazine has sparked a whole lot of debate on the kinds of benefits afforded to military veterans.
As we reported, yesterday, Esquire said the highly trained, elite service member the magazine says killed bin Laden would get "nothing" in benefits. In fact, the headline on its website was even more to the point. It read: "The Man Who Killed Bin Laden ... Is Screwed."
A few Two-Way readers took issue with that characterization. (It's an illuminating comment thread, if you're interested in digging in.) Ryan Lowry sums up many of the arguments:
"This article is very misleading. Getting out of the Navy is not the same thing as retiring. Retirement eligibility is usually contingent upon at least twenty years of service. It's unfortunate that this individual will not have health care or a pension, but the fact of the matter is that no one who left the service after 16 years would be eligible for such benefits."
Stars and Stripes, the newspaper that covers the military, took issue as well.
It explains that "no service member who does less than 20 years gets a pension, unless he has to medically retire." However, every veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is "automatically eligible for five years of free healthcare through the Department of Veterans Affairs."
Stars and Stripes took that to Esquire, which responded:
"The writer, Phil Bronstein, who heads up the Center for Investigative Reporting, stands by the story. He said the assertion that the government gave the SEAL 'nothing' in terms of health care is both fair and accurate, because the SEAL didn't know the VA benefits existed.
"'No one ever told him that this is available,' Bronstein said.
This morning, Esquire responded with a note from the editors. It said that the online blurb did not include the kind of background that the print version of the story contained. It argues that the story does give a nod to the VA benefits.
"The story's argument, however, remains the same," the magazine writes. That five-year care from the VA, Esquire writes, is inappropriate and only 40 percent of eligible veterans take advantage of it. The shooter "remains responsible for his own healthcare and that of his family."
The editors continue:
"So if there are people out there, journalists included, who think that the status quo is hunky dory, the government's approach to these extraordinary veterans is just right or even adequate, and who are too quick to incorrectly call another journalist's work "wrong" rather than doing their own work on the profound problems of returning veterans, then, as the cover of the magazine says, the man who killed Osama bin Laden truly is screwed." | <urn:uuid:2bb40ac7-f716-46d2-871d-eb22465dcf88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hppr.org/post/esquire-story-bin-laden-shooter-sparks-debate-about-veterans-benefits | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972602 | 608 | 1.617188 | 2 |
My hunch is that, if low food production is a chronic but cyclical problem, the government should (and should be encourage to) put in place a system for subsidizing grain purchases in lean times - the temporary subsidization would not distort the market too much overall, I suspect.
Alas, it would completely distort the market. You see what happens is that farmers need to sell their grain every year, because they need to get cash out to purchase resources to plant new grain. The price that farmers will get changes from year to year depending on the amount of grain grown and brought to market. And yet customers don't want to have to pay huge amounts of money for grain products one year, and small amounts the next year. You end up with a situation where rich people pay the farmers a smaller total, and charge the customers of grain products a larger total, and smooth out the difference.
I suggest that many people have a problem with this because you have rich people getting richer on the backs of farmers and consumers. The only thing that can make it fair and just is when you have the competition that only free markets can create.
Trying to reproduce this process through government action cannot possibly work, because government players 1) don't have the freedom to risk taxpayer's money (and that is as it should be), 2) don't have the information that the prices produced by free market competition, and 3) government employees have zero incentive to succeed and all the incentive to not fail. "Success" and "not failing" are completely different things.
I want to be clear here: I don't worship free markets, just as I don't worship my automobile engine. I am confident that my automobile engine will get me to the places I need to go. That's not worship, that's just confidence. I feel the same way about free markets, because ultimately, the engine that drives free markets are individual's decisions, backed up by their expectations of success or failure. I don't trust systems, I don't trust magic wands, but I do trust people. | <urn:uuid:b37a7af7-34e7-45ef-9b52-3f87749fe921> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://angry-economist.russnelson.com/trust-free-markets.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975022 | 422 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Designed by Tom Yardley-JonesThe 4th version of the Tardis looked more like the original. It was a taller and thinner than the previous version. For “The Trial of a Time Lord” another copy was created from the original moulds. Both versions were used until “Survival”. After this only the copy stayed with the BBC and was used in a few charity events including, “Dimensions in Time” and “The Curse of Fatal Death”. | <urn:uuid:71f50ef0-374c-4c49-ba11-f67e17e4ada3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/tardis/exterior/1980-tardis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981278 | 105 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Today, I give you my chosen birthday cake recipe, and hope that one of you will make it for me and send it to me by express post. I am co-opting a Christmas cake for the purpose. It is from The Italian Confectioner, by William Alexis Jarrin (1827)
Another sort of Spongati, or Italian Christmas Cakes.Five yolks of fresh eggs; one pound seven ounces of sugar in powder; seven ounces of bread, dried and powdered; one pound two ounces of almonds, blanched and roasted like cocoa; four ounces of wild pine-apple kernels [pine nuts]; three drachms of fine cinnamon; three drachms of cloves; three and a half drachms of nutmeg; two ounces of preserved cedratys*; and one drachm of ground pepper.
This mixture must likewise be put into a crust or covering made of the following paste, viz. steep two ounces of gum-dragon [gum traganth] in twice its volume of orange-flower water, and put on your marble slab fourteen pounds of pulverized sugar, and six pounds of fine starch; add your gum, and strain it through a cloth like the paste for drops; form a malleable paste by adding a little white wine; make your crust, put in the above ingredients, and cover them with thick wafer paper; make them an inch thick. You may have wooden moulds representing different subjects, into which you may put your paste, and fill the moulds as above, covering them with a wafer paper. They must be kept in a stove in a gentle heat a day before they are baked, in a slack oven.
*The Cedraty [Citron]: a fragrant and beautiful variety of the lemon species growing chiefly in Italy and the South of France is preserved in quarters in the same manner as the quince.
Today is also the 3rd day of Christmas: you can read an explication of the Twelve Days of Christmas, and a story about the 1st day, HERE. You can catch up with the 2nd day of Christmas HERE, and the 3rd day is HERE.
Quotation for the Day.
I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included. | <urn:uuid:88414ff6-1a7d-4eb4-9d4f-8d8c3ddd7d4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2009/12/italian-cake-for-me.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94278 | 481 | 1.546875 | 2 |
A radical camera that lets users adjust the focus after taking pictures will be available in October at shops in Australia, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United States.
The move announced on Tuesday marked an expansion for the Lytro, which began shipping in March but has been available only by order on the Internet.
“Since introducing the Lytro camera just six months ago, nearly 400,000 light field pictures have been shared on Lytro.com,” said Lytro chief executive Charles Chi.
“We are excited to take this picture revolution one step further by making Lytro available to more photographers in the US and around the world.”
The Lytro is the creation of Ren Ng, who started work on the digital camera while studying for a doctorate in computer science at Stanford University in California.
The telescope-shaped camera uses what is known as “light field technology” to allow the focal point of a digital image to be changed after the picture is taken, a feature that Lytro calls “shoot now, focus later.”
Clicking on a Lytro picture displayed on a computer screen allows a viewer to shift the focus from a subject in the foreground, for example, to a subject in the background.
The Lytro can do this because it uses powerful sensors to capture significantly more light than a conventional camera.
Lytro executive chairman Ng, who was born in Malaysia and raised in Australia, describes the images as “living pictures” because of the ability to manipulate them.
When Lytro pictures are shared online, the “light field engine” travels with each image so anyone can change focal points as desired.
The 16-gigabyte model of the camera, which is about the same size as a stick of butter and can fit easily in a pocket, costs $499 and can hold 750 pictures. An 8GB version costs $399 and can capture 350 images.
Lytro said that expanding availability of the cameras come as demand increases for the technology around the world.
“Australians are asking for the Lytro camera and we’re excited to bring it to them,” said Dan Miall of Blonde Robot, with is distributing the cameras in that country.
“There has been a lot of excitement to be a part of this next phase in photography and start producing light field pictures in Australia.” | <urn:uuid:c3a4914e-3735-4a7a-b460-ffd72f701411> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/25/retailers-to-sell-focus-later-cameras-in-october/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947096 | 495 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Object ID: WV0333.4.050
Description: Pozyck's roommate Vivian has returned from the hospital. She asks her parents to send some money to a friend of hers as payment for a purchase and describes washing her hair in the rain.
Creator: Annie Edith Sherrill Pozyck
Biographical Info: Annie Edith Sherrill Pozyck (1920-2007) of Concord, North Carolina, served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II. After her discharge, she continued her nursing career, retiring from the Salisbury, North Carolina, VA Hospital after over twenty-five years in the profession.
Collection: Annie Pozyck Papers
Rights: It is responsibility of the user to follow the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). Materials are not to be reproduced in published works without written consent, and any use should credit Jackson Library, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. | <urn:uuid:8620da5a-9703-49f0-8551-8964b708bbc3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://library.uncg.edu/dp/wv/results34.aspx?i=3943&s=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934774 | 199 | 1.5 | 2 |
It went like this... She was accused of being a witch, but noone could prove it, so a soon-to-be Knight of the Round Table explained that since witches burn, and wood burns, then witches must be made out of wood. He then says that wood floats, and ducks float, and ducks float because they're light, so if the lady were to be lighter than a duck, she would be made out of wood and would thus be a witch.<P>Heh. That's Python for ya. Silly.<P>
Frugality is key. | <urn:uuid:be010463-5fd6-4525-b76b-63703debdfe1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forums.comicgenesis.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=23201&p=222118 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981663 | 119 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Australia would buck another global downturn
Not only did we escape the global downturn with hardly a scratch, but we’re in a very strong position to withstand any more external economic shocks.
We have interest rates back up to average levels and government debt at much lower levels than any of our overseas counterparts.
This means that if the US fell into recession again, or even if China’s economy took a turn for the worse, Australia still has the levers to stimulate the local economy.
When it comes to housing, the strength of the local market has overseas investors and commentators all worked up, even given the moderation in price growth experienced over the last quarter.
Foreign financial markets are convinced that Australian housing is the next big bubble that is about to burst.
Many major retail and investment banks recently released their perspectives on the situation and they all came to the same conclusion – there is no speculative “bubble” in the local property market.
Even if you subscribe to the view that Australian housing is relatively expensive, the sequence of events that would need to occur to spark heavy prices falls is unlikely.
During the global financial crisis Australian property suffered only a 4 to 5 per cent fall in price.
In the US, the 30 per cent fall in property prices was driven by subprimehome lending, and the typical oversupply that accompanies high levels of speculation.
In Britain a similar size fall in prices was driven by a domestic bank credit crunch that was a result of a global credit crisis. Both led to a combination of a collapse in demand and distressed selling.
In Australia we have no subprime lending sector to talk about and a significant undersupply of new housing.We have interest rates at levels higher compared with other international economies, so the Reserve Bank could respond to any overseas credit rationing by dropping interest rates again.
Even in the extreme event of another economic storm which would force banks to withhold new lending, it is unlikely to lead to a wave of distressed selling.
Homeowners with a mortgage are in a strong position. A report from one of the big four banks, considered to be Australia’s largest home loan provider, stated that its average home loan to home-value ratio is only 43 per cent and that 70 per cent of customers are paying their mortgage in advance, and are an average of nine payments ahead.
Australia has an undersupply of housing because of the natural increase in population and immigration.We have an economy where unemployment is approaching historic lows and incomes are set to rise strongly.
If we also take into account strong gross domestic product, retail sales and consumer sentiment indicators, and low mortgage arrears and delinquency rates, doomsayers will continue to be off the mark when it comes to predictions of house price collapses in Australia.
Anthony Ishac is the general manager of the Fairfax Media-owned Australian Property Monitors. | <urn:uuid:42b3aa10-8990-4553-83e3-79be4abd1a57> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theage.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/australia-would-buck-another-global-downturn-20100920-15ii0.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960355 | 587 | 1.6875 | 2 |
By Rick Banas of BMA Management, Ltd.
The comments about assisted living that were in a story on “Can the CLASS Act be Saved” that ran in the LifeCycles section of The Washington Times on Monday, May 30, cannot go unchallenged.
Writer Laurie Edwards-Tate contends there is one issue that should transcend individual politics on which we all should agree.
In her opinion, it is far more humane and cost-effective for us to take care of people in need of some help to maintain their independence with home health care services for as long as possible rather than in an “acute care setting like assisted living or a nursing home.”
I fully agree with the idea of providing services to help older adults achieve and maintain as much independence as possible for as long as possible and with providing those services in their home as opposed to a nursing home.
I do not in any way agree with labeling assisted living as an acute care setting and with the assumptions that home health care services delivered in the house, condo, townhome or rental apartment where the older adult currently is living are automatically more humane and more cost-effective than assisted living.
A few quick comments and then I will let residents and family members from some of the affordable assisted living communities that we manage do the talking.
Residents furnish and decorate their apartments with their own furniture and to their tastes.
Residents come and go as they please.
Residents not only get the personal assistance and help with medications they need, but also benefit from a wealth of opportunities to socialize and participate in social and recreational programs and activities.
The cost of assisted living often can be equal to or less than the cost of home health care services, especially when you consider all of the other living expenses associated with living in and maintaining a house, condo or townhome. A 2010 Met Life Survey pegs the average base cost of a private apartment in assisted living at $3,293 a month. The average cost for a homemaker was $19 an hour and for a home health aide was $21 an hour. The cost for a homemaker just three to four hours a day, five days a week would be between $1,140 and $1,520 a month. For a home health aide, the cost would be between $1,260 and $1,680 a month. These figures for in-home care do not include any other living expenses.
As for residents and their families of assisted living communities that we manage, here is what they have to say:
Mom needed to move because of her health. Leaving the house where she lived for the past 30 years was by no means an easy decision. There was no way she wanted to move to a nursing home. Fortunately, the assisted living community she selected was anything but a nursing home.
Back in the day, Robert Kampf drove stock cars on the track in Schiller Park, Illinois, that once stood across the street from what is now O’Hare Airport. At the age of 57, he suffered a stroke. For ten years, he was bounced around from nursing home to nursing home was even put into a secured Memory Care unit at one facility because there was no long-term Medicaid bed available. His move to the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community that we manage in Bolingbrook, Illinois, has put Robert back in the driver’s seat. He once again has the freedom to do whatever he wants. “Sure enough, I like it,” he says. “It is much better than a nursing home.”
Phyllis Kelley moved to the Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community that we manage in DeKalb, Illinois, from independent senior housing for more security and three meals a day as she was not eating right. She still works two days a week as the County Historian. “For the first time in many years, I sleep through the night.”
Ilene “Ike” Sanders moved into a Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community after her husband passed away. She found it difficult living alone. Since making the move, she says that she has experienced a big positive change in her life just from the friends she has made and being able to eat with others. “I couldn’t be happier. It sure beats living alone.”
Mary Klepitsch moved into a Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community with her husband, Fred. “It saved my sanity. I didn’t have to worry about Fred when I was out and I wasn’t alone dealing with life.”
Ed Duy moved into a Heritage Woods affordable assisted living community after rehabilitating from a broken hip. He could no longer live in his house because of all the stairs. “I couldn’t ask for anything better,” he says.
Nancee Jones moved in after breaking her knee. “I really like doing things with others and especially enjoy doing things for others. I’m so happy here I don’t know how to put it in words.”
Do you think you would hear these types of comments from people living in a cold institutional acute-care setting? Does it sound like these folks are living a lifestyle that is less humane than if they were isolated alone in a house or apartment?
Assisted Living Today 2012 Best Blog Award winner
for Best Senior Homes & Senior Care Facilities Articles
“BMA Management is the leading provider of affordable assisted living in Illinois
and one of the 20 largest providers of assisted living in the United States.” | <urn:uuid:399d066c-85d8-4845-b16f-d6150f3b2faf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bma-mgmt.com/blog/?tag=the-washington-times | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979114 | 1,155 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Khairat el-Shater, a leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, leaves the election committee headquarters in Cairo on Thursday after registering for the presidential election next month. A delegation from the Brotherhood is currently visiting Washington to talk about the group's plans for Egypt's future.
Mohammed Hossam/AFP/Getty Images
The political ascent of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has created some unease in Washington, and in an attempt to counter that, the group dispatched a delegation to the U.S. capital this week for meetings that range from administration officials to think tanks and universities.
The Brotherhood has rapidly evolved into a powerful political force since former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power in February of last year.
Since then, the Brotherhood has won parliamentary elections and just last week announced that it would be fielding a presidential candidate, despite saying previously that it wouldn't do so.
The delegation from the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, which includes three men and a woman, is on something of a charm offensive. But at an event Thursday at Georgetown University, the group was pressed on its vision for Egypt's future.
"It's not necessarily just a PR campaign, but mainly we would like to get to know one another more," said Dr. Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, a lawmaker who is part of the delegation. He said it's "very important to understand the American concerns and they understand our aspirations as Egyptians, after the Egyptian revolution."
The delegation drew a full house at Georgetown for a program titled, "To Know One Another." The Brotherhood members talked about restoring dignity and hope to the Egyptian people, providing better services and promoting democracy.
Delegation Is Pressed For Details
The group fielded questions for well over an hour as members of the audience tried to nail down the Brotherhood's stand on issues such as women's rights, religious minorities and the role of Islam in government.
"Our interest really is looking at what's best for the Egyptian people," said delegation member Khaled al-Qazzaz. "We evaluate things based on what is good for Egypt in the short term and in the long term."
But audience members continued to press the Islamist group on certain issues.
One asked why the Brotherhood said it wouldn't have a presidential candidate and then changed its mind.
Two members of the delegation said the decision came after much discussion. The Brotherhood selected Khairat el-Shater, a prominent businessman who is already considered to be a strong candidate for the election planned for next month.
Michele Dunne, the director of the Rafik Hariri Center at the Atlantic Council says the Muslim Brotherhood's flip-flopping is part of the evolution of a group that was banned for so many years. But Dunne says it bears watching, especially as it seeks to rewrite the constitution and consolidate power.
"I hope that in these conversations in Washington this week, these members of the Muslim Brotherhood will hear from American officials about thinking about how they should conduct themselves in power," Dunne said. "In other words, just because you have the majority doesn't mean that you should dominate the process so utterly."
Concern Over Peace Treaty
Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, says U.S. officials also need to listen carefully to what the Brotherhood's delegation is saying. He says the Islamist group has been short on detail during its events this week.
"In the ambiguous answers to some of the questions, you got a sense of how things might change on the U.S.-Egyptian front, whether it's related to Egypt-Israel relations or whether it's just on the bilateral relationship," Cook says.
He says if the Muslim Brotherhood holds power, Egypt is less likely to be as cooperative with the U.S. as it was during the Mubarak era. This could have an impact on regional security. Of particular concern to Americans and Israelis is how a new Egyptian government will approach the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel.
Although the Brotherhood has repeatedly said it will honor the agreement, Cook says the Brotherhood was savvy to send this particular group to the U.S. to make its case. They're fluent in English and comfortable speaking with Americans. Cook says it's unclear whether the delegation is representative of the broader group.
"They said many of the right things, or enough of the right things to make a good impression," he says. "They were convincing on a variety of issues."
But Cook adds that the U.S. needs to judge the Muslim Brotherhood not by what it says in the U.S. but by what it does back in Egypt. | <urn:uuid:06749801-218c-4c4d-8571-e569bc798e6e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/2012/04/06/150085940/muslim-brotherhood-attempts-to-charm-u-s-skeptics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976965 | 949 | 1.617188 | 2 |
SMC Heads-Up: Science funding paper, Xmas hours, food prices
Issue 211 14 - 20 December
In This Issue
Peer review paper
review - have we got it right?
What role should the peer review process play in deciding the type of science that receives public funding in New Zealand?
That's the fundamental question posed by Sir Peter Gluckman in a discussion paper released today and designed to generate ideas around how we can produce better outcomes for the country from the science funded by the tax payer.
The Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor has consulted his equivalent advisors around the world and some of New Zealand's top scientists in putting together the paper Which science to fund: time to review peer review?.
He points to international research showing the burden the peer review process puts on science as researchers devote time and resources to preparing grant applications the Marsden Fund, the Health Research Council and other contestable funds.
In the case of the Marsden Fund, which is administered by the Royal Society, the estimated costs are substantial.
"The best estimate puts the total cost at 20-35% of the fund size, some NZ$10- 20 million. The majority of the cost falls onto applicants. Estimates suggest that the time spent writing proposals represents over 80% of the total fund cost, with three-quarters of that spent on first stage proposals.
"International reviewers and panel- lists make up 10% of the total cost and this is a significant burden upon the small number of people who are called upon in these roles," the paper notes.
Some of the other issues considered:
- Does New
Zealand focus too much in the peer-review process on ideas
rather than the individuals and teams presenting them?
- To what extent should national priorities feed into proposal assessment criteria?
- Is quality or relevance more important is assessing research proposals?
- How does the science system, particularly in a small country, overcome the issue of panellist bias among those chosen to assess research proposals?
- What is the best way to assess interdisciplinary research?
In concluding the paper, Sir Peter notes:
"It is timely to have a more objective look at the process of funding decisions as this is the most important element in matching our research community to the changing shape of our innovation system."
Seasons greetings from the SMC
It has been a busy year for the Science Media Centre and we've enjoyed working with old friends in science and the media and welcoming newcomers to the fold. Thanks for your support in what has been another big news year.
SMC Christmas/New Year hours:
Dec 21st - closed from
Jan 9th - SMC re-opens
We'll be on hand to help with queries throughout the holiday period should breaking news require scientific input. Contact SMC manager Peter Griffin - (021 859 365 firstname.lastname@example.org) should you require assistance over the holiday break.
Merry Xmas and a safe and happy New Year!
Food pricing: cash for
Taxing unhealthy food and subsidising fruit and vegetables could lead to better diets and improve overall population health, according to a study from New Zealand experts
In the study, published in PLOS Medicine, researchers from the University of Auckland and the University if Otago, Wellington, investigated the association between food pricing strategies and food consumption and non-communicable diseases by analysing the results of published mathematical modeling studies of food pricing interventions.
While they found that pricing strategies could lead to beneficial dietary changes and potentially improve health, the extent of this effect was hard to determine - many of the studies were of low to moderate quality and provided uncertain and varying estimates of the impact of pricing on food consumption.
Based on the available data, the researchers estimated that a ten percent increase in the price of soft drinks lower consumption by one to 24 percent. On the other hand, taking a 'carrot' rather than 'stick' approach and lowering the price of fruit and vegetables by ten percent could likely increase consumption by between two and eight percent.
Lead researcher, Dr Helen Eyles from The University of Auckland, explained the wide range of results, "this variation can be due a number of things such as the different tax rates, how people respond and the social role of food in different countries".
She also noted that taxes and subsidies had a great effect on lower soci-economic groups, suggesting that food pricing strategies also have the potential to reduce inequalities.
"This opens up the debate for all New Zealanders. We tax tobacco and alcohol, should we now be considering taxing or subsidising foods based on whether or not they are healthy?"
More info on the study and a video of Dr Eyles describing the research can be found here.
Independent experts contacted by the Science Media Centre generally agreed with the authors.
Prof Elaine Rush, AUT University, commented:
"Taxes on soft drinks and
foods high in saturated fats and subsidies for fruit and
vegetables could lead to beneficial dietary changes and
potentially improve health but we do not know how much this
will change food choice and whether the changes will be
associated with an improvement in the nutritional quality of
the diet. "
Economist Dr Eric Crampton, University of Canterbury, was more sceptical, saying:
"Taxes and subsidies to encourage healthy eating are notoriously difficult to administer in the real world. They're the kind of thing that sounds simple, but wind up being a bit of a compliance nightmare."
You can read more commentary collected by the SMC
and round up of media coverage on the SMC
On the science radar...
Honey bee raspberries, HIV vs leukaemia, very old cheese, eyes in the back of your head, mummified gut bacteria, and a spoonful of sugar...
Health survey a check up for NZ
The latest National Health Survey has provided a wealth of data on how we are doing as a country in terms of health and well being. While there are some health improvements, there are also areas for concern.
The survey results, released this week, are based on data collected from 12,000 adults and 4000 children and include information about general health, smoking, nutrition, access to health care and oral health,
Health improvements identified in the survey include less New Zealander's smoking daily, less psychological distress, fewer people unable to get medical appointment within 24 hours and higher vegetable intakes.
However the survey also shows that diabetes and obesity are areas of concern. Obesity rates have continued to increase over the past 15 years, from 19% in 1997 to 28% in 2011/12. Based on the survey data, it is estimated that there one million obese Kiwis.
The survey also found that there had been a
substantial jump in obesity incidence among younger people;
in the 15-24 year-old demographic the obesity rate has
increased from 14% to 20% in the last 5 years.
More information and key findings from the survey can be found here.
In response to the latest survey data, Professor Tony Blakely from the University of Otago , Wellington, has called for action on child obesity.
"I'm used to researching inequalities in health in New Zealand," he said in a media release, "but I'm shocked by the latest figures on child obesity which show an increase rates from 8% in 2006/7 to 11% in 2011/12, and in particular the extreme inequalities that we now have in New Zealand."
Potential solutions suggested by Prof
Blakely included taxing unhealthy food and banning junk food
advertising from children's television
You can read more about the survey on the SMC website or on Ministry of Health website.
Quoted: New Zealand Herald
"If you imagine a volcano is like a tube of toothpaste then a lava dome is like the congealed, dried toothpaste that has come out of the tube. It doesn't move like a lava flow but grows from the inside as new magma comes up and pushes the already cooled magma upwards and outwards."
- GNS Science volcanologist Brad Scott
New from the SMC
Science funding: Sir Peter Gluckman reflects on science funding and the peer review process. Have we got the balance right - and how do we ensure the best outcome?
Fat tax: New Zealand researchers have published a study examining how taxes and subsidies could improve healthing eating - experts respond.
National health survey: The Ministry of Health has released the results from the latest National Health Survey of New Zealand adults and kids.
UK: The British Government has allowed hydraulic
fracturing to recommence. The UK SMC rounded up reaction from
In the news:
Focus on fat tax: New Zealand research into pricing strategies for healthy eating has been discussed in the media.
Some of the highlights from this week's posts:
Conservation, Zoos and Elephant
- The exorbitant cost of shipping elephants to NZ could be
spent on a multitude of other initiatives, writes Wayne
Do we talk about the right
cancers? John Pickering undertakes some
interesting analysis to highlight media biases in
reporting on cancer.
Obesity costs - Counting the
cost of obesity is more complicated than is seems, writes
economist Eric Crampton.
The fat tax debate is reignited again
- Can food pricing change the way we eat?
Nutritionist Amanda Johnson looks at the latest NZ research.
Mad on Radium - Grant Jacobs
reviews Rebecca Priestley's latest stocking-stuffing
read, Mad on Radium.
Code for Life
Please note: hyperlinks point, where possible, to the relevant abstract or paper.
rescue: In 1973, two populations of South Island
robins were established on separate islands in the
Marlborough Sounds with just five individuals each. After
almost 40 years of inbreeding, the robins weren't doing so
well, less eggs were hatching and the birds were more
susceptible to disease. Canterbury researchers have now
boosted the wellbeing of both populations by exchanging
individuals between the groups. The increase in genetic
diversity has improved survival of the birds as well as
sperm quality and immunity to pathogens.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Bond, James Bond:
Violence in James Bond films was more than twice as common
in Quantum of Solace than in the 1962 movie Dr
No, researchers from New Zealand's University of Otago
have found. They found that rates of violence increased
significantly over the period studied (a total of 22 Bond
films) and there was an even bigger increase in portrayals
of severe violence: acts that would be likely to cause death
or injury if they occurred in real life.
Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine
Bedroom TV linked to
obesity: New research has found that children with
a TV in the bedroom were more likely to watch more TV and
have higher levels of obesity when compared with their peers
who did not have a bedroom TV. While simply watching TV is
associated with inactivity and weight gain the researchers
note that specifically bedroom TV watching could be linked a
lack of sleep and involvement in family meals, also related
American Journal of Preventative Medicine
boost: Ditching the laptop and cell phone and going
bush this summer could give your creativity quite the boost
according to new US research. Psychologists found that
backpackers scored 50 percent better on a creativity test
after spending four days in nature disconnected from
'muscles': Researchers have developed
light-responsive hydrogels which are predicted to have a
variety of technological uses. The gels expand and contract
upon exposure to ultraviolet or visible light in ways that
mimic muscles, and may pave the way for further development
of "soft robotics". The authors demonstrate that plates and
coils made of these gels and suspended in solution can be
deformed at will by shining light from different
Some of the policy highlights from this week:
CCAC: Tim Groser announced this week that NZ would join the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) which focuses on short-lived GHGs, but noted that group is 'not a substitute for action on the real climate change problem, CO2' .
Free vaccine: A free whooping cough vaccine will be available to all pregnant women from 1 January 2013 to help protect their new-born babies from this serious disease.
Cow data: The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is looking for feedback on the rules surrounding the New Zealand dairy herd improvement industry, particularly management of genetic data for cows.
Upcoming sci-tech events
• Resilience by design: ecological footprinting for resilient regional planning - Workshop series - 16 December, Wellington.
• Making Science Work - Public lecture by Sir Paul Nurse - University of Auckland 18 Jan, Auckland
For these and more upcoming events, and more details about them, visit the SMC's Events Calendar. | <urn:uuid:ad45da55-7d56-4ef9-bf81-4b3567fb2eca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC1212/S00035/smc-heads-up-science-funding-paper-xmas-hours-food-prices.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938125 | 2,699 | 1.632813 | 2 |
On a sunny Sunday September afternoon, Bob Braden welcomed fellow farmers, church members and others to tour the Hearts to Harvest growing project. The project involves a 40-acre corn and soybean plot that the Scott County, IA, group helped establish to raise awareness and money for Foods Resource Bank (FRB).
In 2006, FRB and its members — largely Christian relief organizations like Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Lutheran World Relief (LWR) — carried out 51 overseas programs in 30 countries, reaching approximately 470,000 needy people. Rather than handing out food, FRB funds programs to help recipients grow their own food.
For example, FRB programs have helped farmers in western Kenya learn to produce their own maize, amaranth and bean seeds to enhance plant performance; have built rain basins in West Africa to irrigate small portable gardens; and have taught Honduran farmers to use red worms for turning coffee hulls into fertile compost.
The money to fund these projects — $2 million allotted this past year — has to come from somewhere. And that's where farmers like Bob Braden come in.
In 2006, Braden rallied a committee of seven farmers, a banker and two non-farmers who are members at St. Ann's Catholic Church, Long Grove, IA, and Faith Lutheran Church, Eldridge, IA, to start an FRB “growing project.” Beyond establishing a small corn and soybean plot from which proceeds could be donated, Hearts to Harvest sold sponsorships for corn rows for $25, collected cash donations and solicited local agribusinesses to provide inputs and other support. Today, there are approximately 200 similar projects operating in 19 states.
“I think being part of something that is growing gets people excited about giving,” says Braden. “This is not a one person thing. If it weren't for everyone working together it wouldn't have happened.”
All totaled, the Hearts to Harvest project in Iowa collected $17,000 in 2006, of which $10,000 was designated toward FRB's seed project in Kenya. The remaining $7,000 was designated evenly between CRS and LWR.
This past year, Hearts to Harvest pledged $11,000 toward an FRB-funded project in a small Bosnian village devastated by war. The project will help local farmers build a milk-buying station and ensure its milk meets quality and health standards. The total cost of the project is $49,888; approximately 70 village households and 550 people will benefit.
“The amount that can be done for $50,000 is amazing,” says Sarah Van De Walle, a Dixon, IA, young farmer involved in the project with her husband, Bart, and father, Scott Rochau.
Although skeptical at first, Van De Walle says she has been struck by the effectiveness of efforts like the Kenya seed project because it helped farmers produce more grain and opened the door for improving nutrition with meat, milk and eggs and access to fertilizer. “FRB just does a small thing, but it can really have a snowball effect on those communities,” she says.
Organizers say FRB projects not only help fight hunger abroad, they also teach non-farmers about modern agriculture. “All of a sudden, everyone in a congregation starts praying for rain — like farmers do — because everyone is invested in growing the crop,” says Joan Fumetti, an ordained pastor and FRB regional field staff member who helps growing projects get started.
“Urban church members are delighted to bring their children and grandchildren out to the country on a beautiful fall day to learn where their food comes from,”says Fumetti. “And farmers light up when city folks come full of questions and interest in a way of life they cherish.”
Beyond what's collected via the community growing projects, FRB has also received financial support from the U.S. government and businesses, including U.S. Agency for International Development, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, UPS Foundation, Monsanto Fund, John Deere Foundation and Pioneer Foundation.
To learn more about setting up a growing project or other ways to contribute, contact:
Foods Resource Bank,
Donations can be mailed to:
Foods Resource Bank
75 Remittance Drive, Ste. 6539
Chicago, IL 60675-6539 | <urn:uuid:b642813a-5727-48f9-a88e-cb57af62e4b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/making-difference | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950805 | 911 | 1.820313 | 2 |
With a new preface
Looking back on the 25-year war on drugs, Michael Massing offers a blistering critique of the politics and narrow-mindedness that have made our national drug policy a failure, and he proposes what must be done--stressing treatment over imprisonment--to begin to rescue addicts from the street and diminish the hold drugs have in this country.
Michael Massing is a contributing editor of the Columbia Journalism Review and a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books. Named a MacArthur Fellow in 1992, he has been reporting on the drug world for the last ten years. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly, and many other publications. | <urn:uuid:a87e30f5-aa44-41a7-afa0-43739c0aac88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520223356 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932279 | 144 | 1.625 | 2 |
Another victory for voting rights!
The Department of Justice (DOJ) stood up for voting rights again today. In the latest battle in the ongoing war on voting, the DOJ has objected to Texas' proposed voter ID law, stopping the law before it goes into effect. In its objection letter, DOJ rightfully concluded that the State of Texas was not able to prove that the voter ID law would not have a discriminatory effect on voters in the state.
In fact, we do know the law would have a devastating impact on the right to vote in our country's second most populous state. To forecast the impact the law would have on its voters, the state provided DOJ with two different sets of data, one from September 2011 and one from January 2012. Both sets make it clear that with this new law in effect, hundreds of thousands of voters would be pushed out of our most fundamental democratic process.
The September data shows that 603,892 (or 4.7 percent) of the state's nearly 13 million registered voters lack the types of ID required by the proposed law. According to this data, Hispanic voters are nearly 50 percent more likely than white voters to lack the requisite ID.
The January data is even more discouraging, showing that 795,955 (or 6.2 percent) of Texas' registered voters would be disfranchised by the voter ID law. According to the January data, Hispanic voters are more than twice as likely as white voters to lack the requisite ID.
While the state did not explain the difference between the two data sets or offer advice on which was more accurate, it simply doesn't matter. What's abundantly clear is that Texas' proposed voter ID law would disfranchise hundreds of thousands of registered voters without addressing any real problems.
Texas claimed that the law was necessary to ensure election integrity by detecting and deterring voter fraud. But at the outset, DOJ remarked that the state produced no evidence of in-person voter fraud that was not already addressed by existing state and federal laws. The state's justification for the law, then, is illusory at best and pre-textual at worst.
This is the second time in three months that the Department of Justice has stepped in to block unnecessary and discriminatory voting laws. While we have many battles ahead, the momentum is building on our side. Democracy will prevail, and we will eventually win in this war on voting. | <urn:uuid:84a384a5-5a1d-4140-aedd-efa40b98c8d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aclu.org/blog/voting-rights/standing-voting-rights-again-doj-objects-texas-discriminatory-voter-id-law | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976146 | 491 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Fri February 8, 2013
Book News: Should Ayn Rand Be Required Reading?
Originally published on Fri February 8, 2013 3:37 pm
The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.
- Idaho state Sen. John Goedde (half-jokingly) introduced a bill this week that would require every Idaho high school student to read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and pass an exam in order to graduate. Goedde, a Republican who is chairman of the state Senate's Education committee, said the book made his son a Republican. While it's not clear how serious the proposal is, it's hit a nerve.
- Today in inexplicable news: The Geico Gecko has written an advice book called You're Only Human: A Guide to Life, which is set to be published in April. The press material says the insurance company's spokeslizard "has spent the last few years traveling across America, like a modern-day de Tocqueville." It adds: "He's a philosopher, an aphorist, a humorist, an artist, a warm companion, a natural storyteller — and, in a grand tradition, a keenly observant and wise outsider who in the course of living and traveling among us has discovered quite a lot about the things that make us human."
- Amazon has acquired a patent for reselling and lending digital books. Libraries are already lending digital materials, but the concept of selling "used" ebooks is pretty novel (sorry). According to the patent, "When the user no longer desires to retain the right to access the now-used digital content, the user may move the used digital content to another user's personalized data store when permissible and the used digital content is deleted from the originating user's personalized data store." But it seems Amazon will be able to impose limits on the number of times a particular piece of material is resold: "When a digital object exceeds a threshold number of moves or downloads, the ability to move may be deemed impermissible and suspended or terminated."
- Author Lawrence Wright went on The Colbert Report this week to plug his new book, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. That's when host Stephen Colbert's interview really got interesting.
- Little, Brown announced Thursday that its new publisher will be Reagan Arthur, who has worked with writers such as Kate Atkinson and George Pelecanos and oversaw bestsellers like Tina Fey's Bossypants. The company's current publisher, Michael Pietsch, will become CEO.
Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. | <urn:uuid:7ec92cd4-1770-4140-bdf9-999655419fa2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wlrn.org/post/book-news-should-ayn-rand-be-required-reading | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937328 | 546 | 1.625 | 2 |
I aim to be a rational voice on emotional topics.
I'm going to create a three-part "carnival" of SharePosts about schizophrenia medication. The first news article will be a general overview. Part two will talk about the reasons people have for not taking medication and how to find a good psychiatrist to get the right treatment. Part three will detail the risks of partial compliance as well as the perils of going cold.
The best minds of my generation have been destroyed by drug holidays.
I'm reminded of the song "Her Diamonds" by Rob Thomas with the lyrics about how the boyfriend is unable to console his girlfriend when life gets too much for her to bear. Her tears are her diamonds.
Would you want to be at the mercy of your psychotic feelings if you didn't have to? Would you want to be bawled up on the couch nearly every day? That song reminds me of this.
You can cry when you need to yet you also need to itemize your wins. If you don't take your meds, you don't get to have wins. These are your accomplishments: I call them wins.
Scratch the surface of those lives where people tout living drug-free and you'll see that the reality makes "Her Diamonds" sound like a birthday party.
Do you love another person more than life itself? I do. Does this person keep stopping his or her medication, and keep being sucked into a vortex of hell? The person I love does. When someone you love is walking this earth in pain when they don't have to be in pain: wouldn't you agree with me?
The rational thinking is that if he took his meds, he'd have a better life. When a person discontinues the drug and relapses, it's hard for the psychiatrist to determine if the drug was originally working effectively.
Just starting out, the longer a person waits to get treatment, the less likely any drug will work fully effectively once he's put on it. (Harvard Mental Health Letter, November 2008)
In cases where drugs allegedly don't work, the prime culprit is that the person isn't compliant, or skips doses or stops taking the meds. An esteemed psychiatrist told me that the root cause of the majority of the cases where the medication doesn't work is partial compliance.
This twin culprit along with the delay in getting treatment is a recipe for disaster.
A friend was put on Thorazine back in the early days when it was the only drug available. It didn't halt his voices, so his doctor tried every new drug that came to the market until 10 years later the newest drug stopped his symptoms completely. It was like a light switch went off: the positive result was sudden and immediate and reversed the 10 years of hell.
In those 10 years, my friend's doctor gave him cognitive behavioral therapy that instilled effective coping techniques so that he could live with the voices while they tried every new medication that came along.
My friend claims the fact that he stayed on the medication for 10 years, even if it had limited effectiveness, prevented any further deterioration in his brain functioning. He rose up to become the CEO of corporations. | <urn:uuid:365f79b0-a20b-4ea0-9667-e46644feade9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/120/152845/schizophrenia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979878 | 654 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Public Environmental Art for Children, Oh My!
Today the Washington Post turned its arts coverage to two hot topics at once: the environment and children. Who can resist miniature environmentalists with purple paint smeared across their mouths who spout perfect sound-bites like little PR spokespeople?
Fifty people participated in a public art project called Vote for Art last Saturday in Takoma Park at which they painted over 2006 campaign signs with fresh slogans, largely environmental, to post in their yards on Arts Advocacy Day, next Tuesday. The Post's article quoted 6-year-old Sasha Schneer, who was completing a piece of anti-car publicity, as saying, "I'm trying to convince people to stop using the products that are polluting." It's not that I disbelieve his sincere conviction that pollution is bad. It's just that he is almost certainly regurgitating phrases he has heard his parents exchange in the recent past—and to the national media, no less!
When I was only a few years older than Schneer, destruction of the rainforest and the prospect of global warming used to keep me awake at night. So I am sure that he comprehends environmental degradation on some rudimentary level. And hey, at least the media is letting us know that some of the next generation cares about the state of the Earth—and that someone is giving them the language to let others know why it matters.
Arts organizations in other towns might take a bit of inspiration from this project. When I was a kid, I remember my classmates uttering phrases like "recycling is stupid" while throwing trash around the classroom. I could have used a little bit of Schneer's vocabulary to help me let my classmates know why there are a few smart reasons to recycle. | <urn:uuid:740fc1a2-9b0f-4662-9735-757062e5251b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2007/03/public-environmental-art-children-oh-my | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97668 | 359 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Beer lovers, rejoice. Whiskey drinkers, celebrate. Pork fat fans, this is your moment. All the things you thought were unhealthy can actually help you lose a ton of weight.
Well, not exactly. This isn't an ad in the back pages of a sketchy magazine. All these things are still not good for you when you eat and drink them in large quantities. And don't stop eating your blueberries and strawberries if you want to boost your brainpower.
Still, there's some surprising good health news for anyone who wants to wash down their lard-topped popcorn with a beer and a shot of whiskey.
Beer: The Problem-Solver
Question: Who's better at solving brainteasers, men who are sober or men who have drunk two pints of beer? According to research from the University of Illinois, the drinkers are the winners. (That sound you hear is every guy I know cracking open a beer right now in self-righteous satisfaction.) Not only did the drinkers solve 40 percent more problems than the nondrinkers, they solved their problems faster: 12 seconds compared to the nondrinking 15.5 seconds.
Pork Fat: The Bad Cholesterol Fighter
"Pork fat is not only useful, but it is also good for us," says my new hero, Jennifer McLagan. She's the author of the James Beard Award--winning "Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient". To back up her claim, McLagan's book includes a chart showing that 45 percent of pork fat is monounsaturated, which can help raise your HDL, or good cholesterol, and also can help lower your LDL, or bad cholesterol.
She also extols the benefits of frying in lard, because food absorbs less fat than if you fry it in oil. Lagan piles on the good news, arguing that "Diets low in fat, it turns out, leave people hungry, depressed and prone to weight gain and illness." To ensure readers' happiness, she includes recipes in "Fat", including one for euphoria-inducing bacon fat mayonnaise.
Whiskey: The Good Cholesterol Booster
If you're looking for other celebratory ways to increase your good cholesterol levels and potentially decrease your risk of a stroke, grab a bottle of your favorite booze. And then drink in moderation. According to the Mayo Clinic, studies suggest that if you consume one alcoholic drink per day if you're a woman, or two drinks a day if you're a guy, you can increase your HDL cholesterol levels and also potentially decrease your risk of a stroke. But, cautions the Mayo Clinic, "If you don't drink alcohol, don't start just to try raising your HDL levels." | <urn:uuid:539123ff-1d65-47e5-9307-06dfbefe813e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wxii12.com/news/entertainment/Beer-whiskey-and-pork-fat-the-new-health-foods/-/9677474/12222976/-/item/0/-/bj6py3z/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943858 | 562 | 1.554688 | 2 |
|AllAfrica News: Latest|
|All Africa, All the Time.|
Nigeria will be following the footstep of France and in less than 24 hours will commence the deployment of her military forces to Mali. Earlier, even before France throw in her hat in the Mali war theater in order to defeat the Northern Islamist in that country, The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has pre-arranged to deploy a contingency plan of 3200 force.
Associated Press reported that "Nigerian defense spokesman Col. Mohammed Yerima said Tuesday that Nigeria will send about 900 troops to Mali.The announcement comes as West African nations pledge support for a French-led mission to oust Islamic extremists from Mali.French President Francois Hollande launched an attack on the militants, who are linked to al-Qaida, last week after the rebels began advancing south.France's action pre-empted a United Nations-approved plan for a military operation in Mali, which was expected to start about nine months from now. Hollande decided that a military response to the extremists could not wait that long."
Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika said at the Armed Forces Remembrance Day while laying the wreath to commemorate the ceremony that Mali's insecurity is a threat to the regional's security.
This will not be the first time Nigeria has intervened in African hotpots, Nigeria's intervention in Liberia and Sierra Leon have been helpful to the cultivating of democracy and peace in those former war torn nations. In 2003, the Nigeria led ECOWAS military deployment chased away Charles Taylor, former president from Liberia .Since then democracy has flourish in Liberia and Charles Taylor has been convicted by United Nations backed International court of justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In same year of 2003, there was also an African peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sudan in 2004 to resolve the western Darfur atrocities. Some of these missions can be characterized as success while others like western Darfur were a failure.
Even the successful interventions were sometimes muddled and disorganized, out of track without a well thought plan. Many civilians were misplaced and the collateral damages could have been minimized. But this does not mean that ECOWAS or AU will not be given thumps up and kudos for their initiatives and interventions in hot spots of Africa.
"Many African countries including Nigeria, Somalia, Congo, Sudan and others made the list of 2012 Failed States complied by The Fund for Peace (TFP). Nigeria was ranked among the top 10 failed states in Africa and 14th in the global index of Failed states." - AFRIPOL
Somalia ranked most troubled state for 5th straight year; Finland remains at best position; Libya, Japan and Syria Tumble.
The Fund for Peace today released the eighth edition of its annual Failed States Index (FSI), highlighting global political, economic and social pressures experienced by states.
The 2012 FSI ranks Somalia as number one for the fifth consecutive year, citing widespread lawlessness, ineffective government, terrorism, insurgency, crime, and well-publicized pirate attacks against foreign vessels.
Meanwhile, Finland has remained in the best position, with its Scandinavian neighbors Sweden and Denmark rounding out the best three rankings. All three nations benefit from strong social and economic indicators, paired with excellent provision of public services and respect for human rights and the rule of law.
The FSI ranks 178 countries using 12 social, economic, and political indicators of pressure on the state, along with over 100 sub-indicators. These include such issues as Uneven Development, State Legitimacy, Group Grievance, and Human Rights. Each indicator is rated on a scale of 1-10, based on the analysis of millions of publicly available documents, other quantitative data, and assessments by analysts. A high score indicates high pressure on the state, and therefore a higher risk of instability.
Other notable changes this year include countries affected by the Arab Spring. Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Tunisia all ranked significantly worse than the previous year. Libya’s decline was the most remarkable, with the country registering the worst year-on-year worsening in the history of the FSI as a result of civil war, a NATO-led campaign of airstrikes and the toppling of the Qaddhafi regime. Similarly, Syria registered the fourth-greatest year-on-year worsening in the history of the FSI as the campaign of violence by the Assad government took hold.
In the wake of the massive earthquake and resultant nuclear crisis, Japan also worsened significantly. Though Japan continues to rank among the best seven percent of countries, Japan’s near-record worsening on the FSI demonstrates how susceptible even the most stable of nations are to sudden shocks.
Greece continued to decline as the economic crisis has gripped the country. A loss of confidence in the state, coinciding with the state’s lessened capacity to provide public services, have led to growing social pressures.
The Fund for Peace assessed South Sudan this year for the first time after the new nation gained its independence in the second half of 2011. Though the FSI does not formally rank South Sudan due to an incomplete year of data, the young nation nevertheless would have ranked approximately fourth, immediately behind its northern neighbor, Sudan. South Sudan’s fragile infrastructure, severe poverty, weak government, fraught relations with Sudan and heavy reliance on oil continue to be of concern.
Kyrgyzstan is the most improved nation, rebounding from a marked fall the previous year that was precipitated by the mid-2010 revolution that led to significant political reforms and ultimately a stable transition of power.
Krista Hendry, the Executive Director of The Fund for Peace, said the value of the FSI is in its application on the ground by governments, media, civil society and others to consider and work to improve the underlying conditions of conflict.
“We assess 178 countries because we recognize that all countries have pressures upon them that need to be managed. The difference between livelihoods within the countries is largely a product of the capacity of the state and society. This year we will develop a capacity index to test our assumption that states manage pressures better when they have open societies with strong state institutions based on the rule of law and democracy,” Ms. Hendry said.
THE RANKING LIST
1 Somalia 114.9
2 Congo (D. R.) 111.2
3 Sudan 109.4
n/r South Sudan* 108.4
4 Chad 107.6
5 Zimbabwe 106.3
6 Afghanistan 106.0
7 Haiti 104.9
8 Yemen 104.8
9 Iraq 104.3
10 Central African Republic 103.8
11 Cote d'Ivoire 103.6
12 Guinea 101.9
13 Pakistan 101.6
14 Nigeria 101.1
15 Guinea Bissau 99.2
16 Kenya 98.4
17 Ethiopia 97.9
18 Burundi 97.5
18 Niger 96.9
20 Uganda 96.5
21 Myanmar 96.2
22 North Korea 95.5
23 Eritrea 94.5
23 Syria 94.5
25 Liberia 93.3
26 Cameroon 93.1
27 Nepal 93.0
28 Timor-Leste 92.7
29 Bangladesh 92.2
29 Sri Lanka 92.2
31 Sierra Leone 90.4
31 Egypt 90.4
33 Congo (Republic) 90.1
34 Iran 89.6
35 Rwanda 89.3
36 Malawi 88.8
37 Cambodia 88.7
38 Mauritania 87.6
39 Togo 87.5
39 Uzbekistan 87.5
41 Burkina Faso 87.4
41 Kyrgyzstan 87.4
43 Equatorial Guinea 86.3
44 Zambia 85.9
45 Lebanon 85.8
46 Tajikistan 85.7
47 Solomon Islands 85.6
48 Laos 85.5
48 Angola 85.1
50 Libya 84.9
51 Georgia 84.8
52 Colombia 84.4
53 Dijbouti 83.8
54 Papua New Guinea 83.7
55 Swaziland 83.5
56 Philippines 83.2
57 Comoros 83.0
58 Madagascar 82.5
59 Mozambique 82.4
59 Bhutan 82.4
61 Israel/West Bank 82.2
62 Bolivia 82.1
63 Indonesia 80.6
63 Gambia 80.6
65 Fiji 80.5
66 Tanzania 80.4
67 Ecuador 80.1
68 Azerbaijan 79.8
69 Nicaragua 79.8
70 Guatemala 79.8
71 Senegal 79.8
72 Lesotho 79.8
73 Moldova 79.8
74 Benin 79.8
75 Honduras 79.8
76 China 79.8
77 Algeria 79.8
78 India 79.8
79 Mali 79.8
79 Bosnia and Herzegovina 79.8
81 Turkmenistan 79.8
82 Venezuela 79.8
83 Russia 79.8
84 Thailand 79.8
85 Turkey 79.8
85 Belarus 79.8
87 Morocco 79.8
88 Maldives 79.8
89 Serbia 79.8
90 Jordan 79.8
91 Cape Verde 79.8
92 Gabon 79.8
93 El Salvador 79.8
94 Tunisia 79.8
95 Dominican Republic 79.8
96 Vietnam 79.8
97 Sao Tome 79.8
98 Mexico 79.8
99 Peru 79.8
100 Saudi Arabia 79.8
101 Cuba 79.8
102 Armenia 79.8
103 Micronesia 79.8
104 Guyana 79.8
105 Suriname 79.8
106 Namibia 79.8
107 Paraguay 79.8
107 Kazakhstan 79.8
109 Macedonia 69.1
110 Samoa 68.5
110 Malaysia 68.5
112 Ghana 67.5
113 Ukraine 67.2
113 Belize 67.2
115 South Africa 66.8
115 Cyprus 66.8
117 Botswana 66.5
118 Albania 66.1
119 Jamaica 65.8
120 Seychelles 65.1
121 Grenada 65.0
122 Trinidad 64.4
123 Brazil 64.1
123 Brunei 64.1
125 Bahrain 62.2
126 Romania 59.5
127 Antigua & Barbuda 58.9
128 Kuwait 58.8
129 Mongolia 58.7
130 Bulgaria 56.3
130 Croatia 56.3
132 Panama 56.1
133 Montenegro 55.5
134 Bahamas 55.1
135 Barbados 52.0
136 Latvia 51.9
137 Oman 51.7
138 Greece 50.4
139 Costa Rica 49.7
140 United Arab Emirates 48.9
141 Hungary 48.3
142 Qatar 48.0
143 Estonia 47.5
144 Slovakia 47.4
145 Argentina 46.5
145 Italy 45.8
147 Mauritius 44.7
148 Poland 44.3
149 Lithuania 44.2
150 Malta 43.8
151 Chile 43.5
151 Japan 43.5
153 Spain 42.8
154 Uruguay 40.5
155 Czech Republic 39.5
156 South Korea 37.6
157 Singapore 35.6
158 United Kingdom 35.3
159 United States 34.8
160 Portugal 34.2
161 Slovenia 34.0
162 France 33.6
163 Belgium 33.5
164 Germany 31.7
165 Australia 29.2
166 Iceland 29.1
167 Netherlands 28.1
168 Austria 27.5
169 Canada 26.8
170 Ireland 26.5
171 New Zealand 25.6
172 Luxembourg 25.5
173 Norway 23.9
174 Switzerland 23.3
175 Denmark 23.0
176 Sweden 21.3
177 Finland 20.0
The Fund for Peace (FFP) is an independent, nonpartisan, non-profit research and educational organization that works to prevent violent conflict and promote sustainable security. FFP promote sustainable security through research, training and education, engagement of civil society, building bridges across diverse sectors, and developing innovative technologies and tools for policy makers.
FFP is a leader in the conflict assessment and early warning field, the Fund for Peace focuses on the problems of weak and failing states. Our objective is to create practical tools and approaches for conflict mitigation that are useful to decision-makers.
Washington, DC — Opening statement of U.S. Senator Chris Coons, as prepared for delivery on March 29, 2012:
I am pleased to chair this hearing of the African Affairs Subcommittee, which will focus on Nigeria and issues of security, governance, and trade. I would like to welcome our distinguished witnesses - Ambassador Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; Sharon Cromer, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa at USAID; and Paul Marin, Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency - and thank them for joining us today. Our witnesses have extensive experience and expertise in a range of issues relevant to Nigeria, and I look forward to their testimony.
I am especially pleased to be joined by my good friend and Ranking Member, Senator Isakson, with whom I traveled to Nigeria last June. Our trip came on the heels of last year's elections and President Goodluck Jonathan's inauguration. It was a time defined by uncertainty about Nigeria's future and cautious optimism about President Jonathan's leadership. The elections - while far from perfect - marked a dramatic improvement from the violence and lack of transparency that marred past elections. At the same time, there was post-election violence that killed hundreds and demonstrated lingering communal tensions that continues to this day. During our visit, we were particularly impressed with the Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega, for his leadership and commitment to electoral reform, which allowed Nigeria to hold the most transparent elections in its history.
One year later, Nigeria today faces serious challenges, including an increasingly sophisticated and deadly wave of extremism, pervasive corruption, and growing levels of income inequality and poverty. With more than 155 million people, Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation and its second-largest economy after South Africa. As Africa's largest producer of oil and one of the top five suppliers of oil to the United States, Nigeria plays an important role in the global economy. The maps that I will refer to illustrate the underdevelopment of the North and the growing need for President Jonathan to bridge persistent geographic, sectarian, and economic divides between North and South.
The wealth in Nigeria is largely concentrated in the South, as demonstrated by the first map, which also indicates the southern concentration of oil resources. Nigeria's economy continues to rely disproportionately on oil, which accounts for 80 percent of government revenues and 95 percent of export earnings. Poverty levels are rising, with more than 60 percent of the population living on less than a dollar a day, and indicators such as income distribution, health, and literacy indicate a sharp North-South divide.
The second map demonstrates the clear distinction between northern states, where less than 10% of children are typically vaccinated and southern states, where the percentage is significantly higher, often 30% or more. And this map demonstrates a clear distinction between North and South when it comes to female literacy rates, which is less than 20% in a majority of northern states and more than 50% in a majority of southern states.
Nigeria also faces nationwide problems including corruption, instability, and economic mismanagement which have hampered economic opportunity. With its growing population and significant resources, Nigeria holds enormous economic potential and I believe the U.S. can play a critical role in helping to diversify the Nigerian economy beyond oil and gas, expand its power system infrastructure, address widespread transparency problems, and strengthen rule of law.
In this regard, I was pleased that the State Department recently led a trade mission to Abuja and Lagos focused on expanding U.S. investment in Nigeria's energy sector. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about prospects for deepening U.S. economic engagement in Nigeria and partnering with the public and private sectors to address problems with the electric grid, which remains one of the biggest obstacles to Nigeria's economic expansion.
Nigeria's growing population represents an important market for U.S. goods, but rising security concerns have hampered investment. In the past two years, Boko Haram, a violent northern-based Islamic extremist group, has launched increasingly sophisticated attacks on civilians, government and police installations, and the United Nations headquarters building in Abuja. In fact, only six months after Senator Isakson and I met with the Archbishop and Imam of Abuja, Boko Haram launched attacks on Catholic churches in and around Abuja, killing dozens of people after the celebration of Christmas mass.
This last graph demonstrates the sharp rise in the number of attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram in the past year. As you can see, between 2003 and 2009, the number of attacks was minimal, averaging one or two annually. In 2010, however, the number of attacks rose to 30. Alarmingly, the number increased more than five-fold in the past year, with more than 150 attacks in 2011 alone, and this does not include the multiple coordinated bombings that led to hundreds of deaths in Kano in January of this year.
The Nigerian security services and police have faced significant challenges addressing the growing threat posed by Boko Haram, elements of which may be affiliated with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and other transnational terrorist organizations. The bulk of its followers, however, appear to be focused on domestic issues, primarily the lack of jobs and growing economic inequities that have disproportionately impacted northern states.
The essential component to addressing economic and security challenges is governance, and we have seen clear examples of the importance of democracy and good governance in West Africa just in the past week with developments in Mali and Senegal. It is clear that Nigeria plays a critical role in the region, and there is more that could be done by President Jonathan to encourage meaningful reform to root out endemic corruption and strengthen transparency.
We are pleased to have with us three Administration witnesses who will consider these issues and assess the difficult questions surrounding governance, economics, and security in Nigeria and how they are interrelated. We look forward to hearing from each of you, but first, let me turn to Senator Isakson for his opening remarks.
•North, South-South in battle royale over oil
Tension over the allocation of Nigeria’s oil wealth among the states of the federation is assuming an interesting dimension with key figures in the South-South taking on the North over its recent call for a fiscal redress. The North, through the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) appears set its goal of changing the revenue allocation formular in its favour while the South-South described such calls as idle and insulting.One of the Niger Delta leaders even said the North is ungrateful to the South.
ACF’s spokesman, Anthony Sani spoke with The Friday Edition declaring that the South cannot describe the north lasy because there is no diligence involved in having crude oil under ones soil.
Beneath the cross fire between the North and the South is the issue of who has juicy oil blocs in his kitty. The Friday Edition serves available details of owners of the multi billion naira oil blocs which insiders described as just a tip of the iceberg.
Unknown to many, more than eighty percent of ownership of the nation’s oil reserves is in the hands of some influential northerners who acquired marginal fields, Oil Mining Licenses (OML) and Oil Prospecting Licenses (OPL).
Curiously, such acquisitions were under the different military regimes of Generals Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), the late Sani Abacha as well as Nigeria’s last military leader, Abdusalami Abubakar.
This discovery is coming on the heels of the brickbat between the South-South and the North over the propriety or otherwise of the review of the revenue sharing formula which the later alleged was unduly advantageous to the former.
Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger state, had, penultimate week, called for equality in the sharing of oil revenue accruing to the oil-producing states, saying it posed a big disadvantage to those without oil.
The position of the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum had barely settled when Governors Rotimi Amaechi(Rivers), Emmanuel Uduaghan(Delta), Olusegun Mimiko(Ondo), Theodore Orji(Abia) and federal lawmakers from oil-producing states expressed their dismay at the outburst.
The debate had continued to take a new dimension in the last one week.
But Nigerian Tribune’s investigations showed that most of the oil and gas prospects had long been conceded to a particular section of the country.
According to documents exclusively obtained by the Nigerian Tribune, most of those to whom the nation’s juicy oil reserves have been conceded are individually richer than some African oil-producers such as Ghana and Sudan.
For instance, Cavendish Petroleum, the operators of OML 110 – with good yielding OBE field was awarded to Alhaji Mai Deribe - the Borno patriarch, by General Sani Abacha on the 8th of July, 1996.
OML 110 has a proven oil reserve in excess of 500 million barrels (more than the entire 300milliom barrels reserve of Sudan) with capacity to produce about 120,000 barrels of crude oil daily from its OBE 4 and OBE 5 wells.
At current production levels, the Mai Deribes net an average of N4billion monthly in crude oil sales (using oil price estimates of $100 p/b). Deribe, even in death is the richest man in the history of Borno state today.
Another major partaker in the oil and gas sector is Mallam (Prince) Sanusi Lamido, a cousin of the Central Bank Governor, who is a key shareholder and director in Seplat/Platform Petroleum, operators of the Asuokpu/Umutu Marginal Field with a capacity of 300,000 barrels monthly and 30mmfcsd gas plant capable of feeding 100MT of LPG.
But the oldest of all northern-backed oil and gas concerns is South Atlantic Petroleum Limited (SAPETRO). South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO) is a Nigerian Oil Exploration and Production Company that was established in 1995 by General T. Y. Danjuma, who is also the Chairman of ENI Nigeria Limited. General Sani Abacha awarded the Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 246 to SAPETRO in February 1998.
The block covers a total area of 2,590km2 (1,000 sq. miles). SAPETRO partnered with Total Upstream Nigeria Ltd (TUPNI) and Brasoil Oil Services Company Nigeria Ltd to start prospecting on OPL246.
Akpo, a condensate field was discovered in April 2000 with the drilling of the first exploration well (Akpo 1) on the block. Other discoveries made on OPL 246 include the Egina Main, Egina South, Preowei and Kuro (Kuro was suspended as a dry gas/minor oil discovery).
But in June 2006, SAPETRO divested part of its contractor rights and obligations to China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) for $1 billion (N160bn). Akpo exports about 230,000 barrels of condensate daily.
Condensate export is not regulated by OPEC, so SAPETRO/TOTAL exports as much as possible each day. Egina exports about 75,000 barrels of oil daily.
Akpo and Egina therefore, export over 300,000 barrels of oil/condensate daily (three times what Ghana currently exports).
Out of this volume, SAPETRO gets 25 per cent which, however, excludes the gas component that is about 2.5 trillion cubic feet.
Operators of OML 112 and OML 117, AMNI International Petroleum and Development Company, is owned by Alhaji (Colonel) Sani Bello from Kontagora, Niger State. In the production-sharing contract, AMNI gets 60 per cent for owning the oil block and Total gets 40 per cent for providing technical advice.
Although OML 112 was awarded on 12 February, 1998 and OML 117 on 4 August, 1999, all by former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar whose eldest daughter is married to Bello’s son, Abu, operations did not start on both blocks until 26 February, 2006.
Both licenses are due to expire on 11 February, 2018 and 5 August, 2019 respectively. AMNI produces twice as much as Cavendish Petroleum.
Nonetheless, a Former Petroleum minister, (names withheld), another Fulani multi-millionaire with fronted controlling holdings in Afren, manages AMNI oil blocks and with very key interest in the NNPC/Vitol trading deal.
Vitol is a London based oil trading company. Vitol, which lifts 350,000 barrels of crude oil daily from Nigeria is owned by the former minister.
The Okoro and Setu fields in OML 112 with about 50 million barrels in reserve, operated by Afren Energy, currently rake in below 20,000 barrels per day in exports.
Similarly, there is Oriental Energy Resources Limited, a company owned by Alhaji Mohammed Indimi, a close friend of General Ibrahim Babangida. Both, apart from being from Niger state, are in-laws (IBB’s first son, Mohammed is married to Yakolo, Indimi’s daughter). Yakolo is a director in Oriental.
Oriental Energy Resources Limited runs three oil blocks: OML 115, the Okwok field and the Ebok field. OML 115 and Okwo are OML PSC, while Ebok is an OML JV. All of them are crown offshore oil blocks.
OML 115 on its own is 228 sq Km with Oriental Energy Resources Limited controlling 60 per cent while Equity Energy Resources, has 40 per cent.
On Okwok, Addax has 40% and on the Ebok field, Oriental Energy Resources has 100%.
Alhaji Aminu Dantata’s Express Petroleum and Gas Limited floated for the purpose of winning oil block(s) on November 1, 1995, got General Abacha’s approval to operate OML 108. CAMAC Houston, a company owned by Kase Lawal bought 2.5% of Express Petroleum’s 60% holdings. The other 40% on OML 108 is owned by Sheba E&P Limited.
As the operator of OML 108, Shebah Exploration And Production Limited (SEPCOL) has an office in Lagos but the headquarters is in Minna. SEPCOL operates the Ukpokiti offshore field in Shallow water Nigeria, which was acquired from ConocoPhillips in May 2004.
The Alhaji Saleh Mohammed Jambo-owned NorthEast Petroleum Limited, registered as NorEast Petroleum, is the holder of OPL215 license, covering an area of 2,564 square kilometres in water depths between 200 to 1600 metres.
NorEast, which is the parent company of Rayflosh Petroleum, was awarded the blocks OPLs 276 & 283 closing thereupon, a Joint Venture Agreement with Centrica Resources Nigeria Limited and CCC Oil and Gas.
The license was awarded to him by General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida in 1991 and then renewed in 2004 by former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. It was learnt that, so far $50Million has been spent on the very promising Okpoi-1 and Egere -1 exploratory well.
Intels, owned by the three families of Yar’Adua , Ado Bayero and Alhaji Abubakar Atiku is another major northern concern in the oil and gas sector. The Oil and Gas Free Zone and Oil Services Centres, as well as Support Bases operated from government-owned facilities, are leased to Intels under long-term agreements.
Intels thus, runs a ‘private port’, as a counter venture to the Calabar, Warri and Port Harcourt ports. At the Port Harcourt’s facility of the company for instance, there are over one hundred major companies.
Forty-five years after proclaiming the breakaway Republic of Biafra, former rebel-leader Emeka Ojukwu was this week given a state burial by the Nigerian government.
It is unusual that the president of a country attends the funeral of a man who tried to engineer that country's breakup. But Ojukwu is being hailed as a hero today because many in Nigeria simply believe the man had a point. Many Nigerians are unhappy with the way their country has turned out. And some, just like Ojukwu in the 1960s, are now questioning the viability of the state in itself.
In 2005, the CIA published a report warning that Nigeria, the seventh most populous country in the world, could disintegrate within 15 years. At the time, that prediction was dismissed by most Nigerians as baseless alarmism. But recent events have prompted a re-evaluation of that gloomy forecast.
The funeral of Dim Ikemba Ojukwu, attended by Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan (right). Photograph: Sunday Alamba/AP
The northern-based Boko Haram Islamists are currently wreaking havoc in Nigeria, ramping up their terrorist attacks and demanding that Sharia law be implemented throughout a country where roughly half the population is Christian. Northern Nigeria is predominantly Muslim, while southern Nigeria is largely Christian. Boko Haram have said that those originally from the south who are now living in the north should return to where they came from or face death. In response, some southern leaders have threatened retaliation against the northerners living in their region.
Nigeria is currently experiencing a surge in ethnic animosity fuelled by the sectarian violence, which the central government has been incapable of quelling. President Goodluck Jonathan recently described the present situation as "worse than during the [1967-70] civil war". In January, Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka said that Nigeria is "already progressing towards a defacto break up."
Nigeria is the result of a 1914 British colonial decision to lump together more than 250 ethnic groups, differing in culture and social structure. In 1967, the eastern part of the country, dominated by the Igbo ethnic group, announced secession under then Colonel Ojukwu after a pogrom of Igbos living in the north. But the central government eventually battled the breakaway republic into submission at the cost of more than 1 million lives.
That laid to rest any ideas of dividing Nigeria at the time, but today a growing number of voices are saying that a breakup would be the best solution for the people living in its territory. "What's the point of keeping the country together when it is clearly not working? Only the northern elites wants one Nigeria, and that's because their region lacks natural resources while there is plenty of oil in the south," a friend of mine from the south told me recently.
"If Yugoslavia and Sudan could break up, then why can't we?" he added.
Many Nigerians from the south feel the north, where education levels are much lower, brings precious little to the nation's table in terms of resources and human capital, yet its elites consume a huge chunk of the national budget due to their political influence.
Why not engineer a peaceful breakup and let new nations build more functional political entities with rulers who share the same values as their citizens? It sounds simple enough.
But on reflection, the belief of a breakup improving things is based on false premises. The first of these is that there is a viable configuration under which Nigeria could split today in a peaceful manner. In reality, a simple north-south divide or even a north-east-west divide simply won't fly.
In the winner-takes-all mentality that pervades modern-day Nigerian society, no ethnic group will want to accept the role of "second fiddle" in a new entity: we would be talking of at least six, maybe even 10 new countries. How many would be able to survive? Are conflicts between them not inevitable, such as between Ethiopia and Eritrea? The post-Yugoslavian states could count on the EU for help. Post-Nigerian states would have no such luxury.
Secondly, the idea of unity even within the same ethnic group is overly idealistic. There are sub-groups and sub-groups of sub-groups within each of Nigeria's tribes. Take away a common enemy to unite them and chaos could ensue.
There would also likely be a battle for control of the oil, which is mostly located in the southern Niger Delta region. This could spark a long-lasting Congo-like conflict.
Nigeria's political scene today is controlled by men commonly referred to as "godfathers," a handful of rich and powerful figures who hand-pick candidates for all the significant political offices in the country, ensuring their victory through bribes, threats and, if necessary, murder.
When their "boy," as such a protege is called, gets into office, he repays his godfather for the "investment" made in him through bogus contracts and a host of other means. He is also obliged to turn a blind eye to any criminal activity that his godfather, or those he protects, might commit.
This system functions in all areas of Nigeria – north and south alike. So what would the creation of new countries change? Secession will not alter the situation of the average Nigerian.
Fingering religious or ethnic differences as the root of Nigeria's problems oversimplifies the situation. The most immediate problem is the godfathers' stranglehold on power. The people of Nigeria will not know freedom until they can unite against this menance and the corruption it brings, much as they did in forcing the British colonialists to relinquish power five decades ago.
Otherwise the outcome of a breakup would simply be smaller, weaker nations governed by systems no less corrupt and dysfunctional than today.
Remi Adekoya was born and raised in Nigeria. He is the politics editor of Warsaw Business Journal, an English-language weekly in Poland, The Guardian UK. He has also worked for the Polish weekly Wprost and has had his articles published in the daily Gazeta Wyborcza and Foreign Policy
Nigeria is ending fuel subsidies, an official said Sunday, a move that is sure to be unpopular in the oil-rich nation where citizens have come to expect cheap fuel as one of their few government benefits. The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency will stop paying the subsidy to petroleum importers effective immediately, executive secretary Reginald Stanley said in a statement.
The government has said the move will save the country some $8 billion, some of which will be dedicated to much-needed infrastructure projects. Previous attempts to lift the subsidies have been met with nationwide strikes.
"Consumers are assured of adequate supply of quality products at prices that are competitive and non-exploitative and so there is no need for anyone to engage in panic buying or product hoarding," the statement read.
However, less than an hour after Sunday's announcement, some gas stations in the commercial capital of Lagos had stopped selling gas, presumably in the hope of selling it post-subsidy for more than the current price of about $1.70 per gallon (45 cents per liter).
A similar move in neighboring Ghana last week raised prices by about 15%, said oil and gas analyst Dolapo Oni.
Nigeria, an OPEC member nation producing about 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day, is a top supplier to the U.S., but virtually all of its petroleum products are imported after years of graft, mismanagement and violence at its refineries.
L-R Dr. Okonj-Iweala, Madueke
Consumers in Nigeria find themselves having to line up for hours whenever events affecting the price or distribution of fuel trigger panic buying or hoarding. Nigerians rely heavily on fuel not only for their cars, but also to power the generators that many homes and businesses use to compensate for the nation's unreliable power supply. They consume more than 9 million gallons (about 35 million liters) of fuel per day, according to a report from the regulatory agency.
The Nigerian Labor Congress declined to immediately comment, but had previously said it would fight any attempt to lift the subsidy.Potential unrest over the subsidy removal would likely add to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's security woes after he declared a state of emergency Saturday in parts of the country affected by a growing Islamist insurgency.
L-RPresident Jonathan, Oil minister Alison-Madueke
In a country where people see little benefit from the country's staggering oil wealth, a culture of distrust has come to define the relationship between the people and their government. However, the country's respected economic team has promised that things will be different.
"Over and over, promises have been broken," said Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former World Bank official, at a recent conference held in Lagos. "Over and over, they have not seen the implementation they want take place ... This is different," she said.
Ms. Okonjo-Iweala has been pushing for the removal and mentioned lifting subsidies during her screening by the Nigerian senate before her appointment as finance minister with extended powers. Analysts believe she expects the move will sanitize the sector of the industry responsible for selling and distributing fuel and make it more efficient.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has put Nigeria’s total debt ( external and domestic debt) as at the end of September this year, at $40 billion.
Director-General, DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, who disclosed this at the weekend in an interactive session with journalists in Lagos, however allayed fears that the country’s debt profile had risen astronomically.
A breakdown of the figure by Nwankwo, showed that whereas the country’s total external debt stood at $5.6 billion, its domestic debt was N5.3 trillion ($34.4 billion).
He argued that the total debt figure at 19.6 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), was sustainable.
Nwankwo explained: “Now, the global standard for all countries that are in our peer group is that you total debt to GDP should be about 40 per cent.
That is the global standard. We did not set the standard and we are at 19.6 per cent. So, if you ask me, I will say that in view of the benchmark, we are doing very well in terms of being comfortable to be within the sustainable limit. However, even though the global standard is 40 per cent, Nigeria had set for itself, a limit of 25 per cent. So even if you look at that, we are still below the standard we set for ourselves.
He however added: “Our plan is that Nigeria should not reach 25 per cent, even by 2015 and then we can look at the figures again and see whether we have improved in our ability to manage resources better before we can borrow additional resources.”
He further explained that when analysing the debt of any country and particularly Nigeria, the debt level should always be related to another variable.
“You relate debt stock to the GDP, you relate debt service to your export earning, relate debt service to your revenue. So, with that, you get the appropriate sovereignty ration, liquidity ratio, because if you don’t do that, you take a wrong decision.
“I challenge you to go and look at Nigeria’s GDP five years ago, either in nominal or real terms and look at the GDP currently. You have to relate the resources to the level and volume of economic activities. So, when you look at Nigeria’s domestic debt, it is not too big. It has grown because when you relate it to the GDP, it is about 16 per cent and when you add that to the external ratio which is about 2 per cent, it gives your 19.6 per cent. So we are stable,” Nwankwo declared.
Responding to question on the high demand for bond by state governments, the DMO helmsmen said that for any state to issue such debt instrument, there are certain criteria and conditions that must be met.
He however challenged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) , government agencies responsible for project monitoring, civil society groups and individuals in the country to ensure that funds raised by states, are properly utilised for the projects that had been indicated in the prospectus before such funds were raised.
L-R: Sanusi,Christine Lagarde (C), Okonjo_Iweala in Lagos (AFP/IMF, Stephen Jaffe)
“Amongst other things, for a state to borrow, its total debt service deduction is established. That is, the amount of debt owed by state that is being deducted from their revenue –particularly from their Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenue, to service the debt.
“Now, the rule is that your (states) total monthly debt service deductions should not be more than 40 per cent of your FAAC allocation average for the past 12 months. So, you can see that states do not just go to the debt market and borrow nor do they just go to the bank and borrow. There is a serious level of control and they must follow certain guideline,” he added. | <urn:uuid:d0db5b34-fda4-486d-b219-0608d1aeb0d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://afripol.org/component/k2/itemlist/tag/undefined.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949401 | 8,713 | 1.539063 | 2 |
PALAZZOLO v. RHODE ISLAND et al.
certiorari to the supreme court of rhode island
No. 99-2047. Argued February 26, 2001--Decided June 28, 2001
In order to acquire the waterfront parcel of Rhode Island land that is here at issue, petitioner and associates formed Shore Gardens, Inc. (SGI), in 1959. After SGI purchased the property petitioner bought out his associates and became the sole shareholder. Most of the property was then, and is now, salt marsh subject to tidal flooding. The wet ground and permeable soil would require considerable fill before significant structures could be built. Over the years, SGI's intermittent applications to develop the property were rejected by various government agencies. After 1966, no further applications were made for over a decade. Two intervening events, however, become important to the issues presented. First, in 1971, the State created respondent Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (Council) and charged it with protecting the State's coastal properties. The Council's regulations, known as the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Program (CRMP), designated salt marshes like those on SGI's property as protected "coastal wetlands" on which development is greatly limited. Second, in 1978 SGI's corporate charter was revoked, and title to the property passed to petitioner as the corporation's sole shareholder. In 1983 petitioner applied to the Council for permission to construct a wooden bulkhead and fill his entire marsh land area. The Council rejected the application, concluding, inter alia, that it would conflict with the CRMP. In 1985 petitioner filed a new application with the Council, seeking permission to fill 11 of the property's 18 wetland acres in order to build a private beach club. The Council rejected this application as well, ruling that the proposal did not satisfy the standards for obtaining a "special exception" to fill salt marsh, whereby the proposed activity must serve a compelling public purpose. Subsequently, petitioner filed an inverse condemnation action in Rhode Island Superior Court, asserting that the State's wetlands regulations, as applied by the Council to his parcel, had taken the property without compensation in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. The suit alleged the Council's action deprived him of "all economically beneficial use" of his property, resulting in a total taking requiring compensation under Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U. S. 1003, and sought $3,150,000 in damages, a figure derived from an appraiser's estimate as to the value of a 74-lot residential subdivision on the property. The court ruled against petitioner, and the State Supreme Court affirmed, holding that (1) petitioner's takings claim was not ripe; (2) he had no right to challenge regulations predating 1978, when he succeeded to legal ownership of the property; (3) he could not assert a takings claim based on the denial of all economic use of his property in light of undisputed evidence that he had $200,000 in development value remaining on an upland parcel of the property; and (4) because the regulation at issue predated his acquisition of title, he could have had no reasonable investment-backed expectation that he could develop his property, and, therefore, he could not recover under Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U. S. 104, 124
1. This case is ripe for review. Pp. 8-16.
(a) A takings claim challenging application of land-use regulations is not ripe unless the agency charged with implementing the regulations has reached a final decision regarding their application to the property at issue. Williamson County Regional Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City, 473 U. S. 172, 186. A final decision does not occur until the responsible agency determines the extent of permitted development on the land. MacDonald, Sommer & Frates v. Yolo County, 477 U. S. 340, 351. Petitioner obtained such a final decision when the Council denied his 1983 and 1985 applications. The State Supreme Court erred in ruling that, notwithstanding those denials, doubt remained as to the extent of development the Council would allow on petitioner's parcel due to his failure to explore other uses for the property that would involve filling substantially less wetlands. This is belied by the unequivocal nature of the wetland regulations at issue and by the Council's application of the regulations to the subject property. The CRMP permits the Council to grant a special exception to engage in a prohibited use only where a "compelling public purpose" is served. The proposal to fill the entire property was not accepted under Council regulations and did not qualify for the special exception. The Council determined the use proposed in the second application (the beach club) did not satisfy the "compelling public purpose" standard. There is no indication the Council would have accepted the application had the proposed club occupied a smaller surface area. To the contrary, it ruled that the proposed activity was not a "compelling public purpose." Although a landowner may not establish a taking before the land-use authority has the opportunity, using its own reasonable procedures, to decide and explain the reach of a challenged regulation, e.g., MacDonald, supra, at 342, once it becomes clear that the permissible uses of the property are known to a reasonable degree of certainty, a takings claim is likely to have ripened. Here, the Council's decisions make plain that it interpreted its regulations to bar petitioner from engaging in any filling or development on the wetlands. Further permit applications were not necessary to establish this point. Pp. 8-12.
(b) Contrary to the State Supreme Court's ruling, petitioner's claim is not unripe by virtue of his failure to seek permission for a use of the property that would involve development only of its upland portion. It is true that there was uncontested testimony that an upland site would have an estimated value of $200,000 if developed. And, while the CRMP requires Council approval to develop upland property lying within 200 feet of protected waters, the strict "compelling public purpose" test does not govern proposed land uses on property in this classification. Council officials testified at trial, moreover, that they would have allowed petitioner to build a residence on the upland parcel. Nevertheless, this Court's ripeness jurisprudence requires petitioner to explore development opportunities on his upland parcel only if there is uncertainty as to the land's permitted use. The State's assertion that the uplands' value is in doubt comes too late for the litigation before this Court. It was stated in the certiorari petition that the uplands were worth an estimated $200,000. The figure not only was uncontested but also was cited as fact in the State's brief in opposition. In this circumstance ripeness cannot be contested by saying that the value of the nonwetland parcels is unknown. See Lucas, supra, at 1020, and n. 9. Nor is there genuine ambiguity in the record as to the extent of permitted development on petitioner's property, either on the wetlands or the uplands. Pp. 12-14.
(c) Nor is petitioner's takings claim rendered unripe, as the State Supreme Court held, by his failure to apply for permission to develop the 74-lot subdivision that was the basis for the damages sought in his inverse condemnation suit. It is difficult to see how this concern is relevant to the inquiry at issue here. The Council informed petitioner that he could not fill the wetlands; it follows of necessity that he could not fill and then build 74 single-family dwellings there. Petitioner's submission of this proposal would not have clarified the extent of development permitted by the wetlands regulations, which is the inquiry required under the Court's ripeness decisions. Pp. 14-16.
2. Petitioner's acquisition of title after the regulations' effective date did not bar his takings claims. This Court rejects the State Supreme Court's sweeping rule that a purchaser or a successive title holder like petitioner is deemed to have notice of an earlier-enacted restriction and is barred from claiming that it effects a taking. Were the Court to accept that rule, the postenactment transfer of title would absolve the State of its obligation to defend any action restricting land use, no matter how extreme or unreasonable. A State would be allowed, in effect, to put an expiration date on the Takings Clause. This ought not to be the rule. Future generations, too, have a right to challenge unreasonable limitations on the use and value of land. The State's notice justification does not take into account the effect on owners at the time of enactment, who are prejudiced as well. Should an owner attempt to challenge a new regulation, but not survive the process of ripening his or her claim (which, as this case demonstrates, will often take years), under the State's rule the right to compensation may not by asserted by an heir or successor, and so may not be asserted at all. The State's rule also would work a critical alteration to the nature of property, as the newly regulated landowner is stripped of the ability to transfer the interest which was possessed prior to the regulation. The State may not by this means secure a windfall for itself. See, e.g., Webb's Fabulous Pharmacies, Inc. v. Beckwith, 449 U. S. 155, 164. The rule is, furthermore, capricious in effect. The young owner contrasted with the older owner, the owner with the resources to hold contrasted with the owner with the need to sell, would be in different positions. The Takings Clause is not so quixotic. A blanket rule that purchasers with notice have no compensation right when a claim becomes ripe is too blunt an instrument to accord with the duty to compensate for what is taken. Nollan v. California Coastal Comm'n, 483 U. S. 825, 834, n. 2, is controlling precedent for the Court's conclusion. Lucas, supra, at 1029, did not overrule Nollan, which is based on essential Takings Clause principles. On remand the state court must address the merits of petitioner's Penn Central claim, which is not barred by the mere fact that his title was acquired after the effective date of the state-imposed restriction. Pp. 16-21.
3. The State Supreme Court did not err in finding that petitioner failed to establish a deprivation of all economic use, for it is undisputed that his parcel retains significant development value. Petitioner is correct that, assuming a taking is otherwise established, a State may not evade the duty to compensate on the premise that the landowner is left with a token interest. This is not the situation in this case, however. A regulation permitting a landowner to build a substantial residence on an 18-acre parcel does not leave the property "economically idle." Lucas, supra, at 1019. Petitioner attempts to revive this part of his claim by arguing, for the first time, that the upland parcel is distinct from the wetlands portions, so he should be permitted to assert a deprivation limited to the latter. The Court will not explore the point here. Petitioner did not press the argument in the state courts, and the issue was not presented in his certiorari petition. The case comes to the Court on the premise that petitioner's entire parcel serves as the basis for his takings claim, and, so framed, the total deprivation argument fails. Pp. 21-23.
4. Because petitioner's claims under the Penn Central analysis were not examined below, the case is remanded. Pp. 7, 22.
746 A. 2d 707, affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
Kennedy, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and O'Connor, Scalia, and Thomas, JJ., joined, and in which Stevens, J., joined as to Part II-A. O'Connor, J., and Scalia, J., filed concurring opinions. Stevens, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. Ginsburg, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Souter and Breyer, JJ., joined. Breyer, J., filed a dissenting opinion.
ANTHONY PALAZZOLO, PETITIONER v.
RHODE ISLAND et al.
on writ of certiorari to the supreme court of rhode island
[June 28, 2001]
Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.
Petitioner Anthony Palazzolo owns a waterfront parcel of land in the town of Westerly, Rhode Island. Almost all of the property is designated as coastal wetlands under Rhode Island law. After petitioner's development proposals were rejected by respondent Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (Council), he sued in state court, asserting the Council's application of its wetlands regulations took the property without compensation in violation of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, binding upon the State through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Petitioner sought review in this Court, contending the Supreme Court of Rhode Island erred in rejecting his takings claim. We granted certiorari. 531 U. S. 923 (2000).
The town of Westerly is on an edge of the Rhode Island coastline. The town's western border is the Pawcatuck River, which at that point is the boundary between Rhode Island and Connecticut. Situated on land purchased from the Narragansett Indian Tribe, the town was incorporated in 1669 and had a precarious, though colorful, early history. Both Connecticut and Massachusetts contested the boundaries--and indeed the validity--of Rhode Island's royal charter; and Westerly's proximity to Connecticut invited encroachments during these jurisdictional squabbles. See M. Best, The Town that Saved a State--Westerly 60-83 (1943); see also W. McLaughlin, Rhode Island: A Bicentennial History 39-57 (1978). When the borders of the Rhode Island Colony were settled by compact in 1728, the town's development was more orderly, and with some historical distinction. For instance, Watch Hill Point, the peninsula at the southwestern tip of the town, was of strategic importance in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. See Best, supra, at 190; F. Denison, Westerly and its Witnesses 118-119 (1878).
In later times Westerly's coastal location had a new significance: It became a popular vacation and seaside destination. One of the town's historians gave this happy account:
"After the Civil War the rapid growth of manufacture and expansion of trade had created a spending class on pleasure bent, and Westerly had superior attractions to offer, surf bathing on ocean beaches, quieter bathing in salt and fresh water ponds, fishing, annual sail and later motor boat races. The broad beaches of clean white sand dip gently toward the sea; there are no odorous marshes at low tide, no railroad belches smoke, and the climate is unrivalled on the coast, that of Newport only excepted. In the phenomenal heat wave of 1881 ocean resorts from northern New England to southern New Jersey sweltered as the thermometer climbed to 95 and 104 degrees, while Watch Hill enjoyed a comfortable 80. When Providence to the north runs a temperature of 90, the mercury in this favored spot remains at 77." Best, supra, at 192.
Westerly today has about 20,000 year-round residents, and thousands of summer visitors come to enjoy its beaches and coastal advantages.
One of the more popular attractions is Misquamicut State Beach, a lengthy expanse of coastline facing Block Island Sound and beyond to the Atlantic Ocean. The primary point of access to the beach is Atlantic Avenue, a well-traveled 3-mile stretch of road running along the coastline within the town's limits. At its western end, Atlantic Avenue is something of a commercial strip, with restaurants, hotels, arcades, and other typical seashore businesses. The pattern of development becomes more residential as the road winds eastward onto a narrow spine of land bordered to the south by the beach and the ocean, and to the north by Winnapaug Pond, an intertidal inlet often used by residents for boating, fishing, and shellfishing.
In 1959 petitioner, a lifelong Westerly resident, decided to invest in three undeveloped, adjoining parcels along this eastern stretch of Atlantic Avenue. To the north, the property faces, and borders upon, Winnapaug Pond; the south of the property faces Atlantic Avenue and the beachfront homes abutting it on the other side, and beyond that the dunes and the beach. To purchase and hold the property, petitioner and associates formed Shore Gardens, Inc. (SGI). After SGI purchased the property petitioner bought out his associates and became the sole shareholder. In the first decade of SGI's ownership of the property the corporation submitted a plat to the town subdividing the property into 80 lots; and it engaged in various transactions that left it with 74 lots, which together encompassed about 20 acres. During the same period SGI also made initial attempts to develop the property and submitted intermittent applications to state agencies to fill substantial portions of the parcel. Most of the property was then, as it is now, salt marsh subject to tidal flooding. The wet ground and permeable soil would require considerable fill--as much as six feet in some places--before significant structures could be built. SGI's proposal, submitted in 1962 to the Rhode Island Division of Harbors and Rivers (DHR), sought to dredge from Winnapaug Pond and fill the entire property. The application was denied for lack of essential information. A second, similar proposal followed a year later. A third application, submitted in 1966 while the second application was pending, proposed more limited filling of the land for use as a private beach club. These latter two applications were referred to the Rhode Island Department of Natural Resources, which indicated initial assent. The agency later withdrew approval, however, citing adverse environmental impacts. SGI did not contest the ruling.
No further attempts to develop the property were made for over a decade. Two intervening events, however, become important to the issues presented. First, in 1971, Rhode Island enacted legislation creating the Council, an agency charged with the duty of protecting the State's coastal properties. 1971 R. I. Pub. Laws ch. 279, §1 et seq. Regulations promulgated by the Council designated salt marshes like those on SGI's property as protected "coastal wetlands," Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Program (CRMP) §210.3 (as amended, June 28, 1983) (lodged with the Clerk of this Court), on which development is limited to a great extent. Second, in 1978 SGI's corporate charter was revoked for failure to pay corporate income taxes; and title to the property passed, by operation of state law, to petitioner as the corporation's sole shareholder.
In 1983 petitioner, now the owner, renewed the efforts to develop the property. An application to the Council, resembling the 1962 submission, requested permission to construct a wooden bulkhead along the shore of Winnapaug Pond and to fill the entire marsh land area. The Council rejected the application, noting it was "vague and inadequate for a project of this size and nature." App. 16. The agency also found that "the proposed activities will have significant impacts upon the waters and wetlands of Winnapaug Pond," and concluded that "the proposed alteration ... will conflict with the Coastal Resources Management Plan presently in effect." Id., at 17. Petitioner did not appeal the agency's determination.
Petitioner went back to the drawing board, this time hiring counsel and preparing a more specific and limited proposal for use of the property. The new application, submitted to the Council in 1985, echoed the 1966 request to build a private beach club. The details do not tend to inspire the reader with an idyllic coastal image, for the proposal was to fill 11 acres of the property with gravel to accommodate "50 cars with boat trailers, a dumpster, port-a-johns, picnic tables, barbecue pits of concrete, and other trash receptacles." Id., at 25.
The application fared no better with the Council than previous ones. Under the agency's regulations, a landowner wishing to fill salt marsh on Winnapaug Pond needed a "special exception" from the Council. CRMP §130. In a short opinion the Council said the beach club proposal conflicted with the regulatory standard for a special exception. See App. 27. To secure a special exception the proposed activity must serve "a compelling public purpose which provides benefits to the public as a whole as opposed to individual or private interests." CRMP §130A(1). This time petitioner appealed the decision to the Rhode Island courts, challenging the Council's conclusion as contrary to principles of state administrative law. The Council's decision was affirmed. See App. 31-42.
Petitioner filed an inverse condemnation action in Rhode Island Superior Court, asserting that the State's wetlands regulations, as applied by the Council to his parcel, had taken the property without compensation in violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. See App. 45. The suit alleged the Council's action deprived him of "all economically beneficial use" of his property, ibid., resulting in a total taking requiring compensation under Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U. S. 1003 (1992). He sought damages in the amount of $3,150,000, a figure derived from an appraiser's estimate as to the value of a 74-lot residential subdivision. The State countered with a host of defenses. After a bench trial, a justice of the Superior Court ruled against petitioner, accepting some of the State's theories. App. to Pet. for Cert. B-1 to B-13.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court affirmed. 746 A. 2d 707 (2000). Like the Superior Court, the State Supreme Court recited multiple grounds for rejecting petitioner's suit. The court held, first, that petitioner's takings claim was not ripe, id., at 712-715; second, that petitioner had no right to challenge regulations predating 1978, when he succeeded to legal ownership of the property from SGI, id., at 716; and third, that the claim of deprivation of all economically beneficial use was contradicted by undisputed evidence that he had $200,000 in development value remaining on an upland parcel of the property, id., at 715. In addition to holding petitioner could not assert a takings claim based on the denial of all economic use the court concluded he could not recover under the more general test of Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U. S. 104 (1978). On this claim, too, the date of acquisition of the parcel was found determinative, and the court held he could have had "no reasonable investment-backed expectations that were affected by this regulation" because it predated his ownership, 746 A. 2d, at 717; see also Penn Central, supra, at 124.
We disagree with the Supreme Court of Rhode Island as to the first two of these conclusions; and, we hold, the court was correct to conclude that the owner is not deprived of all economic use of his property because the value of upland portions is substantial. We remand for further consideration of the claim under the principles set forth in Penn Central.
The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, applicable to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment, Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co. v. Chicago, 166 U. S. 226 (1897), prohibits the government from taking private property for public use without just compensation. The clearest sort of taking occurs when the government encroaches upon or occupies private land for its own proposed use. Our cases establish that even a minimal "permanent physical occupation of real property" requires compensation under the Clause. Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Corp., 458 U. S. 419, 427 (1982). In Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U. S. 393 (1922), the Court recognized that there will be instances when government actions do not encroach upon or occupy the property yet still affect and limit its use to such an extent that a taking occurs. In Justice Holmes' well-known, if less than self-defining, formulation, "while property may be regulated to a certain extent, if a regulation goes too far it will be recognized as a taking." Id., at 415.
Since Mahon, we have given some, but not too specific, guidance to courts confronted with deciding whether a particular government action goes too far and effects a regulatory taking. First, we have observed, with certain qualifications, see infra at 19-21, that a regulation which "denies all economically beneficial or productive use of land" will require compensation under the Takings Clause. Lucas, 505 U. S., at 1015; see also id., at 1035 (Kennedy, J., concurring); Agins v. City of Tiburon, 447 U. S. 255, 261 (1980). Where a regulation places limitations on land that fall short of eliminating all economically beneficial use, a taking nonetheless may have occurred, depending on a complex of factors including the regulation's economic effect on the landowner, the extent to which the regulation interferes with reasonable investment-backed expectations, and the character of the government action. Penn Central, supra, at 124. These inquiries are informed by the purpose of the Takings Clause, which is to prevent the government from "forcing some people alone to bear public burdens which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole." Armstrong v. United States, 364 U. S. 40, 49 (1960).
Petitioner seeks compensation under these principles. At the outset, however, we face the two threshold considerations invoked by the state court to bar the claim: ripeness, and acquisition which postdates the regulation.
In Williamson County Regional Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City, 473 U. S. 172 (1985), the Court explained the requirement that a takings claim must be ripe. The Court held that a takings claim challenging the application of land-use regulations is not ripe unless "the government entity charged with implementing the regulations has reached a final decision regarding the application of the regulations to the property at issue." Id., at 186. A final decision by the responsible state agency informs the constitutional determination whether a regulation has deprived a landowner of "all economically beneficial use" of the property, see Lucas, supra, at 1015, or defeated the reasonable investment-backed expectations of the landowner to the extent that a taking has occurred, see Penn Central, supra, at 124. These matters cannot be resolved in definitive terms until a court knows "the extent of permitted development" on the land in question. MacDonald, Sommer & Frates v. Yolo County, 477 U. S. 340, 351 (1986). Drawing on these principles, the Rhode Island Supreme Court held that petitioner had not taken the necessary steps to ripen his takings claim.
The central question in resolving the ripeness issue, under Williamson County and other relevant decisions, is whether petitioner obtained a final decision from the Council determining the permitted use for the land. As we have noted, SGI's early applications to fill had been granted at one point, though that assent was later revoked. Petitioner then submitted two proposals: the 1983 proposal to fill the entire parcel, and the 1985 proposal to fill 11 of the property's 18 wetland acres for construction of the beach club. The court reasoned that, notwithstanding the Council's denials of the applications, doubt remained as to the extent of development the Council would allow on petitioner's parcel. We cannot agree.
The court based its holding in part upon petitioner's failure to explore "any other use for the property that would involve filling substantially less wetlands." 746 A. 2d, at 714. It relied upon this Court's observations that the final decision requirement is not satisfied when a developer submits, and a land use authority denies, a grandiose development proposal, leaving open the possibility that lesser uses of the property might be permitted. See MacDonald, supra, at 353, n. 9. The suggestion is that while the Council rejected petitioner's effort to fill all of the wetlands, and then rejected his proposal to fill 11 of the wetland acres, perhaps an application to fill (for instance) 5 acres would have been approved. Thus, the reasoning goes, we cannot know for sure the extent of permitted development on petitioner's wetlands.
This is belied by the unequivocal nature of the wetland regulations at issue and by the Council's application of the regulations to the subject property. Winnapaug Pond is classified under the CRMP as a Type 2 body of water. See CRMP §200.2. A landowner, as a general rule, is prohibited from filling or building residential structures on wetlands adjacent to Type 2 waters, see id., Table 1, p. 22, and §210.3(C)(4), but may seek a special exception from the Council to engage in a prohibited use, see id., §130. The Council is permitted to allow the exception, however, only where a "compelling public purpose" is served. Id., §130A(2). The proposal to fill the entire property was not accepted under Council regulations and did not qualify for the special exception. The Council determined the use proposed in the second application (the beach club) did not satisfy the "compelling public purpose" standard. There is no indication the Council would have accepted the application had petitioner's proposed beach club occupied a smaller surface area. To the contrary, it ruled that the proposed activity was not a "compelling public purpose." App. 27; cf. id., at 17 (1983 application to fill wetlands proposed an "activity" conflicting with the CRMP).
Williamson County's final decision requirement "responds to the high degree of discretion characteristically possessed by land-use boards in softening the strictures of the general regulations they administer." Suitum v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 520 U. S. 725, 738 (1997). While a landowner must give a land-use authority an opportunity to exercise its discretion, once it becomes clear that the agency lacks the discretion to permit any development, or the permissible uses of the property are known to a reasonable degree of certainty, a takings claim is likely to have ripened. The case is quite unlike those upon which respondents place principal reliance, which arose when an owner challenged a land-use authority's denial of a substantial project, leaving doubt whether a more modest submission or an application for a variance would be accepted. See MacDonald, supra, at 342 (denial of 159-home residential subdivision); Williamson County, 473 U. S., at 182 (476-unit subdivision); cf. Agins v. City of Tiburon, 447 U. S. 255 (1980) (case not ripe because no plan to develop was submitted).
These cases stand for the important principle that a landowner may not establish a taking before a land-use authority has the opportunity, using its own reasonable procedures, to decide and explain the reach of a challenged regulation. Under our ripeness rules a takings claim based on a law or regulation which is alleged to go too far in burdening property depends upon the landowner's first having followed reasonable and necessary steps to allow regulatory agencies to exercise their full discretion in considering development plans for the property, including the opportunity to grant any variances or waivers allowed by law. As a general rule, until these ordinary processes have been followed the extent of the restriction on property is not known and a regulatory taking has not yet been established. See Suitum, supra, at 736, and n. 10 (noting difficulty of demonstrating that "mere enactment" of regulations restricting land use effects a taking). Government authorities, of course, may not burden property by imposition of repetitive or unfair land-use procedures in order to avoid a final decision. Monterey v. Del Monte Dunes at Monterey, Ltd., 526 U. S. 687, 698 (1999).
With respect to the wetlands on petitioner's property, the Council's decisions make plain that the agency interpreted its regulations to bar petitioner from engaging in any filling or development activity on the wetlands, a fact reinforced by the Attorney General's forthright responses to our questioning during oral argument in this case. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 26, 31. The rulings of the Council interpreting the regulations at issue, and the briefs, arguments, and candid statements by counsel for both sides, leave no doubt on this point: On the wetlands there can be no fill for any ordinary land use. There can be no fill for its own sake; no fill for a beach club, either rustic or upscale; no fill for a subdivision; no fill for any likely or foreseeable use. And with no fill there can be no structures and no development on the wetlands. Further permit applications were not necessary to establish this point.
As noted above, however, not all of petitioner's parcel constitutes protected wetlands. The trial court accepted uncontested testimony that an upland site located at the eastern end of the property would have an estimated value of $200,000 if developed. App. to Pet. for Cert. B-5. While Council approval is required to develop upland property which lies within 200 feet of protected waters, see CRMP §100.1(A), the strict "compelling public purpose" test does not govern proposed land uses on property in this classification, see id., §110, Table 1A, §120. Council officials testified at trial, moreover, that they would have allowed petitioner to build a residence on the upland parcel. App. to Pet. for Cert. B-5. The State Supreme Court found petitioner's claim unripe for the further reason that he "has not sought permission for any ... use of the property that would involve ... development only of the upland portion of the parcel." 746 A. 2d, at 714.
In assessing the significance of petitioner's failure to submit applications to develop the upland area it is important to bear in mind the purpose that the final decision requirement serves. Our ripeness jurisprudence imposes obligations on landowners because "[a] court cannot determine whether a regulation goes `too far' unless it knows how far the regulation goes." MacDonald, 477 U. S., at 348. Ripeness doctrine does not require a landowner to submit applications for their own sake. Petitioner is required to explore development opportunities on his upland parcel only if there is uncertainty as to the land's permitted use.
The State asserts the value of the uplands is in doubt. It relies in part on a comment in the opinion of the Rhode Island Supreme Court that "it would be possible to build at least one single-family home on the upland portion of the parcel." 746 A. 2d, at 714. It argues that the qualification "at least" indicates that additional development beyond the single dwelling was possible. The attempt to interject ambiguity as to the value or use of the uplands, however, comes too late in the day for purposes of litigation before this Court. It was stated in the petition for certiorari that the uplands on petitioner's property had an estimated worth of $200,000. See Pet. for Cert. 21. The figure not only was uncontested but also was cited as fact in the State's brief in opposition. See Brief in Opposition 4, 19. In this circumstance ripeness cannot be contested by saying that the value of the nonwetland parcels is unknown. See Lucas, 505 U. S., at 1020, and n. 9.
The State's prior willingness to accept the $200,000 figure, furthermore, is well founded. The only reference to upland property in the trial court's opinion is to a single parcel worth an estimated $200,000. See App. to Pet. for Cert B-5. There was, it must be acknowledged, testimony at trial suggesting the existence of an additional upland parcel elsewhere on the property. See Tr. 190-191, 199-120 (testimony of Dr. Grover Fugate, Council Executive Director); see also id. at 610 (testimony of Mr. Steven Clarke). The testimony indicated, however, that the potential, second upland parcel was on an "island" which required construction of a road across wetlands, id., at 610, 623-624 (testimony of Mr. Clarke)--and, as discussed above, the filling of wetlands for such a purpose would not justify a special exception under Council regulations. See supra, at 10-11; see also Brief for Respondents 10 ("Residential construction is not the basis of such a `special exception' "). Perhaps for this reason, the State did not maintain in the trial court that additional uplands could have been developed. To the contrary, its post-trial memorandum identified only the single parcel that petitioner concedes retains a development value of $200,000. See State's Post-Trial Memorandum in No. 88-0297 (Super. Ct. R. I.), 25, 81. The trial court accepted the figure. So there is no genuine ambiguity in the record as to the extent of permitted development on petitioner's property, either on the wetlands or the uplands.
Nonetheless, there is some suggestion that the use permitted on the uplands is not known, because the State accepted the $200,000 value for the upland parcel on the premise that only a Lucas claim was raised in the pleadings in the state trial court. See Brief of Respondents 29-30. Since a Penn Central argument was not pressed at trial, it is argued, the State had no reason to assert with vigor that more than a single-family residence might be placed on the uplands. We disagree; the State was aware of the applicability of Penn Central. The issue whether the Council's decisions amounted to a taking under Penn Central was discussed in the trial court, App. to Pet. for Cert. B-7, the State Supreme Court, 746 A. 2d, at 717, and the State's own post-trial submissions, see State's Post-Trial Supplemental Memorandum 7-10. The state court opinions cannot be read as indicating that a Penn Central claim was not properly presented from the outset of this litigation.
A final ripeness issue remains. In concluding that Williamson County's final decision requirement was not satisfied the State Supreme Court placed emphasis on petitioner's failure to "appl[y] for permission to develop [the] seventy-four-lot subdivision" that was the basis for the damages sought in his inverse condemnation suit. 746 A. 2d, at 714. The court did not explain why it thought this fact significant, but respondents and amici defend the ruling. The Council's practice, they assert, is to consider a proposal only if the applicant has satisfied all other regulatory preconditions for the use envisioned in the application. The subdivision proposal that was the basis for petitioner's takings claim, they add, could not have proceeded before the Council without, at minimum, zoning approval from the town of Westerly and a permit from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management allowing the installation of individual sewage disposal systems on the property. Petitioner is accused of employing a hide the ball strategy of submitting applications for more modest uses to the Council, only to assert later a takings action predicated on the purported inability to build a much larger project. Brief for the National Wildlife Federation et al. as Amici Curiae 9.
It is difficult to see how this concern is relevant to the inquiry at issue here. Petitioner was informed by the Council that he could not fill the wetlands; it follows of necessity that he could not fill and then build 74 single-family dwellings upon it. Petitioner's submission of this proposal would not have clarified the extent of development permitted by the wetlands regulations, which is the inquiry required under our ripeness decisions. The State's concern may be that landowners could demand damages for a taking based on a project that could not have been constructed under other, valid zoning restrictions quite apart from the regulation being challenged. This, of course, is a valid concern in inverse condemnation cases alleging injury from wrongful refusal to permit development. The instant case does not require us to pass upon the authority of a state to insist in such cases that landowners follow normal planning procedures or to enact rules to control damage awards based on hypothetical uses that should have been reviewed in the normal course, and we do not intend to cast doubt upon such rules here. The mere allegation of entitlement to the value of an intensive use will not avail the landowner if the project would not have been allowed under other existing, legitimate land use limitations. When a taking has occurred, under accepted condemnation principles the owner's damages will be based upon the property's fair market value, see, e.g., Olson v. United States, 292 U. S. 246, 255 (1934); 4 J. Sackman, Nichols on Eminent Domain §12.01 (rev. 3d ed. 2000)--an inquiry which will turn, in part, on restrictions on use imposed by legitimate zoning or other regulatory limitations, see id., at §12C.03.
The state court, however, did not rely upon state law ripeness or exhaustion principles in holding that petitioner's takings claim was barred by virtue of his failure to apply for a 74-lot subdivision; it relied on Williamson County. As we have explained, Williamson County and our other ripeness decisions do not impose further obligations on petitioner, for the limitations the wetland regulations imposed were clear from the Council's denial of his applications, and there is no indication that any use involving any substantial structures or improvements would have been allowed. Where the state agency charged with enforcing a challenged land use regulation entertains an application from an owner and its denial of the application makes clear the extent of development permitted, and neither the agency nor a reviewing state court has cited non-compliance with reasonable state law exhaustion or pre-permit processes, see Felder v. Casey, 487 U. S. 131, 150-151 (1988), federal ripeness rules do not require the submission of further and futile applications with other agencies.
We turn to the second asserted basis for declining to address petitioner's takings claim on the merits. When the Council promulgated its wetlands regulations, the disputed parcel was owned not by petitioner but by the corporation of which he was sole shareholder. When title was transferred to petitioner by operation of law, the wetlands regulations were in force. The state court held the postregulation acquisition of title was fatal to the claim for deprivation of all economic use, 746 A. 2d, at 716, and to the Penn Central claim, id., at 717. While the first holding was couched in terms of background principles of state property law, see Lucas, 505 U. S., at 1015, and the second in terms of petitioner's reasonable investment-backed expectations, see Penn Central, 438 U. S., at 124, the two holdings together amount to a single, sweeping, rule: A purchaser or a successive title holder like petitioner is deemed to have notice of an earlier-enacted restriction and is barred from claiming that it effects a taking.
The theory underlying the argument that post-enactment purchasers cannot challenge a regulation under the Takings Clause seems to run on these lines: Property rights are created by the State. See, e.g., Phillips v. Washington Legal Foundation, 524 U. S. 156, 163 (1998). So, the argument goes, by prospective legislation the State can shape and define property rights and reasonable investment-backed expectations, and subsequent owners cannot claim any injury from lost value. After all, they purchased or took title with notice of the limitation.
The State may not put so potent a Hobbesian stick into the Lockean bundle. The right to improve property, of course, is subject to the reasonable exercise of state authority, including the enforcement of valid zoning and land-use restrictions. See Pennsylvania Coal Co., 260 U. S., at 413 ("Government hardly could go on if to some extent values incident to property could not be diminished without paying for every such change in the general law"). The Takings Clause, however, in certain circumstances allows a landowner to assert that a particular exercise of the State's regulatory power is so unreasonable or onerous as to compel compensation. Just as a prospective enactment, such as a new zoning ordinance, can limit the value of land without effecting a taking because it can be understood as reasonable by all concerned, other enactments are unreasonable and do not become less so through passage of time or title. Were we to accept the State's rule, the postenactment transfer of title would absolve the State of its obligation to defend any action restricting land use, no matter how extreme or unreasonable. A State would be allowed, in effect, to put an expiration date on the Takings Clause. This ought not to be the rule. Future generations, too, have a right to challenge unreasonable limitations on the use and value of land.
Nor does the justification of notice take into account the effect on owners at the time of enactment, who are prejudiced as well. Should an owner attempt to challenge a new regulation, but not survive the process of ripening his or her claim (which, as this case demonstrates, will often take years), under the proposed rule the right to compensation may not by asserted by an heir or successor, and so may not be asserted at all. The State's rule would work a critical alteration to the nature of property, as the newly regulated landowner is stripped of the ability to transfer the interest which was possessed prior to the regulation. The State may not by this means secure a windfall for itself. See Webb's Fabulous Pharmacies, Inc. v. Beckwith, 449 U. S. 155, 164 (1980) ("[A] State, by ipse dixit, may not transform private property into public property without compensation"); cf. Ellickson, Property in Land, 102 Yale L. J. 1315, 1368-1369 (1993) (right to transfer interest in land is a defining characteristic of the fee simple estate). The proposed rule is, furthermore, capricious in effect. The young owner contrasted with the older owner, the owner with the resources to hold contrasted with the owner with the need to sell, would be in different positions. The Takings Clause is not so quixotic. A blanket rule that purchasers with notice have no compensation right when a claim becomes ripe is too blunt an instrument to accord with the duty to compensate for what is taken.
Direct condemnation, by invocation of the State's power of eminent domain, presents different considerations than cases alleging a taking based on a burdensome regulation. In a direct condemnation action, or when a State has physically invaded the property without filing suit, the fact and extent of the taking are known. In such an instance, it is a general rule of the law of eminent domain that any award goes to the owner at the time of the taking, and that the right to compensation is not passed to a subsequent purchaser. See Danforth v. United States, 308 U. S. 271, 284 (1939); 2 Sackman, Eminent Domain, at §5.01[d][i] ("It is well settled that when there is a taking of property by eminent domain in compliance with the law, it is the owner of the property at the time of the taking who is entitled to compensation"). A challenge to the application of a land-use regulation, by contrast, does not mature until ripeness requirements have been satisfied, under principles we have discussed; until this point an inverse condemnation claim alleging a regulatory taking cannot be maintained. It would be illogical, and unfair, to bar a regulatory takings claim because of the post-enactment transfer of ownership where the steps necessary to make the claim ripe were not taken, or could not have been taken, by a previous owner.
There is controlling precedent for our conclusion. Nollan v. California Coastal Comm'n, 483 U. S. 825 (1987), presented the question whether it was consistent with the Takings Clause for a state regulatory agency to require oceanfront landowners to provide lateral beach access to the public as the condition for a development permit. The principal dissenting opinion observed it was a policy of the California Coastal Commission to require the condition, and that the Nollans, who purchased their home after the policy went into effect, were "on notice that new developments would be approved only if provisions were made for lateral beach access." Id., at 860 (Brennan, J., dissenting). A majority of the Court rejected the proposition. "So long as the Commission could not have deprived the prior owners of the easement without compensating them," the Court reasoned, "the prior owners must be understood to have transferred their full property rights in conveying the lot." Id., at 834, n. 2.
It is argued that Nollan's holding was limited by the later decision in Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U. S. 1003 (1992). In Lucas the Court observed that a landowner's ability to recover for a government deprivation of all economically beneficial use of property is not absolute but instead is confined by limitations on the use of land which "inhere in the title itself." Id., at 1029. This is so, the Court reasoned, because the landowner is constrained by those "restrictions that background principles of the State's law of property and nuisance already place upon land ownership." Id., at 1029. It is asserted here that Lucas stands for the proposition that any new regulation, once enacted, becomes a background principle of property law which cannot be challenged by those who acquire title after the enactment.
We have no occasion to consider the precise circumstances when a legislative enactment can be deemed a background principle of state law or whether those circumstances are present here. It suffices to say that a regulation that otherwise would be unconstitutional absent compensation is not transformed into a background principle of the State's law by mere virtue of the passage of title. This relative standard would be incompatible with our description of the concept in Lucas, which is explained in terms of those common, shared understandings of permissible limitations derived from a State's legal tradition, see Lucas, supra, at 1029-1030. A regulation or common-law rule cannot be a background principle for some owners but not for others. The determination whether an existing, general law can limit all economic use of property must turn on objective factors, such as the nature of the land use proscribed. See Lucas, supra, at 1030 ("The `total taking' inquiry we require today will ordinarily entail ... analysis of, among other things, the degree of harm to public lands and resources, or adjacent private property, posed by the claimant's proposed activities"). A law does not become a background principle for subsequent owners by enactment itself. Lucas did not overrule our holding in Nollan, which, as we have noted, is based on essential Takings Clause principles.
For reasons we discuss next, the state court will not find it necessary to explore these matters on remand in connection with the claim that all economic use was deprived; it must address, however, the merits of petitioner's claim under Penn Central. That claim is not barred by the mere fact that title was acquired after the effective date of the state-imposed restriction.
As the case is ripe, and as the date of transfer of title does not bar petitioner's takings claim, we have before us the alternative ground relied upon by the Rhode Island Supreme Court in ruling upon the merits of the takings claims. It held that all economically beneficial use was not deprived because the uplands portion of the property can still be improved. On this point, we agree with the court's decision. Petitioner accepts the Council's contention and the state trial court's finding that his parcel retains $200,000 in development value under the State's wetlands regulations. He asserts, nonetheless, that he has suffered a total taking and contends the Council cannot sidestep the holding in Lucas "by the simple expedient of leaving a landowner a few crumbs of value." Brief for Petitioner 37.
Assuming a taking is otherwise established, a State may not evade the duty to compensate on the premise that the landowner is left with a token interest. This is not the situation of the landowner in this case, however. A regulation permitting a landowner to build a substantial residence on an 18-acre parcel does not leave the property "economically idle." Lucas, supra, at 1019.
In his brief submitted to us petitioner attempts to revive this part of his claim by reframing it. He argues, for the first time, that the upland parcel is distinct from the wetlands portions, so he should be permitted to assert a deprivation limited to the latter. This contention asks us to examine the difficult, persisting question of what is the proper denominator in the takings fraction. See Michelman, Property, Utility, and Fairness: Comments on the Ethical Foundations of "Just Compensation Law," 80 Harv. L. Rev. 1165, 1192 (1967). Some of our cases indicate that the extent of deprivation effected by a regulatory action is measured against the value of the parcel as a whole, see, e.g., Keystone Bituminous Coal Assn. v. DeBenedictis, 480 U. S. 470, 497 (1987); but we have at times expressed discomfort with the logic of this rule, see Lucas, supra, at 1016-1017, n. 7, a sentiment echoed by some commentators, see, e.g., Epstein, Takings: Descent and Resurrection, 1987 Sup. Ct. Rev. 1, 16-17 (1987); Fee, Unearthing the Denominator in Regulatory Takings Claims, 61 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1535 (1994). Whatever the merits of these criticisms, we will not explore the point here. Petitioner did not press the argument in the state courts, and the issue was not presented in the petition for certiorari. The case comes to us on the premise that petitioner's entire parcel serves as the basis for his takings claim, and, so framed, the total deprivation argument fails.
* * *
For the reasons we have discussed, the State Supreme Court erred in finding petitioner's claims were unripe and in ruling that acquisition of title after the effective date of the regulations barred the takings claims. The court did not err in finding that petitioner failed to establish a deprivation of all economic value, for it is undisputed that the parcel retains significant worth for construction of a residence. The claims under the Penn Central analysis were not examined, and for this purpose the case should be remanded.
The judgment of the Rhode Island Supreme Court is affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
ANTHONY PALAZZOLO, PETITIONER v.
RHODE ISLAND et al.
on writ of certiorari to the supreme court of rhode island
[June 28, 2001]
Justice O'Connor, concurring.
I join the opinion of the Court but with my understanding of how the issues discussed in Part II-B of the opinion must be considered on remand.
Part II-B of the Court's opinion addresses the circumstance, present in this case, where a takings claimant has acquired title to the regulated property after the enactment of the regulation at issue. As the Court holds, the Rhode Island Supreme Court erred in effectively adopting the sweeping rule that the preacquisition enactment of the use restriction ipso facto defeats any takings claim based on that use restriction. Accordingly, the Court holds that petitioner's claim under Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U. S. 104 (1978), "is not barred by the mere fact that title was acquired after the effective date of the state-imposed restriction." Ante, at 21.
The more difficult question is what role the temporal relationship between regulatory enactment and title acquisition plays in a proper Penn Central analysis. Today's holding does not mean that the timing of the regulation's enactment relative to the acquisition of title is immaterial to the Penn Central analysis. Indeed, it would be just as much error to expunge this consideration from the takings inquiry as it would be to accord it exclusive significance. Our polestar instead remains the principles set forth in Penn Central itself and our other cases that govern partial regulatory takings. Under these cases, interference with investment-backed expectations is one of a number of factors that a court must examine. Further, the regulatory regime in place at the time the claimant acquires the property at issue helps to shape the reasonableness of those expectations.
The Fifth Amendment forbids the taking of private property for public use without just compensation. We have recognized that this constitutional guarantee is " `designed to bar Government from forcing some people alone to bear public burdens which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole.' " Penn Central, supra, at 123-124 (quoting Armstrong v. United States, 364 U. S. 40, 49 (1960)). The concepts of "fairness and justice" that underlie the Takings Clause, of course, are less than fully determinate. Accordingly, we have eschewed "any `set formula' for determining when `justice and fairness' require that economic injuries caused by public action be compensated by the government, rather than remain disproportionately concentrated on a few persons." Penn Central, supra, at 124 (quoting Goldblatt v. Hempstead, 369 U. S. 590, 594 (1962)). The outcome instead "depends largely `upon the particular circumstances [in that] case.' " Penn Central, supra, at 124 (quoting United States v. Central Eureka Mining Co., 357 U. S. 155, 168 (1958)).
We have "identified several factors that have particular significance" in these "essentially ad hoc, factual inquiries." Penn Central, 438 U. S., at 124. Two such factors are "[t]he economic impact of the regulation on the claimant and, particularly, the extent to which the regulation has interfered with distinct investment-backed expectations." Ibid. Another is "the character of the governmental action." Ibid. The purposes served, as well as the effects produced, by a particular regulation inform the takings analysis. Id., at 127 ("[A] use restriction on real property may constitute a `taking' if not reasonably necessary to the effectuation of a substantial public purpose, [citations omitted], or perhaps if it has an unduly harsh impact upon the owner's use of the property"); see also Yee v. Escondido, 503 U. S. 519, 523 (1992) (Regulatory takings cases "necessarily entai[l] complex factual assessments of the purposes and economic effects of government actions"). Penn Central does not supply mathematically precise variables, but instead provides important guideposts that lead to the ultimate determination whether just compensation is required.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court concluded that, because the wetlands regulations predated petitioner's acquisition of the property at issue, petitioner lacked reasonable investment-backed expectations and hence lacked a viable takings claim. 746 A. 2d 707, 717 (2000). The court erred in elevating what it believed to be "[petitioner's] lack of reasonable investment-backed expectations" to "dispositive" status. Ibid. Investment-backed expectations, though important, are not talismanic under Penn Central. Evaluation of the degree of interference with investment-backed expectations instead is one factor that points toward the answer to the question whether the application of a particular regulation to particular property "goes too far." Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U. S. 393, 415 (1922).
Further, the state of regulatory affairs at the time of acquisition is not the only factor that may determine the extent of investment-backed expectations. For example, the nature and extent of permitted development under the regulatory regime vis-à-vis the development sought by the claimant may also shape legitimate expectations without vesting any kind of development right in the property owner. We also have never held that a takings claim is defeated simply on account of the lack of a personal financial investment by a postenactment acquirer of property, such as a donee, heir, or devisee. Cf. Hodel v. Irving, 481 U. S. 704, 714-718 (1987). Courts instead must attend to those circumstances which are probative of what fairness requires in a given case.
If investment-backed expectations are given exclusive significance in the Penn Central analysis and existing regulations dictate the reasonableness of those expectations in every instance, then the State wields far too much power to redefine property rights upon passage of title. On the other hand, if existing regulations do nothing to inform the analysis, then some property owners may reap windfalls and an important indicium of fairness is lost.** As I understand it, our decision today does not remove the regulatory backdrop against which an owner takes title to property from the purview of the Penn Central inquiry. It simply restores balance to that inquiry. Courts properly consider the effect of existing regulations under the rubric of investment-backed expectations in determining whether a compensable taking has occurred. As before, the salience of these facts cannot be reduced to any "set formula." Penn Central, 438 U. S., at 124 (internal quotation marks omitted). The temptation to adopt what amount to per se rules in either direction must be resisted. The Takings Clause requires careful examination and weighing of all the relevant circumstances in this context. The court below therefore must consider on remand the array of relevant factors under Penn Central before deciding whether any compensation is due.
ANTHONY PALAZZOLO, PETITIONER v.
RHODE ISLAND et al.
on writ of certiorari to the supreme court of rhode island
[June 28, 2001]
Justice Scalia, concurring.
I write separately to make clear that my understanding of how the issues discussed in Part II-B of the Court's opinion must be considered on remand is not Justice O'Connor's.
The principle that underlies her separate concurrence is that it may in some (unspecified) circumstances be "[un]fai[r]," and produce unacceptable "windfalls," to allow a subsequent purchaser to nullify an unconstitutional partial taking (though, inexplicably, not an unconstitutional total taking) by the government. Ante, at 4. The polar horrible, presumably, is the situation in which a sharp real estate developer, realizing (or indeed, simply gambling on) the unconstitutional excessiveness of a development restriction that a na ;ve landowner assumes to be valid, purchases property at what it would be worth subject to the restriction, and then develops it to its full value (or resells it at its full value) after getting the unconstitutional restriction invalidated.
This can, I suppose, be called a windfall--though it is not much different from the windfalls that occur every day at stock exchanges or antique auctions, where the knowledgeable (or the venturesome) profit at the expense of the ignorant (or the risk averse). There is something to be said (though in my view not much) for pursuing abstract "fairness" by requiring part or all of that windfall to be returned to the na ;ve original owner, who presumably is the "rightful" owner of it. But there is nothing to be said for giving it instead to the government--which not only did not lose something it owned, but is both the cause of the miscarriage of "fairness" and the only one of the three parties involved in the miscarriage (government, na ;ve original owner, and sharp real estate developer) which acted unlawfully--indeed unconstitutionally. Justice O'Connor would eliminate the windfall by giving the malefactor the benefit of its malefaction. It is rather like eliminating the windfall that accrued to a purchaser who bought property at a bargain rate from a thief clothed with the indicia of title, by making him turn over the "unjust" profit to the thief.*
In my view, the fact that a restriction existed at the time the purchaser took title (other than a restriction forming part of the "background principles of the State's law of property and nuisance," Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U. S. 1003, 1029 (1992)) should have no bearing upon the determination of whether the restriction is so substantial as to constitute a taking. The "investment-backed expectations" that the law will take into account do not include the assumed validity of a restriction that in fact deprives property of so much of its value as to be unconstitutional. Which is to say that a Penn Central taking, see Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U. S. 104 (1978), no less than a total taking, is not absolved by the transfer of title.
ANTHONY PALAZZOLO, PETITIONER v.
RHODE ISLAND et al.
on writ of certiorari to the supreme court of rhode island
[June 28, 2001]
Justice Ginsburg, with whom Justice Souter and Justice Breyer join, dissenting.
A regulatory takings claim is not ripe for adjudication, this Court has held, until the agency administering the regulations at issue, proceeding in good faith, "has arrived at a final, definitive position regarding how it will apply [those regulations] to the particular land in question." Williamson County Regional Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City, 473 U. S. 172, 191 (1985). Absent such a final decision, a court cannot "kno[w] the nature and extent of permitted development" under the regulations, and therefore cannot say "how far the regulation[s] g[o]," as regulatory takings law requires. MacDonald, Sommer & Frates v. Yolo County, 477 U. S. 340, 348, 351 (1986). Therefore, even when a landowner seeks and is denied permission to develop property, if the denial does not demonstrate the effective impact of the regulations on the land, the denial does not represent the "final decision" requisite to generate a ripe dispute. Williamson County, 473 U. S., at 190.
MacDonald illustrates how a highly ambitious application may not ripen a takings claim. The landowner in that case proposed a 159-home subdivision. 477 U. S., at 342. When that large proposal was denied, the owner complained that the State had appropriated "all beneficial use of its property." Id., at 352, n. 8; see also id., at 344. This Court concluded, however, that the landowner's claim was not ripe, for the denial of the massive development left "open the possibility that some development [would] be permitted." Id., at 352. "Rejection of exceedingly grandiose development plans," the Court observed, "does not logically imply that less ambitious plans will receive similarly unfavorable reviews." Id., at 353, n. 9.
As presented to the Rhode Island Supreme Court, Anthony Palazzolo's case was a close analogue to MacDonald. Palazzolo's land has two components. Approximately 18 acres are wetlands that sustain a rich but delicate ecosystem. See 746 A. 2d 707, 710, and n. 1 (R. I. 2000). Additional acres are less environmentally sensitive "uplands." (The number of upland acres remains in doubt, see ibid., because Palazzolo has never submitted "an accurate or detailed survey" of his property, see Tr. 190 (June 18-19, 1997).) Rhode Island's administrative agency with ultimate permitting authority over the wetlands, the Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC), bars residential development of the wetlands, but not the uplands.
Although Palazzolo submitted several applications to develop his property, those applications uniformly sought permission to fill most or all of the wetlands portion of the property. None aimed to develop only the uplands.1 Upon denial of the last of Palazzolo's applications, Palazzolo filed suit claiming that Rhode Island had taken his property by refusing "to allow any development." App. 45 (Complaint ¶ ;17).
As the Rhode Island Supreme Court saw the case, Palazzolo's claim was not ripe for several reasons, among them, that Palazzolo had not sought permission for "development only of the upland portion of the parcel." 746 A. 2d, at 714. The Rhode Island court emphasized the "undisputed evidence in the record that it would be possible to build at least one single-family home on the existing upland area, with no need for additional fill." Ibid.
Today, the Court rejects the Rhode Island court's determination that the case is unripe, finding no "uncertainty as to the [uplands'] permitted use." Ante, at 12. The Court's conclusion is, in my view, both inaccurate and inequitable. It is inaccurate because the record is ambiguous. And it is inequitable because, given the claim asserted by Palazzolo in the Rhode Island courts, the State had no cause to pursue further inquiry into potential upland development. But Palazzolo presses other claims here, and at his behest, the Court not only entertains them, but also turns the State's legitimate defense against the claim Palazzolo originally stated into a weapon against the State. I would reject Palazzolo's bait-and-switch ploy and affirm the judgment of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.
* * *
Where physical occupation of land is not at issue, the Court's cases identify two basic forms of regulatory taking. Ante, at 7-8. In Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U. S. 1003 (1992), the Court held that, subject to "certain qualifications," ante, at 7, 20, denial of "all economically beneficial or productive use of land" constitutes a taking. 505 U. S., at 1015 (emphasis added). However, if a regulation does not leave the property "economically idle," id., at 1019, to establish the alleged taking the landowner may pursue the multifactor inquiry set out in Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U. S. 104, 123-125 (1978).
Like the landowner in MacDonald, Palazzolo sought federal constitutional relief only under a straightforward application of Lucas. See ante, at 6; App. 45 (Complaint ¶ ;17) ("As a direct and proximate result of the Defendants' refusal to allow any development of the property, there has been a taking" (emphasis added)); Plaintiff's Post Trial Memorandum in No. 88-0297 (Super. Ct., R. I.), p. 6 ("[T]his Court need not look beyond the Lucas case as its very lucid and precise standards will determine whether a taking has occurred."); id., at 9-10 ("[T]here is NO USE for the property whatsoever... . Not one scintilla of evidence was proffered by the State to prove, intimate or even suggest a theoretical possibility of any use for this property--never mind a beneficial use. Not once did the State claim that there is, in fact, some use available for the Palazzolo parcel."); Brief of Appellant in No. 98-0333, pp. 5, 7, 9-10 (hereinafter Brief of Appellant) (restating, verbatim, assertions of Post Trial Memorandum quoted above).
Responding to Palazzolo's Lucas claim, the State urged as a sufficient defense this now uncontested point: CRMC "would [have been] happy to have [Palazzolo] situate a home" on the uplands, "thus allowing [him] to realize 200,000 dollars." State's Post-Trial Memorandum in No. 88-0297 (Super. Ct., R. I.), p. 81; see also Brief of Appellees in No. 98-0333A, p. 25 (hereinafter Brief of Appellees) (Palazzolo "never even applied for the realistic alternative of using the entire parcel as a single unitary home-site"). The State did present some evidence at trial that more than one lot could be developed. See infra, at 8-9. And, in a supplemental post-trial memorandum addressing a then-new Rhode Island Supreme Court decision, the State briefly urged that Palazzolo's claims would fail even under Penn Central. See ante, at 14. The evidence of additional uses and the post-trial argument directed to Penn Central, however, were underdeveloped and unnecessary, for Palazzolo himself, in his pleadings and at trial, pressed only a Lucas-based claim that he had been denied all economically viable use of his property. Once the State demonstrated that an "economically beneficial" development was genuinely plausible, Lucas, 505 U. S., at 1015, the State had established the analogy to MacDonald: The record now showed "valuable use might still be made of the land." 477 U. S., at 352, n. 8; see Brief of Appellees 24-25 (relying on MacDonald). The prospect of real development shown by the State warranted a ripeness dismissal of Palazzolo's complaint.
Addressing the State's Lucas defense in Lucas terms, Palazzolo insisted that his land had "no use ... as a result of CRMC's application of its regulations." Brief of Appellant 11. The Rhode Island Supreme Court rejected Palazzolo's argument, identifying in the record evidence that Palazzolo could build at least one home on the uplands. 746 A. 2d, at 714. The court therefore concluded that Palazzolo's failure to seek permission for "development only of the upland portion of the parcel" meant that Palazzolo could not "maintain a claim that the CRMC ha[d] deprived him of all beneficial use of the property." Ibid.
It is true that the Rhode Island courts, in the course of ruling for the State, briefly touched base with Penn Central. Cf. ante, at 14. The critical point, however, underplayed by the Court, is that Palazzolo never raised or argued the Penn Central issue in the state system: not in his complaint; not in his trial court submissions; not--even after the trial court touched on the Penn Central issue--in his briefing on appeal. The state high court decision, raising and quickly disposing of the matter, unquestionably permits us to consider the Penn Central issue. See Raley v. Ohio, 360 U. S. 423, 436-437 (1959). But the ruling below does not change the reality essential here: Palazzolo litigated his takings claim, and it was incumbent on the State to defend against that claim, only under Lucas.
If Palazzolo's arguments in this Court had tracked his arguments in the state courts, his petition for certiorari would have argued simply that the Rhode Island courts got it wrong in failing to see that his land had "no use" at all because of CRMC's rules. Brief of Appellant 11. This Court likely would not have granted certiorari to review the application of MacDonald and Lucas to the facts of Palazzolo's case. However, aided by new counsel, Palazzolo sought--and in the exercise of this Court's discretion obtained--review of two contentions he did not advance below. The first assertion is that the state regulations take the property under Penn Central. See Pet. for Cert. 20; Brief for Petitioner 47-50. The second argument is that the regulations amount to a taking under an expanded rendition of Lucas covering cases in which a landowner is left with property retaining only a "few crumbs of value." Ante, at 21 (quoting Brief for Petitioner 37); Pet. for Cert. 20-22. Again, it bears repetition, Palazzolo never claimed in the courts below that, if the State were correct that his land could be used for a residence, a taking nonetheless occurred.2
In support of his new claims, Palazzolo has conceded the very point on which the State properly relied to resist the simple Lucas claim presented below: that Palazzolo can obtain approval for one house of substantial economic value. Palazzolo does not merely accept the argument that the State advanced below. He now contends that the evidence proffered by the State in the Rhode Island courts supports the claims he presents here, by demonstrating that only one house would be approved. See Brief for Petitioner 13 ("[T]he uncontradicted evidence was that CRMC ... would not deny [Palazzolo] permission to build one single-family home on the small upland portion of his property." (emphasis deleted)); Pet. for Cert. 15 (the extent of development permitted on the land is "perfectly clear: one single-family home and nothing more").
As a logical matter, Palazzolo's argument does not stand up. The State's submissions in the Rhode Island courts hardly establish that Palazzolo could obtain approval for only one house of value. By showing that Palazzolo could have obtained approval for a $200,000 house (rather than, say, two houses worth $400,000), the State's submissions established only a floor, not a ceiling, on the value of permissible development. For a floor value was all the State needed to defeat Palazzolo's simple Lucas claim.
Furthermore, Palazzolo's argument is unfair: The argument transforms the State's legitimate defense to the only claim Palazzolo stated below into offensive support for other claims he states for the first time here. Casting away fairness (and fairness to a State, no less), the Court indulges Palazzolo's bait-and-switch maneuver. The Court concludes that "there is no genuine ambiguity in the record as to the extent of permitted development on ... the uplands." Ante, at 13-14. Two theories are offered to support this conclusion.
First, the Court asserts, it is "too late in the day" for the State to contend the uplands give the property more than $200,000 in value; Palazzolo "stated" in his petition for certiorari that the property has "an estimated worth of $200,000," and the State cited that contention "as fact" in its Brief in Opposition. Ante, as 13. But in the cited pages of its Brief in Opposition, the State simply said it "would" approve a "single home" worth $200,000. Brief in Opposition 4, 19. That statement does not foreclose the possibility that the State would also approve another home, adding further value to the property.
To be sure, the Brief in Opposition did overlook Palazzolo's change in his theory of the case, a change that, had it been asserted earlier, could have rendered insufficient the evidence the State intelligently emphasized below. But the State's failure to appreciate that Palazzolo had moved the pea to a different shell hardly merits the Court's waiver finding. The only precedent cited for the waiver, a footnote in Lucas, is not remotely on point. Ante, at 13. The landowner in Lucas had invoked a "finding" of fact by the state court, and this Court deemed the State's challenge to that finding waived because the challenge was not timely raised. Lucas, 505 U. S., at 1020-1022, n. 9. There is nothing extraordinary about this Court's deciding a case on the findings made by a state court. Here, however, the "fact" this Court has stopped the State from contesting--that the property has value of only $200,000--was never found by any court. That valuation was simply asserted, inaccurately, see infra, at 9, in Palazzolo's petition for certiorari. This Court's waiver ruling thus amounts to an unsavory invitation to unscrupulous litigants: Change your theory and misrepresent the record in your petition for certiorari; if the respondent fails to note your machinations, you have created a different record on which this Court will review the case.
The Court bolsters its waiver finding by asserting that the $200,000 figure is "well founded" in the record. Ante, at 13. But, as earlier observed, an absence of multiple valuation possibilities in the record cannot be held against the State, for proof of more than the $200,000 development was unnecessary to defend against the Lucas claim singularly pleaded below. And in any event, the record does not warrant the Court's conclusion.
The Court acknowledges "testimony at trial suggesting the existence of an additional upland parcel elsewhere on the property" on which a second house might be built. Ante, at 13. The Court discounts that prospect, however, on the ground that development of the additional parcel would require a new road forbidden under CRMC's regulations. Ibid. Yet the one witness on whose testimony the Court relies, Steven M. Clarke, himself concluded that it would be "realistic to apply for" development at more than one location. Tr. 612 (June 25-26, 1997). Clarke added that a state official, Russell Chateauneuf, "gave [Clarke] supporting information saying that [multiple applications] made sense." Ibid. The conclusions of Clarke and Chateauneuf are confirmed by the testimony of CRMC's executive director, Grover Fugate, who agreed with Palazzolo's counsel during cross-examination that Palazzolo might be able to build "on two, perhaps three, perhaps four of the lots." Id., at 211 (June 20-23, 1997); see also Tr. of Oral Arg. 27 ("[T]here is ... uncertainty as to what additional upland there is and how many other houses can be built."). The ambiguities in the record thus are substantial. They persist in part because their resolution was not required to address the claim Palazzolo presented below, and in part because Palazzolo failed ever to submit an accurate survey of his property. Under the circumstances, I would not step into the role of supreme topographical factfinder to resolve ambiguities in Palazzolo's favor. Instead, I would look to, and rely on, the opinion of the state court whose decision we now review. That opinion states: "There was undisputed evidence in the record that it would be possible to build at least one single-family home on the existing upland area." 746 A. 2d, at 714 (emphasis added). This Court cites nothing to warrant amendment of that finding.3
* * *
In sum, as I see this case, we still do not know "the nature and extent of permitted development" under the regulation in question, MacDonald, 477 U. S., at 351. I would therefore affirm the Rhode Island Supreme Court's judgment.
ANTHONY PALAZZOLO, PETITIONER v.
RHODE ISLAND et al.
on writ of certiorari to the supreme court of rhode island
[June 28, 2001]
Justice Breyer, dissenting.
I agree with Justice Ginsburg that Palazzolo's takings claim is not ripe for adjudication, and I join her opinion in full. Ordinarily I would go no further. But because the Court holds the takings claim to be ripe and goes on to address some important issues of substantive takings law, I add that, given this Court's precedents, I would agree with Justice O'Connor that the simple fact that a piece of property has changed hands (for example, by inheritance) does not always and automatically bar a takings claim. Here, for example, without in any way suggesting that Palazzolo has any valid takings claim, I believe his postregulatory acquisition of the property (through automatic operation of law) by itself should not prove dispositive.
As Justice O'Connor explains, under Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U. S. 104 (1978), much depends upon whether, or how, the timing and circumstances of a change of ownership affect whatever reasonable investment-backed expectations might otherwise exist. Ordinarily, such expectations will diminish in force and significance--rapidly and dramatically--as property continues to change hands over time. I believe that such factors can adequately be taken into account within the Penn Central framework.
Several amici have warned that to allow complete regulatory takings claims, see Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U. S. 1003 (1992), to survive changes in land ownership could allow property owners to manufacture such claims by strategically transferring property until only a nonusable portion remains. See, e.g., Brief for Daniel W. Bromley et al. as Amici Curiae 7-8. But I do not see how a constitutional provision concerned with " `fairness and justice,' " Penn Central, supra, at 123-124 (quoting Armstrong v. United States, 364 U. S. 40, 49 (1960)), could reward any such strategic behavior.
ANTHONY PALAZZOLO, PETITIONER v.
RHODE ISLAND et al.
on writ of certiorari to the supreme court of rhode island
[June 28, 2001]
Justice Stevens, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
In an admirable effort to frame its inquiries in broadly significant terms, the majority offers six pages of commentary on the issue of whether an owner of property can challenge regulations adopted prior to her acquisition of that property without ever discussing the particular facts or legal claims at issue in this case. See ante, at 16-21. While I agree with some of what the Court has to say on this issue, an examination of the issue in the context of the facts of this case convinces me that the Court has over-simplified a complex calculus and conflated two separate questions. Therefore, while I join Part II-A of the opinion, I dissent from the judgment and, in particular, from Part II-B.
Though States and local governments have broad power to adopt regulations limiting land usage, those powers are constrained by the Constitution and by other provisions of state law. In adopting land-use restrictions, local authorities must follow legally valid and constitutionally sufficient procedures and must adhere to whatever substantive requirements are imposed by the Constitution and supervening law. If a regulating body fails to adhere to its procedural or substantive obligations in developing land- use restrictions, anyone adversely impacted by the restrictions may challenge their validity in an injunctive action. If the application of such restriction to a property owner would cause her a "direct and substantial injury," e.g., Chicago v. Atchison, T. & S. F. R. Co., 357 U. S. 77, 83 (1958), I have no doubt that she has standing to challenge the restriction's validity whether she acquired title to the property before or after the regulation was adopted. For, as the Court correctly observes, even future generations "have a right to challenge unreasonable limitations on the use and value of land." Ante, at 18.
It by no means follows, however, that, as the Court assumes, a succeeding owner may obtain compensation for a taking of property from her predecessor in interest. A taking is a discrete event, a governmental acquisition of private property for which the state is required to provide just compensation. Like other transfers of property, it occurs at a particular time, that time being the moment when the relevant property interest is alienated from its owner.1
Precise specification of the moment a taking occurred and of the nature of the property interest taken is necessary in order to determine an appropriately compensatory remedy. For example, the amount of the award is measured by the value of the property at the time of taking, not the value at some later date. Similarly, interest on the award runs from that date. Most importantly for our purposes today, it is the person who owned the property at the time of the taking that is entitled to the recovery. See, e.g., Danforth v. United States, 308 U. S. 271, 284 (1939) ("For the reason that compensation is due at the time of taking, the owner at that time, not the owner at an earlier or later date, receives the payment"). The rationale behind that rule is true whether the transfer of ownership is the result of an arm's-length negotiation, an inheritance, or the dissolution of a bankrupt debtor. Cf. United States v. Dow, 357 U. S. 17, 20-21 (1958).2
Much of the difficulty of this case stems from genuine confusion as to when the taking Palazzolo alleges actually occurred. According to Palazzolo's theory of the case, the owners of his Westerly, Rhode Island, property possessed the right to fill the wetland portion of the property at some point in the not-too-distant past.3 In 1971, the State of Rhode Island passed a statute creating the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (Council) and delegating the Council the authority to promulgate regulations restricting the usage of coastal land. See 1971 R. I. Pub. Laws, ch. 279, §1 et seq. The Council promptly adopted regulations that, inter alia, effectively foreclosed petitioner from filling his wetlands. See ante, at 4; cf. App. to Brief for Respondents 11-22 (current version of regulations). As the regulations nonetheless provided for a process through which petitioner might seek permission to fill the wetlands, he filed two applications for such permission during the 1980s, both of which were denied. See ante, at 4-5.
The most natural reading of petitioner's complaint is that the regulations in and of themselves precluded him from filling the wetlands, and that their adoption therefore constituted the alleged taking. This reading is consistent with the Court's analysis in Part II-A of its opinion (which I join) in which the Court explains that petitioner's takings claims are ripe for decision because respondents' wetlands regulations unequivocally provide that there can be "no fill for any likely or foreseeable use." Ante, at 11.4 If it is the regulations themselves of which petitioner complains, and if they did, in fact, diminish the value of his property, they did so when they were adopted.
To the extent that the adoption of the regulations constitute the challenged taking, petitioner is simply the wrong party to be bringing this action. If the regulations imposed a compensable injury on anyone, it was on the owner of the property at the moment the regulations were adopted. Given the trial court's finding that petitioner did not own the property at that time,5 in my judgment it is pellucidly clear that he has no standing to claim that the promulgation of the regulations constituted a taking of any part of the property that he subsequently acquired.
His lack of standing does not depend, as the Court seems to assume, on whether or not petitioner "is deemed to have notice of an earlier-enacted restriction," ante, at 17. If those early regulations changed the character of the owner's title to the property, thereby diminishing its value, petitioner acquired only the net value that remained after that diminishment occurred. Of course, if, as respondent contends, see n. 3, supra, even the prior owner never had any right to fill wetlands, there never was a basis for the alleged takings claim in the first place. But accepting petitioner's theory of the case, he has no standing to complain that preacquisition events may have reduced the value of the property that he acquired. If the regulations are invalid, either because improper procedures were followed when they were adopted, or because they have somehow gone "too far," Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U. S. 393, 415 (1922), petitioner may seek to enjoin their enforcement, but he has no right to recover compensation for the value of property taken from someone else. A new owner may maintain an ejectment action against a trespasser who has lodged himself in the owner's orchard but surely could not recover damages for fruit a trespasser spirited from the orchard before he acquired the property.
The Court's holding in Nollan v. California Coastal Comm'n, 483 U. S. 825 (1987) is fully consistent with this analysis. In that case the taking occurred when the state agency compelled the petitioners to provide an easement of public access to the beach as a condition for a development permit. That event--a compelled transfer of an interest in property--occurred after the petitioners had become the owner of the property and unquestionably diminished the value of petitioners' property. Even though they had notice when they bought the property that such a taking might occur, they never contended that any action taken by the State before their purchase gave rise to any right to compensation. The matter of standing to assert a claim for just compensation is determined by the impact of the event that is alleged to have amounted to a taking rather than the sort of notice that a purchaser may or may not have received when the property was transferred. Petitioners in Nollan owned the property at the time of the triggering event. Therefore, they and they alone could claim a right to compensation for the injury.6 Their successors in interest, like petitioner in this case, have no standing to bring such a claim.
At oral argument, petitioner contended that the taking in question occurred in 1986, when the Council denied his final application to fill the land. Tr. of Oral Arg. 16. Though this theory, to the extent that it was embraced within petitioner's actual complaint, complicates the issue, it does not alter my conclusion that the prohibition on filling the wetlands does not take from Palazzolo any property right he ever possessed.
The title Palazzolo took by operation of law in 1978 was limited by the regulations then in place to the extent that such regulations represented a valid exercise of the police power. For the reasons expressed above, I think the regulations barred petitioner from filling the wetlands on his property. At the very least, however, they established a rule that such lands could not be filled unless the Council exercised its authority to make exceptions to that rule under certain circumstances. Cf. App. to Brief for Respondents A-13 (laying out narrow circumstances under which the Council retains the discretion to grant a "special exception"). Under the reading of the regulations most favorable to Palazzolo, he acquired no more than the right to a discretionary determination by the Council as to whether to permit him to fill the wetlands. As his two hearings before that body attest, he was given the opportunity to make a presentation and receive such a determination. Thus, the Council properly respected whatever limited rights he may have retained with regard to filling the wetlands. Cf. Lujan v. G & G Fire Sprinklers, Inc., 532 U. S. ___ (2001) (holding, in a different context, that, if a party's only relevant property interest is a claim of entitlement to bring an action, the provision of a forum for hearing that action is all that is required to vindicate that property interest); Lopez v. Davis, 531 U. S. 230 (2001) (involving a federal statute that created an entitlement to a discretionary hearing without creating any entitlement to relief).7
Though the majority leaves open the possibility that the scope of today's holding may prove limited, see ante, at 20-21 (discussing limitations implicit in "background principles" exception); see also ante, at 1-4 (O'Connor, J., concurring) (discussing importance of the timing of regulations for the evaluation of the merits of a takings claim); ante, at 1-2 (Breyer, J., dissenting) (same), the extension of the right to compensation to individuals other than the direct victim of an illegal taking admits of no obvious limiting principle. If the existence of valid land-use regulations does not limit the title that the first postenactment purchaser of the property inherits, then there is no reason why such regulations should limit the rights of the second, the third, or the thirtieth purchaser. Perhaps my concern is unwarranted, but today's decision does raise the spectre of a tremendous--and tremendously capricious--one-time transfer of wealth from society at large to those individuals who happen to hold title to large tracts of land at the moment this legal question is permanently resolved.
In the final analysis, the property interest at stake in this litigation is the right to fill the wetlands on the tract that petitioner owns. Whether either he or his predecessors in title ever owned such an interest, and if so, when it was acquired by the State, are questions of state law. If it is clear--as I think it is and as I think the Court's disposition of the ripeness issue assumes--that any such taking occurred before he became the owner of the property, he has no standing to seek compensation for that taking. On the other hand, if the only viable takings claim has a different predicate that arose later, that claim is not ripe and the discussion in Part II-B of the Court's opinion is superfluous dictum. In either event, the judgment of the Rhode Island Supreme Court should be affirmed in its entirety.
*Justice Scalia's inapt "government-as-thief" simile is symptomatic of the larger failing of his opinion, which is that he appears to conflate two questions. The first question is whether the enactment or application of a regulation constitutes a valid exercise of the police power. The second question is whether the State must compensate a property owner for a diminution in value effected by the State's exercise of its police power. We have held that "[t]he `public use' requirement [of the Takings Clause] is . . . coterminous with the scope of a sovereign's police powers." Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff, 467 U. S. 229, 240 (1984). The relative timing of regulatory enactment and title acquisition, of course, does not affect the analysis of whether a State has acted within the scope of these powers in the first place. That issue appears to be the one on which Justice Scalia focuses, but it is not the matter at hand. The relevant question instead is the second question described above. It is to this inquiry that "investment-backed expectations" and the state of regulatory affairs upon acquisition of title are relevant under Penn Central. Justice Scalia's approach therefore would seem to require a revision of the Penn Central analysis that this Court has not undertaken.
Contrary to Justice O'Connor's assertion, post, at 4, n., my contention of governmental wrongdoing does not assume that the government exceeded its police powers by ignoring the "public use" requirement of the Takings Clause, see Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff, 467 U. S. 229, 240 (1984). It is wrong for the government to take property, even for public use, without tendering just compensation.
Moreover, none proposed the 74-lot subdivision Palazzolo advances as the basis for the compensation he seeks. Palazzolo's first application sought to fill all 18 acres of wetlands for no stated purpose whatever. See App. 11 (Palazzolo's sworn 1983 answer to the question why he sought to fill uplands) ("Because it's my right to do if I want to to look at it it is my business."). Palazzolo's second application proposed a most disagreeable "beach club." See ante, at 5 ("trash bins" and "port-a-johns" sought); Tr. 650 (June 25-26, 1997) (testimony of engineer Steven M. Clarke) (to get to the club's water, i.e., Winnapaug Pond rather than the nearby Atlantic Ocean, "you'd have to walk across the gravel fill, but then work your way through approximately 70, 75 feet of marsh land or conservation grasses"). Neither of the CRMC applications supplied a clear map of the proposed development. See App. 7, 16 (1983 application); Tr. 190 (June 18-19, 1997) (1985 application). The Rhode Island Supreme Court ultimately concluded that the 74-lot development would have been barred by zoning requirements, apart from CRMC regulations, requirements Palazzolo never explored. See 746 A. 2d 707, 715, n. 7 (2000).
After this Court granted certiorari, in his briefing on the merits, Palazzolo presented still another takings theory. That theory, in tension with numerous holdings of this Court, see, e.g., Concrete Pipe & Products of Cal., Inc. v. Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern Cal., 508 U. S. 602, 643-644 (1993), was predicated on treatment of his wetlands as a property separate from the uplands. The Court properly declines to reach this claim. Ante, at 22.
If Palazzolo's claim were ripe and the merits properly presented, I would, at a minimum, agree with Justice O'Connor, ante, at 1-5 (concurring opinion), Justice Stevens, ante, at 6-7 (opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part), and Justice Breyer, ante, at 1-2 (dissenting opinion), that transfer of title can impair a takings claim.
A regulation that goes so "far" that it violates the Takings Clause may give rise to an award of compensation or it may simply be invalidated as it would be if it violated any other constitutional principle (with the consequence that the State must choose between adopting a new regulatory scheme that provides compensation or forgoing regulation). While some recent Court opinions have focused on the former remedy, Justice Holmes appears to have had a regime focusing on the latter in mind in the opinion that began the modern preoccupation with "regulatory takings." See Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U. S. 393, 414 (1922) (because the statute in question takes private property without just compensation "the act cannot be sustained").
The Court argues, ante, at 18-19, that a regulatory taking is different from a direct state appropriation of property and that the rules this Court has developed for identifying the time of the latter do not apply to the former. This is something of an odd conclusion, in that the entire rationale for allowing compensation for regulations in the first place is the somewhat dubious proposition that some regulations go so "far" as to become the functional equivalent of a direct taking. Ultimately, the Court's regulations-are-different principle rests on the confusion of two dates: the time an injury occurs and the time a claim for compensation for that injury becomes cognizable in a judicial proceeding. That we require plaintiffs making the claim that a regulation is the equivalent of a taking to go through certain prelitigation procedures to clarify the scope of the allegedly infringing regulation does not mean that the injury did not occur before those procedures were completed. To the contrary, whenever the relevant local bodies construe their regulations, their construction is assumed to reflect "what the [regulation] meant before as well as after the decision giving rise to that construction." Rivers v. Roadway Express, Inc., 511 U. S. 298, 312-313 (1994).
This point is the subject of significant dispute, as the State of Rhode Island has presented substantial evidence that limitations on coastal development have always precluded or limited schemes such as Palazzolo's. See Brief for Respondents 11-12, 41-46. Nonetheless, we must assume that it is true for the purposes of deciding this question.
Likewise, we must assume for the purposes of deciding the discrete threshold questions before us that petitioner's complaint states a potentially valid regulatory takings claim. Nonetheless, for the sake of clarity it is worth emphasizing that, on my view, even a newly adopted regulation that diminishes the value of property does not produce a significant Takings Clause issue if it (1) is generally applicable and (2) is directed at preventing a substantial public harm. Cf. Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U. S. 1003, 1029 (1992) (owner of a powerplant astride an earthquake fault does not state a valid takings claim for regulation requiring closure of plant); id., at 1035 (Kennedy, J., concurring in judgment) (explaining that the government's power to regulate against harmful uses of property without paying compensation is not limited by the common law of nuisance because that doctrine is "too narrow a confine for the exercise of regulatory power in a complex and interdependent society"). It is quite likely that a regulation prohibiting the filling of wetlands meets those criteria.
At oral argument, petitioner's counsel stated: "I think the key here is understanding that no filling of any wetland would be allowed for any reason that was lawful under the local zoning code. No structures of any kind would be permitted by Mr. Palazzolo to construct. So we know that he cannot use his wetland." Tr. of Oral Arg. 14.
See App. to Pet. for Cert. A-13 ("[T]he trial justice found that Palazzolo could not have become the owner of the property before 1978, at which time the regulations limiting his ability to fill the wetlands were already in place. The trial justice thus determined that the right to fill the wetlands was not part of Palazzolo's estate to begin with, and that he was therefore not owed any compensation for the deprivation of that right").
In cases such as Nollan--in which landowners have notice of a regulation when they purchase a piece of property but the regulatory event constituting the taking does not occur until after they take title to the property--I would treat the owners' notice as relevant to the evaluation of whether the regulation goes "too far," but not necessarily dispositive. See ante, at 1-4 (O'Connor, J., concurring).
This is not to suggest that a regulatory body can insulate all of its land-use decisions from the Takings Clause simply by referencing long-standing statutory provisions. If the determination by the regulators to reject the project involves such an unforseeable interpretation or extension of the regulation as to amount to a change in the law, then it is appropriate to consider the decision of that body, rather than the adoption of the regulation, as the discrete event that deprived the owner of a pre-existing interest in property. But, if that is petitioner's theory, his claim is not ripe for the reasons stated by Justice Ginsburg in her dissenting opinion, post, p.__. As I read petitioner's complaint and the Court's disposition of the ripeness issue, it is the regulations themselves that allegedly deprived the owner of the parcel of the right to fill the wetlands. | <urn:uuid:a6441a74-1823-44b7-9149-811703e9d0de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=533&page=606 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947066 | 22,280 | 1.53125 | 2 |
I don't know if TED has gone downhill or if they were never good in the first place, but geez do they promote a lot of pseudo-intellectual garbage.
A random TED talk has about as much intellectual content as picking a random book out of the non-fiction new releases and reading the blurb on the dust jacket. It makes you aware that an idea exists and that somebody is promoting it; that's about all.
Some individual TED talks are decent and even good -- just as that random book with the interesting dust-jacket blurb might actually be good -- but so many are junk that the TED brand is useless as an indicator of quality.
The marketing around TED is carefully designed to make you feel smart and superior for watching them. The production values, the big-name speakers, the high price of tickets, the illusion that you're part of an elite audience... all designed to flatter the viewer and make the contents seem like something more than the shallow sound-bites they are.
And the Silicon Valley culture seems to have eaten it up. "Did you see the TED talk about..." is a standard conversation-opener at work. People think they're an expert on some topic because they watched a guy give a ten-minute slideshow about it in front of a bunch of rich people. Giving a TED talk is the ultimate status symbol in this culture.
It doesn't hurt that TED has a serious ideological bias towards things that make the target audience of rich, mostly white, industry insiders feel good about themselves for being rich, mostly white, industry insiders.
He's trying to explain how "The West" got so far economically ahead of "The Rest". He's talking about the importance of social institutions, but he tells his mostly-software-industry audience "you can't understand institutions so I'm going to compare them to something you do understand". Does the audience even realize how badly he's insulting them?
His list is: Competition, science, property rights, modern medicine, consumer society, and work ethic.
It should be obvious that property rights, competition, work ethic, and the consumer society existed in plenty of pre-modern and non-western societies. And "modern medicine" is begging the question of how you get to the point of inventing modern medicine. But even if we let those points slide, there's a glaring ommision from this list. Think for second; can you spot it?
He illustrates the wealth gap by showing how for centuries Europe was relativeley poor, but in the 1850s the UK shot way ahead while China and India got much poorer.
Gee Niall Ferguson, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY HAVE HAPPENED IN THE 1850s THAT WOULD EXPLAIN WHY THE UK BECAME WEALTHIER RELATIVE TO CHINA AND INDIA? It's a complete mystery, I can't figure it out at all.
So yeah, he's forgetting the "Killer App" where you use your superior military to invade another country, take their natural resources, kidnap their people as slaves, force unequal trade treaties on them, and deliberatly hold their devleopment back with an unequal colonial administration designed to make them second-class citizens in their own country.
The countries that have the lowest human development indices today are almost all former resource-extraction colonies of European empires. The ones with the highest indices are Western Europe itself, its former settlement colonies, a few Mideastern oil states, and Japan -- which did quite a bit of colonialism of its own.
Colonialism isn't the whole explanation because it doesn't explain how Europe achieved its military advantage that allowed it to do all this conquest and extortion in the first place. And obviously some of the wealth gap is due to the Industrial Revolution starting in Europe, which probably does have something to do with science and competition and so on. But I am highly dubious of any explanation for "The West vs The Rest" that glosses over the fact that The West spent centuries literally stealing wealth from The Rest.
Gee Niall Ferguson, WHY AM I SO MUCH RICHER THAN MY NEIGHBOR WHOSE HOUSE I JUST ROBBED? It must be because of my superior work ethic and my respect for property rights!
Ferguson brings up imperialism only to dismiss it with a couple of glib sentences. He says imperialism can't be the answer because "Asia had empires too" and because the peak of the wealth gap came in the 1970s, after colonialism ended.
These explanations are incredibly weak. Asia had empires too, yes; and in their day they were extremely wealthy and effective! If there were TED talks in the 16th century they would be attmepting to explain why Ming China and the Ottoman Empire were so far ahead of backwards Europe. All this comparison proves is that the advantage of empire doesn't last forever. Also the Ottomans and the Mings didn't have a military advantage over their neighbors remotely comparable to the military advantage that colonial Europe had over Africa and the Americas.
The wealth gap peaking in the 1970s? A mere few decades after the end of World War 2 and the beginning of the slow process of decolonization? When the rich nations had just finished reaping all the benefits of colonialism and the newly independent former colonies were just beginning their climb out of poverty? This is exactly when we would expect the wealth gap to peak if colonialism was the main reason for it. Ferguson is actually undermining his own argument by pointing out this fact.
And this illustrates the problem with TED: the format of TED videos makes this kind of sleight-of-hand easy to pull off. A couple of pretty slides, a nerdy joke or two to disarm the audience, and an appeal to your authority as a Famous Person are all it takes to paper over fundamental weaknesses in your argument.
There's a lot more to pick apart in Ferguson's terrible TED talk. Nobody should be surprised that he worships Adam Smith, but taking time to insult Gandhi for being poor? Classy.
Then he tops himself, when talking about property rights (which he says are more important than democracy itself: an interesting glimpse into the priorities of the ultra-rich.) He says one of the reasons America was able to "generate" so much wealth is because "most people in rural North America owned some land". Uh, yeah, they had lots of land after fucking stealing it from the American Indians. He's using land taken by force, and taken by broken treaties, as his example of the importance of property rights. Which presumably include the right to not have your property stolen. The audacity of this guy!
Then we get to the moral panic -- "is the west deleting its own apps?" OH NO! Here is a picture of some teenagers wearing hoodies! I'm not sure what that's supposed to prove, unless it's a clever way to invoke racism against black teenagers without actually showing any black teenagers. Ferguson then talks about the rest of the world catching up, which is a wonderful thing, a happy thing, what we should all be hoping for. Then he segues straight into "but Western decline isn't inevitable". Interesting that he equates worldwide equality with Western "decline", like we're only doing OK as long as we can keep the rest of the world poor.
He finishes with a picture of Obama bowing to Hu Jintao to illustrate that the great divergence is over. (Like no world leader ever bowed to another world leader during the last two centuries? It's a meaningless gesture to grease the wheels of diplomacy.) Nice way to invoke both Siniphobia and the baseless right-wing meme of Obama being apologetic for America.
So that's Ferguson's TED talk. That's the kind of thing TED thinks deserves a megaphone.
Ferguson teaches at Harvard. He's not dumb. He's not overlooking the history of colonialism by accident; he's trying to construct an explanation of the wealth gap that very specifically avoids mention of colonialism. This is part of a project to whitewash history, to promote a world view where the rich and the privileged are not beneficiaries of historical injustice but rather deserve to be rich and privileged due to their superior moral qualities.
That TED gave him a pulpit for this project says a lot about TED. Either they share his views, or they just don't care. At the very least, it says that TED doesn't care enough for this massive level of intellectual dishonesty to disqualify anyone from speaking there.
I have written software that has been featured in a TED talk on two different occasions: Ubiquity was shown off in a TED talk by Aza in 2009, and Collusion in a TED talk by the Mozilla CEO in 2012. But after seeing this video, I'm embarassed to have been associated with TED in any way. | <urn:uuid:49258603-7a4a-4bfb-a13f-56b3fdd6c290> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://evilbrainjono.net/blog?tag=apalling_propoganda&showcomments=false | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969405 | 1,821 | 1.554688 | 2 |
CFPB in Production, Directed by Richard Cordray
On December 8, 2011, Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted to block the nomination of Richard Cordray to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The vote was 53 to 45, with 60 votes required to move the nomination ahead. Republicans seek significant structural changes to the CFPB, including having the director position replaced with a 5-member commission and increased oversight. President Obama nevertheless appointed Mr. Cordray as the Bureau’s new chief, using his powers to make recess appointments, a move that bypassed the Senate’s confirmation process altogether.
Senate Republicans have reacted hostilely, claiming that Mr. Obama did not have the power to make the appointment. The Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion on January 12, 2012, concluding that the President had authority to make an intra-session recess appointment. The opinion noted that the CFPB director’s position was created nearly 18 months prior to the appointment. It further concluded that the act of Congress to convene “pro forma” sessions in which no business is to be conducted does not prevent such intra-session appointments. If the appointment stands, it means that the President may make intra-session appointments any time Senators are not actually conducting business on the floor. It’s an interesting, and possibly unconstitutional, power play by the Executive branch.
Shortly after the appointment, on January 6, 2012, Mr. Cordray named Raj Date as Deputy Director of the CFPB. Mr. Date had been leading the day-to-day operations of the CFPB since its launch in July. His appointment as Deputy Director may mean that, even if Mr. Cordray’s appointment is successfully challenged, the CFPB will still have leadership under Mr. Date.
The CFPB was already hard at work before the appointment of its director and deputy director. But, with capable leadership in place, over 700 employees and bulletproof funding, the CFPB is moving full speed ahead.
The Bureau has the power to: (1) write rules, (2) exercise supervision and conduct examinations, and (3) investigate and enforce federal consumer protection laws, including the Truth in Lending Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and a number of others. Although life under the CFPB authority remains largely uncertain for auto dealers and finance companies, the CFPB is rolling out proposals, guidelines and initiatives affecting other industries, including mortgage lenders and payday loan providers.
With a director in place, the CFPB has the authority to oversee nonbanks, regardless of size, in certain specific markets: mortgage companies (originators, brokers, and servicers including loan modification or foreclosure relief services), payday lenders, and private education lenders. For all other markets – such as debt collection, consumer reporting, auto financing, and money services businesses – the CFPB may supervise “larger participants” after defining what “larger participant” means. A proposed rule defining various markets and what entities would be considered larger participants in those markets is expected to come out within the next month.
For insight into how the CFPB may regulate finance companies and covered dealers, we look to the nonbank supervision program it launched on January 5 applicable to nonbank mortgage lenders and small-dollar/short-term lenders (payday lenders). The supervision program will include individual examinations of the named industries and larger participants, but may also include requiring reports from these businesses to determine which need greater focus. The CFPB will also exercise authority over folks about whom complaints have been received by the bureau’s complaint database.
The CFPB will analyze the risk posed to consumers of a particular business based on factors such as the volume of business, the types of products or services offered, and the extent of state oversight, which will then determine the extent of attention from the CFPB. Basically, the CFPB will analyze these factors to determine the degree of scrutiny that will be applied during an examination, once examination authority is established. The Bureau indicates it will follow the same approach to nonbank supervision as it does with banks, citing its bank examination manual at www.consumerfinance.gov/guidance/supervision/manual/.
In a January 5 press release issued by the CFPB, Director Cordray stated, “This is an important step forward for protecting consumers. . . . Holding both banks and nonbanks accountable to consumer financial laws will help create a fairer, more transparent market for consumers. It will create a better environment for the honest businesses that serve them. And it will help the overall economic stability of our country.”
The CFPB is training examiners to review financial services providers’ compliance with federal consumer financial laws for the entire life cycle of specific products or services, including how such products are developed, marketed, sold and managed. Examiners will conduct interviews with personnel and observe the providers’ operations. Much of the exam process may be subjective (e.g., as part of the examination process, CFPB examiners will consider a nonbank’s internal ability to detect, prevent and remedy violations that may harm consumers).
Once “larger participant” is defined, we can expect the CFPB to move forward with a supervision program similar to the nonbank supervision program that will be applicable to large participant buy here pay here dealers. For “smaller participant” dealers, the CFPB will have oversight authority in certain circumstances, and will, along with the FTC, share enforcement authority over most of those dealers.
To outline the manner by which the CFPB and FTC will share their authority, on January 23, those agencies signed a Memorandum of Understanding that details how they will coordinate efforts to protect consumers and avoid duplication of federal law enforcement and regulatory efforts.
Under the leadership of its new director, the CFPB is in full production; however, the CFPB may not dedicate resources toward the supervision of motor vehicle dealers for some time. Still, dealers should be adequately warned. It’s time to take a good look at the operation of your dealership and its compliance, or noncompliance. This production will eventually come to a dealership near you. | <urn:uuid:73a2ee6a-fcb1-4a90-9f35-ebff299d3971> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.autodealermonthly.com/77/4405/ARTICLE/CFPB-in-Production--Directed-by-Richard-Cordray.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959049 | 1,307 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house not a gift worth keeping, not even that ugly blouse.
It is a reality. A huge percentage of Americans either return, exchange or regift those thoughtful presents from Christmas. You never want to hurt Grandma's feelings, but oftentimes what the friends and families think will be perfect for you will actually go unused in a closet, never to be touched. In the interest of being productive and nonwasteful, here are a few ideas of what to do with those gifts that go unwanted.
– Have a party. One person's trash is another person's treasure. Many offices, including mine, did a Secret Santa party, but why not do a Santa swap? Have everyone bring in a gift they deem to be “not really them,” then all get together and bargain wheel and deal. The item you may be most excited to get rid of could be the apple of someone else's eye.
Every Wednesday at 845Scene, join Skywalker from K104 (104.7 FM in Fishkill) as he discusses pop culture in "Skywriting."
E-mail Timothy Malcolm at firstname.lastname@example.org with comments.
Check out more Skywalker - who is on air from 2-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, by visiting K104's website, k104online.com.
And get in touch with Sky @skyskymedia.
– Gift cards are thought to be the perfect gift; however, if they are not one of those credit-card gift cards but rather a store-specific gift card, there is no guarantee it will get used. We have all gotten a gift card to a store we don't frequent and end up wandering aimlessly through the store feeling pressure to spend it. Invariably you end up getting something you wouldn't use and now have something taking up more physical space than the gift card in your wallet. There are now a few online websites that help solve this problem. The website www.giftcardrescue.com is a central area that allows you to trade store gift cards with other consumers. There is also the ability to sell your gift card for cash payment or for another gift card at an almost close to face value rate. I received a $50 card to my favorite electronics retailer. I would never sell this as I love the store; however, for example, I plugged the card information (retailer, expiration date and amount) into the website. For a $50 electronics chain retail gift card I was offered either $42 cash or $44 to amazon.com, which has a more general selection.
– Donate. This is the best option to both feel good and do some good for a local charity or those in need. If you get a gift card to a store you don't frequent and can't find anything for yourself, shop with a charity in mind. If you got a gift card for a store that may have a limited selection, purchase a toy, then donate it to a local children's hospital. If you got a sweater jacket that you do not want to attempt to return or investigate from where it came, then donate the piece to the Salvation Army. You may also be able to get a receipt and use it for a tax deduction.
– When all else fails, you can try to regift the item. Be careful, however. Those instances of regifting back to the same person who originally gave you the gift are all too common. | <urn:uuid:0432673d-201c-4a71-a5f9-83ef5d79a529> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121226/ENTERTAIN/121229839 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95339 | 720 | 1.734375 | 2 |
School's in for the summer. Marana students, teachers and staff are in their second full week of classes. Amphitheater got going last week, and other school doors are opening across the Northwest and greater Tucson.
Funding for Arizona schools, public and charter alike, has been much discussed these last eight months. The Arizona Legislature, faced with a scary budget, cut funds in January for the current fiscal year. That is a most unusual, desperate measure, and it sent a wave of shock into education.
Then, as 2009-'10 budget "consideration" – it'd be a stretch to call it "talks," because it was largely invisible – wound through the winter and spring, supporters of public K-12 education became very agitated. And why not. They feared deeper cuts. Required reduction-in-force announcements were issued to teachers in April. Parents were upset, and angry, and they got themselves organized and spoke up.
The fiscal year began July 1, yet a budget remained unfinished as of last week. Schools are running on the money they expect to have through the year. That may not hold up.
Still, as the Republicans say often, the "final" cuts to K-12 funding were not as "draconian" as portrayed. Most RIF'd teachers got their jobs back, albeit with less pay. In the Marana Unified School District, as an example, 26 of 30 RIF'd teachers were called back. MUSD has mandated unpaid "furloughs" – four days for administrators, two days for "exempt" staff – to save $226,671. There is pain for those people, of course, but it was expected to have been much worse.
Now school's in session, and the talk about money must – must – take a back seat to the task at hand, educating our young people. And, it must be said, money is less important than family support, discipline and encouragement for children. Study after study shows as much; students from homes where education is valued perform better than those who do not.
There are so many ways to support our kids in school. They may be obvious, but they deserve repetition.
Feed them breakfast. It really is the most important meal of the day. It's inexpensive. It fuels their brains and bodies so they can learn. Breakfast – any meal – is also a bonding time. It's a few minutes to talk about the day, what's ahead, to hear eagerness and excitement as well as consternation and fear, and to encourage.
A good lunch helps, too. Money for a school-purchased lunch is a boost. Don't forget the great lunch your mom used to pack, and maybe do the same for your child.
Get the kids to run around a little bit, in school or after school. Energy runs through their bodies, and when it's burned, and they are calm, they can focus. As America wrestles with this mammoth called "health care reform," the biggest single health reform our nation needs is to lose some weight, eat right and eat less. Proper eating and exercise regimens are lifelong gifts to our children.
Get to know the kids' teachers. Teachers care. They're smart. They see things we do not. Two generations back, teachers went unchallenged as guiding authority figures. Today, teachers get far more blame when things go wrong. That's not right. Teachers are never the enemies.
Read with those kids, every night, if even for a few minutes. If they're older, talk with them about their school day, about current events, about subjects they're studying. Make sure homework is done and assignments completed, without excuses, before the TV or the video game are turned on.
The trend in modern America is toward entitlement, the belief that somehow, we are owed, by parents or families or schools or government. We would better serve our children by teaching them this – nobody owes you anything, you are not entitled, and the way to make a good life is to work for it, to earn it, to rely upon yourself, and to make the most of your God-given potential. Kids, it's not about your parents, not about your teachers, not about your principals nor your peers. It's about you. This great country gives you the chance to make something of yourself. You are terrifically fortunate to have the opportunity.
Someday, we hope, Arizona might solve its public school funding quagmire. Our kids can't wait for that day. Let's help them make the most of what we have, right now. | <urn:uuid:13ce99d1-d0aa-43be-9692-73ea1beae3f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://explorernews.com/voices/editorials/article_70d0e8e6-99cc-5d68-b82e-c6228fbb8578.html?mode=story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98514 | 948 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Mon January 7, 2013
'Gun Appreciation Day' Is Jan. 19, Conservative Groups Declare
Saying they're following the example of last year's Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, a coalition of "gun rights" activists announced today that they're calling on like-minded Americans to visit gun stores, gun ranges and gun shows on Jan. 19 in a show of unity they're calling "Gun Appreciation Day."
It's no coincidence that the 19th is Saturday of the weekend when President Obama will be sworn into office for a second time. Organizers say the date was chosen "to send a message to Washington two days before Obama's second inauguration." They're worried about what they see as the "Obama administration's post-Sandy Hook assault on gun rights."
On Dec. 14, a gunman killed 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., before taking his own life.
As for what the White House may have planned on gun policy, The Washington Post reported over the weekend that:
"The White House is weighing a far broader and more comprehensive approach to curbing the nation's gun violence than simply reinstating an expired ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition, according to multiple people involved in the administration's discussions.
"A working group led by Vice President Biden is seriously considering measures backed by key law enforcement leaders that would require universal background checks for firearm buyers, track the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthen mental health checks, and stiffen penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors, the sources said."
Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day was led by conservatives who were reacting to criticism directed at Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy for his stand against same-sex marriage. The call to show support for Cathy and his fast-food chain led to long lines at Chick-fil-A restaurants — and to a counter movement called National Same-Sex Kiss Day.
So, if Gun Appreciation Day gets traction, watch for opponents to plan their own sort of day. | <urn:uuid:0820ed5f-0084-46e3-b19b-c4cc4fc9d7e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://utahpublicradio.org/post/gun-appreciation-day-jan-19-conservative-groups-declare | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961929 | 431 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The Mission of the Institute is to provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write in order to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to national defense.
Dr. Walsh is neither marine archaeologist nor treasure hunter. He has spent the past four decades involved with design, manufacture, and operation of submersible systems. A retired naval officer (submarines) he was designated U.S. Navy deep submersible pilot #1 in the early 1970s. During 2001, in addition to Atlantic Sands, hehas participated in diving operations at the battleship Bismarck (16,000 feet) and RMS Titanic (12,500 feet). On 20 July 2001, he had lunch on board the Titanic, when the Mir 2 landed on the bridge so the sub crew could eat.
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Ocean water can and will be used... Read More | <urn:uuid:5369023e-70a2-4d51-9178-8da4184ce210> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2008-03/oceans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941398 | 312 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Alvin, Simon, and Theodore of the 90s going back in time to 1957 to meet Alvin, Simon, and Theodore of the 50s, thanks to Clyde Crashcup's time machine. In this episode, The CD Cover's Faded Away and The Chipmunks meet the original versions of themselves (originally created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.). Many of the antics of this episode revolve around the fact of the cultural differences between the 60's and the 90's, such as the difference between Mousse and Moose. The show also makes a point of the difference in styles of art and voices. They end up going back in time so that they will not cease to exist in the future. They may not exist due to the fact Alvin gets a sudden interest in Dry Cleaning, believing that is where his future is.
In the end, the Chipmunks end up in their original time periods due to the fact that Alvin gave up the idea that he should be a dry cleaner.
- "Back in Time" (Huey Lewis and Chris Hayes)
- "Witch Doctor" (partly song with no music by '90's Alvin, Simon & Theodore)
- "Alvin's Harmonica" (Original & Funny Rap versions)
- "Alvin Twist" ('50's & '90's Version)
Behind the ScenesEdit
- This episode was based on the movie Back to the Future.
- This episode was labelled as "Back to Alvin's Future" on the VHS.
- Part of the Funny, We Shrunk the Adults DVD. | <urn:uuid:f16209fd-0287-4c2b-b9e2-9f8f69047121> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alvin.wikia.com/wiki/Back_to_Our_Future | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955304 | 329 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Incidents of criminal damage fall by 34.5% in 3 areas of Rugby
These priority areas are geographic locations, which have previously seen the highest number of incidents and crimes in Warwickshire. Between April 1, 2010 and April 16, 2010* there have been 10 fewer incidents of criminal damage in Rugby Town Centre, Rugby Town North and Rugby Town West.
Chief Inspector Bob Musgrove, Borough Commander for Rugby said: “This reduction shows that Warwickshire Police, working with other members of Rugby's Community Safety Partnership, takes the public’s concern over criminal damage seriously, recognising the impact of this crime on communities. Rugby police remains committed to protecting people from harm.”
End * These figures are a direct comparison to the same time period in 2009. | <urn:uuid:ce19b727-8d91-45f6-9a04-d2adb16dd6f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.safer-neighbourhoods.co.uk/your-neighbourhood/rugby-district/rugby-town-west/news/incidents-of-criminal-damage-fall-by-34-5-in-3-areas-of-rugby | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946668 | 162 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Posts Tagged ‘find college scholarships’
This has been the summer of the debt crisis and a seemingly never-ending debate on raising the debt ceiling. Even if you didn’t really quite understand–or care to understand–the impact of the resulting bill signed by President Obama earlier this week, one of the biggest public concerns throughout the debate was how it would harm access to higher education. So was the future of college and graduate education harmed or protected?
Nothing is ever completely black or white, but here are some details of what the legislation will do:
Overall, the legislation will couple an increase in the government’s borrowing cap with more than $2 trillion in budget cuts over the coming decade, including cuts to federal education spending. So, do you want good news or bad news first?
If you chose “bad news,” skip to the section that says “bad news.” For “good news,” keep reading.
Despite the nail biting induced by fear that the Pell Grant program would encounter extremely deep cuts, the program was salvaged. Need a reminder of what the Pell Grant program is? Basically Pell Grants are designated to students from low-income families. They are grants for college that do not have to be repaid. According to the U.S. Despartment of Education, more than 19 million undergraduate students are expected to be awarded Pell Grants in the upcoming academic year. That’s a lot of students and a lot of education.
Instead of harmful cuts to the program, as was expected, the Pell Grants progam will receive $17 billion in funding at no additional cost to taxpayers.
Which leads us to the bad news:
If the Pell Grant program is safe, and at no additional cost to the taxpayers, where does the $17 billion come from? No, not a money tree. Those don’t exist yet (I’m currently working on it in the secret laboratory in my basement). With a money tree out of the picture, money has to be cut from elsewhere. In this case, saving the Pell Grant program came at the cost of government-subsidized loans for graduate and professional students. The loans will be eliminated in July 2012, which means that graduate students would have to pay interest on their loans while still in school. On top of that, the rate reduction on student loan interest for on-time payments will be eliminated.
Together, these two changes are expected to generate $22 billion in savings, with $17 billion allocated for Pell Grants and the remaining $5 billion helping to reduce the deficit.
Nobody was expecting a win-win situation to come out of the legislation, but it will definitely be interesting to see how pitting undergraduate education against graduate and professional education will work in the long run.
Is this good news or bad news? Share your opinion by leaving a comment below.
Two high school seniors, Maria Zilberman and Walter Chang, have been awarded Cappex’s newest scholarships, the Rock Star and the College Pro, worth a combined $7,500.
|Rock Star Scholarship Winner:
Maria Zilberman, from North Miami Beach, Fla., plans on attending college this fall to study pre-medicine.
|College Pro Scholarship Winner:
Walter Chang, from Houston, Texas, will attend college in the fall to study engineering and musical performance.
Zilberman and Chang qualified for the scholarships by playing the “Cappex Cap Challenge,” where students collect virtual “cap” badges for completing key activities in their college searches. After earning at least 10 badges in the Cap Challenge, students become eligible to apply for special Cappex-sponsored scholarships. Examples of virtual badges include:
- Leader (Abe Lincoln hat) : For sharing leadership examples
- Artsy (beret): For providing accomplishments in the arts
- Volunteer (halo): For detailing how you’ve helped your community
- Yeeehaw!!! (cowboy hat): For representing a western state
- Road Warrior (roadster): For using the “Cappex Campus Visit Planner” to plan a college road trip
- College Reviewer (fedora with press pass): For providing a college review
Zilberman, of North Miami Beach, Fla., qualified for the $5,000 Rock Star Scholarship by collecting 25 badges, but it was her outstanding leadership in founding her high school’s international humanitarian club that won her the scholarship.
“The Cap Challenge guided me to explore colleges, which allowed me to learn more about them through student reviews, seeing my chances and organizing my application,” Zilberman said.
Chang qualified for the College Pro Scholarship by earning 10 virtual cap badges.
“Cappex.com improved my college search process tremendously, with all the key facts of each college compiled into one page and several student reviews to provide further perspective,” Chang said. He was awarded the $2,500 scholarship for his dedication as the school orchestra president who helped fundraise over $30,000 to help the school purchase a new grand piano.
“We started the Cappex Cap Challenge to give students a fun and new way to discover colleges and find matching scholarships,” said Chris Long, Cappex president. “Maria and Walter took on the challenge and also clearly demonstrated their accomplishments improving their respective communities. We were thrilled to award our Cap Challenge scholarships to these deserving students.”
Interested in the Cappex Cap Challenge? Make your own Cappex profile now.
Looking for scholarships? Find more here!
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve posted a lot about different things about college tuition–the most expensive private schools, the least expensive private schools, etc. We know your mind will never fully be free from thinking about how much college will cost you, but we can try to help a bit!
Our best advice–start your college scholarship search this summer! Scholarships are one of the best ways to lower the cost of tuition, and these all have simple applications you should be able to do in a short amount of time.
Here are 6 summer scholarships you should apply to now!
See if you’re a match:
3. OP Loftbed $500 Scholarship Award
Quick fact-High school seniors through doctoral-level students are eligible to apply to this scholarship.
4. Lincoln Forum Scholarship
Quick fact-3 awards will be given away.
5. Family Travel Forum Teen Travel Scholarship
Quick fact-All years of high school students are eligible.
6. Shut Up & Sweat Athletic Gear Student Athlete Scholarship
Quick fact-This scholarship will be awarded to 3 different high school student athletes.
7. AFSA Second Chance Scholarship
Quick fact-You must be enrolled in college to apply for this scholarship.
Did you apply to any? Any tips to other students? Leave a comment!
Summer is a great time to search and apply for scholarships since you can do it at your leisure and not be completely stressed out like you probably are during the school year.
To give you a head start, here are 11 scholarships you can apply to this summer. See if you’re a match!
1. Abbot & Fenner Scholarships
Quick fact- Available for high school juniors through doctoral-level study!
3. Win-Win Scholarship
Quick fact- Fairly easy application and lots of scholarship money!
4. Castle Ink’s Green Scholarship
Quick fact- Not academic-based
5. BBG Communications Scholarship
Quick fact- Easy application process and need a 2.5 GPA to qualify
6. Share Your Story Scholarship
Quick fact- Financial need considered
8. Lincoln Forum Scholarship
Quick fact-3 awards will be given away
9. Gen and Kelly Tanabe Scholarship
Quick fact-Easy application
10. AFSA Second Chance Scholarship
Quick fact-5 scholarships will be awarded
11. R2C Scholarship
Quick fact-Application should take very short time
Want more scholarships? Here you go!
The last couple of months have been so exciting for Cappex as we have seen an outpouring of creativity from students. We received over two-hundred submissions for the $1,000 Trick Out the Cap Scholarship, and now, we have our winner!
Congratulations to the winner of the Trick Out the Cap scholarship, Mary L. of Highland Park N.J.! Her tricked out cap won by receiving the most “Likes” with 321 likes in the finalist round. Let’s give a standing ovation for Mary’s intricate design that will bring her one step closer to paying for college.
Mary and her scholarship-winning design:
In addition to Mary’s winning entry, we’d also like to acknowledge a few of our favorites here at Cappex. These are tricked out caps that show such great innovation in their designs that we had to share them with you:
|Amber L. of Sanibel, Fla.||Rachel C. of Amherst, N.Y.|
|Grace H. of Wheat Ridge, Colo.||Deyaun V. of Port Isabel, Texas
[youtube width="250" height="180"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA41khROZm0[/youtube]
Thank you to all of our Trick Out the Cap participants. You can see all of the tricked out cap submissions here.
Or, you can get a head start on the next Cappex scholarship here!
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White Board Friday | <urn:uuid:014e13df-d71e-4121-9002-f697e4ff0698> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cappex.com/blog/tag/find-college-scholarships/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937433 | 2,087 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Officials at 12-year-old Durham semiconductor startup Nitronex say they finally see a light at the end of the tunnel and expect the company to post its first profit next year and increase staff size.
It would be a long-overdue turnaround for Nitronex, which moved its office from Raleigh to Durham in 2008 in exchange for $100,000 in city incentives and promises to hire 200 people.
Nitronex currently employs about 55 people, after laying off a dozen workers during the recession. The company, which makes semiconductors that transmit radio signals, expects to grow to 75-100 employees in the next several years.
CEO Charles Shalvoy, describing the technology company at his office Wednesday, said sales revenue from military products and research contracts has been solid for the past several years.
Expected expansions in cable television and 4G wireless communications for smart phones will put Nitronex in the black, he said.
"We're forecasting growth in the next three years at a rate of 50 percent a year," Shalvoy said.
Nitronex was spun off in 1999 from N.C. State University's Material Sciences Laboratory, the same lab that spun off Durham-based lighting maker Cree, which is now one of Nitronex's competitors in the semiconductor field.
Nitronex components are used in military field radios and in electronic warfare jammers to disable roadside bombs.
Nitronex has raised more than $50 million in three rounds of venture capital, led by Intersouth Parters in Durahm. The company has also received about $10 million in federal grants and about $10 million in research contracts.
"Companies like ours live or breathe on private investment," Shalvoy said. "It's high risk, high reward." | <urn:uuid:2f5d4b45-4ed4-440c-82df-61ce04d31f2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.newsobserver.com/business/nitronex-looks-forward-to-first-profit-resumed-hiring | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967253 | 363 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Developing your career as a technical architect
IT teams today have many different types of architect, yet their technical skills are just the foundation for a range of soft skills that if they didn’t have wouldn’t earn them the title of architect. The session will help you understand the type of architect you are or want to become, and how to develop your career further in that area. It will define the leadership, and design and implementation skills you’re likely to need; and review some of the methodologies you could use to help you become a more successful architect. While the subject is a generic professional discipline, the session is aimed at people with SQL Server DBA or development backgrounds, and uses the requirements of the Microsoft Certified Architect certification as its foundation.
Sorry, there are no downloads available for this session.
Gavin is a Microsoft Certified Architect, Microsoft Certified Master and a senior consultant for Coeo Ltd, a Microsoft Gold Partner, where he architects, implements and troubleshoots mission critical SQL Server environments.
The video is not available to view online.
- Session Files Explorer
The network name cannot be found. | <urn:uuid:7fe7d189-c0f6-4394-9af1-e39b14d87c82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sqlbits.com/(X(1)S(rvhw4svwhvv403unuasmdl45))/Sessions/Event11/Developing_your_career_as_a_technical_architect | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93374 | 233 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Communities are all about people, and all people live in communities…weird huh? So with that distinction I wanted to point out a growing trend in offline communities, Life Themesongs. A life theme is an already prevalent marketing tactic that involves developing a psychographic persona of a model employee or consumer. An analyst will take the ideal representatives of a persona from a group of consumers, and create the ideal persona. People do this themselves in everyday life. They pick a famous philosopher, musician, actor(ess), or personal idol and model themselves after that “ideal” persona. But its hard with everyday environmental distractions to always keep that persona in the forefront of your mind, always asking yourself ww__d (what would __ do)? So I recently got back from a trip to New York and observed an awesome new trend, life themesongs. Almost every 10 people in the city had their iPhones or personal music players broadcasting their anthem to the public. This is just one more way that people can further develop their lifethemes, and something that cellphone providers should exploit.
Monthly Archives: November 2007
San Diego Bay + Red Bull Airshow
If you haven’t guessed, we are doing a community / web 2.0 themed month. Not because we are trying to ride the gravy train of increased press about online communities, but because you truly have something to benefit from these new features during the holidays. Below is a list of ideas that any person could use to make their holiday season easier and more connected:
Can’t remember who wants what?
-Set up a wiki at PBWiki to collaborate with family to create a one stop gift list for everyone that can be updated as quickly as their tastes change.
Connecting to your friends and family is becoming more and more virtual everyday. If you are not one of the many hundreds of millions of people racing to position themselves as the next big thing online then you may be missing out. How many people visited your blog last month? How many friends do you have in MySpace? How many videos have you posted to YouTube? Is your information in Facebook? What is your rank and level in World of Warcraft or Halo 3? What is your profile name and community you belong to in Second Life? If you do not have an answer to any of the questions above then you may not be preparing yourself to be a part of the next important status movement.
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Community’s importance can be summed up in one word: loyalty. A vibrant community is a loyal participant on your site. They will evangelize your site; they will offer information on how to improve the site and its usability; they will help you run the site – because it means something to them. Many sites are starting to develop communities, because it means that you have a reliable guarantee of traffic and long term brand relationships. Pre Web 2.0 websites’ traffic fluctuated drastically, but with the aspect of community, and specifically community with a “reason” you will find that your traffic is steady and constantly growing
Web 2.0 will change name in the future, but online communities will continue to grow stronger. As social networking becomes the norm of everyday online interaction, people will look for communities that cater to their needs. These communities will develop their own “niche,” and will become more specialized in their needs and interactions. A forward thinking Web 2.0 community will start to develop its own niche communities within the site – to protect the longevity of the community it has brought. Slow reactions to these developments will mean the loss of community. However, utilizing open source infrastructure and APIs we are able to react quickly to these developments and continue to build your Web 2.0 presence now and well into the future.
What is web hosting? Whenever you visit a website, what you see on your web browser is essentially just a web page that is downloaded from the web server onto your web browser. In general, a web site is made up of many web pages. And a web page is basically composed of texts and graphic images. All these web pages need to be stored on the web servers so that online users can visit your website.
Therefore, if you plan to own a new website, you will need to host your website on a web server. When your website goes live on the web server, online users can then browse your website on the Internet. Company that provides the web servers to host your website is called web hosting providers.
Ice Skating + Horton Plaza + San Diego
According to a recent study done by eMarketer, mobile gaming downloads, worldwide, are going to double in size to 460 million downloads by 2009. Americans are invested too deep in different technological devices to probably see any shifts in the next few years, but we are going to see significant changes in large developing countries for 2 reasons. First, these countries have never had the disposable income to buy any gaming devices. Second, mobile subscriber rates are increasing significantly in developing countries which is giving many people access to personal electronic technology for the first time in their lives. What we should look at here is: start developing as many mobile programs for these new consumers as soon as possible because the more they are able to access through their mobile devices the better.
Google’s decision to launch an entire mobile Internet platform instead of just a single phone might be the best decision they have ever made. Google knows that what they are good at is the Internet, plain and simple. They aren’t AT&T or Motorola and they have nothing to do with wireless communication. However, they are the dominant force on Internet search and Internet applications like Google Maps, Google AdWords, etc… So now that they will be leveraging their new mobile platform across almost every major cell phone carrier you better believe that they will soon have to power to control what the future of mobile Internet access allows.
Google’s launch was probably the nail in the coffin for any other competitors to ever take over Google’s market share. | <urn:uuid:ec2d7350-75a7-4e27-922e-abe8e8babe79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ninthlink.com/2007/11/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951495 | 1,331 | 1.6875 | 2 |
On Thursday, March 5, the California Supreme Court began hearing arguments about Proposition 8. Join the Impact Chicago organized a candlelight vigil on the evening of March 4 to draw attention to the issue. This was part of a nationwide series of such events designed to draw attention to what organizers feel is a critical testing point for the validity of the legislation. Similar vigils took place in cities like San Francisco; Santa Barbara, Calif.; and New York.
Approximately 50 people gathered at 800 N. Michigan for the Chicago vigil. Mathew Zaradich spoke to the gathering, emphasizing that “ [p]eople are doing this across the country; it’s an act of solidarity.” He also encouraged them to keep up with Join the Impact’s work and to learn more about the issues surrounding Prop 8. Following these brief remarks, people marched around the Water Tower park chanting slogans like, “Gay, straight, Black, white/ marriage is a human right” and “What do we want? Equal rights/ When do we want it? Now.” They also sang songs such as “Lean on Me” and “Down by the Riverside.”
At the time of this writing, gay-rights advocates were not hopeful that Prop 8 would be overturned. However, there is some hope that the court will decide that the marriages that occurred before Proposition 8 are still legal. For more on the California Supreme Court proceedings, see the Windy City Times Web site for updates. | <urn:uuid:f4fd302f-e5d1-4d40-bc17-761509545e3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yasminnair.net/content/group-holds-anti-prop-8-vigil-11-march-2009 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959432 | 310 | 1.5 | 2 |
We make an exception today to visit some apartment houses built by Louis Bonert in President Street between 8th Avenue and Prospect Park West:
Below is the description for these buildings, copied in its entirety from the Park Slope Historic District Designation Report:
"Nos. 945-953. Begun in 1900, these five apartment houses of limestone have paired entrances and stoops except at No. 945. They are four stories high and have full-height, bow-fronted bays. Designed with a simplified neo-Classical detail, they lend a quiet dignity in this block of one-family residences." (pp.87-88)
"Quiet dignity" is a great way to describe Bonert's small apartment houses. But what's exceptional about this entry is that Louis Bonert's name appears nowhere within it. Somehow the fact that he built these apartment houses escaped the notice of the Park Slope Historic District's original researchers.
Bonert sold the President Street houses to "a Manhattan capitalist" in one of the largest Brooklyn real estate deals of 1901. A Brooklyn Eagle article describes the deal, noting that the buildings are "among the finest" of their class and that the apartments are "handsomely decorated" and "constructed of the best materials throughout":
The deal was notable not only for its size, but also for the fact that Brooklyn real estate was beginning to attract the interest of Manhattan-based capitalists. It was a kind of "break-through" deal for Louis Bonert, who would later put together even larger real estate deals, as we shall soon see.
The Eagle followed up a few days later with another article whose headline ("Manhattan Capital in Brooklyn Apartment Houses") stretched across seven columns, the entire page:
The article reviewed the deal for Bonert's President Street apartments and featured them in an illustration:
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, November 30, 1901, p. 17 ("Manhattan Capital in Brooklyn Apartment Houses")
Even without the Eagle documentation, the apartments are immediately reminiscent of Bonert's nearly identical apartment houses in 6th Avenue:
The classical detailing around the doorways is identical:
All of which begs the question: if the President Street apartments, with their "quiet dignity", are worthy of inclusion in a Historic District, are not the identical 6th Avenue buildings, by the same builder, equally worthy? Why are the President Street buildings included, but the 6th Avenue buildings excluded? And what about all the other Louis Bonert buildings we have been so laboriously documenting on this blog? They seem to exude as much "quiet dignity" as these President Street buildings.
Alone amongst all of Bonert's apartment houses, the President Street buildings are in the current historic district. Like much else about the current district's boundaries, it makes no sense to us.
At any rate, at least we now know who is the builder of the President Street apartments. If you are the kind of person who has a hardcopy of the Park Slope Historic District Designation Report lying about (and, if you are reading this, we suspect you are), then fetch it down off the shelf, turn to page 87, and write "Louis Bonert: Brooklyn Eagle, | <urn:uuid:45f5b508-1b5f-457d-835a-27389c1ce93c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://savetheslope.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964944 | 662 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Earlier today we came to notice a simple yet powerful change to the Nexus 4’s online manual. It looks like Google has stealthily changed some of the parts of the manual and removed parts about the Nexus 4 USB connectivity with accessories like keyboards and mice.. Previously the online manual stated that the users can connect mice and keyboards etc. via an adapter if they want. Now it reads along these lines:
“You can connect a keyboard, mouse, or even a joystick or other input device to your phone via Bluetooth and use it just as you would with a PC. USB is not supported for connecting such devices”
What does this mean for a common user? Practically nothing. Usually not many people are keen to attach clunky keyboards and mice with their smartphones, they might be inclined to attach the phone to their TV to watch some photos but that’s it. But there are many power users out there who want to play video games or want to ability to type a bit faster than the stock keyboard. Those users can easily bypass the hurdle by using Bluetooth enabled devices. The real problem arises when someone wants to attach their flash drive with the phone. With the USB OTG (On the Go) disabled the users who were looking forward to supplement the smartphone’s memory by attaching an external data storage will have a hard time.
Another point to be noted is that the device is already offering limited storage, for some the on board 8/16 GB might be enough but for many Android users, it just won’t do. With no microSD slot available for further memory expansion many users would have wanted to attach their flash drives to watch movies or TV shows. All may not just yet be lost though; the problem might be on the software end. That can be rectified via a simple SW update from Google. But if the smartphone does not have the ability to power the USB devices, then we are out of luck. We will keep you posted on further developments. | <urn:uuid:25b55dc3-5d33-4970-874d-8a75e1cb6535> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.addictedtech.net/hardware-electronics/no-usb-peripherals-for-the-nexus-4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959988 | 404 | 1.710938 | 2 |
*Today's guest post is brought to you by Melissa from Life With the Suttons*
I asked Melissa to write a post about the Reformation. Many churches in Croatia can trace their roots back to the Reformation - my church is one of them. We actually have a name for these churches, "Church of the Reformation Heritage".
Martin Luther was the man
that started the entire reformation by nailing his 95 Theses to the door of the
Castle Church in Worms Germany. This document listed 95 errors that he
discovered were being taught and confessed in the Roman Catholic Church. Here are the 5 Solas that came about due to
By Scripture Alone
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2
The Bible is the inherent, inspired word of God. From
which we are to learn all that God desires for us to know. From this word we
learn of our sin and the need for salvation. We discover how faithful God is as
we study the Old Testament and we discover his mercy as he sends his Son to
fulfill the promise of a savior in the New Testament.
By Faith Alone
For by grace you have been saved through faith and
that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should
boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
It is not a decision for
Christ but God sending the Holy Spirit to work faith in our hearts as we hear
the gospel that leads us to believe in Christ.
It is hard for us in our sinful nature to realize that there is nothing
we can do in and of ourselves to gain forgiveness and eternal life in heaven.
It is only through what Christ has done for us that we have the hope that is
within us of eternity in heaven.
By Grace Alone
But when the goodness and loving
kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works
done by us in righteousness, but according to his own
mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy
Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope
of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7
Once again it is by the Grace
of God that we have been saved. We cannot do enough good deeds to earn our way
into heaven. In fact no good is found
in me apart from Christ Jesus.
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me. John 14:6
is only because Jesus came to this earth and lived a perfect life in our place.
Suffered and died on the cross at Calvary and rose again on the third day that
we are able to be forgiven and the gates of heaven have been thrown open!
Sola Deo Gloria
To God alone be the Glory
36 For from him and through him and to him are all
things. To him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:36
Paul wrote these words and they are the epitome
of what the 5 Solas point to. Everything we see is from God alone. And He
should be given credit for all that he made. He alone provided a way out from
our sin. We did not come up with it on our own.
These 5 Solas are confessed by many Christian
bodies today. The Lord prepared Martin Luther to hold stead fast to the truths
that was revealed to him through the Holy Scriptures. In fact when he was about
to be excommunicated and was asked to recant his theses he responded in this
“My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I
cannot recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.
Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me Amen!”
In His Service:
Thank you for sharing... | <urn:uuid:5a513d8a-aaeb-4354-826d-565c4e94ca2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mombloggersclub.com/profiles/blogs/the-reformation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96552 | 871 | 1.742188 | 2 |
I've been delaying this post for a while, because I wanted to discuss this topic after covering the origins of religion. However, here I am...
Now I've mentioned before that I believe there is a political element to religion that many authors often ignore. Religion has been used in the past, and is still used, as a method for keeping certain people ignorant and others in power. No doubt kingdoms were forged through brute force, whereas the priesthood gained power through stealth, and there have been groups of people throughout history, who have sought to prevent progress on the grounds of heresy. Proof that the great religions have a vested interest in maintaining a status quo. Of Ron Hubbard (the founder of scientology) it is said:
"... [Hubbard] began making statements to the effect that any writer who really wished to make money should stop writing and develop [a] religion, or devise a new psychiatric method. Harlan Ellison's version (Time Out, UK, No 332) is that Hubbard is reputed to have told [John W.] Campbell, "I'm going to invent a religion that's going to make me a fortune. I'm tired of writing for a penny a word."So ha to the fools who fall for the tricks of charlatans! Moving on, in a recent post on psychopaths I asked:
isn't it intelligent to accrue resources and reproductive opportunities through deception, force and social manipulation? If you can get others to give you what you want, through the minimal effort on your part, isn't that an understandable strategy? And here I want to mention the idea of nefarious intentions: are there people who could be defined as a psychopath and yet choose to do what they do, understanding the ramifications? Are there people that just don't care, as long as they are okay? If you understand (or at least suspect) that everything is pointless, is there anything other than a man-made 'moral' code, which actually stops you from doing what you want?And when I asked these questions I had certain people in mind. Interestingly, I recently discovered this article:
Cherie Blair and George W Bush have both eschewed typical light holiday reading this summer in favour of worthier tomes. Whereas Mrs Blair was pictured half way through the 800-page Postwar, an account of Europe’s recent history, President Bush got to grips with The Outsider, a philosophical novel by French intellectual Albert Camus.And I admit that I do sometimes wonder whether the whole entire thing isn't an absurd joke. Bush reading Camus at Bohemian Grove. That is a genuinely scary thought.
I want to pose a serious question: Since men have known (or at least suspected) that everything is pointless for at least 2000 years or more, have certain individuals seen humanity as fair game to manipulate and control, to further their own ends? If one man's machine is another man's slave, isn't it at least possible that the modern world is in some part a contrived and absurd corruption, enforced on the majority? If I made a race of robots to do my bidding, would I be a bad man? What if I raised humans to the same ends?
Another, admittedly kooky but interesting documentary is Freedom to Fascism, which, despite some reviews I'd read, is worth watching and raises some interesting points. Here something I quoted recently from H.G. Wells is relevant:
if it is true that the majority of able spirits among the contemporary rich are, for the sake of power and preeminence, deliberately impoverishing a community which need not be impoverished, then the conception pervading this book of the progressive construction of a universally prosperous economic world community out of the current social order, is unsound. There is nothing to be hoped for along that line. There is nothing for it but, as the Marxists teach, a class war against the rich and the able, social insurrection, the breaking up of the whole contemporary organization of mankind in wrath and disgust, and beginning again upon a different ground plan, with whatever hope is left to us, amidst the ruins.And I can't help but imagine, that if Herbert Wells were alive today, he'd be very suspicious of all the warmongering and a lot less optimistic about the fate of humanity.
Finally, are politicians born bad?:
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. | <urn:uuid:5abc7c64-8148-44f1-910d-8f62f64cee63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.everythingispointless.com/2007/04/are-politicians-born-bad.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965624 | 900 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Portland,OR - Multnomah County - September 1, 1868 - Oregon and California Stage Company Bill of Exc
Category:Collectibles / Banks, Registers & Vending
Start Price:200.00 USD
Estimated At:400.00 - 800.00 USD
100.00USD+ (17.50) buyer's premium + taxes, fees, etc...
SOLD at 2011 Mar 16 @ 18:16UTC-7 : PDT/MST
Did you win this item?
A full invoice should be emailed to the winner by the auctioneer within a day or two.
Bill of Exchange for the Oregon and California Stage Company. This second of exchange was made out for $15,000. It is signed by Elijah Corbett, father of Henry W. Corbett who uses the title of "Supt Oregon & Cala State Co.” The previous year the Oregon Stage Company’s controlling interest had been sold to Jesse Carr of San Francisco, who renamed the company Oregon and California Stage Company. Henry Corbett had been elected to the Senate in 1866. The substantial amount indicates this is either from the sale of the company or that Corbett still held a substantial interest. The bill measures approximately 8” x 4”. There are two vignettes present; one at the top of a ship on the sea and another to the left of a woman kneeling with an American crest. Small section in lower left corner is absent. Bill is in a cardstock backing and frame with a three paragraph write-up included. Measures approximately 14” x 14”. Very Fine Condition. | <urn:uuid:945371b8-d100-4202-b6fa-bbc76bb59b29> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.icollector.com/Portland-OR-Multnomah-County-September-1-1868-Oregon-and-California-Stage-Company-Bill-of-Exc_i10214424 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938445 | 334 | 1.539063 | 2 |
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