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Dictionary Scrabble – High Point Words
Do You Need Dictionary for Scrabble?
Scrabble dictionaries are indispensable parts of the game. In the heat of the scrabble challenge, players are always going to create nonexistent words because they need to play and they need points to win the scrabble game. Without a scrabble dictionary the faceoff could get heated up and only a scrabble dictionary accepted by both parties will do. It must not necessarily be that this player is aware that the words are incorrect, sometimes; scrabble dictionaries could even be wrong and not know it. A scrabble dictionary takes care of that.
Opportunity to Make Points with Dictionary Scrabble!
The game does not start without a scrabble dictionary for these obvious reasons. Scrabble dictionaries helps curtail cheating and ensures the argument of whether the word is correct or not is well taken care of. For any weird looking word, an opponent can ‘contest’ the credibility of such word. The word must be contained in the accepted scrabble dictionaries. You see, the dictionary for scrabble thus is an essential part of the game. Remember when a contested word fails, the erring player loses the chance and an opportunity to make more points in the game.
Rely on Dictionary for Scrabble
For most Internet scrabble sites, users enjoy scrabble downloads not scrabble dictionaries, scrabble dictionary online and an option for network games. One of the problems associated with playing scrabble is a dictionary of words acceptable to all the players at the same time. This is why aside-having scrabble downloads available for users; most incorporate the scrabble dictionary online too. With the scrabble dictionary online, players can contest the controversial words. The fact that these resources are available for players online makes playing the game interesting.
How to Get Started with Scrabble Dictionary Online
The dictionary scrabble players use for any game of scrabble must possess some criteria in other to be termed a reliable one. A good dictionary for scrabble must have a rich database of words because with a concise dictionary scrabble players will really struggle with words. In view of the challenging letters, your ideal dictionary for scrabble should be sufficiently loaded with all words formable even the not-too-popular ones.
ScrabbleCheats contains a perfect dictionary scrabble players will enjoy using. This is because it meets the best criterion; it possesses a large database of words; all the words that can be formed with even the tricky letters Z and Q.
Beginners and oldies in the game would benefit immensely from its use as it is a handy, reliable dictionary scrabble players can count on. Try the best of scrabble dictionaries online NOW! | <urn:uuid:4477ef1d-590b-448d-9e28-85bd6f609bd2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scrabblecheats.com/dictionary-scrabble/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935556 | 587 | 1.8125 | 2 |
CHENNAI: The Chennai Port Trust (CPT) is still considering the possibility that coal and iron ore handling operations could be revived as it has suffered a drastic decline in its annual profit after tax to 6 crore as against 68 crore last year.
CPT chairman Atulya Mishra said if the Supreme Court rules in their favour on coal handling at port, they would revive the dusty cargo operations using a "highly mechanised pollution free system". The port had filed a special leave petition in the apex court after Madras high court banned coal handling at port following widespread complaints of pollution in surrounding areas. Following the ban order, more than 1,000 employees have been rendered jobless since November last. "The Supreme Court has appointed a committee to study the issue and we are expecting a favorable reply," Mishra said.
Meanwhile, CPT registered a marginal growth in container handling and other port operations. "We had eight cruise vessels in the last one year. More than a dozen operators are eyeing Chennai port at present, including domestic and international cruises," Mishra said. Seven Seas Voyager, Le Diamant, Azamara Quest are some of the cruises that have visited Chennai recently.
Coal and iron ore were the major revenue earning operations of the port. Since it had been stopped, the port has registered a growth in business of other commodities, including fertilizers, project cargo, dolomite and cobble stone, besides steel and machineries.
The Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) has been already installed at the port and the system networks are being checked now. "We will commission the system with in the next few weeks," said the CPT chairman.
To speed up the cargo movement, more passages had been opened. CPT will also develop a trailer parking area of 5 acres, besides a proposed 7 acre truck parking terminal at Tiruvottiyur, in north Chennai. | <urn:uuid:9354d931-88fe-47ab-b3b4-b48b1d923694> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-13/chennai/31336785_1_chennai-port-trust-atulya-mishra-cpt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974642 | 390 | 1.5625 | 2 |
|Gordon Benton Foss|
|Written by TRF Times|
Roseau - Gordon Benton Foss passed away on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012 at the LifeCare Roseau Manor at the age of 88.
Funeral services were held Saturday, Nov. 17 at Helgeson Funeral Home in Roseau. Interment was held at the Northwood Cemetery in Moose River area of Grygla. Military Honors were provided by the Grygla American Legion.
Gordon was born on April 2, 1924 in Grygla, to Selma (Anderson) and Alfred M. Foss. After his schooling, he entered the U.S. Navy in April of 1942 and served during World War II until his honorable discharge in December of 1943. He served on the aircraft carrier, Cape Esperance. He and Thelma Ostlund were married on Dec. 22, 1945. They lived on a dairy farm in Northwood Township in the Moose River area except one year in the mid-50s, when he worked as a logger in Wilsall, Mont.
A man of faith, from the 1950s until 2011, he was an active member and trustee of Liberty Chapel in Grygla. He also served on the board of Sand Hill Bible Camp. In the early-60s, he designed and built one of Minnesota’s most advanced, free stall dairy barns. He served on the Grygla Farmers Union board and the Soil Conservation board for many years. He became well-known in Minnesota in the mid-70s when he asked the DNR to deal with the elk herd that was eating and ruining his oats field. When they failed to act on his repeated requests, he shot five of the elk and called the DNR to report his action. After his arrest, he was found not guilty by a jury of his peers who decided he had the right to defend his property.
In his late-70s, he discovered diamond willows growing on and near his farm. He began creating beautiful furniture using diamond willows which he sold through a website www.diamondwillows.com and at craft shows, a hobby that he very much enjoyed.
Gordon is survived by his children, Ronald (Joyce) of Baudette, Marvin (Helen) of Grygla, Richard (Sarah) of Princeton, Ill., David (Yadira) of Germany, Debra Dahl of Duluth, Mark (Elena) of Denver, Colo., Timothy (Jean) of Grygla, Steven (Alanna) of Grygla, Gary (Melanie) of Perham; and Kathryn Foss of Hibbing; 30 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Thelma in 2008; and sisters, Esther and Adeline.
Online guest book at: www.helgesonfuneral | <urn:uuid:5b06a89b-ec6b-4e23-a3f0-71a85c09f415> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trftimes.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10670:gordon-benton-foss&catid=16:obituary-archives&Itemid=20&layout=default&change_sifr=Bell&change_font=medium | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98491 | 595 | 1.625 | 2 |
Tummy Tuck Abdominoplastia
What is a tummy tuck?
Abdominoplasty, or "tummy tuck" as it is commonly known, is a procedure that minimizes the abdominal area. With this procedure, the surgeon makes a long incision from one side of the hipbone to the other. Excess fat and skin are surgically removed from the middle and lower abdomen, and the muscles of the abdomen wall are tightened.
Possible complications associated with abdominoplasty
Possible complications associated with abdominoplasty may include, but are not limited to, the following:
Visible scarring. If the incision area does not heal properly, there is a chance for visible scarring. This can often be treated by a second operation.
Blood clots and infection. As in any surgery, there is a risk of bleeding, infection, blood clots, or reaction to the anesthesia.
Who are candidates for tummy tuck?
The best candidates for abdominoplasty are men or women who are in good physical condition, but are bothered by large fat deposits or loose abdominal skin that does not respond to diet or exercise.
People who intend to lose weight, and women who plan future pregnancies, should postpone the surgery.
About the procedure
Although each procedure varies, tummy tuck surgeries generally cover the following considerations:
Location options may include:
Anesthetic options may include:
Average length of procedure:
Some possible short-term side effects of surgery:
Abdomen is swollen
Abdomen is painful
Healing is a slow and gradual process. It may take weeks or months to reach a full recovery.
Scars may appear to get worse during the first three to six months as they heal. It may take up to a year for scars to flatten out and lighten in color, although they may never completely disappear. | <urn:uuid:172a3f0e-9bcf-4ca3-9b29-78841ccab447> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.grhealth.org/GhsuContentPage.aspx?nd=810&type=200&parm1=P01097&parm2=85 | 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 | 0.945554 | 395 | 1.65625 | 2 |
In this mix of history, journalism, political analysis, and first-person accounts, former chief coroner and Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell, renowned criminologist Neil Boyd, and investigative journalist Lori Culbert, offer a portrait of one of North America’s poorest, most drug-challenged neighbourhoods: Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Canada - Politics & Current Events
"For the better part of a week, nearly every man, woman, and child in Gander and the surrounding smaller towns stopped what they were doing so they could help. They placed their lives on hold for a group of strangers and asked for nothing in return. They affirmed the basic goodness of man at a time when it was easy to doubt such humanity still existed."
When thirty-eight jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland, on September 11, 2001, due to the closing of United States airspace, the citizens of this small community were called upon to come to the aid of more than six thousand displaced travelers. | <urn:uuid:df292d2b-d21f-4a76-a7d5-f475bd7331ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.locallibris.com/canada-politics-current-eve/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970252 | 209 | 1.773438 | 2 |
With oil at $65 will renewables lose steam?
That was the question posed to me by a smart man yesterday. It is a valid point given the lack of commitment to all the energy independence rhetoric during the early 1970’s. America’s initiatives to reduce its dependency on foreign oil made great sense, yet as the price of oil plunged so went the country’s resolve to develop electric vehicles and alternative fuel sources. Call me overly optimistic, but this time around I feel we might be able to maintain our “eye on the prize” and continue to invest in renewable energy because of environmental and geo-political pressures and despite economic pressure and uncertainty.
With gas prices looming around $5/gallon the United States saw a drop in distances driven. There was renewed pressure to resuscitate the efforts surrounding the electric car; and politicians on both sides of the aisle pushed for alternatives because it made financial, environmental and geopolitical sense. Yet, history may well be destined to repeat itself. The price of oil has fallen hard for a number of reasons, including the general economic uncertainty, and automobile drivers have almost obsequiously demonstrated the elasticity of demand and begun to drive again.
What happens next? Investing in replacement technologies becomes less financially compelling as the price of oil drops. Will the push for next generation biofuels falter? I have some faith that as consumers and voters we can learn from history and maintain the foresight to realize that regardless of the price of oil, we need to develop alternatives due to environmental necessity and economic stability.
It is no secret that the oil markets are heavily manipulated by suppliers whose interests are not always aligned with their consumers. I feel that as consumers and voters we might begin to take some responsibility for the volatility in the price of oil in accordance with the adage “Trick me once, shame on you; trick me twice, shame on me.”
If empirically myopic consumers and legislators cannot be persuaded through history lessons and fear, then perhaps the future of renewables will come from investors and companies that want to ensure their existence long after oil reserves have been squandered.
|[ Permalink ]| | <urn:uuid:7d03ff6c-7564-4674-be66-dcad77a69267> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.cleantechies.com/2008/11/02/with-oil-at-65-will-renewables-lose-steam/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963184 | 443 | 1.820313 | 2 |
During my travels meeting eco-builders in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado the conversation often quickly turns to the difference between Europe and the USA. People are keen to know whether life is better across the Atlantic. Many lament that Europe is so much further forward in terms of environmental legislation and regulations, expressing a general despondency about the state of environmental consciousness and action within the USA. People have often suggested that Europe is better at either forcing or encouraging people to make changes for the better environmental good. A good example of this in England and Wales is the recent introduction of feed-in tariffs for installing photovoltaic panels (where you are guaranteed to be paid a certain amount per unit of electricity produced). If you have savings with which to buy the panels (so this is clearly not open to all) you can begin to generate quite a significant sum from these tariffs while also reducing your electricity bills. This type of government incentive is finally beginning to make putting environmental concerns into practice financially viable rather than just relying upon people’s willingness to do an environmental good.
However, for all that Europe might be doing on the legislation front (and lets be honest it is not as good as it looks and it is still not good enough) and for the positive steps taken in recent years, it lacks something that the United States has in huge quantities, especially in the examples that I have seen in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. That is a sense of freedom and a spirit of experimentation. I would wager that this is related to the broader North American psyche of individualism, self-belief, confidence and a ‘can do’ attitude that can be lacking in certain parts of England. Whatever the reason the results are some radical and unusual green buildings that are superior in inventiveness – in thinking outside of the box – than the types of housing I have seen in England or Europe. What is more, many of the eco-builders I have met are continuously seeking to adjust and improve their buildings. By living in them and understanding what works and what does not they continue to be inventive in making buildings even better. We have plenty of creative builders, but we do not seem to push the boundaries as far.
There is a danger that our legislation and regulations actually hold back our ability to experiment, be bold, and have the vision to put some of our more radical ideas into practice. There are many examples here of houses which do not fit existing notions of what a house should look like, feel like, or do, including the infamous Earthship, earthbag dome houses, spiral straw bale houses, hybrid houses made out of a combination of straw bale and cob or adobe, and two-story majestic adobe homes.
The tradition of just getting on and building your own house appears to be a lot stronger in the USA. Of course it is hard to generalise across such a huge nation, but there are pockets or hubs of eco-building experimentation that feel like green building heaven for anyone used to the restrictions (planning, financial, cultural, and space) of England. Within these hubs there is a critical mass of like-minded others which many have said has been crucial to facilitating their confidence and knowledge in getting on and building and trying different methods and approaches. Many accredited this critical mass to their success. It is certainly hard to build a different type of house if you are the only one in a whole town doing so and it marks you out in an uncomfortable way. In addition there is the advantage of space out here where you can get on and build without too many prying eyes which is a real advantage to the eco-building movement in the USA. In England you do not get far before your neighbours start asking questions.
On paper Europe has taken very significant steps in recent years to facilitate, legislate, and encourage green building, but that is not to say that we are necessarily getting it right. I am cautious about a system that becomes too bureaucratic in the way that we determine what houses should or should not be built, and to what criteria. In places such as Crestone (Colorado) where there are no building codes (building regulations) and the only limitation to what you can build is determined by a Property Owners Association (depending on what plot you have, not all areas are covered by the Association), there are actually not as many ‘failures’ as one might expect. In other words, most have built reasonable, solid, nice looking homes without building codes determining the approved method for doing so. This is because if you are going to build a house for yourself of course you are going to want it to stand up, for it to be comfortable, and to last for a long time.
I am not suggesting we should abandon all building codes and many builders I have spoken to here have said that in the main they are not a restriction to individual eco-building (though they can be to larger eco-community developments). Building codes can be navigated and in many ways are important for ensuring that houses are robust enough to withstand climatic or regional conditions, like earthquakes or heavy rain. Building codes are perhaps most important when housing is being built for other people, when a developer could make a house look robust and fine but actually is it poorly built. But for self-builders, and in order to really encourage inventive radical visionary eco-building we need to re-examine whether our building regulations are too heavy-handed and are actually suppressing the experimentation which we need.
Although we know a great deal about how to build better homes (even if we often continue to ignore this knowledge) we do not yet have all the answers. There is not a perfect eco-house out there – even the Earthships acknowledge that they have room for improvement and Mike Reynolds has been improving them for over two decades. We still need space to experiment, to radically rethink how we build and collect the resources we need to survive (such as energy and water). We need freedom and we need it at home, wherever that is, so that we can experiment with buildings in the climate they need to function in, with the materials that are local, and live in them during all the seasons to see if they actually work. Of course we can import ideas from abroad and internationally share our successes and failures, but we need more space for homegrown inventors to put their ideas into practice, and to do this we might need a little less regulation and a little more confidence.
[Taos, New Mexico, USA, 15th August 2010] | <urn:uuid:accd79f9-56fd-434c-b3ea-3d75bf96ff50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://naturalbuild.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/freedom-to-experiment-in-eco-building/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968418 | 1,324 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Stewart Hicks and Allison Newmeyer of Design With Company have shared with us their project "Character Building," a series of functional, identity-creating objects they designed for a local Independent Media Center situated inside an old former post office building.
A video exploring the IMC Character Building project. (Credits: Stewart Hicks and Allison Newmeyer with Hugh Swiatek, Gaelan Finney-Day and Nick Casaletto)
Project Description from the Designers:
Character Buildings are a series of material and figural investigations for the Independent Media Center (IMC) in Urbana, Illinois. The IMC is a grassroots organization that provides access for the community to various media outlets through its rentable spaces, performance stage, production tools and radio station. The organization purchased the old post office building in 2002 and has called the space home ever since. However, the building does little to convey the attitude and presence of this egalitarian media organization.
Character Buildings construct a new, physical identity for the institution within the shell of the former civic building using only minimal intervention into the existing structure. It achieves this through a series of kiosks and other objects that offer functions and “character” to the organization. Each object has a name that preserves their individuality while remaining a coherent cast: Pinup Pam (the community pinup board), Red (the red entry doors), Deskasaur (the receptionist desk), Stampy (the Books 2 Prisoners drop box), Disco (the button mural entrance portal), and Talky (the talk-bubble signage). The characters are placeless yet create a persistent image for the institution within this repurposed old building.
The project is a marriage between ideas cultivated in the academy, volunteer resources, and community needs to produce new and unexpected urban experiences. The IMC is dedicated to the democratization of media and the project embodies their ideals. The objects encourage people to engage with them as a means of “activation.” They were built with donated labor and take on life when filled in with activities and the remnants of human use. Their ‘cool’ forms (in the McLuhan sense) are further activated as people interpret and re-interpret their shapes. The characters encourage multiple associations and narratives, captivating audiences within their story.
Find more photographs in the image gallery below. | <urn:uuid:c6441467-553a-4c9f-823f-44854e77f7dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/character_building_by_design_with_company/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945671 | 476 | 1.554688 | 2 |
It has become cultural cliché that everyone – old enough to be aware that day – remembers where they were when they heard JFK had been shot … or when the planes hit the World Trade Center … or 70 years ago when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Yet by whatever definition we now describe such memories does not change the fact that they indeed will last a lifetime. And as in the events described above, they will also transcend generational experience.
Friday, November 22, 1963 was a pleasant day for the week before Thanksgiving. I was a first-grade student at the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic elementary school located on Chelten Avenue in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.
It was close to lunch when the quiet of the classroom was broken by the unexpected squawk of the intercom system. At first just a confusing message to this 7-year-old, “Please say a prayer, the President has been shot!” Initially all of us were puzzled, but the one image that was seared into my memory was the look of horror on Sister Anne’s normally placid face.
Minutes later came the words I remember so clearly, as though it was only yesterday, “The President is dead.”
What I remember most from then, particularly those days after the assassination was the reaction of my parents. As Irish Catholics, the Kennedy election and inauguration held a special sense of pride for them. In our house one wall contained two pictures, one of John F. Kennedy, the other Pope John XXIII … side by side. The days after November 22 were filled with an almost non-stop vigil in front of the television, where we first witnessed some of the images that accompany our never-fading memories of those emotional days.
Recently I came across Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot (Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard) in an unexpected place - my 23-year-old son’s bedroom. It was a bit surprising given the way many historical events get lost within our natural focus on more current events. But Brian has always been a bit of a book-worm, and was never very parochial about his reading choices.
Apparently, the Kennedy assassination had indeed transcended Brian’s generational experience and interests.
This is certainly not the first book on the Kennedy tragedy I have picked up. My first in-depth look into that day in Dallas was Josiah Thompson‘s conspiracy piece Six Seconds in Dallas, a book that sowed all sorts of doubts in my young mind on the official version of the assassination as set forth in the Warren Commission Report.
O’Reilly and Dugard do a credible job of identifying those organizations and criminal elements long considered as potential conspiracists in the Kennedy assassination. Yet they do an even better job of describing Lee Harvey Oswald as a dejected reject of both the Soviets and Cubans, a man who always believed he was deemed for “greatness” despite doing little to achieve even a passing notoriety.
Even his relationship his wife, Marina, an increasingly disenchanted spouse, shows a man who had a very difficult time living up to even pedestrian expectations. Oswald was the loser lone gunman that has become the all too familiar figure in many objectified killings, be they the assassination of key public figures or the serial killing of more common citizens.
One of the well-developed themes of Killing Kennedy is the ability to look back through the perspective of time and pull an entire picture together. The book looks back at the figures and events that led up to that bloody day in Dallas. But it is even more interesting to relive those legends that surrounded the troubling facade of the Kennedy Camelot.
- Most Americans from that era are familiar with JFK’s propensity for extra-marital relationships. Chapter 5 of Killing Kennedy deals openly with Kennedy’s well-known affair with Marilyn Monroe. But how many people dazzled by the Kennedy mystique ever considered the lengths to which his wife, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (and later Onassis) went to enable – if not condone - said dalliances?
Jackie was known to leave The White House almost every Thursday for weekends away at the family’s Glen Ora estate in Virginia. She was no fool when it came to JFK’s escapades, yet she left him each weekend alone with Dave Powers, who kept a constant stream of young women accessible to the President.
Kennedy actually claimed that he needed sex almost every day to prevent debilitating headaches (the male twist on the headache-sex relationship?). As for Jackie, she eventually took the unusual step for the 1960s and sought frank, explicit sex advice from Dr. Frank Finnerty, a cardiologist and family friend, in an attempt to improve the First Couple’s intimacy and keep The President from wandering.
- Another interesting facet of Killing Kennedy is its frank discussion of the Bay of Pigs disaster, that ill-advised, poorly executed attempt to invade Cuba and overthrow the young revolutionary, Fidel Castro. One factor in the military disaster was Kennedy’s own part in forcing the Bay of Pigs plans to its infamous conclusion. Kennedy was particularly hard on the Eisenhower Administration’s for what he described as its soft stance on Communism – and Cuba in particular – in the 1960 election campaign against Vice President Richard Nixon.
After such a showing Kennedy was in no position to forego a plan that had its origins in the Dwight Eisenhower administration despite his obvious misgivings in the lead-up to the invasion. Once it became apparent that the invasion would fail, Kennedy further complicated his mistake by being indecisive and timid; and then abandoning the effort completely, leaving many of the Cuban expatriates spearheading the invasion to die or to suffer years of imprisonment in Castro’s new Cuba.
- Amazingly enough it appears that the Soviet-Cuban Missile crisis resulted in Kennedy’s far wiser embargo strategy against Communist Cuba; and it also may have saved the Kennedy marriage. Many within the Kennedy inner circle, even the men on the Secret Service detail, saw a marked change in JFK’s womanizing after the Soviets almost forced a nuclear showdown over placing offensive, nuclear-capable missiles on the island just 90 miles from Florida. As a result of that nuclear near-miss, the President appeared to become a much more family oriented and accessible husband and father.
- It is not difficult to appreciate JFK’s actions to end racial discrimination in the South. Although his
civil rights efforts really found their impetus in Attorney General Bobby Kennedy, the actions - and reactions – taken in the early stages of the 1960s would continue as a central theme of the Lyndon B. Johnson administration and culminate in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
As I read Killing Kennedy much attention was being given to the 50-year anniversary of the Birmingham campaign to protest racial discrimination . It’s sobering to consider that just 50 years ago African-Americans – some as young as elementary school students - were motivated to expose themselves to physical violence at the hands of white law enforcement authorities to press their case for equal treatment under the law in the racially hostile South. The author’s description of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade is provocative.
Other facts I found interesting and enlightening in Killing Kennedy:
- Jack Kennedy was hardly the decisive Navy PT boat Commander immediately after PT-109 was cleaved in half by a Japanese warship in the South Pacific. Initially Kennedy is hesitant to make command decisions, instead polling his crew as to the best course of action. But he certainly made up for his timidness as the episode progressed.
- Kennedy was in constant pain over most of his adult life as the result of injuries from the PT-109 incident. To relieve his back pain, Kennedy liked to swim naked in the since removed White House pool. This activity also led to some embarrassing episodes with young female staff members.
- During the Bay of Pigs Kennedy was beset with diarrhea and urinary tract infection that severely tested his ability to concentrate.
- Jackie Kennedy was a closet chain-smoker, who continued the practice even during pregnancy!
- The Kennedy’s despised LBJ; and him them. This is not difficult to understand, given the way the Kennedy brothers brought Johnson onto the 1960 ticket in order to land the Electoral College votes of Texas then eviscerated his political power as Vice President.
- Just weeks before his death, Kennedy already has the U.S. heavily involved in the survival of the South Vietnamese government.
- JFK greatly embarrassed Frank Sinatra when he cancelled long-made plans to stay at Sinatra’s Palm Springs home following a speech at UC-Berkeley in 1962. This after Sinatra had already gone to the trouble of making significant changes to his property, even adding a helipad. Instead Kennedy stayed at Bing Crosby‘s estate, purportedly bedding Marilyn Monroe for the first time there, because of Sinatra’s alleged relationship with La Cosa Nostra. Sinatra, irate when Peter Lawford - a Kennedy by marriage - was forced to break the news, eventually became a Republican.
Regardless of whether you come from my generation, an earlier one, or a generation much younger and far removed from the shock of an assassinated President, you will enjoy the historical perspective provided by Killing Kennedy! | <urn:uuid:2e7e9998-e470-4693-82f8-c2b99aa6bd91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://crankymanslawn.com/tag/history/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970247 | 1,922 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Okay, I admit it. I once had scabies.
I'm talking about them now, simply because I know that I am not the only one. Satan uses fear to torture, and one of his main tactics against the church is to divide, isolate, and conquer. Christ died to make us one in Him. Scabies? Satan? Huh?
First things first. Scabies, in non-medical terms, are little mites that live under the skin. We sometimes use that phrase about people (cooties), but these are tiny insects. They lay eggs, hatch larvae, burrow, and eat flesh, all just beneath the surface of the skin. They release a little toxin that causes allergic reactions in their host, causing an inordinate amount of excruciating itch. Scratching breaks the skin, allowing the eggs and mites to reach the surface. Contact with other people or their clothing, bedding, etc. is what spreads them. These little mites infect people of all classes and ethnicities all over the world. They've been doing this for the last 2,500 years or so. 1
How did I get mine? Well, I guess in either work, play, service, or in just plain living, I came in contact with someone else who had them. I've learned that they seem to be quite common.
Before I got mine, I had only the vaguest, most distant awareness of them. I knew next to nothing about them, and naturally, never even thought of them. But one night, I began to itch, terribly. Next day, I mentioned this to a few people at the gym, and oddly, someone else had the same itch.
After talking to a few more people in different areas of my life, I did discover another person with itching. So, I did what they were doing. I went to the drug store and bought some cream. Didn't help. I went back and bought a different cream, one with a different chemical. Didn't help. I thought perhaps I had allergies, or dry skin, or something like that. Eventually, I purchased three or four different creams and began using them all. Nothing helped. The odd thing is that I couldn't see anything at all on my skin--no redness, no bumps, no rash, nothing.
But the itching became excruciating and spread to all parts of my body. It would begin in late afternoon and intensify, until round about 2 a.m. it would become unbearable, to the extent that there was no possibility of getting back to sleep. The darkness, my tiredness, the weirdness, the "hellishness" all added to my fear and discomfort.
So, finally, I gave up on home remedies, which were not working. I had not been able to cure myself, and I still did not know what was even wrong. I went to see my family physician. This kindly woman listened to me and looked at my skin where I said the itching was. Like myself, she couldn't see anything--no rash, no redness, no bumps. Although she mentioned the word scabies, she discounted it, since nothing was visible. Another cream, this time by prescription, a little bit stronger, yet still, very similar to what I had already been using.
Nothing. No relief.
At this point, I asked to see a specialist, a dermatologist. By now, having done some research of my own, I was strongly suspecting that I had scabies. I didn't care about the shame--I just wanted to admit it, get the cure, take the treatment, and be made well.
This dermatologist listened, took one quick photo of a small, red, nondescript, yet definitely itchy spot, magnified it, and said, "Bad news and good news. Bad news--this is a classic photo of scabies! You probably have four or five of these on your whole body. Good news--they are very easy to get rid of." Yes, he did give me another cream, but as it was an insecticide, it did the job overnight. Of course, one has to wash everything as well, and vacuum, something we do frequently anyway.
Then, the dermatologist shook my hand with his bare hand. Shock! "After what you just told me, you're shaking my hand?" "I have twenty minutes," he said, "and I will wash my hands." His kindness overwhelmed me.
Although the cream killed all the mites and eggs beneath my skin, the allergic reaction to their past toxin continued for another four weeks. My doctor had told me that would be the case. Because I was still itching terribly, I had to simply accept by faith that those scabies were indeed dead.
So, why am I confessing my scabies in a public column such as this? It was traumatic for me, associated with great shame, and a good deal of emotional pain, not to mention the extreme physical discomfort. But, because I was cured, I want to share the good news with someone else, who perhaps also is suffering.
However, there's more than this. I once had a condition that was far, far worse than scabies, though in many ways very similar, and that's my real reason for sharing this with you now.
That other condition is called sin.
Similarities to scabies:
- I didn't know I had sin until the side effects got most unbearable.
- I went through a period of denial and self-administered cures of various sorts.
- I picked up the sin contamination from my parents, who also got it from theirs, ad nauseam.
- When I found that I couldn't cure myself, and when the symptoms became no longer tolerable, I overcame all my reluctance and fears of exposure, and went for help. Finding help meant that I had to confess the details, just as with telling the doctors all the symptoms of my itch.
- I had to receive and administer the healing cure the doctors, in this case God my Father and Jesus my Savior, gave to me. The cure they gave me was to eat and drink the flesh and blood of Christ as represented by His death and resurrection on the cross. Belief in Him rendered ineffective all the sin inside of me.
- Even though I had confessed my sin to the Lord and to His servant, the church, and even though I had taken the cure of Jesus Christ, the consequences of my past sin--analogous to the continuing allergic reaction of body itch to the toxin of the scabies--the consequences of past sin continued beyond the point of salvation. I had to accept by faith that the cure of Christ's dying on my behalf had really worked, even though I couldn't see immediate results.
- Finally, walking with the Lord requires daily cleansing, analogous to washing the bedding and clothing and keeping the house vacuumed and clean. This daily cleansing occurs by daily confession to the Lord and daily reading of His word.
Praise God! Praise Him for His goodness to men. Here are some verses concerning the lethal condition of sin common to all members of the human race, with the exception of--no one.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23 For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
John 1:12 But to all who have received him – those who believe in his name – he has given the right to become God's children.
Luke 13:3 No, I tell you! But unless you repent, you will all perish as well!
Romans 10:9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.
Romans 10:13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
1 John 1:9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. (Joh 17:17 CSB) (This verse refers to daily cleansing.)
Ephesians 5:25 ...just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. (Eph 5:25 CSB)
I pray that if anyone reading this thinks they might have scabies, they will go to see a dermatologist. And, I pray that if anyone thinks they might be suffering from untreated sin, they will go to their heavenly Doctor, the Great Physician Jesus Christ, even sooner. There is a cure--why wait any longer? | <urn:uuid:2bcf5237-55e8-41de-9052-d2326b76ff41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://users.bible.org/blogs/christina_wilson/scabies | 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 | 0.984676 | 1,872 | 1.75 | 2 |
If this isn't a tearjerker, than i just haven't studied enough music.
Is it sentimental to any of you also?
I don't know this piece, but your post gave me the opportunity to listen to it. I would not use the terms "sentimental" or "tearjerker". Both those words have a rather denigrating connotation, and are usually applied to music that is small-scale, somewhat popular, even hackneyed, and unsophisticated. Not many composers can write great sentimental music, but Chopin comes close in some of the Nocturnes (e.g. F# from op. 15). Louis Moreau Gottschalk wrote some truly sentimental music.
I suspect that you meant to say "moving" or "expressive", which it certainly is. But it is also noble, harmonically sophisticated, and written on too grand a scale to be called "sentimental" or a "tearjerker".
Isn't everything Tchaikovsky wrote apparently sentimental? That would be like saying his opus 35 violin concerto is just a concerto.
The Tchaikovsky violin concerto *is* just a violin concerto, but a great one. Both your comments, concerning the sonata movement and the violin concerto, tell us that you are very sensitive to the beauties of music, but such beauties cannot always be adequately described by any words, let alone the ones you chose. But yes, all Tchaikovsky speaks from the heart, is deeply felt and accessible to all. But those qualities do not make his works "tearjerkers" or "sentimental". It's just really a question of accepted usage. | <urn:uuid:16149fed-a26f-4954-8b46-bbfa61f9aa15> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pianosociety.com/new/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=33322 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966791 | 356 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The International Society of Military Sciences
The Austrian National Defence Academy, The Royal Military College of Canada, the Royal Danish Defence College, The Finnish National Defence University, the Netherlands Defence Academy, the Norwegian Education Command, the Swedish National Defence College, and the Baltic Defence College established in October 2008 a society intended to further research and academic education in military arts and sciences in the broadest sense.
Letter of Intent to Establish ISMS
The Letter of Intent to establish the International Society of Military Studies was signed at the Naval Officers Club, Copenhagen, Denmark, 22 October, 2008.
1) The undersigned institutions of Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, and the Baltic Defence College (later referred to as the institutions) agree to establish a society intended to further research and academic education in military arts and sciences in the broadest sense. This association is titled International Society of Military Sciences (hereafter referred to as the Society).
2) The purpose of the Society is to build a network for the creation, development, exchange and diffusion of research and knowledge about war, conflict management and peace support efforts.
3) The Society will establish an annual conference, and one or more workshops per year. Activities include communications and publications to support a research network within topics such as: war studies; military history; military technology; command and control, leadership and basic competence; law and ethics; security and defence policy and strategy; armed forces and society; and defence economics and management. These are detailed in Annex A.
4) The representatives of the member institutions constitute the Council as the highest authority governing the Society. The Council elects a Board governing the Society. The purpose of the Board is to initiate and coordinate the activies of the Society. The institution hosting the annual conference provides the secretariat for the Society for the period of one year.
5) Society members commit themselves to organise and participate in various workshops, conference or working groups, with the understanding that they will endeavour to lead at least one working group or workshop and participate in at least two others. A tentative schedule of upcoming events is attached at Annex B.
6) The Society will be established for the four-year term in October 2008 upon signing of Letter of Intent by the institutions, and it is announced at the First Annual Conference. | <urn:uuid:95efa845-4a94-49c7-937d-ff6c54ec52f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.isofms.org/pagina/home.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939357 | 471 | 1.578125 | 2 |
LONDON (AP) - Britain's Data Regulator has fined Sony 250,000 pounds ($396,100) for having insufficient security measures to prevent a cyberattack on its PlayStation Network.
The attack in April 2011 targeted credit card information through Sony's PlayStation Network and put millions of users' personal information - including names, addresses, birth dates and account passwords - at risk.
Britain's Information Commissioner's Office said Thursday that security measures in place at the time "were simply not good enough." It said the attack could have been prevented if software had been up to date, while passwords were also not secure.
The office acknowledged the "substantial" size of the fine, calling the case "one of the most serious ever reported" to the data regulator. | <urn:uuid:e4a8f422-e1cb-4e89-90ad-a10478eebeb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wusa9.com/(X(1)A(4C27-hC5zAEkAAAAYzA5YjQ2YzktOTk1Zi00MzVhLTgwMmMtMWUyMTdlZDlkNWY0Q9A_ppj6SQLTPxGfD-rRYaxNP5k1))/news/article/239566/381/Sony-Fined-In-UK-Over-PlayStation-Cyberattack | 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 | 0.950774 | 154 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Spanish “Tuscan” lamb is regarded as one of the finest qualities of fleece in the world. It is particularly long-haired, delicate, soft and light – and rare. Tim Nursey in England has been using it to make very traditional warm accessories for centuries.
The hat, with its wide fur brim, is reminiscent of the birettas of bygone centuries. The black inside of the crown is made from warm but short-haired lambskin. Cosy and soft, this fashionable accessory will keep you warm without feeling scratchy.
The scarf keeps your neck warm; Worn as a fur collar, it will enhance any pullover, classic coat or leather jacket. With neatly piped slit for passing the ends through.
Muffs have been in existence since the 16th century. Now they are more fashionable than ever. The inside of this one is made entirely from soft, warm Toscana lamb – a sensual experience for your hands. With robust cord to hang around the neck. Toscana lambskin, grey mottled. Made in England. | <urn:uuid:13d0a50a-e7c7-462f-8d58-3da6a088eb21> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.proidee.co.uk/fashion-classics/women/accessories/hosiery-gloves/toscana-lamb-accessories?HI=laufband&ID_KATEGORIE=2469 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953393 | 226 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Friday, December 9, 2011
NEW JERSEY IS NUMBER 3!
New Jersey is #3 on the list of “The States Doing The Most To Spread The Wealth”, as per a study by 247WALLST.COM.
“24/7 Wall St. examined government spending by state in a number of categories to identify those that give the most and least in money and benefits to their residents. Our analysis has found that states that provide the most services and benefits have high income inequality. In order to finance these programs, the states that offer the most to their residents also have among the highest tax burdens in the country. While all income levels benefit from government assistance, the poor and the dispossessed benefit the most, in the form of welfare, medicare, and unemployment insurance.”
Regarding the Garden State the study found (highlight is mine) -
“New Jersey residents have access to exceptional amounts of health care benefits. Medicaid beneficiaries receive the fourth largest amount in the country. And those who receive Medicare benefits, which is solely the fiscal responsibility of the federal government, receive the third largest amount. New Jersey also spends the second largest amount on education on a per student basis. Only 4% of New Jersey’s education budget derives from the federal government, with revenues split evenly between state and local governments. Unfortunately, New Jersey residents possess the largest tax burden in the country — nearly twice that of Alaska.”
One reason why NJ residents have “access to exceptional amounts of health care benefits” is that a great many work for state and local government, which provides great free health insurance to employees. And NJ “spends the second largest amount on education” because the NJEA is the largest contributor to local and state campaign coffers, and local Superintendents of Schools receive hundreds of thousands in pay for unlimited “unused” sick pay upon retirement. Superintendents of Schools are never sick – they just occasionally “work from home”! | <urn:uuid:8b7bed82-19e1-4121-8e74-215a5bc953bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wanderingtaxpro.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-jersey-is-number-3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955738 | 414 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Posted 6:40 PM 11/15/2012 : Power shift at state capitol favors civil unions
Civil unions may not have been on the ballot directly last week, but the results of the election have left little doubt that Colorado lawmakers will address the issue once the new session begins in January.
Democrats will hold control of both houses of the legislature as well as the governors office. Governor John Hickenlooper also called for a special session back in May specifically to give the civil unions bill another chance at passing after it was blocked in committee in the house at the close of the 2012 session.
Another indications that the party sees the issue as unfinished business is the selection of openly gay representative Mark Ferrandino as Speaker of the House.
"This election was huge on so many levels," said Daneya Esgar, vice president of the Southern Colorado Equality Alliance.
Her group that successfully lobbied the Pueblo City Council for benefits for same sex partners last month. She says our state has had a cultural shift since the days of Amendment 2 which passed 20 years ago.
"Times are changing, people minds and hearts are shifting and acceptance of equality and love are becoming more and more promising."
But not everyone believes the democrats have a clear mandate on this issue.
"We think that by and large the country has already concluded by a huge majority that marriage is between a man and a woman," said Tom Minnery, the Senior Vice President of Government and Public Policy for Focus on the Family.
He thinks lawmakers will be governing against the will of the people on this issue.
"As recently as 2006 the people of Colorado voted overwhelmingly again on the definition of marriage and that same year they defeated Referendum I, so the people in Colorado have been consistent on this issue."
The 2013 Colorado General Assembly begins on January 9. | <urn:uuid:84688cd9-a74a-44bd-b3ad-c5977f0e7f99> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.koaa.com/videos/civil-unions-law-likely-to-pass/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97534 | 374 | 1.617188 | 2 |
We've been seeking solutions to manufacturing's skilled worker shortage for so long, I have to conclude: Perhaps we don't understand the problem well enough to either effectively communicate our needs to the potential workforce or to change our hiring practices.
In my last column, I asserted that to solve the problem, executives must change how they value production employees. Since then, a close rereading of "Boiling Point?" -- the research report by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute -- reinforces this point and suggests other steps we must take solve the problem.
First, the survey distinguishes between workforce segments, including unskilled production, skilled production, and two levels of engineers. The importance of this is apparent in the results: The biggest shortage is in skilled production workers.
The question is: Do you think the general populace knows this fact or understands its implications? I don't.
Further, I wonder whether many people confuse the skilled workforce shortage with the shortage of engineers. When I'm discussing manufacturing's skilled workforce shortage with people who should understand it, they often reply, "You mean the engineer shortage?"
These points suggest that the manufacturing community needs to understand and communicate the following two points:
- There are significant differences between low-skilled and high-skilled production work. If you don't understand the difference, get started by reading Jill Jusko's "For Manufacturing, Do the Math" in the June issue of IndustryWeek.
- The skilled-worker shortage and the engineer shortage are two problems that require different solutions.
Second, the report notes: "The changing nature of manufacturing work is making it harder for talent to keep up." This conclusion seems reasonable until you compare it to another finding: "many manufacturers depend on outdated approaches for finding the right people, developing their employees' skills and improving their performance."
Sounds like it's the manufacturers who are failing to keep up.
The takeaway? If you're still recruiting skilled production workers in the same way as you recruit low-skilled workers, it's time to start using techniques you use to recruit other higher-value personnel.
Finally, high-skilled work implies higher wages, yet the law of supply and demand has failed. Could it be that your compensation strategies haven't caught up? See "The Compensation Question" in the June issue.
We've battled the skilled worker shortage for too long, and we're bracing for an even bigger drought as increasing numbers of baby boomers retire. We need to dig deeper into why the problem persists and come up with better solutions. I hope this gets you thinking. | <urn:uuid:e8713b54-feec-4c05-8b13-341139420fc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.industryweek.com/public-policy/manufacturings-muddled-message-skilled-worker-shortage | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965231 | 521 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Worton Farm Shop and Organic Garden, five miles north-west of Oxford, is the best productive set-up I’ve seen for years. The nearly eight-acre smallholding, with a café at its heart, started only seven years ago and yet it feels long-established, rich and varied. It divides into four acres of field crops – things like potatoes and kale – with two and a half acres of intensive crops grown mainly outside, backed up with a large 650 sq m unheated greenhouse and five polytunnels.
There’s nothing grand about Worton – this is no renaissance of a walled garden in the grounds of a stately home – and it’s not flash and well capitalised, with all the newest bits of kit. It’s better than that – a spirited, inspiring place with exciting produce wherever you look. Even in 2012 – widely agreed to be the most difficult growing season in at least a decade – there are still oodles of delicious things to admire, pick and eat.
There are colonnades of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, chillies and aubergines under cover, with onions, spinach and salad crops in the outside plot, but these are not just any old varieties. The creators of this place – David and Anneke Blake – have both been growing edible crops for decades. David is British, but grew up in Australia; Anneke is Dutch. They have had vegetable gardens in Australia and Holland as well as here, so have a broad hinterland of knowledge which stretches beyond the usual British varieties.
Eden Seeds in Queensland, Australia, supplies lots to them, with lettuces and salad greens coming mainly from Rijk Zwaan in Holland and much of the fruit from Bernwode’s and from Reads Nursery, both great top fruit specialists in England.
David and Anneke have a bank of solid favourites that they return to year after year. They mainly grow 'Ambo’ potato. Its patches of red skin hint at its 'King Edward’ ancestry and it’s a brilliant producer on their heavy clay soil, with excellent flavour and a floury, fluffy texture, delicious for mash, chips and roast potatoes. It also stores well. They also return to the Salanova types of lettuce – small, tidy, wavy-leaved, ornamental lettuces in bright green ('Archimedes’) and dark red ('Gauguin’) with a good flavour. These looked perfect in blocks in the ground and collected together in large shallow trays at the entrance to the greenhouse.
An Australian silver beet variety – 'Lucullus’ (a type of chard) is another favourite at Worton. The summer is tricky for growing soft-leaved spinach, which usually bolts as soon as there’s a hint of hot and dry, but not this form which is much more tender than perpetual spinach and Swiss chard; the normal, reliable summer leafy green players we all know.
The Blakes also love elephant garlic for its magnificent bulbs and gentle flavour and highly recommend a couple of courgettes, 'Tromboncino d’Albenga’, which is a climber, as well as 'Lebanese’ which has a distinct nutty taste. The head chef of one of the restaurants they supply – the Magdalen Arms – says this is one of his favourite vegetables.
They grow grapes too – in a special mini greenhouse – and think 'Muscat of Alexandria’, 'Black Hamburg’ and the little-known grape 'Interlaken’ are the best bet for most of us. 'Interlaken’ in particular has a very distinctive taste and is trouble-free. In a waspy year, David puts out sugary water (50/50 sugar/water, dissolving the sugar in hot water and then cooling it down) to divert the wasps from his grapes. At this concentration, this does not tempt in the bumblebees to drown.
Something new to try
There are exciting, out-of-the-ordinary varieties wherever you look, with everything grown with impressive levels of care and attention. Both David and Anneke admit to a perfectionist tendency, liking things done thoroughly, but not at the expense of experimentation; so every year, they try new things.
They are big fans of the frisée endive 'Korbi’ to add crunch and mild bitterness to their salads. It crops longer, is less vulnerable to tip-burn and is more disease-resistant than any other they’ve tried. David has added a Brindisian chicory this year. They use the leaves and the most delicious part of the plant, the crunchy flowering stems, for the salads served in the café-restaurant.
They are also growing Vietnamese coriander – Rau Ram – which is eaten with spring rolls and duck dishes and raw in salads and they have a mulberry 'Illinois Ever bearing’ (from Reads) which grows to 40ft in five years with a wonderful and heavy crop of fruit. David reports that the birds tend to leave the fruit until it is really dark, so you can get a huge harvest from it.
The feel of Worton organic garden is instantly appealing but it’s not all about veg. Good flower combinations surround you, with the outstanding wild pink, Dianthus carthusianorum, inter-planted with blue borage. I also loved a great drift of the golden-green umbellifer flowers of parsnip growing through dingly-dangly crimson sanguisorba, and thalictrums, surrounding an old shepherd’s hut on the edge of the cutting garden. There’s a 50ft avenue of sweet peas (including the deliciously scented magenta-crimson 'Winston Churchill’ as well as 'Beaujolais’, 'Wiltshire Ripple’, 'Just Jenny’, 'Charlie’s Angel’ and 'Blue Danube’) and a small field of annuals in close-combined lines with three different amaranthus stealing the show on our visit ('Hot Biscuits’, 'Coral Fountain’ and 'Hope Red Dye’) all picked to sell in bunches in the farm shop.
That’s one of Anneke’s things – she likes the place to look as well as taste good. She is a book designer and cares deeply about things being beautiful. The café is full of colour – cream cotton tablecloths with brilliant blocks of purple, orange, crimson and yellow and candlesticks with multicoloured candles to match. She says they have a number of colleagues who are organic growers who do not prioritise beauty and their work just feels like a slog.
If it’s beautiful, you get total pleasure from it every day. That’s good for them and good for the customers. Worton is open Friday to Sunday to sell produce and serve food in the café. The farm is quite out of the way, so it’s Anneke’s view that, as insects head for a flower and nectar-filled place, so you have to make something extraordinary to attract customers. I, for one, was drawn in, and recommend – if you’ll excuse the pun – that you make a beeline for Worton.
Worton Organic Garden, Worton, nr Cassington, Oxfordshire OX29 4SU.
Opening times Fri-Sat, 10am-4pm; Sun, 11am-4pm
(07718 518964; wortonorganicgarden.com)
Over 33 varieties of sweet pea to choose from at the Telegraph Garden Shop including ‘Charlie’s Angel’, the first Spencer sweet pea to receive the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Visit gardenshop.telegraph.co.uk/sweetpeas | <urn:uuid:3ec630d2-4dd7-4267-8391-5749bbb4c695> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/9464955/Sarah-Raven-visits-Worton-Farm-Shop-and-Organic-Garden-Oxfordshire.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937797 | 1,679 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Living In The Great Depression
Lately it seems the mainstream media is obsessed with ‘us twenty-somethings’ [a virtual social class to which I can still claim membership for one more year]. I think it’s because we’re obsessed with ourselves, and when given an opportunity to write in visible ways with respectable bylines we pick ourselves as the central topic. Or the articles are written by older people [I generally visualize the great old lords of the mainstream media as ‘older people’ due to the fact they usually have poor email skills when I work with them like just writing ‘thanks’ to a long email with questions in it, the way an eight year-old might] and they have some kind of resentment toward ‘us’.
Or they’re just business-savvy and they know we are obsessed with ourselves and that whenever they write an article – say, this Wall Street Journal piece about ‘Where Have All The Good Men Gone’ we will all of us ‘share’ it on our Facebooks and discuss post-feminism and get all heated about it and they will gain mad hits. Like, when the WSJ published this article I really don’t know if they endorsed the article [if not the message, minimally the validity of the argument] or if they were just psyched to throw its author under the bus [where ‘bus’ is ‘people on the internet’.]
Anyway, on the surface level the article is not too original. It’s more identification of what seems to be [according to the media] a ‘problem with our generation’, that being we have ill-defined social roles, we are ‘failing to grow up’, generally there is mention of men playing video games as if this were indicative of some huge failure to cope, that these well-educated people are spending their first adult decade doing ‘unpaid internships’ or being a barista while blaming the recession, that because they feel entitled to some kind of ‘creative control’ in life they are doing strings of meaningless ‘freelance projects’ while becoming increasingly anxious about the future.
Key to the accusation, especially in this piece, is that ’20-somethings’ are like somehow not achieving milestones formerly associated with adulthood, chief among them financial independence, a stable romantic partnership/marriage, plans to reproduce, ownership of property, etc. It is a little bit of a creepy thing to notice; I’m not exactly part of the accused demographic, being that I’m kind of too old to wholly qualify for that generational umbrella, I have a full-time writing job and health insurance and my own apartment and I literally can’t remember the last time I had to ask my parents for money. I do remember the 1990s with inappropriate vividity and not the sort of ironic retro-nostalgia with which other young people I know seem to be curious about jelly shoes, pogs and flannel.
But I am [commence full-body cringe, lip-curl shove-my-dear-cat-away-for-a minute-in-paroxysm-of-self-conscious-guilt-at-looming-stereotype] uh ‘pushing 30’. My parents were pretty measured about this shit and yet when my mom was my age I was already born. I am not married; marriage does not appear imminent. This is probably because I am shit at doing laundry and dishes, at paying bills on time, or at spending my free time doing anything more efficient than watching My So Called Life DVDs which I indulgently purchased despite my electric bill being late and you don’t even want to know what I owe on my fucking taxes. Actually neither do I, that’s why I’ll probably file late yet again this year, continually setting aside time to ‘go get that shit taken care of’ at an accountant and spending the time sleeping off a hangover or purchasing nail polish [because I need ‘me time’, natch].
I spend a lot, a lot of time attending parties where I am, increasingly, the oldest person in the room. Like, literally, this past weekend I went to a birthday party where people asked me ‘when do you graduate’ and I was like ‘from what’ because it took me a fucking second to realize what they meant. I had fun alternating between coy responses, lies I’d sling to test their plausibility, and blunt honesty so I could enjoy the shock response. I will not always be young enough to pull this off. I will not be young enough for much longer. I’ve got a good six months. Hang on I need a drink while I get my head around that.
Increasingly I find myself entertaining fantasies the type I would have once found fucking loathsome; I would like to meet a man who is a ‘systems analyst’ or a ‘process consultant’ or an ‘adjunct professor’ or ‘head researcher’ [what the fuck are those things] and get married move to Park Slope and have those kind of parties that aren’t actually ‘parties’ but are grown-ups sitting or standing around a very clean living room, drinking wine and eating canapés [what the fuck are canapés]. Maybe ‘tapenade’, I know what tapenade is. Water crackers. Brioche that I made and people praise it and I say ‘oh, it’s nothing.’ Maybe it’s even frozen or I ordered it from a restaurant and I lie to everyone so they think I’m a better homemaker.
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A | A | A
ne of the most inarguably precious things about adulthood is the ability to buy yourself as much sugary cereal as you like, and eating it at whatever time of day your lil heart desires.
17) Kimye II: The Kimyening
These are the days that must happen to you.
Talking about what you’re going to do makes you a lot less likely to actually do it. Keep your plans to yourself. | <urn:uuid:1f8a61a1-b58d-446c-889d-9fe5d4b01790> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/living-in-the-great-depression/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961847 | 1,324 | 1.640625 | 2 |
GIFT & UNEXPECTED JOY
Ever wondered what the words “zigeuner” and “wahrasgekarten” translate to in English?
ZIGEUNER – german for Gypsy
wahr- true, sage- say, karten- maps or cards. In other words, true speaking cards.
In the example duo, gift and unexpected joy are fairly evident in the suggested meanings. Simply by looking at the images one can deduce there is a pleasant outcome from the act of receiving.
Some other considerations to think about.
- -You could get a proposition of some type. No doubt you will be surprised because the offer is attractive and it may be just what you need in your life right now.
- -Initially you might be jolted by the turn of events which appears overwhelming at first. You cannot believe the generosity of a person or situation.
- -You can be caught off guard despite the fact that everyone else around you knew about the development of particular situation.
- -A very important and unplanned situation lifts your spirits. This freshness or newness is just what you need at this point in your life. | <urn:uuid:2be0891c-7935-48fc-877e-6efeb673ff21> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seaqueen.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/zigeuner-gift-unexpected-joy/ | 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 | 0.930041 | 249 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Page 2 of 3
What's more, Rothbloom has noticed that the companies are fighting harder than ever – even in this housing-market meltdown – to foreclose on homes when the homeowner has filed for bankruptcy. And the courts are doing little to keep the lenders in check.
Rothbloom recalls one client who recently wrapped up a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The client had paid back all the arrearage and was ready to move forward. Then, Rothbloom learned that the lender had added about $8,000 in fees to the mortgage while the bankruptcy was being worked out. As soon as the client emerged from bankruptcy and thought the house was saved, the lender initiated another foreclosure.
"Chapter 13s are done the same way they've always been done," Rothbloom says. "The aggressiveness of the lenders and their abuses has changed."
For the couple in the pink house, the downward financial spiral started shortly after 9/11. First, the wife -- whose name was on the mortgage -- was laid off. There simply wasn't a huge demand for travel agents in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.
While she was collecting unemployment and looking for work, her husband made up the difference. He earned decent money as a self-employed truck driver – until the engine went out on his rig.
"The finances really, really got to us," the wife says.
"It wasn't for lack of trying," her husband piped up. "We're hardworking people. I never miss a day of work."
Their mortgage – which originally carried an astounding 18 percent interest rate – was proving too much for their income. Even after refinancing it down to 11 percent, the couple fell behind on their $1,000 monthly payments.
By then, the wife was working again – although she had to take a pay cut. A full year after she was laid off, she had found a sales job. She made cold calls in an attempt to sell computer software. Her husband also saw his earnings slashed after he went to work as a hired driver for a shipping company.
"We did our best," he says. "We weren't splurging. We were spending on what we needed to live."
But the rising costs of everything from property taxes to gas to food was killing them. "Everything's going up but your check," he says. "How do you expect people to live? It just don't make sense."
In November 2003, their mortgage company initiated foreclosure proceedings against the couple's home. A month later, the wife filed for Chapter 13. Due to what her attorney considers to be an accounting error on the lender's part, the bankruptcy took a whopping five years to resolve. But because the mortgage company has provided conflicting numbers on what the homeowner owed, they're still grappling with foreclosure.
At first, the lender claimed that the homeowner had accrued $7,100 in arrearage, and that the balance of the loan was $98,000. Rothbloom considered $7,100 to be a reasonable amount for his client to pay.
Later, however, the company came up with a different figure. According to court documents filed by the lender, the homeowner owed $22,900 instead of $7,100. The lender also claimed the homeowner was 18 months behind in payments, rather than five, as previously thought. And the company said the balance of the loan was $118,600 – arguably more than the house was worth.
Rothbloom contested the lender's calculations. The homeowner even provided copies of checks that she considers to be proof that she wasn't a year and a half in default.
"I don't trust the system," she says. "I don't trust it at all. We keep sending money down the tubes."
Because the courts weren't able to determine how much the couple truly owed, they couldn't sell their home. And they couldn't refinance it, either. Instead, they paid off the $7,100, making the last payment this year. They're now waiting for a judge to decide whether they owe the full $22,900 that the lender alleges. A trial has been set for January.
Rothbloom is confident that the couple will keep their home – but only because he aggressively fought the lender in court.
"Look at what we've been through," he says. "There are thousands of people who file cases in this district, and many of them wound up losing their houses because of mistakes by lenders. It's tragic."
If he fails to convince the judge that the couple owed just five, rather than 18, payments, then Rothbloom will advise the homeowner to reinstate bankruptcy proceedings. If that fails, the couple likely will be forced out.
The irony is that the couple is finally doing well again, financially – and are trying to make up for several payments they missed after filing for bankruptcy. The wife got a job with the travel agency arm of a major credit card company. The husband recently paid off the lease-purchase of a new rig and is working for himself again.
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While it doesn't sound like Berlon is a bad person, it does sound like he's… | <urn:uuid:3bc7962e-67b4-4648-8a37-8f59d54b8503> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://clatl.com/atlanta/a-five-year-battle-to-fight-foreclosure/Content?oid=1276678&storyPage=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989498 | 1,150 | 1.648438 | 2 |
S Cove Dr in pictures
View from the middle of S Cove Dr shortly after the blind corner
There is a road near my house that drops 240 feet in 0.3 miles, which works out to an average gradient of 18%. Since it is relatively flat (-5% to -10%) at the top and bottom that means the middle section is well over 20% for close to 0.2 miles. They have been doing construction work on the driveway at the “commit point” of the descent so I decided to take it slow today and stop to take pictures to document the descent.
I discovered that they were doing construction work earlier this week when I came around the blind corner in the middle of the descent to come face-to-face with a cement truck backing into a driveway. Fortunately, I had also noticed pick-up trucks in the driveway visible before the corner so I had already slowed down and aborted the descent. I came around the corner, saw the cement truck and had plenty of room to maneuver around it on the wrong side of the road. If a car had been coming up the road, I would have had to scrub into the driveway under construction.
S Cove Dr elevation profile.
Before going any further, let me emphasize that this is an extremely dangerous descent. I document this to warn people that this descent should not be tried at speed, and the posted speed limit of 30mph should be observed.
Here is a blow-by-blow of the descent starting from Panorama Dr …
After making the righthand turn from Panorama onto S Cove, the descent looks deceptively gentle. I normally abort the descent if there are any cars going down the hill here. You can see the road bends to the left. What you can’t see is that the gradient jumps abruptly to -20+% around that gentle bend.
Even though the gradient is above -20% here, you can still brake and stop accelerating if there are any cars in front of you or if anything else looks/feels off (e.g., construction vehicles parked in driveway and alongside road). The righthand turn up ahead is at the steepest part of the descent, and it is completely blind. I call that turn the “commit point”.
Pressure washing in the blind corner – finally, the construction work is done! This is just before the “go/no go” decision must be made. Once you round that corner, if you haven’t braked hard yet then you physically cannot stop your bike before the next intersection. So you have less than a second from here to scan for obstacles and brake or switch to an avoidance mode where you are looking for an escape route instead of an emergency stop.
This is the view just after the blind corner. Here you can see the next portion of the descent, and here you must decide whether you are in brake-mode or avoidance-mode. Although, any good safe cyclist should always be prepared to do both at all times.
The next blind turn. This gentle left has two driveways on the right and three driveways on the left. The safest place to be is just to the right of the center-line. Although this means you have to be super vigilant for oncoming traffic. But this gives you extra clearance if somebody were to be walking/jogging up the hill (rare) or backing out of a driveway on the right. At this point though, you should be anticipating the road being completely blocked and know your escape routes.
Around the final turn you have a small run-out before the three-way stop. You have to be on the brakes really, really hard through here. Fortunately the road kicks back up just a little bit before the stop so that helps the deceleration process.
That is the South Cove Dr descent in pictures. I did this descent twice today – once to take the pictures, and once at normal speed. But again this descent is super dangerous. Observe the posted speed limit of 30mph and stop at the three-way stop at the bottom!
And finally, here are some other pictures from my ride today: | <urn:uuid:f76f5c2f-90be-42a8-a8f5-a00e8906244e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://toonecycling.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/s-cove-dr-in-pictures/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=bbf4ba6a50 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957534 | 854 | 1.804688 | 2 |
|Juan Luis Guerra|
One of the most notable musicians to come from the Dominican Republic is singer, songwriter, activist and philanthropist — Juan Luis Guerra. He began his career in music in 1984, with a group called Juan Luis Guerra y 440. Together the group released 11 studio albums (and counting) and received numerous awards, including two Grammy's. Guerra is recognized for his lyrical dexterity and intellectual commentary. His distinct sound and voice are known and respected internationally. Simply put, the maestro is a lyrical genius.
Juan Luis Guerra Seijas was born in Santo Domingo on June 7th, 1957. He began his studies at the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo where he studied philosophy and literature. However, he soon changed his course of study and decided that music was his vocation. He completed his study at the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica and then decided to continue his education in the United States at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. There, a chance encounter with a design student named Nora Vega, would bring Guerra his future wife, muse and mother of his two children.
After his time at Berklee ended, Guerra returned to the Dominican Republic and formed his now famous group. In 1990, he released Bachata Rosa his most successful album to date. The Grammy award winning release included classics like “Burbujas de Amor” and “Estrellitas y Duendes”. His next album Areito showcased his political inclinations. The single “El Costo de La Vida,” focused on the deplorable conditions in many Latin American countries and spoke frankly about the downside of capitalism. That same year, Guerra formed the Juan Luis Guerra Foundation to benefit disabled children.
In 1995, Guerra briefly retired from music to focus on his family and personal growth. The following year, he converted to Christianity. In 1998, he returned to music and released No es lo Mismo, ni es igual which was followed by his first faith based album Para Ti.
Juan Luis Guerra has created captivating tunes and both socially conscious and astoundingly romantic lyrics in several different languages for more than a quarter of a century. His unique blend of traditional Latin genres (i.e. merengue, salsa and bachata), contemporary sounds and topics set him apart from many and place him in a category reserved for only the best musicians. — | <urn:uuid:f3fc5ed7-e94e-4fd5-be17-52c0aa391a49> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urbanlatino.com/departments/64-urban-legends/70-juan-luis-guerra | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976401 | 516 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The Oregon Employment Department is warning that a segment of jobless Oregonians receiving benefits should expect smaller checks because of sequestration.
The decision was made by the federal Department of Labor. But as the administrator of long-term unemployment benefits, it's on the state Employment Department to implement the cut.
OED's Tom Fuller says the benefit reduction applies to people receiving an extended Emergency Unemployment Compensation or EUC check.
"Sequestration will only affect about 28,000 people who are receiving what we call EUC," Fuller explins. "Those people are going to see a decrease in the amount of their weekly benefit."
The cut amounts to just over ten percent. For example, if a person receives $300 a week in long-term benefits, they can expect to get $30 dollars less per payment, starting mid-March.
Everyone else, in the first six months of their unemployment payments, will see no change. Their money lies in a state trust fund.
The state will have to calculate the reduction on each individual benefit check. Fuller says the federal government is providing $40,000 to deal with administrative costs, but that's considerably less than the state will spend implementing the cutback. | <urn:uuid:41640d36-1aae-4693-91de-cf20bfaf884a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.opb.org/news/article/oregonians-long-term-unemployment-benefits-subject-to-sequester-cuts/ | 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 | 0.959065 | 246 | 1.742188 | 2 |
A sign that the Occupy Wall Street movement isn't the best long-term vehicle for Democrats to connect themselves with: A new Quinnipiac poll, showing a plurality of voters viewing the group unfavorably.
The poll, released today, show 30 percent of voters surveyed view the movement favorably, 39 percent unfavorably, with an additional 30 percent not hearing enough to have an opinion. It's one of the first national polls to suggest voters are growing skeptical of Occupy Wall Street- and it comes as police have clashed with protesters in several cities. Previous national polls have shown a plurality of adults supporting the movement.
(PICTURES: Protests Turn Violent in Oakland)
These numbers comes as Democrats, from the White House on down, have struck a decidedly populist tone in recent months, from President Obama calling on the wealthy to pay a higher share in taxes, Senate Democratic officials rallying behind the campaign of Elizabeth Warren, who has embraced the Occupy Wall Street movement, and House Democrats, who sent out a petition last month aimed at leveraging the Occupy Wall Street movement against the Republican Party.
The poll found that Occupy Wall Street's negatives aren't quite as high as the Tea Party's unfavorables, but aren't far off. Just 31 percent of voters view the Tea Party favorably
unfavorably, 45 percent unfavorably, and 24 percent haven't heard enough. (DP: Tea Party has been subjected to relentless negative barrage from Democrat/media complex, unlike the sugar-coated Occupy coverage, mostly)
Among independents, the Occupy Wall Street movement and Tea Party movement are now viewed equally unfavorably. Occupy Wall Street has a net -13 favorable rating with independents (29% favorable/42% unfavorable), while the Tea Party holds a net -11 favorable rating (34% favorable/45% unfavorable).
The Quinnipiac University poll surveyed 2,294 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.1 percentage points. Its live interviewers called both land lines and cell phones. | <urn:uuid:5dcfb484-423a-494a-b8af-3b9c0b736a4f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://donpolson.blogspot.com/2011/11/poll-voters-viewing-occupy-wall-st.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 | 0.936909 | 409 | 1.515625 | 2 |
ACORN and elections
This page is part of the Election Protection Wiki,
This article specifically examines accusations made against Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) during the 2008 election.
- Main article: Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
Neither ACORN nor its employees have been found guilty of, or even charged with, casting fraudulent votes.
2008 vote fraud accusations
During the 2008 Presidential election conservatives repeatedly accused ACORN of "voter fraud." These accusations had the appearance of a coordinated campaign. Though actual voter fraud involves knowingly casting an illegal ballot, these accusations occurred before any voting had occurred. The basis of the accusations stemmed from questionable voter registration applications submitted by ACORN-paid workers who had been sent into poor and minority communities to register voters, rather than from voter fraud. Some of the questioned registration applications were erroneous, had questionable names or were duplicates. Others clearly had elements from which one could conclude that some level of dishonesty was involved in the process, such as the registrant claiming the name "Mickey Mouse."
Conservatives charged that ACORN was intentionally submitting these "fraudulent" applications as part of scheme to "rig" the election, where the problematic registrations would enable people to vote multiple times. ACORN stated that they have quality-control procedures and that registration gatherers are required to flag questionable applications so election officials will know they are suspect, but they were required by law to turn in all registration forms they receive.
McCain campaign makes accusation of voter fraud
The McCain/Palin Presidential campaign joined in these attacks. The McCain Campaign's blog describes a McCain ad attacking ACORN, ""The ad highlights Barack Obama's involvement with ACORN, a group now accused of widespread voter fraud across the country and accused of advocating for the very type of home loans that have led to today's financial crisis."
During the October 15, 2008 presidential debate, McCain said of ACORN,
"We need to know the full extent of Senator Obama's relationship with ACORN, who is now on the verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country, maybe destroying the fabric of democracy. The same front outfit organization that your campaign gave $832,000 for "lighting and site selection." So all of these things need to be examined, of course."
On October 7, 2008, after weeks of news reports of accusations by Republicans of improper voter registrations, Nevada state authorities raided the Las Vegas offices of ACORN, looking for evidence of voter fraud. The raid was "the result of a joint investigation by state agencies, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation." The state alleged that "ACORN had hired 59 felons through a work release program as canvassers and submitted nearly 300 apparently fraudulent voter registration cards as part of the drive." According to one press report,
"ACORN officials said they were stunned by the search because they had unilaterally identified and flagged suspicious voter registration cards to the county elections board starting in July and had been cooperating with authorities to cull bad information and fire workers who collected that information, said Brian Mellor, senior counsel for Project Vote."
No evidence of voter fraud was found in the raid and no charges were filed.
Lake County, Indiana
One highly-publicized accusation against ACORN before the 2008 election came from Lake County Indiana. Acorn was accused of submitting "thousands" of "faked" registrations. Approximately two thousand of five thousand registration forms submitted by ACORN had problems. ACORN says that they separated the questionable forms and noted that there might be problems with them, but were required by law to submit all forms that they collect. The Republican Secretary of State asked the Lake County District Attorney to bring charges against the organization for "multiple criminal violations."
Following the 2008 election Lake County Indiana officials said that "only about five" people from the questioned registrations had called to ask if they could vote, and that there were "no significant problems at the polls because of new voter registration forms generated by the controversial community activist group ACORN." "Those who did call in had their registrations verified by election staff, and were allowed to cast ballots."
Obama campaign asks for special prosecutor to look into politicization of ACORN investigation
On October 17, 2008, the Obama campaign send a letter to the Justice department asking that the special prosecutor currently looking into Justice Department politicization expand the scope of that probe to see if the ACORN investigations are related. They compared the decision by the FBI and other government agencies to launch ACORN investigations just before the election with the previous scandal, in which several US attorneys were fired for refusing to pursue politically charged cases, including voter fraud. They also pointed out that only Justice Department insiders could have leaked the news of these investigations..
Actual arrests and prosecutions
- Oct. 28, 2005: Denver prosecutors charged two ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) employees with falsely filling out multiple voter forms to boost their pay in a paid registration drive.
Barack Obama's connections to ACORN
One component of the conservative accusations of voter fraud against ACORN was that Barack Obama was closely and extensively associated with the organization. In 1992 Obama had worked for a short time with Project Vote and helped registered 125,000 voters in Illinois that year. Since 1992 Project Vote has become affiliated with ACORN. The additional "association" with ACORN was that in 1995, along with a team of lawyers that included the U.S. Justice Department, Obama represented ACORN and others in a lawsuit against Illinois for failing to implement a federal law designed to make it easier for the poor and others to register as voters. These are the basis of the conservative claims of "association."
Another alleged association was that the Obama campaign had hired ACORN to collect voter registrations. During the primaries the Obama campaign paid a company called Citizens Services Inc. for "get out the vote" efforts, not voter registration. Conservatives say the company is "affiliated" with ACORN. The company does contract work for ACORN and other organizations.
Error rates with ACORN registrations
Of the 1.3 million voter registrations filed by the ACORN/Project Vote efforts in 2008, Project Vote's director Michael Slater estimates that
- 450,000 were new registrations
- 450,000 were changes of address
- 20-25% (260,000-325,000) were duplicates
- 5% (65,000) were incomplete
- 1-1.5% (13,000-19,500) were fraudulent
ACORN's investigations found 9,000 questionable registrations, and a lawyer for the group estimated that another 5,000-6,000 additional questionable registrations were turned in , for an estimated undetected error rate of .4-.5%.
ACORN compared to other voter registration efforts
Other mass-registration drives have had similar, if not worse problems. In 2006, the California Republican Party experienced problems with fake names on registrations, with an error rate as high as 60 percent.
Vote fraud in the U.S.
The actual incidence of vote fraud in the United States is extremely low. According to one study, "from 2002 to 2005 only one person was found guilty of registration fraud. Twenty people were found guilty of voting while ineligible and five people were found guilty of voting more than once."
- Main article: Voter fraud
Other accusations against ACORN
Accusations that ACORN caused the 2008 financial crisis
Conservatives accused ACORN of causing the 2008 financial crisis by "forcing banks" to lend to "minorities." However, most mainstream economists say the financial crisis was caused by the proliferation of complicated financial instruments called Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs) and Credit Default Swaps.
ACORN responded by releasing a report that they claim "chronicles and analyzes the roles played by both ACORN and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) over the past decade leading up to the economic crisis".
Articles and resources
- ↑ Example of a conservative accusation of fraud: "More ACORN Vote Fraud Attempts," Stop the ACLU blog, Sept. 15, 2008.
- ↑ McCain campaign website blog post, New Web Ad: "Acorn", October 10, 2008.
- ↑ "Complete final debate transcript: John McCain and Barack Obama," Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2008.
- ↑ "ACORN office in Vegas raided in voter-fraud probe," Associated Press at TPM, October 7, 2008.
- ↑ M.S. Bellows, Jr., "ACORN Office Raid Linked to U.S. Attorney Firings Scandal," Huffington Post, October 7, 2008.
- ↑ Mary Pat Flaherty, "ACORN Nevada Office Raided," The Trail blog, Washington Post, October 7, 2008.
- ↑ "Thousands of voter registration forms faked, officials say," CNN, October 10, 2008.
- ↑ "Rokita wants charges filed against ACORN in Lake County," Indianapolis Star, October 28, 2008.
- ↑ "Officials say ACORN registrations no problem," Chicago Tribune, November 17, 2008
- ↑ http://www.post-trib.com/news/lake/1279157,lcvote.article "ACORN voter registration flap all but fizzles,"] Post Tribune, November 14, 2008.
- ↑ "Obama Camp Connects ACORN Probe to US Attorneys Scandal," Talking Points Memo, October 17, 2008.
- ↑ Obama "Campaign Asks Special Prosecutor To Look Into DOJ/McCain Campaign Collusion On ACORN Charges," Seeing the Forest, October 17, 2008.
- ↑ This past problem and description are from the VotersUnite! Election Problem Log. Click through for included links to origin of report.
- ↑ Stanley Kurtz, "Inside Obama’s Acorn," National Review, May 29, 2008.
- ↑ Michelle Malkin, "The ACORN Obama Knows," National Review, June 25, 2008.
- ↑ "RNC: Obama & Acorn Fact Sheet," Marketwatch, October 4, 2008.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 "On Obama, Acorn and Voter Registration," New York Times, October 10, 2008.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Michael Falcone and Michael Moss, "Group’s Tally of New Voters Was Vastly Overstated", New York Times, Oct. 23 2008,
- ↑ Steven Rosenfeld, "California GOP had Same Voter Registration Problems as ACORN in 2006," Oxdown Gazette (FireDogLake), Oct. 15, 2008.
- ↑ Steven Rosenfeld, "California GOP had Same Voter Registration Problems as ACORN in 2006," AlterNet, October 14, 2008.
- ↑ "S.B. County Probes Voter Signup Firm," LA Times, March 7, 2006.
- ↑ Lorraine C. Minnite, "An Analysis of Voter Fraud in The United States," Dēmos, Undated, (Adapted from the 2003 report Securing The Vote, by L. Minnite and D. Callahan, with updates.)
- ↑ A widely-repeated example of these claims is an opinion piece by Stanley Kurtz, O'S DANGEROUS PALS, New York Post, September 29, 2008. "In other words, community organizers help to undermine the US economy by pushing the banking system into a sinkhole of bad loans. And Obama has spent years training and funding the organizers who do it."
- ↑ "ACORN vs. McCain: The Real Story of the Financial Crisis 1999 to 2008," ACORN, October 16, 2008.
- Factcheck.org ACORN Accusations, October, 2008.
- ACORN Accusations: How The Right Got It Wrong. WireTap Magazine, November 25, 2008.
- "Remember 'voter fraud'? Scandal was Mickey Mouse," Palm Beach Post, November 20, 2008.
- "Catholic bishops cut all funding to ACORN," Catholic News Agency, November 11, 2008.
- Steven Rosenfeld, "Justice Department Targets ACORN But Ignores GOP Voter Suppression," AlterNet, October 23, 2008.
- "Death threat, vandalism hit ACORN after McCain comments," McClatchy Newspapers, October 17, 2008
- Steven Rosenfeld, "Republicans Abuse Prosecutorial Powers to Intimidate Voters," AlterNet, October 17, 2008.
- "So Where's the ACORN 'Voter Fraud'?" Brad Blog. October 15, 2008.
- Glenn Smith, "Why Media Can't See the Trees for the ACORNs,", Editor and Publisher, October 15, 2008.
- Andrew Burmon, "Behind the GOP's voter fraud hysteria," Salon, October 15, 2008.
- Jeralyn Merrit, "Voter Suppression and Disenfranchisement, Not Fraud, Are the Real Issues," TalkLeft, October 14, 2008 | <urn:uuid:56df9270-27a6-4b47-99f0-fdd56ce487e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ACORN_and_elections | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965776 | 2,681 | 1.546875 | 2 |
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The Michigan Cup has had an identity crisis over the past several years. Should the Michigan Cup - a team championship, reflect the team with the greatest participation, the strongest racers, or something in between? The Brumbaugh Cup, introduced in 2008, attempted to address a perceived shortcoming, that the Michigan Cup was winnable simply by having a team with many more racers than any other team. Instead, the Brumbaugh Cup awarded the team with the strongest finishes while downplaying team size.
A second problem has been "the junior issue." Are juniors really full-fledge members of the Michigan Cup Series? The vast majority of juniors get Michigan Cup points without actually paying Michigan Cup dues. Juniors already have the High School State Championships - are they the equivalent of the Michigan Cup? Some senior teams have juniors, some don't - is that fair?
After a very long and thorough discussion of Team Scoring, the Michigan Cup Committee made several important changes in the way team points are scored. These changes reflect a strong self examination of what it means to win the Michigan Cup.
Introducing the Baic Cup
The Michigan Cup Committee determined that supporting juniors is an important mission. To get teams to provider better moral, financial, and/or coaching support for juniors, and to make it in the interest of teams to sign juniors to their team, the Committee is introducing the Baic Cup for 2009-10. The Baic Cup will be awarded to the team the most junior team points.
The Baic Cup was named after what could be considered Lower Michigan's "first family" of cross country skiing, the Baic family. From father Vojin Baic (member of the 1948 Yugoslavian Olympic Nordic team), to sons Milan Baic (15-kilometer national champion in 1981, 10 White Pine Stampede and uncountable other wins) and Nick Baic (Michigan Nordic Coach of the year), daughter Ivanka Baic-Berkshire (North American Vasa winner) and through several grandkids, the Baic family name is instantly recognizable to every racer in Michigan.
New life for the Brumbaugh Cup
If the juniors get their own Cup, it's only fitting that the seniors get their own cup as well. Starting with the 2009-2010, the Brumbaugh Cup will be awarded to the team with the most senior team points.
Michigan Cup: Juniors + Seniors
The Michigan Cup will continue to be awarded to the team with the most team points. A team's total points will be the sum of the its Junior points x the percentage of Junior racers plus its Senior points x the percentage of Senior racers. According the Committee Chair, Ernie Brumbaugh, the percentages last year were 19% for Junior points and 81% for the Senior points. The results from Michigan Cup Relays and Team Time Trial will again count for the overall Michigan Cup.
It's a distinct possibility the three Cups will be awarded to three different teams: The Baic Cup to the team with the best juniors, the Brumbaugh Cup to the team with the best seniors, and the Michigan Cup to the team with the best balance of senior and junior performances.
New method of determining Michigan Cup Team points
Easily the most discussed and disputed issue for the Michigan Cup Committee was determining how to calculate team standings. In the past few years, a racer's 5 best races were used to determine both individual points and team points. Ed Anderson introduced an alternative method of tracking Team Points last season as a demonstration project. The Anderson method tracked the top finishers, by age and gender class, on each team in a large sampling of races. A spirited discussion took place examining the pros and cons of each and several other approaches. Proponents of each brought historical data to the meeting to show how the difference scenarios would have resulted in different Michigan Cup winners.
In what will probably not be the last word in scoring team points, the Michigan Cup Committee decided that individuals will receive team points for every race they finish. If a racer completes 10 races, the points received for all 10 races will count toward team points.
Part of the reasoning behind this decision is that better racers tend to do more races. It acknowledges greater race participation be better racers.
Individual scoring will remain the same: only the top five races counts toward individual points.
Relay changes for 2010
Because there are so few younger participants, the number of categories for the Michigan Cup Relays has been reduced from twelve to six. The new categories are:
To compensate for a significant reduction is point totals, the points received for first place for each category will increase to 600 points, with subsequent places receiving points based on the number of teams in that category (i.e., 600/[number of team in category]).
The classic distance leg for the relays will be the same as each leg of the skating distance.
The Michigan Cup Committee
Attending the Michigan Cup Committee's annual pre-season meeting this year were:
Although multiple members of one team may attend, each team receives one vote as part of the Michigan Cup Committee. | <urn:uuid:353e9615-b5d3-46e5-ba63-9272bbdb3e83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nordicskiracer.com/news.asp?NewsID=4104 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952837 | 1,057 | 1.640625 | 2 |
There's apparently a street artist in New York City who is making animals out of plastic bags. But wait, there's more. The plastic sculpture is then tied to subway ventilation grates so that when trains come by air rushes up and fills up the bags, and poof! Inflatable polar bear! Check out the pics.
German photographer Martin Klimas is showing off a fantastic series of photographs born out of the idea of using sound to trigger his camera. The photos depict figurines that are dropped to the ground in a dark room. The instant that the figuring shatters, and thereby producing sound, a microphone rigged to a camera picks up the sound and activates the camera to flash and take the pictures. Beautiful! Via 37signals. See all the photos at Martin-Klimas.de. | <urn:uuid:13452bfa-8402-41e0-9f29-326cae2df035> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geeknuz.com/nuz/art_photography/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933233 | 165 | 1.546875 | 2 |
One Family's Heart for Adopting Special Needs Kids
- Monday, October 29, 2001
"We do love parenting," says Patty Anglin, understating a parental calling of unusual dimensions. She and her husband, Harold, a retired schoolteacher, live in a six- bedroom farmhouse on 200 acres near the shores of Lake Superior. "These are wonderful kids," she says. "It's really an honor and a privilege to be involved with their lives." On their farm, they home-school the children and raise their own organic produce.
Anglin can't forget the call she got three years ago from an adoption agency in Chicago, frustrated in their attempts to find anyone who would accept a Nigerian baby born without arms or legs, with a shriveled left kidney, and deaf in one ear. "Baby Zachary's" parents were recent immigrants to the United States.
"You don't know anybody that would take this baby?" the agency director asked Anglin, before telling her about Zachary's severe disabilities.
"That's my son," Anglin replied, knowing instantly this baby was meant for their family. "That's my African angel that's just come home," she told the surprised director on the other end of the phone.
"But Patty," the director said, "I haven't even told you what's wrong with him."
"I don't care what's wrong with him," Anglin said. "I just know he's my son." Anglin was raised in the Congo, the daughter of medical missionaries. After graduating from High School in Africa, she came to the U.S. to attend college.
Patty's husband happened to walk around the corner while Patty was on the phone. "Honey, our baby was just born in Chicago!" she told him.
"Really..." At the time, Patty was 48 and her husband was 64 years old.
"Yes-it's a little boy," Patty informed him.
"Oh...well..." Harold's voice rose an octave higher, then trailed off in astonishment.
"He's a little African baby," Patty told him.
"Does he have special needs?" Harold asked gingerly.
"Well, what are his special needs?" he asked.
"He's missing his arms and legs," she said.
"Well, we'd better get packing," Harold replied. Harold, like his wife, knew instantly the baby was meant for their family. The next day, they packed the car and drove to Chicago.
Patty and her husband soon learned Zachary was removed from his birth parents because of a threat to his safety. In some African cultures, a child born with such severe disabilities is considered a punishment, and carries evil omens. To relieve the family of the evil omens, the baby must be sacrificed--killed, according to Anglin.
Shortly after Zachary was born, a nurse at the hospital informed the birth father they were running tests on the baby and if everything worked out O.K. they could probably take him home in a day or two. His response shocked her.
"No, I must kill my baby before he's 24 hours old," the father told the stunned nurse, according to Anglin. A social worker was quickly brought in, and the father was confronted by a stark choice. Either social services would take the baby forcefully, and charge the father with manslaughter, or they could surrender the baby voluntarily for adoption, and no charges would be filed.
"The father was definitely not a Christian," Anglin says. "He was very cold-hearted," she says. Anglin was able to speak to the birth mom; she speaks six African languages.
"The mother grieved over this baby," Anglin says. "She was introduced to Christianity at some point in her past," she says. "The only thing she left him was a little orange New Testament Gideon Bible. It was such a wonderful, wonderful thing to give him."
Anglin sees God's hand preserving Zachary's life. "First, his parents won the immigration lottery and came to the U.S.," she says. "If his mother had given birth in Africa, this baby would not have lived."
Second, two radiologists missed Zachary's disability on three separate ultrasounds. "None of the doctors picked up the limb deficiencies," Anglin says. "After he was born they went back to review the ultrasounds and they could clearly see he had no arms or legs," she says.
"The radiologist was apologizing," Anglin says. "He said, 'If we had seen this, and who knows why we didn't see this...'" As his voice stopped in mid-sentence, Anglin could immediately see through his apology. She knew why the doctors' eyes were blinded.
"They said he certainly would have qualified for an abortion right up to the time he was born," Anglin says. "When they do partial birth abortion, the baby's head is crowning," she says. In effect, Zachary could have received the same death sentence in Africa or America. In the U.S., it would have been at the hands of a sophisticated medical establishment-- if God had not intervened.
At age 48, Patty was able to embrace Zachary with a full measure of maternal care. Before her trip to pick up the baby, she called her pediatrician, who recommended a lactation specialist.
"I'll call the lactation specialist right away," Patty's pediatrician said.
"You're going to nurse him, aren't you?"
"I'm almost 50-I'm going through the change," Patty told her.
"That doesn't matter," she said, "You can do this."
From her very first moments with Zachary, Patty nursed him. "I started nursing the hour I got him," she says. "I hadn't nursed for 14 years." The lactation specialist gave Patty a special supplement and some other tools to help activate the natural process.
"It took four to five weeks and my milk came in," Anglin says. "Sometimes it got us a few funny looks," she says. She remembers the time she and her husband were in a restaurant, and Patty began nursing at the table.
"I was very discreetly nursing with a blanket over me and this couple kept staring and staring," Anglin says. "I asked my husband why these people are staring so much?"
"He said, 'Think about it, Pat. You're almost 50 and I'm 64. You have a newborn black baby with no arms or legs and you're nursing.'
" 'I bet they're wondering, what's the rest of that story?" he said.
Patty acknowledges their family is different. "We have seven different ethnic backgrounds and our children have all different kinds of special needs," she says. "I suppose we do look a bit different."
Last Christmas, Zachary received two prosthetic legs from New Beginnings Prosthetic Foundation, a Christian ministry based in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, which supplies artificial limbs to children.
The Anglins also adopted a little girl that Mother Theresa found on the streets of India, named "Ari." Her entire muscular-skeletal system was afflicted with a disease known as arthrogyposis.
"Her legs and feet were so twisted--her feet were so clubbed, they wrapped around the lower part of her legs," Anglin says. "Her muscles were fibrotic, her eyes wouldn't track, her hips were in contraction, her shoulders were dislocated," she says. "She had little movement in her arms; her hands were deformed; she could only open her mouth four millimeters because all the muscles in her face were fibrotic."
After the Anglins heard about Ari, they spent two years raising the money so they could make the trip to India to adopt her. When they finally reached Ari, she was five years old, weighed 16 pounds, and was lying in a baby crib at an orphanage.
When the Anglins brought her back to the U.S., they took her to medical specialists for an evaluation. "They said the best they could do for her was to get her to sit comfortably in a wheelchair." The Anglins and the doctors didn't expect Ari's amazing resolve.
"She has a wonderfully bright mind," Anglin says. "She learned English in two months," she says.
When Ari learned the doctors' prognosis, she was upset. "Mommy, I want to walk," Ari said. "I believe in Jesus, and you told me he does miracles," she said. "We need to find a doctor who believes in miracles."
The Anglins were led to the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield Wisconsin, and met with doctors there.
One of the doctors turned to little Ari and said, "If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?
"I want to walk," Ari said.
"Ari," he said, hesitating, "You have very twisted legs."
"Yes, I know."
"If you could walk, do you see yourself walking like your mom or me?"
"Dr. Jacobsen," she said firmly, "Have you looked at my feet lately?"
"They are pretty twisted," he said.
"Of course I can't walk like you or my mom. I just want to walk a little," she said.
Dr. Jacobsen paused for a moment. "I don't know if that's possible," he said. "But if you're willing, I'm willing to do everything in my power to try and make that possible. The rest is up to you and God."
"We'll make a good team," Ari said.
Since her evaluation in 1995, Ari has endured 65 hours of surgery. "She's been in body casts and had rods put through her hips," Anglin says. "She's had the growth plate stapled in her knees. She's had nine pins put in each foot," she says. "She's undergone an immense amount of surgery."
"Bless her heart, she's never complained a day in her life," Anglin says. Last year, Ari took her first steps at a reception held for her at the White House attended by Marie Osmond. "She told Marie Osmond, 'I'm a walking miracle.'"
Another of the Anglin's adopted children is "Serina," born addicted to crack cocaine, weighing one pound and three ounces at birth. She also had a severe brain infection at birth that destroyed 70 percent of her brain.
"A nurse tried to kill her in the hospital with euthanasia--but God interceded," Anglin says. "When the IV was inserted into her leg it would have killed her in a very short time but the IV went subcutaneous," she says. "The medication went into her muscle and blew the muscle out of her body-but it saved her life."
"We call that the miracle scar," Anglin says, referring to a huge scar that takes up half of Serina's lower leg.
"For the first two years of her life she did not communicate at all," Anglin says. "She had 150 seizures a day," she says. "I carried her in a little front pack the first two years and I never put her down. I slept with her. If I took a shower, she was on Harold."
"Doctors said she'd be a complete vegetable, she would never know us, she was profoundly retarded," Anglin says. "They gave a terribly grim outlook on her," she says. But doctors could not have appreciated the Anglins' enormous faith.
"At two years old, she made her first eye contact with us," Anglin says. "She's been developing beautifully ever since," she says. "She's nine years old now, and very gifted, very smart. She can listen to music and sit down and play it."
"To this day, when they do an MRI scan of her brain it shows 70 percent black," Anglin says. "But she developed new pathways through her brain."
"I told Serina, 'Every day when you see that scar on your leg, that is the miracle that God said your life is important.'" This is a testimony to the world that he loved Serina enough to save her, Anglin believes.
The Anglins have also served as foster parents, prior to adopting some of their children. One child, "Cierra," was also born addicted to crack cocaine, and placed in the Anglin household for the first nine months of her life. "She went through 18 days of withdrawal from drugs," Anglin says.
Then Cierra was given back to her 15-year old biological mother, who "abused and neglected her," for the next six months. "She came back to us after being thrown 24 feet across the room and having broken bones," Anglin says. "She came back to us almost in a catatonic state-severely affected." The Anglins put up a fight to win custody and eventually adopt her.
"She's 11 now, and doing pretty well," Anglin says. "She still struggles, though, with attachment disorder and abandonment issues," she says.
Another of their adopted children, "Levi Tucker," was found in a trash dumpster. Levi suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and weighed four pounds at birth. "His alcohol content was so high (when they found him in the dumpster) it kept him from freezing to death," Anglin says.
"He's a delightful, funny little guy," she says. "He looks like a 'shrinky-dink' version of Sammy Davis Jr."
Two other crack cocaine babies the Anglins adopted were Tyler and Tirzah, brother and sister. "They were in six different foster homes the first two years of their lives," Anglin says. "They were severely neglected and abused in the foster care system," she says. Tirzah suffered 17 bones broken during her stay in foster homes.
Today, the Anglins no longer have all 15 children living at home. Six of the Anglins' children have left for college, married, or moved out on their own. Patty says "only nine" are still at home. "The household is busy," she says.
With the Anglins' compassion and concern for special needs children, they began to think about a ministry to help in various ways. "I thought if I could have worked with some of the birth moms, and given them a sense of the love of Christ, perhaps they wouldn't make the same mistakes over and over again," Anglin says. "I dreamed of building a cottage where I could invite birth moms to come and be nurtured, in an environment away from the bureaucratic system," she says.
They established Acres of Hope, Inc., a non-profit charitable foundation to help birth mothers in troubled circumstances. They also serve as adoption advocates for special needs kids, and provide educational information, emotional support, and financial assistance in such cases.
After the first year and a half, they have helped 30 birth moms and placed 138 special needs babies into adoptive families. "God is blessing us in so many ways," Anglin says. "These children have so much to give," she says.
"I always dreamed I would go back to Africa one day and open an orphanage," Anglin says. "Fortunately or unfortunately my husband was not of the same mindset," she says. Years ago, Patty was disappointed Harold didn't share her dream. "It threw me off at first," she says. "But God just turned everything around and brought the orphanage to me."
Mark Ellis is a Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service. He is also the Assistant Pastor at Calvary Evangelical Free Church of Laguna Beach, CA. He grew up in Southern California and worked for 18 years in the commercial real estate industry before entering Christian ministry.
Copyright 2001 ASSIST News Service. Used with permission.
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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the demonstrators were challenging “the very existence of Israel” and, in nationally broadcast remarks, pledged that the country was “determined to defend our borders and sovereignty.”
Palestinians commemorate Israel’s founding as al-Naqba, or the catastrophe, marking the displacement of hundreds of thousands in the war that followed Israel’s declaration of independence.
The coordinated protests on Sunday were organized using many of the social media tools that have propelled revolts in Arab countries in recent months, and the message they carried, of Palestinian demands for the right to return to their ancestral homes, struck a raw nerve among Israelis, who have been watching the popular uprisings with concern that they could strengthen groups hostile to Israel.
Some Israeli officials pointed a finger at Syria and its ally Iran, accusing them of instigating the protests to deflect attention from the deadly repression of the anti-government demonstrations in Syria.
The Israeli army’s chief spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, said Syrian and Lebanese troops had failed to hold back the demonstrators, who had arrived in busloads from Palestinian refugee camps.
The most serious incident was on the border between Syria and the occupied Golan Heights, where thousands of protesters gathered on the Syrian side and hundreds flooded into the Israeli-held territory after flattening the border fence. Scores entered the Druze village of Majdal Shams, gathering in the central square, where they raised Palestinian flags.
“We cannot put up with this anymore. We are demanding our right of return,” said Muhammad Umran, 35, from the Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria’s capital, Damascus, who spoke by telephone from Majdal Shams. “We are not afraid,” he said, adding that his family was originally from a village near the city of Safed.
Another protester, Muhammad Suleiman, also from the Yarmouk camp, said by telephone that the crowds had passed through minefields and planted Syrian and Palestinian flags on an Israeli army jeep vacated by troops during the rock-throwing melee. The empty jeep was visible in television broadcasts from the scene.
Israeli troops opened fire to drive back the protesters, killing two, according to Israeli officials and Syrian television, which said that more than 100 were injured. The Syrian Foreign Ministry described the Israeli actions as “criminal acts.”
Soldiers later rebuilt the fence, and by nightfall nearly all the protesters were returned to Syria, an Israeli army spokeswoman said. | <urn:uuid:ac77215c-f9e3-4938-9e2b-38be68202120> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/israeli-troops-fire-at-palestinian-protestors-on-borders-killing-at-least-12/2011/05/15/AF9lnF4G_story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969768 | 527 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Yemen Works To Reclaim Al-Qaida's Territory
Originally published on Thu June 14, 2012 6:07 am
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
We turn, now, to a country that's become a big focus of America's war on terror. The U.S. now considers the al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen one of that terrorist network's most dangerous. And this is happening in a context of change in Yemen. Just a few months ago, a new and democratically elected president took office. That followed a year of protests that saw the ouster of Yemen's longtime, autocratic ruler. It's been a difficult transition. Al-Qaida militants took advantage of the turmoil and this past year, have managed to take over towns and villages in the south of Yemen.
Wth U.S. help, Yemen's new government has been fighting back. NPR's Kelly McEvers just arrived in South Yemen this morning, and we reached her on her cellphone. Good morning.
KELLY MCEVERS, BYLINE: Good morning, Renee.
MONTAGNE: Tell us where you are, exactly, and what's happening there.
MCEVERS: We've just come into Abyan province. This is the part of Yemen that for basically, the last part of a year, al-Qaida-linked militants have held. So up until basically two days ago, this was no-man's land. I mean, you just could not get to where we're going. Yesterday, Yemeni troops and Yemeni minister of defense sort of took a victory lap around the province, claiming that they had, you know, routed the al-Qaida militants from these key villages and towns down here. What's more likely is that the al-Qaida militants actually beat a retreat once they realized that they were outnumbered and outgunned.
MCEVERS: It's not as if the Yemeni military actually, you know, took prisoners or put people in jail, or killed that many militants. It seems more like the militants basically fled - fled into the mountains here nearby, fled into other places. But what this does signal is that it's, you know, a change of tactics for the organization. For the last part a year, they were able to actually hold territory for the first time. And now, they might be going back to the old way - which is hiding out in the mountains, putting together supercells that can launch attacks - in Yemen, and against the United States.
MONTAGNE: What is the U.S. role in all of this?
MCEVERS: Well, the U.S. actually has advisers down here, working side by side with Yemeni troops and the southern tribes who they've enlisted to fight alongside Yemeni government troops. Their role is a bit secretive, for obvious reasons. They know that if it seemed that there was a U.S. role in this, that will only recruit more fighters for the al-Qaida cause. As we know, the U.S. is also engaged in a drone program, which has picked up considerably over the last year. Both CIA drones and other drones have landed in this region and in other parts of Yemen - again, targeting militants, but also there's quite a bit of civilian casualties as well.
MONTAGNE: OK. And Kelly, just again, you're on a cellphone and it's a little hard to hear you, but you are in southern Yemen. So let's proceed. The Yemeni government has claimed victories against al-Qaida in the past. Is there any indication that this particular one will stick?
MCEVERS: Well, that's what we're about to go find out. We're going to go ask people in the town if this will stick. I mean, al-Qaida did, you know, spraypaint signs saying, look, we've left, we're sorry, we had (technical difficulties). You know, but we were talking to some folks yesterday from the region and they said look, it's easy to, you know, force militants to retreat with your big guns, and your tanks. It's another thing to administer a region. And this is what the Yemeni government hasn't been able to do so far, and al-Qaida was able to do in these towns and villages - provide electricity, provide a sense of security.
That's why they were able to win over the locals. So that's the big question that we're going to ask - is the government going to be able to step in and do that?
MONTAGNE: That's NPR's Kelly McEvers, speaking to us from the Abyan province in southern Yemen. Thanks very much.
MCEVERS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | <urn:uuid:a616c46c-4a98-4f4a-bfce-56bc1d4af968> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wmot.org/post/yemen-works-reclaim-al-qaidas-territory | 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 | 0.975686 | 983 | 1.742188 | 2 |
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.--(market research company, online activities once mainly popular with teens and young adults, are now enjoying active participation by baby boomers, too. Recent consumer surveys of U.S. consumers show that 61 percent of baby boomer Internet users (age 44 to 61) had visited sites that offer streaming or downloadable video (e.g., YouTube and TV network Web sites), while 41 percent had visited social networks (e.g., Linked-In, Facebook, and MySpace).)--According to The NPD Group, a leading
“These findings underscore the growing need for entertainment companies to promote and distribute digital entertainment content online, in order to keep pace with the changing needs and desires of consumers of all ages.”
“There’s an ongoing misperception that certain Web activities are the exclusive domain of young people,” said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for The NPD Group. “That misperception could cost the entertainment industry, in terms of lost opportunities to target valuable consumers.”
NPD’s “Entertainment Trends in America” tracking study reveals that more than half of all Web users (57 percent) visited a social networking site in past three months. Although young Web users (13- to 34-year-olds) are significantly more likely to visit social networking sites -- and to visit them more often -- baby boomers who visited social networking Web sites did so an average of 8 times over the previous three months.
When it comes to the Web’s effect on sales of traditional entertainment content, NPD found that baby boomers who engage in activities, like social networking or video streaming, are also more likely to buy DVDs, CDs and go out to the movies. NPD noted that, on average, baby boomers who stream video are also 15 percent more likely than their non-streaming counterparts to buy a CD, DVD, or movie tickets.
“As more consumers of all ages spend more time online, there’s potentially going to be less time for them to consume entertainment content in traditional ways,” Crupnick said. “These findings underscore the growing need for entertainment companies to promote and distribute digital entertainment content online, in order to keep pace with the changing needs and desires of consumers of all ages.”
Web shopping and other activities
The use of email and Web surfing was nearly universal among Web users surveyed by NPD (97 percent). Online shopping was another prevalent activity among Web users of all ages; eight in 10 Web users shopped online sometime during the prior three months. Teens and young adults reported less online shopping activity than older consumers, perhaps owing to the fact that many teens do not have access to credit cards.
Data note: Information in this press release was derived from The NPD Group’s “Entertainment Trends in America” consumer surveys. Data was based on a sample of more than 11,000 consumers, and results were balanced to reflect the Internet-connected U.S. population aged 13 and older.
About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,600 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, contact us or visit http://www.npd.com/. | <urn:uuid:12f57454-294f-4b6c-be1d-bcde4c0a5464> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20080909006078/en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93365 | 792 | 1.671875 | 2 |
This statement has clearly been issued without studying details of the monument project and it is clear that Shinde has not been properly briefed or informed, Majithia said in a statement here on Monday evening.
"The Congress is raising a hue and cry over a purely religious issue of the peace monument only to divert the people's attention from the mind-boggling scams that have hit the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Now that the flames of scams have reached the 'royal palace' of the Gandhis through exposure of scams of Robert Vadra, the Congress' desperation has crossed all limits and it has been driven into this mindless opposition of a spiritual monument. Their statements are shocking for their lack of sensitivity towards religious sentiments of the Sikh community," said Majithia.
Majithia said Punjab today was led by a visionary statesman like Parkash Singh Badal who had made supreme sacrifices and spent 15 years in jails in free India, fighting for peace, human dignity and human rights, and who considered communal harmony as his (Badal's) greatest achievement in life.
Majithia dared Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh to clarify his stand on the army assault in 1984. "If he thinks building a peace monument against Operation Bluestar is wrong, then why had he enacted the drama of resigning from the Congress in protest against this very operation?" the Akali leader asked.
Amarinder should also clarify his stand on the innocents killed in 1984, said Majithia.He added that it was surprising and unbelievable that the union home minister and the PPCC president were both opposing a monument which would symbolise the message of peace, communal harmony and human brotherhood as enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib, transcending narrow communal, sectarian or ideological and political differences. "By doing so, the Congress is in fact opposing the ideals enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib," he claimed. | <urn:uuid:9b15ac1f-3514-4e5b-bd8c-43d9cf096abc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/941766.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968521 | 394 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Just Follow the Recipe
My grandmother used to make the most awesome holiday dinners. Thinking about them years later, I remember the fantastic tastes and smells that we all enjoyed. Once, when I was small, I asked her how she did it. She picked up a small piece of paper and said “You just follow the recipe, honey. It’s easy if you do.”
Follow the recipe?
All a recipe does is give instructions on how to do something the way the person who wrote it intended. With a pie, if you want it to taste the way the original cook meant for it to taste, you follow the recipe. The same principal applies to anything you have a recipe for. So why is The United States in such a mess? The simple answer is that we’re no longer following the recipe, The U.S. Constitution.
The United States Constitution is the time proven recipe for a successful nation. It has worked for over 200 years, with the safeguards that were built in by the founders and framers. The checks and balances of the three branches of government have safeguarded the rights of the citizens, but no more, it seems. The States are having to take up the banner of freedom with Neo Liberals inhabiting the halls of government.
The proofs of the abuses are evident with a single perusal of the evening news, the local papers, or a simple look at your paycheck. Lets start with one abuse, of many, that will be the demise of this country unless it is brought under control and reversed quickly. The economy is a shambles, and anyone living on a paycheck can attest to this, but WHY is the economy in such bad shape? The answer is simple. The Federal Government has spent many times more money than it can ever hope to repay, and has decided to punish hard work and wise investment, on all levels, thus crushing the free enterprise system that has been the engine of America for so long. Our system was the envy of the world. But the spending of money that we don’t have has crippled us.
With such high spending, the nations of the world will no longer lend the U.S. money that they know we can never repay…so the government has resorted to deficit spending. Basically, borrowing money that doesn’t yet exist. To do this, they simply put numbers on a computer, and say its real. The equivalent would be printing that money with nothing to back it up. The result is worthless money. The more you print, the less it’s worth.
If you print one dollar for every dollar of value you have in the economy, it’s worth a dollar. If you print 100 dollars for every dollar of value, each dollar is worth a cent. Thats inflation. If, however, you print 1000 dollars for every one of value, each dollar is worthless. That’s hyperinflation. That’s where we’re headed.
With all the problems facing this nation, from the economy to governmental abuse of power, something drastic has to be done. But what?
Simple, again. Follow the recipe. The U.S. Constitution gives the answer, and it’s an answer that WILL be able to fix the problems. But here’s the catch…we HAVE to do it right. What is this dangerous solution? A Constitutional Convention. Yes, the same thing that the founders used to create the Constitution in the first place.
In a Constitutional Convention, the States send representatives to one location, representatives chosen by the States and the people, to represent both. These representatives look at the current Constitution, make changes that are needed, make amendments, change wording, then send the draft of their work to the States for ratification. The key advantage is that the representatives can make ANY changes that are needed. They can fix, adjust, or replace the United States Constitution. Their work must be ratified by the States. The Federal Government does NOT get a seat, a representative, or a say. Its the States ball game, not theirs. Excluding the Federal Government, which IS the problem, can allow the work to go on unhindered.
Now for the danger. The representatives do their job. They make changes, amendments, or adjustments, and the States get the draft…and either the changes are worse than the problems, and get ratified, or the changes are just what we need, and some states do NOT ratify. In short, the very cure that can save the Nation, could also end it.
At this point, I see no alternative. We have to do something, even knowing that the more liberal states will try their best to mess up the plan, we still can’t keep doing what we’re doing. Its hasn’t worked yet, and never will.
Our only option is to follow the recipe. | <urn:uuid:c3e09afb-1b4a-4d67-badd-0efdc55b8206> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thedailypamphlet.com/just-follow-the-recipe-5230.html?wpmp_switcher=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958576 | 1,008 | 1.515625 | 2 |
QUOTE(The Baptist Death Ray @ Oct 22 2006, 07:54 PM)
My wife heard this on the radio earlier today . . . I don't like the title "Genius Grants." It seems to perpetuate an idea of the artist which is unhealthy to both the artist and the community they (should) serve.
Yes, we should instead re-enforce the idea that artists are all retards.
That's funny! So the only alternative to enforcing an elitist class is enforcing the idea that all artists are retards.
In her book _Has Modernism Failed?_ Suzi Gabik tells of an artist in Ohio that has taken on full time work as a social worker. "In the course of his social work he has discovered that many of these people with disabilities make wonderful art. ...he has chosen to reach out and help people who are usually shut out of the conversation about art and culture. 'I am not sacrificing anything,' he says, 'and I am gaining everything.'" Where is his Genius Grant? Is what he does not equally important, if not more so?
I like the idea of re-enforing the importance of art, but is handing out $4,000,000.00 to eight people really the best way? The general public already feels that it is not possible for them to be artists and that art is exclusive. And education cuts in arts programs are already creating a generation of people who have little or no first hand connection to art making. Doesn't this kind of reward simply exacerbate the divide?
And from the artist side, how does this help enforce the idea that art is more important than financial gain? How does this help the artist understand they have a responsibility to the community as much if not more so than the community has in providing them a living?
It is a difficult balance to work out. As someone who makes his living in art, one I think about daily. Art is important and should be encouraged. But what does the Genius Grant _really_ re-enforce and encourage? Individual materialism and entitlement or community? Or something else?
Just some thoughts and questions, | <urn:uuid:32b0bc45-6a49-436e-8f13-a8f41595c65e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://artsandfaith.com/index.php?showtopic=11342&pid=127401&st=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974737 | 440 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Use online banking to manage your finances better
November 10, 2006
Great strides in technology have made life a lot easier. Thirty years ago, anyone who had to transact with the bank had to go to his own branch, bring his passbook, fill up forms, fall in line, and then wait for his turn.
The advent of automated teller machines (ATMs) in the '80s made it possible for people to withdraw cash and do other banking transactions even after banking hours or on weekends – all in less than five minutes.
Then came phone banking which allowed depositors to do the same without leaving their house or office.
With the Internet age, consumers do not even have to wait for a phone operator. A computer and an Internet connection will allow anyone to transact with their bank at the click of a mouse.
Bank when you feel like it
Why go online for banking? It is an alternative way of banking with many benefits, among which are the following:
- It is convenient. You can do it anywhere, be it your home, office or the coffee shop down the corner. All you need is a computer with modem and an Internet connection. You don't have to drive or walk over to a bank branch, except to withdraw cash. You can perform most banking transactions by logging on to your bank’s online banking website. You can also do it anytime, 24 hours a day even on weekends.
- It is free. Because you don't have to physically go over to your bank, you save on gas or transportation fare and parking.
- It is fast. Because you immediately log on to the network, you are in effect serviced fast by the bank. You can finish your transactions in five minutes or less. No need to fall in line. You save a lot of time.
- It is secure. Banks take precautions against hacking and other types of online fraud. Citibank Online, for instance, is secure. "We have the highest type of encryption available in the market. We also use a dynamic PIN pad when requesting customers to key in their PIN to avoid key stroke capture. And soon, we will be introducing a new login method, which will offer our customers an enhanced level of security," says Cecille Fonacier, Marketing Director and Head for Consumer eBusiness. Citibank also does "account masking" to prevent anyone looking over your shoulder to see your account number. Only the first and last four digits of your account number are shown on your monitor.
- It is reliable. Transactions are posted at real time during banking hours, and the system guarantees that no information is lost.
What you can do online
Most banking transactions, except for cash withdrawal, can now be initiated online. Here’s what you can do:
- view bank account transaction history
- receive and view statement online
- transfer funds between your accounts in the same bank or even to another local or international bank
- pay bills
- save your utility accounts online for easy bills payment
- view credit card transaction history • receive and view credit card statement online or request that statements be e-mailed to you regularly
- book time deposits
- view foreign exchange and interest rates
- order checkbooks
- set up future-dated transactions
- view credit card rewards points and redeem reward items
- load cellphone credits
- join online promotions
- apply for a credit card
- apply for a loan
- apply for an online savings account
- get tips on personal finance matters
- make other inquiries via e-mail
Be not afraid
If online banking is so easy, how come not as many people use it at the moment? People fear new technology, especially those who are used to do banking face-to-face with a teller.
For those who belong in this group, consider this. Online transactions are kept safe from prying eyes through encryption of web pages, meaning your private information is scrambled to prevent unauthorized access.
When you pay a bill, you will have a bill payment reference number to guarantee that your payment has been accepted and recorded.
You can also monitor online your credit card usage to make sure you don't go over your credit limit. This will help you manage your accounts better.
Safeguards to follow
Banks make the extra effort to offer you a secure online banking experience. But you, as a consumer, also need to observe safe online banking practices to maximize your experience:
- Make sure you are logged on to your bank's official online banking website.
- Change your password regularly. Do not use your birthday, phone number, house number, or any other number code tied to you that can be easily guessed by someone else.
- Do not give out your password or write it down where others may see it.
- Update your virus scan software and regularly run a scan on your computer files.
Online banking is a breeze once you try it. You'll ask, "Now why didn't I think of that before?”
- From the "Take Charge of Your Money" series published on http://business.inq7.net/money/.
[tags]online banking, internet banking, Philippines, financial planning, financial plan, financial freedom, citibank, inquirer, philippine daily inquirer, take charge of your money, personal finance[/tags]
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- manage finances philippines | <urn:uuid:e1e5b124-cd60-4ee1-a6a9-cb56ec032bc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pinoymoneytalk.com/use-online-banking-to-manage-your-finances-better/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941836 | 1,138 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Written by Ronald Scaglia: firstname.lastname@example.org Friday, 04 May 2012 00:00
The 10th-grader selected her favorite color. It was a very simple task that she and most young people have probably done countless times before. However, this time, the stakes were never higher. She was not choosing a color for a blouse, a cell phone case or curtains for her bedroom. Instead, she was selecting a pill from a menagerie of narcotics that her peers had brought to a “pharm party” – an alarming and frightening phenomenon that’s been making a comeback among teenagers throughout Long Island.
“She was trying to fit in,” said Detective Pamela Stark of the Nassau County Police Department, who met with reporters from Anton Community Newspapers and recounted this horrifying tale, which occurred in central Nassau.
The pill the young teen selected had been prescribed for a dialysis patient. One of the party attendants probably took it from an ill parent or grandparent. When she took a second pill, after also drinking alcohol, she became nauseous, and then continued to get sicker until she had to be rushed to the hospital.
Janice Talento, CEO of Drug Free Long Island and president of Drug Free Massapequa, shared a similar story of another teen girl, who was rushed to the emergency room because the pill she chose at one of these parties was penicillin, to which she was highly allergic. Talento is also deeply concerned by this common trend among teenagers, which law enforcement officials, school administrators, medical professionals and experts in substance abuse say is quite common throughout all parts of Long Island, covering a variety of socio-economic groups.
“What happens is you can’t come to the party unless you bring a pill,” explained Talento. “You get to the party, you throw your pill in a bowl, they mix them up, you roll the dice. Whatever color you roll, that’s the pill that you take.”
Talento also cautions that “pharm” parties (also referred to as pill parties) become more popular during the spring and summer months, as the weather gets warmer. She says that the better outdoor conditions of spring or summer allow kids to hold these parties away from a residential home and instead conduct them in parks, preserves, or other outside meeting places.
Dr. Stephen Dewey, director of Molecular Imaging at North Shore-LIJ, speaks to students in virtually all of the Island’s school districts. He also corroborates that “pharm” parties are quite common throughout the region. However, he knows of cases where students take this to an even more dangerous and frightening level.
“The thing that I’ve heard most frequently is they’re now taking that glass full of pills and now filling it with vodka,” explains Dewey. “So everything kind of dissolves, and then each kid takes a shot of that concoction.”
According to Dewey, alcohol intensifies drugs, so kids engaging in this behavior are more likely to become addicted and at a quicker rate. Furthermore, he is also terrified by the thought of what kinds of pills are used in these concoctions. He has heard of a variety of narcotics being placed in these mixtures including opiates, antihistamines, cough syrups, cold medications, nitroglycerin (which is used to treat cardiac patients) and even dog medications such as heartworm and de-worming pills.
“If you dissolve 80 pills into a glass that’s dissolved in vodka you’re getting more than one 80 mg pill,” says Dewey.
The rise in popularity of these pill parties is a byproduct of another disturbing trend among local youth—using prescription drugs illegally. While alcohol and marijuana remain the gateway to substance abuse, many of our region’s teenagers and young adults are now turning to prescription drugs.
“The admissions for opiates is as high as I recall it ever being,” says Bruce Goldman, director of Substance Abuse Services at Zucker Hillside Hospital of the North Shore-LIJ Health System. “Normal everyday healthy kids fool around [and] don’t realize the dangerousness of it and before they know it, they’re hooked.”
He also says that OxyContin (brand name of oxycodone) and Percocet are the two most commonly abused prescription drugs.
Dewey expressed a similar opinion, saying that the problem of opiate abuse among youth is the worst he’s seen in his many years of experience. In addition, according to Stark, the number of arrests for opiates in Nassau County last year was double the amount for heroin. And she added that most of these arrests do not occur because of an active pursuit, but rather because the perpetrator was stopped for another reason.
According to the 2010 statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 12 million Americans (ages 12 and over), or about 1 in 20, reported using prescription painkillers for nonmedical purposes in the past year. The CDC also reports about half a million emergency visits in 2010 were due to the misuse or abuse of prescription drugs and about 15,000 Americans die annually due to overdoses in prescription painkillers.
Furthermore, according to the Monitoring the Future survey, which is conducted by the University of Michigan and funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, 7.2 percent of 12th-graders surveyed reported using prescription drugs for nonprescription purposes. In addition, only 16.4 of those who reported using prescription drugs for nonprescribed purposes, responded that the drugs were obtained by a dealer or a stranger. An alarming 70.2 percent stated that they were given drugs by a friend or relative, 40.4 responded that they bought the drugs from a friend or relative, 34.7 reported that they already had the drugs from a previous prescription and 21.8 responded that they took the drugs from a friend or relative.
Local experts stated that although these numbers seem fairly accurate, in actuality they might even be slightly higher. The survey takers are assuming that respondents replied honestly, which some teenagers may not have done even if the survey was conducted anonymously.
A study that was published this month in the Archives of General Psychiatry indeed indicates higher usage. The study used a sample of 10,123 adolescents aged 13 to 18. It was reported that 42.5 percent had indeed used drugs and 16.4 percent were abusing drugs. Additionally, the study also revealed that the median age at the onset of drug abuse with dependence was 14 years, and 15 years for drug abuse without dependence. (Additional studies have also shown pill addiction and abuse by senior citizens, and will be covered in Part 3 of this series.)
Recently released statistics from the Nassau County medical examiner’s office indicate that 149 residents died last year from prescription opiates or heroin and another 310 residents who died had these opiates in their system at the time of their death. In 2010, 98 people died from these drugs. The largest spike was in deaths related to oxycodone, which have surpassed heroin deaths for the second year in a row.
All of the experts who spoke with Anton Community Newspapers also concurred that this is a problem which has spread throughout all of Long Island. While it might be comforting for some to mistakenly think that this concern has not hit their particular school district, there is consensus among the experts that this is a crisis which affects the entire region. Dewey said that he can go into any school district and buy OxyContin or Vicodin for $20. Talento says that she personally witnessed drug deals on the streets of a Gold Coast community when she worked there and Goldman says that this problem is affecting youth across the board.
When asked who is affected by what many are calling an epidemic, Goldman answers, “Clearly, all socioeconomic levels. All functional levels. To me, more intact kids from more intact families than we traditionally saw.”
One such youth who fell victim to the dangers of prescription drug abuse was Jonathan Sieczkowski of Massapequa. While choking back tears, his mother, Sharon, recalls a respectful, clean-cut, loving son whom she says was beloved by everyone.
“He’d come over and hug me from the back and say ‘I love you, mama’,” Sieczkowki sadly recalls. “He genuinely loved everybody. There wasn’t a bad bone in his body. He wasn’t a wise guy. He was always very respectful. He was a good kid. He was a good kid making a bad choice.”
His mother says that Jonathan’s first bad choice came later than it does for most users. Jonathan attended a parochial elementary school and then a prestigious Nassau Catholic high school, and did not become involved with alcohol or drugs until 10th grade. However, he eventually fell victim to the temptation and this was further exasperated by an injury he suffered while skiing for which he was prescribed OxyContin. Sports injuries are a common beginning for many young people who later become addicted to their pain medication, often leading to heroin.
Things spiraled out of control from there for Jonathan. He was eventually asked to leave his high school after failing a Spanish class, and his life began to fall apart. He would steal money and jewelry from his family to support his expensive drug habit and when he no longer had the money for those pills, he turned to the cheaper alternative, heroin.
“I didn’t know heroin,” recalls his heartbroken mother. “Needles? Kids? I never knew any of it.”
Jonathan was eventually administered into rehab, which was the first time that his mother could be at peace, as she knew he was being taken care of by professionals. Prior to his admission, she would get up in the middle of the night to make sure he was still in his bed. And although Jonathan went through rehab and got his life back on track, he was reintroduced to heroin and it took his life at just 22 years of age.
“If your child has a drug problem, you would do anything to help them,” says Sharon, who is a member of New York State Assemblyman Joseph Saladino’s Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse Relief Task Force. “What I’m trying to say is, ‘Parents, get educated.’ You would do anything for your child if they are addicted, why wouldn’t you do anything to prevent it?”
She painfully speaks about her son’s tragedy, while publicly trying to get the message across to other parents. She clutches a photo of her son as she speaks of the loving son she lost.
Goldman says that Jonathan’s progression from prescription narcotics to heroin is common among users. He says that while prescription pills can be sold on the street for about $20 a piece, heroin is cheaper and more attainable for those who no longer have the money for the prescription pills.
“Many who start with the prescription pills end up on heroin because it’s less expensive,” says Goldman.
Furthermore, he states, as the addiction gets worse, users build up a tolerance to drugs and need more narcotics to get the same sensation, which again leads to a transition to the less expensive heroin. And while most start with heroin by sniffing it, eventually they will transition to shooting it with a needle to take a stronger version that will deliver more enhanced effects.
This was exactly the scenario that Jenny* got caught up in. She was 15 years old, at her high school Homecoming, when she was given her first Xanax.
“It took me out of myself,” the now-21-year-old recalls, her beautiful hazel eyes clear after 66 days of being sober. “I was uncomfortable in my skin. When I was high, I felt like Superman. I felt like I could do anything. I fell in love with it.”
For Jenny, now living in a “sober house” in Suffolk County, her drug addiction took a familiar course: Xanax, Percocet, OxyContin, pharm parties (“It was scary,” she recalls. “It’s a free-for-all, you don’t know what you’re ingesting”)...and then sniffing heroin.
Since 2011, Jenny has been in rehab four times and has been through detox about 10 times. But then she’d come back to her boyfriend, a user, and the cycle, as much as she wanted to change it, started all over again.
Jenny is no longer seeing that boyfriend, and is thrilled to be clean for more than two months. She even announced it proudly on her Facebook page. Jenny is a very pretty and smart young woman with a sharp sense of humor, who exudes so much potential. She knows that these drugs are destroying that promise.
She says that out of her circle of addicted friends, she’s the only one who has gotten clean. In fact, the day prior to her interview with Anton Newspapers, she attended a wake for a friend who died of an overdose (the second in a week). Deaths of friends and celebrities like Whitney Houston, and most certainly her own OD and resulting seizures, are “definitely a wake-up-call,” Jenny admits, but she acknowledges that she “didn’t have a choice but to maintain. I loved being comfortably numb.”
“Now,” she says, “I can choose to not screw up my life.” There is hope in her face when she says this, and you deeply want to believe her.
Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds, executive director of the Mineola-based Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (LICADD), agrees that the problem is spread throughout the Island and through all demographics. He warns that many of the kids who fall victim to prescription drug abuse appeared to have a very bright outlook for their lives.
“Typically when you look at addiction there are kids who are on a path and you could kind of see where things are going from a very early age,” explains Reynolds. “These are not those kids at all.” Jenny says that LICADD was of enormous assistance to her in helping with detox, rehab, counseling, and even sorting out all the bureaucratic red tape.
Lindsay*, another former teen addict from Nassau, spoke to Anton Newspapers about how a prescription drug addiction quickly led her from a promising academic career to near tragedy. Once a high school honor student, her life began to spiral out of control when she got involved with alcohol, which led to marijuana, which eventually led to Xanax, when a marijuana dealer introduced her to it.
“I was a straight-A student,” she recalls. “I played varsity sports. I was involved in clubs and organizations. As soon as the drugs hit, it was all downhill.”
Her decline continued through the beginning of college, when this once-promising student went away to school and would endure 13 hours of bus rides in order to return to Long Island and meet with a dealer to acquire more Xanax. Her grades, of course, continued to decline until she was on the brink of flunking out.
“It just distorted my views and my ambition,” she says. “My ambition was gone. I was so addicted to them for so long, when I wasn’t on them, my life was in shambles. I would be depressed. I wouldn’t get out of bed. Taking Xanax made me able to get out of bed and go through my daily routine and do the things normal people can do. Without them I couldn’t do those normal things.”
Despite her poor grades and lack of ambition, she still didn’t see the problem. Eventually, she quit Xanax, not because she wanted to, but because she ran out of the medication.
“The only reason I ever stopped was because I ran out,” she says.
About a week and a half later on Christmas Eve, she woke up in her car. She was in pain and the smell of air bag dust permeated the interior of the automobile, which was wrapped around a tree. Discontinuing Xanax without proper medical supervision had caused her to suffer a seizure, which resulted in her losing consciousness and crashing her vehicle. The hospital staff subjected her to all kinds of tests, but because she did not tell them of her Xanax dependency, they were not able to find the true cause of her seizure.
On the bright side, the accident did help her to turn her life around. She eventually returned to college, at a different school, and hopes to become a social worker. She proudly says that she has been drug free for about 18 months.
“I never thought I would make it past 25. When you’re doing drugs, you never look toward the future.”
* We have changed the names of some of the young addicts.
Look for Part 2 in next week’s edition.
Wednesday, 15 May 2013 00:00
During its April and May meetings, the Birchwood Civic Association welcomed Board of Education members and candidates from the Syosset School District, as well as Board of Education members and administrators from the Jericho School District to discuss budget proposals and issues facing the districts. The BCA voted to endorse both the Syosset and Jericho budgets, as well as the Jericho Library budget, acknowledging that all made a strong effort to retain programs while staying below the state tax levy cap. In addition, the BCA voted in support of Jericho's Proposition 2 regarding the establishment of a capital reserve fund. The Syosset Library budget was not reviewed.
Thursday, 16 May 2013 00:00
Susan Parker, a resident of Syosset for 24 years, is running for a trustee seat on the Syosset Board of Education.
A mother of three and employee of the Syosset Fire District for the past seven years, Parker has been an active PTA member for the past 21 years on a local and county level. Parker received her BS from SUNY Binghampton and her MBA from Boston University. Parker says she has two “gainfully employed” graduates of the school district, and a son currently attending Syosset High School.
Thursday, 16 May 2013 00:00
The Syosset Braves varsity boys lacrosse team (7-1) were victorious over the Plainview JFK Hawks (5-3) last Friday afternoon, 12-5 in Conference I play. The Braves are the number two seed going into the playoffs, and the Hawks are the number six seed.
Ending the first two periods with a 6-2 lead, the Braves’ defense reduced Plainview’s potential comeback to only one goal, while Syosset scored four.
Friday, 10 May 2013 00:00
Monmouth University sophomore Ashley Sandler of Jericho was named Northeast Conference tennis co-player of the week in April. The Syosset High School grad earned her second career league honor after posting a 4-0 record, including a 3-0 NEC mark, in a week that saw the Blue and White go 3-1.
Sandler did not drop a game in rolling to a 6-0, 6-0 win over La Salle’s Allison Amrein then stopped Wagner’s Rachel Jurgielewicz, 6-0, 6-4. Sandler edged the Mount’s Renee Deane in a marathon three-set affair, winning 6-2, 3-6, 13-11 and ended her week with another 6-0, 6-0 victory, this time over St. Francis’(Brooklyn) Akuila Edwards. | <urn:uuid:bc4e6b9d-b5d3-41d4-b683-6970b9394b63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.antonnews.com/syossetjerichotribune/92-ssyossetnews/22642-just-one-pill.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979688 | 4,176 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Want to start taking classes, but not sure where to start?
Tell us what type of music you enjoy, where you are planning to dance, why you want to learn to dance, and we'll choose the best lesson plan for you. Whether you want to look cool at the night club, hold your own at the company party, have fun on your next cruise, impress your wedding guests, or just get in shape while moving to music, we can help you!
While social dancing requires a partner, you do not have to bring one to any of our classes. We encourage students to trade partners during our group classes, and students will also have the opportunity to dance with an instructor. However, those who have a regular dance partner will find it easier to practice outside of class times.
We teach several types of classes:
lessons are great for dancers of all skill levels. If you are a beginner, private lessons are the fastest way to build a strong foundation and gain confidence. They are individually tailored to your learning style and pace, and, even for intermediate dancers, they are the optimal way to improve your technique. Private lessons also allow you the greatest flexibility, as you can choose your own lesson times and which dances you want to learn.
Group classes provide general dance instruction, and also give you the opportunity to dance with different partners, which is an important part of learning social dancing. They progress from week to week, allowing you to build upon your knowledge and gain more confidence. They are also the most affordable class option.
Workshops are 2 or 3 hour sessions, each of which focuses on one dance. Whether you are a beginner in need of a jump start, or an intermediate dancer who wants to learn new amalgamations, these intensive classes will help you to improve your dance skills. Workshops are especially useful if you are unable to commit to regular weekly classes.
Please be polite and supportive of all dancers. Remember that we were all beginners once.
Try not to criticize or correct. Let the teacher do the teaching.
Sometimes we have odd numbers of leaders and followers in a class. Use solo time to practice steps on your own.
In group classes, please participate in changing partners. It will greatly improve your ability to lead or follow.
At dance events, try to dance with as many partners as you can. Help everyone out, including yourself, by taking the initiative and asking others to dance.
Please keep in mind that dancing is a close contact activity, so good personal hygiene is a must. We recommend you bring a dance bag with a small towel and maybe a change of shirt. Mints are also very useful.
For more information please visit our FAQ page or contact us.
We look forward to dancing with you soon!
Content copyright . youcandanceco.com. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:a398cfcf-32b3-4841-b688-e1187c3fd1da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://youcandanceco.com/Getting_Started.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958246 | 579 | 1.796875 | 2 |
looking for networkers
I am looking to connect with/ learn from educators who have experience creating a comprehensive Project Based curriculum integrating 7 broad areas of knowledge. This curriculum will be the cornerstone of a Jewish start-up school for girls in grades 7-12 which hopes to open by Fall 2013. I am looking for support in how to think about creating individual projects/ units while scaffolding knowledge/skills/understanding. Other related areas of curriculuar influence are: Understanding by Design and Teaching for Understanding. | <urn:uuid:0c0b48b4-241e-4212-8995-677376c88196> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.edutopia.org/groups/collaborators-wanted/7335?page=2 | 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 | 0.938278 | 103 | 1.5 | 2 |
(ARA) - For many years, creating family-friendly spaces meant sacrificing your design aesthetic. Thankfully, gone are the days when having children meant succumbing to a house full of bright-yellow bins and sofas wrapped in plastic. Today, new materials and technologies make it easy to create a beautiful, well-designed home that meets the needs of adults and children alike. The following tips may help you design a living space that satisfies your design goals and meets the demands of your youngest family members.
Invest in good furniture.
It may seem counterintuitive, but Erica Islas, interior designer and founder of EMI Interior Design, encourages clients with young children to buy high-quality furniture. "Some people are afraid to invest in living rooms and family rooms because they think kids will ruin everything," Islas says. "But the truth is that you have to get things that will hold up to children."
Children are notoriously tough on furniture; and the cheaper furniture you may be tempted to buy will likely break more easily and need to be replaced frequently. Instead, look for pieces that are built to withstand years of abuse and can be reupholstered or refinished once your children have grown. Furthermore, many furniture manufacturers and stores offer warranties. Consider those carefully and decide if the extra protection would be of value to your family.
Use color, pattern and texture.
Instead of creating a neutral, never-used formal area, use bold, textured fabrics throughout the rooms in which you spend the most time. Pieces incorporating color, a bit of pattern and touchable textures will not only create interesting focal points throughout your home, but will help camouflage spills. If complex patterns aren't your thing, consider materials such as leather or vinyl that can be wiped clean. No matter your design aesthetic, make sure to protect your upholstered pieces with a stain guard.
Accessorize out of children's reach.
Creating a kid-friendly space does not mean glass and art should go into storage. Instead, teach your family to appreciate beautiful objects by living among them and elevate the more fragile accessories so they are out of reach. Shadow boxes and enclosed shelves make stunning display cases for your most delicate decorative pieces.
Prevent a mess before it happens.
Kids learn and explore through hands-on activities, but too often their adventures translate to extra work for you in wiping away mess and grime from household items. To reinforce the importance of washing hands after play time, consider investing in a hands-free or touch-activated faucet, such as the Delta Addison lavatory faucet with Touch2O.xt Technology. The faucet turns on when tapped or when hands are within a 4-inch sensing field. This helps kids reach the water, even if the handles are too far away, and makes it easy for anyone to turn on the flow of water without transferring messes. Best of all, the faucet has graceful curves and multiple finish options that bring an added sense of style to the bath.
Make surfaces easier to clean.
When selecting paint for high traffic areas, consider semi-gloss and high-gloss finishes, which are easy to clean. A damp sponge is all you need to clean fingerprints and smudges from your walls. Behr Premium Plus Ultra Semi-Gloss Enamel paint, for example, forms a protective shell to protect walls against scuffs and marks.
Encourage togetherness with savvy storage.
Many parents designate separate play areas to keep clutter out of communal areas. Instead, encourage togetherness by creating storage options in every room of the house.
"Clutter is part of family life," Islas says. "The key thing to remember is to have a place for everything; this means coat hooks for jackets, storage baskets, designated drawers for toys, shelving for books, etc."
Providing these spaces within children's reach and close to where they play will encourage children to clean up after themselves. Look for multitasking furniture such as a coffee table with a large surface for playing games together and ample storage underneath to stow toys and remotes when they aren't needed.
Following these easy steps will ensure each room in your home meets your design aesthetic, while still offering maximum functionality fit for the whole family. | <urn:uuid:62f4516e-8075-4c99-8394-88adb6f7ab3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cherokeeherald.com/view/full_story/19809122/article-High-design-with-kids-in-mind?instance=all_articles | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945154 | 876 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Free panel discussion at Wayne Law Sept. 20 to discuss American violations of treaty obligations
September 11, 2012
DETROIT —Three noted legal scholars will tackle the trend of American violations of treaty obligations when Wayne State University Law School’s Program of International Legal Studies hosts its second fall speaker event on Sept. 20.
Wayne Law Associate Professor Paul Dubinsky and Professor of Law Brad Roth will be joined by Georgetown University Law Center Visiting Professor of Law David Stewart for a panel discussion titled “Treaties in American Law: Retreating from International Commitments?” at 12:15 p.m. in the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium at Wayne Law, 471 W. Palmer St., Detroit. The event is free and open to the public and lunch will be served.
“Treaties have become the building blocks of the international legal order,” said Professor Gregory Fox, director of Wayne Law’s Program for International Legal Studies. “But in the American legal system, treaties are diminishing as a source of legal rights. The federal courts, Congress and the Executive Branch have taken a host of actions over the past few decades that both make it more difficult for individuals to claim violation of their treaty rights and remedy those violations even when they are recognized. This is especially true when it is claimed that the United States government itself violated its treaty obligations.”
Dubinsky, director of graduate studies at Wayne Law, focuses his scholarship on the role of domestic courts in transnational dispute resolution, and, in particular, the interpretation of treaties, the efforts to harmonize differences in procedural law, and private international law’s intersection with human rights law and with national security law. He serves on the U.S. Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Private International Law.
Roth specializes in international law, comparative public law, and political and legal theory. He holds a joint appointment with Wayne Law and the WSU Department of Political Science. He is widely published, and his most recent book, “Sovereign Equality and Moral Disagreement” (Oxford University Press, 2011) is critically acclaimed.
Stewart focuses on public and private international law and foreign relations law, directs the Global Law Scholars Program and co-directs the Center for Transnational Business and the Law. He has served in a variety of senior positions in the Office of Legal Advisor to the U.S. Department of State. In 2008, he was elected to the Inter-American Judicial Committee, an advisory body to the Organization of American States on judicial matters of an international nature and promotes the progressive development and codification of international law. He is on the External Advisory Committee for Wayne Law’s Program of International Studies.
Other topics in the fall lecture series will include:
Oct. 1 — “Chevron v. Ecuador: American Discovery Goes Global”
Oct. 23 — “Foreign Policy and the Next President: International Relations in the 2012 Election”
Nov. 12 —“Drafting History and Treaty Interpretation: the Travaux of Travaux”
Visit law.wayne.edu/international-studies for more information on Wayne Law’s Program for International Legal Studies. | <urn:uuid:f7c57c11-eda4-48b3-9541-ca18fbc26260> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://law.wayne.edu/news.php?id=9885&date=2012-09 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934081 | 669 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Called to Duty: First on the sceneWritten by Michael Nicely Tom Bartley | | Duty@toledofreepress.com
Responding to a fire with lights and sirens is not as glamorous as often portrayed. Inside the cab, everybody but the driver is scrambling to get their fire gear on and be ready to roll upon arrival. This includes bunker gear, hood, radio, self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), mask, gloves, helmet, flashlight and ax or similar tool.
Dispatchers constantly update responding crews on the radio with information from callers. When it is a reported “occupied” structure, even the most seasoned vet’s pulse starts to quicken, causing an even more hectic donning of gear. Results include incorporating the rig headphone wire with SCBA straps and having to redo it or even trying to reach the glove that dropped to the floor between the console and the seat. It can be frustrating and is rarely graceful.
As the first arriving engine, you hop out of the backseat and the officer sizes up the scene as the driver readies the pump. If it’s a vacant, boarded-up two-story house, with heavy smoke pouring out of a back second-story window and an occupied house next door just 3 feet away with fire lapping at its roofline. You attack. Along with your 30 to 40 pounds of fire gear and tool of choice, you pull and carry on your shoulder the 225-foot length of 1 ¾-inch fire line up to the door.
As you approach, you take a mental snapshot of the building. Once inside, that helps you orient yourself to possible floor plans, victims and fire locations and possible escape routes. At night, you look for civilians in upstairs bedrooms. In daytime, you aim for kitchens or living areas.
You set the nozzle down to force entry. Sledgehammers, axes and specialized fire tools like halligan bars typically make short work of boarded doors. You have to be quick here. The nozzle is a hotly contested commodity in the fire service. Being first into a fire with the hose is an experience; you don’t just leave it laying on the ground.
You’re in, yet you still have to find the fire. You know it’s upstairs. Smoke has settled throughout first floor. Imagine burning tires in a confined space; most modern furnishings are plastic/petroleum products and the smoke is dense black. While hauling the line, you have to feel your way around, crawling on hands and knees, up over and around furniture, for the stairs. Flashlights are minimally effective. After about 2 to 3 feet the light is reflected back at you by the smoke particles.
Up you go. The farther you go, the hotter it gets. The outer rims of your ears burn. The air in your mask gets warm, fogging the face piece. Under the gear, it’s thick and humid as you sweat. The disembodied voice on your radio states a crew is being sent into the occupied exposure house to prevent the fire from spreading, and the truck crew is heading to the roof to put a hole in it for ventilation.
The smoke is thicker here. It’s not like on TV where visibility is wonderful and nobody needs to wear a face piece. It’s an abyssal sea black. Everybody has masks and SCBA on or they would be suffocated in the burning carbon monoxide and plastics atmosphere. All communication is muffled through the masks. You have to recognize people by their helmet, size and/or walk.
Judicious use of water is necessary. You’ll know quickly if you’re on top of the matter. If you can’t darken the fire in the first 45 seconds, you are probably in over your head. The engine only has 500 gallons of water which only gives you three to five minutes depending on nozzle setting. If headway is not being made you have to have faith that command directs an arriving engine crew to secure a hydrant.
The “low air” bell on your SCBA rings. In this case, frugal use of water was able to darken the body of the fire. The truck has gotten access to the roof and put a hole in it. This allows the smoke and heat to escape much like through a chimney.
The next arriving crew heads in to mop up and overhaul. Overhaul is where we start tearing apart the house to put out hotspots and find the last vestige of fire, ensuring it has been contained. Why we continue what may appear to be needless destruction has a purpose — a story for another day.
Michael Nicely has been a firefighter for 18 years. He is a paramedic and certified in confined-space rescue. Tom Bartley has been a firefighter for 10 years. He is an EMT, registered nurse, rescue diver and is certified in confined space rescue.
Tags: Call to Duty | <urn:uuid:096ffa3b-e975-4530-ba46-f77aa2364d38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.toledofreepress.com/2010/05/28/called-to-duty-first-on-the-scene/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949497 | 1,033 | 1.5 | 2 |
Ruth Marcus: Obama urge court on same-sex marriage?
Will President Obama say to the Supreme Court what he said to the American people in his second inaugural address about same-sex marriage? Obama’s remarks were striking, on several levels. First, that he dared to broach what was once a hot-button issue in such a high-stakes venue. Second, that he phrased the argument for same-sex marriage so passionately. Third, and perhaps most important, that he did so in a way that conflicted with his previous discussion of the issue.
Even as he completed his evolution in favor of same-sex marriage, Obama had earlier framed the issue as a matter of democratic choice: a right he supports but one that should be left to individual states.
“Different communities are arriving at different conclusions, at different times. And I think that’s a healthy process and a healthy debate,” he told ABC’s Robin Roberts last May. “I continue to believe that this is an issue that is going to be worked out at the local level, because, historically, this has not been a federal issue, what’s recognized as a marriage.”
Second-inaugural Obama sounded far different. “Our journey is not complete,” he said, “until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law — for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”
The law professor-turned-president understood full well the constitutional implications of this statement. Obama could have spoken about gay rights generally. Instead, he used language that directly implicates the question of marriage equality.
And language that is hard to reconcile with his previous, leave-it-to-the-states approach. The 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws means mandating the same treatment in Mississippi as in Massachusetts, whatever those states might do on their own.
Obama knew this, and something else: The Supreme Court is about to confront the constitutional right to same-sex marriage. The case involves California’s Proposition 8, the voter referendum overturning the state Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriage.
The justices can decide the Prop 8 case without answering the ultimate question, either by deciding that those defending the measure lack legal standing or by focusing on the unusual facts of the case, that same-sex couples in California enjoyed the right to marriage before it was taken away. Indeed, at this stage in the fast-changing legal debate, a narrower ruling would probably be the wiser course.
The administration isn’t required to intervene in the California case. It has its own gay-rights case at the Supreme Court this term, in which the administration, wisely, is arguing against the Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage even in states where it is legal.
In 1967, when the Supreme Court was weighing the constitutionality of anti-miscegenation laws, the solicitor general, which represents the federal government before the justices, did not file an amicus brief in the case, Loving v. Virginia . Continued...
Yet as the deadline for filing an amicus brief in the California case approaches, it cannot be lost on the president that his own parents’ marriage would have been illegal in Virginia had the court not acted in Loving. Is he comfortable remaining silent in this case? In the DOMA litigation, Obama directed the Justice Department to stop defending the law after concluding that classifications based on sexual orientation are subject to “heightened scrutiny.” Under this standard of review, laws that discriminate against gays and lesbians must be, in the court’s words, “substantially related to an important government objective.”
Prop 8 defenders argue that denying marriage to same-sex couples “furthers society’s interest in responsible procreation and child-rearing,” but they have a hard time explaining how. The administration has argued that the procreation rationale doesn’t suffice to justify DOMA; would it say the same of Prop 8? Hearing from the administration is especially important because the Prop 8 defenders, in their brief to the court, cite the president’s comments about the “healthy debate” occurring in the states in defense of letting the law stand.
And especially given the president’s words last month: “If we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”
A president who speaks so eloquently at his inaugural cannot allow his administration to remain silent before the court, where words are translated into reality.
Ruth Marcus is a syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group. Readers may email her at marcusr@ washpost.com.
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Location, ST | website.com
- Saratoga County listed among most fiscally stressed (143)
- Saratoga Springs police charge pair with burglary after brief chase through woods (130)
- Excelsior Springs banquet hall and conference center opens for business (105)
- Saratoga County Jail inmate charged with assaulting fellow inmate (98)
- City Council rejects salary proposals submitted by Saratoga Springs Housing Authority (94)
- NYRA names Christopher Kay CEO to $300K-plus post (76)
- Creating jobs a goal for Wilton town board in 2010 (88)
- Police: Drunken man tried to enter a Stewart's Shop before it opened, then climbed into employee's car (5)
- Presbyterian-New England Congregational Church pastor Rev. Jay Ekman retires after 40 years (with photos) (4)
- The Restaurant at 62 Beekman is off the beaten path (4)
- New 'Mom & Pop BBQ Competition' added to Saratoga Springs' July 4th festivities; deadline to nominate contestants is Thursday (3)
- Mohawk Paper reinvents itself for the digital age (3)
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Barbara Lombardo is the managing editor of The Saratogian.
Updates on Spa City and Saratoga County business news and trends.
This blog aims to supplement the daily coverage published online and in the paper.
Reporter Caitlin Morris offers insights into the issues affecting Saratoga County residents. | <urn:uuid:2369fd77-5448-46bd-bdf3-eba53cc5b3e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2013/02/21/opinion/doc512574b9bbc55236152392.txt?viewmode=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956063 | 1,368 | 1.75 | 2 |
With the massive amount of online competition, every site needs to rely on SEO techniques to bring in a workable amount of traffic. People use search engines to obtain information, shop and find new companies. The guidelines in this article are the perfect starting point for a fully optimized website.
Keep the content of your website user-friendly. Having a clear, easy to read site with options like fonts that can be enlarged will help your rankings. While you are trying to optimize your site to get the best search engine results, keep the reader in mind as well.
Your content is the most important thing when you are using SEO. The way your content is written will determine the success of it. All content should also use proper grammar. When it comes to SEO, it helps to have great content on your site.
It is important to really know and understand what the sites you do business with are all about. There are certain directories with badly designed pages or outdated information. Make sure you research every link before affiliating yourself with it.
Language meta tags should be used for websites written in a different language than English. One benefit will be a rise in ranking due to searches that occur in that language.
You will see your search engine rankings increase as a result. Meta descriptions are best thought of as a request for action, as they appear beneath the hyperlink for the website in most search engines. Find out if your content management system will allow you to edit your meta description for your page.
Use obvious keywords in your link titles, whether they are on your site or someone else’s. ” as anchor text. If you do this, search engines will realize that your links correspond to different keywords. They will increase your site ranking as a result. Check your site regularly to ensure that you’re using keywords in your internal links.
If you are planning on using a company to optimize your SEO make sure that you research them beforehand. Things you wish to consider include their pricing, experience, recommended techniques and estimated time for visible results. Ask for their portfolio if it is not available on their website. You may also want to seek out testimonials from their clients. The company will work with you if they are reasonable.
If you want to increase your SEO, try using off-site links that will bring visitors to other quality websites. This is best way to use linking. Search engines like their top sites to have a nice mix of internal and off-site links, typically weighing those off-site links even more than the internal ones. As well, search out opportunities that will also link back to your site; this will help you increase your traffic.
Try several different keywords when you are trying to rank higher in search engines. Search engines will be able to see these meta tags and you will show up in a much larger amount of searches. For example, if you have a website about Maine Coon cats, then use “Maine Coon” as well as “Main Coon” and “Mainecoon.”
When you study how to truly optimize your site for SEO purposes, you will see results quickly as you start to implement the tips and tricks. Use definite commands that will give you the most results for whatever you are looking for when you are optimizing a search.
Successfully optimizing your site for search engines may seem intimidating, but as this article has shown you, it doesn’t have to be difficult. Knowing the few basic principles that determine how the search engines work, can help you tweak your site to attract more visitors than ever. Before you know it, you’ll have a slew of new customers. | <urn:uuid:3f6e8e4f-d274-485a-a7c1-a4ddefc23fb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://goozleology.com/better-results-for-your-site-through-search-engine-optimization.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945152 | 748 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Around the Nation
Thu November 22, 2012
Listening To Service Members, Veterans
NEAL CONAN, HOST:
This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Neal Conan, in Washington. For the fifth year now, the oral history project StoryCorps has put special attention on the day after Thanksgiving, the day often called Black Friday, StoryCorps transforms into the National Day of Listening.
As you may know, there's also a focus each year. This year, StoryCorps launches a military voices initiative and encourages everyone to honor members of the military by contacting one - to listen. If you have a veteran or active-duty service member in your life, what do you want to ask? If you've served, what's the story you'd like to tell? 800-989-8255. Email us, firstname.lastname@example.org. You can also join the conversation on our website. That's at npr.org. Click on TALK OF THE NATION.
Later in the program, Scottish comedian Billy Connelly. But first we'll talk about StoryCorps and the National Day of Listening, and let's begin with a caller. Catherine(ph) joins us on the line from Denver.
CONAN: Hi, Catherine, you're on the air.
CATHERINE: Thank you. When I heard the intro to show, it's ironic, I was just thinking about my dad because I've become the family meal provider for holidays, and he's not with us and hasn't been since '96. I was with him as he was dying, and I'd always known that he joined the Navy right after Pearl Harbor and then became a corpsman with the Marines in the Pacific.
And he never really talked about it very much, as a lot of vets from that era didn't. But a Pilipino nurse came into his room in the hospital and was administering a treatment to him, and he asked her where she had trained. And when she told him University of Santo Tomas, he said oh, I was on a liberation team for a concentration camp there.
And then the conversation just drifted off to something else between the two of them, but it just stayed with me. And I wanted to know more. And he passed very shortly thereafter.
CONAN: So you never got the chance.
CATHERINE: I never got the chance. You know, I knew he'd been a corpsmen. We used to dissect frogs with his field kit when we were kids, and he went on to use the G.I. Bill to become a dentist. He'd grown up as a coalminer's son. He was, as you can tell, someone well worth missing today.
CONAN: Thanksgiving's got to be a painful day and a special one, too.
CATHERINE: Oh it is, and I'm just thankful I had a father worth missing.
Thanks very much, Catherine, we appreciate you taking the time to call us.
Well, thank you for taking my call. I appreciate it. I hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving.
CONAN: And even after all this time, Catherine, we're sorry for your loss.
CATHERINE: Oh thank you, I thank you very much. Bye-bye.
CONAN: Bye-bye. David Isay, who's the founder of StoryCorps and the National Day of Listening, joins us now from the Radio Foundation Studios in New York. He's also the author of "Listening is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life and the StoryCorps Project." David, always nice to share a bit of Thanksgiving with you.
DAVID ISAY: Hi Neal, good to talk to you.
CONAN: And that call from Catherine, I think it illustrates a lot of what the StoryCorps Project is about and what this particular project is about.
ISAY: Absolutely. I mean, I was thinking of a couple things when Catherine called. And, you know, one is, Catherine, I hope that - what we ask people to do on the day after Thanksgiving on this National Day of Listening is kind of StoryCorps do-it-yourself, where we ask you to take an hour out and use - you know, actually since we started talking about this, together, Neal, five years ago, technology has changed so much.
You know, now, you know, most people have a cell phone where they can make a pretty decent recording and take an hour and record a StoryCorps interview, and Catherine, you might want to do one remembering your dad. A couple things came to mind. One was that Frank Curry(ph) interview that we heard in the billboard at the top of the show.
He was - he did his interview a little bit over a year ago and talked about Pearl Harbor, and as you heard at the end of that interview. And he actually died last year on Pearl Harbor Day. And his grandson told us that he had waited to die on his day. And his grandson had only interviewed him, you know, months before that.
So the importance of just taking the time and doing these interviews is - you just - what we want to do with the National Day of Listening is just encourage people to take the time and do these interviews. It also made me think of a couple who came to the booth in the first weeks after we opened StoryCorps, we opened in Grand Central Terminal nine years ago.
And it was an elderly couple, a husband and wife, and the wife asked him about World War II, and he started crying and telling his story. And at the end of the interview, the facilitators, who are the people who sit in the booth during these StoryCorps interviews, said so what was this experience like for you. And the wife said: I've been married to this man for 60 years, and this is the first time I've ever heard him cry.
So there's something about the formality of doing these interviews also that I think gives people the permission to talk about things they don't normally get to talk about.
CONAN: I think that's right. It was interesting, years ago I was going around with a producer named Tache Talinitas(ph), back in the day, we were doing a series of pieces about - I now forget which anniversary of World War II. We were speaking with a group of veterans, Navy veterans, and people who had been at Bataan and on the death ships that later went to - took the prisoners of war to Korea.
And they were sitting around a room in Virginia Beach telling their stories, and we were recording them - a little more primitive equipment than those cell phones you're talking about now. But the man's wife came into the room carrying a tray of coffee, and as soon as she came in the room, they stopped talking.
CONAN: They would not tell the stories while she was there. They would tell them to us, as if it was going to be private on the radio, in a few weeks time. But so many people would not - veterans of that era, as Christine(ph) noticed, would not tell these stories to their family members.
ISAY: And I also think part of the dynamic that was going on in that room with you and Tache and those vets, is that they felt like they were leaving this record for history, and it didn't feel self-indulgent to them. And that's something, you know, we've seen with for instance like, first - 9/11 firefighters and police officers will come to a StoryCorps booth, and they haven't wanted to talk about this before. But something about leaving a record of what happened on that day for history gives them the permission to talk about what they saw and what they feel.
CONAN: And you talked a little bit about StoryCorps and its genesis all those years ago in Grand Central Station. You now send booths around the country, so to speak.
ISAY: That's right, so we've been - nine years later, we've recorded almost 50,000 interviews, and most everybody comes in pairs, so it's about 100,000 people. And we have booths that travel across the country. We've recorded in all 50 states, and we're working hard to turn StoryCorps into a sustaining national institution. We hope that it's going to be around for a long time and that it's kind of part of the fabric of this country, to listen, to have these conversations, to recognize, you know, I think the core of what StoryCorps is that every life has value, every life matters equally, and that's what we're doing.
CONAN: And recorded for history, how?
ISAY: Well, we - when - for - with StoryCorps what happens is when you make a recording, this 40-minute recording, you - one copy goes home with you, and another copy stays with us and goes to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, so that your great-great-great-great grandkids can hear your - whoever it is, your grandfather or your grandmother's voice and story and get to know them in that way.
And, you know, you and I have been in radio for a long time. It's - you know, the power of the human voice, it's almost like the soul is kind of contained in the voice. It's a very powerful record of a life. And many people think of that StoryCorps interview as if I had 40 minutes left to live, what would I say to this person who means so much to me.
So they're very intense interviews. You know, you hear the three-minute excerpt on MORNING EDITION every Friday morning, but StoryCorps is really this public service, and it's about giving all Americans - and we do outreach to, you know, hundreds of community organizations to make sure that we get the full swath of the American voice in this collection.
And yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people, especially people who feel like their voices aren't heard or appreciated, that idea that it's going into the Library of Congress and becoming part of American history, is extremely important to them.
CONAN: David Isay is our guest, but we want to hear from you this hour, and particularly about StoryCorps' focus this year on military voices. If there's someone in the military who's been important in your life, as a family member, a friend, a mentor, whatever, what would you like to ask them? If you are that military man or woman, what story would you like to tell? 800-989-8255. Email us, email@example.com. And let's go to Bren(ph), and Bren's on the line with us from Philadelphia.
BREN: Hi, I actually am the son and nephew of conscientious objectors in World War II. And I always knew this, I was raised Quaker, and dad was a smoke jumper in Montana and also, well, when he was first drafted and sent in, he was in North Carolina in an old CCC camp on the back of Mount Mitchell.
And neither environment were particularly friendly to guys who were seen as draft dodgers or something, although as a smoke jumper, dad clearly, you know, was putting his life on the risk, jumping on fires. But only years later did I learn that my grandmother had locked him out of the house. She was so ashamed at having not one but two conscientious objectors, and she apparently took it out on my father because he was the younger one and the second one and more unexpected.
And I just - the family dynamics of that kind of religious witness in a almost crusade that was sponsored, endorsed by the whole country, I wish I knew more about my own family dynamics at that time.
CONAN: I can understand why it maybe didn't come up at the Thanksgiving table when everyone was gathered round. Did you ever have the chance, though, a moment to pull him aside and ask?
BREN: No, no, I mean, we had - Uncle Rick(ph) and my grandparents lived in New Jersey, and we lived in Eastern Pennsylvania, and Thanksgiving was the vacation meal that we usually had together, and then Christmas was mom's family. No, it never came up, because, I think, grandma was sort of still ashamed.
They were Swedish immigrants, and they wanted to be more American, you know, than the Americans. So while they had two sons, conscientious objector, they also had signs in the window, apparently 20 percent of their income went to war bonds - not 10 percent but 20 percent. So they were - you know, no, that - I never learned all this until long after both my grandparents and my uncle had died, and then dad shared some of this before he died.
CONAN: Again, as David suggested with our earlier caller, it might be an interesting opportunity to - you have other siblings?
BREN: A younger sister, who probably talked even less with dad about this than me.
CONAN: Even so, maybe you should go down to the booth and talk about him, or make that recording, as David suggests, on your cell phone. Thanks very much for the call, appreciate it.
BREN: Thank you, bye-bye.
CONAN: We're getting a jumpstart today on the National Day of Listening with StoryCorps founder Dave Isay, the focus this year on members of the military. If you have a veteran or active-duty service member in your life, what do you want to ask? If you've served, what's the story you'd like to tell? 800-989-8255. Email us, firstname.lastname@example.org. Stay with us. I'm Neal Conan. It's the TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
CONAN: This is TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. I'm Neal Conan. Every Thanksgiving for the past four years we've invited Dave Isay to join us. He's the founder of the oral history project StoryCorps. He also created the National Day of Listening, the Friday after Thanksgiving, a day when we're encouraged to take someone aside and listen.
This year the focus is on members of the military, stories like Sergeant Papsy Lemus. For 13 months she served in Iraq, her two daughters waiting at home in 2009. One of those daughters, nine-year-old Griselda, interviewed her for StoryCorps.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GRISELDA LEMUS: How did you feel when you left?
SERGEANT PAPSY LEMUS: Worried. I didn't know if I was ever going to see you guys again. And it was hard because when you guys got sick, I wasn't able to come home, tuck you in at night and sing you your lullabies or read you a bedtime story like we used to.
LEMUS: Did you see any kids there?
LEMUS: Yes, it was kind of overwhelming because all the little kids in the town ran to the street and start waving at us, and it reminded me of you guys. How did you feel when I was away?
LEMUS: I felt really sad, and dad, he had to try to be the mom and the dad mostly, but he couldn't all the time. So he always had to have me be the mom a lot.
LEMUS: Is there a time when you were afraid?
LEMUS: Yeah, I was afraid. I was afraid mostly on your birthdays because I thought that what if you died on your own birthday and I would never see you again.
And it was just hard.
CONAN: If you have a veteran or active-duty service member in your life, what do you want to ask? If you served, what's the story you want to tell? 800-989-8255. Email email@example.com. And Dave Isay, we just heard a pretty good interview by someone a lot younger than you or me, but others might be intimidated by the idea of - 40 minutes, my goodness, I don't know what to ask.
ISAY: Yeah, you know, and it's interesting because in that interview, I think it also speaks to that idea of the microphone giving you the license to ask questions you don't normally get to ask. You know, these - the 40 minutes actually goes by incredibly quickly. We all - when someone actually comes to the StoryCorps booth, the facilitators there will always tell people - and people should prepare before they do these interviews.
You want to think about what questions you want to ask. At our website at the National Day of Listening website, nationaldayoflistening.org, we have lots of - kind of the most popular questions and other questions. And you want to prepare. But the facilitators always say just start with that question you've always wanted to ask because the 40 minutes actually does go by incredibly quickly.
You know, it is - I guess there's a little bit of a barrier to doing these interviews. It's - you know, you want to ask the person if they're willing, and you find a quiet room. And all you need is, you know, a cell phone, a computer. But I can guarantee at the end of the 40 minutes that both of you are going to find out something that you didn't know about this person, no matter how close you think you are to them, and that it's something that you'll never regret.
We have a partnership this year with a website called SoundCloud, which is kind of the YouTube of audio, and they've made it very easy for you to record one of these interviews and kind of hit a button and upload it to this virtual sort of StoryCorps archive of interviews.
And I do want to say that we would love for you to interview a military vet, active duty, or someone in a military family, but if that's not something you want to do, you know, take time tomorrow or any time during the holiday season to tell a loved one how much they mean to you by asking them who they are, how they want to be remembered, you know, what the most important lessons are they've learned in life.
CONAN: Let's go to another caller. This is Clark, and Clark's with us from Oklahoma City.
CLARK: Yeah, my grandfather served from Omaha Beach to the Battle of the Bulge, when he lost a foot, lost his toes, they froze off. And it was hard to get stories out of him over the years. He did not want to talk about it. He let us kids play with the medals, we lost them. But I remember he also had a bag of gold nuggets that he brought back from Europe.
And we would play with these and bury them in the yard, our buried treasure, and we lost all of them, and I, you know, a few years ago asked him why would you let us do that with your medals and these gold nuggets, were those real gold? And he goes: Well, I didn't care about the medals, and he goes, and those gold nuggets were teeth.
CONAN: Were teeth?
CLARK: They were teeth, they were gold teeth pried out of the enemy soldiers' mouths in the hedgerows. He took from his men. He was a sergeant of his platoon. They lost their lieutenant in Omaha Beach, and he gathered up all these teeth they were prying out and said we're not grave robbers.
And he had those and we - I mean, it's ghastly to think about it in a way, and just the pride this man had, this humble quietness. You know, he had two silver stars, three bronze stars, and he never spoke about it.
CONAN: And that story, was that the only story you got him to tell?
CLARK: No - I mean he talked about they were trapped in a champagne warehouse and for a long time, several days, and then he talked about how it was the best place you could imagine being trapped. Or after he got injured, he was recovering in the south of England in a field hospital, and he fell in love with his nurse, who was this, you know, baron's daughter. And they would take trips in the countryside in their Rolls Royce with a chauffeur.
And this is a country boy from Kentucky, and these are amazing things that he saw and experienced in this - he was in his late 70s before he ever really started sharing stories.
CONAN: And what did he do after the war?
CLARK: Coal mining.
CONAN: From the baron's daughter to the coal mine.
CLARK: Yeah, he came home to Kentucky and started mining coal, continued mining coal.
CONAN: Sounds like a remarkable life.
CLARK: He's the most amazing man I know.
CONAN: I'm glad you got to talk to him about those experiences before he passed away.
CLARK: He's actually still alive.
CONAN: Ah, well, maybe you want to record some of these.
CLARK: We actually, my brother and I have been planning this for years. So yeah, we're definitely going to be doing that.
CONAN: Don't wait.
ISAY: One piece of advice you don't want to wait. And are you going to see him tomorrow or today?
CLARK: No, he's in Kentucky. I'm in Oklahoma. My brother is probably with him right now.
ISAY: Yeah. So, you know, tell him to do that interview.
CLARK: Yeah, I think it's a good idea, because we don't want to lose that. And there's so many stories that he has it's just taken years to get him to talk about.
CONAN: Clark, good luck with that. Get right on it.
CONAN: Appreciate the phone call. Let's see if we can go next to - this is Mike, and Mike's on the line with us from Walla Walla.
MIKE: Good morning. (Coughs) Excuse me. I'm a Vietnam vet and so grew up after the war and always heard the stories about daddy never talked about the war. And then I went to war, and now I know why daddy doesn't talk about the war. There are stories that I have that I don't want to remember myself, and some of those stories bring out survivor guilt because why am I here and the guy who sat next to me flying over to 'Nam isn't.
The other thing is that I don't necessarily want to subject my family to some of the horrors I've seen. And the third reason that we don't talk about it is if you haven't been there, you're not going to understand it. And that's why the veterans get together and talk among each other because we know that those folks understand.
And as the fellow said, getting into a formal setting may let some of those stories come out, but those are some of the reasons the guy stopped talking when his wife walked into the room. And so my caution for families is go ahead and ask, but don't push. If you push too hard, you may trigger all sorts of things.
PTSD can pop out. I had a friend who it showed up when he was in his 80s, and in my case it didn't show up until I was in my 50s. So feel free to ask, but if they say I'd really rather not talk about it, don't push them too hard because that can cause some bad things to happen for the veteran.
CONAN: David, any advice on that?
ISAY: I completely agree. You know, this has to be voluntary, and if someone's not comfortable talking about something, you have to respect that. If someone doesn't want to do the interview, you need to respect that. And I think it's a point very well taken.
One of the things with the way we do StoryCorps is that people come in the pairs that they want to come in. So it could be two people who served together coming to talk to each other. And, you know, what - this experience is supposed to be positive both for the people - the person being interviewed and the person doing the interview, and you absolutely don't want to do any harm.
So I do think you do want to tread, especially when you're talking about war, you want to tread very, very carefully. But again, there are many people who just want to be asked. And you want to give the opportunity for people to talk. You know, and I think it's important that, you know, that - you know, I think a little bit about, you know, Studs Terkel, who talked so much about the importance of bottom-up history, history through our voices and stories.
And, you know, we know that the stories of wars are written by, you know, journalists and generals. But to hear it through the voices of the people who served, I think, can be incredibly valuable for future generations, for all of us, to really understand what goes on.
MIKE: Yes. And I applaud the StoryCorps program and would fully support it. It was just kind of a cautionary thing to family members because I've seen cases where someone started pushing somebody too hard: Gee, I'd love to hear about that. Well, yeah, you'd love to hear about it, but I don't want to tell it.
ISAY: That's right.
MIKE: In that particular setting, anyway.
ISAY: That's right. Absolutely.
CONAN: I can understand that, Mike. Thanks very much for the advice.
MIKE: You bet. Thank you for the program.
CONAN: So long.
CONAN: Let's see if we can go to - this is Robert, and Robert is with us from Virginia Beach, speaking of Virginia Beach earlier.
ROBERT: Hi. I was with the Marines during the first six months of Iraqi Freedom, and I wrote about one short story a day during hostilities, not knowing if I'd come home or not. And (unintelligible) because I didn't think - I thought it would all end pretty quick and everybody would forget about it. But one of them was actually published in the 365 Project. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that.
CONAN: I'm not.
ROBERT: That came around right afterwards. But the one story of mine they published in it, they changed the name and they put like a little excerpt at the beginning that's not from me, which I thought that was interesting, but that happens when you submit things, I guess.
CONAN: Well, there are some editors who are more careful than others. But in any case, a short story a day is - that's a lot of work.
ROBERT: They came out pretty quickly, actually. One of them took more than a day, it was longer than the other ones. But it was cathartic for me in some ways. One of them had to do with helping myself deal with the guy that fragged us, his fellow soldiers, and one to help deal with a certain reporter who we felt betrayed us a little bit. We were kind of surprised at what he did on international TV during the war.
CONAN: Betraying your position.
ROBERT: That and just - my memory is not good. It's been a while. But it just didn't seem right what he did there.
CONAN: Have you kept up your writing since?
ROBERT: I'm a bit of a procrastinator, but I have several books working in my head and one that's going on and on.
CONAN: And do you talk with people about your experiences?
ROBERT: Oh, yes. And there's too many stories. Anybody who's been on the military - I spent half my life in the military, so anybody who's been in the military, they've always got stories, believe me, unless they were asleep the whole time, which is impossible.
CONAN: All right. Well, Robert, think about calling somebody tomorrow maybe and recording one of those stories.
ROBERT: All right.
CONAN: Thanks very much for the phone call.
CONAN: And let's see if we can go next to - this is Bridgita(ph) - or Bridgette(ph) in Minneapolis, excuse me.
BRIDGETTE: Yes. Hi.
CONAN: Hi, Bridgette. Go ahead.
BRIDGETTE: I'm going to turn my radio off.
BRIDGETTE: I have a story to tell about my dad. He was a lieutenant in World War II. And he never talked about the service. I can relate to what some of these gentlemen have said. And he was - he died. He was almost 99 when he died. He was completely sharp to the end. And my sister went to - dad was on - at Normandy Beach. He was on the ship where he delivered the foot soldiers (unintelligible) ship - an LST .
BRIDGETTE: And so at any rate, my sister - we knew dad was weak and didn't know how long he'd last. And my sister, Mary, said, now, dad, I'm going to go to Normandy Beach - her husband's college reunion was going to be there - and she said, but I want you to promise you won't go anywhere until I get back. And he said, I promise. So anyhow, she called him from Normandy Beach. I was next to his bed - and he had never talked about the war, never, except to say it was the best job he ever had. And she called dad and she explained what she saw because he never got to go back and see all the markers and all that.
BRIDGETTE: And she explained all about the markers and the service. There were so many in this reunion that they did this service just for them. And my dad's eyes, he just became transfixed. There was this change in his demeanor and in his countenance. And he was always a very gentle man. And he just was in another world. And when she - when we hung up the phone, it was just clear that his life had been brought full circle. And he - she got home in a couple of days. Her plane landed at 3:30 and he passed at 4:30.
So he didn't go anywhere until she got back, but she didn't get back to see him. But another thing - when you're talking about the stories - he was so old, there were only three people to call. And he had always said, Bridgette, these are the people you need to call. And they were the wives of the guys who had been sailors under him on the ship. And I ended up calling up one. I live in Burnsville, Minnesota, and the brother of one of these guys is in Eagan, which is like right down the road for me. He came and spoke at my dad's wake, and he explained everything about my dad's time in the service.
And we'd never heard about this man, but he visited dad a couple of times a year. His brother who had been a sailor under dad had died an early death of, like, a heart attack or something. And this guy came and gave the most beautiful tribute. And we were - we've got - there's four kids in the family. We had never heard boo. And he was - it was just an incredible experience. It was a gift. It was just a gift.
CONAN: A gift. That's a good way to put it, Bridgette. Thank you...
BRIDGETTE: Absolutely, yes.
CONAN: Thanks very much.
BRIDGETTE: Yeah, thank you for the program.
CONAN: You're welcome.
CONAN: David Isay, I meant to ask, is there anybody you're going to be calling tomorrow?
ISAY: Well, I did my National Day of Listening interview a little bit early. I did it yesterday. And it was with - it's going to be on MORNING EDITION tomorrow morning. It's with Gordon Bolar, who's a friend of mine. He runs a station in Kalamazoo, Michigan. And we remembered his son Matthew, who died in Iraq in 2007, and talked about who he was and what he was like as a kid and how his dad hopes that he'll be remembered.
CONAN: I wanted to end with a couple of emails. This is from Reese(ph): I served aboard a submarine in the early 1970s in the Mediterranean. Our home base was La Magdalena. It was a God-forsaken rock on the northeast coast of Sardinia. For Thanksgiving 1975 the USO sent us a show. The star of the show was the man who as a boy played the next-door neighbor to Ozzie and Harriet on TV. The starlet was the fourth runner-up to Miss California. It was a far cry by Bob Hope in Vietnam. And I can't remember their names, but I will never forget the fact that they gave up their holiday to come and perform for us. People who have never served will never know the good the USO does.
And Dave, that's a reminder that not all these stories are dramatic stories about combat and other things. They're parts of life. This...
ISAY: Absolutely. And USO is a terrific organization. They actually have a great program today, where if you go to the USO website, you can write a note, a thanks to service members, and it'll be posted on a sign in Afghanistan at different bases, so people can read those thanks. So go to the USO website and send a thank you.
CONAN: This is from Anne in Detroit: I interviewed my 93-year-old dad for StoryCorps last summer. The interesting thing I noticed was the recording, is when I asked questions about his time in the war I could actually hear the voice of a naive 19-year-old solider every time I listened to the CD. I can't thank StoryCorps enough for such a wonderful opportunity.
Can't ask for more than that, Dave. Thanks very much for your time as always.
ISAY: Thanks, Neal. Happy holiday.
CONAN: You too. This is NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio. | <urn:uuid:9121e3c0-18a5-4b4d-9f0e-24360e6ed9f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nhpr.org/post/listening-service-members-veterans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987629 | 7,332 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Volunteers who have turned out to man Salvation Army donation kettles restore charity’s faith in the willingness of area residents to help those in need
The familiar jingling of bells can be heard in front of stores in Ozaukee County as the Salvation Army has found its ranks of bell ringers swelling.
“I had such a wonderful response,” Annastasia Harris, kettle campaign coordinator for Ozaukee County, said this week. “My God, how wonderful. I appreciate it so much.”
Just a few weeks ago, Harris was desperate for bell ringers, telling Ozaukee Press that the need was dire. There were weekends in December with no one to ring the bells at the four Salvation Army kettles in Ozaukee County.
After an Ozaukee Press story outlining the need, Harris said her phone started ringing. Now, there are only a few days in December where ringers are still needed.
Civic and youth organizations, as well as school groups, have volunteered to fill the need, Harris said, including students from Concordia University Wisconsin, Dunwiddie and Grafton elementary schools and elsewhere.
The Port Washington Leo Club, a youth group affiliated with the Lions Club, rang bells for an entire day, Harris said, and a group of Ozaukee County sheriff’s deputies also helped out.
One woman who called to volunteer told Harris she normally just contributes money to the kettle campaign but felt compelled to volunteer her time this year. That’s because her 90-year-old mother told her shortly before her death that, back in 1973, when the woman was a young girl, the family was having such a hard time the Salvation Army helped them pay the rent for a couple months.
“She didn’t have a clue things were that bad,” Harris said. “She said she wanted to give back.
“I stress out every year (about finding enough bell ringers) because I know how important the money we raise is. It’s the make-or-break point for many people.” Last year, the kettle campaign raised almost $34,000, Harris said.
The agency works with other nonprofit organizations in the county to assist people in need, Harris said. The funds are used to provide basic needs, such as food, electricity, rent assistance, medication and other items.
The money also goes toward the holiday toy drive, which provides Christmas gifts for 300 to 350 children annually, Harris said.
The Salvation Army in Ozaukee County generally serves between 250 and 350 families a year.
“A couple years ago, the people we were serving were more transient,” Harris said. “That changed two years ago. Today, we’re serving families where the husband or wife had a job for many years and now they’re out of a job.”
This year, the Salvation Army held a fill-the-truck campaign at Walmart for the first time — a few hours on Dec. 8 when people could buy toys and coats and donate them. The effort in Saukville brought in a dozen coats and three shopping carts of toys, Harris said.
Bell ringers in Ozaukee County are stationed at four locations — Sentry Foods in Port Washington, Walmart in Saukville, Shopko in Grafton and Piggly Wiggly in Cedarburg — on Fridays and Saturdays.
People are asked to man the donation kettles for a minimum of two-hour shifts. Only one person is needed per shift.
To volunteer as a bell ringer, Port Washington and Saukville residents are asked to visit www.ringbells.org. Grafton and Cedarburg residents may call Harris at (414) 659-7226. Port-Saukville residents uncomfortable using the Internet may also call that number, Harris said. | <urn:uuid:179b8a5b-e0b2-47db-8fa1-5d3abc0b53a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ozaukeepress.com/component/content/article/49-feature-1/3669-bell-ringing-troops-answer-armys-call | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967374 | 808 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Question: Maitreya, could you talk about the Sabbath,
why it is good for us to observe and how it can create unity over
Maitreya: Human life is usually a series of work and rest.
After any work we become tired and we like to rest to be revived.
So resting is a very important part of life, as working is very
important. We have to be able to work and manifest what is necessary
in our lives to take care of mundanity. If somehow we can create an
environment where people can be in less mundanity, then we can
probably use that energy for a greater purpose, like creating a
newsletter or typing the Satsangs, giving Satsang or going to visit
people, meditating, reading Scriptures, helping someone, etc.
Also, resting is very important to revitalize our energy. Resting
is really not physical as much as it is psychological and spiritual.
As we work and try to cope with the world, our psychic centers start
becoming polluted. Even if we sit somewhere and do nothing, still at
night we feel we want to sleep. Even if we didn't do much physical
work, we feel we need to rest. The reason for rest is more spiritual
Sabbath is also kind of rhythmical. It brings a rhythm into human
life -- six days of work and one day of rest. This one day of rest
is designed for spiritual purposes, for keeping that day holy. So
the focus will be more spiritual, than physical restfulness. When
you bring your thoughts and energy to this level of keeping
everything holy on that day, it focuses your mind to higher things.
So it can become much more restful than just sleeping.
Rest brings greater cleanliness to the body. It was said that
it's kind of a baptism. Every week you just rest and make that day
holy. You clean your spirit. You probably go through your week to
see what happened. If there was something you did or happened that
you didn't like, either you clean that up, or you just release it to
the universe and forget it. At the end of the day you become
refreshed, holy and renewed. You feel you have been born again.
So the people who do keep Sabbath become reborn every week. They
become a new person, a new Soul. They can really go through the
nonsense that usually comes through. The Spirit cleans out their
impurities and puts them away from themselves. Everyone is in a much
higher consciousness at the end of the Sabbath. The community which
is in higher consciousness will stay together because small
differences between the members won't get in the way. They can feel
the unity again, by keeping themselves in a much higher level of
God Himself rested after six days of work. After He rested He
realized He created such a beautiful creation and He loved it. He
admired the creation. Yet He had to come back and engage Himself
again after that rest, because He had to teach Adam and Eve how to
behave, work, and be. He had to teach them what is good for them and
what's not good for them. So you see, He rested but He didn't rest
forever. He rested only one day. He came back and also, once in
awhile, He sits back and He looks at His creation and says, "How is
the thing going?"
As we said, if you are out of the situation you can see things
much clearer than when you are engaged in the action. If you keep
engaged all the time, then you lose your perspective completely. You
become a fighter in the very front lines of the battlefield of life.
The only thing you see is a couple of other fighters on the other
side. You have no idea what the rest of the battlefield looks like.
Yet if you sit back and become a general, you look at it and say,
"It's not that bad. Still the battle is fine. Life is not that hard.
I can move this thing from here to there, or bring a new approach to
my life and go this way, that would be better." Or, "It is not as
bad as I think. Because I'm restful I can see things clearer."
As you go to the Spirit on the Sabbath you come closer to God.
When you come closer to God, God knows everything, and then you also
become clear like Him. You become closer to the King, to the
General, to the One who knows everything. Also, you will become
clearer in your focus. You become closer to God and you honor Him by
keeping the Sabbath holy. That is why we are here, to honor the
Spirit, to bring the Spirit in all levels of our lives. By keeping
the Sabbath we are saying, Spirit, we honor you and we will try to
bring you in all levels of our lives for that is what we want to
That is why we keep this day holy. We keep this day restful. We
keep this day a day that we can cleanse ourselves, we can think
about God and become One with Him. It has many, many different
cleansing aspects in it.
That's why we fast on that day. Fasting has many benefits,
physically, mentally, and spiritually. All these things done on the
Sabbath together will help us in our path. In the evening of the
Sabbath you usually feel, "Wow, I am a new person. I didn't know it
would have such an effect on a person, or could have such an effect
on me." Yet you will see that it does have a great effect.
As more people keep the Sabbath, more people will feel the effect
and the greater Spirit will be on earth, greater sharing, greater
unity, better Communities of Light and the Kingdom on Earth.
Question: Could you give us some general guidelines -- what
kind of things shall we do on the Sabbath?
Maitreya: First of all, we try to fast, that's one of the
things. If you want you can also clean your colon, to get rid of any
residue in it. That also has many benefits physically, mentally and
spiritually. Meditate and try to be in an environment where there's
not much talkativeness. You keep away from talkativeness.
If you can rest or sleep and meditate, do so. If you can't, read
some inspiring literature that keeps you to the Spirit. Do the Reminder, pray. Do everything that is spiritual -- the things
that keep you from the crowd, keep you from mundanity, keep you from
physicality, keep you from too much mental stress and all those
things. Then you will come closer to God and to the Spirit, instead
of being mundane on the physical level.
You know, idle talk is from the first chakra. That's where speech
comes from. Too much talkativeness will stimulate that chakra which
we're trying not to stimulate. That's why it is always recommended
to keep away from talkativeness. That's why on the Sabbath we
recommend you stay as silent as possible. That brings greater
oneness with the Spirit within you.
Question: When does the Sabbath end?
Maitreya: Usually the Sabbath should start at sunset on
Friday and end at sunset on Saturday. So that's going to be 24
hours. It's good to begin the Sabbath with a spiritual endeavor,
like Collective Meditation, dancing (kirtan), chanting and in that
keep yourself in a good state. Then everyone can have a nice light
meal together, in the group or in the community. This will start the
Probably it's not that much of a Sabbath on Friday night. You can
spend Friday night pretty much in the regular way. On Saturday, it's
good to start the morning in silence. Keep alone and keep very much
immersed in God-consciousness and spiritual thoughts. Read good
material, meditate, do the Reminder and rest.
It's your body, when your body rests, you let the Spirit free.
See, you're "body conscious" much more when the activity of the body
is greater and then Spirit is not present as much. When you rest,
you're really resting your conscious mind and you let your
subconscious mind come in. If you are meditating and your
subconscious mind is dissolving away, you're letting the Unconscious
Mind come in.
So the more you meditate, the better you can rest your physical
body and the closer you come to the Unconscious Mind or Universal
Mind. When you sleep, if you have meditated enough and you get rid
of your subconscious mind, you go right to God. Then when you rest
or sleep on the Sabbath, it's really not wasting your time.
Some people say, "Oh, you are wasting your whole day, you're
doing nothing. You could have done so much." That's not true. You
might have done so much nonsense, but you're not doing something
constructive, effective and focused.
You see, it's not what you do, it's what you are. That's
important! If you become more, you might do less, yet you will do it
more effectively. The effect is going to carry itself to the end of
the universe because it's done from the heart, it's done from the
Spirit and Spirit carries it forever. Physical activities probably
affect something around the house or earth. That's fine. That's
great, they have to be done. Yet if you do them in the Spirit, then
they carry themselves around the universe.
The things Esa did in three and a half years, the energy is still
carrying on and on and on. Why? Because he was. He didn't do much,
he was much.
So on the Sabbath also with the techniques, meditation and
everything we give, the more we become Spirit, the more we be(come)
Being, the more effective we will become. It will amaze us when we
do something that seems so small, yet affects so many lives and so
many people. Little by little we realize, that we can do things that
bring people to God.
That's what we are here to do, aren't we? We are here to bring
people to God. We're not here to brag about ourselves, we're this,
we're that, or we're such great spiritual beings, which is OK, we
all are. We are here to connect people to God, to bring them to the
Spirit to save their Souls to God.
Of course, everything is three kinds. It can be from ignorance,
passion or knowledge. Anything from passion and ignorance is a trap.
Some, on their way to Spirit fall into one of those traps. They feel
that it's joyful, it's powerful -- "I am powerful." So there are
siddhis that people gain and they become trapped in those siddhis,
"Oh I have so much power, I'm great."
To gain power is not the goal. The goal is not to be powerful,
the goal is to connect people to God. All these things are to bring
us to that point where we become a channel for God, we can connect
people to God. That is the essence of a good teacher, a good teacher
connects people to God.
Of course, our Mission is a little different. Not only do
we have to connect people to God, we're also trying to bring the
Kingdom Of Heaven On Earth. We cannot do that if we are not in the
Spirit. Without His Grace, we cannot learn to become One with His
Spirit. If we become One with the Spirit, then we become very
Sometimes we don't have to do anything. We can just sit here and
affect things around us, affect the whole universe around us,
because the Spirit carries our thoughts. The Spirit carries our
action. The Spirit carries our wish, to happen. That is why all
these things have been given, to bring us closer to Spirit, to God.
Question: Could you discuss the ability of the center of The Greatest Sign for manifestation?
Maitreya: If you look at the very center of The Greatest
you can see there is an orange point there. Then you can see a lotus
is manifesting out of it. It's an eight-petalled lotus. If you look
very carefully, it's really two squares which have been put together
one over the other with a 45 degree difference. A square, or four,
is the number of manifestation. For instance, we build most houses
with four sides. Four is the most permanent construction in the
universe. That is why four is the number of manifestation. Two
fours, or two squares, one over the other, is twice as powerful for
The very center of The Greatest Sign is God. If you look
at the very center of The Greatest Sign, it says Om. It's the
very beginning of creation. It's the first sound in the universe,
when the big bang started in the universe. Then this Om manifested
itself in creation and became a lotus or Lotustica. So God, as the
center of the universe, manifests Itself outward to the universe. So
the Lotustica itself is the very creation of the universe.
The very center of The Greatest Sign is where there is no
manifestation, that's the Pure Consciousness. That is where the
calmness of mind and the unity of the whole universe exists. The
moment you come out of that center, you enter creation and start
being carried away from the center. You start being carried away
from that calm center of the universe.
Just like the eye of a hurricane, the very eye of the hurricane
is calm. If you can be in the eye of the hurricane all the time, you
don't have to worry about the hurricane. It's not going to affect
you because you're always at the calmest point of the storm. The
moment you are out of that eye, you are going to fall into the
hurricane. With constant meditation and prayer, we can be in that
calm center within ourselves.
This relates to the previous question. Our endeavor is to stay in
the eye of the hurricane, to be in the world but not of it. That's
why we are trying to go to the very center of The Greatest Sign.
The rest of The Greatest Sign is the manifestation. It comes
from the center and expands itself to the creation of the universe,
and the universe is still expanding itself, to more universes. The
only place as calm as the center of the universe is the center
Scientists are finding out that universes are being created all
the time. They thought they had found the very edge of the universe
but recently they found that there's more lights beyond that edge.
They don't know what they are. The more their telescopes and their
technology develops to allow a greater degree of infrared mapping of
the universe, they realize that what they have already found wasn't
it, still there is more. They know for sure that the universe is
expanding itself. Yet they don't know if it's going to expand
forever, eventually collapse back on itself, or expand and
eventually stop expanding.
According to the Sages and great meditators, there are days and
nights in the universe. The days are the days of creation, when the
creation is created and stays for billions and billions of years.
And there's a night of creation, when the universe collapses on
itself and it returns back to the center, to God.
That's exactly how The Greatest Sign shows the
manifestation of the universe from the very center, from the very
point where God as controller is. It expands itself out to the
creation of the universe. That is where we want to go, we want to go
back to the center, back to the Spirit. We want to find that calm
point of creation within ourselves.
There is a calm point in every atom in the universe. There's a
nucleus in every speck. There's a center in every particle of
creation. There's a center in every individual. When we find that
center, we find God. Then we are centered. Then we can hear the
call, we also know His Will and we are His Will, so we do his Will.
Question: When I sit in front of The Greatest Sign, or
I look at it, or I meditate on it, it seems there are so many things
that come from
The Greatest Sign. Why is that? It just seems like you could
sit and meditate on
The Greatest Sign for lifetimes.
Maitreya: You could say that The Greatest Sign is a
yantra. A yantra is a kind of a symbol, or a drawing, or a
crystallized idea which comes to people who meditate. They can
manifest what they felt or realized, into that shape. There is a
yantra called the Shrii Yantra in Indian philosophy, which is
composed of many different triangles. It is supposed to show the
Many people have been trying to explain what the Shrii Yantra is
and have written much about it. Many try to explain it but still,
they haven't explained it completely. Every person finds something
interesting and some realization from it.
The Greatest Sign really can be called the Shrii Shrii Para
Maha Yantra. It means the greatest yantra. It really covers the
whole creation. It's like you're trying to find out about the
creation. You can think about creation. You can meditate on
creation. You can realize creation. You can realize God -- and then
realize Him more. Still the next day you realize something
completely different. That's what they call the play of the Lord.
If you really become close to God, you are never bored because
you have so much Joy. You can realize Him so much today, it makes so
much sense. Then you realize Him more this afternoon and the next
day you realize Him completely different. You wonder, I didn't know
that part exists. That's why I used to say, God even surprises
Himself sometimes -- I didn't know I had this part, that's great, I
That's why people who are mundane and do not know God, drink or
take drugs. They do these things because they haven't realized or
felt the Spirit. They say to us, "What a boring life you have. You
don't drink. You don't go to the parties. You don't do all these
things." That is not true. God is infinite so you have infinite fun
Actually they do those things because of that emptiness in them.
Ego wants to find some answers. They drink because they feel empty,
there's something they want that they don't have. And that's what
God is. The problems about drugs, alcoholism and all those things,
or the problems of humanity in general, are spiritual. Every problem
has a spiritual base or reason.
So when you sit in front of The Greatest Sign, what you're
actually doing is looking at the universe. You want to know the
universe. After sometime being in front of The Greatest Sign,
you start seeing more and more about it. If you remember, we used to
sit and explain The Greatest Sign. Probably I explained it
around fifty or sixty times in the first three to five years we
started the Mission, and every time I explained it, it was
something completely different than any other time. Each time it
came out beautifully, it made sense. It was the same Greatest
Sign, yet it was different and it was beautiful too.
That's why I wrote the more than eight hundred pages of THOTH, based on
The Greatest Sign and still we could
probably write infinite pages about
The Greatest Sign and we wouldn't explain it completely.
So whenever you sit in front of The Greatest Sign, enjoy
it. It's recommended to sit and gaze on The Greatest Sign. It
is a beautiful practice. It brings you to the focus. It brings you
to the realization. It cleans your chakras. It cleans your body,
mind, Spirit and is a very powerful, the most powerful yantra. | <urn:uuid:34057d46-2a78-4775-ae96-c108703387f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.maitreya.org/files/discourse/Sabbath.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96593 | 4,405 | 1.734375 | 2 |
From Mayaguez, Puerto Rico:
For some time, I've been having episodes of hypoglycemia. Generally, it happens two hours after meals. After the three last episodes (almost a week between each other), I had a severe headache, nausea, and vomiting for almost three days. Is this normal?
You need to see a doctor for a complete check-up and blood work. This could be many things and needs to be checked out.
Original posting 7 Sep 2006
Posted to Hypoglycemia
Last Updated: Tuesday April 06, 2010 15:10:07
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President Barack Obama's re-election campaign released new ads Tuesday accusing Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney of sending American jobs overseas during his days as a business leader.
The ads come on the heels of a report in the Washington Post last week stating Romney invested in companies that were "pioneers" in outsourcing during his days as the head of Bain Capital.
"Romney's never stood up to China. All he's ever done is send them our jobs," the new Obama for America ads state. The ads will air in the key swing states of Virginia, Iowa and Ohio.
The original Post article from Friday, said, "Romney's financial company, Bain Capital, invested in a series of firms that specialized in relocating jobs done by American workers to new facilities in low-wage countries like China and India," citing information from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
"A Washington Post examination of securities filings shows the extent of Bain's investment in firms that specialized in helping other companies move or expand operations overseas," the article added. "While Bain was not the largest player in the outsourcing field, the private equity firm was involved early on."
The article was a major blow to the Romney campaign, which has repeatedly criticized the Obama administration for not focusing closely enough on the economy and for encouraging the outsourcing of American jobs.
The Romney campaign quickly shot back against the article, saying it didn't differentiate between "domestic outsourcing," or the practice of contracting work outside of your own company (to other American firms operating either at home or abroad) and "offshoring," or what most Americans think of when they think "outsourcing."
"If President Obama had even half of Mitt Romney's record on jobs, he'd be running on it. But President Obama has the worst record on jobs and the economy of any president in modern history, which is why he is running a campaign based on distractions, not solutions," Romney campaign spokesperson Andrea Saul said in a statement Tuesday.
The campaign added Bain outsourced work to other domestic companies and did not "pioneer" offshoring, as the Post article stated.
Additionally, conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute said the Bain jobs, such as those in the customer service sector, that did move overseas were positions meant to deal with international customers.
But at a campaign event in New Hampshire on Monday, Obama overlooked the differentiation, stating, "You cannot make this stuff up...If you're a worker whose jobs went overseas — you don't need someone who is going to explain to you the difference between outsourcing and offshoring. You need somebody who's going to wake up every day and fight for American jobs."
by RTT Staff Writer
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The source of all creation is pure
consciousness . . . pure potentiality seeking
expression from the unmanifest to the manifest.
And when we realize that our true Self is one
of pure potentiality, we align with the power
that manifests everything in the universe.
In the beginning
There was neither existence nor non-existence,
All this world was unmanifest energy . .
The One breathed, without breath, by Its own power
Nothing else was there . . .
--Hymn of Creation, The Rig Veda
The first spiritual law of success is the Law of Pure Potentiality. This law is based on the fact that we are, in our essential state, pure consciousness. Pure consciousness is pure potentiality; it is the field of all possibilities and infinite creativity. Pure consciousness is our spiritual essence. Being infinite and unbounded, it is also pure joy. Other attributes of consciousness are pure knowledge, infinite silence, perfect balance, invincibility, simplicity, and bliss. This is our essential nature. Our essential nature is one of pure potentiality.
When you discover your essential nature and know who you really are, in that knowing itself is the ability to fulfill any dream you have, because you are the eternal possibility, the immeasurable potential of all that was, is, and will be. The Law of Pure Potentiality could also be called the Law of Unity, because underlying the infinite diversity of life is the unity of one all-pervasive spirit. There is no separation between you and this field of energy. The field of pure potentiality is your own Self. And the more you experience your true nature, the closer you are to the field of pure potentiality.
The experience of the Self, or "self-referral," means that our internal reference point is our own spirit, and not the objects of our experience. The opposite of self-referral is object-referral. In object-referral we are always influenced by objects outside the Self, which include situations, circumstances, people, and things. In object-referral we are constantly seeking the approval of others. Our thinking and our behavior are always in anticipation of a response. It is therefore fear-based.
In object-referral we also feel an intense need to control things. We feel an intense need for external power. The need for approval, the need to control things, and the need for external power are needs that are based on fear. This kind of power is not the power of pure potentiality, or the power of the Self, or real power. When we experience the power of the Self, there is an absence of fear, there is no compulsion to control, and no struggle for approval or external power.
In object-referral, your internal reference point is your ego. The ego, however, is not who you really are. The ego is your self-image; it is your social mask; it is the role you are playing. Your social mask thrives on approval. It wants to control, and it is sustained by power, because it lives in fear.
Your true Self, which is your spirit, your soul, is completely free of those things. It is immune to criticism, it is unfearful of any challenge, and it feels beneath no one. And yet, it is also humble and feels superior to no one, because it recognizes that every one else is the same Self, the same spirit in different disguises.
That's the essential difference between object-referral and self-referral. In self-referral, you experience your true being, which is unfearful of any challenge, has respect for all people, and feels beneath no one. Self-power is therefore true power. | <urn:uuid:e142f8b6-da63-4138-8bbb-b3fd4458c1e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthy.net/Health/Article/The_Law_of_Pure_Potentiality/479 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947798 | 783 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Leap Motion's 3D motion sensing tech coming to Asus PCs
Leap Motion, which created an innovative gesture control technology that measures users' movements to an accuracy of a hundredth of a millimeter, has struck a deal to bundle its Leap device and app store with a series of Asus computers.
According to Michael Buckwald, CEO of the San Francisco startup, the Asus deal -- under which the computer giant will package the Leap device with high-end laptops and premium all-in-one PCs, and pre-install the Leap app store on those computers -- is just the first partnership of its kind. Similar deals with other computer makers, or even smartphone manufacturers, are possible in the future, Buckwald said.
Although the Asus deal means the Leap will be bundled with the company's computers, Buckwald said that there's no reason the Leap technology couldn't be physically integrated with computers, or even smartphones. "The cameras are actually very small," Buckwald told CNET. "The actual sensors and software [can] fit in even the smallest form factors."
Buckwald said Leap Motion has been talking to a number of consumer electronics companies about further bundling or integration deals, although none have yet been announced. Leap Motion plans on releasing the Leap and unveiling its app store sometime in "early 2013."
But with the Asus deal in place, and with strong interest from consumers and developers, Leap Motion is currently ramping up manufacturing of the Leap. Buckwald said that it is making "between hundreds of thousands and millions of Leaps."
To do so, the company needed additional capital, and today it announced that it has recently closed a $30 million B round, led by Founders Fund and Highland Capital Partners. To date, Leap Motion has raised about $45 million.
When Leap Motion first announced its technology, it expected the Leap would be ideal for industries like surgery, gaming, architecture, design, engineering, and more. But almost from the get-go, some of the most interesting projects developers were suggesting involved things like automatically translating sign language. Now, it has given more than 10,000 of the devices to developers. And more than 40,000 people have applied to be part of the company's developer program.
Some developers proposed using the Leap to fly planes or drive cars, or to support physical rehabilitation and special needs. More than 400 people suggested using the Leap in computer-aided design software -- the same computing challenge that led Leap co-founder and CTO David Holz to begin creating the technology in 2008.
Leap Motion has said that 14 percent of developers want to do gaming-related applications, while 12 percent want to use the technology for music or video applications, 11 percent for art and design, 8 percent for science and medicine, and 6 percent for robotics. At launch, the company plans an Apple-style app store, and more than 90 percent of developers asking for software development kits want to sell their work through such a store. All told, developers have proposed more than 40,000 different applications.
This article originally appeared on CNET under the headline "Leap Motion motion control tech to be bundled with Asus PCs."
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- Calif. teen wins Intel Science Research competition Play Video | <urn:uuid:1f9ee9c9-a7a6-4a46-aac7-9a8ff742c20f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57561922/leap-motions-3d-motion-sensing-tech-coming-to-asus-pcs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938542 | 740 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Lutoslawski was one of the most important composers
of the second half of the 20th century. His early works were relatively
conservative in style, often making use of folk material. However, following
the inauguration, in 1956, of the Warsaw Autumn Festival, one of the
world's leading festivals of contemporary music, he embarked upon a
new phase in his artistic development, since Poland was now making renewed
contact with the prominent forces of the musical life of the West.
Lutoslawski gained an international reputation, as
a distinctly modernist voice with a clearly individual personality.
For more than thirty years from that time, he produced a succession
of masterpieces for the world's leading soloists and orchestras.
This disc is Volume 7 in Naxos's continuing series
of the complete orchestral music, which is itself a reflection of the
composer's achievement. Antoni Wit and his talented orchestra (or, to
be more accurate, the ensembles drawn from the orchestra) give good
accounts of this challenging and rewarding music. The opening group,
the Three Postludes, makes a particularly compelling impression,
with real impact from the recording, despite the gap between the recording
sessions. The orchestral textures and combinations are particularly
interesting, and the three pieces have both individuality and a convincing
sweep of inspiration. At this price the disc is worth investigating
for these pieces alone.
The best known music recorded here is the Preludes
and Fugues for 13 solo strings. Again the inspiration is of the
highest order, the performance thoroughly idiomatic. A typical feature
of this music is Lutoslawski's employment of 'chance elements' under
the control of the wider context of the piece; therefore no two performances
will be quite the same. The excellent booklet notes by Richard Whitehouse
point out that this is the longest of the composer's mature compositions,
but it is of course made up of smaller constituent parts which operate
The disc is completed by a sequence of shorter pieces,
some of them very short indeed. For example, the Fanfare for CUBE
first performed by the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble at the 1982 Lucerne
Festival in 1982, plays for 28 seconds. But it is still an imaginatively
contrived piece, the work of a major composer.
Lutoslawski is well served here. These performances
all contribute to a highly successful combination, in thoroughly acceptable
sound , with talented musicians performing under a gifted conductor. | <urn:uuid:e808c954-d989-406b-8b46-722b3d01afd6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Jan02/Lutoslawski7.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947476 | 533 | 1.507813 | 2 |
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Simone Weil Quotes
A doctrine serves no purpose in itself, but it is indispensable to have one if only to avoid being deceived by false doctrines.
A hurtful act is the transference to others of the degradation which we bear in ourselves.
A mind enclosed in language is in prison.
A science which does not bring us nearer to God is worthless.
A self-respecting nation is ready for anything, including war, except for a renunciation of its option to make war.
A test of what is real is that it is hard and rough. Joys are found in it, not pleasure. What is pleasant belongs to dreams.
All sins are attempts to fill voids.
An atheist may be simply one whose faith and love are concentrated on the impersonal aspects of God.
As soon as men know that they can kill without fear of punishment or blame, they kill; or at least they encourage killers with approving smiles.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be attained only by someone who is detached.
Beauty always promises, but never gives anything.
Charity. To love human beings in so far as they are nothing. That is to love them as God does.
Culture is an instrument wielded by teachers to manufacture teachers, who, in their turn, will manufacture still more teachers.
Difficult as it is really to listen to someone in affliction, it is just as difficult for him to know that compassion is listening to him.
Equality is the public recognition, effectively expressed in institutions and manners, of the principle that an equal degree of attention is due to the needs of all human beings.
Every perfect life is a parable invented by God.
Every time that I think of the crucifixion of Christ, I commit the sin of envy.
Evil being the root of mystery, pain is the root of knowledge.
Evil, when we are in its power, is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, even a duty.
For when two beings who are not friends are near each other there is no meeting, and when friends are far apart there is no separation.
Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the second it crushes, the first it intoxicates. The truth is, nobody really possesses it.
Human beings are so made that the ones who do the crushing feel nothing; it is the person crushed who feels what is happening. Unless one has placed oneself on the side of the oppressed, to feel with them, one cannot understand.
Humanism was not wrong in thinking that truth, beauty, liberty, and equality are of infinite value, but in thinking that man can get them for himself without grace.
Humility is attentive patience.
I am not a Catholic; but I consider the Christian idea, which has its roots in Greek thought and in the course of the centuries has nourished all of our European civilization, as something that one cannot renounce without becoming degraded.
I can, therefore I am.
I suffer more from the humiliations inflicted by my country than from those inflicted on her.
I would suggest that barbarism be considered as a permanent and universal human characteristic which becomes more or less pronounced according to the play of circumstances.
If Germany, thanks to Hitler and his successors, were to enslave the European nations and destroy most of the treasures of their past, future historians would certainly pronounce that she had civilized Europe.
If we are suffering illness, poverty, or misfortune, we think we shall be satisfied on the day it ceases. But there too, we know it is false; so soon as one has got used to not suffering one wants something else.
Imagination and fiction make up more than three quarters of our real life.
Imagination is always the fabric of social life and the dynamic of history. The influence of real needs and compulsions, of real interests and materials, is indirect because the crowd is never conscious of it.
In struggling against anguish one never produces serenity; the struggle against anguish only produces new forms of anguish.
In the Church, considered as a social organism, the mysteries inevitably degenerate into beliefs.
In the intellectual order, the virtue of humility is nothing more nor less than the power of attention.
It is an eternal obligation toward the human being not to let him suffer from hunger when one has a chance of coming to his assistance.
It is not the cause for which men took up arms that makes a victory more just or less, it is the order that is established when arms have been laid down.
It is only the impossible that is possible for God. He has given over the possible to the mechanics of matter and the autonomy of his creatures.
Life does not need to mutilate itself in order to be pure.
More than in any other performing arts the lack of respect for acting seems to spring from the fact that every layman considers himself a valid critic.
Most works of art, like most wines, ought to be consumed in the district of their fabrication.
Nothing can have as its destination anything other than its origin. The contrary idea, the idea of progress, is poison.
Nothing is less instructive than a machine.
One cannot imagine St. Francis of Assisi talking about rights.
Oppression that is clearly inexorable and invincible does not give rise to revolt but to submission.
Petroleum is a more likely cause of international conflict than wheat.
Real genius is nothing else but the supernatural virtue of humility in the domain of thought.
The contemporary form of true greatness lies in a civilization founded on the spirituality of work.
The danger is not lest the soul should doubt whether there is any bread, but lest, by a lie, it should persuade itself that it is not hungry.
The destruction of the past is perhaps the greatest of all crimes.
The future is made of the same stuff as the present.
The highest ecstasy is the attention at its fullest.
The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell.
The most important part of teaching is to teach what it is to know.
The mysteries of faith are degraded if they are made into an object of affirmation and negation, when in reality they should be an object of contemplation.
The only hope of socialism resides in those who have already brought about in themselves, as far as is possible in the society of today, that union between manual and intellectual labor which characterizes the society we are aiming at.
The only way into truth is through one's own annihilation; through dwelling a long time in a state of extreme and total humiliation.
The poison of skepticism becomes, like alcoholism, tuberculosis, and some other diseases, much more virulent in a hitherto virgin soil.
The role of the intelligence - that part of us which affirms and denies and formulates opinions is merely to submit.
There can be a true grandeur in any degree of submissiveness, because it springs from loyalty to the laws and to an oath, and not from baseness of soul.
There is no detachment where there is no pain. And there is no pain endured without hatred or lying unless detachment is present too.
There is one, and only one, thing in modern society more hideous than crime namely, repressive justice.
Those who are unhappy have no need for anything in this world but people capable of giving them their attention.
To be a hero or a heroine, one must give an order to oneself.
To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.
To get power over is to defile. To possess is to defile.
To set up as a standard of public morality a notion which can neither be defined nor conceived is to open the door to every kind of tyranny.
To want friendship is a great fault. Friendship ought to be a gratuitous joy, like the joys afforded by art or life.
To write the lives of the great in separating them from their works necessarily ends by above all stressing their pettiness, because it is in their work that they have put the best of themselves.
Two prisoners whose cells adjoin communicate with each other by knocking on the wall. The wall is the thing which separates them but is also their means of communication. It is the same with us and God. Every separation is a link.
We are like horses who hurt themselves as soon as they pull on their bits - and we bow our heads. We even lose consciousness of the situation, we just submit. Any re-awakening of thought is then painful.
We can only know one thing about God - that he is what we are not. Our wretchedness alone is an image of this. The more we contemplate it, the more we contemplate him.
We must prefer real hell to an imaginary paradise.
What a country calls its vital... interests are not things that help its people live, but things that help it make war.
Whatever debases the intelligence degrades the entire human being.
When a contradiction is impossible to resolve except by a lie, then we know that it is really a door.
When once a certain class of people has been placed by the temporal and spiritual authorities outside the ranks of those whose life has value, then nothing comes more naturally to men than murder.
Who were the fools who spread the story that brute force cannot kill ideas? Nothing is easier. And once they are dead they are no more than corpses.
With no matter what human being, taken individually, I always find reasons for concluding that sorrow and misfortune do not suit him; either because he seems too mediocre for anything so great, or, on the contrary, too precious to be destroyed.
Simone Weil Biography:
Born: February 3, 1909
Died: August 24, 1943
Find Simone Weil books | <urn:uuid:44893e6f-3ab4-4517-8e48-3fc7016e40f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://quoteauthors.com/quotes/simone-weil-quotes.html | 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 | 0.969871 | 2,064 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Tanzania is set to take part in the weeklong East African Community's annual cultural festival, scheduled to take place in the Rwandan capital of Kigali beginning Feb. 11 this year, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Joas Kahembe, an official of the Tanzania Association of Cultural Tourism Organizers (TACTO), said that more than 100 Tanzanians are expected to take part in the sixth-day cultural fair.
"This is an important opportunity for Tanzanian exhibitors to market cultural products in the region taking into account that the country has more than 120 large tribes and many more small clans," Kahembe said, adding that Tanzania is well placed to market its cultural tourism product in the EAC market of more than 130 million people.
"We have a number of cultural-related products which haven't yet tapped. Tanzanian troop will involve authentic African tribal arts and crafts, especially Makonde carvings in ebony sculptures, artists of different calibers," he said.
Another TACTO official Freddy Massawe revealed that Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda have also confirmed attendance of the festival named "Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki Utamaduni (JAMAFEST), " which means "East African Community Cultural Festival."
With the theme of "Fostering East African Community Integration through Cultural Industries," arts and crafts pieces, cultural wears, music and dance, literary works, foods and beverages will be showcased at the festival.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame will officially open the non- competitive festival with other regional leaders expected to grace the occasion.
The fair is organized by East African Community Affairs (EACA) in conjunction with Partner States. The Secretariat hopes to use the festival as a means to appreciate the diversity of East African culture in a bid to interweave the region's people. | <urn:uuid:31dda619-1547-4d7d-81c6-f86952f974d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ippmedia.com/frontend/index.php?l=50974 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94646 | 388 | 1.671875 | 2 |
As a Justmeans staff writer for the Sustainable Foods editorial department, I explore the disparity between consumerism and independence through the topic of sustainability. As a self-described 'urban homesteader' I look to find the balance between a sustainable lifestyle and use of corporate convenience. I don't necessarily want to live without electricity, but I want to be comfortable if eve...
Senate Bill S510: Points & Counterpoints
Senate Bill S510, the Food Safety and Modernization Act is being discussed right now amongst senators, advocates and consumers; there are so many good points being made that some should be shared.
Grist has a very intensive series dedicated on the subject of the Act which you can find here.
Further, they have a point and counterpoint discussion with Kathleen Chrismer, a food-safety advocate. The point Ms. Chrismer makes is in regard to the "Tester Amendment" which excludes small farms (under $500mil annually) from the FDA regulations. She says,
"If small producers are not keeping good records of who they sell to, where they sell it, and how much is being sold, then I can see why they operate on slim profit margins. I don't think it will be easier for a small producer to retain an attorney to defend them when a food-borne illness victim's attorney files a complaint in court (followed by all the accompanying paperwork), rather than to have a written plan that shows they are taking the steps necessary to reduce the risk of contamination."
The response to this is simple: the problems don't often occur in small operations in the first place, specifically with farmers who relish the soil in practicing permaculture techniques. And we should be clear: ANY thing one puts into his body puts a person at risk, period. There's no doubt that there is a need to regulate a system that hasn't been updated since 1938; however, to include many small farms as equals to large corporations is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If there were already major problems within the small farm communities, then it would be a topic to address. Small farms provide an alternative. If we lose that alternative, our system is no longer one of choice. A system without choice is inherently authoritarian, but can easily lend itself to outright fascism.
The problem is within large farming operations that look at the dollar over the consumer; they look at numbers instead of people; they take shortcuts. Those shortcuts to reduce costs to sell cheaper products in larger quantities. This is the problem. This isn't about letting small farms run amok and do whatever they want. They can't do that anyway because they have to answer personally to their clientele.
If the government treats the small farm equally to the large farm in fines and records, we really can kiss our small farms good-bye. Large farms can absorb the cost and provide a "standard" which may not actually be a real standard of nutrition nor quality which we may receive from our neighbors' urban gardens, community gardens or small, local commercial farms that have reputations to protect.
The anecdotes she discusses were all cases of food borne illness spread by product grown in industrial factory farming. And yes, all farms should follow rules, of course; but to give the FDA the power to shut down small, accountable farms while they're trying to enforce the industrial system is absolutely not the way to do it. Let's first try to just get the big guys to look at their client base as people instead of numbers, and go from there. Food safety is in their best interest, too!
Photo credit: Public Domain | <urn:uuid:27b93e46-7e81-482b-8971-3084da95925d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.justmeans.com/Senate-Bill-S510-Points-Counterpoints/37886.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970985 | 735 | 1.742188 | 2 |
One of the most important events in our life is weddings. How they are beginning a new lifestyle to highlight. The wedding cake can be used on this special day is one of the things that make or spoil the day for the couple. Because it is a common symbol for your wedding, a careful choice is needed is a good view and healthy of course.
According to the New York Times, brides over the world turn to celebrities for inspiration. And, on the last wedding, Chelsea Clinton’s recent marriage to Marc Mezvinsky has many girls wondering if their wedding cake is delicious and healthy at the same time.
“Our brides were very inspired that Chelsea had a gluten-free cake decided,” Andrea Correale, a caterer and event planner, told the news agency source. She added that women who are planning a wedding questioned about other gluten-free menu options.
Although not every bride needs such as dietary restrictions imposed on her kitchen, to search for unique wedding ideas to think outside the box. Sugar-free, organic wedding cakes are always a great way to attract guests to leave room for dessert.
No matter what, brides may choose to emulate Clinton and simply keep their wedding details.
“The ceremony is underestimated, so all eyes were on the bride and groom,” Marcy Blum, owner of a wedding and party planning company in New York, told the news agency outlet. | <urn:uuid:5fe52f4b-308a-4890-91dd-dc939ec47a27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ledalife.com/tag/times | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953712 | 295 | 1.5625 | 2 |
GENEVA (AP) — The United States and Russia failed on Friday to bridge differences over a plan to ease Syrian President Bashar Assad out of power, end violence and create a new government. That set the stage for the potential collapse of a key multinational conference that was to have endorsed the proposal.
On the eve of Saturday's conference, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met one-on-one for about an hour in St. Petersburg, Russia, but could not reach agreement on key elements of U.N. envoy Kofi Annan's proposed plan for a Syrian political transition, officials said.
A senior U.S. official traveling with Clinton said areas of "difference and difficulty" remain and was not optimistic that the gathering in Geneva would produce agreement. "We may get there tomorrow, we may not," the official told reporters as Clinton left Russia for Switzerland, where she arrived early Saturday morning.
The official said Clinton and Lavrov would try to resolve differences in Geneva out of respect for Annan, the former U.N. chief whose efforts to end the Syrian crisis have thus far fallen short.
The inconclusive results of the Clinton-Lavrov meeting may presage the unraveling of Annan's plan to end 16 months of brutal violence in Syria by creating a national unity government to oversee the drafting of a new constitution and elections.
The United States and its allies attending the conference are adamant that the plan will not allow Assad to remain in power as part of the transitional government, but Russia insists that outsiders cannot dictate the composition of the interim administration or the ultimate solution to the crisis.
"(We) agreed to look for an agreement that will bring us closer based on a clear understanding of what's written in the Annan plan that (all) sides in Syria need an incentive for a national dialogue," Lavrov said after meeting Clinton, according to the Interfax news agency.
"But it's only up to the Syrians to make agreements on what the Syrian state will be like, who will hold (government) jobs and positions," he said. Lavrov predicted the meeting had a "good chance" of finding a way forward. "But I am not saying that we will agree on every dot."
But failing to agree on every dot may well be the plan's undoing, particularly if Russia refuses to except the implicit demand that Assad leave power.
Annan on Friday laid out his expectations for the conference in an op-ed in The Washington Post that tracked very closely to the draft of his proposed plan, according to diplomats familiar with it.
.The future government in Syria, he said, "must include a government of national unity that would exercise full executive powers."
This government could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups, but those whose continued presence and participation would undermine the credibility of the transition and jeopardize stability and reconciliation would be excluded," Annan said.
Such a proposal does not explicitly bar Assad, but the U.S. and other Western powers that will participate in the conference said that is obvious and that the Syrian opposition will not sign on to the plan unless it excludes Assad.
The senior official said Clinton and Lavrov also discussed the real danger for the region if the uprising in Syria that has killed some 14,000 people doesn't end peacefully. Already, Syria has shot down a Turkish warplane and Turkey has responded by setting up anti-aircraft guns on its border with Syria. They also discussed the "serious risk" of destabilizing Jordan and the potential impact on Israel.
On Friday, Syrian troops shelled a suburb of Damascus, killing an estimated 125 civilians and 60 soldiers..
Russia is Syria's most important ally, protector and supplier of arms. Diplomatic hopes have rested on persuading Russia to agree to a plan that would end the Assad family dynasty, which has ruled Syria for more than four decades.
Associated Press writer Mansur Mirovalev in Moscow contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:f905401b-d7c8-4a37-9c2f-8c2ec64e2eaa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.yahoo.com/us-russia-fail-bridge-gaps-syria-002027556.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965661 | 815 | 1.84375 | 2 |
When the Florida Legislature convenes its annual session Tuesday, many lawmakers will be in an unfamiliar position: looking at a modest surplus of revenues.
For the first time since 2006, lawmakers won’t have to cut spending to balance the budget. Instead, they get to fight over how to spend an additional $800 million, give or take.
That battle (or rather, series of skirmishes) is just one of several key issues on the 2013 legislative agenda:
Medicaid: Gov. Rick Scott did a stunning about-face when he agreed to expand Medicaid coverage, an option under the federal Affordable Care Act. He thinks it’s a good deal because Washington has pledged to pick up most of the costs. It’s odd seeing a tea party favorite suddenly believe government promises.
The final decision will be made by the Legislature, and it should say “no.” Medicaid already consumes nearly a third of the state’s annual budget — more than what it spends on public education — and that share is growing. Expanding it risks putting state taxpayers on the hook for more enrollees who aren’t covered by the federal funding formula, and it places too much trust in Washington keeping its word to maintain that formula down the road.
At some point, that “free” money likely will come with a substantial cost when a broke Uncle Sam, looking to save on his end, shoves more of the Medicaid burden on the states.
Education: Gov. Scott has proposed giving teachers a $2,500 pay raise at a cost of $480 million. He also wants to give $250 debit cards to all teachers to help defray their out-of-pocket costs for classroom items, which amount to another estimated $14 million. And that’s on top of wanting to increase education funding by $1.2 billion.
The governor’s across-the-board pay raise would seem to conflict with the 2011 law he signed stipulating that teachers should be compensated according to merit. But the new merit-pay system the state has implemented, particularly the way it assesses educator effectiveness, has been roundly criticized by everyone from teachers unions to Senate President Don Gaetz.
The state should fix the merit mechanism before jamming money into it.
Elections: Voters in various parts of the state in November suffered excessive wait times at polling stations, some having to stand in line for hours. Yet, in places such as Bay County voting went smoothly. Also, some areas took days to count votes and return official results, making the state once again the butt of national jokes.
Some of the problems can be blamed on a long ballot; others may have been due to the Legislature in 2011 reducing the number of early-voting days.
Expect lawmakers to undo some of the damage they did in 2011. They also should give local supervisors of elections more flexibility in meeting the demands of their voters.
Ethics: Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford have made ethics reform a top priority, and legislation already is moving through committees. With the leadership’s backing, there is no doubt that a bill will pass. The only question is how comprehensive and tough it will be. Gaetz and Weatherford must ensure the legislation doesn’t hemorrhage integrity from suffering multiple pinpricks of exceptions and exclusions every step of the way.
Public pensions: Fresh off a court victory that upheld its 2011 move to make state and local government employees contribute 3 percent of their paychecks to their pension funds, the Legislature is proposing putting new hires into 401(k)-style individual retirement accounts, similar to what most private employers, and many governments, already do. Such a move would reduce the risk to taxpayers to fund public employee retirements.
However, much study remains to be done on how to make the transition. Lawmakers should not rush this decision. As there is no crisis, take it slow, get it right and be prepared to put it off until 2014, just as Gaetz and Weatherford have agreed to do with omnibus gambling legislation. | <urn:uuid:7621e7b9-3378-41a6-ba0e-de61611052bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsherald.com/opinions/editorials/legislative-docket-1.104424 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958684 | 837 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Dodoma — THE government is investigating reports that a container full of ivory from Tanzania has been impounded in Hong Kong, China, the Minister for Tourism and Natural Resources, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki told the National Assembly.
Ambassador Kagasheki also said that the government was investigating reports that officers with the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) are involved in mining activities within various national parks. "We are investigating reports that a container full of ivory from Tanzania was seized recently in Hong Kong, China. We'll use DNA tests to establish the origin of the tusks," he said.
Ambassador Kagasheki noted that information received so far shows the tusks passed through Tanzania on transit from an unknown origin, adding that investigations will also be carried out to establish identities of custom officers who were on duty at Dar es Salaam port on that particular day.
"We are working closely with our ambassador in China and the Ministry of Home Affairs in carrying out investigations that will help in getting the truth of the matter," he said. Mr Kagasheki was commenting while winding up debate on the review of Gombe National Park boundaries. Shadow Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Mr Peter Msigwa (Iringa Urban-Chadema), charged that it was high time for the government to come up with measures to protect animals against poachers.
Mr Msigwa said poaching of elephants has reached alarming proportions in the country and suggested that the government should focus more to protect the mammals instead of seizing poached ivory. "The recent seizure of ivories in Hong Kong, China believed to originate from Tanzania is a shame and this is another indication that we have been outsmarted by poachers," he said.
On another note, Ms Pauline Gekul (Special Seats-Chadema) told Parliament that as the ministry was reviewing national parks boundaries, it was also high time to look at various human activities being done in those areas. She said that there were some mining activities in national parks where miners pay some fees to TANAPA officials.
"We are investigating the existence of mining in national parks and there's information that TANAPA officials are involved in this," said Mr Kagasheki.Two weeks ago, authorities in Hong Kong confiscated in total two shipping containers with ivory worth 3.4 million US dollars.
And on Monday this week, police in Dar es Salaam seized elephant tusks worth 2.1bn/-.
In another development, the National Assembly has endorsed the government's request to expand Gombe National Park boundaries from the current 33.74 square kilometres to 56 square kilometres. The House also passed the government's request to upgrade Sanane Island into a national park, bringing the number of national parks in the country to 16.
Mr Kagasheki said that in expanding the Gombe National Park which was established in 1968 and located in the basin of Lake Tanganyika will now include the shoreline." We are incorporating the shoreline to increase biodiversity and to allow comfort for animals, mostly baboons,' he added. | <urn:uuid:a66fd1a7-f22f-4f45-a1d8-25fe89c49b20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://allafrica.com/stories/201211010182.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969008 | 641 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
On Air Staff and WPM Interns
Sun October 14, 2012
Jumping From The 'Top Of The World,' Skydiver Breaks Sound Barrier
"I know the whole world is watching now, and I wish the world could see what I see."
Those were the words of Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner as he plummeted toward Earth faster than the speed of sound. He jumped 24 miles from the stratosphere and landed gracefully just more than nine minutes later in a desert in Roswell, N.M., Sunday.
His plunge was record-breaking on three fronts: the highest jump, the longest distance of a free fall and the fastest vertical velocity. Baumgartner's free fall was seconds shorter than the record set by Joe Kittinger in 1960.
Brian Utley of the International Air Sports Federation gave the preliminary numbers during a press conference Sunday. The data still needs certification before it is an official world record:
- Jump: 128,100 feet
- Free fall: 119,846 feet; about 4 minutes 20 seconds
- Velocity: 833.9 mph; Mach 1.24
Cheers erupted once it became clear that "Fearless Felix" had actually broken the sound barrier. He is the first person to ever reach that speed wearing only a high-tech suit, The Associated Press reports.
"This is mind-blowing numbers, but I couldn't have done it without my team because you're only as good as your team is," Baumgartner said. "I want to say thank you to everybody who was joining my dream."
His dream was years in the making, the Red Bull Stratos team says on its website. Baumgartner began skydiving at 16, Red Bull Stratos says, and was later part of the Austrian military's demonstration and competition team. He's been collaborating with Red Bull since 1988.
"His training started years ago practicing high altitude jumps with Luke Aikins, his skydiving consultant, to ensure a solid body position in a relatively stiff pressurized suit. In addition to skydiving Felix has a whole team who supports him from every angle you can imagine, just to get him to the point where his performance in the pressure suit feels like second nature."
Suspense had been building over the past week, after the team called off the attempt multiple times. But when he finally was about to leap Sunday, Baumgartner says he wasn't even thinking about records:
"When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble, you do not think about breaking records anymore. You do not think about gaining scientific data. The only thing that you want is you want to come back alive because you do not want to die in front of your parents, your girlfriend, and all these people watching this. This became the most important thing to me when I was standing out there."
As he said during the fall and repeated during the press conference, "sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you are." | <urn:uuid:464be387-cd98-4c23-a41c-b4defaaab921> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wyomingpublicradio.net/post/jumping-top-world-skydiver-breaks-sound-barrier | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974473 | 633 | 1.679688 | 2 |
A collection of news and information related to COPD published by this site and its partners.
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At age 87, Stanley R. Ballou Jr. had multiple medical conditions and required nursing home care. He endured several infections and associated emergency hospitalizations. "Each time he lost a little more ground. There were more and more heroics on each...
A diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis amounts to a death sentence. A progressive disease in which damaged lungs continue to scar over, it causes difficulty breathing, particularly with the intake of air. There is no cure. Doctors for Bill Millan and Jim...
Daily PressPatrick Murray, a combat veteran who served in Vietnam in 1969, was diagnosed with diabetes at age 32. No one else in his family has had diabetes. "For me to get diabetes at such a young age, the only way I could figure it was, it was Vietnam," the 60-...
Jun 11, 2013 |Story| Hampton Roads Daily Press
Mar 31, 2012 |Story| Hampton Roads Daily Press
Nov 17, 2010 |Story| Daily Press
Original site for COPD topic gallery. | <urn:uuid:6be1bfc2-ffa0-47a9-9869-b46f5bdee6a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailypress.com/topic/health/diseases-illnesses/copd-HEDAI0000017.topic?pacode=hrnews | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960353 | 239 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Children of God
In 1969, when the cult currently known as "The Family International" had grown to about 100 members, they were dubbed the "Children of God" (or COG) by the news media (originally by a newsman in Camden, New Jersey). Until then they had been known as Teens for Christ, but the name stuck and was soon adopted as their official title. By 1972, there were 130 Children of God colonies scattered throughout the world. Today, the group claims close to 10,000 members in about 100 countries (see: statistics).
- ChildrenOfGod.com – Official history of the COG (pre-TFI). | <urn:uuid:e529ca29-bb97-4f05-a541-6d7c048e1ca1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://xfamily.org/index.php?title=Children_of_God&oldid=22453 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985319 | 136 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants
who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known
the hour when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Not a frequent choice at all for funerals. Perhaps not the wisest inclusion for the OCF Lectionary. Really: our loved one may indeed have been surprised by the moment of death. And all may have seemed right between the person and God. But do we really know?
Even though my own father re-engaged his Christian faith on his deathbed, one family member had doubts, and remained upset about the possibility that maybe his repentance wasn’t sufficient. In a situation like that, a reading like this one from Luke might cause more upset among the mourners. It certainly won’t make a different for the deceased.
That said, the message about being prepared is obviously a needful one for Christian believers. The serious question is: when to preach it? | <urn:uuid:d8b499f2-81bf-41f9-80a6-b6c4dab689a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://catholicsensibility.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/funeral-lectionary-luke-1235-40/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=8cb43e0c56 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979584 | 349 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Padhom Onnu: Oru Vilapam
Today I watched Padhom Onnu: Oru Vilapam, a movie by the well-known Malayalam director T.V. Chandran. A movie very well crafted. Here is an old review. The film was screened on a private television network. The central theme of this movie is the plight of young Muslim girls in Kerala. Girls are married off at an early age, many are raped by their husbands, most of them are also talaqed as soon as they become mothers.
The movie assumes significance in the present day political context of Kerala. For the past couple of weeks, one main issue in Kerala is a sex scandal that took place eight years ago involving a political heavyweight, a minister in the current government, and a then minor muslim girl. Regina, the girl involved, had complained against this minister, but she withdrew her complaint a little later. This October she appeared again in the news, claiming that she was threatened to withdraw her complaint earlier. Several organisations supported her, including Ajita's Anveshi, a feminist group. Within weeks Regina changed the tune again. This time she said that Ajita forced her to speak against the minister. Interestingly this turnaround took place after the police arrested her based on a case registered some six years ago. Also some members of her family have witnessed her being bribed by the minister's confidantes. Many media personnel were manhandled by the minister's party workers for reporting these events. See Joshua Newton's blog for more details. It was indeed apt that T.V. Chandran's movie was screened in this background.
Readers of this post who have an eye on Indian politics will not miss the close parallels beween the above case and the Best Bakery case. The Best Bakery episode was one of the worst crimes committed during the Gujarat pogrom in 2002. Zahira Sheikh, a key witness, whose father was one of those who was charred to death in that event, has changed her stand so many times by now. Right now she says that she was forced to take a stand against the rioteers by Teesta Setalvad, a human rights activist, also an editor of the journal Communalism Combat. It is possible that Zahira was also bribed heavily and that there were threats to her life from the BJP workers.
"Fear can either paralyse you or galvanise you into action", said Teesta Setalvad yesterday. Unfortunately right now both Regina and Zahira are paralysed, paralysed by fear and/or money. In Ajita's words, they are also victims of our system -- inordinate delays in settling court cases, fragility of the victims increased by the lack of any governmental security to their lives, and sufficient opportunities for the powerful culprits to influence the victims. | <urn:uuid:4ff8b400-2b30-4254-83c9-e2a780044f05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://locana.blogspot.com/2004/11/padhom-onnu-oru-vilapam.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983125 | 582 | 1.625 | 2 |
A significant portion of our national-security establishment wants desperately to cast China as an inevitable long-term threat. Why? Part of it is simply habit, as most who argue this line spent the bulk of their professional lives in the Cold War and just can’t imagine a world that doesn’t feature a superpower rivalry. For those who need to fill that hole, China is the best show in town, because its military buildup allows these hawks to argue that America must buy and maintain a huge, high-tech military force for potential large-scale war with the Chinese.
My counter is this: China’s military buildup is not historically odd. America did the same as it became a global economic power in the late decades of the 19th century. Remember Teddy Roosevelt and the Great White Fleet? It’s the same logic we see with China today.
But won’t events put China and the United States at odds — say, over the strategic issues of fostering stability in the Persian Gulf? Hardly. Right now the United States imports only about one-tenth of the Persian Gulf’s oil exports, with the vast bulk heading east to Asia. Frankly, there’s no sense in the strategic equation “American blood (spilled) for Chinese oil (imports secured).” As China’s oil imports skyrocket in coming years, unlike ours, do you think that’s a politically sustainable situation?
My larger, more long-term fear is that by keeping China our preferred threat, we deny ourselves access to its significant military manpower and growing budget. With Europe and Japan both aging dramatically and China’s strategic interests ballooning in unstable regions, this makes no sense. Better to lock in China as soon as possible as the land-power anchor of an East-Asian version of NATO. The sooner we achieve that, along with Korea’s reunification, the sooner we can draw down our military in the region and better employ it in hotter spots around the world, eventually with Chinese (and Indian) troops helping out.
Tom’s posits nine other reasons why we shouldn’t fear China. Check ‘em out. | <urn:uuid:87dcfd9a-2a32-4dce-ae63-fc2cff2ca0eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.warisboring.com/2008/04/24/china-future-ally/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940769 | 453 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Changing downtown Oklahoma City's skyline represents future a boy yearns to experience
Rising 50 stories high, Devon Energy Center represents a lot of things to a lot of people. To civic leaders, it's a chance to portray the city as a thriving, growing modern metropolis. For real estate investors, it's a potential bonanza on the west fringe of downtown. And for one 10-year-old boy battling cancer, it's a representation of a future he yearns to experience first hand — but knows he might not get that chance.
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Apr 9A 10-year-old Lexington boy battling cancer got to...
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Xander Moore knows time may be short. He's battled neuroblastoma since he was 2 years old. Doctors told his parents early on patients with such a diagnosis faced a discouraging 30 percent chance of surviving beyond five years.
The five years came and went. To Xander, the cancer he continues to battle is just another challenge to be overcome. He doesn't dwell on it, but he's not oblivious to the reality that governs his future.
The only hint of Xander's ailment is when his smile is interrupted by the inevitable yawn that hits him all too often as he struggles to keep his strength.
It's inspiring just to be in Xander's presence. He has spent his life living it to the fullest, playing baseball, going to school, and enjoying regular excursions downtown with his grandfather, Rick Brown.
Much like Charlie Bucket and his Grandpa Joe visiting Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, Xander and grandfather (who he calls “G”) are excited tourists on their downtown visits. They relish walking along the Bricktown Canal, or strolling through the Myriad Gardens. They have great fun at Bass Pro Shops, and they love imagining themselves as bankers inside the imposing Great Banking Hall at First National Center.
For the past three years, the highlight of each trip was keeping track of Devon's spiraling tower. The closest look the pair could get was over a fence surrounding the job site. The tower was frequently a bond between the two. In a moment of childhood curiosity, Xander did a Google search once to see which was taller — Devon Tower or the Eiffel Tower? (Eiffel Tower is 100 feet higher).
The tower also was a much needed distraction on each drive up to the Jimmy Everest Center at The Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center. And it was a beacon of hope for Xander and his mother, Ricki Lea, when they learned in January the boy's cancer was not only no longer in remission, but had spread through his entire body.
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- 9874Report: OSU blocking Wes Lunt from transferring to the SEC, Big 12 and Southern Miss | <urn:uuid:f8ba4b6a-d088-435f-be87-bec7ce91bbc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsok.com/changing-downtown-oklahoma-citys-skyline-represents-future-a-boy-yearns-to-experience/article/3664948 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97046 | 681 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Can you locate a particular piece of paper without digging through stacks and piles? How long does it take you to find that single sheet? If you're taking precious scrapping time to search for paper you already own or spending hard-earned money repurchasing it, it's time to marshal a storage solution.
An optimal storage system should:
- Provide easy access
- Allow you to take a quick inventory
- Protect your papers
- Accommodate different paper sizes and types
- Make cleanup a snap
- Fit the space you have
The first step to finding the right storage solution for you is sorting your paper into categories. The basic methods for categorizing paper are by color, theme, or manufacturer.
To figure out which method will work for you, think about how you shop for paper in your favorite scrapbooking store. How is the store organized? When you shop, do you seek papers by color ("I want red-and-yellow papers"), or manufacturers' coordinating lines ("I want that new SEI Granny's Kitchen line")? Your answers will help you pinpoint which categorization method best fits your style.
After you organize and contain your paper, find a place to stow the containers. Read on to see three storage solutions conceived and tested by fellow scrappers. | <urn:uuid:810173da-7929-446d-8e47-85391317b31b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/storage/mini/paper-storage-solutions/?page=1 | 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 | 0.934676 | 266 | 1.5 | 2 |
The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary
1993-94 Annual Report
Would you have thought that the Assyrian Dictionary Project would prove to be a magnet for undergraduates at the University of Chicago? We had our doubts in 1989 when we first listed the dictionary project with the College Research Opportunities Program (CROP), a program that allows undergraduates to assist with University of Chicago research projects. However, through the years we have had the valuable assistance of a number of motivated and able undergraduates. Nader Salti, our first CROP worker, was interested in having some experience that would set his medical school application apart from the rest; he was pleased that every medical school interviewer asked him about the Assyrian Dictionary, and he is now well launched into his career as a surgeon. As an undergraduate, Thomas Dousa wanted to spend more time around the Oriental Institute. Upon graduation, Thomas was awarded a Mellon Scholarship and is now completing his third year in graduate school in Egyptology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and also works for the Oriental Institute's Demotic Dictionary. Ever since the age of eight, Erin McKean had wanted to be a lexicographer. She volunteered her time at the Assyrian Dictionary office in academic years 1991-92 and 1992-93 so that she could gain lexicographical experience, and when she graduated, she had no trouble finding a job in the children's dictionary division of Scott Foresman. Our most recent CROP student was Mark Miyake, who wanted to know how work on a major research project is done. We hope that his time with the dictionary project helps him in his later career, whatever that may be. We are also looking forward to working with Rachel Dahl, who will begin work in July 1994.
The constant infusion of young blood has helped us move the completion of the dictionary closer and closer. The R Volume absorbed most of the staff's energy in the past year, and by the end of academic year 1994 it will be shipped off to the printer. Í Part III has been printed, and we await the arrival of the volumes so that the Oriental Institute Publications Office can begin distribution.
We were very pleased to finish the editorial work on the R Volume. The checking was completed in late winter 1994 and then the corrections and additions were transferred to the copy of the manuscript that we will send to the printer. The innocuous word "checking" covers the painstaking process of comparing every entry in the manuscript to the original cuneiform text, as it appears in hand copies in various publications; as yet unpublished texts must often be compared to the photograph of the tablet. This process is absolutely necessary because the manuscripts are based on file cards that have been prepared over a period of more than fifty years and are sometimes outdated. Checking requires not only an excellent knowledge of Akkadian but also great familiarity with the status of the field.
Seeing that new references are included in our card files is the responsibility of Professor Martha Roth. She reads material as it is published and adds new references to the files. New texts are being published constantly and the references need to be collected for the current volumes we are working on, as well as for the previously published volumes in preparation for a future Supplement volume.
We are pleased to have again been joined by Mr. Remigius Jas of the Free University of Amsterdam. He arrived at the beginning of June 1994 and will spend a year working on the P Volume.
We would like to close with an update of the status of the remaining volumes for faithful readers of the Annual Report. Additional progress has been made on T and Tu. T is in first galleys. The galleys have been read and commented on by the resident Assyriologists and outside consultants and proofread by the editorial assistant and an outside proofreader. The comments and additions are read by the editor-in-charge and any corrections and additions are marked on a copy of the galleys that is sent to the printer. The P Volume, which was written and partially edited at an earlier time, will be the next volume to be edited. The editor-in-charge will start editing P in the summer of 1994. Most of the Tu Volume has been written. The U/W Volume is the only volume that still needs to be completely written and edited. | <urn:uuid:2a3a2ca6-1a78-4bbd-b40c-33555ca7d043> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/ar/93-94/cad.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978913 | 873 | 1.617188 | 2 |
SEATTLE, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Targeted Genetics Corporation today announced a three year extension of its collaboration agreement with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and Columbus Children's Research Institute (CCRI) at Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, to develop an AIDS vaccine. The agreement will provide funding to Targeted Genetics of up to US $10.7 million in 2004.
The funding to be received by Targeted Genetics will support manufacturing of clinical supply and preclinical studies to evaluate the utility of various HIV antigens in a multi-component AIDS vaccine. Under the collaboration, IAVI will separately fund clinical trials of tgAAC09, a rAAV (recombinant adeno associated virus)-based AIDS vaccine candidate, currently in a Phase I clinical study.
"The continued relationship with IAVI and CCRI demonstrates the collaboration members' belief in the potential of a rAAV-based AIDS vaccine," said H. Stewart Parker, president and chief executive officer of Targeted Genetics. "tgAAC09, our initial product candidate developed as part of this collaboration, represents the first time that a rAAV-based vaccine has been brought into clinical development. We believe that vaccines are a logical application and extension of our rAAV vector technology. Results of animal studies to date show a protective immune response to viral infection following single-shot administration. We look forward to results of our Phase I study and are pleased to continue work with a team of exceptional talent and expertise."
A Phase I clinical trial of tgAAC09 as a single-shot vaccine began in December of 2003. tgAAC09 uses Targeted Genetics' rAAV technology to elicit immune system responses in an effort to protect against AIDS. tgAAC09 is designed to elicit both an antibody and a cell-mediated immune response. The Phase I, dose-escalation clinical trial is a double-blind, placebo-controlled study that will enroll up to 50 volunteers, both men and women, who are uninfected with HIV and in good general health. Each volunteer receives a single intramuscular injection into the upper arm. Following vaccination, study participants will be monitored for safety and evaluated to see if tgAAC09 can elicit an immune response. If so, tgAAC09 may advance to a large-scale trial.
Seth F. Berkley, M.D., President and CEO of IAVI, said: "We are eager to continue to accelerate the development of AIDS vaccine candidates based on Targeted Genetics' promising rAAV technology. Its potential to confer protection in just a single shot would be particularly useful for developing countries, where most HIV infections are occurring."
The collaboration was originally formed in February of 2000 among Targeted Genetics, IAVI and CCRI to develop a rAAV-based AIDS vaccine, and has now been extended through the end of 2006. In return for its funding, and in keeping with its philanthropic mission, IAVI has secured rights to ensure that a vaccine, if successfully developed, will be distributed in developing countries at a reasonable price. Targeted Genetics retains all rights to develop and commercialize vaccines that are developed under the collaboration for developed nations.
About Targeted Genetics
Targeted Genetics Corp. develops gene-based products for preventing and treating acquired and inherited diseases. The Company has two clinical product development programs, targeting cystic fibrosis and AIDS prophylaxis and expects to initiate clinical testing of its arthritis product candidate in the first quarter of 2004. The Company also has a promising pipeline of product candidates focused on hemophilia and cancer and a broad platform of gene delivery technologies as well as a promising body of technology for cellular therapy.
The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI; http://www.iavi.org/) is a global nonprofit scientific organization working to speed the search for a vaccine to prevent HIV/AIDS. IAVI sponsors research partnerships to develop and test promising vaccine candidates. IAVI's major financial supporters include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the Rockefeller, Sloan and Starr foundations; the World Bank; BD; the European Commission; and eight national governments that provide support through the Canada Fund for Africa Secretariat of the Canadian International Development Agency, the UK Department for International Development, the US Agency for International Development, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Development Cooperation Ireland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, the Norwegian Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
Columbus Children's Research Institute (CCRI; http://www.ccri.net/) on the campus of Columbus Children's Hospital discovers novel approaches to human diseases through research that ranges from basic molecular biology to applied, patient-oriented research. In 2002, the Institute conducted more than 500 research projects. CCRI ranks among the top 10 in National Institutes of Health research awards to free-standing children's hospitals in the US. CCRI is dedicated to enhancing the health of children and their families locally, nationally and globally.
This release contains forward-looking statements regarding funding from our collaborative partner, our regulatory filings, research programs, clinical trials and product development. These statements, involve current expectations, forecasts of future events and other statements that are not historical facts. Inaccurate assumptions and known and unknown risks and uncertainties can affect the accuracy of forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect our actual results include, but are not limited to, any failure of our partners to provide funding, the timing, nature and results of our research and our clinical trials, our ability to recruit and enroll suitable trial participants, our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory or institutional approvals, our ability to protect our intellectual property, and our ability to raise capital when needed, as well as other risk factors described in the section entitled "Factors Affecting Our Operating Results, Our Business and Our Stock Price" in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2003. You should not rely unduly on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this release. We undertake no duty to publicly announce or report revisions to these statements as new information becomes available that may change our expectations.
Targeted Genetics Corporation | <urn:uuid:b5e789e7-8070-4bdf-87e0-93e4a922d2a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biospace.com/News/1-extends-aids-vaccine-partnership-with-2-and-3/14789220 | 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 | 0.939445 | 1,279 | 1.632813 | 2 |
News Release - September 25, 2007
SASKATCHEWAN LITERACY COMMISSION PROVIDES OVER $684,000 FOR COMMUNITY LITERACY PROGRAMS
With the support of over $684,000 from the SaskSmart Innovations Fund, 12 communities will engage in community literacy programming this year. This funding will allow new innovative family and workplace literacy programs across Saskatchewan to begin this fall.
"Funding recipients will have a greater opportunity to address their communities' literacy needs," Minister responsible for Literacy Deb Higgins said. "Grassroots literacy programs make it possible for people to gain the skills they need to participate fully in the labour market and to create a better quality of life for themselves and their families."
Recipients of SaskSmart funding are community partnerships that have collaborated to design literacy plans which address local needs and build on local resources. Proposals were submitted to the Saskatchewan Literacy Commission in May. In this second year of the SaskSmart Innovations Fund program, literacy partnerships will receive amounts ranging from $25,000 to $70,000 to implement community-based literacy programs.
"Developing strong literacy skills is essential to individual success at home, at work and in the community," Higgins said. "The SaskSmart Innovations Fund is one more way that we are making Saskatchewan the best place to live, work and raise a family."
The SaskSmart Innovations Fund is also providing nine communities with Expressions of Interest grants of $7,500 each, to develop plans that address local literacy needs.
The Saskatchewan Literacy Commission works closely with community partners to co-ordinate resources dedicated to literacy in the province.
For more information, contact:
CLP backgrounder.pdf (15 KB) | <urn:uuid:ab47fcb2-8765-4e91-b343-0d624c6b3e6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=678c615f-2c63-40bf-b663-4c7113fbb628 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933269 | 356 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Combating Nuclear Smuggling:
DHS's Decision to Procure and Deploy the Next Generation of Radiation Detection Equipment Is Not Supported by Its Cost-Benefit Analysis
GAO-07-581T, Mar 14, 2007
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for addressing the threat of nuclear smuggling. Radiation detection portal monitors are key elements in our national defenses against such threats. DHS has sponsored R&D and testing activities to develop a "next generation" portal monitor, known as the advanced spectroscopic portal monitor. However, each one costs 6 times more than a current portal monitor. In March 2006, we recommended that DHS conduct a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether the new portal monitors are worth the additional cost. In June 2006, DHS issued its analysis. In October 2006, we issued our report that assessed the DHS study. GAO's statement, based on our October 2006 report, addresses whether DHS's cost-benefit analysis provides an adequate basis for its decision to purchase and deploy the next generation portal monitors.
DHS's cost-benefit analysis does not provide a sound analytical basis for its decision to purchase and deploy the new portal monitor technology. Our review of the analysis determined that it had the following problems. Regarding the performance of the portal monitors: instead of using the results of its own portal monitor tests conducted in 2005, DHS assumed that the new portal monitor technology would correctly detect and identify highly enriched uranium (HEU) 95 percent of the time--a performance level that far exceeds the new technology's current capabilities. To determine the performance of the current generation of portal monitors in detecting HEU, DHS used data from limited tests carried out in 2004 that test officials concluded were unreliable for such purposes. DHS's analysis of the new technology portal monitors was incomplete because the analysis focused on identifying HEU, but did not fully consider how well the new portal monitor technology could correctly detect or identify other dangerous radiological or nuclear materials. Regarding cost estimates: in comparing the costs of the new and current technologies, the procurement costs of the current generation portal monitors were highly inflated because DHS assumed a unit cost of about $131,000. However, the contract price at the time of the analysis was about $55,000. According to officials who manage the contract, it was to expire and they expected portal monitor prices to increase, but not nearly as much as DHS assumed. DHS stated that the primary benefit of deploying the new portal monitors is reducing unnecessary secondary inspections. However, DHS's analysis does not fully estimate today's baseline costs for secondary inspections, which makes it impossible to determine whether the use of the new portal monitors as currently planned, will result in significant cost savings for these inspections. The new portal monitor contract price has exceeded DHS's total cost estimate by about $200 million. The cost-benefit analysis shows the total cost for deploying both current and new portal monitors to be about $1 billion. However, in July 2006, DHS announced that it had awarded contracts to develop and purchase up to $1.2 billion worth of the new portal monitors over 5 years. DHS's cost-benefit analysis omitted many factors that could affect the cost of new portal monitors, such as understating the life-cycle costs for operating and maintaining the equipment over time. For these reasons, DHS's cost-benefit analysis does not meet the intent of our March 2006 report recommendation to fully assess the costs and benefits before purchasing any new equipment. | <urn:uuid:34e96420-5c38-416d-be2e-0766ba482555> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gao.gov/products/GAO-07-581T | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953874 | 696 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Courtesy of Impactwrestling.com:
On Tuesday the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced “25 Core Sports” for the 2020 Olympic Games dropping one of the original Olympic sports: wrestling. Wrestling will now have to fight to remain a part of the 2020 games. TNA IMPACT WRESTLING is home to 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle and is dedicated to change this decision.
The IOC stated reasoning for the decision, according to the report, was an analysis of "more than three dozen criteria, including television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation and popularity.” The IOC has decided to keep recreational sports such as badminton, handball and table tennis in the “25 Core Sports” category and to delete one of the oldest Olympic sport that premiered in the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.
Kurt Angle is considered the best wrestler of all time to be in both amateur and professional wrestling and is gearing up to fight this decision and organize a battalion of like minds to save this Olympic sport.
“Wrestling is one of the most competitive sports in the world today,” stated TNA Superstar and 1996 Gold Medalist Kurt Angle. “Winning the gold for my country in one of the original Olympic sports was one of the greatest moments in my life.
“The wrestling community is in a state of shock with this decision– we can not sit back and allow this to happen. I will do whatever it takes and work with my company TNA WRESTLING and the competitive wrestling community to determine what we need to do to reverse this decision.”
“The news from the IOC is very disheartening to all of us at TNA as well as the tens of millions around the world who either participate in amateur wrestling or enjoy watching it in its entertainment form,” stated TNA President Dixie Carter. “We need to join together right now. We encourage our own IMPACT WRESTLING community, WWE and wrestling organizations worldwide as well as competitive amateur coaches and athletes to have a unified voice to make sure wrestling will be an Olympic sport in 2020.”
TNA encourages fans to take to social media to let your voices be heard. Speak out using #SaveOlympicWrestling and @Olympics | <urn:uuid:b2414575-7d2f-4864-a221-dcd9b10e810a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wrestleview.com/tna-news/39681-tna-starts-campaign-to-save-olympic-wrestling | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952861 | 485 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Senior Israeli officials accused Sudan on Thursday of playing a key role in an Iranian-backed network of arms shipments to hostile Arab militant groups across the Middle East, a day after a mysterious explosion rocked a weapons factory near the North African country’s capital.
The tough words were likely to add to Sudanese suspicions that an Israeli airstrike was behind the blast. Israel has both the motive and means to carry out such an airstrike, and Sudan has accused Israel in the past of operating on its territory.
Israel considers Iran to be a grave threat, citing Iranian calls for Israel’s destruction, suspicions that Iran is developing a nuclear bomb, and Iran’s support for militant groups on Israel’s southern and northern borders. Israeli officials have long contended that Sudan is a central player in Iranian efforts to funnel weapons to Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
Sudan claimed Wednesday that Israeli airstrikes caused an explosion and fire at a military factory south of the capital, Khartoum, killing two people. It said four aircraft hit the Yarmouk complex, setting off a huge blast that rocked the capital before dawn.
“They used sophisticated technology,” Sudan’s information minister, Ahmed Belal Osman, said without elaborating. There was no word on the identities of the two people who were killed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to comment on the incident at a news conference with the visiting Italian premier, Mario Monti.
But Netanyahu’s vice premier, Moshe Yaalon, said Israel had “nothing to cry about.”
Speaking to Israel Radio, Yaalon described Sudan as an important base for both Iranian and al-Qaida militants to carry out mayhem.
“It’s used as a base to disseminate terror, in Africa and in our direction too,” he said. “There’s no doubt that there is an axis of weapons from Iran via Sudan that reaches us, and not just us. It shows Iran continues to be a rogue state stirring up not a few conflicts in the region.”
Sudan has been engaged in various armed conflicts for many years. Its government has been at war with rebels in the western region of Darfur and with its neighbors in South Sudan, which broke away to become Africa’s newest country in 2011.
Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Sudan was a major hub for al-Qaida militants and remains a transit for weapon smugglers and African migrant traffickers.
The U.S. imposed economic, trade and financial sanctions against Sudan in 1997, citing the Sudanese government’s support for terrorism, including its sheltering of al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden in the mid-1990s. In 1998, American cruise missiles bombed a Khartoum pharmaceutical factory suspected of links to al-Qaida.
Jonah Leff, who monitors Sudan for the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, said it remained unclear what caused Wednesday’s blast. Although the U.S. also maintains warplanes in the region, he said Israel was the likely culprit if it turned out to be an airstrike.
“I can’t think of anyone other than Israel that would have conducted it,” he said, noting the Iranian ties with Sudan, the past reports of Israeli airstrikes in Sudan and Israel’s emerging alliance with South Sudan.
Israel has grown increasingly concerned about the arms flow to both Hezbollah and Hamas. Israel believes that both groups possess tens of thousands of rockets, anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles and other advanced weapons.
These concerns have been illustrated by a pair of incidents in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Israel shot down an unmanned Iranian-made aircraft launched by Hezbollah. This week, Hamas fired dozens of rockets into southern Israel during a brief flare-up of violence.
Israeli officials believe many of these weapons follow a circuitous route that begins in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, stretch through Dubai and on to Sudan, before crossing Egypt’s lawless Sinai desert and into Gaza through underground tunnels. The Israeli air force periodically targets these tunnels in an attempt to halt the flow of weapons.
A number of other operations over the years have also been attributed to Israel. In 2009, Sudan accused Israel of carrying out an airstrike on an arms convoy near the Red Sea in eastern Sudan.
The following year, Hamas accused Israel of assassinating a top militant in a Dubai hotel room. Israel never confirmed involvement, but claimed the militant, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, had worked in Sudan and played a critical role in shipping advanced Iranian rockets to Gaza.
Israel possesses a sophisticated air force of U.S.-made F-15 and F-16 warplanes, and has a record of carrying out daring air raids over enemy skies. In 1981, Israel destroyed an unfinished nuclear reactor being built in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. In 2007, it destroyed what the U.S. has said was a nearly finished nuclear reactor in neighboring Syria.
In recent months, Israel has hinted that it is ready to use its air force against Iran as well. Israel believes Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons — a scenario that it considers a threat to its very existence. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, but Israel and many Western countries dismiss this.
Israel has threatened to strike Iranian nuclear facilities if it concludes that international sanctions fail to stop the Iranians.
Some Israeli commentators said that if Israel had indeed carried out an airstrike that caused Wednesday’s blast in Sudan, it might have been a dress rehearsal of sorts for an operation in Iran. Both countries are roughly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away from Israel, and an air operation would require careful planning and in-flight refueling.
But there are key differences as well. Iran has a far more advanced air-defense system than Sudan, and its nuclear facilities are scattered across the country in heavily fortified sites.
“The Iranians ought to be worried by Israel’s ability to deceive and achieve surprise at such a vast distance from home — if it was Israel that carried out the attack,” wrote Alex Fishman, a military affairs commentator with the Yediot Ahronot daily. But, he noted, “a flight over Iran or to Iran is a more complicated effort.”
Isaac Ben-Israel, a retired Israeli air force general and a former head of the Israeli space agency, said he had no idea what caused the explosion but that anyone with an advanced air force could pull it off.
He noted that Arab countries tend to blame Israel for any attack that takes place on their soil. In the case of the explosion in Sudan, he said Israel had no interest in confirming or denying its involvement.
“Even if it wasn’t us,” he said, “there’s no damage in letting them think it was.” | <urn:uuid:356dcd08-2adc-419c-acbf-28fe0f5cd599> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/142590/Israel-Keeps-Silent-On-Mysterious-Sudan-Airstrike.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959739 | 1,457 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Helping hands helping one another with our family history & genealogy research.
I am trying to trace my gg grandparents - William Murray born approx. 1806 in Scotland (rumor has it in Jappa but no proof) died Nov 9, 1880 in West Bromwich Staffordshire England. I am looking for names and dates for his parents, siblings and proof of his birth in Scotland. I know from the writings of my great uncle David Christie Murray, that William had a brother named Adam Goudie Murray. The family rumor is that we are related to the Athol of Murray Stuart. (and I have a great uncle who was named Stuart Murray). William married Mary Withers on Dec 27, 1836 in All Saints Church, West Bromwich. Mary Withers was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme Staffordshire England around May 18th 1816-17. Although I have a copy of the parish record of her birth it is not very readable. So I am also looking for names and dates of her parents and siblings. Mary died July 22, 1874. I think she had a brother whos name was either Isaiah or Josiah. As that is the name on the copy of the parish marriage record. There is a Josiah Withers that shows up in the 1851 Census.
any help would be greatly appreciated | <urn:uuid:bbfd37b7-f9c9-4dd3-b7fd-bf980f166d2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.looking4kin.com/group/staffordshireenglandgenealogy/forum/topics/withersmurray-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983958 | 275 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), the popular public road transport utility in the southern state of Kerala, is facing a bleak future following the federal government’s decision to cut back on subsidies on diesel for bulk customers.
State Transport Minister Aryadan MohammAd said there was no immediate plan to hike bus fares in the backdrop of the news of subsidy cut by the federal government, but indicated that the KSRTC would be in serious trouble and that public transport in the state could face a chaotic situation.
The red-and-cream KSRTC buses are omnipresent across the state’s road network and are the mainstay of the common man for road transport. But the corporation has been weighed down by financial troubles, a significant part of which is contributed by the burden of pension payments for its thousands of retired staff members.
Mohammad said that about 100 buses may have to be taken off service in the backdrop of the diesel price hike announcement. The corporation is running a loss of Rs 9 billion, and an increase of over Rs 11 per litre caused by the federal government’s decision will make the corporation’s future prospects dim. | <urn:uuid:1f17af76-7501-444e-a55e-47e8b5be3a64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/kerala-state-buses-face-bleak-future-1.1135095 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949833 | 247 | 1.835938 | 2 |
The central banks are bailing out speculators, bankers, and the feds, not households. The money only reluctantly gets to the consumer level…or not at all.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP/File
Is the Great Correction still underway? Yes it is! The Wall Street Journal reports:
Consumers continued to cut debt levels in the third quarter, largely as they pulled back from the housing market again, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday.
For the most recent quarter, overall debt loads for households fell 0.6% from the prior quarter, for a drop of around $60 billion to $11.66 trillion. The bank said mortgage balances recorded on consumer credit reports fell by 1.3%, or $114 billion, while home equity lines increase by 2.3%. The retreat in mortgage borrowings was the primary driver of the overall drop in consumer borrowing.
Hey, wait. If the central bankers are printing money, why should consumers continue to cut back?
Ah…glad you asked. The central banks are bailing out speculators, bankers, and the feds…not households. The money only reluctantly gets to the consumer level…or not at all.
Instead, the rich get richer…courtesy of a corrupt money system. They get bailed out of their mistakes…and handed a lot of money they don’t deserve.
And the poor? Do they get richer simply because the central banks coddle bondholders? Do the bondholders set up factories and provide middle-skill jobs? Do the speculators invent new industries? Do the insiders set up small businesses and build companies that create new wealth?
Don’t make us laugh, dear reader.
No…the system just becomes more corrupt…and more zombified. Here are the insiders at work…the people the central bankers are trying to help. Bloomberg has the story, from Richard Teitelbaum:
Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) — Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson stepped off the elevator into the Third Avenue offices of hedge fund Eton Park Capital Management LP in Manhattan. It was July 21, 2008, and market fears were mounting. Four months earlier, Bear Stearns Cos. had sold itself for just $10 a share to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Now, amid tumbling home prices and near-record foreclosures, attention was focused on a new source of contagion: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together had more than $5 trillion in mortgage-backed securities and other debt outstanding, Bloomberg Markets reports in its January issue.
Paulson had been pushing a plan in Congress to open lines of credit to the two struggling firms and to grant authority for the Treasury Department to buy equity in them. Yet he had told reporters on July 13 that the firms must remain shareholder owned and had testified at a Senate hearing two days later that giving the government new power to intervene made actual intervention improbable…
At the Eton Park meeting, he sent a different message, according to a fund manager who attended. Over sandwiches and pasta salad, he delivered that information to a group of men capable of profiting from any disclosure.
Around the conference room table were a dozen or so hedge-fund managers and other Wall Street executives — at least five of them alumni of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., of which Paulson was chief executive officer and chairman from 1999 to 2006. In addition to Eton Park founder Eric Mindich, they included such boldface names as Lone Pine Capital LLC founder Stephen Mandel, Dinakar Singh of TPG-Axon Capital Management LP and Daniel Och of Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC.
After a perfunctory discussion of the market turmoil, the fund manager says, the discussion turned to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Paulson said he had erred by not punishing Bear Stearns shareholders more severely. The secretary, then 62, went on to describe a possible scenario for placing Fannie and Freddie into “conservatorship” — a government seizure designed to allow the firms to continue operations despite heavy losses in the mortgage markets.
Paulson explained that under this scenario, the common stock of the two government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs, would be effectively wiped out. So too would the various classes of preferred stock, he said.
The fund manager says he was shocked that Paulson would furnish such specific information — to his mind, leaving little doubt that the Treasury Department would carry out the plan. The managers attending the meeting were thus given a choice opportunity to trade on that information…
Yesterday, our colleagues over at The 5-Minute Forecast provided a chilling connection between the former Treasury Secretary’s “insider tip” to his old Goldman buddies and a piece of legislation…
The US Senate is close to passing legislation that would allow the president to use the military to imprison anyone — including US citizens — indefinitely, and without charges. The measure has bipartisan support, sponsored by Republican John McCain and Democrat Carl Levin.
“Combine the recent efforts by John McCain to create a police state with the revelations of Paulson’s corruption (crony capitalism),” writes John Robb at Global Guerrillas, “and you can only conclude that worse is coming.”
Indeed, Robb sees the development of what he calls a “hollow state.”
“The hollow state,” he writes, “has the trappings of a modern nation-state (‘leaders.’ membership in international organizations, regulations, laws and a bureaucracy) but it lacks any of the legitimacy, services and control of its historical counterpart.
“It is merely a shell of a state that serves as a legal conduit and enforcement mechanisms for global financial interests to loot what’s left of the state’s economy. Corruption and violence are its only traits.”
for The Daily Reckoning | <urn:uuid:dc457afd-fabe-425b-889c-05aea98662cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Daily-Reckoning/2011/1202/Fed-prints-more-money-but-consumers-won-t-see-it | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952573 | 1,219 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Tan Dun is one of the most influential classical composers to emerge from China. Combining the musical traditions of his homeland with contemporary Western influences, Dun has created a rich legacy of unique compositions. Known for his use of vivid drama, expressive harmonies, and imaginative tonal coloring, Dun has been characterized by his spatial arrangements and use of silence. A partial list of ensembles that have performed and/or recorded his work includes the Kronos Quartet, Yo Yo Ma, London Sinfonetta, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Toronto Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, London Philharmonic, Helsinki Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, and Ensemble Modern. Dun's music was heard on the soundtrack of the film Fallen. In 1993, Dun became the youngest composer to win the prestigious Suntory Prize Commission. The following year, his album On Taoism was named one of the year's best CDs by BBC Magazine. Dun had little hope for his future during China's cultural revolution when he was required to plant rice. Freed after two years of compulsory labor, Dun played erhu, a two-stringed fiddle, served as arranger for a Peking opera troupe, and began eight years of study at the Central Music Conservatory in Beijing.
By 1983, his compositions had earned him the first of numerous awards. In 1986, he received a fellowship from Columbia University and moved to New York City. He remained a resident of the city after receiving a doctorate in musical composition. In 1996, the Kronos Quartet performed his "Ghost Opera" around the globe. Dun's operatic composition "Marco Polo," with libretto by Paul Griffiths, was commissioned by the Edinburgh Festival and premiered at the Munich Biennale in May 1996. The success of the piece resulted in Dun being named composer of the year by Germany's Opera Magazine. In October 1996, Dun's guitar concerto was performed by Sharon Isbin at the Donaueschingen Music Festival. A month later, his extended piece "Red Forecast (Orchestra Theater II)" was performed by soprano vocalist Susan Botti at the Huddersfield Music Festival and broadcast by the BBC. Commissioned by the Association for the celebration of the Reunification of Hong Kong with China, "Symphony 1997 (Heaven Earth Mankind)" was performed by Yo-Yo Ma, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Imperial Bells Ensemble, and Yips Children's Choir, with Dun conducting, on July 4, 1997. The piece was subsequently given its American debut at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall during a performance by Yo-Yo Ma and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. In May 1998, Dun's composition "Peony Pavilion," based on an ancient Chinese opera, was performed at the Vienna Festival; a recording followed a year later. Dun additionally served as resident composer and conductor for the BBC Scottish Symphony. ~ Craig Harris, Rovi | <urn:uuid:e1e70453-6baa-4d20-b2bc-5822683231e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mtv.com/artists/dun-tan-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980119 | 597 | 1.726563 | 2 |
I seem to recall that these papers were not particularly mathematically sophisticated, but one element stood out: whereas a classical principle bundle looks the same at every point, the deformation parameter in a quantum bundle may easily vary from point to point. Even in those days, people thought a lot about relating deformation parameters to $\hbar$. This was all just a mathematical curiosity, until it became clear that some tough (and extremely interesting) algebraic geometry, and other mathematics, lay at the bottom of it. (Of course, all roads led to category theory in the end).
Algebraic geometers love spaces with extra structure which varies from point to point. They talk about spectra (usually of rings) and we need not be afraid of these gadgets because they are naturally specified by a functor from a suitable category of algebras into a category of spaces. And it turns out that this functor is best understood from the point of view of a special topos, because the weird topologies that algebraic geometers like to use are neatly encoded by axioms of Grothendieck. (In fact, this is where the idea of a topos comes from in the first place).
At the time, I believe it was Zamolodchikov who advised me to ditch lattice gauge theory (which I was supposed to be doing) for something more interesting. In the end, I did give up the lattice gauge theory, but I can't say it was because I listened to anybody's advice. (And as it turns out, lattice gauge theory has actually done rather well over the last decade). | <urn:uuid:6220fb1d-e4a5-4d80-88c9-0931ac358bae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kea-monad.blogspot.com/2008/04/light-nostalgia.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965596 | 334 | 1.539063 | 2 |
On May 25, 2009 Radovan Karadzic filed a motion before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) titled the “Holbrooke Agreement Motion” in which he argues that his indictment should be dismissed on the grounds that Ambassador Richard Holbrooke promised Dr. Karadzic immunity from prosecution in The Hague in return for his resignation from public life.
The United States is aware of this allegation and repeatedly has made clear that no agreement ever was made to provide Radovan Karadzic immunity from prosecution. Neither Ambassador Holbrooke nor any United States official was in a position to offer Dr. Karadzic such immunity, and no such offer was made. Dr. Karadzic did sign a statement, the text of which was negotiated in Belgrade on July 18, 1996, by Ambassador Holbrooke and a team of United States government officials with senior Serbian officials at a meeting where Dr. Karadzic was not present. In this statement, Dr. Karadzic pledged to leave office and withdraw from public life. There was no “quid pro quo”.
As part of an ongoing commitment to assist the work of the ICTY, the United States regularly provides information to both prosecution and defense counsel. As part of this standard practice and in response to requests from Dr. Karadzic’s legal advisor, we have provided a number of documents to Dr. Karadzic, a few of which were cited in the motion filed on May 25. However, we believe that Dr. Karadzic has mischaracterized the evidentiary import of the information he received.
In the interest of transparency and accuracy, we are making available to the public documents
that pertain to the allegation of an immunity agreement and, in particular, demonstrate the lack of an underlying basis for that assertion. As these documents show, the United States Government repeatedly made clear at the time of Dr. Karadzic’s agreement to withdraw from public life that it still expected Dr. Karadzic to be tried in The Hague. This position is reflected in both official statements to the press and in private diplomatic communications, including in letters from Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Ambassador Holbrooke to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.
The United States respects the ICTY’s judicial independence and strongly supports the work and mandate of the ICTY to investigate and try some of history’s most horrific crimes. We applauded Serbian authorities following the arrest and transfer of Radovan Karadzic to The Hague on July 21, 2008, and heralded the day as an important milestone for justice for the victims and reconciliation for the Balkans. Our longstanding policy is to ensure that those accused of atrocities face justice. | <urn:uuid:cea952b9-89a2-46d0-baa0-be59fdef9cec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/06a/125410.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966371 | 572 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Serbian Orthodox saint was born in Indiana
CWN - November 10, 2010
The Serbian Orthodox community in Gary, Indiana, is planning a service in honor of Bishop Varnava Nastic (1914-64), the first US-born saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Bishop Nastic’s family moved to Yugoslavia in 1923. Consecrated a bishop in 1947, the prelate was imprisoned by the nation’s Communist regime and may have died by poisoning.
An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:
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All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off! | <urn:uuid:a4b66f51-4f45-4e40-a74f-92e9a884698f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=8230 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936258 | 224 | 1.523438 | 2 |
I’m sure there have been many terrible sermons preached in the United States, but I can’t imagine one being worst than Jonathan Edward’s Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Sadly, Jonathan Edwards (October 5, 1703 – March 22, 1799) is widely acknowledged to be one of America’s most important and original philosophical theologians. Unfortunately, there are many preachers still preaching this sermon.
That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air. . . | <urn:uuid:313f0783-c514-40cc-a829-babbf2cf5e73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.liberalrev.com/?p=6940 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938056 | 166 | 1.609375 | 2 |
|Creator:||Cheney, Anna Moore (1877- 1953)|
|Extent:||2.00 linear inches.|
|Repository:||Iowa Women's Archives|
|Summary:||Diarist, mother, and minister's wife.|
Anna Susan Moore Cheney, diarist, mother, and minister's wife, was born August 9, 1877 in Ontario, Canada. Before she was fifteen, her family moved to Evansville, Wisconsin, where her father George E. Moore was a Free-Will Baptist minister. On her fifteenth birthday, she wrote in her first journal entry, ' I have been thinking about writing a journal for a long time, so I have started this, and I am going to try to keep it as long as I live.' She continued her entries at least annually throughout her life, writing on her 76th birthday, 'I have the feeling this may be my last birthday recording. Am not at all well.'
Moore was primarily involved with church and school activities during her youth. In 1895 she matriculated at the Free-Will Baptist Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. While there, she met Burton H. Cheney, the son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister. (Wesleyan Methodists had left the Methodist Church in opposition to its episcopal discipline and anti-abolition stance.) Moore and Cheney married August 1, 1899. After serving a Congregational church in Coral, Michigan, Burton Cheney attended the Oberlin Theological Seminary in Oberlin, Ohio, graduating in 1906.
From Oberlin the Cheneys moved to Iowa where Burton served Congregational churches. Their first daughter, Violet Romola, was born in Coral, Michigan in 1902. They adopted a son, Theodore, in 1911, and their daughter Edith was born in 1914 in Davenport, Iowa. They stayed in Davenport from 1912 to 1916, then moved to churches in small towns in Illinois and Wisconsin.
The Cheneys took a break from pastoral duties from 1920 to 1926, moving to a farm near River Falls, Wisconsin. Romola Cheney attended three years of Normal School at River Falls and taught high school for two years. She then attended Beloit College, where she received her degree in 1927 after one year. The adventurous Romola Cheney went to New Mexico to teach, married there and spent the rest of her life in New Mexico. Theodore Cheney joined the medical corps of the navy after three years of high school. Edith Cheney attended a country school and after high school entered the University of Minnesota where she majored in Public School Music. She graduated during the Depression and was fortunate enough to obtain a job at the North Dakota School for the Blind at Bathgate, North Dakota. She later taught in Iowa schools and then worked in music with the Cooperative Extension Service in South Dakota. During summer schools at Teachers' College, Columbia University in New York, she obtained her master's degree. Edith Cheney married Francis Sears of Petersburg, North Dakota.
Burton Cheney's final pastorates were in Iowa. The state superintendent of Congregational churches in Iowa, at one point in the time of Burton and Anna's labors there, wrote a fine commendation of both of them for their faithful, helpful work. Burton Cheney died in Iowa City, Iowa in 1944. The widowed Anna Cheney then lived in Vinton, Iowa, Brookings, South Dakota, and Petersburg, North Dakota with her daughter Edith until her death in 1953. She was buried beside her husband in the Welsh cemetery in Iowa City.
Access: The diaries are open for research.
Use: Copyright has been transferred to the University of Iowa.
Acquisition: The diaries (donor no. 726) were donated by Edith Cheney Sears in 2000.
Preferred Citation: Anna Moore Cheney diaries, Iowa Women's Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City.
|Repository:||Iowa Women's Archives|
|Address:||100 Main Library |
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, IA 52242
Browse by Series:
Series 1: Anna Cheney
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© LivingHomes – Photo by Izumi Tanaka
LivingHomes has just announced the launch of their first well-designed, affordable and sustainable prefabricated home known as C6. Starting at $179,000, the home is nearly half the cost of most other LivingHomes models and includes 34 tons of carbon offsets. It is the first to achieve LEED® Platinum and feature Cradle-to-Cradle inspired materials.
C6 was designed by the architects of LivingHomes in collaboration with Make It Right, a nonprofit founded by Brad Pitt and renowned architect William McDonough to build 150 Cradle to Cradle inspired LEED Platinum homes in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward. A portion of the proceeds from each C6 will help support the efforts of Make It Right. Continue reading for more.
The 1,232 square feet home is built by Cavco, a nationwide leader in the systems buildings of prefabricated homes, and is available in most states. It is capable of being fully constructed in less than two months and installed on-site in one day.
Inspired by the modern homes built by developer Joe Eichler throughout California in the 50s and 60s, C6 embodies an indoor/outdoor lifestyle as it is organized around a central courtyard and accessible through a variety of openings and features. The open floor plan includes three bedrooms, two baths, nine-foot ceilings and ample amounts of storage space.
Floor-to-ceiling glass, clerestory windows, light tubes and transom windows flood the interior with natural light. Artificial light can be accessed from your iPhone with a full feature lighting control system.
Energy efficient lighting and appliances and a smart heating/AC control system reduces power usage, while a 4-kilowatt photovoltaic array accounts for more than 100% of power needs (not included in the price).
Other benefits include low flow water fixtures, a grey water ready system, no VOC paint, formaldehyde-free millwork and real time feedback on energy usage. Some building materials, such as the Trex decking, Anderson double-pain windows and Caesarstone quartz counters in the kitchen and bathrooms, use recycled content.
The C6 also features a new Cradle to Cradle inspired door handle designed by William McDonough and LivingHomes. “In so many ways I have been getting a handle on and finding large and small ways to open the door to the beneficial, 100% Cradle to Cradle future. Now, having worked with chemist Michael Braungart to make Cradle to Cradle Certification (CM) freely available to the public through the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, I am now also putting my hand and eye to designing products that inherently contain and render visible the surprise and delights of Cradle to Cradle design. Collaborating with LivingHomes on this little piece of jewelry has been a joy,” said William McDonough.
C6 is premiering in two locations: the Modernism Week Prefab Showcase in Palm Springs until February 26 and free public tours in Long Beach through February 25th, click here to RSVP. Find more information here.
LivingHomes C6: Affordable, Sustainable and Prefabricated originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 23 Feb 2012. | <urn:uuid:b10643f7-50aa-4d66-819e-b375abd13f17> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.styleofdesign.com/architecture/livinghomes-c6-affordable-sustainable-and-prefabricated/ | 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 | 0.947385 | 688 | 1.648438 | 2 |
President Obama holds a Labor Day campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday, and then flies to Louisiana to inspect the damage from Hurricane Isaac. The Toledo rally is part of a long weekend of campaigning, leading up to the Democratic National Convention, which starts Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C.
The president held a rally with thousands of students at the University of Colorado over the weekend. Just five days earlier, he'd been at Colorado State. Obama is hoping to harness the cross-state rivalry between the schools in the service of his re-election campaign.
"We've set up a Rocky Mountain rumble to see which school can register more voters, CU or Colorado State," Obama said.
Campaign volunteers worked the crowd to sign up voters on the spot. Obama also plugged his campaign's online registration site, just as he does at every campaign appearance.
"Just over two months from now, for the first time in many of your lives, you will get a chance to pick a president," he said.
In some parts of the country, voters won't have to wait two months to cast their ballots. In Iowa, where Obama campaigned Saturday, the window for voting opens just over three weeks from now.
In Ohio, voting begins Oct. 2 — more than a month before what's quaintly referred to as Election Day.
Nationwide, about 30 percent of all votes were cast early in 2008. In Colorado, the ratio was nearly 80 percent.
Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that's one reason the campaign is devoting so much attention to these states at what could be a pivotal point in the race.
"Early voting and encouraging people to vote by mail, get engaged and involved early has always been a big part of our focus. In many of these states we've had people on the ground since 2008, and that's where we felt it was important to invest," Psaki said.
By locking in some votes early, a campaign can minimize last-minute surprises, and Election Day snafus. It also allows for a smoother get-out-the-vote effort, since not all the work has to be focused on a single, frantic day.
North Carolina is another state where more than half of all ballots will be cast before Election Day. Obama has promised to use this week's Democratic convention in North Carolina as an organizing tool. The convention is also a chance to underscore the contrasts between his agenda and the GOP's on issues ranging from health care to tax policy to green energy.
"You can choose an energy plan written by and for the oil companies," Obama said. "Or you can choose what I've offered: an all of the above strategy for American energy."
In Boulder on Sunday, Obama noted that wind and solar power are responsible for some 10,000 jobs in Colorado.
One of those jobs belongs to Chris Wolf, who said, "I spent a year down at the national renewable energy laboratory, and now I'm with a private firm doing similar stuff — renewable energy research."
Wolf, who received his MBA from the University of Colorado, was having breakfast at The Buff, a popular restaurant near the school, when the president dropped by for a surprise visit.
Wolf applauded the president's support for alternative energy. He also liked the president's breakfast order of the Ole Skillet — green chili and eggs on a bed of potatoes. The restaurant was crowded with customers enjoying breakfast mimosas and Bloody Marys.
Obama later warned students at CU that all that good food and drink could be a distraction: "I was thinking to myself, you know I could see folks, like, forgetting to vote," Obama said. "They're having too much fun. But that's why you're so important. You're going to have to set an example for the person next to you in class. You're going to have to remind them: Have you voted yet?"
And Obama is urging supporters not to wait. He's embraced at least the first half of that old Chicago political mantra: vote early — if not often. | <urn:uuid:ad14e2fa-4c84-413c-b37d-6a49a73e2a8a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wamu.org/programs/morning_edition/12/09/03/labor_day_marks_homestretch_in_presidential_race | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982298 | 829 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Love and lust are inextricably intertwined. Lust is ground zero for hormones — it's nature's way of bringing the opposite sexes together to mate. In fact, without lust, it's doubtful that love between a man and a woman would have a chance to prosper at all.
The driving force of the sexual imperative bridges the gap between the almost incompatible brain styles of the two sexes. So lust can be seen as one end of a broad continuum, which may or may not culminate in romantic love.
And love is the most ennobling of human emotions — transcendental, exalted and capable of engendering emotional states that can make the male of the species "want to be a better man." Men fight wars over lust, but they make homes and families for love.
Watch Video: Trick Them Into Falling In Love With You
In Love with Lust
For men, lust is a heady experience; the brain goes on hold and red-hot surges of testosterone run the show. Lust — like love — is truly blind. This is why, especially at the beginning of a relationship, it can be hard to tell whether you're in lust or love; whether she may be the one, or merely a passing fancy who'll have your blood boiling for only a short while.
This is because men are perfectly capable of engaging in sex before they forge emotional bonds with a woman — and those raging hormones can easily disguise themselves as feelings of love.
The real danger is that both lust and love can rob a man of his natural strength and defenses — and then it's all too easy to hand his male power over to a woman for sex-ploitation.
Lust is especially dangerous because it causes a man to think with his crotch and throw all reason and logic to the wind. When a man's in lust he doesn't care if he and his partner have anything in common. He's not interested in where she comes from or where she's going. His brain is only focused on using his key to unlock the door to the secret cave. If his partner's only in lust, she'll use this against him; but if they're both falling in love, this sexuality is a bond.
Is It Lust, or What?
So how can you tell the difference between lust and love? Here are a few tips to help you sort things out. It's lust if:
You're totally focused on her looks and body
Even before you know her name, you're already fantasizing about what she looks like naked and what it would be like to have sex with her.
You don't care about anything she has to say
You make excuses not to spend time with her, except for sex. And if she asks you for a favor, you tell her you're too busy. But if you have to be with her and not have sex, she gets on your nerves and you find yourself fantasizing about other women.
You only want to be with her to have sex
It wouldn't make a difference to you if you never had a conversation with her. Furthermore, you don't bother to return her calls promptly and you can easily go for days without talking to her — until you get horny again.
She's your booty call
After you go out trolling for tail with your buddies on Friday night, you then call her at 1am for some drunken action. Ah, the booty call.
You leave after sex
After having sex with her, you look for the easiest way to leave. No cuddling, no breakfast the next morning, just "I gotta go."
It's Love, Baby
It's love if:
You have great chemistry
You get lost in your conversations, and the hours pass like minutes. You're more than willing to listen to her when she talks about her day. The chemistry between you is remarkable.
You find her beautiful
Even if you catch her with no makeup on and her hair pulled back while she's unclogging a toilet, she still looks beautiful to you.
You want to spend time with her
All you want to do is to be with her, whether you're having sex or not. Even if she tells you that sex will have to wait, you don't care.
You see a future together
You experience the strange feeling that your life would be totally empty without her. You tell your friends and family that she may be the one, and you're even thinking about marrying her.
You introduce her to your family
It becomes very important to you that your parents like her, and that she gets along with everyone close to you.
You include her in all your plans
Whether you're going out with your male friends or taking your dog for a walk, you want her there with you. And if she's not there, you can't get her off your mind and sneak off to give her a quick "I miss you" phone call. Of course, you don't tell your buddies.
You are more romantic
All of a sudden you find yourself listening to cheesy romantic songs and thinking of her. You send her flowers and love notes to work and set up romantic evenings and candlelit dinners at home.
You always take her side
If someone says anything even slightly disparaging about her, you immediately rise to her defense. Furthermore, in social gatherings, you always agree with her even if you disagree behind closed doors.
She makes you want to be a better man
She challenges and motivates you. She makes you happy, and you'd do anything to make her happy.
Gotta Love Lust
Lust is short-term fun; love is the long haul. Even though the two sometimes masquerade as each other, you should be able to tell the difference. The real trick is in deciding what you want, and that's up to you.
More from AskMen.com: | <urn:uuid:1b77f3ed-c434-48db-852c-18ba671816ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ivillage.com/he-love-you-or-lust-you/4-a-283807 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973407 | 1,207 | 1.5 | 2 |
Inbox — Sept. 10, 2008
Letters to the Editor
Last week’s story “The fog of more” (LEO Weekly, Sept. 3) incorrectly referred to the Partnership for a Green City’s Climate Change Committee as Climate Control Committee. The story referenced a report released by that committee that said, in part, certain data was unavailable to assess how much solid waste was produced by several major local bodies and agencies. And it referenced a recent Brookings Institution study that measured Louisville’s greenhouse gas emissions, not the whole of our air pollution.
A CAN-DO ATTITUDE
The Louisville Climate Action Network would like to clarify that although unavailable data renders the preliminary estimate of Louisville’s carbon footprint an underestimate, we very much believe it is quite good enough to justify concerted community action now (referring to “The fog of more,” LEO Weekly, Sept. 3).
Experts believe that, whether it’s McCain or Obama, the U.S. will soon sign an international treaty that will, with Louisville’s dependence on coal and private transportation, put us squarely behind the eight ball.
That we have some of the nation’s cheapest electricity rates leads us to also have some of its highest utility bills. Simply put, we have been wasting what we have seen as inexpensive. But when a cap-and-trade system penalizes climate-warming emissions, electricity and natural gas prices will get our attention, just as higher gasoline prices have.
Louisville can meet the challenge and strengthen our economy by taking advantage of numerous opportunities to boost energy efficiency as alternate sources of energy are expanded. For example, Louisville homes commonly have 5 square feet or more of holes between the inside and outdoors. Why continue to pay higher utility bills when we can tighten our building envelopes, reduce our carbon footprints, cut other air pollutants and improve public health?
We need only a strong action plan, a commitment to implement it and creative, can-do leadership.
Want to know more? Louisville CAN offers free presentations to community groups, houses of worship, businesses, etc. Learn more by visiting www.louisvillecan.org or writing to P.O. Box 4594, 40204.
Sarah Lynn Cunningham, Louisville
ANSWER TO QUESTION
Attn: Ricky Jones:
The perplexing phenomenon attributable to the juxtaposition of McCain, Obama (which, on its surface, is tantamount the effortless contrasting of amoebae and paramecium) is unquestionably and particularly exigent to the constricted intelligence of both the xenophobe and the politically not conversant. However, whilst the perplexities of their stupefaction are most assuredly taxing their intellectual confines, their dilemmas are invigorating to the investigators of psychological quandaries, thereby energizing epistemologists the world over.
Ah, Doc, it is so comforting to know that there are others here from our planet “Intelligential.” It is good to hear the native tongue of intelligence spoke. Now let me try to answer your question in a language that all can understand. How is John McCain doing it?
GOB from Georgia, this is an easy one, and I know you know the answer to it, as does the rest of the world. Many Caucasian-Americans don’t want to publicly admit it, and unfortunately many African-Americans are either too afraid or too caught up in the blinding emotionalism of the moment to admit it. Barack Obama tries so hard to be a non-racial candidate, but the chickens are coming home to roost. The melanin in his skin will be the reason McCain wins.
The very thing he’s running from is the very thing that is catching up to him. McCain is not doing it. Barack’s race is the thing affecting this race. American politics is equated to war, and in this war, America only wants to know your name, race and religious affiliation. Barack Hussein Obama has struck out on all three questions.
Obama is running one of the best campaigns in American politics. Consequently (juxtaposed), John McCain is conducting one of the weakest campaigns. Yet, he is either ahead or slightly behind in most polls. Ask America to remove her blinders for just a moment and answer me this question: If Barack Obama was a white Christian named Williams Lynch, would he still be so close in the polls?
Dr. Ricky L. Jones, the next time you give the class a pop quiz, give a more complex question!
Mustafa Rasul Al-Amin, Louisville
DOWN WITH OWP?
Attn: Ricky Jones:
As you know very well, McCain isn’t doing it at all. Older white people’s fear of the black man is doing it. I’m a 67-year-old white woman, raised in Alabama, who graduated from the University of Alabama the year George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door. I’m voting for Barack Obama anyway.
Lynda Ann Miller, Louisville
STILL HAVE HOPE
Pot. Kettle. Black.
Let’s start with the truth. I can’t disagree with Rick Redding’s recounting of The Courier-Journal’s recent trials and tribulations, not to mention the instances of out-and-out unethical behavior (LEO Weekly, Aug. 27).
Now, the important caveat: I also can’t give Redding much credit for his article. His work is little more than a running account of events, most of which are known or able to be known if one engages in a little critical analysis. I would think that if Redding was interested in actually highlighting what good journalism is, he would have exhibited such behavior himself. Something more than a laundry list — say analysis of the timeline and/or a prediction of where these events may lead — would have sufficed.
Lucky for you guys and gals, I’m not ready to put The C-J and LEO on exactly the same page. Poor writing is one crime; unethical behavior is a different beast altogether. I will say, though, I probably would have not read Redding’s column at all had my girlfriend not had the issue laying on her coffee table. LEO may not be The C-J, but it’s also not holding “mandatory read” status in my life these days. Luckily, I still have hope for LEO. Hope went out the door at The C-J the same day the Binghams did.
Matthew Dowell, Louisville
Editor’s note: Hey Matthew, tell your girlfriend we said thanks. While you’re at it, you may also want to ask her, being a regular reader, how many articles we’ve run in the past three years giving detailed analysis and predictions of the imminent disaster of Gannett. We apologize to you for not putting it all in this particular article. As you know, a lot has happened over there in that time.
SO LOW IN THE HIGHLANDS
Outrageous! The Original Highlands Neighborhood Association is trying to block Wayside Christian Mission from relocating a homeless shelter to former Mercy Academy school. Years ago, the same association wanted something done about the drunks and loud music along Baxter and Barret Avenue corridors. They found a way to accommodate the rowdy crowds — they got together with the bar and restaurant owners and worked something out.
Councilman Tom Owens, then Alderman Owens, got involved and, with his help, it was resolved. Yet now, not a peep from him. The Wayside Christian Mission is about helping those who have fallen on hard times and integrating those who have fallen on hard times back into a respectful place in society. It’s not about changing the Highlands neighborhood. Members of the neighborhood association are more concerned about their property values. How cruel can a group of snobs be? Those of you in the Highlands area who support Barack Obama and are against Wayside Mission’s move should remove your yard signs. Bunch of phony economic bigots!
Keith E. Lewis, Louisville | <urn:uuid:b232625c-9371-4593-afaf-77f5a2a259d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://leoweekly.com/news/inbox-%E2%80%94-sept-10-2008 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949873 | 1,703 | 1.84375 | 2 |
What did Cleopatra, Cher, Jennifer Aniston, and Twiggy all have in common? How about Catherine Hepburn, Bernadette Peters, Whoopi Goldberg, and Betty Boop?
Straight Hair vs. Curly Hair!
Women are often defined by their hair. 'She has a redhead personality, the woman with the straight shiny hair, that curly headed woman.' Of course we all know that women with straight hair, long to have a head full of romantic curls that attract every eye when she walks into the room. Just as women with curly hair would kill to have thick straight hair that blows in the wind and appears to look perfect right out of the shower.
Women with either, know there are pros and cons to both. Straight hair, when looked at under a microscope, is round, therefore giving it the greatest possiblitlity to be strong and durable, while curly hair, when closely evaluated is flat, therefore making it more delicate and susceptible to breakage. Straight hair can look limp and oily, while curly hair can look wild and dry. So which one is bad and which one is good? Neither... and both. There is no perfect hair, only fabulous hair solutions.
The good news is that we women can virtually do anything we want with our hair. Just look at Oprah. One day her hair is flowing past her shoulders and blows in the slightest of breezes, and the next she has a head full of curls bobbing around her face!
This is one of those great prerogatives of being a woman. When lye and sulfur based solutions were discovered to be able to break down a carbohydrate bond in the hair, and make it susceptible to take on a new shape, after reforming the carbohydrate bond with a hydrogen peroxide solution, women have enjoyed the changes that having both curly or straightened hair can give, as Chris Rock so humorously reveals in his hilarious film: Good Hair.
Ceramic straightening irons and curling hot irons have given a new freedom to woman wanting only a temporary change without chemicals. When in doubt, a head full of rollers, either tiny ones for curl, or beer cans for a smooth bounce, will enhance a new look without using chemicals or direct heat. And when all else becomes too challenging, wigs have taken on a whole new personality, from something with a funky color like pink or green hair, to an instant change in length or a style you won't have to wake up with the next day.
Whatever your chosen style, color, or hair solution, we thought it would be fun to share a 'Good hair photo, or Bad hair photo with us, and our other readers on Facebook. Then, if 'misery loves company' is your motto, maybe you will find a little company among the collection to make you feel better; or if you believe that 'envy can plant the seeds to inspire others to try a change', then give us your most fabulous Good hair photo and see what comments you.
Who knows, you just might find your next cut or color choice among the photos shared!
Photo by Claudia | <urn:uuid:8201e8ba-eb03-43b0-be9d-12c5fc6d8a51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beautyshopbuzz.com/2010/03/good-hair-bad-hair.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95478 | 642 | 1.632813 | 2 |
I really think kids today, and probably for the past twenty to thirty years, have been sadly deprived in the public education they have been receiving. I'm not blaming the teachers for the most part. I do think that most of them are doing the best they can within the boundaries they have been confined. I am placing blame on the shoulders of misguided school boards, education departments at the state level, the judicial system, parents, and society as a whole. There is a lot of foolishness that is inflicted upon our children by special interests and liberal buffoons that takes the place of quality and relevant education. The most important textbook and literary resource is rarely used in our classrooms.
Here is my debate question for today:
Should the Bible be mandatory course study throughout the entire K - 12 public school curriculum?
The book commonly referred to as THE HOLY BIBLE is indisputedly the most influential book of Western Culture. I'm sure somebody will dispute this statement and if that's you then I'll be interested in your evidence as to which book has greater influence. THE BIBLE is the best selling book of all time, a fact which is documented by a number of sources. Having possibly sold more than all of the other required or recommended reading books combined is, in my opinion, enough to make it a book that should be not only acknowledged but also studied. The fact that THE BIBLE was the first book to be printed in mass production and prior to the printing press was widely distributed through copies transcribed by hand also gives this book extraordinary significance. However the main reason for all students in the U.S. to have regular study of THE BIBLE as a requirement is the sheer influence this book has had and continues to have on our culture.
1. Literature: THE BIBLE should be taught as literature and literary influence. The book contains poetry and prose which has been read and appreciated for centuries. And not only has it been read, it has been allluded to with great frequency in literature and literary works have been even based on stories and passages from THE BIBLE. Shakespeare alludes to THE BIBLE over 1600 times in his plays. It would be absurd to relegate biblical allusions such as these to obscure footnotes in literary works when a solid education based on the source would make far more sense. Even from the standpoint of words and idioms, many of these are based on biblical allusions. When someone says they've met their goliath, what does that mean? If you are versed in a Bible background you know the answer to that.
2) History: THE BIBLE is history. In some cases there may be some dispute as to its accuracy, but there are many things studied in school that are disputed. A part of education is looking at opposing viewpoints and coming to rational conclusions as to what is correct. Much of the history presented in THE BIBLE is absolutely accurate and new discoveries continue to be made that authenticate what is presented in biblical historical accounts. As far as presentation, their are interesting approaches taken in THE BIBLE that deserve attention, such the geneologies.
Perhaps more important is THE BIBLE's influence on history and how the book directly influenced societal mores, political decisions, legal directives, and other ways that made our society go in some of the directions it went. There are so many biblical references used by our Founding Fathers, as well as numerous historically important speeches by great Americans like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and so many others. Without a strong biblical background students have no reference point to understand these allusions other than assuming that another person's footnoted explanations are correct, which is sometimes shaky scholarship to rely upon.
3). Culture: Some of Western Civilization's greatest works of music and visual art, as well as the art mediums of popular culture, depict or reference things taken from THE BIBLE. Granted though much of the U.S. educational system is sadly lackly in exposing students to the great fine arts, it would still be a good thing to be able to arm them with enough knowledge to recognize what they are seeing when they encounter a work that has something to do with THE BIBLE--it's called being informed, or educated. Even pop culture such as movies and music frequently incorporates biblical themes and ideas. There are too many to even begin to list, but one that immediately comes to mind the THE DAVINCI CODE. Solid biblical knowledge can give a modern audience greater critical discernment and more understanding to appreciate works that have these types of references.
4) Philosophy and critical thinking: Rather than focusing on teaching what to think it might be more useful to teach them how to think. Frequently students are indoctrinated or programmed rather than encouraged to examine many facets of a subject matter and make logical deductions. THE BIBLE offers some unique philosophical ideas that are worth studying which opens up many opportunities to develop strong critical thinking skills.
5) Ethics: Students in the U.S. are becoming sadly lacking in good ethical behavior. Our educational system does not seem to be doing much to change that. THE BIBLE is about ethics to a great extent, and the ethics portrayed therein are fairly universal. Many of our nation's laws are based on biblical laws. These biblical laws make good common sense and are worth study and evaluation. I see nothing but value in teaching students things like stealing and lying are wrong. There is a real upside to studying ethics in school in every grade.
Using THE BIBLE as a text and a book of study is important to our students because it has been a touchstone for our nation, our culture, and our society. It should be presented as objectively as possible with no bias in either direction. We have other requirements such as American History and Foreign Language. One could question the value of these moreso than an ongoing Bible study. Students are given certain novels and other literary works as standard required and recommended fare in English classes. Why those and not THE BIBLE? I am of a strong opinion that in order to preserve our nation's values, heritage, and culture we should promote THE BIBLE over any other text. This book represents who we have been and who we are. I want to keep it that way.
What about you? Would you be disturbed if the U.S. education system required a course of study of THE BIBLE throughout the entire educational career of public school students and if so, why? As long as no particular religious agenda is being pushed, what is the real downside to studying THE BIBLE? Have I realistically stated the influence of THE BIBLE upon our society and if not, why does this book seem to be so important? Try to be rational in your argument and please don't pander to anti-Christian stereotyping or religion bashing. Try to convince me that I'm way off base in my thinking on this or help me prove why I am correct.
So are you up to a game of catch? Let's have a good time. I've tossed it out to you, now it's your turn to toss it back. | <urn:uuid:ad07e9a2-d215-4df0-888a-0883dee8bcd1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/2009/11/lets-throw-book-at-students.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976565 | 1,437 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Amazon.com is expanding its online grocery business to include fresh meat, produce and other perishables. Though the world’s biggest online retailer is remaining low-key and limiting its new program, Amazon Fresh, to a pilot in suburban Seattle, industry analysts see the move as significant.
“Amazon has the brand name and the business base to make an impact as a national online grocer,” says Jon Hauptman, a partner with food retailing consulting firm Willard Bishop. “What they are doing with this pilot looks a lot like the business model FreshDirect successfully implemented in New York. The key is staying local.”
In June 2006 Amazon launched a grocery section that includes 12 categories of nonperishable goods such as cereal, pasta and canned soup. The category also includes merchandise from a variety of well known consumer brand manufacturers such as Kraft, Kellogg and Betty Crocker.
Now Amazon, No. 1 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, is implementing Amazon Fresh on an invitation-only basis on Mercer Island, a trendy and affluent suburb that is in close proximity to Amazon’s Seattle distribution center.
Amazon has quietly put up a micro site – Fresh.Amazon.com – which features locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables, the retailer’s full range of non-perishable items and various organic products. Fresh.Amazon.com is also promising regular and pre-dawn delivery of perishables in temperature-controlled totes to the customer’s home or designated pick-up location.
Amazon isn’t saying much about its move into the perishables food delivery business, but a link and a footnote at the bottom of Fresh.Amazon.com invites customers to fill out a form to “help us figure out where to expand next.”
Amazon is using its own delivery vehicles for the Mercer Island pilot. Today online grocers such as FreshDirect LLC, No. 57 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, and Peapod LLC, No. 43 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, have built national or regional market share-FreshDirect services just the New York City area-by investing millions of dollars in refrigeration systems and fleets of refrigerated delivery vehicles that can take advantage of a local supply chain.
For Amazon to succeed as a national online grocer, they will need to invest heavily in local suppliers and refrigeration, says Hauptman. “They appear to be going about this the right way, which is neighborhood by neighborhood,” says Hauptman. “They have the Amazon brand and what they are developing now is the expertise to look like a FreshDirect.” | <urn:uuid:75e46fa5-d8b7-4e46-abfd-9c6c69f44700> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.internetretailer.com/2007/08/03/amazon-gets-fresh-with-an-expanded-grocery-service | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936693 | 547 | 1.507813 | 2 |
US blocks UN Council statement on Gaza
11/20/2012 5:34:06 PM
The United States on Tuesday blocked a UN Security Council statement on the Gaza conflict, arguing that it would have been "counter-productive" amid efforts to reach a ceasefire.
Russia had threatened to press for a full council resolution on the conflict if the Arab-proposed statement was blocked. That could have led to a veto clash with the United States.
But, with Egyptian-led truce efforts gathering pace, diplomats said Moscow's initiative would be dropped, though the Russian mission made no immediate announcement.
The United States sent a letter to the 14 other council missions just before a Tuesday deadline for the statement to take effect, diplomats told AFP.
Diplomats quoted the US letter as saying the proposed resolution "failed to address the root cause" of the showdown between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, which it said was rocket attacks into Israel.
The US letter called the statement "counter-productive" and added that it was "failing to contribute to diplomacy."
Israel has said its six-day old series of strikes in which more than 120 Palestinians have been killed is a response to the rocket attacks for the six day offensive. Three Israelis have been killed in a rocket attack from Gaza.
Hamas has indicated that a truce could start later Tuesday, which reduces the pressure for Security Council action, but Israel has not confirmed this.
Russia had said Monday that if the Security Council failed to agree a statement by Tuesday then it would put a resolution -- a stronger move by the council than a statement -- to a vote.
The resolution would call for an end to hostilities, support regional efforts to broker peace and call for renewed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Some diplomats said the United States would probably use its power as a permanent member of the Security Council to veto the resolution.
The United States generally blocks any resolution criticizing its Israeli ally at the Security Council.
Palestinian and some Arab diplomats have strongly criticized the council for failing to speak on the Gaza crisis. The council held an emergency meeting last Wednesday but took no action. | <urn:uuid:5905374f-949c-4e7a-aca8-53c00e873dc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.breitbart.com/system/wire/CNG---1b44257685b26a575e9c1cc9119e9df0---61 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970726 | 430 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Mindful of the tragedy that befell the Titanic, yet eager to live out the heady excitement felt by passengers on the maiden voyage of what was then the world’s most modern ocean liner, 750 friends of Denver Museum of Nature & Science hastened aboard for Museum After Dark: A Voyage on the Titanic.
The benefit chaired by Mary Pat Link and her husband, John Strohm, included an after-dinner viewing of Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition and the auction of a watch made with rusted steel and coal recovered from the Titanic. It was donated by Oster Jewelers, and owner Jeremy Oster described the timepiece as “the most exciting watch on the market this year.”
Many of the guests came in period clothing and while there were plenty of bustles, gloves and hats, Dr. Bruce Paton was the most practical. He wore a bright orange life vest.
All of the food served — from the cocktail hour hors d’oeuvres to the dessert buffet set out after dinner in the museum’s South Atrium — was based on menus from the ship’s first class dining room.
The party’s proceeds go to museum-sponsored science programs for school-age children. Microsoft was the Presenting Sponsor.
Dinner was served in various diorama galleries. In North American Wildlife, for example, museum trustee Pamela Beardsley and her husband, George, were in the company of such as Ed and Hope Connors, Bridget Fisher, Mary Gaylord, Harry Lewis and Scott and Wendy Menefee.
Botswana was the “destination” for Oliver Hickel, also a museum trustee, and his wife, Lindsay; Meg Church; Robin and Patrick Jobe; Terry and David Appel; Barbara Bridges; and Reuben Cuneo, a paleobotanist from Argentina who is in the United States on a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Others enjoying this land-locked cruise were Sue Anschutz-Rodgers; Nancy Leprino Henry and David Henry; Leslie and Jack Ferguson; UMB Bank’s Mariner Kemper and his wife, Megan; Gordon and Sally Rippey; Buz and Sherri Koelbel; Tony and Nancy Accetta with her mom, Erna Butler; Jill DiPasquale; decor chairs Becky Stevens and Jeni Stevens; Tim Ryan, who purchased the African safari offered in the live auction; Cynthia and Philippe Dunoyer; Dr. Julika Ambrose; Carol and Graham Phipps; Barbara and Dan Berv; Jane and Merrill Yale; Heidi and Bruce Hoyt; Monta Lee Dakin and Steve Friesen; Mercedes and Sergio Gutierrez; Margie and Dave Hunter; Deanna and Greg Austin; and museum president George Sparks with his wife, Karyn.
Pictures from Museum After Dark can be viewed at denverpost.com/seengallery
Denver Post Society Editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:a076db40-8868-42e0-9a8d-83696b02cc8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.denverpost.com/davidson/tag/reuben-cuneo/ | 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 | 0.934264 | 634 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Ed Koch, New York's feisty mayor, dies at 88
NEW YORK (AP) -- When Ed Koch was mayor, it seemed as if all of New York was being run by a deli counterman. Koch was funny, irritable, opinionated, often rude and prone to yelling.
And it worked, for a while at least.
With a Bronx-born combination of chutzpah and humor, Koch steered New York back from the brink of financial ruin and infused the city with new energy and optimism in the 1970s and `80s while racing around town, startling ordinary New Yorkers on the streets by asking, "How'm I doing?" He was usually in too much of a hurry to wait for an answer.
Koch died of congestive heart failure Friday at 88, after carefully arranging to be buried in Manhattan because, as he explained with what sounded like a love note wrapped in a zinger: "I don't want to leave Manhattan, even when I'm gone. This is my home. The thought of having to go to New Jersey was so distressing to me."
Fond tributes poured in from political allies and adversaries, some of whom were no doubt thinking more of his earlier years in City Hall, before many black leaders and liberals became fed up with what they felt were racially insensitive and needlessly combative remarks.
The Rev. Al Sharpton said in a statement that although they disagreed on many things, Koch "was never a phony or a hypocrite. He would not patronize or deceive you. He said what he meant. He meant what he said. He fought for what he believed. May he rest in peace."
During his three terms in office from 1978 to 1989, New York City climbed out of its financial crisis thanks to Koch's tough fiscal policies and razor-sharp budget cuts, and subway service improved enormously. To much of the rest of the country, the bald, paunchy Koch became a celebrity, the embodiment of the brash, irrepressible New Yorker.
He was quick with a friendly quip and a devastating putdown, and when he got excited or indignant -- which was often -- his voice became high-pitched. During his time in office and beyond, he dismissed his critics as "wackos," feuded with developer Donald Trump ("piggy") and fellow former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani ("nasty man"), lambasted the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and once reduced the head of the City Council to tears.
"You punch me, I punch back," Koch once observed. "I do not believe it's good for one's self-respect to be a punching bag."
Koch's favorite moment as mayor, fittingly, involved yelling. During a transit strike that brought the city's subways and buses to a halt in 1980, he strode down to the Brooklyn Bridge to rally commuters who were forced to walk to work.
"I began to yell, `Walk over the bridge! Walk over the bridge! We're not going to let these bastards bring us to our knees!' And people began to applaud," he recalled many years later.
New Yorkers eventually tired of Koch.
Homelessness and AIDS soared in the 1980s, and critics charged that City Hall's response was too little, too late. Koch's latter years in office were marked by scandals involving those around him and rising racial tensions, stoked in part by Koch himself. In 1989, he lost a bid for a fourth term to David Dinkins, who went on to become the city's first black mayor.
On Friday, Dinkins called the former mayor "a feisty guy who would tell you what he thinks."
"Ed was a guy to whom I could turn if I wanted a straight answer," he told Fox 5 News.
In a statement, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city "lost an irrepressible icon" and called Koch its "most charismatic cheerleader."
"Through his tough, determined leadership and responsible fiscal stewardship, Ed helped lift the city out of its darkest days and set it on course for an incredible comeback," Bloomberg said.
Koch's mark on the city has been set in steel: The Queensboro Bridge was renamed in Koch's honor in 2011. Coincidentally, a documentary about the mayor titled "Koch" opened nationwide on the very day of his death. After viewing a final cut last summer, Koch applauded and congratulated the filmmaker.
A lifelong bachelor who lived in Greenwich Village, Koch championed gay rights, taking on the Roman Catholic Church and scores of political leaders. His own sexual orientation was the subject of speculation and rumors. During his 1977 mayoral campaign against Mario Cuomo, posters that read "Vote for Cuomo, Not the Homo" mysteriously appeared in some neighborhoods.
Koch offered a typically blunt response to questions about his own sexuality: "My answer to questions on this subject is simply, `F--- off.' There have to be some private matters left."
Koch was proudly Jewish and an outspoken supporter of Israel, willing to criticize anyone, including President Barack Obama, over decisions Koch thought could indicate any wavering of support.
"Jews have always thought that having someone elevated with his head above the grass was not good for the Jews. I never felt that way," he said on a WLIW television program, "The Jews of New York." "I believe that you have to stand up."
After leaving office, he continued to offer his opinions as a political pundit, movie reviewer, food critic and judge on "The People's Court." Even in his 80s, Koch exercised regularly and worked as a lawyer.
Describing himself as "a liberal with sanity," Koch pursued a fearlessly independent course. When President George W. Bush ran for re-election in 2004, Democrat Koch crossed party lines to support him and spoke at the GOP convention. He also endorsed Bloomberg's re-election efforts at a time when Bloomberg was a Republican.
"I'm not the type to get ulcers," he wrote in "Mayor," his autobiography. "I give them."
Edward Irving Koch was born in the Bronx on Dec. 12, 1924, the second of three children of Polish immigrants. During the Depression the family lived in Newark, N.J.
The future mayor worked his way through school, checking hats, working behind a delicatessen counter and selling shoes. He attended City College and served as a combat infantryman in Europe during World War II, earning his sergeant stripes.
He received a law degree from New York University in 1948 and began practicing law in Greenwich Village, where he began his political career as a member of a group of group of liberal Democratic reformers. He defeated powerful Democratic boss Carmine DeSapio, whose roots reached back to the corrupt Tammany Hall political machine, in a race for district leader.
Koch was elected to the City Council and then to Congress, serving from 1969 to 1977 as representative for the "Silk Stocking" district that was then known for its millionaire Park Avenue constituency.
The liberal Koch was the first Democrat to represent the district in 31 years. But his politics edged to the center of the political spectrum during his years in Congress and pulled to the right on a number of issues after he became mayor.
His answer to the war on drugs? Send convicted drug dealers to concentration camps in the desert. Decaying buildings? Paint phony windows, complete with cheery flowerpots, on brick facades. Overcrowded city jails? Stick inmates on floating prison barges.
With New York City in dire financial condition in 1977, Koch defeated Mayor Abe Beame and Cuomo in the Democratic primary to win his first term in City Hall. He breezed to re-election in 1981 and 1985, winning an unprecedented three-quarters of the votes cast. At the time, he was only the third mayor in city history to be elected to three terms.
In 1982, he made a run for governor against then-Lt. Gov. Cuomo. But his bid blew up after he mouthed off about life outside his hometown.
"Have you ever lived in the suburbs?" Koch told an interviewer about a possible move to Albany. "It's sterile. It's nothing. It's wasting your life." He said life in the country meant having to "drive 20 miles to buy a gingham dress or a Sears, Roebuck suit."
It cost him the race, but it convinced many of the 8 million city residents that Koch belonged in New York.
Koch's third term was beset by corruption scandals. Queens Borough President Donald Manes, a close ally, committed suicide in 1986 after resigning over kickback and patronage allegations. The Bronx Democratic boss and others were also tarred. Koch's commissioner of cultural affairs, former Miss America Bess Myerson, stepped down after being accused of trying to influence the judge in a court case involving her boyfriend.
Koch fell out with many black voters for purging anti-poverty programs and making comments that many considered insensitive, such as saying that busing and racial quotas had done more to divide the races than to achieve integration.
He also said Jews would be "crazy" to vote for Jackson during the civil rights leader's 1988 presidential campaign after Jackson referred to New York as "Hymietown" and called for a Palestinian homeland in Israel.
It didn't help that Koch's combativeness came during an era of heightened racial unrest, first after the 1986 death of a black youth at the hands of a white gang in Howard Beach and three years later after a black teen was shot to death in Brooklyn's tough Bensonhurst neighborhood by a group of whites.
Koch later said the simmering racial tensions didn't lead to his defeat. "I was defeated because of longevity," he said. "People get tired of you. So they decided to throw me out." But he also once said that his biggest regret as he left office was that "many people in the black community do not perceive that I was their friend."
On Friday, Jackson said in a statement that Koch's "leadership and legacy will never be forgotten in New York City, New York state or our nation."
Koch wrote 10 nonfiction books, including the best-seller "Mayor," `'Politics" and "His Eminence and Hizzoner," written with Cardinal John O'Connor. He also wrote four mystery novels and three children's books.
He also played himself in the movies "The Muppets Take Manhattan" and "The First Wives Club" and hosted "Saturday Night Live." In 1989's "Batman," the character of Gotham City's mayor bore a definite resemblance to Koch.
At age 83, Koch paid $20,000 for a burial plot at Trinity Church Cemetery, at the time the only graveyard in Manhattan that still had space. He had his tombstone with the last words of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped and beheaded by Islamic militants: "My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish."
It also includes an epitaph he wrote: "He was fiercely proud of his Jewish faith. He fiercely defended the City of New York, and he fiercely loved its people. Above all, he loved his country, the United States of America, in whose armed forces he served in World War II."
The funeral will be Monday at Temple Emanu-El in Manhattan. Koch is survived by his sister, Pat Thaler, and many grandnieces and grandnephews. | <urn:uuid:46dce160-3d6f-4600-8c61-9a0c21616787> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/national/northeast/12009741409992/ed-koch-new-york-s-feisty-mayor-dies-at-88/ | 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 | 0.986229 | 2,373 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Faculty Members Named AAAS Fellows
Nine elected to one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societiesApril 18, 2012 | by Hilary Hurd Anyaso
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Nine members of the Northwestern University faculty have been elected fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.
The nine are Ken Alder, James Allison Brown, Shari Seidman Diamond, James N. Druckman, Alice Hendrickson Eagly, Ehud Kalai, Gregory B. Olson, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and David Theodore Van Zanten.
They are among the 220 leaders in the sciences, social sciences, the humanities, the arts, business and public affairs who have been elected to the academy this year for their pathbreaking work. The new class of fellows will be inducted at a ceremony Oct. 6 at the academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.
The new Northwestern members are:
• Ken Alder, the Milton H. Wilson Professor in the Humanities and a professor of history in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
Alder, founder of Northwestern’s Science in Human Culture Program, studies the history of modern science and technology in the context of social and political change. He has published studies of 18th-century France and 20th-century America. His first book, “Engineering the Revolution: Arms and Enlightenment in France, 1763-1815,” published in 1997, won the Edelstein Prize from the Society of the History of Technology. His second book, “The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error that Transformed the World,” was published in 2002 and won the Davis Prize from the History of Science Society and the Dingle Prize of the British Society for the History of Science, was co-winner of the Kagan Prize for European History from The Historical Society and has been translated into 12 languages.
Alder’s most recent work, “The Lie Detectors: The History of an American Obsession,” was published in 2007. For this and his current project, a comparative study of the relationship between science and the law in France and America from the 16th century to the present, he has received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation and the American Bar Foundation. He has also served on the executive councils of the History of Science Society and the Society for the History of Technology as well as an advisory editor on their respective journals, Isis and Technology & Culture.
Alder’s home page: http://www.kenalder.com/
• James Allison Brown, professor emeritus of anthropology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
Brown is an archaeologist with broad interests in the aboriginal cultures of North America, past and present. His research has been directed towards detailed examination of social and cultural complexity in the Eastern Woodlands of North America. Critical to this endeavor has been an effort to move the archaeological debate from typically parochial concerns to a globally based framework that allows the archaeological record of the Eastern Woodlands to be examined cross-culturally. Currently, he has been concentrating on religious and social changes over the past 1,000 years. Iconography has been employed as a route to the study of religion, canonical representation and craft specialization.
The author and co-editor of a number of books, Brown is a recipient of grants and fellowships from the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Park Service and various state agencies. He serves on the board of directors of the Center for American Archeology (Kampsville) and has served as commissioner of the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor Commission and on the board of directors of the Illinois State Museum (including chairman of the board). He is the holder of the 1999 Distinguished Service Award from the Society for American Archaeology and the Clarence L. Ver Steeg Graduate Faculty Award (2004). He is also a member of the Registry of Professional Archaeologists (RPA) and a certified professional archaeologist in Illinois.
Brown’s home page: http://www.anthropology.northwestern.edu/faculty/brown.html
• Shari Seidman Diamond, the Howard J. Trienens Professor of Law and a professor of psychology
Diamond is one of the foremost empirical researchers on jury process and legal decision-making, including the use of science by the courts.
She is the author and co-author of more than 100 articles and essays in law reviews and behavioral science journals; her publications on juries and surveys have been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court as well as other federal and state courts.
Diamond has lectured widely to scholarly and judicial audiences and has served as an expert witness in American and Canadian courts on matters concerning juries, trademarks and deceptive advertising. Diamond received the 2010 Harry Kalven, Jr. Award from the Law and Society Association for contributions to research in law and society and the 1991 American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy. As a member of the ABA’s American Jury Project, she helped draft the Principles for Juries and Jury Trials adopted in 2005. She served on the executive committee of the American Jury Project Commission of the Seventh Circuit Bar Association and currently serves on the Seventh Circuit Committee on Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions.
Diamond’s home page: http://www.law.northwestern.edu/faculty/profiles/ShariDiamond/
• James N. Druckman, Payson S. Wild Professor of Political Science in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a faculty fellow in the Institute for Policy Research
Druckman is a specialist in public opinion, political communication and experimental methodology whose recent work examines how citizens make political, economic and social decisions. In prior work, he explored the relationship between citizen’s preferences and public policy and how political elites make decisions under varying institutional conditions. Druckman currently edits the journal Public Opinion Quarterly and the University of Chicago Press’ Chicago Studies in American Politics.
Druckman, who was recently named a Guggenheim Fellow for 2012, has published more than 70 articles and book chapters in political science, communication, economic and psychology journals.
His work has been recognized with numerous awards, including 12 best paper awards; he also has received grant support from such entities as the National Science Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation and Phi Beta Kappa. His teaching/advising has been recognized with the Outstanding Award for Freshman Advising and an Outstanding Faculty citation by Northwestern’s Associated Student Government.
Druckman’s home page: http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~jnd260/
• Alice Hendrickson Eagly, the James Padilla Chair of Arts and Sciences and a professor of psychology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences; a faculty fellow in the Institute for Policy Research and a professor of management and organization
Eagly’s research examines the psychology of gender, especially sex differences in similarities in leadership, prosocial behavior, aggression, partner preferences and sociopolitical attitudes. She also contributed to theories of sex differences and similarities and of the origins of sex differences in social behavior. Eagly has also investigated the psychology of attitudes, especially attitude change, attitude structure and attitudinal selectivity in information processing.
She is the author and co-author of numerous journal articles and books, including “Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders” (Harvard Business School Press, 2007) with Linda Carli, which examines the advantages and disadvantages of women as leaders. Eagly is also the author of “The Psychology of Attitudes” (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1993) with Shelly Chaiken and the co-editor of “The Social Psychology of Group Identity and Social Conflict: Theory, Application, and Practice” (APA Books, 2004) and “The Psychology of Gender” (2nd ed.) (Guilford Press, 2004).
Eagly has received many awards over the years, including the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Science of Social Psychology by the American Psychological Foundation in 2009. She was also the recipient of the 2011 Raymond A. Katzell Award from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the 2009 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association, the 2008 Distinguished Publication Award from Association for Women in Psychology and the 2011 Berlin Prize. She has served as president of the Midwestern Psychological Association, president of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, chair of the board of scientific affairs of the APA and chair of the executive committee of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology.
• Ehud Kalai, the James J. O’Connor Distinguished Professor of Decision and Game Sciences and director of the Center for Strategic Decision Making at the Kellogg School of Management
Kalai has advanced the frontiers of game theory and its interface with economics, social choice, operations research and computer science. His work has opened and expanded understanding of bargaining, strategic learning, large games and related subjects. The research is reported in more than 60 scientific papers published by the leading game theory, economics and operations journals.
Kalai is the founding editor of Games and Economic Behavior, the top journal in game theory today, co-founder and president of the international Game Theory Society and fellow of the Econometric Society.
Kalai’s home page: http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Faculty/Directory/Kalai_Ehud.aspx
• Gregory B. Olson, the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science
A designer of high-performance alloys, Olson is considered a founder of computational materials design. He directs the Materials Technology Laboratory/Steel Research Group at McCormick. Olson developed a systematic science-based approach for designing structural materials that takes the desired properties and calculates the optimum composition and processing route. Beyond materials design, his research interests include phase transformations, structure/property relationships and applications of high-resolution microanalysis.
Olson is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. In 1997, he founded QuesTek Innovations LLC, a materials design company whose first creation was a high-performance steel for gears that was designed at Northwestern and licensed to the company. Dec. 17, 2010, marked the historic first flight of QuesTek’s Ferrium S53 aircraft landing gear steel, the first fully computationally designed and flight-qualified material.
Olson’s home page: http://www.matsci.northwestern.edu/faculty/gbo.html
• Sir Fraser Stoddart, Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
By introducing an additional type of bond (the mechanical bond) into chemical compounds, Stoddart became one of the few chemists to have opened up a new field of chemistry during the last 25 years. His areas of expertise include molecular electronics (using molecules on the nanoscale as the tiniest of switches to create molecular memory) and artificial molecular machines (to create controllable and targeted drug delivery systems). Stoddart is ranked by the Institute for Scientific Information for the period of the last decade as one of the top 10 most-cited chemists in the world.
He is a fellow of the Science Division of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences; the German Academy of Natural Sciences; the Royal Society of London, the national academy of sciences of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Countries; and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s national academy of arts and sciences. His many awards include the King Faisal International Prize in Science (2007) and the Royal Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, presented by the Duke of Edinburgh in 2010.
Stoddart’s home page: http://stoddart.northwestern.edu/
• David Theodore Van Zanten, the Mary Jane Crowe Professor of Art and Art History in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
Van Zanten examines how architects think and why modern society bestows such confidence and authority on them, for example, in the design of whole cities -- first in Europe and the Americas, and now in China, and the BRICS periphery. He began, in the 1970s, working on the troubled interface between the most highly trained national profession, that of
19th-century France, and the resistant and complex form of Paris, the subject of his involvement in the exhibition “The Architecture of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts” (Museum of Modern Art, 1975) and his books “Designing Paris” (1987) and “Building Paris” (1994).
He has explored its broader manifestation in the struggle to control the form of the British industrial city during the decades before the “transformation” of Paris and in the case of the burgeoning German city of Hamburg after a catastrophic fire of 1842. He has always followed this subject’s complex manifestation in Chicago -- the most architectural city in America (but just what does that mean?). It is the focus of his forthcoming exhibition at the Block Museum, “Drawing the Future” (spring 2013) focusing on the 1912 design of the capital of Australia, Canberra, by the Frank Lloyd Wright assistants Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin, and the subject of a number of publications beginning with his “Walter Burley Griffin: Selected Designs” of 1970 and “Sullivan’s City” of 2000 as well as his edited volume, “Marion Mahony Reconsidered” of summer 2011.
Van Zanten’s home page: http://www.arthistory.northwestern.edu/faculty/david-vanzanten.html
The academy is a leading center for independent policy research. Members contribute to its studies of science and technology policy, global security, social policy and American institutions, the humanities and education.
“Election to the academy is both an honor for extraordinary accomplishment and a call to serve,” said Leslie C. Berlowitz, academy president and William T. Golden Chair. “We look forward to drawing on the knowledge and expertise of these distinguished men and women to advance solutions to the pressing policy challenges of the day.”Established in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a center for independent policy research, undertakes studies of complex and emerging problems. Since its founding by John Adams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock and other patriot-scholars, the academy has elected leading “thinkers and doers” from each generation, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century, Daniel Webster and Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 19th and Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill in the 20th. The current membership includes more than 250 Nobel laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer Prize winners. | <urn:uuid:455a271c-e9d1-4158-9e70-98b041be8035> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2012/04/american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938546 | 3,142 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Madison, WI– The need for secure and reliable financial services is not a unique one in the international community but the availability of these services often is challenging. This is especially true in primarily Muslim countries, such as Iran, where traditional interest bearing accounts and credit practices are forbidden by religious doctrine. That is where the World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU) steps in to build a bridge between people of countries, spreading the guiding philosophy of the credit union movement; people helping people.
This past December, Dr. Mo Vaziri traveled to the capital city of Tehran on a mission for the World Council of Credit Unions. Dr. Mo Vaziri, who on a typical day presides over a subsidiary division of Arrowhead Credit Union. Vaziri was chosen for this role because of his prior experience consulting for the Iranian Central Bank on the restructuring of the Tehran Stock Exchange three years ago.
There are 1,579 credit unions in Iran with 419,069 members. Some of these credit unions serve across the country, such as Samen Alaemeh, with 500 branches nationwide and Mola Almovahedin with 300 branches. With growth of the credit union sector, the credit unison have asked for advice in the establishment of a regulatory agency over the credit union system.
"Vaziri's unique perspective, having worked with financial agencies in Iran as well as other countries, coupled with his educational background and credit union expertise made him the perfect choice to assist with this auspicious undertaking," states Larry Sharp, President/CEO of Arrowhead Credit Union. "We were happy to donate his time to make this event happen."
According to Brian Branch, Chief Operating Officer at WOCCU, who helped to organize the trip, "credit unions are one of the most active community based means by which ordinary people exercise democracy and economic self help around the world. Credit unions provide members with a means by which they can improve their lives through their own collective actions."
Vaziri adds, "It was a great experience to visit Iran as the role of financial cooperatives throughout the country is expanding. By participating in WOCCU, the Iranian credit union system will have access to the technology and processes to assist them in providing more financial services to their members with better oversight from the new regulatory agency."
"To help in the development of the global credit union community is a testimony to the viability of the credit union message; as we establish these bonds and learn from other cultures, they learn from our financial practices, and we can be ambassadors of goodwill around the world," states Sharp.
World Council of Credit Unions is the global trade association and development agency for credit unions. World Council promotes the sustainable development of credit unions and other financial cooperatives around the world to empower people through access to high quality and affordable financial services. World Council advocates on behalf of the global credit union system before international organizations and works with national governments to improve legislation and regulation. Its technical assistance programs introduce new tools and technologies to strengthen credit unions' financial performance and increase their outreach.
World Council has implemented more than 290 technical assistance programs in 71 countries. Worldwide, 51,000 credit unions in 100 countries serve 196 million people. Learn more about World Council's impact around the world at www.woccu.org. | <urn:uuid:c82bbe9e-7638-4dfb-8309-d83d1419ad22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.woccu.org/newsroom/releases/WOCCU_and_Arrowhead_Credit_Union_Work_With_Credit_Unions_In_Iran?p=pf&release_uri=woccu_and_arrowhead_credit_union_work_with_credit_unions_in_iran&id=1104 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9635 | 674 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Ten years ago, if you encountered two women talking about nails, chances are they were referring to the manicured kind. These days, if you stumble into the middle of a nail conversation between two women, they are just as likely to be debating the benefits of galvanized vs. stainless steel for repairing the back deck.
Long overlooked as remodelers and do-it-yourselfers (DIYers), more and more women are picking up power tools and putting them to use. Los Angeles-based Be Jane Inc. pegs the female home improvement market as a $50-billion industry.
While women have always played a role in remodeling choices and room design, “what has shifted is that women are taking on projects and doing them themselves. Now, they realize that this isn't rocket science,” says Heidi Baker, co-founder of Be Jane, an online community “dedicated to serving the fastest growing segment of the home improvement marketplace women do-it-yourselfers.”
About 95,000 unique visitors came to www.be-jane.com in August to view content like animated how-to tutorials, a power-tool glossary and step-by-step DIY projects. To come: an expanded online store, a weblog for members to post their experiences with their own projects and a referral system for female contractors. If the site continues to grow at a 35 percent rate, as company president and co-founder Eden Clark expects, Be Jane will be looking at 350,000 unique visitors per month by December.
Be Jane is not
“This is all about areas where women have historically lacked confidence,” says Kavovit, a single mother and homeowner herself. “We are helping them get out of the kitchen and giving them the entrée to be independent, the basic knowledge to be self-sufficient.”
The key to serving the female DIY and remodeling market is to understand the differences between the traditional male remodeler and the female and there are significant differences.
“Women shop and buy in terms of getting projects completed; men think of stocking the tool shed,” says Kavovit. “Women think in terms of enhancing their homes. Men say, I need a new hammer.'”
In the kitchen, for example, where a man might be looking to install a new sink to replace a rusted one, a woman might be asking, “How can I make the space more suitable for cooking, more usable, more child-friendly, so it's a space where kids can sit and do homework while I make dinner?”
“It's not just the project itself, but how it affects their lives,” says Eden Clark, president and co-founder of Be Jane.
Such gender differences are where, until recently, traditional home improvement stores have done a poor job.
“The real key is fear. Many women think I can't do this' or I'm not supposed to do this,” says Clark.
One of the main goals of the Be Jane and Barbara k! Web sites is to get women over that fear. Baker and Clark often receive comments like, “Thank you for providing a resource that women can relate to” or “Finally, a place where I'm able to ask the stupid' questions.”
“Women are afraid of asking, because if you ask a stupid' question at a lot of home improvement centers, you're seen as not being able to do the project,” says Clark.
Despite the rapid increase in female DIYers, many women have little experience with remodeling projects. The first time Baker and Clark installed crown molding, it took six hours to put up 30 linear feet.
“We found that when we did home improvement projects the first time, it took two to three times longer to do it right, because we didn't have the right tools when we started project,” says Baker.
The second time they attempted crown molding, the two traded in their hammer and nails for a nail gun and installed 100 linear feet in less than half the time. When anyone uses the wrong equipment, man or woman, they will have difficulty with the job. But women new to such work have a tendency to blame themselves, which reinforces doubts.
“They think, It must be me. I must not be able to do it because I'm not strong enough,' when really what they're lacking is the right tool for the job,” says Clark.
Home improvement centers themselves are getting better at meeting women's needs, say the experts. Lowe's and Home Depot have taken steps to make their stores more female friendly and implement a number of how-to workshops for men and women.
“We see a definite difference in how home improvement retailers and product companies are addressing the market. One-and-a-half years ago, we didn't see it,” says Clark. “Now there is more awareness that this a viable audience. They are definitely shifting.”
Companies like power tool manufacturer Ryobi Technologies Inc., Anderson, S.C., are doing “a terrific job” of targeting the female market, says Clark, by advertising directly to women and providing a range of tools for beginner and intermediate DIYers. According to a 2003 Ryobi survey, nearly 90 percent of women polled said they would be happy to receive a power tool for Mother's Day. (In 2003 at Amazon.com's hardware site, Mother's Day sales of power tools equaled Father's Day sales.)
This summer, American Standard, the big supplier of kitchen and bath products, launched a “for women only” marketing effort to help women plan and undertake plumbing projects. A 12-page guide features kitchen and bath designs, with ideas for choosing and installing sinks, toilets, faucets, bathtubs, whirlpools and showers. The company even held a contest and selected “American's Sexiest Plumber” to serve as a spokesperson: Lori Sardinha-Costa, a real plumber from Fall River, Mass.
“American Standard helps empower women to do it themselves,” says Sardinha-Costa. “Few things add as much value and enjoyment as a bathroom or kitchen remodel in which you do all or part of the work yourself. Even a simple fix-up, such as installing a new faucet, can make your home a better place while adding to your own sense of accomplishment.”
The trend is not expected to stop anytime soon. The market is feeding itself. The proliferation of “shelter” magazines such as O Home, Natural Home and Dwell clearly target women and expose them to more remodeling and decorating ideas. Plus there simply are more women in the market with more money to spend.
It's pure demographics, says Cynthia Cohen, president of Strategic Mindshare, a retail consulting firm based in Miami. On the one side, “women are living longer than men do and are more active in their senior years.” And on the other side, “young women are marrying later and buying their own home in their early working years.”
Nearly 20 percent of the homes sold in 2004 were sold to single women, according to the National Association of Realtors, Chicago. That contrasts with 10 percent sold to single men. From 2004-2010, the number of single female homeowners will rise from 17 million to 30 million, a 76 percent increase, according to Fannie Mae, Washington, D.C. By 2010, 28 percent of households will be headed by women.
These are independent minded people, used to doing things for themselves. Home repair and remodeling means more to such a demographic. It's more than installing a sink or a dimmer switch.
“They want to save time and money and have the confidence to do it themselves. They don't want to have to rely on others and want to lead that independent lifestyle that we all strive for,” says Kavovit.
When a woman completes a remodeling or DIY project, “it results in an overall sense of accomplishment that they carry everywhere,” says Baker.
Adds Clark, “When you change your home, you change your life.” | <urn:uuid:b46e82d0-0b4d-4c74-9283-f438bb234c69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.berkshireeagle.com/homeimprovement/ci_3068255 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966523 | 1,727 | 1.773438 | 2 |
… It is reported that part of this decline is self-inflicted…. This just can’t be … America always has someone to BLAME … and that can’t be us …
Noam Chomsky on America’s Declining Empire, Occupy and the Arab Spring
READ COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE …
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet…Posted on April 24, 2012, Printed on April 24, 2012… http://www.alternet.org/story/155116/noam_chomsky_on_america%27s_declining_empire%2C_occupy_and_the_arab_spring
Last year, the Occupy Movement rose up spontaneously in cities and towns across the country, radically shifted the discourse and rattled the economic elite with its defiant populism. It was, according to Noam Chomsky, “the first major public response to thirty years of class war.” In his new book, Occupy, Chomsky looks at the central issues, questions and demands that are driving ordinary people to protest. How did we get to this point? How are the wealthiest 1 percent influencing the lives of the other 99 percent? How can we separate money from politics? What would a genuinely democratic election look like?
Chomsky appeared on this week’s AlterNet Radio Hour. Below is a transcript that’s been lightly edited for clarity. (You can listen to the whole show here)
Filed under: Blogroll | <urn:uuid:2b3c0a00-f941-4759-93d0-c52ba3130b60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://authenticallywired.com/2012/04/25/decline-is-self-inflicted/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93571 | 303 | 1.648438 | 2 |
You are herecontent / Afghanistan War Weekly: January 2, 2011
Afghanistan War Weekly: January 2, 2011
Though winter has slowed the war fighting in Afghanistan, year-end assessments of the war and especially of the recent four-stage “surge” around Kandahar continue to report little in the way of real progress. The increasing level of violence in Afghanistan made 2010 the bloodiest year of the war yet, with 500 US killed and 5,000 US wounded, a record number of air strikes in Afghanistan and drone strikes in Pakistan, and unknown numbers of Afghanistan killed and wounded. Sketchy reports of last fall’s fighting also indicate massive destruction to many villages, especially the result of air strikes, artillery, and surface-to-surface missiles. Two articles linked below describe the spread of the war to the north, to the province of Kunduz, and a good package of articles linked below describes Afghanistan’s entrenched corruption, a problem the US cannot hope to solve without destroying the façade of an Afghanistan government. The war is very different than it was a year ago.
Scarcely visible in the US media, Pakistan’s US-friendly government teeters on the edge of collapse, as two small parties have now left the governing coalition, raising the likelihood of elections and further destabilization. An interesting packet of articles linked below describes some of the problems in sealing the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, where the war managers are contemplating a “solution” based on US incursions into Pakistan territory. A second set of articles reviews the damage done by the drone attacks, now vigorously opposed by all Pakistan political parties and by great majorities on public opinion polls. An election under these circumstances would make the US war a front-burner issue, with unpredictable consequences.
Week Five of the WikiLeaks saga did not produce any major developments, except that the major media in possession of the State Department cables have more or less ceased publishing stories about them. With less than 2,000 of the 251,000 cables now in the public domain, it is likely that WikiLeaks will begin publishing the cables themselves. (Until now, they have posted only those cables that have been previously published by the major media.) Linked below are many good articles about the significance of the Leak, the problems the US will have prosecuting Assange, and a few stories about what the cables tell us about Empire Management.
Also below are links to several good articles about the impact of the war on soldiers, vets, and their families. The most recent public opinion poll finds that US opposition to war now stands at 63 percent, an all-time high, with opposition from self-identified Democrats at over 70 percent.
If you find this newsletter useful, I would appreciate your help in expanding circulation. I would also appreciate suggestions about good articles to link here, and also comments (pro & con) that would help to make this newsweekly better. My email is firstname.lastname@example.org. This “issue” and some previous editions of the Afghanistan War Weekly are posted on the websites of United for Peace and Justice (http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=4111) and War is a Crime (www.afterdowningstreet.org/aww).
----Frank Brodhead, Concerned Families of Westchester (NY)
THE WAR IN WASHINGTON
2011 seen as make-or-break year for Afghan mission
By Laura King, Los Angeles Times [January 1, 2011]
---- A U.S. troop buildup in 2010 was meant to blunt the momentum of the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Now it is 2011 that has become the make-or-break year. U.S. and NATO officials have sought to put a positive face on the last 12 months of fighting here, citing significant military gains in the Taliban's southern heartland, a concerted campaign of strikes targeting the insurgents' midlevel field command and the growth of the NATO force to levels at last deemed adequate for the task at hand. But some ominous developments, both on and off the battlefield, bode ill for the new year. The Taliban made deep inroads in swaths of the country previously regarded as relatively safe — the north, northwest and center — eroding confidence in the West's ability to protect the Afghan populace and hampering aid and reconstruction efforts. Parliamentary elections in September intended as a democratic showpiece devolved into fraud and chaos. Corruption tightened its grip on the government of President Hamid Karzai. By midsummer, combat casualties among U.S. troops and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization force as a whole had already reached their highest annual levels of the war. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghanistan-year-201...
(Video) Afghanistan: A Look Back at 2010
By Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times [December 31, 2010]
USEFUL FACTS ABOUT THE WAR
---- 711 Coalition soldiers have been killed in 2010, including 498 US soldiers. Fighting has begun to taper off due to the onset of winter; 53 US soldiers were killed in November, and 30 were killed in December. In total, 2,284 Coalition soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the war, including 1,445 soldiers from the United States. The number of US soldiers wounded in November 2010 was 501; 143 were wounded through December 13. This brings the total US wounded during 2010 to 4,996, and the number wounded since the war began to 9,771. To learn more go to www.icasualties.org and to http://tomhayden.com/downloads/Wounded.pdf
---- “Afghan civilian toll up 20 percent-U.N. report,” by Jonathon Burch, Reuters [December 21, 2010] states that “Civilian casualties in Afghanistan rose by 20 percent in the first 10 months of this year compared with 2009, the United Nations said, with more than three-quarters killed or wounded as a result of insurgent attacks. In a quarterly report on Afghanistan this month, the United Nations said there were 6,215 civilian casualties from conflict-related incidents, including 2,412 deaths and 3,803 injuries, between January and the end of October this year.” http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-53709120101221?rpc=401&feedType=... See also Susan G. Chesser, “Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians,” Congressional Research Service [August 11, 2010] http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R41084.pdf
[See below, under “Pakistan Drones.”]
The Cost of the War
---- According to the website www.costofwar.com, expenditures on the Afghanistan war have reached $381 billion and the total for both the Afghanistan and the Iraq wars is $1.130 trillion. For a useful resource on the costs of war, go to “Bring Our War $$ Home” at www.bringourwardollarshome.org/index.html
Public opinion about the war in Afghanistan
---- “63 Percent of Americans Oppose War In Afghanistan.” Opposition to the war in Afghanistan is at an all-time high, with 63 percent of the public now opposed to U.S. involvement there, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey. Just 35 percent of survey respondents say they still support U.S. involvement. The increase in opposition to U.S. involvement comes as pessimism about how the war is going is rising. According to a poll done Dec. 17-19, 56 percent of the public believes that "things are going badly for the U.S. in Afghanistan." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/30/63-percent-of-american-public-o...
---- “ABC News/Washington Post Poll: Record Six in 10 Say it's 'Not Worth Fighting' “ - A record 60 percent of Americans say the war in Afghanistan has not been worth fighting, a grim assessment -- and a politically hazardous one -- in advance of the Obama administration's one-year review of its revised strategy. Public dissatisfaction with the war, now the nation's longest, has spiked by 7 points just since July. Given its costs vs. its benefits, only 34 percent in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll [December 16, 2010] say the war's been worth fighting, down by 9 points to a new low, by a sizable margin. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/abc-news-washington-post-poll-exclusive-a...
---- Americans continue to be divided over the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, with 45% supporting and 45% opposing it. The plurality 49% of Americans say the U.S. government has been providing them too little information about the war in Afghanistan, and more than half, 54%, say they do not know what their country's war in Afghanistan is all about. The plurality 38% of Americans expect the war to eventually come to a negotiated settlement that gives the Taliban a role in the Afghan government, while only 16% still expect a clear military victory by the U.S.-led foreign military forces. The Angus Reid poll was conducted December 3-5, 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_public_opinion_on_the_war_in_...
DAMAGED SOLDIERS, BROKEN ARMY
US military investigates 'death squad' accused of murdering Afghans
By Chris McGrea, The Guardian [UK] [December 29, 2010]
---- The US military is investigating the leadership of an army brigade whose soldiers are accused of running a "kill team" that murdered Afghan civilians, as further evidence emerges of widespread complicity in the deaths. A brigadier general is conducting a "top to bottom" review of the 5th Stryker brigade after five of its soldiers were committed for trial early next year charged with involvement in the murders of three Afghans and other alleged crimes including mutilating their bodies, and collecting fingers and skulls from corpses as trophies. Among the issues under investigation is the failure of commanders to intervene when the alleged crimes were apparently widely spoken about among soldiers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/29/us-military-investigates-5th...
Families Bear Brunt of Deployment Strains
By James Dao and Catrin Einhorn, New York Times [December 30, 2010]
---- The work of war is very much a family affair. Nearly 6 in 10 of the troops deployed today are married, and nearly half have children. Those families — more than a million of them since 2001 — have borne the brunt of the psychological and emotional strain of deployments. A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine in January found that wives of deployed soldiers sought mental health services more often than other Army wives. They were also more likely to report mental health problems, including depression, anxiety and sleep disorder, the longer the deployments lasted. And a paper published in the journal Pediatrics in late 2009 found that children in military families were more likely to report anxiety than children in civilian families. The longer a parent had been deployed in the previous three years, the researchers found, the more likely the children were to have had difficulties in school and at home. But those studies do not describe the myriad ways, often imperceptible to outsiders, in which families cope with deployments every day. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/31/world/asia/31families.html?ref=world
Veterans of recent wars confront grim employment landscape
By Michael A. Fletcher, Washington Post [December 30, 2010]
---- While their nonmilitary contemporaries were launching careers during the nearly 10 years the nation has been at war, troops were repeatedly deployed to desolate war zones. And on their return to civilian life, these veterans are forced to find their way in a bleak economy where the skills they learned at war have little value. The unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans was 10 percent in November, compared with 9.1 percent for non-veterans, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unemployment rates for combat veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been higher than the overall rate since at least 2005, according to the bureau. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/29/AR201012...
THE WAR IN KABUL
Afghan Supreme Court to examine elections
By Rahim Faiez, The Associated Press [December 27, 2010]
---- Afghanistan's Supreme Court has set up a special tribunal to review complaints of fraud stemming from the September parliamentary elections - a decision that could bring new uncertainty to a poll already marred by massive irregularities. The development comes less than a month before the 249-seat parliament convenes on Jan. 20 and it remains unclear if the tribunal can make any decisions that could alter the final result, which has been accepted by the international community. But it is sure to complicate the tainted election process and bring more doubt about Afghanistan's ability to govern itself as the U.S.-led coalition makes plans to gradually hand over responsibility for the country to its own security forces by 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/27/AR201012...
Afghanistan’s Web of Corruption
U.S. and Afghan Allies Describe Web of Corruption but Say Prosecution Stalls
By Matthew Rosenbert, Wall Street Journal [December 29, 2010]
---- U.S. officials in Afghanistan have spent thousands of hours over the past few years charting what they call "Malign Actor Networks"—webs of connections between members of President Hamid Karzai's family, businessmen, corrupt officials, drug traffickers and Taliban commanders. Using intelligence drawn in part from informants and a powerful wiretapping system, these officials say they have found an economic and political order—underwritten by billions of dollars in aid, reconstruction and logistics funds from the West—that is undermining the Afghan government from within and aiding a Taliban insurgency that is trying to topple it from without. The officials and their Afghan allies have had less success, however, breaking these bonds. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020351320457604773426041472...
Karzai Releasing Scores Of Drug Traffickers In Afghanistan, WikiLeaks Cables Show
By Ryan Grim, Huffington Post [December 27, 2010]
---- President Hamid Karzai has repeatedly released well-connected officials convicted of or charged with drug trafficking in Afghanistan, frustrating efforts to combat corruption and providing additional evidence that the United States' top ally in the country is himself corrupt. "On numerous occasions we have emphasized with Attorney General Aloko the need to end interventions by him and President Karzai, who both authorize the release of detainees pre-trial and allow dangerous individuals to go free or re-enter the battlefield without ever facing an Afghan court," reads a diplomatic cable obtained by WikiLeaks and provided to The New York Times. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/27/karzai-releasing-drug-tra_n_801...
U.S. Stepping Up Fight on Afghan Smuggling
By Michael Kamber, New York Times [January 1, 2011]
---- Janet Napolitano, the United States homeland security secretary, said Saturday that her department planned to triple the number of agents in Afghanistan to train border and customs workers — an effort that is partly aimed at curbing the smuggling of cash out of the country. The department is sending 52 former agents, who will work on contract, to reinforce the 25 agents currently in Afghanistan. The United States Embassy estimates that $10 million a day leaves Afghanistan by plane bound for Dubai, United Arab Emirates — some of it the proceeds from illegal activities. According to a secret cable released by WikiLeaks, Ahmed Zia Massoud, a former Afghan vice president, visited the United Arab Emirates last year carrying $52 million in cash. Mr. Massoud has denied the report. Beyond the flow of money to Dubai, millions of dollars more are believed to be smuggled through border crossings, and American officials fear at least some of the money is being funneled to Afghan insurgents taking shelter in Pakistan’s tribal regions. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/world/asia/02afghanistan.html?_r=1&ref...
Karzai rejects US request to replace minister
By Brett J. Blackledge and Richard Lardner, Associated Press [January 1, 2011]
---- Afghan President Hamid Karzai refused to remove a former warlord from atop the energy and water ministry despite U.S. pressure to oust the minister because Washington considered him corrupt and ineffective. Secret diplomatic records showed the minister — privately termed "the worst" by U.S. officials — kept his perch at an agency that controls $2 billion in U.S. and allied projects. The refusal to remove the official despite threats to end U.S. aid highlights how little influence the U.S. has over the Afghan leader on pressing issues such as corruption. http://wire.antiwar.com/2011/01/01/karzai-rejects-us-request-to-replace-...
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE ARMED OPPOSITION
Taliban Seeks ‘Office’ in Neutral Country for Peace Talks
By Jason Ditz, Antiwar.com [December 31, 2010]
---- According to a former ambassador for the Taliban government, the leaders of the insurgent faction are seeking permission to set up an “office” in a neutral country as a precondition to new reconciliation talks. The ambassador, Mullah Zaeef, insisted that it was impossible for the Taliban to negotiate from inside Pakistan and Afghanistan, both because they could not ensure the safety of their negotiators and because Pakistan would insist on setting the agenda. As violence continues to rise in 2011 it seems more efforts at reconciliation will be called for, however, so it is unlikely the question of how and where the Taliban can negotiate from is going to vanish. http://news.antiwar.com/2010/12/31/taliban-seeks-office-in-neutral-count...
THE WAR ON THE GROUND
Most Dangerous Year Ever: The Afghanistan War Gets Ultraviolent
By Noah Shachtman, Wired [December 31, 2010]
---- For the first half of this year, the American strategy in Afghanistan was to try to kill as few people as possible. Then Gen. Stanley McChrystal's team ran their mouths in front of a Rolling Stone reporter, and everything changed. Gen. David Petraeus took over. He dispatched special operations forces to take out thousands of militants. Petraeus' generals relied on massive surface-to-surface missiles to clear the Taliban out of Kandahar, and ordered tanks to help crush opponents in Helmand province. Air strikes — once a tool of last resort — hit their highest levels since the American invasion: 1,000 air attacks in one month alone. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/most-dangerous-year-ever/
Afghanistan war: how a model province tumbled into violence
By Anna Mulrine, Christian Science Monitor [December 30, 2010]
---- It wasn’t long ago that Khost Province in eastern Afghanistan was a counterinsurgency success story for the US military. Journalists were encouraged to arrange reporting trips to the relatively calm showpiece region, but generally eschewed it in favor of areas where there was more fighting. In the past two years of the Afghanistan war, however, violence in Khost has been on the rise as incidents of attacks and roadside bombings have crept upward. Just what happened is something military analysts have been wrestling with for some time. This week, Col. Viet Luong, the US Army commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat team of the 101st Airborne Division, suggested that corrupt or inept local leadership combined with an influx of insurgents fleeing east from new NATO offensives in the south contributed to Khost's decline. http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/content/view/print/352699
See also: Michael Kamber, “Taliban Leader Was Killed, Afghans Say,” New York Times [December 31, 3010] (“Kunduz City is now nearly cut off by violence, with all roads leading out controlled by the Taliban and other armed groups.”) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/01/world/asia/01afghan.html?_r=1&ref=worl...
Army edits its history of the deadly battle of Wanat
By Greg Jaffe, Washington Post [December 29, 2010]
---- The Army's official history of the battle of Wanat - one of the most intensely scrutinized engagements of the Afghan war - largely absolves top commanders of the deaths of nine U.S. soldiers and instead blames the confusing and unpredictable nature of war. The battle of Wanat, which took place in a remote mountain village near the Pakistan border, produced four investigations and sidetracked the careers of several Army officers, whose promotions were either put on hold or canceled. The 230-page Army history is likely to be the military's last word on the episode, and reflects a growing consensus within the ranks that the Army should be cautious in blaming battlefield commanders for failures in demanding wars such as the conflict in Afghanistan. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/28/AR201012...
Aid groups in Afghanistan question U.S. claim of Taliban setbacks
Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers Dec. 28, 2010
---- Citing evidence that Taliban insurgents have expanded their reach across Afghanistan, aid groups and security analysts in the country are challenging as misleading the Obama administration's recent claim that insurgents now control less territory than they did a year ago. Insurgent attacks have jumped at least 66 percent this year, according to the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office. Security analysts say that Taliban shadow governors still exert control in all but one of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/12/28/v-print/105892/aid-groups-in-afgha...
Taliban Recede: Coalition or Winter's Advance?
By Jason Motlagh and Muhib Habibi, Times [December. 27, 2010]
---- For U.S.-led forces, breaking the Taliban's grip on the insurgents' home province of Kandahar has been a costly slog. The year 2010 was the deadliest yet in the Afghan war, with one-third more coalition casualties than in the previous year, most of them Americans in combat operations in the Taliban stronghold in the south. U.S. military officials insist the coalition has made major inroads, as attested to in part by the losses. For many area residents, however, the tactical gains touted by the White House in the latest war review had another cost: thousands of Afghans who fled the hostilities have returned to find their property damaged or destroyed, with reports of a number of hamlets entirely leveled. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2039748,00.html#ixzz19VNd369n
Fighting on the Af/Pak Border
US: No way to seal Afghan-Pakistan border
Anne Flaherty, Associated Press [December 28, 2010]
---- There's no practical way for U.S. troops to seal Afghanistan's vast border with Pakistan and stop all Taliban fighters from slipping through, so they are focusing on defending vulnerable towns and fighting insurgents on Afghan soil, a U.S. military commander said Tuesday. Luong said he has seen "subtle signs of hope" for Khost after the U.S. and Afghanistan stepped up operations against the Haqqani network. The number of operations and patrols increased four-fold, up to 12,000 in the past year, while the effectiveness of enemy fire has been cut in half, he estimated. http://wire.antiwar.com/2010/12/28/us-no-way-to-seal-afghan-pakistan-bor...
Insurgents Set Aside Rivalries on Afghan Border
By Thom Shanker, New York Times [December 28, 2010]
----Rival militant organizations on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border have increasingly been teaming up in deadly raids, in what military and intelligence officials say is the insurgents’ latest attempt to regain the initiative after months of withering attacks from American and allied forces. New intelligence assessments from the region assert that insurgent factions now are setting aside their historic rivalries to behave like “a syndicate,” joining forces in ways not seen before. After one recent attack on a remote base in eastern Afghanistan, a check of the dead insurgents found evidence that the fighters were from three different factions, military officials said. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/world/asia/29military.html?_r=1&ref=wo...
Militias stem Pakistani Taliban, but at what cost?
By Chris Brummitt, The Associated Press [December 27, 2010]
---- Tribal militias allied with the government helped block a Taliban advance in this corner of northwest Pakistan close to the Afghan border, but their success has come at a price: the empowerment of untrained, unaccountable private armies that could yet emerge as a threat of their own. Tensions are emerging between authorities and the dozens of militias that they helped to create predominantly in and near the northwest tribal regions. Operating from fortress-like compounds with anti-aircraft guns on the roofs, the militiamen have made it clear that the state now owes them for their sacrifices. http://wire.antiwar.com/2010/12/27/militias-stem-pakistani-taliban-but-a...
THE WIKILEAKS LEAK – WEEK FIVE
Sources for Cables and Media Coverage
---- WikiLeaks has a new home at www.wikileaks.ch, courtesy of the Swiss Pirate Party. As of today, 1,992 cables have been released. They can be searched (e.g., for “Afghanistan” or “corruption”) at http://cablesearch.org/. Another useful site is WikiLeaks Central: “An unofficial WikiLeaks information resource”: http://wlcentral.org// The Wikipedia entry on WikiLeaks is comprehensive and up-to-date: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_diplomatic_cables_leak
Though the news media that were given the complete WikiLeaks State Department files have largely stopped publishing stories and cables, several of them have archives that are still useful. The best ones are at The Guardian [UK] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/the-us-embassy-cables and Aljazeera http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/usembassyfiles/. The New York Times’ site is at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/world/statessecrets.html?hp. At the daily publication www.antiwar.com, Jason Ditz provides short commentaries on many of the documents as they become available. Of the several blogs about the cables and the controversy surrounding them, the best one imo is by Greg Mitchell at The Nation - http://www.thenation.com/authors/greg-mitchell.
Some Comments and Analysis
From Democracy Now! (Video) Julian Assange on WikiLeaks, War and Resisting Government Crackdown [December 31, 2010]; also an inteview with Daniel Ellsberg. http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/31/julian_assange_on_wikileaks_war_and
Francis Shor, WikiLeaks, Ideological Legitimacy and the Crisis of Empire,” Truthout [January 2, 2011]
Julianne Escobedo Shepherd and Tana Ganeva, “8 Smears and Misconceptions About WikiLeaks Spread By the Media,” AlterNet [December 31, 2010] http://www.alternet.org/story/149369/
Robert Meeropol, “Julian Assange, the Rosenberg Case and the Espionage Act of 1917
Rosenberg Fund for Children” [December 29, 2010] http://www.zcommunications.org/julian-assange-the-rosenberg-case-and-the...
Jennifer Van Bergen, “Invoking the Espionage Act Against Assange,” Counterpunch [December 28, 2010]
Some WikiLeaks Revelations
Joshua Norman, “How WikiLeaks Enlightened Us in 2010,” CBS News [December 31, 2010]
Jason Ditz, Antiwar.com “Assange: Many Top Arab Officials Are CIA Spies,” [December 30, 2010]
Jason Ditz, Antiwar.com, “2006 State Dept Cable: Cartoon Riots a Good Way to Keep Denmark in Wars,” [December 28, 2010]
PAKISTAN/INDIA AND THE AFGHANISTAN WAR
U.S. efforts fail to convince Pakistan's top general to target Taliban
By Karin Brulliard and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post [December 31, 2010]
---- Countless U.S. officials in recent years have lectured and listened to Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, the man many view as the most powerful in Pakistan. They have drunk tea and played golf with him, feted him and flown with him in helicopters. But they have yet to persuade him to undertake what the Obama administration's recent strategy review concluded is a key to success in the Afghan war - the elimination of havens inside Pakistan where the Taliban plots and stages attacks on coalition troops in Afghanistan.
Turmoil in Pakistan as party quits Cabinet
By Nahal Toosi, Associated Press [December 28, 2010]
---- Pakistan's U.S.-allied ruling party suffered a fresh blow to its fragile hold on power Tuesday when a coalition partner said it will quit the cabinet, deepening the nation's political turmoil and potentially distracting Islamabad from helping American forces target militants. New elections could lead to the emergence of a government not as friendly to U.S. interests and less vocal in opposing the Taliban. The MQM, a secular party with its powerbase in the southern port city of Karachi, said it will pull its two ministers, though it insisted it was not yet joining the opposition. The move came days after the Jamiat Ulema Islam announced it was leaving to join the opposition. Analysts said the two parties are aware of the PPP's unpopularity and are positioning themselves for potential early elections. http://wire.antiwar.com/2010/12/28/turmoil-in-pakistan-as-party-quits-ca...
Pakistanis, Indians want peace and friendship: poll
From The Gulf Times [Qatar] [December 31, 2010]
---- Despite a history of conflicts, mistrust and estranged relationship, an overwhelming number of Pakistanis and Indians want peace and friendship between the nuclear-armed South Asian nations, a survey conducted on both sides of the border has revealed. The survey - conducted by independent research agencies and sponsored by the Jang Group of Pakistan and The Times of India on the first anniversary of their joint peace initiative ‘Aman Ki Asha’ - showed that 70% of Pakistanis and 74% of Indians want peaceful relations….The optimism at the people’s level appears in a stark contrast to the current bitter official positions. http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=407627...
DRONES: TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES
Drone strikes lead to disaster in Pakistan
By Misbah Saba Malik, Xinhua [China] [December 31, 2010]
---- In the year 2010, the United States has launched the greatest number of air strikes from unmanned aerial drones into the inaccessible tribal regions of northwest Pakistan, killing many people including suspected militants and innocent civilians. During the year, a total of 995 people had been killed in 122 drone strikes launched in northwestern tribal agencies of Pakistan, as compared to 53 drone strikes in 2009, which killed almost 500 people. The number of air strikes doubled this year than the previous one, and the figure of people killed in these strikes also raised to double, which shows the growing U.S. influences in Pakistan's territory. A total of 218 strikes have been launched within the territory of Pakistan from 2004 to 2010, and approximately 1,378 to 2,109 individuals have been killed in these unprecedented attacks. People killed in drone strikes are usually identified as militants or suspected militants by U.S. officials and Pakistani security forces. But the real fact always remains distant and far behind. There are never any details of the names of people killed in such aerial strikes on media, nor are their identities confirmed or faces shown. Their exact account always remains vague. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-12/31/c_13672471.htm
See also: Abdul Zahoor Khan Marwat, “Why Pakistanis oppose US drone attacks,” The News [Pakistan] [December 28, 2010]; and Ahmad Noorani, “All parties demand end to drone attacks,” The News [Pakistan] [December 28, 2010] http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=2975&Cat=13
With Air Force's new drone, 'we can see everything'
By Ellen Nakashima and Craig Whitlock, Washington Post [January 2, 2011]
---- This winter, the Air Force is set to deploy to Afghanistan what it says is a revolutionary airborne surveillance system called Gorgon Stare, which will be able to transmit live video images of physical movement across an entire town. The system, made up of nine video cameras mounted on a remotely piloted aircraft, can transmit live images to soldiers on the ground or to analysts tracking enemy movements. It can send up to 65 different images to different users; by contrast, Air Force drones today shoot video from a single camera over a "soda straw" area the size of a building or two. With the new tool, analysts will no longer have to guess where to point the camera, said Maj. Gen. James O. Poss, the Air Force's assistant deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. "Gorgon Stare will be looking at a whole city, so there will be no way for the adversary to know what we're looking at, and we can see everything." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/01/AR201101...
NATO AND THE AFGHANISTAN WAR
One year later: The full story of one of Canada's deadliest days in Afghanistan
By Colin Perkel, Globe and Mail [Canada] [December 29, 2010]
----Reluctantly, silently, Sergeant Jimmy Collins lifts his sleeve. There, tattooed on the inside of his wrist along with images of a palm tree and a maple leaf, are the initials of five fellow Canadians – victims of one wrenching instant of violence on a muddy road in Afghanistan one year ago today. Kandahar Always remember GC-GM-ZM-KT-ML - Garrett Chidley. George Miok. Zachery McCormack. Kirk Taylor. Michelle Lang. On Dec. 30, 2009, as Canadians at home basked in the glow of the festive season, two light armoured vehicles – Alpha and Charlie – rumbled out of camp at about 2 p.m., each carrying 10 people. Their story – largely untold before now – still keeps Sgt. Collins awake at night. “It’s the first thing I think about in the morning,” he says. “It’s the last thing I think about before I go to bed.” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/ied-tragedy/the-full-story-of-... | <urn:uuid:2e81b922-fb57-4c99-b9ef-360fcac609b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://warisacrime.org/content/afghanistan-war-weekly-january-2-2011 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939677 | 7,659 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The loons are flying north again, and the icy roads are confusing them.
A DNR wildlife biologist says the loons think the icy blacktop surfaces are lakes. Unfortunately, their legs are made for paddling, not walking, so they can't take off after they land.
If you see a stranded loon, you can contact the DNR to help it on its way. If you decide to help it yourself, make sure you wear heavy leather gloves, because the birds have sharp beaks. | <urn:uuid:3f8b7ec9-017e-4a7f-b29f-6d25ea96d4fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/297216.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972121 | 104 | 1.765625 | 2 |
St Lucia Tours and Charters
Did you know?
Humpbacks are the 5th-largest mammals on Earth, famous for the long, intricate love songs they sing.
Between May and November, humpback whales make their way north from their Antarctic feeding grounds, heading for the sea channels between Mozambique and Madagascar.
Here they give birth to their calves in bathwater-warm temperatures, only leaving when the babies have developed enough thick blubber to withstand the icy temperatures down south.
On their way there and back, they stream past the KwaZulu-Natal coastline. And yet, until fairly recently, not much fuss was made of the whale-watching opportunities the humpbacks offered: the lolling southern right whales off the Southern Cape coast tend to grab all the attention.
St Lucia Tours and Charters, based in the toe of the famous iSimangaliso Wetland Park, is a responsible tourism operator certified by Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa. It is the only operator with a licence in KwaZulu-Natal to take people out humpback whale watching.
On your 3-hour trip into these biodiversity-rich waters of the Indian Ocean, you might also spot turtles, whale sharks, dolphins, marlin and unusual pelagic birds.
Danie Bennett, who will almost certainly skipper the boat, has long been fascinated by humpback whales, and has 1 of the largest photographic collections of their tails, each 1 unique as a fingerprint.
St Lucia Tours and Charters, also known as Advantage Tours and Charters, is best known for its cruises up and down the St Lucia estuary. From its custom-made boat, the Advantage, you’ll almost certainly spot hippos and crocodiles, admire the mangrove trees, see iridescent malachite kingfishers hawking for tiny tilapia fish, and almost certainly hear the wild call of an African fish eagle.
The company can also take you deep-sea fishing, on turtle tours in egg-laying season, or on snorkel safaris of nearby Cape Vidal beach.
But it’s not all about marine and estuarine life. St Lucia Tours and Charters also offers game viewing in the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve, horse riding along the beach and a cultural tour.
Its offerings reflect in miniature the wealth of experiences offered at the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, designated a World Heritage Site in 1999.
Travel tips & Planning info
Who to contact
Advantage Tours and Charters
Tel: +27 (0)35 590 1259
Cell: +27 (0)83 487 2763 | <urn:uuid:40595ee6-5a72-43d1-aff1-5b500b5558fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.southafrica.net/trade/en/articles/entry/article-southafrica.net-st-lucia-tours-and-charters | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932228 | 561 | 1.84375 | 2 |
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