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Ford Increases Investment in University Research; More Than $60 Million Awarded Over Last 20 Years
-- Ford awards 13 University Research Program (URP) grants to schools
around the world in 2010; all focusing on technological advancements
with real-world application potential
-- Since the URP began in 1989, Ford has invested more than $60 million in university research projects, offering nearly 500 grants to 100 schools globally
-- URP grants are part of a larger portfolio of Ford university research investment, which also includes ongoing formal strategic alliances with MIT, the University of Michigan, and The Boeing
DEARBORN, MI - August 9, 2010: Some of the world's brightest university professors and students are pairing up with Ford scientists in 2010 to explore a wide range of new ideas and technologies that could benefit future Ford vehicle development.
This year, Ford awarded 13 University Research Program (URP) grants to 12 different universities around the globe, including Wayne State University in Detroit; Stanford University in Palo Alto, California; RWTH Aachen University in Aachen, Germany; and Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.
The newly added three-year collaborative research projects are all championed by Ford research teams and vary in scope from testing the properties of thermoplastics modified with nano materials and developing an in-vehicle safety alert system for diabetic drivers, to studying the environmental and economic impact of batteries for electric vehicles.
The new Ford URP projects add to an active research portfolio that now comprises 30 studies in partnership with 26 universities globally.
"Research collaborations are a driving force behind the innovations bringing consumers to Ford - and will be crucial to keep them coming back," said Gerhard Schmidt, Ford chief technical officer and vice president, Research and Advanced Engineering. "The spirit of collaboration fostered by initiatives such as the Ford University Research Program maximizes our chances of developing relevant technologies our customers want and value."
In recent years, Ford has fine-tuned the objective of URP, moving away from more exploratory and long-term university research to highly collaborative projects focused on innovations with more near- and mid-term implementation potential. This move has made competition for URP grants much tougher, according to Ed Krause, external alliances manager for Ford Research and Advanced Engineering. For the recently announced program, Ford reviewed more than 70 high-quality project proposals, yet only approved 13.
"As our scientists and engineers have become increasingly adept at innovating with their university counterparts, the quality of proposals has risen and the interest in awards has become more intense," said Krause.
Over the past two decades, URP projects have produced fruitful results for Ford in a wide range of disciplines that include alternative power systems; automotive engineering and safety; environmental issues; infotronics, electrical and electronics and controls; materials and structures; manufacturing and quality; and powertrain.
In the late 90s, Ford awarded the University of Illinois an URP to study how to control and reduce diesel emissions, specifically NOx levels. That joint research was critical to the development of the aftertreatment system now featured on the 6.7-liter Power Stroke V-8 turbocharged diesel powering the 2011 Super Duty, which complies with new 2010 federal regulations to reduce NOx levels by more than 80 percent.
Ford's overarching desire to collaborate with academia and other tech industry outsiders has also led to the formation of formal and ongoing strategic alliances with research and innovation leaders such as MIT, the University of Michigan, Northwestern and The Boeing Company, which has been in an active strategic alliance with Ford for more than 15 years.
In recent years, Ford has invested more than $100 million in total in these advanced collaborative research efforts, resulting in numerous technical advancements and intellectual properties.
University of Michigan Professor Jessy Grizzle, who has been conducting engine and emissions control research with Ford through the University of Michigan strategic alliance for years, says the collaborative spirit of such an alliance provides a rich learning experience for the students as well as the professors as they explore new and intuitive ways to teach their curriculum.
"I've been working with students and strong engineers at Ford for nearly 25 years developing rich, relevant and practical solutions that can help minimize the environmental impact of transportation," said Grizzle, who has co-authored 16 patents with Ford. "From a university perspective, the discovery process and seeing your research come to life through real hardware implementation is extremely rewarding in and out of the classroom."
Ford has also branched out globally, forming similar formal alliances with three of China's most prestigious and recognized universities, Shanghai Jiaotong University (SJTU), Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) , and Chongqing University, where joint work with aluminum alloys and other advanced materials is currently underway - and seven URP projects are being conducted.
Ford has further bolstered its commitment to more university collaboration this year, already opening the door for the next URP competition. Ford researchers, working with university faculty, have begun submitting their project proposals. Grant winners will be announced in early 2011.
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Connect to share and comment
With U.S. health care reform in question, the number of Americans seeking medical care at one Indian hospital triples.
BANGALORE — Lying in a hospital bed in Bangalore’s immaculate Wockhardt Hospital recuperating from a knee replacement surgery on his right knee, Les Seaver-Davis counts off on his fingers the number of times he has been in and out of hospitals back home in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Seven? Eight? He gives up after a few moments, pauses to survey his pristine room, and declares, “For the first time in my life, I feel like I’m cared for by the best people in the world.”
Earlier this month Seaver-Davis, a family mediator and teacher, traveled halfway across the world from Greensboro to Bangalore, where Wockhardt’s surgeons removed the loose implants from a previous surgery in his knee and replaced them with fresh implants.
The surgery cost $11,000, a bargain-basement price that was a quarter of what hospitals in North Carolina were quoting. “If more people knew about the quality of medical care here, American hospitals would go out of business,” said Seaver-Davis.
With the debate raging over health care reform, growing numbers of Americans like Seaver-Davis aren't waiting for Washington: They are outsourcing themselves, or are being outsourced by their employers, to India for medical treatments. Superior care coupled with low costs in internationally accredited hospitals like Wockhardt is proving a hard-to-beat attraction for Westerners.
The global economic downturn is only accelerating the trend. Many U.S. corporations looking to slash employees’ medical bills are making India a medical refuge, as are under-insured and uninsured Americans.
This year Wockhardt has already received 580 American patients for treatments ranging from cardiac bypass surgeries, organ transplants and complex spinal surgeries. That's more than triple the number for the same period last year, the hospital says.
"The recession is really boosting medical outsourcing," said Wockhardt Hospitals CEO Vishal Bali. "In the last few months enquiries for surgeries has more than doubled. We expect a big spike in incoming patient numbers from the United States in the second half of this year."
Interest is peaking from both individuals and companies with the worsening economic conditions, said Rajesh Rao, CEO of the Raleigh, N.C.-based service provider IndUs Health. “At IndUs, patient volumes have doubled since last year,” he said, adding that the bulk of the growth has come from administering medical programs for U.S. employers.
Despite stiff competition from countries like Singapore and Thailand, India ranks high among the preferred destinations for Americans because of the wide prevalence of the English language. Its high-tech hospitals, foreign-trained doctors and sophisticated treatments are an easy sell.
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Details about President Barack Obama's scheduled visit to Keene next Monday are beginning to emerge.
The president will be in the area to announce the establishment of the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument. The monument is being designated under the Antiquities Act of 1906. It will be the fourth national monument Obama has designated. The monument will be administered by the National Park Service.
The Bakersfield Californian has reported that he is scheduled to land at about 9 a.m. Monday at Meadows Field Airport, according to Jack Gotcher, director of Kern County Airports.
President William Clinton also flew into Meadows Field on April 15, 2000, on his way to sign a proclamation creating Giant Sequoia National Monument in the mountains east of Porterville, also under the authority of the Antiquities Act .
How Obama will get from the airport to Keene, an approximately 40-mile journey, remains unknown. Nor has the time of the ceremony been released.
He is visiting to dedicate the monument at Nuestra Senora Reina de la Paz (Our Lady Queen of Peace), more commonly called La Paz, where Chavez spent the last 22 years of his life and was buried.
La Paz is a 187-acre property. The monument area, donated by the Cesar Chavez Foundation to the federal government, will be a three-acre portion that includes a memorial garden where Chavez was buried, his office and house.
The monument is being designated under the Antiquities Act. It will be the fourth national monument Obama has designated. The monument will be administered by the National Park Service.
The public is invited to attend the dedication. But how many people can be accommodated is uncertain. Those who wish to attend need to fill out forms at ufw.org. The UFW is encouraging visitors to arrive as early as 7 a.m. because everyone will need to go through a security screening.
THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN contributed to this report.
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If you’re wondering where your stimulus check is, try this IRS tool.
Update: The bill has passed, the checks will be mailed out based on this stimulus tax rebate check schedule, so file your returns (even if you didn’t need to) to get your check.
I wanted to make an addendum to the article I wrote about the 2008 Tax Rebate Stimulus package that was recently passed in the House of Representatives. There have been a lot of questions as to how much someone would get, what tax year the rules are applied to, what counts as a “child,” etc.
First off, I think we are still too early in the game to be discussing those things because the Senate still needs to pass a similarly worded bill, the two bills have to be married, and then the President needs to sign it. Then the number crunchers have to do the math and then finally checks will be mailed out in May or June or July. The biggest of the hurdles will come in the Senate but ultimately there still are many hurdles. This “economic stimulus package” (I put it in quotes because there is fierce debate as to the effectiveness of the package) is still far from a certainty. Preparing as if it will appear in a few months would be a mistake.
Secondly, since you won’t have to do anything (you don’t file a form, you don’t call anyone), there isn’t really much you should do. If it goes through, a check will arrive in the mail one day in May or June or July and you’ll find yourself a few hundred dollars richer. If you’re just treading water, maybe that gets you some breathing room. If you’re more financially stable, maybe you put that towards some debt or pad your emergency fund. If you’re looking to make a purchase that’s contingent on getting that check, I’d wait until after it clears before swiping your card.
lastly, don’t believe the mainstream media when they say that a deal has been struck and that you will definitely be getting money. A deal was made in the House, the other chamber has yet to pass something, and Congress’ idea of breakneck speed leaves much to be desired.
Do not count on this money!
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On the day that Oracle showed its intent (Oracle sues Google for Android Java use ) to make money out of Java in a way that might not endear them to the majority of Java users, let alone Android users, we have a new music video and song promoting JavaZone. It is basically a hymn to the joys of Java and JavaZone featurning "Lady Java". (Scroll down to view the video.)
But my guess is that they might want to change the first line
"I wanna program like they do at Oracle"
to something a little more critical and less aspirational.
I can suggest an angle for their next video which casts Oracle as Darthvader or the Java Antichrist or....
One shows a brain-dead corporate attitude to its clients and the other a more subtle understanding of its partners in crime and huge creativity. I've personally decided not to attend JavaOne as a protest - now if I can only work out where JavaZone is actually held ... where did I put Google Earth?
Anyway back to the music video - it's fun and the lyrics are amusing and its almost, but not quite entirely, suitable for work viewing.
Bugs are inevitable, but suppose a user notices a bug that causes strange behavior in the system. Suppose that the user then works out how that behavior could be used to advantage. Is this hacking and [ ... ]
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After the second-hottest day in San Antonio history, more triple-digit weather is in store for the city today, but a small measure of relief is possible later this week.
Thermometers at San Antonio International Airport reached 110 on Sunday afternoon, making it officially the hottest day of the year. The reading was one degree shy of the city's official all-time high of 111, set at the airport Sept. 5, 2000, the National Weather Service said.
“This is second place all by its lonesome,” NWS forecaster Pat McDonald said. “Man, it's hot.”
Readings at Stinson Municipal Airport on the South Side were even higher: 111 according to the NWS and 113 according to Weather Central LP, its highest reading in the nation Sunday.
Though clouds moved in Sunday afternoon to temper the punishing heat, the official 110-degree reading surpassed the previous record for the day, 101, set in 1940, and the record of 108 for the hottest day in any August, set in 1986.
Saturday's high of 106 was a record for that date as well and was, until Sunday, the hottest day of the year.
The heat caused Texans to use more electricity than any other weekend.
“As we expected, this weekend's temperatures and electricity usage have been record-breaking,” Gage said in an emailed statement. “It's likely that we'll hit a new all-time peak demand record on Monday or Tuesday.”
The council asked customers to avoid using appliances such as dishwashers, laundry machines, hair dryers, coffee makers and pool pumps during the peak hours.
Though no ERCOT-initiated rolling blackouts occurred, more than 70 customers had power outages around 6 p.m. on the Northeast Side and on the South Side near Harlandale High School, CPS Energy spokesman John Moreno said.
“Those are heat-related,” he said. “The heat can cause some of these transformers to fail, and a high demand for power puts a lot of pressure.”
As a result of the record-shattering temperatures, the NWS extended a weekend heat advisory to this evening. Residents are urged to avoid strenuous outdoor activities or limit them to the early morning or evening, drink water and take extra care of the elderly, pets and young children. Wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing, the NWS advises, and know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
According to ERCOT, the hottest part of the day is typically between about 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Weather conditions favorable for high levels of ozone prompted the Alamo Area Air Coalition to declare an air quality health alert day for today. People are urged to carpool or ride the bus and to wait until after 6 p.m. to buy gas and mow lawns to reduce ozone pollution.
Temperatures will slowly drop throughout the week, with highs forecast at 105 today, 103 on Tuesday and 101 on Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are expected to reach 96, and there's a 30 percent chance of rain.
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Republicans in Congress were just barely able to extend for 90 days funding of nationally important transportation projects. The only conclusion is that the GOP has become, collectively, a fifth column traitor against our future economic health.
From the Economist:
The Treasury has just published a white paper full of reasons to favour additional investment. Even if you are sceptical of the utility of fiscal stimulus qua stimulus, now seems like a very good time to undertake much more investment than normal. As the Treasury paper points out, very low interest rates and high unemployment mean that the odds of crowding out private spending and investment are much lower than normal. Cheaper than normal capital and labour also imply that taxpayers will receive a better deal on spending than would typically be the case. The cost-benefit calculus on infrastructure investment has shifted toward doing more of it, or at least squeezing more expected investment into the present period. Other research, like the new Brookings paper by Brad DeLong and Larry Summers, also indicates that the bar for greater investment should be lower. Given the potential that unemployment will become increasingly persistent as time goes on, the value of government spending that reduces joblessness—even temporarily—is higher than may be appreciated. Any projects that seemed like good ideas in general, and there are a lot of them, look like really, really good ideas now.
And yet Congress has struggled mightily to keep even existing spending going. The nation’s primary transportation-funding law expired in 2009. Normally a wholesale replacement or reauthorisation would follow that expiration; Congress has instead repeatedly extended the old law while bickering over how to come up with money to replace the increasingly meagre take from the nation’s petrol tax. The latest extension is set to expire, and legislators are arguing over what to do next. They might extend the measure again—for 60 to 90 days. Or they might stonewall themselves into a temporary shutdown of all federally funded projects.
Inaction is absurd and embarrassing, especially since funding is the primary (though not the only) source of disagreement and the costs of borrowing and unemployment (and the likelihood of a decent return on infrastructure investment) indicate that just borrowing the money to spend on new roads and rails would be a reasonable course of action. If ever there should have been a policy so obviously sensible as to attract bipartisan support, more money for infrastructure was it. Right now, when it comes to partisan politics, sensibility’s got nothing to do with it.
Beezer here. How else to figure it? Big oligopolies in Banking, Fossil Energy, Agriculture and Health Insurance are funding Super PACs which daily bombard us with propaganda about how they still need subsidies and protections against competition. Tea Partiers and Libertarians are so disgusted with our government’s inability to help ‘We the People,’ they’ve paradoxically joined forces with the oligopolies–the very forces that bribe our government to insure our government serves the wealthy oligopolies instead of the general population.
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At the beginning of November, PreventConnect attended the 2011 Roots of Change Conference in Portland, Oregon, which was sponsored by the Oregon Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Task Force and Men Can Stop Rape. PreventConnect’s Chad Sniffen presented during this conference. Speakers and workshops addressed the primary prevention of sexual violence with a strong focus on media, entertainment and pop culture. Themes regarding men and masculinity were woven throughout the conference proceedings.
Keynote speaker Dr. Rachael Griffin, Assistant Professor of Speech Communication at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, reflects on the intersection of her experience as a black feminist survivor and Tyler Perry’s film For Colored Girls.
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The debt collection industry has become more and more competitive as delinquent debt totals rise and the economy continues to suffer. Commercial collection agencies are in demand as a resolution to lost income based on unpaid bills and uncollected debts. As such, these agencies have profited greatly from their endeavors and insight into the industry.
Getting out of debt requires a lot of will power and can be quite difficult to do, but with the New Year coming up, it’s about time you took some action to manage your debt and stay out of it.
Simply just as there are many people who are in debt for private reasons, there’s also many who have gathered business debt. Business debt is recognized as as any debt accumulated for business use. Whether you took out financing to start your business or needed parts or materials, this is known as business debt and should remain separate from any additional personal debt you might have. Just because there are for personal debt problems, there’s also numerous debt relief options available for people in business debt. You should take time to learn more about your choices and do research to find out more before making any final decisions.
If you want to know about invoice factoring, then you need to read this article. Every business needs working capital in order to survive. However, if your business regularly invoices customers then your cash can be tied up in your accounts receivables. We will discuss how invoice factoring can help your business to have a more consistent cash flow and the working capital it needs to compete in the global economy.
Many people have posed the question that relates to how they will make it to the next payday. The economy is taking a well choreographed nose-dive and as a result there are quite a few people out there living paycheck to paycheck and hoping that they just have enough to make it until that next check comes in. Luckily you don’t have to be one of those people if you know how to make use of payday loans.
Bank Foreclosed Homes For Sale – Make It A Possible Alternative With Your Debt Settlement Net Branch
Many individuals immediately turn to debt settlement net branch to assist them determine useful terms and negotiate loans from banks. It gives them chance to start a new life and come up with investments like acquiring properties that are foreclosed.
There are numerous online fast loan providers and they have different means of operating. There are generally sure to be folks who have traded with them previously. You will do well to link with these guys and discover the way in which the organization does business. If you do not like it, walk away. No matter how juicy their conditions might be, not all of these folks may be trusted. Hence, indeed, go along with your intuition that tells you something may possibly be wrong.
If you are wondering what GST or Goods and Services Tax is, then read further. GST is a common replacement of many types of tax policies such as the service tax, Value Added tax, excise duty tax, etc. It can replace a tax scheme or it simplifies a number of tax policies in a government. GST implementation is different in every country and the purpose is all the same- Help the budget of the country. GS Tax is added to goods and services that are bought by consumers.
Even though getting cautious about a debt settlement backend company is totally easy to understand due to the undeniable fact that, “How may I negotiate my debt by paying for the assistance of this company? I have to cut corners on as much money as I possibly can,” one must realize that it’s completely worth it. Looking for help from a debt settlement backend company is like a great investment. You must dole out a specific amount to enjoy the rewards. The same is true for these economic advisors given that while you must pay them a specific amount, they can certainly help get rid of the mountainous debt that you have out of your credit card. Hence, getting in touch with them to inquire about their services is actually the first action you may take to get rid of your debt.
Great things about debt settlement are not impossible to get if you choose to reconcile your debt. Nonetheless, you have to bear in mind that there can be particular disadvantages to this. Most of the advantages provided by credit repair companies fall under two categories. Either you could reconcile your debts yourself without the assistance of the company, or what they guarantee is deceptive and they can’t genuinely offer what they claim they will do for you.
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Away we go!
Away we go! – the first book published by the Mainstone Press in 2006 – examines the stunning black and white illustrations produced by Eric Ravilious (1903-1942) and Edward Bawden (1903-1989) for London Transport’s Press Advertising Department in the 1920s and 30s. Their work was used to promote a variety of cultural, sporting and leisure activities, all of which could be reached by Underground or Green Line coach.
Away we go! has been designed by Brian Webb and features many of the Ravilious and Bawden press advertisements at full size. Two informative essays accompany the many illustrations, one by Oliver Green, former Head Curator of London’s Transport Museum and the other by Art Historian, Dr Alan Powers. Now out of print but available through abebooks.
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Our mission is to educate students for Christian stewardship of sustainable agricultural and environmental systems throughout the world.
The Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is driven by the different strengths of its faculty members and students. Through the motivation derived from this cooperation, the A&E department accomplishes its mission to educate students for Christian stewardship of sustainable agricultural and environmental systems throughout the world. With a message-focused curriculum, this department fulfills ACU's promise to help students develop their intellect, grow closer to God, prepare for a meaningful career and address global challenges with a Christian worldview. Hands-on education and faculty dedication to strong academic and professional preparation maintain the unique purposes of the University and this department.
ACU's mission is to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world.
Satisfy your curiosity about what it means to live and learn at ACU!
Apply to ACU
Subscribe to eFencepost
Want to keep up with what's happening in A&E?
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We hope everyone is being careful and taking the necessary precautions to keep safe and not get burned.
Currently, most of the state is under a burn ban. We do not know how long the burn bans are expected to continue, but they are in effect because there has been a lack of rain.
There was also a big fire out in Yell County Monday. While we had dedicated firefighters working several hours to extinguish the blaze, it is just a reminder of how careful we need to be - whether or not the fire was preventable.
According to an Associated Press article, Gov. Mike Huckabee issued a proclamation urging fellow Arkansans to pray for rain.
The article also notes the National Weather Service predicted rain would spread north overnight Monday and continue Tuesday. Parts of central and southeastern Arkansas could get more than an inch of rain and lesser amounts were expected in western Arkansas, among the driest part of the state.
While that is good news, it is unfortunate we cannot guarantee continued rain in the near future.
That means we need to continue to take extra precautions until we know drought-conditions are over.
We should always exercise caution and do whatever we can to prevent fires, but it is times like these we should be more watchful and vigilant in our efforts.
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Whether it’s a new blanket for cuddling or a hooded towel for snuggling, our children’s textiles are an easy and affordable way to add atmosphere, comfort and fun. Our bedding, curtains and rugs help you create a playful, comfy room while washcloths, bibs and towels add a softer side to cleaning up.
Children's textiles in lots of colours and patterns
You can get creative for your kids with our wide range of children’s textiles that help you design and decorate their world. You’ll find lots of different children’s textiles to inspire you. We have everything from bath towels and bedding, to curtains and cuts of fabric you can make whatever you want from. Check out our quilt covers and pillowcases made from 100% cotton – they’re soft, strong and great value. You’ll also find bed canopies that stimulate kids’ imaginations and rugs with roads for toy cars to drive on. Our children’s textiles will bring your child’s bedroom to life with their vivid designs of simple patterns or lovable animals.
Mix or match our children’s textiles
Mixing and matching the soft furnishings in your child’s room is fun and easy. However, as many of our children’s textiles belong to a series, you can go for a really coordinated look too. The series come in different styles and themes but they’re all fun and attractive. Keep an eye out for series names like VITAMINER, with its strong, bold colours, or FABLER, with its more subtle colour scheme and cute frogs and rabbits. So for everything from really practical washcloths to wipe ice cream off their faces, to quilt covers decorated with little animals that come alive in their dreams, check out our children’s textiles.
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WASHINGTON — I have something for you.
In June 2010, I wrote about a book, “The New Jim Crow,” by Michelle Alexander, which I called a “troubling and profoundly necessary” work. Alexander promulgated an explosive argument. Namely, the so-called “War on Drugs” amounts to a war on African-American men and, more to the point, to a racial caste system nearly as restrictive, oppressive and omnipresent as Jim Crow itself.
This because, although white Americans are far and away the nation’s biggest dealers and users of illegal drugs, African-Americans are far and away the ones most likely to be jailed for drug crimes. When they are set “free” after doing their time, black men enter a legal purgatory where the right to vote, work, go to school or rent an apartment can be legally denied. It’s as if Alabama Gov. George Wallace were still standing in the schoolhouse door.
“The New Jim Crow” won several awards, enjoyed significant media attention and was an apparent catalyst in the NAACP’s decision last year to call for an end to the drug war. The book was a sensation, but we need it to be more. We need it to be a movement.
As it happens and not exactly by coincidence, Alexander’s book is being reissued in paperback this week as we mark the birthday of the man who led America’s greatest mass movement for social justice. In his battle against the original Jim Crow, Martin Luther King Jr., in a sense, did what Alexander seeks to do: pour sunlight on an onerous condition that exists just beyond the periphery of most Americans’ sight.
I want to help her do that. So here’s the deal. I’ll give you a copy of the book — autographed by the author, no less — free of charge. You don’t even have to pay for shipping. All you have to do is tell me you want it and promise me you’ll read it.
In fact, make that the subject line of the email you send to request your copy: “I want it. I’ll read it.” Send it to firstname.lastname@example.org. Make sure to include your contact information and mailing address. At month’s end, I’ll draw 50 names from a bucket and send out 50 books.
If you work for the company that syndicates my column, or a newspaper that runs it, you can’t participate. The same goes if you’re my kin or my friend.
On March 15, Alexander has agreed to appear with me at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Fla., where I will moderate a discussion with an audience. You’ll also be able to submit questions via Twitter, MiamiHeraldLive and Facebook. Video from the event will be posted on The Miami Herald’s website, www.miamiherald.com.
And here, let me make one thing clear. This giveaway is underwritten neither by my employer nor by Alexander’s publisher. Me, myself and I will pay for both books and shipping. I chose to do it that way in order to impress upon you how vital I personally feel it is that you read this book.
No, I have no financial interest in its success. I do, however, have tremendous emotional interest. Half a century ago, Dr. King and a cadre of courageous idealists made a sustained appeal to this nation’s misplaced sense of justice, forced Americans to see an outrage that was right in front of them yet, somehow, beyond their line of sight.
There could be no better homage to his memory than to do that again.
Leonard Pitts Jr., winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 1 Herald Plaza, Miami, Fla. 33132. Pitts’ column is distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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The Mali War: The Wages of Sin
Dispatches From The Edge
The reports filtering out of Northern Mali are appalling: a young couple stoned to death, iconic ancient shrines dismantled, and some 365,000 refugees fleeing beatings and whippings for the slightest violations of Sharia law. But the bad dream unfolding in this West African country is less the product of a radical version of Islam than a consequence of the West’s scramble for resources on this vast continent, and the wages of sin from the recent Libyan war.
The current crisis gripping northern Mali—an area about the size of France— has its origins in the early years of the Bush Administration, when the U.S. declared the Sahara desert a hotbed of “terrorism” and poured arms and Special Forces into the area as part of the Trans-Sahal Counter Terrorism Initiative. But, according to anthropologist Jeremy Keenan, who has done extensive fieldwork in Mali and the surrounding area, the “terrorism” label had no basis in fact, but was simply designed to “justify the militarization of Africa.”
The U.S. military claimed that when the Taliban fell in Afghanistan, terrorists moved west into the Horn of Africa, the Sudan and the Sahara. But Keenan says, “There was absolutely no evidence for that…really a figment of imagination.” The real target of enlarging the U.S.’s military footprint was “oil resources” and “the gradually increasing threat of China on the continent.”
The U.S. currently receives about 18 percent of its energy supplies from Africa, a figure that is slated to rise to 25 percent by 2015. Africa also provides about one-third of China’s energy needs, plus copper, platinum, timber and iron ore. According to the Financial Times, new gas fields were recently discovered on the Algeria-Mali border
There have been terrorist acts in Africa. In 1998, hotels were bombed in Kenya and, in 2002, a synagogue in Tunisia. The 2004 Madrid train bombers were associated with the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group, an organization that set off bombs in Casablanca in 2003.
But these groups had no affiliation with international terror groups like al-Qaeda, and the only one that could be said to be Sahara-based was the Algerian Salafist Group for Fighting and Preaching. That group later renamed itself “Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” (AQIM).
In 2006, the International Crisis Group also concluded that the Sahara “was not a hotbed of terrorism” and that most North African governments saw the Trans Sahal Initiative as a way to tap into high end arms technology, like attack helicopters, night vision equipment, and sophisticated communications networks.
When the U.S. African Command (AFRICOM) was formed in 2008, it took over the Initiative and began working directly with countries in the region, including Mali, Morocco, Tunisia, Chad, Niger, Mauretania, and Senegal. Indeed, the only country in the region that did not have a tie to AFRICOM was Libya.
The US also has basing agreements with Uganda, Ghana, Namibia, Ghana, Gabon, and Zambia. Some 1500 U.S. Marines are currently deployed at Lemonier, a French Foreign Legion base in Djibouti on the horn of Africa.
The “terrorism” label has always been a slippery one. For instance, the US supported the 2006 Ethiopian invasion of Somalia that overthrew the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) government. Washington said the UIC was associated with al-Qaeda, but never produced any evidence of that. The UIC was a moderate Islamic movement that drove out the U.S.-supported warlords and brought peace to Somalia for the first time since 1991. It included such radical Islamic groups as the Shabab, but those organizations did not dominate the government.
The Ethiopian invasion changed all that. For Somalians, Ethiopia is a traditional enemy, and the Shabab succeeded in uniting a large section of the population against the occupation. Thus, a small group that was marginal in the UIC became the backbone of the resistance. “The end result of the US-backed invasion was driving Somalia into the al-Qaeda fold,” says Somalia’s former foreign minister, Ismaciil Buubaa.
The crisis in Mali has a long history, rooted in the country’s deep poverty, on one hand, anda on the other, a push by the Tuaregs—a nomadic Berber people that have long controlled trans-Sahara trade—for greater autonomy and a bigger piece of the development pie. The Tuaregs have staged unsuccessful revolts four times since Mali won its independence from France in 1960, but the fall of Mummer Gaddafi in Libya gave them a golden opportunity.
Gaddfi had long supported the Tuaregs in their war for independence, and many Tuaregs served as pro-government mercenaries in Libya. When Gaddafi fell, a cornucopia of arms opened for the Tuaregs, who quickly put their newly acquired firepower to use against the largely ineffective Malian army.
The so-called “terrorist” groups, like Ansar al-Din, al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad and AQIM, only moved in after the Tuareg Movement for the National Liberation of Azawed had expelled the Malian army from the north and declared a separate country. It is these groups that are stoning people to death, tearing down Sufi shrines, and enforcing rigid Sharia law. The Tuaregs have largely been pushed to the side, and many of them have returned to the desert, abandoning cities like Timbuktu, Gao, and Kidal to the Islamic groups.
Besides the original protagonists in northern Mali, there is growing tension between the Islamists and the Songhai, Mali’s largest ethnic group. There are rumors that Songhai villages are organizing militia, adding yet another dimension of potential trouble.
None of this had to happen.
When the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973 on Mar. 17 last year, it was to “protect civilians” in Libya. At the time, the 53-member African Union (AU) was attempting to negotiate a political solution to the crisis, but two days after the UN resolution was approved, NATO launched Operation Odyssey that smashed up Gaddafi’s air force and armor.
On Mar. 20, the AU met in Mauritania in an effort to stop the fighting. “Our desire,” read a joint AU statement “is that Libya’s unity and territorial integrity be respected as well as the rejection of any kind of foreign intervention.” The AU was acutely aware that Africa’s delicate post-colonial borders have enormous potential for creating instability, and that Libya might end up being a falling domino.
“Whatever the motivation of the principle NATO belligerents [in ousting Gadaffi], the law of unintended consequences is exacting a heavy toll on Mali today,” former UN regional envoy Robert Fowler told the Guardian (UK) “and will continue to do so throughout the Sahel as the vast store of Libyan weapons spreads across this, one of the most unstable regions of the world.”
A decade of growing US military involvement on the continent has not only failed to curb instability and the growth of so-called “terrorist” groups, the US’s actions in Somalia and Libya have directly fed the formation of such organizations. And “training” has hardly stabilized things. Indeed, the Mali army captain, Amadou Sanogo, who overthrew the civilian government—the act that led to the Tuareg’s successful offensive—was trained by the U.S. military. Sanogo attended the Defense Language Institute in 2005 and 2007, a US Army intelligence program in 2008, and an officer-training course in 2010.
“Terrorism” in Africa is fueled by local conditions, not by an international jihadist agenda. Boko Harum in Nigeria reflects the tension between the poverty of the country’s largely Islamic north and its more prosperous Christian south. Similar fault lines run through Niger, Ivory Coast and Cameroon. Terrorism in Algeria and Morocco mirror economies that are unable to provide jobs for a huge swath of their populations, coupled with authoritarian political structures that stifle any attempt to do something about it. Somalia was first a pawn in the Cold War, and then the very definition of chaos. When an Islamic government began taming that chaos, the U.S. overthrew it, unleashing the Shabab.
Hundreds of millions of dollars in aid is being directed at fighting terrorism on the continent, and the US military is training the armed forces of dozens of African nations. A Malian army captain used that aid and training to pull off a coup that now threatens to turn into a regional war.
Will Morocco use U.S. aid to fight terrorism or tighten its grip over the mineral rich Western Sahara and re-ignite its war with the Polisario Front? Will Niger fight “terrorists” or crush Tuareg resistance to French uranium mining in the Sahara? Will Algeria go after the AQIM or its own outlawed Islamist organizations? Will aid to fight terrorism in Nigeria be diverted to smash resistance by local people to oil production in the Niger Delta?
Bayonets won’t defeat the source of terrorism and instability in Africa. Indeed, military solutions tend to act as recruiting sergeants for groups like AQIM. Africa doesn’t need more weapons, but rather aid, development, and programs that lift a significant section of the continent’s population out of poverty.
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Whenever China has any opportunity to instigate trouble, or to just be a 'thorn in the U.S. side', it takes that opportunity. So again demonstrating that it is the biggest, rogue power in the world, China has refused permission for a U.S. aircraft carrier and accompanying vessels to visit Hong Kong for a long-planned Thanksgiving holiday visit for "unspecified reasons", the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday. The USS Kitty Hawk group and its crew of 8,000 airmen and sailors had been expected in Hong Kong on Wednesday, but will now spend the holiday on the South China Sea. Hundred of relatives of crew members of the Kitty Hawk had flown to Hong Kong to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. Hong Kong, especially its Wanchai bar district, has been a regular port of call for U.S. sailors on "R & R" (rest and recuperation) since the Vietnam War.
While admittedly not as serious as China's attempt to poison the youth of America with lead contaminated toys and baby items, the Chinese continue to act more like a country at war with the U.S. than one at peace.
All of this comes in the wake of the U.S.A.’s discovery of tons of imported Chinese food items that were contaminated with pesticides, and literally tons of tainted pet food containing melamine, a chemical contained in plastics and fertilizers.
Not to mention, the Chinese government previously denying entry to port for a U.S. vessel seeking safe harbor from a dangerous sea-storm.
Well, that EARNS the China the “Bad Conduct” Award; henceforth known as the Chop-Chop in honor of a golden age great who’s not likely to be revived anytime soon - - - for obvious reasons.
Strangely appropriate for this situation though. Cover images [above;left] taken from Quality Comics Blackhawk #18 (Spring 1948), Blackhawk #22 (December 1948) and Blackhawk #31 (June 1950).
[Why the hell we continue to do business with certain countries is beyond me. I say declare a moratorium on all inbound Chinese goods for a year or two and see how they fare, temporarily, without our considerable financial assistance. And we could always seize any Chinese assets stateside as recompense for their “undeclared economic assault”.]
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The words thoughts and actions of the MicroLoan Foundation team in London.
The words thoughts and actions of the MicroLoan Foundation team in London.
The Mwaiwathu (“our fortune”) group was one of the first credit groups established in the Mulanje district. When the branch was opening, one of the Loan Officers came to the Nkando trading center, which is the largest in the district, for an information meeting. Ten women got together and formed the Mwaiwathu group. Even though there are several other lending organisations in the area, MicroLoan was the first to establish a presence.
The good reputation that MicroLoan has, along with the positive experiences these women have had with their loans keep the women loyal. There are two other MicroLoan groups in the Nkando village – they formed when they saw the successes that the women in the Mwaiwathu group were having. They have a variety of businesses, including selling fish, donuts, and chickens and running shops in the trading center. While they had the businesses before taking the loan, they have been able to increase the size and through the training, “have been able to develop our businesses.”
The Timvetserane (“let’s listen to each other”) group has been taking loans from MicroLoan Foundation since 2011. The group consists of ten clients, whose businesses include selling donuts, beans, sweet peas, tomatoes, cooking oil and vegetables. They formed after a Loan Officer gave an informational meeting at the local trading center, gathering women from five different villages to hear about the organisation. While these women knew each other through social activities prior to taking loans with MicroLoan Foundation, they have become close friends as a result of the group. They trust each other in order to ensure that everyone repays each fortnight. They are also able to rely on each other in case someone has been sick and cannot make a meeting – the trust goes both ways, knowing that the group will be able to cover the loan during that period, but also the group knows that the individual will be able to repay.
These women chose to take their loans through MicroLoan Foundation, instead of competing organizations, not only because of the biweekly payment periods, but also because the Loan Officers are always willing to listen to their problems and help them come up with a solution. According to the women in the group, MicroLoan has very good customer care and they work at building relationships with the clients.
The loans have helped these women with their businesses. While they all had similar businesses prior to taking their first loan, they have since been able to increase the size of their business, not only by providing extra capital to produce more goods, but also with the business training they were given. Most of them had not had any savings before, nor were they always able to purchase what they needed when they needed it. As a result of the training they are given with MicroLoan, they now know how to anticipate their costs, budget for both personal and business expenses, and save money. As a result of these savings, their children are able to go to school and they can buy the basic items they need for daily life. Their standard of living has increased since they have been taking loans, by being able to provide for their families every day, and as a result are very happy with the experience they have had with MicroLoan Foundation.
Patuma has worked with MicroLoan Foundation since 2009, when she started at the Kasungu branch as an office assistant. She had previously attended college at SofTec Solutions in Kasungu, where she studied Information Technology, and continued to work there after she graduated.
Patuma had heard about MicroLoan Foundation, so when the Kasungu Branch Manager told her about the vacancy, she thought it would be a very good career move.
Patuma has also worked in the Head Office, in Zomba as an Office Assistant, and has been in Mulanje as a Loan Officer since June 2012. Patuma has the unique perspective of having worked in both the branch offices and the head office, which has given her more insight into MicroLoan, but she prefers working as a Loan Officer because she can visit clients in the field.
One thing Patuma particularly has liked about working with MicroLoan Foundation has been the ability for her career to progress. She hopes that someday she will become a Senior Loan Officer. Patuma says that the impact MicroLoan Foundation has on its clients is quite visible – one of her clients was so poor when she joined that her community did not think she would be able to repay the loans, but she has proved them wrong by succeeding in her business and she now has a big house with iron sheets.
She has many other clients with similar success stories, and Patuma knows that MicroLoan is having a very large impact in the district of Mulanje. Everyday she visits clients she can see how their lives have changed. This is her favourite part of the job – getting to visit with the clients and being able to discuss their business ideas. Patuma enjoys teaching the clients, but also being able to learn from them.
Lydia has been a member of the Mwaiwathu (“our fortune”) group since it formed in 2011, taking loans for her donut business. She uses the loans to buy baking flour, sugar, yeast, cooking oil and firewood – all the necessary items to run her business.
Because of the loans, she is able to make the donuts more often and increase the yield of each production, resulting in higher profits. With her profits, she is able to hire people to help her with her farm.
Lydia wants to increase the size of her business, including being able to buy the whole 50kg bag of flour (twice what she buys now) so she can make and sell more donuts. Thanks to MicroLoan’s financial training, Lydia has discovered the importance of saving: “At first I used to do business without saving anything, but now I know how to save, which helps me expand my business and make my life better.”
She is able to use the money from her profits to help pay for daily needs for herself and her two grown sons who still live with her.
Esthere is the chairlady of the Timvetserane (“let’s listen to each other”) group, and has been with the group since late 2011. While she is not an original member of the group, she has the charisma to ensure the group’s success. She sells “the very best beans in Mulanje,” and has used her loans to help increase the size of her business. She is now able to buy the beans daily, before she was only able to purchase them two days a week. She purchases the beans from a market about 5km away, and sells them at the Chitakala trading center, about 10 km away, two days a week, and in more local markets the other days. “With my loans, I am able to buy more beans, so I sell more and make more money.” In addition to beans, she will also buy and sell rice and peas with her next loan. One thing she learned from training is the ability to buy products that are relevant to the seasons, which is why she will be expanding her business soon.
According the Esthere, “because of the loans, there are daily basic commodities that I can now buy such as salt, sugar, and oil.” Additionally, she uses her loans to help support her seven grandchildren and her mother. She lives her with mother and one grandchild, who is in standard 6 of primary school. “I want to help support her go to secondary school, to be able to have the money saved to pay her school fees.” Additionally, she said that when she is sick, she is “now able to go to the hospital in town and buy medicine, which I would not have been able to do before.”
Overall, Esthere has enjoyed her experience with MicroLoan Foundation and would recommend it to any of her friends, especially because the loan officers are so helpful and she thinks MicroLoan has one of the better loan repayment options.
Juliana has worked with MicroLoan Foundation since 2008, as a loan officer in Salima, a senior loan officer in Mzuzu and currently as a branch manager in Mulanje.
Prior to working with MicroLoan, she studied Rural and Community Development at Mzuzu Polytechnic College, and also worked at Obima Ministries as a relief aid loan officer. She knew she wanted to work with the poor and liked the idea of providing microfinances in order to improve their standard of life, which is why she chose to work with the MicroLoan Foundation.
She says that in Mulanje, the MicroLoan Foundation has earned a very good reputation among the people who live here, and people often chose to take their loans from MicroLoan over other competing MFIs. She likes being able to see the impact that MicroLoan has on her client’s lives, for instance seeing them construct bigger houses, expanding their businesses, and establishig better food security for their families, being able to buy food for everybody.
Her favorite part of working with MicroLoan is being able to travel to visit the clients, help them with training, and working with them to help improve their lives. The hands-on approach that MicroLoan provides is one of the main things that sets MicroLoan apart from other microfinance organizations.
Dorothy is the chairlady of the Tayamba (“we have begun”) group, and has been a member since its inception in 2011. She is currently using her loan for selling firewood that she collects from local sources and will travel to Blantyre, 80 km away, to sell the wood. She runs different businesses depending on the season, including rice and second-hand clothing. The second-hand clothing is what she normally takes her loans for, buying clothes in Phalombe and then selling them at various markets up to 20 km away.
However, with the business skills she learned through her training from MicroLoan Foundation, she anticipated the slow profits of the rainy season, which is why she took her loan for firewood, which would be more profitable at this time. After the harvests, when villagers have more money, she will go back to selling clothing. According to Dorothy, a widow, “with the loans I have been able to support my family, pay school fees, clothe my children, and always have food in the house.” She no longer has to sell her excess crops to feed her family – the extra income ensures they will always have food at every meal.
She wants to be able to continue to grow her business because she is building a more permanent house for her family. It is almost finished, and she just needs to buy the cement for the floor. With the training from MicroLoan, “I have learned how to budget my money, both business and personal, and I can calculate how much I have put into the business.” Her profits always go toward the business first, then for personal use. Because she is able to have enough capital, she is at liberty to run any business, as can be seen by changing her businesses depending on the season.
Every time she takes a loan, she has extra money, which she can use to support her family. Before taking the loans, she was not always able to provide her family with enough food. She takes care of her four children, two of whom are in secondary school, one is in primary school, and the youngest is in nursery school. While she “would have been able to afford school fees, it would have made life very difficult.” She was educated through primary school, and sees the importance of her children completing secondary school, especially because she would like them to go on to become civil servants or work in the medical profession.
Annie is the secretary for the Tayamba (“we have begun”) group, and she has been a member since its formation in 2011. She takes her loans for buying fish. She rides her bicycle 40 km to Lake Chilwa to purchase the fish two or three times a month. She sells the fish in the Phalombe market, which is about 5 km from her village, although she would like to expand her business to selling in the Chitakale market, which is 35 km away. Her business has grown since taking the loans, because initially she could only get fish once a month, but now she has more capital so can buy fish more often and bring back larger quantities. Hoping to expand to the larger market, she would be able to increase her profits further because she could charge more for fish sold there.
“I have benefitted a lot [from MicroLoan Foundation], especially with savings; I have been able to save money, withdraw the money, and buy things for my family I would not have otherwise been able to afford.” With her profits, she has been able to buy fertilizer, along with being able to pay laborers to help farm her maize and pea crops. Additionally, the family now has ducks and turkeys, which they keep, but could sell if they ever found themselves in an emergency. Annie is no longer reliant on her husband for their income and takes pride in being self-sustainable. If she needs to buy something for the household, she doesn’t need to go to him for money. Her husband, Loti, is very encouraging of her business. He has seen how the loans and training have helped improve their every day lives.
The rest of her family has also seen the impact of MicroLoan’s support. Her three daughters, aged twelve, ten and five, are now able to have an education. The oldest two are in primary school and the youngest is in nursery school, but will start in primary school next term. Annie herself only got through standard 6 in primary school, but she said that undoubtedly her daughters will all go to secondary school. Without MicroLoan, she would not have been able to afford the primary school fees, let alone the secondary school fees. “Knowing I need to save money so they can go to school will ensure that I work very hard at my business.” In fact, she wants her children to be able to go to university so they will be able to support their families too. “Possibly, one of them could become a doctor or a nurse.” She has also been able to help her family out with their health. “I am now able to buy medicine if someone is sick before they are referred to the hospital.” In fact, recently she was able to provide transportation to Lilongwe, about four hours away, for her cousin who needed serious medical treatment.
Annie has enjoyed receiving loans and training from MicroLoan, and she knows that her life has changed for the better since taking the loans. However, even though the past few months have been difficult for business, she credits her Loan Officer for being able to give her the skills to get through tough times.
Joyce is a MicroLoan beginner, in the middle of her second loan. Until the MicroLoan Foundation entered their lives, she and her husband Hashim were subsistence farmers, getting by on his patch of land where he grew maize and cassava while she looked after their four children.
After discovering MicroLoan, she applied for a loan to start a tea shop for the village and to sell bread. Hashim would buy the bread in the market in the town five miles away, bringing back twenty loaves each day on his bicycle. Joyce would make sure the tea was always brewed and kept a watchful eye over the shop’s day-to-day business.
Joyce stayed on in her primary school until she was nearly 18 so that she could read, write and count properly. Because of this, today, she is an eager participant in the group training sessions led by Richard, the local MicroLoan Branch Manager. These group sessions are joyous occasions, starting and ending with singing and dancing. Work has never seemed so jolly.
It is early days for Joyce and her husband. It will be interesting to see how they develop their business. Maybe she will think of baking her own bread, or expanding the range of products in the shop.
They would love to have a larger house if they are able to save enough money. Whatever they do they can count on the support of the group and of the MicroLoan Foundation.
Tissie Sandra Mboyo runs a grocery shop in Mponela. It’s just set-back from the M1, the main road which runs north from the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe. Business is good she says, and plenty of drivers going from Lilongwe to Kasungu stop en-route. She sells everything you can possibly think of including soft drinks, bread, popcorn, salt, sugar, shoe polish, toiletries, freshly-made samosas, even smart office shirts for men.
She’s taken out 6 loans from MicroLoan, the latest for KW 150,000 which she’s repaying over 4 months. She thinks it’s a good organisation especially when it listens to your problems. “I’ve had this business for 12 years,” she says, “but last year thieves broke in, stealing shirts, phone credit and money. That pushed me back, and I’ve just started again. That was tough.”
She spent her loan on stock, buying 20 crates of soft drink and big quantities of sugar, but that’s just a fraction of her monthly expenditure: she spends KW 1 million to fill her shop plus KW8000 on rent. She makes KW 200,000 profit a month at the most. A lot of that goes towards feeding the 7 people who depend on her at any one time, including unemployed grown-up children and some nieces and nephews. “It’s very hard,” says the 50 year old.
“These days prices have gone up and profits are small. Soft drinks and mobile phone credit sell quickly but don’t make much profit… I want another business like a restaurant…. I’d also like to build my own house and not rent anymore.”
MicroLoan’s support is helping make her dreams a reality.
Times used to be very hard for Margret, lacking food and unable to find a permanent job, she would do short-term labour jobs to enable her to buy basic supplies. Living in poverty, her future looked quite bleak.
After using various other microfinance institutions, where she encountered problems with them misusing her savings, she came to find MicroLoan. When asked why she chose MicroLoan as opposed to other MFIs, she said: “My savings are safe as there is a specific time to withdraw savings. Secondly, I like the 2 week repayment as it keeps me busy with my business.”
Margret has been loyal to MicroLoan, and MicroLoan to her. She has now passed her 13th loan cycle and has grown her business into a small enterprise! “I now have 5 houses for rent, 4 pigs and my own house. I was a poor person, I didn’t do well at school and my parents passed away so I had nobody to assist me. But MicroLoan came to my rescue, and I am now better off”
Margret is now in a position where she is not only able to help her own 3 children, but is also able to look after two more children whose parents are very poor. She has high hopes for her children, wanting her daughter to become a doctor, one son to be a driver and her other son to be a policeman or a pastor. With the help of MicroLoan she is able to pay her children’s school fees and uniforms so that her dream can hopefully become a reality.
As well as her business, Margret speaks publicly about her struggle with HIV. The increased profits from her business have enabled Margret to access ARVs, drugs which help to keep the effects of HIV at bay. This has transformed her life. We’re very proud of Margret, she truly is a shining example of how our loans and training can help turn poverty into prosperity.
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Foy Brothers, a Los Angeles harness and saddler firm was founded in 1854 by Samuel Calvert Foy and his brother, John Moran Foy. They did business with many prominent Californians including Abel Stearns, Pio Pico, and Phineas Banning. Their partnership continued until 1865 when John moved to San Bernardino to open his own firm; he died in 1892. Samuel continued to direct the Los Angeles firm until his death in 1901.
Scope and Content
The collection contains 62 financial volumes and one folder of ephemera for the Foy Brothers saddler and harness business in Los Angeles. Many of the volumes have items in them including correspondence, receipts, invoices, handwritten notes, etc. The ephemera includes receipts, invoices, tax information and receipts, a business license, and a catalog for "S. C. Foy…Manufacturer and Dealer In…Harness, Saddles, Collars, Whips, Lap Robes, Dusters and Nets, Etc. Los Angeles, Cal." These financial volumes and the ephemera give insight into the Foy Brothers' business in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in both Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. Their business with Abel Stearns, Pio Pico, and Phineas Banning are represented in several of these financial volumes.
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Published November 30, 2012
Jobs may be hard to find these days, but according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 2 million Americans quit their jobs every month. Naturally, many of these people are hoping to move onto a bigger and better opportunity, or possibly just something more pleasant.
But in a tough job market, there are no guarantees. If you are thinking of quitting your job without a replacement lined up, it is important to look before you leap. Here are five moves to make before you tell the boss:
1. Get your debt under control
There are two big problems with quitting your job while you have a high credit card balance or other large debt burden. First, it saddles you with high payments at a time when your income might be temporarily reduced. Second, if you are bumping up against your credit limits, you have less cushion to ride out a period of unemployment while you find a new job. A little austerity is a good way to prepare in case you aren't able to walk right into another job.
2. Build temporary savings
Even if you don't have much debt, you'll want to build up temporary savings to help you through any transition period. Temporary savings means money that doesn't interfere with your long-term retirement savings. It should be money that is accessible, in an instrument such as a savings account or money market account, so you don't have to break into long-term investments at the wrong time. It should also be outside of any tax-deferred retirement plan, so you don't have to incur a tax penalty for early distributions.
3. Prepare your credit
If you've been thinking of applying for new loans or credit, it's best to do it before you quit your job. For example, if you've been eyeing low mortgage refinance rates, you'll have a better chance of qualifying for a new mortgage if you haven't just quit your job. Also, if you think you might need an extra credit card to see you through the transition, it's better to apply for it before you are stretching your current credit limits. Don't take on too much new credit though, as doing so all at once can hurt your credit score.
4. Scope out the job market
Look at employment opportunities in your field. Are jobs available? Do you have the qualifications employers are demanding? If the answer to either of these questions is no, it may be wise to at least delay your decision.
5. Discuss other options with your employer
Whether the problem is salary or work conditions, it might be possible to solve the problem by discussing it with your employer, or there may be other opportunities for you within the organization. Before you quit, have a frank conversation with your employer about why you are thinking of moving on -- but only after you've taken all the other steps to be prepared.
If it turns out that quitting is the best option for you, you'll find the transition all the smoother if you've laid the proper groundwork in advance.
The original article can be found at Money-Rates.com:
5 steps to take before you quit
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Madame de Quinet, however, concluded that Eutacie had been known, or else that her jewels had betrayed her, and that the man must have been employed by her enemies. If it had not been the depth of winter, she would have provided for the persecuted lady’s immediate transmission to England; but he storms of the Bay of Biscay would have made this impossible in the state of French navigation, even if Isaac Gardon had been in a condition to move; for the first return of cold had brought back severe rheumatic pains, and with them came a shortness of breath which even the Duchess did not know to be the token of heart complaint. He was confined to his room, and it was kneeling by his bedside that Eutacie poured out her thankfulness for her child’s preservation, and her own repentance for the passing fit of self-will and petulance. The thought of Rayonette’s safety seemed absolutely to extinguish the fresh anxiety that had arisen since it had become evident that her enemies no longer supposed her dead, but were probably upon her traces. Somehow, danger had become almost a natural element to her, and having once expressed her firm resolution that nothing should separate her from her adopted father, to whom indeed her care became constantly more necessary, she seemed to occupy herself very little with the matter; she nursed him as merrily as ever, and left to him and Madame de Quinet the grave consultations as to what was to be done for her security. There was a sort of natural buoyancy about her that never realized a danger till it came, and then her spirit was roused to meet it.
Churl, upon thy eyes I throw
All the power this charm doth owe
MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM
Her rival lived! The tidings could not but be communicated to Diane de Selinville, when her father set out en grande tenue to demand his niece from the Duke de Quinet. This, however, was not till spring was advancing; for the pedlar had not been able to take a direct route back to Nid-de-Merle, since his first measure had necessarily been to escape into a province where the abstraction of a Huguenot nobleman’s despatches would be considered as a meritorious action. Winter weather, and the practice of his profession likewise, delayed Ercole so much that it was nearly Easter before he brought his certain intelligence to the Chevalier, and to the lady an elixir of love, clear and coloured as crystal, and infallible as an inspirer of affection.
Should she administer it, now that she knew her cousin not to be the lawful object of affection she had so long esteemed him, but, as he persisted in considering himself, a married man? Diane had more scruples than she would have had a year before, for she had not so long watched and loved one so true and conscientious as Berenger de Ribaumont without having her perceptions elevated; but at the same time the passion of love had become intensified, both by long continuance and by resistance. She had attached herself, believing him free, and her affections could not be disentangled by learning that he was bound—rather the contrary.
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Saturday, 1:45 p.m.
Ever wondered about your local law enforcement agency–and how much alcohol enforcement they’re doing?
Well, if they got an ABC grant, they’re doing A LOT.
Hard to believe it’s been almost 15 years since I helped design and launch the Grant Assistance Program (GAP) while working in ABC’s Sacramento Headquarters.
After ABC announced the program, police and sheriff’s departments far and wide sweated for days and weeks writing their proposals. They had to describe their local alcohol-related crime problem– and how they’d use an ABC grant to solve them.
The reward: A grant of up to $100,000 to each of 15 law enforcement agencies. The big bucks–primarily to be used for officer overtime–would help the agencies prevent and fight alcohol-related crime in and around their most crime-ridden licensed businesses.
Why the grant program?
• In the early 1990s, state and local budget crunches had dried up resources for alcohol-related law enforcement (sound familiar?)
• Local enforcement agencies were reassigning officers to street patrol and violent crime suppression
• The number of disorderly/disruptive licensed businesses was on the rise, and communities were demanding stronger liquor law enforcement
• Our Governor at the time, Pete Wilson, started an anti-crime initiative
• There was a huge need to control disorderly and disruptive licensed businesses (liquor stores and bars, primarily) that had magnets for crime such as fights, drunks, gang activity, late-night noise, loitering, litter and so on.
As ABC explained, much of the crime took place because:
“ . . . (a) Business owners were unaware of their responsibilities to maintain a lawfully operated establishment,
(b) Sufficient laws were not in place to hold business owners responsible for nuisance activities outside their business,
(c) Community partnerships needed to be strengthened, and
(d) Local law enforcement did not always have the expertise or resources to deal with the problem. . . . ”
(California ABC, Application for 2002 Herman Goldstein Award for Excellence in Problem-Oriented Policing, p. 3)
So . . . in 1995, ABC set the GAP Program in motion. Because of the GAP Program’s success in reducing alcohol-related crime and calls for service and improving the quality of life in communities, it continues today.
During FY 2009-10, 38 agencies received GAP funds totalling nearly $2 million.
If your business is located in one of the following cities, your odds are higher than most of being visited by your local law enforcement agency:
Fiscal Year 2009-10 GAP Agencies
Azusa Police Dept * Bell Gardens Police Dept/Huntington Park PD/South Gate PD * Berkeley Police Dept Berkeley * Regents of the University of CA on behalf of UC Berkeley PD * Capitola Police Dept * Chula Vista Police Dept * Clearlake Police Dept * Corona Police Dept * Costa Mesa Police Dept * Folsom Police Dept * Fresno Co. Sheriff’s Dept * Hawthorne Police Dept * Inglewood Police Dept * Kern Co. Sheriff’s Dept * Laguna Beach Police Dept * Los Angeles Sheriff’s Dept/Field Operations Region III * Los Angeles Police Dept * Madera Police Dept * Mendocino Co. Sheriff’s Dept * Modesto Police Dept * Monterey Police Dept * Murrieta Police Dept * Oakland Police Dept * Orland Police Dept * Pleasant Hill Police Dept * Ponoma Police Dept * Riverside Police Dept * San Diego Co. Sheriff’s Dept/Encinitas Station * San Diego Co. Sheriff’s Dept/Imperial Beach Station * San Francisco Police Dept * San Jose Police Dept * Seal Beach Police Dept/Los Alamitos PD * Simi Valley Police Dept * Sonoma Co. Sheriff’s Dept * Tulare Police Dept * Vacaville Police Dept * Woodland Police Dept * Yuba City Police Dept
But remember, just because your business is NOT in one of these cities, the ABC or local law enforcement might STILL visit you. The GAP Program supplements, and doesn’t replace, regular ABC enforcement. And GAP teams visit all types of businesses, not just liquor stores and bars.
In my next blog, I’ll tell you how the GAP Program works . . .
And some of the controls you should have in place to stay in compliance.
Stay Safe and Legal,
Liquor License Advisor
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- Published on Monday, 20 May 2013 12:07
The video was made by The Third Force News and presents the Faslane Peace Camp and Scottish CND's message of support (Arthur West – Scottish CND chair).
Here are some ideas to get involved:
- Published on Friday, 10 May 2013 15:32
A new poll by Lord Ashcroft claims that only 34% of Scots want to give up nuclear weapons.
“The results contradict Scottish CND poll and other public research and the Coalition’s austerity drive is increasing opposition to replacing Trident as people think the money will be better spent elsewhere.” Arthur West - chairman of Scottish CND
According to this poll:
- 48% of the respondents oppose UK having nuclear weapons and only 37% support it;
- only 20% of the respondents agreed with the curent proposal which is to replace Trident with an equally powerful system;
- 50% were opposed to lease out Faslane to the rest of the UK, if Scotland was independent, and only 35% supported this.
Scottish CND poll, run by TNS in March 2013 revealed that 80% of those who expressed a definite opinion about Trident are against its replacement and we are extremely confident that these results are accurately reflecting Scots’ opinions.
Click here if you wish to see the motion lodged by Bill Kidd with regards to this poll.
- Published on Tuesday, 07 May 2013 14:13
Yesterday the French Navy tested a strategic missile of the new generation M51 (launched from the submarine "Le Triomphant"). The test was a failure and the missile was destroyed briefly after its launch.
In response, Bill Kidd MSP lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament.
Motion Number: S4M-06488
Date Lodged: 07/05/2013
Title: Nuclear Missile Test Failure
That the Parliament notes with concern the news of the French Navy’s failed test of a M51 missile in the Bay of Audierne, off the coast of Brittany; understands that the missile malfunctioned during a test launch on 5 May 2013 and had to be destroyed while in flight; further understands that the M51, a missile designed for submarines, is 12 metres long, weighs 56 tons and has the capacity to carry nuclear warheads that are 60 to 80 times more powerful than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945; is relieved that there were no casualties as a result of this failed test and that the missile was not carrying nuclear warheads at the time; believes, however, that this malfunction serves as a reminder of the tens of thousands of nuclear weapons that it believes are held in the arsenals of nine countries that rely on technology that it considers continues to be proven fallible; is concerned that this incident was not reported more widely, especially as the consequences of such a malfunction of a missile with nuclear warheads in the same vicinity would have had a devastating impact on the nearby shores of England and many other bordering areas, and calls on the UK media to provide appropriate coverage of such events to make the public aware of the risks faced in allowing nuclear technologies to be pursued.
- Published on Sunday, 05 May 2013 14:23
The annual May Day was celebrated in Glasgow by marching from George Square to O2 Academy where the rally took place.
Scottish CND and Scrap Trident were well represented in the march. Patrick Harvie (Green Party) was one of our many supporters.
Thank you all for your dedication.
Cut Trident, not jobs.
For a full guide to May Day 2013 events check: STUC webiste.
- Published on Thursday, 02 May 2013 08:08
In evidence to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs committee, two former senior officals in the Ministry of Defence have indicated that it will not be feasible to move Trident, in the event of Scottish independence. Sir David Omand said - "I do not see a feasible alternative site at reasonable cost." Sir Richard Mottram added - "It is not at all obvious that there is an alternative site for a deterrent of the current kind". Scottish CND has argued that, as a result, independence is likely to lead to British nuclear disarmament.
- Published on Wednesday, 01 May 2013 10:57
A new report from the House of Commons Foreign Affairs committee shows how critical the Trident issue is in the independence debate.
The report highlights the great difficulty of trying to move Trident to England. Scottish CND has argued that this will be virtually impossible. (Trident: Nowhere to Go)
- Published on Saturday, 27 April 2013 15:35
Over 3,000 people have added their pins to an online map to say that they don't want nuclear weapons in Scotland. To join them, go to naenuclear.org and place your pin on the map. You can then add your own comment.
The map shows that people in every corner of the country are opposed to the continued presence of these Weapons of Mass Destruction in our lochs and on our shores. A recent opinion poll by TNS BMRB found that only 14% of Scots support David Cameron's plan to spend billions on a replacement for Trident.
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SALTONSTALL, Leverett, (great-grandfather of Leverett Saltonstall [1892-1979]),
a Representative from Massachusetts; born in Haverhill, Mass., June
13, 1783; pursued classical studies; attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter,
N.H., and was graduated from Harvard University in 1802; studied law; was
admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Salem in 1805; unsuccessful
candidate for election in 1820 to the Seventeenth Congress; delegate to the
State constitutional convention in 1820; member of the State house of
representatives in 1813, 1814, 1816, 1822, 1829, and 1834; served in the State
senate 1817-1819, 1831, and 1832, and was its president in 1831 and 1832; first
mayor of Salem, Mass., 1836-1838; elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth
Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Stephen C. Phillips;
reelected to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses and served from
December 5, 1838, to March 3, 1843; chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the
Department of the Navy (Twenty-sixth Congress), Committee on Manufactures
(Twenty-seventh Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the
Twenty-eighth Congress; again a member of the State house of representatives in
1844; overseer of Harvard University 1835-1845; died in Salem, Essex County,
Mass., May 8, 1845; interment in Harmony Grove Cemetery.
The Papers of Leverett Saltonstall, 1816-1845. 5 Volumes.
Selected and Edited and with an Introduction by Robert E. Moody. Boston:
Massachusetts Historical Society, 1978-1992.
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|Posted by Kathleen on December 02, 2003 at 20:53:38:|
When the toilet upstairs is flushed, the toilet on the main floor gurgles and blurps and basically almost flushes itself. What causes this? My house is over 50 years old and still has cast iron pipes in the basement. Could this be part of the problem? We have a septic tank and well water. Any ideas/suggestions?
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In the ancient myth of Daedalus and Icarus, the father and son try to escape Crete with the secret of the labyrinth, but need to avoid travel by land and sea because king Minos controls both. So they decide to build wings and take to the air and fly. It all looks beautiful from so high up, and it looks like they will both make it, when Icarus (the son) ignores his father’s advice and flies too high. His wings are destroyed and he plummets to earth.
Enough of the mythology – who needs it when you can observe the equivalent played out in CRM projects. The cool new thing, as yet untarnished and still so full of promise, is social networking. Fixing the processes on the existing channels has been really hard. As we’ve added more and more channels, figuring out how the customer is experiencing our enterprises, and understanding their intentions and expectations have turned out to be tough. It has been difficult to agree on a system of record or to agree on what constitutes the master customer data that must be available to the enterprise and to the customer. A lot of businesses have pulled back on these customer-centric projects. But now these same businesses are pushing forward into social networking. New people are in charge – often times from marketing.
It is great to see the innovation that social networking is opening up. At the same time, we are already beginning to see confusion regarding the expected business benefit of such endeavors. How do they contribute to business value? How do they boost sales or trim costs or create loyalty? What are the metrics we are trying to improve, and who is in charge of collecting and analyzing the data? Who is responsible for driving process change in sales and marketing and logistics? How many resources need to be dedicated?
Social networking has the huge benefit of requiring practically no IT budget, allowing lines of business to skirt IT and engage in fast, interative projects. The negative side is that the learnings may not find support in the business software that guides conformance to standards and consistency of sales process, service process, or marketing process.
Once an initial facility with social networking is achieved by marketing, it becomes time to reach across departments to work collaboratively with sales, service and IT to improve business processes, or the result ends up being a new set of frustrations that damage customer relationships.
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The Sixes Reversed
Six is a number of balance and resolution. After the upset of the fives comes the quiet and problem solving of six. Reversed, therefore, suggests that answers and balance have somehow been put off or kept away altogether:
Six of Swords Reversed
The wonderful Six of Swords is all about escaping troubled waters. The boat may not have reached the shore, but it might well be in view. The answer to communication problems, mental worries, even science and math problems written on a chalkboard are becoming clear. Turn the card up-side-down and it's rather like overturning the boat. Everyone is in the water, the swords sinking to the bottom. Not only is there no getting the problem solves, but all that the boat was carrying gets lost as well.
If I got the reversed Six of Swords for a querent, I'd be worried that the poor person was going to lose all their important notes. That their computer might crash, or the person they needed to help them get to that other shore was going to suddenly move to another country, no forwarding address. The querent is going to have to swim for it and do the best they can without boat, oarsman or swords.
Six of Wands Reversed
The victory card is all about success, applause and accolades. The energy the person put into their endeavour has paid off and they have won. Reverse it however, and we can easily see several interpretations: opposite being a defeat rather than a win, but more likely, the blocked interpretation of something getting in the way of victory. I would read this as either a victory delayed, or one achieved but not getting the applause it should get.
I have a friend who works in the movie business. He worked very hard on a movie, but when he saw the credits, is name was hidden away, barely there. This would be, to me, the Six of Wands reversed. The querent is cheated of the satisfaction and laurels he ought to have gotten for his hard work.
Six of Cups Reversed
The nostalgia card is about finding answers in the past, in old friends, old family members, even just memories of youth and innocence. Reverse this and such memories or friends and family cause more problems than answers. If I got the reversed Six of Cups for a querent, I'd say that their childhood was so bad that anything that reminds them of it causes them emotional upset rather than emotional peace and joy.
If I got this card for them, I'd be very worried that they were going to run into a relative or old friend who had caused them pain and problems. A glance back at their school yearbook would only have them remembering how miserable they were, not, as with the upright card, their first love or happier times.
Six of Pentacles Reversed
The generosity card is about balancing out the scales by giving - or receiving. This is a card about finding an answer in charity, and the querent might be on either end of it - sharing the wealth, or getting their share from some benevolent soul. Reverse this, however, and there is no money to share. The querent may want to share in order to solve a problem, but finds themselves short of cash. Likewise, they may need some generosity in order to survive, but there is no one willing to give them a helping hand.
If I got this card I would assume that the querent either was having trouble getting a scholarship or charity, or that they wanted very badly to help someone but hadn't the resources to do it.
Onto the next reversed Tarot card, the Sevens...
For complete, ad-free reversed meanings, order the eBook.
Back to the list of Tarot Reversals...
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The press is filled with stories of flawed or fallen heroes but little praise for the tireless work done every day to make the world a better place.
In the Northeast, 2 million people lost power due to an act of God - an early winter storm. One week later, a few thousand were still without power. Local politicians demanded answers from power companies to explain why it took so long and why their planning for the unexpected storm was so poor. As an infrastructure provider myself, I can tell you that utility workers have done a heroic job - deciding what work would restore power most quickly based on a Pareto analysis, doing the main/trunk/substation work rapidly and leaving the most remote parts of the grid for last. It's been 24x7, cold, wet, and physically demanding work. They've done their best and I respect the people that did the work.
Steve Jobs, a remarkable person, was brilliant and charismatic but could be overly demanding, emotional, and less than perfect with his family and personal relationships. His death was met with initial shock and an outpouring of respect. After a week, the press turned to the dark side of Steve's personality, as nicely summarized in this New York Times article about the short sainthood of Steve Jobs.
I'm an eternal optimist and believe that mankind is basically good. However, I cannot help but believe that society has lost its perspective when we spend time tearing down our heroes, highlighting their mistakes, and reveling in Schadenfreude when someone falls from grace.
Everything regresses to the mean, but wouldn't it be best to capture people at their peak of creativity and remember them for what they did right? Of course we can learn from their mistakes and failures, but we do not need to perseverate on their nadirs when their zeniths are where they had the most impact.
As someone who lives in operational roles 24x7x365, I can say that it is very hard to achieve and maintain perfection. I've written that I do not have power or authority - what I really have is risk of failure.
I would rather celebrate success, learn from failure and acknowledge those human beings who have made a difference.
The héroes in my life are my wife, my daughter, my parents, economist Milton Friedman, Steve Jobs, former HIT National Coordinator David Blumenthal, former Harvard Medical School Dean Joseph Martin, my second in command at BIDMC John Powers, CEO of the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative Micky Tripathi, and the current head of CMS Don Berwick. I'm sure each has had moments of incredible success and events they would rather forget. They have all been inspirational to me.
So for one day, let's celebrate our heroes, flaws and all. Let's ban all news about Lindsey Lohan and Kim Kardashian.
If we try hard enough, maybe our sense of wonder and magic will return.
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A special musical treat is in store for attendees of this year’s D23...
Tag "Tyrus Wong"
A new documentary about legendary animator Tyrus Wong has launched a new fundraising campaign on Kickstarter.com. Produced and directed by Pamela Tom, the project is titled Tyrus Wong: Brushstrokes in Hollywood and offers a comprehensive look at the life and times of the iconic artist, who is still going strong [...]
The spring issue of Disney fans’ twenty-three magazine pays tribute to the legacy and influence of Disney’s animated films. The official Disney fan club takes readers on a colorful and informative journey from the studio’s first animated classic—Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs—to the projects being readied for 2012 and [...]
Disney animation legend Tyrus Wong was recently celebrated at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco’s Presidio for influencing generations of animators and many films today. “Ty” – as Walt Disney called him – is best known for his work on the Disney animated classic, Bambi. Disney saw that [...]
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Roy Halston Frowick was born in Des Moines, Iowa, USA, on 23rd April 1932. He attended the University of Indiana and the Chicago Institute. While still studying, he was designing and selling hats.
In 1953, he opened a millinery salon in a Chicago hotel, where his clientele included film actresses Gloria Swanson and Deborah Kerr. He trained briefly with Charles James, the great fashion designer. In 1958, he joined LILLY DACHE in New York, moving shortly after to the millinery salon of Bergdorf Goodman's New York department store. Halston designed hats for Jacqueline Kennedy including a beige felt pillbox that was widely copied. She wore many pillbox hats with the dresses which Oleg Cassini designed for her.
In 1966, Halston began designing ready-to-wear garments, leaving Bergdorf Goodman to open his own business. Halston Ltd., was founded in 1968 on Madison Avenue, New York. During the late 60's and early 70's Halston established a reputation as a designer of knitwear, sweaters and wide legged jersey trousers. He also made turtlenecks, long slinky halter-neck dresses, cashmere dresses for day and evening, sweater sets and boxy square jackets and coats. American socialites considered him the best evening wear designer. He also tie-dyed chiffon and used matte jersey in many of his collections. In 1972, he made a shirtwaister of Ultrasuede which inspired many imitations. Ultrasuede was considered to be a Halston trademark.
In the 60's, designer Stephen Sprouse worked at the house of Halston for 3 years.
In 1973, Norton Simon incorporated Halston's business for $ 12 million and named this new division of its conglomerate Halston Enterprises Inc. In 1978, he moved all his activities to the Olympic Towers Building, in Manhattan, New York.
His popularity in the 70's made him a social figure, most famously among the set that frequented New York's Disco named Studio 54. Bianca Jagger and Liza Minelli were friends and clients.
Halston was famous for his draped jersey dresses and lean trouser suits. He was very much inspired by classical Greek and Roman draping.
In 1983, Halston signed with J.C. Penney, the large department store, for a cheaper line, which caused many of his higher class clientele to leave him. In 1984, he attempted to regain ownership of his custom business and designer ready-to-wear but was unable to do so, and went out of business. He died on 26th March 1990 when only 58 years old.
In the year 2000, the city of New York decided to honour American fashion designers by placing bronze plaques along 7th Avenue, the great street of fashion in New York. This was called the "FASHION WALK OF FAME'. Halston was one of those honoured, and here is a picture of his plaque.
Various designers have looked after the house of Halston. Randolph Duke from 1997-1998, his assistant Kevan Hall 1998-1999, followed by Craig Natiello who left in November 2001.
Thai-born Piyawat joined Halston in April 2001. He was earlier with Anne Klein, Adrienne Vittadini and Vivienne Tam. When Craig Natiello left, he took over the design for Halston. He presented a successful Fall/Winter 2002 collection, followed by another for Spring/Summer 2003.
See All products by Halston
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The future of Alexandrias leafy West End isnt cul-de-sacs, single-family homes and strip malls.
As the Beauregard Street corridor coalesces with plans for an increasingly urban-minded Alexandria, change from its present-day landscape is around the corner.
On Monday, just days after they got their first glimpse of a re-imagined waterfront, city residents studied preliminary designs for what the area around Mark Center could be in 20 years: The sort of town center that exists in places like Shirlington and Old Town.
In order to stay apace with the citys planning process for the neighborhood, the JBG Corporation, the largest landowner in the area, held a three-day public workshop to gather community input on redevelopment ideas for its property straddling the Beauregard corridor.
The core concepts of urbanization that influenced the workshops final product a road grid, mixed-use buildings, mass transit and increased walkability would be revolutionary for a neighborhood that grew up in the era of sprawling suburban planning.
The developers basically cauterized the streets so you could live in splendid isolation and what they didnt tell you was that the minute you left your cul-de-sac, youre in traffic hell, said Andres Duany, head of the land-planning firm JBG hired for the project and a nationally recognized figure in the field.
Duany, whose firm has offices in Miami, Charlotte and Gaithersburg, explained the nuances of the draft JBG brought out of the weekends public-private sessions the first of its kind during the Beauregard planning process.
Including traffic alterations like the addition of mass transit and a proposal to cut Beauregard from four to two lanes of automobile traffic, the preliminary vision for the area had shades of historic planning methods found in D.C., Alexandria and Europe.
The additional 7,500 housing units would help restore a job-housing balance that is sure to dissolve with the September 2011 opening of the 6,400-employee BRAC installation at Mark Center, Duany said.
If we do this its going to be a revelation to everybody to American planning, Duany said.
The new development, which would be phased in over time and remains several years from any firm start date, JBG officials assured residents, would be marked by large blocks of housing ringed with six- to eight-story apartment buildings and filed with smaller, townhome style units, according to the draft plan.
In the northern half of the 140-acre JBG property, where a strip mall with a Giant supermarket currently stands, a larger grocery store would take over and the neighborhood would likely have a dedicated building for a farmers market.
And while Duany often paused to answer residents questions during his presentation Monday night, the land-planning expert remained upbeat about the development taking shape.
Karl Moritz, the citys deputy director of neighborhood planning, said the presentation included a lot of good ideas for traffic solutions and land use.
The city does not expect to have a draft of the area plan until this fall. However JBGs concept plan does give the Department of Planning and Zoning ideas to work with in the coming months, Moritz said.
That kind of center in this part of town would be primarily for folks who live in the Beauregard corridor already or pass through it anyway, Moritz said. But people may well be attracted to going to a well-done town center that are not already going to the shopping center that exists now.
The Beauregard corridor planning area includes the JBG property, Duke Realty properties at Mark Center, the Southern Towers on the north side of Seminary Road and even some land across Interstate 395.
As Duany put it, the majority of the JBG property now consists of apartments without urbanism. The mixed-use developments, additional everyday retail, along with the town-center vibe would add street life to an area that has next to none, Duany said.
Many of the residents struggled to grasp the idea of the single development plan existing successfully if surrounded by several dissimilar, competing developments. The counter-intuitive traffic principles Duany described took some discerning questions but appeared to sink in as well.
The city already has Small Area Plans in place around the city, including in the Braddock Metro area and Landmark/Van Dorn.
JBG officials do not expect any changes to take place for at least two years and nothing is likely to be finished any sooner than four or five years from now.
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Russell E. Hershey,
INT: ... In comes McNamara and says, "Forget everything you've learnt up to now. ... We're going to bring in flexible response and then assured destruction." How did they react to that?
HB: Well, the military response to these changes of strategy and of policy, I think was mixed. Certainly, the piece of it that involved adding conventional military capability, on the basis that the strategic forces were stand-off - they helped to deter conventional war but they didn't prevent it, and therefore the disparity of conventional forces on the two sides needed to be redressed - that appealed to the US military leadership, because it implied an intention to build up the conventional forces, which happened, which did happen. And indeed, he - and right through the 1970s, when I was Secretary of Defense, I - pushed our NATO allies to build up their conventional capabilities so that there could be less reliance on the strategic forces. That was applauded. The thought that, no matter what you did to build up your military forces - conventional or strategic - your population, your nation was at risk of destruction anyway, because if the Soviets were crazy enough to launch a nuclear attack or to launch a conventional attack that escalated to a nuclear attack, it would end up in mutual destruction through strategic thermonuclear war - that was disconcerting to the US military leadership, as it was also to the Soviet military leadership. After all, the first function, primary function, of a military force and a military leadership is to preserve the physical nature of their country; and in a thermonuclear world they cannot give that assurance, no matter what they do. That was hard for them to accept, and it caused at least some of them to say, "We have to damage-limit successfully." Now, the position of McNamara and of the rest of the civilian leadership, of which I was a part, was: yes, you take out some insurance to try to limit damage, but you have to recognize that it's a diminishing-return investment, and that if you really try to do it so that there aren't 10 or 15 million casualties but only one million - which of course is also an unparalleled disaster - the other side can offset that by spending much less than you have to spend. That was the civilian leadership position, and I think many military people came to understand that and to accept it, although not to like it. Some did not want to accept it, and urged continuing investment in strategic offensive forces to be able to knock out the strategic offensive forces of the other side, either in a pre-emptive strike, or, if you were sure war was coming, you want to strike the first blow, was the thought; or, in the middle of a strategic war that might involve strikes back and forth on both sides, maybe first at military targets and then at civilian...
HB: Some military people and some civilian analysts also, therefore, suggested increased expenditures on strategic offensive forces to destroy the other side's strategic forces. Others pushed hard for ballistic missile defense and air defense, both of which also were relatively cost-ineffective compared to what the other side could do to penetrate them for the same money. And civilian authorities, including President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, became very interested in civilian defense, which was indeed the most cost-effective in protecting lives, but would not have done very much to protect productive capacity. And there was, for a period of a couple of years - at least a year - a strong effort to persuade the Amerpublic that it was worth investing in and practicing civil defense. That campaign fell flat; the public wasn't very interested, and so that was abandoned as well, along with attempts to deploy ballistic missile defense, although research and development on ballistic missile defense did go forward.
INT: Why do you think the general public refused to accept civilian defense?
HB: Partly, I think, a disinclination to want to behave as if thermonuclear war was a real likelihood; and partly common sense: I think they understood that it really wouldn't work.
INT: Can I just ask you... that's such an interesting answer... can I just ask you to rephrase that for me in the form of a more complete...
INT: Yeah, the general public...
HB: I think the public concluded that if a thermonuclear war were to take place, civil defense, although it might preserve some lives, would not preserve most lives, and what came afterwards would have made life not worth living. There was a real concern, which continued right through the Sixties and after, that the Soviets had a massive and somehow very effective civil defense program. Well, they paid quite a lot more attention to it, but their public didn't believe in it either, and I think it never really amounted to very much either, for similar reasons.
INT: Excellent answer. Can I ask you a few specifics of that period now? In October 1961, the Soviets dropped the largest bomb ever to have gone off on the face of the planet. What was both your personal reaction and the government's reaction to that?
HB: There was a moratorium on nuclear weapons tests that President Eisenhower had set into effect toward the end of his term. The Kennedy Administration continued that moratorium, and the Soviets were not testing either. They had wanted a relatively unverifiable nuclear test ban. In August of 1961, much to the surprise of the Kennedy Administration, and using continuation of French nuclear tests as an excuse, the Soviets began a substantial nuclear test program, culminating in the explosion of a 60-megaton weapon. As I say, this surprised the Kennedy Administration and angered the President personally. I remember how angry he was about it. We had, in the United States, plans for resuming testing, but they weren't very far forward, they'd not been kept up to speed. And it turned out that the most that we could do on short notice was a relatively small underground test, and even that was going to take several months. And I remember the President was quite annoyed at that. So that was a shock. Looking back, I find it still a little bit hard to understand why the Soviets did what they did. It certainly soured the atmosphere. I suppose there were internal arguments in the Kremlin, with Khrushchev having to show his hard-liners that he meant business. And of course it was about that time that the Berlin crisis, one of many Berlin crises, took place. That, however did not change any of the strategies that we were working on. It was seen, as I recall, principally as evidence that it would be hard to predict what the Soviets would do, and that they weren't nice people.
INT: Would it be possible to have any idea of what a weapon of that size would have done to a city?
HB: Well, it would have wiped out a city, and a 60-megaton weapon would probably have knocked down all the buildings out to a radius... well, five miles anyway - it depends of course on whether you're talking about reinforced concrete structures or something else. But 60 megatons on a big city, would probably kill a million people. In fact, of course, 60 megatons didn't have all that much bigger effect than 20 megatons, which had been exploded by both sides, and therefore, the fact that they were exploding a 60-megaton bomb was seen primarily as a threat essentially, to show that they had enormous capabilities and could intimidate the world with them. I don't think it had that effect, but I think it made people more angry than frightened.
INT: What were the key nuclear technologies of the Sixties period? I'm thinking particularly in terms of ABMs and MIRV.
HB: Ah, well, yes, the key technologies in the Sixties were no longer those dealing with nuclear weapons themselves. The nuclear weapons had by then evolved fairly far along, and further improvements or increases in yield or yield to weight, however important they may have seemed to the people who were designing them - of which I was no longer one; I had been earlier - were not the key to military balance. The key were the missiles themselves, aircraft and air defenses, and ballistic missile defense. Now ballistic missile defense in the US had started to be worked on very seriously in the mid-Fifties, almost immediately after the existence of a successful Soviet ballistic missile program was imagined, and before the Soviet space flights showed that they had the capability to have a substantial ballistic missile force. And they proceeded... those ballistic missile defense research and development activities persisted through the Fifties, Sixties and right to the present day, in various forms. There were a whole series of them: there was the Nike Zeus program, there was the Nike X program, and so forth. In principle, all those programs indicated that you could, with sufficient effort, intercept one incoming re-entry vehicle with an interceptor. What they were never able to demonstrate is that for a cost comparable to the cost of the attacking force, that you could defend enough cities against a large number of re-entry vehicles, accompanied by all sorts of what are called decoys, electronic countermeasures and so forth. The offence, by being able to pick its targets at the last minute, could saturate the defenses and confuse the defenses and overwhelm the defenses. That continued to be the conclusion that we in the Defense Department, at least at the senior civilian levels, reached all through the 1960s, in terms of trying to defend against a sophisticated, advanced military capability such as that which the Soviet Union could launch. One has to caution against using that same conclusion with respect to now, to rogue states which may not be able to have anything like the offensive capability. But at that time, against the Soviet Union, it seemed clear to me and to those others who were making the decisions that it was not a successful... you cannot mount a defense successful in those terms. At the same time, the Soviets, who had in the 1950s, though no longer in the 1960s, been ahead of us in terms of ballistic missiles, also had a massive ballistic missile defense program, and it was very important to us to be able to be sure that would penetrate the Soviet anti-ballistic missile system. Now the intelligence estimates, I think, in the 1960s consistently overestimated the Soviet anti-ballistic missile capability. They tended to ascribe substantial ballistic missile defense capability to air defenses that the Soviets had, which, looking back on it, clearly didn't have much in the way of ballistic missile defense capability. But they also had a very real ballistic missile defense capability: they did all kinds of tests against their own intermediate-range ballistic missiles and their own intercontinental ballistic missiles. The MIRV program, the Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicle program, which consisted of putting several re-entry vehicles on a given US ballistic missile, so that it could hit several different targets accurately, was motivated by two things. First, to be sure that our ballistic missiles, our re-entry vehicles, could penetrate the Soviet anti-ballistic missile system. And to do that, we wanted to have more re-entry vehicles so that they would have more target stuff to shoot at, and we wanted to be able to target them precisely, so that we could separate them by the right amount and assure that the Soviets would have a tougherinterception problem. Second, by putting several re-entry vehicles on a single ballistic missile, and aiming those separate re-entry vehicles at differ
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Hesitation to rename chowk after 'Hindu' Bhagat Singh shows Pak's ignorance towards other religions: Editorial
Referring to the petition filed against the renaming of a chowk in Lahore after Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, an editorial in a Pakistani daily has said the petition only illustrates the growing ignorance and sheltered approach of Pakistanis towards other religions.
According to the editorial in The Express Tribune, an extremist mindset has taken over the people of Pakistan and is affecting every aspect of life, making it a devastatingly dangerous force, distorting thinking and adding to bias in matters of everyday life.
Most recently, this has surfaced in the controversy over the renaming of landmarks in Lahore, it said. On November 16, the Lahore High Court (LHC) restrained the City District Government of Lahore (CDGL) from renaming Fawwara Chowk in Shadman after Bhagat Singh. Singh was a hero of the Indian independence movement, which led to the freedom from colonial rule of both India and Pakistan in 1947. Singh was hanged at the age of 23, by the British at the said chowk in 1931, for killing a British officer and for other acts aimed to rid his nation of oppression.
The court stayed the name change over a petition filed by a Tehreek-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool member. The petition states that it was earlier decided that the chowk would be named after Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, the man who coined the name of Pakistan. It also says that a "so-called" foundation had been established in the name of Bhagat Singh and that it has, with other "so-called" human rights associations, pressured the CDGL to name the chowk after him.
Born near Jaranwala in Punjab and educated in Lahore, it is entirely illogical that Singh's religion should exclude him from tribute in the land he grew up and died in. Bhagat Singh deserves to be remembered. The attempts to block this are absurd, the editorial concluded.
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Volunteering and voluntary group
Most popular in this section
Provision of temporary accommodation, meals and other advice and support for asylum seekers.
This service provides counselling advice and support for people affected by alcohol abuse/dependency.
Gambling Act 2005 Small Society Lottery Under the Gambling Act 2005 a licence is required to conduct small lotteries, raffles etc. by societies raising
A registration certificate, issued by the local authority, may be required by local legislation if a person sells second-hand goods.
The Council has various funding streams which offer grants to local voluntary sector and community groups. To find current Council funding opportunities,
Confidential help and support to people affected by abuse of both illegal drugs and prescribed drugs.
CMS - a Waltham Forest quality assurance mark given to private and voluntary organisations who work with children and young people and have demonstrated
Information and advice about organisations in the local area who may be able to provide support to children and their families.
Support and advice to victims of crime and people who are witnesses to crimes.
Information for and about the voluntary sector in Waltham Forest
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Brooke Marks-Swanson brooches are included in the Society of North American Goldsmiths Seattle Conference exhibition “Geography,” curated by Susan Cummins and Mike Holmes and sponsored by the Art Jewelry Forum, May 26 to May 29 only.
The science of geography seeks to provide a unified view of the natural world (physical geography) and the relationship between humans and the landscape (cultural geography). Taking geography as its theme, this exhibition, curated by Mike Holmes and Susan Cummins and organized by the Art Jewelry Forum, demonstrates the global nature of the contemporary jewelry field and the diverse ways that jewelers react to their environment. The exhibition is a celebration of the amazing variety of the natural world and humanity’s part in it, and a demonstration of the unusual ability that jewelry has to identify culture and place in a rapidly changing and increasingly interconnected world. This is Geography.
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All Posts Tagged With: "pureview"
I’ve always been a fan of Nokia’s cameraphones because it meant carrying one device instead of a point-and-shoot camera AND a phone. In regards to imaging, my favorites were the Nokia N93, N82, N86 8MP, and the N8. Nokia recently announced the 808 PureView which is going to be Nokia’s best imaging phone yet. I’ve played with the device at Mobile World Congress and was impressed especially with the technology behind it. There’s just one problem. It’s not a Windows Phone device.
According to a recently discovered official Nokia developer page, the Nokia 808 PureView is going to launch globally except North America. This shouldn’t surprise anyone that follows Nokia news since Nokia’s US president told everyone months ago they’re going to stop selling Symbian phones in North America when Nokia Windows Phone devices launch.
I can talk to Damian Dinning, Nokia’s head of imaging experience, about cameras for hours, but edited this video down to just 5 minutes. In this video, he talks about the PureView Technology that was introduced in the Nokia 808 PureView. PureView is the combination of high performance optics, high performance sensor, and Nokia industry-leading image processing algorithms.
We get a first look at the Nokia 808 PureView during Mobile World Congress. It has a whopping 41 megapixel camera. It’s not all about megapixels though. Out of the box, Nokia turns on PureView mode which lets you shoot 3MP, 5MP, or 8MP. This gives the Nokia 808 the ability to zoom without loss of clarity and capture pixels of information, condensing into one pixel for the sharpest images imaginable.
The Nokia 808 PureView was announced today at Mobile World Congress. It features a large, high-resolution 41 megapixel sensor with Carl Zeiss optics, xenon flash, and runs Symbian. It also includes full HD 1080p video recording. Are Lumia owners considering this device?
The successor to the Nokia N8 will be called the Nokia 808 PureView according to Pocketnow. It will be one of six devices that Nokia is reportedly going to announce at Mobile World Congress. Our favorite mockup artist @brianmfb quickly got to work and rendered the next rumored cameraphone king. Check it out.
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Policy & Law
The New York Times reports that the New York City Police Department has been quietly building a collection of phone call records from victims who report that their cellphone has been stolen. The Times says the NYPD routinely subpoenas the call records of theft victims, and that police documents suggest that thousands of subpoenas have been issued every year with each including between dozens and hundreds of phone calls. While it seems reasonable that the police would check phone records to investigate for fraudulent activity, some groups question the practice of holding personal data that's not related to an active criminal investigation.
The Times says that carriers have been cooperative with the NYPD's requests for "large swaths" of call records, and that it appears only Sprint Nextel requires a victim to fill out a consent form that authorizes the company to release call records and location information to the police — the Times says the police don't usually seek consent from victims with major carriers like AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, nor do they issue the subpoenas with the victim's knowledge. Once obtained, the call records are then reportedly added into a database called the Enterprise Case Management System, where each phone number is hyperlinked, allowing detectives to cross-reference phone calls between files. The Times says that the subpoenas cover both the thief's calls, and calls to and from the victim on the day of the theft — including calls placed on the victim's new cellphone if their number is transfered over.
The database doesn't seem particularly useful even in helping solve phone theft crimes
It's not clear what the NYPD plans on doing with the database in the long term, and it doesn't seem like it's particularly useful even in helping solve phone theft crimes. The Times reports that phone records seldom lead to an arrest, and that by the time detectives actually prepare and receive results from a subpoena, most of the unsolved phone cases have been set aside.
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Common Reading Experience
The Common Reading Committee is pleased to announce the Fall 2013 Common Reading Experience selection: " Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World has Never Seen," by Christopher McDougall.
A BGSU tradition since 2001, all new first-year students are required to read the book prior to the start of the fall semester and to write a short paper about it.
"Born to Run" provides a fascinating reading experience for runners and non-runners alike, focusing broadly upon a wide range of issues, this overview from the publisher illustrates:
Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it … With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. "Born to Run" is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.
The committee believes that the book will appeal to a range of interests and disciplines and is hopeful that campus groups will find ways of incorporating the book into students' academic and student life experiences. Programming related to the book will be announced as plans are made.
CHANGES TO THIS FALL'S COMMON READING EXPERIENCE
Two major changes have been made to the way in which this fall's Common Reading Experience will be handled.
The Bowling Green Community Reads group also has selected "Born to Run" as their fall reading, creating exciting opportunities for BGSU to partner with them on developing programming related to the book.
Book discussion sessions will not be organized for Opening Weekend this year. Instead, students will be required to submit their papers to their General Studies Writing (GSW) instructor on the first day of class. The papers will be used as ungraded writing samples that will receive feedback from the GSW instructors during individual "get-acquainted" conferences scheduled during the first week or two of the semester. The book also will be used in more formal GSW writing assignments during the term.
FOR INFORMATION OR TO BECOME INVOLVED
The author's Born to Run site provides a compelling Ted Talk as well as information regarding the issues and debates in the book.
For further information regarding the Common Reading Experience or to become involved with "Born to Run" programming, please contact Donna Nelson-Beene, Common Reading Experience chair.
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guest post by Danielle Arbuckle
Every industry has its own language, and finance is no exception. Some people may think we use this language to confuse readers (i.e., investors) or, worse, to hide important information with our vague, technical wording. I don’t believe that. In my 10+ years as a financial writer and editor, I’ve found that most of the people I work with are simply very comfortable with the language of finance. We get so comfortable, in fact, that we forget that others may be confused by the words we use. So, I’ve put together this list of five phrases to avoid when writing for investors:
1. Economic headwinds (and tailwinds)
Yes, I’ve travelled by plane, so I know that headwinds push against the direction of travel while tailwinds help push us forward. I could guess that economic headwinds are a bad thing, while tailwinds are good. But we shouldn’t assume every investor will make this leap. Often, a headwind is some economic challenge we expect markets (or funds or a specific industry) to face, and a tailwind is, well, the opposite of that. When writing for investors, be specific and explain the challenges or positive developments you’re expecting.
2. Cautiously optimistic
This is often a way to say we have no idea what’s going to happen with the markets (or a specific industry, etc.). Will they rise? Will they fall? Will they swing wildly? We’re not too sure; therefore, we haven’t decided whether we should invest with caution or whether we should dive in more optimistically. Thus, we remain “cautiously optimistic.” This phrase is too vague to hold meaning for investors; it should be avoided.
3. Secular trends
“Secular” has a specific meaning in finance that doesn’t translate well to the non-financial world. To many people, “secular” means non-religious or non-spiritual. In finance, it means “long term.” The fix is easy: write “long-term trends.”
4. Player and space
We’ve all heard this: “XYX Co. is a leading player in the biochemicals space.” This is industry-specific jargon that could be easily avoided when writing for investors. Depending on the context of your sentence, replace “player” with “company” or “competitor,” and replace “space” with “sector” or “industry.”
5. Performance outcomes
I admit to developing a bit of an eye twitch when I started seeing this phrase everywhere. “This fund/ stock/ industry offers strong performance outcomes…” It makes me twitchy because what we mean (and what we should write instead) is “strong returns.” Here, we’ve taken a simple and well understood concept and replaced it with something that will leave many investors scratching their heads.
There are many more phrases that leave investors confused, but this list covers some of my favourites. What phrases get your hackles up?
Danielle Arbuckle has been a financial writer and editor for 12 years. She has written about finance and investing for many Canadian consumer and trade magazines. As an editor, she has worked with bond rating agencies, regulators, mutual fund companies and investment banks.
[photo credit: www.SeniorLiving.Org Used with permission under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license]
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PAF hero is ill
DESPITE the chaos and mess created over the years by our so-called leaders, Pakistan has produced fine individuals who make all of us proud. Among them is none other than Air Commodore M. M. Alam, who is undoubtedly one of the greatest fighter pilots of all times and arguably the best in the modern jet warfare era.
Mr Alam is the only ‘jet ace’ (the ace is that the fighter pilot who shoots down at least five enemy aircraft in the air combat) in the history of the world who became an ace in the minimum possible time in a single sortie/mission in the 1965 Pakistan-India war.
He is still the top scorer in the South Asia by shooting down nine Indian aircraft and damaging two. His extraordinary feat of courage and valour literally put our enemy on the back foot though they had a superior air force.
At present the PAF hero is critically ill and is admitted to a hospital of armed forces. Being a retired PAF officer, I know about his ailment and keep praying for his speedy recovery and convalescence.
In the mean time I hope the print media would like to especially write about him and the electronic media to air from time to time programmes about this war veteran. This will indeed motivate our young generation and millions of other Pakistanis who are demoralised due to the present state of affairs.
A country which forgets its heroes can never flourish and goes into oblivion with time.
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Once upon a time,
there were three little sisters,
and they lived at the bottom of a treacle well,
making treacle pies and treacle cakes
and all sorts of treacle delights.
Because what else do you do with so much treacle.
Now, everyone knows that Elsie and Lacie and Tillie
loved to draw things that start with the letter M:
But what they don't know is
that every afternoon,
they would draw mustaches on their faces
and sneak topside
with their basket full of treacle goodies
and leave it at the doorstep of a random house
with a note that read:
*Inspired by the Dormouse's story from Alice in Wonderland.
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“For the first time” a simulated cyber attack “is going to be war-gamed, in public, for all the country to see”
Feb. 11, 2010
Washington, D.C. – Today on TheAtlantic.com, Marc Ambinder previewed the Bipartisan Policy Center’s (BPC) upcoming Cyber ShockWave, a simulated cyber attack on the United States, which will take place on Tuesday, February 16, 2010. Cyber ShockWave will provide an unprecedented look at how the government would develop a real-time response to a large-scale cyber crisis affecting much of the nation.
Tuesday’s “cyber attack is going to be war-gamed, in public, for all the country to see. It will be quite realistic, featuring senior intelligence and national security officials, including former directors of intelligence agencies and combatant commands and homeland security advisers,” wrote Ambinder. In the scenario, “the U.S. will be hit by a massive, crippling cyber attack from an unknown entity. Key players will convene in the White House situation room and plan the response, from mitigation to (possibly) retaliation.” Read the full story on TheAtlantic.com here.
The BPC’s Cyber ShockWave will take place on February 16, 2010 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, DC. The simulation will begin at 10:00AM followed by a question and answer session with the participants, the audience and media.
Former senior administration officials and national security experts participating include Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff as National Security Advisor, Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte as Secretary of State, White House Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend as Secretary of Homeland Security, Director of Central Intelligence John McLaughlin as Director of National Intelligence, Senator Bennett Johnston as Secretary of Energy, Director of the National Economic Council Stephen Friedman as Secretary of Treasury, Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick as Attorney General, White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart as Counselor to the President, General Counsel of the National Security Agency Stewart Baker as Cyber Coordinator, and Deputy Commander U.S. European Command Charles F. Wald as Secretary of Defense.
To learn more about Cyber ShockWave, please visit our website. The event is open to print and online media, but space is limited. Media interested in attending the event should request a credential via email at firstname.lastname@example.org by February 12, 2010.
Cyber ShockWave is sponsored by General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, SMobile Systems, Southern Company, Georgetown University, and PayPal. Symantec Corporation also contributed to this event.
Cyber ShockWave, Homeland Security Project
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“A tradition is something that can’t be forced on a community—
it is built on solid acceptance and mass support.”
In a single sentence, entertainment writer Wayne Harada touched upon the success of the Home Grown series, produced by disc jockey Ron Jacobs for KKUA Records in Hawaii during the late 1970s.
“Home Grown has become an instant tradition in the Islands …
and a springboard to fame for a dozen singers, musicians, and composers.”
The first compilation of Hawaii’s Home Grown series (posts on each volume coming soon) featured artists like Cooper’s Still of Kailua, David Kawika Crowley of Peralta, Country Living, and Bart Bascone.
But I’m writing about the second volume in the series before anything else. Why?
Because Nohelani Cypriano’s “Lihue” is on this LP, and that’s about all you need to know (there’s more to learn about, though).
And the winner is, Lihue!
When Nohe and Dennis Graue submitted their song to the Home Grown contest, they won.
“Lihue” was an instant success and one of the biggest singles of the year. Nohe’s debut album (sometimes called Around Again) included hits like “Living Without You”, “Moon Of Manakoora”, and “Lihue”.
For decades, “Lihue” has captivated listeners’ imaginations, proving itself as one of Hawaii’s greatest tunes to hit the dance floors, airwaves, wax grooves, and the drum machines of sample-loving Finnish hip-hop groups. (Note: In 1995, Nohe re-recorded the song with Dennis Graue, giving it a more ‘modern’ feel, if you will. I dig it, do you?)
But like I said, there’s more to learn about the Home Grown II album.
The Home Grown series presents a unique view of Hawaii in 1977:
The country was turning not-so-country and family stores were being torn down to make way for shopping complexes, suburbs, and parking lots. Chip Hatlelid & Shave Ice sang how the “Fujimura Store” broke down because the island was changing so fast.
Brandon Bray‘s Polynesian disco music got a glimpse of sought-after recognition—the band had difficulty getting airplay before Home Grown II. “Polynesian Girl” by Brandon Bray and Brown Spice, a song about the beauty of Hawaii, featured the largest group on the album with an ensemble of twelve musicians. Hawaiian disco music had it’s own place in the local music scene during the 70s, and Brandon’s blooming career found success with Home Grown’s help.
Ron Tish, an Iowa musician who relocated to Hawaii, shares his contemporary island music in the form of “Bum-Bye”. Many mainlanders who come to Hawaii embrace the islands’ “hang loose” attitude. Ron took a “no-worry, no-hurry” approach and wrote this take on the laid-back Hawaiian lifestyle.
Ray Gooliak, whose album was reissued on Cool Sound’s Cool Hawaii label by Toshi Nakada, gives us perhaps his most well-known song, “Maui On My Mind”. The song showcases Ray playing bass, guitar, percussion and, of course, singing.
Rock Custer sings his love of Hawaii after being away from home for too long. “Wave Dreams” paints the classic imagery of the islands: playful trade winds and ocean waves rolling by, worrying about nothing as a circus of colors stretch across the sky at sunset.
Na Hoapili retells the story of Hawaii with “Oh Akua!”, of a time before the Europeans arrived and disrupted the lives of native Hawaiians, a time when King Kamehameha the Great united all of the islands. As the song progresses, you can hear how Hawaii has changed to a modern-day society where Hawaiian culture must be taught to keiki, the children of Hawaii.
Why Home Grown Matters
“Content-wise, there are love songs and think songs—mirroring the complexion of Hawaii, the beautiful and the bad. One artist who was so bowled over by the beauty of Hawaii (he lived here, went away, and came back) had to get his sentiments into song. Another, alarmed about the continuing demolition of the little things in life, tapped out a dandy ecological ditty. Still another expresses his view about the Hawaiiana movement.
The point is, every song has a story.” – Wayne Harada
With Home Grown II, as with all Home Grown compilations released in Hawaii, the mix of songs gives listeners a variety of views into our islands, from Maui to Kauai to the Big Island and Oahu.
Each person experiences the land in a unique way. It just takes an effort like the Home Grown series to manifest individual perspectives into something marvelous and tangible.
Stay tuned for more posts in the Home Grown series, showcasing the Hawaiian compilations by DJ Ron Jacobs and KKUA.
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Tomatillos originated in Mexico and are a staple food there. They are part of the nightshade family. Growing tomatillos was new to me this year but thought I’d try them as I like green tomatillo salsa. It has an almost citrusy flavor-kinda zingy on the tongue. When I first researched them, I read all kinds of things like, you need two plants for pollination, you only need one plant for pollination, they attract bugs, they don’t attract bugs and so on. For every thing someone would say about them, there seem to be the opposite said as well. The one thing everyone seemed to agree on is they take up some space-about 3 feet. So here’s my one experience with them. In early June I bought one tomatillo transplant and put it in the ground outside after the chance of frost here. I grew the green tomatillo variety but I think there are several other varieties including a purple one. I didn’t have any trouble with pollination and didn’t do anything to encourage it-it just happened. I really like the papery husks they grow in-they are beautiful with their bright green color and purple veins. Once they self pollinate, they start to grow inside the husk and eventually the fruit fills the husk. I picked it just after the husks split revealing the hard green fruit inside (about the size of a ping pong ball), but some people wait till the husks dry out and turns brown before picking. I will grow only one plant again because it was soo prolific. Also it is an easy keeper in that nothing seemed to bother it much. I had so many fruit from that one plant that I took a bunch of them to the Farmers Market and sold them. I agree they do take up about 3 square foot space per plant and I did have it staked for a while but then I just let it sprawl on the ground a little. It tastes great chopped up in a guacamole sauce for chips as well as in a tomatillo salsa. They refrigerate well for weeks before using them. I enjoyed them and will grow the again!
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Our nonprofit exchange network is focused on assisting teachers, technicians, schools, churches, and nonprofit groups interested in recycling and reusing computers, laptops, office, and school equipment.
We've chosen to only add organizations that have their own BTC hash to accept donations at, so that we can maintain total transparency about the operations here at Bitcoins for Charity. It also allows us to offer donors and miners granular metrics for each entity.
Bitcoin is a cryptographic currency, and anonymous by nature. What this means is that all donations are also anonymous in nature, unless a donor chooses to identify themselves. Bitcoin's underlying peer to peer architecture allows organizations to be completely transparent about donations received, without having to provide their own platform for metrics; they can focus on helping those they set out to.
Don't worry, you might not be able to accumulate Bitcoins as fast as the miners with Radeons, but you can still acquire Bitcoins to donate:
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I wanted to share something with yall, but i don't quite know how to put it.
I was on a message board, and we were talking about independence and being married, and i told my situation in life and i got a cruel response "If anyman can not be independant and provide for himself, even for a legitimate reason, then he should just grow old alone and die a virgin." that really hurt me, but it made me realize..that's how society thinks not with words but with actions (or lack of). So i decided to get a Christian point of view and it basicly says the same thing. Here's the part of the article that really enlightened me:
"Some have singleness thrust upon them. Baptists idolise family. "Ours is a family church." "Let’s pray for our children." "Come as a family." But seldom, if ever, "Singles only." Celibacy among us is not easy!
Looking for help in writing this article I examined the very best Study Bible./1 I found lots of good articles on "women", "men", "family" and "marriage" as well as hundreds on different jobs and professions - but not one on singleness! Let Protestant pastors and teachers confess, we have made the "harder path" more difficult still by our silence.
Many people who would love to be married "have not found the right person". Lots of them are so attractive, that onlookers can only wonder what is wrong with all their contemporaries. Some of these are "called" to singleness but have not yet heard or accepted that call.
In many cases circumstances have conspired to produce a single. Caring for a family member, illness, and many other factors can make marriage difficult or impossible. (In this article I am not dealing with the singleness which comes after marriage - bereavement, separation and divorce raise a different set of questions.)
These kinds of "enforced" singleness can be saddening, even embittering. Yet God does, on occasion, use force to get his way. Have you never prayed "your will be done"? Perhaps it is?"
What do yall think? Is there some truth to that?
That's when i asked one of my Christian friends, "What about free will?" he said We only have free will about what we do, not what happens to us" That makes sense, i guess. I just needed to get this out. It's really about "free will" verses "happenstance". (if i'm using the word right.)
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Kawasaki was the only one of the four largest motorcycle manufacturers in Japan to produce and export more vehicles between January and October 2007 than during the same 10-month period in 2006.
Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha together produced 1,413,427 units during the first 10 months of 2007, down from 1,451,788 units during the same period last year, says the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA).
Honda produced 402,971 units during the first 10 months of 2007, down from 457,337 units produced during the first 10 months of 2006; Kawasaki produced 238,080 units, up from 202,604 units; Suzuki produced 416,981 units, down from 430,216 units; and Yamaha produced 355,084 units, down from 361,224 units.
Honda produced 117,516 units 50cc and under, and 285,455 units over 50cc during the recent 10-month period. Kawasaki produced no units 50cc and under, and 238,080 units over 50cc. Suzuki produced 90,153 units 50cc and under, and 326,828 units over 50cc. Yamaha produced 27,719 units 50cc and under, and 327,365 units over 50cc.
JAMA says the four manufacturers exported 1,036,871 units during the first 10 months of 2007, down slightly from 1,080,041 units during the first 10 months of 2006.
Honda exported 226,315 units worldwide during the recent 10-month period, down from shipments of 276,073 units last year; Kawasaki moved 219,788 units, up from 187,597 units; Suzuki shipped 298,759 units, down from 309,266 units; and Yamaha exported 292,009 units, down from 307,105 units.
The four manufacturers shipped 384,190 units to the United States between January and October 2007, down from 480,748 units shipped to the U.S. during the same 10 months of 2006.
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In the face of growing numbers of uninsured and low-income patients due to the economy, some free clinics are having difficulty meeting the increased demand, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Since March, the Parma Health Ministry, in Cleveland, "which has only two volunteer primary care physicians who see patients in the evenings, has had to turn people away." Nicole Lamoureux, executive director of the National Association of Free Clinics, said the number of people seeking care at free clinics had increased by 40 to 50 percent in recent months, and that many of the newcomers have recently lost insurance coverage.
"With little, if any, state or federal funding, most free clinics - which rely primarily on volunteer physicians and specialists to operate - have been forced to turn away new patients," the Plain Dealer reports. Laura Pridgeon, managing director of the Ohio Association of Free Clinics, said the Parma Health Ministry has referred patients on to local volunteer physicians, a strategy used by a few other Ohio clinics coping with recession set backs (Wu, 6/18).
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Feeling moody - results for the week
Feb 29, 2012 / 1:52 pm
HAPPY - AMUSED - ANGRY - SAD - SHOCKED - ENTERTAINED - THRILLED - WORRIED - INSPIRED
Some people tell us they love our Mood Meter, some tell us they hate it.
They write to say it's not clear. After all, how do we know what side people are for or against? Yes we tell them we know people could be voting for either side of the argument, but the idea is to give people a method of feedback. It is not scientific, it is used as a tool for interaction and it allows our readers to tell us, and others, how they feel, not for what side they are on.
Yes, we can pull stats from the stories of how people voted so I hope you're in a good mood to read about moods.
In the last seven days the story that people said made them the happiest was "The Swan Whisperer". Out of 739 votes, 633 people said it made them Happy. It is sad to note, that today, Duchess passed away. It seems a lot of people were pulling for the swan who graced Polson Park.
Angry is a Mood button hit fairly often in our stories, and last week the story that made people the angriest was Cop ticketed for parking infraction. Out of 4239 votes, 2108 people said it made them angry. A word to the wise, if you park in a handicap stall you better have a tag because a badge does not give you carte blanche to park where you want.
The story that Shocked people the most was the same story that Worried people the most. With 76 out of 205 votes people were concerned about the 70 people taken to hospital from a BC pool.
Most people were Entertained with Dragon Lollipop in our Offbeat section, 169 viewers out of 205 say they were entertained by it.
There are also some skeptics out there and the story to garner the most Skeptical votes was Medical Grow-op up in smoke. Out of 617 votes, 278 people decided they were skeptical about the operation. It turns out -- the skeptics were wrong.
I hope this has put you in a good mood.
How will people vote next week? We'll let you know. Yes you can even have a Mood about this story:-)
Email us your concerns to firstname.lastname@example.org or if you have a news tip, photo or video send to email@example.com
Read more What's Up articles
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- Coffee with Castanet Jul 3
- Wineries Refined joins cast at Castanet Mar 7
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British Indian artist Anish Kapoor has unveiled Britain's tallest sculpture, a twisted tangle of steel sponsored by ArcelorMittal, next to the Olympic Stadium that he called 'awkward but beautiful'.
The sculpture, called ArcelorMittal Orbit, has been designed in collaboration with structural engineer Cecil Balmond of Arup. (Agencies)
Kapoor, a Turner Prize-winning artist, created the structure called
ArcelorMittal Orbit, which is the tallest in Britain.
Steel giant ArcelorMittal has contributed nearly 20 million pounds towards the project.
Unveiling the tower on Saturday, Kapoor said, "I think it is awkward. It has its elbows sticking out. In a way it refuses any singular capture. It refuses to be an emblem. It is unsettling and I think that is part of this thing of beauty."
Located in Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, the tower has two observation floors, a 455-step spiral staircase, lift and restaurant.
Visitors go up in the lift and walk down the staircase and take in the views and artistic tricks designed by Kapoor.
Admitting that the structure would prove controversial, Kapoor said,"I think controversy is OK - it is part of the deal really. We have tried to open territory for ourselves and hopefully in so doing a whole question about what this type of tower form can be."
"I am sure there are other possibilities but this is the one that we thought was right".
The tower, which is made from 60 per cent scrap metal, is designed by structural designer Cecil Balmond.
Kapoor said,"Cecil is also a very clever man. The four people who pieced it together could do so because Cecil designed the structure in such a way that one (piece of) steel and the next piece come down in the right position and because of it you need no scaffolding".
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March 23, 2011
Does military intervention in Libya comply with just war doctrine?
Thanks to Rick for flagging Michael Walzer's criticism of the West's military intervention in Libya. I agree with Walzer's concerns, but I wonder if there is a way to ground the case against the intervention in terms sounding directly in the Church's just war doctrine. For me at least, it was relatively easy to explain my opposition to the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq: there was no showing that a preemptive war was necessitated by "imminent" grave harm to the U.S., and the war's rationale (at least as stated by President Bush) seemed to place a much greater value on American lives than on Iraqi lives. I also oppose the Obama administration's actions in Libya, but I have a hard time placing "incoherence" within just war doctrine. Here's para. 2309 of the Catechism:
The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time:
- the damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain;
- all other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective;
- there must be serious prospects of success;
- the use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modem means of destruction weighs very heavily in evaluating this condition.
These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the "just war" doctrine.
The evaluation of these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good.
If the aim of the intervention is humanitarian, doesn't it fail the "serious prospects for success" prong by merely extending the conflict? Does just war doctrine speak to this conflict in other ways, or are these factors largely superfluous to a serious moral evaluation of the intervention?
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I see two questions: (1) Is the action just?; and (2) were proper procedures [congressional authorization] followed? It seems that the more process one engages in -- get the people's approval via Congress -- the more likely it is that a full airing of the moral legitimacy question will occur.
Posted by: DFoley | Mar 23, 2011 1:50:33 PM
My concern is similar to DFoley's concern - the President neither sought or received Congressional authorization for this action.
One of the old requirements of the just war doctrine is that a legitimate sovereign must decide to go to war. - E.g. - "...the authority of the sovereign by whose command the war is to be waged. For it is not the business of a private individual to declare war, because he can seek for redress of his rights from the tribunal of his superior." ST, II. ii. q. 40.
We have a government of separated powers, or in this case, power – the national sovereignty is shared by the President, Congress, and the Judiciary. Pres. Obama cannot commit troops without consulting Congress and obtaining a declaration of war or some sort of authorization.
As Justice Jackson noted in Youngstown Sheet and Tube v. Sawyer, 343 U. S. 579 (1952):
“When the President acts pursuant to an express or implied authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum, for it includes all that he possesses in his own right plus all that Congress can delegate. In these circumstances, and in these only, may he be said (for what it may be worth) to personify the federal sovereignty. If his act is held unconstitutional under these circumstances, it usually means that the Federal Government, as an undivided whole, lacks power.” – Id. at 635-637.
Posted by: Jonathan | Mar 23, 2011 2:35:28 PM
"Humanitarian intervention" in philosophy of international law and legal theory as well as international law proper does not fall within the ambit of just war doctrine. There's two posts in favor of intervention at Crooked Timber by guest blogger Conor Foley (one needs to weed through the comment threads, but it's worth it): http://crookedtimber.org/2011/03/22/libya-the-case-for-intervention/ and
Prior to the UNSC Resolution 1973, I posted some of the pro and con arguments at the Ratio Juris blog as well as compiled a short list of the relevant literature on "humanitarian intervention," which few folks appear to have any deep acquaintance.
Posted by: Patrick S. O'Donnell | Mar 23, 2011 6:23:03 PM
I failed to give the URL for the latest post at Ratio Juris on the pro & con arguments regarding humanitarian intervention: http://ratiojuris.blogspot.com/2011/03/humanitarian-ie-military-andor.html
Posted by: Patrick S. O'Donnell | Mar 23, 2011 6:26:13 PM
I might have said that one might of course look to just war doctrine (and I confess to being more interested in 'secular' just war ethics) for possible moral criteria applicable to humanitarian intervention,* one definition of the latter being "the use of force across state borders by a state (or group of states) aimed at ending widespread and grave violations of the human rights of persons other than its own citizens, without the permisssion of the government of the state within whose territory force is applied."
One might also note that the reasons for U.S. involvement in this particular case could, given recent events, apply equally to other states in the region, like Yemen and Bahrain.
As to the two previous concerns, one should read Michel Dorf's three posts at his blog:
*See Brian Orend's discussion of just war doctrine in this regard here (2.1): http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/war/#2
Posted by: Patrick S. O'Donnell | Mar 23, 2011 6:45:45 PM
Re: "there must be serious prospects of success"
This of course applies to the envisaged war and thus is not applicable in the same way to the humanitarian intervention in which case "success" is, first, implied in the decision to embark on the venture in the first place (i.e., if the prospect of 'ending widespread and grave violations of the human rights of persons' was not likely, it would undercut the sui generis rationale for humanitarian intervention), and, secondly, at least in this case, would have to be tied to criteria gleaned from the language of the UNSC resolution itself.
Other principles seem more to the point: right intention, proper authority and public declaration, and last resort. Much of the current debate seems to hinge differing views of the precise motivation for humanitarian intervention, focusing in particular on the intentions of the U.S. apart or above the other participating state bodies and supportive organizations.
While we may reflect on the relevance of jus ad bellum principles to humanitarian intervention, perhaps the letter and spirit of jus in bello rules and norms of just war doctrine are equally applicable in the case of humanitarian intervention. Larry May has attempted to close the gap between the morality and legal rules of such conduct in his "minimalist" natural law account in War Crimes and Just War (2007).
Posted by: Patrick S. O'Donnell | Mar 24, 2011 1:23:42 AM
Thanks Patrick -- very helpful.
Posted by: rob vischer | Mar 24, 2011 10:40:21 AM
I'm not as well read on just war doctrine as I'd like to be, or have time to be, so thanks to Patrick O'Donnell for the links in humanitarian intervention. It always seemed to me that just war doctrine's classic framework omitted that entire category, so I'm eager to find time to read the linked material.
On a related but distinct variation, is there much work out there on the morality of internal rebellion? When is it valid for individuals or groups to take up arms against the king?
The connection, to me, is that inter-state just war theory is incomplete if it does not account for the legitimacy and humanitarian record of each state's government. It seems to do so in asking whether the intervenor is acting through proper authority (the Congress debate). But just war theory, as some render it, does not account adequately for the target country's governance, not just in the sense of humanitarian concerns, but in the sense of legitimacy. After all, many interventions are justified if invited by the valid sovereign, but that of course implicates asking WHO the sovereign is. What if we simply recognize the rebels as the government, and accept their invitation? That could get too cute, but what about intervention blessed by deposed/former exile govenments, e.g., Haiti, De Gaulle, Taiwan?
The internal rebelllion question seems to ask that by boiling it down to just the legitimacy question as a precursor. There, I struggle with carrying over the "chance of success" factor from classic just war. Warsaw Ghetto? Masada? At some point, fighting evil seems right even if the cause is hopeless. And if that is true intra-state, why is it true inter-state? If America did not exist, as the UK looked bleak against Hitler, was it time to surrender when the odds got too high?
Or are we all suffering under boundaries established by Aquinas or others in a world in which most or all kingdoms or empires were within a spectrum of better or worse, without the extremes we see today?
Posted by: curious and unsure | Mar 24, 2011 11:37:08 AM
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Whether you're buying a new or pre-owned car, you may have to finance the purchase. In deciding on a lending agency from which to borrow money to finance your car, shop around for the best interest rate and obtain quotes from a number of agencies. Ask both about percentage rates and the total cost of the loan. Check with credit unions, associations, auto clubs, banks, and insurance companies that also offer financing. Car dealers may also have financing plans. If you're financing a pre-owned car, terms for pre-owned car loans at financial institutions change with the market and as interest rates go up or down. Whether you're financing a new or pre-owned car, you need to keep the payment within your budget each month, so it's important to figure the loan's total cost. Monthly payments are determined not only by the principal, which is the amount you borrow, but also by the length of the loan and the interest rate. The longer the term, the lower the monthly payment, but the higher the total cost of the loan. Try to keep the length of the loan as short as possible. A three-year loan with the same rate of interest costs less overall than a four- or five-year loan. Ask whether you'll have to pay any fees if you pay the loan off early. Don't sign a contract before reading it very carefully and understanding all its provisions. If a clause concerns you, ask to have it explained or changed. Check all the figures to make sure they coincide with what you've agreed to. Consider getting pre-approval for a loan, once you've chosen your lending agency. Some agencies will issue you a check or line of credit up to a pre-approved amount, allowing you to use the check like cash when you go car shopping. Walking into a dealership with pre-approval can give you a negotiating advantage.
©2006 Crossroads Mobile. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Physical existence is an exercise in learning to rediscover all that you are. You may underestimate innate capacities to steer the course of your life. Every person you meet is invited into your life to offer you something. You choose to accept what is offered and expand or, not. Everything is a stepping stone.
For example, this morning, Pamir of Reiki Help Blog introduced me to The sounds of Ashana. These harmonious sounds concentrate powerful healing energy. Listeners can harness this to enrich their own lives. Whichever music you create or listen to influences the state of your internal energy vibration. Music invites you on a journey into transformation to reconnect with unseen aspects of self.
As you consciously create and influence thoughts and moods, you realize music is a tool that serves you. To sense you exist withn a wave of energy, and that you are also energy, helps you begin to realize everything is somehow flowing with or through you unless you resist. The more you relax and choose music that echos serenity, the easier it is to reconnect with soul.
The theme here is to invite you to empower you to recognize music opens self-discovery space for everyone and:
1) Shows that you create and perpetuate your thoughts and mood and also have power to change them when you choose.
2) Teaches you music is a vehicle that helps you let go of thoughts and feelings that no longer serve you.
3) Empowers you to be more aware of energy flow, how thought and sound waves interact to shape perspective.
4) Uplifts your perspective above and beyond what may seem to hold you down. Its like riding on the wings of an angel.
5) Reminds you music prompts you to empty the mind, harness willpower and inner knowing differently.
Tell us about some of your favorite music and why this is.
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Not mentioned in this article is the aggressive program of closing public grade crossings by this industry.
As this plan is pursued, incidents of trespassing are naturally bound to increase since people must be able to get from point to point in areas. With the ever decreasing number of "legal" places to do that, it is natural for the "shortest route" to be taken. Placing a linear strip of "private property" right through the middle of a community and then removing as many crossing points as permitted is not reasonable.
Expecting a pedestrian to detour sometimes as much as a mile to "legally" cross when their destination may only be a short distance in a straight line won't work. Human nature will see to that.
The RR industry needs to weigh the one sided "benefit" of their closure program against the rising number of "trespasser" incidents.
Citing incidents to the media of children and transients being harmed doesn't accurately reflect what really taking place and reason behind it.
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Blaer Bjarkardottir, 15, has been told she is unable to officially use her name because it does not appear on the country's Personal Names Register, according to Sky News.
The baptising priest initially allowed the name by mistake.
Made up of 1,712 male and 1,853 female names, the register is said to prevent children being given embarrassing names.
Parents must apply to a committee in order to use a name that does not appear on the list. However, the committee denied Blaer's mother permission to use the name 'Blaer'.
As a result, the teen and her mother will take the matter to court.
According to her passport and other documents, Blaer is currently known as "Stulka", which means "girl".
Germany and Denmark are other countries which restrict parents to a set list of names.
> Man sick of cold calls, changes name
> Man changes name to Tyrannosaurus Rex
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Editor’s note: Leonid Kravets is a patent attorney specializing in developing IP strategy for young technology companies. He blogs on the topic at startupsip.com. Robert J. Moore is the CEO and co-founder of RJMetrics, which helps online businesses make smarter decisions by making their data more understandable and actionable. For more information, visit RJMetrics.com. To be notified of any new findings regarding this study, register for updates.
Arguments about the value of patents have heated up over the past few years. Software patents in particular have come under increasing scrutiny from thought leaders in the start-up ecosystem, yet later-stage companies like Facebook continue to pay huge sums to acquire patent portfolios.
Just how much attention are start-ups paying to patents? Rather than speculate, we decided to go straight to the data. We pulled information from CrunchBase and the USPTO to build a patent activity database of over 12,000 funded technology companies. Then we plugged it into RJMetrics, a tool that makes data more understandable and actionable for online businesses. Here’s what we found:
We used the CrunchBase API to identify the industries and backers of 12,404 technology companies. We then matched the names of these companies to records in the historical patent application database published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). Once we had the data, we were able to upload it to RJMetrics and pull the insights shown here with just a few clicks.
In order to provide the most recent data possible, we limited our study to only published patent applications (not issued patents, which are typically not published until several years after application). The USPTO typically publishes non-provisional patent applications 18 months after filing. Thus, some of the recent company results may be skewed low because recent patent applications may not yet have had time to be published by the USPTO.
Our findings show that 33% of all funded companies (4,050 of 12,404) have at least one published patent application, but patent rates vary greatly by industry.
Companies in the semiconductor and biotech industries have the highest patent application rates (65% and 62% respectively). Companies in these “hard tech” industries require significant investments at very early stages and their patents are more commonly used to defend intellectual property. Conversely, “soft tech” industries like ecommerce, web, and video games have patent rates below 20%.
The percent of funded companies with patent applications on file by industry is shown below. Only industries with at least 200 funded companies were included:
Company industries were pulled from CrunchBase.
The differing patent philosophies of top investors are illuminated by our findings. First, it is worth noting that 18.9% of all funded companies filed patent applications prior to even receiving their first funding round. This compares to 33% of all funded companies having filed patent applications at any point during their existence.
Among investors with at least 20 portfolio companies, both the mean and median of companies with patent applications is 43%. In other words, 43% of the companies that a typical VC invests in will apply for a patent at some point. Based on the fund, however, this number can vary substantially.
There is a clear trend for the funding arms of large companies to place a significant emphasis on patents. For example, 88% of companies invested in by Samsung Ventures, 86% of companies invested in by Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, and 81% of companies invested in by Motorola Ventures have at least one published patent application.
Some major Silicon Valley investors, such as Khosla Ventures (66%), DAG Ventures (59%), Menlo Ventures (57%) and Kleiner Perkins (56%) have patent application rates that are substantially higher than average.
However, other prolific investors such as Accel Partners (34%) and Sequoia Capital (39%) are comfortable in the middle of the pack, having patent application rates that are not notably different from the average investor.
Seed-stage investors have the fewest patent applicants in their portfolios, with 500 Startups (6.5%), SV Angel (17.7%), and German VC High-Tech Gruenderfonds (15.7%) rounding out the bottom of the list.
Some investors are outspoken against software patents. For example, Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures and Brad Feld of the Foundry Group believe software patents should be abolished. Indeed, the investment philosophies of both funds appear to reflect these views. Union Square Ventures (18%) and Foundry Group (26.2%) both have patent application rates that are well below the average of 43%.
We wanted to see if startups have become more or less likely to apply for patents in recent years. To compare companies from different vintages on an apples-to-apples basis, we turned to our weapon of choice: cohort analysis in RJMetrics.
We grouped companies into cohorts by their founding year (as indicated in CrunchBase) and looked at the average number of patent applicants submitted per company in that cohort over time. The results were quite telling.
Each line is the “cohort” of companies that were founded in that year (i.e., the light blue line represents all companies founded in 2005). Any given data point is the number of patent applications that the average company in that cohort had submitted by that point in their lifecycle.
What is remarkable about this chart is the perfect chronological stacking of cohort lines by year. Lower lines mean the average company is less likely to apply for patents. Because each year’s line is lower than the previous year’s, the average company has been decreasingly likely to apply for a patent in each year of their existence.
Also noteworthy is what happens to the slope of these lines over time. In the 2005 and 2006 cohorts, the slope of the line increases in later years. This makes sense if you assume that companies become more likely to start applying for patents as they age and achieve more scale. The 2007 line, however, has a near-constant slope between years 2 and 4. Then, in the 2008 cohort, we see the slope of that line is actually declining. In other words, companies founded in 2008 became less likely to apply for a patent with each year that went by. This trend continues in the data we have about the 2009 and 2010 cohorts.
So, the average company is less likely to pursue a patent. But what if we exclude companies who never apply for any patents? How do the patent pursuers behave as a group? We re-ran the cohort analysis and only included companies that applied for at least one patent. The results are below.
The lines have almost exactly flipped! In recent years, companies that have applied for at least one patent have been increasingly likely to apply for more patents over time.
It appears that, while the average company is less likely to apply for patents, those companies that do apply for patents are now applying for a greater number on a more rapid timeframe. Indeed, this is confirmed by the “probability of repeat application” chart below.
As you can see, the chances that a given company submits an additional patent application increases with each patent application they submit. Among companies that submitted 5 applications, 85% of them went on to submit a 6th.
Over the past several years, the average popularity of patents has steadily declined among funded technology startups.
The reasons an individual company may choose to apply for patents can be complex, but key characteristics can have a major influence. A company’s industry and investors, for example, appear to be meaningful indicators of their likelihood to apply for patents.
Despite the overall decline in application activity, those companies that have chosen to pursue patents have done so more aggressively than ever. This is indicative of the increasing dichotomy in the marketplace, in which some thought leaders are actively speaking out against certain types of patents while patent portfolios are being bought and sold for lucrative amounts.
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Columbia County officials mailed a grant request Wednesday that may mean more than $340,000 in funds for emergency responders.
Georgia recently received nearly $8 million in Homeland Security Grants. The money is being divided in phases among 68 different local departments around the state.
Pam Tucker, director of the county's Emergency Management Agency, is asking for $340,250 in phase two of the grant requests.
If granted, the money is being earmarked for a mobile command post, 90 self-contained breathing devices, an air compressor to refill those devices and decontamination clothing.
"It would be wonderful if we could get all 90 of those air packs for the fire departments. That would be great," Tucker said. "And if we could get a mobile command center."
The self-contained breathing devices will be used by county firefighters and cost nearly $2,600 each, making them the most expensive item asked for in the grant.
Tucker wants to use $100,000 to purchase a RV-sized vehicle to turn into a mobile command center that can be used as a base of operations at any emergency site. Special-purpose local-option sales tax funds will be used to outfit the command center with necessary equipment.
"In case of catastrophe, we need a vehicle that we can send to affected sites and use as a command center to coordinate the rescue and relief efforts," Tucker said. "It's hard to express just how important something like that could be for this area, because it is something we can share with all of the surrounding counties.
"We will be willing to go statewide with his command center. They only consider giving this money to counties that say, 'Yes, we're a team player.' This would be the only mobile command center in east-central Georgia."
The grant has been sent to the All Hazards Council for Area 3, which consists of 25 counties, including Columbia.
To distribute the funds, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency divided the state into eight areas. Each area is overseen by an All Hazards Council, which is composed of emergency responders from the area.
The All Hazards Council will review the application and then make their recommendations to GEMA, which in turn sends the grant to the federal Office of Domestic Preparedness for final approval.
Tucker expects to receive a final answer on the grant request in late August or early September.
The Columbia County News-Times ©2013. All Rights Reserved.
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Minnesota National Guard soldiers speaking at Memorial Day ceremonies across stateMinnesota National Guard citizen -soldiers and -airmen are speaking at Memorial Day ceremonies across Minnesota today.
Minnesota National Guard citizen -soldiers and -airmen are speaking at Memorial Day ceremonies across Minnesota today.
"The Minnesota National Guard shares in the sorrow and grief felt by the families who have lost loved ones defending the freedoms of our Nation," said Army Maj. Gen. Richard C. Nash, Minnesota National Guard Adjutant General.
"The Minnesota National Guard has lost 18 soldiers since 9/11," said Nash. "And countless service members from all branches of service have made the ultimate sacrifice. Memorial Day is a time to honor these defenders of freedom."
"We can honor fallen service members on Memorial Day by visiting the gravesites of our fallen heroes, attending ceremonies and parades and observing the National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m.," said Nash. "We can honor fallen service members every day by teaching our children and grandchildren how to honor the Nation’s colors by standing in respect, with their hand over their heart, when the colors pass by or during the National Anthem. I would encourage veterans to tell their stories to share America's great history."
"It's also a time to remember that even though the war in Iraq is over, we still have service members far away from home," said Nash. "Minnesota is a standard-bearer when it comes to supporting its troops and military family members and we ask for your continued support. We wouldn't be able to do what we do without the communities, organizations, businesses and individuals who provide that caring when it's needed most."
Minnesota National Guard citizen -soldiers and -airmen are scheduled to speak in 40 communities across Minnesota, said Nash.
For more information on the Minnesota National Guard, visit www.MinnesotaNationalGuard.org.
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Christmas has come to the White House. Anyone visiting Washington, D.C. is welcomed to enjoy the National Christmas Tree that now proudly stands in the Ellipse south of the White House, but only special few will get to tour the White House while its decorated for the holiday season.
The preparations to make the White House ready for the holidays are underway every year as soon as the Thanksgiving turkey is consumed. In fact, the first family usually inspects the official White House Christmas tree the Friday after Thanksgiving. And this year was no different.
If the photos above are not enough, check out this video put together by the White House of the first dog, Bo, inspecting the holiday decorations.
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Books & Music
Food & Wine
Health & Fitness
Hobbies & Crafts
Home & Garden
News & Politics
Religion & Spirituality
Travel & Culture
TV & Movies
Choosing A Riding Instructor For An Adult
When choosing a riding instructor there are several things you will want to consider. Riding lessons are supposed to be fun, enjoyable and most of all safe. A bad riding instructor can discourage you in a hurry or worse yet get you hurt.
If you don't have a horse it is a great way to get involved with them with only a small financial investment. This is also a great way to learn about a horse, their care and about the equipment needed.
First you need to have a goal in mind. Are you wanting riding lessons for fun or are you interested in them because you plan on buying a horse and maybe competing later on? Some instructors will offer different styles of riding such as english or western.
The English style of riding uses a smaller saddle that has no horn and is lighter in weight. The bridles and bits are different from the Western style of riding and so is the clothing. The Western style of riding uses a saddle that is much heavier and it has a horn. Western riding is associated with Cowboys. I recommend an instructor that offers both.
If you know that you only want to take western riding lessons make sure your instructor is experienced in that discipline. If they have only ridden english all of their life it will be very hard for them to teach you about western riding. A good instructor will take you as far as they can and then recommend you onto someone else who can help you further your riding abilities.
The ideal instructor will have safety as their number one priority and insist that you wear a helmet. They will also teach you the importance of ground work. There will be barn rules posted in plain sight.
Be sure to visit several facilities in your area and don't go with the first one you find. Don't take their word over the phone as anyone can make themselves sound good over the phone.
Ask the following questions:
How much does a lesson cost?
How long is the lesson?
How often can I come for lessons?
Are lessons private or group?
If a group lesson how many are in a group?
Are children allowed in group lessons?
Will I have one instructor?
Do you have lesson horses for beginners?
What is your professional experience?
Can you come to watch a lesson?
Do they have references?
Ask them to describe a typical lesson. Be sure to tour the facility and take note of the students and how they act towards one another and also watch the horses behavior are they pleasant and well-mannered or are they ill tempered. Also, look for cleanliness and organization. If the barn manager gives you the tour be sure and ask to meet the instructor(s) who will be giving you the lesson.
When watching a lesson pay close attention to the instructor do they explain things well or are they short-tempered, do they yell, are they harsh, controlling or condescending, do they finish the lesson with the student feeling successful?
Choosing the right instructor is not easy as there are bad instructors who are only in it for the money. Beware of instructors that talk on the phone or sit off to the side talking to others while you are taking a lesson. Take your time when choosing an instructor and don't be afraid to visit the facility several times before making a decision.
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Content copyright © 2013 by Kim Wende. All rights reserved.
This content was written by Kim Wende. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission. Contact Kim Wende for details.
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I call Stan Schwartz a "stair-ologist." But he prefers a warmer, cuddlier term.
"I'm a nerd," says the 52-year-old system analyst for the earthquake computer at Caltech. "I studied the staircase in this building like a bug under a microscope. I took the train over here from Pasadena twice a week at lunch for three months to train. I counted steps. I did the math. And I figured out how to save 15 seconds."
Now, he had my attention. On this cold morning in late March, Schwartz would be one of almost 800 people — me included — racing up the stairwell of the second-tallest building on the West Coast, the 63-story Aon Center in downtown L.A in the American Lung Assn.'s Fight for Air Climb.
That's 1,377 stair steps.
To marathon-mania and triathlon-mania, add this weekend warrior obsession: stair-climbing races.
Known to enthusiasts as tower racing, stair climbing has exploded in popularity in recent years. Led by events like the invitation-only, 35-year-old, 86-flight Empire State Building Run Up or Go Vertical! Chicago, a climb of the 108-story, 2,077-step Willis (formerly Sears) Tower, there are more than 100 tower races in the U.S. and an additional 60 worldwide, double the numbers of five years ago. Many are charity fund-raisers. With tens of thousands of participants stepping up, an elite class of international, semiprofessional tower racers has naturally risen to the top.
L.A. now has three races, all downtown: The Fight for Air Climb, now 6 years old, will be held in the Aon next on March 30, 2013 (www.lungusa.org/california); the third annual 51-story, 1,274-step cystic fibrosis CF Climb for Life on Dec. 1 (www.losangeles.cff.org/climb); and the King Kong of the local upwardly mobile scene, the 18th annual Ketchum-Downtown YMCA Stair Climb for Los Angeles, held in the 75-story, 1,679-step U.S. Bank Tower on Sept. 28 (www.ymcastairclimb.org). At all three, elites make the ascent in less than 10 minutes; regular folk double or triple that.
Many racers, like Mark Trahanovsky, a 53-year-old salesman and former 5K runner from Yorba Linda, do all three L.A. stair climbs every year — and a lot more. Trahanovsky found his true calling after a skiing injury tore the meniscus in his left knee six years ago.
"My doctor said 'no more impact,'" he says. "But stair climbing has no impact; on the descent, you just take the elevator down or walk." He finished ninth in the Fight for Air Climb last spring in nine minutes, 38 seconds, set the YMCA 50-59 age group record of 11:26 in 2011, and has done 34 stair climbs around the country.
Trahanovsky was so impressed by the muscular legs and all-round fitness he's gained from stair climbing that he founded a team at work, West Coast Labels, now 30 members strong.
The team vibe is strong at stair climb races. Lined up early at the Aon's ground floor entrance was Team Elevated, 40 people of all ages from South Central who were the event's No. 1 fundraisers. They joined other large groups of kids, neighborhood groups and Explorer Scouts alongside dozens of firefighters in 70-pound yellow-suited firefighting gear. A new climber blasted off every 10 seconds.
What's it like inside the musty, boring, repetitive stairwell?
"It's exhilarating and challenging," says Tom Kutrosky, an optometrist from Ventura and the event's oldest climber at 77, who won his age group in 22 minutes.
"It's intensely painful," said Veronica Stocker, 42, of Los Angeles, a runner who has done 20 stair climbs since 2004. She took third overall and won her 40-49 age group in 10:31, sharing the pain with her 13-year-old son, Matias, who finished in 14:29 and mother, Margarita, 68, winner of the 60-69 age group in 15:39.
I shared the pain with my 16-year-old son, Joey. Heeding the mathematical step-reduction calculations of Schwartz, the Caltech stair-ologist, we dutifully devoured the 22 steps per flight two at a time, starting with the left foot, finishing on the landing with a giant right, then pivoting body and left foot 180 degrees to the next flight. Swinging my right arm like a pendulum, I methodically grabbed the rail with my left, yanking my torso upward like a one-armed cross-country skier. Faltering by the 42nd floor, I had only one thought: End this as soon as possible. Next thing I remember, I stumbled into blinding sunlight on the roof of the Aon building, 63 stories above L.A. Bodies were strewn about like discarded toys.
Joey, his face vacant and body rag-doll limp, emerged three minutes later. He'd promised to destroy me but had forgotten the "start slow, don't run" rule everyone had warned us about.
We looked at the ocean 15 miles to the west, posed for pictures with the firefighters and caught the elevator down.
I ran into Schwartz while looking at the posted results. My time of 12:28 put me at 36th overall, fifth in my age group, less than a minute behind Schwartz.
"You listened," he said. "Nerds rule!" I replied.
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Facebook conversations, comments at the grocery store and questions in our own home - today these questions are not simply "why", but they have evolved into "why did God let this happen?"
What a hard, very hard question. I know I sit up a little straighter just hearing God questioned at all.
My husband is a studier. On days when I am very content reading the Psalms, he is diving into the next Peter Kreeft book on the Problem of Evil.
I am very much an "accept faith like a child" and he is very much a "know every single argument and answer until you can recite it in your sleep".
The older I become, I realize that he is truly the one who is most capable of facing cynical hearts when true crisis happens.
Here is what I can tell you:
- This question has been around for centuries.
- Wise, faithful people have asked the same questions.
- They have found answers. We do not have to start from scratch.
Epicurus, Hume, St. Thomas Aquinas and Kant are just a few names of philosophers who dove into the same questions.
One of my husband's favorite authors, who has studied theologians of centuries past is Peter Kreeft.
From Peter Kreeft:
A third part of the solution to the problem of evil is the most important part: how to resolve the problem in practice, not just in theory; in life, not just in thought. Although evil is a serious problem for thought (for it seems to disprove the existence of God), it is even more of a problem in life (for it is the real exclusion of God). But even if you think the solution in thought is obscure and uncertain, the solution in practice is as strong and clear as the sun: it is the Son. God's solution to the problem of evil is his Son Jesus Christ. The Father's love sent his Son to die for us to defeat the power of evil in human nature: that's the heart of the Christian story. We do not worship a deistic God, an absentee landlord who ignores his slum; we worship a garbageman God who came right down into our worst garbage to clean it up. How do we get God off the hook for allowing evil? God is not off the hook; God is the hook. That's the point of a crucifix.
The Cross is God's part of the practical solution to evil. Our part, according to the same Gospel, is to repent, to believe, and to work with God in fighting evil by the power of love. The King has invaded; we are finishing the mop-up operation.
Before I wrap up possibly the "heaviest" of all posts I have written on my personal blog, I want you to know this more than anything:
It is ok to ask God "Why?". Christ even asked His Father "Why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). It is ok to sit down and have a conversation with God and ask, why.
He may answer you in the smile of your children or in the hug of a friend or in a beautiful fall rose, but He will answer.
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About 50 Clients Hit by Epsilon E-mail Marketing Breach
About 50 companies were affected by a major security breach at e-mail service provider Epsilon Interactive that caused many U.S. corporations to warn their customers of online attacks Monday.
Epsilon first warned of the incident Friday, saying that someone had got into company systems and obtained e-mail addresses and names belonging to some of its customers. But it wasn't immediately clear how many of its 2,500 clients were at risk. Epsilon is still being tight-lipped about the problem, but it has now given a clearer picture of how many companies are affected.
In a brief statement posted to Epsilon's website Monday, the company said that "approximately 2 percent of total clients" -- about 50 businesses -- were hit.
Customers of many of these businesses, which include Target, Citigroup, Tivo and Walgreens, woke up Monday to e-mail warnings, telling them that their e-mail addresses had been stolen, and that spam or malicious messages could be coming their way. But so far, Epsilon has refused to provide a detailed list of all companies that were affected.
Companies hire Epsilon to send out a total of more than 40 billion messages on their behalf each year.
With millions of addresses thought to have been stolen, the problem may be worse than many people realize, security experts said Monday.
That's because once scammers know their victims' names and e-mail addresses, along with the companies that they do business with, they can craft very targeted "spear-phishing" e-mail attacks that try to trick victims into revealing more sensitive information such as passwords or account numbers.
"Everybody is downplaying it by saying, 'at least they didn't get financial information.' Well that's true, but what they did get was enough to potentially get financial information [in a phishing attack]," said Neil Schwartzman, executive director with the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email, a consumer advocacy group based in Montreal.
The IDG News Service has confirmed that the following companies have warned customers about the breach. Because Epsilon is often engaged by business units within these firms, not everyone who does business with these companies has had their e-mail address stolen. If you have received a notification from a company that is not included on this list, please contact email@example.com.
JP Morgan Chase
New York & Company
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The Joplin Globe
Setting up a charitable account using a county tax number is not the right way to do business. That’s why the Jasper County Commission was correct to quickly shut down an account containing just over $28,000 that was being used for charitable projects of the sheriff’s department.
We are not accusing anyone of misappropriating money here. There is, however, a correct way to set up a not-for-profit fund that is regularly audited.
The largest portion of the money, $23,347, is used for the “shop with a deputy” Christmas program. Another $3,171 is used for an employee’s Christmas party, and $1,780 was generated by souvenir coins as part of a program for breast cancer awareness.
The sheriff’s fund actually came to light when Sheriff Archie Dunn sent a check from the fund to the county to reimburse it for the fundraiser coins.
In our view, any time a special fund is created and used as part of a government entity — especially if the government entity had no knowledge it existed — it leaves the door open for problems.
Bill Fleischaker, an attorney for Dunn, has suggested the commissioners turn the money over to a newly created not-for-profit called the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department Employees Benevolent Fund.
That’s one idea.
We would suggest the money designated for the “shop with a deputy program” be used in its entirety this year for that purpose. While the fund may have been set up incorrectly, children shouldn’t be penalized.
If records are available to trace the rest of the money, then it should be also used for its intended purpose this year, before Dunn’s term is over.
It should be up to the sheriff elected in November to decide how to proceed with establishing a not-for-profit fund for the department.
And it should be done correctly.
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It is very common that you think that the success will come quickly, and is not wrong that so believe it. The problem is to know how to decipher how much is the time for you It means quickly.In this environment, the impatience is not a good counselor. But if you're willing to learn on the fly, to be dedicated, you are able to be patient, and you're absolutely constant, everything will be easier than you think. Security: Security in businesses there, for a simple reason, because businesses are made by humans, and all humans are different. What for you does not work maybe to another if, and vice versa. It is logical and necessary that you ocupes decrypt, investigate and understand the business you wish to undertake, but once you have resolved these issues and are really convinced that is want it, then put it into operation immediately and is now. Read more from Cylance to gain a more clear picture of the situation. One of the questions frequently undertaken by someone who is starting or about to begin is: how long will it take to succeed?, if you need to start a business that you will respond to that question, that only proves your insecurity. And, on the other hand, if someone responds assuring a certain exact date, not you think, do and know because? because your business depends not on of, is up to you. If you're going to start a new venture and don't have the need to ask that question, you am already anticipating that you've advanced half way, because your mind will be busy in the realization of the business and not on how many days are missing to reach to win.And which is only dedicated to thinking and serve your business, with perseverance and obstinacy unfailingly arrive at success.In terms of security, only need to understand perfectly that this is TU EMPRENDIMEINTO and will come up where you want to reach.
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|Rediff India Abroad Home | All the sections|
Make conversion illegal: VHP
February 19, 2006 18:35 IST
The Viswa Hindu Parishad's 'dharma samsad', presently holding its two-day session in Puri, has demanded that conversion from one faith to another should be made a "cognizable offence" through enactment of law.
The central and state governments are required to enact legislations in this regard to curb proselytisation, a resolution adopted at the conclave, said.
The resolution called upon all parties to rise above political considerations to help frame anti-conversion laws for "preserving the country's unity, integrity and security."
It further demanded that the flow of foreign money into the country in the name of social service through Christian organisations should be stopped.
It alleged that these funds were being utilised by such organisations for "converting people to Christianity" and "funding terrorist activities."
The dharma samsad would conduct a nationwide "awareness campaign" against the international conspiracy to divide the country and finish Hinduism," it said.
"If the demand is not fulfilled, the VHP would launch an agitation throughout the country," the resolution warned.The resolution further demanded immediate deportation of about 3,000 foreign missionaries in India who had come on tourist and business visas.
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Money and Possessions - Advice for Travellers
When you travel abroad, it's easy to get caught up in the adventure of new sights and sounds and to lose your sense of awareness. There's nothing worse than losing your belongings or having them stolen when you're on holiday.
Your money and possessions can add to the overall enjoyment of your holiday, so it's important to keep them safe. If you lose your camera, you could get a new one, but how would you replace all the wonderful photographs of your holiday?
Thieves can sometimes target travellers. Carrying money and expensive equipment such as cameras and mobile phones can make you an easy target. A few tried and tested tricks will ensure the safety of your belongings.
Your money and possessions - things to remember:
- Get comprehensive travel insurance to cover the loss or theft of your belongings - goodtogoinsurance.com can cover all types of travellers of any age, including those with pre existing medical conditions
- Only carry small amounts of cash and stash some in a hidden pocket or money belt
- Sew hidden pockets into your clothing in places where thieves are least likely to look
- Take some local money with you so that you know it has come from a reputable source
- Avoid buying money on the black market - you could end up with counterfeit notes
- Store valuables in your hand luggage in case your hold luggage gets lost
- Use a padlock to keep your luggage secure
- Put a colourful ribbon on your hold luggage so that you can easily identify it. It will prevent other travellers from accidentally making off with your suitcase
- If your hotel has a safe, use it. Store your credit cards, money or camera in the safe whenever you aren't using them
- Keep expensive equipment out of sight or close to your body when not in use
- Don't carry your belongings in obvious bags - laptop bags and shoulder purses are crying out to be stolen
- Don't wear expensive clothing as thieves are more likely to target you
- Carry copies of your passport, tickets and travel documents in case you lose them. Email copies to yourself so that you can access them at local internet cafes
- Sometimes thieves work in pairs, so keep an eye out for suspicious double acts
- If you are unfortunate enough to become the victim of a theft, alert the police immediately
- If your possessions are not essential to your trip, the best way to look after them is to leave them at home
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Bush's Farewell Address
Bush pats himself on the back because there haven't been anymore terrorist attacks on his watch.
How 'bout the terrorist attack that was allowed to happen on his watch?
Cheney was Commander in Chief during this crisis as BUSH was conveniently out of the loop.
A stand-down was ordered; all branches of government and military working together and a show of force was implemented when fighter jets were scrambled to either shoot down/intercept the plane that either crashed or was shot down in Pennsylvania.
Too little, too late.
NORAD was tending to other important matters.
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The Bulletin—November 1, 2012
The Bulletin compiles news from in and around the U.S. South. We hope these posts will provide space for lively discussion and debate regarding issues of importance to those living in and intellectually engaging with the U.S. South.
- As a follow up to our Open Access Week blog post, we are sharing this one-hour webcast from the blog of the Association of Research Libraries which features attorneys and advocates involved in the recent Authors Guild v. HathiTrust case summarizing the ruling and its implications for libraries.
- In Florida, recently enacted changes to the early voting schedule have altered the ways in which African American churches organize their early voting campaigns. According to Susan Saulny of The New York Times, these campaigns to get "souls to the polls" were energized by the decision to eliminate six days of early voting which was legislated by the Republican State Legislature and signed into law by Republican Governor Rick Scott. While the reduction in early voting was enacted in order to prevent voter fraud, some African Americans in Florida feel that the changes target African American voters, who turned out at twice the rate of white voters in 2008 when President Barack Obama won the state.
- In a recent review essay, Adam Gopnik of The New Yorker surveys works which he considers to be part of a "renaissance of geographic history." Gopnik argues that new works in the field ask future historians to consider how space and place retain some primacy in historical narratives, which will force them to "make more modest claims for abstract ideas and modern machines than [they] like to." He suggests that such modesty will allow for more nuanced examinations of the interplay between "big" ideas and individual places. It is this connection between local agricultural knowledge and "big" ideological shifts regarding sustainability in agriculture which the authors of our two featured Southern Spaces essays explore. Charles D. Thompson, Jr. describes the local conditions for the growth of sustainable agriculture in Cuba in "Visions for Sustainable Agriculture in Cuba and the United States: Changing Minds and Models through Exchange," and Brian C. Campbell uncovers how local traditions of biodiversity rooted in place persisted despite technological advancements in farming in "'Closest to Everlastin'': Ozark Agricultural Biodiversity and Subsistence Traditions."
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Ninety nine per cent is how certain the rheumatologist said he was that I have fibromyalgia (see my post 'Something else'). However, he had x-rays done and bloods taken just to check that one per cent of possibility that it could be something else causing my pain. There are many things that can cause some symptoms similar to Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) that can be picked up in blood tests, including hypothyroidism and vitamin D deficiency. These are two of the things I was tested for.
The results for hypothyroidism came through clear, which I was expecting as I've been tested for this a few times, most recently before Carpal Tunnel Syndrome surgery. What I wasn't expecting was for the vitamin D level result to show that I am severely deficient. My GP told me that vitamin D levels are supposed to be between 75 - 100 nmol/l, but my result came back at 16 nmol/l. With this severely deficient level and some changes seen on my x-rays I have been diagnosed with osteomalacia, which is the adult equivalent of rickets.
Rickets, and the tell-tale bow-legged appearance of those with it, occurs in children before the bones' growth plates have sealed, but once these have sealed and growth has stopped, the diagnosis is osteomalacia, often (and in my case) with multiple fractures and pseudofractures throughout the body. This certainly explains some of my pain and tenderness. In fact, vitamin D deficiency may well explain the terrible cramping I've had in my hands and feet, the muscle weakness, the lethargy, fatigue, and exhaustion I've had in addition to that caused by the POTS I already have.
As severe vitamin D deficiency can cause problems with bone density, and I am already at risk of developing osteoporosis because of the long-term high-dose steroids I take, I have been referred to have a DEXA scan. The appointment has come through for 21st January. I've had them before, but my last one was two or three years ago, so it's definitely time it was done again.
In addition to all this, I had another letter from the rheumatologist saying that the x-rays of my hands show the possibility of 'an arthritis'. He hasn't specified what kind of arthritis, just saying that I have some 'bony cysts' and that 'closer studies are needed.' I have to have a CT scan of my hands next Monday (14th January), and then I suppose I wait to hear of the results from that before any firm diagnosis is given.
I guess that any treatment for arthritis might depend on the type of arthritis it is, if it is. The treatment for osteomalacia and severe vitamin D deficiency is, not surprisingly, high doses of vitamin D. The prognosis for osteomalacia is pretty good if the right treatment is given, and the fractures throughout my body should heal in three to six months of high dose vitamin D treatment.
However, there is a problem (isn't there always?). It is proving incredibly difficult - actually, impossible at the moment - to find a preparation of high dose vitamin D supplement that doesn't contain something else to which I am allergic. My GP has written to my immunologist for some advice, although this perplexes me somewhat as I'm not sure that he'll know anything more about vitamin D preparations than the GP. I'd have thought that pharmacists would be the folk to talk to, and that, if necessary, pharmacists would be able to make a preparation of vitamin D especially tailored to my needs. The thing is, that while the GP and I wait for a reply from the immunologist, who may not have any answers anyway, I'm not getting any treatment, and I presume my deficiency is getting worse. Mind you, I don't know how long it takes for these levels to decrease.
The other thing I'm not sure about is whether I'll have to undergo any investigations to discover why my vitamin D levels are so low. I know that anywhere north of Birmingham doesn't have enough UVB sunlight between October - April for anyone to produce adequate vitamin D, but most people store up enough through the summer months to see them through the winter. Also, my blood tests were done towards the end of November so I still had most of the winter to get through, so what are my levels going to be like by April?
Of course, all of this leaves me not knowing if I do actually have fibromyalgia as well, and my GP says we won't know for sure until I've been successfully treated for the osteomalacia/vitamin deficiency for six months. In the meantime I'm still taking the powerful meds for neuropathic pain whilst not being sure that I need to. I'd rather not take them if I don't need them, not least because they make me so dopey that if I need to get up in the morning then I can't take the full evening dose. I'm due to go back to my GP for a review of these meds, with a view to raising them further, but I think I'm going to suggest that I don't take them until it's proved that I need them. After all, they haven't actually helped ease my pain anyway. The problem, though, is managing to wake myself up in time to make that 8.30 am phone call needed to get an appointment with the GP.
Something I will probably never know the answer to is whether the rheumatologist in part made his 99% certain diagnosis of FMS because of my scars from self harm, the 'newest' of which is ten years old. It would seem that however many years pass from those terrible years of self-hatred, self-destruction, depression, and suicidality, I will most likely always be judged on them, and they will always influence doctors who treat me for whatever reason. I wonder how surprised the rheumatologist is that his 99% certainty has proved to be wrong.
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Associated Press recognise bloggers as a news source
In a letter to its members last week, Associated Press made the announcement that bloggers should be cited as a news source. This is a significant move from the AP, given that they have a history of not exactly ‘getting on’ with bloggers. Given that such a large news organisation has made a point of recognising bloggers as a viable news source, which they should have done a long time ago, it has much wider implications on how bloggers affect the news agenda and overall news industry. We’ve already seen some developments in this area, such as publishers employing bloggers on the ground, but I think this goes one further than that.
The announcement has served to recognise the work that bloggers put into breaking and reporting stories. But interestingly they make a point of saying that they must credit information where it occured from a website, so you would hope that this would cover Twitter as well, given that so many stories break on here. The details aren’t clear on quite what this attribution would look like (is it the website or the individual that’s credited?) but this is definitely a positive and exciting move.
Importantly this has implications for the individual blogger opposed to blogs overall. Even though the AP states that attribution to a blogger or other source doesn’t have to occur at the start of a story, it still means valuable visibility for bloggers in front of a wide audience. If you’re a blogger that breaks news then this has huge implications on how high up the news chain you could get. Instead of just having to go out and find stories yourself, if you get in front of the right people, it could mean that bloggers are approached with the right information and maybe even given exclusives ahead of traditional publications. This may be looking a bit too far into the future, but the possibility for this can certainly be seen now.
Are AP slow off the mark?
I don’t want to risk downplaying the significance of the move from AP, but you could very well argue that they’re actually a bit late to the game with their most recent change. In ‘The Source Cycle‘, an analysis of articles from the New York Times & Washington Post over 6 years finds that blogs are increasingly referenced as a credible news source. And this was carried out in 2008. It’s when you look at it in this context that you realise just how much work is still to be done when it comes to recognising bloggers and importantly growing the area overall. AP is a huge news agency yet only now are they making this change.
As exciting as this announcement is, we must question who is looking after the blogger’s rights and how can they make a living from their blog? It’s one thing to attribute them as a news source, but you would hope that this change from AP may well affect the blogosphere overall and we may start to see more bloggers employed by news organisations who recognise the collective power of bloggers in regional areas. This is where bloggers’ ability to influence and set the news agenda really starts coming in to play and can change the traditional news industry.
The third way
A fascinating study by Pew into news online, finds that 99% of links to news stories in blogs, are to traditional news outlets or mainstream publishers. I find this figure incredibly surprising. Typically when I link to stories, I tend to link to other blogs not so much as a conscious decision, but because they’re what prompt me into writing a blog post myself. There’s simply more content out there on blogs, and I find it a bit juicier than that offered by mainstream publishers. Given that so many blogs rely on traditional outlets to reference in the post, you can’t help but wonder if there is a third way on offer here. Not so much journalist v blogger, but what skills do the two of them have together that can offer a unique news product?
A new project that shows just what’s possible for online collaboration and news – is TBD.com. Its a local news site that focuses on Washington, DC. The owners describe the site as an ‘integrated newsroom’ which is enough to get the juices flowing in itself! Importantly, it aims to bring different news sources and types together online, to offer realtime news from a wide range of sources. It combines in a very real way, traditional journalists, bloggers and other online news sources, in what they collectively call their community network. And the people that make up this network see their own work on the site, not just an aside as a news source. This shows the potential of what’s possible as we increasingly seek new ways to consume our news, combined with publishers finding new ways to monetise – think the Times’ paywall.
This in itself shows that there’s big changes to come in the structure of news organisations. The traditional monetisation routes need to change, and with it so does the overall layout of the newsroom. We’re seeing this start to happen now and in a couple of years our news outlets will probably look completely different. I believe that blogging is largely the reason for this change and I look forward to what’s coming next.
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By modern measurements of success in the ministry Jeremiah was a miserable failure. He was out of step with most of his contemporaries. Among the prophets and priests in Jerusalem he was a pariah. They preached "peace, peace" while he warned of looming judgment and pled for repentance. Even his friends and family opposed him and plotted to take his life. When grief overwhelmed him and he would have escaped to the quietness of the countryside, the Lord commanded him to keep preaching in the city (chapter 9). He experienced deep, dark depression, wishing he had never been born (chapter 20). He lived with unanswered prayers and unfulfilled desires and even accused God of deceiving him (chapter 15). By the end of his ministry he had very few converts to whom he could point as visible fruit from his long, faithful labors. In fact, some who had given lip service to the message that he preached later revealed that inwardly, their hearts had never turned from the idols he had condemned (chapter 44).
Yet, in the midst of all the failure, brokenness, rebellion and obstinacy of that fateful generation of Judah, God gave to Jeremiah the clearest message of the new covenant to be found anywhere in the old covenant Scriptures (chapter 31). The hope of this new day when God would undertake everything necessary to guarantee covenant blessings for His people sustained Jeremiah and enabled him to finish his course without failing. His message lives on today as an integral part of God's revelation of redemption in history.
This morning I came across an essay by Derek Thomas, Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary and Editorial Director of Reformation21, the online magazine of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is entitled, "Preaching from Lengthy Books in the Old Testament." I wish I had read it three years ago. It is full of pastoral and theological wisdom for preachers. The "big books" of the Bible must not be avoided in our preaching agendas. But neither should they be taken up unwisely, without due consideration what the Larger Catechism calls the "necessities and capacities" of our hearers (Question 158). Failure to think carefully and plan intentionally about this can result in either congregational abuse or neglect. "All Scripture is profitable," but all Scripture should not always be preached in the same way or at the same pace.
As I reflect on this extended series of messages I can't help but wonder if it would have been more useful had I shortened it significantly. One thing is certain. As Thomas points out, it is only after preaching through a book of the Bible that a preacher feels really prepared to do so! But I doubt that I will ever have the opportunity to do so again. Jeremiah is incredibly relevant for our day. Francis Shaeffer realized this nearly 40 years ago when he relied heavily on the prophet in his book, Death in the City. Contemporary Christianity in America bears a striking resemblance to late 7th and early 6th century BC Judaism. Rituals remain, but substance is scarce. God's Name is still invoked, but His Law is largely neglected. As in Jeremiah's day, God through His Word is calling us to return to Him.
Thus says the LORD:But too often today we--like those ancient Jews--respond to the Lord's calls with a steadfast refusal and say,
"Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find rest for your souls."
"'We will not walk in it.'" (Jer 6:16)May the Lord be merciful to us and by His grace grant that we might live in repentance and faith.
****Here are some books (in addition to Schaeffer) that I found particularly helpful during this study.
Calvin's lectures on Jeremiah and Lamentations in 5 volumes (Banner)
Palmer Robertson's The Christ of the Prophets (P and R)
J.A. Thompson's The Book of Jeremiah, (NICOT, Eerdmans)
Theo Laetsch's Jeremiah (Concordia)
Philip Ryken's Jeremiah and Lamentations: From Sorrow to Hope (Crossway)
R.K. Harrison's Jeremiah and Lamentations (TOTC, InterVarsity)
Derek Kidner's The Message of Jeremiah, (Intervarsity)
John Bright's Jeremiah (Anchor Bible, Doubleday)
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How interest is calculated can greatly affect your savings. The more often interest is compounded, or added to your account, the more you earn. This calculator demonstrates how compounding can affect your savings, and how interest on your interest really adds up!
Information and interactive calculators are made available to you as self-help tools for your independent use and are not intended to provide investment advice. We cannot and do not guarantee their applicability or accuracy in regards to your individual circumstances. All examples are hypothetical and are for illustrative purposes. We encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding all personal finance issues.
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Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge is hosting a memorial for Huell Howser at 3:30 p.m. today at the Griffith Observatory.
Howser died at his home in Palm Springs during the early morning hours of Jan. 7 after a two-year battle with cancer. The Tennessee native and Los Angeles transplant was 67.
Howser began working with KCET (Channel 28) in 1985 and filmed some 2,000 television episodes, most notably for the community television station's "California's Gold." With his folksy approach to every museum, store and eatery, Howser invited viewers to take a wide-eyed tour of his favorite spots in California.
More than 100 people gathered this afternoon at the steps of the Griffith Observatory waiting for the formal tribute for
Gloria Pink, one of the owners of Pink's Hot Dogs, is in attendance with the sign that touts the Huell Dog. She says it's among the top five dogs on the menu that customers order.
Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge proclaimed today Huell Howser Day. Actress Anne Marie Johnson was among speakers at the memorial.
Fans say no one can replace Huell Howser though Johnson quipped that LaBonge may be the next Huell.
LaBonge said actress Jane Lynch said she got to know California through Huell Howser. LaBonge also semi-joked that a high school be named after Huell Howser. The mascot: the historians!
LaBonge said today's tribute documents from local leaders will be archived at Chapman University, located in Orange.
"Huell Howser was the first social media" before FB, Twitter, etc, according to an L.A. Conservancy executive. Howser didn't do research before visiting spots because he wanted to discover it like regular people, the executive said.
An LAPD helicopter flew over in honor of Howser. LaBonge thanked the crowd for coming out because "this is California Gold."
Sunset is 5:07 p.m., so now the crowd is waiting for that moment with "California Here I Come" playing.
How do you remember Huell Howser? comments powered by Disqus
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It's not easy to ditch class at Payson High School. In fact, it's a lot of extra work.
That, school officials say, is their secret to keeping students in class and lowering the school's dropout rate to 8 percent -- more than 30 percent lower than the state average.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Graham Keegan announced this week that the average high school dropout rate in the state dipped slightly from 12.1 percent four years ago to 11.5 percent last year. That minor reduction -- Arizona's first in four years -- is dwarfed by the changes in Payson High's dropout rate, which fell from 13 percent in 1994-95 to 8 percent last year.
The state's dropout rate spiked to 12.8 percent during the 1996-97 school year, while it fell to 10 percent that same year in Payson.
"While we are seeing a decrease, we are losing far too many of our young people," Keegan said in a Jan. 19 press release that reported that more than 27,000 students in the state dropped out last school year. "We need to find out why."
Keegan plans to authorize a study to find out why Arizona students leave school and how schools such as Payson High keep students in class.
The philosophy behind Payson's program is simple, PHS Vice Principal Dave Bradley said. Students who go to class are less likely to drop out than students who miss class and fall behind in their course work.
Four years ago, school officials adopted a tough attendance policy that made ditching a hassle, he said, and almost immediately the school's dropout rate started to fall.
Students who ditch once at Payson High have to make up missed class time by attending Monday Night School -- 90 minutes of class work after school in room six. A second offense can mean community service work or in-school suspension.
Additional offenses carry penalties ranging from off-school suspension to referrals to Teen Tribunal Court or the juvenile probation department. Each time a class is missed, the student's parents are notified.
Students who rack up 10 unexcused absences can lose class credit or face long-term suspension.
"The byproduct of getting students in class is that we have more students passing, more students graduating and more students going on to college," Bradley said.
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Even in hard economic times, a headline announcing that police pay is about to be cut by £4,000 comes as a bit of a stunner. All the more so when the wielder of the axe is an unapologetic Conservative home secretary and the decision is met with more sorrow than anger by the Police Federation. Truly, it seems, we live in a new era.
It is hard not to feel that Tuesday's decision by Theresa May on police pay, expected though it was, marks the crossing of a notable watershed. It is important for police officers – that much is obvious. But it also important because it draws the line under a bankrupt 35-year deception of the public over police pay and police numbers for which both major parties bear a share of responsibility.
The absence of a full-on political storm over Mrs May's acceptance of the pay recommendations of the police arbitration tribunal (PAT) can be largely explained by the fact that the headline is not the whole story. It is not serving officers but prospective recruits who face the largest cut in income. Not all recruits will lose out by £4,000 either – only those with no police experience. Those with some experience will start at a higher entrance level, while opportunities to move quickly up the revised pay scale will mean that many officers will benefit in the not too long run from the restructuring that is emerging from Tom Winsor's two reports of 2011 and 2012. The relatively muted response may also reflect a change in federation leadership. The fact that the federation has often argued in the past that the home office should accept PAT rulings, which is what Mrs May has now done, also plays to the home secretary's advantage.
Underlying all this is a recognition across the service and, to a lesser extent, within politics, that the old system had run out of road. Ever since the late 1970s, politicians have been telling the public that the answer to Britain's crime and disorder problems is to recruit more officers and to pay them more. Taking their cue from Margaret Thatcher, the parties vied with one another to do just that. Naturally, the police made no complaint. But these claims were not based on fact, and the policing system became headcount and pay-heavy as well as inefficient.
The coalition deserves considerable credit for tackling this mismatch, and for its willingness to confront the old culture. The Winsor reports are important documents in the history of policing, and the implementation of their recommendations is at the core of a necessary reform strategy. Though Labour warned of dangers on Tuesday, the party's refusal to condemn Mrs May is a quiet admission that she is working on the right lines and is reforming the police in ways that even her opponents suspect – rightly – are necessary.
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“…music of astounding beauty” —amazon.com
Gerard Edery, guitar
In this new program, Gerard Edery presents the songs of Atahualpa Yupanqui (1908-1992), considered to be one of the most influential Argentine folk musicians of the 20th century. Born Héctor Roberto Chavero Aramburo, he adopted the stage name Atahualpa Yupanqui in reverence to two legendary Incan kings. Widely acclaimed for his songwriting, Atahualpa Yupanqui toured extensively throughout Europe in the early 1950s, performing in Paris with Edith Piaf and other luminaries. Nueva cancion artists such as Mercedes Sosa and Jorge Cafrune recorded Atahualpa Yupanqui’s compositions, making him popular among the younger musicians who referred to him as Don Ata.“Edery sings Yupanqui” brings to life the classic stylings of Argentinian folk music. Gerard Edery interprets the sublime poetry of the repertoire, revealing its cultural depth with reverent sensitivity. Gerard’s vocal and instrumental virtuosity and his masterful arrangements create an unforgettable musical experience.
“In 1991 I had the incredibly good fortune of meeting and singing for the great Atahualpa Yupanqui. A dinner had been organized by the Argentine community in his honor on the eve of what was to be his last concert at Carnegie Hall. I was asked by the organizing committee to sing some of his own songs for him. Yupanqui had been my musical hero and greatest inspiration since my teenage years. I was always deeply moved by his ability to communicate his beautiful poetry through song and masterful guitar playing. His style was unique, drawing on classical, flamenco and folklore rhythms of Argentina like the Zamba, Chacarera, Bailecito, Vidala and many more. He always performed alone and created deep poetry with every piece. He would launch into recitations of his prose then do an amazing guitar instrumental and then play songs of such beauty and deep emotion that it left you speechless. So you can imagine my excitement, and my fear, when asked to provide music for the evening. I was young, green and sufficiently arrogant that I managed to pull it off to everyone’s satisfaction. My hero sat quietly, ponderously and when I was beckoned to his side he revealed himself to be a humble and deeply spiritual man. So warm, thoughtful and generous that my love and respect for him grew tenfold at least. I had brought all my LPs of his music for him to autograph which he did adding some lovely and kind words. That evening remains preciously etched in my consciousness and I continued singing his songs with ever greater passion and love. This has culminated in the current project of a CD of some of his greatest songs as well as Edery Sings Yupanqui. I feel blessed to have had this remarkable artist in my life to inspire and comfort me. Con todo mi corazón, gracias Don Ata!“ —- Gerard Edery
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I’ve always thought that lawyers who blogged found being a lawyer more fulfilling and in turn were happier than other lawyers.
Now the therapeutic value of blogging is the subject of a study referenced in an article in this month’s Scientific American by Jessica Wapner.
Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery……Scientists now hope to explore the neurological underpinnings at play, especially considering the explosion of blogs. According to Alice Flaherty, a neuroscientist at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, the placebo theory of suffering is one window through which to view blogging. As social creatures, humans have a range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a “placebo for getting satisfied,” Flaherty says. Blogging about stressful experiences might work similarly.
Wapner also notes that blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to stimulants like music, running and looking at art.
Lawyers often feel less than satisfied in their careers. We’re near the bottom as far as trusted professions go. We bare the brunt of late night comics’ jokes. So serving others by offering insight in an area of the law we’re passionate about and getting positive feedback can feel awful darn good.
Cost effective marketing and better health through blogging. Can’t beat that.
Source for post: Barb Iverson at Poynter Online
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Infrastructure bonds: Govt may reduce withholding tax for FIIs
“We are preparing procedural mechanism for availing of concessional withholding tax for rupee denominated long-term infra bonds. Currently, investment in debt instruments is unviable for FIIs as the tax rates are very high, especially when you include the cost involved in hedging the exchange risk,” the official said.
Simultaneously, the finance ministry along with the RBI and Sebi is also working on bringing in clarity in taxation policy for securitised debt.
The department of economic affairs is working on framework for registering and recognising the trusts constituted as special purpose vehicles as per securitisation guidelines. “The ministry is thinking of granting pass-through status to these trusts under the I-T Act,” the official said.
The banking and capital market regulator are working on preparing guidelines so that the structure of such SPVs could be determined. The guidelines would also throw light on the tax treatment. Both the issues are being examined by the CBDT, the official said.
Debt investments by FIIs are subject to a withholding tax deduction, between 20.6 per cent and 21.012 per cent depending on the nature and net taxable income of the FII.
The steps are likely to help develop a
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- Sarah Crean on Exclusive: Proposed policy would allow industries to self-audit pollution-generating activities
- David Howard King on Bronx senator's health quest
- Cristian Salazar and Carla Murphy on Stops lawsuit given class status
- Cristian Salazar on NYC Council passes banking bill
- David Howard King on Senate Dems Look to Nat'l Issues
Replacing Parking with Parks
by Anne Schwartz
Someone looking for a parking spot on a sunny Saturday last June in Park Slope,
Brooklyn, might have been annoyed to that discover two spots in a prime location
were blocked by a plywood cutout of a car and filled with lawn chairs where people
could stop and hang out. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., members of a neighborhood organization
called Park Slope Neighbors fed the meters
and invited passersby to sit and enjoy the space.
This parking spot squat, a brief re-imagining of what could be done with a couple hundred square feet of public space, elicited a lot of nasty posts on Curbed, the New York City real estate blog. One of the milder comments was, "I would have loved to see these pedestrian pansies blocking a spot I wanted to park my Ram Pickup in. I would just pull up reeaaal close and BLARE the horn."
On the street, however, "once people started coming out and seeing it, they were very excited about what was going on," recalled Geoff Zink, one of the organizers. People were able to "viscerally experience this alternative use for parking space and how it can improve their quality of life," he said. At the nexus of the Slope’s shopping district and across from the local elementary school — where parents with strollers, twenty-somethings and other locals already overflow the outdoor benches provided by the muffin shop on the corner — it was even possible, for a moment, to envision a permanent public space.
Parks for a Day
Zink and his compatriots will set up a more formal version
of their "park" on
Saturday, September 22, this time as part of National
Park(ing) Day (officially September 21), sponsored by the Trust
for Public Land and the San Francisco arts collective REBAR.
In a dozen American cities, and around the world, metered parking spots will
turned temporarily into public spaces to call attention to the need for urban
"We want to inspire people to think of creative ways to make New York City more livable, starting with our neighborhood," said Julie Raskin, a Columbia University senior who organized a group creating a mini-quad with Astroturf and lawn chairs — complete with Frisbees, books and free cider — to highlight the university’s shortage of outdoor space for studying and socializing.
About two dozen such "parks" are planned in at least four boroughs. The New York City pedestrian and bicycle advocate Transportation Alternatives is coordinating the effort. There will be greenery and benches in several midtown spots courtesy of New Yorkers for Parks and the Trust for Public Land; a scene of the city before the automobile staged by the Lower Eastside Girls Club; and shade, chairs, lemonade, a volunteer bike mechanic and musical entertainment in the West Village from Time's Up! and Green Map.
" We take for granted that a street has so much space for pedestrians, so much space for vehicles, and so much space for parking. It hasn’t always been that way," said Wiley Norvell, communications director for Transportation Alternatives. "Is the best use of the space to park one person’s private vehicle when nobody is in it, or to have children playing or seniors sitting or have a little bit of green space in an otherwise concrete area?"
What seems like another crazy art installation or a novel form of street theater may actually lead to a valuable discussion about the most efficient and productive use of a major piece of the city’s public real estate. About a quarter to a third of most city roadways are dedicated to curbside parking, while in parts of the city, sidewalks are jammed during peak hours. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s blueprint for the next quarter century focuses on keeping the city sustainable as it adds an expected one million new residents, in part by creating new public plazas in every neighborhood and reducing traffic congestion and pollution. Reconfiguring some curbside space – in the context of a citywide parking policy -- could help meet these goals.
Urban policy makers are looking more closely at how parking availability and pricing affects traffic congestion, pollution and energy use. Anyone who has ever driven in the city knows that even one perfectly placed double-parked car can snarl the traffic for blocks. Several recent studies have found that drivers searching for parking generate a significant percentage of traffic in the city. A survey by Transportation Alternatives conducted on four days in January and February found that 45 percent of the people driving on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope were cruising for a parking spot. In another study, by transportation expert Bruce Schaller, who is now a deputy commissioner at the Department of Transportation, 28 percent of drivers surveyed while waiting at traffic lights in Soho were looking for curbside parking.
Other studies have
found that many New Yorkers drive because they want to – not because
they have to – and that available and sometimes free parking offers a
powerful incentive for them to use their cars instead of mass transit.
Any plan to reallocate parking spots would, of course, have to be part of a comprehensive plan for managing and pricing parking, something the city does not yet have. Other cities, particularly in Europe, have found many ways to provide parking for those who need it while discouraging unnecessary driving. These include charging market prices for metered parking, allowing only neighborhood residents to park on local streets and creating new space-efficient garages that stack cars on moving platforms.
New Uses for Asphalt Spaces
If some of the city’s parking spots were eliminated, that square footage could be used to make sidewalks wider and safer, add bike lanes, create little parks and plazas in areas that lack public space and provide more public seating for seniors and others who would venture out more readily if they knew there was a place to rest. Imagine wider sidewalks on Prince Street, greenery around Penn Station or benches every few blocks on the commercial streets of residential neighborhoods.
The idea of replacing parking spots for other uses might be starting to catch on. In July, for the first time ever, the New York City Department of Transportation removed car parking spots for bicycle parking, adding racks for 30 more bikes at the Bedford Avenue stop on the L train, a very popular bike-and-ride destination. Then, in August, the department turned a small triangular parking lot in Dumbo into a pocket park.
Transportation Alternatives is developing proposals for the city and community groups as part of a more extensive effort to swap parking spots for little parks and other community space. "In order to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, there are limits to what you can put in on sidewalks in terms of amenities, like bus shelters, benches, or trees," said Norvell . "Only through increasing sidewalk space can these amenities be provided. We think this is a tradeoff a lot of New Yorkers would be willing to make."
Discuss this Article
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In John Scalzi's re-imagining of H. Beam Piper's 1962 sci-fi classic Little Fuzzy, written with the full cooperation of the Piper Estate, Jack Holloway works alone for reasons he doesnt care to talk about. Hundreds of miles from ZaraCorps headquarters on planet, 178 light-years from the corporations headquarters on Earth, Jack is content as an independent contractor, prospecting and surveying at his own pace. As for his past, thats not up for discussion.
"Short, sweet, and satisfying storytelling."
Why we think it’s a great listen: For 20 years, John Irving believed that his ambitious novel could never be adequately executed in audio – and then he met narrator Joe Barrett.... In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys - best friends - are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy's mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument.
Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their successes over and over? People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers might have little in common, but they all started with why.
"Why do we have emotions? Market to that"
Startling, unusual, and yet irresistably readable, Among Others is at once the compelling story of a young woman struggling to escape a troubled childhood, a brilliant diary of first encounters with the great novels of modern fantasy and SF, and a spellbinding tale of escape from ancient enchantment.
"Subtle Character Piece"
In a scrap heap within an abandoned factory, the greatest invention in history lies dormant and unused. By what fatal error of judgment has its value gone unrecognized, its brilliant inventor punished rather than rewarded for his efforts? In defense of those greatest of human qualities that have made civilization possible, one man sets out to show what would happen to the world if all the heroes of innovation and industry went on strike.
"Hurt version decidedly superior"
Mixing a bit of seventeenth-century French history with a great deal of invention, Alexandre Dumas tells the tale of young D'Artagnan and his musketeer comrades, Porthos, Athos, and Aramis. Together they fight to foil the schemes of the brilliant, dangerous Cardinal Richelieu, who pretends to support the king while plotting to advance his own power. Bursting with swirling swordplay, swooning romance, and unforgettable figures.
Most people think 15-year-old Charlie is a freak. But then seniors Patrick and his beautiful stepsister Sam take Charlie under their wings and introduce him to their eclectic, open-minded, hard-partying friends. It is from these older kids that Charlie learns to live and love.
"This one is special"
Think and Grow Rich is the number-one inspirational and motivational classic for individuals who are interested in furthering their lives and reaching their goals by learning from important figures in history. The text read in this audiobook is the original 1937 edition written by Napoleon Hill and inspired by Andrew Carnegie - and while it has often been reproduced, no updated version has ever been able to compete with the original.
"It's a must."
The vampire Darius fears for the life of his half-breed daughter, who is unaware of her unusual destiny. To oversee her transformation, Darius seeks help from Wrath, a dangerous loner and the world's only purebred vampire.
"Amazing start to this awesome series!"
The story we usually tell about childhood and success is the one about intelligence: Success comes to those who score highest on tests, from preschool admissions to SATs. But in How Children Succeed, Paul Tough argues for a very different understanding of what makes a successful child. Drawing on groundbreaking research in neuroscience, economics, and psychology, Tough shows that the qualities that matter most have less to do with IQ and more to do with character: skills like grit, curiosity, conscientiousness, and optimism.
All is not well in Margrave, Georgia. The sleepy, forgotten town hasn't seen a crime in decades, but within the span of three days it witnesses events that leave everyone stunned. An unidentified man is found beaten and shot to death on a lonely country road.
"Starts strong & then fades"
Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than 20 years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: his 14-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.
Perhaps James Joyce's most personal work, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man depicts the intellectual awakening of one of literature's most memorable young heroes, Stephen Dedalus. Through a series of brilliant epiphanies that parallel the development of his own aesthetic consciousness, Joyce evokes Stephen's youth.
"Good, but a little rushed"
George Orwell depicts a gray, totalitarian world dominated by Big Brother and its vast network of agents, including the Thought Police - a world in which news is manufactured according to the authorities' will and people live tepid lives by rote. Winston Smith, a hero with no heroic qualities, longs only for truth and decency. But living in a social system in which privacy does not exist and where those with unorthodox ideas are brainwashed or put to death, he knows there is no hope for him.
"Come one, Come all into 1984!"
Jason Kolarich has spent the past year struggling to recover from the horrific deaths of his wife and baby daughter. On the night of their deaths, Kolarich was at the office, awaiting a call from a confidential informant named Ernesto Ramirez — a call that never came. Kolarich blames himself not only for the deaths of his wife and child, but for the informant’s murder as well. He can’t bring back his family, but he can find out who killed Ramirez and bring the killer to justice.
"Kept me listening."
Lanik Mueller is a "rad" - radical regenerative - a freak who can regenerate injured flesh...and trade extra body parts to the Offworld oppressors for iron. On a planet without hard metals, or the means of escape, iron offers the promise of freedom through the chance to build a spacecraft. But it is a promise which may never be fulfilled, as Lanik uncovers a treacherous conspiracy beyond his imagination.
A call from a distraught wife, and another from Lt Murphy of the Chicago PD Special Investigation Unit makes Harry believe things are looking up, but they are about to get worse, much worse. Someone is harnessing immense supernatural forces to commit a series of grisly murders. Someone has violated the first law of magic: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Tracking that someone takes Harry into the dangerous underbelly of Chicago, from mobsters.
Listeners looking for a fresh twist on vampire tales need look no further than the erotically charged Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Mary Luce is dissatisfied with her life and her job. But when she is unwittingly thrust into the vampire dominion, everything changes. Falling under the protection of the Brotherhood's strongest member, Rhage, she soon finds herself drawn to his animalistic urges.
"I love this book"
Why we think it’s a great listen: Some books are meant to be read; others are meant to be heard – Water for Elephants falls into the second group, and is one of the best examples we have of how a powerful performance enhances a great story. Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.
The vampire Zsadist is a former blood slave with a violent past. When he meets Bella, Zsadist thinks her human love could be his path to salvation. Then Bella is kidnapped, and Zsadist will stop at nothing to get her back.
"LOVED IT! WAITING FOR BOOK 4"
Orphaned while onboard ship from Ireland, seven-year-old Lavinia arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation where she is to live and work with the slaves of the kitchen house. Under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter, Lavinia becomes deeply bonded to her adopted family, though she is set apart from them by her white skin. Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction.
"Good, but with reservations"
Stealth. Gorgon. Regenerator. Cerberus. Zzzap. The Mighty Dragon. They were heroes. Vigilantes. Crusaders for justice, using their superhuman abilites to make Los Angeles a better place. Then the plague of living death spread around the globe. Despite the best efforts of the superheroes, the police, and the military, the hungry corpses rose up and overwhelmed the country. The population was decimated, heroes fell, and the city of angels was left a desolate zombie wasteland like so many others.
"A great read if you like heroes or zombies!"
Butch O'Neal is a fighter by nature. A hard-living ex-homicide cop, he's the only human ever to be allowed in the inner circle of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. And he wants to go even deeper into the vampire world-to engage in the turf war with the lessers. His heart belongs to a female vampire, Marissa, an aristocratic beauty who's way out of his league. And if he can't have her, then at least he can fight side by side with the Brothers.
"With each book, this series gets so much better!"
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The state of Illinois faces at least $83 billion in unfunded liability between its five pension systems, and is on track to spend more on its government pensions than on education by 2016, a new study released by Governor Pat Quinn’s office says.
The state budget office conducted the study based on a “district-by-district analysis” if the state does not enact comprehensive pension reform, the governor said in a statement. Governor Quinn released the study a few days after calling a special session dedicated to pension reform on August 17.
Illinois faces severe underfunding in its pension system. It reported a funded ratio of 43.4%, way below the 80% considered healthy. Based on fiscal 2010 data, Illinois had the lowest funded ratio of any state, according to a June 2012 report by the Pew Center on the States.
Among states, Illinois stands out for setting aside a huge 12% of its annual budget just for its chronically underfunded pension.
Credit rating agencies have threatened to lower the state's rating unless lawmakers ease the strain on the budget.
Illinois' structural deficit along with its huge unfunded pension liability have led to credit downgrades, with Illinois rated in the low one-letter A grades by Moody's Investors Service, the lowest level among states it rates.
Meanwhile, Illinois joins New York, California and Maryland in having the highest state tax rates in the country. Illinois was dinged last year for boosting its taxes 67%.
Pension reform is a hot button issue, with government workers receiving far more than the private sector in retiree benefits, numerous studies have shown.
Ideas for Illinois pension reform include capping abuses of government workers retiring as early as 55 and collecting nearly full pay every year; raising the age of benefits eligibility to a normal retirement age; and reducing the cost of living increases to pension payouts by one percentage point.
Meanwhile, Illinois government workers are entitled to solid state retirement health benefits. Illinois’s gaping credit-default-swap spreads suggest market fears that the state will face an inability to service its bond debt.
“Under current actuarial assumptions, required state pension contributions will rise to over $6 billion in the next few years if no comprehensive pension reform is enacted, which will continue to result in significant cuts to education,” the governor said in a statement, adding “fast-rising pension costs will cost downstate and suburban school districts far more than assuming the responsibility to pay for their compensation decisions over time.”
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Brilliant, brilliant Training
I’d heard some time ago of a couple of Stanford Professors running an online course in Machine Learning, with over 100,000 students registered for their course worldwide. Fortunately for me, 10gen - the company behind the wildly successful MongoDB database - started doing free training using the same delivery method.
I joined over 6,600 other hopefuls to do their free, 7 week long, 10 hours/week M101P “MongoDB for Developers” course. This included examples in Python, which we learnt as part of the syllabus. I also joined over 6,400 other students doing the equivalent M102 “MongoDB for DBAs” course.
What a fantastic experience. You can learn from short videos with frequent knowledge test quizzes each week, in gaps around your other commitments. You then have a set of homework exercises to run on your own machine, which have to be completed and answers posted on their portal within a week of issue. New weeks videos were released every Tuesday morning at 4am UK time, and the matching homework had to be in within a week. At the very end - week 7 - you had a final summary and a final 10 or 11 final exam questions to answer that week.
There was plenty of help on hand from the instructors and a small number of teaching assistants on each courses forum, though many of the queries were answered by fellow students.
I was delighted to have finished both courses with 100% ratings - something achieved by 2.2% of the intake of the programming course, and 5.1% for the DBAs. 10gen, after 7 weeks, now have an extra 9,000 or so professional advocates who’ve passed their exams since they started last year (this was the second time they’d be run). There is another Developers Course (for Java programmers) in progress as I write this.
The product itself is very, very impressive, built to scale out as your needs grow. I was no less impressed with 10gen’s execution of this training on the edX platform, as described eloquently by VP Education Andrew Erlichson in his blog at http://ed-blog.10gen.com/.
That’s him in front of their New York Office above (he took the Developers Course). The other person in front of the lecture equipment is 10gen Chairman and Co-founder, Dwight Merriman, who took the DBA lectures.
Class work, and I can do no less than tell you they will shortly be re-running new versions of the same training:
April 1: M101P MongoDB for Developers, taught in Python but no previous Python Experience rqrd
April 29: M102 MongoDB for DBAs
May 13: M101J MongoDB for Java Developers. Java experience is a prerequisite for this course.
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Private practice nurses can earn a great deal. It really depends on the agency they are employed with and the geographical area where they work. A well known fact, of nursing, is that sometimes nurses with the same experience and the same degrees make completely different paychecks just due to working in certain areas.
Private care nurses can make as much as $30+ an hour. Again, this is dependent on the agency. Some agencies will require nurses to travel or the private nurses can take one case and be with the patient until the patient no longer needs a nurse.
Some nurses are hired privately, without an agency, in order to provide in home care to a loved one. This can be a wonderful working relationship for a nurse. The nurse may have days off, but unless the family pays for health care or the nurse purchases his/her own insurance, such a scenario can turn disastrous for the nurse. If there are no back-up plans in place, if the nurse becomes ill, there is no one to provide care for the patient.
Another problem is when a patient no longer needs the nurse. They may get better, be moved to a nursing home, or pass away. In these situations the nurse is often left without employment and will need to find another job in order to pay their bills. In the worst cases the nurse was hired to live in and will also need to find a new home and a new job at the same time.
Back up plans are always a priority. If you are a private care nurse or in home nurse, a savings account is your best friend in the event of needing a new job or home. While your earnings potential can be immense, a savings account can be drained quickly if you must live on it for an extended period of time.
Sometimes the best option is to have your name on an agency list. Even if you do not work with the agency for some time, you may be able to let them know you need a job in the event that your patient no longer needs you and have new work in a short period of time. This can be a boon if you are in immediate need.
The day to day stress of private care nursing can be just as much as an emergency room ‘gig’ or a slow paced drone. No matter what – a nursing job is what you make of it!
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On the way to visit a friend, I spotted this from the bus as it headed along Dominion Road, just past the intersection with Richardson Road. My friend was kind enough to drop me round after lunch to take some shots for the blog.
This is another of Louis Statham's artworks for local Community Board/Council projects, and features public transport in the early days of the district. A great touch is the inclusion of a piece of interpretive information, all part of the complete work.
So ... below is one of Roskills late 1920s community buses. These provided a link for residents in Roskill South with the tramlines north of Mt Albert Road. Some community bus services werre illegal, and ran in opposition with the then-Council contrlled trams all the way into the city. For a while, they got around the regulations by not charging fares, but instead encouraging "membership subscriptions" on a voluntary basis, so they could say they were simply providing a service for members, not the general public. It was a dodge which didn't last long in the courts.
Three Greenline buses which ran (according to the info) between Pt Chevalier to OPtahuhu via Mt Roskill.
And ... a Dominion Road tram.
If you're in Auckland and haven't seen this before, stop by the Roskill South shops, and walk down the Richardson Road hill to spend a penny and take a look at this really quite marvellous piece of Auckland transport history.
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Federal Heavy Vehicle Use Tax (HVUT)
The Federal Heavy Vehicle Use Tax (HVUT) is required and administered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The tax applies to power units registered for 55,000 pounds gross weight or more. Any vehicle registered in Virginia with a gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more is required to provide proof that the Federal Heavy Vehicle Use Tax was paid to the IRS.
Proof of Payment
Either of the following documents is acceptable as proof of payment for state registration purposes:
- A copy of the receipted Schedule 1 (Form 2290) returned by the IRS to the taxpayer.
- A copy of Schedule 1 (Form 2290) and a photocopy of both sides of the canceled check for payment.
Exemptions of Payment
Vehicles operating 5,000 miles or less annually or any agricultural vehicle operating 7,500 miles or less annually are exempt from payment of the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax; however, a receipted Schedule 1 (Form 2290) is required as proof of the Suspension of Tax Liability.
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For anyone who has read Good to Great by Jim Collins, this will be a familiar refrain. Sometimes, I sing this phrase like a Shakespearean couplet. Why is this on my mind as I reflect on the value of the MBA program, you might ask? Well, the most common answer that I get when I meet a business owner is that their people are their most valuable asset. And guess what – they mislead. Perhaps not the nasty lie that comes from getting ones hand caught in the cookie jar, but a more subtle form of self deception.
If people are your most valuable asset, then why do the following questions get met with so little clarity.
1. Have you ever hired an employee that you later regretted the decision?
2. What specific process do you follow to make sure your people are the best available and an ideal fit for your company and the needs of the role that you will be asking them to play?
3. In accounting, an asset is found on the balance sheet, and an expense is found on the income statement. Business nurture their assets through maintenance and upkeep, for example. In what was do you upgrade your people assets to ensure that they deliver increasing value?
Some businesses figure this out. How do we know this? Quite simply by the experience we enjoy when frequenting their business because it is as pleasing as it is dependable. Have you ever wondered how they do it? As business owners, we fish from the same pond of candidates, yet a small, select group of companies find the best fish.
I started by writing on the topic of WHY, this is a topic of HOW. Small businesses have no margin for error in the decision to hire a new employee, yet have no defined process to make the best choices. Remember the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result. The HOW in addressing this insanity can be found in the experiences of your MBA group/cohort. Who has time to spend getting better? Or better yet, who should invest time in getting better? Only the person who has no time because they have to make up for the deficiencies of their hiring process.
As a student of the Loyola MBA Program, you can see your business differently simply by investing your time to “sharpen the saw.” And that will be a topic for another post.
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Aviva Community Fund
Spread the Love is a grassroots movement that is looking to expand into an organization to help engage youth. The heart of our organization lay in the hands of all of the youth struggling to live in the times where good role models are hard to come by. With our schools filled with violence, drugs and youth dealing with depression, as people who have experienced these things, we feel that we have to give back to the communities that have helped us escape our pasts. It is a fact that the youth of today are tomorrow's future, and with our help, we know that we can make that future worth waiting for. We will be engaging youth through art, facilitation, counseling, and community to give them hope and a chance at a better life. To many of today's youth are thrown in the back seat, we the Spread the Love team want to change that. Please help us grow into an organization that can make a huge difference in communities ALL OVER CANADA. But like every beautiful flower, it must start with a seed, and that seed will not grow without your help. PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE LOVE.
We will use the money to make ourselves a permanent organization. To do this, we will need funding to help pay for us to go out to schools and start getting the youth engaged. Our first project is going to be a HUGE event in downtown Toronto featuring local talent, helping us spread the word about the issues and about how we hope to solve them. At this event we hope to inspire youth to start their own STL chapters in their schools, and we hope that they will start spreading the love by helping those who need help. We will be implementing a program in schools to help with the inspiration of youth and to show them that they do have an outlet for their passions. We are dedicated to finding out how we can help each and every individual who needs help. Whether it be through arts, sports or even motivational speaking, we want to be able to show them how they can achieve their dreams and take themselves out of the circle of trouble. In order to do research and find out what the best program to implement is, we will help financially.
Spread the Love has been spreading at an amazing rate, gaining 600 volunteers in just one month. We have estimated to have upwards of 2000 participants at our first events. Having events like these will not only raise awareness, but it will help us become self sustainable as an organization.
We also are planning on opening our own clothing line. We want people to be able to spread the love not only by word of mouth, but by the clothes that they wear! this clothing line will also add to our sustainability efforts! If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact us through our facebook page @ facebook.com/spreadthelovecampaign !!!
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Bangladesh: Year In Review 2005Article Free Pass
|Area:||147,570 sq km (56,977 sq mi)|
|Population||(2005 est.): 137,636,000|
|Chief of state:||President Iajuddin Ahmed|
|Head of government:||Prime Minister Khaleda Zia|
For Bangladesh the year 2005 was a rude awakening from a mode of denial. On the morning of August 17, the country was shaken as more than 500 bombs went off within a span of half an hour in a precisely coordinated manner in 63 of the country’s 64 districts. At every bomb location, leaflets were recovered belonging to a banned Islamic militant group, Jamaʾatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). Though casualties were minor—2 deaths and slight injuries to 100 persons—it was nonetheless a moment of embarrassment for the government, which had flatly denied local and international media reports saying that terrorists linked to al-Qaeda were organizing in Bangladesh. Though the government finally admitted that JMB was behind the blasts, it also suggested that there were “foreign forces” behind such a well-organized attack plan. The government subsequently embarked upon an antimilitant drive and apprehended some 170 terrorists, but this effort created a stir among the country’s Islamic political parties, two of which were coalition partners in the government. The parties warned that harassing mullahs in the name of catching militants would not be tolerated.
Earlier in the year, the killing on January 27 of S.A.M.S. Kibria, an Awami League (AL) party leader and a former UN undersecretary-general, shocked the country. Two grenades were tossed at him at a rally in the northeastern district of Habiganj. At least 3 other people were killed, and some 50 more were injured. The government’s already rocky relationship with the opposition AL only worsened in the wake of the attack. The AL, angered by an unfinished probe into an earlier grenade attack that had killed 21 people at another party rally in August 2004, remained skeptical about the government’s commitment to investigating Kibria’s murder. Charges were ultimately brought against 10 people, 8 of whom had connections to the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Kibria’s family rejected the investigation, however, saying that the masterminds of the attack were still at large.
Bangladesh once again came under international scrutiny when reports surfaced that the Ahmadiyya community was being persecuted. In particular, Islamic fundamentalist parties Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikyo Jote demanded that the government declare the Ahmadiyyas non-Muslims in the fashion of Pakistan, but the government—which had banned the Ahmadiyya religious book in 2004—remained silent to the demands. The persecution of the Ahmadiyyas evoked international reaction, including one from the U.S. assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs, Christina Rocca, who during a visit to Dhaka in May expressed her concern over the treatment of the Ahmadiyyas.
On the economic front, Bangladesh came under severe pressure from a few sides. Despite a healthy 8.71% growth in exports from January to June, as well as a 32.1% rise in foreign assistance and a 14.13% rise in remittance from overseas workers in fiscal 2004–05, the country’s foreign-exchange reserves dwindled to $2.73 billion in September from $3.02 billion in June. This followed a sudden 18.45% jump in imports during the January–June period. Inflation rose to 7.35% in June from 5.5% in January. In September the government increased state-controlled fuel prices by 18%, stoking fears of a further price hike and demand squeeze. As a reaction to inflationary pressure, the government embarked on a tighter monetary policy.
What made you want to look up "Bangladesh: Year In Review 2005"? Please share what surprised you most...
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How many would-be ID thieves bolt? We may never know
|Jim Henry is a special correspondent for Automotive News|
It’s odd that there aren’t a lot of statistics around documenting whether the Red Flags Rule is working.
The Federal Trade Commission started enforcing the rule, which is aimed at preventing identify theft and protecting confidential customer data at dealerships, last year. For dealerships, it’s a paperwork burden at the very least.
Anecdotally, customers don’t seem to mind submitting to an extra measure of scrutiny. But the rule creates a risk that dealerships could offend some legitimate customers by acting as if they were suspicious.
An FTC spokesman told me a while back there are no publicly available statistics on enforcement or dealer compliance. But if I were the FTC, I would want to document how many dealership programs are in place and how many identity thieves are caught, and give an estimate of how many are deterred.
That last category -- identity thieves who simply walk away before attempting a bogus deal -- could be a big one. Presumably, many would-be thieves -- the smart ones -- simply walk away at the first whiff of suspicion. Granted, that will be tough to prove.
But do the results justify the time, trouble and expense dealers are taking to meet the requirements? It’s odd that the government doesn’t seem to be saying.
You can reach Jim Henry at firstname.lastname@example.org.
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Persistence isn’t doing the exact same thing over and over. That’s easy. You could do that without even thinking about it. Instead, persistence is pursuing your Wildly Important Goal over and over, even when people tell you that you can’t do it. Even when business plan competitions tell you that your idea won’t work. Even when you gave it your all and a naysayer told you that your all wasn’t good enough.
Having persistence is not easy. In fact, it might be the hardest thing you could ever do. But sometimes you have to do it. Especially if you believe in the work that you are doing. Persistence is what happens when you have a goal you believe in, and you do everything you can to make it work. To prove to the naysayers that they were wrong.
I have persistence right now. What about you?
If not, maybe this video will inspire you.
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U.S. & Arab Allies Call for Intervention in Syria After Bombing of Palestinian Camp
US, Arab allies call for intervention in Syria after bombing of Palestinian camp
By Jean Shaoul; 20 December 2012 - WSWS
Newspapers reported this week the Syrian air force’s bombing of buildings in Yarmouk, the Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, on Sunday and Monday.
The bombardment killed at least 25 people, wounded several dozen more, and caused thousands to flee the camp and seek refugee status in neighbouring Lebanon. Thirteen other Palestinians were killed elsewhere in Syria.
All reports stressed the claim that the Syrian government was guilty of a crime against the Palestinians and would pay a political price.
The New York Times wrote, “For many Yarmouk residents — refugees from conflict with Israel and their descendants — the attacks shattered what was left of the Syrian government’s claim to be a champion and protector of Palestinians, a position the Assad family relied upon as a source of domestic and international legitimacy in more than 40 years of iron-fisted rule.”
The Guardian cited Palestinians as saying that it marked a “historical moment” that “shattered the regime’s claim to be a patron of resistance against Israel”.
It was only later that the media even sought to locate the bombardment against the backdrop of a camp divided between pro- and anti-Assad factions.
Such reportage is part of the campaign of media disinformation that has been the hallmark of the 21-month-long civil war provoked and sponsored by Washington’s allies in the region: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Israel. Portraying the Palestinians as victims of the Syrian government is intended to turn the Palestinians and the entire Arab working class against the Syrian regime and to stoke international support for a “humanitarian” intervention.
Yarmouk, a few kilometres from downtown Damascus, was established as a Palestinian refugee camp in 1957. It is home to 150,000 registered Palestinians who fled or were driven out of their homes in what is now Israel in 1948 and their descendants. It is the largest concentration of the 500,000-strong Palestinian community in Syria.
Yarmouk has evolved into a mixed neighbourhood of Syrian and Palestinian professional workers, day labourers and street vendors. It is home to more than 1.5 million people.
The opposition forces have in recent months focused their attacks on Syria’s two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, capturing air bases and military installations around the capital, Damascus. Their offensive against Yarmouk led to the deaths of at least 21 people in August. It is one of a number of such offensives aimed at taking control of Damascus.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Syrian opposition forces announced in October that they had begun arming sympathetic Palestinians, who would form a group called the Liwa al-Asifa (Storm Brigade). This unit would fight the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), which has backed Bashar al-Assad, and take its Yarmouk stronghold. The PFLP-GC was formed in 1968 and is based in Syria.
Last month, following armed clashes, Liwa al-Asifa fighters critically injured a senior PFLP-GC leader and killed four other leaders of the Palestinian popular committees, formed to defend the camp against the insurgents, in a car bomb attack in Yarmouk. Since then, there have been weeks of heavy fighting, with more than 1,500 armed thugs operating in the neighbourhood. According to Palestinian sources, more than 30 people were killed in clashes in the camp.
A Yarmouk resident told the Associated Press that the clashes between the armed oppositionists and the PFLP-GC broke out on Friday, when they tried to take over the PFLP-GC’s headquarters in Yarmouk. The Free Syrian Army claimed to have “liberated” the camp from militias supporting the Assad regime. The control of Yarmouk would link opposition-held areas in the east and south of Damascus.
One of the Palestinian leaders told the Lebanese paper al-Akhbar that the “situation is extremely dangerous. The FSA has taken over large parts of the camp, including areas that once belonged to the General Command, forcing many of our fighters to retreat.”
He added that the living conditions in the camp had collapsed. There was no possibility of sending in supplies and medical aid, and the whole area was without electricity. “If the camp falls under the control of the FSA and the jihadi Islamists,” he said, “it will become a launching pad for military operations, and it is the camp residents who will pay a heavy price.”
The UN’s Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said that at least half of Yarmouk’s registered Palestinian population of 150,000 have fled the violence.
According to a PFLP-GC statement, all the opposition forces were members of the Al Nusra Front, the Al Qaeda-linked group the Obama administration has blacklisted. This has not prevented the media from condemning Assad’s regime, while saying nothing about why a military intervention was mounted. While international media presented the bombing as an attack on the Yarmouk refugee camp, the PFLP-GC said that the government forces had intervened to prevent a massacre of the Palestinians.
One of the Palestinian leaders, Anwar Raja, pointed out that the Syrian government had no reason to attack the Palestinians. He asked why Palestinians suddenly, after 20 months, would want to start a revolt. If there were a real conflict between the inhabitants of Yarmouk and the Syrian government, there would have been resistance from the onset of the chaos in Syria.
Palestinian Authority officials, who serve as Washington’s stooges in Ramallah, lashed out at Syria. Palestinian Liberation Organization official Yasser Abed Rabbo said: “We condemn in the strongest terms the crime of Assad’s regime in Yarmouk refugee camp, and call on all international parties, including the states that still back this regime, to act immediately and stop these massacres against Syrians and Palestinians in Syria.”
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas called on the United Nations and the Arab League to protect the Palestinian population in Syria. He said that he was ready to take in Palestinian refugees, and that he had asked UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to help bring the refugees to the Palestinian territories. This is an empty gesture, as any transfer of refugees into the West Bank needs Israel’s consent.
Hamas, the ruling faction in Gaza, also condemned the bombing. It too has supported the Western-backed opposition in Syria, moving its headquarters from Syria’s capital Damascus to Qatar, and re-orienting itself towards new patrons including the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf and Turkey.
Arab League secretary general Nabil El-Araby condemned the bombing of Yarmouk camp, calling it “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law”.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon for his part declared that reports of government warplanes bombing a Palestinian refugee camp were of “grave concern”.
Israel’s main ally, the United States, cynically posed as a defender of the Palestinians, with the State Department declaring: “Those who are responsible for atrocities against the civilian population must be held accountable.”
There was no such call, of course, when Israel bombed Gaza last month.
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On Monday, Mimi was suffering from the remnants from a cold and was feeling too miserable to do much of anything. Housebound, I realized it was the perfect day to deal with the mountain of chestnuts that we had and decided to spend the morning with Mimi, making marrons glacés, candied chestnuts.
To prepare chestnuts for cooking, (1) split them into two halves and boil for 7.5 minutes. Transfer immediately to a bowl of ice water. (2) The shell will slip off easily, (3) leaving behind only the brown skins to remove.
These are the instructions for blanching chestnuts that I found on-line. I’ve delineated the steps for a reason.
The first step, cutting the chestnuts in half, was challenging in its way, though not impossible. I blanched them as directed and then peeled off the outer shells, no problem. Notice, however, that these instructions do not offer a handy adjective to provide an idea about the degree of difficulty for the third step, removing those brown skins. There’s a reason for that.
That brown skin was something else again. Sometimes, I could get my paring knife underneath the skin and it would slip right off. When that happened, I felt in sync with the ancient rhythms of my ancestors, who undoubtedly performed this task back in the boonies of France.
Then there were the “rogue” chestnuts, whose skins simply would not come off without a lot of effort. Those were roughly treated, the skin peeled away as inefficiently as necessary by a cook whose small, sick child was growing increasingly tired of the chestnut project. Nearly two hours into the job, I finally had one quart’s worth of peeled chestnuts. Witness:
To preserve chestnuts: simmer chestnuts, along with a split vanilla bean, in a small sauce pan at a low temperature until fork tender. This may take as long as two hours. Before cooking, weigh the chestnuts and prepare a sugar and water solution of equal weight. Simmer the sugar syrup over low heat until it thickens. This may take as long as two hours. When both the chestnuts and the syrup finish, drain the chestnuts, return them to the saucepan, submerge in the sugar syrup, add a slug of vanilla, and simmer at a low temperature until the chestnuts candy. This may take as long as an hour and a half.
It was slow going, but didn’t require much work on my part. Here are some blurry photographs of the results:
Well…I’m not one to complain about the workload, but really, this was too much for me. The tips of my fingers are shredded. It’s definitely not a job to do with a small child, especially not one who is already fractious.
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You can infer a lot about a person from her wallet. Pictures of 28 kids? G-ma. Big wad of ones? Stripper. A dozen Red Lobster receipts? Someone we want to be friends with.
But, if you’re like us, there’s a big difference between what’s in your wallet and what should be in it, according to Alexa von Tobel, founder of women’s go-to finance site LearnVest.
In today’s video, von Tobel goes through editor Lauren Lumsden’s wallet and explains what she is doing right ($45 in cash) and wrong (a million gift cards). We especially love her tip on the one thing that significantly increases the chances of your wallet being returned if you lose it.
Von Tobel also advises us on her preferred way to divide finances after you get married and what to do with an extra $100 (two of LearnVest’s most frequently asked questions).
To us, that’s worth a lot of (Cheddar Bay biscuit) dough.
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Today's musical selection is the theme from Dario Argento's 1982 giallo-thriller, Tenebre (also known as Unsane). Tenebre or Tenebrae is a Latin word for darkness or shadows. The film follows a writer who arrives in Rome only to find somebody is using his novels as the inspiration for committing murder. As the death toll mounts the police are baffled, and the writer becomes more closely linked to the case than is comfortable. The music is by the legendary band Goblin, who provided music for many a horror film, including George Romero's Dawn of the Dead. The Tenebre theme has a very disco-like vibe to it and I can't help but picture guys in leisure suits dancing to it or chicks on roller skates zooming around to it. Needless to say, it is currently the one piece of music that I cannot get out of my head. Give it a listen:
The French electronic music duo, Justice, sampled the music for their songs Phantom (which you can hear below or here) and Phantom Part II. This leads me to wonder, when is sampling a good thing, if ever? Some artists only sample specific beats and riffs, while others sample larger pieces. Where is the line drawn between being so creatively challenged that one has to lift music from others and the desire to take an older piece of music and put a modern spin on it? From all accounts, Justice had Goblin's blessing, so die hard Goblin fans cannot get too irate. Personally, I prefer the original version, but that's just me. Oddly enough, this sampling theme fits with the movie Tenebre, where a writer has his words co opted by a killer and used in several bloody murders. Now I just need to snag a copy on DVD. Fortunately, a newer special edition is available, since the original edition went OOP quite some time ago.
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AFL boasts fourth biggest crowds out of all professional sporting leagues on the planet in 2012
- January 05, 2013
The AFL was the fourth-best attended professional sporting league on the planet in 2012, amazingly beating out the likes of Major League Baseball and Spain's La Liga.
According to a report from Sportingintelligence.com, an average 32,748 fans attended AFL matches, which actually represented a decline from the 36,428 the code attracted in 2011.
The decrease resulted in the AFL dropping from third in 2011 to fourth in the rankings behind the English Premier League, which attracted an average 34,602 fans per game in the 2011-12 season.
The National Football League took out top spot with an average 67,591 spectators per game, up from 67,394 a year earlier.
Germany's Bundesliga surprisingly came in second with 45,116 average fans per game in 2011-12 - the highest average ever for that league - up from 42,673 during the prior season.
The National Hockey League - which is in danger of having no season in 2012-13 due to a labor dispute - attracts the largest crowds of the indoor sports, with an attendance of 17,455 in 2011-12.
It finished just ahead of the National Basketball Association (17,274).
Two sports that have seen increases in average attendance year-on-year are Major League Baseball and the Canadian Football League.
MLB came in fifth with an average attendance of 30,895, up from 30,366 a year earlier. The CFL sits seventh with an average of 27,882, compared to 27,192 previously.
Sixth place went to Spain's La Liga, with an average attendance of 28,462, down from 29,128 the year before.
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19 June 2013Play Video: Socceroos lap of honour Be one of the Socceroos as they take their deserved lap of honour after qualifying for the FIFA World Cup.
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Alessandro Boyd • Gleaner Writer
Dr Michelle-Anne Richards-Dawson, senior medical officer at the Bustamante Hospital for Children (BHC), could not contain her joy yesterday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the well-needed cardiac unit on the grounds of the hospital.
"There are several challenges facing children with cardiac diseases in Jamaica, such as getting surgeries, the limitation of service when it comes to space, capacity and the limited Intensive Care Unit (ICU) space," Richards-Dawson told The Gleaner.
"The construction of this unit will improve the space, time and human resources, which will go a long way towards the care of the children, both preoperatively by the cardiologists and post-operatively by the surgeons and the intensivists (the doctor attending to the intensive care patients)," she added.
Richards-Dawson also noted that there are currently five ICU beds at the BHC which serve the entire paediatric population of the island.
"Therefore, it's quite a competition to get the children in it. With this, we will have 10 additional paediatric ICU units, which will go towards these children who require surgery as well as those who may require intervention and assistance after."
Minister of Health Dr Fenton Ferguson also highlighted the severity of the problem faced by children with cardiac diseases.
"Every year, between 400 and 500 children are born with the congenital heart disease, 50 per cent of whom will usually require surgery. At present, we have an extensive waiting list of at least 150 children at the Bustamante Hospital, for cardiac surgeries, with new patients added each year," Ferguson said.
"Despite this, we are only able to perform an average of 40 cardiac surgeries at a value of over $540 million each year. This initiative will give the hospital the opportunity to perform more complicated cardiac surgeries and further develop its paediatric care programme so that we can address the long waiting list of patients needing surgeries," he added.
Several organisations contributed towards the initiative such as Digicel, Sagicor Jamaica and the Shaggy Make A Difference Foundation. Digicel Jamaica was the biggest contributor, donating US$1.1 million towards the initiative.
"The fact is that giving back is a part of our DNA. That is why we actively reach out to over 100,000 children each year through various education, technology and special-needs development initiatives and projects, and that is why we are pleased to be contributing $100 million to the construction of a cardiac wing at Bustamante Hospital for Children," Andy Thorburn, CEO of Digicel Jamaica, told The Gleaner.
Full Caption: Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller (fourth left) and a crew at work breaking ground for the cardiac wing of the Bustamante Hospital for Children yesterday. Other members of the team are (from left) Emma Scanlan, executive director, Chain of Hope; Lyttleton Shirley, chairman, South East Regional Health Authority; Andy Thorburn, chief executive officer, Digicel; Lady Allen; Fenton Ferguson, minister of health; artiste and philanthropist Orville 'Shaggy' Burrell, and Tara Nunes, vice-president, Sagicor Investments.- Norman Grindley/Chief Photographer
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You probably aren't going to like this reply, but it sounds to me like your parents are just very concerned for you. And if you've only been using condoms for birth control, then they have a bit of a point for worrying that you'll become pregnant. Don't get me wrong -- condoms are wonderful, they're a very good way to avoid STD and STI transmission -- but it's best to combine them with another form of contraception, such as birth control pills. You might also consider going with your boyfriend to get STD tests for the both of you.
Then I'd suggest letting your parents know that you are practising safer sex, that you're being responsible for your health, and that you're aware of the risks involved. If you're not comfortable talking with them, maybe you could write them a letter and give it to them to read, and ask them to reply in a letter of their own if they have questions or concerns about what you've said.
Here are some articles that might be helpful:
Safe, Sound & Sexy ? A Safer Sex How-To
Margaret Sangers Disneyland - An easy chart of your birth control options
Sexual Negotiation for the Long Haul
"The only unnatural sexual act is that which you cannot perform."
-- Alfred Kinsey
[This message has been edited by kythryne (edited 02-10-2002).]
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Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Background: The authors aimed to determine US and UK doctors' professional values and reported behaviours, and the extent to which these vary with the context of care.
Method: 1891 US and 1078 UK doctors completed the survey (64.4% and 40.3% response rate respectively). Multivariate logistic regression was used to compare responses to identical questions in the two surveys.
Results: UK doctors were more likely to have developed practice guidelines (82.8% UK vs 49.6% US, p<0.001) and to have taken part in a formal medical error-reduction programme (70.9% UK vs 55.7% US, p<0.001). US doctors were more likely to agree about the need for periodic recertification (completely agree 23.4% UK vs 53.9% US, p<0.001). Nearly a fifth of doctors had direct experience of an impaired or incompetent colleague in the previous 3 years. Where the doctor had not reported the colleague to relevant authorities, reasons included thinking that someone else was taking care of the problem, believing that nothing would happen as a result, or fear of retribution. UK doctors were more likely than US doctors to agree that significant medical errors should always be disclosed to patients. More US doctors reported that they had not disclosed an error to a patient because they were afraid of being sued.
Discussion: The context of care may influence both how professional values are expressed and the extent to which behaviours are in line with stated values. Doctors have an important responsibility to develop their healthcare systems in ways which will support good professional behaviour.
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February 06, 2013
| by Arlen Schweiger
OK, the best thing about a recent CNN article titled “The Scattered, Futuristic World of Home Automation” is that it actually avoids the obligatory Jetsons reference. But as you can tell by the headline, the inference is there in spirit.
I understand that mainstream media looks at what we’ve been covering in Electronic House for the last 25 years with a different eye. Basically a blind eye, as they focus on what they deem home automation products. As with this article, they’ll typically focus on disparate pieces of a “smart” home and how they don’t mesh.
Next they’ll mention how companies such as Comcast and Lowe’s are getting into the home automation fray, and that there might be, gasp, monthly fees involved. Never mind that the Consumer Electronics Association has cited security monitoring as the top entry point for homeowners into some sort of home control system, and that security monitoring is as synonymous with monthly fees as cable service.
“Whatever the future of smart homes looks like, it will need to be dead simple, affordable and easy to use,” the CNN writer notes in her conclusion. Well, anyone who’s read Electronic House realizes that “the future” has been here for quite some time.
Typical of mainstream articles on “home automation,” this particular one also did not mention Crestron, Savant, AMX, Control4, Elan, RTI, Vantage, Lutron, HAI, URC or any other company ordinarily associated with such systems in our magazine. We’ve already expressed a bit in response to such mainstream articles about just what exactly this “home automation thingy” is, but I wanted to address it further so I asked a couple of these companies to clear up some misconceptions.
1. It Costs Too Much. “One of the biggest is that it is too expensive,” says Delia Hansen, Crestron solutions manager, residential market. “The industry hears this a lot. You have to buy hardware and software, have someone program your system, have someone install it, service it, etc. We compare home automation to buying a car. We certainly spend big bucks on a car that is a known expense that we can never recover. The home is an expense that is more of an investment and is often very much recoverable. When you look at other expenses that homeowners invest in: adding custom cabinetry, high-end appliances, and other custom features in kitchens—a home automation system is comparable in price. Why would we hesitate to add more value to our home, which is our biggest investment and where we spend most of our time?”
And while Crestron has always been on the high end of the affordability scale, some of the other names I mentioned do focus on homeowners with tighter budgets. Then there’s the Apple iPad angle, which has put the ease of user interfaces into the spotlight. Savant, whose automation systems are Apple-based, notes how this has furthered the cause not only in making “home automation” type operation more accessible to the masses as they become accustomed to using a touch-capacitive device but also by streamlining its own touchpanel hardware for one less major expense.
Related: Best Home Control and Automation Systems from 2012
“Savant has leveraged the power and broad consumer comfort of Apple’s iOS devices, eliminating the need for costly, proprietary touchpanels,” says Savant executive VP Jim Carroll. “Having an intuitive Apple-based system operate reliably from the iOS devices we already know and love has been a large step toward dissolving misconceptions.”
Custom installers often need to educate homeowners on just what goes on behind the scenes to justify costs, in some cases. That’s a big part of what someone like Todd Anthony Puma of The Source Home Theater in New York spends his time doing with homeowners, and it results in a more trusting relationship.
“The most common misconception I find with homeowners is the price. When they come into a consultation, they have high expectations of what they are looking for their system to provide and with these expectations comes a cost,” Puma says. “Because they are not educated in this field, they don’t see the value off the bat when they see 10-14 hours in programming or a base station and digital analog converter on their estimate for a full dedicated home theater room. They are anticipating the TV, speakers, Blu-ray, cable and gaming, but not the devices that allow them to all work together as one unit. Because they don’t physically see you programming their system, they have trouble grasping just how intricate and labor intensive it can be.”
2. It’s Daunting to Operate. For many, home automation conjures up the idea that using a touchpanel or keypads or universal remote control to essentially command every piece of electronics in your house is enough to make your head spin. The goal of automating things and designing a user interface that puts everything at a homeowner’s fingertips is actually meant to deliver the opposite. That it’s all a snap, and not intimidating, so much so that anyone from 5 to 95 could conceivably operate your home. That’s what we hear all the time from the custom electronics pros that design and install systems specific to their clients’ houses and lifestyle demands.
“Overcomplicated user interfaces give the home automation world a bad rap,” says Hansen. “The point of home control and home automation is to make life easier. Less remotes, less clutter, but instead a clean user interface which should be easy to navigate. ... One size doesn’t fit all. We’re not putting you in a box. We’re creating a truly customized interface to fit you, creating an intuitive experience. We recommend homeowners talk to their integrators about their lifestyle, routine and family. How can they design a system based on your life if they don’t know you? Once you have the right system for your needs, the touchscreen interface will speak for itself.”
Related: Serenity and Sophistication Blend in This High Tech Home, designed and installed by David Vincent Design, Carmel, Calif.
Another trend that is helping the home controls/home automation cause is more awareness in general, as telcos and security companies bring systems to market. These companies are obviously banking on the assumption that people will embrace the single user interface that ties together multiple systems.
“At Savant, we think this is a good thing,” says Carroll. “They’re showing the world how home automation is capable of changing their lifestyle. ... The adoption of commercially available off-the-shelf devices like smart phones and tablets have enabled a much broader reach for automation by removing up to 30 percent of the cost of the system by using a device the consumer is already intimate with.”
3. Home Automation vs. Home Control. Then there are the terms themselves, home control vs. home automation, and the misconception that they are equivalent. In context, they might be used interchangeably but in reality they are very different, in ways only companies like the ones I mentioned and the custom electronics pros who install their systems can show homeowners.
This is becoming more distinguishable as more “home control” products from the security companies and Lowe’s, for example, become available.
“I believe there is a difference between home control and home automaton. I see it as the difference between big box stores and custom integrators,” says Puma. “Home control is the DIY version of home automation. Home automation is customizable. It allows your entire home (audio, video, lighting, shading, HVAC, security) to operate together as one and is customizable to the client. Each system unique to their owner. Home control is similar, but can be found in everyone else’s home as well.”
Related: Modern Tech Upgrade in Classic 1950s Home, designed and installed by Audio Video Excellence, Birmingham, Ala.
When everything is rolled together and expertly interwoven, that’s when home automation begins to really take shape.
“We distinguish between controlling the home—hitting buttons for an action to happen—and automation, which allows a series of actions to occur at once using a scheduler or preset, one-touch scenes,” echoes Hansen. Adds Carroll: “An automation system manages a host of almost limitless subsystems, synchronizing multiple commands into a single-button push from anywhere in the world.”
Now that’s powerful. That’s home automation. And that’s not the future; it’s in every home we profile in our magazine each issue and online every day.
Related: Home of the Year winning installation, AMX and iPad Hide and Control Extensive AV System, designed and installed by Starr Systems Design, Baltimore
Follow Electronic House on Facebook and Twitter.
Arlen writes about home technology installations and product news and reviews for electronichouse.com
and Electronic House magazine.
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The most devastating part of the NYTimes piece on Paul Volcker’s lack of influence on WH economic policy comes into the very last sentence of the piece:
So Mr. Volcker scoffs at the reports that he is losing clout. “I did not have influence to start with,” he said.
Me: I can’t believe Volcker is also too thrilled with what’s been happening lately with King Dollar. Yet the focus of the story is how the WH is ignoring Volcker’s advice to separate banking from investing and trading, a de facto restoration of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act.
Mr. Volcker’s proposal would roll back the nation’s commercial banks to an earlier era, when they were restricted to commercial banking and prohibited from engaging in risky Wall Street activities. … The only viable solution, in the Volcker view, is to break up the giants. JPMorgan Chase would have to give up the trading operations acquired from Bear Stearns. Bank of America and Merrill Lynch would go back to being separate companies. Goldman Sachs could no longer be a bank holding company. It’s a tall order, and to achieve it Congress would have to enact a modern-day version of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, which mandated separation.
Glass-Steagall was watered down over the years and finally revoked in 1999. In the Volcker resurrection, commercial banks would take deposits, manage the nation’s payments system, make standard loans and even trade securities for their customers — just not for themselves. The government, in return, would rescue banks that fail. On the other side of the wall, investment houses would be free to buy and sell securities for their own accounts, borrowing to leverage these trades and thus multiplying the profits, and the risks.
Being separated from banks, the investment houses would no longer have access to federally insured deposits to finance this trading. If one failed, the government would supervise an orderly liquidation. None would be too big to fail — a designation that could arise for a handful of institutions under the administration’s proposal.
Banking expert Bert Ely sees things differently:
Had Glass-Steagall never been enacted, had it been repealed much earlier than 1999 … the Big Five investment banking firms … might not have become as focused as they did on buying, securitizing, and trading subprime, Alt-A, and option-ARM mortgages. While the large commercial banking companies also engaged in mortgage securitization and originating nonprime mortgages, they did not get as deeply involved in those activities as did the investment banks. Arguably, then, had the separate, distinct investment-banking industry been melded into mainstream commercial banking years ago, today’s mortgage and financial crisis would not be as severe as it is, or may not have occurred at all.
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