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Diagnostic medicine is dramatic. Doctors are expected to be detectives and to solve health crises with extremely limited time and information. Yet we are conditioned to believe that a visit to our doctor is the only way to address our health.
WellnessFX challenges that belief. Here are five reasons why:
1. Comprehensive diagnostics
Doctors typically test only a handful if any biomarkers at an annual physical.
WellnessFX tests 30 – 125 different health markers depending on the package, focusing on all of the conventional red flags as well as more subtle indicators of ill health. Our Baseline package includes advanced lipid profiles, inflammation biomarkers, vitamin D levels, comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP), thyroid panel, and newer cardiovascular health markers.. WellnessFX Premium package includes screenings of genetic markers for the effectiveness of common medications, hormones indicative of reproductive and athletic health, , and types of fats in the blood that develop in clogging and can determine the best nutrition for your body. WellnessFX utilizes the most advanced laboratory testing techniques available.
WellnessFX gives you and your practitioners more data with which to work.
2. Customized health management programs
With their limited time as well as insurance constraints, doctors are forced to just follow general guidelines when assessing your health. Thinking about the individual is not usually feasible, as doctors may not have enough time with your or enough information about you to create a personalized health plan. They often have to focus on disease, with most of the diseases they focus on being preventable.
WellnessFX practitioners have the benefit of not being constrained by time and insurance. They take the time to get to know you inside and out (literally), and design a personalized health and wellness plan for you that reflects your needs and goals. The WellnessFX practitioners can work around your schedule, allowing you to avoid waiting rooms and travel time. Blood samples can be taken from your home or office.
WellnessFX appreciates that health and wellness is the opposite of “one size fits all.”
3. Consistent monitoring
Only 20% of Americans get their annual physical, and those that do still only typically see their physician annually. Yet dramatic changes to health and wellness can take place within weeks.
Consistent monitoring adds depth to the comprehensive diagnostics that WellnessFX offers. Initial blood test results provide an important baseline assessment of your overall health – the starting point of your journey. WellnessFX then utilizes a Health Dashboard to visually represent your health and track improvements. It provides an easy-to-understand diagram that displays key metrics and markers. Follow-up tests at set intervals then help you and your practitioners track your progress and tweak your program based on what works for you.
WellnessFX helps you monitor your health consistently, rather than sporadically.
How many times has your doctor handed you a prescription rather than explaining how and why you might be feeling sick? Studies show from a third to a half of patients do not understand their prescriptions, and significant portion of those are therefore not compliant.
After performing screening tests and devising a personalized health and wellness plan, your WellnessFX practitioners teach you how to interpret the test results in line with your history and your symptoms. Your Health Dashboard provides a breakdown of the different organ systems, markers and nutrition information from your diagnostics. You can research any points of interest using the wealth of information on the WellnessFX website and blog, and through speaking with your WellnessFX practitioners.
WellnessFX provides you with the tools and knowledge you need to take control of your own health and wellness.
5. “Well” care rather than “sick care”
We are conditioned to visit our doctor when we get sick. Sometimes we even wait until our symptoms are severe. At that point, both we are in reactive mode – attempting to limit damage and heal as quickly as possible
WellnessFX services allow you to understand potential risks and how to modify your lifestyle to restore your wellbeing – before symptoms become severe. Numeous studies show the most successful, and cost-effective, care for disease is to prevent them from even occurring. Addressing your health challenges now, and employing preventative care, can significantly improve your quality of life today and in the future.
WellnessFX helps you be well and healthy on a day-to-day basis, and to troubleshoot any health issues which may crop up in your life.
At WellnessFX, we believe that the best way to effect meaningful change in health and wellness is through:
- comprehensive diagnostics personal to you;
- customized programming from health professionals;
- consistent monitoring; and
- education from integrative health experts
We give you the tools needed for you to optimize your health. Join us now and explore your full health and wellness potential.
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In his Indiscrete Thoughts Gian-Carlo Rota writes:
Every mathematical theorem is eventually proved trivial. The mathematician's ideal of truth is triviality, and the community of mathematicians will not cease its beaver-like work on a newly discovered result until it has shown to everyone's satisfaction that all difficulties in the early proofs were spurious, and only an analytic triviality is to be found at the end of the road.
According to Rota what you ask for is the normal case. He - and others - do not even rule out the possibility that some day Fermat's Last Theorem turns out to be "trivial".
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I am glad to know that no living animal species was harmed in the creation of this watch. Dresden, Germany based high-end brand Lang & Heyne will produce a limited edition set of 25 Caliber I movements for its watches with bridges made from the tusks of extinct wooly mammoths. You don't see mammoth ivory used a lot. It is rare and hard to get being available only from well-preserved mammoths. All the ivory here for example was sourced from a find in Siberia, where the permafrost can preserve entire mammoth bodies in relatively good condition. Lang & Heyne acquired some ivory through a German dealer and investigated its properties in watch making.
I firmly believe that using modern elephant ivory for anything these days is pure evil. Poaching in places such as Africa is a sin against nature, and should be prevented at all costs. The destruction of animal species on this planet for short-term profit should be much more a matter of international concern. If you see anything that isn't an antique and uses ivory, you'd be a good person to avoid it. I needed to get that off my chest as I simply hate it when animals suffer at the expense of human greed and economic desperation. Lang & Heyne however goes a much more ethical route by using the ivory from a long dead animal. Marco Lang from the brand affirms that in his opinion using modern elephant ivory is a bad thing.
The Lang & Heyne Caliber I is a traditionally designed and made manually wound mechanical movement. In this instance, mammoth ivory is used for the bridges, plates, and the hand-engraved balance cock. Notice that the balance wheel palette jewel is a diamond. There is blue color applied to the engraving mammoth balance cock to emphasize the design. According to Lange & Heyne the ivory material is more dense than wood, and is relatively easy to work with. They uses modern CNC machines to cut the material into watch parts. The more precision components in the movements are still produced in metal.
The movement is larger at 36.6mm wide and runs at a rate of 18,00bph. It has a power reserve of 46 hours and displays the time with subsidiary seconds. The Caliber 1 is available in two Lange & Heyne timepieces, but will still be only available as a total set of 25 pieces. It is a very beautiful movement and should be visible through the caseback of the watches.
The two watches with the Caliber I movement as an option are the Lang & Heyne Friedrich August I, and the Johann. Each of these has a 43.5mm wide case in 18k white or rose gold. The difference between the two models are the dial. Both have real enamel dials but different hands and designs. For those bold enough you should check out the highly decorated and shaped "Louis XV" hands. The hands are all in gold.
Smaller than other high-end German brands in Saxony (such as A. Lange & Sohne, and Glashutte Original), Lang & Heyne's visual and mechanical aesthetic are similar. You can see the implementation of classic German watch ideals and decor. While these watches come with metal movements as well, the availability of a watch with a movement made mostly from the tusk of an extinct mammoth is pretty interesting. Prices for the 25 pieces will be 33,300 Euros in 18k yellow or rose gold and 34,800 Euros in 18k white gold.
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Leaving Main and Cannon as one-way streets undermines LRT by resulting in lower levels of investment within the transit corridor, as well as lower rates of ridership growth.
By Ryan McGreal
Published December 03, 2010
I sincerely appreciate Rapid Transit office director Jillian Stephen taking the time to prepare a detailed explanation of why the Rapid Transit office decided to drop two-way traffic conversions from its east-west Light Rail Transit plan.
Most of her letter explains staff reasoning with regards to King Street. I can appreciate the decision with respect to King Street, and in fact I recently acknowledged, "There may be a case for leaving King Street one-way to vehicular traffic through a short stretch of the downtown core between Wellington Street and Gore Park".
However, staff have also decided to leave Main Street as a one-way thoroughfare, and Stephen's letter provides much less justification for this move. She notes that the 2008 Transportation Master Plan designated Main Street and Cannon Street as "the primary corridors for through traffic". In closing, she adds, "There is still a need for some traffic to move easterly across the City, and Main Street fulfills this role."
It seems clear that the only reason to leave Main as a one-way street is to preserve its current function as an expressway for eastbound traffic, with Cannon as the westbound expressway.
As we have argued on RTH for years, a major objective of LRT is to promote new investment and intensification within what is widely understood as a walkable distance to each transit stop - a 400m corridor on either side of the line, assuming a stop at least every 800m. Transportation planners call this the Transit-Oriented Development or TOD corridor.
Both Cannon and Main Streets are within the TOD corridor for LRT on King Street. Main is well within it, ranging between 100m and 150m from King through the downtown.
Leaving Cannon and especially Main as one-way streets seriously undermines the LRT plan in two ways:
The Transportation Master Plan was developed and approved before LRT was in serious consideration - before the potential existed for LRT to transform both land use and transportation patterns through the lower city from the status quo of economically depressed streets funneling high-speed automobile traffic through the core.
Leaving Main and Cannon as one-way streets was already a bad idea in 2008, but it's a positively terrible idea today.
Both can be converted to two-way traffic flows. The total number of lanes would remain approximately the same, but the speed of traffic would be much lower and the streets would have a chance to function as actual urban destinations instead of just through-routes.
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|Johann Strauss sr.
(Johann Strauss I) was a very famous
composer, his greatest work was "Der Radetzky Marsch" (Radetzky
Johann Strauss jun. (Johann Strauss II) became more famous. He had many top hits, "At
the Blue Danube", "Tales from the Vienna woods", "The
Bat" and many more. He is the king of waltz (waltzking).
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WASHINGTON — As violence continued Monday in Afghanistan over the accidental burning of Qurans by U.S. troops last week, American military officials and analysts are beginning to question whether the U.S. needs to change its mission of training Afghan soldiers and police, a key plank of President Barack Obama's withdrawal strategy.
White House and Pentagon officials said publicly that they weren't yet contemplating a major overhaul of the plan to build a force of more than 300,000 Afghan soldiers and police officers and hand over security of the country to it by 2014 or earlier. But privately, U.S. military officers in Washington and Kabul acknowledged that the scale of violence over the past week — four American soldiers were killed by their Afghan counterparts and seven were wounded — has worsened an already uneasy relationship between U.S. and Afghan forces.
"I think the entire world shifted under our Afghan policy because of this, both in Kabul and in Washington," said Douglas A. Ollivant, who served as a senior National Security Council official in the Obama and George W. Bush administrations.
This incident, several officers told McClatchy, has left U.S. troops saying that they can't keep training Afghans who may try to kill them, a growing problem that plagued the mission even before coalition forces accidentally burned several copes of the Quran in a trash fire last week. Obama and other senior U.S. officials apologized for the incident, which triggered a week of protests and attacks in which about 40 people have died.
"Afghans hate us, and we don't trust them. We have never felt safe around them," said a U.S. military officer who works on Afghanistan policy, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
So far this year, Afghan troops have killed at least 10 U.S. service members who were training them, including the four last week. Two weeks ago, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Afghan troops had killed 70 American service members in 46 incidents since 2007; half of those had occurred since May 2009.
The majority of those attacks were by Afghans who were frustrated with their trainers, not Taliban insurgents infiltrating bases, according to military officials. By comparison, over nearly nine years in Iraq, where the U.S. military presence was greater, Iraqi forces killed about half a dozen American troops who were training them, the Pentagon said.
The mistrust exists on both sides. Some Afghan soldiers and police officers have told investigators in previous incidents that American forces are rude, culturally insensitive or hostile to them. In the wake of the Quran burnings, Afghans said they couldn't understand how U.S. soldiers could commit such acts more than a decade into the war.
The training mission "will never succeed if they keep burning the Quran or disrespect our beliefs," said Khan Agha, a police officer in the Sarobi district of Kabul, the capital. "They will not succeed in insulting our religion. But if they respect our holy book and our religion and focus only on training, then they can succeed."
Earlier on Monday, at least nine Afghans died in a suicide bombing at an air base that coalition forces use in Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing and said it was in retaliation for the Quran burnings. Hours later, U.S. officials said the attacks wouldn't derail the training mission and that they thought the violence would abate.
"I'd be less than honest if I didn't say that things are tense here in Kabul. They certainly are," said Navy Capt. John Kirby, a military spokesman in Kabul. "But I will tell you that it is getting calmer here."
Marine Gen. John Allen, the commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan, continued to keep hundreds of U.S. personnel out of Afghan ministries, where they'd been on training and advisory missions, after an Afghan soldier shot and killed two U.S. service members Saturday at the heavily guarded Interior Ministry. The shooter slipped out of the building and remained at large.
Kirby said U.S. troops would train Afghans remotely, via email and telephone, until officials could improve security at the ministries. That could take weeks, officials said, and when they do return, U.S. troops probably will find more security barriers between themselves and the Afghans.
The withdrawal from the ministries was a major departure from relations between U.S. soldiers and their Afghan counterparts five years ago, when troops were ordered not to take their weapons into meetings with Afghans, in order to engender trust.
Now U.S. troops have reduced their patrols, while civilians are being told not to show their American passports and to limit physical interaction with the Afghans they're charged with working alongside. In a new incident, chlorine apparently was found in coffee and fruit that was being served to U.S. troops stationed along the Afghan-Pakistani border, and U.S. officials are investigating whether it was an attempted poisoning.
Several officers told McClatchy that the looming 2014 withdrawal already had complicated their mission, saying Afghans already are planning for when the coalition leaves. Some U.S. officials have suggested that the Obama administration could announce an accelerated timetable to hand over security to Afghan forces at a NATO conference in Chicago in May.
George Little, a Pentagon spokesman, said repeatedly Monday that the U.S. Was taking the "long view" on the war, and he insisted that it could continue uninterrupted.
Retired Army Lt. Col. John Nagl, a counterinsurgency expert, said that a decade of war had exhausted even the most supportive Afghans. Even an advisory mission — in which U.S. forces don't conduct offensive operations — may not be an option.
"If we are not able to restore trust between Afghan and coalition troops," Nagl said, "then the strategy is unworkable."
(McClatchy special correspondent Ali Safi contributed from Kabul, Afghanistan.)
MORE FROM MCCLATCHY
For more coverage visit McClatchy's Afghanistan and Pakistan page.
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Fox Chase Cancer Center's Alfred Knudson Jr. Named 2004 Kyoto Prize Winner
PHILADELPHIA — Cancer researcher Alfred G. Knudson Jr., MD, PhD, (pronounced ka-nud'-son) of Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pa., has been named winner of a prestigious Kyoto Prize for 2004. The Kyoto Prize is considered among the world's leading awards for lifetime achievement and is given to those who have "contributed significantly to mankind's betterment." Knudson will receive a cash gift of about $450,000 (50 million yen), the 20 karat gold Kyoto Prize Medal and a diploma at the Kyoto Prize Ceremony in Kyoto, Japan on November 10, 2004.
Alfred G. Knudson Jr., MD, PhD.
The Inamori Foundation selects three Kyoto Prize laureates annually for significant contributions to the scientific, cultural and spiritual development of mankind in the fields of advanced technology, basic sciences, arts and philosophy.
Knudson will receive the basic sciences prize for his role in establishing the theory of tumor suppressor genes, which opened a new horizon in modern cancer genetics, and made a pivotal contribution to major subsequent research developments in understanding human cancer.
"Today, we are rushing ahead with incredible scientific and technological achievements, while inquiry into our spiritual nature lags deplorably," said Dr. Kazuo Inamori, founder and president of the Inamori Foundation. "It is my hope that the Kyoto Prize will encourage balanced development of both our scientific and our spiritual sides, and hence provide impetus toward the structuring of new philosophical paradigms."
This year's other Kyoto Prize laureates will be:
- Dr. Alan Curtis Kay, a computer scientist and senior fellow at Hewlett-Packard Co., whose work at Stanford University and the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in the 1960s and '70s led the paradigm shift away from mainframe computing and opened the door for the personal computer revolution; and
- Prof. Jurgen Habermas, a philosopher at the University of Frankfurt and permanent visiting professor at Northwestern University, whose communicative action theory and discourse ethics support a commitment to the elimination of discrimination and violence in human society, and the establishment of relationships of coexistence among all free and autonomous people.
Knudson has been a senior member of the scientific research staff at Fox Chase Cancer Center since 1976. A geneticist and physician, Knudson is internationally recognized for his "two-hit" theory of cancer causation, which explained the relationship between the hereditary and non-hereditary forms of a cancer and predicted the existence of tumor-suppressor genes that can suppress cancer cell growth. This now-confirmed theory has advanced understanding of errors in the genetic program that turn normal cells into cancer cells.
Knudson's powerful insights into the development of cancer hold implications for both treatment and prevention. Tumor-suppressor genes, in particular, are important targets for prevention research since they normally function to apply the brakes to cellular growth. This is a topic of Knudson's current research.
Defects in tumor-suppressor genes permit abnormal, cancerous growth, so devising ways to remedy such flaws or replace the gene's missing product through medication are of interest to researchers.
The Inamori Foundation was established in 1984 by Kazuo Inamori, founder and chairman emeritus of Kyocera Corporation. The Kyoto Prizes were founded in 1985 in line with Inamori's belief that "man has no higher calling than to strive for the greater good of society, and that mankind's future can be assured only when there is a balance between our scientific progress and our spiritual depth." It is characteristic of the Kyoto Prizes that they are presented to individuals or groups in appreciation not only of their outstanding achievements but also of the excellence of the personal characteristics on which they have built their contributions to mankind. The laureates are selected through a strict and fair process considering candidates recommended from around the world.
As of January 2004, the Kyoto Prize has been awarded to 63 laureates from 12 nations-ranging from scientists, engineers and researchers to architects, sculptors and film directors. The United States has produced the most recipients with 27 laureates, followed by the United Kingdom (nine), France (eight) and Japan (seven).
Knudson was born in Los Angeles in 1922. He received his B.S. from California Institute of Technology in 1944, his M.D. from Columbia University in 1947 and his Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology in 1956. He held a Guggenheim fellowship from 1953 to 1954.
Knudson came to Fox Chase Cancer Center in 1976 after serving as a member of its scientific advisory committee for seven years. Knudson was named a Fox Chase Distinguished Scientist and senior advisor to the Fox Chase president in 1992. Previously, Knudson served as director of Fox Chase's Institute for Cancer Research from 1976 until 1982, Center president from 1980 to 1982 and scientific director from 1982 to 1983.
Before coming to Fox Chase, Knudson was dean of the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and researcher at the M. D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in Houston, Texas, where he specialized in pediatrics and biology. Prior to that, Knudson served as associate dean for basic sciences at the State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1966 to 1969.
In 1995, Knudson was appointed as special advisor to Richard Klausner, director of the National Cancer Institute. While continuing his work at Fox Chase, Knudson also worked closely with Joseph Fraumeni in the NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. Knudson served as acting director of its new human genetics program until September 1999, when he returned to Fox Chase full-time.
Among Knudson's many professional distinctions, he received the 1998 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research, one of seven Lasker Awards presented that year. Considered "America's Nobels," Lasker Awards rank among the highest recognition for careers of distinguished work because of the extremely rigorous process of nomination and selection conducted by a jury of the world's top scientists.
In 1999, Knudson received the international John Scott Award from the City of Philadelphia. In addition, Knudson has received the 1988 Charles S. Mott Prize of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation; Canada's 1997 Gairdner Foundation International Award; Switzerland's 1995 Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Foundation Award; the 1996 Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Award; and the American Cancer Society's 1989 Medal of Honor.
Knudson is married to Anna T. Meadows, MD, a pediatric oncologist at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Fox Chase Cancer Center was founded in 1904 in Philadelphia, Pa., as the nation's first cancer hospital. In 1974, Fox Chase became one of the first institutions designated as a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center. Fox Chase conducts basic, clinical, population and translational research; programs of prevention, detection and treatment of cancer; and community outreach. For more information about Fox Chase activities, visit the Center's web site at www.fccc.edu or call 1-888-FOX CHASE.
Fox Chase Cancer Center, part of Temple University Health System, is one of the leading cancer research and treatment centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation’s first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase also was among the first institutions to receive the National Cancer Institute’s prestigious comprehensive cancer center designation in 1974. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center’s nursing program has achieved Magnet status for excellence three consecutive times. Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research and oversees programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship, and community outreach. For more information, call 1-888-FOX-CHASE (1-888-369-2427).
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Preschool and pre-kindergarten students from Honey Tree Preschool and Childcare of Monroe, assisted by their families, collected 13 grocery bags of items for the Monroe Food Pantry.
The children recently visited the Food Pantry to drop off their donations. Wendy Jolls, pantry coordinator, gave them a tour and explained that people who have trouble affording groceries can do their shopping here.
The children asked questions and learned how their efforts would assist close to 200 Monroe families.
Once they were done listening, the children were able to stock the shelves with their donations.
Jolls thanked the children, and explained how Monroe residents are very generous, especially around the holidays.
She noted the less fortunate need help year-round. “This is the time donations are slow,” Jolls said.
The children promised to come back every February to help fill the Food Pantry’s shelves.
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|Richtersveld - flyfishing paradise
The Orange in the Richtersveld is truly a flyfishers paradise.This is one of the two largemouth yellows which I estimated to be in the region of 8 kg. Also among the yellows taken was a smallmouth of about 5 kg. My most successful tactics for the largies were basically much the same as you would use to catch trout, casting into deeper holes in fast flowing water. The key, I would say, was definitely the weight and action of the streamers which I tied using clouser eyes.
Submitted by:Gordon Knoesen
Back to Flyfishing Snippets Gallery
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|Educational Tours to Ladakh|
Wordsworth the great poet once wrote "Come forth into the light of things; Let nature be your teacher" . Indeed there is much to learn from nature and Ladakh with its unique geo-climatic position and pristine topography has been attracting a lot of students and universities. Ladakh not only offers a great chance to study nature at its undisturbed best but also to enrich the mind and body in a number of ways, through its culture and tradition.
We at Antelope group have been conducting educational tours on "non-profit" or "cost to cost" basis to encourage study and preservation of Ladakhi culture and environment. To book an educational tour or request more information use the custom tour option in the one click solutions box. (Please don't forget to mention educational tour in the customization box)
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Digital Media Technology
Grades 11, 12 and Adult
2-year program, 3 credits per year, 3 periods per day
Digital Media Technology launches students into the high-tech industry of television, video, and filmmaking. This exciting program is open to high school juniors, seniors, and motivated adults. In two years you experience the training you need for a successful career involving HD cameras, professional lighting, digital audio, producing, and directing through a series of projects including commercials, PSA's music videos, news packages, and even short films.
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Why Boxing Won
Many of Guatemala’s crimes are mundane: murder, kidnapping, robbery. Some are novel and disturbing, such as officials demanding thousand dollar bribes to release a newly adopted child. Some are otherworldly, a vigilante response to a worthless legal system. Lynchings. Mobs dousing corrupt cops with gasoline. Mobs lighting matches. Processions of civilians through streets in the night, flashlights and weapons in hand. And the weapons: axe handles, shovels, chains, knives … if lucky, you may see a pair of nunchaku.
But the most alien are simply prehistoric. Local rumors hold that foreigners steal children and kill them to sell their organs. Tetsuo Yamahiro and his busdriver, Edgar Castellanos, were beaten to death by a mob of 500 Maya due to suspicions raised by the tourist’s photography of children. Castellanos was also doused in gasoline. Someone in the mob had a light.
Strangely isolated, these Guatemalan Maya. Many do not speak Spanish. Their women wear brightly colored, woven dresses, which differ from tribe to tribe. In the Spanish schools they give seminars, often on their dress, aimed at preserving Maya identity, and occasionally they parade together in their dresses in a show of Maya solidarity.
From conversations I know that many of them, as in any group, are unaware of the roots of their tradition. They’re unaware that their tribe-based color scheme was a Spanish-implemented Maya filing system, or that their dresses are old world peasant garb. They certainly don’t learn so in the second-rate schools they’re sent to.
The poorest of them live, isolated, in their villages, struggling to learn Spanish as their languages die, practicing fascinating variations of Catholicism (one of which includes a department store mannequin as a god), farming coffee beans, weaving, and dying by governmental incompetence. Their only act of defiance, through decades of civil war, severe poverty, and systematic discrimination, is to hold tight to the beautiful slave uniforms of whose origin they’re unaware.
But their defiance should be a reaction, a casting off, a look back to their greatness. How many psilocybin mushrooms must I offer for them to see their true path to glory? Hasn’t it become obvious? They must shed their clothes, restore the Maya calendar, and build a step pyramid in Guatemala City.
For our purposes, let’s skip the shrooms and head straight to LSD. How do you feel about boxing?
UFC fan on boxing: Boxing is dying. It’s the sport of old men. The UFC is the future!
Two tabs of LSD later: Our perspectives change and we reexamine the UFC. We watch the pseudo-mobster president sitting in the crowd, his amateur boxing record stamped on his forehead. The roaring crowd behind him coordinates. He stands and throws rhythmic punches and they follow with poor form behind him, Nu Metal blasting out over them, the sweat pouring to the floor.
From somewhere we hear Don Frye’s distinctive voice – he’s in the ring, fighting, but looking directly at Dana.
“I'm starting to realize why your wife might want to give your son a sissy name."
We look in another direction and see the vice president. He’s wearing a sequined headband with the inscription: “Marc Ratner: Inductee, Boxing Hall of Fame”. Next to him sits John McCain, surrounded on this hot Las Vegas evening by boxing promoters fanning him with hundred dollar bills. Behind them sits Larry King, or a wax figure of him, and they speak gravely of human cockfighting. Lorenzo Fertitta’s not far away; we see him on a committee arguing persuasively against sanctioning.
Next to the judging box sits Keith Kizer. He looks jealously towards the Zuffa employees. Both of his positions in the commission were vacated by employees relocating to Zuffa, and he knows it’s his turn next – the internship is almost over. He gives a thumbs up to the judges.
There they sit: Adalaide Byrd, Cecil Peoples, and Patricia Morse Jarman. Rutten lands repeated leg kicks and knees to the body. The judges yawn. Frye secures the takedown. Byrd goes to the bathroom. Peoples dozes off. Jarman furrows her brow.
“What is he doing?” she asks Kizer.
He shrugs. “Good matchmaking creating tough, close fights that are hard to score. The judging criteria are posted on the NSAC’s official website: http://boxing.nv.gov/”
The next round begins. Rutten lands a beautiful four-punch combination. These boxing judges ooh and ah and scribble frantically with their pencils. We suddenly see the scoring criteria, and note, with disappointment, that they are little more than revisions of boxing’s. Our trip ends.
Our conclusion: boxing defeated the UFC years ago, castrated it, purchased it, and took over. The UFC is boxing marketed to the young – more permissive to appeal to youthful rebellion, but boxing all the same – right down to the reality show.
The supposed battle between boxing and the UFC is much the same as the choice between two political candidates who differ on irrelevant but divisive issues, with no ultimate plan to fix anything.
With the rise of the reality show, legions of fans in Zuffa-brand shirts laughed as the ratings rose and gloated as boxing’s fell. There was a strange animosity. It was as though they felt themselves part of some counter culture pitted against the boxing mainstream, and they attack boxing to this day. Perhaps we will see a Zuffa-shirted parade of solidarity against boxing. I’m sure that would make Ratner’s day.
A note on the reality show. The standard narrative is that the reality show increased the UFC’s popularity, which lead directly to greater fighter salaries. When looking at fighter salaries compared to revenue, however, the UFC actually reduced total fighter salaries compared to revenue for close to year. This was likely due to the watering down of cards allowed by reality show contestants. It was only after the emergence of several threatening organizations that salaries significantly climbed.
It is Strikeforce that has now become the most threatening. Dana White’s personality ruined the Fedor deal and a shot at NBC. Now Strikeforce has both. If you are a Whiteshirt, the following graph may disturb you:
The red line represents UFC searches, the yellow Lesnar, the blue, Fedor. Fedor alone captured more interest than the entire UFC. If you don’t believe that’s significant, name another such fighter. I know of only two: Carano and Kimbo. But Carano is gone and Kimbo’s a short-term investment. Fedor and network exposure are a frightening combination.
We can also examine Wikipedia page views:
Ultimate_Fighting_Championship has been viewed 115963 times in 200911.
Brock_Lesnar has been viewed 291713 times in 200911.
Fedor_Emelianenko has been viewed 520780 times in 200911.
Kimbo, as stated, is a short-term investment. Oversaturation of weak cards in a recession is a short-term decision. Bad judging, which protects favored fighters but disillusions fans, is a short-term decision. And that explains everything.
The UFC is in debt. Remember Xyience? Xyience was, for a time, portrayed as a top-notch sponsor for the UFC for the purposes of securing a 325 million dollar loan. But Zuffa was funding Xyience, and Xyience was run by old Fertitta friends. Once the loan was secured, the company went bankrupt.
And what was the loan used for? To increase fighter pay? Advertising? No – it was used to purchase and destroy Pride.
And then Station Casinos went bankrupt. A Nov. 20 report from Rich Bergeron, discoverer of the Xyience debacle:
“A new report from Local 226 (see below), an unlikely source but nonetheless an appropriate voice, reveals how the Fertitta family and other insiders at Station allegedly turned a personal profit of over $1 billion on the back of the business.”
“Still, if the Fertittas continue to struggle and get bogged down and distracted because of the Station Casinos bankruptcy, they will not have as much of their own personal money to put toward getting the UFC out of debt. There is talk of selling an interest in the company, and it’s not as unlikely now to think about the whole thing going up for sale in time.”
This is consistent with the management’s recent treatment of the UFC as a short-term investment.
The Fertitta empire has declined and is nearing its ultimate fall. The black swan event of simultaneous main draw illnesses is a significant blow. Strikeforce will continue forcing the UFC to pay greater salaries to retain talent and buyrates will continue to fall with oversaturation of weak talent. The sponsorship bans will make Strikeforce contracts more profitable than a salary comparison would imply. Poor judging will disillusion fans. The UFC will be sold, White fired, and we will see a new equilibrium between fight organizations.
And none of it will matter.
The commissions will still be in place. Strikeforce, with its ban on elbows, is yet another step towards boxing. The judges will still be incompetent, the incentives towards corruption enticing, and the scoring system absurd. Regardless of what happens to the Fertittas and Dana White, the Citadel will still stand, and no true form of MMA shall pass through its gates.
Imagine what the Castrati, along with newer, non-Whiteshirt fans, the types who do not mock allusions to works such as “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”, could invent to replace the sport of Nu Boxing. It is trivial to design a better sport. What are the sport’s three greatest problems? Poor judging, early/late stoppages, and boring fights.
All three can be eliminated by changing the scoring system from the “Ten Point Must” system to the “Predict – Wager” system. It is incredibly simple, eliminating the pages of criteria judges seem incapable of remembering.
The Predict – Wager System:
“The judge shall be paid in accordance to his return on real-time wagers on the fight. The judge will bet on the likelihood of fighter A finishing fighter B by placing a wager, weighted by his estimation of the likelihood of a finish. The value of the wager drops as time passes, and the value of the chips used in wagering drops as more total chips are wagered.
“If there is no finish, the judge will be recorded as voting for the fighter he bet most heavily on to finish the fight, the fighter who receives the most votes shall win the decision, and the judges shall be paid a fixed rate.”
A judge, witnessing a knockdown, would bet strongly, as he would upon seeing a close armbar attempt. He would bet weakly on takedowns, depending on the finishing ability of the fighter on top. He would bet very little on a fighter like Sherk. Racking up points would become obsolete. The FOTN would be easy to calculate, based on total chips bet. Skilled judges would be quantitatively identified simply by being those who make the most money – those who saw danger and predicted it without having devalued their chips. Unskilled judges would then be dismissed, or would quit due to low pay. With three judges betting very heavily that a fighter is about to be finished, the fight could be automatically stopped, and the referees who stop the fight at the correct moment can be easily identified. To greatly increase the action and risk taking of the sport, we would make the fighter’s pay in large part determined by the amount of chips bet.
We thus change the incentives: first having no incentive to judge correctly, the judge is now paid directly in accordance with how well he judges. People who know MMA then have a strong incentive to become judges; Peoples would quickly retire. And previously having little incentive to finish a tough but controllable opponent, a fighter now has every incentive to attempt to finish the fight at all times.
Such a system is far too efficient for the Citadel, but imagining alternate systems is marvelous escapism. And escape is exactly what we need. My next post will detail the escape from and defeat of the Citadel, the construction of the Step Pyramid, and the promised explanation of the role of the Castrati.
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How to budget your money at college
Published: Thursday, October 4, 2012
Updated: Thursday, October 4, 2012 23:10
Ah, money. It seems like not a single college student has enough of it nowadays. Between tuition, books, and money to spend on weekends, our wallets flatten by the minute. Starting with the one of the biggest drainers of money would be textbooks. By taking 15 or more credits, it’s not much of a surprise that you’re going to be in need of about 4 or more books. That being said, there are cheaper ways to acquire necessary texts. You can always rent or buy used books from the Marist bookstore, which will undoubtedly save you a good chunk of cash. To go a little further and cut your costs even more, you can look for online vendors of textbooks such as cheg.com, amazon.com, and others that sometimes even pay the shipping fees! Also, as a last resort, you may even be able to find someone on campus who is selling the right book you need. I’ve known many kids whom have offered up their books to be flexible and willing to negotiate prices based on the need of the person who’s buying the book. On average, students looking for the cheaper routes when it comes to buying books will seek out online vendors and people on campus who are just looking to get rid of old books. The bookstore is known to be very expensive, but renting and buying used books can significantly decrease that frightening number on your billing receipt.
Moving onto a more unspoken topic, weekends can really drain your bank account. When heading to clubs, bars, or anywhere else you may want to head out to, think about the cheapest ways to get there. For upperclassmen, friends with cars can be your best option. Of course, you should always chip in every now and then for gas money, especially on longer trips, but heading out with a friend would definitely be cheaper than taking a taxi out of Poughkeepsie. Let’s face it, taxi drivers (especially Poughkeepsie drivers) can be a little frightening and drive in ways that aren’t exactly safe. Also, Marist does sponsor trips to the mall on certain weekends and the cost is only $1. You can use Marist money to pay for these shuttle trips and they have different times that you can get picked up, so your time at the mall isn’t too restricted.
If you happen to be somebody who’s paying for your tuition, either in part of completely, you may want to consider finding work on campus. Usually, work study will be of great assistance to you if your need calls for such accommodations. Otherwise, if you’re just looking to make some money while focusing on academics, you can always look in offices and departments of the school for openings. A lot of the time, the employment services offered by Marist will help you find a job and if not, there are always places off campus that are fairly close that may be hiring. Working during the academic not only helps pay for tuition and books, but also for some leisure time!
Lastly, saving up for going abroad is a major concern for students who are thinking of going during their later years at Marist. Between flights, traveling within your respective continent, food, and other miscellaneous expenses, being able to afford going abroad may seem impossible. First off, try to foresee what the cost of living in whatever place you’re trying to get to will end up being. If the country or city is typically more expensive, you may want to consider taking extra shifts at work or saving any form of money that you’re given as a possible holiday or birthday gift. Also, do research on your desired destination. If there are trips to other countries that are included in your tuition that may also provide housing and meals, you may not have to worry about saving enough money to cover these expenses. Also, try to build in a little extra money that you may want to end up using to cover the cost of a last-minute plan or trip to a new city or country.
Regardless of the motive for financing your money, it is always important to have savings and enough to spend at your own will. We all want to have fun, we all want to be able to succeed after Marist, but the choices we make now are the ones that are going to lay the foundation for our success.
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November 30, 2006
Wary Olmert takes chance on Gaza cease-fire
Disappointed by cease-fires so often in the past, but casting an eye to a better future, Israelis greeted this week's cease-fire announcement in the Gaza Strip with a mixture of skepticism, fear and hope. |
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is determined to give the truce a chance in the hope that it will create conditions for the return of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped near the Gaza border in June, and set in motion a new peace dynamic.
"The cease-fire is only a stage in a process we hope will lead to negotiations and dialogue, and perhaps bring about an agreement between us and the Palestinians," Olmert declared Sunday during a tour of the Negev.
Some analysts say Israel is walking into a trap with its eyes wide open. But the government, aware that Hamas could be preparing for a new round of fighting, is ready to take a chance that the lull might change the mood on both sides and lead to significant dialogue.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has serious reservations, arguing that Palestinian terrorists will abuse the cease-fire to build up their military power for new attacks on Israel.
They fear a lull will create a situation similar to that in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah militiamen exploited six years of quiet to create a formidable military force. In the same way, the generals say, Hamas and other militia groups will use this latest cease-fire to smuggle huge quantities of weapons into Gaza for a much bloodier conflict.
The signals on the Palestinian side have been mixed. Relative moderates from the Fatah movement emphasize the possibility of significant diplomatic progress, while spokesmen from the more radical Hamas tend to highlight what they see as the temporary nature of the lull.
Hamas' Damascus-based strongman, Khaled Meshaal, warned of a return to intifada violence unless the parties achieve comprehensive peace within six months.
The Israeli left backs the government's approach. In an article in Yediot Achronot, novelist Amos Oz articulated the left's yearning for change, coupled with its sense that the cease-fire is the barest of beginnings.
"The cease-fire, if it holds, is perhaps the first flicker of light at the end of the darkness," he wrote.
The Israeli right, however, sees only folly. Knesset member Zvi Hendel of the National Religious Party said he was "speechless in the face of the government's stupidity," especially in light of Israel's experience in Lebanon.
The cease-fire came about after intensive behind-the-scenes talks between top aides to Olmert and high-level officials close to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The Israelis told their Palestinian interlocutors that if they could get their act together and stop the shooting, Israel would be ready to make far-reaching concessions in subsequent peace talks. The Palestinians decided to make the effort.
The cease-fire occurred just days before President Bush was due in Amman for talks with Iraqi and Jordanian leaders, and some pundits think the Israelis and Palestinians were signaling that they were now ready to do business under American auspices.
Others attribute the timing to the heavy military pressure the IDF is exerting on the Palestinians. In the past few months, hundreds of Palestinian terrorists have been killed in Israeli operations in Gaza.
The Palestinians also were aware that the Israeli army was pressing for a large-scale offensive in Gaza along the lines of 2002's Operation Defensive Shield, which gave Israel the upper hand in the fight against terror in the West Bank. The cease-fire pre-empted any such military plan.
By the same token, the Israeli government was under intense pressure to do something to stop Palestinian rocket fire on the Negev town of Sderot.
But the key question is whether the cease-fire can spark a wider diplomatic process. Olmert and Abbas both seem to believe there is a good chance that it will.
Yediot Achronot's political analyst, Nahum Barnea, maintains that Abbas and other Palestinian moderates see the cease-fire as the beginning of a process that will lead to an Israeli withdrawal from most of the West Bank.
According to Barnea, Fatah leaders believe that "if the move succeeds, it will open a crack to a long-term interim agreement with Israel -- which will be similar in substance to Olmert's convergence plan -- in other words: Israeli withdrawal to the separation barrier (close to the 1967 border)," he writes.
Ma'ariv political analyst Ben Caspit asserts that Olmert has much the same idea in mind.
"The prime minister hopes for a resounding strategic move that starts with the cease-fire in Gaza, spreads to a cease-fire in the West Bank, develops into a big move for a prisoner exchange and from there grows into an international conference and the establishment of an axis of moderate states in the Middle East, with the aim of renewing the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians," Caspit maintains.
Speaking at a memorial Monday for Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, Olmert made a statement designed to trigger the next phase of the wider plan: a large-scale prisoner exchange.
"With Gilad Shalit's release and his return safe and sound to his family, the Israeli government will be willing to release many Palestinian prisoners, even those who have been sentenced to heavy terms," he declared.
Olmert and the Palestinian moderates seem to be more or less on the same page, envisioning a string of careful steps leading to full-fledged peace talks: a cease-fire in Gaza followed by a cease-fire in the West Bank, a prisoner exchange, American and Arab players coming in as mediators and negotiations starting on a long-term interim agreement, based on Israeli withdrawal from most of the West Bank and the establishment of an interim Palestinian state with provisional borders.
Despite the leaders' optimism, however, many fundamental questions remain unanswered: Will the radicals on the Palestinian side allow such a process to get off the ground? Will the cease-fire hold? And if it does, will it prove a historic turning point on the road to a better future, or just a brief interlude as both sides prepare for new and worse fighting?
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Learning from the Field:
Serving LGBTQI2-S Youth Experiencing Homelessness
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
1 – 2:30 pm EST
All programs serving youth who are homeless should assume that some of their participants identify as LGBTQI2-S. Between 20% and 40% of youth experiencing homelessness identify as LGBTQI2-S. SAMHSA’s HRC visited multiple programs serving youth who are LGBTQI2-S and homeless to learn about practical strategies to implement best practices when working with this population. Presenters Wayne Centrone, Laura Hughes, and Bonnie Wade will share findings from this tour, and offer tips for providing culturally competent care for this highly vulnerable group. Sign up for a free SAMHSA HRC webcast to learn more.
About the Presenters
Wayne Centrone is a Senior Associate at the Center for Social Innovation. Wayne is a physician and public health professional who has dedicated his career to working with high risk and marginalized homeless and underserved populations around the world. At the Center for Social Innovation, he is involved with developing policy, formulating research and delivering trainings for homeless and underserved care providers around the United States. Wayne was previously the medical director of the Outreach Program at Outside In Medical Clinic, a Portland, Oregon based social service and healthcare agency dedicated to bringing innovative services to homeless young adult populations. In addition, Wayne has helped to develop a model outreach program targeting high-risk homeless populations.
Bonnie Wade, Associate Director at the UCAN LGBTQ Host Home Program, has been working in social services for the past 15 years. She has worked with youth who have experienced trauma and homelessness in a variety of settings including drop-in centers, schools, and a residential shelter. Bonnie has provided individual and group psychotherapy, program administration, case management, and outreach services to youth, age 14 through 24. For the last 5 years, Bonnie, along with a group of volunteers and professionals have developed the LGBTQ Host Home Program at UCAN. She is a graduate of The University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration.
Laura Hughes is Executive Director of the Ruth Ellis Center. Laura is responsible for providing leadership and the strategic vision for the center. Laura joined Ruth Ellis Center in August of 2009. Prior to this role, she worked as HIV & STD Manager at the Wayne County Department of Public Health. She is a member on the board of the AIDS Partnership Michigan and sits on the LGBT and Allies Advisory Board for the National Alliance to End Homelessness and Homeless Resource Network, among other community leadership positions. Laura has a master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan.
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Manama: A Bahraini MP has called for setting up a council for Arab women lawmakers.
The council will help the lawmakers reach out to other women and to the voting community and to build confidence in their capabilities as representatives of the people, MP Ibtissam Hijris said.
Steps to implement the proposal include connecting and working closely with civil society organisations, mainly local, regional and international human rights watchdogs, and with national institutions, the lawmaker said.
Under the proposal, the Arab women MPs will meet regularly to exchange expertise and knowledge and to seek solutions to issues related to women.
Ibtissam is one of the four women lawmakers in the 40-seat lower chamber of the bicameral parliament.
She was elected in the parliamentary by-elections held last year after 18 lawmakers, all men representing Al Wefaq Society, resigned to protest against the way the government handled the unrest in February 2011.
Two other women, Sawsan Taqawi and Somaya Al Jowder, also won seats in the by-elections.
They joined Latifa Al Gaood, who made history in 2006 when she became the first woman to be elected to a parliament in the Arabian Gulf.
The Shura Council, the upper chamber whose 40 members are appointed by the king, has 11 women.
The government has two women ministers with portfolios. Fatima Al Beloushi is the social development minister and Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammad Al Khalifa is in charge of culture.
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The very next week after the lock was installed, burglars tried to smash it using a metal chain link fence pole that still had its concrete base attached. When the school district’s head of security went to the site, he found broken pieces of concrete all around the door and several dings and dents on the handle and the body of the lockset. Fearing the worst, the security chief tried the lock – which had survived the beating by the makeshift Thor’s hammer. It was still locked, and he was able to open it with his key as if nothing had happened.
Modesto City Schools has ordered more than 300 11-Line locksets since then. Since moving to the SARGENT 11-Line with T-Zone construction, school officials are extremely impressed with the security, protection and prevention of property damage the locks have provided. In fact, since the original incident at the school site the vandals have not attempted to break into that area again.
The ASSA ABLOY SARGENT 11-Line is a Grade 1 lock with true interlocking “T-Zone” construction between the cast/machined stainless steel lock body and the latch, exceeding ANSI/BHMA A156.2 Series 4000 Grade 1 standards by a factor of 15 for unmatched durability. The 11-Line withstands over 3,000 in/lbs of force on a locked lever, which is tested to have no sag even after 15 million cycles.
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Maybe you're a recreational shopper who enjoys going shopping just for the experience. Or perhaps you're someone who doesn't like shopping at all. No matter where you fall in the shopping spectrum, there are a few things you can do to help make your experience more successful.
Make a List
This will make for easier decisions and will help you remain within your budget. Your list should be as specific as you need it to be. What's missing from your wardrobe? What items need replacing? Do you need something specific to go with an item of clothing that you don't wear simply because you have nothing to wear with it?
After you've made your list, prioritize. Which items do you need the most? List only three "priority items." Shop for these first -- anything else you find after that is a bonus!
Create a Budget
Once you know how much you can spend, you'll be more focused. Create a realistic budget, but be a little flexible. One good rule might be to allow yourself to spend 10 percent more than you had intended. Sometimes you just have to spend a little more to get an item that really works for you. The 10 percent rule allows you that flexibility and freedom.
Where to Go
Try to shop at the best places your budget allows. Also experiment with new shops. It might mean you need to travel a little further, but it is well worth it to see clothing with a fresh eye in a new environment. Once you discover reliable sources and make the all-important connections with shops and staff, your shopping expeditions will be much easier.
When to GoThe best time to go shopping is whenever you feel the least stressed. Always leave yourself plenty of time to shop without the pressure of getting back to an appointment or your job. When you are not distracted by other demands, you make better choices. Unless you are a shopping maven, lunch-hour purchases are often regretted.What to Take When You ShopThe most important thing to bring along is a good attitude. Even if you hate shopping, sometimes it's a necessity, so you might as well change your attitude and try to get the most accomplished. Sometimes even those who love shopping may just not be in the mood. If you've planned a specific day to shop only to discover that your mood is not right, don't make yourself go. When making decisions about your image, you need to feel positive, energized and flexible.How to Interact With Retail StaffIdeally, a sales associate swill answer your questions and assist you by making your shopping venture as comfortable as possible. A staff member with knowledge, a good eye and a helpful attitude can even be inspiring! Remember, however, that you are in charge of your experience. Never give away your power or abdicate that responsibility to anyone.Unfortunately, the ideal sales assistant is not always available and sometimes does not exist. You might be followed around a store while the staff member polices you or talks constantly about the "hot sellers." Create comfortable boundaries for yourself. If a sales assistant does not "feel right," be polite and move on to another store. The world is full of clothes.
You'll also find that when you are armed with a budget, a good attitude and a plan, you will need less help. You will appear less needy and you will get more respect from sales assistants because they won't see you as a pushover.How to Shop Successfully With a PartnerIf you like to shop with other people, be sensitive about whom you take with you. Good shopping partners should be unconditionally supportive. They shouldn't impose their tastes upon you, and they should be non-judgmental. They should help to create an "up" atmosphere and should be 100 percent present. Patient shopping buddies give you plenty of time to try clothes on again (and again!) if you wish, and allow time for decision-making. The people you shop with should never try to take charge -- even if you want them to. Selecting Clothes to Try OnWhen choosing clothes to try on, ask yourself the following questions: Is this item on my priority list? Does this item suit my taste? Does it suit my budget? Is this the best quality I can afford? Do I like the feel of the fabric? Even though I like this color, does it truly flatter me? Is this really the right size for me or am I trying to fit into a number? Then, once you're in the fitting room, ask yourself these questions:Is there any pulling or stretching across seams? How does this garment look from the back? How does my profile look? Can I move freely? Do I need to step out and see this in a better light? Do I feel secure and confident in this garment? Would this garment be a loner, or would it work easily with my other clothes? Temptations and Old HabitsDo not be tempted to buy an item that's on sale solely because of its price. That's when mistakes are made. Be discriminating about your sale purchases; behave as if you are buying them at the regular price. And when you arrive at the too-good-to-be-true rack, look for stains, small holes and tears, especially where the labels are located and where the hanger meets the fabric.
Also be aware of old shopping habits. For some, an old habit may be impulse buying. Instead of snapping up a piece of clothing and taking it directly to the register, you might want to discipline yourself to leave it for an hour, come back to it and see if you still want it. Or, if you're usually an indecisive shopper who takes days to make a purchasing decision -- only to find that the item is gone once you finally return to the shop -- you may need to convince yourself to make on-the-spot purchases.The PurchaseBefore you make a purchase, give the garment a final once-over. Check for damages, buttons, marks, etc. Remember, if you notice these things when you get the garment home, you might find it difficult to return. Also make sure you are clear about all return policies, including those for sale items. You may, for example, want to take an item home to try on with your other clothes. Before you leave with it, make sure you can return it for a full refund. An exchange-only policy may be too limiting for you, especially if the item represents a large part of your budget. Finally, take the business card and the name of the person who helped you. Always keep the receipts and put them in a place where they are easy to locate in case you do need to make a return. Kate Mayfield and Malcolm Levene are the authors of 10 Steps to Fashion Freedom: Discover Your Personal Style From the Inside Out (Crown, 2001).
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This summer, the linguist and evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker flew to London on the kind of mission that is all part of the job, when your job is the nebulous one of "intellectual rock star". His publishers had arranged for him to be the headline act at a gathering of senior buyers in the book trade, and his presence was intended to let a little of his glamour rub off on the rest of the firm's titles. Pinker, who has just turned 53, seems built for the limelight to an almost parodic degree, with his Roger Daltrey hair, prominent jawline, and fondness for jeans and leather boots. His latest book, The Stuff of Thought, revels in its mass appeal, drawing conclusions about the human brain from the cute mistakes that children make ("we holded the baby rabbits") and the rich lexicon of swearing. "Think of the transitive verbs for sex ... fuck, screw, hump, ball, dick, bonk, bang, shag, pork, shtup," Pinker writes in one typical section. "They're not very nice, are they?"
It would be a mistake, though, to infer from this that Pinker is a mere crowd-pleaser: his affable tone makes it easy to overlook how bitterly contested is the territory on which he has planted his flag. His life's goal, he says, is "the old-fashioned one - illuminating human nature". But the belief that there is such a thing as human nature, and that it is innate, has proved incendiary. The debate over evolutionary psychology gets intensely personal, and it is not uncommon for terms such as "Nazi" and "eugenics" to be thrown around. In one vicious war of words a few years ago - sparked during a debate on Radio 3, of all places - the British psychologist Oliver James called Pinker's views "wicked" and "utterly immoral", "misleading" and "dangerous".
In a sequence of bestsellers, including The Language Instinct and How the Mind Works, Pinker has argued that swathes of our mental, social and emotional lives may have originated as evolutionary adaptations, well suited to the lives our ancestors eked out on the Pleistocene savannah. Sometimes it seems as if nothing is immune from being explained this way. Road rage, adultery, marriage, altruism, our tendency to reward senior executives with corner offices on the top floor, and the small number of women who become mechanical engineers - all may have their roots in natural selection, Pinker claims. The controversial implications are obvious: that men and women might differ in their inborn abilities at performing certain tasks, for example, or that parenting may have little influence on personality.
The Stuff of Thought approaches the same topics, but less provocatively, asking what we can learn about human nature from the way we use language: a storm of controversy seems unlikely. "Although you wouldn't believe the kind of hate mail I get about my work on irregular verbs," Pinker says, over tea in the library of a central London hotel.
In The Language Instinct, Pinker developed Noam Chomsky's notion that the basic structures of language are hardwired into the brain. Now he looks behind language to thought itself. There is an inborn structure to the way we think, he argues, and language offers us clues to it. Take metaphor: no matter what tongue we grow up speaking, we seem to come equipped with a large toolkit of ways to think about things in terms of other things. We talk about love as a journey, for example ("we've come a long way together"), and use space as a proxy for time ("let's push that meeting back an hour"). "Children will occasionally make errors like 'we better pack now, because tomorrow we won't have space to pack'," Pinker says. That sentence conforms to the basic rule - thinking of time in terms of space. But according to English convention, it's wrong; adults don't go around saying it, so children can't just be parroting their parents when they make that mistake. This, Pinker argues, points towards some kind of innate cognitive machinery, predisposing us to think of time as if it were space, and to make many similar transitions from the abstract to the more concrete.
Meanwhile, various characteristics of the way we swear - when taken alongside brain-scan research - imply that cursing may involve a different area of the brain to regular speech, one connected directly to strong emotions. "It's almost a parallel language, where words switch places without regard to syntax or meaning, simply held together by some emotional thread. These expressions are absolutely baffling from the point of view of a syntactician. 'Close the fucking door': what's going on there? Or 'Holy shit'? Even the prototypical English curse, 'fuck you', is ungrammatical. It should be 'fuck yourself'," he says.
The words, spoken in amiable Canadian cadences, drift across the near-silent library, but nobody looks up.
Pinker grew up in Montreal's Jewish community in the 1960s, and it's often suggested that the linguistic battleground of Quebec must have inspired his interest in language. In fact, he says, language "as an ethnic marker" interests him little, and a bigger inspiration was the culture of argumentation: "we had something like 37 different socialist parties," he says. But, as any evolutionary psychologist is obliged to point out, there's a broader problem with any question about how his upbringing made him who he is: maybe it wasn't his upbringing, but his genes. When people ask if he got some trait from his parents, he likes to say that of course he did - the real question is how he got it from them. Parenting, he believes, counts for little in the development of a child's personality.
Pinker graduated from Montreal's McGill University in 1976, reading experimental psychology, then completed a PhD in that field at Harvard, in 1979. (He has spent the rest of his professional life in the neighbourhood of Harvard, moving to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, then back to his alma mater.) In his student days, the radical politics of the late 1960s were on the wane - "it was after the era when you had to be radical to get a date," he says. But one legacy of that era was a deeply anti-biological view of what makes humans tick. The belief in a "blank slate", in the idea that nurture was more important than nature, was seen as a precondition for progressive social change. After all, how could change happen if people were born with their aptitudes and character traits hardwired?
The modern-day challenge to this outlook began with EO Wilson's 1975 book, Sociobiology, which claimed humans were innately warlike, and that men would tend to dominate women in social hierarchies. Several leading Harvard intellects accused Wilson of "biological determinism", and of joining a tradition that included "the eugenics policies which led to the establishment of gas chambers in Nazi Germany".
Pinker, still in Montreal, watched the row from afar. He doesn't subscribe to all of Wilson's conclusions, but in his polemical book, The Blank Slate (2002), he makes his position plain. Leftwing criticism of evolutionary psychology emerges from misunderstandings based on fear, he insists. Natural selection is morally neutral: even if men and women have evolved to be, on average, differently skilled at some specific task, that simply has no bearing on a political commitment to egalitarianism in that area. (In 2005, Pinker spoke in defence of the former Harvard president, Lawrence Summers, who resigned after speculating that the scarcity of women in maths and science might have a genetic aspect.) Nor, he maintains, is evolutionary psychology deterministic. Among the things evolution has given us, Pinker points out, is the frontal lobe of the brain, which allows learning and personality change. Men might be predisposed to sleep around, for example, but that doesn't mean they can't help it, and doesn't make it all right.
On the question of determinism, he often mentions his decision not to have children, despite two marriages and a current girlfriend, Rebecca Goldstein, a novelist and philosopher. "I've kind of exploited this, and used it as a pedagogical point," he says. Clearly, he and his partners have not been the unthinking servants of their genes, since they chose not to reproduce. And if his genes don't like that, he has said, "they can take a running jump".
Still, a thorny problem remains. The Blank Slate argued that believing in human nature doesn't make you a rightwing anti-egalitarian. That doesn't mean, however, such a nature actually exists. How can you prove that any particular psychological trait was the result of natural selection? The accusation is that evolutionary psychologists simply construct "just-so stories", noticing that we possess certain characteristics, then speculating that they "must have" been advantageous for survival.
In a notoriously aggressive exchange in the New York Review of Books in 1997, Pinker argued this point with Stephen Jay Gould, who suggested that many aspects of language and consciousness, far from being adaptive, might have emerged by accident, as by-products of other evolutionary processes. Even if that explanation seems unlikely, the burden is on Pinker and his allies to rule it out. And it is increasingly possible to do so, Pinker insists, especially with computer simulation techniques that enable scientists to envision how evolution might have solved some specific problem in alternative ways. The fewer simple alternatives exist, the more likely it is that the trait we actually possess did indeed evolve to solve the problem in question.
There's one more deeply felt objection to the study of a universal human nature. Isn't it the case that the stuff that really matters in life - in art, and in love - isn't the traits we all share as humans, or as members of a gender, but the things that are absolutely unique to us, as individuals? "As individual people, embedded in our daily lives, of course we're interested in what makes one person different from another. We've got to hire one person and not another, marry one person and not another," he says.
"But a lot of great literature is a reflection on human nature. Shakespeare, most obviously: the reason we consider it noble and elevating for Shakespeare to do what he did - and for people to understand Shakespeare - is that he takes us out of our day-to-day obsessions. Science allows us to do that by a different route. But it's basically the same goal."
Roger Brown, his graduate teacher
Rebecca Goldstein, his partner
Roslyn Pinker, his mother
Stephen Kosslyn, his graduate adviser, "confidant and debating-partner"
Brian Leber, childhood friend
· This article was amended on Monday October 1 2007. This interview with Steven Pinker referred to his "almer mater"; we meant alma mater. This has been corrected.
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Last mission to repair the Hubble telescope Hubble space telescope discoveries have enriched our understanding of the cosmos. In this special report, you will see facts about the Hubble space telescope, discoveries it has made and what the last mission's goals are.
For their own good
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
With plan, county can take control of growth
By Times editorial
Published June 6, 2007
Take a look at east Pasco, the portion north of Wesley Chapel's congestion and south of San Antonio and St. Leo. It has hills and lakes, agriculture land and rural homesteads.
Now, take a look into the future. The same area could be 28, 000 homes on 5- and 10-acre lots. It would be cost prohibitive to provide central water and sewer utilities so wells and septic systems, and the accompanying environmental problems, would prevail. The road network to serve all those vehicles driving 10 miles just to get a gallon of milk at the nearest commercial outpost would require eight lanes of traffic on Handcart and Curley roads and U.S. 301. It is the definition of sprawl.
Or, it could grow as much of the county has. There would be 45, 000 homes amid a sea of subdivisions on former farmland that has been rezoned to allow up to three homes per acre. We've seen that already and it is not particularly appealing.
Still better is an area with the same 45, 000 homes clustered among 14 villages amid the pleasing landscapes that draw people there in the first place. Residents would shop and dine and, hopefully, a few of them would even work, at the central business districts within each town center. Instead of walled communities and streets ending in cul-de-sacs, homes would line connected streets leading to open spaces at the edge of each village. The planned grid system eliminates the need for widening existing highways to six and eight lanes.
That is the vision for the Pasadena Hills study area, 20, 000 acres between State Roads 54 and 52 from Curley Road on the west to U.S. 301 on the east. Protecting the rural corridor along Fort King Highway, preserving Lake Pasadena and leaving out three previously approved planned developments in Wesley Chapel cuts the actual planning area to about 10, 000 acres. Developed by Pasco County in conjunction with the same consultants who rewrote the county's comprehensive land use plan, the Pasadena Hills project is an attempt to project 50 years of growth over rural acres already targeted for some development. Most of those immediate development ideas stalled, however, when commissioners declined to amend the existing land use plan.
The resulting Pasadena Hills plan is a much more palatable way to turn old Pasco into new urbanism. There are still plenty of details to finish, most notably: How do you pay for all the infrastructure in an area without a single, dominant landowner?
One idea is the tax increment financing method usually reserved for redevelopment. The county could designate the Pasadena Hills area as its own special district, persuade property owners to commit their land, and then ship back a portion of growing property tax revenues to pay off bonds that financed the improvements.
But even before the nuts and bolts are worked out, the private-sector landowners and public governments (already acquiescence from the city of San Antonio is needed for part of the plan) will need to agree on a long-term collaboration. County attempts at earlier rural protections in northeast Pasco sparked litigation from residents protesting the trampling of their property rights. A repeat would be inopportune.
Here's an idea to help build that collaborative spirit. Drive around south-central Pasco or the U.S. 19 corridor on the west side and ask the interested parties: Is this the legacy you want for east Pasco, too?
Pasco County has plenty of cookie-cutter housing developments occupied by people driving to other counties for employment. Meanwhile, the private sector's experimentation with traditional neighborhoods around town centers is still in its infancy at Connerton and Longleaf.
Mapping out a different long-range plan for Pasadena Hills is smart. East Pasco County will continue to attract new residents because of its proximity to Tampa, and commissioners are wise to define how they want the area to grow instead of waiting for piecemeal developments to land in their laps.
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A week ago, it was discovered that the popular social networking app Path uploads users entire address books to their servers. They’ve since apologized and nuked the data. But Path’s not the only ones doing this: other high profile companies like Twitter are also doing it. And Apple’s letting them.
Not so surprisingly, Congress isn’t liking what it’s hearing about the address book security issue. In fact, House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Commerce Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee Chair G.K. Butterfield have written Apple a letter asking some hard questions about how Apple has allowed this to happen, and “whether Apple’s iOS app developer policies and practices may fall short when it comes to protecting the information of iPhone users and their contacts.”
Here’s the letter in full:
Mr. Tim Cook
Chief Executive Officer, Apple Inc.
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
Dear Mr. Cook:
Last week, independent iOS app developer Arun Thampi blogged about his discovery that the social networking app “Path” was accessing and collecting the contents of his iPhone address book without ever having asked for his consent. The information taken without his permission – or that of the individual contacts who own that information – included full names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Following media coverage of Mr. Thampi’s discovery, Path’s Co-Founder and CEO Dave Morin quickly apologized, promised to delete from Path’s servers all data it had taken from its users’ address books, and announced the release of a new version of Path that would prompt users to opt in to sharing their address book contacts.
This incident raises questions about whether Apple’s iOS app developer policies and practices may fall short when it comes to protecting the information of iPhone users and their contacts.
The data management section of your iOS developer website states: “iOS has a comprehensive collection of tools and frameworks for storing, accessing, and sharing data. . . . iOS apps even have access to a device’s global data such as contacts in the Address Book, and photos in the Photo Library.”The app store review guidelines section states: “We review every app on the App Store based on a set of technical, content, and design criteria. This review criteria is now available to you in the App Store Review Guidelines.” This same section indicates that the guidelines are available only to registered members of the iOS Developer Program. However, tech blogs following the Path controversy indicate that the iOS App Guidelines require apps to get a user’s permission before “transmit[ting] data about a user”.
In spite of this guidance, claims have been made that “there’s a quiet understanding among many iOS app developers that it is acceptable to send a user’s entire address book, without their permission, to remote servers and then store it for future reference. It’s common practice, and many companies likely have your address book stored in their database.” One blogger claims to have conducted a survey of developers of popular iOS apps and found that 13 of 15 had a “contacts database with millions of records” – with one claiming to have a database containing “Mark Zuckerberg’s cell phone number, Larry Ellison’s home phone number and Bill Gates’ cell phone number.”
The fact that the previous version of Path was able to gain approval for distribution through the Apple iTunes Store despite taking the contents of users’ address books without their permission suggests that there could be some truth to these claims. To more fully understand and assess these claims, we are requesting that you respond to the following questions:
- Please describe all iOS App Guidelines that concern criteria related to the privacy and security of data that will be accessed or transmitted by an app.
- Please describe how you determine whether an app meets those criteria.
- What data do you consider to be “data about a user” that is subject to the requirement that the app obtain the user’s consent before it is transmitted?
- To the extent not addressed in the response to question 2, please describe how you determine whether an app will transmit “data about a user” and whether the consent requirement has been met.
- How many iOS apps in the U.S. iTunes Store transmit “data about a user”?
- Do you consider the contents of the address book to be “data about a user”?
- Do you consider the contents of the address book to be data of the contact? If not, please explain why not. Please explain how you protect the privacy and security interests of that contact in his or her information.
- How many iOS apps in the U.S. iTunes Store transmit information from the address book? How many of those ask for the user’s consent before transmitting their contacts’ information?
- You have built into your devices the ability to turn off in one place the transmission of location information entirely or on an app-by-app basis. Please explain why you have not done the same for address book information.
Please provide the information requested no later than February 29, 2012. If you have any questions regarding this request, you can contact Felipe Mendoza with the Energy and Commerce Committee Staff at 202-226-3400.
Henry A. Waxman, Ranking Member
G.K. Butterfield, Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade
Apple has until March 9th until they respond. My guess at this point is that by the time iOS 5.1 rolls around, Apple will require explicit user permission for an app to grab address book data. There’s no reason that shouldn’t already be the case, and this is just causing too much bad press for too many companies.
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Road pricing - Blair's shock 'privacy guarantee'
Stronger than the usual 'safeguards'?
The Downing Street road pricing petition, which closed on Tuesday night , has had an immediate but largely unnoticed effect. It appears to have wrung a reasonably firm privacy commitment from Tony Blair.
We should stress at this point that it is only a reasonable commitment, not an absolute one, but although there is wiggle-room, Blair's words (if they're not to be eaten straight away) should place significant restrictions on the kinds of scheme designs that will be possible. Local authorities considering running the government's proposed road pricing pilot schemes would do well to note this now, because they could waste a lot of money on systems that break too many rules to be acceptable.
The key passage comes in Blair's email to the protesters, which went out shortly after the petition closed: "...any technology used would have to give definite guarantees about privacy being protected - as it should be. Existing technologies, such as mobile phones and pay-as-you-drive insurance schemes, may well be able to play a role here, by ensuring that the Government doesn't hold information about where vehicles have been."
The "definite guarantees" of protection of privacy are, as we've already seen in numerous other areas, worthless in that they can be suspended in the name of national security and fighting crime, and are unlikely to apply entirely to whatever long list of accredited officials the Government cares to attach to the enabling legislation. And just last month Blair kicked off a campaign to persuade voters that "over-zealous" data protection rules that impede the sharing of information on citizens should be relaxed. Historically, if the data exists the security services are going to be allowed to trawl it and numerous Government officials will have access to it, and will share it.
So the key commitment from Blair comes with "by ensuring that the Government doesn't hold information about where vehicles have been", and the Government needs to be pressed hard on precisely what he means by that. What is wrong, we could ask, with changing that to "ensuring that nobody holds information about where vehicles have been"? That wouldn't be accepted, but it would help to highlight the intended exceptions.
The current most likely candidate for future road pricing schemes isn't particularly promising when it comes to non-retention of data. In theory various different technologies are likely to be piloted, but the most favoured technology is the European Galileo satellite system, which has been repeatedly referred to in road pricing related speeeches and proposals. Blair himself notes that it will be "ten years or more before any national scheme was technologically, never mind politically, feasible", and is quite clearly talking about Galileo. There is also, from a pan-European perspective, a political necessity that Galileo appear in some way to pay for itself, and road pricing is one of the less hopeless of the ideas hopefully put forward to justify it (the delusional applications they hope will make Galileo a success are worth dealing with in their own right, but another day...).
A system designed around Galileo would work (we use the word advisedly) in a similar way to the lorry road pricing scheme currently used in Germany, and proposed for the UK's Lorry Road User Charging scheme (LRUC), which was abandoned in favour of a general, national scheme in 2005. A 'black box' in the vehicle would be needed to take the vehicle's position from Galileo and to record and/or transmit on this data for use by the charging systems. In such a set-up positioning and use data is clearly collected, and clearly needs to be related to a charging mechanism (which in the case of most motorists would be a named account), and there you have your snoop record, the data that "the Government doesn't hold."
So who does, for how long, and what are the exceptions to deletion? Here, friends, we have arrived in the wiggle space. Short of an unexpected counter-revolution that knocks us back to the 1970s, private contractors will be involved. From a business perspective these will have no need to retain data for long periods, and insofar as there will be cost implications in terms of storage, security and retrieval (for the exceptions), their commercial interest lies in deleting the data fairly speedily once they've got the money. As is the case, ahem, with telecommunications companies and ISPs where, as you may have noticed, Government doesn't hold the data either. It orders the telcos to hold it then helps itself when it feels the need.
It is possible to allow the companies running a road pricing schemes to delete the data quickly, or even, as the consequence of a sudden rush of data protection concern to the head, for Government to require this deletion, but it would be entirely out of character. It would also run counter to planning in Europe, the Department for Transport, police services, and automotive technology.
Europe is keen on black boxes that will be built in by the manufacturers (a directive to this effect is on the wishlist of the DfT's own feasibility study), which means systems that can't easily be interfered with that record driving data, perhaps govern speed, maybe use location data (Galileo) to match position with local limits and adjust speed accordingly, etc. Some of the pay-off from the black boxes will be of benefit to the motorist (e.g. there are advantages to location-based services) but there's clearly a price to be paid in terms of privacy and nanny-avoidance. Consider, for example, the upsides and downsides of Norwich Union's voluntary pay as you drive black box system - you get better rates, but your data is recorded, but only shared with "carefully selected partners". Reportedly, the DfT is considering a similar approach for some road pricing pilots.
While legislators see higher levels of monitoring as being good for road safety, police are keen to benefit from the crime-fighting spin-offs. As we noted last week, ACPO sees Electronic Vehicle Identification (EVI) as a next step in the development of its '24x7 vehicle movement database', and EVI comes as standard with the black box systems. So the point to take on board here is that with or without a road pricing network that has the ability to track you, the police are going to track you anyway, and start using EVI and Galileo to do so, unless the Government orders them to stop. It would however be absurd (or at least it would seem absurd to our legislators) to have a road pricing system collecting all of the data then throwing it away, only to have the police collect it by parallel means, so you can perhaps predict how that one will play out if road pricing gets that far. The privacy threat is clearly broader and further up the food chain than road pricing, or for that matter ID cards, and this needs to be understood if the threat is to be opposed.
Pressing the Government on those road pricing guarantees, however, still has a worth because it is possible to construct non-invasive road pricing schemes, and Blair himself touches on this, albeit in characteristically vague/misleading terms with his reference to "mobile phones and pay-as-you-drive insurance schemes". Anonymous insurance policies? Are you sure about that, Tone?
You meet anonymous pay as you drive systems whenever you use a toll bridge or a road where you hand over some money and a ticket spits out or a barrier lifts. These aren't necessarily or entirely anonymous, because if there isn't already CCTV and an ANPR system at the toll gate there soon will be, and because such systems almost always include a capability to ID vehicles that attempt to subvert them, but in design terms they're pretty much anonymous, and if legislators had the data protection brain rush they'd find it fairly easy to make them more particularly so. Consider the London Congestion Charge in this context - there is much about its design that is anonymous, but its use of registration systems (optional) and recording of ANPR tends to subvert the anonymity. TfL (Transport for London) claims only to retain data on non-payers and to give police access to this, although it's not immediately clear for how long it retains data on compliant vehicles these days.
TfL sees tag and beacon as one of the likely ways forward for the Congestion Charge, and although the DfT's study rejects this as too expensive for a national scheme, it's more obviously viable for urban areas and short stretches, it could be fairly non-invasive, and it's more easily retro-fitted. As an evolution of the Congestion Charge you could envisage this operating as a kind of 'Oyster for autos' - you buy a tag for your car, charge it up with money and as you drive it communicates with beacons on the roads that deduct the cash according to the journey. There needs to be a mechanism for intercepting and billing the 'gate jumpers' superimposed, but in principle the invasiveness of this can be restricted, and if there's one useful lesson the Congestion Charge has taught us it's that a tolerably high level of voluntary compliance can be achieved in such systems.
For the avoidance of doubt, we should point out at this juncture that none of the above should be interpreted as suggesting that we believe the Congestion Charge is either particularly effective or value for money. Oh, no. And it's probably also worth pointing out that a substantial slug of the Congestion Charge 'profit' is still accounted for by penalty charges for non-compliance. The achievement of 100 per cent compliance would at current pricing put it in some considerable financial difficulty.
Galileo however remains the likely winner for as long as a national scheme is on the table, and local planners will quite sensibly take this into account when they're designing their schemes. They won't want to spend on implementing one kind of scheme when they're going to have to start from scratch to implement a different one a few years down the line. So satellite it is? On the other hand, LRUC did not look promising at the time of its demise, and despite the improvements promised via Galileo, satellite projects still have plenty of scope for cock-up, failure, subversion and IT disaster. Nor will Galileo be fully in place until after 2010, so which local authorities will be brave enough to be at the bleeding edge? And how will they fare? But, if you haven't got enough volunteers to pilot the proposed national road pricing technology, what does this mean for the national scheme you're (not?) planning? And how do you pilot a national scheme locally, when the appropriate technologies are quite possibly different?
It's early days, but we think we can smell a train wreck or two not too far ahead... ®
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The film “Veterans Day 11.11.11” tells the story of men and women who served in the military from the Civil War era to present-day Afghanistan.
This documentary focusing on contributions and sacrifices veterans have made has a special significance for Evergreen residents involved in its production.
More than 30 filmmakers, including Suzanne Popovich Chandler and Pat Woodard of Evergreen, created the film, which features 15 veterans and family members talking about their experiences.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Canyon Courier, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
If you are new to the award winning Canyon Courier and wish to get a subscription or simply gain access to our online content then please enter your ZIP code below and continue to setup your account.
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Nvidia Corp. this week unveiled a new low-end professional graphics card aimed at CAD/CAM applications. The Quadro 400 does bring a substantial performance improvement compared to the predecessor, but the novelty is based on a chip, which was originally released in late 2009 and which was morally outdated even back then.
Nvidia Quadro 400 is powered by the GT216GL chip (GeForce GT 220/ GT 315) and has 48 stream processors, 16 texture units, 8 raster operation units, 512MB of DDR3 memory with 64-bit bus as well as a DisplayPort and single-link DVI-I connectors. The board has maximum power consumption of 32W and comes in low profile. Given the fact that it is powered by an outdated GPU, it only supports DirectX 10.1 capabilities and no trendy features.
Despite of the old GPU under the cooling fan, Quadro 400 offers five times higher performance compared to GeForce GTX 580 based on Pro/Engineer score in the SPEC Viewperf 11 on a standard industry workstation (Core i7 965 3.2GHz, X58 motherboard, 6GB RAM, Win7-64, 265.81 drivers). Previous-generation low-end Quadro for CAD/CAM featured only 16 stream processors, hence, the novelty should outperform it by the factor of three.
Nvidia Quadro graphics solutions are usually powered by chips with lower performance compared to gaming graphics boards, but thanks to excellent optimization of drivers for professional software, they deliver significantly higher performance than solutions for gaming.
"Designers and engineers, whether designing the largest assemblies or smallest components, rely on Quadro. The Quadro 400 is the right tool to help ensure that job gets done the right way, especially when it comes to running professional apps like Autodesk AutoCAD," said Jeff Brown, general manager of professional solutions group Nvidia.
The Quadro 400 ($169 MSRP) is available immediately for the HP Z800, Z600, and Z400 workstations, and for all Fujitsu Celsius workstations. It will be available later this month and next on select Lenovo ThinkStation D20, C20, S20 and E30 models. It's also available from Nvidia Quadro channel partners including PNY Technologies in North America and Europe, Elsa in Japan, and Leadtek in Asia Pacific.
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Bird-A-Day Challenge/Day 14: Tundra Swan
Today I did something I have never done before. I went birding by myself. Just before dusk, I grabbed my binoculars and a bird guide, then bundled up the baby and loaded him and the dog into the car. We headed for Croton Point, a park close to where I live in New York’s Hudson Valley. There, I scanned the river for ducks, peered up under the pines in hopes of finding a Long-Eared Owl, and drove right past a “Do Not Enter” sign in an effort to get a little closer to the water. I thought some waterfowl might be hiding in the cove. Alas, nothing.
Then I drove over toward the Croton train station, where a little inlet is a popular winter hangout for Bald Eagles. Why? Apparently because waterfowl like to cruise the waters below their favorite treetop perch. What did I find? Something better than I could have expected. A Tundra Swan. How did I know it’s a Tundra Swan? Because these cold-weather birds have a black bill, instead of an orange one like the mute swan. And this bird’s bill was black as night.!--/end tags-->
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10 things to consider when moving abroad: by a long-term emigrant
Patrick McKenna, who left Ireland for Canada 35 years ago, suggests a list of questions people should ask themselves when they are considering emigration
This post is inspired by Michelle bCarpenter’s article Disappointed by the Australian dream, and the comments it generated.
My goal is to share my cautionary thoughts on emigration to the English speaking “New World” destination: Australia, New Zealand, US, Canada. They seem familiar – because of the shared language and their long history of inward Irish migration – but they must be handled with care. In terms of geography, climate, topography, and especially, culture, they are very different from contemporary Ireland.
I developed the ten questions listed below to help you explore your thoughts about emigration in general and to these destinations (when I say emigration I mean an intent to settle in to work and live for, say, five years or more). The questions may complement your due diligence researching job prospects, taxes, cost of living, property prices, rentals and so on. So here goes:
1. Since your emigration project is economic, have you estimated its long-term economic gain, and if not, how do you know your project will leave you better off than you would have been by staying home?
2. How long do you intend to stay away: 2-3 years, 5-10 years, and do you have a fail safe strategy to get you out before you slip by the point of no return, and realise you can ever go home again?
3. What sort of cultural, dietary, language, personal, social, professional, and other, changes, do you think will be required from you (and your family) as you make a new life in the new country? (How good are you with change?)
4. How do you feel about changing your way of speaking, your accent, sense of humour, your values, and all those things that make you Irish?
5. If you insist on remaining as Irish as you ever were, how on earth will you ever fit in completely?
6. If you do decide to loose your Irishness how will you feel about saying “adieu” to it, your native culture, history, values and so on?
7. How do you feel about your kids growing up non-Irish, and, when they become adults, possibly migrating with their own kids, to some far removed region of the continent you brought them to?
8. Since a job for life is no longer a reality, how do you feel about abandoning what has made you what you are, in exchange for something that is increasingly short term and precarious?
9. You plan to stay for five years, but one thing leads to another and the next thing you know you’re retiring with 30 years ahead of you (thanks to increased longevity), with, perhaps, unresolved identity and homesickness issues (it does happen, believe me): what do you do then?
10. Are you in it (emigration) for the money only, or do you have a plan, or desire, to fall in love with the new place and accomplish some personal transformation? (These are highly recommended to help keep you afloat during the inevitable business cycle downturns and general reversals of fortune.)
Obviously, there are no right or wrong answers! In fact the questions may seem to make no sense at all. When I was a 25-year-old would-be emigrant they certainly wouldn’t have. However they are an honest distillate of my experience of 38 years as an emigrant, working and living in French in Quebec, along with extended stays in Africa, Mexico, Bulgaria, and frequent travel to the US, UK and Europe.
They may help you get beyond the important but short term “once I get a job I’ll be OK” to a longer-term view of your emigration project.
Patrick McKenna is a regular contributor to Generation Emigration. His previous articles include Once, I was Irish; now I am just ‘me’, When you get ‘that’ call, Living with Persistent Immigration Homesickness for 34 years, and most recently, his research about Irish immigrants in the US in the 19th century, When the Irish became white.
What questions would you add to the list, from your own experience of emigration?
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As November’s presidential election draws closer, Auglaize County Elections Board members continue to get ready.
During Wednesday’s board meeting, they proofed ballots, discussed new computers, made decisions about poll workers and discussed duties of new temporary employees.
Ballot proofs for each of the county’s precincts checked out fine and are expected to be printed beginning next week.
In preparation for what they are expecting to be an influx of absentee ballots, Elections Board Director Carolyn Campbell said they can print the ballots and stuff them in envelopes to get them ready to mail by Oct. 2, when absentee ballots may be mailed and absentee voting begins in the office.
“Already we’ve gotten over 1,000 requests,” Campbell said.
The state mailed all previously registered voters in Ohio applications to submit requesting absentee ballots for the Nov. 6 election. Of the 32,000 registered voters in the county, Campbell estimates they could expect at least 9,000 casting their ballots absentee this year.
“The state is saying we could expect 50 percent more absentee voters than in 2008, when we had 6,000,” Campbell said.
Two temporary workers were hired to help as needed with the extra work load in preparation of the election, primarily helping with absentee ballots — entering information into computers, printing ballots, folding and mailing them, and then helping to count them.
Mary Mathews and Paula Fledderjohann are to work approximately three days a week, no more than 56 hours per pay period.
Two new computers ordered from New Unity have been delivered and set up, although they cannot connect to the server because the computer’s software is too new to work with the existing election software.
Programming changes are ongoing and are expected to be in place prior to November’s election.
The computers are to replace ones bought in 2005, which are used to program ballots and tabulate results. While those computers have been working, there was concern with their age that they should have another option in place, especially in a year of a presidential election.
“Although we’ve had no real issue with them, they are starting to get a little age on them,” Campbell said.
At a cost of $9,800, the computers were purchased after consultation with county and state information technology personnel and other election boards.
“We don’t want any problems this election,” Campbell said.
An informational person is to be placed at the New Bremen Senior Center the day of the elections to help guide voters in the three New Bremen city and German Township precincts voting there to where they need to go.
“It’s very busy there and is a struggle to keep people where they need to be and keep things running smoothly,” Campbell said.
An additional information person is to be added where there is one already at the Auglaize County Fairgrounds, where all 10 Wapakoneta precincts and both Duchouquet Township east and west vote.
Campbell said she thought the busy polling site could use some more directional help at the door during this election, for which a large turnout is anticipated.
Board members also decided to move Kay Rolston, the wife of the Uniopolis mayor who serves as a poll worker in the village, to Union Township instead to prevent any concerns with conflict of interest, with her husband having helped to circulate a petition to unincorporate, or dissolve, the village, an issue which appears on the ballot this election.
“As a poll worker it gives us a little more flexibility,” Campbell said. “It still puts her in the building, but not right at the table.”
The last day to register to vote in November’s election is Oct. 9.
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Many were broken, many were saved here.
Beloit's name became synonymous with its girls' reformatory, one of the longest-operating in the country, which for more than a century mirrored the most enlightened reforms but also the cruelest horrors of such places. Now, at its closing, residents and staff members are wrestling with the contradictions.
Beloit was where "bad girls" were sent: That's what Diane Roles had heard as a child. A friend's sister had gone there.
Growing up in the 1960s, Roles endured a seriously dysfunctional family - a chronically violent father and a fearful mother. People didn't talk much about child abuse then, and young Diane's solution was to run away from home to escape beatings.
Once, she said, her father kicked her with his steel-toed boot, leaving her jaw swollen. Another time, her bruised legs prompted a girlfriend's mother and a neighbor to call her family. But nothing changed.
"I got to the place where I didn't even cry anymore," she said. "The more they hit me, the more I laughed."
Her older sister complained to their mother that she had been molested. Roles said her mother slapped the sister, saying, "What am I supposed to do?"
The offense that landed Roles in the juvenile court system was taking her brother's car for a joy ride. After fleeing a foster home, she was offered placement in a "trade school," and she grabbed it.
It wasn't until the frightened 13-year-old was riding across the wind-swept prairie of rural north-central Kansas that it dawned on her the school was Beloit. "I mean to tell you my heart dropped clear down to my toes," she said.
But looking back now, she sees it differently. "Going to Beloit was a safe haven for me," she said. "Basically, I was an abused kid. Back in them days they didn't do anything. They shook their heads."
There is no barbed wire - no fence at all - surrounding the complex of limestone and brick buildings that came to be known as Beloit Juvenile Correctional Facility. Across the street is the high school for the shrinking, agricultural town of 3,600. Its two-block long downtown, filled with charming century-old buildings, is less than a mile away.
The institution, right down to its rural setting, is typical of the ones that began opening in the middle part of the 19th century as rehabilitation-focused reformers sought to end the practice of housing juveniles alongside adults in deplorable conditions.
The Women's Christian Temperance Union, a suffragist group that had fought for prohibition, lobbied for the girls' facility in Kansas, soliciting donations of land and money and operating it for its first couple of years before the state took it over in 1890. As was common at the time, girls as young as 8 spent long days toiling in the gardens and caring for the animals that supplied their food. For a time, girls were even indentured to farm families.
But with the high-minded ideals of the reformers, there was a dark side as well, explained Ned Loughran, executive director of the Council for Juvenile Correctional Administrators, in Braintree, Mass.
"These kids were an eyesore for the upper classes of society," he said. "The solution wasn't to change the conditions they were growing up in, the poverty and lack of parental supervision. The view was to get them out of sight. Then people forgot they were there, and abuses crept into the system."
Abuses? Under some administrations, girls were punished with huge doses of vomit- and diarrhea-inducing castor oil,humiliated with forced hair clipping. In the darkest period, dozens underwent involuntary sterilizations.
"It totally infuriates me," said Katrina Pollet, pausing at a box of yellowed photos from years gone by as staff sorted and packed up late this summer. The last superintendent, she's passionate about helping the girls who've left Beloit for good.
"It's so important to me because I could have easily been here," said Pollet, who was herself once a pregnant 16-year-old high-school dropout.
As school records, some in musty leather-bound books, were sorted and stored, the mundane details they contain sketched life at Beloit and the shifting attitudes it reflected.
From the 1930s, a file for one girl described her as "incorrigible" and noted she "associated with Mexican men" and "became intoxicated at dances."
The offense for another young charge was listed as being "immoral (with father)." Later in the record, it shows the girl was taken for removal of venereal warts. It was common practice for much of the facility's history to lock up young abuse victims rather than their abusers.
Both girls spent about four years at Beloit.
All the records detail whether the girls had attended Sunday school. "Yes" is the answer for most.
When the reformatory was founded, girls "were really viewed in our society much more as property," said J. Russell Jennings, commissioner of the Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority. "And the expectation for behavior of girls and what occurred with them when they didn't meet those expectations really provided an open door for young girls to be institutionalized for non-crime events. Not even running away but just kind of being a pain in the neck."
The treatment they received varied, as it was not uncommon in the early days for entire staffs to change after elections. Some administrations taught the girls to play musical instruments and barred corporal punishment, while others relied on draconian forms of discipline.
The most infamous superintendent was Lula Coyner, whose cruelty caused the girls to march to the sheriff's office and demand an investigation.
In 1935 and 1936, Coyner undertook a campaign of forced sterilization after becoming enamored with an international movement known as eugenics, a philosophy also popular among the Nazis that sought to prevent those deemed mentally disabled or otherwise genetically inferior from having children.
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This eclipse @ 11º02″ Gemini will take place on Wednesday, June 1st @ 5:03 PM EDT. It belongs to the Saros Series 13 South. According to Bernadette Brady, scholar and Astrologer extraordinaire, it represents “expansive energy under which lies a more sinister flavor. An urge to expand is experienced, but the expansion contains frustration, inhibitions and loss or separation.”¹ She also states that Australia seems to be very sensitive to this 13 Series. Those who have planets or angles within 2-3 degrees of 11° in mutable signs (Gemini, Sag, Virgo, Pisces) are likely to experience the effects of this eclipse the most. I always liked a 2 1/2 degree orb for eclipses to have an effect (and of course it’s not necessarily on the day of the eclipse). Previous Saros 13 eclipses occurred in 1903, 1921, 1939, 1957, 1975, and 1993. Some say that this isn’t a “powerful” eclipse because it’s partial and not making any horrific aspects. Hmm, I hope those folks don’t have this eclipse squaring their Mars, for example. In fact, I have seen major events in people’s lives associated with partial eclipses. The eclipse is “triggered” by transiting Mars, as it reaches 11 Gemini on July 6th.
¹ “Predictive Astrology; The Eagle and the Lark” Bernadette Brady (Weiser)
To those of you who aren’t familiar with the name, Jim Tressel was the head football coach of The Ohio State University Buckeyes until today. He resigned during an ongoing probe into “major violations” of NCAA rules. I read this news just as I was writing a blog piece about this week’s Solar Eclipse. As I mention in the upcoming post – anyone with planets or angles within 2 1/2 degrees of 11° mutable (Sag, Gemini, Pisces, Virgo) will feel this one the most. Tressel’s Sun is 13° Sagittarius. Of course he’s also experiencing his second Saturn return, since he’s 58 years old. Here’s a sunrise chart for JT. Sorry, I don’t know his time of birth.
Everything has it’s Saturn return – people, places, events. So when was the last time you even thought about the Tylenol poisonings that took place back in the early 80′s? (9/29/82) Maybe you weren’t even alive, or you’re too young to remember. The case was back in the news last week, when it was reported that the FBI wanted DNA from Ted Kaczynski, AKA The Unibomber (now serving a life sentence for three murders). It seems they’re investigating several individuals. In any case, the Tylenol event, which took place almost 29 years ago is having it’s Saturn return. The Saturn return of an event can mark a period when things come to fruition, or a time of reaping. I compared the event chart to Ted’s chart (natal and progressed) and I really don’t see a big connection – no “aha” moment. Maybe the FBI investigation will result in someone finally being charged, but it’s probably not Ted.
It’s hard to believe what I’m seeing. I can only imagine the terror these people felt, and the shock they’re in now. Having survived Hurricane Andrew and having a home partially destroyed, I do have a clue.
I’ve considered looking into this event from a Geodetic perspective, and maybe I will. But for now, I’m using a chart based on the date that the town merged with Murphysburg to become Joplin. From Wikipedia:
Carthage resident Patrick Murphy filed a plan for a city on the opposite side of the valley and named it Murphysburg. While the nearest sheriff was in Carthage, a sense of lawlessness abounded in the town. This time is referred to as the “Reign of Terror”. The cities eventually merged into Union City, but this merger was found illegal and the two cities split. Patrick Murphy then suggested that the town become Joplin. They merged again on March 23, 1873, this time permanently, as the City of Joplin.[10
Joplin’s Sun is @ 3º Aries. The Capricorn Moon makes sense, since Joplin was known for it’s lead mines (lead is ruled by Saturn). Yes, Tornadoes are ruled by Uranus and transiting Uranus is @ 3 Aries in the tornado chart (of course it will be in the early degrees of Aries for several more months). No one is prepared for a Uranus transit. There are other aspects and I’m sure Astrologers will find relevant asteroids, Arabic parts, and fixed stars. Uranus will station @ 4 Aries on July 9th, so the period from July 4th through 14th is especially volatile.
My thoughts and positive visualizations go out to the people of Missouri. (As well as a donation)
…the horse, that is.
Yesterday, as the world wasn’t ending, a colt named Astrology raced in the Preakness. He came in third, behind Shackleford and Animal Kingdom, winner of the Kentucky Derby. At 15-1, I had my money on Astrology of course (of course). I don’t know much about horse racing, but I know a good transit when I see one. If I owned Astrology, I’d have him race in August during his Mars return. Astrology has Mars in Cancer. I never really think of Mars in Cancer as being particularly athletic, but hey, it works for Michael Phelps. Well aspected, there can be an ability to act on feelings with this placement. Astrology also has Mars opposing Pluto, so he can be a fierce competitor. Astrology was born March 17, 2008 somewhere in Kentucky. I wish I had the location of Stonestreet Stables and the time of birth. Astrology’s Dam is Quiet Eclipse and his sire is A.P. Indy, a champion stallion (who’s sire was Seattle Slew). Astrology’s jockey was Hall of Famer Mike Smith (8/10/1965, Roswell, NM). Smith’s Sun is Leo and Astrology has Moon in Leo. Lovely synastry. Smith’s Mercury is at 26º Leo conjunct Astrology’s South Node…one of those past life connections, I suppose.
What a perfect story for the Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon. The, now former, 62 year old head of the IMF has been arrested on charges of attempted rape, criminal sexual assault, and unlawful imprisonment of a maid in the Sofitel hotel in New York City. DSK, as he is known, was born April 25th, 1949 (chart below). The alleged incident occurred on May 14th, 2011 at about 1:30 PM (chart below). Uranus transiting his natal Aries Moon, describes someone going through emotional upheaval (also, his move to Rikers Island, an unexpected change of address). The first transits that stand out are Jupiter @ 25º Aries, a degree from conjoining his natal Mars, and transiting Mars @ 2º Taurus, a couple degrees from his natal Sun. Yup, this describes a pretty horny, impulsive, aggressive dude. Also, when Jupiter is on your Mars, you may feel as if you can get away with anything – or overreact to situations. He recently had his secondary progressed New Moon @ about 4º Cancer which falls in his natal 12th house (prison) and squares his natal Moon. Truly, a new beginning for DSK, albeit not the kind he might have hoped for. The fact that the alleged victim is an immigrant from Africa adds an element of symbolism to the whole alleged event. I mean, what has the IMF (along with the World Bank and large corporations) been doing to third world countries for years? Google it if you like. Interesting that DSK has a natal conjunction of Pluto and Ceres. The power to control the food supply and environment is/was in his hands. At any rate, Saturn is transiting in opposition to his natal Mars in Aries so I suspect his freedom will be limited for a little while. OK, my usual disclaimer – Strauss-Kahn is innocent until proven guilty. Meanwhile I’ll be checking out Nicolas Sarkozy’s chart (1/28/55) – since DSK is said to have been interested in NS’s job. (the plot may thicken). -SAH
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The fashion and interior design industries are among the biggest value-added industries of the world. The extent of this value addition depends largely upon fashion design, garment manufacture, and interior designing. There is great career potential for individuals whose academic and creative talents are combined with a high level
of enthusiasm and ambition. The Bachelor of Fashion Design (BFD) program is unique. It combines the study of both business and technology trends which keep the fashion and interior design career fields on a path of steady growth. This program aims at providing technical and non-technical people with relevant fashion and interior design education and training. The program also provides opportunities for students to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to meet and address the challenges in the world of fashion and interior design.
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You can think you know Hitchcock
inside out until you remember how much there is of him. His was a portly
career all round, spanning the half–century from British silent cinema's
heyday in the Twenties to Family Plot in 1976. His second feature, The
Mountain Eagle (1927), is feared lost, and we've excluded his shorts,
documentaries, television series and Mary (1931), the German version
Otherwise, this is the lot: 52 films. Catching up with his silent and early
sound pictures is a fascinating experience, not because all of them are
perfectly achieved by any means, but because they're notes towards a style,
step–by–step experiments in deciding what "Hitchcockian"
He learned just as much from his mistakes as his recognised triumphs. In the
Hollywood years, there's no single period that's without the odd misstep,
but even those reveal facets of his artistry we wouldn't appreciate if we
only looked at the classics. As for these, few directors from any era can
claim quite so many.
"Genius" is the catchword the British Film Institute has chosen to
describe its complete retrospective – an overused plaudit, undoubtedly, but
if anyone earned it, Hitch did.
The Genius of Hitchcock, the BFI's complete retrospective of his films,
runs at BFI Southbank, London SE1, from August to October. Info:bfi.org.uk Picture: Courtesy Everett Collection / Rex Features
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Transformation: The Art of Being Willing
by Laura Didyk
If change is akin to rearranging the furniture in a room, transformation is the knocking down of a wall or the addition of a sliding glass door—it’s a dramatic alteration in structure that’s nearly permanent. In this piece, writer Laura Didyk shares a personal story that expresses the challenges that exist at the core of a process of self-transformation—and the rewards that await on the other side.
I am at my stove in my kitchen stirring hot cereal, waiting for the grains to soak up the water. It’s quiet except for the bubbling from the pot and the faint hiss of my gas stove. Steam swirls up from the pot and clouds my glasses, which I take off, fold, and lay on top of a cookbook. For a few minutes, I am just stirring. Listening. Feeling the steam on my face. Removing my glasses. Folding them. Setting them down. It is a simple, unadorned moment in the early hours of an ordinary day. This is how it is now, a lot of the time—this kind of moment used to be incredibly rare.
I travel back six years to a time when I couldn’t do much of anything, to a depression so debilitating that food didn’t even make it on to the docket most days. Here are some things I considered accomplishments at the time: getting out of bed, making it to the shower, not looking in the mirror, not thinking “those thoughts,” which consisted of possible things I could do to guarantee not having to wake up and do this again, this enormous, nearly impossible task of getting through a day, an hour, the next five minutes.
Depression, as I’ve experienced it, isn’t about being sad. Or melancholy. Even the word “pain” doesn’t quite describe what inhabits a person in such a condition. It’s almost as if depression takes the person. During my worst bouts of it, it felt like this: I am hanging off the edge of a cliff over a deep, dark, echoey canyon. My fingers are growing tired, starting to slip, and I am about to fall—about to fall—and I lived in that state all the time. Writer Andrew Solomon addresses this experience in his book Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, “What is happening to you in depression is horrible, but it seems to be very wrapped up in what is about to happen to you the dying would not be so bad, but the living at the brink of dying is horrible.” I couldn’t remember who I was before this thing had gripped me, and in hindsight, the idea of taking myself out of the running seems like a perfectly reasonable and humane consideration at the time given my interior circumstances. But how lucky I am, how blessed, that I didn’t go through with it.
I regularly push myself to reflect on that time because there are a few things that I never want to forget: 1) how bad it was, 2) how far I’ve come, and 3) that transformation from what seems like the most dire of circumstances is absolutely possible, if you are willing. I believe that what was going on with me at the time had roots in physiology, and I also believe I was suffering from a spiritual illness. So many of us suffer from it—a kind of viral emptiness that starts in the heart and spreads. When coupled with a certain physiological make up and with particular circumstances, this disease of the spirit can become excruciating and unbearable. Some of us experience it in small ways, in different areas of our lives; for others it can, in its extreme forms, manifest as different shades and grades of mental illness.
In my case, immense and ugly forces from my past had come to bear on the present in a way that my psyche was unprepared for and my spirit didn’t know how to handle—up until then I’d always found ways to ward those spirits off, but I’d run out of ideas. They’d finally intersected inside me. And it was time.
It’s the ultimate spiritual paradox: we don’t have to step very far or very fast, yet the significance of that miniscule step is massive—it doesn’t have to be much, but we have to mean it. When the gods of transformation picked me up and had their way with me, I had to let them. I had to go in and stand at that intersection, and say, “OK. I’ll do it. I’m ready to face whatever it is I need to face so I can feel something different.” I had to be willing to embrace the same dark self that I’d been undone by. Carl Jung referred to it as the Shadow, and I knew if I wanted to live with any amount of peace I was going to have to bring it into the light of day and make friends with it. Unfortunately, this process didn’t look or feel how I wanted it to—I don’t think it does for anyone. It wasn’t graceful or beautiful or uplifting—the process of deep, permanent inner change hardly ever is, at first.
Also, it didn’t happen overnight—it happened over time. I was not suddenly okay. There wasn’t a singular moment when I stopped and said: now I’m different, now I’m transformed. But I feel that way today. Transformation isn’t what happens when the universe feels sorry enough for us to have mercy. And it isn’t the gift of instant relief. It’s what happens when we finally decide we’re going to stop running and instead face, head on, whatever it is we have not been willing to. While I have, I hope, many years of living ahead of me, my experience with depression and my experience surviving it has helped me build the inner resources I’ll need for whatever else comes down the pike.
I have a mental photograph of myself from six years ago, and in my mind I like to place it next to who I am now. Me, who can sit in a room and just breathe. Me, who can sleep through the night, who can feel hungry, who can make breakfast, who can dance in my living room, and who can then get into my car and drive to my job—all in the span of a couple of hours. Remembering the before and taking stock of the now helps me untangle what I’ve traversed, how I’ve healed, what it took, and everything about my getting better that I can’t account for. I am humbled by the power of what happened, and the way the transformative process became a steadfast bridge over the gap between then and now.
I feel indebted to that process as if it were a person, an entity, a teacher, but the bridge could not have been built without my permission. I had to help with the construction. I had to admit to myself how badly I needed it. I had to pick up the telephone and tell people. I had to become willing to stand in the middle of that intersection, even if it meant risking what little life I had left. I had to access courage in its purest form. And I had to pray to a god I didn’t even believe in.
I still have episodes of depression, but I am lucky that they do not last long, aren’t paralyzing, and, generally, are made better by talking to people, getting more sleep, eating healthier food, and, well, dancing in my living room. In some ways, it might not even qualify as depression, as these are things that made no difference when I was in the worst stages of it those years ago.
Transformation—real transformation—leaves us at home in our own skin. The mind becomes something of a friend, a powerful tool which we can use to move in the direction of goodness. The transformative process, most of the time—from mental illness to health, heartbreak to serenity, addiction to recovery, confusion to clarity—will not feel good. And the biggest mistake a person can make is to expect it to. The journey can be difficult and lonely and, when we’re in the middle of it, it will feel like nothing is changing at all. But then one day we’ll realize we are on the other side of something. We can look behind us in awe, knowing that all we did to get to where we are now was give up, just a little.
Laura Didyk, MFA, former Special Projects Editor at Kripalu Center, is an essayist, poet, and a former athlete with a lifelong passion for nutritional health and optimal living.
© Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. All rights reserved. Originally published in the May 2008 issue of Kripalu Online. To request permission to reprint, please e-mail email@example.com.
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That competitive spirit was on display again on Monday night at the 6th Annual In the Pocket with Charlie Batch, when players gave their all for a good cause.
Players went head-to-head with guests in games like pool and ping pong to benefit the Best of the Batch Foundation, and you could tell by the intensity losing was not an option.
“It’s always fun,” said Batch. “That is how it started, because I saw how competitive everyone in the locker room was. We wanted to raise money in a fun way and do something different than what was out there. I saw my teammates compete in everything, even throwing a rolled up ball of tape into a garbage can. It turned out because everyone is so competitive and it’s fun.”
The event has continued to grow since its inception, and Batch’s plan is to have it continue to expand.
“It’s always exciting because the fans believe in what we are doing and help the cause,” said Batch. “We want to make it better. When we started you didn’t know what was going to happen. We moved it up after the first year. Now the demand is still there. It’s a blessing because people believe in what we are doing.”
Proceeds from the event help run the Foundation’s Reading and Computer Literacy Program and allows them to house the Steel Valley Alternative School Program. In addition to the hundreds that have used the computer lab, there are currently 11 kids in the alternative school program, sent to the foundation because of behavioral problems in main stream schools or through court order.
“If it wasn’t for this they wouldn’t have a place to go,” said Latasha Wilson-Batch, the foundation’s executive director. “They wouldn’t get the education they need. It’s important for us to do this event because the kids want to do things better, but they need help.”
Some refer to the alternative school program as the “Charlie Batch School,” and parents have inquired about getting their kids in the program. For Batch that is a compliment because it shows they are doing something right, but his hope is that all the kids are able to attend their own schools and not have to resort to alternative schooling.
“We have them going to school, but it’s not cool to be in this school because you got kicked out of school and are in an alternative program,” said Batch. “They are angry because now they can’t play sports and have to focus on school with no ball. You have to encourage them why they are going to school – to graduate. That is a tough sell because they feel there is no reason to go to school.
“We always try to turn the negative into a positive and try to get them back to main school. That is something we make sure we let them know.”
Tags: Charlie Batch
Posted in Community, News, Player | 2 Comments »
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Partly Cloudy ~
High: 88°F ~ Low: 68°F
Monday, May 20, 2013
Picturing the Past 8: Burger ChefPosted Tuesday, May 12, 2009, at 11:25 AM
Burger Chef, from the 1960s or 1970s. (Photo provided by Jan Phillips)
Thanks to Jan Phillips for passing along this undated photo of Burger Chef, probably the main spot for street-cruisin' teens, and hungry folks of all ages, during the late 1960s and early-to-mid 1970s.
The building's still there, on Lane Parkway just up from the Union Street-Elm Street intersection where they meet up with Colloredo Boulevard, which wasn't there during the Chef's heyday. (Remember when a barber shop was in a building located where today is exactly in the middle of Colloredo?)
Apparently Burger Chef took over as the main hangout from the Rebel Maid and the other fast food restaurants from the 1950s and 1960s such as Mr. Burger, on Madison Street where Dr. Will Alcorn's dental office is today. Mr. Burger burgers were great as well. I think the original Mr. Burger building burned and the replacement structure is actually Dr. Alcorn's office building.
The Chef eventually faded as well; by my high school days in the mid-to-late 1970s Dairy Queen/Pizza Hut, followed by McDonald's in the late '70s, eventually attracted the crowds.
But I remember Burger Chef well, and am actually almost tasting one of their burgers in my mind.
A Consumer Price Index calculator indicates that the 15-cent hamburger mentioned on the sign would be worth 83 cents in today's dollars.
So what happened to the Burger Chef chain? More competition?
Picturing the Past is featured in this blog each Tuesday.
Showing comments in chronological order
[Show most recent comments first]
David Melson is a copy editor and staff writer for the Times-Gazette.
Hot topicsPicturing the Past 184: Hootenanny lineup
(6 ~ 6:22 PM, May 19)
Picturing the Past 92: Stopping by Parks-Belk
"Ag-gag" bill full of problems
Picturing the Past 183: Square in 1965
Speeding drivers on the loose
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Q: While traveling in the Valley recently, I found my trip hampered not once but twice by slow-moving tractors in the roadway. After both encounters ended in horn blasts and a few choice words, I began to wonder, Just exactly how long is long enough to wait behind this sort of slow-moving rural roadblock before a person is allowed to react in the manner in which I did?
A: The Rio Grande Valley, with its rich, loamy soils and subtropical climate, is the fruit basket of the state. And the vegetable basket, the cotton basket, the sorghum basket, and the sugarcane basket. And anytime you drive through a basket, you’re bound to have some trouble. You see, even though some of the basket’s produce does grow on actual trees, none of it grows on metaphorical ones. These crops are carefully cultivated by farmers who work sunup to sundown so that you will have food to, as President Bush once said, put on your family. And farmers don’t go places in a hurry. In fact, the way the Texanist sees it, the farmer’s role in society is not only to grow our foods and fibers but also to maintain our connection to the slow pace of nature. It is not unusual to experience a miles-long, teeth-grinding, fist-shaking tantrum when stuck behind one of these salts of the earth, perched up on his tractor like a pasha on an elephant, but it is not an admirable response. Next time you get caught tailing a tractor that’s chugging along a good forty or fifty miles per hour below the posted speed limit, try to enjoy the bucolic fields and orchards. And give a wave of thanks to those who work them. You wouldn’t bite the hand that feeds, so why should you bark obscenities at it? Not only do farmers provide the food that ends up on your table (or family), but they can also give you a much-needed excuse to slow down.
Q: I am moving back to Houston after a four-year stint in Dallas. When I lived in Houston previously, I built a huge BBQ pit out of brick, similar to those found in Lockhart at Kreuz and Black’s. Her name was Smokahontas, and she was the envy of my neighbors. When I moved, I went out and bought the same pit that everyone else has. Sure, it cooks a brisket, but nothing has ever compared to the succulent morsels that came off the brick pit. Now that I’m moving back to Houston and intend to stay put for a while, do I take the time to build another brick pit, or do I run out and get a steel trap like everyone else?
David Hudson , Houston
A: Sometimes at closing time, when the bartender has slipped into the back for a mop and the long, dark room, reeking of desperation and well liquor, stands empty but for a haggard old rodeo queen snoring irregularly into her sleeve, the Texanist will ask nobody in particular whether he should “have another.” Thankfully, no objection is ever raised. And though your situation is very different, the Texanist gathers that your conclusion is just as foregone. Still, there are a few things to say about this. A barbecue pit is more than just an implement through which meat is passed to make it smoky and delicious. For backyard pitmasters such as yourself, the smoker is an extension of personal identity, saying as much about you as do your drinking habits, style of dress, or grooming. The Texanist, for instance, prefers Scotch whisky, does not wear loafers, and has a humorously large but very unpretentious pit that says “The Texanist means business.” Whatever you do, you don’t want to be one of those people who gas their meat. Have you ever been to a gathering at the home of a friend of a friend, some puffed-up culinary whiz, where the meat comes out of one of those stainless steel auto-smokers? Those abominations probably cost more than the Texanist’s annual salary! [Editors’ note: Confirmed.] The brisket’s free-range and the pickles are made with heirloom vinegar and the coleslaw has hand-washed poppy seeds in it. The Texanist is too polite to decline, but that sort of froufrou feast leaves a terrible taste in his mouth, a taste that can be washed out only with a long night on the bar stool, which usually ends, as he has explained, and as your quandary does too, with a question for which the answer is indubitably “Yes.”
Q: When I decided to move to Texas from Ohio two years ago, I thought I would fit right in with my full-size, American-made pickup. Now that I’m here, I recognize a possible problem with my truck. It is not a Lone Star Edition, King Ranch Edition, or Texas Edition. I’ve driven trucks in Ohio my whole life, and I’m certain I never saw one of those up there. Should I trade in my regular truck for the appropriate Texas-branded truck, or can I get by with just adding some Texas detailing to it?
D. J. Reez , Laredo
A: As you have probably noticed, there are two things that Texas is chock-full of: pickup trucks and pride. Savvy truck marketers have seized on this fact, and it’s gotten a little out of control. The Texanist was taught not to wear his pride on his sleeve or on his truck’s quarter panel. Your feelings of inferiority are unfounded, as there is no shame in driving a plain, unbranded truck. Besides, all you have to do to make your current truck a real “Texas” truck is to haul yourself down to your local tax office, register your vehicle, and trade in those Ohio “Birthplace of Aviation” plates for ones that say “Texas Truck,” which should be branding enough for even the proudest truck driver out there.
Q: I am originally Canadian, but my family and I moved to Texas in 2003
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Bob Barker donates $100,000 to help rescued Bolivian lions
Feb 17, 2011
When 25 lions arrived in the U.S. from Bolivia on February 16, they were greeted by at least one famous American celebrity, reports the Daily Mail.
Bob Barker, the former host of The Price is Right and a longtime animal rights activist, donated $100,000 towards the animal rescue of the lions, among other animals, from deplorable conditions in Bolivian circuses.
A law was passed last year in Bolivia against the use of animals in circuses. Much of Barker's donation went towards tracking down and rescuing the animals within Bolivia.
"This has been a dream for so long, to empty a whole country of its circus animals," Jan Creamer, president of Animal Defenders International (ADI), told Reuters.
The lions, including mothers and cubs, will be taken to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado, following what has been nicknamed "Operation Lion Ark."
When the plane carrying the animals landed in Colorado, Bob Barker yelled an animal rights version of his famous catch-phrase on The Price is Right. Barker said, "Lion No. 1, come on down," reported the Daily Mail.
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Electromechanical relays have several advantages over solid-state relays. They are usually less expensive; they are more flexible because they require less current sink from the digital I/O board; and they are smaller, so they can be packaged to take up less space. Relays have their drawbacks, however. They can arc or surge when used with devices carrying an inductive load (such as motors), and they don't offer the same optical isolation. Important: When using CYERB for switching inductive loads, use the newer CYDO output only boards, which cannot be reset by the "inductive kick."
The digital I/O lines to the CYERB are pulled to a steady state by circuitry in the board so they do not randomly open or close on power-up.
Note: Our CYERB 48L-5PK and CYERB 48SL-5PK are special order, for a pack of five relay panels. (If you need more than five, please call.) Leadtime approximately 8 weeks. Sorry, no returns on these items.
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Poetry matters to me in ways I only realized, after I had started writing
Within my own subconcious lie the answers to all my questions in this life
...all my trials decyphered by myself, to myself, with words...
the meaning to the puzzle...and I have always had the picture!
appellare, get a sip of what’s unaware
Feel the firm in issued hand
On solid ground, weigh who that stands!
Cognomen, who are you?
Name yourself. O’ maiden rues!
Sobriquets, doth fades alas
. . . an alias? Don’t be an ass!
A’point, by signuum, infer, select
pro bare yourself, a non elect
Co-optations, brand-new leaf
Show them all just what you sheaf!
Re your world
Your tick still ticks . . .
Climb up higher to where the echos stick
Bid, hold your peace . . . and speak to it!
Poetry matters because it's music: which is the most pithy, concise and capsulated way to express emotion, states of mind and atmospheres using words. In fact even more condensed when done right then song lyrics themselves which usually have to serve the actually music melody or meter you choose to set the word to. Of course not all poems are short: but within them they should never be redundant (that's where the editor should step in) UNLESS that repetition is part of what state you are trying to create in the reader. So enought said, I like parallelisms and here's my most recent poem I wrote a few weeks ago. The only "poem" I've written since August 2007 I think:
River out of Eden [Confluences…]
Two streams running, side by side…
Merging – in a River,
Running to the SEA.
The River is You – (under sun & moon)
The little stream is me…
Confluences … emerging
River out of Eden, running to you…
Sometimes turbid, sometimes blue
Confluences – running crooked, running true
Mergers – flowing to the Sea,
Running homewards to You.
2. Two clouds building,
One bank over the Big Lake (yonder)
A little cumulus over my lone Pine Tree…
Floating, blowing towards the Blue beyond.
That sky is You (over clouds of rain, fields of dew)
…the Lone Cloud was me…
Confluences… “emerges” [running Home to You]
3. One Tree standing, on a lonely barren hill…
Like that old rugged cross,
That bore your body but couldn’t contain your SOUL –
That broken branch struck by storms,
Lies exposed like me –
The forest beyond yonder hill is You.
Confluences… Death merging into Life
LIFE emerges in a green vast sea.
4. Seeds of winter – lay them down – on dry fallow ground.
Waiting for rain (that never seems to come)
Seeds of Spring – YOU sow fertile soils,
Waiting for Rivers of Eternal Springs, fresh with life.
You said: “These are your harvests my children, for good or bad,
These are your harvests…” (On fields waiting for rain)
River out of Eden, running to You.
Some search forever (it seems)
Some turbid, some running true.
River out of Eden, sometimes running straight, sometimes running blue.
Poetry matters because it says so much, yet with an economy of words, using words that bring out the musicality of language. It can speak volumes of emotion or sensory experience, even if it is only a little haiku, if it is well-written.
I love the way that traditional (iambic pentameter / Shakespearean) sonnets have a rhythm that dances along sedately like a minuet. The old English style of writing is very charming, and well-suited to the sonnet.
Romantic Asian poetry really appeals to me. I love "Black Marigolds" by Chauras, which is a very long, sad love poem, well-worth searching for through Google. It is hauntingly poignant, full of references to exotic flora and fauna.
The world's best poems are worth reading again and again. "Bianca Among The Nightingales" by Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, is a fabulous, darkly-dramatic love poem. Bianca, the central character, has moved away from her beloved home town of Florence, Italy, to live in England, after losing her fiancee to an Englishwoman (who is never named). One assumes that she has done this in desperation, to try to win him back. Her wistful stanza about Florence is enough to bring a tear to your eyes...
My native Florence! dear, forgone!
I see across the Alpine ridge
How the last feast-day of Saint John
Shot rockets from Carraia bridge.
The luminous city, tall with fire,
Trod deep down in that river of ours,
While many a boat with lamp and choir
Skimmed birdlike over glittering towers.
I will not hear these nightingales.
....This stanza shows the sheer power that a poet can have, to paint a vivid picture with words. You can feel her sad nostalgia about Florence, and clearly see the magnificent city, lit up at night, reflected in the water - "glittering towers" - and how the boats, lit with lamps, skim "birdlike" over the surface of these shimmering reflections. All through this spectacle, the fireworks are exploding on the bridge. Then, in the very next stanza, she introduces the other woman....
I seem to float, we seem to float
Down Arno's stream in festive guise;
A boat strikes flame into our boat,
And up that lady seems to rise
As then she rose. The shock had flashed
A vision on us! What a head,
What leaping eyeballs!—beauty dashed
To splendour by a sudden dread.
And still they sing, the nightingales.
.......the theme of the nightingales is repeated throughout the poem, as if Bianca feels that the birds are mocking her by bringing back the memory of how they sang on that same night. As you read on, the poem gets sadder and more emotional... highly recommended for anyone who writes love poems or enjoys reading them. It would also be great for an actress to read aloud, in an Italian accent.
There are so many poems I love; the dark poetry of Edgar Allen Poe, the humourous work of Spike Milligan, the more cryptic outpourings of Sylvia Plath.
I always come back to rhyming poetry in the end, especially the sonnet form, in my own work. Maybe I am just old-fashioned at heart.
The world would certainly be a poorer place without poetry. I love it... poetry is the beating wings of the written (and spoken) word.
Poetry matters to me because it is a way I can express my emotions. Sometimes I am confused and cannot sort things out; and so I write a poem. It helps me better understand myself and my world, explore different issues I am dealing with or others are dealing with.
It is respite and therapy. It's a delicious meal of a thousand spices that change with every taste. It's hands in ink, quill dreams and parchment moods. It's breath, life, essential for this woman to spin through the days.
Comes Alchemy Once, a man said, kiss me,and I said, anything butthat nectar, petal within petal.And, for two decades,neither have I kissed you.Everything else, yes.Anyhow, slow, attentiverape is…Continue
CREATIVE THINKERS INTERNATIONAL MEMBERSHIP GUIDELINES
1. Membership at CTI is free and open to all those interested in either the production or appreciation of the creative arts, to include literature, visual art, dance, music, film, spiritual theory, the social sciences, philosophy, general humanities, scientific inquiry, education in general, and other disciplines intended to enhance the quality of life for all humanity. Applicants should be at least 17 years old and members are allowed one full profile per person.
2. Materials posted by Members of CTI are their sole responsibility and not that of CTI management or any other member of the CTI site.
3. While recognizing that the work of creative artists is often controversial by its very nature, CTI prohibits and discourages the posting of any overtly obscene and intentionally inflammatory material. These include overt pornography, racist diatribes, religious slander, and any postings promoting discrimination against or the oppression of other human beings.
4. In the interest of stimulating creative growth, we encourage dialogue and even debate. However, Members should avoid leaving intentionally offensive or antagonistic remarks on the pages of Fellow Members. We can disagree and still remain a harmonious community.
5. Explore, grow, share, and enjoy your creative success.
Please remember, these guidelines are likely to evolve as the site itself continues to evolve and develop. We welcome and encourage your input. After all, yours are some of the best minds on the planet so we would be very foolish not to listen to what you have to say.
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Each year, more than 75,000 people receive emergency services at Wheaton Franciscan – St. Joseph Campus. As the “front door” to the hospital, the Emergency Department maintains the highest levels of compassionate care and service, with highly skilled doctors and nurses, computerized patient tracking, and onsite lab and radiology services.
Beyond providing care in life-threatening emergencies, however, the St. Joseph Emergency Department also fills the need for a community health care safety net. The department is often a resource for people dealing with a health crisis that can be traced back to a lack of ongoing and preventive care:
an acute episode of a chronic disease, such as asthma, that could have been prevented with access to prescription medication; or
a worsening condition, such as an infection, that went untreated because the patient does not have health insurance.
Gifts to the Emergency Department support:
- The Care Management Indigent Drug program, which assists patients in receiving the medications they need until they can establish alternative options. Making sure that these patients get their prescriptions filled can help them avoid additional emergency department visits or hospitalization.
- The Family Empowerment Program, which assists individuals who turn to the Emergency Department for all of their health care needs. These patients are dealing with complicated issues such as mental illness, developmental disabilities, or drug or alcohol addictions, and do not have access to other health care services. Family Empowerment Program case managers work closely with these patients to help them navigate the insurance system, access appropriate health care resources, maintain their health, and set and achieve goals.
The demand for St. Joseph’s exceptional Emergency Department care is growing. Your gift to the department fund helps to ensure that all who enter receive care with the best technology, service, and comfort.
Our Funding Priorities
Honor a Guardian Angel
Women's Outpatient Center
Other Funding Areas
Contact us for additional information.
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"Bob Books Reading Magic shows kids how to make the connection between letters and sounds, sound out simple words and spell the words they’ve read. The game includes twelve scenes for a total of 32 words. Four game levels provide increasing challenges to children as they play."Here's a screenshot:
It wasn't obvious to our three year old tester that you can select a level of difficulty, rather than letting the game progress and get increasingly more difficult (we had written it off as a great game but too simple for the Bibliophile until I took a look at it myself tonight). You can actually choose among four difficulty levels from the options menu. By the 4th level, users spell a word by using letters floating on the page; letters not needed in the word are included, and there is no greyed out word where the answer belongs. This level is much better suited for the Bibliophile at the moment.
Overall, for $1.99, it's a fantastic tool for a pre- or early reader -- and a fun way to occupy your toddler during a doctor's visit.
Bob Books Reading Magic is available in the iTunes App Store (here). An iPad version is available as well.
Disclosure: We were provided a copy of the $1.99 Bob Books application at no cost in order to write this review.
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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Haji Hidayat makes his living selling one of Indonesia's most popular dishes: a tasty meatball soup known as bakso. Earlier this week, after 22 years he decided to take a break and leave the capital for his village, no longer able to afford to keep ladling the brothy goodness customers had come to expect from him.
The price of beef, the main ingredient in bakso, has hit a record high while other essential components — garlic, shallots and chillies — have also recently skyrocketed.
Beef now costs more than $10 a kilogram (2.2 pounds), up from around $6 a kilogram nine months ago. Meanwhile in the past month alone, sellers at a traditional market in Jakarta report garlic has leaped three and half times to $7.20 a kilogram, while shallots increased more than fourfold to $4.60 and chilies more than tripled to $5.15.
"This is insane!" said Hidayat, who held out as long as he could after hiking the cost of a bowl of his steaming soup last month from 30 cents to $1 to offset rising beef prices. "If we subtract the seasoning, our buyers don't like our meatball soup. If we raise the price, they can't afford to buy, so I'd better close my stall until the price returns to normal."
Other desperate bakso sellers, who typically hawk their dish from rolling food carts, ignited a firestorm late last year after opting to cut corners by mixing pork into their meatballs — a forbidden food for most in the world's most populous Muslim country.
Analysts say the high cost of beef is an inevitable side-effect of Indonesia's drive to achieve self-sufficiency in the meat as well as corn, rice, sugar and soybeans by 2014, a policy sparked by the global food crisis that hurt tens of millions in developing countries in 2007 and 2008. Garlic, shallots and chillies are not among those commodities but the surge in their prices, pinned on market manipulation by importers and flooding, underline other problems in the food industry that complicate efforts to keep prices affordable.
The spiraling costs have sparked intense debate in the media and online, prompting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to demand the trade and agriculture ministries stop pointing fingers and fix the surging prices. A watchdog organization accused garlic and shallot importers of creating a cartel by holding shipments of the pungent cloves hostage on the dock while prices climbed.
Last year, Indonesia slashed import quotas for live cattle by more than a third and boxed beef by nearly two thirds as part of its self-sufficiency plan, but its domestic production has not been high enough to fill the gap. Further import reductions are planned this year. The government says imported beef now accounts for only 14.5 percent of national consumption, down from 53 percent in 2010 with imports reduced from 220,000 tons to an expected 80,000 tons this year.
The self-sufficiency policy got significant political impetus in 2011 when Australia temporarily banned exports of live cattle to Indonesia following a public outcry over a video showing animals bellowing in pain and slowly bleeding to death at an Indonesian slaughterhouse. Then in 2012, Indonesia banned U.S. beef imports following one reported case of mad cow disease. Washington has accused Indonesia of protectionism and in January filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization.
Vice Agriculture Minister Rusman Heriawan said the government is pressing ahead with its agenda even as he acknowledged it had overestimated the ability of Indonesia's smallholder cattle farmers, many of whom have just three or four cows, to supply the market.
"Unfortunately, there are too many distortions which are not taken into account, causing meat prices to soar so high," he said.
"We need time to correct all the deficiencies that exist." People in Jakarta, who eat six times more beef than the national average, should "learn to realize self-sufficiency," he said.
In a report last year, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development called Indonesia's self-sufficiency goal "misplaced." Its archipelago geography, unreliable transport and lack of industrial farming mean it is ill equipped to engineer a significant increase in local food production. The OECD warned of rising prices that would ultimately harm the country's poor majority.
Andrzej Kwiecinski, senior agricultural policy analyst at the organization and the report's main author, said beef is possibly the least challenging of the commodities in which Indonesia hopes to achieve self-sufficiency. Rice and corn production were already close to meeting local demand while sugar and soybean production is years away from that.
Consumption of beef remains low across the country of 240 million at about 2 kilograms per person on average, with chicken and fish the main sources of protein. The beef price hikes will mostly affect people in cities and would likely lead to less public protest than sharp increases in the other targeted commodities.
But by continuing to drive prices higher, many small family farms, with herds of less than 10 cattle, may also be tempted to sell all their animals, including breeding stock, to capitalize on large profits, he said. This would work against the goal of producing more domestic cattle over time even as it pushed prices ever higher.
"This is not the way food security would be achieved," Kwiecinski said. "This is further contrasting with the objective of meeting consumers' demand and satisfying food requirements by the population."
Self-sufficiency is not simply about having enough cattle, but adequate facilities and infrastructure must also exist to distribute the herd across the world's largest archipelago nation, consisting of more than 17,000 islands, said Khudori, an agriculture and husbandry analyst from the country's Political Economic Association. Many Indonesians go by one name.
Getting beef to markets can take months as it passes from local traders to inter-island traders to retailers.
"Given the lack of supply, we need a huge volume of imports to stabilize the price," said Thomas Sembiring, chairman of Indonesia's Beef Importers Association.
"It is now the government that controls the price," he said. "But it blames importers over the fluctuation."
The situation is further worsened by rampant corruption, poor infrastructure and excessive government red tape, which all contribute to rising prices, he said.
And while garlic and shallots are not part of the self-sufficiency plan, both are potentially plagued by illegal business dealings.
The Business Competition Supervisory Commission, a government watchdog organization, said Monday that numerous importers had conspired to hold hundreds of containers of imported garlic and shallots at a port in Surabaya, East Java, until shortages drove prices sky high.
"Domestically, we're not ready to enhance productivity, resulting in a supply shortage," Commissioner Syarkawi Rauf said at a news conference. "And this is what speculators are trying to take advantage of."
The price of chilies has been affected mainly due to poor domestic crops, partially blamed on flooding.
But bakso seller Hidayat says he doesn't care what's to blame. His family depends on the $10 he earns every day serving up his famous soup, and he prays prices for all its ingredients will soon go back to normal so he can get back to work.
"It's bad enough to fall off a ladder, but then you get hit by the falling ladder too," he said, quoting an old Indonesian saying. "We are being hit twice," he said. "It's hard for us and we can't stand this situation any longer."
Associated Press writer Margie Mason contributed to this report.
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Newspapers Fight Back Against Search Engines
A news publishers' group is looking into ways to get payment from Internet search engines that the group claims are making money by taking someone else's content for free.
A task force of global and European publishers has agreed to examine ways to receive payment from Internet search engines and news aggregators that the group claims are making money by taking someone else's content for free.
Led by the Paris-based World Association of Newspapers, the group of newspaper, magazine and book publishers are hoping to write standards and policies that define the commercial relationship between publishers and search engines, such as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., and content aggregators.
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The task force also is exploring options, including collective action at either a national or international level, for enforcing copyright and preventing brand infringement, the group said. Among its first steps would be to meet with Charlie McCreevy, European Union commissioner for the internal market and services; and Viviane Reding, the commissioner for information society and media.
"The search engines are increasingly aiming their strategic efforts at traditional content originators and aggregators like newspaper publishers," Gavin O'Reilly, WAN president and chairman of the task force, said in a statement released Tuesday. "The irony is that these search engines exist, largely, because of the traditional news and content aggregators and profit at their expense."
O'Reilly compared search engines to Napster, a file-sharing service provider that was forced to change its business operation several years ago by a music industry lawsuit that objected to Napster allowing users to share songs for free.
"Google, Yahoo and other search engines are not some new breed of social benefactors of information -- they are assuredly commercial, very-much-for-profit organizations and not the new Robin Hoods," O'Reilly said.
Many newspapers in the United States has seen significant drops in readership as more people turn to the Web for daily news.
Web site traffic, however, increased in October 2005 by 11 percent from a year ago, to 39.3 million unique visitors, Nielsen/NetRatings said. The numbers indicated that traditional media is alive on the Internet, despite declining readership offline.
Besides search engine use of publishers' content, WAN said it was also "extremely concerned" with the actions taken by Internet companies when faced with censorship demands by repressive governments, O'Reilly said.
Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp., which owns the MSN portal, have said they would block information on their search engines that governments deemed were inappropriate based on local laws. Search engines have dealt with such restrictions in the communist nation of China, as well as democracies such as France and Germany.
Google is facing in the United States a lawsuit filed in October 2005 by major book publishers, which object to the search engine digitizing and storing library books without the permission of copyright holders.
The French news agency Agence France-Presse sued Google in March 2005 for taking photos and stories from AFP subscribers' Web sites and offering them to Google users. That case is pending.
The first meeting of the task force included representatives of WAN, the World Editors Forum, the International Publishers Association, the International Federation of the Periodical Press, the European Federation of Magazine Publishers, the European Publishers Council, the European Magazine Publishers Association, AFP and several French organizations.
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The Humble Programmer
Edsger W. Dijkstra
As a result of a long sequence of coincidences I entered the programming profession officially on the first spring morning of 1952 and as far as I have been able to trace, I was the first Dutchman to do so in my country. In retrospect the most amazing thing was the slowness with which, at least in my part of the world, the programming profession emerged, a slowness which is now hard to believe. But I am grateful for two vivid recollections from that period that establish that slowness beyond any doubt.
After having programmed for some three years, I had a discussion with A. van Wijngaarden, who was then my boss at the Mathematical Centre in Amsterdam, a discussion for which I shall remain grateful to him as long as I live. The point was that I was supposed to study theoretical physics at the University of Leiden simultaneously, and as I found the two activities harder and harder to combine, I had to make up my mind, either to stop programming and become a real, respectable theoretical physicist, or to carry my study of physics to a formal completion only, with a minimum of effort, and to become....., yes what? A programmer? But was that a respectable profession? For after all, what was programming? Where was the sound body of knowledge that could support it as an intellectually respectable discipline? I remember quite vividly how I envied my hardware colleagues, who, when asked about their professional competence, could at least point out that they knew everything about vacuum tubes, amplifiers and the rest, whereas I felt that, when faced with that question, I would stand empty-handed. Full of misgivings I knocked on van Wijngaarden’s office door, asking him whether I could “speak to him for a moment”; when I left his office a number of hours later, I was another person. For after having listened to my problems patiently, he agreed that up till that moment there was not much of a programming discipline, but then he went on to explain quietly that automatic computers were here to stay, that we were just at the beginning and could not I be one of the persons called to make programming a respectable discipline in the years to come? This was a turning point in my life and I completed my study of physics formally as quickly as I could. One moral of the above story is, of course, that we must be very careful when we give advice to younger people; sometimes they follow it!
Another two years later, in 1957, I married and Dutch marriage rites require you to state your profession and I stated that I was a programmer. But the municipal authorities of the town of Amsterdam did not accept it on the grounds that there was no such profession. And, believe it or not, but under the heading “profession” my marriage act shows the ridiculous entry “theoretical physicist”!
So much for the slowness with which I saw the programming profession emerge in my own country. Since then I have seen more of the world, and it is my general impression that in other countries, apart from a possible shift of dates, the growth pattern has been very much the same.
Let me try to capture the situation in those old days in a little bit more detail, in the hope of getting a better understanding of the situation today. While we pursue our analysis, we shall see how many common misunderstandings about the true nature of the programming task can be traced back to that now distant past.
The first automatic electronic computers were all unique, single-copy machines and they were all to be found in an environment with the exciting flavour of an experimental laboratory. Once the vision of the automatic computer was there, its realisation was a tremendous challenge to the electronic technology then available, and one thing is certain: we cannot deny the courage of the groups that decided to try and build such a fantastic piece of equipment. For fantastic pieces of equipment they were: in retrospect one can only wonder that those first machines worked at all, at least sometimes. The overwhelming problem was to get and keep the machine in working order. The preoccupation with the physical aspects of automatic computing is still reflected in the names of the older scientific societies in the field, such as the Association for Computing Machinery or the British Computer Society, names in which explicit reference is made to the physical equipment.
What about the poor programmer? Well, to tell the honest truth: he was hardly noticed. For one thing, the first machines were so bulky that you could hardly move them and besides that, they required such extensive maintenance that it was quite natural that the place where people tried to use the machine was the same laboratory where the machine had been developed. Secondly, his somewhat invisible work was without any glamour: you could show the machine to visitors and that was several orders of magnitude more spectacular than some sheets of coding. But most important of all, the programmer himself had a very modest view of his own work: his work derived all its significance from the existence of that wonderful machine. Because that was a unique machine, he knew only too well that his programs had only local significance and also, because it was patently obvious that this machine would have a limited lifetime, he knew that very little of his work would have a lasting value. Finally, there is yet another circumstance that had a profound influence on the programmer’s attitude to his work: on the one hand, besides being unreliable, his machine was usually too slow and its memory was usually too small, i.e. he was faced with a pinching shoe, while on the other hand its usually somewhat queer order code would cater for the most unexpected constructions. And in those days many a clever programmer derived an immense intellectual satisfaction from the cunning tricks by means of which he contrived to squeeze the impossible into the constraints of his equipment.
Two opinions about programming date from those days. I mention them now, I shall return to them later. The one opinion was that a really competent programmer should be puzzle-minded and very fond of clever tricks; the other opinon was that programming was nothing more than optimizing the efficiency of the computational process, in one direction or the other.
The latter opinion was the result of the frequent circumstance that, indeed, the available equipment was a painfully pinching shoe, and in those days one often encountered the naive expectation that, once more powerful machines were available, programming would no longer be a problem, for then the struggle to push the machine to its limits would no longer be necessary and that was all what programming was about, wasn’t it? But in the next decades something completely different happened: more powerful machines became available, not just an order of magnitude more powerful, even several orders of magnitude more powerful. But instead of finding ourselves in the state of eternal bliss of all progamming problems solved, we found ourselves up to our necks in the software crisis! How come?
There is a minor cause: in one or two respects modern machinery is basically more difficult to handle than the old machinery. Firstly, we have got the I/O interrupts, occurring at unpredictable and irreproducible moments; compared with the old sequential machine that pretended to be a fully deterministic automaton, this has been a dramatic change and many a systems programmer’s grey hair bears witness to the fact that we should not talk lightly about the logical problems created by that feature. Secondly, we have got machines equipped with multi-level stores, presenting us problems of management strategy that, in spite of the extensive literature on the subject, still remain rather elusive. So much for the added complication due to structural changes of the actual machines.
But I called this a minor cause; the major cause is... that the machines have become several orders of magnitude more powerful! To put it quite bluntly: as long as there were no machines, programming was no problem at all; when we had a few weak computers, programming became a mild problem, and now we have gigantic computers, programming had become an equally gigantic problem. In this sense the electronic industry has not solved a single problem, it has only created them, it has created the problem of using its products. To put it in another way: as the power of available machines grew by a factor of more than a thousand, society’s ambition to apply these machines grew in proportion, and it was the poor programmer who found his job in this exploded field of tension between ends and means. The increased power of the hardware, together with the perhaps even more dramatic increase in its reliability, made solutions feasible that the programmer had not dared to dream about a few years before. And now, a few years later, he had to dream about them and, even worse, he had to transform such dreams into reality! Is it a wonder that we found ourselves in a software crisis? No, certainly not, and as you may guess, it was even predicted well in advance; but the trouble with minor prophets, of course, is that it is only five years later that you really know that they had been right.
Then, in the mid-sixties, something terrible happened: the computers of the so-called third generation made their appearance. The official literature tells us that their price/performance ratio has been one of the major design objectives. But if you take as “performance” the duty cycle of the machine’s various components, little will prevent you from ending up with a design in which the major part of your performance goal is reached by internal housekeeping activities of doubtful necessity. And if your definition of price is the price to be paid for the hardware, little will prevent you from ending up wth a design that is terribly hard to program for: for instance the order code might be such as to enforce, either upon the programmer or upon the system, early binding decisions presenting conflicts that really cannot be resolved. And to a large extent these unpleasant possibilities seem to have become reality.
When these machines were announced and their functional specifications became known, quite a few among us must have become quite miserable; at least I was. It was only reasonable to expect that such machines would flood the computing community, and it was therefore all the more important that their design should be as sound as possible. But the design embodied such serious flaws that I felt that with a single stroke the progress of computing science had been retarded by at least ten years: it was then that I had the blackest week in the whole of my professional life. Perhaps the most saddening thing now is that, even after all those years of frustrating experience, still so many people honestly believe that some law of nature tells us that machines have to be that way. They silence their doubts by observing how many of these machines have been sold, and derive from that observation the false sense of security that, after all, the design cannot have been that bad. But upon closer inspection, that line of defense has the same convincing strength as the argument that cigarette smoking must be healthy because so many people do it.
It is in this connection that I regret that it is not customary for scientific journals in the computing area to publish reviews of newly announced computers in much the same way as we review scientific publications: to review machines would be at least as important. And here I have a confession to make: in the early sixties I wrote such a review with the intention of submitting it to the CACM, but in spite of the fact that the few colleagues to whom the text was sent for their advice, urged me all to do so, I did not dare to do it, fearing that the difficulties either for myself or for the editorial board would prove to be too great. This suppression was an act of cowardice on my side for which I blame myself more and more. The difficulties I foresaw were a consequence of the absence of generally accepted criteria, and although I was convinced of the validity of the criteria I had chosen to apply, I feared that my review would be refused or discarded as “a matter of personal taste”. I still think that such reviews would be extremely useful and I am longing to see them appear, for their accepted appearance would be a sure sign of maturity of the computing community.
The reason that I have paid the above attention to the hardware scene is because I have the feeling that one of the most important aspects of any computing tool is its influence on the thinking habits of those that try to use it, and because I have reasons to believe that that influence is many times stronger than is commonly assumed. Let us now switch our attention to the software scene.
Here the diversity has been so large that I must confine myself to a few stepping stones. I am painfully aware of the arbitrariness of my choice and I beg you not to draw any conclusions with regard to my appreciation of the many efforts that will remain unmentioned.
In the beginning there was the EDSAC in Cambridge, England, and I think it quite impressive that right from the start the notion of a subroutine library played a central role in the design of that machine and of the way in which it should be used. It is now nearly 25 years later and the computing scene has changed dramatically, but the notion of basic software is still with us, and the notion of the closed subroutine is still one of the key concepts in programming. We should recognise the closed subroutines as one of the greatest software inventions; it has survived three generations of computers and it will survive a few more, because it caters for the implementation of one of our basic patterns of abstraction. Regrettably enough, its importance has been underestimated in the design of the third generation computers, in which the great number of explicitly named registers of the arithmetic unit implies a large overhead on the subroutine mechanism. But even that did not kill the concept of the subroutine, and we can only pray that the mutation won’t prove to be hereditary.
The second major development on the software scene that I would like to mention is the birth of FORTRAN. At that time this was a project of great temerity and the people responsible for it deserve our great admiration. It would be absolutely unfair to blame them for shortcomings that only became apparent after a decade or so of extensive usage: groups with a successful look-ahead of ten years are quite rare! In retrospect we must rate FORTRAN as a successful coding technique, but with very few effective aids to conception, aids which are now so urgently needed that time has come to consider it out of date. The sooner we can forget that FORTRAN has ever existed, the better, for as a vehicle of thought it is no longer adequate: it wastes our brainpower, is too risky and therefore too expensive to use. FORTRAN’s tragic fate has been its wide acceptance, mentally chaining thousands and thousands of programmers to our past mistakes. I pray daily that more of my fellow-programmers may find the means of freeing themselves from the curse of compatibility.
The third project I would not like to leave unmentioned is LISP, a fascinating enterprise of a completely different nature. With a few very basic principles at its foundation, it has shown a remarkable stability. Besides that, LISP has been the carrier for a considerable number of in a sense our most sophisticated computer applications. LISP has jokingly been described as “the most intelligent way to misuse a computer”. I think that description a great compliment because it transmits the full flavour of liberation: it has assisted a number of our most gifted fellow humans in thinking previously impossible thoughts.
The fourth project to be mentioned is ALGOL 60. While up to the present day FORTRAN programmers still tend to understand their programming language in terms of the specific implementation they are working with —hence the prevalence of octal and hexadecimal dumps—, while the definition of LISP is still a curious mixture of what the language means and how the mechanism works, the famous Report on the Algorithmic Language ALGOL 60 is the fruit of a genuine effort to carry abstraction a vital step further and to define a programming language in an implementation-independent way. One could argue that in this respect its authors have been so successful that they have created serious doubts as to whether it could be implemented at all! The report gloriously demonstrated the power of the formal method BNF, now fairly known as Backus-Naur-Form, and the power of carefully phrased English, a least when used by someone as brilliant as Peter Naur. I think that it is fair to say that only very few documents as short as this have had an equally profound influence on the computing community. The ease with which in later years the names ALGOL and ALGOL-like have been used, as an unprotected trade mark, to lend some of its glory to a number of sometimes hardly related younger projects, is a somewhat shocking compliment to its standing. The strength of BNF as a defining device is responsible for what I regard as one of the weaknesses of the language: an over-elaborate and not too systematic syntax could now be crammed into the confines of very few pages. With a device as powerful as BNF, the Report on the Algorithmic Language ALGOL 60 should have been much shorter. Besides that I am getting very doubtful about ALGOL 60’s parameter mechanism: it allows the programmer so much combinatorial freedom, that its confident use requires a strong discipline from the programmer. Besides expensive to implement it seems dangerous to use.
Finally, although the subject is not a pleasant one, I must mention PL/1, a programming language for which the defining documentation is of a frightening size and complexity. Using PL/1 must be like flying a plane with 7000 buttons, switches and handles to manipulate in the cockpit. I absolutely fail to see how we can keep our growing programs firmly within our intellectual grip when by its sheer baroqueness the programming language —our basic tool, mind you!— already escapes our intellectual control. And if I have to describe the influence PL/1 can have on its users, the closest metaphor that comes to my mind is that of a drug. I remember from a symposium on higher level programming language a lecture given in defense of PL/1 by a man who described himself as one of its devoted users. But within a one-hour lecture in praise of PL/1. he managed to ask for the addition of about fifty new “features”, little supposing that the main source of his problems could very well be that it contained already far too many “features”. The speaker displayed all the depressing symptoms of addiction, reduced as he was to the state of mental stagnation in which he could only ask for more, more, more... When FORTRAN has been called an infantile disorder, full PL/1, with its growth characteristics of a dangerous tumor, could turn out to be a fatal disease.
So much for the past. But there is no point in making mistakes unless thereafter we are able to learn from them. As a matter of fact, I think that we have learned so much, that within a few years programming can be an activity vastly different from what it has been up till now, so different that we had better prepare ourselves for the shock. Let me sketch for you one of the posssible futures. At first sight, this vision of programming in perhaps already the near future may strike you as utterly fantastic. Let me therefore also add the considerations that might lead one to the conclusion that this vision could be a very real possibility.
The vision is that, well before the seventies have run to completion, we shall be able to design and implement the kind of systems that are now straining our programming ability, at the expense of only a few percent in man-years of what they cost us now, and that besides that, these systems will be virtually free of bugs. These two improvements go hand in hand. In the latter respect software seems to be different from many other products, where as a rule a higher quality implies a higher price. Those who want really reliable software will discover that they must find means of avoiding the majority of bugs to start with, and as a result the programming process will become cheaper. If you want more effective programmers, you will discover that they should not waste their time debugging, they should not introduce the bugs to start with. In other words: both goals point to the same change.
Such a drastic change in such a short period of time would be a revolution, and to all persons that base their expectations for the future on smooth extrapolation of the recent past —appealing to some unwritten laws of social and cultural inertia— the chance that this drastic change will take place must seem negligible. But we all know that sometimes revolutions do take place! And what are the chances for this one?
There seem to be three major conditions that must be fulfilled. The world at large must recognize the need for the change; secondly the economic need for it must be sufficiently strong; and, thirdly, the change must be technically feasible. Let me discuss these three conditions in the above order.
With respect to the recognition of the need for greater reliability of software, I expect no disagreement anymore. Only a few years ago this was different: to talk about a software crisis was blasphemy. The turning point was the Conference on Software Engineering in Garmisch, October 1968, a conference that created a sensation as there occured the first open admission of the software crisis. And by now it is generally recognized that the design of any large sophisticated system is going to be a very difficult job, and whenever one meets people responsible for such undertakings, one finds them very much concerned about the reliability issue, and rightly so. In short, our first condition seems to be satisfied.
Now for the economic need. Nowadays one often encounters the opinion that in the sixties programming has been an overpaid profession, and that in the coming years programmer salaries may be expected to go down. Usually this opinion is expressed in connection with the recession, but it could be a symptom of something different and quite healthy, viz. that perhaps the programmers of the past decade have not done so good a job as they should have done. Society is getting dissatisfied with the performance of programmers and of their products. But there is another factor of much greater weight. In the present situation it is quite usual that for a specific system, the price to be paid for the development of the software is of the same order of magnitude as the price of the hardware needed, and society more or less accepts that. But hardware manufacturers tell us that in the next decade hardware prices can be expected to drop with a factor of ten. If software development were to continue to be the same clumsy and expensive process as it is now, things would get completely out of balance. You cannot expect society to accept this, and therefore we must learn to program an order of magnitude more effectively. To put it in another way: as long as machines were the largest item on the budget, the programming profession could get away with its clumsy techniques, but that umbrella will fold rapidly. In short, also our second condition seems to be satisfied.
And now the third condition: is it technically feasible? I think it might and I shall give you six arguments in support of that opinion.
A study of program structure had revealed that programs —even alternative programs for the same task and with the same mathematical content— can differ tremendously in their intellectual manageability. A number of rules have been discovered, violation of which will either seriously impair or totally destroy the intellectual manageability of the program. These rules are of two kinds. Those of the first kind are easily imposed mechanically, viz. by a suitably chosen programming language. Examples are the exclusion of goto-statements and of procedures with more than one output parameter. For those of the second kind I at least —but that may be due to lack of competence on my side— see no way of imposing them mechanically, as it seems to need some sort of automatic theorem prover for which I have no existence proof. Therefore, for the time being and perhaps forever, the rules of the second kind present themselves as elements of discipline required from the programmer. Some of the rules I have in mind are so clear that they can be taught and that there never needs to be an argument as to whether a given program violates them or not. Examples are the requirements that no loop should be written down without providing a proof for termination nor without stating the relation whose invariance will not be destroyed by the execution of the repeatable statement.
I now suggest that we confine ourselves to the design and implementation of intellectually manageable programs. If someone fears that this restriction is so severe that we cannot live with it, I can reassure him: the class of intellectually manageable programs is still sufficiently rich to contain many very realistic programs for any problem capable of algorithmic solution. We must not forget that it is not our business to make programs, it is our business to design classes of computations that will display a desired behaviour. The suggestion of confining ourselves to intellectually manageable programs is the basis for the first two of my announced six arguments.
Argument one is that, as the programmer only needs to consider intellectually manageable programs, the alternatives he is choosing between are much, much easier to cope with.
Argument two is that, as soon as we have decided to restrict ourselves to the subset of the intellectually manageable programs, we have achieved, once and for all, a drastic reduction of the solution space to be considered. And this argument is distinct from argument one.
Argument three is based on the constructive approach to the problem of program correctness. Today a usual technique is to make a program and then to test it. But: program testing can be a very effective way to show the presence of bugs, but is hopelessly inadequate for showing their absence. The only effective way to raise the confidence level of a program significantly is to give a convincing proof of its correctness. But one should not first make the program and then prove its correctness, because then the requirement of providing the proof would only increase the poor programmer’s burden. On the contrary: the programmer should let correctness proof and program grow hand in hand. Argument three is essentially based on the following observation. If one first asks oneself what the structure of a convincing proof would be and, having found this, then constructs a program satisfying this proof’s requirements, then these correctness concerns turn out to be a very effective heuristic guidance. By definition this approach is only applicable when we restrict ourselves to intellectually manageable programs, but it provides us with effective means for finding a satisfactory one among these.
Argument four has to do with the way in which the amount of intellectual effort needed to design a program depends on the program length. It has been suggested that there is some kind of law of nature telling us that the amount of intellectual effort needed grows with the square of program length. But, thank goodness, no one has been able to prove this law. And this is because it need not be true. We all know that the only mental tool by means of which a very finite piece of reasoning can cover a myriad cases is called “abstraction”; as a result the effective exploitation of his powers of abstraction must be regarded as one of the most vital activities of a competent programmer. In this connection it might be worth-while to point out that the purpose of abstracting is not to be vague, but to create a new semantic level in which one can be absolutely precise. Of course I have tried to find a fundamental cause that would prevent our abstraction mechanisms from being sufficiently effective. But no matter how hard I tried, I did not find such a cause. As a result I tend to the assumption —up till now not disproved by experience— that by suitable application of our powers of abstraction, the intellectual effort needed to conceive or to understand a program need not grow more than proportional to program length. But a by-product of these investigations may be of much greater practical significance, and is, in fact, the basis of my fourth argument. The by-product was the identification of a number of patterns of abstraction that play a vital role in the whole process of composing programs. Enough is now known about these patterns of abstraction that you could devote a lecture to about each of them. What the familiarity and conscious knowledge of these patterns of abstraction imply dawned upon me when I realized that, had they been common knowledge fifteen years ago, the step from BNF to syntax-directed compilers, for instance, could have taken a few minutes instead of a few years. Therefore I present our recent knowledge of vital abstraction patterns as the fourth argument.
Now for the fifth argument. It has to do with the influence of the tool we are trying to use upon our own thinking habits. I observe a cultural tradition, which in all probability has its roots in the Renaissance, to ignore this influence, to regard the human mind as the supreme and autonomous master of its artefacts. But if I start to analyse the thinking habits of myself and of my fellow human beings, I come, whether I like it or not, to a completely different conclusion, viz. that the tools we are trying to use and the language or notation we are using to express or record our thoughts, are the major factors determining what we can think or express at all! The analysis of the influence that programming languages have on the thinking habits of its users, and the recognition that, by now, brainpower is by far our scarcest resource, they together give us a new collection of yardsticks for comparing the relative merits of various programming languages. The competent programmer is fully aware of the strictly limited size of his own skull; therefore he approaches the programming task in full humility, and among other things he avoids clever tricks like the plague. In the case of a well-known conversational programming language I have been told from various sides that as soon as a programming community is equipped with a terminal for it, a specific phenomenon occurs that even has a well-established name: it is called “the one-liners”. It takes one of two different forms: one programmer places a one-line program on the desk of another and either he proudly tells what it does and adds the question “Can you code this in less symbols?” —as if this were of any conceptual relevance!— or he just asks “Guess what it does!”. From this observation we must conclude that this language as a tool is an open invitation for clever tricks; and while exactly this may be the explanation for some of its appeal, viz. to those who like to show how clever they are, I am sorry, but I must regard this as one of the most damning things that can be said about a programming language. Another lesson we should have learned from the recent past is that the development of “richer” or “more powerful” programming languages was a mistake in the sense that these baroque monstrosities, these conglomerations of idiosyncrasies, are really unmanageable, both mechanically and mentally. I see a great future for very systematic and very modest programming languages. When I say “modest”, I mean that, for instance, not only ALGOL 60’s “for clause”, but even FORTRAN’s “DO loop” may find themselves thrown out as being too baroque. I have run a a little programming experiment with really experienced volunteers, but something quite unintended and quite unexpected turned up. None of my volunteers found the obvious and most elegant solution. Upon closer analysis this turned out to have a common source: their notion of repetition was so tightly connected to the idea of an associated controlled variable to be stepped up, that they were mentally blocked from seeing the obvious. Their solutions were less efficient, needlessly hard to understand, and it took them a very long time to find them. It was a revealing, but also shocking experience for me. Finally, in one respect one hopes that tomorrow’s programming languages will differ greatly from what we are used to now: to a much greater extent than hitherto they should invite us to reflect in the structure of what we write down all abstractions needed to cope conceptually with the complexity of what we are designing. So much for the greater adequacy of our future tools, which was the basis of the fifth argument.
As an aside I would like to insert a warning to those who identify the difficulty of the programming task with the struggle against the inadequacies of our current tools, because they might conclude that, once our tools will be much more adequate, programming will no longer be a problem. Programming will remain very difficult, because once we have freed ourselves from the circumstantial cumbersomeness, we will find ourselves free to tackle the problems that are now well beyond our programming capacity.
You can quarrel with my sixth argument, for it is not so easy to collect experimental evidence for its support, a fact that will not prevent me from believing in its validity. Up till now I have not mentioned the word “hierarchy”, but I think that it is fair to say that this is a key concept for all systems embodying a nicely factored solution. I could even go one step further and make an article of faith out of it, viz. that the only problems we can really solve in a satisfactory manner are those that finally admit a nicely factored solution. At first sight this view of human limitations may strike you as a rather depressing view of our predicament, but I don’t feel it that way, on the contrary! The best way to learn to live with our limitations is to know them. By the time that we are sufficiently modest to try factored solutions only, because the other efforts escape our intellectual grip, we shall do our utmost best to avoid all those interfaces impairing our ability to factor the system in a helpful way. And I cannot but expect that this will repeatedly lead to the discovery that an initially untractable problem can be factored after all. Anyone who has seen how the majority of the troubles of the compiling phase called “code generation” can be tracked down to funny properties of the order code, will know a simple example of the kind of things I have in mind. The wider applicability of nicely factored solutions is my sixth and last argument for the technical feasibiilty of the revolution that might take place in the current decade.
In principle I leave it to you to decide for yourself how much weight you are going to give to my considerations, knowing only too well that I can force no one else to share my beliefs. As each serious revolution, it will provoke violent opposition and one can ask oneself where to expect the conservative forces trying to counteract such a development. I don’t expect them primarily in big business, not even in the computer business; I expect them rather in the educational institutions that provide today’s training and in those conservative groups of computer users that think their old programs so important that they don’t think it worth-while to rewrite and improve them. In this connection it is sad to observe that on many a university campus the choice of the central computing facility has too often been determined by the demands of a few established but expensive applications with a disregard of the question how many thousands of “small users” that are willing to write their own programs were going to suffer from this choice. Too often, for instance, high-energy physics seems to have blackmailed the scientific community with the price of its remaining experimental equipment. The easiest answer, of course, is a flat denial of the technical feasibility, but I am afraid that you need pretty strong arguments for that. No reassurance, alas, can be obtained from the remark that the intellectual ceiling of today’s average programmer will prevent the revolution from taking place: with others programming so much more effectively, he is liable to be edged out of the picture anyway.
There may also be political impediments. Even if we know how to educate tomorrow’s professional programmer, it is not certain that the society we are living in will allow us to do so. The first effect of teaching a methodology —rather than disseminating knowledge— is that of enhancing the capacities of the already capable, thus magnifying the difference in intelligence. In a society in which the educational system is used as an instrument for the establishment of a homogenized culture, in which the cream is prevented from rising to the top, the education of competent programmers could be politically impalatable.
Let me conclude. Automatic computers have now been with us for a quarter of a century. They have had a great impact on our society in their capacity of tools, but in that capacity their influence will be but a ripple on the surface of our culture, compared with the much more profound influence they will have in their capacity of intellectual challenge without precedent in the cultural history of mankind. Hierarchical systems seem to have the property that something considered as an undivided entity on one level, is considered as a composite object on the next lower level of greater detail; as a result the natural grain of space or time that is applicable at each level decreases by an order of magnitude when we shift our attention from one level to the next lower one. We understand walls in terms of bricks, bricks in terms of crystals, crystals in terms of molecules etc. As a result the number of levels that can be distinguished meaningfully in a hierarchical system is kind of proportional to the logarithm of the ratio between the largest and the smallest grain, and therefore, unless this ratio is very large, we cannot expect many levels. In computer programming our basic building block has an associated time grain of less than a microsecond, but our program may take hours of computation time. I do not know of any other technology covering a ratio of 1010 or more: the computer, by virtue of its fantastic speed, seems to be the first to provide us with an environment where highly hierarchical artefacts are both possible and necessary. This challenge, viz. the confrontation with the programming task, is so unique that this novel experience can teach us a lot about ourselves. It should deepen our understanding of the processes of design and creation, it should give us better control over the task of organizing our thoughts. If it did not do so, to my taste we should not deserve the computer at all!
It has already taught us a few lessons, and the one I have chosen to stress in this talk is the following. We shall do a much better programming job, provided that we approach the task with a full appreciation of its tremendous difficulty, provided that we stick to modest and elegant programming languages, provided that we respect the intrinsic limitations of the human mind and approach the task as Very Humble Programmers.
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No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from cows treated with artificial hormones and those not treated with artificial hormones.
What interests me about this product and its label is less the actual issue of what should or shouldn't be in milk, or how milk should or shouldn't be produced. (I try to resist the modern temptation to declare oneself an expert on a topic after 8 minutes of googling.) No, what I find curious about this milk and the [apparently FDA required-] label is the reason-based decision to put this product out there in the first place, and the reason-heavy tenor of a label that is respectful of the consumer's intelligence. Before posting this blog, I was hoping to make a call to New Seasons corporate, to find out how the milk is selling compared to the $5/gallon organic milk varieties sold on the same shelves. But holidays, taking care of baby Spencer, and an imminent trip (to India!) got in the way. If anyone happens to know, or happens to know someone who can tell me, do be in touch.
There is also the Wired cover story (November) about the wacko anti-vaccine movement. I especially like the mug-shots lineup of the misinformation peddlers. Even more satisfying, perhaps, was a French court's decision to fine the Church of Scientology. I know. These people and their ilk are thriving, this case was only about financial fraud, and nothing is going to remedy the global epidemic of nutty naivete anytime soon. Still, I can't help but feel good that a court--any court--made even a modest attempt to call a spade a spade.
This last example, for now, is a little subtler, but a close look at the diction of a recent New York Times article reveals something interesting about how we, as a society, deal with ideas that fall loosely into the category of anti-intellectualism/denialism/pseudoscience. What struck me was this passage:
The anti-vaccine movement, largely comprising activists and a handful of doctors and researchers who connect a variety of health problems — particularly autism spectrum disorders — to vaccines, has failed to find large-scale traction in the United States, where more than 90 percent of children are vaccinated.
This is a classic example of the media shaping or steering an issue, as opposed to merely reporting it. Countless stories and books in recent years, including the November Wired piece, have addressed the alarming trend of vaccination refusal, and how more and more educated people are jumping on this bandwagon made of ignorance and recklessness. The problem is that when people see those kinds of stories, some of them can't help but wonder what all the fuss is about--What do Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy know that I don't know? And then they're off, on a Web-surfing foray into the morass, where they easily and quickly find more official-looking misinformation than they could ever have time consume. Voila: another taker in the age of the 8-minute expert. All of which is to say that the blend of diction and editing at the Times that led to the sentence above, and especially to the phrase about the movement's failure to gain traction, is thought provoking--and then some. Does it matter, though? Take a look at the nearly 300 comments to the Times piece, or the 643 comments to Amy Wallace's piece in Wired, for a glimpse of the views out there, ranging from the inspiring to the ghastly. (NPR actually aired a short piece about the hostile response directed at Wallace.)
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Tomorrow, April 5, 2012, at noon Wyoming time, you have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: you can buy yourself a town. The whole town of Buford, Wyoming, is going up on the auction block.
Buford, Wyoming is located on Interstate 80 between Laramie and Cheynenne, as seen in the map above. It measures only 10 acres, or about two hundredths of a square mile. According to the Wyoming News, the community was founded in 1866, serving as a temporary home base for roughly 2,000 railroad workers as they laid tracks in the area. Soon after, Buford played host to President Ulysses S. Grant, who visited in 1869, and famed outlaw Butch Cassidy, who robbed a store there sometime in the 1880s. In 1880, the community got its own post office — today, it is zip code 82052 and is still in use. But by and large, Buford peaked around that time. As the railroad moved westward, so did the workers, and therefore, so did Buford’s population.
A century after the Buford post office opened its doors, a man named Don Sammons and his family moved to Buford. At some point, Sammons took over the Buford Trading Post, a general store which, according to TIME, does good business, with 1,000 or so customers daily. What was attracting all these people to this tiny little shop? I-80 gets a lot of traffic, yes, but tourists were stopping in Buford to experience the town’s unique claim: it was the town with the population of 1. It seems that in 2008, Sammons’ son moved out, leaving Sammons himself as the town’s only resident. And the shoppers were coming to see it for themselves.
Sammons, now in his sixties, has decided to retire and leave Buford. (He hasn’t stated where he’s going.) But rather than abandon it, Sammons is putting the town up for auction. The highest bidder will receive all ten acres of Buford, including the convenience store, a gas station, a house, cabin, a small schoolhouse, and some vehicles. And of course, the winner may assume the title of mayor, which Sammons is relinquishing.
Want to bid? The minimum price is $100,000 and you can bid online. The auction house claims that this is the first time anyone’s sold an entire town this way, and we tend to believe them.
Bonus fact: The J.W. Wescott II (Wikipedia entry here) is a boat operating out of Detroit, Michigan, which delivers mail to other boats in the Great Lakes and Detroit River. It is the only floating post office in the world.
From the Archives: Manslaughter in Moriusaq: A town of four people. No, wait: make that three.
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Relates to filing and investigation of reports alleging educational neglect; requires a hearing prior to filing a report with the local social services department and requires that the report be expunged where the report is determined to be unfounded.
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the social services law, in relation to reports of educational neglect by school districts
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: To promote the efficient administration of neglect proceedings.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1 amends subdivision 8 of section 34-a of the social services law. Section 2 amends paragraph c of subdivision 5 of section 422 of the social services law. Section 3 is the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION: An investigation into an allegation of educational neglect is administered by the State in the same manner as an allegation of maltreatment, physical abuse or sexual abuse. In all cases a call is made to the Statewide Central Registry (SCR), and if the report is accepted, an investigation commences. That investigation can be determined to be "unfounded" if the facts don't corroborate the allegation, or can be "indicated" if there is credible evidence that the child is endangered.
All indicated reports are maintained by the SCR, and the information is available to child care employers, child protective agencies and the police for at least ten years, and in some instances, twenty years or more. An unfounded report is retained on the SCR for the same amount of time, but is only available to police or child protective agencies.
The SCR system serves children because an unfounded report may help inform a subsequent investigation of abuse or maltreatment. A person can have their record expunged if the source of the report was convicted of falsely making that report, or if the subject can affirmative refute the allegation to the satisfaction of the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) by a clear and convincing standard of evidence. These are difficult standards to meet. This system works well in abuse and maltreatment situations, given the potential risk to children.
However, reports to the SCR alleging educational neglect can be made in response to a broad range of situations, given the school district's internal policies. In August of 2006, the Legislature directed OCFS and the State Education Department to develop model policies which local school and social services districts could follow in order to protect children who were the victims of educational neglect. Educational neglect is defined under that policy as "the failure of a parent to ensure that child's prompt and regular attendance in school or the keeping of a child out of school for impermissible reasons resulting in an adverse affect on the child's educational progress or imminent danger of such an adverse affect."
The Committee on Children and Families has learned of several instances where school districts across the State have filed
educational neglect petition when parents objected to their child's assignment to a special education program. In each of these cases, the charge of educational neglect was filed before the Independent Educational Plan evaluation was conducted. Even though these parent were exonerated of any charge by the child protective investigation which followed, the unfounded reports remains a matter of record for approximately a decade.
The burden is on these individuals to disprove the allegations to the satisfaction of OCFS. It is unreasonable and inappropriate to demand that this person satisfy the clear and convincing evidence standard, which is the most stringent standard applied in civil cases, in order to clear their record of an unfounded report stemming from a disagreement over their child's educational plan.
Educational neglect is unlike other abuse and maltreatment cases. Though allegations of educational neglect are serious, they can, as highlighted above, occur in situations which do not point to abuse or maltreatment. Accordingly, this legislation prevents a school district from alleging a case of educational neglect unless any necessary hearings by the committee on special education have occurred. Further, if any investigation of educational neglect is found to be without merit, the subject's record must be expunged.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: First introduced in 2010.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: None.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 362 2011-2012 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (PREFILED) January 5, 2011 ___________Introduced by Sen. MONTGOMERY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Social Services AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to reports of educational neglect by school districts THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Subdivision 8 of section 34-a of the social services law, as added by chapter 543 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 8. The commissioner of the office of children and family services shall, in conjunction with the commissioner of education, develop model practices and procedures for local social services districts and school districts regarding the reporting and investigation of educational neglect. SUCH POLICIES SHALL REQUIRE THAT A HEARING BY THE COMMITTEE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION, OR SUCH OTHER APPROPRIATE HEARING BODY, SHALL BE CONDUCTED AND CONCLUDED PRIOR TO THE FILING OF ANY REPORT WITH THE LOCAL SOCIAL SERVICES DISTRICT ALLEGING EDUCATIONAL NEGLECT. Such model prac- tices and procedures shall be available to social services districts and school districts and shall be posted on the office of children and fami- ly services website and the state department of education website by September first, two thousand seven. Each social services district shall, in conjunction with local school districts within its district, submit written policies and procedures regarding the reporting of educa- tional neglect by each school district within such social services district and the investigation of educational neglect allegations by child protective services. Such policies and procedures shall be submit- ted to the office of children and family services for review by January first, two thousand eight and the office shall approve or disapprove such local policies and procedures, based upon the model practices andEXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02373-01-1 S. 362 2
procedures established in conjunction with the state department of education, within sixty days of submission. S 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 5 of section 422 of the social services law, as added by chapter 555 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as follows: (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the office of children and family services may, in its discretion, grant a request to expunge an unfounded report where: (i) the source of the report was convicted of a violation of subdivision three of section 240.55 of the penal law in regard to such report; or (ii) the subject of the report presents clear and convincing evidence that affirmatively refutes the allegation of abuse or maltreatment; provided however, that the absence of credible evidence supporting the allegation of abuse or maltreatment shall not be the sole basis to expunge the report, EXCEPT THAT WHERE THE MALTREATMENT ALLEGED WAS BASED UPON A CLAIM OF EDUCATIONAL NEGLECT AND SUCH REPORT WAS DETERMINED TO BE UNFOUNDED THE OFFICE SHALL EXPUNGE THE REPORT BASED SOLELY UPON SUCH FINDING. Nothing in this paragraph shall require the office of children and family services to hold an administrative hearing in deciding whether to expunge a report. Such office shall make its determination upon reviewing the written evidence submitted by the subject of the report and any records or information obtained from the state or local agency which investigated the allegations of abuse or maltreatment. S 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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Created on Thursday, 08 March 2012 22:57 Published Date Hits: 4620
The recent district court ruling on the Otter Creek coal tracts lease expressed faith in the capacity of state agencies to effectively and objectively go through the permitting and regulatory process for that proposed mine.
I fear that the court’s faith may be misplaced.
The state of Montana is Arch Coal’s business partner. The Land Board’s lease was just the first step in that business relationship, and the state has a strong financial interest and, frankly, a conflict of interest in seeing that the Otter Creek coal is mined.
It’s naïve of the court to assume that the Land Board could say “no” to a permit for the mine if it ever moves forward. Having leased the coal, the Land Board has started the wheels in motion for bringing money into state coffers. There’s little chance the Land Board would refuse a permit or even put restrictive conditions onto it. Montanans would be left dealing with the impacts when most of the coal will be sold to Asian customers.
Experience has taught us that getting safeguards enforced by state agencies can be a big enough challenge. But when it’s exercising oversight over its own business partner, how can we seriously expect the state to also be an effective enforcer of the laws protecting our land and water and air?
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The European Central Bank kept the pressure on troubled euro zone countries on Thursday, sending a clear signal that while the bank may take further measures to bring sky-high borrowing costs down, struggling countries must act and take responsibility for their finances.
"First of all governments need to go to the EFSF ; the ECB cannot replace governments,” Draghi told reporters at a news conference after the central bank left rates on hold at 0.75 percent.
Troubled member states (related: world's biggest debtor nations ) can submit a request for aid from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), Europe’s rescue fund, which can then respond by buying up bonds to drive yields down. But Germany wants to attach strict conditions to such a move.
German officials have also warned the ECB against large-scale bond buying in recent days and Draghi conceded that the German Bundesbank and chief Jens Weidmann had their “reservations” about the bond-buying program.
“The ECB is trying to put the ball firmly back in the court of the politicians. Monetary policy cannot solve this crisis. It can provide breathing space but it cannot solve it, James Ashley, senior economist at RBC Capital Markets told CNBC.Page 1 of 3 | Next Page
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The latest list of the 10 worst proposed Internet laws is out, and topping it are efforts by state legislators to derail disruptive business models such as Airbnb.com and Uber.com.
NetChoice, a Washington, D.C., coalition that includes Facebook, eBay, VeriSign, and Yahoo as members, today plans to release its updated “iAWFUL” list of misguided, nutty, or simply counterproductive laws. On NetChoice’s worst-of-the-worst list:
Uber.com, an online and mobile-device service for finding a car service, has been curbed by city taxi commissions who cite “hack” laws to preserve their monopolies.
Airbnb.com, an online service that allows you to rent your home for short periods of time, faces challenges from regulators in Iowa, who want Airbnb to be regulated as a travel service. New York lawmakers moved to impose hotel regulations on individual homeowners using Airbnb.
Users of TrueCar.com have bought over half a million
cars from local dealer partners who received pricing inquiries from fully-informed consumers ready to explore a no-haggle deal. And dealers were glad to pay TrueCar only when they actually made a sale. But state auto regulators suspect that’s just too good to be true, and that legacy consumer protection laws might actually prohibit this kind of online innovation.
Other iAWFUL finalists: a proposal from Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, who wants to slap more regulations on mobile devices; a lobbying effort to tax digital downloads; the White House’s privacy bill of rights that would curb “the behavioral advertising that pays for much of the Internet’s free content.”
Not making the list is the Stop Online Piracy Act or its Senate equivalent, called the Protect IP Act.
That may be because the bills were yanked from House and Senate calendars after January’s historic online protest–which included Wikipedia going dark for a day, alerts appearing on the home page of Google.com and Amazon.com, and so on.
But the legislation’s supporters have vowed not to give up the fight. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, has called Protect IP an “extremely important” piece of legislation and said he wants to move forward. And Protect IP’s author, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said in January that he still hopes “to send a bill to the president’s desk this year.”
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Juvenile delinquency on rise
33,887 minors arrested in 2011
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, Jan 13: Over 33,000 juveniles, mostly between the age group of 16 to 18, have been arrested for crimes like rape and murder across the country in 2011, the highest in last decade.
According to a Home Ministry data, of the total of 33,387 juveniles apprehended in 2011, 21,657 were in the 16-18 age group, 11,019 of 12-16 age group and 1,211 between 7-12 age group. A total of 33,628 adolescents were held in 2001, 35,779 in 2002, 33,320 in 2003, 30,943 in 2004 and 32,681 in 2005 for their involvement in different criminal acts.
Whereas, 32,145 such youngsters below 18 years of age were held in 2006, 34,527 in 2007, 34,507 in 2008, 33,642 in 2009 and 30,303 during 2010, the data said. The data also shows increasing cases of rape by juveniles. As many as 1,419 such cases were recorded in 2011 as compared to 399 cases in 2001, it said.
It is pertinent to mention that a juvenile and five others were arrested by Delhi Police for brutally raping and assaulting a 23-year-old girl in the national capital on December 16. The victim later succumbed to her injuries.
The cases of murder by juveniles have also shown a surge in last ten years. As many as 531 youngsters below the age of 18 were apprehended for murder in 2001 as against 888 arrests between January and December 2011.
Lastupdate on : Sun, 13 Jan 2013 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 13 Jan 2013 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 14 Jan 2013 00:00:00 IST
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GK NEWS NETWORK
Srinagar, Jan 13: The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front’s ‘Jail Bharo Programme’ concluded here on Sunday. About 50 persons—including Front leaders, relatives of incarcerated Kashmiris and relatives of More
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Srinagar, Jan 13: Valley’s lone pediatric specialty, G.B. Pant Hospital has started free surfactant replacement therapy for newborn babies suffering with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). Officials More
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Urges India, Pakistan To Strengthen Peace Process
NISAR AHMED THOKAR
Islamabad, Jan 13: Voicing its concern over the recent skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, civil society representatives here Sunday said More
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Cairo, Jan 13: An Egyptian court today accepted former president Hosni Mubarak's appeal against his life sentence and ordered his retrial and that of his sons over the killing of hundreds of pro-democracy More
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Millions volunteer on Make A Difference Day
The nation's Secretary of Education painted a mural at an urban public school. A TV star held a bake sale with her young daughters to raise money for Haitian earthquake relief. College students threw a party for people with developmental disabilities. And people with developmental disabilities made sandwiches for the hungry.
They were all part of a wave of volunteering Saturday, as an estimated 3 million Americans rolled up their sleeves on the nation's largest single day of service, Make A Difference Day.
Held every year on the fourth Saturday in October, Make A Difference Day is sponsored by Gannett Co., Inc.'s USA WEEKEND Magazine in partnership with the HandsOn Network. All of the day's volunteers are eligible for 10 awards of $10,000 donations to their charities, funded by long-time supporter Newman's Own. To search a national database of local projects, or to enter the competition for charitable donations, visit makeadifferenceday.com.
"Gannett's mission is to inspire the greater good in the communities we serve. Make A Difference Day connects us to our audience and impacts communities in a meaningful way," said Gracia Martore, President and CEO of Gannett. "Neighbor helping neighbor is vital in this down economy. Today, the lives of millions of Americans will improve as a result of our volunteering challenge."
A hive of activity filled J.C. Nalle Elementary School in Washington, D.C., as an estimated 200 volunteers - including Martore, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton - came out to spruce up the school by painting inspirational murals, landscaping and organizing donated books in the library.
"We love doing this," said Duncan, who participated with wife Karen and children Ryan, 7, and Claire, 9. "It's really fun for our family to do it together and for our kids to understand the impact they can have now."
From a knit-a-thon in Alaska to a neighborhood revitalization in Hawaii, thousands of do-good projects unfolded in small towns and big cities:
•In an Opelika, Ala., warehouse, the mood was festive as about 70 volunteers, including 20 children, assembled 400 care packages for foster children around the state. "It's fun for the volunteers. It's fun for the organization to get this done," said organizer Blake Melnick, 27. "It's a win-win for everybody."
•In Ottawa, Kan., 150 people gathered at a park to build a new playground accessible to kids with disabilities, a project funded by a grant from Kaboom! One of the kids who'll benefit is Delaney Murphy, 6, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair. "You hear all bad things in the news," said Delaney's mother, Kelley, as she helped her neighbors assemble the brightly-colored playground equipment. "To be here experiencing good? We need more of that."
•In Panama City, Fla., 50 women held a baby shower for a total stranger: an Arkansas woman widowed this summer when her Navy SEAL husband was killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. They've collected more than $2,500 worth of gifts and a journal filled with heartfelt messages to the family. "We're a military community," explained shower organizer Sue Bynum, 56, a retiree. "We need to take care of our own. Whether we know them or not, they're ours."
•In Manhattan, members of New York University's Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity partnered with Best Buddies, a mentoring group, to throw a Halloween decorating party at a residential facility for people with developmental disabilities. The residents made sandwiches for the homeless, proving that everybody can find a way to help.
Around the country, local chapters of the HandsOn Network took part in everything from cleaning parks to serving meals. For the second year, HandsOn affiliates in Pittsburgh and Cleveland put a twist on their longstanding football rivalry, competing to see who could log the most volunteer service hours. "At the end of the day, everyone wins in this challenge," said Jeff Griffiths, executive director of HandsOn Northeast Ohio. "But hopefully we'll be hoisting the trophy!"
The corporate world came on board with tens of thousands of employees of companies including Citi and Motorola engaged in service projects. Toshiba chose Make A Difference Day to launch a Facebook contest that will award five deserving non-profit organizations technology packages worth $30,000 and one grand prize winner a $100,000 package.
The wave of good feeling spread on social media. Celebrities including actress Rosario Dawson, country singer Darius Rucker and actress Soleil Moon Frye took to Twitter to spread the word about their favorite charities in honor of Make A Difference Day.
Frye, best known as TV's Punky Brewster, and her daughters, 3 and 6, held a bake sale and lemonade stand outside her Los Angeles kids' clothing store, The Little Seed, with proceeds going to J/P Haitian Relief Organization. Customers who donated $5 to J/P HRO received 30% off their purchases.
"All those little things we do actually collectively make such a big step. That little bake sale. That little lemonade stand. The pickup on the beach," said Frye. "So often we think, 'Well, what can I do? I'm just one person.' One person can do a lot."
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Unfairness in the debt debacle
The Republicans have a plan to solve the nation’s debt limit problem — take it out of the hides of the elderly, the poor and the disabled. The GOP leaders want to cut the social programs — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, not to mention food stamps and other programs — that help the deprived and others suffering in our society.
Are all Republicans rich? Why do they want to protect the millionaires and billionaires (150 in the United States) from any tax increases? Why are they able to take advantage of loopholes that allow them to pay lower effective tax rates than the average middle class American?
Why does it not occur to the Republican leadership in Congress, bolstered by the ultra conservative Tea Party supporters, that it costs money to run this country and to uphold its values? Who are these people who are demanding a free lunch?
Raising the country’s debt limit used to be an automatic reflex to allow the country to pay its debts. Now the GOP is saying that the debt payment should fall only on the persons who have paid into the entitlement programs all of their working lives.
The GOP proposals are to boost the $14.3 trillion debt limit, but without any tax increases. Is that fair or real? The deadline for the United States to be able to pay up is August 2.
Speaker John Boehner continues to walk out of the fiscal talks like an operatic diva who is being upstaged. Boehner is being shot down by his own party, people who want no tax concessions. President Barack Obama has lost the liberals, who think he has sold out the safety net programs — and these programs are not a giveaway, but paid for by the workers of America.
Veteran lawmakers are appalled at the unrealistic view of the nation’s ills and the failure to understand the problems and needs of a modern society.
A pending withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and Afghanistan should cut down the costs, but Republicans claim they have already considered that end. Both Obama and Boehner have hit a brick wall, each with an eye on the 2012 presidential election and the quest for independent voters.
The GOP hates the idea of tax increases. Most of the proposals show the total spending slashes, exceed new revenue by more than 3 to 1. Is that fair?
What more do the Republicans want to hack out of the social program — and at a time when a new recession is impending and unemployment is as high as 9.2 percent?
Maybe Republicans should try looking for a job in this once-affluent country. The needy are helpless in this country, and will be as long as Republicans rule the House.
Are we in a war between the haves and the have nots? Why do the Republicans think we can solve deficit problems without new revenue? Higher taxes are their anathema. Tough. I hope they are enjoying their private jets.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, is an inveterate enemy of investment taxes. He seems to be more sympathetic toward big corporations. His wife was a former Goldman Sachs vice president.
Where are these rich Republicans riding the gravy train, who are supposedly creating new jobs and helping the country get back on its feet?
Why would anyone in this country vote Republican this time around when they have the power to say no? This is a chance to tell the powers that be — specifically the ones who could care less if those below the poverty line have grown to big numbers — that we are fed up.
The Democrats hold the high ground in terms of protecting the American people. They have already given up too much.
Failure to raise the debt ceiling limit will not only affect America’s economy, but it will negatively impact the global economy as well.
Does Congress realize the suffering it will cause if they fail to act? Where are the peoples’ representatives? Do they care?Helen Thomas' posts appear here courtesy of the Falls Church News-Press.
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Scouts take part in Merit Badge College at MU
HUNTINGTON -- Class was in session at Marshall University on Saturday with more than 400 Boy Scouts filling in as students.
The Boy Scout Merit Badge College welcomed the scouts and more than 100 leaders, an increase in attendance from last year, as they worked to earn one or two of more than 35 badges offered during the day.
"We're trying to help the boys earn merit badges, particularly ones that will be harder for them to complete, such as chemistry or robotics," said Steven Mewaldt, chairman of the MU psychology department and himself a longtime Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts leader.
Scouts from as far away as Summersville and Logan had the opportunity to learn about topics ranging from music to robotics to fingerprinting, working alongside other scouts and Marshall staff and faculty who lead the various sessions.
Nicholas Molina, a sophomore at Cabell Midland High School, is approximately one year away from earning his Eagle Scout recognition. He said he enjoyed the variety of badges offered as well as building relationships with other people throughout the Merit College experience.
"I like the aspect of it that you can go wherever you want to," Molina said, referring to the numerous sessions of the day. "I went to Indian Lore for the first session, and I'll be going back for the second session to help out."
In addition to earning badges, Mewaldt said the Merit College provides other opportunities for the scouts.
"We're also hoping some of the kids get interested in college or that they find an area they might consider for a major or career. It expands their horizons," he said.
Follow H-D reporter Beth Hendricks on Facebook or Twitter @BethHendricksHD.
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When asked if I miss being in government, I usually try to lighten the moment by responding that I awake most days, read the paper, and then observe that, "It's yet another great day to be the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency."
Of course, this casual answer is designed to limit comment on the things I miss (largely the mission and the people) and especially the things I don't (a longer list).
But lately my half-flippant answer seems a little more true than I ever wanted it to be. And its somber implications apply not just to the director of CIA but to other senior intelligence officials as well.
These jobs have always been hard. While I was at Langley, a prominent American (not in government, but very accustomed to calculating risk) once asked me, "On a scale of zero to 10, how would you rate CIA analysis?"
I began my answer on CIA analysis--and by extension on the entire American intelligence enterprise--by noting that "eight, nine and 10 are not on our scale. If you can get to those numbers, nobody is asking us those questions." Using a baseball metaphor, I concluded that "all the pitches we see seem to be hard sliders on the outside corner at the knees."
That's hard enough, but today the intelligence community seems unduly burdened with questions beyond this permanent, almost existential, dilemma.
Take Benghazi, for example. Some have described what happened before the attack in which a U. S. ambassador and three other Americans died as an intelligence failure. Really? If someone needed more information to know that security there had deteriorated beyond the point of safety, they weren't waiting for warning -- they were waiting for someone to die. Good people made bad decisions, but it wasn't because they were unaware of the situation on the ground.
Then there is the aftermath of Benghazi: What did we know, when did we know it and how did the administration choose to express it? The intelligence community is still living with the consequences of what could be described as a public debate badly crossing the wires of political speech with those of analytic thought.
An intelligence analyst may attribute an attack to al Qaeda, whereas a policy maker could opt for the more general "extremist." It's still not clear what happened in this case (or why) and both speakers could technically be correct, but it is never a good thing for the analyst to be drawn into a debate to explain or justify the word choices of the politician. Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper's office seemed forced to do just that in late September.
Surely what happened before and after those fateful hours in Benghazi is of national importance and our political processes need to adjudicate these questions. But at their heart these are now more political and policy debates than intelligence issues.
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The most well-known steep street in Los Angeles is the Fargo Street located in the Silver Lake neighborhood. The street starts at its intersection with Rockford Road, and goes southeast from the Silver Lake Reservoir and crests two beautiful ridges. Its steepest section, of about 32% grade, is visible between Alessandro and N. Alvarado streets. The Fargo Street is nestled in the Echo Park, which is inlcuded in the Silver Lake districts. These are amazing residential neighborhoods. The Echo Park has a very vibrant atmosphere, in particular includes an eclectic mix of architectural styles and ethnic groups, an unknown number of chickens and roosters, and a unique network of steeply inclined avenues. Being the steepest street in the district and in the city, it represents just a narrow tenth of a mile to its summit, and each year it is the ideal spot for the oldest, goofiest, premier bike rides in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Wheelmen cycling club organizes its annual Fargo Street Climb on this street. Each participant's leg up the hill is timed, and all their actions are videotaped. The steepest incline of the Fargo Street is equaled by sections of two adjacent and parallel streets, such as Ewing and Baxter. However, among these three wonderful connections of steepness, the Baxter Street offers the most exciting experience to the motorists because it traverses three consecutive ridges.
Anyway it's not only the automobile motorist who does the white-knuckle thing when experiencing Baxter Street. There are some „crazy drivers who like the risks and walk on these streets with the maximum speed, enjoying some spectacular moments.
The Baxter Street continues to go up and up and up, but then it goes down almost as steeply, offering an alarming impression,a dangerous feeling that you’re about to drive off a cliff as you approach the fantastic summit.
The Fargo Street is much shorter than the Baxter Street, it features only one block ,but it is plenty long enough for the cyclists who enter the annual Fargo Street Hill Climb. It is a unique experience and at the same time it is an exciting adventure to climb these fascinating streets,that appear like something mysterious and exceptional.
By Eugenia Cvasov
The Steepest Roads in the World .
Have you ever seen some difficult streets or roads to climb? It sounds strange but there are some amazing streets, very steep and dangerous during some seasons. To live at the top of one of these roads would be an absolute nightmare. The steepest roads in the world are wonderful sited,must visit landscapes, that offer spectacular views and exciting adventures. These wonderful streets are unique places, that were created due to the geographical position or due to their geology transfomation, offering some exceptional attractions. If you want to live the best moments of your life than choose some of these radical destinations and make your own opinion based on reality. This will be an unforgettable adventure for you, with fantastic sensations. Do not hesitate and enjoy some wonderful moments, while visiting the steepest roads in the world!!!!!!
Fargo Street - Exciting adventure
Fargo Street - Great view
Fargo Street - Unique street
Fargo Street - Amazing view
Fargo Street - Fantastic street
Fargo Street - Famous competition
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If you're into Southern Gospel Music, there's a song by the Gaither Vocal Band called "Let Freedom Ring". It was performed at Carnegie Hall right after 9-11, and one line of the song goes something like this: "Let Freedom echo through the lonely streets where prisons have no keys".
Well, it's been three years since I was in prison, and I'm here to tell you that my prison did have a key. And that key was education. I've been around here so long that nearly all of you have heard my story and are likely sick of hearing it, but I quit on my 50th birthday, with no real intention of "making it". Then I found this forum and some Yankee named Spitzer (preaching cold turkey of all things) and some shyster lawyer from back east putting out the same message and the rest is history. I got my education and it took and I haven't had a puff since. To say that my life has changed is a huge understatement and to say thank you to John and Joel and Grumps and Joanne is just not enough.
I've been thinking lately about the various stages we all go through here at Freedom. The first few days/weeks are a tremendous challenge for most of us. It's a day-to-day struggle, sometimes even minute-to-minute. But as we "read and read and read some more" things begin to calm down a little. We absorb a lot of what we read and our education begins to kick in as we defeat trigger after trigger.
Then later, maybe at Bronze or so, we begin to give advice to those newbies behind us. This "teaching stage" is a critical part of the process for many of us, because we help others through those first few days and weeks, we reinforce our own quits and we really get as much out of helping others as they do.
The final stage that most of us go through would probably be considered maintenance. I've been in that stage for a long time now. There are very few days that I don't check in and read at Freedom, but I seldom post. I'm not sure why that is, but a lot of it is I want to let the newer "teachers" take care of dispensing advice, thereby helping both themselves and those they're advising.
At this point in my life, my quit is not on my mind very much. Nicotine, or the lack thereof, plays absolutely no part in the living of my life, either physically, logistically, financially, or emotionally. It's just not a deal any more. Quitting, however, is one of the high points in my life that I am most proud of. I tell you all this to give you hope, you who are at three days or three weeks, or even three months. There is life after quitting and it can be a good life.
Well, as most of you also know, today is also my wedding anniversary. I've been married to the same woman for 29 years. Later I think I'll take her out for a nice dinner again and we'll celebrate three milestones in our lives.
I figure taking her out once a year won't spoil her too much--after all, nothing's too good for the wife of a quitter.
Three years today.
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Iraq’s Top General: ‘The U.S. Army Must Stay Until the Iraqi Army is Fully Ready in 2020’
August 12, 2010The White House reiterated Wednesday that the plan to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq in three weeks' time is 'on target,' but in a startling admission Wednesday, Iraq's top military commander said the army will need U.S. military support until 2020.
The confirmation came despite recent setbacks in the country, including ongoing violence, a five-month delay in forming a new government, and reports this week of al-Qaeda trying to bribe disaffected Sunni militia to change sides.
In a startling admission Wednesday, Iraq’s top military commander said the army will need U.S. military support until 2020 – nine years longer than stipulated by Washington’s current withdrawal plans.
“At this point, the withdrawal is going well, because they [U.S. forces] are still here,” Lt. Gen. Babakir Zebari told a conference in the capital. “But the problem will start after 2011.”
“If I were asked about the withdrawal, I would say to politicians, ‘the U.S. army must stay until the Iraqi army is fully ready in 2020,’” he said.
President Obama’s withdrawal timetable, based on a status of forces agreement negotiated between the Bush administration and Baghdad in 2008, has the final troops leaving Iraq at the end of 2011.
Between the end of this month – when combat operations formally end – and the end of next year, the U.S. plans to keep 50,000 troops in the country in a training and support role.
Obama discussed the troop drawdown with his national security team on Wednesday, and White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said later the president heard nothing that would require a change of plans.
“We are on target by the end of the month to end our combat mission, turn over bases that Americans have been on to the Iraqis, and transition our role there,” he said.
Gibbs said U.S. commander in Iraq Gen. Ray Odierno had reported “that Iraqi security forces are fully prepared to be in the lead when we end our combat mission later this month.”
On August 31 Operation Iraqi Freedom ends and Operation New Dawn – the transitional mission – begins. Gibbs would not be drawn on whether the administration will consider this to be a “victory,” but said “I think we can … celebrate the transitioning of responsibility to the Iraqis.”
Violence levels down?
Gibbs also said that according to Odierno, violence had dropped significantly over the past fortnight in Iraq.
“The level of violence observed over the past two weeks had been among the lowest in number of incidents that the coalition has seen since record-keeping on those incidences began,” he said.
One U.S. soldier has been killed in combat in Iraq this month so far – Spc. Faith Hinkley, 23, of Colorado Springs, Colo., died of injuries sustained when her unit came under enemy fire in Babil province on Saturday.
Combat casualties for the previous six months were one in July, two in June, two in May, four in April, three in March and one in February, according to a CNSNews database of U.S. military casualties.
With regard to Iraqi deaths, figures compiled by icasualties.org from wire service reports show 94 Iraqi civilians and 28 security force members have been killed in 36 deadly attacks since the beginning of August (including bombings in Basra on Saturday in which 43 people died.)
If taken from exactly two weeks ago, July 28, the figure rises to 108 civilians and 43 security force members killed in 46 attacks.
Even if figures for July – which are widely disputed by the Iraqi government and U.S. military – are discounted, the number of civilian fatalities so far this month does not appear to be substantially lower than in other recent months – 94 for the first 11 days of August compared to 127 for all of June, 231 for May, 240 for April and 152 for March.
And the number of security force deaths seems if anything to be on track to be higher in August than in recent months – 36 for the first 11 days of the month compared to 49 for June, 48 for May, 21 for April and 31 for March.
On average, 226 Iraqi civilians and 49 security force members were killed each month over the two-year period from June 2008 to June 2010, according to icasualties.org data. While it is impossible to predict what the remaining days of August will hold, the figures so far appear to foretell a month that is average, at best.
Gibbs noted, moreover, that the next three weeks could well bring an increase in attacks.
“We continue to anticipate as we get closer to the 31st of August a traditional uptick of violence around Ramadan, and as those that are left try to gain attention,” he said.
A British newspaper reported this week that as the U.S. drawdown advances al-Qaeda may be attempting to encourage members of the “Sons of Iraq” – minority Sunnis who allied with coalition forces to provide local-level security against insurgents – to defect.
Originating from the so-called “awakening” movement that emerged in Anbar province in 2006, the Sons of Iraq were widely credited with helping to reduce violence, in conjunction with the “surge” of troop reinforcements sent in by President Bush in 2007.
Members of the paramilitary force were paid by the U.S. military until handed over to Iraq’s Shi’ite-dominated government in a gradual process beginning October 2008. Recent months have brought reports of disillusionment in its ranks, unhappiness over the rate of integration into the national army or transition to civilian jobs. There have also reportedly been holdups in pay.
On Tuesday the Guardian cited Sons of Iraq leaders as saying their men were being offered money by al-Qaeda. Some had stopped collecting their stipends from the government, stoking speculation that they may already have thrown in their lot with the terrorist group.
Asked about the report, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley Wednesday did not answer directly about Sons of Iraq members siding with al-Qaeda.
But he praised the movement, calling it “a critical turning point in Iraq,” and said it was important that the new Iraqi government is seen to act on behalf of all communities in the country.
“To the extent that there’s a story that says some within the awakening community may be disillusioned with what’s happened, that is something that Iraq has to pay attention to and to continue to develop that relationship,” Crowley added.
For his part, Gibbs noted some significant successes in Iraq against al-Qaeda in recent months.
“Since the beginning of this year, the U.S. and Iraqi military partnership has resulted in the death or arrest of more than 30 members of the top leadership of al-Qaeda in Iraq,” he said in a later statement. “That includes the killing of al-Qaeda’s two top leaders this spring.”
Both the White House and the State Department voiced optimism that the long-delayed establishment of a new government in Baghdad following elections five months ago would happen soon.
“I think you can see developments in the region that are positive, meetings that are happening between the parties that are ultimately necessary for what’s going to need to happen to form a government,” Gibbs said, adding that the U.S. was setting no deadlines for this to happen.
Crowley said the U.S. was encouraging the Iraqi parties to make progress, but added “We can’t impose a solution here. It has to grow out of the political process that now does exist in Iraq.”
Christopher Hill, the outgoing U.S. Ambassador in Baghdad, said in an NPR interview this week that some “pushing and shoving” was understandable, given the very close election result last March.
“I must say, in the last couple of weeks, the pace has really quickened,” he said. “And there’s a feeling that things may be heading in the right direction.”
Efforts to form a ruling coalition following the election stalled because neither the first-placed Iraqiyya alliance of Sunni-backed former prime minister Iyad Allawi nor incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s mostly Shi’ite State of Law coalition have been able to cobble together the parliamentary majority needed to govern.
The third-placed Shi’ite Iraqi National Alliance (INA), which has close ties with Iran, joined forces with State of Law, but wants Maliki to stand down as the slate’s candidate for prime minister.
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Canstar Community News - ONLINE EDITION
Filled with pride and ready to marshal
Long-time gay rights activists to lead Pride parade
Rich North and Chris Vogel will be filled with pride in more ways than one on June 3.
That’s when the Wolseley-based couple will be Grand Marshals at this year’s Pride parade, which will mark the end of the 10-day Pride 25 festival that celebrates the lesbian, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit and queer (GLBTTQ) community.
The couple will speak at the rally on the grounds of the Manitoba legislature at 11:30 a.m. to kick off the parade through downtown.
After decades of championing human rights advancements and fighting for the rights of same-sex couples, the pair is thrilled to be flying the flag at the upcoming event.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so it’s a great honour," North said. "We are thrilled to be asked to do it and follow in the footsteps of people like (former Winnipeg mayor) Glen Murray, who did it a few years ago."
The couple were integral members of the Campus Gay Club at the University of Manitoba in 1973, just as the organization was evolving into the province’s first gay liberation organization — Gays for Equality — which introduced gay rights issues into Manitoba politics in the provincial election of 1973.
"Back then, university campuses housed radical groups as they were a safe haven," Vogel, 65, said, noting he spent a decade growing up Tuxedo. "They were islands in an otherwise homophobic society," North, 60, added.
In 1974, they were married at the Unitarian Church of Winnipeg and took the provincial government to court when the Registrar of Vital Statistics refused to register their union. It was the first case in Canadian law to challenge the exclusion of same-sex couples from civil marriage.
North said the pair’s battle for human rights equality led to a 59-day hunger strike in 1985 to protest the failure of the government to include sexual orientation as a prohibited ground for discrimination in the Manitoba Human Rights Act.
"I didn’t cheat and only had water for 59 days. Before that, we lobbied the government for six months," North said. "I’d heard the average IRA hunger striker lasted, on average, 66 days before death."
"It wasn’t just a matter of stopping eating; it was fundamentally a platform for the silence surrounding homosexuality. When I was growing up, there was nothing on TV or in the movies and media coverage tended to be negative.
"Now it’s a different ball game. And kudos to President Obama for taking a stance on same-sex marriage. He should be commended," he added.
For revellers who work up a thirst in the excitement of Pride Winnipeg, Half Pints Brewing Co. has produced a Queer Beer to mark the occasion.
The brew is available at various locations across the city including the St. James-based brewery’s retail store, MLCC Liquor Marts at River and Osborne and Grant Park, as well as Gio’s, Fame and Club 200. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Pride Winnipeg.
For more information, visit www.pridewinnipeg.com.
More The Metro
More The Metro
(1 of 14 articles for this week)05/22/2013 1:00 AM 0
Must Have Menus
Ads by Google
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Erasmus Student Charter
For Students who will spend their time abroad at an Erasmus partner institution, that means the exchange agreement between this institution and the KLU is based on the Erasmus University Charter, the Erasmus Student Charter is valid:
The Erasmus Student Charter
As an Erasmus student, you are entitled to expect:
- Your home and host universities to have an inter-institutional agreement.
- The sending and receiving institutions to sign with you and before you leave a Learning/Training Agreement setting out the details of your planned activities abroad, including the credits to be achieved.
- Not to have to pay fees to your host university for tuition, registration, examinations, access to laboratory and library facilities during your Erasmus studies.
- Full academic recognition from your home university for satisfactorily completed activities during the Erasmus mobility period, in accordance with the Learning/Training Agreement.
- To be given a transcript of records at the end of your activities abroad, covering the studies/work carried out and signed by your host institution/enterprise. This will record your results with the credits and grades achieved. If the placement was not part of the normal curricula, the period will at least be recorded in the Diploma Supplement.
- To be treated and served by your host university in the same way as their home students.
- To have access to the Erasmus University Charter and Erasmus Policy Statement of your home and host universities.
- Your student grant or loan from your home country to be maintained while you are abroad.
As an Erasmus student, you are expected to:
- Respect the rules and obligations of your Erasmus grant agreement with your home university or your National Agency.
- Ensure that any changes to the Learning/Training Agreement are agreed in writing with both the home and host institutions as soon as they when they occur.
- Spend the full study/placement period as agreed at the host university/enterprise, including undergoing the relevant examinations or other forms of assessment, and respect its rules and regulations.
- Write a report on your Erasmus study/placement period abroad when you return and provide feedback if requested by your home university, the European Commission or the National Agency.
You can download a copy of the Erasmus Student Charter including your rights and obligations here.
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Focal Point: The Mark of the Leaf
(木ノ葉マークと額当て, Konoha Māku to Hitaiate)
|Previous||Keep on Training: Pop Goes the Water Balloon!|
|Next||An Impossible Choice: The Pain Within Tsunade's Heart|
|Arc||Search for Tsunade Arc|
|Manga||152, 153, 154|
|Japanese||June 16, 2004|
|English||May 19, 2007|
Focal Point: The Mark of the Leaf (木ノ葉マークと額当て, Konoha Māku to Hitaiate) is episode 88 of the original Naruto anime.
Naruto soon realises why he hasn't been able to pop the water balloon. He sees a cat playing with his water balloon, by turning and rolling it around. Then, after a few seconds, the balloon pops. Naruto used this idea to finally succeed the first step. He shows Jiraiya and explains to him that if he wanted to pop the balloon, he had to make it spin in a whole bunch of different directions. Although, he mastered this step using two hands, Jiraiya thought he was ready to start the second step. The second step is fairly similar to the first, only this time Naruto must pop a rubber ball, something that will require much more power and energy. After Naruto struggles with this step, Jiraiya helps him by drawing a leaf on his palm to give him a point to concentrate his efforts on. With some additional practice, and a lot of chakra, Naruto is able to complete this stage as well. Elsewhere, Tsunade, an avid and extremely unlucky gambler, hits a winning streak, leading her to believe something bad is about to happen. As she tries to leave the city with Shizune and Tonton, she is met by Orochimaru and Kabuto who greet her by destroying the castle she was walking past.
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Report an inappropriate comment
What About Sex?
Thu Jan 07 00:26:35 GMT 2010 by Christopher Pontac
What a good question. I just had to look at the Compendium of Physical Activities referred to in the "What counts as exercise?" article.
The answer is that sexual activity is pretty poor exercise. Even with 'active, vigorous effort', it is worth only 1.5 Metabolic Equivalents (METs). This is same as bathing (sitting), and much less than billiards.
This is a surprises to me too. What I don't know is whether this teaches me something about sex or about me.
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Crunk can refer to a lot of things, including a drink that mixes soda or other beverage with cough syrup and pain killers.
TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -
We've told you a lot about teens using bath salts, jewelry cleaner, and herbal incense to get high.
Now, the newest fad includes a "high" created right at home from ingredients that can be found in any medicine cabinet and refrigerator in your own home.
It's called a Crunk Concoction, and it's a deadly juice that teens are downing in the hopes of getting high.
In January, a Hawaii man, Chucky Dias Oliveira made the headlines after he died in his sleep after drinking the concoction called "Crunk."
"When they don't understand the dangers of it, they're more willing to take the risk. And we see the effects of it," Hawaii Police Dept. Det. Ian Lee Loy said.
Crunk is referred to in rap music and urban slang. It means a lot of things, including a drink that mixes soda or other beverage with an over-the-counter cough syrup and crushed prescription pain killers.
Crunk produces an intense rush that's proven dangerous.
Leonard Feliciano, director of adolescent services with the Big Island Substance Abuse Council, said a frightening fact is Crunk is growing more popular with teenagers and kids.
"One of the things working with adolescents, they suffer from, I call it, the Superman complex. They think that it's not going to happen to them," he said.
A "Crunking high" can cause blackouts and breathing problems. It slurs speech and motor skills.
"Imagine that kind of person behind the wheel of a car, driving down the road not being able to respond to a traffic signal, or someone turning in front of them or a pedestrian," Lee Loy said.
Big Island police blame Crunk overdoses for four deaths since 2009. The toxicology report from one of the victims shows evidence of pain pills mixed into a Crunk cocktail.
"They think because it's prescription it must be safe. It might have a dosage that might be harmful to them," Lee Loy said.
In Arizona, Keith Boesen, the managing director of the Arizona Poison Control Center said while they had not heard of the term "Crunking," they did get many reports of cough syrup abuse.
Boesen said in the last year they had received 88 reports of those abusing or mis-using cough syrup. Most of them were teenagers or young adults.
Substance Abuse Counselors who help hundreds of students in public schools understand the danger of Crunking. The kids tell them Crunk use is spreading.
"They have friends that are using it. They have siblings that are using it," Feliciano said.
Big Island police have linked Crunk to DUI's and other crimes. And now it's moved on campus. Some students are pushing pain killers.
"We've received information that kids in middle school and as young as elementary school are in possession of these prescription medications," Lee Loy said.
The pain pills usually come from home medicine cabinets. Substance abuse experts advise parents to learn about Crunk, and especially about the danger the drink poses.
"People lay low," Feliciano said. "It's not until something unfortunate happens that we become aware."
"If you give it an opportunity it will destroy your life," Lee Loy said.
Law enforcement and drug treatment experts said kids and young adults all over the state are dabbling with the dangerous drink and gambling with their lives.
Tuesday, June 18 2013 8:08 PM EDT2013-06-19 00:08:57 GMT
Independence police say they want to question two men about the theft of the iconic statue outside the National Trails Museum.Police released photos of the two men dragging a large tub. The men seem toMore >
Independence police say they want to question two men about the theft of the iconic statue outside the National Trails Museum.More >
Tuesday, June 18 2013 7:06 PM EDT2013-06-18 23:06:25 GMT
Gary Simpson admitted Tuesday that he so badly abused an infant last year that her skull was fractured.Simpson was a friend and live-in nanny to a Johnson County family. He repeatedly abused the then 2/12-month-oldMore >
Gary Simpson admitted Tuesday that he so badly abused an infant last year that her skull was fractured.More >
Wednesday, June 19 2013 9:55 AM EDT2013-06-19 13:55:47 GMT
Former Kansas City Royals great Willie Wilson had to give up his World Series ring when he declared bankruptcy. Now his family, friends and fans are working to get it back. They're using Twitter andMore >
Former Kansas City Royals great Willie Wilson had to give up his World Series ring when he declared bankruptcy. Now his family, friends and fans are working to get it back.More >
Tuesday, June 18 2013 9:28 PM EDT2013-06-19 01:28:44 GMT
Authorities are looking for a missing elderly couple.Garnett Police Chief Kevin Pekarek said Vernon and Goldie Hunt left their home about 6:30 a.m. Monday for Dwight, IL. Vernon is 92 years old and GoldieMore >
Authorities are looking for a missing elderly couple who left Garnett, KS, for Illinois, but never made it to their destination.More >
Tuesday, June 18 2013 5:42 PM EDT2013-06-18 21:42:41 GMT
A man accused of raping a woman last month and then kidnapping her over the weekend is on the run in the Lake of the Ozarks area, authorities said Monday night.More >
Law enforcement agencies in central Missouri are searching for a man wanted in connection with the kidnapping of a woman over the weekend. Brian J. Adkison is also accused of raping that same woman last month. More >
Wednesday, June 19 2013 9:11 AM EDT2013-06-19 13:11:38 GMT
Police are investigating a shooting Wednesday morning.Officers responded to the non life-threatening shooting shortly after 5 a.m. at a home located near East 24th Avenue and Ozark Street. The neighborhoodMore >
Police are investigating a shooting Wednesday morning.More >
Wednesday, June 19 2013 5:45 AM EDT2013-06-19 09:45:09 GMT
A guerrilla gardener is on the loose in the Westport area, trying to beautify blighted areas once sat barren. Guerrilla gardeners grow plants, herbs and vegetables on public pieces of land that are inMore >
A blighted public area is now being called The Magic Garden after a woman decided to transform a neglected spot near the Westport post office.More >
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Inexpensive Ways to Fight Stress
Being a parent, having a job or simply driving to the mall can all be stressful at times. We all have our share of stress-related stories that make us want to grab our bags and head out to the nearest mountain resort and day spa. While we can’t avoid stress in our day to day lives, we can steer clear of spending too much for a little R & R. Here are some cheap stress relievers:
Take Weekends Off
Given that our busy weekdays are just filled with requirements, schedules and meetings, we all need something positive to look forward to. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive; it just has to be something you enjoy doing. A movie, a poker game, even a casual visit to your parent’s house can really help you with your stressful week and could shed some light at the end of that busy and jam-packed tunnel.
Sweat It Out
I know of someone who works in a company that gives incentives to employees if they go to the gym a number of times per month. It is primarily because going to the gym and breaking a sweat helps with relieving yourself from a stressful day. Cheaper alternatives like jogging or swimming after work can help you with get relief from the busy day you had.
Find Something Different To Do
My own mother admits that she’s a Facebook addict. Not because she likes meeting new people and socializing, but because she maintains accounts in Farmville, Island Paradise and other online games. Have something you can do after every busy day that will help you forget about work worries and help you relax.No tags for this post.
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Orange County opens its cold weather homeless shelters tomorrow. And as the doors open, officials have a plan to deal with swine flu in the shelters.
Orange County’s Cold Weather Armory Emergency Shelter Program gives up to 400 people a place to sleep, to shower, and to get something to eat. It houses those people in the National Guard Armories in Fullerton and Santa Ana.
This winter, the shelters will have hand sanitizer available. Shelter workers will remind people to wash their hands and cover their coughs in the nook of their arm. And if someone walks in with flu symptoms, shelter workers will isolate them in one part of the shelter and get them treatment.
The shelter program says it might rearrange the sleeping mats, so people sleep head-to-foot instead of head-to-head.
The Orange County Rescue Mission, which operates a mobile medical clinic that makes stops at the armory shelters, has ordered a supply of H1N1 flu vaccine to get the high-risk homeless vaccinated.
The county hopes to keep the shelters open through mid-April, but that depends on funding.
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Most employees failed to use all their vacation time in 2012, according to a survey by Right Management.
Seventy per cent of employees said that they did not take all the time due them, while just 30 per cent said they had, found the survey of 700 Canadian and American workers. The findings are consistent with those of a similar survey one year ago, where 70 per cent reported not using all their vacation time in 2011.
“Such a reluctance to take all of one’s vacation is a sign of an intense, pressure-filled workplace,” said Monika Morrow, senior vice-president of career management at Right Management.
“This is a trend that’s grown during the recession and we may in fact have a new norm, which would be unfortunate. However important devotion to the job may be, there has to be some balance and vacation is so important to one’s health and happiness.”
Senior management should not just to encourage employees to take their vacation, but also to be sure to take their own.
“It’s the boss who sets the example and sends the message. And if the boss won’t take all of his or her vacation, then workers will pick up on that and may be inclined not to use all theirs. After all, vacation is essential for a healthy and productive workforce,” said Morrow.
“For someone to skip a few days off may not be significant, but when each year it seems to become most employees doing so then something’s not right. Who could be surprised, in time, by unnecessary turnover, declining retention, higher absenteeism or more frequent health or safety claims?”
© Copyright Canadian HR Reporter, Thomson Reuters Canada Limited. All rights reserved.
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. A guitarist with an extraordinarily lyrical and refined fingerpicking style, he also sang with a warmth unique in the field of blues, and the gospel influence in his music gave it a depth and reflective quality unusual in the field. Coupled with the sheer gratitude and amazement that he felt over having found a mass audience so late in life, and playing concerts in front of thousands of people -- for fees that seemed astronomical to a man who had always made music a sideline to his life as a farm laborer -- these qualities make
's recordings into a very special listening experience.
grew up in the Mississippi hill country town of Avalon, population under 100, north of Greenwood, near Grenada. He began playing guitar in 1903, and within a few years was performing at parties, doing ragtime repertory rather than blues. As a farm hand, he lived in relative isolation, and it was only in 1916, when he went to work briefly for the railroad, that he got to broaden his horizons and his repertory beyond Avalon. In the early '20s, he teamed up with white fiddle player Willie Narmour, playing square dances. Hurt
was spotted by a scout for Okeh Records who passed through Avalon in 1927, who was supposed to record Narmour, and was signed to record after a quick audition. Of the eight sides that Hurt
recorded in Memphis in February of 1928, only two were ever released, but he was still asked to record in New York late in 1928. Hurt
's dexterity as a guitarist, coupled with his plain-spoken nature, were his apparent undoing, at least as a popular blues artist, at the time. His playing was too soft and articulate, and his voice too plain to be taken up in a mass setting, such as a dance; rather, his music was best heard in small, intimate gatherings. In that sense, he was one of the earliest blues musicians to rely completely on the medium of recorded music as a vehicle for mass success; where the records of Furry Lewis
or Blind Blake
were mere distillations of music that they (presumably) did much better on-stage, in John Hurt
's case the records were good representations of what he did best. Additionally, Hurt
never regarded himself as a blues singer, preferring to let his relatively weak voice speak for itself with none of the gimmicks that he might've used, especially in the studio, to compensate. And he had no real signature tune with which he could be identified, in the way that Furry Lewis
had "Kassie Jones" or "John Henry."
Not that Hurt
didn't have some great numbers in his song bag: "Frankie," "Louis Collins," "Avalon Blues," "Candy Man Blues," "Big Leg Blues," and "Stack O' Lee Blues," were all brilliant and unusual as blues, in their own way, and highly influential on subsequent generations of musicians. They didn't sell in large numbers at the time, however, and as Hurt
never set much store on a musical career, he was content to make his living as a hired hand in Avalon, living on a farm and playing for friends whenever the occasion arose. Mississippi John Hurt
might've lived and died in obscurity, if it hadn't been for the folk music revival of the late '50s and early '60s. A new generation of listeners and scholars suddenly expressed a deep interest in the music of America's hinterlands, not only in listening to it but finding and preserving it. A scholar named Tom Hoskins
discovered that Mississippi John Hurt
, who hadn't been heard from musically in over 35 years, was alive and living in Avalon, MS, and sought him out, following the trail laid down in Hurt
's song "Avalon Blues." Their meeting was a fateful one; Hurt
was in his 70s, and weary from a lifetime of backbreaking labor for pitifully small amounts of money, but his musical ability was intact, and he bore no ill-will against anyone who wanted to hear his music.
A series of concerts were arranged, including an appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, where he was greeted as a living legend. This opened up a new world to Hurt
, who was grateful to find thousands, or even tens of thousands of people too young to have even been born when he made his only records up to that time, eager to listen to anything he had to sing or say. A tour of American universities followed as did a series of recordings: first in a relatively informal, non-commercial setting intended to capture him in his most comfortable and natural surroundings, and later under the auspices of Vanguard Records, with folk singer Patrick Sky
It was 1965, and Mississippi John Hurt
had found a mass audience for his songs 35 years late. He took the opportunity, playing concerts and making new records of old songs as well as material he'd never before laid down; whether he eventually put down more than a portion of his true repertory will probably never be clear, but Hurt
did leave a major legacy of his and other peoples' songs, in a style that barely skipped a beat from his late-'20s Okeh sides.
As with many people to whom success comes late in life, certain aspects of the success were hard for him to absorb in stride; the money was more than he'd ever hoped to see, even if it wasn't much by the standards of a major pop star; 1,000 dollar concert fees were something he'd never even pondered having to deal with. What he did most easily was sing and play; Vanguard got out a new album, Today!
, in 1966, from his first sessions for the label. Additionally, the tape of a concert that Hurt
played at Oberlin College in April of 1965 was released under the title The Best of Mississippi John Hurt; the 21-song live album was just that, even if it wasn't made up of previously released work (more typical of a "best-of" album), a perfect record of a beautiful performance in which the man did old and new songs in the peak of his form. Hurt
got in one more full album, The Immortal Mississippi John Hurt
, released posthumously, but even better was the record assembled from his final sessions, Last Sessions
, also issued after his death; these songs broke new lyrical ground, and showed Hurt
's voice and guitar to be as strong as ever, just months before his death. Mississippi John Hurt
left behind a legacy unique in the annals of the blues, and not just in terms of music. A humble, hard-working man who never sought fame or fortune from his music, and who conducted his life in an honest and honorable manner, he also avoided the troubles that afflicted the lives of many of his more tragic fellow musicians. He was a pure musician, playing for himself and the smallest possible number of listeners, developing his guitar technique and singing style to please nobody but himself; and he suddenly found himself with a huge following, precisely because of his unique style. Unlike contemporaries such as Skip James
, he felt no bitterness over his late-in-life mass success, and as a result continued to please and win over new listeners with his recordings until virtually the last weeks of his life. Nothing he ever recorded was less than inspired, and most of it was superb.
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Musicians Eric Wainaina and Suzanna Owiyo have been appointed as Goodwill Ambassadors for the United Nations Environment Progamme, for a period of two years.
The singers were officially appointed this afternoon at an event attended by several dignitaries, including UNEP Regional Director for Africa Mounkaila Goudamandakoye.
Through the appointment the singers will use their music and star power to inspire positive environmental action, something both artists say they are extremely passionate about.
"We are the ones responsible for destroying our environment, and it is up to us to fix it... UNEP has done so much towards this end but we need to take it up from here and be more responsible about the environment," Suzanna told Capital Lifestyle.
"I am very excited to be able to do something about this, There are several activities that UNEP has lined up for us to do and we're yet to start them."
One thing Suzanna is keen to take up is a campaign on Food Waste Reduction.
"There is a lot of wastage, in hotels, supermarkets, homes. We need to flag this so that we only get the food we need; be keen on what we buy. I think because in the homes, women are the managers of the kitchen, they also need to be sensitized on how not to waste food."
Eric was proud to be given this appointment, and more so alongside Suzanna.
"It's a step up from my previous role as a messenger for non-violence at the UNODC. Basically what we will be doing is incorporating UNEP's plans into the stuff that we do," he offered.
"A lot of people don't realize that we are actually living in the environment. Every single thing we do affects the environment, everything. Taking a shower, throwing out garbage - we have to realize that."
The Kenya Only musician said that his pet peeve when it comes to environmental degradation, is the littering of streets by car users.
"And I don't buy the argument that its job creation or the litter is bio-degradable. It just needs to stop."
Suzanna concurs, saying that unless Kenyans change their behavior, no real change can be achieved.
Their two-year contract is renewable, and coincides with the launch of Africa Environment Outlook 3 - a report that looks at links between environment and health issues and details the current state of play across the continent.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2010
The United States Senate is one step closer to extending unemployment benefits for people out of work for 26 weeks or longer. A workshop in San Diego is aiming to help long-term jobseekers avoid burn out.
SAN DIEGO The United States Senate is one step closer to extending unemployment benefits for people out of work for 26 weeks or longer. A workshop in San Diego is aiming to help long-term jobseekers avoid burn out.
Financial worries are just one part of the stress of being out of work. The San Diego Workforce Partnership goes beyond the conventional resume and interview workshops. They also advise clients on avoiding job-hunt burnout.
Kristina Coram was laid off from an accounting job in March and attended one of the workshops on Tuesday. She said she is taking classes and interning while she looks for work.
“Sometimes looking for a job 24/7 can tend to wear on you physically and emotionally. So I wanted to see what kinds of things I can do, that I’m not doing already, and how I can improve and just maintain a positive mindset,” Coram said.
The workshops focus on getting away from entire days spent trolling online job postings. They suggest job hunters create varied weekly schedules that include regular exercise, time spent volunteering and going to networking events or skills classes.
Some attending the workshop have seen their unemployment checks stop coming in the last two months while members of the U.S. Senate argued over the benefits extension.
Loretta Martinez has been looking for work for more than a year and has been relying on her fiance for financial help. She said getting an unemployment check again would help her in at least one important way.
"Being more independent," she said. "Everybody needs to be able to make their own money. I'm lucky that it's just myself. I feel for men who have families and children."
According to a state report released last Friday, San Diego County's unemployment rate rose to 10.5 percent in June.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that all publicly traded companies file a Form 10-k every year. The filing date, ranging from 60 to 90 days after the end of a company’s fiscal year, depends on the value of the publicly held shares. The 10-k discloses detailed information about a company’s finances, including total sales, sales by product line or division for the past five years, revenue, operating income, earnings per share, and equity, as well as other corporate information such as by-laws, organizational structure, holdings, subsidiaries, lawsuits in which the company is involved, and the company’s history.A company’s Form 10-k becomes public information once it is filed, and you can find the report in the SEC’s EDGAR database. As an investor, you can learn more about a company from its 10-k than from its less detailed annual report.
A number of load and no-load mutual funds levy 12b-1 fees on the value of your mutual fund account to offset the fund's promotional and marketing expenses. These asset-based fees, which get their name from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruling that describes them, typically amount to somewhere between 0.5% and 1% annually of the net assets in the fund. A fund that charges 12b-1 fees must detail those expenses, along with other fees it imposes, in its prospectus.
You participate in a 401(k) retirement savings plan by deferring part of your salary into an account set up in your name. Any earnings in the account are federal income tax deferred. If you change jobs, 401(k) plans are portable, which means that you can move your accumulated assets to a new employer's plan, if the plan allows transfers, or to a rollover IRA.With a traditional 401(k), you defer pretax income, which reduces the income tax you owe in the year you made the contribution. You pay tax on all withdrawals at your regular rate. With the newer Roth 401(k), which is offered in some but not all plans, you contribute after-tax income. Earnings accumulate tax deferred, but your withdrawals are completely tax free if your account has been open at least five years and you’re at least 59 1/2.In either type of 401(k), you can defer up to the federal cap, plus an annual catch-up contribution if you’re 50 or older. However, you may be able to contribute less than the cap if you’re a highly compensated employee or if your employer limits contributions to a percentage of your salary. Your employer may match some or all of your contributions, based on the terms of the plan you participate in, but matching isn’t required.With a 401(k), you are responsible for making your own investment decisions by choosing from among investment alternatives offered by the plan. Those alternatives typically include separate accounts, mutual funds, annuities, fixed-income investments, and sometimes company stock.You may owe an additional 10% federal tax penalty if you withdraw from a 401(k) before you reach 59 1/2. You must begin to take minimum required distributions by April 1 of the year following the year you turn 70 1/2 unless you’re still working. But if you prefer, you can roll over your traditional 401(k) assets into a traditional IRA and your Roth 401(k) assets into a Roth IRA.
A 403(b) plan, sometimes known as a tax-sheltered annuity (TSA) or a tax-deferred annuity (TDA), is an employer sponsored retirement savings plan for employees of not-for-profit organizations, such as colleges, hospitals, foundations, and cultural institutions. Some employers offer 403(b) plans as a supplement to — rather than a replacement for — defined benefit pensions. Others offer them as the organization’s only retirement plan.Your contributions to a traditional 403(b) are tax deductible, and any earnings are tax deferred. Contributions to a Roth 403(b) are made with after-tax dollars, but the withdrawals are tax free if the account has been open at least five years and you’re 59 1/2 or older. There’s an annual contribution limit, but you can add an additional catch-up contribution if you’re 50 or older.With a 403(b), you are responsible for making your own investment decisions by choosing from among investment alternatives offered by the plan. You can roll over your assets to another employer's plan or an IRA when you leave your job, or to an IRA when you retire.You may withdraw without penalty once you reach 59 1/2, or sometimes earlier if you retire. You must begin required withdrawals by April 1 of the year following the year you turn 70 1/2 unless you are still working. In that case, you can postpone withdrawals until April 1 following the year you retire.
These tax-deferred retirement savings plans are available to state and municipal employees. Like 401(k) and 403(b) plans, the money you contribute and any earnings that accumulate in your name are not taxed until you withdraw the money, usually after retirement. The contribution levels are also the same, though 457s may allow larger catch-up contributions. You also have the right to roll your plan assets over into another employer's plan, including a 401(k) or 403(b), or an individual retirement account (IRA) when you leave your job.
Each 529 college savings plan is sponsored by a particular state or group of states, and while each plan is a little different, they share many basic elements. When you invest in a 529 savings plan, any earnings in your account accumulate tax free, and you can make federally tax-free withdrawals to pay for qualified educational expenses, such as college tuition, room and board, and books at any accredited college, university, vocational, or technical program in the United States and a number of institutions overseas. Some states also exempt earnings from state income tax, and may offer additional advantages to state residents, such as tax deductions for contributions.You must name a beneficiary when you open a 529 savings plan account, but you may change beneficiaries if you wish, as long as the new beneficiary is a member of the same extended family as the original beneficiary.In most cases, you may choose any state’s plan, even if neither you nor your beneficiary live in that state. There are no income limits restricting who can contribute to a plan, and the lifetime contributions are more than $300,000 in some states.You can make a one-time contribution of $60,000 without incurring potential gift tax, provided you don’t make another contribution for five years. Or, you may prefer to add smaller amounts, up to the annual gift exclusion.
With a prepaid tuition plan, you purchase tuition credits at current rates to be used at some point in the future when your beneficiary attends one of the colleges or universities participating in the plan. Most prepayment plans are sponsored by individual states and apply to the public institutions in the state, some state plans cover both public and private institutions in the state, and the Independent 529 plan includes more than 200 participating private institutions nationwide. In the case of state plans, either you or your beneficiary may have to live the in the sponsoring state.You owe no income tax on any appreciation in the value of the tuition credits if they are used to offset tuition, and you may be able to transfer the face value of the credits to a nonparticipating school if your child doesn’t attend a participating one. Some states and the Independent plan guarantee that your credits will cover the cost you prepay.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires that all publicly traded companies use Form 8-k to report anything that could have a significant effect on the financial position of the company or the value of its shares. Events and changes that must be reported — in most cases within four days — include bankruptcy, mergers, acquisitions, amendments to the corporate charter or by-laws, a change of directors, a change in the fiscal year, and even a change of name or address of the company.A company’s Form 8-k becomes public information once it is filed, and you can find the report in the SEC’s EDGAR database. These 8-k filings are designed to level the playing field between general investors and investors who have special access to information about a company.
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Portal venous gas in a patient with abdominal pain
Tristan L. Hartzell, MD;* Sonya Gardiner, BA;† Maryanne Skavdahl, MD‡
From the *Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass., the †School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, and the ‡Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
A 77-year-old man with a history of coronary artery disease and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation presented to our emergency department with anorexia, abdominal pain and distension. His abdominal pain had migrated from the periumbilical region to the right lower quadrant. He was passing flatus and had a small, nonbloody bowel movement the day before presentation. He denied any fever. He had undergone no endoscopic procedures within the past year.
On arrival, his temperature was 36.8°C, blood pressure was 183/89 mm Hg and pulse rate was 97 beats/ min. His cardiac rhythm was regular. The patient’s abdomen was moderately distended and tympanitic, and his right lower quadrant was tender to palpation with rebound tenderness. He was guaiac negative on rectal examination.
Laboratory values were significant for a white blood cell count of 20.3 ×109 /L, a hemoglobin level of 135 g/L, a hematocrit level of 0.39 proportion of 1.0 and a platelet count of 193 ×109 /L. Results of electrolyte panel and liver function tests were unremarkable. The patient’s lactate level was 1.7 mmol/L and his international normalized ratio was 1.4. An electrocardiogram demonstrated normal sinus rhythm.
Abdominopelvic CT was performed without intravenous contrast and with limited oral contrast. This demonstrated portal venous gas, with large amounts of air within the venous system of the liver (Fig. 1A). There was no evidence of portal vein thrombosis or free air. There were multiple loops of dilated small bowel with no bowel wall thickening (Fig. 1B). The appendix was not clearly visualized at the base of the cecum (Fig. 1B).
Fig. 1. (A) Abdominal CT scan of a 77-year-old man showing extensive branching air (arrow) within the venous system of the liver. (B) CT scan showing moderately dilated loops of small bowel (arrow). The appendix was not clearly visualized at the base of the cecum (double arrows).
What is the most likely diagnosis?
- early ischemia of the small bowel
- perforated gastric ulcer
- inflammatory bowel disease
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"We will see a lot of money spent on ballot proposals in Michigan in the next couple of weeks," said MSU Advertising and Public Relations Professor Robert Kolt. He says those ads will be targeted to a large portion of voters who still don't know where they stand on the six issues.
"We have had more proposals on this ballot than almost any other state except California," also predicting the length of the ballot could make many Michigan voters impatient, causing them to make some un-informed decisions; especially since the proposals are the last items many voters will see, located on the back of the ballot.
"It's going to take people a significant amount of time, maybe 18-20 minutes if they know who they're voting for, to fill out the ballot," said Kolt. Many will rely on television ads to show them which way to vote.
"Television advertising is great source for information ... but it should not be your only resource."
Which is why State Representative Joan Bauer felt she needed to send out a tool to voters, which you may see in your mailbox soon. It breaks down exactly what each proposal would do, along with one short statement from both sides.
Bauer tells me, she's sending these out to help with the overwhelming number of calls she gets from voters not knowing which way to vote, and that she is not endorsing or rejecting any of the proposals.
A tool many are finding to be more helpful, easy to understand, and un-biased than what they see during commercials.
To see a copy for yourself, here's a link to the PDF:
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The Magic Room
add to cart
“It’s not just about the dress, the flowers, the reception. It’s about the man and the marriage and the life that will follow” (p. 256).
In 1934, Eva Becker sold her first wedding dress to her first bride. It was “a highnecked, pure white satin number with lego’mutton sleeves” (p. 37). A fiercely unsentimental German Catholic housewifeturnedbusinesswoman, Eva would go on to sell tens of thousands more dresses, outfitting women throughout the region on one of the most important days of their lives. More than seventy years later, Becker’s Bridalnow run by Eva’s granddaughter,
Shelley Becker Muelleris still doing business in smalltown Fowler, Michigan. The divorced mother of three, Shelley bought the business from her parents, Clark and Sharon Becker, who, in turn, bought it from Clark’s parents, Eva and Frank.
Each generation put its own imprint on Becker’s, but it was Shelley who created the Magic Room.
Housed in a former bank, the store’s old vault lay cluttered with racks and dresses until Shelley transformed it into the ultimate staging area: a quiet, softly lit dressing room away from the chatter of the sales floor. “You want mirrors everywhere, taking every bride into infinity.. [because] remember, it’s still very much the ’money room’” (p.191). And for Shelley, clinching the sale has become more critical than ever. Whereas during Eva’s reign, a woman might try on two or three dresses before making her selection, now, “the search for the gown has become a weekslong quest” (p. 54) involving multiple stores, a gaggle of friends, and sometimes ending with the bride buying her gown on the Internet for less money. Everything about the weddingespecially the brideshas changed dramatically over the years. “About a third of brides today are divorced, buying a dress for a second or third wedding” (p. 19), while “25 percent of firsttime brides already have children” (p.23). Yet, each bridetobe still arrives at Becker’s with a heart full of fears and hopes about life after her walk up the aisle.
Today, there is no such thing as a “typical” bride. Women like thirtynineyear old Meredith Maitner are embarking on firsttime marriages later in life after successful careers trumped lackluster romances. Others, like Ashley Brandenburg, meet their future husbands on the Internet, or, like Jennifer Otto, wed after having a child with someone besides the bridegroom. “On any given weekend, an average of fiftyfour Becker’s brides find their way down the aisles” (p. 257), and while many of those marriages won’t last, several relationships have already overcome challenging obstacles. Megan Pardo lost part of her fingers on her right hand in a car accident shortly after buying her dress at Becker’s. While Julie Wieber, a young widow, is remarrying against the wishes of her four children.
These women and many others visit the Magic Room in Jeffrey Zaslow’s deeply moving, eponymous book. By sharing each bride’s unique story and that of Becker’s Bridal itself, Zaslow offers an unforgettable glimpse into the lives of some very real modern women andlike the Magic Room’s seemingly infinite mirrorsreflects the enduring hopes, dreams, and love that we cherish for them.
Jeffrey Zaslow is a columnist for Wall Street Journal and author of the New York Times bestseller The Girls from Ames. He is the coauthor with Chesley Sullenberger of Highest Duty, and with Randy Pausch of The Last Lecture, the number one bestseller, now translated into fortyeight languages. Zaslow most recently collaborated with Representative Gabrielle Giffords and her husband astronaut Mark Kelly, on their memoir, Gabby. He lives in Michigan with his wife, Sherry, and their three daughters, Jordan, Alex, and Eden.
How did you come up with the idea for the book THE MAGIC ROOM?
I wanted to write a nonfiction book about the love we all wish for our daughters. I needed a place to set the book - a place with great emotion and I considered all sorts of possibilities. Maybe I could visit maternity wards, dance studios or daddydaughter date nights. Maybe I’d hang out at spas where mothers and daughters go to bond. But then my wife suggested that I find a bridal shop. “There’s something about a wedding dress...” she told me. She was completely right. I was willing to go anywhere in the country to find the right store and the right stories, but I began by looking closer to my home near Detroit. When I came upon the Web site for Becker’s Bridal, which is exactly 100 miles from my house, I was very intrigued.
The subtitle of your book is A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters. In general, would you say thatdespite the advances in women’s rightsour society continues to harbor different hopes for our daughters than for our sons? To what would you attribute this?
I met a lot of brides at Becker’s, and many of them seemed too young to be taking a step toward marriage. I was reminded that for a lot of young women and their parents, early marriage is still seen as a necessary, and almost ultimate, achievement. Parents and society have fewer expectations on young men today on the marriage front. Our society has come a long way, yes, but in many pockets of the country, traditional mores still hold. Nationwide, the average bride is now twentysix years old, up from twentyone in 1970. The average groom is twentyeight, up from twentythree. At Becker’s, which draws from a lot of rural communities, most brides are still in their early twenties.
How has having three daughters shaped your own life? Did you discuss The Magic Room with your wife and daughters as you were writing it?
Yes, my daughters, ages 16, 20 and 22, saw the book come together every step of the way. My wife and I wouldn’t want them to feel any pressure to marry. When the time is right, they’ll find their way. But one reason I wanted to write the book was because so many aspects of womanhood today feel like they’re in flux and illdefined. I was intrigued by the question of how other parents guide their girls into young adulthood.
At Becker’s Bridal, Bill adopts a gay persona to put the store’s female clientele at ease. How did shoppers feel about your presence?
They were curious about why this man with a notebook was hovering around. Some wanted to focus on dressshopping, and gave off a vibe that they weren’t too interested in me or my book. Most people, though, were very friendly. I didn’t want to be intrusive, but I would introduce myself and ask questions, trying to figure out which families might be worth focusing on in the book. It was nice that a number of the brides had actually read some of my earlier books, so they were intrigued by the idea of being profiled in The Magic Room. They knew from reading The Last Lecture or The Girls from Ames that I try to write people’s stories with heart and respect.
The women you profile were extraordinarily open with you about their histories. Have you kept in touch with any of them or their families after you concluded the book?
Their weddings were a year ago, and yes, I’ve remained in touch. One of the bride’s was pregnant, but suffered a miscarriage in her fifth month. That was rough to hear about. The book is finished, but their lives continue.
It’s usually the mother who accompanies her daughter when she shops for a wedding dress. After writing The Magic Room, do you feel tempted to join your daughters’ shopping expeditions one day?
I might not go on the first trip into a bridal shop, but I’ll find my way on the second or third. After working on this book, how could I miss it? And yes, I will steer my girls to Becker’s! That’s become my favorite bridal shop on the planet, of course.
Throughout the bookno matter what the issueyour voice is completely nonjudgmental. Is that difficult to maintain? Were there moments when you struggled to suppress your own opinion?
I saw my job as being that of a reporter, or perhaps a curious fellow parent. I didn’t want to judge a pregnant bride or a bickering mother and daughter. And I wanted to assure the families I wrote about, and the Becker family, that I wasn’t looking to hurt anyone. It was a privilege to share their stories, and I wanted to work to earn their trust, especially when they were telling me hard stories about their lives. Sometimes, I didn’t need to be judgmental. I just reported on life at Becker’s. One bride, marrying for the fourth time, described herself as “always a bride, never a bridesmaid.” Her own words tell her story better than I could by editorializing.
You’ve spent more than twenty years as an author and a columnist. Do you ever wish you’d chosen another path? What are the best and worst things about your job?
I think I listen well and I’ve learned how to tell emotional stories in heartfelt ways. But I have no other job skills. So I don’t know what line of work I could possibly do - or that I’d want to do, besides somehow being in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. The best part of writing a book is hearing from people that it moved them, or that they somehow saw their own lives in the story. The worst part, of course, is the empty page. I write pretty fast and have a good work ethic, but sometimes I need to stop Googling and get back to writing!
You write about how celebrity brides from Grace Kelly to Kate Middleton have influenced popular tastes in wedding gowns. Is the power of celebrity a positive or negative aspect of our culture?
I kept waiting for Kim Kardashian to show up at Becker’s to buy her dress. She never made it in. I’m kidding! But Shelley, the owner of Becker’s, says that celebrity brides do get her customers excited about marriage and about their wedding dresses. So they’re good for business. I don’t think Kim Kardashian and all the coverage of her short marriage helped the culture. Then again, people were so appalled by that story that it led to good discussions in families about what marriage means, especially today. Maybe that was helpful somehow.
Did you ever feel the presence of Eva Becker’s ghost?
I did, even out on Main Street. It really is a very oldlooking town, and I could picture Eva walking with a dress over her shoulder. Shelley is a spiritual and openhearted person, and I saw Eva through her eyes.
Did your approach differ for writing The Girls from Ames and The Magic Room?
The Girls from Ames was a harder book to write. That was about eleven women who’d been friends for decades. They didn’t know how readers - and people in Ames, Iowa, would respond. When it came time to write The Magic Room, I had learned a lot from the Ames book. Also, many of the people I wrote about at Becker’s had read the Ames book, and so they knew my style and approach. That made them more comfortable. Shelley, especially, opened up her store and her life to me, and I promised I would work to do justice to the seventysix years of the Becker’s saga. I’m grateful that she trusted me to do that.
What did you learn about the bridal industry while working on this book?
I saw that it is a business, yes. But I also realized that those in the bridal industry are selling much more than dresses. They’re selling dreams, love, the future. I tried to capture all of that in the pages of the book. I got to know Shelley, the owner of Becker’s, very well. She and her staffers resist the hard sell. Their clientele tends to be middleclass, and they don’t conspire to steer brides into more expensive dresses. Instead, they aim to be good listeners. Every bride has a story, and they tease out those stories from brides and their families. For the book, I focused on eight brides. I saw how their purchase of address was in some ways the culmination of their entire lives up to that moment. Pretty powerful stuff.
What was the most challenging part of writing this book?
Trying on all those dresses! No, I’m kidding about that. The challenge was making sure I was honoring the stories of the families in the book, including the Becker family. They entrusted me with their secrets, and they revealed their fears and doubts. The things I asked them to talk about were not always easy. All the books I’ve authored or coauthored - including The Girls from Ames, The Last Lecture, and Gabby - try to offer a window into people’s hearts. That was especially true for the women I found in The Magic Room. I was grateful that they were willing to open up to me, and I didn’t take lightly the responsibility of sharing their stories with the world.
- Discuss Jeffrey Zaslow’s decision to explore “how all of us can best show love to our daughters” (p. xiv) by examining the world of Becker’s Bridal. Do you agree that a bridal salon is the ideal setting? What are some other places that would have worked as well?
- How do you think the idea of “love” has changed over time?
- Zaslow researched the history of marriage in The Magic Room. How has our outlook on weddings changed over time? Is it for the better?
- Of the many women Zaslow profiles, whose story resonates with you most and why?
- If you are married, did The Magic Room reaffirm the decision you made regarding your dress? If you are unmarried, did the book affect the way you may one day approach your purchase?
- Discuss the unusual vows that Erika and her sisters made. Do you think divorce rates would be lower if most men and women took a similar vow?
- How did you feel about Julie’s decision to remarry so soon after she became a widow?
- Becker’s Bridal is in a constant struggle for survival, in part, because some budgetconscious brides find their gowns at Becker’s and then order them online for less. Has reading The Magic Room made you reconsider your own shopping habits?
- “In the 1930s, wedding dresses were still expected to be multifunctional, rather than onetimeonly fashion statements. A lot of women would wear their gowns at their weddings, and then months later, dye or hem them for other important occasions, or even as maternity wear” (p. 39). In our age of reduce, recycle, and reuse, should this practice be revived? What do you think of the recent trend toward “trashing the dress”?
- “Despite Eva’s clear lack of a soft spot, she was a trailblazer as a woman in the workplace. She not only kept the business afloat but expanded it at a time when women were almost exclusively in the home” (p. 43). Do women today still need to be as tough as Eva in order to succeed?
- Did Shelley make the right decision to take over Becker’s Bridal? Should Alyssa follow in her footsteps?
- Have you read The Girls from Ames? How would you say the female relationships between friends and mothers/daughters differ?
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Dairyland Seed celebrates 20 years of unique GENI on-farm trial program
In the early 1990s Dairyland Seed plant breeders and the leadership team decided the way to develop the best hybrids for Midwestern farmers was to test the hybrids in those farmers’ diverse fields under their diverse conditions with their diverse practices and established the Genotypic ENvironmental Interaction Program or GENI for short. This year Dairyland Seed is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the GENI program that has dramatically advanced the best hybrids in the Dairyland Seed lineup.
“Twenty years ago we initiated this strip testing network to enhance the progress of our corn breeding team. Our goal was to place exciting new hybrids in conditions that farmers face rather than merely relying on data generated by testing hybrids in the highly fertile fields we select for R&D plots,” says Tom Strachota, Dairyland Seed general manager.
Each year more than 200 farmers across the Midwest grow on-farm strip-trial plots for Dairyland Seed scientists to evaluate the performance of new experimental genetics across various environments. As a result Dairyland Seed plant breeders are able to measure the “GENI” (Genotypic ENvironmental Interaction) for each set of Dairyland Seed hybrid corn experimentals.
Strachota adds, “The GENI hybrid corn strip plots are not done for show; they are a reality check. They have proven to be a reliable predictor of on-farm performance across varied soils, environments and management practices.”
Another advantage of the GENI program is the annual meeting. The trial cooperators, who represent a strong cross-section of corn, soybean and alfalfa growers throughout the Midwest, come together for a two-day meeting to see how the experimentals did on their farms, learn about new hybrids and varieties coming, and hear industry leaders’ view on market trends.
This year’s conference featured Sam Miller, managing director and group head of agriculture banking at M&I, a part of BMO Financial Group, BMO Harris Bank. His presentation, “A tale of two economies,” focused on differences between the general global economy and the agricultural economy.
Access to Dairyland Seed Leaders
Probably the most important benefit of the GENI program is that farmers are able to interact directly with the Dairyland Seed breeding and leadership team as well as their peers from states away.
“We’ve heard time and time again that growers enjoy working with Dairyland Seed and participating in the GENI trials because of the access to our breeders and others on the leadership team, and we believe this is why so many farmers have been GENI trial cooperators all 20 years,” says Strachota. “While we became part of the Dow AgroSciences affiliated seed companies a couple of years ago, we still operate as a family company. The bulk of our decisions are made locally and that’s important for our customers.”
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Thanks to monitoring groups such as MEMRI.org, many in the West have become more aware of the tone of popular culture in the Arab and Islamic world. As a result, we have a better understanding of the way anti-Semitism has become a staple of popular culture there. But one needn’t focus solely on the hatred of Jews and Israel that is so prevalent in Islamic societies to understand the shocking differences between what is accepted and even applauded in these cultures and our own.
The New Republic’s Ruth Franklin attended the Marrakech Film Festival in relatively liberal Morocco this month. Her account might have focused on the Western stars in attendance and “the glitz of the film festival” or “the charm and warmth of the Moroccans.” Instead, she wrote about a film screening in which a largely Arab audience reacted with spontaneous applause to a scene in which two women are stoned by a mob.
As Franklin writes:
This was one crowd, on one evening, at one screening; and need it even be said that applause is not the same as stoning itself? But, as the lights went up in the theater and the men and women around me calmly gathered their belongings, I could not help but remember that in an Arab country … liberation, at least for women, inevitably comes with limits. The glitz, the red carpet, and the celebrities might have been the same, but the atmosphere in the theater that night felt very far from Cannes or Sundance.
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Back in the "golden days of medicine," the issue of physician salaries was more cut-and-dried than it generally is today. Most physicians were self-employed solo practitioners. Upon completion of their training, they selected a community to live in (generally near where they trained or close to their hometowns) and "hung up a shingle." A physician's salary was strictly a function of how many patients they saw. Those who "caught on" and built a thriving practice earned more than those who, for whatever reason, could not find patients.
Today, the great majority of physicians coming out of training are employed, either by group practices, by hospitals, HMOs or other organizations. Their compensation almost always comes in the form of a salary or income guarantee, usually supplemented with a bonus. Number of patients seen still can affect income, but physician salaries are also a function of other factors, including educational loan forgiveness, forgiveness of income guarantees, benefits, profit-sharing, etc.
You will find information on some of these factors in the "Contracts" section of the Resource Library this site. In this section we provide data regarding average physician salaries as well as some of the other recruiting incentives commonly offered to physicians.
Because so many physicians are presently employees and earn salaries, more organizations are interested in physician salaries by specialty. Today, there are multiple physician salary surveys tracking that income, whereas 10 years ago there were only one or two. You will find some of these surveys on this site, as well as Merritt Hawkins & Associates' Review of Physician Recruiting Incentives, which is used by many organizations nationally as one benchmark for creating competitive physician salaries and recruiting packages.
We hope you find this information of interest and we encourage you to contact us at (800) 756-0003 if you have any questions or comments.
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An Artist Finds His Subjects Dead, Again
State of the Arts
I have an aversion to performance art that trumps my fears of eight-legged insects and meteor strikes combined. The concept conjures notions of naked recent graduates of adolescence arranging themselves in Abu Ghraib-like piles or digging in boxes of dirt, to an Edgard Varése soundtrack. So, when Gerard Rinaldi suggested at the outset of our conversation that his collection of photographs on display at Burlington’s Fletcher Free Library could best be described as a “performance piece about death,” I eyed a nearby bottle of Jack Daniels.
Rinaldi’s exhibit, entitled “Playing Dead (The Do-Overs),” consists of 40 black-and-white photographs, originally taken in the late 1970s as a project funded by the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and last shown there in 1980. After recently rediscovering the photos, Rinaldi determined to digitally scan and expand them beyond their original resolution, as well as to colorize the images selectively.
The common factor in all of them is the splayed bodies: slumped over a car, arranged at the feet of horses, floating face-up in a swimming pool, lying in a street cratered with potholes. The bodies and some other elements are colored, with the surroundings remaining in black and white.
A closer look reveals that Rinaldi’s apparent fascination with mortality comes with tongue planted firmly in cheek; several of the models in the photos are either smiling or laughing outright. To the artist, who has lived in Chelsea, Vermont, since 1994, encouraging his models to improvise and have fun with the concept of mimicking corpses was part of the idea when he first conceived the photos. Their attitude adds an element of performance to the straight photography.
“I directed [the models] a bit, but essentially they did what they felt like, arranged their own poses, and approached the tasks as play,” Rinaldi says. “That made me think of the way kids play cops and robbers and war games, where if one of them doesn’t like the way the other one died, they’d say, ‘That’s a do-over.’ I thought that brand of playing with death flies in the face of death itself, and made the composition more interesting.”
All this is perfectly suitable context and subject matter for a show, but Rinaldi seemed interested in supplying additional material in the form of a counterincentive. Along with a press packet, he mailed a witheringly self-critical letter to Seven Days before the show started on September 1, encouraging us not to review it.
“First, it is not all that good,” the letter begins, and explains that the artist could be accused of doing little more than reworking photos “with a high resolution electronic pen and some very slick software to ‘pretty them up’ for today’s gallery-goers.” Rinaldi concludes: “Arguably, it is neither photography nor drawing, nor painting, nor theater, nor story-writing, but rather some kind of hybrid.” Or possibly, he muses, his art is merely “obfuscation intended to deflect attention from detecting a sheer artlessness.”
Artists have been asking themselves these questions at least since modernism began a century and a half ago. So, for the moment, let us concede that digitized and colorized work holds a perfectly secure place in the halls of inspiration (with the looming exception of colorized films on Turner Classic Movies).
Why would an artist submit a letter to the media decrying his own work in an attempt to keep it out of the media, when the desired effect could be achieved by writing nothing? It occurred to me that the letter itself was a part of the performance; by supplying his own harping Greek chorus, Rinaldi could preview and possibly short-circuit the disdain of viewers who might see him as taking death lightly. That possibility seemed likely, given the artist’s statement supplied to the Fletcher. “Each scene seemed a fortuitous coincidence to fool death over and over,” Rinaldi writes. “What a wonderful collaboration it was! Here, the viewer is invited to invent a story for each scene.” He concludes, “Thirty years later I love [the photographs] anew.”
The artist’s self-assessment and message aside, “Playing Dead” is, on the whole, compelling. The colorization, selective and discreetly proportioned, is often decidedly muted. This muting actually causes the eye to focus more intently on the colored sections, while preserving the black-and-white framework, and it invites the viewer to take a step back from the occasional lightheartedness of the models, as if we now know something they don’t. Garish colorization couldn’t have produced such effects.
Rinaldi admits he actually likes the work, too. “I believe it has a tremendous amount of artistic merit,” he says. “To me, the images . . . are astounding. I do wonder, though, whether anyone would want to purchase any of them. I mean, just because I find toying with death interesting doesn’t mean others will.”
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Strong community the answer to good school results
8 October 2009
Dr Thalia Anthony comments on the recently released Federal Parliament Report by the Queensland Family Responsibilities Commission.
According to Dr Anthony, the report revealed increased school attendance in four Cape York communities between April and June 2009.
Indigenous parents in these four communities had been faced over the past year with the threat of having their income controlled if their children did not attend school.
The Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, embraced the results with the announcement that income control will be extended to Indigenous families in Brisbane and Perth.
However, in an article for ABC Online's Unleashed, Dr Anthony asserts that to equate the increase in school attendance with managing parental income is simplistic.
"The reforms in the Cape York have been much more than income control."
Contact: Greg Sherington
Phone: +61 2 9351 0202
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Up to 1,000 construction workers walked out last week at the Dragon Liquefied Natural Gas terminal site in Waterston, Milford Haven, in south west Wales.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is launching an investigation to find out what caused a 40-year-old welder from engineering firm Ledwoods to lose consciousness at the jetty at the site.
He had been suffering from breathing difficulties before passing out. The site was shut as a safety inspection was carried out and workers were able to return on Tuesday.
However, the workers in the GMB and Amicus unions met and decided not to return to work and stood at the gates.
Mass meetings took place every day to decide whether the site was safe enough to return.
The main concern was the lack of emergency cover on the site and the time it took to respond to the incident.
Strikers demanded that a phone line should be installed at the jetty and improvements made to the site ambulance.
They were also unhappy at the lack of a nurse on duty during night shifts, the unfenced holes in the ground, and the lack of drinking water fountains that were available for workers.
Despite an Amicus union official informing strikers most of their requests would be met, they decided to stay out another day until the changes had actually been put in place.
One union member at the site told Socialist Worker, “It’s funny how it took a walkout for people to start taking health and safety seriously. We stayed out.
“Then on Friday morning three safety representatives went through the gates to confirm that management promises had been acted on.
“They came back and said that three drinking water supplies had been installed with more to come, that the radios worked on emergency channel all along the jetty, and that a landline was being installed.
“Management had done a U-turn so we went back.”
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The GNU Hurd community comprises of a crowd of people living in different areas of the whole world. For that, having regular working-meetings -- usually one of the more productive ways of coordination works -- is not easily possible.
These are measures of communication that work (compared to, e.g., a one-to-one telephone call) one-to-many. It is important to not send email only to a single person, but in a way that several people can see your questions and reasonings. (There are exceptions, of course. Administrative stuff usually need not be discussed in public.) It often happens that -- if you send email only to a single developer -- someone is unavailable for some days and can't answer to your email, but another person could easily have done so. Also, when discussing matters in public, others can learn from it (while reading, or eventually even taking part in the discussions), transform the results into real documentation, etc. Efficient using of scarce resources. Start discussions on public mailing lists/public IRC channels instead of sending discussing with single developers. And always use reply to all instead of reply when answering to email.
Even if you're a beginner (we've also been, and some of us even still remember), don't hesitate to make the first move and make active use of these resources. But -- of course -- please try to adhere to the conventions as described on the mailing lists and IRC pages.
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December 9, 2004
Is the U.S. Terror Threat Overblown?
President Bush has played the Sept. 11 card with his choice of former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik to head the Department of Homeland
Security during his second term. Kerik's a man who had to personally attend the funerals of many of his own boys as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks, the very reason the department he is now tapped to lead exists.
He's a star of former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's team (Kerik rose from being Giuliani's driver in 1993 to becoming commissioner of the country's largest police department in fewer than seven years) and shines with much of the reflected glory of the heroes of Sept. 11.
His most recent job had him working under Giuliani again in his private firm, and Giuliani is said to have been the voice that talked Bush into this appointment. But in his last government job, Kerik served only three of a planned six months in Baghdad, trying to train the new Iraqi police force.
Fred Kaplan at Slate [magazine] notes some controversies he was embroiled in there:
Members of Iraq's interim governing council expressed loud dismay that Kerik spent $1.2 billion to train 35,000 Iraqi police in Jordan. More annoying still was his decision to buy from Jordan 20,000 Kalashnikov rifles, 50,000 revolvers and 10 million rounds of ammunition, when he could have rounded up all those weapons far more cheaply -- if not for free -- from the disbanded Iraqi army.
And the Los Angeles Times notes:
The training programs Kerik launched increased the Iraqi police force from about 30,000 when he arrived to more than 80,000 in late 2003, but his successors cut the force to about 46,000 this year by weeding out corrupt and ill-trained officers. After Kerik left, other officials concluded that the short-term training was not working and revamped the program.
So, demonstrably incompetent at his last big job, inexperienced with running federal-level bureaucracies, what he has going for him, besides Giuliani's imprimatur and an attractive coating of dust from the collapsed World Trade Center, is that he's a former city cop, and as Phillip Carter, also over at Slate has noted, homeland security against terror is the kind of thing city cops should run:
Kerik knows that the most likely person to stop or encounter a terrorist attack is not an FBI agent or CIA analyst, but a cop walking the beat or a transit worker who sees something suspicious. If Kerik remains true to his background, he will direct the lion's share of resources and federal attention toward these local officials on the front lines of homeland security.
But there's a more interesting question about the Department of Homeland Security than who will get to run it: Why the threat it is designed to prevent hasn't seemed like much of a threat lately? That question is the topic of two different cover stories recently in two very different magazines: New York and Regulation.
The New York piece offers a handful-plus of "Reasons They Haven't Hit Us Again": Al Qaeda is patiently waiting to strike any day now; New York, which remains the best target for hitting lots of people at once in the most mediagenic way, is now too well-defended; foreign counterintelligence has helped us break up all the plots in utero; the enemy just can't find motivated suicide bombers here; and the ol' flypaper theory -- we've moved the war between us and Al Qaeda to Iraq.
The explanation given the most detailed narrative is, in New York's own words: "We have informants everywhere" and "homegrown terrorists are incompetent."
They report the story of a government informant in the thick of a plot by of a pair of angry Muslim youths from Staten Island and Bay Ridge to set off a bomb in the Herald Square subway station. The alleged junior Attas are in custody. (I'm not entirely convinced by the way New York reports the story that their terrorist activities weren't as much suborned by the informant as organically arising from the collared perps; prosecutors, of course, deny that they entrapped the pair.)
Might there not be dozens of stories like this, unreported for national security reasons? Possibly. But in the main, the record of the feds' legal fight against terror, as ably explained by James Bovard in a recent American Conservative, has been one of overzealous prosecutions and past victories, like the breakup of the fabled Detroit terrorist cell, dissolving upon closer inspection.
John Mueller's cover story in the fall issue of Regulation (a magazine I was managing editor of briefly in the early '90s) provides some insights into how the entire Homeland Security apparatus might be more about scaring ourselves and wasting our collective energy than providing a vital national service. Mueller points out that, given its rarity and comparative lack of real impact in America (yes, even after factoring in Sept. 11), perhaps Americans are overly fearful and aiming too many resources at trying to stave off a terror menace that might not even be out there.
As Bart Kosko noted in a Los Angeles Times op-ed back in September, in contradiction to the argument that diligent federal efforts have kept us safe since Sept. 11, "the comparative absence of terrorism could just as easily (and I believe more reasonably) support the very different conclusion that we have overestimated -- grossly overestimated -- the terrorist threat. We may be winning a war against terrorism simply because there are few terrorists out there posing a serious threat to the U.S." (See the New York article for more insights on the obvious difficulties of finding willing suicide terrorists.)
Mueller lays out the comparative risks of air terror in the Sept. 11 manner and driving, noting that we'd need a set of Sept. 11-level tragedies each month for the risks of flying to become the same as those of driving. He points out that even the superterror weapons we were frightened about with regard to Iraq -- chemical and biological ones -- have never proven to be very effective killers.
The obsession with trying to stave off more and more distant and difficult-to-uncover terror plots leads to schemes, like this one laid out in a Rand Corp. study, to keep a closer and more analytical eye on everything we all say, do and buy, in order to find the "dots" that might be connected to foil a potential terrorist plot. This mindset leads ineluctably to the sort of privacy-destroying regulations fingered by John Berlau in Reason Online that try to recruit our bankers and jewelers into becoming spies for the feds.
The opportunity costs of this fight, in resources, energy and know-how -- and in our civil rights -- are enormous. As Mueller points out, economist Roger Congleton has figured that delaying all airline passengers for only half an hour each adds up to total economic costs of $15 billion a year.
Imagine what else smart fellows like the authors of that Rand study, or all the people involved in the new and burgeoning industry, both private and public, of fighting domestic terror assaults might be able to do if they weren't expending their energy on what might be a smaller threat than we seem to think? (When I say "we," I mean those in the anti-terror industry -- in the real world, actual active fear of domestic terror seems far less prevalent now than was fear of nuclear devastation during the early '80s.)
Absolute security is impossible, of course, at any price. But cost-benefit analyses have been noticeably absent from the public and political discussion about how to handle domestic defense against terrorism. For that, perhaps, it would be better to tap for Homeland Security head someone who had a more nuanced sense of his own job's capabilities and significance, someone who did not have to attend the funerals of many of his own boys as a result of the one -- and so far only -- successful example of mass-murderous international terrorism on our shores.
Brian Doherty is a senior editor of Reason magazine and the author of "This Is Burning Man" (Little, Brown, 2004).
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Social networks have locked horns in the past as Facebook wrangled its way from dormitory to dominating the Internet in six short years. Now at 500 million followers, its outstripped the competition and in some regards considers itself its own sovereign state, third in size to only India and China. So how does Google with its lack of social networking savvy pose a threat?
It's no secret that Google has failed at previous attempts to scale the social media walls only to fall short of gaining any traction. Orkut, Google Buzz and even Google Wave have not been able to hit the proverbial target. Yet rumors continue to weave in and out of social media blogs and thought-leaders in the space still seem to think it has a fighting chance. Most recently yet another social network platform in developemnt, called GoogleMe looks like its making headway.
Michael ArringtonOne sign that Google is engaging in a full-court press to move forward in the space was intimated by TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington earlier in the month when he was privy to a conversation overheard at a TechCruch party at August Capital. The upshot of the incident indicated that Facebook knows all about Google's social plans because they circuitously obtained proprietary documents from the Search Engine giant.
While this inside information has not been verified, it does lend credence to some of the actions Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg is initiating at the present time. According to Anthony Ha at Social Beat, Facebook appears to being working hard to fend off Google. Ha notes, "Specifically, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has declared that the company is on “lockdown” for the next 60 days, with the office open on weekends as the company tries to revamp Photos, Groups, and Events in advance of the Google launch."
The report goes on to say that Zuckerberg even has a neon sign emblazoned with the word "Lockdown" onMark Zuckerberg his office door. Apparently this term has been used by the CEO in the past. In the early days of Facebook, if someone wanted to leave the office, Zuckerberg would reportedly pound the table and say: “No! We’re in lockdown! No one leaves the table until we’re done with this thing.”
Coupled with these rumors, Google has since acquired Slide, an online leader in social entertainment at the same time it decided to close down its Google Wave enterprise system. This coupled with a $150 million dollar investment in Zynga doesn't bode well for Facebook. Not taking this news lightly, Zuckerberg like all good leaders of sovereign states looks like he is putting together a War-Room strategy that will allow him and his inner circle of consigliories to strategize and perhaps develop a pre-emptive strike that will thwart Google's next big push to enter the social media space.
And since the Chinese as the world's largest superpower and leader in Semantic Technology has the ability to tip the social media scales in one direction or the other (based on the sheer numbers of netizens), don't be surprised if Zuckerberg doesn't come up with a plan to gain support from this government. While Facebook has had its scuffles with Chinese in the past, nothing compares to that government's distrust of Google and their threats to pull out of the country earlier this year.
As these Social Wars play out, it will be interesting to see how many true Facebook loyalists there are out of their mighty 500 million followers. What army will you enlist with?
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City of Alexandria, VA
City of Alexandria to hold Lake Barcroft Dam Information Meeting
Dam Inundation Study
For Immediate Release: June 22, 2009
Residents are invited to attend a Lake Barcroft Dam informational meeting on Wednesday, June 24, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the William Ramsay Elementary School, 5700 Sanger Avenue. This meeting will provide residents along Holmes Run, Backlick Run, Cameron Run, and Hooffs Run with information about the City’s Lake Barcroft Dam Inundation Study.
The Lake Barcroft Dam Inundation Study was first performed as part of the Lake Barcroft Watershed Improvement District, which was required by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation as part of the statewide dam safety program. This study concluded that in the event of a dam breach or other flooding conditions, many low-lying properties along the waterways may be flooded. The City of Alexandria conducted another Dam Inundation Study, which provided additional data and created a draft emergency management plan for the possibility of a Dam failure.
The City of Alexandria is committed to compliance with the City's Human Rights Code and the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation or to request materials in an alternative format call 703.746.4045 (TTY 711) or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org.
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Web presence has become an absolute essential for every business organization in today’s world. When you design a website, or wish to create one, you will always need a place to put or host your site.
There are many factors to consider when looking for hosting. The best website hosting companies are ones that can promise up to 99% uptime. In addition, you can get a number of solutions such as web hosting reseller, free web hosting, managed hosting, virtual private server (vpn), etc.
Each virtual dedicated server is as good as a dedicated server of the same power specification. A virtual dedicated server is similar to shared hosting in that more than one user can be on the server, but each user gets a guaranteed part of the server. The user will have full use of his or her server because every virtual dedicated server is identical in comparison to others. A virtual dedicated server is more costly than a shared server but not as costly as a dedicated server. Each virtual dedicated server is directly isolated from other virtual servers and is not going to be affected if other webmasters bring their servers down. A virtual dedicated server is a cost effective way to get the power and flexibility of dedicated hardware at a budget friendly price. The cheapest virtual dedicated server runs on Linux os.
Virtual Server Hosting
Virtual server hosting is a type of web hosting that is constructed by dividing one physical server into multiple virtual servers. Virtual hosting is a process of hosting many domain names using one IP address. These days many web masters prefer a different type of hosting called virtual private server hosting. In virtual hosting, you only rent a small portion of a bigger space with lots of other people. A virtual hosting server is not a new innovation in technology because it is the advancement of virtualization of technologies and software. Dissimilar to dedicated server hosting, this type of technology divides the space of one physical server into multiple virtual servers. If your website has grown beyond the capabilities of shared hosting, then vps may offer an affordable option to dedicated hosting.
Dedicated server hosting is Internet hosting in which the user leases the whole server. Managed hosting is a type of web hosting whereby the service provider manages the hosting needs for the customer. Web hosting can easily be divided into 3 basic categories called shared or virtual hosting, dedicated, and finally reseller hosting. Dedicated server hosting is the edge of the web hosting world where managed hosting service providers play a vital role.
The demand for dedicated hosting comes up out of the elaboration of the land site with network developers often locomotion to more sophisticated technology. It is more than just dedicated hosting though, as it also includes a variety of other services and support. Dedicated hosting is a beneficial type of web hosting that offer enormous advantages to the website owner. Without proper or dedicated hosting, it is impossible for a website to get any business online.
The most important benefit of this type of hosting is that you can use it for any purpose without sharing with other people unless you choose to do so.
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Michigan lawmakers should be celebrating, not getting out their torches and pitchforks to march against an economic incentive that, by golly, appears to be working.
It's way too early to tell if they created a Frankenstein's monster after stitching together a major incentive last winter that's drawing a lot of attention from major movie makers.
What has some surprised is that the state incentive to pay movie makers up to 42 percent of their production costs if they film in Michigan is actually working. More than 19 films that have applied so far may qualify.
That may cost the state as much as $100 million in the next fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1.
Yes, the movie industry's reaction to this lure is shocking - shockingly good.
The whole point of this exercise is to get Hollywood here, to help us diversify a Michigan economy that is sick from its dependence for far too long on auto industry jobs.
Yet, now that the movie incentive is working, some legislators fear it'll cost too much. They want to cap the credits at $50 million.
They should watch a Hollywood hero movie, if that's what it'll take to pump some backbone into those timid lawmakers.
Sure, the incentive may cost the state a bundle. But every dollar of that state credit is expected to generate $3 in economic activity in Michigan - a 300 percent return on the investment of public dollars.
This is no monster.
Don't doom it because of its success.
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Obama's immigration speech comes amid calls for executive action
It’s an infuriating stance to the Hispanic immigrant community, which has seen a record number of deportations — nearly 400,000 in each of the past two years, more than under the Bush administration.
“It is just not possible to a have a deep and meaningful conversation on immigration without the power of the presidency coming up,” said Clarissa Martinez, director of immigration and national campaigns for National Council of La Raza. “It is imperative, and we welcome that the administration is trying to build the space for legislative reform, but the power of the presidency needs to be brought to bear.”Continue Reading
The issue is “top of mind” in the Hispanic community, said Angela Kelley, vice president for immigration policy and advocacy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.
“Rather than just talk about the policies he would like to see happen, he needs to be responsive to the policies that he can make happen,” Kelley said. “He can’t pass a bill. But he is answerable to all the expanded enforcement actions and to the question people ask: Could you take the edge off enforcement?”
Gutierrez said he would listen for the president to address the issue Tuesday.
But as American flags waved in the breeze behind him, Obama focused more broadly on the economic benefits of immigration and border enforcement.
“In embracing America, you can become American. And that enriches all of us,” Obama said. “Yet at the same time, we are standing at the border today because we also recognize that being a nation of laws goes hand in hand with being a nation of immigrants. This, too, is our heritage.”
The latest White House push has been met with doubts on Capitol Hill.
“I just haven’t seen the outreach to offices on how to work together,” said a senior House Republican aide who has worked on comprehensive immigration reform. “We have never seen anything followed through other than these public meetings. I just wonder where this work is that they’re doing.”
A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Brendan Buck, said the White House hasn’t contacted the speaker’s office or the House Judiciary Committee to talk about the issue.
“Frankly, we’ve had no indication from the White House that immigration reform is a priority for them,” Buck said.
For their part, White House aides say the president isn’t focused immediately or directly on Congress.
Rather, he is building the pressure on Congress from the outside, giving beyond-the-Beltway speeches and meeting with Hispanic media personalities and actresses, business leaders and political titans such as Michael Bloomberg and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“This is an important part of the campaign to build public awareness and public support for comprehensive immigration reform, which we have to do to make sure that it’s got the kind of momentum behind it that gets Congress’ attention,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday.
That’s all well and good, reform proponents say, but it’s no longer enough.
At a meeting last week with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Obama got pressed on the issue. And at the sitdown with business, political, law enforcement, religious and civil rights figures in the State Dining Room, he got an earful, as well.
More than half the questions focused on Obama’s executive authority, “which is kind of surprising given who was in the room,” said Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, an attendee at the meeting.
By the time John Podesta, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, raised the issue, Obama gave some ground.
He told the group that he would sit down with Napolitano for a “serious conversation,” Noorani said.
“He realizes he can’t brush it off,” he said.
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Carrie Budoff Brown
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It’s the Fourth of July tomorrow, and as usual my *cough*patriotism*cough* manifests itself this week in the form of a critical, cynical look at problems this nation faces and why we are where we are as a nation. Americans like to spew the “greatest country on Earth” bit, but even the most patriotic of us will agree that we’ve got some serious issues, and let’s face it, one of the biggest ones is the rising price of gasoline. However, it’s a problem the rest of the world has faced for some time. The price of gas being high is nothing new to most developed nations. The fact is, we did not have the foresight in this nation to see the problem coming, and screwed ourselves. Here’s three simple reasons we’ve got no reason to bitch and moan about the price of gas.
1. How did we not realize a long time ago that living close to work makes sense?
Europeans have known for years that it’s a lot smarter to live close to work. It’s convenient, it saves gas, and you can even take the bike or walk to work when the weather is nice. Somewhere along the line, though, Americans got the notion in their heads that it’s far nicer to live fifty or sixty miles from where you work, in a suburb where you can raise Little Johnny and Judy with two cars in the garage, a dog, and a fenced-in backyard. We decided it’s far better to build cities that stretch for miles across the untamed wilderness, rather than building cities which stretch story upon story into the sky, with buildings, businesses, and homes closer together. Sprawling cities like Dallas, where three-quarters of the workforce live in some distant suburb, are dumb as fuck. Don’t live in them.
2. Americans don’t have some god-given right to drive their own car, believe it or not.
We decided a long time ago we’d almost always rather own our own vehicle than utilize any kind of public transit – after all, the automobile was a symbol of freedom of movement for so many Americans, right? In the 20th Century it even became a symbol of freedom from one’s parents for young adults across America.
Now we realize, as our gas prices inch toward what the rest of the world has paid for years, the wisdom of building strong public transit, of building our cities with less sprawl, and of living closer to where one earns one’s paycheck. Why didn’t we realize it twenty years ago, looking at what the rest of the world was already doing? Why were we not building solid train and bus lines like Europe?
Americans like to think it’s because public transit doesn’t work in America’s vast rural areas, which is, of course, nonsense. All it requires is a centrally-located hub (the nearest city of any size) which has bus or train lines running on regular schedules to the smaller rural communities surrounding it. Now, what is true is that it doesn’t work in the rural United States… because rural Americans don’t want to use it. We’ve been indoctrinated to believe it’s somehow an American right to drive our own vehicle instead. This is bullshit, and it was bullshit twenty or fifty years ago when we should have been investing in public transit and building cities more practically. Public transportation is the environmentally responsible, cheaper, wiser option for getting where we need to go.
3. The biggest reason we have nothing to bitch about in America is real simple: everyone else still pays more for a gallon of gas.
This one’s a no-brainer, folks. Let’s just take a glance at this list:
United States of America – $4.10/gallon
Germany – $9.16/gallon
Brazil – $6.02/gallon
Turkey – $10.14/gallon
These are just a few examples from different areas of the world. Now, certainly we can look at countries like Kuwait or the United Arab Emirates where gasoline sells for less than $1/gallon, but I don’t think that’s much of a comparison. It’s far more telling to look at other developed, Western nations like those in the European Union, where people usually pay in excess of $8/gallon.
If they can deal with the higher price of gasoline they are forced to pay, what’s the big deal here? Other than lack of foresight, planning, or practical solutions like public transportation and living closer to work and school, of course. Next time you catch yourself bitching about having to pay too much for gas, consider that United States citizens are the number one consumers of gasoline in the world, and ask yourself, does gas cost too much, or are we just far too dependent and wasteful of this limited, nonrenewable resource?
social issues consumerism economics Riley's Rants
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Musings on economics, policy and random points of interest
Economics is less the study of a particular subject than it is a way of looking at the world. At its most basic, economics approaches the world with a belief that we can use theories and empirics to better understand why people do what they do, and what policies can get people to act in ways that produce better results for society. With that in mind, economics can be (and has been!) applied in almost any aspect of life. This blog is not intended to be a Freakonomics-style demonstration of this; it is merely supposed to give a glimpse of the world through the eyes of someone who is immersed in the economic perspective.
This blog will also comprise my best attempts to answers questions friends and family have asked me about the economy recently. A crisis tends to make the field of economics much more interesting.
Without further fluff, I present the econgirl blog.
Update: Econgirl is in Ghana
For the next two years, I will be doing economic research in Ghana. Expect to hear a little less about GDP, the trade balance and health insurance in the U.S., and a little more about mangoes, cultural faux pas, and health insurance in West Africa.
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In New Mexico, both parents are legally required to provide financial support for their children. When child support is ordered as part of a divorce or child custody dispute, one parent is typically required to make child support payments until their child turns eighteen (18), or until they are nineteen (19) if the child is still in high school. Depending on the timing of the child support order, parents can be paying child support for a very long time.
Given the substantial financial implications of a child support obligation, to both parents and their children, some parents choose to obtain life insurance policies that will pay their support obligation
Some parents choose to obtain life insurance policies that will pay their support obligation
Life insurance policies are available from a number of different places. Some employers offer life insurance to employees as a standard benefit. An employer-provided life insurance plan may not be sufficient to cover a child support obligation because they tend to have fairly low policy limits. However, employer-provided plans typically allow employees purchase additional coverage through the group plan. The major benefit of purchasing through a group plan is that it may not require completion of a medical examination, provided that the coverage stays under a certain amount.
Parents may also apply to purchase an individual life insurance policy directly from an insurance company. Insurance companies provide full life and term life insurance, and will offer significantly varied amounts of coverage. The insurance company will require a physical examination with a doctor or nurse, so that they can assess the health of the applicant. Any health conditions, along with smoking, will increase the cost of life insurance. Additionally, the cost of life insurance will vary depending upon the age and lifestyle of the insured person.
Once they have obtained life insurance coverage, parents may have several options for choosing the policy's beneficiary. The simple, direct approach is to name the child as the beneficiary of the life insurance policy. The problem with this approach is that it may provide a large lump sum to a child under the age of eighteen (18). Generally, a guardian will need to be appointed to administer the funds on behalf of the child. Then at age eighteen (18), the account must be given to the child outright. In the alternative, a trust fund could be set up and a trustee appointed to administer the life insurance funds. Or, the parent obtaining the life insurance policy may name the other parent as the beneficiary of the policy, which means that any proceeds would go directly to the other parent.
Given how unpredictable life can be, parents should carefully consider the options available for securing child support obligations. Life insurance can be expensive, but can provide both parents with an invaluable level of peace of mind knowing that their child will always be supported. Consulting with an experienced family law attorney is essential in any child support action so that parents on either side can understand their options for securing a child support obligation with a life insurance policy.
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See the latest headlines, opinions, and reports on the energy industry.
The natural gas drilling boom that revitalized the American energy industry has been less favorable for Texas power generators, who’ve seen their margins squeezed by cheap natural gas and accompanying low electricity prices.
Companies that built or bought generating plants before the price of natural gas fell from a high of about $13 per million British thermal units in the summer of 2008 are now contending with gas prices in the $2 range — and they aren’t expected to increase above $5 for the next several years.
Natural gas is the biggest factor in the price of electricity in Texas, because gas is the marginal fuel for the state’s power grid and prices are based on natural gas prices.
Prolonged low natural gas prices are hurting power companies’ profits and, in some cases, making their capital structures untenable, analysts say. The situation also affects the reliability of the Texas power grid, because low prices discourage the construction of new power plants to meet peak demand.
“We see a sustained period of low natural gas prices because of a fundamental supply-and-demand imbalance with natural gas,” said Jim Hempstead, a senior vice president with Moody’s Investors Service. “We have a negative industry outlook for the unregulated power companies that is, in part, reflecting our belief of sustained low natural gas prices.”
Rob Little, a partner in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, said power generators took on debt to build or buy power plants under the assumption that they could service the debt based on certain natural gas prices. Any hedges they entered are probably starting to burn off now, because gas prices dropped four years ago.
“At this point, it’s impossible to replace those hedges at prices that allow them to maintain the same level of profitability,” Little said. “You’re going to have owners and operators of these plants who, as these hedges burn off, are faced with certainly not an ideal business proposition going forward. They need to refinance their debt, they need to sell, so I think you’re going to see a lot of activity in the space, given those industry dynamics.”
Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings Corp., which owns the Luminant power generation company, is among the companies to pursue hedging strategies, Little said. Luminant is the largest power producer in Texas, with more than 15,400 megawatts of generation.
“At the same time, they have engaged in some transactions to either extend the maturities of their debt to give the prices of natural gas more time to go back up again, or to reduce some of the outstanding aggregate amounts of their debt by buying it back at a discount,” he said.
Moody’s has lowered EFH’s rating from B2 in 2007 to its current Caa2, which signifies a very high credit risk. Hempstead said the company is in financial distress and has too much debt.
For the first quarter, EFH reported a net loss of $304 million, including natural gas hedges and interest rate swaps, compared with a $362 million net loss in the first quarter of 2011.
“We think that all else being equal, with a sustained period of low natural gas prices, which hurts their margin, rising costs, and rising capital investment needs, in part to comply with more stringent environmental emissions mandates, they are looking at a situation where they’re going to run out of money, perhaps in the 2014 time period,” Hempstead said.
EFH declined an interview request but responded in a statement.
“EFH has extended nearly all our debt maturities beyond September 2014 and most of our debt maturities are post-September 2017,” spokesman Allan Koenig said. “Balance sheet issues are distinct from operations, and they have not prevented us from continuing to operate well, serve Texas and generate revenues while investing in the company’s and the state’s future.”
The company also released a statement on low natural gas prices and their effect on generation.
“The current environment of low natural gas prices is impacting the entire industry — and market’s — ability to economically add new generation,” Luminant spokeswoman Ashley Barrie said. “Current wholesale power prices and price signals are simply not at levels necessary to support development during the near term.”
Generators’ reluctance to build new capacity is troubling to state regulators, partly because of the state power grid’s struggle to keep up with peak demand on extremely hot summer days.
The board of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, operator of the state power grid, has made resource adequacy its highest priority.
Last month, the Public Utility Commission of Texas advanced a proposal that would raise the price cap on wholesale power to $4,500 from $3,000 per megawatt-hour during peak demand periods.
John Fainter, president and CEO of the Association of Electric Companies of Texas, said that should encourage companies to build more generation, even if it’s called on for only a few hours per year during extreme events.
“It will also encourage wholesale buyers to hedge against this happening to them, and so you’ll have more energy bought in the bilateral market too,” he said. “That will encourage development of generation assets.”
some effect. Last week, Houston-based Calpine Corp. (NYSE: CPN) said it was moving forward on plans to add 520 megawatts of capacity at two natural-gas-fired plants in the Houston area, based partly on tightening reserve margins.
Matt covers transportation, energy, government and economic development.
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Given all of the NFL-wide love about last week’s Packer-Seahawks game — “that’s how football should be played!” — and the subfreezing temperatures we are almost certain to see for this week’s contest against the Giants, shouldn’t we be agitating once again for the return of the Cold Weather Super Bowl?
How is it that the NFL, the manliest of manly sports, has to play its championship game in warm weather or, worse, indoors? I made the case for a Cold Weather Super Bowl in the Wall Street Journal five years ago and after a brief flurry of activity (lots of talk radio love), the idea slowly melted away.
Let’s bring it back.
Over the course of a 16-game season, an avid fan of the National Football League typically sees several dozen serious injuries. This is to be expected in a game that features 300-pound men running at one another–at full speed–like battering bighorns on the Animal Planet. (The difference is that the men are paid and, in many cases, have verbal faculties.) Over the 36-year history of the modern NFL, fans have been treated to bone-jarring hits, violent tackles and powerful blocks, resulting in hundreds of severe concussions, dislocated shoulders and mangled knees. And all of this is legal.
But one thing these fans have never seen is a cold-weather Super Bowl. A 1966 NFL rule prohibits the league from awarding outdoor Super Bowls to cities where the mean temperature at game time is below 50 degrees. True, the NFL has lots of stupid rules–banning loose socks and untucked shirts, for example. But for a league that prides–and aggressively markets–itself as the toughest of the tough, perhaps no stipulation is sillier than the one requiring a warm-weather or indoor championship.
The climate is right for change: The owners have signaled that they’re open to considering a suspension of the rule. Baseball and basketball are under increased scrutiny about their whiny, overpaid athletes…
Fans are sick of high-paid wussies. This summer, baseball’s All-Stars refused to go extra innings because pitchers’¹ arms are just too fragile. Never mind that the most productive of their kind work three hours a day, once or twice a week, for half the year. The All-Star game ended in a tie. And pro basketball isn’t much better. Despite contracts in some cases worth nine figures, some of the NBA’s marquee players refused to play for their country this summer in basketball’s world championships.
By deciding to approve cold-weather Super Bowls, the NFL has a unique opportunity to drive home the distinction between its players and the more delicate athletes that populate those other sports.
Fortunately, the cold-weather rule was the subject of heated debate at a meeting of NFL owners that wrapped up earlier this month. At issue was a proposal by the league commissioner, Paul Tagliabue, to seek a suspension of the rule as a post-Sept. 11 goodwill gesture toward New York and Washington. Neither city would qualify as a Super Bowl host without the exemption.
New York was briefly considered as a possible emergency host last season, when it appeared that New Orleans might have trouble hosting the Super Bowl after it was delayed a week by the Sept. 11 attacks. Those scheduling conflicts were eventually worked out, but the willingness to consider a cold-weather site reignited a debate long considered settled. And despite some stubborn opposition, many owners are warming to the prospect of a Super Bowl in the elements.
For good reason. Ask anyone to name the most memorable professional football championship, and nearly everyone will cite the “Ice Bowl,” the 1967 game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field. Game temperature was 13 degrees below zero–and the wind chill, 46 below–but the stadium was filled. Even casual football fans can recall Packer coach Vince Lombardi nervously pacing the sidelines, each exhalation as visible as a thick puff of cigar smoke. And ask anyone to name the most memorable game from last year’s playoffs, and most will tell you it was the Patriots-Raiders affair that took place in a near-blizzard in New England.
Both New York and Washington made formal proposals at the recent owners’ meeting to win the 2008 Super Bowl. The rule will be revisited next spring. So far, only one NFL owner has been bold enough to challenge publicly the notion of cold-weather Super Bowls. “I think the Super Bowl should be played in championship conditions,” said Ralph Wilson, owner of the Buffalo Bills.
And what, exactly, are “championship conditions?” Astro-turf? Sunshine? A domed stadium? Wilson didn’t specify, saying only, “I’m a little uneasy about playing it in an area where there might be a lot of bad weather.”
That excludes Buffalo, home to some of the NFL’s greatest fans. But it’s not just Buffalo. The teams with the most enthusiastic fans are all in the north, and they all play their games outdoors. New York, Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver and, of course, Green Bay. No one thinks of New Orleans or Miami or Arizona. (The Arizona Cardinals filled just 29,000 of their 73,000 seats for a recent game against Seattle. The Green Bay Packers, by contrast, have a season-ticket waiting list that spans decades.)
A Lambeau Field Super Bowl in 2015. Perfect.
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More than half U.S. diplomatic posts may not meet security rules
By Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than half the U.S. diplomatic posts overseas may not fully meet security standards, a senior U.S. official told a hearing on Thursday that follows an attack on the mission in Benghazi in which the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans died.
Pat Kennedy, the under secretary of state for management at the State Department, told a House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee that the United States had a diplomatic presence at 283 locations around the world.
He said 97 safe and secure facilities had been completed since the 1999 passage of a U.S. law authorizing additional funding for security upgrades, including 70 full replacements of embassies or consulates, as well as some building of Marine guard quarters and office annexes.
"There remain approximately 158 posts that have facilities that may not fully meet current security standards," he said.
"Many of these facilities were built or acquired prior to the establishment of the current security standards, and others are subject to authorized waivers and/or exceptions."
Kennedy was giving written testimony at a closed hearing of the subcommittee that oversees the State Department, but his comments were posted afterwards on a House website.
The issue of embassy security has been under particular scrutiny since the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attack. In December, an independent review described security precautions at the U.S. mission in the eastern Libyan city as "grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place" there.
Another State Department official said a variety of factors, including increased costs of fuel and construction, contributed to the delay in upgrading security for diplomatic posts.
"To accommodate our building requirements, collocate staff, and achieve required setback (from the property perimeter), we seek sites of about 7 to 10 acres of buildable land. These can be challenging to find in a capital city," the official told Reuters.
One of the lawmakers who attended the hearing said part of the problem was that many posts are located directly on streets. This makes them more vulnerable to car bombs and other attacks.
"The problem is, there are a good number of our embassies that are right at the street," Representative Nita Lowey, the panel's ranking Democrat, told Reuters. "So ideally, you'd want to find new land to move them. So they are looking at all kinds of different methods."
BOMBINGS SPURRED SECURITY UPGRADES
The 1999 law on embassy security construction was passed after the deadly bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania a year earlier in which hundreds of people were killed.
In addition to providing funding for security upgrades, the 1999 law contained some new security requirements, including a mandate that any new embassy or consulate building be no less than 100 feet from the compound's perimeter.
Kennedy said Congress had appropriated about $10 billion for the embassy security construction effort since 1999, and that 37 projects were currently in design or construction.
Following the Benghazi attack, the State Department asked in December for more than $1 billion to be reprogrammed in the current fiscal year to improve security at diplomatic missions.
The Senate recently approved the transfer of $1.1 billion in funds that are no longer needed in Iraq because of reduced operations there.
The House has yet to decide whether to make the reprogramming move, although Representative Kay Granger, the chair of the House appropriations subcommittee, told Reuters she looked favorably on the idea.
"There is great concern, as you can imagine, about what needs to be done," said Granger, a Republican.
The issue is likely to get caught up in congressional wrangling over the overall budget for this year as well as automatic spending cuts set for March 1.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by David Brunnstrom)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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Nordost and Vertex Measurements
At RMAF 2009, Nordost shook up quite a few audiophiles by announcing preliminary results of research that can measure and validate the positive effects after market cabling, supports, and power products. One year later, Nordost announced that the research, jointly conducted by Nordost's competitor, Vertex AQ of the UK in collaboration with military electronic-engineering consultant and sonar expert Gareth Humphries-Jones of North Wales, has taken a major step forward.
Last year, Roy Gregory of Nordost and Steve Elford of Vertex AQ (pictured, with Elford on the right) projected a series of difference graphs that demonstrated the effects of audiophile power cables, supports, and Nordost's Quantum device on sound. Simply changing from a stock power cord to a well-made audiophile cord resulted in a 36% reduction in the time-domain difference between the original WAV file and the same file burned on to a CD and played back by a typical high-quality player. Vertex AQ's support platform further reduced the error by 15%.
This year, Gregory and Elford began by reviewing their original data. With Humphries-Jones present, smiling on the sidelines, they revisited the first time they invited him to take a listen to their products in action, and watched his reaction as a non-audiophile when he could hear before and after differences that power cords and supports can make to the output of a CD player.
Gregory and Elford had always known from listening that the more dynamic and complicated the music, the greater the error between the original data on a CD and the player's output. Now, for the first time, they have measured evidence to support their observation. If you ever wondered why so many manufacturers dem their equipment with recordings of a female vocalist with minimal back-up, it's because the errors are less audible than with something like a huge classical orchestra performing complexly scored music with great dynamic and expressive shifts.
In the last year, much additional work has validated and extended the process. What began as research focused on cables and supports now embraces the entire electronics chain in a CD-based system. Each electronic unit has its own error signature. If you change amps or CD players, you will discover a different error spectrum in the new unit(s).
Humphries-Jones has now clarified how to synchronize the before and after files to repeatably show the reduction in errors and improvements in data retrieval. After repeated testing, Nordost and Vertex AQ have affirmed that their measurements are sound, consistent and repeatable. No matter what piece of equipment in what system configuration is being tested, the same cabling or supports or noise reduction devices always gives the same. The same change to the same system always produces the same change in the difference signal, with the results expressed in terms of degree of tracing error (or the ability of a system or component to accurately follow a signal's dynamic demands).
Nordost and Vertex have also confirmed that improvements in data retrieval are cumulative. I don't recall the exact percentages as I type, but using hypothetical numbers, if the use of Vertex AQ's support platform reduces timing errors in a CD player by 10%, and the addition of Nordost's Sort Kones reduces timing errors by 17%, then using both together will reduce the difference signal by 27%. The research has also validated that the use of good quality cabling reduces errors even further, and by a much higher percentage than cable naysayers will want to hear.
Soon after RMAF, Nordost and Vertex will make available for download a PDF presentation that summarizes their research. I'll be looking for it the same time you are.
Research takes time and money. Nordost's goal is to make available, within a year's timeHumphries-Jones cringed as Gregory mentioned the time linesystem-tuning software that you can plug into your system. The software will allow you to push a button and see the results of changes to cables, supports, etc., as well as the timing error of equipment.
The software, which they plan to release in downloadable form at reasonable cost, will not be limited to use with Nordost or Vertex AQ; it will be universally applicable. You'll be able to tell, for example, where to put your Stillpoints under equipment to achieve the best results. Beyond a consumer version, there will be other versions for use by manufactures. In post-demonstration conversation, Gregory told me that neither Nordost nor Vertex AQ has yet used this research to design their products, but they will. They will also share the technology with other companies. "We are very happy to work with people who do good work," he said.
Gregory emphasizes that software is only a means, not an end in and of itself. Software use should never replace critical listening. He feels that the problem with software such as MLSSA, which speaker designers increasingly rely upon to detect crossover points, is that some trust the software more than themselves. The result is that speakers from different companies begin to sound more and more alike, which is not necessarily a good thing.
"Software is only a tool," he said in conclusion. "Its results always depend on the intelligence and discernment of the person using it. The value in our software will lie in its ability to provide repeatable results when it comes to system tuning and set up. It will also enable long-term monitoring of system status/health."
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Nature/Religion (part 3)
Sitting in the Sydney airport, waiting to return to the land that my animal soul comprehends on a deep and resonant level, I wish to type up one more thought. After teaching a group of Tasmanians yesterday, a few of us went for a short hike amongst the tree ferns, myrtles and eucalypts. Dotted here and there in this particular preserve were signs about the local aboriginals. One of my hosts commented that this particular group was not considered aboriginal by the other local groups. “Ah”, I thought, “one cannot get away from this anywhere.” When asked why, he replied that since people from this particular grouping had intermarried at various points with white settlers (who were brutal settlers, in the beginning), they were no longer considered aboriginal. The subtext is, of course, that they were tainted and no longer pure.
In these conversations about which Pagans are “indigenous” and which are “neo-Pagans” how long is it before indigenous comes to equal authentic and authentic comes to equal pure and pure comes to equal superior?
Yes, definition is often problematic, and identity even more so. I do not need to lay claim to indigenousness. I practice Paganism and magic. I have a nature based (though not strictly earth-based) religion. I have heritage and training, it is true, but more importantly, I have practice, I have my body, I have meditation, I have the sun, the stars, the trees, the water, and you. Leave me to my practice and worship, please. I’m fine with being a 21st century person practicing a religion with ancient ancestry and contemporary innovation. As a person who lives on this land and in this time, among these cities and farms and wild places, how can I really do anything else?
For right now, I will call myself Pagan: one who connects with the non-Dual and the many Gods, with this sweet earth and with the stars far beyond my eye’s ability to reach.
- T. Thorn Coyle
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“I can’t thank Iridium enough. You helped save my life. The battery of the Iridium phone hung in the whole time. It was my lifeline, truly. The rescue team was able to send me updates on their whereabouts, and eventually came to get me. I was really happy to have had the phone.”
Meagan McGrath is a Canadian Air Force Major and experienced mountaineer. In December 2009, she departed on a journey to become the first Canadian to solo ski from Hercules Inlet in Antarctica to the South Pole.
After a successful test expedition to the North Pole, along with two years of training and researching the terrain, McGrath was well prepared for her mission. Packing enough food and supplies to sustain her for the 45-60 day trek, McGrath also equipped herself with a critical lifeline – her Iridium satellite phone.
No Way Out
Although McGrath had done everything right, she nevertheless fell victim to the treacherous terrain. After momentarily removing her skis – with waves of ice limiting her visibility ahead – McGrath lost her footing and found herself up to her armpits in a crevasse. With no foothold below, she hung precariously from her backpack, which was attached to her sled. A few minutes passed, and the edge that kept McGrath from falling directly into the crevasse gave way, causing her to crash through the surface. Her fall was abruptly halted by the waistband of her backpack. The sled hung unsteadily above.
After attempting to cut away her waist-belt to avoid suffocation, McGrath shook off her facemask to get a better look at what she was doing. Luckily, her mask landed on a snowy ledge below. She then squirmed through the hole created by her waist-belt and backpack, and fell onto the snow bridge.
Using her poles to maneuver safely along the snow bridge, McGrath traveled 15 meters from her starting position to a high point. The walls were sheer blue ice and difficult for her to get a handhold. She used her ski pole to cut steps into the wall of the crevasse and attempted to climb out, but it was proving too tough.
A Signal of Hope
Still in the crevasse, McGrath remembered her Iridium satellite phone and made her way back to her pack. She then climbed back to her high point and pulled out the handset. She extended the antenna and powered up the phone.
“I had five bars,” said McGrath. “I was happy and astounded. I thought, at that moment, at least my family and friends would know what happened to me and could find out where I was.” McGrath called for help and found that her logistics provider, Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE) was able to send a search and rescue team to her aid. After eight hours in the crevasse, McGrath was rescued.
“I can’t thank Iridium enough,” McGrath said. “You helped save my life. The battery of the Iridium phone hung in the whole time. It was my lifeline, truly. The rescue team was able to send me updates on their whereabouts, and eventually came to get me. I was really happy to have had the phone.”
See the amazing Satellite Phone rescue video on our YouTube Channel here…>>
Article by Iridium.
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About Eildon Mansion
Eildon Mansion, 51 Grey Street, ST KILDA
The Alliance Française de Melbourne purchased Eildon Mansion in August 2006 and moved there in July 2007 after a year of renovations.
EILDON MANSION'S HISTORY
In 1871 pastoralist John Lang Currie (1818-1898) commissioned the prestigious Melbourne architectural firm of Reed & Barnes to completely remodel and extend the existing Barham House at 51 Grey Street, St Kilda. Currie, one of the greatest sheep breeders and landowners of the western district of Victoria, who owned the property “Lara” near Camperdown, effectively retired to St Kilda in the late 1870’s, then regarded as Melbourne’s most prestigious suburb. The central section of the building (the original house) was built in 1850, barely 20 years after Melbourne was founded, making it one of St Kilda’s oldest houses.
The mansion named Eildon in 1877 has retained extensive original internal features such as sandstone, marble and timber mantelpieces, ceiling roses, bay windows and large basement quarters for servants and a cellar.
Converted to a guesthouse around 1930, Eildon was used until recently as a 40-room short-term accommodation/backpackers Hostel. Situated on approximately 2,198m2 of land, the 20-room house itself covers an area of roughly 1,261m2 and the remaining 20 other rooms are located in the stables, built alongside the house.
EILDON MANSION'S HIRING
Are you interested by hiring the venue? Find out more.
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If you were watching David Letterman’s show on September 18, 1985, back when it was still on NBC and called Late Night with David Letterman, you saw a bit of TV history being made.
On that night, Letterman introduced his first “Top Ten” list.
Early in the show, he commented on that fact that “top ten” lists seemed to be popping up everywhere in the media.
He showed an example in the latest issue of Good Housekeeping magazine, then said, in his trademark deadpan style:
“Because these things are so popular and such solid network television programming material, we’ve decided tonight...we’re gonna start our own top ten list. And, tonight, I think we got a pretty good one. Tonight, will be Late Night’s ‘Top Ten Words That Almost Rhyme with ‘Peas.’”
After that, Letterman’s “Top Ten” segment became a regular and hugely popular feature of the show.
He took it with him when he moved from NBC to CBS in 1993, where it’s officially called the “Late Show Top Ten List.”
And, although Letterman’s first Top Ten list did not create a specific quote or catchphrase, it did create a famous, familiar and oft-copied format.
Letterman introduces the list with some funny comments. He reads the title of the list. Then he reads the list backwards starting with ten and counting down to number one, frequently with the help of a guest who is on the show or who pops in just to read the list. (Some of my favorites were Homer Simpson, Bruno and Britney Spears.)
Here they are, in descending order:
And, the number one word that almost rhymes with peas is (drumroll):
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Comments? Corrections? Post them on my quotations Facebook group.
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This may be the shortest post I’ve ever written. I just want all of you, my good and faithful readers, to watch this video.
There may be hope for the human race after all.
This may be the shortest post I’ve ever written. I just want all of you, my good and faithful readers, to watch this video.
There may be hope for the human race after all.
There are volumes written about special needs kids. We talk about them on the news, on television shows, and on blogs. There are speculations about what causes Autism, and stories about the lives of families who live with various challenges.
There is another population, though, that we don’t hear much about. In my mind, I’ve always thought of them (us) as “the others.”
These are the kids who don’t have special needs. They are “typical,” or “normal,” or whatever word is the PC norm these days. They are the brothers and sisters of the special needs kids that we hear about on the news.
They are part of the background.
I think I have an unusual perspective. I am both a sibling and a parent of a special needs individual. I know the demands–emotionally, physically, and time-wise–of parenting a special needs child. I also know what it’s like to be the “normal” part of the special needs equation.
Now I have a son who is in the same position I was as a child, so I know. I know a lot of how he feels, and how hard it can be.
Even though you know your parents love you, and you know they provide for all of your needs, it is hard sometimes to deal with the fact that your sister needs so much more. It isn’t anyone’s fault, or choice, but the situation remains the same. Looking back as an adult, especially since I have a special needs daughter now, it is very clear. But I remember what it was like as a kid. I remember how it seemed like I wasn’t as important as my sister, how everyone was fighting for her educational needs, and how I felt like everyone just assumed I was okay.
Here’s the kicker: I was okay. I just didn’t think so at the time.
Like I said, now I can see that I was wrong to feel that way. The simple fact is, my sister’s needs were greater. She couldn’t fight for herself, so someone else had to. If I hadn’t been such a selfish shit, I could have fought for her, too.
My son is so much better than me. Already he is very defensive of his sister. Don’t get me wrong–they have their moments, just like my sister and I still have our moments. I’ve written before about how our relationship was a very typical sister relationship. My kids are the same–she’s in his room, he changes her TV channel, she’s touching his stuff, she hits him on the head with a spoon–you get it. But I digress. My point was that he is very understanding of his sister, and he watches out for her. He told me a while back that she was going to live with him when he got older, so I could have a break.
Yeah, I know.
I have tried very, VERY hard over the years to make sure my son always knew that he was just as important as his sister. I have fought tooth and nail for his education. We load up just like the Beverly Hillbillies and head off to soccer games. We camp, and go to the beach, and the zoo, and anywhere else we want to go. Sure, it would be easier to stay home. It’s very tempting, especially as the years go by and I’m getting a little older and a little slower. But it isn’t just my son who gets to experience all of these wonderful things–it’s all of us. And so it’s worth it. It’s important for ALL of us to do things besides run to the doctor or the therapist.
This is all of us, with the exception of my husband taking the picture, walking back from a sort-of local nature center. That’s my daughter riding on my sister’s lap, and my son riding on the back of her wheelchair. I’m driving. My sister’s sight line was impaired by the large child in her face.
Even though it can be challenging to be one of these “other” siblings, there are benefits, too.
We others have little or no difficulty accepting people with various levels of challenges. It’s no big deal to us. We can talk to people with special needs without discomfort or doubt. We like to look at various wheelchairs people are riding and chat with them about speed and handling. We can see beyond what is on the surface, and realize the beautiful people who lie within. These other, (not so) normal siblings are more kind-hearted, and courageous, and understanding. They despise bullies, and most aren’t afraid to stand up to them.
My son is all of these things and more. He has the capacity for amazing kindness, and a tolerance that outshines most adults I now. He has cornered the market on compassion. I would have a much more difficult time making it through my day if it wasn’t for my son. We would all do well to learn from these other siblings, the ones who stand in the background.
Do these others have special needs? No. But can we call them normal? Ordinary?
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about people, and how they think, and what they think about others.
I’ve also been thinking about the short bus.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reminded that being told you “ride the short bus” is an insult. It means you are stupid or crazy. But my daughter rides the short bus, and my sister always rode the short bus, and neither one of them is stupid or crazy.
So I started thinking, as I was standing outside and waiting on the aforementioned short bus with my daughter, that riding that diminutive mode of transportation is awesome. Way more awesome than, say, riding a regular bus. As proof, I have compiled a highly scientific and accurate list of reasons why the short bus is the coolest bus in the fleet.
See, riding the short bus isn’t so bad. It doesn’t make you stupid, or crazy. You won’t catch a disease from riding it. In fact, I’d take the short bus any day. I’d climb on, and sit in the back, and as we passed the regular bus, I’d hold up a sign:
SEE YOU LATER, LOSERS!
Have a look at this recent story on Nightline. Even if you’ve already seen it, watch it again. Please.
Since you hopefully just watched that, I won’t waste our time by going over all of it. But I will recap. Concerns are arising over some of the disciplinary measures being taken in public schools when dealing with kids who have various behavioral problems, usually kids on the Autism Spectrum. The word “barbaric” gets used a few times, as you might have noticed.
As I was watching this, I was shocked. And since I try to always be as honest with you as possible, I’ll tell you something else: nothing good could come from a teacher, or anyone else, using those methods on my daughter. If someone shocked her as a punishment, I would have no choice but to do the whole Terminator thing and drive my f****** van right through the front of the school. That’s all. Ditto on tying her to a table.
I try very, very hard to be an open minded person. I know how difficult it can be to deal with behavior problems. I know how impossible it can be to control these kids. Some of them are big kids. They try to hurt others, and they try to hurt themselves. Even Evelyn, limited though she is, can really kick up hell when she wants to. I know sometimes the only way to deal with her is just to not deal with her, if you follow. She has to just sort of let it out, and I know the more I try to intervene, the worse it makes her. You know how, when you are trying not to cry, and someone pats you or talks to you in a soothing voice, it makes you cry even more? Same thing.
Anyway, as I said, I am trying to understand the thinking behind these extreme measures, and I always treat everything reported by the media with great suspicion. I know a story can be twisted in many ways, and I know that we don’t know the back stories to these situations.
But they shocked that kid. They shocked him.
I’ll tell you another one that got me: when the man was holding the little boy, and the boy’s mother was trying to get the man to let the boy go. Ha, ha. The man would have let my child go. Oh yes. Don’t get me wrong–I’m not one of those people who think I can whip everyone’s ass. Far from it. I’m getting older and squishy and I’m getting arthritis in my fingers. If I punched someone it would probably hurt me more than them. But make no mistake–I’m not pushover, either. I would get my child out of the arms of anyone restraining her against our will, or die in the attempt.
So, what is my point? Good question. After my initial emotional response passes, I don’t think those people using those methods are intending to be barbarians. It seems to me like they are uneducated and inexperienced. They lack the knowledge, patience, and understanding required to deal with these kids. Did you see the other school? The Centennial School? The one with all the kids with behavior problems? Did you see how good the teachers were at dealing with the kids, and how caring and informed the administrator was? If you missed it, watch the video again. Pay attention.
Has anyone caught up with me yet?
Want to know how we go to this situation? Want to know how things got this far out of control?
They even mentioned it in the video, though they never addressed it directly. But it’s there. I’ve talked about this before, but I think it bears repeating. Let me make it as clear as I can: this is the kind of shit that happens when you put special needs kids in a “regular” education environment! Regular ed teachers cannot provide the attention needed for a special ed kid and the other fifty kids they have to teach to take tests. It’s not possible, and I don’t care how fabulous the teacher is.
You know what it is? It’s babysitting. That’s all it is. Glorified, really expensive baby sitting. A bunch of politically correct bullshit that makes everyone feel “good” that these kids aren’t being segregated or made to feel different.
Here’s a frickin’ news flash, which I have flashed previously: they ARE different! All of the wishing in the world won’t change it. I can put Evelyn in the regular ed classroom until the end of time, and she still won’t be a regular ed student. What could she possibly get out of a regular ed classroom?
From what I can tell, about 60 volts. Or maybe tied to a table.
I find it amazing that my own state of West Virginia is among the seventeen that have laws in place to protect children from this type of extreme discipline. Maybe there is hope for us after all. Otherwise, there are no federal guidelines. I guess it’s a sort of “anything goes” type situation.
But the bottom line is this: it will only get worse. The increase in behavioral disorders is astronomical. Where do we go? What do we do? I don’t know the answers to those questions, and I don’t pretend to, but I do know one thing. The answers will not be found inside a mainstream classroom.
And remember, if you hear a news story about some parent parking her van in the principle’s office, send me a prayer.
Apologies are funny things.
Remember this guy? This was Jimmy Swaggart’s tearful apology for his prostitute habit. He was so sad. He was so sorry.
As a result of the mild backlash from her insensitive remarks, Margaret Cho has written a heart-felt apology on her blog. I encourage you to hop on over there and read it, and be sure to read the comments. They make excellent food for thought.
I don’t really care all that much about the apology itself. I mean, I don’t know Cho, she doesn’t know me, and she doesn’t owe me any apology. She can be a jerk if she wants, and I can slam her for it if I want. (Freedom of speech, baby!) The thing that rubs me wrong is how typical this “heart-felt” apology is. Some celebrity is guilty of a fantastic boob, then they issue a sappy, crappy, “oh-I-didn’t-mean-to-hurt-anyone” apology.
I always wonder about apologies. I sometimes ask my son, when he gets in trouble, if he is really sorry for what he did, or if he’s just sorry he got caught. The phrase that comes to mind is “damage control.”
A lot of the comments on Cho’s blog suggest that people are just looking to be offended, and that it isn’t that big of a deal. I guess, from a certain perspective, that right. Ultimately, what a minor celebrity says during a cable television interview isn’t all that important, compared to, say, the President, the Pope, or Stephen King. People say jerky things all the time. The world is consumed by jerkiness. Bygones.
But here’s the thing–Cho promotes herself as a great human rights activist, standing up for minorities of all kinds. More than that, while it may not make any difference about what a person says, it certainly reveals their character, doesn’t it?
Take those comments–a lot of the commentators remarked that it was an “accident,” or that Cho “slipped up.” “Humans make errors.” Hey, you don’t have to tell me that. I’ve made enough mistakes in my time to fill this blog and ten more. You know what though? I have never called anyone a retard. Ever. I’m sure I’ve hurt people along the way, but there are no excuses, and no apologies. Those people can hate me, and rightly so.
And while I’m at it, that whole “accident” and “slip-up” thing really got me thinking. An accident is when you step on someone’s toe, then say, “Oh, I’m sorry!” Or maybe when you back your car into a parking meter. (Just an example.) Those are accidents. You might even “accidentally” hurt someone’s feelings by something you say. I personally am very familiar with the taste of my foot.
However, when you set out to do or say something that you know is going to be hurtful and hateful, well, that’s not an accident. That’s not a slip-up. Cho was giving a little comedy routine right there on live television. She’s promoting her new comedy tour, and she was giving everyone a preview. Part of her repertoire is being crude and pushing the envelope. That’s who she is. No sense in apologizing for it now, I guess.
Don’t get me wrong–I do believe in apologizing when you hurt someone. Here’s the catch–being sorry for something doesn’t fix it. Apologies aren’t a license to do or say anything you want. Everyone would do well to remember that they while they absolutely do have the freedom to say what they want, others also have the freedom to react. People who were Margaret Cho fans before probably still are. I would go so far as to say that a lot of people she offended had never even heard of her until now.
(Can you say, “publicity?”)
One last thing–it is possible to be funny and racy and edgy without tearing others down. You can even poke fun at others without hurting them. There is a line there, and when you cross it, don’t be surprised by the consequences, and screw your apologies.
Oh, and make sure you have a good publicist.
Usually, I’m one of those people who are sitting at home, shaking their heads ruefully, when I hear about how everyone is mad because some pea-brained celebrity made some inappropriate comment during an interview.
You know what I’m talking about–someone uses a racial slur, or slams homosexuality, and the media feeding frenzy begins. It’s played over and over and over and over and over on every network in the universe. Aliens on the planet Zoobork hear about it. Sometimes, it blows over, and sometimes a career can be shaken. (Remember Imus?)
I always sit around and say how the media makes it worse, let it drop, etc, etc.
Well, I’m a hypocrite, in case any of my regular readers haven’t figured it out, and I’m about to prove it to the tenth degree.
Recently, Margaret Cho, a comedienne, did an interview in which she declared she didn’t “necessarily want to have a retard” baby. She’s older, and I assume she’s talking about the increased risk for birth defects as a woman moves along in her childbearing years.
This comment is possibly one of the stupidest things I have ever heard anyone say, and that, my friends, is saying a lot. I refuse to believe anyone could be this ignorant. She said it with intent–period. Was it for the publicity, or is this really the depth of her mind? Obviously, having a retarded baby is the least of her problems.
I hate that word–retard. I hate it. Hate, hate, hate. Is has a real definition, and until very recently was commonly used in medical circles. But that doesn’t matter–I hate it. People use it, and they sure as hell aren’t using it medically. They use it to imply someone is stupid or ridiculous.
In other words, they think my daughter is stupid and ridiculous.
In other words, Margaret Cho thinks my daughter is stupid and ridiculous.
I wonder if this little slur from this big idiot will get as much negative attention as, say, Imus’ referring to some black women’s basketball players as “nappy-headed ho’s?” I sort of doubt it. I guess the only ripples will be from people like me who have very personal feelings about these retarded babies, kids and adults.
I mean, purely hypothetically, if someone were to write something about Margaret Cho, and they were to use a racial slur, like Slant-eye or Buckethead, why, that would be very offensive, wouldn’t it? Lot’s of people would be offended, and maybe whoever said those things would be dragged over the coals. So of course, you would never want to use those types of racial slurs. If you did, it would all just be in good fun, just a little joke, just pushing the boundaries to prove your edginess, right? No harm done–no need to get upset, right?
In reality, I know I’m supposed to take the high road here, and that comments from such a small mind should just roll right off my back. Oh, but it’s hard. When I sit here and look at my daughter, and I think of how much I love her and how beautiful she is, I just want to snatch that bitch Margaret Cho bald.
Maybe there are lots of people who feel like her. I understand that everyone wants to have a healthy baby, and no one would wish to have a child with any type of problem. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in this life, it’s that there are no guarantees, and let me go one step more–I would not trade my retarded daughter for ten “normal” kids. Here’s why:
If all of these things come with being retarded, maybe we should all be so fortunate as to be counted among that number. There are obviously worse things to be.
A narrow-minded idiot, for example.
P.S. In case you missed the message: Suck it, Margaret Cho. You don’t deserve a “retarded” child.
This is Evelyn when she was three. Who knew being retarded was so frickin’ cute?
Sometimes I think our lives consist of one misconception after another. This is mostly true with things people don’t have personal experience with. For example, I have the misconception that all politicians are crooked liars who would knock their own mothers off a chair if they thought she was sitting on a dollar. Of course, this misconception happens to be true, but still.
Nowhere is the misconception problem more prevalent than in the world of special needs. I am always fascinated by how people view individuals with special needs. As both a mother and a sister to people with severe disabilities, I feel I can speak with a reasonable amount of knowledge on this subject. (Disclaimer: I have no doubt that there will be someone who will tell me that every single point I am getting ready to make is wrong, and that their experience is the exact opposite of what I am saying, and that the person they care for is an angel. Allow me to say, in advance, good for you. Get your own blog.)
Usually I talk about my daughter, but this post is about someone else: my sister Mindy.
That’s her, several years ago. She has spastic Cerebral Palsy. She was born extremely premature–today they are called “super-preemies,” but when she was born there was no such term. She had a twin sister who lived for almost eight months in the hospital.
Everywhere we go, I run into someone who knows Mindy (and a thousand curses to all of those who ask if I am her mother.) She also attends church, and has for most of her life, so that adds another demographic to the “people who know Mindy” population. Everyone person who knows her loves her, and they think she is God’s angel right here on Earth, a blessing and an example of how to live a humble, accepting life. They pet her and use words like “poor little thing.” Worse, they talk about how wonderful I am for taking care of her, how patient I am, and someone even told me there would be a jewel in my crown.
Crown? I think I must have misplaced it. Probably it fell off when I was banging my head against the wall.
Mindy can be a truly remarkable person. For most of her life, she was a very calm, mild-mannered, unassuming person who smiled most of the time. But things have changed as the years have gone by. She’s having trouble with depression. She takes medication for mood stabilization and to help her sleep. She has poor impulse control and some OCD stuff.
In other words, she’s just a human being.
To assume that she has super abilities to be patient and accepting is to dehumanize her. No one can be perfectly patient and perfectly accepting all the time. Add into it that she has more reason than most people I know to be depressed or angry, and you see the problem.
Mindy’s body is her enemy. Her mind is actually quite good. I won’t say that she has the same cognitive ability as a so-called normal person, but certainly she has more than, say, members of Congress. Anyway, her mind is pretty much okay, but her body is her prison. It won’t move like she wants it to. She can’t do anything for herself. Anything that requires muscles (including eyes) is compromised. But I’m not telling you this to get you to feel sorry for her. There are some things I think everyone should consider, not just about Mindy, but about any special needs person you may know.
I think what it boils down to is respect. Respect her, and others, as people. They are not saints, or angels. Some of them might be super-sweet people who never have a bad word to say, but some of them might be short-tempered and irritable (like me.) In short, they are varied, because they are people, and no two people are just alike. They want what you want–to be treated with respect and understanding.
And to watch their program on TV. If not, they might just knock you out of your chair.
Head on over to Yeah Write and check out all the fantastic reads!
Now, for those of you who have not been baptized into the world of special education, allow me to submerge you. Inclusion is when you take special education children and put them in regular education classrooms. That, of course, is a an extreme oversimplification, but hopefully you get the idea.
My sister, who turned 32 back in September, started off her public school education in a so-called “special” school. It was a school made just for special needs kids. Let me say something very clearly—I am not talking about kids who need extra help in math or reading and go out for a couple of classes a day for special education. To me, that’s a whole other issue, although I could give you a good argument about why inclusion for those kids is misguided, too. For now, the kids I’m talking about are kids like my sister, and like my daughter.
Where was I? Right–Mindy. She went to a special school. This school was full of kids with varying levels of disability, but all of them were considered pretty severe. Lots of kids in wheelchairs, kids who couldn’t talk, kids who were very challenged. In this school, there were whole classrooms stuffed with physical therapy equipment. There were therapists on staff all day who stayed at that school. All day. The teachers were qualified special education teachers. The aides were special ed aides. They knew first aid. They knew how to deal with seizures, and how to administer Diastat. Don’t know what that is? Tough. I’m not telling. They worked on skills which hopefully made the kids more functional, and as independent as possible. For all of our efforts at home, it was an aid at this special school who finally potty trained my sister. She fit in there. She wasn’t an object of pity–she was a member of a group. Those were her peers.
Then one day some bleeding heart politically correct politician decided that these kids were segregated. It was wrong to keep them separated from the regular ed kids. So they mainstreamed them. They put them in regular school.
Okay. We can deal with that. Right?
Things started to slip through the cracks. The funding of special ed programs became much more ambiguous because they were now all mixed in with everything else. Consider the following: the board of education in our county requests permission to bill WV Medicaid for services provided to my special ed daughter. In due course they receive reimbursement from WV Medicaid, and they then put that money back into special education.
Hahahahahahahaha! Whew! That was funny, wasn’t it? Of course they don’t put the money back into special education. They put it into the general fund, where it can then be spent on football uniforms for the local high schools. (Or whatever.) I called the state department of education to see if this was legal, and after one thousand transfers and a bunch of hem hawing, I finally received the most unsurprising answer in the history of the universe: there is no policy dictating what the school boards do with the money they receive back from Medicaid. So I withdrew my permission for the board to bill my daughters card, and I review all of her charges each year to make sure they don’t. Because there is a policy which requires my written permission for them to bill Medicaid. I happily deny that permission each year.
I’m getting off topic a little here (as usual). My point was inclusion. I don’t understand it. Who are we trying to make feel better? Kids like my daughter get absolutely nothing from a regular ed classroom. A regular ed teacher is not qualified to teach her. Instead of learning to be functional, suddenly now it’s important for her to know the days of the week.
Don’t get me wrong. Knowing the days of the week comes in handy, especially on Friday. But she’s not there yet. She may never be there. And I need her to have a teacher who understands that. What I don’t need for her is a babysitter.
Because that’s what it boils down to. That’s what happens to severely challenged kids in the regular ed environment. They are just there. People say it helps the other kids be more accepting. Great. Guess what? It’s not my daughter’s responsibility to teach other kids to be accepting. That’s their parent’s job. Everyone always loved my sister, and she got a standing ovation on her graduation day, but so what? Everyone liked her, sure, but she was still left out of everything. Why? Because she had no peers there. There was one other kid with her, and thank goodness he was there, or she would have been completely alone. We all need to feel like we belong, like there are others who are like us and understand a little what it’s like to be us. Why should we take that away from special ed kids just to make everyone else feel good about themselves?
As far as parents who support inclusion, I don’t know what to think about them. My best opinion is that they think maybe their special ed kid will be able to learn more in that environment. My worst opinion is that they are trying to convince themselves that their kid is like everyone else. Here’s the bad news: your kid is NOT like everyone else. They don’t fit in. Those regular ed kids are NOT their peers, and that will never change, even if they sit in that regular ed classroom forever.
My daughter is special, and she requires special education–all day, every day. She has to have her diaper changed. Is the regular teacher going to take a break from her teaching to do that? The county doesn’t like having a designated aid for a special ed student, so what other option is there?
Let her go to music class or gym with everyone else if it makes everyone happy, but she has no business in a regular ed classroom. Period. I’m her mother. I’m not worried about being politically correct–I’m worried about what’s best for her.
***Note: my daughter happens to be in a very good educational situation right now. However, I’m not going to go into it. I have my reasons. Trust me. I’m just using her as an example. That’s the price of being my kid, I guess.
Recently, the mother of a special needs child wrote a post that went viral on the Internet. This post wasn’t triggered by the blog, but rather a follow-up comment by the author. She remarked that someone had told her she should mourn her daughter and get over it (that’s my paraphrase.)
Now, her daughter didn’t die–she was born with special needs, so to some, the word “mourn” may seem like an odd one. But when you have a child with special needs, you do mourn.
To some it may seem like self-pity. I don’t know–maybe it is. Some people might be tempted to judge me for saying what I’m going to say, but I’m only telling the truth. When, as a woman (because it’s much more difficult for a man,) you decide to have a baby, plans start to form in your head. It’s silly, but you start thinking about what they might do or be, and what they might look like. Then, you find out it’s a girl. You start to think about weddings, and grandchildren.
Then at some point, all of that is over. Forever.
Never, ever think that I compare this to the actual grief of losing a child. It’s different. But it’s bad. It hurts. And what’s more, the mourning happens over and over as the years go by.
So-called experts talk about the grief process. They name the steps: denial (Maybe she’s just a little behind.); anger (Why, God? What did we ever do to you? What did this helpless little baby every do?); bargaining (Whatever you want, God, okay? Kill me, whatever. Okay? OKAY?); depression (What now? How do I face this? Do I even want to try?); and acceptance (I’ll get back to you on this one.) But here’s the thing–the grief process can’t be listed neatly into five little steps. This also implies that there is an end to grieving, and I don’t think there is. I don’t think the pain ever really goes away. It just changes, and hides, and then pops up unexpectedly over the years to hit you again. And again. And again.
Almost eleven years ago, there was a little girl who was supposed to be born. That little girl was going to blaze a trail. Super smart, independent, and ready for anything. She would get married some day and give her mommy a brood of grandchildren to fuss over.
That little girl was never born.
Instead, Evelyn was born. She’s blazing a trail in her own way, and I can’t imagine my life without her. But there are some things I had to let go of–some things I had to mourn, and that I’m mourning still.
I’ve been through every one of those stages, and more than once. Even denial, which I’ve always thought I was immune to, has appeared over the years, usually in my obsessive quest for a diagnosis.
Most of my grief is tied in to the things I feel like she’ll miss out on. All of the nevers. She’ll never get married. Never have kids. Never go to college. Never have a boyfriend break her heart. Never, never, never. I’ve had to let each of those things go, one by one.
Sometimes, that little girl who I thought was going to be born all those years ago haunts me. She skips up and down the toy aisle at Christmas time. She’s out running with her brother on the soccer field. She talks incessantly to me like her brother does. She gets into shouting matches with him, and sings along to songs on the radio. She’s worrying about clothes, and starting to talk about boys. I catch glimpses of her sometimes, but when I turn to look at her, she’s already gone. I have to let her go again.
So you mourn. I think as the years go by, I will learn to get over all of that. Certainly I can “accept” it more now than before. But I’m a firm believer in what I said–that pain never really goes away. You learn to live with it, and yes, even accept it. I think that’s what acceptance really means. Not that you’re okay with the way things are, but that you realize you can’t change it, and you learn to live with it.
Living with Evelyn is the easy part. She’s the joy of my life. She brings something to us that I can’t even explain. She doesn’t know or care about the things she’s “missing out” on (according to me.) She gives me a good example of how to live–live for the moment, forget about yesterday, and don’t worry about tomorrow. Mostly, forget about the things you can’t change.
I’m still working on that one.
Don’t you hate when you can’t think of a comeback to some jerk until long after a confrontation?
Most people who know me would probably imagine that I don’t have any trouble snapping back at someone who snaps at me. They would be right. Most of the time, I don’t. I have my share of flaws, but I’m usually pretty quick-witted. I can give a snappy answer when it’s called for–and sometimes when it’s not!
But I’ve had my weak moments.
I don’t know why I started thinking about this story all of a sudden, but it’s been on my mind all day. I guess I’ve just been admiring all the things my daughter can do now, and how far she’s come, and it made me remember a man who told me none of it would ever happen.
Our medical journey with my daughter has been a long one. I won’t go in to all of that. The abridged version is that we made several trips to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, and during the last one, we had our first appointment with a developmental pediatrician. We had never seen one of those before. I asked the neurologist out there why we had to see him, and she said, “Well, he specializes in development, so maybe he can give you some idea of Evelyn’s level of development and what you might be able to expect in the future.” I should have been immediately skeptical, but let me give you some insight into my mental and emotional state at that point in time.
I was a wreck.
That was our fifth trip to Minnesota. My daughter couldn’t walk or talk. She was around three years old, but she had the cognitive ability of a little baby. I was running out of options to find out what was wrong. She had been tested for everything. No answers. No diagnosis. Worst of all, no hope. I didn’t realize it then, but I guess some tiny part of me was thinking that if someone could name what was wrong with her, maybe there was something that could be done to fix her. All of that was coming to an end. In addition to the Mayo trips, I had also spent a total of 31 days in Bethesda, Maryland, at a special therapy center that worked with non-verbal kids to try to train their brains to learn speech. It was a wonderful thing for lots of people, but, naturally, it didn’t work out for Evelyn. In short, there really wasn’t anything left for us to do.
So we went to the appointment with the developmental pediatrician. I’m not going to name him, because in a minute I’m going to call him an asshole, and I don’t want anyone who might know him to find out he’s an asshole–you know, in case they didn’t already know.
I have no idea what the man’s face looked like. I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup. I don’t think he ever looked me in the eye. But I will never forget that room, or his stupid gray suit or his stupid maroon tie, or the stupid red leather couch in the office. He went through her chart and asked me a bunch of questions that had been answered eight million times already. He asked me about the therapy in Bethesda. Then he did some standard developmental pediatrician tests on my daughter.
He showed her shapes and colors and tried to get her to match them. She couldn’t. He gave her a pencil and asked her to write. She couldn’t. He watched her crawl, but not walk. The best test, though, was when he showed her a block and then put it behind a little plastic wall on a table. The idea was that she would reach around the little wall for the block–this is the concept of object permanence. Evelyn tried to move the wall to get the block. He had his hand on it, and wouldn’t move it. Evelyn looked at me with that little look she has, like she was saying, “Can you believe this asshole?”
No, seriously, she just grinned at me then quit trying for the block. She didn’t really give a crap about that block, so she stopped trying to get it. He made another note on his little clipboard and went back to his desk. He wrote for a few minutes, then gave me his expert opinion.
To paraphrase, he informed me first and foremost that therapies like the one in Bethesda were a waste of money and basically a scam for gullible people. He also told me that Evelyn was profoundly retarded, and that she probably always would be. She also would surely never walk. My one and only contribution to this monologue was to squeak out, “But she’s pulling up to things now,” to which he replied, “Well, she may walk with assistance, but never on her own.”
And that was it.
Now, there are lots of things I should have said. I should have told him to take a long walk off a short dock; to stick it where the sun doesn’t shine; to screw himself; to take a flying….well, nevermind. I also should have told him that I didn’t realize developmental pediatricians could predict the future with such startling accuracy. How could he sit there after fifteen minutes and tell me all of these things about my little girl? There were lots of things she couldn’t do, but she had come so far, and there were tons of thing she could do. Against all odds, she had learned to roll over, then sit up, then crawl, and she was pulling up to things. Yes, it took her much longer than it took most kids, but that didn’t mean she would never do it! Then I should have stood up, picked up my baby, tossed my head, and marched from the office.
I didn’t march from that office. I slouched out. I skulked, like a beaten dog. I felt like that. He had just given voice to all of the worst fears in the deepest, darkest part of my heart. He had crushed me–crushed the heart and soul right out of me. I trailed all the way back to the hotel room, got Evelyn a snack, and sat on the bed. It was a low place. I was alone–Evelyn and I had flown out by ourselves, and she was already asleep. I couldn’t tell you if it was raining, snowing, thunder, a tornado, anything. I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t even do that.
I pulled myself together after a while, and talked to The Grandmother and Matt on the phone. I told them the gist of what the DP had said, and we took turns abusing him verbally. It didn’t really help, but it was nice to call him a bunch of dirty names.
I’ve heard the word “vulnerable,” but in all honesty, it’s not really a word that applies to me very often. Looking back, I can see that it was appropriate then. He was literally kicking me while I was down. Once we got home, life went on, and I was able to start moving past all of the things he said. Oddly enough, it was Evelyn’s regular neurologist that made me feel better. Lots of people aren’t crazy about him, because he has a tendency to be very frank, but that’s the very reason I like him. I admitted to him what the DP had said. He snorted. Literally. He said, “How does he know what Evelyn will be doing in a year from now? I regret you had to see him–developmental pediatricians are like tits on a boar.”
I swear, he really said that. It made my day. As time went on, I wished more than ever that I had told him off, and I even wrote a very strongly worded letter. I never mailed it. In a way, I didn’t want to admit to him how badly he’d hurt me. But I think he did me a favor. He gave a face to the enemy. He gave us something to fight against, and, more importantly, something to fight for.
So, Dr. Barberisi? You can kiss my ass. Oh, and Evelyn can walk now, so it should be pretty easy for you to kiss hers, too.
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The garden out at the farm is looking beautiful, and some of the first vegetables are already full-grown and ready to be picked. Like the turnips, for example. I planted them at the very end of May, expecting them to mature only after their full growing season of 60 to 90 days, but last week – about 45 days in – the tops were peeking out and looking quite large. With some effort I pulled them out, and was delighted to be holding the most enormous turnips I have ever seen. (I included my hand in the picture just to give you an idea of their size – and I do have rather large hands.) The soil in that garden must be just amazingly nutrient-rich to produce such resluts. I am crediting the chicken manure.
Another crop that is ready here in Wisconsin is the blackcap crop. While out on a recent walk with Dakota, Nick discovered a collection of bushes behind our local high school, loaded down with berries that were just about ripe. We thought it would be an awful shame to let so much good food go to waste, so yesterday the three of us set out with a large bucket in hand to do some harvesting. We now have slightly scratched-up legs and arms, but we proudly carried home two pints of fresh berries, which are now washed and sitting in our fridge, ready for snacking, or mixing with some homemade yogurt, or maybe even making paleo ice cream – the possibilities are endless.
I am sharing this post over at Summer Fun.
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By Ed Brock
There was a time when 16-year-old Kris Pipps got in fights in school and then into more trouble after the dismissal bell rang.
That changed three years ago when he started going to Georgia Community Services Program Inc.'s after school program called "The Hook."
"When I started it was to play basketball, but I found out later on it keeps me out of trouble," Pipps said.
Now GCSP has been selected to host the county's first Evening Reporting Center, part of a new program developed by Clayton County Juvenile Court as an alternative for some offenders to incarceration in a youth detention center.
"I think Clayton County is lucky to have already operating in the county vendors who can provide these services," said Juvenile Court Judge Steven Teske, the developer of the ERC program.
The three ERCs Teske plans to open are part of the court's FAST (Finding Alternatives for Safety and Treatment) START (Stabilization Through Assessment Recommendation and Treatment) program. The FAST START program tries to separate the worst offenders from the youths who are first time or moderate offenders. For the latter, the program provides detention alternatives like the ERCs.
Teske said that the ERC at the GCSP facility at New Mount Calvary Methodist Church on Reynold's Road in Morrow is scheduled to open today and last week he was selecting candidates for the program. As soon as the financing has been arranged they will open ERCs at The Empowerment Project in Riverdale and Youth Advocacy Support Services Foundation, Inc., in Lovejoy.
When the program gets under way about 10 high school and middle school youths who have been defined as moderate risk offenders will be assigned to a center. The GCSP center will serve students from Forest Park and Morrow schools.
Each day from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. the youths will be picked up from their homes and brought to the ERC where they will stay until 8 or 9 p.m.
"During that period of time they will do their homework, receive tutoring and they will go through an educational curriculum that includes pro-social issues," Teske said.
There will also be some recreation and a dinner, Teske said.
That's not dissimilar to what GCSP already does with the youths in their program. Specifically, they target young people who, because of their grades or behavior, are not allowed to play sports at school, GCSP Project Director Dometrice Scandrick said.
That's the hook that gives the after school program its name, Scandrick said.
"The hook is that they're coming for the recreation but it's mandatory that they have an hour tutorial," Scandrick said. "While they're in the program they're expected to improve their grade point average and their attendance in order to participate in the recreation."
Scandrick and her husband, the Rev. Michael Scandrick, have been operating the program for two years and when Teske approached her about hosting the ERC it seemed like a natural fit.
"We found out a lot of the students we were working with were involved in the court system," Scandrick said.
The ERC students will be in a separate program from Scandrick's and overseen, initially, by juvenile court officers. Eventually Teske hopes to recruit enough volunteer court officers to replace the regular officers in supervising the ERCs.
Teske and Juvenile Court Chief Judge K. Van Banke traveled to Chicago recently in October to study a similar system there that is the model for Clayton County's program. They learned several things, such as the fact that providing transportation for the offenders to and from the program is more than a convenience but also reduces the potential for delinquent activity.
The Chicago program has also made inroads in fighting gang activity, Banke said.
"The youths make their own decision to break away from the gangs and the gangs don't fight it," Banke said.
Locally, Teske said the statistics show that the detention alternative programs they already have in place have led to fewer youths being detained unnecessarily, which means a better allocation of resources. The high-risk offenders can be dealt with more effectively because there are fewer youths in the detention center as low to medium risk offenders are placed in alternative programs like the ERCs.
Currently the FAST START program includes a panel of volunteers who review juvenile cases to determine the reason for an offender's behavior and to make suggestions on their treatment. It also includes the use of a Detention Screening Instrument to screen youths being brought to the Regional Youth Detention Center in Lovejoy that determines the level of risk the youth presents and whether they should be detained.
The money for the programs will come initially from supervision fees charged by the court and collected from the offenders. Teske and Banke are also re-engineering the alternative detention money they receive from the state's Department of Juvenile Justice to finance the program in the future, so the court will not have to take money from its budget.
Alternative detention programs have two benefits for the community. First, they monitor the youths so they won't offend again in the short term, and secondly the training and pro-social education provided in the programs encourage the youths not to offend again in the long term.
"By adding these evening reporting centers we actually increase the security of the community," Teske said. "With some of the kids we may want to do a combination of things."
Pipps said the GCSP program is definitely a good place to start the new program.
"If it kept me out of trouble it should keep them out of trouble," Pipps said.
Those interested in being volunteer juvenile court officers must have no criminal history, at least a high school diploma, be 21 or older, have a desire to work with young people and must be willing to commit to eight weeks of training along with the regular work at the ERC. The training sessions will be held once a week for eight weeks at the juvenile court offices in Jonesboro.
To sign up, call Geneine Lewis at (770) 477-3260.
GCSP also needs volunteer and paid tutors, and for information on that call Scandrick at (404) 925-1750.
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Eugene Robinson: In Gaza, status quo won’t do
The drama unfolding in Gaza seems numbingly familiar. This time, however, there’s a big and potentially tragic difference: Not even the actors — Palestinians and Israelis — can possibly know how it will turn out.
How many times must they rehash this tired plot? Resentments build, tensions rise. A disputed border incident provides a spark. Israel reacts with sudden force.
Palestinians fire rockets at civilian targets. Israel launches reprisal attacks — first justified, then disproportionate. Anguished women wail at the funerals of dead children. Men swear oaths of vengeance, solemn vows that honor and self-respect will never allow them to break.
The usual ending is a cease-fire and a return to the status quo. But the whole Mideast region is undergoing a process of tumultuous change, and there is no guarantee that the stasis considered “normal” in the occupied territories will ever return.
As President Obama noted, Israel has the absolute right to defend itself against rocket attacks whose sole purpose is to terrorize and kill civilians. Israel does not have a right, in my view, to keep Gaza’s 2 million residents under permanent blockade as punishment for choosing officials of Hamas, the Islamist group, as their leadership.
Hamas, of course, has no right to launch rockets at Israel knowing they may fall on schools, hospitals and playgrounds. But Israel has no right to use this flare-up as an excuse for what some commentators have called “mowing the grass” — assassinating Palestinian leaders who have proved particularly effective, destroying infrastructure for the sake of destruction, chalking up civilian casualties in Gaza as an unfortunate side effect.
Israel has the right to exist in peace. Palestinians have the right to an independent state. Each side insists on having its rights fully acknowledged before the other side’s rights are even considered.
Enough with rights. Someone has to start dealing with new and unfamiliar realities.
Henry Kissinger’s famous observation about Israel’s security was that there could be no war without Egypt, no peace without Syria. For more than three decades, Israel has had a peace treaty with Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous state, and a strictly observed truce with Syria across the Golan Heights. But then came the Arab Spring.
Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak is gone, replaced by an elected government whose leaders are members of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood — an organization that has nurtured and supported Hamas. The new government has pledged to honor the treaty, but it is likely to take the plight of the Palestinians much more seriously than did Mubarak, who saw them not as brothers and sisters but as pawns. Continued...
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, meanwhile, is fighting for his regime’s survival in a civil war. It is quite possible that the country will fracture — and with it, perhaps, the once-sturdy Golan truce.
Throughout the Arab world, religious parties are demanding — and attaining — new power and influence. There are many reasons for this Islamic ascendance, most of which have nothing to do with Israel. But is the continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza a contributing factor? Yes, without a doubt, if only because it represents Arab humiliation and provides a focal point for a host of grievances.
Another factor to take into account is the influence Iran now has in Syria and Gaza. One of Israel’s aims in the current bombing campaign may be to degrade Iran’s ability to retaliate — with rockets fired from Gaza — in case of an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. But does anyone really think the regime in Tehran is viewing these events with anything other than smug satisfaction? Perceived Israeli excesses in Gaza — more than 90 people have been killed so far — can only weaken international support for an attack on the nuclear sites.
There are far too many variables for anyone to be confident of what happens next. Perhaps Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh have an exquisite sense of how far they can push before things spin out of control. I hope so.
Both leaders say they want a cease-fire. Once the fighting stops, there must be renewed negotiations toward the obvious two-state solution. The Obama administration should use its power and influence to bring Israelis and Palestinians to the table, kicking and screaming if necessary.
Given the situation, a peace process is likely to be long, bitter and frustrating. But not undertaking one, as everyone should now realize, is much worse.
Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group. Readers may email him at eugenerobin
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