text
stringlengths 211
577k
| id
stringlengths 47
47
| dump
stringclasses 1
value | url
stringlengths 14
371
| file_path
stringclasses 644
values | language
stringclasses 1
value | language_score
float64 0.93
1
| token_count
int64 54
121k
| score
float64 1.5
1.84
| int_score
int64 2
2
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
"This is about more than a spouse who wants to get into a club," says UCLA Law School's Aaron Belkin, who helped write the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."
"This is about the Defense of Marriage Act and all the inequalities that come with it. It's about asking the question: Is the military really going to be serious about giving fair and equal treatment?"
Some of the other federal benefits that are available to married heterosexual couples but are denied to same-sex spouses include insurance and survivor's benefits. Straight spouses are able to file joint tax returns.
The U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments about the constitutionality of DOMA in March.
A spouse is a spouse
That offers little comfort to Broadway and her supporters, such as Bianca Strzalkowski, the 2011 Military Spouse of the Year. Hundreds of thousands of military members voted to give Strzalkowski that title, singling her out for her community service, patriotism and time spent helping military families. She lives in North Carolina but has no affiliation with the spouse club that rejected Broadway.
"It really makes me ill to think this is happening at Fort Bragg," she told CNN. "It's discrimination, plain and simple."
Strzalkowski is also the deputy membership director of Blue Star Families -- the largest military family support organization in the nation. A Blue Star column recently lambasted the spouse club for rejecting Broadway.
"Who would have thought a group whose sole existence is to help other military spouses and families would deny one of their own?..." military wife Molly Blake wrote. "Ashley Broadway -- I don't care if you are gay. I care that you are a dedicated military spouse who supports your soldier. I care that you want to be an example to other spouses and volunteer your time for the benefit of others.
"I care that you are willing to set up chairs and tables for fundraisers, bring new and innovative ways to raise money for our neediest military families, collate bid sheets, make brownies and raise your hand when the president needs a volunteer."
Strzalkowski's Marine husband is preparing to ship out on his fifth deployment, this time to Afghanistan.
"We've gone through 11 years of war, and we need to be supporting each other -- not treating each other like this," she said. "I don't feel that this club at Fort Bragg represents who we are as spouses."
No help from Bragg brass
CNN's many attempts to get the club's side of the story have been unsuccessful. Two women who confirmed that they belonged to the club chose not to comment.
A December 12 letter on the club's home page reads: "In response to recent interest in the membership requirements of our organization we will review the issue at our next board meeting." The letter doesn't indicate when the meeting will be.
In the wake of the controversy, the group's website has password protected all its links. "They've locked themselves off to the world!" says Strzalkowski. "No one should be that high up on their pedestal."
Bragg brass says their power is limited. That's because, according to Fort Bragg Garrison Commander Col. Jeffrey Sanborn, the club is a private group, not a military one. Sanborn declined an interview with CNN, but he e-mailed statements saying he explained that in person to Broadway and her wife.
Officially, Sanborn has the power only to ensure "all private organizations operating on Fort Bragg comply with Department of Defense and Army regulations and with U.S. laws."
And the spouse club's bylaws, constitution and conduct do comply with DOD regulations.
"C'mon, really? That's a little disingenuous," said UCLA's Belkin. "When you're the commander at Fort Bragg, you are close to having godlike status in your community."
Sanborn could deny the club access to the base, Belkin said.
"He could tell service members not to participate. There are a lot of ways to send a signal that you disapprove."
At home this week, Broadway and Mack are busy around the house. Mack is days away from giving birth. Broadway talks as she heads home from a visit to the doctor.
After all this, does Broadway still want to be part of the Association of Bragg Officers' Spouses?
"Honestly, I'm torn," she said. "Each day that goes by, they are saying they don't want me. I check my spam folder every day to make sure I haven't missed a message from them.
|
<urn:uuid:b579f360-41af-436f-b92f-ed8414da64b9>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.kxly.com/news/Military-club-closes-ranks-to-gay-wife/-/101270/18048404/-/item/1/-/6fj787/-/index.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.974831
| 951
| 1.539063
| 2
|
For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
To please God by what you do, apart from faith in Jesus God’s Son, is impossible to do. To be sure, there are those who seek to please God only by what they externally do, erroneously believing that they will please God if they only try to be good on the outside. Such is a main characteristic of all false religion—seeking to please (a) God only by what one does, apart from true faith in Christ. However, the Bible states that, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). And Jesus Himself says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
God is only pleased, according to Scripture, with one who first has faith in His Son. If there is no faith first here, any works, though considered good by the world, are not considered so by God, not having been covered and cleansed by Jesus’ blood (1 John 1:7). Of ourselves and apart from Christ, you are not pleasing to God, sinners as you are. By yourselves, you cannot hope to attain God’s favor, for as Isaiah writes, “We are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6).
But you do have God’s favor through faith in Jesus Christ, having Christ’s righteousness credited as your own through that same faith (Romans 3:22). Thus, it is not by what you do that you have God’s favor. It is rather through faith in His Son that you are pleasing to God (Romans 14:23).
Does this mean, then, that having faith, you do not do good works? Do you then just serve yourselves and not concern yourselves with anything else, but do everything only out of self-interest because everything is now “right with God” because of Christ?
Some might immediately assume this. But the way of true and genuine faith has faith to God and love for neighbor. Salvation by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and Christ having fulfilled God’s Law (Matthew 5:17) in no way abrogates God’s command to keep the Law; not that you do this for God, as if God needs anything from you, but because God commands it, and for the sake of your neighbor.
The weakness of Christians in serving their neighbor should not be attributed in any way to God, as if God is to be blamed for Christian hypocrisy. Rather, the burden remains on the Christians themselves, who continue to struggle with their flesh. Though many readily acknowledge the weaknesses of Christians everywhere, those many also use the weaknesses of Christians as an excuse not to seek the truth and to reject God’s Word entirely. But the Christian’s failure to “be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) does not at all negate the responsibility of nonChristians to also hear and believe the clear teachings of Christ.
As Christians have Christ’s righteousness covering their own sin so that their sinful actions or inactions not be counted against them, so also nonChristians, not having faith in Christ, will have all that they do on their own head. They themselves will have to bear the consequences of their faithlessness, whereas the Christian, on account of Christ, remains forgiven.
It doesn’t matter not how good you are or how good you try to be in life for the inheritance of heaven. God calls you to believe in His Son, and through God’s very Word, God creates and sustains such faith. And having such faith, you are already pleasing to God because of Christ, and will all the more seek to live according to what God says; asking for forgiveness of your sin where you have done wrong and trusting in God’s absolution, therefore seeking to continual amend your sinful ways.
Seeking to live this way as a servant of God and pleasing God rightly first has to do with faith. If faith be absent, any service of God is not in service of God, but is in service of self or pleasing others. Thus do you see the myriad of Church bodies, congregations, preachers, and people who demonstrate the absence of true faith. Though many may and do indeed use biblical language and verse, their meanings are devoid of the true biblical doctrine. What they seek to do and to accomplish, as well as what they teach, is contrary to what God clearly says in His Holy Word. They themselves will use Scripture to their own ends, working the text to fit their own conceptions. They do not let the text change them. Rather, they themselves seek to change the text (and its meaning).
Such activities are welcome and pleasing to men. Such activities also are pleasing to the world, for then they do not have to hear about the extent of their corruption and man’s need for a Savior. Sinners do not like to hear about their sin. They do not like to hear how God condemns what they do and how their corrupted nature moves them away from God. Sinners mistakenly believe that they understand and know God apart from His Word and apart from His Son.
Saying otherwise and speaking according to the truth, however, does not at all please the world, or the unrepentant sinner. Such preaching of the truth brings the world’s wrath and displeasure.
For those of the world, acceptance and tolerance is the gospel. Such things characterize the desire to please men. Yet characteristic of the desire to please God is faithfulness to Christ and His Word, come what may. Such faithfulness will bring persecution in its myriad of forms, but having peace with God for all eternity through faith in Christ is immeasurably greater than the acceptance of a temporal world.
“Today you will find many who try to please men. In order to live in peace and in the smugness of the flesh, they teach human doctrines, that is, impious ones. Or they approve of the blasphemies and wicked judgments of our opponents, contrary to the Word of God and their own consciences, just to be able to retain the favor of princes and bishops and not to lose their property. On the other hand—because we try to please God and not men—we bring upon ourselves the envy of the devil and of hell itself. We bear the slanders and curses of the world, death, and every evil.” (Luther’s Lectures on Galatians, LW 26, p60).
Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive me for my weaknesses and for seeking the acceptance of the world. Keep my eyes firmly fixed on you, that I find in you my life, strength, and peace, now and always. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
|
<urn:uuid:f87edeb7-b0a5-40fa-9dce-078dad2b2a4b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://alcplatteville.wordpress.com/tag/faithfulness/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959957
| 1,538
| 1.523438
| 2
|
Chamber holds iPad, apps forum
Oxford businesses learn how to use changing technology
Published: Thursday, December 6, 2012
Updated: Friday, December 7, 2012 00:12
Wednesday, Dec. 5, members of Oxford’s Chamber of Commerce attended a presentation on the use of smartphones and iPads (or tablets) in small businesses. Brian Fey, who graduated in Miami University’s class of 2000, is both a member of the Oxford Chamber of Commerce and Vice President at Fey Insurance uptown.
“[This presentation is] about making yourself a mobile workforce by using your iPhone/iPad with applications that will help you conduct business on the go,” Fey said.
According to Fey, the workshop allows business owners to utilize technology and manage their businesses from anywhere, any place, any time.
“I have been using my iPad and iPhone in my business for the last few years and have really enjoyed studying and learning new ways to implement them into my daily business life,” Fey said.
Fey displayed some apps such as Dropbox, Notability, Evernote and Cardmunch to the business owners.
Dropbox is an application that allows business owners to save documents and most other data in one basic program. By using a Dropbox account on both a smartphone and tablet, businesses can constantly save and maintain documents at any location. Other applications such as Keynote and Numbers allow iPad users to create documents and Powerpoint presentations on their phones.
According to Fey, smartphone and tablet apps are often regarded as ways by which people can seek entertainment and games.
“The apps on my phone that I use the most are Facebook, Twitter, Pandora and Netflix,” Lauren Delk, undergraduate creative writing major, said.
The role of apps is headed in a more business-applicable direction.
“More and more business specific software programs that used to be used only on a PC are now creating smartphone and iPad applications,” Fey said. “Because these are now available, the smartphone and iPad are a lot more relevant in the business world. ”
Fey also gave attendees a rundown on smartphone, tablet security and add-ons. These include phone cases, styluses, varied display cords and connectors, as well as attachable credit-card swiping systems that attached to smartphones and iPads.
Fey’s seminar is part of a series of workshops organized by the Chamber of Commerce to assist with growing and expanding local businesses according to Carol Dockum, President of the Oxford Chamber of Commerce.
“With the constant new technology every year, it’s hard for small businesses to keep up,” Dockum said. “This is a new initiative that the camber has taken on to give new tools to Oxford’s businesses.”
After Fey’s presentation, members who attended said they found it helpful.
“I found Evernote to be the most impressive app,” Kelly Umbstead, broker for Coldwell Banker said. “I’ve had my iPad for a year now, and I came here to learn to fully utilize my iPad. [Learning about] the ability to organize your information with your iPad was impressive.”
“I found the presentation very informative.” Scott Webb, CEO of Scott Webb Architect, said. “I feel like the different ways to share information with people is useful.”
According to Fey, there is still a lot of room for expansion in the future of smartphones and tablets.
“Desktop-only software will continue to disappear,” Fey said. “These programs will continue to develop so that they can be used on mobile devices which will allow the business man of tomorrow always be plugged in to their office.”
Although smartphones and iPads are effective business tools, they don’t come without drawbacks, according to Fey.
“This can be a good thing in that you can work at any moment you need but a bad thing because it may become more difficult to unplug. People will need to learn to balance life more… but I am sure they will create an app for that!” Fey said.
|
<urn:uuid:83289770-660f-4605-ad35-c9ecc2774016>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.miamistudent.net/news/community/chamber-holds-ipad-apps-forum-1.2966504
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.955305
| 872
| 1.820313
| 2
|
ABERDEEN - Aberdeen officials are in preliminary talks with the leader of a business incubator about an economic development project in town.
Nancy Gottovi, executive director of Central Park NC, has met with town leaders twice. Their discussions have included ways to bring more young people to downtown.
Gottovi, who believes in steady economic development driven by creative small businesses, said the project likely would be based on principles her organization has learned. Details would be decided by Aberdeen leaders, she said.
"One of the things we're interested in is localization," she said.
In 2005, Gottovi's organization began the StarWorks Center for Creative Enterprise in a closed sock factory in Star, a small town in Montgomery County. The center is home to several small businesses that focus on renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and creative arts.
StarWorks includes a glass blowing lab and a factory that makes clay for potters. Gottovi said the center was started when a local businessman gave her organization the 187,000-square-foot building.
Central Park's mission is to promote a new economy in Anson, Davidson, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Richmond, Rowan and Stanly counties, based on sustainable use of natural and cultural resources.
"We saw this as an opportunity to take our mission and see it put into practice," Gottovi said.
Gottovi said the talks with Aberdeen are preliminary but have focused on attracting young people who would live and work in downtown. The effort might be aimed at finding ways to increase the number of products bought in town, she said.
Gottovi said she asked Aberdeen officials whether they were interested in young people.
"That's an interesting question for Moore County," she said. "What's interesting to 65-year-olds is very different than what is interesting to 24-year-olds."
Much of Moore County's economy is driven by retirees, but a growing number of younger families have moved to the area.
Moore County Partners in Progress, the county's economic development organization, is supporting an effort to bring more innovative businesses to the area. The entrepreneurship initiative focuses on attracting technology, wellness and military businesses.
Pat Corso, executive director of Partners in Progress, believes the pipeline of retirees fueling growth in the county is getting smaller. Retirees usually stay in an area seven to 10 years, but young professionals and their families will stay 20 to 30 years, he said.
"Retirees are not going away, but it's not going to the tsunami it once was," he said.
Corso said Aberdeen has cultural resources that could help the area become a destination where artisans create and sell their products.
"That could take a lot of shapes and forms," he said. "That could be one idea."
Corso talked to the Aberdeen town board about the potential project with Gottovi in November.
Corso said he thinks town officials need to talk with Gottovi about a potential project. He said he would be willing to facilitate the discussions.
"I know there's something there," he said. "It would be a huge win for Aberdeen, and a huge win for Moore County."
Town commissioners agreed to hold a special meeting to discuss the issue. The meeting has not been scheduled.
"It's an exciting time," Mayor Elizabeth Mofield said.
|
<urn:uuid:3599ccf2-d323-4e97-87e6-fea09c94ce11>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2012/12/19/1224209?sac=fo.business
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.981317
| 685
| 1.601563
| 2
|
There is no way to easily disprove a belief. Many people believe that maleness/masculinity is an intrinsic quality strictly separated from a solidly defined feminine counterpart. I think that’s fine — not everyone has to be or believe the same thing. But neither can argument “disprove” the opposing belief that masculinity and femininity are largely constructed, that most people’s behavior and psychology operates across a dynamic range of gendered territory, and that the association between people and gender is for the most part quite arbitrary. The reason people on this thread seem so easily offended is, in my opinion, because they are being told “you cannot be what you think you are; it’s impossible.
|—||Kevin Nielson in response to article: What Men Say About Women When They Think You’ve Never Been One via the Bilerico Project|
|
<urn:uuid:6cfa61b1-c8c5-432e-942c-aeb9844c9b5e>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://ka-tagory9.tumblr.com/tagged/social-constructs
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.931619
| 183
| 1.65625
| 2
|
After the SXSW Teen Panel in which I discovered that teen boys were using MySpace to promote and discover new music, and teen girls weren’t using it at all, I found myself in a discussion with Directors of Emerging Media Dan Shust and David Berkowitz about how MySpace needs to position itself in relation to Facebook and Twitter.
Over the past 7 (or so) years, the social networking space has shifted. As Dan noted, clients used to want to have a presence on MySpace, now it’s all about Facebook. In a web design meeting I recently attended for the Denver Roller Dolls Roller Derby League, one committee member declared “MySpace is dying”.
I don’t believe it has to be so: I think that MySpace can serve an important niche that Facebook can’t.
The teen panelists commonly stated that their MySpace activities were creative: they designed layouts or shared or found new music. Their activities weren’t necessarily geared towards actually socializing with existing friends. Many members on MySpace don’t use their real names, and mySpace pages for people, companies, products and venues are undifferentiated. I see MySpace as a platform for creative expression that may or may not be shortlived, much like the handful of webpages I created on the Geocities platform back in the late ’90s. I created pages for bands I liked or organizations I was a part of. There was no question that these were unofficial and really meant for entertainment purposes only; there was no clear way to identify that I was the creator thereof.
Compare this to Facebook, where you register with your real name (and initially what was a verified school email address). Setting up a fan page or group is a different process than another type of account. There is a certain air of legitimacy with Facebook profiles that isn’t apparent with MySpace pages.
So how does this help MySpace? As Facebook becomes increasingly common as a way to seek out and connect with current, past and potential professional contacts, I think that the possible obscurity and casual nature of MySpace will regain its appeal.
Personal branding has individuals using their real name and personally identifying information on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. But do you really want your possible future employer to know your secret obsession with twilight or boy bands? As for the Roller Derby girls, each player has an alter ego – I like the fact that I can “get to know” fictional Angela Death on MySpace, but I wouldn’t consider her a “friend” to add to my network on Facebook.
The MySpace platform offers an added level of dimension to media: when the WB looked to promote the online-only series Sorority Forever, they first aired the show on MySpace, and viewers could learn more and “friend” series heroine Julie Gold and the other Phi Chi girls via their MySpace pages.
MySpace got its start as an entertainment platform: a way for independent artists to promote their music. It now houses the profiles for more than 6 million bands. Contrast this to Facebook, which still does not have an integrated music player for profile pages. It appears that Facebook has respected the stronghold MySpace has in the music space, and it only makes sense that MySpace itself would continue to focus on what it does best: entertainment and fostering creativity.
One of the major issues social networks are grappling with right now is data portability and online identity. Google, Facebook and MySpace have all introduced their own solutions for allowing information to pass into and out of networks. But as online privacy is ever a concern, is this perhaps an opportunity for MySpace to focus on what its users really want: a place to create, discover and share. Perhaps there are merits in MySpace NOT tying a users’ behavior on the site with activities they do elsewhere: with literally hundreds of social networking sites to choose from, perhaps the brand distinction is in allowing visitors to be creative in a safe space, unconstrained by suspected association with a “professional” brand.
- Subscribe to the RSS feed
- Get Email updates
- Tweet This
- Stumble It
- Add to del.icio.us
- Share on Facebook
- Email to a friend
|
<urn:uuid:4a03b3bb-13e5-48d7-bf0c-bee7eda1a2c8>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.afhill.com/blog/myspace-place/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963697
| 881
| 1.695313
| 2
|
10:54 a.m. | Updated You may now view our admissions data in a new window.
To that end, we present our third annual listing of college admissions statistics at a range of institutions — a listing based on figures supplied by those colleges and universities that responded to a survey from The Choice over the last few weeks. This year, for the first time, we have included the number of students who were placed on waiting lists, as well as a more in-depth look at acceptance rates.
For each entry, the overall acceptance rate provides an overview of how many students were accepted, based on the total number of applicants. This year, however, we are also including the acceptance rates of early admissions and regular admissions. Early admissions refers to those students who applied early action or early decision. (Students who were deferred during early admissions and accepted via regular admission are included in the regular admissions rate; an empty box indicates that an institution did not provide a response.)
It should be noted that this list represents a rough draft, based on early figures, and that it is hardly comprehensive. There are more than 2,000 colleges and universities in this country; only a fraction are listed here. Our aim is to provide a sense of the admissions decisions made around the country, based on the statistics that we have received so far. Some admissions officers are still compiling their data, so please refer back to this post for updates. (Admissions officers: If you have data for you wish to have published on The Choice, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.org.)
This year’s data may provide some comfort for students who were rejected or added to a waiting list. Just by looking at the sheer number of applications — there were 46,030 at the University of Southern California this year, and more than 36,400 of them were rejected. With statistics like that, it is easy to see how a seemingly qualified candidate could be denied entry to the freshman class. Many colleges have also been more selective this year. As we’ve noted, many Ivy League schools are boasting of acceptance rates lower than 8 percent.
If students (or parents) would like to share your admissions decisions, please join the round-table discussion we began in late March. As always, we also welcome your thoughts on this year’s admissions data in the comment box below.
|
<urn:uuid:285355ed-cdc8-4f74-b19c-2a19a384838a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/college-admits-2012/?ref=us
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.981866
| 484
| 1.8125
| 2
|
[by Dr. David McCartney]
In the summer of 1984 I sat down with my father's mother [Jessie Walberga (Graehling) McCartney] to visit as I often did. Our conversation soon lead to family history and family stories which interested me. During this particular visit Jessie showed me hundreds of family photos. I was impressed by her recall of the people in all of the photos and soon realized this information would be lost forever after her death. Believing in the significance of preserving family history, I spent the next week with Jessie sifting through her family photos recording the names of the individuals in the photos on the back of the originals. I later had the original photos copied along with the information she provided and placed them into a new photo album. What was amazing to me was not only did she have hundreds of old family photos, but she also had her father's [George W. Graehling] family photo album and his father's [Henry Graehling] family photo album intact. Jessie though, had only a couple of photos of her husband Merle McCartney's father. Coincidently, a distant Graehling relative residing in Park Ridge, IL contacted me that same summer and had already spent several years researching the Graehling family line. I shared the Graehling photos with her for the book she was soon to publish.
The most important outcome during my visits with Jessie that summer, occurred when I questioned her about her recall of her husband Merle McCartney's family. To my astonishment and similar to the lack of McCartney family photos, she knew very little about her husband's family. I could not question my grandfather Merle as he had passed away six years earlier. Jessie recounted:
"Merle's father, Isaac Elsworth McCartney, was orphaned in Tipton, IA at the age of two along with two older brothers, ages five and seven. Their father [Isaac R.] was killed in the Civil War and their mother [Mary Ochiltree] died of an illness the year before. Following the death of the parents, Isaac E. was taken to Polo, IL where he was raised by a family named Coppenhaver. Isaac E.'s brother William had been sickly as a child, and died of an illness a few years after the death of the parents while living with a foster family in Iowa. The oldest brother Robert, grew up in Iowa with the same foster family as William, and later as a young man moved to Windom Minnesota where he raised a large family of his own."
That was it! That was the extent of the information Jessie knew about her husband's family. The problem wasn't her memory, but rather the fact that very little McCartney family history had been passed down from generation to generation due to the early death of Isaac Elsworth's parents and their children's young age at the time.
This lack of information on my paternal line did not dissuade me, but instead, lead to further investigation. I began by contacting the National Archives in Washington D.C. to obtain the military papers of my gg-grandfather, Isaac R. McCartney. Contrary to what my grandmother had told me, Isaac R.'s military papers indicated he was not killed in battle, but had been injured and/or wounded during the course of duty, became sick with chronic diarrhea [a common affliction of Civil War soldiers], and was sent home to a small town named Wilton Junction, IA, not Tipton, where he soon died [Wilton and Tipton are located only a few miles apart]. I decided the next logical step in my research was to make a trip to Wilton, a three-hour drive from where I lived, to locate Isaac R.'s cemetery plot. I had no idea which cemetery, but assumed I would be able to locate Isaac R.'s grave since Wilton was a small town. When I arrived in Wilton early in the morning, I was eager to locate Isaac R.'s plot. I immediately stopped at a local store and asked for directions to the city cemetery. In a few minutes I found myself wandering through a rather large cemetery [Oakdale], and to my amazement, walked directly to Isaac R.'s stone, his wife Mary's stone and their son William's stone in the older section. Finding their stones I had anticipated. What I did not anticipate though, was finding three boards placed as markers in the shape of headstones in Isaac R.'s plot with no names. I also noticed flowers had recently been placed at the head of one of the stones. Evidently someone residing locally, perhaps a relative, was maintaining the plot. A few years later I had the opportunity of meeting that person/relative [Etta Belle Winsell Lord]. Several yards away I found another McCartney plot [Jacob] and another McCartney plot [George W.]. As I walked the entire cemetery later in the afternoon, I located another but more recent McCartney plot [Fred] closer to the main entrance of the cemetery. I had no idea who these additional McCartneys were, but believed them to be related, and later discovered this assumption to be correct. And thus, my research began in earnest. This website is a summary of twenty-five years of research.
[researcher]-David McCartney (1952- )
[father]-Vernon McCartney (1927-2012 )
[grandfather]-Merle McCartney (1893-1978)
[g-grandfather]-Isaac Elsworth McCartney (1861-1934)
[gg-grandfather]-Isaac R. McCartney (1832-1863)
[ggg-grandfather]-Robert Isaac McCartney (1791-1837)
[gggg-grandfather]-Ephraim McCartney (1772-1825)
[ggggg-grandfather] McCartney (from Ireland)
And now, the rest of the story . . . .
Ephraim McCartney was born September 20, 1772 in Lancaster Co., PA. His father emigrated from Ireland. According to family recollection though, the McCartney family was not Irish but rather Scotch.:
"People were always surprised that being McCartney's, we were none of us Catholic. I never knew any of the family that were away back, they claimed not to be Irish, but Scotch and that's probably the reason we were all Methodists and most of us still are." (Etta Belle Winsell Lord)
The origin of the McCartney name is in fact Scottish. In reality, Etta Belle's statement coupled with the fact that Ephraim's father emigrated from Ireland, implies we were of "Scotch-Irish" descent. The terms "Irish", "Scotch-Irish" and "Scotch" are frequently used interchangeably, and often used erroneously. The distinction between the terms has implications not only for where people originated, but also in terms of what location/country they likely emigrated from. Where one originated and where one emigrated from were not necessarily one in the same:
Scottish immigrants to America included three distinct groups: Highlanders, Lowlanders, and Scotch-Irish (or Ulster Scots). Highlanders came from the north of Scotland, where the land is rugged and the people fierce. The clannish Highlanders wore kilts and spoke Gaelic. Lowlanders came from southern Scotland, which had been much more influenced by English language and culture. The Scotch-Irish were originally from the lowlands but had been sent to Northern Ireland (Ulster) by English rulers who hoped to establish a Protestant stronghold in that Catholic land. The Ulster Scots kept to themselves though, mingling very little with their Catholic neighbors and preserving their Scottish identity. (Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life, 1998)
The early immigration of the Scotch and Scotch-Irish to America occurred in the 18th century. Assuming Ephraim's father was between the ages of 18-21 at the time of Ephraim's birth in 1772, it is possible Ephraim's father emigrated in one of the later waves from Ulster between 1751-1772 prior to the American Revolutionary War:
Approximately two-hundred thousand people, primarily of Scottish descent and Presbyterian faith, left Ulster, and sailed for America in five major waves between 1717 and 1775. During the fifth and final wave from 1771 to 1775, twenty-five thousand people emigrated from Ulster. This was primarily motivated by the eviction of many families from the county Antrim, when the leases on the estate of the Marquis of Donegal expired and the settlers could not comply with rack-renting demands. (The Ulster-Scots: The Great Migration, by Larry D. Smith)
It is also probable that Ephraim's father's port-of-call was Philadelphia prior to settling in Lancaster Co., PA:
From about 1715 to 1775, a great number of people for various reasons emigrated to America from the north of Ireland, and quite a large part of these landed at Philadelphia, Pa., and at New Castle Del. From these points they spread north and west into and beyond what is now Lancaster County. (History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men. Everts & Peck: Philadelphia, 1883, pg. 667)
During the course of the American Revolution (1775-1783), England feared, and with good cause, the possible impact Scottish immigrants might have on the outcome of the war. Some of the well-known Scottish and Scotch-Irish immigrants who played leading roles in the outcome of the war included Patrick Henry, John Stark, Henry Knox and John Paul Jones. This does not preclude those Scottish and Scotch-Irish immigrants though, of lesser known identity, for which you will read about later in this article:
Scotch-Irish Americans, with their anti-English stance, were quite ready to join the rebel cause in the American Revolution. Scottish Americans from the Highlands and Lowlands, however, tended to side with the British crown. Fearing that the Scots would side with the rebels, the English prohibited Scottish emigration to America beginning in 1775. The damage was already done, however, and the Scotch-Irish (and some Scottish) Americans contributed significantly to the downfall of the British. (Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life, 1998)
Seven years after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War (1790), Ephraim married Ann Sanford in Mifflin Co., PA. Ann was born about 1767, also in Mifflin Co. Ann’s father was Abraham Sanford. Ephraim and Ann had ten or eleven children, eight of whom, six boys and two girls lived to adulthood. The oldest boy was Robert Isaac McCartney. The focal point of this website centers around Robert Isaac, his wife (Lydia) and their children.
Ephraim McCartney died at the age of 52 in Washington Co., PA, September 9, 1825, and his wife Ann, at the age of 86, in the same county, in the early part of January 1853.
|
<urn:uuid:bc89e607-c188-4eb6-8229-7304f383f85d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.mccartneyhistory.org/index.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.981526
| 2,300
| 1.78125
| 2
|
Japan Sencha Green Tea
A traditional green tea from Japan that is a higher grade than Bancha and whilst still an everyday drink, is often referred to as the ‘guest tea’ – obviously one you would like to share with visitors! The first harvest is known as ‘sincha’, when only the new leaves are picked. The first stage is to stop the natural oxidization of the leaves so as to preserve the taste, aroma and their resplendent green colour. The plucked green tea leaves are steamed for approximately 30 seconds and then shaken in hot air and dried. During this process, the leaves curl and eventually resemble green needles. Sencha has a real balance of a refreshing aroma, and energising flavour. Ideal for any time of day with or after meals.
|
<urn:uuid:fac2a199-25dd-472d-b3d1-a7e124221073>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://steepster.com/teas/jenier-teas/9416-japan-sencha-green-tea
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.973658
| 166
| 1.796875
| 2
|
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Invisible Palestinians
The Invisible Palestinians
By Caroline Glick
Sunday was the first day of Sgt. Gilad Schalit’s sixth year in captivity. Schalit was kidnapped on June 26, 2006 and has been held hostage by Palestinian terrorists affiliated with Hamas in Gaza ever since.
For five years, Schalit has been held incognito. His terrorist captors have permitted him to send but one letter to his family and released but one video of Schalit over this entire period. He has been denied visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross. He was clearly emaciated in the video.
Over the past five years, Hamas has engaged in periodic indirect negotiations with Israel through a German mediator and others. While their demands have varied from time to time, essentially they want Israel to release around 1,500 terrorists from its prisons in exchange for Schalit. And they want the terrorists to be released to their homes in Judea and Samaria and Gaza where they can pick up killing Jews where they left off.
And it isn’t only Hamas demanding these things. In an interview with IMRA news agency on May 25, Fatah negotiator Nabil Shaath said that the Fatah supports Hamas’s demands. Shaath explained that once the Fatah-Hamas unity government is formed Schalit will become the responsibility of the unified Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian Authority will continue to hold Schalit hostage and demand that Israel release thousands of terrorists as ransom for his release. As he put it, “We have 7,000 political prisoners in Israel by design – taken by the Israeli authority. They have to be also freed.”
So the Palestinian leadership from Fatah and Hamas alike are unified in their view that it is perfectly acceptable to hold Schalit captive. As far as they are concerned, it is acceptable to stand in breach of international law and basic standards of humanity in order to extort Israel to free mass murderers from prison. And it is acceptable to the Palestinians for these murderers to return to their work killing as many Jews as they can get their hands on.
It is hard to think of a more despicable comment on the state of Palestinian society than their wall to wall support for the taking and holding of hostages or their desire to see mass murderers released from jail. A person could be forgiven for thinking that on the fifth anniversary of Schalit’s abduction that the media would be full of articles describing in detail the evil that is Hamas and Fatah which celebrate Schalit’s victimization and the suffering of his family.
But that person would be wrong. The media coverage of the fifth anniversary of Schalit’s kidnap devoted no attention to his Palestinian captors. In fact, if a person were simply going by what he learned from the Israeli media over the past several days, he would likely believe that either Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is hiding Schalit in his cellar, or that Netanyahu is colluding with Hamas to keep Schalit captive in Gaza.
Aping the increasingly grotesque genre of reality television shows, local celebrities and washed-out headline-starved failed former security brass got together with Yediot Aharonot and put on a reality TV stunt for the public to mark the anniversary.
One after another these supposedly concerned citizens walked into a knock-off solitary confinement cell furnished with a dirty toilet and television cameras. The beautiful ones sighed, cried, kicked, and whined for an hour apiece. Their performances were broadcast live on Yediot’s Ynet news portal.
Channel 2 rebroadcast the highlights on the evening news.
The purported goal of the campaign was to “raise public awareness,” about Schalit’s plight. As if the Israeli public isn’t aware of his plight. For the overwhelming majority of Israelis, the mention of Schalit’s name evokes profound concern and sorrow.
BUT THEN, Yediot knows that. And raising public awareness was not the goal of their televised pimping of Schalit’s suffering with the help of shameless celebrities and far-left retired generals. Their goal was to turn the public against Binyamin Netanyahu – Schalit’s imaginary jailer.
This message was delivered not only by the likes of radical failed Shin Beit chiefs Ami Ayalon and Carmi Gillon. It was delivered by Gilad Schalit’s father Noam Schalit at his press conference on Sunday.
Noam Schalit declared, “Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, you do not have the right to sentence Gilad to death. The weakness and the stubbornness you are showing in this crisis is an immediate danger for Gilad’s life and health. More than that, it is a danger for the values of the State of Israel, on which generations of Israelis were raised.” There is no doubt that Noam Schalit is acting as he is because he wants to get his son home alive. But there is also no doubt that by pressuring Netanyahu and the government and accusing them of being responsible for his son’s captivity, Noam Schalit is only making things worse.
Hamas wants to destroy Israel. Its terrorists in prison want to destroy Israel.
Hamas’s leaders view Schalit’s illegal incarceration and the anguish it causes in Israel as a source of pride for the movement and Palestinian society as a whole. It views the release of terrorists as a means of strengthening the jihadist movement politically and militarily.
Every time Noam Schalit blames the government for his son’s plight and demands that our leaders free terrorists to bring him home, he strengthens Hamas’s negotiating position.
On Sunday, Netanyahu admitted that the pressure worked. Netanyahu did in fact agree to what had been Hamas’s demands for the release of more than a thousand terrorists for Schalit and Hamas didn’t even bother responding to the offer.
On Monday, Hamas said that Netanyahu’s offer was too low.
With Noam Schalit and the media in its court, Hamas knows there is no reason to rush into anything. So its leaders raised the price still further.
SINCE SCHALIT was first kidnapped, his family has repeatedly invoked the plight of IAF navigator Col. Ron Arad who was taken hostage by Shi’ite terrorists when his plane crashed in Lebanon in 1986. Arad has been held hostage for the past quarter century.
The Schalits say their pressure campaign against the government is fuelled by their desire to prevent their son from sharing Arad’s fate.
These statements show that the Schalits fundamentally misunderstand what happened to Arad and what is happening to Gilad. It wasn’t for lack of will that Israel has failed to bring Arad home. Arad disappeared because Israel never had good intelligence information about his whereabouts.
If it had, Arad would have been rescued, dead or alive. According to recently retired IDF chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, the same has been the case with Schalit.
In their refusal to recognize that they are hurting their son by directing their anger at the government rather than the Palestinians and their international supporters, the Schalits are unconscionably egged on by the media. As Yediot marked the fifth anniversary of Gilad’s internment with their celebrity solitary confinement stunt, Maariv marked the fifth anniversary by interviewing 25 celebrities about their activism on behalf of Schalit.
All these celebrity attacks on Netanyahu are consistent with the past five years of media coverage of Schalit’s confinement. It is also consistent with their past coverage of the captivity of every other IDF hostage taken by Arab terrorists in recent years.
THE SCHALIT family’s counterproductive behavior is the result of a combination of desperation, ignorance and manipulation by PR agencies. But what explains the media’s behavior? Why are they helping Hamas? Some media critics attribute their behavior to journalistic laziness and a desire to create sensational stories that will sell newspapers. No doubt there is some of that at work.
But lazy reporters and editors in search of screaming headlines have other options.
They could pit Noam Schalit against the father of one of the victims of the murderers whose release the Schalits and their supporters are demanding. That would make colorful page 1 copy.
The media could have a reporter spend an hour researching the Israeli and international self-described human rights community’s silence on Schalit’s plight and the shameless absence of any concerted demand by the self-proclaimed human rights community for his immediate release. Over the weekend, Israeli and international “human rights” groups B’Tselem, Amnesty International, Israel; Bimkom; Gisha; Human Rights Watch; International Federation for Human Rights; Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Gaza; Physicians for Human Rights, Israel; Public Committee Against Torture in Israel; and Yesh Din all got together to release a statement about Schalit. They failed to call for his immediate release.
Certainly a banner headline reporting this outrage would have sold papers.
All of these stories and journalistic stunts are low-cost and would sell newspapers.
And at a minimum, none of them would harm Schalit’s chances of getting released.
Yet the media have opted to sell the tale of the government’s culpability for his suffering due to its failure to bow to Hamas’s ever-escalating demands.
The media’s behavior is puzzling not merely because they have options besides supporting Hamas. It is puzzling because their obsessive coverage of Schalit arguably hurts their tireless efforts to sell the public on the notion that it is a terrific idea to give Judea and Samaria and parts of Jerusalem to Schalit’s captors. By reminding the public of Schalit, the media are also reminding the public that the Palestinians are not interested in peace and that they use the land Israel gives them to attack us. That is, their Schalit campaign undermines their appeasement campaign.
Finally, their demand that Netanyahu “release” Schalit is alienating their readers.
In the face of their intense campaign, “for Gilad” according to a poll published last month by Maariv, only 41 percent of the public agrees with their surrender at all cost strategy and 51 percent opposes it.
So by any rational measure, the media are acting against their own interests by pushing the pro-Hamas line. The only explanation that remains is irrational. But it is also consistent with the media’s serial irrationality on everything concerning Israel’s relationship with the Arab world generally and the Palestinians in particular.
The explanation is that like the rest of the Left – in Israel and worldwide – the media hold Israel responsible for Hamas’s imprisonment of Schalit because they perceive the Arabs generally and the Palestinians specifically as objects rather than actors. The only actors they see are Israel and the US.
Just as the international Left sends ships to aid and comfort Palestinian terrorists in Gaza to fight the so-called “occupation” which ended six years ago, so the Israeli media says the government is holding Gilad Schalit hostage. In both cases, the Palestinians are invisible, and inert.
To its credit, after five years of inaction, last Thursday, the Red Cross finally asked Hamas to prove Schalit is still alive. Gazans reacted to the move by attacking the Red Cross office in Gaza.
This major story received little mention in the media. And that makes sense. How can they cover a story about a group of people they can’t be bothered to notice?
To read another article by Caroline Glick, click here.
Posted by Brett at 12:12 PM
|
<urn:uuid:5efb81ee-0089-4e9e-8baa-b1049217f42d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://bcfoley.blogspot.com/2011/06/invisible-palestinians.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.964247
| 2,476
| 1.507813
| 2
|
Two of Barbara Ehrenreich’s best-selling books are reality journalism, where she put herself in the situations she’s writing about. Thus, in 2001 she released Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, a first-hand account of trying to live on the wages of low-paying jobs, such as waitress, hotel maid and Wal-Mart associate. She followed that with Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream, in which she examined what it takes to find a white-collar job at a time of downsizing and layoffs.
With that background, you wonder if and how she is going to get inside the topic of her latest book, Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. Yet the first chapter is based on as much reality as anyone would want to face. It discusses, as she did in a 2001 article in Harper’s Magazine, her diagnosis of breast cancer and her introduction to a culture which views cheerfulness and positive thinking as almost mandatory. It is a sobering introduction to the subject not only for the reader, but for her. As she puts it, one of the things that accompanied her cancer “was a very personal, agonizing encounter with an ideological force in American culture that I had not been aware of before — one that encourages us to deny reality, submit cheerfully to misfortune, and blame only ourselves for our fate.”
While the role of positive thinking in American culture isn’t a reality journalism topic, Ehrenreich also writes of how she encountered it in the business world. Thus, the various job coaches and the like she encountered in Bait and Switch were an additional introduction into the pervasiveness of the subject in modern America. That she found it both in her personal and professional life helps form the approach of Bright-sided.
Ehrenreich examines the history of “the mass delusion that is positive thinking” in the United States in a variety of personal, cultural and economic settings. While positive thinking has some roots in the so-called Protestant ethic — hard work will be rewarded — she explores how it developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. Thus, the “New Thought movement” helped give rise to not only religious movements like Christian Science but curing ills like “neurasthenia,” a syndrome marked by fatigue, withdrawal and depression. By the 20th Century, many ideas sparked by the New Though movement found their way into such well-known works as Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People and Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking.
These concepts pervaded the country and Americans saw them as a way to success and happiness. Over the last 30 years or so, we’ve seen countless books and advisors urging positive thinking as a business motivator and self-help. Thus, we saw not only “positive psychology” and books like The Secret, but what came to be known as the “prosperity gospel,” in which our ability to prosper financially and emotionally hinges on our relationship with God. In fact, Ehrenreich notes, three of the four largest megachurches in the U.S. are based on the prosperity gospel.
Bright-sided is weaker in supporting its proposition that positive thinking has undermined America. The extensively footnoted and sourced book makes clear arguments that the real threat of positive thinking is that it tends to substitute illusion for reality. Perhaps her best example is the recent economic collapse. Brazenly optimistic “experts” were encouraging millions taught by business, church or otherwise of the need for positive thinking in an America in which former U.S. Treasure Secretary Robert Reich observed that “[o]ur willingness to go deep into debt and keep spending is intimately related to our optimism.”
Yet any such failing there, it is redeemed by Ehrenreich’s call for what she terms “post-positive thinking.” She urges that rather than focusing on positive thinking, which is inherently emotional, we must rely upon critical thinking. Seeing things “as they are,” she argues, is the only way to approach the real world — and both the danger and promise it offers.
Human intellectual progress, such as it has been, results from our long struggle to see things “as they are,” or in the most universally comprehensible way, and not as projections of our own emotions.
Barbara Ehrenreich, Bright-sided
|
<urn:uuid:9c8581a1-1a0c-4c57-81ea-44d2a3ae1b75>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://prairieprogressive.com/2009/10/14/book-review-bright-sided-how-the-relentless-promotion-of-positive-thinking-has-undermined-america-by-barbara-ehrenreich/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962307
| 953
| 1.796875
| 2
|
NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Urinary and Genital Disorders (Children)
my son is 2yrs 7months - his foreskin appears to be `fused` on one side at the tip of his penis - the other side is almost able to be pulled back - should i be concerned at his age or should i just keep working on it and give it more time
I assume he is uncircumcised. Persistent adhesions are not uncommon at this age and they should separate naturally over the course of time. Adhesions may persist for years, and as long as the child has not gone through puberty and the adhesions are not causing pain or infections, they can be left alone. The answer would be the same if he is circumcised. The only difference is that if the fused area looks like thick scar, this will not go away and needs to be divided with scissors.
Rama Jayanthi, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor of Urology
College of Medicine
The Ohio State University
|
<urn:uuid:e1227571-440d-45f4-abb0-db9d29612bf9>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.netwellness.org/question.cfm/14337.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.965102
| 242
| 1.804688
| 2
|
I have been mucking about in the archives lately and, inspired by my bud Brad, sharing snapshots of this and that old flier or pamphlet of Facebook. Still, there are some things that can't be done justice by a photo of a cover.
Take for instance this booklet, entitled The Commune In 1880. Downfall Of The Republic. Written by "A Spectator" and published in NYC in 1877, it is a terrified response to the Great Railroad Strike earlier that year, with red flags flying on the Bowery, the Pittsburgh railroad hub in flames, and the city of St. Louis in the hands of the Workingman's Party for a week. And behind it, the specter haunting the author (or whoever paid the author to crank it out) is that of the Paris Commune of six years previous, hailed by Marx and Engels as the first example of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
It is a capitalist dystopia. It starts with a description of the secret organizing done by workers and the general strike the unions call. All is peaceful until the employers issue a statement refusing all demands and announcing the militia will be called on strikers. That night quiet movements are heard in the narrator's neighborhood.
Do you hear a low murmur like a calm day at Rockaway? Yes! What is it? Wait! What is this they are bringing around the corner? Why look—look! A cannon? A cannon? Yes, a cannon. Then the arsenal and the armories are gutted. Look there! Look there! They fix it like a swivel on that car-truck. What is this? Good God, can it be a barricade? Then will it do deadly work in this narrow street. What flag is that they hoist above their entrenchment? I cannot see, it is so dark, but it appears to be all of one color. Ah, now a lantern shines upon it. Why, it is blood-red; it is the flag of the Commune!
Dawn reveals every residential street in the city held by the strikers. Efforts to mobilize the militia against them are hampered by the many desertions to the workers' cause. The women of the working communities shame those remaining, asking how they can side with the wealthy while their own children go hungry. Still the main forces of the organized proletariat are held in reserve, Finally, in the afternoon, they march downtown to City Hall Park, Wall Street and other areas still held by capital's forces. It makes for inspirinig reading:
Had the militia at this time had any orders, a great deal of damage would have been prevented and many lives saved. But no; there was no organization and thus they were kept on guard with no other orders but those from their residential commandants. The strikers, on the other hand, moved with regular step and seemed to have learned their duty by heart, for they never hesitated an instant. They were strong, muscular men, principally mechanics and laborers--carpenters to whom the musket seemed almost as familiar as the plane or chisel; rockmen and blasters to whom the smell of powder was by no means a rarity. The most powerful-looking were of course the blacksmiths and horse-shoers, who, at first unable to procure arms, had armed themselves with long sledge-hammers--terrible weapons at close quarters, particularly in the hands of those accustomed to swing them with as much ease as a professional ball-player can a base-ball club.
Kinda brings a tear to the eye, doesn't it?
After extended combat, despite heroic action by the narrator and other "patriots" they are driven back and defeated, "in fact, municipal, State and national governments had been swept away in the tremendous torrent of communism."
Of course, things must turn out badly (though not as badly as one might think), but I will leave the tale on this high note, and encourage anyone who wishes to read the whole thing, all 59 pulse-pounding pages, to help me find someplace that can scan it for me without breaking the spine, and I will post it here at FotM in its entirety.
|
<urn:uuid:a4aac1a4-d5bc-4035-af9d-76ce829db917>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://firemtn.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-commune-of-1880-their-nightmares.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.972878
| 863
| 1.609375
| 2
|
After TIME commissioned me, along with four other photographers, to capture Hurricane Sandy using Instagram, I and many of my colleagues felt a deep personal need to go back and document the aftermath. I’ve covered disasters in other parts of our country, but this is my hometown, and Sandy was a storm of historical significance. I’ve often found that there is great power in telling difficult stories in a beautiful way. Interest in any given story wanes so quickly, yet it’s only through taking the time to go deeper that we get to a place of real understanding. I had to return to this story, and I wanted try to comprehend the scale of this storm. The only way for me to capture Sandy’s destructive fury was from above.
On the Sunday after Sandy made landfall, I decided to rent a helicopter and fly over some of the most devastated areas, including the New Jersey shore, Breezy Point and Far Rockaway. It was a beautiful day to fly, but unfortunately that beauty quickly eroded into shock as we began to get close to the coasts. It was everything I’d heard about, but it was difficult to believe what I was actually seeing. Once we got above the shoreline, I really started to understand the scale of the destruction. The expanse of land it ruined, the totality of the devastation — it was like a giant mallet had swung in circles around the area. It was mind numbing.
When I got home that night, the images still in my mind made it impossible to sleep. Through various points of this storm, it felt like we were all living through a science fiction movie. Seeing these devastated towns from above showed the cold reality of this storm’s severity.
From above, I realized how close particular neighborhoods were to bays or oceans. Sometimes, it was a matter of two blocks, and it’s a proximity not immediately apparent when you’re on the ground. In Breezy Point, for example, I knew that more than 80 homes had burned down in a fire, but nothing could have prepared me for what I actually saw. The blackened and charred blocks of homes viewed as a giant physical scar across the landscape. Seeing how much land was affected and yet how many homes were saved, made me think of the firefighters and how hard they must have worked just to contain this fire.
In flying over Staten Island, I was really struck by the marina, and how the boats were physically lifted from the pier and tossed together. It looked like a child’s game—huge, 40-ft. boats being thrown around like toys. We then flew over Oakwood, where I saw a house that had been lifted and dragged through a field of cattails; its path clearly visible days later, having left a trail of destruction through the cattails.
Sandy was a warning shot. I’ve had a unique view of what’s happened on a physical level. But the emotional toll has yet to be measured. It’s my hope that these images serve as a wakeup call — whether that call is about global warming, infrastructure, or just the recognition that the world is changing, it’s a reminder that we need to take special care of our fragile world.
Stephen Wilkes is a fine-art and commercial photographer based in New York. Wilkes was awarded the Photo District News Award of Excellence in 2011 and 2012.
Wilkes’ work will be part of Art for Sandy, a fundraising initiative to support Sandy relief that’s being hosted by 20×200 and TIME.
|
<urn:uuid:e62d8b7c-ff50-41f1-9de1-8780df4728b2>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://lightbox.time.com/2012/11/15/sandy-stephen-wilkes/?iid=gs-main-mostpop2
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.979505
| 741
| 1.632813
| 2
|
In the Garden:
Southern California Coastal & Inland Valleys
Spring Into Summer Veggies
Our extraordinarily cool Spring and now Early Summer has been a boon to working in the garden and getting seeds and seedlings going. In past years, we%d already have had a week or two of 100+ degree weather that%s unpleasant for people and plants alike. This year, we%ve even had some drizzles to keep air and soil temperatures mild. With the wonderful ground-soaking winter rains, trees and more shallow plantings have come bursting forth with great gusto.
My tomatoes have reached or surpassed their critical two-foot mark, when I allow them to keep their blossoms. Before that height, I pinch off any blooms that appear because I want all of the plant%s energy to go into continued development of roots, stems, and foliage to make strong plants. With this great establishment, I then let them %divert% their energy into producing the fruits that is my payoff for all the garden space, water, compost, and labor that I devote to them. I also plant additional tiny seedlings of determinant varieties, as a second crop in mid-August and September. Yum to come!
Transition time on our dinner plates! We%ve enjoyed the last artichokes and asparagus, along with the first yellow crookneck squash and boysenberries. Sweet and edible peas on trellises have been replaced with cucumbers and beans. Some now-shady spots under deciduous trees now protect the late-planted Russian Kale and chard, and I%m still foraging individual bok choy leaves and tender stems from bolting plants.
An unexpected fun discovery has been which foliage plants still taste fine once they%ve started to bolt % bok choy, parsley, cilantro, and beets (both foliage and bulbs) % unlike lettuce (bitter) and mustard (too firey).
My favorite salvaging of a bolting plant, however, is with leeks. Once they put up their seedstalks and nubs of blossoms-to-come, you can still utilize most of the flesh. Years ago, I%d chopped the whole leek % internal seedstalk as well, since it sliced just like the regular flesh % and put it into a stew. However, eating the finished dish was difficult because we had to fish out the now-cardboard-textured bits of cooked cellulose. Since then, as soon as I see that emerging seedstalk, I pull up the plant, remove the central stalk, and slice the remaining outer layers into my recipe.
And no, you can%t just snap off the seedstalk and hope that the plant will continue growing its edible parts % once the hormones shift to bolting, there%s no turning back.
Care to share your gardening thoughts, insights, triumphs, or disappointments with your fellow gardening enthusiasts? Join the lively discussions on our FaceBook page and receive free daily tips!
|
<urn:uuid:75910a28-3598-4c9e-8bfb-41c3880000c5>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.garden.org/regional/report/arch/inmygarden/3470
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.951071
| 630
| 1.625
| 2
|
|Paint the canvas of your life with the colors you fancy. Be bold; be yourself. Let go.|
As promised earlier, I am elucidating for you the practice of erasing psychic imprints. Emotions are stored in the form of images and words. Even in the case of people going through physical abuse, the physical wounds may heal over time but it is mind's uncanny ability to store and recall thoughts in the form of images and words that causes the greatest grief. In your quiet moments, when you recall painful incidents, you naturally feel indisposed. The more you try to forget them, the heavier they become, the faster you try to run away from them, the quicker they get to you. At that moment, even the most promising methods rarely work. There is natural healing and there is conscious healing. Natural healing can take a long time, sometimes, never. The practice of emotional healing, of erasing your imprints of images and words, is a deliberate effort, it falls under conscious healing. The greater your effort the better and quicker the healing.
Feeling depressed, angry, constrained, down, pensive and so forth are merely the symptoms of an emotionally wounded person. Like I said once, it means you are still hurt somewhere within, the pain is still there. You may have simply denied it. That is not going to help beyond a certain point. It is not worthwhile to fight the symptoms. Go to the root to heal yourself. Others, those who you look up to, those who are genuine healers, may be able to trigger the healing process, they may be able to pin point it for you, but ultimately, your healing needs to occur within, it comes from your own efforts. It is like someone may get you the job, but it is your performance alone that will get you the pay. Without further ado, let me share with you the two finest methods of emotional healing.
The yogic method
This is the more difficult but permanent method. It can heal you beyond just the incident in focus. The success in all yogic methods depends on the aspirant's ability to sit still, to concentrate and visualize. Maintaining one posture stills the primary energies, concentration stills the five secondary energies and readies your mind and visualization is the actual healing. The longer you are able to hold onto your visualization during your session of meditation, the quicker the healing. Visualization is like performing surgery; the patient (mind) needs to be perfectly still (posture) while the surgeon (you) concentrates and does the procedure (visualization). Here are the steps:
1. Posture: Sit still with your back straight. Preferably crossed legged but any other comfortable posture will do just fine for this practice.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Breath: Do deep breathing, just normal deep breathing, for a few minutes. Discriminating faculties of the conscious mind will become somewhat passive as a result.
4. Recall a person or an incident that caused you great grief in the past. Your mind will automatically pick up all related emotions and thoughts. Try to stay on that one person or incident though.
5. Visualization: Imagine releasing soft white light from your heart chakra in the form of compassion and forgiveness. Anahata cakra known as the heart chakra is a psychoneurotic plexus situated near your heart, in the center of your chest, the vertical middle point between your throat and navel, between the two nipples. If you experience guilt because you did something wrong, visualize forgiving yourself. If you feel you are at fault for what you had to go through, forgive yourself still. You will travel through a whole plethora of emotions as you do this practice. Bring back your attention and focus on the calming white light. Visualize yourself being infused with it. Do not hesitate from engaging in self-dialog; your focus, however, should not be to binge and brood over but to erase and eradicate the imprint. It is not about right or wrong, it is just about forgiving for your own good. Clean the whole canvas of images. Repaint it with your favorite scene. Imagine yourself in bliss and smiling, envision living your dream, being happy, being healthy.
6. Take a few deep breaths again and slowly open your eyes.
7. If you believe in God, say your favorite prayer, or simply express your gratitude for all that you have been blessed with.
One session should last for a minimum of fifteen minutes. Be consistent Do not expect results in the first session. Once you do it enough number of times, around thirty, you will experience a miracle: after a while you will find that recalling that incident or person no longer aggravates or irritates you. On the contrary, you will experience peace upon such recollection. You have successfully transformed, metamorphosed your emotion. It is a beautiful feeling, an empowering one. Most yogic methods requires an average of twenty eight days of daily practice before they show any results. It takes usually six months before an aspirant starts to perfect the practice. Once you are able to practice intense visualization, you can accomplish just about anything you can imagine. Subsequent healing sessions accomplish much more, much quicker.
The intellectual method
Think about what happens when a child gets a new toy. He is fascinated. The more he gets to play with it, the quicker such attractions starts to whither away. He gets over the toy. Earlier he would even sleep with it, talk to it, play with it, now, the toy is dead. Its sighting does not trigger any emotion in the child. Similarly as much as naturally, albeit ironically, when you experience abuse, rejection, failure, deceit, lies, pain, your mind gets a new toy. The more you try to avoid it, the stronger the attraction. Here is an easy way to get over those emotions. To carry out this practice effectively, you either need a mirror or a dictaphone. The steps:
1. Start looking into the mirror or turn on the dictaphone.
2. Recall a negative or a painful incident from your past.
3. Start narrating it verbally, either by talking to the mirror or recording in your dictaphone.
4. Try to recall every minute detail around the incident. For example, let us assume, someone you deeply loved broke up with you. The time, manner, demeanor and the news itself was most unexpected. Years have passed but you have not got over it. As part of this exercise, recall that incident. Do that boldly. Think of the color of the walls, what did you eat prior to being given that news, what all you were wearing, what was going through your mind, how did the other person look, what artifacts were there in the room, what were the surroundings. Recall all those and speak them out.
5. You will experience pain and hurt. You may experience an emotional outpour. Be bold. Do it multiple times over a number of sessions. Play with this toy. After fifteen to twenty sessions, the impact will simply disappear. Forever.
6. You can later listen to your own recording. As you do, you will recall even greater detail. Over a period, as you do your sessions, the whole incident, the person, that phase of your life, will cease to matter.
It is paramount to recall as much detail as possible. And here is why: Remember Bo? If you do not recall the detail, you will not be able to erase it. If you are unable to erase it, whenever you are going to see similar color of walls, people with similar expressions, even similar food that you had that day, it will silently trigger the negative or downing emotion in you. Hence, I cannot stress enough the importance of recalling as much detail as possible. The information recall in the fifth session, for instance, will be much greater compared to the first. So, repeat this exercise till you get over the incident completely. Devil is in the details!
You can also do this practice with a friend who is willing to listen to you without judging. You could take turns. You could help the other person heal, and they, you. That is why sharing, talking it out with someone nonjudgmental can make one feel lighter. Each time you talk it out, it further reduces the impact of that emotion. This is the reason people tend to share their ordeals with their friends. This is mind's natural coping mechanism. When you speak about it, the imprint softens.
For more, read this post I wrote a while ago on karmic trail and psychic imprints.
No imprint means no pain. No pain means you are healed. Healing of the mind is almost like returning to your original state of peace and bliss, of joy and happiness, of compassion and tolerance.
Heal yourself; you owe it to yourself. Treat yourself; you deserve it. Be yourself; you are worth it.
Love; I have it unconditional for you. :)
|
<urn:uuid:b61d9259-3166-40e4-8135-efe5cb791c3b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.omswami.com/2012/06/emotional-healing-erasing-psychic.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959113
| 1,861
| 1.65625
| 2
|
By Reza Kahlili
The Revolutionary Guards and its Quds Forces, which run Iran’s terror networks worldwide, have created two special units to undermine the regimes in the Persian Gulf and push America out of the region.
The Guards are using Imam Ali mosques around the globe, including some in the U.S., as terror command centers.
Unit 110 and Unit of Madinah – named after the second holiest city in Islam, the burial place of the Prophet Mohammad – were established to remove the U.S from the Gulf, sources report.
Unit 110 gathers intelligence while Unit of Madinah is in charge of military operations. Both are stationed in the city of Shiraz in Fars Province, under the command of Gholam Hossein Gheib Parvar, according to sources.
Parvar, one of the regime’s most radical military commanders, is in charge of all Guard forces.
According to a former intelligence officer who served in that specific region, their orders are twofold: Incite uprisings within the Shiite minorities in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and other countries in the region, and prepare for military operations against those countries’ governmental facilities.
Bahrain’s monarchy faces daily protests and occasional terrorist attacks against its police forces and facilities. Protests are also taking place in Saudi Arabia within the minority Shiite population. Yemen is battling al-Qaida forces in addition to government protesters.
Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are key Gulf allies of the United States. Bahrain hosts the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, and Saudi Arabia can help stabilize oil markets should a conflict develop with Iran.
The Guards’ intelligence office also runs operations out of mosques and Islamic centers around the world, according to sources. It finances the facilities, guides assets, recruits Muslims for reconnaissance of potential targets in host countries and forms alliances with other Islamic minorities such as Afghans, Pakistanis, Turks for terrorist operations.
In Afghanistan alone, the Guards have more than 1,000 terror cells that help fund the Taliban and al-Qaida and provide intelligence to attack NATO forces with the hope of pushing America out, according to a former intelligence officer.
The former officer, who defected to a country in Europe, revealed that all Imam Ali mosques worldwide are under the operation of the Guards’ intelligence office.
Noteworthy are the ones in Stockholm and Hamburg. Other mosques are in New Jersey, New York and Ohio, the former officer said.
Last June, Brig. Gen. Mohammad Naghdi, the commander of the Basij told the Guard forces: “Today we are in a full-scale war with our enemies … and you all have managed to infiltrate into the heart of the enemy’s nest, where even in the streets of New York and London, mourning and prayers for Ashura (the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Shiites’ third imam, Hossein) are observed. This is what it means to penetrate into the enemy camp.”
Hassan Rahimpour Azghodi, a close adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a speech on Iranian TV boasted: “Our forces are present all across the globe. … We must get ready for a global operation and an international jihad.”
According to the source, the Guards, in collaboration with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, are working on overthrowing the military junta and creating another front against Israel and America. Days ago, Iranian cleric Ahmad Mobaleghi stated that if Iran and Egypt become one, the future of the Islamic world will be guaranteed.
The Guards are also active in other African countries, where they train and arm Islamic militias and fund mosques and Islamic centers.
As reported recently, the Guards’ grand plan, “Time for The Collapse,” includes trafficking in arms, counterfeit money and illegal drugs not only to fund their worldwide terror networks but to destabilize the West through terror and drugs.
In a recent speech, Khamenei stated: “In light of the realization of the divine promise by almighty God, the Zionists and the Great Satan (America) will soon be defeated. Allah’s promise will be delivered, and Islam will be victorious.”
|
<urn:uuid:0d8d09fa-8c09-42cf-96ef-fad81b0a033a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://patriotsforamerica.ning.com/profiles/blogs/iran-turning-u-s-mosques-into-command-centers?xg_source=activity
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.939918
| 881
| 1.609375
| 2
|
WASHINGTON (AP) - Amid new warnings and fresh signs of strain, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders are entering a perilous debt-limit endgame. The president, declaring "enough is enough," is demanding that budget negotiators find common ground by week's end even as the Senate's top Republican gained followers for his own last-ditch scheme to avoid a government default.
The continuing impasse was unsettling Wall Street, which up to now had performed as if an increase in the debt ceiling was not in doubt. And the looming Aug. 2 cutoff for action was creating new tensions between the president and Republican leaders.
Moody's Investors Service said Wednesday it will review the government's credit rating, noting there is a small but rising risk that the government will default on its debt. If Moody's were to lower the ratings, the consequences would ripple through the economy, pushing up rates for mortgages, car loans and other debts. A Chinese rating agency, Dagong Global Credit Rating Co., also warned of a possible downgrade.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, addressing lawmakers, warned Wednesday that not increasing the nation's debt ceiling and allowing the nation default on its debt would send "shock waves through the entire financial system."
And in the cauldron of the White House Cabinet Room, Obama and top lawmakers bargained for nearly two hours Wednesday on spending cuts. Obama curtly ended the session when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., urged Obama to accept a short, monthslong increase in debt instead of one that would last through next year's presidential election.
|(AP) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. looks on at right, as President Barack Obama meets...|
"Enough is enough. ... I'll see you all tomorrow," Obama said, rising from the negotiating table and leaving the room, according to several officials familiar with the session.
The United States hit its current $14.3 trillion debt ceiling in May and the Obama administration says the government will default on its obligations if the debt limit is not increased by Aug. 2. For a new debt ceiling to last to the end of 2012 would require raising it by about $2.4 trillion.
Republicans, in control of the House of Representatives in part because of the support of tea party activists, say they will not vote to raise the limit if Obama doesn't agree to at least an equal amount of deficit reductions over 10 years.
Obama and the top eight House and Senate leaders met for the fourth time in as many days Wednesday, and, despite the tense ending, agreed to meet again Thursday. Cantor, speaking to reporters after the meeting broke up, said the White House had been lowering the amount of spending cuts it would put on the table, offering less than $1.4 trillion over 10 years, mostly in domestic and defense spending outside of the major benefits programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
The White House argued that the total was closer to $1.7 trillion over 10 years when counting about $240 billion in reduced interest payments from the lowered debt.
|(AP) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., center, heads out of the Capitol for a meeting at...|
Earlier, in comments to a small group of reporters before the White House session, House Speaker John Boehner complained that negotiating with the White House "the last couple months has been like dealing with Jell-O."
Democratic officials have portrayed the White House as the more flexible party in the negotiations, willing to cut cherished programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, provided Republicans agree to some increases in revenue. Thursday's meeting was to focus on spending cuts in the two health care programs and on new tax revenue.
With talks reaching a critical stage without real breakthroughs, some Republican and Democratic lawmakers were looking at a plan proposed by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell that would give Obama new powers to overcome Republican opposition to raise the debt ceiling.
The proposal would place the burden on Obama to win debt ceiling increases up to three times, provided he was able to override congressional vetoes - a threshold Obama could manage to overcome even without a single Republican vote and without massive spending cuts. Conservatives promptly criticized the plan for giving up the leverage to reduce deficits. But the plan raised the prospect of combining it with some of the spending cuts already identified by the White House in order to win support from conservatives in the House.
In an interview with radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham, McConnell described his plan in stark political terms, warning fellow conservatives that failure to raise the debt limit would probably ensure Obama's re-election in 2012. He predicted that a default would allow Obama to argue that Republicans were making the economy worse.
"You know, it's an argument he has a good chance of winning, and all of a sudden we (Republicans) have co-ownership of a bad economy," McConnell said. "That is a very bad positioning going into an election."
The proposal won praise from two disparate points in the political spectrum - Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
"I am heartened by what I read," Reid said. "This is a serious proposal. And I commend the Republican leader for coming forward."
McConnell's plan was even winning some consideration in the White House. Democratic officials said that even as Obama confronted Cantor and Boehner in Wednesday's meeting, he commended McConnell.
"Sen. McConnell at least has put forth a proposal," a Democratic official quoted the president as saying. "It doesn't reduce the deficit and that's what we have to do. It just deals with the debt limit. Now Sen. McConnell wants me to wear the jacket for that."
The officials said Obama went on to say they all had a responsibility to find a compromise.
Associated Press writers Dave Espo, Laurie Kellman, Ben Feller and Erica Werner contributed to this report.
|
<urn:uuid:226c4516-9ead-4126-b5f4-29552bb8acb7>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20110714/D9OFC8A00.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.967448
| 1,199
| 1.609375
| 2
|
As more and more consumers choose to purchase goods online rather than from traditional retail establishments, states and localities face the issue of fewer sales tax collectors and must rely instead on consumers to self-assess use tax. The result is a decline in sales and use tax collections. Governments prefer to collect the tax from retailers. Some states have enacted "affiliate nexus" laws to try to increase sales tax collections.
Does your business or your clients have new sales tax collection obligations under these nexus laws? What business relationships might cause an e-tailer to become a sales tax collector in a state in which they have no physical presence? Are these laws constitutional? Join our expert panel as they discuss these issues and much more.
This webinar will explain "affiliate nexus" and what several states have done or propose to do to try to get more sellers to become sales tax collectors. These so-called "Amazon" laws can apply to e-commerce vendors of all sizes, and the legislation varies among the states. A review of what states have enacted will be included along with the background on why the states are pursuing this approach and whether it is in line with the Quilldecision and other cases.
The presentation will also help you to know if your business (or clients) are subject to these laws. Also covered will be the effect sales tax collection might have on other taxes and why some affiliate nexus laws have a rebuttable presumption tied to solicitation and the practical and legal distinction between solicitation and advertising. Finally, alternative approaches will be discussed such as the Streamlined Sales & Use Tax (SSUTA), H.R. 2701, the Colorado reporting/MTC approach, and others.
Upon completion of this program participants will be able to:
Annette Nellen, Arthur R. Rosen, Brian W. Toman
Annette Nellen, CPA, Esq.San Jose State University
Annette Nellen is a professor in and director of San José State University’s Masters of Science in Taxation (MST) program. She teaches courses on tax research, accounting methods, high technology tax matters, property transactions, individual taxation, state income tax, ethics, and tax policy and reform. She chairs the SJSU Athletics Board and was the chair of the SJSU Academic Senate from May 2003 to May 2005.Annette is a frequent speaker and author on tax policy and reform topics. She is a monthly contributor to two AICPA online newsletters: Tax Insider and Corporate Taxation Insider. She was the lead author of the AICPA's Tax Policy Concept Statement No. 1—Guiding Principles of Good Tax Policy: A Framework for Evaluation of Tax Proposals. During tax reform discussions of the 1990s, she wrote A Journalist's Handbook for Tax Reform for the Tax Foundation. In the taxation of technology area, Annette is the author of Amortization of Intangibles, published by Bureau of National Affairs (BNA), part of the Tax Management Portfolios (#533-3rd).Annette has served on the Tax Executive Committee of the AICPA and the board of the American Tax Policy Institute. She is a former chair of the ABA Tax Section's Sales, Exchanges & Basis Committee. Annette is the current chair of the AICPA's Individual Taxation Technical Resource Panel, having served on this panel since 2006. In addition, she is a member of the Executive Committee of the Tax Section of the California State Bar. In 2000, Annette served on the academic panel that advised the Joint Committee on Taxation staff for the tax law simplification study submitted to Congress in 2001. She has also testified before tax-writing committees of the California legislature and state tax commissions, as well as the House Ways and Means Committee (April 13, 2011 on behalf of the AICPA).Annette earned a B.S. in Accounting from CSU Northridge, an M.B.A. from Pepperdine, and a J.D. from Loyola Law School. Prior to joining SJSU in 1990, Annette was with Ernst & Young and the IRS (revenue agent and lead instructor).Annette maintains various websites on taxation as well as the 21st Century Taxation Website and Blog; see http://www.cob.sjsu.edu/nellen_a/.
Arthur R. Rosen McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Arthur R. Rosen is a partner in the global law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP. His practice focuses on tax planning and litigation relating to state and local tax matters for corporations, partnerships, and individuals. Formerly the Deputy Counsel of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance as well as Counsel to the Governor’s Temporary Sales Tax Commission and Tax Counsel to the New York State Senate Tax Committee, Mr. Rosen has held executive tax management positions at Xerox Corporation and AT&T. In addition, he has worked in accounting and law firms in New York City.Mr. Rosen is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and is listed in the Best Lawyers in America and in the Best Lawyers in New York; he is also ranked in Chambers and the Legal 500.Mr. Rosen is a past chair of the State and Local Tax Committee of the American Bar Association’s Tax Section and a past chair of the National Association of State Bar Tax Sections. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association’s Tax Section, and has served as co-chair of its Committees on New York State Tax Matters, New York City Tax Matters, and State and Local Tax Matters. He also served as President and Chairman of the NYU Tax Society and is an active member of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation. Mr. Rosen was a member of the steering committee of the NTA Communications and Electronic Commerce Tax Project. He founded and chairs the annual week-long “Introduction to State and Local Taxes” program, as well as the “State and Local Taxation II” program, offered at New York University. Mr. Rosen serves as a member of the New York State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance’s advisory council, the New York City Commissioner of Finance’s advisory council, and the New York City Tax Appeals Tribunal’s advisory council.Mr. Rosen was the founder and editor of the monthly newsletter Inside New York Taxes, co-editor of the semi-monthly newsletters New York Tax Highlights and New York Tax Cases; he was the original editor-in-chief of CCH’s E-Commerce Tax Alert, and was the monthly tax columnist for the E-Commerce Law Journal. He has written scores of articles that have appeared in publications such as the Journal of Taxation, the Journal of State Taxation, the Journal of Bank Taxation, the State and Local Tax Lawyer, Multistate Tax Analyst, Inc. Magazine, the Assessment Digest, the Journal of New York Taxation, and The Tax Executive. Mr. Rosen has spoken extensively throughout the country on state and local tax matters.McDermott Will & Emery LLP has one of the largest state and local tax practices in the United States. With offices located across the country, McDermott is uniquely positioned to advise and represent multi-state businesses on a broad range of state tax matters. You can find full text state and local tax articles at www.mwe.com/articles.
Brian W. TomanReed Smith LLP
Mr. Toman is a partner in Reed Smith's San Francisco office. His practice focuses on state and local tax controversies. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Toman held the position of Chief Counsel of the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB). The FTB’s legal function is second in size and scope only to the legal function of the Internal Revenue Service. As Chief Counsel of the FTB, Mr. Toman had personal oversight responsibility for the FTB’s litigation cases.Mr. Toman is recognized nationally as a leading authority on the unitary concept and formula apportionment and has been engaged as an expert witness in both California corporation and personal income tax matters. He has functioned as the lead attorney in settling some of the largest and most complex cases in California concerning corporate income tax and personal income tax. He is a former Chair of the California Bar Taxation Section.Mr. Toman is the co-author of "Don't Do It, California: Repeal of EZ Credits Would Be Unconstitutional," published in the Tax Analyst Special Report (March 14, 2011). He earned a B.S. from the University of Southern California and a J.D. from the University of West Los Angeles.
|
<urn:uuid:fb247a30-d512-441b-a21f-a66761baee64>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.bna.com/affiliate-nexus-sales-w12884903472/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.961014
| 1,785
| 1.65625
| 2
|
The School of Business experience and outcomes
Kalkin Hall is home to the School of Business. The way that that program works is everyone is a business administration major, and then they concentrate in different areas--such as entrepreneurship, human resources, marketing, international business, business and the environment; you can also self-define your concentration, which is really unique. The Business School also has their own student services to help studies get internships right from the get-go--with Burton Snowboards, GE, various really big accounting and finance firms all over the U.S. They really help students just get right in there from the start. And they also have clubs that students can get involved with, like the Accounting Club, International Business Club. They're also the only college that requires you to have a laptop when you come to UVM.
Last modified January 07 2013 03:39 PM
|
<urn:uuid:11143126-ee42-452d-a0b1-d4593287ad73>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.uvm.edu/about_uvm/visiting/?Page=audiotour/kalkin.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.973382
| 180
| 1.515625
| 2
|
The United States will deploy additional ground-based missile interceptors on the West Coast as part of efforts to enhance the nation's ability to defend itself from attack by North Korea, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Friday.
Still relatively new in his post, the Pentagon chief told reporters that 14 additional interceptors to be installed by 2017 would bring the total to 44. It is part of a package of steps expected to cost $1 billion, officials said.
"The reason that we are doing what we are doing and the reason we are advancing our program here for homeland security is to not take any chances, is to stay ahead of the threat and to assure any contingency," Hagel said.
Friday's move came after North Korea recently threatened a pre-emptive nuclear attack on South Korea and the United States in response to stepped-up U.N. Security Council sanctions over its latest nuclear test last month.
In December, North Korea successfully launched a long-range rocket for the first time under what the United States and other Western nations say was the guise of putting a satellite into orbit.
Moreover, Pentagon officials said they became concerned about a mobile missile spotted in a parade last April. The KN-08 missile can be moved around the country and hidden, making it harder to detect compared to a missile on a launch pad.
"We believe the KN-08 does have the range to reach the United States," said Adm. James Winnefeld.
North Korea also said last week it was nullifying the joint declaration on the de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. One of the country's top generals, according to published reports, claims Pyongyang has nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles that are ready to be fired.
While Hagel said the steps he announced were aimed at addressing the threat from North Korea and Iran, the focus was clearly on the potential for North Korea to some day follow through on its belligerent rhetoric.
Iran also is believed to be continuing its efforts to develop nuclear weapon capability.
Military and White House officials have said current U.S. missile defenses are adequate for the present level of threat, and President Barack Obama said in an interview with ABC News this week that he does not think North Korea can carry out a missile attack on the United States.
"They probably can't but we don't like the margin of error," Obama said.
Hagel said Friday that U.S. missile defense systems in place provide protection from "limited ICBM attacks," but added that "North Korea, in particular, has recently made advances in its capabilities and has engaged in a series of irresponsible and reckless provocations."
However, Joe Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund told CNN the planned expansion would only spend more money on a system that doesn't work to protect against a still unrealized North Korean threat.
The existing missile defense system was "deeply flawed," said Cirincione, whose foundation opposes nuclear weapons. He added that North Korea was "years away from the ability to field a missile with a nuclear warhead that could hit the United States."
Hagel acknowledged a problem with the guidance system of missile interceptors and said further testing would occur this year.
"We certainly will not go forward with the additional 14 interceptors until we are sure that we have the complete confidence that we will need," Hagel said. "But the American people should be assured that our interceptors are effective."
He also announced the military will work with Japan to increase radar capability to improve early warning and tracking of any missile launched from North Korea.
Asked how China would react to Hagel's announcement, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy James Miller said: " I hope that they understand that we need to take steps to protect ourselves from potential threats from Iran and North Korea."
Part of the move announced by Hagel would involve reopening a missile field at Fort Greely, Alaska.
In 2011, the Pentagon mothballed Missile Field 1, acting on direction from the Obama administration. Instead of permanently decommissioning it, the Defense Missile Agency placed it in a non-operational state.
Pentagon officials testified at a budget hearing at the time that hardening and reactivating the six silos in Missile Field 1 would take two years and cost approximately $200 million. Pentagon officials testified then that "there are no current threats dictating the need, nor plans to reactivate MF-1 in the future."
Republican congressional sources told CNN that they argued against the move.
"North Korea was doing all sorts of things we couldn't talk about publicly back then," said one GOP congressional official who is privy to intelligence briefings. "The intelligence did not change. This is right where we expected North Korea to be. It takes about two years to order and take delivery of a new interceptor. That's why you have to be ahead of the threat."
In his State of the Union address last month, Obama said the United States would "stand by our allies, strengthen our own missile defense and lead the world in taking firm action in response to these threats."
|
<urn:uuid:223d9db7-9148-4f38-979f-b30e406ee836>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.channel3000.com/news/U-S-to-beef-up-missile-defense/-/1648/19333912/-/qmgebw/-/index.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.972385
| 1,045
| 1.570313
| 2
|
Before posting, please read the following guidelines.
- The Watir General mailing list is for people testing with Ruby. It is appropriate to ask questions related to testing with Ruby even if they are not directly related to Watir. We may not have the answers, but you can ask.
- When we can we will do our best to help you with problems and questions related to other coding conventions used in your Watir scripts.
- Please consider posting your questions to other more appropriate forums if you don't get the response you need. For example, the comp.lang.ruby group, Autoit forum, Wet forum, etc.
- http://ruby-doc.org/ is a good place to look as is http://www.ruby-forum.com/ for general Ruby qestions.
- Search before posting; chances are, someone has already asked the same question.
- Use standard English, not SMS or chat speak.
- Do not ask for help 'real time'. Be respectful of others; Watir users are colleagues and do not work for you; these people are volunteering their time and experience to help the community free of charge.
- Include Watir version ('gem list watir') and Ruby version ('ruby -v')
- Include Watir and HTML code.
- Do not give too much irrelevant information. The whole HTML of your page or your entire Watir script is probably too much.
- Include the error message and the stack trace.
- Do not give too little information. Please, do not make us ask these questions again and again:
- What are you trying to do?
- What did you try?
- What did you expect?
- What do you mean by "does not work"? A (full) stack trace is probably the best way to describe an error. If you aren't getting one, describe fully what you expected to happen and what actually happened.
- Provide the actual code you used. Do not retype it for us. We often see code with obvious typos. When we point these out, the original poster says "that wasn't the real code." At this point we don't feel like helping any more, because we have no confidence that the problem being reported actually corresponds to the real problem.
- Sign post with your real name.
- Post your question only once. If you are not getting the response you expected, consider posting additional information (or see the "Why isn't my question being answered section").
- Please do not ask new questions in an unrelated thread.
- Before you have a post, please make sure you can understand what you ask, make sure others can understand you even if they have not your environment, maybe you can attach a picture, have the code snippet, or make a short example. I find the great contributors have to ask the questions-senders again and again when they would like to help.
If you want to read more guidelines, check out Identifying problems and proposing solutions for the Watir community thread at Watir General.
After reading the above, and you need help with Watir, post your problem to Watir General Google group.
Watir General is made up of mainly people that are testers for a living. We pride ourselves on being able to provide thoughtful and meaningful descriptions of software bugs we find on the job and we think you should too. If your question isn't getting answered, consider the following:
- Is what you are doing clear? If you can provide the context of what you are doing so people can understand how you are using Watir, it will be easier to help. It may also reveal that what you want to do doesn't really use Watir at all (and using another Ruby library may work better).
- Are you asking a question or are you not sure how something works? If you are having trouble wording your question, chances are there is something you don't quite understand. Go back and read up on the relevant wiki articles, similar posts, etc. If you are still unsure, try to ask clarifying questions so you can better understand the code you are writing. Then you will be able to ask even better (and more coherent) questions.
- Could somebody who doesn't know anything about your website or your code reasonably be expected to understand what you are doing from your email? Unless you have a public website, we can't see the HTML you are accessing unless you post it. If somebody can pull up your example in their own browser to test things out you will get better feedback on your issue.
- Questions about Popups, AutoIt or some other Frequently Asked Question? If the topic falls into this category, please show us you have done your homework by showing you have tried the solutions that are listed on the Wiki, FAQ or other postings and why your issue can't be solved using the techniques listed.
- Have you asked the same question several times over the course of a couple of days with no answer? This community considers this behavior rude. If your question doesn't get answered it's because you aren't providing the right kind of information or haven't asked the question in a coherent way. Also, don't tell us that something is extremely urgent and you need an answer right away. This is the easiest way to ensure a question doesn't get answered.
|
<urn:uuid:2361a0c7-4f27-4359-8fd1-3ed8f4fd76b3>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://wiki.openqa.org/display/WTR/Support
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.950682
| 1,095
| 1.695313
| 2
|
On the western side of Ambon’s superb natural harbor is one of the best, and certainly one of the strangest, muck diving sites in Indonesia – the Twilight Zone.
Christened by American dive explorers Burt Jones & Maurine Shimlock back in 1995, the site was discovered the year previously by Monique Walker from Germany, who had arrived in Ambon early for a dive charter on the liveaboard Cehili and decided to kill some time while the boat was waiting for the rest of its passengers to arrive by diving the “aviation jetty” near the village of Laha.
Monique was joined later that afternoon by Deb Fugitt, whose dive charters on the SMY Ondina first introduced me to diving in Irian Jaya and the Mollucas – Deb subsequently published this short article on the still to be named site.
Diving Indonesia: Ambon’s Twilight Zone – Real Muck Diving!
Bob Halstead, the godfather of muck diving, once defined it as diving that takes place at any site which does not have beautiful underwater scenery.
The site is the general area around the jetty at the village of Laha, on the northwest side of the harbor close to Ambon’s airport, and the jetty can be thought of as the epicenter of about 100m of sloping sandy shoreline around a small sheltered bay, which offers protection for both the ships at anchor and the critters that inhabit the netherworld beneath the surface.
The main purpose of the jetty is for fuel tankers from Pertamina, the Indonesian national oil & gas company, to deliver aviation fuel to the airport – hence the name…
However the area is also home to a small fishing fleet that plies the rich waters around Ambon, shipping the prepared catch to Bali, and over the years a considerable amount of general junk has been thrown off the jetty and the fishing boats, and consists of a mixture of everything from car tires to filing cabinet drawers and has formed a cozy habitat for the denizens of the Twilight Zone.
The diversity of the Twilight Zone can be attributed to a troika of organic nutrient sources.
Firstly there is the fresh water run-off from the stream that empties into the bay nearby, and secondly there are the currents & cold water upwelling’s from the deep waters of Ambon’s harbor.
But the bulk of the organic nutrients come from the fish carcasses that are simply thrown over the side of the boats after the catch has been cleaned & filleted for shipment to Bali.
When this happens the “bottom feeding” inhabitants of the Twilight Zone emerge and descend on the fish carcasses.
If you are underwater during one of these feeding frenzies you will notice a sudden decrease in visibility and what appears to be an underwater sandstorm…
If you investigate you will find a large swarm of catfish devouring the remaining flesh on the fish carcasses and the feeding action is so intense that they throw up the surrounding black volcanic sand into the sandstorm which drifts down into the depths!
You will also see moray eels darting in and out of the catfish swarm, risking a daylight foray to make sure they got their share of this sudden bounty from above – it is quite a sight!
Diving Indonesia: Ambon & the Twilight Zone – Diving in the Zone…
The thing that is really special about the Twilight Zone is that it is actually two sites – the mother of all muck sites most of the time and then around midday it transforms itself into a kind of unique and eerie wide-angle photography studio where you can practice all those techniques you have read about!
For a couple of hours around noon the bright Indonesian sun is overhead and sends beams of light down through the gaps in between the moored fishing boats and around the jetty itself. This intense light seems to excite the large resident shoal of silversides, which normally hides away under the jetty, and they stream around the pillars of the jetty and out underneath the fishing boats.
A similar thing seems to happen with the large colony of catfish, who also get a little agitated and start to do things out of character which provides excellent wide-angle photo opportunities. Then there are the moray eels who appear out of the day-time hideaways, seemingly disturbed by all the commotion and provide excellent foreground subjects for the creepy background.
Add in all the other larger critters such as scorpion fish and stone fish and you can understand why midday at the Twilight Zone is one of my favorite places – not just in Ambon, but in Indonesia… It’s that special!
Next Page: Critter Diving in Ambon
Back To: Scuba Diving in Ambon
|
<urn:uuid:83079f40-f3df-4b57-86ed-d312f79c4e5a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.indopacificimages.com/index.php/indonesia/maluku-province-the-twilight-zone/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.952455
| 1,001
| 1.664063
| 2
|
A comprehensive set of business applications from Microsoft created by Solomon Software and acquired by Great Plains Software in 2000. Great Plains was then acquired by Microsoft in 2001. Under the Microsoft Dynamics SL brand, modules include business intelligence (BI), business portals, field service management, financials, human resources, manufacturing and supply chain (inventory).|
In 1980, Solomon Software was founded as TLB, Inc. (The Lord's Business) by Gary Harpst, Jack Ridge and Vernon Strong to provide accounting software for CP/M-based personal computers. After migrating to the IBM PC, the software became popular in the DOS world in the 1980s, and Solomon IV was released in 1994 for Windows. See Microsoft Dynamics.
|
<urn:uuid:d802c028-3913-4cc2-8d1d-30d29bf5c22c>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.crn.com/channel-encyclopedia/definition.htm?term=Microsoft%20Dynamics%20SL
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95208
| 144
| 1.59375
| 2
|
In stock, usually despatched within 24 hours.
Publisher: BODLEY HEAD
Publication Date: 10-Jan-2013
By Mick Brown
7:00AM GMT 07 Jan 2013
Anybody visiting the once-great city of Detroit for the first time is likely to be struck by a single, powerful reaction: complete and utter disbelief. The derelict factories; the burnt-out houses; the abandoned office blocks in the very heart of the city’s business district; and the vast tracts of rubble and rubbish-strewn wasteland, fast being reclaimed by nature and turned into what is known locally as “urban prairie”. For more than 40 years, Detroit, once the hub of America’s motor industry, has been America’s basket-case – a Petri dish of the country’s most intractable problems: urban blight, the decline of manufacturing, racial tension, the growing divide between rich and poor. How, you find yourself asking, has it come to this?
Mark Binelli is a journalist for Rolling Stone, who grew up in the city. Like 25 per cent of its population over the past 10 years, he left it, and more recently returned – somewhat in the spirit of a reporter off to cover a foreign war – to offer this sobering tour d’horizon of his old home town.
Detroit has always had its troubles, be it the bitter labour disputes which have characterised the motor industry more or less since its birth, or the seam of racism that ran through the city from its very beginnings. In 1833, following the arrest of a runaway slave, the military was called in to put down what was referred to as Detroit’s “first Negro insurrection”.
In the Forties, Life magazine was describing a city “seething with racial, religious, political and economic unrest” – a combustible melting pot as migrants poured into the city to man the assembly lines of “the armoury of America”. The riots of 1967, in which 43 people died, more than 7,000 were arrested and 3,000 buildings were burned down, exacerbated the so-called “white flight” to the suburbs, destroying the city’s tax base. In 1950, Detroit was America’s fourth largest city, with a population of nearly two million. The population is now less than 900,000.
It is a city where the mayor’s electoral pitch is not putting up more buildings, but demolishing them; where city planning means denying the implementation of basic services such as sewage in devastated neighbourhoods, in order to encourage residents to leave; where in some areas residents carry rape alarms to scare off the packs of wild dogs; and where, mindful of the 1,100 shootings a year, nobody with any sense stops at a petrol station after dark.
An assiduous reporter, Binelli anatomises the fatal combination of corruption, inefficiency and impotence that has characterised the city’s governance, and spends time with the beleaguered police and fire services (arson is something of a local hobby) and officials of the autoworkers union.
From Detroit’s staggering compendium of ghastly crime, he chooses to focus on just one, in which two crack-dealers were accused of murdering a customer and distributing his body parts around the neighbourhood. Binelli talks to the families and friends of both perpetrators and victim, painting a harrowing portrait of dysfunction, poverty and an indifference to violence and the sanctity of life. In this horrifying accumulation of detail, one is particularly telling: Binelli was the only journalist in the city who thought the case even worth reporting.
This book could easily be an epitaph, but Binelli finds green shoots of optimism sprouting up amid the detritus. Detroit’s collapse could be the start of what he describes as an unintentional experiment in “stateless living”, a canvas for resilience and enterprise, with urban farmers, homesteaders and artists remaking the city.
Vigilante demolition teams such as the Motor City Blight Busters have been tearing down abandoned homes, for the land to be turned back to agricultural use. Some have argued that Detroit has the potential to become the first city on the planet producing all its own food within its borders. And while thousands abandon the city, there is a minor growth surge among two separate groups: Iraqi immigrants (“Dire though things had become,” Binelli observes, “Detroit apparently remained a more desirable place to live than post-war Baghdad”) and college-educated “creatives” and urban pioneers, colonising the abandoned buildings in the downtown area, with a view to remaking Detroit as a hub for media and tech industries.
Paradoxically, it is the city’s very dereliction that has become one of its principal attractions. Nobody who visits Detroit can fail to be struck by the fact that there is something hauntingly beautiful in its decay; an eerie stillness that inevitably provokes thoughts about man’s hubris and the ephemerality of all things. It is a fact that the photographer Camilo Vergara recognised when he suggested, not altogether in jest, that the city should stop razing its abandoned skyscrapers and turn the downtown area into “an urban Monument Valley”. As Binelli wryly notes: “This is not exactly a question of gentrification; when your city has 70,000 abandoned buildings, it will not be gentrified any time soon. Rather it’s one of aesthetics.”
Residents of Detroit apparently have come to resent the voyeurism of photojournalists, and perhaps it is sensitivity on Binelli’s part that is responsible for the absence of any photographs of Detroit’s most celebrated ruins. It is a curious omission in an otherwise excellent book.
|
<urn:uuid:39e5c26e-5006-434c-86a6-fdb71705126f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://books.telegraph.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9781847921680
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.956794
| 1,227
| 1.84375
| 2
|
Remember Denise Rich? Bill Clinton pardoned her ex-husband after she donated roughly a million dollars to the Democratic Party and the Clinton Library. Whatever your opinion may be of the pardon, it certainly looked like a very sleazy “You give us money and we’ll wipe your crime off the books” deal.
Ironically, Rich was in trouble for evading 48 million dollars in taxes. That’s ironic for two reasons.
First off, if Rich funneled 1/48th of the money he owed in taxes into the Democratic Party and got a pardon out of it, he proved crime does pay — at least when you’re dealing with Democrats. However, it’s also ironic because Denise Rich will now is also about to save millions in taxes not by evading taxes, but by simply renouncing her American citizenship.
Denise Rich, songwriter, socialite and the former wife of a pardoned billionaire, has given up her U.S. citizenship, and will reportedly thus save millions in U.S. taxes as well.
…Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin made headlines when gave up his U.S. passport and became a citizen of Singapore, just before the social networks’s May I.P.O.
…Denise Rich was born in Worcester, Massachusetts but has Austrian citizenship through her deceased father, a lawyer who represented her in a recent lawsuit told Reuters, adding she was making the move “so that she can be closer to her family and to Peter Cervinka, her long-time partner.”
It’s easy to hammer Rich for lacking patriotism or point out that she spent years supporting politicians who raise taxes for Americans and then moved to country where she didn’t have to pay as much of her money to the government.
However, that ignores the real problem; despite all the rhetoric about the rich “not paying their fair share,” we’re already taxing them too much. If you provide strong economic incentives, you can bet that people — even rich people, will respond to those incentives.
Democrats may tell you that we can have an enormous, intrusive government that tosses billions around like Frisbees and it can all be funded by soaking the rich, but that’s just not going to work long-term. Wealthy Americans have the money to afford the best accountants to take advantage of tax loopholes and they can even hire lobbyists to create those tax loopholes. You put a few hundred thousand dollars in the right pockets and next thing you know, there’s a line slipped into a 500 page bill that saves you millions every year. If all of that doesn’t work and you have enough money, you can just move somewhere else. With the type of money Denise Rich has she can live just as well in Austria or anywhere else here as she does here. You think she’s going to worried about Americans thinking she’s unpatriotic while she’s sipping Dom Pérignon on a yacht she bought with money she would have shelled out in taxes if she was still an American citizen? Of course, not.
If you want to fix the problem, you don’t curse the symptom, you cure the underlying disease which is an enormous, overweening government that’s spending far too much money.
|
<urn:uuid:54b17604-2d84-40cc-b722-f3dc4b12d2a3>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://dustinstockton.com/2012/07/focusing-on-the-symptom-not-the-disease-rich-americans-fleeing-the-country/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.975759
| 699
| 1.523438
| 2
|
I know I covered this topic way back in September, but with Eastview Mall development creeping ever closer to Valentown, I have to wonder what will become of it. This issue has been contested for decades, as anyone who has lived in Victor for some time knows.
For all the efforts at saving Valentown, it’s still the same old eyesore it’s always been. That said, it’s also filled with artifacts from our local history that were carefully collected and should be preserved. I like the insides, but hate the outside.
Valentown’s current location and frontage gets completely overlooked. I don’t know how many times people have asked me what it was, or had never noticed it until I pointed it out. Yet there it sits in the midst of a hugely successful commerical district.
I suggested a local history museum inside Eastview Mall to attract foot traffic. What are your thoughts?
Yesterday, I planted an American Elm in my backyard. I’m calling it a “legacy tree,” for a few reasons.
The elm has a heartbreaking story. Once the premier shade tree of towns and cities, Dutch Elm disease all but eliminated it by the 1970′s. I well remember this from my childhood in Rochester’s 19th Ward.
Spruce Avenue was lined with magestic elms, but each year, more and more succumbed to the disease. Summer was filled with the sound of chainsaws, and in a few short years, all of the cooling shade was gone. Maples have since replaced the elms, but nothing can compare with the high umbrella shape of elms for creating an urban canopy.
Beginning in the 1990′s cloning of disease-resistant strains was showing promise. The elms planted today will likely beat the disease, although it will take many years before they’re large enough to enjoy as I did in my youth.
That’s where the legacy comes in. This tree is for my grandchildren, great-grandchildren and beyond. This tree is a reminder of a landscape that was utterly changed for the worse.
Shortly after planting the tree, a young woman came to my door, selling coupons to a local spa. She was curious about what I was planting, and I told her it was an elm. My humble act took on a bit more significance when she asked, “What’s an elm?”
We’re getting back into the swing of summer! Victor’s Farmers’ Market is open each Wednesday from 3-7pm behind Mead Park.
I stopped by last week. Nothing in the way of edibles yet, but the gardeners have a lot to offer. I saw a red trillium I just may have to find a place for…
Last year on Mother’s Day, the first of three robins hatched in a tree in our front yard. We had been watching the nest, which was precariously built in the crotch of a tree at about waist height. We were certain a cat would get to the babies, but they all survived.
As you celebrate Mother’s Day this year, remember that the gift of life is the most precious of gifts. My mother is an incredible woman and her efforts at raising us humble me as I do my best to raise good sons. My mother-in-law helped shape the man that I love, and I love her for that.
I know that not everyone has the ideal mother-child relationship. But in the spirit of this holiday, we can all recognize and be grateful for the gift of life our mothers have given us.
Now that we’re heading into the summer vacation season, I found myself remembering some of my favorite places to go. Cape Cod. A trip out west. San Diego. Charleston.
This photo was taken three summers ago on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Our family spent three weeks traveling from L.A. to Seattle and all points in between. One of the most memorable times was seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time. On the North Rim, most visitors see this view after going through the North Rim lodge. An entire wall is nothing but windows and the view is unbelievable.
What are some of your favorite travel moments, and why are they so special? I’d love to hear about them.
This one might be too easy. I have a few of these planted, but you’re most likely to see them in the woods. They look like ground cover and prefer shade.
Here’s another one. You might see this in home gardens and you’ll definitely see it in the woods. Grows about 3′ tall.
|
<urn:uuid:999ec60a-1e34-48eb-a715-5bc71d83557f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://blogs.democratandchronicle.com/victor/?m=200705
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.974614
| 983
| 1.710938
| 2
|
Air New Zealand has a cornerstone role in ensuring our nation's clean and green image is maintained around the world.
To help us achieve this goal we offer our customers the option to make an active contribution to environmental sustainability, via our Carbon Offset Programme, with all contributions going directly to purchase TrustPower wind farm credits in New Zealand.
Customers also have the option of making a donation to the Air New Zealand Environment Trust, which is committed to supporting projects that enhance New Zealand's clean, green reputation around the world.
The first project of the Trust is a conservation programme involving more than 100 acres on Mangarara Station in Hawke's Bay and will include a native reforestation project and pastoral tree planting. An holistic approach to soil management will also form part of the project.
A key part of the initiative is that the public will have access to the historic Hawke's Bay farming station to see the project as it develops from 2010.
This is just a start. We will continue to keep you informed as we move through a programme of constant environmental performance.
|
<urn:uuid:661c143f-7e8e-409d-be12-f3e5c56844f0>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.airnewzealand.com.au/environment
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.941266
| 216
| 1.703125
| 2
|
Hulme takes Brabham to second consecutive title
Brabham and Repco scored a second win through the efforts of Denny Hulme, but the story of the year was the arrival of the new Cosworth DFV engine. Packaged with the Lotus 49, it marked the beginning of an era.
Lotus had struggled through 1966, but in March that year Colin Chapman had persuaded Ford to invest in a new engine, to be built by Cosworth. The British firm embarked on an all-new V8 design for 1967, which would initially be for the exclusive use of Lotus. Chapman drew a simple but effective car, the 49, to exploit it. He further strengthened his package by bringing Graham Hill back to join Clark.
That elevated Stewart to team-leader status at BRM, where he was joined by Spence. Chris Amon joined Bandini at Ferrari. Ex-Ferrari star Surtees was signed to lead Honda's effort, while Pedro Rodriguez joined Rindt at Cooper. The season opened at the new Kyalami track in South Africa, and the race nearly saw a sensational win for privateer John Love in an old Cooper-Climax. A late stop for fuel dropped him to second, behind the Cooper-Maserati of Rodriguez.
Grand prix racing had been through a safe - or lucky - couple of seasons, but Ferrari ace Lorenzo Bandini was to lose his life at Monaco. He was leading when he crashed, and the car caught fire. Hulme won for Brabham, ahead of Hill and Amon.
Zandvoort saw the long-awaited debut of the Ford Cosworth and the Lotus 49. Clark took the win after poleman Hill's engine failed. At Spa Hill retired; then leader Clark had to pit for a plug change. Gurney took the often unreliable Eagle-Weslake to a memorable first (and only) win. For one time only the French Grand Prix was staged at the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans. Brabham and Hulme finished one-two, ahead of Stewart. Lotus fortunes looked up at Silverstone, where Clark won the British Grand Prix for the fifth time in six years. Kiwis Hulme and Amon finished second and third. Lotus gremlins struck again at the Nurburgring, where Clark and Hill were both sidelined by suspension failures. Hulme and Brabham scored a one-two.
For the first time the circus moved to the scenic Mosport track in Canada. Ignition problems put Clark out and - surprise surprise - Brabham and Hulme were there to take another one-two, with Hill a distant fourth. Clark was the hero at Monza, coming back from early problems to lead until he ran out of fuel. In a typically exciting finish, Surtees pipped Brabham to give Honda its first win of the 3-litre age. Luck swung to Lotus once again in Watkins Glen, where Clark and Hill managed a one-two. Hulme had been a steady performer all year, and he just pipped his boss to the title in Mexico. Clark won from Brabham, but third was enough to keep Denny ahead.
|
<urn:uuid:9643cb63-cc47-4010-bb73-0e84da07f373>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/season/1345.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.974247
| 663
| 1.664063
| 2
|
Between the outstanding fall colors of deciduous trees and the early spring blooms of Cherries, Magnolia and Forsythia there, sometimes, is a perceived notion that nature is on hold. Winter doldrums can get the best of us, leaving us longing for the arrival of spring. The truth is there is so much to appreciate in the calm of winter that simply cannot be seen any other time of year. Couple this with an occasional white background and gardening takes on a whole new appreciation.
Certainly walking around your yard or neighborhood you can find some outstanding trees to look at. However, visiting arboretums and gardens often guarantees you and up close and personal look at specimens which have taken years to become. There is a quite calm walking around these gardens this time of year which is only broken up by the crunch of the ground as you walk across mulched beds.
There are several unique gardens to look at this time of year and all are in close proximity. Reeves-Reed Arboretum in
The Leonard J. Buck Garden in
Finally, The New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx,
Now I know much of this can be lost to a non plant person. But, if you have some time this winter try visiting one of these tranquil places. Who knows you may become a tree-hugger after all.
|
<urn:uuid:d25559a7-672b-4b0d-a547-00c7dafd0bbd>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://hallsgarden.blogspot.jp/2010/05/winter-gardens.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962924
| 276
| 1.71875
| 2
|
Thank you all so much for being here. It’s truly a pleasure to have all of you, and especially to have in our midst two icons at this wonderful academic institution of technical excellence, two icons who represent the whole concept of taking a challenge and turning it into an opportunity. Their involvement in education is deep. It goes over a long period of time. And I’m so glad, let me say, (inaudible) Secretary Clinton, and to you, Aamir Khan, that you have given time to come to this institution and spend some time with all the volunteers of Teach India and Teach For India.
And let me also say that the volunteers who are in the audience today are the real stars, because they are the ones who take time out from what they do to share the vision that one has for this. So I’d like to thank you very much, and maybe we can begin with a round of applause for my two guests this evening. (Applause.)
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Secretary Clinton and Aamir, I’d like to keep this as interactive as possible, but I am also sure that many in the audience have questions for you today about your vision of education. And we would also like you to share your wisdom and compare it to the Indian experience.
So may I begin, Secretary Clinton, by asking you to share your wisdom of education. And by way of a first question, let me ask you, Secretary Clinton, that when there are inequities, there are ways in which programs like Teach For India, Teach For America, Teach India help bridge those inequities. How about the larger net? If you say parents are the best teachers, how does one install teaching, then, among those who are underprivileged?SECRETARY CLINTON:
Well, let me begin by thanking you very much for giving me this opportunity to be here at St. Xaiver’s and to have this chance to talk about an issue that is very near and dear to my heart. It’s also, I have to confess, a great delight to be here with Aamir Khan, a Bollywood icon, but more than that, a dedicated, committed advocate for education, as we’re going to hear more about as we move forward in the program.
I wanted to make two points just to start it off and to respond to your question, Arnam. First, I believe every child can learn. I do not believe that children, regardless of their backgrounds, have limited or no capacity. But I believe they don’t have equal opportunity. I think that talent is distributed universally, but opportunity is limited. And that is true in every country, to a greater or lesser degree. And secondly, it is truly up to all of us – families, governments, businesses, educational institutions – to do everything we can to narrow the gap between talent and opportunity, and to give every child a chance to grow up and fulfill his or her God-given potential.
Now, children have different potentials. There are some who will be Nobel Prize winning physicists, and there will be others who will earn an honest living doing the hard work that keeps us all going. But every child deserves that chance to be able to chart his or her own future. And so for me, education is the great equalizer and the gateway to opportunity. It does start in the family. The family is the child’s first school, and parents are children’s first teachers. And some of us are fortunate to have families and parents who understand the value of education and encourage us and challenge us, and others are not.
So we have to do more to convince all families that education is partly their responsibility, and then we have to join forces with the government and the schools that are funded by the government with the private schools, with the private sector, and with groups and organizations like Teach India and Teach For India.
So I am committed and have been for many years to equality of opportunity for all children, and I’m thrilled to have this chance to talk with you about the programs that are represented here, the challenge that India faces to increase education to people who do not have the opportunity right now, and to look to see how the United States and India can work together on the common cause of educational opportunity.MR. GOSWAMI:
Thank you very much. Aamir, you get with this – you’re upset and you feel strongly about inequities. What really, in your view, is – is that the biggest stumbling block that one has?MR. KHAN:
Well, let me start by saying it’s a real honor to be here with Secretary Clinton today and I’m very happy to have met her and looking forward to hearing her thoughts.
I really have one extremely important thing that I would like to convey and – you know, in today. And that is that I have, you know, the highest respect and regard for organizations like Teach For India and Teach India, and hundreds of such organizations all over the country who are going out of their way and doing things for education. But what I would really like to see is that we as a people give top priority and the kind of value that education and teaching deserves.
I think we are still a little away from that. And by that, I mean that I would like to see one day in India that the top jobs that people are vying for are the teaching jobs. You see – did anyone happen to have met – why there are a lot of people who are really interested in teaching and are really doing a lot in this field?
But by and large, the majority of people getting into teaching today in the country, in our country, are those who are not able to make, you know, a job for themselves in other places. So people who want to be engineers, doctors, and management students, but they can’t make it and they go into teaching as a result of not making it as far.
So by and large, the majority of teachers are people who are not really interested in teaching to begin with, and probably are not entirely fit for it and are not the brightest minds either. And the reason for that -- MR. GOSWAMI:
No. I think, as I said, there are a lot of teachers who are doing a great job, so (inaudible), and there are a lot of people who are genuinely interested in teaching who are doing a great job. But I think that’s a minority. By and large in India, the people getting into education are because they can’t find a place for themselves anywhere else. And that is not why they should be in teaching.
What happens is that the brightest – I mean, we, as a country, as a society, should be giving so much importance and so much value to teaching, that every kid coming out of college should feel like “I want to be a teacher.” It should be the highest-paying job. It should be the job that we all vie for. You know, young students, do they want to be doctors, they want to be engineers, they want to make a better life for themselves.
Teaching should be one of the most successful lives for the youth today, and it should be such that the youth vie for it, they want to become teachers. And that will begin with us, Arnab. I think we as a society have to give that importance to teaching and education as, you know, our government, our administration should give it that kind of value. And that is when we will give that value and I think that will dramatically change our system, and education is, in fact, ultimately, the very foundation of any society.
If tomorrow, we as India want to be world leaders – and I don’t mean that in a very narrow point of view – of competing as (inaudible) leadership, but – no, but taking responsibility and contributing towards mankind. Then, we have to make a strong base on that and only to education.MR. GOSWAMI:
And one of the key things in education for me is not, you know, whether you know the answer to of A+B or the root square, but are you encouraging children to question, are you encouraging children to have minds which are wanting to learn and are thirsty and hungry, and not merely people who have a good memory? You know, kids are told that you have to learn this by heart and they learn it all by heart, but you’re not creating individuals who will have minds which can take our – you know, which can (inaudible) dramatically forward in ways that we can’t even imagine today. That will only happen if you have minds which are encouraged to question, to disagree, to challenge, to search, discover. And I don’t think that is the kind of education we follow in India today. It’s mostly, you know, focusing on how well you can memorize things.
The last thing that I would like to say here is that one of the things that disturbs me most about our education in India, and I don’t know how it is in the West, in U.S., but so much of emphasis is given on competition – did you come first in your class, what did you score, how is your math, how is your – I would like to see teachers actually telling students, “Hey, your partner is weak in something. Are you helping him?”
So psychologically, and very, very subconsciously, we give importance not to competing, but to caring. We teach our kids to be caring human beings, and that, in my opinion – I’ve been saying the last year for here – everywhere I go. But we have to teach our kids to be caring. We have to put a premium on love and care. And in my opinion, we do that, you know, from the age of toddlers, when today we go to a school recent – parents are “My son should come first.” Unimportant; let him be happy, let him be caring about his friends, teach him that is important. MR. GOSWAMI:
But I find that --MR. KHAN:
That will make a huge difference 20 years from now.MR. GOSWAMI:
Just a small contradiction on that, Secretary Clinton, that if one sees, for example, the most recent statements that have come out of your Administration in the U.S. since it took over, and the last two or three statements of President Obama, whenever he speaks about the education system of it – and I am told Secretary Clinton knows this – he always takes the example of good education systems being in countries like India and China.
You know, there is – there are positive references to the – and he’s always – President Obama’s recent statements have been in the light of “We must be able – our education system must be able to compete with the education systems in India and China.” So I wanted to understand from you what really are the handicaps in the present American system, and what would your Administration seek to change? Also, if you’d like to respond to some of what Aamir said. SECRETARY CLINTON:
No, I think that he’s made some excellent points about what is going to be required to be successful in the world in the future. Obviously, competition is part of the human genome; that’s how we’re made. But cooperation and collaboration is more and more important. It’s important among people and it’s important among countries.
I think you can look and see our education system and realize that we have some of the greatest schools and universities in the world. But we don’t have them for everyone, and we don’t take care of students who fall behind as well as we should. So part of our challenge is to lift up the students who don’t always have the easiest time of it in life, whose families are not able or willing to assist them and support them, who comes from groups that are perhaps more marginalized than the majority. And we’ve made a lot of progress, but we are very candid in saying we have much to do in order to fulfill the promise of equal education.
Certainly, in India – so when you hear President Obama or another American talk about India, you can look at the very best in Indian education, and it’s the best in the world. You can look at the technical education and it is to be envied. It is so effective. But then there are hundreds of levels down where millions and millions of children don’t have an adequate primary education or a secondary education or, certainly, college education.
So I look at our country and I see that we’re providing an education to everyone, but it’s very unequal. India faces the challenge of so many more people to serve in very rural areas, often without adequate infrastructure, so you have to come to grips with how you actually produce the schools that are needed, the teachers who will be dedicated, the curriculum and materials that are required.
So in one way, we have a similar problem, that we leave people behind in greater or lesser numbers; and the other way, we have a different problem, which is that we have the infrastructure and we spend a lot of money on education, but we often don’t get what we consider to be the best return for the children.
Now we have another issue which I don’t really know whether it’s a problem here, and that is that there is a lot of competition for children’s attention. There is so much else going on in the culture that the idea of school seems less important than it did when I went to school. When I went to school all those years ago, the family structure was more intact, the teacher was a more authoritative figure, there really wasn’t a lot of other temptation and competition in the air. We didn’t have hundreds and hundreds of TV stations and internet sites and everything that children are attracted to now.
So part of our challenge is how do we keep a child’s attention, and how do we use technology in a way to assist the learning of children? But as I think about it, that may be an opportunity for India; rather than building the infrastructure for thousands and thousands of schools, how is technology used to communicate and educate? I met this morning with a group of some of the leading business and industrial leaders in India, and they’re moving toward using cell phones for banking. And one of them said that eight, nine years ago, there were not very many cell phones in India; now there are 500 million.
So having that technology can be a learning experience. It’s not the traditional one we think of, but it’s an opportunity to reach so many more people. So I think in a way – and you have a dynamic new education minister, I am told – so in a way, for India to think creatively, to go exactly to your point, that rather than “Okay, we – this is the way we do it, this is the way we always have done it, this is what we’ve memorized and this is what we’ll tell you,” let’s be creative, and how do we get beyond it. And we’re looking at some of the same ideas in our country.MR. GOSWAMI:
Secretary Clinton, I have one question to ask you before I take more questions from the audience, and that question takes me to a really vicarious pleasure that I have got when I read one of your statements, where you apparently said – and I am sure many of us who have been students at any stage, and all of us have been, would really get a sense of vicarious pleasure at your statement that there must be a one-time test for teachers as well. You said that there should be a one-time test for teachers. And if I am not mistaken – correct me if I am wrong – you said if they don’t pass the test, then fire them. SECRETARY CLINTON:
We don’t have one-time tests for teachers in India, Secretary Clinton. Did you manage to get that done --SECRETARY CLINTON:
-- in America and --SECRETARY CLINTON:
Not in America, but many years ago, when my husband was the governor of one of our states, Arkansas, which on the map is by Texas, we were very concerned about the low level of education in our state. My husband came from a family where he was the first to go to college, and yet his family believed in education, so they encouraged him and they made him study. And so he became academically successful and could follow his own path in life.
So my husband asked me to work on what we could do to make our education system better. And one of the concerns that I heard from people across our state was that there was such a disparity in the quality of teaching. There were some of the great teachers who were dedicated, who were there because they loved their work, and there were teachers who should not have been teaching because they didn’t know the subject matter, they didn’t seem to really be devoted to the task of teaching.
So I proposed a – what we called a teacher test. Now these teachers remember; they had gone to college and they had been given their certificates. But there were so many complaints about their teaching and their understanding of subject matter that we said we’re going to have a test. It was so controversial.MR. GOSWAMI:
It must have been.SECRETARY CLINTON:
It was extremely difficult. But we really stuck to our guns.MR. GOSWAMI:
Did they resist?SECRETARY CLINTON:
There was great resistance and great concern about it. We stuck to our guns. There was a test designed. And about 10 percent of the teachers failed it.MR. GOSWAMI:
Ten percent is a lot.SECRETARY CLINTON:
It’s a lot. And oftentimes, they were concentrated in the areas of the poorest children who needed the best teachers. I often think about my own daughter. I mean, we read to her from the time she was born, we took her to museums, we took her to libraries, we talked all the time to her, so she has an amazing vocabulary. And I kept thinking she could actually survive going to a bad school. She didn’t. I mean, we made sure she didn’t, but she could, whereas a child without that kind of background and encouragement really can’t.
And the final thing I would say, because I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how we help parents to become better teachers of their own children, there is very solid research in the United States, and I think it’s universal, that if you divide parents into wealthy and educated, middle class, lower middle class, working class, somewhat educated but certainly not college or post-graduate, and then poor people and poorly educated, if at all, what you find is that people from this higher educated class, like my husband and I, we talk to our children all the time. And we do exactly what you are saying, which is to ask them to solve problems – “Well, what do you think about that,” or “What would you do,” or “See that? How would you respond?”
So there’s a constant learning going on. As you move down the income scale into more working class environments, there is not as much talking, and it’s very utilitarian. It’s like “This is what you have to do,” and “Please pass the salt,” and “Please go do this,” and “Don’t do that.” It’s very utilitarian, but there is talking going on. But when you get into the lower socioeconomics, there is very little talking. Now, in part, because life is very hard; there’s not a lot of time to talk. You are trying to keep, as we would say, body and soul together – put food on the table and a roof over one’s head. And talking is just not part of the daily routine.
So by the time a child is five, that child has acquired 50 percent of the entire vocabulary the child will ever have. And so if you have been filled up with words so that you have a very active vocabulary, think of how much more it will be. And I don’t believe that a child can read above the level of that child’s vocabulary. So starting in the home and starting with an understanding that you need good nutrition for children to learn, a child who is malnourished is likely to be behind, both physically and mentally, and you need an atmosphere that encourages thinking and problem solving. All of that goes hand in hand before the child ever gets to the school.MR. GOSWAMI:
Secretary Clinton, I’m totally taken with what you said. You’re obviously an exceptional parent, and I think people have missed a wonderful teacher in you. But I saw Aamir drawn into that conversation, because Aamir’s movie, which I hope you see sometime, Taare Zameen Par, which was a hit all over India, was exactly about that, was (inaudible). It was about that special touch, that extra caring, that you don’t teach a – treat a child like someone who has to come out with a product at the end of so many years of education.MR. KHAN:
I mean, I think – I mean, education should ultimately, you know, contribute to how you turn out as a person and educate. For – and the fact is that reading and writing are only two intelligences that we as humans possess. There are so many intelligences, and each one of us can learn so much in different aspects of life and what impresses, what doesn’t. So I actually have very – I mean, I don’t have conventional views on education. I mean, a kid may not be interested in math, and that may not be something he’s interested at all in doing, but he might be really interested in singing. So we should encourage him and teach him singing.
So, I mean, when I, for example – I was only 12 when I decided to start learning about cinema and filmmaking, and for that, I wanted to drop out of college. It was conventional education. And my parents said to me that, you know, you have to be graduate, you know, don’t stop your studies. I said, “No, I’m not stopping my studies. I’m starting them. My education begins now, because this is what I want to learn about. I want to learn about cinema. I want to learn about filmmaking. So I’m not stopping my education. I am, I think, starting it.”
So like, you know, I don’t remember who said this, but don’t let schooling ever get in the way of education. This is what I absolutely believe. So I think that, you know, like TZP, the film that I made, I mean, we are trying to talk about inclusion. Every child has a right to education. And we shouldn’t judge children and assume that a child is dumb or doesn’t deserve our --MR. GOSWAMI:
Or the fear of rejection early on in education.MR. KHAN:
Certainly, certainly. I mean, you know, inclusion is such an important part, which again, is an area where, in India, we need to really soul-search and improve on, because we still have special schools for children. They should be in regular schools. All children should be in regular schools. I mean, every child has a right to be with children his age, and we don’t have a right to pick him up and put him somewhere else.
So, you know, inclusion is another very important aspect of education and growing up.SECRETARY CLINTON:
I just wanted to echo what Aamir said because there is a wonderful researcher at Harvard University named Howard Gardner, who has proven what you have just described, and that is that there are several different kinds of intelligence and ways of learning. Some people are very good at sitting in a classroom and absorbing the teacher’s lecture through their ears and through their eyes. They watch what’s written or they read what they’re given or they listen to the lectures.
But that is not the only way to learn. And it is not the – it is not better or worse than any other way of learning, but it is the way that our schools are structured, so that children who learn by doing and children who learn by a kind of kinesthetic --MR. KHAN:
-- ability, right, which goes with performing arts and goes with the visual arts. And very often, they’re not given any outlet for their intelligence. And we keep learning these lessons in America, but then we don’t apply them in our schools. Like, for example, if you keep children just sitting in that classroom with very little opportunity to experience other forms of education, you’re going to lose the attention of a significant percentage of them. Whereas if you have a better way of identifying who would be the good singer – because it’s not only that this person might grow up to be a singer – not everyone will, by any means – but they might begin to feel confident about themselves, which will then enable them to pursue a different form of learning that will actually lead to a job and income.
I mean, part of – and I think what you said before is so important – part of what happens to kids in every education system right now that I know of in the world, is that a lot of the creativity and energy is channeled so narrowly.MR. KHAN:
And then children who don’t fit into that channel feel like outsiders, and some of them have enough confidence that they’re able to survive. They --MR. KHAN:
But a lot of them don’t.MR. GOSWAMI:
But a lot of them don’t.SECRETARY CLINTON:
But a lot of them don’t. And then – see, what happens is that that child who doesn’t have the confidence and gets discouraged becomes a parent who wants to stay away from education. So, instead of encouraging his or her child, you are finding a parent who doesn’t want to go talk to the teachers, doesn’t want to be involved in the educational experience because they had such a bad time of it. So you then perpetuate the kind of generational resistance and rejection of education.
So, I mean, there’s so much more we could do, which is why programs like Teach India and Teach For America are important, because your interacting with children can light the spark that nobody else has lit. I’ve seen it happen over and over again, where some kind of interaction between a caring adult and a child who is looking for direction, inspiration, whatever, makes the difference. And that’s what we need more of and we just don’t have enough of it.MR. GOSWAMI:
Also because it opens up the eyes of those who – advantage --SECRETARY CLINTON:
-- who have the opportunities to those who don’t have the same opportunities. SECRETARY CLINTON:
That’s right. That’s right.MR. GOSWAMI:
You know, I think this program, Teach For India, which is similar for Teach For America, which has begun this year – I think a very important program. And when I was approached to endorse it and to support it, I was, you know, quite excited, actually, because it’s an idea – I don’t know how many people in our country know about it, but let me just briefly tell you.MR. GOSWAMI:
It’s a program where students coming out of the leading colleges in India are invited to commit two years of their lives in becoming part of the education system in India, and teaching children from primary schools and municipal schools in our country. So this is the first year – and there are batches of, I think, 90 or so students who have signed in and who have been through a training program.
Now these are the brightest minds of our country, mind you. So imagine, you know, 90 of our students who are really bright going into municipal schools and teaching children, you know, at the age of eight or nine. And that’s the age where your basics are formed, you know, really. But this is just 90 students. I imagine 9,000 or 90,000 or nine lat students coming out could only mean – not only will it dramatically change and contribute to the education of our children, but it will significantly change that person as well, because when I – maybe I want to be a doctor. Maybe that’s what I want to be.
But after finishing my education and before getting into medicine, if I spend two years with little children, interacting with them, teaching with – teaching them, that experience is something money can’t buy. If I want to be a CEO of a company or I want to get into business, again, this experience that I have of two years with children is going to be something that will – you know, that’ll stand by me all through my life.
So I think it contributes to society in both ways: Children benefit and so do adults.MR. GOSWAMI:
Of course.SECRETARY CLINTON:
And I wanted to add a word too about Teach India, which I have learned about from both of you. The idea that people from all walks of life would spend some time in the schools will help to raise the visibility of the challenges that you face. And every school can use more caring adults.
I mean, I remember when my daughter was in the first grade and her first grade teacher said, “I don’t feel comfortable teaching about science, but I would really like it if some of the mothers would come in and do the science lessons,” and one of the mothers of Chelsea’s classmates was actually a scientist who had decided to take some time off to raise her children. So I’m not a scientist, but she asked me if I would help, and I said, “Well, if you tell me what I’m supposed to do, I will.” And so four of us went into the first grade and just taught these little science programs. And it got us into the classroom in a way that you never can if you’re just a mother showing up to bring cupcakes for a birthday or some other kind of special event.
And then I’ve seen, over the years, more programs like this start in the United States, where a business might adopt a school. They would take one school and then the people in the business would sign up to help in whatever way they thought they could, or other programs of service would be established so that if a school didn’t have enough reading tutors, people would come in and help. I did that also later – not in my daughter’s school, but working with a group of kids who needed help with reading, and there were 25 kids in the classroom and the teacher couldn’t possibly give them all the attention they needed during the day. So several of us would come in and work with them.
So the Teach India program gives people a chance – not to have a full-time commitment like Teach For India will do for a year or two, but to have enough of a commitment that you can see what the needs are and then become advocates for the children and the schools.MR. GOSWAMI:
Absolutely. And it will have a trickle-down effect.SECRETARY CLINTON:
Yes, it will.MR. GOSWAMI:
You’ll start with 19, but I’m sure it’s going to go down. It’s got to come from the hardbone.
Let’s take some questions simply because (inaudible) would be very unpopular if I held the limelight. We have some (inaudible) out there, okay. Let me start. I’ll try to be as well-distributed as possible. The lady right there in the front, second row, please. Wait for the mike to come through, please. Thank you. And who are you – who is your question? QUESTION:
Good evening. I – since I am working with (inaudible) and I was a part of the Teach India program, I vouch for it that kids must have learned something from me. But what I got from the program was tremendous. Keeping those same kids entertained for an hour was a task by itself, and those kids get kids so they can tell you (inaudible), “Maybe I’m bored, this is not interesting me anymore, do something different.” So you have to think on your feet and keep them entertained all the time.
My question to you, ma’am, is about the thing you were talking about, vocabulary. In India, what happens is I was teaching these kids English. No – they were brilliant in terms of the regional language that they were studying in, but they just speak no English and they felt inadequate. Their parents speak no English, so they could not give them the vocabulary that’s needed to go out in the real world. I’m standing here today because I speak English.
Now how do we address it? Yes, it’s very true that parents need to teach their kids. My parents taught me; I’m here today. But how do we address this whole issue of English being so important to people who seem well-educated?SECRETARY CLINTON:
That’s an excellent question. We have the same issue to a lesser degree. We don’t have many languages spoken by as many people as you do in India, but as you might know, we have a number of students in our schools – I know New York best because I was a senator from New York and I live in New York. And in the New York City public schools, there are something like a hundred different languages. Now the most prominent are languages like Spanish, languages like Chinese and Russian. So part of the challenge is how do you teach a child who doesn’t speak English without breaking their spirit and making them feel that they’re so ignorant because they may know a lot in their own language, they may express themselves well in their own language. But speaking English in our country and, frankly, now in India and most places in the world is such a precondition.
We’ve done a lot of work on what we call bilingual education, and there are two different schools of thought. One is that as soon as the children come into school as early as possible, start teaching them in English and make them learn English quickly when they’re young and they can absorb it. The other school of thought is: Teach the children in their own language and gradually transition them to English. There are arguments on both sides.
Here’s the problem: We don’t have enough teachers, let alone bilingual teachers. So the difficulty of trying to take, in one classroom, say in New York City, kids who speak Spanish, Chinese and Russian, and try to work with them in their own language is – it’s just hard for the system to absorb.
So it’s – we don’t have any answers. We are working hard to come up with the best approaches, but a lot of people believe the best approach, especially when you’re young, it is to immerse you in English and help you learn English before you’re self-conscious about not knowing it. I think that part of what India should do is experiment to see what works in India, because there are different approaches. MR. KHAN:
Absolutely. You know, what I feel about that is that English is a language like Marathi or Hindi or Gujarati or any language. The education is not really about languages. I think when you’re teaching a child something, I think each society and each culture has a language, and that is extremely important for that culture and society.
So when you’re talking about education, I think we should retain what is our own and what is the child’s own culture. So if a child is comfortable in Marathi, he should be – he or she should be taught in Marathi. If he ever feels like communicating with a person who knows English or wants to communicate in a field which requires him to learn English, he will if he needs to.
But I think that’s not important if you don’t (inaudible). Education is not about languages. There are so many languages in the world and all of them are beautiful. And we should not assume that – let us move towards any one language. I don’t, you know, buy into that.MR. GOSWAMI:
You have to think of it, Aamir. English is never the primary language in India. It’s the link language and that’s also our advantage, that it’s -- MR. KHAN:
No, I mean, it’s a great language. I mean, I think in English. I mean, I grew up in India, I – my mother tongue is Urdu and my mom tried to teach me Urdu. Unfortunately, I never learned it. I regret it today. I really do. And I think in English and I’m – English is a great language. I don’t have any issues with it. But I think that it’s also important for me to be tied to my own roots, in a way, emotionally, and that’s important as well.MR. GOSWAMI:
Well, absolutely. The next question, okay. The gentleman right at the corner there. Yeah, please go ahead, yes. QUESTION:
Hello, everyone. It’s an honor standing here in front of you, both of you. My name is Rahool Vengent, Teach For India Fellow 2009, and the class teacher of second standard (inaudible) high school.
Actually, the question is that on any rainy day in Bombay, we enter a class that is – I mean, that is quite a lot, but it has very, very eager students who are there to learn. Also, we have students who are in second standard, but they don’t even know the basic alphabets. We – I’ll teach (inaudible) that challenge almost on a daily basis.
So as the leader that you have been and you are, how do you think that resolving such education challenges makes you a good leader?SECRETARY CLINTON:
Well, could I ask you a question? How long have you been teaching?QUESTION:
Three months in total.SECRETARY CLINTON:
And what age children are you teaching?QUESTION:
The children are six and seven, six years and seven years.SECRETARY CLINTON:
What have you learned in three months that helps you feel like you’re teaching them?QUESTION:
First and foremost, I cannot enter my classroom unplanned. I have to plan before I enter my classroom because I get only five hours, and those five hours are very, very precious for those kids.SECRETARY CLINTON:
So I need to plan very well, every second of it, so that I’m able to give them what I’m here for.SECRETARY CLINTON:
I really appreciate what you said because it goes back to Aamir’s – one of his first points, the amount of time it takes to be a good teacher – to really plan, to be prepared, to get into the classroom and keep the children’s attention and try to figure out who’s learning and who is not.
I really believe that what you’re doing is so important because there needs to be an understanding of how important teaching is in order for the public to support paying teachers better, to convince people to go into teaching so you can recruit better teachers. And there is no substitute for experience. I mean, you could be in a classroom and say that, but it wouldn’t have the same credibility as what you’ve just said, because you’ve now been doing it.
And I think from my own experience, what I remember most over the many years that I’ve been advocating for better education are the times when I was interacting with teachers and students. And very often, teachers want to do a good job, but they’re given no support. They’re basically – just said, “Here are your students, go teach them.” There is not the kind of teacher training, continuing education; there is not the materials that a good teacher needs. In our country, teachers spend up to $400 a year out of their own pocket buying supplies that are not given to them by the schools because they want to do a good job.
So I hope that this program, which – both of these programs, which are really good in and of themselves spur a debate about education more broadly so that people who won’t go into the classrooms for Teach For America or Teach India will be aware of what you’re doing. And I think you’ll have some real credibility, and it’s through that credibility that perhaps there can be a real movement for change.MR. GOSWAMI:
Thank you so much and thank you for helping spur that debate by being here today. Look, there are a lot of hands going up for you.SECRETARY CLINTON:
More than we can accommodate, perhaps. Okay, let me take the lady there. Yes, right there, you – the fourth row, the lady in the fourth row, please. Thank you.QUESTION:
Good evening. My name is Diachi. My question is really first a statement and then a question. I have been really recently quite shocked to hear that a lot of children are – rather, all children in school have to go for extra tuition not because they can’t handle the pressure of school, but because it’s expected out of them. And the teachers that they’re learning – to whom they go to for extra tuition are the same teachers at these (inaudible) schools. So it’s not that the teachers are not capable. It’s probably out of what Aamir (inaudible) said, that they’re not paying enough in school to pay them extra money for the tuition, and then they give them more attention.
So what happens to those children who can’t afford that extra tuition week? And how do we solve it? Is it just by paying them more, or is it a systemic problem that’s much worse than now?MR. KHAN:
The thing is that, you know, in India, there are so many issues and so many problems. And certainly, the population is huge. There is a lot of poverty. I think that as people, as Indians, we have to give high priority to education and also our government and administration. I’m saying in the long run, suppose we want great scientists, we want great doctors, we want great businessmen, we want great leaders, we want great politicians; where are they going to come from? They’re going to come from a good education.
So I think that if we invest in that and give that a lot of value, you know, like – I don’t know, I’m not a politician, I’m not into running a country. But I would imagine that the kind of – starting from the annual budget that you have, the kind of money that we should keep aside for education should be much higher, I think, than what we have, especially considering the fact that we are a poor country, that there is so much poverty in the country.
And I think that this is – you know, the fact is that this is going to be the base for anything that we hope positive to happen in our country. It would depend on how our children are educated.MR. GOSWAMI:
It stems to the point that Secretary Clinton also made – you can’t buy good teachers. You can’t buy good teachers, (inaudible).MR. KHAN:
Well, the thing is that you can give emphasis and value to teaching.MR. GOSWAMI:
But it has to come – it’s a calling, also. It’s a kind of calling. It has to come from within.SECRETARY CLINTON:
But I think – but it’s a kind of combination. You want to attract and keep quality teachers, but if teachers’ status and pay are so below other professionals, a lot of people who might want to teach will feel that they can’t afford to teach. And one of the challenges in our country and elsewhere is how you pay teachers appropriately. We have some places in our – in America where teachers are paid a lot, but it doesn’t seem to reflect in the increase in enrollment. So it’s not either/or. It’s both ends, exactly.MR. GOSWAMI:
But change will not come overnight.SECRETARY CLINTON:
It’s going to take investment over a long period of time. I see more hands going up each time I look at the audience. I have limited time, so – but I will take a few more questions. It’ll be two or three more questions.
Okay. The gentleman in the fourth row there, yes, you. Yeah, go ahead. The mike (inaudible).QUESTION:
Okay. Good afternoon. So, the reality that we face in our classrooms every day are extremely different. I mean, some of them are universal – children go through a lot of abuse in different forms from the societies they come from and the backgrounds that they come from. And these same challenges that I, as a first-time teacher, I’m facing is how do I make society aware of these incredibly gaping insecurities? You know, the child’s rights are not defined. They are so ambiguous. A teacher slaps a child and goes away scot-free. A child is abused in the house and he’s afraid to come out and talk about it.
How, as a nation, how, as an educational entity which we’re sitting here and talking about – you know, equal opportunities and all of that, how do we address an issue like this? And as a leader, how would you address an issue like this?SECRETARY CLINTON:
Well, the whole issue of children’s rights has been something I’ve worked on for many years. I wrote an article, one of the first articles that was written in our country, called Children’s Rights Under The Law
. And I talked about exactly what you’re describing. I mean, what happens when the adults who are supposed to care for children abuse them, ignore and neglect them, whether it’s in the family or it’s in the classroom? And how you balance parental rights with children’s rights?
Because obviously, adults need to take responsibility and they need to have authority over children, but if they abuse it, who steps in? And I think that part of the answer lies in what you just did, which is to stand up and talk about this, and to organize around this so that people become more aware of the consequences of their actions. Many people, particularly parents, just don’t know any better. I mean, that’s the way they were raised and the way their parents were raised and – corporal punishment of the most severe kind, discrimination between boy and girl children, I mean, that’s just how people were raised.
So part of the challenge is to change the culture, and it, again, doesn’t happen overnight. But you make things less acceptable. And having a movement around the rights of children, as defined appropriately within Indian society, is one that I think will come from a lot of the work that is being done now, because you are seeing it, more and more people will see it, and it will begin to take on a reality for the society.
So there is no perfect answer and we certainly still have child abuse, and we have all kinds of other problems, but it’s no longer acceptable. When I first started working on child abuse after I was in law school, we had just recognized child abuse as a serious problem, and this was probably 1973. And before, people just didn’t pay attention. If a child came to a hospital with burns or a broken arm and the parents said, “Oh, he fell under the radiator,” or “She fell down the stairs,” nobody said anything.
But then starting in the mid ‘70s, people started saying, “Wait a minute, we know children are being physically abused. We have to start paying attention.” So now, we have a whole system for reporting and responding. It’s just – but that’s not a very long time that this has been part of our law and part of our cultural mindset.MR. GOSWAMI:
I’ll take one last question, only because of want of time, and there is a lady right in the very end. She seems very (inaudible) to ask a question.QUESTION:
Good evening to one and all. I am (inaudible) and I’m a student of St. Xavier College. I’m extremely glad that my colleagues are giving me this opportunity. I’m not a part of any of these organizations, but I saved time, which is very close to (inaudible), which is like a (inaudible). I tried teaching, like, a group of five children, just like a school under the tree without much of infrastructure. But a huge problem that I faced was that the parents wouldn’t allow them to come. After like, one or two days, they would be like, “No, but they need to go.” They wouldn’t say (inaudible), but I did understand, or they needed to go to (inaudible). And after some point of time, I found myself handicapped because I start going to their places too, but they weren’t there at home.
So at that point, I thought that, you know, like, all my dream of – you know, at least bringing up these five kids when – you know, trying to teach them something were just shattered. So I don’t know what – then what to do exactly.MR. KHAN:
You know, in India there’s so many problems, and certainly, poverty is one huge issue, and I just think you shouldn’t give up. You know, I just think that yes, these problems are there, and I think that what you’re doing is beautiful. I think that the emotion with which you are coming forward to contribute to the lives of those children and to your own life is a very important thing, and you should just continue that.
Find five other children or, you know, try and convince one of them to come and learn with you, you know? It’s a very important thing, what you’re doing. Don’t be disappointed.SECRETARY CLINTON:
I would echo that completely because, I mean, really, we’re not just talking about education here. We’re talking about service, and we’re talking about an ethic of service. And I think it’s important to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who of course learned so much from Gandhi, and carried the message that he picked up from studying Gandhi back in the United States, he said one time, “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.”
And it is often discouraging and sometimes it feels futile, but you never know when the magic will strike, when you convince some mother or father that you can actually give their child a better life, when a child will say, “No, I want to stay here under the tree because I’m learning something.” You just will never know that unless you try. And you cannot give up. I mean, you clearly have the heart for it, which did come through so passionately, so you just have to keep working at it and be smart about trying to find the situations that will enable you to help children who can benefit from your intervention.
We have a program in the United States called Big Brothers Big Sisters. And people sign up to sponsor a child, and they spend just one afternoon or one evening a week with a child, and it’s usually a poor child. It’s often a child who has lost a parent, and so the mother has left or the father has left; they want the child to have another adult in the life. And it’s amazing what those kind of personal relationships can actually produce if they click, if they’re worthwhile, if the adults enter into it with good faith and a good heart.
So I just think there are so many ways to serve, and you are exemplifying that and it’s the most powerful message that you could send.MR. GOSWAMI:
I don’t have the heart to wrap this up, but I know I have to for want of time. I’m just going to wrap up by just saying one thing, and I’m sure I represent the feelings of everyone here today: Secretary Clinton, and to you, Aamir, thank you for giving your time. Your passion is obvious, your commitment is deep, more power to you, and you’re always very popular in India, as your husband was and continues to be. And I’m sure that after this event when people approach you, people will – the admiration for you will even grow further. Thank you very much, Secretary Clinton.
A round of applause for both our guests. (Applause.) Thank you so much. Thank you.
|
<urn:uuid:220d278f-2c7d-4669-bcd5-d7762c7a2e7a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/july/126201.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.979159
| 11,641
| 1.625
| 2
|
“You can make a difference” is the statement Sara Perez, an AmeriCorps member who works to connect volunteers with the educational needs of Charlotte.
Sara became involved with low-resource schools upon completing her undergraduate degree and joined AmeriCorps in Rhode Island. She began working with a program called City Year, serving as a peer mentor and full-time tutor at a middle school in Providence, Rhode Island. The experience helped to quench her long term passion of youth development and education.
Upon finishing her year with AmeriCorps in Rhode Island, Sarah decided to serve another year and moved to Charlotte, where she became involved with Hands on Charlotte. Sara knows Hands on Charlotte shares her passion for assisting in youth development and education and feels being a part of Hands on Charlotte provides her “a unique opportunity to inspire and mobilize others to get involved in and help make a difference in our schools.”
This fall will provide Sara an opportunity to begin a Hands On Charlotte program she helped design. Family Nights at Albemarle Elementary School will provide free hot meals, educational services and clubs for students and family members of the community. Sara believes this initiative will lead to more community involvement with the school, better attendance for students and a more positive course performance with classes. Community organizations and faith-based groups will be collaborating with Hands On Charlotte to help provide family focused educational programs at the school.
Beyond helping to form the Family Nights program, Sara is also involved with other HOC volunteering opportunities, including Homework Hounds.
Hands on Charlotte is extremely grateful for all Sara Perez contributes to the community and would like to thank her and recognize her contributions. Thanks to her and HOC volunteers, the community and educational needs of low-resource schools are receiving assistance to nourish the minds and lives of Charlotte’s youth.
Hands On Charlotte
Editors note: This is the fifth of five entries during National Volunteer Week. If you appreciate the work of Hands On Charlotte to enhance education in our community, please signify that appreciation by donating to our spring fundraising campaign.
|
<urn:uuid:8c802b57-4af5-4674-b555-25afbd416f7c>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.charlottevolunteer.org/?tag=charlotte-volunteer
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.966717
| 427
| 1.578125
| 2
|
Lineas Aereas Federales
Lineas Aereas Federales is a state owned airline operating domestic services based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its flights are currently being operated by other local airlines.
The airline was established in 2003 and started operations on 2 October 2003. It was created by the Argentinian government after LAPA folded. It is owned by the Federal planning ministry (40%), ministry of economy (40%) and Intercargo (20%).
This airline was created in 2003 to absorb the workers of two small bankrupt private airlines, LAPA and DINAR. The company doesn't actually have any planes of its own. Later on it helped Southern Winds Airlines, another private carrier, to keep afloat by providing its routes and staff in exchange for using Southern Winds' fleet. Southern Winds continued to fly under their colours. Yet another Argentine airline, Aerovip, was also absorbed over those same years.
In March 2005, the Chilean flagship airline LAN Airlines reached an agreement with the Argentine government to absorb all workers at Argentina's state carrier LAFSA. LAN took over LAFSA's routes and agreed to help Southern Winds for at least 90 days as well. It was at this point that LAN Argentina began. Since then Southern Winds has completely disappeared with LAN Argentina in the place of LAFSA and Southern Winds.
The remarkable fact is that nowadays LAFSA does not have any airplanes, but still keeps the structure that has not been absorbed by LAN Argentina, even with people in charge with clients, a marketing manager, pilots and copilots.
|
<urn:uuid:0b7b8c43-164f-465f-a3bc-10caa200335b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.mundoandino.com/Argentina/Lineas-Aereas-Federales
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.975969
| 320
| 1.804688
| 2
|
The wolf pup found by out-of-town campers outside Ketchum in May is headed to Virginia.
Idaho Fish and Game officials last week selected Busch Gardens in Williamsburg from a list of potential facilities willing to accept the male wolf pup long-term.
The list was compiled by officials at Zoo Boise, which has been taking care of the pup.
Fish and Game officials said Wednesday that they chose Busch Gardens for the following reasons:
1. It has successfully maintained wolves for more than 12 years, and has nine.
2. It recently received two pups, which are now 6 weeks old.
3. Is part of the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens education and conservation conglomerate, which includes several Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited facilities.
4. It is a sponsor of the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, a contributor of more than $10 million to wildlife conservation worldwide. It is active in the Mexican Wolf Recovery Project. A list of its sponsors includes Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, and several other reputable conservation organizations.
5. It is where the Smithsonian-affiliated National Zoo sends its staff to receive captive wolf training.
When the wolf was found, the campers thought it was a domestic puppy, but DNA tests proved that the animal was indeed a wild wolf.
Idaho Fish and Game looked for a wolf pack near where the pup was found, hoping to return the animal. But officials could find no fresh sign of a pack in the area.
|
<urn:uuid:d2517884-a549-4dca-9b18-2c7083451847>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.localnews8.com/news/Wolf-pup-goes-to-Virginia/-/308662/15173698/-/xjcsgw/-/index.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.970761
| 314
| 1.789063
| 2
|
- Special Sections
- Public Notices
Chris McManus, a direct descendant of Joseph W. Hornsby (1740-1807), visited Shelbyville years ago, leaving in the Shelby County Public Library a copy of a transcript of his ancestor's diary, together with significant biographical information.
Later, I initiated correspondence with McManus in the hope of finding out more about Ann Allen, his ancestor who happened also to be my late wife Susanne's great, great, great grandmother. Ann Allen died in 1805 and is buried in the Allen Dale Farm graveyard.
McManus sent me copies of some of the research papers he had prepared concerning the Allen and Hornsby families. I was impressed with the quality of his research.
While president of the Filson Club, now the Filson Historical Society, in Louisville, I suggested that McManus entrust the original diary to the club’s Manuscript Department, and he persuaded his mother, Mrs. George McManus, to part with this significant document.
Jim Holmberg, manuscript curator at the Filson Club, established direct contact with McManus, and the Joseph Hornsby Diary is now safely ensconced in Filson’s archives and available to family and to researchers.
Parenthetically, the existence of this diary had been known for some time. In his History of Shelby County, Kentucky, originally published in 1929, George L. Willis, Sr. refers to “a diary written in ink between April, 1798 and August, 1804 by Joseph Hornsby at his home in Southwestern Shelby County near where Clark’s Station on the Southern Railway now stands . . .”
In preparing my column about Joseph Walker Hornsby, I have relied heavily upon the meticulous research conducted by McManus.
After a lapse in our contact over many years, I have reached him again, in Washington, D.C., by E-mail in order to verify some of my facts.
|
<urn:uuid:7b5730bc-2d4d-4f95-bd45-14574dd122ac>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.sentinelnews.com/content/van-stockum-joseph-walker-hornsby-and-his-diary?quicktabs_2=1
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.958291
| 413
| 1.570313
| 2
|
Having tried his hand at several successful business ventures, 66-year-old Ramesh Sujanani knows as much about cutting back on expenditure as he does about investing for a return.
When this businessman decided to pen a few words to The Gleaner, published on June 8 and advising the Government on how to achieve much-needed economic growth, Sujanani hoped his advice would not have gone unnoticed.
What he never imagined was that his article, which was carried as the Gleaner letter of the day with the headline 'Austerity vs stimulus', would have landed him the Gleaner Silver Pen award for the month.
"I never knew. This is the very first time I have won anything for writing. I won a champion exporter's prize from the JMA (Jamaica Manufacturers' Association) in 1985, but never anything for my writing," Sujanani said.
He has been motivated to write countless letters to The Gleaner over the years on a number of issues, but when he decided to coin the winning piece, he said it was simply because "it was the hot topic at the time".
Austerity vs stimulus examined how different governments across the globe have used these two principles to try and achieve economic growth, as well as the lessons learnt. Drawing from the different experiences, Sujanani concluded that what was needed in Jamaica was a mixture of both.
"Stimulus means more government spending, which eventually turns out to be abused by governments or frittered away in crony pay-offs. Austerity usually means less spending and higher taxes. Then it turns out nobody wants to restrict spending, especially when the economy is crumbling because of higher taxes," he reasoned in his article.
The businessman told The Gleaner that, too often, the Government "concentrates on reducing expenditure and doesn't concentrate sufficiently on increasing production, whereas both need to work hand in hand to work properly".
|
<urn:uuid:43c7985b-2e6e-4ff8-b2a7-1afae35ae0f2>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20120917/lead/lead6.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.985627
| 398
| 1.84375
| 2
|
Basketball innovators go from hardwood to the big screen
Theresa Shank Grentz barely steps through the glass doors when the crowd, dressed in ball gowns and tuxedos, erupts in cheers.
Standing nearly 6 feet tall, Grentz, one of the winningest coaches in women’s Division 1 basketball, is given a hero’s welcome.
Flashing a made-for-TV smile, she clutches her husband’s arm and makes her way to the red carpet.
Outside the City of Brotherly Love, along a leafy back road, is the birthplace of big time women’s college basketball.
In 1972, Immaculata College, a tiny Catholic women’s college, won the first women’s national collegiate basketball championship. Grentz was the team’s star player, and a three-time all-American for women’s collegiate basketball.
Forty years after their Cinderella story began, the team’s story comes to life in “The Mighty Macs,” opening nationwide Friday.
The film starring Carla Gugino, Marley Shelton, David Boreanaz and Ellen Burstyn is based on the true story of the school that set the stage for the future of women’s college hoops. Writer and director Tim Chambers watched the Macs practice when he was a kid.
“The Mighty Macs” follows the small team of players lead by the determined Coach Cathy Rush (wife of NBA referee Ed Rush). Despite not having a gym to practice in and wool tunics for uniforms, they went on to win the first dynasty in their game.
Grentz, her former teammates and alumni stepped out for the world premier of “The Mighty Macs” screened first, of course, in Philadelphia. [more]
|
<urn:uuid:ea42c1d2-baeb-48a0-a979-0a4bc747d056>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2011/10/basketball-innovators-go-from-hardwood-to-the-big-screen/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.956845
| 387
| 1.539063
| 2
|
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
We are proud to share the “Agency of the Month” profile in the January 2009 issue of New York NonProfit Press featuring Jewish Child Care Association. This publication is considered the official trade paper providing value-based management information and proven practices for the nonprofit service sector in New York State. The article provides a comprehensive overview of JCCA and addresses the current critical climate in child welfare and mental health services as well as many of the budgetary issues facing the industry.
This article is a testament to the high standard of practice and commitment to the people we serve. We thank you all for your continued support and belief that every child deserves to grow up hopeful.
Chief Executive Officer
To download a PDF of this article please click here.
Jewish Child Care Association: Serving Those Most in Need
Jewish Child Care Association (JCCA) can trace its history back almost two centuries to the earliest days of Jewish charity in New York City. In 1822, the Hebrew Benevolent Society was founded with $300 collected to care for an elderly Jewish veteran of the revolutionary war. Today, JCCA is a state-of-the-art, nonsectarian, human service provider with an $84 million annual budget and 900 employees. It provides extremely high quality residential treatment and foster care, community mental health services and other programming to more than 12,000 children and their families.
Interestingly, JCCA’s path to serving a largely non-Jewish, African-American and Hispanic client base in its child welfare and mental health programming can also be found in its Jewish heritage. It is tikkun olam — the responsibility of every person to make the world a better place — on which JCCA’s mission is based, explains Richard Altman, JCCA’s Chief Executive Officer.
"Our founders were committed to serving those most in need," says Altman. "And, just as in 1822, it is poverty that drives the need for our services — poverty that feeds domestic violence, child abuse, alcoholism, substance abuse, mental illness and trauma. It is poverty and the problems which it creates that drive the organization today, just as they did in 1822. The difference is in who we serve today. We are still committed to serving those most in need."
JCCA’s programs are largely divided into three main areas — foster care and residential services, community mental health programs and services to the Jewish community.
Foster care and residential treatment services are the largest area of JCCA’s programming and the natural outgrowth of its historic development. In 1860, the Hebrew Benevolent Society opened the first Jewish orphanage in New York City. In 1884, the Hebrew Orphan Asylum (HOA), as the organization was then known, would go on to open another orphanage on 136th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan with a staggering capacity for 1,755 children. In 1925, a residential home for developmentally disabled teenage girls was opened on a 123-acre site in the Edenwald section of the Bronx.
Throughout this period, other Jewish child caring charities were also creating orphanages and residential programs. Prominent among these was the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society (HSGS) which opened the Pleasantville Cottage School (PCS) in Westchester County in 1912. It was in 1940, after years of discussion, that HOA, HSGS and other similar charities merged to form what would soon be known as Jewish Child Care Association (JCCA). In total, that newly created entity was then responsible for 3,471 children and 2,084 foster homes.
Today, JCCA’s child welfare programs include a full continuum of services, ranging from regular foster boarding homes to residential treatment, which are designed to meet the varying therapeutic needs of children in care.
The agency may be best known for its three highly regarded residential programs based on its 150-acre campus in Pleasantville in Westchester County.
JCCA serves the treatment needs of over 300 children in three specialized programs at its 150-acre campus in Pleasantville.
Pleasantville Cottage School (PCS) currently has a capacity to serve 173 youth who have been referred by New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), local DSSs and CSEs. Over the years, PCS has carved out a unique history in the field of residential treatment. It was reportedly the first "cottage style" residential center in which children lived in smaller cottages rather than large, institution-like orphanages — in the United States. "The model came from the English boarding schools and was seen as a more humane way to take care of children," says Altman. "The physical layout we have today, with the cottages placed around a central square and a central administration building, is exactly the same as it was in 1912."
PCS also was home to the first psychiatric clinic in an American child care institution, established in 1925 by psychiatric social worker Julia Goldman. This tradition of clinical excellence has been a hallmark of the agency ever since. "We have a rich clinical array of services that not every agency has," says Candace Tinagero, Senior Vice President, Foster Home and Residential Services. "We have psychiatrists and psychologists on staff. We have a large APA psychology internship program that recently was approved for an unprecedented additional nine years."
Edenwald Center serves 116 children who are dually diagnosed as emotionally disturbed and developmentally disabled. "Some of the youth are really low functioning. Some have brain damage," says Tinagero. The combination presents significant challenges for both the children and staff.
Pleasantville Diagnostic Center serves children up to the age of 16 who are referred for residential assessment and short-term treatment. The typical stay is 90 days or less. "The program does a really nice job of getting kids home to their family," says Tinagero. "Nearly half of the children are returned to their families or community-based foster care."
All three of JCCA’s residential programs have been and continue to be impacted by ACS policies designed to reduce both the number of children placed in residential treatment and the time they spend there.
"We have been downsizing for quite a while now," says Altman. PCS’s capacity used to be 25 beds higher than today’s 173. And the program is currently running 10-15 vacancies on average.
Both Altman and Tinagero give ACS Commissioner John Mattingly credit for the passion and thrust of his child welfare reform efforts, noting that many children who may not have needed long-term institutional placements are now living with families in the community.
"If there has been one overarching impact, it has been to get everyone focused on how we can work harder to keep kids in communities," says Altman. "I think people have been surprised. In general, this has worked."
Yet the JCCA team also has serious concerns. "We think that some children are not getting the services they need in this big-picture desire to reform the entire system," says Altman. The problems they cite are at both the front end of the system, when children are or are not referred to placement and at the back end when there is a shortage of community placements with a level of services to meet the extremely high needs of children going home.
Recent child welfare policies may have exacerbated long-standing problems created for some children who are only referred for residential placement after multiple failures to provide care in community-based foster boarding homes. "I agree with Commissioner Mattingly that residential treatment is not a healthy place to raise kids. But I do believe it is a really good place to get them back under control and to do some serious work, especially with families," says Tinagero. "I think our short-term program does some great, great work in that regard. However, most of the kids in our residential treatment program have burned through so many people in their lives. We have kids who have been in 15 different foster boarding homes."
JCCA works hard to address the special needs of these children. The agency is one of several throughout the state to be implementing the "Sanctuary" model of residential care, which focuses on recognizing the multiple traumas that children in care have sustained throughout their lives. "It has really begun to take hold and make a difference in the way our staff looks at youth and the youth look at themselves," says Tinagero. "Both youth and staff understand triggers a little better — why they are doing what they are doing — and how the trauma of the past has impacted them and their behavior today." JCCA is also one of a select few agencies implementing Sanctuary in its foster boarding home program.
In what may be a unique sign of respect for the children in its care, JCCA’s Youth Development Program has also trained youth to run their own Service Plan Reviews (SPRs). "It’s been amazing," says Tinagero.
"They are trained in what information needs to come out at the meeting; how to ask the questions they need to ask. And they do it. Can you imagine an adolescent running a meeting with his family, his workers and administrators all in the room? It is happening and it is phenomenal."
The agency has also incorporated youth into development of its policies and procedures. "The youth actually created the dress code policy for staff on campus. They are involved in interviewing potential staff. My goal is to have every child care worker candidate interviewed by the youth whose input will be part of the decision-making," says Tinagero. In addition, youth have been trained in crisis intervention techniques and the plan is to incorporate their perspective in future staff training.
"In addition to providing foster home care to more than 400 children, we probably have one of the largest Therapeutic Foster Boarding Home (TFBH) programs in the city with 96 children," says Altman.
TFBHs offer significantly higher levels of services than the regular FBH model, including lower social worker/child ratios, enhanced foster parent training and extensive clinical services.
"Our number one goal in TFBH is to find community resource placements for youth who may have spent years in residential care after multiple failed placements in lower levels of care," says Altman. "We’re saying you don’t have to live in an institution if there is someone out there for you. JCCA been very successful in finding viable, safe, community placements for these children."
JCCA was also one of seven agencies to be approved by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) for the initial round of Bridges to Health (B2H), an innovative new pilot program which offers supplementary supportive services to help high-needs foster care children live in a family setting.
"B2H is the most exciting program I have seen come down for foster children since I have been in the field," says Altman, who began his career as a social worker in 1970. "This has huge, huge potential." Based on a Home and Community-Based Services Waiver, B2H provides a menu of 14 services which agencies can offer, ranging from Day Habilitation, Prevocational Services and Supported Employment, through Immediate Crisis Response Services, Intensive In-home Supports, Crisis Respite and Special Needs Community Advocacy and Support. "They wrap the child in services," says Tinagero "It provides whatever the child needs to be successful. It’s wonderful."
"The really exciting thing is that the money follows the child, wherever the child goes, even if he or she goes home, up to age 21. That is unique," says Altman. Launched in January 2008, B2H was originally targeted to serve a total of 3,305 children statewide within three years. Many observers believed that B2H might actually be the safety net of services which would allow high-needs children currently in residential treatment centers to make a successful transition back to community-based family settings.
JCCA jumped in with both feet. "We took a chance and invested a lot of money up front to hire the staff so that we were in a position to enroll children and families," says Altman. "So, as of today, we have 87 children officially enrolled and receiving services."
Unfortunately, financial pressures on the State budget have recently forced Governor Paterson to call for a two-year moratorium on further rollout of the B2H program.
Another specialized program which JCCA launched more than ten years ago is its Sibling AOBH (Agency Operated Boarding Home). "ACS was having difficulty finding enough foster families for large sibling groups," says Altman. "We converted three apartments in a building in Rego Park, Queens. We built them out and hired foster parents to live there. We can take large sibling groups, sometimes as large as seven or eight children. We provide an assistant cook and child care counselors for relief. It is a very specialized program, designed to take kids who have been removed from their families in an emergency and keep them together."
JCCA also operates three group homes, serving a total of 22 children. Two utilize a traditional shift staffing model while the third uses a family model. "There is a mom and pop who live there. They are the house parents," says Altman.
Community Mental Health
In the mid 1980s, JCCA added community mental health services to its series of offerings through the opening of Brooklyn Child and Adolescent Guidance Center, the first new outpatient mental health clinic funded by the state in 10 years.
"That paved the way for the steady development of a whole array of mental health programs," says Altman. "We decided that we wanted to focus our services on central Brooklyn and today we have 14 different free standing mental health programs operating out of one central location in Flatbush."
In addition to its clinic, the agency provides a variety of case management programs typically home-based, each designed to meet the specialized needs of individual populations. "We have case management for children, for adolescents and for youth aging out of foster care. There are many variations on this theme," says Altman.
JCCA’s Community Mental Health and Preventive Services Division also houses the agency’s foster care prevention programs, with a capacity to serve 200 families with children at risk of out-of-home placement.
Looking ahead, Altman anticipates that community mental health programming will continue to be an area of growth for the agency.
Earlier this year, JCCA answered a call by State and City officials to take over a program about to be lost by the closing of Brooklyn CareWorks. Brooklyn Community Treatment Program provides in-home clinical services to severely emotionally disturbed (SED) youth who cannot access services in the community.
"We were also offered the opportunity by OMH to open a Children’s Community Residence (CCR) and we are getting ready to break ground," says Altman. "This will be our first OMH-licensed residential program." Barring any unforeseen problems resulting from the State’s budget crisis, he hopes to open the eight-bed facility in 18 months.
JCCA has long had a strong commitment to promoting education as an important means for children to become successful, productive adults.
Since 1971, Two Together has provided free individualized tutoring and mentoring services to students who are seriously behind in their schoolwork. Volunteer tutors help more than 130 school children (ages 8-18) annually.
In September, JCCA opened Brooklyn Democracy Academy (BDA), a transfer school in partnership with the Department of Education. The BDA model is adopted from the one developed by Sister Paulette LoMonaco and Good Shepherd Services. It integrates principles of the Sanctuary Model used on the Pleasantville Campus.
Now in its second year, Reading for Our Future, a one-on-one tutoring and educational enhancement program for youth in JCCA foster care programs, showed significant gains in both math and reading for the more than 100 students enrolled.
Services to the Jewish Community
In addition to providing child welfare and mental health services for all New Yorkers in need, JCCA has continued to offer a specialized group of programs that target the Jewish community.
Ametz Adoption Program provides assistance and support with private adoptions, both domestic and international, including homestudies, post-placement supervision, educational workshops, support groups and counseling.
JCCA also offers a large range of services for the Bukharian Jewish community in Forest Hills and Rego Park, Queens. This is a community of recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union who experience the challenges and struggles typical of all new immigrant groups. Programs include day care, a teen lounge, tutoring and social services.
"We have more than 1,200 children in a home-based family day care program," says Altman. "And we have a privately-funded, center-based day care program for 52 children." JCCA’s Bukharian Teen Lounge provides a safe, positive afterschool alternative to the streets for more than 100 teens.
JCCA serves over 1,200 children through its home-based Family Day Care program in Queens.
JCCA’s Compass program provides a number of services for youth and their families with special needs, including those on the Autism spectrum. "The Compass Project is a very exciting program for young people on the Autism spectrum," says Altman. The program helps with the transition from high school to college. It is located on six campuses across Long Island and is expanding to Westchester in 2009. "While many of these young people can handle the academic demands, they have trouble socially and often drop out because of that problem," says Altman. "We provide support, counseling and guidance."
The current economic crisis and the continuing redesign of New York City’s child welfare system are likely to offer ongoing challenges for JCCA and most other service providers. Altman anticipates that referrals to generalized residential treatment centers will continue to decline in future years. At the same time, however, he anticipates growing recognition of the need to create specialized programs for unique populations.
One good example is the 12-bed Gateways program serving sexually exploited girls which JCCA is developing on the Pleasantville Campus in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office, ACS, OCFS and Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS). "This is consistent with the recent Safe Harbor legislation that was passed," says Tinagero. "These young girls are victims, not criminals."
No matter what the future holds, one thing is certain. There will always be people who are most in need. Those are the people JCCA was created to help.
|
<urn:uuid:2e1bc459-ed36-4cce-b2ce-2f3a78201302>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://jccany.convio.net/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6257
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971543
| 3,904
| 1.726563
| 2
|
spark of genius
Spilled Spaghetti Leads to Good Licensing Deal
How did spilling hot spaghetti noodles lead to an invention and a very good licensing deal? For Athens, Texas, inventor Lesia Farmer, innovative ideas come often and unexpectedly. “I had a little accident while pouring hot noodles from a colander into a bowl. I missed the bowl and the hot noodles fell onto the floor and my foot, which burned and blistered my foot,” said Lesia. The accident caused Lesia to ponder, “There must to be something available that would prevent this from happening again.”
Many inventions start this way. But before the economy's down turn, she rarely had the time to juggle operating a family business with her husband to pursue creative ideas past the initial idea stage. With the economy in a slump and a slowed business, Lesia has extra time to pursue her ideas and make them a true invention.
She searched the Internet and local house ware stores for a gadget to keep her noodles off the floor. Unable to find a product that solved her problem, Lesia came up with an idea that now has a patent application on file at the USPTO and a licensing deal already signed. She worked on her idea and eventually filed a provisional patent application. She continued to push forward with her ideas. Prior to filing a non-provisional application, Lesia sought help from a friend to find a company that might be interested in her invention. From the friend’s suggestion and her personal search for a company with an inventor friendly reputation, Lesia found a very helpful and reputable company with a knowledgeable representative.
The company’s representative suggested incorporating multiple ideas into the non-provisional patent application. Lesia’s next step was to find an attorney to write the non-provisional patent application for her. She found a flexible attorney that allowed her to pay for services in installments. “The company was willing to pay for patenting costs, but I found my own attorney, who cost less. When we move on to international filings, then the company will help,” she said. By hiring her own attorney, Lesia will receive a higher royalty payment.
Lesia started her path to a licensing deal by filing a non-provisional patent application shortly after coming up with her concept and invention. While working with an attorney to write and file her non-provisional application, Lesia continued working with the company to get a good license agreement. Shortly after filing a non-provisional application, Lesia received an initial licensing contract from the company. She then hired another attorney to read over the terms of the agreement and to negotiate for her with the company. Lesia said, “My attorney read over the contract and negotiated with the company’s attorney until everything was agreeable to both parties.”
Later, the company’s representative asked Lesia if she wanted to exhibit her invention in Chicago at the International Home and Housewares Show 2011, the world’s largest home goods and house wares show. At the show, thousands of new products like Lesia's were showcased. Lesia needed a prototype to display at the show. But because of Chinese New Year celebrations, she could not get a prototype made on short notice. The company had a rapid prototype made that she exhibited at the Chicago show.
“My attorney, the company and my representative were a great help to me. I never thought that anyone would put a licensing agreement in front of me that was so fair," she said. She advised inventors to "keep pushing forward."
Lesia’s invention, which has a patent application awaiting review, provides a way to transfer hot pasta more safely than traditional colanders. By recognizing a need in her own kitchen, she created an innovation that may one day be used on the mass market.
|
<urn:uuid:24929558-10f0-49e9-8bff-1442d8780b25>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.uspto.gov/inventors/independent/eye/201103/spark.jsp
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.975334
| 802
| 1.515625
| 2
|
Senior Communication Design student Vanessa Koch has created an exhibit at Carnegie Mellon’s prestigious Posner Center. The exhibit, titled “Through the Looking Glass: The Changing Experience of Books,” will have its opening reception on Friday, December 4, from 5:00 – 8:00 pm, and will be open through the end of April. Normal exhibit hours are Monday through Friday, from 1:00 – 4:00 pm.
Excerpt from the event poster
Koch has an interest book arts, creative writing, and illustration, and says that she has become increasingly drawn to the book as a design artifact. “After working on personal book design projects and studying letterpress and bookbinding, I have come to understand how much detail goes into the process of designing a book from the inside out: the feeling of each corner as the page is turned, the sturdiness of the binding, the imprint of the title, and the layout of the typography. Each element of the book must work to support the overall structure, providing a medium that aids in storytelling without becoming overbearing or distracting from the content.”
Koch was awarded the highly competitive Posner Center internship based on her proposal ideas for the book exhibit: “… an exhibit that brings people to consider books as artifacts of history and to examine the book’s intricate qualities as clues to the historic, cultural, and artistic context from which it sprung.”
The Posner Center houses a collection of fine and rare books, providing Koch access to a full body of illustration work including wood block and hand coloring, as well as various typographic and print treatments. The available fine bindings and coverings also served as indications of the intentions and desires of their designers and makers, allowing Koch to draw comparisons from books of different eras and geographic locations, revealing the progress and variation that has occurred in book design over time.
“We use books to gather knowledge, discover treasure, and travel to other worlds. As we plunge into great literary works, we often neglect to think about the medium through which we access these stories. As a design artifact, the book takes on a life of its own, and upon close inspection, reveals its own rich story about the time period, location, and condition in which it was produced,” says Koch.
View the event poster (PDF)
Koch’s exhibit will be on display in the Posner Center through April. Hours are Monday through Friday, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm.
Posted on Dec 4, 2009
|
<urn:uuid:0f3b8295-55e6-4a4b-810b-390b44521d31>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.design.cmu.edu/show_news.php?id=248
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.969885
| 523
| 1.554688
| 2
|
Teac AS-200 Integrated Amplifier (1968)
Teac, more often known for their reel to reel tape machines, also made this Teac AS-200 Integrated Amplifier in the late 1960's. The machine is wrapped in a wood veneered case, and the wood veneer carries through to the flip down front panel, and even in the square buttons. Yes, there is real wood veneer (not vinyl!) inlaid in those small square buttons.
Some other interesting features are 2 Phono and Aux inputs, selected between '1' and '2' via small knobs under the flop down panel. Build quality is very high, with a tremendous attention to detail which carries through to the internals. Inside there is an amplifier section which is capable of 40 watts per channel, via two modular amplifier boards.
The rest of this series also contained an AF-200 electronic crossover, an the AE-200 power amplifier.
Check out the rest of the pics after the break.
|
<urn:uuid:b78d82d0-6f84-4325-9d27-7551c6c2ef75>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.vintageaudioonline.com/category/teac/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.937923
| 208
| 1.789063
| 2
|
Education Commish: Ky. must expand access to preschool, needs more money from cuts or revenue
06/25/2012 07:15 AM
Kentucky should invest in making sure children from families who earn double the poverty rate or less can attend preschool programs — and leaders need to put a priority on finding the money to pay for it, said Education Commissioner Terry Holliday.
Holliday, whose contract was renewed by the Kentucky board of education this month at his current $225,000-a-year salary, said cost cutting is the first objective to find the money.
Gov. Steve Beshear proposed expanding access to preschool for families who make up to 160 percent of the poverty rate — up from the current 150 percent threshold. That would have cost $15 million over two years. While the House agreed to half of that amount, the Senate moved that money to other areas of the budget to avoid using one-time dollars that contribute to Kentucky’s structural imbalance.
“The money’s not there. I think what we’ve got to look for are revenue sources for that,” Holliday said (3:40).
Holliday said the state and school districts need to curb spending, which could mean further cuts in what they pay for teacher and employee health care. Already, his office has shed $1.3 million in personnel costs by cutting the number of deputy commissioners to six from eight and the number of directors from 25 to 16.
As for the districts themselves, state education officials still can’t accurately track their spending on administrative costs. Find out why at 7:45 of the interview:
As for preschool, Holliday said the best return on investment for the state is paying to make sure students from low income families have access to early childhood education.
Three states offer universal preschool programs: Georgia, Oklahoma and Florida. Oklahoma covers the cost of as many as two-thirds of the state’s four year olds to attend preschool, spending $139 million or $7,400 per student. Georgia spends $325 million and about $4,200 per student, according to EducationNews.org. Both states have been offering universal preschool since the 1990s.
However, Kentucky’s 4th graders last year scored better than 4th graders in those two states. Kentucky tied with Florida in the top tier of states with scores of 225 on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exams, above the 221 national average. Georgia’s 4th graders scored 221 and Oklahoma’s scored 215.
“It’s not enough just to provide universal preschool. If you don’t have some follow up with your kindergarten through third grade to make sure the advantages you got from preschool continue on, then typically the effects of preschool programs could bleed out,” Holliday said (1:40). Holliday explains what Kentucky is doing now to track follow-up progress (2:00 to 3:00).
Below the Fold
Subscribe and get the latest political intelligence delivered to your inbox.
|
<urn:uuid:fb33a9ad-ca2b-4928-93b4-961ff1c74efc>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://mycn2.com/politics/education-commish-ky-must-expand-access-to-preschool-needs-more-money-from-cuts-or-revenue
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.961784
| 633
| 1.578125
| 2
|
Joe was a young man who was brought up with much difficulty in his life. In fact, his mother had died when he was young and he was raised by his alcoholic father.
Joe was in his early 20s, struggling to make financial ends meet, and felt as though no one ever seemed to notice him. It seemed each time I met with him he would talk about how people would just pass right on by him without even acknowledging him in any way. He felt like he was invisible and dead to the world.
One day, he made a very fateful decision. He decided that he would enter a grocery store, go to the chips aisle, and if the next person who passed him by didn't acknowledge him in any way, then he would kill himself.
So, he went into the grocery store, went to the chips aisle, and waited for a person to walk by.
Sally was a middle-aged woman from a fairly decent home who was raising her three children all by herself as her husband had passed away a few years ago. Upon his passing, she seemed to distance herself from others and kept to herself quite a bit.
Sally's youngest child loved sour cream and onion potato chips. She decided to stop off at the local grocery store, buy some of those chips, and surprise her daughter later.
That day, Sally had no idea that a man was waiting in the chips aisle and would kill himself if the next person to pass him didn't acknowledge him in any way; Sally was going to be this person. She had no idea that in that moment she held the power to save someone's life!
Sally entered the chips aisle and saw a man standing there. As she passed him, she simply gave him a nod and nothing else.
Joe, noticing the nod, decided not to kill himself and from that day forward worked to improve his life and never again considered to kill himself. In fact, he went on to live a pretty fulfilling life upon completion of his counseling with me.
How many times have we passed by others without even acknowledging them in any way? Sally had no idea how much control she had over Joe's life in that moment and how a simple nod set the stage for a great turnaround for Joe.
Many times, we are so focused upon ourselves that we do not acknowledge those around us. Sometimes, it is even children that we do not acknowledge. I would like to invite you all to examine and notice how often you acknowledge others.
If you are someone like Joe or know someone like Joe, then be sure to help them get the help they deserve! And remember, each and every one of us is important and valued in some way. No matter the shortcomings or failures, our humanity as a human being is always worthy of acknowledgment.
Chris Swenson is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist currently practicing in Sterling under the business name of Rhino Wellness Center (rhinowellnesscenter.com).
|
<urn:uuid:b37beac5-0d12-404c-83c8-cf7c5ebd8e1f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.journal-advocate.com/sterling-lifestyle-columnists/ci_22498244/chris-swenson-how-simple-gesture-can-save-someones
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.9944
| 602
| 1.820313
| 2
|
President Jake B. Schrum
Jake B. Schrum has been president of Southwestern University since 2000. He has served as a college and university administrator for nearly 40 years.
A native of Sugarland, Texas, President Schrum received his B.A. in psychology from Southwestern University in 1968. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Yale University in 1973.
President Schrum began his career as a college and university administrator at Yale − first with the Association of Yale Alumni, then with the Yale Alumni Fund. He spent his last few years with Yale as a fundraiser for the Divinity School, playing a minor role in Yale’s $370 million campaign, which at that time was the largest fundraising effort ever attempted by a college or university. While at Yale Divinity School, he also served as chaplain to the school’s United Methodist students.
Schrum left Yale to become director of development at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Penn. In 1978 he returned to Texas to be the vice president of Texas Wesleyan College (now Texas Wesleyan University) in Fort Worth. Three years later, Southwestern University asked Schrum to serve as its vice president for university relations. As Southwestern’s advancement program began earning a national reputation, Schrum was invited to become vice president for development and planning at Emory University. There, he directed the university’s last major mega-campaign − the $400 Million Campaign for Emory. In 1991, having served at Emory for more than six years, Schrum was elected the 17th president of Texas Wesleyan University.
During his nine years as president of Texas Wesleyan, the university’s endowment more than doubled (from $22 million to $50 million), and the enrollment increased from 1,429 to 3,000 students. The annual fund also doubled from $450,000 to just over $900,000. A law school was acquired and fully accredited by the American Bar Association and a $12 million campus was built for the law school in downtown Fort Worth. A Weekend University, an MBA program, a distance-learning program in graduate education, as well as a bilingual education program also were established. Texas Wesleyan’s budget grew from $11 million to $32 million in just eight years, and the university garnered resources amounting to almost $40 million.
Schrum was elected president of Southwestern University in January 2000. He took office July 1, 2000.
During his tenure at Southwestern, President Schrum has led the largest fundraising campaign in the university’s history. Funds raised through the $150 million Thinking Ahead campaign have allowed Southwestern to construct several new buildings, including a new admission center and the Prothro Center for Lifelong Learning. Several buildings also have been renovated, such as the Alma Thomas Fine Arts Center and the Cullen Building.
Funds raised through the campaign also enabled Southwestern to start its signature program known as the Paideia program. The program was designed to help students integrate what they learn in the classroom with outside experiences such as civic engagement, intercultural learning and research projects with professors. President Schrum helped secure an $8.5 million gift from the Priddy Charitable Trust that enabled Southwestern to add the faculty members necessary to implement the program. While the original Paideia program was voluntary, a new program that makes the benefits of Paideia available to all students will be launched in the fall of 2014.
President Schrum has been instrumental in developing relationships with new funding sources such as The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which has given Southwestern 16 grants totaling more than $8 million during his tenure. President Schrum personally received three presidential leadership grants from the Mellon Foundation and helped secure the relocation of the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE), which is supported by the Mellon Foundation, to Southwestern in 2009.
Another of President Schrum’s major accomplishments has been increasing the number of students from underrepresented groups who attend Southwestern. Thirty percent of the students in the fall 2012 entering class are students from underrepresented groups, compared to 21.8 percent when he took office in the fall of 2000.
President Schrum also has personally pushed for an emphasis on sustainability at Southwestern. He signed both the Talloires Declaration (an international effort to promote environmental sustainability in higher education) and the College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. On Jan. 12, 2010, President Schrum signed an agreement with the city of Georgetown that enables Southwestern to get all of its electricity from wind power for the next 18 years. All the buildings that have been constructed at Southwestern in the past five years have earned LEED certification.
Enhancing student life on campus has been another focus of President Schrum’s administration at Southwestern. Included in this was expanding Southwestern’s athletic offerings. Four new varsity athletic teams were started or announced during his tenure – softball, men’s and women’s lacrosse, and football.
President Schrum is a strong proponent of liberal arts education and has been a national leader in the field of higher education. He has served as national board chair for the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) as well as for the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) and the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas (ICUT).
He has served on the boards of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), the American Council on Education (ACE), the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, the Association of Governing Boards Council of Presidents, the Foundation for Independent Higher Education and the Texas Independent College Foundation.
President Schrum currently serves as a trustee of Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Ga., and is a member of the Steering Committee for the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. He also is on the Board of Directors for the Campus to Community Coalition of Texas (C3Texas).
President Schrum has written or edited several books, including Justice for All, Democracy’s Last Stand: The Role of the New Urban University and A Board’s Guide to Comprehensive Campaigns.
President Schrum’s efforts to promote understanding and support of education were recognized in 2008 when he received the Chief Executive Leadership Award from CASE District IV, which includes Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mexico.
President Schrum has announced plans to retire as president of Southwestern University on June 30, 2013.
|
<urn:uuid:bcfd7e5f-4f3d-4603-b439-274c1144addd>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.southwestern.edu/about/leadership/presidentbio.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.975181
| 1,347
| 1.5625
| 2
|
(LONDON) -- The movie The Notebook became an instant hit in 2004 when it played out in real-time the romantic tale an elderly man, played by James Garner, told to a fellow nursing home resident, played by Gena Rowlands, of a young couple falling in love in the 1940s.
Across the pond, and long before the movie’s premiere, a man in England has been living a real-life version of the movie, reading the diaries he has kept for decades to his wife, suffering from dementia.
The man is Jack Potter, a 91-year-old from Rochester, Kent, England, who has been married to his wife, Phyllis, 93, for 70 years. The couple, who have no children, married on Feb. 20, 1943, and lived together at their home in Rochester for more than 50 years until 2007, when Phyllis’ health forced her to move to a nearby nursing home.
Ever since, Potter has been visiting his wife daily at the home, Copper Beeches, and reading to her from the diaries he has kept since 1938 when his father gave him a diary for Christmas.
“Each diary is a very small pocket diary and the ones written during the war years are in a very neat hand, in pencil,” Potter, through a representative for Copper Beeches, told ABC News.
The Potters met at a dance hall in 1941, just a few years after Jack Potter joined the Army. According to Potter’s diary entry at the time, and his recollection today, their meeting was a “life-changing moment,” and love at first sight.
“Very nice evening. Danced with [a] very nice girl. Hope I meet her again,” reads his diary entry from Oct. 4, 1941.
Less than two years later the Potters were married and, this year, in celebration of their 70th anniversary, the couple was feted in a celebration at Copper Beeches and received a congratulatory telegram from Queen Elizabeth herself.
“Phyllis means everything to Jack,” Susan Oates, home manager at Copper Beeches, told ABC News. “He says there was no boss in their relationship, everything was equal.”
Potter says his wife was aware that he kept detailed diaries throughout their marriage, but “didn’t pay particular interest” to his habit. Now the diaries serve as a remaining tie between the pair.
“When Jack visits Phyllis he either talks to her about their long life together or remembers particular holidays with the help of the diaries,” said Oates. “Phyllis still recognizes Jack despite the dementia. She pats his leg when he reads to her and often smiles.”
“Phyllis is very affectionate toward Jack and reaches out her arms to hug him when he arrives and kisses his hand when he leaves,” she said.
Asked the secret of their long, happy marriage, Potter told his local newspaper it came down to just a few simple words.
“Our motto is ‘Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be,’” he told the Kent Online.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
|
<urn:uuid:7df0253e-dba4-483d-9a05-98315ff362bd>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.wtrxsports.com/common/more.php?m=58&ts=1368988981&article=D155DA8386A111E286DEFEFDADE6840A&mode=2
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.987809
| 686
| 1.6875
| 2
|
Social Conscience or Too Scary for Kids?
by Wendy Sachs
My kids are now eight and six years old, which means they are still plenty self absorbed to believe that they are king and queen of the castle, but old enough at least I think, to start having some construct of a social conscience and a more accurate sense of the world.
I still have them believing in the Tooth Fairy – at least they pretend to so they can get compensated by the cash carrying Angel of Baby Teeth. And even though we don’t celebrate Christmas, my kids seem to still trust that there is a Santa and a gaggle of reindeer who fly on a pimped out sleigh dropping presents down a chimney. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the buzz kill type who exposes Santa as an overweight, over commercialized fraud. But as my children get a little older I’ve become more intent on grounding them and keeping it real.
Ever since my first toddler shrieked “Mine!” followed by, “I want that!” I’ve been desperate to figure out how to raise un-bratty, kind hearted kids with a social conscience. And every time we walk into a Target and my son Jonah wants a new Tech Deck to add to his massive collection and my daughter Lexi wants another Sharpay doll, I announce to my husband that it’s time to take our kids to visit a soup kitchen.
“When are they old enough to ladle?” I’ve asked the Mitzvah team members at my synagogue who help out at local soup kitchens and homeless shelters. Apparently, six and eight years old are too young to volunteer.
Maybe it’s the Obama effect or maybe it’s just a raised national social conscience, but community service and charitable giving has definitely trickled down even into the first grade and I am grateful for the backup. During the next few weeks, kids at our elementary school are encouraged to turn in their gently used coats and write notes to the new owners. The note is supposed to be placed into the coat’s pocket. This year the coat drive has become personal, not just theoretical.
It’s interesting and heartening to see Jonah becoming increasingly curious about the news. He wanted to know what happened in Fort Hood. And he recently talked about 9/11 and the planes that took down the World Trade Center. Jonah speculated that 9/11 could never happen again because “they must be making stronger buildings now.”
I struggle with how to talk to my kids about horrific events like 9/11, the Fort Hood shootings and the bleak, inescapable realities of life. I’ve tried to explain about selfish, greedy people like Bernie Madoff and I’ve talked about parents being out of work and the hardships created by the recession. And I use my children’s books to hammer home important life lessons. Last night we finished reading “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” which is a brilliant example of the hazards that befall overstuffed and overindulged kids.
|
<urn:uuid:38f41f0b-25f6-4a0e-b121-b4d41927dffb>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.mommytracked.com/wendy_sachs_raising_socially_aware_kids?page=0%25252C1%252C1
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.960705
| 655
| 1.796875
| 2
|
Lost Memphis - transports viewers back to a time when Union Station stood tall and proud in the Memphis skyline and the old Cossitt Library was a treasured place for book-lovers. There are even some more recent “lost” places like popular swimming pools, the Casino Ballroom, and Merrymobiles, letting you relive your fondest memories of living in the Bluff city.
Elmwood Cemetery – Reflections of Memphis – honored the 150th anniversary (in 2002) of the historic landmark. Based on the book Elmwood 2002: In the Shadows of the Elms, this documentary takes a journey through the history of Elmwood Cemetery, highlighting not only its amazing history, but also its unique physical beauty.
The Cotton Carnival Years – travels back to the beginnings of the “South’s Greatest Party” in 1931. Anyone living in Memphis before the 1960’s will remember just how important cotton was to the city. When the “white gold” fell on hard times in the 1920’s and reached a record low during the depression, a group of prominent citizens decided to throw a “party with a purpose.” Created to boost the spirits of Memphians and the demand for cotton, the Cotton Carnival was an instant success and quickly grew from a three-day event to an annual week-long extravaganza. After taking a break during the War Years, Cotton Carnival saw its true heyday in the 1940’s and 50’s.
Overton Park – A Century of Change - focuses on the history of Overton Park on the occasion of its 100-year anniversary. The park has been an essential part of the lives of Midtown residents for many years, from its creation in 1901 until the present. Overton Park includes the Old Forest; the Memphis Zoo; a golf course; the Brooks Museum; the Memphis College of Art; and the Shell, formerly known as the MOAT, or Memphis Open Air Theater (Elvis Presley gave his first paid performance on a large stage at the Shell).
High School, My School - a sweeping look at the school spirit and loyalties of Memphis high school students from the 1950’s through the 1970’s as displayed at Friday night ballgames, drive-ins, burger joints, malt shops, proms, and more.
Features beautiful footage of these landmarks and interviews with local historians about the church structures as well as how these early congregations helped shape the city we know today.
Sacred Spaces- Explores some the city’s oldest downtown congregations- sharing stories of their rich histories and in turn uncovering a colorful picture of our city’s past. From the rough-and-ready frontier town that was Memphis in the 1820s to the boom time of the 1860s when Memphis swelled with immigrants to the devastating yellow fever epidemics of the 1870s that changed the course and character of Memphis and finally concluding with a look at the roles these churches currently play in the downtown scene.
|
<urn:uuid:becb5a60-e388-4bbd-b3ea-aad60d99e22d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.wkno.org/tvshows/mem_memoirs.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.946313
| 625
| 1.84375
| 2
|
Christ has the divine right to tell us who and what we are
Van Til tells us: "Christ has, by His Word and by His Spirit, identified himself with us and thereby, at the same time, told us who and what we are." Christ’s incarnation is the ultimate event in history... that includes not only his birth, but his life, his death, his physical resurrection and physical ascension. The Creator’s physical reign from heaven has a demand on those of us who live under that rule as Creatures. Christ has the divine right to tell us who and what we are. Our meaning comes from outside of ourselves. When we see that Gatorade commercial and it asks us: “Is it in you?”, our emphatic response should be “no, it is not in me." The worldview which is manifested in that commercial is not my worldview. My meaning does not come from within me. It is not self-derived. It must be given to me. Since my meaning comes from outside of me, so does life’s interpretation. All of meaning and interpretation comes from Christ. It is Christ who, in the Scriptures, gives us the “system” of truth which men must believe. Christ said “I am the Truth”. That statement imposes itself on me and the rest of Creation as a demand and claim on my belief system.
How is it that we know all of this? If truth is outside of ourselves, then how is it that we come to know this Truth in the person and scriptures of Jesus Christ? Van Til rightly answers that it is Jesus who "has sent His Spirit, the Comforter, to dwell in our hearts so that we might believe and therefore understand all things to be what Christ says that they are." This reality was visibly portrayed at Pentecost, when the Spirit descended from the enthroned Christ into the church; but it is also a reality that is true of all who would understand and know Christ through the scriptures.
|
<urn:uuid:b06fa206-168c-4287-b790-8ba1ff865c89>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://breusswane.blogspot.com/2006_09_16_archive.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.980561
| 416
| 1.757813
| 2
|
Sunday, January 04, 2009
For lo these many years, the Democratic motorcade class has scolded American workers for driving gas-guzzling cars. Now that Americans have begun driving more fuel-efficient cars and driving less, how have the finger-waggers reacted? No, they are not planning a parade -- they already are working on a new tax on miles driven to make up for lost gasoline-tax revenue.
With the help of a six-year, $2.1 million federal grant, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski is moving forward with a proposal to tax Oregon drivers for the miles they drive. "As Oregonians drive less and demand more fuel-efficient vehicles, it is increasingly important that the state find a new way, other than the gas tax, to finance our transportation system," Kulongoski told the Albany Democrat Herald.
Why not simply raise the gas tax so that Hummer owners continue to pay more than drivers of four-cylinder put-puts?
"It's very difficult to raise the gas tax when the price of gasoline is so volatile," answered James Whitty, Kulongoski's point man on the Oregon Mileage Fee Concept. (In lieu of the term "concept," many Oregonians might prefer to substitute the word "squeeze.") Politically, Whitty explained, raising taxes has been untenable in Oregon and on Capitol Hill since 1993.
In November 2007, a task force released the findings of the Road User Fee Pilot Program. Guess what: It found that a road tax has more advantages than disadvantages. In that self-congratulatory tone perfected by bureaucrats who have succeeded in finding what they always planned on finding, Whitty noted in the report, "The Oregon Department of Transportation concludes that the Oregon Road User Fee Pilot Program tested the critical elements of the Oregon Mileage Concept and yielded the result -- Concept Proven."
Not so fast, buckaroo.
If the goal of the green brain trust is to reduce gas consumption, then Oregon shouldn't dump a tax that punishes guzzling and replace it with a tax that dings Hummers and hybrids alike. (Whitty noted that the state could choose to charge gas-burning wheels more per mile than itty-bitty cars. Hello. That's what the gasoline tax already does.)
Whitty believes that the state should prepare for the day when 100-mpg vehicles and electric cars dominate the road. Oregon, he noted, boasts the country's highest ratio of hybrid cars -- 30,000 out of 3.8 million vehicles. With oil trading below $50 per barrel, there would be less incentive to buy a hybrid -- yet the green trust is busy working on another reason to not buy a hybrid. Some critics have privacy issues with under-the-hood transponders that could track where a car travels. No worries, the 2007 paper asserts the Oregon plan "protects privacy. Places driven cannot be revealed nor are they stored."
Maybe the pilot program was set up that way. But Whitty told me the transponders are supposed to track out-of-state driving. And down here, where I get a regular bill with the dates and times for when I paid to cross the Bay Bridge, it's hard to imagine that after built-in transponders are standard in every new auto, nanny state governments won't come up with a menu of behaviors beyond driving too much -- as in, driving in cities, driving during rush hour -- to enable states to levy extra taxes.
Follow the money and the red flag. The road-tax report gushes about how mileage transponders can be used to implement "congestion pricing" -- by adding fees for driving in urban areas or during rush hour. Think the London program that charges motorists $15 per day to drive in the central city. Our Betters in Europe like it -- so of course, Davos-happy solons from American cities (San Francisco, New York) want their subjects to support this pricey trend.
Robert Poole, director of transportation studies at the Reason Foundation, thinks a congestion tax makes sense for London and "probably makes sense for Manhattan." But: "There's not enough congestion on the streets of San Francisco to make congestion pricing a solution to a real problem. It's a solution looking for a problem."
My big fear isn't being tailed by a black helicopter on my way to the grocery store. My fear is that that enviro do-gooders will use this unnecessary road tax to devise new busybody regulations just to keep me out of my car -- when gridlock, the cost and stress already serve as disincentives.
My fear is that my tax dollars will be used to bankroll a scheme to punish me for using roads my tax dollars already paid for, because some day I might own an electric car.
Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.
We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter, the Rasmussen Report on radio and other media outlets.
Some information, including the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and commentaries are available for free to the general public. Subscriptions are available for $3.95 a month or 34.95 a year that provide subscribers with exclusive access to more than 20 stories per week on Election 2012, consumer confidence, and issues that affect us all. For those who are really into the numbers, Platinum Members can review demographic crosstabs and a full history of our data.
|
<urn:uuid:3f9c2abd-4526-469e-a943-f374c5b7a831>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_debra_j_saunders/big_brother_backseat_driver
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.941906
| 1,230
| 1.539063
| 2
|
Instructor: Marcy Kennedy
Length: A week and a half in WANATribe forum. One 90 Minute Webinar in the WANA International Digital Classroom (60 minutes for log-line feedback and 30 minutes Q&A)
Quick! Can you describe your book in fewer than 30 words?
Whether you’re a self-published author who needs a log-line to use as a marketing tool, or want to go traditional and will be pitching an agent at a conference or through a query, a one-sentence log-line will be one of your essential tools.
This class is also ideal for people who are just starting to write a novel. Being able to sum up what your book is about will give you a guidepost for writing the next 50,000-100,000 words. A logline is essential for building a foundation for a clear and powerful story.
This class is PERFECT for those who don’t want to plot the novel they’ll write during NaNoWriMo.
At the start of the class, Marcy will provide you with a lesson that walks you through the elements of a standout logline, and give you the deadline for submitting your logline. Every participant will receive personalized feedback on how to improve.
In addition, at the end of class, we’ll meet together in the WANA International Digital Classroom and Marcy will walk you through examples submitted by class members so that everyone can learn from them.
Monday, October 15th---Class Starts and Lesson Posted in Forum
Friday, October 19th---Deadline for Submitting Log-Line
Monday, October 29th---Live Webinar and Feedback on Log-Lines. Time of Webinar will be scheduled when class begins. All webinars are recorded.
|
<urn:uuid:83d4a006-bb4c-4d90-aac2-9636d4e2f508>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://wanaintl.com/event-registration/?ee=64
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.939343
| 375
| 1.515625
| 2
|
View Full Version : Painting plastic pieces.
04-01-2006, 11:23 PM
I bought an aftermarket hood that has the cowl induction and has a billet insert on the front. My question is: the part where the billet is located is plastic, and is going to be painted the same color as the hood. I was going to spray it first with the Bulldog plastic adhesion promoter. Do I need to spray sealer on it after I spray the promoter? I am going to attached it to the hood before I paint it because it needs to be glued on and I don't want to run the risk of getting any glue on the fresh paint by mistake. So spraying it with sealer may not be avoidable since I am going to seal the hood anyway. And another question: will it hurt the primer on the hood if I get the promoter on it?
Sorry for the repeat of the question... I meant to put it under the General Discussions forum.
04-01-2006, 11:56 PM
I've been working on some plastic parts these last few weeks and can share what I've found.
You will only need the adhesion promoter if the part is raw plastic (un-primered).
If it is raw plastic, scuff it up (use a scotch brite pad or P600 paper) then apply the adhesion promoter (according to directions), let it flash and lay your primer down. Most adhesion promoters have a "window" of time that the primer/paint needs to be applied.
*** warning *** use only cleaners made to used with plastics some solvents can cause a reaction.
If the part is already primered, again scuff as before and just lay the primer down. Avoid cutting/sanding through the primer.
In both cases I would check your products (primer if needed, topcoat and clear and see if they require any special additives when being used on plastic.
I don't see the need for a Sealer (unless you mean a primer/sealer)
I have experienced and read that some promoters will cause primer or paint to lift. Unfortunately the only way to find out was to "test in a inconspicous spot" (I love it when they say that).
Does the "glue" your using say it needs to be bonded to bare or painted metal? If I can help it, removable/replaceable parts are always painted off the car/panel. You can always mask off the area around where you planning to mount the part to keep that clean.
Hopefully Len will chime in, I've read over the years here a few posts where he's done something like this (IIRC)
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.0 Copyright © 2013 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
|
<urn:uuid:1cbb4702-2628-410b-9916-0253b24ff36f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://autobodystore.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1096.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.946416
| 592
| 1.546875
| 2
|
Feminists hate misogyny, not men. Kinda like that “hate the sin, not the sinner” thing, sometimes it’s easy to separate the behaviour from the enactor and sometimes it’s not. But we know that not all men are pits of misogyny, so if you aren’t acting out misogyny, then it’s not about you. We also know […]
Updated 10 November 2007 The term “gender gap” generally refers to the observed inequity in earnings, whereby men earn significantly more than women both on average and when performing the same job, although there are also discussions of gender gaps in representation in certain areas of society such as education and politics. This gap varies […]
I’m actually going to try and get this thing going again. Rather than try and generate material specifically for this blog, I’m going to make it more of a link farm (with occasional calls to activism). Every now and then I might do a roundup of material that answers FAQs. This week was International Women’s […]
This is a crosspost to effect a Googlebomb, correcting an injustice against a fellow feminist blogger. Jill Filipovic, who blogs at Feministe and Ms. JD, is a NYU law student who has been the subject of cyber-obsession on a discussion board allegedly populated by law students. The discussions regarding Jill Filipovic (and many other female […]
Quick – what’s the difference between begging the question and raising the question? If you’re not sure, and especially if you’ve never even thought there was a difference, you need to brush up on rhetorical tricks and logical fallacies before you wade out into debates. Start here.
It keeps getting said on a lot of feminist blogs that they’re not there to educate people in the baby steps of feminism, that they want to discuss matters at a level which assumes a reasonable familiarity with feminist theories and models. And they’re right, otherwise the same basic things just keep getting said over […]
|
<urn:uuid:7dc0cdab-4a48-4034-80c4-0484a825b8c7>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/page/30/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.953556
| 424
| 1.65625
| 2
|
So the New York Times digs into a phenomenon where a few healthy people fake the need to use a wheelchair so they can get through security lines faster and get to board first!
Quote: So it may be an expected, if uncomfortable, fact that some travelers appear to exploit perhaps the only remaining loophole to a breezy airport experience — the line-cutting privileges given to people who request airport wheelchairs, for which no proof of a disability is required.
The practice, tacitly endorsed by a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy from wheelchair pushers, who sometimes receive tips, is so commonplace that airport workers can predict spikes in wheelchair requests when security is particularly backed up, and flight attendants see it so often on certain routes — including to the Philippines, Egypt and the Dominican Republic, for which sometimes a dozen people in wheelchairs will be waiting to board — they’ve dubbed them “miracle flights.”
“We’d say there was a miracle because they all needed a wheelchair getting on, but not getting off,” said Kelly Skyles, a flight attendant and the national safety and security coordinator for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents American Airlines attendants. “Not only do we serve them beverages and ensure their safety — now we’re healing the sick.”
All the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal, or fattening.
|
<urn:uuid:e7fe0e6b-10b7-4934-8f3e-961d9202189a>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/aviation_polls/read.main/242965/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.948066
| 299
| 1.78125
| 2
|
Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-RabbitBy Jane Louise Boursaw
MPAA Rating: G
Now they're hitting the big screen, and W&G fans around the world are cheering. Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and Gromit are cashing in with their humane pest-control business, "Anti-Pesto" (complete with a "SWAT" team van). With only days to go before the annual Giant Vegetable Competition, they're very busy! But their West Wallaby Street home is filling up with captured rabbits, and suddenly, a mysterious veggie-ravaging "beast" (the Were-Rabbit) begins attacking the town's sacred vegetable plots at night. Oh my.
Enter Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter), who commissions Anti-Pesto to catch the beast and save the day. But her snobby suitor, Lord Victor Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes), would rather shoot the beast, become a hero, and secure the Lady's hand in marriage. She allows Victor to hunt down the veggie-chomping marauder, but little does she know that Victor's real intent could have dire consequences for her...AND Wallace & Gromit.
PRE-SCHOOLER (ages 2-5): This is one of those rare movies that appeals to both kids and adults. Even though pre-schoolers won't understand all the jokes, they'll love the adorable claymation characters and colorful scenes. And at just 85 minutes and with plenty of wacky hijinks, they probably won't get bored.
GRADE-SCHOOLER (ages 6-10): Kids will love the quirky gadgets, including the soccamatic, the tellyscope, and the cartoony wake-up call. The plot rolls along quickly and will keep kids engaged from start to finish.
TWEEN/TEEN (ages 11+): This is a wonderful diversion from the formulaic films coming out of Hollywood these days, and something the whole family can enjoy together. Older kids will love the cheeky tributes to past sci-fi movies like Jaws and King Kong. The animation is top-notch, the writing clever, and the plotline fun. We could all use a good laugh these days, and this movie is sure to deliver.
Jane Louise Boursaw is a freelance journalist specializing in the movie and television industries.
|
<urn:uuid:3ce73eeb-0151-4a2c-8410-fb36af7e0467>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://entertainment.kaboose.com/movies/wallace-and-gromit-the-curse-of-the-were-rabbit.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.937051
| 510
| 1.5625
| 2
|
A paper writing service can help save time when trying to meet various deadlines. Students who grasp the basic concept of a class but don’t have the time to write a research report or essay can use a copywriting service to get the job done efficiently. Online services utilize a questionnaire that asks pertinent questions about the paper needed. Buyers can relay the type of paper, topic, the number of pages and words, the timeframe, and the citations needed. The paper writing service will assign the paper to a professional writer who writes the paper within the given parameters. Get information about what services are offered by visiting the link and get lots of benefits you can get.
Many people pay their entire lives dreaming of changing into a author, nonetheless never realizing that there’s a piece career out there for them on-line straight away. You do not have to be compelled to write a completely unique or submit stories to magazines so as to be printed anymore. You’ll begin a career in skilled writing services and obtain printed immediately on-line.
There is in order that a lot of content on-line that the requirement for people that supply skilled writing services is ever increasing. It appears that each business, massive or tiny, is craving for some way to market their business, and therefore the best thanks to do this straight away is thru article selling. you have got most likely seen these articles on-line, and for the foremost half, they were all written by skilled writing services corporations, instead of by the business itself.
What this implies for you is that there’s a fantastic chance straight away. Notwithstanding what proportion expertise you have got or what sort of degree you have got (even if you do not have one!), you’ll still build an awfully nice living by providing skilled writing services to businesses on-line.
You don’t would like lots to urge started. In fact, all you actually would like may be a pc and a web affiliation. Having a laptop pc is preferable since you’ll have lots additional flexibility on where and after you work, however if you’re happy being tied to your desk at home, then that’s fine, too. You ought to even have fairly smart typing skills, which can build doing all your work lots easier. If your typing isn’t up to par, there are extraordinarily cheap typing programs which will assist you brush up on your skills.
Finding your niche within the writing world is vital if you’re progressing to actually fancy what you’re doing. And since we have a tendency to all recognize that after you fancy your job, you finish up doing it higher and faster, you’ll build lots more cash if you discover the correct niche. There are many various kinds of opportunities to create cash writing, like technical writing, ghostwriting, blog writing, article writing and even e-mail writing. You’ll end up writing copy for a complete web site or making an e-mail campaign for Alittle Company.
One of the opposite intriguing facts concerning putting in a corporation in skilled writing services is that it extremely does not matter where you’re located. You do not have to be compelled to be in a very massive town, and you do not even have to be compelled to be within the US. As long as you have got a decent grasp of the English language (native speakers are preferred), the sole downside you’ll ever have is establishing the time zones of your purchasers so you’ll e-mail them once they are awake. apart from that, there aren’t any restrictions on location, therefore albeit you’re sitting on a beach somewhere, you’ll still be creating cash together with your writing, that are a few things you’ll never have in a very ancient job.
|
<urn:uuid:1addda0b-83cb-4722-ba68-4cf7b03ea26b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.tiny-youtube-converter.com/tag/relay
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.959656
| 783
| 1.507813
| 2
|
- (Reuters/KCNA for Reuters TV)
Before leaving North Korea Friday as part of his "basketball diplomacy" visit, ex-NBA star Dennis Rodman praised leader Kim Jong Un for being an "awesome guy," adding he and his father were "great leaders."
Rodman, who is now the most high-profile American to meet Kim Jong Un, told local media outside of the Pyongyang's Sunan airport before departing that it was "amazing how [Kim Jong Un] was so honest."
"Guess what, his grandfather, and his father were great leaders, and he's such a proud man," Rodman, who was visiting the country along with the famed American basketball exhibition team the Harlem Globetrotters, said. "He's proud, his country likes him – not like him, love him, love him," Rodman said. "Guess what, I love him. The guy's really awesome."
Many have described Rodman's visit to North Korea and his blatant praise of Kim Jong Un as being strange, especially because of the mutual hostility between the U.S. and North Korea. There is no formal diplomatic relations between the United States and North Korea, and the U.S. is regularly condemning the North's for its suspected nuclear program. Until 2008, North Korea was on America's "State Sponsors of Terrorism" list.
And just in January, North Korea began a series of nuclear tests and rocket launches while also singling out the U.S. as its "sworn enemy."
North Korea has also been named as the No.1 Christian persecutor for 11 straight years by Open Doors. Being a Christian is illegal in North Korea, and those found to possess a Bible or of following Jesus are thrown into hard labor concentration camps or in some cases, publicly executed. Open Doors reported in January that two North Korean Christians were shot because of their faith. One was shot while leaving for Bible training in China, and the other one died in a labor camp.
And according to the World Food Program, about one in every three children in North Korea is chronically malnourished or "stunted," or too short for their age. And a quarter of all pregnant or breast-feeding women are malnourished. About 68 percent of the North's population receive public food ration through the country's Public Distribution System.
Kim Jong Un, 30, took over control of North Korea in December 2011 after his father, Kim Jong Il, passed away. Kim Jong Un's grandfather, Kim Il Sung, founded North Korea in 1948.
Kim Jung Un, who has been criticized as being a dictator who lives an extravagant life as his people starve, reportedly said that the visit was meant to facilitate amicable relations between the two countries through the power of sport.
Rodman, while attending a game between North Korea players and the Harlem Globetrotters on Thursday, told Kim Jong Un in front of a crowd of thousands that the leader "[has] a friend for life."
The two reportedly sat side-by-side while watching Thursday's game, which ended in a tied score of 110 to 110, and later they drank alcohol and dined on sushi at Kim Jong Un's palace.
Rodman, was visiting the Asian country along with four Harlem Globetrotters in an attempt to facilitate "basketball diplomacy. He was there on behalf of the New York-based Vice Media Company, which was filming a documentary on North Korea and its leader.
Rodman, who has an array of facial piercings, has made a name for himself in American pop-culture for his outlandish antics, including once wearing a wedding dress to promote his autobiography.
Some have defended Rodman and said he cannot necessarily be blamed for his brazen relations with North Korea, as he is not an expert on international relations. For example, on Feb. 26, Rodman inadvertently insulted South Korean rapper Psy, famous for his most-watched YouTube video of all time "Gangnam Style," by suggesting that Psy was from North Korea.
"May I'll run into the Gangnam style dude while I'm here," Rodman tweeted.
"I'm from #SOUTH man!!!" Psy responded.
North and South Korea are technically still at war since the Armistice Agreement in 1953. The Korean Demilitarized Zone along the 38th parallel north is the most heavily militarized border in the world.
Rodman's agent, Darren Prince, told The Associated Press that the ex-NBA star was not concerned about sparking political controversy through his visit.
"Dennis called me last night and said it's been a great experience and he made this trip out of the love of the USA," the agent told AP. "It's all about peace and love."
|
<urn:uuid:db0bae39-e36b-4ed7-8b0a-572e469adf78>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.christianpost.com/news/dennis-rodman-praises-dictator-kim-jong-un-as-awesome-guy-great-leader-91065/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.983054
| 982
| 1.554688
| 2
|
WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange is an obvious security threat to the United States and its allies. The media is reporting on all the leaked documents on the Iraq/Afgahnistan wars and more recently, the State Department’s diplomatic cables. What we’re not hearing is the more grave threat Assange represents if he falls into enemy hands.
So far, the leaked documents are only a small portion of what Assange holds. The leaks have also been redacted to remove identifying information. Assange holds access to the remainder of those stolen State secrets and his versions do not hide the identifying information. What happens if Iran, China, North Korea or other enemies of the United States manage to actually get their hands on Julian Assange? There won’t be any trial, they won’t ask politely, they won’t worry about international implications for torturing him – they will get access to all of the information he holds.
Those documents are now in the control of one person with no checks on that person whatsoever. If he succeeds in defending himself against the sex crimes charges with which he is faced, he goes free. Free for less-benevolent nations to pursue.
The only solution is for Assange to prove the destruction of all of the documents he holds to the satisfaction of the owner, the United States of America. By his own admission, he is in possession of stolen U.S. government property. That, in itself, is a crime. Then giving that property to the New York Times so that they may profit from it is another, for which the Times should be tried. They sold more newspapers because of the leaks and therefor profited from the sale of stolen property. Why has the U.S. Department of Justice not put the Times on notice?
Now a band of hackers under WikiLeaks umbrella have attacked Mastercard in retaliation for the cut-off of funding to Assange. This is directly related to Julian’s blackmail threat that anyone that got in his way would pay a price. Certainly, there are a few crimes in those words and actions as well.
WikiLeaks must be stopped. This is a matter of National security. The Obama administration must make it too risky for major media outlets to release WikiLeaks documents. Make a case against the Guardian, New York Times and others that chose to profit from the sale of stolen U.S. property and hunt down the Mastercard hackers.
|
<urn:uuid:be053a68-f5d5-4e9e-973f-b4cc8bb40534>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.conservativedailynews.com/2010/12/julian-assange-is-even-more-dangerous-than-you-have-heard/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.952342
| 491
| 1.679688
| 2
|
Urooj's research focuses on fair value accounting, financial institutions, standard setting, and disclosure. In his research on fair value accounting, he examines the role of fair value accounting in banking crises and whether fair value accounting increases the risk of systemic failure of the banking sector. He also investigates whether the use of fair values in financial reporting enhances the predictive ability of accounting earnings. In his research on disclosure, he compares and contrasts the characteristics of management forecasts to those of analyst forecasts for a set of firms that have both. At Columbia Business School, he teaches the core financial accounting class in the MBA program and regularly participates in executive education programs.
Urooj received his Ph.D. in business Administration from the University of Washington in 2010. Prior to joining the Ph.D. program, he obtained a master in accounting from Syracuse University and worked in the Corporate Banking division of Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Bank.
|
<urn:uuid:346f36ef-c8f5-4679-b01d-e08d49e28bf6>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/cbs-directory/departments/faculty-staff/detail?main.um1=uk2117&main.ctrl=contactmgr.list&main.view=profilea.detail
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.956122
| 188
| 1.578125
| 2
|
"Be careful what you wish for," as the saying goes, "because you will surely get it." In light of a couple of recent Vatican stories, the corollary also seems to apply: Be careful what you try to avoid, because it might actually be good for you.
A stringent European money laundering exam in July and a federal court ruling in Oregon this week both make the point.
Earlier this year, the Vatican faced secular scrutiny of its financial operations for the first time with a review by Moneyval, Europe's anti-money-laundering agency. The Vatican submitted voluntarily, a somewhat surprising choice given its long history of fighting off such perceived incursions on its autonomy tooth and nail. The truth, however, is it didn't have much choice. If the Vatican is perceived as a suspect financial player, it risks higher transaction costs and being shut out of important markets.
July's verdict was a mixed bag, raising questions such as whether regulation of the Vatican Bank is sufficiently strong. Yet on the whole, Moneyval concluded the Vatican "has come a long way in a very short period of time" toward transparency, and "there is no empirical evidence of corruption."
Those findings undercut conspiracy theories about Vatican finances, and, to some extent, they also offset perceptions of Benedict XVI's papacy as an administrative train wreck.
Taking its medicine, in other words, did the Vatican some good.
Something similar happened Monday, with a ruling in a federal district court in Oregon on a sex abuse lawsuit. In a nutshell, the judge held that the Vatican is not the "employer" of Catholic priests and dismissed it from the case.
Judge Michael Mosman compared policies for priests set in Rome to the sort of control a state bar association wields over lawyers -- important, sure, but not tantamount to an employer/employee relationship.
Before explaining why that experience was healthy, too, a bit of background.
The Oregon case
The ruling Monday came in the case of John Doe v. Holy See, filed in 2002 on behalf of a man allegedly abused in 1965-66 by a onetime Irish Servite priest named Andrew Ronan, who was laicized in 1966 and who died in 1992.
Correspondence released in the case shows that Ronan was transferred to the United States in 1959 in the wake of admitting to homosexual contact with seminarians at a Servite priory in Benburb, Ireland. He arrived first in Chicago, moving to Portland, Ore., in 1965 as a retreat director. The lawsuit named the Vatican, the archdioceses of Chicago and Portland, and the Servites as defendants, asserting that policies of secrecy put the alleged victim in harm's way. Since the two archdioceses were already dropped, the new ruling leaves only the religious order.
As in other instances in which it's been sued in American courts, the Vatican fought back tenaciously.
In 2009, the Vatican asked the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss it from the case on the grounds of sovereign immunity, drawing support from the Obama administration in the form of a brief jointly signed by the Office of the Solicitor General, the attorney general and the State Department. In June 2010, however, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, sending it back to Oregon.
(As a footnote, the Oregon case thus produced a rather juicy irony: The allegedly anti-Catholic Obama administration stood with the Vatican, while all those Catholic justices on the Supreme Court didn't give Rome what it wanted.)
In August 2011, the Vatican released what it claimed were all the documents about Ronan in its possession. They included a 1953 note of permission for Ronan to serve as a novice master despite being below the age then established in church law as well as several documents related to his 1966 laicization. Among them is a February 1966 letter from Ronan, acknowledging "my repeated, admitted, documented homosexual tendencies and acts against the vow of chastity and celibacy."
Notably, there was no document suggesting the Vatican approved, or even knew about, Ronan's 1959 transfer. Vatican lawyers say the paper trail proves the Vatican didn't become aware of Ronan's problems until 1966 and laicized him within weeks.
This chain of events culminated in Mosman's ruling Monday, which was read aloud by the judge from the bench.
How it helps
While the Vatican never wanted things to go this far, perhaps it ought to be glad they did.
First of all, the Vatican has always made sovereign immunity its first line of defense in sex abuse litigation. Given public outrage over the scandals, however, it was inevitable that, sooner or later, it would have to take a stand on the merits.
Technically, the Aug. 20 ruling was still focused on immunity. One of the few exceptions to the 1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act is if a foreign state acts as an employer in America. By finding that the Vatican doesn't employ priests, the judge effectively held that its immunity still applies.
Nevertheless, the ruling cut closer than any previous case to the substantive issue of whether the Vatican was actually responsible for supervising abuser priests, and it's probably healthy to face that question head-on.
For Catholics everywhere, there's a broader take-away.
Insiders have long been frustrated with perceptions that the church is rigidly centralized and tightly controlled from the top. In truth, Catholicism is top-down only on faith and morals. In terms of administration, it's mostly horizontal, with key calls on personnel and finance made by diocesan bishops. On most everything else, such as new spiritual initiatives, new intellectual vision, and new pastoral and apostolic models, it's largely bottom-up.
While that might be reality, Catholics haven't had much luck communicating it, so the myth endures that nothing happens without somebody in Rome flipping a switch.
Now, however, we have an American judge with no dog in Catholic fights -- for the record, Mosman is a Mormon -- who took an objective look at the relationship between the Vatican and Catholic priests and concluded that the Vatican isn't their boss.
In a flash, Mosman might have done more to explain Catholic ecclesiology to the outside world than a whole rafter of paid church spokespersons has accomplished since, well, the dawn of time.
In terms of church politics, the ruling could also act as a firebreak against attempted micro-management from Rome. In the future, if somebody in the Vatican tries to push a priest around, he'd be well advised to reply: "Didn't you guys swear to an American judge that I don't work for you?"
In some ways, it's too bad other cases raising similar questions haven't moved further down the pipeline.
For instance, a lawsuit filed in Kentucky in 2004 charged that Catholic bishops, rather than priests, are "agents" or "employees" of the Vatican. In response, Vatican lawyers filed two lengthy memoranda from canonist Edward Peters of Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, forcefully defending the autonomy of the local bishop. To assert that bishops are no more than Vatican employees is "contrary to basic principles underlying the structure of the church," Peters wrote.
The judge was never forced to rule because in 2010, the plaintiff's lawyers abandoned the case. It would have been fascinating to see what he made of Peters' argument.
The Vatican's undesired teaching moment may not be over yet, since the plaintiff's lawyer in Oregon, Jeffrey Anderson, has vowed to appeal. No doubt, the Vatican will once again try to fight it off.
As with Moneyval and Mosman's ruling, however, the Vatican may find that sometimes developments you worry about the most also give you the most help.
[John L. Allen Jr. is NCR senior correspondent. His email address is email@example.com.]
|
<urn:uuid:87f1cdf9-da36-4a10-a987-fefe0b7491db>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/taking-its-medicine-does-vatican-some-good
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.972442
| 1,620
| 1.5625
| 2
|
Congratulations to Michael Steele on his election to head of the Republican National Committee.
And kudos to the Democrats and President Barack Obama for their influence in moving the Republicans to become more inclusive and in making baby steps in the direction of becoming a more diverse party. It's a start. There are now, what 5 people of color in their tent?
Here's Wiki's bio of Mr. Steele:
Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer. He was elected chairman of the Republican National Committee on January 30, 2009, and is the first African-American to hold the position. Prior to this, Steele served as chairman of GOPAC and worked as a partner at the law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf. He also served as Lieutenant Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007 under Governor Robert Ehrlich.
Steele was the first African American to serve in a Maryland state-wide office and the first Republican lieutenant governor in the state. At the time he was the highest-ranking elected African American Republican in the United States. Steele ran for a Maryland United States Senate seat being vacated by retiring senator Paul Sarbanes, but he lost the 2006 election to Democratic Congressman Ben Cardin.
Steele’s mother was a widowed laundress who, he stated, worked for minimum wage rather than accept public assistance. Steele grew up in a Democratic household. However, as a young man he switched to the Republican Party.
On gay marriage: Steele has stated that he personally opposes a federal marriage amendment to ban same-sex marriage and believes that states should decide the issue for themselves but has indicated he would support it if elected RNC Chairman. He rates the issue of banning same-sex marriage low in importance.
On the war in Iraq: "It is imperative we improve conditions on the ground so we can bring our troops home as quickly as possible and have the Iraqi people take control of their own destiny. At the same time, we should not publicly state a timetable for implementation. I do not support a 'cut and run strategy.' Any politician out there talking about timetables and timelines is playing into the hands of our enemies who have an enormous capacity to wait. It would be a disaster for us to cut and run, as it would destroy our credibility in the region for at least a generation. At the same time, it is the Iraqi’s themselves that will ultimately have to make democracy work in their country. We should stay there only long enough to give the Iraqi people the tools they need to secure the very democracy they voted for three times. After that, it’s up to them."
Energy policy: "To provide immediate relief for Marylanders, I have called on President Bush and Congress to enact an immediate moratorium on the federal gas tax - more than 18 cents per gallon - and an immediate moratorium on the 24 cents per gallon diesel tax. Moreover, Congress should approve legislation to suspend the tariff on ethanol imports. But those actions are designed to deal with our immediate crisis. Congress must roll up its sleeves and work to solve the underlying problem - our dependence on foreign sources of energy. To do that, I’ve called on Congress to double President Bush’s budget request for biomass and bio-refinery research, and create market and tax incentives for E85 fuels, hybrid technologies and alternative energy sources. Tax credits for hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles need to be renewed and expanded. Additionally, we must increase fuel efficiency standards for automobiles – not just this year, but over the next several years."
Affirmative action: "Studies show enormous disparities still exist in education, healthcare, employment and economic opportunities along racial lines in the United States. I believe programs are still necessary to help close these divides. I support giving people opportunities. Programs must be fair to all Marylanders – of every color – and they should focus on economic empowerment."
The budget deficit: "Congress must also enact pro-growth policies that encourage the economy to expand: like making tax relief permanent and repealing the death tax. As we saw with the most recent deficit figures, a growing economy will in fact reduce the size of the budget deficit. In order to achieve optimal economic growth, Congress must adhere to sane spending guidelines while promoting smart policies devoted to growing businesses and creating jobs."
Stem cell research: "We have a lot to gain through furthering stem cell research, but medical breakthroughs should be fundamentally about saving, not destroying, human life. Therefore, I support stem cell research that does not destroy the embryo."
Health care: " We need to increase access to health insurance through Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and high deductible policies, so individuals and families can purchase the insurance that's best for them and meets their specific needs. . . . I support allowing small businesses to band together and compete for better insurance options. . . . To help increase our nation’s seniors access to affordable care, I have called to extend the sign up period for the Medicare Prescription Drug plan."
Mr. Steele's position on gun control:
Q: Your views on gun control?
STEELE: My views are pretty much in line with the governor's. I grew up under some of the strictest gun control laws in the country. You can have all the gun control laws in the country, but if you don't enforce them, people are going to find a way to protect themselves. We need to recognize that bad people are doing bad things with these weapons. It's not the law-abiding citizens, it's not the person who uses it as a hobby.
Q: Should people have access to buy assault weapons?
STEELE: Society should draw lines. What do you need an assault weapon for, if you're going hunting? That's overkill. But I don't think that means you go to a total ban for those who want to use gun for skeet shooting or hunting or things like that But what's the point of passing gun laws if we're not going to enforce them? If you want to talk about gun control, that's where you need to start. We've got 300 gun laws on the books right now. At the end of the day, it's about how we enforce the law.
Mr. Steele's Democratic roots inform his moderate positions. Good on him.
Mr. Steele, a moderate, will be a force in the Republican Party's future, and thanks to Barack Obama, will probably be a rising star.
I wonder how long it will be before the Hindenburg of Gasbags tags Mr. Steele as a RINO???
Good luck, Mr. Steele.
|
<urn:uuid:8a8465a3-5b4f-4131-bcc5-3f31d18f9597>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://progressiveerupts.blogspot.jp/2009/01/michael-steele-chairman-of-rnc.html?showComment=1233595440000
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963895
| 1,358
| 1.820313
| 2
|
BANGKOK — Thailand and China have agreed to further boost economic ties during a high-level visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiaboa to Bangkok. Analysts say the visit, following soon after that of U.S. President Barack Obama, highlights increased interest in Southeast Asia’s positive economic outlook.
Talks between Wen and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Wednesday were intended to build on a major trading agreement between China and Thailand, announced in April this year.
Under the pact set out for five years, the governments agree to ambitious targets to expand trade and investment, as well as tourism, aiming to raise bilateral trade up to 15 percent a year.
Wen focuses on Thailand
In an address to reporters, Wen said China sees Thailand as an important trading partner. He said both nations agreed to implement the five-year plan on development and trade with a strengthening of cooperation and mutual investment in agriculture, and projects linked to traffic management, water resources and infrastructure.
Yingluck also supported the calls for greater cooperation in the agricultural sector. She said the Chinese government is interested in buying agricultural produce, especially rice.
During the talks, China agreed to purchase more rice from Thailand, both at a state and private-sector level.
Reports this week said Thailand had hoped to sell up to 5 million metric tons of rice to China in a bid to reduce rice stocks that the government has accumulated under a controversial rice pledging program that sets government buying rates above the international market.
US emphasizes Asia-Pacific
China’s purchases of Thai rice have fallen by more than 50 percent this year, since the program was introduced. At the meeting Thursday, China agreed to buy 260,000 tons of rice.
The agreement Thursday follows just days after Obama visited during a trip to promote Washington’s increased focus on trade and diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific.
The United States renewed a long-standing security pact with Thailand and a U.S.-sponsored Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), largely a free trade area between the U.S. and Asia-Pacific countries.
Somphob Manarangsan, a professor of economics, said the recent visits of the senior leaders from both countries stand in contrast, as China has strong economic ties to the region, while the United States’ key strength has been in security areas, but weaker in economic ties.
“You can see that when President Obama came to this area [the U.S.] try to sell the idea of the TPP - that means to have this improvement of the economic cooperation by the USA with countries of this area," said Manarangsan. "But Mr. Wen Jiabao - they try to use some cultural factor, education, social, like the opening up of the Chinese cultural centers here in Thailand using the soft power to deal more and more with this area.”
Somphob said that although countries like Thailand so far have been able to strike a balance between Beijing and Washington, that may become harder in the near future as trade, business and investments increase.
|
<urn:uuid:3430495a-25f6-4c2b-bcdd-8e5b9274e983>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.voanews.com/content/thailand_china_set_aggressive_targets_to_increase_trade/1550312.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.964836
| 628
| 1.6875
| 2
|
WASHINGTON — The first captive at the U.S. Naval Base on Guantanamo Bay to be charged in a military tribunal during the Obama presidency is expected to be one of the prison's most notorious inmates — Abd al-Rahim Al-Nashiri, the alleged mastermind of the 2000 USS Cole bombing that killed 17 sailors.
And his case, beset with allegations of torture and mistreatment, is fraught with complications for the administration, which this week reversed course and announced it will follow the George W. Bush legacy of holding military tribunals inside the Caribbean fortress.
There are 172 prisoners there now, down from 240 when Obama took office in January 2009. Forty percent of them are Yemenis, mostly low-level fighters with slim ties to al-Qaida or the Taliban, and yet a risk if they were returned to a home that has since become rife with new terrorist groups.
Four dozen other men are considered too dangerous to send home but difficult to prosecute because their cases are too flimsy for prosecution in the military system.
So it is Nashiri who poses the first test for the Obama administration in the minefield of military tribunals, in which the Bush administration was dogged with complaints of unconstitutional maneuvering and misguided justice.
But legal experts said Tuesday that legal changes make the process fairer and grant more of a semblance of due process for detainees. Congress in 2009 revised the rules for military commissions, and military prosecutors now cannot introduce "statements obtained by torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading statements." Moreover, a defendant's past statements may be used only if the judge concludes they were "voluntarily given."
Also tightened are standards for "hearsay" testimony from missing witnesses. A military judge now will permit such testimony only if the prosecutor shows it is reliable and relevant.
"The changes made in 2009 were significant and make the commissions much fairer. But they are not as fair" as a civilian trial in federal court, said Mason Clutter, counsel for the Constitution Project, a bipartisan group that wants the prison closed.
Cully Stimson, a former Pentagon lawyer under Bush, said military commissions can fairly decide whether a captive is guilty or innocent, but the verdict may not always be accepted as fair. For one thing, the judge and jurors are still U.S. military officers.
"It is the unanswered question: whether they will be perceived as fair," he said. "Certain folks on the left will never take kindly to the commissions, and they will honestly believe they mete out substandard justice."
|
<urn:uuid:fb7dad6b-1c82-4f41-95ce-42adddbe45cb>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/03/08/110017/alleged-uss-cole-bomber-likely.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962619
| 516
| 1.765625
| 2
|
EAC Releases Voter Registration Report
Posted on June 27, 2011
EAC Releases Voter Registration Report
Washington – The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) has released a report on voter registration statistics in accordance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). It presents information on the number of registered voters, the registration process and voter registration list maintenance. The full report and accompanying data sets are available at www.eac.gov/registration-data/.
The report covers registration information from after the 2008 general election through the 2010 mid-term election. The following highlights are among the findings.
Voter registration decreased during the two years leading up to the 2010 elections. The total number of voters reported to be eligible and registered for the November 2010 elections was nearly 187 million, a decrease of more than 3.6 million from the 2008 elections. Yet it was an increase of about 14 million voters from the last midterm election in 2006.
States and territories reported receiving more than 45 million voter registration forms. Use of the mail (or fax or e-mail) was up from the previous election cycle, with 21% of registration forms being delivered through these means. Another 14.5% of applications were made in person at elections offices, and 37% through motor vehicle agencies. Seventeen states reported receiving voter registration applications over the Internet, which accounted for nearly 2% of all registration forms.
Of the 45 million voter registration forms received, nearly 14.4 million of these applications were from new voters; that is, voters who were not previously registered in the local jurisdiction or had not previously registered in any jurisdiction (there were fewer than 24.6 million new registrants during the 2006 to 2008 election cycle and 17.3 million during the 2004 to 2006 election cycle).
States and territories found invalid or otherwise rejected nearly 1.4 million applications, and found that 2.9 million applications were duplicates of existing registrations. Altogether, 9.4% of registration applications were invalid or duplicates.
States and territories sent 14.6 million removal confirmation notices to names on their registration rolls, as allowed by NVRA after two cycles of voter inactivity. More than 15 million voters were removed from voter registration lists, for reasons including death, felony conviction, failure to respond to a confirmation notice and failure to vote in consecutive elections, having moved from one jurisdiction to another, or at the voter’s request.
About the report and the NVRA
The Help America Vote Act of 2002 directs the EAC to issue a report biennially on the impact of the NVRA on the administration of every federal election. NVRA reports are available on the EAC’s Web site. The report is based on data provided by 50 states, four territories, and the District of Columbia, representing more than 4,600 jurisdictions.
Established by Congress in 1993, the NVRA expanded the number of locations and opportunities where eligible citizens may apply to register to vote. It requires voter registration file maintenance procedures that, in a uniform and nondiscriminatory manner, identify and remove the names of only those individuals who are no longer eligible to vote.
EAC also administers the National Mail Voter Registration Form, which can be used by citizens to register to vote, update registration information due to a change of name or address, or register with a political party. The form is available in seven languages.
A note about the data
While the amount of data provided by the states to the EAC increases each year, caution must be exercised when interpreting data from this report and comparing it with data from any earlier election report as state data collection practices continue to evolve and vary from state to state.
EAC is an independent commission created by the Help America Vote Act. EAC serves as a national clearinghouse and resource of information regarding election administration. It is charged with administering payments to states and developing guidance to meet HAVA requirements, adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, and accrediting voting system test laboratories and certifying voting equipment. It is also charged with developing and maintaining a national mail voter registration form. The two EAC commissioners are Gineen Bresso and Donetta Davidson. There are two vacancies on the commission.
|
<urn:uuid:14b759c6-7f14-48f4-8daf-9f35f9705a40>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.eac.gov/news/default.aspx?Archive=y&ArticleId=848
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.956058
| 861
| 1.71875
| 2
|
In a victory for parents, children, and for education as a whole, the U.S. Supreme Court has left intact the state of Arizona’s 14-year old individual tax credit provision that allows a $500 contribution to be made to private schools – including religious schools. In a 5-4 decision, the court found that the plaintiffs lacked legal “standing” to challenge the tax-credit provision.
The tax-credit was designed to help parents pay for education outside the publicly-funded education system. This allows for parents who are footing the entire bill for their child’s education to be compensated in a small way and makes a major contribution to the understanding that parent’s have a choice in their child’s education.
Opponents of the tax credit insisted that helping in any way to pay for a private education – particularly to a religious school – violates the First Amendment and that they as citizens were being harmed by being forced to, in effect, contribute to religious institutions.
Attorneys defending the system had counter-argued that since the law only allows taxpayers to direct their own tax dollars to religious schools, the plaintiffs lacked the standing to sue because their tax payments were not being used. The court ruled that the defendants needed to show specific individual harm.
Alliance Defense Fund attorney, David Cortman said in a statement: “Parents should be able to choose what’s best for their own children. This ruling empowers parents to do just that.” He continued: “The ACLU failed in its attempt to eliminate school choice for hundreds of thousands of students nationwide and also failed to demonstrate that it had any constitutional basis for its clients to file suit in the first place.”
The ACLU sees it quite differently. ACLU Legal Director, Steven Shapiro: “Today’s decision ignores precedent, defies logic and undermines the role of the courts in preserving the core constitution principle that government may not subsidize religion.”
The Arizona Tax credit program is the third-largest school choice program in the country and the nation’s oldest tax credit program. This is an important victory for school choice programs around the country. United Families International offers congratulations to all involved.
Supreme Court Upholds Educational Choice
Supreme Court Rules Arizona Taxpayers Lack Standing To Challenge Tax Credit System Used To Fund Religious-Based Scholarships
School Choice Program Prevails. Kids & Parents Ultimately Win
|
<urn:uuid:abb8dc77-8a6e-4bc9-b514-46495115b222>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://unitedfamiliesinternational.wordpress.com/tag/school-choice/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.965052
| 498
| 1.742188
| 2
|
A woman and her two small children, ages nine and three, were kicked out of their home Labor Day weekend and were stranded on the side of the road for hours until a concerned citizen stopped to help.
"I could see the children looked very hot, sweaty and she looked upset," said the citizen who asked not to be identified.
The citizen took the family to the Providence House, but workers were not able offer help because it's not considered an emergency shelter. There wasn't any room at the Rescue Mission or Salvation Army either.
"This is not an unusual situation. What is terrible about the situation is you have a mother and children out on the street," said Simone Hennessee with Providence House.
Hennessee says the number of people in the area who need temporary or emergency shelter is far greater than the number of available beds and she says the problem is only getting worse.
"With the needs rising, our economy, the debt crisis and the failure of Washington to make any decisions, the economy is really beginning to have a significant downturn," said Hennessee.
Hennessee says cuts in social service programs have really taken a toll on everyone. The Providence House, which gets 65% of its funding through private donations, has been forced to turn away nearly a thousand families this year.
"There's going to be a greater need for our community to step up, individuals, foundations and others to dig a little bit deeper in their pocket at a time when they may be impacted by the economy," said Hennessee.
Authorities say Northwest Louisiana is very short on family housing.
Christa Pazzaglia with the Homeless Coalition says there is hope though. The coalition is in the process of creating a one-stop shop for the homeless.
"We are redesigning the system that's around the existing homeless services. We have great services, but we don't really have a system for accessibility for those services," said Pazzaglia.
The facility should be finished by next year.
While that comes too late for the woman and children who were kicked to the curb, it will hopefully help others in the future.
|
<urn:uuid:549f1a41-9028-42fa-aefc-0118d887285c>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.ktbs.com/news/Kicked-To-The-Curb/-/144844/16599028/-/2ha1f8z/-/index.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.984933
| 439
| 1.523438
| 2
|
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Consol Energy told 145 workers in southern West Virginia on Tuesday that it will start laying them off in late December because of a dispute over permits for surface mining related to the King Coal Highway project.
The Pittsburgh-based coal producer said it plans to idle its Miller Creek operations in Mingo County, which include Wiley Surface Mine, Wiley Creek Surface Mine, Minway Surface Mine, Minway Preparation Plant, and Miller Creek Administration Group.
"The facility has operated without a lost-time accident since 1986, an exemplary safety record for the mining industry, and it is unfortunate that they will not be afforded the opportunity to extend that record,'' Consol President Nicholas J. DeIuliis said in a statement.
Consol has sought U.S. Environmental Protection Agency permits to redirect the Mingo County operations to mine land that would then become a 5-mile stretch of the King Coal Highway. The agency has raised several concerns about the Buffalo Mountain mining operation, including its planned burial of several area streams.
DeIuliis noted that while the EPA had relented in objecting to one of the two permits sought, "that permit alone is not sufficient to allow miners to begin work.''
An EPA spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Once completed, the King Coal Highway would run 90 miles from Williamson to Bluefield and be part of the Interstate 73/74 corridor. West Virginia has enlisted coal companies to help build the road. Through these public-private partnerships, the companies keep the coal they mine while grading the land for road-building in the process. A 12-mile section opened in 2011.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and fellow Democrats in West Virginia's congressional delegation blasted the EPA over Tuesday's layoff notice.
"I am incensed and infuriated that the EPA would intentionally delay the needed permit for a public-private project that would bring so many good jobs and valuable infrastructure to communities that so desperately need them,'' said U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, who helped launch the project while Tomblin's predecessor as governor. "The EPA has lost court case after court case for its overreach, and it should be using better judgment by now.''
Consol credited West Virginia officials in Tuesday's statement for issuing the necessary state-based permits for the project.
|
<urn:uuid:bb94dafb-2f74-4e67-9311-3d2104a3b7df>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.wvgazette.com/News/MiningtheMountains/201210300105
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.953494
| 485
| 1.554688
| 2
|
W. O. Hedrick House, 220 Oakhill Ave. (1909)
W. O. Hedrick House, February 1992. Photo Credit: Kevin S. Forsyth.
Wilbur Olin Hedrick (M.A.C. ’91) was Professor of English 1891–93, Assistant Professor in History and Political Science 1893–1906, Head of the Department of History and Economics 1906–1916, Head of the Department of Economics 1916–1930, and retired in 1938. He initiated the first classes in agricultural economics at MAC in 1911. He was an early member of the East Lansing school board, and was married to Lu Baker, of the large Baker family of East Lansing.
W. O. Hedrick. Photo Credit: Beal, p. 455, where his name is given as “William.”
Professor Hedrick was a vocal proponent of the cooperative movement, teaching a course in its principles and publishing two bulletins on Michigan cooperatives, one on grain elevators and the other on creameries. “The first student housing cooperative in the United States to own its own building” was founded in 1939 at M.S.C. and was named for him. Having moved several times, Hedrick Cooperative built its current house on Collingwood Avenue (then known as Haslett Street) in the 1950s.[Hedrick website]
|
<urn:uuid:63194070-4ef8-4bb9-bf97-2e02bd8fc325>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://kevinforsyth.net/ELMI/hedrick.htm
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971975
| 289
| 1.679688
| 2
|
Q: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse? A: No.
Q: Did you check for blood pressure? A: No.
Q: Did you check for breathing? A: No.
Q: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy? A: No.
Q: How can you be so sure, Doctor? A: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
Q: But could the patient have still been alive nevertheless? A: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law somewhere.
|
<urn:uuid:0ee78462-1496-4e65-aa22-ba3c2785a394>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://myriadicity.com/musings-and-amusements/amusements/cross-examination
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.977267
| 129
| 1.664063
| 2
|
Awww! THE NEW BRIGHTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY is so friggin' adorable! The full title is actually THE NEW BRIGHTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Book One: THE CASTLE OF GALOMAR, and it's a handsome looking, all-ages graphic novel. Co-created by writer Mark Andrew Smith and artist Matthew Weldon, this is an entirely kid-accessible story brimming over with magic and high adventure and, again, sheer adorability.
The kids are plucky and seem to be having a great time in these fantastic adventures. Even though there are scary creatures popping out here and there, a true sense of jeopardy isn't really invoked. You never get the feeling that the children will get hurt, just maybe frightened a bit. This makes it pretty perfect for the younger kids.
Four pre-teen kids. Joss and Cooper are of Chinese-American descent. Benny and Becca are Irish-American. When their famous explorer parents are presumed dead while on an expedition in Antarctica, these new orphans move in with their godparents, whose sprawling estate once upon a time was the childhood home of both sets of parents. While in a snowball fight, the kids stumble onto a hidden chamber and discover that their parents were members of something called the Brighton Archeological Society. It's pretty predictable, actually, that leap of thought which convince Joss and Cooper, Benny and Becca to resuscitate this club, to be like their moms and dads. And, from there, it's a short step to a grand adventure.
There is a Great Library full of magical books, and these books have become a bone of contention between the goblin kingdom and the fairy kingdom. And, it turns out, the families of the Brighton children have had ties to the Great Library. There's a sinister main adversary who will do anything to possess all the books belonging to the Great Library. This is something the parents of the Brighton kids have tried to keep from happening. So now there's a deadly mission involving the braving of a castle chock full of savage monsters. But in this castle is a map which can track these books. The kids don't hesitate to volunteer.
Not to compare this story too much to C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, but one of the things I liked best about the Narnia series was the sense of empowerment I felt when I read it as a kid. From THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE on, the various children protagonists were able to make hefty contributions in their respective desperate quests. Although, come to think of it, since NEW BRIGHTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY is set more or less in a comic book-type format, maybe it's more apt to mention Power Pack children, who are even more self-sufficient than the Brighton kids. The Brighton children do get massive help from Mitch the Goblin (who is a hoot), although the kids are more than willing to hold up their own end. There are magical monsters in this book, but I like that these monsters aren't always bested with violence. Mitch the Goblin's knowledge and application of certain rules and etiquette when dealing with these frightening creatures come in really handy.
At times THE NEW BRIGHTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY takes on the feel of an epic quest, but things are kept lighthearted enough that the mood doesn't ever get heavy handed or too somber. Not when you have ghosts who bus in an ice cream parlor and a giant kitten lurking in the woods and goblins addicted to butterscotch. Not when the youngest girl in our group proclaims that she doesn't believe in fairies, and the next panel shows a fairy clutching her chest and keeling over. Plenty of fun elements in these pages.
There are only two things which bug me here, otherwise I really recommend this graphic novel. I really like the art, which is deceptively simple looking, but observe the composition and how the simplicity of how the characters are drawn contrasts very nicely with the details in the background. The images somehow tend to be more dynamic because of this. My initial beef was that all the characters have heads disproportionately larger than their bodies, the kids AND the adults. It's like watching Bobblehead dolls spring into action. There were times when I had to do a double take to figure out if the characters were the kids or their parents. But, once you get past that, the art is really fantastic.
The second bugaboo is that there are occasional jarring transitional miscues. One scene would end and the next page starts off on its own tangent. The more grown up readers will adjust to this, but younger kids may be baffled for much longer. It's disorienting sometimes to have things end abruptly.
|
<urn:uuid:1bb00016-9ca4-4432-8162-e71e03a6aa62>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.amazon.ca/The-New-Brighton-Archeological-Society/dp/1582409730
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.96475
| 996
| 1.65625
| 2
|
Management Tips – What it Takes to Create an Effective Business Development Strategy
If you are a manager at the same time an owner of a business or an organization then, one of the challenges you are faced with is the challenge of developing and taking advantage of business opportunities that are provided to you and your company. Moreover, as a manager you always have to strive for growth and development. To achieve that aim, you have to have an effective business development strategy? Now, how are you going to do that? What does it requires creating an effective business development strategy? Read on and learn from the following tips.
1. Brace yourself up with sufficient knowledge as well as excellent management practices and strategies. As a manager who aims for growth of his or her business or organization, you have to have sufficient knowledge and excellent management practices and strategies. Well, these will all boils down to whether you will be revolutionary or evolutionary in coming up with ideas and strategies for development. The idea or strategy you will come up with will be the basis for your company to either revolutionize or evolve.
2. It takes a multi-disciplinary approach. An effective business development strategy entails a multi-disciplinary approach which includes financial, advertising and legal skills from you as the development manager. This means that you need to come up with creative ways that are flexible to be applied with just about any circumstances that may hit your business. of course, these ways should contribute to the prosperity of your business and not its failure.
3. Create a strategic marketing plan. There are various aspects in your business wherein business development strategies can help your business to grow and prosper. Strategic marketing plan, as such, will deal with the changing customer base and market dynamics. It will also aid in understanding horizontal and vertical target market opportunities and help you learn how to pick out and develop products, services or solutions to address the needs of your target market.
4. Decide on what kind of approach in planning. Take note that a plan shouldn’t be on its own to work nor will you solely manage it to work. A plan can take the form of either a ‘bottom up’ approach or a ‘top down’ approach. A plan in a bottom up approach involves employees to come up with ideas and suggestions. After which, the best one are passed on to the management. On the other hand, a plan in a top down approach involves higher position personnel such as the managers to establish the business development strategies and then, imposed them down to their subordinates. Additionally, there is the use of collaborative process where managers and employees work together as one in performing this task.
5. Evaluation. Now, after the business development strategy has been decided on, it will be your task as a manager to make sure that this strategy will work out. To do so, you will need to conduct evaluation of its weak points, strengths, the risk involve and its growth potentials. You may want to hire a strategy consultant for this matter as there are indeed, various factors that must be taken into serious consideration. However, it will be dependent on the complexities that come with its implementation. Some of these factors involve assigning of responsibilities, hiring sufficient human resources and establishing a chain of command. It will also involve a specific timeline to determine whether or not the preferred goals are being accomplished or not.
Evidently, there is no single type of business development strategy that will be enough for any business. So as a manager, you have to brace yourself up with more and more knowledge to know what works for you and your business and determine the corresponding advantages of sticking to it.
By Ileana Limon
|
<urn:uuid:f38f5d65-9370-464c-91e2-b86c638aee15>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://thecareerway.com/management-tips-what-it-takes-to-create-an-effective-business-development-strategy.php
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963098
| 739
| 1.710938
| 2
|
SALEM, Ore. (Reuters) – Oregon will soon qualify as the third U.S. state to ask voters in November to legalize marijuana for recreational use in a move that could put the state on a collision course with the federal government, proponents said on Friday.
Backers of the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act said they have collected 165,000 signatures on petitions seeking to put the measure on the ballot, nearly double the 87,000 they were required to submit by Friday’s deadline to qualify.
“We believe we’re going to make it easily,” said Paul Stanford, the chief petitioner and founder of the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, which runs medical marijuana clinics in several states.
The state has 30 days to verify if enough signatures are valid to qualify any measure for the ballot, said Steve Trout, Oregon elections director. Stanford said some signatures had already been disqualified but believed the rate of validation was high enough for the measure to win a place on the ballot.
If passed by voters in November, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act would allow marijuana sales in the state to people over age 21, and would create jobs in the hemp industry by allowing it for clothing, food and other uses, the campaign’s website said.
Similar ballot measures to legalize marijuana for recreational use already have qualified in Washington state and Colorado, which, like Oregon, already allow marijuana for medical purposes.
No state has legalized pot for recreational use but 17 states and the District of Columbia allow medical cannabis even as marijuana remains classified as an illegal narcotic under federal law.
The Oregon move comes as federal authorities have cracked down on medical marijuana operations in several mostly western states, seeking to shut down storefront dispensaries and greenhouses they deem to be drug-trafficking fronts, as well as those located near schools and parks.
The Obama administration has said it would not single out individual patients who possess or grow their own marijuana in states that allow it. But federal prosecutors have warned they will continue to go after operations that support for-profit, illegal drug dealing under the guise of medical pot.
NET PROCEEDS WOULD GO TO STATE
The Oregon initiative, if passed, would create a Cannabis Commission that could limit the amount of marijuana a person could purchase and would oversee cultivation and retail sales at special marijuana stores. Net proceeds from sale of marijuana would go to the state general fund.
Under the proposal, marijuana possession would be decriminalized although public pot consumption would be prohibited and subject to a fine of $250. The initiative, if passed, would take effect on Jan. 1.
Proponents of legalizing marijuana say prohibition of the drug simply enriches criminal cartels, and that legalizing it will allow law enforcement to focus on serious crimes.
As proponents announced the result of their signature drive outside the state Capitol in Salem, several dozen pro-marijuana protesters held signs reading: “End Prohibition” and “Regulate, Don’t Incarcerate.”
Sheriff John Trumbo of Oregon’s rural Umatilla County, among the staunchest state opponents of recreational legalization, said allowing the drug would open a floodgate of problems – from the expense of providing new training to police to how to deal with people driving under the influence of marijuana.
“Legalizing marijuana will be the downfall of society as we know it,” he said. “I’ve been packing a badge for 40 years and I have seen what marijuana has done to families and individuals. It is a gateway drug.”
Trumbo said he was not against medical marijuana when properly prescribed for genuinely ill patients suffering from ailments such as glaucoma or cancer. But if marijuana legalization ultimately is certified for the ballot: “The fight is on, as far as I am concerned.”
Tom Parker, spokesman for the substance abuse group Lines for Life, said he also was concerned about greater availability of marijuana to young people.
“Teen brains are still developing,” he said. “Greater availability of marijuana is not a good thing for youth.”
A competing marijuana legalization proposal would have asked Oregon voters to approve a state constitutional amendment to allow pot. But organizer Bob Wolfe said he expected that effort to fail due to a high number of disqualifications on signatures collected so far.
|
<urn:uuid:9bfbaa5f-73f5-4be8-8ba5-ab297dbb64f5>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.thedoctorschannel.com/view/oregon-likely-to-put-pot-legalization-to-voters-proponents-say/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963497
| 887
| 1.554688
| 2
|
|How Sushi is made at Sushi Village...
1. Sushi Village imports fish from around the globe – famous BC salmon and local tuna from Canada’s West Coast, octopus from Japan and sometimes South Africa or India, hirame from the East Coast of Canada, and fresh snapper and prawns from Vancouver.
2. Some of the fish is “fresh/frozen” and some is fresh! It is brought up to Whistler twice a week to ensure inventories are fresh, and more often when demand dictates (or something extra special has been caught). The sushi chefs make regular visits to Vancouver to inspect the imported fish.
3. Only the best pieces of fish are selected and carefully cut by the sushi chefs at Sushi Village.
4. Sushi chefs in training take care of the important job of cooking the rice (if they were training as chefs in Japan, they would work at perfecting this task for up to three years). Sushi Village uses short grain California sticky rice as Japanese rice cannot be imported into Canada.
5. After carefully washing the rice until the milky-white liquid turns relatively clear (if you’re making sushi at home, this is the most important step), the rice is cooked in a rice cooker, left to cool, and then sprinkled with rice wine vinegar. It’s now ready to be transformed into sushi (pieces of fish on top of rice), sashimi (fish alone), or rolls (fish and vegetables rolled in rice and seaweed paper).
6. The sushi chefs at Sushi Village, under the watchful eye of the restaurant patrons, then create works of art with fish and rice combinations. If you have the opportunity to sit at the sushi bar, ask one of the chefs to recommend one of his favourite combinations. You won’t be disappointed.
|
<urn:uuid:b7c3c2fe-c079-49ad-97cf-a919f77a3057>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.sushivillage.com/sushistory.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.946958
| 384
| 1.789063
| 2
|
Journey so far
Robert Swan, OBE is a polar explorer, environmental leader and the first person ever to have walked to the North and South poles. He is an exceptionally gifted communicator and is regarded as one of the world’s top motivational speakers.
In 1992, on completion of the walks to both poles, Robert Swan was charged by world leaders at the first ‘World Summit for Sustainable Development’, held in Rio de Janeiro, to undertake a ten year global and local environmental mission involving industry, business and young people.
Upon the successful completion of the missions, Swan reported back to world leaders at the second World Summit in 2002, held in Johannesburg. Here he committed to a further ten-year mission to inspire youth to become sustainable leaders and promote the use of renewable energy for a sustainable future.
Swan’s unique insights and lessons learned have enabled him to educate and stimulate young people and business leaders all around the world. He compares his icy experiences to boardroom maneuvers and his inspirational addresses on leadership and teamwork have received acclaim from discerning audiences worldwide.
His contribution to both education and the environment have been recognized through his appointment as UN Goodwill Ambassador for Youth, a visiting Professor of the School of the Environment at Leeds University and in 1994 he became Special Envoy to the Director General of UNESCO. He was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 1995.
During 2003 Robert and his company, 2041, delivered the first corporate Antarctic Expeditions on teamwork and leadership through positive participation and real missions. Throughout these five years, the ‘Inspire Antarctic Expeditions’ (IAE) teams have helped design and build the world’s first education station (The E-Base) in Antarctica.
Robert Swan has an extraordinary ability to inspire those around him into action. His presentations continue to thrill, uplift and stimulate audiences worldwide.
|
<urn:uuid:3c938472-18b1-4805-9269-877c7d594eaf>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://2041.com/about-2041/robert-swan/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.962589
| 389
| 1.648438
| 2
|
The Issue of Civilian Control
There's an interesting theme that emerged on the Sunday morning talking head shows, regarding the expected nomination of General Mike Hayden to be the next CIA Director. Several Congressmen and Senators have expressed concern about Hayden's status as a military officer, saying that the CIA should be led by a civilian, and expressing fears that the CIA might somehow be "gobbled up" by the defense intelligence establishment.
Republican Congressman Peter Hoekstra of Michigan appears to be leading the charge. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Hokestra said that General Hayden would be "the wrong person, the wrong place at the wrong time," despite a distinguished career as an intelligence officer. Hoekstra believes Hayden's appointment would only exacerbate problems between the CIA and the DOD:
"There is ongoing tensions between this premier civilian intelligence agency and DOD as we speak...And I think putting a general in charge, regardless of how good Mike is-...is going to send the wrong signal through the agency here in Washington but also to our agents in the field around the world."
Similar comments were expressed by Senator Diane Feinstein of California, Senator Saxby Chambless of Georgia and Delaware's Joe Biden. Feinstein opined that "you can't have the military control major aspects of intelligence." More on that bit of ignorance in a second. Always eager to advance DNC talking points, the AP helpfully points out that with Hayden as CIA director, military officers would be in charge of the nation's three major spy agencies, and the Pentagon would control 80% of the intelligence budget.
To borrow a phrase from TV weatherman Lloyd Lindsay Young, well H-e-l-l-o Congressman Hoekstra, members of the Senate, and the rest of the pundit crowd. Here's a little news flash you apparently missed: the Defense Department already provides much of the nation's intelligence capabilities, and has long controlled the lion's share of the of the intel budget. Need a U-2, RC-135, or Global Hawk mission to keep tabs on Iraq? Call the Air Force. Need a sub to insert an agent team or do some covert collection work along a hostile shore? Call the Navy. Need a SOF team to gather information along the Pakistan border? Better let the Army know.
And we haven't even scratched the surface, in terms of who exploits the data collected by those (and other) DOD assets, and converts that information into finished intelligence. This might surprise Senator Feinstein, but each of the military services have extensive intel production, exploitation and dissemination (PED) operations, which make major contributions to the national intelligence effort. For example, many of the nation's linguists are military personnel, serving in one of the service cryptologic elements. In fact, the service SIGINT elements and NSA are so seamlessly integrated, it's often difficult to tell where the "civilian" agency stops, and the military element begins.
Remember those comments about the military running the three major spy agencies? Here's a salient fact you won't find in the AP report, or in a sound bite from those "concerned" Senators and Representatives. Two of the agencies cited by the AP (NSA and the Defense Intelligence Agency) have always been run by the military. Both the NSA and DIA director's positions are three-star military billets, rotated among the services. When General Hayden left NSA, he was replaced by Army Lieutenant General Keith Alexander. Another Army officer, Lieutenant General Jack Maple, is the current DIA Director, and a three-star general or admiral is expected to be the next director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA). Nothing unusual about that.
In fact, these fears about eroding "civilian control" over intelligence are something of a red herring. Apparently, Chairman Hoekstra has forgotten that General Hayden has a civilian boss (John Negroponte) who sits atop the nation's intelligence community. Beyond that, the DNI and the agency chiefs work for another civilian, the Commander-in-Chief. The DNI, like the DCI before him, will always be a civilian--as it should be. Likewise, the military will always have a major say in running our intelligence efforts because the DOD provides a significant portion of our collection, analytical and production capabilities. That shouldn't change, either.
With the CIA at a critical crossroads in its history, it's disappointing--but entirely predictable--that Congress is suddenly worried about General Hayden's military status. If that is a genuine issue, then it can easily be fixed; we can simply hold his retirement ceremony the day before he takes charge of the CIA. The real issue should be--must be--the continued reform of a spy agency that has become bloated, less effective, and highly partisan. Sadly, that over-arching concern appears lost on the talking head set, who are more concerned about advancing personal agendas (I'm sure Hoekstra has his own choice to run the CIA) and scoring cheap political points.
|
<urn:uuid:157e0637-12ad-4161-bf86-5492703f4718>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2006/05/issue-of-civilian-control.html?showComment=1147080960000
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.950625
| 1,024
| 1.507813
| 2
|
‘ You never feel as alive as when you’re staring death in the face.’ – ITN correspondent Jon Steele in Under Fire
Three and a half years (seven six-month tours of duty) was the maximum length of time any Canadian soldier could be assigned to Afghanistan during Canada’s decade-long military involvement. An onerous commitment, to be sure, and dangerous, since it took almost 200 Canadian lives.
But another sobering fact is offered by Anthony Feinstein, who over 11 years has built a database on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 350 “front-line journalists.” On average, he said, “they have spent 15 years in war zones. Fifteen! A staggering statistic.”
And it’s a statistic with a monumental toll, as shown by Under Fire, a new documentary produced by Feinstein, a former medical officer with South Africa’s apartheid-era security forces and now director of neuropsychiatry at Toronto’ Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
Written and directed by Toronto author/filmmaker/journalist Martyn Burke, who himself has seen combat in three wars (including Vietnam at 21), the film is a gut-churning look at nine combat correspondents. They include Canadian, American and British writers, photographers and TV reporters, and several of them Feinstein has counselled either in-person or on the telephone.
Under Fire hasn’t had a major theatrical release, but that could change, as it’s among 15 films vying to be one of the five finalists for best documentary at this year’s Academy Awards Feb. 26. The five are to be announced next Tuesday”
To qualify for Oscar consideration, Burke and his wife/executive producer, Laura Morton, had to burn 30 DVDs, then ship them by mid-September to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for vetting by nominating committees. Another Academy requirement was for the film to have a brief theatrical run in either Los Angeles or New York before Nov. 14, when voting closed for the 15 semi-finalists. “Credit cards groaning under the weight of all this pushing of the envelope,” Burke was able to book a theatre in Los Angeles for Nov. 11 (and one in New York in early December). The effort paid off: On Nov. 23, Under Fire was named, from a field of 124, one of the chosen 15.
It’s a hard film to watch, with no triumph-of-the-human-spirit ending. To a man (and woman – there are two in the film, CBC’s Susan Ormiston and Christina Lamb of The Sunday Times Magazine), Burke’s crew are a haunted, hollowed-out, often guilt-ridden bunch, some more worse for wear – suicidal even – than others. Of course, not every correspondent ends up like the Ian Stewarts (Associated Press) and Paul Watsons (Toronto Star, Los Angeles Times) depicted here – but then not every correspondent has gone (or will go) to the lengths of, say, Chris Hedges, who for almost two decades hopped from conflict to conflict in El Salvador, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo and Argentina for The New York Times. Or Canadian photographer Finbarr O’Reilly, a major presence in Under Fire, who, at 40, has covered horrors in Afghanistan, Libya, Ivory Coast, Somalia and Congo.
While the psychological and emotional costs of war reporting have long been acknowledged, if not entirely understood or appreciated, the enterprise has become increasingly physically dangerous as well. Formerly a PRESS badge pinned to your camouflage shirt or taped to your car afforded the pretense, however illusory, of safety. No more: According to Under Fire, whereas only two correspondents were killed in the First World War, in just the past two decades, nearly 1,000 have died in the line of duty, 103 in 2011 alone, some of whom have cameos in the film.
Unsurprisingly, the acronym PTSD gets a good workout in Under Fire. And certainly the suffering presented in Under Fire is palpable . But as to why Burke’s subjects feel compelled continuously to put themselves in harm’s way, “none of them ever gave me a real answer that I could hold onto,” he said. “There are all the answers that are true – that it’s important, that it brings us news from places we need to know about, that there’s an adrenalin high and more – but there’s this unknowable personal component that’s still floating around in the ether and has not been bottled and examined, and may never be.”
|
<urn:uuid:1d197970-a339-4877-8855-cddb521ba628>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/under-fire-a-hard-look-at-reporters-in-war-zones/article1358777/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95936
| 980
| 1.679688
| 2
|
The best press release of the day arrived in our in-basket late Tuesday. We offer it without comment. Well, almost without comment. Tim Peterson, the Liberal MPP for Mississauga South, is the brother of former premier David Peterson and respected MP and former cabinet minister Jim Peterson. While his brothers have soared to the highest heights of Canadian political life, the rookie MPP has his feet firmly on the ground, pouncing upon an issue that has gripped ordinary Ontarians for decades:
MPP Tim Peterson Introduces Interior Designers Act, 2006 Legislation will protect the public and regulate the practice of interior design
TORONTO, June 6 / The Interior Designers Act, 2006, a Private Member, Public Bill, introduced today by MPP Tim Peterson, will protect the public from unqualified practitioners by regulating the practice of interior design in Ontario.
Interior design is currently an unregulated profession in Ontario. There are no restrictions on who may practice interior design. As a result, consumers and businesses in Ontario have no reliable way of knowing if practitioners possess the appropriate qualifications and training to practice safe interior design. If the Bill is passed, Ontario will become the second jurisdiction in Canada to regulate the practice of interior design. Interior design includes the development of all public interior spaces, such as corporate offices, restaurants, retail stores and shopping malls, health and long-term care facilities, academic institutions, airports, detention centres and public facilities. Interior design significantly affects the health and safety of the public who occupy these spaces. Interior Designers incorporate specialized knowledge of fire codes, building codes, material flammability and toxicity issues, and barrier-free design matters into each project to ensure the protection of the public.
Highlights of the proposed legislation include:
- Establishing the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario (ARIDO) as the self-governing body responsible for regulating the profession of interior design in Ontario
- Granting ARIDO the authority to set standards of practice and entry to practice requirements for the profession; including, education, experience, examination and professional liability insurance
- Defining the scope of practice for interior design and restricting the use of the title "Interior Designer" to members of the profession who meet the necessary qualifications
The Bill regulates the practice of interior design but excludes most residential buildings, such as residential buildings under 600 sq. m (6,450 sq. ft.). The Bill does not regulate interior decorating. Architects and Engineers can continue to practice interior design subject to their own regulatory statutes.
"I am proud to introduce the Interior Designers Act, 2006" said MPP Tim Peterson. "If passed, the Bill will regulate the practice of interior design and protect the health and safety of Ontarians. ARIDO and the interior design community have been pursuing regulation for many years and I am pleased to be a part of realizing their public interest objectives."
ARIDO has widespread support for the Bill. ARIDO has consulted extensively with a broad cross-section of stakeholders, including the Ontario Association of Architects and the Professional Engineers of Ontario. The Bill is consistent with NAFTA, the National Building Code and the Ontario Building Code.
Interior design in Ontario generates over $4 billion of economic activity in the province annually. The majority of Interior Designers are small business owners. ARIDO currently has 1,800 plus members.
ARIDO is currently a voluntary professional association for Interior Designers in Ontario. ARIDO’s mandate is to serve the interests of both the public and the interior design industry. It does so by registering Interior Designers who voluntarily meet required standards of education, experience and examination. For more information on ARIDO, please visit: www.arido.ca.
|
<urn:uuid:4d613e28-dc9e-4c04-a88b-6364f7bb7c02>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://thestar.blogs.com/notebook/2006/06/keeping_the_pro.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.939478
| 761
| 1.648438
| 2
|
BEIJING -- Chinese troops fired on thousands of Tibetans protesting in southwestern Sichuan province on Jan. 23, killing at least one and wounding more, two overseas advocacy groups said.
Free Tibet, a London-based group that campaigns for Tibetan self-determination, said the protesting Tibetans gathered at an intersection in Luhuo, about 590 km west of Sichuan's capital of Chengdu, and marched on government offices, where security forces opened fire about midday.
The Tibetans were protesting about arrests earlier in the day in connection with the distribution of pamphlets carrying the slogan "Tibet Needs Freedom" and declaring that more Tibetans were ready to stage self-immolations to challenge Chinese rule, the group said in an emailed statement.
One resident -- a 49-year-old Tibetan man called Yonten -- was shot dead by government forces and another 30 or so residents were injured, said Free Tibet.
Another advocacy group, the International Campaign for Tibet, said three people were killed and about nine injured when police fired into the crowd in Luhuo, which is called Drango or Draggo by Tibetans.
"Others were injured in the crackdown, including through beatings by police, following the dissemination of leaflets in Drango saying that Tibetans should not celebrate New Year due to the self-immolations and situation in Tibet," Kate Saunders, the London-based communications director for the International Campaign, said in an emailed statement that cited several unnamed sources.
This year the main Tibetan traditional new year celebrations begin on Feb. 22.
"Due to fears for their safety, Tibetans who were injured are unable to seek treatment at the local government-run hospital," said the International Campaign for Tibet.
Chinese security forces have been on edge after 16 incidents of self-immolation by ethnic Tibetans over the last year in response to growing resentment of Beijing's controls on religion. Some have called for the return of the Dalai Lama, their exiled Buddhist leader.
The mountainous western part of Sichuan province where the recent unrest has been concentrated is dominated by ethnic Tibetans and lies next to the official Tibetan Autonomous Region.
The reports could not be immediately verified. A staff member of the county public security bureau said he was not aware of any incident.
"There's nothing happening. I don't know about anything," he said, before hanging up.
The two advocacy groups said Tibetans from nearby areas were continuing to converge on Luhuo on Jan. 23.
China's Foreign Ministry has branded the self-immolators "terrorists" and has said the Dalai Lama, whom it condemns as a supporter of violent separatism, should take the blame.
- « Prev
- Next »
|
<urn:uuid:d093f645-1817-4926-bc60-907fdb025689>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/asia/china/AJ201201240008
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.972255
| 562
| 1.546875
| 2
|
Campaigners called for taxes on the rich to fund big infrastructure projects today after Chancellor George Osborne vowed to stick with the discredited private finance initiative (PFI).
Mr Osborne said that changes to the scheme will see the taxpayer take a minority shareholding in PFI companies to ensure a share in any profits and allow oversight.
A strict 18-month limit will be imposed on the procurement process, which has taken up to five years in the past.
And PFI contractors will face new transparency requirements including giving details of their profits.
But the announcement did little to dispel the fears of health workers who have seen a string of NHS trusts brought to their knees by PFI deals.
A spokeswoman for health union Unison said: "Despite these changes there are no guarantees that the taxpayer won't end up with a massive bill at the end of it."
Communist Party leader Robert Griffiths said: "Rather than using public money to guarantee super-profits for private investment the government should fund direct public investment from progressive taxation and, if necessary, low-interest borrowing."
|
<urn:uuid:53074758-dd48-4352-a05a-1954734a4b10>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/126882
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.945035
| 216
| 1.625
| 2
|
Note: Before following any of the instructions below, think carefully about their consequences.
A client asked me this question today:
In Outlook, is there a way to change the subject line when using the out
of office assistant? For instance, we have a former employee’s email
account that says she is no longer with our company but the subject line of
the emails says out of office.
The answer is yes. When you run the Out of Office Assistant (OoOA), you get this screen:
Most folks put in some text in the upper box, click OK, and are done with it. But if you are using the OoOA for some special purpose, such as announcing the permanent departure of an employee, you might want a more sophisticated response. Or you might want to let some people know you’re out of the office but not everyone. In that case, you need to create one or more rules by clicking the Add Rule button. When you click the button, you’ll get lots of choices:
In this case, we want to check the “Reply with” button and then click the Template button to create a customized reply message. Enter the desired subject line and text, but leave the To field blank:
When you’re done composing, close the window and you’ll be prompted to save your message. Click Save and/or OK enough times and you’ll be back at the OoOA screen, with your new rule in place, and you can enable the rule when ready:
Note that for your auto-replies to actually get delivered to anyone via the Internet, your Exchange administrator has to allow it. In many cases this behavior is turned off to prevent an endless loop of messages getting bounced back and forth between auto-responding servers. The settings to enable/disable out-of-office and other automated replies are set in the properties of the Exchange Global Settings / Internet Message Formats / Default:
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, you need to think very carefully about how you want your auto-responses to work. Having an out-of-office message sent to a mass mailing list is usually a big no-no. If you are thinking about using the OoOA for a departed employee, make sure that you have unsubscribed him or her from all mailing lists first.
|
<urn:uuid:ffc96710-ec88-40e4-88bd-63c2d78e5077>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://davidschrag.com/schlog/281/customizing-the-outlook-out-of-office-assistant
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.936327
| 488
| 1.570313
| 2
|
Fri January 4, 2013
Money For N.H. Fishery Disaster Delayed By Fiscal Cliff
New Hampshire fishermen who are hoping for federal disaster relief funds will have to wait a bit longer for those dollars. Money slated to go to the Northeastern ground-fishermen was caught up in the discussions surrounding the so-called fiscal cliff.
$150 million federal dollars were set to be split between four fishery disasters, two of which are in the Northeast: Superstorm Sandy and the decline of the Gulf of Maine Cod stock. But that money was never brought to a vote in the US House of Representatives, instead on Friday Congress passed a bill that would provide relief funds for only the flooding damage caused by Sandy. Lawmakers will take up the fisheries disaster funds mid-January.
But even if the fisheries disaster funds are approved, New Hampshire fishermen like Hampton’s David Goethel say it won’t be enough to keep them in business.
Goethel: The amount of money that I might get from this disaster aid probably would be insufficient to even pay for my health insurance for the year.
Due to declining cod stocks, the groundfish fishery – which includes more than ninety species like cod, halibut, sole , and flounder – is expecting an 80 percent cut this year in the amount of fish they can catch.
|
<urn:uuid:fa76bc92-e392-45a0-be02-616d0d209570>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.nhpr.org/post/money-nh-fishery-disaster-delayed-fiscal-cliff
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.955331
| 278
| 1.742188
| 2
|
Despite the fact that copyright owners asked Google to remove 1.2 million Web pages from its search index last month alone due to alleged infringement, the music industry is still unhappy with its efforts.
In a blog post published Wednesday, RIAA Executive Vice President of Anti-Piracy Brad Buckles accused Google of misleading the public about the scope of its attempts to fight online piracy, and offered a list of “facts” that Google failed to point out in its Transparency Report.
“Even more transparency is needed to fully understand the scope” of online piracy, writes Buckles. A good place to start, he says, would be to publish “the total number of links to infringing material available” as well as “the limitations Google imposes on rights owners to search for infringements reveals how meager the number of notices is relative to the vast amount of infringement.”
RIAA cries “limitations”
Google’s “limitations” on copyright holders lay at the heart of Buckle’s complaints about the search giant’s approach to anti-piracy. As Buckles explains, Google uses an “automated tool” to process all the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) takedown notices it receives from copyright holders. “In order to notify Google of an infringement, you first need to find the infringement,” writes Buckles. “But Google places artificial limits on the number of queries that can be made by a copyright owner to identify infringements. These limits significantly decrease the utility of Google’s take down tool given the vast nature of the piracy problem today and the number of titles we are trying to protect.”
According to Google’s count, RIAA member companies — EMI Music North America, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group — serve a median total of about 4,200 DCMA notices each week, with the total number of requests clocking in at just under 440,000. The RIAA ranks fifth in terms of total requests sent, with Microsoft taking the top spot, having requested the takedown of more than 1.2 million URLs.
Google hits back
Google senior copyright attorney Fred von Lohmann denies that Google limits the number of takedown requests a copyright owner may send, but says that the company does have “technical safeguards” in place simply as a way to make sure it does not drown in the mountain of complaints.
“We have never imposed any limit on the number of notices that a copyright owner or reporting organization may send us, although we do have some technical safeguards in our trusted partner program (where submitters may be using automated mechanisms to send large volumes) as a safeguard against accidental flooding of the system,” von Lohmann said in a statement released to various media outlets.
Google says that it currently receives an average of 250,000 DCMA notices each week — roughly the total number that it received in all of 2009. Approximately 97 percent of the requests it receive result in a link being removed from its index, the company says. And each removal takes about 11 hours to full process, as Google attempts to make sure each removal request is legitimate before acting.
“We try to catch erroneous or abusive removal requests,” wrote von Lohmann in a blog post last week. “For example, we recently rejected two requests from an organization representing a major entertainment company, asking us to remove a search result that linked to a major newspaper’s review of a TV show. The requests mistakenly claimed copyright violations of the show, even though there was no infringing content. We’ve also seen baseless copyright removal requests being used for anticompetitive purposes, or to remove content unfavorable to a particular person or company from our search results.”
More RIAA complaints
In addition to takedown request limitations, Buckles complains that Google “also limits the number of links we can ask them to remove per day.” He also claims that Google’s removals are only cosmetic, since they only account for 0.1 percent of the total number of links for sites that are most often targeted by DCMA takedowns. “For example, Google calculates that infringing links account for only 0.1 percent of links on filestube, a notorious source of infringing links,” he writes. “For anyone who knows filestube, this seems unlikely, especially given that Google’s data doesn’t include DMCA notices sent directly to the site.”
In other words, the RIAA would prefer that Google simply wipe entire websites from its search results if they’ve are regularly accused of hosting a significant number of infringing content. Nevermind that proactive censorship is not Google’s responsibility, and would likely result in the censorship perfectly legal content.
Lastly, Buckles is upset that Google continues to index websites regularly accused of copyright infringement, which allows these sites to simply repost the exact content that the RIAA wants removed from the Internet. “If ‘take down’ does not mean ‘keep down,’ then Google’s limitations merely perpetuate the fraud wrought on copyright owners by those who game the system under the DCMA,” writes Buckles.
Needless to say, the RIAA will not be satisfied until it has the power to wipe every piece of allegedly infringing content off the Web. Buckles’s blog simply shows that the entertainment industry feels not only that Google isn’t doing enough to protect its bottom line, but that the DCMA is an inadequate law for fighting piracy. It is this mindset that led to the creation of bills like the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). And further shows that Hollywood will not stop pushing such measures until they can slam a hammer on every website that it has a problem with.
|
<urn:uuid:eaf84406-e1f1-416c-875a-ba76f573d06c>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.digitaltrends.com/music/riaa-to-google-you-still-dont-do-enough-to-fight-online-piracy/?showall=1&flagcomment=449868
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.937288
| 1,228
| 1.609375
| 2
|
Flash flooding hits Niger capital during Ramadan
Severe flooding has reached the capital Niamey over the holy Islamic Ramadan holiday weekend of Eid-ul-Fitr displacing thousands of people and destroying numerous homes.
The Meteorological Center at the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey said that overnight Saturday more than six inches of rain fell. The heavy rainfall caused the Niger River to burst its banks in sections of the capital.
Homes in the Banga Banda neighborhood, located along the west bank of the river collapsed, from a combination of incoming river water on one side and fresh water flooding from rainfall on the other side.
Just two weeks ago, half a year’s worth of rain fell in the Doss Region (87 miles from the capital) in just 24 hours destroying thousands of homes and leaving at least 75,000 people homeless. All these people were affected by the Sahel Food Crisis and many of their farms with the 2012 crops were destroyed.
In Banga Banda, Tahirou Hamadou, 35, lost his home to the flood waters.
“This has ruined my Ramadan weekend. There was nothing to celebrate. In the 30 years that I have lived in this house the river has never come so far and we have never had such flooding,” said Hamadou.
“Three days ago we saw the river level rising, so we built a dam from sandbags but when the flood from the rainfall breeched the dam, my house started to fall and I took my family and 2-year old daughter and ran,” added Hamadou.
He and thousands are sheltering in schools across the capital. Displaced persons at CEG School reported as many as nine families camping out in a single classroom.
Plan International’s Regional Disaster Risk Manager, Roland Berehoudougou, who visited some of the affected areas, said Plan is scheduled to meet with government authorities to be briefed on the extent of the situation.
“We need to know what the immediate needs of the flood victims are and whether the government will request external assistance. We are also concerned that with the start of the new school year just weeks away so many schools all over the country are unavailable because they are being used as emergency shelters,” says Berehoudougou.
He said this was not just an isolated incident as Niger is currently coping with four simultaneous emergencies: the Sahel Food Crisis, the Malian refugee crisis, a cholera outbreak and devastating floods.
Information for sponsorsWe will contact sponsors directly if we receive any news about individual sponsored children. If you are planning a visit or have any particular concerns around this issue, please contact our Donor Relations staff at firstname.lastname@example.org or at 1-800-556-7918.
Help support children and families affected by disasters
|
<urn:uuid:52ee0b03-122f-4335-bbcc-ee3f9ab7d30f>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.planusa.org/contentmgr/showdetails.php/id/2850213
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963001
| 588
| 1.6875
| 2
|
WASHINGTON — The rest of the world, still reeling from the American-caused recession in 2008, is rapidly losing confidence that the United States knows what it is doing.
Even leaving aside the unnerving mess over whether the United States will pay the debt it already has racked up, the most recent evidence is the failure of Congress to extend funding for the Federal Aviation Administration. That meant putting 4,000 FAA employees out of work and sending 70,000 construction workers home while airport construction projects worth $142 million ground to a halt.
So much for the much-vaunted congressional interest in jobs, jobs, jobs.
So much for determination to rebuild America’s crumbling infrastructure.
Here is the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald: “So, has Uncle Sam finally lost his marbles? It does appear the snowy-haired symbol of stern-faced stability has descended into senility, spending more than he earns and not paying his debts. It is a far cry from America’s role over the past half-century as the world’s economic superpower.”
Investors are walking away from U.S. bonds toward other AAA-rated nations, including Canada, Germany and Sweden. Even debt-saddled England is seeing more investor activity. Greece, whose credit rating already has been downgraded, has been all but forgotten by a worried Europe, as the rest of the world has been clucking its tongue over America’s flirtation with self-imposed disaster.
In China, to which we owe a large portion of our foreign-held debt (we owe the Chinese $1.4 trillion), debate is raging about the value of democracy if a once-stable democracy such as the United States balks at paying its debts.
Our debt of $14.3 trillion is staggering; most of it we owe ourselves, such as the Social Security fund. But nervously watching to see if we pay are other foreign creditors such as Japan, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Russia, Mexico and the Philippines.
The word that keeps reverberating when Americans are asked their opinions of what is going on in their nation’s capital is “embarrassment.” Over and over, Americans say they are embarrassed that the nation’s dirty laundry was spread out by oblivious lawmakers for all the world to ogle.
This nation already has slammed the door on many immigrants, including the best and brightest foreign graduates of some of our outstanding colleges and universities who are not permitted to stay to work in the United States.
Housing has not recovered its post-downturn pricing or activity and probably won’t for the foreseeable future.
But the worst thing that has happened is that at least 14 million Americans who desperately want to work still can’t find jobs. These are mostly hardworking, proud people who see their children’s lifestyles declining rapidly. These are college graduates who can’t find a first job. These are laid-off factory workers who have sent out hundreds of resumes and heard nothing.
The frustration of these Americans is watching a dysfunctional government churn out little but barbed political rhetoric, going month after month without offering any hope of better times. And pundits wonder why many Americans refuse to vote.
On the other hand, that’s the only way we’re going to leave the mess behind. Here’s hoping that next year, when we elect a president, a third of the Senate and the entire House, we will have a no-holds-barred, full-fledged, knock-down-drag-out fight over what kind of government we want.
Let’s vow now to elect adults who will do the right thing, don’t fall prey to governing by platitude, understand reality, believe in fairness, compromise when necessary, know the country’s history, don’t manufacture crises for political expediency and put the nation’s interests over their own. In a country this size, there have to be people like that out there.
It’s been a dreadful summer from just about every aspect: weather, politics, declining consumer confidence, employers afraid of instability who won’t hire deserving employees.
Come on, Washington. We really, really need a break.
Scripps Howard columnist Ann McFeatters has covered the White House and national politics since 1986. Send email to firstname.lastname@example.org.
|
<urn:uuid:a7dbd6d5-9725-47b4-9a48-9b72840f85cb>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/the_intelligencer_news/opinion/americans-are-embarrassed-about-their-government/article_c9f541be-2320-5909-961a-289951e49cc5.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.9528
| 920
| 1.796875
| 2
|
If we allowed long-term illegal immigrants to vote, what wouldn't stop people who moved in a week ago from voting - people who have no previous knowledge of the issues or candiadates?
And if we allowed short-term illegal immigrants to vote, then why shouldn't foreigners be allowed to vote? If an illegal immigrant can vote for the US president, then why can't a British citizen vote on the US presient? After all, in our country, they have the same citizenship status - that is, no citizenship.
Mmhmm. Why not let foreigners vote? Doesn't US policy affect them too?
My point is: The system might be slightly unfair to illegal immigrants
And legal immigrants
who have lived and worked in our country for many years, but tehcnically they have no entitlement to that right.
And if we allowed them to vote, what's stopping countries full of other people from voting for something that barely affects them?
How many of the millions of current voters are directly affected by abortion legality or the death penalty? We vote about stuff which barely affects us all the time. But I doubt people would travel to vote for something which doesn't affect them. Even Americans don't. So people would only vote if they were affected. And if they're affected they should have the vote.
As for felons, it's punishment for committing the crime - you've lost a privelage, like a child who doesn't get snacks because he hit his sister, or something to that effect. I don't think it's a huge deal, because most people will go to jail wouldn't have voted anyway.
What about the jail time? Isn't THAT the punishment? Voting should have nothing to do with whether or not someone is a felon. It's verging on cruel and unusual. Definitely unusual.
I don't know what the law is in the US, but in Australia if I didn't vote I would have been fined
In most countries, voting is nonmandatory. Nothing happens if you don't vote.
If anyone could vote voting would have no purpose and would become chaos.
No doubt what they said about giving women and black men the vote. There would be a purpose, and it would be the same purpose there is now. To get a voice in government.
Other nationalities would flood to our own just to vote and screw things up.
No, only those who felt strongly about something about laws in the United States. Which would be few people, because it wouldn't affect them. Unless they worked in the US or something, so it did affect them, so it would be a good thing they could vote.
If children were able to vote they would lack the knowledge one who votes should have, not that most people do anyway. They would also probably be influenced by parents and just do what they're told. Not to mention publicity would change as well. Let's be the cool pres the kids like!
THAT is a legitimate arguement. Children who cannot make decisions about their clothing for the day shouldn't be allowed to vote.
|
<urn:uuid:88eb563c-f5b7-401e-bdaf-515620a0f952>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.thehylia.com/forums/index.php?topic=3711.0
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.984408
| 637
| 1.757813
| 2
|
Posts tagged with 'email'
“When it comes to the web, organizations are broken”, at least that is what Jonathan Kahn says in his A List Apart article and I have to say I agree with him. After all, you don’t have to look far to see there is a problem.
Most websites lack focus, let alone a consistent user experience or tone of voice. Social media rarely integrates well with the website and most organisations' mobile strategy consists of throwing some apps at the iOS app store.
Email is little better. In fact I am working with one charity client whose supporters may receive as many as 80 emails from them a month! This happens because there is no central control over emailing.
Data driven marketing is not as much easy as we think.
You’ve heard the buzzword, and you probably think you’re doing data driven marketing as we speak. But the reality of the situation is that most marketers aren’t actually data driven.
Taking Peter Drucker’s “What gets measured, gets managed” at face value is dangerous. Mere measurement isn’t actually enough. Data driven marketers measure for the right reasons.
And so, with that in mind, here are six reasons you (might) fail at data driven marketing.
Email is alive and kicking. Worldwide there are almost four times more email accounts (4.4bn) than the number of users on Facebook (1 bn) and Twitter (250m) users combined.
Email is also a more active medium than Facebook and Twitter, generating 8.3 times as much messages a day (45bn emails against 5,2bn Facebook updates/likes and 175m tweets a day), and that’s not counting spam emails.
Or to summarise: if you want to reach a large audience, email marketing is a valuable asset that cannot be ignored.
Here are three essential email marketing tips...
Email has the potential to deliver a strong ROI for marketers, though the precise response rates depend on a number of factors including the subject line, type of offers and the time of day the email is sent.
Obviously the only way of accurately finding the optimal time of day to send your emails is to run tests, and you also need to take into account fluctuations around pay day and annual events such as Christmas and bank holidays.
There is even a way of running tests using Google Analytics, which we blogged a few years ago.
According to the Econsultancy/Adestra Email Marketing Industry Census 2013 only half of businesses (49%) are currently testing the time and day of their email messages, so either the other 51% already know the optimum time or they're working off a hunch.
Econsultancy has been discussing digital excellence on an ongoing basis for a while now, as digital concepts increasingly permeates business operations, capabilities and structures.
Ahead of ExactTarget's Connect tour, where Econsultancy is a media partner, I managed to catch up with one of the key members of their APAC operations, Regional Marketing Manager, Ryan Bonnici, to get his thoughts on the topic, as well as the peripheral issues of digital innovation, data and technology.
Poor quality data is the biggest barrier to effective email marketing, according to the new Econsultancy/Adestra Email Marketing Census 2013.
Half (50%) of respondents stated that the quality of their email database caused problems with their email campaigns, meaning that it has been the most common barrier for three years running.
A further 43% cited a lack of strategy as a key problem, followed by lack of time (41%) and poor segmentation (39%).
The Email Marketing Census looks at the amount and type of email marketing carried out by organisations, the way that email marketing is conducted, issues affecting the industry and the effectiveness of email compared to other digital marketing channels.
More 1,300 respondents took part in the 2013 Census, which took the form of an online survey in January and February 2013.
Social and mobile have been around for a while now, but there are still a lot of dad dances out there.
Count how many of these you agree with...
Almost three-quarters (73%) of businesses carry out basic email segmentation while a further 16% are planning to implement it, according to the new Econsultancy/Adestra Email Marketing Census.
After basic segmentation, encouraging sharing of content (52%) and regular list cleansing (49%) are the email practices which marketers are most likely to be undertaking.
Businesses are clearly seeing the benefits of segmenting their email marketing as a further 46% are planning to implement a more advanced programme.
The report, which is based on a survey of 1,329 agency and client-side respondents, looks in detail at the approaches taken and the resources given to email marketing, as well as issues regarding effectiveness, deliverability, technology integration and mobile.
Disclaimer: I have been instructed by our marketing department, that I must put a disclaimer before this blog, just in case someone takes what I am saying seriously and actually follows this advice.
I and the company I work for (RedEye), accept no responsibility for damages caused by anyone following the advice below. The actions below would not even be carried out by specially trained professionals, so should certainly not be tried at home!
You have been warned....
“Spam” is like a dirty word in the world of email marketing. No credible email marketer wants to be associated with it. However, there has been some talk lately insinuating email marketers are not sending enough emails and suggesting that if they send more, they’ll make more money.
I’ve even seen some theoretical figures quoted that suggest if you send to your list twice as many times, you could make twice as much money!
Apparently, email marketers are worried about over mailing their lists, upsetting their customers and being accused of being spammers. The problem is that while this line of thinking is going to upset many an email marketer, it’s also admittedly a bit of a temptation.
When the chips are down and the CEO is breathing down your neck for more sales, the thought of more emails equals more money starts to look rather appealing.
So, for anyone considering the spam approach, I’ve pulled together some tongue in cheek rules on how to be a spammer in the modern email world.
Once again we round up six of the best stats-packed digital marketing infographics we've seen this week.
The topics include mobile optimisation, how social shares boost email, bad customer service, and how colours affect conversions...
|
<urn:uuid:b383f5af-408e-4b34-819a-b7d744865c2b>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://econsultancy.com/ca/blog/tags/email
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.963416
| 1,380
| 1.578125
| 2
|
In ICD-10 Transition, Training Trumps Tech Concerns
Clinical readiness is a top concern among providers regarding the ICD-10 transition, says recent KLAS report.
"ICD-10 Perception: Can Technology Relieve Readiness Issues?" explored whether the new ICD-10 deadline was impacting provider priorities, said author Lois Krotz in an interview with InformationWeek Healthcare. Krotz and her team were curious to see if providers were looking to bypass processes -- like readiness assessments, creating internal committees and investing in new technology -- to make the transition smoother. Instead, said Krotz, "all these processes are the same for all provider organizations, and a key finding was it's time to hunker down and go through them."
More Healthcare Insights
- Redefining Value and Success in Healthcare: Charting the Path to the Future
- Will Your State Deliver a Modernized Medicaid Program by 2014?
- Redefining Value in Healthcare: Innovation to expand access, improve quality and reduce costs of care
- The Case for Smarter Healthcare
- Strategy: The Next Phase of Meaningful Use
- Fundamentals: How To Choose Electronic Health Records Software
With that in mind, the report explored how providers viewed technology in regard to the transition. "One surprising finding for us is, IT isn't a concern for hospitals or clinics," said Krotz. "It's the people side of it." Physician documentation and training for coders and providers is top of mind. "A lot of EMR uses and end coders expressed confidence they've received a good amount of assurance from their vendor," Krotz said. "Their technology is ready."
[ For the latest developments on Meaningful Use, see Meaningful Use Stage 2 Rules Finalized. ]
Providers are looking to utilize IT to address productivity issues associated with the transition. The use of CAC technology, for example, is projected to become widespread; 75% of providers are considering using one form or another of CAC because they're anticipating the drop-off in productivity on the coder side, said Krotz. The reason for this IT implementation is to give coders enough time and help to prepare.
And this use of CAC technology and others like it is needed among coders, according to another recent KLAS report focusing on ICD-10 consulting firms. Eric Westerlind, author of "ICD-10 Consulting: Roadmap to a Successful Transition" told InformationWeek Healthcare that one CIO expressed concerns regarding their top coder -- when asked to perform the coding changes from ICD-9 to ICD-10, the coder performed at a 60% level in terms of productivity. "That was a concern, and that gives some color behind the use of technology," Westerlind said. "It's about making up for that gap, and that's where CAC comes in."
The transition also is going to incentivize many coders to take an early retirement, Krotz pointed out, leaving another gap for CAC technology and other resources to fill. "The average coder age is 57," she said. "Organizations aren't just thinking about CAC technology, but also about outsourcing coder services." This way, she said, current coders won't have to battle yet another learning curve. By outsourcing services, Krotz said, "results could be better."
As large healthcare providers test the limits, many smaller groups question the value. Also in the new, all-digital Big Data Analytics issue of InformationWeek Healthcare: Ask these six questions about natural language processing before you buy. (Free with registration.)
|
<urn:uuid:ce02461a-181d-4e77-95d9-3c4113b76775>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.informationweek.com/healthcare/policy/training-trumps-technology-concerns-in-i/240148918?cid=SBX_iwk_related_commentary_Executive_insights/interviews_global_cio
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.946029
| 752
| 1.539063
| 2
|
Easy modding project and reduces?
I've been interested in modding things for a while note but something else gas always required that money. I know nothing about electronics and I'm one of the least handy people in the world. I've never touched a soldering iron before. Next time I get paid for my lessons, if life to get a cheap pedal as well as a Radioshack or similar soldering kit and do a simple, cheap, and safe mod. I saw somewhere around here a mod to swap out a tone put on a boss overdrive pedal for better sound. Something like that would be great. I want to learn why pitfalls affect sound the way they do, as well add p perform simple repairs on amps, instruments, and pedals. At some point I'd like to be able to bills devices such as DI's, effects, etc. if i really click with smaller projects.
Of course, resources on reading wiring diagrams, rudimentary electronics, safety, and that sort of thing are greatly appreciated
Ibanez BTB club # 152
|
<urn:uuid:9f7aa181-f008-4171-a882-f54b6544aa63>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f36/easy-modding-project-reduces-940922/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.949701
| 216
| 1.648438
| 2
|
Historic Tyler on Thursday offers tours of a mid-century residence that was the personal home of the late architect, E. Davis Wilcox.
“When you’re a member, you can come to these member only events for no charge,” Historic Tyler Director Cassie Edmonds said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
The occasion is organized by Historic Tyler’s Modern Committee, known also as the Mod Squad. It focuses on the preservation and promotion of mid-century modern homes.
The acclaimed architect’s 1952 home, built of salvaged brick from an old Tyler fire station, is the first modern home to be featured on tour.
“There’s a lot of interest in mid-century modern,” Ms. Edmonds said. “A lot of people don’t realize what it is ... there’s actually a lot of it in Tyler.”
Mid-Century modern refers to an architectural style popular between the 1930s and the 1960s, characterized by sleek lines and contemporary furnishings.
Wilcox was widely known in East Texas for his striking sensitivity to the natural environments.
Most of his designs have large windows so people can enjoy the outdoors from indoors.
The Gallaghers’ home, featuring lush landscaping on two city blocks, has floor-to-ceiling windows, a plant-filled atrium and redwood built-ins in every room.
Wilcox is credited locally with designing the Tyler Museum of Art, Andy Woods Elementary School, John Tyler High School and about 70 homes, including his own.
For more information about the tour and Historic Tyler, call 903-595-1960.
|
<urn:uuid:ba89d511-d689-4747-b707-78405c8f16fc>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20120812/NEWS08/120819948/0/SPORTS0538
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.968446
| 357
| 1.6875
| 2
|
New Ways to Listen to Music for Free or Cheap
It seems like everyone has an iPod or a cell phone with mp3 capabilities now. But paying for music stinks, and every week seems to bring a new favorite song, so why keep paying just to fill your iTunes with thousands of songs you don't listen to? I don't consider myself a music junkie, and even I have about 100 hours worth of music on my computer. That's the equivalent of listening to music non-stop for over four days! Sounds interesting, but it's unlikely to happen.
There are lots of free music services out there, so paying for music may be a thing of the past (and not just by downloading it illegally). Here are a few great ways to listen to music for free! (See also: 8 Alternatives to Cable TV That Will Keep You Entertained)
Listen to Your Favorite Radio Station Online
In Los Angeles, 102.7 KIIS FM is the bomb. They're always playing the most popular songs, and there's a solid argument for setting all six pre-set radio stations in your car to this one channel.
If there's a station you absolutely love, it's possible (and likely) that there's an option to listen to it stream online. And if not? Give KIIS a chance! You won't regret it!
The plus side is great, free music. The downside is the regular commercials that come with the radio. So let's explore some options that have fewer or no commercials at all.
Pandora is a music-streaming service that allows users to create customized radio stations based on a song, album, artist, or genre. Pandora plays songs that it thinks are similar to your song (or album, artist, or genre). A thumbs up lets the program know it did a good job in picking a song for you, while a thumbs down lets it know you're not interested in that song. The more feedback it gets, the better job it does at picking music you like.
Pandora has short, 15-second commercials approximately every 10 songs, so it's a small price to pay for such a great service. The more significant downside is that free listeners are limited to a total of 40 hours each month. However, for $36 a year, you can avoid the commercials and get unlimited listening by upgrading to Pandora One, which also offers higher-quality audio, though I've never noticed low-quality sound in the free version.
This service is similar to Pandora in that it plays songs similar to your original choice. Last.fm is free to use, though ads appear on the site while playing music. Last.fm also has a social network aspect to it, and while it scores high in matching new music to your tastes, the website is not all that user friendly or intuitive.
If having music chosen for you isn't your thing, there are two services that let you choose the exact music you want to play.
With Grooveshark, you can search for music and create customized playlists with the songs you select, and there's no need to sign up just to play music. If you're always connected to the Internet, you can create a library with the songs you want and play it from wherever you are.
For $6 a month, you can get the service ad-free, and for $9 a month you can also stream the service to your Grooveshark application on your smartphone.
The newest addition to the streaming music scene is Spotify, which is similar to Grooveshark, but comes as a desktop application (similar to iTunes). Once you download it, the user interface will blow you away. It's very easy to use (and fast, too!), and searching for the song or album you want is a breeze. Creating playlists is as simple as dragging and dropping your selections, and the playlists are accessible from wherever you use Spotify. You can also add your own files into the program, so it can become your one stop shop for all your music needs. It's my favorite way to listen to music these days, so if you can get your hands on an invite (or have the patience to wait for it to become public), check it out!
The free application comes with a few unobtrusive ads that pop up while playing music, but for $10 a month, you can get full access on your smartphone, enhanced sound quality, and offline mode (which keeps your favorite playlists synced for a plane ride).
There's no shortage of free music services out there. And splurging to get rid of ads or higher quality audio is pretty cheap as well, far cheaper than buying the songs individually only to forget about them a month later. Plus, as opposed to illegally downloading music, all four of these services pay a royalty fee to artists, so not only do you get your music for free (or at least very cheap), but by listening to music through the services, you're helping the artists get paid as well!
Which free music service is your favorite?
|
<urn:uuid:dbef6acf-de54-4757-8eec-386de3fe7f61>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.wisebread.com/new-ways-to-listen-to-music-for-free-or-cheap?wbref=readmore-3
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.964945
| 1,039
| 1.539063
| 2
|
With the presidential election fast approaching, a number of startups and entrepreneurs have sought out candidates and political parties as customers. It’s easy to see why: both campaigns are expected to spend almost $1 billion each on reaching voters.
The question is whether working too closely with a candidate or party can also alienate potential customers and threaten a company’s long-term success.
Political strategist Joe Trippi thinks working for deep-pocketed campaigns is worth the risk given the attention that successful campaigns can bestow upon their technology partners.
Trippi points to the media agency Blue State Digital, which was widely credited for incorporating digital tools into the fundraising and field operations of President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Blue State has since been acquired by the giant ad agency WPP (in 2010), and last year, the Obama 2012 campaign gave its cofounder, Joe Rospars, the lofty title of chief digital strategist.
Trippi also connects the rise of the site MeetUp – now used by 11 million people across 45,000 cities to organize social groups — to the rise of Howard Dean as a serious presidential contender in 2004. Indeed, before the famous shriek that permanently derailed Dean’s run, “You really didn’t know who was growing faster or who was causing whose growth, it was so symbiotic,” says Trippi, who was among Dean’s chief advisers at the time.
Of course, entrepreneurs are also likely looking to emulate the success of Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, whose pioneering work on the My.BarackObama.com site redefined the decisive role of technology in winning elections and attracted a huge amount of press attention to Facebook and its technology partners.
The Obama camp has been a virtual proving ground for new social media technologies. During the last presidential election, it was the first to embrace social media and took advantage of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in a way that the opposing McCain campaign came nowhere close to matching.(Obama had millions more Facebook “fans” than McCain, as well as social media savvy supporters like Will.i.am, whose “Yes We Can” video, released on YouTube in February 2008, was quickly viewed more than 20 million times.)
Yet if Republicans lagged in the last election, research suggests they’ve since bridged the social media gap, and Tim Schigel, founder of ShareThis, a venture-backed maker of a widely used content sharing widget, is leading the charge.
Schigel joined the Romney campaign last year as a top technology adviser, partly to oversee the development of a Facebook application called Social Victory Center. (It’s now used by volunteers to organize, read up on talking points, and to otherwise engage and promote Romney’s cause.) Schigel is also trying to help the campaign to understand why and when people share content.
Schigel didn’t respond to several requests for comment, but in a May interview with Christian Science Monitor, he sounded very interested in new technologies that could give his candidate an edge. “There’s a lot of learning from the past but … to rely too much on technology that was used in the past…might actually be something that slows down the Obama team because they’ve built so much….We don’t have that baggage.”
If Schigel is proven right, there’s little doubt we’ll be hearing more about him – and ShareThis – after the election. But venture capitalist Bill Gurley warns entrepreneurs and startups about identifying too closely with the campaigns they are serving.
While Gurley observes that plenty of platforms, including Twitter, “frequently see political commentary within their framework,” he says in an email that “any startup taking a stand on a candidate is a risky move,” particularly given today’s highly divisive political climate.
In fact, at least one startup tells me that it’s torn about promoting its work for a political group. Pankaj Taneja, spokesperson for HyperOffice, a Rockville, Md.-based collaboration software startup cofounded by serial entrepreneur Shervin Pishevar, says that it “deliberately decided not to do a major marketing push” around the the Tea Party’s use of its platform.
Asked if the Tea Party’s controversial reputation played a role in that decision, Tajena says that HyperOffice simply “didn’t want to create the impression of giving any one party some sort of endorsement.” He adds that HyperOffice views the Tea Party’s patronage as a “positive validation of our product” and that there was “little hesitation” to work with its members.
Ultimately, such validation should overweigh all other concerns, says Trippi. “I don’t think there’s a downside to participating in either the Romney or Obama campaign,” he says. No matter who wins, “You can always argue that these campaigns could have used anyone and they picked you or your app or your hardware.”
Of course, adds Trippi, “If you pick [the] right [campaign], it’s probably some of the biggest exposure you could ever hope for.”
Image Credit: Shutterstock.com
|
<urn:uuid:8cf06f3d-a0e8-40b4-a19f-f9766ea20311>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.pehub.com/2012/07/05/startups-political-candidates/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.960493
| 1,106
| 1.703125
| 2
|
(a) when the term is F.O.B. the place of shipment, the seller must at that place ship the goods in the manner provided in this article (section 2-504) and bear the expense and risk of putting them into the possession of the carrier; or
(b) when the term is F.O.B. the place of destination, the seller must at his own expense and risk transport the goods to that place and there tender delivery of them in the manner provided in this article (section 2-503); or
(c) when under either (a) or (b) the term is also F.O.B. vessel, car or other vehicle, the seller must in addition at his own expense and risk load the goods on board. If the term is F.O.B. vessel the buyer must name the vessel and in an appropriate case the seller must comply with the provisions of this article on the form of bill of lading (section 2-323).
(2) Unless otherwise agreed the term F.A.S. vessel (which means "free alongside") at a named port, even though used only in connection with the stated price, is a delivery term under which the seller must
(a) at his own expense and risk deliver the goods alongside the vessel in the manner usual in that port or on a dock designated and provided by the buyer; and
(b) obtain and tender a receipt for the goods in exchange for which the carrier is under a duty to issue a bill of lading.
(3) Unless otherwise agreed in any case falling within subsection (1) (a) or (c) or subsection (2) the buyer must seasonably give any needed instructions for making delivery, including when the term is F.A.S. or F.O.B. the loading berth of the vessel and in an appropriate case its name and sailing date. The seller may treat the failure of needed instructions as a failure of cooperation under this article (section 2-311). He may also at his option move the goods in any reasonable manner preparatory to delivery or shipment.
(4) Under the term F.O.B. vessel or F.A.S. unless otherwise agreed the buyer must make payment against tender of the required documents and the seller may not tender nor the buyer demand delivery of the goods in substitution for the documents.
Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2012 1st Special Session
|
<urn:uuid:b86cbaca-e607-4df1-b7ba-9e85f264ed56>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.legis.state.wv.us/WVCODE/ChapterEntire.cfm?chap=46&art=2§ion=319
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.950022
| 509
| 1.585938
| 2
|
The Corporate Responsibility function (CR) helps MBDA respond to an increasingly complex business landscape. This landscape involves multiple stakeholders each with their own expectations beyond simply delivering products and services profitably.
To meet these expectations it is necessary to: measure and manage our social and environmental performance; seek external certification of key activities; to implement actions and projects to improve our sustainability and to be transparent about the results.
Ethics & Compliance
The Code of Ethics is the cornerstone of our Integrity Programme. It sets out the ethical principles all of us are expected to follow, regardless of location or role. These principles are not new, but are a more comprehensive version of the statements previously set out in various documents.
The Code of Ethics is based upon the three following general principles:
Charities, schools and not-for-profit organisations make a hugely valuable contribution to society. MBDA UK has been involved with a programme called Charity Challenge for several years. The programme encourages employees to participate in fundraising as well as hands-on volunteer work for local charities. Each year a different local charity is chosen in order that we support as many local community projects as possible. As well as helping local charities we feel that MBDA's involvement in the community creates a positive image of the company and see that involvement as an ethical obligation of a major local employer such as ourselves.
As a business, environmental management is affecting us in several different ways. We have to maintain compliance with the complexity of environmental legislation, improve our environmental performance in areas such as waste management and energy efficiency and even use an environmental design philosophy for our products to minimise the use of hazardous substances, design for disposal, and meet customer requirements.
The importance of environmental management will only continue to grow over the coming years. A proactive approach to managing the environment now is essential if we are to maintain legal compliance, improve environmental performance and stay ahead of forthcoming environmental constraints. As such environmental issues are taken very seriously and we have a team dedicated to seeking ways to constantly improve our impact on the environment.
|
<urn:uuid:0c468562-22da-416d-8c19-816915ac8fd7>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.mbdacareers.co.uk/corporate_responsibility.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.94688
| 410
| 1.734375
| 2
|
RCMP warn motorists of high winds, icy roads
Published Wednesday, January 30, 2013 6:53PM AST
Last Updated Wednesday, January 30, 2013 7:14PM AST
RCMP in New Brunswick are warning motorists to drive carefully after responding to roughly 26 crashes across the province.
“The majority of the calls that we got started in the Woodstock area and then came and really condensed near Fredericton, Hampton, going down to St. Stephen,” says RCMP Cpl. Chantal Farrah.
Police say high winds and slippery roads contributed to the collisions as drivers were caught off guard by icy by the conditions. No fatalities were reported.
Freezing rain started early and moved west to east, prompting school boards throughout New Brunswick to cancel classes.
“There’s always a chance that when you make that decision, the weather might prove you wrong,” says David McTimoney, superintendent for the Anglophone West School District. “In today’s case, we made the right call.”
In Saint John, overnight gusts could reach 90 kilometres per hour.
Despite the rain and rising temperatures, emergency officials aren’t anticipating issues with the St. John River.
“Although there’s always a possibility that there could be some ice shifting, it’s certainly not going to be the type of event that causes ice to run in the river system,” says Greg McCallum of the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization.
Police are also warning motorists, especially those driving high-sided vehicles, in the Tantramar area near Sackville to use caution as high winds are also forecast for that area.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Andy Campbell
|
<urn:uuid:4ac7b067-ced9-40ef-9b27-d96193444bec>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/rcmp-warn-motorists-of-high-winds-icy-roads-1.1136525
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.953864
| 361
| 1.703125
| 2
|
One of my peppers is showing some strange discolouration of its skin. You cannot feel that it's there, so presumably this is underneath the outermost membrane of the fruit. As far as I can tell there ...
I've noticed the following on two of my oldest bell-peppers, also called capsicum (the third pepper of that "batch" had almost finished going red and ripening instead): It's not "on" the surface - ...
A week ago I harvested an orange Bell pepper from my garden. It was still halfway green, so I put it on our kitchen counter to ripen. When I finally cut it open for a salad after a week of ripening, ...
|
<urn:uuid:e7a0976c-2e2e-4dd5-997a-dafbd5556be9>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/diagnosis+bell-peppers
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.971931
| 143
| 1.835938
| 2
|
Well, I've been meaning to do this for awhile...I'm changing my vote from broccoli to borage. After I posted my vote on broccoli the next post was borage, so I said okay, I'll see If they have borage seed at the local nursery. Indeed they did, 25 seeds for about $2.00. I say man, these are pretty expensive seed. Anyway, I plant them in pots under lights in march, and get 22 plants. I gave a couple to a friend, and the rest I put in my yard in different places. By the end of the year, the plants I put out had already reseeded and new plants were coming up. A single plant doesn't have too many blossoms blooming at once, so its best to plant a patch. The bees indeed do love this plant. They were the last plant the bees would leave even as the sun was setting. Those plants that had come up from the seed at the end of the summer amazingly survived the winter with sub zero temperatures ( they were under snow that year) and were the first thing to bloom in the spring, about the same time as my pie cherry tree blooming, which the bees also love.. The plant seems to have two stages. When it first grows, it stays close to the ground, no blooms, but quite hardy, able to resist some pretty cold temperatures in this stage. Next it shoots up a primary stem kind of like a hollyhock that the blooms form on. It's pretty flimsy and falls over easily so it helps to stake it. I found that putting a sheet of concrete reinforcement wire horizontally about 18 inches to 2 feet above them which they can grow up and through works well as a support, especially for a patch of about 5 x 8 feet. This one patch I had from only 10 of the plants from the first year, produced around a 100 plants the next spring. When this patch was in full bloom, I'd estimate there was easily over a 100 bees on it. Unfortunately I hadn't put the wire on it at that time and on a windy day it all fell over from the center out. That pretty much finished it off, so I rototilled it under and replanted (late July) putting the wire on top this time and it was just beginning to flower when I got a 20 degree night in October that killed the flowering plants. The plants in the first stage are still alive. Its now December and most everything is dead except for the 1st stage borage and my broccoli. The broccoli managed to survive a 13 degree night up close to the house a month ago and was still blooming with a couple of bees visiting. Its been unusually warm this winter, in Aurora Colorado, no moisture hardly at all. I'm not expecting to make it through tonight with the expected lows around 5 degrees. It snowed last night but not enough to cover and protect the plants. I'm curious to see if the borage can survive the near zero temperatures without a snow blanket. But, if it doesn't, I have a plenty of seed to plant this spring. Oh, one other thing, when the borage starts blooming, it doesn't stop until it's dead, so it has a long bloom life. My broccoli's pretty good, it can bloom for a month, but once it starts making seed, it's pretty much done. The cat mint I have, the bees really like, but it's blooms only last few weeks, but can be extended by cutting off the seed pods. I have Golden rod too, but the bees here don't seem too interested in it. I think it's because it attracts all kinds of mason bees in huge numbers. HollyHocks, so so, crimson clover, the bumble bees like it, honey bees once in awhile. That's what I have in my garden.
|
<urn:uuid:a6e124a6-790a-4b23-91e2-aff1afd3077d>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?249342-Bees-favorite-plant&p=910684
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.981629
| 793
| 1.53125
| 2
|
For the last three weeks, in preparation for a presentation, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Future of Working. Not the Future of Careers per se, but the future of working and work-life – what will it be like to work in the year 2020?
So after much thinking (usually while doing mundane tasks like weeding gardens and sanding the house), discussions with other futurists, reading, and consideration of the outside pressures on the workplace and work-life, I’ve built a new presentation on the Future of Working. I do have an audio transcript, which I hope to have my assistant transcribe soon, but for now you can get the general gist of what was discussed by clicking through the Prezi.
The illustration for this Prezi is really incredibly impressive (kudos to my illustrator, Mat Moore). The setting is an office/industrial/agricultural complex, except the whole complex is built from computer parts. We’ve worked together on these illustrated Prezis for years now and Mat leaves me blank spaces to incorporate the “slides” in the presentation, as you see in the image below.
You won’t notice the incredible level of detail in this illustration until you view the zooms during the presentation. He’s really put in some incredibly tiny details like streetlights and trees. I think I’ll have to print a poster-size version just to find all the easter egg details in this one.
Possibly Related Posts:
- LinkedIn Connection Timeline
- WolframAlpha Facebook Report
- Data Sleuthing
- Resources for Data Literacy
- Mindmap for Studying Social Media
|
<urn:uuid:156196fc-4b6a-495f-a919-d74c12ba76ce>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://busynessgirl.com/category/edge-of-learning/futuring/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.932086
| 349
| 1.710938
| 2
|
News from Africa
US-based anti-genocide lobby group says ban an incomplete solution to conflict minerals.
By Peter Omondi
Washington DC—In order to decrease violence fueled by the global trade in conflict minerals, Congo ‘s recent ban on mineral exports must be accompanied by long-term efforts to reform the trade, including a certification process, says the Enough Project. Last week, President Joseph Kabila announced a mineral export ban on the conflict-ridden and mineral-rich Walikale territory in North Kivu, which was then followed by a full export ban on all minerals mined in the eastern Congolese provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu , and Maniema. Continue reading
LIMA, Peru (CNS) – After a week of criticism from the Peruvian bishops’ conference and other groups, the Peruvian Congress repealed a controversial decree that critics warned could lead to amnesty for human rights violators. Continue reading
The mythmongers in Tea Party land and millions more Americans seem to prefer fiction to fact.
By Barbara Koeppel
Based on a mid-April New York Times/CBS News poll of about 1,600 adults, we learned that 52 percent of Tea Party supporters believe “too much has been made of the problems facing black people.” Could it be because 89 percent of the Partyers polled are white? They also have above-average incomes: 31 percent of Tea Partyers earn more than $75,000 a year, as opposed to 26 percent of all poll respondents. A cool 68 percent of Tea Partyers consider themselves middle-class or above. And they’re very angry about government spending. As one woman says, “I’m sick and tired of them wasting money” (though she probably doesn’t want her Medicare or Social Security touched). Continue reading
Justice for Immigrants
If enacted, the DREAM Act would create a pathway through which undocumented immigrant students could obtain conditional permanent residency and, ultimately, American citizenship. Under the legislation, certain students would be eligible for conditional permanent residency if they meet certain criteria, including: entering the United States before age 16; living in the U.S. for at least five continuous years immediately before the bill becomes effective; graduating from high school or gaining admission into an institute of higher education; having “good moral character” and not committed certain crimes; and being younger than 35 when the bill becomes effective. Continue reading
Together with Africa
Sudan is entering a critical period as the January 2011 referendum approaches.
Mandated by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the referendum gives the people of Southern Sudan the right to determine their future status – one of unity with the North or independence. (Read a recent NewsNotes article on this issue here.) Monumental challenges remain in the way of a free and fair referendum. Continue reading
National Immigration Law Center
As many of you know, on September 14, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced plans to bring the DREAM Act (S. 729) up for a vote as an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill. It is scheduled to be voted on in the Senate as early as next week — and we need you to take action to make sure that Congress passes this important legislation! Continue reading
|
<urn:uuid:0898646b-3c51-4735-ace8-86838f77683c>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://snddenjpic.org/2010/09/18/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.94506
| 683
| 1.507813
| 2
|
The number of abortions performed in New Zealand decreased in 2011, Statistics New Zealand said today. A total of 15,863 induced abortions were performed in New Zealand in 2011, 767 fewer than in 2010.
“The general abortion rate (abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) decreased from 18.1 per 1,000 in 2010 to 17.3 in 2011. This rate is the lowest since 1995 when it was 16.1 per 1,000. The lower abortion rate indicates that the decrease in the number of abortions was due to fewer women having abortions rather than to changes in the size or age structure of the population,” said Dallas Welch, the acting government statistician.
In the year ended December 2011:
- 15,863 abortions were performed in New Zealand, the lowest number since 1999 (15,501).
- The general abortion rate was 17.3 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years, down from 18.1 per 1,000 in 2010.
- Women aged 20–24 years had the highest abortion rate (33 abortions per 1,000 women aged 20–24 years).
- The median age of women having an abortion was 25 years.
- Most abortions (62 percent) were a woman’s first abortion.
- View a full report (pdf) here.
- View the detailed data sets (excel) here.
While the compulsive-obsessive nico-nazis celebrate depriving our jailbirds of their perfectly legal tobacco, a gullible Minister of Corrections, Judith Collins, makes what will turn out to be an unsupportable rod for her own back. Meanwhile, a group of our so-called high-powered citizens get together to push for tougher laws on another perfectly legal product, booze.
Smoking contributes to the deaths of a few thousand people a year; excessive alcohol consumption to a few thousand more.
But what about the more than 17,500 potential New Zealanders who were vacuumed into oblivion in abortion clinics round the country in the 2009 calendar year, most of them illegally under the provisions of the law supposedly administered by the Abortion Supervisory Committee?
Not even the statistics themselves, which were released by the Government Statistician in mid-June, have appeared in any major newspaper or other medium that I have seen.
Once again, all but a handful (2 per cent) of the 17,550 abortions performed last year were on the grounds of serious danger to the mental health of the mother – a ratio that has been constant since 1977 – which means there must be a hell of a lot of mentally unstable women in our land.
|
<urn:uuid:96429cb9-fa9b-466d-95fb-6c6abf1bfa10>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://prolife.org.nz/tag/abortion-statistics/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.968735
| 550
| 1.828125
| 2
|
The Chinese Government has added a blanket ban on all RSS feeds, according to a report at Ars Technica.
There have been reports previously that Feedburner feeds have been blocked, but to-date information delivered by RSS feeds has generally gone uncensored, providing Chinese viewers information that would otherwise be blocked if attempting to visit a regular webpage or blog.
A quick test of WebSitePulse’s Great Firewall testing tool indicates that the TechCrunch feed is blocked.
The number of broadband internet users in China will surpass the United States within the next 12-18 months; China is fast becoming one of the most important online marketplaces in the world. Whilst some could well argue about the rights of a sovereign nation to censor content within its own borders, the more pressing issue from a Web 2.0 development and industry perspective is the use of the Firewall by the Chinese Government to unfairly block foreign competition, particularly at a time where the Chinese Government is trying to start, or is already in Free Trade Agreement negotiations with a number of countries, including Australia.
There is also some suggestion that China will enter an APEC FTA in the future: would it then be fair that online industries are either excluded from the FTA or that access rights are ignored by China under those agreements? Western Governments are still generally not focused enough on the benefits of online business in a broader economic sense, so unless there is some serious lobbying, or more understanding leadership, our industry will likely be forgotten in the clamor for mineral, industrial and agricultural trade.
|
<urn:uuid:f0f0073c-e51a-4a07-b030-49a19f0e0ea2>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://techcrunch.com/2007/10/04/china-blocking-rss-feeds/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.942477
| 312
| 1.8125
| 2
|
'Star of Bethlehem' lights up steel mill one final time
Decades-old December tradition continues past the death of Sparrows Point
Dave Polanowski helped get the star of Bethlehem lit one more time this Christmas at Sparrows Point. (Gene Sweeney Jr., Baltimore Sun / December 19, 2012)
Not long after Bethlehem Steel built the Sparrows Point steel mill's massive "L" blast furnace in 1978, workers erected the "Star of Bethlehem" at the top — a reference to the longtime owner as well as to the nativity. The star has shone from on high in December ever since, its meaning slowly transforming from an eye-catching example of the steel mill's might to something deeper and more emotional.
As the plant's hold on life grew more tenuous, the bright Christmas decoration represented hope. Hope that the furnace would go on producing molten iron, the mills it fed would keep making steel products and everyone's jobs would be safe, at least for a while longer, because turning the star on is no easy feat.
Now that hope is gone. The mill's last operator went bankrupt and the plant is being sold off in pieces. But the star remains, switched on by its owners for what steelworkers expect will be its final holiday season.
Dave Polanowski, a 17-year veteran of the steel mill and former union leader, said his roiling feelings of sadness and anger about the plant's closure do not extend to the star. He's glad, very glad, it was lit again.
"I know it's just a star, it's just a piece of metal with some light bulbs on it, but to a lot of us, that was our dignity, our pride — that was us," he said. "We were proud to see that star shine."
Sparrows Point was auctioned off in August as part of its then-owner's bankruptcy case to a liquidator and a redevelopment company. That might have been the end of the line right there — 125 years after its founder bought farmland to build a steelworks — except the new owners immediately put the property up for sale. Workers hoped against hope that an operator would step in.
Two weeks ago, the most valuable steelmaking asset at Sparrows Point was sold to a competitor, reportedly for spare parts. Local leaders declared the plant dead.
But in the days between, the star that workers assumed would remain dark flickered to life.
Polanowski said he went over to the plant in late November to ask if it could be done. He doesn't know if his request had anything to do with the ultimate result, but he's thrilled either way.
"It put some peace in your heart when we saw that lit," he said.
Illinois-based Hilco Trading, one of the owners, called the decision "the right thing to do."
"We felt it was important to continue to illuminate the Star of Bethlehem at Sparrows Point as a sign of respect for the great community and the rich history at the Mill as well as a symbol of hope for a bright future in this location in the years to come," wrote Gary Epstein, chief marketing officer for Hilco, in an email. "We believe this will be a new and economically viable community again."
John Moyer, 64, said he was in his early 30s when he helped install the star on what was then a new blast furnace. The decoration was attached more than 300 feet up, with either 179 or 189 bulbs — after all these years, he can't quite remember.
But he clearly recalls how happy he was to be assigned the job with more than a dozen others. He worked 16 hours straight on the project and was glad to do it.
"It was very, very exciting," said Moyer, who put in 38 years at the plant.
The star was the general manager's idea, he said.
"The furnace was supposed to be one of the biggest ones around at the time, and he wanted to put something up there that the people would see when they went by on the Beltway," he said.
Steelworkers insist you can see it from miles away, if you're in the right spot — Moyer said he used to be able to make it out from his home in Essex when he climbed to the top of a towering white pine in his yard. But it's not visible in many closer areas. Some people who live or work in the surrounding Edgemere community haven't even heard of it, let alone seen it.
|
<urn:uuid:6580467a-af0f-49b1-ad82-cc533d340640>
|
CC-MAIN-2013-20
|
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-sparrows-point-star-of-bethlehem-20121224,0,7959784.story
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.985652
| 928
| 1.664063
| 2
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.