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Students majoring in an academic discipline within the Division of Human Studies will be required to deliver a presentation to culminate the experience. The guidelines for the presentation follow.
This presentation is a PowerPoint presentation and is to be about 10 minutes in length, but no longer than 12. Please be aware of time... other students will need to deliver their presentation on that day. We will allow 3 minutes at the end of each presentation for questions from the audience before moving on to the next student. Effective presenting involves an awareness of time. Practice your presentation. Points will be deducted for going past the allotted time. You will be reminded at the half-way point of your presentation and again near the end.
INTRODUCTION (Overview so we know what you are talking about), this should include:
Introduce yourself and state your academic year and major. Provide the name of your site supervisor. State where you did your internship; providing both the name of the organization and where this organization is located
GENERAL INTERNSHIP INFORMATION:
Provide an overview of the organization (e.g.services provided, goals of the organization). Please be concise (to the point) in your brief overview of the organization.
Discuss your duties and responsibilities during the field experience
COMMENTS ON YOUR FIELD EXPERIENCE:
What academic and professional challenges did you face during the internship and how did you overcome the challenge(s). Please do not discuss personal challenges.
What was professionally rewarding about the experience?
Comment on the coursework (choose 1 or 2 courses) in your major and discuss the theoretical knowledge you learned and how it related to the experience. Provide specific examples. Please do not simply list courses. Apply a theory or major content of coursework to your experience.
How do you feel this experience will help you after graduation? (For example, assisting you in gaining future employment or being admitted to graduate school, there may be others).
Closing summation; including a brief acknowledgement or thanks to those associated with the experience ( for example, your site supervisor)
Please remember, do what you can to make this interesting to your audience. Do not "read" your slides to the audience. Be creative and practice your presentation; although you should address the above subjects (and others), it should not appear as though you are treating this guide as a "checklist." | <urn:uuid:43a5a4c4-77b1-4dc0-a537-abcadc0395cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iwc.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&layout=division-landing&id=1701&Itemid=2 | 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 | 0.935206 | 484 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The law of federal income beyond the first reading across the Law of petrodollars
THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011
Committee announced the parliamentary oil and energy, said Thursday that it is studying a draft law of federal income, indicating that this project is behind the delay the first reading of the law of petrodollars.
A member of the Commission on oil and energy Farhad Atrushi in an interview (twilight) The committee is studying a draft law of federal income, which is an important and integral to the oil and gas law, which he murmurs, and much debate between the political blocs with regard to imports of oil, especially with the Kurdistan Region.
The Chair decided that the House of Representatives in session, on Wednesday, postponing the first reading of a bill to allocate part of the oil revenue-producing provinces, and the second reading of the draft law public holidays.
Atrushi explained that “the draft federal law regulating the distribution of revenue resources between the federal government and local governments and regional,” stressing that “this law was behind the House of Representatives to postpone the first reading of the petro-dollar bill.”
The most prominent is provided by the draft law of oil and gas, which was approved by the Iraqi government in 2007 that the ownership of oil and gas belongs to all people in all regions and governorates, and the law applies to oil operations in all regions of Iraq, including the soil and subsoil on land, as well as in inland waters and territorial waters. | <urn:uuid:609a6af0-2fe2-498e-9981-177f4f8c1746> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thecurrencynewshound.com/2011/06/30/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96915 | 320 | 1.625 | 2 |
Arterial Conditions Using Non-invasive Pulse Wave information
Professor Ahmed Al-Jumaily
Marie Curie International Incoming Fellow; Laboratory of Hemodynamics and Cardiovascular Technology, EPFL; Director, Institute of Biomedical Technologies, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
11:00 am, June 20th, 2013 (Thursday)
Phillips Hall 736
Arterial diseases are major contributing factors to death and disability worldwide. Catheter angiography is widely used for diagnosing patients who suffer from these diseases. Apart from the various risk factors and side effects associated with such a technique, there are high costs involved. Non-invasive techniques such as MRI and ultrasound are expensive and require lengthy procedures. This presentation highlights some engineering initiatives on developing safe and non-invasive relatively inexpensive diagnostic tools. The simulation of various diseases using computational fluid dynamics and tracing the acoustic information carried by the propagation and reflection of arterial pulse waves in the systemic arteries will form the basis for this new technology. Statistical analyses on clinical data are used to validate the models as well as to correlate the peripheral load parameters with patient’s age and height.
Ahmed M. Al-Jumaily is currently a Professor of Biomechanical Engineering and the Director of the Institute of Biomedical Technologies at the Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand (NZ). He holds a PhD and M.Sc. from the Ohio State University, USA and a B.Sc. from the University of Baghdad. He is a Fellow member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME), and a member of 11 more international professional societies. He is the Editor of the ASME monograph series-Biomedical and Nanomedical Technologies, Editor in Chief of the Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology and has been on the editorial and refereeing boards for several international journals. He has published more than 270 papers in international journals and conference proceedings including two ASME books on Vibration and Acoustics in Biomedical Applications and a third one on CPAP devices. He has supervised more than 90 postgraduate students in biomedical applications, vibrations, biomechanics, and electroactive polymers. During his academic career he has forged strong alliances between academia and industries; in particular in the medical devices area, which has resulted in many successful grants and contracts with companies and research organizations. Al-Jumaily’s current research focuses on biomedical applications with particular interest in the application of vibration and acoustics to airways constriction therapies and artery non-invasive diagnostics. | <urn:uuid:a762f056-8ecd-42eb-bd3e-a73334418329> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mae.seas.gwu.edu/seminars.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930041 | 521 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Thursday, April 19, 2012
The Monterey Peninsula and Santa Cruz have more in common than whale sightings and farmers markets. They also have overdrafted groundwater basins vulnerable to seawater intrusion. And they’ve both spent years, and millions of dollars, planning desalination projects.
But as the Peninsula’s desal ambitions stall, Santa Cruz is making steady progress. And it doesn’t appear to have much interest in hitching its wagon to ours.
A few key differences: The Peninsula is serviced by the private California American Water Company, while Santa Cruz has a public water department. Cal Am supplies much of the Monterey service area with water illegally overpumped from the Carmel River, while the Santa Cruz Water Department has legal rights to draw from the San Lorenzo River.
In partnership with Soquel Creek Water District, Santa Cruz officials are planning a desal plant with a 2.5-million-gallon-per-day capacity – about one-quarter the size of the Peninsula’s now-scuttled Regional Desalination Project.
Two dueling desal proposals midway between Santa Cruz and Monterey – The People’s Project and DeepWater Desal, both in Moss Landing – aim to supply both thirsty regions, and are courting public agencies to partner on a desal plant as required by Monterey County law. On April 18 (past the Weekly’s deadline), the city of Pacific Grove considered such a relationship with The People’s Project, which would involve $129 million in city-issued bonds, as the Weekly reported in March.
DeepWater Desal CEO Brent Constantz says it makes sense to build a single, streamlined facility to supply the greater Monterey Bay area from Davenport, north of Santa Cruz, to south of Carmel. “DeepWater Desal is building a regional plant,” he says. “That’s why we’re locating in Moss Landing.”
But Santa Cruz Water Chief Bill Kocher, who’s been working on city water supply issues for 26 years, says it’s unlikely Santa Cruz will partner with the Moss Landing venture. “They haven’t even started an EIR process or built a pilot plant,” he says. “Plans are one thing; bricks and mortar is another. I don’t see them outpacing us.”
Nader Agha of The People’s Project scoffs at the $115 million estimate for Santa Cruz’s desal plant: “They’re full of hot air. To me that’s misappropriation and a disservice to the community.” The People’s Project at his Moss Landing Commercial Park can supply Santa Cruz for less than $14 million, he says.
Kocher laughs heartily upon hearing that figure. “Well, that would be pretty record-setting,” he says. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
A pilot desal plant, paired with extensive studies of seawater intake and brine disposal, suggest there are no major barriers to desal in Santa Cruz, Kocher says. A draft environmental impact report, including options for making the plant carbon neutral, is expected to go public this summer.
The Santa Cruz project has its own dose of controversy. The City Council approved a popular vote on the proposed desal plant, but detractors are gathering signatures for a ballot measure that could force an earlier referendum.
The Peninsula, meanwhile, is without a viable EIR since the $400-million Regional Desalination Project fell apart last winter. Under state orders to cut back Carmel River pumping 70 percent by December 2016, Cal Am is expected to present a new water-supply proposal to the California Public Utilities Commission by April 23.
Cal Am officials have said that plan will likely involve expanded aquifer storage and recovery, groundwater recharge and a modest-sized desal plant, possibly in North Marina. | <urn:uuid:9088c91f-5cbb-48e1-bef0-9711d7c89f3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.montereycountyweekly.com/news/2012/apr/19/pipeline-dreams/?templates=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94058 | 839 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The big one on the right with the porcelain insulation on the business end is for a Series 1 machine. It’s a type of plug which was used quite widely on all manner of Continental domestic and commercial equipment until the early 1960′s or thereabouts.
The one in the middle is the more common of the two all-Bakelite plugs which mate with the later flat-blade male socket used on the Series 2 and Series 3 machines. As far as I know, it’s an obsolete connector which was used almost exclusively in Switzerland, usually for domestic and office machinery, audio amplifiers, slide projectors and suchlike.
The one on the left is simply a variant of the one in the middle, with added earth contacts.
Of the three, the big one is nowadays relatively easy to find The earthed one is definitely a rarity, although it’s the only one of the three which I know is still available on the Continent brand new – at a price.
So what are these things called, apart from a female plug? Well, I’ve asked a lot of people and searched a lot of websites and I still don’t know what the proper designation is of any of them, so if you’re an authority on obsolete European mains connectors, I’d love to hear from you. I can though say for sure that despite what you might read elsewhere on the internets, a Euro C9 female plug does not fit the later type flat-blade socket on the Series 2 and 3 machines. However hard you try.
Actually, I should perhaps qualify that by saying that a Euro C9 female plug as moulded onto the end of replacement mains cables sold for Revox tape recorders does not fit, and it does not fit because although the socket blades are the right distance apart, they are too thick and too wide.
Anybody want a spare mains lead for an old Revox?
One obvious way forward if you’re stuck for a mains lead for a Series 2 or 3 is to hard-wire it to the blades of the male socket on the machine then try to get some good-quality heat-shrink tubing over them. You probably won’t be able to get the machine back into its case and it won’t look pretty, but it’ll work, and you’ll be able to unsolder the wires and remove the excess solder if in due course you do acquire the kosher plug.
The other option seems to be fitting a different connector to the machine, and I have looked into this. The existing socket removes easily enough and all that’s needed for a replacement mounting plate for a new one is a nice piece of black 3mm acrylic, but the big question is what connector do you put in it?
The ultimate problem-solver would be the ubiquitous Euro C14 chassis plug, but there’s nothing like enough room to fit one without surgery to the motor housing. After that, it seems to me that almost every readily-available socket would either foul the screws with which you mount the new plate to the motor cover (assuming you use the two existing tapped holes), or it would be deep enough to risk contact with the fan on the motor shaft.
If you’re not bothered about keeping the machine in original condition though (or capable of being readily returned to its original condition), I guess you could take inspiration from some of the “modifications” which surface from time to time. Perhaps the wackiest one I’ve seen so far involved a conversion to foot control and a vintage Singer mains socket screwed to the back of the motor housing … | <urn:uuid:150bd4e6-5fbd-452a-b2bc-a21bfac62b97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://elnagrasshopper.com/2012/01/31/the-female-plug/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955038 | 765 | 1.640625 | 2 |
FOlA judges: Secret 28 who made the BBC Green will not be named
Lay beaks have interesting histories on FOI, 'deniers'
As expected, the BBC has won its legal battle against blogger Tony Newbery.
Newbery wanted the list of "scientific experts" who attended a BBC seminar at which, according to the BBC Trust, they convinced the broadcaster to abandon impartiality and take a firmly warmist position when reporting climate change. When the Beeb refused to divulge who these people were and who they worked for, Newbery took the corporation to an information tribunal. Now the names and affiliations of the 28 people who decided the Beeb climate stance - acknowledged by the Corporation to include various non-scientists such as NGO people, activists etc - will remain a secret.
The case was heard on Monday and Tuesday last week; the BBC was represented by a team of five, at times six, lawyers, including lead counsel Kate Gallafent, a barrister at Blackstone Chambers. Newbery, who represented himself, was accompanied by his wife. The hearing included cross-examination of the BBC's director of news Helen Boaden.
Newbery had asked for the attendance list in a freedom-of-information request to the BBC some 18 months after the seminar took place in early 2006. He had been struck by a disparity between the BBC Trust's description of the event - "a high-level seminar with some of the best scientific experts" - and subsequent accounts of the confab, which suggested the 28 invitees included a number of environmental activists and ideologues. Newbery wanted to know how many scientists were there, and what they said that had been so convincing.
The BBC argued that it was able to derogate from the Freedom of Information Act because the seminar was held "for the purposes of journalism" and its attendance list is therefore protected by the law.
And in any case, according to the Beeb's lawyers, the information didn't exist at the time of the request - despite its historic significance: the public-funded broadcaster has statutory obligations, under Royal Charter, to be impartial.
The BBC Trust web site
The "purposes of journalism" get-out-clause has been used by the BBC on various other occasions as a cloak to conceal information requested by the public under the act. For example, the corporation has refused to disclose how much tax its commercial operation BBC Worldwide pays in the United States, and its US web traffic numbers, using the "purposes of journalism" catch-all.
The speed of the verdict is a surprise - most deliberations take four to six weeks, but this took a mere ten days. However the verdict itself is less surprising: the Supreme Court earlier this year upheld the BBC's "purposes of journalism" derogation and supported its right to withhold an internal review, dubbed the Balen Report, of its Middle East coverage.
Tribunal judge David Marks QC supported the broadcaster, cut off several avenues of questioning from Newbery, and agreed with the BBC that it can be considered a "private organisation", despite the fact that it is funded by a compulsory tax.
The hostility of lay judge Alison Lowton, one of the three-strong panel, to Newbery was also noticeable - but perhaps understandable. The former director of legal services [PDF] of Camden Council took a six-figure severance package in 2007 when her post was abolished. Camden fought to keep the details of the settlement away from freedom-of-information requests.
The other lay judge, former Haringey councillor Narendra Makanji, appears to have strong views on climate-change skeptics, as he tweeted here this year:
Impartial? Lay judge's views on climate-change deniers
We asked the Information Commissioner's Office how a lay judge with such partisan views on climate change came to oversee hearings so closely coupled to the subject of climate. Campaigning lay judges would not normally be appointed to sit on such a case, a spokesman noted, and concerns would be legitimate grounds for appeal.
Makanji was a councillor from 1982 to 2006 and sits on the boards of various quangos and charities, according to his tribunal service profile [PDF], including the Selby Trust, which makes grants to bodies promoting climate-change issues.
The BBC Trust may have erred in giving the seminar, arranged by Beeb reporter Roger Harrabin and climate activist Joe Smith, such significance. However by a year later, the BBC had an elegant solution before it: in June 2007, the BBC Trust published a report, known as the Bridcut Report [PDF], which grappled with the issue of impartiality. Bridcut agreed that it was impractical and unreasonable for every point of view to be included in every report. However, turning to the topic of climate change, he warned:
These dissenters (or even sceptics) will still be heard, as they should, because it is not the BBC’s role to close down this debate. They cannot be simply dismissed as "Flat Earthers" or "deniers", who "should not be given a platform" by the BBC. Impartiality always requires a breadth of view: for as long as minority opinions are coherently and honestly expressed, the BBC must give them appropriate space. ‘Bias by elimination’ is even more offensive today than it was in 1926. The BBC has many public purposes of both ambition and merit – but joining campaigns to save the planet is not one of them.
The report was ignored - and in the best tradition of a British bureaucratic establishment under siege, the Beeb simply dug in deeper. Our postbag reflects widespread disquiet from supporters of the BBC about the disparity between its declarations of intent on transparency, and the reality. A refusal to make itself accountable to the citizens only makes political meddling more likely - so by winning an expensive legal battle, it risks losing a rather more important war.
Newbery has told us he is mulling a request to appeal. ®
Andrew Montford has written a 26-page guide to the seminar saga, and the subsequent Freedom of information battle: you can buy it in ebook format here for 75 pence. | <urn:uuid:da77134e-467d-403d-a55a-fd279e3f4f6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/09/bbc_beats_blogger_/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974721 | 1,272 | 1.765625 | 2 |
ERA in favour of smart meter displays
Published on : 07/10/2009
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9 out 10 can save money!
Smart meters within homes would benefit greatly from clear visual displays, it has been claimed.
After the Energy Saving Trust said such innovations will be "essential in ensuring the potential energy saving benefits to consumers materialise", Peter Jenkins, head of communications and public affairs at the Energy Retail Association (ERA) expressed his agreement.
He said that by providing customers with detailed, accessible information on the energy they are using, there are better able to monitor their spending on gas and electric.
"This has always been the cornerstone of the energy industry's approach to smart metering. The industry has always maintained that customers need a display of energy information in order to gain the maximum benefits," Mr Jenkins added.
He suggested that smart meters will "revolutionise" the way customers think about and pay for their energy.
Last month, consumer rights group Which? claimed there is a need for greater transparency in the British energy market, in order for consumers to access the best electricity and gas prices. | <urn:uuid:680e8ffb-c461-43c2-ab87-268a94ef9ae9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ukpower.co.uk/gas_electricity_news/6634-era-in-favour-of-smart-meter-displays | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937279 | 227 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Hang in there guys. Keep chasing those dreams. Never give up. Even if your life turns out to be a long and glaring contradiction of everything you thought it was going to be or should have been, even if that brass ring is forever out of reach*, it’s probably going to be OK! I will direct your attention once again to a study published in 2010 and reported in the New York Times that found that people actually got happier as they aged:
The results, published online May 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were good news for old people, and for those who are getting old. On the global measure, people start out at age 18 feeling pretty good about themselves, and then, apparently, life begins to throw curve balls. They feel worse and worse until they hit 50. At that point, there is a sharp reversal, and people keep getting happier as they age. By the time they are 85, they are even more satisfied with themselves than they were at 18.
In measuring immediate well-being — yesterday’s emotional state — the researchers found that stress declines from age 22 onward, reaching its lowest point at 85. Worry stays fairly steady until 50, then sharply drops off. Anger decreases steadily from 18 on, and sadness rises to a peak at 50, declines to 73, then rises slightly again to 85. Enjoyment and happiness have similar curves: they both decrease gradually until we hit 50, rise steadily for the next 25 years, and then decline very slightly at the end, but they never again reach the low point of our early 50s.
That sounds great! The soothing balm of your impending and inevitable mortality really helps to put things into perspective. Collect them all! (The years of your life!) (Contextually appropriate Pokemon reference!) (Monday morning!) (Thanks for the tip, werttrew!) | <urn:uuid:0f3a3e0d-74a4-43e8-b82f-01f2bd3cf770> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://videogum.com/544072/everybody-hurts/webjunk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968806 | 382 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Web 2.0: Too Good to Be True?By Brian P. Watson | Posted 02-07-2008
Web 2.0: Too Good to Be True?
From the start, technologists and marketers promoted Web 2.0 technologies--Wikis! Blogs! Podcasts!--as smarter, cheaper ways to communicate with employees, partners and customers.
It all sounded so appealing businesses couldn't help but buy in: Throughout 2007, surveys showed an increasing number of Web 2.0 deployments in the corporate world.
But is Web 2.0 not all it's cracked up to be? Were businesses sold a bill of goods?
You won't find many doubters about the collaborative powers Web 2.0 tools possess, and few will say they're not making teams more efficient. It's the money-saving argument that's getting pushback lately.
Collaborative tools are overloading employees and killing productivity--to the tune of $588 billion a year, according to a January study by Basex, a collaboration technologies consulting firm. And that assumes knowledge workers make $21 per hour--a conservative estimate--meaning the damage could exceed a half-trillion dollars.
Is it possible the tools that were supposed to make workers more efficient and productive are crushing those very advantages?
Corporate executives also worry that Web 2.0 tools pose a security threat. Fifty-two percent of 472 executives say securing and protecting sensitive data was the top barrier to adopting the tools, according to a January poll by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research and advisory firm, for business consultancy KPMG.
There's a strong argument here, and CIOs and CISOs listen hard to data threats. They don't have much choice, given all the negative press and drops in customer confidence following a string of major data thefts in recent years. Security pros are always contending with new applications and systems, figuring out how to secure them and the data within from evildoers inside and outside their companies.
Page 2: Fresh Can of Worms
Web 2.0: Too Good to Be True?
pagebreak title = 'Fresh Can of Worms'}
Web 2.0 tools open a fresh can of worms. Still, it's tough to put a price tag on the potential damage. Critical corporate data is priceless, as is customer information. Aside from hard dollar costs, the PR nightmares that come with reports of data thefts are enough of an impediment to adoption.
But it's not all bad news for Web 2.0. In the KPMG study, three of four executives said they believe collaborative tools will foster innovation in their companies. And almost 70 percent agreed that Web 2.0 will help their people work more efficiently. A study by Change Wave Research, which surveys companies and industries, found that 39 percent of respondents are willing to use Web 2.0 tools.
Web 2.0 outlets are also flexing their muscle in the 2008 presidential race. Democratic Illinois Senator Barack Obama uses social networks to build support, and Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul has used the Internet to raise unprecedented one-day dollars (the record at press time was $6 million, on December 16). Blogs on each side of the political spectrum are shaping the debate and checking candidates on their often exaggerated claims.
Of course, surveys don't always tell the full story. There's still the question of where Web 2.0 for business goes from here. In the past few months, Microsoft and Google have made major moves in this space--particularly in social networking, where Bill Gates and company bought a stake in Facebook and the Googleplex reintroduced its own social net offering, with numerous notable partners.
The bidding-up isn't likely to stop anytime soon. Many tech cognoscenti point to some corners of Web 2.0 as the next great Internet boom. More companies are bound to bring in these tools, looking for a boost in productivity, efficiency and morale.
But if the alarming survey results are any indication, CIOs and their colleagues will be looking more closely at the potential downside. | <urn:uuid:b226fae8-4163-4c9c-96db-ba41d83bc56c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cioinsight.com/print/c/a/Foreward/Web-20-Too-Good-to-Be-True | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949395 | 837 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Foreign Due Diligence on U.S. Companies is a Must
We have had a number of recent cases involving foreign companies who entered into large-scale sale agreements with American-based corporations. These companies are run by sophisticated, experienced executives. In most instances, the agreements were for millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise.
Both sides hired attorneys who scrutinized the proposed contracts. They carefully considered payment and delivery plans, including letters of credit. They haggled over details, negotiated changes and agreed upon final terms. Soon after, they signed and executed the contracts.
Yet, despite all these efforts, the Americans swindled the foreign companies.
Those letters of credit that were supposed to provide so much protection and peace of mind? Well, they were useless.
It turns out the Americans conned the banks as well. The foreigners had to sue for payment or the return of goods, sometimes both in their home country and in the United States. Despite prevailing in court, their wins were cold comfort. As litigators know all too well, having a judgment and collecting on a judgment are two very different things. The U.S. courts agreed that they had been deceived, but these foreign companies were unable to collect the money or merchandise that was rightfully theirs. In more than one instance, the Americans declared bankruptcy and the foreign company found itself in the unenviable position of trying to recover from a bankrupt debtor.
This is where we were brought in. The foreign company’s American lawyers retained us to assist in those collection efforts. In some cases we were asked to uncover any hidden assets. In the cases where the Americans had declared bankruptcy, we were asked to help determine if the foreign companies could build a case of fraudulent conveyance against the debtor.
What we discovered stunned us.
A cursory review of the public record on these American business partners pulled up a number of red flags. Not just little warning signs or judgment calls, but big, flaming, impossible to deny red flags.
It was a greatest hits of warning signs:
- Houses in foreclosure;
- State and federal tax liens;
- Numerous dummy corporations;
- Litigation. Lots and lots of litigation.
This litigation was the most damning. These businesses had repeatedly been sued for defaulting on contracts.
And our clients knew nothing about these lawsuits, or anything else that was easily accessible in the public record, before they brokered their deals. It is unclear to us exactly what due diligence practices they’d initially had in place, if any. Maybe these foreign companies did a thorough public records search in their own country while failing to take into consideration any charges that might be pending in the company’s home country. Maybe they were satisfied by the personal assurances of their peers that these foreign businesses were safe and reliable. Maybe they figured the letters of credit provided enough protection.
Whatever they had done, it had not been enough.
A cursory investigation of the American records alone would have justified refusing to enter into any agreements whatsoever. These American companies clearly couldn’t be trusted to sell a stick of gum, never mind millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise.
We’ve seen it before. Businesses take the time and money to hire sharp lawyers to craft tightly-worded contracts. They hire tough litigators and investigators to help sue swindlers and try to collect on judgments. But the most important step of all—due diligence before the transaction—is woefully inadequate. And this simply can’t be fixed after the fact.
Do it right the first time or suffer the consequences.
When brokering a business deal, be it with a domestic or a foreign company, thorough due diligence is a must:
- Public Records: Look at the public records of the countries in which the company is based as well as where it does most of its business;
- Other Companies: See what other companies the executives are affiliated with;
- Litigation: Investigate who they have sued or been sued by;
- More Litigation: Obtain copies of the litigation documents to get all the necessary details.
Clients may balk at the time and money this requires, but this is about more than peace of mind. This is good business sense: It is far easier to prevent a bad business deal than it is to get a con artist to pay you what is rightfully yours. | <urn:uuid:1089b784-04e6-4447-8cb6-e8e22c824d53> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ethicalinvestigator.com/investigation/foreign-due-diligence-on-us-companies-is-a-must/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976607 | 903 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Let me hear your standards body talk
The W3C is maddeningly opaque and its lieutenants will sometimes march madly into the sea, but it is all that stands between us and the whirlwind.
Slow the W3C will always be. Slow comes with the territory. If you glimpse even a hint of the level of detail required to craft usable standards, you’ll understand the slowness and maybe even be grateful for it—as you’d be grateful for a surgeon who takes his time while operating on your pancreas.
But the secrecy (which makes us read bad things into the slowness) must and will change. To my knowledge, the W3C has been working on its transparency problems for at least two years and making real change—just very slowly (there’s that word again) and incrementally and hence not at all obviously.
Key decision makers within the W3C intend to do much more, but they need to get their colleagues on board, and consensus-building is a bitch. A slow bitch.
If designers and developers are more aware of the problems than of the fact that the W3C is working to solve them, it’s because the W3C is not great at outreach. If they were great at outreach, we wouldn’t have needed a Web Standards Project to persuade browser makers to implement the specs and designers and developers to use them.
Designers sometimes compare the slow pace of standards with the fast pace of, say, Flash. But it is like comparing the output of the United Nations to the laws passed by a small benevolent dictatorship. When a company owns a technology, it can move fast. When a hundred companies that mistrust each other need to agree to every detail of a technology that only exists insofar as their phones and browsers support it, surprise, surprise, the pace is quite slow.
The W3C is working on its speed issues, too. It’s been forced to work on them by outside groups and by the success of microformats. But detailed interoperability of profound technologies no company owns is never going to happen half as fast as we’d like.
You want instant gratification, buy an iPod. You want standards that work, help. Or at least stop shouting.
[tags]w3c, standards, webstandards[/tags]
Re: CSS Unworking Group
I’m glad you’re expressing your concerns so forcefully; the web standards movement is painfully in need of leaders.
Apple and Microsoft and Netscape and Sun and Opera have been suing each other since the W3C started. What lawyers do has never stopped developers from Apple and Microsoft and Netscape and Sun and Opera from working together to craft W3C and ECMA specs.
And even if this time is different—even if, just this once, the existence of a lawsuit will stop a working group from working—I’m not sure it’s practical or advisable to cut browser makers out of the equation. For one thing, have you seen what the W3C comes up with when browser developers aren’t involved?
I can’t comment on the merits of Opera’s legal action because it is a legal action and I’m not a lawyer, let alone a lawyer versed in European antitrust law.
Based on past history, I don’t think the lawsuit will prevent the members of the CSS working group from doing their jobs. If it does, then the title of your post will be borne out, and Bert Bos, as group leader, will take action.
The web standards movement needs leaders who are passionate, but their leadership must also make sense. Proposing change when the change makes sense is good. Proposing change because you are disappointed and frustrated isn’t good enough. Anger can be brilliantly motivating; but anger is not a strategy.
[tags]webstandards, css, working group, opera, microsoft, antitrust, lawsuit, browsers[/tags]
Without my permission, Technorati has stuck my photo and its logo in the sidebar of my site’s front page.
Technorati, when it works, provides useful services to blogs and their readers, such as the ability to track third-party responses to a post. (Google Blog Search works the same street, and refreshes more frequently.)
Technorati also indexes “authority,” which is its word for popularity as determined by the number of Technorati users who mark your site as a favorite.
You could configure the script to show your picture and Technorati’s logo but you didn’t have to, and I chose not to.
Technorati called the script an “embed.”
In the last few days, Technorati apparenty converted its “embeds” to “widgets.”
Widgets do more than embeds, and I’m sure they’ll delight some blog owners. But I am not delighted. I wasn’t asked, or even notified. Through investigation (AKA random clicking) I found the widgets page and “customized” my widget not to show my photo and Technorati’s logo (i.e. I manually opted out of something I had previously already opted out of).
Except the opt-out didn’t take. My photo and Technorati’s logo are still stuck in my front page’s sidebar.
I’ll give Technorati a few days to clear its cache (or its head). If there’s still junk in my sidebar come Monday, then it’s adios, Technorati.
[tags]technorati, widgets, opt-in, opt-out, blogs, blogging, blogosphere[/tags]
Quentin Tarantino has a lot to answer for
Dragging my cheap three-wheeled suitcase home from Penn Station after a Boston business trip late Tuesday night, I passed three businessmen standing in the middle of Park Avenue with their raincoats awry. White, pushing 40, a few beers past sober. The one who slightly resembled Larry of the Three Stooges was trying to keep the party going.
“One more fucking beer,” he said. “Come on. I’ll fucking pay for it, motherfucker.”
Ever since Pulp Fiction electrified audiences and changed the film industry, every putz pushing 40 with a few beers in him thinks he is Samuel L. Jackson. Quentin Tarantino has a lot to answer for.
[tags]reallife, myglamorouslife, putz, pulpfiction, tarantino, pennstation, samuelljackson, zeldman[/tags]
Homeownership is a privilege, not a right
I need five certified checks for tomorrow’s closing. To get them, I’ve come to the Chase Bank nearest me with my checkbook, a pen, and a list of payees and dollar amounts I culled from a half-dozen of our lawyer’s e-mails.
(Names changed to protect the innocent: Dewey and Howe are the seller’s lawyers. Prescott is our lawyer. Lincoln is our mortgage broker.)
Dewey and Howe were supposed to send final figures well in advance of closing. Instead they’ve chosen not to correspond with us. As one of New York’s five oldest law firms, they only busy themselves when Tildens and Vanderbilts are involved.
Waiting in a long line gets me six pieces of paper to fill out. There’s an inch of free desk space by the front door, which is propped open to better circulate the December winds. The seventh time the December winds blow my paperwork across the lobby, I kick the doorstop across Park Avenue and pull the front door closed, not caring who sees me do it.
Now that the paperwork isn’t flying, I can find out what the bank needs from me before it will issue the certified checks.
One thing it needs is the addresses of the payees. Who knew? Not me, not our lawyer.
I call Prescott; he looks up the addresses on the internet while I scribble. (He can’t tell me the addresses by looking at paperwork, because Dewey and Howe haven’t sent any.)
I’m sweating and my writing hand is beginning to cramp.
Prescott, whose AOL e-mail account was having problems earlier in the day, is now receiving a flurry of messages from Lincoln the mortgage broker. In-between looking up payee addresses, Prescott tells me what’s in Lincoln’s e-mails.
What’s in Lincoln’s e-mails is an additional $5500 in fees that will be owed to various parties on top of the original cash motherload we paid at the beginning of this mess and the second two-ton payload we’re converting into certified checks at this moment. In the absurd economy of middle-class Manhattan home-buying, nearly overlooking an extra $5500 is like forgetting to mention the dollar charge for gift-wrap.
The throbbing Christmas music that has accompanied all action thus far seems inappropriately sedate as I cross the lobby perspiring like a bridegroom, bearing my newly filled-out forms.
Now I’m looking at two cashiers and praying I did the addition right. (Long story. Short version: you have to subtotal all the amounts yourself before this bank will issue you more than one certified check at once.)
Now I’m looking at three cashiers working on my certified check order. The one twenty years younger than me is the senior cashier in charge.
The third cashier working on my order says I have nice handwriting.
Now it’s just me and the littlest cashier.
Now I have my five certified checks.
Now I have to proofread them against the payee list I compiled earlier. Thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand and 44 cents.
Amused by my aura of suppressed hysteria, the littlest cashier says have a nice day.
Thank you, I say, meaning it.
[tags]sentfrommyiphone, homebuying, homeownership, NYC, apartment, home, bank, banking[/tags]
Don’t worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop.
ALA 250: HTML 5, design for flow
In Issue No. 250 of A List Apart, for people who make websites:
- A Preview of HTML 5
Who’s afraid of HTML 5? Not Lachlan Hunt! As both a front-end web developer and a contributor to HTML 5, he tells us what we can expect from the emerging markup specification, whose goals include more flexibility and greater interoperability.
- Designing For Flow
Ask a web designer what makes a site great, and you’re likely to hear “ease of use.” Jim Ramsey begs to differ. Web applications in particular, he tells us, work best and engage most profoundly when they challenge users to overcome difficulties.
[tags]flow, design, alistapart, HTML5, W3C, standards, webstandards, specifications, markup, forpeoplewhomakewebsites[/tags]
No heat at $5,000/month
Libertarians blame rent stabilization for the problems of tenants in cities like New York, but there are few rent stabilized apartments left in this town or this building. Most people in this building pay $4000 to $5000 a month for a “luxury rental” the size of a working-class Hoosier’s garage. Certainly the fee the landlord collects is luxurious. Nothing else about the place is. Particularly not luxurious is the lack of heat, now in its second day. Snow falls, arctic winds blow, but the $5000/month luxury building is as cold as a dead seal.
The building once employed a certified plumber capable of fixing the constant leaks and other woes that plague this building and are common to poorly maintained high-rise apartments thrown up in the go-go 1970s. But the managing agent was always six months late paying the plumber’s bill, and often argued about the charges months after they were incurred.
“I’ll pay for one guy,” the managing agent would tell the plumber six months after the plumber used three guys to fix an emergency in the building.
In cheating the licensed plumber, the managing agent did not act on the tenants’ behalf or with their knowledge or consent.
Eventually the competent licensed plumber grew tired of losing money every time he saved the building from disaster, and stopped accepting jobs here. The competent licensed plumber’s competent licensed colleagues did likewise. Thus the building placed its tenants at the mercies of the incompetent.
In the past 24 hours, four different low-cost plumbing companies have come to this luxury high-rise to fix its unconscionable heating problem. As a result of their efforts, the doctor’s office in the lobby has been flooded, and a pipe broke on the third floor, filling a tenant’s apartment with steam and pouring boiling water on her floor. Into this boiling water the tenant stepped when the steam she mistook for the smoke of a fire awoke her. I am grateful to hear that she is not seriously injured. Meanwhile, there is still no heat, and our daughter is sick with a hacking cough.
N.B. As a long-time tenant, I do not pay anything like $4,000 or $5,000 a month, but most people in the building do.
[tags]NYC, landlords, tenants, tenant rights, competence[/tags]
A date with Sandra Bernhard
Today was the day we were supposed to close on our new home. We were going to pack Sunday and move Monday. Then we were going to fill the Happy Cog New York office with furniture and computers. And then we were going to Boston to talk for 60 minutes, and to Washington, DC to listen for 90.
We’re still going to Boston and DC, but the rest of the schedule has called in sick. We can’t close today because we got a better mortgage from a nicer (but slower) bank, and the nicer (but slower) bank must produce a bowel movement in the shape of a swan before issuing our check.
The office move is connected to the house move. The house move is contingent on the closing date.
Chaos! We have furniture being hauled to the wrong buildings on the wrong days. We have deliveries to postpone and shipments to despair on. We have computers and tickets and widgets of all sizes being FedExed to doormen who will ring for us in vain, their lonely vigils mocked by blinking Christmas displays.
But it’s a wonderful life. For, no matter how nutty the next weeks may be, and no matter how many stay-at-home, can-of-bean meals we consume in the coming decades to compensate for the funds we have spent and those we are about to spend, at the end of this nerve-wracking knuckle-cracking tango with lawyers and brokers and bankers and movers, our family will have a home.
[tags]homebuying, homes, nyc, newyorkcity, happycog, moving[/tags]
Facebook and your privacy
Months after geeks who hate walled gardens hailed Facebook as the great exception, Facebook announces that it is wholesaling our privacy to any turdball with a dirty nickel to spend. So what else is new? And what do we do about it?
In a titled-for-SEO-rather-than-readers article, “Do Facebook users care about “privacy issues?” What about Doubleclick?,” Eric Eldon defends Facebook’s violation of its users’ privacy on the grounds that not many users have protested.
Some may not have protested because the petition against Facebook’s Beacon advertising feature is hosted by Moveon.org, an organization half of America considers a tool of the Antichrist. Many more may not have protested because they don’t know Facebook is violating their privacy. In a prove-nothing survey, no Facebook user I talked to yesterday was aware of the Facebook privacy concerns.
The New York Times explains what Moveon and members of the Facebook group, Facebook: Stop invading my privacy!, are protesting:
MoveOn is objecting to a new advertising technique that Facebook announced a few weeks ago that posts members’ purchases and activities on other websites in their Facebook profiles. Users can choose not to have the information posted from individual sites, or “opt out,” whereas with most Facebook applications associated with external sites, users must proactively choose to participate, or “opt in.” With the Beacon feature, if a user does not specifically decline participation, his or her Facebook friends will get a “news feed” notice about the purchase.
Back to Eldon. The interesting tidbit in his titled-for-SEO article is the suggestion that MoveOn is protesting the wrong thing, and that the problem goes well beyond Facebook:
Facebook uses the cookie it requires for logging into its site to track what you do on other sites, from what we can tell. These cookies are unique identifiers—code sent to each user’s computer from Facebook, and tracked by Facebook when they visit web pages.
In other words, Facebook tracks what you do when you are on websites other than Facebook, and shares that information with its advertisers and your Facebook friends. Hmm, who else does that sound like?
Spurious “no comment” jibes aside, Eldon has a point. Even if you feel smug for never having joined Facebook, unless you anonymize all your web browsing sessions, refuse to use or accept cookies, turn off images (in case one of them is a “tracker GIF”), and go into the woods with Ted Nugent and a crossbow, Big Advertising already has your number. It knows where you live, where you shop, and how much porn you download.
But that DoubleClick sins doesn’t excuse Facebook from betraying its members’ trusts.
(And yet, what else should we have expected? Did we really think Facebook’s investors just wanted us to have fun? Did we believe if there was a way to make a dirty dollar, they would scorn it on ethical grounds? This isn’t the Well, people.)
[tags]facebook, privacy, advertising, web advertising, doubleclick, socialnetworking[/tags] | <urn:uuid:88e3ddf7-fb89-405d-90a2-1ad6a3528901> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zeldman.com/2007/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94618 | 3,946 | 1.617188 | 2 |
French researcher refuses to release findings for EU verification, but the Russians are worried enough to put brakes on Monsanto’s GM crop NK603
Russia yesterday suspended the import and sale of Monsanto’s genetically modified NK603 corn while it reviews the latest research information on the product’s safety. Scientists at Russia’s Institute of Nutrition have been asked to review in particular a recent French study which raised questions about the long-term effect of NK 603 corn on rats.
A week ago, the French study showed that rats fed on the corn strain suffered mammary tumors, and severe liver and kidney damage at double the rate of rats in a matched sample fed natural corn – 50% of males and 70% of females died prematurely, compared to 30% and 20% in the control group. Although the study is tainted by the person in charge – Gilles-Eric Seralini – being violently anti-Monsanto, the data would seem at first sight to be compelling: either Gilles-Eric has engaged in wholesale fiddling of the results, or there is a serious potential problem with NK603.
However, one East European and one French source suggested to me last night that there were only ten rats in the control group. If true, then that’s a near homoaeopathic sample size. But we must wait to see the raw data in full: it wouldn’t be the first time that Monsanto had planted black disinformation such as this into the blogosphere.
The Russians aren’t renowned for being good on the detail of safety. Chernobyl stands as a memorial to that obvious fact, and the cavalier attitude of its culture remains intact to this day. The extremely dodgy and fractious joint venture between ExxonMobil and Rosneft to exploit oil reserves under the Arctic sea was given a gung-ho-go-ahead earlier this week to crack on with the project, deftly sidestepping environmental groups who had called for a clean-up prior to exploration of the area. The site – in the Kara Sea off Russia’s northern coast – was for many years the dustbin of choice for a USSR using its navy to dump ageing, leaky nuclear reactors, and a staggering 17,000 drums of radioactive waste.
But now, this huge country – dependent on grain for survival and exports – has abruptly pulled the plug on the use of a biochemical GM product that could solve many of its problems. My commonsense reaction is, therefore, that they too think there might be a whopping NK603 problem too.
They’re not alone. Although the Canadian government airily gave the strain a clean bill of health eleven years ago, Europeans are not so sure: last Thursday, Austrian agriculture minister Niki Berlakovich called on the European Commission to review its approval process for GM food.
However, as ever when there are potential consequences to be assessed, the motherlovers on Wall Street are keen as mustard to dismiss any and all tentative frontal-lobe thinking – in favour of Goforit: Goldman Sachs’ response to the evidence of rat-organ damage was to upgrade Monsanto shares, a move that saw the company’s stock price power ahead by 2.8% on the day (September 19th). “Monsanto’s doing a lot of things right,” OptionMonster’s Jon Najarian told CNBC the same afternoon. Perhaps not if you’re a rat, Jonny baby.
What’s the real issue here?
GM crops represent a subject not unlike the case for and against ‘man-made’ global warming. On one side sits an axis of the usual fluffy suspects – from Prince Charles to organically unmodified vegans – suggesting that the development of genetically mutated grains is dangerous and reckless for any number of ecological and health reasons; on the other stands a Top Ten Forbes company weilding enormous power, and attracting the best political support that money can buy. In the middle are the remaining 94% called The Rest of Us – who are anything from sceptical to bored.
Monsanto wasn’t the first to genetically modify a plant cell, but it was the first outfit to bring into agriculture the now standard biotechnology industry business model. Under this, Big M has forced through long-term patents, and dismissed the customary practices of farmers to save, reuse, share and develop plant varieties as backstops against catastrophic strain death, unprecedented bug attacks and so forth. Monsanto’s unremittingly aggressive approach to litigation, its seed commercialisation practices, and its history as a chemical company, have made it widely hated. This isn’t entirely Greenpeace nuttery: lest we forget, these are the beautiful people who gave us DDT, Agent Orange, and of course Roundup.
So I became concerned when I noted at the weekend that the collateral marketing materials from Monsanto were branding NK603 as ‘Roundup Ready’: that’s to say, mutated to ensure complete resistance to the weedkiller. You can kind of discern a double sales-bonus for Monsanto in all this; you can also be assured that NK603 (already casting doubts throughout the international farming community) will itself be pounded with Roundup throughout its growing season. Let’s hope those washing products employed by cereal manufacturers are effective. (For all I know, they’re made by Monsanto too).
I can’t tell you much about Roundup beyond the fact that if you have pets, it would be sound policy to keep them indoors while applying the product to those pesky weeds. Even agro-retailers look frightened when you suggest indiscriminate use of Roundup with little terriers running free and sampling everything in the garden.
In short, the summation here is that ensuring continuity of reasonable grains for the human race, and health concerns in relation to chemical fertilisers being sprayed with abandon onto a potentially carcinogenic GM mutation, are at least worth a temporary production halt while further investigations can get under way.
What’s the broader issue?
Not being scientific myself (beyond a keen layman interest in physics and neuroscience), the only two parts of the GM debate that cause me occasional anxiety are first, the statistics on whether we actually need to use GM in the first place; and second, the track record of the Men from Monsanto. Neither inspire me to believe that the risk here is worth taking until we have seen some considerably more categorical evidence.
I’d like in the near future to return to those subjects in more detail. For today, I merely register, as an objective observer, is that this whole episode has an air of “never mind those big doubts, feel that bottom line” about it. | <urn:uuid:82c3007b-36b3-4c8d-b707-d21beb7c1c4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/monsanto-nk603-doubts-cast-with-claim-that-french-study-only-used-ten-rats/ | 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 | 0.954397 | 1,388 | 1.578125 | 2 |
The recent release of the September US Jobs Report shows a slow decrease in the country's unemployment numbers, although in an election year, there is of course great debate as to its believability. In a separate report, one number that no one seems to be disputing is the number of jobs that have been created in the mobile app economy.
The wireless trade group CTIA and the Application Developers Alliance announced last week that since the 2008 opening of both the Apple and Android app markets, an impressive 519,000 jobs have been created in the mobile app field. Not limited to the obvious tech-rich states of California and Washington, app jobs are being created in impressive numbers nationwide.
While California and Washington sit atop the list of the top five states with the most mobile application-related jobs, the remainder of the list reaches nearly every corner of the nation with New York, Texas, and Massachusetts rounding out the group. Georgia represents the southeastern US at number seven.
In a response to the Alliance's findings, Alex Moazed, president and CEO of mobile consulting and development firm Applico, points out, "The mobile app economy is still in its infancy and it's accelerating at an unprecedented rate." Not limited solely to those in the software field, Moazed notes "jobs are being created across the spectrum—both technical and non-technical."
Mobile apps are being developed for everything from entertainment and games, the medical field, major national retailers, and even government organizations. With nearly half of Americans now owning smartphones—and with the number continuing to rise—jobs in app development have nowhere to go but up.
Along with the sheer number of job opportunities out there, another enticing aspect of being a mobile app developer is the job's average salary. Robert Half International, a global staffing and consulting firm, recently estimated the position's 2013 salary range to be between $92,750-$133,500. This is a 9 percent rise from the job's 2012 average, which is a larger jump than for any other position in the entire tech industry. The entire list can be downloaded here.
A resident copywriter and editor for TechWell, SQE, and StickyMinds.com, Noel Wurst has written for numerous blogs, websites, newspapers, and magazines. Noel has presented educational conference sessions for those looking to become better writers. In his spare time, he can be found spending time with his wife and two sons—and tending to the food on his Big Green Egg. Noel eagerly looks forward to technology's future, while refusing to let go of the relics of the past. | <urn:uuid:23557037-b30f-4452-828c-22411ccf5d6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techwell.com/2012/10/rising-number-jobs-app-economy-adds-hope-us-employment-report | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958073 | 524 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Tips for a Successful Event
Many of our authors and illustrators are available for school, library, and bookstore events around the country. Here are some tips for planning a fun and successful event
(1) Who? If you don't have a particular author or illustrator in mind, providing us with details about what kind of presenter you are looking for can help us find you the perfect author for your event.
(2) What? Think about what you want your event to entail. Even if you don't have all the specifics, knowing what kind of event you want to hold and what your guests will take away from the event is half the battle.
(3) Where? Do you know where you'd like to have your event? Determining the venue can help you choose a direction to go in with your event.
(4) When? If you not yet know the exact date, try to have a few possibilities in mind to suggest to the author.
(5) Budget. Travel costs, honorariums and book purchases are part of the majority of great events. Knowing what your budget is in advance can help us negotiate the cost of your event, as some authors are flexible with honorariums.
(6) Confirm >with your author once you have received a confirmation from us. We will send a written confirmation containing all of the details of the event, as well as contact information for the author Then you can plan the final details of the event with them.
(7) Booksales. Receive up to 50% off on your book purchase. This is a great way to offset the cost of your event.
(8) Promote. Tell local newspapers, make up fliers, update your blog, and do whatever you can to spread the word.
(9) Prepare. If this is a school event, have the children read the author's books beforehand, so they are familiar with their work. Then they can also have questions prepared to ask the author/illustrator.
(10) Have fun! We will do everything in our power to help you plan a fun and successful event. Then all you need to do is sit back and enjoy!
If you would like to set up a school, library, bookstore event, or need ordering information, please contact 1-888-320-3190 ext. 29. | <urn:uuid:adbb559f-da18-4bfe-af02-154f3e809c69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.leeandlow.com/p/calendar-event_tips.mhtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957125 | 485 | 1.632813 | 2 |
More on Flavigny
It is widely believed that the convocation is being held in an attempt to unite the groups and brief them on a proposed reconciliation between the Holy See and the Society of St. Pius X, the flagship splinter-sect which broke communion with Rome in 1988 at the ordination of four bishops without papal approval by the Tridentine renegade Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
In exchange for the return to full communion of the Lefebvrist bishops -- which by no means could come immediately, but toward which goal tomorrow's summit is oriented -- and other, unspecified conditions, it's said the Holy See could be prepared to grant:
- an acknowledgment that the Pian, or Tridentine, rite was not abrogated in the liturgical reforms following the Second Vatican Council;
- an acknowledgment of the Old Mass' place and value in the life of the Latin church;
- an acknowledgment that the SSPX never sought on its own accord to enter into schism;
- an Apostolic Administration, subject to the Congregation for the Clergy, for the Society to maintain administration of its chapels, seminaries and other apostolates
The first is whether, if the plan as sketched out goes forward at all, the four SSPX bishops return in unison. Two of them are said to be publicly noncommittal: Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, and Richard Williamson, who last night was reported to be "obstinate." Alfonso de Galarreta is said to be more aligned with Fellay's pro-reconciliation stance.
The timetable for all this has been expedited by the exigencies of the SSPX leadership. Fellay's term as Superior General expires later this year, and as he is perceived as the most-amenable of the four to a reconciliation, an accord hammered out with him as a principal would likely provide the best possible outcome, both for Rome and Econe.
While promotions and sacramental titles would not be part of any deal, as Popes do not bargain their prerogatives and the freedom of the office, Schmidberger -- the last of Lefebvre's closest aides still in the Society's upper echelon of leadership -- is seen as the Society's likely future head, particularly given the moderation with which he has handled the issue of its potential return; he was in the room with Fellay on 29 August as the SSPX leadership met with a Pope for the first time since the 1988 excommunications.
Lastly, one would be led to wonder what Rome seeks in return for the concessions it seems prepared to grant the Society. In a word, as one source puts it, all Rome wants is "the four bishops back," and in communion. (Of course, in order to do so, they must profess to accept the validity of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council as part of the Magisterium, etc.)
Even if a splinter, or more than just a few, of the SSPX's priests and faithful remain outside the church, the Society's sources of sacramental life vis a vis the ordination of priests and the consecration of churches would be cut at the knees were the four bishops to return to Rome in one piece. Be reminded, however, that many variables remain fluid and are changing by the hour.
More as it comes.... | <urn:uuid:80c8eb11-7211-44a8-bb61-d0c74e5b8221> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2006/01/more-on-flavigny.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969655 | 700 | 1.523438 | 2 |
In 1985 DignityUSA established a "day of fasting and prayer for HIV/AIDS to be observed on the first Sunday of Lent and that each Chapter is requested to hold an appropriate service on that day in memory of all those who have died of AIDS and to provide comfort and encouragement to the partners, families and friends of these people and all other concerned individuals." (HOD Resolution # 20)
Is your Chapter planning on observing this annual day? The HIV/AIDS pandemic is far from over or soon to be forgotten. This day is an opportunity to remember, pray and celebrate the lives of many of our members lost to the struggle of HIV/AIDS. Please consider some special prayer this day in your Chapter or do something so simple as to send a card to a partner or family member and let them know we still remember and care for the memory of their loved one and for them. | <urn:uuid:7c002583-d553-4847-a74e-5b432c1e754d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dignityusa.org/es/content/annual-day-fasting-prayer-those-living-hivaids | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967536 | 179 | 1.523438 | 2 |
UK Jewish leaders urge teachers to join union, fight BDS from within
For a decade or more, British Jewish teachers have been feeling increasingly frustrated by anti-Israel and (sometimes) anti-Semitic views being expressed in their unions. Many have resigned in disgust. That’s the background to today’s story, reported in the Jerusalem Post, that the leading organizations of the British Jewish community have begun to call upon Jewish teachers to join or rejoin their unions, in particular the National Union of Teachers (NUT). The NUT is currently affiliated to the pro-Hamas Palestine Solidarity Campaign, as is the University and College Union (UCU), which pioneered the academic boycott of Israelis in the UK. The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council are behind the call. | <urn:uuid:8b09c03f-c09f-4020-b483-78e40d0d9952> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tuliponline.org/?p=4202 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956754 | 160 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
'VPT's Outdoor Journal' Visits Burr Pond, Fairlee Marsh and Lamprey Control
On Tuesday, May 15, at 7:30 p.m., "VPT's Outdoor Journal" finds that fisheries biologist Shawn Good of Pittsford likes to spend a day off practicing his favorite hobby -- fishing. "Outdoor Journal" joins him on Burr Pond in Sudbury, Vt. Good works for the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Another story in the program looks at how fisheries biologists for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife, work in Vermont and New York year-round to control sea lampreys on Lake Champlain.
A trip to Fairlee Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Fairlee, Vt., with biologist John Buck shows why it is important habitat for migratory birds. The WMA is located where Lake Morey empties into the Connecticut River, and more than half of its 60 acres is wetland habitat.
The program will also air May 19 at 10 a.m. and be available on demand on vpt.org. | <urn:uuid:3b144da2-3817-406f-ade3-e09d1edcfae1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/story/13364629114m6b9nhz9ur | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944684 | 235 | 1.6875 | 2 |
|On the mighty St. Lawrence, a 19th century schooner works to windward.|
What is it carrying? Where is it going? What is its name? All details are lost in the mists of time.
But still today, the schooner lives on...
History is carried along by the wind
Legends are born over time
(Excerpt from Groupe Desgagnés corporate brochure) | <urn:uuid:ac8cf179-bfa1-4186-8838-07c7e4e5eb5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.relaisnordik.com/in/home/14.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968807 | 91 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Written on Thursday, December 22, 2011 by Dennis Marcellino
As I watch the Christmas specials on television, it’s kind of sad to see all the songs being hyper and about snow and reindeer and winter. It’s sad because I remember decades past when there was a feeling of beauty because of the emphasis on carols and THE story of Christmas. It’s amazing how the culture thinks that it can redefine the basic definition of something like Christmas or marriage.
I had to turn the channel because of just one more offensive song on the Sing Off Christmas (not so) Special. I turned it to a “Charlie Brown Christmas” (because the music was written and performed by my cousin Vince Guaraldi) and was surprised to see the story line being Charlie Brown looking for the “true meaning of Christmas”, which the show gave as being the Bible’s story. The credits said that this show was made in 1965. My, how times have changed.
But let me now back up the title of my article here … not just with personal memories … but with real data.
First of all, the fact that the nation was happier and more in love is easily proven by comparing the music of today with the music before 1966. This is also true for the movies and television shows of those years, including the Christmas specials, most of which included religious songs and themes. In fact, many might be surprised to know who the overall #1 television personality of 1952 was. Bishop Fulton Sheen won the 1952 Emmy Award for “Most Outstanding Television Personality” … even over the comedians, musicians, hosts, actors and politicians. In the 1950s he was not only a very prominent TV “star,” his television program, “Life is Worth Living,” became the No. 1 program on the national networks. The “star” of Texaco Star Theater, Milton Berle was known as “Mr. Television” at the time, and Bishop Sheen topped him.
Here are some other differences between the Christmasses when I grew up in the 1950s and early 1960s and today.
And just to show the general respect for religion in the country back then:
One of my main motives for writing has been that I personally experienced that a society that honors God more is a happier and more loving society. (That’s also been true in my personal life). But for measurable proof, here is a comparison of the statistics between recent and past decades, when following God was more popular.
(1) Violent crime: 1995 = 11.1 times the rate in 1957 and 18.5 times the rate in 1937
(2) Divorce rate: 1990’s (over 50%) = over 100 times the rate in 1900 (0.5%)
(3) Overall crime: The 1970 rate is 12.25 times the 1937 rate and 6.68 times 1957’s
(4) The U.S. teen suicide rate is higher than the other 26 industrialized nations combined (gun suicides are 11 times greater than the average of the other industrialized nations, and dramatically rising – 62% since 1980).
And had a person fallen asleep in 1960 and awaken today, this is what they’d have found strikingly different in the United States:
• Doubled divorce rate
• Tripled teen suicide
• Quadrupled rate of reported violent crimes
• Quintupled prison population
• Sextupled percent of babies born to unmarried parents
• Sevenfold increase in cohabitations (a predictor of future divorce)
• Soaring rate of depression to ten times the pre-World War II level, by one estimate.
Finally, from a personal perspective, we all carry some fond feelings from our past … some fonder than others. For many years (even when I wasn’t religious at all), the fondest memory that I carried was of a feeling of love and beauty that entered my heart when I remembered a life-sized nativity scene that was tucked away under a cave-like alcove in the lower courtyard of the Catholic school I attended in the third grade. Now that I am religious, it is obvious to me Who infused that feeling of beauty in my heart.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. | <urn:uuid:469ea86f-c708-4a78-8e0c-6421c124a97f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://patriotupdate.com/articles/effects-of-mainstream-christmas-social-stats-far-better-nation-happier-and-more-in-love/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963332 | 899 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Acair Ltd was established in 1976 to provide Gàidhlig language materials for the ground breaking bi-lingual education project in the Western Isles.
Since then our books have been (and continue to be) well-known in Gaelic Medium schools across Scotland: not many children passed through school without having the pleasure of reading about the famous adventures of SPÀGAN!
Out with education, however, Acair has developed a long list of general interest books in Gaelic and English which could be enjoyed by children and adults alike.
Acair’s core business is still the publication of Gaelic books. This varies from producing new and original books, to working with other well-known publishing houses to produce popular children’s books as Gaelic editions.
Acair now has an impressive backlist of both children’s and general interest titles. Many remain as popular as they were when they were first released, and we have recently re-printed a number of them, such as CAILEAG and CHO MÒR ‘S A THA MO GHAOL ORT. Acair has also published some classic 20th century Gaelic writers, including Donald MacAulay and Iain Crichton-Smith.
Our list also includes some bilingual publications for adults, on a variety of topics from original poetry to plays to local historical, as well as English-only books on related Gaelic and Highland topics.
As well as producing books independently, Acair’s publication process is often assisted and encouraged by supporting agencies such as Bòrd na Gàidhlig and the Gaelic Books Council.
In 2011, we began a working partnership with Irish-Gaelige publishers Futa Fata. This allowed for an opportunity to share resources and experiences in minority-language publishing. The partnership has thus far been hugely beneficial, the first fruits of which can be seen in CEITIDH CEARC, COCO AN T-IASG CÀIRDEIL and LACHAIDH AGUS AN OIDHCHE IARGALTA.
The company is currently situated on 7 James Street, Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis. If you wish to come and see our books first-hand, staff will be glad to welcome you during office hours. These are Monday to Friday from 9.00am – 5.00pm.
Following on from the success of our latest publications, WEAVING SONGS by D.S. Murray and the Futa Fata series of children’s books, Acair is geared up for an exciting year. Upcoming projects include; a collection of original poetry by Flòraidh MacPhail, an anthology of Iain Crichton-Smith’s poetry and the combined semi-autobiographical and song archive book based on the famous Campbell family from Skye.
Over the years we have published the work of many well-known writers and poets, including Sorley MacLean and Derick Thomson. As well as preserving the work of those who have played a big part in the history of Scottish literature, we are always on the lookout for new and upcoming talent. Authors and illustrators, who feel they fit the Acair remit, should feel free to submit their work for consideration.
Acair has always played an important role in the developement and preservation of the Gaelic language and culture. This is something that will continue to be a priority for us and we look forward to the future and to embracing the exciting possibilities and opportunites that are ahead of us! | <urn:uuid:7715e378-3a53-48b1-9b24-639905f77376> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.acairbooks.com/index.php?_a=viewDoc&docId=2 | 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 | 0.965101 | 741 | 1.75 | 2 |
It's a peculiar life," says Edward Hoagland. On a Tuesday he's hurrying along
Sixth Avenue in New York. On Wednesday, he's exploring Dog Canyon near the Rio
Grande, "startling the vultures of a lion-killed deer in a dry streambed."
Such are the days of an author whose subjects and style have always been
wide-ranging. At times he's writing about circuses, tugboats, marriage,
divorce, life in the city, and literary icons like John Updike and Philip Roth.
Next thing you know, he's celebrating nature with poetic pieces like "Earth's
Drawn to snakes, frogs, and walks in the woods since childhood, Hoagland has
earned a lofty reputation for his outdoor savvy. The Times Literary Supplement
places him "among the finest nature writers that the genre has produced."
Nevertheless, when I ask him about how his work has changed over the years, he
begs for mercy. "People like me write books precisely because we don't talk
well," he says. "Otherwise we'd be congressmen." He suggests I consult an advance
copy of his latest tome, Tigers & Ice.
The book answers my question, as promised. In
his fifth decade of writing, Hoagland has decided that nature is his most
important story. Once just an observer, he's now an advocate, urging that we
"reverse the momentum of worldwide destruction." Characteristically, he explains
by means of a digression. When he is exhausted or disheartened, he likes to
listen to circus music. Marine Corps bandmaster John Philip Sousa wrote many of
the tunes, yet at the circus "they don't sound military-no longer music to kill
or die by," he says in the introduction to Tigers & Ice. "When played with lilt
and syncopation, they become poignant and chameleon-music by which to dance on a
high wire or improvise a clown act or play with a tiger and survive, even
Could humans work such transformative magic on technology-harness the powers that
have been killing nature "and tottering human culture" to work for its
restoration and protection? The music analogy offers Hoagland hope: "It would
require a change of spirit as well as rejiggering the thrust of the technological
instrumentation we use-the clarinets to lilt a bit and toodle, the slide
trombones to oompah, the trumpets to gild the lily, when not twitching their
sharp shoulders, the drums to pile on unexpectedly, then dare to skip a beat or
It's hardly a scientific argument for restoration and reform. But a writer need
not be a scientist. Hoagland brings passion to his subject as well as knowledge.
"Nature writing," as Hoagland says, "is biology with love. | <urn:uuid:21b26da4-1cd7-4404-90a2-3cad995124df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/199905/inside.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959863 | 614 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Summary of events in Bangladesh invovling increase in AQ affilate operations found here:
The JMB was formed in 1998 in Bangladesh’s Jamalpur district, according to one regional security analyst who spoke to ISN Security Watch on condition of anonymity.
The group’s exact origins are vague, but it came to prominence in May 2002 when eight Islamic militants were arrested in Parbatipur, in the northern Dinajpur district. The militants were caught with 25 petrol bombs and documents detailing the outfit’s activities.
Then in February 2003, the JMB allegedly carried out seven bomb attacks in the Chhoto Gurgola area of Dinajpur, in which three people were wounded.
The government banned the JMB in February this year, after the group was linked to a series of bomb attacks on non-governmental organization offices, shrines, and entertainment events in the country. Leaflets bearing the group’s name and calling for the introduction of Islamic law were found at all the bombsites.
The leaflets in Bangladeshi and Arabic, which the group used to claim responsibility for attacks, also revealed the group’s intentions.
“We’re the soldiers of Allah. We’ve taken up arms for the implementation of Allah’s law, the way the Prophet, Sahabis, and heroic Mujahideen have done for centuries. It is time to implement Islamic law in Bangladesh. There is no future with man-made law,” the leaflets stated.
According to local media, the JMB is led by a triumvirate consisting of Maulana Abdur Rahman, a former activist of the Jamaat-e-Islami political party; Siddiqur Islam, who is also known as Bangla Bhai; and Dr. Muhammad Asadullah al-Ghalib, an Arabic language lecturer at the Rajshahi University.
While Maulana Rahman is regarded as the spiritual leader of the organization, Siddiqur Islam (Bangla Bhai) is reportedly its “operational chief”. Dr. Muhammad Asadullah al-Ghalib was arrested in February 2005 and charged with sedition. The other two leaders remain free.
“The JMB is an associated group of al-Qaida. Prior to October 2001, the JMB received significant al-Qaida assistance in training and finance,” Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore-based terrorism expert, claimed in an interview with ISN Security Watch on Friday. | <urn:uuid:88604a30-94b6-4836-b962-d264b0e3c7b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eaglespeak.us/2005/12/al-qaeda-in-bangladesh.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963303 | 521 | 1.789063 | 2 |
College applications on rise
Science, engineering subjects popular with students
CAPITAL REGION Local colleges are reporting record numbers of applications, with science and engineering fields of particular interest to students.
Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs was one of the few local college to report a drop, which officials there are blaming on the economy.
At last count, Schenectady’s Union College has received 5,508 applications, which is up 7 percent from the previous year and 4 percent higher than the previous record, according to Matt Malatesta, vice president for admissions and financial aid.
Malatesta attributes the heightened interest to new campus facilities and the school’s academic reputation. This year’s applicants, for example, were the first to tour the Peter Irving Wold Center when they visited the campus. The 35,000-square-foot, four-story facility opened last spring to house liberal arts and engineering programs. The center is part of the college’s new approach to house more than one discipline in a building so students and professors can work on interdisciplinary projects.
When people walk in, they pass a Steinway piano and see a professional-grade recording studio, Malatesta said, and ask if they are still in the science building. Malatesta said the center is quintessential Union, which prides itself on being a strong liberal arts college that allows students to combine study areas to create their own programs.
“I think in this job environment, a place to do a degree where you can have some flexibility in your career, I think that’s speaking to them,” he said.
Union’s internship program and its IBM computer cluster are likely driving interest as is the college’s rankings with Business Week and Kiplinger’s; both rate Union as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation for value or return on investment, according to Malatesta.
“With the economy being what it is, I think people are trying to find the college which is going to be worth the investment,” he said. Union is seeing growth from all over the world, but most of the students come from New York, New England and mid-Atlantic states.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is also reporting another record-setting year. Paul Marthers, vice president for enrollment, said RPI has received nearly 15,000 applications — about 4 percent ahead of last year. He anticipates they will end up with 15,200 because applications are still trickling in.
RPI has seen record-setting enrollment for six years running. “From 2005 to this year, we’ve seen applications go up by 175 percent,” he said.
Marthers speculated that perhaps the continued interest is a sign that the economy is shifting to emphasize science and engineering jobs.
“I think we have a very strong track record at placing our students into good jobs, successful careers. People know that.”
The college has admitted about 40 percent of those who have applied. Having a deep applicant pool gives RPI the ability to be selective.
Marthers was also pleased that applications from women and minorities have increased but he did not cite an exact number. RPI is also seeing more international students and more students from the South and West Coast.
Skidmore is down about 1.3 percent to 5,662. Mary Lou Bates, dean of admissions and financial aid, attributed that decline partly to demographics. There are fewer high school students graduating this year, she said. Also, the weak economy is another factor. Tuition and room and board total about $54,000. Bates said the college is trying to control costs.
“We have made a conscious effort to get out of the list of top 20 most expensive schools,” she said.
Skidmore is also trying to reach out to students from a broader geographic area. Bates also pointed to a 20 percent increase, from 507 and 635, in the number of applications from international students. Many of those students have indicated that they do not require financial aid, which is a market that college officials have targeted.
“Our financial aid is limited. Seven percent of the freshman class are international students. We have lots more we would love to take,” she said.
All the colleges are pricey, and most provide aid packages. But there is sticker shock regardless. The ballpark totals for local institutions including tuition, room and board: Union, $54.000; RPI, $54,000; Siena, $42,000; Saint Rose, $35,000; and UAlbany, $18,000 for in-state residents and $26,000 for out-of-state.
University at Albany spokesman Karl Luntta said the university has exceeded 20,000 applications for the sixth consecutive year. Luntta did not provide an exact number because they are still receiving applications.
“Our freshman applications are about even with last year,” he said.
Heather Renault, director of admissions for Siena College in Loudonville, said applications are holding steady at around 9,700 — similar to 2011, which was a record-breaking year.
“Many of us have been having record number of application years over and over again. I think part of it is students are applying to more schools, which is increasing our applicant pool,” she said. Online forms and a common application makes applying to schools easier, Renault said, adding that students are trying to keep their options open.
Application fees vary. The College of Saint Rose and Union don’t have an application fee, while Siena and UAlbany charge $50 and Skidmore charges $65.
The College of Saint Rose — more traditionally known for its teaching and education programs — is also seeing rising interest in math and science programs, according to Mary Grondahl, vice president of enrollment management.
Of the 4,891 applications received, a 1.7 percent increase from last year, roughly 2,000 are to the School of Mathematics and Sciences.
“Saint Rose offers a lot of the programs that students and the market are asking for right now,” she said.
Applications to the school of business are up 10 percent, according to Grondahl.
There is also strong interest in the communications and speech pathology and music industry programs, she said.
The education industry has experienced layoffs, which may have contributed to the 4 percent drop in applications to the School of Education.
Grondahl also attributed the rising interest in the college to new facilities either in use or under construction at the campus. The campus opened the William Randolph Hearst Communications Center in 2010 and the new Huether School of Business building will open this year. | <urn:uuid:ccdaa285-a855-449e-b2e1-71fb0971f04b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2012/feb/19/0219_applications/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968817 | 1,411 | 1.71875 | 2 |
A federal jury in Pennsylvania on Wednesday ordered Marvell Technology Group, Ltd., to pay $1.17 billion in damages after finding it infringed on two patents held by Carnegie Mellon University.
A lawsuit filed in 2009 by the Pittsburgh university claimed that Marvell infringed on its patented technology fundamental for "increasing the accuracy with which hard disk drive circuits read data from high-speed magnetic disks," according to a press release from K&L Gates, the law firm representing Carnegie Mellon.
The damages could be increased by as much as three times by U.S. District Court judge Nora Barry Fischer since the jury found chipmaker Marvell's infringements were willful, according to K&L Gates.
The jury also found Marvell sold billions of chips incorporating the university's technology without a license to do so, according to K&L Gates.
Marvell has denied the claim.
It did not immediately reply to messages left Wednesday by CNN.
In a statement, Carnegie Mellon said, "We felt the evidence we submitted was compelling, and the jury agreed. Protection of the discoveries of our faculty and students is very important to us." | <urn:uuid:f962cf23-30b1-44f9-b0e6-3a667aa4a46b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ksat.com/lifestyle/Technology/Firm-ordered-to-pay-1-17B-in-patents-case/-/2597106/17908050/-/r7n2yx/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96385 | 231 | 1.835938 | 2 |
LONG BEACH - More residents and visitors than ever are riding bikes as Long Beach secures its spot as one of the most bike-friendly cities in the nation.
Officials say the increase in ridership has many positives, including both health and economic benefits citywide, but it has also brought an increase in the number of bicyclists riding on sidewalks - which is illegal in business districts.
"I'm delighted to see the increase of residents using their bicycles to travel within our city, and I encourage safety and respect for everybody," Mayor Bob Foster said in a statement. "As we continue to work toward being a bike-friendly city, we also want to ensure that we are still pedestrian-friendly."
As more riders are taking to the sidewalk, Bike Long Beach and the Long Beach Police Department are teaming up to remind bicyclists to "Walk it or Lock it" on the sidewalks in business districts.
Long Beach business districts include downtown, the East Village Arts District, 4th Street Retro Row, Belmont Shore, Bixby Knolls and Cambodia Town. Each district has bike racks on the sidewalks, with more than 1,300 public bike racks citywide.
The partnership will include police officers handing out cards, which explain laws and encourage pedestrian-friendly behavior.
"We're committed to ensuring the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists," said Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell, "and will continue to provide enforcement and education
Other efforts to promote "Walk It or Lock It" include new signage in the downtown areas and new sidewalk stenciling in business districts reminding people to "walk your bike on the sidewalk."
"Bicyclists need to respect the rights of pedestrians just as we expect motorists to respect the rights of bicyclists," said Allan Crawford, bicycle coordinator for the city of Long Beach.
"We applaud and appreciate the work of police officers to help educate everyone in our city about the rules for motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians."
Additional information about bicycle safely in Long Beach, along with some suggested local rides, a calendar of bike-related activities, and other related information can be found at the newly redesigned www.BikeLongBeach.org website.
firstname.lastname@example.org, 562-714-2128, Twitter: @KelseyDuckett | <urn:uuid:3c3a0cc9-056b-44c5-b644-1f5d0aa40330> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.presstelegram.com/rss/ci_22045681/long-beach-reminds-bicyclists-not-ride-sidewalks-business?source=pkg | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957948 | 477 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Plans for Dubya
By Douglas Newman
Go to George W. Bush's web page, and one of the first links you will see is entitled "Real plans for real people." Right beside it, you will see a link entitled "Blueprint for the middle class."
As Rush Limbaugh says, words mean things. He reminds his listeners of this whenever he dissects such things as the Clinton health plan or justifications for the Elian raid. Words from the Bush camp mean things, too. They mean things that ought to make conservatives uneasy.
Blueprints are good for designing buildings and cars, but bad for running countries. They specify things like how fast toilets must flush, the size of holes in Swiss cheese, and where you must send your children to school. While, they are necessary for real architects and engineers, they should not be the tools of social architects and engineers.
Plans, likewise, are good things when it comes to family budgets, vacations, and corporate sales goals. However, they should be kept out of the reach of politicians. FDR, LBJ and WJC had plans. These were bad things. Stalin had plans, too. Five Year Plans. These were very bad things. Plans are great in the private sector, but not so great in the public sector.
Why does W. phrase things in such a fashion? If Al Gore is the second beast of the Book of Revelation, why must the Bush propose what amounts to 190 proof algorismo? Al Gore thinks government can solve all our problems, and has no inhibitions about recommending huge new federal initiatives. Bush says he believes in limited government, but recommends huge federal giveaways and continued micromanagement of every aspect of our lives.
If Gore is going to take America one way, Bush needs to take it 180 degrees in the opposite direction. If Gore is going to drive a car into a brick wall at 100 miles an hour, why should we vote for a guy who will drive it into a wall at 95 miles an hour? Saying that Bush is not as bad as Gore is like saying that he has had fewer bad hair days than Don King.
Although I will vote for Harry Browne and every other Libertarian on my ballot, I realize I will have to live with Bush or Gore for the next four years. Let us suppose Bush wins and the Republicans keep their majorities in both houses of congress. Let the fun begin. If they are really serious about limited government let them start chipping away at the socialist monolith at 8 a.m. on January 21, 2001.
It need not start with anything dramatic. Let both houses vote on January 21 to abolish immediately the National Endowment for the Arts, and let Bush sign it.
Next, they could give us a real tax cut. Let everyone have an immediate twenty percent break on their federal income tax effective January 22, 2001. No cuts in "marginal rates", no "targeted" cuts, and no "phasing in". If Joe Punchclock in Akron is paying $100 a week in federal income tax, he will pay $80 per week effective immediately. If J.R. Gotbucks IV in Scarsdale is paying $10,000 a week, he will pay $8000 a week effective immediately. Let them each day put a new socialist sacred cow on the chopping block. Let both houses vote to abolish the program <I>du jour</I>, and let Bush sign off on it, making it effective immediately.
This would provoke endless sound and fury from the media, but it would signify nothing. The people elected the Republicans, not the media. The Republicans would just be carrying out their limited government mandate from the people who put them there.
A few years ago, Lew Rockwell of the Ludwig von Mises Institute wrote a splendid column outlining a 30-day scenario for restoring a free market economy to America. Each day, a great leap toward liberty occurs. One day, the income tax is abolished. On another day, the interstate highway system becomes a private enterprise. On another day, the gold standard is restored. On yet another day, the people may once again keep and bear any arms they desire. Rockwell succinctly outlines the enormous benefits that would accrue to the American people were this to happen.
My proposal is not nearly as radical. Republicans would have absolutely nothing to lose, and much to gain, by implementing it. They finally would have started doing what they said they were going to do starting in 1981.
This plan, like Rockwell's, differs from the plans discussed above, in that it is a plan to restore limited government rather than for some ideal society. Were Bush and the Republicans to implement such a plan, this would also constitute something new: politicians who ran for office on a big government platform who actually give us smaller government.
Douglas Newman lives in Aurora, Colorado and is the force behind Christian-Libertarian web site The Fountain of Truth.
Other related articles: (open in a new window)
© 1996-2013, Enter Stage Right and/or its creators. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:f06d106f-f93c-4ff3-8be9-f54546f5a735> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0900plansw.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969027 | 1,040 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Sunset Felines has recently discovered a colony of cats that need to be rescued. These are not feral cats, but shy little ones that were abandoned by the owner and have now produced several litters. We need people who live or work in the West Columbia area that would like to volunteer to help with this rescue effort. We need feeders, people that can help trap, and foster homes for these beautiful cats to recover after vet care, and wait for their forever homes. This is a time sensitive situation as Animal Control is aware of these cats and are threatening to start trapping to kill. We have rescued several and they are very healthy and have become quite social once they were settled into cat friendly homes with other cats. We have no shelter and must find foster homes if we are going to save them. We must act fast since many are females about six months old. Please call Ms. Johnson at 803-794-5686 or e-mail Sunsetfelines@Hotmail.com.
We are in search of volunteers with event planning and/or marketing experience to work with us on events to promote our cats for adoption as well as support for the colony. If you or anyone you know would like to make a positive impact on the welfare of these very special cats, please call us or send an email!
Know a cat that needs a home?
Lots of people contact us about cats that need homes, either because they're moving and can't take their cat with them - OR - they've spotted a nursing mother cat on their property or near the dumpster at their favorite restaurant.
If you are dealing with either of these situations, please understand that we are not a shelter and are unable to take your cat(s) off your hands. As much as we would like to, our operation depends heavily on foster homes which tend to stay full due to the massive cat overpopulation in this area.
The answer is simple: spay and neuter!
If you think you've stumbled upon a colony and want to do something to control the population without having all the cats trapped and put to sleep, we will gladly provide assistance in implementing a program in your area. Just call the number below for more information, or check out the resources available on the Alleycat Allies website.
Euthanasia is not the answer!
Who We Are
We are a Columbia, SC area group dedicated to managing a feral cat colony near Lexington Medical Center. Our eight-year anniversary was in August 2009. Our program started with one lady
who was out running errands and saw a mother cat with two nursing kittens and took them in, thinking those were the only cats in the area...until more started showing up. We've been trapping, spaying, neutering and feeding ever since!
Feral cat colonies can be found all over the city, and in the unmanaged ones, overbreeding leads quickly to the spread of diseases like feline leukemia and feline AIDS. Competition (i.e. fighting) among tomcats for food and mating rights are one of the ways that these diseases are spread. We address these problems through a method called
trap/neuter/return, or TNR. We humanely trap the cats and take them to be spayed/neutered, vaccinated and treated for any other illnesses or injuries. After assessing how the cats will adapt to indoor living with people and other pets, the cats are either socialized and placed in loving homes or returned to the wild, where they can live "among their own" and enjoy a life free from the stresses of overbreeding and disease.
We're not a shelter
Our activities depend in large part on the generosity of citizens who
are willing to make donations of food or money, or provide crate space in their homes to foster the cats while they recover from the spay/neuter. If you are able and willing to temporarily (4-7 days) provide a quiet, light-traffic area in your home where a feral cat can be crated and cared for in a way that is safe for you as well as the cats, then we would love to hear from you! (See link below)
Adopting a friend
We have a number of young adult cats who are excellent candidates for adoption. With some exceptions (see listing), most will do best in homes without small children or inside dogs. Adoption fees are negotiable for the right cat parents; our main concern is finding all of our cats a forever home. Take a look at some of our adorable cats for adoption. Since each cat has a different personality, we're sure that one of our kitties will be the perfect companion for you! | <urn:uuid:d1619d59-a858-47bf-b1ce-f8520f419aae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/SC122.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968188 | 958 | 1.59375 | 2 |
So you're getting your cast removed soon — and you probably can't wait to get back to your normal activities. But it's not as simple as "goodbye, cast; hello, hockey" (or football, basketball, lacrosse, or whatever your sport of choice is). It will take a while for everything to get back to normal. While it does, you'll need to give your affected limb a little extra care and avoid some physical activities.
Here's what you can expect in the coming days and weeks as your cast is removed and your limb finishes the healing process.
What Will the Doctor Do?
Before removing the cast, the doctor will examine your limb. He or she may want to take an X-ray of the limb in the cast and check things like your pain level.
If everything seems OK, the doctor will remove the cast with a saw, but there's nothing to be afraid of. It's a special saw with a dull blade that vibrates up and down. The vibrations are enough to break the cast apart, but they won't hurt your skin, although they might tickle a bit.
Once the limb is out of the cast, the doctor will examine it again, checking for pain and seeing if you have a good range of motion. If you still have some pain or difficulty with motion, the doctor may give you a splint to wear until the limb heals more. Your doc might even decide that you'll need a different cast or one that is shorter than the one you have now.
If you'll be having a leg cast removed, bring a loose or larger-than-normal shoe with you to the doctor's office, as there is a chance you might have some swelling in your foot.
Don't be alarmed, but there's a decent chance your limb might look a little odd when the cast comes off. Your skin might look dry, scaly, flaky, or pale, and the hair on your limb might seem darker and thicker than usual. Your limb might even smell a little bit (after all, it's been in a cast and not washed for a while!). All these changes are normal. They should clear up fairly quickly so there's no need to worry about them.
The muscles of your limb will likely appear smaller and weaker (what doctors call "atrophied") because you haven't been using them. This is normal, too, but it will take a little longer for your muscles to get back to their original state than your skin. You'll need to take it easy and limit your activities during this time.
What Should I Do When I Get Home?
You may be tempted to scrub or scratch all the dead skin off your limb the moment you get home. Resist the urge. Your skin is going to be very sensitive for the next few days and you'll need to treat it delicately. Instead of rubbing, scrubbing, or scratching your skin, gently wash it with mild soap and soft cloth or gauze pads.
If you had an open wound when your limb was broken or fractured, your skin may have scabs on it when it's removed from the cast. Don't scratch the scabs as this could damage the skin and possibly lead to an infection. If there's still an open wound, follow your doctor's instructions on how to take care of it.
If your limb was in a cast for 3 weeks or more, soak your skin in warm water for 20 minutes twice a day for the first few days after the cast is removed. Gently rub your skin dry with a soft towel. The key word here is "gentle." Rubbing the skin too hard can damage the new skin.
After the support provided by the cast is gone, people often notice stiffness, pain, and swelling in the limb. Be sure to support your limb as it continues to heal, and move gradually back into using it. Start with small, easy movements and work your way up to using the limb fully.
Keep your skin soft and help speed the healing process by applying lotion after you clean the area where the cast was. This will also help stop itching. Choose a fragrance-free lotion because perfumes can irritate skin that's delicate or sensitive from being in a cast. Lotions made with cocoa butter work particularly well.
If you've just had a cast removed from your leg, avoid shaving the hair on your leg for about 3 days after the cast comes off to give your skin time to recover.
You'll want to start alternating gentle movement exercises and periods of rest for your limb right away. Be sure not to overtax your limb, though. Remember that your muscles will be smaller and less effective than they used to be for at least a couple of weeks.
Ask your doctor about when you can start doing your normal activities again. He or she will decide when this is right based on a follow-up examination and X-ray. Doctors want to see that bones are completely healed before they give patients the go-ahead to start more strenuous activities.
Every situation is different, but a general rule of thumb is that you should avoid strenuous activities for as long as your limb was in the cast. You'll be able to go back to doing most hobbies and light activity earlier, but sports will have to wait a little longer.
People can usually resume non-contact sports after about 4 to 6 weeks. Returning to full contact may take 8 to 12 weeks or more. It's all about when the doctor decides your bone is fully healed and has the strength and range of motion to withstand the rigors of your particular sport.
If you have any difficulty moving the limb, your doctor may recommend that you wear a splint for the first week after the cast is removed. The doctor may also recommend therapy to help you regain a full range of motion in your limb:
Occupational therapy typically deals with activities of daily living and involves helping people get back to performing everyday tasks like bathing, dressing, and eating.
Physical therapy is usually more focused on helping people regain movement and do things like walk and climb stairs.
Before recommending an exercise program, a therapist will evaluate your affected limb, including assessing strength and pain, measuring swelling and range of motion, and checking the status of skin and scars. Once the evaluation is complete, the therapist will assign you one or two simple exercises to start with. If you respond well, the therapist will gradually add other exercises.
Therapy also can include massage and a regimen of hot and cold packs, which will help keep any swelling down and increase circulation, which helps promote healing.
Your doctor will probably schedule a follow-up visit for a few days or weeks after you get the cast off to check that your bones are healing as they should. (When and how often you go for follow-up exams depends on your injury and whether you had surgery.)
But if your skin doesn't seem to be healing properly after a couple of days or if you have any pain, don't hesitate to call your doctor's office.
In the coming weeks, be sure to follow your doctor's or therapist's instructions to ensure that your skin, bones, and muscles heal the way they should.
And be careful not to fall on your affected limb while it's healing. You're about to get out of a cast. You don't want to end up right back in one. | <urn:uuid:ddade203-af00-4f9e-b7db-f754dac38fda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?dn=NiswongerChildrens_Hospital&lic=362&cat_id=20120&article_set=84014&ps=204 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967733 | 1,510 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Prior Miller Center Leadership
Frederick E. Nolting, Jr., Ambassador to South Vietnam from 1961 to 1963 under President Kennedy, served as the Center’s first Director, retiring in 1977. Herbert J. Storing, a noted scholar of constitutional history who had spent his career with the University of Chicago, led the Center’s presidential studies before his untimely death that same year.
Kenneth W. Thompson, a prolific scholar of international relations and the presidency, served as the Center’s Director for more than 20 years, until 1998. Many of the Center’s hallmark programs began under Thompson, including the Forum series, the comprehensive oral history projects for successive presidential administrations, and the Center’s influential national commissions.
Philip D. Zelikow became the Director of the Center in 1998, and the Center’s programming expanded significantly during his tenure. While on public service leave from the Center, Zelikow served as executive director of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission), before leaving the Center to become as Counselor of the U.S. Department of State. In 2006, Zelikow left the State Department to join the faculty of the University of Virginia History Department.
Gerald L. Baliles became Director of the Miller Center in April 2006. During his service as Director, he has further enhanced the Center’s academic standing by adding to the faculty, among others, Bancroft Prize winner Melvin P. Leffler. He has also conceived a series of new programs and annual conferences that have enhanced the Center’s national reputation. Among these initiatives are the National War Powers Commission, the Mortimer Caplin Conference on the World Economy, and the National Discussion and Debate Series. The Center has likewise continued to strengthen its long-running programs, particularly in presidential studies. In 2010, the Miller Center began the George W. Bush Presidential Oral History Project, building on its projects on Presidents Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton. | <urn:uuid:26254881-aa40-4af3-80e2-4868e127bdf4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://millercenter.org/about/priorleadership | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964812 | 423 | 1.578125 | 2 |
What very mysterious things days were. Sometimes they fly by, and other times they seem to last forever, yet they are all exactly twenty-four hours. There's quite a lot we don't know about them.
Melanie Benjamin, Alice I Have Been, 2010
STUDENT WHO OBTAINED 0% ON AN EXAM
(I would have given him 100%)
Q1. In which battle did Napoleon die?
* his last battle
Q2. Where was the Declaration of Independence signed?
* at the bottom of the page
Q3. River Ravi flows in which state?
Q4. What is the main reason for divorce?
Q5. What is the main reason for failure?
Q6. What can you never eat for breakfast?
* Lunch & dinner
Q7. What looks like half an apple?
* The other half
Q8. If you throw a red stone into the blue sea what it will become?
* It will simply become wet
Q9. How can a man go eight days without sleeping ?
* No problem, he sleeps at night.
Q10.. How can you lift an elephant with one hand?
* You will never find an elephant that has only one hand.
*Q11. If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in other hand, what would you have ?
* Very large hands
Q12.. If it took eight men ten hours to build a wall, how long would it take four men to build it?
* No time at all, the wall is already built.
Q13. How can u drop a raw egg onto a concrete floor without cracking it?
* Any way you want, concrete floors are very hard to crack.
Remember black & white TV?
Black and White (Under age 40? You won't understand.)
You could hardly see for all the snow,
Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
Pull a chair up to the TV set,
'Good Night, David.
Good Night, Chet.'
My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning..
My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter and I used to eat it raw sometimes, too. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in ice pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e. Coli.
Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then.
The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school PA system.
We all took gym, not PE...and risked permanent injury with a pair of high top Keds (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are now.
Flunking gym was not an option.... Even for stupid kids! I guess PE must be much harder than gym.
Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention.
We must have had horribly damaged psyches. What an archaic health system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything.
I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself.
I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations.
Oh yeah... And where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed!
We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked.
Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.
We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either; because if we did we got our butt spanked there and then we got our butt spanked again when we got home.
I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off.
Little did his Mom know that she could have owned our house.
Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amuck.
To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family..
How could we possibly have known that?
We needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes.
We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac!
How did we ever survive?
LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA; AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T, SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING!
Good morning one and all........and all for one .
Has anyone seen my other arm?? I know I left it somewhere in the diner.
I think I was trying to show someone that I could draw a blank with only one arm.
Oh! Maybe it's tied behind me.
Today is another mid-shift for me.
I'm tired of being the middle man already, but doing a mid-shift is better than being shiftless I guess.
It's also MUCH better than closing.
The only time I like closing is when my sister is at the door, and I'm closing it in her face.
Have a happy day everyone. | <urn:uuid:f0ecfcf1-ffc1-4a69-9839-d0cec3b0adc3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gameboomers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/853647/all/It_s_a_New_New_New_New_Tuesday.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975309 | 1,292 | 1.648438 | 2 |
During the run-up to the primaries, Senator Obama did not appear in the Senate to vote on the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment calling on the government to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist entity. On the day of the vote on the amendment, however, Obama issued a statement announcing that he would have voted against it. In the statement, the closest he came to addressing the merits of the amendment was his assertion that “he does not think that now is the time for saber-rattling towards Iran.” The amendment passed the Senate 76-22 on September 26 with many Democrats including Hillary Clinton voting in its favor.
Obama subsequently advanced three explanations for his opposition to the amendment. The McCain campaign has usefully compiled them here. Obama specifically condemned Hillary Clinton for her vote in favor of the amendment. At a Democratic candidates’ debate in December before the Iowa caucus, for example, Obama returned to the theme of his September 26 statement. The New York Daily News reported:
Monday’s revelation that the Iranian nuke threat was hugely overblown gave Clinton’s rivals new zeal to criticize her vote to brand Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.
Obama likened it to her 2002 vote authorizing the Iraq war. “This saber-rattling was a repetition of Iraq,” he said.
We can infer from his statements that Obama is opposed to “saber-rattling,” and that designating the IRGC a terrorist organization is rattling the dread saber. On Wednesday, however, the time for Obama to rattle the saber arrived. Or at least the time had come to support the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization, eight months after the Senate vote on the subject. The time coincided with end of the primary season, and with Obama’s appearance at the AIPAC policy conference. At his speech to the AIPAC policy conference in Washington on Wednesday, Obama called for “boycotting firms associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, whose Quds force has rightly been labeled a terrorist organization.”
By the standards of presidential politics, Obama may not be an unusually cynical politician. But he is extraordinarily cynical, and he must believe that included among his mystical powers is the power to make voters believe whatever he says, even when what he says today contradicts what he said yesterday.
UPDATE: The National Review editors dig a little more deeply into the contradictions between Obama on Iran then and now in an editorial posted this morning.
To comment on this post go here. | <urn:uuid:a26edac1-c338-48f9-874e-32ce92884c5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2008/06/opportunism-knocks-part-2.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975516 | 527 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Court considers politicking near Minn. polling placesby Curtis Gilbert, Minnesota Public Radio
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A federal appeals court in St. Paul is considering whether clothing bearing political slogans should be allowed in Minnesota polling places.
State law currently bans politicking within 100 feet of a voting site. In 2010, a group of conservative activists defied that law and wore tea party T-shirts and buttons that said "Please I.D. Me" when they showed up to vote. The slogan refers to a a Republican-backed proposal that would require Minnesotans to show photo identification to vote.
Activists affiliated with the group Minnesota Majority claim their free speech rights were violated when election officials told them to remove the buttons and cover the T-shirts.
"I went into the polling place with a button on. I was told to remove it. I said, 'I don't have to do that. I believe that I'm within my rights.' And they took my name down and said I was going to be referred for potential criminal investigation," said Minnesota Majority Executive Director Dan McGrath. "That's voter intimidation. They're intimidating me because of my viewpoint."
McGrath said he was never actually charged with a crime. Political "soliciting" near a polling site is a petty misdemeanor under state law.
The group is appealing a 2011 federal district court ruling that upheld the law's constitutionality.
"The idea really is to give a safe place for people to get in and just vote, not have to worry about their neighbors trying to convince them while they're in line that they should vote a particular way," said Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Dan Rogan, who argued in favor of the law. "That's to happen in the neighborhood, outside of the polling place, not in the polling place."
In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar law banning campaign lawn signs near polling places in Tennessee.
"If they can ban a sign 100 feet away, surely they can ban a shirt in the middle of the polling place," Judge Duane Benton said during Tuesday's oral arguments.
Erick Kaardal, an attorney representing Minnesota Majority, countered that a shirt on someone's back could be considered more personal than a sign on their lawn. He also argued that state and local election officials have interpreted the law too broadly, banning not just candidates' campaign materials but apparel bearing all kinds of political messages. That makes the law too vague and subject to arbitrary enforcement by election officials.
Arguing in favor of the law, Rogan said it applies equally to all groups. He told the judges that shirts sporting the logos of the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO would be held to the same standard.
"That's a heck of a dress code you've got going," Judge Benton said. | <urn:uuid:96733a87-fda0-4ac9-9e1f-279fd4869e00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/02/14/voting-lawsuit?refid=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975046 | 588 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
It is the policy of Seattle University that no qualified person shall, on the basis of disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination in any job, facility, program or activity provided by the University.
To ensure the University's compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, individuals with disabilities may request reasonable accommodations in order to live in on-campus housing and attend events and activities in campus buildings. "Reasonable accommodations" may include: hearing impaired devices, alternative formats, and signers. Disability accommodations require a minimum of three weeks' prior notice to Conference and Event Services. | <urn:uuid:2700dd17-8758-47e1-a73d-dfda998e2074> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seattleu.edu/ces/Inner.aspx?id=46900 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935487 | 135 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Here's a link to the full text of the "budget deal" that was recently passed:http://www.rules.house.gov/Media/file/P ... 16_xml.pdf
It's 74 pages. I've read it all. Here's my summary of what's actually in it.
Note that as is often the case with legislation, a lot of it inserts paragraphs (or modifies paragraphs/lines/clauses) in existing parts of the US Code, and without looking at (and reading large swaths of) the modified law(s), the full consequences of a change can be hard to determine. Indeed, sometimes an "edit" in a new bill can look innocuous by itself, but contain sneaky side effects once it takes its place in part(s) of the full US Code. I haven't looked for these, I've just read the current bill and presumed it doesn't have unintended (or intended) consequences that aren't fully apparent.
Also, some of the new bill invokes arcane accounting messiness that is already part of the existing US Code with regard to the budget process, so unless one is very familiar with that process (I'm not) it can be hard to tell what really is and isn't affected with regard to some of the new bill.
That said, let's look at what the "Budget Control Act of 2011" says.
Page 1: Title and table of contents.
Page 2: Severability clause. Congress declares that if any part of this Act is declared unconstitutional, their intent is that the rest shall be allowed to stand. I think that's a bad idea with legislation like this (because it can disrupt checks and balances built into the Act), but there you have it.
Page 2: "TITLE I—TEN-YEAR DISCRETIONARY CAPS WITH SEQUESTER"
This is one of the parts that has the "automatic" cutbacks if they go over the spending caps. Of course, they can always redefine the caps if they get weak-kneed, and the following link says that that's pretty much what's been done ever since the 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings act was passed with similar caps/cutbacks, which negates what was supposed to be the "teeth" in Gramm-Rudman-Hollings:http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/sequestration
The current Act has the same weakness, of course. The above link is also worth reading because it defines what Congress means by "Sequester"/"Sequestration", terms that are used a lot in the recently passed Act. It means to cause "automatic" spending cuts, which again, isn't new with the current act, that was supposed to happen ever since the 1985 GRH bill. It remains to be seen whether Congress just dodges its own limits like they've been doing since 1985. Finally, the above link also points out that the cuts aren't really all-encompassing, they only affect whatever Congress hasn't exempted from sequestered cuts, like it has with Social Security, Welfare, Unemployment, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest on the national debt (the so-called "mandatory" as opposed to "discretionary" items).
Still on page 2: 15 days after a session of Congress adjourns (once a year, basically):
ELIMINATING A BREACH.—Each non-exempt account within a category shall be reduced by a dollar amount calculated by multiplying the enacted level of sequestrable budgetary resources in that account at that time by the uniform percentage necessary to eliminate a breach within that category.
Um... Several ambiguous terms there, but it sounds as if each budget line items in a '"category" will be cut back (after the spending has been done for the year??) to match whatever that "category" was actually budgeted. See budget categories here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Unite ... ral_budget
It doesn't sound as if there will be an across-the-board X% cut if spending as a whole goes X% over budget, instead every "category" is going to be made to live within its own means.
Also note the gotcha in the term "non-exempt account" -- I presume it means just the "discretionary" budget items, not the "mandatory" ones, plus there may be "exempt" subcategories ("accounts") within even a discretionary "category".
This also doesn't sound like it would kick in if tax revenues failed to meet expectations and the feds didn't have enough money to prevent blowing the debt ceiling, it just sounds like capping the actual *spending* on budget items to what was actually budgeted to be *spent*. Actual debt limit blowouts are covered below.
Page 3: Apparently the President can at his own discretion exempt certain military spending (due to pre-existing legislation), this page says that if he does, the shortfall will be taken from the rest of the Defense budget to even things out.
Pages 3-4: Clauses about how partial-year budget items or budget modifications partway through the year are not exempt from the original annual budget caps, basically, they still count as additional spending.
Pages 4-8: OMB and CBO will be used as arbiters of budget balances, etc.
Pages 8-14: Contingency exemptions for national emergencies, disasters, up to a billion or so in Social Security tweaks, etc.
Pages 14-15: Setting a "discretionary spending limit" -- this is the amount that can be spent in total on all "discretionary" budget categories (um, what, no limit on non-discretionary "mandatory" spending?):
2012 fiscal year "security category" spending limit is $684B. (Military, homeland security, etc.)
2012 fiscal year "nonsecurity category" spending limit is $359B. (All other "discretionary" spending)
2013 fiscal year "security category" spending limit is $686B.
2013 fiscal year "nonsecurity category" spending limit is $361B.
2014 fiscal year discretionary spending limit is $1.066T.
2015 fiscal year discretionary spending limit is $1.086T.
2021 fiscal year discretionary spending limit is $1.234T.
Pages 15-27: Definitions, tweaks to existing (now outdated) budget law, revisions to rules of House/Senate that try to prevent passing budget/law changes that simply ignore the caps, etc.
In short, this "title" section of the Act puts limits on discretionary spending for the next ten years.
...unless a future Congress sets them to something else or removes them.
Also, these all change if the "deficit reduction commission" fails, see below.
Pages 27-30: "TITLE II—VOTE ON THE BALANCED BUDGET AMENDMENT"
Between September 30 and December 31 of this year, the House and Senate have to vote on a joint resolution entitled "Joint resolution proposing a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States".
They don't have to pass it. If it fails to pass, they don't have to change it and try to pass it again. They don't have to make a real effort to pass it or write it in such a way that it has a chance of passing. They don't even have to make it a balanced budget amendment. All they have to do is give *something*, anything, maybe a pay raise for themselves, the title specified above, and vote on it. Period.
Pages 30-43: "TITLE III—DEBT CEILING DISAPPROVAL PROCESS"
Contrary to the implication of the title, this is where they raise the debt ceiling. In fact, they give Obama the power to raise the debt ceiling (within limits)
They do however give Congress the ability to deny a debt ceiling request.
1. Before December 31, 2011, Obama (or whoever happens to be President in December
) can submit a written certification that the national debt (actually, "debt subject to limit"
) is within $0.1T of the current debt limit (i.e. about to blow the debt cap), and this authorizes the Treasury to borrow an additional $0.9T. This triggers an immediate $0.4T bump in the debt limit, with the remaining $0.5T left hanging, pending Congressional approval/disapproval/apathy.
Congress can vote to deny the additional $0.5T, or let it slide. If they vote to deny it, the President can veto their denial, and Congress has the option to override the veto if they can, same as any other Congressional action.
2. If after the above occurs, the President may later (no time limit) submit another written certification that the national debt is within $0.1T of the new debt limit, and authorize Treasury to borrow an additional amount, as follows:
a) $1.2T, or
b) $1.5T if a balanced budget amendment has actually been handed to the states to ratify, or
c) however much the "commission" proposal (see below) includes in deficit reduction if their proposal is passed by Congress (but not to exceed $1.5T if the balanced budget amendment fails in Congress).
Congress can also vote to disapprove this Presidential debt limit increase.
Pages 43-51: "SEC. 302. ENFORCEMENT OF BUDGET GOAL"
If the commission fails to recommend $1.2T+ in deficit reduction, or Congress fails to enact those recommendations by January 15, 2012, the discretionary spending limits specified above (see the summary of pages 14-15) will be automatically changed to the following limits:
2012 (remains the same)
2013 fiscal year "security category" spending limit is $546B (was $686B).
2013 fiscal year "nonsecurity category" spending limit is $501B (was $361B).
(Total remains at $1.047T)
2014 fiscal year "security category" spending limit is $556B.
2014 fiscal year "nonsecurity category" spending limit is $510B.
(was $1.066T total with no category limits, new total is still $1.066T)
2015 fiscal year "security category" spending limit is $566B.
2015 fiscal year "nonsecurity category" spending limit is $520B.
(was $1.086T total with no category limits, new total is still $1.086T)
2021 fiscal year "security category" spending limit is $644B.
2021 fiscal year "nonsecurity category" spending limit is $590B.
(was $1.234T total with no category limits, new total is still $1.234T)
Note that the total spending remains the same, but that if Congress fails to meet the "$1.2T in deficit reduction (which may be achieved via tax increases)" goal by passing the commission's recommendations (presuming the commission can even agree to such), defense spending takes in the shorts and is drastically reduced, while "domestic" spending gets to go on a spending spree with what used to be the military's money.
Note that Obama's own 2010 budget allocated about $700B to the "security category" -- the recent budget deal allocated $686B, but if the "$1.2 trillion in deficit reduction" fail to materialize, the "security category" gets slashed to $556B, while the "non-security category" (largest subcategories being Health and Human Services, Department of Transportation, HUD, etc.) get a windfall of the $130B slashed from defense.
Who approved this bullshit? Why is the military the only one that gets ass-raped if Congress can't agree on $1.2T in deficit reduction, while total spending remains the same and "social services" get a big 39% pay raise?
[EDIT TO ADD: There are also spending cuts applied across the board, including to mandatory spending, if Congress fails to achieve the $1.2T in deficit reduction by December -- see post farther down in this thread.]
Guess who's going to be lobbying the shit out of Congress to NOT pass the $1.2T in deficit reduction?
And if Reid/Pelosi pack the Commission with six military-hating, welfare-loving Democrats, they can block any $1.2T deal right there, fucking the military and giving a big boon to domestic "discretionary spending". Whee.
Page 52-71: "TITLE IV—JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON DEFICIT REDUCTION"
Creates a 12-person
Gosudarstvenniy Komitet po Planirovaniyu
Joint Select Committee, tasked with creating
draft legislation that allegedly reduces the deficit by a total of at least $1.2T over the next ten years.
Consists of 3 people appointed by Harry Reid, 3 people appointed by Nancy Pelosi, 3 people appointed by John Bohner, and 3 people appointed by Mitch McConnell.
The JSC will (in theory) craft the actual US Code changes which, if implemented by Congress, would reduced the deficit by a total of $1.2T+ over the next ten years. They must accomplish this by November 23, 2011, passing it by majority vote, or else the whole effort gets scrapped.
If they actually do pass it, Congress is obligated to do an up-or-down vote on it by December 23, 2011, but if it fails, it is scrapped, and the above-mentioned "fuck the military" limits kick in. [EDIT TO ADD: As well as across-the-board cuts to all spending categories, see post elsewhere in this thread.]
If they do pass it, the "savings" aren't used to pay off the debt, Obama is free to raise the debt limit even further by an equal amount and spend it all.
As I read the Act, if the JSC/Congress act to reduce the deficit by say $1.5T over the next ten years, Obama is allowed to raise the debt limit $1.5T THIS year, and he and the Dems can spend that much more THIS year, that much more NEXT year, that much more the year AFTER, etc...
Actually, they'd be allowed to spend TWICE that much, since the "savings" give them that much more they can spend without hitting the current debt limit, *and* allow Obama to raise the debt limit by an equal amount and they can spend *that* too.
Note, by the way, that the "$1.2T+ in deficit reduction over 10 years" can be achieved entirely by tax increases -- there's nothing in this section of the Act which requires a dime of spending cuts.
And, of course, they can play the usual game of "spend more now, pack 'deficit reduction' into years 7-10, which future Congresses will never actually follow when *they* sit down to make *their* future budgets".
Pages 71-74: "TITLE V—PELL GRANT AND STUDENT LOAN PROGRAM CHANGES"
Authorizing the spending of $10 billion more on pell grants, removal of "interest subsidized loans" to "professional students", and termination of "direct loan repayment incentives" (wait, what?)
And there you have it. Analysis/comments to follow. | <urn:uuid:d233f520-c0ae-4d4b-880a-3bdcc6ecd6f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forum.darwincentral.org/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=47584 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938236 | 3,275 | 1.554688 | 2 |
The Associated Press reports: “A legal blame game between high-tech industry giants Novell Inc. and Microsoft Corp. is under way in a Salt Lake City courtroom as the companies squabble over fair business practices. Novell sued Microsoft in 2004, claiming the Redmond, Wash., company violated U.S. antitrust laws through its arrangements with other computer makers when it launched Windows 95. … Microsoft founder Bill Gates is expected to testify.” Read more on seattlepi.com.
Microsoft is beginning a big new advertising campaign Sunday evening, and the company wants to show people how four of its major products work together in the living room – and help families break free of the “dark side of tech.”
The campaign is the Redmond-based firm’s biggest ever, said David Webster, Microsoft’s chief marketing strategist. Microsoft isn’t disclosing the cost, but it will air in 35 markets worldwide on television and as pre-roll ads for online video.
Faced with mounting competition from Apple, which promotes that all of its iProducts work seamlessly together, Microsoft is hoping to inform people about not just its products, but its entire technology platform. The ads, airing first in the U.S., aim to show how Windows, Office, Windows Phone and the Xbox 360 all commingle.
“I think now you’re getting to the point that more general consumers are thinking, ‘I need to look at my entire tech portfolio, not just one product,’” Webster told seattlepi.com. “‘I want to buy into a system, not just one product.’ They want them all.”
Not only is the desktop completely redesigned in Windows 8, so is the infamous Blue Screen of Death.
Most people know the Blue Screen of Death, or BSoD, pops up whenever Windows encounters a critical error. It’s the bane of all Windows users, yet it is a necessary evil. The operating system shuts down to prevent damage to the computer.
The only way to get rid of the screen is to restart.
Blue Screens of Death have changed over the years (sometimes they’re Black Screens of Death, especially on Macs). They used display only a mess of computer code and have evolved into scary warnings that something has gone horribly wrong.
Yet, with its upcoming Windows 8 operating system, Microsoft is adding a cutesy element the typical PC user knows very well: a frowny face.
Click through the gallery below to see Blue Screens of Death through the years, ending with Windows 8.
By now we’re all used to advertisements on our smart phones and tablets – it’s the tradeoff we accept for using free apps instead of premium versions. Yet one of the side effects of Microsoft’s making Windows 8 for both tablets and personal computers is that those ad-supported apps will make their way onto our laptops and desktops.
Yep, ads on your PC.
Reporting from the company’s Build conference in Anaheim, Calif., PCWorld notes that Windows 8 will be Microsoft’s first PC operating system with a built-in advertising platform. Advertisements would be worked into Windows 8 apps themselves, like they are in smart-phone and tablet apps.
In a harsh soliloquy on the Metro design’s perceived lack of personality, PC Magazine’s John C. Dvorak makes an astute observation: Windows 8′s rectangular tile interface “looks like it wants to blast ads at you.” But really, that’s just conjecture – and the tiles are all customizable by the user.
Can't you just imagine little ads sprinkled in there?
The Houston Chronicle’s Dwight Silverman reports: “I launched the Metro version of Internet Explorer 10, logged into my Netflix account and clicked on an episode. But instead of the show, I got a prompt to install Silverlight, the Microsoft-created plug-in that Netflix requires to stream video to a browser. However, it turns out that Microsoft doesn’t allow plug-ins with the Metro version of IE. When I downloaded and ran the Silverlight installer, Windows 8 automatically switched to the classic desktop. I went back to the Metro version of IE10 and was again prompted to install Silverlight when I tried to watch the episode, even though I had just installed it.” Read more at seattlepi.com.
PC shipments in the second quarter of this year grew by 2.6 percent worldwide, missing IDC’s modest forecast of 2.9 percent, the research firm said this week. Meanwhile, worldwide shipments of tablets skyrocketed 303.8 percent year over year, IDC said.
The trends show just how much the technology world is shifting toward devices like the Apple iPad, which is driving tablet sales. IDC said Apple’s market share grew from 65.7 percent in the first quarter to 68.3 percent in the second quarter of this year.
“While consumers have pulled back in part due to economic circumstances, consumer PCs have also suffered due to a relative lack of compelling offerings,” IDC analyst Jay Chou said in a news release. “With the excitement of mini notebooks (netbooks) largely past, the PC industry has struggled to come up with compelling features to keep buyer interest, and has subsequently suffered some budget-competition from smart phones as well as media tablets.”
The research firm now expects PC sales to grow by just 2.8 percent this year, down from its previous growth forecast of 4.2 percent. In mature markets such as the United States, PC shipments aren’t expected to reach 2010 levels until 2013, IDC said.
The Houston Chronicle’s Dwight Silverman reports: “There’s little doubt that Microsoft has won lots of positive buzz for its early look at Windows 8 – but that excitement is leavened with a dash of caution. Everyone I’ve spoken with here at the Build Conference in Anaheim is enthusiastic about the next version of Windows, but there’s a universal reluctance to declare it a home run. It’s way too early, with too many variables between here and Windows 8′s ultimate success.” Read more at seattlepi.com.
It’s the question on everybody’s mind: With Windows 8, does Microsoft finally have an answer to Apple’s industry-changing surge, most recently with the iPad?
The answer on everybody’s lips is, well, Microsoft very well might.
Windows 8 is the biggest overhaul of Microsoft’s operating system for more than 15 years. Remember all the hub-bub around Windows 95? Yeah, well, this could be even bigger.
Microsoft has completely rethought and redesigned what Windows is. No longer is it about the traditional desktop with little icons and folders and taskbars – no, “Windows classic” is now just a small piece of the operating system.
Because Windows 8 is more for the new tech world than the old. Microsoft is taking a bold step into the post-PC era. And it’s doing it before Apple.
Microsoft is making the most dramatic change to its flagship operating system’s design since Windows 95 added the taskbar and Start menu. Arguably, it may even be more radical, because it blows away the traditional app-in-a-window scheme developed in the 1970s at Xerox, then picked up by almost every other operating system developer since.
For the I-hate-change crowd, you can still drop to the desktop – with its familiar taskbar, windows, menus and dialog boxes – to run legacy software. But “Windows classic” becomes little more than just another application. The new, tile-and-text based interface appears when you tap or click the Start button. You can run from it, but it will find you again and again. | <urn:uuid:d395fb17-0884-4d1d-9735-6f47d9f20e3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/category/windows/?category=33&x=7&y=5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93579 | 1,664 | 1.664063 | 2 |
BY LINDA BENTLEY | JULY 25, 2012
Is Obamacare tax an un-apportioned and unconstitutional tax?
‘The Constitution will not be defended unless the people defend it … The free people of America need to institutionalize citizen vigilance’
WASHINGTON – Bob Schultz (r) of the We The People Constitution Lobby (WTP) project, dedicated to organizing citizens to systematically hold every government official in all levels of government accountable, challenges the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, is an indirect tax and not subject to apportionment.
Congress’ taxing power is spelled out in three sections of Article I of the Constitution.
Under Section 2, Clause 3, it states, “Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this Union …”
Section 8, Clause 1 states, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises. But all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.”
And, Section 9, Clause 4 states, “No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.”
Schultz stated, “Of all the mandates in the Constitution, there is only one that is repeated twice: direct taxes must be apportioned. It means exactly what it states.”
Through these three clauses, the people and the states grant Congress the authority to impose two types of taxes, direct and indirect, but only under strictly limited conditions.
Direct taxes, referred to as “Capitation and other direct taxes” are those which, if imposed by Congress, must be equally apportioned among the people according to the last census.
For example, Schultz stated, “If Congress decided to exact a certain amount of money by imposing a direct tax (a tax the people cannot legally avoid) and California has 13% of the Union’s representation based on population as ascertained by the census, then California must raise 13% of the total amount of the direct tax imposed by Congress.”
As for indirect taxes, referred to as “Duties, Imposts and Excises,” which, if imposed by Congress, must be uniform throughout the United States. For example, if Congress decided to exact money by imposing a Duty, Impost or Excise (a tax to be paid on the exportation, importation or purchase/consumption of a good), the amount of the tax must be the same no matter the point of importation, exportation or sale.
Schultz noted, “Not being ‘direct,’ apportioned and unavoidable, these ‘indirect’ taxes are uniform and, importantly, legally avoidable.”
In writing for the majority in the Obamacare decision, Chief Justice John Roberts admitted such, and stated direct taxes “must be apportioned among the states.”
However, Schultz noted, in order to avoid this constitutional restraint, Roberts falsely declared Obamacare's individual mandate is not a tax on the ownership of personal property and “is thus not a direct tax that must be apportioned among the several states.”
Calling Robert’s decision “erroneous,” Schultz said, “Most troubling is the fact that both the majority and the dissent refused to deal honestly with the issue of direct taxes.”
In upholding the individual mandate, Roberts wrote, “Under the mandate, if an individual does not maintain health insurance, the only consequence is that he must make an additional payment to the IRS when he pays his taxes.”
WTP sharply disagrees with the logic of the court’s decision that Congress has the power under the tax clause to require people to buy a product or pay a tax for not purchasing the product, without apportioning the tax among the several states.
Where Roberts held the tax is “not a direct tax that must be apportioned,” he stated, “A tax on going without health insurance does not fall within any recognized category of direct tax.
It is not a capitation … The payment is also plainly not a tax on the ownership of land or personal property. The shared responsibility payment is thus not a direct tax that must be apportioned among the several states.”
However, Roberts described how the tax, or “shared responsibility payment,” is a compulsory contribution to government revenue, levied by the government on workers’ income.
Schultz argues, “A worker’s income, the fruits of his labor, is his personal property, making the shared responsibility payment a tax on personal property and therefore one that must be apportioned among the states.”
According to Schultz, a worker’s labor and the fruits of his labor are his personal property, long held to be a natural right, and discussed John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government, in which Locke argued in support of individual property rights as “natural rights,” following the argument the fruits of one’s labor are one’s own because one worked for it.
Schultz stated, “That a worker’s labor is personal property falling within the zone of interests to be protected by the Constitution has been affirmed many times by the Supreme Court,” and quoting from an 1884 Supreme Court opinion, said, “The property which every man has is his own labor, as it is the original foundation of all other property, so it is the most sacred and inviolable.”
Quoting from a 1915 Supreme Court opinion in Coppage v. Kansas, Schultz wrote, “The principle is fundamental and vital. Included in the right of personal liberty and the right of private property – partaking of the nature of each – is the right to make contracts for the acquisition of property. Chief among such contracts is that of personal employment, by which labor and other services are exchanged for money or other forms of property. If this right be struck down or arbitrarily interfered with, there is a substantial impairment of liberty in the long-established constitutional sense ...”
Roberts stated, “If it is troubling to interpret the Commerce Clause as authorizing Congress to regulate those who abstain from commerce, perhaps it should be similarly troubling to permit Congress to impose a tax for not doing something.”
However, Roberts went on to say, “Three considerations allay this concern.
“First, and most importantly, it is abundantly clear the Constitution does not guarantee that individuals may avoid taxation through inactivity. A capitation, after all, is a tax that everyone must pay simply for existing, and capitations are expressly contemplated by the Constitution. The Court today holds that our Constitution protects us from federal regulation under the Commerce Clause so long as we abstain from the regulated activity. But from its creation, the Constitution has made no such promise with respect to taxes.”
Schultz says, “Not so fast. In fact, We the People are protected from federal taxation so long as we abstain from engaging in importation, exportation and consumption of those goods taxed uniformly and from owning real and personal property taxed in proportion to representation based on population as ascertained by the census.”
In conclusion, Schultz said, “With this new tax against income, as with other direct, un-apportioned taxes, one of the greatest landmarks defining the boundary between the nation and the states of which it is composed disappears, and with it one of the bulwarks of private rights and private property.
“America is on a slippery slope rushing headlong into debt, dependency and decay.”
Schultz stated, “The Constitution is not a menu. The Constitution cannot defend itself. Everybody and everything has a lobby except the Constitution and the People. The Constitution will not be defended unless the people defend it … The free people of America need to institutionalize citizen vigilance.”
Visit www.givemeliberty.org to watch Schultz’s video, “What if the Government rejects the Constitution,” to join WTP, which is made up entirely of unpaid volunteers, and to make a donation. | <urn:uuid:84c151ca-d990-45e8-927c-25b97af9c03f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sonorannews.com/archives/2012/120725/news-obamacare.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959298 | 1,741 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Colombia's FARC rebels free 10 longtime hostages
Some detainees were held for more than 14 years by guerilla group
The International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed that all 10 hostages being held by the Colombian rebel group FARC have been released. Some of the hostages have been held captive by the rebels for as long as 14 years. Held in jungle prison camps, the victims were picked up in a helicopter supplied by Brazil. The former prisoners will be flown to the city of Villavicencio, in central Meta province, before heading to Colombian capital, Bogota.
Families of the hostages frred by FARC have expressed great joy and jubilation after being reunited with their loved ones.
The Leftist rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, released the hostages as part of a humanitarian mission led by the International Committee of the Red Cross and Colombians for Peace, an organization made up mostly of women.
The group has been working behind the scenes for many months to make "this humanitarian handover possible."
The rebels have proposed peace talks and have announced a halt to kidnappings for ransom.
Rigoberta Menchú, a Nobel prize-winning human rights advocate from Guatemala was on hand to show support.
"We know that there are several others that have been released this way. And we know that beyond the releases Colombia should have peace. We feel what Colomboans feel now," Menchú said.
FARC was also holding civilians but added that it was not clear how many were still left in the rebels' hands.
"It could be as little as eighty or ninety, but some estimates are that it could be into the hundreds. Nobody really knows what the status of civilian hostages will be," he said.
"There is a real hope that this hostage handover could open up doors of communication and dialogue between the FARC and the Colombian government, but it is unclear whether the government will want to engage in dialogue with the FARC."
© 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.
- - -
Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.
Keywords: Colombia, FARC, hostages, release, guerilas
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- Reflections on the Dignity and Vocation of Women: Who or What? | <urn:uuid:101d1b02-18f6-45fd-86c1-04d806b7228c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=45557 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9504 | 861 | 1.703125 | 2 |
You Must Read This
Sun February 10, 2013
The Splendor Of Suffering In 'The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne'
Originally published on Mon February 11, 2013 6:16 am
Ann Leary's latest book is The Good House.
I tend to read funny books when I'm happy and tragic books when I'm sad, but when I'm truly depressed, when I want to be fully immersed in the horrible splendor of the most desperate human suffering, I always return to Brian Moore's The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne.
Judith Hearne, a middle-aged Irish spinster and the protagonist, is an alcoholic. But this novel isn't really about drinking. No, this book is about the underlying conditions of alcoholism — fear, shame and a desperate need to love and be loved. It's a short book about a lifetime of longing.
Moore uses brilliant economy in his writing; it's as if words are as scarce and precious as sunshine in this gloomy section of postwar Belfast, and by the end of the second paragraph, we know almost everything we need to know about poor Miss Hearne. She has moved to a small room in the latest of a series of cheap lodging houses and is unpacking and arranging her most cherished possessions — a silver-framed photograph of her deceased aunt and a cheap oleograph image of the Sacred Heart.
She carefully places the renderings of these, her harshest critics, where she can see them, and she is always aware of their presence. Aunt D'Arcy's photo is placed on the mantle. "The photograph eyes were stern and questioning, sharing Miss Hearne's own misgivings about the condition of the bedsprings, the shabbiness of the furniture and the rundown part of Belfast in which the room is situated." The image of Jesus is placed at the head of her bed. "His fingers raised in benediction, His eyes kindly yet accusing." Is it any wonder that, alone in her room, she awkwardly squirms into her clothes beneath the modest cover of her nightgown, never, in all her adult life, exposing her naked flesh before those dead, reproachful eyes?
As Miss Hearne, who was raised by her well-to-do aunt but is now poor, politely attempts to settle in among her rather crude and in some cases monstrous fellow lodgers, her awkwardness is almost too painful to witness. When she finds herself at a loss for words, she seeks comfort by peering down at her long, pointed shoes, which have little buttons on them, and the buttons amuse her by "winking up at her like wise little friendly eyes. Little shoe eyes, always there."
Her painful awareness that others are entirely uninterested in her is heartbreaking, but it is impossible not to love Miss Hearne for her quiet determination to press on, her meek refusal to abandon her dream that despite her advancing age and plain looks, an opportunity for love might still come her way.
After a brief breakfast conversation with a fellow lodger, Mr. Madden, just back from America, Miss Hearne is launched into this reverie about his returning home to her, to their home — sometime in the future, when she would be his wife: "He put his dressing-gown on and sat down in his armchair and she went to him prettily, sat on his knee while he told her how things had gone that day. And he kissed her. Or, enraged about some silly thing she had done, he struck out with his great fist and sent her reeling, the brute. But, contrite afterwards, he sank to his knees and begged forgiveness."
Yes, I cringe each time I read this and other passages — but I still want to read it again. I know what's going to happen to poor Miss Hearne, but it's like picking up a drink after swearing it off. It just tastes so good when it's going down.
You Must Read This is produced and edited by NPR Books. | <urn:uuid:55c8bc78-cef8-44db-be62-8355fe413037> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ktep.org/post/splendor-suffering-lonely-passion-judith-hearne | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977808 | 825 | 1.742188 | 2 |
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Varying in width from 1/4 inch to 2 inches wide, this utensil is to lift, reposition or remove small amounts of food often from within small spaces. The Narrow Spatula may be formed with a scoop so content can be removed from areas such as ketchup bottles or it may only be narrow so it can serve well as a lifting spatula to reposition smaller pieces of food. Narrow Spatulas are also used to spread cake icings or to add toppings to desserts. Most often, the spatulas that are designed to lift foods have an angled blade formed with an offset angle so the handle of the spatula can be held above the food being lifted to assist with the process. However, both angled and straight blades can be used for lifting foods.
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An apocalyptic mood has seized the highest levels of global capital as the global financial system continues to implode. This implosion is but the latest financial crisis to wrack global capitalism. Financial crises are inevitable since capitalist growth has increasingly been driven by speculative bubbles such as the housing bubble in the United States. The increasingly uncontrolled financial gyrations stem from the increasing divergence between an expansive financial economy and a stagnant real economy. This ?disconnect? stems from the persistent stagnationist trends in the real economy owing to overproduction or overcapacity. The search for profitability is capitalism?s driving force, and increasingly, significant profits can only be obtained from financial speculation rather than investment in industry. This is, however, a volatile and unstable process since the divergence between momentary financial indicators like stock and real estate prices and real values can proceed only up to a point before reality bites back and enforces a ?correction.? The bursting of the US housing bubble is one such correction, and it is leading not only to a recession in the US but to a global recession owing to the unprecedented level of integration fostered by corporate-led globalization. It will not be easy to restore dynamism by fostering another speculative bubble, for instance, by resorting to ?Military Keynesianism.?
?We have to pay for the sins of the past.? -- Klaus Schwab, key organizer of the Davos elite jamboree
SAN FRANCISCO -- Skyrocketing oil prices, a falling dollar, and collapsing financial markets are the key ingredients in an economic brew that could end up in more than just an ordinary recession. The falling dollar and rising oil prices have been rattling the global economy for sometime, but it is the dramatic implosion of financial markets that is driving the financial elite to panic.
And panic there is. Even as it characterized Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke?s deep cuts amounting to a 1.25 percentage points off the prime rate in late January as a sign of panic, The Economist admitted that ?there is no doubt that this is a frightening moment.? The losses stemming from bad securities tied up with defaulted mortgage loans by ?subprime? borrowers are now estimated to be in the range of about $400 billion, but, as the Financial Times warned, ?the big question is what else is out there? at a time that the global financial system ?is wide open to a catastrophic failure.?
What is ?out there? is suggested by the fact that it has been only in the past few weeks that a series of Swiss, Japanese, and Korean banks have owned up to billions of dollars in subprime-related losses. The globalization of finance was, from the beginning, the cutting edge of the globalization process, and it was always an illusion to think that the subprime crisis could be confined to US financial institutions, as some analysts had thought.
Some key movers and shakers sounded less panicky than resigned to some sort of apocalypse. At the global elite?s annual weeklong party at Davos in late January, George Soros sounded positively necrological, declaring to one and all that the world was witnessing ?the end of an era.?
World Economic Forum host Klaus Schwab spoke of capitalism getting its just desserts, saying, ?We have to pay for the sins of the past.? ?It?s not that the pendulum is now swinging back to Marxist socialism,? he told the press, ?but people are asking themselves, ?What are the boundaries of the capitalist system?? They think the market may not always be the best mechanism for providing solutions.?
Ruined reputations and policy failures
While some appear to have lost their nerve, others have seen the financial collapse diminish their stature.
As chairman of President?s Bush?s Council of Economic Advisers in 2005, Ben Bernanke attributed the rise in US housing prices to ?strong economic fundamentals? instead of speculative activity, so is it any wonder, ask critics, why, as Fed chairman, he failed to anticipate the housing market?s collapse stemming from the subprime mortgage crisis?
His predecessor, Alan Greenspan, however, has suffered a bigger hit, moving from iconic status to villain of the piece in the eyes of some. They blame the bubble on his aggressively cutting the prime rate to get the US out of recession in 2003 and restraining it at low levels for over a year. Others say he ignored warnings about aggressive and unscrupulous mortgage originators enticing ?subprime? borrowers with mortgage deals they could never afford.
The scrutiny of Greenspan?s record and the failure of Bernanke?s rate cuts so far to reignite bank lending has raised serious doubts about the effectiveness of monetary policy in warding off a recession that is now seen as all but inevitable. Nor will fiscal policy or putting money into the hands of consumers do the trick, according to some weighty voices.
The $156-billion stimulus package recently approved by the White House and US Congress consists largely of tax rebates, and most of these, says New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, will go to those who don?t really need it. The tendency will thus be to save rather than spend the rebates in a period of uncertainty, defeating their purpose of stimulating the economy.
The specter that now haunts the US economy is Japan?s experience of virtually zero growth per annum and deflation in the nineties and early part of this decade despite one stimulus package after another after Tokyo?s great housing bubble deflated in the late 1980s.
The inevitable bubble
Even as the finger-pointing is in progress, many analysts remind us that if anything, the housing crisis should have been expected all along. The only question was when it would break. As progressive economist Dean Baker of the Center for Economic Policy Research noted in an analysis several years ago, ?Like the stock bubble, the housing bubble will burst. Eventually, it must. When it does, the economy will be thrown into a severe recession, and tens of millions of homeowners, who never imagined that house prices could fall, likely will face serious hardship.?
The subprime mortgage crisis was not a case of supply outrunning real demand. The ?demand? was largely fabricated by speculative mania on the part of developers and financiers that wanted to make great profits from their access to foreign money that flooded the US in the last decade. Big-ticket mortgages were aggressively sold to millions who could not normally afford them by offering low ?teaser? interest rates that would later be readjusted to jack up payments from the new homeowners.
These assets were then ?securitized? with other assets into complex derivative products called ?collateralized debt obligations? by the mortgage originators working with different layers of middlemen who understated risk so as to offload them as quickly as possible to other banks and institutional investors.
The shooting up of interest rates triggered a wave of defaults and many of the big name banks and investors-- including Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo--found themselves with billions of dollars worth of bad assets that had been given the green light by their risk assessment systems.
The failure of self-regulation
The housing bubble is but the latest of some 100 financial crises that have swiftly followed one another ever since Depression-era capital controls began being lifted at the onset of the neoliberal era in the early 1980s. The calls now coming from some quarters for curbs on speculative capital have an air of déjà vu to many observers.
After the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, in particular, there was a strong clamor for capital controls, for a ?new global financial architecture.? The more radical of these called for currency transactions taxes such as the famed Tobin Tax that would slow down capital movements or for the creation of some kind of global financial authority that would, among other things, regulate relations between northern creditors and indebted developing countries.
Global finance capital, however, resisted any return to state regulation. Nothing came of the proposals for Tobin taxes. Even a relatively weak ?sovereign debt restructuring mechanism? akin to the US Chapter 11 to provide some maneuvering room to developing countries undergoing debt repayment problems was killed by the banks despite its being proposed by Ann Krueger, the conservative American deputy managing director of the IMF.
Instead, finance capital promoted what came to be known as the Basel II process, described by political economist Robert Wade as steps toward global economic standardization that ?maximize [global financial firms?] freedom of geographical and sectoral maneuver while setting collective constraints on their competitive strategies.?
The emphasis was on private sector self surveillance and self policing aiming at greater transparency of financial operations and new standards for capital. Despite the fact that it was Northern finance capital that triggered the Asian crisis, the Basel process focused on making developing country financial institutions and processes transparent and standardized along the lines of what Wade calls the ?Anglo-American? financial model.
While there were calls for regulation of the proliferation of many of the new, sophisticated financial instruments such as derivatives being placed on the market by developed country financial institutions, these got nowhere. Assessment and regulation of derivatives were to be left to market players who had access to sophisticated quantitative ?risk assessment? models that were being developed.
Focused on disciplining developing countries, the Basel II process accomplished so little in the way of self regulation of global financial from the North that even Wall Streeter Robert Rubin, formerly secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, warned in 2003 that ?future financial crises are almost surely inevitable and could be even more severe.?
As for risk assessment of derivatives such as the ?collaterized debt obligations? (CDOs) and ?structured investment vehicles? (SIVs) -- the cutting edge of what the Financial Times has described as ?the vastly increased complexity of hyperfinance? --the process collapsed almost completely, with the most sophisticated quantitative risk models left in the dust as risk was priced according to one rule by the sellers of securities: Underestimate the real risk and pass it on to the suckers down the line.
In the end, it was difficult to distinguish what was fraudulent, what was poor judgment, what was plain foolish, and what was out of anybody?s control. As one report on the conclusions of a recent meeting of the Group of Seven?s Financial Stability Forum put it:
[T]here is plenty of blame to go around for the financial chaos: The US subprime mortgage market was marked by poor underwriting standards and ?some fraudulent practices.? Investors didn?t carry out sufficient due diligence when they bought mortgage-backed securities. Banks and other firms managed their financial risks poorly and failed to disclose to the public the dangers on and off their balance sheets. Credit-rating companies did an inadequate job of evaluating the risk of complex securities. And the financial institutions compensated their employees in ways that encouraged excessive risk-taking and insufficient regard to long-term risks.
The specter of overproduction
It is not surprising that the Group of Seven report sounded very much like the post-mortems of the Asian financial crisis and the dot.com bubble. One chieftain of a financial corporation chief writing in the Financial Times captured the basic problem running through these speculative manias, perhaps unwittingly, when he claimed that ?there has been an increasing disconnection between the real and financial economies in the past few years. The real economy has grown ? but nothing like that of the financial economy, which grew even more rapidly -- until it imploded.?
What his statement does not tell us is that the disconnect between the real and the financial is not accidental, that the financial economy expanded precisely to make up for the stagnation of the real economy.
This growing gap between the financial and the real cannot be comprehensively understood without referring to the crisis of overaccumulation that overtook the center economies in the late 1970s and 1980s, a phenomenon that is also referred to as overproduction or overcapacity.
The golden period of postwar growth globally that skirted major crises for nearly 25 years was due to the massive creation of effective demand via rising wages for labor in the North, the reconstruction of Europe and Japan, and the import-substituting industrialization in Latin America and other parts of the South. This was done principally via state intervention in the economy.
This dynamic period came to a close in the mid-1970s, with stagnation setting in, owing to global productive capacity outrunning global demand, which was constrained by continuing deep inequalities in income distribution.
According to the calculations of Angus Maddison, the premier expert on historical statistical trends, the annual rate of growth of global gross domestic product (GDP) fell from 4.9 percent in what is now regarded as the golden age of the post-World War II Bretton Woods system, 1950-73, to 3.0 percent in 1973-89, a drop of 39 percent. These figures reflected the wrenching combination of stagnation and inflation in the North, the crisis of import substitution industrialization in the South, and erosion of profit margins all around.
In the 1980s and 1990s, global capital blazed three escape routes from the specter of stagnation. One was neoliberal restructuring, which included redistribution of income towards the top via tax cuts for the rich, deregulation, and an assault on organized labor. Neoliberalism took the form of Thatcherism and Reaganism in the developed North and World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)-imposed structural adjustment in the global South.
Another was corporate-driven globalization or ?extensive accumulation,? which opened up markets in the developing world and moved capital from high-wage to low-wage areas. As Rosa Luxemburg long ago pointed out in her classic ?The Accumulation of Capital,? capital needs to constantly integrate pre-capitalist societies to the capitalist system to shore up the fall in the rate of profit.
In the past two decades, the most spectacular case of incorporating a pre-capitalist society into the global capitalist system was China, which became both the world?s second biggest exporter and the primary destination of foreign investment. This was, however, a double edged sword for capitalism, as we shall later see.
A third was the process we are mainly concerned with here: ?intensive accumulation? or ?financialization,? that is, the channeling of investment towards financial speculation, where much greater returns were to be derived than in industry, where profits were largely stagnant. Finance capital forced the elimination of capital controls, the result being the rapid globalization of speculative capital to take advantage of differentials in interest and foreign exchange rates in different capital markets.
These volatile movements, the result of capital?s liberation from the fetters of the postwar Bretton Woods financial system, were one source of instability. Another was the proliferation of novel sophisticated speculative instruments like derivatives that escaped monitoring and regulation. Instability derived ultimately from the fact that speculative finance boiled down to an effort to squeeze more ?value? out of already created value instead of creating new value since the latter option was precluded by the problem of overproduction in the real economy.
The disconnect between the real economy and the virtual economy of finance was evident in dot.com bubble of the 1990s. With profits in the real economy stagnating, the smart money flocked to the financial sector. The workings of this virtual economy were exemplified by the rapid rise in the stock values of Internet firms, which, like Amazon.com, still had to turn a profit. The dot.com phenomenon probably extended the boom of the 1990s by about two years.
?Never before in US history,? Robert Brenner wrote, ?had the stock market played such a direct, and decisive, role in financing non-financial corporations, thereby powering the growth of capital expenditures and in this way the real economy. Never before had a US economic expansion become so dependent upon the stock market?s ascent.?
But the divergence between momentary financial indicators like stock prices and real values could only proceed to a point before reality bit back and enforced a ?correction.? And the correction came savagely in the dot.com collapse of 2002, in the form of the wiping out of $7 trillion in investor wealth.
A long recession was avoided, but it was only by encouraging another bubble, the housing bubble, and here, as noted earlier, Greenspan played a key role by cutting the prime rate to a 45-year low of 1.00 percent in June 2003, holding it there for a year, then raising it only gradually, in quarter-percentage-increments. As Dean Baker put it, ?an unprecedented run-up in the stock market propelled the US economy in the late nineties and now an unprecedented run-up in house prices is propelling the current recovery.?
The result was that real estate prices rose by 50 percent in real terms, with the run-ups, according to Baker, being close to 80 percent in the key bubble areas of the West Coast, the East Coast, North of Washington DC, and Florida. How big was the bubble created? It is estimated by Baker that the run-up in house prices ?created more than $5 trillion in real estate wealth compared to a scenario where prices follow their normal trend growth path. The wealth effect from house prices is conventionally estimated at five cents to the dollar, which means that annual consumption is approximately $250 billion (2.0 percent of GDP) higher than it would be in the absence of the housing bubble.?
To be continued on Thursday | <urn:uuid:02b24327-dc0e-4734-b227-97b27e3d19fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://opinion.inquirer.net/viewpoints/columns/view/20080220-119967/Capitalism-in-an-apocalyptic-mood | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958006 | 3,571 | 1.78125 | 2 |
|Road Show To Remove Trade Barriers Launched|
|Tuesday, 16 March 2010 09:39|
Mr. Yaya Yedan, Country Representative of the Burkina Shippers' Council in Ghana, has said elimination of trade barriers in West Africa is the key to the economic growth of the sub-region.
Speaking at the launch of a Trade Show at the parking lot of the Black Star Line in Tema, Mr. Yedan said there is the need for governments in the sub-region to eliminate barriers such as excessive documentation and cumbersome procedures at the ports, checkpoints and borders to ensure free movement of goods and services.
The initiative dubbed "Borderless" and aimed at removing trade barriers in West Africa, was put together by USAID's West Africa Trade Hub and the World Bank-funded Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Organisation (ALCO).
Mr. Yedan explained that "Borderless" is a vision of trade competitiveness based on the ECOWAS goal of regional integration.
Mr. Amadou Ba, Team Leader of the Improved Road Transport Governance at the West Africa Trade Hub, said studies has shown that inefficient transport and trade barriers translated into higher prices of goods for consumers.
Mr. Ba said apart from importers passing along high transport costs to consumers, trade barriers are also discouraging to investors.
"Eliminating trade barriers starts with greater awareness and continues with partners acting to remove trade barriers. Borderless is the catalyst for the change," he said.
Mr. Ba said "Borderless" means legal trucks carrying legal cargoes without being harassed or delayed and urged governments in the sub-region to co-operate in order to remove trade barriers along their borders. | <urn:uuid:7252f773-e866-42de-b4a4-7a1b2969c2de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/news/general-news/1685-road-show-to-remove-trade-barriers-launched | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943169 | 353 | 1.726563 | 2 |
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For Milan's discreet financial powerbrokers, it was a rare bare-knuckled confrontation. In September, dissident shareholders of Italy's largest merchant bank, Mediobanca, publicly lambasted Chief Executive Vincenzo Maranghi for flouting the bank's own rules and ignoring the interests of investors. Then, tension mounted for weeks as the rebel shareholders openly plotted to install a new chairman over Maranghi and bring the management to heel. Never before in the history of obsessively secretive Mediobanca had such flagrant boardroom discord erupted in public.
The opposition forces failed to win enough backing at an Oct. 28 board meeting to sack Chairman Francesco Cingano. But the revolt nevertheless signals a seismic shift in Italian finance. Founded just after World War II as a vehicle to help rebuild Italian industry, Mediobanca has long been the covert power behind Italy Inc. For years it provided the only source of private capital in the country's state-dominated economy, and often took stakes in the many enterprises it funded. But now, critics charge that the influence it enjoys through its cross-holdings, industrial alliances, and shareholder pacts is wielded more for power than for profit. Worse, at a time when Italy is becoming more integrated into a united Europe, this blocks a much-needed consolidation of Italian companies, undercuts competition, and thwarts the modernization of the country's financial system.
The struggle to drag Mediobanca into the 21st century is just beginning and could take at least a year to play out. But as antitrust watchdogs begin circling, investors agitate for reforms, and competitors pry away more business, there is a growing sense that clinging to the old ways is a losing cause for Mediobanca. "We are witnessing an unprecedented battle for transparency and accountability of the management of Mediobanca," says Carlo Alberto Carnevale-Maffe, a professor of strategic management at Bocconi University in Milan. "It will be forced to change."
A key step in making that happen, critics say, is the ouster of Maranghi. Hand-picked by Mediobanca's founder, Enrico Cuccia, who ran the bank from 1946 until his death in June, 2000, Maranghi, 65, carried on Cuccia's tradition of operating as an all-powerful overlord unaccountable to shareholders. Mediobanca executives still refuse to meet with analysts or grant interviews to journalists. Requests for information are directed to the company's Web site. You won't easily find Mediobanca's headquarters, a tightly guarded 17th-century palazzo off central Milan's Piazza della Scala; there's no nameplate on the door.
But powerful forces are determined to push open that door and change the bank's culture. Leading the charge are two of Italy's biggest commercial banks, UniCredito Italiano and Capitalia (formerly Banca di Roma), which are also Mediobanca's two biggest shareholders. "Mediobanca is not playing the role it should of supporting industry," says UniCredito CEO Alessandro Profumo. While criticisms like this aren't new, few executives voiced them openly until recent weeks. Now, even the country's top banking authority has entered the debate. On Sept. 25, Antonio Fazio, governor of the Bank of Italy, called for a "needed renewal" of Mediobanca as a financial institution.
With Maranghi battling on all fronts, Mediobanca's investment banking business is under pressure from tougher competition and the bear market. For the fiscal year ended June 30, Mediobanca's profit dropped 14%, to $255 million, on revenue that fell 35%, to $1.14 billion. For the quarter ended Sept. 30, write-downs of its holdings resulted in a $346 million loss. The bank's shares--viewed as a proxy for Italian industry because of its diverse holdings--have plunged 40% this year.
In fact, Mediobanca's shares are trading at a 35% discount to the market value of its assets. Those assets would soar in value if Maranghi were ousted, a recent poll of Italian fund managers concluded, because investors would then expect Mediobanca to be split in two--a holding company with industrial stakes and an investment bank--unleashing a wave of stock sales, consolidation, and restructuring across Italy. Suddenly in play would be a treasure trove of assets ranging from Europe's No. 3 insurer, Assicurazioni Generali, to HdP, the parent of media group RCS and Italy's largest newspaper, Corriere della Sera.
Generali, in fact, has become a sore point with shareholders. Antitrust officials are investigating Mediobanca's impact on competition in the insurance industry, putting the bank in an unwanted spotlight. And shareholders are enraged by Maranghi's summary firing of Generali CEO Gianfranco Gutty on Sept. 12 without consulting the Mediobanca board. Maranghi replaced Gutty with a 78-year-old former partner at French investment bank Lazard Freres, Antoine Bernheim, who reestablished ties with Maranghi after having been ousted himself from Generali's management in 1999. With three chairmen in less than four years, investors worry that the performance of the $230-billion-in-assets Generali is being hurt. "Mediobanca doesn't care about value generation," says one Milan-based bank analyst. "Generali's strong brand is not being exploited to advantage." Indeed, Generali's shares have plunged 55% since the beginning of last year.
In Milan's stylish corridors of power, Italian bankers and industry chieftains concede that removing Maranghi won't be easy. For one, he can count on the support of shareholders who are also creditors and fear Mediobanca's wrath. He also controls a cash hoard of some $1 billion, generated partly by the recent sale of some industrial stakes. In June, Maranghi wrested a deal away from the clutches of UniCredito and Capitalia by paying cash-starved Fiat a rich price for a 34% stake in its Ferrari unit. "This was Maranghi saying: `I'm the most important banker in Italy,"' says one Milan bank analyst.
To bolster his position, the embattled Maranghi has brought new shareholders into Mediobanca. French corporate raider Vincent Bollor?, Generali Chairman Bernheim, French insurer Groupama, and the family owners of aerospace group Dassault Aviation together hold at least 7%. The French may stick by Maranghi, despite Mediobanca's mediocre performance, to get a seat at the head table of Italian dealmaking. "Maranghi is definitely a good fighter," says Gabriele Capolino, director of the financial daily Milano Finanza. "He gives his best when on the ropes." The trouble is, the longer Maranghi stays, the higher the price that Mediobanca, and Italy Inc., will pay. By Gail Edmondson in Milan | <urn:uuid:c2d5beff-2c1f-4866-9401-958c51670a79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2002-11-17/mediobanca-a-titan-trembles | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949784 | 1,508 | 1.640625 | 2 |
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.
Missouri policymakers confronted with budget shortfalls are being left in the dark about how much money the state is losing as a result of its 131 sales tax exemptions, the state auditor said Wednesday.
The Department of Revenue fails to track the cost of each tax exemption - even though lawmakers continue to add to the number of items that aren't taxed, said Auditor Susan Montee.
"When they are making cuts to social services and potentially education, they need to look at the things on the revenue side of the equation as well, and right now there is no way to do that," Montee said.
The auditor also said lawmakers should reconsider a half-century old incentive for businesses to submit sales taxes promptly and should change state law to require businesses to refund overcollected sales taxes to customers whenever possible.
Missouri imposes a tax of a 4.225 cents on each $1 of sales, and cities and counties often charge a couple pennies of tax on top of that. But state law exempts a variety of goods and services from those taxes, including groceries, medicines and utilities.
The Department of Revenue said in a written response to the audit that tracking and reporting how much money is not collected because of each exemption would require "a substantial increase" in employees and a significant computer reprogramming, for which there is no money budgeted.
Montee said the agency has provided similar responses to auditors for the past decade.
"There needs to be a better explanation for not tracking things of this magnitude," she said at a Capitol news conference.
Montee said department records show more than $150 billion of sales were exempt from taxes in the 2008 fiscal year - up from about $120 billion five years ago. She said the department does require businesses to report sales related to some exemptions, such as food, but does not require them to detail each exemption when submitting their sales taxes.
Department spokesman Ted Farnen said he did not immediately know Wednesday which - if any - sales tax exemptions already are tracked by the department, nor how much a comprehensive tracking system would cost.
Beginning in 1959, Missouri businesses were allowed to keep 3 percent of the sales taxes they collected if they submitted them to the state on time. That prompt-payment incentive was reduced to 2 percent in 1984.
Montee said the incentive dates to an era when sales taxes were calculated by hand - not computer - and it is time for lawmakers to consider whether the incentive should be eliminated or capped.
Twenty-six states give businesses a discount for timely payment of sales taxes and 13 (including Missouri) have no dollar-figure ceiling on how much businesses can keep, Montee said.
Missouri businesses kept about $93 million in sales tax revenues under the 2 percent prompt-payment incentive during the 2008 fiscal year, Montee said.
When businesses overpay their sales taxes due to the state, they can seek a refund. Montee said lawmakers should pass legislation requiring businesses to return those refunds to the consumers who originally paid the tax whenever that is possible to determine. Similar bills have failed in previous years. The state distributed about $69 million in sales tax refunds in 2008, the audit said.
The Associated Press | <urn:uuid:32bc740b-abb1-4398-afd6-53ca34405d50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/13/audit-mo-could-better-track-sales-tax-exemptions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975487 | 659 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Sunday of the Last Judgment
The Sunday of the Last Judgment or Meatfare Sunday is the third Sunday using the Lenten Triodion, the liturgical book used in the services of Great Lent. It is the Sunday after the Sunday of the Prodigal Son and Sunday before Forgiveness Sunday. This is the third week of the pre-Lenten start of the Easter cycle of worship in the Orthodox Church.
This Sunday is called Meatfare Sunday since it is traditionally the last day before Easter for eating meat. Orthodox Christians observe a fast from meat all week, but still eat dairy products and eggs till the start of Great Lent.
The Gospel reading this Sunday remembers Christ's parable of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46). This adds to the previous pre-Lent Sundays and teaches that it is not enough to see Jesus, to see ourselves as we are, and to come home to God as his prodigal sons. The Church teaches that, in addition, one must also be God’s sons by following Christ, his only-begotten divine Son, and by seeing Christ in everyone and by serving Christ through them.
Salvation and final judgment will depend upon deeds, not merely on intentions or even on the mercies of God apart from personal cooperation and obedience. All piety and prayer is ultimately directed towards the goal of serving Christ through his people.
From the reading, the faithful hear:
- … for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and in prison and you visited me. …. For truly I say to you, if you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me (Matthew 25 ).
Kondakion (Tone 1)
- When You, O God, shall come to earth with glory,
- All things shall tremble
- And the river of fire shall flow before Your judgment seat;
- The books shall be opened and the hidden things disclosed!
- Then deliver me from the unquenchable fire,
- And make me worthy to stand at Your right hand, righteous Judge! | <urn:uuid:e54fd6ba-eb13-4271-a7ba-1ce755d77391> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://orthodoxwiki.org/Meatfare_Sunday | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967639 | 463 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Jobless people in six states to get fewer unemployment insurance checks
Lawmakers in six states have reduced the maximum number of weeks that jobless workers can receive unemployment insurance benefits, according to a new report.
A report from the nonprofit National Employment Law Project indicates that in 2011, legislators in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and South Carolina have dropped the maximum number of weeks for unemployment insurance below 26 — a threshold that had been the standard for all 50 states for more than 50 years.
|Under new laws, some jobless residents of six states may have their unemployment insurance claims rejected.|
Michigan, Missouri and South Carolina cut the maximum number of weeks to 20; Arkansas and Illinois went to 25; and Florida fell to between 12 and 23 weeks, depending on the state’s unemployment rate. Double-digit unemployment rates continue to plague Florida, Michigan and South Carolina.
“It’s disconcerting that these lawmakers would expend so much energy making cuts to state unemployment insurance programs when more people are out of work for longer than any other period on record,” Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, says in a news release. “Rather than adopting responsible financing practices and doing the hard work of fostering job creation, far too many state lawmakers have taken the easy out of cutting workers’ unemployment insurance benefits.”
In Florida, the change in the number of weeks of eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits will save an estimated $103 million a year, according to the state Agency for Workforce Innovation.
In June 2011, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill that he says is designed to enhance the “efficiency and accountability” of the state’s unemployment insurance program. Cynthia Lorenzo, executive director of the Agency for Workforce Innovation, says the unemployment insurance reforms will ease “the tax burden on employers to help them expand and create jobs.”
According to the National Employment Law Project, most states will require federal legislation to restore the financial health of their unemployment insurance programs, avoid sudden tax hikes on employers and maintain the unemployment insurance benefits for out-of-work Americans. President Obama included an unemployment insurance overhaul in his budget plan for fiscal 2012, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, is sponsoring legislation that he says would solidify the finances of the U.S. unemployment insurance program.
As of Aug. 3, 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, 27 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands owed more than $38.5 billion to the federal government for loans they took out to prop up their unemployment insurance initiatives. In September 2011, states must start paying interest on these loans. Beginning in 2012, the federal government will raise taxes on employers in borrowing states until the loans are paid off. | <urn:uuid:95a2af1d-6148-4204-b3a7-40524fa4387b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.insurancequotes.com/unemployment-insurance-cutbacks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944463 | 580 | 1.78125 | 2 |
It’s almost certain that only a decade ago terms like “locavore” and “certified organic” weren’t even blips on your radar. I remember back when local markets were more of a way of life than the “cool” way to shop. But times change. We now live in a society which is gradually becoming more health-conscious (reports of the growing obesity epidemic notwithstanding!).
Nommunity loves the Tech Wildcatters. Let me explain.
When it comes to learning something new, having the right guide, mentor, or teacher means everything; without that expert instruction, your chances of failure are almost a certainty. I learned this lesson first hand, in grand fashion and almost literally in a blaze of glory. Earlier this year I decided to learn to ride a motorcycle. I’ve always wanted to ride one, to be like Marlon Brando in The Wild One. And I thought this was a good idea. I was older and more responsible than I’d ever been. My mistake was my choice of mentor – let’s call him Jim. Jim had crashed his motorcycle and, as a result no longer drove one. But as friends go, he was the only one who could teach me to ride. Not surprisingly, he explained in vague generalities, didn’t go over the importance of posture, or that the clutch is worked with the feet, not the hands. I rode that bike straight into his mailbox. Crash and burn. | <urn:uuid:d1c34574-af40-4eb4-bdc1-57744e306c8f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nommunity.com/tag/local-foods/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975807 | 312 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Bertie Carvel and Lara Pulver sensational in the Donmar’s ‘Parade’
Composer and songwriter Jason Robert Brown was just 28 when he won the Tony Award for best score for the musical “Parade,” which opened Monday in a terrific revival at London’s Donmar Warehouse. The show deals with the infamous railroading of a Jewish man named Leo Frank for the murder of a girl in the Deep South in the early years of the 20th century. A national outrage at the time, it has been the subject of many books and was the basis for Mervyn LeRoy’s 1937 film “They Won’t Forget” and NBC’s 1988 miniseries “The Murder of Mary Phagan.”
Director Rob Ashford’s atmospheric staging of ‘Parade’
Oscar, Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning writer Alfred Uhry wrote the book for “Parade,” which benefits greatly from Brown’s melodic songs. I’m not the first to compare his lyrics to Steven Sondheim and the New York Times called him “a leading member of a new generation of composers who embody high hopes for the American musical.” His 2001 musical “The Last Five Years” ranked on Time Magazine’s Top 10 and earned him Drama Desk Awards for best music and lyrics.
A new musical about teenagers titled “13″ debuted in Los Angeles in January with plans for Broadway in 2008. Brown (left) is also developing a stage musical version of the Nicolas Cage comedy “Honeymoon in Vegas” with Andrew Bergman, the film’s writer and director. The songwriter also records albums and makes concert appearances. He will perform in the South Bank Centre’s Purcell Room on Sunday Sept. 30 with his band, the Caucasian Rhythm Kings and guests Lara Pulver, who is brilliant in “Parade” as Leo Frank’s wife, Lucille; Jenna Russell, who was superb in the London revival of “Sunday in the Park with George”; and Joanna Riding, the outstanding star of “The Witches of Eastwick” and “My Fair Lady.” Here’s how my review of “Parade” begins in The Hollywood Reporter:
LONDON — Tony-winning choreographer Rob Ashford’s Donmar Warehouse revival of the 1998 American musical “Parade,” which is based on the notorious 1913 murder trial of Leo Frank, is an enthralling testament to the wisdom of revisiting strong material with a fresh vision.
The show, originally co-conceived by Harold Prince, won Tony Awards for its book by Alfred Uhry (“Driving Miss Daisy,” “The Last Night of Ballyhoo”) and music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown (“Urban Cowboy,” “The Last Five Years”). But it had just 85 performances at the Lincoln Theater Center’s Vivian Baumont Theatre and received lukewarm reviews.
Read the full review and here’s the Donmar, more about Brown, and his Southbank concert. THR’s review of “13,” two New York Times reviews of the original production by Vincent Canby and Ben Brantley, two reviews of Steve Oney’s 2003 book “And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank” by Theodore Rosengarten and Warren Goldstein, and the original NYT review of “They Won’t Forget.” | <urn:uuid:d23d4d5a-56d7-457e-87e8-3fddf106e89f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecliffedge.com/?p=697 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943335 | 772 | 1.5 | 2 |
Evangelus had sent Jerome an anonymous treatise in which Melchisedek was identified with the Holy Ghost, and had asked him what he thought of the theory. Jerome in his reply repudiates the idea as absurd and insists that Melchisedek was a real man, possibly, as the Jews said, Shem the eldest son of Noah. The date of the letter is 398 A.D.
Source. Translated by W.H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W.G. Martley. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 6. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1893.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3001073.htm>.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads. | <urn:uuid:9271d220-9374-4505-86e4-880f135c8d69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3001073.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952568 | 244 | 1.664063 | 2 |
December 7, 2000
Voila News. December 7, 2000
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - - An international band of programmers is about to release software that will bypass World Wide Web restrictions imposed by various countries, including China, Cuba and Iran.
The programmers, who call themselves "The Cult of the Dead Cow," are a 16-year-old international group of anonymous "hackers" -- so named because of their expertise in breaking into computer networks.
The technology will work much like Napster, the software that allows users to pass digital music files among themselves via the Internet, bypassing mainframe computers.
According to "Oxblood Ruffin" -- a pseudonym for one of the group's founders -- the as-yet untitled software will allow users to bypass local servers that block access to certain Internet sites.
Cindy Cohn, an attorney with San Francisco's Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet free speech organization, said the software will help break through government censorship.
"Governments are, more and more, blocking access to the Internet to guard against information that's critical of them or offensive to the culture," said Cohn. "Tools like this can counteract that trend."
Since 1996, the Chinese government has banned access to some 100 websites, ranging from those carrying outside news reports to sexually explicit pictures. Cuba, Iran and other countries also limit access to various websites they deem inappropriate to their citizens.
Ruffin said the program is small enough to be stored on a single floppy disc, and will be distributed by human rights organizations.
"We're not doing anything illegal," said Ruffin, who cites the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a 1948 UN declaration urging access to information, among other rights, as his motivation for creating the software.
Ruffin said the program should be available by March after final testing.
©2000 AFP All rights reserved.
© France Telecom 1999 Powered by ECHO
[ BACK TO THE NEWS ] | <urn:uuid:81ef4d44-0a8c-41bb-98af-d27df75cb4b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.fiu.edu/~fcf/ren121700.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938993 | 402 | 1.828125 | 2 |
The Customer Feedback Loop
The focus of lean is first and foremost on the customer. What is of value to the customer is the first question that should be asked? A lot of organizations do a good job of asking for feedback from their customers. What usually is missing is the feedback loop back to the customer.
While visiting an offsite location of the company I work for I saw this book in the cafeteria.
This is left by the company that services the cafeteria. Not only does the company ask the customers fore feedback and suggestions, the fourth column is a feedback loop to the customer. It is a reply letting the customer know what if the suggestion is possible or what work they are doing on the suggestion. The company is completing the loop.
Too many times companies ask for the feedback do not complete the loop back to the customer. This is good example of giving feedback to the customer so they know they are being listened to.
If you want feedback from customers, then make sure you they know you are using it. | <urn:uuid:96c232b6-b52b-46ee-a9e1-04c0dd45a1f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://beyondlean.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/the-customer-feedback-loop/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957744 | 207 | 1.796875 | 2 |
John Smith (Labour Party leader)
||This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. (March 2010)|
|The Right Honourable
|Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Labour Party
18 July 1992 – 12 May 1994
|Prime Minister||John Major|
|Preceded by||Neil Kinnock|
|Succeeded by||Margaret Beckett|
|Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer|
13 July 1987 – 24 July 1992
|Preceded by||Roy Hattersley|
|Succeeded by||Gordon Brown|
|Secretary of State for Trade|
11 November 1978 – 4 May 1979
|Prime Minister||James Callaghan|
|Preceded by||Edmund Dell|
|Succeeded by||John Nott|
|Member of Parliament
for Monklands East
9 June 1983 – 12 May 1994
|Preceded by||Constituency created|
|Succeeded by||Helen Liddell|
|Member of Parliament
for North Lanarkshire
18 June 1970 – 9 June 1983
|Preceded by||Margaret Herbison|
|Succeeded by||Constituency abolished|
13 September 1938|
|Died||12 May 1994
|Spouse(s)||Elizabeth Bennett (1967–1994)|
|Alma mater||University of Glasgow|
|Religion||Church of Scotland|
John Smith (13 September 1938 - 12 May 1994) was a British Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party from July 1992 until his sudden death from a heart attack in May 1994. He first entered parliament in 1970 and was the Secretary of State for Trade from 1978–1979 and then the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer under Neil Kinnock from 1987-1992.
Early life
|This section does not cite any references or sources. (December 2011)|
Smith was born in Dalmally, the son of a headmaster, and grew up in Ardrishaig in Argyll and Bute. He attended Dunoon Grammar School (Dunoon, Cowal), lodging in the town with a landlady and going home during the holidays, before enrolling at the University of Glasgow, where he studied History from 1956 to 1959, and then Law, from 1959 to 1962. He joined the Labour Party in 1956.
He became involved in debating with the Glasgow University Dialectic Society and the Glasgow University Union. In 1962, he won The Observer Mace debating competition, speaking with Gordon Hunter. In 1995, after his death, the competition was renamed the John Smith Memorial Mace in his honour.
Member of Parliament
Smith first stood as a Labour parliamentary candidate at a by-election in 1961 in the East Fife constituency, and contested that seat again in the 1964 general election. At the 1970 general election, he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Lanarkshire succeeding Peggy Herbison. Smith defied the Labour whips in 1971, joining the Labour MPs who, led by Roy Jenkins, voted in favour of entry to the European Economic Community. These included Roy Hattersley, Shirley Williams, Bill Rodgers and David Owen all of whom he was later to sit with in the Callaghan cabinet.
In government
In October 1974, Harold Wilson offered Smith the post of Solicitor General for Scotland. Smith turned it down, not wishing his political career to become sidelined as a law officer. He was instead made an Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Energy. In December 1975, he was made a Minister of State. When James Callaghan became Prime Minister, Smith became a Minister of State at the Privy Council Office, serving with Labour's Deputy leader, Michael Foot, the Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons. In this position Smith piloted the highly controversial devolution proposals for Scotland and Wales through the House of Commons. Smith's adroit handling of these proposals impressed Callaghan, and in November 1978, when Edmund Dell retired, Callaghan appointed Smith Secretary of State for Trade. In this post, Smith was the youngest member of the cabinet, and served there until the 1979 general election.
Shadow Cabinet
In the early 1980s, Smith was Shadow Energy Secretary. He became a QC in 1983, the same year that the constituency became Monklands East. Smith acted as Roy Hattersley's campaign manager for the party leadership election in October 1983 and after serving a year as Shadow Employment Secretary, was Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry between late 1984 and 1987.
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Smith was appointed Shadow Chancellor by Neil Kinnock in July 1987 after Party's general election defeat. However, he suffered a heart attack whilst Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer on 9 October 1988 and was forced to spend three months away from Westminster to recover. On that occasion, he had complained of chest pains the night before, and had to be persuaded to cancel a flight to London so he could go to hospital for a check-up. He was examined at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by an ECG. The doctor who examined him said "Whatever it is, we don't think it is your heart". Then Smith suddenly collapsed and was briefly unconscious before coming around. He spent three days in intensive care before leaving hospital on 20 October 1988, to make a full recovery.
Smith made modifications to his lifestyle by going on a 1,000-calorie diet, cutting down on rich foods and fine wines, giving up smoking and taking up Munro bagging and by the time of his death, he had succeeded in climbing 108 of the 277 Scottish Munros (mountains over 3,000 feet above sea level at the summit). His weight dropped from 15 stone 5 pounds (98 kg) at the time of the first heart attack, to 12 stone 10 pounds (81 kg) when he returned to Parliament on 23 January 1989.
Despite a quiet, modest manner, and his politically moderate stance, he was a witty, often scathing speaker. Smith was named as Parliamentarian of the year twice; the first time in November 1986 for his performances during the Westland controversy, during which Leon Brittan resigned and the second was in November 1989 for taking Nigel Lawson to task over the state of the economy and over his difficult relationship with Sir Alan Walters, the Prime Minister's Economic Adviser. Smith made two notably witty attacks on Lawson that year. On 7 June 1989, he sang the theme tune for the soap Neighbours at the dispatch box, lampooning the differences between Lawson and Sir Alan Walters, who was critical of Lawson's policies (Thatcher still refused to sack him). Then on 24 October, he made another scathing attack on the differences. Two days later, Lawson resigned, followed shortly afterwards by Sir Alan.
Leader of the Opposition
Although Labour had now been out of power for 13 years, their performance at that general election had been much better than their performance at the previous three. They had cut the Conservative majority from 102 seats to a mere 21, and for most of the three years leading up to the election, opinion polls had indicated that Labour were more likely to win the election than the Conservatives were. However, the resignation of long-serving but at that point unpopular Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and the well-received election of John Major as her successor, had seen the comfortable Labour lead in the opinion polls wiped out and in the 17 months leading up to the election, its outcome had become much less predictable. Much of the blame had been placed on Labour's "shadow budget" drawn up by Smith, which included raising the top rate of income tax from 40p in the pound to 50p, and the Conservative election campaign was centred on warning voters that they would face higher taxes under a Labour government.
In September 1992, he made his maiden speech as party leader, about the Government's ERM debacle eight days earlier, saying that John Major was "The devalued Prime Minister of a devalued Government". At the party conference, he referred to Major and Norman Lamont as being the Laurel and Hardy of British politics. This echoed his attacks on Major's government which he had made before the 1992 election while still shadow chancellor, most memorably when he attacked as "irresponsible" Conservative plans for cutting income tax to 20%, and joked at a Labour Party rally in Sheffield that the Conservatives would have a box-office disaster with "Honey, I Shrunk the Economy" - in reference to the recent Disney motion picture Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - mocking the recession which was plaguing the British economy at the time.
In a June 1993 debate, Smith again savaged the Conservative Government, saying that under John Major's premiership, "The man with the non-midas touch is in charge. It is no wonder that we live in a country where the Grand National does not start and hotels fall into the sea" (in reference to the Holbeck Hall Hotel, which had recently collapsed over a cliff). During the same debate, Smith referred to a recent Government defeat in the Newbury by-election, a poor showing in the local elections, and a subsequent Cabinet reshuffle by saying that, "If we were to offer that tale of events to the BBC Light Entertainment Department as a script for a programme, I think that the producers of Yes Minister would have turned it down as hopelessly over the top. It might have even been too much for Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em". In the same speech, Smith also attacked the Conservatives' broken election promises (in particular Lamont's recent Budget decision to impose VAT on domestic energy bills) - claiming he possessed the last copy of a 1992 policy document "to escape the Central Office shredder". He also performed very well in the motion of confidence debate in the Conservative government in July 1993.
Despite his dispatch box successes (Smith was always more effective in the House of Commons than on platforms or at Prime Minister's Questions, though he began to improve at the latter during the final months of his life), Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were, under Smith's leadership, restless and anxious in private that the party had adopted a "One more heave" approach and had become overly cautious in tackling the legacy of "tax and spend".
Despite this, during his time as leader of the Labour Party, Smith abolished the trade union block vote at Labour party conferences and replaced it with "one member one vote" at the 1993 party conference and committed a future Labour government to establishing a Scottish Parliament, a policy which was followed through by his successors (most notably his close friend Donald Dewar) after his death. Also, during his time as leader, the Labour party gained a significant lead in the polls over the Conservatives and on 5 May 1994, the Conservatives received a severe defeat in the council elections in Britain, their worst in over 30 years, despite the strong economic recovery and fall in unemployment that had followed the declaration of the recession's end in April 1993. Labour's opinion poll lead was shown to be as high as 23% in early May 1994.
On the evening of 11 May 1994, with around 500 people present, Smith made a speech at a fundraising dinner at Park Lane Hotel, London, saying "The opportunity to serve our country - that is all we ask". The following morning, at 8:05am, whilst in his Barbican flat, Smith suffered a massive heart attack. His wife phoned an ambulance and he was rushed to Saint Bartholomew's Hospital where he died at 9:15am on 12 May 1994, having never regained consciousness. Only two weeks before his death, on 28 April, Smith had visited the same accident and emergency department to campaign against its proposed closure. The doctor who had served as his tour guide, Professor Mike Besser, tried unsuccessfully to save Smith's life.
In response to his death, John Major paid tribute in the House of Commons to Smith, culminating in the now well-known line, that he and Smith "would share a drink: sometimes tea, sometimes not tea". It was reported that there was weeping in the chamber.
On the day of his death, the BBC 9 O'Clock News was extended to an hour as opposed to the usual half hour. This replaced the medical drama which was due to follow at 9:30, coincidentally entitled Cardiac Arrest. That evening Question Time was held, and the panellists paid tribute to Smith, instead of debating. They included George Robertson and Menzies Campbell.
On 20 May 1994, after a funeral in Cluny Parish Church, Edinburgh attended by 900 people and after which 3,000 people lined the streets, Smith was buried in a private family funeral on the island of Iona, at the sacred burial ground of Reilig Odhráin, which contains the graves of several Scottish kings as well as monarchs of Ireland, Norway and France. His grave is marked with an epitaph quoting Alexander Pope: "An honest man's the noblest work of God". His close friend Donald Dewar was the only political figure at the funeral - who acted as one of Smith's pall bearers. On 14 July 1994, his memorial service was attended in Westminster Abbey by over 2,000 people. The Archbishop of Canterbury gave an address.
Smith's biographer, Mark Stuart, claimed that Smith could have won Labour a parliamentary victory in 1997 on a scale similar to that achieved by Tony Blair because of the combination of the Black Wednesday debacle and ongoing Conservative divisions over Europe between 1992 and 1997. However, Stuart argues that the lack of a "Blair effect" would have meant that the Conservative Party would have held slightly over 200 seats in the House of Commons, leaving the Conservatives in a position similar to that of Labour in 1983, than to the actual Conservative result in 1997.
Personal life
Smith was married to Elizabeth Bennett from 5 July 1967 until his death. Elizabeth Smith was created Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill in 1995. They had three daughters, one of whom, Sarah Smith, used to be Washington correspondent for Channel 4 news and is now a news anchor for the station. Their other daughters are Jane, a costume designer and Catherine, a lawyer.
Further reading
- McSmith, Andy (1994). John Smith: A Life 1938-1994. Mandarin Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7493-9675-6.
- Brown, Gordon; James Naughtie, (1994). John Smith, Life and Soul of the Party. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85158-692-9.
- Christopher Bryant, ed. (1994). John Smith, An Appreciation. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-62801-0.
- Rosen, Greg (2006). Old Labour to New. Politico's Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84275-045-2.
- Stuart, Mark (2005). John Smith - A Life. Politico's Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84275-126-8.
- Brian Brivati, ed. (2000). Guiding Light: The Collected Speeches of John Smith. Politico's Publishing. ISBN 978-1-902301-62-4.
- "The rise and fall of New Labour". BBC News. 3 August 2010.
- Wheeler, Brian (21 July 2009). "Election countdown - 1990s style". BBC News. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
- Barnard, Stephanie (27 July 2009). "Kinnock came and didn't conquer". BBC News. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
- "1993: Recession over - it's official". BBC News. 26 April 1993.
- YouTube - Labour leader John Smith Dies, May 1994
- House of Commons, Thursday 12 May 1994
- Campbell, Sarah (8 February 2007). "How do I become a stenographer". The Times (London). Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- Walk Of The Month: The island of Iona The Independent 4 June 2006
- Stuart, M. in Brack, D. and I. Dale (editors) (2003)Prime Minister Portillo and other things that never happened, Politico's Publishing
- Guardian obituary http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/1994/may/13/obituaries.past
|Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: John Smith|
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Smith
|Parliament of the United Kingdom|
|Member of Parliament for North Lanarkshire
|New constituency||Member of Parliament for Monklands East
|Secretary of State for Trade
|Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
|Leader of the Opposition
|Party political offices|
|Leader of the Labour Party | <urn:uuid:5e49533d-682d-4f03-b799-a76e8fe002fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smith_(Labour_Party_leader) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966616 | 3,468 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Suddenly it seems as if everybody is waking up to the potential of open educational resources. People have been sharing digital teaching materials for years, but now creative commons licensing, increased familiarity with the web and increased attention from policy makers have created a surge of activity. The question was recently posed [don't more academics use open educational resources] on the Guardian which has made me reflect on some of the core issues.
First, a question: how much are resources re-used? The Value of Reuse report pictures our knowledge of re-use as an iceberg where much use is invisible.
That suggests that a better question might be: why so little visible reuse of educational resources? I think it stems from how we measure re-use. The e-learning world has been so focused on repurposing that we are expecting to see the content being copied/changed. But reading is use too. Interestingly, there is a strange discomfort with talking about tracking/measuring the use of open content, which I’ve started to explore. Perhaps it stems from an anxiety that measurement means metrics, and that metrics are at odds with the “long tail” nature of academic work. But I have a lot still to understand about how to provide meaningful evidence of digital impact that supports individual and institutional drivers. So perhaps the right question to ask is around what reuse might look like in different contexts.
To encourage reuse, we need to be clear on what might motivate people to share their resources. Attention is reward, as is intrinsic motivation. People who share blog posts, tweets, slides, images on the web know it is rewarding in its own right.
Should that translate into official recognition by the employer of the academic? I guess there are different ways of carrying out the role of an academic. We see that variation in openness in the research process: different attitudes in different discipline areas and different points in their career, and probably different personalities. So I agree that no-one should be forced. It should be choice, and at the moment, most institutional reward structures are neutral on OER: the reward is individual and social.
However, the HE sector is changing. Maybe academics do need to do more of their thinking in the open. Researchers are being encouraged to think about impact and engagement. Then there are the economic and ethical arguments for open access for research, which are perhaps starting to raise expectations about opening up other academic outputs.
My biggest interest at the moment is how technology can support the changes in practice of the early majority, which I think is happening, even if it’s off the radar. Making use visible is important, connecting content and people. Of course to make use of this, as others have commented, we need to support digital literacies.
We’d love feedback on how services like Jorum and innovation programmes like the joint HEAcademy/JISC OER Programme can help keep moving open academic practices forward. And if you’re new to the concept, visit the OER Infokit to get started.
You can participate in the discussion on the oer-discuss list which we run with the UK OU: please join in! | <urn:uuid:46b5429c-7625-4b7d-ad0d-577a73bcff0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jisc.ac.uk/blog/what-are-the-rewards-for-reusing-other-peoples-resources/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963662 | 647 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Officials say Oak Lawn’s pumping stations need system needs upgrades to meet rising demand from other towns. (Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune)
Residents in 13 southwest suburbs will see their water rates climb yet again when Oak Lawn begins an estimated $185 million overhaul of its water distribution system.
The 325,000 people who get water from Oak Lawn will help pick up the tab for the upgrade through higher water rates, officials said. The hike comes on top of the recent water rate increase from the city of Chicago, which provides Lake Michigan water to Oak Lawn, which then pumps water to its suburban customers.
How the project affects water bills is still being worked out, although some officials said it should be a smaller increase than was passed down by Chicago. To take care of its own aging infrastructure, Chicago is rolling out a 90 percent rate increase over four years to its suburban customers.
Tinley Park resident Donna Miller brought her water bill to a Village Board meeting this week, looking for answers. She said she is frustrated that water rates are going up at the same time families are living on tighter budgets. With a family of six, Miller said she has seen her quarterly water and sewer bill increase by about $30 to $180 since the beginning of the year, which is when the first Chicago rate hike kicked in.
"It's just terrible," she said. "Everything's gone up. Your gas, your electric, taxes, water, but the paychecks aren't going up at all."
Orland Park Village Manager Paul Grimes said that because the cost of Oak Lawn's project is being spread out over the life of a 30- to 40-year contract with all of the municipalities chipping in, the increase to residents should be "fairly minimal."
"I don't think it'll be that bad because of the fact that you're taking those debt payment services and spreading them out over time," he said.
Officials in Oak Lawn said the upgrades are necessary to keep up with the area's population and for public safety. In addition to serving its own residents, Oak Lawn is responsible for pumping water to Chicago Ridge, Palos Park, Palos Hills, Oak Forest, Olympia Fields, Country Club Hills, Matteson, Orland Hills, Orland Park, Tinley Park, Mokena and New Lenox.
Engineer Randy Rogers said the aging water system needs major improvements if it is going to keep up with demand, which is projected to be about 450,000 people by 2030. The current system can pump 55 million gallons a day, but the upgrades should double the capacity to 111 million gallons, he said.
Strings of hot, dry days push the limits of the system, which dates to the early 1970s, and serious breaks or power outages could put towns at risk of depleting their two-day water supplies while waiting for repairs, he said.
Improvements will add a redundant line and a backup power supply. Energy-efficient pumps and equipment are expected to cut power costs to Oak Lawn by about $1 million a year, officials said.
Officials in Tinley Park, one of the larger municipalities served by the system, said adding safety nets should ensure that water service is never interrupted.
"That's why system upgrades need to happen," said Village Manager Scott Niehaus. "From our citizens' perspective, having the redundant line is a major benefit."
Negotiations between Oak Lawn and most of its customer communities have been ongoing for more than two years, and agreements are expected in the next 90 days, said Larry Deetjen, village manager for Oak Lawn. Each town will have a separate agreement with prices that depend on use and where they are on the system line, he said.
Bidding on the first phases of the project could begin in the spring, said Rogers, a vice president and project manager with engineering consulting firm CDM Smith, with construction tentatively scheduled to start next summer and wrap up in 2017.
Josh Ellis, program director at the Metropolitan Planning Council, said out-of-date water systems and costly upgrades are becoming more common in the Chicago area.
"Throughout northeastern Illinois, we in general have older systems that were not designed for the kinds of uses that we have now," Ellis said.
Historically, he said, the price of water service has not kept up with the cost of infrastructure and maintenance. That means when it's time for major improvements, towns have to implement rate increases to catch up. Now residents served by Oak Lawn's system are having to take on the cost of both Chicago's water system improvements and Oak Lawn's.
Officials said they expect that just as drivers react when fuel prices go up, residents will become more aware of how much water they use.
"As those rates go up, people will change their behavior," Grimes said. | <urn:uuid:a52c6753-5075-45c7-a255-1617650b796d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-06-21/news/ct-met-water-price-hike-0622-20120622_1_water-rates-water-and-sewer-bill-lake-michigan-water | 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 | 0.973023 | 989 | 1.820313 | 2 |
OH LOOK, A SHINY THING! Seven Benefits of Roleplaying Games
A student at the University of Minnesota Duluth has written a column for the Duluth News Tribune implying that video games, or perhaps roleplaying games, or perhaps first-person shooters, or perhaps t... Posted on 12/23/12 at 8:26 PM
REAL MONEY You don't have to be loaded to enjoy video games.
So there I was, staring at the elder dragon with my mace in one hand and a lightening spell in the other. The dragon was sure he had me and dove straight down. As I strafed left to avoid his horrific ... Posted on 2/25/12 at 9:59 AM
JIMMY JABBER There’s no one to blame but yourself for missing class
Video games are the reason for students struggles in school as much as food is to blame for peoples weight issues.
College often is a persons first taste of freedom (loads of free time) from parental ... Posted on 12/27/11 at 1:00 AM
The company unveiled the Xbox One, a next-generation entertainment console that promises to be the one system households will need for games, television, movies and other entertainment. It will go on sale later this year.
Sonic the Hedgehog is rolling with Nintendo. Sega says it will exclusively release the next three games starring the popular blue critter on Nintendo platforms. The first title will be called "Sonic Lost World" and is set for release on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS later this year.
Science-fiction drama "Defiance" wants to go where no television series has gone before, weaving a show with an online video game to achieve the elusive goal of parlaying success on one entertainment platform to another.
Believing that brains can be trained through the use of specialized computer programs, researchers are focusing on helping people with schizophrenia, which can cause them to hear imagined voices or believe that others are controlling or plotting against them.
Students participating in the new Minecraft Club at a Farmington, Minn., school might just think they’re playing a cool game, but without realizing it, they’re also learning elements of reading, math and physics, as well as a few good social skills.
Sony is poised to unveil the next PlayStation game console on Feb. 20, a date that would give the Japanese electronics company a head start over Microsoft's expected announcement of an Xbox 360 successor in June.
Gaming, like most forms of entertainment, is evolving rapidly and going more mobile than ever. If the holiday season has left you with gift cards and cash to spend, help yourself take your gaming on the go.
The video game industry, blamed by some for fostering a culture of violence, defended its practices Friday at a White House meeting exploring how to prevent horrific shootings like the recent Connecticut elementary school massacre.
One of the big messages at the 10th annual Minnesota Governor's Deer Opener in Winona on the opening weekend of the firearms deer season was the need to get kids away from their Xboxes and into the outdoors.
One of the biggest game releases of the upcoming holiday season is immersing players in the Revolutionary War, with key cameos from George Washington, Ben Franklin and other Founding Fathers. Assassin's Creed III is due for release Tuesday.
If you ever find yourself in a crowd of hard-core console gamers and want to earn some instant cred (or just get them off your back), simply stare off into the distance, sigh wistfully and mutter that nothing will ever compare with the dozens of blissful hours you spent with that ineffable 1997 masterpiece, "Final Fantasy VII."
View your ad here! Cost effective targeted advertising. Contextual advertising starting as low as $79/month. This includes targeted ad delivery and search results! Add your business to the Marketplace » | <urn:uuid:f92e5f60-ad84-461a-ad18-70687d48670c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/tag/tag/video%20games/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958708 | 797 | 1.523438 | 2 |
There is a crucial event in the history of Israel that is relevant to us because of the way they reacted. The way they reacted is often the way we react.
God freed the people of Israel from Egyptian slavery and brought them to the borders of the Promised Land. Moses says to the people, “Now is the time for us to go in and take the land which God has given to us” (Numbers 13).
Twelve men were sent to spy out the land. Their report was mixed and all did not agree. The majority begins their report with the word, “But.”
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the LaRue County Herald, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
If you are new to the award winning LaRue County Herald and wish to get a subscription or simply gain access to our online content then please enter your ZIP code below and continue to setup your account. | <urn:uuid:9f1d7415-a62a-4fb6-850c-7b750fb3f495> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.laruecountyherald.com/content/column-find-security-new-year?mini=calendar-date%2F2012-10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964101 | 219 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Danish ISPs agree to move in concert to block rights-infringing content
- 22 June, 2012 15:03
Danish ISPs have agreed that if one service provider is ordered by a court to block a website or copyrighted content, all ISPs will do the same, the Danish Ministry of Culture announced on Wednesday. Licensees only have to take legal action against one service provider to get a country-wide blockade.
The telecom industry agreed with rights holders that all service providers will respect a final decision by a court when the court orders a block on customers' access to an illegal service, said Astrid Haug, chief press officer of the Danish Ministry of Culture on Friday. To formalize this agreement the rights holders and the service providers will sign a code of conduct, she added.
Until now, copyright holders had to pursue the blocking of sites or content that they said infringed on their rights by filing separate lawsuits against every ISP, Haug explained. This is going to change. "After the summer holidays we are going to implement the new agreement," she said, declining to give an exact date for the new practice to begin. It will be an automated process in which the service provider that is ordered to ban illegal content will communicate the court's decision to the other companies, according to Ministry documents.
Andrea D'Incecco, head of policy at EuroISPA, a pan-European association of ISPs, said his organization still must discuss the Danish Code of Conduct in more detail. But, he emphasized, "Blocking is not an efficient way to deal with illegal content." It is relatively easy to circumvent blockades, he added.
The Danish code of conduct is one of a series of initiatives of the Ministry of Culture aimed at making it easier to use creative online content legally, the Ministry said in a press release. These "will strengthen the development of legal content services, and at the same time will motivate consumers to choose legal solutions," the Ministry said, adding that the initiatives will also focus on rights holders' continued efforts to limit online piracy.
In April 2011, the Danish Committee on Copyright on the Internet proposed to start sending targeted information to consumers whose Internet connections were being used for copyright infringement. But the Ministry has elected to hold off on implementing this while it waits to gauge the effects of other anti-piracy measures.
The Ministry also said it will strive to make Danish wireless Internet connections more secure so unencrypted Wi-Fi networks cannot be misused for anonymously pirating content.
Rights holders and the Consumer Council will also launch a campaign to increase awareness of the many ways to legally access music, movies, e-books amongst others, the Ministry said.
Loek covers all things tech for the IDG News Service. Follow him on Twitter at @loekessers or email tips and comments to firstname.lastname@example.org
Australia lags Mongolia in Internet speeds
Salesforce.com to buy Clipboard, shutting down service
Investor tips on how to propel a startup
Review: Nokia Lumia 520
Review: Nokia Lumia 520 | <urn:uuid:31b74ed9-0ba7-4055-8f58-6b686ca2fbcf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techworld.com.au/article/428457/danish_isps_agree_move_concert_block_rights-infringing_content/?fp=4&fpid=7 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938287 | 631 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Packing their toiletries
This is a small but important task for us to teach them that will give them a little responsibility. It will give them that awesome "I'm a big kid now" kinda feeling. All about the small wins right? To ensure this will go smoothly and easily for them here are some great first steps you can take:
- Ensure all items are reachable for your little one.
- Provide a couple Ziploc bags for your little one to put some of select items into.
- Provide my printable picture list. (at the bottom of the page)
- lots of encouragement.
Now I have this great Stuck on You toiletry bag that I find just perfect for them to stuff all their toothbrushes, clean wash cloths and shampoos into. If you really want to make them independent about this whole endeavor think about a picture list! Something I have made for you all at the bottom of this page!
|DOWNLOAD FREE HERE|
a Rafflecopter giveaway | <urn:uuid:25c56918-dcb6-4c6d-8119-1b4c2dbb4cb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mumfection.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94255 | 211 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Dragging a finger down from the top of the screen shows notifications. If you're ever lost, you can just hit the back or home button at the bottom of the screen.
Apps and content
On Android phones, apps, games and content such as movies and music are sold in one unified marketplace, the Google Play store. There are about 675,000 apps and games in this store, which is just below the the number in Apple's App Store.
The devices often come preloaded with extra, unnecessary apps from the phone maker and wireless carrier, many of which try to get you to sign up for some paid service. The same is true for Windows Phone handsets.
A sizable library of movies, music, TV shows books and magazines is also available in the Google Play store.
Customization and control are big draws for Android users, and the platform is crammed with options.
The latest update adds a fun, swipe keyboard feature called Gesture Typing that lets you spell words by dragging your finger around instead of tapping on each letter.
Google Now uses your location and timing to show you the most relevant information, such as your upcoming flight times and public transit updates. There is voice search, so you can speak questions and search terms into the phone.
And of course, Android has the Google Maps app. | <urn:uuid:10cc4b83-564c-41f5-ac24-4527d336aaeb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ketv.com/news/money/technology/Which-smartphone-system-is-right-for-you/-/9674290/17274304/-/item/1/-/ecbn27/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93529 | 271 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Labor Department Offers $500 Million for Clean Energy Job Training
July 1, 2009
The U.S. Department of Labor recently launched five grant competitions, totaling $500 million, to fund projects that prepare workers for green jobs in the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries. Four of the competitions serve workers through various national, state, and community outlets. These include Energy Training Partnership Grants, which aim to train workers in green industries, with some money earmarked for those leaving the auto industries; Pathways Out of Poverty Grants, which seek to engage national nonprofits, as well as local agencies that have networks for re-educating workers; State Energy Sector Partnership and Training Grants, designed to help states refine their energy sector strategies to build up a trained workforce, particularly in areas hurt by auto industry upheaval; and Green Capacity Building Grants, which beef up existing Labor Department programs to ensure that there's a large enough pool of green-trained workers to meet demands.
The fifth competition, for State Labor Market Information Improvement Grants, will fund state workforce agencies that collect, analyze, and disseminate labor market information, while also encouraging collaboration among states. Those grants are also meant to help direct individuals to careers in green industries. The five grant solicitations were published in the June 24 edition of the Federal Register, and the grants will be funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In an effort to earn the maximum return on each investment, the Labor Department is encouraging grantees to align their work with other federal agencies' Recovery Act investments intended to create jobs and promote economic growth. Combining funds from different agencies can help worker training programs get more bang for the buck and put more people to work in the clean energy industry. See the Labor Department press release and the grant solicitations for Energy Training Partnership Grants, with applications due September 4; Pathways Out of Poverty Grants, due September 29; State Energy Sector Partnership and Training Grants, due October 20; Green Capacity Building Grants, due August 5; and State Labor Market Information Improvement Grants, due August 14. | <urn:uuid:10be07b4-263b-46f3-b119-cb76dec4cc42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wip/news_detail.html?news_id=12619 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954907 | 413 | 1.515625 | 2 |
University College London, having been established in 1826, was the first university to accept undergraduates regardless of race, religion, gender or class. It is also the third oldest university in England, younger only than Oxbridge.
The law faculty at UCL has always been held in high regard. It always does exceptionally well in official rankings (e.g. Times Good University Guide, Guardian Guide) and its research scores the highest grade possible, 5*A, on many occasions.
As grading becomes more stringent and as more universities fight for top rankings, UCL does well every year and strives to keep its status and improve where possible, adapting and maintaining standards as it sees fit. Due to its reputation the faculty requires each applicant to sit the LNAT (National Admissions Test for Law).
The law faculty has its own building in the heart of Bloomsbury, aptly named Bentham House; it is a picturesque, historic and tall building. It is equipped with ramps and an elevator to accommodate disabled students. Although Bloomsbury is a very safe, quiet and relaxing place there are advanced, digital security barriers at the entrance of the faculty and a security guard is present at all times.
To cater for students’ needs there is a café in the faculty basement for exclusive use of Bentham House users. To further cater for students’ needs there are two large computer cluster rooms in the basement where law students may print off work and cases free of charge.
Regarding lecture theatres, the main lecture theatre is situated in the basement of Bentham House which can hold up to 100 students at a time. Seminars are usually held here. Lectures, which the entire year attend, are held in other UCL Buildings (not Bentham House), however due to UCL’s close-knit campus-style building arrangement, these buildings are never more than a 5 minute walk from Bentham House.
The law library is situated in the main UCL library, a stone’s throw from Bentham House. The law library has recently been moved to one of the grandest rooms within the very majestic UCL library and has ample and up-to-date law books, guides and law reports. Due to the importance of the law library in particular, its own specifically trained librarian who can help students if they have any issues.
Photocopying facilities are everywhere within the library as well as further computer cluster rooms. To further help students, each law student at UCL has access to two of the world’s best legal databases (Westlaw and LexisNexis) containing all the important cases, statutes, and reports, invaluable to today’s lawyer.
Like many other law faculties, UCL takes mooting (mock-court scenarios) very seriously. As such, UCL has its own moot court room in Bentham House, a literal model of a modern court room, a great place to argue with your peers.
UCL always ranks very highly regarding student:staff ratio in official rankings and the law faculty reflects this. Each student has their own personal tutor, assigned to them at the start of their degree and who remains their personal tutor throughout their time at UCL.
Furthermore, UCL encourages personal interaction with lecturers with the adoption of the tutorial system explained above. The quality of the staff is absolutely outstanding, with many of the lecturers well renowned in their areas of teaching.
Those who study the 3 year LLB course will have about 15 hours of lectures/seminars and tutorials combined per week in the first year, rising to just under 20 in the second year; this is because they study 4 modules in the first year and 5 in the second.
The faculty is renowned for having a strong jurisprudence aspect, with the likes of Ronald Dworkin teaching within the faculty. There is a strong human rights support group within the faculty who hold regular lectures and invite eminent speakers and lecturers to the faculty on a regular basis.
The UCL law faculty is a very close-knit place to be. It is not like any other faculty in the university or even the world with much emphasis on so much small-group learning and achievement. With this work ethic, along with the personal tutor’s support, the level of support within the faculty is excellent.
UCL, along with Bentham House, is situated in the central London area of Bloomsbury. It may seem unbelievable but Bloomsbury is a very quiet, relaxing place, and due to UCL’s layout it feels more like a campus than a city. Obviously with London on your doorstep the opportunities are endless regarding things to do; there is the West End, numerous free museums, theatres, opera, ballet, countless shops and cinemas.
One of the best things about London is that its transport system runs 24 hours a day, and furthermore some shops are open around the clock so you never feel cut off, even if you crave a sandwich at 4am. 80% of the student accommodation is within 5 minutes walking distance of UCL.
Although central London is, in parts, very fast paced (e.g. in the City, Oxford Street, Camden Town) Bloomsbury is, on the contrary, a haven for students to work and socialise in relative peace and quiet.
The cost of London usually puts many people off studying here. However, you do get a higher maintenance loan per annum than anywhere else in England, see http://www.slc.co.uk. Accommodation does cost a fair bit more than anywhere else in England, usually between 100 and 130 pounds per week.
However, if you weigh up the pros and cons of the situation you should see that a qualification from UCL opens innumerable doors, you have first-hand contact with solicitors and barristers in London (which is priceless) on a regular basis and your degree carries with it a great amount of prestige.
Although you may be in slightly more debt after your degree, the pros of living in London, with what it has to offer, arguably outweigh the cons.
Other costs in London are similar to the rest of Britain, transport is relatively cheap (90p for a bus ride anywhere in London, and £1.50 to use the tube) and food isn’t extortionate. Just like all students you do need to budget, but that’s the all part of the student experience.
There are loads of opportunities to have a cheap, fun night out. The union offers reduced priced drinks (usually just under £2 a pint) and there are student nights nearly every night (either in the union or elsewhere in different clubs) where drinks are incredibly cheap. There are some very expensive clubs in London but students don’t tend to mingle there unless they want to see famous people.
The Careers Secretary organises career-centric nights held every week, usually a different law firm comes in every week to promote their firm and area of work. This is usually solicitor-based careers (including a bit of investment banking).
For those who are interested in becoming a barrister, the Bar Vocational Officer organises events where barristers come in to speak and mingle, including a barristers’ cocktail party. Furthermore there is a law fair held every year where law firms set up stalls in the UCL main building to promote their firms.
Times Law School ranking:
Guardian School Law ranking:
£3145 per year
University College London
020 7679 2000
Please click on the links below to browse through the courses. | <urn:uuid:4b1a29c1-a2fb-402f-9d9f-4019cce16283> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/index.php/courses/llb/ucl-university-college-london-law-school-llb/ | 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 | 0.963449 | 1,570 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Judyth Piazza, the host of the popular radio show The American Perspective, tells why we need online media today in order to make a positive difference in the world of communication.
With the growth of online media in number and popularity, the Internet has become the platform for many popular radio shows. Judyth Piazza’s The American Perspectiveis an example of how cyber media can commit to promoting positive work and get people connected to inspiring as well as helpful voices. It was in fact Judyth Piazza’s own voice in particular that attracted me to listen to her show and there I found not only Judyth’s voice as sweet but also the show in its entirety as extraordinary. I was very much interested in why, among thousands of radio shows, we would have The American Perspective. The answer is provided by Judyth Piazza in the following interview with me.
Ernest: Hello Judyth! Thank you for joining me to talk about your work on radio! Tell us a little about yourself and how you became interested in hosting The American Perspective?
Judyth: In 2003/04, I was writing for the Sebastian Sun, a local Newspaper in Sebastian, Florida. During the same time in 2004/05, Vero Beach was hit by a series of hurricanes within an 8-week period. During the hurricanes, the city of Vero Beach, Florida was without electricity and other essential services. One radio station was broadcasting to let the community know what was going on. They were looking for volunteers, so instead of sitting around, doing nothing, we decided to drive to the station to see if we could help. Me and my photographer immediately started checking on people’s houses, taking photos, and making calls into the station live to let everyone know which gas stations were open, who had ice, etc. Being the only source of entertainment, a lot of people had a chance to hear me. I became known as the “Hurricane Girl”.
During this time, I also met the news director for the local TV station, WWCI TV 10, and he had mentioned that he heard me on the radio and asked me if I would like to try some TV news work. Of course I said “yes”. At first, I was filing stories and short on-air segments, and then they asked me if I would like to try the anchor spot. I did that for a while but I still had the radio bug, so I grabbed my photographer and producer and we decided to build a website, TheSOP to serve as a platform for showcasing the radio show as well as report global news. I did seven web radio shows and then we made a demo and started pitching it to local radio stations. A couple of stations liked it and the show aired on several stations from Ft. Pierce to Melbourne, FL. After being on the radio for a while, the website started to become more popular and I saw that I had a much larger listening audience than I could ever have on air, so that is where the inspiration came from for The SOP Radio Network.
The SOP Radio Network is known for its original programming that blends a mix of music, mentoring, and magic. In the line-up following The American Perspective, we have Djelloul Marbrook`s “Hot Copy” which is among the Network`s hottest destinations for advice and insight into the field of journalism. If you need a personal trainer, check into John Basedow`s “Fitness Tips” and you`ll find inspiration and motivation mixed with sanity and support. Kenny R’s “Musical Oasis” is a themed array of music, and just for fun, we have “Crazy World” now where you can escape to a world of irresistible nonsense.
Ernest: Before asking more, I certainly would like to know whether you have been conscious of your voice, which I personally find attractive and kind of musical. Did it have any role in leading you to become a radio show host?
Judyth: Radio just came natural to me. I never noticed my voice before radio and I definitely don’t have any professional training as far as my voice goes. I get a lot of feedback about the show and you are right, people tend to like my voice. My producer, LEON says when he puts the show together, he uses filters that create a hypnotic tempo that is pleasing to listeners and it results in a nice rhythmic flow to the show.
Ernest: How long have you been doing the show and what kinds of topics and interviewees have you covered on the show all this time?
Judyth: I have been doing The American Perspective Radio Program for 5 years. I have interviewed over 4,000 people about what it takes to succeed. I have had the opportunity to speak to some of the most influential people in the world from the guy next door to book authors, musicians, astronauts, fighter pilots, poets, Generals, race car drivers, actors, and champion athletes. The target audience is anyone who has the desire to improve their life; however our primary demographic is 35–55 years old.
Ernest: Who have been some of your most inspiring and famous guests so far?
Judyth: One of my most inspiring guests was Sean Stephenson. Sean has faced tremendous physical challenges and has overcome all of them. It is difficult for me to say who is the most famous because I have interviewed a lot of famous people but I feel blessed to have had the chance to meet the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Yolanda King in 2007 before she died. It made me feel as if I was a part of history. Other inspirational people that come to mind right away are Maya Angelou, Zig Ziglar, Dean Koontz, and Mark Victor Hansen. I could go on forever and ever.
Ernest: Sure thing! And who is welcome to be a guest on the show?
Judyth: My door is always open to anyone who has a positive message or who has a dream or a goal that I could help them achieve.
Ernest: Based on your experience with The American Perspective, what role do you see for online radio shows in today’s information industry?
Judyth: I think that online media in general is very important. If for no other reason, it helps keep politicians as well as the mainstream media honest. I particularly like online radio because it allows me to reach a much larger multinational audience that I could never reach through traditional broadcasting.
Ernest: Okay Judy, what are some of the things that you don’t like about other mainstream media channels, things you would rather steer away from on your show?
Judyth: I am really disappointed in the current trend of news opinion rather than straight news. Now, it almost feels like FOX news and CNN are political parties rather than news outlets.
Ernest: So are political personalities not welcome to debate or promote their political goals?
Judyth: All are welcome… I personally try to stay neutral at all times, but my guests are free to speak their mind.
Ernest: Students have a key role in running the TheSOP where The American Perspective episodes are also archived. How do students generally do on the site and do they have any contribution in The American Perspective?
Judyth: The SOP was established in August of 2005. However, we did on-air radio campaigns with The American Perspective Radio Program 6 months prior to launching The SOP. The SOP and The American Perspective were both started by students; however they have both evolved. The SOP now has writers, authors, and broadcasters around the world. SOP traditionally stands for Standard Operating Procedure. When I named this business venture the SOP, it was meant as an oxymoron, since I would not be conducting business as usual. Another reason is that in the beginning, I knew I would not be able to pay writer; so the idea of The Student Operated Press made sense.
Last, but not the least, I knew that we would eventually be commercially successful and look to abandon the "student" label without losing our presence and recognition on the worldwide web; hence our new name, The SOP.
I have assembled a team of highly talented and respected professionals from various fields to mentor the SOP writers as well as myself; after all you can never get too much mentoring. Some of the mentors that I have brought together are novelist and former newspaper editor, Djelloul Marbrook, business experts, John Palumbo, Philip Tirone, and Joel Block, publisher, Chase Von, fitness expert, John Basedow, as well as many others.
Ernest: Would you like to share with my readers any feedback on your show?
Judyth: Here is some of the feedback that I have received over the years.
Ernest: What is your vision regarding the show? Where do you see it in the coming few years?
Judyth: I would like for the show to be syndicated on XM or Sirius Radio in the near future. I would also like to encourage college radio stations to air it as well. The show has a positive message and does not follow the traditional talk format where the host does the majority of the talking. The American Perspective is the complete opposite. We encourage our guests to speak and elaborate as much as they want to get their message heard.
Ernest: Well, I really would like to be on your show someday. Thank you so much for taking time to take this interview! Wishing The American Perspective great success in the year ahead of us!
Judyth: Thanks Ernest, I look forward to having you as a guest on The American Perspective.
This opinion article was written by an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily intended to reflect those of DigitalJournal.com | <urn:uuid:55a17856-2e0b-4afe-83a4-6dbd92bc0ac7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/303073 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979193 | 2,054 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Private employers hired more workers over the past three months than first thought, lifting hopes for the weak economy ahead of the Labor Day weekend. But the unemployment rate rose in August for the first time in four months as more people entered the market looking for work.
Companies added a net total of 67,000 new jobs last month and both July and June’s private-sector job figures were upwardly revised, the Labor Department said Friday.
Stocks surged after the report’s release, but then lost some of their gains in early morning trading. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 52 points and broader indexes were all up.
While the report hardly suggests the economy is out of danger, it’s a reassuring sign after weeks of troubling data and comes after some encouraging economic figures in the past week.
Scott Brown, an economist at Raymond James, said he sees no sign of the country slipping back into recession.
“You’re still seeing broad-based job gains. It’s not strong, but it’s positive,” Brown said.
Overall, the economy lost 54,000 jobs as 114,000 temporary census positions came to an end. For the first time this year, the manufacturing sector lost jobs – down a net total of 27,000 for the month. The auto industry accounted for 22,000 of those lost jobs, the department said. But those losses were largely due to a shift in the timing of the industry’s summer layoffs.
State and local governments shed 10,000 positions and have had net jobs losses in every month but one this year.
Temporary employment rose by nearly 17,000, after a slight loss in July. That indicates employers are looking to boost their work forces, but are reluctant to do so permanently. Temporary hiring averaged 45,000 per month from October to May, but has since slowed.
The jobless rate rose to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent in July. More than a half-million Americans resumed their job searches in August, which drove up the jobless rate. When the unemployed stop looking for work, they are no longer counted in the jobless rate. It’s the first time the labor force has grown since April.
Both June and July’s figures were revised to show the private sector created more jobs in both months. The July figures were revised upward to 107,000 from 71,000. June was revised upward to 61,000 from 31,000. The revisions reflected smaller losses in construction, temporary help services and non-census government jobs.
Still, hiring has now been weak for four straight months. That deprives consumers of cash and reduces their ability to spend. Analysts expect economic growth to be tepid for the rest of this year and the jobless rate could keep rising to 10 percent or more in the coming months.
Average hourly earnings increased modestly and by more than economists expected, rising to $22.66 from $22.60.
The economy lost nearly 8.4 million jobs in 2008 and 2009. This year, private employers have added back 763,000 jobs. But the unemployment rate has barely moved from the 9.7 percent rate in January.
Including those who have given up looking for work and those who are working part time but would prefer full-time work, the so-called “underemployment” rate rose to 16.7 percent from 16.5 percent.
A jobless rate nearing 10 percent will ratchet up pressure on the Obama administration, Congress and the Federal Reserve to do more to jump start the economy. Tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 are set to expire by the end of this year and many rank-and-file Democrats in Congress are joining Republicans in calling for all the cuts to be extended. President Barack Obama wants to let some tax cuts on upper income earners end.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, meanwhile, said last week the central bank will take more steps to stimulate the economy if necessary. But he also said the foundations have been laid for economic growth to accelerate next year.
- Associated Press | <urn:uuid:e682f6ff-2f32-427a-8e7d-7ebe6338a9c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://csbj.com/2010/09/03/companies-add-67k-workers-but-jobless-rate-rises/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964584 | 849 | 1.703125 | 2 |
In every blog there are some items those are read more than others. These posts are usually popular ones that attract more comments, more visits, more references or more tweets.
Few days ago, I was searching for something in TheCustomizeWindows, I noticed one post got an astonishing amount of re-tweets. Astonishing, because it is not about making money, not about any trick; just a simple post on how you can start blogging.
So, one thing is that, you can not predict which post will be very popular and which will be a flop. It often happens to me, the posts which I gave maximal effort and expected it would be very popular, in practice that did not happened anyway.
There are many ways to highlight the popular posts, most often read post in your blogs. For WordPress there are numerous kind of plugins to do these automatically. But the basic reasons, why you will link your popular articles in different ways (like leaving link on the sidebar, end of the post, inside a post etc) are described below.
Making your visitors sticky
When new readers read your blog, there are quite likely to remain no more than a minute looking at the page where they have entered and then click the back button of your browser to return to the place from where they came or simply close the browser tab.
Provide readers with something else, that means to spend more time on your blog, discover their contents and decide to become loyal readers.
If you allow them to navigate more deeply through your blog, giving them the ability to find useful content, it is probably give you big return.
If what you are writing is offering a guide or tutorial on your blog, you can have the probabillity to to make a regular stop on your blog.
Provide a way for the search engine spiders
A search engines like links that lead them deeper into the content of your blog and the benefits derived from it.
The articles are featured in some way are usually are the most visited blogs, Google usually better position, since the post are links to a Google votes for and, therefore, not only gives emphasis on external links, but also to internal links .
As before, you are offering to form a guide to your blog, showing the most popular posts for them to promote.
There are many WordPress plugins that allow you to highlight your most important posts, as I wrote at the begining; so it is a section to add to your blog that it would be good to consider. These might slow down your website a bit or add some errors to show up in W3C validation; but that is worty in the term of increased number of pageviews. | <urn:uuid:ff783d33-ffeb-48e4-aefd-fa60a01bd717> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thecustomizewindows.com/2011/04/link-the-popular-articles-in-your-blog-to-increase-pageviews/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964668 | 551 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Keeping starting and trolling batteries at peak levels is an important and often-overlooked part of boating.
Portable and Onboard Chargers
When motors and batteries are removed from smaller boats, a portable charger is a wise choice. Portable chargers are also handy for charging batteries on several boats. However, hooking up portable chargers can be a bit of an inconvenience in the confines of permanent battery compartments.
For the majority of boats more than 16-ft. long, especially those with one or more trolling motor batteries, onboard chargers are the way to go. Onboard chargers may be more expensive than portables, but they easily pay for themselves in convenience. An onboard charger is always hooked up, and is only a plug-in away from charging your batteries.
Another advantage of onboard chargers is their technology. They provide multistage switching to safely charge and maintain your batteries through the charging process.
Anglers of all ages fish with spincast reels. Some have even put a few fish in the record books while doing so. You won’t find reels that are more affordable and simple to operate. Check out our selection by typing in "spincast reel" in the search bar at the top of this page. Or visit a Cabela’s retail store fishing department and one of our outfitters will help you decide which spincast reel is right for you.Linear and Electronic Chargers
Linear chargers run on a cycle, shutting off when the battery is fully charged. They will automatically begin charging again when the battery drops below 90 percent capacity. Linear chargers are very reliable, though drops in input voltage can adversely affect charging rates.
A linear charger’s strengths are in its simplicity and heat-reducing, vented design. While slightly bulkier, linear chargers do not let out the heat of electronic chargers. Linear chargers are typically water-resistant, and should be installed in a relatively moisture-free or watertight area of a boat.
Electronic chargers utilize electronic switching to match the charging needs of different batteries. Their "smart" technology adapts to efficiently service cranking batteries and deep-cycle batteries. Most marine-grade electronic chargers are fully waterproof, making them great choices for installation in bilges and non-watertight compartments.
Choosing a Charger
To determine what size charger is right for your boat, first consider the number of batteries on the boat. Chargers are offered in one-, two-, three- and four-bank (battery) configurations.
Charging time should also be considered. If you have 10-12 hours between trips, you’ll be happy with a lower-amp charger. If fast charging is a must, a more powerful unit (10 amps and above), is the ticket.
Most onboard chargers offered by various manufacturers are extremely durable. However, not all are "potted." This means that the unit is fully encapsulated in thermal epoxy to protect against shock, moisture and corrosion. Manufacturers offering "potted" units feel that this design is better able to withstand the pounding boats take, as well as the harsh marine environment. On the other hand, manufacturers of chargers that are not fully encapsulated contend that their more "open" design allows for easy access if servicing is required, which is not the case when it comes to potted units.
Installing Onboard Chargers
Installing an onboard charger does not require a professional’s touch, but threading wire through a boat’s narrow compartments can be quite challenging without a reasonable degree of boat knowledge and patience.
It’s best to mount the charger close to the batteries. Standard cable lengths for onboard chargers are generally 4-6 feet. Often, trolling batteries are separate from starting batteries, requiring cable extensions. Most manufacturers offer extension kits to reach all points of the boat.
Some chargers must be shielded from the elements. In these cases, a battery or storage compartment is the best location. Hooking up charger leads to a battery is simple – connect the positive lead to the positive battery terminal and the negative lead to the negative battery terminal.
For 24- and 36-volt battery setups, make sure the leads are correctly positioned for each battery. Crossing leads in a battery series can cause confusion when installing charger cables.
Once installed, the charger is ready to be plugged in and do its job. Read over the instructions included with your charger to familiarize yourself with the light indicators and their meanings during the charging process. Enjoy your time on the water as much as possible. With a portable or onboard marine charger, your time in the boat will be spent having fun, confidently knowing your batteries are charged and ready. | <urn:uuid:e5a9d93a-dbb6-4584-88f9-4c6f28478b93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product_bgftrst_read_only.jsp?productId=533195 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941178 | 977 | 1.59375 | 2 |
US denies Red Cross access to secret detainees Andrew Wood at 11:20 AM ET
[JURIST] The US said Friday that it would not allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [official website] access to a limited number of detainees [JURIST news archive] who are held in secret locations around the world. It is the first time the US has admitted that it has not given the Red Cross access to all US detainees. Adam Ereli, the deputy spokesman for the State Department [official website], responded [press briefing transcript] to the ICRC request [JURIST report] to see all detainees saying certain terrorists [JURIST report] held by the US are not guaranteed any rights under the Geneva Conventions [ICRC materials]. Ereli noted that the ICRC has access to suspects in Guantanamo Bay [JURIST news archive], Afghanistan, and Iraq. Those that are denied visitors include a handful of top al-Qaida operatives kept in secret locations for what the US considers national security reasons. BBC News has more.
Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format. | <urn:uuid:d6ac1746-ed66-494a-a006-f17bf19e5acb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jurist.org/paperchase/2005/12/us-denies-red-cross-access-to-secret.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930888 | 292 | 1.695313 | 2 |
To welcome and
To provide a loving,
Christian worship, learning and service
To utilize our
our unique gifts, resources and blessings
as a witness
Education at Trinity Church
Starting up again, September 16, 2012
Sundays at 10:00 a.m...Sunday School for all ages
All ages are welcome at church services at Trinity Church. In addition, Sunday School classes for all ages meet from 10:00 to 10:50 on Sunday mornings during the school year.
Sunday School (and most other classes and formation activities) meet in the Parish House behind the church. Children meet in the classrooms on the ground floor or on the second floor. Adults usually meet in the Foster Room on the first floor of the Parish House.
Pre-Kindergarten & Kindergarten
Child care is provided for infants through age 3. It is available during the school year from 8:45 am to 12:30 pm. and in the summer for the 10:00 am service. The nursery is on the lowest level of the Parish House.
The Godly Play I curriculum is specially designed for this age group, combining story-telling, prayer, singing, reverence for holy space, hands-on activities and a snack. The classroom is on the ground floor.
1st & 2nd Grades
This class follows the Godly Play II curriculum combining age-appropriate hands-on activities using story-telling, prayer and singing while teaching reverence for holy space. This class is held on the ground floor.
Grades 3 through 5
Youth in these grades experience a rotation styled curriculum, written by members of the rotation committee, which are based on one passage of Scripture each four weeks. This year all of the Scripture passages relate to the theme “Let there be Light” from the first book of Genesis. The rotations include a variety of responses to the stories, including a “Creation Station,” which is artistic in nature, an “Exploration Station” through which the students will explore one area of the actual church building, such as the altar or organ areas; then the class will work through a “Service Station” to do service or outreach for others, and will wrap up each month with a “Reflection Station” where the students will consider what the experiences and the passage of Scripture mean to them. The class usually meets on the ground floor.
Grades 6 through 8
Journey to Adulthood is the curriculum we use for this age group. We use Bible study, prayer, outreach projects and serious and playful activities to help students to acquire skills they will need to participate as adults in church and society: listening, assertion, negotiation, research and information management, partnership and leadership. Activities focus on exploration of self and each student’s creative potential, community building and exploring Biblical stories of God and God’s people. We want to create a safe haven for our young people to explore new ideas, new interests and new abilities and challenge them to become good stewards of their time, talent and treasures as they make their journey towards adulthood.
Senior High Youth
Our students in grades 9 - 12 meet each Sunday morning for an exploration of the Scriptures and their relevance to society today and to the participants' experience of life through The Wired Word. The group also meets twice a month for extra activities promoting fellowship and outreach. Also offered to senior youth and to adults is confirmation class preparing for the Confirmation ceremony.
Adult Sunday School
Adults meet for class during the regular Sunday School hour from 10:00a.m. to around 10:45a.m. This year we will offer two concurrent classes, one that will meet in the Foster Room including a variety of topics and the other, meeting in McCracken Hall, will be Gospel du Jour, in which the group focuses on the lectionary gospel reading of the day.
Adult Formation Groups
These are 6 week small discussion groups led by guest presenters and clergy. The current schedule and link to sign up page is available here.
Book Discussion Groups - Novel Theology
Meeting on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm in the Foster Room, open to all who have read the book being discussed. View the 2013 book list.
Inquirer's Classes and Trinity 101
These classes are for teens and adults looking for information about the Episcopal Church, spiritual formation, and deeper understanding and knowledge of Trinity Church.
More about Trinity's Children and Youth
About Trinity Church History
Links of Interest
The Big Giant List
The Episcopal Church welcomes you! | <urn:uuid:ed4339c7-5509-4d11-ba14-1b65d381fd37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.trinitystaunton.org/Education.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935478 | 945 | 1.625 | 2 |
RCMP don't have the training or resources to be the enforcers of a proposed TNRD bylaw intended to police dangerous dogs, regional directors learned Friday.
Staff Sgt. Gord Stewart of the RCMP Southeast District office in Kelowna delivered that message during a board workshop Friday morning. His comments put the already postponed bylaw back to the drawing board.
This didn't go over well with Pinantan resident Nicole Wilimek, who fears for the safety of her three children because of the dogs roaming her rural neighbourhood.
Two dogs in particular, which she describes as Japanese fighting dogs, have already bitten one neighbour. Wilimek believes another attack is imminent if there aren't consequences for the dogs or the owner.
"There needs to be some kind of control," said Wilimek. "There is no control whatsoever."
Regional directors hope a dangerous dog bylaw will do the trick. A draft has already been revised once, excluding nuisance dogs and focusing instead on canines that have attacked humans.
The TNRD wants to reduce costs by recruiting the RCMP for animal control, which is where Stewart's input came in.
By giving the Mounties the ability to attend, investigate and seize a dangerous dog, the revised draft dropped the enforcement bill from $100,000 to $25,000.
But Stewart said acting as animal control officers takes constables away from what they're trained to do, which is to protect and serve the public. Even if they had the manpower to take on these duties, they don't have the training or means to catch and hold the animal.
"We are trained in how to get people into police cars and to safe places, dogs not so much," said Stewart.
Police will support the TNRD's lone bylaw officer or the SPCA in dealing with the owner of the offending canine — a duty they essentially do already, he said.
This prompted a flurry of questions from frustrated directors about the role RCMP could play. Many described dog attacks that sent residents to the hospital and pets to the veterinarian, or worse.
Director Bill Humphreys of Barriere suggested the TNRD bump its contingent of bylaw officers to two and designate a facility to house dangerous dogs until the animal's fate is decided. Stewart liked that option.
Jessoa Lightfoot of Lytton asked how the bylaw would be enforced on First Nations reserves. Stewart said the bands must adopt the bylaw; otherwise police or animal control would not have the authority to act.
Board chair Randy Murray asked if police would help educate rural communities about the bylaw. Stewart said education is a key component of any effective bylaw, and his officers would help.
Back in Pinantan, Wilimek said the nuisance dogs are always in the care of the owner's children. When he is around, he doesn't listen to people's concerns about the dogs.
"They are uncontrollable. In the summertime, I'm just petrified to have my kids outside because of these dogs," she said.
But those aren't the only problem dogs, she said. Canines roam unescorted through her property and there's no telling what the dogs will do.
"There are dogs all over the place up here. People don't care about their dogs," she said. | <urn:uuid:d02d8f6a-97a1-4985-9f8a-56c48d11e257> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20121026/KAMLOOPS0101/121029887/-1/KAMLOOPS/police-balk-at-role-in-rural-dog-bylaw | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966804 | 682 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Shell has a new, somewhat perplexing, greenwashing campaign. Both television and print advertisements in this new campaign now star Japanese children and families. The print ad, which we know has shown up in both newspapers and magazines, includes several Japanese children playing with balloons in what looks like a traditional Japanese home. The text of the ad includes the phrases “Let’s pass energy on to the next generation” and “The Yoshida children have a lot of energy. But the country they’re growing up in doesn’t."
The television ad that accompanies the print one features a young Japanese boy playing his electric guitar loud and his father coming upstairs to unplug the guitar from the wall.
The message of the ad is that Shell is supplying the energy needed for the child to play his guitar, when is father allows.
Both of these ad’s feature the slogan “Lets go,” which is tied to their greenwashing message of promoting a “better energy future.”
Both of these ads are not only examples of greenwash, because of the fact that an oil company like Shell is behind the message, but they are also simply strange in their target audience choice and featured characters. Why Japan?
Perhaps it’s the long history Shell has in the country. Marcus Samuel and the Samuel Company, a part of the group that eventually formed Royal Dutch Shell, has been operating in Japan since 1900. Since then, the company has formed several oil businesses in the country, including Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K., Shell Gas & Power Japan Ltd., Shell Chemicals Japan Ltd., and Shell Global Solutions Japan Ltd.
Japan is a key market for Shell. The country is the world’s largest market for Liquefied Natural Gas or LNG, which shell involves itself in heavily. Additionally, the company works in coal gasification projects in Japan, pulling synthetic gas from petroleum coke, a solid generated from the oil refinery process.
Shell has been significantly benefiting from Japan’s resources for over a century. So why not use the children of the country as the stars in ads that get distributed across the world? I suppose that’s not a crime. But still, the message that Shell cares about the energy future for these children is somewhat skewed, considering their everyday practices in the country and across the world. Shell is an oil company and gets the majority of its money from drilling and exploring for oil. And as long as they are continuing to support those activities, the company won’t be promoting a safe, clean energy future for children in any part of the world.>
Used to describe the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service. | <urn:uuid:7560f0d2-00c9-4079-875f-9407f4072f8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://members.greenpeace.org/blog/greenwashing/2010/08/05/shell-uses-japanese-families-in-greenwa | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961585 | 569 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Why do page numbers no longer work for me in Word 2010?
So, I was happily writing along for National Novel Writing Month and had just hit the 5000 words mark. I started a new chapter, and bam! None of the page numbers show up any more! Where they ued to be, there is just a blank space! I had them formatted so that they went “Chapter-Page” so that if page 20 was part of chapter 3 it would say “3–20” for example. In my table of contents, it shows each chapter as starting on “1–0” and “2–0”. Does anyone know what I can do to help with this? Thanks.
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic. | <urn:uuid:867ae1ed-ac71-4130-8f5c-1bd35dd3de76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fluther.com/102916/why-do-page-numbers-no-longer-work-for-me-in-word/ | 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 | 0.97491 | 169 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Special Nighttime Enforcement Effort with Border States
NASHVILLE – In 2008, 13,250 people across the U.S. unbuckled their safety belt and walked away from what could have been a deadly crash. That’s more than 13,000 people who were able to hug their family, talk with friends and live to see another day thanks in part to their safety belt.
Tennessee’s Governor’s Highway Safety Office is joining hundreds of law enforcement officials, highway safety representatives and safety advocates nationwide to remind motorists that safety belts do save lives during the annual Click It or Ticket education and enforcement campaign. As part of the campaign, Tennessee’s law enforcement agencies are partnering with border states for special nighttime Hands Across the Border safety belt enforcement events to draw attention to the need to wear a safety belt at all times, day and night. | <urn:uuid:f5d9f905-ced5-4472-ae49-444cbe63ff32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.tn.gov/taxonomy/term/22 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968942 | 177 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Monday, March 12, 2007
Maureen Cavanaugh (Guest Host): President George W. Bush has been in Latin America since Thursday, meeting with the leaders of several countries. The trip has been billed as a mission to sign trade agreements. Critics say it may be an attempt to divert attention away from the war in Iraq. The trip is surely an effort to improve relations in a region that is increasingly hostile to the U.S. In fact, the streets of many major Latin cities have roiled with thousands of anti-American protesters.
- Jeremy Martin, director of the Energy Program at UCSD's Institute of the Americas.
End Music: Donde Se Fueron? by Ozomatli, from the album Ozomatli (1998) | <urn:uuid:58354844-1f02-4a61-87cd-d01765dd3994> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kpbs.org/news/2007/mar/12/president-bush-visits-latin-america-amid-protests/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955487 | 155 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Credit Assignment Revisited
Two years ago I published an article in the Journal presenting a survey I had carried out regarding author credits on game packaging. (Credit Assignment) I attempted to quantify the amount of author credit that we receive by measuring the size of the author’s name on the front of the package. By "size", I actually mean the height of the type in which the author’s name is printed. To make it more fair, I also measured the size of the publisher’s name. This allowed me to calculate a ratio of the author’s size to the publisher’s size. That ratio is a quick and dirty index of just how much credit we authors receive.
The ratio, averaged over ten computer games, came out to 0.75. That is, the average computer game box prints the author’s name in type that is 3/4 the size of the publisher’s name. How good is that? Well, I carried out similar measurements for books, compact disks, and videotapes, obtaining ratios of 4.0, 1.36, and 1.14 respectively. In other words, artists in those other fields receive better recognition than computer game designers. That’s not good.
So, how have things changed in the last two years? Have they gotten better or worse? Your roving reporter wandered into several software outlets in search of the answer. I went down the shelves, pulling boxes and measuring the size of the author’s name and the publisher’s name on each. I compiled a list of some three dozen different games, from all the major publishers, and the results are not heartening. The overall ratio has gone down to 0.53!
Here is the breakdown by publisher of the average ratios. Remember, a large value is good, and a small value is bad for authors:
Electronic Arts: .90
Origin Systems: .41
Now, there are a number of special factors to complicate our considerations. For example, some publishers put their logo on the front of the box. Electronic Arts, for example, has a large logo, and their corporate name is printed in small type. I didn’t measure the logo, I measured the typesize. Thus, EA’s ratios are better than they deserve to be. Mindscape has a similar arrangement.
Then there’s Cinemaware. Cinemaware presents big, bold author credits. Unfortunately, Cinemaware dilutes the value of author credits by packing the credit list with lots of Cinemaware employees, including Bob and Phyllis Jacob, the owners of the company. The real authors are buried in the pile of other names.
Epyx and Accolade possess appallingly low ratios. This is because they seldom if ever include author credits on the front of their boxes. There were some author credits buried in the fine print on the back of the box, but that doesn’t count in this survey.
Several major publishers, most notably Microprose and Sierra OnLine, are not included in this survey. They rely on internally developed software, and so do not provide author credit. I thought it unfair to include them.
Need for Remedies
This may strike some readers as much ado about nothing. After all, some might reason, financial considerations must remain paramount when so many developers must struggle to make a living. Worrying about credit assignment is just glorified ego-tripping.
This is short-sighted reasoning. Look at it this way: the goodwill that a superior game creates in the minds of consumers is an asset. It is an intangible asset, but a valuable one, for it will be a major factor in the consumers’ decision to purchase future games. To whom should that asset accrue? Right now, the publishers arrogate most of that asset to themselves, and authors acquiesce to the arrogation. | <urn:uuid:eed98af3-c7c7-455f-9d5f-0eca64305a6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.erasmatazz.com/TheLibrary/JCGD/JCGDV2/CreditRevisited/CreditRevisited.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949811 | 804 | 1.546875 | 2 |
With freshwater fishing season opening this Saturday, April 14, the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) reminds anglers that even on a warm day water temperatures can hover in the low to mid fifties. According to a U.S. Coast Guard report, a boating accident is five times more likely to be fatal if the water is colder than 60 degrees. So be careful on small vessels on opening day and always wear a life jacket.
DEM has stocked approximately 80,000 hatchery-raised brook, brown, and rainbow trout with an average weight of one and a half pounds in more than 100 ponds and streams for opening day. A complete list of stocked ponds can be found on DEM's website, www.
Freshwater fishing licenses
State Department of Environmental Management (DEM) regulations state that "A fishing license is required of any person 15 years of age or older wishing to catch or take fish in any freshwater stream or pond in the State." Exceptions include blind persons, landowners and their family members fishing from their property. Residents over 65 years of age can obtain a special permanent license for free. This year resident licenses are $18 and non-resident licenses are $35. A non-resident three day license is $16.
If you are interested in fishing for trout you will need a trout conservation stamp as well. Cost of a trout conservation stamp is $5.50.
Freshwater fishing licenses and trout stamps can be purchased from city and town clerk offices, authorized agents such as bait and tackle shops and other retail stores that sell tackle. For a list of license vendors visit the DEM web site at www.dem.ri.gov.
West Bay Anglers to host Capt. Dave Monti at April 25 seminar
Capt. Dave Monti's presentation "Fluke Experts" will address what captains and fluke fishermen have to say about summer flounder tactics, gear and ideal fishing locations. Seminar will also feature brief exclusive video interviews with Greg Myerson (striped bass 81.4 pound record holder) and George Poveromo (author and famous TV fishing show host) on his favorite ways to catch striped bass. The West Bay Seminar is Wednesday, April 25, 6:00 p.m. at the Warwick FOP Lounge, 95 Tanner Avenue, Warwick, RI. The event is free to all West Bay Angler members and the general public. Capacity limited to 100 people on fist come, first served basis. Call 463-7532 for information
Rhody Fly Rodders meeting April 17
Ed Lambardo will present on "Fly fishing Rhode Island-fresh or saltwater" on Tuesday, April 17, 6:30 p.m. at the Riverside Sportsmen Association, East Providence, RI. Fly tying at 6:30 p.m., presentation starts at 7:30 p.m. The club's fund raising raffle of a fly rod, built by Dave Loren of East Bay Custom Rods, will be drawn.
2012 Bluefin tuna quota specification
Comments are due on proposed 2012 quota specifications for the Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery on April 16. Go to www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa!hms/breaking news.htm to view the proposed 2012 BFT quota specifications. You may submit comments (identified by ''NOAA-NMFS-2012-0048'') through April 16, 2012, by using anyone of the following methods: Submit electronic comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal www.regulations.gov; fax Sarah McLaughlin at 978-281-9340; or mail to Sarah McLaughlin, Highly Migratory Species Management Division, NMFS, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930.
Saltwater fishing regulations now official
Black sea bass, summer flounder, and scup all have liberalized regulations for the 2012 season. In the case of summer flounder and scup, this is due to good stock status and under-harvest by the recreational fishery in 2011. The black sea bass fishery, while currently constrained at a low quota level, was also under-harvested by the recreational fishery in 2011. All of the other important recreational species are meeting their current rebuilding targets or have a stable stock status, and therefore regulations will remain at status quo for 2012. No species is being restricted from its 2011 recreational harvest regulations.
All nonexempt fishers and spearfishers must have a RI recreational saltwater license (or equivalent license or registration issued by another state or the federal government) in order to fish legally in marine waters. Fishing licenses are required, but free, for Rhode Island residents over 65 and for active military personnel stationed in the state. For all others, the fee is $7 for residents and $10 for non-residents. Visit www.saltwater.ri.gov for more information or to purchase and print a license online.
The following is a summary of the recreational saltwater fishing management programs, in effect for 2012, for all species of major interest to RI anglers:
Striped Bass - 28" minimum size, 2 fish/person daily limit, open season.
Tautog - 16" minimum size, and three split seasons: from April 15 to May 31 (3 fish/person daily limit); August 1 to October 14 (3 fish/person daily limit); and October 15 to December 15 (6 fish/person daily limit). A limit of 10 fish/vessel daily limit (superseding the per-person limits). Party and charter boats are subject to the same regulations, except they are not subject to the 10 fish/vessel limit.
Summer Flounder (Fluke) - 18.5" minimum size, 8 fish/person daily limit, May 1 to December 31 season.
Scup (Shore and Private) - 10.5" minimum size, 20 fish/person daily limit, May 1 to December 31 season. For party and charter boats, three split seasons: May 1 to August 31 (20 fish/person daily limit); September 1 to October 31 (40 fish/person/daily limit) and November 1 to December 31 (20 fish/person daily limit).
Black sea bass - 13" minimum size, 15 fish/person daily limit, June 15 to December 31.
Bluefish - no minimum size, 15 fish/person daily limit, open season.
Cod - 22" minimum size, 10 fish/person daily limit, open season.
Weakfish - 16" minimum size, 1 fish/person daily limit, open season.
Winter Flounder - 12" minimum size, 2 fish/person daily limit, and two split seasons: April 28 to May 27, and September 29 to October 28. The harvesting or possession of winter flounder is PROHIBITED in Narragansett Bay north of the lines from So. Ferry Rd. in Narragansett to Ft. Getty; Ft. Wetherill to Ft. Adams; and Sandy Pt. to High Hill Pt. as well as in Point Judith Pond.
Where's the bite
Fresh water fishing is heating up with bass being caught at many local ponds. Craig Castro of Erickson's Bait & Tackle, Warwick, said, "Customers are catching bass at Gorton Pond in Warwick and Worden Pond, Wakefield." John Littlefield of Archie's Bait & Tackle in East Providence, RI said opening day (April 14) promises to be a good one with area residents gearing up to fish Willett Avenue Pond and a host of others. "Bass fishing at Echo Lake, Barrington has been good." said Littlefield.
Striped bass fishing is starting to heat up. Angler Matthew Boliver reports catching his first half dozen school bass off Middletown, RI last week and Mike Shepard caught his first school bass off Newport last week. John Littlefield of Archie's Bait & Tackle reports customer Dave Paterson catching his first bass in the 14" to 16" range using light colored plastic shad lures. Blog reports from New Jersey relate an excellent striped bass bite last week. Let's hope they are coming our way. Reports of striped bass in Greenwich Bay have been spotty but consistent. Craig Castro of Erickson's Bait & Tackle said, "Anglers are catching striped bass in Greenwich Bay with soft plastics, but they are working for them."
Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing on Narragansett Bay for over 40 years. He holds a captain's master license, a charter fishing license, and is a member of the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council. Your fishing photos in JPEG from, stories, comments and questions are welcome…there's more than one way to catch a fish. Visit Captain Dave's No Fluke website at www.noflukefishing.com; his blog at www.noflukefishing.blogspot.com or e-mail him at dmontifish@verizon. | <urn:uuid:e30b9f92-a921-4868-985b-3e3bea3e2101> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.warwickonline.com/stories/Safety-first-on-opening-day-April-14,69950?category_id=50&town_id=1&sub_type=stories | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936877 | 1,846 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The Lake Oswego Public Library is very pleased to present Puppetkabob's “The Snowflake Man” on Wednesday, May 8th at 1 p.m.
The story of “The Snowflake Man” is inspired by Wilson “Snowflake” Bentley, a self-educated farmer and scientist who attracted world attention in 1885 when he became the first person to capture the image of a single snow crystal. “The Snowflake Man” is a unique trunk show of Czech-style marionettes and props backed by a pop-up book of watercolor paintings telling the story of Snowflake Bentley. This show combines art, science and a little known piece of American history to magical effect!
This free program is presented with the generous support of the Friends of the Lake Oswego Public Library. The Lake Oswego Public Library is located at 706 4th Street, Lake Oswego. For more information, contact Fawn McGee at 503-675-3995. | <urn:uuid:eb1345db-1d95-4c31-a712-12b00a7b11cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/library/performing-arts-series-snowflake-man | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941246 | 209 | 1.796875 | 2 |
RALEIGH, N.C. -- One of the most remarkable spies in history never bothered to use an alias, even as he recruited a group of operatives that would become known as the Cambridge Five spy ring.
Arnold Deutsch spied for the Soviets in the 1930s while living in England next door to crime writer Agatha Christie. His storied career was recounted Thursday at the Raleigh Spy Conference, an annual gathering held at the North Carolina Museum of History.
Deutsch had amazing skills as a recruiter, said Nigel West, a British intelligence expert and frequent guest at the conference.
"What makes Deutsch so extraordinary is that because of his background as a psychologist, he didn't just pitch an individual" to join his spy ring, West said. "He wrote very long psychological profiles of the people he intended to approach.
"It was almost like a relationship between a psychiatrist and a patient."
The three-day conference attracts an eclectic mix of scholars, history buffs and retired FBI and Central Intelligence Agency officers who come to revisit the glory days.
Hal Hyde drove to Raleigh from his home in Columbus, Ohio. He worked for the CIA in Washington and Latin America in the 1960s.
"It's just kind of fun to get close to the old business," he said. "It's sort of like going back to alumni day."
The conference concludes Friday with one of the highest-profile speakers it has ever had: Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the only person who has headed both the National Security Agency (1999 to 2005) and the CIA (2006 to 2009).
His topic for the talk -- the operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden -- is expected to draw a big crowd, said conference founder Bernie Reeves, editor and publisher of Raleigh Metro Magazine.
Though he never served as a covert agent himself, Reeves said he developed an interest in the history of spying as the Cold War ended and reams of documents were declassified in both the former Soviet Union and the West.
"Thousands of pages are being declassified weekly, as compared to literally nothing after World War II," Reeves said. "It's helping us rewrite the history of the Cold War. This conference started on that basis."
The materials made public about Deutsch are a good example. They provided a wealth of information for West, a leading nonfiction author about espionage issues.
West traveled to the KGB archives in Moscow to sift through documents detailing Deutsch's work.
West has a theory for why people continue to be interested in espionage, even after the Cold War.
"The work is so dangerous," he said. "There is no protection. You know that people are putting their lives on the line, literally."
Former CIA officer Brian Kelley, known as the "wrong man" in the investigation of FBI traitor Robert Hanssen, also spoke Thursday at the Raleigh Spy Conference.
Kelley was one of the CIA's top spycatchers until he became a suspect in a case that eventually led to Hanssen, one of the most damaging moles in U.S. history. Kelley's career was ruined for a time. Then, he was exonerated.
Kelley didn't mention Hanssen in his talk. But when an audience member asked about the case during a Q-and-A period, Kelley responded by describing details of Hanssen's life in prison.
Hanssen is held in an isolation wing at a "super-maximum" security facility in Colorado, Kelley said. He is given a few reading materials, and he is allowed to call his wife once every three months. The furniture in his cell consists of a concrete desk and chair. Under such strict confinement, Hanssen hasn't been outside in at least 10 years.
"He is not a very happy camper," Kelley said.
(c)2011 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Visit The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) at www.newsobserver.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services | <urn:uuid:491b8b71-300a-408d-811f-4dd7849c987e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.standard.net/stories/2011/08/26/ssssssssh-theres-spy-conference-going | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976719 | 834 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Now Is It the United States’ Turn to Make China Economically Dependent?
Monday, May 16, 2011
If General Motors once again becomes one of the world’s most successful corporations, it will have China to thank in large part.
By taking advantage of the Chinese’s growing hunger for automobiles and road trips, GM is now the No. 2 seller of cars in the Asian country, behind only Volkswagen. The automaker’s booming sales have been driven by China’s demand for luxury Buicks, minivans and economy Chevrolets.
In 2010, GM sold more cars in China than in the United States. The company is expected to continue to be more successful with Chinese buyers than Americans in the coming years.
Kevin E. Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group, told The Washington Post that the demand for cars in China will grow 10%-15% annually for the next five years.
The United States still imports far more from China than it exports, but the gap is slowly shrinking. As recently as 2005, the ratio of imports to exports was 6 to 1. By 2010, it had dropped to 4 to 1, and for the first quarter of 2011, the ratio was only 3.3 to 1. If this rate keeps up for the rest of the year, it would be the smallest in 20 years.
So what is it that Americans have and Chinese want? Although it is true that U.S. automobile exports to China tripled between 2009 and 2010 (to $3.4 billion), passenger cars still ranked only sixth in terms of the dollar value for exports to China last year. What are the top five? Soybeans ($10.8 billion), semiconductors ($6.4 billion), airplanes and related parts ($5.8 billion), miscellaneous industrial machinery ($4.0 billion) and plastic materials ($3.7 billion). The Chinese also buy large quantities of American copper, wood pulp and chemicals.
-David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff
GM Sees China as an Open Road to Profits (by Keith Richburg, Washington Post)
U.S. Exports to China by 5-digit End-Use Code 2002-2010 (U.S. Census Bureau)
Trade in Goods with China (U.S. Census Bureau)
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- United States Trade Representative: Who Is Michael Froman? | <urn:uuid:edf98f08-5fc3-4070-ba13-f67c8917e205> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/now-is-it-the-united-states-turn-to-make-china-economically-dependent?news=842669 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933615 | 603 | 1.609375 | 2 |
This time last week I was sitting outside on a chair, eating cake, in the middle of my street – just a normal, west London residential road, a street of early 20th century houses, a street which is normally lined with parked cars and which serves as a useful cut through to the nearby tube station.
A street where, on regular days, people would doubtless think you’d lost your mind if you so much as sat in your front garden instead of around the back.
But last Sunday was different, because me and my neighbours were taking part in the second annual Big Lunch – a day in which around one million people all over Britain sat down with their neighbours for a communal meal. And so, for just one day, the road was closed, the cars were relocated, bunting and balloons were strung across the road and woven into the trees – and around one hundred adults and children came together in my street for a communal barbecue, followed by homemade cakes and puddings.
My street in London is very ordinary and is like thousands of others all over the UK – a row of terraced houses, built in the Edwardian years at the turn of the twentieth century in order to house the growing middle class population of white collar workers such as bank clerks and office staff. Some of the houses are owned, some are rented; some are single family units, others are let out as individual rooms to a transient population of twenty-somethings from a variety of countries. Most of the houses have now been updated from their original build and have had new kitchens, bathrooms or loft conversions bolted on, although some do have the ancient 7’ x 11’ galley kitchen and prehistoric bathroom fittings still in situ (we inherited the original loo, complete with overhead cistern and hanging chain, when we moved in in 2001).
Above all though, we have a huge diversity and richness of talent in the street that I never really appreciated until one of my neighbours heard of the Big Lunch, then in its early stages, last year and leafleted the street to see if anyone was interested in helping him organise our very own street party. Before the 2009 Big Lunch, our street was fairly typical, in that some of us knew our immediate neighbours (and we are only a road of 27 houses, so not a huge population) but nobody knew everybody.
I remember when there was a discussion a year ago over what entertainment to put on for the children and someone exclaimed: “What children? Do we even have any kids living here?”
But we actually have nearly 30, if we’d only known it at the time.
And diversity? At this year’s lunch, we had participants from the following countries: all four corners of the UK, the USA, Canada, Poland, Bangladesh, Jamaica, India, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Russia and the Netherlands.
And this diversity of backgrounds also brings with it an amazing array of jobs; a quick poll told me that amongst us we have a:
psychotherapist, a BBC producer, a professional sitar player, an opera singer, an actuary, a CBT therapist, a vicar, an actress (who once had her own story arc in “Sex and the City”!), a motorbike salesman, some freelance musicians who teach drums and play in a band, an HR manager for a museum, a midwife, a man who makes models for film sets such as “Gulliver’s Travels”, assorted sales assistants, a primary school teacher, a management consultant and various people who “do things in IT”.
What was great about the Big Lunch was not only the way in which this kind of event truly brings people together in a social sense, but also the way in which people contributed their skills to the organisation of it all.
We had three barbecue stations on the go; Paul made us a playlist and plugged his iPod into someone else’s speakers so that we could have music. I ordered all the food and took delivery of a huge Ocado order, but that food was then stored overnight in multiple fridges up and down the street. Wei-Hei used her discount card to buy the disposable plates, cups and cutlery at a great price from the cash and carry; Glynis spoke to a friend at a local church and arranged for us to borrow their tables in return for a small donation to the church roof fund (there’s always a church roof fund, isn’t there?). Liz went up and down the street, saying hello and getting people to sign up for the lunch; Russell used his great graphic design skills to knock out newsletters for everyone, but particularly for those of our neighbours who don’t have email (which, given that some of them are in their 70s and 80s, is very much the case).
Astrid bought and stored all the drinks; Bevan collected the “Road Closed” signs from the local council depot; other neighbours contributed bunting (made out of what looked like old pyjamas), a gazebo, tables and chairs. I did all the email communications with the Mayor’s office, the local community policing team and our local ward councillors; TLS was in charge of the budget, on the basis that he’s great at getting money out of people and he also used his truck to fetch and carry various signs and bits of furniture.
Most crucially, in terms of the atmosphere on the day, our local musicians, who form a truly fabulous band called Storey (check them out on iTunes and Spotify) gave us a completely brilliant two hour concert. They played their own stuff (with which quite a few of us are now familiar, as we try to go to their local gigs when we can), then went into some great covers and finally got members of the audience to join them on drums, tambourine and backing vocals. Who knew that Mark was such a great drummer, or that Ingrid could sing so well?
And I guess that’s the whole point of diversity – how do you know what skills people have, unless you open up the doors (or the street) and include them? I’ve had several job interviews (yes … still …) recently in which I’ve been asked: “What does diversity mean to you?” – and my answer is – it’s always all about the talent. Just like the childless person who assumed that, like him, our road was childfree, I think that many unenlightened leaders think that having more people like them in the leadership team is the only way to lead the company, or organise the street party.
But for me, the Big Lunch events are a great reminder of a couple of things:
- That I’m so lucky to live in this lovely street in this fabulously multi-cultural city;
- That not sweating the small stuff is generally a great idea – and we will usually get there, wherever “there” may be, in the end;
- And that the greatest outcome can always be achieved by having a mixture of talents and inputs from a wide variety of people.
Oh, and? Street parties are way more fun when you get blue skies and sunshine (2010) rather than dark skies and rain (2009). | <urn:uuid:79703534-0a1d-4617-affe-d7857c06065a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thegenderblog.com/tag/global/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976309 | 1,525 | 1.523438 | 2 |
It still amazes Jessica when colleagues ask her for advice about healthy food choices, exercises or Texas Health Resources' BeHealthy wellness program. That's because five years ago, Jessica took daily blood pressure medication and weighed 103 pounds more than she does today.
"People ask my advice. They email me. They share their struggles and say I'm an inspiration," says Jessica, operations manager for Texas Health HEB's laboratory. "It's a great feeling to be a role model. I never thought that would happen."
Almost 14 years ago, she collapsed and was rushed to the Emergency Department at Texas Health HEB, where she was already working. Doctors determined that she had a heart murmur and high blood pressure.
"My father had open heart surgery when I was in my 20s. I almost lost him," said Jessica, who is now 30. "After seeing what he went through and after having my daughter in 2008, I decided I had to make a change."
In 2008, Jessica joined Weight Watchers @ Work, offered through BeHealthy. At that time, she weighed 265 pounds and committed to a starting weight loss goal of five pounds.
Her weight loss was dramatic the first year as she made healthy eating choices and started an exercise regime. She credits the structure and accountability of the Weight Watchers program for helping keep her on-track.
Now, five years later and more than 100 pounds lighter, Jessica no longer needs blood pressure medication. She brings her lunch every day and enjoys cooking meals at home. Her favorite recipe to make is Weight Watchers' taco soup.
Jessica's exercise program includes 60 to 90 minutes of cardio in the gym five to six times a week. She's also mapped out a one-mile walking trail around Texas Health HEB.
"I enjoy doing a combined high-speed and high-incline walk on the stair machine, treadmill or elliptical. It really makes me feel like I'm challenging myself," Jessica said. "I also enjoy weight training, and now I can say with no shame I love getting into my swimsuit and going swimming! I have reprogrammed myself to live a healthy lifestyle and enjoy doing it."
Jessica has even registered to run in her first marathon in February. And, even though she's lost 103 pounds, Jessica's goal is to shed 21 more pounds by this August.
"I have lots of accountability," she said. "We have a weigh in every Thursday and now that people know my story, they watch me! I have to do what's right. It's for me but also for them. I don't want to let them down."
The American Heart Association recently commended Jessica's journey and success. She received the organization's Fit-Friendly Recognition Award from the Dallas chapter.
"Jessica has made great strides in health improvement and lifestyle change. We are very proud of the progress she has made," said Kami Gilbert, a Texas Health Wellness Administrator, who nominated her. "It is exciting to see our employees embrace wellness and make lasting lifestyle changes to improve their health."
Jessica's advice to anyone who wants to make a lifestyle change is to be structured and disciplined.
"It's never too late to start. It's never too hard. Just take baby steps and have a strong will," she said. "If your will doesn't match your desire, you'll never make your goal." | <urn:uuid:10179d32-9da8-4aba-96f5-a9d9723dcbe0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.texashealth.org/well-being_template_article.cfm?id=5375 | 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 | 0.985183 | 699 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Rabinowitz Comments on Vermont’s Telemedicine Services Coverage Law
- By Jennifer Nachbur
Passed during the 2012 legislative session, Section 1 of Vermont Act H.27 – Coverage for Telemedicine Services – went into effect October 1, 2012. We recently interviewed Terry Rabinowitz, M.D., D.D.S., M.S., University of Vermont professor of psychiatry and family medicine and medical director of telemedicine at Fletcher Allen, about the details and impact of this new law. Rabinowitz is co-principal investigator of the Northeast Telehealth Resource Center with the Maine Medical Care Development Public Health Division.
Q: What is telemedicine and what constitutes “telemedicine services?”
Rabinowitz: Telemedicine is a method of delivering healthcare – using technology like videoconferencing – to facilitate the electronic transfer of medical information. There are basically three different types of telemedicine: live, interactive services; Store and Forward; and remote monitoring. The live, interactive format includes the doctor-patient interview. Store and Forward refers to the transfer of data from one site to another via technology, such as a camera or video recorder that stores an image like an x-ray or photo that can be forwarded via telecommunication technology to another site for a clinician to review and use to make a diagnosis or recommendation. In Store and Forward, the specialist transmits his/her opinion back to the sender. Home monitoring is the delivery of care to a patient located at their home using telemedicine technology.
Q: Which patients are most likely to use telemedicine services?
Rabinowitz: Patients who will benefit from the use of telemedicine services include those for whom travel prevents them from receiving care, such as elderly, frail patients; people whose job, medical and/or financial situation make it very difficult to travel; and those who do not have access to specialty care in their area.
Q: Which insurance plans will cover telemedicine services?
Rabinowitz: The bill requires that everyone – all of the commercial insurers in Vermont, Vermont Health Access, Medicaid, Doctor Dynasaur – cover telemedicine services. All of the medical services that are currently covered by an insurance plan should also be covered if delivered via telemedicine. The philosophical grounds for the law are, if you can maintain good standards of practice using telemedicine, it should be covered by insurance. The Vermont law does not require reimbursement for telemedicine services delivered to patients treated in their homes; it covers only patients receiving care in a health care facility at the time of the telemedicine service.
Q: How will reimbursable telemedicine services impact the health of rural Vermonters?
Rabinowitz: Telemedicine offers appropriate care at the right time and specialty care from afar. Not all patients have to live in a rural area to receive telemedicine services, but they will need to check with their insurance company to ensure they have coverage. Vermont has a number of specialist shortages. Currently, some specialists travel to a clinic, which requires travel time. By installing software and cameras in some physicians’ computers – which can be fairly inexpensive, depending on the level of interaction required – we can get specialty care to patients who otherwise might not have access to it. Delivering care via telemedicine can also help reduce transportation costs covered by Medicaid.
Q: What services does this new law address?
Rabinowitz: This law allows for physical exams to be done using telemedicine, which is unusual; only a few states that have passed this legislation allow physical exams. All of the standards of regular medical practice should be followed in telemedicine. A physician can perform an appropriate examination of the patient using instrumentation and diagnostic equipment through which images and medical records can be sent. For example, an e-stethoscope allows the physician to hear the patient’s heartbeat, etc. Technologies like this can be connected into telemedicine units. The other unique aspect of Vermont’s law is that doctors can prescribe medicine after they’ve conducted an appropriate telemedicine-based physical exam. Licensed health care providers – physicians, nurse practitioners, or any provider covered by the person’s insurance policy – should also be covered for delivering the services by telemedicine, according to the VT law. Co-pays cannot exceed what would be normal for an in-person visit.
The state doesn’t require reimbursement for telephone consults. Teledermatology and teleophthalmology are among the specialty practices that will be allowed to use Store and Forward and provide a second opinion, diagnosis and prescription based on the review of the information sent to them. Since there is a shortage of dermatologists, this technology allows a primary care provider to send a dermatologist a photo of a challenging dermatological condition, such as a rash that is not responding to treatment, along with the patient’s medical record. Then, the dermatologist can prescribe a different approach for treatment. Not all of the insurance companies in Vermont will reimburse for Store and Forward at this point. Live interactive is the focus now. | <urn:uuid:99a000ba-0b64-41d8-9eb1-18ccce1f1c64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=news&storyID=15092&category=comall | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932424 | 1,087 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Our Youth Ministry invites all teens in grades 6 through 12 of the parish, in both public and parochial schools
, as well as their parents to share in our programs for students.
Classes meet during the months of September through May. Registration for classes is held in the spring or as new parishioners register.
To be a family of Catholic faith made up of people young and old dedicated to developing and maintaining a religious education program that aids parents in the development of the Catholic faith of their children...a living, growing faith which will permeate daily life and lead to lives based on the scriptural teachings of Jesus Christ.
- To assist students in becoming mature Catholics through experiential faith formation, participation in the liturgy and Sacraments, as well as serving those in need. We hope to promote a mature Catholic faith in our teens and in our parish which will foster a closer devotion to Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.
The goals of this portion of our religious education program are promoted through a continuous curriculum. Our catechists and assistants are parents and other dedicated parishioners who volunteer their time and services. The children meet in a classroom setting and are taught through well-planned lessons, prayer, classroom activities and special programs and projects.
This is a strong family-based program set in Catholic doctrine and tradition. We recognize parents as the children's first and foremost teachers of the faith and therefore expect involvement of parents at all levels of their children's religious education.
Students in Grades 6-8 will meet Sunday evenings in September to May from 4:30-6:00pm. Building on the Religious Education program (grades 1-5), the goal of the junior high program is to provide the students with further understanding of their faith through physical, emotional and cognitive methods. Click on the heading above for more information.
Confirmation Preparation Program
Confirmation classes are held every year beginning in September and ending in April. In the fall they participate in the Sunday evening YM programs while working on homework assignments and in the spring they attend Wednesday evening classes. This program is open to any high school student who has not yet been confirmed. Students must be registered and attend YM classes beginning in his or her 8th grade year to participate in the Confirmation Preparation Program. Click on the heading above for more information.
High School students have the opportunity to meet every Sunday evening starting in September and continuing May (with the option to continue through the summer) at 7:00 to 8:30pm. Our high school program invites the students to reflect on the Catholic faith through a couple of different programs. Click on the heading above for more information.
Fees and Forms
The Youth Ministry Registration Fee is $110 if paid by July 15. After July 15th an additional late fee of $35 is added. For those students enrolling in the Confirmation program the fee is $160. These fees are used to operate the YM Program. However, this modest fee does not cover the entire cost and it is necessary to have some additional fundraising events to help defray expenses.
2013-2014 Youth Ministry Froms
Registration Form CLICK HERE (pdf)
Parent Volunteer Form CLICK HERE (pdf)
Guest Form CLICK HERE (pdf)
YM Calendar (pdf)
Confirmation Calendar (pdf)
Midwest Food Bank:
- MWFB Permission Form 4 - 16 - 13 (pdf)
One Homeless Night:
-OHN Permission Form (pdf)
Staff & Office:
Kim Hayes, Coordinator of Youth Ministry
Youth Ministry Office
1001 N. Towanda Barnes Road
Bloomington, IL 61705
662.7361 ext. 223 | <urn:uuid:9de65094-705a-4594-ab73-c32d54e35695> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stpatrickmerna.org/LEARN/YouthMinistry.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950192 | 758 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Science is purely science. Opinions are just opinions.
Science is science, however calling something science does not make it so. Climate science is largely pseudo-science. There is a systemic blatant disregard for the scientific method. Science has to be falsifiable. The “scientists” have set up AGW so that nothing disproves it. Hot or cold, wet or dry, windy or calm, it doesn’t matter, they have claimed both sides of every weather event as it suits their needs.
Einstein famously said “No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.” The “scientists” you trust have turned this on its ear. They have nothing to prove their theory right, and they completely disregard everything that proves it wrong.
Further, the scientific method requires sharing of data for replication of results. Climate “scientists” have routinely refused to share their data and methodologies – going so far as to conspire to subvert FOIA laws and build systems outside of official channels to put themselves beyond the reach of FOIA .
I don't pretend to know the science behind it all, but I'll put my trust in the people with the education, knowledge, and dedication to collect and analyze the data.
I don’t trust people that manipulate the data without explanation, without notice, and without archiving the old data.
I don’t trust people when every manipulation to the data they make serves to increase the appearance of warming.
I don’t trust people who claim process models are scientific evidence then claim 99% confidence when their models show zero predictive ability. If you know anything about statistics and the complexity of the climate, you will understand why claiming 99% confidence is absurd on its face. If you know anything about science, you know that process models are not evidence of anything. They best they can do is help us to understand complicated systems. Notwithstanding, process models form the entire basis AGW theory as put forward by the “scientists” you trust.
I don’t trust people who conspire to circumvent and thwart FOIA laws to hide data and methodologies.
I don’t trust people who tell me the science is settled and the debate is over (while hiding under their desk avoiding debate at all costs).
I don’t trust people that show me a hockey stick chart of global temperatures, refuse to tell me how it was created, and then when it is reverse engineered, it is demonstrated that random data from the phone book creates the same chart.
I don’t trust people who claim they can reconstruct the entire global average temperature from a single tree.
I don’t trust people who spend $millions to fight FOIA requests to see the publically funded communications of the “scientist” behind the previous two statements (while at the same time eagerly releasing the records of a skeptical professor at the same department of the same university to Greenpeace).
I don’t trust people who claim to link AGW to hurricanes for years after such claims have been completely debunked. There is no link with tornadoes either.
I don’t trust people who claim a $10,000 grant from Exxon strips a scientist of all credibility while they take grants many multiples larger – or in the case of Al Gore, make $100 million from the scare (and hide under their desk rather than face a debate).
I don’t trust people who Photoshop pictures of polar bears and flooding houses and Mt. Kilimanjaro and claim it proves AGW. And in the case of Kilimanjaro – continue to claim AGW causes the ice loss for years if not decades after it was definitively proven it was not.
I don’t trust people who “hide the decline.”
I don’t trust people who claim 99% confidence but can’t explain missing heat predicted by their theory that is the equivalent of 1 BILLION Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs.
I don’t trust people who claim to know the temperature at places on the earth where there isn’t a thermometer within 1000km.
I don’t trust people who claim what has happened over the past 50 or 60 years is more significant than what has happened over geologic time – that somehow a 20 year warming trend that ended 20 years ago should override what we know about the other 4.5 billion years of earth history.
I don’t trust people who avoid debate by calling the other side a denier.
The “scientists” you trust have done all of this and much more. This is not opinion. You are free to blindly follow these shysters, but don’t pretend like you add any value by doing so. | <urn:uuid:ac7cf84b-a7d4-473d-b967-9e089f0fe1f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,22480.msg228766.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942982 | 998 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Avoiding Leisure Guilt - How to Balance Work and Play
Vacation. You've waited for what seems to be an eternity for that blissful week away from work, all the while being teased with visions of sleeping in late, traveling to an exciting destination, or doing your favorite hobby. All of these visions can indeed come true during a vacation -- right after you check your office e-mail, voicemail, fax machine, pager, Palm Pilot, Blackberry, work cell phone, website, and intranet. Ten times a day.
"Overworked and over-stressed workers may end up taking vacations regardless -- either now at a beach resort, or later in the hospital while recuperating from a stress-related condition."
"Leisure guilt is not a new phenomenon," says Dr. Raymond Folen, associate professor of psychology at Argosy University in Honolulu. "For decades, white collar workaholics have packed reports and office correspondence right next to the bathing suits in the suitcase. In the past, though, what helped put some boundaries on this behavior was the fact that taking a vacation made one much less accessible to those back at the work place."
With the advent of portable computers, e-mail, instant messaging and immediate access via cell phones, issues at the workplace now follow the employee worldwide and at the speed of light. The seemingly simple answer would be to leave the computer and cell phone behind. So why aren't we doing this?
"We often have a strong tendency to check in with the office, to see 'how things are going.' Workers justify this as being conscientious, but in fact, it may be the result of fear and anxiety about job security," explains Dr. Folen. Those concerns may be fueled by worries about an aspiring, overly- competitive co-worker, a subordinate that is coveting one's job, or a critical boss.
Others who are without work-related fear or anxiety may avoid or, at the very least, intensely dislike vacations because taking the time off makes them feel bad or worthless. "Often these individuals were raised by parents who instilled in them the notion that a good child is a productive child," says Dr. Folen. While this is not necessarily a bad value, vacations that result in depression or feelings of worthlessness may stem from these early beliefs being taken to an extreme.
So, with all of the stress and emotions workers must undertake every day, what does one do to begin to enjoy a vacation? Dr. Folen recommends the following:
- Ask a trusted friend at work to 'watch your back' while you are away. Ask him or her to contact you only if something really serious happens. This way, you don't have to constantly check in with office -- in this scenario, no news is good news.
- Prior to the vacation, write down the benefits and liabilities of taking one. If the bases are covered by a trusted colleague, the liability list will turn out to be the shortest one.
- Realize that taking a vacation is as important for your mind, body, and spirit as exercise and watching one's diet. They need a break from the daily grind. A vacation might allow the brain to grow some new dendrites branch-like elements of brain cells that tend to break off under chronic stress. A vacation may allow the mind to gain fresh perspectives and allow the body to appropriately repair and maintain itself.
Says Dr. Folen: "Overworked and over-stressed workers may end up taking vacations regardless -- either now at a beach resort, or later in the hospital while recuperating from a stress-related condition." And at a hospital, they don't serve poolside daiquiris.
(Source: Argosy University) | <urn:uuid:fc295c8d-195d-499f-8f1e-a0a630b0d29c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.roadandtravel.com/travelnewsandviews/2007/vacationguilt.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957443 | 773 | 1.640625 | 2 |
For specific questions about University and departmental academic requirements, please check with the department in question. http://www.bridgew.edu/AcadDept.cfm
For students transferring to Bridgewater State University
from a community University in Massachusetts or Rhode Island, check CorsArt (Course Articulation)
ahead of time to see which classes will transfer for credit. Students can use
this program to learn ahead of time how University credits taken at another institution will
transfer to Bridgewater State University.
Bridgewater State University has a commitment to provide academic advising for every matriculated undergraduate. For freshmen, this commitment is fulfilled through the Haughey First Year Advising Program in the Academic Achievement Center. This program provides each student a minimum of five advising contacts, starting with New Student Orientation, and extending through the first semester of enrollment. Thus, by the time a student has completed a semester of study, he or she has had the opportunity to learn much valuable information and a set of essential skills that support informed academic decision-making and successful management of academic life.
A. Freshman Advising
Through its freshman-advising program, the Academic Achievement Center introduces new students to the advising program though a number of group and individual advising session throughout the year. The focus of each is on helping students plan a program of study and make a successful and happy transition to University life.
Freshman Advising at BSU is a five-step process and participation in all stages of this process is obligatory for all new freshmen. The skills learned during these five academic advising sections are essential to properly understanding BSU academic requirements and to developing the confidence in the academic system needed to succeed.
I. Advising 101
The first step in new freshman advising is Advising 101. In this session students learn valuable information that supports skillful course schedule planning and successful management of their academic careers. Students learn how to locate information about BSU policies and processes; students are informed about General Education requirements, prerequisites and related course information; students are informed how to make full and effective use of the course offering bulletin, catalog, and other tools necessary for course selection.
2. Advising 102
Advising 102 walks students new to BSU through some further fundamentals of scheduling, graduation requirements, course schedule abbreviations, prerequisites, and course registration. Further topics addressed cover appropriate course loads, class sequences for University Math, English, and Foreign Language requirements and a recommended freshman course selection.
III. Large Group Advising
Large Group Advising is the third step in advising process. The purpose of this session is to provide students with information about the nuts and bolts of advising and academic planning. Academic standards and crucial collegiate skills like using the degree audit, calculating a Grade Point Average (GPA), and projecting the semester grades needed to achieve a target cumulative GPA are also addressed in the Large Group Advising session.
IV. Small Group Advising
Small group advising is the last step in the advising process prior to working directly with a faculty advisor. The purpose of this session is to provide students with major-specific information like major requirements, and other information needed to successfully complete this semester, and plan for next semester.
V. Individual Advising
Faculty advisors serve as the final point of contact for students before course registration and advise students according to their content-specific fields. Faculty advisors perform a final check of the student’s schedule and sign-off, enabling students to register for classes. While faculty advisors do fulfill the final step in the course-planning process, they also serve as full-time resources for students on campus. Faculty advisors can often help students identify campus community resources and offer sound advise about the keys to academic success and future career plans.
VI. Advisors in the AAC
Scheduling an appointment with your advisor is easy. To do so just visit the AAC or call our reception area at extension 1214. Click here for a a current list of Advisors in the AAC.
B. Mandatory Placement Tests
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts mandates that all in-coming freshman and transfer students take placement exams in English and Mathematics. Placement test results serve as the basis for beginning academic placements in BSU Math and English course sequences. Placement testing is usually conducted during orientation sessions, though the University offers multiple placement test opportunities and review workshops in the month prior to orientation sessions.
Orientation is an exciting time for new students. In many cases it serves as a grand introduction to the culture of the BSU campus community. New student Orientation gives students the opportunity to acquaint themselves with campus academic resources, housing and dining, campus athletics and campus social life. Orientations tours and activities are planned to get students started with the transition to University life—focusing on both the administrative procedures of course registration and on becoming members of the BSU community. Many Orientation activities are conducted by a team of undergraduate Orientation Leaders (OL’s) —a great resource for an insider’s view of campus life. For information about orientation schedules and activates please follow this link:
D. Non-matriculated Advising
Many learners enroll in Bridgewater State University classes as non-degree candidates through The Office of Graduate and Continuing Education. Among such learners, some seek personal enrichment and knowledge, while others hope to eventually apply for admission and complete a degree. All non-matriculated students, however, may benefit from academic advising to help them make the most of their academic experience at the University.
The Academic Achievement Center sponsors advising two evenings each week for learners in the following three categories:
Life-long learners who take courses for their own personal
development and would like to discuss with an advisor their interests.
Potential future degree-seeking students who are currently enrolled or interested in enrolling for classes, but are not candidates for admission to Bridgewater State University.
Prospective transfer students who have completed fewer than 24 University credits and are undecided about major.
Currently enrolled non-matriculated students who fit one of these categories should consider meeting with an academic advisor to discuss course offerings, academic planning and BSU academic and/ or certification programs.
Phone 508 531-1214 to make an appointment for advising—both evening and day advising sessions are available throughout the academic year.
E. Undeclared Advising
All currently enrolled matriculated undergraduate students who have not declared a major are assigned an academic advisor in the Academic Achievement Center. Advisors are skillful at helping students select courses and use campus resources such as Career Services, to identify areas of high interest and talent that can become possible majors.
Phone 531-1214 to make an appointment with your academic advisor.
F. Transfer Advising
All beginning transfer students attend a Transfer Orientation program prior to their first semester of Bridgewater State University enrollment. The Transfer Orientation provides new students much valuable information about University policies, procedures, and resources. In addition, participating students complete any required placement testing, receive academic advising that is informed by a transcript evaluation of credits brought in transfer, and register for classes.
Beginning transfer students who do not have a declared major are assigned an
academic advisor in the Academic Achievement Center with whom they are encouraged
to work during each academic semester. Transfer students with a declared major
are assigned a faculty advisor in their department of major, and should make
contact with this person early in the first semester of enrollment.
G. Academic Probation
The cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) that signifies a student is in good
academic standing is 2.00. A cumulative GPA less than 2.00 automatically places
a student on academic probation, and makes him or her subject to academic separation
from the University according to a formula of credit hours attempted and cumulative
GPA. This formula can be explained through the following example:
A beginning student with no previous University experience who enrolls for 15 credit hours must present a GPA of at least 2.00 to be in good academic standing after the first semester of enrollment. If the student earns a GPA of less than 2.00, he or she will be on academic probation, unless the GPA is below 1.00. According to the chart below, a beginning student who has attempted between 1 and 16 credit hours will be academically separated with a cumulative GPA below 1.00.
As a student enrolls for subsequent semesters and adds credit hours attempted
to his or her academic record, the standard that defines academic probation
versus academic separation rises. Thus, by the time an individual has attempted
between 17 – 31 credit hours, he or she will be retained on academic probation
if the earned cumulative GPA is between 1.50 and 1.99. He or she will be academically
separated from the University if the earned cumulative GPA is below 1.50. As a
student gains more University experience and adds credit hours attempted to his
or her record. The standard that defines the cumulative GPA for academic separation
rises, until the point where a student must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA
of 2.00 to remain enrolled.
90 and above
*For the purposes of this policy "academic standing credit hours" includes all quality hours at BSU plus all credit accepted in transfer. However, only quality hours earned at BSU will be utilized in determining GPA.
In order for a first semester transfer student to avoid separation from the University, his/her cumulative GPA must remain at 1.5 or above. After the first semester, a transfer student follows the table above.
Enrolled students who are on academic probation are provided group advising sponsored by the Academic Achievement Center. Through advising, students learn the specifics of Bridgewater State University academic standards and policies that impact on their academic lives. Most importantly, students learn how to calculate a GPA, how to project semester grades needed to achieve a desired cumulative GPA, and what campus services are available to support academic achievement.
H. Second Semester Freshmen on Academic Probation
All beginning freshmen are assigned an academic advisor in the Academic Achievement Center and participate in a comprehensive program of group and individual advising during the first semester of enrollment. After the first semester, all freshmen who are in good academic standing (cumulative GPA 2.00 or above) and have a declared major are assigned a faculty advisor in their department of major. Any second semester freshmen who is on academic probation (cumulative GPA below 2.00) will continue to be advised in the Academic Achievement Center.
Second semester advising for freshmen on academic probation includes a mandatory
group advising session and individual appointments with a faculty advisor. The
goal of this second semester advising program is to assist students in achieving
a cumulative GPA of 2.00 and good academic standing through improved academic
I. Academic Separation
Students out of compliance with BSU standards of academic standing are subject to academic dismissal from the University. Both matriculated and non-matriculated undergraduate students must maintain a cumulative GPA which is above the University probation and separation levels. Graduate students at BSU are also subject to academic separation if the GPA fails to exceed probation and or separation levels. For a more complete statement and explanation of University policy regarding academic separation and the process for appealing academic separation, check the BSU Undergraduate/Graduate Catalog.
Last Modified: November 20, 2012 | <urn:uuid:db718463-f7a5-4af3-9dbd-4b24810c13f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bridgew.edu/AAC/Academic_Advising.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944886 | 2,315 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Tony Blankley sees the possibilty that John Kerry may place himself in the line of candidates including Thomas Dewey, Adlai Stevenson, George McGovern, Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis — classic flops. Blankley cautions that this is not a prediction — merely an assessment of some potentialities.
Kerry seems to remind Blankley most of Tom Dewey. Like Dewey in 1948, Blankley asserts, his deepest flaw as a candidate is his sheer unlikeability: “It was said of Dewey that you had to know him really well to dislike him. But his pompous, stilted style rang through even in his public appearances.”
Blankley also reports that Kerry is treating his medical records like he has something to hide, that he dissembled regarding his prostate cancer, and that his doctor’s endorsement of Kerry’s health seems qualified. Blankley’s excellent column is “Kerry personally vulnerable.”
UPDATE: Reader Neil Davidson adds:
Your link to the Tony Blankley column comparing the “sheer unlikeability” of John Kerry to Thomas Dewey reminded me of a moment in the Dewey campaign of 1948 similar to the Kerry outburst against his secret service agent after running him down on the ski slope. While Dewey was speaking to a crowd in Beaucoup, Illinois, from the back of his campaign train, the train suddenly lurched a few feet backward toward the crowd, causing a brief panic. Dewey angrily blurted into the microphone, “That’s the first lunatic I had for an engineer. He probably ought to be shot at sunrise.” The angry outburst hurt Dewey in what turned out to be a very close race.
To be fair to Dewey, it was said that you had to get to know him well to dislike him. In Kerry’s case, I think his pomposity is all too evident, even to the casual observer. | <urn:uuid:511009d8-b130-473e-919d-3887f186625a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2004/03/006263.php?tsize=small | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983845 | 412 | 1.523438 | 2 |
It is now officially over one month since the conference in Durban occurred and the participants packed up and left. After the Mosaic’s time at the conference, and the feelings of frustration most of us felt, it’s interesting to see the press on the outcomes of this conference. Even more interesting is that it’s actually…positive. After spending everyday at the conference, immersed in the discussions, the press briefings, the interviews, one forgets that the framework established at the conference still needs to be worked out. In the article “Signs of New Life as U.N. Searches for a Climate Accord,” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/busine…) the New York Times writer John M. Broder reports on the hopeful work being done after the conference, but also the immense complexities, difficulties and economic forces working against the major participants. A quote from Figures summed up, what I would consider the insurmountable task of creating this framework, despite hopefulness for cooperation.
“This is so large, so complex and so important that it cannot be entrusted to one single process,” Ms. Figueres said. “It must be attacked from multiple points. Everyone must be engaged. We are looking at nothing less than an energy and industrial revolution the likes of which we have never seen.”
This points directly at the diverse stakeholders (within increasingly diverse political, social and economic situations within the participating 194 countries!) and issues surrounding this task, even bringing into the conclusion of the article, the difficulty of working within the UN format to achieve such work. So really, how hopeful is the outlook? Can the current economic situation of the world also deter real market reform and new measures to be successful in the coming months? I suppose only time will tell, but for now I suppose the only thing we can remain hopeful for is the determination of the powerful players. Like Figures states, “I actually think Durban will be proven by history to be the most encompassing and farthest reaching agreements that any climate conference has ever reached.”
Filed under: Climate Change | <urn:uuid:5d286aaa-9a9a-4c90-afd6-f91b19ec5f07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.dickinson.edu/cop17durban/2012/01/continued-press-interest-on-durbans-outcomes/?action=lostpassword | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947006 | 442 | 1.742188 | 2 |
I’ve been thinking about why the numbers that are typically bandied about in policy circles (at least that I’m familiar with) have so little impact on the overall general and blogosphere debate (see some examples here and here). I think it’s part ideological, and part methodological. I can’t do much about the first (e.g., tax cuts good, spending on goods and services bad — unless on defense; or alternatively “let the market adjust no matter how long it takes”). But at least I can lay out why reasons why there is disagreement on the size of the multipliers.
I leave aside the “timely” issue, since others have discussed it , and I think it less relevant given the likely extended duration of this recession, and the time-pattern of stimulus, as depicted in Figure 1 reproduced from this post.
Figure 1: Estimated spending and tax revenue reductions, per fiscal year, embodied in HR 1. Shaded areas pertain to spending occurring outside of the 20 month time frame. Source: CBO, Cost Estimate of HR 1 (January 27, 2009).The starting point in the analysis is to realize that there are three key ways in which to obtain “multipliersâ€.
- Estimation of structural macroeconometric models, with identification a la the Cowles Commission approach.
- Calibration of microfounded models (including real business cycle models, and New Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models).
- Estimation of vector autoregressions (VARs) and associated impulse-response functions, with identification achieved by a variety of means.
Traditional macroeconometric models. Most of the estimates I have cited are based upon the first approach. One estimates a model with many equations, including the components of aggregate demand (C, I, G, X, M), supply side (price setting, wage setting), and potential GDP. The framework most popular in policy circles is one that might be characterized as “the neoclassical synthesis”, wherein wherein prices are sticky in the short run, and perfectly flexible in the long run. The OECD Interlink model is of this nature, as is Macroeconomic Advisers’ model. The latter was the standard off the shelf model referred to at CEA when I was on staff in 2000-01. The Fed’s FRB US model also falls in this camp. Now even within this category, there is a wide diversity of specifications in terms of the number of equations, level of disaggregation, lag length, what variables are included in each equation, etc. For instance, in the consumption function, how many lags of disposable income, is wealth included, is wealth disaggregated into housing and non-housing wealth? Does one explain aggregate consumption, or durables, nondurables and services consumption? People who blithely argue for or against a given specification with certitude are likely to have never had to face these choices. They’re hard!
Perhaps the key dividing line is between models that incorporate adaptive expectations (operationally, include lags, perhaps imposing a functional form on the lag structure) and using model consistent expectations (i.e., the equations incorporate expectations of future variables, and those expectated values are calculated in a manner consistent with the model). John Taylor was a leader in incorporating model consistent expectations in macro models (as laid out in his 1993 book.
A key reason for the academic disenchantment with these types of models included the view that the identification schemes used were untenable (e.g., why is income in the consumption function but not in the investment?). Another source is the combined impact of the inflationary 1960′s and 1970′s, and the Lucas Critique. On the latter point, I’d point out that unless policy changes are really massive, the Lucas Critique (a.k.a. Econometric Policy Evaluation Critique) isn’t really relevant(see ).
Models with micro-foundations in general equilibrium Micro-founded models are often associated with real business cycle models. However, the association is not one-for-one. It’s true the early real business cycle models worked off of utility functions and production functions. But the modern generation of dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models in the new Keynesian mode incorporate microfoundations as well (utility functions, production functions, investment functions, etc.) but also incorporate rigidities such as price stickiness. Purists will say everything has to be microfounded. Well, that’s a matter of taste, but the fact of the matter is that it’s very hard to calibrate simple real business cycle models without rigidities to match the moments of actual real world data, even after the data’s been HP-filtered (I’m sure this blanket statement will get me in trouble, but I think that that’s a fair assessment). So DSGEs do better at mimicking real data, especially after numerous rigidities are incorporated. In the earliest incarnation of the Fed’s Sigma model, for instance, there are rule of thumb consumers (shades of Campbell-Mankiw!). For a survey of how DSGEs have been incorporated into policy analysis, see the survey by UW PhD Camilo Tovar.
It’s useful at this point to ask how are these models calibrated? For the deep parameters (intertemporal rate of substitution, for instance), one can rely upon some estimates — then pick the one that you like (and is in the range of estimates). Oftentime, the combination of parameter values is selected to mimic the time series properties of actual (filtered) data. So say one believes one should not appeal to ad hoc Keynesian models. It’s not clear that RBCs or DSGEs get you away from the problem that one has to appeal to the data to get multipliers since the models are calibrated to mimic real world data. In other words, while the theoretical bases of the models may differ, and important insights can be gleaned from these models (e.g., distinctions between temporary and permanent changes), the differences in terms of multipliers might not be as big as one might think.
VARs Vector autoregressions are regressions of multiple variables on lags of themselves. The underlying shocks can be identified by putting them in a recursive ordering (called a Cholesky decomposition), or using restrictions based on theory (say, money has no contemporaneous impact on prices; or money has no impact on output in the long run). VARs were initially proposed as a way of getting around “incredible identifying assumptions”, in the Cowles Commission approach to econometrics embodied in the old style macroeconometric models. But of course, people can disagree about which restrictions make the most economic sense. (For instance money is neutral in the long run seems natural, but not all theoretical models have that implication.)
The much cited Romer and Romer model of fiscal policy impacts is a particular sort of VAR, in which only one equation is focused on, and extra-model information is used to identify exogenous tax changes (remember, they don’t analyze government spending changes). (It’s an autoregression in log GDP, to the extent that the dependent variable is log first differenced GDP).
A good summary of where these types of fiscal multipliers come from was in Box 2.1 in Chaper 2 of the April 2008 World Economic Outlook.
My bottom line There are indeed a wide variety of estimates regarding the size of multipliers. Different models — and assumptions within those model categories — lead to different estimates. It’s important to understand the underpinnings of those estimates (and this is where many of the people who cited the Romer and Romer study went wrong). Hence, one has to have an understanding of the very complicated models before taking strong stands in favor of one estime over another.
In my experience, as far as policy organizations such as central banks, government agencies and multilateral agencies go, reference is made to a number of models. Their assessments of multiplier magnitudes will then reflect some weighting of the various model predictions. That is why I will put more wieght upon assessments by organizations (that have to make decisions upon these judgments) than a single academic study, regardless of how well I respect the academics involved (and sometimes, these academics are working outside their area of research expertise…)
As an aside, here are the impacts of various fiscal experiments in response to a negative shock in a DSGE developed by the IMF:
Figure 1: Figure from Box 2.1 in Chaper 2 of the April 2008 World Economic Outlook.
“Expansion through transfers is defined as a one percentage point increase in debt-financed transfers in year one and 0.5 percentage point in year two. Expansion through labor tax cuts is defined as a reduction in the labor income tax rate by 1.5 and 0.75 percentage points in year one and year two. Expansion through government investment is defined as a combination of higher transfers and an increase in productive government investment by 0.25 and 0.125 percent of GDP in year one and year two.”
Notice that the public investment shows the biggest impact, while under the base assumptions the impact of transfers and tax cuts are about the same.
Originally published at Econbrowser and reproduced here with the author’s permission.
Comments are closed. | <urn:uuid:c2205f01-ffde-40fb-80e4-9727f624f097> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.economonitor.com/blog/2009/02/why-cant-we-all-just-get-along-the-great-multiplier-debate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943682 | 1,985 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Last week I attended the Anti-Defamation League’s 2010 No Place for Hate Luncheon as a member of the press. Cantor David Serkin-Poole — a married gay man, a father, a faith leader and advocate for people with special needs — was being honored with ADL Pacific Northwest’s 2010 Cal Anderson Civil Rights Advocacy Award. Cal Anderson was the first out gay legislator in Washington and a community leader taken too soon by AIDS (more on this later).
On my way into the event I found the three men pictured right waiting outside the door of the venue, the Seattle Sheraton. I found their presence ironic. They provided a timely confirmation of the need for anti-defamation organizations and are helping to insure the ongoing existence of ADL, which they hate. The joke was on them that day.The irony aside, I naively hadn’t anticipated this kind of greeting, which by the end of the luncheon included an additional four small men in crisp paramilitary National Socialist Movement uniforms. I’m thoroughly accustomed to anti-gay religious-right protesters, but they aim their threats at the soul. It was jolting to be confronted by the threat of violence these men represented.
A lifetime of stories from Jewish family and friends have made me quite aware of anti-Semitic bias. However, this encounter made me realize that I’ve never before experienced the personal threat of it.
For a single lunch hour I stepped outside the LGBT sphere and into the overlapping Jewish sphere. And into the overlapping African-American sphere as well. Although the protesters were aiming their words at Jews that day, African-Americans are another of their obsessions.
I made this last photo the largest because the two men on the right are my heroes. They were just two young hometown-proud guys who happened to be walking by and stopped long enough to inform the protesters that Seattle is a city about love, not hate.
This was a brief “through their eyes” moment for me. I am grateful that my field of vision now has a tiny bit more depth. Do you have a story of insights gained through feeling the immediacy of bias aimed at other minorities? Please share it in the comments. | <urn:uuid:1ff4cc15-0410-450b-81dc-914b85c004d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/2010/11/11/visiting-the-bigotry-leveled-at-my-friends/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976613 | 458 | 1.71875 | 2 |
But what is one to say to an act of destructive ferocity so absurd as to be incomprehensible, inexplicable, almost unthinkable; in fact, mad? Madness alone is truly terrifying, inasmuch as you cannot placate it either by threats, persuasion, or bribes.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the quote above was from a recent op-ed piece concerning terrorism and the perils of the world we live in. But in fact it is from the disturbing Mr. Vladimir who is a character in The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad.
Does the book title sound vaguely familiar? Perhaps you remember it from an old course syllabus or being mentioned by a friend. In fact, it fits perfectly into our latest series titled Books You Have Always Meant to Read and is the next title to be discussed on Tuesday, April 24th at the Main Library auditorium starting at 7 pm.
Everett Community College professor Roger Berger will lead the discussion of Conrad’s absurd and dark tale of anarchists, revolutionaries and the hapless Mr. Verloc as he attempts to create a “series of outrages” against the status quo.
If you feel inspired by the discussion and want to learn more, definitely take a look at our resources on the author and his works. Perhaps even some information on Greenwich Observatory which, thankfully, still stands… | <urn:uuid:f6bbc9b5-324a-4c61-ac41-decb8bb64724> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://areadinglife.com/2012/04/23/books-you-have-always-meant-to-read-the-secret-agent/ | 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 | 0.950846 | 274 | 1.664063 | 2 |
The Powerball Winners Are From Arizona and Missouri, But Really We All Gained Something
The Powerball thing is over! The winner: all of us, because quasi-depressing conversations involving otherwise rational citizens concerning “what would happen, just like in theory, no I know it’s stupid, but like, if I actually did win, is that I’d give you like a million, but definitely not half, are you crazy?” are expected to drop off considerably.
The “winner” winners, that is, he/she/they of the second-largest U.S. lottery drawing ever are the as-yet-to-be-identified holder(s) of a ticket in Arizona and a ticket in Missouri! Mazel tov, as-yet-to-be-identified holder(s) of a ticket in Arizona and a ticket in Missouri! “Mazel tov” means “congratulations,” resident(s) of Arizona and Missouri!
The Associated Press reports: “It was not clear whether the winning tickets belonged to individuals or were purchased by groups. Arizona lottery officials said early Thursday they had no information on that state’s winner or winners but would announce where it was sold Thursday morning. Lottery officials in Missouri did not immediately respond to phone messages and emails seeking comment.” However, a numerological analysis of the winning numbers will surely assist in identifying the winner(s). The lucky digits: 5, 16, 22, 23, 29, with a “Powerball” of 6.
So: the winner is someone born on May 16, with three children, ages 22, 23, and 29. Or: the winner is someone born on May 16, 1922, with mistresses aged 23 and 29. Or: the winner weighs 516 pounds, has a left wrist circumference of 22 inches, a right wrist circumference of 23 inches, and consumed 29 items from Dairy Queen the night of the ticket purchase. Or: the winner has five fingers, 16 toes, 22 self-help books about growing up with eight toes on each foot, 23 signed copies of Twin Peaks DVDs, and 29 cats named Kyle MacLachlan.
Those people can't be that hard to track down—especially that last one. | <urn:uuid:82d60976-c382-41db-9de1-9fdfd9bb12f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2012/11/The-Powerball-Winners-Are-From-Arizona-and-Missouri-But-Really-We-All-Gained-Something | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961974 | 474 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Protected areas as a driving force for the development of the Adriatic area. This is the important theme of "AdriaPAN in Europe": a meeting for all directors, actors, technicians and scientists, involved with Parks, Reserves and Marine Protected Areas of our sea. The network, existing since 2008, is called AdriaPAN (Adriatic Protected Areas Network) and involves more than 30 protected areas of all the countries along the Adriatic sea. On January 31and February 1, 2013 we will meet in San Benedetto del Tronto (AP - Italy) in a workshop entitled "AdriaPAN in Europe-EU programs for the Adriatic Protected Areas: Life+ and more."
When: 11.00 hrs, Saturday 2 Oct 2010 Where: News room, Abruzzo Regional Council (Piazza Unione, Pescara) Press conference about the recognition of the Marine Protected Area “Torre del Cerrano” as a SIC site (Site of Community Importance).
On 23 and 24 September 2010, the ancient tower “Torre di Cerrano” will be the venue for the event “The Park of Tomorrow”: workshops, conferences and proposals for the Marine Protected Area, and finally a dinner party in the Tower.
“Torre di Cerrano” is a beautiful tower located in the heart of the Marine Protected Area. It has been overlooking the Adriatic coastal landscape since the XVI century. When coming back home from a journey, how often have we seen its profile and, at the same moment, had the pleasant feeling of being finally at home? Or how often have we looked at it and fantasized about its story? | <urn:uuid:d82ea4b1-29c6-4348-96f1-f6c0d8ff0e15> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.torredelcerrano.it/en/eventi/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947674 | 359 | 1.796875 | 2 |
There are a number of publications that the CI Ecotoursim program has authored or co-authored. We offer these tools, manuals, model project/ factsheets, and publications for working tourism professionals, communities, and other educational purposes. The Center for Environmental Leadership in Business's (CELB) Tourism and Leisure program has also authored and co-authored several publication pieces on tourism. Please feel free to download these free tools and publications.
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These are organizations that fund or partner with small to medium sized enterprises, community groups, or larger businesses on the importance of biodiversity and their strategies on conserving these areas.
These are links to organizations that give general information on tourism, ecotourism and sustainable tourism in the world. There is also information on biodiversity and threatened and endangered species.
The Ecotourism program works with directly and indirectly with a number of CI programs. There are also a host of organizations that CI ecotourism has worked along with a wealth of websites dealing with ecotourism and sustainable tourism. | <urn:uuid:5bd90bb7-06e0-4e27-842e-a9aefe9e464f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.conservation.org/learn/culture/ecotourism/Pages/research.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950868 | 216 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Wed May 2, 2012
Sherlock: A Character Who's More Than Elementary
Originally published on Wed May 2, 2012 11:04 am
One of my favorite professors, the late Ian Watt, taught that there were four great myths of modern individualism: Faust, Don Juan, Don Quixote and Robinson Crusoe. This always got me wondering which, if any, pop-culture heroes might endure in the same way. James Bond? Luke Skywalker? The Avengers? C'mon. In fact, there's only one who I feel sure will last — Sherlock Holmes.
In the 125 years since Arthur Conan Doyle created the world's greatest detective, 75 different actors have played him in the movies, and scads more on TV, not to mention the countless knockoffs like The Mentalist or Mr. Spock, who once claimed Holmes as his ancestor.
We've had him as a teen in Young Sherlock Holmes, as a wise-cracking action star played by Robert Downey Jr., and as a retired beekeeper in Michael Chabon's terrific little novel The Final Solution, where he encounters the crime of the century — The Holocaust. Now he's been updated as a present-day Londoner in Sherlock, the British TV series that offers the best version of Holmes and Dr. Watson I've ever seen.
The obvious reason for Holmes' enduring appeal is that, while he possesses no superpowers — his parents weren't wizards, no radioactive spider bit him — his gifts are cool enough to be superhuman. Playing to our fantasies of being smarter than everyone else, Holmes performs jaw-dropping feats of perception.
Like the one in the first episode of Sherlock: Martin Freeman's Dr. Watson has known Holmes all of 90 seconds when Sherlock, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, talks about renting a flat together — and gives Watson a taste of just who, or maybe what, he's dealing with: an astute observer who picks up intimate details about Watson's personal life seemingly out of thin air. This Holmes is a bit of a showman, one who feels sure that he ought to be mythic.
He's right. Like all mythic figures, Sherlock embodies an archetypal aspect of the human psyche — in his case, the power of rational thought.
"I am a brain," he tells Watson in one story, "the rest of me is mere appendix." And as a brain he is the embodiment of the scientific mind. A relentless empiricist, he not only notices details that ordinary folks don't, but he also treats all of reality — from tobacco ashes to a dog that doesn't bark — as a collection of clues. He puts these clues together to solve baffling crimes, which can involve a pygmy murderer, a poisonous snake or a gigantic hound.
Now, lasting mythic heroes tend to emerge during periods of psychosocial tumult when old values are being threatened by new ones. Holmes came to life in 1887, during the waning years of a Victorian era in which everything from the traditional social order to the belief in God was being subverted. It's no accident that this same period produced three other literary creations who spoke to a sense of chaotic darkness bubbling beneath the surface of things: the blood-drinking Dracula, the murderously schizoid Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and, of course, Peter Pan, who refused to grow up into the complicated world of adulthood. Their mythic power still persists, but mainly as metaphors like the Peter Pan Complex, or in the welter of hip vampires roaming our pop culture.
Sherlock remains Sherlock. Of course, darkness bubbles in Holmes' world, too. If he lacks the tragic dimension of Faust — a fellow thinking machine, but one with ambitions so grand they damn him — he's not a cipher like 007 or Hercule Poirot. His monomaniacal genius borders on sociopathology. It cuts him off from humanity.
He has but one friend, Watson — his Sancho Panza and our surrogate — and but one great love, Irene Adler, whose appearance opens Season 2 of Sherlock with a bang. When he's not solving crimes, boredom and melancholy lead Holmes to the violin — or cocaine.
Yet if Holmes' desire for oblivion hints at the lonely man lurking beneath the brilliant superman, it remains less potent than his sheer joy in asserting rational control over purveyors of chaos like his archenemy, Professor Moriarty. Detective stories are about learning the truth and restoring order. That's their power. And for Holmes, that's also their fun.
Indeed, one reason why Sherlock still feels so fresh is his pleasure in the chase. Never dull nor moralistic, he embodies that part of us that's turned on by a mystery, who when he hears of a murder, feels that special tingle and cries, "Come, Watson, come. The game is afoot!" | <urn:uuid:a1092845-1e3e-4304-8ab9-14f69487be39> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://utahpublicradio.org/post/sherlock-character-whos-more-elementary | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954159 | 1,009 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The Philippines' National Book Development Board (Filipino: Pambansang Lupon sa Pagpapaunlad ng Aklat), abbreviated as NBDB, is an agency of the Philippine government under the Department of Education responsible for developing and supporting the Philippine book publishing industry.
CHED issues priority courses, curbs mismatch in employment
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) bares new set of priority courses for the upcoming school years in tertiary education. The agency gets alarmed with the burgeoning difference between skills of graduates and the available jobs in the market. On Tuesday, CHED has announced to reports of prerogative courses that must be offered to incoming college students.
Recipients of the Commission's Students Financial Assistance Program (StuFAP) will be directed to qualify for these range of courses, as they become pioneer subjects of this new implementation.
CHED Chairperson Dr. Patricia Licuanan spoke about the agency' s decision to release the list of courses to give assurance to students the right skills and expertise they acquire after college.
“In accordance with the pertinent provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1994 (RA 7722), based on the national development plans, manpower demands for School Year 2011-2015 and the Department of Labor and Employment Jobs Fit 2020 Vision and in view of the Commission’s En Banc resolution dated March 14, 2011, the following are the priority courses that shall be followed within the next five years or from School Year 2011-2012 to 2015-2016 where the incoming grantees of the STuFAP will be directed to enroll,” Licuanan said in her memorandum addressed to the Commission’s regional offices.
Among the list of priority courses are Information Technology including IT and Computing Studies, Multi-Media, Animation, Programming, Computer Science, IT Systems Management; Agriculture and Related Fields such as Agro-Forestry, Veterinary Medicine, Agricultural Engineering, Agri-Business Management, Agri-Tech and Fisheries; Engineering and its related specialization like Mechanical, Electronics, Metallurgical, Computer, Biomedical, Geodetic, Electrical Meteorological, Mining and Geological; Health Sciences such as in Pharmacy, Radiological and Medical Technology; Arts and Humanities; Atmospheric Science and Environmental Science; Teacher Education with specialization in Math, Science, Physics, Chemistry, Reading, English, Education Media; Special Education; and Science and Math.
Licaunan also addressed the distribution of enrollees to each course. She said 20 percent should go to Engineering, 15 percent each in Agriculture, Teacher Education and Health Services, 10 percent in IT courses, Science and Math, and 5 percent each in Arts and Humanities, Atmospheric Science and Environmental Science.
Courses considered as “undersubscribed” or with fewer number of enrollees, as CHED has described, are Agriculture, Fisheries and Engineering. In comparison to oversubscribed programs where students usually go to, are IT, Teacher Education, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Business Administration and Nursing.
A Memorandum Order No. 32 was then issued by CHED, banning public and private higher education institutions from offering new undergraduate and graduate programs in the five oversubscribed courses.
Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz supported the issuance of such memorandum as this presents a significant decrease in the enrollment of oversubscribed courses, displaces enrollees to the undersubscribed programs. Baldoz seconded CHED's moratorium correlates Labor Department's programs in providing sufficient and relevant information to students about market employment.
Thus, Kabataan Party List Representative Raymond 'Mong' Palatino insisted that government must change its employment plans in giving quality jobs for our newly graduates.
“In a country where quality jobs are scarce, finding a job will be a real challenge for our new graduates. I urge President Aquino to improve the government’s job plan for our graduates and unveil this plan to the public," Palatino said.
Palatino also stressed that government agencies in charge of employment should arrange new mechanisms in addressing this issue, and go beyond the traditions of conducting career orientation and employment coaching seminar.
The Labor Department has already said last week that it will conduct career-orientation for newly graduates, and encourage them to sign up in various job portals to make themselves accessible to prospect employers. | <urn:uuid:95e300f0-bba4-4c23-88b5-3a6e4afeb46c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.e-turo.org/?q=node/2025 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931964 | 880 | 1.828125 | 2 |
The fleeting fiddlehead fern season is upon us, readers. All across the country, gourmands are eagerly descending upon farmer’s markets, food co-ops, and premium grocers in search of the slightly fuzzy, furled fern tips that taste a bit like asparagus. Cooked properly, the fiddlehead fern is bright green and tender, with a nice crisp bite.
Their name comes from the fact that the tightly coiled ferns resemble the curled end of a fiddle or a violin. Like their namesake, good fiddlehead ferns are expensive, stemming from the high production costs. Fiddlehead ferns are wild-harvested, mostly in the northeastern United States; they’re foraged for, rather than cultivated, and the expansive selection of similar-looking (yet inedible) wild ferns make proper foraging a difficult task requiring expertise. What you want is the ostrich fern tips, but what the inexperienced fern forager might come across is the nearly identical Bracken Fern, which is carcinogenic. So, seeing as how I neither live in the northeast nor do I have access to an “Edible Fern Field Guide,” I figured I’d just buy the ferns at a store. Grok would have disapproved, but whatever.
It turned out to be quite a task. Fiddlehead ferns are only available in any appreciable amount for two to three weeks per year. Before that, the coils haven’t developed yet, and after, the coils have already begun unfurling. A fiddlehead fern must be picked at exactly the right moment. Their quality also degrades quicker than most vegetables, making finding a good fiddlehead fern – especially in a faroff land like Southern California – pretty tough. I went to several farmer’s markets, even one stretching a few Santa Monica blocks that catered to chefs, and found nothing but blank stares. The local Trader Joe’s “had them last year,” but they were dry this year. Finally, having called a few Whole Foods, I found one that had some in stock. I rushed over, worried that I might have to fight for the last few scraps (but happy that I’d be redeemed in Grok’s eyes).
Luckily, there were two huge bins of fiddlehead ferns waiting for me. No resource war required. The quality wasn’t the greatest, certainly not as green or fresh as the ones I remembered eating in New England. Still, these were definitely fiddleheads, and I spent about fifteen minutes picking out the best ones of the bunch.
That reminds me: when you’re choosing fiddleheads, you absolutely want to exert some quality control over the proceedings. These things are expensive – I paid $19.99 per pound – and you should get your money’s worth. The closer you get to the region in which they’re picked, the less distance they have to travel, and the price gets commensurably lower. I was about as far away from the northeast as you could get and still be in the US, so I wasn’t too surprised at the price.
Look for tight coils and a bright, deep green color. Think compact and healthy. You’ll pretty much know it when you see it; just use your innate Grok senses. It’s best to cook them the same day you get them, but they’ll stay reasonably well covered in the fridge (although they will lose flavor rather quickly). Before you do, though, rinse them in cold water several times. Rub them lightly to get all the brown bits off. Do a few rinses until the water runs clear, then cut off any stems longer than two inches (the longer the stem, the more bitter it is).
The basic way to cook fiddleheads is to first blanch and then saute them. Boil some water. Once it’s roiling, toss in your ferns. Let the water return to a boil and set a timer for four minutes. Meanwhile, prepare an ice water bath. After four minutes of roiliing boiling, dunk your ferns into the ice bath. Blanching like this will get the cooking process started without giving up the attractive green color.
Dry your ferns and then toss into a pan with some butter or other Primal fat. Lightly fry them over medium heat for another four to five minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep sampling them as you approach the end; if you don’t cook them long enough, they’ll be bitter, but if you cook them for too long, they’ll be mealy. Once they’re ready, plate them and add a bit of sea salt and ground pepper. Maybe a squeeze of lemon, too. You can enjoy them as is, perhaps alongside some lamb or steak, or you can use them as a larger part of another recipe. In fact, you can usually use fiddlehead ferns in any recipe that calls for asparagus. Experiment with them, but quickly! Fiddlehead fern season is almost over.
I’ll be posting a recipe tomorrow. In the meantime, does anyone else have any experience with fiddlehead ferns?
Subscribe to Mark’s Daily Apple feeds | <urn:uuid:d8ed5aae-6a16-4611-b9b1-cd913b36ad02> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-cook-fiddlehead-ferns/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959922 | 1,133 | 1.679688 | 2 |
What's So Funny About E-Mail Authentication?
I have watched recent developments in the e-mail authentication, reputation and certification debate with some interest. Here at Q Interactive we send a lot of e-mail. Over the years, 45 million people have registered at one of our sites, and 80 percent requested to receive periodic e-mail from us. We also have spent the past year developing e-mail services for The Q Network, our publisher network, which uses registration and behavior data to deliver relevant offers to consumers with their explicit permission and a guarantee of their privacy.
First let me state that any effort to improve the deliverability of e-mail that people have requested to receive is a good thing, and any effort to block e-mail that they have not asked to receive is also a good thing. This is why we have been active supporters of SPF, Sender ID and DomainKeys Identifed Mail. We also were an early supporter of Bonded Sender (now called "Sender Score Certified"), and, though we have reservations about the cost, Goodmail seems to us like another interesting option.
Despite all of these promising open standards, however, glaring issues remain in authentication and certification that the e-mail industry has yet to address. For example, many providers of e-mail services to consumers rely on a blunt instrument to determine the legitimacy of an e-mail sender: the "This is Spam" button, which lets consumers label any e-mail in their inbox as spam with a click of their mouse.
This is Spam?
Though some see this function as a harmless way to address consumer spam concerns, Internet service providers use these consumer clicks to dictate inbox delivery policy. Many ISPs have set thresholds for what percentage of a sender's e-mails can be marked as spam by their consumers before the sender is removed from their whitelist, filtered and/or blocked.
This approach has a few problems. Namely, consumers often are confused about what the "This is Spam" button means. A recent JupiterResearch report found that 67 percent of consumers think clicking "This is Spam" is the same thing as unsubscribing from legitimate e-mail they consented to receive. In our experience, we have found that when surveyed after the fact, nearly 60 percent of consumers who marked one of our e-mails as spam told us they neither wished to unsubscribe nor intended to mark the e-mail as spam.
Less-scrupulous marketers get around ISP thresholds by rotating domains, switching IP ranges and changing "from" lines, while those of us who play by the rules, follow the laws and adhere to best practices are left to take the brunt of the policy. A full 60 percent of companies reported that such erroneous spam filters have harmed their e-mail campaigns, according to a separate JupiterResearch report.
What I find just as problematic - and most ironic - about the reputation and certification debate is that legislative and corporate initiatives have left a giant hole for non-permission-based marketers (spammers) to drive through. Nothing stops providers from getting a consumer to agree to receive "offers from third parties" and then selling those e-mail addresses to anyone who will buy them. In fact, this practice is specifically sanctioned by the following CAN-SPAM legislation passage that discusses affirmative consent:
"...if the message is from a party other than the party to which the recipient communicated such consent, the recipient was given clear and conspicuous notice at the time the consent was communicated that the recipient's electronic mail address could be transferred to such other party for the purpose of initiating commercial electronic mail messages."
This is where faux permission starts and the roach motel of e-mail marketing begins: Consumers "opt in" but they can't opt out because they have no idea which companies purchased their information and then turned around and resold it to even more companies.
This loophole lets third parties legally buy e-mail addresses and mail to them when the consumer has never heard of their company and never opted in to receive e-mails from them - while still claiming to be "opt in" compliant. Sending e-mail from a brand or company that the consumer has not given consent to sounds to me like unsolicited e-mail - the essence of spam.
What truly mystifies me is that several e-mail providers have raised more than $100 million in venture capital funds from prominent venture capital firms even though they send unsolicited e-mail to consumers who have not provided direct, affirmative and specific consent. I just don't believe it is OK for consumers to receive e-mail from a sender where the "friendly from" and return e-mail address are unknown to them.
Though authentication and reputation are vital, I suggest that the industry would be well served to address the weaknesses in how consumers report spam and how some prominent third-party e-mailers abuse the concept of permission and stretch the meaning of "opt in." | <urn:uuid:17b0bb83-0dee-415e-a364-d3ff34b7e41f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dmnews.com/whats-so-funny-about-e-mail-authentication/article/91269/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968953 | 1,011 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Tim Mosenfelder: "Nine Inch Nails performed on the main stage at Lollapalooza in 1991 at Shoreline Amphitheatre. I remember Trent wrapping the microphone cord tightly around himself and intensely singing. Covering the set was somewhat difficult due to Trent and the band's erratic movement, and I remember having to step back for safety at one point. The freshmen crop of bands from Lollapalooza 1991 became legends in their own right."
Entertainment industry players including Trent Reznor, Amanda Palmer and OK Go have written and published an open letter to Washington expressing their concerns about SOPA/PIPA, the pending Congressional bills that would give the government and corporations the ability to shut down web addresses that contain copyright infringements. The letter--which also bears the signatures of producer Hank Shocklee, comedian Aziz Ansari, author Neil Gaiman, and filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman--was published on Stop the Wall, a website created by Engine, an advocacy group for small technology businesses.
An excerpt from the letter:
"As creative professionals, we experience copyright infringement on a very personal level. Commercial piracy is deeply unfair and pervasive leaks of unreleased films and music regularly interfere with the integrity of our creations. We are grateful for the measures policymakers have enacted to protect our works.
We, along with the rest of society, have benefited immensely from a free and open Internet. It allows us to connect with our fans and reach new audiences. Using social media services like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, we can communicate directly with millions of fans and interact with them in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago."
As website blackouts persist today in opposition to the legislation, with major sites across the Web following in the footsteps of Wikipedia and Google, the artistic community's participation has been growing exponentially over the past few days. Although the bills are being presented in Congress as a means to protect the creative rights of artists, musicians like Peter Gabriel and MC Hammer have also added their voices to the Internet-wide protest.
Gabriel, one of the first artists to declare solidarity with the opponents of SOPA/ PIPA, has blacked out his personal website for the day, leaving a message that reads, "This year is going to be a very crucial year for the fate of digital rights and freedoms on the Internet. We strongly support the campaign against both the Protect IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act. For that reason our website will be down today in support of the campaign."
Even independent-label artists have spoken out, despite a writ published by indie label advocacy group A2IM (the American Association of Independent Music) that indicated its support of the bills' intentions (if not outright the bills themselves). Radiohead has posted an Anti-PIPA bar across the top of their site, while indie duo Wye Oak directed fans towards opposition petitions.
Hip-hop and electronic artists from all over the map voiced their opposition as well. Rapper MC Hammer has been posting anti-SOPA messages on Twitter throughout the day as well, tweeting, "[This is a] terrible bill for writers, vloggers, artists, and musicians! #BlackoutSOPA." MC Hammer was one of the first artists to use the Blackout SOPA profile picture-changing service and encouraged others to do the same. Theophilus London, the Roots' Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, A-Trak and Benny Benassi have tweeted their opposition to the bills, as well.
This morning, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), co-sponsor of the anti-piracy bills, released a statement via Facebook officially withdrawing his support of both. In response, American techno pioneer Moby tweeted, "I'm glad the Internet piracy acts seem to have been defeated. Even Marco Rubio sounded surprisingly sane today." | <urn:uuid:d7ed92b9-03b9-4b6d-83ec-df21ab75b0e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/511175/trent-reznor-amanda-palmer-ok-go-among-artists-cosigning-anti-sopapipa-open | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957081 | 786 | 1.8125 | 2 |
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Once again, the results of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) /Ernst & Young annual global infrastructure report don’t look good for America. According to the document, “The United States notably continues to lag its global competition—laboring without a national infrastructure plan, lacking political consensus, and contending with severe federal, state, and local budget deficits that limit options.” The end of the federal stimulus package in 2013 makes the picture even bleaker. “The stimulus helped, but it was only a down payment on what’s needed,” said Ernst & Young Global Real Estate Leader Howard Roth at a recent ULI meeting in Phoenix.
There are solutions, according to Roth. Among them the U.S. needs to “put in place a national infrastructure strategy rather than take a piecemeal approach.” Congress must authorize the next surface transportation bill which is long overdue, regional transportation planning needs to be better coordinated and the country “must make itself a preferred market for institutional investment capital by encouraging private investment.”
Maureen McAvey, executive vice president at ULI, said we’re entering an “era of less” in which the political reality opposes new taxes, tolls, and user fees (for instance, the gas tax has not been increased in 18 years). Faced with declining sales tax revenue and less federal support, projects across the nation are stalling and transit systems–which can’t legally run a deficit–are cutting back service.
With an expected annual increase in population of three million people over the next several decades, McAvey points to regional cooperation as one way forward. She noted that when ballot measures to fund transportation projects are presented to the public, they are overwhelmingly passed (on average, 71% over the past decade). Such measures usually call for a self-imposed sales tax increase or bond measure.
Another funding mechanism expected to play an increased role in the future is the public-private partnership (PPP), said Jay Zukerman, U.S. Infrastructure Leader at Ernst & Young. Pointing to projects such as a $7.2 billion highway in Dallas and a light rail line in Denver, Zukerman said PPP’s can be a valuable tool. He cautioned that PPPs “generate alternative financing, but don’t grow the revenue pie,” so they are not a substitute for sound infrastructure policy.
Roth continued, “China, India, and Brazil have all embarked upon strategic infrastructure programs and will invest about $1 trillion each over the next three to five years in high speed rail, new highways, toll roads, and urban transit.” All agreed it will be vastly important for the United States to develop an infrastructure plan and then implement it for the nation to remain competitive in the future. | <urn:uuid:35ed3114-83db-41d2-9ba6-49caebb0019e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/17413 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939332 | 647 | 1.578125 | 2 |
UN: Yet Another “Climate Change Disaster” Report Based on Bogus Data
Just days after the vice-chair of the United Nation’s “Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change” admitted their claim Himalayan glaciers would completely disappear by 2035 was completely falsified, the panel has been caught — yet again — making alarmist claims based on admittedly false data.
This time it’s the famous U.N. report claiming supposed “man-made climate change” was giving birth to a rise in the number and severity of floods and hurricanes. Data like this is often cited by radical environmentalists as a reason to hurry up and pass Cap and Tax legislation without delay or debate.
One problem, however. According to London’s Sunday Times:
That utter lack of any truth has not stopped Gang Green from using the admittedly fake report as the basis for their arguments in favor of Cap and Trade. The “report” was also the centerpiece of negotiations for global restrictions on economic activity last month in Copenhagen.
Basing U.S. economic policy on report after report which authors have admitted are false is a lot like writing building codes based on whether Santa can land on the roof and make it down the chimney.
As more and more scientists step forward and admit the supposed “settled science” is based entirely on self-described “tricks,” reports no one can find any information for and reports that were cited as fact even though the authors withdrew them because they found errors, radical environmentalists are stepping up the pressure on the United States Senate to rush to a vote on Cap and Trade legislation.
Projected to send utility bills skyrocketing and eliminate as many as 2.5 million Americans jobs each year, environmentalists want this economy-killing scheme passed before the curtain is pulled back anymore on the intricate hoax that is “the science of man-made global warming.” They remember what happened in the 1970s when the “settled science” of “the population bomb that will eliminate the human species by 2000″ was discovered to be a hoax as well.
They view America’s economy as too big. They don’t think it’s “fair” that Americans have an economy more prosperous than others. “Cap and Tax” is intended to correct that.
But some senators are still wavering. They don’t want to cross Gang Green and their multi-million dollar campaign accounts. Some are still considering helping pass Cap and Tax.
Are your senators willing to rush to a vote on a job-slaughtering Cap and Tax bill, even has more and more “climate change researchers” are stepping forward and admitting they simply made stuff up?
Call them at 202-224-3121 and tell them to oppose Cap and Tax.
Join ATP, Stop Gang Green!
American Tradition Partnership (ATP) is a no-compromise grassroots organization dedicated to fighting the radical environmentalist agenda. We support responsible development of natural resources and rational land use and management policies. Only together can we protect access, private property rights, and affordable energy for all Americans! | <urn:uuid:12c5f41f-1f15-4e59-981d-beb28e1a1c90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://americantradition.org/un-admits-yet-another-climate-change-disaster-report-based-on-bogus-data/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957519 | 658 | 1.820313 | 2 |
by Rod O'Driscoll
For many years, I have had a passion in collecting, very often in explaining my passion to non-collectors, they just don’t understand. I will always be a collector at heart and it has given me many thousands of hours of enjoyment and peace. A few reasons I collect:
- My main reason for collecting is that its my hobby, I find it fun and a great stress free way to spend some time. With the manic pace that life has some times, its a great way to temporarily get off the speeding bus we call life and just enjoy some peace and quiet in studying your craft.
- I also collect coins and bullion as an investment, which holds true for other collectibles as well. There is something to be said for being able to hold your investment in your hands. Once you hold a bar of gold or silver in your hands, holding a quarterly RRSP statement just doesn’t compare anymore. When looking at the performance of gold and silver over time, they perform really well. I often have had people come to me and sell their gold who made more than $800 an ounce profit. To see this, we only need look back at historical prices of gold, in 1968 the average price of gold was $38.69 an ounce, in 1974 it was $159.26 an ounce, in April of 2001 it was $260 and in October 2010 it was at $1370. Collector coins are a good investment as well (although I don’t recommend mint products). When collecting coins, I always say, buy the book before the coin – in other words educate yourself first.
- Collecting and dealing is like being a treasure hunter every day. You never know when that ultra rare item will walk in the door. We have purchased and discovered items which up to that point were unknown which is quite exciting.
- Collecting to celebrate art. Many coins, comics, stamps etc . are fantastic pieces of art which have been created by masterful craft persons. One collector once indicated to me that his collection was indeed a miniature art collection.
- Collecting as a way to study history and geography. Collectibles often tell a unique story. As a child I found collecting a great way to educate myself about significant historical events. The history of the world has been documented in many different types of collectible and can be quite enjoyable to the history buff. One need only hold an item that is 300 years old and wonder for a few minutes about where that item has been over that long period of time to get a sense of its history.
- Camaraderie and fellowship are something that most collectors indicate as a great part of their hobby. Many friendships have been formed by collectors who share common interests and passions.
- Collecting can often give one a sense of accomplishment, its a great feeling to be able to complete a collection after years of trying to find that elusive piece.
- Significance. There is a type of prestige in collecting rare items. For instance, coin collecting which is one of the oldest hobbies was once only practiced by Kings and the wealthy. Thats why coin collecting is often called the “Hobby of Kings”
- Hobbies can be as expensive or as inexpensive as you want. While there are those who collect items that are literally free, there are also those who only want the best. Some of these people are the one’s who paid $3,737,500 for an 1804 USA silver dollar in April of 2008, or the ones who paid, $657,000 for a Babe Ruth Jersey, or $1,075,500 for a Detective Comics, Comic book in February, 2010. Then there is of course the art market which is the highest price of all collectibles. In the History of art, many individual pieces have sold for in excess of $100 million with the top selling piece being one by American painter Jackson Pollock which fetched over $140 million!!! On the other side, coins which you might think very valuable can be attained very cheaply for instance a copper coin from the Ming Dynasty can be easily purchased for $20 depending on its condition.
- Finally, collecting is a nice way to leave a legacy to your children and family. Many people collect items so they can pass them on to their children so they can be a family treasure for years to come. They see it as a way of preserving their heritage. With the high prices of silver and gold many collectible items are being melted for the bullion value never to be seen again. | <urn:uuid:7dfee147-b19f-4bcb-bc26-2635a5814cce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eastcoastcoins.ca/learn-coin-value/why-collect-coins | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980603 | 938 | 1.515625 | 2 |
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