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THE BRAZEN CAREERIST- Childish truths: Your young self knew you best
Do you want to know what you should do right now? Do you want to know what your best bet is for your next career? Look at what you were doing when you were a kid. Nothing changes when you grow up except that you get clouded vision from thinking about what you should do– to be rich, or successful, or to please your parents or peers– the possibilities for you should be endless.
When I was a kid, my brother and I went to Hebrew school every Tuesday and Thursday. It didn't take me long to realize that the classes were absurd. Parents didn't make you do your homework, and teachers just kept teaching the same thing week after week. At some point I realized that all kids would get bar or bat mitzvahs as long as we showed up on a regular basis. So I stopped paying attention.
Except for the best class ever. That was the class when my teacher told us to close our books while she described her time in Auschwitz. She talked in a thicker German accent than usual. And she showed us the number the Nazis tattooed on her arm. I remember every second of her story.
The second best day of Hebrew school was when I persuaded my younger brother to cut class with me. I had to sell him on the idea: first, that we wouldn't get caught. (I had a plan to be back in time for us to walk to the parking lot with the other kids.) Second I had to persuade him that we would have a good time. (I brought money to buy ice cream at the store five blocks away.)
He was really not happy about the idea. He kept telling me it wasn't so bad to go to Hebrew school– it was over in an hour, and in that one hour you could ask to go to the bathroom two times.
This is what's true about me from my Hebrew school story: I have no patience for group learning. I love a good story. I enjoy trying to persuade people to see things my way.
I'm a risk taker.
And all those things are still true of me today. That's why I think that you can figure out who you are and what you should be doing by telling yourself the stories of your childhood. In fact, in almost every story I can think of, I'm trying to convince someone to do things my way.
Here's another thing you can do to figure out what you should do with your life: close your eyes and think of a great memory of childhood... Do you have it?
In my own haphazard experiences doing this exercise, I can always learn something from the moment I pick. The first time I did it, I thought of playing in my grandparents' huge front yard. Of course, I was telling all my younger cousins what to do. Probably telling them why croquet was a great idea and I was going first.
But the bigger thing I learn from the story is that I'm connected to space and nature and running around. All still true for me now, but it took me years of living in big cities before I could figure that out.
It's nearly impossible to eradicate our life of "shoulds" because we all want to make the right decisions. But I think I could have figured out right decisions for me a lot faster if I had realized how much we reveal about our true selves when we're young. | <urn:uuid:4d37942d-1f6b-4dfe-a03f-7bc76bc7270e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.readthehook.com/82232/brazen-careerist-childish-truths-your-young-self-knew-you-best?quicktabs_1=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985976 | 714 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Trans Day of Remembrance: Thoughts on the Erasure of Trans Women & Sex Work
Today is observed by many as the Transgender Day of Remembrance. In her article, Undoing Theory Viviane Namaste explains this day as “ an annual occasion to take stock of the violence to which trans people are subjected. Taking place in the United States and internationally, activists organize candlelight vigils, political rallies, and social activities as a way to recognize and denounce this violence” (2009, p. 16). This is a sad day for me, and for so many. This morning, Jlux and I lit a yahrzeit (memorial) candle that will burn for a full day. We said some words and held some silence together to start off our day. We talked a bit afterwards and I want to share some thoughts that emerged from our discussion this morning. I think it is important for us to remember those who have been killed, while also bringing to light the gendered, raced and classed contours of the violence that trans people face.
The fact that many of the people who are murdered are trans women of color who engage in sex work is a very important aspect of TDOR and transgender violence that we often gloss over. It is important to remember that often white ‘western’ queer communities erase the experiences of trans women and people of color. And erase them and erase them and erase them. When it comes to TDOR, trans women who are engaging in sex work consist of a disproportionate amount of murdered trans* people. Namaste cites Mirha-Soleil Ross:
Not only are most of the trans people murdered sex workers but they are nearly 100 per cent male-to-females. And that very crucial aspect is completely erased when people frame the issue as one of ‘‘violence against transgender people.’’ This is … an issue of violence against transsexual women and against male-to-female transvestites who are mostly prostitutes…the fact that MTFs are the ones who are almost exclusively attacked and killed is something that needs to be pointed out. (cited in Namaste 2005b, 92–93)
Namaste notes that “transsexual women age with the unsettling knowledge that many of us—often, most of us—do not live to be forty years old. Every day, transsexual women see our work, lives, community organizing, and even personal relationships criminalized through an invocation of prostitution laws” (p. 29).
This information makes visible the need for us to continue to be in solidarity with the trans women and sex workers in our lives and in the world. We must acknowledge that this violence was caused in part by the unsafe conditions produced by the criminalization of sex work (or certain aspects of sex work *). If our government(s) won’t make sex work safer, we can fight to move things along. The criminalization of sex work, or acts surrounding sex work makes this livelihood one that is very dangerous for some people. We must destigmatize sex work, and acknowledge that those who engage in sex work should be able to make their own informed choices about their work.
There are so many ways to get involved, and so many ways to support trans folks, POC, and sex workers. I think it is important to highlight sex work as part of this because ignoring it means that we don’t have to see it as part of the solution to ending violence against trans people. I hope that some of you will sort through these resources, seek out resources of your own, and think about the different ways you can take action.
Go to this library for resources that address some of the intersections between sex work and colonialism, migration, Indigenous workers, trans sex workers and more!
* In Canada sex work is not illegal, but things like the public communication surrounding it are, which basically defeats the whole purpose and makes things unsafe for sex workers.
Food for thought on TDOR and every day. | <urn:uuid:60e609ea-9da1-4fa2-acf7-c4265ce961ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tangledupinlace.tumblr.com/tagged/trans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967349 | 824 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Should parents get prison for child’s python death?by Opinion Staff
Should parents get prison for child’s python death?
A jury on Thursday convicted Charles “Jason” Darnell and Jaren Hare of manslaughter, third-degree murder and child-neglect charges in the death of their 2-year-old daughter, Shaianna, who was killed two years ago when the family’s pet python escaped from its cage and strangled and bit the girl to death.
They each face 35 years in prison.
This case raises an issue that is similar to possible punishments when children die after being accidentally left in sweltering cars or finding an improperly stored firearm.
Some people say the devastating loss of a child is sufficient punishment. Sending them to prison would serve no purpose.
Others say extreme irresponsibility requires more punishment. Shaianna, for example, died after the python escaped from an aquarium covered only with a quilt.
And this wasn’t just a horrible one-time lapse, like leaving a child in a locked car. The child’s grandmother had warned them about the snake.
In such cases, sending the parents to prison could be a warning to others.
What do you think? Should the parents go to prison? Take our poll. | <urn:uuid:351453c8-056b-4c27-ab50-8838bc9a1f85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/opinionzone/2011/07/15/should-parents-get-prison-for-child%e2%80%99s-python-death/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941725 | 271 | 1.648438 | 2 |
When you hear the phrase learning center, do you immediately flash back to elementary school and the small areas in the classroom where students could go to explore a topic of interest? Those learning centers were places where students could find a variety of materials that introduced new ideas or reinforced learning. Our learning center was built based on the same goal as the learning stations of our youth - to provide people with a single location they can go to learn more about a technology or concept. This secure area was created just for our clients and houses a collection of documentation such as instructions in print and video form, white papers, and best practice information.
Enter your login below to find the support materials you need. | <urn:uuid:c1c16d9e-fd9f-4daf-a3c8-82ece38a51aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wte.net/Tools/Learning-Center.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fTools%2fLearning-Center%2fLearning-Index%2fAgileMail-Pro.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971851 | 137 | 1.820313 | 2 |
The American Bar Association's initial efforts to collect and then eventually publish more robust data on post J.D. employment and job placement data are falling far short in some cases. That conclusion is based on an examination of the American Bar Association 2011 Annual Questionnaire's new questions on employment and salaries, which is the required survey that ABA accredited law schools have to fill out each year. The data that the ABA is currently collecting is for the J.D. graduating class of 2010. These new questions are the ABA's first effort to significantly improve the accuracy, transparency, and usefulness of law placement data.
[Read U.S. News's stance about law school employment data standards.]
The ABA's new placement questions are lagging on what is still needed, based on a July 27 ABA memo on Reporting Placement Data on Annual Questionnaire.
1. The ABA says it will not publish school specific salary data, but instead will publish salaries by state and region not linked to the performance of any school. These state and region results are not limited to the data from any particular law school. Prospective students want to know the average salaries of the graduates from each law school as part of being able to determine the economic viability of earning a J.D. degree from that school. The ABA should have the power to get law schools to report accurate salary data on a school-by-school basis and should trust law students to be able to understand the meaning and limits of such data.
2. In terms of employment data, the ABA is currently not asking law schools to report to them whether a graduate's job is full time or part time or whether a new J.D. graduate's job requires bar passage, whether a J.D. is preferred, or whether the job is a nonprofessional one. This is vital information that prospective students and current students need to be able to make a truly realistic assessment about the job prospects of graduates at each law school. Without it students can't determine the likelihood that their new J.D. degree will get them a full-time job in the legal field or a part-time position or a job where going to law school didn't matter. The ABA says it will add these questions for the class of 2011 graduates, but not for the 2010 graduates.
The ABA is going in the right direction in some areas:
1. The new questions do ask law schools to break down the status of whether each graduate is working in a position that is short term (which has a definite term of less than one year) or long term, that has a definite term of longer than one year. This means that for the first time, short-term and long-term employment will be unbundled.
2. For the first time law schools will have to report whether students have jobs that are law school funded. A job is law school funded, according to the ABA, if the law school or university is directly or indirectly paying for any part of the position. This is very important to know since it will show how many new J.D. grads are getting jobs in the real world.
U.S. News will collect the new ABA questions in fall 2011 and early 2012 for 2010 graduates. In addition, we are studying the possibility of asking the questions that the ABA is not asking in terms of full-time and part-time employment and J.D. required job or non-J.D. required job. U.S. News will continue to publish salaries on a school-by-school basis. There is some likelihood we will use this new jobs data to change the methodology used to calculate employment rates for the 2013 edition of the Best Law Schools rankings, to be published in 2012. Until U.S. News finishes collecting the new data, we are unable to specify how the methodology will change.
Searching for a law school? Get our complete rankings of Best Law Schools. | <urn:uuid:1a8a7065-03ed-4b3a-ac95-920453fe2acd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2011/09/01/aba-falls-short-in-efforts-to-improve-law-school-placement-data | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956949 | 811 | 1.5625 | 2 |
James Holmes' student ID photo
(CNN) -- Nuggets of information about alleged gunman James Holmes began emerging Friday, but a clear picture of the 24-year-old and what may have motivated him remain elusive.
Eyewitness accounts describe the shooter who entered a packed movie theater as being dressed all in black, a bulletproof vest around his frame, and what appeared to be a gas mask.
Pictures: Dark Knight shooting scene
Gallery: Tweets, real time social media from Dark Knight shooting scene *warning, VERY GRAPHIC content*
The witnesses saw the attacker throw two canisters -- possibly tear gas -- before opening fire on the crowd. He did not say a word, one witness said.
Police arrested Holmes in a rear parking lot of the theater. He did not resist.
It turns out that Holmes, who has roots in San Diego, was student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora. He was in the process of withdrawing at the time of the shooting, university officials said. He was a doctoral student in the neuroscience program.
A college syllabus that lists Holmes as a student shows that he may have taken a class in which he studied topics as diverse as substance abuse, schizophrenia, depression and other disorders.
According to the document, he was supposed to have made a presentation in May about microRNA biomarkers.
Holmes had enrolled at the university in June 2011.
Police also revealed that Holmes lived in a small apartment on Paris Street in Aurora, in Apartment 10.
Donald Robert Davis, 52, lived in Apartment 10 for about two years before moving out about a year ago. He described it as an approximately 850-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment with one bathroom for which he paid $525 per month, not including utilities.
On Friday, authorities evacuated the entire apartment building after Holmes made a "statement about explosives" to police, Chief Daniel Oates said.
A neighbor who lives one floor underneath Holmes, Tori Lynn Everhart, described the apartments this way: "It's not like true ghetto. It's not the safest neighborhood, but it's definitely improving."
Large chunks of Holmes' past prior to medical school remain unknown.
Meanwhile in San Diego, his family released a statement saying they were still trying to process the news.
"Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved," the Holmes family said, without giving any information about the suspected shooter.
The Poway Unified School District in San Diego confirmed that James Holmes graduated from Westview High School in 2006.
But his friends, his interests and his personality remained a mystery.
Mariano Castillo, CNN | <urn:uuid:22ce26ce-d843-4ebf-ab10-d5a74a8b4f1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtsp.com/news/topstories/article/264721/250/Colorado-shooting-suspect-was-studying-neuroscience | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978487 | 556 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Buying an island can prove a riches to rags investment
- From: The Courier-Mail
- November 24, 2012
EVER since Robert Louis Stevenson penned Treasure Island, fortune hunters and developers have dreamt of their own tropical palm-fringed paradise where X marks the spot.
In the 1980s, Queensland even coined a term for them, the ``White Shoe Brigade'' of Joh Bjelke-Petersen's era, known not just for the colour of their footwear but their ability to woo politicians, stare down conservationists and build grand designs.
The late entrepreneur Keith Williams was one of the original members.
The barefoot skiing champion was credited with shepherding the tourism industry into the modern era, from the Gold Coast to Port Hinchinbrook.
Arguably his most successful project was his first: the 1970s development of the Gold Coast's first theme park, Sea World, which he sold in 1984 for $37.5 million.
His legacy also included Hamilton Island (now owned by billionaire winemaker Bob Oately), Daydream Island, Port Hinchinbrook near Cardwell, and a mothballed eco-resort on Hinchinbrook Island.
As his mate Max Christmas once said, even in better years island resorts are never far from the precipice.
``The failure rates are enormous and I wouldn't go near it as an investment because it costs so much for staff and the various (utilities) you've got to bring in, and you're in the hands of the weather a lot,'' he said.
"The Caribbean's the same. It's not the glory box. It's like buying a bloody live pack of crocodiles to eat you up.''
The late Christopher Skase, too, had the visionary bug. His Sheraton Mirage at Port Douglas converted the sleepy fishing and sugarcane village into a world-renowned tourist destination.
Built for $100 million in 1987, guests of the now-faded five-star resort have included former US president Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary, and Hollywood A-listers Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and John Travolta.
Here's the hitch. Tourism bosses like to say the trade is just like the fashion industry; much because it has to constantly re-invent itself to make everything look new again.
True, there is glitz and glamour, images of beautiful people in exotic locations, cocktail in hand, lounging about in luxury, or on the deck of yachts, plunging into azure waters, or tip-toeing through snow-white sands and fizzing surf on an abandoned beach.
But, in more cases than not, the life of a resort developer is most often a riches-to-rags story.
In the 30 years since the birth of mega-scale tourism development in Queensland, our coast is a rock that has wrecked and sunk countless fortunes, hopes and dreams.
That is why many greeted this week's announcement by Premier Campbell Newman of ``Queensland's biggest ever tourism project'' a $1.4 billion resort and residential complex at Ella Bay, near Innisfail with raised eyebrows.
Once championed by Janet Holmes a Court, the seven-year fight to get approval for the site in World Heritage rainforest and on the Great Barrier Reef is testament to the optimism and resilience of Brisbane chemical engineer-turned-tourism tycoon Rob Lamb.
The bold plan is to build a township from scratch to house 5000 people on a 4.5sq km former cattle station, nearly two hours drive from Cairns international airport, without too much impact on endangered inhabitants including cassowaries and nesting sea turtles.
Lamb still faces the hurdle of federal environmental approval in the next month and is coy about where he will get the money.
``You can assume Asia,'' he says.
Local conservationists, predictably, are on a war footing.
In what is shaping as a modern-day replay of the days of '80s tourism, opinions are deeply divided.
But it begs the question: If you build it, will they come?
Embittered tourism veteran David Marriner who bought the Sheraton Mirage in Port Douglas for $35 million in 2011, built Laguna Keys in the Whitsundays for $50 million and spent $56 million on Whisper Bay at Airlie Beach shakes his head in disbelief.
``It's fantasy stuff,'' says Marriner, who made his fortune from renovated theatres in Melbourne.
``Everybody is smoking dope. It's been 40 years since I had a puff but I'm happy to share a joint and smoke whatever they are smoking.
``I'm finding it near impossible to do a $35 million restoration on one of Australia's most iconic tourist resorts.
``Everyone in the financial sector has said no to risk in north Queensland.
``Talk to other developers like Russ McCart, of Meridian. There has been hundreds of millions lost.
``It is unhelpful to `kite-fly' and propose these mega-buck developments.''
Tourism in Queensland, he says, is on its knees and banks and equity stakeholders have lost most, if not all, of their money.
``It is haemorrhaging and losing money in every corner. Small business is in absolute agony,'' Marriner says.
"They'll say `sour grapes, Marriner has got the raw edge again'.
``I'm treated like the plague up there because I broke the ice on dodgy Labor lobbyists, and I said there is a sovereign risk in investing in Queensland.
``Have a look at what banks are selling debt for.
``We are more likely to restore and refurbish existing infrastructure rather than build new projects.''
Quoting the famous movie The Castle, Wayne Bunz of CBRE the man who sells most of the state's big resorts says: ``Tell them they're dreaming.''
``Surfers Paradise Marriot sold three years ago for $75 million. It would cost circa $150 million to replace,'' Bunz says. ``And the list goes on and on.''
Billionaire Clive Palmer, who this month bought the Sea Temple resort in Port Douglas for $7 million, agrees.
``We're buying stuff for nothing,'' says the mining magnate. ``Mostly because we are the only ones with any money.
``We want to spend $3 billion at Palmer Coolum Resort and have to foot the bill ourselves. No one is giving out that sort of money.''
He is one of a new breed of tourism tycoons who still sees the ``shine'' in the Sunshine State. Others include billionaire John Van Lieshout, who made his fortune from the Super A-Mart furniture chain, who paid $40 million for the beachfront Seahaven resort at Noosa, and Virgin empire chief Sir Richard Branson, who turned Makepeace Island in the Noosa River into an exclusive getaway.
Linc Energy boss Peter Bond snapped up Paradise Lost for $9 million when Cyclone Yasi slammed into Dunk Island, off Mission Beach, and is building boutique six-star resort in a move away from mega-scale projects.
Nearby Bedarra Island, bought last November by the Charlton Group, is also being revamped after Yasi.
Computershare founder Chris Morris bought Orpheus Island just weeks before Yasi hit, and has spent close to $10 million.
And Sydney developer Terry Agnew is awaiting final approvals for his latest plans for a $600 million resort on Great Keppel Island.
In a cautionary tale, fallen rich lister and former vitamins and supplements king Vaughan Bullivant, who invested most of his fortune in rejuvenating Daydream Island, put his resort up for sale on Thursday.
Bullivant paid $25 million and spent $50 million on the island, which has a likely price tag of about $75 million.
``I've put many years of my life into making it the beautiful tropical island resort that it is today,'' says Bullivant, who is recovering from surgery for tongue cancer.
``But I'm 65 now and looking to at some stage put my feet up and enjoy doing other things in life including more travel and spending time with my family, which has long been my goal.''
For this one-time tourism tycoon, at least, the time for daydreaming is over. | <urn:uuid:07d00d5f-af95-4252-925a-d24b3ca8a3fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.couriermail.com.au/travel/buying-an-island-can-prove-a-riches-to-rags-investment/story-e6freqwf-1226523085637?from=public_rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955673 | 1,755 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Welcome to information related to Tennessee's Early Intervention System’s System of Payment Policies.
Part C of the Individual’s with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that some services, including evaluation and assessment, development of the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), and service coordination, are provided at no charge to families.
All additional early intervention services are subject to a state’s system of payments. Although, at this time Tennessee has not instituted family fee charges associated with Part C supports and services, Tennessee has a system of payment process in place to ensure that supports and services are provided in a way that will not create a financial hardship for families. The System of Payments Policies in Tennessee are intended to be used to utilize other primary payor sources without instituting family fees. The System of Payment Policies in Tennessee involve the use of private insurance, Medicaid and other government benefits to pay for Part C supports and services.
As families enter the Part C system, they should be provided clear information about the System of Payment Policies and procedures that apply for their family’s situation. For broader information about financing of Part C supports and services in Tennessee, please see Policies and Procedures related to financial matters below. These policies were subject to public comment.
Please be advised that all eligible families will be responsible for following all system of payment requirements in accordance with the System of Payment Policies and procedures.
Families that do not abide by the policies and procedures will/may be responsible for the payment of their services out of pocket.
Parents must notify their service coordinator and service provider of insurance changes. If failure to do so leads to denial of payment by insurance carrier, the provider will be allowed to bill the family for the service, as TEIS will not serve as a payor in these instances.
Any services not rendered as a result of a family-directed service disruption will not be subject to compensatory services. That is, if a family chooses not to receive services for any period of time (i.e. illness, vacation, or not at home), the sessions missed are not allowed to be made up in future weeks. | <urn:uuid:eaca0de5-7940-46de-ab78-cbf5f099cc71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://state.tn.us/education/teis/SOP.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944653 | 437 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The green mantra – reduce, reuse, recycle. Reaching for a refillable bottle instead of a disposable plastic one is old-hat to most of us by now. Most of us have a few old tee shirts hanging around that are too beat up for donating, or maybe they have sentimental value and we don’t want to get rid of them. So, what to do with them?
If they’re really beat up, turn them into rags to help replace paper towels, of course. But if they’re in reasonably good shape, we’ve got some suggestions for cool DIY projects that are perfect ways to reuse something.
When we went looking for ideas, we found plenty of tutorials on turning your old tees into headbands, scarves, vests, pillowcases, tote bags and even skirts and yoga pants. But we were really looking for creative projects that turned cool old tees into cool new home items. And we finally found a few.
Create a quilt – this is the perfect solution if you’ve got a lot of old tees that have real sentimental value, like team jerseys. There are actually companies that will make these for you out of your old tees, but if you can sew, even a little bit, a tee shirt quilt is an easy DIY.
Have a pillow – another perfect way to use a tee that you love but can’t wear is to turn it into a pillow. You can stuff it with an eco-friendly fiberfill, or recover a pillow you already have (but don’t like) for double the reuse points.
Hang it up – on the wall, of course. If you’ve got a favorite tee with a great print, or some really great memories, consider framing it as wall art. If your style is more modern, stretch your tee fabric over a canvas frame for a clean look that’s just as cool and green.
And for those tees that are beyond salvaging? You could always create your own reusable dust cloth that fits on the handle of that oh-so-popular and oh-so-disposable brand’s handle. The instructions are for flannel, but a repurposed tee would be a good alternative. | <urn:uuid:0162b786-5fd4-4603-b317-4a335dff37cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.bambeco.com/reduce-reuse-recycle-putting-old-tees-to-the-test/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945816 | 471 | 1.734375 | 2 |
If you can remember playing with (or in) cardboard boxes as a child -- and who doesn't? -- the Aldrich Museum in Ridgefield has a show for you.
James Grashow's "Corrugated Fountain," a gigantic sculpture that recalls the Trevi Fountain in Rome, opened April 1, and, like the Trevi Fountain, it is outdoors.
Unlike that fountain, however, it is made of cardboard.
This begs the questions: Why a sculpture of a fountain in cardboard, and why is it outside where it is sure to become, well, beaten and weathered?
"Making a fountain out of cardboard is absurd, an oxymoron," said Grashow, explaining it may look eternal, but like being human, it is doomed to passing. "It is a perfect poetic message."
Towering some 12 feet high, 30 feet wide and 25 feet deep, the deeply detailed fountain took four painstaking years to build. "It is devoted to process," said the artist, "from creation to completion." Here, completion includes its deterioration by the elements.
"All things have a lifespan," he continued. "Everything deteriorates and goes. In this piece, I was able to build that factor into the work."
The fact that everything has an end date (albeit unknown) is the point that Grashow, who lives and works in Redding, wants to make with this piece -- along with the undeniable fact that cardboard is fun and inexpensive, "a bridge to creativity."
"Kids play with cardboard," said the artist, who turned 70 this year. "There's no greater toy than a giant refrigerator box to make cars, a TV set, or put on a play."
Then, when it is beaten up, you can get in and roll down a hill, he said. He knows because he used to do it.
His father, who was in the appliance business, always brought home lots of cardboard, and Grashow loved it. "I have been working with cardboard forever."
He has created both large and small-scale sculptures with it, including "Houseplants," intricate cardboard bouquets where lovely little homes and buildings spring out of multicolor blooms, small enough to set on a coffee table.
But "Corrugated Fountain" is undoubtedly his masterpiece.
Here, the sea god Neptune rides high among mermaids, dolphins, horses and fish that circle around him in waves and trumpet his arrival, but unlike the "eternal" fountains of Rome, this fountain was designed with its end date built in.
Grashow did that by determining the end of the road would come at the Aldrich.
Yet there is an afterlife for "Corrugated Fountain." Filmmaker Olympia Stone has documented the process in "An Intimate Portrait of the Artist at Work," a film that has chronicled the piece from the start. It remains unfinished since the fountain is unfinished.
"Olympia has been intrinsic to the process," said Grashow. "The film and piece exist in tandem, and in the end only her film will exist."
Stone has known the artist all her life, since her late father, Allan Stone, was Grashow's art dealer. It was while paying a condolence call that Grashow became inspired to create "Corrugated Fountain."
There, at Stone's house, the artist found his earlier oversized sculptures of papier-mache disintegrating in the garden.
"I grew up with those figures," explained the filmmaker. "Those characters terrified me as a child!"
Originally they were in the house, but before he died, Stone, whose house was crammed with art, placed them outdoors.
Grashow saw them and was so moved by their appearance that he immediately decided to build a corrugated fountain.
"They were so much more meaningful this way, melancholy and sad, but better," said Grashow. So "Corrugated Fountain" was born and with it the documentary by Stone.
Now, some six years later in this final show, "Corrugated Fountain" will also be put outside. And the dissolution of this sculpture is particularly moving because even knowing its end, Grashow put his heart and soul into it.
"To do it with as much integrity as possible makes the dissolution that much more meaningful," he said.
Will he be sad?
"I know I will be sad. I'm sad I am 70, and my body is aging! It is a summation, a dialogue with myself about mortality.
"But there is something thrilling about giving something everything you can, burning as sharp as you can, and being an architect of the future of the piece.
"It's all an adventure. Nobody knows (how it will end). In life you give up control."
Deb Keiser is a freelance writer in Connecticut
and can be reached at | <urn:uuid:d4bc38f9-db37-4771-bf56-9188861be9b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Giant-cardboard-sculpture-takes-final-bow-at-3471107.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985098 | 1,017 | 1.789063 | 2 |
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The liberation of Merka by foreign paid, trained and supported troops was inevitable. Proxy forces now numbering over 17,000 hired guns and militias like the Ras Kamboni, rehatted forces like the Kenyan Defence Force, religious and ethnic groups like ASWJ and even U.S intelligence providers are providing overwhelming force albeit in cautious steps.
Merka is a minor port and home to around 100,000 people in hard times and up to 300,000 people in good. The strategic value is that it is a day south of Mogadishu and yet another stepping stone towards Kismayo. Historically Somalia's coastal cities have had much different influences than the arid interior. Merka has as much connection with seafarers, the Swahili culture, Islamic missionaries and the Gulf as the interior. Control of Merka also controls the commerce that tends to flow from inland out to the ocean rather than by land. Although the strategy of AMISOM is to march down the coast to "trap" al-Shabaab in Kismayo, the reality is that al-Shabaab has flowed out of the seaports and into the population. Leaving a disturbing calm and a sense of "impending showdown". The reality will be after the demise of the group as a controlling militia there will be a slow escalation in violence against the fledging government. Attempts to oust those who supported al Shabaab will create new dynamics of violence. New imports of violence can flow into Merka as easily as they flowed out.
There is no word of Merka's most famous resident, American Omar Hammammi aka "al Amriki". Most of the al Shabaab leadership moved south to Merka a year ago as their hold on Mogadishu began to crumble. In January, Somalia Report, began to receive numerous reports of foreign and senior fighters leaving Merka northward along the coast. A recent U.S. airstrike in Puntland's Northeast town of Qandala and the movement of pirate militias may portend a new coalition and a new battleground as the Islamists accept the inevitable. Other than the fierce fighting in Mogadishy, al-Shabaab has yet to directly confront AMISOM forces. Choosing to pull back in very organized, overnight moves, leaving a token force to provide cover.
Despite their claims of easy victory. AMISOM has been taking their sweet time and despite their soldiers being paid by the month. The last major victory was the clearing out of Laanta Buuro, the site of an al Shabaab training camp, just west of Mogadishu. That was over a month ago and only 18 miles from Merka. Even back in July most al-Shabaab fighters were heading towards Barawe away from Merka.
The Worst Best Choice or Best Worst Choice?
Abandoned by al-Shabaab and little resistance to the Ugandans and Somali militias, Merkah has yet to fully embrace their new masters.
The government of Somalia is yet a few days old and it's ability to replace "the youth" with sage experience has yet to be demonstrated. For example the election of president to negate the nattering nabobs in parliament has yet to appear. One of the people who wants to run Somalia is Sheikh Sharif who has an interesting history with Merka.
In November of 2008 experts cast dire warnings that have been turned around with American bought weapons, training and equipment. It is hard for most to beleive that the insurgent group that was literally hammering at the walls of the TFG have become elusive ghosts. Much like the feared Taliban in Afghanistan who vanished in 2002 only to regroup in stronger and stronger waves.
The liberation or occupation or Merka depending on the point of view carries with it an interesting political foot note. In mid November of 2008 The leader of Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), a cerain Chairman Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed took control of Merka in the name of the Islamic Court Union (ICU). At the time Merka's primarily http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/3333 population felt they were being occupied by the Habr Gedr and Ayr froces of General Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siyad "Indha-Adde." The former warlord made a show of support to the TFG back in late 2011. and has kept a fairly low profile other than being a "spolier" in the constitutional debate.
Al-Shabaab compared to cleric turned warlord Indha Adde was a welcome relief when their technicals rollin on November 12, 2008. However since 2008 al Shabaab became increasingly tiresome to the population, forcing residents to grow beards, attend executions be denied life saving aid and even subjecting them to the terror of drone and air attacks by virtue of their high level leaders being present.
AMISOM said there was little fighting and that al-Shabaab had fled. They had plenty of time to prepare. AMISOM Contingent Commander Brigadier Paul Lokech told the media on June 4, 2012, “We are planning to move to Merka which is 90 kilometres from Mogadishu. How will you evacuate causalities in that distance if you do not have helicopters?”
“Having them would be force multiplier. Our mission will continue but it will be slowed down because we have to be more cautious,” he added. At that time AMISOM had no air support for casevac or cover.
The "surprise" appearance of Mi-24 gunships was revealed in headlines as on August 12, 2012, three out of the four recently refitted gunships crashed into Mount Kenya on their way to support the AMISOM mission to retake Kismayo via Merka. Any Uganda combat casualties would be flown to the hospital at the airport to be stabilized before repatriation. Kenyan military forces have been using helicopter transport and smaller gunships since their invasion of Somalia. Kenyan politician George Saitoti was killed in a helicopter crash west of Nairobi in a nonS-omali related flight. Mi 24s are big heavy and fast and can be used to remove battle field casualties but is more likely that smaller transport aircraft are on their way from a donor nation.
It would be expected that northern based forces of primarily Ugandan soldiers will continue down the coast through Barawe to form up to the "hammer" to the north of Kismayo while the less experienced Kenyan and hired militias under warlord Madobe will create the southern half of the anvil. Naval and air forces were to decimate and scatter fighters up until four Hind gunships were plowed by their untested pilots into Mount Kenya. A measure of Uganda's preparations for the fight is that the first rescuer on the crash scene was a charter helicopter with a news crew. AMISOM has gone from jungle fighters, to urban street brawlers to liberators on the march. They are not equipped for it and the helicopter disaster and the Ugandan and Kenyan killings of civilians are a perfect example of what happens when outside forces rapidly ramp up and retask military units. The Somali trained units operate at a lower level of efficiency and competence and usually unrelated to the regions they enter and hold.
There is also the minor but very important problem of desperate al-Shabaab recruits cut off from funds and their superiors. Somalia Report has been tracking the location of the two Spanish MSF hostages who were last reported in Merka in July. A new video has been made and we will be make it available if appropriate.
For now the residents of Merka are happy to see AMISOM and the Somali Army; whether they welcome the new government is yet to be seen. | <urn:uuid:13310c8c-e43f-4fbb-ae48-4dfe48f60ecc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://somaliareport.com/index.php/post/3592/Liberation_of_Merka_Has_Historical_Implications | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967174 | 1,611 | 1.523438 | 2 |
ATLANTA (AP) - Georgia Hospital Association officials say the industry has agreed on a plan that calls for extending a hospital tax that provides a key chunk of state health care spending.
What to do about the so-called "bed tax," set to expire later this year, will be a key issue for state lawmakers in their upcoming session. The money is used as state matching funds to get federal money that increases Medicaid insurance payments to hospitals.
The hospital association says its plan would allow the tax, which is a tax on patient revenue, to continue.
A new, second tax on private hospitals would use the same system to get more federal funds. That money would support rebates for facilities losing money under the current tax because they don't treat many Medicaid patients.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) | <urn:uuid:b344a765-dde7-41ae-9e1d-2f874f8f2b42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.13wmaz.com/news/health/article/210859/193/Ga-Hospitals-Offer-Medicaid-Tax-Plan- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959077 | 181 | 1.539063 | 2 |
As part of its Open Content Platform, CNET Networks has created a variety of HTML widgets from five of its Web properties--CNET, GameSpot, Chow, BNET, and TV.com--that anyone can stick on his or her own Web site. After completing a short registration form, publishers can get CNET technology videos (widget), GameSpot game reviews (widget), TV.com interviews and features (widget), business-oriented arcticles and videos from BNET (widget), and food-oriented features from Chow (widget).
The HTML widgets come in a variety of shapes and flavors. Some widgets, such as CNET Personal Tech, TV.com, and Gamespot, serve their content in a standard 300x550 size. BNET provides articles and videos for business managers in three sizes--160x800, 300x500, and 500x360. Most prolifically, there are two different shapes (160x800 and 300x550) of four types of widgets from the food-focused Web site Chow--recipes, stories, videos, and message boards, including localized message board widgets for New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.… Read more
We've just witnessed a potentially disturbing marriage of basic street crime and the instant worldwide audience provided by video sharing and social networking sites such as YouTube and MySpace.
Criminals have often recorded their exploits for fun, but the ease of online sharing means that almost everyone can now witness assorted muggings, fights, and robberies from the safety of a laptop screen. At the same time, crimes posted to the Web get instant attention from law enforcement and the press, essentially acting as online wanted posters for the perpetrators. A perfect example is a recent subway attack video first … Read more | <urn:uuid:5b5f0064-0ae1-467a-9e9e-7930377c61d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cnettv.cnet.com/8300-5_53-0-195.html?keyword=cnet | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932518 | 360 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Published by The Blavatsky Archives Online. Online Edition copyright 2000.
Return to Table of Contents of
First S.P.R. Report on H.P.B.
The weak point of the first case in this Appendix is in the almost necessary uncertainty as to the previous absence of the writing. We have already commented on the value of evidence of this sort in our remarks on Mr. Mohinis deposition. (Appendix II.)
The second case does not appear to us evidentially of much importance, because it was at the open window the ribbon fell, and Madame Coulomb was with Dr. Hartmann at Bombay.
From the Supplement to The Theosophist, April, 1884, p. 65.
Enclosed is an article, entitled Chastity; to which a little history is attached, that may perhaps interest my brother-Theosophists.
I left Wadhwan on the 15th of February in company with Madame Blavatsky and Baboo Mohini M. Chatterjee. We were on our way to Bombay, returning from a visit to his Highness, the Thakore Saheb of Wadhwan. A few hours before we started, Madame Blavatsky had read the said article, corrected a few words and returned it to me. I read it carefully to see what corrections she had made, and whether I might not myself make some changes. I only found a few words corrected, folded the paper, put it in my pocket-book, deposited the pocket-book in my satchel, locked the same, entered the car and put the satchel on my seat, where it never left me and never was out of my sight, until the event which I am about to describe occurred. We travelled on, Madame Blavatsky being in the same car. Towards evening Madame Blavatsky requested me to let her see that article again. I took it out of my satchel, unfolding the paper before handing it to her, and as I did so, imagine my surprise to find on it four long lines written on a space which was blank before, in the well-known handwriting of our Master, and in a different kind of ink than that used by Madame Blavatsky. How that writing could have been done in my satchel and during the shaking of the car, I do not pretend to explain.
Another incident occurred when I was alone by myself. On the morning of the 20th of February, I received a curious Thibetan medal from our Master through Madame Blavatsky. I then accompanied her on board the steamer on which she was to sail for Europe. On my return to the shore I went into a native jewellery shop and bought a locket to deposit my medal, but could not find a chain long enough for my purpose. I then returned to my room, and paced the floor, studying what to do in regard to the chain. I finally came to the conclusion that I would buy a rose-coloured silk ribbon. But where to get it, being a stranger in Bombay; that was the question. My pacing the floor brought me again in front of the open window, and there right before me on the floor lay exactly the very silk ribbon, brand new, and just the one I wanted.
A. B., F. T. S.
(Dr. T. Hartmann.
Bombay, 21st February, 1884. | <urn:uuid:cc04f8dc-1930-4101-a5dd-da7983cf7148> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blavatskyarchives.com/app20.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974162 | 710 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Jerusalem Religious Leaders on Environment
Adelie penguins walk on the ice at Cape Denison in Antarctica in this 2009 file photo. Religious leaders have urged people to take their faith-based commitment to the stewardship of God’s creation to the U.N. Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil 20-22 June. (photo: CNS/Paukine Askin, Reuters)
22 Mar 2012 by Judith Sudilovsky
JERUSALEM (CNS) — Religious leaders in
Jerusalem urged peoples of all denominations to take their
faith-based commitment to the stewardship of Gods
creation to the U.N. Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable
Development in Brazil June 20-22.
We need to bring an invitation for all religious
leaders from all faiths to speak publicly, with
determination, so that we turn religion into a part of the solution rather than ... risking more and more becoming part of the problem, Melkite Archbishop Elias Chacour of Haifa told Catholic News Service at the March 19 Interfaith Climate and Energy Conference coordinated by the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development.
People have an immense power to respect the
beauty of nature through the expression of their faith,
Archbishop Chacour said, and by using this faith they can
work toward forming an alliance with others to protect the
earth and its natural resources.
I dont (care) if others believe in what I believe in ... but I would like them to consider my positive attitude toward creation. When God created not only the planet but the entire cosmos, he said, ‘This is very good. He created man and woman both in his likeness, and he commissioned them to go and care for the world as if he is saying to them: ‘You be my place-taker, the archbishop said.
For me as a Christian the environment is not a modern topic, it is one of the most ancient topics on earth, he added.
If read attentively, Christian theology and
philosophy can be used to lead the faithful toward a
positive attitude not only for their environment, but also
for the entire cosmos, he said.
This is a starting point, he said. And this will be reflected around us, in our homes and in our societies.
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III noted that religious leaders not only can influence the faithful in their communities but also all aspects of political life.
There are people who hold (political) positions
who are believers and do follow instructions from their religious leadership, he said. There must be harmony between humanity and creation.
On a more practical level, said Rabbi Yonathan
Neril, founder and director of the Interfaith Center for
Sustainable Development, religious leaders and
institutions have the potential to mobilize billions of
followers in the global struggle to curb climate change and
achieve sustainable development, not only through their
congregation but also through their educational
Religious leaders are some of the most influential
leaders in the world at the grass-roots level ... part of their work is to leverage their moral authority of world
religious leadership to promote a more sustainable planet, said Neril.
Tags: Middle East Christians Jerusalem Interreligious United States Sustainable Development | <urn:uuid:3e5cf274-6965-4f39-8c24-1bafdf18c533> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnewa.us/default.aspx?ID=1786&pagetypeID=8&sitecode=US&pageno=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943805 | 677 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Whoever defines the terms, wins the argument. If we allow the Democratic Party, the mainstream media, and the academic left define our terms, our case will be neutered. Justice Scalia gave us an example of the kind of rhetorical flabbiness used by government stooges when defending their ideas. H. Bartow Farr argued the severability issue before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, March 28. He began using some interesting definitions of the word “essential” comparing it with another amorphous definition of “necessary.” Scalia showed us the importance of not letting the words become redefined and twisted to fit their objectives.
MR. FARR: “The reason is because the word "essential" in the Commerce Clause context doesn't have the colloquial meaning. In the Commerce Clause context "essential" effectively means useful. So that when one says in Lopez, when the Court says section 922(q) is not an essential part of a larger regulatory scheme of economic activity, it goes on to say, in which the regulatory scheme would be undercut if we didn't have this provision.
It's like the word "necessary" in the Necessary and Proper Clause clause. It doesn't mean, as the Court has said on numerous occasions, absolutely necessary. It means conducive to, useful, advancing the objectives, advancing the aims. And it's easy to see, I think, that that's what Congress -
JUSTICE SCALIA: Is there any dictionary that gives that -
MR. FARR: I'm sorry, Justice Scalia?
JUSTICE SCALIA: — that definition of "essential"? It's very imaginative. Just give me one dictionary.
MR. FARR: Well, but I think my point, Justice Scalia, is that they are not using it in the true dictionary sense.
JUSTICE SCALIA: How do we know that? When people speak, I assume they are speaking English.
What Scalia is reminding the attorney, and us, that the words matter. Farr’s stretching of the words “essential” and “necessary” to mean “conducive to, useful, advancing the objectives,” is a sneaky little ruse to allow a straight forward word mean something quite different. “Essential” means “absolutely necessary, indispensable.” “Necessary” means “being essential, indispensable or requisite.” In other words, Farr’s linguistic redefinition of the word made it something barely recognizable to anyone reading it.
Farr was disingenuously arguing the minimum standards provisions in Obamacare could be severed without affecting the rest of the law because by “essential,” Congress meant “because it would be helpful.” A definition that is baffling. Why use the word “essential” and not “useful” or “nice?” Clearly, Congress intended this minimum standard of insurance to be a central part of the law. Misconstruing it was a rhetorical dodge and Scalia called him on it.
So, now it is my turn to call out the Artful Rhetorical Dodgers. First up, we will address the language of U.S. Rep. Betty! McCollum (D-MN 4th District).
“The Grand Old Party’s budget sounds extreme, and it is, because it reflects the core values of the Tea Party Republicans: protect the rich, cut off the poor and walk away from the middle class,” McCollum said. “Every American deserves to know that the Republicans are choosing tax subsidies for the ultra-wealthy over deficit reduction.”
‘McCollum: Republican budget a ‘millionaires manifesto’ by Devin Henry, MinnPost.com 03/29/12
I will not attempt to dispel her first nonsensical statement but I will her second. Now, I will acknowledge that anyone who’s heard Betty! debate knows she isn’t the sharpest knife in the butcher block. However, even her fuzzy brain can understand that subsidies are actual monies and resources given by the government to entities. Let’s look at the dictionary definition.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a subsidy as:
“a grant by a government to a private person or company to assist an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public”
She is referring the to “unfair” tax rates of the wealthiest 1% Americans who now pay 38% of the tax burden. Betty! is making the laughable assertion that the Bush tax cuts are somehow subsidies. A subsidy is not a reduction in tax rates. A subsidy is a sum of money the government gives to a business or group to do something good for the country. A lower tax rate is not a subsidy, not according to any definition that is sane or reasonable. We have allowed pernicious politicians like Betty! to redefine the term. Cutting tax rates for all people in the same tax brackets is not and never will be a subsidy. It’s a tax cut. Period.
Betty! isn’t the only prevaricating person on the left. Our own president is also engaging in this reinterpretation of the word “subsidy” to smear the energy sector. The polls have informed him that oil companies aren’t held in high esteem. People also hate the idea of “subsidies.” Therefore, President Sun Power has combined the two making this ridiculous argument.
“Right now, the biggest oil companies are raking in record profits –- profits that go up every time folks pull up into a gas station. But on top of these record profits, oil companies are also getting billions a year -- billions a year in taxpayer subsidies -– a subsidy that they’ve enjoyed year after year for the last century.”
President Solyndra, while passing out billions in federal loan guarantees and grants to failing green energy initiatives, wants oil companies to pay up. These oil companies must be getting checks from the Energy Department right? Well, if they are those checks are awfully small. There are only four categories of subsidies that would even fit the real definition of subsidy. Of those four, only one is actually being used to any extent. That one is the research and development grants. Eliminating that program, according to the Department of Energy, would save about $400 million. Less than half a billion for the entire industry! What Obama is referring to with his “billions a year” rhetoric are business write-offs. He wants to make oil companies pay taxes on their expenses. That’s how he gets to “billions.” Even though these are not profits, Obama wants them to pay taxes on them. He hides his lie behind $400 million in research grants. Meanwhile, President Beacon Power wants more money for his failed green experiments.
This is a real subsidy, not one as defined by Betty! or Obama:
“EnerDel, maker of lithium-ion battery systems, landed a $118.5 million energy grant in August 2009. About one-and-a-half years later, Vice President Joe Biden toured a company plant in Indiana and heralded its taxpayer-supported expansion as one of the "100 Recovery Act Projects That Are Changing America."
Two months after Biden's visit, EnerDel corporate parent Ener1 paid $725,000 in bonuses to three executives -- including $450,000 to then-CEO Charles Gassenheimer, who led Biden on the tour. This January, Ener1 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.”
It’s time for us to stand up and correct when these dishonest public servants warp words to mislead the country. When Bartow Farr makes an absurd assertion based on a term that is redefined, Scalia calls him on it. When people like Betty! and President Ener1 redefine a word like “subsidy” to deceive us, we have to call them on it.
They are not going to bamboozle us any more. | <urn:uuid:14b62333-3296-47aa-81cf-d559c545fd7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.looktruenorth.com/67-prosperity/free-markets/19172-scalia-s-vocabulary-lesson.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946915 | 1,687 | 1.703125 | 2 |
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Currently high on the industry radar screen is the Lieberman-Warner America’s Climate Security Act, a bill currently being drafted that could hit the floor of the United States Senate this month. It includes cap and trade regulations, production rights allocations, and production caps, and in its current form, has HFCs in its cross hairs.
That aspect was a high priority topic at the annual Heating, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) Mid-Year Business Conference in the nation’s capital. It was preceded by a day of Congressional visits in which HARDI members joined with peers in the American Supply Association (ASA), Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), and Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors - National Association (PHCC) in visiting with elected officials and their staffs to make them aware of issues of importance to the industry.
THE FUTURE OF HFCs“You could not find a worse time to (try to) regulate HFCs,” said Talbot Gee, HARDI vice president. “We are in the midst of a major transition from HCFCs as well as intense pressure to drive higher efficiency.” He said today’s HFCs have been able to successfully address both those concerns “but there is no guarantee that unknown future substitute refrigerants will be as efficient.”
During a meeting of the HARDI Refrigeration Council, it was reported that the industry supports efforts to have legislation writers pull HFCs from the greenhouse basket and be treated as a separate topic. But there was little agreement on what a program to reduce HFC production would look like.
In general, those involved in the discussions during the meeting agreed that HFCs would eventually face production phase-downs. But they are hoping that legislators would factor in the current phaseout of HCFCs, consider the lack of alternatives to today’s HFCs, and the high efficiency ability of HFCs.
Additionally, it is hoped the industry will be allowed to make what was described as a “more seamless” transition to any future alternatives, and allow for a long life span of HFCs in light of so much new a/c equipment just now coming on line using HFC-410A.
The Lieberman-Warner bill (sponsored by Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and John Warner of Virginia) would need to have a corresponding bill drafted in the House of Representatives and a compromised document drafted that would then be sent to the president for a signature or veto. Several of those attending the Refrigeration Council meeting speculated that such a document would not reach the president’s desk until the new administration in 2009 at the earliest. But they added that debates this year would shape any future bill’s language.
ON THE HILLIn all, more than 200 industry association members were on Capitol Hill meeting with the staffs of more than 100 senators and representatives, including many of the elected officials themselves. (See related Newsline story “Associations’ D.C. ‘Fly-In’ Rated a Success” in this issue.)
In many cases, the association members met with elected officials in whose home districts they live and have businesses. Beyond the refrigerant/environmental issue, association members also focused on a variety of matters affecting small businesses.
In addition, said Gee, “We identified ourselves as a resource for energy issues, for environmental matters, and for small business-related decisions. We want to be a first source, early source they can call on when deciding on what position to take.”
The combined effort of ACCA, ASA, HARDI, and PHCC was described in a HARDI statement as “the first coordinated lobby day of the four non-manufacturing trade associations in the HVACR supply chain.” Donald Frendberg, HARDI executive vice president and COO said, “I couldn’t be happier to see the industry’s distributors and contractors unite to engage our elected representatives at such a pivotal time in our industry’s legislative and regulatory history.”
THE R-22 ISSUEThe industry efforts to keep HFCs viable for contractors come as the pace quickens for the mandated phaseout of the production of virgin HCFC-22 in the United States and the reduction of any importation of the refrigerant.
In that regard, the Refrigeration Council invited the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cindy Newberg and Julius Banks to provide an update and answer questions. Much of the comments focused on the phaseout (a topic which has been covered in detail in recent issues of The NEWS). Among newer developments were Newberg and Banks’ comments on issues related to attempts to illegally import R-22 and motivation for contractors to bring more R-22 in for reclamation.
As noted during the meetings, contractors and suppliers are voicing concern about the illegal importation of R-22 from countries that are allowed to keep virgin versions of that refrigerant in production longer than allowed in the United States, a factor they said could negatively affect motivation of contractors to convince their customers to switch to R-410A. Newberg said the EPA is working with custom officials and are already stopping shipments of R-22 and turning them back to the countries of origin.
A related question wondered about off-shore equipment pre-charged with R-22 coming into the United States at a time when equipment produced in this country will not be allowed to be pre-charged with R-22 as of 2010. Newberg said the EPA is attempting to address that issue in order to “level the playing field in that regard.”
Banks said there are pending regulations to tighten leak rates for CFC and HCFC refrigerants, an issue most directly affecting the refrigeration sector. For example, the current regulations allow for a 35 percent leak rate in supermarket refrigeration systems.
That percentage is expected to be considerably less, although Banks would not give that figure, pending formal announcement. He did say those who continue to use CFCs and HCFCs would face “tighter reporting and recordkeeping” because of the ozone-depleting nature of the gases.
He also said the recordkeeping “will motivate contractors to bring it [ODP refrigerant] back for reclamation.” An additional motivation, he said, will be market-driven, a reference to the rising costs and tighter supplies of R-22.
He said the EPA is seeking to develop a reclamation site map in conjunction with the industry. “This is for a technician that asks, ‘Who in my area will pick up a 30-pounder [cylinder] and not make it hard for me?’”
Publication date: 06/02/2008 | <urn:uuid:3922b57f-386b-4872-b067-fa45c2c4e4ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.achrnews.com/articles/industry-seeks-to-ease-hfc-regs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952587 | 1,494 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Vulcan on the volcan?
Trip Start Apr 08, 2012
10Trip End Apr 13, 2012
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Where I stayed
The volcano is an active composite volcano (built up over time with layers), which has spewed ash and gas during large eruptions in the 1950s. Now it has releases steam and gases on a regular basis. It is 8,860 feet above sea level. You can visit two calderas, which are depressions at the top of the volcano. One is active, the other has a lagoon and is surrounded by forest. It is like going from a moonscape to a landscape!
Our travels began on a local bus to Alajuela, which we caught just across the highway from our hotel. Poor Emily, who speaks Spanish best, always gets pushed forward to pay the bus driver or ask for directions
The land itself changes to agricultural as you ascend - coffee plantations, cattle farms, flower plantations, and strawberry growers are all visible as the bus chugs and swerves towards the top. Often, there are eroded banks along the road, and towards the top a smattering of tourist shops. There was definately something to see out the window at all times! The bus driver only seemed to know the English phrases he needed to communicate at each important point in the process. He actually made a volcano by putting his index fingers into a mountain shape while saying "Volcan" to let us know we had the right bus. If you ever take the bus, I'd suggest sitting in a window seat on the side which is not directly behind the driver, making sure to be in a spot where the open window will be in your space - good for the breeze and for photo opportunities out the window! We had a stop on the way up at a souvenir shop/fruit stand where we bought fresas fresca (fresh strawberries)l met a friendly dog, and watched the neighbor across the street lead his cow on a rope.
The day was picture-perfect: sunny and breezy
Our first view of the active caldera was amazing - although it often gets obscured by clouds combined with its own steamy emissions, it was totally clear and in the sun. The landscape inside the crater is without vegetation, but the colors and textures are varied. There are reds, dark greys, touches of yellow, white and red. The pool of water is a unique turquoise blue, and the steam coming from its side is snowy white. Textures range from the puffy steam cloud and smooth water surface to eroded areas that look like the sand tray experiments in our classroom. It is as amazing a piece of earth as I have ever seen!
We climbed the steep, concrete path up to the lagoon, passing through our first bit of trail through a forested area. Here we began to see epiphytes - plants that grow on other plants, taking advantage of sunny spots. There is lots of moss, and all kinds of ferns and delicate plants. It actually gets quite dark on the trail in spots where the non-leafy branches of the trees close in over you.
The lagoon itself is a bit of a tease - after a hot walk up the trail, it looks like such an inviting place to swim, but, of course, is off limits. Instead we found a spot for a picnic lunch (who knew how much the kids like corn tortillas?), where some very persistent and pesky squirrels got bolder the longer our food seemed to be available
We saw some interesting birds (none cooperative enough to pose for my camera) including hummingbirds along the loop trail back to the visitor's center. I fell in love with individual trees and small patches of vegetation which would be the envy of many a gardener. I really did take too many pictures to post here, but I will upload some. I'm a bit sad about the ones of epiphyte-laden trees that appeared wherever there was an opening in the forest - the tropical sun was just too bright for my camera.
Speaking of the sun, we were happy to notice that even the sun tells us that we are not at home. Since we are much closer to the equator here, the sun is just about directly overhead at noon. We took some photos of our very small shadows to show what it is like where the sun is closer to a 90 degree angle in the sky.
Today is the 85th birthday of a very special man. I'm pretty sure your day wasn't as spectacular as ours, Dad, but we're glad to have seen you so close to your special day.
Tomorrow? Off to the rainforest, this time in a taxi-bus-taxi travel extravaganza! | <urn:uuid:034dab56-6947-4b75-9d90-096a90e26d03> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ithacabelle/2/1333996558/tpod.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972292 | 980 | 1.585938 | 2 |
In 1936, the Cumbrian village of Mardale is selected as the site for the Haweswater reservoir. The people of Manchester are running short on water, and Mardale sits in a valley perfectly proportioned to hold the reservoir shored up by the dam the city’s waterworks proposes to build. Jack Liggett arrives in Mardale to sell this proposal, but his salesman’s talents are wasted on the locals, who want only to continue the pastoral life enjoyed by generations of Mardale sheep farmers. Janet Lightburn is one of the most passionate of these locals, more outspoken than most about the reservoir and how it will displace an entire village. Yet she has never met anyone like Jack – and he has never met anyone like her. As both struggle to see the other’s point of view, they reach that place beyond which understanding cannot go and inevitably, tragedy results.
This is Sarah Hall’s first novel, set in the land where she grew up. It is clear she knows her setting well, and the picture she presents of Mardale is as authentic as any you will find. She shows us the sadness behind the displacement of its people through understated details – for example, how many of them disinterred loved ones from the churchyard before water submerged it. Haweswater is not an easy read. Hall employs a unique style, and the story flits about instead of being precisely chronological and centering on one character. But not for nothing has she received critical acclaim. If you can take the time to become absorbed in this novel, you will be rewarded by a story that leaves you pondering long after you’ve read the final page. | <urn:uuid:ca421862-13e6-4659-a890-f14a73f52b84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/haweswater/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9682 | 352 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Updated November 28, 2012: Pittsburg State University has received a grant to help their Tobacco Policy Task Force.
The $25,000 grant came from the Kansas Health Foundation and will help fund a study on making the campus tobacco free.
The Tobacco Policy Task Force began work this month and expects to make recommendations to the university by the end of the spring semester.
Reported November 8, 2012: Pittsburg State's new Tobacco Policy Task Force met for the first time today to discuss making the campus tobacco free.
The task force formed after students voted overwhelmingly in the spring to recommend the campus move to tobacco free.
The group will review current policies of the university regarding tobacco, talk with campus stakeholders, and identify all benefits and disadvantages to adopting a tobacco free policy.
Missouri Southern is not a smoke free campus. However, there is no tobacco allowed inside or within 50 feet of the buildings. | <urn:uuid:a1b7a9cc-82cf-488f-89ef-aeb79837cb08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.koamtv.com/story/20047162/pittsburg-state-task-force-meets-to-discuss-making-the-campus-tobacco-free | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937403 | 184 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Sorry about the dearth of posts lately. Real life is real life.
In the meantime here’s a lively interview with John Milbank at The Immanent Frame. Definitely worth a read.
Thanks for this, Halden.
I was with Milbank until he got to the part about political economy: Red Tories, Blue Labourites, etc. Whatever the current color scheme of British political culture, I can’t help but think that, despite his frequent use of the term “Christian socialist” to name his position. Milbank can’t really be considered any longer a “socialist” in any meaningful sense for two important reasons. First, genuine socialists recognize the necessity of class conflict. Class conflict is not an unfortunate “row” but an endemic feature of any class society; it’s just there. Milbank and Blond appear to have fallen for the traditional Catholic view of class conflict as either a Big Misunderstanding or a plot by envious proles. How, exactly, does Milbank think his “associationalist communitarian” society will come about — through the legislation of enlightened elites? Apparently, yes — note the fondness for hierarchies and “virtue.” Why am I suspecting that both Red Toryism and Blue Labourism are kinder, gentler forms of capitalism? Indeed, having read a bit of Maurice Glasman, Blue Labourism strikes me as the British version of Obamaism.
Second, and perhaps more fundamental, Milbank’s comment about firms run by “owners, workers, and customers” is pure moonshine. Why should there be owners distinct from workers? Isn’t the whole point of socialism to abolish the distinction? Call me old-fashioned, but I still think that things like “alienation” still mean something more than psychological estrangement. Alienation means separation from the means and ends of production, and it’s constituted by capitalist property relations. Milbank seems to forget that capitalism is first and foremost a system of property relations, not just avarice writ large. You can’t have “moral markets” unless and until you destroy capitalist property relations because property relations are part of any morality. Which takes us back to class struggle, that allegedly antiquarian idea.
The label “Red Tory” sticks to Milbank much better than “Blue Labourite”, I think, simply because as you said, he’s not a socialist because he sees socialism as liberal and therefore bad. What I actually found much more helpful in terms of explaining why such a non-liberal politic may be advisable and how one might be carried out is the work of Phillip Blond, who Milbank refers to extensively in the interview. A good summary of Blond’s work (he is now reportedly rather influential within the British Conservative party) can be found here. Quite frankly, if I had to pick an academic theologian to influence political leaders, I would pick Blond over, say, Niebuhr.
“Quite frankly, if I had to pick an academic theologian to influence political leaders, I would pick Blond over, say, Niebuhr.”
Sure, if you don’t believe in equality or you think that the British state should be more interventionist and culturally colonial in its outlook, or you agree that women’s right were a mistake and that homosexuals shouldn’t be allowed to adopt.
Blond has hardly published and what he has is completely derivative theologically. Niebuhr, despite being the boogieman of Hauerwasians and the In Ecclesia Solo crowd at least, you know, wasn’t lazy or completely evil.
Except that that’s not what he said. Part of his complaint, for instance, is that the liberal British state is overweeningly interventionist, and is instead proposing a devolution of social structures to a more local and accountable level, so unless there’s something you know of Blond that you’re not sharing here, you completely missed the point on that one. I’d also be interested to hear why you think Blond is opposed to women’s rights, equality or homosexual adoption.
I’m perfectly comfortable with Blond not being a terribly innovative thinker. But I guess I don’t share your fetish for individuality. People who do a good job of communicating other people’s ideas aren’t worthless – and judging by the hearing Blond has been given in political contexts, he may well be an important thinker even if he’s not really original.
Yeah, he told me. He’s talked about gay adoption and women’s rights in the newspapers in the UK as well. I think you’re misunderstanding what I mean by interventionist, he’s all for cultural colonialism and thinks that the British empire was a good thing for the world, but yes he’s anti-State. How these two things are held together I don’t know, I suppose he has some notion of a localist national army, who knows. I don’t have a fetish for originality, but I think it’s disingenuous to claim that your ideas are original when they are not. If you support this kind of politics then Blond is probably your man, though he’s not an important thinker. He’s certainly not in line with the politics I support, I’m not a conservative, but if you are then he’s probably your man. I think the UK will be worse off under a Tory government, that racism is going to rise and turn into more incidents of violence, that localism will be a buzzword disguising more neoliberalism policies, and pro-family will be a buzzword for cuts in welfare. Again, I don’t understand how anyone who claims they are for radical equality or progressive values can support that in good faith.
Theophilus and Anthony — I wouldn’t choose either Blond or Niebuhr. Niebuhr was the pontifex maximus of Cold War interventionists, and a theologian of American imperialism to boot. The book to which neo-Niebuhrians such as David Brooks always refer — The Irony of American History — is full of sonorous Augustinian tautologies about the Tragedy and Necessity of American imperial hegemony. (The fact that Brooks is such a fan of Niebuhr should give everyone pause.) Niebuhr was certainly in favor of women’s suffrage, but I might add that Niebuhr initially advised Martin Luther King to “take it slowly.” And I rather doubt that he’d favor gay adoption.
Theophilus — socialism is both liberal and not liberal. It’s liberal in so far as it seeks to preserve the real historical gains of capitalism and liberalism: the erosion of patriarchy, the destruction of feudalism, the possibility of democracy. It’s not liberal in that it seeks to eradicate the capitalist property relations that both inhibit the promise of democracy and foster an acquisitive form of individuality — the “individualism” rightly decried by Milbank, et. al. I read the Blond piece to which you refer a while ago — it’s basically a statement of a neo-Chesterbellocian distributism, which to me is little more than petty-bourgeois capitalism.
The adoption of Red Toryism by the Conservatives is cynical anyway, I think. If he becomes Prime Minister — and that’s not at all assured, as Labour has been gaining on the Conservatives recently — Cameron will kick Blond and his friends to the curb. Bush did the same thing with John Di Iulio, David Kuo, and the “compassionate conservatives” here.
My mocking of Blond wasn’t meant to be an endorsement of Niebuhr. Just pointing out that at least one of them had finished their PhD before using the title Dr (or rather letting other people assume that was their title while not correcting them).
It should be pointed out that Niebuhr never earned a PhD either.
Anthony: out of curiosity, have you earned your PhD? If not, then you might want to reconsider allowing Continuum to state that “Anthony Paul Smith received his doctorate from the University of Nottingham.” Correcting Continuum on this score would probably lend more weight to your quip against Blond. Just sayin.
You mean the thing that goes on the back of the book when it’s published 8 months after I’ve received my doctorate? If I fail obviously I’ll have it changed! They ask for information that will be accurate at the time of publication, not at the time you sign the contract (which was a year into my PhD). You really don’t see a difference between using people’s assumptions about you to cynically move ahead? Or are you just mad that I don’t know enough about Neibuhr? In the future I’ll stick to just saying that Phillip Blond is a cynical man who is using some buzzwords to attract people to a political party that is not progressive, that is not pro-worker, that is more, not less, neo-liberal than the Labour party and that ultimately will increase some of the deplorable aspects of English society (like their racism and homophobia). I’m not OK with that. Sorry.
No defense of Blond or Niebuhr intended here, just trying to keep you grounded, Anthony.
Gene, I think your diagnosis of Blond/Milbank’s manifold problems is spot on. For Milbank to call himself a Christian Socialist in any meaningful sense is utterly laughable at this point (and probably always was).
“[I]t’s basically a statement of a neo-Chesterbellocian distributism, which to me is little more than petty-bourgeois capitalism.” Yes. Unfortunately, sometimes a worry that Cavanaugh has a tendency to adopt this position as well.
I do need to read more of the Chesterbelloc stuff before I go around running my mouth about it too freely, but I have really come to think that its a proposal that is ultimately just soft facism/feudalism.
Anything it gives to us with the one hand it immediately takes away with the other, especially in its delight in hierarchy and aristocracy.
I think the worry for many Catholic theologians (including Cavanaugh) is that the moment we start talking about the abolition of private property we depart from a foundation of Catholic social thought. Unfortunately, from my reading of (official) Catholic social thought there is some truth to this concern. How would you respond to this Gene?
Ry (or Gene):
Can you point me to where you are reading this worry in Cavanaugh, and where you find him to be talking at his most Chesterbellocian?
He refers to Belloc and the distributism positively in his article “The Unfreedom of Free Market” which is available online here: http://www.jesusradicals.com/theology/william-cavanaugh/
I think his latest little book (written for a popular audience) Being Consumed also tends in this direction. I know that Cavanaugh opposes capitalist property relations (I have no doubt about this), but I do wonder if the kind of “third way” economics he tends to propose isn’t in the end what Gene calls “petty-bourgeois capitalism.” I actually think that D. Stephen Long’s Divine Economy tends more in the direction of distributism than Cavanaugh.
That same article also serves as chapter 1 in Being Consumed.
I would respond by saying that the defense of private property should not be a foundation of Catholic social thought, official or otherwise. But to nuance even that, I think that the term “private property” is itself an obfuscation. Socialists oppose *capitalist* property relations in which access to the means and ends of production are determined by a market whose axial principle is the accumulation of capital. (Yes, that’s a Marxist account, but I still think that old Karl has a lot of kick in him.) Chesterbellocians, neo- or otherwise (and I do agree that Cavanaugh sometimes sounds this way) contend that distributist property is private but not capitalist because it is (allegedly) about provision for a family and a local community. I agree with Halden that this would end up either as soft fascism or a reversion to feudalism. So Cavanaugh’s worry is, actually, well-founded, but I just don’t share it. If Cavanaugh worries that we might lose the right to, say, our own private toothbrushes or books or things like that, then I think he has a legitimate worry. But that’s not capitalist property.
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Trading sequester to avoid a government shutdown?
posted at 9:21 am on February 25, 2013 by Ed Morrissey
The sequestration cuts hit on Friday, but that may not be the biggest worry on either end of Pennsylvania Avenue. By the last week of March, the continuing resolution that provides funding for the federal government expires — and without another CR or completed budget, that means everything shuts down, and not just the few job functions that the White House is using for its Nightmare on Sequester Street hysterics. The Wall Street Journal reports that talks on the sequester have shifted to avoiding a government shutdown — and largely accepting the sequester:
Already looking past the current budget impasse gripping the capital, congressional leaders are quietly considering a deal to avert a government shutdown next month—but at the cost of prolonging across-the-board spending cuts.
Attention is beginning to shift from Friday, when the broad cuts known as the sequester kick in, to the next budget deadline: Congress must pass a so-called continuing resolution by the end of March to keep funding government operations.
Senior aides to House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) have begun discussing a bill being prepared by House Republicans to fund government operations through September. Republicans want the bill to extend operating funds at the lower levels set to kick in Friday and to give more flexibility to the Pentagon to manage its cuts.
The White House objects to the lower baseline for the CR negotiations, but Democrats may not have much choice but to accept it:
A White House official said the administration wouldn’t go along with such a plan to extend the lower spending levels. And Democrats are insisting that the House GOP bill also give new latitude to domestic agencies as well as the Pentagon.
But an aide to Senate Democratic leaders said such a measure might be politically difficult for the lawmakers to oppose, lest they bear the blame for shutting down the government.
“There’s an emerging consensus that it would be a difficult battle to have,” said the Senate leadership aide. “I don’t think we could force a shutdown.”
That is the benefit of having control of one chamber of Congress. John Boehner can pass bills that fund government and readjust the sequester to give the White House more control over spending the limited funds. If the Senate doesn’t act, it won’t be the Republicans who are the obstructionists this time around, and they won’t be the party responsible for a government shutdown.
The House GOP have a weak hand, but they’re playing what they have pretty well. They may end up notching down the baseline spending assumptions incrementally through this process and force real spending cuts in exchange for keeping the doors open. It’s not success, but it’s at least a start, if they can pull it off.
Breaking on Hot Air | <urn:uuid:2a44facb-9aa7-40bc-9b67-b18ec23e8a4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hotair.com/archives/2013/02/25/trading-sequester-to-avoid-a-government-shutdown/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944841 | 605 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Over the weekend, the New York Times’ new Sunday Review columnist, Frank Bruni, came out in favor of “oratorical contraception” on the campaign trail. Part of Bruni’s argument is that, if candidates want their kids to be “off-limits” during election season, children should be kept out of the discussion, period. Specifically, he wants fecund Republicans to stop trotting out their families as evidence of their qualifications to be president. After describing several aspirants’ large broods, Bruni laments:
Of course a big part of what all of these Republican candidates are doing is trying to appeal to anti-abortion voters. But they and other politicians, including both the Democratic and Republican members of Congress who brought up their offspring during last week’s fiscal wrangling, are also sending the message that they can be trusted to whittle down the debt, shore up the country and otherwise safeguard the future precisely because they have a direct biological stake in it. If they breed, they lead, or so their self-promotion holds.
That’s ludicrous. Progeny aren’t proof of caring and farsightedness, qualities manifest in politicians who never procreated — George Washington, for example. This Founding Father fathered none. He nonetheless proved eminently capable of the long view.
How many children someone has says nothing about how well he or she will govern, and the tableaux of family bliss that candidates choreograph regularly prove to be fictions. During the 2008 presidential election, which was unprecedentedly awash in little kids, John and Elizabeth Edwards made the most extravagant show of a tightly knit brood, transplanting their two youngest, Emma Claire, then 9, and Jack, 7, from the classroom to the campaign bus, a rolling romper room. Need I even finish this paragraph?
Question is, why shouldn’t the decision to raise a family—particularly a large family—be an important consideration in politics? Electing a man (or woman) president is a major exercise in public trust: We’re (usually) not choosing him because of how well he’s done the job before, but rather because of how well we hope he’ll do the job once he has it. On the part of voters, making this decision requires an assessment of various characteristics that don’t necessarily come across in a résumé or list of past offices held—qualities like honor, steadfastness, emotional and mental stability, loyalty, charity, and so forth.
And one area of life that tests, and reveals, all these elements of character is the sphere of family—particularly the raising of children. Now, I’ve never done it myself, but I gather that raising children involves enormous patience, the subjugation of ego and selfish desires, and a sense of humor. Having children is an essentially hopeful, giving act; Bruni’s claims notwithstanding, it’s impossible to see how it doesn’t indicate a certain concern for and investment in what happens in the future.
As a practical matter, politicians who put the time, money, and hard work into raising large families are also doing us all a big favor: a large part of why our entitlement state is headed toward collapse is demographic (fewer workers to support more retirees). And in the case of the current GOP field, or at least the candidates Bruni mentions—including Mormons, evangelicals, and Catholics—it also says something about fidelity to the tenets of one’s faith, an issue that matters to many Republican primary voters.
This isn’t to say that people who don’t have children can’t possess these same qualities. Nor is it to say that people who have many children are necessarily good people. Some of Bruni’s caveats do make sense. But he strings together such exceptions in an unpersuasive effort to rebut what seems like a fairly self-evident rule: It takes a certain kind of person to marry (and stay married) and raise a large family. And the traits that define such a person can tell us something—not everything, but not nothing, either—about whether he (or she) will make a good president.
At least, that’s my view. Curious to hear others’ thoughts on whether kids—the decision to have and raise them, not necessarily the details of their lives—should be fair game during election season.
Also, is Bruni right that “candidates who seek credit for parenthood are also asking to be judged by the results”? | <urn:uuid:d438de00-68fe-411c-89ea-3846b35e8f74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ricochet.com/main-feed/On-Philoprogenitiveness-and-Politics/(comment)/169788 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951168 | 958 | 1.640625 | 2 |
In further developing native American Indian self sufficiency and growth we have:
Developed Trade Fair Activities
Attended trade shows and set up a booth to advertise the Chamber and our members.
Advertised to members of other industries and to attract members to the Council.
Educated the public as they visited our booth regarding American Indian businesses.
Public Awareness Programs
Fostering tourism through American Indian Hospitality, culture, and recreation.
The AICCSC attended local Indian Pow Wows and advertised American Indian Business.
We also attended the Edisto Indian Pow Wow in Charleston, SC in March 2004 and had a display booth. Michelin was present and we met with many people and helped identify American Indian owned businesses.
In the future we would hope to sponsor a teaching session to School children about Indian culture and staying drug free.
Made the General public aware of American Indian business | <urn:uuid:89092614-5666-4912-96f7-7085fe6b8ef7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aiccsc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=109 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961215 | 183 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Are you longing to say goodbye to poopy diapers, but not sure when to start potty-training or how to go about it smoothly? Here to the rescue are the top potty-training tips from Circle of Moms members.
1. Be Patient
The top potty-training advice from many moms is to start only after your child signals her readiness. Usually children begin showing interest between the ages of 2 and 3. Keep an eye out for common clues, such as your child asking questions about the bathroom and toilet, staying dry for longer periods of time (indicating stronger bladder control), wanting to wear "big kid" underwear, or telling you when she's soiled a diaper. These signs of readiness may intensify gradually or, as Wisconsin mom Tracy M. found, appear quite suddenly: "One day she walked up to me, about three months before she turned three, and said, 'Mommy, I want to wear undies.' And since that day she has."
2. Make the Potty Fun
Several Circle of Moms members suggest making a potty chair or toilet seem interesting and non-threatening. "We bought the potty chair and put it in the living room - so he could play with it and sit on it for fun," shared Amy B. Others encouraged making "potty time" fun with special books or toys.
3. Skip Pants
Many moms find bare-bottom playtime can aid in potty-training. Amanda B., a mother of two children, shares: "I have just left her pull-ups off from the time she gets up in the morning." Of course, with this pants-free tactic, accidents are inevitable. To minimize messes, Lucy S. kept her 3-year-old in specific parts of the house while he was potty-training: "I blocked off rooms of the house where it wouldn't be okay to 'have an accident,' and just let him feel when he needed to go and run to the potty…after two days of wearing nothing and going when he needed to, he got it."
4. Offer Praise and Prizes
"Praise and prizes go a long way!" asserts Monica B., a mother of four in Wisconsin. "If they do anything, make the BIGGEST fuss you have ever made in your life. Cheer, clap, dance around...Make the child feel they have done something wonderful and they'll want to do it again and again." In addition to verbal praise, many Circle of Moms members have successfully used tangible potty-training reward systems involving candy, toys, and sticker charts. Renee H., a mother of two, remembers: "Each time he used the potty we made a 'huge' deal about it and gave him a treat—M&M's and Smarties worked the best. At first I gave him like six of one or the other; then as time progressed the treats got less and less until he forgot about asking for them all together."
5. Ditch Diapers
"Once you take off those diapers and put on the underwear, never put on the diapers again," recommends Emily M., one of several moms who argue that using diapers or hefty pull-ups after beginning potty-training is confusing for a child. Cecilia B., a mother of three children, also opted for training underwear, believing that training underwear is less comfortable after an accident than pull-ups or diapers, and therefore more likely to encourage a child to use the toilet. Other potty-training moms follow a no-diaper policy during the day only, since nighttime potty-training often takes longer to achieve.
6. Ready, Aim...
The standing element presents additional challenges for potty-training boys. One trick many moms shared is to toss circle-shaped cereal (like Cheerios or Froot Loops) into the toilet and have your son take aim. Brandie H., a mother of two boys, explains: "Get him a stool so he can stand up to pee in the big toilet. Throw a few Fruit Loops in the toilet. Have dad or an older brother show him how to pee in the toilet to make those Fruit Loops move around! You'd be surprised how fun that can be for a 3-year-old."
7. S#*! Happens
Just when you think you're done with diapers, your child may regress or have frustratingly inconvenient accidents. Christina H. remembers: "He was fully trained except for at night and then he went back to pooping in his pants. I wanted to scream." The truth is, accidents are a normal and common part of potty-training. "Have patience and expect setbacks," recommends Kelly S., a mother in Reno, Nevada. And take comfort in the fact that the potty-training stage is just that—a stage.
Looking for more potty-training advice? Got a great tip we missed?
Circle of Moms is a great resource for potty-training advice. You'll find conversations on potty-training for girls, boys, in public restrooms, and at night, plus entire communities focused on Potty Training and Toddlers where you can ask other moms what's worked for them, and share your own tips and tricks. | <urn:uuid:1d4bbad9-7960-46d4-a1ad-6dad3daedb57> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://moms.popsugar.com/Potty-Training-101-Seven-Potty-Training-Tips-from-Moms-27330391 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962725 | 1,088 | 1.789063 | 2 |
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You’ll apply the same movement skills you learned in the hospital or rehab center to your exercise program at home. You may also continue meeting with your therapist. Following your exercise program brings big rewards. With your knee in shape, you’ll walk more easily and return to an active life sooner.
Exercising is the only way to regain your strength and range of motion. With continued exercise, you may gain even more strength and range of motion than you had before surgery. That’s because before surgery pain may have limited your movement. So make exercise part of your daily routine. Continue meeting with your physical therapist as directed. He or she may add riding a stationary bike or other new exercises to your program.
Walking helps build a more normal, comfortable stride. It also keeps you in shape and helps prevent blood clots. Begin by taking three or four short walks every day. Gradually increase how far, how long, and how many times a day you walk. After your walk, lie down, elevate your knee, and ice it to reduce swelling. Your doctor or physical therapist will instruct you when and where to use your walker, crutches, or cane. He or she will also let you know when you can stop using them. | <urn:uuid:b08a88fa-6c6a-4f46-9bcb-ace51b9a158f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.einstein.edu/einsteinhealthtopic/?articleId=83546&articleTypeId=3&healthTopicid=-1&healthTopicName=HealthSheets | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957139 | 283 | 1.570313 | 2 |
In the current Atlantic Monthly, Nicholas Carr argues that incessant Internet use is mutating not just the way we read, but the way we think. Even our offline reading habits have been infected. Now we read books the way we read the Web: we browse; we skim; we get distracted; we bounce elsewhere, never to return. “I can’t read ‘War and Peace’ anymore,” a pathologist complains. “Even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb.”
As a service to those who sympathize, we offer just one paragraph (excerpted from Carr’s thirty-four), on how commerce may be driving us to become, in the words of Jeff Bezos, “information snackers”:
The faster we surf across the Web—the more links we click and pages we view—the more opportunities Google and other companies gain to collect information about us and to feed us advertisements. Most of the proprietors of the commercial Internet have a financial stake in collecting the crumbs of data we leave behind as we flit from link to link—the more crumbs, the better. The last thing these companies want is to encourage leisurely reading or slow, concentrated thought. It’s in their economic interest to drive us to distraction. | <urn:uuid:2670da8f-0f26-4eca-8611-62fe301f4f01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2008/06/why-johnny-cant.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932311 | 276 | 1.734375 | 2 |
August 5 2010
ICS Commentary - U.S. Employment Cost Index, Q2 2010
NEWS RELEASE: Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Media Contact: Mary Catt, 607-255-7495 or email@example.com
Benefits Explain Why Employers’ Costs Rise, But Employees Might Feel Worse Off: Director of Cornell’s Institute for Compensation Studies™
Recent economic reports on compensation by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis might appear contradictory, but such potentially mixed signals are expected at this point in a business cycle, according to Kevin Hallock, director of Cornell University’s new Institute for Compensation Studies™.
“For employers, labor costs are going up, while many employees are seeing flat or even falling wages and salaries,” he said. Both are happening simultaneously, Hallock said, explaining that “while salaries are being squeezed, the cost to employers of providing benefits is rising.”
Slight decreases in June’s wage and salary disbursements for the private and government sectors (down $5.2 billion and $0.6 billion, respectively) were reported widely following the release of Bureau of Economic Analysis report yesterday. According to Employment Cost Index released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, the 12-month percent increase in wage and salary costs for private industry workers has edged up over the first two quarters of 2010, with employer costs for benefits rising much more sharply.
The latest data show health benefits alone rose five percent for the twelve months ending in June. (Nationally, wages and salaries comprise 70 percent of the total cost of employee compensation, with benefits comprising the 30 percent balance.)
Part of Cornell’s ILR School, the Institute for Compensation Studies™ has been established to advance discourse and decision making on compensation in the workplace. Institute Managing Director Linda Barrington said, “As the global labor market struggles to recover, it’s more important than ever to engage in thoughtful discourse about how monetary and non-monetary rewards for work interact with business competitiveness, employee engagement and macroeconomic growth.”
The institute is aligned with other institutes and centers within Cornell and more than 40 research fellows around the globe. “These are complicated issues that can only be effectively addressed by bringing multiple perspectives and wide ranging expertise to the discussion,” Barrington said.
Referring to latest Employment Cost Index statistics, Hallock observed that for the first time since the end of 2006, total compensation costs in the private sector have posted increasing gains for two consecutive quarters. Hallock commented, “The second quarter of 2010 was also the first time since 2004 that gains in total compensation in the private sector overtook those in the public sector.”
But, private sector employees still won’t see much in the way of direct cash gains in their wallets, Hallock said, “as more of this increase is driven by increasing benefits’ costs -- especially health care -- than by wage and salary increases.”
About the Institute for Compensation Studies™(www.ilr.cornell.edu/ics.)
The Institute for Compensation Studies™ at Cornell University’s ILR School considers all forms of compensation across the world and across the span of organizational control – from boards of directors and executives to entry-level and contract workers, in for-profit and nonprofit organizations.
Established in July 2010, it will serve professionals, students, academics and decision makers as a global incubator and clearinghouse for new insights, data, teaching and research. It will also provide periodic perspectives on labor market indicators and related data associated with compensation.
The institute’s director is Kevin F. Hallock, chairman and professor of the Department of Labor Economics at Cornell’s ILR School. His research has been supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Hallock’s current projects include research on executive and board compensation, wage differentials and a new book on compensation design.
The institute’s managing director is Linda Barrington. Formerly of The Conference Board and Barnard College of Columbia University, Barrington was recently recruited to support the institute’s growth, and maintains research interests in issues related to business leaders’ top challenges, new work force entrants, and economic advancement for underrepresented populations. | <urn:uuid:958b9e34-4d29-40ef-8e18-cea867ec67ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/ICS/news/08052010-EmployersCostRise.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940662 | 919 | 1.585938 | 2 |
A leading cleric, Ayatollah Hussein Al-Najati, also lost his Bahraini nationality. Ayatollah Al-Najati is the representative in Bahrain of Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, whose teachings are widely followed by the island's Shiite communities.
In his sermon Friday, Ayatollah Qassim criticized both the move to deprive Bahrainis of their nationality and bomb explosions this week in Manama, which killed two Indian workers. He also called for only peaceful forms of protest.
Attempts at political dialogue between the government and opposition parties have made little progress, and there's been an uptick in violence in recent weeks.
Condemning the bombings, the U.S. State Department said this week that violence had "claimed the lives of protesters, of security forces, of innocent bystanders."
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the violence "undercuts the process of national reconciliation that we have strongly been urging on Bahrainis of all stripes." On Friday Nuland welcomed a declaration of non-violence by six opposition parties.
But Ayham Kamel, an analyst with the Eurasia Group, said that "Shia hardliners that condone the use of violence, such as Haq and the 14 February movement, are likely to use the wave of attacks to reinforce their rising popularity."
Since anti-government protests began in February 2011, more than 100 civilians and at least six police officers have been killed in sporadic violence. | <urn:uuid:a1b18a50-c19f-4f07-8c06-bfddaf852204> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.4029tv.com/news/national/Bahrain-police-try-to-block-mosque-access/-/8897558/17350662/-/item/1/-/10ijcj7z/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970385 | 299 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The Movement Disorder Surgery Program was established at the University of Kansas Medical Center in 1993. The University of Kansas Medical Center was one of the primary centers for the investigation of deep brain stimulation for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and Essential Tremor before approval by the FDA. The University of Kansas Medical Center remains a leader in the use and research of deep brain stimulation and other surgical procedures as treatment options for movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and dystonia.
Dr. Nazzaro works very closely with the neurology team led by Rajesh Pahwa MD, Director of the University of Kansas Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center. The University of Kansas movement disorders surgical team includes neuroanesthesiology, neurology, neurophysiology, and operating room staff and hospital nurses with extensive experience specific to the procedures and patient management. | <urn:uuid:ca7591d5-b303-48a7-895d-139745a02f12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/neurosurgery/clinical-specialties/movement-disorders.html?site=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932767 | 177 | 1.648438 | 2 |
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The Next Liberal Fad: A "Stolen Generation" Of Black Children?
This weekend saw the national rollout of two crowd-pleaser movies about impoverished 350-pound black teens: Precious and The Blind Side. (What an amazing country we have, where a pair of poor children can tip the scales at 700 pounds!)
Together, the two films reflect an emerging, if seldom fully articulated, consensus among all right-thinking people in this Bush-Obama era about what to do with underclass black children.
Precious is the story of an illiterate 16-year-old girl who was made pregnant and HIV-positive by her rapist father, but her real problem is her abusive welfare mother with whom she shares a Section 8 apartment. Still, with the help of tireless teachers and social workers, she moves into a halfway house and begins to turn her life around.
The Blind Side is an adaptation of Michael Lewis's 2006 nonfiction bestseller about Michael Oher. A homeless 16-year-old with a drug addict mother and a father who was thrown off a bridge, Oher was adopted by a rich white family. He's now a rookie starting offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL, with a five-year $13,795,000 contract.
The Blind Side's writer-director John Lee Hancock told Michael Granberry of the Dallas News:
"He loves what he calls its nature vs. nurture story line. "It's like a test case for nurture, and nurture wins in a big way. You've got a kid who's cast on the junk heap of life, socially and from an educational standpoint. And it's amazing what a roof, a bed, meals and an emphasis on schools can do, when everybody had written him off." [The Texan behind 'The Blind Side', November 15, 2009]
The Blind Side is the rare movie in which white Southern Republican born-again Christians are portrayed favorably. One liberal commenter on IMDB.com raged, "I feel insulted (in the same way I felt insulted when McCain chose Palin for his running-mate) …"
These two films help us understand the common denominator of the demands increasingly heard in the media for mandatory preschool, longer school days, shorter summer vacations, and universal post-high school education. They flow from the inevitable logic of the following syllogism:
Therefore, poor black children are victims of their family environments, and thus should be, as much as possible, kept away from their families and raised by whites or middle-class blacks.
The New York Times Magazine has devoted countless articles in this decade to this general theme, such as The Inner-City Prep School Experience by Maggie Jones [September 25, 2009], about a public boarding school in Southeast Washington. The story is largely devoted to worrying that the school's annual per student expenditure of $35,000 of the taxpayers' money isn't enough to keep the kids locked up in an enriching environment 24x7. When they go home on Fridays, they are re-exposed to black slum culture. Presumably, their test scores decline over the weekend.
The 2007 movie Freedom Writers extolled a nice white lady teacher, played by Hilary Swank, who divorces her husband (played by Patrick Dempsey), who can't understand why she devotes all her energy to her ghetto students instead of having a baby herself.
Lewis's book The Blind Side, which, unsurprisingly, was excerpted in the New York Time Magazine as The Ballad of Big Mike on September 24, 2006, pushed this emerging motif in the zeitgeist in the now familiar direction of a white family adopting a giant black child. (A generation ago, in contrast, on the TV shows Diff'rent Strokes and Webster, white families adopted the tiny black midgets Gary Coleman and Emmanuel Lewis.)
For example, on Friday, November 20, 2009, CBS News ran a purportedly inspiring "American Spirit" story about a heroic white lawyer who has taken a black victim of white racism into his home:
"Jena Six" Teen Gets Second Chance
The American Spirit: Lawyer Takes in Client and Helps Him Get on the Right Track
Now, you know and I know what the real story of the Jena Six was: a half dozen black youths were allowed to run amok in football-mad Jena for years because they were stars of the local high school team, until they finally beat up one kid too many. But CBS News sure doesn't know.
(At the Jena Sixer's expensive new prep school in Connecticut, football coach Ken Parson exclaims that he "can't wait to unleash" the 215-pounder.)
Sports-crazy white people opening their homes to big black youths is more common than The Blind Side might lead you to expect. For example, former NBA star Dennis Rodman lived with a white family while he was playing college basketball. Were Rodman's subsequent adventures a product of nurture or nature? (The Worm is one of the 27 children of his aptly named father, Philander Rodman Jr.).
That may be one of those questions that perhaps Man was not destined to answer.
This trope in the culture was parodied in 2007 on the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm. Larry David's liberal wife Cheryl takes in a New Orleans hurricane refugee family of blacks, the Blacks—"That would be like if my name were Larry Jew," Larry helpfully points out—which leads to his house burning down.
Curiously, this has all happened before. In Australia between the Wars, white progressives came up with the similar idea of taking half-Aborigine babies away from their alcoholic and tubercular mothers and sending them to boarding schools to learn how to function in the modern world. These days, however, white Australian politicians can't stop apologizing for those "Stolen Generations"
Will this trend to keep African-Americans away from their mothers just lead to eventual public apologies, too?
Michael Lewis's first book, 1989's Liar's Poker, recounted his brief career on Wall Street. Its sales benefited from the interest in bond salesmen generated by Tom Wolfe's 1987 novel The Bonfire of the Vanities. Perhaps Lewis hasn't quite fulfilled my hope that he would be "the next Tom Wolfe", but then Lewis is more the Southern gentleman. (Although Wolfe's father edited The Southern Planter magazine, his ferocious ambition made him one of nature's New Yorkers.)
Two decades later, Michael Lewis remains one of our finest glossy magazine journalists, a Malcolm Gladwell for smart people. Lewis's 2003 book about the Bill James revolution in baseball, Moneyball, is one of the best popular explications of the uses of statistics.
In the 1970s, Lewis attended a New Orleans prep school, Isidore Newman, with basketball star Sean Tuohy, who went on to Ole Miss, back when the U. of Mississippi's basketball team had an integrated starting line-up. Tuohy was an NCAA legend at point guard, making the Southeastern Conference All-Century team.
Decades later, Lewis caught up with Tuohy, and quickly recognized that the Tuohy family story was exactly what the American public wanted to hear.
Indeed, the film adaption of The Blind Side (rated PG-13) is an effective commercial movie. It took in almost $11 million on Friday, which projects out to a little under $100 million in total. The mostly Mexican audience with whom I saw it in Van Nuys enjoyed it heartily. Despite being a football movie, it probably appeals more to women than to men (59 percent of its Friday audience was female).
Tuohy (played by country singer Tim McGraw) married an Ole Miss cheerleader, Leigh Anne (played by Sandra Bullock of Speed), and had a daughter and a son. He wound up owning 85 fast food franchises and a jet, helped found a megachurch, and has a night job broadcasting the Memphis Grizzly NBA games. His beautiful and energetic wife is a homemaker and upscale interior decorator.
Now, you might expect that a couple that blessed with competence, good looks, energy, faith, health, and wealth might think about having a third baby. But in the movie, it just doesn't seem to come up.
In his spare time, Tuohy helped out at his kids' Briarcrest Christian School as the all-sports assistant coach for the school's black athletes. A booster like Tuohy, who played with many blacks and can help disoriented black youths out with both advice and cash, is invaluable.
Briarcrest, like so many private schools, juggles the temptation to give scholarships to star ghetto athletes versus the worry that they'll flunk out … or worse.
In Wolfe's A Man in Full, for instance, Georgia Tech's biggest donor's daughter accuses the college's Heisman Trophy candidate of rape. Whether because of nurture or nature, this sort of accusation is all too credible.
Thus I noted in April 2006 that, while the Main Stream Media's obsession with finding what Wolfe calls the "Great White Defendant" made possible the Duke lacrosse hoax, no less than three (3) star minority football players—including Mark Sanchez, now quarterback for the New York Jets—had been arrested on rape or assault charges in the just the previous week. But those incidents didn't get much press attention. They're routine.
When Briarcrest's football coach tried to have 6'4" 344 pound Michael Oher admitted as a sophomore, Lewis recounts:
"Steve Simpson, the principal of Briarcrest Christian School, was frankly incredulous. The boy, now 16, had a measured I.Q. of 80, which put him in mankind's ninth percentile. … 'Big Mike was a blank slate.'"
Actually, 80 isn't all that bad for the Memphis slums, especially not for a kid with his catastrophic upbringing. One of 13 children of his drug addict mother, Oher had attended 11 schools, not to mention a year-and-a-half-spell during which he apparently wasn't enrolled anywhere.
He grew up quiet, even docile. The Tuohys took the gentle giant into their home, and eventually gave him an equal share in their will with their biological children. They found a tutor (played by Kathy Bates) to work with him 20 hours per week. He slowly got his grades up from F to D, so the school let him play football his junior year. As a defensive tackle, though, he lacked the killer instinct. In his senior year, he was switched to left offensive tackle to guard the quarterback's blind side, a role better suited for his stubborn and protective personality.
Oher eventually raised his grade point average to 2.05, and with the Tuohys paying for correspondence courses, he managed to inflate it to the 2.52 he needed to play for Ole Miss, his adoptive parents' old school.
"Drowned in nurture, his I.Q. test score had risen between 20 and 30 points. And his new parents, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, were so pleased with the results of their experiment that they began to figure out how best to go back into the inner city and do it all over again."
Actually, more like 16 points: at the NFL draft combine, Oher scored a decent 19 on the league's Wonderlic IQ test, which equates to a 96. (By the way, a small French study of adoptions across class divides found the IQ benefit at age 14 of being raised from the bottom to the top of society to be 12 points, although most American adoption studies have found smaller effects.)
The Blind Side is written and directed by John Lee Hancock, who, I suspect, is one of Hollywood's closet conservatives. He has an English Lit B.A. and a law degree from Baylor, the traditionalist Baptist university in Waco, TX, where his father and brother played football. He wrote screenplays for two Clint Eastwood movies in the 1990s (including the underrated A Perfect World).
Hancock broke through as director of the surprise 2002 hit, The Rookie, with Dennis Quaid in the true story of a West Texas high school baseball coach who gets his major league fastball back in his mid-30s. Then Hancock was parachuted in to rescue Disney's troubled production of The Alamo. He couldn't fully turn that around—although, as I pointed out in VDARE.com, it's a decent movie if you know some American history, which few moviegoers do these days. (Strikingly, Hancock's Alamo was less sympathetic to the Mexican side than John Wayne's epic 1960 Alamo.)
For her lead performance as the pushy mother, Bullock is being talked up for an Oscar. In her long, lucrative career, Bullock has never even been nominated. Perhaps Academy voters assume she doesn't need to act because she's naturally adorable—which she might be: her high school class voted her Most Likely to Brighten Your Day.
To attract Academy Award attention, Bullock plays Mrs. Tuohy without the actress' traditional trademark charm, crushing all obstacles through sheer force of will. This characterization makes it easier to notice Bullock's acting chops, but seems gimmicky, not to mention implausible for an old Ole Miss cheerleader. From Scarlett O'Hara on, Southern belles usually get their way, but normally they fool you into imagining it's your way, too.
I suspect Bullock didn't want to compete with Julia Roberts' performance in 2007's Charlie Wilson's War in a potentially similar role as a rich Southern conservative lady who uses her womanly wiles to beguile 1980s Washington into funding the anti-Soviet mujahedeen in Afghanistan.
Toward the end of The Blind Side, a cynical NCAA investigator injects some suspense into the self-congratulatory proceedings by asking: If we approve your scholarship to your adoptive parents' alma mater, are we going to see a trend toward other rich white college sports boosters adopting poor black jocks?
The answer, I suspect, is: Yes.
Today, wealthy Red State conservatives indulge their tribalist passions by fighting expensive zero sum wars with each other over who can spend the most to lure black athletes to play for their state colleges.
That this is an inane way to waste money that could be better spent on more important issues is not something you'll hear from The Blind Side.
The more serious question: will American taxpayers be forced to subsidize this doomed panacea society-wide?
[Steve Sailer (email him) is movie critic for The American Conservative. His website www.iSteve.blogspot.com features his daily blog. His new book, AMERICA'S HALF-BLOOD PRINCE: BARACK OBAMA'S "STORY OF RACE AND INHERITANCE", is available here.] | <urn:uuid:b2278fdc-61f7-4ff9-a45a-1a72108544d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vdare.com/articles/the-next-liberal-fad-a-stolen-generation-of-black-children | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970455 | 3,109 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Sewer Drain & Sewer Repair
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We guarantee to solve your drainage and sewer problems quickly and surely! | <urn:uuid:24a29a8a-2202-488b-924a-bf30a755ffcf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://plumbingcenterinc.com/sewer-drain | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936731 | 611 | 1.671875 | 2 |
I almost wish that I had started research on my narwhal book a year later. Because that would mean that I might have had an opportunity to join a team of Oceans North Canada scientists in the first research expedition to follow narwhals as they migrate from the coast of Greenland to the fjords of Canada’s Nunavut province. They depart this week and will survey the numbers of narwhals, belugas, bowheads and other whales they see, monitor migrating whale sounds, survey seabirds and trawl for plankton as part of a polar bear food-chain study. Sounds like a great trip.
But I can’t complain too much. I’ve had plenty of pretty spectacular narwhal adventures of my own. The midnight jousting session 50 feet from my campsite on a beach in Koluktoo Bay, the first time I had a clear look at a narwhal tusk, may be the most mesmerizing moment of my life, and thinking back on it now more than two years later still gives me a jolt of excitement that I pray never diminishes. I’m still not sure whether it was the quiet, slow-motion activities of the whales, the spectacular rocky hillsides and iceberg-filled waters, or the unexpectedness of the experience after having already gone to bed that makes that observation rise to the top in my mind. But it does.
And yet there were plenty of other moments that I won’t soon forget either. The parade of narwhals traveling back and forth day after day in Tremblay Sound, skillfully avoiding the researchers’ nets and providing a daily dose of frustration while impressing us at the same time with their remarkable navigational abilities. The more determined parade of narwhals streaking close by our boat in Eclipse Sound, caring not a whit for the threat we posed, for they were far more concerned about escaping from the pod of hungry killer whales that was chasing them. The honks and moos and twitters and whistles and creaky doors and other bizarre sounds the whales made as I listened in on their conversations with a hydrophone in the middle of Kolukotoo Bay. The first time I touched a narwhal – still warm after having been killed just minutes earlier – its skin soft and leathery and firm all at once, and my first taste of its blubber and its meat soon afterwards, something I’ll never say was tasty but which I’m pleased to have shared with the proud hunters.
I have had weeks of adventures that make me more enamored of the narwhal than when I started writing my book about them. How it can thrive in its icy world and find food in the dark depths will always amaze me. And yet despite their great skill and flexibility and physiological adaptations that enable them to undertake their entire life cycle in conditions that few creatures can withstand, and despite what I’ve learned about their somewhat stable populations from the world’s experts, I still worry about them.
Today, though, I’m just enjoying those amazing memories. If you want to keep track of the Oceans North Canada expedition as it follows the narwhal migration, check out www.oceansnorth.org/2011-arctic-whale-survey.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
When I arrived at the Inuit hunting camp to observe a subsistence narwhal hunt not far from Qaanaaq, Greenland, the northernmost municipality on Earth, there were no narwhals to be seen. But sitting on the beach decomposing were two Greenland sharks. The hunters told me that the sharks had been scavenging the narwhals that the hunters had harpooned before they were able to haul the whales to shore. So they killed the sharks.
As disturbing as it was to see, even more disturbing is the practice of “finning” sharks – capturing them, slicing off their dorsal fins, and tossing the rest of the carcass into the water to die – and selling the fins to Asian markets for shark fin soup, a delicacy in China where it is consumed at weddings and other celebrations. It’s not practiced in the Arctic, but it takes place in all of the other oceans of the world.
Fishermen can sell the fins for more than $40 dollars per pound, with some large fins from basking sharks going for as much as $50,000. (A market in California was selling the fins for up to $699 per pound this year.) Finning, banned in U.S. waters, is responsible for the death of tens of millions of sharks every year, which is causing great declines in shark numbers around the globe. And when the numbers of top predators decline drastically, it has a cascading affect on the entire ecosystem.
Thankfully, public outcry about finning is beginning to show results. Hawaii became the first state in the nation to ban the import and sale of shark fins this year, and Washington state soon followed suit. This week a bill to ban shark fin soup in California, introduced by a Chinese-American legislator, passed the Assembly and is headed to the Senate. Similar bills have been introduced in other states, including Oregon, where it has passed the House, though final passage is uncertain.
Whit Sheard of the marine conservation group Oceana said that winning a ban in West Coast states is part of a campaign to build international support for protecting the sharks killed each year for soup. “It’s fantastic that in times like we are in now, something like this can get such enormous bipartisan support,” he told the Associated Press.
But the battle is far from won. Even if it is banned across the U.S., the practice of finning sharks is still legal in most of the world’s oceans, and high demand for shark fin soup is keeping prices high, which provides an economic incentive for fisherman to continue the practice. However, high profile Asian chefs, celebrities, and even basketball star Yao Ming have come out in opposition to shark fin soup, so momentum is building.
Sharks reproduce slowly so it will take a long time to rebuild their populations, but these first steps look promising. And while sharks are responsible for the deaths of many marine mammals every year, including narwhals, they play a vital role in maintaining a healthy marine ecosystem.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Numerous theories have been presented over the centuries to explain the function or purpose of the narwhal tusk, the strangest tooth in nature: as a spear for hunting or a tool for digging, as a weapon of defense or aggression, an instrument for breaking ice or sound propagation, or even as a swimming rudder or an organ for breathing.
|Photo by Paul Nicklen|
The biologists, on the other hand, all stake their reputations on their belief that the narwhal tusk – the male whale’s left tooth, which spirals out to a length of up to eight feet -- is a “secondary sexual characteristic,” like the antlers on a deer, the tail of a peacock, and the mane of a lion. It’s a physical adornment designed to attract a mate and demonstrate dominance over other males, they say. If it were important for sensing their environment, females would have one, too. (A tiny percentage of females do.) The scientists point to Charles Darwin, who argued in 1871 that “when the males are provided with weapons which the females do not possess, there can hardly be a doubt that they…have been acquired through sexual selection.” Half a century before Darwin, Arctic explorer William Scoresby concluded similarly: “It cannot be essential for procuring their food, or none of them would be without it: nor is it, perhaps, necessary for their defense, else the females and young would be subjected to the power of enemies without the means of resistance, while the male would be in possession of an admirable weapon for its protection.”
I’ve interviewed all of the parties involved, and all are passionate about their position. Perhaps the harshest critic of the sensory organ theory is biologist James Finley, who wrote to me in an email, “The romance of the narwhal makes people want to fantasize all sorts of bizarre function. Nweeia is dreaming. It continues to amaze me that practically every account of the narwhal, even some by biologists, has to end with the assertion that we still don’t know the function of the mysterious narwhal tusk. It’s no more mysterious than a moose’s antlers, yet we are loath to let the legend die.”
Nweeia’s conclusion is based on his finding that the tusk has millions of tiny tubules extending from the inner core of the tooth to the outer edge, unlike in any other mammalian tooth, enabling seawater to penetrate to the nerve endings in the tusk. From that finding, he drew his hypothesis about it being a sensory organ, and he has been working to prove it ever since by administering water of varying salinity levels to the tusk of live narwhals and observing their physiological reactions. It has taken five or six years of effort to get results from half a dozen animals, and he is convinced he is right. But he hasn’t published his results, so none of the biologists have been able to review his claim.
So the debate goes on. Though to call it a debate is overstating the situation, because – unlike most scientific debates – those on either side of the question have never communicated with each other. It’s a stand-off with no end in sight.
Friday, May 6, 2011
I’ve paid close attention to the news this week noting that mercury levels are rising in Arctic marine mammals and that diabetes among Arctic natives is on the increase due to the pollutants in the whale meat they eat. It got me thinking about what that means for narwhals.
Dietz is in the midst of several additional studies of mercury contamination in Arctic marine mammals. He has found that polar bears generally have low levels of mercury in their brains because they can rid their system of a substantial amount of mercury through their fur, a process whales cannot partake in since they have no fur. He is also analyzing mercury in the growth rings of narwhal tusks, which, like hair, teeth and feathers, can be a storehouse of pollutants. “I can go out and get a two meter tusk and get the last 50 year history of that animal’s mercury contamination,” Dietz said.
Biologist Rune Dietz of Denmark’s National Environmental Research Institute has been investigating the contaminants in the marine environment that find their way into the animals’ vital organs, blubber, and other tissues -- even their tusks -- via the food chain. While no studies have yet been conducted that have evaluated the health effects of contaminants like heavy metals and industrial chemicals on narwhals, Dietz found elevated levels of cadmium, selenium and mercury, as well as man-made organochlorines like PCBs and DDT, in tissue samples collected from 150 narwhals in Greenland.
|Photo courtesy of Glenn Williams|
Dietz isn’t the only scientist examining narwhal tissue samples to better understand the health of the population. University of Manitoba scientist Gary Stern has collected samples of narwhal livers, kidneys, muscle and blubber to assess contaminants in the whales, and his results somewhat mirror those of Dietz. He said that climate change may be exacerbating the problem because the accumulation of contaminants in narwhal tissues is dependent on the whales getting access to those contaminants. As sea ice retreats, he said that more contaminated fish will be available for the whales to feed upon, making those contaminants “bioavailable.”
While Stern agrees with Dietz that little is known about the health impacts of these pollutants, he worries most about what he calls the “synergistic effects” from a wide range of challenges the animals are facing.
“It’s hard to tell what affects the contaminants are having on their health, but they are one additional stressor they have to deal with,” he said. “We still have no information that says directly that it’s affecting reproduction or having neurological effects; it’s hard to tell with an animal in the wild. But these animals are under stress for a number of reasons – changing habitat, noise pollution – and contaminants are just another thing that acts synergistically to possibly making their immune systems not work as well.” | <urn:uuid:fa0530ed-6acb-4f92-ad9d-32288261307d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://narwhalslefttooth.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962253 | 2,643 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Alchemilla a chance encounter.
All his colleagues know that Lionel de Benetti doesn't sleep much. Which is lucky when you are in charge of the research laboratories and factory at Pontoise, where Clarins products are developed. All his colleagues also know that after arriving at his office at 5am, Lionel de Benetti disappears between precisely 6am and 7.30am. To go running! Every day, always in the countryside and in the vicinity of the factory. It was by total chance – or rather thanks to an undone shoelace – that during one of his daily jogs he discovered alchemilla. « If I hadn't bent down to tie my shoelace, I would never have noticed it. A small plant that seemed to sparkle in the first light of day because of the drops of dew strangely clinging to its leaves... ». It was brought back to the laboratory, identified, then screened over and over again before finally revealing its until now unknown secret: its capacity to reduce the excessive transfer of melanosomes towards keratinocytes. « We might not have found the philosopher's stone or the secret to wisdom, but this was still a major discovery... ». | <urn:uuid:febd4572-5c2c-42aa-ad56-5677c23e11aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clarinsusa.com/Daily-Energizer-Lotion-SPF15/C010405008,en_US,pd.html?start=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974192 | 244 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center
On October 31, 2012, Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald announced that GE Healthcare and the Cleveland Clinic would serve as the two anchor tenants for the $465 million Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center, opening in July, 2013. GE Healthcare, a $12 billion business, will feature twelve of its innovative medical technologies in an interactive display following the “breast cancer journey” of a hypothetical patient named Grace, as part of the Medical Mart’s second floor, which will focus on people, patients, and caregivers. Other floors will feature: health and home (first), clinical space (third), and health information technologies (fourth). Although the Cleveland Clinic did not specify how it would use its space, the Clinic’s Dr. Toby Cosgrove was an early advocate of the project. Cleveland State University and Cuyahoga County Community College will have rent-free space at the Medical Mart.
This announcement may help assuage critics’ concerns that MMPI (Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc.) had yet to announce any confirmed tenants, and that the list of potential tenants featured many furniture makers and designers rather than medical companies. The involvement of GE Healthcare and the Cleveland Clinic may help other smaller companies to commit to participate in the Medical Mart. The suspension of the Nashville Medical Trade Center project on Oct. 11, 2012 may help the Cleveland Medical Mart attract additional tenants, as well. Nashville was not able to procure enough committed tenants. Plans for a 1.5 million-square-foot medical marketplace in New York City were scrapped in January, 2010. A spokesperson said that the medical community was looking for a neutral location to examine medical equipment and conduct educational seminars. Financing presumably was an issue in Nashville and New York, as well.
In the Summer of 2007, Cuyahoga County Commissioners “envisioned the economic benefits that a medical mart, combined with a convention center, would drive to the region,” and passed a 0.25% sales tax to finance the Cleveland project. The local naysayers who claimed the Medical Mart never would be built have been proven wrong. Others wonder whether it will be a final white-elephant homage to the three-person County commissioner system, which seemed, at best, a vehicle for cronyism and, at worst, with respect to one of the commissioners, corruption. Some people questioned then Commissioner Tim Hagan’s connection to MMPI president (at the time) Chris Kennedy. As a federal investigation into political corruption continued, citizens voted for a new county charter and system of government, led by the County Executive.
Helpful “mid-course corrections” in the process of building the Medical Mart include hiring healthcare industry veteran Jim Bennett as Senior Vice President of the Medical Mart; hiring Jeff Appelbaum, an attorney who specializes in construction law, to oversee the construction process; and appointing an Industry Advisory Board to help maintain the healthcare focus of the project. While few residents probably enjoy paying the extra 0.25% sales tax, let us hope that the public-private partnership that will result in the Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center provides momentum and synergy with other Downtown projects, such as the Horseshoe Casino, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the recently-expanded (and free) trolley service, to move the City and the region forward. | <urn:uuid:28bd3b4f-c31a-4d3f-b020-ef904b5fa98d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lawlibrary.case.edu/2012/11/05/cleveland-medical-mart-and-convention-center/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9531 | 700 | 1.679688 | 2 |
by Douglas Storm
If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about the answers. Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s RainbowIt’s that simple really. All we do now is ask the wrong questions and get irrelevant answers because the questions determine the direction we’ll be heading. The Pynchon quote comes from the stunningly simple book by Kathy Emery and Susan Ohanian called Why Is Corporate America Bashing Our Schools? By simple I mean obvious. When you read it you are just left with a kind of awe-struck response to the clear and obvious abuses perpetrated by that class of Americans we call “owners” or corporate managers. They have the money, the networks, the connections, the property and the will to assert their will upon us all. And without us even being aware of it. If you read no other book about AMERICA–you must read this one.
Missions and Visions disguise motivations and worldview. The Monroe County Community School Corporation is using “surveymonkey” to allow public comment on their proposed statements of purpose and “belief” (yeah, I know): gathering data, as it were, in a rather stark example of the way the world works these days. Given that it’s likely nothing the community of parents say will matter (unless they are major contributors to campaigns or major property owners in the county) we can at least examine the proposals in a way that allows us to know what’s coming.
First, I think I’ve said somewhere that the two institutions I think of when I consider these kinds of facile exercises is the Church and the modern Corporation. This in itself is starkly instructive.
Next, a possibly the primary point to consider: the words used tend to be “of the moment” and in effect are meaningless as to any revelation of content within said institution. But, a big but, what they do allow is an expansive application of practices to “meet the mission” parameters. It’s a kind of business contract that is always ambiguous and always interpreted to fit the business ideology.
Finally, we’ve arrived at a pretty clear codification of “secret” meanings over the last decade or so. The Business Agenda determines our practices. Certain words indicate the willingness of a Board or Superintendent to put that agenda first to the detriment of the community of children and citizens.
I intended to break this down but it’s already been done by Emery and Ohanian so I’ll just insert their analysis and critique where applicable. The primary question we are always advised to bear in mind (i.e., a correct question to ask), “Whom do these statements serve?”
Read with care…mission statements from school districts across the country. Ask yourself why every word is there: what does it mean and what does it hide? Ask yourself who profits. Which statements seem to be emanating from a public relations echo chamber? As you read each mission, put yourself in the shoes of the five-year-olds, eight-year-olds, thirteen-year-olds, and eighteen-year-olds in that district. Does this sound like a happy place to be? A fit place for a child you love? (Emery and Ohanian, 81)What is clear from any number of examples is the worldview of the owners of an economic hegemony. Here are the “draft” Vision and Mission Statements of the MCCSC:
Vision Statement: A World Class Learning Community – For Leaders of Tomorrow
Mission Statement: Maximize student achievement, working in collaboration with parents and the community, to be productive and responsible citizens, who are successful globally.
Plenty of mission statements reek of backroom cigar smoke and corporate-politico handshakes, but take heart: with world-class standards infecting so many education plans, we only found one school board intent on producing world-class children. Of course technological society and world of tomorrow ooze their way into the rhetoric; they are all just euphemisms for the global economy, which is what this is all about. As many have noted, it’s a mean economy, cruising the world for cheap labor. (80)The “core beliefs” that come next all begin with the phrase “We believe…” and form a kind of creed. See the Nicene Creed for another example of this.
Value 1: All children can learn; we can teach all students; there are No exceptions.
All children can learn what? We can certainly teach all children that there is only business ideology and success is only to be measured in those terms. That seems pretty reasonable, right?
Value 2: In the facilitation and development of diverse curricular and extra-curricular programs which result in high levels of student engagement, address student needs, interests, and integrate technology when appropriate.
Wow, that’s a mouthful and all beliefs there are somewhat “open for business.” We must not see these as independent beliefs but rather beliefs that make the mission and vision possible. These support the global economic hegemony. It’s kind of like reading a fortune cookie and then always finishing with the phrase “in bed,” but in this case we’d need to insert a business phrase. Try any of them and see if they work. Maybe “to be productive” in some grammatical form works?
Value 3: Children are unique and their self-esteem will be fostered to become successful (ly productive in the global economy for the corporate class).
See, it works.
Value 4: A positive attitude creates a successful working and learning environment.
Hey, don’t even think about complaining or disagreeing with this!
Value 5. District employees are high valued resources (in the production of economic ideology).
Value 6. In an environment in which continuous improvement through Professional Learning Communities is embedded in our culture to ensure high performance.
Continuous improvement sounds exhausting! But it’s important that we embed a business hierarchy that treats its teachers like soldiers serving the principal (getting order from) who in turn serves the Superintendent who in turn serves the (bypassed board) State economic and ideological agenda. I mean, they’re “embedded” after all!
Value 7: In a safe and secure learning environment. (Locked Down and Monitored! Embedded security.)
Traveling under various guises, economics pops up in lots of mission statements. Not as the actual word but as an underlying theme. Watch for its permutations: productive employment and productive lives, or, in billionaire Eli Broad’s words, future knowledge workers. Such language reveals the extent to which the Business Roundtable agenda and myth making dominate school boards. (79)Judy DeMuth, the Monroe County Community School Corporation’s Superintendent, will speak tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. to the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce to bang the economic agenda drum. This is a natural venue for her to speak as it is to the business leaders that our schools now bow and march in lock-step to their ideology.
My impression is that business leaders don’t really care about education as a way to offer what we might call “learning and enhancement” particularly when applied to individual quality of life. It seems to me as if there are only two goals: reduce or eliminate a public cost that they don’t want to pay, because, primarily, “my money should only serve my purposes,” and increase opportunities for market capture.
I think too that there is a real “success” bias now that is ONLY applicable to the financially well-off. By this I mean, the wealthy only think their way is the right way and if you didn’t get there with them then you have failed at doing things the right and best and proven way. If you are a failure at understanding and applying this right and only way of conceiving of the human goals of living then why should I (rich, socially successful person) subsidize your stupidity and cost myself (and my children) money. Also, if you disagree with my ways why would I want to fund an education that might lead to you opposing me from a power base in the future that might harm me?
Of course, I oppose this vision, mission, and core belief litany and offer a simple replacement.
This school will protect children from poverty and coercive ideology. This school will provide free space where all children will find all the methods of play and creativity we can think of so as to promote as much joy and common caring and understanding as possible.Chime in.
*Movers and Shakers in “partnership” with Education in Indiana. | <urn:uuid:8c93cd4a-a664-4e75-be56-7f26edbb55da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2012/01/guest-post-against-oligarchical.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948165 | 1,837 | 1.734375 | 2 |
July 9 (Reuters) – German utility E.ON (EONGn.DE) could take a partial stake in some of EDF’s (EDF.PA) nuclear reactors as part of a plan to extend the life of the plants, E.ON told a newspaper on Friday.
French parliamentarians last month passed a bill that will force former power monopoly EDF to sell a quarter of its nuclear output to rivals to foster greater competition in the electricity market.
The bill will now have to be examined by the upper house in an extraordinary parliamentary session in July or September, but a senator of the UMP ruling party has proposed instead that EDF invite shareholders into the country’s 58 nuclear reactors.
“E.ON would be very interested. But this objective must be clearly written in the law. Otherwise, the historical operator would have excessive leverage in negotiations,” said Luc Poyer, the head of E.ON France in an interview with daily Le Figaro.
“If 500 million euros are needed to extend the life of a reactor, a part of that investment could come from a player that has the technical and economic expertise. In exchange, it would get a share in the output,” he added.
Poyer also said France should further open its electricity market, which was liberalised in July 2007 in line with European Union demands, but EDF’s competitors are struggling to attract customers because of scarce access to baseload output. (Reporting by Michel Rose and Benjamin Mallet; Editing by Hans Peters) | <urn:uuid:c0cc627d-aad7-454f-9943-e9264cfe2b95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://silverscorpio.com/tag/parliamentarians/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964902 | 320 | 1.585938 | 2 |
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Advanced ceramic students at SUNY Plattsburgh do more than just practice their art - they give back to the community.
Every fall, students under Associate Professor Berry Matthews get their hands dirty making numerous bowls for a special soup supper.
The event is called Empty Bowls and in exchange for a donation, community members receive a meal and a bowl to remind them of hunger. This year, the event raised more than $2,000 for a local food shelf, and another $110 for Oxfam, an organization which fights hunger and poverty on an international level.
The very creation of the bowls benefits students.
"Making multiples of pieces increases their skill in ceramics, and they enjoy participating in an event that gives back to the community," said Matthews. "Each time people look at their bowl, I hope they will remember all the hungry people in the world (those with empty bowls) and be more generous."
"I like the Empty Bowls event because we are able to use our art to help out the community" said ceramics student Marie Purdy, a past participant and an advocate for this year's event. Purdy worked to bring more students to the supper in support of the charitable cause.
More than a decade ago, Matthews learned of Empty Bowls at a ceramics conference. Interested in the charitable event, she decided to bring the idea to SUNY Plattsburgh and involve some of her students.
The event proved to be a tremendous success. More than 12 years later, SUNY Plattsburgh continues to host the meal, donating all proceeds to the Plattsburgh Interfaith Food Shelf.
Over the years, support for the event has grown so that much that its original venue, the Newman Center, became too small. Now, with Chartwells donating the space and four Chartwells employees donating their time to the cause, the Empty Bowls Supper is held in SUNY Plattsburgh’s Algonquin Dining Hall, allowing even more participation from the community.
"After coming to Empty Bowls, I finally feel like I am truly a part of the community," said one attendee.
For more information about the art program at SUNY Plattsburgh, please contact:
Richard Higgins, Director of Admissions
Phone: (518) 564-2040
Toll-Free: (888) 673-0012
Fax: (518) 564-2045 | <urn:uuid:931085a3-cb4d-472f-b6e8-a10be141202e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.plattsburgh.edu/about/profiles/programs/emptybowls.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94568 | 526 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Create a Child-Friendly Garden
Homeowners Melanie and Jason Deitch want to create a kid-friendly play area that is socially inviting and sophisticated enough for their two sons to enjoy and appreciate.
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At present, the sloping yard is overgrown with ivy and not very safe. Designer Beth Mullens' challenge is to create a contemporary adult area and a fun kids' area in just two days.
Before: The steeply sloping yard is overgrown with ivy, and the space isn't safe for children.
Container gardening has grown far beyond the predictable red geraniums in pots. Here are innovative ideas for combining shrubs,... | <urn:uuid:24d566b6-4f14-4af6-8b21-ea97cd157947> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/bog-garden/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934545 | 156 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Most Australians receive a minimum of 9% of their salary contributed into their super account from their employer. This is known as the Super Guarantee. The Superannuation Guarantee will increase to 9.25% on 1 July 2013 before gradually increasing to 12% by 1 July 2019.
A recent study by ASFA* shows a major shortfall Australians face in retirement if they only rely on their 9% employer super contributions.
A single person needs around $788 and a couple $1,078 a week, for a comfortable retirement. According to ASFA, your current employer super contributions earn you a rather modest lifestyle in retirement. A modest lifestyle allows only $432 a week for a single person.
By adding extra to your super now, you can close the gap to enjoy a more comfortable retirement. A comfortable retirement means being able to afford most things you value now, such as: entertaining family and friends, private health insurance, internet at home, running your car and yes, even those little luxuries like dining out.
You can grow your super in the following ways:
Extra contributions: contribute your own money to super by making regular before- or after-tax contributions, one-off lump sum payments or by contributing to your spouse's super.
Disclaimer: This information is of a general nature. The information does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation or needs. If you need specific advice for your personal circumstances, you may wish to consult a suitably qualified adviser to ascertain whether the information is appropriate for you.
Closing the gap is easier the earlier you start
The money that's in super the longest works the hardest. So, if you start today, the contributions you need to close the gap will be significantly lower than if you start later in life. You can enjoy life's simple pleasures now and when you finish work. The case study is based on certain assumptions and is provided for illustrative purposes only.
Assumptions: Based on a 30 year old male earning $73,000 pa, retiring at age 65 and contributing to West State Super. Try our How much will I have/need calculator to work out your gap or to view the assumptions. These assumptions may change over time.
Are you making the most of your super?
Making extra contributions to your super now can make a significant difference by the time you retire. | <urn:uuid:aa4ba490-db89-424a-88be-bf9fa5c909a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gesb.com.au/cps/rde/xchg/internet/site/index_grow.html?rdeCOQ=SID-76BE06FD-684CFF35 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94685 | 482 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Mexicans Vote to Return the PRI to Power
|Dan La Botz||July 3, 2012|
Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has won the Mexican presidential elections with a plurality of 37 percent of the vote, returning to power the party which ruled Mexico as an authoritarian one-party-state for decades. Peña Nieto defeated the left-of-center Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) who got 31 percent of the vote and Josefina Vázquez Mota of the conservative National Action Party (PAN) who received about 26 percent.
Peña Nieto, who had the tacit support of the powerful Televisa network and of the PRI’s powerful political machine, faced a rising challenge in the month before the election from a new student movement which criticized his links to the mass media and his record of political repression in Mexico State where he had been governor. But the student movement, known as “I am #132,” which grew rapidly and attracted attention from throughout the country, was still too little and too late to change the election victory for Peña Nieto and the PRI which had been predicted for months by the polls.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who claimed to have won the presidential election in 2006, abandoned the more radical rhetoric of that campaign which led the media to compare him to Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, this time portraying himself as a moderate reformer who would follow the example of Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, the former president of Brazil. López Obrador sought to win the confidence of the Mexican business establishment and of Mexico’s middle classes, as well as of his traditional base among working people, peasants and the poor. The move to the right clearly failed to improve on his 2006 performance.
The Institutional Revolutionary Party has its origins in the Mexican Revolution, created in 1929 by President Plutarco Elías Calles as the party of government functionaries and transformed by President Lázaro Cárdenas in the 1930s into a mass party of workers and peasants. By the 1940s the PRI had become an authoritarian and corrupt party with a nationalist economic program; it oversaw the state banks and industries, encouraged private capital and used its control of the labor unions and peasant leagues to ensure labor peace. During the 1980s, however, the PRI abandoned its nationalist economic program and adopted neoliberal policies to encourage foreign investment, open markets to free trade, cut the social budget, and weaken labor unions. Since the 1970s, the PRI had loosened its hold on the political process and by the 1980s there were growing political parties left and right.
In 2000 Vicente Fox, a Coca-Cola Company executive, businessman and rancher, ran as the National Action Party’s candidate for president and won, ending over 70 years of rule by the PRI. In terms of political program, Mexicans could find little difference between the PRI and the PAN. Presidential candidates Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and López Obrador of the left-of-center Party of the Democratic Revolution offered an alternative, but the PRI and the PAN used their political power, corruption, and—many believe—electoral fraud to keep the leftist candidates from winning.
For the last six years, Felipe Calderón, also of the conservative PAN, has held office, overseeing Mexico’s economic crisis and pursuing a war against drug dealers that saw the deployment of 40,000 soldiers and thousands of police officers, widespread violations of human rights, 50,000 killed, 10,000 disappeared, and thousands forced to leave their homes for other states. Tremendously unpopular with the Mexican people, PAN candidate Vázquez Mota faced an uphill battle in the attempt to represent her rightwing party, and she was ultimately defeated by the legacy of Calderón.
With the PRI back in power, many Mexicans will be asking themselves is this a case of back to the future? Will Mexico become once again a one-party state ruled by an authoritarian party? Mexico’s left, which invested so heavily in the rightward-moving López Obrador must ask itself whether it made a mistake and might not have done better pursuing some other alternative. The Mexican right, the National Action Party, will find it hard to compete with the nearly equally conservative PRI and overcome the legacy of Calderon’s military policy. The question of the moment, for most Mexicans, is what will the PRI be able to do about the economic crisis and the drug war? The PRI may have its honeymoon period, but one suspects that the honeymoon will be short. | <urn:uuid:4651a195-6bfb-46da-8f6a-470cf2bf88f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newpol.org/content/mexicans-vote-return-pri-power | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967708 | 995 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The upholding of a sentence against a blogger jailed for “insulting Islam” is yet another blow to freedom of expression in Tunisia, Amnesty International said.
It is vital that the international community does more to help the increasing number of refugees pouring across borders as they flee the violence in Syria, said Amnesty International in a briefing published today.
The decision of a Moscow court on April 25, 2013 to fine an independent non-governmental organization and its leader is an alarming indicator for the future of civil society in Russia
The UN Security Council’s failure to add human rights monitoring to the mandate of its Western Sahara peacekeeping force – despite ongoing reports of abuses in the region – is a “missed opportunity”, Amnesty International said today.
An arbitrary court order to detain a university professor for four months after he co-founded a human rights organization is the latest blow to freedom of expression and assembly in the Gulf kingdom, Amnesty International said today.
Israel must release a Palestinian activist held without charge for two years, Amnesty International urged today after his administrative detention was extended for the sixth time without justification.
The systematic undermining and violation of the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association have been the hallmark of Vladimir Putin’s human rights record during the first year of his third mandate as Russian president
The Martin Ennals Foundation and the City of Geneva today announced the three Final Nominees for the
Martin Ennals Award, the main award of the global human rights movement.
Bahrain is clearly "not serious" about implementing human rights reforms, Amnesty International said today after the Gulf kingdom cancelled a planned visit by the United Nations' torture expert for a second time.
The Chinese authorities must release the sister-in-law of a prominent human rights activist and end the ongoing harassment of his relatives living in Shandong Province, Amnesty International said. | <urn:uuid:9f5ebed9-620c-4969-b40c-7b6be79ee5d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases?page=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942909 | 383 | 1.804688 | 2 |
On Tuesday the Fresno Fire Department teamed up with Fresno Unified for a special training opportunity. The district is in the process of demolishing the old Carver Academy. So the fire department is using the vacant building for a variety exercises including ventilation training and forced entry. All exercises are being done with no actual smoke or fire.
Fresno Fire Captain Todd Tuggle said, "Very important to safety, in the budget times that we have with reduced rigs and reduced staffing its all the more important we get out here and do this."
Carver Academy is being demolished to make room for the new Rutherford B. Gaston Sr. Middle School which will open in 2014. | <urn:uuid:2f2eaff3-c127-4f18-aaad-545d17686c53> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/Fresno-Fire-Department-Uses-Old-Building-for-Training-163596606.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954206 | 135 | 1.664063 | 2 |
WASHINGTON - August 31 - After a year of pressure from Congress, park experts, and the American public, the National Park Service today issued the final 2006 Management Policies, which conservationists and retired National Park Service professionals say rebuke efforts by the off-road vehicle industry to erode park protections and instead reinforce the agency’s commitment to protect park resources such as air quality, and preserve wilderness and the experiences of visitors.
“From Yellowstone to the Everglades, park managers will have guidelines that promote a healthy future for all parks. We commend the Administration for finalizing this preservation-oriented version, but the true test will be their implementation, especially when it comes to Wilderness designation and protection and snowmobile, Jet Ski, and off-road vehicle use,” said Kristen Brengel of The Wilderness Society.
Despite last minute lobbying by the off-road vehicle industry, the final version issued today confirms the National Park Service’s over-arching predominant mission of long-term preservation, and reinstates protections for park air quality, wilderness, natural quiet, and other resources.
In particular, the final policies restore conservation as the primary mission of the National Park Service, restore natural sounds as a protected resource in our parks, and offer improved guidance for superintendents to determine if, when, and how new cell towers are sited in national parks.
Over the past year, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, The Wilderness Society, and others have effectively advocated that the Department of the Interior’s effort to rewrite the National Park Service’s Management Policies be stopped and the existing policies remain intact.
Bill Wade, Chair of the Executive Council of the Coalition of NPS Retirees said, “This is a significant victory for Americans who care deeply about their national parks and want them preserved for their children and grandchildren and not, as some have been advocating, turned into drivers for the economic gain of a few and opened up for rampant motorized recreational uses. We commend the National Park Service career professionals for standing up to the pressure and defeating the earlier drafts foisted on the NPS by political operatives in the Department of the Interior.”
The August 2005 rewrite of the parks’ Management Policies sparked nationwide controversy when it was leaked and the author identified as Department of the Interior political appointee Paul Hoffman. Hoffman’s draft was followed by another draft in October in 2005 by the Department of the Interior, which also raised considerable concern among bipartisan members of Congress, park experts, and others. More than 50,000 comments were submitted when this draft was posted in the Federal Register—one of the most significant outpourings of public concern about a park issue in the 90-year history of the system. Secretary Kempthorne publicly endorsed the National Park Service’s revised draft, which was issued to the public in June 2006 and shared with National Park Service employees for feedback.
“Secretary Kempthorne, the dedicated staff of the National Park Service, Congress, and the American public deserve enormous praise for this significant victory for America’s national treasures and generations of visitors,” said NPCA President Tom Kiernan. “We applaud the Secretary for his leadership on these policies and now look to the recently-announced National Park Centennial Challenge as our next opportunity to restore the faded glory of national parks.” | <urn:uuid:dc23872d-891a-4609-a555-73b97e28d807> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0831-03.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940673 | 694 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Building the Digital Collection
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill received an award in the 1996/97 round of the Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition to support the transcription and markup of these texts. As encouraged by the guidelines, the converted files, including scanned images of illustrations, are maintained at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as part of the digital library project, Documenting the American South. Bibliographic records (in MARC format) were delivered to the Library of Congress for indexing as part of American Memory. The records include links to presentations of the texts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
For more detail on different aspects of building this digital collection, follow the links below. Links marked * are to pages mounted the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. | <urn:uuid:3ded50e5-e5ce-4838-8f82-37afab20711f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://international.loc.gov/ammem/award97/ncuhtml/build.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943377 | 165 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Leaders of Indiana’s capital city spent decades gussying up their downtown by building big sports and convention venues and luring upscale hotels, popular restaurants and a four-story shopping mall to locate here.
By the time 5,000 credentialed media rolled into town for the spectacle known as Super Bowl XLVI, those leaders were convinced the city had long outgrown its derogatory nickname: “India-no-place.”
But reputations die hard.
On the Sunday before Super Sunday, an Indianapolis-embedded reporter with The New York Times opened his story about the city with not-too-kind references to tractors, homespun scarves and heartland values. Indianapolis, he wrote, was a “useful antonym” for glamour.
That newspaper story — like a multitude of ones just like it in recent days — posed the basic question: How did an un-hip, super-square city like Indianapolis score a Super Bowl? The answer: By letting Indianapolis be Indianapolis.
As two East Coast teams, the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, get ready to play in Sunday’s game, the city hosting the event seems to embracing its Midwest identity.
“I wouldn’t want anybody to take this wrong, but we don’t ever want to be New York,” said Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels.
Letting Indianapolis be Indianapolis is what may have landed the city the Super Bowl on its second try.
Five years ago, the NFL’s 32 team owners who pick Super Bowl sites four years in advance were impressed with Indianapolis’ pitch: It included a new $720 million stadium built mostly with public money; a long history of hosting big sporting events, from the 1987 Pan Am games to multiple repeats of the NCAA Final Four; and the availability of 18,300 hotel rooms within walking distance of the downtown stadium.
But they’re weren’t impressed enough.
Indianapolis lost out on the 2011 Super Bowl to Dallas’ super-sized promise of hosting the best and biggest Super Bowl event in history.
Alison Melangton, president and chief executive officer of the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee, said her committee members decided to launch a different kind of charm offensive. It built on what she said was a native Hoosier value: “The human touch is really important to us here in Indiana.”
Among the ways the committee employed the touch: It recruited 32 eighth-graders to deliver, in person, the city’s 2012 bid packages to the 32 NFL team owners. And it recruited the city’s legendary St. Elmo’s Steakhouse to send each owner the restaurant’s signature shrimp cocktail.
It also promised to launch a $100-million plus “legacy‚” project aimed at renovating a long-neglected near-downtown neighborhood. And it promised to recruit an army of some 8,000 volunteers — each adorned with a handmade blue-and-white neck scarf — to greet visitors with a super-friendly attitude and directions for how to get around downtown.
Helping the effort along was a promise by Indianapolis Colts’ owner Jim Irsay that his team’s hometown would make good on its promise of Hoosier hospitality. At a press conference Monday, Irsay said the Indianapolis host committee adopted an approach that he described this way: “Ask not what the Super Bowl can do for you. Ask what you can do for the Super Bowl.”
That approach has paid off in dividends, said Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard. “We have a volunteer effort that’s second to none,” Ballard told reporters at that Monday press conference. “Those of you coming in from out-of-town, you’re going to absolutely love our city.”
That expectation might be little high. It’s true that CNBC’s popular sports-business reporter, Darren Rovell, gave the city a boost recently when he declared on ESPN’s “Mike & Mike in the Morning” that Indianapolis as “the best Super Bowl city I’ve ever seen.”
But it might be a little harder to convince others.
Last Sunday, a columnist with the New York Daily News panned the city, saying its old “Nap Town” nickname was well-deserved. He was particularly peeved by the city’s lack of cabs: “You stand on a curb and call your friend with a rental car,” he wrote. “If you actually need a taxi, the best place to locate one is in Chicago.
Maureen Hayden is the Indiana Statehouse bureau chief for CNHI, the parent company of the Tribune-Star. She can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:7b52b984-2e3d-46c0-80c4-2e4b627fd95a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tribstar.com/local/x1456442660/Indy-has-built-rep-from-ground-up/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946324 | 1,024 | 1.5 | 2 |
The summer hostess
The summer hostess domiciled by the sea or in the country finds that even more people partake of her hospitality in summer than in winter.
Her entertaining never ceases, formally or informally. At least a couple of guests are ever enjoying generosity during the season, who come and go at stated intervals. Then, too, there are garden fetes, weekends, luncheons and bridge suppers to be planned and executed, all adding to her fame as hostess.
Besides the fashionable hostess, there is even a greater army of women who love to entertain their friends, and who are quite as anxious to create a desirable impression, though, to be sure, they make no pretense to elaborate forms of entertainment. There is a great deal in simplicity when intelligence and tact are behind it.
In the up-to-date table service, artistic and dainty appointments are necessities, not luxuries. The time has gone when spotless linen and a table groaning with good things will satisfy the twentieth century aesthetic and gastronomic taste. Linen of the whitest and handsomest quality procurable is still a sine qua non, but on the damask must be daintily arranged attractive appointments to lend aid in the serving of well-composed menus.
Some one has said: “To Adam, paradise was a home. To the good among his descendants. home is a paradise.” The woman who would make her home a paradise for some modern Adam will accomplish this end by no surer means than by taking thought that her table, its appointments and menu be like Caesar’s wife — above suspicion.
Vigilance must assert itself to this end at all times, not only when the smart dinner is on, but when the everyday dinner is served en famille.
Asbestos table spreads
A very practical new feature in table appointments is the asbestos spreads to be found in all the shops. These covers take the place of the old-fashioned silence cloths of canton flannel, but are far and away more sensible. They may be bought in various sizes and in sections folding up conveniently for stowing away when not in use.
Another fad of today’s table service is the passing of bonbons, olives and hors d’oeuvres by the servants instead of placing them on the table. The pretiy dishes in which they were served, however, have not disappeared, but come in even quainter and more attractive patterns.
Paper novelties for luncheons and dinner are considered very smart, as they lend themselves more readily to decorative schemes than cut glass or silver, and at the same time give the table a novel and artistic touch. These paper cases for holding bonbons and ices are works of art, and the dainty doilies that accompany them rival teneriffe lace and drawn work in handsome designs and general effect. Round paper lace napkins with lace edges are used on serving plates. A new and attractive paper case in which to serve bonbons or ices is of crepe paper in a swan shape. These swan cases are daintier when carried out in white and gold. The paper is white and the swan’s bill gold.
Especially stunning for wedding receptions and engagement luncheons are the pink paper slippers with high gold heels which boast a small bow at the toe.
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Publication: The Minneapolis Journal
Publication date: July 01, 1906 | <urn:uuid:a36a79e6-89af-40a2-a549-45604d75c65c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://clickamericana.com/topics/food-drink/the-up-to-date-summer-hostess-1906 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957003 | 723 | 1.828125 | 2 |
“…The Court of Appeal has upheld a High Court judge’s ruling that unborn children do not have a right to life.
It also dismissed comments made by the judge about many abortions being granted “on request”.
Right to Life sued the Abortion Supervisory Committee for allegedly failing to review whether certifying consultants were lawfully granting women abortions.
Right to Life said many abortions were wrongfully allowed on the grounds that keeping the baby would be a “threat to the women’s mental health”.
It said the committee should seek further information from consultants who approved abortions and ensure the law was complied with.
In a landmark High Court decision in 2008, Justice Forrie Miller said there were reasons to doubt the lawfulness of many abortions. The ASC appealed against that.
However, Justice Miller rejected arguments that an unborn child had a legal right to life in New Zealand.
Right to Life appealed against that.
The Court of Appeal upheld his ruling that the law does not recognise an unborn child’s right to life….”
go to source/story>>> | <urn:uuid:b20a3438-3496-49bc-ab28-0f49fb3889cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whoar.co.nz/2011/unborn-have-no-right-to-life-court-rules/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980287 | 226 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Saratov Oil Refinery Expansion, Russian Federation
Saratov oil refinery is located in the city of Saratov, Russia. It was commissioned in April 1934 and can process 7mt of crude annually. The refinery manufactures a range of products including unleaded gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, bitumen, vacuum gas oil, sulphur and naphtha.
TNK-BP is the operator of the refinery. It is owned by BP and the AAR Consortium (Alpha Group, Access Industries and Renova). About 1,680 employees are working at the refinery.
Extension of Saratov's well established crude refinery
The refinery has been upgraded repeatedly over the years to enable production of new products and increase production capacity. Upgrades carried out from the 1950s to 1980s enabled the refinery to achieve a peak throughput of 10mt of crude.
In 2004, TNK-BP completed the construction of an 800,000t viscosity breaking unit. The unit was built to increase the refining depth to 70.75% and light oil product recovery to 53%.
The refinery had a capacity of 6.5mt in 2008. Following an upgrade in 2009, capacity was increased to 7mt.
TNK-BP announced its decision to invest $20m in environmental projects in 2010 to reduce pollution caused by the refinery. The projects include reconstruction of treatment facilities, expansion of the drainage system and land reclamation.
New equipment for storage tanks is also part of the investment. During the first half of 2010, new internal floating roofs were installed in five tanks of the refinery to reduce emissions by 6%.
TNK-BP also launched a $300m modernisation programme for the refinery in 2010 to be carried out between 2011 and 2012. The programme includes a series of equipment upgrades and reconstructions of existing units. These include construction of a new isomerisation plant, reconstruction of the diesel hydro treatment unit and sulphur unit, plus the rail loading rack for petroleum products.
The refinery started production of Euro-4 standard Ai-92 gasoline in September 2011. The modernisation programme will enable it to produce Euro-5 standard fuels.
In February 2012, the refinery's reforming units L-35-11/300 and LCh-35-11/600 were equipped with new equipment as part of the modernisation programme. Reconstruction of the hydro-treatment plant was also completed. Construction of the isomerisation unit is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. It will have an annual capacity of 300,000t. The rail loading rack, originally built in 1999, is being reconstructed at a cost of $30m.
A new bitumen unit is planned to be added to the refinery at a cost of $74.7m. Construction of the new unit will be carried out between 2012 and 2014. Productivity of the vacuum desalter unit is also scheduled to be increased between 2012 and 2015.
These investments will enable TNK-BP to improve the quality of products manufactured at the refinery and also minimise its environmental impact.
Lab information management system (LIMS) at TNK-BP's refinery
The refinery is equipped with a laboratory information management system (LIMS) which helps in monitoring the quality of products of the refinery.
LIMS is an integrated system which provides feedback on the quality across the refinery and eliminates errors in calculations.
Information provided by the system is quickly available to the technical personnel who can make changes accordingly. This reduces the time required and improves efficiency.
Contractors involved with the Russian oil refinery's expansion
In July 2011, Invensys Operations Management was awarded a contract for automation of the refinery. Invensys will provide the refinery with its Foxboro distributed control systems and Triconex shutdown and critical control systems.
It will also provide its Foxboro measurement, instrumentation and control devices to be installed in the refinery's isomerisation and other units.
Invensys is responsible for delivering, testing and commissioning the automation system. It will also provide training courses for operation and maintenance.
Marcon has been appointed as the general contractor for reconstructing the rail loading rack.
Intecsa provided basic engineering services for the refining units including the mild hydrocracking units, hydrogeneration, sulphur recovery, gas washing and liquid effluents treatment unit. | <urn:uuid:3acd725d-444b-4ab8-9725-cb19a40519e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hydrocarbons-technology.com/projects/saratov-refinery-expansion/?WT.mc_id=WN_Prj | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94705 | 888 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Milton Werner loves New York. He worked here for more than a decade, heading up a research laboratory that examined human cancers at Rockefeller University on the East Side.
So when Werner decided it was time to start his own biotechnology company, you'd think he would set up shop in the Big Apple.
But the nationally acclaimed scientist traded apples for peaches.
He opened in Georgia.
"I'm a New Yorker at heart," said Werner, now a resident of Atlanta. "And I love New York. It would be a great place to do this, but the cost of living is astronomical."
To top it off, when Werner launched Inhibikase Therapeutics in 2008, Atlanta sent him a check for $455,000, he said.
Werner is like many other former Big Apple bioentrepreneurs -- they study therapies and technologies at New York City's robust research and medical institutions, but move on to cheaper, more science-friendly hubs to develop their products.
The Bloomberg administration wants to reverse that trend.
Over the last five years, the city has invested at least $25 million to grow the bioscience industry in the five boroughs. It provided seed capital for a newly opened bioscience center on the East River and for the soon to be constructed start-up space at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. The State Legislature passed a biotech tax break last year, proposed by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, that smaller biotech companies will start to tap into this April.
In the last two weeks, speeches by both Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Steel have addressed how to spur the bioscience industry.
While the effort has not gone unnoticed -- in fact most commend it -- some industry experts think New York will struggle to become the next Boston, San Diego or North Carolina research triangle. Bloomberg's investment, they argue, might never quite pay off.
The Science Race
Security and large silver gates guard the entrance to the city's new bioscience center. Outside, the cobblestone driveway is lined with pictorials of scientific leaders, Barbara McClintock and James Watson among them.
Inside, the nearly floor-to-ceiling windows offer an expansive view of the East River. New York University's Medical Center looms in the periphery.
The approximately $250 million, 15-story tower opened last month with much fanfare. Celebrity chef Tom Colicchio's newest restaurant occupies space on the ground floor. Sleek lab space sits empty waiting for occupants on the fourth floor. The top floors house the new research space for an Eli Lilly and Company subsidiary, the New Jersey-headquartered ImClone .
But the facility, developed by Alexandria Real Estate Equities, didn't come without sacrifice.
The state contributed $27 million to the project's construction and another $1 million to entice ImClone as the anchor tenant. The Bloomberg administration gave $13.4 million, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer gave $500,000. All of it was to lure an industry starving for lab space and start-up capital, officials said.
"You look at all the big pharmaceutical companies," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the center's opening. "They are over in New Jersey. We want to make sure those jobs stay here."
The city has a lot of catching up to do. Officials admit they have lagged behind other metropolitan areas -- losing bioscience jobs to Boston's reputation and to San Diego's easy-on-the-pocket lab space.
"[The city] has a lot of the ingredients to be the premiere bioscience center," said Seth Pinsky, the chairman of the city's Economic Development Corp. "We just haven't captured as much of the potential as we should."
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2007 and 2009 the five boroughs added approximately 266 commercial bioscience jobs -- going from 7,247 jobs to 7,513. Manhattan actually lost jobs in research and development in the biotech sector -- the primary target of the city's efforts. Figures by county for 2010 are not yet available.
The Economic Develop Corp. says the city had 132 bioscience companies as of 2010.
According to the bureau, New York City has approximately the same amount of jobs in bioscience as Boulder, Colo. or Dallas, Texas.
San Diego, though, has four times as many bioscience jobs as the five boroughs.
While New York gained a couple hundred positions, other emerging and established bioscience hubs gained more -- and at a faster rate. Dallas added twice as many jobs as the Big Apple between 2007 and 2009.
Durham County, N.C. -- one piece of the state's research triangle -- gained more than 1,100 jobs in the private sector. Cambridge, Mass. took on more than 2,300 additional jobs and Suffolk County, home to Boston, more than 960.
View Bioscience Boosts in a larger map
For a full look at where jobs in bioscience are going, see our interactive map. The map includes private employment in research and development in physical, engineering and biological sciences as well as employment in the pharmaceutical industry and medical device manufacturing.
Forgetting established bioscience clusters, like California and eastern Massachusetts, experts say Palm Beach, Seattle and much of the Southeast are all competition for a slice of the emerging bioscience market.
"One of the main drivers was our proximity to the new Scripps Research Institute," said Robert Middlebrook, the chief financial officer of Envoy Therapeutics, explaining the company's decision to locate in Palm Beach County in 2009. Several of Envoy's scientists have ties to the city's Rockefeller University.
Bigger and Better Incentives
For the city to get businesses like Envoy to come to New York, it will offer $3 million in tax credits for the first time this year. But many other states and counties have already implemented tax credits and incentives -- and some are hooking biosciencebusiness with a larger worm.
Maryland has promised to invest $1.1 billion in bioscience over 10 years, including $8 million in a refundable biotechnology tax credit this year. Massachusetts has set aside $500 million over a decade for capital investments in life sciences. The Bay State gave out $25 million in tax credits in 2009.
New York state has some tax incentives geared to companies in emerging technologies, but the state Department of Taxation and Finance does not break out data by region or industry. The department forecasts it will hand out $14 million in 2010 for capital expansion and training for emerging technologies.
To catch up with other areas, the city Economic Development Corp. plans to secure a consultant by the end of the year to study what incentives and initiatives New York City can adopt to bring biotech here. The study, said officials, should be completed by next summer.
Bioscience Throughout the Boroughs
Bloomberg administration officials say we already have the research centers. We just need to turn their expertise into a commercial economic boom for bioscience.
At the offices of Google in Chelsea yesterday, newly minted Deputy Mayor Steel said biotechnology and life sciences are crucial to creating a new "innovation economy" for the city. The city has a "marketing problem and a real estate challenge," Steel said.
Despite the national and international competition to entice bioscience, Steel said -- in typical New York fashion -- the city is ready to best them all.
A decade ago, New York City had one large commercial lab space for startups. It now has three others on the map or in the works -- all have been spearheaded with private and public dollars.
Earlier this year, the administration and SUNY Downstate Medical Center announced the first phase of construction on a 486,000 square foot facility at the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park. SUNY Downstate also expanded another incubator space in central Brooklyn, said professor Eva Cramer, vice president for biotechnology and scientific affairs at SUNY Downstate.
The Alexandria Center for Life Science on the East Side of Manhattan plans to add two more towers -- though the commitment comes with a caveat. Joel Marcus, Alexandria's president and chief executive officer, said it would not break ground on the next tower until it had an anchor tenant. There is no telling when that might occur given the tremulous economy, real estate market and the relative trouble the city has had keeping and recruiting companies.
Experts provided some optimism, arguing a major tenant for a second building would be easier to corral since a biotech presence has been established in the complex.
The new Alexandria tower and the Brooklyn Army Terminal space alone will create about 2,000 new bioscience jobs, officials said.
This multi-borough development strategy epitomizes the city's new bioscience mantra -- "if you build it, they will come."
“New York City has always had many of the ingredients that would make it a center for the bioscience industry -- a talented workforce, accessible venture capital and a concentration of leading academic and medical institutions -– but we’ve had a shortage of commercial lab space," said Economic Development Corp. spokesperson David Lombino. "Now, with new lab space open and even more in the pipeline, the city is better poised to capture companies that spin out of our existing institutions, creating good jobs and strengthening our local economy."
Some scientists just starting companies don't see it so simply. Dr. Allan Rubenstein, a pediatrics and neurology professor at New York University, received nearly $1.5 million for his biotech startup, NexGenix Pharmaceuticals, after attending a city-sponsored seminar on grant applications.
He now has eight employees in Manhattan.
But, Rubenstein said, his lab space is in San Francisco.
"Despite the very positive efforts of the Economic Development Corp., I don’t personally think that biotech is going to thrive in Manhattan," said Rubenstein. "It's basically the cost of doing business."
Manhattan's cost of lab space is one thing. Alexandria's Marcus would not disclose specific rental rates at the new life science center, but said they are less than $80 a square foot.
Boston area lab space goes for approximately $50 per square foot, according to the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.
Lab space coming online in the outer boroughs is more affordable. Rental rates at the Brooklyn Army Terminal project will be about $40 per square foot, according to the Economic Development Corp. An official running the space said scientists aren't lining up to sign leases, but they have had plenty of inquires.
Companies in California tend to get larger spaces -- approximately 10,000 to 15,000 square feet, said a San Diego expert. In wall-to-wall Manhattan, lab spaces can only have so much legroom.
Werner in Atlanta said no startup biotech could really afford more than $20 a square foot.
"I looked at Atlanta as not being so different from New York, but at a much smaller cost," said Werner.
Scientists at New York City startups must also contend with a higher cost of living -- from rent to a gallon of milk.
Back at Google, Steel recognizes this.
"The price is always going to be a challenge," the deputy mayor said. "We are in New York. It's not the same price as other places, but there are other advantages too."
Why Bring Bioscience, Anyway?
In making their argument for investing in bioscience, city officials say bioscience clusters coagulate around medical centers and universities.
The city, they point out, has nine.
The five boroughs receive approximately $1.3 billion in National Institutes of Health funding every year, said officials. Its institutions create at least 20 spinoff bioscience companies a year, they contend.
"Our belief was you had to have meaningful presence in New York City because this is where the science is interesting," said Maria Gotsch, the president and chief executive officer of the New York City Investment Fund, which is sending at least $20 million to start-up biotech companies in the city. "The efforts are less about attracting California companies. It's about keeping what is ours."
But critics mention the bioscience industry made a profit for the first time only last year. It's uncertain whether surpluses will become the norm and how many jobs within the five boroughs can actually be created.
Despite the obvious challenges, New York City is a contender.
"It took 30 years in Massachusetts to grow this industry, and in the early years it was pretty humble," said Peter Abair, director of economic development at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. "Other regions of the world that are seeking to focus on this industry, they have to be ready for a long term growth."
Last Updated (Jun 06, 2012) | <urn:uuid:db44ef8b-973e-44ef-be1a-ca5127c2c243> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/topics/economy/667-city-steps-up-efforts-to-court-bioscience | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95062 | 2,637 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Quote of the Day
You can be a rank insider as well as a rank outsider.
I get a kick out of being an outsider constantly. It allows me to be creative.
It's like you always have to put on a happy face, be the phony baloney, and I'm so not that. I never was that; I'll never be that. That is part of the business that I don't like. Maybe that will always keep me an outsider, I don't know. But that's fine.
Anybody who's ever gone through a hard time - any outsider's perception, no matter how much information they're given, they have no idea what the person's life is like.
There isn't much room for an outsider point of view in print any more.
P. J. O'Rourke
I always felt an outsider.
J. K. Rowling
A man's illness is his private territory and, no matter how much he loves you and how close you are, you stay an outsider. You are healthy.
As a kid I just felt like an outsider.
I feel like an outsider, and I always will feel like one. I've always felt that I wasn't a member of any particular group.
I'm in nobody's circle, I've always been an outsider.
I would say that although my music may be or may have been part of the cultural background fabric of the gay community, I consider myself an outsider who belongs everywhere and nowhere... Being a human being is what truly counts. That's where you'll find me.
Art is always criticized and always an outsider gets the blame.
I'm a drifter and an outsider. There's not one single environment I can totally belong to.
I don't think I'm an outsider at all.
Neither situations nor people can be altered by the interference of an outsider. If they are to be altered, that alteration must come from within.
I was an outsider... but I was also sympathetic with people that were struggling to get up, because I struggled to get up.
Strategic thinkers were naturally rattled to find this outsider fooling around with their work. They had been thinking strategically when Reagan was just another movie actor playing opposite a chimpanzee, for heaven's sake. They think Reagan is too naive, too innocent, to grasp the intellectual complexities of cold war strategy.
Finally, there's a sense in which I look at this Westminster village and London intelligentsia as an outsider.
It is not hard to feel like an outsider. I think we have all felt like that at one time or another.
I'm a catalyst for change. You can't be an outsider and be successful over 30 years without leaving a certain amount of scar tissue around the place.
I've always been an outsider; a displaced person.
I've been an outsider all my life - I don't care.
Pretty much everywhere I go, I'm pretty much thinking I'm going to be bounced. I am still the outsider who snuck into the party. I identify with the regular person, because that is who I am.
Within our culture, every school has a swimming pool. We lived on the coast. People swam in the surf. It's a very sporty nation and at that particular time anyone who had an artistic bent was very much an outsider. So if you liked reading or ideas or playing the piano then your dad viewed you as a sissy, basically.
I found it very easy to transform into creeps and weirdos and losers and goof-balls, and I'm happy to play eccentric kinds of characters, and I have a great affinity for the outsider, but I definitely am about expanding my range as well.
I grew up in a high school where it was very conservative, and I felt like people disapproved of me, and I felt like an outsider.
I never felt I belonged. I was always an outsider.
At some point in our lives there's something about every one of us that makes us feel like an outsider, I believe.
In the 1970s, 'The Boys on the Bus' exposed how a clubby pack of male political reporters ruled the road to the White House and shaped the news. Four decades later, an outsider gal from Alaska has commandeered the 2012 media bus - and left Beltway journalism insiders eating her dust.
I've always been interested in the outsider.
Charles de Lint
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John F. Kennedy
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Nature Quote Feed | <urn:uuid:18545915-1c74-410a-8b6a-193051099187> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/outsider.html | 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 | 0.941444 | 1,000 | 1.5625 | 2 |
I bet you're wond'ring how I knew
'Bout your plans to make me blue
With some other girl you knew before
Between the two of us girls
You know I love you more
It took me by surprise I must say
When I found out yesterday
I heard it through the grapevine
Gladys Knight & the Pips recorded "Grapevine" (with the lyrics rewritten to make the song suitable for a female singer rather than a male) in June 1967.
Gordy didn't think much of their recording either, and Motown didn't do much to support it. But the single reached #1 on the Billboard R&B chart in November of that year and remained at #1 for six weeks. It almost made it to the top spot on the Pop chart as well, but peaked at #2 (behind only the Monkees' "Daydream Believer").
Give Norman Whitfield credit. He still believed in the Marvin Gaye "Grapevine," and pushed Gordy to release it as well. The song was added to a Gaye album that came out in September 1968, but was not released as a single until so many radio DJs started playing it that Gordy finally relented.
|Gladys Knight & the Pips|
Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" outsold all previously released Motown singles. It stayed at #1 on both the Billboard Pop and R&B charts for seven consecutive weeks in late 1968 and early 1969.
I wonder if Berry Gordy ever said to Norman Whitfield, "You were right and I was wrong." Probably not.
The Gladys Knight version of the song is fine, but I don't think the performance was a particularly convincing interpretation of the song. Gaye's record, by contrast, is perfect. Whitfield dug deep into his ball of producer's tricks, and he hit the ball way out of the park.
Here's Gladys Knight & the Pips lip-synching to "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" on Soul Train:
Here's a link to use if you'd like to order the song through iTunes:
Here's a link to Amazon: | <urn:uuid:13e1a22d-bc22-4043-b465-f73738449380> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://2or3lines.blogspot.com/2011/02/gladys-knight-pips-i-heard-it-through.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980795 | 458 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Get news about the industry that matters most to you from The Business Journals’ network of publications.
Traditional retailers heard some magic words at a House hearing today: “Tax-free sales on the Internet may be coming to an end,” said Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich.
At issue is whether Congress should pass legislation that would allow states to start collecting sales taxes on online purchases. Under current law, online retailers have to collect sales taxes only if they have a physical presence in the state where the customer resides. Otherwise, customers are supposed to pay taxes on their online purchases directly to their states, but that hardly ever happens.
Bricks-and-mortar retailers have long complained that the tax-free status of e-commerce gives Internet retailers an unfair price advantage. As more retail sales move toward the Internet, state and local governments are increasingly feeling the loss of sales tax revenue. Even many Republican governors who favor keeping taxes low now think the time has come to force Internet retailers to collect sales taxes.
“Let me clear -- I am a Republican governor that does not believe in increasing taxes,” Haslam said.
“This discussion isn’t about raising taxes or adding new taxes. This is about states having the flexibility and the authority to collect taxes that are already owed by their own in-state residents.”
Haslem, testifying on behalf of the National Governors Association, estimates Tennessee alone loses about $400 million a year in sales taxes that go uncollected on Internet purchases.
The fact that more Republicans are coming around to the idea of taxing Internet sales is one sign of momentum for legislation such as the Marketplace Equity Act, which is sponsored by Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif. The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing next week on similar legislation.
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The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of American City Business Journals. | <urn:uuid:95426e5f-5fc7-4849-b76f-418809be0c26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/washingtonbureau/2012/07/24/internet-sales-tax-bill-gains-momentum.html?ana=yfcpc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935895 | 469 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The "heaviest rain in six decades" in the Chinese capital of Beijing has left at least 37 people dead, the state news agency Xinhua reported Sunday.
The torrential downpour lasted 10 hours, with gusty winds in some areas and a tornado in one suburb, according to local media.
During the storm, traffic was paralyzed for hours, with drivers and pedestrians stranded throughout the city. Many streets were flooded with water levels sometimes as deep as 13 feet (4 meters).
Thousands of emergency responders were deployed and divers had to be brought in to search for anyone trapped.
Officials said almost 2 million people were affected by the rainstorm and the economic losses have exceeded $1.5 billion.
Drowning is the leading cause of death, taking 25 lives, Xinhua reported. But six people were killed by collapsing houses, five were electrocuted, and one was hit by lightning, the agency reported, citing the municipal government.
The average rainfall Saturday was 6.7 inches, but one suburban district recorded 18 inches, Xinhua said.
Authorities have identified 22 bodies so far, the agency reported.
At the Beijing International Airport, more than 500 flights were canceled Saturday. At one point, some 80,000 passengers were stranded in the airport terminals.
Even as operations slowly returned to normal, there were reports of passengers still stranded late Sunday. | <urn:uuid:268e5d45-ee32-4e2b-a256-5aa9cf6363ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wlky.com/news/national/Floods-kill-37-in-Beijing/-/9366074/15635340/-/4661dt/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984978 | 280 | 1.5625 | 2 |
|Reviewed by Vivian Dawson
|"Around the corner" *Deborah*
is more of the same, so
kick back and enjoy!
|Reviewed by Jane Noponen Perinacci
|I have denied failures to others but not to myself! Yup! Just around that corner!!
|Reviewed by Lily of Lough Neagh C. Dennis-Woosley
|What is most important is that we hold fast to
our own things we embrace. Others will never
for the most part feel as we do as we are all
individuals. If you find the one soul or two
who does you are blessed :)
So enjoy every sunrise and sunset and feel good
about who you are!
Yes Ronald Hull and Diana are both correct and
I agree with them as well. We just have to live
life for ourselves and see what other surprises
others bring us and view it as "interesting" and
Love and Light
|Reviewed by Ronald Hull
|It's like a box of chocolates–– Forrest Gump. I try to sample a little bit every day.
|Reviewed by Diana Legun
|The heart of this poem for me is: "Expecting others to do the same/But others have their own beliefs" This is a truth I could benefit from making my 'motto'. The key word is 'expecting,' which is so very difficult not to do. I like your bookends of sunrise and sunset, so that "Around the corner..." might be the middle....smack where balance is found. Thanks. ~~ Diana| | <urn:uuid:26da76bd-cae5-4050-a01e-3fd4f87cea69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewpoetry.asp?catid=55&id=307423 | 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 | 0.942105 | 331 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Flying into the Heart of Darkness
The early 1920s saw the first, small commercial airlines. The aircraft, often flying boats, are sturdy and easily patched up but have few instruments for navigation. Flying is an art, not a science. This is especially so in the still-wild regions of the Dark Continent, Africa.
Darkest of all is the wilderness of Belgian Congo, in the very center of the... [click here for more] | <urn:uuid:e32efade-c78b-4a8d-9ebd-eb690fffdcdc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?filters=100_0_10103_0_40020&cPath=1757&manufacturers_id=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95687 | 90 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Politicians are doing their best to scare us into thinking the "fiscal cliff" was predicted by the ancient Mayans to mark the end times. They hate to waste a crisis.
Your best defense is skepticism. This is not Y2K or the Comet Kohoutek.
More than one economist has said we face more of a slope than a cliff.
Even if we go over, Congress can fix things retroactively early next year, according to Chad Stone at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
What’s really scary is the way both sides are talking about what used to be widely referred to as "social safety-net programs."
Social Security. Medicare. Medicaid.
These programs should be discussed with language that emphasizes the humanity of recipients and our shared national commitment to take care of the sick and the elderly.
You know what I mean if you’re old enough to remember the fizzle-down of Kohoutek, the low-show celestial body that was superhyped as the "comet of the century" in the mid-1970s.
Back then, the social safety net was a moral imperative, not an epithet.
These days, you hear a lot about "entitlements."
This loaded term carries a connotation of something expected but not necessarily deserved. Adolescents feel entitled to use their parents’ cars, for example.
What’s more, these "entitlements" are increasingly being portrayed as the barrier between us and fiscal nirvana — or at least solvency.
As with any effective lie, there is a particle of truth in this. (Although I’d put tax cuts for all, two wars and a Great Recession higher on the list of things that got us into today’s money trouble.)
Tomorrow is another matter.
In the number-crunching world of the national budget, calling something an entitlement means it is a program for which benefits are guaranteed to all who qualify. This means trouble.
Unless something is done, Baby Boomers could crash programs we grew up hoping to enjoy in our elder years. Factor in rising costs of medical care, and you get a real need for reforms.
But this is nothing new, and that’s why today’s deafening clamor for immediate entitlement reform smacks of opportunism.
Back in the days when George W. Bush was president, entitlement reform meant privatizing Social Security. This went over like a lead balloon with the public, but some on the right still salivate at the thought of off-loading this federal responsibility to the for-profit sector.
For them, the term "entitlement" is a lot more useful than "social contract" or "safety net."
Defining a problem puts you on the road to a solution — but not necessarily the right road.
It is wrong to define "entitlements" as runaway spending programs and "reform" as something that has to curb them quickly — before 2013 turns us all into pumpkins. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are not the functional equivalent of handing over the car keys to a surly teenager. They should not be held hostage to a lame-duck budget deal.
These programs are built on a solid moral foundation. They reflect the fact that we are more than a collection of remote-control-wielding individuals in search of our favorite cable shows.
We, the people, have a responsibility to one another. One of the functions of government is to help us fulfill that responsibility.
Reforms are necessary to strengthen Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid for the long term. But those reforms should begin with an understanding that the social safety net is a national trust and shared national responsibility. A good thing worth preserving.
We don’t need a quickie job based on scare tactics and hidden agendas.
This is not Y2K. | <urn:uuid:b9815cbd-ccb8-4a07-9fd2-29771a002fa2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.azcentral.com/insiders/valdez/2012/12/10/fiscal-cliff-a-ploy-to-cut-social-safety-net/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94529 | 807 | 1.828125 | 2 |
The provocative title of this post obviously refers to the masterpiece which Saint Thomas penned against the Gentiles. Saint Thomas not only leveled a devastating critique but more importantly, he gave a beautiful exposition of the Catholic faith. So, I would like to take up the first part, a critique, against Catholic Bloggers and as a result, me.
Often Catholic Blogs are very much concerned with the latest “News” or the finer points of liturgical praxis and history. In fact, there is nothing wrong with a sensible desire to know what is happening in the world or to have care, concern and interest in the rubrics, ceremonies and external elements of the Sacraments.
However, there is one great danger to which Saint Paul alludes in his letter to the Collosians. The Holy Spirit writes through Saint Paul, “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things which all perish as they are used), according to human precepts and doctrines?” (Cor 2:21-22) This sarcastical strike against the contentious agitators within the Christian community at Collosae is a reference to the Septuagint version of Isaiah 29:13 where the Holy Spirit writes through the prophet Isaiah, “And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far from me, and they have feared me with the commandment and doctrines of men” (Is 29:13)
This deviation of the Jewish people of Isaiah’s time is the result of paying more attention to the human traditions associated with Judaism than to the Torah. How often we Christians are so wrapped up in the traditions of our history - neccessary and as important as they are! - that we forget to pay attention to the weightier matters of the law, like justice and mercy. How often we forget about the true Torah; the Torah in Person, Jesus Christ! I fear that blogs are producing a certain type of Catholic - whether a so-called “liberal” or “conservative” - who has the depth of dime and an eye for the contentious and “news worthy”. We are losing our ability to positively propose our faith to others in a coherent and synthetic manner as the great doctors and Saints of the Church have always done because of an unbelievable amount of ecclesiastical navel gazing.
If we spend more time on the blogs then we do with Sacred Scripture, the Catechism, the great Ecumenical Councils and Doctors of the Church, then something has gone seriously wrong.
I am not saying that blogs are in principal wrong or that someone must never read a blog; only that we need to have a purification and examination of conscience in the “Blogosphere”.
This is only my critique, so please feel free to disagree with me or set me straight in the comment box! | <urn:uuid:8cd7f791-e108-4bfe-930a-c8b6409ec53f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com/2011/01/summa-contra-catholic-bloggers.html?showComment=1294199943239 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9574 | 611 | 1.804688 | 2 |
by Aryn Baker
When something seems too good to be true, according to an old adage, it usually is. The announcement, Tuesday, by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani that legislative council elections would be held in 2013 , without a push from protestors on the street, raises the question of what kind of dark skeletons lurk behind the fairytale kingdom façade. The Emir also declared an end to monopolies and the establishment of a free market economy, saying in the opening remarks of a new legislative session, “We know that all these steps are necessary to build the modern State of Qatar and the Qatari citizen who is capable of dealing with the challenges of the time and building the country. We are confident that you would be capable of shouldering the responsibility.”
So where is the dark side? As Shadi Hamid, of the Brookings Doha Center and a fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy writes in the Atlantic, there might not be any. “If you like, call it ‘Qatari exceptionalism,’ ” he says.
If there ever were a country that resembled a fairytale kingdom as imagined by Disney, it would be Qatar: A benevolent monarch and his beautiful queen rule over a peaceful populace, untroubled by the revolutions in neighboring lands even as they support those revolutions financially and through the modern-day equivalent of a magic wand: the government backed satellite news channel al Jazeera. They spend the country’s wealth on the arts and sciences. They have built not one, but seven temples to education in what was once barren desert. The ever-blooming skyline of the capital Doha reflects a 2010 growth rate of 19 percent and the second highest per-capita GDP in the world. Unlike other insta-cities whose crystalline growth effaces cultural identity, thoughtful architecture negotiates the constant preoccupation of the Arab world: how to be modern without losing identity.
The spending doesn’t stop at the borders of this Connecticut-size peninsula jutting into the Persian Gulf. Through the Qatar Foundation, worth untold billions, the Sheikh and his wife Sheikha Moza have used their wealth to fund development programs throughout Asia. They donated $100 million to victims of Hurricane Katrina in the United States, pledged $2 billion to develop Darfur, gave millions more in Yemen and Pakistan, and have rebuilt towns in southern Lebanon devastated by the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. In doing so they are attempting to solve the other conundrum plaguing the oil-rich nations of the Persian Gulf: what to do when the gas runs out. Nobody knows when that day will come, but the Qatari solution involves making friends, increasing influence and preparing the next generation for a life without oil.
Since he overthrew his father in 1995, Al Thani has directed the country’s wealth (Qatar sits on the world’s largest known natural gas field) towards building a knowledge economy grounded in research and innovation. His foreign policy is based on the theory that sustainable peace and progress in the region are in Qatar’s interest. Such a quest appears quixotic, but it underscores a canny approach to diplomatic relevance by a nation sandwiched between giants Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Home to a major U.S. military base and friend to Iran, Qatar focuses on building relations with all players irrespective of regional alliances. It leveraged its perceived neutrality in Darfur, where it was able to solve a conflict that long bedeviled the UN. It has used its influence to calm tribal tensions in Yemen. And Qatar’s success in brokering the 2008 détente between rival Lebanese factions staved off another civil war and won international plaudits. “Subconsciously all this is informed by the survival strategy of a small state,” says Mehran Kamrava, dean of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar. “You make yourself indispensible in the international arena.”
Satellite news channel Al Jazeera, Qatar’s best-known export, is the most visible manifestation of Doha’s desire for recognition. The broadcaster’s signature style—“a voice for the voiceless,” according to managing director Al Anstey—is the most accurate reflection of the Arab street, and has earned Qatar legions of fans, including, most recently, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who compared the station favorably to U.S. broadcasters saying it offered “real news.” Al Jazeera’s exhaustive coverage of the revolutions roiling the region has made it must-see TV for most of the Arab world, with millions of viewers internationally. “Al Jazeera is Qatar’s passport to the world,” says Qatari media consultant Hassan Rasheed. “No,” corrects a visiting Lebanese friend, “Al Jazeera is your nuclear missile, aimed at the heart of repressive regimes everywhere.”
In fact, Al Jazeera, which means ‘the peninsula’ in Arabic, is both a calling card and a weapon, one that has put Qatar’s neighbors on edge. Aggressive coverage of human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia brought about a diplomatic freeze in 2002; its reporting on the Egyptian revolution earned Qatar the ire of then President Hosni Mubarak. Libya has banned reporters from its Arabic channel. Al Jazeera’s light coverage of issues in Qatar, or in neighboring Bahrain where Qatari troops are helping quash a popular revolt, has led to accusations that the channel, which is funded by the sheikh’s Qatar Foundation, doesn’t always practice the free speech it preaches. Corralling the station’s notoriously independent journalists, rebuts al Thani, would be akin to “herding cats.” Anstey concurs: “We have absolute journalistic independence. Not once have we been asked to do a story in a particular way.” Still, Al Jazeera’s commitment to human rights, self determination and accountable government have put Qatar in the paradoxical position of an absolute dictatorship at the forefront of democratic change.
Al Jazeera’s English language program went a long way towards countering accusations that it wasn’t covering the revolt in Bahrain, a Qatari ally, with the same enthusiasm as Libya when it released an extraordinary documentary, Bahrain: Shouting in The Dark. The Bahrain government placed a formal protest, but as Hugh Eakin pointed out in his piece on Qatar last month in the New York Review of Books:
“Yet unlike Al Jazeera’s Arabic service (which did not show the documentary), Al Jazeera English is not watched by tens of millions of Arab viewers in the Middle East; its audience is predominantly elite, Western, and international—people who do not pose a direct threat to Qatari or regional stability.”
If Al Jazeera is Qatar’s introduction to the world’s newshounds, its investment in culture and sport will bring it to the attention of everyone else. The 2,500-acre Education City, on the outskirts of Doha, houses the Middle East branches of several top-ranked American universities, including Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon and Northwestern. An I.M. Pei-designed museum floats, mirage-like, on an island in the middle of Doha’s harbor. In December, Qatar elbowed aside sporting heavyweights U.S. and U.K. for the right to host the 2022 football world cup, proof, if any were needed, that Qatar is investing for the long term. “Qatar is not a flash in the pan,” says Salmaan Shaikh, director of the Doha-based Brookings Middle East program. “By 2022 pretty much every person on the planet is going to be aware of Qatar. So it really creates a sense that it is a power to be reckoned with in the region.”
The most obvious demonstration of Qatar’s newfound confidence can be found in Libya, where Qatar helped fund, arm and train the rebels that eventually overthrew, and killed, Muammar Qaddafi. Qatar was the first Arab state to recognize Libya’s revolutionary council, joining France and Italy. “Qatar had stood by us from the very beginning, even before it was announced that they were here,” Col. Ahmed Bani, a spokesman for the rebel army, told the Washington Post in May. “They have been more effective than any other nation. They just haven’t boasted about it.”
That interference, while celebrated on the Arab street, is unlikely to be welcomed by leaders of other nations worried about setting precedents. The possibility of repercussions is high. If Libya’s fractious rebel militias fail to lay down arms in advance of democratic elections, Qatar could be saddled with responsibility for a protracted civil war that not only goes against its principal of strategic neutrality, but also erodes its reputation for a golden diplomatic touch. Bold statements have ruffled feathers elsewhere as well. In April the prime minister called for the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a public appeal that veered substantially away from the more conciliatory approach favored by other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. In July, Qatar became the first Gulf nation to close its embassy in Damascus, a not-so-subtle denouncement of Syria’s Bashar al Assad’s regime. Qatar might be the champion of regional revolutions, but its bold stance could backfire if declared enemies stay in power long enough to exact revenge.
Of course, it’s easy to embark on such strategies when power is concentrated among a handful of policymakers. “They are benevolent autocrats, there is no other way to put it.” says one Qatari resident, who asked not to be named. Despite constant assurances that freedom of speech is guaranteed in the kingdom, few take the risk. Nevertheless, Qatar is the rare country in the Middle East untouched by flickers of the Arab Spring. The only sign of dissent, a Facebook page calling for a day of protest, appears to have been a ruse. Not a single person appeared at the appointed hour. U.S. President Barak Obama, inadvertently caught on tape following last spring’s meeting with Sheikh al-Thani, explained it best: “There’s no big move towards democracy in Qatar. But you know part of the reason is that the per capita income of Qatar is $145,000 a year. That will dampen a lot of conflict.”
And there are some skeletons. They just aren’t Qatari. Of Qatar’s 1.7 million inhabitants, only 250,000 are citizens. The country’s growth is propelled by an army of imported laborers who work for low salaries under extreme conditions. When the Georgetown campus was completed last year it stood out for its impeccable safety record. It was the first time in recent memory that a laborer had not been killed or gravely injured during construction.
When Qataris do grumble, the complaints center on a preference that the Sheikh spend the country’s fortune on the present instead of planning for the future. “Those that don’t see the relevance of FIFA or Education City to their lives might prefer that the money goes to their pockets instead,” concedes Saif Ali al-Hajari, vice-chair of the Qatar Foundation. “Sometimes people don’t see the wide angle. We can’t just be a consumer of knowledge and technology, we have to produce it as well.”
How much money is being spent on developing Qatar’s knowledge economy is a well-kept secret. One employee working in Education City attempted to do a back of the envelope calculation, tallying up the university costs, investments into a sprawling science center, a state of the art research hospital, an Islamic Studies faculty and a largely foreign staff for the 80 plus projects currently being funded. He eventually gave up.
Such high expenditures in such a short time raise questions about the viability of grafting Western-style drive onto a native population so narcotized by generous state handouts and social welfare programs that citizens won’t work long hours or take jobs they deem below them. One of the most noticeable aspects of the brain trust driving Qatar is how few are Qatari. Only 40 percent of students at the new universities are local. The pace is so headlong, says the employee, that inefficiencies normally pruned in the course of organic growth are allowed to bloom. “It’s like taking 1000 top athletes, wrapping them in a giant rubber band and telling them to run a marathon.”
As fairytales often point out, the problem with benevolent autocrats is that they are not sustainable. Sheikh al-Thani’s approach to that problem, like his solution for a future without natural resources, is to install the basic building blocks of democracy by fiat. He has shown himself to be enough a student of the Arab street that he won’t want to be on the wrong side of history for much longer, says Brooking’s Shaikh, who predicts that Qatar will see parliamentary elections within the coming decade. “The vision of this country is to invest for future generations,” he says. “We won’t really see the finished Qatar until this generation comes of age.” He calls them the World Cup Generation, since 2022 is about when they will start becoming productive citizens. If their debut coincides with an efflorescence of democratic reform, the World Cup will be Qatar’s great coming out party indeed. | <urn:uuid:c3bdb4b1-12fa-4430-a3dc-ef98a576709a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://feb17.info/editorials/op-ed-is-qatar-too-good-to-be-true/ | 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 | 0.947687 | 2,839 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Gradually, as the information starts to come through, it is becoming increasingly clear that the flotation of Facebook will likely be a catalyst and symbol for everything that does not work on Wall Street. It is an issue that deeply divides analysts as this IPO was based more on hope and faith in the ability of the social network to increase their revenues and profits in the future rather than a sound financial history.
Mystery Surround the Pricing of Facebook Shares
The mystery that surrounds the Facebook share pricing issue remains. It was obvious that there were some underlying assumptions that gave the Facebook offering a sense of what is now seen as delusional optimism. Facebook is ultimately responsible for the price issue and the information that they published prior to the IPO. The stock market has to assume they chose their analysis independently, and in fact Morgan Stanley was statutorily required to perform due diligence on behalf of the syndicate which had underwritten the Facebook initial public offering.
The Unequal Treatment of Individual Retail Investors
One of the basic principles of capital markets is the equality of all shareholders. The principle dictates that investors, whether retail or institutional, should be treated fairly in the allocation of stocks in an IPO. However, the Facebook IPO does not outwardly appear to have stayed with that principle.
The Wall Street Journal tells the story of an investor – a retiree from St. Louis who bought Facebook shares online on the first day of trading. He bought around three thousand Facebook shares valued at $42.03 and ended up losing about 12%, which amounted to something like $30,000 US Dollars.
Was There Preferential Treatment?
What actually happened between May the 11th and the 21st? Did some institutional investors and hedge funds traders get preferential treatment from Facebook’s syndicate? A large institutional investor (Capital Research and Management) on the basis of some ‘inside information’ and its own independent analysis, concluded that the second quarter results from Facebook (FB) would be quite disappointing. They informed Morgan Stanley that they wanted to reduce their IPO subscription, furious that banks would still increase rather than decrease the IPO issue price of the Facebook stock.
The Lack of Transparency of the Syndicate
How shares are distributed now needs to be far more transparent in the future. It is likely that there will be a shareholder backlash against Facebook in the future due to this lack of transparency because there are many who suffered losses both because of how the first 82 million shares were awarded, and then due to the failed Nasdaq implementation of opening-day trading. Don’t be surprised if there are class-action suits here.
What It All Down to Just Plain Old Fashioned Greed?
Once again, the lure of money ($300 million in commissions for banks and $10 billion for some of the existing shareholders), the relationships, information inefficiency, and a general lack of transparency that led to this situation. If shares had been set at a more reasonable price, it would have been a successful IPO with credit to the creators of the world’s largest social network which brings together 900 million people from around the world. As Business Week wrote, Facebook’s IPO has seriously increased mistrust for individual investors.
Sign Up For a Wall Street Journal Student Subscription: If you would like to keep your finger on the pulse of all things relating to the Facebook IPO and are currently studying at a college or university, then you should consider signing up for a WSJ Student Subscription. The Wall Street Journal Student Edition has up-to-date news, views, analysis, as well as in-depth information on how you can plan for your career once you graduate.
- Steve Wozniak, Tech Icon and Apple Co-Founder Says He’d Buy Facebook at Nearly Any Price
- Speculation Over the Likely Date of the Facebook IPO in 2012
- How to Buy the Facebook IPO Now?: Invest in a Mutual Fund — T. Rowe Price Media & Telecommunications Fund (PRMTX)
- Facebook’s IPO Price Range and the Roadshow Video, Billionaires Cashing Out, and the Drama of Binary Options
- Will Facebook Survive the Coming Years?
- Should I Buy Facebook IPO?: Some Responses to the TwitterVerse and Other Facebook IPO Updates
- Thinking about Facebook IPO: What are some of the Risks?
Tags401K AAPL acquisitions AIBYY alexa.com Amazon AMT AMZN Arab spring BIDU BP BX CAT CCI CMCSA CNBC Columbia DIS Eduardo Saverin ETF Facebook Facebook IPO Fast Money FB FDX GOOG Gowalla GS halted Harvard HNW Howard Lindzon HubPages hulu IDCC inactive accounts initial public offering Instagram institutional investors IPO itunes Ivy League John Neff Kevin Systrom KFT lawsuit lead underwriter LNKD Lottery Lucy market cap Mark Zuckerberg Matt Taibbi Media and Communications Fund Menlo Park millionaires MMI Morningstar MS MSFT NDAQ nerds NFLX NYSE NYX Occupy Wall Street open mobile social P patents popular chicks PRMTX proxy revenues risk Rolling Stone S-1 secondary market Sharespost SlashGear Social Enterprise Stanford Steve Ballmer Steve Grasso stock options StockTwits Sun T T. Rowe Price ticker symbol Timeline TWC Twitter valuation vampire squid VOD VZ Yahoo Yale YHOO ZNGA | <urn:uuid:b1595a84-3001-439b-b9d4-e5f08d6c2a46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shouldibuyfacebookipo.com/facebook-ipo-dark-side-of-wall-street/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935864 | 1,083 | 1.71875 | 2 |
If I were to guess, I receive 2.25 bookstore gift cards and 1.25 books around Christmas each year. Nearly 100% of the tangible books have been non-technical in nature. This year’s book — Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery — was a present from my soon-to-be sister-in-law.
As I don’t tend to read much these days, it is taking a while to get through this particular gift, but I would already recommend it. It is a nice combination of beer history, entrepreneurial stories/advice and business/people stuff as told by the Brooklyn Brewery founders, Steve Hindy and Tom Potter, a journalist and banker, respectively, in a surprisingly light and down to earth manner. Note: If you want to learn how to brew your own beer, you will need to turn somewhere else as this book probably isn’t for you.
While sharing life and business lessons learned while building a successful brewery in NYC, Tom dedicates an entire chapter to the creation of the business plan where he goes as far as to write: “To the extent possible, avoid the word conservative.” His rationale is clear and to the point:
When a business plan says that it ‘conservatively’ estimates this or sales will ‘conservatively’ reach that, most readers get a suspicious twitch. When using the word conservative, you’re trying to feed the reader a conclusion and shortcut the private analysis. It doesn’t work. Readers will come to their own conclusions, wherever you try to lead them. The reader is thinking: Don’t tell me that’s a ‘conservative’ estimate; just give me the facts, and I’ll tell you.
It is a very interesting view and, based on my experience with project estimation, I may start taking Tom’s advice to heart. I mean, how many times have you provided a detailed work breakdown structure with accompanying dev hours just to have a project manager or someone with “authority” change your numbers solely based on their interpretation of the required effort? This type of thing happens a lot — especially when you include a word like conservative along with your estimate. In my experience stating an estimate is conservative is a green light for someone else to rework your numbers any way they wish.
I know I am taking the original tip a bit out of context, but I think it still applies. Though we tend to have opinions on everything, we might be better off just providing the facts while trusting the recipient will do with our numbers as they deem most fit. I, for one, know most of the folks which receive my estimates are intelligent individuals and they can certainly come to their own conclusions and agree or disagree with whatever I might provide.
So, when I produce my next estimate, I’m going to present my numbers and the supporting facts and I’m going to keep my opinions to myself. Well, at least until my estimate is challenged and I am stuck doing twice as much development in half as much time and then all Hell is going to break loose. | <urn:uuid:27c53883-a87c-4525-8bf0-853b019a9088> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://johnnycoder.com/blog/2008/02/11/avoid-the-word-conservative/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963287 | 648 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Elliot’s Debates: June 8, Journal of the Federal Convention
Elliot’s Debates: Volume 1
June 8, Journal of the Federal Convention
Friday, June 8, 1787.
The order of the day being read, the house resolved itself into a committee, of the whole house, to consider of the state of the American Union.Mr. President left the chair.
In Committee of the whole House.
Mr. Gorham in the chair.
It was moved by Mr. Pinckney, seconded by Mr. Madison, to strike out the following words in the 6th resolution, adopted by the committee, namely,
“To negative all laws passed by the several states, contravening, in the opinion of the national legislature, the articles of union, or any treaties subsisting under the authority of the Union,”
and to insert the following words in their place, namely,
“To negative all laws which to them shall appear improper.”
And on the question to strike out, it passed in the negative.
Yeas: Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 3. Nays: Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, 7. Divided: Delaware, 1.
It was moved by Mr. Gerry, seconded by Mr. King, to reconsider that clause of the 7th resolution adopted by the committee, which respects the appointment of the national executive.
On the question to reconsider, it passed in the affirmative.
Yeas: Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, 10. Nays: Connecticut, North Carolina, 2.
And to-morrow was assigned for the reconsideration.
It was then moved by Mr. C. Pinckney, seconded by Mr. Rutledge, that the following resolution be added after the 4th resolution, adopted by the committee, namely:
“Resolved, That the states be divided into three classes; the first class to have three members, the second two, and the third one member each; that an estimate be taken of the comparative importance of each state, at fixed periods, so as to ascertain the number of members they may from time to time be entitled to.”
Before any debate was had, or determination taken on Mr. Pinckneys proposition, it was moved and seconded that the committee do now rise, report a further progress, and request leave to sit again. The committee then rose.
In the House.
Mr. President resumed the chair.
Mr. Gorham reported, from the committee, That the committee had made a further progress in the matter to them referred; and had directed him to move that they may have leave to sit again.
“Resolved, That this house will to-morrow again resolve itself into a committee of the whole house, to consider of the state of the American Union.”
And then the house adjourned till to-morrow, at 11 oclock, A. M. | <urn:uuid:e7a81b7c-2243-4f8d-8db2-1ab49f61e32b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://teachingamericanhistory.org/ratification/elliot/vol1/0608-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953243 | 640 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Mac: Selecting a large block of text with a Macbook's trackpad is kind of a pain and doesn't always work that well. SlideMode is a simple little app that adds a keyboard shortcut to make selecting large blocks of text as easy as a swipe.
SlideMode actually offers three features: Slide, which lets you swap between desktops on a mouse, DockShow for quickly hiding the Dock, and SlideSelection for selecting text with a trackpad. All the features are handy, but SlideSelection is most useful. With the feature enabled, hold Shift+Control and then gesture up or down to quickly select a block of text vertically. You can also gesture right and left to select smaller blocks. It's a subtle tweak but it makes one of the common annoyances on a Macbook significantly easier. SlideMode is a free download from the developer's site. | <urn:uuid:e644e4f0-9558-49fd-80a1-5c7d5ab87b55> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lifehacker.com/5910057/slidemode-makes-text-selection-with-a-trackpad-a-breeze?tag=trackpad | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943189 | 179 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Lent is a time of reflection, renewal and transformation as we move toward the highest celebration of the Christian year, Easter.
Many Christian traditions begin with ashes as a reminder of our need for repentance, forgiveness and frailty as human beings. Some Christians use the period of Lent as a time to give up bad habits or favorite foods. But after the 40 days of Lent are past, we often go back to familiar habits, making the world neither better nor worse.
As a Presbyterian, I am influenced by John Calvin's premise that Christians are to be the agents of transformation in society. We are called to make a difference in the world and help bring to reality the Kingdom of Love. I would like to suggest that Lent may be a good time to practice a great symphonic masterpiece called "love."
The score of this demanding masterpiece is familiar. It calls for sacrifice of one's individual interpretation for the Greater Good. There is no place for arrogance. It is inclusive of all humanity and seeks justice for all the players; for if one suffers, the total performance is diminished. It is non-judgmental of mistakes, calling for redemption of sour notes rather than exclusion.
There are many themes and variations within this masterpiece on kindness, goodness, patience and self-control.
The players must know their instrument well to bring the very best to the experience. It is the conductor who will bring the best out of each of us. For he knows our gifts and he certainly knows the score, for he sacrificed all to obey the intent of the composer.
As we travel through these 40 days of Lent, practicing and giving ourselves to this great work, let us pray that those who hear and experience it will be transformed to a higher plain of reality. And on Easter morning may we be ready to sing, "Alleluia, Jesus Christ is risen." Perfect "love" has conquered death.
The Rev. Abell is associate minister of the First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach, 33 Gleason St., 561-276-6338.To submit a guest religion column, send an e-mail to email@example.com, a fax to 561-272-3189 or a letter to Guest Religion Columns, Sun-Sentinel, 3333 S. Congress Ave., Delray Beach, FL 33445. | <urn:uuid:1f159626-6ef1-443b-8cf6-e463a06a0f61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2001-03-02/community/0103010437_1_masterpiece-christian-easter | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937948 | 481 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Phillip K. Howard
PHILIP K HOWARD, a partner in the law firm Covington & Burling LLP, is also a well-known leader of legal reform in America. He is the author of Life Without Lawyers (Norton, 2009), as well as the best-seller The Death of Common Sense (Random House, 1995) and The Collapse of the Common Good (Ballantine, 2002), and he is a periodic contributor to the op-ed pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He advises leaders of both parties on legal and regulatory reform issues, and wrote the introduction to Vice President Al Gore's book Common Sense Government.
In 2002, Mr. Howard founded Common Good (www.commongood.org), a national coalition organized to restore common sense to American public life. The Advisory Board of Common Good is composed of leaders from a broad cross-section of American political thought including, among others, former Senators Howard Baker, Bill Bradley, George McGovern, and Alan Simpson.
Mr. Howard has long been a civic leader in New York. He was Chair of the Committee that installed the "Tribute in Light" Memorial for those who died on September 11th.
Mr. Howard grew up in Eastern Kentucky, the son of a minister, and lives in Manhattan with his wife Alexandra. They have four children. | <urn:uuid:7169493c-f599-4edc-ac26-a25923f89163> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fed-soc.org/publications/author/phillip-k-howard | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955773 | 285 | 1.5 | 2 |
Students’ Eco-Innovation Award
12 Mar 2008
Students across the country are invited to enter their environmentally friendly designs for an Eco-Innovation Award.
Attention: This article has been imported from our old websiteWhile we've taken every precaution to ensure that the content of this article remains intact, it may contain errors.
Students across the country are invited to enter their environmentally friendly designs for an Eco-Innovation Award. The three short listed designs will have their own exhibition space at London Aware 08 on 10th-11th May.
This brand new award, which is hosted in association with People & Planet, aims to highlight and support new talent in the field of eco-innovation. It also hopes to encourage young people’s enthusiasm for a greener lifestyle, while unearthing the UK’s future designers and engineers.
Entries will be judged by an expert panel including IKEA’s Charlie Browne, Martin Charter from the Centre for Sustainable Design and Rob Holdway from Channel 4’s Dumped. The winners will receive their award from Trevor Baylis OBE, the designer of the Wind up Radio. The deadline for submissions is April 15th.
Contact: UK Aware Limited
Tel: +44 (0)20 7278 4843
If you enjoyed this article, please consider making a donation
Donating helps us keep reporting on positive news | <urn:uuid:36885663-b463-4e59-b44b-f0e2f8614f23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://positivenews.org.uk/2008/archive/1295/students-eco-innovation-award/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936352 | 290 | 1.671875 | 2 |
At about 3 a.m. this morning it happened. As I slept I became dimly aware that something was going on – like when you sense, without being fully awake, that your spouse has left the bed to go to the bathroom. And then, a split-second later, my right calf was gripped by a full-blown cramp. Gah!
If you’ve never experienced a night-time leg cramp, I’m not sure I can adequately describe the sensation. One moment you are enjoying peaceful slumber in the darkness; the next your calf muscle is clenched hard as a fist and waves of pain are registering in your brain. It feels like someone is shredding your leg muscles with a cheese grater. You try stretching your leg and sometimes that will bring the pain down a notch, but mostly you just have to ride out the spasms. Hours later, your leg still aches.
What causes overnight leg cramps? The doctors aren’t quite sure. It might be too much exercise, or having flat feet, or being dehydrated, or sleeping in an awkward position — or it might be something else. How can you prevent them? That’s not clear, either. It may help to drink lots of water, or stretch before bed, or avoid drinks with alcohol or caffeine (which seems like a big sacrifice). And if you get a cramp, you can try various methods to stop it, but mostly you just have to wait until it ends.
So leg cramps are random, unpredictable, and put you in the grip of forces beyond your puny efforts to control. Leg cramps are like life. | <urn:uuid:e931625a-bb77-4df1-a363-f6a10c5b5aec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://webnerhouse.com/2011/06/17/leg-cramps-in-the-darkness/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959364 | 342 | 1.570313 | 2 |
All you need is a dollar and a dream. The Mega Millions lottery payout has climbed up to $540 million dollars, the highest ever. Minus taxes and depending on whether you take the lump sum option or the gradual payout, you’re likely to actually keep about $273 million, which is still no small number regardless. So what would you do with a quarter of a billion dollars? What can that much money actually buy you?
*Update: The Jackpot has increased to $640M!
If you were truly frugal and wanted to spend your money on packets of top ramen instead, say at 30 cents a package, you’d be able to buy 910,000,000 of them. If you cooked all the noodles and stretched out their length – about 170 feet of noodle total – you’d be able to circle the earth’s circumference at the equator about 1,176 times.
Let’s say you wanted to be a bit fancier; if you wanted to spend you fortune on dinner at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry every day – the prix fixe menu costs about $270 – you could eat there every day for 2,770 years. If you took 49 friends with you every day, you could still eat there every day for 55 years.
If you wanted to go really big and buy an entire restaurant franchise, there are plenty you could own entirely and still have money leftover to buy several private islands too. For example, there’s the Famous Dave’s chain that could be yours entirely for a paltry $88 million. However, if you wanted something like Starbucks – your $273 million would only be able to afford about 1.5% of the company!
You could buy 6,658 champagne fountains each filled with $40,000 dollar bottles of Dom Perignon 1995 White Gold Jeroboam.
Or buy out the entire stock of 78 Walmarts.
Any way you slice it, whoever wins the Mega Millions lottery will have a whole lot of ways they could spend it. | <urn:uuid:d412a0d2-3dbe-456d-98c9-a27491d95de4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yummly.com/blog/2012/03/what-could-you-eat-with-540-million/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961102 | 434 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Dozens of smaller fires were burning out of control Wednesday morning in Mantoloking, New Jersey following a gas main rupture that reportedly blew up a number of houses.
Authorities are not responding to the fire because the community is currently inaccessible by vehicle due to sand deposits on the road and a nearby bridge having been cut off during the storm, according to WABC-TV.
The coastal town was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy, but the disaster continued Wednesday morning even after the rain cleared as “basically, about eight homes ended up exploding because of this gas main rupture,” a helicopter reporter for WPIX-TV explained.
Though shocking, house explosions are nothing new. A Connecticut man died in August while trying to help a homeowner fix a propane leak. The resulting blast, WABC-TV said, “leveled” the two-story structure.
Even more recently, in an event that shocked the residents of Westville, New Jersey, a vacant house that had sat empty for more than two years was suddenly and completely demolished in September. A natural gas leak was blamed.
Raw Story is a progressive news site that focuses on stories often ignored in the mainstream media. While giving coverage to the big stories of the day, we also bring our readers' attention to policy, politics, legal and human rights stories that get ignored in an infotainment culture driven solely by pageviews.
Founded in 2004, Raw Story reaches 5 million unique readers per month and serves more than 19 million pageviews. | <urn:uuid:ba46229d-08c4-4bac-9e72-f58900293709> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/31/report-gas-leak-causes-8-houses-to-explode-in-new-jersey/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967299 | 310 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The American Civil Liberties Union objected to the cross and filed a suit on behalf of Frank Bruno, a Catholic and former Park Service employee. The suit noted that the government had denied a request to have a Buddhist shrine erected near the cross.So the 9th Circuit opinion can easily be wiped away with a standing decision, or the Court can reach the merits. If it does, I predict confidently that the Court will find the cross constitutional, based upon the principle old things carved in stone should be left alone.
Two years ago, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for the ACLU and declared the cross an "impermissible governmental endorsement of religion."
Congress has intervened to try to save the cross by transferring a small parcel of land with the cross on it to a private group. However, the 9th circuit judges were unswayed. This "would leave a little donut hole of land with a cross in the midst of a vast federal preserve," the appeals court said.
Bush administration lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court last fall and said the "seriously misguided decision" will require the government "to tear down a cross that has stood without incident for 70 years as a memorial to fallen service members." The government also questioned whether Bruno should have standing to challenge the cross, since he lives in Oregon and suffers no obvious harm because of the Mojave cross. | <urn:uuid:e52a1397-8cfe-4e01-ba8b-8d052f5c3592> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/02/8-foot-tall-cross-in-mojave-national.html?showComment=1235500440000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961999 | 279 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Johan Grimonprez was born in Roeselare, Belgium in 1962. He studied at the School of Visual Arts and attended the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program in New York.
Grimonprez achieved international acclaim with his film essay, Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y. With its premiere at Centre Pompidou and Documenta X in Kassel in 1997, it eerily foreshadowed the events of September 11th. The film tells the story of airplane hijackings since the 1970s and how these changed the course of news reporting. The movie consists of recycled images taken from news broadcasts, Hollywood movies, animated films and commercials. As a child of the first TV generation, the artist mixes reality and fiction in a new way and presents history as a multi-perspective dimension open to manipulation.
Grimonprez's Looking for Alfred, 2005, plays with the theme of the double through simulations and reversals. The point of departure is the film director Alfred Hitchcock and his legendary guest appearances in his own films. Innumerable Hitchcock doppelgangers act out a mysterious game of confusion in which Hitchcock meets Hitchcock. This puzzling game of confusion also pays tribute to the pictorial cosmos of the Surrealist painter René Magritte. Looking for Alfred won the International Media Award (ZKM, Germany) in 2005 as well as the European Media Award in 2006.
Grimonprez's productions have traveled the main festival circuit from Telluride, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, to Tokyo and Berlin. Curatorial projects were hosted at major exhibitions and museums worldwide such as the Whitney Museum in New York, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich and the Tate Modern in London. Grimonprez's work is included in numerous collections such as the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, the Kanazawa Art Museum, Japan, the National Gallery, Berlin and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark. Grimonprez is currently a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts (New York).
Johan Grimonprez lives and works in Brussels and New York.
For more information, please visit www.zapomatik.com | <urn:uuid:17845dd1-4c58-4452-922f-8118a9b2ce3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.skny.com/artists/johan-grimonprez/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933177 | 468 | 1.570313 | 2 |
NEW YORK — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at a dinner here for academics and students, said Iran was ready to make concessions on its nuclear drive, but insisted that it had a legal right to enrich uranium and intended to keep on using that right.
“Iran is entitled to domestic uranium enrichment,” he said at the dinner Monday night with more than 150 academics and students at his hotel. “It is a legitimate right…. And what rights do you have if you do not use them?”
Mixing blustery rhetoric with conciliatory remarks, the Iranian leader said the violent protests that erupted in many Muslim countries over a YouTube video that mocked the Prophet Muhammad were indicative of the “negative mindset” of many Muslims toward the United States. He said Iran could help change that mindset.
“Iran has made mistakes, Iran could have behaved better,” he said, speaking through a translator, and apparently referring to Iranian relations with the West in general and the US in particular. “We are ready for transparent dialogue… We are ready to help to eliminate negative mindsets.”
The event at the Warwick Hotel, at which Ahmadinejad gave generally lengthy and sometimes evasive answers to questions, was one of several public and media appearances he made ahead of his speech Wednesday to the United Nations General Assembly.
He asserted that negotiators from the so-called P5+1— the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany— have told Iran that they are confident Iran hasn’t moved toward nuclear weapon manufacture. But the IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency), he said, had made “illegal requests” of Iran relating to its program, and the list of requests had “only gotten longer and longer.” He said the IAEA’s absent oversight of Israel’s purported atomic weapons program was indicative of a double-standard.
In an apparent indication of readiness for compromise, Ahmadinejad said Iran had supported a proposal to create an international consortium to oversee Iran’s enrichment program, and said US companies could be involved in building and engineering the program.
Ahmadinejad, referring to the Israelis as the “Zionist regime,” told the dinner, “They want to provoke the situation and give rise to more tensions and get themselves out of a dead end. We are for eradicating the foundations, the reason for these tensions. For a regime to threaten to bomb Iran, this must be condemned by the world.”
He asked: “Are the Western governments willing to rein in this regime?”
He suggested that the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran, and the subsequent 444-day hostage crisis, was wrong. “I don’t want to say this was the right action…. But I want to put ourselves in their shoes,” he said.
Ahmadinejad ducked a question about relations between Israel and the Palestinians, saying only that the Palestinians deserved to have a vote about self-determination.
Outside the Warwick Hotel, a heavy presence of New York police and Secret Service agents added to the already snarled traffic that occurs when dozens of world leaders descend on the city for the General Assembly meetings.
Earlier, groups of anti-Ahmadinejad protesters gathered on the sidewalks nearby the hotel. In another group, of black-clad Hasidic Jewish men, presumably from the anti-Israel Neturei Karta extremist sect, one wore a sign that read “I’m a Jew, not a Zionist.”
One man walked by yelling that the Iranian leader was a “deranged genocidal nutjob.”
|Like us on Facebook||Get our newsletter||Follow us on Twitter| | <urn:uuid:fb777fa5-88bc-4cab-9400-8cd9172a67ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-has-the-right-to-enrich-uranium-and-will-keep-on-doing-so-ahmadinejad-says-at-new-york-dinner/ | 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 | 0.962814 | 780 | 1.570313 | 2 |
South Carolina to Rhode Island Freight Shipping
Freight shipping from South Carolina to Rhode Island is easier than ever with FreightCenter. Our simple quoting and booking process will enable you to get instant freight rates from all the top shipping companies and start booking your freight shipments in a few short minutes. FreightCenter makes it affordable to ship freight from South Carolina to Rhode Island by LTL, Truckload, Rail, or Intermodal with our guaranteed competitive freight rates.
South Carolina is a southern state on the Atlantic coast. The terrain consists of coastal plains and mountains. Agriculture and industrial manufacturing are the two biggest industries in the state, and there is a steady stream of South Carolina freight moving year-round. There are numerous rail lines operating in the state, but South Carolina freight rates can increase in rural areas. International airports can allow for easy air shipping, and seaports on the Atlantic coast can allow for other international shipping options. Inbound shipping to South Carolina is usually less expensive than outbound shipping, especially in the winter months. LTL freight shipping can be found for the lowest prices near the population centers.
Rhode Island is a very small state located on the northeastern Atlantic coast. The state has numerous ports and bays including the Port of Providence, one of the largest deepwater seaports in the New England area. The state economy is based largely on manufactured goods, there is usually a steady stream of Rhode Island freight moving by truck. As a high-consumption state, outbound Rhode Island freight shipping rates are usually the least expensive. A high volume of goods moving through the state makes LTL shipping affordable. Although Rhode Island is the nation's smallest state, the proximity to larger and busier states means shipping prices are fairly low and normally stable. | <urn:uuid:89b0b998-9b1d-4784-8460-43174df09075> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.freightcenter.com/freight/shipping/South%20Carolina-to-Rhode%20Island.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959437 | 359 | 1.59375 | 2 |
It would increase the minimum wage from it's current level of $7.25 an hour to $9 an hour -- in increments--through 2015.
It comes as good news for people making minimum wage.
Michelle Johnson, an employee at an Evansville thrift store says, "It would help people who are not making it as far as paying the bills and rent and stuff."
But business owners have mixed feelings.
Stan Jackson, Owner of Evansville thrift store "Whats New" [also Johnson's employee] says, "If you really care about your employees and you want them to be able to do better for themselves, you have a hard time being against this type of a situation."
Jackson is one small business owner who knows the impact on businesses would be great but he still supports the increase.
"If you have a lot of employees who are below what the new proposed minimum wage is, it's a large expense because payroll is your biggest expense. If that goes up substantially, then that's going to be a big increase and it's going to require some adjustments in your business."
Jackson continued, "They're going to have to increase prices, they're going to have to do some things, they're going to have to cut hours or do something to compensate for that. It's not something everybody can absorb." | <urn:uuid:c003743b-9e2e-4175-9939-380ee50783ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tristatehomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=586272 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984113 | 274 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Darrell Thompson and his company, Mainstream Integration, has created a health care provider management system that will allow for reliable doctor-to-doctor transferring of everything from appointment schedules to prior diagnoses.
As part of the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA), all health care providers and related agencies will be required to update systems that report medical diagnoses and patient procedures to agencies like insurance companies and home health care services.
Currently, the tables that dictate these statistics, which are governed by the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Health Related Problem, use the 30-year-old ICD-9 code sets. They must be upgraded to the new ICD-10 diagnostic and coding system by Oct. 1, 2014, in order to keep up with current medical practice.
According to Thompson, Mainstream Integration’s web-based system is already ahead of many other management systems, allowing all of the functionality of the current system with the new code set.
Mainstream "makes transferring from one system to another seamless,” said Thompson. “You don’t have to go through the process of changing the code. We offer the integration for the upgrades to the codes, and we’re already connected with all the major players.”
While the system updates the current codes, it also allows doctors to reference a number of other records pertaining to patient care and lets users file claims with the various agencies electronically.
Thompson says doctors’ offices and hospitals should be eager to pick up his management system, saying that it will ease the transition for those responsible for making the change to the new code set. | <urn:uuid:06c8dcdc-2b3c-49c6-ba68-9a6f121bf962> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2013/02/deptford_resident_develops_new.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943896 | 332 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Like our own health, most of us do not think much about our dog’s illness until it strikes. I’ve always been a lucky dog owner. I’ve had healthy dogs that have lived to ripe old ages with little to no medical intervention. I figured that if I exercised and fed my dogs properly and took care of their immunizations and other preventive care like heartworm, all would be well. However my lucky streak finally ran out when one of my dogs developed urinary tract stones that required surgery for removal.
The experience was pretty darn stressful. It all started when Tilde began having accidents all over the house. At first, I thought that she was displaying dominant behavior (marking) with our foster dog. But then she starting straining to pee, and when she did pee it was tinged with blood. I panicked, and after a $300 trip to the emergency clinic (that revealed nothing) and a $650 surgical procedure, I realized that if I had done just a few things differently, I could have saved 1) myself some money, and, 2) my poor Tilde from going through a battery of unnecessary tests.
Here’s what I suggest all dog owners be mindful of when dealing with an illness:
Be aware, and make note of differences in your dog’s coat, demeanor, gait, eating and elimination.
You know your dog better than anyone. The way you approach your dog’s health should be no different than the way you do your own health. When you don’t feel well, you make note of your symptoms, address them as best as you can on your own, and if that fails to resolve the situation you see your doctor, right? After a series of questions about your symptoms, your doctor will make a recommendation – either to do a series of tests if the symptoms indicate more than one potential issue, or specific tests if the symptoms more clearly describe a particular malady. The more descriptive and specific you are about your symptoms, the quicker and easier it is for your doctor to diagnose your illness. Well, the same goes for your dog.
For example, it was very clear what Tilde’s symptoms were. Because of my worry, I took Tilde to an emergency clinic. I provided a detailed description of when and how she was urinating (or trying to urinate). The attending Vet named a plethora of other potential problems, and recommended some blood tests to aid in the initial diagnosis. Now, had I done some homework up front, I would have questioned that recommendation and asked about an alternative course of action. But because I didn’t and was overwhelmed with worry, I just followed the Vet’s lead instead of actively participating in the decision-making process about her care.
Reseach, Research, Research!
There is valid info out there on dog health that you can learn much from, so long as it’s a reputable source.Prior to any hospital or vet visit, do some research so that you are literate about the potential problems your dog may have. Look for articles that are written by vets, and have images illustrating the symptoms (when there are visible indicators).
If you “Google” your dogs symptoms, you’ll find dozens of sites with good information. But don’t jump to conclusions about a diagnosis. If you find that 70% of the research you do indicates the same potential illness, then that will guide you in your visit to the vet or clinic. This is the knowledge that you need to talk intelligently with your vet about your dog’s diagnosis so that you can get the answers you need to understand the problem, or make sound decisions about your dog’s treatment.
Take an Active Role in the Treatment of Your Dog’s Medical Care.
I can’t stress enough how important it is that you actively participate in the decision process regarding your dog’s medical care. It’s not about what’s right or wrong. It again goes back to knowing your dog, and clearly articulating to your vet his/her symptoms so that the most accurate diagnosis and treatment can be made.
To use my situation as the example, the attending vet at the hospital was confused by Tilde’s initial blood test results, and indicated that she might have diabetes or a plethora of other issues that I have since forgotten, not to mention a high-cost ultrasound for the stones. I was advised that Tilde should be tested for all these different issues to properly address the problem, and because I was distraught and love my dog, I was ready to submit to all those tests to ensure the proper diagnosis. $300 later, I realized that I should have authorized only one – an x-ray – because it was the most appropriate for her symptoms, and would have revealed the stones that were causing the problem. Since there was nothing life-threatening at the moment (although they certainly made me feel like it was!), we could have continued with other tests once the x-ray was evaluated. Instead, I left the emergency clinic with little more than I had when I arrived, beyond what I already thought – that Tilde didn’t have diabetes or any of the other illnesses that were suspected – and I was determined that I would manage the next day’s visit with Tildes’ vet much better.
When we arrived at the vet the very next day, the same recommendations for testing were made. It was suggested that Tilde receive a few tests rather than just an x-ray. I diplomatically asked if we could just proceed with the x-ray, and then depending on the results, decide from there how to proceed. Tilde’s vet was super – he agreed to the approach, and once the suspected stones were confirmed, surgery for their removal was scheduled the next day. I saved around $200 in unnecessary tests that day – and my dog received the medical care she needed. | <urn:uuid:704eb374-6ddb-4b1b-98af-23a9279d2c24> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theartfulgroomer.com/blog/managing-your-dog%E2%80%99s-medical-costs-when-illness-strikes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975374 | 1,232 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Fall Semester - Week 4
Already we are on the 4th week of class! Time flies! Soon it will be midterm exam time ...
This week's question: What is the best present you have ever received? Why was it so special?
Everyone likes getting gifts.. so what was the best you ever got?
Have a great week!
Of the best gifts I received your letter I think it's a gift. Always feel good whenever the letter. Just a nice gift as a special day is important, because the mind that the letters in the human heart can feel like good things.
My inbox is when the military is the most special gift.
Finished first year university I went to the army. Isolated from the outside world where the military was hard at first to adapt.
When you receive military training, parents and friends reminds me. In everyday life, the letter will be minor.
letter is Conversations with people who can not meet. Impression at that time cannot explain in words.
So I have still kept the letter safe place. the letter is More valuable than expensive gifts.
My brother is in the army. Tonight I will write a letter to my brother.
Most of my favorite gift What I got from my mother's bag.
Not such big deal, but I wanted to have the bag was from a junior high.
For a not too expensive, but I bought this bag in the sale was given.
Now I really like what I present.
I received a guitar when it was my birthday.
I really wanted to have a guitar.
So I said to my mom I wanted to a guitar.
but my mom said no.
I was very disappointed.
However, On my birthday the guitar has been delivered to my home.
When I was young...I get a birthday present for my parents
It is a book. " Romance of the Three Kingdoms"
At that time, I was disappointed the present.
At that time, I want a computer
but I read the book, it was very interested, and I have interested in history
At this present,I think It was significant present.
I dropped a hint about what I want for my birthday
so I received the best gift a puppy.
I was very happy to receive the present.
I gave it a name! I named it "Cho-rong"
She died two years ago but her memory lives on
I don't know. I never received present nothing special to remember.
I tell about necessity thing to my family and friend.
and they give me present. so there wasn't a suprise present.
I think...... so sad..
in the future I hope that many people give me a present
my birthday is December 6
My girlfriend gave me a album last year!
That was really special present
Because there are many photo what we took together!
And she said " shall we fill more picture?"
That made me very very happy!
When I was child, I received the best gift At the Christmas.
I received a box full of favorite snacks.
It is not expensive. It is not difficult find.
But, I was thank my parents gift for my favorite things.
I think Because It is one of love.
I received a presents are always birthday present.
So Birthdays cakes are wholly. and cosmetics are best present.
I want to receive a letter. give theirs mind letter is best gift for me. | <urn:uuid:0db87277-ac9f-49a8-8e08-8ff54d7606ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://busanhaps.com/forum/fall-semester-week-4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984769 | 722 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Gov. Martin O’Malley’s offshore wind energy bill is on its way to his desk for a signature, having passed in the House in February and in the Senate on Friday.
Five friendly Senate amendments are expected to be approved easily by the House.
The new legislation will funnel $1.7 billion of ratepayer subsidies over a 20-year period toward the construction of a wind power farm 10 to 30 miles off the coast of Ocean City as early as 2017.
“It’s about a better Maryland for tomorrow,” said Sen. James Mathias Jr., D-Worcester, the former mayor of Ocean City, who changed his vote to support the bill.
O’Malley’s previous two attempts to push the legislation - the first more ambitious - never made it to the Senate floor largely because of concerns about the cost to Marylanders.
His first initiative also failed because utility companies would have had to make nearly 20-year commitments to buy offshore wind energy.
But a change in the makeup of the Senate Finance Committee, which held up the bill in years past, brought an important vote in favor of offshore wind, said Sen. Thomas McLain Middleton, D-Charles, chair of the committee.
This year, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., removed wind bill opponent Sen. C. Anthony Muse, D-Prince George’s, from the Senate Finance Committee. In his place, he put Sen. Victor Ramirez, D-Prince George’s, a supporter.
In the final Senate vote Friday, Muse voted for the bill.
A provision that would encourage minority enterprise business goals for developers brought another pro-wind vote to the committee, Sen. Catherine Pugh, D-Baltimore.
But the bill did not pass without debate and attempted amendments.
“This is the dumbest idea ever,” said Sen. E. J. Pipkin, R-Upper Shore, who led the debate against it.
Cost was one of his main concerns, both the cost to ratepayers and the cost that he said would pass down to consumers via businesses paying more on their electricity bills.
“Never in Maryland’s history have so many people paid so much for the benefit of so few,” Pipkin said.
Under the new legislation, the average residential household will pay $1.50 a month in subsidies, a consumption-based cost for 1,000 kilowatt-hours of usage. The fee will not kick in until wind is produced.
But the residential rate could rise and fall depending on the price of electricity, Middleton told the Senate in Thursday’s debate.
“If the price of electricity goes up, that $1.50 will go down,” Middleton said. The Public Service Commission will only accept a developer if the projected charge to the average residential user is no more than $1.50.
There are caps on how much agricultural and industrial energy-users will pay, but the Senate rejected an amendment that would have created a cap for commercial businesses as well.
“The increased expense on small business and to the industrial customer is going to get passed along to the consumer,” Pipkin said.
He also argued that Maryland should meet its renewable energy requirements with less expensive energy.
“This is the world’s most expensive energy,” Pipkin said.
The bill requires that the Public Service Commission only accept wind farm developer applications if they demonstrate positive economic, environmental and health benefits to the state. | <urn:uuid:20fddf7c-389b-4be2-8f23-79257038c0d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://westminster.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/offshore-wind-passes-in-senate-gov-o-malley-s-signature-next | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960464 | 738 | 1.65625 | 2 |
"I think the Earth likes us."
".... because we pick up the trash that it can't reach. The Earth doesn't like all this trash... it wishes that it had arms so it could grab it all, but it can't...."
Like everything in life... it's always more fun with someone by your side. And clean-ups are no exception...during our 20 minutes, my daughter reminded me of another reason why it's so great to have a partner in picking up litter... especially as we were picking up the cigarette butts and I would miss some and she would miss some....
"It's good we do this together because you see stuff that I don't see and I see stuff that you don't see."
As we were leaving the beach, a father was playing soccer (ok... tapping around the ball) with his (probably) 18 month old son. His son saw me with our buckets and reached into the sand... he walked towards me with a handful of sand and wanted to put it in the bucket. "That's the good stuff." I told him as he put it in my hand. The father quickly took notice of the contents of our buckets and asked... I told him what we were doing and why we do it and of course how many cigarette butts we had picked up in 20 days. All the while his son kept giving me sand... and then as he put the sand in my hand.... I said to the Dad, "Just think if he grabbed cigarette butts while he was picking up handfuls of sand." And he said,
"Oh... he did... a little bit ago." :(
20 minutes on November 15, 2010
Total amount of litter by weight: 14.3 oz
Cigarette butts: 526
Total amount of cigarette butts picked up off of Wrightsville Beach, NC in 21 days: | <urn:uuid:e4aa7de5-5a3f-4132-b68e-8b9110ae504e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.itstartswithme-danielle.blogspot.com/2010/11/our-daily-ocean-day-21.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988638 | 386 | 1.507813 | 2 |
IBM Opens Natural Resources Labs in Brazil, Kenya
IBM announced the opening of its Natural Resources Industry Solutions Lab (NRIS Lab) in Sao Paulo celebrating yet another lab Big Blue has installed in emerging markets. IBM also recently announced a new research lab in Kenya.
IBM said its new Brazilian lab will help mining, oil and gas companies use innovative technology to meet the operational, environmental and supply demands facing the industry today. The new software development lab will be located in Sao Paulo but will have a national scope to service Brazil's growing natural resources industry.
The new lab will be connected to a global network of labs and industry solution centers enabling teams to share knowledge and expertise with local clients. The operations of NRIS Lab will be integrated with other existing local IBM facilities including IBM Research Brazil, focusing on development; and the Natural Resources Solution Center, focusing on the development of solutions and interaction with clients.
"Making innovative technology rapidly available to help our clients is a key priority for IBM and this initiative is aligned with our strategy to strengthen this capability to help clients," said Fabio Scopeta, director of the IBM Brazil Software Lab, in a statement. "We'll combine technical and scientific potential to offer world-class projects as well as leveraging research, development and support from market specialists."
Operations will build on an environmental focus, including intelligent resource extraction, real-time analytics and big data management for the collection of data, according to Ulisses Mello, a natural resources executive for IBM Research-Brazil.
"The goal is to enable technology-driven operations and leverage predictive analytics, helping companies improve their natural resource extraction capabilities," Mello said in a statement.
IBM has established Natural Resources Solutions Centers (NRSC) in Rio de Janeiro (opened March 2011) and Perth, Australia (open in June 2010) to help companies in the oil, gas and mining industries speed up the adoption of innovative technology and business strategies.
NRSC works as a showcase of IBM solutions so that clients can experience hands-on demos of leading-edge technologies for the oil and gas and mining industries. The new Sao Paulo lab will focus on software R&D to create a specialized portfolio for this industry, which will be available at the NRSC in the form of demos, IBM said.
Meanwhile, on Aug. 13, IBM announced the opening of its first IBM Research lab on the African continent. IBM Research-Africa's first location in Nairobi, Kenya, is in collaboration with the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) through the Kenya ICT Board. The lab will conduct basic and applied research focused on solving problems relevant to Africa and contribute to the building of a science and technology base for the continent.
The Role of Standards in Cloud Security
Security is often cited as a primary cause for concern...Watch Now
Ensuring Resources for Mission Critical Workloads
Application workloads can thrive in cloud environments,...Watch Now
Improving Security in the Public Cloud
One of the main concerns about moving data to a public...Watch Now | <urn:uuid:b3e47403-312e-4119-b2ff-7f77be07ad97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cioinsight.com/research/ibm-opens-natural-resources-labs-in-brazil-kenya/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932671 | 624 | 1.625 | 2 |
The first thing I heard this morning was that something was racing toward the Earth at 4 milllion mph. Not exactly the way you want to start the day! Here's the story. Tuesday, the Sun produced one of the biggest flares ever seen, according to msn.com. The results of it could affect power grids, GPS navigation systems and some airline schedules starting tonight and continuing through early tomorrow. The particles are speeding toward Earth at 4 million mph as we speak. | <urn:uuid:6d8b4374-23ba-4f23-8321-2ff5666a713f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://943thepoint.com/tags/solar-flares/ | 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 | 0.974549 | 96 | 1.789063 | 2 |
By Christopher L. Webber
Years ago there was a retired priest in the parish I served who had strong opinions. Fr. T. T, Butler was a big man with a big voice with which to express his opinions and one subject on which he felt strongly was the phrase “Easter Sunday.” “It’s EASTER DAY!” he would roar; “What else would it be but Sunday?” I don’t know whether I had been aware before that of the fact that the Prayer Book title for the day is not the one commonly used in our society and that there is a reason for it. As the 1979 Prayer Book makes abundantly clear, Easter Day is not just a Sunday but rather THE DAY on which the whole year centers.
I thought of old Fr. Butler earlier this year when, in filling in the Annual Parochial Report, I noticed that it asked me to report attendance for “Easter Sunday.” What have we come to, I thought, when our National Office asks us to report on a day that isn’t in the Prayer Book? But I was busy, so I crossed out the “Sun” and filled in the number and sent it in. I doubt that anyone noticed.
More recently, I looked at the local paper in Holy Week and found display ads for six Episcopal churches in our area. Not one of them announced “Easter Day.” Five were planning a service for “Easter Sunday” and one for “Easter.” Fr. Butler’s roar echoed in my mind and I decided to see what shape the church is in. I checked out the fourteen churches of our local Deanery and found seven web sites with no information about their service schedule for Holy Week and Easter, three listings for Easter Sunday, three listing simply “Easter,” and only one for Easter Day.
Looking still further, I conducted a very unscientific analysis of 25 web sites, culled at random from 22 states and 25 dioceses ranging from Alaska to Alabama and Vermont to San Diego. A simply majority (13) would have offended Fr. Butler by listing services for “Easter Sunday,” while nine, a distinctly minority showing, conformed to the Prayer Book and T. T. Butler. Two said simply “Easter” and one used the scarce, alternative Prayer Book title, “The Sunday of the Resurrection.”
Fr. Butler, I am sure, would have deplored these findings, and surely it is a sadness that so many churches let pass the opportunity to stress the uniqueness of this central feast day. How is it that so many have failed to notice or conform to the Book of Common Prayer? “A minor technicality,” some may scoff; “Why waste time on trivia?” Ah, but wasn’t the church better off when we chose sides on such titles and trivia rather than whether to belong to the Episcopal Church at all?
The Rev. Christopher L. Webber, the author of a number of books about the Episcopal Church and Beyond Beowulf, the first-ever sequel to Beowulf, has recently become Vicar of St. Paul's Church, Bantam, Connecticut. | <urn:uuid:6a36616d-d671-44b5-835d-300921270e42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.episcopalcafe.com/daily/church_year/the_name_of_the_day.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971969 | 685 | 1.5 | 2 |
Thu May 17, 2012
Latin Roots: Bachata, Latin Music's Underdog, Grows Up
Originally published on Thu May 17, 2012 8:08 pm
We've heard from Alt. Latino co-host Felix Contreras in the past, but here we'll hear from the show's other half, Jasmine Garsd. Garsd was raised in Buenos Aires and connected with the Argentine rock scene in her teens. She moved to the U.S. after high school, an experience which exposed her to American music; she now co-hosts Alt.Latino, a weekly show on NPR Music which explores music from all over the Western hemisphere.
On this episode of World Cafe, Garsd and host David Dye discuss bachata music. Garsd explains that bachata was an underdog in the music world, shunned in the Dominican Republic in the '60s and '70s. By the '80s, bachata became more mainstream, as artists fused it with electric guitars and other pop sounds. Garsd discusses the evolution of bachata and the artists who played it — including Romeo Santos, whose most recent album features Usher. | <urn:uuid:88714c83-cf0d-4b7d-9a38-075f08ac6615> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.krvs.org/post/latin-roots-bachata-latin-musics-underdog-grows | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971346 | 246 | 1.78125 | 2 |
The Philippines Senate ratified a sensitive military pact with Australia overnight that lays out rules for visiting troops, in a move politicians said would improve regional security.
The agreement was first signed in 2007 but remained in legislative limbo amid political sensitivities, as the country’s constitution explicitly bans the long-term stationing of foreign forces on its territory.
Its endorsement by the Senate five years on is seen by some observers as a bid to get Australia’s backing in Manila’s row with China over South China Sea islands.
Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile said the body passed a resolution endorsing the treaty 17-1 with no abstentions, putting it into force after a four-year debate in the Philippines.
“Concurrence with the ratification… will not only pave the way for us to improve our defence mechanisms, it will also solidify our decades-old relationship with Australia,” he said in a press release.
President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman Edwin Lacierda hailed the senate vote.
“The Senate… has taken an important step in enhancing our national and regional security by ratifying the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement between Australia and the Philippines,” he said in a statement.
The two countries had earlier signed a preliminary agreement on defence and military cooperation in 1995.
The latest pact would, among other things, subject visiting soldiers to the jurisdiction of the host country should they commit acts that are illegal in the host country but not in the sending country.
The Philippines signed a similar pact in 1998 with its traditional military ally the United States.
Under the pact small numbers of US military advisers have been deployed in the southern Philippines for the past decade to help train Philippine forces fighting Islamic militants.
The lone holdout against the signing, Senator Joker Arroyo, accused the government of putting pressure on the senators to ratify the pact to get Australian backing in Manila’s ongoing row with China over the resource-rich Scarborough Shoal.
“Although the agreement is not a defence pact, its symbolism cannot be lost on China. Let us not grab at straws,” Senator Arroyo said in a statement after the vote. | <urn:uuid:b3f8f54b-a99b-41b0-af3b-27ae2fbf0cf3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.intellasia.net/philippines-passes-aussie-military-pact-220548 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940346 | 453 | 1.6875 | 2 |
An American who played a role in the 2008 attack in Mumbai, India, and who cooperated with U.S. authorities in prosecuting other terrorists, was sentenced to 35 years in prison by a federal judge in Chicago Thursday.
David Coleman Headley, 52, born Daood Giliani, to a Pakistani father and an American mother, acknowledged scouting locations in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, in connection with the multi-day attack by 10 Pakistani terrorists. More than 160 people were killed, including six Americans, and hundreds wounded in the rampage against such targets as the railroad station, a Jewish center and the iconic Taj Mahal hotel.
“I don't have any faith in Mr. Headley when he says he's a changed person and believes in the American way of life,” said U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber in imposing the sentence. The prison sentence was within the punishment range requested by prosecutors who agreed keep the death sentence off the table in exchange for Headley’s testimony about the terror group, Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Headley was a key witness against Tahawwur Rana, a Chicago businessman convicted of providing aid to Lashkar and of backing a failed plot to attack a Danish newspaper for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Rana was sentenced in Chicago last week to 14 years in prison.
Before the sentencing, a victim who was shot in the attack testified. Linda Ragsdale, a Tennessee children's author, spoke through tears and said she was still haunted by the incidents.
“I know what a bullet can do to every part of the human body,” she said, according to the Associated Press report from inside the Chicago courtroom. “I know the sound of life leaving a 13-year-old child. These are things I never needed to know, never needed to experience.”
The attackers, carrying guns and explosives, arrived in Mumbai by boat on Nov. 26, 2008, and terrorized the city, the commercial capital of India, until that Saturday.
The maximum sentence Headley faced was life in prison.
He agreed to cooperate and pleaded guilty in 2010 to 12 counts. In addition to avoiding the death sentence, prosecutors promised not to extradite him to India. | <urn:uuid:2d0aae90-4c88-45c8-a9b5-c9065859ffcc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/sns-la-na-nn-mumbai-terror-plot-sentencing-20130124,0,2572909.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975741 | 466 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Mitt Romney will seek to bolster his foreign policy credentials in a major speech Monday, two weeks before the GOP presidential nominee takes part in a presidential debate focused on security.
In his remarks, set to take place at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Romney will argue that last month's consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya, "should not be seen as random acts."
Instead he will say, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks, the violence "was likely the work of the same forces that attacked our homeland on September 11th, 2001." The Benghazi attack left the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans dead.
Last month, Romney sharply criticized the Obama administration's handling of the situation and its immediate aftermath. Some political observers, however, hounded Romney for speaking too critically and too soon about the violence, before the facts were known.
The Republican candidate will also address issues concerning Syria, Afghanistan, Egypt and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Romney will focus on Iran in particular, warning that he will "put the leaders of Iran on notice that the United States and our friends and allies will prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons capability."
In the third and final presidential debate on October 22, Romney will face off against President Barack Obama on matters of foreign policy and national security.
Read the excerpts below:
"The Mantle of Leadership"
Foreign Policy Address
October 8, 2012 | <urn:uuid:2530541a-9ae3-4429-b81d-15914686eb5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wlwt.com/news/politics/Romney-to-deliver-foreign-policy-speech/-/9837768/16894064/-/egdqhb/-/index.html?absolute=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955024 | 283 | 1.601563 | 2 |
There is also a growing interest in the use of above-counter
lavatories in the master bathroom. "The lav sits on top of the
counter, acting as a piece of art or an object that is very
functional and very useful," explains Uhl. "As consumers consider
the above-counter lavatory, it allows designers and homeowners to
bring more furniture into the bathroom, furnishing the bathroom in
similar fashion to the rest of the master bedroom suite."
Powder rooms or guest bathrooms are often showpieces for the home, featuring upscale products and dramatic pieces for effect. In addition, higher-end pieces may be used to tie in to the overall design of the home.
"Being the most public 'private room' in the house, the powder room is a space where one can push the limit," Spector emphasizes. "We find that this bathroom tends to be a jewel, either in opulent traditional styles or cutting-edge design. We are seeing a renaissance in the use of color, and fixtures that make more of a design statement."
For the future, manufacturers expect the trend in bath sinks and faucets to be a blend of traditional designs with contemporary influences. Spector adds, "The consumer is more and more sensitive to pure design. Function is actually less of a concern with today's buyer, as it is expected as the norm. What then distinguishes one faucet, or one company, from another, is design." | <urn:uuid:96327429-3cde-405a-a0ca-f315c2e49dc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forresidentialpros.com/article/10428181/running-with-tradition?page=3 | 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 | 0.953155 | 299 | 1.515625 | 2 |
If you wake up with a fever, a sore throat, or aches in your body, what do you do? Common sense tells you that you might be coming down with an illness, so your general reaction is to ramp up on the Vitamin C, start drinking more fluids, and take a multi-vitamin. So, what about the symptoms of sick hair? When you find yourself with hair trouble, do you take the same kind of steps? Well, you should! Unhealthy hair left unattended can just get worse. Here are some symptoms and solutions for healthy, luxurious hair.
Symptom 1: Itchy, flakey scalp
Do you know that one of the main reasons for a dry, itchy, or flakey scalp is a lack of water? Drinking at least 8 glasses of water daily and padding your diet with plenty of natural oils (such as fish, olive oil, avocados, and nuts) is a great cure for dry scalp. You may also want to purchase some Omega 3 supplements or take 1 Tablespoon of olive oil each day. Instead of just treating the problem from the outside, this can fix the problem where it begins.
Another possible reason is rinsing your hair with tap water, especially city water. Tap water is full of chemicals, fluoride, and even drug residues. These can be extremely drying to the scalp and hair. Try using distilled, filtered, or bottled water. Also, purchasing natural hair products will keep harmful chemicals out of your hair for good.
Also, look for a good natural scalp cream, made from organic ingredients. These are leave-in products and will help to seal in moisture.
Symptom 2: Hair breakage
If you can look at the ends of your hair and notice hair breakage, strands that are shorter than others, or strands that are split on the ends, you need to look into the reasons so you can correct this issue.
One possible problem is the overuse of hair bands, barrettes, head bands, and even sunglasses that are kept on top of your head. Hair accessories and glasses can tug at your hair, pulling on it and causing breakage. Give your hair a break from wearing it in a ponytail or whatever style is causing stress to your hair.
Another great fix is to stop drying your hair with a blow dryer on a daily basis. If you have naturally oily hair and must wash it daily, be sure to use an all natural hair product and wrap your hair in a towel until it is just damp. Blow drying your hair from a damp stage is much less stressful and damaging than drying hair from completely wet to dry.
Also, adding foods that are rich in B Vitamins, or taking a Vitamin B supplement will also help combat hair breakage.
The last thing to take a look at is stress. Stress affects every area of our lives, including our hair. Take the time to relax, meditate, or find other ways to destress yourself every day. Here’s to healthy hair! | <urn:uuid:3ab225d1-9eb7-46ae-8afc-81572a0689c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://naturalhairproducts.org/is-your-hair-sick-natural-hair-products-can-help/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950143 | 623 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Cubes with a View
Let's face it, cubicles are a way of life for those who work in the halls of corporate America. While some people enjoy the denlike security of working in a small space, others wish for a workspace all their own, a place in which they can work uninterrupted on a project, and even kick the door shut for a conference or two. Of course the reality is that there are often too many workers sharing too small a space, leading to the necessary construction of cubicles.
If attitude is everything, then good feng shui will definitely improve your chances for success!
“Cubes” don't have to be confining spaces, however, especially in terms of creativity. It's all in how you approach your surroundings, and the quality of the intention behind your décor. So many cubicles are left stark by inhabitants who have never gone beyond hanging a memo on the wall, let alone given thought to placing a plant, a mirror, or anything that employs the principles of feng shui. Don't be bland; show some life and know that when you “claim” a space, you can improve your work attitude, which could also have the added bonus of helping you keep your job or even be promoted later on. Here are some tips for surviving life in the cubes:
Watch Your Back …
Always be sure you can see who is coming up behind you. Unfortunately, most cubicles are designed in the weakest feng shui position there is, forcing your back to its entrance. So, you'll need to devise a way for yourself to keep from being surprised. You may be interested in the Dilbert mirror that attaches to a computer and says: “Warning–Objects in the Mirror May Appear More Annoying Than They Are!” (It's okay to have a sense of humor in feng shui, you know!)
You will want to place a small mirror at an angle that will allow you to see behind you. An eye on your entrance keeps you from feeling vulnerable to potential backstabbers or even well-meaning people who could otherwise make you jump out of your chair by seeming to sneak up on you.
… And the Door
Make sure that you can always see an entrance. If you can't see one from where you sit, suggest to the office manager that they purchase a mirror to position on the nearest corner wall, so that everyone can see who's coming into an office and who's leaving. Such an addition is not only good feng shui, but it's becoming increasingly necessary in these days of heightened office security due to the unfortunate risk of workplace violence.
Take it personally! Make your space as homelike as possible. You'll want your cubicle to feel comfortable and welcoming to you each day when you arrive at work.
If you are in direct line with a door, create a barrier. Being in the “line of fire,” so to speak, will keep you always on the defensive. The lack of privacy is bound to make you feel like you're always being watched. You could do something as simple as placing a plant near the entrance of your cubicle, or even perhaps create a small screen using drapery or beads. Of course, you'll need to comply with office policy here, but there are ways around every negative situation using the Black Hat Sect of feng shui. Be solution minded! (Note: If you have a particularly nosy boss, hang a piece of stained glass with an all-seeing eye on it–your boss will get the message then for sure!)
Cubicles don't need to be oppressive, uncreative workspaces. Although they can present design and décor challenges, from a feng shui standpoint, there is nothing that cannot be corrected using cures such as small aquariums, plants, or even hanging crystals. Be sure to update your surroundings when anything about your job or the company changes (like your title due to a promotion or a new company name as a result of a merger). Do a space clearing each time! | <urn:uuid:0121e2e8-4aa0-497d-b2d7-5662451eb799> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.netplaces.com/feng-shui/how-to-succeed-in-business/cubes-with-a-view.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964124 | 841 | 1.742188 | 2 |
The Digital Public Library of America Steering Committee announced a Beta Sprint that aims to surface innovations that could play a part in the building of a digital public library. The DPLA initiative grew out of a meeting at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, which brought together more than 40 representatives from foundations, research institutions, cultural organizations, government, and libraries to discuss best approaches to building a national digital library.
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study has named Matthew Smith Miller winner of the 2011 Captain Jonathan Fay Prize for his interdisciplinary work and extensive research for his thesis.
Radcliffe celebration to include medal for Ela Bhatt and panel discussion about moving toward a more equitable and just world. Ela Bhatt, who, as the founder of the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) of India, has improved the self-sufficiency of more than a million women.
Sixteen undergraduate students at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) may now be Harvard's resident experts on geothermal energy. These students conducted an in-depth analysis of the geothermal heating and cooling system that serves Radcliffe's Byerly Hall.
Nigerian youths have continued to prove to the world through their brazen talents that youth is not all about violence, fraud and the likes. One of such person who has become a source of inspiration is the award-winning author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who was recently chosen as a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University has selected Cal Poly Ethnic Studies Professor Victor Valle as a 2011-2012 Radcliffe Institute fellow.
In her Fellows' Presentation, Nancy E. Hill, the Suzanne Young Murray Professor at the Radcliffe Institute, attempted to do what she herself acknowledged is almost impossible to dispassionately analyze data about parenting styles.
Just as Harvard College accepted only 6 percent of its applicants this year, so did the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. These fellows are 'poised for a year of discovery, innovation, and creation.'
Fellow Anna Maria Hong says "This has been by far the most productive time in my writing life," who quickly surpassed her original goal of writing 40 sonnets during her academic year. Since the fall she has completed 85 works. "There is something about the magic of Radcliffe, the luxury of this time. And the incredible intellectual and creative stimulation has been really productive."
Lizabeth Cohen, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), will serve as interim dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, beginning July 1. | <urn:uuid:114e3b44-9067-44fc-b01a-e8bf88a8cbb5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/news/in-news/misc/sites/all/modules/extlink/contact?keys=&page=21 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954668 | 545 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Every year approximately 60 students graduate with a degree in physician assisting from New Jersey schools. There are 2 physician assistant schools in New Jersey if you are interested in pursuing credentials in the field of physician assisting. You can expect to pay an average of $30,470 per year in tuition for a degree in physician assisting in New Jersey state.
The largest physician assistant school in New Jersey, by student population is University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. It is located in Newark. Approximately 39 students graduated with a physician assisting degree from University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 2009, which was 65% of the total state physician assisting graduates for that year.
A majority of those with a degree in physician assisting choose to become physician assistants. If after graduation, you are planning on working in New Jersey, it is important to know that the job outlook for physician assisting graduates in the state is good. There are currently an estimated 1,050 physician assistants working in New Jersey. This number is projected to increase to 1,300 by the year 2018. This indicates a 27% change in the number of physician assistants in New Jersey.
In New Jersey, as a physician assistant, you can expect to earn a salary of anywhere from less than $63,427 per year to more than $117,170 per year. The median salary for physician assistants in New Jersey is $88,289 per year.
400 S Orange Ave, South Orange, New Jersey 07079-2697
65 Bergen Street, Room 1441, Newark, New Jersey 07101-1709
1-2 years certificate | <urn:uuid:f8dee1ef-47ea-4eca-8fbf-549d7231a95d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hackcollege.com/school-finder/schools/new-jersey/physician-assistant/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962374 | 327 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The Obama Administration is at war with Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular. The battlefield is best defined in two areas; the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. The “progressive” goal is consolidation of power and control over institutions and the lives of people whose age, infirmity or disability may be “troublesome.” Their weapons are manipulation of money, taxation and regulations always by harassment, fines, lawsuits and loss of tax advantages for donors to church and non-profit ministries.
Christianity’s institutions have a specific calling and a long demonstrated unique ability to exercise the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy:
The Corporal Works of Mercy: To feed the hungry; give drink to the thirsty; clothe the naked; shelter the homeless; visit the sick; ransom the captive; bury the dead.
The Spiritual Works of Mercy: To instruct the ignorant; counsel the doubtful; admonish sinners; bear wrongs patiently; forgive offenses willingly; comfort the afflicted; pray for the living and the dead.
“Against such there is no law (nor subject to taxation).” Galatians 5:23. Why do “progressives” oppose or try to tax these noble human services? They are convinced that these ministrations are the purview of the government. Dominating the Works of Mercy means dependency on government in a two class society. Tolerating the Spiritual Works contradicts a mindset that strives to be free of the constraints of conscience.
Why the Catholic Church? There are many wonderful religious institutions for education, healthcare and for the helpless, but nothing approaching the size and scope of Catholic institutions. Due to its universality, she is burdened with a wide range of internal visions, including “progressives” within that test the basic doctrines she is required to defend. Social Justice is a classic example when it violates subsidiarity.
At a Catholic school in Bakersfield, California, a nun made a terrible mistake. The school had two copy machines, one school property, the other provided under Title 9 for “disadvantaged” children’s programs. The school copier was in use. She needed one copy for a religion class. She was “caught” by a state inspector “improperly” using the Title 9 copier and fired on the spot!
This is only a small part of the widening spiritual warfare the Church is enduring. Its schools – elementary to university are constantly undermined, teaching challenged and subject to various threats. Hospitals and doctors are being squeezed both financially and morally. Demands are made to perform procedures only a Nazi Dr. Mengela could covet. Long accepted treatments are banned or limited without physician consultation. Loss of funding is trumped by threatened loss of licensing! Catholic Charities are being constrained from adoption and welfare services and who they may employ or serve.
Perhaps we’ve never been taught that government intervention costs 3 to 4 times as much as private services* and creates a terrible national debt burden. Have we failed to notice that government also has no capacity for love? We still have a Constitution.
Gerald V. Todd
*From a study by the National Life Underwriters' Association. Details on request.
Biography - Gerald V. Todd
Jerry is a retired engineer with strong experience in environmental technologies and an avocation in writing and study of philosophical and biblical themes as they apply to the body politic. Survived stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2006; now in excellent health.
A graduate of the University of Illinois (1958, Industrial Engineering), Jerry had post graduate studies at both the University of San Francisco and the University of Santa Clara in California between 1961 and 1963 (Logic, Marketing). As co Founder and seminar presenter he was awarded a Ph.D. in Philosophy at Valley Christian University operating under California private-post secondary statutes for mid career student,
Hosted local broadcast radio and TV shows, "Religion on the Line" and "The News Firm" (jointly with wife, Joanne), respectively.
Jerry has published several books that are available at Amazon.
Jerry is available to speak as a visiting lecturer at the high school, college or community organization level.
Jerry is married 52 years to Joanne Dean Todd – 3 children, 8 grandchildren. | <urn:uuid:167d61f3-cb79-48d4-b1e4-1cd4c7218670> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=toddgv&date=120128 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951432 | 901 | 1.6875 | 2 |
PRINCETON, N.J., Feb. 7 (UPI) -- A majority of Americans say their standard of living is improving but slightly more than a quarter said their standard of living was worsening, Gallup said.
Fifty-seven percent of Americans said their standard of living was getting better, results released Thursday of Gallup Daily tracking for a three-day period ending Monday indicated.
Gallup said the percentage tied the highest three-day reading since it began asking the question in January 2008.
Twenty-seven percent say their standard of living was getting worse and 15 percent said it was the same, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said.
Sixty-one percent of Democrats and independents who lean Democratic said their standard of living is improving, compared with 39 percent of Republicans and those leaning Republican saying the same, Gallup said.
Forty-one percent of Republicans and those leaning Republican said their standard of living was worsening, while 22 percent of Democrats and those leaning Democratic said the same.
Eight in 10 young adults in the 18-to-29 age group expressed optimism about their standard of living, Gallup said. The polling agency said standard-of-living optimism fell with age -- 56 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds said their standard of living was improving, a view expressed by 41 percent of 50- to 64-year-olds and 28 percent of people 65 years or older.
Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 1,536 adults conducted as part of Gallup Daily tracking Friday through Monday. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.
|Additional U.S. News Stories|
SAN ANTONIO, May 25 (UPI) --Flash floods fueled by 10 inches of rain left one woman dead and one presumed drowned in San Antonio Saturday, and authorities urged evacuations in some areas.
JAKARTA, May 25 (UPI) --South Korean pop star Psy will perform in Indonesia at a concert celebrating diplomatic ties between the two countries, his management agency said Saturday.
WASHINGTON, May 26 (UPI) --In the U.S. non-federal sector, older workers are more likely than younger counterparts to report being able to put their best skills to use, a survey says. | <urn:uuid:8cf6fae5-08ec-47ff-81aa-44fa44fe4962> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/02/07/Majority-say-standard-of-living-improving/UPI-53901360252610/?spt=hs&or=tn | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965615 | 461 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Regional council voted this week to continue to support the shingle diversion pilot program with an increase of $183,390. The funding will mean an additional 3,000 tonnes of shingles will be received and diverted from the landfill. This is part of a contract with TRY Recycling, which expires in February 2013.
The pilot diversion program began in March 2012 and continues to be more successful than anticipated, with more than 7,200 tonnes of shingles being diverted from the landfill by the end of October 2012.
Current estimates predict approximately 8,500 tonnes of shingles will be diverted by the end of February 2013.
The program is used by homeowners and roofing companies of all sizes. | <urn:uuid:ec98d21c-b584-4b1e-8903-b40952daa295> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cambridgetimes.ca/news/local/article/1553381--region-continues-shingle-diversion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972813 | 146 | 1.585938 | 2 |
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January 17, 2013
Sarah Hoffman is the Project Administrator at Family Online Safety Institute.
Did you know that more Americans – 64.3 million – volunteered in 2011 than in the past five years? Not to mention they logged 7.9 billion hours of service. 7.9 billion! That’s huge!
While the numbers are still being counted for 2012, we have a real opportunity to hit the ground running in 2013. And, we can start this weekend…
This Saturday has been designated as a National Day of Service in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. To celebrate, people all over the country are organizing events and activities; there are endless ways to participate. But, don’t let that overwhelm you. There are some great resources online that make getting involved a whole lot easier!
All for Good: a volunteer opportunity search engine powered by the largest database of volunteer opportunities on the Internet. You can search for events and activities by topic (both locally and nationally), find virtual volunteer opportunities, and find information about starting your own project.
Idealist: a website that allows nonprofit organizations worldwide to post event information, volunteering opportunities, jobs, resources and services. It’s a great place to look if you’ve already got a cause you’re committed to or an organization you like.
Sparked: a micro-volunteering service that lets you volunteer from your computer. You can select issue areas that interest you and connect with organizations that need virtual help with their projects. They’ll even email you when a new project comes up that they think you’d be interested in!
Whatever the cause and however you choose to participate, getting involved on Saturday should be fun!
So, get out there and spread some good. Then, come back next week and tell us what you did!
Read It activity will be shared on Facebook | <urn:uuid:1c3fffc1-63ac-4eb3-b5b5-f00ae5b31ff9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aplatformforgood.org/blog/entry/three-ways-to-volunteer-on-saturdays-national-day-of-service | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942745 | 399 | 1.664063 | 2 |
The new Intel Ivy Bridge processors have more options for overclocking RAM. To find out which brand of memory modules will give you the best performance in return, Hardware.Info compared ten different sets.
Manufacturers of high-end memory modules have a love/hate relationship with Intel. While Intel has the platform for using high-end RAM, there is less and less reason to actually do this. With each new iteration of its processor architecture, Intel manages to make the integrated memory controller even smarter. Because of the large amount of cache memory in modern processors and the smart algorithms, the speed of the RAM has less of an effect on the performance of a computer. So-called pre-fetchers make sure that the data the processor will need in the immediate future is copied in advance to the cache memory. When the processor has to write something to the memory, that also first goes to the cache memory. That allows the cores to move on, and the memory controller will in the background make sure that the data is sent to the RAM.
We said this before. You're better off spending money on more memory than on faster memory. If you have 8 GB instead of 4 GB, you will notice the difference. If you run demanding software, and several of those programs simultaneously, you will even benefit from an increase to 16 GB. The difference between DDR3-1600 and DDR3-2133 is barely noticeable anymore with benchmarks in normal software, and you're not going to notice a difference in performance. The same is true for better timings like CL9 instead of CL10, even with specific memory benchmarks is it difficult to determine any difference.
For normal users our advice remains to use an 8 GB DDR3-1600 or 16 GB DDR3-1600 kit from one of the main brands. Faster RAM is useful mostly for avid overclockers that want to push the limits of clock frequencies and benchmark scores. For this crowd there is a wide array of choice of deluxe memory kits. We asked various RAM manufacturers to send one or more fast dual-channel 8 GB memory kits that are optimised for Ivy Bridge processors. We received and tested 10 different kits. | <urn:uuid:2000e54d-e3de-434f-8cb1-38e256a8e444> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/3220/ten-ddr3-memory-kits-reviewed-optimised-for-ivy-bridge | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930277 | 438 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Tim Berners Lee: The readers speak
Fan Flames for the Greatest Living Briton
Letters It's no fault of Sir Timothy Berners Lee that he's been knighted and feted as The Greatest Living Briton™. It's no fault of Sir Timothy that he's paraded before the world at every opportunity, with every gnomic utterance greeted as Chance The Gardener from Being There.
It's no fault he lives in an age when The Greatest Living Briton can be decided by anyone with a computer connection: Shakespeare, Babbage, Blake, and Brian Clough somehow missed out on this popular accolade.
He's a lovely fellow. But with British academia gradually turning into the US model, where it's a Big Business designed to extract corporate cash, The GLB™ is a valuable asset. Hence the "Web Sciences Initiative", an umbrella project designed to examine "the New Science of the Web".
Last week we recounted an encounter with Sir Tim where he was posed tricky questions about web rot. Since he'd invented the web, we thought he might have a unique insight into how to fix it. Every other internet engineer who's been posed the question about how to improve their invention has some good answers, often troubling and always honest. This is not the case with The GLB, and he mocked his interrogators (including your reporter) for our impertinence.
You can read the encounter here: Tim Berners Lee goes postal on spam.
Expecting vilification, we were surpriesed that readers welcomed a few hard questions, which is nice. Here are your letters.
Maybe you should send him a link to:
I think you're asking the right questions, Andrew. Integrity is ALL the web has: as the old New Yorker cartoon says "On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog." As long as the dog delivers, no one really cares that they ARE a dog. Conversely, the best pedigree of real-world integrity is worthless if it is gamed in the cyber-world.
I suppose that the researchers will equivocate this issue by trying to define what is an "acceptable" level of misinformation, which has its own frightening implications. On the other hand, that's life, and the purpose of our brain is to perform "filtering" on "reality" - real or cyber world.
Of course the real answer to all these problems is neatly explained in the last scene of the 1960's RIngo Starr/Peter Sellers film The Magic Christian. Watch the whole movie, though: it's worth the build-up.
"Don't worry Timothy dear, we'll fix that nasty web spam with your nice new Semantic Web"
Hooray for the vultures, refreshment and sustenance at last. You provide as ever, an oasis of enlightenment in the silicon desert. Ivory towers, paranoia and searching for the saviour, spring to mind.
How do otherwise intelligent folks become so deluded and desperate ?
Now, if they'd had tambourines accompanied by rousing songs of praise. The proposition might have been a bit more entertaining, if not convincing.
"Explanation marks", Mr. Berners Lee? So upon reading them one is filled with some kind of generic enlightment? Now that is the biggest advance in the field of punctuation since the humor tags...
All the best, Marvin the Martian
There is a simple explanation for this one - Sir Tim Berners Lee is a douche. A formerly brilliant douche, but a douche nonetheless. I think the knighthood must have gotten to him and now he poops gold doubloons, as no criticisms of his ideas are longer valid. Can’t respond to flaws in his ideas, can’t objectively analyze anything he thinks up, what does that make him? “Jimbo” Wales – also known as a douche.
We'll stop the blood-letting right there. There's one irony about the GLB which is always overlooked, however.
In 1991, Berners Lee was undoubtedly in the right place at the right time. As were many other scientists - all with similar ambitions, but rather grander designs. In contrast to these schemes, which envisaged vast bureaucratic "architectures" (such as DCE, the OSI model, X.400...) the web succeeded because it was a classically British piece of improvisation that delivered instant benefits. Thanks to Sir Tim's breezy ignorance of, and disdain for, such grand architectures, he devised a mechanism for unifying the different protocols and media types on the early internet - with a mechanism so simple it could be drawn on the back of a napkin and used without a manual.
A bodge is precisely what internet development needed - and awkward questions would be resolved at some later date.
But for the past 15 years the GLB has been devising a follow-up every bit as baroque, bureaucratic and incomprehensible as the client/server models he helped sweep away. And no one is remotely interested in the Semantic Web.
Nothing about Sir Tim's modest manner suggests anything other than he knows he's the most fortunate person alive. It makes us uncomfortable to see him so uncomfortable. In which case, why not get a real Sir Timothy - Ronnie Corbett - to do the job? ® | <urn:uuid:a3f1dbd3-47aa-4cfe-a551-900dd1a39d9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/31/glb_mailbag/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955649 | 1,105 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Tigers must be demilitarised - Lankan Envoy
A negotiated end to Sri Lanka's dragging conflict is
still possible but not before the Tigers are "verifiably demilitarised
and democratised," says one of the most high-profile diplomats of that
Dayan Jayatilleka also said in an interview that the
conflict would only end when Velupillai Prabhakaran, the elusive and
feared leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), gets "demilitarised
one way or another".
Jayatilleka, who enjoys a close rapport with President
Mahinda Rajapaksa, was asked if there was any room for a possible
negotiated settlement to end a war that has claimed over 70,000 lives
since 1983 and still rages.
"Yes but not with the Tigers, and certainly not with
Prabhakaran," the 51-year-old said over e-mail from Geneva, where he is
Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN and other international
organisations based in Switzerland.
Referring in some detail to the 1991 assassination of
former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by an LTTE suicide bomber,
Jayatilleka said of Prabhakaran: "With him there can be no peace."
"A peaceful, negotiated settlement is possible only if
it recognises that any solution has to be within a single, united Sri
Lanka, and the Tigers are verifiably demilitarised and democratised."
Jayatilleka is a political analyst and academic who
served briefly as a Minister in the Provincial Government in the
northeast when Indian troops were deployed there in 1987-90.
He was posted in Geneva in June 2007 as fighting
escalated between the military and the LTTE and Sri Lanka came under
intense attack over rampant human rights violations.
Asked how the war in Sri Lanka will end, Jayatilleka
asserted: "It will all end the way it all ended in Angola after decades
of conflict when (rebel leader) Jonas Savimbi was killed by the Angolan
"It will all end the way it did in Chechnya when the
Russian Army got Djokar Dudayev, defeated the Chechen separatist militia
in fierce combined arms warfare Angola and Chechnya are peaceful and
"It cannot end while Prabhakaran has not been
demilitarised one way or another."
Claiming that Sri Lanka's "human rights record, our
record of civilian casualties, compares favourably with that of the West
in theatres where its Armed Forces" operate, he said the West's use of
human rights as an instrument was "most disturbing".
"The issue of Kosovo (and the de facto separate status
of Iraqi Kurdistan) reveal that the West is not averse to the
splintering of existing states and the carving out of new ones."
Jayatilleka added: "The West does not seem to believe
in a brotherhood of legitimate states which are besieged by terrorism.
For the West, terrorism is a problem only if the anti-state movement in
question claims to be Islamic or Leftist."
In contrast, most Asian countries back Sri Lanka on
the issue of human rights, he said, because "they are not possessed of
colonial or neo-colonial habits of centuries", because they believe in
"non-interference in the internal affairs of others", and also because
they "know what it is to experience the threat of secession and
Jayatilleka accused the University Teachers for Human
Rights-Jaffna (UTHR-J), a respected rights group, of "becoming part of
the West's civil society pets.
It has joined several other Tamil dissident groupings
in showing extreme distress at the thought of military defeat of the
"These elements just do not want the Sri Lankan state
to win They must comprehend that Tiger fascism cannot be defeated by
unarmed Tamil expatriate dissidents.
It can only be defeated by the guns, men and women of
the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and their Tamil partners."
Courtesy : Daily News | <urn:uuid:8cb0a6aa-2a2c-4be9-a3db-08d7496c2a61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20080602_02 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944025 | 881 | 1.765625 | 2 |
3.13.9 Personal Communications
Do not include “personal communications” in the list of references. The following forms may be used in the text:
In a conversation with H. E. Marman, MD (August 2005).…
According to a letter from H. E. Marman, MD, in August 2005.…
Similar findings have been noted by Roberts6 and by H. E. Marman, MD (written communication, August 2005).
According to the manufacturer (H. R. Smith, oral communication, May 2005), the drug became available in Japan in January 2004.
The author should give the date of the communication and indicate whether it was in oral or written (including e-mail) form. Highest academic degrees should also be given. If the affiliation of the person would better establish the relevance and authority of the citation, it should be included (see the example above, where H. R. Smith is identified as the drug’s manufacturer).
See also 3.15.9, Electronic References, E-mail and E-mail List (Listserve) Messages.
Some journals, including JAMA and the Archives Journals, now require that the author provide written permission from the person whose unpublished data or personal communication is thus cited.5,8 (See 5.2.8, Ethical and Legal Considerations, Acknowledgments, Permission to Name Individuals.) | <urn:uuid:4c56233b-aa0b-4b26-9327-caf57e6c9ad8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amamanualofstyle.com/view/10.1093/jama/9780195176339.001.0001/med-9780195176339-div2-76?rskey=DhKH9u&result=6&q= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936366 | 291 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Corporate Minutes: More Than a Unit of Time
One requirement of a corporate entity is to maintain proper corporate minutes. You, your CPA and attorney may need well-documented minutes to assist your corporate entity in navigating through such things as Internal Revenue Service audits, bankruptcy or court action. Properly maintained minutes may also assist in other challenges that might come from minority shareholders, fellow directors, employees or other government agencies. Without an accurate corporate minutes book, the IRS, the courts, and other taxing authorities may allow creditors, plaintiffs, and other entities to sue you personally for debts and actions of the corporation. It is imperative that corporate minutes be properly maintained.
The primary reason your business was incorporated was to help protect your personal assets from business risk and debt. The corporation is a separate legal entity. Minutes can help shield a shareholder or officer from personal liability for corporate debt. Once this corporate shield is pierced, the officers or shareholders can be named in a lawsuit and you could be held personally liable for all debts of the business. The U.S. Corporations Code, section 1500, states that each corporation shall keep adequate and correct books and records of account. This applies to all minutes of the proceedings of its shareholders, board of directors and committees of the board. By law, senior management and the board of directors are accountable.
Minutes may assist your CPA and advisors in avoiding higher taxes or even double taxation. During an audit, the IRS scrutinizes corporate minutes for discrepancies between the corporate resolutions adopted by the shareholders and board of directors and the actions of the corporation. You may lose tax deductions and benefits if you do not conduct meetings that adopt resolutions supporting the actions taken by the corporation. Without proper corporate records, the IRS may consider the shareholders to be operating as individuals and not as a corporation. As a result, the IRS can shatter the corporate shield and impose an individual tax rate that will likely be higher than the corporate one. If a shareholder personally charges business expenses, such as travel and lodging, the IRS will try to forbid reimbursement for these expenses, while considering the disbursements to be dividends. Without explicit expense records and proper authorization in the minutes, it is possible for an owner to be subject to double taxation. Dividends are not deductible to the corporation and are taxable income to the shareholder. Most importantly, the status of a "separate legal entity" for your corporation can be discredited.
Companies should conduct routine check-ups of their business records at least annually. Corporate minutes should provide a written record of important corporate transactions including:
- Key legal, tax, and financial decisions.
- Approval of bonuses or fringe benefits, such as group term life, disability or deferred compensation plans.
- Contributions and amendments to retirement plans.
- Lease agreements and rent payments.
- Reasonable compensation for officers and shareholder employees.
- Approval of dividends from C-Corporations and distributions from S-Corporations
- Documentation of the necessary business purpose for accumulated earnings to avoid an additional 28% tax.
- Identification of directors and officers of the corporation.
- Property and equipment additions or replacements.
- Research and development programs and expenses.
- Stock transactions and repurchase arrangements that coincide with stock record books.
- Contracts, approvals of loans or financing arrangements.
- Approval of "arm’s length" transactions with shareholders.
- Corporate restructuring or mergers.
The reasonable compensation issue continues to be a hot issue for taxing authorities. A company may deduct the compensation paid to employees as long as it is "reasonable". However, the IRS may say that part of the compensation paid to a business owner (or a relative) is a disguised dividend. The corporate minutes can help establish that compensation is warranted for the services being performed.
The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, has recently successfully reclassified S-Corporation distributions as compensation. These distributions were not documented in the corporate minutes. The reason appears to be to assess penalties, as high as $1,000 for under-reporting of gross wages, even though the S-Corporation shareholder has already passed by the $9,000 wages base threshold. All S-Corporation distributions should also be properly authorized and documented in the corporate minutes to avoid this reclassification to wages. Identifying officers is important for wage base determination with regard to workers’ compensation liability. Officers’ compensation is limited with regard to workers’ compensation.
There is no absolute guarantee that disputes will be settled in your favor, but the minutes should provide you with a good position to respond to these issues. It is important that your minutes are complete, accurate, and up to date.
If you should have any questions regarding this issue, please contact your corporate counsel or you may contact Steve Magovac [Steve@brottmardis.com] or Dan Riemenschneider [Dan@brottmardis.com] for more information.
Voice of the Editor
What makes a company a great place to work? Experience, a ConnectEDU company, uses criteria that include benefits, career advancement opportunities, culture, and work/life balance to form its annual list of the Best Places to Work for Recent Grads. BDO USA and Ernst & Young both made the Top 25 list. Read what makes these firms stand out and find out what can be done at your firm to entice college grads. | <urn:uuid:055d51f7-5bfe-41ad-a3b3-1fff087fc70d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.accountingweb.com/topic/firm-news/corporate-minutes-more-unit-time | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941794 | 1,109 | 1.507813 | 2 |
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