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By David Kanzeg
We all know about making lemonade from lemons. It's a metaphor for making the best of a bad situation. But I'm surprised that no one has applied that notion to Northeast Ohio's two top transportation stories. Considering all the gnashing of teeth over Cleveland's possible loss of the Continental Airlines hub, and the opportunistic pummeling of the largely wise 3C rail proposal, no one has yet made the obvious connection: to take the opportunity to reimagine Cleveland Hopkins International Airport as the Midwest's first intermodal passenger transportation hub.
Ohio has always sat at the critical point between the continent's East Coast and Midwest surface-transport networks. Its people have prospered by capitalizing on its strategic connectivity, whether via post-colonial canals, industrial-age lake steamers and railroads, or 20th-century superhighways. Not surprisingly, then, in the 21st century, we once again occupy the center of a fast-developing transportation revolution, whether we like it or not.
We are where we are -- still one of the nation's top-20 markets, within 500 miles of the majority of the continent's population. No matter what happens to Continental Airlines' route map, airline traffic to and from Cleveland will continue at substantial levels. In the meantime, passenger rail networks are growing to the east, to the west and even to the north of us. Fortuitously, the linchpin poised to connect both land and air routes is none other than Cleveland's airport. A line drawn on existing rail routes from Toronto to Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati and Louisville and another drawn from Pittsburgh to Youngstown, to Cleveland, to Toledo, to South Bend, Ind., and Chicago cross one another right at Hopkins' front door; just across Ohio 237 from the airport parking garage. Even the densest of curmudgeons would recognize this as a unique opportunity.
Yet, until now, our public conversation has focused on the "disaster" of losing the hub, or the "boondoggle" of spending the $400 million of competitively awarded federal money on the 3C startup train, rather than seeing these developments as representing a truly extraordinary moment. In the wake of airline mergers and air traffic restructuring, Chicago's O'Hare and airports in Newark, Detroit and Atlanta will only become even more congested. Repositioning Hopkins as a rail-air interchange hub could offer an attractive time-and-hassle-saving alternative.
This kind of operation retains the airline hub-and-spoke concept, except that the "spokes" are on-the-ground rail lines, supplemented by existing highways, rather than airline routes. Many of the region's smaller communities gain important new transportation access for business and pleasure travelers through this type of arrangement, while larger communities gain additional non-airline travel options.
Imagine beginning a business trip from, say, Galion to Denver without having first to drive to an airport and storing a car there for the duration. Or consider the Ashtabula family returning from vacationing at Disney World that doesn't have to face a grueling drive through Cleveland's traffic to complete its journey.
In Europe, Amsterdam's and Frankfurt's airports function in this way. In the United States, two facilities of this sort already exist, along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, at Baltimore's BWI and Newark's EWR airports.
Such an intermodal operation at Hopkins would increase the transportation options for travelers throughout the region, while providing additional public and private economic opportunities -- for taxi, limo and bus-feeder services, for refreshment and sundry concessionaires, for business travel services and equipment suppliers.
To be sure, this is no silly, far-
away pipe dream. Existing infrastructure can already support the germinal stages of such an idea. Even now, four Amtrak trains pass within sight of Hopkins' terminal every day. The proposed 3C trains would do the same.
This region has a history of success taking chances: the Ohio and Erie canals, the railroads, the turnpike, even Hopkins airport itself were all speculative projects, capitalizing on Northeast Ohio's proximity to other commercial markets. But today, we are far behind the curve with respect to the kind of transportation networks, and the manufacturing systems that support them, being developed in every industrial society on the planet.
Perhaps it's time for us to look beyond the political parochialism and corporate myopia that pushed us into an economic backwater unprecedented in our state's history. Perhaps we should imagine a prosperous future that only awaits our having sufficient courage to forge it. And perhaps it starts with making lemonade from some of our current lemons.
Kanzeg is the director of programming for Ideastream. | <urn:uuid:beaea62b-966a-414c-916d-4b902799bccf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2010/05/seize_opportunity_to_reinvent.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94456 | 987 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past two years, you have undoubtedly heard of Minecraft. Maybe you haven’t played it but you have certainly heard the name. The indie project-turned-phenomenon from the mind of Markus “Notch” Persson took the world of video games by storm thanks to its innovative gameplay and an experience fueled and limited only by creativity of the user. After spending more than 2 years in the public eye in both its alpha and beta forms, the game was finally officially released on the PC in November 2011. Now, a few months after that, it has finally made its way to consoles, exclusively on Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade.
The world of Minecraft is more of an experience than it is a game. Set in a randomly generated, open world, you are given free reign of the world around you, and I mean that literally. You will begin the game in the middle of nowhere; it could be an expansive desert, a snow-covered mountain, or a dense forest. It is just you and the expansive wilderness; you have no tools, no weapons, just a blocky world that looks more like an NES game than a Xbox 360 one.
What you have to understand is that Minecraft is what you make of it; this is a sandbox world that gives you the freedom to both explore and create. As I stated, you start with literally nothing except your bare hands but will eventually find yourself punching away at a tree because you can’t find anything else to do. That tree breaks into blocks of wood which can then be crafted into tools like a shovel, axe, or pickaxe; those tools than allow you to start chipping away at the world around you. Before you know it, you have dug down to the center of the earth (in the game world) in search of treasures and more materials.
In addition to creating tools, you can also use the various objects such as rocks and dirt to shape the world around you. This is the true joy of Minecraft: creating the world of your dreams. Just take a few seconds to search for “Minecraft city” on Youtube or Google, and you will see that this game is only limited by your own imagination. This is the true definition of a “sandbox” game.
Of course, this isn’t just a matter of tearing things down and building creations; there are dangers in the world around you too. The world around you is a lively one as well. There are a ton of creatures roaming around the world such as cows, pigs, sheep, ducks, and even wolves. They all serve a purpose in this blocky ecosystem and are the source of their own unique materials for your creationary-existence. Cows give you leather which can be used to craft armor and clothes; pigs give you porkchops to cook and eat when you need extra health.
The world of Minecraft follows a very strict day / night cycle, and when the sun sets in this world, bad things come out to play. In the darkness of night, you will also have to contend with a variety of enemies who will hunt you down. You can hide underground or inside of a sheltered structure that you have created (which is highly recommended early one) or take some materials and craft weapons to defend yourself. The choice is yours.
Being someone who spent quite a bit of time with the PC version of the game, I will say that the XBLA version has lost a bit of the luster and magic of the PC version. Players should know from the start that this version of the game isn’t the exact same as its PC brethren. The XBLA edition of the game is a few “updates” behind the PC release, although the two will eventually sink up according to the developers. The XBLA release lacks such features as the experience system and the existence of non-playable characters. These really don't impact the overall experience though.
What does hurt is the fact that part of the original experience was in the joy of the undiscovered world and its crafting system; those playing the game had no idea what they could craft or create within the game. It seemed as if the possibilities were endless and new creations could be discovered the deeper you dug into the ground, literally. Unfortunately, that joy is gone in the XBLA game. All of the recipes and options are laid out to you from the start; there isn’t any need to experiment, you just need to scroll through the list of objects that you can craft and find the required materials.
On the other hand, as a seasoned player I like having quick access to the various recipes and item combinations rather than having to either memorize them or reference an online guide. This makes it very easy to mass produce things such as planks and tools which saves time and let’s players get back to crafting a world of their own. Don’t get me wrong, the experience is still enjoyable, I just question whether or not those completely new to the series will see the same magic that many of us have been seeing for years.
Of course, what good is creating a world of your own if you can’t share it with your friends. Minecraft allows you to do just that. The game supports up to 4 players, both online and off with split-screen multiplayer (online only for those with standard definition televisions). You can either bring friends directly into your game via invite or leave your world open for other random players to join you; whoever hosts the game is the one who maintains the rights to the created world. This is also something that is a bit of a drawback from the PC version, as there a world could be saved on a server and those partaking in its creation could come and go as they please. I am not sure how they would have accomplished that on the consoles.
Minecraft XBLA, just like the original, is a truly magical experience. It is a very hard experience to describe as it will vary for each individual. If you don’t have a creative bone in your body, and don’t care to sink time into creating your own world, you will grow bored very (VERY) quickly. If you do have the knack, or even just the urge to create your own world, there is no better way to do it than with this game. It’s simple and easy and as I have stated time and time again, limited only by the bounds of your imagination. This game redefines the definition of both sandbox gameplay and the concept of replayability; assuming you put in the time, you won’t find a better gameplay value for your dollar. As long as you know what to expect, don’t hesitate on picking this one up.
Page 4 of 1 | <urn:uuid:d224299f-71a2-42d7-adb3-7e11da862e6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gamingnexus.com/Article/Minecraft-Xbox-360-Edition/Page4/Item3520.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969947 | 1,406 | 1.8125 | 2 |
A 70-year-old man in Saudi Arabia is disputing claims his new bride is 15 years old, and says her family has ripped him off for the large dowry he paid for the union.
Human rights workers say the bride is a teenager and are outraged about the situation.
CNN interviewed the man Tuesday, who said he paid a dowry to the girl's parents for the equivalent of $20,000. The marriage came to light when the man complained to a local official after his new wife left him, saying the girl's family had taken her back and he'd been ripped off. He also claimed that he thought she was 25 years old.
He refused to provide his name to CNN.
"She is not 15 as everybody claims," he said. "She's 25 years old and she's mature enough to make her own decisions... I was fooled by the girl's family."
In Saudi Arabia, there is no law that stipulates a minimum age for marriage.
Human rights workers say they believe there was a fight between the teen and the man, and she ran back to her family.
Her father is believed to be Yemeni, her mother Saudi, the rights workers told CNN.
She is from Al-Hurath village in Jizan province, in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen, according to Dr. Hadi Al-Yami, the head of the Asir branch of the Human Rights Commission. The group is backed by the Saudi government.
The commission sent an investigator to the courthouse in Al-Hurath, Al-Yami said, and is planning to offer the girl and her family as much help as she's able to receive, particularly legal help in case the courts require her to formally dispute the marriage. | <urn:uuid:6a7ed207-a517-4d66-8e55-b46eb6305ac4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wptz.com/news/national/Man-70-marries-15-year-old-in-Saudi-Arabia/-/8869978/18048988/-/item/0/-/rypmxoz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988197 | 360 | 1.5 | 2 |
When I first encountered Catherine Opie’s photographs some time ago, I was delighted and intrigued by her work; her attention to detail, sensitivity toward color and composition, and fearless documentation of queer subcultures left an impression on me as an artist and thinker.
And so it was with equal delight, if not perhaps slight confusion, that I came face to face with her football series for the first time (on view in Catherine Opie: Figure and Landscape). For Opie, these photographs were a more traditional approach to photography in subject matter and style: crisp and colorful photographs of an American tradition. But, as I soon realized, there was far more to these photographs beyond their initial aesthetic viewing pleasure. As these photographs continued to grow on me, I realized that Opie’s portraits of high school footballers became, in part, a critique of the way in which our culture constructs masculinity.
The subjects of these portraits are not men, nor are they boys; they are teenagers in transition, and it is with acne, braces, and a youthful awkwardness that they come to inhabit the hyper-masculinized footballer’s uniform and identity. They do not quite fit into their roles as footballers, or as men, but it is clear that they have made a choice about where they stand. Or has this choice been made for them? The portraits possess a quiet dignity as well as an underlying critique of that very dignity with which these teenagers hold themselves.
Henry William Crouch, Intern, Wallis Annenberg Photography Department | <urn:uuid:1b8b7bc5-9aef-45f9-8806-3d64cc04b548> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lacma.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/pursuing-manhood/?like=1&_wpnonce=ef2a6945bd | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972744 | 316 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Last year the economy crashed. Now, the stimulus has stimulated, the Federal Reserve has eased, Geihtner has.. well done whatever he does, and Obama has spoken (certainly that should have fixed everything). So how did we hit 9.8% unemployment since the stimulus was an emergency action that would keep unemployment from going over 8%, pumping massive amounts of liquidity into the economy should have loosened credit, little Timmy G. and Obama bought GM, AIG and Chrysler and they helped everyone buy a new car that wanted one? It must be that G.W. Bush must still be affecting the economy from his ranch in Texas…
Today, the Mortgage Bankers Association published it’s index of applications. The measure of home mortgage applications dropped 14% last week. When broken-down, the measurement of refinancing applications decreased 17% and new home purchases declined 7.6%. When combined with yesterday’s less-than-stellar housing starts report, it’s apparent that between TARP, ARRA (stimulus), the Fed, government buyouts, the first-time buyers credit, and a truck-load of printed money.. the housing crisis is still glaring us in the face.
The trouble isn’t that the government isn’t doing enough – thankfully. The trouble is that due to too much federal meddling, we never let the bubble fully burst. Economies go through boom-and-bust cycles. Even socialist countries deal with economic cycles that go up and down. By propping up a bursting housing market we end up with artificially high housing prices and no one that can afford them. Mortgage rates can’t get any lower and demand still isn’t there. If you have too many goods (houses) being chased by too few dollars… that’s deflationary to that market. Our dollar is weakening due to the government’s reckless printing.
A Yahoo! Finance article states that economists expect home sales prices to decline more than 11% by June of 2010. That’s fairly rapid and could trigger the second half of a double-dip recession when combined with the commercial loan crisis about to hit the financial industry.
So now those few dollars chasing mortgages aren’t worth as much (notice your gas prices the last seven days or so – welcome to inflation). The Fed has kept rates near zero so now they can only go up – and they are. All this means those houses have got to get cheaper to get sold. Meaning destroyed wealth for millions of Americans as their house values plummet. The housing bubble will certainly bust and the more the government props it up, the worse that crash will be. | <urn:uuid:33c881d4-3f7d-4efd-ba12-55d9fd917f12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.conservativedailynews.com/2009/10/mortgage-bubble-started-crisis-isnt-getting-better/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963546 | 550 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Jonathan Haidt is a professor of business ethics at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 and then did post-doctoral research at the University of Chicago and in Orissa, India. Haidt’s research examines the intuitive foundations of morality, and how morality varies across cultures. In 2006, Haidt published The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. His most recent book is The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. He and his collaborators conduct research at YourMorals.org, a site where a quarter-million people have gone to learn more about their morality.
Romney and Obama extol profoundly different conceptions of what is just. No wonder they both think they’re right | <urn:uuid:6a95e362-6e27-4ae5-8d4d-3acc957da6d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ideas.time.com/contributor/jonathan-haidt/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949714 | 171 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Written by Meg Dickey, Contributing Writer
This month at Keeper of the Home, we're discussing Gardening 101, and we're continuing this week with the second part of Gardening with Herbs 101. Let's jump right in to my favorite part of gardening: what to grow!
First, consider your needs:
What herbs do you love the smell of? What tastes do you enjoy adding to your food? What tea are you always splurging on? What kinds of medicine does your family use during the year? Do you want a garden your children can enjoy too? Are you in need of a quiet place to spend an early morning?
The answers to these questions will give you a great start to what herbs you might enjoy in your garden. Stephanie gave some great tips on how to plant a garden that works for where you live last week, so keep those guidelines in mind as we choose our herbs.
I adore theme gardening. It's not for everyone - I have several friends who find the idea of organizing such a thing daunting, and would rather have a beautiful hodge-podge of plants scattered throughout the yard. The idea behind theme gardening is to group plants together according to their uses. There are many ways of choosing which ones fit your needs best. Here are some ideas to get you started:
This is the most basic of herb gardens, and can easily be purchased as a kit from a local store. You do not need much space to provide a surprising amount of fresh herbs for your kitchen.
Our first kitchen garden was a windowsill garden. It contained rosemary, lavender, sage, and thyme - perfect for a quick herbs de provence blend for soup, or to season a homemade dressing. Other excellent herbs to add are tarragon, dill, marjoram, basil, oregano and chives. I am also planning to add a bay tree at some point in time, since I use bay to flavor so many things!
I think one of the best ways to plan a kitchen garden is to make sure it's close by. If you have to walk out back, around the corner of the garage, and 6 feet past the swingset to pick your herbs for dinner, it's far more likely you'll just reach for a bottle out of the cupboard, or worse, simply forget about the plants sitting back there and pick some up from the store. You can have different pots of herbs on your back steps, on your front porch, or even hanging from the porch ceiling, but you should be able to get to them easily.
Medicinal Herb Garden
This has to be the biggest money saver for our family, hands down. After spending so much money on herbal teas, medicinal tinctures, and various other remedies, we finally clued in and spent our money to build a medicinal herb garden.
I sat down one evening and poured through my herb books, checking to see what herbs were used most often in our home, and what was practical to grow in our area. I also chose those plants which were better utilized fresh, as well as noting what herbs were the most costly to purchase outright. Because we mix and sell herbal blends and tinctures, we wanted to make certain we had quality plants to start with. Growing our own was a great way to get that security, as well as cut down our overhead costs.
Our medicinal garden contains lavender, catnip, poppy, feverfew, chamomile, valerian, lemon balm, spearmint, peppermint, St. John's wort, nettle, plantain and calendula. I will also be attempting to add lemon myrtle tree and an elder tree (for berries and flowers) at some point in time. Other excellent options would be tulsi (Holy Basil), arnica, or angelica.
Children's Herb Garden
I don't know about anyone else's children, but mine LOVE dirt. If I am out in the garden, they all want to be out there too, helping to dig holes, pour water, and watch things grow! We started giving our boys garden chores last year, and they thrived with them. This year, we're taking a little different tack, and allowing them to choose their own plants, as well as maintaining them.
Our boys specifically requested "teepees" for their gardens this year, so we've planted climbing sunflowers to cover their hideaways [in addition to the pole beans]. Other great ones to let the little ones try out are pineapple sage, lemon balm, or any of the scented geraniums, which come in scents like lime, apricot, orange, and strawberry.
Children also get a kick out of smelling the plants in the mint family, especially peppermint, spearmint and chocolate mint. Our boys also like to "heal themselves" with plants, so we try to make sure there is at least one aloe plant where they can find it. :-)
There are so many other options for theme gardening - potpourri herbs, medieval, butterfly, shakespearean, pizza or Peter Rabbit (two great children's options). Here are some great resources to consider:
- Your Backyard Herb Garden, by Miranda Smith
- Themes for Herb Gardens, by Kim Fletcher
- Roots, Shoots, Bucket & Boots, by Sharon Lovejoy
- Sunflower Houses, by Sharon Lovejoy
Are you excited to start your herb gardens yet? I know I am! What herbs are you considering for your gardens this year?
- Gardening with Herbs 101: What To Grow
- A Tale of Two Gardens part one and part two
- How to Plan Your Garden part one and part two
- Organization in the Garden: Evaluating What You Have and What You Need
- Getting Organized in the Garden: Seed Starting and Planting Schedule
- Naturally Controlling Pests in the Organic Garden
- 5 Steps to Being a Lazy Gardener
- Gardening in Less-than-Ideal Spaces
- 7 Gardening Lessons from a Novice Gardener
- Selecting Seeds for Garden Success
- How to Plant a Garden that Works for Where You Live
- 7 Reasons to Square Foot Garden
- Plan & Plant Now for Sustainability, Freedom, and a Backyard Revolution | <urn:uuid:283288d8-d2e7-4e6a-9211-9bde44b239a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2011/04/gardening-with-herbs-101-what-to-grow.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953896 | 1,311 | 1.757813 | 2 |
April 13, 2011
By Darla Martin Tucker
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – (www.lasierra.edu) As the school year rolls into its final quarter, a new umbrella program conceived in the School of Business is finishing its first effort at shepherding students into the real world through entrepreneurship and competition for prize money.
The program, called Challenge-Based Learning, presents students with competitive projects that aim to solve real life business problems through unique solutions. Those with the most effective answers are awarded cash prizes or scholarships.
The inaugural year of Challenge-Based Learning entailed three main projects involving marketing, customer service issues and entrepreneurship.
During the fall and winter quarters, students were tasked with developing marketing plans intended to help a Southern California developer attract new tenants to a Riverside retail plaza.
A second project called the Dean’s Challenge asks students or student groups to write essays on ways to improve the experience of education in the business school. The deadline for essay submittal is April 15. The first place winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship, the second place recipient will receive a $500 scholarship and a third place winner will receive a $250 scholarship. The contest is open to all business students.
The third spring quarter project, titled the Joe Patton Challenge for the Best Business Plan, awards a $5,000 prize to the best business idea and business plan for a startup venture. The deadline for business idea and plan submittal is May 20. The business award, funded by the Joe Patton Trust, is named for national award-winning aerospace entrepreneur and humanitarian Joe Patton, co-founder of Gardena-based Aero Chip Inc. The company is a top minority supplier of precision-machined parts for aerospace, U.S. military and private enterprise.
Challenge-Based Learning is an exercise in creative, real-world problem solving using entrepreneurial skills that motivate students. The program uses a multi-disciplinary approach and encourages students to leverage technology. In all the Challenge projects, panels of corporate leaders and professors evaluate students’ reports. “It is collaborative and encourages teamwork,” said John Thomas, dean of La Sierra’s School of Business. He and management and marketing Professor Elias Rizkallah are spearheading the program. “It’s a hands on learning experience, students working with peers, teachers and experts in the community and the world to develop deeper subject knowledge,” Thomas said. “We want to bridge the gap between formal learning and informal learning. We’re incentivizing positive behavior. When you have fun you learn better.”
Jonathan Davidson, a business management major, submitted an essay on ways to improve students’ educational experience in the business school. His suggestions included having students learn various business subjects by starting a fictitious company during their freshman year. Students would incorporate accounting, business law, marketing and other topics into the development of the company during their academic tenure. “In this way, by the time we finished college, we would have gone through the entire process of starting a company and taking goods to market four times, giving us the confidence and experience to start businesses right out of school,” Davidson said. He also suggested hiring a full-time faculty member to help students in every stage of starting real companies, and included in his paper study techniques that have helped him succeed in school.
The Challenge-Based Learning marketing project took root when Mike Kendall, vice president of acquisitions for Turner Development Corp. in Newport Beach, approached the business school about involving students in marketing strategies for The Shops at Riverwalk, a Turner Development property situated near La Sierra University. | <urn:uuid:53f7636e-828c-4156-bad6-4eec786afff4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lasierra.edu/index.php?id=7191 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959534 | 746 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Civilians Step Up to Support Wartime Mission
By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 10, 2011 The fact that he already had deployed about “a million times” while in the Air Force didn’t deter him, and neither did the potential dangers or austere conditions facing him in the Middle East.
An Indiana National Guard soldier escorts an Afghan translator to a meeting with Afghan role players and civilian students during the 11-day Civilian Expeditionary Workforce predeployment training course at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, Ind., Feb. 10, 2011. National Guard soldiers support the course by driving convoys, providing security and offering role-player support. DOD photo by Elaine Wilson
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
Ten years after leaving the military, Mark Parsons was back to serve again -- this time as a civilian.
“I want to make an impact,” said Parsons, who is embarking on a yearlong deployment in Iraq. “I want someone to know that when Mark Parsons left, that he served his country and he did all he could.”
Parsons is one of thousands of civilians supporting wartime missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and other missions around the world, as part of the Civilian Expeditionary Workforce.
The program formally stood up in January 2009 to create a structured civilian force able to supplement military forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and other contingency and humanitarian missions around the world, explained Seth Shulman, the Pentagon’s director of international human resources programs in the office of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.
These civilians are not only filling a crucial need overseas, but are helping to alleviate a decade of strain and stress on the force, he said.
“Because of the sheer numbers of people having to do multiple tours of duty, there is a strain on individual members of the military,” Shulman said. “CEW was stood up to provide qualified civilians to carry out some of the responsibilities that military members carry out.”
It doesn’t make sense to have service members behind a desk when civilians are more than qualified to take on that role, he noted, freeing up troops to focus on the mission.
Today, about 4,000 civilians are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, and about 500 to other locations such as Qatar and Djibouti, Shulman said.
“You can’t underestimate the impact civilians have had and will continue to have,” he said.
Civilians from all walks of life and expertise have stepped up to serve in the CEW, he said, ranging from military veterans with years of experience and multiple deployments under their belts to government civilians with extensive subject-matter knowledge, to private-sector experts without any military affiliation at all.
The civilians’ expertise is as varied as their backgrounds, varying from mechanics and logistics to contracting and the law, Shulman noted. Parsons, for example, is a program manager at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and an Air Force veteran. In Iraq, he’ll support overseas travel and training for Iraqi forces.
Without an age limit, volunteers range in age from their early 20s to late 60s, Shulman said, with the majority of volunteers in their 40s and 50s. Since they’re expected to hit the ground running, most civilians are established in their careers, he explained, and that expertise typically comes later in life.
Whether a recent college graduate or a seasoned professional, all volunteers are required to complete an 11-day predeployment course at Camp Atterbury and Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Indiana, about an hour and a half south of Indianapolis, before they deploy, he said.
The course, which stood up as a pilot program last year, teaches students how to work and live in an austere environment and informs them of their benefits and entitlements. The course is split into two segments: know yourself and know your environment. Students learn how to cope and operate as part of a team, as well as how to work and live in a foreign culture.
The course also delves into the sometimes complex culture of the U.S. military.
“For people who have never worked with the military before, it’s generally more of a challenge,” Shulman said. “And getting them used to working in theater with military also is a challenge because they’re not used to working with the military in a contingency or combat operation.”
It’s an adjustment for the service members as well, he acknowledged. “They may have to treat civilians a little different than military members,” he said.
However, these challenges are surmountable ones and the program’s benefits far outweigh any rough spots in the road, he said.
Based on positive feedback and mission successes, civilians are proving invaluable assets, Shulman said.
“We continually get asked for more and more,” he said. “We’ve been able to fill a large number of positions and constantly fill additional positions. People look to us now as a sourcing solution to meet their mission requirements.”
With a steady flow of civilians heading overseas, Shulman said officials now are working to ensure their deployment runs as smooth as possible. They’ve smoothed out issues with medical care and with medical evacuations, he said, and are developing family care programs.
Civilians who deploy, for example, now have access to the Defense Department’s Military OneSource website, which is packed with information, resources and offers round-the-clock support.
Officials also are working on a two- to three-day program to help civilians reintegrate with their families and the work force, Shulman said.
“We work continuously to improve the potential for civilians to be given every possible advantage while they’re deployed,” he said. | <urn:uuid:6a92124d-8a37-49ad-bcb3-a7d2a7209e08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=63103 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965977 | 1,255 | 1.640625 | 2 |
AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to millions of articles from top publications available through your library.
Byline: Jewel Gopwani
May 18--Anita Patterson felt pretty good about the $202 airfare she paid for a trip to Orlando this month. But then the 66-year-old Detroiter noticed the fees tacked on to the ticket price. There's a $5 security fee, a $7.50 airport fee, $15.21 in taxes and another $6.60 fee, adding more than $34 to her ticket on Spirit Airlines.
"It's crazy," said Patterson, eyeing taxes and fees that raised her airfare to $237.10. "I remember when taxes on airline tickets used to be more around $5 or $10," she said. As passengers get ready to board planes in record numbers this summer, they're paying a long list of taxes and fees. … | <urn:uuid:0b782c4e-fb4e-4a00-afc6-67c6e7bb0521> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-145939448/ticket-fees-pile-up.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951759 | 188 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Details: This poster shows a list of 101 movie quotes. The object of the poster is to match the quotes with the character and movie, listed at the bottom. At the top it says What Movie¿ Whose Line? 101 Classic Movie Quotes.
Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects. Gangster is the term for a career criminal who is, or at some point almost invariably becomes, a member of a persistent violent crime organization, such as a gang. | <urn:uuid:780aeec0-6a6c-45d6-9972-05e909f0860d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.posterrevolution.com/poster.cfm/what-movie-whose-line-movie-movie-quotes-poster-print-24x36 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945788 | 135 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Law School Headlines
MMK Honoree Seeks to Understand Bioethical Challenges through Theatre
A look at how issues of bioethics are dealt with through plays staged since the 1960s was the topic of the McDonald Merrill Ketcham (MMK) Lecture at the law school on February 7, 2013. This year’s MMK honoree was Karen H. Rothenberg, J.D., M.P.A., Marjorie Cook Professor of Law and founding Director of the Law & Health Care Program at the University of Maryland School of Law. She served as that law school’s dean from 1999-2009.
The McDonald Merrill Ketcham Lecture and Award in Law and Medicine brings leading scholars and policy makers in the fields of law and medicine to the IUPUI campus for presentations at both the law and medical schools.
Following Rothenberg’s lecture, a panel discussion lead by Janet Allen, artistic director of the Indiana Repertory Theatre, also examined the MMK lecture topic. Other panelists included Dr. Margaret Gaffney and Dr. Peter Schwartz, both of whom are faculty investigators at the IU Center for Bioethics, and Professor William Schneider, director of Medical Humanities at IUPUI. | <urn:uuid:0cc5dd14-5aa1-432c-9c0b-f61ad8af19b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://indylaw.indiana.edu/news/current.cfm/archive.cfm?nid=790 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949177 | 260 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Illustrated by: Liz Pichon
Little Wolf likes things pretty and pink. She also likes stories. Her parents have other ideas and so send her out to catch dinner. Along the way she comes across Little Red Riding Hood. A little girl is on the list her parents gave her and Little Wolf knows what she is supposed to do but she would rather listen to fairy tales.
A delightful and cheekily told rendition of the traditional tale with a bit of a twist. It illustrations are bright and inviting matching the light tone of the text. Little girls are likely to love this.
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books
Published: 02 February 2012
Format: Hardback 32 pages
Categories: Fairy Tale,
ISBN 13: 9781444900668
Purchase: here or use Booktopia link on the side of the page | <urn:uuid:3c619eba-5c47-49b3-b63d-d2fa0610ab59> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thekylieverse.com/tag/rachael-mortimer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942946 | 174 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Vote on dam project for Dona Bay delayed
Published: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 3:40 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 3:40 p.m.
SARASOTA COUNTY - Sarasota County Commissioners put off a vote Tuesday on a $3.6 million dam project to restore Dona Bay after they said they needed more information on the plans.
Commissioners will revisit the proposed weir, which is a type of dam in which water flows over the top, at their meeting today.
The weir would help slow the flow of fresh water from Cow Pen Slough into Dona Bay, which is a saltwater body. The fresh water has disrupted the natural environment and hurt oyster production and sea grass growth after channels were dug in the 1960s, diverting the slough away from emptying into the Myakka River.
But plans for the $186 million project, of which the weir is only a small, initial part, have been on hold since 2007 after county staff said the recession set it back. The overall project, which could take a decade to complete, would include a water treatment plant that could produce 15 million gallons of drinking water a day.
Commissioners said since they have not seen detailed plans since 2007, they wanted an update and discussion before taking a vote. Half of the money for the project would come from the county and half from the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged. | <urn:uuid:2c2f82a1-3056-4b15-977a-0dd7725ef77e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120207/ARTICLE/120209607/2055/www.heraldtribune.com | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971203 | 336 | 1.789063 | 2 |
What do you get when you combine a socially conscious hedge fund manager, a group of technical experts and a big disease with readily available solution in a New York City basement for a day? Well, in this case,
World Pneumonia Day (WPD). As I think about the WPD events that will take place in dozens of countries across the globe on November 12th, I’m reminded of the humble beginnings from which this effort was
launched and the example it sets for the power of champions with ideas.
In February 2009,
Lance Laifer, a socially minded hedge fund manager from New York who for years had been actively involved with raising awareness and funds for malaria work, attended a meeting convened by the international NGO
Save the Children. At this meeting, Save’s
Dr. David Marsh remarked that pneumonia was the
leading killer of children worldwide, taking a child’s life every 20 seconds. Lance was indignant. “How can this possibly be,” he asked. “I thought that it was malaria. How could I not know this?” When he learned that these deaths were unnecessary, that
we have safe, effective treatments and vaccines, he was steadfast. From that epiphanal moment, Lance declared that he was going to announce the first ever World Pneumonia Day, and he was prepared to do it alone if needed.
Inspired by Lance (and fueled by emails that immediately went around the world), I joined a group of pneumonia leaders from civil society and technical institutions around the world like the
Save the Children, the Best Shot Foundation, and others a few weeks later in a window-less basement meeting room at a medical school in New York. We laid out an ambitious agenda for
developing a communications strategy to raise awareness of pneumonia and its solutions. We resolved to focus on the
WHO/UNICEF Global Action Plan for Pneumonia and the comprehensive package of interventions that it projects can reduce pneumonia deaths in children by two-thirds by 2015.
As it turns out, the pneumonia advocacy world was like tinder ready to burn that needed only a match to light it. Fueled by a dedicated core group of participants, the first world pneumonia day grew into the
international coalition of over 140 partners that exists today. Sparked by small grants from the International Vaccine Access Center at JHU, the GAVI Alliance and others, events have taken
place around the globe since 2009. These events take many forms and include marches on parliament in places as diverse (and unlikely) as Bangladesh, Nigeria, Sudan, and Myanmar, and soccer games in Kinshasa and hot air balloons in the Philippines.
This year, the 4th World Pneumonia Day, marks my first as Director of Vaccine Delivery at the
Gates Foundation, where pneumonia has a dedicated team that works across the foundation to develop and deliver a comprehensive set of tools including improved diagnostics, treatments, and
vaccines for children and families in developing countries. I’m excited for the opportunity
this affords me to continue playing a role in tackling pneumonia. It’s also my first in Seattle, where World Pneumonia Day events include a video at the
Gates Foundation’s Visitor Center and, as part of the
Paint the Town Blue initiative, the
Pacific Science Center will be bathed in blue light. And if you’re interested in hearing more about pneumonia, the story of World Pneumonia Day’s humble beginnings, and most importantly, what you can do to combat childhood pneumonia, I hope you’ll join
me at 5pm Nov. 12th at the William Foege Center at the University of Washington.
We need your voice. We need your action.
Here are some simple things you can do to get involved and help us combat global childhood pneumonia. On this page you will find links to resources and activities to help you mark November 12 as World Pneumonia Day. Spread the word – together we can end | <urn:uuid:8c1a6b90-af4f-4ae5-9870-addf88403a9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.impatientoptimists.org/Posts/2012/11/World-Pneumonia-Days-Humble-Beginnings | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954863 | 834 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Mind Your Manners
Question: Is there any connection between the level of religiosity and politeness?
Answer: According to a study made by the Jerusalem Institute for Market Studies, there definitely is a connection. The most polite people in Israel, the study found, are the Torah observers, leaving behind those who define themselves as traditional or secular.
In a statement to the Jerusalem Post, Robert Sauer, president of the JIMS, offered this insight:
"The results of the survey are disturbing, for they suggest that the public educational system is not fulfilling its basic function." | <urn:uuid:1a77ee2e-eee3-46f3-a760-4715143a637f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ohr.edu/this_week/ethics/4476 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95366 | 119 | 1.71875 | 2 |
BarracudaDrive is a multi-user secure web based file manager with no need for FTP access.
With BarracudaDrive, you can securely upload, download, and manage your files on your home computer from anywhere in the world. BarracudaDrive also bypasses firewalls and proxies since the communication protocol is HTTPS. The communication is protected by using SSL so no one can eavesdrop on your file transfer.
For example, if you have a high speed internet connection at home, you can use the BarracudaDrive web file manager to securely copy files to and from your home computer from any remote computer that has internet access. Remotely operating the BarracudaDrive web file manager is easier if you have a static IP address, or you use a service such as No-IP. BarracudaDrive comes with an integrated 1024-bits SSL certificate.
Why is this software free?
BarracudaDrive, which is a fully functional web based file manager, is the example program for our online security whitepaper. BarracudaDrive is an application that was built using the Barracuda development platform and includes the Barracuda Embedded HTTP server library, the SharkSSL library, and two example programs from our development kit.
See also: Embedded Web server, web file manager | <urn:uuid:9fc0b26d-660e-4b8e-90c3-813d42748890> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.downloadery.com/software/barracudadrive-1692.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935605 | 269 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Hands on with the Windows Store
With the launch of the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, we finally get a look at the Windows Store—Microsoft's answer to Apple's iOS and Mac App Stores. In its present form, the Windows Store only offers free software. All you need is a Windows Live ID to acquire the Metro-style apps in the store (you get one when you sign up for Hotmail or Windows Live Messenger account). The store doesn't work with Windows 8 Developer preview, so you'll have to update to Consumer to see it in action.
Apps are well categorized into groups like Social, Entertainment, Photos, Music & Videos, Books and reference, News, Food, Shopping, and so on. And it's easy to swipe back and forth through them. There's also a Spotlight section, along with tiles for Top Paid, Top Free, New releases, and All Stars. Most sections also have smaller, square Top Paid and Top Free tiles to show the most popular titles in the section. One of the store's larger tiles, titled "Got Apps" shows all the pre-installed apps like Weather, Maps, Music, and Photos.
When you click into an app category, for some you'll see dropdowns for subcategories—Games had 15 subcategories, including Action, Casino, Kids, Puzzle, Role Playing, Shooter, and Strategy. Several of the sections had no representative apps yet, but it's good to see that the store is well-though-out enough to plan for these genres. In the app category view, you can also filter by free, paid, or trial versions available. You can sort by most "noteworthy," newest, highest rating, and lowest or highest price.
There's a surprisingly rich selection for a store that just opened. Prominent among the choices are the winners of Microsoft's worldwide developer contest called First Apps Contest. There are a few prominent no-shows, however: I saw no type of word-processor or security software, nor is there a utilities section.
Each App's page shows its user star rating, icon, price (all free for now), with Buy and optionally Try buttons. On the larger right column are three tabs—Overview, Details, and Reviews. Overview shows screenshots, a text description, and Features list. The Details tab indicates hardware requirements and privacy permissions the app needs. I couldn't write a review of an app until I'd installed it, which makes sense. Each review includes a star rating and in turn can be rated itself by readers as helpful or not, or they can report it as inappropriate.
Even though all the current apps are free, some, such as the Flow game, already have a Try button for installing on a trial basis—something that in normal practice would only make sense for a paid app. Trials can be either time- or feature-limited, and in-app purchasing is supported for later upgrades. This ability to install trial versions of software is something not offered by the iOS App Store. I could also install multiple apps at the same time, with a note at top-right telling me how many were being installed.
Once you hit the Install button, the activity dots animate across the screen. Then you see a fly-in notification at upper-right telling you that the app was installed. I think a missing step here is the confirmation: Especially with an expensive app, you'll probably want a check that you really want to buy it. The Apple App store even makes you re-sign into your account before installing a new free app.
After installation, the new app's tile appears at the end of your Start screen, and, if you visit the same app's page in the store again, under the price it says "You own this app." Clear enough, but Apple's replacing the price button with "Installed" is clearer.
A benefit of this and other app stores (Apple's and Google's Chrome Web Store) is that any installed app will be available on any other machine you sign into. But when I signed in with my Windows ID on a second machine, however, no tiles for apps I'd installed on the first machine appeared, and even when I went to the Windows Store on the second machine, even though all my Sync settings were set to "on." Clearly Microsoft hasn't finished with this one. Another benefit is automatic updating, and my store already showed notifications that I had updates for the few apps I'd installed.
One type of app completely missing from the store was old-style Windows desktop apps, though Microsoft's developer pages make it clear that programs running in the desktop are fair game for the Windows Store. And indeed, apps that will appear in the Security section would likely need to be full desktop apps.
An App Store with a Difference
Microsoft has learned from Apple's App Store, applying its own Metro-style approach. The Windows Store's simple, clear interface works well for touch input. And it duplicates pretty much everything you find in the Apple App Store, even adding the ability to test out trial versions of software. The store is so new that it still lacks some of the polish of Apple's App Store, but it's likely that the rough edges of the Windows Store will be smoothed by the time it's fully released with purchasing capability.
For more from Michael, follow him on Twitter @mikemuch.
blog comments powered by Disqus | <urn:uuid:2936adcc-8535-4958-921a-dede82f98d33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2401047,00.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956768 | 1,104 | 1.546875 | 2 |
A burned out portion of the Camp Osborn area along Route 35 north in the barrier island section of Brick Township shows the destruction from Hurricane Sandy Thursday. / Thomas P. Costello, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press
The township's barrier island usually quiets after Labor Day, as summer residents and visitors disappear, and the island changes from a tourism destination into a hometown community.
But never like this.
Superstorm Sandy has transformed this island into something resembling a war zone. Armed National Guard troops patrol the area in camouflage Humvees and military vehicles. Military checkpoints control access to the island, while utility crews and public works employees continue to repair the area's devastated infrastructure.
Residents have been able to get only glimpses of the damage of their homes, but it could be months before anyone returns full time, officials said. Because of the extent of the destruction, residents have to stay with friends or family elsewhere.
As township public works employees and contractors continue to make repairs to the township's battered ocean beaches, Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis vowed that the beaches will be ready for this summer's tourism season.
"It will be rebuilt, I believe,'' Acropolis said during a township tour of the beach off Sixth Avenue and looking at the damage by superstorm Sandy. "People in Brick and New Jersey are resilient people. We are Jersey and we're going to get it back.''
Superstorm Sandy, which made landfall on Oct. 29, destroyed 110 homes, including all 60 in Camp Osborn, on the township's barrier island, said Nils R. Bergquist, chief of police. The bungalow community - located near the southern end of the township portion of the barrier island - was burned to the ground after a fast-moving fire during the storm.
At the height of the storm, local fire departments were unable to access Camp Osborn because of rising floodwaters, Bergquist said. The cause of the fire has not been determined.
"We tried to get a crew down through Seaside Heights but they were unable to reach the fire,'' Bergquist said of Camp Osborn. "There was a couple who decided to stay on the island and were here (to) give us updates. They would call every couple of hours to inform us of what was going on.''
Copyright 2013 USATODAY.com
Read the original story: Shore community vows to rebuild | <urn:uuid:b717c348-1557-4302-9b2d-493b75fdf1a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coshoctontribune.com/usatoday/article/1708581?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFrontpage%7Cs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959008 | 490 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Luke, I am your father...
The Science Goddess, who listened to Darth Vader's plea, is one of my favorite bloggers. She has a good post about The Dark Side.
The Central Office is one of those terms that encompass a wide variety of offices, people, and tasks. Similar to the meaning of Education. It is something different to everyone. The truth still exists, though, that the Central Office is often seen as a hinderance to individual schools, especially in the larger districts. The bigger the district, the bigger the bureaurcracy.
For most of us, we aren't aiming our displeasure at the secretaries, although I'd be a liar if I didn't excuse some of them. I've had the displeasure of being shafted by secretaries who couldn't keep track of important documents or give me the correct information. The application process tells a potential employee everything they need to know about a district's Central Office sectretarial staff. That is not to say that there are not some wonderful and amazing people who are competent and beyond informative.
What tends to put a teacher off about a Central Office is the disconnect between it and the classroom. While The Science Goddess, as a former teacher, offers a great deal of insight to the Central Office's "suits" (read her blog on a regular basis and you will understand), the reality for many is that it doesn't matter.
If we are all really about the same goal, educating students, then why are Central Office "suits" often condescending towards teachers. This often appears when teachers are hesitant over new policies or new curriculum. The Central Office "suits" are the ones attending the latest fad seminars, bringing their research based instructional models to save the schools. Unfortunately, these "suits" fail to accept our research based opinions that come in the form of actually teaching.
The world of education has changed dramatically in the last ten years. The truth is that for so many years, the classroom teacher had autonomy, so long as he or she was abiding within the law. Today's demands require teachers to know the changes that are happening. Unfortunately, too many "suits" don't have the classroom experience or the leadership ability to bring teachers along. Teachers will respond to Cental Office staff that are able to listen to, and understand the teachers.
It is important to note that teachers, ultimately, pay the price for every decision the Curriculum Specialist or Assessment Specialist or Instruction Specialist make. When a school fails in its mission to educate students to standards, it is the principal and the teachers who take the heat. The people looking at the data and learning theories often stay protected--and at a nice salary.
So for the Science Goddess, who might be concerned about perception of going to the "dark side," I offer this advice:
1. Remember who you serve first--the students. If what you are asking the teachers to do will serve the students best, the truly good teachers will recognize it.
2. Remember your roots--the classroom. You've been in our shoes, and you know how out of touch with classroom reality some changes can be. Don't allow yourself to accept these changes for the sake of your career and image. No one likes a sell-out.
3. Earn the respect. Teachers are hungry for a Central Office "suit" we can really buy into. We don't dislike the Central Office because the old crazy guy down the hall told us to. It's because we haven't been treated as part of the program. Instead, too many "suits" have simply dictated their theories to us and expected us to fall in line. We aren't the military. Education is best served by the teacher who is allowed to be individuals within the great company of educators.
4. Trust us. Yes, some will fight it because it is new. Some will fight it because it won't work. Learn to tell the difference. And don't judge a critic for dissenting. Some of us do our best thinking, and will ultimately help your new idea, by challenging what you present. It may take time, but trust us; the truly good teachers will make it work.
5. Don't take yourself too seriously. The Central Office serves a purpose, but not one greater than the work going on in the classroom. The best run districts will have an appropriate balance between the "suits" and the teachers. If you make us look good, we'll make you look good. If you take care of us, we'll take care of you. That is a principle I learned in the service industry. So long as I took care of the customers, my boss was happy. If I took care of him, by doing my job well, he took care of me. | <urn:uuid:c0f4cff4-fc6c-4ce1-880f-62725c4bbbd0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ahighcall.blogspot.com/2006/08/luke-i-am-your-father.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976112 | 971 | 1.726563 | 2 |
|Today, the temperature is 44 degrees. That’s above zero. Yesterday, a California friend called and asked how I was surviving the fierce cold. I told him it depended upon which day of the week to which he was referring.
I was more concerned about how he was faring in the bizarre weather in California. The old jokes about California rain don’t seem so funny anymore. Half the state seems to be slipping, sliding, or flooding while the other half is drying up.
He lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where there’s plenty of deep snow all around him, but very little where he has vineyards. It seems that all the really bad weather encircles him, fortunately.
During the conversation, I couldn’t help telling him about my rediscovery of one of the finest wines I’ve ever tasted. I didn’t stop to think that the winery did not purchase its grapes from him, but grew their own in vineyards I had often visited. The vintners had gone to California from Germany in the mid 1800’s, where their family had been in the grape growing/wine making business for generations. They were sort of the Bachs of booze. They brought with them their treasured huge oak wood wine barrels. I don’t remember how it happened, but they managed to find a big piece of property in the Napa Valley, which is heaven to grapes and wine. There were, on the property, some large caves where the temperature is perfect for storing and aging wine. The environment, plus their gene pool, still produces very fine wine. It’s a tad more expensive than most others, but worth every dollar, believe me.
I grew up in a non-drinking family. Champagne was consumed on feast days, but confined to one glass each for a toast and a sip only for kids. As a result, I’ve never been a drinker, with three exceptions wine, brandy, and champagne. None of these popped up in my life until I was married and living in California, where wine and wine by products were almost a way of life. They were always combined with good food, and I happily learned the whole life style.
If I were asked to define a typical California meal I would say; a large, crisp mixed salad, a loaf of fresh Italian sour dough bread (almost always incorrectly identified as French bread), a large piece of Monterey Jack Cheese, a basket of fresh fruit, and a bottle of good wine. You can add some meat or fish if you must, but it isn’t totally necessary.
Recent research in the field of nutritional benefits of foods and drinks has come up with some interesting results. It turns out that wine contains ingredients that can combat cancer, heart problems, strokes, high blood pressure, and some other conditions. To my surprise, so does beer, due to the malt. Now, no one is suggesting that we all become drunks. No, the advice is a small glass of whichever wine or beer you prefer can be an aid to health. If you’re a confirmed teetotaler, for whatever reason, your blood pressure could rise just by reading the reports, so skip it.
To me, there are few things worse than a drunken human being or someone whose belly is bloated from beer, but I will continue to enjoy my white Zinfandel and half glass of lite beer, my brandy snifter, and one flute of champagne whenever called for by the occasion, and accompanied by food.
When I first came to Maine, and for many years thereafter, the state owned all the liquor stores, which, unfortunately, included wine and its offsprings. No matter where I looked, I could not find what I considered to be really good wine, champagne, or brandy. Now, to my delight, the really good stuff is available right where I buy my groceries. The only flitch is in the brandy. I can find several highly prized European labels, but not the one California label I want. Surprisingly, the champagne, under the same label, is available, but not the brandy.
I always have a bottle of champagne in the fridge for unexpected reasons of celebration or holidays, plus a bottle of wine for everyday good health and enjoyment, and good cooking.
There are two other liquids I drink but in large daily amounts. One is green tea, the other orange juice. The juice I’ve consumed since a child. The green tea I’ve been drinking since reading the results from Harvard on its ability to fight cancer, strokes, high blood pressure, and several other bad things. When I first started, the only green tea I could find was tea bags in small boxes in China. After Lipton announced its own research results, I can now buy green tea from every tea company in America. If I could only find my brandy I’d be all set. | <urn:uuid:b7e4da46-d19d-4c05-84ff-e47f84f0d35a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rollingthunderexpress.com/columnsarchive/thatslife/thatslife970.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977234 | 1,029 | 1.734375 | 2 |
U.S. House of Representatives Passes Tax Extenders Package
On December 9, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that extends many expiring tax provisions scheduled to expire at the end of 2009. The bill (H.R. 4213) contains provisions that would extend certain tax provisions for individuals, businesses and philanthropic organizations.
As currently drafted, the legislation would extend $31 billion in existing tax cuts, along with a variety of measures. Those of interest to HR professionals include:
- Extension of the enhanced charitable deduction for corporate contributions of computer equipment for educational purposes. The bill would extend for one year (through 2010) the provision that encourages businesses to contribute computer equipment and software to elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools by allowing an enhanced deduction for such contributions. This proposal is estimated to cost $195 million over 10 years.
- Extension of the tax-free distributions from individual retirement plans for charitable purposes. The bill would extend for one year (through 2010) the provision that permits tax-free distributions to charity from an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) of up to $100,000 per taxpayer, per taxable year. This proposal is estimated to cost $591 million over 10 years.
- Extension of the Indian employment credit. The bill would extend for one year (through 2010) the business tax credit for employers of qualified employees that work and live on or near an Indian reservation. The credit is for wages and health insurance costs paid to qualified employees (up to $20,000) in the current year over the amount paid in 1993. This proposal is estimated to cost $49 million over 10 years.
- Extension of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) for Hurricane Katrina Employees. The bill would extend for one year (through August 28, 2010) the work opportunity tax credit for certain employers hiring in the Hurricane Katrina core disaster area. This proposal is estimated to cost $7 million over 10 years.
- Extension of the 5-year carry-back period for certain losses relating to federal disasters. The bill would extend for one year (through 2010) the provision that allows businesses to carry back to the previous five years the following losses: (1) casualty losses that are attributable to a federally-declared disaster; and (2) Qualified Disaster Expenses. This proposal is estimated to cost $129 million over 10 years.
Despite the fact that these tax provisions are set to expire on December 31, 2009, the Senate has announced it will consider the House-passed legislation early in 2010.
“Although the House and Senate were unable to come to agreement on a package to extend several expiring tax provisions before Congress adjourned, these measures must be addressed as soon as possible,” Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a joint statement.
“In an effort to provide a seamless extension of these provisions with the fewest disruptions and administrative problems, we will take up legislation as quickly as possible in the New Year."
The Senate is expected to pass H.R. 4213 prior to recessing for the year. | <urn:uuid:52cb5c36-00be-49ca-863c-66dee489fd99> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shrm.org/Advocacy/GovernmentAffairsNews/HRIssuesUpdatee-Newsletter/Pages/121809_5.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953508 | 645 | 1.625 | 2 |
Originally Posted by Antares
Of course, your markers will move up as you knit, but I would put these in Row 2. I would knit into front and back 2 times, k10, and then place a marker; knit into front and back 2 times, k10, and then place another marker . . . all the way across (so, in other words, after every group of stitches that you repeat). Or you could place a marker after every two repeats.
When you come to a marker, stop, and count to the last marker to make sure you haven't missed or added any stitches. It's a lot easier to do this than to count all the stitches at the end of the row (not to mention having to figure out where you goofed and going back and fixing it)!
You may not need the markers at all if you can recognize the kfb by the "bar" it leaves in the fabric. (pictures and video here
) Just knit until you're 10 sts past the last kfb, then repeat. Your markers are built in. But if you have trouble picking the bar out of the background (which can be a challenge, especially in the first few rows) you can use a marker to show you where your last repeat was, knit 10 sts past the marker, kfb twice and move the marker. If you don't like having a lot of markers hanging out of your work, this might be a good option for you.
The markers will "travel" as you knit, but since Row 3 is negating the increases in Row 2, I think
they'll stay in the same positions relative to the row. But somebody who's better at counting this stuff should probably check me on that one. | <urn:uuid:dfc6cccd-cdd6-4059-83d1-769763dcb192> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.knittinghelp.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1367132&nojs=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954545 | 356 | 1.71875 | 2 |
TOKYO, August 9, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – For the first time since they began taking the survey in the mid-1970s, researchers found drastically fewer high school or college students are having sex – or even kissing. But North American parents should not rejoice just yet: the results come from the Land of the Rising Sun.
The last survey conducted by the Japanese Association for Sex Education (JASE) in 2005 found 27 percent of high school boys had sex. Seven years later, they found only 15 percent of boys had done so, a 50 percent drop in seven years. High school girls were also more chaste, decreasing from 30 percent to 24 percent.
The trend held true among their counterparts in college. Some14 percent less women and seven percent fewer men had sex than in 2005.
JASE, which surveyed 7,700 students from October 2011 to February, found today’s Japanese are not simply avoiding intercourse; they are avoiding all forms of physical intimacy.
The downward trend extended to how many teens and young adults had never been kissed.
More than one-third of men in college had not had their first peck on the lips; nearly two-thirds of high school males had not. Slightly more females had experienced a first kiss – numbers still down significantly over 2005.
(Click “like” if you want to end abortion!
The results marked the first decline since JASE began taking the survey in the mid-1970s.
Only among junior high school children did the rate of sexual intercourse hold steady at four percent of boys and five percent of girls, a one percent increase for females.
In 2005, In junior high, four percent of boys and girls had sex in 2005; four percent of boys had this year, and five percent of girls had. Surveyed 7,700 students in junior high through college in 11 locations from October 2011 to February.
The survey noted the age of sex, and kissing, had gone down in the last few years.
Some ascribe the waning interest in the wiles of the flesh to the culture of soushoku danshi. Literally translated “herbivore men,” it indicates a generation of young men passive about sex and uninterested in relationships. /
While the young sex rate is a welcome sign, some are concerned at what the lack of early relationship formation means for the island’s plunging birthrate.
The nation’s Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is 1.1 children, half the replacement level.
At its present birthrate, Japan will have no children under the age of 15 in 1,000 years, according to Professor Hiroshi Yoshida of the Graduate School of Economics and Management in Tohoku University.
The United Nations estimates each day there are 30 fewer Japanese people than the day before. Japan also suffers an estimated 250,000 abortions a year but continues to approve new forms of birth control and abortion including NorLevo, an abortifacient that works up to 72 hours after intercourse. | <urn:uuid:024208e4-b25f-4fbf-8fdc-8b65a616f75c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/far-fewer-teens-having-sex-or-kissing...in-japan | 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 | 0.968073 | 630 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Snow Days Don’t Deter New England School from Healthy School Meals
After a cold and snowy month of school closings, the sun shone on February 10, just in time to present eight elementary schools in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, with Bronze awards in the HealthierUS School Challenge.
Before the ceremony, I got to visit with Sodexo’s Food Service General Manager who took me through food displays of sample menus, many featuring fresh fruits and vegetables. Her partnership with local farmers and commitment to scratch cooking is at the very heart of Farm to School; the kids get tasty, nutritious meals and local farmers get an added income stream. Even in the winter, through greenhouse farming or storage of seasonal produce, school meals feature locally sourced ingredients.
One example is bee keeper Jeff Mello, who brought not only honey, but a hive! It created a real buzz among the kids, who had an opportunity to sample his wares. This is Know Your Farmer. Know Your Food in action. Breakfast muffins, granola and Asian chicken vegetable lo mein are just a few items made with honey from his Aquidneck Island Apiaries.
I was honored to be joined by Pawtucket’s Mayor Donald Grebien in handing out the HealthierUS Bronze School Awards to Fallon, Baldwin, Curtis, Potter Burns, Varieur, Winters, Greene, and Little elementary schools. HealthierUS Schools is integral program to get kids to eat healthy and be physically active every day. Pawtuckett is a trailblazer among Rhode Island schools on this front, serving as a model for others in the state.
Building a healthier America is a priority for all of us. First Lady Michelle Obama has taken a particular interest in the subject of nutrition and physical activity—especially as it pertains to children. And HealthierUS Schools are critical to her Let’s Move! initiative.
It will take a concerted effort among parents, school administrators, food service staff, doctors, nurses, state and local leadership to create a healthier nation. And that is what today’s celebration was all about: Recognizing the efforts of those in the community that have joined forces to create a healthier school environment for Pawtucket’s children!
In case we forget how vital school meals are, I got a quick reminder when speaking to Vice Principal Gilmore and then later with a group of children about all the snow days this winter. Though I received many of the joyful answers you’d expect, there was one I’ll always remember: “I hate it - we don’t get lunch”. A simple reminder that to some children a “snow day” means a day without lunch.
The schools in Pawtucket do what they can on partial days, and they always make sure the kids get breakfast and lunch before a closing – providing a nutritious meal before heading out into the snow. | <urn:uuid:79af9f06-e0c6-44e0-9d62-ed1a54dfdc29> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.letsmove.gov/blog/2011/03/04/snow-days-don%E2%80%99t-deter-new-england-school-healthy-school-meals | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953278 | 604 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Iraq veteranís life takes positive turn on potterís wheel
Owner of Island City ceramic supply store teaches soldier blinded during combat operations how to work with clayA soldier blinded in war and a ceramic artist with a yearning to teach are doing each other a lot of good these days, when they meet once a week over a potter’s wheel in Island City.
The soldier is James Rabourne, formerly of Wallowa and Halfway and currently a family man living in Cove. Rabourne lost his eyesight in a friendly fire incident in Iraq in 2008. Now he is battling to preserve his sense of self-worth.
The teacher is Kevin Bradshaw, who with his wife, Joanna, opened a ceramic supply store, the Potter’s Shack in Island City, earlier this year. Bradshaw has worked as a potter for decades, and teaching is part of what he does.
Rabourne was one the first students to come through the door after Bradshaw started advertising classes. Bradshaw said he saw a chance to do some real good, and jumped at it.
“I was excited. The situation was very interesting because I have a natural inclination to help. I thought it would be a good opportunity for the both of us,” he said.
Neither man had much idea how the whole thing would work out, but it didn’t take long for both to feel at ease. It helped that Rabourne was eager to learn, and had better than average dexterity.
“The first day he sat down at the wheel, he was doing things most students don’t the first time,” Bradshaw said.
Rabourne was good at centering his work and finding his starting point. The challenge from there was to pull the clay up and shape it into a vessel both functional and attractive.
The walls need to be just the right thickness. People with perfectly good eyesight struggle with that issue; Rabourne did too, but not painfully.
“I didn’t have any problem getting the walls thin. I have real good hands for it. Kevin says it usually takes quite a long time for someone to get good at it,” Rabourne said.
Rabourne was an active duty member of the U.S. Army in the early 1990s. He left the service, then came back in 1999, joining the Oregon National Guard’s Third Battalion, 116th Cavalry headquartered in
La Grande. During his time in the military, he served variously as a medic, tank commander and infantryman.
In 2007, the Guard’s 234th Engineers out of Warrenton was slated for deployment to Iraq. Rabourne joined that outfit, whose mission it was to provide support for the 101st Airborne. He was stationed at Camp Anaconda.
“It was the desert. We did a lot of convoys and base security. We were going seven days a week, so we were tired and pretty worn out,” he said.
He came home after sustaining an injury to his left eye in the friendly fire incident. He went blind in that eye first, later completely lost his sight.
Today there’s a little light perception left, but that is all. It’s a more-than-unfortunate circumstance, but Rabourne can still crack a joke.
“If you see me coming at Walmart, look out. I’m not too good with my cane yet,” he said.
Rabourne and his wife, Amanda, have three children, Makayla, 6, Matthew, 5, and Myley, 2. The family lives in a comfortable home on Conklin Road, and enjoys small town life.
Because the children are so young, they’re accepting of their father’s problem. Everybody, Amanda said, learns a little more each day about living with James’ blindness.
“It’s a lot of adjusting,” she said. “Plans have changed and new goals have been set. Every day is a new challenge.”
James Rabourne has a strong support network in his family, one that helps him cope successfully with his condition. But he still grapples with the fact that things he once took for granted are gone.
A lifelong firearms enthusiast, he’d always had it in the back of his mind to make his living as a gunsmith. He still works with firearms, but in a limited way.
“I’ve had to scale way back. I can still do some work on stocks and finishes and cleaning, but I can’t do the fine detail work,” he said.
Yet at the same time, he has trouble being idle.
“I’m 37, and I’ve got to do something,” he said.
This year, the Rabournes plan to build a greenhouse on their property on Conklin Road in Cove. James loves to garden, and one thing he’d like to do to is grow plants, put them in pots he makes himself, and market them at venues such as the La Grande Farmers Market.
“I’d also like to sell some of my ceramic work in Kevin’s store someday, but that’s down the road because I know I’ve got to get much better,” he said.
If Bradshaw has anything to say about it, Rabourne will get better. The teacher is completely immersed in showing his pupil the way.
“When I first started with this, I tried to find a book on teaching blind people how to do pottery. There were none, so I’m thinking about writing one myself,” he said. “I think James changed my life. He’s given me a focus of helping people like him.”
So far in Bradshaw’s shop, Rabourne has turned a few cups and bowls and pots, getting a little better at the art each time.
He doesn’t know if pottery is an answer to the question about what he will do with the rest of his life, but he does know he likes sitting down at the wheel.
“It’s a lot of fun, enjoyable and relaxing. It’s a way to let your mind wander. Just picture something in your head, and you’ll make it,” he said. | <urn:uuid:3fdd5b0b-6e6b-4ecb-bd60-41d689ed5f2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lagrandeobserver.com/News/Business/Iraq-veterans-life-takes-positive-turn-on-potters-wheel | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985143 | 1,369 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Couple of Months ago I went on a trip to
I have visited Syria Last year and I have seen it this summer, the development was so noticeable. the late 70’s Ladas, which were filling the streets of
The Iraqis who came to
Most of those Iraqis have money sent to them from
The Syrians and Jordanians forgot to mentions how much money (mostly hard currency) the Iraqis are pumping into those poor economies. One look at the apartment buildings which suddenly emerged in those countries would show you how much the Iraqis have moved those economies and how many jobs opportunities they have created.
Last Summer, the Jordanian Authorities started to put restrictions on the flow of Iraqis to Jordon, to the level that they forced people to buy return tickets from Baghdad so that if they do not let them in, they would use the same ticket to send them back with it to Baghdad. And they did send back entire plane’s load of Passengers.
Late last October I was in Amman - Jordon and one Taxi Driver surprised me when he did not complain ( like many other Taxi Drivers used to do previously Every time I visit Amman) of the Iraqis and how they raised the praises.
“you Iraqis are the ones who are moving our Economy” the Taxi Driver said and went on talking about how Taxi owners started to buy more Taxis to meet the demand created by the Iraqis and how that create more jobs for Taxi drivers. But now the business is slow because there are less Iraqis coming, which means less work for them.
Another friend of mine told me how many people invested in building new apartment buildings and taking for granted that the Iraqis gone buy or rent them, but now many of them are bankrupt because there are no more Iraqis coming to Amman and they have o Cover the loans they took from the Banks for those investments.
Also last October, the Syrian authorities started to require Visas from the Iraqis, while before they could go in for 3 months and the would have to leave to Next Door Lebanon, spend 3 days there an then return to Syria for another 3 months for merely 100$ per person, or simply drive to the Iraqi boarders, check out of Syria, drive to the Iraqi boarders, check in and then out and then return to Syria for another 3 months. While now, if your 3 months are over you should leave, that is if you do not have a residency permit.
This forced many of the Iraqis to return to
All what I want to say is that, let Egypt remember, before banning Iraqis from getting into Egypt, that for 10 years there were 2 million Egyptians working in Iraq and sending money to their Families back in Egypt to build houses and apartment buildings while the Iraqi men are fighting in the Iran – Iraq war in the 80s. And let | <urn:uuid:cd2b3335-ee63-4051-82d2-c6d7f4e89401> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://greatbaghdad.blogspot.com/2007/11/iraqi-refugees.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977869 | 573 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Dr. Steven Greer is Founder and Director of the Disclosure Project. He is an emergency physician and a lifetime member of the nation's most prestigious medical honor society, He has also been supervising a world-wide search for alternative energy sources, specifically those known as zero-point or over-unity devices with the plan to identify and develop systems which will eliminate the need for fossil fuels.
The Disclosure Project (www.DisclosureProject.org) is a nonprofit research project working to fully disclose the facts about UFOs, extraterrestrial intelligence, and classified advanced energy and propulsion systems. It has over 400 government, military, and intelligence witnesses testifying to their direct, first hand experience with UFOs, ET technology, and the cover-up that keeps this information secret.
Educational Materials available thru the Disclosure Project include:
“Hidden Truth – Forbidden Knowledge” in which Dr. Greer relates his own personal experiences with Extraterrestrials and the unfolding of cosmic awareness since his childhood - his sighting of a UFO at an early age, his amazing near-death experience at age 17, his unraveling of the secret cabal running the illegal transnational energy and UFO – related projects, his meetings with a CIA Director, US Senators, heads of state and royalty .
Disclosure (the book) includes 570 pages of military, government and corporate testimony and documents regarding interactions with ET craft including a section on new energy solutions.
Disclosure (video or DVD) is a distillation of 120+ hours of interviews with dozens of highly credible military and government witnesses discussing UFO events and projects. It includes insightful commentary and overview by Dr. Greer.
Also available is :Extraterrestrial Contact: The Evidence and Implications, Dr. Greer’s first book which is a classic of the absolutely best UFO cases with a cogent, insightful discussion by Dr. Greer of the implications of ET presence and secrecy surrounding it. | <urn:uuid:9aa66be8-bd3f-4562-8790-6991fad8738a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fastwalkers.com/featured/StevenGreer.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949493 | 393 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Tap Into the Power of the Sun With Solio's Solar Hybrid Charger
The award-winning Solio is the world's first, small, green, elegantly designed, solar hybrid charger for all handheld electronic devices. Solio is a hybrid because it accepts power from the sun, computer, or from the wall, storing this energy within it’s internal, rechargeable battery.
Solio uses the energy it stores to power gadgets at the same rate as a wall adapter, and will hold its charge for up to a year and charges mobile phones, iPods, cameras, GPS systems, etc. Made out of recycled inner-tube truck tires, TREAD cases have been designed for laptops, and most gadgets in need of protection. Each TREAD product tells a story, of where the tires have been, its cargo, and a bit about the driver!
This is really a rad accessory for anyone with electronics!
Mashable thought they were awesome too.
Click here for more info. | <urn:uuid:ab4801ac-e852-47e1-8858-093b669eb9a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://liveearth.org/fr/liveearthblog/tap-into-the-power-of-the-sun-with-solios-solar-hybrid-charger | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938428 | 205 | 1.65625 | 2 |
I recently had requirement to create list of all the SQL Server on local network. I remembered that I had written similar script a year ago SQL SERVER – Script to Find SQL Server on Network. When I looked at it, I realize that I had written it for SQL Server 2000 and used “isql” utility, which is deprecated now. I quickly wrote down updated script using “sqlcmd”. Command “osql” still works in SQL Server 2008.
Go to command prompt and type in “osql -L” or “sqlcmd -L”.
Note one change between osql and sqlcmd is that osql has additional server “(local)” listed in the servers list which is in fact same as “SQL” in my case. While “sqlcmd” gives accurate result.
Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) | <urn:uuid:9344eb29-06a0-4ca9-b365-9e90674f91c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/03/18/sql-server-find-all-servers-from-local-network-using-sqlcmd/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=8149a33672 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945976 | 197 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Auroville – The city of dawn
Auroville: a dream: there should be somewhere on earth a place which no nation could claim as its own, where all human beings of good will who have a sincere aspiration, could live freely as citizens of the world and obey one single authority, that of the supreme truth; a place of peace concord & harmony… The Mother
So there are actually two reasons why I decided to do this separate post on Auroville…
1. There is certainly a lot more to tell about Auroville as a part of itself and wanted it to be read for what it’s real beauty is…rather than mixing it up with Pondicherry.
2. Trying a different style of Travel Blogging, much popular amongst most travel bloggers. i.e A running photo commentary (New touch to this blogumentary)
So before I begin my running photo blogumentary, just a few insights on Auroville courtsey – tourism.pondicherry.gov.in
Auroville was conceived as a place of research into the ideal of human unity by the Mother, the spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo. The idea is to build a futuristic city where people of goodwill can live together in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. Auroville came into existence in 1968. Its Charter says, “To live in Auroville one must be a willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness”, and describes it as “belonging to nobody in particular, but to humanity as a whole”; as a place “of constant progress”; and as “a bridge between the past and the future.”
Located around 8 kms north-west of Puducherry, Auroville was designed by the French architect Roger Anger. Around 2,000 people live there in settlements with names like Grace, Fraternity, Fertile, Certitude and Transformation. Nearly two-thirds of the residents are non-Indians.
That is Auroville beach… The beauty and the serenity of this beach is what attracted me while riding on the bike, I took a slight detour and headed off to see what it’s all about. Hardly anyone on the beach this place was true bliss!!
As I head into Auroville, when I approach the villages while enroute Matri Mandir (Golden Globe Temple) as most of you would know, I stumble across this Lotus Lake, too bad none of them have bloomed, but it’s quite a sight by itself… Next stop is the visiting center / Matri Mandir of Auroville (Matri means Mother… for those who don’t know)
Inside the visiting center, you can shop for some spirituality and peace… Something most people throng here for, besides the souvenirs of course… The fragrance of the auro candles, the beautiful blissful serenity is amazing… Once you are done with shopping here you can head on the first floor where you get free passes to the Matri Mandir, before watching a short introductory video on Auroville. A short 10 minutes film which leaves you mesmerized and truly feels great while watching it, sitting down on the carpet in an empty hall.. Spiritually rejuvenating…
This enroute a 1KM walk to the viewing point of Matri Mandir… You go there walking amongst beauty of the nature… Truly amazing the whole 1KM hike… You feel rejuvenated already.
You will find many such walking shelters to protect you from sun, rain, heat… not that it is something that you really think about especially inside the beauty of this place… The whole walk is in itself a brilliant experience…
This beautiful centipede was strolling around in peace… that is when I decided to capture it in my box… Photo Box
You will find these and many more on your way to the Matri mandir… True nature’s beauty making Auroville what it is from wasteland to a green revolution..
Finally after reaching the Matri Mandir, you can’t help but awe the whole structure. The central Matrimandir, which is not a temple but a place for individual silent concentration, is set in an area of 62 acres at the centre of the emerging township, and is seen as “a symbol of the Divine’s answer to man’s aspiration for perfection. Union with the Divine manifesting in a progressive human unity.”
During the inauguration ceremony of Auroville on 28th February 1968 , soil from 124 countries was placed in a lotus-shaped urn and mixed to symbolize universal oneness. This urn is today sited at the centre of an Amphitheatre in the Matrimandir Gardens . The Matrimandir’s 12-sided white marble Inner Chamber has a 70 cms diameter optical-quality glass globe at its centre, onto which a shaft of sunlight is focused by way of a roof-mounted heliostat. The light falling on the globe acts as a focal aid to concentration.
The Auroville Visitors Centre (Ph: 0413 – 2622239) is located near Bharat Nivas, the Indian national pavilion in Auroville’s International Zone, and is open from 0930 to 1730 hrs every day. This Centre has a permanent exhibition on the history and philosophy of the project, an Information Service offering books, brochures and leaflets on various aspects of Auroville, three boutiques, a bookshop, and a cafeteria providing refreshments and international cuisine.
And this is what I had in the cafeteria there, which by the way is run by volunteers of Auroville and the proceeds of all of it goes to the maintainence of Auroville…
All said and done, this was a trip I thoroughly enjoyed, the bike ride in a slight drizzle on a road covered on both sides with the tree, the spiritually refreshing video of auroville or the profound quotes inside the museum of the visiting center… All made me re-evaluate the way we human beings are living our lives… Truly, ‘we are the citizens of the world’ and that is the only thing that should matter… Peace… | <urn:uuid:f0eed773-d178-45d4-8c16-3bfe88818289> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://srinistuff.com/2010/12/29/auroville-the-city-of-dawn/?like=1&_wpnonce=f628ef0056 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933218 | 1,308 | 1.734375 | 2 |
A vehicle with a 200 MPGe has just been saved from the scrapheap.
Aptera Motors has been through a lot in trying to get its ultra-sleek Aptera 2e off the ground, including, but not limited to completely running out of money and being denied a $150 million loan from the Energy Department.
Earlier this year, management announced that Aptera was shutting down its operations. However, thanks to a new Chinese-American partnership, Aptera may be back in business.
A few weeks ago it was announced that a Chinese investor purchased all of Aptera's assets, and is now looking to get the 2e on the market as early as next year.
Now known as Aptera USA, which is made up of several American minority investors and Chinese auto and motorcycle giant Jonway Group, the company is plotting a pan-Pacific assembly line for the 2e. The plan is to have the composite body of the 2e built at the Jonway facility in China and then shipped to Santa Rosa, California where Remy electric motors and batteries will be installed.
This type of pan-Pacific assembly isn’t unique. Coda Automotive has a similar method.
Rick Deringer, a real estate developer who helped broker the Aptera deal, says that pricing of the 2e has yet to be determined but that 25,000 could be manufactured next year with zero government assistance.
When Aptera USA bought the assets of Aptera Motors, it also purchased designs for prototypes and a list of 58,000 potential customers, including the 5,000 who had placed deposits on the 2e before Aptera Motors went out of business.
And here’s the kicker: Deringer also explained that one of the prototypes bought from Aptera Motors included plans for a four-door battery-powered car with the capability of getting just under 200 MPGe. In addition, Deringer said plans are in motion for developing a hybrid version of the 2e, an electric truck and solar-powered charging stations. | <urn:uuid:6efd1697-6704-42b0-b5fc-b1bfe3a0de21> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greenchipstocks.com/articles/aptera-electric-car-investment/1863 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971245 | 416 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Famous for Latin-flavored dance-pop as well as for adult contemporary ballads, the female vocal trio Exposé enjoyed a great deal of commercial success in the '80s and early '90s. Exposé was the creation of Miami-based producer/songwriter Lewis A. Martineé, who assembled the original Exposé lineup in 1984. Although Exposé's best-known lineup included Jeanette Jurado (born November 14, 1965, Pico Rivera, CA), Gioia Bruno (who was born in Bari, Italy, on June 11, 1963, but grew up in New Jersey), and Ann Curless (born October 7, 1964, Albany, NY), none of them were original members of Exposé; the original Exposé lineup consisted of Alé Lorenzo, Sandra Casanas, aka Sandeé, and Laurie Miller, which in 1984 recorded Exposé's Martineé-produced debut single, "Point of No Return," for his Pantera label. Employing Lorenzo on lead vocals and Casanas and Miller on backing vocals, "Point of No Return" was a major club hit and went down in history as a definitive example of Latin freestyle -- a high-tech form of dance-pop that incorporated elements of Afro-Cuban salsa and was also identified with artists like the Cover Girls, Sweet Sensation, Nayobe, and TKA. The success of "Point of No Return" led to a contract with Arista Records, which released Exposé's second single, "Exposed to Love" (another Martineé-produced club smash that featured Lorenzo singing lead), in 1985. The following year saw a lot of upheaval in Exposé; Lorenzo, Casanas, and Miller all left the group in 1986 and pursued solo careers (Lorenzo and Casanas stuck with dance-pop, while Miller moved into jazz-influenced cabaret and traditional pop). But despite personnel changes, Exposé's popularity continued to grow. Exposé's third single, "Come Go with Me" (which featured Jurado on lead vocals), was another Latin freestyle club favorite -- and in early 1987, Arista released Exposé's Martineé-produced debut album, Exposure. By that time, Exposé's famous Jurado/Bruno/Curless lineup was in place -- a lineup that continued to perform Latin freestyle but did not perform it exclusively. Neither Arista nor Martineé envisioned Exposé as strictly a club act, and Exposure received considerable attention from radio thanks to major hits ranging from the adult contemporary ballad "Seasons Change" (which reached number one on Billboard's pop singles chart) to the R&B/urban-oriented "Let Me Be the One" (which featured Bruno on lead vocals). After Exposure sold more than three million copies in the United States alone, Arista released Exposé's Martineé-produced sophomore album of 1989, What You Don't Know, which contained the major hits "When I Looked at Him" (an adult contemporary ballad) and "Tell Me Why." Sadly, Bruno had to leave the group in 1991 after a benign throat tumor rendered her unable to sing; Bruno, who was replaced by Kelly Moneymaker (born June 4, 1970), couldn't speak at all for about three years. Exposé's Jurado/Curless/Moneymaker lineup was heard on the group's self-titled third album, a 1992 release that didn't do as well as Exposé's first two albums but included the hit adult contemporary ballad "I'll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me." Exposé was the first Exposé album that wasn't totally produced by Martineé, and some fans complained that the disc's ballads sounded too much like Wilson Phillips. After being dropped by Arista, Exposé broke up in early 1996. Moneymaker, who married soap opera star Peter Reckell (best known for his portrayal of Bo Brady on NBC-TV's Days of Our Lives) in 1998, recorded as a solo artist -- and Bruno, who fully regained her voice in 1997, spent a few years with the band Wet before providing her solo album, Expose This, for Koch in 2004. Exposé's Jurado/Bruno/Curless lineup was reunited in 2006 and 2007 for an extensive tour of North America. ~ Alex Henderson
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation.
© 2013 Rovi Corporation.
Chat About This Artist | <urn:uuid:1752fda9-2f80-4527-9c3e-7777be9fdecd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iheart.com/artist/Expose-120952/bio/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965286 | 932 | 1.578125 | 2 |
This is an RJ45 cable tester, which recognizes particular kinds of cable (Ethernet, rolled, Ethernet economizers, audio cables), both 4-wire and 8-wire. If you only ever need to test a few single cables a year, you won’t need this. However if you’re trying to test more than one cable at a time, particularly if they are long runs or hidden, this is great. Normally Ethernet testers come in remote/master pairs, so you have to
- go to remote site (attic, patching closet, whatever)
- attach remote terminator
- go to local end
Rinse, lather, repeat. One trip per cable.
The nice thing about this tester is that with the numbered terminators, you can test several lines at a time, without having to dash up to the attic each time to change the remote terminator. You can also see easily when you’ve mislabeled cables. (“Patch panel port 2 has terminator 8 on it? Bugger. Time to re-label…”) It’s also useful when you have a mixed bag of cables which you need to identify and sort into boxes. As a network engineer, this is something I have to do quite often…unfortunately.
Oh, and one other thing — if you switch it on without a terminator, it will show you how to wire Ethernet patch and crossover cables, including the cable colors. It’s kinda shiny. Yes, it’s more expensive than the kind you get for cheap off Ebay, but it also does so much more. | <urn:uuid:c5bc27a9-3cdb-494a-91a2-0b5706188457> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/1402 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936527 | 341 | 1.546875 | 2 |
“Mixed Bag,” the next Greenwich Historical Society Story Barn performance, takes place Friday, February 22, 2013.
The performance will be the culmination of a workshop led by performer and comedienne Bonnie Levison where would-be raconteurs study how to craft and deliver a compelling yarn based on personal experience. During the workshop leading up to their Story Barn performance, participants learn about the principals of storytelling and the development of ideas, then they craft the arc of their stories and fine-tune their presentation skills for this final performance.
The theme for “Mixed Bag,” will showcase the diversity of the workshop performers and their stories. According to emcee and coach Levison, “The old maxim that everyone has a great story to tell has never held truer than in our own community. You’ll be touched, surprised and thoroughly entertained.”
Coach and program emcee Bonnie Levison has been performing standup comedy and storytelling on a wide variety of stages for many years. She is a storytelling instructor for MothShop, the community and corporate education program for The Moth, a nonprofit organization based in New York City dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. She also founded the Nantucket Comedy Festival.
February 22, 2013
Doors open at 7:00 pm. Performance begins at 7:30.
Greenwich Historical Society Vanderbilt Education Center, Cos Cob, CT 06807
Members $15; nonmembers $20. Beer, wine and light snacks will be served.
To reserve a space for the performance, call 203-869-6899, Ext. 10, or visit www.greenwichhistory.org. Space is limited. | <urn:uuid:58a5617a-9747-4c95-9773-a1877c2c10c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://greenwich.patch.com/groups/greenwich-historical-societys-blog/p/bp--mixed-bag-on-tap-for-story-barn-at-historical-society | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942092 | 352 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Rantings and tirades of a frustrated economist.
Reminds me of this quote by Fray Luis Miranda in 1664."Our Spanish monarchy is being consumed away hour by hour and moment by moment....(The religious orders are carrying off) the bravest men, the healthiest, the most upstanding, those with the best faces, the most talented and skilful. There is not among them a cripple, nor hardly a dwarf, nor one that is ugly, or dull, or ignorant...In the world (remain) only the dregs and dross of men."Seems to me the MGOW not marrying are much like the Spanish monastics.
@AnonymousThe reason is simple. Women do not chase men with charcteristics described by Frai Luis Miranda. So, their only option is a monastery / clergy.By the way, the same complaints were about nunneries.
Wait, they're projecting that nobody will get married by 2040? Doesn't that seem a little stupid to anybody else?
Post a Comment | <urn:uuid:eded4230-0948-446c-9dbc-30277c54dafb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://captaincapitalism.blogspot.com/2011/10/projected-marriage-rate.html?m=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962289 | 219 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Last week, I encountered a situation where one of the VMs in a Veeam Backup & Replication job failed time after time. The Job summary showed this message:
The essential part of this Error message:
Some time ago, I was asked to investigate a vSphere cluster at a customer location. It is a small sized cluster, consisting of 3 ESX hosts, approximately 20 VM’s and VMware Data Recovery as backup- and restore solution. The backup target is a dedicated NAS with 2.5 TB capacity. During the implementation, Data Recovery version 1.1 was installed. The VMware Data Recovery was configured to run several backup jobs; a daily job and a few weekly jobs for static or less important VM’s. After several months backups failed, snapshots were not removed and locking problems were reported.
First action was; updating the ESX hosts and replacing the VMware Data Recovery with the 1.2 version. During the configuration of the backup target, I noticed a warning telling me that CIFS network shares larger than 500 GB are not a good idea…
Last week, I encountered this situation: | <urn:uuid:5bfa3c8c-8f9a-4fcb-8b95-4131acd1038b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://paulgrevink.wordpress.com/category/backup-and-restore/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96034 | 229 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Lifted Restrictions May Support E15 Adoption
RFA says E15 will now be easier to find.
Published: Sep 14, 2012
The last day for the Environmental Protection Agency's summer volatility restriction on gasolines is Sept. 15, and the Renewable Fuels Association says without this restriction, E15 will be more readily available.
The EPA's prior E15 approval included a summer vapor pressure restriction to 9 psi, creating the need for a specialty blendstock to create E15. This blendstock, RFA says, was more expensive and only available in limited areas.
During EPA's E15 vapor pressure restriction, which is in effect from June 1 to Sept. 15, only one Kansas retailer was able to secure this low Reid Vapor Pressure gasoline. Zarco 66, with locations in Lawrence, Kan., and Ottawa, Kan., opened in July, and offered E15 during the summer.
RFA says E15 will now be easier to find. Robert White, RFA director of market development said eliminating the restriction will diversify consumer offerings.
"This should speed the rollout of E15 in states like Kansas, Illinois, Iowa and others because the final barrier in many states will disappear," White says. "Retailers now have the opportunity to bring yet another choice to all drivers of 2001 and newer light duty cars, trucks and SUVs, along with all flex-fuel vehicles."
Bob Dinneen, RFA's President and CEO said the first two stations in Kansas to offer E15 have shown that consumers quickly embrace this new choice.
"Overnight sales of E15 at these stations constituted more than 20% of all unleaded sales, proving that consumers are looking for options beyond fossil fuels alone," he said.
Earlier this year, E15 was approved for use in model year 2001 and newer vehicles after concerns about residual fuel left in single hose pumps were addressed. Now, retailers wishing to sell E-15 must follow approved misfueling mitigation plans to avoid issues with residual fuel.
RFA says that retailers interested in offering E15 should review retail fueling equipment standards and fuel supply for E15 sustainability.
Permalink: Click here
Tagged: EPA, Environmental Protection Agency | <urn:uuid:7b50f515-05f8-46ad-ac80-a2241fd98535> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://farmfutures.com/story-lifted-restrictions-may-support-e15-adoption-0-63258 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94458 | 453 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Well, that didn't take long. Any doubt of whether new North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is a chip off the old block has been erased. He is just like his late father and grandfather.
Just three months after he took power when his father died, Kim has made his diplomatic strategy clear. It involves continuing a military buildup while periodically agreeing to back away from it - then, after receiving foreign aid from the United States and other countries, breaking his word.
And why not? The policy worked very well for Kim's two predecessors.
Despite being warned, President Barack Obama has played right along. About two weeks ago, the North Koreans accepted Obama's offer of 240,000 tons of food in exchange for a suspension of their nuclear weapons program.
Then, on Friday, Pyongyang revealed it plans to test a long-range missile, in violation of a United Nations ban.
Obama should be furious - but not surprised. Again, Kim's betrayal follows a pattern going back more than half a century.
U.S. policy for much of that time, under both Democrat and Republican presidents, has been virtually all North Korean leaders could desire. Meanwhile, Pyongyang is poised to obtain the technology to fire long-range nuclear missiles. Clearly, Obama should break the pattern. | <urn:uuid:de6ceb61-f99d-4556-9917-b703dd7dbd82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lewistownsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/533785/Time-to-toe-line-with-North-Korea.html?nav=5003 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974568 | 259 | 1.820313 | 2 |
As mandated by law, the Office of Inspector General provides independent and objective oversight of Department of State programs, operations, and activities. We do this through audits, inspections, special reviews, and—where there are allegations or indications of criminal wrongdoing, waste, fraud and mismanagement—investigations. We assess effectiveness, efficiency, and economy and identify problems, vulnerabilities, best practices, and lessons learned. When necessary, we make recommendations for corrective actions; when deserved, we give credit where it is due. We issue reports to the Department and the Congress and, as security and legal concerns allow, we make them available to the general public. To the extent our influence permits, we try to ensure that the Department's compliance with our recommendations is timely and adequate.
Common purposes, increasing responsibilities, and limited resources have caused us to augment these efforts with other less traditional approaches. Where appropriate, we serve on Department-led committees and working groups and provide consultative services at the beginning of an effort. We participate as instructors in Foreign Service Institute training courses. We encourage OIG personnel to apply for temporary tours of duty in hard-to-fill Department positions and fill some of our own positions with Department personnel on a rotational basis.
Regardless of the methods and approaches we employ to fulfill our responsibilities, the keystone of the OIG remains our independence—independence of vision, independence of judgment, independence of voice, and independence of action. Although our relationship with the Department will continue to evolve as we both strive to achieve our respective missions, we will never compromise our integrity, our professionalism, or our objectivity.
The OIG has developed its own strategic and performance plans, goals, indicators, and targets. These are specific to the OIG. They guide and measure our progress in supporting the Department's mission and goals; they help to bring positive change to its programs, operations, and activities; and they ensure accountability. Ultimately, however, the real measure of the OIG's success is the extent to which the Department effectively, efficiently, and economically achieves its mission and goals for the benefit of the President, the Congress, and the American people.
The pages that follow contain the highlights of the OIG's contributions and results for FY 2004. Several of the quantitative performance results underline the need for improvement. However, the descriptions of the qualitative accomplishments offer evidence that the results of our efforts cannot be measured by statistics alone. A more detailed description by strategic and performance goal can be found in OIG's FY 2004 Performance Report, which has been published separately in conjunction with this report.
Cameron R. Hume | <urn:uuid:d3c5d56f-9128-47d8-a5aa-3f2d510fa09a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/perfrpt/2004/html/38979.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944154 | 528 | 1.71875 | 2 |
HOW conference 2010, day 1
Monday, June 7, 2010
[photo: ©larsonmirek on flickr]
from one conference to another, we jumped right into the HOW conference on monday morning. my conference buddy, beth goldfarb, and i had matching agendas for today, so we got our breakfasts and jumped in.
design and social responsibility
david berman gave a really inspiring presentation on how design can change the world if we start asking what can we do with design, where will we have the greatest impact? he showed several examples of design solutions to seemingly non-design problems where a strategic system + clear information becomes a network for people in need and changes lives. examples: mpedigree.org, innocentive.com and kiva.org. if we had the innovation that created facebook dedicated to good causes, we could change the world. indeed! berman also talked about some of the failures of bad design and how it’s altered the course of history: the palm beach ballot fiasco, how traffic lights could be redesigned for the color blind and how colalife.org is using the space between soda bottles to ship essentials to third world countries. i have seen this theme since the beginning of my involvement in aiga, and am glad to see people are still talking about it, because the movement toward better practices has been a slow one. we helped create consumerism, so we can help move away from it. berman challenged the audience to dedicate 5 hours of their work week to design for worthwhile causes. hopefully those who were moved by this will find a way to make it happen.
a perfect marriage: great design and killer copy
the most effective design i see appeals to me because of how the design and copy interact cleverly, so i was sold on attending this presentation by erin anderson of braintraffic.com. she opened with a common scenario we’ve seen too often: where design of a site and content for it have been developed separately and then pieced together as 11th hour content, which is always less effective than a site that has been developed with design & content hand in hand. web users read 20-28% of the words presented on a web page. don’t fight this fact, plan for it. think about your target audience, their lifestyles and how they interact with information. prioritize content by what you want users to do when they visit, and don’t bury these items with less relevant content. plan content so users see themselves in it. don’t forget about mobile users, low visibility & literacy users, and international users, who may be using a different interface, or may not be able to read the content you’re presenting. in short, for the best outcome, involve your writer early, have them come to all the meetings, involve them in brand objectives and create an editorial style guide so all future content stays on message and within style guidelines. plan an editorial calendar for refreshed content at regular intervals, and do periodic content audits to make sure everything on the site is still relevant. she also gave a run down of best practices writing tips to keep in mind when creating your own content.
how to sell your ideas to bosses, clients, and other decision makers
[photo: ©larsonmirek on flickr]
sam harrison presented how to sell ideas, kicking it off with a funny selection of negative client feedback. often our reaction is to think ‘they just don’t get it’ but this is a dangerous victim mentality. i liked how harrison isolated every aspect of a selling situation and gave examples of best cases and how plan for them. involve clients from the beginning so they are invested in the concept long before the final pitch. know your buyers and how close to buying they are in the spectrum between awareness and action. ask open-ended, simple, and follow up questions, and always add what else should i have asked you? and listen to what might be the most important thing they tell you. every presentation is a performance. they have certain expectations of you, and it’s on you to rise to them. be the best possible version of yourself when you present. get to know the room, practice your delivery, ask for a stress-free time in your client’s schedule, and don’t distract them with hand-outs. then harrison gave his 5 secrets for putting together a good presentation: have 1 theme, open with a strong start using a story, question, fact or quote, use simple language with memorable quotes peppered in, be visual with your words, and add drama using a prop or visual demonstration that makes your point. go in passionately and the client will pick it up. give your ideas the energy they deserve!
mike perry presented on his extensive work outside the strictly commercial, showing illustrations, collaborations, zines and sculptures. his approach to work has turned more into taking commercial work in order to fund an art career where he can explore his own themes and ideas. his work is hard to describe, but take a spin through his site and watch some of the video tours and you’ll get the idea.
kit hinrichs and trish witkowski showed folding techniques from the conventional to the totally awesome, presented by sappi paper. hinrichs showed a selection of his own work, and then witkowski talked about how she got interested in folding, which led her to get a ph.d on the subject. she also presented all kinds of complicated folds—all with the kind suggestion to please talk to your printer and binder through the entire process to insure success. these were really awesome ideas in the area of paper technology, and the presentation came with a book full of diagrams and samples. total paper fetish love!
since this was the only night without a party scheduled, i took it off & went home after dinner. saving my energy for the next 2 days! | <urn:uuid:47af2836-500c-43a0-b814-34860955d35a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://parlatodesign.com/2010/06/07/how-conference-2010-day-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958779 | 1,228 | 1.625 | 2 |
Question: If I want to get my chemotherapy treatment at a community hospital or doctor's office, would I have the same options as I would have at a cancer center?
Answer: Most treatments, including chemotherapy or hormone therapy, can be given in the community, particularly if it's standard of care. Convenience and access to care is extremely important.
Cancer centers do have access to new things, to investigational therapies, that might not be available in the community. Also, some communities only have a part time oncologist; a medical oncologist specializing in cancer care -- and they may come only once a week. And then internists, who are not necessarily specializing in oncology, might then cover the practice. It's what you have to be comfortable with.
Cancer centers also may have state of the art new equipment, the newest research and the newest drugs. Also one of the important things that cancer centers can provide is a team of doctors that specialize in the care of breast cancer patients, and so they are used to working together and providing a comprehensive review of your situation. Many patients come to cancer centers for a second opinion to decide whether their treatment options have been fully explored. | <urn:uuid:107e1791-621b-4272-977c-b4ea4be8766b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnews.go.com/Health/OnCallPlusTreatment/chemotherapy-community-hospital-doctors-office-options-cancer-center/story?id=3644818 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958496 | 246 | 1.8125 | 2 |
MADRID (AP) — It's not as though Spain doesn't have enough to worry about— two years of recession, harsh austerity programs, sky-high unemployment and an unstable footing on the world's markets. Now comes a corruption scandal that has shaken the top levels of government.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has steered Spain through the economic turmoil, but some are asking whether he will survive the storm over allegations that he and others benefited from years of slush fund handouts. Here's a look at how the scandal has developed:
Spain's leading El Pais newspaper published a bombshell report on Jan. 31, laying out ledgers it said were from former Popular Party Treasurer Luis Barcenas, outlining nearly 20 years of alleged secret accounting showing cash payments to leading party members — including Rajoy before he became prime minister.
The money allegedly came from private companies, mostly construction firms doing big business during Spain's property boom stretching from the 1990s until the 2008 financial crisis. According to the documents published by El Pais, Rajoy received €322,231 ($436,494) from 1997 to 2008.
Rajoy and the other party members allegedly involved have denied receiving payments, and the Popular Party said the documents are false — though it has acknowledged that some notations reflect legitimate party payments and notifications to Spain's taxation authority.
Spaniards struggling under spending cuts and tax hikes are outraged. In the country's bars, the talk about the controversy is more heated than the usual arguments over the Real Madrid and Barcelona football (soccer) teams. Angry protests have been held outside the Popular Party's Madrid headquarters.
The scandal has hit the markets: stocks fell and interest rates on Spanish bonds rose in the days after Rajoy denied the allegations, as investors grew concerned about the stability of the government and its economy.
"It's tough to sell austerity when it seems like you're being robbed," said Jose Antonio Olmeda, a political scientist with Spain's National Distance Education University. "It's a gunshot fired at (Rajoy's) political leadership and it weakens his authority."
THE MAN BEHIND IT:
Barcenas, 55, was the second-in-command of Popular Party's finances starting in 1993 and Rajoy elevated him to the top job in 2008. But Barcenas was expelled a year later when his name surfaced in a court probe alleging irregular financial practices by the party. He re-emerged last month when Spain's National Court reported he had amassed €22 million ($29.7 million) in Swiss bank accounts.
Barcenas' lawyer denied that his client's vast wealth was the result of corruption, saying he made it through business investments outside his party job over the years.
Barcenas has been hounded by the media. In a brief TV interview outside his Madrid apartment, he insisted the documents were false — in spite of claims from experts that they match his handwriting. His unique scrawl has been turned into a new font named "Corrupt Script" by a Barcelona graphic designer.
As he left questioning by anti-corruption prosecutors Wednesday, Barcenas was jeered and insulted by protesters yelling "Thief!" and "Give the money back!"
RAJOY UNDER FIRE:
Rajoy has worked hard over the last year to save Spain from financial ruin by pushing through unpopular austerity measures — including tax hikes, labor reforms that make it easier to fire workers and spending cuts in cherished services such as education and healthcare.
The Popular Party enjoys an absolute majority in Parliament. This means Rajoy is likely to survive unless more evidence emerges linking him to the scandal or he ends up being targeted for investigation by judicial authorities.
So far, only a few low-ranking members of the Popular Party who are local city councilors have abandoned the party. None of Rajoy's colleagues in Parliament have shown any signs of defecting.
The Popular Party has already declared that an internal review showed no evidence of wrongdoing. An external audit is now under way and is expected to be released soon. Prosecutors are investigating the validity of the El Pais documents and will then decide whether to question Rajoy or conduct a wider probe.
Investors are concerned that protests could mushroom or that markets could again start punishing Spain, which saw its interest rate on 10-year government bonds shoot above the 7 percent level last summer. The interest rate had fallen down to 5 percent, but shot back up to 5.3 percent amid the slush fund allegations.
Depending on developments, Rajoy might also choose to reshuffle his cabinet "as the last silver bullet to regain some political momentum," said Antonio Barroso, a London-based analyst for the Eurasia Group political risk consultancy.
But the possibility of an investigation looms over him. Though it could take some time, "calls for his resignation would likely be too strong to ignore," Barroso said. | <urn:uuid:934c143e-2e61-4702-8571-32cd7869e355> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news.net/article/141665/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974663 | 1,009 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Restorers are planning to spend $10 million to make the Morgan seaworthy again. Lacking blue prints and 19th-century ship builders, they're instead using lasers and portable X-ray machines, forensic scientists, and what sounds like a small army of historians and artists to make the renovation as true to the original design as can be.
I'm especially interested in this story, which I hadn't known about, because I have a personal connection to the Morgan. I grew up nearby, and as a kid attended Mystic Seaport camp**, which involved doing lots of colonial-era stuff like weaving and churning butter and salting cod, but also climbing the rigging of the Charles W. Morgan and imagining what life would be like as a whaler. I still remember my first impression upon climbing aboard for the first time: "Good Lord, this thing is tiny!"
Ships like the Morgan always look grand and magisterial when you see them in pictures, like the one here. But in fact they're tiny, and the idea of being on the stormy open ocean aboard one of them is...not particularly enticing. I much prefer being aboard the Morgan in the safety of Mystic Seaport, where one is unlikely to sink, sharks are scarce, and delicious clam chowder is available practically everywhere. As it happens, I'm visiting home this week, so maybe I'll take the wife and kids up there and re-live my camp days...
**Won't even bother with self-mockery. Just fill it in yourself.
This article available online at: | <urn:uuid:0f9cd005-b200-4ab9-8ce1-eec49a720758> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/print/2010/08/the-charles-w-morgan-will-sail-again/61855/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958308 | 325 | 1.5 | 2 |
Got Credit? (Part 1)
- Friday, 01/25/2013
One point which I believe is universally made regarding the municipal bond market is that the overall credit quality (the implied security) of the issues brought to the market not only underpins the attraction of municipals as an asset class, but separates it very distinctly from other fixed-income choices. Source: S&P and First Southwest as of January 22, 2013.
Moody's, S&P and Fitch are the companies whose analyses of the legal, contractual and moral promises made by issuers result in a scorecard grade that may suggest the likelihood of full and timely repayment of their debts. I think it is a good time to revisit some of these important details, lest we lose sight of what brings strength to this market.
First, there are 13 states that garner no less than a triple-A (AAA) rating from one or all of the above agencies. States such as Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland and North Carolina are part of a subset that have triple-A from all three.*
Second, apart from Puerto Rico and other Territories of the U.S., the lowest-rated states are California (A1, A-, A-) and Illinois (A2, A, A). Neither one has anything less than an A- from at least one of the three agencies. In fact, included in the list of the 10 lowest-rated states are New Jersey (Aa3, AA-, AA-) and Michigan (Aa2, AA-, AA-).
The point? Though this just speaks to state issuers, since the bottom of the investment grade range is BBB-, one should appreciate that the general quality of bonds appears very strong. As shown in the graph below, the average rating among all U.S. states is AA. Thus, in the context of a broadly diversified portfolio, the quality, in my opinion, represents a high likelihood of full repayment.
The next installment will more fully explore this thesis.
*As of January 22, 2013, the full list of states with triple-A ratings from all three rating agencies includes: Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia. The rating scales are as follows, from excellent (high-grade) to poor (including default) for Moody's, S&P and Fitch: Aaa/AAA/AAA to C/D/D, with intermediate ratings offered at each level between. Anything lower than a Baa/BBB-/BBB- rating is considered a non-investment-grade, high-yield or junk bond. | <urn:uuid:e51b3a22-5289-45b1-bd62-3728e60634e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vaneck.com/Templates/Blog.aspx?blogmonth=1&blogday=25&blogyear=2013&blogid=2147483856 | 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 | 0.954481 | 545 | 1.5 | 2 |
- Located in Pasadena, CA
- Dr. Michael Shermer is the Publisher of Skeptic magazine
- Is a monthly columnist for Scientific American
- Is an Adjunct Professor at Claremont Graduate University and Chapman University
- His newest book is The Believing Brain
- His website can be found at www.michaelshermer.com
- Twitter: @michaelshermer
Dr. Michael Shermer is the Founding Publisher of Skeptic magazine and editor of Skeptic.com, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, and an Adjunct Professor at Claremont Graduate University and Chapman University. Dr. Shermer's latest book is The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies-How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths. His last book was The Mind of the Market, on evolutionary economics. He also wrote Why Darwin Matters: Evolution and the Case Against Intelligent Design, and he is the author of The Science of Good and Evil and of Why People Believe Weird Things. Dr. Shermer received his B.A. in psychology from Pepperdine University, M.A. in experimental psychology from California State University, Fullerton, and his Ph.D. in the history of science from Claremont Graduate University (1991). He was a college professor for 20 years, and since his creation of Skeptic magazine he has appeared on such shows as The Colbert Report, 20/20, Dateline, Charlie Rose, and Larry King Live (but, proudly, never Jerry Springer!). Dr. Shermer was the co-host and co-producer of the 13-hour Family Channel television series, Exploring the Unknown.
Dr. Shermer would love to speak on:
- Why People Believe Weird Things
- The Believing Brain
- The Science of Good and Evil
Dr. Shermer charges an honorarium in the range of $5,000 to $10,000.
This speaker has special requirements and takes a lot of preparation work to bring in. Only experienced groups should consider bringing him to their campus.
If you're interested in having this speaker come to your school and give a presentation, click here to fill out our online Speaker Request form. | <urn:uuid:3e15528f-bbbe-44ad-bb26-3a32166e8727> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://secularstudents.org/speakers/MichaelShermer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94843 | 458 | 1.75 | 2 |
RickJWagner writes "Every once in a while a technical book comes out that so exhaustively covers a topic that it becomes the definitive word on the topic. These books are the end-all reference, the final authority, the singular go-to reference that every practitioner falls back to in their hour of need. This book review covers one such book, the newly released Spring Dynamic Modules in Action from Manning." Read below for the rest of Rick's review.First, a quick word about OSGi. OSGi is a specification meant to make Java more "modular." In practice, this means it is an attempt to solve the age-old problem of "jar hell", including all the class loading issues that go with it. (Users of JEE application servers know what I'm talking about here.) OSGi lets you specify every external library your component needs, to the version. So if you need FooLib v1.2.3, and the application beside yours needs FooLib v10.9.8, that's not a problem at all-- both applications can happily run in the same OSGi container, at the same time.
|Spring Dynamic Modules In Action|
|author||Arnaud Cogoluegnes, Thierry Templier, Andy Piper|
|reviewer||Rick J Wagner|
|summary||Presents the fundamental concepts of OSGi-based apps and maps them to the familiar ideas of the Spring framework.|
Should you care about OSGi? The answer is maybe. It's without question a big deal to the makers of Java application containers-- everybody from JBoss to Mule has an opinion on OSGi, and many vendors are busy baking it into their infrastructure. What will differ to you, the user of the container, is how the container developers decided to make OSGi available to their users. This book is about how Spring went about it, and what you need to do to use Spring and OSGi together.
Spring DM (short for "Dynamic Modules") is a framework that enables you to use the popular Spring framework with OSGi. Spring, of course, comes with a multitude of components for solving all kinds of enterprise application needs. So this book is all about using Spring with OSGi.
It's a big book, over 500 pages, written by 3 authors. In those 500 pages you get lots of valuable content:
- An introduction to OSGi and an explanation of its purpose
- Explanation of how Spring can be used within an OSGi container, review of the currently available containers
- Details about how Spring DM works, and the parts you need to understand
- Details about OSGi services, and how they relate to Spring DM
- In depth best practices for data access, enterprise Java projects, and web applications (includes specific advice for popular web application frameworks)
- Testing practices
- Extended uses of OSGi, including likely future direction
A big part of what makes this book valuable are the many pieces of advice from the authors as they explain best practices for using various tools. So you want to use Eclipse, Ant or Maven? No problem, these are all covered. About to use MyFaces, Wicket, or DWR? All covered. Are you a Tomcat user or Jetty? Check and check. I'm sure you get the picture-- if you use these tools, the path ahead of you is already blazed and you can avoid some headaches by leveraging the author's experience.
Make no mistake about it, there will be some headaches ahead of you. Seldom is an application written today that doesn't use an external framework or library of some sort. Using these pre-packaged bits of functionality (and we need to be thankful for them!) might mean 're-packaging', if the library isn't offered as an OSGi bundle. This re-packaging means pealing apart some .jar files and editing the manifest files inside-- yuck! Luckily, this book offers you two things to help you with this task: tooling and advice. Tooling comes in handy because it can automate a lot of the manual, error-prone drudgery that goes along with such a task. Advice is even more valuable-- these authors have already worked done the hard work and have written down what you need to do to make your efforts successful.
So who is this book appropriate for? I'd say anyone who is going to use Spring DM. If you're convinced this is the right framework for your needs, you need a copy of this book. If you're not sure, or if you're just a casual reader wanting to know more about OSGi-- then I'd say you should look through the book first before you buy it. You might like it, or you might not because a lot of the book is all about hands-on use of Spring DM and the little tricks you need to make it work right the first time. But if you're just interested in an overview of the technology, this book might be too detail-oriented and not enough high-level for your tastes.
If you use Spring DM, you need to buy a copy of this book. It's going to be the definitive resource on the topic for a long time.
You can purchase Spring Dynamic Modules In Action from amazon.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page. | <urn:uuid:8a42c53b-ef6d-45a9-a02c-765a46ad0463> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://books.slashdot.org/story/10/11/24/1556234/Spring-Dynamic-Modules-In-Action/interesting-comments | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932511 | 1,122 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Two or three years ago, I read a news story about an executive who had been hired to turn around the fortunes of a business that was on the rocks. The product was bad. Morale was awful. Management appeared to be confused about what to do. And, customers were staying away in droves.
Clearly, this fellow had been hired to make changes, and here’s what he said: “We gotta shake this place up and keep shaking until we get it right.”
He was a change manager, to be sure. He had been brought in because things were not working well and somebody had to make miracles happen quickly. And our guy did that in spades, firing middle managers with abandon, reversing policies that had served the organization well, and establishing immediately that he was king.
You know what? It worked, for a while. The operation seemed to take on a new focus, and customers returned. The product got better. Management relaxed and the teamwork that everyone had hoped for seemed to emerge once again. That’s the good news.
But I used that word “teamwork” advisedly because this organization indeed was a team, a minor-league baseball club in a large Southern city. Sports franchises make great cases for the study of change management because the results show up so quickly.
In this case, the “shaking up” of the organization worked for slightly less than one season and the new manager was summarily relieved even as his bravado still seemed to echo off the locker room walls. He was a bold manager of change, to be sure, but he was not a skilled one.
The lesson of our friend’s forceful and narrow-minded attack on the company he set out to correct is critical for corporate managers. It says that change cannot be mandated or forced. It says that change has many constituents and that these constituents count. It says that change managers need to ask difficult questions of themselves before they set out to “shake things up.” And, it insists that they must listen to the answers. Here are some of the questions that I believe sensitive change managers must consider before they set out to make things better.
Question No. 1: What is the employees’ perspective?
To mobilize a workforce to transform itself, leaders must know what people in the organization are thinking, must encourage them to articulate their points of view and their concerns, and must be ready to respond to them sincerely. The first question that leaders should ask is: “What is the employees’ perspective?” And, don’t rely on second-hand information or make assumptions about what you think employees think. Ask them – and keep asking them until they tell you. Only then can you begin to design a strategy that builds on synergies and fills in perception gaps.
Question No. 2: Did you “set the stage” for change?
One of the most vital roles of leadership is to anticipate the corporation’s future and its place in the global arena, and then to formulate strategies for surmounting challenges that have not yet manifested. To proactively respond to these challenges, businesses must continually reinvent themselves. Leaders must encourage employees to join a constant questioning of the prevailing business assumptions – and to be ready to act upon new opportunities early in the game to maintain a competitive advantage.
Question No. 3: Are you tracking employee perceptions throughout the change?
As important as it is to find out what employees are thinking before the change, it is just as crucial to have a system for monitoring employee perception throughout the change process. George Bernard Shaw once said that the problem with communication is “the illusion that it has been accomplished.” When it comes to communicating change, leadership must be especially careful not to suffer that illusion.
Strategies that include employee interaction and feedback systems help organizations track the level of workforce comprehension. You will find the greatest advantages come when organizational feedback is gathered immediately after the delivery of every important message. One of my clients uses this short questionnaire to query her audiences before they leave the meeting room:
Question No. 4: Are you giving honest answers to tough questions?
In the light of economic realities that offer little in the way of job security, employees must be able to rely on their employer to give them honest information that will allow them to make informed choices about their own jobs, careers and futures. And when you can’t answer every question, it is best to tell people that you understand their concern but don’t know the answer. Or, that you don’t have the information yet, but will get back to them as soon as decisions are made. It is even better to tell people that you have the information but can’t release it than to withhold or twist the truth. Not everyone will appreciate candid communication, but few will tolerate anything less.
Question No. 5: Can you answer the most important question: What’s in it for them?
I was in Sweden working with a county government agency that was completely revamping its healthcare system. The leader of this enormous change was proud of the way he had communicated to the county’s residents. They had been given a thorough briefing – the reasons behind the change, the timing of the change and exactly how it was to be carried out. Then he turned to me with a frown, “But you know, there is still one question that I get asked all the time.” I interrupted. “Let me guess,” I said. “People want to know if the wait for a doctor’s appointment will be any shorter than it currently is. Am I right?” The man looked startled. “How did you know that?” he asked. I told him that I knew to expect that question because it is the one I hear most often about change: What’s in it for me?
Question No. 6: Is your communication “behavior-based?”
Organizations send two concurrent sets of messages about change. One set of messages goes through formal channels of communications – speeches, newsletters, corporate videos, values statements and so forth. The other set of messages is “delivered” informally through a combination of off-the-record remarks and daily activities. When I coach senior management teams, I begin with two questions: 1) What do you currently do that already supports the change? And, 2) What do you have to do differently to align with the change? For today’s skeptical employee audience, rhetoric without action quickly disintegrates into empty slogans and company propaganda. In the words of Sue Swenson, president of Leap Wireless, “What you do in the hallway is more powerful than anything you say in the meeting room.”
Question No. 7: Can you paint the big-little picture?
Vision is the big picture (we’ll look at this next), and it is crucial to the success of the enterprise. But along with the big picture, people also need the little picture:
Big Picture– Presenting the concept of transformation. Little Picture – How are we going to do that?
Big Picture– Setting long-term corporate goals. Little Picture – Where do we begin?
Big Picture– Developing the overall objectives of the transformation. Little Picture – What are the priorities?
Big Picture– Creating the mission of the organization. Little Picture – Where does my contribution fit in?
Big Picture– Communicating organizational values. Little Picture – What does this mean in my daily life?
Question No. 8: Is it your vision or our vision?
Leaders understand the power of vision to imbue people with a sense of purpose, direction and energy. A compelling vision of the future pulls people out of the seductive hold of the past and inspires them to set and reach ambitious corporate goals. Of even greater importance is the sense of meaning that people derive from their jobs when they can tie their contributions to the fulfillment of a clear, compelling vision. Leaders must, therefore, be able to paint the big picture. But if the vision belongs only to top management, it will never be an effective force for transformation. The power of a vision comes truly into play only when the employees themselves have had some part in its creation. So, the crucial question becomes, “Whose vision is it?” Leaders must create a master narrative that coherently articulates the company’s identity and ideals, and is embraced by every member of the company. If you want employees to feel the same kind of connection to their work that the executives felt at the retreat, then you have to get employees involved, too.
Question No. 9: Are you emotionally literate?
To be a consummate manager of change, it is not enough to engage people’s logic; you also have to appeal to their emotions. As leaders arrive at the insight that people skills (the “soft stuff” of business) hold the key to organizational change, human emotions take on new significance. Large-scale organizational change almost invariably triggers the same sequence of reactions – denial, negativity, a choice point, tentative acceptance, commitment. Leadership can either facilitate this emotional process or ignore it at the peril of the transformation effort.
Question No. 10: Do you know what shouldn’t change?
The greatest challenge for leaders is to know the difference between what has to be preserved and what needs to be changed. The “genius” of leadership is being able to preserve an organization’s core values, and yet adapt to new realities. The product of that kind of leadership is a firm that is successful for a very long time.
About the author:
Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D. speaks on leadership, change, collaboration and body language in the workplace to association, government and business audiences around the world. Her latest book is “The Non-verbal Advantage: Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work”. She can be reached by phone (510-526-1727), e-mail (CGoman@CKG.com) or through her Web sites (www.CKG.comand www.NonverbalAdvantage.com). | <urn:uuid:1d6a17f5-f80c-4b79-a4a9-122224b22e0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reliableplant.com/Read/22992/questions-change-leaders-managers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96964 | 2,115 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Most Employees Must Be Paid Wages Earned At Least Twice Per Month In Arizona
Arizona Revised Statute Section 23-351 mandates that employees must be paid their wages at least twice per month on fixed paydays, and not more than 16 days apart. If, however, an employer is headquartered outside of Arizona certain employees may be paid just once per month. An employer considering once-a-month paydays should check with an employment lawyer to ensure the practice complies with Arizona law.
Permitted Manner Of Payment Of Wages
Arizona's wage statutes provide that an employee's pay may be deposited on the designated payday via direct deposit into the employee's bank account, pusuant to the employee's consent which can be revoked at any time. Employers, of course, may also pay with a negotiable bank check or "in lawful currency," though that practice is not advised.
Payment Of Wages Owed Upon Termination Of An Employee
Arizona law requires that discharged employees be paid their final wages due to them within seven working days from the date of discharge, or at the next regular payday, whichever is earlier. When an employee resigns they must be paid no later than the next regular pay for the pay period when they resigned.
If wages such as commissons and bonuses are undetermined at the time of termination or resignation they will have to be paid as agreed by the employer and employee if already earned. If the employee is unsure whether such sums are earned and owed by the employer he/she should consult with an attorney to determine whether a wage claim is warranted. | <urn:uuid:eadfe866-a2d1-440f-b2ff-64310eb98792> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.harperlawarizona.com/2010/05/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961314 | 325 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Making a documentary on a person who is essentially one of the most well-know modern female icons is not an easy task. There isn’t much that the world doesn’t already know about Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese pro-democracy leader who was detained under house arrest by the country’s military regime for almost two decades.
But icons often take on a larger-than-life status, and when we look past her oft-quoted 1991 Nobel Peace Prize or phase as Burma’s dissident leader, what do we really know about her?
Phnom Penh-based filmmaker Marc Eberle and his co-director Angus McQueen attempted to get to the person behind the one so often idolized by reporters, human rights activists and the millions of Burmese who call her “Mother Suu” in their documentary “The Choice,” which was broadcast in September on the BBC and will be screened in the U.S. later this month.
The title refers to the pivotal decision that Ms. Suu Kyi made to remain under house arrest for 15 of her 21 years in Burma, choosing to forgo taking part in the lives of her husband and two sons in England.
After refusing to talk about her personal life for years to foreign journalists, Mr. Eberle said they were lucky to catch her during the opportune period after she was released from house arrest in November 2010 and before her entry into Burma’s politics. Filming lasted four months, until the April by-elections, and editing the hour-long piece took about three months.
“The idea was just to show the strength of this woman everyone knows and have her in a personal conversation. No one has managed to interview her on her private life—she would not talk about anything,” Mr. Eberle said. “We told her what we wanted her to do—told her that we are not interested in politics, in news, and in all the other things the other media people were interested in. We are only interested in a feature-length documentary portraying her.”
“I don’t know why she agreed to it, but for some reason, she did,” he said.
In the interview portion filmed in January 2012, Ms. Suu Kyi is dressed in a yellow top with the usual jasmine flowers adorning her hair. She appears relaxed and congenial, and spoke about her late husband Michael Aris, who died in 1999. Calling him “persistent,” Ms. Suu Kyi said, “He didn’t catch me quite so easily.”
And “of course” she regretted being unable to watch her sons grow up, but which mother wouldn’t?
The more revelatory parts came from her housekeeper, Khin Khin Win, who was with her during her years of house arrest. Speaking about Michael Aris’ cancer and eventual death, Ms. Khin Khin Win said it was clear that his death affected Ms. Suu Kyi greatly.
“I couldn’t tell what she was thinking but from what I could see, she was suffering,” Ms. Khin Khin Win said. “She told me that she had lost the most valuable person in her life.”
Her personal life aside, what was explicit throughout the hour-long documentary was the opinions of others about her.
Southeast Asian scholars, former government officials and family friends all expounded on her quiet strength and her nerves of steel, as well as on her political prowess and her bravery.
But the most revealing look at her came from her son, Kim Aris, while he was talking about his father.
“Obviously, being married to my mother, you have to be pretty flexible,” Kim said. “He’s not acknowledged as much as he should be in the role he played.”
“Getting support from my mother from people overseas and promoting her to be a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and what not. And always being there to support her and saying, ‘You go for it.’ Looking after us,” Kim said, as he walks off the frame to light up a cigarette.
Later, Moe Thu, a Burmese dissident artist, said that Ms. Suu Kyi had confided in him that she was not a good mother because her son had started smoking.
If the filmmakers are unsuccessful in showing Ms. Suu Kyi as a real person, it is through no fault of theirs as her persona has already been so carefully calculated and prepared for the world to see. The documentary is interspersed between the interviews with archival clips that show Ms. Suu Kyi’s entrance into the political foray before she was thrown under house arrest, as well as the many problems she encounters while campaigning during the periods when she was briefly released.
Mr. Eberle said their decision to end the documentary after she is sworn into Parliament in May 2012 was a conscious one. Thus ends one persona of Aung San Suu Kyi, the human rights campaigner and dissident leader, and begins Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League of Democracy, Burma’s opposition party.
Today, this new epithet has cemented how political her endeavors ultimately were. For Mr. Eberle, having so much access does not always end up being a good thing, as an icon’s image starts to fray around the edges when it’s closely examined.
For an activist who has campaigned under the platform of freedom and democracy, Ms. Suu Kyi’s entrance into politics flew afoul of the other leaders of the her party, making it essentially a unilateral decision to be in the driving seat, he said.
“The NLD circle—they didn’t have a say. They didn’t want to take part in elections and she wanted to. They thought it was a mistake to do so, they said it was too early and that you can’t trust this government,” Mr. Eberle said.
His disenchantment only deepened when Ms. Suu Kyi kept silent during the riots last year between Burma’s ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims.
“When asked about whether the Rohingya are Burmese or not, she said ‘I don’t know,’ which is an impossible answer to give from a political standpoint and a moral standpoint,” he said. “You can’t—after 20 years of campaigning for human rights—you can’t say it doesn’t count for them because they are Muslim or whatever.”
“That’s a side of her you don’t get to see normally.”
© 2013, The Cambodia Daily. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced in print, electronically, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without written permission. | <urn:uuid:7d8dceee-60ad-4cf1-a894-479691526296> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cambodiadaily.com/selected-features/the-lady-behind-the-icon-12454/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9843 | 1,484 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Stories have always been at the heart of my life. From the earliest days of having them read to me, to learning to read myself… and then I was off and running! I’ve often been accused of being a ‘book addict’, but my argument is that it’s at least a non-lethal addiction, and certainly less expensive than some alternatives.
Image taken from here (used without permission but with grateful thanks).
As a species, we have always told stories. The camp-fire tale is one of the oldest, and most fundamentally thrilling fiction (maybe) out there. It developed into the ballad, the urban myth, the mass-marketed best-seller. And from time to time, great stories are told that really make an impact on the wider world – whether re-telling the Hero’s Journey (eg Harry Potter) or reflecting society back at itself in the form of entertainment: almost a subtle satire, as the Ancient Greeks knew.
The Druids were famed for their storytelling. The Bard, wandering the land carrying the tales of the tribes, as well as forming new histories based on current events. From intentionally formal anecdotes to mythological allegories, he (or she) held the secrets of land and people, and was valued accordingly. The Bard would be welcomed at hearth and table from ancient times up to the middle ages, until the advent of the printing press. And while books are my passion, an imaginative experience inside my head, nothing compares to having a tale told – as live theatre can/not compare to a movie. It’s a skill that is as rare in the modern world as it ever was – true inspiration cannot be taught, it must be experienced and developed.
The popularity of different themes in modern children’s storytelling comes in waves. The ‘Choose Your Own Adventure‘ books of the 80s, I recall, as well as Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl; Diana Wynne Jones in the ’90s. Then, of course, the aforementioned Potter deluge, itself performing the minor miracle of getting otherwise apathetic kids back into bookstores and libraries. Recently, however, an altogether different trend has been forming.
I’m not sure if it was the first, but when I encountered ‘The Hunger Games‘, I was, like so many others, both shocked and drawn in. From the ancient tale of Theseus, combined with the popcorn, throwaway soundbites of reality television, this story (and now movie) is no magical Potterverse. There seems to be a new wave of books for Young Adults (a relatively new genre in itself) looking at dystopian futures… and, in the process, performing the original role of a ‘viral’ story that passes from mouth to mouth: that of the learning experience.
An ancient tale is pushed into the future, by way of a satire on modern habits. We are forced to ask ourselves what we would do in a given situation – this is hardly a true children’s book, but it carries a clear moral, like any good fairytale. I do wonder if parents know what their youngsters are reading – and I’m amazed (and very glad) that the movie was made at all!
Because these books are teaching young people to THINK. They’re encouraging the ‘outsider’ to take pride in themselves, to use their skills to survive – something that every kid learns early on in the schoolroom, with its political cliques and strange ‘norms’. It may be considered escapist fiction, but these tales are actively encouraging the questioning of authority, the importance of individual thought, and the strength to speak up and act against a failed system. This is almost revolutionary. Not the punk kicking-out of the ’80s, but articulate and active anarchism, in its truest sense.
The news often speaks to us these days of young people in gangs, getting shot or stabbed for trivial reasons, but rarely goes into detail as to the reasons behind it. Far easier to blame ‘society.’ But writers – notably John Wyndham and Roald Dahl again – have always known that in each generation, adults who have distanced themselves from their children (not always by choice) can feel afraid, threatened by the strangeness of these curious, active, questioning strangers in their homes. The Childcatcher still scares us – that somehow warped adult whose specific function is to Shut Children Up (we never do find out what he does with those he’s caught, do we?).
Children challenge, in their quest to make sense of the world. Adults should, but many seem to forget how. Sometimes it may be easier to allow the television to become a nanny, but that won’t be enough. Censors have never understood that banning something, or allowing it to be omitted, simply encourages folk to go looking for what they’re not permitted to see.
Many parents I know today delight in teaching their youngsters, encouraging them to explore, read, play. If you’re old enough to ask questions, you’re old enough to hear answers – but they must be conveyed in a way that enables understanding. Television is a mass-market medium, and cannot always provide this.
But while advertisements and a certain type of children’s television seems to actively encourage being ‘one of the herd’ – having the latest style of clothes, make-up, trendy toys, shoes and so forth – there are these quietly subversive texts appearing. Very well written indeed (far removed from the insipid, unquestioning escapism of a certain glittering vampire series), their voices are being heard.
What stories are we telling, then? With our cynical whingeing (look at any national News broadcast), sense of doom rather than optimism, lack of encouragement to do anything because everything is depressed – in mind, body, spirit and bank account.
Or are we following the example of these children who live in worlds far worse than we could ever realize (I hope)… and discovering our own skills, our priorities, what we need to know and do to actively survive? It’s not about greed, acquisition, consumption – it’s about discovery, true friendship, inner truth, and living life well against adversity.
The world may have gone mad, but the storyteller still walks among us. Are you listening? And what is your tale adding to that of those around?
- The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
- The Hunt, by Andrew Fukuda
- The Mall, by S.L. Grey
- Wither, by Lauren DeStefano
- The Iron Thorn, by Caitlin Kittredge
And general dystopian fiction of the moment to choose from at Goodreads.
Image found on random search on pInterest (if source available, please let me know to update) | <urn:uuid:672d9597-a533-4340-9e8d-bc0d93802e60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://druidcat.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/to-live-your-story/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958126 | 1,441 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Located along Route 40 in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, near the crossroads village of Chalk Hill, is a small motel with a rather bizarre front court.
The motel owners, Jim and Jeannette Silbaugh, have assembled a rather astonishing collection of antique farm machinery. The Early American Farm Implements Museum, as it is called, is really just a bunch of old, rusty stuff parked in the grass in the front of the motel. There are more than 1000 items including a 12-ton steam engine tractor.
Many of the items show signs of wear from sitting out in the elements, but if you want to get an up-close glimpse of a coal mine car or blacksmith tools or horse-drawn buggies, it's worth a stop.
The entire collection is on display for free, though there is a box located on the property for donations.
Oddly, several dozen domesticated rabbits hop among the relics which can easily amuse small children for as much time as an interested grown-up needs to look at the collection. The bunnies aren't tame and will hop away from over-inquisitive children, but it makes for an interesting game for a youngster.
The museum is located eight miles east of Uniontown on Route 40. It is open in any weather during the daylight hours. | <urn:uuid:3cc252e9-9802-491c-aa4f-01228e1c00f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A531343 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970682 | 270 | 1.609375 | 2 |
How Bitcoin Works
In 2008 Bitcoin, the world's first decentralized, anarchistic all-digital currency, was introduced to the world. Its value has risen, fallen and risen again and speculators, techies, libertarians and economists alike are taking it seriously.
Capgras Syndrome: You Are Not Who You Think You Are
There is an extremely rare condition where the sufferer is convinvced that everyone around him is an impostor posing as their friends and family. Learn about the neurology behind this strange and sad mental disorder in this episode.
How Drag Queens Work
You can trace the origin of men dressing as women in public back to classic Greek theater, but modern drag queens own their real inception to vaudville. Dip your toe into the politics and culture of this unique phenomenon with Josh and Chuck. | <urn:uuid:147cfbae-ad02-4504-a04e-b98ff6133e68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ozitech.com.au/component/adsmanager/1-mobile-phones/68-apple-iphone-4s-apple-ipad-2-c.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941766 | 167 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Frequently Asked Questions - Behind the Wheel Lessons
What makes your Driving Instructors qualified to teach my child? Do they have any specialized training?
- All of our instructors are DMV certified and have a minimum of 80 hours of training through Western Oregon University. They receive annual ongoing training and recertification. The President of ODEC is also a certified Master Trainer.
My student does have their permit. I am not sure whether the Teen program is better for them or just the private drive lessons. What do you think? What is the big difference in the two?
- Students under the age of 18 will need to take the both the classroom and BTW prior to licensure unless a parent is going to spend 100 hours practicing with them.
- The classroom instruction prepares the students for BTW lessons and expands their knowledge of safe driving practices.
- Your insurance company will likely want to see that your student has completed an ODOT certified course before granting a discount on premiums.
What is the best for my child? A lot of driving practice before they start your teen class or not much drive experience before they start?
- We recommend enrolling students early in their driving experience.
Can I schedule more than one drive lesson a week for my student? Why not all 6?
- We have found that most people like having the flexibility of scheduling their own lessons and students learn best when they are given an opportunity to practice between lessons.
- Your student may schedule one lesson every 7 days.
My student is very nervous and scared to get behind the wheel. Are your instructors trained to handle the fear and nervousness from my student?
- Our lesson plans are designed to progress from simple to complex driving environments. We do not progress to the next level until the student is ready.
- Throughout the process our instructors maintain a calm disposition and remain in control at all times.
Are your vehicles equipped to assist the instructors if my student needs help during a lesson? If so, what special equipment is standard and what is available to accommodate students?
- All of our vehicles are equipped with a dual control brake.
- We have the following adaptive equipment available if needed:
- peddle extenders
- spinner knob
- turn signal extension
- telescoping steering wheels
- seat belt extenders
Can anyone any age take the Teen program? My student is over 18 yrs. but still attending school, why is she not eligible for the discount of $210.00?
- Anyone can take one of the teen courses. However, since students over the age of 17 are no longer subject to the Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) laws, ODOT does not contribute to the cost of their driver education.
Can I request one particular instructor and be guaranteed I will always get that instructor?
- Since students schedule their own lessons online, they are free to choose the instructor. However, we cannot guarantee they will get the same instructor for every lesson.
How long does my student have to complete all six drive lessons? Why is there a deadline?
- Students have up to 90 days from the first day of class to complete their classroom time and BTW lessons.
- ODOT requires concurrent instruction between the classroom sessions and BTW lessons.
- Failure to complete all class time and drives will result in the loss of the $210 discount. You will be responsible for this balance.
If my student does not pass the #6 drive test do they still get their Certificate?
- We provide students with every opportunity to succeed. In order to pass the driving portion of the course, students must move successfully through all 6 lessons.
- The drive test during lesson #6 does not determine the success or failure of the student. It helps prepare them for the DMV drive test and reveals areas the students needs to spend more time perfecting.
For my student drive lessons, do we have to supply our vehicle for them to take their drive lessons in, or do you use your vehicle?
- We provide the vehicle equipped with a dual control brake for safety. All vehicles have automatic transmission, four doors and air-conditioning.
I have had difficulty scheduling my student for their BTW lessons. What if I cannot get them done before the 90 days?
- Our staff is available to provide assistance. Please be sure to let us know early in the process if you are having difficulty so we can ensure your success. | <urn:uuid:435db5cd-74af-4ccc-bd55-17cbba7a5d6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://drivereducationcenter.com/faqbtw.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954841 | 907 | 1.65625 | 2 |
England & Co was founded in late 1987, holding its first exhibition in April 1988. In 1999, the gallery expanded and moved within Notting Hill to a specifically designed gallery space on Westbourne Grove, London. In early 2012, the gallery relocated to a transition space at 90-92 Great Portland Street in central London.
Over the past two decades, England & Co has established an independent and individual identity that reflects the eclectic, historically aware, research-based curatorial approach of gallery director/curator Jane England. There is no specific stylistic or generational specialization and from the beginning, the gallery programme has alternated between contemporary art and explorations of relatively recent art history.
The gallery represents a number of emerging and established contemporary artists; advises and acts for the estates of artists and collectors; and also holds a regularly changing stock of 20th and 21st century art. From the beginning, the gallery has regularly published exhibition catalogues, and recently has begun to publish editions of prints and multiples by contemporary artists.
Solo exhibitions of contemporary artists from Britain and abroad have been augmented by themed survey exhibitions such as The Map Is Not the Territory series that place contemporary work in a specific context and mix well-known with up-and-coming artists. Gallery director Jane England is also committed to researching and curating retrospective exhibitions that reappraise artists from the British and European avant-garde of the 1930s through to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s: these have included the abstract pioneer Paule Vézelay; the action-painter William Green; founder Situationist Ralph Rumney; the kinetic sculptor Liliane Lijn; and a significant figure in British performance art and installation, Stuart Brisley. More recent art history – in 1980s London – was explored in The Neo Naturists.
The gallery cooperates with many institutions, lending works to numerous exhibitions, including to the Guggenheim, Bilbao; the Whitechapel Gallery, London; the Wellcome Trust Gallery; the Hayward Gallery, London; the Barbican Gallery, London; PS1 MOMA, New York; the Metropolitan Museum, New York; SF MOMA, San Francisco; the Grand Palais, Paris; and the Venice Biennale. Corporate collections that have acquired works from the Gallery include Deutsche Bank; Barclays Bank, London; and Penguin Books, London. England & Co has sold numerous contemporary and 20th-century works to public collections, including Tate; the Imperial War Museum; the Victoria & Albert Museum; the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery; the Museum of London; the National Gallery of Australia; the Smithsonian Institution, Washington; the Arts Council of Great Britain; and the British Museum. | <urn:uuid:e271b699-837a-4048-97ec-e3ee3b039424> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://artupdate.com/place/england-co/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9349 | 551 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)23 is a novel phosphaturic factor associated with inorganic phosphate homeostasis. Previous human studies have shown that serum FGF23 levels increase in response to a high phosphate diet. For anorexia nervosa (AN) patients, inorganic phosphate homeostasis is important in the clinical course, such as in refeeding syndrome. The purpose of this study was to determine plasma levels of intact FGF23 (iFGF23) in restricting-type AN (AN-R) patients, binge-eating/purging-type AN (AN-BP) patients, and healthy controls.
The subjects consisted of 6 female AN-R patients, 6 female AN-BP patients, and 11 healthy female controls; both inpatients and outpatients were included. Plasma iFGF23, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25-(OH)2D), and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) levels were measured. Data are presented as the median and the range. A two-tailed Mann-Whitney U-test with Bonferroni correction was used to assess differences among the three groups, and a value of p < 0.017 was considered statistically significant.
There were no differences between AN-R patients and controls in the iFGF23 and 1,25-(OH)2D levels. In AN-BP patients, the iFGF23 level (41.3 pg/ml; range, 6.1–155.5 pg/ml) was significantly higher than in controls (3.8 pg/ml; range, not detected-21.3 pg/ml; p = 0.001), and the 1,25-(OH)2D was significantly lower in AN-BP patients (7.0 pg/ml; range, 4.2–33.7 pg/ml) than in controls (39.7 pg/ml; range, 6.3–58.5 pg/ml; p = 0.015). No differences in plasma 25-OHD levels were observed among the groups.
This preliminary study is the first to show that plasma iFGF23 levels are increased in AN-BP patients, and that these elevated plasma FGF23 levels might be related to the decrease in plasma 1,25-(OH)2D levels. | <urn:uuid:e5280ff5-f870-4f5b-ac20-7b6317cfa044> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/solr/reg?term=jtitle_s%3A(%22Biopsychosoc+Med%22)&filterQuery=author_s%3AMoriya%2C%5C+Junko&sortby=score+desc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945159 | 493 | 1.515625 | 2 |
On Wednesday, members of the North Carolina House debated HB 640, a bill to ban the use of Islamic Shariah law in state courts. This is nothing new: Since the beginning of 2009, two dozen states have considered such proposals, stemming from concerns that unless serious action is taken, American citizens will be forced to adhere to a draconian interpretation of Shariah. That's the argument, at least, but through each of these bills, there's been one nagging flaw—no one can explain, when pressed, why such legislation is necessary.
At this point, the drill is getting kind of familiar. How familiar? Well, here's Laura Leslie, of Raleigh's WRAL:
Rep. Verla Insko asked [State Rep. George] Cleveland twice for an example of a case that would show a need for the bill. "I do not have any specific examples off the top of my head," Cleveland finally replied.
Hey, that sounds similar to the scene on Tuesday when the Missouri House voted on a bill to ban Islamic law from state courts:
[State Rep. Jamilah] Nasheed called on [State Rep. Paul] Curtman to provide a list of cases in which international law had been used in American courts but Curtman was unable to provide an example of such a case.
Missouri in March:
"I don't have the specifics with me right now but if you go to—the web address kind of escapes my mind right now. Any Google search on international law used in the state courts in the U.S. is going to turn up some cases for you."
Alabama last month:
[State Sen. Gerald] Allen could not readily define Shariah in an interview Thursday. "I don't have my file in front of me," he said.
Georgia in February:
[State Rep. Mike Jacobs] acknowledged that he was not aware of any instances in Georgia where a plaintiff or defendant asked the court to apply Sharia law but believes it has happened elsewhere.
Alaska in March:
In a hearing before the House State Affairs Committee, [State Rep. Carl] Gatto's chief of staff, Karen Sawyer, said Sharia is an example of the type of transnational law that has appeared in family law, divorce and child custody cases nationally, though she knows of [no] instances of it appearing in Alaska courts.
South Carolina on Wednesday:
None of the senators nor Kevin A. Hall, a Columbia attorney who testified in support of the bill, were aware of any examples in South Carolina where courts upheld sharia law over the U.S. Constitution.
South Dakota in February:
[I]n testimony this week, proponents of a Sharia ban could not produce a single South Dakota case in which Islamic law had been a problem."
Oklahoma last November:
Mr. Boughton acknowledged that he did not know of an instance in which Shariah law had been invoked by the courts.
Ok, I'll stop. But maybe you've noticed a trend? America's got some issues. If you're looking for a way to doing something about them, you're probably better off praying for rain. | <urn:uuid:f3ecff7a-89f6-44ee-9a26-8b97e2c3b0fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/04/anti-sharia-bill-sponsors-clueless-north-carolina | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965598 | 647 | 1.625 | 2 |
Your search for Alabama in Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill (2010) returned 123 articles
ARTICLES ABOUT THE GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL (2010)
It is the fourth state to seek damages related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.April 21, 2013, Sunday
Mississippi has become the third state to sue BP over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.April 20, 2013, Saturday
Opening arguments cataloged BP’s failures in the 2010 disaster, but negotiators were said to be working on multibillion-dollar settlement.February 26, 2013, Tuesday
No one involved in the case has commented on any progress, but several lawyers briefed on the negotiations said that a $16 billion proposal had been made.February 25, 2013, Monday
With a major civil trial scheduled to start Monday against BP, federal officials and the five affected Gulf Coast states are trying to pull together to strike an 11th-hour settlement.February 24, 2013, Sunday
A collection of cases on the Deepwater Horizon spill are headed for federal court, where they are expected to have a broad effect on environmental law.February 20, 2013, Wednesday
A federal judge in New Orleans approved Transocean’s guilty plea and $400 million in penalties for its role in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil well blowout.February 15, 2013, Friday
Gulf Coast politicians may seek $20 billion or more in civil pollution penalties for the 2010 spill, but negotiations over those penalties could be contentious.November 17, 2012, Saturday
Researchers suggest that several factors -- a cold winter, the gulf oil spill, and an influx of cold freshwater -- could have led to a surge in dolphin deaths in the gulf.July 20, 2012, Friday
The oil company BP and its contractors have agreed to pay up to $5.4 million to resolve complaints that some women weren’t considered for temporary jobs responding to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill because of their gender.June 30, 2012, Saturday
SEARCH 123 ARTICLES ABOUT THE GULF OF MEXICO OIL SPILL (2010):
A collection of photographs, from the explosion on April 20 through the weeks of efforts to plug the leak.
Nine weeks into the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, there is more money in Bayou La Batre than there has been in decades, residents say. There are also more traffic accidents, more drug and alcohol use, more resentment, more rumors, more hunger and more worry.
Most of the region’s governors have changed their responses to the oil spill as the scope of the disaster has grown.
- Op-Ed Contributor: Defining My Dyslexia
- Well: Can Statins Cut the Benefits of Exercise?
- Unexcited? There May Be a Pill for That
- Well: What's in Your Green Tea?
- Gin, Tonic and a Dash of Restraint
- Mark Bittman: Why I'm Not a Vegan
- The Stone: Why Do I Teach?
- Well: The Scientific 7-Minute Workout
- Some of My Best Friends Are Germs
- When Hollywood Wants Good, Clean Fun, It Goes to Mormon Country
Rss Feeds On Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill (2010)
Subscribe to an RSS feed on this topic. What is RSS? | <urn:uuid:77a39bb4-b9ca-4005-a2b4-faa9ae2da1e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/o/oil_spills/gulf_of_mexico_2010/index.html?query=Alabama&field=geo&match=exact | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943881 | 696 | 1.773438 | 2 |
WASHINGTON, July 31 (UPI) -- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will answer questions online about the Affordable Healthcare Act, officials said.
Sebelius and Annic Jobin, WebMD's director of news and partnerships, will answer questions live online Wednesday, federal officials said Tuesday.
The Affordable Care Act is making several additions for preventive care free -- requiring no co-payment or deductible -- for women, health officials said. For example, currently insured adult women will receive an annual well-woman preventive care visit to obtain recommended preventive services, and additional visits if women and their healthcare providers determine they are necessary, the White House said in a statement.
The visits will help women and their healthcare care providers determine what preventive services are appropriate and set up a plan to help women get the care they need to be healthy.
Healthcare services for women that will also require no co-payment or deductible are: gestational diabetes screening, breastfeeding support and supplies, contraception, domestic violence screening, high-risk human papillomavirus DNA testing every three years and annual counseling on sexually transmitted infections.
Sebelius and Jobin will answer questions live online at 1:30 p.m. EDT at www.healthcare.gov/live. The public can also submit questions on Facebook at www.facebook.com/healthcaregov or on Twitter using the hashtag #womenshealth.
|Additional Health News Stories|
LOS ANGELES, June 18 (UPI) --Danielle Bradbery was declared the Season 4 winner of the singing competition series "The Voice" in Los Angeles Tuesday night.
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, June 19 (UPI) --Iceland's new prime minister this week cited the country's mackerel fishing dispute with the European Union as a prime example of the value of sovereignty. | <urn:uuid:64a54bb0-2498-460d-a7cd-3659cd252089> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2012/07/31/Sebelius-to-answer-health-reform-questions/UPI-21031343777363/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938789 | 387 | 1.570313 | 2 |
February 9th, 2011
(MiamiHerald) – Sales of Gulf of Mexico seafood are getting a boost from the military after being hammered by last year’s BP oil spill, which left consumers fearing the water’s bounty had been tainted.
Ten products including fish, shrimp, oysters, crab cakes, and packaged Cajun dishes such as jambalaya and shrimp etouffee are being promoted at 72 base commissaries along the East Coast, said Milt Ackerman, president of Military Solutions Inc., which is supplying seafood to the businesses.
Gulf seafood sales fell sharply after BP PLC’s Gulf well blew out in April, spewing millions of gallons of oil into the sea. Consumers have long feared that fish, oysters and other products could be tainted by oil and chemicals used to fight the spill, even though extensive testing has indicated the food is safe. The perception has lingered – along with the poor sales.
Bobby Barnett, a shrimper in Pass Christian, Miss., said he was glad the U.S. government was embracing domestic and not imported seafood.
“Every sale helps us out, and we need some help to come back,” Barnett said. “You would have thought they would have been buying U.S. seafood all along.”
The Defense Department-run Defense Commissary Agency – known as DeCa – sells groceries to military personnel, reservists, retirees and their families at cost plus a 5 percent surcharge. The stores have emphasized healthy diets as part of first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” fitness and health campaign.
“What fits in with that better than seafood?” Ackerman said. Read More Here | <urn:uuid:d8e66076-8adf-46fc-a1fa-06004d353e60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dprogram.net/2011/02/09/gulf-seafood-sales-get-a-boost-from-the-military/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975763 | 364 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Op-Ed: Failure to engage first nations snags mining plans
By Doug Donaldson
Mining Week in B.C. is an opportunity to remind British Columbians of the importance of the resource economy in our province. We are blessed with a province rich in many natural resources that have always played an important role in our economy, from fishing to forestry to mining.
With the recent decline in the forest sector, mining is increasingly important for British Columbia. It provides important economic benefits throughout the province, support for government programs like education and health care, and offers good jobs, especially in rural communities.
Over the past decade, we have seen a dramatic increase in world metal prices, which in turn has led to an increase in exploration throughout the province. B.C.’s New Democrats are meeting and working with the mining industry in order to better understand their needs. What we have heard is that certainty on the land base is crucial when deciding where to pursue investment.
Miners on the road to success understand the need for social license in order for projects to proceed. And the basis of that social license is having a full, robust hearing of social, cultural, economic and environmental aspects of a proposed project. Taking shortcuts leads to uncertainty, and uncertainty leads to unnecessary delays in reaching a decision.
Successful mining companies understand this. It seems the B.C. Liberal government does not.
The government has failed to capitalize on a decade of soaring commodity prices. While prices went up, the government’s investment in the success of the industry went down through cuts to the resource ministries, changes to environmental standards that lost the public’s trust, and a failure to create a framework for consultation with first nations that is both respectful and thorough. All of these failures contribute to uncertainty for miners.
The failure to develop a constructive relationship with first nations and a consultation framework to guide companies in their attempts to develop our mineral resources has created much division in communities and reduced certainty on the land base. Nowhere is the breakdown in constructive dialogue more evident than in the case of the Prosperity and New Prosperity mine proposals put forward by Taseko Mines. Instead of fostering an inclusive process and encouraging Taseko to work with local first nations, the B.C. government promoted the mine — even before the federal environmental assessment process was complete.
British Columbians hear every day that the Liberals won’t take a position on the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline because it is under federal review. But in the case of Taseko’s original proposal, they were more than happy to weigh in. After the federal review rejected the mine, calling the environmental concerns “pronounced” and “scathing,” while citing the “loss of the entire ecosystem,” Premier Clark said it was a “dumb decision” not to allow the mine to be built.
As Taseko moves into a new federal hearing based on revised plans that would save Fish Lake, but locate the tailings pond upstream of it, we find yet another example of strained relationships with first nations. The federal minister has been asked to ban aboriginal prayer ceremonies, remove any consideration of native spirituality in the review and ensure assessment panel membership does not include those of first nations descent. A request like this displays an unfortunate lack of understanding of the cultural reality under which resource companies must operate in B.C. to be successful.
The province needs a stronger framework for first nation consultation so industry knows what is expected of them in support of the government-to-government negotiations on resource development. Despite industry asking for such a framework, the B.C. Liberal government has failed to develop one.
Adrian Dix and B.C.’s New Democrats believe the way forward to increased prosperity and reduction of inequality should include measures to help the rural, resource-based economy, including a focus on trades training, restoring trust in the environmental assessment process, and improving the framework for first nations and community consultations.
This op-ed originally appeared in the Vancouver Sun. | <urn:uuid:a78f4efa-67d9-4f9c-8581-8a2a8f0ddd45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bcndpcaucus.ca/en/oped_failure_to_engage_first_nations_snags_mining_plans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949955 | 830 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Mythical winter swan on the lake
As an anti-dote to the economic wars endlessly rehearsed on the airwaves I took to the water last night and just observed the peaceful world of this swan. Whenever I see a swan it brings me back to the story of the Children of Lir which we all learned in school as small children.
Lir and his wife Aobh had four children called, Aodh, Fionghuala, Fiachra and Conn. When Lir's wife died in childbirth he remarried but his new wife Aoife was jealous of the children and their loving relationship with their father. One day in a jealous rage she put the children under a spell and they were turned into four white swans. They remained in that form for 400 years, living lives of horrendous hardship and loneliness wandering the world. I can almost feel the cold that they experienced living on icy waters through endless winters whenever I think of them.
In the end the spell was finally broken and they were returned to human form as withered old people. They were eventually baptised, died peacefully and were buried together.
This legend is very much part of our Irish national psyche as is being able to absorb all sorts of stories and myths in our youth. So many beautiful Irish works of art have drawn on the powerful image of the four children as swans, or the amazing transformation from child to bird or from swan to human again.
I still relish tales of the bitter sweet sort, of trapped beauty, of ice cold worlds, and above all of human survival and love........ | <urn:uuid:f0f0b035-e9f1-4ff2-a6a4-1a8a6a76cf34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foxglovelane.com/2011/12/mythical-winter-swan-on-lake.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986249 | 335 | 1.695313 | 2 |
WVC 5 - 14 - 4
§5-14-4. Terms of office; quorum.
Members of the commission who do not serve ex officio shall be
appointed for the following terms: Three members shall be
appointed for a term of three years; three for a term of two years;
and three for a term of one year. When a vacancy occurs, an
appointment shall be made for the unexpired term. The members
shall annually elect a chairman. A majority of the members
constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business.
Note: WV Code updated with legislation passed through the 2012 1st Special Session | <urn:uuid:430c0e27-1027-4992-b109-2316d3d017d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.legis.state.wv.us/WVCODE/ChapterEntire.cfm?chap=05&art=14§ion=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93067 | 135 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Smith, W. J. (1998, June 9). Suicide in the West. National Right to Life News, 25(7), 4.
Campbell, C. S. (1999, May 5). Give me liberty and death: Assisted suicide in Oregon. The Christian Century, 116(14), 498-499.
Kass, L.R., Lund, N. (1996, December). Courting death: assisted suicide, doctors, and the law. Commentary, 102(6), 17-28.
By examining the details of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act (DDA), it can be demonstrated clearly that legalizing physician-assisted suicide will address the increasing demand of dying patients in a safe and regulated atmosphere. The act was formulated to serve three objectives and three groups of people: 1) Offer terminally ill people the right to die in a "human and dignified" fashion by ingesting lethal pills prescribed by a physician; 2) protect physicians from professional and legal prosecution for their involvement in the deaths of their patients; and 3) to guarantee that the practice will be regulated and accountable to the public (Campbell, 1999, p. 498).
Even though medical ethicists oppose the idea of physician-assisted suicide, it is practiced legally and illegally all over the world. Legalizing it will obliterate the meaningless fine line critics draw between active and passive euthanasia. By 1991, 28 states had ruled that patients can refuse life-sustaining treatment. There is little difference in the end-result between a physician pulling the plug on a machine (passive) or injecting a lethal dose into a patient's arm (active)(McCord, 1993, p. 26). Both require an active measure that results in the patient's death. They should both be considered forms of physician-assisted suicide (Hall, 1994, p. 10). Therefore, it is hypocritical for society to accept one form of physician-assisted suicide and not the other.
(1997, June 21). Last rights. The Economist, 343(8022), 21-25.
In this act, the rights and the roles of the patients and the physicians are spelled out clearly. Terminally-ill patients include patie | <urn:uuid:9ea2a1eb-9ab2-4408-9529-70d1e73bd22e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.collegetermpapers.com/viewpaper/1303454421.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938245 | 453 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Even in the best of times, Sacramento tends to be a prisoner to low self-esteem. The region's population and economic growth have been humming along nicely for the past decade, drawing ever more educated workers from overpriced coastal counties, but the region's leaders have often seemed defensive about their flourishing town.
So perhaps it's not surprising that the mortgage meltdown, which has hit the area hard, has sparked something of an identity crisis. Yet in trying to cope with hard times, it's important that the region not lose its focus on what paced Sacramento's past success: its ability to offer affordable, high-quality, largely single-family neighborhoods for middle class families.
Sadly, the dominant narrative among many planners, politicians and developers in Sacramento today is to try to shed the family-friendly image. There's a growing consensus that low-density neighborhoods are passé and that the region's future success lies in retrofitting the region along a high-density, centralized model. Suburban areas like Rancho Cordova or Elk Grove, some believe, are destined to become the "the next slums" as middle-income homeowners, fleeing high gas prices, flock to the urban core.
Although a healthier downtown with reasonable density is good for the entire region, the high-density focus does not make a good fit for a predominately middle class, family-oriented region such as Sacramento. Unlike an elite city like San Francisco, Sacramento's growth has been fueled by an influx of educated, family-oriented residents – the populations that have been fleeing such high-priced places where the housing supply is constrained.
Long-term demographic trends, and perhaps common sense, suggest that most people do not move to Sacramento to indulge in a "hip and cool" urban lifestyle. If someone craves the excitement, bright lights and glamorous industries of a dense city, River City pales compared with places like San Francisco, New York or Los Angeles.
The fact Sacramento has fared far better than these cities over the past 15 years suggests the region's recent problems lie not in a lack of downtown condos and nightlife, but with a housing market that, as in much of California, has been totally out of whack. Once a consistently affordable locale, by the mid-1990s Sacramento's housing prices jumped almost nine times income growth, an unsustainable pace seen in a few areas such as Riverside, Miami and Los Angeles.
As a result, the refugees from the coastal counties who had been coming to Sacramento for affordable housing stopped arriving. Net migration to the region, more than 36,000 in 2001, fell to less than 1,000 in 2006.
Ultimately only a housing market correction will again lure the people who have come to Sacramento seeking single-family houses – the type of home favored by about 80 percent of Californians – back to the region. Evidence that these people, or current suburbanites, might flock back to the core city is thin at best. The failures of such high-profile projects as The Towers and the region's stagnant rental market do not suggest a seismic shift toward denser living.
One key reason has to do with patterns of job growth. Since 2000, suburban communities in the largest metropolitan areas have added jobs at roughly six times the rate of the urban cores.
This pattern has had profound and often counterintuitive effects on commuting distances. Planners and journalists tend to think of cities in traditional concentric rings, with distance from the core as the key measurement of distance from jobs. But in most regions, the vast majority of employment is outside the core. Even in Sacramento, a state capital, only about 1 in 10 jobs are in the city center. Exurban employment growth since 2000 has been the fastest regionally, expanding at nearly twice the rate for Sacramento County.
This means commuting distance – and thus exposure to higher gas prices – reflects more than proximity to the central core. In such diverse regions as Los Angeles and Chicago, the shortest average commutes exist both in the affluent inner-city neighborhoods and those suburbs and exurbs, where much of the employment growth has clustered. People who live in Irvine or Ontario in Southern California, or in the western suburbs of Chicago, for example, actually have shorter commutes than those residing in the barrios around downtown Los Angeles or in the Windy City's fabled South Side.
These trends suggest a radically different response to high gas prices than the knee jerk downtown-centric approach now widely supported. Instead of cajoling people downtown, perhaps it would make more sense to accelerate employment growth in those suburban and exurban areas where the region's skilled work force is increasingly concentrated.
These suburban nodes, both in and outside of Sacramento County, may very well become more important in the near future. With the state facing a perpetual budget deficit, state government – the dominant employer in the central city – may not expand and even could contract in years ahead. Perhaps a wiser approach would be to focus on the biotech, electronics and other firms, many concentrated in suburban areas, as the region's best hope for the creation of new high-wage jobs.
Does this mean the region should invite unbridled, uncontrolled growth to the periphery? Not in the least. Successful suburban communities – think of Clovis outside Fresno or Irvine or Valencia in Southern California – provide a high quality of life to their residents. This suggests the need for greater investments in such things as developing lively town centers, expansive parks, wildlife and rural preserves, as well as maintaining good schools, which are often the key factor for families deciding where to live.
This vision focuses not on one selected geographic area but on a broad spectrum of places across the region. It concentrates not exclusively on dense urban neighborhoods but on fostering a series of thriving villages from close-in city neighborhoods to places like Folsom, Roseville and even Elk Grove. Ultimately the suburb needs not to be demonized, but transformed into something more than bedrooms for a central core.
In terms of reducing vehicle miles driven, a greater emphasis on telecommuting, including by state employees, would likely also do more than an expanded, very expensive light-rail system. Although more than 12 percent of commuters to and from downtown take transit daily, less than 2 percent of those commuting elsewhere do so. Given the structure of the suburban regions, with multiple nodes of work and a weak bus-feeder system, notions of turning Sacramento into a transit mecca like New York or even San Francisco are far-fetched at best.
The central city will continue to maintain important functions, not only as a state capital but as a physical and cultural hub. But there needs to be recognition that "hip and cool" dense urbanity does not constitute the core competence of this region. For the foreseeable future, Sacramento's advantage against its coastal competitors will lie in providing affordable and highly livable modest-density neighborhoods for California's increasingly diverse middle class. | <urn:uuid:ae2c457e-ed9a-4564-91e5-fc85061f3cbf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newgeography.com/content/00150-sacramento-2020 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956682 | 1,402 | 1.648438 | 2 |
These stories from our churches cover a wide range of topics. Some relate to the fabric of the building and others to events that took place there or people associated with it. All give a taste of the riches on offer when you start to investigate.
Behind many of the memorials, ancient and modern, in our churches, lie fascinating stories. By reading about the lives of these people, some famous in their time and others who led simple, ordinary lives, we can learn a huge amount about the history of our communities and our country.
We hope you will enjoy reading them! | <urn:uuid:fed72b96-0b5e-4c5d-8fd1-2a6ca2cf044e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.divine-inspiration.org.uk/holy-histories/page/4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968766 | 117 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Guinea-Bissau and the IMF
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Guinea-Bissau made significant progress in 1993-94 in redressing its severe economic and financial situation. Monetary expansion slowed, exchange rate distortions were broadly corrected, and the growth of government spending was held in check. There was a sharp fall in the rate of inflation, as well as a marked narrowing of the external current account deficit. However, progress has been less satisfactory in strengthening the Government's revenue performance and in advancing structural reforms.
Medium-Term Strategy and the 1995 Program
To maintain the momentum of the progress made in the past two years and move the economy decisively onto a path of sustainable growth, Guinea-Bissau has embarked on a three-year economic program for 1994-97, supported by the current three- year ESAF loans. The basic macroeconomic objectives of the program are to promote real economic growth of about 3 1/2 percent per year, permitting an annual average increase of 1 percent in per capita incomes; reduce inflation to 8 percent a year by 1997; and move towards external viability.
In the context of the medium-term strategy, the authorities' main macroeconomic objectives for 1995 are to achieve economic growth of 3.3 percent, cut inflation to 15.5 percent, and limit the external current account deficit (excluding official transfers and interest payments) to 20 percent of GDP.
In the fiscal area, the chief goal is to limit the overall deficit to under 23 percent of GDP in 1995. Enhanced government revenue performance will be at the core of the fiscal effort, while expenditure restraint will be sought primarily through containment of the government wage bill and capital outlays. To complement the program's fiscal consolidation, the authorities intend to tighten monetary and credit policies.
Structural Reform Policies
On the structural side, the authorities will start a major reform of the legal and regulatory framework during 1995. This will encompass revisions of land tenure, property rights, and business laws and regulations. In the agricultural sector, the authorities are aiming for self-sufficiency in rice and other staple cereal grains, as well as substantially expanded production of exportable goods, through more effective use of inputs. Actions are to be taken during 1995 to provide for the rehabilitation of the energy sector, improve transportation, and speed up public enterprise and civil service reform.
Addressing Social Costs
Some direct safety cushions are already being provided to ease the social cost of macroeconomic adjustment, most notably a generous severance pay package under the voluntary departure scheme for the civil service. The Government also plans to strengthen the provision of basic social services--especially in health and primary education--during 1995.
The Challenge Ahead
Despite the authorities' determination to intensify their macroeconomic adjustment efforts and broaden structural reforms, significant risks are attached to the proposed program, especially with respect to possible revenue shortfalls and/or less-than-satisfactory performance in growth and diversification. Very large financing gaps remain in prospect for the medium term, and the success of the program will require adequate and timely external assistance on concessional terms.
Guinea-Bissau joined the IMF on March 24, 1977; its quota2 is SDR 10.5 million (about US$15 million); and its outstanding use of IMF credit currently totals SDR 3.2 million (about US$5 million).
Sources: Guinea-Bissau authorities; and IMF staff estimates and projections.
1. The ESAF is a concessional IMF lending facility for assisting low-income members that are undertaking economic reform programs to strengthen their balance of payments and improve their growth prospects. ESAF loans carry an interest rate of 0.5 percent and are repayable over 10 years with a 5 1/2-year grace period.
2. A member's quota in the IMF determines, in particular, the amount of its subscription, its voting weight, its access to IMF financing, and its share in the allocation of SDRs.
IMF EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT | <urn:uuid:4031a5dc-d513-4741-acfe-af3d2a3df26c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/1995/pr9503.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936022 | 814 | 1.84375 | 2 |
A 14-storey children's entertainment centre under construction in Cambodia has enlisted four Canterbury businesses to kit it out, in a deal worth about $1 million.
One of the joint-venture developers, Meng Heng, contacted Christchurch-based Delta Strike International to supply about $100,000 worth of equipment for laser tag at the centre and that led him to climbing wall company Clip n Climb, which has quirky climbing wall centres around New Zealand.
The Christchurch climbing company is supplying about $400,000 worth of its equipment to set up a climbing wall in the centre.
Science Alive got roped in as well after Clip n Climb co-owner John Targett suggested the Cambodian developer pop round the corner and take a look at them as an alternative to over-expensive American scientific entertainment quotes.
Science Alive chief executive Neville Petrie said doing staff team-building exercises at Clip n Climb had paid off, with the developer buying a $650,000 educational science setup in the Science Alive style.
The design work was done by Kairaki Beach industrial designer and artist Tim Stephenson. The setup will have augmented reality exhibits through to puzzle areas.
Petrie said the Cambodian centre was a prototype and, if successful, Meng would look at replicating the centres in Laos and Myanmar as he has a chain of toy and book shops in Cambodia and those countries.
That could mean repeat business for the Canterbury suppliers, Petrie said.
Meng's partner in the venture is the daughter of the Cambodian prime minister, so it was a well-connected project, he said.
Delta Strike International chief executive Doug Willems founded the Laser Strike business in the Harvey Norman Centre. He sold that business in 2005 and focused on producing and exporting equipment around the world.
The business had grown steadily in the first five years, but had started to ramp up recently, he said.
The order was a standard job for his company, which makes its products in China and sells in Europe, the United States, Asia and Africa. It was the first sale he had made to Cambodia.
It was great that so many Canterbury businesses were supplying one project, Willems said.
The children's centre is expected to be completed at the end of this year.
- © Fairfax NZ News | <urn:uuid:931138db-b36f-4f28-aa95-e2157b9fdd0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/7366782/Cambodia-contract-for-Canterbury-firms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976714 | 469 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Myra Morton approached her sleeping husband on the morning of August 5, 2007, with pain in her heart and a gun in her hand. Once the smoke had cleared at the couple’s upscale home just outside Philadelphia, a man would lie dead, a family secret would be exposed, and a spotlight would shine on the emergent phenomenon of Islamic polygamy in the Western world.
The slaying took place just hours before Jereleigh Morton was scheduled to leave for Morocco on a mission to impregnate his other wife, Zahra Toural. Niqab-clad Myra, a convert to Islam two decades earlier, acceded to his bond with the younger woman, whom he had met online in late 2006. Privately, however, the 47-year-old mother was shattered, recording her dismay in a journal and lamenting to friends that she no longer received attention. Myra even mailed a letter to immigration officials falsely claiming that Toural had terrorist ties and should thus be prohibited from entering the country. Her husband’s plan to conceive is apparently what sent her over the edge.
Islam did not kill Jereleigh Morton; Myra Morton did. She bears full responsibility for her brutal deed and should be punished accordingly. Regardless of the circumstances, murder is anathema to Western legal and moral standards. Yet so too is polygamy. Recent evidence, however, indicates that governments tend to look the other way as the conjugal mores of seventh-century Arabia – and the problems that travel with them – take root in our backyards. Just as Myra Morton faces justice in a court of law, these drowsy cultural watchdogs must be made to answer in the court of public opinion.
The prevalence of polygamy among Muslims living in the West remains a matter of debate. Here is a sampling of what has been reported: As many as thirty thousand Muslim families in France include more than one wife. There are fifteen thousand in Italy and several thousand in Great Britain. Estimates for the United States typically run into the tens of thousands. Even Australia has been forced to crack down on Muslim men looking to meet potential second wives via the internet.
Individual cases often come to light unexpectedly through high-impact media events such as the Morton saga. Another example is the tragic Bronx house fire that killed ten people on March 7, 2007. Moussa Magassa, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Mali who lost five of his children in the blaze, was discovered to have two wives living a floor apart. A subsequent investigation by the New York Times found polygamy to be an open secret in his immigrant community, with agencies that serve it adhering to a policy of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Lack of official curiosity is just one reason for the poor statistics. Practitioners also labor to avoid scrutiny. Two strategies are common. Some Muslim men with additional wives living abroad arrange for relatives to sponsor visas that can bring them to the West without raising red flags. Others find second, third, or even fourth wives locally, sealing the deal in a nikah ceremony conducted by an imam. Because such marriages are performed under the state’s radar and have no legal standing, the wives enjoy none of the rights guaranteed to spousal partners.
Concern about Islamic polygamy – whether in the West or East – has naturally been dismissed in some quarters as cultural imperialism. For example, Duke University professor Miriam Cooke argues that “polygamy can be liberating and empowering.” As Kay Hymowitz explains in City Journal, “Some women, [Cooke] continued, are relieved when their husbands take a new wife: they won’t have to service him so often. Or they might find they now have the freedom to take a lover. But, I ask, wouldn’t that be dangerous in places where adulteresses can be stoned to death? At any rate, how common is that? ‘I don’t know,’ Cooke answers, ‘I’m interested in discourse.’”
Two nations have apparently skipped the “discourse” and moved straight to capitulation. Following a yearlong review, the British government has ruled that husbands can claim benefits for multiple wives, as long as the marriages are legal in the countries where they were conducted. Specifically, guidelines issued by the Department for Work and Pensions regarding the jobseeker’s allowance state: “Where there is a valid polygamous marriage the claimant and one spouse will be paid the couple rate (£92.80). The amount payable for each additional spouse is presently £33.65.”
A similar arrangement exists in parts of Canada. According to the Toronto Sun, “Hundreds of [Greater Toronto Area] Muslim men in polygamous marriages … are receiving welfare and social benefits for each of their spouses, thanks to the city and province, Muslim leaders say. Mumtaz Ali, president of the Canadian Society of Muslims, said wives in polygamous marriages are recognized as spouses under the Ontario Family Act Law, providing they were legally married under Muslim laws abroad.”
Why should the introduction of – and increasing tolerance toward – Islamic polygamy be a cause for worry in the West?
First, like so many facets of sharia, Islamic family law codifies inequality and thus contravenes both the letter and the spirit of Western jurisprudence. While guidelines that reference polygamy, such as those now regulating welfare benefits in the UK, typically employ general-neutral language, there can be little doubt regarding the very gender-specific nature of the institution as it exists among Muslims. By tacitly recognizing this practice, governments offer their imprimatur to sex discrimination.
Second, Nonie Darwish and Phyllis Chesler have noted that polygamy, when combined with other misogynistic provisions of sharia, breeds societal dysfunction. Plural unions not only inspire distrust between spouses and heightened competition among offspring. Children also learn from an early age that females are unworthy of exclusive affection and therefore hold less value than males. Moreover, if common, polygamy creates legions of unhappily unmarried young men who are ripe for radicalization.
Third, polygamy is illegal in virtually every Western state. Men who partake in such marriages while residing in the West or circumvent immigration rules to gain entry for additional spouses are law-breakers, plain and simple. Which other statutes might they feel comfortable violating in the name of their imported traditions? The mixed message sent by government bureaucrats is particularly damaging in this context. Their multicultural nonchalance undermines both the legal system itself and the foundational values that laws are intended to reflect and secure.
Fourth, the push to normalize polygamy is yet another front in the Islamists’ campaign of inches. Its acceptance would serve as a powerful salient, paving the way for the further implementation of sharia principles. This slippery slope is not lost on Tory shadow secretary Chris Grayling. Discussing the welfare imbroglio, he observed that extending payouts to multiple wives “sets a precedent that will lead to more demands for the culture of other countries to be reflected in UK law.”
While Grayling sounds the alarm in Britain, a few European nations have already enacted policies designed to combat polygamous unions. The Telegraph reported in 2004 that Ireland “has ordered all men from Islamic countries seeking residency to sign a sworn affidavit rejecting polygamy. … A man must swear he has ‘one spouse only’ and ‘has no intention of entering into a simultaneous marriage.’” Likewise, the Italian interior ministry has asked Muslim groups to agree to a “values charter” that promotes monogamous families and the equality of women.
Contrary to defeatist pronouncements by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, these examples demonstrate that the arrival of sharia law in the West is not “unavoidable.” It can and will be avoided if the public musters the resolve to beat it back. As Daniel Pipes noted regarding the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ sudden abandonment of Muslim cabbies who object to serving passengers with seeing-eye dogs, widespread outrage is the best disinfectant. “When Westerners broadly agree on rejecting a specific Islamic law or tradition and unite against it, Western Islamists must adjust to the majority’s will.”
Simply put, the choice is ours: defend a hard-won heritage of freedom and equality, or continue slouching toward sharia. Pray that we choose wisely.
David J. Rusin is a Philadelphia-based editor for PJ Media. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Pennsylvania. | <urn:uuid:aeacf832-0205-4ac6-9ef9-77a6b2ec468e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pjmedia.com/blog/take_my_wives_please_islamic_p/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954131 | 1,781 | 1.703125 | 2 |
HIALEAH, Fla. (NBC) -- For the Deas family, a little stroll to the Toys 'R Us in Hialeah, Florida became an ordeal they will never forget.
"At first I thought it was a car bomb. I mean, that's the way it felt. I'm like, am I in Iraq or something?" Donna Deas said.
"When I grabbed the baby and I'm coming out of the truck, (there was) a big explosion. And I could feel my legs on fire."
The lightning struck a tree in the parking lot on March 15, just a few feet from where Deas and her family were standing.
Donna was able to lay baby Haley in the truck just in time, before she and her husband James felt the shock, knocking them both out.
"My husband fell on the ground. I'm telling him, 'Don't move, don't move. Just wait, just wait,'" Donna Deas recalled.
She said her legs were completely paralyzed for 20 to 30 minutes after the strike.
Fortunately her baby was inside the truck and not a few feet away, she said.
"Thank God that baby didn't make it to that stroller or she would have been zapped," she said, pointing at it.
Florida is known as the lightning capital of the United States, with more than 500 people injured by lightning each year.
"It wasn't raining or lightning and thundering," Deas said. "It was just overcast and it was just bam, it was like in a split second."
But lightning can strike up to 10 miles away from the actual storm, even where it's not raining.
"I know one thing," Deas said. "When it's raining outside, I'm staying home."
The National Weather Service says that if you find yourself outside in a thunderstorm, get inside a safe building or vehicle as fast as possible.
It says a safe building is one that is fully enclosed and has plumbing or wiring.
Once inside, stay away from showers, sinks and bathtubs, as well as televisions, computers and other electronic equipment.
A safe vehicle is any full enclosed metal-topped vehicle -- such as a car, minivan, bus or truck with a hard top.
When inside, do not use electronic devices such as the radio during a storm.
The National Weather Service advises you to run to such a safe building or vehicle when you first hear thunder, see lightning, or even see dark, threatening clouds developing overhead.
Do not take shelter under trees, and stay inside until 30 minutes after you hear the last thunder. | <urn:uuid:23ba773a-97c1-4c39-8b5f-23470e15fe71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wcsh6.com/rss/article/195447/108/Woman-describes-being-struck-by-lightning | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982633 | 551 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Writer’s note: Excerpts from Brodell’s scholarship essays are indicated in italics.
For a long time Amanda Brodell felt she lived in the shadows.
She packed lunches, folded laundry, changed diapers and took care of the household duties.
She played Santa Claus at Christmas and the Tooth Fairy at bedtime in an effort to keep the magic of childhood alive.
She was 16. Not an unwed mother, but the female head of the household. Her mother, lost in the grips of her severe bipolar disorder, left her six children when Brodell was 10. Her father Robert raised his children as a single father the best he could.
“I tried to give them the childhood I didn’t have,” Brodell says of her siblings. “It was tough. I grew up too fast.”
But part of that tremendous strength Brodell forged in childhood would factor into her determination to get an education and work her way out of the troublesome situation of her past. Now 18, Brodell is entering her second year at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and her education is fully funded through scholarships. She was named one of the recipients of the prestigious Gates Millennium Scholars and is paving a new path for her future.
I became aware that life would not always be fair, but I would always respond in a positive, progressive manner.
Early into Brodell’s childhood, she became a caretaker of others. It’s no surprise that she hopes to be a doctor.
After her mother left, she naturally stepped into the role that her mother’s absence had created. She lost herself in the safe place of academics and extracurricular activities and stayed dedicated to her faith.
When she started her freshman year of high school at Central Union High, she decided her goal, despite graduation being four years away, would be to receive the Gates Millennium Scholarship.
“My dad told me I came from a big family and he couldn’t pay for college,” Brodell says. “I didn’t know it was because he wasn’t going to be alive.”
Read more about Amanda Brodell in the July/August 2012 edition of Valley Women Magazine in print or our online E-Edition.
Amanda Brodell: Paving a new Path for the Future
Amanda Brodell (August 9, 2012) | <urn:uuid:9b96ea26-d0a9-4c16-8899-8fee7246a42f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ivpressonline.com/valleywomen/ivp-amanda-brodell-paving-a-new-path-for-the-future-20120809,0,6041534.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976663 | 518 | 1.65625 | 2 |
“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come,” said Steve Jobs in the letter in which he announced his resignation as Apple’s Chief Executive Officer effective Aug. 24, 2011.
The board has already approved Jobs’ request to become Chairman of the Board as well as name former Apple COO Tim Cook as the new CEO. Ever since Jobs began battling pancreatic cancer, Cook has been running the day-to-day operations of the company, including briefly becoming CEO in 2004 when Jobs first announced that he had the disease.
Jobs, who had helped start the company in 1976 with Steve Wozniak, had previously left Apple in 1985 to form NeXT only to return in 1996 after an Apple buyout and ascend to CEO in 1997. During his tenure, the company had experienced success so great that they briefly had more money than the U.S. government.
Apple has also released a statement regarding Jobs’ resignation.
“Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.” | <urn:uuid:ce6ce94b-ddc4-4e78-9c09-d366700f2121> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.148apps.com/tag/resigns/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991166 | 291 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The Pork Lobbyists, Ready to Reassure. (Washington Post)
For going on two weeks, the Washington professionals who represent the nation’s 67,000 pork producers have been in a mad dash to, as President Obama once said, put lipstick on this pig. Hundreds of people have been infected in more than a dozen countries, prompting the closure of scores of schools across the United States, including four in the Washington region.
In Canada over the weekend, officials said a farmworker passed the virus to a herd of hogs. Although the farmer and the pigs apparently have recovered, and top U.S. and Mexican officials yesterday projected a cautious optimism that the new virus is not as lethal as initially feared, intense worldwide focus on swine flu shows no signs of abating.
Each morning, the pork lobbyists assemble to figure out how bad it got overnight. On this day last week, word came that officials in Egypt had ordered the slaughter of every pig in sight — about 300,000 of them. In Iowa, the first two possible cases of swine flu were reported, and the Russians and Chinese were considering banning pork imports from that Midwestern state, America’s biggest hog producer. On CNN, a news anchor teased an upcoming flu segment with footage of dead pigs.
“Worried about the swine flu?” the anchor asked. “Well, it could be worse. You could be a pig farmer.” | <urn:uuid:fe638566-e6f8-4042-b307-4145971f6926> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://guiltycarnivore.com/2009/05/04/you-cant-spell-swine-flu-without-fu/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9632 | 299 | 1.835938 | 2 |
FAA authorizes special 787 test flights for batteries
Strict conditions for Boeing-only crews include flying over unpopulated areas; fleet still grounded
Mark Mulligan / The Herald
A Boeing 787 lands at Paine Field in Everett Thursday morning. Boeing received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly one Dreamliner from Fort Worth, Texas, to Everett. Later in the day, the agency approved test flights over unpopulated areas under special conditions.
"These test flights will be an important part of our efforts to ensure the safety of passengers and return these aircraft to service," FAA Administrator Michael Huerta and Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.
The FAA's decision came Thursday afternoon, following a specially authorized "ferry" flight of a Boeing 787 from Fort Worth, Texas, to Everett. The plane, destined for China Southern, was in Texas for painting. It landed late Thursday morning at Paine Field.
The FAA grounded Boeing's 787 on Jan. 16 after two Dreamliners experienced battery failures. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating a Jan. 7 battery fire on a Japan Airlines 787, on Thursday challenged assumptions used by Boeing to win FAA certification of the 787's lithium-ion battery.
The commercial in-service fleet of about 50 Dreamliners remains grounded.
In its release, the FAA said 787 test flights "will be conducted in defined airspace over unpopulated areas." The agency also has several other requirements, including a pre-flight check of the jet's batteries and continuous monitoring of the batteries during flight. Before the first test flight, Boeing must "inspect the airplane's smoke barriers and insulation to verify that they meet the approved design," the FAA said.
Only essential personnel will be allowed on the flights. Boeing will gather data on the batteries as well as the jet's electrical system while in flight, the FAA said.
Boeing said in a separate statement it will use its fifth test 787, known as ZA005, for the flights.
"The company has marshaled an extensive team of hundreds of experts and they are working around the clock focused on resolving the 787 battery issue and returning the 787 fleet to full flight status," Boeing said.
The company expressed regret for the inconvenience customers have suffered due to the 787's grounding. The Dreamliner's launch customer, All Nippon Airways, has canceled all 787 flights through the end of March, the airline said Wednesday. With 17 787s in its fleet, the airline will have scrapped 787s on a total of 1,887 flights by the end of March.
A 787 operated by ANA experienced a battery failure Jan. 15, which prompted an emergency landing in Japan. Japanese aviation officials are conducting a separate investigation into that incident and are sharing information with the NTSB and FAA.
Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454; email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:1e554ada-305f-4a59-b2eb-1bc33db20ed0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heraldnet.com/article/20130207/BIZ/702089947/1122/gradspeeches | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939661 | 610 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Add some color to Visual Studio 2012
Usability studies have shown that both shape and color help to distinguis visual elements in a UI. The upcoming/current beta release of Visual Studio 2011 has removed color from the toolbars and from icons in e.g. the Solution Explorer.
Please make this optional so those of us that want a more accessible and user friendly IDE can have their cake and eat it too.
Please make more Color the the Visual Studio 2012. We must work with that black and white Studio. Colors help to find faster items. I don't know what Microsoft think about colors? Please give me my Color back!
I hate the chrome of the new Visual studio 2012. All toolbar icons are bitonal. Just blank and while not even grey shades in them and are tiny. I am having a hard time finding toolbar buttons. It look like i am back in early 1980s with bitonal computer screens. But this one is even worse than that. PLEASE BRING COLORS BACK!
revert to a more colorful theme so that screen elements are more easily differerentiated
Please bring back the colors in Solution Explorer. I am back to reading the words instead of quickly looking at the icons.
Have the UI designers of VS 2012 lost thier mind. Guys look at the UI, it looks so medicore that it seems older version than Visual Studio 1.1. I think VS 1.1 look and fill was better than VS 2012. Look at UI 2010. It was one of the best UI look and fill. How come quality of UI design degrades so sharply. I think designers of VS 2012 have lost theirs eyes. Folks go back to drawing board please.
Why microsoft is leaving the colorfull world? Some of the MS beauti doesnot require to change. You are making developer life so difficult with new IDE color theme.(I am sorry Black and white theme as there is no color.).
The User interface of VS2012 is ungly and black and white. Icons colors,location of toolbars all looks ungly.
I know in general if you want to teach someone color and picture is the best way to teach. but after seeing UI of VS2012 its hard to teach. I am feeling like I am a color blind.
Please do not change the nature.
I would like to add my voice to the list of those asking for color, at least as an option, to be brought back to Visual Studio. I understand the usability arguments that Microsoft is making, but it seems to me that you are overlooking one very important consideration. Many of us use autohide to solve this problem. Therefore, when we go into Solution Explorer (for example), we want our focus there, and the color schemes help us more quickly find what we need. Then, as soon as we click out of there, it is hidden and therefore cannot possibly distract us. Please don’t take this option away.
RC from Beta has a minor improvement, but its not enought!
The coloring is really almost not noticable, the problem was not with the status bar coloring, but with the items in the solution explorer and the ToolBox menu, and toolbars.
even in RC the files are not easily recognised!
and the all CAPS in the menu is really like watching Clipper from 1980 all over again!
guys please reconsider, METRO Style is NOT for an IDE developing tool!
you are making our lifes ******, and eventually we will stop folowing the .NET.
PLEASE!!!!!! Switch to a sane color scheme who ever had the idea to remove colors and contrast have him tared and feathered!!!
and sent to Siberia!
this color schema is painfull to look at and debilitating..
it will reduce productivity and programmers will to live!
even cats and dogs would complain and they only see a few more cholors the monocrome...
the human eye in contrast can see as much as 10 milion colors why should we be limited to gray scale?!!
I wont be upgrading my visual studio 10 if these colors remain that a absolute iron hard fact...
If your adding a theme editor to it and this is your way of forcing the comunity to find the optimal color theme by giving them a kick in the @$$ then by all means... but i seriously hope your not expecting anyone to work like this...
that would be insanity!
Removing color from icons and symbols in Visual Studio is a step in the wrong direction. What is the use of icons and symbols? They have to make functions recognizable. The more icons you have the more they have to be well recognizable.
Another aspect: the use of color makes Visual Studio friendlier. The actual beta looks gloomy and sad
Take a look at the VS 2012 Color Theme Editor – it is an option for creating and editing your own Visual Studio themes.
Doug Turnure – Visual Studio PM
Rick C. Hodgin commented
There is a manual workaround for this. Using the information on this page (http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/3087/Reading-and-Using-Resources-in-an-Executable-file) we can go through every EXE and DLL that came with visual studio 2012, Enumerate all of the resources within, find all the things which are icons used by Visual Studio 2012, group all of them which look identically into a category, compare that with what we see on screen, then go through each of those instances and replace them across the board.
I'm half tempted to write an application to do this.
Icons still suck and apparently Microsoft has no plans of addressing this, they wrote:
"We currently have no plans to offer the old-style icons for Visual Studio 2012."
"We believe this design consistency is important, and we expect the icon styles to become familiar and comfortable over time."
So go here and tell them what you really think:
Simeon Albertson commented
Please vote for icon colors when it comes to identifying folders! It's also very important: http://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/121579-visual-studio/suggestions/3307998-allow-humans-to-differentiate-between-files-and-fo
Some r******d Macintosh1984-f**s are trashing our VS.
I think I use a ms-dos program. I never upgrade to 2012!
"Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will use it."(c)
I do not like the icons.please change back to the icons of VS2010. the new icons in VS2012 are very ugly.
Martin Kirk commented
THANK GOD I FOUND THIS ICON PATCHER http://vsip.codeplex.com/
NOW I CAN REPLACE 2012 ICONS WITH 2010 ICONS WHICH MAKES MY LIFE AS DEVELOPER MUCH EASIER... IT ALSO ENABLE ME TO TURN OFF UPPERCASE IN THE MENU...
Martin Kirk commented
Icons look like 1986 Macintosh icons...
for gods sake - i have a monitor with 1.06 billion colors... USE THEM !
I've revisited here to eat some humble pie. I was a stroing early critic of the UI update to VS2012.
However, I've been using VS2012 for a while now, the icons are no longer an issue, once familiarised with them they work perfectly well.
The overall look is fresh and light and now I'm over the "shock of the new" I really like it.
The theme editor was essential as the original themes were far too dark or too light. But we have the editor now and the blue theme is perfect.
SQL Management Studio suddenly seems heavy and old-fashioned.
Well done Microsoft for the excellent new UI.
Jens Melgaard commented
We are all afraid of change??... The new move with Metro and what Microsoft has wrapped down on us with Office 2012, VS 2012, Windows 8 is bold to say the least...
Personally, I Love it... I have already gotten use to VS2012 (Dark theme, custom theme for editor colors) as well as Office 2012, the later I don't use much... Maybe this is because I have loved Webapps and how they have developed the past few years and that I feel that these new releases from Microsoft is moving closer to that in design...
I can also see my self become a big fan of Metro on Windows 8 if it gets the right tweaks... Haven't used my desktop for anything that a pretty background for years anyways... And I have gotten use to launch apps either though "Quick Launch" or search... (**** I used Launcy on XP o.O)... So the start menu is already more or less obsolete for me... (more or less, because... well search is down there ain't it)...
I can't speak on behalf of Usability studies... But I do feel that color must be misplaced, color blindness is after all more common than we think... In any case, references would be great when you put such an argument forth...
But that is all just my personal opinion after all...
Brent Jenkins commented
This only changes the chrome colours, but what about the borders between different elements on the screen (e.g. tabs)?
I've had to go back to VS2010 for now as VS2012 is unusable for me - this is a shame as I loved some of the new features. After using VS2012 for some time, the screen simply becomes a blur.
In my opinion, Microsoft's idea of taking all of its mature products and applying the same bland, uninspiring design from an unproven (and I would say currently mediocre) operating system - Windows Phone 7/8 - is sheer madness.
Hopefully Microsoft will come to its senses before the damage goes too far.
Pedro Cardoso commented
The new Visual Studio look is fine if we are developing inside a phone or a tablet but we don't develop programs using our fingers!
Nearly 12,000 votes and 1000 comments and still they are not listening!
I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that there must be a special local offer on for frontal lobotomy, and Microsoft is offering it to their engineers as a perk (only way they could get to work on metro I guess).
Why else would anyone want to release such a poor quality user interface. Especially after the great 2008 and 2010 products but guess anyone who things Metro on the desktop is a good idea is not all there anyway.
Don Fehr commented
One size does not fit all. When is Microsoft in general and the Visual Studio team in particular going to get it.
Not every app is a Metro app! Visual Studio is not a Metro app!
Don Fehr commented
The VS 2012 Color Theme Editor won't install with VS 2012 express. I guess you have to pay to get choices.
CD Jorgensen commented
Wow, this thing is an eyesore. I had to go download a 3rd-party theme just so i could stand to look at it all day long. Too bad I can't change the icons. It's not just that they're different...I can get used to that. It's that they are colorless blobs on my screen that take careful scrutiny to decipher. Even when I know what an icon means, I still have to peer at it to determine which one it is. This is NOT better.
And I had to laugh out loud when i saw the application icon. That horrible purple and white block looks like something I would make in MSPaint, and I am very much not a graphics artist. What happened to the graphics team that developed those cool-looking blended-color three-dimensional icons? Are they perchance on strike?
Paul Van Wieren commented
By the way, it's my opinion that a product with the quality of Visual Studio shouldn't need extra downloads or "hacks" to make it usable. If it's not right out of the box, the barrier to adoption just gets too high. I spend enough time debugging code; I don't want to debug Visual Studio.
Paul Van Wieren commented
I agree. I'm fairly new to C#/.NET and have been delighted by VS2010. I thought 2012 would be even better but the design is very poor. I'm sticking with 2010.
Francois Lefebvre commented
Currently NOT using 2012, too ugly!!!!
please put back 2010 style!!!!! | <urn:uuid:ba11c459-cdf6-4d6b-a9f9-f03672c7a94f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://visualstudio.uservoice.com/forums/121579-visual-studio/suggestions/2623017-add-some-color-to-visual-studio-11-beta?page=8 | 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 | 0.940449 | 2,601 | 1.515625 | 2 |
How to roast beef
1. I still think the roast beef of old England, served with meaty gravy, crisp Yorkshire pudding and crunchy roast potatoes, is not only one of the world's greatest meals, it is something the British do better than anyone else. The cut of beef for roasting is of great importance – if it's a very special occasion I would go for a sirloin joint on the bone with the fillet still in it, but for a family Sunday lunch the next best cut is the wing end of the sirloin, otherwise known as rib of beef. If you want to serve 6-8 people and have some left over, you'll need a piece weighing approximately 5-6 lb (2.25-2.75 kg) – this would be 3 ribs. Beef on the bone is great as the bone acts as a conductor of heat and gives the roast extra flavour. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 9, 475°F (240°C).
2. A layer of fat on the beef provides not only basting juices to keep the joint moist and succulent, but you can choose to eat it if you so wish. To make the fat extra crusty during cooking, dust the fat surface of the beef with 1 level dessertspoon each of English mustard powder and plain flour – just rub them in gently – then season with salt and pepper.
3. Place the joint in a roasting tin on top of 2 small halves of onion. The onion will caramelise as the beef cooks and give a lovely flavour and colour to the gravy. Now place the meat on a tray just above the centre of the oven. It will have plenty of fat so don't add extra. Give it 20 minutes' cooking at the initial temperature; after that turn the heat down to gas mark 5, 375°F (190°C) and cook it for 15 minutes to the pound (450 g) – this will give you rare beef. Add 15 minutes to the total cooking time for medium rare and 30 minutes for well done.
4. While the beef is cooking, lift it out of the oven from time to time, tilt the tin and baste the meat really well with its own juices – this ensures that the flavour that is concentrated in the fat keeps permeating the meat, and at the same time the fat keeps everything moist and succulent. While you're basting, close the oven door in order not to lose heat. Baste the meat with the juices at least three times during cooking.
5. To see if the beef is cooked to your liking insert a thin skewer into the thickest part of the joint and press out some juices: the red, pink or clear colour will indicate how much the beef has cooked. When it is cooked to your liking, remove it from the oven, transfer it to a board and allow it to stand in a warm place for up to an hour, loosely covered with foil, before carving – to let all the precious juices that have bubbled up to the surface seep back into the flesh. Also, as the meat relaxes it will be easier to carve. Some of the juices will escape, though, and these should be poured into the gravy. The finishing touch is to serve the succulent beef with Yorkshire pudding, gravy, seasonal vegetables and creamed horseradish.
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Unemployment now the main problem in eurozone
25.02.13 @ 18:18
BRUSSELS - February 22 was a black Friday wherever you were in Europe. The morning brought the publication of dismal economic data to the effect that the eurozone will remain in recession in 2013.
Then, at 10pm Brussels time as the the markets closed, ratings agency Moody's quietly issued a statement stripping the UK of its AAA credit rating.
For those lulled into a false sense of security through a recent combination of relatively benign financial markets and the euro strengthening against sterling and the yen, it was a rude awakening.
Reading the European Commission's Winter Forecast is a singularly dispiriting experience. The bald figures are that the eurozone is expected to remain in recession with a 0.3 percent contraction in 2013. The words "sluggish … weak … vulnerable … modest … fragile'" litter the 140 pages of charts and analysis.
Spain's budget deficit has cleared 10 percent. The average eurozone country now has a debt to GDP ratio of 95 percent - a figure that observers had previously thought was applicable only to Italy and Greece.
There is little to cheer the critics of austerity.
The scope for Keynesian supply-side measures to increase demand is now even more limited. With the average debt burden now standing so high, there simply is not enough money around for a stimulus package.
That said, the nature and magnitude of the problems facing the eurozone are changing. While the Greek economy will contract by a further 4.4 percent this year - by the end of 2013 Greek economic output will have fallen by more than a quarter in five years - the clear indication from the Winter Forecast is that Athens is no longer in the eye of the storm.
Paris and Madrid now have that unwanted place.
France out for censure
France was one of a handful of countries called out for censure by commissioner Rehn on Friday.
The French budget deficit remains stubbornly high, falling by a mere 0.6 percent to 4.6 percent in 2012. The commission's projections have it remaining above the 3 percent threshold in 2013 and 2014. Ominously, Rehn told reporters that the commission would prepare a full report on France's public spending after Paris prepares its next budget plan, adding that President Francois Hollande's government needs to "pursue structural reforms alongside a consolidation programme."
Some of the figures that leap off the pages of the Spanish assessment are truly alarming.
Spain's budget deficit actually increased to 10.2 percent in 2012, although the data does not include the savings from spending cuts and tax rises at national and regional level in the final weeks of the year, estimated to be worth 3.2 percent.
Even then, the country will still have averaged a 10 percent deficit over the last four years. By the end of 2014, its debt pile will have nearly doubled to 101 percent of GDP over the space of five years. Meanwhile, over one in every four Spaniards is out of work.
Mass unemployment here to stay?
But there are still crumbs of comfort or straws to clutch at.
Most government books are closer to being balanced. Budget deficits will shrink below the 3 percent limit in the Stability and Growth Pact, while the commission estimates that the eurozone will run a current account surplus of over 2 percent in 2014.
The commission also expects Spain to run a current account surplus in 2013. Greece, too, is expected to run a surplus in either 2013 or 2014. The South Mediterranean patient is undoubtedly getting leaner, and this certainly augurs well for Europe's competitiveness in the future.
However, while the eurozone appears to be moving away from a crisis fuelled by deficit and debt, mass unemployment seems to be here to stay.
The headline rate of 11.7 percent unemployment across the eurozone is bad enough, but it is the sharp rise in long-term joblessness that is most concerning. Forty five percent of the EU's unemployed have been out of work for more than a year, and in eight countries this figure rises to over one in two.
In Spain, Greece and Portugal, where the unemployment rate is above 15 percent and youth unemployment sits close to one in two, millions of Europeans risk being locked out of the labour market for good.
In the foreword to the Winter Forecast, Marco Buti, head of the commission's economics department, rightly acknowledges the "grave social consequences" resulting from the unemployment crisis. But it is more dangerous than that.
As the commission paper concedes "long-term unemployment is associated with lower employability of job seekers and a lower sensitivity of the labour market to economic upturns."
The longer people are out of work, the more likely it is that high unemployment rates become a structural feature of the European economy.
Where then does Europe go from here?
It seems inevitable that the commission will relax its enforcement of the deficit targets under the economic governance "six pack." Most governments are clearly taking steps to cut spending and the consolidation efforts are being delayed by the recession rather than a refusal to comply with the new rules.
Spain, Portugal and others besides will probably be given more time to reach the 3 percent deficit target.
The commission and member states could also front-load infrastructure projects to be funded by the 2014-2020 budget framework and make greater use of the European Investment Bank.
We can expect action on a pan-EU youth guarantee scheme, although it will need more than a commission communication and a few billion euros to solve Europe's youth unemployment crisis.
Like gamblers who are too deep in the hole to resist yet another bet, most governments, with the support of the commission, will make the patient swallow more of the foul-tasting medicine of austerity.
But it is hard to avoid the central message that over two years of fiscal consolidation measures have had, at best, a negligible impact across most European countries.
By focusing solely on spending cuts and allowing unemployment to reach unprecedented levels, Europe's leaders may have helped turn a recession into a prolonged depression. | <urn:uuid:a4af960f-d0fe-4309-9d36-a705445c1558> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://euobserver.com/economic/119170 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948269 | 1,232 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Wood, Lucy. Diving Belles and other stories
Whimsical, magical, and full of wonder, Wood’s stories beguile the reader into a version of England’s foggy Cornwall coast in which the unexpected not only can happen but usually does. Characters in these stories live side by side with creatures out of mythology, sometimes becoming those creatures themselves. In the title story, staying husbands have become mermen and their wives must brave the depths to bring them home. In Countless Stones, a young woman helps a former lover as he house-hunts while slowing and inexorably turning to stone. In another stand-out story, Of Mothers and Little People, a daughter discovers that her mother is a fully-formed human being in her own right, with secret joys that daughters seldom imagine in their parents—in this case, a faery lover.
These are truly grown-up fairy tales, with touches of magical realism and outright enchantment never obscuring the very real stories and characters underneath. There are few easy answers or pat morals in these fairy stories. | <urn:uuid:0e9faab8-29d5-4210-862c-5c554179546f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hplibrary.org/print/bibliofiles/wood-lucy-diving-belles-and-other-stories?page=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954776 | 222 | 1.75 | 2 |
Parallel forex rate spurs inflation in Venezuela
Parallel US dollar impacts expected replacement cost
Today, the foreign exchange rate appears daily on websites, and the US dollar strongly impacts a large number of products.
In an economy where inflation yearly hits purchasing power, everyone experiencing surplus in bolivars seeks to buy US dollars. Moreover, those who decide to sell their houses or cars set the price of the property prior consideration of the amount of US dollars that can be used to obtain on the parallel market.
Likewise, people involved in business and who ignore whether they would be able to buy US dollars at the official foreign exchange rate set the price of the products they intend to sell based on the value of the US dollar on the parallel market, where they will certainly be able to buy US dollars timely.
Between two elections in 2012, the Venezuelan Government spurred public expending and introduced a great deal of money into the economy. Most of the money ended on the parallel market.
As a result, the rise in demand catapulted the value of the US dollar and the gap between the official forex rate VEB 4.30 (sold by the Foreign Exchange Commission Administration, Cadivi) or VEB 5.30 (sold by the Transaction System for Foreign Currency Denominated Securities, Sitme) per US dollar widens as never before, bringing significant consequences.
Economist and Professor Pedro Palma has stressed, "attention must be paid to the black market. It is a significant market that highly determines the US dollar value for common citizens. Therefore, it substantially indicates prices based on expected replacement cost that stems from the Venezuelan economy."
José Vicente Rangel clearly said: "We are not conducting negotiations threatened with a gun in the head." He warned behind closed doors in the midst of the social upheaval occurred during the oil strike in 2002 and 2003. Dissenting Timoteo Zambrano answered back that no other option was available: "The thing is that otherwise, you do not negotiate." | <urn:uuid:5b85a118-6852-4b68-bff0-8fb896dbf90c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/130204/parallel-forex-rate-spurs-inflation-in-venezuela | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938807 | 409 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Do you mean Mining?
To mine, the player must find a spot where the wall 'pings' by touching the screen and looking for sparkles. These spots will appear randomly in the Underground, usually in clusters, and can be located by looking for sparkles marked on the radar screen.
The player digs into the wall with a pick, which chips away small areas of rock, and a hammer, which breaks a larger area of the rock. Each spot will hide one to four items, including spheres, Fossils, Revives, Heart Scales, shards, evolutionary stones, Plates, and a few held items. -Bulbapedia
Anyway basically you need a pick and look for sparkly areas, and that's where you'll find items. | <urn:uuid:cf92553d-b3bf-4a38-986d-5ee29481fe86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pokemondb.net/pokebase/113527/how-do-you-dig-up-items-underground-diamond?show=113536 | 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 | 0.964378 | 156 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Camillus, NY - Two days shy of her second birthday, Arianna Fedroff suffered serious facial and body burns and other disfiguring injuries in an apartment fire on Butternut Street.
Doctors gave Arianna a 20 percent chance to live and if she survived she would likely have brain damage and be unable to walk, her mother, Mimi Graham, recalled on Sunday.
Moments later, her daughter — now 12 — bounced into the room with a slice of pizza for her mom, who was talking to a visitor at the Camillus firehouse.
“She done proved them wrong,” Graham said, laughing. “She really did.”
Her daughter was one of about a dozen child burn survivors who were treated to an overnight holiday party at the fire station. Camillus firefighters teamed with University Hospital’s Clark Burn Center to host the slumber outing.
“It’s the one day these kids can forget about their scars. They’re all the same for one day,” said Kelly Reed, a nurse at the burn unit and one of the party organizers.
The children, 8 to 16 years old, played games, rode in firetrucks, frolicked in the firehouse and sang Christmas carols to nearby nursing home residents over the weekend. Their parents rejoined them Sunday for pizza and soda.
Arianna said she likes going to the annual holiday party because all of the children have suffered burns like her. There’s no one there to make fun of the way they look, she added.
“There’s friends here and they can’t say (nasty) stuff because it happened to them, too. I fit in here more than I do at school,” said the seventh-grader at Frazer School.
Bullying poses a common problem faced by child burn survivors, Reed said. She and her peers try to help the children deal with the name-calling with counseling and year-round support.
The hospital burn unit and county fire departments — relying on donations and volunteers — have hosted holiday parties for the past decade, Reed said. They started doing the slumber parties four years ago and also sponsor a summer camp and other outings for child burn survivors.
“I get an absolute high from doing this. I almost feel selfish doing this because I feel so good afterwards,” Reed said.
So does Mary Brand, a 58-year-old burn survivor who lives south of Rochester. Brand served food at the party and inspiration to the children she called family. When she was 40 — or old enough to know better, as Brand said — she suffered burns on 90 percent of her body when she used gasoline to kindle a pile of brush at her home.
The flashback fire torched her body and she almost died twice in the hospital.
“We encourage the children to be themselves and to not be afraid of their scars. We tell them it’s just a scar, you’re still a person in there,” Brand said.
“I heard someone refer to burn survivors as being like butterflies. When they’re injured, they’re in their cocoons, afraid to come out. But with help and support you can come out and turn into a beautiful butterfly,” Brand said.
Graham said strangers stare and talk about her daughter all the time. At school, bullies have called Arianna “Freddie Krueger,” after the fictional horror monster.
The name-calling hurts her daughter, Graham said, but the holiday party provides an opportunity for Arianna to forget about her scars, both physical and emotional. And perhaps, a chance to fly from her cocoon.
Scott Rapp can be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.org or 289-4839 | <urn:uuid:376b2ec5-cdc1-4151-82c0-97c27805592f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/12/burn_victims_bond_during_sleep.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970242 | 797 | 1.75 | 2 |
Question: Do business interests affect media content?
We don’t … so much. In fact the first effect we sense of … business in the news … in the news business is there are more players than before. There is every year creation of new news channels, because business leaders have some interest in having their own news channel. Even Murdoch, you know, in Europe he has two. He has Sky News in the U.K., and he has the same news – Sky News Italia – in Italy. And so he’s already there. But there are other players in the U.K. and Germany, in France, in Spain. So for the time being, we still have the public broadcasters … their own channels. We have channels like Euro News, which is a combination of public broadcasters. We have private channels, but we don’t feel the pressure of business news. We can’t say that, no. It was diversity … of the viewer. They have more things to watch. Maybe these private channels are more focused to entertainment news as you have here in the U.S. Maybe it will create a bias in this direction. But for the time being it’s not very sensible. It’s not very perceptible.
Recorded on: 7/2/07 | <urn:uuid:bcd29013-a874-4683-b6ba-9dc41f4395a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bigthink.com/videos/do-business-interests-affect-media-content | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967767 | 271 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Families of September 11 is now operating as the For Action Initiative. The
web pages on this site are available for informational purposes only.
Please visit us at www.foractioninitiative.org
May 6, 2003
9-11 Commission to Hold Second Public Hearing in Washington, DC
May 6, 2003 – The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the "9-11 Commission") will hold its second public hearing on May 22 –
23, 2003 in the Hart Senate Office Building (Room 216) in Washington, DC.
The Commission will hear testimony from Congressional witnesses as well as focus on the state of aviation security before, on, and after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
"Among the Commission's charges is to write the definitive account of what actually transpired on that day and how it was able to happen," said former New Jersey governor, Thomas H. Kean, the Commission's chair. "What we learn from this hearing will help us fulfill this mandate," he continued.
"We are also required by statute to examine the role of Congressional oversight and resource allocation. Testimony from members of Congress will aid us with this task," Kean said.
Vice Chair Lee H. Hamilton stressed that the hearing will not be the only opportunity for the Commissioners to question government officials, eyewitnesses, and aviation experts about the events of September 11 and ways to prevent such terrorist acts in the future.
"We will want to talk to key officials and experts in private sessions," he said. "But we want to learn as much as we can in public settings, so that the American people and those in the aviation industry can continue to enhance and improve security at all levels," Hamilton stated.
The hearing will commence on May 22 at 9:00 a.m. and resume on May 23 at 9:00 a.m. Additional information, including an agenda and prepared testimony, will be posted on the Commission's Web site (www.9-11commission.gov) as it becomes available.
This hearing is open to the public and members of the media. Seating will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. Arch | <urn:uuid:401ddac8-43ee-4c2f-9168-c720c71a32a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://info@familiesofseptember11.org/actionalert.aspx?item_id=2&tid=1 | 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 | 0.964435 | 452 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Plymouth, the capital and historic hub of maritime Devon is a superb city indeed. A choice of museums abound, focusing on Plymouth's historic maritime history from the Pilgrim Fathers to famous names such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. Discover superb art galleries, arts and crafts shops, and a fantastic quay lined with chic bars and cafes.
The South Hams area of Devon is just waiting to be discovered, and rapidly cultivating it's own culture and charm. You've got 60 miles of some of the most gorgeous coastline and beaches on the South Hams Coast, did you know? A selection of fine restaurants and food, much of which is organic, can be found in the area. Vegetarians and vegans will love South Hams. Check out Totnes!
Plymouth is home to a huge university, so has a vibrant student side to it. Great shopping, fantastic museums, the historic Barbican quayside, a revived beautiful seafront lido, a famous lighthouse, ample boat-trips around the Sound, and lots for the kids such as Plymouth's great aquarium. A south west cultural hotspot indeed, Plymouth is a joy and marked by it's Elizabethan celebrities and rich merchants.
Hop on the trail of those Plymouth Pilgrims who boarded the Mayflower in September 1620 and anchored at Cape Cod 66 days later. Check out the superb Plymouth Mayflower Exhibition on the Quay opposite their own monument, the Mayflower steps.
Contemporary Plymouth is alive and kicking. Plymouth Quay and the attractions around historic Plymouth Hoe and Plymouth Sound are wonderfully accessible.
Plymouth Tourist Information Centre, 3-5 The Barbican, Plymouth. Tel: 01752 306330.
You'll catch your breath when you first see sublime Dartmouth. Probably the most popular of all the South Hams hotspots, Dartmouth has much to offer. The spectacular Dartmouth Castle for one, perched on the edge of the waterfront plus a selection of superb specialist shops, some ancient character pubs and inns and the beautiful Dart estuary, home to many a yacht and host to Dartmouth's famous annual Regatta.
Totnes is a glorious spot in South Hams and it takes pride in it's Green Tourism approach. There's a bohemian and alternative feel to Totnes high street, lined with organic food shops, choice vegetarian and vegan cafes and restaurants and some Devon arts and crafts specialist shops you'll spend hours in!
Totnes has a fascinating history as well. It's an ancient market town which began life as a fortified Saxon settlement and served as protection against Viking invasion along the upper Dart River. Totnes Castle is a good example of a motte and bailey, and was built just after the Norman conquest. Also in Totnes is the interesting Elizabethan Museum.
Today Totnes has a radical kick if you like, with it's resident community of writers, therapists, musicians, and herbalists. Expect to see a few buskers, and lots of organic and vegan/vegetarian cafes. Plus a selection of great bookshops and quirky specialist shops. Watch parking and traffic, both can be a little tricky. Totnes Castle has it's own fee paying car park, so for a central position head for that, following signs for the castle.
At the tip of the estuary lies Kingsbridge, the considered capital of South Hams with it's convenient central position and interesting rural life museum. It's a good base for access to the Salcombe Estuary, and a host of attractions. Alternatively look to the increasingly popular Salcombe further down the estuary on the coast.
Salcombe is a most attractive village, with local Southsands beach offering a range of watersports, particularly sailing, diving and scuba diving, Yacht charters and fishing boat trips. Salcombe is the land of yacht clubs, and has a rather luxurious feel to it these days.
Beaches at Southsands and Northsands, Salcombe are superbly clean, and offer great territory for water sports and fishing. Take the walk up the high cliffs of Bolt Head for views of the estuary and a visit to the eccentric Overbecks Museum & Garden. Sheltered beaches, rock pools and coves are all on the menu around the Hope Cove and Thurlstone sands area. Salcombe really is a hotspot location in Britain for sailing, yacht charter and all things water sports.
Enjoy the outdoors on the water? Head for Salcombe and Salcombe Estuary! Kingsbridge and surrounds is also good for Golf, with Bigbury golf club right on the coast with views of Burgh Island.
Start Point Lighthouse is the perfect spot for watching the sun go down. You can take tours of this lighthouse as well (tel: 01803 770 606). There's some idyllic coastal villages along and inland from Start Bay, and the amazing nature reserve, Slapton Ley National Nature Reserve centred around the freshwater lake of Slapton Ley. Only a very narrow strip of shingle separates this lake from the sea. One time big smuggler village Strete is also well worth a visit, for great views over Slapton Sands. Stoke Flemming, Slapton, Torcross and Beesands are all stunning, picturesque South Hams coastal villages strung along the Start Bay stretch. Take time to explore!
Slapton Ley Nature Reserve is home to the largest freshwater lake in the South West. If you like fishing, head for here as Slapton Ley lake holds a host of fish including pike, perch, roach and Rudd.
Blackpool Sands blue flag beach is one of the most popular, and one of the best along the South Devon/South Hams coast. Popular with water sports fans, Blackpool Sands offers excellent clear water swimming on it's award winning blue flag beach!
Newton Abbot sits conveniently at the head of the pretty Teign Estuary, with easy access to both Dartmoor National Park and Torquay and the English Riviera. Newton Abbot, as you'll discover, is a bit of a cross-roads hence the heavy traffic on-route down to Torquay or back up to Dartmoor. Persevere through this though and you'll discover a friendly and busy market town, with a renowned livestock market.
Newton Abbot though is particularly famous for two tourist attractions, the superb Newton Abbot Town & GWR Museum, a journey through Devon's railway heritage, and it's home to Tuckers Maltings which is the only working malt house in the UK, and bonus it is open as a visitor attraction to the public! | <urn:uuid:fe85047a-907a-4c04-9b4b-efb6fddb4217> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iknow-devon.co.uk/tourist_information/south_devon/south_devon_area/south_devon.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946812 | 1,367 | 1.585938 | 2 |
I’m sure it could be true, so it’s worth sharing even if it is an urban legend.
Archive for April 30th, 2010
One bonus of speaking at the Global Financial Services Centres Conference in Dublin earlier this week is that I got to listen to Paul Atkins, a former Commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unlike many others who have served in that role, Paul understands economics and recognizes the limited value of government regulation. Here’s and excerpt of what he had to say in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago about the so-called reform legislation being pushed by the White House and Hill Democrats:
The centerpiece of this legislation includes creating a group of officials to regulate “systemic risk.” Unfortunately, instead of advancing transparency and empowering investors, it will do very little to address systemic risk, while adversely affecting many of America’s most successful non-financial businesses. In fact, combined with other provisions of the bill, government officials will be in a position to substitute their judgment for that of investors. …The fundamentally wrong conclusion…, now seized upon by the Administration and politicians on both sides of the aisle, is that another, cleverly designed government institution is the prescription for our present ills. Given that most of the “bailed out” institutions were the most tightly regulated, even in terms of capital standards specifically designed to prevent the kind of bank run we witnessed, the “safety and soundness” approach to bank regulation itself needs to be reexamined. The end result of this traditional regulatory approach is that government bureaucrats tightly control the information that investors can learn about a financial institution, limiting proper analysis. …The bill proposed by Senator Christopher Dodd, along with the Treasury and House versions, simply doubles down on this same approach. The proposals seek to extend bank-style regulation to any American company that is deemed to be systemically significant – a “threat” to the financial system. The powers extend to companies and, ultimately, financial products. The new regulatory body is to be both omniscient and omnipotent – supposedly able to predict future market excesses and use sweeping powers to stop them. If the bill becomes law, two outcomes are likely: the systemic risk regulator will prove as incapable of predicting the future as everyone else in history, and the regulator will prove so overly cautious that it prevents financial market innovation and stifles economic growth.
Posted in Bailout, Fannie Mae, Financial Crisis, Freddie Mac, Government intervention, Uncategorized, tagged Bailout, Fannie Mae, Financial Crisis, Freddie Mac, Government intervention, Housing on April 30, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Russ Roberts of George Mason University has written a very good article for the Mercatus Center explaining – for economists and non-economists – how government intervention created distortions in the housing and finance sectors. He also blames Wall Street, paticularly for lobbying for the policies that caused the distortions and led to the financial crisis. Here’s an excerpt from the executive summary:
Some blame capitalism for being inherently unstable. Some blame Wall Street for its greed, hubris, and stupidity. But greed, hubris, and stupidity are always with us. What changed in recent years that created such a destructive set of decisions that culminated in the collapse of the housing market and the financial system? …public-policy decisions have perverted the incentives that naturally create stability in financial markets and the market for housing. Over the last three decades, government policy has coddled creditors, reducing the risk they face from financing bad investments. Not surprisingly, this encouraged risky investments financed by borrowed money. The increasing use of debt mixed with housing policy, monetary policy, and tax policy crippled the housing market and the financial sector. Wall Street is not blameless in this debacle. It lobbied for the policy decisions that created the mess. In the United States we like to believe we are a capitalist society based on individual responsibility. But we are what we do. Not what we say we are. Not what we wish to be. But what we do. And what we do in the United States is make it easy to gamble with other people’s money—particularly borrowed money—by making sure that almost everybody who makes bad loans gets his money back anyway. The financial crisis of 2008 was a natural result of these perverse incentives. We must return to the natural incentives of profit and loss if we want to prevent future crises. | <urn:uuid:28397cf8-dc57-40c8-8775-ad24c5a1d449> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948983 | 909 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The news about Tesoro closing its Kapolei refinery was making some motorists nervous about what will happen for the short and long term.
Bobby Fletcher works at a fast food restaraunt where the pay is minimum wage.
"The prices is what worries me the most. It's almost $4 a gallon," said Fletcher.
Energy experts at the East-West Center don't believe there will be any real jump in prices in the near future.
"It doesn't mean supply will be gone. It's only local supply that will be gone," said Kang Wu from the East-West Center.
But, the closure may make us more vulnerable to outside forces.
"I am not happy with any manufacturing leaving Hawaii," said Barney Robinson, an independent owner of a Chevron station.
Robinson wondered about the price of aviation fuel and the impact on tourism.
"That refinery was engineered to make jet fuel and in the process made by a product of gasoline and that's how we got started with Gas Express and BHP and PRI and now Tesoro," said Robinson.
Tesoro said it will be meeting with its customers, the military and the airlines to talk about its current contracts and future sources. | <urn:uuid:12db41c3-67cc-47b1-ae7e-899d5d945eb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kitv.com/news/money/How-the-Tesoro-refinery-closure-could-impact-residents/-/8905154/18067386/-/1deeo4/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973044 | 249 | 1.632813 | 2 |
NEW YORK, NY.- Bortolami
presents its second solo exhibition of Avner Ben-Gal.
Smackville draws from abstract and visual representations of the effects of opiate drugs: withdrawal, craving and usage. The show seeks to describe the moment of the chemical reaction when the toxic substance intrudes the body and is infused into the bloodstream. The works convey a will for redemption, rather than a need to be rehabilitated.
The exhibition is divided into two new groups of works. One group is comprised of large drawings on paper, made mostly with black marker and slight touches of other colors. The drawn scenes depict human figures and animals being caught in an intensive, hysterical state. The lines are sharp, evoking needles, paralleling the conditions of the drawings surface, which is dry, and the state of being "dry" and suffering from withdrawal deliriums.
The second group of works, consisting of paintings, addresses the tension between indeterminacy and definitive bluntness. The paintings depict degrees of melting and diffusing bodies and spaces whose delimiting contours are gradually lost. These works represent different states of dissolution beyond the idea of a solid identity. Ben-Gal explores the manifestations that have lost their signifying capacity, consequently becoming an apocalyptic result of chemical reaction.
Avner Ben-Gal was born in Israel in 1966. He currently lives and works in Tel Aviv. He has held a solo exhibitions at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in 2009, The Museum Fur Gegenwartskunst in Basel in 2008 and the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado in 2007. He has participated in numerous group shows including exhibitions at the 50th Venice Biennial,
Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin and at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. | <urn:uuid:01bed97c-26b5-4dab-bbdd-15370d1f206a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=42513&int_modo=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946327 | 369 | 1.53125 | 2 |
- About Us
- Future Students
- Undergraduate Studies
- Graduate Studies
Objectives. To establish to the satisfaction of the Department that the student has a sound proposal for Ph.D. research, an effective grasp of his/her main and related areas of study and the ability to handle facts, new ideas, and concepts at the Ph.D. level.
Students should be:
- familiar with experimental and analytical procedures used or proposed.
- prepared to discuss and defend all proposed approaches to the problem, alternative approaches, their rationale, the procedures, the objectives and the hypothesis.
- prepared to evaluate the potential significance of the results they may obtain and their relationship to further experimental work.
- aware of other relevant information and have a working knowledge of the area of study.
Timing. Ph.D. students must complete the comprehensive examination within four to eighteen months of registering in the Ph.D. program. It is anticipated that the majority of students will complete this requirement within the first 12 months of their studies. Exceptions to the 18-month time limit will be considered only in certain circumstances (e.g. part-time students) and must be approved by the Graduate Studies Coordinator.
Research Proposal. The qualifying exam is an oral examination based on a written thesis research proposal prepared in the general format of a NSERC Discovery Grant proposal. The research proposal should discuss the merits of the proposed research and will be evaluated in the following areas:
- originality and innovation;
- significance and expected contributions to research;
- clarity and scope of objectives;
- clarity and appropriateness of methodology;
The proposal should single spaced, written in a 12 pt font and must contain a maximum of 4000 words (not including figures and tables) to describe the proposed research. Details must be provided on:
- the student’s recent progress in research activities related to the proposal;
- the objectives: both short and long term;
- literature pertinent to the proposal;
- methods and proposed approach;
- anticipated significance of the work; and
- proposed timeline of research activities
This thesis research proposal must be made available to the members of the examining committee at least two weeks prior to the examination. At the beginning of the examination, the student will give a 20 minute seminar highlighting the research proposal. The questions asked by the examiners will be based primarily on the thesis proposal but will also involve related areas of civil engineering and other scientific disciplines relevant to the proposal.
Examining Committee. A separate committee will be struck for each student. It will consist of the student’s supervisor, two “research experts” described below, and the Graduate Studies Coordinator, who will act as chair of the examination. A research expert is an individual who is well versed in the research area of the thesis proposal. (Ordinarily, a research expert would be a member of this department; however, the supervisor, in consultation with the Graduate Studies Coordinator, may decide that someone from another department in the university or from industry is more appropriate.) Students will be informed of the composition of their Examination Committee at least one month before the examination, and will have the right to request to the Head of Department that any voting member of the Committee be replaced if, in the student’s view, instances of prior personal conflict might compromise the examiners objectivity.
Arrangements. The student's supervisor is ultimately responsible for the arrangements for this examination. Copies of both the Comprehensive Examination Request Form (Appendix A) and the proposal itself must be given to the Graduate Studies Coordinator and each of the examining committee members. The Graduate Studies Coordinator must be notified of the date of examination at least two weeks before it is held.
Results. The examining committee should judge the candidate's performance as one of the categories listed below based on whether the candidate has an effective grasp of his/her main and related areas of study, and the ability to handle facts, new ideas, and concepts at the Ph.D. level. The two examiners and the supervisor will each have one vote. (In the case of co-supervision of the candidate, only one vote will be recorded for the supervision team.)
Decisions are announced by the Chairperson shortly after completion of the comprehensive examination process. The Chairperson will present the report of the Examining Committee to the candidate and discuss any written comments with the candidate.
The categories will be used to describe the outcome of the examination:
- Referred. This category will be used when the committee has identified one or more deficiencies in the student’s proposal or background preparation. The committee will prescribe a set of conditions for correcting the noted deficiencies. The supervisor must notify the Graduate Studies Coordinator, in writing, when all such stipulated conditions have been fulfilled.
- Fail. A written report by the Chair is required in the event of a failure. The examiners may recommend either that the student retake the examination within six months or withdraw from the program.
Note: for the special case of a re-examination, either as a result of the recommendation of the examining committee, described above in (c), or as a consequence of the result of an appeal described in section 7, the outcome of the re-examination will be final (i.e. no additional re-examination will be allowed)
Appeal Procedures: The procedure for the Ph.D. candidate to appeal the composition or the decision of the examining committee is presented below.
- If a student wishes to appeal the outcome of the comprehensive examination on procedural and/or academic grounds, the appeal must be lodged formally with the Graduate Studies Coordinator, setting forth in writing the reasons why the student believes the academic decision is unjust. This should be done as early as possible after the decision is announced and, normally not more than ten working days thereafter.
- If the matter has not been resolved by the Graduate Studies Coordinator, and the student continues to believe that the academic decision is unjust, a formal request may be lodged for a review of the formal appeal by an Appeals Committee established by the Graduate Studies Coordinator. The Appeal Committee should exclude the initial examiners on the student's comprehensive examination committee.
- After reviewing the appeal, including interviewing the student and the members of the examination committee, the Appeals Committee may find that:
- The decision is academically and procedurally sound.
- An error in procedure or academic judgment has been made. In this case the Appeals Committee will proceed to rectify the error. This may include passing the student or allowing the student to repeat all or part of the Comprehensive examination.
- If the Head and Appeals Committee find that the decision of the Comprehensive Examination Committee was academically and procedurally sound, and recommend to the appropriate Division of the School of Graduate Studies and Research that the student be required to withdraw, the student may appeal the recommendation for withdrawal by following the procedures outlined in Section 8.9(c) of the Graduate School Calendar.
- Should the student not agree with the decisions rendered in sections 7 (a) to (d), the student may formally appeal outside the departmental framework based on established University Grievance and Appeal Procedures and the Senate Statement on Grievance, Discipline and Related Matters. | <urn:uuid:f248ad74-fc9c-4152-bc59-696d53eac0ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.civil.queensu.ca/Graduate-Studies/PhD-Comprehensive-Procedures.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937691 | 1,477 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Glenn Manham, a U.K.-based hacker who tried (and failed) to break into Facebook earlier this year, finally got out of prison on Wednesday. It's unclear how long Manham spent in jail but since he was arrested on June 2, it sounds like two months. As a condition of his bail, British courts have forbidden Manham to access the Internet, and despite the fact that he botched his attempt to crack the world's most popular website, he's now the subject of a Scotland Yard investigation as well as one by the FBI.
Frankly, the ratio of things that Manham did not do to the amount of trouble he's in sends a strong message to the hacker community. The Guardian reports that Manham is accused of attempting to access a number of areas on Facebook servers, but failed on every count. "It is not known what data Mangham is accused of accessing," write Shane Dean and Josh Halliday. "The information commissioner's office, which investigates potential data breaches of this kind, said that Facebook had not reported any incident over this period." A Facebook spokesperson confirmed that "no user data was compromised."
So far, Manham has not been connected to the threat from Anonymous to "kill Facebook," but whomever is behind that threat might want to think twice. Once the FBI catches you hacking the consequences can be severe. Legendary hacker Kevin Mitnick just published his memoir about growing up hacking in the 1990s and his sort of hilarious escapades running from the FBI for three years. After they caught him in 1992, Mitnick was sentenced to five years in jail and afterward was forbidden to access the Internet for three years and to profit from telling his life story for seven years. It should be noted that Mitnick was actually very successful at hacking things, but he only did it out of "intellectual curiosity, pursuit of knowledge and seduction of adventure." | <urn:uuid:e9a6fed2-2bd4-4ab0-94a1-e48ed587274a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/08/dont-even-think-about-trying-hack-facebook/41407/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984705 | 386 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Unfazed by a sluggish economy, the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. has set new records for its fiscal year, announcing Monday what will be an all-time high transfer of $293.5 million to education programs in the state.
The mark represents an increase of $4.6 million over last year’s previous record. Lottery officials also report a record-breaking $1.19 billion in total sales, an impressive 4.2 percent increase over the previous year.
The new total generated for education since ticket sales began in January 2004 now stands at $2.07 billion, while total sales have reached $7.8 billion.
“Our strategies to maximize dollars for education continue to pay off for the students and families of Tennessee,” Rebecca Hargrove, president and CEO of the Tennessee Lottery Corporation, said in a release. “In this economic environment, and with demand for scholarships growing, it is critical that we design new and exciting products for our players, provide superior customer services, and operate with the utmost integrity and efficiency. In this fashion we have driven sales and increased funding to the education programs the Lottery supports.”
From its inception following the passage of a state-wide referendum, the Tennessee Lottery has remained an engine to generate funds for education programs. Since lottery-funded education programs began in the fall of 2004, including the well-known HOPE Scholarship initiative, they have been expanded to include 14 programs that include 11 different scholarships and grants for Tennessee students seeking assistance with higher education.
According to the Tennessee Student Assistance Corp., the agency that oversees lottery-funded programs, more than 100,000 students received awards to higher education institutions in the state during the past academic year alone. Lottery funds are also used to support other education-related initiatives, such as after-school programs and an ongoing project to make schools more energy efficient.
In addition to more than $7.8 billion in gross ticket sales since inception, the lottery reports the following details about activity from inception through the end of fiscal year 2011, which ended June 30:
* More than $4.66 billion in prizes won by players, including:
* More than 1,675 prizes of $50,000 or more. Of those, 78 were prizes of $1 million or more (there has been one additional such winner in July);
* More than $509 million paid in retailer commissions. | <urn:uuid:c02de831-ea17-443e-8daa-d9e0598b103d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/lottery-sets-record-sales-funds-state-education | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968854 | 497 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Four tobacco companies have launched a bid to stop the introduction of cigarette plain-packaging in Australia's high court.
In a world first, Australia has legislated for cigarettes to be sold from this December in drab olive packs with large health warnings and no brand logos. Only company names will be permitted on packets, and then only in small, standard type.
The high court action is being watched closely around the world as a test case on plain packaging. The case, brought by British American Tobacco (BAT), Philip Morris, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International will claim the new laws are unconstitutional and mean the government will illegally acquire their intellectual property without compensation.
"As a legal company selling a legal product we have continually said we will defend our property on behalf of our shareholders as any company would," said BAT spokesman Scott McIntyre, who described the action as a test case for all of its brands.
The government denies its legislation is unconstitutional and said it will "vigorously defend" the validity of plain packaging. When if filed its court submissions in early April, the government said plain packaging was a legitimate measure designed to "achieve the protection of public health".
The attorney general Nicola Roxon, who, as health minister was the architect of the plain packaging legislation, described the case as a "big battle". It is due to run until Thursday.
"We believe we can do something that will reduce the (15,000) deaths in Australia that occur every year from tobacco-related disease," she told ABC television.
British-Australian barrister Geoffrey Robertson, also speaking on ABC TV, said he thought the government would win the case. He described the plain packaging laws as "a brilliant Australian idea".
The high court action in Australia coincides with the launch of a consultation process in Britain, which will examine whether tobacco companies should follow suit with plain packaging in the UK.
More than 100,000 people die from smoking-related deaths in the UK each year. The consultation process has been widely welcomed by anti-smoking groups but condemned by some members of the Conservative party who say plain packaging would infringe the rights of international business and set a dangerous precedent.
In Britain around 22% of the adult population smokes, according to Cancer Research UK. In Australia, 15% of adults smoke compared with 23% a decade ago.
Australia already has some of the toughest smoking regulations in the world.
Cigarettes in Australia must be sold behind closed doors in retail outlets and advertising and sponsorship deals are banned. It's illegal to smoke in any public places including bars, restaurants or entertainment venues. In some places local councils have banned smoking in parks and outdoor areas. | <urn:uuid:09c10203-d2d8-4ab4-ac3e-24a7633ac2fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/17/cigarette-plain-packaging-australia-high-court | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962399 | 543 | 1.78125 | 2 |
The Federal Communications Commission is being asked to do a remarkably silly thing: create mandatory "e-mail address portability."
The idea is that because the U.S. Post Office offers to forward physical mail, and because FCC rules require telephone service providers to offer number portability, the same principle should be extended to e-mail accounts.
Here are some excerpts from the petition to the FCC asking for an immediate rulemaking:
In today's world, many individuals and businesses depend just as heavily on their e-mail addresses as on their phone numbers as public points of contact with the larger world. One's e-mail address is a key component of the small matrix of characteristics which forms our public identity: one's name, one's address, one's phone number, and one's e-mail address. This is how the world knows who we are and how to contact us. E-mail addresses are now customarily included on letterheads, resumes and Web sites. The loss of an e-mail address is therefore a crushing blow to any business since not only does all the collateral material have to be discarded, but all the good will that has been generated over the years with that address can be lost in a second if the address is terminated.
The solution to this problem is clear: require ISPs to port e-mail traffic to new e-mail addresses designated by customers. There is no technical reason at all why an e-mail sent to "firstname.lastname@example.org" could not be automatically forwarded by AOL to "email@example.com." This would require none of the technical re-tooling which LNP entailed and could be implemented almost immediately. This simple measure would provide the American public--both consumers and the business community--with the basic confidence that their personal or business identity cannot be destroyed at the whim of their ISP.
The petition was filed by Gail Mortenson, a freelance writer in Washington, D.C., who had a run-in with AOL customer service when she tried to stop paying monthly service charges (some AOL services like e-mail are now free). Mortenson says her AOL account was unceremoniously closed after she disclosed to AOL customer service that her son had been a minor when he opened it.
Now, I admit that AOL was being unreasonable, but that doesn't mean the FCC needs to get involved. So just why is Mortenson's proposal silly? Let me count the ways:
1. If you're running any kind of business, even a freelance writing business, it's naive to use an AOL, Hotmail or Yahoo e-mail address. This will be your online identity for the foreseeable future, and you don't know if those companies will be around (or if you'll like their e-mail clients or annual fees) a decade from now. Buy your own domain name for around $10 a year instead.
2. E-mail is not the telephone system. The way e-mail forwarding works is for the message to be received by firstname.lastname@example.org, which AOL's mail transport agent forwards to email@example.com. If the customer switches accounts a second time, the message would be forwarded from AOL to Yahoo and on again to firstname.lastname@example.org. Any message to address1 would bounce through three different e-mail providers--a horrifically inefficient delivery route. It also introduces more ways for delivery to fail; if even one e-mail provider in the chain is having network difficulties, email to address1 won't get through.
3. E-mail is free. Let's keep it that way. By that I mean companies like Yahoo and Microsoft offer us no-cost e-mail services in exchange for sending us ads. If they're forced by FCC edict to be a free e-mail forwarding service and they can't make any money at it, they may be less likely to offer free e-mail (or generous mailbox sizes) in the first place.
4. Domain names are portable but e-mail addresses are not. Internet engineers refer to the "protocol stack," and a similar concept applies to policy matters too. If you own a domain name and don't like your registrar or hosting provider, you can take your business elsewhere in a highly competitive market. E-mail addresses are the wrong level of the policy stack to target.
5. The FCC probably does not have the authority to do this. If the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit wouldn't let the FCC get away with mandating the broadcast flag, why would it let the FCC get away with mandating the even more dubious requirement of e-mail portability?
6. E-mail portability already exists in some forms. Gmail offers e-mail forwarding. So does Pobox.com, for $20 a year. There's nothing stopping other services from using e-mail forwarding (perhaps for a year after a customer closes his account) to differentiate themselves from their rivals. Or from coming up with Internetwide standards if there's sufficient customer demand.
7. There's no market failure. Not only is pre-emptive regulation rarely wise, but it's extra double-plus unwise when there's no market failure, a term some economists use to describe when the free market is inefficient because of, say, imperfect competition. Buying your own domain name is a counterpoint to any alleged market failure. Besides, getting the FCC involved is much more likely to lead to what's known as a government failure.
I have no inside knowledge about whether the FCC will take Mortenson seriously enough to start a formal proceeding. But stranger things have happened in Washington, and sometimes shining a bright light on silly proposals is the best way to ensure they quietly expire in the dark. | <urn:uuid:64d35802-e287-4e92-a5b3-544ef157a9ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-9790821-38.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963841 | 1,194 | 1.6875 | 2 |
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Yakima Training Center bids a fond farewell to its Huey
The US Army is phasing out the UH-1 "Huey" helicopter by October, 2012. The workhorse of the Vietnam war is one of the most widely recognized helicopters in the world. The Yakima Training Center Air Ambulance Detachment retires its Huey in a final flight ceremony at 10 a.m. this Wednesday, January 25.
The Huey will have two special guests aboard its final flight around the YTC range, Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Bruce P. Crandall (US Army retired) and Master Aviator and former 9th Aviation Battalion commander Colonel Philip E. Courts (US Army retired).
The UH-1 Hueys began service with the Army in 1959. More than 15,000 were built, and about 7,000 of them were flown in Vietnam. The Army National Guard retired its Hueys in 2009.
The Huey being retired in Yakima will be replaced by a UH-72A Lakota Light Utility Helicopter. | <urn:uuid:4eef5bb6-290f-41ac-9346-991ebfec3f67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kplu.org/post/yakima-training-center-bids-fond-farewell-its-huey | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96075 | 228 | 1.726563 | 2 |
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This long-awaited biography, twenty years after the last major account, uncovers Dickens the man through the profession in which he excelled. Drawing on a lifetime’s study of this prodigiously brilliant figure, Michael Slater explores the personal and emotional life, the high-profile public activities, the relentless travel, the charitable works, the amateur theatricals and the astonishing productivity. But the core focus is Dickens’ career as a writer and professional author, covering not only his big novels but also his phenomenal output of other writing—letters, journalism, shorter fiction, plays, verses, essays, writings for children, travel books, speeches, and scripts for his public readings, and the relationships among them.
Slater’s account, rooted in deep research but written with affection, clarity, and economy, illuminates the context of each of the great novels while locating the life of the author within the imagination that created them. It highlights Dickens’ boundless energy, his passion for order and fascination with disorder, his organizational genius, his deep concern for the poor and outrage at indifference towards them, his susceptibility towards young women, his love of Christmas and fairy tales, and his hatred of tyranny.
Richly and precisely illustrated with many rare images, this masterly work on the complete Dickens, man and writer, becomes the indispensable guide and companion to one of the greatest novelists in the language.
— Michael Dirda
— Edwin M. Yoder
— Alexandra Mullen
— Ian Duncan
— David Propson
— Brian Murray
— Adam Thirlwell
— Holly Furneaux
— Rudolf Ny�ri
— Valerie Kennedy
And yet it is hard to avoid the conclusion that, for all the human variety contained within Dickens's crowded fictions, and for all the myriad energy of his achievements -- that groaning shelf of novels and short works, the social crusades, magazines founded and edited, colleagues brought up under his wing, and the invention of the novelist's reading as a public event -- Charles Dickens was only one person: a writer. Speaking to a colleague about another of the magazines he edited, he tellingly confused "Charles Dickens" with what came out of his pen: "I diffuse myself with infinite pains through Household Words and leave very few pages, indeed, untouched." In his own eyes he seems to have been something of a well of his own style and sensibility, his soul an inky liquid to be pumped out onto manuscript sheets.
This close connection has been made clear for generations of readers, of course, by the way the author drew on his own childhood -- years marred by his prodigal father's debt, which subverted his middle-class education and replaced it with a stint working in a factory at the age of twelve -- in novels like David Copperfield and Little Dorrit. But the version of Dickens as the inventor who turned his early suffering into enduring fictions doesn't much help prepare one to take in the scope of Dickens's intertwined life and life's work, which brought him a level of individual celebrity that went nearly unrivalled by a novelist until the advent of J. K. Rowling.
Slater's long-anticipated biography of the writer, thankfully, makes just such perspective possible -- though, at the rate its 600-plus pages sail by, one could be forgiven for failing to remark it. Though the author is an eminent scholar of his subject, his deep dives into archival materials never result in academically dehydrated findings. Instead, we get thrilling access to the life Dickens lived as it poured out onto the page. Dickens's private letters, his many minor articles, short stories, sketches, and editorial notes -- all are made to speak in the service of Slater's fully animated portrait. The result is so lively and so packed with fascinations that one scarcely notices the heft of the research behind it.
The commercial and the artistic mingled indiscriminately in Dickens. Even as his career as a novelist was taking off, he couldn't turn down the offer to edit (and in the end, rewrite) the memoirs of the famous stage clown Joseph Grimaldi -- turning "twaddle" as he called it, into readable prose. Students are still asked to read Great Expectations with an eye to theme and structure; what would they make of the fact that the novel, originally planned to be written in expansive and leisurely monthly segments, was hastily re-conceived as a weekly serial to run in All the Year Round, when the meandering work of another contributor sent sales plummeting (Dickens held a "council of war" with his partners and decided to "strike in" himself to save the day)?
But Dickens's investment in the book itself was personal: he suffered an intense "neuralgia of the face" throughout the book's composition, and though Slater is deeply cautious about psychological analysis, he suggests that Pip's apparently deluded pursuit of Estella seemed to return the author to the painful memories of a youthful rejection suffered himself. A few years earlier, his decision to become the mesmerizing public reader who re-enacted the murder of Nancy from Oliver Twist to terror-struck audiences of hundreds had also been born, as Slater documents, out of a thoroughly mixed desire to make more money and to commune with his adoring readership. His confidant and eventual biographer, John Forster, thought it a tawdry dimunition: Dickens ignored Forster's scruples.
That need for communion had a perpetual hold over Dickens, who would have made a superlative blogger: he wrote brilliantly under pressure, "dashing off" fictional stories, travel pieces, slice-of-life essays, character studies, and unstoppable critiques of social injustices at a rate that would be hard to believe if it weren't so well documented. But these performances were so fluid and immediate that Dickens spent a considerable amount of energy throughout his career inveighing against those who presumed that writing was anything other than grueling labor. In one angry missive about a hopeful contributor to Household Words:
He has a general idea that literature is the easiest amusement in the whole world. He figures a successful author as a radiant personage whose whole time is devoted to idleness and pastime -- who keeps a prolific mind in a sort of a corn-sieve, and lightly shakes a bushel out of it sometimes, in an odd half hour after breakfast.Even if the tone of familiarity and self-mocking ease he took with his readers suggested otherwise, Dickens argued that an almost monkish program of "patience, study, punctuality, determination, self-denial, training of mind and body, hours of application and seclusion" were required "to produce what [the reader] reads in seconds."
Though he remained adamant in representing himself as a self-exhausting martyr to the page, Dickens seems to have been the life of nearly every party he attended. This had nothing to do with the fact that he was famous -- or at least, only partly to do with it. The fact of the matter was that he was a walking, talking entertainment. Carlyle's description suggests much: "Clear blue intelligent eyes, eyebrows that he arches amazingly, large protrusive rather loose mouth -- a face of most extreme mobility, which he shuttles about, eyebrows, eyes, mouth and all, in a very singular manner when speaking."
That busily expressive face, so productive of droll stories and anecdotes taken from some slight experience walking over to his hostess' townhouse that very afternoon -- it never seems to have flagged, except in the most trusted company, and not, often, even then. Most of the major Victorians are exhausting to contemplate, Dickens even more so -- although Slater's descriptions of the novelist's whirlwind exertions are a vicarious delight. In his later career, after finishing a major work, he would unwind by hauling Wilkie Collins or another friend along as he hurled himself up a mountain or undertook another travel challenge. And then, before returning, he'd promptly write a three-part travel essay for his magazine, complete with humorous sketches of the bumbling innkeeper or a searing portrait of human suffering, like a snapshot sketch of the bleak Cornish mining country, with its "solitary works on remote hill-tops, and bare machinery of torturing wheels and cogs and chains, writhing up hill-sides" like demonically mechanized serpents.
Despite the novelist's relentless literary output, as John Forster was surprised to discover as he composed his Life of Dickens in the months following Dickens's death in 1870, his correspondence proves that he wasn't even close to exhausting the material unconsciously gathered every time he set foot out of the door. According to Slater, for example, Forster presumed that Dickens's American Notes comprised the cream of the writer's puckish observations on his 1842 tour of the United States. But the published work contained, it turned out, none of Dickens's mordant observations on his chat with President Tyler, which he portrayed in a letter as a solemn exchange of confused platitudes and uncomfortable silences, with the President seated by his "great spit box."
Another scene Slater unearths, from a letter to the philanthropist Angela Burdett Coutts, shows that it wasn't only Dickens the humorist who created surplus material, but also Dickens the indelible dramatist of human want. Exploring a povery-stricken part of Southwark, and faced in a deserted block by a forlorn child staring from a ramshackle gallery, Dickens was transfixed:
God knows when anybody will go in to the child, but I suppose it's looking over still -- with a little wiry head of hair...all sticking up on its head -- and an old weazen face --and two bony hands holding on to the rail of the gallery, with little fingers like convulsed skewers.One isn't sure which to marvel at more -- the masterful compression of the writer's touch, or the power of Dickens's perpetual identification with the figure of a suffering child, old and young at once, coming around again with desperate force. The magnanimous energy with which the observer inhabits the scene is, of course, nothing short of Dickensian -- a word as rich with pleasures and emotions as any in English literature, and one that is animated with new meanings in this generous biography. --Bill Tipper
A former teacher of literature, Bill Tipper has been Managing Editor of the Barnes & Noble Review since its launch in 2007. His reviews have appeared in the Washington Post Book World and elsewhere.
Posted June 22, 2011 | <urn:uuid:5ad9fdf7-6812-4314-bdae-51d3258ae56c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/charles-dickens-michael-slater/1101223088?ean=9780300112078 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972186 | 2,206 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Fitness trainer Angela Parker, center, leads a class at Palisades Park… (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times )
Money can't buy happiness, but Santa Monica just won a million dollars to measure it.
On Wednesday, the seaside city was named a winner in the first-ever Bloomberg Philanthropies' Mayors Challenge, with an idea Santa Monica Mayor Pam O'Connor called a "game-changer." As one of four runners-up in the nationwide competition, the city will receive the award as seed money to develop its "Wellbeing Project."
The idea is to create a well-being index using data that measure various aspects of civic life. For example, officials say that if they can measure how connected residents feel to their community, they can predict how well they will bounce back after a natural disaster, mass shooting or some other catastrophic event.
Once city officials know just how residents are doing, they say they can focus money and attention on the things that people need most.
"It's about building a resilient community," O'Connor said. "And that resilience will help people thrive."
Santa Monica officials have been working on their proposal for months. It was among those of more than 300 cities that submitted ideas to Bloomberg Philanthropies, led by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who called on cities to "find and spread innovative local solutions to national problems."
In the fall, Santa Monica was named one of 20 finalists. City employees flew to New York for "Ideas Camp," where they got help refining their projects.
On Wednesday, Providence, R.I., was awarded the grand prize of $5 million for its "Providence Talks" program. The city hopes to improve the language skills of children born into low-income homes.
Houston, Chicago and Philadelphia were also named runners-up alongside Santa Monica. They too will receive a $1-million prize to kick-start projects such as a "one bin for all" recycling program and an analytics platform that will make city government more efficient.
"The competition has provided evidence that cities are really the new laboratories of democracy," Bloomberg said. "If we can help them along, we can sleep well at night."
Santa Monica's project will be carried out over the next two years, and its creators hope to develop a model that can be used nationwide, said Santa Monica city staff member Dean Kubani.
Work with Rand Corp. and other experts will continue as the index develops, Kubani said. The city will need to gather data on factors that drive well-being, such as economics, education, health and social connectedness, and ultimately that data will be funneled into an overall well-being score. In the second year of the project, officials said they will use the index to frame decisions by city government, neighborhood groups and nonprofits.
Much of the prize money will be paid to consultants who help develop the index, Kubani added. He said the city is contributing about $750,000 in contributions of staff time, but no additional dollars.
Fitness trainer Angela Parker lives and works in Santa Monica and called her city a "very special neighborhood." She said she was pleased that the city wants to examine nontraditional metrics such as connectedness.
Parker walks around town — to get her morning coffee and dry cleaning — and sees acquaintances along the way. In the city parks where she runs her fitness classes, most of the trainers know one another too.
"You see these people that feel so connected to the people they are exercising with," Parker said. "I think they're going to find that across the board. I'm not surprised that Santa Monica was given this grant, because I think the results will be exemplary." | <urn:uuid:bf3fcd0a-808b-469d-a51c-7afa2b3ce703> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/13/local/la-me-well-being-20130314 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973797 | 767 | 1.664063 | 2 |
I’m going to share with you some of the things I’ve realized about leadership in the several places I’ve volunteered/worked…and I believe they do apply, more or less, at all levels and in all kinds of organizations whether for profit, non profit or governmental.
I believe a clear set of qualities can be found across most those who we look up to as leaders or enjoy working with. Some of which are the following:
Vision: A leader without a vision is like a captain sailing a ship into oblivion. Without a clear direction, a goal or even a dream…that person is not leading but merely managing the work being done without giving much value to why is it being done, how and what for.
Trust: This has proved to be so essential for anyone to be a leader, he/she needs to be trusted and to be able to know how trust others. Without that sense of trust, the leader will quickly loose ground and wont have a team to work with.
Transparency: If the leader is not clear with those he’s working with then they will lose interest, have distorted ideas of what needs to be done, and they most probably will not have a shared common goal.
Stability: A leader needs to be to stable and strong to be able to support his/her team. Without that stability, both he/she and his/her team will crumble sooner or later. Stability comes from several factors…from within, from the society, from family, from work, finances…etc. Thus it is tricky to strike a balance between it all and manage to be as strong and stable as a mountain.
Competence: Any leader who is not found to be competent and able to implement work properly, he/she will not be able to lead a team. Being able to lead others by example proved to be one of the most effective ways. Thus sharing the successes and achievements he/she has done and can do in the future will raise the moral of his/her team and provide guidance.
Humbleness: A leader’s ego can lead to his/her downfall if it is not checked and trimmed often. The leader needs to keep his/her feet on the ground, always treat others as equals and make sure that how he/she acts/talks does not reflect any bossy-attitude, arrogance or a sense of superiority. Everyone on the team is equally important, respectful and worth giving the attention of the leader to develop and grow.
I know those aren’t much, but after my personal reflections those seemed to be the most obvious and note-worthy qualities that a person needs to have to be able to lead.
Let me know if you have others in mind
Sometimes I wonder what makes a company, organization, institution ..etc a great workplace. What are those factors that usually matter to employees to really love where they are working.
Now I’m not going to discuss whether the person is in the right type of job or not, that’s a completely different story. I am just trying to understand if people are doing the job they supposedly want, what makes the place they work at be a great one.
I was reading “The Great Workplace”, authors Michael Burchell and Jennifer Robin, and in it they write, “you need to do your job realizing that how you do what you do makes a world of difference to employees. The secret of great workplaces is relationships.”
In another chapter, the book highlights that the employees said “they believe their leaders to be credible, respectful, and fair—they trust them. They also take pride in what they do, and they share a sense of camaraderie with their coworkers.”
So it really revolves more about the relation of employees amongst each other and with their leaders or senior or managers or whatever you wish to call them.
Some people argue that what holds leaders back from doing something about this is the not having the faith that there are bottom line results from doing the right thing. Another excuse is no time. Lack of situational awareness and the belief that they should just be focusing on the business also keep leaders from focusing on the relationships that really underlie everything they do.
After further research I found that there is a institute called “The Great Place to Work Institute” and the researchers there found that great workplaces exist regardless of size, industry, or location because the Model is based on universal “needs and values—trust of the people you work for, pride in what you do, and enjoyment of the people you work with.”
So I felt like sharing the Model with you and to get your feedback on it. Check the diagram bellow and let me know your input. | <urn:uuid:2efe2d85-27eb-435a-b9cf-20d1b5616d3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://afiftabsh.com/tag/leaders/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970271 | 986 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Fans of the Green Bay Packers and history buffs will soon be able to literally, stroll down memory lane. The Packers Heritage Trail was launched today and the self-guided, walking tour of historically significant locations in the Packers history between 1919-1968 will be launched on June 15. The brainchild of former Packers beat writer for the Green Bay Press Gazette and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cliff Christl and his wife Shirley, the heritage trail is patterned after the Freedom Trail in Boston. Each stop of the tour will be marked by a bronze plaque with at least a 250 word narrative of the location's impact on the NFL's most storied franchise. Christl enlisted the help of a volunteer board of directors for the Packers Hertiage Foundation and quickly realized how much local government, business and the general public were behind the idea. An avid historian of the franchise, Christl narrowed down a list of sites to 22, with 17 of those locations still standing. From the original Press Gazette building where the franchise was formed in August of 1919, to Curley Lambeau's birth home, the Indian, then Acme Packing company, Hagemeister Park, Bellevue Park, city stadium, St. Willebroad's Parish, the Elks Club lodge, the Hotel Northland just to name a few. The Neville Public Museum will serve as the trail head, with two spurs. One covering the franchise's earliest days with locations near downtown Green Bay. A second branches all the way to Allouez, where Vince Lombardi lived, to St. Norbert College in De Pere. The walking tour downtown covers approximately four and a half miles. The trail, it's locations and details on each stop are highlighted on the foundation's new web site, PackersHeritageTrails.com. On the link below, you'll hear more about the trail from Christl, Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy and Brad Toll, president of the Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau. Happy trails Packers fans! | <urn:uuid:c20bab36-8b2a-4c7d-aaf5-69f73992b495> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wixx.com/blogs/post/mdaniels/2012/may/08/packers-heritage-trail-launched/ | 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 | 0.943838 | 400 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Conserving Energy while Heli-Skiing
"These, my friends, are Dumb Falls."
Even with a helicopter to take you up the hill, heli-skiing can be pretty exhausting. For some pointers on conserving energy I caught up with John Mellis, the gregarious manager of CMH's Cariboo Lodge, just before he left for a pre-winter surf trip to Hawaii. He busted out some answers that were, well, right to the point.
Topher Donahue: Hey, Johnny, what is the number one thing heli-skiers do that wastes energy?
John Mellis: In my experience, the biggest waste of energy is people arriving out of shape.
TD: So what's it like for a first time heli-skier?
JM: A new heli skier has to survive the first half of the first day on his own. I don't say much in the first few runs - it tends to be a waste of breath.
TD: Why's that?
JM: The mind of a first-timer, in the first few runs, is completely overstimulated and blocked for learning. There is way too much going on for them to learn. If they can make it through lunch - and aren't completely whipped - this is when the learning curve begins.
TD: So that's where the fitness comes in - if you aren't at least moderately fit you might not even make it to the learning curve?
JM: Exactly. Then you need to find a little confidence which gives you the mental space to get into a new skill set. As soon as you can find this precious bit of confidence, the next lesson is terrain reading. Poor terrain reading skills can cause one much grief and cost plenty of energy.
TD: So a skier with intermediate skills who pays attention to the terrain might be more efficient than a better technical skier with poor terrain judgement?
JM: I see that all the time.
TD: So what are your tips for reading terrain?
JM: Here's the big ones:
- Hit dips and gullies on an angle!
- Anticipate flat areas so you glide across effortlessly instead of walking!
- Stay on the high side of features - keeps your options open!
- Look between the trees - not at them!
TD: It seems like heli-stress can burn a lot of energy too. Any advice there?
JM: Helicopters definitely boost the heart rate and make people nervous in the beginning. The key for this is be ready. Have your hat and goggles back on your body instead of scattered around in the snow. Make sure your jacket is done up. Get away from the last minute scramble and you can relax for the easy ride.
TD: What about getting in and our of your skis and preparing them for the helicopter?
JM: It's amazing how such a little thing can waste so much energy. Do what your guide does:
- Start on on the flattest place possible put on your downhill ski first.
- Clean your boots by kicking and scraping the top of your toe piece.
- For strapping your skis and poles together for loading on the helicopter, it's easy, but ask your guide for a demonstration.
- More then anything use a little common sense.
TD: Just standing still in those wild mountains feels tiring. How do you rest out there?
JM: The trick I use for standing still on a mountainside is to jam either one or sometimes both of the heels of my skis into the slope.Then I place the tips of my poles behind the toe pieces of my bindings and lean on my poles - creates a great rest.
TD: So here's the big one - do you have any tips for skiing efficiently?
JM: I'll save the dynamic ski teaching concepts for Roko, but powder skiing is the most relaxing and upper-body-quiet type of skiing there is.
TD: Surely there is a tip that is left out of even the best Austrian ski instructor's thick trick book.
JM: Ok. I'll add just one tip that will save you a ton of energy: Think about skiing
and only skiing from the first turn to the last when you come to a complete stop beside your guide. What I observe - about fifty times a day - is skiers taking the dreaded dumb fall
. To many dumb falls in a day in deep snow, and then climbing out of your crater in the snow, will rob you of the power to enjoy awesome powder skiing. The most common place for dumb falls is at the end of a pitch of skiing while approaching your group and guide. The skier usually starts talking or showing off right at the last turn causing the most embarrassing crash. This becomes the avoidable energy waster and everybody waits as you clean your goggles.
TD: That sounds kind of dangerous for you!
JM: Yeah, I often wonder if there is a bull's eye drawn on my suit. As the first skier comes down he locks eyes with me, his target, starts into his wiggly, tight show-off turns, crosses a tip and face plants at my feet - hopefully without hitting me. These, my friends, are Dumb Falls.
TD: What about saving energy over multiple days of skiing?
JM: Take the opportunity to go back to the lodge before you become completely exhausted. End the day on a good note and you'll recover for tomorrow.
TD: Good stuff. Thanks!
JM: One more thing: Attitude is everything. With a good attitude you're able to learn, you don't wast energy being frustrated, and you'll be able to brush things off and try again. I believe the mountains are no place for negative energy. Remember, you are on your holiday.
Never Heli-Skied before, but considering it? View CMH's First Timers
video and consider a Powder Introduction
. And never hesitate to give us a call at 1.800.661.0252. We love to talk skiing and we'll be honest an up-front with you to work together to find the best fit for your Heli-Ski vacation. | <urn:uuid:7efd1ee5-4cbb-48e3-b8e8-34cc3af7c62b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.canadianmountainholidays.com/heli-ski-blog/bid/27824/Conserving-Energy-while-Heli-Skiing | 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 | 0.947415 | 1,285 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The bank accounts of every farmer in England have been at risk after the Rural Payments Agency lost confidential data belonging to anyone who has ever claimed a single farm payment.
Computer tapes containing the bank details, addresses, passwords and security questions of more than 100,000 farmers were discovered missing in May.
DEFRA was alerted to the issue immediately, but it is Farmers Weekly's understanding that the department did not inform and that the agency only discovered the problem in September.
At no time has the agency or DEFRA attempted to inform farmers about the breach.
Leaked information was given to Farmers Weekly this week by frustrated civil servants working on the single payments system within the RPA and an external consultant who has been advising the agency.
These whistle-blowers were concerned that the RPA and DEFRA would remain tight-lipped over the incident and about the risks the breach posed to farmers.
They claimed that 39 back-up tapes containing confidential details went missing after they were transferred from RPA offices in Reading to Newcastle.
Thirty-seven of the tapes have since been recovered, but two remain unaccounted for.
DEFRA has admitted that tapes went missing, but told Farmers Weekly that the data was not lost in transit and was instead misplaced within the data centre.
A DEFRA spokeswoman said a thorough search was conducted to find the missing material and concluded that some tapes were misfiled and placed 'on the wrong shelf'.
She described this as "bad book-keeping" by RPA-contracted IT consultants IBM, who run the data centre.
DEFRA said it assumed that the two tapes that were never found must have been destroyed.
The breach of security is the latest disaster for the agency, which has faced a catalogue of errors since the single payment scheme was launched in 2005.
According to the whistleblowers, the error occurred after back-up tapes containing confidential details were sent between IBM and another IT consultant,
The tapes were last accounted for in June 2008, but it was not until May this year that IBM realised the data was missing and informed DEFRA.
The sources claim DEFRA tried to cover the error and it was only realised by the RPA in September when annual data checks were carried out.
One source said the tapes had not been encrypted as they should have been - a step which would secure the data so it could not be accessed if it fell into the wrong hands.
"DEFRA knew about this and did nothing," the source said. "People should be made aware that their details have gone
"I know people at the middle management level tried to advise senior civil servants to do the right thing and tell farmers, but they're not listening."
In further security breaches, the sources claim members of the senior RPA management team have failed to report the loss of memory sticks and laptops which could contain farmers' information.
"It's symptomatic of the senior managers. There are a lot of good people working in the lower levels of the organisation, but we think the top-level board is rotten to the core."
DEFRA admitted its data was not encrypted, but insisted information could not be accessed without specialised technical equipment and knowledge.
When Farmers Weekly put the whistleblowers' accusations to DEFRA and the RPA, we received the following statement:
"Since these incidents, procedures have been further tightened to prevent a recurrance. IBM have instigated a thorough review of their procedures to manage removable storage media, such as these tapes, as well as tightening access control requirements.
"The tapes are held in a secure IBM data centre and only IBM and Accenture technicians have access to them. Both IBM and Accenture were asked to review their security arrangements as a result of this incident."
DEFRA said the risk posed to farmers was very low. | <urn:uuid:c18a8501-29cd-4f7d-b1b8-809f72113ad9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fwi.co.uk/articles/29/10/2009/118497/exclusive-rpa-loses-farmers39-bank-details.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98488 | 775 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Looking for relatives of:
Ellen Kennedy was born on 23 February 1873 at Ballylummin, Ahoghill which is in the registration district of Ahoghill in the Union of Ballymena, Co. Antrim. Her father was Bryan Kennedy, Ballylummin, a Labourer. Her mother was June [or Jane] Kennedy formerly Dickey. The birth was registered on 14 March 1873 by Nancy Luke, Ballylummin, who was present at birth. Nancy signed with her mark.
Does any of this following data link into this family?
ORDNANCE SURVEY MEMOIRS OF COUNTY ANTRIM VII: Ballymena and West Antrim
Statistical Report by Lieutenant T.C. Robe Apr. 1833
by Lew Gregory email@example.com
PARISHES: AHOGHILL ; BALLYCLUG; FINVOY
DICKEY, John 12 34
KENNEDY 60 76
KENNEDY, Bernard 34
KENNEDY, James 38
KENNEDY, John, Ann 37
[These are ages so in 1833, Bernard Kennedy would have been born abt. 1799. This could the older/senior Bernard Kennedy.
The older Kennedys age 60 & age 76 could well have been the privious generation and/or the parents of James, Bernard, and John.
This older Kennedy age 76 would have been born in about 1757.
In the 1848-1864 period there is a Bernard Kennedy there, as well.
John Dickey could have been Jane's brother and the older Dickey age 63, her father?? This kind of fits but is it accurate?
Bernard and Jane along with Ellen are in Scotland by 1881 [see following]
1881Census shows family @ 31 Watsonville Rows, Hamilton, Lanark, Scotland
BERNARD 35 WISHAW [Why was Bernard b Scotland?]
JANE 36 IRE
SARA ANN 14 IRE
MARY JANE 11 IRE
THERESA 09 IRE
HELEN 08 IRE
AGNES 05 MOTHERWELL [Scotland]
FRANCIS 01 MOTHERWELL [Scotland]
[so in abt 1865 Bernard Kennedy would have been in Ire.
Griffith Valuation of 1848-1864 shows that there was a Bernard Kennedy @ Broughshane St. Ballymena, Antrim!]
It would appear that this family was in Ireland during the 1867 and 1879 period.
I am really in hope that this will tie into someone else's family reseach! | <urn:uuid:a8ec3b7e-1519-4cc3-a82b-0f2c0185bb4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://irishgenealogy.net/cp/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=1176 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943096 | 563 | 1.507813 | 2 |
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