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PennDOT to Offer Free Voter ID
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - What Pennsylvania's State Department calls a "safety net" photo identification card is now available to certain registered voters.
The card, which is being rolled out Monday and Tuesday at PennDOT centers, was developed in response to complaints many voters cannot qualify for a conventional PennDOT identification card.
To apply, voters must first apply for a PennDOT card. If they cannot provide the required birth certificate, officials say they'll be issued a State Department card so long as they're registered to vote, know their Social Security number and can verify their address.
A state law taking effect on Election Day requires all voters to show a Pennsylvania driver's license or another valid photo ID at their polling places.
The new State Department card is free and valid for 10 years. | <urn:uuid:a596f812-d0d8-4f00-a734-6c29c0e327cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.weny.com/news/regional-news/penndot-pa-voter-id-law-082712 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955725 | 177 | 1.773438 | 2 |
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Police have closed down dozens of toy shops for selling Barbie dolls, part of a decades-long crackdown on signs of Western culture in Iran, the semiofficial Mehr news agency reported Friday.
Mehr quoted an unnamed police official as saying police confiscated Barbie dolls from toy shops in Tehran in a "new phase" of its crackdown against "manifestations of Western culture."
Barbie dolls are sold wearing swimsuits and miniskirts in a society where women must wear head scarves in public, and men and women are not allowed to swim together.
A ban on the sale of Barbie dolls, designed to look like young Western women, was imposed in the mid-1990s.
In 1996, a government-backed children's agency called Barbie a "Trojan horse" sneaking in Western influences like makeup and revealing clothes.
Authorities launched a campaign of confiscating Barbie dolls from toy shops in 2002, denouncing what they called the un-Islamic characteristics of the uniquely American doll. The campaign was eventually dropped.
Also in 2002, Iran introduced its own competing dolls - twins Dara and Sara - who were designed to promote traditional values with modest clothing and pro-family stories. But the dolls proved unable to stem the Barbie tide.
Despite bans on many Western books, movies, satellite TV channels, music, haircuts and fashions, young people maintain their interest in Western culture.
Even channels of Iran's state TV broadcast several Western and Hollywood films every week. Islamists have repeatedly tried to fight what they see as a Western cultural "invasion" since 1979 Islamic Revolution that ousted a pro-Western monarchy.
Since then, importing Western toys has been discouraged by a regime that seeks to protect Iranians from what it calls the negative effects of Western culture.
In 2008, the Iranian judiciary warned against the "destructive" cultural and social consequences and "danger" of importing Barbie dolls and other Western toys.
Even so, Iranian markets have been full of Western toys aimed at Iranian children. One-third of Iran's population of 75 million is under 15 years old. | <urn:uuid:0c99d20f-51ac-4fa5-8ca4-5cbe837ebf6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2012-01-20/agency-iran-shuts-down-toy-shops-selling-barbie-dolls-seen-leaders-dangerous | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960902 | 432 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Description of the OASYS Oral/Nasal Airway System®
The OASYS Oral/Nasal Airway System® the only dental device for treatment of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea that is FDA approved to treat both the oral and nasal airway. It was reviewed by both the dental and ENT divisions of the FDA and approved two categories - acting as a nasal dilator and mandibular repositioner with one oral appliance system.
This appliance is unique because it acts in multiple areas at once. It acts as a nasal dilator by stretching the upper lip from inside of the mouth to dilate the nasal passage. ENT physicians perform a test called the Cottle Maneuver in which they test for improved nasal airflow by stretching the skin on the sides of the nose from the outside which causes the same nasal dilation as the OASYS Oral Nasal Airway System® does from the inside.
The OASYS Oral Nasal Airway System® keeps a sleeping persons pharyngeal airway open during the night by acting as a mandibular repositioner, pulling the lower jaw forward and bringing the tongue forward so it does not block the throat air passage just like one trained in CPR would do to open the airway so one could breathe into the lungs to resuscitate an unconscious person.
It is a custom-made appliance that snaps easily over the lower teeth. One inserts the base onto the lower teeth and brings the lower jaw forward to bring the upper shield extension in front of the upper anterior teeth which holds the lower jaw forward. There is a thin splint that goes over the upper dental arch that acts as a cushion for the upper teeth. | <urn:uuid:ef826f97-1178-428e-9259-acc3a0217bc6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oasyssleep.com/clinicians/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931718 | 347 | 1.609375 | 2 |
2 Mexicans face 30 years for tweet in ‘War of the Worlds’ panic
Explore This Story
MEXICO CITY — Think before you tweet.
A former teacher turned radio commentator and a math tutor who lives with his mother sit in a prison in southern Mexico, facing possible 30-year sentences for terrorism and sabotage in what may be the most serious charges ever brought against anyone using a Twitter social network account.
Prosecutors say the defendants helped cause a chaos of car crashes and panic as parents in the Gulf Coast city of Veracruz rushed to save their children because of false reports that gunmen were attacking schools.
Gerardo Buganza, interior secretary for Veracruz state, compared the panic to that caused by Orson Welles’ 1938 radio broadcast of “The War of the Worlds.” But he said the fear roused by that account of a Martian invasion of New Jersey “was small compared to what happened here.”
“Here, there were 26 car accidents, or people left their cars in the middle of the streets to run and pick up their children, because they thought these things were occurring at their kids’ schools,” Buganza told local reporters.
The charges say the messages caused such panic that emergency numbers “totally collapsed because people were terrified,” damaging service for real emergencies.
Veracruz, the state’s largest city, and the neighboring suburb of Boca del Rio were already on edge after weeks of gunbattles involving drug traffickers. One attack occurred on a major boulevard. In another, gunmen tossed a grenade outside the city aquarium, killing an tourist and seriously wounding his wife and their two young children.
On Aug. 25, nerves were further frayed when residents saw armed convoys of marines circulating on the streets, making some think a confrontation with gangs was imminent.
That is when Gilberto Martinez Vera, who works as a low-paid tutor at several private schools, allegedly opened the floodgates of fear with repeated messages that gunmen were taking children from schools.
“My sister-in-law just called me all upset, they just kidnapped five children from the school,” Martinez tweeted.
In fact, no such kidnappings occurred that day. Defense lawyer Claribel Guevara said the rumors already had started and that Martinez Vera was just relaying what others told him. She said he never claimed to have firsthand knowledge of the incident.
But in a subsequent tweet about the kidnap rumor, he said, “I don’t know what time it happened, but it’s true.” He also tweeted that three days earlier, “they mowed down six kids between 13 and 15 in the Hidalgo neighborhood.” While a similar attack occurred, it didn’t involve children.
Prosecutors say the rumors were also sent by Maria de Jesus Bravo Pagola, who has worked as a teacher, a state arts official and a radio commentator. She says she was just relaying such messages to her own Twitter followers.
“How can they possibly do this to me, for re-tweeting a message? I mean, it’s 140 characters. It’s not logical,’” said Guevara, quoting her client.
Better known on the radio and social networks as “Maruchi,” her Facebook site now features the Twitter logo, a little bluebird, blindfolded and standing in front of the scales of justice, with the slogan “I too am a TwitTerrorist.”
Online petitions are circulating to demand her release, and the pair’s cause has been taken up by human rights groups that call the charges exaggerated. Amnesty International says officials are violating freedom of expression and it blames the panic on the uncertainty many Mexicans feel amid a drug war in which more than 35,000 people have died over the past five years.
“The lack of safety creates an atmosphere of mistrust in which rumors that circulate on social networks are part of people’s efforts to protect themselves, since there is very little trustworthy information,” Amnesty wrote in a statement on the case.
In violence-wracked cities in the northern state of Tamaulipas, citizens and even authorities have used Twitter and Facebook to warn one another about shootouts.
Anita Vera, Martinez Vera’s 71-year-old mother, said her 48-year-old son still lives at her house with his girlfriend. She said he told her that had posted his messages after the panic had already started.
“He told me “Mom, I didn’t start any of this, I just transmitted what I was told,’” Vera Martellis said after visiting her son in prison.
“He used the computer, but I swear that my son never wanted to do anybody harm, or start a revolution, like they say he did,” said Vera, who ekes out a living selling flowers.
Raul Trejo, an expert on media and violence at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, said the terrorism charge is unwarranted, but described the case as “a very incautious use of Twitter.”
He noted that in Mexico, “Twitter has been used by drug traffickers to create panic with false warnings.” In one case, a wave of messages about impending violence shut down schools, bars and restaurants in the central city of Cuernavaca last year.
Trejo said Twitter users must learn “not to believe everything, and simply take the Twitter messages as an indication that some (report) is making the rounds.”
But the real problem appears to be that governments cannot prevent drug cartel violence or even accurately inform citizens about it. Local news media are often so battered by kidnappings and killings of reporters that, in many states, they are loath to report about it.
“These Twitter users had accounts with a few hundred followers,” Trejo noted. “If these lies grew, it is not so much because they propagated them, but because in Veracruz as in most of the rest of the country, there is such a lack of public safety that the public is inclined to believe unconfirmed acts of violence ... The government doesn’t make clear what is happening.”
Defense attorneys also say their clients were held incommunicado for almost three days, unable to see a lawyer.
It appears one of the most serious sets of charges ever brought for sending or resending Twitter messages.
Tweeter Paul Chambers was fined 385 pounds and ordered to pay 2,000 pounds ($3,225) in prosecution costs last year for tweeting that if northern England’s Robin Hood Airport didn’t reopen in time for his flight, “I’m blowing the airport sky high!!”
Venezuelan authorities last year charged two people with spreading false information about the country’s banking system using Twitter and urging people to pull money out of banks. They could serve nine to 11 years in prison if convicted.
In 2009, a Chinese woman was sentenced to a year in a labor camp for posting a satirical Twitter message about the Japan pavilion at the Shanghai Expo.
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- Angelina Jolie’s leadership lessons: Obama, are you listening? Burman | <urn:uuid:5aebd763-eb19-4323-916d-75255f43e65b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2011/09/05/2_mexicans_face_30_years_for_tweet_in_war_of_the_worlds_panic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970871 | 1,627 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Added by Himachal Live News on September 5, 2012. | September 5, 2012 |
Shimla: The week long Kullu Dussehra festival will be held from October 24-30 this year with traditional fervor and gaiety. This was disclosed by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today who presided over Kullu Dussehra meeting today.
Dhumal said the festival will be inaugurated by Governor Urmila Singh on October 24. Dhumal said international troupes have confirmed their participation in the festival. He said this year troupes from Russia and Brazil have confirmed their participation in the festival.
“Three days folk dance festival will also be a part of the Dussehra fair”, Dhumal said.
Chief Minister said fool proof security arrangements will be made for the fair and all departments have been ordered to work in tandem.
It is celebrated in the Dhalpur maidan in the Kullu valley. Dussehra at Kullu commences on the tenth day of the rising moon, i.e. on ‘Vijay Dashmi’ day itself and continues for seven days. Its history dates back to the 16th century when local King Jagat Singh installed an idol of Raghunath on his throne as a mark of penance. After this, god Raghunath was declared as the ruling deity of the Valley.
According to legend, In the 16th Century, Raja Jagat Singh ruled over the prosperous and beautiful kingdom of Kullu. As the ruler, the Raja came to know of a peasant by the name of Durgadatta who apparently possessed many beautiful pearls. The Raja thought he should have these treasured pearls, even though the only pearls Durgadatta had were pearls of Knowledge.
But the Raja in his greed ordered Durgadatta to hand over his pearls or be hanged. Knowing of his inevitable fate at the hands of the king, Durgadatta threw himself on the fire and cursed the king, “Whenever you eat, your rice will appear as worms, and water will appear as blood”.
Doomed by his fate, the Raja sought solace and searched out advice from a Brahmin. The Holy man told him that in order to eradicate the curse, he must retrieve the idol of Ragunath from Lord Ram’s kingdom. Desperate, the king sent a Brahmin to Ayodhya. The Brahmin took the idol and set out on his journey back to Kullu. The people of Ayodhya, finding their beloved Ragunath missing, set out in search of the Kullu Brahmin.
On the banks of the Saryu river, they approached the Brahmin and asked him why he had taken Ragunath ji. The Brahmin recounted the story of the Kullu king. The people of Ayodhya attempted to lift Lord Ragunath, but their idol became incredibly heavy when headed back towards Ayodhya, and became very light when headed to Kullu.
On reaching Kullu Ragunath was installed as the reigning deity of the Kullu kingdom. After installing the idol of Lord Ragunath, Raja Jagat Singh drank the Charan-Amrit of the idol and the curse was lifted. Jagat Singh became Lord Ragunath’s regent. This legend is connected with the Dussehra at Kullu. This idol is taken in a Ratha to the Dussehra. | <urn:uuid:c3fd74d1-a8a4-4044-9bb9-fc488fb0925b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.himachallive.com/kullu-dussehra-festival-to-start-from-october-24-2012.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969249 | 745 | 1.703125 | 2 |
You've probably heard of duck confit, but did you know that you can also turn vegetables into confit? The result is an unctuous treat that can be used as an instant hors d'ouvres (think confit on toast points), or mixed with whole grains or root vegetables to turn them into a luxurious side dish, mixed with pasta for a quick dinner, or used to create a vegetarian cassoulet.
Any chunky vegetable is a candidate for confit, but carrots, celery, cardoons or burdock stalks, artichoke hearts, cauliflower, broccoli stems and green beans are especially suitable.
How to Make Vegetable Confit
Preheat the oven to 225F.
Clean and, if necessary, peel the vegetables. Chop them into 1/2 to 1-inch pieces.
Per pound of vegetables, combine 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper. Toss the veggies with the salt and spices in a baking dish.
Cover the vegetables completely in extra-virgin olive oil. It is important that they are completely immersed in the oil or they will not be safely preserved. This may seem like an extravagant amount of oil, but keep in mind that A) it is a food safety issue, and B) you can use some of the confit oil as part of future recipes such as pasta with vegetables confit.
Bake the vegetables, uncovered, for 3 to 4 hours. There should be some bubbles forming and rising to the surface as the water in the vegetables evaporates, but it should never reach a boil.
Allow the vegetable confit to cool slightly, but don't wait until it is completely cooled or it may start to congeal. Spoon it into sterilized heatproof jars (wide mouth canning jars are perfect). Use a butter knife or spoon to press on the vegetable confit in the jars and thus remove any air bubbles. The vegetables must be completely covered by the oil.
Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. Unlike duck and other meat confits, I don't recommend freezing vegetable confits for longer storage: the texture of the vegetables breaks down and becomes unappealing. Stick to making smaller batches and storing them in the refrigerator. | <urn:uuid:4516aa73-48d5-4c01-aa07-e71afd3cc497> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://foodpreservation.about.com/od/Preserving-Fats-Oils/a/Vegetarian-Confit-Recipe.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936185 | 477 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Marjorie Bingham, an avid needle arts crafter, wasn’t able to personally deliver the hundreds of hats she made last year to kids who spent the holidays in area hospitals. Luckily, Bingham had two helpers she was able to rely on – her grandsons Drew Williamson and his younger brother Quinn.
Over a period of several days last month, the brothers and Saint Peter’s Prep students visited pediatric patients at Jersey City Medical Center, Christ Hospital, and Hoboken University Medical Center to deliver more than 300 crocheted hats handmade by their grandmother, whom they affectionately call “Gaga.”
The brothers, who are now learning to knit and crochet themselves, also made a few of the hats that were donated to the patients, many of whom were mere infants and toddlers.
“The parents were so grateful and gracious that it really warmed our hearts and put everything in perspective for two teenage boys who have their health,” said the boys’ mother, Denyse Williamson. “It made them feel like they were doing something special and made them grateful for what they have.”
Drew Williamson, 16, and his brother Quinn, 15, are no strangers to volunteering.
“My husband and I, and Grandma Gaga, have tried very hard to instill a sense of community responsibility in our boys,” their mother said. “Volunteering is really important to us, so they do something every year for the community, both year round and at the end of the year.”
The hat donations allowed Drew and Quinn to return to the Hoboken hospital that was once known as St. Mary, where they were born. The hospital is now known as Hoboken University Medical Center.
“To see other children suffering was, I think, jarring for them,” their mother admitted. “But then to do something to make other children happy was a really wonderful experience for them. We’re really grateful to the hospitals because they let them do that.”
E-mail E. Assata Wright at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:72d5dedc-58f7-4643-a1f1-6b9e0f61857c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Gaga%E2%80%99s+kids-Brothers-+grandmother+donate+handmade+hats+to+hospitalized+children-%20&id=21395949&instance=home_Most_popular | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980575 | 445 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Mysterious movie theater popcorn. Even though many theaters have made changes to cook with canola oil and get rid of the partially hydrogenated oils (unhealthy trans fats), movie theater popcorn can not possibly be healthy. Right?
First, I like to know exactly what I am eating. The fact that the information is scarce is a red flag. If they are not willing to display the ingredients, it makes me think the popcorn is still unhealthy. You have to call or write to your local theater to find out the ingredients, and then, if you state you have an allergy or food intolerance, they will tell you what you need to know.
Seriously? They tell you the calories (as if that is supposed to help you figure out if it is “healthy”), but not the ingredients.
Anyway, all that I know is some movie popcorn might still have trans fat, and if it doesn’t, then it probably still contains plenty of byproducts: likely MSG and/or diacetyl. You may remember when diacetyl was in the news for possibly causing lung disease and/or Alzheimer’s. However, this study was done on the workers in the popcorn factory.
Conclusion: I still do not eat movie theater popcorn because I don’t trust it, and there are plenty of other healthy options.
The AMC theater that I went to sold all kinds of healthier alternatives including hummus, fruit chips, pop chips, and Odwalla bars:
My sister got this teeny tiny pack of chocolate raisins (yes, a slightly healthier choice). Good for portion control, but bad for the wallet
I still did not purchase any of these “healthier” choices. I snuck in my own popcorn. Sorry, but I don’t like the movie theater choices
I brought in this white cheddar popcorn:
The ingredients are very simple: popcorn, canola oil, whey, maltodextrin, cheeses, salt.
Mr. Cyclist thought I was ridiculous sneaking this in, but then he did enjoy it as well. | <urn:uuid:18b4127b-6c43-4449-abd1-5b0a55f1214c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nicolesnutrition.com/tag/snacks/ | 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 | 0.957589 | 433 | 1.601563 | 2 |
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Q: I’m pregnant. Which painkillers can I safely take for headaches?
A: The safest over-the-counter pain medication that you can use in pregnancy is acetaminophen, usually sold under the brand name Tylenol. According to the Organization of Teratology Information Services and a scan of the medical literature, Tylenol at recommended doses has been shown to cause no risk for miscarriage, birth defects or subsequent lowered I.Q. levels in children. (Actually, one four-year study of children whose mothers had taken acetaminophen during their pregnancy found the children were developing normally in terms of intellectual capacity — though we don’t know how many went on to college or med school!)
Having said that, if you’re using Tylenol to treat a headache, make sure not to take more than the maximum recommended dosage of 4000 mg in one day. Overdoses of Tylenol can, of course, be dangerous at any time, whether you’re pregnant or not, and can result in liver and kidney damage. And remember, a lot of the over-the-counter headache medicines that contain acetaminophen may also include ingredients such as aspirin and caffeine, so check the packaging.
Once you’ve had the baby (and hopefully are breast-feeding) it’s also safe to use Tylenol for your aches and pains. Only a very small amount gets into your breast milk. Reassurance has been given by The American Academy of Pediatrics, which has pronounced that Tylenol is safe to take while breast-feeding.
The next drug of choice for headache and pain control for most pregnant women is ibuprofen, also called Motrin, Advil or Nuprin. Most studies suggest this too is safe to take in early pregnancy.
However (there are so many “howevers” in medicine), two studies did show that ibuprofen could increase a woman’s risk of miscarriage, perhaps by interfering with early implantation of the fetus. So, if you’re trying to get pregnant, some very conservative doctors (not politically, but the medically be-very-careful docs who advise you to live in a virtual cocoon while trying to conceive) might also tell you to consider avoiding ibuprofen. (Don’t worry too much, though: If you’re already pregnant and things are progressing along normally, you don’t need to fret about past ibuprofen use.)
Use of ibuprofen in the first two trimesters has not been shown to increase risk of birth defects, premature labor or low birth weight. But there may be cause for concern about taking ibuprofen in your last trimester: like other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, commonly called NSAID’s, it may cause premature closure of a vessel called the ductus arteriosis in the fetus’ heart which can lead to pulmonary hypertension (increased blood pressure in the lungs) and subsequent heart and lung problems in the newborn. In addition, there is some concern that ibuprofen can inhibit labor and reduce amniotic fluid around the fetus.
Once the baby is born, you can use ibuprofen for headaches and pains. The American Academy of Pediatrics has approved its use in breast-feeding mothers.
Finally, there’s aspirin. There is currently no data showing that taking aspirin in early pregnancy will cause malformations, but we do know it thins the blood.
There are even some medical reasons in favor of using low-dose aspirin in a regular fashion, especially in women who are at a high risk for stillbirth and early newborn death or pregnancy-induced hypertension. Researchers have found that women with a history of pre-eclampsia (hypertension that develops in pregnancy) who took a daily low dose of 50-100 mgs of aspirin were less likely to develop this condition with the next pregnancy, and experienced a reduction in the rate of preterm birth and an increase in birth weight.
However, since aspirin is a NSAID, the same concerns apply for its use in the third trimester as those for ibuprofen (premature closure of the ductus arteriosis and delayed labor).
When it comes to breast-feeding, 4 to 6 percent of ingested aspirin is transferred to breast milk, and continued exposure may be harmful to your baby because it can build up in her body. There is also concern that taking aspirin could possibly contribute to the development of Reye’s Syndrome, a rare disorder that affects the brain or liver of children given aspirin for a virus-caused infection.
The American Academy of Pediatrics states that aspirin is “associated with significant effects on some nursing infants and should be given to nursing mothers with caution.”
Dr. Reichman’s Bottom Line: If you have the occasional headache or develop a fever while pregnant, it’s safe to initially self medicate with Tylenol. But if symptoms persist, consult your doctor.
Dr. Judith Reichman, the “Today” show's medical contributor on women's health, has practiced obstetrics and gynecology for more than 20 years. You will find many answers to your questions in her latest book, "Slow Your Clock Down: The Complete Guide to a Healthy, Younger You," which is now available in paperback. It is published by William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins. | <urn:uuid:6a669dc1-f4dd-4826-92c4-21852a01194a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.today.com/id/9811838/ns/today-today_health/t/im-pregnant-what-can-i-take-headache/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946213 | 1,254 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Star Wars - Corporate Sector Roleplay - Galactic Civil War Era
The Corporate Sector or "CorpSec" was an independant sector created in order to resolve differences between Galactic Republic lawmakers and the heads of many of the galaxy's largest corporations. It was located in the Outer Rim Territories, at the front end of the Tingel Arm region. The year is 3BBY.
Civil war rages in the major Galaxy. Imperials within the Galactic Empire bidding to secure their place against the relentless Rebel assault. Though they outnumber the Rebels and have far greater weaponry they do not have the same resolve and persistence that the Rebels appear to have, nor the dumb luck.
The Corporate Sector has its own problems. For the first time in Generations the outer Galaxy has directly interfered with their sector as the Imperials seize a research facility that apparently had been selling equipment to the rebels, which has caused an uproar on the board that controls the Corporate Sector.
Though there are many other issues, recently there have been problems inside the corporate sector that require more immediate attention.
- A high rise of criminal activity.
- Newly discovered planets with new species.
- The bankruptcy of several companies.
Mar swore as he woke up hitting his head on the top of his head on his bunk. Corporate Quarters, they never agreed with him. At-least his work here was done and he could return home, or at-least to Reltooine. He could still not truly return home. He pulled up his helmet and looked at the dents and scratches and sighed. He'd have to get that fixed, sooner or later. He clipped on his wrist blasters and checked them, the left one was slightly faulty but it still worked efficiently.
He ducked under the door, all prepared and walked through the corridors barging past many of the employees. They looked at him with strange looks on their faces. He was never welcomed here, though it would not matter that he had saved many of their lives dealing with their little "evil alien bug" problem as the CEO of this particular company had told him. He never really bothered to find out what this company did, all he knew is they had a problem and they paid him handsomely to fix it. It was good enough for him.
Heading out onto the landing pad he sighed as he saw it, a old torn up B-wing, dents and scars lining across it. It was an old ship and he took a mental note that he would have to replace it later. She was old, and had little use for him now. Against the older imperials and smugglers it was a good ship but out here when every person who was a major power was rich enough to buy their own Acclamator at the very least, and some of the richer ones could fund and build their own little fleets. It was time for a serious upgrade, though first a drink.
He never managed to find a decent drink in these corporate buildings. It was all extremely strong and left a burning feeling down your throat that lasted several hours and wasn't as pleasant as the drinks he proffered. He hopped in and took off, hearing a angry little man shouting into his headset. Obviously he forgot to ask for clearance to take off. He was pushed back in his seat as he entered hyperspace and the ship rocked slightly as the inertia dampeners didn't get used to the strain straight away. He would definitely need a new ship or this would be the death of him...
He looked out below his hood out towards the greenish tint of the nebula from the bridge of his ship. The Reaper
. It was a grand ship, a Gladiator a newer design used by the Empire and it was capable of decimating anything that he came across, any puny patrol or group of pirates used to easy kills. He would take note of that, he would need to influence the board to try and work on the security of the patrols within the sector.
Extra militant action would make it easier to corrupt, it would mean more business for many countries and a massive excuse for himself to make a large fleet. He could claim it was all in the best interests of his company. They would never think of the other side, they didn't even know of his ship or this persona. He looked out of the bridge which was lain flat and empty, with only three consoles. Two for his seconds and one for himself. Only he could access this console and he is the only one that ever would for it held his most precious information, of his bases. True identity and schematics for his battle plans. He wouldn't be denied.
He watched out the bridge as a Corporate Sector patrol came towards him. Two Munificent
class ships. He smirked, the corners of his mouth raised slightly though he tried not to show too much emotion and he looked back towards his two guards standing beside the door holding their rifles proudly across their chests. Unwavering.
He walked towards his console and entered his personal command code. "Time to get things started."
Tyrell swore. "Sith spit"
. He looked at the reports streaming in now. Gallofree was declaring Bankruptcy, this would be bad for him. If one of his rivals managed to gain the resources of Gallofree... Then he would be in serious trouble. The competition would be tremendous. He would have little chance of making his money, making his fortune. He would not allow himself to be outdone by those who had lied and stole from their own families.
He laughed as he thought of this as he stood up, sorted out his suit and then left his ship on the landing pad within the main Boards building. Walking up-to the guards he nodded to the guards and input his access code. The tall doors before him slid open and he walked into the decorative hall. Nodding at several people whom he did like. Men and Women who bought his products, made deals with him and helped him make his fortune.
He went to the elevator at the far hall as it opened he walked inside. Naturally he went for the private
elevator as it began to lift towards the top floor. A extravagant dome that allowed him and any other board member to look over the planet and the great expanses. It was the most luxurious rooms, and the most hated in the entire corporate sector. For those of the poor in the sector, it was where the cruel and evil masterminds as they were called plotted how to squeeze the sector for m ore money to gain as much as they could out of this small corner of the galaxy.
He walked in and poured himself a glass of water out of a small fountain in the corner, even this fountain with no purpose other than producing water had one of the most luxurious designs possible, for such a small object. He walked over and took his place at the table, one of the 37 who would always have a place at the board for as long as he lived. It was time to see what was going on. | <urn:uuid:6db2d884-9ed8-4a95-94c5-a29b527510b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://roleplayerguild.com/printthread.php?t=186375&pp=10&page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.993041 | 1,440 | 1.5 | 2 |
September 8, 2011
The long metal crates strewn on the grounds of the warehouse were empty. Hundreds of surface-to-air missiles, craved by terrorist groups and “rogue states”, had disappeared in the past few days, looted from one of Libya’s overflowing arms dumps.
Among the missiles taken away were 480 Russian-built SA-24s, designed for use against modern warplanes, which the US had been attempting to block from falling into Iranian hands, and the older SA-7s and 9s, capable of bringing down commercial airliners, which al-Qa’ida has been striving to obtain.
As Libya’s bloody civil war reaches its conclusion, myriad bunkers and barracks containing the regime’s weaponry, from Kalashnikovs to missiles, armoured cars and tanks, have been left unguarded, many to be stripped bare by militia fighters and the public.
The numbers involved are far larger than the caches that armed the insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan. And in Libya there are even fewer guards at these sites. Unlike those two fronts of the “war on terror”, there are no foreign troops present in Libya, and the opposition forming the new government has its resources tied up attempting to subdue the remaining loyalist strongholds and repairing infrastructure to safeguard the arsenals.
This article was posted: Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 8:26 am | <urn:uuid:a54de512-8f17-48ae-af5f-c01f7be7c492> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infowars.com/hundreds-of-missiles-go-missing-from-gaddafis-abandoned-arms-dumps/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96604 | 295 | 1.65625 | 2 |
The Age Factor and Reduction of Open Nasality Following Superiorly Based Velo-Pharyngeal Flap Operation in 124 Cases
AbstractThe improved speech results with special emphasis on the reduction of open nasality has been studied in 124 patients following superiorly based velo-pharyngeal flap operation used as a secondary procedure. This was judged by a listening test and graded on a four-point scale. We conclude from these studies that the best results regarding reduction of open nasality are obtained when the operation is performed around the age of 5 to 6 years. In this study, operative complications were also less frequent in the younger age group than in older patients. | <urn:uuid:160df220-0215-4220-95d5-a4017b0edd17> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.deepdyve.com/lp/informa-healthcare/the-age-factor-and-reduction-of-open-nasality-following-superiorly-pDUlrR4hC9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97154 | 134 | 1.5 | 2 |
Archive for the 'History' Category
Colony Inn: A Piece of Historic Palmer Alaska February 16th, 2012
In 1935, this building was used as a dorm to house single teachers and nurses. In 1970, the Salvation Army purchased the property to use for housing for the elderly. Later, a fire on the third floor closed the building and it was left empty. In 1993, Janet Kincaid purchased the building with a vision for restoration. Many layers of dirt and varnish later, this historic building is now known as the Colony Inn. The Colony Inn is proud to have been the recipient of the First Palmer Historical Award for preservation by the National Historic Register.
The Inn offers 12 rooms, each with a private bath, television, and wifi. The building was restored with an effort to preserve the history, but make practical renovations like new plumbing and windows. The Inn is furnished with antiques and many were purchased right here in Palmer at Cover Ups! Janet describes the atmosphere she has created as “olden days with modern amenities.”
The Inn Cafe is leased by Chef Pete Scott and offers lunch Monday through Friday and brunch on Sunday. I had the french dip for lunch with a side salad and it was delicious! The small menu offers a well-rounded, basic selection of food for everyone. The service was impressively quick and the staff was wonderful!
The Inn’s great room offers a nice place for gatherings such as weddings, meet and greets, and family or business events. The most recent event was a book signing for local author Eowyn Ivey. Some of the Inn’s most memorable events have been 50th wedding anniversary celebrations with couples who originally wed at the Inn and returned to celebrate again 50 years later!
Written in collaboration by Janet Kincaid and Amber Lanphier.
Colony Inn ~ 325 East Elmwood Ave ~ Palmer, Ak 99645 ~
The 32nd Potato Bowl September 25th, 2010
The Potato Bowl has been one of the most look-forward-to games of every football season for Palmer and Wasilla…for the last 32 years.
I dropped by today to see Palmer win again Wasilla (third year in a row) with a score of 26 – 12. Palmer has won 23 of the last 32 Potato Bowls.
The weather was beautiful! Clear skies and light breezes throughout the afternoon. Though the game was rescheduled last night because of dangerously strong winds, but the stands were filled today with spectators of all ages: player’s younger siblings to oldtime Palmeranians. Not only were cars bedecked in blue and white paint, so were school windows and student’s bodies.
Just another day in the life of a Palmeranian! Click here for a link to the Frontiersman with more info about today’s game.
Underground Palmer July 24th, 2009
Are they utilidors? Are they bomb shelters? Are they underground hallways to avoid snow?
Are they utilidors? Are they bomb shelters? Are they underground hallways to avoid snow?I have heard rumors about these tunnels for years. Some people said they were put there to allow access between houses during World War II, people joked about other possible purposes.
Janet Kincaid, a longtime Palmeranian and owner of the Colony Inn and Cafe knows about the tunnels because the building that she owns is a terminus of the tunnels. She was going to meet me there but we had a scheduling mixup. So as I waited for Janet, Mike Fisher jovially volunteered to share what he knew.
“What many people don’t know about the Colony Inn”, Mike Fisher told me, “is that there’s just about as much of the building below ground as there is above!”. The apparently 2 story building has two floors below ground as well. He took me down two flights of stairs behind the “Employees Only” door and we came out into a large open room, almost two stories high.
The walls were cement, as was the floor. But what caught my eye was the hugest boiler I’ve ever seen. It was easily 7 ft tall and 10 ft long. I was told that the tunnels under Palmer were built in the 1930′s, along with the rest of the main buildings like the high school (borough building), Trading Post (The Red Beet) and Creamery and Warehouse (old Matanuska Maid building). The tunnels had pipes that were used to heat the many buildings all at once from two huge boilers. One boiler was at Matanuska Maid and I stood directly in front of the other one.
Mike showed me into a dark room adjacent to the boiler room and told me it was the coal room. The ceiling was just as high but at the very top of the west facing wall was an opening. He said colonists would back trucks up to the opening and shovel coal down into the room as fuel for the boilers.
Many of the tunnels have since been caved in for road safety,
Many of the tunnels have since been caved in for road safety,as most go directly underneath the road system. The opening of one came out in the boiler room, two stories under the Colony Inn, but it was caved in and covered over in cement. You can still see the outline.
If you talk to some of the more adventurous junior high school students from a couple years ago, you can probably find people who’ve been down in the tunnels. One of the known accesses is fenced off and is illegal to enter, but that hasn’t stopped a few of my acqaintances. I’ve been told that certain buildings have been severely damaged by fires started down in tunnels by careless youth.
Have more information on this topic? Please contact me and share your knowledge! If any of the stated facts are incorrect, again, please let me know. This is by no means the end of my research on this interesting part of Palmer’s history.
*The first photo is of the large boiler. The second is of the coal room, note the opening near the top of the photo.
Colony House Museum June 27th, 2009
The Colony House Museum is run by the Palmer Historical Society. It’s located on Elmwood Ave, across from the big, white borough building. The home belonged to Irene and Oscar Beylund, two original colonists of the Matanuska colony. It was turned over to the Palmer Historical Society in 1998 to maintain and operate it. Children of the original colonists give tours Tuesday through Saturday, from 10-4.
The price for a tour is $2 for adults, $1 for children. I paid the $2 yesterday and entered for the first time. Apparently, if you’ve gone through elementary school here in Palmer, you’ve visited. But I was homeschooled till highschool, so this was my first.
Upon entering, one of the proprietors greeted me and showed me maps of the divided homesteads, each of 40 acres. She pointed to one, #189 and told me that was her family’s homestead, out near the butte. It was larger than 40 acres because some of it was unuseable. The ARRC (Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corp) wanted each family to have 40 acres of workable land for agriculture. She also showed me a poster-size photo of Palmer taken in 1938. It was a lot more spread out then!
The living room is decorated with donated furniture from the 30′s and 40′s era and some original to the home. A large, upright piano takes up one wall. Each colonist family was allowed to bring 2,000 lbs of goods and personal items to Alaska with them. So, the owners of the piano lifted up the top lid and filled it full of clothes; they didn’t have any suitcases. The kitchen is cheery with yellow cabinetry and a huge stove/oven sits opposite.
The kitchen is cheery with yellow cabinetry and a huge stove/oven sits opposite.The back entry has a milk separator in one corner; for separating the cream from the milk after milking the cows morning and evening. There are 3 bedrooms and a washroom. Old books, games and photos are found throughout the home, each donated by the families of original colonists.
I really appreciated the opportunity to look back into what life may have been like in my own town +70 years ago. The proprietor was full of humorous and interesting stories of life back then. She was just three when her family moved here. It was really neat to hear first-person what that life was like, and how people lived.
I definitely encourage you to go and visit the Colony House Museum. It’s worth far more than just $2 dollars; it’s our history, our heritage.
Photo 1 is a plaque recognizing Palmer’s outstanding seniors, class of ’38. Photo 2 is a nurse’s uniform worn by one of the nurses at the first clinic in Palmer. Photo 3 is of the Colony House’s kitchen. Photo 4 is of the child’s room. All photos are expandable if clicked on.
Walk around Palmer Pt. 1 June 26th, 2009
Have you ever driven or walked through Palmer, and wondered what all those old buildings were, and if they are still used?
Today I walked around Palmer and photographed many of those buildings, as well as inquired of their history. Here is what I saw and learned. All photos are expandable if clicked on.
Have you ever driven or walked through Palmer, and wondered what all those old buildings were, and if they are still used?Have you ever been to the Colony House Museum? Have you ever wondered why there was a fenced-in bell near the library?
Photo 1: Palmer Train Depot
Photo 2: Borough Green, Old Mat. Colony Trading Post (Now home of The Red Beet), Palmer Water Tower in Background
Photo 3: Colony Inn and Restaurant
Photo 4: UAF Agriculture Research in the Matanuska Valley
Photo 5: Palmer Courthouse/Pre-Trial Facility
Photo 6: Palmer Water Tower, Old Matanuska Maid buildings
7 8 9
Photo 7: Front of Borough Building
Photo 8: Back of Borough Building, Lazy Mountain to the left, Byers Peak in the center.
Photo 3: Borough Gym
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HARRISBURG (AP) — A program that provides about $200 a month for tens of thousands of disabled adults who can't work is on the chopping block even as improving tax collections give state lawmakers the freedom to reverse some of Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed cuts in spending for things like universities, the race horse industry and the Legislature itself.
Corbett, a Republican who ran on a no-new-taxes pledge, advocated doing away with the $150 million General Assistance cash benefit in a $27.1 billion budget plan he released in February. It called for a series of cutbacks he blamed largely on the rising cost of pensions and health care for the poor.
Then senators voted 39-8 last week for an alternative, $27.7 billion budget that also would eliminate the cash benefit while adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the subsidies that Corbett proposed for universities, public schools, county-run social services, the race horse industry, medical research, retailers that collect sales taxes and hospitals and nursing homes that care for the poor. Senators also plugged in $12 million to erase cuts in the Legislature's accounts that Corbett proposed.
House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, suggested that the House — which like the Senate is controlled by Republicans — was unlikely to change the elimination of the General Assistance cash benefit when it considers the Senate's plan.
"I think that our colleagues have made an important policy statement and many of us feel that ... they're headed in the right direction," Turzai said. "There's aspects to the program that are too discretionary and they need (to be) reformed at a minimum."
Asked why the state couldn't keep the program while improving it, Turzai responded: "I think there's just been a history of abuse that's been shown there, and it needs further reform and further reduction."
Turzai cited audits by the state's independent fiscal watchdog, Auditor General Jack Wagner, a Democrat. But Wagner responded that he never audited the General Assistance cash benefit program and that his audits of Department of Public Welfare programs never recommended eliminating benefits.
"In all our audits, we never had a recommendation to cut a person off," Wagner said. "What we have repeatedly said is, 'you need to fix the system.' And that is a much more difficult thing to do than simply cut people off the program or cut the amount of money going to the program."
Although the cash benefit has no industry or organized beneficiary to lobby for its survival, the nonprofit Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania got involved because it found a functioning program with proper safeguards that helps people avoid homelessness until they get back on their feet, executive director Liz Hersh said.
Improvements can be made while the cash benefit program is maintained, Hersh said.
"We don't want to further victimize people who are really extremely impoverished and relying on this meager resource to pull themselves up by their bootstraps," Hersh said.
Michael Froehlich, a staff lawyer for Philadelphia-based Community Legal Services, questioned why a major policy decision was being made without hearings. In any case, eliminating the benefit could likely mean bigger costs for society, Froehlich and Hersh said.
More than 60,000 childless adults — about 60 percent men and 40 percent women, according to the Community Legal Services — get help from the program each year. They tend to spend the approximately $200 on rent, transportation or addiction treatment fees, advocates say. They can also qualify for food stamps.
Since July 1, 2010, investigations of the cash benefit resulted in 86 prosecutions that resulted in guilty pleas or convictions and 46 cases that went through a diversion program for first-time offenders, the state inspector general's office said.
The Department of Public Welfare said there are no written guidelines on how recipients can spend the money, since the state generally follows federal rules and they prohibit restrictions on the use of federally-funded cash benefits. The money is loaded onto electronic cards that cannot be used at liquor stores or casinos, the department said.
The Corbett administration argues that it has little choice but to eliminate the cash benefit if it is going to rein in the growth of welfare costs. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman, R-Centre, said senators had other priorities when they were deciding which of Corbett's proposed cuts to soften.
"We obviously didn't have enough to fill every hole and we prioritized as best as we could," Corman said.
Democrats tried in a floor amendment to restore it, but it was rejected, 29-18 — with two Democrats and every Republican opposing it. | <urn:uuid:b854cc43-850b-4fa5-9d6c-ec1bd2952d66> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120515/NEWS90/120519882 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970861 | 945 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Photo: Juarez Drug Violence
Rodolfo Rubio Salas is a professor and researcher at the Juárez City campus of Colegio de la Frontera Norte where he has been for 16 years. He specializes in border migration studies and affirms that behind all the numbers about the violence-propelled exodus of people from Juárez into El Paso there is a lot of politics and little research.
P: What do you think about all that’s said about border migration in this region?
R: “Look, I’m a persona non grata in many places around here. There was a time at the beginning of 2009 when many meetings were held with the federal government present where you would attend seriously because research is a serious matter. Suddenly somebody would shout out ‘Well, 500,000 people have left here.’ But when you asked that person where they got that figure they didn’t know. For 500,000 people to have left you would also need for all the buses, planes and cars up the yazoo to go. Besides, this person also said that this number of people had left during the last six months! I have been studying this many years and it seems to me very serious to throw out numbers without verification. People think they can toss out some figure and I as a demographer have to accept it. They throw out some statistic to show the federal government our dire situation. But I already know the federal government. I have been present in meetings with Secretary of Foreign Relations (Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores) and the Labor Secretary (Secretaría de Trabajo) where they laugh at Juárez residents, not at what they want, but because when the government asks them to justify what they are asking for, they begin to use this type of information. When the Secretary of Foreign Relations calls me and says: ‘Look, the Americans say this, the mayor tells me this other thing to triple the budget. What’s your analysis?’ It is my serious opinion that for the last 10 years Juárez has been a stagnant city. But that is not the outrageousness we were talking about. The conclusions are either excessively pessimistic or excessively optimistic for political motives; in Mexico’s case it’s to try and get more resources using unrealistic numbers.”
P: Recently several different statistics have been stated about the exact number of people who have come to live in El Paso. El Paso Police Department said 30,000, while the Autonomous University of Juárez (Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez-UACJ) conducted a poll and stated possibly 120,000 people may have moved from the southern side of the border to the northern side of the border. Exactly what’s with these numbers?
R: “After the police issued its data I called them several times but they were never able to tell me what method they used to gather their data. It’s quite complicated. It seems to me what is lacking is a comparison of U.S. data with Mexican data. I believe that when we are able to use the databases and see how the information relates we will have a much clearer idea of how many people left or not. Then there is another detail that as a demographer I was particularly interested in that Juárez appeared as the Mexican city that had the largest number, proportionately, of what was categorized as temporary use housing. What does temporary use mean? That people are living on both sides of the border! Evidently here we have a style of bi-national life where people easily move from one place to the other. We would have to see how many of those who apparently abandoned the city and went to El Paso are people who continuously move between both environments and are a factor that will not ever permit knowing with any certainty how many have left. To leave means leaving one place to go live in another. Those figures then cannot be counted in the strict sense as having left. Perhaps they are renting or bought a house over there but have not necessarily abandoned this city.
“Look, I do believe that the number of people who left, not so much to El Paso but to the U.S., could be more or less around 30,000 to 50,000 during the last three years in total terms. And, I insist, I say they went to the U.S. because we have studies that tell us that people went to Nevada, Colorado, and to New Mexico. They didn’t all go to El Paso. In demographic terms the number from 30,000 to 50,000 people that left to the U.S. seems to me to be a safe logical number.”
P: What are your indicators to validate safe this figure of between 30,000 to 50,000 people?
R: “I just looked at the overall data of El Paso’s population growth. According to U.S. census data there was no exceptional nor extraordinary (growth), in fact the State of Texas grew more than El Paso County. It seems to me those who said 120,000 people had left exaggerated. For 120,000 people to go to El Paso implies that its population would have increased by 20 percent, that’s only the ones that left here. That’s a bit of an exaggeration. The natural growth of Juárez during the entire decade was approximately 240,000 and the data that we are seeing is that most of those that left the city really didn’t go to the U.S. Therefore, with the study we have is that approximately 150,000 left back to the interior of the country. The comparison with U.S. data and ours here of the people that returned, and a little with the study done by UACJ it is within that 30,000 to 50,000 range.
“With respect to that other type of flow that comes into the border cities with intention to cross into the U.S., in Juárez it’s quite low. Because barely one percent of the total of immigrants that come to the border to cross without documents into the US try to cross through Juárez. American authorities attribute it to the clear border enforcement policy, we have found that is not the real reason. The real explanation is that there is no work in the U.S.”
P: What do those numbers and patterns tell you about the short, medium and long-term future for the socioeconomic infrastructure, migration and the barrios of Juárez?
R: “I believe that these two crises of the last 10 years will continue to hit Juárez. If the city continues to depend on twin-plant work it will face recurring crises. I am not the only one who says this. Those who do economic studies state that the city must take a course toward more economic diversification, that the twin-plant cannot be the only economic engine for the labor market. But on the other hand reading the slow demographic growth of the last decade therein is also a positive note. Even as the demographic growth was increasing rapidly during the 80s, that growth generated some brutal infrastructure deficiencies. I believe this slow population growth will diminish those infrastructure deficiencies the city has suffered and somehow will permit the city to put on a new face in spite of all the insecurity issues. And I don’t know it is difficult to measure, you don’t know when it’s going to decrease, how much those of us who stay here can take it. That’s very difficult to predict.
“When the census data is available for us to see we will be able to extrapolate some things. When the information is in the books we will be able to offer some hypothesis. What are those hypotheses? One: The newest barrios in the city are the ones most uninhabited, especially those of low socioeconomic level as well as those of a high socioeconomic level where you find the housing that could be categorized as temporary. The other thing that’s happening in the city is the barrios that were not gated but are becoming gated. They are building walls and installing securities that are disrupting normal urban activity. These are the changes that in large part I believe are going to be reflected in the census.”
P: What about border immigration to El Paso?
R: “With respect to flight into the U.S., I believe eventually there will be new restrictions by the authorities. It seems to me that quite a few people have left here to go to El Paso but don’t necessarily have documents to live there. I believe there will come a time when the authorities will implement stronger measures to detect those people. I think they are already doing it but not in a very clear or tangible way but they have begun to do it. Then we have all these kids that historically have been born in El Paso but live here or study here, as they reach working age absolutely all of them will go live in the U.S. That has been the historical pattern, but (now) there are more of them. In other words, each generation is bigger each time, so that will increase the number of people who will leave here to go there. | <urn:uuid:3f68fd01-f07f-4bb2-909f-f7a2a40a7484> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/latino-daily-news/details/juarez-demographer-says-40000-fled-juarez-to-the-u.s.-as-a-result-of-d/9900/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97576 | 1,917 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Happy Birthday, USA!
I'm reading David McCullough's 1776 and feel grateful to those who believed freedom and individual liberty were important enough to risk everything on 236 years ago. For example, Henry Knox was 25-years old and owned a book shop in Boston. Yet he conceived and supervised a plan to drag cannon from upstate New York in the winter and over mountains to Boston where their presence compelled the British to evacuate. Thus he became Washington's Chief of Artillery. Thank you Henry Knox and many others for your dream and the courage to pursue it. | <urn:uuid:c281e257-798a-4416-90a9-2b4579fb7621> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://writeenough.blogspot.com/2012/07/happy-birthday-usa.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973966 | 121 | 1.71875 | 2 |
By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY
Jack Bauer may lose 24 hours of sleep worrying about suitcase nukes, but should his viewers?
Probably not, nuclear weapons experts say.
Nuclear bombs cleverly concealed in suitcases don't exist in real life. Even so, they have long been a popular Hollywood plot point.
The lethal luggage — or what non-proliferation experts prefer to call portable nuclear devices — have been featured in action thrillers, including 1997's The Peacemaker with George Clooney and Nicole Kidman and 2002's Bad Company with Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock.
Now, 24 (Fox, Monday, 9 p.m. ET/PT) has had Kiefer Sutherland and the gang hunting for three bombs packed into suitcases.
But how concerned should we really be that suitcase nukes will one day be fact rather than fiction?
Arms control expert Charles Thornton of the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland calls the scenario "so highly unlikely as to be approaching fantasy."
Nikolai Sokov of the Center for Non-proliferation Studies in Monterey, Calif., says there is no evidence any scientist has been able to create a suitcase-contained nuclear device. In science fiction, "the more disastrous the event, the less likely," he says. "God forbid it happens. But no, it's not very likely."
Still, this threat is not just the imagination of an overcaffeinated screenwriter. Modern-day worries about suitcase nukes crested in the late 1990s, when the late Russian general Alexander Lebed suggested that a few dozen portable nuclear devices had disappeared from Russian military stockpiles at the beginning of the decade.
Loose Russian nukes have been a major preoccupation of weapons experts since the end of the Cold War. Concerns were underlined by the interception last year of an illegal shipment of weapons-quality uranium, 4 ounces in all (quite a bit less than the amount needed for a bomb), announced in January by Ivane Merabishvili, an official with the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.
In particular, worry centered on nuclear artillery shells built by the Soviet Union before its demise. The United States built its own lightweight devices, the parachute-borne Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM), which were phased out in 1989. Such devices had similar characteristics to the theoretical suitcase nukes, Sokov notes, including:
•Small size, perhaps measuring 23 inches long by 8 inches tall and weighing less than 70 pounds.
•Explosive yields from plutonium explosions under 1 kiloton, less than one-tenth as strong as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
•Short battery life for the devices, requiring recharging perhaps every six months.
Battery life is one glaring sticking point, Thornton and others say. Any device lost in the early '90s would be battery dead by now, as well as missing a few dozen maintenance checks. (24 plot spoiler alert: The story revolves around the villain seeking to somehow revive the batteries in his suitcase nukes.)
A 1-kiloton blast set off from a low-flying airplane would send out lethal radiation in a half-mile radius, leveling most of the buildings in a crowded city, the Federation of American Scientists says.
Though it's scary, such a scenario is far from our biggest nuclear terrorism worry, says nuclear physicist Peter Zimmerman of King's College London. In November, Zimmerman and Jeffrey Lewis of Harvard wrote in the journal Foreign Policy about the steps a domestic terrorist team would have to take to produce a full-fledged atomic bomb.
More real threats
Other experts, including Sokov, warn that a "dirty bomb" seems a more likely form of nuclear terrorism, albeit a less deadly one. A dirty bomb would blow up some radioactive material, perhaps discarded medical diagnostics such as radioactive cesium, in a crowded place. It would kill some people with the explosion and contaminate the area. The technical expertise needed to create such a bomb is much less, Sokov says.
Zimmerman views the poisoning of ex-Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko in November as genuine nuclear terrorism, in part because Russians implicated in the death reportedly have left traces of polonium-210 across Europe, enough to trigger health concerns.
One side benefit of 24's hunt for suitcase nukes, fanciful or not, may be raising awareness of the threat of smuggled radioactive materials, Sokov says. But, he says, if people think spies rounding up non-existent suitcase nukes, rather than real anti-smuggling pacts between countries, will stop nuclear terrorism, "that's probably not a great message."
Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map. | <urn:uuid:30607262-f5fa-4f77-95e1-6c0347c91808> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-03-12-suitcase-nuclear-bombs_N.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948197 | 1,004 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Puffy eyes or eye bags usually becomes prominent as you age. Despite this, you still have to be more mindful about it because there might be some causes to it. Puffy eyes might not be a serious medical condition, but it can be due to some factors that may lead to future eye problem. Therefore you have to learn how to eliminate puffy eyes before worse turns to worst. Use the tips provided below.
Tip #1: Use metal spoon.
If you have tremendous eye bags due to insufficient sleep, you can try using a metal spoon. This is done by immersing the metal spoon in cold water for several minutes or until it gets very cold then stick it out to the puffy area for around one minute. Do it again until the bulge is alleviated.
Tip #2: Use hemorrhoid cream.
Although a hemorrhoid cream is designed to ease irritation and lessen the size of hemorrhoids, you can try it in decreasing your eye bags. Rub on the hemorrhoid cream precisely on the eye bag area. The hemorrhoid cream that is best to use is the one that has yeast or shark’s liver oil as part of the component.
Tip #3: Use cucumber.
Cucumber is considered as one of the most versatile vegetables because of its many uses. Putting some pieces of chilled cucumbers on your eyes get rid of the swollen part. Leave the pieces of cucumber on your eye bags for a few minutes to reduce the bulging.
Tip #4: Use tea bags.
Immerse the tea bags in icy water for about 15 minutes. Take it away from the water and compress out the extra liquid then put the tea bag on your puffy eyes for about 10 minutes. Tenderly compress on the tea bags on the swollen area to lessen the bulge more rapidly.
Tip #5: Try using ice.
Load a plastic bag with ice and cover it with wash cloth then stick it on the swollen part until the puffiness subsides.
Tip #6: Try to elevate your head while sleeping.
Going to sleep by raising your head can avoid the liquid from alighting beneath the eyes. You can raise your head for about 2 or 6 hours to lessen the eye bags.
Tip #7: Use soaked compress.
Immerse a cotton or wool cloth in witch hazel or rose water. Fold over the cloth into three and put in on your eyes. Let it stay for about 15-20 or until the bulge is alleviated.
Tip #8: Using creams.
Cold or eye cream can relieve a little bit of puffiness. Rub the cream gently into the bulging part and smoothly pat it with your fingers. The patting will draw off the fluid from the area.
Tip #9: Splashing.
Load a huge bowl or basin with water and put ice cubes in it. Splatter the cold water on your face continuously for a few minutes or until such time that the puffiness subsides.
Tip #10: Use salt water.
Melt a teaspoon of salt in a cup of hot water. Make sure that the water is not boiling. Immerse a cotton cloth in the solution then put the pads on your eyes for around 5-10 minutes. If the puffiness does not subside after the first time, do it again using new hot pads.
These are 10 incredible tips on how to eliminate puffy eyes. You should try any or a combination of these tips. | <urn:uuid:b63dd1a7-e082-4dbf-9d73-e5fd82f1d8b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://skincarebase.org/puffy-eyes/10-incredible-tips-eliminate-puffy-eyes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931034 | 718 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Schools need support to do best
The Brookfield Local School System, by any criteria, is an excellent school system as evidenced by the multiple generations of families who choose to educate their children here. Most residents of the district are aware that there is an income tax levy on the ballot next month. We understand that any time a tax levy is on the ballot, the levy is — and should be — taken seriously. For this reason, we, the teachers of Brookfield Schools, want to discuss and clarify the upcoming levy issue.
Financially, times are hard for all people, and many parents are worried about what the future holds for their children. We feel that the best thing for this next generation of Americans is to continue providing them a top-notch education and keeping all of their options open for them to have choices. This is the purpose of the 1 percent income tax levy before our voters next month. We want to be able to continue to provide busing for our high school students, athletics and extra-curricular programming for all, updated textbooks and supplies that are not 20-plus years old. We would like to update these materials to keep up with the changing world the students will soon be entering.
As educators, we want the voters to know that this money does not go toward teacher salaries, but rather, it goes toward materials and programs for students. We also want to make sure that the voters know that individuals on fixed incomes, such as senior citizens who own a home and have already paid their “fair share”and put their children through school, will not see an increase. By instituting an income tax instead of a property tax the burden doesn’t fall solely on farmers and homeowners.
In closing, we want to thank the amazing community of Brookfield parents for entrusting us with your most valuable resource: your children. And “Go Warriors.”
Jay Bodnar, Brookfield
The writer is a 1990 graduate of Brookfield High School and is president of the Brookfield Federation of Teachers. | <urn:uuid:c12eb767-4236-4d38-b887-d3d3a54b788e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vindy.com/news/2012/oct/25/schools-need-support-to-do-best/?newswatch | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970489 | 418 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The rope-a-dope is performed by a boxer assuming a protected stance, in Ali's classic pose, lying against the ropes, and allowing his opponent to hit him, toward the end that the opponent will tire and make mistakes which the boxer can exploit in a counter-attack.
In competitive situations other than boxing, rope-a-dope is used to describe strategies in which one party purposely puts itself in what appears to be a losing position, attempting thereby to become the eventual victor.
So today Apple announced that you'll be able to use alternative tools to create iPhone/iPad/iPod touch apps:
"... In particular, we are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need."
But here's the thing, that's NOT Flash running as a plug-in in Safari. That's an Adobe tool that converts Flash applications into Native iOS applications which are submitted into the iTunes App Store, which Adobe has shown in the past.
With all the review processes and controls etc...
And at the same time Apple clarifies its rules on approvals. No 'junk' apps. Apps have to use iOS controls. | <urn:uuid:db31ad9c-a1f7-44f4-b559-5ce76ce63832> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.extremepreneur.com/extremepreneur/2010/09/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947884 | 264 | 1.671875 | 2 |
|The executions of the two activists from the Iranian exiled opposition group came despite a plea by the US [EPA]
Iran has carried out the first executions of activists detained in street protests after the disputed 2009 presidential poll, hanging two men it said were from an outlawed group.
The executions on Monday of the two activists from the Iranian exiled opposition group, People's Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI) came despite a plea by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that they be freed.
The Tehran prosecutor's office named the executed pair as Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Hajaghaei. It did not say where they were hanged.
"Two elements of the Monafeghin (hypocrites) group were executed early today," the prosecutor's office said on its website.
The prosecutor's office said "these two hypocrites were members of an active network of the said group and were involved in the (post-election) riots under the guidance of their ringleader in England."
Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, had urged the Iranian authorities to release the two activists, despite the PMOI being on Washington's list of foreign terrorist organisations.
"We are also concerned about the fate of Iranians who are in danger of imminent execution for exercising their right to free expression after the June 2009 elections," Clinton said on August 10 in a statement, naming Kazemi and Hajaghaei.
Amnesty International said it was "appalled by the executions", in a statement from Malcolm Smart, the rights group's director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Iran has sentenced around a dozen activists to death for their role in the post-poll unrest.
Six of the sentences have been upheld, according to Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafar Dolatabadi, with the hangings on Monday reportedly the first to be carried out.
The 2009 presidential election result triggered widespread anti-government demonstrations in Tehran.
Dozens of protesters were killed, scores wounded and thousands jailed when security forces clashed with them after the announcement of the election result, which Ahmadinejad's rivals claim was rigged in his favour. | <urn:uuid:7cf2727f-f61e-4e51-941d-bbcfb11dea82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/01/201112514128271328.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978824 | 435 | 1.734375 | 2 |
What is in this article?:
- Election Results Will Change Congressional Agriculture Makeup
- Ag Appropriations Subcommittees
With the election over, it is now clear there will be a modest number of changes to the congressional committees that deal directly with agricultural issues. What the agriculture committees look like for the next session of Congress looms large if the new farm bill is postponed until 2013 rather than being finished up in the lame duck session of this Congress that starts next week. If the new five-year farm bill is finalized in the lame duck session, new members may be somewhat less inclined to join the agriculture committees.
Similarly, the agricultural appropriations bill for the current fiscal year could possibly be wrapped up during the lame duck session, but is more likely to be held over until next year, in which case appropriators (including any new members) will be doing double duty in 2013, working to finish the FY2013 bill and then tackling the FY2014 bill.
House Agriculture Committee
Even before Election Day, two Republicans and three Democrats were on their way out for the next Congress – rural development and research subcommittee chair Tim Johnson (R-IL-15) and nutrition and horticulture subcommittee chair Jean Schmidt (R-OH-2), plus conservation subcommittee ranking member Tim Holden (D-PA-17) and livestock, dairy and poultry subcommittee ranking member Dennis Cardoza (D-CA-18).
Four members of the House Agriculture Committee were defeated on Election Day – commodity and crop insurance subcommittee ranking member Leonard Boswell (D-IA-3), nutrition and horticulture subcommittee ranking member Joe Baca (D-CA-35), Bobby Schilling (R-IL-17) and Larry Kissell (D-NC-8) are now on their way out at the end of the year.
Assuming the number of total Agriculture Committee seats stays the same, that the allocation of seats between the two parties stays the same, and that no one leaves the committee for other assignments, there will be three Republican openings and at least five Democratic openings. More importantly, assuming the subcommittees remain the same and do not get consolidated or changed, there will be two subcommittee chair positions and four subcommittee ranking member positions up for grabs. At the full committee level, both Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK-3) and Ranking Member Collin Peterson (D-MN-7) are expected to remain in those positions.
Senate Agriculture Committee
All of the likely changes to the make up of the Senate Agriculture Committee happened prior to Election Day, with Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Ben Nelson (D-NE) retiring and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) losing his primary. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Bob Casey (D-PA) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) all won re-election and are expected to return to the Committee.
Assuming the overall Committee numbers and party ratio stay the same and that no one leaves the Committee, there will be two Democratic and one Republican slot open. Assuming Heidi Heitkamp was declared the winner in the North Dakota race to succeed Conrad, she would likely be a lock to join the committee. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), who was also an upset winner in the race to succeed Lugar, might be a possibility for the committee, though there are other possibilities as well.
Deb Fischer (R-NE), who defeated former Senate Agriculture Committee member Bob Kerrey in the Nebraska Senate race, would be a very unlikely addition to the committee given that Senator and former USDA Secretary Mike Johanns (R-NE) is already on the vommittee, though having two from the same state on the same side of the aisle is not completely unprecedented.
Though subcommittees tend to be relatively unimportant in the Senate Committee, there will be an opening for chair of the commodity and crop insurance subcommittee to replace Nelson and for ranking member for the nutrition, specialty crop, and research subcommittee to replace Lugar. | <urn:uuid:c5953acd-d386-4435-a74d-ba9640fef89e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/issues/election-results-will-change-congressional-agriculture-makeup | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950736 | 822 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Original World of Warcraft Server Blade Auctions to Support Charity
Net proceeds from the servers will go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
World of Warcraft fans are some of the most rabid around, and the opportunity to own one of the original server blades that housed the game's many realms will be an exciting proposition for many of them. The opportunity to bid on one of these items should be good enough, but to make things even better, a worthy charity will be benefiting from the money they bring in.
About 2,000 original server blades will be auctioned off on eBay beginning on October 17. This will continue through November 14, with the net proceeds going to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
These servers are no longer in use; WoW's infrastructure has been upgraded since it first launched in 2004. They are HP ProLiant servers that were used to host hundreds of realms for North America and Europe. Each one comes inside a windowed case with the WoW logo and a plaque signed by the WoW development team.
"World of Warcraft realms are like the virtual neighborhoods of the game's community -- they contain the spaces where millions of players have made friendships, forged friendly rivalries, and created lasting memories," said Blizzard CEO and co-founder Mike Morhaime. "Each winner in this auction will own a small monument to those collective experiences. The best part is that this auction benefits a great charity doing tremendous work in helping children from the U.S. and around the world."
More details are available on eBay, where you can sign up for an email reminder and see which weeks specific realms will be auctioned off.
who needs some old server parts?Posted: Oct 14, 2011 12:00AM PST by darkcat1
No offence but they don't appear to have any hard disks(no data!) or anything usefull...unlike say oh a prototype game cartrage. You'll pay an inflated price for some 10 year old ram, processor and board with no rack to plug it into(these should just be recycled). Also old PC boards don't really look good on display....
(And it probably would, no matter how hardcore and crappy it's becoming)-VDKT
I have the opisite problem there as I play FFXI online and it's becoming stupid and easy just like WOW....
Why do people buy art, or props famous people used in movie?Posted: Oct 15, 2011 12:00AM PST by neurohuman
Same reason why people are going to buy these old Server Blades. It's not the fact that it's a computer part, you can buy those anywhere and for a lot cheaper than these are going to go for. It's the fact that it's a part of gaming history, a physical piece of it that is also in a very limited supply. People are going to buy this because they love Blizzard, love World of Warcraft, or just love collecting video game paraphernalia. I completely understand how it doesn't appeal to most people, if I can't use it then it provides no enjoyment for me. But there are people out there that will pay top dollar for this piece of gaming history.
These are gonna be so expensivePosted: Oct 14, 2011 12:00AM PST by VDKT
I wouldn't be surprised if the auctions of each piece went for over a $1000. As much as I would love to own one, because Vanilla WoW, BC and WotLK were the pinnacle of WoW's successful, and my toons could of be processed on one of those... I would love to own it.
But damn... for who knows how many thousands of dollars the final price will be sold for, I'd much rather put that money into upgrading my PC or something.
But whoever will whip out thousands of dollars to own one is putting it into a worthy investment! If WoW manages to survive for another 10 years or so (And it probably would, no matter how hardcore and crappy it's becoming) these things will gain value!!! | <urn:uuid:b06b5ab9-46de-44d4-86bc-69176fd0986e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.1up.com/news/original-wow-server-blade-auctions-support-charity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965255 | 828 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The body count rising almost nightly among Philadelphia’s at-risk urban youth population, along with mounting reports of rising crime and unemployment rates among that same populace amounts to a collective plea for help. The Department of Labor is at least partially answering that call, thanks to a nearly $1.5 million grant.
The grant of $1,499,989 will go to the North Philadelphia-based non-profit People For People Inc., which will use the funds for its “Project Restore” program, which trains, educates and otherwise reforms young adult ex-offenders.
The grant is part of the DOL’s national $50 million, two-pronged initiative aimed at curbing youth violence and unemployment; a little more than $19 million will go to programs serving incarcerated juveniles in high-poverty, high-crime areas; with the remainder going to programs that serve formerly incarcerated juveniles and young adults.
New York will receive two grants of the first type, joining it with Texas and Iowa; People For People Inc. joins the second group, which is comprised of more than 20 non-profits across the country, and also serves as Pennsylvania’s sole grant awardee.
“These young people deserve a chance to turn their lives around,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis, in a statement released via the DOL. “The federal grants will help youth receive the training and support they need to gain valuable job skills and improve their long-term employment prospects.”
Congressman Chaka Fattah, instrumental in People For People obtaining the grant, said, “This important grant from the Department of Labor will help People For People continue to rebuild the lives of low-income minority young people who have had a brush with the law.”
People for People, Inc. will also be able to expand its Employment, Advancement and Retention Network (EARN), which has led the non-profit’s rehabilitative efforts since its 2006 inception.
According to the DOL, the grants will serve young adults age 18 to 21 who were involved in the juvenile justice system but never convicted as an adult. Those enrolled in the program will receive high school diplomas to go along with industry-grade training. Operated in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, EARN itself runs two initiatives: the Career Development Component and Work Support Component.
“Reverend Herb Lusk and the People For People Inc. organization he founded deserve high praise. They continue the tough, necessary work of rescuing and lifting up some of Philadelphia’s most challenged, at-risk young people,” Fattah said. “Restoring ex-offenders to function in our society through training and education is critical, not just to the individuals involved, but to the entire community.” | <urn:uuid:f9a67aea-e64b-4fbd-8e1a-5652c633381d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phillytrib.com/newsarticles/item/4783-grant-helps-educate-ex-offenders.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956494 | 592 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The day cosmetic companies put out advertisements without sex appeal is the day you-know-what freezes over and you-know-who skates on the ice. Axe Body Wash is a perfect example. In a commercial for Axe, two attractive teens interlocked and passionately kissing, fail to notice that they’ve rolled down a hill, over a picnic lunch, through a mechanic’s shop and then a tomato patch, across a highway, and finally off a cliff and into the ocean. Next, we see them coming out of the water in their bathing suits, soaking wet. A slogan appears: “How dirty boys get clean. Axe shower gel.”
The message boys get from this ad is no doubt that with the right shower gel, body spray, or deodorant, girls will flock to them like jocks to Gatorade. When the truth is, we girls are getting terribly sick of that same smell stinking up our gyms, halls, lockers, and lunch rooms. It’s become so familiar, it’s just plain irritating. When I smell a guy wearing Axe cologne, I can’t help but wonder if he is that easily manipulated by advertising fantasies or whether he really does like the smell.
On the other hand, our schools try to convince us not to have sex until we’re married. What are we supposed to think with all of these mixed messages? Who are we supposed to listen to? No matter what our schools, the government, commercials, or magazine ads tell us to do, we’re teenagers and part of being a teenager is doing what we want and ignoring adult advice. It’s only natural for teenagers to rebel against what they are told. So if different sources are telling us what to do and what not to do, that leaves us to make decisions on our own. So maybe these commercials aren’t bad after all, they help create an equilibrium between what we hear about sex from officialdom and what we manage to figure out on our own.
Molly Austad, sophomore
Highlands High School | <urn:uuid:e040bde6-b9cf-4412-99bf-6fa542679231> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.mysanantonio.com/teenteam/2007/02/molly-austad-how-easy-is-it-to-manipulate-teens/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939654 | 433 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Thursday, 07 June 2007 01:00
Tax Cut WishesWritten by WGCU Newsroom
FLoridians want significant tax relief but don’t want to compromise their quality of life. That pretty much sums up the results of a recent survey taken as the special legislative session aimed at property tax cuts approaches.
During the boom years of the mid 2000’s increasing property values led to a spike in property taxes – especially for business owners and part-time residents. And residents benefitting from the state save our homes amendment have felt trapped in homes that have been too large or small. Lawmakers listened and promise a fix, but county officials are wary. Charlotte County Administrator Bruce Loucks says taxpayers can’t have it both ways - tax cuts will also mean cuts in service.
“a lot people are going to be impacted different ways, for some people they don’t get – they don’t see the benefit they get from government services and that’s fine – those are the people that it doesn’t matter one way or the other what the impacts are however if you’re a person with children and you need parks and libraries then I think the impacts will be more significant. These impacts are going to be hitting different segments of the population differently"
Loucks says if lawmakers proceed as anticipated a resident of Charlotte County with an annual tax bill of 2000 dollars will see their taxes decline by about 380 dollars a year.
By law, counties are required to provide for the public’s safety – so those services would not be impacted. Other’s most likely will be. The special session starts June 12th.
County officials will have their sights focused on Tallahassee next week as state lawmakers begin a special session aimed at lowering property taxes. In a recent poll nearly all respondents said they want significant property tax cuts. But they also said they don’t want local governments to make up for those cuts by reducing services. Charlotte County Administrator Bruce Loucks says that’s wishful thinking.
"Government cannot reduce its revenues without reducing expenses . We collect 150 million dollars in property taxes from residents – 80 million of that goes to those constitutional offices – so half of the ad valorem taxes we collect we cannot impact – so for budget reductions to be made they have to come from the other half of the county sources that funds things like libraries and parks and some of those discretionary services."
The constitutional officers are tax collector, elections supervisor, property appraiser and clerk of courts. The state government also has final say over the sheriff’s budget. Loucks says there’s little fat to cut from Charlotte County’s budget – it’s spent millions over the last three years repairing infrastructure damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Charley in 2004. | <urn:uuid:9c69ce1f-c5db-428f-8c11-5893a04cffcd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wgcu.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=23714: | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957081 | 579 | 1.65625 | 2 |
By Darren Waters
Technology editor, BBC News website
Science fiction writer Alastair Reynolds is in a prime position to look dispassionately at the present and project into the future, having spent 12 years as an astronomer with the European Space Agency (Esa).
Alastair Reynolds worked as an astronomer for 12 years
He spent more than a decade combining his work at Esa with writing science fiction short stories, before making writing his career and publishing novels such as Revelation Space, Pushing Ice and his latest, The Prefect.
Science fiction has always been regarded with disdain by the literati but the genre has helped the world understand some of the most profound changes to society wrought by technology - such as space travel, satellite communications and robotics.
But when we live in a world immersed in nanotechnology, quantum computing and discoveries of Super Earth-like planets, do we need science fiction anymore?
"The common complaint now is that science fiction is already outmoded because we are living in a science fiction universe," says Mr Reynolds.
"I've got some sympathy with that. Only the other day I was in Amsterdam airport and I noticed security guards nipping around on Segways with machine guns.
"If you had been transported from 1997 into this year, you would be incredulous and think of it as science fiction.
"But we accept it as part of the fabric of our world."
Mr Reynolds believes that the pace of change makes science fiction essential reading, now more than ever.
"Society has probably always felt this way. To some extent this is when science fiction should thrive - when the world is changing at a bewildering pace.
"I certainly don't think science fiction is being overtaken with real world events."
Before turning full-time writer Reynolds spent five years working on the S-Cam project as Esa, helping develop an ultra-sensitive camera to detect energy changes in space.
"Our camera had 36 pixels, not megapixels. But each of those pixels was very, very special - cooled down to almost absolute zero. They were super conducting quantum devices.
"They could give you an enormous amount of insight into very rapid energetic processes out in space. We could look at a pulsar, track the way the energy was changing, and seen how the colours of the pulsar were varying on millisecond timescales.
"It was a rewarding area of science to be involved with."
Reynolds, who grew up in South Wales, is best known for books set in a universe he defined with his first novel, Revelation Space, in which humanity has expanded into the stars, creating divergent "tribes" that are defined by their relationships to technology.
From the Conjoiners, who have suffused their bodies and minds with technology to Ultras, who are defined by the near light speeds at which they travel and the resulting longevity from their life in space, his books are dominated by science and technology.
But for Reynolds the story always comes first.
"I tend to begin with an image or a conceit. It could be a scene in my mind - and often I don't know where it has come from.
"If it's a good one it will branch out and give you possibilities. Only later do I think in terms of putting the science in."
The Prefect is set in the Revelation Space universe
His latest book is a thriller but rooted in science fiction tradition. In it, a burnt-out law enforcement office untangles a galactic conspiracy which draws on classic Reynolds themes of isolation, social structures and power struggles.
The basic premise is an interesting one - what happens to a civilisation in which democracy has become a commodity which, like gold or oil, can be traded?
As a scientist, his ideas and the manner in which he describes them feel authentic: Spaceships orbit planets according to the laws of physics and the effects of zero gravity on moving objects are correctly detailed.
He also draws on the rich heritage of real science in fiction established by Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke, two of his favourite childhood authors.
"I am playing in a playground that's already been played in. I am always aware that a lot of the furniture in science fiction is second hand."
He says: "I prioritise story over science but not at the expense of being really stupid about it.
"If there's a story I absolutely cannot tell without faster than light travel then I am quite prepared to accept it - even though I don't personally believe it is possible."
As a scientist he uses contemporary development in science and projects their future use in his novels.
"I always say that keeping abreast of science should never be seen as a chore. It should be something you do naturally. I don't sit there reading New Scientist putting post-it notes next to ideas.
"Maybe a year later I will recall something. The ideas that tend to end up in my stories are never apparent when I read them."
One of the technologies that appears in his latest novel is a cloaking device, or invisibility field. It may have been the staple of many novels over the years but now there is science to marry to the fiction.
"Early on in The Prefect I thought it would be quite handy to have a character able to conceal himself in an invisibility cloak.
If I had written this 10 years ago, it would have been Star Trek rubbish; there was no scientific underpinning to it.
"But in the last two or three years there has been quite a lot of discussion about using real materials - or so-called meta-materials - as camouflaging devices. There are real things being done in the lab by which one can - in principle - make objects invisible to light of a certain radiation.
"It's a long step from that to go to a cloaking device. But that's the area in which I operate." | <urn:uuid:55c2c44c-68c5-48ff-b72c-250a67af712f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6608459.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97462 | 1,217 | 1.703125 | 2 |
May 18, 2006
I promised to share with you the biggest mistake new writers make today. It’s the mistake which turns a short writing process into a full day drudgery. And it’s also a problem which isn’t limited only to new writers. Experienced writers go through periods of time where it weighs them down.
I’m talking about editing at the same time you’re writing. If you try to edit while you’re doing your first rough draft of any article, white paper, or book, you’re going to slow down the whole process to a snail’s pace. Writing and editing are a completely separate process, and you have to treat them as such.
When you sit down to write, you must write. Don’t worry about being perfect. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Just do it. Write. You’ll do your editing later in the process. You might end up cutting out several paragraphs from the beginning of your writing when you get to editing. It doesn’t matter. In fact, when I’m training people on doing copywriting, it’s normal for us to cut out the first few paragraphs or even their whole first page. It’s almost as if they’re going through a warm-up process in getting started.
So sit down and write. That’s the key. Don’t go back and edit. Don’t sit there and contemplate what you’ll say next. The more you can just write or type your thoughts out as they come to you, the easier the whole project will be. Don’t allow yourself to rethink what you wrote at this point. Don’t stop to go back and make changes yet. Just write it until it’s finished.
Once you’re finished, now you can take a break from it for a while. Give yourself some time off. Relax and do something else to occupy your mind. My best ideas have almost always come to me while i was doing something other than working (playing a game, seeing a movie, taking a shower, etc.).
Have you ever experienced a conversation with someone where you don’t seem to get your point across? Of course you have. In most cases the perfect words come to you later on that day and you just wish you had said such-and-such. Writing is your opportunity to do this. You write as if you’re in a private conversation with someone. Then you take a break from writing and your subconcious gets to work on the project. Now you get the opportunity to go back in and reword your piece. You can’t take back words that come out of your mouth, but you can sure edit your writing before it’s published.
The best results occur for me when I take a day between the writing and the editing process. When I come back to my article I’m refreshed and often have a new perspective on it. It’s easy to go through and make the first several changes from things that came to mind in the past day. I then read it outloud. Someone else reads it outloud to me. Anywhere that it just doesn’t sound right is modified and edited. In a future postings, I’ll explain more about the overall editing process.
The one key principle here is that you must separate writing from editing. It’s that tendency in us to perfect something that holds you back in writing. It’s also the fear of making a mistake. What if you don’t write it correctly? What if it doesn’t sound right? Public speaking is the number one fear of the average person. They’re afraid they may appear foolish in front of an audience. This same fear invades our writing at times.
The simple solution to it is to tell yourself you will edit it before it goes out. What you write today is not what will be published. It is called a rough draft because it’s rough and needs some polishing. You have to get over your fear and get started. Just do it and edit it later.
May 17, 2006
The thing that keeps most people from writing is the dreaded blank page. You get yourself motivated. You sit down and turn on your word processing program. You stare at the page. You try to come up with the perfect first sentence. After a few minutes you finally begin typing one. Your next thought is that it just isn’t right and you delete the whole line. You stare at the blank page a little longer. Finally you write something else. It isn’t right either. So you delete it.
This process continues on for an hour or two…until you give up in total frustration. Writing must not be for you! I’ve been there. I’ve felt the pain. I’ve stared at the blank screen of death. Nothing came to mind. Nothing ended up being written down. All I did was stare.
This pain continued until I learned a much easier writing system. I used to dread writing. I hated sitting down to write something. Maybe moving some papers around my desk would be better. Maybe making a phone call to a friend would help. Maybe taking a break was what I needed. You’ve probably experienced some of those same thoughts….where you’d do anything to avoid sitting there with that blank stare on your face.
Writing the first sentence of an article, an ebook, or a book is the most difficult sentence to write. So don’t start there! That’s one of the secrets. What you must learn to do is to break up whatever you’re writing into smaller chunks. If you’re writing an article for example, come up with 3 to 5 points you want to make. Break up the article into these principles, steps, or points. Now instead of writing a 500 word article, you’re writing 100 word chunks for each of the steps you’ve created.
Which is easier to think about writing…one full article or simply a two paragraph section? Obviously it’s easier to write two paragraphs. Once you’ve decided on the steps or principles your article will contain, you can then begin writing on any individual section. There is no rule that you have to start in the beginning…and in most cases, that’s the last place you should start. Pick any of the sections you’ve now created and start there.
Write about point number four if that’s the one which comes the easiest for you. Then write about step three. Work on each step or section individually and once they’re all finished…then you come back to the beginning. As you see your article slowly taking shape, that’s when you’re motivated to continue. And the more you write, the easier it gets to keep going.
The basics of today’s lesson is that you must not allow yourself to sit there staring. Do a simple outline of the main points you want to make. Begin writing on whichever point will be the easiest for you to do. Take each section individually so you only have to think of doing a paragraph or two at a time. Often the beginning of the article is the last portion written.
Tomorrow I’ll post about the biggest mistake new writers make that causes them to take 2 to 3 hours to write something which should only take about 30 minutes.
May 16, 2006
This is the first in a series of postings about writing articles and content for the Internet. Today we’ll cover why you need to learn to write for the Internet world. Some people hate writing…and I understand that type of thinking perfectly. In school, my best subjects were math and science. English and Speech were two of my most hated classes, yet those are now the skills I use the most in my business.Â
Sure, you can hire out the job of writing to freelancers or you can join websites which offer you private label articles, but both of those options cost money and don’t build the same level of relationship with your subscribers. Although you don’t have to write the majority of your content, you should at least produce some of of your own.Â
Here is a short list of the benefits of producing content for your websites and your business…
- Produce content and build relationships with your opt-in subscribers.
- Create a regular blog series for traffic and community.
- Submit your articles to article submission sites for free traffic generation.
- Compile a group of your articles together for an ebook or physical book.
- Use the articles for search engine “fuel” by optimizing them for search engine rankings.Â
- Provide content for affiliates to use in promotion of your products and services.
The last four benefits can easily be reproduced by hiring outside writers. The first two are much more difficult to accomplish without producing at least some of your own writing. People buy from those who they like and trust…and for small businesses, it’s very difficult to build strong relationships with your customers without regular contact with them. In fact, blogs have become such a part of online marketing that many large corporations now have their own blog writers to deal with this marketing medium.Â
What I’ve found throughout my business is that nothing I’ve ever done has produced the same level of value to me as writing to my prospects and clients has done. For example, I once wrote an article called, “The Internet Lifestyle.” This article was published in hundreds of email newsletters and reproduced on thousands of web sites. It generated viral traffic for me for years…and it is still making it’s rounds even though it has been close to six years since I originally created it. An article which took me around 30 minutes to write…has produced tens of thousands of visitors and has continued producing for six years.Â
What free promotion have you ever done that equals that amount of results with so little time invested?
This article wasn’t about some new revolution in Internet marketing or some new strategy no one had ever heard about. It was simply about what I call the Internet lifestyle….and how I can live and work anywhere I want. When you run an Internet based business, you can do it at home from your home in your underwear if you want. You can do it in a big city if that’s what you like. You can do it out in the middle of nowhere like I do if that’s your choice. I live in rural Indiana on a street where there are only three other houses in a one mile stretch of road.
The “Internet Lifestyle” article talked about a cow named Oscar which lived next door to me. This has to be one of the most well known cows in existance as I’ve been asked by email, on the phone, and even in conference about how Oscar was doing. In fact, just last week someone asked me that question again. I had to simply respond, “I’m sorry, but Oscar was eaten a long time ago.” Don’t look at me! I didn’t do it. Oscar just lived next door. It is kind of funny that as long as the article has been out there…no one mentioned the fact that Oscar was really a bull, not a cow (I was wondering if anyone would mention it and they never have).
Anyway, the point of this is the power of one interesting article. It builds relationships. It drives traffic. It’s totally free promotion, and most people simply don’t know how to do it correctly. In the next couple of postings I’ll be teaching you a few aspects of the article writing system I’ve always used to get you started fast.Â
May 15, 2006
This blog has been rather empty of late. In the past month I’ve been to both Las Vegas for Fred Gleeck’s Information Product Marketing Bootcamp and San Antonio of Joel Christopher’s MasterListBuilder FUN Shop. They were both great events and I had the opportunity to meet with a large number of wonderful people in this business. In the next few days I plan to post some information and possibly even a few pictures from these events.Â
My new website at http://www.mymarketingcoach.com is beginning to take shape. There are still several completely empty sections such as the “free articles” section, but it won’t stay like that for long. If you visit over there, you’ll notice my new book, “Internet Integrity” will be ready to purchase soon…and we are currently accepting pre-orders for it…although I’m not heavily promoting it yet. We also have several other products planned for the near future, so keep an eye on the site for upcoming updates. Everything going on will be announced through my free newsletter and most likely in this blog as well.
May 16th is the first official day of my “coaching gym” program. If you’ve ever been interested in having your own marketing coach and mentor, this may be your chance. I’m not going to accept very many clients for the program as I really don’t want to become an Internet “guru” again. I only want to work with a few clients at one time and you could consider this the “Test” program. I’m sure the program will be modified in the future depending on just how much time it demands from me. You can find out more about it at http://www.mymarketingcoach.com/coach/index.html
My Quick and Easy Article Writing System was extremely popular at Joel Christopher’s FunShop event. People were excited to learn how anyone could begin writing online articles in 30 minutes or less…even if they’re not a writer. I’ll share a few aspects of this system in the blog over the next few days. If there is anything else you’d like to see in the upcoming blog postings, please let me know by using the feedback options.
May 10, 2006
Welcome to this brand new blog about Internet marketing, business coaching, integrity, etc…basically all the things I feel like rambling on about.  It’s pretty empty around here at the moment, but that will be changing quickly. You can expect to see regular postings several times a week to this blog about business, marketing, integrity, and more. If you’re interested in learning how you can obtain financial freedom through your own business, and do it without giving up the rest of your life…then this is the place to be. So, excuse the dust around here. These pages are just beginning construction. Bookmark this page. Get ready. There will be numerous links added to other marketing blogs and online tools. It’s quite likely excerpts from my book, “Internet Integrity” will be added in as well. I’m looking forward to serving you and helping you in whatever way I can in your business and your life. | <urn:uuid:104690a5-e1d7-47bc-90ed-596036e9efda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.terrydean.org/2006/05/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957341 | 3,241 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Posted 12 months ago
This is a true mystery and I have only been able to date it to the 1870's via an antique dealer I met with some years ago. He determined that the frame, mat and glass were from that period and original. I know there are prints of this image with the same signature but I have taken the back off of this and it has been done on old parchment and it is the etching itself and not a print. There is also no attribute to any maker of a "print" which you would find on every re-print of an original work. There is only the signature appears to say "Loiuteau" but the script (as you will see) is oddly ornate and may indicate another name. There is an auction house listing a print of this same work but I feel strongly this is the original. Any information on this work would be greatly appreciated. I've had it for nearly 20 years and I have found nothing with respect to the artist. It is a hand-painted etching according to the aforementioned dealer. | <urn:uuid:0b451ddd-eb58-48b1-819a-25fc3a1e33c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/56882-antique-original-etching-of-notre-dame?in=46 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976972 | 215 | 1.78125 | 2 |
This week I've been thinking about who, and what, we let make our decisions for us. And I've come up with two bad decision makers (besides the obvious emotional ones like anger, discouragement, pride, etc.) and one good one. I think you'll be surprised. So, today, instead of a story with a spiritual point, let's consider, briefly, the things that we shouldn't give the final say when we're making important decisions in our lives. Here are what I propose are the BAD ones:
1) Fear. Did you know that "Fear not!" is the most prevalent command in the Bible? Well, it is, and I think the reason for that is fear makes us stupid. Oh, that sounds harsh, doesn't it. But I think it's true when it comes to making good decisions in life. We're afraid to take a risk, so we don't start that new business. We're afraid to travel, or take off work, or do something new, so we don't try that short term missions trip. We're afraid we'll fail, so we don't try. We get comfortable with the familiar and so don't want to step into the new places God is calling us to. So, I say, BEWARE! When you're making a decision about what to do, what not to do, is it fear that's having the final say?
2) Money. The Bible says we can either serve God or Money, but not both. Usually, we take this to mean that we shouldn't be greedy and pursue money as our ultimate goal. But consider, if we let money be our final decision maker, then we're also letting it be our god. Too often I've heard people say "I can't afford it" to things they really need to do. They let finances excuse them from the best decision. Or, people will excuse sin because "I need the money." So, I say, BEWARE! Don't let money make your decisions for you. Money can be a factor, but not THE factor.
So, what's the good one? Who or what should we put in the top place for making decisions. I know you're expecting me to say God, and of course that's the right answer. But what does it mean? What does God say we should give top priority? Here's what I think:
Here's what Proverbs 2 says:
Proverbs 2:1-12: My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, 3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair-- every good path. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. 12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse …
So, how to be wise? James 1 says:
James 1:5: If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
So, we pray, ask, and try to figure out what's right, what's best . . . even if that thing is what we fear, and even if we can't afford it or need the money. The main question is: What's the right thing to do? After that, we find a way to tame our fears, or to finance what needs to be paid for. We have to find a way to do what's right. Because there's always a way to do the right thing. There's always a way to choose wisdom over fear or finances. Even if the way is narrow.
So, this week, I encourage you, and I encourage me, to think about how you make your big decisions -- to see where fear and finances are taking the top spot instead of God and wisdom. Look for wisdom as for hidden treasure. And fear no one, fear nothing, except for God Himself.
And may all our decisions be wise ones! | <urn:uuid:285d0a0b-cb08-43e3-8003-6f96caed5769> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://marloschalesky.blogspot.com/2007/11/decisions-making-them-right.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96404 | 955 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The Philippine Islands became a Spanish colony during the 16th century; they were ceded to the US in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. In 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing commonwealth. Manuel QUEZON was elected President and was ta... [read more]
Date: December 25th 2005
This is part 1 of our Ilocos Tour. Do check out the succeeding blogs for entries on Laoag and Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.
GETTING THEREOur Vigan adventure starts off on Christmas Day 2005. Armed only with half a day’s worth of research, money and clothes to last us five days, my sister and I boarded the Partas bus bound for Laoag City at 10PM. First discovery: fare has gone ... read more | <urn:uuid:f21d676b-bde8-48f8-a563-d60d0102b9c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.travelblog.org/Photos/170696 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964235 | 168 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Rachel's Legacy presented at Carbon High
Last year Carbon High School and the community were introduced to Rachel's Challenge and on Sept. 2 they were presented with the second part of Rachel's Challenge, called Rachel's Legacy.
Rachel Scott was the first girl killed in the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colo. in 1999. Her family has made it a point to help prevent these types of incidents in schools around the nation.
Last year the students at Carbon were given the five challenges from Rachel's Challenge which include:
Look for the best in others and eliminate prejudice.
Dare to dream, write goals and keep a journal.
Choose positive influences.
Acts of kindness equal huge results
Start a chain reaction with friends and family.
From last years' presentation Carbon High started the Friends of Rachel Club. The students in the club do acts of kindness and service to others and try to create an atmosphere of kindness in the high school.
This year's program was presented by Rachel's uncle, Larry Scott. He gave five new challenges to the high school and community.
Appreciate others, tell them and write them a card or letter.
Respond to needs. Open our eyes to people around us.
Be a first initiator. Never give up on life, self or education.
Be a see-througher not a look-attar
Forgive yourself and others.
"It was a great day for all who took part," said Carbon High principal Greg Stanfield. "The Friends of Rachel will continue to serve the students of Carbon High to make it a kinder and better school. We hope the community will do the same and make Carbon County a better place to live."
Stanfield added to that comment, "You may just start a chain reaction," based on the theme of the program.
For more information on Rachel's Challenge go to www.RacheIsChallenge.com. | <urn:uuid:cbcca335-abde-4e1c-840c-33dcefa966a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sunadvocate.com/index.php?tier=1&article_id=16640&poll=272&vote=results | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963271 | 399 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Biomark was founded in 1990 by Donn and Retta Park. Donn worked at the National Marine Fisheries Service in Seattle, Washington where he was employed as a research biologist for 34 years. Upon his retirement from the NMFS, he saw a need in the fisheries research area for an expanded role of RFID technology. Biomark was founded with the intent to develop a premiere fish tagging organization using RFID tag technology. It quickly adapted into a company that not only tagged fish, but also sold RFID tag products, and developed and built RFID tag data recovery systems based on customer’s research needs.
Biomark first opened its shop and office in July, 1990 in Kennewick, Washington. The company quickly added its first employee, Scott McCutcheon, who continues to work with Biomark today. Biomark’s current President, Dean Park joined the company in 1991 as a fisheries technician. He worked in a variety of positions with the company until he became President in 2001. In 1991, Biomark moved to Boise, Idaho. The founding employees chose Boise for its accessibility to the Rocky Mountains and its great quality of life. Because of Boise’s strong technology business and research community Biomark quickly adopted it as its permanent home. As a result of the company growth Biomark has occupied several locations in and around the Boise area and prides itself in being a valuable member of Idaho’s Treasure Valley community.
Product innovation has always had a strong foundation at Biomark. In the 1990s Biomark pioneered the first commercially available custom PIT tag detection systems as well as tagging and data collection tables. During the next decade Biomark played a major role in designing and developing fabrication techniques to reliably operate PIT tag antennas underwater (a major breakthrough in evaluation and monitoring technique). Biomark has emerged as a worldwide leader in RFID products for fish and wildlife research. From innovative, first of their kind, stream, river, and hydro facility RFID tag detection systems, to tag injection systems and production tagging services, Biomark delivers the best in products and services to its customers. | <urn:uuid:d98bd853-d1dd-41ad-ae61-29633742f818> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biomark.com/biomark/our_history/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970836 | 435 | 1.625 | 2 |
The District group assembled to consider burying power lines in the city met Thursday afternoon, with members spending much of their first meeting discussing the financial viability of putting the cables underground.
Pepco and the D.C. Public Service Commission gave presentations on the city’s electricity distribution, outlining how many customers were affected by the recent derecho storm and studies about burying more power lines. More than 70 percent of the city already has its primary power lines underground, Pepco and PSC representatives said.
No votes were taken during the meeting.
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray appointed the 15-member Power Line Undergrounding Task Force to explore the idea of burying power lines in the wake of storms that left hundreds of thousands without power and prompted criticism of Pepco’s emergency response.
A majority of District residents believe Pepco did an unsatisfactory job restoring power after June’s violent storm, according to a Washington Post poll. But there is little consensus over burying power lines.
“I don’t know whether undergrounding of the lines is ultimately the answer. It’s certainly the highly desirable solution,” said Gray, who attended part of the meeting. “The feasibility of that especially from the financial perspective is one of the things we’re asking this task force to be able to look at.”
Financing is the biggest issue in front of the task force. Burying the lines could cost as much as $1.1 billion, according to a 2010 study by Shaw Consultants International Inc., a Baton Rouge, La.-based energy consulting firm. Pepco said underground lines cost between $2 million to $5 million per mile to install, compared to overhead lines, which cost between $100,000 to $200,000 per mile.
The task force is also weighing the use of overhead lines, which are more exposed to storm and wind destruction but take less time to repair. Underground lines are less exposed, but could take crews longer to fix when damaged.
The task force is chaired by City Administrator Allen Y. Lew and Pepco Holdings Chairman Joseph Rigby. It includes representatives of the PSC and utilities with overhead lines; two residents from Ward 3 and Ward 7; and the Office of the People’s Counsel.
The members have until Jan. 31 to come up with recommendations and are hoping to meet each month to give committee updates.
“There’s no higher priority on my list than to serve all of our customers with reliable power,” Rigby said. | <urn:uuid:29afe727-bab9-415c-9a95-c1bb0b897f54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/cost-drives-power-line-task-force-meeting/2012/08/23/ac5e7088-ed6c-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95333 | 525 | 1.742188 | 2 |
If we had to guess, we'd say that Gmail's latest Labs feature, putting an unread message count first in the title bar and tabs, was probably inspired by a certain Firefox add-on ...
... but who are we to divine what craziness lurks in the minds of Google's Gmail engineers? In any case, Gmail's Labs section now has a "Title Tweaks" option you can enable to put a count of unread messages in parentheses near the front of your Gmail page title, making it visible in most browser tabs and at the top of stand-alone windows. It's pretty much an official implementation of Gmail Inbox Display Unread Count FIRST, a Greasemonkey script written by our founding editor and Jon Ramsey, which was rolled into our all-in-one Better Gmail 2 Firefox extension.
Gmail's official version, however, shows the full message number, and keeps the icon the same color. Want a 10-message limit to manage your inbox guilt, along with colored icons? Try the previously mentioned Gmail FavIcon Alerts script.
Note to Offline Gmail users: Your Labs changes, including Title Tweaks, may take a few minutes to take effect and, in this editor's experience, cause browser instability. Save what you're doing before enabling. | <urn:uuid:a168b000-d633-4184-96c2-710b2ae1cb76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lifehacker.com/5159995/gmail-puts-unread-message-counts-first-in-tabs-title-bars | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932087 | 262 | 1.632813 | 2 |
WINDHOEK - The Ohlthaver and List Group of Companies has established O&L Energy, a new subsidiary that will serve as an international specialist for renewable energy in Southern Africa.
A statement from the company says O&L Energy would focus on transmitting, manufacturing, supplying, distributing and dealing in all forms of renewable energy generated by any source such as solar energy and other energy related fields.
Bernd Vincent Walbaum has been appointed as the chief executive officer of O&L Energy. “Energy will be a crucial topic in the future worldwide and because of the limited resources of fossil fuels, enormous efforts are made to develop renewable energies like solar, wind, hydro and biomass. Namibia and Southern Africa are now also starting to develop and build renewable energy projects,” said Walbaum.
O&L Energy benefits from high reliability, German workmanship, minimum maintenance and maximum lifespan of the products, as well as from many years of experience in Namibia, South Africa, Africa and Europe.
Through well-known international partners, O&L Energy will provide renewable energy solutions of the highest engineering and efficiency standards.
“O&L Energy and its partners have long-standing experience in consulting, planning and constructing of large PV plants, ranging from 500KW up to 3.5MW projects in Spain, Italy and Greece and now also in Southern Africa.
“We offer high quality products and services for solar power plants with customer specific turnkey systems,” said Walbaum.
O&L Energy has a broad product portfolio with a wide range of photovoltaic/solar power and solar water heaters, from residential solutions to large-scale megawatt projects.
The company also specializes in consulting, designing, planning and building of solar water heating, photovoltaic and biogas plants as well as other renewable energy solutions. | <urn:uuid:ec1f6e1b-2d5c-4b42-9443-27c07ed2a8dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newera.com.na/articles/47350/O-L-establishes--energy-subsidiary | 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 | 0.954818 | 385 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Source: City of Seattle Department of Finance and Administrative Services (March 2012)
In 2011, businesses generated $53.8 billion in taxable revenues. Citywide taxable business income increased by 2.9% between 2010 and 2011 (Ex. 1-1).
Seattle-based businesses generated $53.8 billion in taxable income in 2011, 82% of all business income reported in Seattle. Businesses based outside of Seattle reported $10.6 billion in income earned from activity and transactions within Seattle. Out-of-town businesses account for approximately 20% of revenues reported in the City.
Total business income generated by tax-paying businesses increased by 3.3% in the same period. Sectors with projected 2011 revenue growth include all sectors except FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate).
|Business Owners | Business Districts | Key Industries | News & Resources| | <urn:uuid:f6450e76-88f1-4598-8736-65aab2b25f25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seattle.gov/EconomicDevelopment/indicators/businessIncome.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943663 | 177 | 1.671875 | 2 |
It’s been two months since Scott Brown’s surprising Massachusetts Senate victory, and Republicans might be regretting an outcome that they once saw as a turning point. Prior to Brown’s win, national Democrats were adrift, the base was deeply demoralized, and a path to finally passing health care reform was unclear. But Brown’s win changed this, providing a desperately needed wake-up call to national Democrats and the Obama Administration.
President Obama is now more publicly critical of Republicans than at any time since his election, and is in a campaign mode that he would likely have delayed to the fall but for Brown’s win. Health care reform is set to be passed, the President is trying to mollify immigrant rights groups, and a series of events — Texas’ new conservative textbooks that completely distort history, Clarence Thomas’ wife forming a group aligned with the Tea Party, Chief Justice Roberts’ public criticism of the President — could well drive disenchanted Democrats to the polls in November not by their hopes, but out of fear.
It sounds hard to believe that Scott Brown’s victory was the high point rather than beginning of the Republican drive to win control of Congress in November, but this increasingly appears the case. Rather than shock Democrats with unexpected victories on Election Day — as occurred in 1994 — Republicans peaked several months early, giving Obama and the Democrats too much time to retool and relaunch their 2010 electoral agenda.
Republicans’ Strategic Mistakes
The Republican Party made two major strategic errors since Scott Brown’s victory.
First, they have put too much faith in the Tea Party and conservative base to carry them to sweeping victories in November. Contrary to media depictions of the Tea Party as some sort of new political force, most are the same right-wing conservatives and/or Libertarians who have long comprised the Republican base.
Rather than cultivate the independents and union members who backed Brown, the Republicans have moved even further to the right. This is partially because many Republican Congressmembers face right-wing primary challenges. But the media’s inflated coverage of the Tea Party’s role in Brown’s victory, has also empowered ultra-conservatives. From the Texas Board of Education rewriting history books without input from historians, economists or sociologists (the Board is led by a dentist) to Supreme Court Justice Thomas’ wife openly aligning with a Tea Party group, to a Chief Justice criticizing a President, the right wing feels the wind at its back and is poised for victory in November.
In addition to mistakenly moving further right after Brown’s win, the GOP has deviated from their 1994 precedent by refusing to offer a specific alternative agenda, instead relying on just saying “No.” While the Party talks about a second “Contract With America” and Newt Gingrich is a highly sought speaker at conservative events, the Republican Party’s agenda is based entirely on opposition to Obama and to any new taxes.
This is a far cry from 1994, where Gingrich offered a blueprint for a different type of society. Republicans apparently fear promoting such a blueprint because it will remind voters of the Party’s policies from 2003-2006 when they controlled the government, bringing the nation financial ruin at home and foreign policy disasters abroad.
There are limits to an agenda based solely on saying “No.” Brown prevailed because he appeared to offer a middle ground between the two parties, a much different message than Republicans are offering the nation’s electorate.
Democrats’ Learning Curve
Although it was obvious for months that the President’s pursuit of bipartisanship was strategic folly, it seemed to take Scott Brown’s victory for Obama to get the message. Similarly, the national Democratic Party was forced to accept that the public did not share their thrill over Obama’s first year accomplishments; Obama and the Democrats now recognize that they must deliver more tangible benefits to their base, and are already in nearly full campaign mode.
Media explanations for Brown’s victory often overlook his opponent’s failure to request help from the national Democratic Party until it was too late. By treating the Party’s base as a campaign electorate six months before the election — i.e., a constituency that can’t be taken for granted — Obama and national Democratic leaders are primed to avoid major setbacks this fall.
But the Brown victory has not changed Democratic Party timidity on a range of issues, including climate change, labor law reform, judicial and other key agency appointments, and even on health care reform. Progressives will only be swayed to act as campaign volunteers this fall either through local and state races, or by the fear that absent participation Michelle Bachmann will control the House and Tom Coburn the Senate.
I recall talking to people as late as the start of 1980 who truly believed Ronald Reagan was too right wing to be elected President. And many felt the same about the prospect of Newt Gingrich becoming House Speaker, or of George W. Bush winning in 2004.
A right-wing government can, and did, happen here. President Obama and Democratic leaders will use that recent memory to help drive Democrats to the polls in November, with Scott Brown to thank for ending their overconfidence.
Republished with permission from Beyond Chron | <urn:uuid:ce33c95c-7cf6-4e5b-bdfd-af3581c5ad06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.laprogressive.com/republicans-regret-scott-browns-massachusetts-miracle/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96605 | 1,088 | 1.664063 | 2 |
As published in Costco's monthly magazine The Costco Connection:
Some day in the not too distant future, people will look back on these recessionary times and say, That’s when the smart people did “xyz.”
At StartupNation, we believe that doing “xyz” means starting up your own business, right now. By our observation and experience, we’ve noticed that some of the best success stories are born in times just like these.
It’s true that we’re in the midst of an economic tsunami. But that only means more opportunity. After all, when everyone is down and out, their needs become more urgent. Any businesses that cater to those “screaming needs” may be perfectly poised to become recession-busters. Secondly, people are desperate for work. That means you can find higher quality people less expensively than ever before. Great people make great companies, so this could give you a huge edge. Thirdly, it’s less expensive than ever to get your business off the ground. Deals and discounts abound. You can hang the OPEN sign far easier and faster today than in times when vendors were fat and happy and offered fewer incentives.
Beyond the economic realities, technology has evolved rapidly to open up unprecedented opportunities for entrepreneurs. You can market your business effectively, efficiently and inexpensively like never before. For example, email marketing costs pennies per email and is one of the most direct, immediate and productive ways to drum up sales. With recipients’ permission, you can message them with your offers and provide helpful updates to stay top of mind during these distracting times.
Then consider another technology-driven game-changer – online social networking. By being active on sites like Facebook and using micro-blogging sites like Twitter (in addition to your own website’s blog), you can significantly expand your contacts and prospects and develop interaction with them that can lead to revenue with stunning speed and scope. It’s basically schmoozing without ever leaving your office.
Add to that the opportunities associated with search engine marketing, where you pay only for qualified traffic—referred to as “clicks”—to your website, and you quickly begin to realize that spending is no longer a guessing game with slow returns on investment. These days, you can generate instant results with minimal money at risk.
So, while your instincts might have you hiding under a rock right now, shed that conservatism and get your own business started. You can not only survive, but thrive in this economy.
Here are some business types that are particularly viable these days, keeping in mind that you should only start a business if you’re extremely passionate about what that business does. You’ll need that passion to sustain you and to make you contagiously exciting in the presence of customers, employees and financiers.
These are must-have services, typically. Think healthcare-related businesses, automotive repair, perhaps IT support for residential customers, financial planning – all businesses that are required—not optional—in order to conduct life normally.
Screaming Needs Businesses
Think of things that people urgently need in this economy. If you can help people spend less, you’re onto something. For example, if people need their fashion fix, maybe you can supply fashion accessories less expensively or be an information resource for discounted items. We know of one entrepreneur who provides discounted parking to people who purchase city parking through his site.
No Downside Businesses
We’re referring to monetary downside here, so any business requiring minimal upfront cost would qualify. A home-based business with an online store fits the bill. You can sign up for a template website on a pay-as-you-go basis very affordably. What you do have at stake, of course, is your time and the opportunity cost of having chosen not to pursue a potentially lucrative alternative path.
Proven Formula Businesses
Franchises are generally lower risk because they’ve been proven to work. This formulaic approach to running a small business may be perfect, especially if you’re spinning out of the corporate world and don’t have much experience as a wily entrepreneur. While it’s a less “innovative” path, opening a franchise location can give you all the other benefits of running your own show.
In these times of uncertainty, one thing can still be counted on – small business isn’t going away. It’s still at the heart of the American economy and our country’s culture. If you leverage the many advantages available to entrepreneurs today and start a business that fits one of the attractive categories mentioned above, you have good odds for success, even today.
Bonus Section: 5 Simple Steps to Get Your Business Off the Ground
Take these 5 simple steps to quickly replace confusion and fear with information, confidence, a clear path forward to get your own business off the ground:
1. Play to Your Passion
Figure out what turns you on – if you’re passionate about a business idea, your chances of success go way up. That passion will help you get through the tough times. See Life Planning at StartupNation, the first of 10 Steps to Open a Business.
2. Take Stock
No, not shares of the company. We mean take stock of what your skills are, the resources you have available, the track record you might be able to leverage from a marketing perspective.
3. Commit to Your Concept
Create a short but clear statement about what your business idea is. Force yourself to distill the idea into a brief statement that’s clear to any third party (money people, customers, partners, employees, web designers, etc.)
4. Google Like Mad
To collect some quick research, immediately start Googling for anything associated with your idea. The faster you become an authority, the faster you’ll be able to define your business strategy, including pricing, target markets, milestone timing, operations and more.
5. Test Drive
Find a few people who’ll be a sounding board for your ideas and strategies. This helps you avoid buying into your own hype. And don’t be afraid to ask people who have no relationship with you. In fact, you can ask someone who runs a similar business in a non-competitive geographic market to be a mentor.
Want more of Rich's advice? Check out his blog, and learn more about successful startup strategies! | <urn:uuid:2bb0814e-0485-473c-a537-4121a0450bd5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.startupnation.com/business-articles/9401/1/now-is-the-time-to-start-up.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944236 | 1,347 | 1.71875 | 2 |
~ my little painter ~
three days ago, ari cleaned our watercolor pallete, dropped a few drops of colors on it and gave it to aina. she already has her own brush and water cup on her “work table” at all times. usually, she uses the brush to play around with water. this time, she’s allowed to play with colors and mix them together.
since then, she’s been addicted to do watercolors. she paints everyday. her first painting consists of just circles, as you can see it on the picture above and during the making below:
it is now hanging proudly on our fridge.
lately, though, she has learned not to put too much water on the paper (because it soaked the paper and the colors transferred on to her table), not to push too hard on the paper (because it will rip the paper apart), and how to draw things other than circles… for example, lines, a letter T, weird rectangles, and — erm — furballs. | <urn:uuid:6d11b033-5b48-4158-bbd7-209742607869> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.avocadolite.com/expiration/archives/002205.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974107 | 217 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Professional nurses have the designation of Registered Nurse (RN), which is achieved through the completion of a rigorous educational program and successfully passing a licensing examination. They may have associate, baccalaureate, and master's degrees as well as doctorates. SRJC prepares professional nurses at the associate degree level.
Professional nursing is both a science and an art. The Registered Nurse integrates scientific knowledge with the art of caring with the skills of perceptive and therapeutic communication. RNs provide physical and emotional care and support to people and families who are unable to care for themselves. They also assist the patient and family in attaining the knowledge and skills needed to maximize their health and manage their disease. They are essential members of the health-care team.
The SRJC Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) Program is one of the top ADN programs in California. Since beginning in 1959, the program has enjoyed a wonderful working relationship with numerous clinical agencies in Sonoma County. Approximately 60 new students are admitted each fall and spring semester. Our nursing students come from varied educational and culturally diverse backgrounds and life experiences.
Associated Degree Nursing at SRJC
The Associate Degree in Nursing is a full-time four semester program resulting in eligibility to apply for a registered nursing license and sit for the NCLEX-RN examination.
Obtaining a BSN or MSN The faculty of the SRJC associate degree nursing program encourage all nursing students to pursue advanced education during or after completion of their associate’s degree. Advanced nursing degrees provide more employment opportunities for nurses including positions in management, education, clinical nurse specialist, clinical nurse leaders, nurse anesthetists, and nurse practitioners.
SRJC has an agreement with Sonoma State University School of Nursing to offer a collaborative program that enables ADN students to pursue advanced nursing education (BSN/MSN) through a variety of programs. Some of these courses are offered concurrent with SRJC ADN program enrollment. Students who are interested in these programs need to complete the California State University transfer pattern for General Education (Option B). For information about these CSU transfer general education requirements, review the GE patterns in the SRJC College Catalog or Web site and see a counselor.
Vocational Nursing to Nursing (ADN) options exist for Licensed Vocational Nurses who wish to become RNs. Eligible LVNs enroll in a bridge course in the spring semester. Those students who successfully complete the course join the NR 75 C and NR 75D courses to complete their program.
VN-ADN students take the same prerequisites and meet the same admission criteria as all students who apply to the ADN program. In addition, they must meet the following experience requirements: 1,520 hours in a health setting in the past 3 years, or, 950 hours in a health setting in the past year, or, graduation from a LVN program in the last year. At this time, employment after obtaining the R.N. license with this option is limited to California ONLY.
educate nursing students for safe nursing practice, demonstrating attributes that are culturally sensitive, competent, and professional. Graduates are prepared to work in a variety of health care settings and to be effective leaders. In order to fulfill this mission, the Santa Rosa Junior College ADN faculty strives to: 1. Recruit well-qualified students with diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. 2. Provide a variety of learning opportunities and clinical settings to apply theoretical knowledge, demonstrate patient centered care, safe practice, critical thinking, and problem solving skills. 3. Use Evidence Based Practice research and principles to promote student learning, growth, and development in nursing practice. 4. Role model professionalism, patient centered care, safe and competent nursing practice, ethical behavior, multiculturalism, and nursing leadership. Approved October, 2011
The faculty of the ADN Program concurs with the primary purpose of Santa Rosa Junior College: to provide educational opportunities for a diversity of students and to develop intellectual curiosity, integrity, and accomplishment in an atmosphere of academic freedom.
The curriculum in the ADN Program is derived from a conceptual framework which is based on Orem's Self-Care Deficit Theory of Nursing. Selected concepts and the nursing process are integrated throughout the curriculum.
Our philosophy of nursing is influenced by our beliefs about individuals, society, health and nursing:
Every individual is unique with innate dignity and worth. We view the individual as a developing physical, psychosocial, cultural, and spiritual being. We believe each individual is responsible for his/her own behavior as it relates to self, society and the environment. Each individual is capable of acquiring knowledge regarding health needs and practices, and is free to choose those self-care behaviors which will promote optimum health.
A society is composed of individuals, families, groups, and communities. Societies are dynamic and influenced by social, economic, political, cultural, spiritual and environmental forces. Society has a role in assisting the client in attaining/regaining optimal self-care.
Health is functioning at one's optimum level of wellness. One's level of wellness is unique to each individual, is ever changing, and is influenced by one's knowledge of health requirements and one's ability and desire to meet their self-care needs.
Nursing is a profession committed to humanistic and holistic caring of individuals and their families throughout all developmental stages. Being a professional nurse requires knowledge and understanding of the physiological, psychosocial, cultural, and spiritual needs of the client/ clients. This body of knowledge is derived from nursing sciences and other related disciplines from the natural and social sciences.
The practice of nursing requires:
1. The promotion of health and prevention of illness.
2. The restoration of health and alleviation of suffering when restoration is not achievable.
3. The use of the nursing process to identify client’s self-care needs by promoting those behaviors which lead towards the highest level of wellness.
4. The collaboration with clients and other members of the health care team.
5. The application of legal-ethical and principles of accountability to the individual, family, community, and health agencies for providing safe, competent care.
We believe there are multiple levels of entry into nursing and a variety of practice settings dependent on educational preparation and/or clinical expertise. We believe that students have multiple learning styles and educational needs. The curriculum addresses the multiple learning styles to prepare the graduates of Santa Rosa Junior College as entry level nurses and for entry into a baccalaureate nursing programs. (Approved by ADN faculty 2-15-2007) | <urn:uuid:6c688608-11dc-4d15-9fcf-6fea895d0eda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://online.santarosa.edu/presentation/page/?28904 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947416 | 1,334 | 1.65625 | 2 |
It's no secret that I live mainly in Suffolk and love East Anglia so I was delighted to hear of a new exhibit at a museum I'd never been to - The Museum of East Anglian Life. Tucked away behind a supermarket in the mid-Suffolk town of Stowmarket (not as bad as it sounds - handy for parking!) is the delightful Abbot's Hall, a small estate that has been given to the people of East Anglia to preserve their heritage.
The space has been titled ‘How does your garden grow’ and touches on the types of garden in East Anglia, links between farming and gardening on the local landscape, and the benefits of gardening to wellbeing.
One of their key displays relates to people that form the ‘East Anglian Inspiration’ in the garden. I was particularly delighted to see that this included objects relating toten-times gold medal winner Beth Chatto, Xa Tollemache of Helmingham Hall and countrywoman, Peggy Cole, all of course, great Gardening Women.
There's also a wall covered in extra large plant labels where visitors are encouraged to write about what gardening means to them.
It would be a terrific half term outing with lots for children to see and do. Full details and opening times at Museum of East Anglian Rural Life | <urn:uuid:7a872e4f-98db-4f7b-a063-e691c2e6359e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gardeningwomen.com/xa-tollemache/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968797 | 275 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Archive for the ‘cpwr trustee’ tag
by CPWR Trustee Anantanand Rambachan
The Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions was pleased to facilitate an interfaith gathering of 17 key leaders, representing 10 different faith traditions to explore the preparation and role of religious leaders in an increasingly interreligious world. The meeting was held on October 7-8, 2012 in California at the Claremont School of Theology of Claremont Lincoln University.
Little attention has been given to the nature of leadership or leadership education across religious and spiritual traditions. Still less is known about the role of multi-religious considerations in the preparation of religious leaders in most religious and spiritual communities.
This group will gather again in the spring 2013 in New York to continue its study of the nature of leadership and leadership education across religious and spiritual traditions. Specifically, the Task Force focuses on the role of multi-religious considerations in the preparation of religious leaders in various religious and spiritual communities.
Educating Religious Leaders for a Multi-Religious World is a project of The Council for a Parliament of the World Religions and funded by The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.
Mr. Varun Soni, Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California; Dr. Heidi Hadsell, President, Hartford Seminary; Dr. Azizah al-Hibri, Professor of Law, T. C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond and Founder and President, KARAMAH: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights; Mr. Kuldeep Singh, President, Sikh Youth Alliance of North America (SYANA).
The following article is a final synthesis paper written by Lora Burge, a seminarian at McCormick Theological Seminary. The course, Religious Pluralism and the Ministry, has been taught by Prof. Robert Cathey and CPWR Trustee Janaan Hashim since 2006. The course developed as an off-shoot from the 2004 Parliament in Barcelona. Over the course of the semester, students actively study five faith traditions: Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Hinduism. Students’ final reading includes Tariq Ramadan’s The Quest for Meaning: Developing a Philosophy of Pluralism. Equipped with a semester of observation, research, and writing, students leave the class working on a philosophical and/or theological framework for thinking about religious pluralism in Chicago and beyond. With Ms. Burge’s permission, Prof. Cathey and Prof. Hashim are pleased to share with you this young interfaither’s thoughts. Enjoy.
Finding a Universal
by Lora Burge
Humility is my table, respect is my garment, empathy is my food and curiosity is my drink. As for love, it has a thousand names and is by my side at every window. –Tariq Ramadan
Approaching the sacred, finding the holy, listening to the divine, worshiping God within and among us. As I reflect on the journey and experiences of this semester, I can’t help but marvel at everything I saw and observed. On one hand, it’s hard to make comparisons between the different religions. Friday afternoon prayers, puja, and a Shabbat service are organized different ways for different purposes. Yet, on the other hand all these involved searching. Looking out and watching for something bigger, something outside of themselves, something beyond human reason and quantifiable experience. They were seeking Brahman, Allah, YHWH, God, enlightenment.
Growing up in a pluralistic, postmodernist world, I have always been taught to be suspicious of overarching truths and meta-narratives. I’m well-steeped in the practice of criticism and always asking “Whose truth? Whose narrative? Who’s speaking? And with what authority?” I wonder if those questions don’t put more distance between myself and my neighbors. Are these questions I was taught to ask other-izing the “other”? It’s a lot easier to ignore, overlook, and mistreat people when central parts of their identity and belief have been objectified away.
I am such a product of my own education that I have a hard time conceptualizing what a universal truth would look like. I was taught to be so suspicious of any universals as to make them seem an impossibility. I will always be a child of postmodernism, understanding life in terms of social constructs, contextual truths, and lived experience. It seems unlikely (at least now) that I will completely break out of this mold of thought that has been the result of two decades of education. Yet now I criticize the critical mode of thought itself. If we objectify all truth, and conceptualize of each human being as living in her or her own uniquely-constructed world, then we’ve erased the possibility of common ground and shared experience. Anybody outside of myself will always be “other” to my reality. Not just somewhat “other,” or different, but completely so, which will make relating and understanding each other difficult.
Here’s the crux of it: by asking so many questions and stripping things bare as social constructs and humanity-made realities, we’ve removed the common ground out from under our own feet. Precisely by focusing on each individual’s uniqueness, we’ve lost sight of or lost altogether the universal nature of our own humanity. We are making “other” out of our own flesh and blood. Until we learn a new way of thinking, we will continue to push people away as irreconcilably different.
Something then must be done to reclaim our common ground. It is not hard to see the ways in which our world is tearing itself apart: wars, violence, poverty, economic injustice, and more. Yet how will we put it back together with such differences? It is imperative that we relearn how to understand our common humanity rather than focusing on differences.
If nothing else, we all share in the same humanity. We all breathe, eat, sleep, learn, and to some extent live in community with other human beings. Some faith traditions understand the condition of being human as the nature of being created in the image of God. Some understand the human condition as rooted in suffering. To others, being human is something to be mastered through rigorous spiritual disciplines. Regardless of our personal understandings of what it means to be human, we all are, and that is one universal characteristic that we share. Across religious, political, ethnic, racial, cultural, economic and any other constructed categories that divide us, we are all human. So what are we to do with our universal human nature?
It is time to recognize that shared humanity in itself is enough of a foundation for shared common ground. We must move forward understanding that we share at least one thing with the rest of the world: our being. This shared existence is something to be honored and respected. Tariq Ramadan notes that, “We must love human beings, with their qualities, their beauties and their difference, but also with their weaknesses, their doubts and their fears. This means acknowledging that they, like us, are capable of the best and the worst.[…] Our love must be resolutely universal, and eager to share.” If human nature is the universal condition, then love must become the universal action. Each of us from personal experience knows of the human potential for good or for evil, and everything in between. Love cannot be measured out on the basis of works and worthiness: this will only lead to constructed divisions, categories, and the naming of people as foreign “others.”
Instead, this universal love needs to be something that we have in common and something that brings us together. The free, unconditional giving of love is not something that comes easy. Survival instincts and greed lead to the selfish management of resources, even love. A few millennia of stingy, particular love have left us a world full of divisions, hatred, and violence. There must be another way.
There is a practice within Hinduism of bowing to other people and saying “Namaste,” or “I bow to the God in you.” Hindus will bow to other Hindus and non-Hindus alike; to them, there is God in everyone. For Hindus, this practice is based on their universal conceptualization of a sacred nature present within each human being. It would be presumptuous to think all human beings would want to engage in the practice of Namaste bowing. With many theological, spiritual, and anthropological understandings of what it means to be human, finding the sacred in our fellow humanity will not be a practical approach to the universal. Yet there is something in the practice that could be a helpful model.
There is no rationale or emotion tied to the bowing. I am not bowing to thank someone for a gift or a professor for help with an assignment. I recognize there may be circumstances where this bowing is easier and other situations where it is really hard to see God present in others. But regardless, the bowing happens simply to unconditionally honor the God-nature in others. This is precisely what we must learn to do. Regardless of any words or actions we may use, we must learn to love and respect the humanity—the human nature—of the people around us, both in the local but also the global sense. We need to recognize that within every other there is a shared human nature, a shared life force, and in fact, he or she is not such an “other.”
This is precisely what I had a taste of this semester. Going to a synagogue, a mosque, a gurdwara, a Buddhist center, and a Hindu temple—I was an outsider and an observer but I never felt like an “other.” All of our speakers and hosts were eager to have us there and as equally enthusiastic to help us learn about their faith tradition. In some instances, there were shared elements of religious heritage between us, and in other instances, none. Yet we are all human beings, living from the same human condition, and searching for similar things. Instead of seeing a young white liberal Christian woman from the West coast, each of them chose to see and affirm a fellow human being also searching for a life of meaning and happiness.
This is what I need to take with me: there is one possible universal truth, and that is love for my fellow humanity. Not a love that requires uniformity in belief or political systems, not a love that dissolves diversity for a false sense of unity, not love that has any conditions or requirements at all. This universal love then is a deep, unconditional positive regard not because of how people are in the world but because they are in the world. This love honors people simply and wholly because they have a human nature and being, which means they are like us.
This universal love is something that needs to be cultivated and practiced. In an economic system based on achievement and merit, giving anything unconditionally is uncommon. Universal, unconditional love for the human nature of all people is not something that will happen overnight; it will happen in many specific moments and encounters. Tariq Ramadan explains that, “Love too is a journey. We have to set out, get away from ourselves. We have to take the first step, and keep our balance. And, ultimately, it is all a question of balance.” We need to step away from our specific selves, step into our common humanity, and live from a universal love and a shared reality that we are, in fact, all human and we share in this thing called life.
Ramadan, Tariq, The Quest for Meaning: Developing a Philosophy of Pluralism (London: Allen Lane, 2010), xii.
Ibid., 25
Pandit, Dr. Bansi, “Hindu Tradition.” Lecture, McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL, 2 December 2011.
Ramadan, Tariq, The Quest for Meaning: Developing a Philosophy of Pluralism (London: Allen Lane, 2010), 195.
by Joshua Stanton
from the Huffington Post
Religious communities are never the same once they reach America. In my view, they often become even more remarkable.
As a third-generation American Jew, it is at times even challenging for me to think of Judaism apart from the American experience. In spite of hardships early on for our community, the search for common threads between the disparate Jewish groups that came in droves to America two (and more) generations ago forced us to reexamine and hone our religious beliefs. What actually bound us together?…
As has become quite evident in the past several years, another set of religious groups, bolstered by recent waves of immigrants to America, is also looking to social justice as a possible unifying trope. Launched by Anju Bhargava, Hindu-American visionary and founder of Hindu American Seva Charities, this effort seeks to increase long-term collaboration between Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Sikh communities through religiously inspired volunteerism, charity and social services.
Together, these groups — several of which are comprised primarily of immigrants from South and East Asia — represent what may be described as Dharmic religious communities and a new coalition in the American religious landscape. They are seeking a unique American identity and niche for their adherents. Like other religious communities that have flourished during and after waves of immigration, they appear poised to make essential contributions to American society. | <urn:uuid:220d23c0-de33-4da9-b09a-86b97491239c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.parliamentofreligions.org/news/index.php/tag/cpwr-trustee/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957135 | 2,819 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled (Cavendish Munro Professional Risks Management Ltd. v Geduld) that in order to fall within the statutory definition of a protected disclosure under Section 43 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA), a disclosure must be an actual disclosure of information as opposed to an allegation or expression of concern.
Mr Geduld became a director, shareholder and employee of Cavendish Munro, a firm of insurance brokers, in March 2007. From early on in his employment there were tensions between him and his two fellow directors and less than a year later Mr Geduld was dismissed. Prior to his dismissal, his solicitor had sent a letter on his behalf to the two other directors.
As he had been employed for less than a year, it was not open to Mr Geduld to bring a claim of unfair dismissal. He claimed, however, that he had been dismissed because of the letter sent by his solicitor, the contents of which amounted to a protected disclosure. An employee can bring a claim of unfair dismissal for having made a protected disclosure irrespective of length of service and there is no upper limit to the amount of compensation that can be awarded.
The Employment Tribunal (ET) upheld Mr Geduld’s claim and awarded him £36,300 in compensation.
Cavendish Munro appealed on the ground that the ET had erred in law. Section 43 of the ERA requires a disclosure of information in order to establish the existence of a protected or qualifying disclosure. This is not the same as simply voicing a concern or objection or making an allegation. The company contended that there was nothing in the solicitor’s letter that could be said to be a disclosure of information.
Mr Geduld argued that the letter did constitute a protected disclosure. Under the ERA, a disclosure can be stating something of which the recipient is already aware. Referring to a general basis of an allegation can constitute information without the need to refer to specific facts.
The EAT upheld Cavendish Munro’s appeal and set aside the ET’s judgment. For a protected disclosure to fall within the statutory definition, there must be disclosure of information. In the EAT’s view, the letter sent by Mr Geduld’s solicitor did not convey information as contemplated by the legislation, let alone make a disclosure. It did not disclose any facts but was merely ‘a statement of position quite naturally and properly communicated in the course of negotiations between the parties’. | <urn:uuid:e79c3fc9-989a-4e1f-9952-e4a6579ccd7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.barlowrobbins.com/site/legalnews/whistleblowing_what_constitutes_a_qualifying_disclosure.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974799 | 515 | 1.75 | 2 |
Neither snow, rain, or sleet kept couriers from completing their appointed rounds. Carriers say it's the unofficial motto of the U.S. Postal Service, and they've stayed true to that motto the past couple of days.
Carriers say sometimes they don't want to be out there battling mother nature, but they say it's part of their job and residents need their mail.
"It's a job you just got to get through with it. It doesn't matter what the weather is like. It can be 100 degrees outside, it can be 20 below, irregardless we have to get it out there and do our jobs," says Joe Bertrand, a US Postal Service letter carrier.
U.S. Postal Service letter carriers are usually out on the roads delivering mail from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. | <urn:uuid:83284c1c-be66-4e06-873b-012205da2507> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://your4state.com/education-fulltext/?nxd_id=288582 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974188 | 174 | 1.5 | 2 |
The Market Street Bridge will be closed next week while crews install a weight and motion sensor aimed at deterring overweight and high-speed traffic over the span.
Officials with the West Virginia Division of Highways have announced the bridge will be closed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with the Veterans Memorial Bridge established as the official detour.
Officials said rain or other unforeseen circumstances could affect the project's schedule.
Bayliss and Ramey of Fraziers Bottom, W.Va., is the contractor for the $200,000 project while staff with Eletronique Controle Mesure Inc., a French company with headquarters in Buda, Texas, will oversee the installation and calibration of the sensors, which it supplied.
Gary Graley, project manager for the Division of Highways, said the equipment is capable of counting each vehicle as it approaches the span and measuring and recording its weight and speed as it passes. Crews created an underground box and conduit for the equipment earlier this year.
The purpose of the equipment is to alert state highway officials involved in regulating truck traffic of overweight vehicles entering the bridge, which has a 5-ton weight limit. Data stored in the equipment can be accessed through a wireless modem.
Graley said no video cameras have been posted to record the passing vehicles.
But the equipment records the date and time of the violation and can aid truck enforcement officials in identifying violators if they are in the vicinity or show a traffic pattern that may help to identify recurring violators, he said.
While metal arches have been added to prevent tall trucks from entering the span, there are other overweight vehicles that may pass through them, he said.
Graley said the idea is to protect the investment that has been made in refurbishing the span.
Over the last two years the bridge underwent $15 million in renovations that included repainting and lighting it, repairing its towers, approach spans and trusses and lowering its clearance by a foot to prevent overweight vehicles from violating the 5-ton weight limit.
The bridge was closed from January to November 2010 and again from March to December 2011 while the work was completed in two phases. | <urn:uuid:4d47cfe4-4685-4bad-b518-6474c823b2ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/576072/Market-Street-Bridge-to-Close-for-Repairs.html?nav=510 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96704 | 451 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Camarillo parents searching for interesting summer activities for their children may still sign their youngsters up for the city's annual Creative Arts Workshop.
The workshop, which runs for three weeks beginning Monday, has openings in 16 of the more than 70 classes offered, including drama, puppetry, beginning sign language and T-shirt painting.
Although the workshop is generally open to children who will be entering kindergarten through seventh grades in the fall, this year's lineup of classes also includes a math and science workshop for girls in seventh through ninth grades. That workshop also has openings.
Run by the Camarillo branch of the American Assn. of University Women, the nonprofit Creative Arts Workshop has been held in the city for 26 years.
Classes are held from 9 a.m. to noon at Los Primeros Structured School, 2222 E. Ventura Blvd. Because each class lasts about 45 minutes, children are able to take up to four courses.
The fee for each three-week course is $25.
To register or for information, call workshop director Karen Allen at 388-1140. | <urn:uuid:b7d8881a-9662-4593-ba6b-e9c66eaa0d72> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/1994-07-09/local/me-13561_1_creative-arts-workshop | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958112 | 224 | 1.5625 | 2 |
PRESS CONFERENCE BY BELARUS ON TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN
Department of Public Information . News and Media Division . New York
5 March 2007
More media involvement was needed to educate women and girls on the dangers of human trafficking, said Natalya Petkevich, Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Belarus, who briefed correspondents this afternoon on the outcome of the morning session of the International Conference on Women and Girls, which was under way at United Nations Headquarters today.
Ms. Petkevich was joined by Vladimir Naumov, Belarus’ Minister of the Interior, and Ashraf Kamal, Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly.
Through the briefing, correspondents learned that the International Conference on Women and Girls was currently focused on the trafficking in persons and other forms of contemporary slavery, and was a joint effort of the Governments of Belarus and the Philippines, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Vital Voices, a non-governmental organization. Among the participants were the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), International Organization for Migration, United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Interpol and others.
Ms. Petkevich said that, in the past, her country had co-sponsored a resolution on improving coordination among Member States to prevent human trafficking, which was then adopted by the General Assembly. Since then, Belarus had sought to prevent human trafficking across nations, and was tackling the factors that made some women and girls easy prey, such as poverty and low levels of education.
“Vulnerable populations should not have to seek a fast buck by going to other countries,” she added, saying that countries whose citizens were susceptible to being trafficked must create the necessary conditions for people to realize their potential within their own borders, rather than having to seek jobs elsewhere.
Mr. Naumov added: “Girls or women are told that somewhere in the world they can simply earn a lot of money without having any specialty or profession.” He said that the media should prevent people acting in bad faith from placing their advertisements in the publications.
He said that, last year, over 567 cases of human trafficking had come to light in Belarus, involving 10 organized crime groups and around 100,000 victims. When caught, perpetrators could receive up to 10 years in prison.
Belarus was also stepping up its efforts to meet the needs of victims, Ms. Petkevich added. For instance, a woman held captive for 24 years in Turkmenistan had been freed and was currently receiving assistance and rehabilitation at a charity house in Minsk, the Belarus capital. According to Ms. Petkevich, the woman had no place to live and had lost her identity papers. Her documents had been speedily restored, and efforts were being made to find housing for her.
However, both Mr. Naumov and Ms. Petkevich emphasized that trafficking was not a large-scale problem in Belarus, and that the country had become active in the fight against human trafficking due to its location within Europe. Ms. Petkevich said Belarus’ main concern was to erect barriers to impede the flow of illegal immigrants and human trafficking victims across its territory, which had adverse effects on neighbouring nations and those of Western Europe.
Mr. Naumov added: “Many countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States do not yet recognize the existence of such a problem. They tried to gloss over [it], in silence.”
One journalist noted that the United Nations News Centre had identified Belarus as a country acutely affected by the problem, which Mr. Naumov denied. He said he knew of that media report, but to his understanding, the assessment had been provided by Ukraine, which, in turn, had been derived from average figures collected from countries across the Commonwealth of Independent States. Belarus’ self-assessment was that the problem was ten times less serious.
Asked to comment on the independence of the Belarus press and how the policy would affect journalists reporting on human trafficking, Ms. Petkevich emphasized that the media in her country was independent of the State. It was currently covering the problem “in an active way”, especially in discussing the country’s international initiatives and advances in the laws.
Mr. Naumov said he thought the level of funding devoted to the cause was sufficient, adding he was confident that more resources would be forthcoming by the time of the upcoming global conference in Vienna, scheduled for November. For its part, UNODC had prepared a clear-cut road map to consolidate the efforts of the world community to combat trafficking, and Belarus intended to contribute to that effort. But it was hoped that members of the mass media would take an increasingly active part.
* *** *
For information media • not an official record
|Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list| | <urn:uuid:093c6757-83f3-4826-90e9-e2e12b19b310> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/news/2007/03/sec-070305-unconf01.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977502 | 1,001 | 1.789063 | 2 |
DPR Encourages More Residents' Input
Monkey bars, swing sets, reading or picnic spaces – these are some of the decisions that District residents need to make at upcoming community meetings designed to improve the city's playgrounds.
The D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) is leading Play DC, a multi-year, citywide renovation project, expected to improve 32 of the city's 78 playground spaces by October 2013.
"Play is a fundamental aspect of growth and development for children and youth," said DPR Director Jesus Aguirre about the ambitious project, "and a positive exercise experience leads to avoidance of weight gain, higher self-esteem and reduction of risk factors for disease."
Play DC will set in motion the largest set of playground designs and improvements in the city's history. At the center of it is the community feedback, which is unfolding in two phases. The first phase offered residents an overview of the project and an opportunity to give perspective on what they want done to their play space.
At the Hillcrest Community Recreation Center in Ward 7, a handful of residents attended its first DC Play meeting on Nov. 29. Eight-year-old Taleyah and her four-year-old sister Dakota Evans were among the residents weighing in. The girls each had stickers to place on their specific play choices. They chose images of the monkey bars, swings and other playground equipment.
"I would really like to have a swimming pool," said Taleyah, as she placed a sticker on the words, "swimming pool," written in by one of the residents. It wasn't part of the play space project, said DPR spokesperson John Stokes.
"Nothing is too bold or out of range," Stokes added. "This is a project we want to give residents a chance to say what they want for their play space. It's also for adults. We're seeking input for multi-generational play spaces." Stokes also corrected an earlier assertion that the project would be completed by the summer of 2013.
Other adults at Hillcrest chose picnic spaces, reading areas and outdoor fitness equipment. The Hillcrest meeting was one of the last of the first phase of meetings, which focused on planning and design. The second phase of Play DC began Dec. 5 with architect renderings of the community's ideas. It would allow for fine tuning from further community feedback. The last meetings are Dec. 20.
The project, which is expected to cost $30 million, did not enter into partnership with KaBOOM, the District-based nonprofit dedicated to creating play spaces through community participation.
"This is the mayor's initiative, he's doing some fantastic things in this city," Stokes said. "This is historical. He has a right to be excited about this – it's a good thing."
Mayor Vincent Gray said the Play DC initiative is part of the One City Action Plan, an ambitious strategy for improving the city across multiple areas affecting the quality of life for all District residents.
"That's why getting a broad sampling of public feedback is necessary, and I urge residents to attend the feedback sessions on the project at their local playgrounds," said Gray, 70.
The criteria DPR used to identify playgrounds included the condition of existing equipment, especially if there was a potential to cause injury and children living within proximity to the playground. DPR will partner with the District's Department of General Services to design and construct the play spaces.
"We need our residents to let us know how we can improve the play-space experience in their neighborhood," Aguirre added. "We want these renovations to reflect a broad spectrum of community input." | <urn:uuid:6385eb48-36c9-4a3f-8f6b-e475a3fb2946> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://washingtoninformer.com/index.php/local/item/12510-district-playgrounds-get-face-lift/local | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968064 | 752 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Updated on Friday 1 March 2013
Unfortunately there is no easy answer for foreign lawyers who wish to practice in the United States. The issue is a complicated one because all lawyers that wish to practice law in the US must be admitted to the bar and the US bar system is administered at the state level. This means that each US state (and the capital, Washington D.C.) sets its own rules for bar admission and the question "can I move to the US and be a lawyer?" has, essentially, 51 different answers. If you are taking the bar as a foreign lawyer this translates to drastically different admission standards among the different states, so a fair bit of homework is in order. Broadly speaking, however, US states fall into one of two camps with some significant outliers.
In the first camp are those states which require all bar applicants – domestic and foreign – to earn a Juris Doctor from a school accredited by the American Bar Association. Because no schools outside of the US have received this accreditation, in practice this policy means that fully 23 states will not consider graduates of foreign law schools as eligible for admission to their state. If this is the case for the state this can be a lengthy and difficult process, requiring admission to (and completion of) an ADA recognized law school. [Although foreign educated lawyers are not eligible to be admitted to the bar these states directly, a system of reciprocity between states allows those admitted elsewhere to practice, eventually, in any state.]
In the other camp are the five US states which allow a foreign lawyer to take the bar: New York, California, Alabama, New Hampshire and Virginia. These states allow some foreign-educated lawyers to take the bar examination without earning their degree locally. In this case, however, foreign-educated lawyers must begin the process by getting their law degree reviewed and analyzed by the American Bar Association (ABA). Easier said than done, it can take up to a year to before the foreign law credentials are even assessed. Once reviewed, the application is either accepted or deferred. If accepted, foreign lawyers are allowed to sit for that state’s bar exam in much the same way a domestic applicant would. In New York, one of the jurisdictions most open to foreign lawyers, this would allow foreign lawyers to sit for the bar without being forced to complete any further law school study in the US.
Even if deferred, applicants may be asked to complete coursework at an ABA-approved college before sitting for the bar exam. This coursework usually takes the form of a one-year LL.M program at an ABA accredited school. The LL.M, from the Latin Legum Magister or Master of Laws, is essentially an overview of US law for foreign lawyers and is most often requested of applicants who were educated or practiced in Common Law as opposed to Civil Law countries. If this is the case, once the candidate completes their LL.M and obtains ABA approval, taking the bar as a foreign lawyer proceeds as outlined above. Please learn more about the International LLM here.
Given the intricacies of this process, it can take anywhere from 3 months to 2 years for a foreign educated lawyer to take the bar and this does not even begin to cover the preparation required to take the bar itself! Fortunately, for anyone taking the bar as a foreign lawyer, preparing for the bar exam is a typical, if daunting challenge. Many American law students spend months preparing to sit for the bar exam by taking bar review courses and classes and foreign-educated lawyers should consider doing the same. Regardless of their backgrounds, so many applicants take these review courses that the model answer the examiners are looking for is invariably in the style taught by these courses. Such classes can be time consuming and expensive but well-recommended ones are generally worth it. After all, the goal of taking the bar as a foreign lawyer is well within sight! | <urn:uuid:7d0ae3a6-2bbc-433c-90cf-5e6022b2aec5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.internationalstudent.com/study-law/taking-bar-foreign-lawyer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971025 | 792 | 1.671875 | 2 |
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Utah’s Alcohol Problem
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Meeting & Event Planning Guide
Technology Industry Outlook
Four convention attendees, fresh off a good day on the tradeshow floor, walk into Red Rock brewpub in Salt Lake City to get a drink and network. Two want to taste a great local beer, one wants a glass of wine and one wants a martini. Can they all be seated at the same table before they decide where to eat?
The two visitors who want beers must sit on the “beer only” side of the brewpub, while the other two visitors must enter the restaurant located on the other side of the building, put their names on a list for a table and order food with their drinks. “Is this some sort of joke?” they ask.
Turns out, the joke is on them. Welcome to Utah, home of “the nation’s most restrictive, exotic and confusing liquor laws” (according to USA Today).
“All these people want to do is socialize and have one drink before they go to dinner, and they have been told about this great place, Red Rock. But they cannot do in Utah what is commonplace anywhere else, and the experience is absolutely horrific—and it happens all of the time,” says Scott Beck, president and CEO of Visit Salt Lake. “So what happens is, they tell stories about Salt Lake, about how they couldn’t get a glass of wine, or they walked into a place and all they could get was a beer. Now, that is not the reality, but that is their experience.”
A Perception Problem
Interestingly, had the four convention attendees walked to Squatters rather than Red Rock, because of the liquor license Squatters has, these visitors could have obtained exactly what they wanted. “But you try to explain to someone from Wilton, Conn., the difference between Red Rock and Squatters—there is no perceivable difference. They are both brewpubs, they are both cool restaurants, both have great menus, but because one has a Class C liquor license and one has a restaurant/tavern license, the experience is completely different,” Beck says.
As the head of the Visit Salt Lake, the convention and visitors bureau, do Utah’s alcohol laws drive Beck nuts? “Yes. Absolutely,” he says, adding that the average citizen in the state has no idea how crazy the state’s liquor laws really are.
Despite recent efforts to liberalize the liquor laws, the state still suffers from a perception problem. Here’s another scenario: An influential meeting planner relaxes with a drink in the lobby bar at Salt Lake City’s only AAA five-diamond hotel, The Grand America, when he sees his colleague checking in. The meeting planner instinctively jumps up and heads over to greet his friend, but alas, there are hotel attendants prepared for liquor-toting escapees from lobby bars and banquet rooms.
“Sorry sir, but you can’t exit the bar with your drink. Utah law,” the attendant explains. The surprised and embarrassed meeting planner is stuck with three choices: chug down the drink, give it to the attendant or remain in the lobby bar. Further, he now has the impression that Utah’s liquor laws are insane—a perception that doesn’t bode well for future meeting business at the hotel (or in the state).
“From a guest service perspective, Utah’s liquor laws are really awkward and make us look like we are still in covered wagons,” says Bruce Fery, CEO of The Grand America Hotel and Resorts. “As well trained as my attendants are, there is no nice way to tell a customer you have to take their drink away. Utah’s liquor laws make us appear to be inhospitable.”
Perhaps that’s why shot glasses in souvenir shops mockingly say, “Eat drink and be merry—tomorrow you may be in Utah.” But there’s nothing funny about it. Utah’s ambition to grow up and become a global destination gets a cold slap in the face by liquor laws that often leave visitors befuddled, embarrassed and sometimes angry—all of which impacts economic development, drives out existing businesses, discourages entrepreneurship and drags down tourism.
Hundreds of Millions
Beck says Visit Salt Lake tracks every piece of lost business, and the No. 1 reason that convention and meeting planners pass on Salt Lake City is the perception that there is a lack of things to do here. When his team digs a little deeper, they uncover fears that Salt Lake City has no nightlife.
“We are told there are not enough restaurants and nightlife to keep the visitors occupied outside of the convention, because they can’t get a drink. We call it nightlife, but we’re not talking about nightlife in terms of strip clubs and gaming; we’re talking about nightlife like Gracie’s or nightlife like The Bayou—places where visitors can network or socialize with their friends and peers. But our liquor laws create a sense, and in some cases a reality, that you can’t do that in Utah. And we lose hundreds of millions of dollars a year in delegate spending because of that perception,” Beck explains. | <urn:uuid:547251d0-b2b5-450a-a324-3075cf15c203> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utahbusiness.com/articles/view/utah_s_alcohol_problem | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94804 | 1,170 | 1.523438 | 2 |
MOST of us have dreamt about taking a break from our jobs.
And with all the soul-searching and resolutions that come at the beginning of January, chances are you're thinking about it right now.
But how do you ask your boss if you can jet off to South America for six months? When is the right time to go? And what should you do to make sure it's time well spent.
Career coach Kate James draws a distinction between a "career sabbatical", where an employee goes on a break for an agreed amount of time and comes back to their job, and the more common "career break", where people resign from their jobs to pursue other things.
Ms James said there will never be a "perfect time" to take a career break, so you have to trust your instincts.
"If your gut says you've got to get out I think you need to listen to that," Ms James said.
"When a person is unhappy in a role, that affects their motivation, which affects performance, which ultimately affects confidence – it's a downward spiral."
Ms James said that staying in a work situation like that can be more detrimental than stepping off your career path for a period of time.
But Ms James warned people should be cautious of the economic climate if they're thinking of taking a career break.
"If you work in a field with an over-supply of jobs you'll be OK, but if you're in a field diminishing you might want to rethink it," she said.
"People in the public sector don't want to be taking a career break right now, for example."
Many of the people Ms James coaches through career breaks leave the corporate world to do things they have dreamed of doing for years.
"I had one guy who was a senior banker who took off and went to Africa and rode his motorbike across Africa for three months," she said.
Other common things people do on career breaks include returning to study, working toward starting a business and volunteering.
"Ultimately they go and do things that make their life feel as though they've lived in a more meaningful way," Ms James said.
Australian Human Resources Institute president Peter Wilson said some large companies had established sabbatical programs.
But the majority of small-to-medium employers could not sustain formal programs and so any sabbaticals would be "ad hoc and by request", Mr Wilson said.
Mr Wilson said, in this case, employees should frame their request by making a "sales pitch" and show how their sabbatical would benefit their employer.
"If you go in on the presumption that 'It's all about me' you'll get a giant turn off from the other side of the table," he said.
Mr Wilson also advised people not to ask for a sabbatical if they had been working at a company for less than two years.
Vivienne Anthon from the Australian Institute of Management (AIM) said some bosses used paid sabbaticals as an incentive to attract and keep talented
But bosses could also benefit from allowing their employees to take unpaid sabbaticals if they were planned well with clear guidelines.
"In an age where we are really looking to provide as much in the form of employee benefits as we can, as well as keep an eye on the costs, a sabbatical is a bit of a hidden gem," said Ms Anthon, CEO of AIM's Queensland and Northern Territory division.
eBay director of search Todd Alexander recently took a four-week paid sabbatical as part of the company policy, which rewards employees for staying at the company for five years.
"It's a staff incentive just to recognise loyalty and commitment, which in the ecommerce world doesn't often happen," said Mr Alexander, who has worked with the company for 11 years.
Mr Alexander spent his time moving house and finishing the manuscript of the book he was writing.
"For me it was about setting a personal goal - I think if you just go on holiday you might take it for granted whereas if set yourself a goal you'll get more out of it," he said.
Sarah Mulvin took the riskier route of leaving her public relations career to study in Byron Bay.
"I sold my whole life, everything in Sydney, after 16 years of publicity across many, many agencies and non-stop working," Ms Mulvin said.
She is now studying interactive web design because "it's where everything is going and you can work anywhere in the world with interactive media".
"If you're going to take time off you want to further educate yourself," she said.
"You need to actually stimulate yourself - I would have had a nervous breakdown if I was just lying around."
Would you consider taking a career sabbatical? What would you do? Leave a comment below. | <urn:uuid:722b8114-ba1b-40ff-a0d8-168c3a6ca728> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news.com.au/business/worklife/how-to-take-time-out-without-wrecking-your-career/story-e6frfm9r-1226551240054 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984926 | 1,004 | 1.59375 | 2 |
"Britain is now at war with Germany. Consequently, so is Australia."
So declared the Australian Prime Minister in 1939. How could he not have done?
By contrast, there is no excuse whatever for "Israel is not attending some conference at which there might be the slightest criticism of Israel, consequently neither is the United States, neither is Australia (among others), and neither should Britain".
Iran is so anti-Semitic (Persians are not Semites, by the way) that she has a reserved parliamentary seat for a Jew. If ambassadors are to be recalled from places having the slightest contact with anywhere, then they ought to be recalled from places having the slightest contact with the state that has Avigdor Lieberman in government.
Lebanon's European official language, and requirement that the President be a Christian, make Lebanon a more Western country than Israel. Syria's Christian-majority provinces, and Christian festivals as public holidays, make Syria a more Western country than Israel. Iran's three reserved parliamentary seats for Christians (and one for a Jew) make Iran a more Western country than Israel.
While Israel has a right of self-defence, that is not in principle any of our concern, and it is by no means impossible that our interest may be on the other side, where it would have to be pursued accordingly.
Yet, despite the promise that there would be a Commons vote on any future war, we are not only arming Israel, but sending our sailors and marines to fight, not against the pirates menacing our shipping, but for this entirely foreign, permanently ungrateful, and at root very hostile country.
For a sort of default Arabism - which accepts the fact that the ultimate globalist institution forced us to surrender to exceptionally vicious Marxist terrorism, but which nevertheless refuses to like that fact - is integral to this country's character, as Tony Blair might have understood if he had ever spent any time here. As surely as people who want Sharia law, people who do not like this are free to leave. | <urn:uuid:3739a3c0-8e72-455c-9c4e-89f8d65a498d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://davidaslindsay.blogspot.com/2009/04/geneva-convention.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964366 | 411 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Posted: May 12, 2011 6:09 PM by Rob Krieger
Updated: May 12, 2011 6:09 PM
AMELIA - Members of Bayou Chene Baptist Church spent the day preparing for floods. They used sand provided by St. Mary Parish to bag thousands of pounds worth of sandbags and then toted them all to their church.
"We're trying to be a little bit prudent and get ahead of it because it has flooded before in the church building and we don't want that again if we can help it," said Larry Provorse, a member of the church.
The group is still uncertain whether their church will get water, but they're not taking any chances.
"I don't know what it could do, it depends on how much comes down here the old river structure is old, and Morganza when they open it we're gonna get it," said Joe Verret, who was helping to bag sand.
If you're looking for sand the parish has provided it in Amelia near the boat landing and casino. | <urn:uuid:9bf7747b-7ab4-409b-827a-aa135fb61f22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wbrz.com/news/st-mary-parish-preps-for-floods/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984043 | 216 | 1.601563 | 2 |
This year’s Oct. 6 holiday in Egypt’s victory was more poignant and significant as current events rappel the historical environment of the Arab Spring, another turning point in world and Middle East sociopolitical demographics.
This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of Cuba’s defeat of a CIA-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs, and the communist nation remembered the occasion with a parade Saturday celebrating the bloody nose it delivered to its powerful neighbor.
An apparently optimistic Congress has already budgeted the Iraq war victory celebration, to be held in the nation’s capital for $20 million. Although originally contained in this year’s military budget, the allocation has been rolled over to next year, and perhaps the next…. (h/t: Daily Kos) | <urn:uuid:1840f2d8-d84d-4f73-9338-6e28a28c7334> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.truthdig.com/tag/celebration | 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 | 0.947716 | 158 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Even though the gun fight may be over at the state Capitol, the war of words across the nation goes on. That's what lawmakers, state and federal, were saying today in Albany.
Passing gun control legislation here in New York wasn't enough for total efficiency here in New York, and that's why what happens in adjacent states and in Washington is so vital to gun control proponents.
Even though the sweeping gun control legislation approved Tuesday by the New York legislature should substantially strengthen the state's gun control laws, it's not perfect and much more still needs to be done, according to freshman Albany Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy.
"It was such a big step in the right direction. Now I only hope that federally they can do more," said Fahy.
"It's better to have New York's laws then not, whether the federal government does something or not," U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said. | <urn:uuid:bcf1c422-bdd4-46af-a52d-548e15e7a24e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://catskill.wnyt.com/news/politics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962951 | 188 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The hissing sound of a hot-air balloon causes horses to panic and bolt. Or at least that's what a horse trainer dining in Paris's only restaurant alleged, recounting the shouting match he'd had that afternoon with a balloonist flying low over his stable yard.
Paris, Virginia, is a single street of immaculately restored houses, an antiques shop, and the Ashby Inn & Restaurant, whose menu of French-inflected comfort food shows flashes of artisanal spirit, with local raw-milk cheeses and house-made duck "ham." More important, the inn functions as a gathering place for a certain set. On the eve of the International Gold Cup, one of Virginia's largest steeplechases, the restaurant was buzzing with stable talk. The stuffed-pheasant trophy on the mantelpiece watched over women in elegant tweeds, their dressage-champion daughters, and more than one gentleman wearing an ascot. Outside, a driver stood sentry beside a Volvo station wagon.
Our new trainer friend, dining at a neighboring table side by side with a female companion, seemed in the know, so we inquired about a large group of distinguished-looking Argentines who were polishing off their desserts nearby.
"Gunslingers end up in Dodge City," he said, with well-practiced timing. "Horse people come here, to Loudoun County."
Loudoun and the collection of other counties south and west of Washington, D.C., have long been a playground for the city's old guard, their horses, and their beagles. The Mellons, Harrimans, and Grahams acquired vast Virginia retreats in the early part of the century, and Jackie Kennedy rented a place at which to ride in 1961, soon after her husband's ascent to the White House. In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, just 60 miles from the National Mall, the land appears so English, so pastoral and pristine, it seems unfathomable that some of the Civil War's bloodiest engagements were fought here.
Besides the "balloonatics," there are other constituencies battling with the horse people for their ever more valuable expanses of turf. Among the tamer (and more refreshing) combatants are the wine growers, who over the last 30 years have converted an increasing percentage of the landscape closest to the Blue Ridge into vineyards. Though early attempts at viticulture in Virginia date to 1608, and Thomas Jefferson tried valiantly—and for the most part failed—to bottle fine wines from European grapes, success came only in the 1970's, due largely to the arrival of a few influential Italian producers, including the Veneto's Zonin family. In 1979 the Commonwealth had six wineries; today, it's the fifth-highest producer in the nation, with more than 100 wineries that receive a half million visitors a year. Napa, by comparison, gets 4.7 million annual visitors.
Although wine tourism seems to have shaken up the formula a bit, lending northern Virginia the feel of a lifestyle destination on the order of Napa Valley or the East End of Long Island, the infancy of Virginia's wine industry has its benefits: in Virginia, you're more likely to find the winemaker himself holding court in a tasting room. Tour buses and asphalt parking lots are rare here, at least for the time being. Along with tourists and the attendant retail dollars have come the inevitable preservation and development battles, waged over the region's future. Now seemed like the perfect time to chart a course through the state, beginning just south of the Washington, D.C., suburbs and ambling down through wine country to Charlottesville, both the academic cradle of the state and the site of Thomas Jefferson's first forays into wine production.
DON'T SUPERSIZE MIDDLEBURG, read signs in yards along Route 50, the road into the hamlet that is the epicenter of hunt country, and it was difficult to know whether they addressed the nearly audible encroaching of new D.C. bedroom community developments or projects such as Sheila Johnson's 168-room Salamander Resort & Spa, slated to open in town in the fall of 2009. | <urn:uuid:f401197a-d299-4809-bcdc-023e8549ef2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/virginia-unbridled | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959517 | 859 | 1.53125 | 2 |
There were many more questions than there were answers about the proposed Biochemical Facility on Albany Street in the South End, as Boston University School of Public Health officials faced City Council members and concerned citizens during a meeting of the Committees on Environment and Historic Preservation.
The university has sought to build a laboratory studying chemicals used in bioterrorism. BU officials have promised the facility will be safe, and furnish jobs for area residents.
Dolly Battle, representing Roxbury Safety Net said of the Boston University representatives, "They didn't really answer any questions. They were really evasive about what was asked."
City Councilor-at-Large Felix Arroyo was also frustrated by the answers he received from Dr. Mark Klempner, Associate Provost for Research at BU's School of Public Health. Arroyo's colleague District Eight City Councilor Michael Ross noted that it would take more than one hearing to answer all of the questions.
"I think it is very important that the information gets out there," Ross said.
Dorchester People for Peace member Patricia Nunn of Brockton had to leave before the meeting was adjourned. In an interview with the Reporter she said, "The City Council members gave a good show of at least trying to gather the facts."
Dorchester City Councillor Charles Yancey is one of several councillors critical of the lab.
Despite the number of times and the way the question was asked, the BU representatives asserted that the proposed facility was for research only and would not be a facility for the construction of biological weapons.
During his opening remarks Richard Towle, BU senior vice president, said, "There will be no classified research conducted in this facility. There will be no biological weapons research."
The BU people also spoke to the safety and security procedures being planned for the facility. They noted that the plans call for several redundancies to keep any possible accidents contained within the facility and that the facility will be built so that most of the space will be for security purposes.
But residents remained unwavering in opposition. During her time at the podium, Battle charged, "We are not getting the truth from Boston University."
The plans for the proposed facility are being opposed by some BU departments. Patricia Hines with the School of Environmental Health and one of her colleagues rose to speak against the facility.
She charged that the neighborhoods of Roxbury and Dorchester, which are close to the Albany Street site, " are the most burdened with environmental injustice."
Hynes defined the term as the placing of facilities and businesses in minority neighborhoods that do not directly benefit the neighborhood and that have the potential to cause physical harm to the residents.
Nunn, a registered nurse for over 30 years, questioned what she heard about the safety plans. "Over 60,000 people die from hospital acquired infections," she noted. "The people are becoming resistant to Vanomycin, the top wonder drug."
During the testimony, Klempner said that the organisms that would be used in the Level Four research facility would only be partial organisms. He added that the research material would be shipped into the facility in a safe state and then grown in very controlled environments to be experimented on.
According to Klempner, the waste disposal from the site would be in three parts, including chemical treatment, heat treatment and then shredding. However, he added there would not be any incineration.
Klempner said that there are five level four facilities throughout the country and that Atlanta Georgia has two of them He added that between all of the facilities there is over 70 years of experience and there has been no major incidents.
This fact was questioned by Hynes, who claimed there were documented reports of accidents at other level four facilities.
ACD (Alternatives for Communities and Development) claim the lab will be used for research on pathogens that can be used for biowarfare as set forth in NIAID's (National Institute of Allergy and Infectional Diseases) Biodefense Research Agenda, not for research on AIDS/HIV, tuberculosis, or malaria.
The BU representatives said the lab would only be used for research on infectious diseases. They said they had an understanding with NIAID and the National Institute for Health (NIH) that the facility would be owned, operated and administered by the school.
BU also claims that they can produce some of the paperwork to back up this claim and that the rest will be on hand before construction starts on the facility.
The facility is being financed in part by a $1.6 billion grant from the NIH. Towle said the School of Public Health and the Boston University Medical Center (BUMC) would be putting up the rest of the money.
In answer to questions from Ross, Towle said that the City would be the first to know if an accident were to occur at the facility. He added that BUMC is "the ground zero for Boston's emergency services."
The facility is slated to be a part of the BioSquare Research Facility that is already under construction at the BUMC campus along Albany St.
According to Towle, the facility will be a source of many permanent jobs for the community and neighborhoods as well as many employment opportunities during the construction phase. | <urn:uuid:23c248d3-02d5-4552-ad5c-563805b098f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dotnews.com/print/371 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981567 | 1,077 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Erika Andersen, Contributor
I cover how people & organizations work, and how they can work better.
I hate bad meetings. It’s partly due to my fundamental impatience and partly to my experience of how productive and – yes – fun a good meeting can be. Fortunately for me, I’m seldom at the effect of crappy meetings: I’m generally either facilitating (in which case I better be able to keep it from being bad, or why are you paying me), or it’s a meeting of people in my own company (and if I can’t keep those from being bad, yikes.)
So the title of this article on the Inc. website appealed to me: Meetings Suck? Make Them Better. The author, Tom Searcy, offers great, simple advice: Keep them as short as possible; don’t overwhelm people with information and data; involve everybody; follow up. As is often the case when I read good articles, I thought to myself – “Right on! This is straightforward and practical. Everybody should do this.” And then my next thought: “If the solution is so simple, why are so many meetings still so bad?”
This really interests me. When the solution(s) to a seemingly intractable problem are so simple, I get curious about why the problem still exists. I believe meetings are bad for three main reasons, each which involves the mindset of the person in charge:
- We don’t understand the importance of the ‘who.’ In bad meetings, most of the people in the room are sitting there wondering what it has do do with them…and generally concluding that the answer is ‘not much.’ Poor meetings are generally either somebody talking and everyone else is pretending to listen, or a conversation that only involves a couple of people.
Try this: think about how costly group meetings are in terms of people-hours. Seriously: if you’re holding an hour-long meeting for the top 15 people in your company, that’s hugely expensive. Rather than thinking of it as a necessary evil, think of it as a major investment on which you need to get a good return. Two things that help: 1) only focus on those topics that are important and useful to all or most of the people in the meeting, and 2) have the ‘owner’ of a topic (the person responsible for making something happen) run the part of the meeting where that topic is being covered.
- We don’t understand the importance of the ‘why.’ Recently a friend of mine regaled me a with a tale of a particularly awful meeting he’d been required to attend. He said, “The worst thing about it was that no one really knew why we were there, what the meeting was supposed to be about, or what was expected of us. Beyond a superficial ‘We’re meeting about our 2013 goals’ memo that went out beforehand, we had zero useful information. And it didn’t get any better…I left not knowing any more about the purpose of the meeting than when I walked in.”
This is shockingly common. Back to my earlier comment about how expensive meetings are: I’ll bet you anything if the leader of the rambling, unfocused meeting my friend described was paying a lawyer $500 or $800 an hour, he or she would go into each conversation with that lawyer pretty clear: here’s what we’re talking about, here’s what I hope to accomplish, and here’s what I expect from you. And a team meeting is hugely more costly per hour than that – it makes sense to be at least as clear!
To help with this, clarify and then share, in advance of a meeting, four things: what are we talking about (topic), who’s primarily responsible for the topic (owner), why are we talking about it – what do we hope to accomplish (goal) and how long will we spend on it (time). Imagine getting an agenda before a meeting that clearly and simply stated the topics, owners, goals, and time! And then imagine the leader actually keeping the meeting focused on the stated agenda. We use this approach in our own meetings and in meetings we facilitate. And those meetings, I am proud to say, do not suck.
- We don’t understand the importance of the ‘what’s next.’ This goes to Searcy’s advice about follow-up. Even if you have a good meeting, one that feels focused and productive, if nothing happens afterwards…it’s a still a bad meeting. If the next steps after a meeting aren’t clear or simply don’t happen - you will lose credibility with your team. Clear next steps that actually happen post-meeting aren’t just a nice-to-do, they’re an important signal to your folks that you’re a trustworthy leader.
You can do two things to make good follow-up more likely. As you wrap up each topic, make sure the group agrees on what’s going to happen next, when it will be done, and who will do it. Say it out loud, write it down, and distribute it after the meeting. Then keep it alive: Find a way to check in with the person responsible, to see how it’s going and whether they need support. When it’s completed, have the ‘owner’ share that with the group. If it slips, engage the team in figuring out how to get it back on track. If you deal with the commitments you make in meetings as though they’re real and important, others will start to do the same. And more of the important stuff will get done.
Thinking about meetings as an investment on which you want to get a great return is the best way I know to motivate yourself actually to do these things. And if you’re in bad meetings that you’re not in charge of, you can often improve them by asking the leader: “How can I help you get a better return on the investment of time and effort we’re putting into this meeting?” He or she probably hasn’t thought about it this way, and your question may spark a great conversation…and a better meeting.
Interested in finding out more about how Erika and her colleagues work with clients? Explore Proteus International. | <urn:uuid:f895a924-716f-4ab0-b759-db007104b2b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2012/07/02/3-ways-to-make-meetings-much-less-boring-and-much-more-useful/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956843 | 1,364 | 1.5625 | 2 |
It hasn’t been an easy few days for me; to listen while people cry, sob because the disease is in your brain. They can see exactly how you are reduced, less; that you are not what you used to be, not by any means, and that you don’t even know it. And I just sit there because there are right, and no amount of play acting or pretending is going to make me better. The only way I can stand that pain of knowing is to disassociate, to feel nothing at all, or try. Which is where I spend a lot of my time. Because people depend on me and I can’t run and hide: I can’t go and find a gun, and blow out my brains, what is left of them. Or I could but I don’t. It is fighting I guess.
Someone asked me how could I grow up in the environment I did and still be…well, me. I did it because I choose hard. Yes, I could have focused on money, or a house, or the façade of family and used that to feel like a shield between my fears and me. I was the lonely child, the lonely tween, the one alone. Sometimes I was used by others, as a ‘usable friend’ so they wouldn’t feel as bad about themselves as they did. Sometimes I was bullied because I reminded people of themselves and what they were running from in some way.
I think most people know what it is like to be alone, and not in a nice way, but where no one waits for you, cares about you. There are no phone calls for you, there is no post for you, and there is no one who wants to know how your day went and no one who cares if you were knocked down. But since other people go on, since there are teachers or bosses to obey, or parents to punish you, you continue because there really isn’t any conceivable alternative. And once a person has freed themselves, they often build up defenses around themselves, so that they never have to go back to that place inside. They would rather live in part, a lie, than face the demons which they think they have walled off. The problem is that as Edgar A. Poe so eloquently illustrates, you can’t wall up all you hate about your life, or yourself without walling up yourself too.
I did that, I made that mistake. I thought I could just have ‘a bad phase’ as part of my history. Except I’ve had nightmares for every night Linda has known me and intense, horrific nightmares for the last several years: a nest of maggots in my head while I try to keep my boss happy and then keep falling down from my hair, trapped under a corpse while people skin my feet, start skinning my hands. Sometimes it isn’t even the dreams, with everyone I have trusted coming after me with knives, but the feeling, the never ending dripping horror, the one that makes you wake with a gasp, and shudder because you know you WILL have to sleep sometimes and then the razor wire will be used on your vagina while you are strung up, or you will be thrown from a cliff until the bones show through the skin. These are the ‘nice’ nightmares. You see, it turns out that walling up parts of yourself, tends to piss off parts of yourself. And it wants to talk, whether you want to listen or not.
I follow what is hard. I was a young teen when I understood that Jesus, as written in the gospels, was verbally abused cruelly, was called the sorts of named I was being called; crazy, stupid, of unwed relations, of inbred relations, everything they could think of. And then there was the physical violence. And yet, every day, this person went out and honestly cared, cared about people he KNEW would hurt him. I believe that even on the final night when he greeted Judas he honestly said, “Friend.” Because even then he knew that this person still had a choice and could have been his friend. Oh, we tell ourselves we don’t have choices, but we do, from how we respond to how our boss speaks to us, to how we accept, as the complicit crowd how our boss speaks to others. We choose to go to work and we choose how to interpret that work.
I decided that I would try in every way in every minute to care about people. This decision has caused me more pain and isolation than any other I have made. It has left me fragile, not just one day, but every day. Because I open myself completely; I open myself emotionally and give that to a stranger. I give it to an acquaintance. I give my heart to a friend. And every one has at different times and different ways, reached in and ripped me up. And thrown me aside. And when I am able, I get up, and then open myself completely to the next person. It gives me the shakes, and it is hard, very hard.
And yet, simply because it is hard, doesn’t mean it wrong. And until I believe it is wrong, I will continue. And as fragile. Just this evening I got a message posted publicly that a man, not a gentle man, wished to be my caregiver. Because then when I am alone and helpless he could stuff his c**k in my mouth and (it went on for some time, there are many things he wants to do). And yet, I have literally had people ask me to send someone like him a postcard, and to fill with it with as much love as I could. And I did, because I could imagine the pain and loneliness it would take to bring that level of hatred/anger at another human. Oh yes, it did make me shake, but I did it. I will do it again.
Only now, my capacity to make decisions is being limited, because my ability to think or speak or do either is being affected. I wrote a short while ago about regression and memory confusion, in a post which I hope will help anyone who has a relative with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or other cognitive disorders. I remind people of this post because I don’t know if I will be able to write like that again. There are many types of hell and hearing the ones you love in anguish, and grieving because you exist and they see what this disease is doing is one type of hell. But I fight by going on. I must go on. Because there will be more types of degeneration, and I will need to narrate that.
Some times, some days, I am a confused child, I have the fragility of a young child and the innocence as well, that is what a ‘brain-wipe’ gives you back, the innocence, except of course for the hate mail every day. It also eliminates all but the most vivid memories in your life, which also happen to be the ones you have been trying not to think about (in fact may be the very ones you have been running from – but look, they came for you!).
This disease has tested me but it also has tested you. Yes, if you are reading this, then like everyone you have choices. I get to say things that others don’t (or won't) because of 3 minutes and 35 seconds. That was how long Cheryl counted before she started the ambi-bag on me. I stopped breathing for 3:35 minutes (and I guess beyond when she breathed for me). At four minutes permanent brain damage occurs. How many seconds did it take her to notice I wasn’t breathing, to start counting? 10? 20 seconds? More? So what do I have to lose? I have four minutes telling me, make the words count. So I say to you, what makes you so different? What are you doing to make things count? If you are sitting on a fence, get the fucking splinters out of your ass and get down here.
I don’t have long realistically, and while I may PLAN for the rest of this year, I may also die, I would have died or ended up on machines if Cheryl had not been there, yesterday. So, yeah, you got stuff going on in your life. And yeah, there are people dying in other countries. Except they don’t creep you out like me, because I am like you. I am the person who exercised, who ate right, who shouldn’t be dying, isn't that right? And if someone who has traveled on five continents and seen the wonders of the ancient world, who owned a used bookstore, written an award winning book, competed nationally in sports, and has a raft of degrees is dying in a horrid way...why that means you could.
I’m not overweight, I’m not watching TV, I’m not on welfare. Indeed, I have paid in for 20 years to social security in three different countries: the US, Canada and the UK, and I have received nothing back EVER: no unemployment insurance, no disability pension, nada. Currently, I don’t even qualify for the provincial assistance for payment of my medications. So, I am not any cliche or stereotype. So yeah, scary. Look at your life and realize that 1 in 35 women will get MS, 1 in 700 will get Lupus. You have a decent chance, that no matter WHAT you do, or how important you are, or think you are, you and/or your friends, or several of them will end up a bit like me. Now that is something to think about.
So what DO you do? What are you? Are you the consistent comforter, I have a few people who do send me emails every day, expecting nothing in return, simply to let me know that people out there, like me, care. The emails they write give me the human contact I have lost. They stop for me, they wait, they spend time. They are the people I know, the ones I care about because they cared about me, and show it. They help me, because they show me their faces, their inner lives and I have to strength to do the same here.
Or are you part of the group which helps me fight, which works with me in things like finances or post/mail to try to get a better sense of sequential time. To learn how to read, which is critical in making both emotional and mental connections and links to different parts of the brain. Or to send surprises that I can anticipate? Or one of those to help me with the postcard project by helping me with funding for postage (desperate for 94 cent US stamps by the way!), for shitajiki boards (which I buy as the person gives me free postcards in equal value), for the stickers, for the rubber and wooden stamps? This is the defense, the group which surround me because as I grow less and less able to understand the complexities except, “I buy this and I get postcards” or “I have stamps for postcards.” These elite are there to make sure I can continue to fight in my own way, diminished as it is, because I stand on the shoulders of giants; those who have committed themselves and their lives, or finances to a person they never met.
Or are you part of the very few who are here to clean up the mess; who either in person or financially, are here to comfort, to protect, to make feel secure a person who does not understand much except I don’t understand and it is scary. So that when it happens that I saw something I liked and I got it but it turns out that $20 and $30 and $40 don’t make $15 (this is a real example), or that a bunch of $16 added up yes, CAN end up being more than a $100, or $200 ("but it was just $16, and $16 is small, right? How can small be big?"), the 'adults' take over while I am comforted.
And with Linda still disabled, and off at her doctors or in a drug reaction or sleeping, while I am not EXCATLY the two year old who drags out the white flour and decides to decorate the carpet, I can still cause a bit of a mess (unintended), sometimes financial, sometimes putting me in an emotional withdrawal. Someone or a couple someone’s has to be there, to set things right, to clean up the mess, to get me out of the withdrawal. To let me know that no, they are NOT going to take me to a HOME and that I need to sit and watch this nice DVD and NO, no one is mad at me. But also it might NOT be best to tell bookstores that I want all these pretty books if I don’t have money in the Ossuary to pay for them. “But I do,” I protest showing a $20 or a $40, which it turns out is not enough to pay for the art books even though I only found FOUR. Which isn’t fair at all! And they need to explain it isn’t fair but it also isn’t 2001. Which is a pretty big shock. As I still cannot accept this number on my Calendar.
I smiled once in the last three days. I was putting stickers on postcards (I think we did 48 or so), and I said, “I like doing this.” Because the thing is, I can be resplendent. I wore a spider web corset yesterday and I am working so that I can even feel things like ‘happy’ or ‘fun’ and so that I am more. That I transcend, because it doesn’t really matter if I am diminished mentally, I can still be very resplendent, that in giving myself entirely to something else, I someone become more than myself. I don’t know why it works that way, but it does.
So get off the fence and ask Cheryl or Linda (click on Girl’s Gotta Fly and profile for email), what needs there are. You too can be more, more than you are. And you know what, I think coming down and giving that a try is a good idea. I don’t know anyone yet who seems genuinely unhappy because they cared about me; or because they asked for a postcard. Not one person telling me they are unhappy because they asked for a postcard and started reading the blog, and maybe commenting, and caring. Or that they gave themselves over to caring and it made them a WORSE person. And if you are planning on getting involved may I remind you: 3 minutes 35 seconds. It turns out that four minutes is a bit of an mini eternity.
There is beauty out there, and fragility, and I will find it, because I hold both in me, and I can find them in others, in the secret and open places. And I will, even with my open and innocent face, tentatively try to find what good I can….and then give it to another. This is all I know. The postcard project is 10 months and I think just over 1600 postcards. That’s not very many, and that is very many. I, Linda and others have spent over $6800 on the postcard project (used calculator!). And another $1300 or more on the ‘surprise package’ project. Which isn’t medicinal…..except it is. Packages are still going out, postcards were posted yesterday, they are arriving around the world today. And what difference do they make? I don’t know. They made me a better person, I don’t know if they have made Linda or Cheryl better people. I think they made them more tolerant and patient people just having to deal with me! And I will go on, because while I am SURE I could have bought a bunch of cows, goats or pumps for villages, I couldn’t have made a person who hadn’t laughed for a week break out in laughter. I couldn’t haven been the only post someone gets beyond bills. How much have different nations allocated for giving back hope, for giving back belief that a person matters. I do not lie. If I believe you matter, you matter. Now you know.
But if you are just going to run away or watch in horror because you don’t want this to be you, or you think I am plucky, you are missing everything. You are missing a once in a lifetime experience because….what…someone was mean to you in junior high? Guess what, someone was mean to ALL of us in Junior High (unless you were THAT person – in which case, I’m glad you’ve changed). You can’t wall yourself off AND care openly.
I am a meteor; I am burning. Now, you can either draw the drapes in case the light bothers you, or you can watch, maybe with a loved one. You can be part of this, you have a choice, I don’t. Yes, it seems that I am burning out, literally, parts of me going until I simply stop and drop to earth. This post, is part of my fire. Every big post literally sucks something out of me. I can’t recover. So if you aren’t part of this, one of those who comfort, who are consistant, who help me learn fun, who keep me fighting, even if that is by defending my ability to continue, then watch and wonder.
I burn at both ends, I will not last the night; but ah my foes, and oh my friends; I give a lovely light.
9 hours ago | <urn:uuid:bf227897-613f-4450-81f8-c7b3b4d11bfa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://elizabethmcclung.blogspot.com/2009/02/335-minutes-openly-i-burn-what-do-you.html?showComment=1234880460000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979365 | 3,754 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Memoirs of Edessa. And Other Ancient Syriac Documents. [Translated by the Rev. B. P. Pratten, B.A.]
I. Of the blessed Addæus the apostle. From his teaching which he gave in Edessa before Abgar the King and the assembly of the city.
And, when he had entered the sepulchre, he was raised to life again, and came forth from the sepulchre with many. And those who were guarding the sepulchre saw not how He came forth from the sepulchre; but the watchers from on high—they were the proclaimers and announcers of His resurrection. For, had He not willed, He had not died, because He is Lord of death, the exit from this life; nor, had it not pleased Him, would He have put on a body, inasmuch as He is Himself the framer of the body. For that will which led Him to stoop to be born of the Virgin, likewise caused Him further to descend to the suffering of death.—And a little after (we read): For, although His appearance was that of men, yet His power, and His knowledge, and his authority, were those of God.
Taken from Cod. Add. 14,535, fol. i. | <urn:uuid:5c0bd7c7-89f4-4862-8f60-3724eb211420> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://christianbookshelf.org/unknown/the_decretals/i_of_the_blessed_addaeus.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991047 | 274 | 1.59375 | 2 |
A solution to decrease future student loan debt in the US
By Matthew Hunt
September 2, 2012
Most people believe that a college degree is one of the best investments in a person’s life. However, there are pitfalls for earning that degree.
In May of 2012 the student loan debt in the United States exceeded the $1 trillion marker and is exceeding that number as we speak. Students who come to college straight out of high school don’t usually understand how much money it really takes to earn a degree.
Yes, there are some who have worked their way through school and pay their own way, but a large majority of students who don’t might not realize that earning that degree comes with baggage. If you are a student that is fortunate to go to college on a scholarship, then you should be thankful not to be in this category.
Every student can apply for financial aid, but that doesn’t mean that you will receive the same amount of aid as the person next to you. There are so many different ways for students to go about getting funding for college, but as a student there is more than just paying for courses.
Not every student is fortunate enough to live, or have a job where they go to school. Students have so much more on their plates than a person who decides not to pursue a college degree. There are many students that must live in the dorms, and financial aid will not pay for most of this and could well exceed over $10,000 a year.
Universities throughout the country should consider programs that won’t place students in loan debt after they graduate college. One of the best examples is College of the Ozarks where students graduate debt-free through participating in the on-campus Work Education Program. This program has students work 15 hours on campus each week, and students earn scholarships and much more through the program.
The college of the Ozarks may be a private university where not everyone who applies is accepted, as acceptance is based on financial necessity. In society today nearly every student is financially needy. If universities would consider a program that discourages debt and does not participate in the federal student loan program, imagine how much money students would save and how much our student loan debt would decline.
The reality is that it is too late to forgive the over $1 trillion in student loan debt that has been built up thus far, but if universities would consider programs like the one at College of the Ozarks in the future, then we could alleviate one of many of the debts that the United States faces today. | <urn:uuid:931a5d07-2f01-4e2e-af44-54036c9d01cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thegriffonnews.com/2012/09/a-solution-to-decrease-future-student-loan-debt-in-the-u-s/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981922 | 527 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Brownsville Battles Graffiti Problem
POSTED: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - 4:16pm
UPDATED: Thursday, March 31, 2011 - 8:21am
Graffiti has been a huge problem for parks in Brownsville since city officials can remember. But in recent years, City Parks and Recreation Director, Chris Patterson, says the city has seen a decline on the tagging.
"In the 11 years I’ve been here, this is the best it's been as far as not seeing as much."
Patterson says battling the tagging is a joint effort. The employees constantly go to the 31 parks throughout the city to inspect for any new graffiti.
The historic battlefield trail is a nine-mile trail on Paredes Line Road. City workers were here just over a month ago repainting graffiti. We visited the same spot workers repainted and well, as you can see, they'll have to come back again and repaint. Patterson says taggers don't waste time in making their marks.
"It doesn't matter how much you get it down, it's going to happen and this is one of the areas that happens a lot."
The city has plenty of paint stocked up. Luckily for the Parks and Recreations Department, painting over graffiti isn't so costly but over time, Patterson says, it does add up.
"It can. With just a little bit of paint, the whole thing, you can see it, the whole thing costs a lot to paint it, pressure wash. After a while, it piles up on you."
Painting over tags is already a big problem but when gang symbols are sprayed painted at several parks, park goers tend to be a bit wary of going.
"It makes people unsafe, you know, when they're running down here. That’s one of the biggest reasons we like to take it down. It represents that, okay, there are gangs or there is trouble."
The city needs your help in battling this graffiti problem. If you see any graffiti at any park, you're urged to call the park and recreations line at: (956) 542-2064. | <urn:uuid:6fd7954d-f984-4000-82bd-187f52ac1aea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kveo.com/news/brownsville-battles-graffiti-problem | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972466 | 447 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Posted: Thursday, January 06, 2011 10:00 AM
Photo courtesy Washington State Department of Transportation
The Washington State Grain Train recently acquired 29 more grain cars to help farmers get grain to export terminals.
State program sets aside rail cars for grain shipments
Industry representatives recently welcomed the addition of 29 grain hopper cars to Washington state's Grain Train program.
The rail cars transport grain grown in Eastern Washington to ports along the Columbia River and Puget Sound. From there, the grain is loaded onto ships bound for markets on the Pacific Rim, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Mike Rowswell, project manager for the department's rail and marine division, said the additional cars, which were purchased used, provide assurance that farmers will be able to get their grain to market.
Car shortages are hard to predict, Rowswell said, and depend on the quantity of grain in the Midwest and other parts of the world.
The program is at least 12 years old, Rowswell said.
The $362,500 purchase brings the total number of cars in the program to 118. Most are owned by Washington state, Rowswell said, and 18 are owned by the Port of Walla Walla.
The program is self-sustaining, with no taxpayer dollars used to pay for cars or their use. User fees fund the program and the purchase of cars.
Kevin Whitehall, CEO of Central Washington Grain Growers in Waterville, Wash., said the additional cars help all shippers.
"It gives us access to an additional 29 cars that we do not have to go out and try to bid for or get in an auction," he said.
Beau Duff, assistant manager of Whitgro Inc., of St. John, Wash., said the program helps keep freight rates low.
Whitgro will likely not be affected by the new cars, which will be used by companies on the northern lines, Duff said. Whitgro uses a shuttle to Northwest Grain Growers in Wallula, Wash., where the company will store grain until the Columbia and Snake river lock system reopens in March.
The new cars collect grain between Coulee City, Wash., and Cheney, Wash., and carry it to Ritzville on the state-owned Palouse River and Coulee City rail system for transport to the coast for export, according to a department press release.
Duff said there haven't been any major rail car shortages in the wake of the river closure.
All rail shippers geared up prior to the closure, Whitehall said. His company prepared beforehand, and plans to ship more by rail than usual during the river closure.
The department will review the entire program during the next six to 10 months, Rowswell said.
"That will tell us where we need to go, how we can make it better," he said, noting the state's budget situation does not play a part in the examination. | <urn:uuid:7ac051e4-d221-4c64-b203-bb577d9a069f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.capitalpress.com/content/mw-Grain-train-adds-cars-010711-courtesy-art | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955782 | 602 | 1.53125 | 2 |
By the Editors of Supply & Demand Chain Executive
Amidst all the belt-tightening of the post-Great Recession economy, sustainability has remained an important priority for a large number of enterprises, as evidenced by a number of studies released this year that found "green" and sustainability high on the corporate agenda. For example, the "2010 Global 500" report from the Carbon Disclosure Project found that 85 percent of leading global companies surveyed have board- or senior executive-level responsibility for climate change and nearly half now embed climate change initiatives into the overall business strategy and across the organization. A review of other studies from this year produced the same message: Leaders are forging ahead with a range of sustainability initiatives that are having a direct impact on the supply chain.
With the 2010 Green Supply Chain Awards, Supply & Demand Chain Executive magazine is recognizing these leaders for their work in making sustainability a core part of their supply chain strategies. The Awards also highlight a variety of approaches to sustainability and the range of strategies and solutions that companies are employing to incorporate sustainability into the supply chain. And, finally, the Green Supply Chain Awards puts the spotlight on concrete results that many of these leaders are seeing thanks to their sustainability initiatives.
Supply & Demand Chain Executive collected 120 submissions for the 2010 Green Supply Chain Awards through an open nomination process. Nominations were made in two categories: companies implementing sustainability strategies within their own supply chains, and providers of supply chain solutions and services that are assisting their customers in achieving sustainability goals. The magazine's editorial staff reviewed the submissions based on the clarity and content of the goals and strategy, the extent of the steps being taken, and the impact of the results to date and projected results.
The recipients of the 2010 Green Supply Chain Awards are listed below, along with summaries of their projects.
Kaiser Permanente Makes Environmental Stewardship a Core Business Value
Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., Kaiser Permanente (kp.org) is the largest nonprofit healthcare system in the United States, with more than $40 billion in revenues and $14 billion in spending with suppliers. Driven by its organizational mission to improve the health of its members and the communities it serves, Kaiser Permanente has put sustainability at the center of its business and its supply chain strategy. "Our mission and principles, and our focus on prevention and health promotion, make environmental stewardship a natural core business value," says David Hearn, vice president for IT and facilities procurement and supply, environmentally preferable purchasing, at Kaiser Permanente.
The governance structure for sustainability at the organization is led by its Environmental Stewardship Council, the stated mission of which is to maximize the organization's ability to affect positive change in reducing health risks associated with environmental factors. The Executive Committee under the Council features C-level representation, including the chief procurement officer and chief compliance officer, as well as the environmental stewardship officer. The Council's Working Group includes functional representation across Compliance, EH&S, Facilities Services and Procurement & Supply, but also Brand Marketing, Human Resources and medical groups, so that doctors and nurses are part of the process and ensure a holistic view as the organization looks at solutions.
Within Procurement & Supply, sustainability is managed by the CPO (vice president, procurement and supply) and the executive director for procurement and supply, as well as the environmental supply chain manager. Having a dedicated staff member who has subject matter expertise in environmental issues within the healthcare setting enables deeper and broader penetration of the program within Procurement & Supply. In addition, sustainability is managed as both a top-down process, with the requirement of annual goals and performance against expectations; and bottom-up, with individuals encouraged and enabled to identify opportunities that they have the power to impact.
Kaiser Permanente's environmental team has documented significant benefits from its various initiatives, publishing 14 internal success stories in 2009 alone to inform key audiences within the organization of the results. Those accomplishments included energy conservation (61 million kWh/year), fuel conservation (19,500 gallons), plastics savings (330 tons), waste eliminated (2,050 tons), and mercury and PVC reduction. In all, the Procurement & Supply team documented $20 million in savings as a result of the sustainability initiatives. "Many people think it costs you extra to have environmentally preferable products or services, which is not the case at all," notes Hearn.
In May 2010 Kaiser Permanente extended sustainability into its supply chain when it became the largest healthcare organization to announce that it would require its suppliers to provide environmental data for $1 billion worth of medical equipment and products used in its hospitals, medical offices and other facilities. Eventually the scorecard is expected to influence as much as $10 billion in medical purchasing. "Kaiser Permanente recognizes we can improve health today and for the future by taking a close look at the products we purchase," said Dean Edwards, CPO with the organization, in announcing the scorecard. "With Kaiser Permanente's size and influence, the work we're doing is continuing to move the industry."
By the Editors of Supply & Demand Chain Executive | <urn:uuid:9d397013-0e3b-4726-b2fe-cdba00681a78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sdcexec.com/article/10243227/2010-green-supply-chain-awards | 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 | 0.957597 | 1,041 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Midwest Farmland Values Rise 13% Despite Drought
Nov 19, 2012
Farmland values rose 13% over the last twelve months in the Midwest despite the worst drought in over 50 years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In the third quarter of 2012, farmland values rose 5% in the District, compared to 1% in the previous quarter. Demand for farmland continues to remain strong as farmers are expected to set a record net income in 2012, due to high commodity prices and crop insurance payments.
“The drought does not seem to have derailed bankers’ anticipation of further upward movement in farmland values,” said David B. Oppedahl of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. “Survey results indicated that the impetus for higher farmland values actually strengthened during the third quarter of 2012.”
Iowa’s farmland values continue to lead the Midwest, increasing 18% over the last twelve months, compared to 15% in Illinois, 11% in Indiana, and 8% in Wisconsin.
Agricultural fundamentals are expected to remain strong as 36% of bankers expect farmland values to rise over the next three months. Only 1% of respondents expect farmland values to decline. Bankers anticipate that farmers will be the primary buyers of farmland as well as greater demand from nonfarm investors over the next three to six months.
The drought is expected to more adversely affect earnings of livestock operators than those of crop farmers. Net farm income is expected to rise 4% in 2012 to a record $122.2 billion. 48% of bankers expect net cash earnings from crops to rise over the next three to six months and 24% anticipate a decline in earnings.
Credit conditions in the district continue to improve as the average loan-to-deposit level declined in the third quarter to 67.5 from 69.0 a year ago. Loan demand in the third quarter jumped to 81 from 69 last quarter. 49% of bankers indicated there were more funds for lending available than a year earlier. Average interest rates for real estate loans in the district hit new record lows at 4.86%.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s second quarter survey of Farmland Values and Agricultural Credit Conditions Report is a summary of the 7th District’s value of farmland, farm loan portfolio performance, and on-farm income. The 7th District consists of the entire state of Iowa, and portions of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
For daily articles on farmland and agriculture, visit www.farmlandforecast.com | <urn:uuid:621a233d-ae96-4e07-823a-11f0c2df47d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agweb.com/livestock/dairy/blog/Farmland_Forecast_148/midwest_farmland_values_rise_13_despite_drought_/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930458 | 517 | 1.632813 | 2 |
In Focus: Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex Ferguson OBE (born Alexander Chapman Ferguson December 31 , 1941 in Govan , Glasgow ) is a Scottish football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United F.C. He has won more trophies than any other manager in the history of English football and been in charge of Manchester United for over 1,000 matches.
He has previously managed East Stirlingshire and St Mirren , before a highly successful period as manager of Aberdeen . He was briefly the manager of Scotland , in a temporary capacity, owing to the death of Jock Stein , before becoming the manager of Manchester United .
At Manchester United, Ferguson has become one of the most successful managers in the history of English football, having guided the team to eight league championships. In 1999, he became the first manager to lead an English team to the treble of league, FA Cup and European Cup.
Some have critisied him,as personal rifts between him and some players always ended as the player being sold or released.(eg.David Beckham,Cantona,more recently,Roy Keane,all good players).
He began as an amateur at Queen's Park , making his debut at 16 as a striker . He described his first match as a "nightmare" but scored Queen's Park's goal in a 2-1 defeat against Stranraer . Although he scored 15 goals in his 31 games for Queen's Park, he could not command a regular place in the side and moved to St Johnstone in 1960.
Although he continued to score regularly at St Johnstone, he was still unable to command a regular place and regularly requested transfers. Although he was out of favour at the club, their failure to sign a forward led the manager to select Ferguson for a match against Rangers , in which he scored a hat trick in a surprise victory. Dunfermline signed him the following summer (1964.)
The following season (1964-65), Dunfermline were strong challengers for the Scottish League and reached the Scottish Cup Final, but Ferguson was dropped for the final after a poor performance in a league game against St Johnstone. Dunfermline lost the final 3-2 to Celtic, then failed to win the League by one point.
In 1967, he joined Rangers for £65,000, then a record fee for a transfer between two Scottish clubs. He was blamed for a goal that they conceded in the 1969 Scottish cup final , and was forced to play for the club's junior side instead of the first team . According to his brother, Ferguson was so upset by the experience that he threw his losers' medal away.
The following October, Nottingham Forest wanted to sign Ferguson , but his wife was not keen on moving to England at that time so he went to Falkirk instead. He was promoted to player-coach there, but when John Prentice became manager he removed Ferguson's coaching responsiblities. Ferguson responded by requesting a transfer and moved to Ayr United , where he finished his playing career. | <urn:uuid:a60a76ed-cd14-4901-8613-d3956afd8cb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ji-sungpark.com/ferguson.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987342 | 624 | 1.671875 | 2 |
09285_000_032It is our sacred responsibility as parents and leaders of this rising generation of children to bring them to the Savior.
Several years ago I was teaching a group of nursery leaders how to give a short gospel lesson to very young children. One of the leaders had her young son on her lap. I held a picture of the Savior in my hand and, demonstrating how to speak to young children, began talking about Jesus. The tiny boy slid off his mother’s lap, toddled over to me, looked intently at the picture, and touched the face. At that point in the dialogue, I asked the question, “Who is this?” With a smile on his face, the child responded, “Jesus.”
This child was not old enough to really even say his own name, but he recognized the image and knew the name of the Savior. As I watched this sweet response, I thought of the words of the Savior when He said, “Seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life” (D&C 101:38).
What does it mean to seek the face of the Savior? Surely it means more than just recognizing His picture. Christ’s invitation to seek Him is an invitation to know who He is, what He has done for us, and what He has asked us to do. Coming to Christ, and eventually seeing His face, comes only as we draw close to Him through our faith and our actions. It comes through a lifetime of effort. So how do we seek Him in this life so that we might see His face in the next?
We have the account in 3 Nephi of a people who actually saw the face of the Savior in this life. And while we may not see Him now, perhaps we can learn from their experience. After the Savior’s death, He appeared to these people, taught them, and blessed them. And then “it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought” (3 Nephi 17:11).
It is our sacred responsibility as parents and leaders of this rising generation of children to bring them to the Savior so that they might see His face and the face of our Father in Heaven as well. As we do so, we also bring ourselves.
Again the question, how do we do this, especially in a world that is full of distractions? In 3 Nephi, the parents loved the Lord. They were believers. They had faith in the miracles Jesus performed. They loved their children. They gathered them to hear the words of the Lord and obeyed His commandment to bring the children to Him.
After the children had been brought, Christ bid the parents kneel down. Then He did for them that which He has done for all of us. He prayed for them to the Father, and as He did, His prayer was said to be “so great and marvelous” that words could not describe it (3 Nephi 17:16). By coming to the Savior and accepting His Atonement, these parents were strengthened to do all that was necessary to “bring” their children.
Another of the things Christ asked these parents to do is found in 3 Nephi 22:13: “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.”
And so, following their own experiences with the Savior, these Nephite parents taught their children about Him. They taught them to love the Lord. They taught them His gospel. They taught them how to live it. They taught them so well that there was righteousness and peace in the land for 200 years (see 4 Nephi 1:1–22).
Now, I would ask you to look around you at those you love. This is what matters most—our families. I am sure that more than anything, you want this family to be yours eternally. The account in 3 Nephi can help us bring our children to Him because it gives us a pattern to follow. First, we must love the Lord with all our hearts, and we must love our children. Second, we must become a worthy example to them by continually seeking the Lord and striving to live the gospel. Third, we must teach our children the gospel and how to live its teachings.
Following this pattern to bring our children to the Savior is a process. Let’s look at the pattern again. First, we must learn how to love the Lord and our families. This takes time, experience, and faith. It requires selfless service. Then, as we are filled with the love of the Lord, we can love. He might weep over what we do, but He loves us and is always there to help us. That is how we must learn to love our children.
Second, we must become worthy examples. This is also a process. If we want our children to come to Christ so that they might see His face, it is important that we seek to see it as well. We have to know the way in order to show it to them. We must put our own lives in order so that the children can look to us and follow. We might ask: “What do my children see when they look at my face? Do they see the image of the Savior in my countenance because of how I live my life?”
Now remember, none of us will be the perfect example for our children, but we all can become worthy parents and leaders. Our striving to be worthy is an example in itself. We may feel as though we are failing at times, but we can keep on trying. With the Lord and through Him, we can be strengthened to be who we need to be. We can do what we need to do.
And third, we have the process of bringing our children to the Savior by teaching them the truths of the gospel from the scriptures and the prophets and by helping them to feel and recognize the Spirit. Even very young children can understand and accept things of an eternal nature. They love the scriptures, and they love the prophet. They intuitively want to be good. It is up to us to help them keep that connection to heaven open. It is up to us to protect them from influences that detract from the Spirit. We can find help and direction in the scriptures. Then we can teach our children to find their own answers there. We can teach our children correct principles and help them apply those principles to their lives. We can direct them toward the Spirit so that they can receive their own witness of the truths they are learning. We can help them find the joy of living the gospel. This will build a firm foundation of faith and obedience in their lives that will strengthen them.
Now, all of this does not come easily. The Nephite account says that those families had 200 years of peace. But surely it took great effort. It takes a lot of hard work and patience and faith, but nothing is more important or rewarding. And the Lord will help us, for He loves these children even more than we do. He loves them, and He will bless them.
You will remember that He blessed the Nephite children individually and by praying for them (see 3 Nephi 17:14–17, 21). Then “he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.
“And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them” (3 Nephi 17:23–24).
How can our children experience blessings like these today? Elder M. Russell Ballard has said, “Clearly, those of us who have been entrusted with precious children have been given a sacred, noble stewardship, for we are the ones God has appointed to encircle today’s children with love and the fire of faith and an understanding of who they are” (“Behold Your Little Ones,” Tambuli, Oct. 1994, 40; “Great Shall Be the Peace of Thy Children,” Ensign, Apr. 1994, 60).
Brothers and sisters, we are the angels that Heavenly Father has sent today to bless the children, and we can help them to one day see the face of the Savior as we teach the principles of the gospel and fill our homes with the joy of living them. Together we can come to know Him. We can feel of His love and His blessings. And through Him we can return to the presence of the Father. We do this as we are willing to be obedient, faithful, and diligent in following His teachings.
“Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am” (D&C 93:1).
Brothers and sisters, I know that God lives. Jesus Christ is His Son, our Savior and Redeemer. He has invited us to come unto Him and has commanded us to bring our children that we, together, might see His face and live eternally with Him and with our Father in Heaven. It is my prayer that we might all work to receive this great blessing in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. | <urn:uuid:f66ae60f-1588-4d55-b84f-7a65f6bcf1f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lds.org/liahona/2010/05/that-our-children-might-see-the-face-of-the-savior?lang=eng | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978039 | 1,996 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Alan Crowhurst - Getty Images
It's the 2012 Epsom Derby winner versus the 2011 Japanese Triple Crown champion in the 2012 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe isn't just the biggest race in Europe, it's one of the most important races in thoroughbred racing anywhere in the world. First run in 1920, the Arc is a mile and a half race over the famed Longchamp Racecourse in Paris and typically features a large and competitive field of the best colts and fillies in Europe, as well as top horses from Japan. Horse trained in France and England/Ireland have dominated the Arc during it's history, winning 82 of the previous 90 editions of the race. An American-trained horse has never won the Arc.
Let's take a look at this year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe:
Three of the major contenders for this year's Arc were ruled out of action over the past week. First, the five-year-old mare Snow Fairy (IRE) came out of a work with heat in one of her forelegs and was relegated to the sidelines. She'll be on the shelf for several weeks, which will also knock her out of any possible Breeders' Cup run. Snow Fairy is a winner of three-straight Group 1 races including the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Kyoto, Japan, the Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville (France) and the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown (Ireland).
Things went from bad to worse after the Snow Fairy news as word came out of Germany that the defending Arc champion, Danedream (GER), was in quarantine at Cologne Racecourse due to a case of a "Swamp Fever" discovered in another horse on the ground. The quarantine is expected to last at least a month, if not more, preventing the brilliant mare from traveling to France.
And finally, just a day following Danedream's defection, two-time Group 1 winner Nathaniel (IRE) spiked a fever and was ruled out of action by trainer John Gosden.
With three of the top contenders knocked out of the race, Camelot (GB) and Orfevre (JPN) moved to the top of the UK betting markets and should remain there until post time on Sunday. Orfevre is the 2011 Japanese Triple Crown winner, the sixth horse to accomplish that feat since 1941. Trainer Yasutoshi Ikee shipped Orfevre to France this summer in order to acclimate the colt to French racing prior to the Arc. He ran in the Group 2 Prix Foy at Longchamp (traditionally a key Arc prep race) and beat Meandre (FR) by a length.
Orfevre is guaranteed to take significant betting action from the legions of Japanese fans that are expected to make the trip to Paris for the Arc.
Camelot narrowly missed becoming the first English Triple Crown winner in over 40 years when he finished second to Encke in the G1-St. Leger Stakes at Doncaster on Sept 15. He won the G1-2000 Guineas in May, the G1-Epsom Derby in June and will have three-time Arc winning jockey Frankie Dettori in the irons on Sunday.
The Course & Race Conditions
The defections of Snow Fairy, Danedream and Nathaniel diminished the stature of this year's field but not the importance of the race itself. The Arc, with a purse of €4,000,000 (about $5.1 million) is the race in Europe and on and exceptionally testing one, at that.
Like many of the racecourses in Europe, Longchamp is a challenging and stamina testing course, especially at the classic distance of a mile and a half. Below is a diagram of the Longchamp course, along with a description of the Arc trip.
The Arc begins at the far left starting position for races at 2,400 meters, with the field running approximately the first furlong on the flat, then proceeding uphill until reaching about the midway point on the long turn at the far right portion of the course. From there, the field will descend slightly as they run into the "false stretch" before facing another slight rise in elevation as they enter the final furlongs.
The run to the top of the turn is quite testing and, as a result, the pace is usually very, very slow during this portion of the race. As you watch races from Longchamp that begin in this part of the course, you can see the considerable elevation gain from the gate to the top of the turn.
The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a weight-for-age/sex race and the weight differences can be quite severe, especially for older horses. The official weights are (of course) in the metric kilograms, but (thankfully) not stone. Using the power of the Internet in order to assist this non-metric American, I've calculated the Arc weights in pounds.
|Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Weights|
|4up Fillies & Mares||58.0||127.87|
As the chart illustrates, three-year-olds receive an 8-10 pound allowance over older males (depending on sex) and a 4-7 pound weight break over older females. While there is plenty of debate over the difference of a pound or two during the running of a race, 8-10 pounds is a significant difference in a race as grueling as the Arc.
Recent Arc history suggests the weight allowances by age and sex can't be overlooked when handicapping the race. Females, especially three-year-old females, receive significant concessions from their rivals and top class thee-year-old fillies, in a race as testing as the Arc, are at a distinct advantage by carrying less weight. As a result, any high-class three-year-old filly -- a label that directly applies to Great Heavens (GB) -- must be taken seriously in the Arc.
Great Heavens, a full-sister to Nathaniel, has won four consecutive races, including the G1-Irish Oaks and G2-Lancashire Oaks. She's been exceptional at the distance of a mile and a half and she's run well over soft ground her entire career. Great Heavens won the Lancashire Oaks by taking the lead after the starting gate and controlling the race for the next 12 furlongs. She won the Irish Oaks by sitting several lengths behind the early pace and making the winning move inside the final furlong.
With several trainers entering rabbits in this race (pacesetters), Great Heavens won't want to be up on the lead for the entire trip. But if she's able to settle into a good position near the front of the main pack, she should have every chance to make a dash for the finishing post in the last quarter mile.
Camelot will also receive a weight allowance due to the fact that he's a three-year-old, although he'll still carry a little over three pounds more than Great Heavens. The ground at Longchamp shouldn't be a problem for the Derby winner as he's been victorious over ground ranging from Good-to-Firm to Soft/Heavy in his short career.
Masterstroke is another mid-priced horse that makes a lot of sense in the Arc. He's a three-year-old, so he'll get some weight from his older rivals and he's being offered at decent odds by the UK bookmakers -- anywhere from 7/1 to 10/1. And perhaps most importantly, he's in excellent form after a couple of decent wins over the summer at Deauville and Vichy. He's never faced a field as talented or as deep as this year's Arc, so we don't want to take a short price in any situation, but if he's around 10/1 or better on the tote as we near post time he might make sense in an exacta situation.
I'll play Great Heavens to win and above and below Camelot or Orfevre (depending on the will-pays) in an exacta. If the price is right, I'll toss Masterstroke into the mix. | <urn:uuid:f4aae839-7be5-4765-821e-27f0675bd6c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.anddownthestretchtheycome.com/prix-de-larc-de-triomphe/2012/10/6/3466748/2012-prix-de-larc-de-triomphe-preview-selections/in/3206945 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962737 | 1,722 | 1.632813 | 2 |
McCain calls it socialism; I call it opportunity, and there's nothing more American than that.--Senator Barack Obama, Raleigh, NC, October 29, 2008
Today I feel as if I've been to the promised land. I was one of 25,000 people who stood on Halifax Mall, the roof of a parking deck in the downtown Raleigh, North Carolina legislative complex, and listened to Senator Barack Obama talk about hope, change, and what we can do as a nation.
There were a lot of parents with children in the crowd. I asked a ten-year-old girl standing next to me why she was there. As her mother proudly beamed, she replied, "Because I want to see history being made and I like Mr. Obama."
Yesterday, the local news stations reported that the Obama campaign had indicated it was expecting a crowd of around 25,000. The State Highway Patrol stated that a more realistic expectation was 10,000. It is the State Highway Patrol that reported today's final number as 25,000.
I'm still on a high. There was electricity in the air. At one point the crowd broke into a chant of Obama's name. I found myself chanting and swaying with the group. But the people in this crowd are not mindless followers, not members of the cult of Obama as McCain and Palin have tried to portray us. We believe, but not in Obama; we believe in ourselves.
Senator Obama has been very clear since the beginning; he is not a solo act. His message is straightforward--We can, not I can or you can, but We Can. He reiterated that message today stating, "Government can't solve all of our problems, but it can ensure that each of us has a shot at success." According to Obama, the American way means that you "...should be able to make it if you try." No handouts; no taking money from one person to hand over to another, but a government that ensures that every person has an opportunity to access those inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Much ado has been made by the McCain/Palin camp about Obama's economic policies and he addressed their criticism directly, speaking of his plans for creating jobs, decreasing taxes on the middle class, and returning the wealthiest 5% to the tax brackets that they were in before the George W. Bush tax cuts, back to a time when there was a federal budget surplus instead of an ever growing federal budget deficit. (If you are interested in the difference between the national debt and the federal budget, please check out an old post on that topic by clicking here.) His plans include tax credits for American businesses that actually do business in the U.S. and create jobs in the U.S., reinstating many of the regulations tossed out during the Reagan years to forestall any more missteps by Wall Street necessitating taxpayer bailouts, and eliminating capital gains taxes for small businesses.
Among my favorite moments was Sen. Obama's addressing of the McCain/Palin's scare tactics regarding his plans for the wealthiest 5% to pay their fair share of taxes. The McCain/Plain folks run around like Chicken Little shouting about the unfairness of not rewarding the wealthy for their hard work. The logic appears to be that if you work hard then you're entitled to your money. I don't have a problem with that and neither does Sen. Obama. However, he does question whether it's in our best interests to have a system that only rewards the holders of the wealth or to have one that also "...rewards workers who contribute to creating that wealth."
Think about it. Suppose that tomorrow the CEO of every car manufacturing company disappeared. There certainly would be some confusion and discussion of what needs to be done, but the assembly lines would still be able to run because the rank and file who actually do the day to day work would still be in place. No doubt, someone from lower management would step into the CEO positions and production would continue. Now, let's imagine that all of the workers disappeared and all that was left were the CEOs. Can we say, work stoppage, boys and girls? Don't get me wrong, leadership is important but so are workers, the people who actually get their hands dirty, who have the skills to create the product. Those workers deserve a living wage and Sen. Obama wants to ensure that they receive it.
Today was an extraordinary day for me. I am high on hope. My only regret is that I couldn't call my mother and share my day with her, but I think that she knows all about it.
I do have a confession to make. I am not in the 5%; are you? If you are, I understand why McCain's plans may be more attractive to you. If not, well mama never liked it when I was rude, so I'll hold my tongue, but you know what I'm thinking.
The rally ended with the song, Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) by Stevie Wonder. What would I do without YouTube? Turn it up and dance around the room. | <urn:uuid:0078866b-f1dd-4fab-86cc-353f4eca82b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theexaminedlife-sheria.blogspot.com/2008/10/obama-signed-sealed-and-delivered.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981865 | 1,076 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Shining Some Light on the District’s New Communities Program
The District’s New Communities program was initiated in the mid-2000s to revitalize the housing and surrounding neighborhoods of four subsidized housing sites in DC — Park Morton (Ward 1), Northwest One (Ward 6), Lincoln Heights/Richardson Dwellings (Ward 7), and Barry Farm (Ward 8). It does this by tearing down the existing public housing and replacing it with mixed-income housing, and by also improving major public amenities in the area such as schools and recreation centers.
Unfortunately, a lack of transparency about the program — from funding to outcomes — makes it hard to determine the impact the program is having on the low-income residents living in these communities. For example, it is unclear if the original goal of building mixed income communities on the sites — with one third of the housing units low-income, one-third moderate-income, and one third market rate — is still being achieved. Moreover, it is unclear what the timeline is for the replacement of the re-developed public housing units to be completed.
Today, the Committee on Economic Development is taking an important step to shed some sunlight on New Communities by holding a roundtable. The hearing will include testimony from residents living in these communities, government officials, service providers and researchers, including DCFPI. Our testimony focuses on improving the transparency of the New Communities program so that the public can determine if public dollars are being spent efficiently and effectively to improve the lives of the low-income residents living in these neighborhoods.
You can read DCFPI’s complete testimony here.
To print a copy of today’s blog, click here. | <urn:uuid:e31d7c9e-d4b4-418f-8365-551e4126f2d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dcfpi.org/shining-some-light-on-the-districts-new-communities-program | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948666 | 345 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Everybody wants security, but not everybody wants to become a cryptographer. The easy use of security systems is an important condition to achieve user acceptance. Products of Sirrix feature easy use of security technologies. By just one click, confidential data are saved automatically.
Compared with conventional proprietary solutions with undisclosed design, modern cryptographic systems are characterized with provable security, open and evaluable concepts and standardized procedures. For a long time, the security of cryptographic systems and protocols has been proved only by heuristic aspects, whereas meanwhile efficient systems with technical security proofs exist. The application of such systems enables to avoid cryptographic design errors.
The procedures and protocols developed by Sirrix AG are based on the latest technical developments and results of the latest research. Our procedures are conformable to established standards secure against the strongest known attacks. By using innovative encryption and key management procedures, our security solutions are very affective and efficienct. | <urn:uuid:3d238755-2c7e-4e63-8469-358545ffba84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sirrix.com/content/pages/vision_en.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936874 | 183 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Social media is now an essential part of brand building. Get detailed explanations and real-life examples of the top 3 social branding strategies.
We know branding, the act of creating transferable stories about companies, products and individuals, is being changed by social media marketing. Forrester, interestingly the same people who came out with a study saying social media wasn't impacting sales, just issued a report on how social is changing branding.
Forrester warns social by itself is insufficient to create a brand, an idea I agree with. Here is how this new report outlines changes sweeping branding:
* Redefines the relationship between consumers and brands.
* Forces marketing strategies to adapt.
* Amplifies brand building strategies (MS).
* Create emotional connection.
* Nurture fans.
* Helps create User Generated Content (UGC).
* Creates conversations that can inform brand strategies (MS).
Interestingly few marketers are integrating social into their branding see the chart on page 5.
There is a BIG section about the dangers of attempting to brand with social alone. Some of Forrester's points have merit. Social, by itself, doesn't scale, it is a poor campign medium (me) and it is only as good as the guiding brand strategy.
Put these two ideas together - that social will be critical to shaping brands and few are doing so and competitive advantage will go to those who embrace social media marketing as part of their brand building strategy. | <urn:uuid:dbfd7164-d0f6-462e-bef8-f7d70d10f847> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scoop.it/t/curation-revolution/p/3232947138/forrester-report-how-social-media-is-changing-brand-building?tag=SEO | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937259 | 302 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Who among us is not at a loss for words? Tears pour out. Tears of joy. Tears of relief. A stunning, whopping landslide of hope in a time of deep despair.
In a nation that was founded on genocide and then built on the backs of slaves, it was an unexpected moment, shocking in its simplicity: Barack Obama, a good man, a black man, said he would bring change to
There was another important "first" last night. Never before in our history has an avowed anti-war candidate been elected president during a time of war. I hope President-elect Obama remembers that as he considers expanding the war in
It's been an inexcusable 44 years since a Democrat running for president has received even just 51% of the vote. That's because most Americans haven't really liked the Democrats. They see them as rarely having the guts to get the job done or stand up for the working people they say they support. Well, here's their chance. It has been handed to them, via the voting public, in the form of a man who is not a party hack, not a set-for-life Beltway bureaucrat. Will he now become one of them, or will he force them to be more like him? We pray for the latter.
But today we celebrate this triumph of decency over personal attack, of peace over war, of intelligence over a belief that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs just 6,000 years ago. What will it be like to have a smart president? Science, banished for eight years, will return. Imagine supporting our country's greatest minds as they seek to cure illness, discover new forms of energy, and work to save the planet. I know, pinch me.
We may, just possibly, also see a time of refreshing openness, enlightenment and creativity. The arts and the artists will not be seen as the enemy. Perhaps art will be explored in order to discover the greater truths. When FDR was ushered in with his landslide in 1932, what followed was Frank Capra and Preston Sturgis, Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck, Dorothea Lange and Orson Welles. All week long I have been inundated with media asking me, "gee, Mike, what will you do now that Bush is gone?" Are they kidding? What will it be like to work and create in an environment that nurtures and supports film and the arts, science and invention, and the freedom to be whatever you want to be? Watch a thousand flowers bloom! We've entered a new era, and if I could sum up our collective first thought of this new era, it is this: Anything Is Possible.
An African American has been elected President of the United States! Anything is possible! We can wrestle our economy out of the hands of the reckless rich and return it to the people. Anything is possible! Every citizen can be guaranteed health care. Anything is possible! We can stop melting the polar ice caps. Anything is possible! Those who have committed war crimes will be brought to justice. Anything is possible.
We really don't have much time. There is big work to do. But this is the week for all of us to revel in this great moment. Be humble about it. Do not treat the Republicans in your life the way they have treated you the past eight years. Show them the grace and goodness that Barack Obama exuded throughout the campaign. Though called every name in the book, he refused to lower himself to the gutter and sling the mud back. Can we follow his example? I know, it will be hard.
I want to thank everyone who gave of their time and resources to make this victory happen. It's been a long road, and huge damage has been done to this great country, not to mention to many of you who have lost your jobs, gone bankrupt from medical bills, or suffered through a loved one being shipped off to Iraq. We will now work to repair this damage, and it won't be easy.
But what a way to start! Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the United States. Wow. Seriously, wow. | <urn:uuid:722ba13b-168b-451f-97c7-5e7f7aef0690> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zcommunications.org/pinch-me-by-michael-moore | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97 | 847 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Inheriting Histories: How Faith-Based Violence Calls for Youth Actions of Peace
by Priyanka Srinivasa
…We are on the air in 5…
“Now students, I want you to think before we go on what it means for you to be here.”
I watched the multicultural crowd of eager young students shift in their seats as the countdown began.
Two days ago, I had the honor of accompanying Ambassador Akbar Ahmed to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to introduce his new book, The Thistle and the Drone, on John Milewski’s show on the MHz Worldview Channel. The book draws on 40 case studies of Muslim tribal communities found along the borders between nations and caught in a post-9/11 paradigm in which they are labeled ‘terrorist’ and set upon by central government and foreign power alike.
Working with Ambassador Ahmed for the past year as a research assistant, my intellectual and personal understandings of myself, inherited nationalism as Indian-American, and religious affiliation as a Hindu have all been dynamically engaged and thrown my place in a globalized society into stark relief. At American University, I have found an incredible mentor and guru in Dr. Ahmed.
This was my first public appearance with Ambassador Ahmed about the book. We were greeted by an incredible audience- a crowd of enthusiastic high school students from all over the world chosen for the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange DC Civic Engagement Conference. This incredible initiative invited 115 bright youth, representing more than 30 Muslim-majority countries, to attend American public schools. Many of the students in attendance were from the same areas of study found in the book. I held my breath as the interview began, unsure of how these students would react to our research.
The dialogue between Milewski and Ambassador Ahmed began by laying out the parameters of the book. When Ambassador Ahmed began speaking about drone warfare spanning across Somalia, Waziristan, and the Yemen, I saw the students lean forward in their seats. “Tribes are under attack,” said Ambassador Ahmed; faces emerged from the crowd. A Pakistani girl named Fatima approached the mic and described how her closest friend from Waziristan lost her father, uncles, and female cousins in a drone strike outside their home. A boy from Yemen asked “why do they keep doing this to us? What should I do?” I looked at the boy and then to Ambassador Ahmed. In that moment I was not sure of who was ‘us’ and who were ‘they’.
Tribes described in the book are not confined to the narrow spaces between pages. They were right before us, studying in the United States. Amidst all of this, I saw before me a very concerned boy two years younger than me. He could have been my brother.
“You are an ambassador for Islam,” Ambassador Ahmed said to the assembly. “I congratulate you for being here. You are brave. You represent not only your tribes, your family and your country, but also Islam. Many Americans have not even met a Muslim. Go to your classrooms and educate your peers.”
More students approached the mic. A Filipino hijabi shyly asked Ambassador Ahmed: “if I am an ambassador for Islam, how do I answer questions like ‘what is jihad?’ A teacher in my host school says it is holy war—how do I explain its true meaning to my class fellows?” John Milewski then asked the audience: “You have been here in America for six months. How many of you have heard in this time that all Muslims are terrorists?” Three- fourths of the room lifted their hands. My heart collapsed.
The kids behind me raising their hands were from across the ocean, lifted off a page from Ambassador Ahmed’s book. They were the faces of cases I have studied over the last year. They were from the same communities that my parents left thirty years ago in order to make a better life for themselves, here in a country that boasts unparalleled freedom and equality. In a way, the students who were raising their hands were also here for the American Dream. They wanted to learn, just as my father wanted to learn, and as I myself strive to do.
I raised my hand in solidarity. Since 9/11, the number of attacks on the South Asian American community has sky-rocketed. Just last month, a Hindu man was pushed into a New York metro because the perpetrator wanted “all Hindus and Muslims dead”. My hyphen became a gaping hole and I was suspended somewhere between. That is precisely why I am studying anthropology- to detangle the intricacies of the contradictions and clashing histories that gave birth to me. I wanted to address the room and tell them that I too knew what it felt like—even though I am not a Muslim. Our identities and oppression are intertwined.
After the dialogue ended, students lunged at the stage to shake Ambassador Ahmed’s hand, thank him, get his autograph, and seek advice. A part of me lunged too. We, the youth of the world, regardless of faith, are lunging backwards to the generation before us. We are expected to overcome the great divides we inherited because of misunderstandings rooted in the fading pages of history. We are expected as members of our faiths to come together and ‘fix things.’ How do I fix Pakistani-Indian tensions when the conflict is three times my age? Where dialogue fails, our actions speak. I tapped Fatima on the shoulder and introduced myself. She smiled back and we squeezed each other’s palms. In that moment, we assured each other.
Priyanka Srinivasa is a research assistant for the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C. She has assisted Dr. Ahmed on his new book “The Thistle and the Drone: How America’s War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam” (Brookings Institute, March 2013). | <urn:uuid:5f613a47-30bc-423a-bb3a-3bc1a43baaaf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/inheriting-histories-how-faith-based-violence-calls-for-youth-actions-of-pe/0019673 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976195 | 1,265 | 1.648438 | 2 |
blogKnowledge is a weapon. Arm yourself.
NGOs Spend More Than 80 Percent of Donations to Haiti
Port-au-Prince, Jun 18 (Prensa Latina)
More than 80 percents of the reconstruction donations sent to overcome the aftermath of the January 2010 massive earthquake in Haiti are drained to meet the needs of NGOs from the USA, Canada and Europe, denounces the Conference “Post-Quake Work of NGOs in Haiti”, held in Canada.
Haitian Nancy Roc refuted allegations that Haiti squanders the international relief and wondered why none such officials were invited to the event while Prof. Stephane Pallag,of Canada, urged to reformulate the aid to Haiti for it remains ineffective near three years later.
In message to the colloquy, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe warned their presence can now be called damaging since their operations never fund state projects, hence his call to the world to review their destination.
He also warned that his government plans to urge for more transparency from the NGOs -today some 595 but the exact numbers remain shady- and to channel every relief efforts and aid reaching Haiti to state-run institutions for it is the foreign companies who are managing the donations if they ever reach Haiti.
“The government is the best suited to channel this aid as long as it meets the rigour and act as transparent as the donors demand.”
President Michel Martelly denounced last January that his government has not seen one single cent from the international reconstruction donations and just one percent the four billion USD sent for the purpose were invested in social programs, obviously frustrating reconstruction.
The independent magazine Dissident Voices also blames NGOs, private contractors and some governments for the contradictory management mechanism and corruption that turned the US Administration into the largest recipient of the relief funds for Haiti.
Just after the quake, they assigned $379 million as preliminary relief budget but sent in troops, so 33 cents in every dollar returned to the mainland to refund their salaries or pay checks.
The magazine also quotes a report from the US Congress Investigations Office on more funds sent later ($655 million) which returned to the Deparment of Defense and $220 million refund to the Health and Human Services Deparment and the United Nations confirmed that Haiti just got half the aid request in 2011 and this year just 8.5 percent of the promised aid. | <urn:uuid:9a3b8491-23de-4106-83aa-fe0c45964071> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wrongkindofgreen.org/2012/06/21/ngos-spend-more-than-80-percent-of-donations-to-haiti/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957512 | 482 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Connellsville girl, 9, learns new language
Jan 29, 2013 (Tribune-Review - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
On a snowy Saturday morning, Abby Trich and half a dozen family members arrived at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Uniontown, eager to resume sign language lessons.
Abby, 9, was diagnosed several years ago with enlarged vestibular aqueduct syndrome, a congenital disorder that has led to hearing loss.
"She has medium to severe loss in her right ear and severe loss in her left ear," said her mother, Kerri Trich, of Connellsville.
Surgery is not an option, Trich said.
Abby's teacher at South Side Elementary School, where she is in fourth grade, uses a wireless microphone system that Abby picks up through her hearing aids.
A petite blonde, Abby arrived for her fourth lesson holding an American Girl Doll, also equipped with hearing aids.
"I taught my friend Kylee how to (sign) her name," Abby said, demonstrating.
"She gets a kick out of knowing a 'secret code,'" Trich said.
Abby loves playing softball, and rides a bicycle and a scooter.
"She wears a helmet," Trich said.
Because any head injury could further Abby's hearing loss, dodgeball, roller skating and ice skating are out, Trich said.
Trich contacted Cathy Zimmerman, coordinator of the Hear Fayette program, with questions after learning of her daughter's hearing loss.
American Sign Language classes are taught for a minimal donation, Zimmerman said.
"Participants are supposed to practice during the week, which this family does," Zimmerman said. "They are probably the most enthusiastic family we've had."
"We want people to realize there are deaf people here in Fayette County. When people see us in a restaurant 'signing,' we get a lot of attention. We want people to know what it looks like.
"We have had EMTs, people who work with special needs students. They think it will help them communicate better," she noted.
Trich credited her father, Jim Hill of Mt. Pleasant, for suggesting the family learn sign language together.
"I was just worried about her. I wanted to make sure she had everything we could give her," Hill said. "We practice at home. It's fun. We are getting there."
"We decided that, God forbid, she loses any more hearing, we wanted to be able to communicate with her," Abby's grandmother, Jeanne Hill, said.
Also participating in the 16 weeks of lessons are Abby's cousin, Andrea Bitner, and aunt, Tricia Miller, both of Mt. Pleasant; and brother Doug Trich, 6.
Trich's older children, Amanda, 19, and Michael, 17, practice at home with the family.
Jeff Martz, who teaches from the American Sign Language University curriculum, is deaf and mute, and has been using sign language for decades.
Saturday's lesson included learning to sign aunt, uncle, bedroom, brush teeth, friend, idea, excuse me, happy, help, hurt, wash, sad, sorry and love.
Sitting in a semi-circle facing Martz, the family repeated the symbols he demonstrated.
Several asked each other questions, laughing as they caught themselves speaking while signing.
"How are you " Martz signed.
He bent his hands, touching knuckles, opened and cupped his palms and pointed a finger at family members.
The students responded, their fingers spelling "fine," "good," "so-so."
When Abby correctly signed "excuse me," Martz applauded and waved his wrists to say 'yea!"
Some of the easiest symbols were those for "baby" -- Martz crossed his arms as if holding and rocking an infant -- and "brush teeth," which is self-explanatory.
The family learned to place their pinkies to the sides of their foreheads and flick up, to express the word "idea."
They learned to sign "cry" by dragging their fingertips down from their eyes, as if shedding tears.
No one had trouble when Martz pointed to the word "love."
Family members crossed their arms over their hearts, palms inward.
At the end of the session, they turned to Martz and raised the fingers of one hand to their lips, then downward in his direction.
Their words were silent, but their meaning clear.
"Thank you," they signed.
Visit www.stvincentdepauluniontown.org for more information about the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
Mary Pickels is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 724-836-5401 or email@example.com.
___ (c)2013 Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.) Visit Tribune-Review (Greensburg,
Pa.) at www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib Distributed by MCT Information
[ Back To education 's Homepage ] | <urn:uuid:9ff23b9b-b42e-4904-a875-f034b496c802> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://education.tmcnet.com/news/2013/01/29/6886660.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970645 | 1,078 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Locked up abroad? For many Americans, it’s the ultimate nightmare.
But in Japan there’s help: a law center designed to assist foreigners as they navigate Japan’s complicated legal system.
The Tokyo Public Law Office’s Foreign and International Service Section (FISS) opened its doors last Monday. In an interview with Latitude News, Mikiko Otani, one of the two layers who runs the office, explains that Japan’s judiciary can sometimes overwhelm foreigners unfamiliar with its intricate workings.
“There is a huge difference between the Japanese system and others, including the United States,” says Otani. “For example, in Japan very rarely do judges call witnesses. Most of the proceedings here are based on written statements, so people don’t make oral arguments and, although it’s starting to change, we don’t really use juries.”
The Japan Times reports that there are over 2 million foreigners with valid visas living in Japan. But Otani says many of them have difficulty finding quality legal representation because of language barriers and the limited amount of information available on lawyers for foreign clients..
99 problems but a lawyer ain’t one
The FISS serves mainly American, Filipino and Chinese clients, providing both legal advice and in-court representation in a variety of areas including family, immigration and labor law, as well as criminal and general civil cases.
It’s an expansion of a previous service first offered in late 2010 by the Tokyo Public Law Office, a public interest law firm supported by the Tokyo Bar Association. That program found itself unable to deal with the volume of foreigners requesting help.
The new office is located in the Minato district of Tokyo, where many expats live. While FISS’s lawyers are collectively fluent in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Korean, it plans to hire interpreters as needed from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
Otani earned a graduate degree at Columbia University and says her experience living in America made her want to work with foreigners in Japan.
“I lived in New York for two years as a student,” she explains, “and I realized that it’s a very difficult experience. I didn’t have any legal trouble but when one of my young children got sick and had to go to the emergency room, well, dealing with that kind of experience is the most stressful kind of thing.”
She specializes in family law and international human rights. Many of the Americans she works with are dealing with the messy results of divorce — child custody, visitation and child support — while living in a foreign land.
Otani’s colleague, Masako Suzuki, told the Japan Times that the office will also focus on helping asylum seekers and immigrants living on expired visas.
“We worry that illegal immigrants and refugees are excluded from the public legal system. Our goal is also to help those people,” she said.
“Access to a lawyer,” adds Otani, “is one of the fundamental human rights.” | <urn:uuid:3da502cc-bb0e-4bf2-a34b-70be603daedd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.latitudenews.com/story/locked-up-abroad-in-japan-theres-help/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953637 | 643 | 1.625 | 2 |
Last summer, I wrote about our woad days at the chateau. I dreamt about being able to bring Denise Lambert, the master dyer, over to the states and have her teach the magical workshop here in Los Angeles to friends and artists that couldn't fly to France to learn the craft. We talked about it over lunch one day at the chateau and Denise said "Find me a group of women who are interested in woad and I'll come".
I've been talking about woad for a couple of years now, and everyone always looks at me like "what are you talking about - indigo, vegetable dye, Rit?" So - I decided it's time to find a group of interested women who want to know about the ancient craft of woad dying.
To my surprise and delight, Denise has agreed to come and teach. We are planning a full day workshop where one will be able to come and learn from the one of the few master woad dyers in the world - the world!
Woad, Isatis tinctoria, was known throughout Europe as far back as the Egyptians, whom used it to dye the cloth wrappings used for the mummies. In the Middle-Age, it was used for its medicinal and healing properties, and according to the archives of the city of Marseille, it was the Moores that introduced Woad to the south of Europe. In the beginning of the 15th century, Woad was found in England as well as in the northern part of Europe, where it was mainly used for dyeing. European Woad is the legendary blue plant dye from Europe and was prized by Napoleon to dye the uniforms for his army. Woad is the eponymous French Blue – a rich, soft shade with a touch of grey.
For our workshop, we will be dying in an old, historic area of Los Angeles - Elysian Park - less than a mile away from French General. In an old field, surrounded by trees, we will be treated to a lecture on the history and technique of woad and then, for the remainder of the day, we will dye together. Bring your old white linen, cotton or silks - anything that has seen better days that you would like to dye a beautiful French blue color. You can also bring skeins of yarn or ribbon - anything of natural material - linen, cotton, silk or hemp.
This promises to be a very special day and you will be amazed as you see your whites change from acid yellow to bright green and finally, by the time you hang your piece on the laundry line, a rich, deep woad blue.
I have dyed with Denise many times, and I still get excited about the process - it's not every day that one has the opportunity to learn a medieval craft. Class size is limited. Visit us at frenchgeneral.com for more information or sign up here for the workshop. | <urn:uuid:0b1604f1-c3f9-4c5e-ba06-64dedc035d56> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frenchgeneral.blogspot.com/2011/02/woad-workshop.html | 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 | 0.971003 | 597 | 1.84375 | 2 |
More shell casings found at Harvard schools
HARVARD – A Harvard Junior High School student was charged with disorderly conduct after police said he brought three .30-caliber shell casings to school Wednesday.
Harvard police were called to Crosby Elementary School and Harvard Junior High School at 8:10 a.m. for a report of shell casings found on a bus at the elementary school and in a men’s bathroom at the junior high, according to a news release.
Students at all five Harvard District 50 schools were kept in their classrooms as officials searched the schools. No suspicious items, activity or people were found.
Investigators later determined that a 12-year-old junior high school student had taken the three shells to school to show his classmates, Harvard police Chief Dan Kazy-Garey said. The student took the shells from his home. After losing a shell on the bus, the student discarded the other two at school, police said.
“The kid brought them to school to show his friends,” Kazy-Garey said. “The shells had been collected from an exhibition, where the bullets were expelled.”
School resumed for all District 50 students about 9:45 a.m.
It was the second time this week that students were kept in their classrooms after a shell casing was found.
Maintenance staff at Crosby Elementary School on Monday found a .22-caliber shell casing on the cafeteria floor. That caused administrators to keep students in their classrooms for more than an hour while police searched the building.
The two incidents appear to be unrelated, Kazy-Garey said. | <urn:uuid:f17814c9-592e-4d37-be21-99251255cd34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nwherald.com/2012/12/19/more-shell-casings-found-at-harvard-schools/a9yagvv/?__xsl=/print.xsl | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987789 | 338 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Many people are under the impression that having a bad credit rating prevents them from obtaining a loan. This is not true; there are ways to get a loan if you know the criteria. There are some tips you can follow to obtain a loan on a bad credit rating.
The criteria for a bad credit loan are almost the same as that of a good credit loan. If you have bad credit you must be able to prove that you are in steady employment and can afford to make the repayments .
It is more common than most people think to fall into bad credit. It can be caused by an emergency or irresponsible spending on the credit card. If you are in this category there are some steps to help you get the bad credit loan you require:
• Know your score: There are credit bureaus that will give you one free credit report each year. Ask for this report and you will see what the lender sees when you apply for a loan. There are companies who offer to get you this report for free, but there is normally a service tied to the offer.
• Study and compare your score: Do not look only at your credit score, but also the details that help to compile the score. If there is something that you do not recognize or understand, have it clarified before you apply for a loan. You can go to one of the many free counseling offices to help you. If there is an error on your credit report it is imperative it is removed as it could prevent you from obtaining your loan.
• Find a lender to meet your needs: If your current lender is unwilling to help you then you need to look for a new lender. It is not so difficult now with so many of them selling their goods on the internet. There are many lenders who are willing to give a bad credit loan. Make sure that the deal you are being offered is fair. Some of these lenders will take advantage of your bad credit rating to put on ridiculous fees and charge high interest rates. Do not be tempted by them, you can find an honest lender who will give you a fair deal.
• Find support: There are many credit counselors out there who will give you the advice needed to get out of the bad credit rating.
Having bad credit is a problem but it can be solved. It takes some work but it is not impossible. | <urn:uuid:90ede357-95a9-4f93-9ddf-5bda8d9a544f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.loansample.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976039 | 475 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Fitspiration, or Fitspo for short, is a term used to describe something that helps inspire others to healthy eating and exercise. These websites should not be confused with ‘thinspiration’ sites. Thinspo sites are common as well but generally promote being skinny over being fit. In Fitspo blogs you should see toned and muscular figures as objects of motivation. Just because someone is skinny does not mean they are healthy (an extreme example would be an anorexic). Fitspo websites are commonly in the forms of blogs where the author posts daily recipes, inspirational stories, exercise plans or photos of fit men or women for motivation to do the same for themselves and their readers. I highly recommend you follow or start your own fitspo blog or site (such as pinterest or tumblr) to help reach any health goals you have set for yourself this year. Goals are met by taking the time to daily address them through small steps. Having your goals stare you in the face everyday will consistently provide motivation and the support needed for change. You can google ‘fitspo’ for some examples. I myself keep track of inspirational photos, quotes and recipes by pinterest and I’ve included an example of a pin from my ‘healthy living’ board. Remember, YOU are the only one standing in the way of yourself and the goals you want to reach.
Just another great example of food marketing at its best. I plea and beg with you to ignore front of the package labeling. If a product is screaming something at you on the front of its package most likely this product is A) not real food, B) not healthy for you in any manner and C) will push you farther away from your health or weight loss goals. Do you see broccoli or strawberries with ‘buy me because I’m super good for you’ labels? No. Because A) they are real food, B) they are healthy for you and C) we know that automatically we will be healthier, look and feel better if we eat more real food.
Food companies use front labels to try to draw you in with these marketing tactics in order to sway you into buying their product over another overly processed food demon because we are confused when it comes to food in boxes. We trust the food companies to help us discern the differences between these products. Problem is they are in the business of making a hefty profit from a very cheaply made food. For example, let’s look at Splenda’s new products Splenda Essentials. Not only is it a no-calorie sweetener (try to put that into a food group!), BUT it also has B vitamins, fiber or antioxidants!!! WOW!!! (Note I am being very sarcastic here).
Do you really think Splenda is the answer to getting your daily fix of fiber, vitamins or antioxidants? If you do, please do me a favor and step back a minute. Think of someone who drinks diet sodas or uses non-calorie sweeteners. Are they a perfect weight? Most likely not. Fake sugars condition our taste to want even more sweet things. Eating more sweet things means an increase in our waistlines which is exactly what we don’t want. If they are diabetic (type II) they obviously got there by eating too much sugar to begin with. Here is my plea, you want fiber? Eat whole grain bread. You want antioxidants? Eat some blueberries. You want B-vitamins? Eat a dark, leafy green salad with a (preferably homemade) olive oil vinegar dressing.
You want real health and energy? Eat real food.
Gain weight by “going diet?” Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/ | <urn:uuid:a0acffe5-c056-4c2f-898e-6f455f838285> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chirokatie.org/category/recipes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947817 | 799 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Dealing With Vocational Education in Uzbekistan
Filed Under: Politics, World | Posted: 06/21/2012 at 8:28AM
Comments | Region: Uzbekistan
Recent instructions by Uzbekistan’s president Islam Karimov to improve vocational colleges and schools by raising teaching standards indicate real concern about the state of education in the Central Asian state.
Karimov ordered a programme of testing existing teachers to be pushed through by the time the new academic year begins in September, as well as ongoing workshops to improve their skills and the provision of computerised teaching aids.
After independence in 1991, Uzbekistan inherited the Soviet system of specialised schools and colleges offering vocational and other training.
According to the deputy head of a secondary school in the capital Tashkent, "the colleges are treated like the old [Soviet] vocational schools, where D-grade pupils were sent to acquire the skills for blue-collar occupations. The only difference now is that you is that you have to pay a bribe just to get in, and they don’t teach you anything worthwhile.”
Commentators in Uzbekistan agree that vocational education is in urgent need of reform. But before that happens, they say, the authorities need to address the broader problem of corruption in the education sector.
An official from the Tashkent regional education department says anyone can become a teacher if they are prepared to hand over a bribe. Their students are unlikely to learn much from them, and are liable to join the ranks of the unemployed once they leave school.
Last year, auditors found that 222 teachers working in a range of institutions in Tashkent had diplomas that had been faked, or had been obtained abroad and could not be verified.
A teacher with 25 years’ experience in the northwestern Khorezm province says half the staff at specialised schools in the region are unfit to be teaching. They accept bribes for admission to the school and then for giving students good grades until they graduate. The final money-making scheme takes place when the student has to provide evidence of a job placement in order to obtain a leaving diploma.
"No one cares whether it is a real or fake certificate," he said.
The international watchdog group Transparency International ranks Uzbekistan 177th out of 183 countries for the level of perception of corruption.
This article was produced as part of News Briefing Central Asia output, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy.
If you would like to comment or ask a question about this story, please contact our Central Asia editorial team at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:49f9a96f-8f65-45fc-b6c8-1fe196ee9d38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://groundreport.com/Dealing-With-Vocational-Education-in-Uzbekistan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96515 | 533 | 1.671875 | 2 |
At a campaign rally, Obama said Romney is “just churning out the same ideas that we saw in the decade before I took office . . . the same tax cuts and deregulation agenda that helped get us into this mess in the first place.”
It’s a standard Obama talking point. But it’s not true. Bush’s tax cuts did not cause the last recession.
In fact, once they were fully in effect in 2003, they sparked stronger growth — generating more than 8 million new jobs over the next four years, and GDP growth averaging close to 3%.
Those tax cuts didn’t explode the deficit, either, as Obama frequently claims. Deficits steadily declined after 2003, until the recession hit.
Nor was Bush a deregulator. Conservative Heritage Foundation’s regulation expert James Gattuso concluded, after reviewing Bush’s record, that “regulation grew substantially during the Bush years.”
Even the Washington Post’s fact-checker, Glenn Kessler, gave Obama’s claim three out of four “Pinocchios,” saying “it is time for the Obama campaign to retire this talking point, no matter how much it seems to resonate with voters.” | <urn:uuid:aff7499a-c165-440c-887b-aaff92d05087> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jammiewf.com/2012/obamas-re-election-case-rests-on-5-phony-claims/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955333 | 264 | 1.6875 | 2 |
As Lily Kuo reports for Reuters, the FBI put its sights on what appears to be a huge sex-trafficking organization that was operating inside nearly 60 different U.S. cities, rescuing 79 teens and arresting more than 100 pimps.
This looks to be the sixth sex crime-related sweep conducted by the FBI, starting back in 2003, as part of a "broader initiative."
According to the president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, this type of sex-trafficking is "a problem that happens in all kinds of American cities and it happens to all kinds of American kids."
The kids are apparently lured in starting with the social networks. Once lured, they are forced into teen prostitution under duress, with threats made against their own physical safety as well as the safety of their families.
Kuo's report does not mention Baltimore, but it's likely to have been one of the many U.S. cities subject to the FBI sweep.
As Kuo reports, more than 2,000 kids have been rescued in the FBI effort, which doesn't count state and local rescues. | <urn:uuid:8a0961df-08d9-460a-be26-5d361f7d7c3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dallastxcriminaldefenseattorney.com/2012/06/fbi-targets-sex-trafficking-of-teens-in-nationwide-sting.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978848 | 233 | 1.640625 | 2 |
If you’re impressed by the tens of thousands of followers that “social media guru” who just followed you has amassed, you might want to consider this: up to 30 percent of her followers could be fake.
Posts Tagged ‘fake’
NASA Joins AllTwitter Conference
Last week a little app called Fakers by Status People was launched, allowing anyone to check out how many of their Twitter followers are real and how many are bots, spam or just plain fake.
Business Insider liked the idea of testing for fakers, and took it one step further: they analysed the top companies on Twitter to see which ones were followed by the most fake accounts.
Curious to see which big names in business are all fluff when it comes to Twitter? Read on for the results.
Think you might be followed by some not-so-legit Twitter accounts? There’s a new app that will tell you how many of your followers are fakes – or bots – and how many are living, breathing people eagerly awaiting your next pearls of wisdom.
An aide to both Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Republican senator Scott Brown has admitted to creating the @CrazyKhazei Twitter account parodying Brown’s political opponent, including writing a distasteful tweet making fun of the “It Gets Better” project for gay youth.
In a story we covered in early August, Newt Gingrich was accused of paying for thousands of fake, or dummy, Twitter followers to pump up his perceived influence on Twitter. Gawker got the scoop on the story, which used data to suggest that of Gingrich’s more than 1,325,000 followers, only about 8 to ten percent were real people interested in what he has to say.
Well, Mashable took the story a bit deeper, and did some analysis of their own. And it looks like “fake” followers are plaguing all politicians of a certain type on Twitter, not just Gingrich alone.
A new batch of fake emails purporting to be from Twitter is making the rounds, trying to get people’s personal details and make money off of surveys. If you’ve received an email from “email@example.com” asking for account verification details, here’s how to tell if you’re being scammed.
Oh boy. Apparently, some people still haven’t read Twitter’s rules on parody accounts, and it’s getting them into a whole world of legal trouble. The creator of the account @coventryfirst is being sued by life insurance firm Coventry First for sending fake and inappropriate tweets in the company’s name. | <urn:uuid:4291902c-d319-4270-baa4-88b6a4c7d6d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/tag/fake | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956287 | 556 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Nosey or Noisy- Tips for Getting Along with Your Neighbors
Recently, our friends at Jezebel asked us if we could share any tips about how to get along with one’s neighbors and we were happy to oblige. Check out Jezebel’s full social minefield article and see the tips we shared below!
Should you introduce yourself to your neighbors when you or they move in? What’s the best way to do so?
When debating whether or not to introduce yourself to your new neighbors, first do some casual recon.
Does your neighbor seem like someone you’d want in your life? Of course it would be wonderful to have a great friendship with a neighbor, but there’s also reason to be cautious as well.
The thing about neighbor-friends, as opposed to any other type of friends, is that your neighbor knows where you live and has super easy access to you. It’s often easy to befriend a neighbor…it’s not as easy to “unfriend.” You don’t want someone constantly stopping by, asking you for favors, especially if it’s not a reciprocal relationship.
Once you decide that your neighbor isn’t crazy, a slow organic introduction works best. Say hello when you pass one another in the hall and gradually build up to a friendly conversation. Usually, it takes one person to take that leap from friendly acquaintance to friend, so after you make an introduction, feel free to get your bake on – but not before. Especially in New York, people tend to not open doors for people they don’t know (and for good reason!)
Any tips on dealing with noisy neighbors?
Any sleep lover can attest – noisy neighbors are the worst! Good thing one out of two noisy neighbors (ish), don’t know they’re disturbing you. As with most people problems, there’s the passive and direct way to handle it. Unfortunately, noisy neighbors are NOT going to understand your grunts or angry glares through the walls, which means that you’ll have to the direct approach.
Before you consider calling 311 on them, ring their bell and share your concerns. You might well be surprised by the positive outcome. If you’re already on good terms with them, so much the better.
What should you do to avoid angering your neighbors if you’re about to do something noisy?
Having the cops called on your party in college often meant that your party was awesome. Alas, now that we’re adults, it just means having to deal with obnoxious fines and red-tape. Save yourself the trouble by giving your neighbors the heads-up when you’ll be loud, and let them know that you can turn down the volume if need be.
If you use your apartment for band practice, try to find a time when your neighbors aren’t home. Just by asking them, you’ll often totally win them over. Also, be aware that the official NYC quiet hours are from 10pm-7am. Check out the actual NYC laws if you’d like the exact “ambient” language.
What should you do if you suspect your neighbors of stealing your mail?
Get there first, obviously! Yeah, so for all of us working folks, that’s often not possible. If it’s an item like a magazine, it may be worth it to nicely leave a note on top of your communal mail pile (if it exists) to see if anyone has seen it. Alternatively, most magazines have a customer service phone number/email for when issues haven’t arrived, that will help you get a new copy.
But, if you notice ANY of your mail disappearing, definitely get all packages/valuables delivered to another address. It’d be great if we could all afford doorman buildings, but we can’t. Most office don’t mind if you have personal mail delivered to your word address, but check with your office manager to make sure.
Do you have any personal tips to share? Let us know! | <urn:uuid:6695213f-dcb6-41a2-a7f9-2f84e9d451e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myfirstapartment.com/2011/03/nosey-or-noisy-tips-for-getting-along-with-your-neighbors/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939383 | 867 | 1.65625 | 2 |
CrisisBy Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Of course we’ve every right to be regally pissed off at China and register our outrage in the most vociferous ways. To say that China’s recent moves have been belligerent is to say that Israel’s threats against Iran, and vice versa, have been belligerent. In recent weeks, those have included, in quick succession, issuing passports that trot out a Chinese map claiming the disputed islands, and threatening to board foreign vessels sailing through the area. In the emotionally charged atmosphere between China and Asean today, that’s as open a provocation as you can get.
The government deserves praise for taking a strong role in rallying Asean into taking China head on, if only diplomatically, which may be the only weapon we have but is a weapon nonetheless. The Philippines and Vietnam have already declared categorically that they will not stamp the passports that carry the modern-day reinvention of the Middle Kingdom. And while the other Asean countries haven’t said anything, they sympathize with it. Except for Cambodia, of course.
Just as well, the Philippines and Vietnam have also declared that they would not be cowed into desisting from sailing in the disputed sea but would stand their ground, or water, amid threats of boarding. While neither country, or both, can confront China militarily, they do not lack for other weapons to make China think twice. This is the age of YouTube and instant communication, neither of which China seems to have discovered, and can make acts of iniquity, as much of heroism, viral within minutes. As China will have rammed home to it if it tries clambering onto what it perceives to be offending vessels.
We have every right to be regally pissed off at China, but we also have every reason to be regally careful in our responses.
One is getting the United States embroiled in the fray. That requires a nuanced approach. Do we need to internationalize China’s belligerence? Yes. Do we need to bring the issue to the attention of the United Nations and the international courts? Yes. Do we need to get the American government to issue statements warning China against its encroachments? Yes. Do we need to remind our neighbors we see ourselves as an American protectorate? No.
The first three are a necessity, the last is an embarrassment. It’s not just Cambodia that has the reputation of being the stooge of a foreign power, it’s us, too. Thus far, we’ve done well standing firm with Asean in insisting on multilateral rather than bilateral talks with China. Thus far, we’ve done well taking a prominent, if not lead, role in pushing an agenda of vital importance to Asean. The point is not just to win the battle, it is to win the war. The point is not just to keep our territory, it is to gain the respect of the neighborhood. Let’s not mess that up.
Two is saber-rattling. No one, of course, has seriously suggested that we confront China militarily. The Defense College itself is clear on it, with Chester Cabalza, one of its professors, saying: “We cannot contain the maritime strength of China because we lack the capability. [Lodging] a diplomatic protest is the most we can do.” But some people have suggested that we need to spend more to improve our defense capabilities. That’s just a variation of the “budget Huks,” which was the practice of using the insurgency to jack up the AFP budget.
That’s crazy. At the very least, it’s so because resources being scarce, and even scarcer in poor countries like ours, if we have to spend more it should be on education and not on defense. Nothing secures a country better than an educated and informed populace. Nothing defends a country better than a people who have a stake in it and are willing to die, “ang mamatay ng dahil sa ’yo,” for it.
At the very most, that’s so because our problem has never been national security, it has always been foreign policy. Our problem has never been defense, it has always been diplomacy. It has never been brawn, it has always been brains. We’ve not lacked for the first, the military has always been pampered lest it throw a tantrum, or mount a coup attempt, which has succeeded only in producing national insecurity. We’ve always lacked for a foreign policy and the diplomatic skills to push it through. In lieu of saber-rattling, we can do with sober thinking.
And lastly, fanning anti-Chinese sentiments. I’ve been looking at the reactions to the stories about China’s belligerent actions, and some of them can make you cringe. They rekindle latent animosity against the Chinese, foreign or local. Arguably not as bad as in other Asean countries—Suharto’s downfall was presaged by anti-Chinese rioting and looting—but deeply disquieting nonetheless. “Dugong Intsik kasi,” says one of them, which is not unlike the sangre de Moro of yore, or the not so very yore.
“Komunistang Intsik,” says another, putting together two groups that have had a history of massacre or pogrom mounted against them. “Lahi ni Limahong,” says still another, conjuring the Chinese’s unsavory piratical past with this country.
You cannot always rein in people’s enthusiasms or wrath, but you have to try where they go overboard. Indeed, where they pose not just physical harm to people but also psychological harm to the nation. There’s a difference between being resolute and being rabid, being passionate and being bigoted, being united and being a lynch mob.
In the end, it’s not the threat itself but how we respond to it that will be the test of our character. How we respond to it can make us fall or rise. How we respond to it can make us shame ourselves or surpass ourselves. How we respond to it can kill us or make us stronger.
Take it from the Chinese: A crisis is also an opportunity. How we respond to it makes it the one or the other.
More from this Column:
Short URL: http://opinion.inquirer.net/?p=42123 | <urn:uuid:e4b1fe9b-f86f-4bed-80ba-804f726f0434> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://opinion.inquirer.net/42123/crisis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955407 | 1,398 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Tue January 15, 2013
Sun Studio On World Cafe
Originally published on Wed January 16, 2013 10:32 am
As part of World Cafe's "Sense of Place" spotlight on Memphis, Tenn., we have an interview with Sam Phillips, founder of the famed Sun Studio. In 2002, a year before the legendary producer died, Phillips shared his memories of his early days making records.
Here, he describes how his poor upbringing among both blacks and whites influenced his career, creating his drive to work with everyone who walked through Sun's door despite attitudes in the South at the time. Phillips also tells the story of recording The Prisonaires, a group of long-term prisoners who produced one of the studio's first big hits, "Walking in the Rain." He also shares his thoughts on the fateful decision to sell Elvis Presley's contract to RCA in order to keep Sun running — and discusses his personal relationship with The King. | <urn:uuid:e3c807d7-9939-47c1-8200-9d55d1893713> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://krvs.org/post/sun-studio-world-cafe | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977511 | 190 | 1.726563 | 2 |
By Samantha Bomkamp, AP Transportation Writer
NEW YORK More than a quarter million people are wondering what will happen to their fingerprints, Social Security numbers, home addresses and other personal information now that a company that sped them through airport security is out of business.
Government officials are wondering too.
The sudden shutdown of the Clear program, run by Verified Identity Pass Inc., this week has raised more concerns about who keeps our personal information, how well it's protected from theft and whether it could be sold to the highest bidder.
If Verified files for bankruptcy protection or is taken over by another company, security experts say it's unlikely customers' private data would be handed over to creditors or new owners. But they — as well as some members of Congress — are starting to trace the data trail.
Worries about protecting personal information and the danger of identity theft cover many areas of life in the 21st century beyond travel — from drawing cash out of an ATM to handing a credit card over to a store or restaurant.
On Tuesday, the parent company of retailers T.J. Maxx and Marshall's said it will pay $9.75 million in a settlement with a number of states related to massive data theft that exposed tens of millions of payment card numbers.
Clear said it will secure the personal information it gathered, which it says it handled according to Transportation Security Administration standards, and will "take appropriate steps to delete the information." Clear only provided information to TSA when it was part of the agency's pilot program, Registered Traveler, which ended in July 2008.
In a statement on its website Friday, Verified Identity Pass said that all of its Clear airport kiosks have been wiped clean of data. Employees' laptops are in the process of being cleared.
Although it was a private company, Clear had to follow TSA guidelines and report personal information to the TSA to get its members through special fast-lane security lines at about 20 airports.
Spokesman Greg Soule said Friday that the agency didn't keep any data for passengers after July 2008, when Clear began operations as a fully private company. Soule said that the TSA is obligated to delete all information it collected during the pilot program by July 31.
Soule emphasized that Clear was a private company responsible for destroying its own data.
But security experts are still questioning the TSA's methods. Some say the Transportation Security Administration should manage passenger data better and not store so much of it for so long.
"This question about whether or not (the TSA is holding on to information from Clear customers) is actually part of a bigger debate," said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. "This is just one of the long-running battles; they simply keep too much data on too many people for too long,"
The intimate information shared with the TSA by Clear could leave some people especially vulnerable if there were a security breach, he said.
In addition to information such as Social Security numbers and home addresses, Clear took eye scans, fingerprints and digital photos of every one of its approximately 260,000 members.
"I think the customers of Clear should be concerned about this," Rotenberg said. "Fingerprints are one of the most effective ways to (steal someone's) identity."
Clear grew out of the government agency's Registered Traveler program, which requires "biometric identifiers." Two similar companies — FLO and Vigilant, still operate similar databases, but are far smaller.
Rotenberg said he doesn't believe that all the data the TSA collected from Clear members is going to be deleted. And the longer the data is held, the more potential there is for leaks.
TSA's own record raises doubts about the security of personal information it holds. In 2007, it lost an external hard drive containing the personal and financial information of 100,000 current and former agency workers. In 2006, the TSA inadvertently exposed thousands of Americans' personal information on the Internet when they launched an unsecured website to help travelers whose names were incorrectly on airline watch lists.
Clear had breaches as well. Last year, the TSA suspended the program temporarily after a laptop containing pre-enrollment records of about 33,000 customers was lost at San Francisco International Airport.
On Thursday, the House Committee on Homeland Security sent a letter to TSA Assistant Secretary Gale Rossides expressing concern about the handling of Clear members personal data.
"While we recognize that Clear is not a government program managed by TSA, we are concerned about the protocols Verified Identity Pass will implement in the next few days as Clear winds down," the letter read. "...It appears the TSA allowed the private sector to determine a method of storage and disposal of extremely sensitive personal information. It is our understanding that TSA's directives are silent on the disposal of data in the event of a company's merger, buy out, or bankruptcy."
The letter went on to say that the committee is "concerned about the safety and security of the information currently held by Clear."
Rotenberg said he doesn't think the TSA is properly prepared to deal with removing the large amount of private information from Clear customers.
"It's not clear to me that they're really going to destroy it," he said. "The TSA policy does not appear to adequately consider the consumers of Registered Traveler programs if the company ceases operations. I don't think they anticipated this."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:04488851-a859-4571-9b57-61e44e5c9a9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-06-29-clear-personal-data_N.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966764 | 1,122 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The Ponseti method for clubfoot or talipes equino varus is now very widely used in clinical practice. The method uses genetle manipulation of the foot followed by plaster casting to hold the foot in its more corrected position. This is repeated 4-6 times or until the foot deformity has been corrected. The technique has been shown in a number of studies to be very successful. Some still do need to go onto surgical correction and they tend to be more rigid. | <urn:uuid:61a9bef0-c633-429b-8413-ccc5c388389a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iphysiotherapy.org/ponseti-method-for-clubfoot/93/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958536 | 98 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Seminars in Moral Philosophy Week 7 HT10
|Event Name||Seminars in Moral Philosophy Week 7 HT10|
|Start Date||1st Mar 2010 4:30pm|
|End Date||1st Mar 2010 6:30pm|
Saul Smilansky (Haifa) 'Should We Be Sorry That We Exist?' to be held in the Lecture Room, 10 Merton Street, Oxford - Seminars in Moral Philosophy webpage
We can morally compare possible alternative states of affairs, judging that various actual historical occurrences were bad, overalló the Holocaust, World War I, and slavery, for example. We should be sorry that such events occurred. But the vast majority of people who now exist would not have existed were it not for those historical events. A "package deal" is involved here: those events, together with oneself; or, the absence of the historical calamity, and the absence of oneself. So, ought one to be sorry that one exists? There seems to be a strong case for saying that morally one must wish and prefer that certain historical events had not occurred, even if that would have meant that one would never have existed. After setting out this idea, I explore arguments against it, and possible implications if it is accepted. | <urn:uuid:f2726b4b-8ff3-4b57-a0e7-9a6582c17341> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/?a=10468 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947051 | 261 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Over 1.5 million children are homeschooled by their parents in the U.S.
On average, organically grown produce costs up to 100 percent more. But is it actually healthier?
Cost and level of security don't necessarily correspond when installing a new home security system.
Over 70 percent of the time a minor is killed by a gun, the gun used was housed in that minor's own home.
This spring, runny eyes and a stuffed up nose may not be the result of seasonal allergens.
TIPS & ADVICE FOR YOUR HOME
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification can offer big costs, and big savings.
Despite its green reputation, is composting more costly than it’s worth?
Do universities really need spa-like gyms and dorms that could pass for luxury hotels?
How important is the gluten-free diet for people on it?
Despite the Safe Drinking Water Act, you and your family may be drinking dirty water.
Is the Obama administration failing the housing market? Maybe.
What does ObamaCare mean for you? The more you understand, the better you’ll fare. | <urn:uuid:43807dfa-a691-4464-b2e8-6cd952909705> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://miami.cbslocal.com/content-vertical/yourhome/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941278 | 241 | 1.554688 | 2 |
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Family Week at Remuda Ranch
Find out more about Family Week and how it plays a key role in the treatment at Remuda Ranch.
Body Image Therapy at Remuda Ranch
Patients at Remuda Ranch Programs for Eating and Anxiety Disorders are as physically diverse as they are emotionally and mentally diverse. Yet, one characteristic they often hold in common is a high level of body dissatisfaction or negative body image. This means they are deeply displeased and highly critical of the body in which they live.
Challenge Course Experiential at Remuda Ranch
One innovative way new skills are put to practice is on the Ropes Challenge Course. Our challenge course offers both high and low activities. Both involve an intricate network of ropes, cables and logs; the exclusive difference between the two courses is height.
Equine Therapy at Remuda Ranch
Horses have been an important part of Remuda Ranch since 1926. In fact, the word “Remuda” refers to the group of horses used to give rest and provide a fresh start for the journey ahead. | <urn:uuid:b82a9e3c-f049-40e3-8908-44413a134383> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.remudaranch.com/news-a-events/news-releases?layout=blog&start=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940271 | 224 | 1.617188 | 2 |
During the bloodiest months of the Intifada, barely a week passed that from my living room I did not hear a bomb explode. The front of the war that was being waged against the Israeli people was not in distant Lebanon, or Syria, or along the Jordanian border. The front was located in the bus my husband rode to work, in the market where I did my Shabbat shopping, and at the neighborhood playground where I spent my afternoons watching my young daughters swing and slide and play.
Throughout those scary years, every time I had to exit the front door of our apartment in downtown Jerusalem, I felt as paralyzed with fear as a person forced at gunpoint to walk blindfolded through a minefield.
But the terror attack that hit closest to home did not take place in Jerusalem at all. The attack took place on May 2, 2004 when an Arab approached the car of Tali Chatuel and shot her and her four young daughters, point blank, twice in the head, and then riddled their bodies with dozens of bullets.
In one moment, David Chatuel, an idealistic elementary school principal and devoted father and husband, was left bereft of his whole family, his 34-year-old wife Tali Chatuel who was in her eighth month of pregnancy with the couple's first son, and his daughters Hila, 11, Hadar, 9, Roni, 7, and Meirav, 2. In one moment, everything had been taken from him, except the impossible and terrible wish that it could have been him instead of them.
How could I have any hope left when I saw this father weeping like a modern-day Job for his murdered family?
For weeks following the attack, the image of this beautiful mother, a social worker who worked to rehabilitate terror victims, and her smiling, innocent daughters hung over me day after day. I could not help but remember that Tali Chatuel was only a few months older than me. I couldn't forget that those little girls were almost the same ages and bore such similar names to my own three daughters. I would go to sleep and see their faces, and wake up and see David Chatuel sobbing with his head in his hands at their funeral.
Over and over, I thought of this broken man's words mixed with the weeping of the thousands of mourners at the funeral for his wife and daughters, "Tali and my girls, I will never forget you until the day I die. I love you so much. I am left alone. My family has been taken from me. If even one of you was still alive..."
Throughout the four years of Intifada that left over a thousand Jews murdered, I had never felt so hopeless, so destroyed. How could I have any hope left when I saw this father weeping like a modern-day Job for his murdered family? How could I have any hope left when we were facing such a cruel and seemingly unstoppable enemy?
For the years following the attack, I did not forget David Chatuel. I heard how in the days following the murders, he was so incapacitated by grief and shock that he was simply unable to speak. I heard how he returned to his work as a respected principal in the southern city of Ashkelon, but that his close friends described him as only a shadow of the man they had once known.
Then, a year ago, I heard some wonderful news. I heard that David Chatuel had decided to get married again, to a young woman named Limor Shem Tov. I am sure that I was far from the only person who cried tears of joy when I saw the photograph of him and his fiance, smiling and so dignified, on the front page of the newspaper.
At their engagement party, David Chatuel explained, "My wife and my daughters will never be erased. They will always be a part of me, and part of my life. The new home that Limor and I will establish will not replace the home that was destroyed. Rather, our home will be an additional floor upon that home's foundation. "
He continued, "After the tragedy, I realized that I had two choices: To fall and to be destroyed, or to continue to live. I chose life."
On March 15th, David and Limor became parents to a newborn baby girl, named Techiya, "rebirth" in Hebrew.
Last week, I heard that David and Limor Chatuel had chosen life once again. On March 15th they became parents to a newborn baby girl, named Techiya, "rebirth" in Hebrew. And what a rebirth this long-awaited baby marks. The rebirth of a broken human being. The rebirth of a decimated family. The rebirth, even, of the Jewish people in the land of Israel.
The story of David Chatuel is the story of a life risen from the ashes. Of an impossible dream come true. This is also the story of Passover.
By the time Moses and Aaron arrived in Egypt to free the Jewish people from slavery, the Jews had sunk very far from their noble beginnings under the leadership of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. After 210 years of humiliation and suffering as slaves, the Israelites had fallen down to the 49th level of impurity. We had become nearly as idolatrous and morally-depraved as the Egyptians themselves.
One of the reasons why the holiday is called "Pesach" -- to leap over -- is because of the tremendous leap of faith it took for the Jews to stop despairing and to start hoping. It took a leap of faith for them to flee their Egyptian masters unarmed, into the desert, toward a distant Promised Land, even though the Red Sea lay in front of them ready to swallow them up, and the Egyptian army was quickly approaching from behind.
It took a leap of faith for the Jews to believe that even though by all rational standards the future was lost, it most definitely was not.
On Passover night 3,000 years ago, a downtrodden nation was reborn when we risked choosing life over hopelessness and fear. Jewish mysticism teaches us that on Seder night, each of has the potential to be spiritually reborn and radically transformed in preparation for the coming year. This is the night to pray to realize your impossible dreams for the coming year -- for the spouse, for the baby, for the job, for the life that has eluded you up until now. On Seder night, God gives each of us the ability to turn our hopes and our most unlikely dreams into reality.
Seder night is the night of David, Limor, and little Techiya Chatuel, may they be blessed with all of the Jewish people with only happiness and health. This is the night of hope burnt to the ground and then miraculously risen from the ashes. Of impossible dreams coming true. | <urn:uuid:74ad36d3-72f0-4f53-a5d3-ce952d0308c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aish.com/jw/id/48931072.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983206 | 1,413 | 1.570313 | 2 |
If you care for an elderly, injured or special needs pet, you've come to the right place!
Here is our family story: Barrett is a 6 month old German Short haired Pointer that decided to jump/fall out of our car on Saturday while we were driving to the lake to do some swimming. We quickly rushed to our vet that was only a mile away. We were so relieved to find he had no broken bones and all the x-rays showed no internal bleeding. We thought we were going to walk away with our little pup with just some road rash. Over the next 24 hours, Barrett's blood numbers continued to drop, he developed horner's syndrome, and the swelling in his front leg was becoming a problem. After the vet consulted with another vet friend, they determined he had to be bleeding out somewhere with all signs showing to his front leg and it would most likely need an amputation once they got into surgery. So last night, Barrett had his surgery and did get his front left leg amputated.
My question is, where do we go now? How did you initially grieve? What changes should I expect from my dog and how can I help him so he can get accustomed to his new life? Thank you for any help and support. I really appreciate it!
I have no experience with a front amputation, I have a dog missing one hind leg but she is also paralyzed so it isn't much of an issue.
There is some good information on Cassie's Three-Legged Dog Club about what to expect.
You can also find people with canine amputees at
There is a book about canine amputees:
Without Regret by Susan Neal
http://www.amazon.com/Without-Regret-Ha ... 22+amputee
Here is some great information on helping your front amputee dog ride in the car:
This is a harness that is recommended for amputee dogs. You may want some kind of harness when you are going places, like for example a vet clinic with slippery floors.
http://handicappedpets.com/index.php/li ... rness.html
There is a saying, "Dogs are born with three legs and a spare".
I would be truly surprised if your tripod has too much trouble adjusting, as long as there aren't other problems such as arthritis. They usually do what they need to do and find a way to do it!
My husband and I became the parents of a toy mini aussie tripawd when she was only 8 weeks old. Her story was that when she was only 1 month old she jumped out of someone's arms and broke her right front leg almost at the shoulder. Their vet indicated that where the leg was broke and since she was so small, it was best to remove the leg. When we got her, it had only been a month since her surgery, but she was getting around pretty well. After about a month or two, she was keeping up with her sister who is about two months older than she is. She doesn't seem to notice that she is missing her leg. We have taken her to dog parks and people don't even notice her missing leg right away. It isn't until she goes up to them to get attention, which she loves to do, that they notice. We have to keep her on the small dog side of the park, otherwise she tries to keep up with the big dogs, and we just don't think she is strong enough for that since she is only 7 months old.
We did just have a setback. That is why I found this sight. The vet that performed the surgery amputated the leg in the middle of the bone instead of taking it off at the joint. Since our little girl was still growing, the bone started to grow on one side and there is now a sharp piece of bone that has worked its way through the skin. Our vet tried to help by wrapping the leg to see if it would heal. This did not work, so we are now taking her in for a second surgery to amputate the leg at the first joint or possibly taking the entire shoulder.
I was hoping to get advice as to other peoples experience or which is best for the animal.
For your situation, I hope that the amputation was at the joint. If not, I would recommend looking at the various websites for a harness that will protect the amputated leg from injury. In fact, I found a website that has harnesses that provide support for the remaining leg. We are looking it to getting one after our dog heals from the upcoming surgery. Otherwise, don't worry, your dog will cover much more quickly than you will.
Wishing you all the best.
would ask your vet if the amshe is now but we are now looking at
Our family story is just like yours. Our dog Houston jumped from a moving vehicle as well and as a result lost his front left leg at the shoulder. It was so sad and scary and we spent many a anxious time wondering what to do. Houston answered that for us. Houston wanted to get back to his routine and made is mandatory for the amputation. We did it and within 3 days he was BACK! He was running, jumping and bringing his squeaky ball to play.
Trust me when I say, you are more upset than the dog is. My daughter had a really tough time with all of this. Once she saw that Houston was exactly the same with only 3 legs she calmed down and the household returned to normal. Houston does everything and I mean everything he used to do. The only difference I sense is that he has become more protective of us than he used to.
Here is Houston, with hits ball.
I came across this board when searching about my dogs injury, and had to comment. Our 1 year old border collie jumped out of the truck this past weekend, and is also facing amputation of his left front leg. It is comforting to hear from commenters that dogs do well with only 3 legs, but it has been very difficult for myself to accept. He is still very hurt, and has a long road of recovery ahead of him, and I need to find a way to come to peace with what happened. I am sorry to hear that another family is struggling with this difficult situation, and I wish you the very best in this process.
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Caricature Carvers Demonstration at Railroad Museum this Saturday! | Arts & Culture
Following the opening of the fanciful new “Whittle Stop: A Cast of Caricatures on a Wild West Train” exhibit at the California State Railroad Museum, a special, one-day-only caricature carvers demonstration will take place this Saturday, September 22, from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Lobby Gallery.
Museum guests will have the unique opportunity to watch skilled crafters demonstrate their expertise and talk about their specialized craft where they meticulously begin transforming a block of wood into a comical creation, delighting Museum visitors along the way! The fun and fanciful new exhibit is an intricately detailed set of wooden sculptures forming an 1880s era steam train from engine to caboose. In between are a handcar, water tower, train station depot, railroad crossing gate and a cadre of more than 40 humorous characters from all walks of life in the West. The display was whittled, sculpted and meticulously painted by a group of more than two dozen dedicated members of the Caricature Carvers of America who spent countless hours working on their labor of love. In addition to viewing the new exhibit and watching the carving demonstration, interested Museum visitors can purchase copies of a compelling book titled Carving an 1880s Western Train, Its Passenger & Crew that chronicles the special project and is available in the Museum store. Visitors may even want to get books signed by the carvers during the special visit.
For more information about this exhibit, demonstration or other events, activities and exhibits at the Railroad Museum, please visit www.californiastaterailroadmuseum.org or call (916) 445-6645. | <urn:uuid:489b2ef9-2e20-45ce-ab5e-db2c7ad18047> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sacramento.news10.net/news/arts-culture/104900-caricature-carvers-demonstration-railroad-museum-saturday | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949248 | 355 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Inspired by the dissonance and aggression of the 1970s synthesizer duo Suicide, the British bands Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle (who released music on their Industrial Records label) created music that infused guitars and drums with harsh metallic noise, disjointed rhythms and tape loops. The presentation of these groups was as extreme as their music, playing with images of death, disease, war, and fascism. Industrial music continued through the '80s with Throbbing Gristle spin-offs Psychic TV, Coil, and Chris & Cosey. The style flourished with the disturbing sounds of Canada's Skinny Puppy, Germany's Test Dept., and Australia's Foetus. Industrial continues today, although it has incorporated elements of Goth culture and pop appeal with the commercial successes of Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. | <urn:uuid:6eda93c9-9bb2-4cf1-9638-ce6f7fa73cef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.napster.co.uk/genre/alternative/industrial | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961226 | 171 | 1.773438 | 2 |
James River flood warning
RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – Flood warnings have been issued for the James River. Flooding is occurring at both the Westham and Richmond Locks locations.
Flood stage for the Westham location is 12 feet, and the river should crest between 15 and 16 feet Friday evening and Friday night. The river level will drop below flood stage Sunday morning.
Flood stage for the Richmond Locks location is 8 feet. The river will continue to rise and crest just before daybreak on Saturday around or slightly above 11 feet. At 11 feet, water enters Dock Street.
Because of the wind and tree damage from this past week, there will probably be ample debris rushing downstream, too. Don’t be surprised if you see entire downed trees on a trip through the River City through this weekend!
CLICK HERE for the latest warnings and river forecasts.
What does Moderate Flooding look like at the Huguenot Bridge area? At 15 feet, residences near the Bridge immediately along the River will have some of their driveways under a foot to a foot and a half of water. By 18.2 feet, the CSX Railroad tracks near the James flood.
Here’s where the river gauge is located: | <urn:uuid:2df728a3-4cc7-4ac9-9f17-840f7fa97c60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wtvr.com/2013/01/31/james-river-flooding-looks-likely-this-weekend/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951405 | 262 | 1.617188 | 2 |
BURST! Finds Robust Traffic To Health Sites
Significantly, one out of five respondents said they had clicked on an online ad for a prescription drug or over-the-counter remedy. The ad network BURST! found that women are far more likely than men to conduct health research online. On average, 73.9 percent of women will research health topics online, compared to just 62.1 percent of men. Eighty percent of women ages 25 to 44 said they researched health issues online--more than any other segment. At just 38.2 percent, males 18 years and younger are least likely to seek health info online.
Some representatives from health content sites within BURST!'s network said the survey results were consistent with their understanding of the market. "The findings do not surprise me," said Denise Wood, a representative for health site Health Discovery, noting that the majority of the Web site's 30,000 members are women who seek support with health and diet issues.
Dr. Vincent Iannelli, president of the health site Keep Kids Healthy, added that consumers generally benefit from extra knowledge. "Doctors may not like it when patients come to a visit with several sheets of paper that they printed from their favorite Web site, but a better-informed patient can be a healthier patient," said Dr. Iannelli. He qualified this statement with the warning that patients should not attempt to take serious medical situations into their own hands.
Among respondents who said they use the Internet as a health resource, 47 percent have visited a condition-specific Web site, chat room, or forum to gather information. Additionally, 36 percent sought out commercial health care sites, 26.1 visited their health care providers' sites, 26 percent went to government sites, and 21.1 percent went to the Web sites of pharmaceutical companies.
BURST! found that the use of pharmaceutical companies' Web sites increases with age: thirty-two percent of those 65 years and older visit such sites, compared to 16.4 percent of respondents 24 years and younger.
Half of those surveyed said they had used the Web to gather information about symptoms of specific illnesses, while 43.9 percent sought treatments for a specific illness online. In addition, 30.9 percent researched specific drug remedies; 28.6 percent were after nutrition-related material; 26.2 were interested in vitamins and supplements; 25.1 percent sought diet or weight loss programs; and 22.5 percent sought prescription/over-the-counter remedies, while 20.7 percent deferred to the Web for information on health and beauty aids. | <urn:uuid:f911251e-1584-4217-ad10-ca4711f607cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/28297/burst-finds-robust-traffic-to-health-sites.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956037 | 523 | 1.828125 | 2 |
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