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2005 Commencement Recap
May 15, 2005
As proud families and friends watched, 368 students received their diplomas during the College's 112th Commencement on May 15 in Bridges Auditorium.
Students in the Class of 2005 came from as far away as Japan, Ireland and Germany. Their majors ran the gamut from mathematics to music to media studies. As they headed off to graduate fellowships, careers and other adventures, the class joined the ranks of more than 19,000 Pomona alumni living around the globe.
In his Charge to the class of 2005, Pomona College President David W. Oxtoby emphasized that the role of higher education is to teach students not just how to answer questions, "but how to pose interesting and important questions themselves."
"As you leave this hall today and move on in your lives, take with you the questioning spirit you have developed on campus," said Oxtoby. "Challenge accepted dogma, look at both sides of every issue, and don’t give up until you are satisfied with the answers to the questions you pose."
Kyle Edward Warneck '05 and Senior Class President Lucy Beatty Meyer '05 gave the student speeches. Honorary degrees were awarded to:
- Steven Koblik, president of the Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens. The Library’ rare books and manuscripts comprise one of the largest and most extensively used collections in America outside of the Library of Congress. From 1968 to 1991, Koblik was a history professor at Pomona College, where he received three Wig Awards for outstanding teaching.
- John Payton, widely considered to be one of the nation's leading civil rights attorneys, gave the keynote address as well as receiving an honorary degree during the event. A member of the Pomona Class of 1973, Payton was the lead counsel for the University of Michigan in the two landmark college admissions affirmative action cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004.
- Thomas Dean Pollard, M.D., Pomona Class of 1964, chair of Yale’s University's Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. He previously served as president of the prestigious Salk Institute for Biological Studies (1996–2000) and as a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (1976–1996).
Delivering the keynote address, Payton noted that this class began college just days before September 11, 2001, which "has hung like a cloud over much of the time you have spent in college. Sometimes in the foreground, always in the background."
His talk addressed "two very disturbing developments" that emerged as the post-September 11 spirit of unity faded. "The first was a rejection of and hostility toward the value of racial, ethnic, religious and cultural diversity,'' he said. "This manifested itself in extreme distrust of certain persons and religions thought to be incompatible with American values and culture."
"The second development was a serious erosion of fundamental legal rights that we cherish and promote as Americans."
Payton recalled his own generation's activism for racial and social justice and against the Vietnam War. He urged the Class of 2005 to be engaged in the issues of today.
"You can bring commitment to these issues," he said. "You can bring courage to these issues. It's your turn. Make us proud."
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- Use sunscreen
The best idea here is a daily facial and hand cream that contains some level of UV protection. Get in the habit of putting it on every morning. But, if you are going to be out in the sun, use additional protection as well. Sunscreen is the single best anti aging skin care product you can use.
- Limit sun exposure
As important as sunscreen is, you also want to make sure that you don't spend too much time in the sun. Pay special attention to your sun exposure as you go through the day doing routine things like walking your dog or gardening.
- Don't forget your hands
Having sun damage on your hands can make you look older than you are. Don't forget to protect your hands from the damage of ultraviolet radiation.
- Do a skin check
A skin cancer check won't make you look younger, but it can increase your life expectancy. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S. but the good news is that it is usually treatable if caught early. Follow these skin cancer screening guidelines.
Back to Aging FAQs
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It’s been three years since Applebee’s first introduced its Under 550 Calories meals and eight years since Weight Watchers entrees became part of the menu. Now, the emphasis is on healthier choices for kids. Applebee’s has joined Kids LiveWell, a program that helps parents and kids make more healthful menu selections when eating out.
Kids LiveWell items must meet qualifying nutritional standards from leading health organizations, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Applebee’s Kids LiveWell-endorsed entrée is a grilled chicken sandwich with steamed broccoli and 1 percent milk or apple juice—or kids can chose to have a side of applesauce.
“Not only that, with every kids meal ordered in our Long Island restaurants, we bring a healthful appetizer to the table,” says Marc Prince, Director of Operations for Applebee’s LI. “We serve carrots and celery with dressing as dip. It’s fun and it promotes healthier eating.
Kids Eat Free on July 4th
To commemorate Independence Day, Applebee’s restaurants in Nassau and Suffolk, including Patchogue, are inviting kids and their families to come celebrate in the neighborhood—and they are offering free kids meals all day long. Families who dine at Applebee’s anytime on Wednesday, July 4 will receive up to two free Kids’ Meals with each adult entrée purchased. The free meals are valid for children ages 12 and under, dine-in only, on any Applebee’s Kids’ Menu entrée, including the grilled chicken sandwich.
To locate the Applebee’s restaurant nearest you, visit www.applebees.com. The “free meals for kids” offer is valid at all participating Applebee's restaurants in Nassau and Suffolk, including Patchogue, on Wednesday, July 4th.
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This has been bugging me for years, but not enough for me to get around to actually finding out the answer.
When you buy DAR (dressed all round) softwood, it typically comes with faint grooves running the length of the timber. (These are about 1mm apart).
Other than the possibility it is used to identify soft wood from hard, why are the grooves there, and how are they produced? Grooved blades on the thicknesser I assume. But to what benefit?
One brand is laserwood, but these days if you google that, all you get are countless ads for laser engravers!
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<urn:uuid:02fe0412-558b-4d19-9e0f-07826a873e3d>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://stusshed.com/2013/01/28/a-question/
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en
| 0.949747
| 130
| 1.820313
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National wave of student protest forces energy giant to abandon recruitment tour
Anti-coal protests at graduate careers fairs around the UK have forced E.ON
to cancel the remainder of its recruitment tour. The energy company, which is planning to build a new coal power station at Kingsnorth, Kent , has seen at least seventeen of its careers events disrupted over the last few weeks .
This has been a co-ordinated national effort from students involved in People & Planet, the Coal Action Network, and the Camp for Climate Action . Leaflets, banners, fancy dress, onversations with attendees and eye-catching stunts were used to embarrass EON
and dissuade graduates from joining the company . The Royal Bank of Scotland, one of EON
's main financial backers, were also targeted at the fairs over their role in providing loans to build the proposed new power station .
These tactics have been a resounding success. On Tuesday morning, student activists arrived at Loughborough University Graduate Fair to find the E.ON stall empty. Yesterday in Birmingham there were similar scenes, with students dressed as elephants (because climate change is the "elephant in E.ON's boardroom") finding no target for their protest. Upon enquiry the organisers informed Loughborough students that E.ON had cancelled their remaining graduate ecruitment events this year, due to the level of protest they had received.
While E.ON has thus far failed to comment on their decision to pull out of the graduate recruitment fairs, Jane Benson of the Camp for Climate Action said today:
"This is a great step for the campaign against a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth. E.ON know they can't defend their plans in the midst of a climate crisis, so rather than be embarrassed in front of potential employees they've chosen to run away." This victory for campaigners comes just two weeks before a planned 48 hours of action against E.ON and new coal .
The two days of action (Friday 28th and Saturday 29th November) are being supported by the Camp for Climate Action
, Rising Tide, Plane Stupid
and Campaign against Climate Change. The new government Department for Energy and Climate Change is currently deliberating over whether to give the go-ahead for a new coal power station at Kingsnorth, and an announcement is expected soon.
Robert Jenkins from the People & Planet Associated Network for Direct Action (PANDA) said "E.ON think they are safe, because most people don't know they are the owners of Kingsnorth power station. These recruitment fairs have helped to out E.ON as the biggest climate criminal in the UK. After all, as they themselves boast, climate change lies at the heart of everything they do . Everyone who cares about our future on this planet should join us for 48 hours of action against E.ON and new coal at the end of November." E.ON have applied for Government permission to build the first new UK coal-fired plant in thirty years at Kingsnorth in Kent. If built, this power station would produce the same amount of carbon dioxide as the world's 30 least polluting countries combined. Careers events at the following universities were targeted by student campaigners: Glasgow, Durham, Southampton, King's College London, Imperial, York, Sheffield, Aston, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Liverpool, Loughborough, Manchester, Nottingham and Oxford. Seehttp://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/11/412804.html for more details. This represents almost all of E.ON's planned 2008 recruitment events (see http://www.eon-uk.com/Careers/Graduates/807.aspx for the full list). See www.peopleandplanet.org, www.leaveitintheground.org.uk, and www.climatecamp.org.uk. Here are some of the tactics used by campaigners at a few of the events:
In total, hundreds of activists were involved, and thousands of leafletswere distributed to graduates. In 2008, the report, 'Cashing in on Coal', showed that in the preceding two years, BS-NatWest had been loaned an estimated $16 billion in 27 different loans to coal-related companies around the world, including taking part in loans worth $70 billion to E.ON at a time when it was announcing plans to construct 17 new coal and gas-fired power plants across Europe. see http://www.oyalbankofscotland.com/cioc/ The Loughborough fair (and many of the others) were organised byAIESEC http://www.aiesec.co.uk/. See http://www.e-onf-off.org.uk/ for more details The most prominent slogan on E.ON's recruitment stall was "Tackling climate change isn't something that's tacked onto our agenda. It's at the heart of our business". This was widely spoofed by activists at theevents, by the simple removal of the word "tackling"
- Leeds: Leafleted, talked to students, dropped an "E.ON:F.OFF" banner from a balcony inside the fair
- Bristol: Attended two fairs with leaflets, stickers and a polar bear, until thrown out by security
- Liverpool: Leaflets, conversations with graduates and a banner drop.
- Glasgow: A team of Rebel Clowns invaded the fair.
- Nottingham: A gang of grim reapers flyered the fair and congratulated E.ON staff on the death rate from climate change
- Manchester: A "Flashmob" wearing bright yellow "Leave It In The Ground" T-shirts materialised at the fair, handed out hundreds of flyers and dumped coal all over E.ON's stall.
- Kings College London: Flyered the fair and covered the backs of security guards in "No New Coal" stickers
- Imperial: The fair was invaded and flyered, and E.ON were serenaded with a "soul power not coal power" song.
- Cambridge: Invaded the fair with T-shirts and leaflets, and dropped "Make a Living - Not a Killing" banners outside.
- Oxford: Flyered, presented E.ON with a "Best Greenwash" award and dumpedcoal on their stall.
Labels: coal, eon, students, uk grass-roots activism
del.icio.us Digg This!
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<urn:uuid:2801922e-e808-461f-9e27-dfb8fb7e353c>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://climatechangeaction.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html
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en
| 0.955133
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| 1.539063
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Harness energy toward a positive solution
How thankful I am that J.A. Keane is so fortunate to live in a place that has access to beautiful parks and mountain views, living alongside people who are friendly, considerate and kind. This comfortable life is a testament of the quality of life to be lived here in Cortez. Thank you, J.A. Keane, for your efforts in helping to manage trash in the park.
As darkness balances light in the world, and as grief balances joy, and as labor balances reward, etc., our lives on earth reflect perfect balance. The better balance we have in our lives, the better balanced we are as individuals and the greater opportunity we have to be productive contributing members of our communities. If everything in our world was perfect, we'd be out of balance as individuals. We'd miss valuable life lessons instilled in our character through the ways in which we react and respond to adverse situations or to others who are less fortunate than we, those who are perhaps subjected to mental, emotional, or physical challenges.
One's light shines best in darkness. Those who share the sentiment of fatigue for the perceived behavior of some residents who are less fortunate than they, have seemingly forgotten their good fortune. Do you earn enough to support a home and yourself? If so, do you understand the plight when someone works but doesn't earn enough to support the standard cost of living? Have you ever suffered from some type of addiction? Have you ever made a poor choice? Have you ever acted or spoken in ways that you later regret?
Let (s)he who is without guilt cast the stones.
Rather than complain, I suggest harnessing this energy toward a positive solution. One example is community support and collaboration that would enable the Bridge Shelter to operate 24/7 rather than overnight only, and yearlong rather than seasonally. This would reduce the trash situation in the parks, offer an alternative space for their lively discussions (rather than on your front lawn), and alleviate the necessity for constant police intervention.
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|<< Acts 7 >>|
Stephen Addresses the Sanhedrin
1THEN the high priest said: Are these things so?
2Who said: Ye men, brethren, and fathers, hear. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charan.
3And said to him: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
4Then he went out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charan. And from thence, after his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein you now dwell.
5And he gave him no inheritance in it; no, not the pace of a foot: but he promised to give it him in possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
6And God said to him: That his seed should sojourn in a strange country, and that they should bring them under bondage, and treat them evil four hundred years.
7And the nation which they shall serve will I judge, said the Lord; and after these things they shall go out, and shall serve me in this place.
8And he gave him the covenant of circumcision, and so he begot Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begot Jacob; and Jacob the twelve patriarchs.
9And the patriarchs, through envy, sold Joseph into Egypt; and God was with him,
10And delivered him out of all his tribulations: and he gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharao, the king of Egypt; and he appointed him governor over Egypt, and over all his house.
11Now there came a famine upon all Egypt and Chanaan, and great tribulation; and our fathers found no food.
12But when Jacob had heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent our fathers first:
13And at the second time, Joseph was known by his brethren, and his kindred was made known to Pharao.
14And Joseph sending, called thither Jacob, his father, and all his kindred, seventy-five souls.
15So Jacob went down into Egypt; and he died, and our fathers.
16And they were translated into Sichem, and were laid in the sepulchre, that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Hemor, the son of Sichem.
17And when the time of the promise drew near, which God had promised to Abraham, the people increased, and were multiplied in Egypt,
18Till another king arose in Egypt, who knew not Joseph.
19This same dealing craftily with our race, afflicted our fathers, that they should expose their children, to the end they might not be kept alive.
20At the same time was Moses born, and he was acceptable to God: who was nourished three months in his father's house.
21And when he was exposed, Pharao's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
22And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; and he was mighty in his words and in his deeds.
23And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.
24And when he had seen one of them suffer wrong, he defended him; and striking the Egyptian, he avenged him who suffered the injury.
25And he thought that his brethren understood that God by his hand would save them; but they understood it not.
26And the day following, he shewed himself to them when they were at strife; and would have reconciled them in peace, saying: Men, ye are brethren; why hurt you one another?
27But he that did the injury to his neighbour thrust him away, saying: Who hath appointed thee prince and judge over us?
28What, wilt thou kill me, as thou didst yesterday kill the Egyptian?
29And Moses fled upon this word, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begot two sons.
30And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the desert of mount Sina, an angel in a flame of fire in a bush.
31And Moses seeing it, wondered at the sight. And as he drew near to view it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying:
32I am the God of thy fathers; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses being terrified, durst not behold.
33And the Lord said to him: Loose the shoes from thy feet, for the place wherein thou standest, is holy ground.
34Seeing I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, and I will send thee into Egypt.
35This Moses, whom they refused, saying: Who hath appointed thee prince and judge? him God sent to be prince and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
36He brought them out, doing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the desert forty years.
37This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel: A prophet shall God raise up to you of your own brethren, as myself: him shall you hear.
38This is he that was in the church in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on mount Sina, and with our fathers; who received the words of life to give unto us.
39Whom our fathers would not obey; but thrust him away, and in their hearts turned back into Egypt,
40Saying to Aaron: Make us gods to go before us. For as for this Moses, who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
41And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
42And God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven, as it is written in the books of the prophets: Did you offer victims and sacrifices to me for forty years, in the desert, O house of Israel?
43And you took unto you the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Rempham, figures which you made to adore them. And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
44The tabernacle of the testimony was with our fathers in the desert, as God ordained for them, speaking to Moses, that he should make it according to the form which he had seen.
45Which also our fathers receiving, brought in with Jesus, into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David.
46Who found grace before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob.
47But Solomon built him a house.
48Yet the most High dwelleth not in houses made by hands, as the prophet saith:
49Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool. What house will you build me? saith the Lord; or what is the place of my resting?
50Hath not my hand made all these things?
51You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you also.
52Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them who foretold of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers:
53Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
The Stoning of Stephen
54Now hearing these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed with their teeth at him.
55But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looking up steadfastly to heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And he said: Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
56And they crying out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and with one accord ran violently upon him.
57And casting him forth without the city, they stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man, whose name was Saul.
58And they stoned Stephen, invoking, and saying: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
59And falling on his knees, he cried with a loud voice, saying: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.
60And when he had said this, he fell asleep in the Lord. And Saul was consenting to his death.
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The Weatherford Chapter, organized on February 19, 1903, by
Mrs. Alice Knowles Englehoff, holds the honor of being one of the oldest
chapters in the Texas State Society. In 2003, we commemorated the chapter's 100th year of service to the community.
The Chapter's activities have always been devoted to the objectives of
the National Society of the Daughters of the American
Revolution, with major educational emphasis on programs to help children and youth in the area.
The Chapter established a Scholarship Loan Fund at Weatherford Junior College in 1925 to provide
individual loans of $125 to worthy boys and girls who
lived in Parker County. At present, the chapter awards a
$200 scholarship to a deserving young Parker County woman.
Long-time aid to Tamassee and Kate Duncan Smith schools, which are supported entirely by DAR, included medical scholarships of $50 each in 1947. The Chapter has also supported the State Society's educational projects.
A C.A.R. Society was organized October 22, 1938, with nine charter members. Present for the occasion was Mrs. Tom Rawlins, daughter of Isaac Parker, for whom the society was named. Mrs. R.N. Grammer, State President, installed the officers, which included Jane Hopkins, now Mrs. James Makins, as President. In 1943, it became necessary to disband this Society.
Members have supported the Children's Library (presently
Weatherford Public Library) with personal gifts of books,
including a book about the Presidents which was published by the Fort Worth newspaper,
"The Star-Telegram." The chapter
donated a copy of "The DAR Magazine Index" to
the Weatherford Public Library and currently donates an
annual subscription of "The American Spirit " magazine.
The chapter also provided copies of the DAR Lineage
books to the library, where lineage worksheets are available
to prospective members.
We present Good Citizenship medals
to young ladies in the seven Parker County senior high schools
each year. The chapter honors the winners and their guests
at a luncheon.
Historical contributions include the location of the first grave in Parker
County. It belongs to a girl named Lee, who died of a rattlesnake bite in 1854 and was buried in the Clear Fork community.
The committee visited the place where the first Baptist
church in the county was organized. The chapter also located the place where the first court of Parker County was held by Judge Buford, which is about five miles north of Weatherford at
To designate their historical interest, the Chapter in later years placed markers on two pecan trees grown from stock at Mt. Vernon and Arlington,
VA. Mt. Vernon was General George Washington's home and Arlington was the home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. These trees
were gifts of Mayor G.A. Holland and planted by the DAR on the Weatherford College campus in 1936.
The Chapter sold some bonds purchased in 1942, using the proceeds to mark eighteen graves of former members.
Our chapter was
present at the Texas Centennial of 1936. Each member signed their names in a DAR Roster Book which was on display at the Texas Centennial. For the section of the Register representing this Chapter,
Granville Chandor made a sketch of the Parker watermelon for the title page. The Chapter purchased a copy of "History Of Parker County" by Ms. Edith Jordan, now Mrs. Jack Borden, to be loaned to the Centennial.
library displays and programs, civic proclamations, banners
and publicity to the community.
To commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787, the Chapter faithfully observes Constitution Week in some suitable way each September.
Of historical interest is a gift of two pieces of china sent through the Chapter to the Texas Room in Memorial Continental Hall. Previously presented to the Chapter by Mrs. L.W. Christian, the beautiful compote and egg cup were from a set inherited by her husband from his great grandfather, the prominent Revolutionary War hero, General Andrew Lewis.
Texas First Ladies' Gown Collection at Texas Woman's University
, Denton, includes a beautifully made copy of Sarah
Beona Meng (Mrs. Samuel W. T.) Lanham's pretty inaugural
gown presented by our chapter. Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham was the last Confederate soldier to serve as governor of
Texas (1903-1907). The Lanhams were residents of Weatherford,
and their home is included on the Weatherford Historical
Tour of Homes.
Chapter meetings observe DAR procedure, and include interesting programs on educational, historical, and patriotic subjects.
particularly poignant program, the Reverend Irving R. Phillips
said: "We can make this land of the free a stalwart fortress by making sure we never sell four houses we own - the
Court House, the School House, Our House, and God's House."
In 1971, eight Certificates of Honor were presented to parents of servicemen who lost their lives in
Vietnam. This was an effort to show that the DAR, as an
organization, and its members, as individuals, deeply care about tragic losses such as these.
We continue to
support the goals of the DAR state and national leadership and
look forward to continuing our history of excellence for the
next 100 years.
Some graphics by Viki
Information and E-mail contact
Web hyperlinks to non-DAR sites are not the responsibility
of the NSDAR, the state organizations, or individual DAR
For technical problems with this page,
update November 21, 2012
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Arlene Hache hails United Nations decision for Behchoko woman
Friday, May 4, 2012 - 5:01 PM
Yellowknife, N.W.T. - Arlene Hache is hailing a recent United Nations decision in the case of a Behchoko woman as a victory.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women has ruled Cecilia Kell's rights were violated.
Hache said when they first read the decision, they didn't realize it had gone in Kell's favour.
“We both cried,” she said. “It was a 15-year-long odyssey.”
In the 1990s, without Kell's knowledge, her abusive partner requested the NWT Housing Corporation take her name off the lease of the home they owned together.
Later, Kell was forced out of home by her partner and launched legal challenges in the NWT court system to regain her home.
Kell was represented by numerous different legal aid lawyers and her case was eventually dismissed.
Hache said it wasn't because she didn't have a case, but because the court said she hadn't pursued it.
“Who pursues court cases? That’s a lawyer’s job,” she said. “That’s not aboriginal women in small communities.”
Hache said their next step is to request a meeting with the GNWT to confirm whether or not they are going to accept the recommendations.
Speaking this past Wednesday, Premier Bob McLeod said he hadn't seen the recommendations yet but that the government does take these kinds of recommendations very seriously.
The committee recommended, among other things, that Kell be compensated monetarily and given a new house comparable to the one she lost.
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Rifta Masih is an 11-year-old Christian girl who lives near Islamabad, Pakistan. She reportedly suffers from Down’s Syndrome. Like many of the other Christians in her area — who comprise about 10% of the local population — the members of her family work menial jobs, and live in tiny properties rented from Muslim landlords.
On Thursday evening, Rifta was seen leaving the one-room dwelling she lives in with her sister and parents, carrying an earthenware dish filled with ash. Or, it may have been some refuse in a small shopping bag. Although Hammad Malik, a 23-year-old witness, is unclear on exactly what the girl was transporting, he is quite certain that the burnt remains had Arabic writing on them.
Rifta, he alleges, was burning pages from a Koran inside her house, and then trying to find a place to dispose of the remains. Although he did not see her do this, that did not stop him from assembling an angry group of men and reporting the incident to the local police, with the demand that the girl be apprehended in accordance with the country’s Blasphemy Law. The authorities at first did not act, but then moved swiftly to get the girl into custody when a mob of over 500 people gathered at the Masih home’s doorstep. Fearing for her safety, the authorities put her into a cell for a two-week detention.
Welcome to Pakistan: A nightmare society beyond pity or parody, where handicapped 11-year-old girls must be locked up to ensure their own safety.
FULL ARTICLE FROM THE NATIONAL POST
Muslims together condemn the arrest and imprisonment of a Christian girl, Rimsha Masih, in Pakistan on blasphemy charges.
The New York Times reported on Aug. 20:
The police jailed the girl, Rimsha Masih, and her mother on Friday after hundreds of Muslim protesters surrounded the police station here where they were being held, demanding that Ms. Masih face charges under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. A local cleric had said Ms. Masih had burned pages of the Noorani Qaida, a religious textbook used to teach the Koran to children.
(Noorani Qaida has nothing to do with Al-Qaida, it is simply means principles.)
We urge Muslims in Pakistan and around the world to focus on this particular topic and seek to abolish the blasphemy laws.
There is a way out to find lasting solutions to rid of the abusive practices by a few in the clergy group. These men, literate or illiterate, at least claim to follow Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) life examples; however, they don’t, and it is our immediate responsibility to pass on Prophet Muhammad’s practices to some of these men who pass judgments without any reference to the life of the Prophet. Screaming at them or pushing them to the corner is neither Jesus’ way nor Muhammad’s way.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is considered a blessing to the humanity and rightfully known as Rahmutul Aalameen, the mercy to mankind. It behooves Muslims to protect the integrity of that title and never commit an unmerciful act invoking his name.
FULL ARTICLE FROM THE HUFFINGTON POST
ISLAMABAD — Authorities in Pakistan have come under growing criticism for being unable to protect the rights of religious minorities. Most of Pakistan’s 180 million people are Sunni Muslim. Christians complain they are unfair targets of the country’s blasphemy laws that carry death penalty for anyone found guilty of defaming Islam, and the minority Hindu community says its members are migrating to India to avoid forced conversions.
The imprisonment in Pakistan this month of a young Christian girl accused of violating the country’s blasphemy laws is being cited as one of the latest incidents of growing intolerance toward religious minorities.
The incident occurred just outside Islamabad but details remain sketchy. The detained girl, Rimsha Masih, is said to be 11 years old and mentally handicapped.
Police arrested Rimsha after scores of angry Muslims gathered outside her house and accused her of burning pages inscribed with verses from the Quran.
FULL ARTICLE FROM VOA
He may be too extreme for West Point and George W. Bush, but apparently not for Mitt Romney. Politico reports today that the Republican presidential nominee met with retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, who is now a highly controversial anti-Islam activist, in a private conclave with four other social conservative leaders in Denver last week. The day after the meeting reportedly took place, Romney dodged a question on Rep. Michele Bachmann’s witch hunt against Muslims in the U.S. government. “I’m not going to tell other people what things to talk about. Those are not things that are part of my campaign,” he said at a press availability about Bachmann’s allegations last Friday.
Boykin is best known for earning a public rebuke from President Bush himself in 2003 for his vitriolic anti-Islamic rhetoric. Boykin, in uniform at the time, gave a speech portraying the war against Islamist militants as a Christian struggle against Satan, and suggested that Muslims worship an ”idol” and not ”a real God.” Some Republican lawmakers spoke out against him, as well as the president, who said, Boykin’s opinions “didn’t reflect” his or the government’s views. A year later, a Department of Defense investigation determined that Boykin had violated three internal rules while delivering his controversial anti-Islamic speeches.
FULL ARTICLE FROM SALON.COM
Former Republican presidential candidate, Rep. Michele Bachmann, has declared a crusade against American Muslims in public life with her attacks on State Department aide, Huma Abedin and now, fellow Rep. Keith Ellison. She accused Ellison, without any proof whatsoever, of having longstanding ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. It appears that the Minnesota House member’s major sin was questioning letters Bachmann sent the four federal inspectors general asking that they investigate Abedin’s own ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Quite sensibly, Ellison asked Bachmann to produce any evidence that she had to support her contention.
Most of this lunacy was originally hatched in the brain of anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney, whose Center for Security Policy employs David Yerushalmi to write anti-Sharia legislation that is popular in many state legislatures. Several years ago Gaffney tried to pull this crap on Grover Norquist, who is married to an Arab woman who is also a government official. He accused Norquist of being part of a sinister Muslim Brotherhood plot to infiltrate the U.S. government. If this sounds like Joe McCarthy and the old John Birch Society smears regarding Communist infiltration of American government, it should. There’s almost no difference between these two hysteria-inducing movements.
FULL ARTICLE FROM TIKUN OLAM HERE
For Aleppo’s Christians, there is a profound fear of the unknown. The Assad government was tolerant of religious minorities, but the rebellion draws most support from Syria’s majority Sunni Muslim community.
By Patrick J. McDonnell
Los Angeles Times
BEIRUT — As explosions and gunfire sounded in the distance, the parishioners of St. Joseph’s Church in Aleppo, Syria, prayed for peace.
“People are terrified,” Chaldean Christian Bishop Antoine Audo said by telephone from Aleppo, after the Mass on Tuesday. “They fear a situation that is becoming more and more violent and uncertain.”
Syria’s most populous city endured another day of shelling, street battles and reported strafing from helicopter gunships. Tens of thousands of people have already fled. Pickups and cars filled with families and their belongings have been streaming out as rebel gunmen battle government forces.
The United Nations reported Tuesday that thousands remain trapped in the sprawling city of more than 2 million, which has become the focal point of the more than 16-month rebellion against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The crisis inside the city is becoming ever more dire, say aid workers, who fear a looming humanitarian catastrophe. Bread is in short supply; people are waiting in lines for hours to grab what is available. Gasoline is prohibitively expensive or nonexistent. Cooking oil is hard to find.
FULL ARTICLE FROM THE SEATTLE TIMES
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“Consumer trends always change and evolve. A hundred years ago, they drank oil to be healthy,” said Phil Lempert during ABE's general session. Lempert is an author, syndicated columnist, radio talk show host and food editor for NBC's Today Show.
Lempert compared trends to elephants-big, lumbering and slow moving. In the food industry, it is important to not chase after trends, but to position yourself to be ahead them. For example, when low carb hit, successful retailers were already thinking low glycemic index, he said. Three current trends include country of origin labeling; “green,” as in sustainability and carbon footprint; and value for money spent, which doesn't necessarily mean cheap, but rather a perception of price equaling quality along with a relationship with the retailer.
In the climate of rising fuel and food prices, some new retail rules have emerged, Lempert added. Modern consumers have zero tolerance for error and it is all about them, the consumer. They also demand quality and excellent service. Excellent service is not simply answering the phone, but answering the phone on the first ring, he said.
Know your demographic
Retailers also have to understand food consumers, and they are not all alike. The United States is a diverse country, and you can no longer market yourself to a strictly Anglo-Saxon demographic. Generational differences also influence buying decisions. The Baby Boom generation is 76-million strong, and by 2010, the first of the Boomers will turn 65. This should influence how you do business, Lempert said. For example, the neighborhood-type grocery stores are doing well because Boomers don't want to shop in large supermarkets anymore. He suggested keeping in mind easy-open packaging, portion sizes and even the design of your stores with plentiful lighting and an easy-to-navigate layout.
“In retail, you must stand for something,” he said. “It's about branding; you must brand yourself.” Take Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, which offer two different retail approaches. At Starbucks, you pay $4 for coffee and they never want you to leave the store; they even introduce themselves, he added. On the other side is Dunkin' Donuts, where you pay $1.25 for coffee and they don't want you to linger. “Both work well because they both stand for something,” Lempert said.
Another example is that despite the suffering of traditional supermarkets, higher end supermarkets are doing well because they have associated themselves with organic or positioned themselves as specialty stores. Supermarkets lost 7 percent of food dollars between 2005 and 2008. The growth is coming from organic and specialty food stores.
Make sampling a party
Celebrating also is key. Celebrate when you sample by having an employee physically present the samples to the customers. Celebrate the sale by providing an excellent check out experience for the customer. That is your last connection with the customer, and it is the last thing the customer will remember about his experience, so make sure it is a good memory, he said.
To be successful, all retailers should ask themselves three questions: What is the next big trend? What are the three things you'd like to know about your customers that you don't know? What retail innovation during the last year blew you away (not food related)?
As for the future, Lempert said it will be focused on catering to health and wellness, offering convenient shopping experiences and celebrating food.
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Category Archive: Community
A couple quotations from Wendell Berry’s essay “The Loss of the Future” (in The Long-Legged House):
I cannot avoid the speculation that one of the reasons for our loss of idealism is that we have been for a long time in such constant migration from country to city and from city to city and from neighborhood to neighborhood. It seems to me that much of idealism has its source in the relation between a man and the place he thinks of as his home. The patriotism, say, that grows out of the concern for a particular place in which one expects to live one’s life is a more exacting emotion than that which grows out of concern for a nation. The charity that grows out of regard for neighbors with whom one expects to live one’s life is both a discipline and a reward; the charity that, knowing no neighbors, contributes to funds and foundations is, from the personal standpoint, only an excuse. It is patriotism in the abstract — nationalism — that is most apt to be fanatic or brutal or arrogant. It is when charity is possible only through institutions that it becomes indifferent, neither ennobling to the giver nor meaningful to the receiver. Institutional neighborliness can function as the very opposite of neighborliness, without impairing the moral credit or the self-satisfaction of the supporters of the institution. There is good reason, for instance, to suspect that the foreign mission programs of certain Christian denominations have served as substitutes for decent behavior at home, or as excuses for indecent behavior at home; in return for saving the soul of Negroes in Africa, one may with a free conscience exploit and demean the lives of Negroes in one’s own community (p. 49).
In a society of ghettoes many of the vital labors of our duty to each other cease to be personal. They are necessarily taken over by institutions; the distances between the giver and the receiver, the asker and the answerer, are so great that they are simply no longer negotiable by individuals. A man living in the country or a small town migiht aid one or two needy neighbors himself; the most obvious thing for him to do would not be to phone some bureau or agency of the government. But what could he do if he were to try to exercise the same charitable impulse in an urban slum, or in Appalachia? The moral dilemma is suggested by a walk on the Bowery, equipped with common decency and a pocketful of change. What is the Samaritan expected to do when he meets, instead of one in need, hundreds? Even if he had the money, he would not have the time. Now, in America, I think he is likely to feel that he is expected to do nothing. He is able to reflect that there are organizations to take care of that sort of thing.
My point is not that these agencies do their work badly, but that having contributed to one of them, or even having heard of one, the citizen is freed of a concern that is one of the necessary disciplines of citizenship. And the institutionalization of charity has its counterparts in all aspects of life, from the government down (pp. 52-53).
I suspect that Berry is right, that there has been a loss of community, due in part to increased mobility but also to television, which keeps people home at night and away from their neighbors, and to other factors, not so easy to trace. Elsewhere in this essay, Berry also talks about specialization and the way that specialists tend to form their own ghettoes, all focused on the same area, even if they don’t actually live in the same vicinity. A lot of what Berry is getting at is that life in cities tends to be relatively impersonal, and that has effects on our charity and our care for our neighbors.
If Berry is correct, one might think the solution would be to have everyone move to small or medium-sized towns. But Berry himself recognizes that that isn’t possible or likely. So what is the solution? In particular, what is our responsibility as Christians?
Let’s face it: the church can become another ghetto. We can talk a lot about community and build community with each other, and that may be attractive to those who long for community. But it’s also possible that in building the church community we turn our backs on our own neighborhoods. Isn’t it often the case that Christians don’t have non-Christian friends, that all our close relationships are with others in the same church community?
Let me hear your thoughts: In the face of the impersonalization brought on by charitable institutions, in the face of the general lack of neighborliness in our larger “communities,” what should we as Christians be doing to reverse these trends and to create not only close-knit relationships with each other but a true community that is attractive and healing for our larger towns and cities?
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Plenty of people have tried to start nonpartisan political discussion sites over the years, but most have dried up and blown away for reasons covered on e.politics before. But this election cycle has seen something new — now that many news organization websites have blogs that allow comments, they’re becoming a true public forum for the exchange of ideas and (often) insults.
The Ron Paul army was particularly active on The Caucus and The Trail before the wind finally went out of their sails, for instance, and these sites have also seen heated discussion among supporters and opponents of Obama, Clinton and McCain. At the Politics Online Conference last week, Patrick Hynes also mentioned some of their less positive uses, for instance as a medium for the distribution of rumors and innuendo. And, tons of folks are also taking advantage of news story discussion boards for blatant self-promotion, dropping links to their own articles into their comments. Yet another example of the internet as a disintermediator: political activists use the comments sections as a way to reach the news organizations’ readers directly, generally bypassing the editorial approval process as long as they don’t use dirty words or otherwise get rude.
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A new attempt to reign in tax exempts; carrying the issue to Albany
Several times over the decades, Sullivan County Legislators have tried to convince Albany to reign in the liberal laws regarding tax-exempt properties. A couple of times the state senate has passed legislation that would have eased the situation, but the effort has never succeeded in getting all three entities that must be on board—the senate, the assembly and the governor—on the same page.
The matter was broached again and a new effort was launched at a meeting at the government center on October 11. County manager David Fanslau said the total value of property in the county is $10.17 billion and, of that, close to $2 billion is exempt from property tax. “So, if you took all those exempt properties that are nongovernmental and they became subject to taxation, it would be an additional $7.4 million in tax revenue to the county,” which is equal to roughly an increase of 14% in tax revenues.
Lawmaker Cindy Gieger, who is spearheading the effort to bring a change to the tax-exempt laws, said the issue is one of the top two among county residents. She added that on a recent trip to the New York State Association of Counties convention, lawmakers from other counties expressed surprise that the percentage of tax-exempt properties here was so high, and that does not appear to be the case elsewhere. She said there were various factors that led to the situation, including the proximity to New York City and the fact that there are summer camps here.
She said she and county treasurer Ira Cohen were working on identifying other counties that may have similar levels of tax exemption that might join the cause. Cohen said he had been working on legislation that could be offered to lawmakers in Albany, who might then consider passing it.
County attorney Sam Yasgur said that when previous efforts had been mounted regarding reigning in the tax exempt laws, parties interested in maintaining the status quo, such as the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts and the Hasidic community, have banded together to lobby against any change.
This time around, it was suggested that a law that would allow counties to set their own limits regarding which properties, or which parts of properties, may be exempted might have a better chance of passing than a state-wide change.
Lawmaker Alan Sorensen said that to have any chance of passage, a proposed law would have to exclude New York City, because the city would look at nonprofits, such as the universities and hospitals, as assets. Also, he noted, the city has an income tax through which it can raise revenues, which counties do not have.
Another way to attack the problem would be through the courts. Cohen said that at a meeting of 12 town supervisors the previous week, the supervisors all indicated they would be willing to work with the county to identify properties where the case for tax-exempt status might be weak, and then to take those cases to court.
Yasgur said that officials should be cautious in that approach because judges in local cases in previous years had ruled against local officials, and court rulings over the decades had expanded the definition of property and buildings that could be granted tax-exempt status.
Lawmakers agreed to take the matter up again next month and look at the proposed legislation that Cohen has put together.
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It’s hard to write up news about the PS4 when there wasn’t any actual news about the PS4. At what best can be described as a “Save-the-Date” event, Sony laid out their ideas for their next-gen console, but gave few, if any, specifics.
What we found out is... interesting. By far the PS4 is being pushed as a gaming console to act as a central hub for a gaming lifestyle, than a hardcore, cutting-edge, gaming machine.
That and other
disappointments AWESOME GAMING NEWS after the jump.
First, what we know and what it means. The big push is for more social gaming, with built-in abilities to stream your gameplay on the web, and have your friends jump in to play with you from wherever.
Speaking of wherever, they want you to be able to seamlessly keep playing your PS4 game elsewhere, using the PS Vita as the mobile device and the PS4 as the rendering brain. The Vita/PS3 can do this now, but it’s laggy, and few games support it.
Interestingly, on the hardware side, they’re moving to x86 architecture – essentially a PC – and not a bespoke stand-alone chip. It’s an AMD 64-bit, 8-core “Jaguar” CPU. With all the hoopla surrounding the Cell processor in the PS3, this move is interesting, but perhaps not shocking. The PS3 lost Sony money on every unit sold for years. Moving to more off-the-shelf parts is a logical move to make the PS4 hardware less of a loss leader. There’s 8 GB of RAM, which is reasonable if not amazing. It was labeled “Unified Memory” which implies to me it’s shared with the video card.
Speaking of the video card, specifics for the video chip weren't mentioned, but it’s also AMD and their brand name Radeon. My guess? it will be comparable to a high mid-range video card. Even so, that means a significant jump in picture quality over the archaic PS3. Expect improvements in textures, objects, shading, and everything we’ve had on the PC for years. I'd even guess that early PS4 games will rival many better PC games, given that the game engine can be tweaked/designed for the hardware. We saw this with the PS2 and PS3 as well, though PCs rapidly moved past them.
Hopefully this will also mean PS4 games will actually be rendered at 1080p (PS3 games are almost never rendered at 1080p, they’re created at a lower resolution and then upconverted to 1080p).
Then, a bombshell practically whispered, and moved over right away: There will be no native support for PS3 games.
In the switch from PS2 to PS3 (which did have support, by the way, for most PS2 games), this backwards compatibility was less of an issue. The jump in resolution alone was so huge, few people probably played PS2 games for very often on the PS3. At least not if they had an HDTV.
This isn’t the case now. Sure, PS4 games will look better than PS3 games, but PS3 games aren’t going to look bad (at least, no more than they already do). If you get a new, larger TV, PS3 games aren’t suddenly going to look bad (as was the case with PS2).
Instead, Sony is going to push their cloud gaming environment, where you’ll eventually be able to download any PlayStation title, from any era. Will we have to buy them again, or at least pay for the privilege? I think it’s safe to assume yes.
This is as big of a single-finger salute to their fans as when Apple announced they were changing the dock connector for the iPhone 5.
The PlayStation 2 was revolutionary, including massive processing power and what was likely the owner’s first DVD player. The 3 was too, offering even more massive processing power, and a Blu-ray player. Compared to the standards of its own predecessors, the PS4 falls flat. Sure, Sony doesn't have the money to lose like they did at the launch of the 2 or 3. From a hardware standpoint, it makes sense to go with less bespoke parts (it is, essentially, a PC without the openness). Honestly, I was expecting some mention of 4K. Sony and other TV manufacturers are really starting to push Ultra HD 4K hard, as a way to improve TV margins without a significant change in production. There was no way a PS4 was going to render 4K games (high-end PCs would struggle to do that at 60fps), but I really thought an updated version of the PS3's way to do 1080p would be here. As in, render at 1080p and upconvert to 4K. Not "true" 4K for sure, but as much 4K as the PS3 is 1080p. Maybe this will be mentioned at a later date, maybe I'm way off. It just seems odd to me that with the TV division all hot and bothered about Ultra HD, Sony's premiere content source would be so lacking... presumably for years. (Update: No 4K games. but the door is open for 4K videos. Also, they don't care about 3D games. Nor should they, honestly.) (Update 2: 4K downloads seem likely)
I do like how they're pushing for a more seamless game download process. Steam has been a huge benefit for PC gaming, and Sony's own PlayStation Store has had some unique and wonderful games.
The graphics admittedly, from the few glimpses we saw that weren't obviously pre-rendered cutscenes, seem great. This is surely a massive improvement over the PS3. They're not, however much different from what the the average PC gamer has had for a while now. Killzone:Shadow Fall, shown below, doesn't look appreciably better than Battlefield 3, which came out 1.5 years ago. Worse, at the end of the demo, the moronic "Press to have the game play for you" icon appeared, showing that the same boring game design will follow into the early years of the PS4.
Keep in mind, it's likely a lot of this is pre-rendered. Always be skeptical of any part of a gaming preview that doesn't show a HUD.
Sony says the hardware and design of the PS4 are still in development. I’m sure we’ll hear more news, perhaps more interesting news, at E3 in June. As a coming out party, though, the PS4 seemed to fall rather flat, offering little in the way of excitement for hardcore gamers, little in the way of entertainment possibilities for a non-gaming audience, and little in the way of drumming up excitement for the next ten years of console gaming.
I hope to look back on this article this winter and say “Oh, if I had only known they’d do this!” with some incredible feature announcement.
For right now, though, I can only see the benefit for PC games. More polygons are always a good thing, and if games for the PS4 look better, then more games for the PC will look even more amazing (not having to be tethered to ancient console hardware). Because above all else, I want the era of the PS3/Xbox 360 to die its aliased, tiny-textured, minimal-polygoned, limited-view-distance, long-in-the-poorly-rendered-tooth death.
Brent Butterworth and Geoff Morrison combine their years of gear testing and knowledge in one überblog of irreverence and techiness.
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Nov. 22 is the Day of Freedom to mark the start of the 2004 Orange Revolution, which overturned a presidential election rigged for Viktor Yanukovych and led to Viktor Yushchenko's election.
How do you feel about the Orange Revolution?
“All of us were so proud! There were many of us who came to Kyiv from Lviv. We all wanted a better life for ourselves and our kids and believed we could get it. And even though we haven’t succeeded, it is our history and we have to remember it.”
“I was a schoolboy back then and was’nt there myself. But all the people were talking about the revolution. Everyone thought we need to change something.”
“I remember the revolution very well. Everybody hoped for better, but I didn’t really believe it would change for the better. It is getting worse and worse. I am a war veteran and all I get is Hr 1,000 [$125] a month. I hardly survive.”
“It was such euphoria. I was there every day, believed our lives would become better and we would get a taste of freedom, but It only got worse. I wouldn’t go anywhere now. I don’t believe in any revolutions any more.”
“People are always manipulated by someone and rarely make the decisions themselves. I have an impression that we are just toys in the hands of our authorities.”
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The original well is a dug well and sometime during the last century, someone decided, hey, let's drill a well next to the dug well. So they did. And lost their well drilling drill bit way down there somewhere, stuck in bedrock and I'm sure there were a lot of not pretty words being said. So they moved outside the house with a new drillbit and this is the well we use today.
But back to the dug well in the basement. What makes it even stranger is that it is in a room of its own, out underneath our front walkway, before you walk onto our porch - not under our house.
Back to the current well.
All of a sudden our water pressure was finicky. I didn't like it. I whined to Sean about it because the delicate balance of our water lies in his capable hands. Seriously, one of the things I worry about if he were to ever die on me is how in the world would I figure out the water systems.
Our water is HARD. Water is considered hard at 20 parts per million, ours is a lovely hardness of 120-130 parts per million. It is mineral rich. Not great for appliances or my hair and so...
it goes through a whole house filter, then an iron filter, then a water softener, and then a reverse osmosis system.
So after replacing all the house filters and the water situation not improving, Sean decided to pull up the well pump, replace it since that was the only thing left to check.
Neither of us had ever done this before, in case you're wondering. Sean is brilliant at reading up on how to do things and forging ahead and so he did, placing an innumerable amount of calls to Florida to consult with his dad.
Unbeknownst to us at the time, a well pump should be fairly easy to pull up. Sean had a tripod setup with the steel ladder and rope and the tractor, figuring that the tractor would easily pull up the well pump. Soon the strain on the tractor was starting to tip it. This was not an easy lift and I was a nervous wife. Tipping tractors aren't my thing.
It became a family affair. Finally, finally! it budged and we moved to old fashioned arm power, Sean and I lifting and pulling and the kids lying the pipe out across the lawn. 148 feet of pipe we pulled. I could not believe how hard it was to pull. I joked on facebook that there was a lot of pushing, pulling and gushes of water reminiscent of labor, and seriously, I felt about as exhausted by the time our weekend a la well was over.
(hands orange from the iron in the water)
So to make a very long, very tiresome weekend short. Sean replaced the well pump. We started to lower it back down and with about fifty feet of pipe left to go down, we hit the bottom. How could this be? Was it stuck on something? We had no idea. Five times that weekend, we pulled the pump up.
Final dx for our well, now with it's spiffy expensive new pump, was that it collapsed near the bottom. I guess the way they do wells is if they drill through rock at the bottom of the well, they won't line the bottom of the well. Over time, the rock shifted and our well caved in on top of our pump, which is why it was tipping the tractor trying to pull it.
We called in the well people and conferred. The idea now is to see how well our much shallower well works for our family. Sean installed a low pressure cut-off by the tank in the cellar, which will turn off the water if the well gets too low so the pump doesn't get burned out. It has kicked on once already when we needed to water the garden and newly planted fruit trees.
I'm thinking a re-drilling of the well will be in our future, especially since we are in our wettest season and a lot of watering is needed come summer.
Another day, another lesson in homesteading learned.
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India and Pakistan traded bitter accusations Wednesday after New Delhi said Pakistani troops had killed two of its soldiers in the disputed territory of Kashmir, a flash point between the two nations since their creation.
Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai summoned the Pakistani High Commissioner and "lodged a strong protest" about what India alleges took place Tuesday, increasing the strain on ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.
But Pakistan reiterated its denial of the accusations, saying India was trying to distract attention from a weekend clash in the Himalayan territory that left a Pakistani soldier dead.
India asserts that Pakistani troops took advantage of thick fog in a wooded area on Tuesday to cross over to its side of the Line of Control, the de facto border between the two nations in Kashmir.
The Indian military says one of its routine patrols spotted the Pakistani troops in the Mendhar sector of Poonch district, and a firefight lasting about 30 minutes ensued, during which two Indian soldiers were killed.
The Indian government on Wednesday accused Pakistani troops of subjecting the two soldiers' bodies to "barbaric and inhuman mutilation," calling the alleged actions "highly provocative."
The Pakistani foreign ministry rejected the allegations that its troops had crossed the Line of Control and killed Indian soldiers.
"These are baseless and unfounded allegations," the foreign ministry said. "Pakistan is prepared to hold investigations through the United Nations Military Observes Group for India and Pakistan on the recent cease-fire violations on the Line of Control."
Pakistan said it is committed to "a constructive, sustained and result-oriented process of engagement with India," and is working to ensure their relations are normal.
Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid urged his compatriots to keep cool heads despite widespread outrage about the reported attack on the Indian soldiers.
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We invite you to explore our website and to encourage your students to do so as well. Once you are familiar with our services, you can discuss with your students how The Career Center can help them. Below are just a few of our services that may be of particular interest to you when referring your students to The Career Center.
Individual Advising Sessions
Students can make individual appointments with career advisors to discuss choice of major, career options, job strategies, resume writing, and graduate school opportunities. Any career-related topic of concern is proper for discussion with a career advisor.
Job Shadowing Program
The Job Shadowing Program is an opportunity for Loyola students of all majors to obtain career development guidance from a successful professional. Interested students should speak with a career advisor.
A number of helpful online resources are available to students, faculty, and alumni through The Career Center website. Please take a moment to explore them and contact The Career Center for usernames and passwords.
On-Campus Recruitment Program
Loyola's On-Campus Recruitment Program brings employers to campus during the fall and spring semesters to interview students for jobs and internships. More than 150 companies participate in this successful program that is open to students of all majors who have completed the required workshops.
Hands-on experiences, like internships, offer students opportunities to reflect on, integrate, and apply skills and knowledge. Pairing internships with other forms of academic and experiential learning enables students to gain the professional skills needed for effective participation in the workplace. The Career Center provides many services to help students locate and secure internships such as career advising related to interest, ability, and values assessment; instruction on researching opportunities through database, printed, and alumni resources; and training in resume writing, business correspondence, and interviewing.
Alumni Career Network
Approximately 1,200 Loyola alumni are members of this successful network. They serve as a source of career information and employment opportunities for students and fellow alumni. The network may be accessed through Hounds4Hire, our web-based recruiting system, requiring a username and password.
Curious about your students' first destination after Loyola? Each year, The Career Center conducts an undergraduate follow-up survey on the graduating class. Graduate follow-up information is also available to faculty and students interested in information regarding opportunities for employment and admission to graduate school.
The Career Center sponsors/co-sponsors a number of special events throughout the year. These include the fall internship fair, spring career fair, employer presentations, Job Shadowing Program, and Practice Interview Program, as well as Maryland Career Consortium Career Fair. We greatly appreciate your assistance in encouraging students to participate in these valuable opportunities.
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- A formal announcement could be made by month's end about plans for a $500 million plastics plant near Wheeling, the CEO of Texas-based Appalachian Resins said.
James Cutler told the State Journal (http://bit.ly/VSUiB1) the plan includes a small ethane cracker, a plant that extracts some liquids from wet natural gas to make the chemical feedstock ethylene.
Another operation would use that to produce polyethylene resins, starting in 2015. They're the HDPE plastics used for grocery and garbage bags, and the LLDPE plastics used to make cling wrap.
Cutler said the year-round operations will produce 500 million pounds of ethylene and 500 million pounds of polyethylene per year.
Most polyethylene is made along the Gulf Coast and shipped nationwide. Cutler said being closer to the consumers gives his company an advantage.
"Simplicity and a regional market outlook are the factors that support our business model," Cutler said. "In addition to good economics, we believe that the Appalachian resins business model — regional sized petrochemical production facilities — supports a resilient supply chain."
Last year, West Virginia lost a bid to attract a multibillion-dollar cracker plant that Shell hopes to build. Shell said its first choice was a site about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh but that extensive evaluations had to be done.
West Virginia Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette said the pursuit of ethane cracker plants and related manufacturing businesses remains a priority of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's administration.
Information from: The State Journal, http://www.statejournal.com
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The “One Family at a Time” Retention Strategy
Retention is an issue at most schools.
With the mark of a great school being at a 90% retention rate or higher, it is important to consider strategies that will make a difference at your school.
A practical and simple approach is to focus on one family at a time. I call this the “One Family at a Time” strategy. I know, it’s very original!
The goal is to meet with your families in one-on-one, personal, individual meetings. Your administrative staff, board and other key members of your marketing and enrollment team should participate in this effort in order to distribute the meetings.
The following is a list of how you should prioritize your meetings:
- Begin with families in your transition grades (Pre-K moving to K; 5th moving to 6th; and 8th moving to 9th). These grades are where you will most likely lose students.
- Focus on other families that your staff has identified as being on the fence.
During the meetings, you should seek to discuss the following issues:
- Overall satisfaction level at the school
- Strengths and weaknesses of the school
- Plans for continuing next year
- Issues that might affect their continued enrollment
This approach is really that simple. It will take time and personnel but it will be well worth it in the end as you reach out one family at a time to make a difference in your school’s retention effort.
One more thing–the best time to conduct these meeting is NOW. Don’t wait until it is too late. By meeting now, you will have more time to work on some of the issues raised and re-recruit these families back for another year.
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Equatorial Guinea Briefly Disappears Dissident
President Obiang only adds to its reputation as one of the world's most corrupt, unjust nations.
Equatorial Guinea is one of those friends Washington generally prefers not to publicize. A most recent embarrassment only adds to an international reputation as one of the most corrupt and unjust nations on the planet. One of the nation’s leading human rights lawyers, Fabian Nsue Nguema, was temporarily disappeared.
After vanishing on October 22nd, he was presumed to be under secret detention. He was released on October 30th after enduring nine days of solitary confinement. Such are the punishments for dissenters in Teodoro Obiang’s fiefdom.
Nsue has been tortured and harassed by the government for years. He was held during his recent stint at the gruesome torture chamber Black Beach prison.
Obama has not substantially altered the Bush administration’s reopening of relations with Equatorial Guinea. The reasons are the usual ones. EG is the “Kuwait of Africa” and Obiang is happy to arrange greater profits from the natural national resource for foreign oil companies than the general citizenry of his country. The nation is a major supplier to the U.S. crude market, situated as it is, on the West African coast – a source Washington has increasingly favored for domestic consumption. The U.S. is EG’s largest buyer.
For this reason, relations between the two nations are “positive and constructive” according to the State Department. In September 2009, Obama even consented to a photo with Obiang and their spouses.
Obiang’s rule is so corrupt however – per capita the nation is one of the world’s wealthiest, at parity with Belgium, though citizens live in grinding poverty and die young – that he enlists extra help to manage his image from the likes of the notorious pal of Bill Clinton, Lanny Davis.
The ties to the U.S. go beyond government relations. Teodoro’s son has a mansion estate in Malibu and calls himself a prince, requiring his employees to line up to greet him and bid him farewell as he comes and goes, as if he is living out a sinister version of Eddie Murphie’s Coming to America. The excellent journalist Ken Silverstein depicts a man who literally does no work: “His days consisted entirely of sleeping, shopping and partying.” His theft of his country’s resources has financed such an array of luxury cars he is able to tell his drivers things like, “I'm wearing blue shoes, so get me the blue Rolls today.”
This spoiled child of the ruling class has been treated gently by the U.S. government, which continues to suffer his presence in the country in apparent violation of U.S. law against the entry of foreign corrupt officials. Despite amassing a damning amount of evidence on his corruption on an epic scale, the government has declined to prosecute him. Why alienate the future ruler of such a useful ally?
It is worth pausing to emphasize that everyone who collaborates with Equatorial Guinea’s oil exploitation, from governments, to foreign oil firms like Exxon, to private security companies like Virginia’s Military Professional Resources Initiative, are complicit in the theft of an entire people that should be living comfortable lives off the wealth under their soil, not the destitution they are currently condemned to.
Meanwhile, Equatorial Guinean human rights advocates like Nsue and the writer Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, who fled to Spain earlier this year after going on a hunger strike in protest of Obiang’s rule, continue their lonely fight against the superpower’s partner in crime.
Along with Kevin Funk, Steven Fake is the author of "Scramble for Africa: Darfur – Intervention and the USA" (Black Rose Books). They maintain a website with their commentary at scrambleforafrica.org.
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When a plane filled with Hillel participants in the birthright israel program pulled up to a hangar at Ben-Gurion airport in Israel, the students were greeted by program co-founder Charles Bronfman and Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky. The two luminaries greeted the students on the tarmac and then joined them for a gala celebration at Ben Gurion Airport.
"The greatest thing was that people just started dancing the Horah in the middle of this airport hanger!" said Tulane University student Jenna Addis. "It felt like home, and was really special. Israel is beautiful - I am so thankful to be here."
This summer, more than 1600 students from across the United States will join Hillel for their first organized trip to Israel and an experience of a lifetime. Over the last five years, Hillel, as part of the birthright israel program, has sent nearly 17,000 students on ten-day trips to Israel. Hillel is the largest North American provider of the birthright israel trips.
Participants' days are jam-packed with tours, hikes and special educational sessions that help connect the students to Israel and the Jewish people.
Hillel's trip this summer stands out with several "specialty trips." In addition to the standard "Explore Israel Campus Trip," there are additional trips focusing on Spirituality, Arts and Culture, and Environmentalism. While still going to all of the main locations in the country, these trips have specialized sessions to give the participants an understanding of how Israel relates to these topics. In addition, the Outdoor Adventure Trip; Peace, Politics and Journalism Trip; and Graduate and Young Professionals Trip all are making return appearances for this summer's round of Hillel's birthright israel trips.
Hillel is also introducing this year an August trip specifically designed for incoming college freshmen. Over 160 students will be participating on this revolutionary trip.
"It is wonderful that so many students are so interested in connecting and reconnecting with their heritage," said Hillel President Avraham Infeld. "It is truly a sign of the growing strength of the Jewish peoplehood."
Hillel's birthright israel trip is part of birthright israel, an international partnership of philanthropists, Jewish communities and the State of Israel dedicated to providing Jews between the ages of 18-26 with a first, free ten-day trip to Israel.
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It was one of the most moving musical experiences I’ve had in years, entirely unexpected and entirely at odds with expectations. When, after night after night of watching The War, among the disturbed surprise at the stunningly abbreviated short changing of the two atomic bombings*, Ken Burns used Aaron Copland’s Concerto for Clarinet Strings Harp and Piano behind the reflections of veterans and their families. I have to admit the tears were streaming even before the first modulation and the concomitant soaring of the clarinet line.
There, in one short vignette from a longer work, was everything that was wrong but also that was so right about how Aaron Copland’s music is used and abused. I don’t blame Burns for his use of it in that context at all, it was appropriate and I can’t imagine Copland, who was famously accommodating, would have been offended. Generally I’m passionately against the use of pre-existing music in movies and the excerpting of them in any case, without the direct permission OF THE COMPOSER. What can I say, here, after the long and honest look at The War, it worked.
Copland’s “easy style” pieces have certainly been some of the most abused music still under copyright. Appalachian Spring and the other ballets are the most abused, the other orchestral music and the chamber and piano works, thankfully, not so much. They have certainly been copied too. The frequent stealing of magnificent sonorities invented by Copland by much lesser composers for Hollywood and beyond have rendered them cliches. That a skinny, homely, bookish, gay, Jewish, socialist from New York invented the “American sound” heard in a thousand cowboy and “heartland” movies has to rank as one of the greatest ironies of our cultural history. The temptation is to leave behind the great virtues of his music in the rush to avoid the tacked on associations of the copy cats. But Copland’s music has real worth even within its limitations**.
The Violin Sonata is a piece that is entirely rewarding both in the listening and the playing - though not as much in the clarinet transcription in which the piano is pitched too low. The second movement is one of the most fitting elegies for a dead WWII soldier ever written. The Four Piano Blues, The Piano Sonata and even the over exposed Our Town score all have real meaning. The early Variations and the late 12-tone works are great pieces too, particularly the somber and unappreciated Nonet for strings, but those are in little danger of over exposure.
It’s hard to categorize how I feel about Aaron Copland. Sometimes I think that Michael Tippett was a better Aaron Copland than Aaron Copland was. Sometimes I can’t imagine not agreeing for once with Leonard Bernstein that Copland was the best we had. I’m not interested in the petty and insignificant war between the American tonalists and the “authentic modernists”, never having seen any reason you can’t like it all, accepting the value that it really contains. As was proved the other night, sometimes no one said it better than the "easy" Aaron Copland.
* Thinking about it later, it’s possible that Burns knew he wouldn’t be able to do the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki justice in the time available. In that case there should have been a bit of mitigation to the entirely understandable pro-bombing sentiments voiced. That is certainly a viewpoint that is there and has to be taken into account. It is completely understandable in those who expected worse in the planned invasion of Japan. But it is certainly not universally shared and it is a viewpoint that carries some of the largest load of moral ambiguity of any position ever held. If Ken Burns is paying any attention, he really needs to do a very serious piece about the bombing of the two cities including an extensive examination of the motives and results.
** The great composer, Milton Babbitt, pointed out several years back the obsession that Copland, and some other of Nadia Boulanger’s students, had with chords. That is certainly a key into understanding the technical structure and motivation of his music, as it is with Rameau’s. It can’t account for all of the effect though. Copland went considerably beyond “the chords”.
Concerto for Clarinet CBS Masterworks Catalog #: 42227. I’m not certain that the recording here is the one that Copland said was the best recorded example of his conducting. One of the two he made with Goodman was.
Violin Sonata Naxos Catalog #: 8559102. Peter Zazofsky’s perfomance is the best I’ve heard.
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We have all seen leaders that were super talented and fail. Why? Of course there are numerous reasons, but often the root of this is found in three areas. For a leader to have long term success, these areas must be developed on a equal basis.
1. Life Maturity. All people go through life, and there are always various events to help us mature. These events are often painful and difficult, but produce strength of character and maturity. This is why elders are to be older. There is maturity with old if the person has processed life well. Much of what a leader does is difficult. You are dealing with hard demands, and complex situations in which there is no manual on step one or step two. You have to use wisdom because all situations are difficult and all people are difficult which causes all dilemmas to be first time encounters. Life maturity is the strength to move forward in the face of opposition.
2. Spiritual Maturity. We have seen great leaders in the church fall. Often this is a spiritual maturity issue. The tank ran empty, and the leader acted out. Instead of allowing the Spirit of God to work through them, the leader worked through himself until there was nothing left to give. Of course there are those who practice the spiritual disciplines, but for what purpose? These are not practices in and of themselves, but provide a base for serving the Lord. We reject a monk mentality. There has to be a strong connection to the Lord for ministry to take place long term.
3. Ministry Maturity. Someone might be strong in the other areas, but cannot function well in a congregational context. There are skill sets for those who lead in the church. Can you develop structure, can you handle criticism, and can you mentor others around you? These are all skills that people must develop in our churches. It can be basic phone calls to encourage, to preaching, to being a peacemaker. But this are not always inherent skills, but must be developed. This is why mentoring and education are the keys in successful leaders in the church.
All of these three dynamics are in play for successful leaders. Of course all leaders will be stronger in various areas, but unfortunately the weakest area can sabotage one’s ministry for the Lord. All must be given time and attend for growth to happen.
- The End Result to Lads to Leaders
- Joint Service of Two Congregations
- Church Leaders Living Through Business
- Review of “Why We are Bad at Picking Good Leaders”
- Review of “Leaders Who Last”
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An emergency back door — facing a museum park — still bore dark marks and the neat labels of detectives investigating the crime with the suspicion that the criminals had entered there. The police announced that they were following up on more than 30 tips and examining surveillance videos.
Visitors seemed undeterred by the art theft; on Wednesday afternoon a mix of students and older people were viewing the collection on loan from the Triton Foundation to the Kunsthal.
Museum officials are still gamely trying to celebrate the institution’s 20th anniversary, making an effort to avoid dwelling on the theft. They refused to identify the new works, or show where the old works had hung.
“Seven works were stolen and there are seven new works from the same foundation,” said Mariëtte Maaskant, a spokeswoman for the museum.
Nor would they reveal the value of the stolen paintings, including works by Picasso, Monet and Matisse, perhaps a lesson from other museums that have suffered thefts. By avoiding giving a value, it makes it more difficult for the thieves to calculate a standard black market price of 10 percent.
Helma Prens, a visitor at the museum, still found cause to celebrate her 71st birthday with a tour of the remaining art.
“Maybe they didn’t know the real value of this, not just the money, but the cultural value,” said Ms. Prens about the thieves. “I hope they find it, and that we find the real story.”
It could be a long wait. The Tate Gallery endured more than eight years of waiting and cloak-and-dagger negotiations before recovering two Turner paintings that were on loan to a museum in Frankfurt and were stolen in 1994.
Earlier this year, Serbian officials in Belgrade recovered “The Boy in the Red Vest,” by Paul Cezanne, which was stolen more than four years ago in Zurich from the E.G. Buehrle Collection along with three other paintings by three masked robbers.
Four men were charged in September, one of them a Serbian baker who was arrested while working the night shift.
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Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University Program Focuses on Dialogue Between Faith and Science
Interview With Its Director, Father Rafael Pascual
ROME, SEPT. 18, 2004 (Zenit) - John Paul II in his 1998 encyclical "Fides et Ratio" said that dialogue between faith and reason is possible and must be fostered.
And to do that, the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University has established a master's program in "Science and Faith."
Father Rafael Pascual, director of the program, is professor of philosophy of nature and science. He explains in this interview with us that it is possible to have a "harmonious relationship between the man of science and the man of faith."
Q: What is the state of health of dialogue between the world of faith and that of reason? What proposals do you have in this respect?
Father Pascual: I think that it is necessary to overcome what is commonplace; the time has arrived to re-establish the dialogue, called for in the encyclical "Fides et Ratio," between the world of reason and that of faith. Just as the Church is not afraid of science and its developments, so science should not be afraid of the Church.
Dialogue does not mean "absorption," but reciprocal respect in diversity. As early as the First Vatican Council there was already talk of two orders of knowledge: that of reason and that of faith, which are different. But as the encyclical "Fides et Ratio" reminds us, they are not "separate"; therefore dialogue is possible.
There are many points of meeting and questions of limit. Neither one can pretend to explain everything; each one of the two has something specific to say about the world, about man and about God.
Q: You direct the master's program in Science and Faith. In one of the first public meetings, the topic to be discussed will be, precisely, "scientists and believers." What is the objective and the content of this initiative?
Father Pascual: The idea is to help people understand, more with facts than with speculations, that there can be a harmonious relationship between the man of science and the man of faith.
In fact, there have been many men who have had no difficulty at all in combining both dimensions, without falling into a sort of mental schizophrenia.
It is not true that science is incompatible with faith. It is not true that there is incoherence in the fact that a man is concerned with science during the week, and then goes to Mass on Sunday.
Again, the key is found in recognizing that there are two orders of knowledge and that neither one of the two must seek exclusivity.
With this course we "scientists and believers" wish to show that dialogue between science and faith is not only a theoretical question, but that it is really possible and that there have been, and still are, many men and women who have no problem in living their scientific vocation and their life of faith in full harmony and without breaks of any kind.
When one looks closely at the life of a scientist such as Galileo, who revolutionized physics in his time and who lived with the spontaneity and clearsightedness of his faith, one sees the concrete possibility of being able to reconcile these two orders of knowledge to avoid an epistemological dichotomy which is not good either for the believer or for the scientist.
A trivialized and lineal evolutionist view already forms part of common thought. In reality, accredited scientists, also nonbelievers, maintain that such a theory shows many deficiencies and is certainly different from the way it has spread.
Q: You have a specific course on the theory of evolution and the doctrine of the Church. Could you explain briefly what the Church's point of view is and in what way it differs from Darwin's theory of evolution?
Father Pascual: All scientific diffusion or divulgation, also at the educational level, runs the risk of simplifications and trivializations.
Without a doubt the theory of evolution, if it is, as I think, a scientific theory, will have its limitations and its aspects to be improved, as occurs with all scientific theories.
In regard to the Church's point of view on the theory of evolution, clearly it leaves the question of its validity to science, but at the same time, from the point of view of faith, it is implicated, because it has significant aspects in regard to the conception of man and the world.
Faced with specific questions, science can arrive at a certain point but cannot go beyond, and it is necessary that the men of science be honest and recognize their own limits derived, for example, from the experimental method.
Obviously, science cannot say anything about something that cannot be experimented with empirically, and if it does say something, it can only do so incompetently, because it has gone beyond its own limits.
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A beautiful novel about true love which lasts and survives several obstacles including a long separation. Anne Elliott broke all ties with Captain Wentworth, a naval officer, eight years ago after being persuaded that it was in everybody’s best interest. Through this touching love story Austen also criticizes the hypocrisy and meaningless class distinction prevalent in her society. A must read! This EasyRead Large Edition has been optimized for readers who prefer a standard 16pt large type.
Anne Elliot, heroine of Austen's last novel, did something we can all relate to: Long ago, she let the love of her life get away. In this case, she had allowed herself to be persuaded by a trusted family friend that the young man she loved wasn't an adequate match, social stationwise, and that Anne could do better. The novel opens some seven years after Anne sent her beau packing, and she's still alone. But then the guy she never stopped loving comes back from the sea. As always, Austen's storytelling is so confident, you can't help but allow yourself to be taken on the enjoyable journey.
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MONTREAL - It's a unique campaign message: A man who aspires to be premier of Quebec has compared the province's young people, unfavourably, to Asian kids.
Francois Legault says he doesn't regret suggesting this week that young Quebecers are more interested in living "the good life" and could learn a thing or two from their harder-working Asian counterparts.
In fact, Legault dug in his heels Tuesday.
"I'm sticking to it," he told reporters. "Right now in Quebec, we don't value education and effort as much as we should."
The leader of the new Coalition party first waded into the subject during a chat with an 85-year-old man during a campaign stop a day earlier. The man had lamented the work ethic of today's youth, and Legault eagerly concurred.
Legault mused that things were different in Asia where, he said, parents want their kids to become engineers and actually need to stop them from studying at night because they nearly work themselves sick. He said if people in Asia keep working so hard while young Quebecers just want "the good life," our society is in trouble.
He elaborated on those remarks Tuesday.
"If you have kids they'll tell you (the Asian students) are always first in class,'' Legault said. ''One of my sons was telling me, 'Yes, but they have no life.'
"There's maybe an extreme there but, here, in some cases we're a little bit at the other extreme."
He said he doesn't blame young Quebecers at all. He said he blames older Quebecers, and parents, for not transmitting the values of hard work to youth.
Legault's remarks were ridiculed by opponents who questioned their basis in reality. He quickly became an object of online scorn. ''La belle vie,'' the French phrase for ''the good life,'' became a trending topic on Twitter. One person noted that he, Legault, had lived with his parents until age 30. Others pulled out an old complaint he'd made that one of his own children had woken up past 2 p.m.
Some people wound up debating the substance of his point.
A paper by an economist at the University of California at San Diego actually delved last year into the sensitive issue of study habits by ethnicity in the United States.
Using federal statistics from the American Time Use Survey, Valerie Ramey concluded that Asian-American high school students averaged 13 hours of study per week over the entire calendar year — compared with 5.5 hours for white students, and even less for other students.
But Quebec students have, for their part, fared extremely well in math tests and, to a lesser extent, in science as well.
In the Programme for International Student Assessment of 15-year-olds from 65 countries, Quebecers' math scores were among the best in the world, trailing only China, Singapore and South Korea and better than any other Canadian province. In science, Quebec was middle-of-the-pack within Canada but still higher than all but nine countries.
There is one obvious dark spot in Quebec's education system: the dropout rate. Statistics Canada said Quebec had the highest average high-school dropout rate of any province between 2007 and 2010.
Citing those high dropout figures, Legault also touted the achievement of Jews: "It doesn't make sense that right now, for example, in the Jewish community we have something like 10 schools in Quebec (where) the dropout rate is under one per cent.... The same thing in Finland — it's less than one per cent."
The comments from Legault arrived in a charged political atmosphere.
Students at universities and colleges are voting this week on whether to end six-month boycotts. The term "la belle vie" has become famous as the turn of phrase used by a tabloid columnist to deride protesters at the height of the unrest last spring.
The tuition debate has also featured questions about productivity, and whether higher fees might steer students away from social studies into the hard sciences. Legault appeared to be pressing all those themes, in the heat of an election campaign.
His latest remarks coincided with the release of a report from a federal panel that proposed doubling the number of high-achieving international students admitted into Canada, from the current 239,000, within 10 years.
The report by the Advisory Panel on Canada's International Education Strategy suggested creating 8,000 scholarships for top foreign undergraduates and it touted the positive influence those students might have in Canada.
But opponents said Legault was simply peddling junk populism.
Jean Charest, the Liberal premier, called it a symptom of a greater problem with Legault's party. He accused it of pandering to stereotypes, without offering substantive policies.
"It's frankly well beneath what we would expect from a person in public life," Charest told reporters. "Quebecers are a working people. We are workers. We do very great things and the young people also."
He compared the remark to what he called Legault's simplistic take on Quebec's CEGEP system — the two-year pre-university system — which the Coalition leader once famously dismissed as a great place to learn to smoke dope.
Legault's new Coalition party is now involved in a three-way election race.
Recent polls placed the Parti Quebecois in the lead, while the governing Liberals appeared in serious danger because of poor support among francophones, who form the bulk of voters in the vast majority of Quebec ridings.
The Liberals are apparently even in trouble in Charest's fiefdom. An old foe of Charest's is now thinking of challenging him in his riding.
Marc Bellemare told Montreal Le Devoir he might run as an Independent in Sherbrooke, which Charest has represented in the legislature since 1998.
Bellemare is a former Charest cabinet minister who crossed swords with the premier a few years ago when he made scathing allegations that Liberal party fundraisers influenced the selection of judges.
The two men sued each other over the issue before eventually deciding to drop the legal proceedings.
But Bellemare's threat has prompted some of Charest's opponents, and media observers, to warn that such a ploy would actually backfire — and help Charest get re-elected.
One recent poll suggested Charest was trailing Parti Quebecois candidate Serge Cardin, a longtime Bloc Quebecois MP in the riding, by 15 percentage points.
Another candidate in the race could simply split the anti-Charest vote, some say.
Bellemare says he might not run if he is convinced Cardin can beat Charest.
He has until Saturday afternoon to confirm his candidacy.
Bellemare resigned in 2004 after the Quebec Liberals failed to make good on an election promise to kill the province's no-fault insurance law — something he had passionately lobbied Quebec governments for since 1994.
-With files from Stephanie Marin and Andy Blatchford
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The Tortuga piggery was a small pig farm, where the pigs were raised for the production of pork, on the outskirts of Tortuga. It was built and run by Pirate Lord Captain Eduardo Villanueva, as a means to distact himself from his personal troubles.
Joshamee Gibbs was known to sleep with the pigs around the time of Jack Sparrow's adventure to Isla de Muerta, and it was there that Jack found him when in search of a crew. After being knocked unconscious by Elizabeth Swann, a drunken James Norrington was thrown here by drunken pirates of the Faithful Bride.
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (First appearance)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
- Pirates of the Caribbean (ride) (Non-canonical appearance)
- Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game): Official Strategy Guide
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Technology is a beautiful thing. The more you use it however, the bigger the electronic footprint you will leave. Have you ever Googled yourself? It's amazing what you will find. I once found a picture of me in Junior High School, and it wasn't an official yearbook one either – why oh why did I roll my pant cuffs like that?
Some people still don't realize that when you put something on the internet, it's out there forever. Almost all of us will never see it, but it's there. These words I type will exist on some server forever, or at least until the internet crashes or is purged.
Think about your business communications. All of your emails are still out there. Anything you ever loaded onto your website or files you've sent are saved somewhere. Hopefully there is nothing you would take back.
Now think about your personal communications. Yes, they are personal, but we all know how much personal can affect business. Don't limit your thinking to emails, social networking has become huge and it's all public. You should know that anything you put out there has the possibility to be found and used against you -- even your anonymous profile on MySpace.
Peter Shankman recently blogged about such a social networking incident involving a man who wasn't careful about communication. The man in question wrote a post on Twitter when he arrived in a town for a business presentation. The post was a relatively minor bash on the town itself, but he didn't know that several employees of the company he was to present at received regular updates on his posts through Twitter.
This might not have been a big deal, but the town was Memphis, the employees were die-hard home-town folk, they worked at FedEx headquarters, and the man was doing a presentation there on employee communication.
When it comes to communication, for business or personal, write and speak as if the whole world is paying attention. If you don't, the whole world might, but you won't like it.
Posted by George Page, Communication Specialist
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|Creator:||Reger-Wilkinson, Mary Frances (1909-2006)|
|Extent:||5.00 linear inches.|
|Repository:||Iowa Women's Archives|
|Summary:||Social worker who worked for the American National Red Cross during and after World War II.|
Mary Frances Reger was born in Davis City, Iowa in Decatur County to Georgia M. Rudibaugh and Francis A. Reger. An older brother, Charles Kenneth "Ken" Reger, rounded out the family. Mary Frances Reger spent the first fourteen years of her life in Decatur County on a small farm with her family. She describes her life as "simple but good." Her maternal grandparents, Orlena Jane Craig and Charles L. Rudibaugh lived nearby, while her paternal grandparents, Mary Olive Ellis and William A. Reger, lived thirty-four miles away at Mt. Ayr, Iowa in Ringgold County.
Mary Frances Reger began school a year early so that she could share the same bench and textbook with her brother. Anxious for their children to have a good education, Georgia and Francis Reger packed all their belongings in a freight car and moved the family to Iowa City, Iowa in 1924. Mary Frances and her brother graduated on the honor roll from Iowa City High School in 1926 and entered the University of Iowa the same year. Mary Frances Reger graduated from the University of Iowa in just three years. Though she had a teaching certificate in hand, there were no jobs available. However, the faculty at her high school knew the young womanīs capabilities and hired her to do various tasks, including teaching. In 1934, Mary Frances Reger married Bernard R. Wilkinson. A rule against married women teaching forced the young couple to keep their marriage a secret for two years. It was at this point that Dr. Ralph Ojemann saw potential in Mary Frances Reger-Wilkinson and recommended her for a fellowship at the University of Iowa. The research area was in parent education and child development. Reger-Wilkinson received her M.A. in social work from the University of Iowa in 1939.
While her husband served in the South Pacific in World War II, Reger-Wilkinson joined the American National Red Cross, Military and Naval Welfare Department. Reger-Wilkinson served as the director of social and recreational programs both in the field and in hospitals. This duty took her from the Midwest to Washington and California. When her husband was released from the U.S. Army in 1946, Reger-Wilkinson was employed by the Long Beach American Red Cross Home Service as an Intake Supervisor working with veterans following World War II. Later she worked with the California Department of Social Welfare in Adoptions, resigning with the birth of her son, George Reger Wilkinson, in 1948. When her son George was old enough to attend nursery school, Reger-Wilkinson returned to social work, accepting a position with the Los Angeles County Protective Services. Reger-Wilkinson remained with the agency for over twenty-five years, retiring in 1974.
Following her retirement, Reger-Wilkinson divided her time between classes at Long Beach City College and her volunteer work at Long Beach Memorial Hospital. She also took organ lessons in 1983 at age 74. Reger-Wilkinsonīs volunteer work at the hospital was a continuation of the volunteer service she began when her mother was a patient there. Reger-Wilkinson volunteered at the hospital for twenty-seven years. Through her course work at the college, Reger-Wilkinson became interested in genealogy. On her ninetieth birthday, she placed a copy of her completed Ancestral Record Book (Reger-Rudibaugh/Ellis/Craig and Those Who Joined by Marriage) in the Leon, Iowa Public Library in Decatur County.
Bernard Wilkinson, Reger-Wilkinsonīs husband, died in 1962. Their son, George, died in 1993.
Alternate Extent Statement: Photographs in Box 1.
Access: The papers are open for research.
Use: Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to The University of Iowa.
Acquisition: The papers (donor no. 869) were donated by Mary Frances Reger-Wilkinson in 2002.
Preferred Citation: Mary Frances Reger-Wilkinson papers, Iowa Women's Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City.
|Repository:||Iowa Women's Archives|
|Address:||100 Main Library |
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, IA 52242
This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.
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Recharging Your Batteries: How to Stay Powered Up
(NewsUSA) - Who hasn't experienced that moment of panic when your smartphone is about to die just when you need it most? Without our tech gadgets -- and that includes everything from iPods to gaming devices to the latest tablets -- most of us feel absolutely lost.
The problem has been finding a quality universal battery pack that works well at recharging the whole gamut.
And that's as convenient to use whether traveling or in your own stomping ground.
And, oh yes, one that looks good, too.
Enter Rayovac (www.rayovac.com), which has long been the go-to source for reliable batteries. Its stylishly designed, white Platinum Rechargeable Power Pack may be no bigger than a cell phone -- though not so small that it gets lost in a pocketbook or suitcase -- but it's the complete and innovative solution that tech users have been waiting for.
With three hours of recharging via USB or outlet, the power pack is ready to give your gadgets an extra six hours of use. In fact, its 800-mAh internal Lithium Ion rechargeable battery means it's possible to charge an MP3 player, for example, three times on just one recharge of the power pack.
What's more, its accompanying adapters are good for all Micro USB, Mini USB and Apple devices.
Think of it. No more cameras dying half-way into your hiking or camping adventures because of batteries that need resuscitating. Ditto dead iPods and e-readers on road trips and long flights.
And as for those dreaded missed calls -- be they business or personal -- frequent travelers will be especially glad to have packed the Platinum Rechargeable Power Pack, which is only available at Walmart, along as a travel buddy.
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American economic policy
After the Friday massacre
George Bush's financial team will now be led by John Snow and William Donaldson. How well?
WHO said George Bush ran a cosy good ol' boys club for elderly white bosses at the White House? In what has become known as the “Friday Morning Massacre”, the president sent his henchmen to sack the two most prominent members of his economic-policy team—Paul O'Neill, his treasury secretary, and Larry Lindsey, the chairman of the National Economic Council (see article). Now he has unveiled John Snow, a railroad tycoon, as his prospective new treasury secretary. Meanwhile a veteran Wall Streeter, William Donaldson, will replace Harvey Pitt, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who was persuaded to resign last month. And Stephen Friedman, late of Goldman Sachs, is the president's choice to head the NEC.
The bloodletting makes sense. A blunt veteran of the aluminium business, Mr O'Neill was a clever and thoughtful student of policy. But the job of treasury secretary is as much about presentation as about policy, and Mr O'Neill made the sort of gaffes, about the dollar and about international bail-outs, that lead markets to swerve. Mr Lindsey, a decent economist, proved a poor back-room co-ordinator. Mr Pitt seldom seemed to instigate corporate reform.
Different is good, better is best
More generally, Mr Bush's savagery has sent a clear political signal. The president intends to avoid the same trap that snared his father: George Bush senior lost the presidency when voters decided his foreign successes were less important than the creaking economy. And let there be no doubt: Bush the younger clearly does have economic problems. Recent figures offer some hope that America will not undergo a double-dip recession, but a lot depends on the resilience of the country's indebted shoppers. The economy is still coming to terms with the bursting of the 1990s bubble. And, despite the Sarbanes-Oxley act, the corporate-reform package that Mr Bush belatedly signed into law, the White House has usually seemed on the side of bosses, not shareholders.
So a regime change of sorts is justifiable—but only, of course, if the new regime is a better one. It is too soon to say whether it will be. Mr Snow has a PhD in economics, but his main experience is of a long career in an uncompetitive industry. Mr Donaldson co-founded Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette back in 1959, so he is long in the tooth, but that may helpfully mean that he retired before Wall Street got up to its recent mischief. Mr Friedman too left conveniently before the bubble: he ran Goldman Sachs until 1994 (partly with Robert Rubin, Mr Clinton's treasury secretary). All three men may have trouble in the vetting process—something that has got noticeably (and correctly) more rigorous for tycoons since the Enron scandal.
Even if Mr Bush has chosen the right people, he also needs to redesign the structure. For nearly two years it has never really been clear who is Mr Bush's chief economic spokesman. Over at the SEC, Mr Bush still has to find somebody to fill the crucial top accounting position. And there remains the question of political interference. Many of the worst mistakes made so far by Mr Bush's economic team—such as the steel tariffs and farm subsidies—have come from overt meddling by the president's electoral advisers.
Above all, Mr Bush's new team cannot simply “mend” the economy. Many levers are out of their control—notably monetary policy, which is set by the Federal Reserve. Others are extremely delicate to operate. It is a truism, for instance, to say that international financial institutions work best with strong American leadership. Mr O'Neill's successors need to avoid his various volte-faces (first no support for IMF bail-outs, then massive bail-outs), but also to find ways to influence countries such as Brazil and Argentina without alienating them.
Mr Snow must play a role alongside Mr Donaldson in reinvigorating corporate reform, but his real test will probably be domestic fiscal policy. There remains a case for a short-term stimulus to perk up the economy. But the Treasury desperately needs to rein in congressional pork: discretionary spending has been rising by 8% a year. Mr Snow must also keep an eye on the millions of retiring baby boomers who will begin to place enormous demands on the government within a decade. That means looking at tax reform (one of Mr O'Neill's strengths) and restructuring the Social Security system (which Mr Bush seems to be considering again).
This is a big challenge. But give Mr Bush a little credit. After his triumph in the mid-term elections, it must have been tempting to overlook the shortcomings in his financial team. The Friday Morning Massacre may have replaced one set of pals with another, but the new lot will now be sweating.
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Some existing industrial buildings is re-make and re-designed by Italian architect Mario Occhiuto. He preserved and re-designed The old building by covering them with a new terracotta skin For the Shanghai World Expo 2010. In this Expo, There is also a new annex building that contains the reception area for the entire complex.
It seems that the Shanghai World Expo 2010 has brought together very creative architects with outstanding ideas. the work of Mario Occiuto to re-design an existing building and so optimizing construction costs and reducing debris under oecological aspects. Even at night, fantastic architecture through illuminations of the terracotta facade. via
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Defending the Faith: When it comes to religious differences, first show charity, then get charity
Religion and politics can ignite ugly passions. Perhaps it's not amiss, therefore, in a column broadly dedicated to "defending the faith," to consider how such defense ought to be conducted.
A recent book by Richard J. Mouw, "Talking with Mormons: An Invitation to Evangelicals," offers some excellent thoughts on the subject — and provides a good example of respectful, fair-minded disagreement. Mouw, a prominent Calvinist theologian and, for the past two decades, president of Fuller Theological Seminary in California, has been involved for a number of years in precisely such "talking with Mormons." He's perhaps best known among Latter-day Saints for the apology that he offered from the pulpit of the Salt Lake Tabernacle in 2004: "We evangelicals have often seriously misrepresented the beliefs and practices of the Mormon community. Indeed, let me state it bluntly to the LDS folks here this evening: We have sinned against you."
I hope to engage Professor Mouw's little book more fully elsewhere. Here, though, I'll summarize and comment upon just three pages from it.
Drawing on his own theological tradition, Mouw cites John Calvin's "Institutes of the Christian Religion." (Some will be surprised; Calvin is rarely cited as a model of religious toleration.) Reflecting on times when states go to war out of righteous indignation, Calvin warns that such instances put leaders at extreme spiritual risk.
They need to examine their own motives carefully and honestly. "Let them not be carried away with headlong anger, or be seized with hatred, or burn with implacable severity." Instead, they should earnestly attempt to "have pity on the common nature in the one whose special fault they are punishing."
We have a natural but worrisome tendency, Professor Mouw comments, "to put the best possible interpretation on our own motives and the worst possible interpretation on the motives of the people we want to attack." Not only in warfare and politics but in religious disputes — which some, significantly, consider "spiritual warfare."
He then proceeds to reflect upon Psalm 139:21-24:
"Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
"I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
"And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
There is, Mouw observes, "a noticeable shift of mood between what the psalmist says in verses 21-22 and what he goes on to say in verses 23-24. In those first two verses, the psalmist seems to be proclaiming boldly that he and God are on the same wavelength, working as allies in a battle against the same foes."
"But then," continues Mouw, "his tone seems to change drastically. … Suddenly the psalmist seems to realize that he has slipped into an arrogant spiritual state, realizes that he has to turn inward. And that's when he pleads with the Lord to deal with the sin he finds in his own soul: 'Search me, O God,' he prays."
This is solidly biblical. As the Savior himself warns:
"Judge not, that ye be not judged.
"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
"Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
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The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has distanced itself from “Doctors for the Family”, a group of around 150 doctors who have written to the Australian Senate Inquiry into the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2010 claiming that same sex marriage is a health risk and that children of same sex couples were disadvantaged (go here for an ABC report on this topic).
The AMA, which represents around 27000 doctors in Australia, has moved to counter these claims, describing them as unscientific. According to AMA president, Steve Hambleton “There is a growing body of evidence that says there’s no difference in their (children of same sex couples)psychological development, their general health, their sexual orientation.”
It is good to see the AMA has move quickly to counter the bigoted and unscientific claims of this small minority of doctors in Australia. The opinions of doctors can hold quite a bit of weight for the general public, no matter how absurd or ridiculous they might be (just look the small number who support alternative therapies) so to have a national organisation publically challenge these claims is encouraging.
One only has to look at the arguments put forward by this group to see how irrational they are. Their senate submission contains no reliable evidence to back up their claims. Their concept of “evidence” is reminiscent of that supplied by supporters of alternative medicine - largely quotes from newspaper articles and books. Any quotes of a scientific nature appear to be either irrelevant or cherry picked.
Furthermore, this group seems to conflate marriage equality with child rearing.
Same sex couples who want children, probably already have them, irrespective, of whether they are married or not. And just because some same sex couples want to get married does not automatically mean they will want to have children.
The bigotry of this submission to the Senate comes across loud and clear in statements such as
“We further submit that legalisation of same sex marriage will have significant ramifications that have been confirmed by research and events here and elsewhere.
- the further “normalising” of homosexual behaviour through education with all the health consequences of that behaviour for our children”
At this point they quote HIV infection rates from the USA, as evidence of the consequence of “homosexual behaviour” overlooking:
a) that surely same sex marriage would support monogamous relationships, reducing the risk of HIV infection
b) that this must make lesbian couples perfect candidates for raising children, given their extremely low risk of HIV infection
Of course, expecting rational arguments from those expressing such bigoted opinions, is probably too much to ask. Indeed, it is what makes it so easy to spot their bigotry.
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Sketch artists: Don’t yah just HATE when this happens:
You’re really in “the zone” with your latest pencil or charcoal project, but the same hand that is putting out the great work is ruining your illustration at the same time with SMUDGES!
Well, for the past year I’ve noticed that my friend and fellow artist Mel Rivera conquered that scenario. At first I thought it was some high tech digital drawing apparatus connecting his hand with a mobile device or computer screen…but, Mel was just eliminating those pesky smudges while looking quite cool at the same time!
Following Mel’s example, all I did was find a pair of the new styled work gloves you can find in many hardware or regular discount stores. Not the traditional bulky work gloves we’ve come to know, but the new light weight, form-fitting ones (usually with the rubber-like palm made to increase grip).
Once you’ve found a glove of your choosing, follow these easy steps:
1. Put the glove on your drawing hand.
2. Make a fist.
3. With your fist facing you, punch yourself—KIDDING! Lol!
..No, really, with your fist facing you, draw a line just below the second joint of your index and middle fingers.
4. Now draw a line below the first joint of your thumb.
5. Remove the glove and cut the thumb, index, and middle fingers with scissors.
Now, I’ve seen similar gloves that do the same, but they may cost a few dollars more than the $3.50- $4.00 of doing it yourself as Mel did.
So tell us what you think about the idea?
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Ranking the Classics: Weeks Four and Five of the 60 in 60
Those Amazon readers who have followed my prior posts on the subject know that I've started in on what has been called by at least one friend "foolish" and by another "the endeavor of a madman": reading the 60 books in Penguin's Great Ideas series, one a day, and writing about each on my personal blog. Penguin's own blog questioned my sanity. Yet, I have persevered to the end of the fifth week, and my 60 in 60 audacity has been rewarded by attention from, among others, the Guardian (as book site of the week) and the Harvard University Press, which urged its readers to emulate my craziness. Still, I have made one change for my own peace of mind: between each set of 20, I get three days off to recuperate.
Every Saturday, then, I will report back to Omnivoracious readers on the prior week's reading, ranking each book I've read and turning a spotlight on the best. You can read the entire series of reviews on a special thread of my blog.
These past couple of weeks were difficult in terms of "rankings", because I enjoyed nearly everything...
1 - Lucretius' Sensation and Sex - A sometimes ornate, often matter-of-fact, always wonderful and strange (in the best way) discussion of love, sex, nascent atomic theory, and soul-death. Available from Amazon here.
2 - Plato's The Symposium - A surprisingly rich, entertaining, and funny book of conversations between Socrates and his friends on a variety of fundamental subjects, including love, death, and truth. Available from Amazon here.
3 - Christine de Pizan's The City of Ladies - A sly, clever defense of women that is designed to disarm men even as it engages them head-on.
5 - Marco Polo's Travels in the Land of Kubilai Khan - This exhaustive account of Marco Polo’s explorations contains amazingly precise information about everything from the materials made to build the roofs of palaces to the number of men garrisoned in certain provinces. Whether intentionally or not (and if accurate), it would have provided Europeans with detailed intelligence on the Great Khan–or simply made them quiver in fear at His omnipotence. Available from Amazon here.
6 - Revelation and the Book of Job - The apocalyptic Revelation portrays Christianity’s ultimate victory over its enemies. The Book of Job shows one man’s faith in the face of incredible adversity. Available from Amazon here.
7 - Cicero's An Attack on an Enemy of Freedom - Blistering speeches against the dictatorial ambitions of Mark Antony by one of the greatest statesmen of his age. Available from Amazon here.
8 - Baldesar Castiglione's How to Achieve True Greatness - A somewhat long-winded, if often witty discussion of the qualities and attributes that best serve a courtier. This isn’t to recommend not reading Castiglione, but I will say that for the first time I welcomed the “[...]” signal from the esteemed editors of the Great Ideas series that they had cut a section of the text. In this case, there’s really no way to tell that anything is missing. Available from Amazon here.
9 - Confucius' The First Ten Books - A sampling of the sayings and wisdom of Confucius, some of it universal and some particular to his times.
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Last week's news that Mountaineer Gas Co. is seeking a 10.8 percent rate reduction is good for area residents, as it could lead to lower heating bills this winter.
The proposed rate reduction also serves as a reminder that the natural gas boom our area is experiencing through drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation has tangible benefits for everyone, not just property owners that lease their land or mineral rights to the energy companies. Businesses also benefit through potential new customers and also stability and lower costs in the gas market.
Under Mountaineer's proposal filed with the West Virginia Public Service Commission, the average monthly rate for residential customers would decrease by $6.78. That works out to $81.36 annually.
Businesses would see an even larger decrease in their bills, at 12.31 percent, or an average of $32.77 per month.
The state PSC reviews and can modify any rate change request.
Separate from the rate decrease request, Mountaineer also has asked the PSC to increase its base monthly rate. If both that proposal and the rate decrease are approved, total savings for residential customers would be $3.38 per month, or $40.56 annually.
Natural gas has been a volatile commodity over the past decade, with wide price swings being common. Natural gas currently costs about $3 per unit. In comparison, just a few years ago that same unit of gas cost about $7.15 - more than double today's price.
Having stability in the energy market always is a positive for the economy - and something essential for manufacturing. West Virginia is one of a number of states currently studying how the natural gas boom can help the manufacturing sector grow. Our hope is that the natural gas flowing out of the ground now can lead to new jobs and opportunities in the future for West Virginia and Ohio workers.
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Mood Music - Cell Therapy by Goodie Mob
At Baseball Nation, Jeff Sullivan wrote a cool article on which teams have been getting favorable and unfavorable strike calls. By comparing to a Pitch F/X strike zone, you can determine if a team is getting more or less strikes called for them than one would expect. These results can then be used to make inferences about pitch framing and receiving.
In Sullivan's article, the Yankees have had the third best rate of "stealing" strikes, behind only the Brewers and Braves. Using the Pitch F/X data on Fangraphs, I took things back a few more seasons to see if there was a way to isolate the impact of different catchers.
From this data, we can calculate the number of strikes that we would expect, given the Pitch F/X strike zone.
In 2012, Yankees pitchers have thrown 6483 pitches and they have been inside the Pitch F/X zone 47.9% of the time. So, by multiplying the two, we get 3105 pitches in the strike zone, leaving 3378 pitches outside the strike zone. Of those 3378 pitches, 28.7% of them were swung at, giving an additional 970 strikes. By adding the two, we can conclude that the Yankees pitchers would have thrown 4075 strikes if the zone was called precisely by the Pitch F/X data.*
*If you're checking my math, all of this is subject to small rounding errors.
As the Yankees pitchers have actually thrown 4106 strikes, they have come out thirty-one strikes ahead. There are a number of things that could contribute to that. Bad officiating, pitchers with consistently good control, Russell Martin's receiving, and inaccuracies in the Pitch F/X data all seem reasonable. Going back a few more years (click the table to embiggen or if cut off):
There is not only a correlation, but a strong correlation to Jorge Posada being behind the plate and truly dreadful results. I hate to draw black and white conclusions, but it looks for all the world like he really was a disaster at receiving those last few years. Sorry, Jorge :(
Thankfully, things seem to be much better with Russell Martin behind the plate, which is good. With the way that the front office seems to think so highly of his catching ability, it is encouraging to actually see some numbers that support that.
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CHAPTER XVI. CONTINUATION OF JOURNEY AND SOJOURN.
He allows his family to go about the house with freedom; but even there he cannot depart much from established custom, as he does not wish to separate entirely from his sect. His daughters are educated in the European method; the eldest plays a little on the piano, embroiders, and sews. She wrote a small paragraph in English in my album very well. Her father did not engage her as a child, but wished that her own inclinations might correspond with his selection of a husband. I was told that she would probably not meet with one, because she is educated too much in the European style; she is already fourteen years of age, and her father has not yet provided her with a bridegroom.
When I first visited this house, the mother and daughters were seated in a drawing-room, engaged with needlework. I remained during their meal-time, a liberty which an orthodox Parsee would not have afforded to me; I was not, however, allowed to join them at table. It was first laid for me, and I ate alone. Several dishes were placed before me, which, with slight deviations, were prepared in the European manner. Everyone, with the exception of the master of the house, watched with surprise the way in which I used a knife and fork; even the servants stared at this, to them, singular spectacle. When I had sufficiently appeased my appetite in this public manner, the table was as carefully brushed as if I had been infected with the plague. Flat cakes of bread were then brought and laid upon the uncovered table, instead of plates, and six or seven of the same dishes which had been served to me. The members of the family each washed their hands and faces, and the father said a short grace. All except the youngest child, who was only six years of age, sat at the table, and reached with their right hands into the different dishes. They tore the flesh from the bones, separated the fish into pieces, and then dipped the pieces into the various soups and sauces, and threw them with such dexterity into the mouth, that they did not touch their lips with their fingers. Whoever accidentally does, must immediately get up and wash his hand again, or else place before him the dish into which he has put his unwashed hand, and not touch any other one. The left hand is not used during the whole meal time.
This mode of eating appears, indeed, very uninviting; but it is, in fact, not at all so; the hand is washed, and does not touch anything but the food. It is the same in drinking; the vessel is not put to the lips, but the liquid is very cleverly poured into the open mouth. Before the children have acquired this dexterity in eating and drinking, they are not permitted, even when they wear the girdle, to come to the table of the adults.
The most common drink in Bombay is called sud or toddy, a kind of light spirituous beverage which is made from the cocoa and date- palm. The taxes upon these trees are very high; the latter are, as in Egypt, numbered and separately assessed. A tree which is only cultivated for fruit, pays from a quarter to half a rupee (6d. to 1s.); those from which toddy is extracted, from three-quarters to one rupee each. The people here do not climb the palm-trees by means of rope-ladders, but they cut notches in the tree, in which they set their feet.
During my stay here, an old Hindoo woman died near to Herr Wattenbach's house, which circumstance gave me an opportunity of witnessing an Indian funeral. As soon as she began to show signs of death, the women about her every now and then set up a horrible howling, which they continued at short intervals after her decease. Presently, small processions of six or eight women approached, who also commenced howling as soon as they discovered the house of the mourners. These women all entered the house. The men, of whom there were a great number present, seated themselves quietly in front of it. At the expiration of some hours, the dead body was enveloped in a white shroud, laid upon an open bier, and carried by the men to the place where it was to be burnt. One of them carried a vessel with charcoal and a piece of lighted wood, for the purpose of igniting the wood with the fire of the house.
The women remained behind, and collected in front of the house in a small circle, in the middle of which was placed a woman who was hired to assist in the lamentations. She commenced a wailing song of several stanzas, at the end of each of which the whole joined in chorus; they kept time also by beating their breasts with the right hand and bowing their heads to the ground. They executed this movement as quickly and regularly as if they had been dolls worked by a wire.
After this had been carried on for a quarter of an hour, there was a short pause, during which the women struck their breasts with both their fists so violently, that the blows could be heard at some considerable distance. After each blow, they stretched their hands up high and bowed their heads very low, all with great regularity and rapidity. This proceeding seemed even more comical than the first. After much exertion, they seated themselves round in a ring, drank toddy, and smoked tobacco.
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Swastika Painted on Old Bridge Elementary School – Mere Vandalism or Hate Crime [POLL]
The mention of a swastika painted on the side of a building will generally be met with the cry of “hate crime”…but is it always so?
Depends on the circumstances.
Last week there was a story in the news of a swastika drawn in chalk in front of the home of a rabbi in Western New Jersey.
At first, officials were going to investigate it as a hate crime, however, the rabbi felt it was an isolated incident…and didn’t think much of it since it was drawn in chalk, figuring it was just some dopey kids.
A buildings and grounds supervisor arrived at the William A. Miller Elementary School on Friday to find an unsettling sight: A swastika was among graffiti painted on the school, officials said.
Police were called to the school, and met with the supervisor, who said that between 7 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Friday, the front and a side wall of the building were sprayed-painted with various markings, including “Yipz” “Young Yipper,” “Beast,” “Switch,” “Yamij,” “JS” and “SWCF,” Capt. Arthur Carullo said.
A small swastika also was painted on a window near door 13, he said.
“It’s being considered a bias incident because of the small swastika,” Carullo said. “At this time, we think it’s youthful offenders who probably don’t quite understand the seriousness of the symbol and how hurtful it is.”
Ok, being that the case, then why even bother investigating the incident as a hate crime?
Does the introduction of a swastika automatically mean the vandalism is some sort of bias intimidation against, perhaps, Jews?
Why not just view it as a youthful prank and not make anything more out of it?
Sort of like the aforementioned rabbi.
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Briefings and Reports
Please be aware that there are links to external websites in many of these Reports and Briefings. These websites may wish to set Cookies on your computer.
This section contains information about different aspects of war and peace, and will help your campaigning. It will be constantly added to and updated. The more we can share our knowledge and educate each other, the easier it will be to inform and educate others about the possibility of eradicating war.
Publications, books, videos and DVDs – below you will find short reviews of titles we think will be of interest to you, and help in your campaigning against war. We welcome short reviews which can be sent to us using the Contact Us button, but we cannot undertake to post everything we are sent.
In this section you will be able to download leaflets on forthcoming meetings, conferences and events. If you have a leaflet advertising an event that is consistent with the aims of MAW, and you would like us to post it here, please email it to us in pdf form, using the Contact Us button.
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Advances in Communication Theory and Research
Editor’s Note (2010) – Megan Oliver
Communication works for those who work at it.- John Powell
The Journal of Advances in Communication Theory and Research exemplifies Kansas State University's perpetual endeavor to produce high-quality research. Although the journal had to reduce the frequency from semi-annual to annual, like past editions of the journal, the Fall 2010 volume showcases originative works from a multitude of communication topics in an effort to celebrate undergraduate and graduate student research and encourage its efflorescence. This collection of articles covers a variety of topics, with age-relevant issues being dominant.
As an undergraduate, I was unaware any of the channels for submitting the research I conducted. Arduous semesters of original, critical, and comparative research by thousands of students remains in the 'documents' section of hard drives the nation over. I am fortunate to be involved in ACTR during a time of rising popularity for online communication journals disseminating ideas and giving credence to the earnest works of students. Through submission, student authors discover the difficulty and importance of formulating a systematic method and seeing research through to analyses and implications. Submission and editing standards forACTR serve as a model to help students identify tone, format, and style of papers that can qualify for journals and conferences in their academic future. Though students may not yet be experts in their area of research and may not be submitting papers without flaw, they also feel encouraged by learning that a student can write a paper with merit within a semester.
Third Place Discourse- Alicia Carr
This study looked at the form discourse takes in an environment of commonplace rhetoric. Public discourse has transformed over recent years and we are now finding that the “public sphere” involves coffee shops. Coffee shops allow a chance to meet with friends and talk about issues that matter to individuals, whether the issues are personal or involve the community. These “third place environments” provide a location away from home and work for people to come together with whomever they choose, whenever they choose. Using Hicks and Langsdorf’s “Regulating Disagreement, Constituting Participants: A Critique of Proceduralist Theories of Democracy,” a narrated conversation by participants will be analyzed using their four criteria to discover whether an everyday coffee shop location, such as Starbucks, is producing discourse.
Gender and Personality: Differences in Date Initiation Preferences- Eric Shumaker
Palms sweaty, heart racing, body trembling, and butterflies in your stomach. What does this describe? Think back to the first time you asked out someone you liked. These uncomfortable symptoms may be reminiscent of your first experience with attempting to initiate a date. How could gender and personality factors play a role in the way heterosexual humans initiate dating behaviors with the opposite sex? What sort of unique interpersonal communication behaviors do people utilize in initiating a date?
One of the top concerns of college students has always been interactions with the opposite sex and dating (Martinson & Zerface, 1990). A survey of college students by McEwan (1983), pressing personal concerns, indicated that 16% view the area of dating as the chief concern in their life over things such as grades and finances. Although this is not a large percentage, it is important to research interpersonal dating and find effective solutions for those struggling with dating-related anxiety. As sex roles and culture continually change, Muehlenhard and McFall (1981) proposed that men and women are often left confused on how to initiate and arrange first dates. Research in this area has the potential to assist social skills trainers, dating coaches, and counselors with how to give effective solutions to those clients struggling in this area of their lives. This research expansion will aid those that lack social skills known to assist in dating to help them better understand how they should approach someone they are attracted to.
Suspect Interrogation: Communication Strategies and Key Personality Constructs- Jessica Heuback
Interrogations are conducted by law enforcement officials in an effort to seek confessions and develop details about crimes. The goal of this study was to examine the communication strategies currently being used during the interrogation process as well as the key personality constructs that are integral to successful interrogation. A multi-method approach was used. Interviews with ten officers with interrogation experience were conducted in addition to collecting information via a web-based questionnaire (N=22). The findings suggest an overwhelming need to ?play nice? by beginning most interrogations with rapport building tactics. Additional strategies include the use of theme development, modeling interviews some ways but diverging in other necessary ways, and critical emphasis about on-the-job training with this specific job role. Results suggest a positive relationship between cognitive complexity and communication competence; verbal aggressiveness and cognitive complexity; and negative relationships between cognitive verbal aggressiveness and communication competence. Explanations for the findings and results are provided in addition to the mention of the study‘s limitations.
Reuniting Old Friends: The Sophists and Academic Debate- Joe Koehle
“On every issue there are two arguments opposed to each other” —Protagoras
The above declaration from the sophist Protagoras that occurred over 2500 years ago may seem obvious to a person living in today?s world of endless difference of opinion and deliberation ad nauseum, but at the time was revolutionary in Athens. As the city moved from oligarchy to democracy, the necessity for deliberation arose as differences of opinion cropped up in the process of collective decision making. Seizing the opportunity to influence this process, the sophistic movement emerged. Itinerant teachers and wordsmiths, the sophists left their mark upon history via their innovative pedagogy and the seemingly unending controversies they created. After a brief period of flourishing, the sophists? rhetorical insights were undermined by sustained attacks from Plato and students of Plato, eventually being condemned to historical obscurity as a footnote to the progress of Western thought.
Three Simple Words: A Rhetorical Analysis of the Slogan “Yes We Can”- Molly McGuire
Three simple words can inspire a generation, unite a community, and change a nation. Three simple words can conjure up images of a multitude of movements. Three simple words can transcend cultural differences. These three simple words provided inspiration for the United Farm Workers movement, helped elect the first African American President of the United States of America, and permeated international politics. These three simple words are: “YES WE CAN!”
The slogan “Yes We Can” became nationally recognized in the United State during Barack Obama?s 2008 campaign for president. The slogan did not originate when Barack Obama said it in his infamous “Yes We Can” speech, nor did its power and influence end on Election Day (November 4th 2008). The intercontinental recognition of this slogan and its different cultural significance is the reason why I choose to examine the slogan “Yes We Can”. I will focus on its importance in social movements, and its overlap among multiple social movements.
The Power of Metaphor in Presidential Healthcare Rhetoric- Natalie Pennington
For over seventy years the United States federal government has attempted to pass legislation for comprehensive health care, each time failing to reach a consensus on the creation of a health care system that would satisfy the demands of both Republicans and Democrats. First brought before the senate floor in 1933 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s Social Security legislation, comprehensive health care quickly dropped off and remained an unattainable goal for the American people, a campaign promise made by each president elect, but never fulfilled— until now. Legislation in both the House and Senate concerning universal health insurance coverage is closer to being signed into law than any legislation on the issue has ever been before. What then, has changed over time, to allow the opportunity for health care reform to become so close to reality?
Negotiating the Greek Feminist- Maurianna Shelbourn
The knowledge and societal construction of classic Greek writers has, arguably, been studied since the inception of these texts—with ample praise and criticism from scholars throughout history. As the foundations of Western democracy were lain and modern rational thought, Greek epics, essays, and dialogs established a place in classroom curricula so students and instructors alike [...]
Editor’s Note(2009)- Natalie Pennington
I'm a great believer that any tool that enhances communication has profound effects in terms of how people can learn from each other, and how they can achieve the kind of freedoms that they're interested in.- Bill Gates
The past year at Kansas State University has seen as much innovation as the field of Communication Studies has as a whole in the past decade. Following a trend set by other universities, the Speech Communication, Theatre and Dance department is now known as the Communication Studies, Theatre and Dance department. This change in name has seen an influx of new ideas and bright faces to the department (from professors to students) that are well represented in the range of papers submitted and accepted for publication in Volume Two of the Journal of Advances in Communication Theory and Research.
Each paper chosen for this issue shares a common understanding that the way in which we choose to communicate has changed drastically in the twenty-first century. Whether that be recruitment techniques by universities, creating a new identity on Second Life, or the work balance of today’s working mother, the contributors to this issue show that we must look at, comprehend, and evaluate communication patterns as they emerge. In these works we see all areas of study within the communication field well represented: interpersonal, organizational, rhetorical, qualitative, quantitative, and more. While technology is a main source of the change in communication patterns, the authors also draw on social changes in what is acceptable to interpret and advance theories and research in communication, showing that people can alter and improve their communication for a variety of reasons.
The Role of Kinesics in an Interview- Hailey Berry
The purpose of this research assignment was to evaluate the role of kinesics in an interview and determine if nonverbal cues can affect the outcome of an interview. To further analyze this subject, five candidates were interviewed to explain their thoughts on whether or not they even consider nonverbal cues essential in an interview. To conclude, the finding showed that nonverbal cues, specifically kinesics, influence the outcome of an interview, but the amount of influence is greater among older individuals and less important in younger individuals.
One quote that inspired me to research this topic came from the renowned writer and management consultant, Peter F. Drucker. He said, “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said.” By the end of college most students begin the strenuous process of interviewing. Of course, some students have the luxury of a job being given to them, but most are required to go out and interview for the jobs they desire. I have actually interviewed with approximately six companies and have sat through roughly fifteen interviews during my college career. I have often wondered if it was my answers that truly got me the offers, or if it had to do with some other factors. After seeing students do mock interviews I noticed that some people tended to fidget or avoid eye contact during the interview. This seemed distracting, but I began to wonder if I had done that during my interviews. This further made me consider if these nonverbal cues had any real impact on the outcome of an interview. Were interviewers purposefully trying to pick up on your nonverbal cues, or were they merely interested in what you had to say? This led me to my decision to focus my interview on the role of kinesics and what impact, if any, they have on the outcome of an interview. My paper will focus on what interviewers focus on during an interview and whether or not they are looking for any nonverbal cues, specifically kinesics. To take it a step further I will explore how the interviewers perceive certain nonverbal cues and the effect that places on the final outcome of the interview.
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1896 A.U. Football Team
College football is a game of tradition. The NCAA keeps records as far back as 1889 when Amos Alonzo Stagg was an All-American at Yale. Even though the game has changed considerably since Stagg’s day, tradition has remained its cornerstone. In 1995 Alfred University honored one of its finest traditions by celebrating the 100th anniversary of its first football team. AU competed with 199 other Division III schools for the honor of playing for the national championship. The title game? It’s named after Stagg. Times may have changed, but tradition has remained constant.
"It’s important for the students at AU to have a football program,” Saxons athletic director and former head coach Jim Moretti said. "There’s nothing like a cool, crisp fall Saturday afternoon on Merrill Field. The game inspires pride and is an opportunity for all students on campus to learn about teamwork, cooperation and sportsmanship.”
Those noble qualities were what inspired a group of AU students to form the school’s first team in the fall of 1895. The Alfred "eleven” as the team was known then played three games against local teams from Wellsville and Bradford, losing all three to the bigger and rougher players on those squads. W.F.Goodwin Thatcher, a student enrolled at the University in 1895, recalled the origins of AU’s first team in a 1951 letter. Thatcher admitted he was too small to play, but claimed to have knowledge of the game from watching his cousin Wellington Lee, a player on the town team from Hornell, and passed along the rudiments of the game to the eager AU players. The first practice was held without equipment or even a football. When some of the older students got involved equipment was acquired from a mail-order house.
The team still needed a coach and Thatcher remembered the day George Hill arrived. "On one occasion an older man came over from Wellsville for a day or two to act as coach. He had actually played football and his contribution proved most valuable.” The AU eleven fared much better in its second season under coach Leonard Winfield. AU won its first three games and tied its last two, producing shutout victories over Hornell, the Hornell YMCA and a scoreless tie with Wellsville.
Success was shortlived, however. Under the guidance of Walter Greene, a player on the inaugural team, AU didn’t win a game in 1897 or ’98.
The years leading up to World War I were marked by two trends. The first was AU began to gradually weed out games with local teams and play a more collegiate schedule. The other trend was the Saxons changed coaches virtually every year. From 1899 to 1914, Alfred had 12 different coaches who compiled a 31-41-8 record over that span.
E. R. Sweetland, an All-American at Cornell in 1899, took over the team in 1915 and coached it to a 4-2 season including a 13-7 victory over Syracuse University’s freshman team. It has long been thought and listed in the all-time records as such that the victory was over the Syracuse varsity. Alfred’s only attempt against Syracuse’s regulars was in 1905, when the Saxons were on the wrong end of a 46-0 score.
With Sweetland at the helm AU won regularly, posting a 17-5-0 record during his four years as coach, including the school’s first unbeaten and untied season in 1917. His replacement, Aloysius Wesbeacher took over the team in 1920, but barely kept AU over .500 during his three-year reign. The rest of the 1920’s were marred by poor teams. The low point came in 1927 when the Saxons failed to score in any of their nine games. AU did win a game by forfeit, however, and the "scoreless wonders” made it into Ripley’s "Believe it or Not” for that distinction.
John Calloway assumed control of the team in 1930 and led AU to its first winning season in seven years. The team went 4-3-1 that year including a season-ending 66-0 loss to powerhouse Yale in the Yale Bowl. The 1930 season marked a first for Alfred, a night game. The idea for "nocturnal football” came from a graduate manager named Paul Orvis. Orvis assumed, quite correctly in hindsight, that more fans would come out to see a game on Saturday night than would attend a Friday afternoon contest. On Sep.2, AU beat Clarkson 27-0 under the lights in what is considered to be the first night football game played in Western New York. Calloway went on to a 12-18-7 record in his five years as coach and was replaced in 1935 by John Cox, who won two games that season. Cox’s team went 0-5-1 in 1936.
The legendary Alex Yunevich came to Alfred in 1937 and promptly resurrected the football program with a 7-0-0 season. His 36-year reign was interrupted only by a stint in the navy from 1942-1946. AU didn’t field a team in those years because the men of Alfred were busy helping with the war effort.
Upon his return, AU picked up where it left off, by winning football games. The glory days of AU football came roughly from 1951-56. The Saxons went 38-42 during that stretch including three of Yunevich’s six unbeaten seasons. In 1955 and ’56, AU posted 8-0-0 and 7-0-0 records in back-to-back seasons behind the play of right end Chuck Shultz, who earned first team Little All-American honors for his efforts.
The next few years were lean ones for Yunevich and the Saxons, but that changed with an 18-16 victory over Susquehanna during the 1964 season which has been immortalized as the "Miracle at Merrill.” Susquehanna pounded AU 68-0 the season before and was looking to inflict similar damage that day. The Crusaders took an 8-0 lead, but the Saxons scored the next 18 points on a touchdown pass from Don Sagolla to Keith Gregory and a pair of running scores by Tom Quinn. Susquehanna’s John Vigone returned the kick after Quinn’s second score 85 yards to make the game 18-16, but it was all the Crusaders, ranked 8th in the nation by the Associated Press, could muster.
Yunevich and the Saxons received national attention in 1971 when Moretti, a native of nearby Hornell, led AU to an 8-0-0 season and first place in the Lambert Bowl voting for small schools. At the award ceremony held at the Touchdown Club in New York, Yunevich stood next to Joe Paterno of Penn State as the pair accepted the Lambert Trophy representing the best team in the East for both large and small schools. Moretti passed for 4,034 yards and 36 touchdowns during his career and took over head coaching duties from Sam Sanders in 1985.
Sanders replaced Yunevich after the 1976 season. Following a coach who accumulated a 177-85-12 record was no simple task, but Sanders held his own. His teams went 49-27-2 in his eight years at AU.
In 1981, Sanders led AU to a 10-0 regular season record and the school’s first-ever NCAA Division III playoff appearance. The Saxons lost a 13-12 heartbreaker to Montclair State in the opening round of the tournament.
Under Moretti, AU was 60-38-3, including ECAC North championships in 1986 and 89.
"To me, AU football tradition begins with Alex Yunevich. I’d like to think that Sam (Sanders) and myself carried on that winning tradition, "Moretti said, "I talk a lot about tradition and Alex to my players. It gets carried down from the seniors to the new players as the torch gets passed year after year.”
Moretti added, "Tradition goes beyond the game on the field. Tradition comes from the alumni and community who have supported the teams from the beginning.”
The team continues today under the leadership and direction of coach Dave Murray.
Written for the Alfred Magazine (Fall 1995) by R.J. Hydorn. Updated May 2005.
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A decision by the municipality’s Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) in July to recommend to council that regulations be amended to allow aquaculture operations in rural industrial zones (with environmental concerns addressed) was questioned by many residents.
The change would be one of several legislative adjustments necessary for the establishment of an eel production facility on Blueberry Hill in Chebogue by Jason Lee of Red Ocean Inc.
Residents expressed anger at the possible pollution of the scenic and historically-rich Chebogue River.
The proposed site is in a rural development zone so a rezoning application would also have to be submitted. That process would also require public hearings.
Inland aquaculture is presently only allowed in a marine industrial zone.
“How can you make a recommendation to council to approve something that you don’t even understand yourself,” asked Torey Grimshaw.
“That committee should go back to the table, understand what’s going on and then make informed judgment,” she said to applause.
Councillor Leland Anthony turned the lack of information back on the audience when asked for his opinion on the matter.
“You guys want to kill it before you even have the information,” he said.
A public participation meeting on the issue was held on Oct. 16. Grimshaw pointed out the innocuous nature of the advertisement announcing the meeting.
“It says nothing about the actual industry. If you were to read this you’d think, what the hell are they talking about?”
People questioned the net benefit of the
proposed development, with some speakers saying it would be highly mechanized. There was scorn expressed regarding district planner Brad Fulton’s description of the province’s aquaculture industry creating an estimated 750 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs annually.
Dianne Crowell owned and operated an eel processing plant in Argyle for close to 20 years.
She said there was no research based on Fulton’s recommendation.
Her business is for sale and is located on the Argyle River because it needs brackish water for its processing plant.
“You could probably get it for taxes at this point,” she said to laughter.
“He hasn’t gone into any research about what inland aquaculture means, where the waste goes for that.
“I’m going to be very frank with you, this is a way to get a licence to process elvers,” she said.
Elvers are baby eels born in the Sargasso Sea. It takes them a year and a half of swimming to arrive in this region. They are sometimes called glass eels because of their transparency.
Crowell said they command huge prices in today’s market.
“There are about 2,000 elvers in a kilo and presently they are getting thousands of dollars for a kilo. In Korea they are grown through aquaculture. In some countries they are the most expensive appetizer you’ll ever entertain, way more expensive than caviar,” she said.
Council will debate the PAC motion on Nov. 28 and will either pass, change or reject it. The item may also be returned to the PAC with a request for a different proposal related to the issue.
Should council approve the motion by the PAC, a public hearing must be held, with two weeks notice given of the upcoming meeting.
The change allowing aquaculture operations in an RI zone would affect all of the RI zones in the municipality.
If residents do not agree with the decision, they can apply to the Utility and Review Board of Nova Scotia to challenge it.
A new development would also be subject to developmental agreements.
Despite these hurdles, many residents expressed concern that the PAC was advancing the progress of the proposal with little information about the proposed business.
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Recognized by Michigan law, this document describes your wishes for treatment if you are unable to express them.
Under this law, you have the right to designate another person, or patient advocate, to make decisions for you. Your patient advocate will work with your physician and health care team to make the same kinds of decisions you would make for yourself.
Your advocate must be:
With your authorization, your advocate can:
If you don't have a durable power of attorney for health care and are unable to communicate your health care wishes, Beaumont physicians and staff will consider all available information and will look for the nearest next of kin to make decisions.
Preparing a Durable Power of Attorney
You do not need to contact an attorney to prepare a durable power of attorney. Forms are available from several sources, including Beaumont Patient Registration. Call 248-898-5011 or download the form.
Living wills let you state in writing the health care treatment you would want if you become terminally ill or permanently unconscious. Unlike durable Power of attorney for healthcare, living wills do not name anyone to make decisions for you. No specific Michigan law recognizes or defines the form, content or permissible scope of a living will.
Beaumont recognizes that a living will made by a competent adult should be honored when it has been appropriately written and executed. If you are unsure of how to fill out your living will, consult an attorney and/or physician.
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More than Meets the Eye
-James John Bell
The Heart of the Timber Industry Suffers an Attack
A Riot of Color and Spirit
Confronting the FTAA in Quito
smartMeme II: The Next Environmental Movement
-the smartMeme project
Escalera Nautica: Stairway from Heaven to Hell
Developers Descend into the Gulf of California
-Sonya A. Diehn
Prisoners in the Struggle
A Riot of Color and Spirit
Confronting the FTAA in Quito
On October 31, thousands of people from around the world gathered in Quito, Ecuador, to protest the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) ministerial summit.
Trade representatives from 34 countries hammered out the second draft of the agreement, which would “unite the economies of the Western Hemisphere into a single free trade area,” resulting in tremendous human rights violations and ecological devastation. The Journal received the following eyewitness account from a US activist in Quito.
I don’t know if I feel like crying because I am so moved by what I saw today, because my mucous membranes are shot to hell from too much tear gas or out of sheer exhaustion.
Tonight, I watched some of the most oppressed people in the world confront some of the most influential. I watched a group of poor farmers, indigenous people and workers speak, shout, sing truth to power. I think I watched the terrain of hemispheric politics shift before my eyes. I feel so inspired, and I feel so humbled.
When the day started, I was 13 miles south of Quito, with maybe 300 indígenas. We were one of two protest caravans that had crossed the country to spread the word about the protest against the FTAA summit. The other caravan reported that it had 80 people. “And this is how it ends,” I thought. “Four months of work, promising reporters, funders and countless activists in North America that thousands of people would come to disrupt the FTAA ministerial meeting. And we were going to end up with 500 people rallying in a park.” However, soon after we got down off the buses and began the seven-mile trek to Quito, the number of people seemed to mysteriously increase.
The procession was a riot of color, and people lined the streets to watch as it passed by. One shopkeeper explained to me that the indigenous people were like burros, dragging along the rest of the country—who also are opposed to the FTAA but who let the indigenous movement carry the torch for their opposition.
When we finally reached our destination, we rounded the corner and found up to 6,000 people waiting. As the two groups approached each other, people on each side were visibly stirred. Some began to run. At this point, I realized that after months of frantic organizing, the mobilization was a reality, that we had already won, that thousands of campesinos and indígenas had come to Quito to reject US-style “free” trade. And I simply began to bawl.
Our group continued toward the Marriott hotel, where trade ministers from North and South America were arriving to negotiate a treaty that would wipe out small farmers, hand corporations a sweeping set of tools to evade environmental, consumer and labor laws, as well as force the privatization of water, health care, education, culture and biodiversity.
As we headed north, we were joined by large groups of campesinos, students, trade unionists and international activists that had already been fighting battles with the police.
The march was led by a line of campesino and indigenous leaders (dirigentes) walking arm-in-arm, preceded by a shaman conducting rites to improve the success of our efforts. We were soon stopped by several hundred riot police. The dirigentes asked to send a delegation of civil society groups into the summit to deliver a giant letter containing thousands of proposals and comments from campesinos who couldn’t come to the protest. The request was soundly refused.
They deliberated and decided to head west toward the Volcan Pichincha. As we rounded the corner, we saw at least a thousand people ahead of us. More groups drifted in from the sides, and soon the street was packed for perhaps eight or 10 blocks, with more people out of sight. There must have been between eight and 15,000 people. There were giant puppets, a smattering of black-clad anarchists, labor leaders, a surprising number of international activists and lots of campesinos. From 75-year-old women to small children, everyone was visibly thrilled to be there.
The police began to volley tear gas both at and over the crowd—so that as people ran away, they ran into more gas. I walked until I couldn’t see or breathe, then began to run, then someone grabbed my hand and led me away. The president of the National Judicial Workers Union was hit with three tear gas canisters and taken to the hospital. Several young kids passed out and almost asphyxiated. One woman fell on her baby, and the baby was injured.
The attack was a reminder that “free” trade can only proceed with brutal repression, which is now so commonplace at trade summits that it hardly elicits comment.
At six p.m., the dirigentes decided to try once more to deliver their giant letter—this time at the Swiss Hotel, where the trade ministers were meeting with assorted corporate CEOs and trade lobbyists. In a strategic attempt to boost legitimacy and deter disruptive protests, the government had made offers to allow a couple of civil society representatives to address the ministers. On these terms, the indigenous and campesino groups had refused. Tonight, 2,000 people marched up to the police barricades and demanded that a much larger delegation be allowed to deliver the letter. Clearly hoping to avoid the kind of confrontations that have occurred in past uprisings here, the government allowed 45 people from across the hemisphere to meet with the ministers.
Hearing this was going on, I ran to the hotel, easily passing through several police lines because I had press credentials for the summit. I followed the shouting until I reached an auditorium where perhaps 20 trade ministers sat uncomfortably on stage while 45 campesinos chanted that they had no desire to be a US colony. It was a scene that was, I think, unprecedented in the history of trade negotiations.
Soon the civil society presentations began. A line of people fanned out in front of the ministers holding signs that said, “Sí a la vida, No al ALCA” (Yes to life, No to the FTAA). Behind the podium stood an indigenous representative holding a beautifully painted Inca sun that had North America and South America in the center with the words: “Sí Una Integración Solidaria Con Respeto a la Soberanía de los Naciones.” (Yes to an integration based on solidarity, with respect for the sovereignty of nations.)
The first speakers were representatives of an international meeting of parliament and Congress members from across the hemisphere. They condemned the FTAA process and called for an alternative agreement, one that respects the needs and particular situations of the people from each country.
Several representatives of a “civil society” forum that was organized by a number of relatively pro-neoliberal organizations with close ties to the government came next. Their proposals were generally tepid, but they were for the most part drowned out by the crowd.
Finally, the social movement representatives spoke. Leonidas Iza, the president of CONAIE (the Ecuadorian indigenous federation), stated the social movement’s clear rejection of the FTAA and neoliberalism. “We don’t have food to feed our children. Our markets are flooded with cheap imports. Imported milk is dumped in Ecuador for half of what it costs to produce, and multinationals sell it back to us for more than we can afford. We have no way to live, and the FTAA will only make it worse. When we complain, the US government calls us terrorists. We are not threatening anything, but we are hungry and tired. Things have to change.” In the wake of widening protests throughout Latin America, the message was not lost on anyone.
Then a woman from Nicaragua read a statement that synthesized the results of dozens of workshops and forums held during the week. She spoke of the privatization, poverty and social exclusion the FTAA would bring, particularly for women. “We have not come here to dialogue,” she told the ministers, “because your governments have been closed to any type of real dialogue, to listening and taking into account the feelings of civil society. We have come here to demand the suspension of the FTAA negotiations and the final surrender of decisions affecting the destinies of our countries to the people of each sovereign nation.”
The meeting ended, and the moderator hurriedly announced that the ministers were leaving and could we please sit down so that they could leave. “No!” screamed the civil society folks in unison, and they pushed out the door, leaving the ministers sitting on the stage.
At that moment, I felt something shift. I realized that the FTAA had, in a few short weeks, gone from something whose praises its proponents sang, to something they needed to defend. Like the World Trade Organization before it, the FTAA has become a treaty that has to be sold to a people that do not want it. This is how it feels here.
If I am right, the hemispheric resistance to free trade and the FTAA has taken a huge step forward—even if this is but one day in a long struggle where many more battles will be fought.
Justin Ruben is a global justice organizer who spent the Summer and Fall in Quito, Ecuador, working with small farmers on the campaign against the FTAA.
Other articles by Justin Ruben.
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Project management has contributed diverse triangles as it has evolved. From the traditional project triangle to the agile inverted triangle and, recently, the agile triangle. In this article, I am proposing going one step beyond the agile triangle by taking into consideration lean thinking to add a fourth element, specifically that of design, to form the lean-agile prism.
During my last business trip an upscale long-stay business hotel asked me to make an assessment of the operations automation software system they developed in- house. One of the objectives of the hotel is to differentiate from competitors by offering its guests amazing accommodations and very efficient service. Its rooms are fabulous, with great interior design and functionality. Customer service seems to be good as far as I could tell (best way to assess that would be by staying as a guest for several days). An important factor they have been working on to offer excellent service is a high-degree of automation. To achieve that they have developed most of their software systems in-house and wired the entire building such that they can monitor and control all sorts of activity. It goes from familiar functions such as room access monitoring to access to safe boxes, detailed phone activity, Internet usage, room cleaning service, laundry, parking, lost-and-found, promotions, you name it.
The amount of work and time put into developing all of the automation systems and the level of automation achieved is impressive. As the systems manager (Let’s call him Mike in this article) proudly showed his amazing work —and I really mean his work since Mike single-handedly developed pretty much all the software— I noticed that he also expressed frustration because the hotel staff continuously called him for help. The pager would go off at any time of the day or the night. The staff would have all sorts of problems on issues that didn’t really exist because the software actually covered them. The high incidence of human error was also very frustrating to Mike. He was sure the problem resided in the level of education and the lack of familiarity with computers of most of the staff.
What are the real issues? Let’s analyze this from the project management triangles standpoint.
II. Analyzing Triangles
The iron triangle.
Quite some time ago I started taking project management courses. At one of those courses, the instructor started talking about the iron triangle . It depicts the three main considerations for project management: Scope, Cost, and Schedule (see Figure 1). This tells us that we must determine, measure, and monitor those three if we want our projects to be successful. Conceptually you must determine the weight of two of them and allow the third one to slide as needed to accommodate those weights. Traditional projects are plan driven, save rare exceptions, and that means cost and schedule estimates drive the restrictions, which are the features.
Since my focus of attention at that time was on quality assurance I raised my hand and asked the instructor: “excuse me, where is quality?”. He made a pause and then said, “quality is implicit and in the middle of the triangle”. I wasn’t pleased with the answer because I think quality is too important to be just “implicit”. After that day I didn’t go back to finish the course.
Figure 1. The Project Management Iron Triangle
In real life, there are executives who set all three of the triangle’s considerations at the beginning of the project and don’t change them until late in the game, when the actual circumstances give them no option. Upper management tries to avoid such fluctuations because it is often considered a sign of failure, and as consequence quality is compromised too often.
Although Mike has a 2-person staff that is under-qualified, he is still a one-man show who is so busy attending all sorts of matters that the time to enhance and maintain the current code
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There are dozens of articles like this one on the net. Over and over people suggested solutions like this for different reasons and although I know that such thing probably won't happen any time soon, from my point of view now it is the best moment ever in the history of both operating systems to merge in a one powerful alliance. And the hell has already frozen over, hasn't it?
First I will give short description of both OSes, so we can see the strong and the weak sides of them and see if the combination should eliminate the shortcomings and make the good points even better.
After running MacOS X several years exclusively on PowerPC processors from IBM and Freescale (former part of Motorola), Apple decided to make a switch towards x86 architecture, which is completed now. PowerPC version of OS is still developed, although no one outside Apple knows for how long this version will be feature complete with the x86 version. While the kernel of MacOS X is freely available, the complete OS costs about $150 per seat.
The kernel of MacOS X is called Darwin, it is open sourced, but it is not very popular among third party developers outside Apple. First reason is that the development itself is closed source, only the finished kernel is delivered by Apple, sometimes with months of delay. So the developer can study the kernel, write drivers for it, but has only little influence on the development of the kernel itself. The second reason is that the architecture of the kernel is quite unusual. It is an outdated Mach3 microkernel with a FreeBSD "personality". So after understanding of the concept, still hardly anyone can explain the reason (probably heritage of NextStep) and the benefits of having such architecture. Some people are talking about Frankenstein OS, which consists of parts somehow glued together and brought to life. The problem with such approach is that the concepts from other OSes cannot be applied to Darwin. That might affect security, reliability and scalability of the OS, because there is no experience from other OSes, so all these topics require extra effort and research. Virtualization is not even on agenda of the kernel developers. Darwin kernel has also received lot of negative press, because it lost several benchmarks against Linux and Solaris. Even if the benchmarks were not always correct, they still contribute to the negative image of Darwin, which decreases the amount of voluntary programers, who want to spend their time with this program.
The UI and user-land programming on the other hand are among the best in class. MacOS X was the first platform with 3D GUI acceleration, is very consistent and simple to use, but powerful. Lot of technologies like Quicktime, ColorSync, PDF-based compositing system, desktop-search system Spotlight, Core Audio and Core Image are built-in and are used by the OS itself and by the third-party programs. MacOS X can be used by not tech-savvy people without any knowledge of the command line. For command line-aware people, whole UNIX power is available. MacOS X also includes an X-Window server, so even UNIX-programs, which require graphical output can be ported to MacOS X. The programming of MacOS X is either possible using libraries and languages known from other UNIX platforms like TK, QT, Motif for libraries and C, C++, Perl for languages or MacOS X-native Cocoa or Carbon environments.
Main usage of MacOS X is creation and consumption of multimedia content, video and image editing, audio processing, desktop publishing, main focus is desktop user, who might not be aware of command line and should not be. MacOS X is used as server mostly in MacOS X environment. Most of the software has already been ported from PowerPC to x86 or is still in development. For PowerPC-only software there is an emulator available, which translates PowerPC code to x86 commands.
MacOS X is supposed to run on Apple computers only. Apple offers two lines of notebooks, three lines of desktop computers and one server line. Although it is theoretically possible to run MacOS X on an other x86 compatible computer from other manufacturer it is legally forbidden. Drivers exist only for devices, which are used by Apple computers, so running the OS on a computer with different devices, might cause problems. MacOS X has been already tried out for running on 8 processors (2 4-core Intel processors). However, there are no experiences how well it scales for this number of processors or even above (remember, Linux 2.2 was also running with 16 processors, but it did not scale well). The maximum supported amount of memory is 16GB.
With the open-sourcing of the Solaris 10 version of its operating system, Sun has awaked new interest in it. Solaris 10 is running on SPARC and x86 processors both versions are feature-complete. There are attempts of porting it to PowerPC processors as well. Solaris 10 is available for free, however you have to pay for support.
The kernel of Solaris is BSD UNIX with some heritage from System V (according to the www.levenez.com/unix/ ). The kernel is very scalable (largest server offered by Sun contains 72 CPUs), secure (merged with parts of Trusted Solaris), reliable (Solaris Fault and Service Managers, Self-Healing technologies). Technologies like Containers for virtualization, DTrace for debugging and performance optimization, ZFS as high-end file system are still not available on other systems (or have been ported from Solaris). Performance-wise Solaris gets very good notes from several benchmarks. It receives lot of attention from the open source community. Sun releases very often previews of the next version of Solaris and works close with the third-party developers.
On user-land side, Solaris 10 is delivered with completely outdated CDE or Java Desktop 3, which is based on GNOME. This software is included in Java Desktop 3:
• GNOME 2.6
• Evolution 1.4.6
• Mozilla 1.7 browser
• OpenOffice.org 1.1 (basis for StarOffice 7 suite)
One can see, that this software is completely outdated (compared with e.g. SUSE Enterprise Desktop). There is no 3D-acceleration included, no desktop search. And nowhere on the net I could find a shipping date for Java Desktop 4. Moreover Sun will have problems sticking with further versions of GNOME, because it seems, that GNOME's high-level language will be Mono's C#, which is big rival for Sun's JAVA. User-land programming is done in JAVA, C, C++ with GTK+, QT or Motif libraries.
Solaris is heavily used in technical and science areas. It is still OS of choice for such tasks as EDA, CAD, CAM, CAE. It is also used as server OS for large databases, file and computation server or websites in mixed environments. The user should be very skilled in usage of the command line and understanding of UNIX. Lot of software, which is available for SPARC only has still not been ported to x86. There is no emulator available, which could translate SPARC commands to x86 (the only emulator demonstrated by Intel translates SPARC code into Itanium code, Sun tries to ignore that one). Currently there are no plans to abandon SPARC processor, but the roadmap for a workstation SPARC processor is not quite clear.
Solaris runs on wide variety of SPARC and x86 based hardware, especially servers from big companies. But it has to share the same problems as Linux with notebooks, where there might be no support for non-standard hardware build-in, or no open available documentation, so no open source drivers may exist. Sun also produces workstations and servers for Solaris.
Elimination of Shortcomings
Now it becomes clear that the weak side of the MacOS X is its kernel. Even if it is technologically interesting, it has negative image in the minds of developers, so there are only few people outside Apple, who are doing research and develop for Darwin. Lost benchmarks, complex architecture (and unknown security holes as a result), not proven scalability, lack of virtualization, self-healing, and a noncompetitive file system also doesn't make it system of choice for large server administrators. Additionally, though MacOS X is a UNIX system, there is hardly commercial software available, which comes from "old" UNIX platforms (e.g. Solaris).
The weak side of Solaris it is user-land. While making good shape on server, Solaris looses ground on workstation market, especially to Linux. Lot of workstation software packages, which were running on SPARC Solaris, are not ported to Solaris x86, but to Linux instead. Linux supports more hardware, it receives more frequent updates and ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) see no point in supporting two very similar (from the workstation point of view) operation systems on the same hardware. Unclear situation on the SPARC side (for the workstation) only increases the problem.
Strengthen the Good Sites
So what kind of advantages will the user have, if both systems will be merged?
- industry-proven, trusted, fast, reliable, secure, scalable kernel as fundament
- server OS with great manageability as known from MacOS X server
- unmatched technologies like DTrace, ZFS, Containers, Spotlight, Time Machine, Quicktime and so on in one package
- attractive UI with modern multimedia, office and communication software for former Solaris users
- programs from both worlds on one platform
- increased number of users, who might attract developers for porting their programs to this platform
- new buzz OS for geeks
- shared development resources
Is it just a dream?
Both companies Apple and Sun must change their politics to make such a dream happen. Apple has to accept that they do not have the full control over the development of the kernel, Sun has to accept that after open sourcing the whole OS, parts of it will be closed again (Aqua part, Apple will never open-source that one). From the license point of view such a merging is possible, I hope Sun will not do something stupid and put Solaris under GPL as they announced not so long ago. Both OS need to get some attention from users and developers for not being crushed from Windows on one side and Linux on the other. Sun should also declare SPARC workstations as depreciated, so not the complete OS should be ported to SPARC, but only the server relevant one. An emulator should translate SPARC code to x86. Aqua should run only on selected hardware, but kernel can run on a variety of x86 platforms. The Solaris port to PowerPC should be accomplished, but the quality doesn't have to match the x86 package, because, PowerPC platform is not the main business for Apple, they should do it only for the compatibility reasons. The interesting thing is that some of Solaris code has already been ported to Darwin, namely DTrace and there are lot of rumors, that ZFS will also find its way into the new Leopard. So why not make a big step and take the whole portion instead small crumbles.
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Madeleine Sackler is no Michael Moore.
The documentary filmmaker felt the urge to tell both sides behind the charter school debate, the subject of her new feature The Lottery.
Only one side wasn’t talking.
“I thought it was really important as a documentary filmmaker to try to capture all perspectives,” Sackler says.
So the filmmaker sought out the school union members who slam the charter school model and tried to shoot footage inside some public school buildings.
The sources claimed they didn’t have time to speak to her for the film even though she tried repeatedly over the course of an entire year to let them defend themselves. And the few folks who agreed to speak to her from the union perspective, like families opposed to charter schools, never showed up at the appointed time, she says.
“You have a choice as a filmmaker. Either stop making the movie or make the movie you have access to,” she says.
The Lottery proves the forces behind the charter school movement are only too proud to share their educational story. The film follows four families who apply to a lottery for the chance to enroll at Harlem Success Academy, an elementary school where students are expected to thrive — and typically do.
Audiences get to know four sweet-faced children and the parents who pray they won’t have to enter the public school system, a portrait in underachievement.
The film details the sorry statistics of union-fueled schools and, more importantly, reveals how desperate many urban parents are to flee them. The Lottery winners get no cash reward for their troubles. They simply get the chance to enroll their children in a school which will give them a greater chance to thrive later in life.
The Lottery will be viewed by some as partisan reportage, especially given the conservative position on school choice. Variety’s John Anderson calls the film “advocacy to the point of propaganda” – a charge critics rarely level at the aforementioned Moore.
Sackler begs to differ.
“It’s political but not partisan,” she says. “Of all the interviewees in the film, almost all are Democrats, which was in no way intentional.”
The charter school debate is evolving, she says, leaving ideological name tags behind.
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Everybody in town seems to have a Johnny Winter story.
From impromptu (and often drunken) performances at local dive bars to encounters with the visiting rock star while he rode his bike around Beaumont to the oft-relayed tale of the day Johnny Winter brought Bob Dylan to Beaumont (That one didn’t happen — I asked), Johnny and his brother Edgar have a rock ‘n roll history that’s entwined with both American and local music legend.
Winter himself is legend enough that an introduction seems frivolous, but I’ll try: Ranked 74th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, Winter’s intensely energetic blues rock gained him superstar status in the 1960s and ’70s. He’s played with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and produced three Grammy-winning albums for Muddy Waters, who — according to Rolling Stone — once said of Winter, “He plays eight notes to my one!”
While Winter said he hasn’t been back to Beaumont since his mother, Edwina Winter, died a year ago, Winter’s early blues and rock ‘n roll inspiration was nurtured — by both a musical family and a diverse local music scene — while growing up in an upper middle class family in Beaumont.
Despite a loving, stable home, it wasn’t hard for Johnny and Edgar Winter to connect with the blues: Both were born with albinism, which, though uncommon today, was completely unheard-of in Southeast Texas in the ’50s, when the Winter brothers were coming into their own in Beaumont.
In Winter’s biography, “Raisin’ Cain,” he talks at length of growing up ostracized because of his albinism. Mary Lou Sullivan, the journalist who wrote the detailed biography, quotes Johnny as saying he was nearly laughed off stage by a Beaumont audience who didn’t know what to think of a pre-pubescent albino boy playing “Johnny B. Goode” on the stage of a movie theater. That 1959 performance was Winter’s first time playing rock ‘n roll for an audience.
“Most of the stuff we talked about of being a kid in Beaumont was how mean everybody was to him for being albino,” Sullivan said in a phone interview last week, though she added that, in those days, Winter would have likely faced ostracism for his condition wherever he lived.
When I asked Johnny by phone last week about that first performance, he waved it off as a pleasant one, and I didn’t push it — Who wants to remember the bad parts, anyway?
“That got me one of my first record deals,” he said. “It was good, real good.”
When I spoke with Johnny, he was en route to a gig in New Hampshire. Years of hard living, excessive drinking and drug addiction — all of which Winter is candid about in his book and interviews — have taken its toll on his health and these days, he still completely tears it up on guitar but does so from a chair on stage.
But his health, he says, is holding up enough that after he’s about to embark on an overseas tour, where he’ll hip up Italy, Germany, Greece and other countries before more U.S. touring and then heading in May to Japan, where he’s still selling out arenas.
He’s also keeping busy in the studio: He recently collaborated with Sly Stone and recorded a track with William Shatner.
“He just talks, he can’t sing,” Winter said with a laugh. “But it was fun doin’ it.”
What really made me want to revisit Winter’s Beaumont roots is the album he released last fall, aptly titled “Roots,” which he’s touring in support of. The Megaforce/Sony release — which features guest appearances from blues greats like Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi — covers the songs that influenced him when he was young.
Robert Johnson’s “Dust My Broom,” Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene,” songs from T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Reed, Bill Doggett and Bobby “Blue” Bland — this album brings Johnny Winter’s nimble fingers back to the start, back to the songs he grew up hearing on the radio while sitting up all night in his Beaumont bedroom.
“Well, it was my manager’s idea to do the album and I thought it was a great idea,” Winter said. “I just recorded some of my favorites.”
Returning to his bluesy roots also tells a lot about Winter, who, in the beginning pages of his biography, talks about how he identifies as a bluesman, not a rock star.
“I like being appreciated, I don’t like being worshipped,” he told me.
In interviews, his biography and our conversation, Winter has fond memories of his Beaumont upbringing and relays them with a sharp wit, dry sarcasm and a surprising honesty.
“He was just so funny and self-effacing and he was just so much fun to talk to that I started interviewing him every time he came into town,” Sullivan said.
Some of my favorite stories from Sullivan’s book are laugh-out-loud funny, like the night Winter said he went to see B.B. King at The Raven Club, a black jazz club in Beaumont. It was a rainy night and Winter and his bandmates showed up in dress slacks and black trenchcoats.
“We were the only white people in the club and he (King) thought we were from the IRS,” Winter told me, still laughing about it half a century later. “He was having tax troubles at the time and he thought we were there to collect.”
Despite that, King let Johnny play a song with him that night and it was one of the most formative moments of young Winter’s burgeoning career. At only 17 years old, Winter had already received a standing ovation after performing with a living legend.
“Nobody ever bothered us at all,” Winter said of the times he went to black clubs in Beaumont as a teen. “Black people couldn’t come to the white clubs, though. They would never get away with that.”
That was in 1962. Things continued to ramp up for Winter’s career until 1968, when Rolling Stone ran a piece about the Texas music scene and featured Winter. Suddenly he was being compared to superstars like Janis Joplin, and he was catapulted into rock ’n roll stardom. That stardom was not always kind to Winter, a fact reflected by years of heavy drinking and heroin addiction.
And his connection to Janis, a Port Arthur native runs a little deeper. He met Joplin in 1969 when both were playing a music festival in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Actually, let me rephrase that: After jamming, taking acid and drinking Southern Comfort with Janis all day, Winter threw up on her in a helicopter — vomiting straight into her lap while she held his head in her lap and murmured, ‘Oh, my baby, my baby.’
According to accounts in Winter’s biography, Joplin and Winter soon became friends and
occasional lovers. She tried to talk him out of doing dope; it didn’t work. In the book he talks about attending a New York movie premier with Janis, her clad in feathers and a cape, he in a velvet coat and bellbottom pants — Clearly they were a world away from Port Arthur.
But Janis, unlike Winter at the time, felt an urge to go back. Not long after their movie premier date, Joplin asked Johnny to be her date to her high school reunion in Port Arthur. Johnny said no and Janis went alone.
“I just knew it was gonna be trouble,” Winter told me. “I just knew that was not gonna be good.”
And it wasn’t — Winter told me Joplin was heckled and ridiculed upon her return.
“She didn’t like Port Arthur much,” he said.
But Johnny Winter is filled with kind words for his own hometown, which he said he returned to often while touring in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. Now that his mother is gone, he said he doesn’t have much reason to return.
“It was a good music place, a lot of good musicians around Beaumont and Port Arthur,” he said. “It was a good place to grow up, it really was a good place to grow up.
“I wouldn’t wanna live there again but it was excellent.”
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: Warehouse Live, 813 Saint Emanuel St., Houston
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This Story has scary parts.
An old man named Barnabas lived with his dog in a house a big old house his grandfather had built long ago. Barnabas used to own a store in town, but now he was retired and spent his days panning for gold in nearby streams hoping to some day strike it rich. The dog was a big wolfhound named Sebastian and Barnabas had raised him from a pup he found years ago.
Every morning Barnabas went out to pan for gold and Sebastian stayed behind and guarded their house. One morning, as Barnabas was dumping out a dead pan of gravel, he got the feeling that something was wrong at home.
He hurried home as fast as he could, fearful of what he might find. When he got home, he found everything to be still and quiet - Sebastian was missing. He searched the house and the woods nearby, but Sebastian was nowhere. He called and he called, but the dog did not answer. For days, Barnabas looked for Sebastian but he could find no trace of him.
Finally he gave up and went forlornly back to his work. But one morning before heading out, he heard something moving in the attic. He picked up his gun. Then he thought, "I'd better be quiet about this."
So he took off his boots. In his bare feet, he began to quietly climb the attic stairs. He slowly took one step - then another - then another, until at last he reached the attic door.
He stood outside listening, but he didn't hear a thing. Then he opened the door, and -
(At this point, the storyteller stops, as if he has finished. Then usually somebody will ask, "Why did he scream?"
The storyteller replies, "You'd scream too if you stepped on a nail in your bare feet.")
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President Obama has taken the advice of famous Chicago architect Daniel Burnham. "Make no little plans," Burnham said, "they have no magic to stir men's blood."
Ask most Americans how much it costs to visit a doctor and they probably do not know.
President Obama told his Cabinet on Monday to come up with ways to collectively cut $100 million from their agencies' budgets.
At the World Economic Forum earlier this year, a group of corporate executives engaged in a thought-provoking discussion on a variety of health care topics, including workplace wellness programs.
One of the cornerstones of Washington's omnibus stimulus plan is $19 billion in spending on improved information technology systems in hospitals and other health facilities throughout the U.S.
More companies are adopting a carrot-and-stick approach to lowering their health care costs: reward healthy workers and penalize those who maintain unhealthy habits.
President Obama says work on reforming the health care system "will not wait another year."
President Obama pledged Tuesday night to cure Americans from what he called "the crushing cost of health care," saying the country could not afford to put health-care reform on hold.
It took the Trim family of Arlington, Texas, three hours to go $15,000 into debt.
The cost of prescription medication is breaking many budgets. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has 10 tips to cut costs.
As health care costs continue to rise, more companies are adopting consumer- directed health plans that would lower their own costs but potentially raise costs for employees.
More consumers, struggling to contain medical expenses, are resorting to "pill cutting" to makes their prescriptions last longer.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux looks at President Obama's bid for health care reform.
Sen. Ted Kennedy, who has been recuperating from brain cancer surgery, was back in Washington on Thursday as President Obama set out to tackle a major domestic policy item on his increasingly loaded plate: health care reform.
President Obama on Thursday called for a comprehensive overhaul of the U.S. health care system, warning that soaring medical costs present "one of the greatest threats not just to the well-being of our families ... but to the very foundation of our economy."
At President Obama's health care summit, members of both parties discussed their enthusiasm for reform
The Obama administration is hosting a summit Thursday designed to cure a frustrated patient battling a persistent ailment: The United States and its rising health care costs.
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' experience working with both Democrats and Republicans in her home state could be an asset to President Obama as he embarks on an effort at bipartisanship in reforming health care.
President Obama nominates Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as HHS secretary.
President Obama announced his choices for two key health care positions on Monday, tapping Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for health and human services secretary and former Clinton administration official Nancy-Ann DeParle as White House health care czar.
At 40, Peter Orszag is the youngest member of the Obama Cabinet and one of People magazine's "hottest." These days he's also front and center of the president's key policy initiatives.
Budget director Peter Orszag is the youngest member of the Cabinet. CNN's Jessica Yellin goes behind the scenes.
There is much that is encouraging in President Obama's first budget, but also items of concern for those of us who worry that our growing deficits and debts will imperil America's future.
President Obama has sought to inspire Americans to view the current financial crisis as an opportunity to better the country. In past times of upheaval, he said in his address Tuesday night, the United States emerged with new industries, a better educated citizenry and an economy geared for growth.
President Obama will ask wealthy Americans to deal with a tax increase and pay higher Medicare premiums to help fund a $634 billion health care "reserve fund" aimed at reforming the system, according to senior administration officials familiar with the budget being unveiled Thursday.
President Obama responds to GOP governors who threaten to turn down stimulus aid. CNN's Dan Lothian reports.
President Obama pledged Monday to cut the nation's $1.3 trillion deficit in half by the end of his first term.
President Barack Obama pledged Monday to cut the nation's $1.3 trillion deficit in half by the end of his first term.
CNN.com's Reggie Aqui talks to CNN's Elizabeth Cohen about help for the uninsured.
Dr. John Di Saia was playing baseball with his son a few weeks ago, and just as he rounded second base, he tumbled to the ground, breaking his fall with his elbow.
Struggling with gaping budget deficits, states are eagerly awaiting the hundreds of billions of dollars coming their way from Capitol Hill.
CNN's Charles Hodson reports on the economic advice President Obama is receiving from around the world.
As bad economic numbers fill the headlines day after day, Americans want to believe that better times are ahead. They want jobs, health care for the uninsured, accountability in business and other changes. And President Obama promised on the campaign trail that he would increase regulation of the financial industry, enable people to get affordable health care and put people back to work.
A legacy of President George W. Bush will be that he saved 10 million lives around the world.
Congressional Democrats flexed their new political muscle Wednesday as the House of Representatives passed legislation expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program by more than $32 billion over five years.
Tom Daschle, the new administration's point man on health care reform, calls flaws in health care "corrosive."
President-elect Barack Obama's point man on health care reform wasted no time in portraying a sense of urgency on the issue at his confirmation hearing Thursday.
President-elect Barack Obama is inheriting the worst economy in decades and says he'll need to "invest an extraordinary amount of money" to get it back on track.
Now that President-elect Barack Obama has nominated Sen. Hillary Clinton to be his secretary of state, the governor of New York will appoint a new senator to fill the vacancy.
In early October, Starla Darling was just days away from giving birth to her second child. The 27-year-old mother from Polk, Ohio, had a well-paying job with good health insurance at the Archway Cookie plant in nearby Ashland.
President-elect Barack Obama announced Thursday that he has chosen former Sen. Tom Daschle to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Tom Daschle says he is honored to be nominated as President-elect Obama's health care point man.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle will be announced Thursday as President-elect Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, a Democratic source said Wednesday.
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at a new survey that finds half of all primary physicans surveyed want to leave their practices.
Nearly half the respondents in a survey of U.S. primary care physicians said that they would seriously consider getting out of the medical business within the next three years if they had an alternative.
The first national patient-satisfaction survey suggest U.S. hospitals have a ways to go.
Staring into the abyss always focuses the mind, which can help you avoid falling in. So let's take a look at the potential catastrophe that awaits us once we survive our current crisis.
In his Democratic convention acceptance speech sixteen years ago, Bill Clinton declared that as one of the first initiatives of his administration, he would "take on the health care profiteers and make health care affordable for every family."
Sen. McCain says Sen. Obama voted to raise taxes and has a program that resembles "welfare," not a tax cut.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden ripped into recent comments by his Republican counterpart that suggested that some places in the U.S. are more "pro-America" than others.
Seniors who switch between low-cost generic drugs and the original products based on who's footing the bill are likely driving up the cost of the government's Medicare drug plan, according to a new study.
Health insurance premiums rose a modest 5 percent this year for coverage that's getting skimpier, researchers say
Millions of poor American children have untreated tooth decay, some of them because they cannot find a dentist willing to treat them, a federal report issued Tuesday said.
The monthly premium for the vast majority of the elderly and disabled participating in Medicare will hold steady at $96.40 next year
The budget deficit will jump by $246 billion to $407 billion this year, the Congressional Budget Office estimates in a report released Tuesday.
A survey being released by the Mercer consulting firm found 59% of companies intend to keep down rising health care costs in 2009 by raising workers' deductibles, copays or out-of-pocket spending limits
President Bill Clinton's appearance at the Democratic National Convention last night served as a reminder of the economy we can have with policies that balance fiscal responsibility with investments in our people.
Participation in government health insurance programs -- particularly those aimed at children -- increased from 2006 to 2007, leading to a decrease in the number of Americans lacking insurance, the U.S. Census Bureau said Tuesday.
Entitlement has become a bit of a swear word. In Washington, D.C., it's technically a nonpejorative term for government programs like Social Security and Medicare that aren't subject to the usual budget process.
Americans without health insurance will spend $30 billion out of pocket on medical care this year, according to a new report by George Mason University and the Urban Institute.
A review of Medicare payments to suppliers of wheelchairs, oxygen machines and other medical equipment showed nearly three in 10 were made in error -- about four times the rate previously cited by the federal government, investigators said Monday
CNN's Elizabeth Cohen looks at new government data on hospital mortality rates.
If you or a loved one develops pneumonia or has a heart attack and is taken to a hospital, do you know what the chances are of getting out alive?
The typical Medicare beneficiary can expect to see about a $3 increase in their monthly premiums for prescription drug coverage in 2009, federal officials said Thursday
Health care costs are expected to rise more than 10 percent into next year, according to a survey of insurers by Aon Consulting Worldwide
Republicans were facing pressure Tuesday to vote for a rollback of across-the-board cuts in Medicare payments to health providers after a major doctors' group said the cuts could lead to a "meltdown" of the government's health care system for the elderly.
Insurers set lifetime limits to keep rates low on some policies, but holders are learning that individual caps that seemed large quickly max out as health care costs soar
The cost of health insurance continued its 20-year reign as the number-one issue worrying small-business owners, according to the latest edition of the Small-Business Problems and Priorities survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, released on Monday.
Record the CNN Special Investigations Unit Classroom Edition: Broken Government: Health Care: Critical Condition when it airs commercial-free on Monday, May 19, 2008, from 4:00 -- 5:00 a.m. ET on CNN. (A short feature begins at 4:00 a.m. and precedes the program.)
Reducing health care costs - and insuring the 47 million Americans who have no coverage - is the Rubik's Cube of policy puzzles. And it's one that the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates say they can solve.
A tax credit to help individuals and families buy health insurance is at the heart of a health care proposal Sen. John McCain unveiled Tuesday.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain discusses his health care plans in Florida.
Americans are becoming increasingly worried about saving for their retirement as the nation's economic outlook continues to darken, according to a new survey of workers and retirees released Wednesday.
Fellow Americans, choose your revolution. One way or another, we're getting a new health-care system. The old one is obviously broken. The U.S. now has 47 million uninsured, and costs are out of control. The Department of Health and Human Services predicts that if things continue as they are, health spending will almost double by 2017 to $4.3 trillion, or one-fifth of GDP, vs. 16% today.
A majority of American workers will not be able to maintain their current standard of living after they retire, according to a report released Tuesday.
Sharp confrontations over health care and other issues highlighted a debate among the Democratic presidential front-runners Monday night, with the sniping threatening to overshadow substance days before the South Carolina primary.
Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards answered questions from CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Joe Johns and Suzanne Malveaux in a debate sponsored by CNN and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, Monday night.
The historic deal between GM and the UAW on health benefits is the latest and loudest signal that healthcare will be the largest domestic issue facing the next President. That news, combined with Hillary Clinton's announcement of her plan and the Mayo Clinic's release of its proposal, starts to set the firm outlines of the coming debate.
There is reluctance on the part of both union and management negotiators at Ford Motor and Chrysler to have those company's labor deals with the United Auto Workers union follow the pattern set by General Motors, according to a published report.
General Motors' tentative labor deal with the United Auto Workers union includes guarantees that the automaker will continue to build cars and trucks at its remaining UAW-represented assembly lines, according to highlights of the agreement given to the union's local leadership Friday.
One day after unveiling her health care plan, Sen. Hillary Clinton called criticism of her strategy "politics as usual" and defended the proposal as an effective way to give all Americans affordable insurance.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton announced a $110 billion health care reform plan Monday that would require all Americans to have health insurance.
A deal now in the works between the United Auto Workers and General Motors could include a large signing bonus for workers at the plant as a way of winning approval for the automaker shedding billions in retiree health care costs, according to published reports.
Contract talks between the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. recessed Monday night, slowed so much by the complexity of retiree health care and other issues that a deal could be days away.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is unveiling a sweeping health care proposal Monday that would require everyone to carry health insurance and offer federal subsidies to help reduce the cost of coverage.
John Zarrella reports about a flap over the presidential primary that may keep Democratic candidates out of Florida.
General Motors Corp. and the United Auto Workers still faced significant hurdles at the bargaining table Sunday despite making progress at negotiations a day earlier.
For something that's so central to the contract talks between auto companies and their unionized employees, most workers say a shroud of mystery covers VEBA, or Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association.
United Auto Workers union President Ron Gettelfinger has told members of his bargaining team that he is willing to agree to the creation of a union-controlled trust fund to assume responsibility for nearly $100 billion in retiree health care costs, according to a published report.
Health insurance premiums in 2007 rose 6.1 percent, the lowest growth rate in eight years but still well above inflation and worker earnings, according to the latest annual survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
For three decades, biotech drugmakers have led a charmed existence. Unlike their Big Pharma peers, biotechs - companies such as Amgen, Genentech, Gilead Sciences and Genzyme - have never had to fret over future competition from generic versions of their medicines.
The survival of brands like Chevrolet, Ford and Chrysler could very well depend on whether the United Auto Workers union is willing to assume a $100 billion headache.
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. began talks with the United Auto Workers union Monday, hoping to win sweeping concessions that would slash labor costs for the struggling auto industry.
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Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:18 pm Post subject: ITIL IT service Desk
Hi , I am new to ITIL with foundation certificate under my belt. At the moment struggling hard with the ITIL® definitions of IT Service Desk . Should the first point IT contact center be called ITIL® IT Service Desk or can it be also called ITIL® IT Helpdesk ?
Joined: Jan 03, 2007 Posts: 189 Location: Redmond, WA
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 9:13 am Post subject:
ITIL says that you should have a single point of contact for users to communicate with IT. ITIL uses the term Service Desk and defines what the requirements are for a group to meet the ITIL definition of a Service Desk.
Having said that, I would caution you against getting too hung up on the naming of your organization's Service Desk. You can call it whatever the organization wants.
I know one company that already has a group titled "Service Desk" that is in place to help the business with non-IT related questions. In that situation, calling the IT single point of contact the "Service Desk" would be very confusing.
I would also recommend against using the term ITIL in the title of the single point of contact. ITIL is an acronym that not even every IT professional knows. I would never expect an end user to know what ITIL means. Including ITIL in the title of the group that is the primary contact point for user/IT communication can only cause confusion.
I wounld not use ITIl in the name. A lot of organisations have called the function the "Servcie Desk" when in fact they really only provide "Helpdesk" activities i.e take calls and forward them on and not much more after that. They have no knowledge base system and have very little to do with a first fix.
Should they change the name. Probably not as it may cause confusion. However if and when they decide to implement a ITIl based "Service Desk" they cn promote that as being a "Servie Desk" based on ITIL but still just call it The Service Desk.
The naming is not too important. What is important is that you and the business know if you are just offering Helpdesk activitie or Service Desk activities and if you move from a helpdesk to a service desk that you promote the bemefits and change to the business. _________________ Mark O'Loughlin
ITSM / ITIL Consultant
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 8:30 pm Post subject: ITIL Service desk
Many thanks for getting back . ITIL gives definitions for a Call Center, A helpdesk and an IT Service Desk . By the definitions , IT Service Desk looks like a better place to work than a Call center and a Helpdesk. If we stick to the definitions, the IT Service Desk is a place which offers first line call resolution , which works closely with the Incident and the Problem Management, which participates in the CAB meetings, which takes inputs from the NOC and passes on to the Capacity Management and Availability Management . It all looks like a bunch of technicians working in a system.The Helpdesk on the other hand has to have a set of helpful lots whose job is to help end users and not to play any role in any ITSM processes. Some places the Service Desk is called a function as it has a role to play in all the areas which are called processes. They say V3 has some answers but where is it /when do we see it ?
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
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- Story Ideas
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TRENTON — City police arrested a Trenton Central High School student on Thursday after he told a cab driver he was planning to shoot his classmates.
During lunchtime at TCHS, a fight broke out in the cafeteria and following the fight, a 17-year-old male juvenile involved in the fight fled the school and jumped into a cab, TCHS principal Mark Maurice said. The teen told the driver to take him to his home on the 400 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and wait for him to return from the home. The driver did as the student asked and after the student returned to the cab and told the driver to take him back to school.
While en route back to the high school, police say the teen alledgedly told the driver he was planning to shoot the kids he had been fighting with.
“He said he was going to get back at the kids who jumped him,” Lt. Leonard Aviles said. “He actually showed the driver a .380 semiautomatic handgun.”
When the driver saw the gun, he stopped the cab and yelled at the student to get out. After the student exited the cab, the driver called police around 1:00 p.m. As soon police got the call, the TPD, with the assistance of the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, began searching for the student. Police also notified the school and was placed under lockdown. Maurice said the school was under lockdown for 40 minutes and said the school had an early dismissal at 2:30 p.m.
“We even had the teachers who normally stay after school go home,” Maurice said. “We wanted everyone out of the building.”
Using information from the cab driver, police went to the teen’s home. In plain view at the house, police could see shotgun shells. After speaking with the mother and stepfather of the boy, they consented to a search of the teen’s room. Inside, police found the box for the handgun, a sawed-off double barrel shotgun and 20 bricks of heroin.
“It was a substantial amount of heroin, each of of those bricks had roughly 50 packets,” Aviles said. “Depending on what part of the city you’re in, you could sell that at about $10 to $20 a packet.”
Using Aviles’ estimate on the street value of the drugs and the amount of drugs seized, it’s possible that the high school student had between $10,000 and $20,000 worth of narcotics in his possession. Also found in the teen’s room was a piece of paper with an address on the 1000 block of South Broad Street. Tactical detectives found the student at that address and placed him under arrest around 4:00 p.m. The handgun could not be found.
Maurice said the teen was known to be troubled and has had disciplinary action taken against him in the past.
“I do know that he has spent eight months incarcerated in a youth home,” Maurice said.
Aviles said the teen is facing numerous weapons and drug charges in his juvenile criminal complaint. He has been sent to the Middlesex County Youth home pending court dates.
“We have to be vigilant,” Aviles said. “We’ve seen guns on anyone from granny to a child.”
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A relatively recent paper was published 23 December 2010, which claims we have good evidence for the existence of the multiverse. The most we could conclude from this data is that we live in Max Tegmark’s level two multiverse.
I don’t want overstate the claims the authors make. They suggest that it is evidence in favor of the existence of the “possible multiverse” but it must be corroborated with the upcoming Planck data. You can read their method for how they came to their conclusions but the general key for bubble collision detection was using a specified algorithm for detecting temperature modulations that would occur in such events.
New Planck data have released since the publishing of the paper but they have specified that they are waiting on the seven-year survey so we shouldn’t expect anything too soon. You can view the Planck one-year survey image below (July, 2010).
As I’ve said before, I cannot dismiss the multiverse a priori, though I will certainly constrain my position respective to the evidence. The multiverse is not an adequate objection to the argument from fine-tuning nor is it an objection to the kalam cosmological argument (perhaps a later post for an elaboration). I want to encourage everyone to be more open to the multiverse hypothesis because there is more evidence coming in that is supporting it (don’t get me wrong, there is contrary evidence that must be weighed as well). What is beautiful about this whole situation is that cosmologists and theoretical physicists predicted the multiverse from mathematical equations (and no doubt philosophical presuppositions). If the multiverse hypothesis is true it’s a beautiful discovery because we would have gone from pencil and paper with numbers to actually finding what was predicted by those numbers. We do live in an elegant universe [per Brian Greene].
I’m looking forward to what contributions Planck may have in finding more physical evidence of the multiverse.
Authored by Stephen M. Feeney, Matthew C. Johnson, Daniel Mortlock, and Hiranya V. Peiris.
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This month, one student's impression of the 2007 Teen Delegation,
Natasia Poinsatte, 2007 Summer Youth Delegate from Boulder High School:
Our first 3 days in Managua, like the city itself, were a frenzied blur of images and sounds, racing past too fast for us to comprehend them all.
Most clearly I remember pulling up to La Chureca, a community built on a landfill in Managua. From our charter bus we gazed out upon a sea of
makeshift houses of cardboard and wood, children running naked through pools of congealed waste, dwarfed by looming piles of trash.
And everywhere the smoke rose, dark and impenetrable. I caught the eye of one girl, standing on the edge of the road.
What must she think of me? When the 14 kids from La Chureca first boarded the bus they were timid and reluctant to speak.
My first few clumsy attempts at conversation mostly fell flat, as I seemed incapable of comprehending their rapid responses to my questions.
It was difficult, that first day in a foreign land. Mostly I just observed the people. I noticed Pablo, the oldest, intense and very intelligent.
Then there was Ramon, with his sunny, beautiful smile. We all loved him. Julio and Jose Daniel seemed to have only each other.
Both equally shy, they went everywhere together. As the day wore on, the barriers between us seemed to melt gradually away and
it became easier to speak Spanish. We played games with the little ones and chatted with the older kids. The more I got to know them,
the more painfully aware I became of the difference between our two worlds. I wondered if these children had any concept of my world of excess,
of cars lining every street and 3 story houses. I don't think they do. The contrast is almost unimaginable.
Meeting their families was something else entirely. I was escorted around La Chureca by 3 eager little boys.
I met Pablo's mother first, and she told us that she had 9 children, and that Pablo could not go to school because he had to work in the dump.
I recognized Ramon's mother immediately because she had an identical, beaming smile. She had only 3 kids,
and was sending Ramon to a private school where, she informed us proudly, he was top of his class.
At the end of the 3 days there was a long goodbye, although we hoped we'd see those children soon in Jalapa.
And again we set off into the unknown. Arriving in Jalapa had a bit of a dreamlike quality. Looking back on it,
I can hardly believe those streets and houses I came to know so well had seemed so foreign.
After an introductory meeting, Marie and I met our host family and headed off to our house, which also happened to be a panaderia (bakery).
We boarded the bus early the next morning, and headed to Champaigny to start work on the school.
I was stunned at the vast, misty beauty of the countryside. We were handed picks and instructed to start hacking at the ground.
I don't think we had any idea, then, of the monumental task we'd been assigned. Whoever says you can't move mountains has never been to Nicaragua.
A hill had to be eradicated to make way for a kitchen and latrines. Our motto became "you can never move too much dirt." We worked hard, that first day.
My hands were soon covered in blisters and my face plastered with sweat and dirt. I was none too attractive of a sight,
but the crowd of children which gathered around us seemed unperturbed. They smiled shyly up at us and brought us wonderful, exotic flowers.
Lots of flowers. So many we didn't know what to do with them all. The first little girl I really talked to was named Miralda.
She was missing 2 front teeth and had quite a mischievous smile. She told me she'd stopped going to school because she didn't have a notebook or shoes.
Of course I had known that sort of thing prevents many kids from going to school, but to hear it from this sweet little 7 year old stung in some unidentifiable place.
She introduced me to her family. Her grandma, who looked about 100 years old, welcomed me kindly. Her little sister was positively adorable,
but she had a sad, starved sort of look in her eyes. At one point the two little girls ran away giggling and gestured for me to follow.
They lead me to a nearby shop and bought us each a chocolate covered banana for 50 Oreales.
The next day I brought some money and bought the two of them and their friends each a little treat, as a thank you.
I wish I could have brought them shoes and notebooks, could have brought a piece of my world with me and shown that sad, starved gaze a glimpse of something else.
Over the next weeks, working in Champaigny, I got to know more and more of the kids. They chattered about their families,
asked about members of former delegations (la "Yessica" in particular), and life in America. We played many a game of soccer,
inevitably punctuated by high fives all around after every goal. I don't think I've ever loved little kids so much. I found myself having to promise we'd be back
the next day before I could untangle myself from their midst. Although it got overwhelming on top of all the work we were doing, meeting those kids was one of
the best parts of my trip. My favorite was Jaser. He worked with us sometimes, and I noticed him immediately because of his gleefully delighted giggle,
and the look of thoughtful concern that sometimes adorned his face. He told me his father was killed when he was little. I didn't know quite what to say.
Being with him I just wanted to make him laugh, because it really did light up my world.
Our evenings spent in Jalapa were far from dull. We spent our time at the soda fountain, playing soccer in the streets,
hosting reggaeton dance parties with neighborhood kids, playing dominoes with Helen's host brother, partying at the discotheque, playing pool,
climbing the "satanic" hill, and pursuing any other activities we could conceive of. Our host family never ate with us, but they would sit and talk to us.
We falteringly attempted to articulate concepts ranging from suburbia and global warming to pop music and the winters one encounters living in Colorado.
Our mother was actually from El Salvador and moved away because of the war there, only to find herself in the midst of Nicaragua's contra wars.
We slept little and worked a lot, but each moment there, from hitch hiking in the pouring rain to gnawing on a fresh picked mango, seemed an intense
and amazing experience.
Working with Tamara, FCP¹s in-country representative, and the community of El Polvorín was very inspirational. FCP's current project has been huertos,
family garden plots. The huertos are flourishing, and there is a different sense there all together, one of purpose and organization.
The people have a vision, and the means to create something out of it. Each member of the community seems dedicated to doing their part to change things.
In some ways we were less necessary there, except as a symbol that someone does recognize all they've achieved.
That in itself, though, is a good thing because it means that what's happening in Pasmata cannot be stopped, and will only gain momentum.
We learned a lot about reforestation projects, as well as sustainable gardening. Working with members of the community,
4 of us rebuilt the huerto escolar and provided it with a fence so it would not be destroyed again.
This effort was led by Don Tono, a remarkable old man who possesses seemingly infinite knowledge about the land.
One memorable day we got to explore his nearby finca and its acres of fruit trees,
vegetables and corn.
My time in Nicaragua often seems a memory too vast, and in some ways too removed from my life here to contemplate or describe.
When I think about it, it all comes at me at once, and it's hard to decipher one moment from the next.
All I know is that I discovered something about life there, and about myself. I was confronted with a lot of pain and injustice,
things I'd known were out there, and had maybe even glimpsed in the past. But never before has the full reality of the world touched my life in this way.
Never will I forget the people I encountered and the stories they shared with me.
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Angola: Rebuilding by demolishing
The politics of national reconstruction
2010-03-25, Issue 475
"Angolan civil society, leaders of the political opposition as well as the Catholic Church in the person of the archbishop of Lubango have spoken out against the demolitions, receiving letters of support from all over the world. This is a remarkable achievement for Angolan civil society and its supporters. The non-governmental organisation OMUNGA is waiting for a court’s decision on a march on Thursday 25 March in Benguela it is organising to express solidarity with all victims of demolitions and forced evictions in Angola. This march was prohibited by the provincial government of Benguela, but OMUNGA has said it will go through with it no matter what the court decides, claiming its right to protest.
* Sylvia Croese is an independent Dutch-Angolan researcher and consultant, based in Luanda.
* Please send comments to firstname.lastname@example.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.
Angolan authorities ban housing protest: organisers
Thu Mar 25, 2:28 PM
LUANDA (AFP) - Provincial authorities in Angola banned a planned protest against housing demolitions that have left 3,000 families homeless to make way for a railroad, activists said Thursday.
Angolan human rights group Omunga had planned to march through the coastal city of Benguela to protest the demolitions earlier this month in the southern city of Lubango.
"We couldn't march because the local governor decided to ban the protest, and there's a climate of intimidation here," Omunga president Jose Patrocinio said by telephone from Benguela.
"There are police trucks in the city, and rapid reaction forces in the streets. The governor sent a communique to the media, which was broadcast on local radio in Benguela and Lubango," he said.
Several civic groups and opposition politicians had planned to join the march under the banner "Don't destroy my house."
Public displays of protest are rare in Angola, a country still emerging from a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002, where many still fear to challenge the government or police.
The ruling Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) on Wednesday sent a parliamentary delegation to inspect the situation in Lubango, where government wants to revive a railway to link the southern coastal city of Namibe with the city of Menongue in the eastern interior.
The main opposition Unita sent a team to Lubango last week and said that the displaced families were living with little shelter and inadequate water after they were moved to a site five kilometres (three miles) from the city.
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Mr. Grover hates it. He did his legal best to frustrate the program on a technicality, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to cooperate, and the program continues. Unfortunately it is minuscule in comparison to the problem of inner-city education that it is supposed to address. Even if there were enough scholarships for all who wanted them, there would for two reasons be too few places to spend them. The first big problem is that 12,500 is not enough to start new schools, and only a handful of private schools are presently available to the children. What happened to all the Catholic and Lutheran schools that seem to be sitting around half empty? That's the other big problem. They are not eligible. The legislative program explicitly limits use of the scholarships to nonsectarian schools. Which brings us back to Grover's gripe. If there is anything that gets his goat more than parental choice, it is choice that can be exercised in religious schools. Hence his current preoccupation.
It seems that a school called Messmer High could and would take a fair number of poor Milwaukee kids in the “choice” program if allowed to participate. Messmer until 1984 was a school of the Catholic archdiocese; at that time it reopened as an “independent Catholic school” serving a student body that is 62 percent black and 65 percent non-Catholic. It survives now on philanthropy plus whatever its down-at-the-heel families can afford in tuition and donated personal services. All agree that it is an effective school.
In 1990, without solicitation from the school, Grover's office sent Messmer the department's application form for admission to the choice program. Two years later, at the urging of the chief academic expert on the program, Messmer finally applied. The department thereupon began a tortuous investigation that included multiple site visits and completion by the school of an enormous questionnaire about the role of religion at Messmer. This document included a maze of detailed inquiries about religious purposes and practices and drew the particular wrath of a major supporter of the school by asking menacingly, “Has the school received services from the Bradley Foundation?” Bradley's management had been publicly critical of Grover. When challenged on the offending question, Grover answered—occasioning some hilarity—that he had meant a different Bradley foundation, a dinky local fund whose sole purpose is to maintain a sculpture garden somewhere in Milwaukee.
Grover's eventual denial of Messmer's application has understandably provoked yet another flap—and probably another lawsuit. To deny the poor practical access to this excellent institution is fatuous policy, and the department comes off as not only awkward but mean. That said, however, what's the message? Even a fair-minded appraisal of Messmer's practices and curriculum suggest that it is indeed a religious school in every sense of that ambiguous term. Thus, even had Herbert Grover been a high-minded and tolerant democrat, the decision would have been entirely the same. And, even if the statute had specifically allowed the inclusion of religious schools, Grover's objection would still be plausible on constitutional grounds. It is quite arguable that he is merely doing his duty. And that is the sad truth that makes his dreary tale worth telling.
The legal problem is not the federal Constitution; under current doctrine the Establishment clause of the First Amendment is irrelevant. It may be that, given Milwaukee's present mix of private providers, the bulk of the aid to parents would have wound up in the hand of schools that promote religion; but this is not something in itself forbidden by federal law. The key question is, who effectively has the choice of schools, and the Milwaukee program empowers individuals, not institutions. So long as the locus of decision is the parent and not the church, the U.S. Supreme Court seems prepared to give its blessing. To put it in the Court's terms, choice programs involve no forbidden legislative purpose or practical effect; nor is the Court eager to find an invalidating “entanglement” of the church with the state. To be sure, something depends upon how a challenged program is designed and which President makes the next Court appointments; nevertheless there is a high probability that educational subsidies empowering the family to choose among the full array of providers will not be found an “establishment of religion.”
The really intractable problems for choice in education lurk, rather, in those poorly understood and profoundly important sources of law, the state constitutions. Consider the Wisconsin example. Here are the words of its Article 1, Section 18: “ . . . nor shall any money be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of religious societies . . .”
At first glance one might say that this language is unthreatening to choice; yet in 1961 the Wisconsin attorney general gave the legislature his opinion that this provision probably forbade subsidized busing for parochial school children, even though that very policy had already been authorized by the federal Supreme Court under the First Amendment. What the First Amendment allows, the state may forbid under its own constitution, unless some other federal rule or right intervenes. And this was taken to be the law in Wisconsin until 1967, when voters adopted a legislative referendum specifically allowing the subsidy for transportation of parochial school children. Article 1:18, of course, remains the law in Wisconsin for subsidies for all other purposes.
Now, provisions of this general sort abound in the states. California, for example, has a more elaborate structure of which the following excerpts are the essence:
No public money shall ever be appropriated for the support of any sectarian . . . school. [No state agency] shall ever . . . grant anything to or in aid of any . . . school . . . controlled by any religious creed.
Language of this sort is invitingly ambiguous and has been interpreted in diverse ways even by the same state courts. It is not hard, though, to appreciate the subtle power of these provisions in the hands of administrators and judges who are given to Groverism. Under the California provisions, for example, the state supreme court invalidated a program providing fourteen dollars' worth of purely secular books for the use of children enrolled in religious schools. The identical practice had been explicitly approved by the federal Supreme Court under the Establishment Clause.
These curious legal impediments to democratic and truly public systems of education in the state are a legacy of religious bigotry. Collectively they are known as the “Blaine Amendments,” having been successfully imposed upon new states at the time of their admission to the Union by an act of Congress. The policy was promoted principally by James G. Blaine, remembered, among other things, for his association with the phrase “Rum, Romanism and Rebellion.” Blaine's entanglement with the three R's was apparently chronic. Like Horace Mann and other brahmins of that age, Blaine saw the “public schools” themselves as a religious enterprise and the only one worthy of government encouragement. If the barbarian hordes could by economic necessity be forced into the government schools, teachers with the proper training might lure them from their native superstitions and win them to the American faith. Otherwise, the Republic might founder.
Blaine's fear was prescient: eventually the immigrants began to wrest legislative majorities from the nativists. Thanks to his foresight, however, the state constitutions remained to frustrate the various proposals made by the new majorities seeking to democratize education by subsidizing all manner of families and institutions.
Most state constitutions are not easily amended; fewer than a dozen provide for amendment by popular initiative. California is one of these, and this constitutes an important political difference. There is at least a chance that the initiative process will produce a full-scale system of educational choice in California by the year 2000; the same could happen in Michigan, Colorado, and Washington.
By contrast, in Wisconsin and most other states the path to amendment must begin with the legislature, an institution that is generally dominated by Groverism and committed to the preservation of public jobs and the Educartel. These states may manage a few modest experiments, but basic reform with real choice for all will probably have to await the kind of national political sea change that might follow from successful experiences in states with the initiative process. The polls show that on this issue the people are light years ahead of the legislators and the education conglomerate that sponsors them.
Meanwhile in any state with a “Blaine Amendment,” the ordinary legislative process may be insufficient. If Wisconsin adopts a statute including religious schools in the Milwaukee choice program, Grover et al. will fall back upon the language of the state constitution. Indeed, in every “Blaine” state in which the legislature attempts school choice reform through statute, lawyers will have to persuade their state supreme court to interpret these old provisions in a manner that respects the legislative and popular will. The chances that choice will pass the test in these cases will vary according to the particular constitutional language, the local judicial precedents, and the composition of the state court at the time; but in every case there will be two commonalities of theory that are worth noting.
First, many state courts have in a general way tried to harmonize their own church-state provisions with the current interpretation of the First Amendment by the federal Supreme Court. Assuming that it is correct to predict a benign attitude on the part of the federal justices, educational subsidies to parents will have a better chance of survival in state courts today than they had ten years ago.
Second, and of great importance, the Blaine amendments were drafted in a way that is peculiarly congenial to devices like “vouchers” or “scholarships.” Apparently Blaine and company saw the enemy only in institutional form, i.e., the church. Consequently, as in Wisconsin and California, they tended in their drafting of these provisions to identify the forbidden practice as grants made by the state to religious “establishments,” “societies,” “seminaries,” “denominations,” “sects,” “creeds,” and the like. There appears to be no state provision that explicitly imposes limits on the class of persons—natural or artificial—who may ultimately cash educational grants that are provided to individuals for redemption in schools of their choice.
Courts like the supreme court of the state of Washington have, nonetheless, forbidden exactly this policy when it empowers the individual to choose a religious school. The judges have inferred the proscription from language that is literally directed only against the favoring of institutions, concluding that the drafters of this or that particular constitution intended to exclude even “indirect” assistance to churches. This objection to indirect aid is hard to square with the array of unchallenged benefits that are bestowed upon religion indirectly by Washington and every other state—starting with protection from crime and fire. But no one expects consistency in this field.
Indeed, the interpretations of state constitutions as they apply to choice programs are likely to be a mixed bag. There will be losses, and where this occurs there will be one last constitutional string to the parents' bow. Those choosing a religious school will invoke the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment to challenge the exclusion imposed by the state constitution. The state is forbidden, they will say, to discriminate explicitly against the religious choice. The present United States Supreme Court will eventually face the dilemma it has been building for itself over the last forty years. If the state includes religious schools it risks “establishment”; if it excludes them, it risks denying “free exercise.” No one should wish to predict the outcome. In any case, for now it is enough to reiterate that in a democratic society the issue should never arise: the parents' choice of school should be a matter of indifference to the state.
Postscript: At a recent Moscow meeting on education reform I had occasion to discuss with the Russians the organic law that will govern their schools. The drafters of this new law, in pursuit of a democratic outcome, concluded that the state should promote freedom of choice in education, including prominently the choice of religious schools. There are already fifty new private schools in Moscow—some of them religious—that are receiving state aid. There is a good joke lurking here; and we can only hope that Grover and Company will come to appreciate it.
John E. Coons teaches in Boalt Hall, the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.
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America dedicated a memorial Saturday to the fast-thinning ranks of World War II veterans, a poignant last hurrah drawing together tens of thousands of old soldiers, sailors and heroes of the home front.
Frail now, full of spunk then, they were thanked for service that "helped save the world."
The National Mall, where huge numbers usually gather in protest, instead offered a last-of-a-lifetime scene of commemoration as veterans assembled by the sweeping monument of granite and bronze that was more than a decade in the planning.
"We have kept faith with our comrades from a distant youth," said former Sen. Bob Dole, a driving force for the memorial. An Army lieutenant in the war, Dole lost the use of his right arm when a shell hit him while he served in Italy.
"What we dedicate today is not a memorial to war. Rather it is a tribute to the physical and moral courage that makes heroes out of farm and city boys, that inspires Americans of every generation to lay down their lives for people they'll never meet," Dole told a crowd estimated at 140,000 by police.
Many veterans gripped canes. Others sat in wheelchairs. The hardiest among them grabbed their wives and danced in the aisles when 1940s swing music wafted over the crowd. Young people came up to old people and said thanks.
"I figured this would be the last time to wear a uniform," said William E. Ryan, 80, a retired colonel from Fairfax, Va., who fought in France and Germany with the Army's 3rd Infantry. He was in full-dress whites, a Purple Heart among his chest decorations.
Covering seven landscaped acres, the World War II Memorial was built with a sense of urgency once Washington resolved to go ahead with it. Veterans are in their late 70s and in their 80s. Of the 16 million who served, only about 4 million are still alive and veterans from that war are dying at a rate of 1,056 a day.
"These were the modest sons of a peaceful country," said President Bush. "They gave the best years of their lives to the greatest mission their country ever accepted."
Many veterans lamented that the nation's tribute came too late for their comrades.
"I wish they would have done it much sooner because there's a lot of people from that generation who are gone," said Don LaFond, 81, a Marine Corps veteran from Marina del Rey, Calif.
Dole, 80, called the gathering "our final reunion."
Cool temperatures and bright sunshine greeted the dedication, a relief to emergency crews prepared for large numbers of medical problems. Authorities said they treated 110 people, mostly for minor conditions such as mild dehydration, scrapes and twisted ankles, of whom 30 were taken to hospital as a precaution.
Former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, sitting next to each other on the stage, jumped up to help a Medal of Honor winner who fell from his wheelchair near them; the man stayed for the rest of the event after a medic checked him.
At a morning service at Washington National Cathedral, a few miles north of the Mall, dignitaries spoke of celebration and thanksgiving.
The elder Bush, a Navy pilot shot down over the South Pacific in 1944, said the World War II generation was remarkable for the challenges it faced, but Americans today, as in any point of history, can rise to the same level of commitment.
"These were average men and women who lived in extraordinary times," said Bush, who turns 80 on June 12. Singling out the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944, he paid tribute to the millions of fighters who "helped save the world."
Among them: Clarence Larson, 83, a survivor of the Bataan Death March who spent more than three years in captivity. He came to Washington with his daughter from Fergus Falls., Minn. "I thank the good Lord that I made it and that I'm here today," said the Air Force veteran.
He recalled his release the last day of the war, when the Japanese camp commander "came out and said, 'The American forces have defeated Japan. There will be no work today.'"
Coast Guardsman Wilbert Huebner, 84, of Readlyn, Iowa, spent two years on the destroyer USS Lansing, sailing off North Africa and Europe. "So many are gone and for those of us who are still alive, some can no longer travel because they have medical problems," he said.
Raymond Veley, 80, of Marysville, Ohio, fought in Italy with the Army and spent 17 months as a POW. Running into other ex-prisoners in Washington was a powerful experience, he said, because "we all know what the other one went through."
The Veterans Affairs Department deployed several dozen counselors to help people deal with the emotions of the day. Counselor Arto Woods talked with a distraught veteran who sat by a tree after telling his war story to others in a tent.
"He just needed someone to talk with," Woods said. "He was thinking, why did he survive compared with others he knew in his unit?"
President Bush and his Democratic presidential opponent, Vietnam veteran John Kerry, used their weekly radio addresses hours before the ceremony to praise the service of those honored.
Kerry said of World War II veterans: "Because of them, liberty did not perish from this Earth. When the future hung in the balance, they stood on the edge of tyranny and devastation and risked their lives for a future and a hope bigger than themselves."
The president, born a year after the war ended, concluded his speech on the Mall by asking "every man and woman who saw and lived World War II, every member of that generation, to please rise as you are able and receive the thanks of our great nation."
They rose slowly, as they were able, some in tears, American flags in their hand or tucked into camera straps.
The idea for the memorial came nearly two decades ago, but it was only in 1993 that Congress authorized construction. Critics complained its large-scale design would spoil the vistas long enjoyed by visitors to the Mall. Courts eventually rejected the challenge.
The memorial features 56 granite pillars, each 17 feet high and representing the states, territories of that time and the District of Columbia, and two arches more than twice that height — Atlantic and Pacific — symbolizing the two theaters of the war. A wall with 4,000 sculpted gold stars commemorates the more than 400,000 Americans killed.
On the Net:
National World War II Memorial: http://www.wwiimemorial.com
Video of the WWII memorial is available at: http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/files/specials/interactives/wwii_memorial/index.html
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|ROME, 13 JUNE 2006 (ZENIT)
Answered by Father Edward McNamara,
professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Q: I am a priest in a religious community. One of our confreres is an
alcoholic and for many years has abstained from alcohol, even if there
is just a little bit in pastry. He is really faithful to his promise and
I admire him for that. When he presides over our Eucharist, he uses
mustum and, of course, all the participants communicate with it. Some
have doubts about that way of doing things and think it may be illicit
for them. (When he concelebrates, he takes only the consecrated host.)
What do you think? Perhaps might it be better to have a second chalice
with wine, as it is done when there is a larger number of concelebrants.
We are usually about five. —
R.T., Quebec province
A: The question of the validity of the use of "mustum," or grape juice,
for priests suffering from alcoholism or for some other medical reason
was finally resolved by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
in 1994 in a letter signed by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Among
other things this letter stated:
"A. The preferred solution continues to be communion 'per intinctionem,'
or in concelebration under the species of bread alone.
"B. Nevertheless, the permission to use 'mustum' can be granted by
ordinaries to priests affected by alcoholism or other conditions which
prevent the ingestion of even the smallest quantity of alcohol, after
presentation of a medical certificate.
"C. By 'mustum' is understood fresh juice from grapes or juice preserved
by suspending its fermentation (by means of freezing or other methods
which do not alter its nature).
"D. In general, those who have received permission to use 'mustum' are
prohibited from presiding at concelebrated Masses. There may be some
exceptions however: in the case of a bishop or superior general; or,
with prior approval of the ordinary, at the celebration of the
anniversary of priestly ordination or other similar occasions. In these
cases the one who presides is to communicate under both the species of
bread and that of 'mustum,' while for the other concelebrants a chalice
shall be provided in which normal wine is to be consecrated."
The document required furthermore that the ordinary must ascertain that
the matter used conforms to the above requirements; that he grant
permission only for as long as the situation continues which motivated
the request; and that scandal be avoided.
The precise question in hand is addressed in points A and D. The priest
in question should therefore not normally preside at a concelebration
except for very special occasions. When such a situation arises, two
chalices must be provided: one with mustum and another with ordinary
Likewise, if the priest presides alone at a religious community Mass
where Communion under both kinds is habitual for religious seminarians,
then a second chalice with ordinary wine should also be provided. A
deacon or at least an instituted acolyte should also be present to
assure that the Precious Blood is fully consumed after Communion.
The reason why the principal celebrant in a concelebration may not avail
of the permission to receive only under the species of bread probably
derives from the necessity to assure that the sacrifice is completed
before Communion begins. The sacrifice is completed only after the
presiding celebrant has consumed both species.
This is also why the individual priest must also consume both species
before Communion begins. The faithful's exercise of their baptismal
priesthood is carried out with and through the priest. Thus, their full
participation in the holy sacrifice of the Mass through Communion would
be incomplete if the priest fails to first complete the sacrifice by
consuming both species. ZE06061322
* * *
Follow-up: Use of Mustum at Mass [06-27-2006]
Some readers expressed some perplexity regarding my remarks that the
sacrifice of the Mass is completed with the priest's communion (see June
One correspondent asked "how 'incompletely' did people participate and
did they or did they not 'fully' participate in the Eucharistic banquet
with all the graces and merits one gains from such participation?" when
the celebrant forgot to consume at a concelebration.
Another, a layman from Canada, asked: "I thought the Sacrifice of
Calvary is offered during and immediately following the words of
consecration. [...] Doesn't the priest receive Communion, strictly
speaking, in the same manner and purpose as we laymen do, as Christ
abiding physically in us, effectual to life everlasting?"
While Christ's action in the Mass would not be affected by the priest's
failure to receive Communion, it would impinge on the integrity of the
celebration as an act of the Church.
The question of the priest's obligation to receive Communion under both
species before distributing Communion, receives less attention today
than in former times when only the priest received from the chalice and
concelebration was almost nonexistent.
In earlier times, however, the ramifications of the question were
explored. St. Thomas Aquinas addressed this point in the Summa
Theologiae (III part q. 82 art. 4). Responding to the question, "Whether
the priest who consecrates is bound to receive this sacrament?" he
"I answer that, as stated above (Q79, AA 5,7), the Eucharist is not only
a sacrament, but also a sacrifice. Now whoever offers sacrifice must be
a sharer in the sacrifice, because the outward sacrifice he offers is a
sign of the inner sacrifice whereby he offers himself to God, as
Augustine says (De Civ. Dei x).
"Hence by partaking of the sacrifice he shows that the inner one is
likewise his. In the same way also, by dispensing the sacrifice to the
people he shows that he is the dispenser of divine gifts, of which he
ought himself to be the first to partake, as Dionysius says (Eccl. Hier.
"Consequently, he ought to receive before dispensing it to the people.
Accordingly we read in the chapter mentioned above (Twelfth Council of
Toledo, Can. v): 'What kind of sacrifice is that wherein not even the
sacrificer is known to have a share?' But it is by partaking of the
sacrifice that he has a share in it, as the Apostle says (1 Corinthians
10:18): 'Are not they that eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the
altar?' Therefore it is necessary for the priest, as often as he
consecrates, to receive this sacrament in its integrity."
Several readers asked questions regarding the validity of mustum
(natural unfermented grape juice) for consecration.
In the letter quoted in previous treatments of this theme, signed by the
then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, it is specifically stated that the
questions regarding the validity of mustum have been resolved by the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Mustum is therefore valid
matter for transubstantiation even though the studies and minutes of the
debate that led to the decision are not matter of public record.
In order for mustum to be valid the process used for the suspension of
fermentation must not alter the nature of the juice in any way. For this
reason, pasteurized grape juice in which all alcohol has been evaporated
through high-temperature preparations is invalid matter for Mass.
We can be sure that the Church would never in any way approve the use of
mustum if any doubt remained regarding its validity.
According to traditional Catholic moral reasoning it is necessary to use
the strictest interpretations when dealing with the validity of the
sacraments. Certainty is required and it is never permitted to proceed
to celebrate a sacrament on the basis of probable validity.
Since mustum is barely within the range of legitimate matter and is
certainly far from the fullness of the sign desired by the Lord, its use
is licit only for those who have received proper authorization due to
The situation is similar for priests and faithful who are only able to
ingest special low-gluten bread. Thus if a priest who has received
authorization from his bishop to use low-gluten bread presides at a
concelebration, then ordinary hosts must be prepared for the other
priests and the faithful.
Since the priest must always receive under both species, those who
cannot take even low-gluten bread may no longer celebrate individually
but may receive permission to concelebrate and receive under one
species. The rule would be similar if a priest were also intolerant of
any grape product including mustum.
Finally, a reader asked if Church law required red wine alone. No such
law exists. We have addressed this question in the follow-up of July 13,
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Various diseases can affect the kidneys, most commonly, kidney stones. These stones are often composed of calcium and oxalic acid, which are present in urine and can crystallize. People who are at risk for developing kidney stones should drink adequate amounts of liquids. Citrate, aloe and goldenrod may support healthy kidney function.
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Disclaimer: Statements made, or products sold through this website, have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Read more »
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The other day, I was working on cleaning up the stuff stored in our basement when I felt a cold draft down my neck. I really don’t like doing clean up chores so an opportunity to do something else was welcome.
Using a LED flashlight, to see better, I started searching for the source of the draft. In a few minutes, I found where the draft was coming in. It was in the corner of the basement where the cement blocks of the basement supports the wood wall of the house. The black tar like material that was supposed to seal the joint was gone.
I tried to picture in my mind what was outdoors at that corner. Then I remembered that it is where our friendly chipmunk has take up house keeping. No wonder he likes to burrow in that spot. He is provided with warmth leaking out of my basement. Plus, it is right near the bird feeder.
Fixing the problem from the inside
If I attacked the problem from the outside, I would have to excavate the chipmunk’s home. Better to keep the peace in our home by fixing the problem from the inside. Besides, it is cold out there in January. I’d rather work on this important energy saving project from the warmth of the basement.
After puzzling about how to fix the problem from the inside, I decided that I needed a can of insulating spray foam sealant for this job. Off I went to my favorite home improvement supply store. After spending several long seconds selecting the right brand of spray foam, I quickly grabbed a can of the one that was on sale and marched to the check out. As I marched along, I carefully avoided eye contact with all the other interesting products that were calling my name.
Back in the basement, I used a broom to sweep away the cobwebs and any loose material in the target zone. After wearing out my right arm shaking the can the required length of time, I started squirting the foam in the drafty corner.
Too late, I remembered you should wear old clothes or a hazardous materials suit if you are as sloppy as I am. This stuff really sticks to every thing it touches. I should have bought two cans to make up for the foam that got stuck to the floor and ceiling.
The next day I returned the scene and trimmed away the excess foam using my Ka-Bar knife. Good thing I am better with a knife than I am with a squirt can.
The result is a warmer basement and one less energy leak to worry about on the heating bill. It made a good wintertime indoor energy saving project. And, it was more fun than cleaning the basement.
Click here for a free money saving report written by the Energy Boomer titled HOW SAVE MONEY ON YOUR NEXT HEATING BILL
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I often find myself, usually over a beer or two, discussing with fellow Americans the reasons they believe soccer will never be big in the US. It is too slow; it lacks the physicality of American football; America already has its growth sport in NASCAR (we can leave the 'is driving a sport' debate for another day); between college and pro sports there is already enough on the collective sporting plate of the country; the list goes on and on.
The fact of the matter, however, is that it is a growing spectator sport here. Changing demographics, the continued growth of MLS, recent success by the US Men's National Team and better TV access to quality matches in Europe and around the world have all contributed to this. ESPN's growing coverage of the sport, from Saturday morning EPL matches to the MLS game of the week to a growing number of references on Top Plays to the constant hyping of a World Cup which is still three months away all attest to this as well. I recently noted that the US Mens Team's first game of the tournament, against England, will be presented by ABC. Apparently the network expects viewership to rival that of big time games in more mainstream sports.
Perhaps the biggest indication that 'the world's game' is gaining prevalence in the states, however, is its growing prominence as a business story. Though not always welcomed with open arms, US-based financiers have become increasingly enamored of not just the history, but tremendous earnings potential of English teams in particular. And with good reason, as European soccer clubs feature prominently on the annual Forbes list of the richest teams in sports.
So what's the point? Well, over the next few years, both the NBA and the NFL face major labor issues. Strikes and lockouts are not unfamiliar to fans of America's major sports. Some of the biggest, including the baseball labor stoppage in baseball in the 90's and the lost year in the NHL a few years back, arguably caused at least medium-term pain to the leagues. Baseball's labor stoppage hurt ticket sales for a few years until a certain steroid-fuelled home run craze brought casual fans back. Arguably, the NHL has yet to return to its peak pre-strike popularity, though the recent Olympics is sure to help. Despite inevitible rebounds, however, even short- to medium-term dents to profits and popularity would be damaging to the NFL and NBA.
Still waiting for the point? Well, no one could make a logical argument that soccer is anywhere close to supplanting basketball as a major sport in the US. Pro football is even stronger. However, soccer has a foot in the door, and it may only be a matter of time before it steps all the way in. The surest way for the major sports in the US to ensure that soccer is one day counted among their number is to engage in damaging labor stoppages. In addition to the obvious factors, this is another reason why ownership and players representatives should try their best to avoid stoppages while there is still time.
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Schrader’s Favorite Shades
I eat lots of fresh, raw greens! Greens detoxify and rejuvenate our liver. Greens remove toxic metals such as lead and mercury. Greens remove pharmacy drugs and street drugs. Greens help conquer addictions to coffee, cigarettes, booze and other drugs.
Greens fight bad germs. Greens fortify the good germs we need in our intestines to absorb nutrients from our food. Greens stimulate our intestines for good shitting.
Greens make our body more flexible. Greens help arthritis. Greens build strong muscles and strong bodies. Gorillas, rhinoceroses, hippopotami and elephants eat mostly greens. Greens are high in protein, calcium, magnesium, oxygen, potassium and vitamin C.
Greens relieve nervousness. Greens calm, open and center our minds. The more noise, pollution, heat and tension around us the more greens we need to calm, cool and cleanse us. Greens help us sleep better.
Greens prevent and treat diabetes. Greens help sores and wounds heal faster. Greens help sore throat, ulcers and skin problems. Greens relieve pain. Greens strengthen our heart. Greens build blood and help anemia. Greens lower high blood pressure. Greens improve varicose veins.
Greens help prevent cancer and protect us against radiation.
Greens help us see better. Greens stop bad breath and bad body odor.
Many native peoples and all mammals, except modern humans, live mainly on greens when they get sick.
Chlorophyll is the green plant blood. Chlorophyll is liquid sunshine for health. The darker green the leaves, the more chlorophyll.
I grow collard greens, alfalfa and quelites in my garden to eat fresh in warm weather. Quelites is lambsquarter or wild spinach in English. Quelites is a highly nutritious wild green. Collard greens can take New Mexico’s heat and cold better than most greens. When I do not have enough collard greens to eat in cold weather, I buy cabbage at the grocery store. Cabbage that is not organic is quite cheap. Cabbage that is not organic is relatively clean of pesticides compared with most fruit and vegetables that are not organic.
I also eat dried alfalfa and dried quelites in my blended smoothies when the alfalfa and quelites are not growing fresh in my garden. In warm weather, I cut fresh quelites and alfalfa and air dry them on racks near the ceiling of my room.
I love greens! I strongly recommend the books Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko and The Sunfood Diet Success System by David Wolfe.
Help Isn’t on the Way
Normally, a call to the United States for assistance would elicit an immediate response to a catastrophic natural event. Massive air transport of rescue equipment and field facilities for shelter and medical care; significant financial aid for supplies and recovery; and thousands of well-trained persons would be mobilized.
But that no longer applies. Our disaster-response resources have been seriously depleted by continuing military action in Afghanistan and Iraq. Aircraft, ground transport, heavy equipment, mobile medical and housing units, and disposable supplies have been used up, replaced and used up many times over.
Billions of dollars that would have provided aid for coping with and rebuilding from natural catastrophes have been dissipated in the pursuit of unattainable military goals.
Hundreds of thousands of our finest military personnel have been exhausted, physically and mentally depleted by repeated deployments to war zones. Tens of thousands more have been permanently disabled by catastrophic injuries. And more than 5,000 are lost forever.
Beep ... beep ... BEEEEEP! We’re sorry, the number you have dialed is no longer in service.
Age of Enlightenment, Anyone?
When I was in the third grade, my Sunday school teacher once asked if we would be willing to die for our beliefs. Pretty heady question of a little 9-year-old kid! The question has haunted me to this day. I was painfully reminded of it a week ago when an angry man in his convertible almost ran me off the road, then flipped me off with a look that sent a cold chill through me. It wasn’t until I got home that the full impact of what had happened finally hit. I may have narrowly avoided being another “hate crime” statistic. Apparently, he had taken issue with one (or more) of my bumper stickers. The thought occurred to me: Maybe I should rip all of my left-leaning stickers off the car and play it safe. Another thought occurred to me: Maybe I should stand my ground and defend my constitutional right to freedom of speech.
You know, I have been subjected to all sorts of political mumbo jumbo, hate speech over talk radio and FOX television, bumper stickers that make me want to lose my breakfast, but I do not flip people off, I do not attempt to run them off the road, I do not steal their cars or threaten to slash their tires. A staunch defender of freedom of the press, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, I would never slap a gag order on anyone, nor prohibit them from saying what they wish to say, however loathsome that message might be to my delicate ears. So many people have died for the right to speak their minds, to say the difficult things that need to be said, to reveal aspects of humanity that most of us would rather ignore. Shedding light on the injustices of the world, for one, as I see it, free speech is the frontline for anything approximating democracy. Without it, we become nothing more than a glorified police state. I sometimes wonder if the people in Egypt and Libya aren’t enjoying greater freedom of speech than we are. If the man who almost sideswiped me is any indication of things to come, I can’t say that I feel terribly secure about our future as a nation “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” We have a long road ahead if we hope to live up to the vision of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine. Exactly how tolerant can we be of our brothers and sisters with thoughts, ideas and opinions completely contrary to our own?
Voltaire once said, “I may despise what you have to say, but I will defend with my life your right to say it.” I can’t stop thinking about the hatred on that man’s face. Would I be willing to die to defend my first amendment guaranteed right to free speech? I’m not sure how I would answer that question. Martyrdom is not really my strong suit. Under the right circumstances, I just might say yes.
[Re: News, “Peace Officer,” March 10-16] A person calls his mother and tells her to shut the fuck up while waving a gun in the air in a public place, and you think this has much chance of ending happily. Morons. You never know what a nut like that is going to do. A police officer's priorities are protect himself and the public. Not the nut job. A police officer's job is extremely difficult and you can never predict human behavior. The police officer has to make quick decisions based on a dynamic situation. The situation may have already changed by the time a decision was made.
You conveniently left out any mention of John Hyde, August 18, 2005, and Bernalillo County Sheriff's Deputy James McGrane Jr., March 22, 2006.
You ask if I was driving by the Alibi office and saw a man or men wearing ammo belts, rifles in hands and carrying duffle bags enter the front door of the Alibi, would I call police? Of course not.
[Re: News, “Peace Officer,” March 10-16] What happened to Kenneth Ellis III is a tragedy. The real culprit is the closing of long-term-care mental institutions during the Reagan era. This man needed help as well as the veterans walking our city streets with inadequate clothing, shoes, food and shelter. This is a shameful state of affairs for any human being; but especially our veterans to whom we owe our very lives and freedom.
I know from years of experience working in psychiatric units that sometimes violent episodes cannot be averted no matter how great the effort and desire to do so. Sometimes the disturbed person is too paranoid to reason with; has certain types of brain injuries; PTSD; numerous other medical/emotional conditions; and sometimes they are just mean, nasty sociopaths who enjoy causing fear and chaos. Mr. Lohmann has the time and lack of perspective to kick back and analyze officer-involved shootings for as long as he pleases. But I'm saying that most episodes that end in death happen in seconds, and no amount of training can give officers the psychic abilities to glean exactly what the person's problems or intentions are before they either shoot or get shot.
Also, I am angry that you published the officers' names in your article. Yeah, yeah, I'm aware this info could be found on the Internet, but many disturbed people who may not have the skills or concentration ability to look this up on the net just might get a stalking mentality for one of these officers. If they are paranoid to the extreme, you may have just caused some of these officers to find themselves in some serious trouble—did you even think of that possibility? If not, then it’s painfully evident that you have zilch experience in dealing with some types of mental illnesses. I seriously advise you to at least do a few drive-alongs with experienced officers before you go putting anyone in possible harm's way.
Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address and daytime phone number via e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.org. They can also be faxed to (505) 256-9651. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium; we regret that owing to the volume of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter. Word count limit for letters is 300 words.
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Digital GIS data from the Framnes Mountain 1:100,000 are not available. These data were lost by the contractor. They were used to publish the map in 1991. The data are now obsolete. See more recent datasets.
Data were sourced from ANARE trimetrogen aerial photography, 1956-60 and SPOT satellite imagery.
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A Higher Calling
From the beginning, Duquesne has been a law school with a difference.
Pittsburgh Catholic College was founded in 1878 by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit to offer the children of Pittsburgh’s hard-working immigrants an opportunity for higher education and advancement beyond the region’s mills and mines. In 1911, it became the first Catholic institution in Pennsylvania to be chartered as a university. Renamed Duquesne University, it established its first professional program – a School of Law – in that same year. Every one of the initial 12 students graduated in June 1914 and successfully completed the Pennsylvania Board of Law examination.
The Duquesne University School of Law has earned a prominent position in legal circles – throughout Western Pennsylvania, across the Commonwealth, from coast to coast and around the world. In the Spiritan tradition, Duquesne’s School of Law was a pioneer in making quality legal education available to working-class students, minorities and women.
Our proven record of excellence is the result of a unique mission, outstanding faculty and facilities, and the availability of Day, Evening and Part-Time Day programs.
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Whisky Magazine Issue 19
This article is 11 years old and some information provided may be time sensitive. Please check all details of events, tours, opening times and other information before travelling or making arrangements.
Copyright Whisky Magazine © 1999-2013. All rights reserved. To use or reproduce part or all of this article please contact us for details of how you can do so legally.
Brian Hennigan reaches the controversial conclusion that if you want a real McCoy whisky con or rip-off then the only place to go is Scotland
The history of whisky is synonymous with our understanding of rip-offs. The term “The Real McCoy” derives from a blend of whisky produced by G Mackay of Edinburgh. Very much the preferred tipple in its day, the phrase came into being as consumers sought to ensure they were getting the genuine article and not some Japanese import. The much-used slogan was eventually adopted by the company as its advertising motto in 1870.
The term even crops up in the writings of Robert Louis Stevenson in 1883 (sadly there remain those who would attribute the origins of the phrase to either a boxer, Norman ‘Kid McCoy' Selby or an inventor, Elijah ‘Hydrostatic Lubricator' McCoy. As both of these chaps are non-Scottish they can be dismissed forthwith as impostors).
As anyone who has ever met a Scot, been to Scotland, or received a souvenir Scottish tea towel knows, we invented everything, including the telephone, the television and the tea towel. Hand-towels we will (grudgingly) admit come from Norway. Indeed, so thoroughly immersed are we in the world of inventions, not only did we invent inventions, we also invented inventing. Our prowess in this area is second only to our skill in claiming people as Scottish on the slimmest of evidence. Witness Neil Armstrong, our national football team and haggis, which actually comes from a small village in India. Given that we incontrovertibly invented whisky – the usual laughable claims from Ireland notwithstanding – it is obvious that when ...
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Empire State Building . . Come visit! This LEGO sculpture of the Empire State Building is on display at the top of the real Empire State Building. Visitor information
Over 4 feet tall and detailed with over 13,000 tiny LEGO bricks, this sculpture of The Empire State Building was commissioned as the centerpiece of the Empire State Building's new gift shop.
Located at the Empire State Building observation deck, It's the ~highest~ LEGO sculpture in the world!
The top of the real Empire State Building is lit up every night in different colors. Most US holidays are commemorated with the familiar red, white, and blue lighting scheme that most New Yorkers know well. It serves as a beacon in the center of midtown Manhattan every night.
Atop the mast, Little Kong triumphs the climb.
The famous tapered look of the Empire State Building is due to "setback" laws, established in the 1920s, that require buildings to slowly recede as they get higher.
I really just like playing with the cars.
Buildings make interesting models, but adding the human element really makes the model come alive. This little street scene at the base of the model gets more attention than the building itself!
Along with lots of microscale taxis, the street scene includes a New York City red double-decker tour bus, a small yellow pedicab, a glass delivery truck, a Smart Car, an articulated bus, and a 3-wheeled traffic police vehicle (about to give a parking ticket!)
Above is a photo of the model installed at the Empire State Building's observation deck gift shop.
in 2003, I'd created a less detailed model for a celebrity event at a galleria in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. Situated as the centerpiece of an International Design Gallery, it model was flanked by works from over 50 international designers and celebrities, including Kenneth Cole, Sophia Lauren, and Courtney Cox. This older model has been broadcast on TV around the world and has been featured in LEGO Company marketing.
The real Empire State, nighttime lighting
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A still from Apple's Rock God commercial for Siri. (YouTube )
You've seen the commercials: Two good-looking kids in their 20s cross the country on the ultimate road trip with the helpful talking search robot Siri as their guide. She helps them find a rodeo in Amarillo, and barbecue in Kansas City. "Remind me to do this again," they tell her when the trip is over. "OK. I'll remind you," she says.
In another commercial, Siri helps a teenage wanna-be rocker through all the steps of planning the ultimate high school show in his garage including finding the sheet music to "London Calling" and "Whole Lotta Love" and even texting his friends the time and date of the big show. "Siri, call me rock god," he says.
But in real life, Apple's talking personal assistant doesn't function quite so dreamily as it does in the commercials. She doesn't always understand what you're saying, and she often comes back with a wrong answer. For many people it's a minor disappointment, but for one New Yorker the difference between how Siri functions on television and how she functions in real life was worth suing over.
Earlier this week, Frank M. Fazio filed a class-action suit against Apple, asserting that the company's advertisements regarding the Siri feature are "fundamentally and designedly false and misleading." Later in the suit, he calls the advertisements "a fiction."
According to court documents, Fazio bought an iPhone 4S in November 2011. He says if he knew that Siri functioned so poorly, he would have bought the cheaper iPhone 4.
The question now is, does Mr. Fazio actually have a case?
He very well might, said Gerard Tellis, professor of marketing at the Marshall School of Business at USC. The key for Fazio will be to prove that it wasn't just him who was deceived by the ads, but that a vulnerable minority also misunderstood that the claims in the advertisements were not entirely true.
In its own marketing materials, Apple specifically states that Siri is in Beta and will continue to improve over time. And in the latest commercials Apple issues a disclaimer stating that the Siri sequences were shortened for advertising purposes.
But Tellis says that simply offering a disclaimer does not exempt a company from being truthful about how a product works.
"The claims have to be substantiated in a reasonable laboratory environment and in field tests," he said. "But what really matters is if the average consumer understands how the product will work."
Apple could sell 1 million iPads on first day, analyst says
Encyclopaedia Britannica halts print edition, goes digital-only
Apple stores to open at 8 a.m. Friday for sales of the new iPads
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COLUMBIA — The U.S. Justice Department has decided that it will not oppose South Carolina's redrawing of state Senate election district lines, state Senate leaders said Tuesday.
The decision — which Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell said he learned from a Monday letter from Justice officials — means that that the 46 districts may now be lawfully implemented. However, there are already plans to challenge them in court.
State Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian, a top lawyer who has handled similar cases in the past, said Tuesday he planned in the next two weeks to file a lawsuit challenging the validity of both the state House and Senate district lines.
"That will allow the process to go forward," Harpootlian told The Associated Press Tuesday.
Because of South Carolina's growth in the past decade, the population of each of the 46 Senate districts has increased to about 100,551 people, McConnell, R-Charleston, said.
In September, Justice Department officials questioned plans drawn by the South Carolina Senate for its districts, asking specifically about District 17, which now serves voters in Chester, Fairfield, Union and York counties. The American Civil Liberties Union had argued that the district could be drawn with a black majority, but the state Senate rejected that argument.
The Justice Department sought details on precinct-by-precinct voting tallies for state and federal offices dating to 2006 that included candidates' race as well as voter demographics.
A lawsuit over the state House and Senate lines would be Harpootlian's third challenging newly redrawn districts. The Democrat already represents six black voters who have sued to challenge South Carolina's new U.S. House district lines — the U.S. Department of Justice has already said it will not object to them, including the state's new 7th U.S. House district along the coast — calling the work of the GOP-dominated Legislature "voting apartheid."
The voters in Florence, Sumter, Georgetown, Berkeley, Darlington and Charleston counties are suing Gov. Nikki Haley, the Legislature and other state officials. They claim a race-based plan for the state's seven districts "creates a system of voting apartheid in South Carolina that segregates white and black voters into election districts" and packs black voters into one congressional district.
The proposed maps for South Carolina and other Southern states require federal approval because of a history of inequitable treatment of black voters.
The suit filed in U.S. District Court asks for a three-judge panel to throw out the plan, make lawmakers draw a new one and bar any elections based on them.
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Two of Governor Perdue’s education plans have cleared the Georgia State House of Representatives.
One would lower class size.
It passed 160 to 4, and now moves to the Senate.
The bill limits class sizes for math, science, social studies and language arts -- from kindergarten through middle school.
Classes from fourth to eighth grade would be restricted to 28 students, and the others to 18 to 21 pupils.
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Gun Laws Top Boston City Council President Murphy's 2013 Goals
Gun control laws are regulated at the state and federal level, but Boston City Council President Murphy believes the city can affect change, too.
The Boston City Council unanimously elected Stephen Murphy to serve as council president for 2013.
During the Council's first meeting on Jan. 7 after being re-elected as council president, Murphy, an at-large councilor from Hyde Park, took on banning assault weapons.
“No sportsman or gun collector needs an assault weapon. There is no sport in using an automatic rifle,” said Murphy. The Boston City Council and Mayor Thomas Menino supported a ban on assault weapons after the Newtown school shooting.
Gun control laws are regulated at the state and federal levels, but Murphy believes the council can affect change in three ways:
- Supporting the ban on assault weapons;
- Supporting calls for strict background checks and mental health screenings on all handguns;
- And by placing public pressure on the entertainment industry to reign in the glorification of violence.
Murphy also promised to be actively involved in the rejuvenation of the Fairmount-Indigo Commuter Rail project through Dorchester, according to a press release. Several stations along the line are poised to be activated in the coming year as Transit Oriented Developments (TODs), which will provide housing near transit stations.
“Many lower-wage jobs require workers to be in close proximity to the city, but housing and transit prices have increased while wages have remained relatively steady," said Murphy. "The TODs will meet the needs of the city workforce by providing affordable housing opportunities, increased community development, and decreased transit times.”
This is Murphy's third term as council president. In 2012, the council voted on rule changes that make the city council president position a 2-year term that coincides with the election cycle. Councilors may serve multiple terms, but not consecutively, and the rules go into effect in 2014.
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A HOSPITAL campaigner has called for a memorial to be raised to those whose lives were lost in the disaster at Stafford Hospital.
Rolfe Pearce said it was clear the hospital ‘careered down a truly unbelievable and horrific path of devastating harm’ to patients and families who trusted the staff and hospital to care for their loved ones.
“It’s time to recognise the events over those dreadful years with a memorial to those who's lives were lost,” said Mr Pearce. “If they had fallen in a war they would be remembered in this way, if they had been lost in a tragic accident they would have been remembered in this way.
“Those effected should be remembered not just by those who loved and miss them, but by all the people of Stafford, and especially those who work at the hospital today so that we all remember those dreadful years and remember that you can speak out to avert disaster whoever you are, and in the future you will be listened to.”
Mr Pearce, who launched a campaign in 2011 to stop the closure of the A&E department that was signed by more than 20,000 people, suggested placing a memorial in the grounds of the hospital itself.
“Not to cause harm or upset, but the saying ‘lest we forget’ rings very true here,” he said. “Let Stafford Hospital never be associated with anything like this ever again, and this will be a timely reminder to all should standards start to slip again.
“Then as the Francis Report is placed into action across the UK, it will be a fitting tribute to the families determination that the deaths of their loved ones was not in vain,” he said. “I hope the town will adopt this very fitting tribute to those hundreds of local people who have died or were harmed in those dark and unbelievably dangerous days.”
Mr Pearce said the tribute should be paid for and tended by the NHS.
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They are sudden, they are deadly and they are merciless. They hurl themselves far beyond the foam line on the beach, snatch their victims and suck them into the sea to an almost certain death. They're called sneaker waves, and they killed three people on Marin beaches in the last week.
On New Year's Day, a sneaker wave claimed the life of Richmond resident Charles Quaid, 59, as he strolled with his wife and dog at North Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore. Just four days earlier, on Dec. 28, a wave swept 9-year-old Juan Carlos Escamillo-Monroy of San Francisco into San Francisco Bay as he fished in the Marin Headlands; his father, 37-year-old Juan Escamillo-Rojas, died trying to save him.
In the wake
Comments from beachgoers at Rodeo Beach seemed to suggest that more public education would be a good idea.
While some beachgoers demonstrated an impressive knowledge of the potential hazard, a number of people at Rodeo Beach Wednesday had no idea of the danger.
"I don't have any concerns about it (safety)," said Billy Lieberknecht of Berkeley, while his companion Louisa Brown of San Francisco said, "I've never thought about it." The two had not heard about the three rogue
After hearing the story, Lieberknecht added, "Now I'm freaked out. We're definitely going to be careful."
As she walked through the parking lot, Kate Gorrisen of San Francisco said, "I'm not aware of the danger ... I do understand the danger of the water if I'm in it, but I didn't realize the waves were dangerous."
Her companion, Sarah Burns of San Francisco, asked, "Are there signs posted here?"
According to Howard Levitt, a spokesman for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the answer is yes.
"We post signs on the beaches, and we make it a point at the visitor's center to tell visitors to be cautious," Levitt said. "Some signs have graphic images of people being swept off rocks with wording that says, 'People have been swept from these rocks and drowned.'"
Levitt said the recreation area has cautionary messages on its website and in its newsletter. He said staffers "caution visitors to be cautious of rogue waves, sleeper waves, sneaker waves," among other words of warning.
Asked if the recreation area plans to add rangers and lifeguards, Levitt said, "We have 28 miles of coastline in our park, so we can't be everywhere. We are of course going to beef-up the reminders we give visitors in our visitor center, but it's important to note that all people don't come to the visitor center.
"We have no plans to add rangers, but we are aware of the situation and we are going to be determining if any additional coverage is necessary," Levitt said.
Juan Escamillo-Rojas and his son Juan Carlos Escamillo-Monroy died in the Golden Gate Recreation Area on Dec. 28.
The Point Reyes National Seashore has no plans to beef-up security measures, said John Golda, a park ranger.
"This is clearly a tragedy, and I feel we are reaching people as best we can," said Golda. As with the recreation area, the national seashore's website and newspaper contain cautionary material. Golda added, the park has signs at beaches and staff at visitor's centers urging people to be cautious around the ocean.
"We always tell people it's never a good idea to walk close to the water's edge," among with other cautionary messages, Golda said.
The national seashore has no lifeguards, Golda said, and there are no plans to institute lifeguards or to add more ranger patrols.
"We don't have lifeguards. We never have. It's not a beach where one would go swimming. It's rare that you see people in the water," Golda said.
Charles Quaid died in the national seashore area on New Year's Day.
While some beachgoers seemed unaware of the danger, others were well-versed about the hazard.
Marko DeNegri of Pinole Valley had dropped by Rodeo Beach for some sport fishing with his wife and three dogs.
"You have to keep an eye on things. You have to be careful of the water," the longtime fisherman said. "Make sure it's low tide. Don't go too close."
"You have to be vigilant," said surfer Jason Gittens of San Rafael as he stood in his black wetsuit next to his vehicle in the parking lot with his equally soaked dog Kona. "There are big swells, but there are long intervals between them. You might think the sea is flat and next thing you know, a 10-foot wave breaks on your head.
"If you don't have any water experience or you are elderly or infirm, you're done. The cold will get you," Gittens said.
"Just the other day when the man and his son were being swept away, I got out of the water. I said, 'I hope everyone is being careful,'" he said.
The surfer added, "It all comes down to personal responsibility. Know your limits. Never turn your back on the ocean."
Beach Safety Rules
© Never turn your back on the water.
© Be mindful of upcoming weather conditions.
© Be aware of potentially dangerous waves in areas of strong currents that are near shore or shallow banks.
© Remember that sneaker waves are hard to predict.
© Remain aware of your surroundings.
© Do not play on the rocks.
© Do not overestimate your swimming abilities.
© Do not underestimate the power of the sea.
-- Source: United States Coast Guard
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You've taken the plunge and bought a hot new motherboard. Here's how to upgrade your motherboard, swap your hardware, and prep your system so that you won't have to reinstall your apps.
Cross-chipset and cross-CPU upgrades
If you're moving from AMD to Intel or vice versa, or if the new motherboard uses a chipset from a different manufacturer than the old one, you need to do a little more work.
First, grab your Windows setup disc and your Windows CD key. If you're upgrading a Windows XP installation, boot from the Windows XP CD. Follow the normal instructions for installing Windows XP, but do not reformat or perform a clean install. Instead, follow the prompts for a repair install. What that will do is update the storage driver to one that Windows will recognise when it boots.
This also works with Windows 7, using the 'Repair My System' option. In both cases you'll need to re-enter the Windows key.
Windows Vista makes the process more painful: Vista has no repair option, a serious oversight on Microsoft's part. What has sometimes worked is to boot into safe mode, install the new storage drivers (from the motherboard maker's CD or floppy disk), and then proceed with the boot. But if that doesn't work, you may find yourself performing a clean install after all--which is why backing up your system prior to an upgrade is critical.
The upgrade path I present in this article is simple and straightforward, but lays down the groundwork you'll need if you have a more-complex setup. I've performed this type of upgrade several times now with Windows 7, and the machines all continue to run trouble-free.
Even if you think you might need to perform a reformat and a clean install, try running your existing Windows installation first. You might be pleasantly surprised at the result.
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The 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks topped the public’s news interest last week, but Americans also continued to closely track news about the nation’s struggling economy.
About a quarter (27%) say they followed coverage of the solemn 9/11 anniversary more closely than any other news. Nearly as many (23%) say they followed news about the economy most closely. Another 13% cite President Obama’s speech to Congress to unveil his jobs plan as their top story, according to the latest weekly News Interest Index survey, conducted Sept. 8-11 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press among 1,010 adults.
These two topics – the 9/11 anniversary and the economy’s troubles – also topped media coverage. News about the anniversary and developments related to terror on the home front together accounted for 18% of coverage, according to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ). News about the economy made up a total of 28% of the newshole. About two thirds of that (19% of all coverage) focused on Obama’s Sept. 8 jobs speech, while 9% focused on economic news more generally.
Read the full report, 9/11 Commemorations Capture Public Attention, on the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press' Web site.
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with Tim Waggoner, Richard Lovell, Eldon Thompson, David Manusek, and Laura Ann Gilman
Formula for persevering; Stubborness plus ego plus goal equals perserverance
To be an author, you need a high tolerance for discomfort and uncertainty. This can wear you down.
You should be thinking long term. Finished? Publish? No, wait. Take time.
Don't listen to everything everyone says.
It's hard to make a living as an author. You need a day job and you need to persevere with your writing. Perseverance is also necessary for the long term career. There will be the grind of "I have to write this."
Make sure you take a break every day, but also write every day.
While you have to writing, don't think it is only onerous. Writing is a joy.
Treat each day as unique. Don't focus on past failures. That is good advice for everything. Shake it off. Be done.
Continue on in the face of rejection. Remember every career has its ups and downs. Be diverse and flexible.
Don't sweat the things you can't control, like rejection, bad reviews. Move on. As something is released into the world, don't obsess on it. It now has it's own life.
Some stories about the most frustration moments in career.
Tim: My agent disappeared after 18 years.
Eldon: Dealing with Hollywood.
Richard: Rights trouble and idea trouble.
Laura: Having a good story rejected for good reasons.
Stories where perseverance paid off?
Eldon: Selling my favorite book!
David: Writing a story in twelve year intervals.
Robert: Long time to publish a story.
Tim: Remember, dreams can come true.
Keep up your ego and keep working.
How do you know your ego hasn't clouded your judgment? Beta readers. We write alone, but we do not work alone.
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— FEATURED —
— FOLLOW US —
— POLICIES —
Except where indicated, Boing Boing is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution
— FONTS —
One of the most mind-blowing presentations at this year's Chaos Communications Congress (28C3) was Ang Cui's Print Me If You Dare, in which he explained how he reverse-engineered the firmware-update process for HPs hundreds of millions of printers. Cui discovered that he could load arbitrary software into any printer by embedding it in a malicious document or by connecting to the printer online. As part of his presentation, he performed two demonstrations: in the first, he sent a document to a printer that contained a malicious version of the OS that caused it to copy the documents it printed and post them to an IP address on the Internet; in the second, he took over a remote printer with a malicious document, caused that printer to scan the LAN for vulnerable PCs, compromise a PC, and turn it into a proxy that gave him access through the firewall (I got shivers).
Cui gave HP a month to issue patches for the vulnerabilities he discovered, and HP now has new firmware available that fixes this (his initial disclosure was misreported in the press as making printers vulnerable to being overheated and turning into "flaming death bombs" -- he showed a lightly singed sheet of paper that represented the closest he could come to this claim). He urges anyone with an HP printer to apply the latest patch, because malware could be crafted to take over your printer and then falsely report that it has accepted the patch while discarding it.
Cui's tale of reverse-engineering is a fantastic look at the craft and practice of exploring security vulnerabilities. The cases he imagined for getting malware into printers were very good: send a resume to HR, wait for them to print it, take over the network and pwn the company.
Cui believes that these vulnerabilities are likely present on non-HP printers (a related talk on PostScript hacking lent support to his belief) and his main area of research is a generalized anti-malware solution for all embedded systems, including printers and routers.
Just in case this has scared the hell out of you (as it did me), be assured that there are many lulz to be had, especially when Cui described his interactions with HP, who actually had a firmware flag called "super-secret bypass of crypto-key enabled."
Today at the Chaos Computer Congress in Berlin (28C3), Sadia Afroz and Michael Brennan presented a talk called "Deceiving Authorship Detection," about research from Drexel College on "Adversarial Stylometry," the practice of identifying the authors of texts who don't want to be identified, and the process of evading detection. Stylometry has made great and well-publicized advances in recent years (and it made the news with scandals like "Gay Girl in Damascus"), but typically this has been against authors who have not taken active, computer-assisted countermeasures at disguising their distinctive "voice" in prose.
As part of the presentation, the Drexel Team released Anonymouth, a free/open tool that partially automates the process of evading authorship detection. The tool is still a rough alpha, and it requires human intervention to oversee the texts it produces, but it is still an exciting move in adversarial stylometry tools. Accompanying the release are large corpuses of test data of deceptive and non-deceptive texts.
Stylometry has been cited by knowledgeable critics as proof of the pointlessness of the Nym Wars: why argue for the right to be anonymous or pseudonymous on Google Plus or Facebook when stylometry will de-anonymize you anyway? I've been suspect of these critiques because they assume that only de-anonymizers will have access to computer-assisted tools, but as Anonymouth shows, there are many opportunities to use automation tools to improve anonymity.
Stylometry matters in many ways: its state of the art changes the balance of power between trolls and moderators, between dissidents and dictators, between employers and whistleblowers, between astroturfers and commenters, and between spammers and filters.
During the Q&A, a questioner asked whether Anonymouth's methods could be used by, say, fanfic authors to make their writing style match the author whose universe they're dabbling in; the researchers thought this would be so. I instantly wondered if avid fans might make a JK-Rowlingifier that could be used by dissidents to anonymize their speech, homogenizing it to pitch-perfect Potterian English so that stylometry fails. And of course, this makes me wonder whether stylometry could be used to falsely identify a block of prose with a third party (making a terrorist rant stylometrically match an innocent's prose-style) -- the researchers doubt this, and suggest that when deception is a possibility, prose-style shouldn't be considered as identifying evidence.
As an aside, the Anonymouth team is part of a lab at Drexel seeking grad-students and postdocs.
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Kids with food allergies have another challenge during lunchtime.
A new study shows almost a third of children with allergies are bullied at school.
Many parents don’t realize their kids are being teased, so health experts recommend asking children with allergies if other classmates are bothering them at school.
|Get the ingredients you need to cook with Rach all week long.|
|Full length exclusive concerts from hot artists.|
|Take a break!
Classic Pacman, Frogger, Asteroids and more.
Sell almost anything locally.
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In addition to being a founding member, Paul Cook's cacophonous, basic, and hard-hitting drumming served as the backbone for revolutionary punk rockers the Sex Pistols. Born on July 20, 1956 in London, England, Cook took up drums as a teenager, and began jamming on covers with another local musician, guitarist Steve Jones. The duo hung out at a London clothing store, Sex, which was run by Malcolm McLaren, an outspoken chap who briefly managed the New York Dolls (one of the main musical influences on Cook and Jones). McLaren offered to manage the duo if they put together a band, which led to the entrance of singer Johnny Rotten and bassist Glen Matlock, and the formation of the Sex Pistols. With a look and sound completely unlike what had been infiltrating the pop landscape for years, the Sex Pistols took rock & roll back to its basics, and caught England's attention almost immediately -- helping to create the punk rock movement.
After several failed deals with record companies (who objected to the quartet's penchant for over-the-top behavior), the Pistols found a home with Warner Bros, but Matlock had been replaced by then time with newcomer Sid Vicious. The group's one and only officially released studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols, was issued in 1977, and is considered one of rock's all-time classic and influential recordings, as it seemed to spawn countless imitators. But drug and ego-fueled friction between the members (as well as poor management courtesy of McLaren) led to the Sex Pistols split in early 1978, immediately after the completion of their inaugural tour of the United States. Cook and Jones opted to stay together under the guidance of McLaren initially, as the duo worked on the soundtrack to a Sex Pistols movie, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. But it wasn't long before they saw the error in their ways, and split from McLaren, focusing on playing with others -- including Johnny Thunders for his 1978 release So Alone, and a group called the Greedy Bastards, which also included Thin Lizzy members Phil Lynott, Scott Gorham, and Brian Downey. Despite high hopes and several live shows, the Greedy Bastards only issued a lone single, 1979's "A Merry Jingle," under the censored name of the Greedies, before going their separate ways.
1979 saw Cook and Jones continue to serve as hired guns for others, including former Runaways singer/guitarist Joan Jett, playing on a pair of songs that would later turn up on her debut solo album, Bad Reputation. Additionally, the two played on a demo version of Jett's eventual massive breakthrough hit, "I Love Rock N' Roll," which would turn up on her 1994 compilation Flashback. After a proposed band with Sham 69 members Jimmy Pursey (vocals) and Dave Tregunna (bass) failed to work out, Jones and Cook enlisted the help of bass player Andy Allen, and launched their first real post-Pistols band, the Professionals. Signing on with Virgin Records, the group issued a self-titled debut in 1980, which saw ex-Subway Sect bassist Paul Myers replace Allen shortly thereafter, while second guitarist Ray McVeigh was welcomed on-board as well. In 1981, Cook produced and played on the debut single by the U.K. new wave dance outfit, Bananarama (the track "Aie A Mwana"), in addition to playing on a sophomore effort by the Professionals, I Didn't See It Coming. But while on tour in the U.S. later in the year, Cook and a few of his bandmates were seriously injured in a car accident, icing the supporting tour, and eventually leading to the group's breakup in 1982.
For the first time in nearly ten years, Cook and Jones decided to go their separate ways. Cook opted to take a sabbatical from music, before reappearing with the short-lived group the Chiefs of Relief (which also featured ex-Bow Wow Wow guitarist Matthew Ashman) for a single self-titled release in 1988. During the '90s, Cook also appeared on recordings by Edwyn Collins (1994's Gorgeous George and 1997's I'm Not Following You) and Vic Godard (1999's In T.R.O.U.B.L.E. Again and Long Term Side Effect). From out of nowhere, the surviving Sex Pistols members reunited in 1996 for a world tour and live album, Filthy Lucre Live, before splitting up once more. Also around this time, Cook and his ex-bandmates were all extensively interviewed for the Sex Pistols superb bio-movie, 2000s The Filth and the Fury. Cook remains musically active to this day; he appeared on Edwyn Collins 2002 release, Doctor Syntax, and has appeared on several U.K. TV shows. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi
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Story & pics by WILL KNOCKER:
Last sunday I went into the park for my customary’ blog-hunt’ & came across the huge gravel pit that has been dug by the roadbuilders improving the tracks above the Athi Basin.
A large herd of buffaloes had meandered up from the Athi River to the plains above.
They were having a whale of a time….
A family of Crowned cranes were using this new wetland area to forage for food… Brian Finch the birder has just identified his 539th sp. of bird in the park, showing how extraordinarily rich (& unspoilt by man) NNP habitats are……
Cranes or ‘kongoyings’ as they are known in my family, have bred well this year in the first 6 month period of good rain: it now seems set to get drier….
Here comes a black rhino: a male (females nearly always have calves for company….)
Zebras join the melee……
Whilst the rhino hangs out with buffalo chums…..timeless scenes on the African plain…….
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Review of ‘The Activist’s Handbook’ and ‘Rules for Radicals’
Don't Respond, Strategize. Shaw exhorts activists to not respond to the establishment (one example of a purely reactive strategy is to stage demonstrations at meetings chosen by the establishment) but instead to set an agenda an go on the offensive, taking actions designed to pressure the opposition to relent to the agenda. Then let them respond. This could—and the whole book could—be described as a 'reformist' strategy. But the right reforms, won the right way, will bring us closer and closer to fundamental and necessary changes in society. His advice includes having—and communicating—a factual, realizable alternative to the thing you're campaigning against.
Inspiring fear and loathing in elected officials. Shaw has seen many movements work hard to elect a 'progressive' official only to have their agenda betrayed. He advises that elected officials, even progressives, respond to pressure, not friendship, and that a non-progressive can be pressured into doing progressive things, while a progressive official who doesn't feel pressure can do very destructive things. The relationship between activists and elected officials should be one of fear and loathing.
Winning more than coverage in the media. Shaw emphasizes the use of investigative journalists when possible. He cautions that there is such a thing as bad publicity and warns activists not to assume a story will advance their cause. The media should be used for results, not coverage. Decide what you want from a media campaign before you start.
Direct Action. Shaw emphasizes that direct action often works, that a group employing it should be able to mobilize facts as well as bodies, that an 'out' should be offered to the opposition, in the form of demands that the opposition can meet that are credible and realizable to the people the action is intended to sway.
'Rules' talks about the importance of having multiple issues—an organization needs issues like an individual needs oxygen, it says—and gives rules for choosing tactics. There are a lot of rules and a lot of wisdom, too much to repeat here. But one important emphasis is on communication. If I'm trying to organize a Jewish community, he says, I don't walk in eating a ham sandwich. And if long hair is impeding communication, then a radical will be the first to cut his hair. 'Rules' also emphasizes tactics that build the organization's strength and numbers, pressure and divide the opposition, are fun for the people, and turn the heat up on the opposition until they have to relent. Ridicule, 'Rules' offers, is the most powerful weapon in a radical's armory. Alinsky fleshes out the general concepts with stories from a lifetime of rich, even legendary, successful organizing experience.
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Book Description: A coin is just a coin, unless it is struck at a most magical moment in time. A millisecond of time when pen touches paper in Tokyo Bay signaling the end of WW II and there is peace throughout the world. What happens to that coin can only be determined by those who touch it, and hold it for a short time. When the magic of the coin is used for good, with a loving and caring person, the results are fun and exciting, let alone rewarding. When misused, disaster may strike...but then who knows? After all the coin is magic!
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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http://www.campusbooks.com/books/science-fiction-fantasy/fantasy/contemporary/9780972060400_Tim-Jackson_The-Armistice-Coin.html
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Everyone loves a deal, but some coupons promise savings that are just too good to be true. And in most cases, that's a sign of fraud.
Consumers are redeeming more coupons than ever these days, using paper coupons from newspapers and other periodicals as well as coupons they find online. Most coupons promise modest discounts of 10 to 15 percent, but some offer significantly better deals, such as 50 percent off your purchase. The Better Business Bureau warns that extremely high discounts often are signs of a scam.
Online coupon sites may ask you to enter your email address and telephone number, promising that the coupon can be sent to you. This can open you up to unwanted phone calls, text messages or emails that expose you to potential fraud or identity theft. Other sites allow you to print coupons, but you don't realize they're fake until you try to redeem them at stores.
The BBB has 10 tips to help you weed out the fake coupons from good ones:
- The website is the only one with that great deal. If most websites offer 10 percent off, a 75 percent discount is likely a scam.
- Be wary of all high value offers. A promo for a $500 gift card is nearly always fake.
- Never pay for coupons. Don't be tricked into paying for something that's actually free.
- If you suspect that a coupon is fake, check it against this list, maintained by the non-profit Coupon Information Center.
- Check to see if the coupon is being offered directly by the store or by a third party. If it’s from a third party, a store may ask for more information or require that the consumer sign up for additional services to redeem the coupon. If so, the BBB recommends using extreme caution before divulging any personal information.
- Be wary of pop-up ad coupon offers that require you to click immediately to redeem the offer. Clicking on the ad may automatically sign a consumer up for services they were not interested in receiving. In some cases, the consumer may be billed every month for unwanted services.
- Carefully read the terms and conditions for each coupon. Check the expiration date, limitations of use and whether it is good only for online purchases or can be redeemed at a store as well. Online coupons need to match manufacturer requirements.
- Because some stores are concerned about fraud related to online coupons, not all businesses are eager to redeem them. The BBB recommends contacting stores to determine their policy for online coupons. Show them coupons before you try to redeem them.
- Be extremely cautious if the coupon requires that you call the company to redeem the coupon or requires you to divulge personal information.
- Don’t fall for phony coupons sent via e-mail. Just because it may come from a friend or family member, don’t assume a coupon is legitimate.
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The U.S. Federal Reserve plans to stress test six large U.S. banks against a hypothetical market shock, including a deterioration of the European debt crisis, as part of an annual review of bank health.
The Fed said it will publish next year the results of the tests for six banks that have large trading operations: Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.
"They are clearly worried about the issue of Europe," said Nancy Bush, a longtime bank analyst and contributing editor at SNL Financial. "In a time of risk aversion and concern, you need transparency."
The Fed said its global market shock test for those banks will be generally based on price and rate movements that occurred in the second half of 2008, and also on "potential sharp market price movements in European sovereign and financial sectors."
In the Fed's hypothetical stress scenario, unemployment would spike as high as 13 percent while U.S. gross domestic product would fall by as much as 8 percent.
The heightened stress tests are part of a larger supervisory test the Fed will conduct on the capital plans of 31 firms with at least $50 billion in assets.
The tests will apply to 19 banks that have previously been through the process and 12 more financial firms considered less complex. The test each bank faces will be based on its size and complexity.
The banks must submit their capital plans to the Fed by Jan. 9, 2012. The Fed said that it plans to respond to banks by March 15. It was not clear when the results would be published.
The Fed will use the stress tests to determine whether banks are robust enough to raise dividends or repurchase stock, or whether they need to obtain additional capital.
The Fed plans to release more information than it did last year about the tests' results. The regulator said it is doing so to "foster market discipline."
The Fed will disclose the estimate of revenues, losses and capital ratios of the 19 biggest banks if they were to suffer a market shock.
This type of disclosure could give investors and markets more certainty about the strength of U.S. banks at a time when there are deep concerns about their European counterparts.
"Eventually, this will be viewed as a positive, and a lot of people will focus on this as a way to verify the viability of these companies," said Matt McCormick, portfolio manager at Bahl & Gaynor investment counsel in Cincinnati.
Fitch Ratings earlier this month expressed concern that U.S. banks could take a hit from the debt crisis in Europe.
Analysts at the credit rater said their concerns are based, in part, on U.S. banks having increased trading operations in Europe in the past several years.
"Our concern is with counterparty risk, the impact of Europe on global economic growth and how that weighs on the economic recovery in the U.S.," said analyst Joseph Scott in the Nov. 16 note.
Fears over U.S. firms' European exposure grew after brokerage MF Global filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31. MF Global collapsed after disclosures about its massive bets on European debt spooked investors and counterparties.
U.S. bank stocks in general have taken a beating over the last year with investors concerned about the sluggish economy, European debt, and the impact of more intense regulation.
The KBW Bank Index of stocks has fallen more than 30 percent this year.
Banks have been eager to boost dividends and buy back stock, but the Fed has indicated it will take a tough stance, particularly if a bank is not far along in meeting new international Basel capital standards.
In a Nov. 9 speech, Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo said the central bank would be "comfortable with proposed capital distributions" only when it is "convinced" a bank is on a path to easily meet the new standards.
"I don't think anyone could say that this is anything but an extremely stringent stress test," said Karen Petrou, managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics. "It will really put the burden on the affected bank holding companies to prove they can make a capital distribution, not on the Fed to block it."
The Fed is putting in place a broad stress testing regime in the wake of the 2007-2009 financial crisis when taxpayers were forced to extend a $700 billion bailout to the financial system.
This will be the second round of Fed tests of banks' capital plans.
Earlier this year, the Fed rejected Bank of America's plan to boost its dividend in the second half of 2011, while allowing other big banks to move ahead with dividend hikes.
Under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial oversight law, the Fed is required to conduct stress tests on banks with more than $50 billion in assets.
The latest capital tests are separate from this requirement but the Fed said on Tuesday it would try to harmonize the different testing regimes facing banks.
The expansion of the capital tests beyond the 19 who have been scrutinized in the past will likely not be welcomed by those being added to the list.
"It's another layer of Fed oversight on their capital, and they've fought tooth and nail not to be included in this," said Paul Miller, analyst at FBR Capital Markets. "So I don't think any of those banks are particularly happy right now."
© 2013 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.
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After two and half months of watching President Barack Obama’s uncertain effort in Libya, the House has had enough. According to US News, “the House voted 268-145 to pass a resolution introduced by House Speaker John Boehner, which demands President Obama to give more detail on U.S. policy goals in Libya.” The signal from the House certainly passed muster as a responsible response.
Hopefully the White House will wake up and smell the coffee. All is not well in the Libyan adventure. Every passing day there is potential that “foreign fighters” could become an active party to the conflict. Or that NATO’s resolve will falter.
And to be frank, Libya is the least of the problems with Obama’s Middle East strategy. From Tripoli to Tehran, the Arab Spring is turning into one long hot summer. All the President has contributed besides throwing our NATO allies at Gadaffi is a wrongheaded speech that left most of the world scratching its head over the U.S. commitment to its most important ally in the region—Israel.
Over two years later, the Obama Doctrine has done nothing to keep America safe, free, and prosperous in a dangerous world. The question Americans ought to be asking is not why the Congress is rebuking the president—but what took so long?
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Believers dare not come to the table except with a repentant heart. “Whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner,” as Paul puts it, “drinks judgment to himself.” That should be a sobering warning, especially when the apostle adds that because of this offense many have fallen ill or died. Any pastor who takes the Word of God seriously should never administer Communion without adequately warning partakers. Those who are unrepentant should flee the table rather than trivialize the sacred.
And God does not view this sacred act lightly. Pat Novak, pastor in a nonsacramental denomination, discovered this when he was serving as a hospital chaplain intern just outside of Boston several years ago.
Pat was making his rounds one summer morning when he was called to visit a patient admitted with an undiagnosed ailment. John, a man in his sixties, had not responded to any treatment; medical tests showed nothing; psychological tests were inconclusive. Yet he was wasting away; he had not even been able to swallow for two weeks. The nurses tried everything. Finally they called the chaplains office.
When Pat walked into the room, John was sitting limply in his bed, strung with IV tubes, staring listlessly at the wall. He was a tall, grandfatherly man, balding a little, but his sallow skin hung loosely on his face, neck, and arms where the weight had dropped from his frame. His eyes were hollow.
Pat was terrified; he had no idea what to do. But John seemed to brighten a bit as soon as he saw Pats chaplain badge and invited him to sit down.
As they talked, Pat sensed that God was urging him to do something specific: He knew he was to ask John if he wanted to take Communion. Chaplain interns were not encouraged to ask this type of thing in this public hospital, but Pat did.
At that John broke down. “I cant!” he cried. “Ive sinned and cant be forgiven.”
Pat paused a moment, knowing he was about to break policy again. Then he told John about 1 Corinthians 11 and Pauls admonition that whoever takes Communion in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself. And he asked John if he wanted to confess his sin. John nodded gratefully.
To this day Pat cant remember the particular sin John confessed, nor would he say if he did, but he recalls that it did not strike him as particularly egregious. Yet it had been draining the life from this man. John wept as he confessed, and Pat laid hands on him, hugged him, and told John his sins were forgiven.
Then Pat got the second urging from the Holy Spirit: Ask him if he wants to take Communion. He did.
Pat gave John a Bible and told him he would be back later. Already John was sitting up straighter, with a flicker of light in his eyes.
Pat visited a few more patients and then ate some lunch in the hospital cafeteria. When he left he wrapped an extra piece of bread in a napkin and borrowed a coffee cup from the cafeteria. He ran out to a shop a few blocks away and bought a container of grape juice.
Then he returned to Johns room with the elements and celebrated Communion with him, again reciting 1 Corinthians 11. John took the bread and chewed it slowly. It was the first time in weeks he had been able to take solid food in his mouth. He took the cup and swallowed. He had been set free.
Within three days John walked out of that hospital. The nurses were so amazed they called the newspaper, which later featured the story of John and Pat, appropriately, in its “LIFE” section.
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1. Be rigorously textual in all your expositions and explanations and defenses of Calvinistic teachings. Make it a textual issue every time, not a logic issue or an experience issue.
2. Don't be strident but gentle. Assume that working these great issues through to conviction may take years and that being in process is OK.
3. Speak of your own brokenness in regard to these things and how they are precious to you and why and how they minister to your soul and help you live your life.
4. Make Spurgeon and Whitefield your models rather than Owen or Calvin, because the former were evangelists and won many people to Christ in a way that is nearer to our own day.
5. Be an evangelist and a missions mobilizer so that the criticism that Calvinism dulls a passion for the lost is put to silence.
6. Work the five points out from the "I" in tulip not the "U". That is, show people that they don't really want to take final credit for their coming to Christ. They don't want to stand before God at the judgment day and respond to the question, "Why did you believe and others with your opportunities didn't?" with the answer, "Well, I guess I was smarter, or more spiritual." They want to say, "By grace I was brought to faith." Which is "irresistible grace." That is, grace that triumphs over all resistance in the end.
7. Out rejoice your critics. The one who knows and rests in the sovereign grace of God should be the happiest saint. Don't be a sour or glum or hostile false advertisement for the glory of God's grace. Praise it. Rejoice in it. And don't let that be a show. Do it in your closet until it is spilling over in the pulpit and the commons.
8. Don't ride hobbyhorses that aren't in the text. Preach exegetically, explaining and applying what is in the text. If it sounds Arminian, let it sound Arminian. Trust the text and the people will trust you to be faithful to the text.
9. Avoid theological jargon that is not in the text. The word "Calvinism" is probably not helpful. "Doctrines of grace" may not do it either. Just stick with what is there in the text, or come up with some new striking phrases that will cause the people to wonder and be excited.
10. Tell stories and experiences from biography and from the lives of living saints that illustrate their dependence on the sovereignty of God. Especially stories related to missions and evangelism and holiness of life.
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When Obama appeared he had pretty words that made us think he would bring good things for America. But his words were soon less welcome from one with such power to elicit change.
For instance, before his election there was his association with people who hate the United States, his association with ACORN as their attorney and he is from Chicago, where everything political has been corrupt for years.
He was not willing to show his birth certificate. He and his wife have given up their law licenses (why?).
When I was in the Army, part of my job was to process security clearances -- confidential, interim secret, secret and top secret. Obama would not have passed the requirements for Confidential.
Obama said: "When I become president, I will seek a pact of agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity, and a freedom from disquieting oppressive thoughts. We as a nation, have placed upon the nations of Islam, an unfair injustice which is why my wife disrespects the flag and she and I have attended several flag-burning ceremonies in the past."
He also said: "I don't want to be perceived as taking sides. There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression."
And he said: "The anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all that sort of thing."
He also wrote down some quotes for us in his book, "Dreams of My Father:"
"I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, a black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all of the attributes I sought in myself: the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela."
And finally, and most scary to read is from his book, "Audacity of Hope:"
"I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."
All of you liberal-thinking people who ignore these facts are acting foolishly.
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TOTINOS PIZZA RECALLED DUE TO E.COLI
Another food recall has hit the U.S. and this time it involves pizza. General Mills Operations is voluntarily recalling approximately 3.3 million pounds of frozen meat pizza products because they may be contaminated with E. coli and may be linked to an outbreak of the disease across the country. Consumers are being urged to check their freezer for Totinos and Jenos frozen pizzas, and throw out any that have pepperoni as one of the toppings…this includes combination and supreme.
Each recalled product also bears the establishment number "EST. 7750" inside the USDA mark of inspection on the package, as well as a "best if used by" date on or before "02 APR 08 WS." The frozen meat pizza were produced on or before Oct. 30 and were distributed to retail establishments nationwide. Illnesses linked to the pizzas have occurred in Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio and several other states.
Capri IGA in Greenville told WGEL that they pulled the recalled pizzas off their shelves and will have a list at the store for customers to check. Consumers can return the products to the store where they were bought. For more information call 1-800-949-9055.
10TH ANNUAL VETERAN'S DAY PROGRAM ON GREENVILLE SQUARE
Veteran's Day is Sunday, November 11th, and WGEL spoke with Tony Koonce about the 10th Annual Veteran's Day Ceremony at the Bond County Veteran's Memorial, on the Greenville Square. Koonce said that this will be a very special day as the Veteran's Memorial was dedicated 10 years ago, on Veteran's Day. It was originally sponsored by the local Amvets Post 140, and since then, most of the Bond County veteran's group, have gotten involved.
The special guest speaker this year is Chief Justice Charles V. Romani, Jr., who was born and raised in Bond County. State Senator Frank Watson and Charles Kelly Ireland will also speak during the ceremony. Reverends Elmer Fenton and Kendal Mayhew will give the benedictions. Boy Scout Troop 57 will lead the Pledge of Allegiance. And music will be performed by Mike Gouge, the Daughters of 1812 and students from the Greenville Junior High and High School.
The public is invited to come out and attend the Veteran's Day Ceremony at 1PM on Sunday, November 11th. In case of rain, the program will be moved to the United Methodist Church on 2nd Street in Greenville.
PROGRESS ON GREENVILLE TRUCK STOP
According to Greenville City Manager Dave Willey, the Love's Truck Plaza project for Greenville is making progress and may have a green light to began construction as early as this coming January. The land needed for the project has been purchased, and Love's and the Illinois Department of Transportation, have reached an understanding that the bridge over Beaver Creek will need only minor modification to allow for Love's entrance. Final plans for that entrance should take only a couple more months of working out minor details, and Willey believes this should be complete by January 2008.
WARM TEMPERATURES RAISE BAR FOR SAFE HANDLING OF HARVESTED DEER
Deer season is just around the corner and WGEL spoke with the University of Illinois' Extension Karen File about the warmer temperatures this Fall, and how this could cause food safety issues for hunters, who don't handle their freshly killed deer properly.
File recommends taking some extra precaution, as bacteria doubles and triples quickly when meat temperatures are between 40° and 140°. Hunters are urged to pack the deer in ice, keep it clean, and get it to the processing plant or cooler quickly, as it's predicted that deer meat won't be able to hang outside too long this year.
The first Firearm Deer Season runs November 16th, 17th and 18th. The second season will take place November 29th and 30th and December 1st and 2nd. For more information and tips on handling harvested deer this year, call the U of I Extension at 664-3665.
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Use of Assessment System for Improvements
Plymouth State University is committed to ongoing assessment of its effectiveness in meeting the goals of the university plan and carrying out the institutional mission. An Assessment Advisory Group has been in place at the university level and has helped educate all PSU faculty on the need to assess students, programs, and the institutional mission. Additionally, since the last NCATE visit, the institution has reorganized the Office of Institutional Research. The new office is now the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness and is directed by an Associate Dean.
The new state approval process, which PSU completed in November 2009, has a strong focus on performance based assessment. All professional education programs were required by this process to demonstrate that their candidates met the competencies specified in the state standards for general (ED 610.02) and professional education (ED 612/614) for their area of certification. Most of the PSU professional education programs have implemented portfolio assessments that re aligned with state and national standards. Additionally, programs have been collecting data for the past three years as is required by NCATE on the following: content knowledge, planning, clinical field experience, and assessment of candidates impact on student learning.
All baccalaureate candidates are assessed in a variety of ways throughout the teacher education program. The four levels of assessment correspond to appropriate benchmarks within the teacher education programs. Unit faculty, the PSU Council of Teacher Education (CTE) and the Office of Teacher Certification (OTC) are responsible for coordination and oversight of the assessment system. Candidates are made aware of unit assessment policies through the college catalog, academic advising, and materials distributed by the OTC and the College of Graduate Studies (COGS), as well as throughout the Teacher Certification and COGS website. Post baccalaureate candidates are assessed using a similar gate system as the baccalaureate level. A full description of these systems is attached as an exhibit.
The unit has developed and revised outcomes based evaluation to assess the clinical field experience. This assessment was piloted in 2006 with Education, English, and Math Education candidates. After reviewing the data and feedback collected from the cooperating teachers and clinical faculty who used the evaluation during the pilot, the clinical field experiences assessment was approved by the Unit’s CTE. Each program developed supplemental items to assess the state and national content standards not included in the generic tool (Sections I – IV of the evaluation tool). Sections I – IV of the evaluation tool focuses on pedagogy; classroom atmosphere; reflective practice; and professionalism.
After the clinical field experience tool was approved by the CTE, a subcommittee of members was formed to align the assessment with the Unit’s Conceptual Framework, the NH general teacher education standards (ED 610s) and INTASC standards. The forms are now available as either PDF files or Word documents on the Teacher Certification and COGS website. Evaluations are collected by the OTC for data entry. Data is analyzed at the end of each semester and shared with programs during the bi-annual retreats.
In 2006, the unit established an electronic system for collecting and analyzing transition points of candidates. All faculty are now able to access up-to-date information on each candidate’s progress toward meeting the requirements for teacher certification. For example, faculty advisors can use the system to determine if a candidate has met the requirements to be accepted into teacher certification candidacy: minimum required GPA, passing scores on the Praxis I exam, and favorable recommendations from two faculty members. Candidates can also access their own information to track their progress. COGS has developed and approved a similar Gate system and the electronic system is being developed for implementation in early spring 2011.
The OTC is responsible for collecting and maintaining the records of undergraduate candidates once they are accepted as teacher certification candidates. The Graduate Coordinator of Certification and Conversion is responsible for collecting and maintaining the records of post baccalaureate candidates once they are accepted into a teacher certification/professional preparations program and complete the necessary forms. The OTC Coordinator of Assessment maintains all of the undergraduate files and is responsible for the data management as candidates move through the gate system.
Based on the data collected, unit faculty, the Coordinator of Assessment, Coordinator of Teacher Certification and Clinical Experiences, and Director of Teacher Education are able to counsel candidates who appear to be struggling. Advisors are reminded to utilize the system during advising which occurs during each semester. In situations where students are struggling with passing Praxis I, achieving the necessary minimum GPA, or departmental requirements, program coordinators in collaboration with the Coordinator of Assessment works with the student to provide services needed to be successful. Those who have difficulty within programs are identified early and encouraged to work with academic advisors, program faculty, and the Plymouth Academic Support Services (PASS) to develop strategies to succeed. If these strategies fail, candidates are provided with help and support in identifying other possible degree programs and career paths.
In situations when a candidate experiences serious difficulties during the student teaching experience, the candidate works with the Coordinator of Teacher Certification and Clinical Field Experiences, the clinical faculty, and the Director of Teacher Education to develop a focus plan for improvement. At the post baccalaureate level the only difference is the coordinator of Certification and Conversion replaces the Coordinator of Teacher Certification and Clinical Field Experiences. If the plan fails, the Coordinator, advisor, and clinical faculty along with the Director of Teacher Education devise a plan that will enable him/’her to graduate without teacher certification During the past year, programs have developed plans within their departments to make sure that a candidate has options in this situations. The infrequent occurrence of such situations suggests that the assessment used to determine continuation in and completion of professional education programs are predictors of candidate success.
1. Faculty Evaluations The faculty evaluations are primarily used to predict candidate success within the teacher preparation programs. In order to analyze the reliability of the 19-item survey, a Cronbach’s alpha reliability analysis was computed. The purpose of this analysis was to determine internal consistency or average correlation of items to gauge reliability. Data from the fall 2009 and spring 2010 were used for this analysis. The reliability coefficient for fall was .69 and for spring .77. Based on the literature reliability coefficients above .70 is considered acceptable. After analyzing the data, a number of factors could have contributed to the moderate reliability. The faculty evaluations are completed early in a candidate’s professional schooling. Attrition rates have not been analyzed regarding which candidates drop teacher certification as a major. Additionally, some faculty do not complete all 19 items of the evaluation. The unit intends to continue to run these analyses annually and discuss the timing of when a candidate completes this stage of the Gate System.
2. The greatest changes have occurred at the post baccalaureate level and these include the following: hired a Coordinator of Certification and Conversion who is developing and implementing processes for field experiences; hired a Director of Assessment and Faculty Program Coordinators who is addressing the problems with advising and lack of consistency within programs; added a new Graduate Assistant who is strictly working with accreditation and data management; hired a contract faculty to coordinator the Elementary Education program; reallocated faculty members to be full time graduate faculty in order to facilitate program improvements; revising Graduate Internship Seminar in order to ensure that content and pedagogical content is exhibited for all program completers.
3. Moved the Office of Teacher Certification to the offices of Institutional Research and Assessment in order to collaborate on data projects and review of data.
4. The University purchased the assessment program TracDat to manage data not only for the Unit, but at the institutional level also. The teacher preparation programs intend be campus leaders in this effort to manage data using the new system. This process will begin in January 2011.
5. Developed, piloted, revised and aligned student teaching evaluation forms and ALL initial teacher certification programs are using these forms. In 2006 a committee of members from the CTE reviewed the literature relative to assessment of culminating field experiences. The initial evaluation form was piloted in the Spring 2007 by the Education and English Education departments. After reviewing and revising the first 19 items on general pedagogical knowledge, skills and dispositions, faculty reviewed and aligned with specific content state and SPA standards. Competencies not addressed within the first 19 items, were written by faculty and included as content specific items. Content validity was performed by sharing these forms with a committee that included public school teachers, administrators, clinical faculty, and unit faculty. The new evaluation form was utilized by undergraduate teacher preparation programs during the 2007-2008 academic year. The following year (2008-2009), a committee of CTE members aligned the first 19 items (generic pedagogical items) with the conceptual framework, INTASC, and state initial teacher certification standards (ED 610.02). Additionally each program reviewed the form for alignment with specific state and national content standards. The committee also reviewed the form for redundancy and language.
6. During the Spring of 2008, all post baccalaureate teacher certification candidates were assessed using the OTC Student Teaching Evaluation form. Data was collected however, analysis by level was not implemented until the Fall of 2009. Data from these evaluations is shared with unit faculty, cooperating teachers, and clinical faculty in order to assess program efficiency and whether standards are being met by the candidates. In reviewing candidate data from focus groups during the last student teaching seminar and the scores on the evaluation form, it is evident that candidates are approaching or meeting target on all items.
In an effort to analyze the consistency of the items on this form, a Cronbach alpha reliability analysis was computed using a random sample of 20 evaluation forms from the Fall 2009 candidates and Spring 2010 candidates. The alpha reliability coefficient for the Fall data was .93 and for the Spring .91, indicating a relatively high internal consistency.
The OTC and program coordinators will continue to mentor new clinical and cooperating teachers in order to maintain consistency across all candidates. This analysis will be computed annually. It should be noted that inter-rater reliability for clinical faculty and cooperating teachers has been consistently recorded above .90 indicating a strong relationship between the two supervisors.
7. Improved the Teacher Education website so that all forms are available electronically. In an effort to meet the mission of the university to limit the use of paper and for improved bookkeeping, the OTC is working with Instructional Technology Services (ITS) to make the student teaching evaluation forms an online submission. The intent is to go live with this by the Fall 2011.
8. In preparing for the state re-approval of all teacher certification, advanced preparation programs and endorsements, the unit has worked on reviewed program and unit assessments aligned with state and national standards for all programs and completed a self-assessment in order to identify weaknesses and strengths at the program and unit levels. A team of 27 reviewers spent three days on campus in November, 2009 to review our programs. Assessments, candidate work samples, interviews with candidates, faculty, administrators and staff were completed for each program. Five post baccalaureate programs were identified as needing improvement and received conditional approval until August 2012. The emphasis of these programs has been on reviewing current data, syllabi, and curriculum in order to address the unmet standards identified by the state team. These programs plan to submit a progress report in the Fall 2011 with new data, candidate work and assignments. Additionally two programs were reviewed, Chemistry Education and Curriculum Administrator for approval as new programs. These programs have received a provisional status until 2012 in order to produce candidate work for evidence to the state that the standards are being addressed by all candidates.
9. Compile and report data to programs on student surveys, overall unit data for student teaching, EBI results, and Praxis I and Praxis II data. This data was collected in the past but not shared with the programs within the unit. The data is shared during the May retreat for all teacher education (full and part time) faculty. The emphasis is on review of data and plans for improvement. Beginning this year, unit initiatives will be discussed, prioritized and shared with all faculty in an effort to continue overall Unit improvement.
10. Closed assessment loops within the Unit in order to continually work towards improvement. Since the hiring of the new Coordinator of Assessment the assessment systems have been reviewed and the process of revising goals and objectives based on data has begun. To date the following have been completed : shared results of the evaluation of clinical faculty with program coordinators, the Director of Teacher Certification and the Coordinator of Teacher Education and Clinical Field Experience; data has been aggregated and disaggregated by level and program and shared with unit faculty and program coordinators; utilizing data from the faculty evaluations as a predictor for success; reviewed and presented data correlating Praxis I scores with final student teaching evaluation scores for discussion on program and unit completion; focus group data collected from the student teachers during the last seminar has been compiled and shared with all stakeholders.
11. With the electronic sharing of results from the EBI survey this is the next assessment loop to be closed. Plans to review data from the Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 candidates will be analyzed and shared with faculty.
Overall the work to receive state approval and NCATE accreditation has drastically changed the way the unit collects, analyzes and reviews data. Faculty are excited to see results and discuss the strengths as well as the weaknesses of our candidates. Attendance at the bi annual retreat has increased dramatically since adopting an empirical evidence system.
In summary, the state and national review has prompted faculty to review their programs systematically and make necessary changes based on the data. This has been a positive paradigm shift within the Unit. Additionally, the baccalaureate and post baccalaureate programs have moved toward working as a Unit which was a problem in the past.
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Caving Narrative 1987 - November 18
Duration of Trip:
New Cave Surveyed:
With the excitement of the last trip's finds still fresh in our minds we had a rocket trip back to Half Mile Hall. With only a short rest stop at the end of Hobson's Choice and in the Club Room we were sliding into the south end of Half Mile Hall only an hour after entering the cave. Twenty minutes later we were in our new area trying to decide which way to go. We named that junction room Tough Decisions.
Like all good cavers we went for the largest passage with what looked like the most darkness. This lead us through a fairly nice sized passage which unfortunately connected back to the Figure 8 Room.
It seemed for a while that every hole we poked into kept reentering Half Mile Hall somewhere. One reentry point was up a crumbly climb that kept crumbling back down on those below the climber. It became Crumble Up, Crumble Down.
We had had it with this connecting and reconnecting to the same room so we backtracked to another area which our notes from the previous trip indicated had several leads. While deciding which of the really promising leads to push, Bob and Jim Nepstad poking into an obscure looking lead. Fifteen minutes later they returned saying that the passage just kept on going and they have even gotten momentarily turned around (i.e. lost) in one of the rooms on the way back. Without a second of hesitation we started into this lead.
This passage was fairly good sized but was coated with boxwork which had extremely thin fins and the walls were incredibly weathered. Traveling through this passage made one feel like the bull in the China shop so we called the passage Bull Run. In one section of Bull Run the walls were weathered in bands of brownish-red and black. This type of rock is occasionally found in sections of Wind Cave and is usually referred to as zebra rock. Because there was a large rock of this zebra rock in the middle of the passage we called it the Zebra Rock Rock.
By now it was past noon and we were all getting hungry. We all decided that the next room we came across we would have our lunch. Before we knew it we were in a sizable room and after taking our measurements and finishing the notes we all gathered for lunch. The previous week Darren had been in Phoenix and had brought back a large bag of bagels. We all had bagels for lunch with cheese. The bakery where he bought the bagels was called Chompies, so our new lunchroom quickly became Chompies' Shop.
From Chompies' Shop we entered an area with incredible frostwork. The crystals hung in wonderful cluster over 4 inches in diameter all over the boxwork and walls of the room. Because on this day in 1820 Antarctica was discovered we named the room Antarctica.
Everywhere we looked the passages just kept going off to who knows where. In one room Darren had crawled off, only to return several minutes later to declare that it "goes, and goes, and goes!" We named that room The G String and never even got into mapping that set of leads.
Later in the day we did reconnect to Half Mile Hall again but this time in the far northwestern part of the cave. Again it was not possible to survey all the new discoveries we had made on this trip. After mapping a couple more leads we decided to call it a day. Still lots of going cave and we will be back to continue the exploration in the near future!
Report by: Jim Pisarowicz
Did You Know?
The scientific name for the Stemless Hymenoxys is Hymemoxys acaulis. Acaulis means "stemless" and referes to the leafless stalks which bear the flower heads. More...
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Milan Spanovic’s lawyer said the war crimes charges were false and complained that his client was being accused of petty crimes such as “lawnmower theft”.
Spanovic was indicted for war crimes committed during a Serb attack on the village of Maja in central Croatia in 1991.
In 1993, together with 18 more former members of Serb forces in Croatia, he was convicted in absentia to 20 years in prison.
He was extradited to Croatia from Britain in 2009, then retried and given a much lower sentence of three and a half years in prison.
But the Croatian supreme court annulled that sentence "because of grave violations of criminal procedure".
Spanovic's lawyer Silvije Degen said at the beginning of the third trial on Thursday that the case was based on "unfounded indictments which were filed 20 years ago".
He said the case shoud be dropped because everyone else accused of being involved in the attack has already been amnestied and some of the accusations levelled against Spanovic were ridiculous.
"Spanovic is indicted for ordinary lawnmower theft," Degen said.
One of two witnesses in court on Thursday confirmed that Spanovic stole a motor mower from his yard during the attack on the village in 1991.
The other witness couldn't confirm that Spanovic was shooting and looting in the village.
In the early 1990s, it was common practice by the Croatian judiciary to organise mass trials of Serbs in their absence.
Many of those trials were politically motivated and intended to relieve victims’ families’ anger about the lack of prosecutions of war crimes perpetrators.
Croatia has issued more than 600 arrest warrants in relation to war crimes and held about 400 in absentia trials, almost entirely of Serbs.
State-appointed defence lawyers routinely did little to represent their absent clients.
The first Spanovic trial was considered an example of this practice, which has been criticised by the OSCE, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
After 2000, new state prosecutor Mladen Bajic abolished the practice and ordered the revision of all war crimes indictments filed during the 1990s.
Many of those indictments were withdrawn after the revision.
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1. You must post these rules.
2. Each person must post 11 Facts about themselves in their journal.
3. Then answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and create eleven new questions for the people you tag to answer.
4. You have to choose 11 people to tag and post their icons on your journal.
5. Go to their page and tell them you have tagged him/her.
6. No tag backs.
7. No stuff in the tagging section about "you are tagged if you are reading this." You legitimately (AKA, really, truly, with all honesty) have to tag 11 some people.
1. Family is always number 1.
2. I'm honest because I want to hear the truth.
3. I enjoy talking to people with loads of commonsense, unfortunately it's not so common.
4. I can't spell to save my life XD.
5. Skunks are my favorite animal, and I don't mind the smell.
6. I started saving my drawings in the 6th grade, also when I started to take drawing more seriously.
7. I look at art way more than I draw it (I'm discouraged I think lol.)
8. I can't stand people who don't try.
9. I have been battling depression since I was in grade school.
10. My dream in life is to find where I belong.
11. My favorite number is 11, so this tagged thing is doubly amazing.
1) Favorite pass time?
-Looking at art.
2) Favorite subject to study?
3) Fav art medium?
-My Bosto Tablet
4) Your survival chances in a zombie apocalypse?
-I can't run... so not high. I can shoot accurately though.
5) # of pages in your longest essay ever written
-8... I think? Can't really remember. But I did write a 20 page story in 8th grade XD.
6) Can you sing?
-Everyone can sing, unless you're mute of course or something like that. I won't be the next Justin Bieber or anything though. Wait that's was a guy hu?... hmm.
-Heck to the no, but I do love vegetables ^_^. Mmmm... Chicken.
8) Thoughts on new movie Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter?
-*Looks it up* What in the... Abraham Lincoln is way better looking than that guy. The acting looks bad... but I do love me some vampires.
9) Would you rather freeze to death, or burn to death?
-Freeze to death, I have actually already thought about this. If I had to die and it wasn't in my sleep, totally freeze to death.
10) Skydiving or bungee jumping?
-Skydiving, don't want my blood going to my head when I'm upside down, and when you skydive you get to do flips and lots of awesome stuff.
11) Traditional or digital art?
-I love to see real life paintings, but digital art can be quite beautiful. I prefer working in art.
1. What is most important to you?
2. What is the hardest thing for you (not art related)?
3. If you had one wish, what would it be?
4. Do you have any special/weird talents?
5. What do you wish you had more of?
6. Do you miss about being a kid?
7. What is the bravest thing you have done?
8. Do you like your birthday?
9. What do you spend most of your time doing?
10. Cats or Dogs?
11. What is your weakness?
I tag whoever sees this and wants to do it. XD I know I'm lame. Hey... If I had 11 people I wanted to tag right now I totally would, I'm not that popular yet
. Let me know if you want to be tagged. lol
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“With these words, the president 1) made it clear he is aware many Americans are troubled by the seemingly relentless expansion of government entitlement benefits and its impact on our way of life, and) 2 also made it clear that he totally dismisses their concerns.” – Nicholas Eberstadt, AEI
In his second inaugural address yesterday, President Obama chose to downplay the risks posed by the expansion of government entitlement benefits and the impact they have on our country, economy, and way of life, saying:
“The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us. They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great.”
American Enterprise Institute (AEI) scholar Nicholas Eberstadt, author of A Nation of Takers: America’s Entitlement Epidemic explains in a just-published piece why the president is ignoring basic facts about disability benefits, Social Security, and Medicare when he dismisses concerns about increasing entitlement spending. To read the full piece, click here.
Contact MediaServices@aei.org (202.862.5829) to set up an interview.
|
<urn:uuid:748abbdb-0087-49c2-ac80-940c8b5e19a3>
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CC-MAIN-2013-20
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Today's story focuses on Elmwood Village Charter School's plans to move into the former School 36 on Days Park.
One of the sidenotes in that story, though, is just as interesting as the main focus: because of the pending move, Elmwood Village is looking into providing busing to its students.
Currently, it is one of four elementary-level charter schools in Buffalo that does not provide transportation. The other three: Buffalo United, Westminster and Tapestry.
The families that can access those schools, then, are either those who live nearby or those who are able to transport their children to and from school.
Keep in mind that, under state law, charter schools must hold a public lottery to assign their seats. That means that charter schools must use a random process for selecting their students. The only kids who can legally get preference are those with a sibling already attending the school.
First, remember that throughout the Buffalo Public Schools, 77 percent of students come from families poor enough to qualify for free or reduced lunch, according to the most recent numbers available from the state. (These figures are from 2009-10, as are all the numbers cited here, as they are the most recent available from the State Education Department.) So across the city as a whole, that's how many kids qualify for subsidized lunch.
Now, let's consider Westminster Community Charter School. It is located in one of the poorest ZIP codes in Buffalo, 14215. The vast majority of kids at Westminster come from the immediate neighborhood. Of the kids at Westminster, 85 percent qualify for subsidized lunch. That's 7 percentage points higher than the public schools across the entire city.
Buffalo United Charter School does not offer yellow bus service to students, but does offer NFTA bus passes (the school's oldest students are in eighth grade). The school is located just off East Amherst Street, a stone's throw from Bennett High School, in the 14214 ZIP code -- also one of the poorest parts of the city.
Students at Buffalo United getting subsidized lunch: 91 percent.
Next up, Tapestry Charter School.
Until recently, Tapestry had been located more or less along the southern edge of the Delaware District (or Elmwood Village, if you prefer that term), one of the most affluent parts of the city -- and now is located on Great Arrow Drive, just north of that part of town.
(Tapestry, it's worth noting, is a K-12 school, unlike the other three we're talking about. Students at Tapestry High School get NFTA bus passes and therefore, it stands to reason, are more likely to come from various parts of the city. The school's subsidized lunch rate, though, is calculated on a schoolwide basis, so there's no way to separate out the elementary portion of the school.)
Students at Tapestry who qualify for free or reduced lunch: 33 percent -- the lowest of any charter school in the city.
In at a close second, though, is Elmwood Village Charter School -- where 36 percent of kids qualify for subsidized lunch.
Elmwood Village Charter School is located on Elmwood Avenue, near Allen Street -- at the southern edge of the Delaware District. (Officials there note that the school is also very close to the less-affluent Lower West Side.)
So, to review, both Tapestry and Elmwood Village charter schools have a subsidized lunch rate less than half that of the city's public schools as a whole.
That's a fact.
Consider, too, that Tapestry and Elmwood Village consistently score among the best schools in the city on standardized tests.
That's a fact, too.
(You can check it out for yourself. Here's the database of math and English scores from 2011.)
Educational research consistently establishes a strong correlation between students' family income and students' academic outcomes. In fact, family income one of the strongest predictors of outcomes. Schools in the wealthiest communities -- Clarence, Orchard Park, Amherst -- consistently get the best results.
That's largely why Business First's annual ranking of the schools never turns up any shockers.
Now, I'm not saying that those suburban schools are not doing a good job -- just as I'm not saying these particular charter schools are not doing a good job.
What I am saying is that the research clearly has established that schools serving more affluent students are statistically far more likely to produce better results. Something in the neighborhood of three-fourths of a school's results can be predicted by the family income of their students.
So back to our charter schools here in Buffalo.
Keep in mind, these schools are within their rights to not provide busing to students. It is their choice.
Tapestry officials have said that they feel it is very important to establish the climate that children experience in school -- and when students spend the first half-hour or more of their day on a bus, school officials can't ensure that that climate will be one of mutual respect.
Tapestry officials have also said that they opt to spend their money in the classroom, not on transportation.
(For the record: Charter schools that offer transportation pay for busing only on days that their school is in session, but the Buffalo Public Schools are not. That means if a charter school has the exact same calendar as the district schools, the charter school would not pay for busing. The district pays for transportation, and the state reimburses 85 percent of the cost. However, charters do pay for any days of busing when they are in session but the district is not. For instance, one local charter that has a 200-day school year -- about 20 days longer than the district -- pays $75,000 a year for those extra days of busing.)
Officials at Elmwood Village have said that their school is on a readily accessible NFTA bus route, and that the school is conveniently located not only for people living in the Elmwood Village, but for people who work in that area and live elsewhere.
As today's story notes, Elmwood Village is considering offering transportation to students once the school moves off Elmwood Avenue and onto Days Park, which is not on an NFTA route.
It will be interesting to see whether the school ends up deciding to offer transportation -- and, if it does, what effect that might have.
(Note: There is one elementary school in the Buffalo Public Schools with a subsidized lunch rate just as low as Tapestry and Elmwood Village charter schools. I'll give you one guess which school that is. Think. Discuss. Come back to School Zone later this week to compare your answer.)
- Mary Pasciak
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Posted: Aug 6, 2010 10:35 AM by Melissa Canone
Updated: Aug 6, 2010 10:57 AM
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - BP PLC says it may in the future drill in the
same Gulf of Mexico oil reservoir that blew its top and caused one
of the world's worst spills.
Officials said Friday at a news briefing in New Orleans that the
company hasn't closed the door to tapping the reservoir again.
Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles says "there's lots of oil
and gas here." He says "we're going to have to think about what
to do with that at some point."
The company is plugging up the blown-out well with mud and
cement. Officials have also been drilling two relief wells in a
planned effort to plug the hole from the bottom.
BP says it will abandon the blown well and the relief wells but
is leaving open the option of drilling nearby.
|
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|
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