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South Africa Holidays
Stunning, cultured and diverse: three words of the many that describes the gorgeous country of South Africa. Whether you’re looking for wildlife, entertainment, scenery or culture, South Africa has something to offer you. From lions to penguins and zebras to dolphins, the country stretches from the Limpopo River to the Cape in the south, which is close to the Antarctic. With coasts on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, it is also home to some beautiful beaches. Divided into nine provinces with eleven languages recognised, South Africa also has the largest African economy.
The climate in South Africa is generally temperate; however, due to the lie of the land and the size of the country, it is bio-diverse and is as extreme in climate as the desert in Namib, the sub-tropical rainforests near to the Mozambique border to the Mediterranean style climate in the southwest. Skiing is also possible in the Drakensburg Mountains at certain times of the year. Due to its location, the winter season runs from June-August.
What to do in South Africa
Whatever your interest, you’re bound to find something to whet your appetite. From world famous Table Mountain to Kruger’s National Park, where there is a wide range of wildlife to be seen. KwaZulu-Natal’s iSimangaliso Wetland Park has five distinct eco systems and attracts a huge range of wildlife.
From safari to gorgeous unspoilt beaches, to some of the world’s most extreme sports, South Africa offers visitors a huge range of activities and events to participate in. For less extreme activities, take advantage of the fantastic shopping venues or historic museums. Whale watching is also available as is wine tasting in some of the world’s finest wineries.
South Africa boasts a huge range of cuisines. Durban is famous for its Indian food, Cape Town for its Malay dish and the Garden Route for its seafood. For something different, visit the wilderness for a braai. Cape Town has a wide range of bars and shebeens, where you can try traditional African beers.
South Africa is famous for its wines and boasts some of the finest vineyards in the world. Take a visit to one of the renowned wineries, see how wine is made and take the opportunity to sample a little!
Book your South Africa holiday with lastminute.com
South Africa offers visitors the chance to explore this culturally and naturally diverse country with its wide range of experiences, history, cuisines and wine. For a different type of holiday with more to do than you can fit into your break, take a holiday to beautiful South Africa. Book your visit today and save with lastminute.com
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|April 12, 2012|
Recently, Freedom Ticket talked with Andy Sagvold, Reentry Services program manager, about their programs for people leaving corrections facilities.
How does Goodwill Easter Seals help people leaving corrections facilities?
Goodwill Easter Seals currently has several programs that help individuals successfully transition back into the community following incarceration. The programs vary in their focus, but all work to provide solutions that address the multitude of barriers commonly faced, such as child support compliance and arrears, parenting education, skills training, employment readiness, finding a mentor, resource navigation, mental health and medication concerns.
Services and support for some of the programs are initiated while individuals are still incarcerated and continue in the community upon release. Programs also vary in that they target specific populations – from federal prisoners with documented disabilities to homeless individuals pending release after a few months in the county workhouse.
What types of job training programs do you offer and how can someone sign up?
We offer a variety of skills training programs well-suited for individuals with criminal records to ensure a competitive job in the community. The best options are construction, automotive and customer call center training classes.
We also offer a four day Employment Readiness Training (ERT) that helps assess individuals’ skills and make career options. ERT also is very beneficial in helping individuals answer interview questions about their record as well as providing a videotaped mock interview help individuals gain constructive feedback and increase their interview success.
Some individuals may also be eligible to participate in the Employment Development Services (EDS) program. EDS is a paid transitional work experience program offered at various community and Goodwill Easter Seals locations. Individuals build their job skills and résumés while working on their soft skills and work readiness with both a job site supervisor and a case manager.
With generous support from a variety of funding sources – including federal and state grants, private foundation awards and Goodwill Easter Seals retail earnings – the eligibility requirements for the programs vary greatly. In order to determine which program is available and the best fit, please contact the Reentry Services Intake Coordinator, Christen Munn, at 651-379-583.
What suggestions do you have for someone beginning a job training program after being incarcerated?
Be motivated and ready to succeed – not only for yourself and your family but also for all of the individuals leaving corrections behind you.
Allow the staff to build rapport so they are able to understand, support, and discover ways to address your personal barriers to employment success – whether adjustment anxiety, substance abuse, housing difficulties, mental health concerns or relationship and parenting issues. This approach to services ensures that individuals are prepared to succeed in all aspects of their lives and are not just simply placed in a job. This also solidifies business relationships by ensuring that individuals placed are ready to retain the job and succeed.
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YORK — When Barack Obama was set to be inaugurated as the first black U.S. president in 2009, there werent enough seats on area buses to fit all the people who wanted to go.
It was not enough to watch on television, or read about it in the paper. To be there was to be part of history. History can be made first, just once.
I was right there in the middle of 2 million people, said Billy Ramsey, a York Comprehensive High School student, 17.
This year the crowd is expected to be less than half maybe a third or a quarter of what it was in 2009, when almost 2 million people jammed into the National Mall near the Capitol.
Still, Jane Gilfillans group from York will be there. The honors world history teacher has taken school groups to every inauguration since 1992. This year, 54 students and adults from Yorks high school and intermediate school will leave Friday on a bus, spend two days roaming D.C.s monuments and museums and more, then watch the inauguration in person.
Bailey McKown, 16, went to see the historic 2009 inauguration and wouldnt have missed the return trip.
Last time, it was really life changing, Bailey said. I was in middle school, and I get there and it hit me: I am watching the inauguration of the president of the whole country.
Billy Ramsey, a politics and government student, will represent York in the laying of a wreath at The Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, across the river from Washington.
It is a huge honor, Ramsey said.
Gilfillan, a former York County Council member and breast cancer survivor who certainly believes that life is to be lived, knows from five previous inaugurals that the trip is a memory for students that lasts forever.
Groups in 1992, 1996 and 2000 often showed up on national TV, waving South Carolina flags together on the National Mall. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on Washington and New York, though, no pointy flagpoles are allowed.
I cant count how many kids later on who have said that this trip was the greatest thing they ever did in high school, Gilfillan said.
Clover High School also is taking a group of students for the trip of a lifetime.
But at least one area group that went in 2009 has canceled a planned bus trip, and another bus trip that is still on has yet to fill all its seats. To lure more people to go, the bus trip that remains has cut its price down by almost half.
The reason seems clear Obama is already president. History was made in 2009. The newness, the first time for the first black president, already happened.
Carl Dicks of Rock Hill, who organized a trip in 2009, said there were not enough people to fill a bus he had planned to charter.
We had about 20, and thats not enough, Dicks said. There is still enthusiasm for the president, and we had hoped to have enough people to make the trip financially feasible, but we dont.
Susan Woods of Rock Hill, founder of the Emerging Leaders Mentorship Program for Black Males, is taking a bus on a Witness History Trip but less than half the seats have sold. The trip slashed its price to $90, with hopes to break even, Woods said.
That bus trip will leave late Sunday, spend the day in Washington on Monday for the inaugural, then come right back.
I am one who could not go in 2009, so I want to see the inaugural and many of these young people will get a great chance to be there, Woods said.
The inauguration in 2009 was for so many a cant-miss event, but Obama supporters since were more fixed on re-electing Obama, said Adolphus Belk, a political science professor at Winthrop University.
Four years ago, Obamas inauguration was not politics as usual, but more like part of a social movement, Belk said. For so many people it was important to witness history.
There was energy still for supporters to re-elect Obama, but it was geared for the election. There is a sense of mission accomplished.
But for those students in York going to the inauguration, history is now and on Monday, each will be right in the middle of it.
I am so excited, said Valerie Dawkins, 14. This is a really big deal and people see it on TV, but I will be right there.
Kaitlyn Spires, 14, expects the trip to be what 14-year-old kids expect: Awesome!
Andrew Dys 803-329-4065 email@example.com
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LOS ANGELES – The Milken Institute has created a first-of-its-kind, data-driven index, Best Cities for Successful Aging, which measures and ranks the performance of 359 U.S. metropolitan areas in promoting and enabling successful aging.
The Top 10 large and small1 metropolitan areas are:
Provo, Utah, the top city among the largest metros, scored high in a wealth of factors: its active, healthy lifestyle (the fewest fast-food outlets per capita); a No. 1 ranking in growth of small businesses; seven medical centers in the area, three of them magnet hospitals; and one of the highest numbers of volunteers per capita. The top-ranking smaller city, Sioux Falls, S.D., has hospitals that specialize in geriatric services, and its booming economy provides a strong financial base, with the highest employment rate among seniors among the 259 small cities.
"Cities need to be thinking about how best to make quality of life improvements for our rapidly-growing senior populations – and such improvements benefit all age groups," says the Honorable Henry Cisneros, a member of the index's advisory committee, and the former Secretary U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as the former mayor of San Antonio, Tex. "What the Milken Institute's index does for the first time is measure communities on the dimensions that matter most for seniors. It is a real breakthrough that will be vitally helpful for leaders in making policies, creating programs, and reshaping communities."
Other leading experts in the field made up the advisory committee; the full list is available at milkeninstitute.org/successfulaging/advisors. Nancy LeaMond, executive vice-president of AARP and a committee member, called the index "a valuable contribution to the work of creating age-friendly communities for all ages."
The Index includes two sets of overall rankings: one for the 100 most populous metropolitan areas and another for the next 259 medium and smaller cities. In addition to the overall rankings, the index breaks down results for the 65-79 age group and for those 80 and older, since the needs of the two segments vary. For instance, Anchorage, Alaska ranks 8th for the ages 65-79, partly due to abundant employment opportunities. But for the 80+ range, Anchorage falls to 67th because general indicators such as weather and cost of living assume greater importance.One common attribute of many of the top-performing cities: the presence of a university. “These communities not only offer intellectual stimulation for seniors,” explains Milken Institute Economist Anusuya Chatterjee, co-author of the report with Ross DeVol, chief research officer. “Many also have top-notch university-affiliated hospitals that provide cutting-edge health care.”
"There is no more important policy and economic challenge confronting America than our aging population," says Paul Irving, senior managing director and chief operating officer of the Milken Institute and leader of the Institute's Aging Populations Initiative. "There is also considerable opportunity. Innovation and bold approaches are driving change – and much of that is happening in America's cities."
Irving said the goal of the index is to encourage and promote best practices in how U.S. communities serve aging Americans. "We hope the findings spark national discussion and, at the local level, generate virtuous competition among cities to galvanize improvement in the social structures that serve seniors," he said.
About the Milken Institute
A nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, the Milken Institute believes in the power of capital markets to solve urgent social and economic challenges. Its mission is to improve lives around the world by advancing innovative economic and policy solutions that create jobs, widen access to capital and enhance health.
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Conn. Woman's Parasailing Death Raises Questions About Unregulated Sport
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The family of a Connecticut woman who died parasailing with her husband while on vacation in Florida is reeling from the loss of a young woman with a passion for volunteer work and a deep love for her family. And many are questioning why parasailing is virtually unregulated by federal or Florida state laws.
Kathleen Miskell, 28, was on vacation with her husband Stephen Miskell, 31, in Pompano Beach, Fla., on Wednesday when the couple decided to go parasailing. They took part in an excursion run by WaveBlast Water Sports.
They were parasailing in tandem when Kathleen Miskell's harness broke and she plummeted about 200 feet into the Atlantic Ocean, according to Pompano Beach spokeswoman Sandra King.
The parasail boat operator reeled in Stephen Miskell, and his wife was found face down in the water. They called 911 and CPR attempts in the boat were unsuccessful. She was in cardiac arrest and transported to Broward Health North in critical condition. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Officials have said the accident was caused by an equipment malfunction. WaveBlast Water Sports did not respond to a request for comment.
The accident has revived the discussion about why parasailing is not regulated by state or federal laws.
In 2007, 15-year-old Amber White died in a Pompano Beach parasailing accident when her parasail rope broke and she and her sister slammed into a building. Her sister survived.
"As a result of that, the city said, 'We need to look into who is regulating this industry,' and quickly found out that no one is," King, the city spokeswoman, told ABCNews.com. "There's no one to check the equipment, no one to inspect them...nothing."
The town proposed a resolution in 2007 asking Florida legislators to adopt regulations for the sport, but it failed in an early committee hearing.
"It fell on deaf ears, basically," King said. She added that had the legislation been passed, "Maybe this young lady would be alive to enjoy the experience of their vacation, but, instead, this is what happened."
Right now, the only requirements for parasailing are the U.S. Coast Guard's approval of the vessel and a boating license. The equipment directly associated with the recreational sport--the harness, the parasail chutes, any towlines--are not regulated.
King said that Pompano Beach Mayor Lamar Fisher has already contacted congressmen and state representatives and plans on contacting other city agencies and mayors to really push the issue.
"These deaths aren't frequent. They're really infrequent, but two have happened in our town," King said. "The mayor has vowed that this is not going to happen again."
Miskell's death is being investigated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the Broward County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Coast Guard.
"We're going to do a methodical check of each and every part of the harness, the parachute, the ropes, just to try and come to a better, clearer picture of what exactly occurred," Jorge Pino of the Florida FWC told ABC News' Miami and Ft. Lauderdale affiliate WPLG.
"Ultimately, our goal is to come up with a conclusion as to why this happened and learn from this so that this won't happen again," he said.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio
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By Therese Poletti, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Last month, Richard Stallman, the founder of the free software movement, came out swinging against the concept of cloud computing.
His rant was reported by the Guardian newspaper and a debate in the blogosphere ensued. Stallman argues that users will lose control of their programs, their data and their privacy.
Many others believe cloud, or utility, computing is the future. On Monday, software giant Microsoft Corp. /quotes/zigman/20493/quotes/nls/msft MSFT +2.32% finally announced Windows Azure, a development platform, so that it can join the ranks of companies like Amazon.com Inc. and Salesforce.com Inc. and offer Web-hosted software applications as a service.
The debate will surely continue over the pros and cons of cloud computing. But a book called "The Big Switch," published earlier this year, makes one of the most compelling arguments that accessing many of your computing capabilities via another provider is the wave of the future. Author Nicholas Carr's comparison of the history of electrical power to utility computing is fascinating and portends that one of the biggest shifts in computing is afoot.
"On the supply side, we are still a ways from knowing who the big losers and winners are," Carr said in a recent interview. "The biggest winners are companies like Google, Salesforce.com, and Amazon.com with its Web services ... and those companies that have no baggage from the old world and could set up from the start their business on the cloud."
The theory behind cloud computing is that the software you use does not reside on your computer. You do all your work in software that resides on a host computer, accessed via the Internet, run by someone else. Your data and documents reside in a big data center.
In the case of Microsoft, which has spent its entire existence selling packaged, licensed software, it is offering developers a way to create applications which Microsoft will host and maintain in its own data centers and customers can access via the Internet.
Amazon /quotes/zigman/63011/quotes/nls/amzn AMZN +2.19% has already built a business on this concept by creating its own cloud computing service called S3, which hosts the computing needs of small businesses. Though the e-commerce giant does not break out specific financial data for the service, it said the category that includes Web services saw revenue surge 42% to $130 million during the third quarter from a year ago.
Younger companies such as Salesforce.com /quotes/zigman/338061/quotes/nls/crm CRM +1.39% and NetSuite /quotes/zigman/493264/quotes/nls/n N +0.65% have built their entire business on delivering software services through a cloud platform.
The naysayers of cloud computing argue that at the same time users lose control of their data, they get locked into proprietary systems.
"It's stupidity. It's worse than stupidity: it's a marketing hype campaign," said Stallman, the founder of the Free Software Foundation and creator of the computer operating system GNU, in an interview with The Guardian last month. See Stallman interview here.
Carr, however, argues that consumers use a version of cloud computing every day when they do a search using Google Inc.'s /quotes/zigman/93888/quotes/nls/goog GOOG +0.59% Web-based search engine. Your search is parsing through hundreds of thousands of computers linked on the Internet. And as Google gets into applications, with GMail and other offerings, your email is stored in Google's data centers, not on your own PC. Users of Gmail see ads based on the content of their email, a trade-off many are willing to accept, for access to free email services with vast free storage.
"Google ... would like to hold 100 percent of their users' data," Carr said. "They are an extremely sophisticated company that is very good at analyzing data. They are also a benign company, but the infrastructure they are building is a 'Big Brother-ish' infrastructure that could be easily abused."
But according to Carr, the economics of the cloud will end up winning over the consumer and corporations, for many different applications.
Looking to the history of electricity, Carr describes how companies developed their own power generators, before distributed electrical power. For example, Burden Iron Works in update New York built a water wheel in 1851 to power its manufacturing, giving it a great advantage at the time. But after a set of inventions ultimately led to a centralized electrical power grid, there was no need for businesses to develop their own costlier power sources.
"At a purely economic level, the similarities between electricity and information technology are even more striking," Carr writes.
Some critics dismiss the cloud as a return to the mainframe, where everyone has a dumb terminal that taps into a glass house of computing. The analogy works to a certain point, except that through the advent of virtualization, which lets a server act as if it were a number of different systems, the cost to run and store many different applications is dramatically lower than it was during the 1960s.
Companies whose existence is threatened by a future of computing in the cloud need to take the trend seriously, much as Microsoft is now doing. A hybrid will probably exist, with more sensitive applications stored locally, and others that need too much maintenance hosted in the cloud. But tech firms that don't adapt in some manner to the shift will likely go the way of the horse and buggy manufacturers.
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SANAA, Yemen — In the wake of the killing of Osama bin Laden, Yemen home to al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has come close to eclipsing Pakistan as a key focus of American counter-terrorism efforts.
In 2011, then-CIA director David Petraeus characterized the group as the most dangerous node in the global jihad and the American governments action has appeared to echo the rhetoric. Notably, the number of American airstrikes in Yemen, largely carried out by unmanned drones, has surged over the past year, as much as tripling in frequency in comparison with 2011.
The airstrikes are just one element of a multifaceted engagement in Yemen. A small number of U.S. forces are stationed there to provide strategic assistance to the Yemeni military, while Washington has provided more than $300 million, split among military, humanitarian and development aid.
Even as the drone strikes have increased in frequency, they remain a center of debate, overshadowing most other facets of the American and Yemeni governments efforts against al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.
In contrast to those in Pakistan, drone strikes in Yemen take place with the governments permission. Yemens president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who took power last February in the wake of an Arab Spring-inspired uprising against former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, has gone as far as publically endorsing the strikes. Thats a marked shift from the official silence of his predecessor.
In remarks made during a September visit to the United States, Hadi echoed Obama administration officials and cast the strikes as a key tool in the battle against al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. He explicitly contrasted the drones capabilities with those of the aging fleet of the Yemeni air force, which is largely unable to operate at night.
While Saleh was once controversially characterized as a key American counter-terrorism ally, officials on both sides have spoken of a sharp improvement in cooperation since Hadis inauguration. They said the strengthened relations already had begun to yield results, pointing to last springs offensive in the southern Abyan province, when Yemeni troops and local fighters, backed by American air and intelligence support, dislodged militants affiliated with al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula from territory theyd held for more than a year.
Regardless, the al Qaida group and affiliated fighters have shown little sign of giving up the fight. Militants have continued to launch attacks in Abyan and elsewhere, appearing to push back against suggestions that theyve been contained, while bombings and assassinations by alleged al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula operatives in urban areas have underscored the groups ability to strike within Yemens cities.
A key stated goal of American airstrikes in Yemen is targeting specific high-ranking militants in the al Qaida group. But despite the surge in drone strikes, the groups core leadership has survived the year nearly intact, while its rank and file is estimated to have more than tripled since 2009. The groups resilience, analysts say, strongly suggests that the strategy being used to combat it is deeply flawed.
Essentially what the U.S. is doing is bombing suspected AQAP targets in Yemen in the hopes that AQAP doesnt bomb the U.S., said Gregory Johnsen, the author of The Last Refuge, a recently released book on Yemen and al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. In my view, this is neither sustainable nor wise. We have seen AQAP grow incredibly fast in a remarkably short amount of time, expanding from 200-300 fighters in 2009, when the U.S. bombing campaign began, to more than 1,000 fighters today. That is more exacerbating and expanding the threat than it is disrupting, dismantling and defeating it.
Even if Yemens new president has backed them, American drone strikes remain deeply controversial here.
Many see targeted killings as a violation of the nations sovereignty and a sign of disrespect for the rule of law. Critics point to cases of civilian casualties in expressing their misgivings.
A botched drone strike in the central town of Rada left 12 civilians dead this fall, inflaming widespread apprehensions about the strikes.
Theyre having a huge effect in how people see the U.S., said Intisar al Qadhi, a political activist whos the daughter of a prominent tribal leader from the province of Mareb, the site of numerous drone strikes. When we think about America, we see an image of a plane, dropping bombs on our people.
But while emotions often are charged, some Yemenis have offered qualified support for the strikes, casting them as the best of a slate of bad options. Owing to its technological superiority, they say, the American government is able to play a positive role in the battle against al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula assuming airstrikes are used judiciously, and deaths of innocents are avoided.
Were all aware of the state of the Yemeni military, said Jamal Saleh, who bears scars from injuries he suffered while fighting militants as part of an anti-al Qaida militia in his hometown in Abyan. American strikes that kill al Qaida are one thing. But strikes that kill civilians are another.
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Horse halters top the list of essential equine accessories. Halters allow you to handle and control almost any horse from the youngest of foals to the largest of stallions. They help lead your horse through the barn or pasture, keep her safe while in the trailer, and help guide her to and from the riding trail. To top it all off, halters are available in a range of fashionable styles, materials, and colors. In fact, it is easy to see why most horse owners take as much care in their choice of halter as they do in their choice of horse.
At its most basic, a halter is a piece of headgear worn by your horse to offer you better control of her actions. Halters allow you to curb the movements of your horse's head, which in turn helps command the movements of her body. Though similar in concept, halters differ from bridles in that the latter also features a bit for your horse's mouth. Most halters, however, have key features to ease use and increase durability. Those features include:
- Adjustability - halters are designed to fit in a particular weight range. To better fit all horses within that range, look for halters with
adjustable crowns. Some also feature adjustable nosebands.
- Reinforced Construction - halters need to be strong. Look for multiple-ply construction, reinforced stitching at stress points, and heat-sealed or metal grommet buckle holes.
- Strong Hardware - halters are only as good as the hardware that holds all the components together. Look for strong, solid metal buckles, rings, and clasps.
- Comfortable Design - halters should not be uncomfortable to your horse. Adjustable designs ensure a snug fit. Rolled or flat throat straps increase comfort, depending on your horse's preferences.
Equine halters are available in a range of materials, hardware types, colors, and sizes. Features such as color and material are, in part, a matter of personal preference. Some people prefer standard,
block colors, while others like a multi-color or faded design to best complement their horse's coat. Leather is a durable, yet often expensive material choice.
Nylon, on the other hand, is strong and usually much more economically priced. Specialty halters, such as those fashioned from rope are also available if you prefer the look of the old west.
Most halters differentiate themselves with hardware and added features. Some further ease the act of haltering your horse with a
throat clip. Others feature metal strap ends on the crown to help keep the halter flat and positioned on your horse. Still others feature a convenient
buckle on either side of the adjustable crown to ease fitting. Whatever your preference or choice, however, you can be sure there is a halter to fit any horse in your barn.
Depending on how you plan to use your halter, there are a range of accessories to help you guide, secure, or control your horse. When combined with a suitable
lead, you can guide your horse through almost any situation, from calm pastures to crowded barns at competitions and shows. With a
safety release system, you can help your horse stay calm and safe while in the travel trailer. If used with a
lunge line, you can even train and exercise your horse with ease. There are even specialized halter cleaners available to keep your chosen halter in top form and condition, which will help you keep your horse comfortable, safe and controlled.
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Pet of the week: Jacinda
Don’t pass over this diamond in the rough!
Jacinda is an approximately 2 ½ - 3 year old pit bull type dog. She was found wandering the streets of LA without any parents to look out for her—and in very poor physical and mental health at the time. After being transferred to her Pit Stop in the BAPBR Adopt-a-Bull program, she was treated for Demodex mange (not contagious to humans, nor transmittable to other dogs in the home). It's clear she has had at least a couple of very large litters of puppies in her past. Her teats have distended out so much that they were hanging half-way to the ground and surely she must have been very uncomfortable—she may need a “breast reduction” to help get her back to her pre-baby shape and if so, we will be providing her with the ...
We Believe In Second Chances. Do You?
We are one of the only registered non-profit organizations in the Portland Metro area, dedicated to giving pit bull type dogs the lives they deserve. Read more about us, our mission and how we are working every day to achieve it.
Born Again Pit Bull Rescue (BAPBR) operates under our "Foster one, save two" motto. We partner with crowded animal welfare agencies to create much needed kennel space for incoming dogs by transferring primarily pit bull type dogs out of those facilities and into our foster program. We educate the community about the importance of giving equal treatment and opportunity for all dogs, regardless of physical appearance. We strive to instill responsible pet guardianship amongst all dog owners in the community.
Who we are
BAPBR is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit, no-kill organization, based in Portland, Oregon, dedicated to creating a better future for pit bull type dogs. We are passionate about helping repair the reputation of these ...
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by Fred T. Beeman
David Oswald Nelson, who starred on his parents' popular television show (and produced or directed several episodes of it) died in Century City CA on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 74, after fighting complications from colon cancer.
He was the sole surviving member of the Nelsons TV family, which included his father, actor/bandleader Ozzie, his mom, singer Harriet Hilliard and his teen-idol brother Eric “Ricky” Nelson, who was killed in an aircraft crash on December 31, 1985. The show began on radio in 1952 as "Here Come the Nelsons," then had a 320-episode run on TV from 1952 to 1966 as, "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" with some of the story lines taken from their own lives.
Unlike other shows of that time period, the characters used their true names and the show was filmed on location in their Hollywood Foothills residence. That house still stands to this day, and is frequently visited by tourists.
David was born in New York City on October 24, 1936 and attended Hollywood High School as well as the University of Southern California.
He is survived by his wife, Yvonne; four sons, a daughter, and seven grandchildren.
We extend our deepest condolences and most heartfelt sympathies to them, his many friends and his loyal fans.
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This new Lamborghini car is speculated to eclipse the existing Murcielago in every way. It doesn't have a name yet but it's expected to combine Lamborghini owner Audi aluminum spaceframe chassis with a carbon-fiber bodyshell. The result is that it will be much lighter than the Murcielago it replaces. For sure, performance will be awesome. Up front is a pronounced spoiler and fresh headlamps but designers have reserved the biggest changes for the rear. They have moved the Murcielago trademark angular exhaust closer to the ground, while new strip-like LED tail-lights replace the current square units.
Powering the car is a 6.0-liter V12 that produces about 700bhp and would propel the car from 0-60mph in just over three seconds. It will also be wider and longer, while four-wheel drive ensures it's firmly planted on the road.
While preliminary prototypes have been spied near Germany's Nurburgring track, don't hold your breath, as the car is unlikely to arrive before 2012. The newcomer is said to pave the way for future generations of hybrid Lambos. It will be the brand's first car to use efficient technologies such as stop-start and energy regeneration, and is a major step towards plans to deliver the first-ever
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RainyDayMagazine recently reviewed the new E815 cell phone from Motorola. The E815 has a built-in digital camera and a memory card slot for a type of removeable memory called Trans-Flash.
SanDisk was the only manufacturer we found that makes this type of Flash memory. The form factor is VERY small... the size of a small fingernail.
We gathered a collection of Flash memory storage formats (CompactFlash, SD Flash, and TransFlash) used in devices around the RainyDayMagazine office (photo above). They are all 128MB. The CompactFlash is used in the digital camera, the SD card in the iPaq PDA, and the TransFlash in the cell phone.
Our question is ...why can't cards all be the size of the TransFlash, with adapters to make them fit different devices? Oh... then we would be buying the same memory for use in different devices!
After seeing the TransFlash, we were actually quite impressed with the format. We like the possibility of being able to move large amount of data in this little fingernail-sized media.
We got the TransFlash for the Motorola E815 cell phone. The cell phone can take high resolution images and videos. We had been emailing the captured images and videos to ourselves using the phone, but it made more sense to just store them on the TransFlash card and transfer them to the computer.
We should note that the TransFlash card is not really designed for a lot of removal and insert operations because of its delicate size. We'll let you know how well it holds up after some use.
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(image credit Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty)
San Francisco, CA (written by Nick Foley/USA Today) -- Facebook has done it again - alienated some of its 900 million members by making unannounced changes to the social network.
The latest kerfuffle is over Facebook's decision to replace the personal e-mail addresses on a user's profile page with an @facebook.com e-mail address.
And it coincided with a decision Monday by Facebook to halt testing - at least temporarily - of a feature called Find Friends Nearby, a location service that identifies other Facebook users in the vicinity. Meredith Chin, Facebook's manager of product communications, said that no launch date has been set.
The makers of a similar app, Friendthem, has accused Facebook of stealing its idea.
Facebook has come under fire from users before, most noticeably in 2009 after it secretly altered members' privacy settings. That move led to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and an order requiring the company to submit to 20 years of monitoring related to its privacy practices.
It's not clear whether privacy issues were involved in the recent changes. Facebook says it notified users of the social-networking site - at the top of their home pages - that they would be assigned Facebook e-mail addresses. However, the company did not explain that all other e-mail addresses would be hidden and replaced by an unfamiliar address generated by Facebook.
"That was just a choice that we made," says Chin. "If there continues to be confusion, we may add a ... notification in some way."
The company says it made the change to streamline communication between users. Chin says the default @facebook.com address allows users to keep their other e-mail addresses private, if they so desire. "But they can choose to show them."
Bethesda, Md., resident Nick Sevilla, 21, said he was surprised to find out an e-mail account had been created for him without his knowledge. "I definitely would have liked to have been alerted."
Facebook users who want to restore their original e-mail addresses can do so by going to "Contact Info" and clicking "Edit."
You'll be able to choose which e-mail addresses you would like to make public, as well as with whom you prefer to share them.
One up-side to the @facebook.com email address: your private email address will remain hidden from marketers, spammers, and anyone else you don't want to have your private email address.
Contributing: Derry London in Columbia, SC
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For many years John le Carre -- real name, David Cornwell -- was the pre-eminent author of spy novels about the cold war. With the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the end of the cold war, people predicted that he would have nothing more to write about. In effect, he said in a recent interview in New York, ''I read my own obituary.''
Instead he has never been short of material, writing in various novels about conflicts and corruption wherever he finds them, in governments and also in corporations that are the equivalent of mini-nations. It might be said that he is the spy novelist who came in from the cold war.
His new novel, his 18th, ''The Constant Gardener,'' deals with continuing le Carre themes: the insularity and treachery of the British Foreign Office and secret services and the amorality of political regimes. At the same time he moves into less familiar territory. This is his first book to be based in Africa, and only his second to have a woman as a heroic character (the first was ''The Little Drummer Girl'').
In other works he has dealt with the drug trade. This time he is concerned with pharmaceutical companies that, through the dispensing of products that have been inadequately tested, have a stranglehold on the health of citizens in emerging countries.
''The Constant Gardener'' was published with surprising speed. He finished it last summer, and his publisher, Scribner, decided to rush it into print in December. The move was so swift that Scribner sent out advance copies of the original manuscript with revisions in the novelist's handwriting instead of bound galleys as is customary.
Over breakfast at his hotel Mr. le Carre, a dignified, congenial and forthcoming man of 69, seemed the opposite of what might be expected in a former secret agent and master spy novelist, which, of course, may be the most appropriate profile for such a figure.
At the center of the book is a woman named Tessa Quayle, born into privilege, who devotes her life to helping refugees and other victims of oppression. In the opening pages the reader discovers that Tessa has been murdered while on a mission of mercy. Gradually the novel becomes a chronicle (with flashbacks) about the rise to activism of Tessa's seemingly passive husband, Justin, an official with the British High Commission in Kenya. Justin, an archetypal le Carre character, is obsessed with finding out the truth about his wife's death.
The book is dedicated to Yvette Pierpaoli, a greatly admired French aid worker who died in a car accident last year while traveling over a mountain pass to help refugees in Albania. ''Insofar as any character is really modeled on somebody,'' Mr. le Carre said, Tessa was based on Ms. Pierpaoli, on her ''self-sacrifice, zeal and infuriating determination'' to be of service.
When Ms. Pierpaoli was killed, he was in Kenya doing research and had already decided that Tessa would die in the book. He was confronted by ''the guilty, egomaniacal feeling that I had willed Yvette's death.'' After going to her funeral he returned to the novel, thinking of it as a tribute to her life.
The book was also inspired by his own conversion from a ''very orthodox good soldier'' to dissenter. That transformation is represented by Justin Quayle. As he said, ''I always try to identify with one character in a book and appoint him my secret sharer.''
Speaking about his post-cold-war novels, he said: ''If there is a common factor, it is trying to document this mysterious search for identity that we're all going through. For me, of course, it's through the British looking glass.'' What links the novels is ''a fascination with what will happen to capitalism now that there's no opponent.''
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Four students from Coronach School recently participated in the Saskatchewan Safety Council Babysitting Course, sponsored by the Coronach Kinettes.
The students attended four sessions at the Coronach Library on Sunday afternoons beginning on April 29 and completed a number of tasks before a final test.
As part of the course, students had to care for an egg for a week and also had to babysit under the supervision of a parent.
In the classroom, the students studied lessons on first aid, fire safety, child care and play and safety smarts.
Angela Gent, a Primary Care Paramedic for the Coronach Ambulance service visited the classroom to instruct the First Aid lesson.
In order to pass the course, students had to complete all the assignments and get a minimum of 80 per cent on the final test.
Students passing the course received thier test back in the mail with a babysitter’s card.
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Sometimes in my real life it becomes obvious that a friend or acquaintance is having a problem. Either they are wearing obvious signs of mental illness or they just show signs of being 'stuck' in life or, worse, of moving backwards. Often they don't see it. I suppose there is the outsider's vantage point of making a judgment that may reflect my own value system and not their reality: to me, I may see someone who has family and job and connections who sees leaving those things as a healthy escape and their withdrawal as a good kind of comfort with keeping their own company. Usually these aren't my close friends, but what do you do when you notice that someone in your life is changing and might possibly benefit from help?
In general, I've found that "You need help" is not helpful. People hear this as an insult, not as a kind suggestion from a concerned friend. And from a psychiatrist friend it may be worse and easier to blow off---shrinks think everyone's crazy, they push drugs, they think everyone needs therapy, they see the world in a skewed way (at least this is how the commercial runs).
So I wondered: how do people let their friends know they need help in a way that inspires them to get it in the absence of a crisis? If you're in treatment because someone else suggested it, what enabled you to hear the suggestion without being wounded or insulted?
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In Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, author/journalist Ted Conover has written a well-reported tale of a guy named Alex White who was working both sides of the legal line as drug dealer and as a C.I., or confidential informant — a snitch—who was asked by his Atlanta police handlers to tell one lie too many after a disastrous police raid on the home of 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston.
Conover is an excellent journalist who writes for the Atlantic Monthly, the New Yorker, and the like. But he is best known in literary circles for his books like Coyotes, where he posed as an undocumented immigrant to cross the U.S. border illegally and New Jack: Guarding Sing-Sing in which, when Conover was refused permission to observe the training program for guards working at the NY State prisons, he simply joined up and went through the training himself, and then got himself hired at Sing-Sing. The book that resulted won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
As you read Conover’s story about Alex White, it is instructive to remember that, according to the Innocence Project, in more than 15% of wrongful conviction cases overturned through DNA testing, an informant testified against the defendant at the original trial.
Of course, in the cases made with the help of testimony by ” incentivized” drug informants, the chances are slim and none that DNA will magically appear to prove innocence should a conviction be less than righteous.
Anyway, read the story. It’s a terrific account about the implosion of some unholy alliances, and the dangers those alliances present when police start thinking that those whom they are investigating are scum anyway so it’s okay to cut corners…to shave the dice…to work in the gray.
Kathryn Johnston was doing pretty well until the night the police showed up. Ever since her sister died, Johnston, 92, had lived alone in a rough part of Atlanta called the Bluff. A niece checked in often. One of the gifts she left was a pistol, so that her aunt might protect herself.
The modest house had burglar bars on the windows and doors; there had been break-ins nearby.
Eight officers approached the house, and they didn’t knock. The warrant police obtained, on the basis of a false affidavit, declared they didn’t have to — the house where their informant had bought crack that day, the affidavit said, had surveillance cameras, and those inside could be armed. Because they couldn’t kick down the security gate, two officers set upon it with a pry bar and a battering ram in the dark around 7 p.m. on Nov. 21, 2006.
Burglars, Johnston probably thought, or worse — an elderly neighbor had recently been raped. No doubt she was terrified. That is why, as the cops got closer and closer, she found her gun. And why, as the door was opening, she fired one shot. It didn’t hit anyone. But it provoked a hail of return fire — 39 shots, 5 or 6 of which hit her (and some of which struck other policemen). By the time the officers burst inside, Kathryn Johnston lay in a pool of blood.
Waiting outside, in the back of a police van, was the small-time dealer who told the police there were drugs in the house. He did so under pressure: earlier in the day, three members of the narcotics team, working on their monthly quota of busts, rousted him from his spot in front of a store. Tell us where we can find some weight, they said, or you’re going to jail. The dealer climbed into a car with them and, a few blocks away, to save his own skin, pointed out Kathryn Johnston’s house — it stood out from the others on the block because it had a wheelchair ramp in front.
How did the dealer feel as he watched the home invasion, heard the fusillade of shots? And, inside the house, how long did it take for the police to realize their grave error and for some of them to decide to handcuff a fatally wounded woman and plant drugs in order to cover it up?
Be sure to read the rest. It’s worth the ride.
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Mon November 26, 2012
Jonathan Kozol On Kids That Survive Inner Cities
Originally published on Tue November 27, 2012 10:36 am
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. Coming up, we'll meet the star of the new film "Life of Pi," based on the best-selling novel by Yann Martel. The film is getting rave reviews for its amazing special effects, as well as the performance of the young man we are going to meet in a few minutes for whom this was his first professional acting job. That's coming up.
But first we want to spend a few minutes talking about something that many of us spend more time thinking about at this time of year when many celebrate their good fortune. We're talking about those living in poverty. Their numbers are growing. Right now, in the U.S., more than 40 million Americans and more than one in five children are considered poor.
Our next guest is Jonathan Kozol, a man who's brought the stories of the nation's poor out of the shadows through his many best-selling books. For decades he's chronicled lower income kids and public education in America's inner cities.
His latest is called "Fire in the Ashes." In it, Kozol looks back to the 1980s when he first met a number of families in the Martinique Hotel. It's a place he describes as a decrepit, drug-infested homeless shelter in midtown Manhattan. He's kept in touch with many of the families he met there and he tells us how their lives have turned out.
Jonathan Kozol, thank you so much for speaking with us.
JONATHAN KOZOL: Thanks so much, Michel.
MARTIN: You start the book telling us about two young men, Eric and Christopher, and I was hoping you could just briefly lay out their stories.
KOZOL: OK. Well, Eric and Christopher had both spent their formative years in homeless shelters, and they both had little sisters, four, five, six, seven years old, so they didn't sense exactly what was happening to them. But the boys - both these boys - were around 10 or 12, 14. They were the ones who went out in the streets to panhandle in order to pick up enough money to buy food for their little sisters and the families in the shelters. They were the ones who saw people shooting drugs in the stairways and elevators of the building and they were the ones who came out of it most embittered and distrustful of grownups.
You know, I kind of predicted that would happen, but I didn't realize, in these two cases, that it would lead to really tragic results.
MARTIN: What did happen to them?
KOZOL: Eric and his mother and his little sister were blessed in one way. A family way out in Montana - a doctor who's the head of the family called me after I'd written about them in my first book, "Amazing Grace," and he said our community would be glad to give a home to anyone in the South Bronx who's having a hard time and would like to just start all over.
And the doctor called back at a time when I was with Eric's mother nearby and I just gave the telephone to her. Two weeks later the whole family moved to Montana. For the little girl it worked out beautifully. Suddenly she was going to a really good school and she adapted easily to the racial difference and she ultimately went on to college and is now happily married to a dentist in Atlanta.
But Eric, the older boy, had been so - I cannot explain exactly what it was, but he had been so wounded and embittered by those years when he used to panhandle in Times Square and just one day his mother called me up in tears and she said, Jonathan, my son has taken his own life. He shot himself in the head with a shotgun.
And the other boy to whom I was even closer, Christopher - I'd known him in the homeless shelter in the Martinique. In fact, he used to stare at me whenever I was there talking with his family and it took me a while to realize that he was hungry. Before I could do the interview, I would go out to a store and buy some corn flakes or something because it was unbearable to see him, I mean hungry to the point of desperation, kind of a frenzied look.
He became very hard and tough and has spent a lot of time in prison. I kept worrying that he was going to kill somebody. Instead, as it turned out, he killed himself.
MARTIN: Have you come to any conclusions about why it is that some kids make it and some don't? I mean, you just said that, you know, you're tempted to go into a boys versus the girls analysis. Right? Is there something about being a boy and a young man that these conditions...
KOZOL: That might have...
MARTIN: ...make it really impossible? Well, what do you think?
KOZOL: I think probably the more important point is that these were little girls, that they were still babies and they were just protected from the humiliation of it all. But it may also be that there was some macho feeling among the boys that they had to hold their own against other tough boys and it may have hardened them.
I think statistics will bear me out that at least among African-American boys in our public schools and inner city schools, the dropout rate is somewhat higher than it is for the girls. I know the average for big school systems like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles is about a 50 percent dropout rate for all minority kids, but for black males it's slightly higher. I'm not an expert. I'm a storyteller. I don't know why, but I think it has something to do with needing to defend their self-respect among peers who are rough and - especially older peers who are already into crime.
MARTIN: If you're just joining us, we're speaking with Jonathan Kozol. His books span half a century of covering poverty and public education in our inner cities. His latest is called "Fire in the Ashes" and I really should say you're not covering poverty. You're talking to people. And I do think it's important to point out that you're telling us the stories of people, young people in particular, whom you've met.
And you have to tell us about Pineapple, who sounds as delicious as the name you have given her. She's...
KOZOL: I'm so glad you said that, Michel, because actually at one point in the book I said she had a delicious personality and my editor said, well, that's carrying it a little too far. It sounds as though you're trying to justify her nickname. I know. But I gave her that...
MARTIN: No. I think it goes the other way. I think it - well, because you do disguise the names of the people in the book and you make that very clear up front, that you do obscure specific facts to give them privacy, but she does sound delicious, with all due respect to your editor. You've got to tell us a little bit more about her.
KOZOL: I met Pineapple when she was in kindergarten and she was a charmer, but she was very bossy, slightly on the plumpish side, who started giving me instructions almost from the day we met. By the time she was in third grade, she decided my social life wasn't interesting enough and tried to fix me up with one of her teachers. By the time she was nine, she was expressing her great disapproval of the way I dressed, because I always wore an old shabby black suit that I loved. She sat me down one day and said, Jonathan, if we're going to be friends, I want you to look respectable. Just an adorable little kid and smart and savvy and clever.
But she went to a truly abysmal school and that school that she attended is still abysmal. First of all, it's just an ugly place. It had a medieval look to it, and I remember the basement cafeteria. You know, in those inner city schools, for some reason, you know, the kids have to go down a narrow stairway into a smelly basement cafeteria. You know, I compare that to nice suburban schools that I visit where, you know, they have delightful lunch rooms - relaxed and usually next to it green hillside where they - on sunny days they can open the glass walls and have lunch outside.
And there was Pineapple, you know, going down to this horrible cafeteria where it was really smelly. And some people wonder, well, how did I end up down there? She insisted. She said, if you're going to write about us, you've got to breathe the air we breathe.
MARTIN: One of the things that you describe was that the conditions are conditions that adults wouldn't put up with. Adults who had any...
KOZOL: You said it.
MARTIN: ...choice at all would not put up with having to stand in line for 20 minutes before you could even get anything to eat and then having to rush through your food and, you know, that kind of thing. I mean...
MARTIN: They just wouldn't do it.
KOZOL: I'm so glad you said that, Michel, because there's a tremendous assault upon inner city kids and their teachers, especially, to use the Washington term for underperforming, you know, for not boosting the test scores enough each year. But the people who criticize them most vociferously - at least the ones I know - tend to be very prosperous businesspeople, my Harvard classmates, you know, people who are on Wall Street, something like that. They wouldn't work for one hour in the kind of building where Pineapple spent her whole childhood.
Even worse was the fact that class size was tremendous. She had 32 in her class one year, 34, then 36 in fourth grade. And by the way, I mentioned this when I spoke in New York a couple of weeks ago and teachers crowded out of the audience at the end and said, it hasn't changed. I have 40 this year. I have 42.
A lot of my friends - again, I mean affluent white friends - will say to me, you know, does class size really matter for those children if they would simply buckle down? And I always ask them where their kids go to school and how many children are in their classes, and typically, you know, they live in a really nice suburb out on Long Island. They'll have 16, 17, maybe 18 kids in a third grade class. If they send them off to very good prep schools - oh, like Sidwell Friends in Washington - Sidwell...
MARTIN: Where the president's children go.
KOZOL: Oh, that's right.
MARTIN: And the vice president's grandchildren go.
KOZOL: Is that right?
MARTIN: And former President Clinton's daughter went and...
KOZOL: They have probably 14 kids in a class there. Up here in New England, at Exeter - I live near Exeter and Andover. They have 12 in a class, and when my wealthy friends say to me, Jonathan, does class size really matter for kids like Pineapple, I'll just say, I don't know. It seems to work for your children, doesn't it?
MARTIN: Tell me a little bit about what happened to Pineapple. The education piece - not the poverty side as much, but the education side. She had - not only had such large classes, but teachers kept quitting because it was an unbearable situation for a teacher, so she had, like, seven different teachers in the course of two years. The principal thought that she could compensate for this by a very rigid uniformity in curriculum, heavily test-driven. This was just prior to No Child Left Behind, but this was, in a sense, a prelude to what we now have on a national basis.
KOZOL: And it simply didn't work because Pineapple was turned off completely by these little test prep booklets they were given all year. They had no wonderful literature to read. You know, I know what lovely suburban schools are like and little kids get to read all the treasures of the earth, you know, whether they're multi-ethnic or whether they're just beautiful books like "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and all those lovely books that entice you into reading.
So here is the answer to your question. I went to a priest in the neighborhood, a wonderful woman Episcopal priest who loved Pineapple, also, and this was a priest who shared my sense that public education is the bedrock of democracy and neither of us would willingly abandon public schools. But, in this case, the priest did exactly what any wealthy parent would have done. She used her connections to get Pineapple into a really terrific prep school for rich children and, suddenly, with 15 kids in her class and teachers who weren't under the sword of teaching to the test so they could listen to Pineapple and follow her curiosities, she made up three years in the course of four. Then, she won a scholarship in ninth grade to a wonderful prep school up in New England on the coastline of Rhode Island, which, fortunately, was also a racially mixed school and she told me this later. She said, in 10th grade, Jonathan, I knew that I had made the breakthrough. I knew that I could do it, that I could go to college.
And I'm happy to say she did. In fact, just last month, she entered her senior year of college. And what I love even more about Pineapple - not just the grit it took to get through all that - is the fact that she's decided to take an extra year in order to get certified as a teacher because she wants to go back and work in public schools in the South Bronx. As she put it, I want to go back and help the ones I left behind. I'm very proud of her.
Now, the obvious question will come up. You know, how many kids get that kind of chance? That's kind of the heart of the book. You shouldn't have to be a little charmer to get an equal shot at education in America.
MARTIN: Before we let you go, thank you for taking the time to talk with me.
KOZOL: I love talking to you.
MARTIN: Well, thank you. If you and I get together five years from - how about - let's make it 10. Let's make it 10. What kind of conversation do you think we'll be having about education in America, especially education for poor kids?
KOZOL: I think we'll be having a more hopeful conversation because, despite this tremendous sort of privatizing juggernaut right now that's really demoralizing teachers terribly and leading some of the best ones to quit and go teach in prep schools where they won't be humiliated - despite this, I've seen trends come and go. You know, I've been doing this for half a century. I started teaching in 1964 and I've seen these pendulum swings and this one will pass, also, and I suspect that, 10 years down the road, we're going to see a - and if we have the political leadership we need, I think we're going to see far greater equality in our public schools. I think we're going to see the federal government taking a larger role in guaranteeing a level playing field, which the local districts simply can not provide because of the great extremes and differences in their local wealth, property wealth, which is the present basis for school funding.
I think we're going to see a terrific teaching force, perhaps the best we've ever had in America because there's an increasing trend and I encourage this for students who want to teach to first get a liberal arts education. They'll minor in teaching and education and I love teachers, anyway. They're my heroes. I just think - especially at elementary level, I just think that's the best thing you can do with your life.
MARTIN: Jonathan Kozol is the author of many books about children and their education. Most recently, he's the author of "Fire in the Ashes: 25 Years Among the Poorest Children in America," and he was kind enough to join us from Boston, Massachusetts.
Jonathan Kozol, thank you for speaking with us.
KOZOL: Thank you, too, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
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Gifted analyst of history, literature will serve as salutatorian
Posted May 24, 2010; 12:00 p.m.
During her freshman writing seminar, "Wit and Folly in the Age of Shakespeare," Princeton senior Marguerite Colson experienced a moment that changed her approach to every class she took after that.
The seminar's close analysis of essay structure and the methods a writer uses to develop an argument convinced Colson that "the way I had written before wasn't going to cut it," she said. When working on an essay for the class, she realized she needed to finish the assignment a few days before the deadline to leave time to "analyze it and take it apart and put it back together."
The development of her writing skills helped Colson to become the highest-ranking history major in the class of 2010 and the class salutatorian. As such, she will continue the Princeton tradition of delivering a speech in Latin, one of her key areas of study, at Commencement on Tuesday, June 1.
Colson's proficiency in Latin is matched by her incisive critical writing about the material, said Professor of Classics Andrew Feldherr.
"I consider her one of the most gifted analysts of literature I have taught at Princeton," said Feldherr, who taught Colson in a course on Latin elegy. "Her translations were consistently letter perfect, and her oral presentation and essay set a very high standard for sophisticated and informed literary engagement with the material."
Salutatorian Marguerite Colson loves "the neat combination of logic and math and literary analysis" in Latin classes. She will continue the Princeton tradition of delivering a speech in Latin at Commencement on Tuesday, June 1. (Photo: Brian Wilson)
Colson is earning a certificate in the language and culture of ancient Rome. She started studying Latin in sixth grade, and said she loves "the neat combination of logic and math and literary analysis" in Latin classes. She especially liked her Princeton courses on Virgil's "Aeneid" and the Roman Republic, which she took her first year at Princeton.
Colson won the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence and the Quin Morton '36 Writing Seminar Essay Prize her freshman year. Over the course of her Princeton years, she applied her writing and analytical talents to excel in her major in history.
A native of Manhattan, Colson wrote a junior paper about a 1741 slave conspiracy in colonial New York City. She wrote another about the American involvement in the 1953 coup in Iran; however, her true love is 20th-century American history, she said. For her senior thesis, she examined the life of Edward Stettinius, who served as U.S. secretary of state under presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and oversaw the creation of the United Nations. No biography of Stettinius has been written, perhaps because he lasted just seven months in the position before being fired by Truman, who inherited him when Roosevelt died in office.
"Stettinius was kind of a lost figure in history," Colson said. "I saw this as an opportunity to give him a second look."
She traveled to Truman's presidential library in Missouri and made some tantalizing discoveries, such as a letter in which Truman referred to Stettinius' replacement by the same title "secretary of state" three weeks before firing Stettinius.
The greatest pleasure of writing the senior thesis, Colson said, is that it enables you to "surround yourself with material and let yourself find evidence for an argument."
History lecturer Paul Miles, her thesis adviser, was impressed with her paper's "originality, sophisticated analysis and especially fluent composition," he said.
Colson also has relished taking a variety of courses outside her major and getting involved in a number of extracurricular projects.
"You don’t have to settle down here. You can do a lot of things you love," she said.
Inspired by her experience in her freshman writing seminar, Colson became a fellow at the Writing Center, where for three years she helped graduate students with fellowship applications, seniors with their theses and freshmen with their first college papers.
"I think you can learn a lot about your own writing from reading other people's," she said.
At the Writing Center, she has excelled at providing "that crucial outside perspective and sympathetic ear for other writers," said Amanda Irwin Wilkins, director of the Princeton Writing Program, which oversees the center. "The students she has worked with remark on what a good listener she is, always attentive and encouraging as they develop their ideas and refine their arguments."
Colson also has served as a tutor for English as a Second Language and a volunteer at Princeton Nursery School through the University's Community House civic engagement organization.
Starting this summer, she will be a yearlong fellow with the Project 55 alumni service group, working as an intern for the next year at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office in the Investigation Division Central unit, which prosecutes white-collar crimes. She hopes the fellowship will help her decide whether to go to law school.
"I love the idea of marshalling evidence and looking at many different perspectives and counterarguments before forming your argument," she said. "It's a career that would keep me reading and writing."
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Gemma Correll may be slightly obsessed with adorable animals, so who better to guide pugs in the art of polite puppy training than her?
An illustrator of cute household animals, Correll fills her book, 'A Pug's Guide to Etiquette,' with illustrations of super sweet pugs ready to do anything for their owners and show their unconditional love. Perhaps puppies can come off as annoying with their quirky habits, but this book gives us a sneak peek at the world through their perspective, making it impossible not to feel affection towards these furry critters.
Through the idea of polite puppy training, Correll shows that pugs are actually perfect as they are.
Pooch Manner Manuals
533 clicks in 13 w
More Stats +/-
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In a previously secret board paper disclosed to the Sunday Herald under freedom of information (FoI), Electoral Commission officials said the lengthy "unregulated period" up to summer 2014 posed serious questions about maintaining public confidence in the system.
They recommended extending the regulated period before the vote, during which tight rules apply, from a standard 16 weeks to about nine months, and the board decided to keep the issue under review.
The Sunday Herald first exposed the "Wild West" nature of the referendum in June.
With the legislation setting out the rules not due to clear Holyrood until late 2013, the campaign until then is literally lawless, with no controls on spending or donations.
Under the Scottish Government's current plan, only in the 16 weeks leading up to the vote would campaigners need to declare and limit their donations and spending. Foreign donations over £500 would then be banned.
In previous referendums, the length of the unregulated period has not been an issue because it has typically been very short. The 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution was held just four months after Labour won power.
The longest unregulated referendum period to date has been about six months, when New Zealand reconsidered its voting system in 2011. But with the Yes Scotland and Better Together campaigns already launched, the period for the independence ballot, expected in October 2014, is four times as long.
Both campaigns say they will refuse foreign cash and self-publish donations, but there is no sanction if they change their minds.
In the paper to the Electoral Commission board in June, officials warned of "the potential for significant levels of uncontrolled campaigning".
They concluded: "The view of Commission staff is that the [regulated] period should be longer than the minimum 16 weeks." In the end, the Commission board chose not to advocate a longer regulated period.
Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie said: "The Electoral Commission are right to be concerned and the SNP should act to resolve the problem they have plunged us into. An early referendum would help make this a fair campaign."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The referendum will meet the gold standard in terms of fairness, transparency and propriety. Following the AV referendum in 2011 the Electoral Commission recommended that at future referendums the statutory minimum referendum period should be increased from 10 to 16 weeks. "That is exactly what the Scottish Government has proposed in its draft referendum bill."
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This large work fills and dominates the specified space it is created in. Comprising a variety of materials typical to Black’s work, the sculpture’s fragility contrasts to its commanding nature. The subtle pink colour is created with crushed children’s chalk, which, when combined with crisp white plaster and billowing polythene sheets, creates a sense of both movement and tranquillity. With its deliberate edges the work moves away from being purely gestural to demonstrate Black’s definitive decision-making process. Black’s intentionally evocative titles, such as ‘Contact Isn’t Lost’, highlight her belief that language occupies a secondary role in comparison to the work itself and the effect it has on the viewer.
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Other celebrity "victims" have included former British prime minister Tony Blair, ex-French president Jacques Chirac and deceased Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
This year it is a yellow-jersey clad Armstrong holding a sign saying: "For Sale Racing Bike, No Longer Required." The effigy also has a medal reading "Jim Fixed It For Me" -- a reference to one of the television shows formerly hosted by Savile.
Another comment on the Edenbridge society's website read: "Burning an effigy of a living person is disgraceful and wrong! I hope that all good minded people will condemn these actions. English people are today being broadcast in the news worldwide as effigy burners.
"These actions providing temporary laughs to a small minded mob will potentially have longer lasting negative repercussions around the world."
Another said: "Lance Armstrong is 2 people a sportsman and a Cancer crusader whose efforts have helped thousands of people around the world. To pair him up with a child sex offender is unjust!"
Many societies similar to the body in Edenbridge exist across the county of Kent. The annual displays commemorate both Guy Fawkes and the deaths of 17 Protestant martyrs, known as "The Sussex Martyrs," between 1555 and 1557.
The Edenbridge society said it had considered depicting Savile, British chancellor George Osbourne or extradited Muslim cleric Abu Hamza.
"We had a shortlist which included Jimmy Savile but it was decided it would not be nice to use him as a lot of children attend the bonfire and they might start asking their parents questions," its co-ordinator Charles Laver told the UK Press Association.
"Then we had George Osborne but he hasn't really got a face that everyone knows and he's just a chap in a suit. We felt he would be a bit boring.
"We started to do Abu Hamza but then we decided we weren't entirely happy to do him, so Lance Armstrong came out of the woodwork. He's better because he's brighter ... We're very pleased with it."
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Staring at the Sun
by Julian Barnes
Knopf, 197 pp., $15.95
“You can put anything you like in a novel. So why do people always go on putting in the same thing? Why is the vol-au-vent always chicken?” Thus spake D.H. Lawrence (in his essay, “The Novel,” in Reflections on the Death of a Porcupine). Julian Barnes is a writer worth watching because he seems to share Lawrence’s wish to vary the ingredients of our fictional diet. After producing two fairly conventional novels and (under another name) a clutch of crime stories, he made a stir a few years ago with the highly original and idiosyncratic Flaubert’s Parrot.
This book used its ostensible subject, the life and art of Gustave Flaubert, as the focus for a beguiling miscellany of pensées, jokes, anecdotes, and aesthetic speculations by its obsessive and lightly fictionalized narrator. It gave much pleasure, and occasioned much puzzlement over how it should be generically classified. In Britain it was short listed for the Booker fiction prize and in France it was awarded the Prix Medici for the best work of belles-lettres by a foreign writer. Deconstructionists hailed it as an exemplary poststructuralist text. More traditional literary scholars might categorize it as a Menippean satire—a form characterized, according to Mikhail Bakhtin (who knew more about it than most people), by “an extraordinary freedom of plot and philosophical invention,” “sharp contrasts and oxymoronic combinations,” and “a wide use of inserted genres.”
Staring at the Sun has some of the Menippean qualities of Flaubert’s Parrot, but lacks the earlier book’s nonchalant poise. Julian Barnes has revealed in an interview that he started Staring at the Sun before writing Flaubert’s Parrot, and finished it after the latter book was completed. It is perhaps unsporting to use this evidence against the work, but one can’t help tracing its weaknesses to the circumstances of the composition. Flaubert’s Parrot had a quality of effortlessness about it, the grace that descends upon a lucky writer when his imagination is seized by an idea that is both original and viable. Staring at the Sun, charming and effective as it is in parts, is a broken-backed whole, a book that starts out as one thing and ends up as another.
The intial idea seems to have been to portray the life of an ordinary English-woman, called Jean Serjeant, in a delicate web of leitmotifs rather than a densely woven narrative—first against the background of known history, and then projected into the future. Jean Sergeant is unexceptional in every way except her longevity: born in 1922, she outlives the century. The novel actually begins, however, in June 1941, with a prologue describing the experience of a certain Sergeant-Pilot Tommy Prosser as he flew his Hurricane fighter back across the English Channel after a mission over occupied France. At 18,000 feet Prosser watched entranced as the sun, a stately orange globe, rose in the east, and then, swooping down to sea level to investigate the smoke from a passing merchant …
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Fracking has become one of the biggest buzz words of 2012.
It's a divisive issue, sparking strong opinions and passion for and against the latest employment craze..
If you're not familiar with the term, it's time to bone up on induced hydraulic fracturing, shortened to fracking.
Scores of eastern Idahoans are traveling out to North Dakota, Montana and now the Boise area, for quick and sometimes lucrative work.
Energy companies use it as a process to extract gas and petroleum from rock layers.
They fracture source rocks by shooting pressurized fluid or water deep into the ground, freeing up the natural fuel.
Although fracking began 65 years ago, recently it's come more into the spotlight due to environmental concerns and popularity.
Idaho Falls native Sheldon Horn travels to North Dakota for two to three weeks at a time, hauling water for fracking to and from drilling sites.
A big rig has become his home away from home.
"The living conditions are pretty simple -- there are none. Unless you've been up there for a long time and have been fortunate enough to find a house," said Sheldon.
With a wife and two kids in Idaho Falls, it can be pretty rough. He's been doing it for several years now.
"It was hard to get used to, hard to adjust. We miss him really badly for the first few days," said Sheldon's wife Timmery.
"I tell everyone the same saying, 'Either your cup is half empty or it's half full,' and you just have to stay positive," said Sheldon.
Droves of Idahoans are camping out on both sides of the Montana and North Dakota border, where fracking has become a cramped lifestyle.
"There's nowhere. There are people that are literally camping out in the Wal-mart parking lot at the very edge," said Sheldon.
It's paying off.
North Dakota leads the nation with an extremely low jobless rate -- 3.3 percent.
That's five percent less than the national average.
Even still, fracking faces a lot of opposition from environmentalists concerned with its affect on drinking water.
Some believe it may even trigger earthquakes, like the New Year's Eve tremblor in Ohio.
Sheldon said he'll keep his faith in the oil companies because they keep drilling areas safe.
"It's a very strict environment. You can't mess around. They don't mess around," said Sheldon.
"I don't have any major complaints yet. I hope that it works out long term," said Timmery.
Reporter Jessica Crandall interviewed Sheldon as he was just about to leave for another stint in the oil fields. It's been two weeks now and he is still there, looking to spend another week on the road.
Fracking seems to be migrating to Idaho. Snake River Oil has been leasing land in the Boise area for this very purpose.
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Director, Alex Flores
Juarez is a feature length documentary that shows the theories found by
family members of the victims, forensics, journalists, artists and activists
in Mexico, questioning why the federal government hasn’t intensified
its interest to thoroughly investigate the brutal murders of over 460
women in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.
Juarez exposes the high levels of corruption and violence in Mexico, which
have led to increasing violence and murders against women. Also, the documentary
shows several interviews to the children of some of the murdered women
of Juarez. They are the other victims of the femicide.
There was an article in the Toronto Star, written
by Linda Diebel, back in February of 2006 that really touched Alex and
inspired her to do a film about the murdered women of Juarez. At that
point she called and told me about the article and her idea. We got together
and after reading the article and talking about the situation in Juarez,
decided that we absolutely had to make a documentary about femicide together,
and it would be called Juarez.
The more we researched the murders of women in Juarez, the more compelled
we felt to tell their stories and that of their children, who are the
other victims of these horrible crimes. We also decided that we wanted
to interview some of these children and their grandmothers, who are the
ones now struggling to care for them with little or no assistance from
We began our research and received a lot of support from Marisela Ortiz,
one of the founders of the non-profit organization Nuestras Hijas de Regreso
a Casa that helps the children and families of the murdered women of Juarez.
We also received a lot of support from other women activists, artists
and journalists such as Diana Washington Valdez and a Forensic Specialist,
Oscar Maynez. By April 2006, we had our script ready and began independently
raising funds to be able to raise the money to shoot our documentary.
This meant organizing two fundraiser dinners, including a silent art auction,
and sending countless emails to friends, family and contacts asking for
donations towards the documentary.
Once we had successfully raised the necessary funds, we were able to travel
to Mexico and shoot on location in Ciudad Juarez and Mexico City during
3 weeks in late July and August 2006.
While we were in Ciudad Juarez, we were always assisted and guided by
the two amazing women Marisela and Maite. They were essential in providing
us with information and setting up interviews with the children and their
grandmothers. They all welcomed us into their homes and were open to all
our questions. We are extremely grateful for their generosity and touched
by their courageous hearts.
Our documentary Juarez has truly been a labor of love and dedication.
We have independently produced and filmed this feature length documentary,
and we feel proud to have been able to contribute a deeper insight into
the femicide in Ciudad Juarez as well as obtain testimonies from prominent
Mexican women about the brutal violence against women in Mexico and the
government corruption that continues to perpetuate violence and injustice.
As women and filmmakers, we truly hope that our documentary will raise
more awareness about the subject of femicide and violence against women.
We also hope that it motivates people to get involved in learning more
about these issues, to take action to stop and prevent any form of violence
or discrimination against women and to promote justice and equality not
only in Mexico but in all societies of the world.
Alex Flores and Lorena Vassolo
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As EAA Air Venture comes to life today, one of the topics on the agenda later in the week is fuels, specifically a replacement for leaded avgas. At last year's show, there was a flurry of activity on this subject, with meetings and briefing galore. This year, not so much. It's not that the topic has cooled so much as it has gone underground. On Wednesday, the FAA and industry groups are supposed to give a briefing on progress made by the Unleaded Avgas Transition rulemaking committee. I'd caution against expecting too much detailed information from this briefing, but I'm willing to be surprised.
Last week, out of the blue, we were copied on a letter sent to the FAA by Friends of Earth declining the agency's initiation to participate in the ARC committee. FOE's ostensible reason for passing was because the ARC committee's deliberations aren't open to the public and press. I don't think that's the real reason. I suspect there are things in the background that we don't know about or that FOE prefers to simply remain in an adversarial role without getting co-opted by the very agencies it may someday choose to sue. Recall that Friends has filed a petition with the Environmental Protection Agency to enjoin it to enforce clean air standards with regard to lead emissions. The next step for FOE might very well be to force the emissions issue into the courts, but it hasn't said as much yet.
Whatever the case, I agree with FOE on one point: This entire fuels review process should be open to the public and the press, just as most things the government does should be open to the public and press. The standard argument for keeping it closed is that private enterprisemainly the oil companiesmight be reticent to express opinions and reveal data for proprietary reasons. And if things are kept behind closed doors, it will better serve to jolly things along. But I just don't buy that argument. If the oil companiesor whomeverare revealing trade secrets to each other, why shouldn't the flying public have an open view of decisions being made that will impact it directly?
In government bureaucracies, secrecy begets more secrecy unless we the regulated push back against continuing it. Although the ARC committee seems to be making some progress, the rumor that it would have substantive announcements to make at AirVenture is apparently just that, a rumor. We can only hope the briefing will bring things more or less up to date, and that's a good thing.
But what I don't think the regulators understand is that the most important thing they can do is to instill confidence in the market. I think most owners believe there will be some kind of solution to replace avgas, but they're less sure about when, how and how much it will cost. This is causing a drag on sales of new and used airplanes and on equipment, although I honestly believe the erosion is just one factor of several stunting sales. Craig Fuller and Randy Babbitt simply saying don't worry, everything will be fine isn't quite enough. The better way would be to have full visibility into the process.
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Among last week’s meetings was one to discuss how we might best take forward our implementation of the Athena Swan arrangements, and in particular the development of requirements for our fundees to have done so (by applying for and achieving the necessary charter awards), probably in the manner set down by the NIHR for bids to become Biomedical Research Centres.
I managed to attend the dinner discussion of the first meeting of our new Exploiting New Ways of Working Panel, and also had a first meeting since his appointment with Tim Benton, the new Global Food Security Champion.
The horticulture industry is widely (and correctly) seen as an important contributor to a healthy diet, and also to the UK economy. Scientific understanding is a major means of assisting in the improvement of both facets. To this end, I enjoyed a very useful visit to East Malling Research located by the eponymous village in Kent. I was especially interested in the huge improvements in water usage (coupled to both yields and quality) that could be effected, as well as the knowledge emerging from the apple genome sequence. Given all the positive drivers involving food security, horticulture, sustainability, perenniality, climate change and so on, as well as science drivers such as omics technologies, one can only anticipate a substantial increase in opportunities in this space.
Other things that I read included:
- an interesting paper on the structure of nitrogenase, including a commentary stating “What the team has done would appear to be a classic case where new technology leads to new science.”
- “86 Helpful Tools for the Data Professional PLUS 45 Bonus Tools”
- an uncomfortably accurate sideways take on what the British mean by various phrases
- a blog on the likely size of the data deluge – 8 zettabytes by 2015!
I also note the Position Statement on Food Security and Safety (PDF) from the Society for General Microbiology, an interesting editorial at Nature Biotechnology on ‘Big Ideas and Grand Challenges’ (written for the US – but presumably useful for any other – Bioeconomy), and the announcement by Minister of Universities and Science David Willetts of a joint program with India in sustainable bioenergy research.
- Anon: Big ideas and grand challenges. Nat Biotechnol 2011; 29:951
- Lancaster KM, Roemelt M, Ettenhuber P, Hu Y, Ribbe MW, Neese F, Bergmann U, DeBeer S: X-ray emission spectroscopy evidences a central carbon in the nitrogenase iron-molybdenum cofactor. Science 2011; 334:974-977
- Velasco R, et mult al.: The genome of the domesticated apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.). Nat Genet 2010; 42:833-839. Link to Applegenome.org
Related posts (based on tags and chronology):
Announcements, speeches and animal health
14 February 2011
That was the week that was…and the year
14 December 2009
Science and Technology in Society Forum 2009
07 October 2009
Horticulture, fellowships and informatics
14 September 2009
Industrial Biotechnology, Research Advisory Panel and strategies
28 January 2013
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SunPass may be the overwhelming choice of drivers to pay tolls on most Florida toll roads. But for some, privacy is an issue with updating their accounts online or over the phone.
The solution — something that combines the ease of paying tolls electronically with the ability to still use cash.
Florida's Turnpike is billing itself as the first toll road agency in the country to allow drivers to replenish their transponders with cash.
The cash option is available at 572 stores in Florida on "Touch-n-Buy" kiosks, a red touch-screen terminal where customers have been able to do things such as pay utility bills since 1999.
The SunPass website — http://www.sunpass.com — has a list of kiosk locations that can be searched by ZIP code.
"Florida residents have been using the technology since 1999, so it was a matter of adding SunPass to something the customer is familiar with," said Orlando Torres, deputy director of toll operations.
Here's how it works: On the screen of each kiosk, customers will see a menu of choices in English or Spanish. After you touch the SunPass option, enter your transponder number.
The transponder number can be found on the back of the SunPass portable transponders or the front of the SunPass Mini tags. Officials suggest writing the number down and keeping it handy in your wallet, purse or glove box so you can take it inside the store with you.
After entering the number, you can check your balance or choose a dollar amount to replenish your SunPass account. After you press the "finish order" button, the kiosk prints out a receipt that you take to the cashier, along with the payment. The money is instantly credited to your SunPass account.
You can use cash, checks (if the merchant accepts them), credit card or debit card. No other information is required or stored.
The transaction includes a $1.50 "convenience fee," which is similar to what consumers pay when they use an ATM belonging to another bank. Revenue from the $1.50 fees is split between Blackstone, the company that owns the kiosks, and the merchant.
About 1,000 kiosks will be available statewide in July. By early next year, officials hope to have nearly 3,500.
Later this year, drivers will be able to use the kiosks to pay fines for toll violations.
Next year, even drivers who don't have SunPass will able to pay tolls at the kiosks after they drive stretches of the turnpike where all toll booths have been removed and no cash is accepted.
The new Toll-by-Plate system being introduced on the turnpike's Homestead Extension in Miami-Dade County early next year will give non-SunPass drivers the option of waiting for a monthly bill in the mail or paying their invoice at the kiosks and avoiding monthly service charges if they wait for a bill.
Under Toll-by-Plate, cameras will snap photos of vehicle license plates as they pass under overhead toll equipment at plazas and bill the vehicle's registered owner.
Jennifer Olson, the turnpike's deputy executive director, said the kiosks will help make it easier for cash customers to transition to SunPass as the turnpike gradually switches to all-electronic tolling and eliminates all cash toll booths.
"They can get all the benefits of having a transponder while still paying cash at hundreds of convenient locations," she said.
Michael Turnbell can be reached at mturnbell@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4155. Follow him on Twitter @MikeTurnpike or Facebook at http://www.SunSentinel.com/concreteideas.
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ORLANDO, Fla., July 18 (UPI) -- A captive-carry flight test of a new sensor suite for U.S. cruise missiles has been completed by Lockheed Martin.
Lockheed said its Long Range Anti-Ship Missile sensor suite for subsonic cruise missiles was carried out on a modified Sabreliner business jet at varying altitudes and airspeeds off the coast of Florida.
The system successfully detected, classified and recognized targets. Littoral imagery was also captured during the tests and target data processing algorithms ran real-time in the missile electronics system.
"This is a tremendous step toward integrating the LRASM subsystems and getting the missile into additional flight testing," said Mike Fleming, LRASM program manager in Lockheed Martin's Missiles and Fire Control business. "Testing and validation of subsystems is on schedule and will lead to All-Up-Round flight tests in early 2013.
"Our experience with related missile technology development efforts, such as the Joint Air-to-Surface Missile-Extended Range program, is directly benefiting our efforts on LRASM."
The LRASM sensor suite consists of a radio-frequency sensor to detect ships, a weapon data link for communications and an electro-optical seeker for positive target identification and targeting.
Lockheed is developing the stealth LRASM missile under a U.S. military contract.
|Additional Security Industry Stories|
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, June 19 (UPI) --Iceland's new prime minister this week cited the country's mackerel fishing dispute with the European Union as a prime example of the value of sovereignty.
PARIS, June 19 (UPI) --Aerospace industry contracts for commercial aircraft, related systems and services worth billions of dollars are being reported from the Paris Air Show.
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A friend who is a senior sales and marketing director has complained to Baat Gwaa about how difficult it is to hire good people these days because of the "employee-friendly market".
There is more demand than supply, thus companies have to offer better wages and reward/retention packages. "I have been asked by my company to analyse what motivates a candidate, both in the short-term and long-term, and identify the underlying factors. It's almost like psychological profiling," she says.
Lancy Chui, managing director of Manpower Hong Kong, Macau and Vietnam, agrees that hiring has become more complex as companies don't just want to recruit, but also to retain talent.
"There are two types of motivation - intrinsic and extrinsic - so hiring managers need to understand the difference in order to motivate people," Chui explains.
Intrinsically motivated people gain job satisfaction from promotion and recognition. But, those who are extrinsically motivated prefer tangible benefits such as job titles and perks.
Chui says motivation is not about getting your staff to do the job, but understanding what they need to stimulate them to do a good job. Baat Gwaa thinks it sounds like psychological warfare in the workplace.
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Take a trip down memory lane by strolling or cycling the Charlotte Trolley Rail-with-Trail. This 2-mile trail follows the Charlotte Trolley as it tootles its way from E. 9th Street in Uptown to Clanton Road in the historic South End.
The original trolley line closed in 1938. Luckily, a University of North Carolina history professor was able to track down the last trolleyNo. 85and this piece of history is now back in service on the rail-with-trail, along with three replica trolleys.
As the trail traverses the city streets from Uptown, it passes the popular ImaginOn children's learning center and Charlotte Bobcats Arena before leading directly through the Charlotte Convention Center. If the center is closed, or you're biking the route, you must go around the block (right on East 2nd, left on South College, left on East Stonewall), then either climb the stairs or take the elevator in a parking garage across the street to rejoin the trail.
The South End (www.historicsouthend.com) hosts both the Charlotte Trolley barn and museum at Atherton Mill (www.charlottetrolley.org), as well as the popular South End Gallery Crawl, held the first Friday of each month and during which trailside art galleries open their doors for browsing, music and hors d'oeuvres.
The entire route is fairly well marked, and trash receptacles, benches, bike stands, and streetlights line the way. And once you've walked the trail in one direction, you can catch the trolley back.
The Charlotte Trolley Trail was featured as a Trail of the Month by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.
In downtown Charlotte, the trolley line runs south from E. 9th Street, between College and Brevard, to Clanton Road in the South End. Parking lots line the route. If you choose the lot at 9th Street, park toward the back and not in the spaces reserved for the fire department. For more information:
Charlotte Center City Partners
128 South Tryon Street, Suite 1960
Charlotte, NC 28202
Flat, paved trail from downtown south through the South End. Nice on a fall or spring day. A little warm in the summer since there is little shade. The portion S of Remount is temporarily closed as of this writing due to residential construction.
Not at all well marked and major detour through the streets. Ride the trolley, skip the trail.
"The trolley trail is temporarily torn up so they can construct accomodations for the light rail, which shares the trolley tracks. It will be well into 2007 before you can use it again. "
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Posted Oct 8, 2009 17:22 UTC (Thu) by iabervon (subscriber, #722)
In reply to: 2.6.x-rc0 by k3ninho
Parent article: 2.6.x-rc0
The problem is that people want to base their development on kernels that don't have lots of instability in them, so they pick a tag from Linus's repository that is likely to be stable, and that tag has a version in the Makefile like "2.6.31". When they start their feature, it's completely unstable, but has a "2.6.x" version. When subsystem maintainers put together series, they pick up these topics, and they don't change the Makefile version themselves (since they don't maintain the Makefile), and the don't merge Linus's tree, especially not during the merge window (because that creates a lot of cross-merges and useless merge commits and cases where things from -system1 are broken because of a change in -system2 merged first into the merge window and them into -system1).
The end result is that, regardless of what Linus does, if there is a commit which builds a kernel that claims to be "2.6.x" in his tree, then most of the least stable commits in his tree will also claim to be "2.6.x".
One thing that might work would be for Linus to not put "2.6.x" in his tree, but instead put "2.6.x+1-rc0" in his tree and only put "2.6.x" in the 2.6.x-stable tree. This would have the nice side effect that string compare would start sorting tags within a tree correctly, and it's obviously equivalent to the current situation at a string-equality level within a given tree, but I don't know if Linus would like not having releases ever cut from his tree any more.
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In the not-so-distant past, the development of keywords for eDiscovery was relatively straightforward. Attorneys would lock themselves in a room with a yellow pad and thesaurus and start guessing words that might be contained within a collection of data, which could indicate a given document would be responsive. The benefit of this approach was that it allowed both parties to quickly narrow the data to a much more manageable set of information, and thus cut down on the time and cost associated with analysis and review.
While there is little debate that keywords remain a critical part of eDiscovery because they are conceptually easy to understand and cull data based on what the issue is about, the process by which they have traditionally been developed is coming under increased scrutiny from the courts. Numerous concerns are being raised about keywords' integrity and accuracy because the old selection process is manual and based on only a limited understanding of the millions of documents in question. Moreover, it is open to interpretation, which can lead to an under-inclusive or overly inclusive set of information - that is, the number of keywords chosen may be artificially high or low and thus impact how many documents are ultimately set aside for further review. To wit:
This case is just the latest example of lawyers designing keyword searches in the dark, by the seat of the pants, without adequate (indeed, here, apparently without any) discussion with those who wrote the emails.
William A. Gross Constr. Assocs. v. Am. Mfrs. Mut. Ins. Co., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22903 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 19, 2009)
In this case, the Defendants have failed to demonstrate that the keyword search they performed on the text-searchable ESI was reasonable. Defendants neither identified the keywords selected nor the qualifications of the persons who selected them to design a proper search; they failed to demonstrate that there was quality-assurance testing; and when their production was challenged by the Plaintiff, they failed to carry their burden of explaining what they had done and why it was sufficient.
Smith v. Life Investors Insurance Company of America, Dist. Court, WD Pennsylvania 2009
In short, the method by which keywords are developed must evolve along with court expectations, or organizations will be at risk of increasing consequences that manifest themselves in the form of fines or sanctions.
The Early Role Of Technology In Keyword Development
Understanding the risk of standing pat, many forward-thinking organizations have looked to technology for assistance in developing keywords. They have leaned on functionality such as clustering and "documents as heuristics," for example, to improve their results.
These efforts undoubtedly yielded quicker results, but they also had a number of underlying challenges. Most notably, what was taking place under the hood was generally a mystery to any but the most technical attorney. This lack of transparency affected the repeatability of the process, and therefore raised concerns on how it might stand up in court. There are many recent anecdotal examples of judges pointing to a lead attorney and saying, "I want you to tell me exactly how your technology selected these keywordsnot your technical expert."
To understand more about why the defensibility of these advanced technologies can come into question, let's look deeper at an example. When clustering technology was first introduced to eDiscovery, many assumed it would dramatically change the industry. This artificial intelligence would help group documents with similar characteristics, so readers could gain efficiencies by looking at a stack of what was presumed to be similar content - and therefore, one could assume, hold similar keywords.
How "clustered" documents were grouped together, however, is based on advanced mathematical theory and broad characterizations of an entire document. If, for example, a document is 90 percent about fantasy football and 10 percent about price-fixing, it would be bucketed in the cluster of fantasy football because it is broadly about this topic, and the underlying mathematics isn't smart enough to prioritize the more-important concept that an attorney might be searching for in a given case (price-fixing in this example). Clustering, therefore, isn't an ideal approach to developing keywords because it's not granular enough, difficult to control and explain, and (most notably) it can yield results that make it easy to miss critical information.
They key lesson we've learned so far about developing keywords is that the solution can't be all human guesswork, but the solution also can't be entirely handed off to technology to do the heavy lifting either.
A Smarter Approach To Keyword Development
A better path for developing keywords is to leverage a mix of a number of critical elements - human intuition and understanding of the case, an understanding of the language used in the documents under consideration, and sound technology - rather than rely on any one aspect alone.
Our recommendation is to first determine if your case is right for keywords and then to start identifying the characteristics of the documents you are looking for within the collection. The latter is the most important step in developing keywords, and often is the most difficult.To do so, take a methodical approach by first outlining the critical issues of the case, and then develop a logical expression - comprised of a handful of key concepts - that represents each issue. For instance, a key issue of a case might be price-fixing, and a logical expression for price-fixing might be "meeting - competitor - price" in which you'd be focused on any documents that might be about a meeting with competitors where price is discussed.
Once this framework is complete, building a list of keywords becomes much easier because the roadmap is already laid out in front of you - you've, in effect, turned a fill-in-the-blank test into a multiple choice exercise. Your job then is simply to evaluate if each word in the collection is a synonym for any part of the logical expressions you previously developed.
But how do you know what words are in the collection, and how can you quickly evaluate all of them? This is the stage where technology can be highly effective. By tapping directly into the document collection and providing a simple workflow for evaluating each word, technology takes you the last ten yards and enables you to quickly narrow your search based on the actual language of the case.
Such an approach is much more structured and leads to greater defensibility and less ambiguity than alternative approaches to developing keywords.
About Anagram Keyword Development
Recently, RenewData launched an exciting new offering explicitly for developing keywords. The Anagram Keyword Development service is composed of two main parts: 1) a consulting service to help determine the key issues and logical expressions of a case; and 2) a technology that digs into the language of the case and helps users quickly reach a consensus on what types of documents are required for a case.
The key to the Anagram technology is its simplicity. Instead of requiring attorneys to guess possible keywords from millions of documents, Anagram allows legal professionals to choose keywords from a pre-organized list containing every word in the document collection.
This mechanical, repeatable methodology is optimally defensible because every word in the collection has been considered and because it keeps a record of steps taken to ensure what you have done stands up to even the toughest legal scrutiny.It not only identifies relevant keywords, but it also then tags and fingerprints each potentially relevant document in the collection, which can then be exported into virtually any review platform for greater inspection.You can learn more about Anagram at www.renewdata.com/anagram.html.
There is no question that the methodology for developing keywords has to evolve. The old yellow pad and thesaurus approach is no longer up to the task, as fewer judges are willing to accept an ad-hoc approach to this important process. But the answer is not to move from one extreme to another - from purely a human-driven process to an entirely technology-driven approach. A middle ground that leverages the best of human knowledge and technology intelligence has to be attained in order to achieve optimal results.
To that end, it's important to first explore what keywords are ultimately designed to accomplish. Fundamentally, they are used to find documents within a collection that have a high enough probability that they might be about the case in question. Breaking this down to the simplest form, that means you need to have a keen understanding of the case and of the language contained within the documents at hand in order to build these search terms.Technology can certainly facilitate this process by tapping into the collection and making it easier to perform analysis, but it must be directly tied to the issues of the case in order to deliver on its promise.
Richard Cohen, Esq . is President of RenewData, a leading provider of eDiscovery, archiving and review-acceleration solutions. He has more than 30 years of management and legal experience - as a corporate executive, consultant, trial attorney and general counsel. Prior to joining RenewData, Mr. Cohen served as Senior Vice President & Managing Director of Legal Services for a large legal services organization focusing on complex litigation matters and bankruptcies.He has also held many other senior-level positions serving the legal industry and has served as COO of Integrex Professional Claims Services and as General Counsel at Ohio Power and Columbus Southern Power Companies.
Mr. Cohen has served as the President of the American Corporate Counsel Association in Ohio, Editor-in-Chief of the Electricity Journal, and Editor of the Energy Information Bulletin, as well as in leadership positions in Bar associations throughout the country.
Mr. Cohen is a member of the Corporate Counsel Advisory Board for T he Metropolitan Corporate Counsel and a recipient of the Distinguished Legal Service Award conferred by Corporate Legal Times . He holds a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Juris Doctor from the University of Akron School of Law.
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315,000 Aussies suffer severe incontinence
- From: AAP
- December 12, 2012
MORE than 315,000 Australians suffer severe incontinence, a new study says.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report on the prevalence and cost of incontinence used 2009 data and found 66 per cent of sufferers are female.
Sufferers of severe incontinence need help managing bladder and bowel control using special aids.
Institute spokesman Brent Diverty said incontinence affected people's ability to study, work and enjoy social situations.
"Only one in five people aged 15-64 who always or sometimes needed assistance with bladder or bowel control were working or looking for work," he said.
The report said there were 72,900 carers helping a loved one with their incontinence problem and three quarters spent 40 hours a week or more on caring duties.
The toll on their wellbeing was more than other carers who did not have to deal with incontinence, the report said.
In 2008-09, health care spending for incontinence was about $202 million.
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OT: Corruption Matrix
A friend of mine came up with a Corruption Matrix evaluating corruption in a particular nation through its cost and efficiency. The ideal conditions for inviting business into the environment would be a low cost, efficient corruption system. You get efficient bargain deals. A high cost, efficient sytem is also favorable to the business environment. The key factor would be efficiency, that is, you get what you pay for.
According to him, corruption in the Philippines is at the low end of the matrix, meaning, it is a high cost, inefficient system of corruption. You pay a lot and you get double crossed, you don't get what you pay for. According to him, this is not so inviting to the business community.
Maybe my friend is right...
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http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=764924
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§ Mr. Frank Allaun
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation meeting on 21st May and in particular concerning the discussion of an East-West European Security Conference.
§ Mr. M. Stewart:
We have had a very significant meeting of the North Atlantic Council and have defined in our communiqué, and in a Declaration on Mutual and Balance Force Reductions, practical steps for negotiation between East and West in Europe. The following are the communiqué and declaration:
- The North Atlantic Council, meeting in Ministerial session in Rome on 26th and 27th May, 1970. reaffirmed that the Alliance remains indispensable to the security of its members and makes possible their common search for progress towards a more stable relationship between East and West in which outstanding issues dividing Europe can be resolved.
- 2. Ministers again stated their determination to resolve these problems through a process of negotiation. They recognised that, for their part, this search for peace must rest upon a spirit of genuine partnership, the maintenance of the defensive strength of the Alliance and the practice of full and timely consultation.
- 3. Ministers agreed that it will not be enough to talk of European security in the abstract. The causes of insecurity in Europe are specific, they are deeply rooted in conflicting perceptions of state interests, and their elimination will require patient endeavour. However, the Allies, for their part, remain willing to negotiate, in any suitable forum, those concrete issues whose resolution would enhance the security of Europe. The success of efforts to pursue genuine relaxation of tension will be a test of the willingness of all interested countries to deal meaningfully with real issues of security.
- 4. Ministers affirmed that to endure, peace must rest upon universal respect of the sovereign equality, political independence and territorial integrity of each European state, regardless of its political or social system, and for the right of its peoples to shape their own destinies, free of the threat of external intervention, coercion or constraint.
- 5. Ministers, recalling their earlier statements on the subject, examined and approved a report on the situation in the Mediterranean, prepared by the Council in Permanent Session
601 which they had requested in their meeting of December 1969. Having regard to the conclusions presented in this report, they found reason to reiterate their concern with regard to the situation in the area. They stressed again the importance of full and frequent consultation among the Allies on this question and the necessity for continued vigilance. They instructed the Council in Permanent Session to continue their close review of the developing situation in the Mediterranean and to report fully thereon to Ministers.
- 6. At their April, 1969 meeting in Washington, Ministers agreed to explore with the Soviet Union and the other countries of Eastern Europe which concrete issues best lend themselves to fruitful negotiations in order to reduce tension and promote co-operation in Europe and to take constructive actions to this end. The Council thereafter conducted a detailed study of those issues, and at their meeting in December 1969, Ministers declared that Allied Governments would continue and intensify their contacts, discussions of negotiations through all appropriate channels, bilateral or multilateral, and that they remained receptive to signs of willingness on the part of the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries to engage in such discussions. Progress, they said, in these discussions and negotiations would help to ensure the success of any eventual conference, in which of course, the North American members of the Alliance would participate, to discuss and negotiate substantial problems of co-operation and security in Europe.
- 7. Ministers expressed satisfaction over the launching or continuation of the whole range of talks and negotiations, initiated by members of the Alliance, which they have been actively promoting during the six months since December 1969. At the same time numerous other East-West contacts have been pursued. The Allies have consulted and will continue to consult closely on all these initiatives and contacts.
- 8. With the support and understanding of its Allies, the Federal Republic of Germany has initiated talks with the Soviet Union, Poland and the G.D.R. in order to improve the situation in Central Europe. The Allies consider this to be encouraging. They express the hope that these talks will yield results and will not be compromised by the presentation of unacceptable demands. The efforts being made to solve outstanding problems and to achieve a modus vivendi in Germany which would take account of the special features of the German situation, represent an important contribution to security and co-operation in Europe. The Ministers express the hope that all Governments desiring to contribute to a policy of relaxation of tension in Europe will, to the extent possible, facilitate a negotiated settlement of the relationship between the two parts of Germany and the development of communications between the populations.
- 9. The Ministers noted with satisfaction that the Four Powers, in the framework of their rights and responsibilities for Berlin and Germany as a whole, began discussions on 26th
602 March about improving the situation with regard to Berlin and free access to the city. They express the hope that the difficulties which exist at this especially sensitive area of the East-West relationship could be overcome by practical measures and that Berlin would be enabled to make its full contribution to economic and cultural exchanges.
- 10. The conversations between the United States and the Soviet Union aiming at the limitation of strategic armaments, which began last November at Helsinki, have been continued at Vienna in April. Ministers welcome these talks, the outcome of which is so important for the security of Europe and the future of humanity.
- 11. On the occasion of the coming into force of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Ministers re-emphasised the importance they attach to limiting the spread of nuclear weapons as well as to measures for genuine nuclear disarmament. They noted with interest the efforts now under way to exclude mass destruction weapons from the sea bed and to deal with the problem of control of biological and chemical weapons. They expressed the hope that further progress on disarmament measures, with appropriate safeguards can reduce the arms burdens borne by all.
- 12. The members of the North Atlantic Alliance have, over a number of years. proclaimed their interest in arms control and disarmament measures which facilitate a gradual elimination of the military confrontation in Europe, Ministers recalled the Declarations issued at Reykjavik in 1968 and at Brussels in 1969. They noted that up to now these Declarations had led to no meaningful reply.
- 13. The Allies have nevertheless carried out intensive studies on mutual force reductions in accordance with directions given by Ministers in December, 1969. Ministers examined the detailed report presented to them by the North Atlantic Council in permanent session. This has been of great value in clarifying the complex issues involved. Ministers gave instructions for further relevant studies which would guide policies and explorations in this field.
- 14. Ministers, having examined all these developments, both positive and negative, and having taken note of the report on the procedures for negotiation which they had commissioned from the Permanent Council, stated that they were ready to multiply exploratory conversations with all interested parties on all questions affecting peace.
- 15. In so far as progress is recorded as a result of these talks and in the ongoing talks—in particular on Germany and Berlin—the Allied Governments state that they would be ready to enter into multilateral contacts with all interested Governments. One of the main purposes of such contacts would be to explore when it will be possible to convene a conference, or a series of conferences, on European security and co-operation. The establishment of a permanent body could be envisaged as one means, among others, of embarking upon multilateral negotiations in due course.
- 16. Among the subjects to be explored, affecting security and co-operation in Europe, are included in particular:
- (a) the principles which should govern relations between states, including the renunciation of force:
- (b) the development of international relations with a view to contributing to the freer movement of people, ideas and information and to the developing co-operation in the cultural, economic, technical and scientific fields as well as in the field of human environment.
- 17. In addition, Ministers representing countries participating in N.A.T.O.'s integrated defence programme attach particular importance to further exploration with other interested parties of the possibility of mutual and balanced force reductions and have therefore issued a Declaration on this subject.
- 18. As a first step, Ministers requested the Foreign Minister of Italy to transmit this Communiqué on their behalf through diplomatic channels to all other interested parties including neutral and non-aligned governments. They further agreed that member governments would seek reactions of other governments to the initiation of the comprehensive programme of exploration and negotiation which they envisage.
- 19. Ministers reviewed the first report from N.A.T.O.'s Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society and welcomed the progress made in the six months since the Committee was established as a demonstration of the value of Allied co-operation on the urgent problems of human environment. Intensive studies now in progress will contribute to national and international action on a broad range of environmental issues, including such pressing concerns as air and water pollution.
- 20. Ministers reaffirmed the view that the benefit of the Alliance's work in mankind's environment particularly could become a basis for broader co-operation between East and West in this field of ever-increasing importance. They considered that this could be ensured either through existing international organisations providing a useful framework for enhanced co-operation or by any other appropriate method.
- 21. The next Ministerial Session of the North Atlantic Council will be held in Brussels in December, 1970.
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April 3, 2010
A non-Oracle specific question arrived in an email from an ERP mailing list – I think that the user who wrote the email was probably running SQL Server, but that probably does not imply much other than potential differences in read-consistency and trigger code when compared to a user running the same ERP package with Oracle Database.
Paraphrasing the question:
I need to be able to automate the running of a utility (VMFIXOHQ) on a Windows client computer. The utility does not offer a command line interface for specifying parameters, so the method of automation must be able to enter text into screen fields, click program buttons, and activate menu items so that the utility will automatically run on a nightly basis. A program named Automate is able to accomplish this task, but is too expensive for this specific task.
I have in the past written task schedulers that would do exactly what the author of the email requested, but I did not offer the task scheduler to the original poster. Why, well it is hard to describe why. With a lead-in, I offered the following analogy:
In the above analogy, Doctor1 was treating the symptoms of the problem. Maybe he notice the IT guy’s red forehead, and thought that if the IT guy must bang his head on his desk, he really should have a softer surface for his forehead to hit. Once the original problem was mitigated, a secondary, related problem remained – obviously, the IT guy should make certain to clear his desk before banging his head.
Doctor2, on the other hand, suggested a root cause analysis. If the IT guy is banging his head on his desk, determine what triggers the IT guy to bang his head on his desk. Maybe he can’t find the flyswatter. Maybe he once hit his head and then by coincidence found a solution to a perplexing problem. Maybe he is frustrated (he might have worn too small of a size of shoes, causing his feet to hurt). Maybe someone is forcing him to bang his head? Wouldn’t it be better to find out why, rather than just trying a number of things that might make the problem less severe, but never actually fix the problem?
An Oracle database example of this is simply throwing hardware at a performance problem because a root cause analysis is perceived as requiring too much time and being too expensive (computer hardware costs are decreasing while at the same time IT labor costs are increasing). Sure, replace the server with one having 4 times as many CPUs and 4 times as much memory – after all, hardware is cheap compared to the perceived cost of a root cause analysis (at least that is what it says on the news). Forget that such a cheap upgrade will require 4 times as many Oracle Database CPU licenses, accompanied by 4 times as much for annual Oracle support/maintenance fees. On second thought, maybe a root cause analysis is really a much better and less costly approach, no matter if the performance problem is caused by a change to daylight savings time, someone verbally abusing the SAN, an upgrade of the Oracle Database version, or something else.
It might seem that I drifted a bit from the topic of the email that arrived from the ERP mailing list about scheduling the execution of the VMFIXOHQ utility. That utility is not one that should be run daily, not one that should be run weekly, not one that should be run monthly, and not even one that should be run yearly (this doesn’t sound like anything in the Oracle Database universe, does it?). That utility has a very specific purpose – it fixes the results of application and/or database trigger bugs that caused the stored on hand inventory counts for a specific part to differ from what is sitting on the shelf. More accurately, a transaction is recorded in the database whenever parts are added to inventory, removed from inventory, or moved from one warehouse location to another, causing the on hand inventory counts for the parts are adjusted accordingly. This VMFIXOHQ utility runs through these transactions from day 1 and effectively determines how many of the part should be sitting on the shelf based on the supporting inventory transactions. Scheduling the running of the VMFIXOHQ utility does not address the real reason for the inventory counts being inaccurate; rather it is a band-aid (a padded desk, if you will) for the real problem – a code bug, missing trigger, improperly handled deadlock, or multi-session read-consistency issues.
Was I wrong not to tell the original poster how to schedule the running of this utility?
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http://hoopercharles.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/battling-the-symptoms-or-addressing-the-root-cause/
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Each year since 1919 the Open Doors Report on international educational exchange has been updated and published by the Institute of International Education (IIE). IIE, with the assistance of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, survey 30,000 accredited US institutions to compile data showing international student and study abroad trends throughout the years.
The latest report is in and according to the survey, international student enrollment in the US has continued to climb with a 6.5 percent increase. This means the total number of international students in the US increased with a 5.7 percent boost totaling 764,495 students.
When looking at the top places of origin for international students in the US, China still holds the first place title. There are 194,029 Chinese international students inside the US meaning they now make up over a quarter of the US international student population. India comes in second being responsible for 13.1 percent of the US international student population with 100,270 students; however, this is a 3.5 percent decrease from last year. Many of the other top origin countries experienced a decrease in the number of students being sent to the US this year. There were a few exceptions, among them includes Saudi Arabia who had the highest increase at 50 percent.
Where in the US are these international students flocking to for their studies? The top three states are California, New York and Texas. Top U.S. institutions include the University of Southern California (9,269), University of Illinois- Urbana-Champaign (8,997) and New York University (8,660). Some of the top fields of study include Business and Management, Engineering and Math and Computer Science.
Of course the flow of students runs both ways, the number of US student who study abroad has tripled within the past two decades and the latest results show a 1.3 percent increase. Fourteen of the top 25 destinations are outside of Europe, however, the top three destinations were the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain.
If you would like to view the full report and more on how international students in the US increased, please visit the Institute of International Education.
Woman drawing the world map photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
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By Mike Mount
The White House has ordered the military to start planning for the possibility of cutting $500 billion from its budget over the next 10 years as part of the fiscal cliff, Pentagon officials said on Wednesday.
Agency spokesman George Little told reporters that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) instructed the Defense Department to start internal planning for possible spending reductions on top of other cuts already in the pipeline.
The military had been ordered for months not to get ready for the automatic budget cuts - also known as sequestration - related to the fiscal cliff that would hit January 2.
"Naturally, we hope very much that sequestration will be avoided and that we don't enter that phase in early January 2013. We don't want to go off the fiscal cliff, but in consultation with OMB, we think that it is prudent at this stage to begin at least some limited internal planning," Little said.
The fiscal cliff is a combination of tax increases and spending cuts that are due to take effect if the White House and Congress cannot agree on a framework for tackling deficit-reduction by year's end.
As part of a budget agreement in 2011 that allowed the Obama administration to raise the debt ceiling last year, a congressional "super committee" was tasked to find more than $1 trillion in government savings over the next decade, but no solution was reached.
Absent a deal in coming weeks, the Pentagon's share of budget cuts would be $500 billion - about half the government-wide total - over the next decade.
This would come on top of a similar amount in other longer-term spending cuts identified by the Obama administration previously.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said fiscal cliff cuts would destroy the new military strategy the department announced this year that had accounted for the other big Pentagon spending cut.
While the Pentagon has said cuts would not hit troops or their families, it would most likely target most other accounts, including research and technology, weapons and civilian defense department jobs.
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Trip Taken: 2005
Sleeping Beauty’s castle. The birthday cake castle. The fairy tale castle. Whatever moniker Neuschwanstein has gathered over the years, it is still one of the most iconic German structure there is. It is still one of the top attractions in Germany, even if it is in the southern reaches of Bavaria. It is the last stop on the Romantischestrasse (‘Romantic Road’), which consists of little towns along the Bavarian Baden-Württemberg border. It could also be considered the first stop depending on which direction you are coming from.
Getting to Füssen from Stuttgart is a journey in itself. Of course the very first stop would be Augsburg by way of the Regional Express train. Then we take another regional train to get to German-Austrian border to reach Füssen. The journey took a total of about two hours to get there.
Füssen is actually quite a small town from what I remember. There is a small center that contains residence buildings, stores, a church, and the town hall. Walking from the train station to the town center you would think no one lived there due to sparse number of people there. I wondered where all the tourists were. Then I heard the roar of a bus. And then another. Almost everyone else was getting here by tour bus. We were the only fools walking. Neuschwanstein is actually a mile or two away from the city center of Füssen, so not too bad. My travel companions didn’t want to pay the extra euros to take the city bus to the base of the castle so we walked through fields and wooded areas. We passed a nice looking barn house with a cow wearing a sizable bell. We also passed a sign that had some Japanese writing on it. Guess they’re really trying to market it to Japanese tourists.
The parking lot where the buses parked contained a lot of gift shops and some restaurants. It was an uphill climb from here on out. It is a short hike but a hike nonetheless. There was a horse and buggy available for rent for those trying to re-create a romantic setting. Neuschwanstein is actually next to another castle called Schloss Hohenschwangau. This was Ludwig II’s childhood home. Ludwig II was the one who commissioned Neuschwanstein for his friend and muse, the composer Richard Wagner. There was a combination pass for both castles so we took the opportunity to do so.
Schloss Hohenschwangau is actually much bigger than Schloss Neuschwanstein as the latter was never fully completed from my understanding. Ludwig died before seeing its completion. Hohenschwangau is nicely maintained and its yellow exterior is quite a spetacle to be seen. There is no photography allowed in both of the castles so my memories of it are quite spotty. When comparing Hohenschwangau to Neuschwanstein, the former is more like the other castles in Germany. Stately parlor rooms and sensibly decorated bedrooms are the norm here. However, Neuschwanstein is more extravagant than Hohenschwangau. It is much like the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England in its fantasy and exuberance. There is a grotto in the middle of the castle between two bedrooms and a beautiful ballroom at the end. The guided tour seemed a little short and I wondered if there is more to the castle. Even though I couldn’t take any pictures of the inside, I got some great shots of the view to the towns below us.
At the end of the guided tour, we took a hike through the hills to get the Marienbrücke. It’s a bridge with a stunning side view of the castle. It is probably the most photographed view of Neuschwanstein as it is, in my opinion, the best view of the castle short of hiring a helicopter.
Visiting Neuschwanstein is something I believe every person who visits Germany should do. It has the most relevance to public fantasy about what a castle is. I think a lot of that has to do with Disneyland’s castle. As a starting point to the Romantische Strasse, it is as good a point as the other end city of Würzburg.
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American Rhetoric: Movie Speech
"Top Gun" (1986)
Plug-in required for flash audio music intro
Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf: Flight School Orientation Briefing
Commander Heatherly (Jester): Now, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you to our Commanding Officer at Top Gun -- very first man to win the Top Gun trophy. You will not find a finer fighter pilot anywhere in the world: Commander Mike Metcalf -- callsign "Viper."
Metcalf: Gentlemen, you are the top 1% of all naval aviators -- the elite, the BEST of the best. We'll make you better. Fly at least two combat missions a day, attend classes in between, and evaluations of your performance. Now in each combat sequence you're going to meet a different challenge. Every encounter is going to be much more difficult. We're going to teach you to fly the F-14 right to the edge of the envelop, faster than you've ever flown before -- and more dangerous. Now, we don't make policy here, gentlemen. Elected officials, civilians, do that. We are the instruments of that policy. And although we're not at war, we must always act as though we are at war.
Goose: [to Maverick] What are you doing?
Metcalf: ...We're the tip of the spear.
Maverick: I'm just wondering --
Metcalf: And you best be sharp.
Maverick: -- who's the best?
Metcalf: In case some of you wonder who the best is, they're up here on this plaque on the wall. The best driver and his RIO [Radar Intercept Officer] from each class has his name on it. And they have the option to come back here to be Top Gun instructors. You think you're name's going to be on that plaque? [to Maverick].
Maverick: Yes, sir.
Metcalf: That's pretty arrogant considering the company you're in.
Maverick: Yes, sir.
Metcalf: I like that in a pilot. Just remember when it's over out there, we're all on the same team. Gentlemen, this school is about combat. There are no points for second place. Dismissed.
Goose: [to Maverick] Nice going.
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06/04/2009, 08:46 PM
Its when your Gyno uses his/her fingers to stretch your cervix wider as it can help it to dilate more and bring on labour. I had this done with my DD2. I was already 5cm dilated and she stretched me to 6-7cm. I gave birth less than 24 hours later!
07/04/2009, 12:19 AM
A stretch and sweep is a name for a procedure performed by either a midwife or an ob. They will insert a couple of fingers into the vagina and will stretch the cervix and sweep the membranes around your baby.
It is done to try and stimulate some hormones called prostaglandins and hopefully bring on labour. It's invasive and carries some risks. It's also very useful if you're body is already preparing and you're facing other more invasive inductions or procedures.
The risks are to do with infection and also breaking your waters. I didn't want my waters broken with my 2nd and so I refused to have a examination. I was pressured a few times so I caved eventually. I'm sure you can guess what happened within moments of the examination! YES my waters broke with a huge gush. This can happen during the stretch and sweep also which can mean fast and furious contractions for some women. So definately ask questions if you're thinking of having it done and don't do it unless you're ok with the procedure.
Most women hate the experience because it can be embarrasing and uncomfortable. Some have been lucky enough to have someone very caring and gentle and can help make the experience less scary.
If you're 42 weeks and they're saying you have to have a CS then its definately worth a try. I can't remember exact figures but I think most women will go into labour within 48 hours of a stretch and sweep.
Also, if you are not comfortable with the person who will do the stretch and sweep ASK FOR SOMEONE ELSE! It's a procedure best done when you're relaxed as tensing up will only make it more painful and 'yuk' for you.
Oh and if you have the s & s done, you can usually expect some discharge afterwards as its designed to unsettle things down there!
There are some lovely midwives who can be so very gentle so hopefully you get one of them.
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Who is Compassion?
The origin of the word, compassion, is from ecclesiastical Latin, ‘compati’ – ‘suffer with’. I have been considering the notion of compassion a lot lately, as I move through my own world interfacing with others. I prefer to think of it not as ‘suffer with’ but as ‘be with’. My ‘being with’ presupposes, for me, that I am up to witnessing and experiencing the chaos and its resulting discomfort in my own body that is triggered by standing with you in yours. Why is it that we can consider compassion for others but we deny ourselves to actively consider ‘being with’ as our own invitation to ourselves to remember who we are, not what we have been told to believe we are? If we are incapable of embracing compassion for ourselves, then how can we really bear witness to others in the presence of their own perceived suffering? When I consider the word, compassion, as my willingness to ‘be with’, then I know that its real meaning for me is about me de-cloaking and dropping the mask on all the things that I can hide behind to make me right; then, maybe, I’ll be worthy of your compassion, your ‘being with’ me. The paradox is that, until, I de-cloak, if only to myself alone, what I cannot and will no longer stand in, and, until I can admit that my discomfort is real for me in my own skin, then I cannot even extend the invitation, to you, to just ‘be with’ me. I actually refuse you my gift of me so that there is no way that you can really extend and offer the gift of yourself to me. De-cloaking is about me ‘being’ real and authentic ‘with’ me when I am engaged in myself with you. My compassion for you means, then, my authentic engagement of myself as my invitation to you to reveal your own truth in the security of your own safety – as we stand present to each other. I, as Godforce, bear witness to you as Godforce. Compassion is my invitation for me to ‘be with’ me and for you to ‘be with’ you and for us to ‘be with’ each other. Authentic, free and alive.
Posted: December 6th, 2007 under Spirituality & Self-Discovery.
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Students at third-cycle level must have completed first and second-cycle degrees, either in Sweden or abroad, or have equivalent qualifications.
To meet the basic entry requirements for doctoral programmes applicants must have a second-cycle degree or have completed studies for at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second-cycle, or have completed a corresponding programme in some other country or have equivalent qualifications.
Transitional regulationsThose who met the basic entry requirements before 1 July 2007, i.e. had completed a programme of higher education for at least 120 credits or the equivalent, will continue to do so until 30 July 2015.
Specific entry requirements Specific entry requirements vary from subject to subject as they are laid down by each faculty board. These requirements must be totally necessary for a student to be able to complete the programme. Often these requirements stipulate knowledge acquired in higher education but specific vocational experience may also be required.
Contact the Head of DepartmentGet in touch with the Head of Department or another member of staff responsible for doctoral programmes at the department you are interested in, if you wish to know more about specific entry requirements. This information should be available in the general syllabus for the subject in question.
The Swedish Council for Higher Education www.uhr.se, Box 45093, SE-104 30 Stockholm, Phone: +46 10 470 03 00, Mail: To contact form
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Skills in Dark Heresy were designed by Andrew Kenrick, whilst T.S. Luikart designed a plethora of Talents. Here, both of the guys describe how they approached the work.
Andy Kenrick: Writing the Skills chapter posed some unique problems, because it not only had to convey the rules, but also had to give an impression of the various Skills in terms of the setting. If the emphasis is placed too much either way then the chapter could have ended up as a dry list of rules with no connection to the Warhammer 40,000 universe, or, perhaps worse, a 'flowery' background chapter that obscured the rules for the skills themselves.
A good starting point was the skills chapter in the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay rulebook, which opted for short, punchy skill descriptions. I adapted this style somewhat, expanding the one-line description into a slightly more substantial paragraph that included examples where the skill might be useful, specific to the Warhammer 40,000 setting and the role the acolytes have within it.
Certain Skills are grouped into distinct types, for example Investigation and Interaction. Investigation Skills are the essential backbone for Inquisitorial scrutiny and clue gathering, and a guide to using such Skills details the differing complexity levels, test difficulties and time required. Broadly speaking, the Skills described range from the mundane Basic Skills like Awareness, Climb and Intimidate, to more esoteric ones like Forbidden Lore, Psyniscience and Tech-Use - all of which are highly desirable for any acolyte character to have.
As with every aspect of the game, it was important to make the skills feel as though they belonged in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and not any other setting. I think we pulled this off - when you look at your character sheet and see skills such as Psyniscience, Medicae or Forbidden Lore (Xenos), you know you can only be playing Dark Heresy!
T.S. Luikart: Black Industries more or less publicly let on that Dark Heresy's RPG engine was 'built' using Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay as a starting point. While that is true, Dark Heresy is an entirely different beast than WFRP. Sometimes, the smallest changes to mechanics can create a world of difference in how a game plays.
Case in point: let me tell you about one of my favourite Talents. It's called Hardcore. Well it was called 'Hardcore' at any rate. That's what I called it. BI made me change its name. Apparently, Hardcore means different things to different people and Dark Heresy is poised to make its way into a fairly wide number of countries (and languages) so it ended up being called Combat Master. So what does Combat Master do? No matter how outnumbered acolytes with the Combat Master talent may be, their opponents get no bonuses for outnumbering them. If you're brand new to Dark Heresy that may not sound like much, but trust me, if you were an old WFRP player, your jaw may have just sagged a bit. Combat in WFRP is all about taking advantage of an opponent (or being taken advantage of!) and outnumbering a foe is one of the surest ways of bringing an enemy down.
Not always in Dark Heresy.
A simple change, but one that can make a 'combat character' far more effective in holding off masses of heretics, xeno scum and cultist hordes as befits the bloodstained glories of the 41st Millennium. There are a wide number of other Talents with similar small changes that result in an extremely different game. Spoilt for choice is what your PCs are going to be.
So remember many months from now, when your acolyte is getting swarmed by dozens of feral warriors, you look your GM in the eye and tell 'em, "No combat bonuses for them, I'm Hardcore!"
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Chris McCaw wakes up and pulls back the window curtain inside the hollowed-out cargo cab of his Dodge Sprinter van. The summer sunlight leaks a dim glow through the windows. He’s driven this van nearly 3,500 miles from San Francisco to Alaska’s North Slope for the chance to make a photograph. It’s time to start.
Waiting outside on a custom-modified cart is McCaw’s unique homemade rig. It is a camera only insofar as it is a box that lets in light through a lens and projects an image onto a photosensitive medium. After that, all similarities end.
McCaw loads the first sheet of photo paper into its holder. It’s vintage stock, 30-by-40-inch gelatin-silver stuff he searches out from Craigslist and eBay. Everything else associated with McCaw’s rig is supersized to accommodate this gigantic medium, including the Sprinter, which he refers to as “the most expensive changing room in the world.” With the lens pointed at the brightening sun, he opens the shutter and begins the first of three 240-minute exposures he will make today.
“With this project, I had to learn to just let go.” — Hans-Christian Schink
Four hours later, as the sun continues to climb through a cloudless sky, a thin stream of acrid smoke begins to issue from McCaw’s giant camera. Like a kid’s magnifying glass held over an anthill, the lens focuses the sun’s rays, making them strong enough to scorch the paper. McCaw is ready. He opens a small slit in the side of the camera’s bellows and activates a solar-powered fan (the kind normally used to cool computer CPUs) to help vent the contrast-killing smoke. At the end of his first exposure, McCaw quickly closes the lens, repositions the camera and deftly swaps in a new sheet of paper for the next. Apart from that, he waits, making sure his art is only ever so slightly on fire.
Once they’ve been developed and hung together in sequence, the three unique paper negatives will chart the parabola of Arctic Alaska’s never-setting summer sun as it arcs across the landscape. But instead of a bright white dot in a gray field of sky, in McCaw’s images the sun is a long curve, charred black at the ends.
Sunburned GSP#486 (Sunset/Sunrise, North Slope, Alaska)
© Chris McCaw
McCaw’s work is part of a loose canon of photography made by those who enjoy turning one of the most reliable constants of both life and photography on its head. Over the decades, these photographers have sought out—or, often, stumbled upon—ways to subvert the mind’s powerfully ingrained notions of how the sun should look. The result is a compelling mixture of landscape photography and cognitive dissonance.
One of the most famous intentional black-sun photos was made by Ansel Adams. Writing in his 1983 behind-the-scenes book Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs, Adams recalls his 1939 photo “The Black Sun” as a “striking surrealistic image.”
“It was proof,” Adams writes, “that the subject may prompt ideas, ideas crave visualizations, and craft makes their realization possible.”
The craft in question is a technique called overexposure solarization. With typical black-and-white film or gelatin silver paper, exposure to light creates a chemical reaction that turns some of the silver-halide crystals in the film grains to metallic silver. In development, the metallic silver areas appear dark on a film negative, rendering them white in the print. The greater the exposure to light, the more metallic silver is formed in the negative, creating a greater density of black.
However, all photographic films and papers have a maximum density point. When they pass this point—typically in response to extreme overexposure to light—changes within the crystals cause the latent image to be destroyed and reduce the area back toward zero density on the developed negative. Those areas become translucent (on film) or white (on most photo papers, although some papers will flip from black to white multiple times as they are overexposed). At the enlarger, these areas on the negative print black. In landscape photography, the brightest part of any scene is almost always the sun, so that’s generally the first thing to flip back over to black.
The Black Sun, Owens Valley, California
© Ansel Adams
Ever the technician, Adams writes in Examples that he had visualized the scene he encountered in Owens Valley, California, with a surreal black sun and intentionally overexposed the negative to achieve the effect. But it’s easy to see how extreme overexposure could happen by accident. Such was the case with another 20th-century master, Minor White. His own black sun, rising somewhat ominously above a frozen barn in a famous 1955 image, came thanks to a slow shutter on what looks to be a freezing winter day. Of the resulting shot White said, “The sun is not fiery after all, but a dead planet. We on earth give it its light.”
Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey/Getty Images
The Probatic Pool, Jerusalem
Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey's 1844 daguerreotype shows the blue effect achieved with prolonged exposures.
As an error, the phenomenon of overexposure solarization dates back to the dawn of photography. Early daguerreotypists had to take care not to overexpose their portrait subjects’ white shirts. If they did, the unique chemistry of the daguerreotype process turned those areas blue. Some early landscape daguerreotypists, such as Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prongey, used this form of solarization intentionally, overexposing the sky to render it a surprisingly true-to-life shade.
Ever since the emergence of commercial film, manufacturers have been trying to increase the light tolerance of their product, reducing mistakes and allowing photographers to create realistic images under increasingly extreme conditions. As a result, today’s black-sun practitioners often reject modern film stock and papers in favor of harder-to-find materials whose limitations, perversely, have become assets.
German photographer Hans-Christian Schink came across Minor White’s “Black Sun” as a young boy growing up in East Germany starved for Western images and media. At a book fair in Leipzig, he “liberated” a copy of Time-Life’s Great Photographers and was mesmerized by White’s image.
As Schink’s own career took shape, the black sun inevitably found its way into his work. Similar to McCaw, Schink didn’t just turn the sun black but rendered it as a streak across the sky by using long exposures. But where McCaw’s black-sun exposures sometimes push 24 hours, Schink exposed his for precisely one—hence the title of his book, 1h (Hatje Cantz Verlag, $85).
The precise timing of each photograph became the constant in his work. As he refined his methods and traveled the world in search of natural landscape backdrops, Schink says, his hour-long exposures became meditative. “In all of my other projects I always tried to have a really technically perfect image,” Schink says. “With this project, I had to learn to just let go.”
© Hans-Christian Schink
7/14/2007-7/15/2007, 11:28 pm - 0:28 am, N69° 37.661' E018° 13.470'
© Hans-Christian Schink
Asked if he found a similarly Zen solace in his process on the Alaskan tundra, McCaw replies that the experience is precisely the opposite for him. “There’s really no relinquishing of control when you’re using a 30-by-40 camera you built yourself,” he says. “To me it’s not about relinquishing control. It’s more of a collaboration. It takes a lot of work to make these images.”
For some of his photographs, McCaw has made a sequence of exposures as long as 24 hours. To capture a day-long stretch of pristine sunlight, he made two trips to Alaska’s North Slope. Over five weeks he aborted several attempts—one 17 hours in, after an unexpected summer rain shower blocked the sun.
Chris McCaw's homemade 30x40 camera next to its smaller cousin, the "sad robot."
McCaw is also at the mercy of his materials. The vintage photo-paper stocks that solarize to his liking are hard to find—so much so that he keeps brand names to himself to avoid crowding an already limited market of buyers. And then, of course, there’s the burning. The singed streaks blend nicely into the black, traditionally solarized lines of sun.
“In a way I feel like I’m physically working with the light,” McCaw says. He uses no enlarger and makes no prints. The light of the sun touches his paper, at times burning through it, and that paper goes on the wall as a one-of-a-kind negative.
Thodoris Tzalavras, a Greek photographer living in Cyprus, also builds his own cameras to produce black-sun images, but on a much less dramatic scale. To tell the story of drought-prone Cyprus's strained relationship with water, Tzalavras turned to homemade pinhole cameras to capture sweeping landscapes of riverbeds and canyons that had been carved by water over millennia.
Tzalavras’s 4x5 pinhole camera provided a connection to his ancient subject. When one of his early exposures on Harman Direct Positive paper came back with a darkened sun in the center of a dramatic cloudburst, Tzalavras was thrilled.
“It transformed the whole picture,” Tzalavras says. “You expect the sun to be something. When it’s the opposite, the landscape takes on something otherworldly. It fits into the project as another expression of the power of nature.”
While it is less common, some color films will also solarize the sun and surround the powerful black dot with richly colored skyscapes. Amelia Konow, a photography student at the San Francisco Art Institute, used a Polaroid Automatic 100 Land Camera with thick-emulsion Fujifilm FP-100C pack film for her project Thirteen Black Suns. The instant-print film renders a solid black disc with a soft edge resembling a solar eclipse.
Black Sun #11
© Amelia Konow
Interestingly, the black sun is not the exclusive domain of hard-to-find films, homemade cameras and expired photo papers. While taking simple snapshots with his camera phone, Harlan Erskine, a Brooklyn–based photographer, found that when aimed straight at the sun, the image sensor in his Palm Treo 600 (and later with the Treo 650) would become overloaded, flipping white pixels to black and creating an effect similar to overexposure solarization.
What began as an accident became a regular practice. Erskine made a formal exercise, and eventually a daily routine, out of his glitchy black sun photos. Three years and nearly 1,600 images later (most of them shot as a creative respite during long hours at a day job in advertising), Erskine had a body of work he was able to show at an art space in Miami. It wasn’t until it came time to write the accompanying text for his photos at the space that Erskine ran across the black suns of Adams and White. Erskine was stunned to discover that his own work, with its accidental origins, fit into a rich subgenre of photography he didn’t even know existed.
Black Sun 0181
© Harlan Erskine
It’s not surprising that so many artists would latch on to such an aesthetic, often independent of one another; it evokes a powerful image. The sun is one of the few ancient and universal constants on this planet, as fundamental as air, water and earth. We may be just a few DNA sequences removed from chimpanzees, but the sun as a force for life goes all the way back to the earliest bacteria that were incubated in its warmth. When it goes black, all our expectations are flipped, conjuring unconscious reactions to the archetype and myth of the eclipse.
It’s fitting, then, that making such images requires physical struggle. It takes power to turn the world upside down. Through the transformation of crystals, overloading of digital circuits and burning of paper into ash, our monkey-mind gets the briefest recollection of staring uncomprehending into a sky unexpectedly darkened. We return from the experience changed, the fire of our quest for meaning rekindled. AP
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Idaho 3's new formal name honors Medal of Honor recipients
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter recently signed a law regarding the highway that spans about 120 miles and connects U.S. 12 near Spalding with Interstate 90 near Rose Lake.
"It may make the public more aware about those who have served in the time of conflict and lead to more patriotism," Hayden Lake resident Thomas Norris, one of three living Medal of Honor recipients in Idaho, told the Coeur d'Alene Press. "I think we need to do more to honor the men and women who are fighting for us today."
Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, introduced the bill last month to rename the highway, noting Idaho has more than three dozen recipients of the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military tribute.
Highway 3 runs past St. Maries, where World War II veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Vernon Baker lived until his death last year. A road near Hayden in northern Idaho late last year was named Vernon J. Baker Boulevard.
"I think it's absolutely fantastic because it honors all Medal of Honor recipients," said Baker's widow, Heidy Baker, of the new Highway 3 designation. "(Vernon) would have never dreamed that something like this would happen. He always said that the medal is not for him but those who left their lives. This makes me very happy."
Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, was one of the lawmakers who supported the bill.
"We sponsored the legislation to not only give recognition to these valiant servicemen but to also honor the thousands of military men and women who have made sacrifices to defend our freedoms and country," Henderson said.
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Every year, the release of PLE results by Uneb is greeted with joyful excitement by primary schools and pupils named to have scored the highest points.
The top marks raise the leverage of the pupils to gain admission to coveted senior secondary schools. Primary schools, especially privately-owned ones, in turn, also enhance their reputation of attracting clientele of wealthy parents, if they can demonstrate the churning out of excellent grades. Uneb's analysis of the 2012 PLE results has recorded some improvement in performance.
Yet the said improvement will not be offering comfort to most of the successful PLE candidates.
The threshold for admission to designated top-ranked senior secondary schools has been re-hinged, limiting the score-line to the bracket of five aggregates and above. Despite the acknowledged excellence in grades, many pupils are destined to crawl for admissions in schools they have been made to know are inferior.
Our country's politics is largely unbothered by the entrenchment of categorization by government of its own schools between "good" and "poor" ones, despite the obligation by all to offer tuition on the same curriculum. The education system grades performance from proven ability in cram-work and the answering of exam questions by rote.
The ignoring of discussion of the fundamental premises of our country's educational direction is persistently confounding the already existing disproportions in our society. Most young people who are in search of climbing to apex rungs of the educational hierarchy for space in prestigious accomplishments are sieved out by being locked out from the acclaimed top schools.
Yet the famed schools which produce the best pupils eligible to be admitted to the top secondary schools are located mainly in Kampala and its environs or a few areas in Western Uganda. The worst-performing schools these days proliferate in Eastern Uganda, the Karamoja sub-region, Northern Uganda, extending to the West Nile shoulder-line as well as in the Bunyoro, Bundibugyo, Tooro and Kasese areas.
The effect of this is that large numbers of Uganda's young, inhabiting whole regions are condemned to rebound at the lowest levels of the ladder. This implies that despite our solemn avowal in the NRM to build national unity, the cleavage of our country in regional disparity is being glaringly systematized by the very education principles in operation.
No one should underrate the desperation that this course ingrains in its hapless victims. It rouses bitterness that can presage the making of dangerous roadside IEDs (improvised explosive devices). An education system which waylays the country with IEDs and risks inflicting the maiming of Uganda cannot be innocent of crime.
Right from our early days in politics, we saw the perils of an unreformed education system. Even though the British had introduced colonial education in the name of enlightenment of primitive natives, the basic thrust had been to induce in our society a social trance so that it could yield to colonial domination and control.
In applauding the struggle of our people against colonial rule, we viewed that the decolonization process could not be complete without the retooling of the education system to serve the needs of self-improvement of all elements of our society in all fields of life. Because of failure to handle the many factors of this issue cogently and consistently, we are now stuck in peddling an education framework that aggravates the old divisions by colonial officials.
The very old divisions are explained away by some of our NRM officials in vulgar and superficial manner. It is purported that the British left a legacy of a north-south divide wherein the southerners were endowed with schools and more educated people while the north lapsed into military service and menial labour. The sordid misrepresentation of the meaning of colonial uneven development of the country fortifies such NRM officials to deduce and propagate patronizing notions.
There is cool satisfaction that any existence of some nature of schools in the north is after all the enlightened NRM effort to "start" bringing to northerners hitherto absent education. Any such kindly-offered education is supposed to draw the northerners away from their previous preoccupation with the military as educated and intellectual people from the south are injected in the army to democratize it.
This is why the main focus is limited to barren administration to induce cram-work for passing set examinations in some privileged areas. Our country's task remains to build an education system that cares for the whole people.
The author is a member of NEC (NRM) representing historicals.
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Whether your academic goal is to transfer to a four-year university, earn a degree or certificate at DVC, or take classes for career advancement, you can find assistance in the Counseling Center to achieve success.
DVC counselors provide academic advising to help students understand general education and major requirements to transfer and earn a degree or certificate at DVC. Counselors provide individual advising appointments and drop-in counseling. They also teach classes on career exploration, transfer preparation and student success.
Students who are new to DVC should attend a session of Counseling 095 (college orientation) to receive advising and learn about academic policies and procedures.
Students can schedule an appointment with a counselor in person at the Counseling Center, over the phone by calling 925-969-2140 or online.
A special program in counseling is the Puente Project, with the mission of increasing the number of Latino students transferring to four-year universities.
Information about four-year colleges and universities is available here. Representatives from other universities visit campus to meet with students and explain admissions requirements. In addition, there is a large selection of catalogs and brochures available to help explore your transfer options. The office also sponsors a large transfer fair each year.
Career and Employment
Students can receive assistance with resume writing and searching for jobs on and off campus. Drop-in career counseling, information on majors and requirements, and career-based assessments are also available. Want to earn credit for a job or internship? Cooperative education (CO-OP) allows you to earn elective credits while developing your skills and building your resume.
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The high smoking rates among locals have forced Arab Gulf governments to intensify their anti-smoking activities.
Yesterday, a special vehicle carrying representatives from the Saudi health ministry, hospitals, governmental offices and other relevant bodies patrolled the main streets of Riyadh and provided information to citizens concerning the hazards of smoking. The vehicle starting point was from the late Amir Faisal Ben Fahd stadium at 17:00, al Jazirah daily reported.
Meanwhile, the Omani health ministry, in cooperation with the World Health Organization, is offering smokers a unique opportunity to participate in a contest to quit smoking, according to al Watan daily. The winner will get $10,000 in addition to two flight tickets (business class) from Swiss Air. There are also other prizes of $2,500. This worldwide campaign is being held for the forth consecutive year and requires smokers all over the world to avoid using tobacco products for four weeks (May 2nd to 29th).
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com )
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I love Quality Street chocolates. They remind me of everything good. And I love the colourful wrappers they come in. I’ve wanted to make something out of them for years. This year at Christmas I made sure to save all the wrappers so I’d have lots to work with.
Quality Street also appeals to my environmentalist side. You can re-use the tins for anything you like. You can recycle the foil wrappers that go under the clear ones, and recently, the company started making the clear wrappers out of vegetable products, so you can actually COMPOST them. How cool is that?
So what am I making with these? I’m glad you asked. St. John’s is famous for its colourfully-painted and artfully crooked row houses. They’re often likened to a line of jelly beans, stacked on their ends — Jelly Bean Row.
If you watch any of those ever-popular tourism Newfoundland and Labrador commercials, you’ll see a few of them (though in real life they’re not quite so quaint — or clean).
So I thought I would make a few out of Quality Street wrappers, something to send people to paste in their windows, or to hang on their Christmas trees as ornaments, something that will catch the light and give them a taste of St. John’s at home.
The house construction is pretty simple. I used black construction paper, folded in half, as a frame. Then I cut out the frame using a craft knife and inserted and glued down the wrappers in the appropriate spaces. Then I cut out windows and doors from the black paper as well, making sure to glue them to both sides so the ornament is reversible.
The problem with this particular material is that the wrappers always want to go back to their wrinkled state, and the construction paper doesn’t do a lot to prevent it.
A heavier-grade card would probably work better in keeping the stuff rigid, but at the same time, it would be harder to manipulate. I wanted to make several of these hanging ornaments and create a sort of mobile for Doodle for her birthday, but the physics of it continued to defeat me — the ornaments were simply too light to be able to balance everything properly. And I had it all planned so the houses went up on a slant, too!
Alas. In any case, they are pretty enough placed in a window or on your tree.
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Technology and the Homefront: Keeping Military Families Connected in the Facebook Age
Long gone are the days when a soldier's wife might wait months for a letter to arrive in the mail.
Technology has narrowed the distance between the front and the homefront, and many service members can catch up with their spouse through Facebook status updates or IM with the kids.
A 2010 survey by Blue Star Families found that 89% of military families use email during deployments, and more than one solider has witnessed a birth through Skype.
The Internet is such an integral part of staying in touch the Defense Department offers tips on using Motomail, which prints and delivers emails to Marines without computer access, and TroopTube, an Uncle Sam-approved imitation of YouTube.
By and large, families and experts agree the explosion in e-communication is a boon, especially in these times of multiple deployments - but the excitement can be tinged with anxiety.
"It's a double-edged sword," says Michelle Sherman, a psychologist at the OU Health Sciences Center and the Oklahoma City Veteran Affairs Medical Center.
"Some families tell me, 'We don't do Skype,' because it's too upsetting. It brings up all these feeling of loss and worry. It's just too distressing."
How Much is Too Much Information?
Always-open lines of communication create a dilemma for service members and their loved ones: How open should they be?
"Do you tell a soldier that a relative is critically ill? That the boiler just broke and there's no money? That their son or daughter just flunked chemistry?" asks Jaine Darwin, a Cambridge, Mass., psychologist who co-founded Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists. "Does the soldier tell the family that an hour before his best friend got his head shot off?"
Vivian Greentree, 31, who's been through four deployments with husband, Mike, a Navy lieutenant commander, says it was a "personal struggle" to strike a balance.
"You go through the whole day and try to recount it in an email, but make it the good version - nobody cried, nobody screamed," the Norfolk, Va., mom of two says. "It was emotionally draining. I would find myself outright lying."
Some families decide to focus only on the positive during chats, but being too sunny has its dangers. Military personnel wonder, "What arent't they telling me?"
Other common pitfalls:
- Scheduling talk time. It may be 3 a.m. in the States when the service member in Afghanistan can use the unit's Internet-capable computer for a Skype chat. "It's a tremendous sense of being on call," Darwin says.
- Communication gaps. Families get so used to talking to a deployed service member on a regular basis, any interruption can be upsetting. "You assume the worst has happened," says Sherman.
- War zone distraction. While seeing loved ones' smiling faces can be a huge boost to morale for soldiers, the day-to-day minutiae of civilian life, particularly problems at home, can take their mind away from the mission.
Daddy Lives in Cyberspace
Using technology to communicate is particularly rewarding - and complicated - for families with small children.
In previous wartimes, a soldier might leave his pregnant wife and not return until the baby was a toddler - father and child virtual strangers. That scenario is thankfully rare in the era of webcams.
Yet these modern methods can be confusing, particularly to younger kids.
"There are some very evocative pictures of small kids touching daddy on a screen," Darwin says. "But some of them think Daddy lives in the computer."
And Sherman notes that older children may resist coming to the computer for an IM exchange or Skype session. It's the digital equivalent of a teenager slamming the door to their room, but for the soldier with few opportunities to call home, it feels like a slap in the face.
As a result, some families prefer methods of staying connected that are less pressured: giving a preschooler two clocks with the time at home and the time where the parent is stationed; sending audio messages back and forth; opening birthday and holiday gifts bought before deployments.
DVDS and Daddy Dolls
Sesame Workshop's web-based portal Family Connections has 4,500 registered users; Assistant Vice President Lynn Chwatsky describes it as "Facebook for military families." Children can upload photos or artwork, and the deployed parent can comment or post - all within the comforting realm of Elmo and Co.
The Defense Department has partnered with United Through Reading, which creates DVDs of troops reading stories and sends them home. "Typically, they'll try to make it cheery in the background. You'll have a tent in Iraq that has a shower curtain with Donald Duck on it," said CEO Sally Ann Zoll.
About 300,000 families participated last year, including Sunny Rydl, 28, whose husband Robert is on his third deployment in four years on the USS Bulkeley in the Middle East. The ship does not have Skype and 5-year-old Ryan and 6-year-old Madison are too young for email.
"But every time they go and check the mail and see a DVD, their faces light up," she says of the monthly envelopes.
The non-profit Hug-a-Hero has distributed hundreds of dolls made from photos of moms and dads heading overseas. Greentree created her own version - a laminated photo of her husband on a barbecue skewer.
Her sons, M.J., 6, and Walker, 4, take it to the pool, on bike rides, to the White House Easter egg roll. She uses her iPhone to take pictures of "Mike on a Stick" at the events and email them to her husband. He feels included, and the kids keep their spirits high by doing something goofy with Dad.
"They're smiling in these pictures," she says. "They're not these empty, sad eyes of kids who miss their Dad."
Because her husband's ship didn't have Skype, Greentree relied on daily emails with her husband. But what she and the children really looked forward to was snail mail - letters on fancy stationery that would arrive every so often. She deleted most of the emails but saved every handwritten note.
"It's true they are only an email away," she says. "But you can't ever replace a good old fashioned love letter."
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With gas prices rising yet again, President Barack Obama made a new pitch for his energy plan to University of Miami students Thursday afternoon.
With gas prices rising yet again, President Barack Obama made a new pitch for his energy plan to University of Miami students Thursday afternoon, telling them that the U.S. will take control of its energy future not with more drilling but with "a sustained, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy."
"We can’t just allow ourselves to be held hostage by the ups and downs of the world oil market. We have to keep developing new sources of energy," Obama said at the BankUnited Center Fieldhouse. "We have to keep developing new technology that helps us use less energy. We have to keep relying on the American know-how and ingenuity that comes from places like the University of Miami."
He said his administration has made progress on that front, pointing out that in 2010 the country's "dependence on foreign oil was under 50 percent for the first time in 30 years," and that "because of the investments we've made, the use of clean, renewable energy has nearly doubled – and thousands of Americans have jobs because of it."
"We’re taking every possible action to safely develop a near hundred-year supply of natural gas – something that experts believe will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade," the president said.
Obama took a shot at Republicans over their drill-first mentality, saying "you can bet that since it's an election year, they're already dusting off their three-point plans for $2 gas."
"I’ll save you the suspense: Step one is drill, step two is drill, and step three is keep drilling," he said. "We heard the same thing in 2007, when I was running for president. We hear the same thing every year."
He added that Americans aren't stupid and "know that's not a plan – especially since we’re already drilling. It’s a bumper sticker."
UM students waited in line for hours to see Obama's speech, part of a busy, one-day visit he is making to South Florida. It was to wrap up with an event at the home of Democratic fundraiser Chris Korge in Pinecrest.
He promoted his support of the first new American nuclear power plant in three decades and of high-tech battery manufacturing, and the enactment of "the toughest fuel economy standards in history for our cars and pickup trucks – and the first standards ever for heavy-duty trucks."
Obama's energy policy has centered on conservation, increased domestic oil production, and reducing foreign imports, in addition to supporting renewable energy such as wind, solar, and biofuels.
He said he didn't have a silver bullet to bring down gas prices, but said, "What we do have in this country are limitless sources of energy, and a boundless supply of ingenuity and imagination that we can put to work developing that energy."
In one of the humorous moments of his speech, Obama remarked, "In another life, I’d stay in Orlando for the NBA All-Star Weekend, but these days I have a few other things on my plate."
Later Thursday, Obama took the stage at about 4 p.m. at a fundraiser at the Coral Gables Biltmore Hotel. He said Miami is a microcosm of the country.
“People from all over the world coming here, seeking opportunity,” Obama said. “And the reason people continue to come to America is because there’s a recognition that in America we will create the platform for people to succeed if they work hard. That is what is at stake in this election.”
In 2008 he didn’t say he would be a perfect president, Obama told the crowd, but he did pledge “I’d always tell you what I thought, I’d always tell you where I stood, and I’d wake up every day fighting as hard as I could for you. I’ve kept that promise. I’ve kept that promise.”
He concluded that if his supporters are motivated and stick with him, change will still come.
“We’re going to finish what we started,” he said.
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NEW YORK — Families sat down to picnics, attended parades, and crowded parks and rooftops to watch fireworks as the nation celebrated its 230th birthday Tuesday.
More than 120,000 bursts of color, light and pyrotechnics filled the darkness as The New York Pops regaled crowds with a soundtrack of patriotic standards and original music charting America’s evolution.
“I never miss it. It’s a tradition,” said Rafael Perez, 21, one of tens of thousands of people who mobbed the South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan to watch the show.
At Fort Bragg, N.C., home of the 82nd Airborne Division, President Bush offered thanks and encouragement to the troops.
“You are serving our country at a time when our country needs you. And because of your courage, every day is Independence Day in America,” Bush told an estimated 3,500 service members at an outdoor speech.
As many as 500,000 people gathered in Boston for a concert and fireworks extravaganza near the Charles River, state police estimated. Some held American flags, and others clutched red-white-and-blue pompons as they sat on blankets on the grass.
Alicia Dumont, 10, of Quincy, Mass., wore a red and blue Statue of Liberty-style crown and a red tank top to the festival.
“I think it’s awesome,” she said. “It’s spectacular just to celebrate the Fourth of July and see all the colors.”
Earlier Tuesday, the city began its celebration with a reading of the Declaration of Independence from a balcony at the Old State House, where townspeople first heard it more than two centuries ago.
Weather dampens some parties
In many regions, the searing heat and near-drought conditions tamped down the celebration Tuesday.
About 100 people were treated for heat exhaustion in Washington, D.C., after an Independence Day parade in humid, 90-degree weather near the Mall. Most of the patients were marchers, said Alan Etter, a spokesman for the District of Columbia fire and EMS Department. One was hospitalized.
Because of the hot, dry weather in Mandan, N.D., fire trucks were held out of the July Fourth parade.
“We don’t want to get hung up in a parade and can’t get out. It’s just too risky,” said Mandan Rural Fire Chief Lynn Gustin.
In Frostburg, Md., Floyd Wigfield, an 87-year-old veteran of the 1944 D-Day invasion, was among the estimated 1,200 veterans who lined up for a half-mile during a Fourth of July parade.
Slideshow: Fire in the sky “They’re celebrating all the veterans for years and years,” said Wigfield, of Cumberland, Md., who wore his green wool Army uniform despite the soaring heat.
There also was quiet reflection during the long holiday weekend. In Yakima, Wash., a crowd of more than 200 people prayed quietly at the dedication late Monday of a war memorial honoring six soldiers and Marines with ties to the area who have died in Iraq.
“I hope when people see it, it brings a reality to them,” said Nancy Sides, stepmother of Marine Lance Cpl. Dustin L. Sides, one of the six.
© 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Weather May Hurt Gap Fire Gains
By Adam Foxman, Ventura County Star, Calif.
Jul. 8–After several days of moderate weather and fog that helped firefighters battle the Gap fire near Goleta, officials are bracing for a heat wave expected to arrive today.
High temperatures in the mountains of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties are expected to reach 105 today and remain above 100 through Thursday, the National Weather Service reported. Triple-digit temperatures could last for several hours each day.
“It certainly will make the firefighting efforts more difficult,” said Rolf Larsen, a spokesman for Los Padres National Forest.
The Gap fire has burned more than 9,600 acres in Los Padres National Forest near Goleta since it began July 1. Firefighters secured much of the southern and eastern flanks of the blaze Sunday, and containment stood at 35 percent on Monday.
Helped by cooler temperatures and humid weather, firefighters Monday worked to extinguish pockets of fire around Goleta and battled to keep the blaze from moving northwest. Firefighters also burned brush to strengthen containment lines.
Hoping to take advantage of the cooler weather before the heat wave, officials called in five “Hotshot” crews from Arizona and New Mexico, totaling 100 firefighters, to hike in or be lowered by helicopter into the Santa Ynez Mountains to thin brush and slow the fire’s progress, said Stanton Florea, spokesman for the National Forest Service.
“The tactics are to jump on it when the weather’s giving us the best advantage,” said John Ahlman, another spokesman.
High temperatures make brush more combustible and contribute to fatigue among firefighters, said Capt. Drew Smith, a fire behavior analyst with the Los Angeles County Fire Department who was on his way to the Gap fire Monday.
Firefighters battling wildfires typically carry about 20 pounds of gear, including fire shelters, work boots, helmets, water and outer layers of fire-resistant Nomex, said Capt. Pete Jensen of the Ventura County Fire Department.
That’s less than half what firefighters carry to structure fires, but still a lot considering the steep terrain of the site. Heat-related injuries are among the most common while fighting wildfires, Jensen said. On the up side, no significant wind is expected in the coming days.
Firefighters were worried about possible lightning strikes. Forecasters now say there is only a slight chance of thunderstorms, and they are unlikely to arrive before the weekend if at all, said Bonnie Bartling, a weather specialist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
So far, the Gap fire has destroyed four outbuildings and two firefighters have suffered minor injuries.
A total of 1,293 personnel are assigned to the blaze, which has cost an estimated $9.3 million in suppression efforts, officials said.
Early Monday, the fire threatened 2,811 homes and 228 commercial structures, but those assessments improved by the evening as fire information officials reported 251 homes, 176 outbuildings and no commercial buildings threatened.
More than 2,000 residents were able to return home Monday, said Roger Aceves, Goleta’s mayor pro tem.
But some mandatory evacuation orders and warnings to be ready to leave remained in effect for scattered homes on the fire’s growing western flank of the Santa Ynez Mountains, he said.
Investigators say the fire was caused by human activity but they have not determined if it was arson. Authorities are asking people with information on the fire’s cause to call 961-5710.
Wildfires have burned more than 800 square miles and destroyed at least 69 homes throughout California, mainly in the north, over the past two weeks. One firefighter has died, from a heart attack.
Sunday’s cooler weather also helped firefighters battling a 2-week-old blaze that has destroyed 22 homes in Big Sur, although fog hampered firefighting aircraft, said Sarah Gibson, a spokeswoman for the Big Sur fire command post.
The fire, which has charred 117 square miles, was 11 percent contained. Officials said crews were burning out brush between the fire’s edge and Big Sur’s famed restaurants and hotels to halt flames creeping down from ridges.
California’s siege of fires began with a lightning storm in late June. About 1,450 fires have since been contained, but more than 330 were still burning Monday.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a health warning urging people affected by smoke to stay inside and limit physical activity.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
To see more of the Ventura County Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.venturacountystar.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, Ventura County Star, Calif.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email firstname.lastname@example.org, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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Car designer and entrepreneur Henrik Fisker made his name in the car industry designing the highest of the high-end luxury cars for BMW and Aston Martin. After making waves in the auto industry with vehicles such as the Aston Martin DB9, Aston Martin V8 Vantage and BMW Z8, he decided to break away from this corner of the auto world imbued with tradition and start his own company, Fisker Automotive. Fisker’s first vehicle to hit the road has been the Karma, an impressively green, extended range electric vehicle with so many curves, your eyes are already driving it before you’ve even gotten behind the wheel. Coming in as loud and clear as the Karma’s sex appeal, Henrik Fisker is on a mission to make green cars cool. We recently had a chance to talk to him about how he’s risen to the top of the electric vehicle pack, and where he plans on taking his cars from there.
Fisker Automotive was founded by Fisker and Bernhard Koehler in 2007 and the Fisker Karma was the first car they brought to the market. The vehicle was just awarded an impressive rating of 112 mpg by the European rating agency Technischer Üeberwachungs Verein (TÜV). The car has an all-electric range of up to 50 miles after which a gasoline generator kicks in to run the engine and drives the car another 250 miles. The Karma has a Nanophosphate Lithium-ion Battery pack that charges in 6-14 hours — depending on the type of charger you are using — and has a solar paneled roof that provides energy to drive the car an additional 200 miles annually. The car uses regenerative breaking and is painted with a special diamond dust paint that uses recycled glass elements and releases no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the environment.
In addition the car packs 403 horsepower under the hood, can go from 0 to 60 in 6.3 seconds and tops out at 125 miles an hour. We caught up with Mr. Fisker at the Global Green Sustainable Design Awards where he was receiving the Corporate Design Award for his work on electric vehicles at Fisker Automotive. He was happy to be getting the award and noted that, “for us, to be part of this event is just really to create more awareness that environmental products can actually be really cool.” We’d have to second that notion, Fisker Automotive might just have one of the coolest green products in our book.
INHABITAT: You’re well known for being a car designer for many years for a lot of the top brands in automotive. What inspired you to go off and start your own company?
Henrik: I always thought about what are we going to be driving in the future. Now, when I saw Leonardo DiCaprio drive, obviously, to the Oscars in a Prius, I thought here’s a guy who can buy any car he wants, but he wants to make a statement. And I thought there’s got to be a market for good looking, desirable, green cars. So when I saw this kind of opportunity to get into this market with this powertrain that we have, which is essentially an electric vehicle, but with a range extender, I saw that it was the first time we could offer no compromise to the consumer, but also really get out there a beautiful green car, because obviously, my background is car design, so I thought it was the perfect mix.
INHABITAT: So, Leonardo DiCaprio was actually one of your first customers. That must feel really great.
Henrik: It feels great. You know, he’s a great ambassador for the environment. I think he is really passionate about it. He has obviously shown it in many things that he has contributed to and to have him drive the car and be a support for the company is fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for better.
INHABITAT: So your background is in design and now you’re a CEO. How does that feel making that transition?
Henrik: I think the advantage we have at Fisker Automotive is that I have a design background, because I’m very involved in the product creation and the design, obviously, of the vehicle. Becoming, obviously, the CEO really means you’re just involved in everything that goes on in the company and you start understanding all of the aspects of the company. And I think understanding the product fundamentally really means that everybody in the company is inspired, because they see that the lead in the company understands the product — that’s very important in the car industry.
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There may be differing views and political stances among the analysts and experts, politicians and state officials, regarding the crisis that has been ongoing for almost a year in Syria, but there is one conviction shared by everyone, namely that the Syrian regime – with its current leadership – cannot continue, and that change is inevitable. This comes after the regime’s role in the magnitude of bloodshed that we see every day now, which has come to resemble a massacre.
The question that puzzles everybody - and which no one has a clear answer to - is the time required for this change to take place, how much it will cost, how it will take place, and what will happen afterwards?
For its part, the Syrian leadership does not share this conviction; or rather it is in a state of denial regarding its fate that is clear for all to see. It organized a referendum for a new constitution against the backdrop of bullets, rocket artillery and tanks, and whilst cities are being besieged and subjected to what appears to be massacres, as though this situation is something normal.
This state of denial is clearly evident from the statements made by the Syrian President when he was casting his vote in the referendum, emphasizing that “They may be stronger in space, but we are stronger on the ground. Still, we want to win on the ground and in space.” By “space” here he does not mean sending satellites or spacecraft into orbit, but rather he was referring to satellite television, which the regime accuses of waging a media war, as if was the sole cause of the problem, fabricating all the events taking place. In the same speech he continued to blame the problem on external parties. Yet Assad himself used to dominate [Syrian] satellite channels forcing them say what the regime wanted, in order to convince the audience of the stories of armed gangs and bandits, and keep the ordinary Syrian citizens silent, who were merely seeking dignity, freedom and justice.
From the beginning there has been a lack of foresight on the part of the regime, alongside its stubbornness and a state of denial, with arrogant statements proclaiming that Syria is not Tunisia and is not Egypt, although the situation in Syria is worse than the former regimes in the aforementioned two countries by a long way. The state of stubbornness led to the delusional regime failing to see the state of unrest and the popular will for change, which began with the simple demands of freedom and justice. This was then met with fierce repression that ultimately led to a gradual escalation in the demands, until the only solution left was for the regime to leave.
The Syrian leadership did not consider the initiatives, signals, and the content of the messages that it received on Arab and international levels. Other Arab regimes didn’t receive such chances to enact change peacefully, and in a framework avoiding what we are seeing now with the danger of a devastating civil war that will mean the bloody end of the regime.
The Arab Initiative was the clearest roadmap to resolve the crisis and stop the bloodbath, in a manner similar to what was adopted in Yemen to resolve the crisis there. [Under the initiative], the President would hand over power to his deputy for a transitional period headed by a government of national unity, in order to hold elections and draft a new constitution. This path would have ensured the departure of the former leadership in a safe and secure manner, however the regime failed to see the lifeline handed to it, and insisted that the people themselves were in favor of the security solution; i.e. more killings!
There are further puzzling questions, such as why does the Syrian leadership not see what the rest of the world sees? What does it see when it looks at the uprising Syrian cities that continue to resist tanks, bullets and arrests? Are the circles of power there really convinced with the fabricated talk of armed gangs, foreign conspiracies and provocative satellite channels? Is it possible for such factors to spark a country-wide revolution that has been ongoing relentlessly for nearly a year, and is currently intensifying?
The truth is that the Syrian regime does not have control over the ground or space. On the ground it is using armored vehicles and tanks to confront civilian areas and unarmed people. This is a sign of the regime’s weakness and its inability to control. The “space” Assad refers to is not the satellite channels, but rather it is the people on the ground that film and document the repression they are being subjected to, and then send the footage abroad so that people can hear their voice.
Ali Ibrahim is Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, where this article first appeared on Feb. 29, 2012
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Abdallah Al Jibouri ... had originally planned merely to check up on his elderly mother when he visited his home town of Muqtadiyah, 60 miles north of Baghdad, shortly after Saddam Hussein's fall. His Mancunian-accented English, however, ensured that he was pressed into service as unofficial negotiator between American troops and Iraqis, who elected him mayor.Many more stories at the WSJ link.
Much to his astonishment--and, he says, to the dismay of his British wife, Sharon--he also became governor of the province of Diyala, whose population is 1.8 million.
Local insurgents have paid his leadership the ultimate backhanded compliment: they have tried to kill him 14 times, and have put a $10,000 bounty on his head. "I came for a visit two weeks after the liberation because I have got my mum and other family here," said Mr Al Jibouri. "I just wanted to make sure that they were all right. But I found the whole place was really a mess, with weapons everywhere, even little kids with machine guns.
"I began talking to the local sheiks and the US army and we hired some police. I thought I'd go home then but they said, 'No, you've got to stay and help us.' Of course it's dangerous, and the wife back in Manchester worries, but there are a lot of good people out here and they are worth it."
March 14, 2005
Arthur Chrenkoff in the WSJ rounds up the good news from Iraq, including the amazing story of a man who'd been working as a dentist in England for 20 years, made a trip to Iraq to check up on some relatives, and ended up as the governor in one of the insurgent-ridden provinces.
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“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers” (3 John 2 NKJV).
The goal of Trinity’s Health Ministry is to help integrate spirituality and health by providing health education and basic-non-invasive screenings and to address health-related issues that come up during our parish’s pastoral care.
The Health Ministry is made up of both health professionals and other lay persons.
On the last Sunday of every month, the Health Ministry offers blood pressure screening are offering during the two coffee hours by licensed professionals.
Every month, the Ministry will also offer an educational topic such as women’s heart health, Advanced Directives/End of Life Care.
In addition, a Health Ministry bulletin board can be found in Conine Hall.
For more information, contact Barbara McCarthy, RN or call the Parish Office.
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See my Top Ten Spanish Drinks
What is Horchata Made of?
The confusion over what horchata is made of is largely due to the fact that horchata is also a popular drink in Mexico and other parts of Latin America.
Horchata in most of Spain Spain is made of water, sugar and tigernut (chufas), while in Latin America it is a rice-based beverage. But don't worry, no tigers were injured in the making of this drink - tigernut is actually a plant called cyperus esculentus. Horchata is therefore perfect for vegetarians, vegans and people with nut allergies.
In Cordoba, an almond variety is popular. Look out for 'horchata de almendras'.
Where to Get Horchata
Horchata is available throughout Spain. Many bars make it themselves and will display a sign saying that they have it "Hay Horchata". Street stalls selling cold drinks also often sell Horchata (they are normally the same stalls that sell 'granizado', which is like Slush Puppy).
Horchata also comes prepackaged, but it tastes nothing like the homemade version.
Horchata in Valencia & Catalonia
Horchata is called 'orxata' in Catalonia and Valencia and is extremely popular. There are a number of 'horchaterias' in Valencia, the most famous of which is opposite the Iglesia y Torre de Santa Catalina in the corner of Plaza de la Reina. They also sell nice pastries to be dunked in your Horchata. Mmmm.
To be honest though, with ingredients as simple as they are, there is little difference between cafeterias that sell horchata. As long as it is cold and made on site (as opposed to bottled), it will be as good as any other.
Remember to also try Valencia's other culinary trademark: paella!
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Please enter a search term to begin your search.
Dame Cicely Saunders trained as a nurse, a medical social worker and finally as a physician. From 1948 she was involved with the care of patients with terminal illness, lectured widely on the subject, wrote many articles and contributed to a great number of books. She founded St. Christopher's Hospice in 1967 as the first research and teaching hospice linked with clinical care, pioneering the field of palliative medicine.
Dame Cicely began fundraising for St Christopher's Hospice in 1963. By 1967 she had raised £500,000 towards building costs and established a contract with the Regional Board for 60% of running costs. As the work expanded, this proportion of revenue reduced to only 30%, requiring further fundraising in order to fill an increasing gap running to several million pounds. By 1970, she had obtained contracts with the teaching hospitals local to St Christopher's Hospice and this system of funding remained for several years, until funding arrangements were taken over by local Health Authorities. In 1976 Dame Cicely obtained a grant from the Department of Health & Social Security to cover the running costs of the newly built Education Centre. A grant for Education continues to this day. St Christopher's annual budget now runs at around £10 million per annum.
During her 34 years as Medical Director, Chairman and Founder/President of St Christopher's Hospice, Dame Cicely was also a trustee of a number of grant giving trusts, including: Member of the Medical Research Council 1976 - 1979; Deputy Chairman, Attendance Allowance Board 1971 - 1985; a Founder, and Hon. President, National Council for Hospice & Specialist Palliative Care Services 1992 - date; Trustee, Elizabeth Clark Trust 1986 - 1996; Trustee, Goldsmiths' Charitable Trust 1997 - 1998. In 2002 she became the founder trustee of Cicely Saunders International and worked actively for the creation of a centre of excellence housing research, education, information provision and clinical care. The Institute established in her name will enable research to quickly feed into care and practice, enabling people to live better, with dignity and the least possible suffering.
Dame Cicely was also involved with the creation of hospice teams around the world. She is universally recognised as the founder of the modern hospice movement and received many honours and awards for her work. She held over twenty honorary degrees from the UK and overseas. Awards include the British Medical Association Gold Medal for services to medicine, the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, the Onassis Prize for Services to Humanity, the Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Award and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms for Worship Medal. Dame Cicely was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1980 and was awarded the Order of Merit by Her Majesty the Queen in 1989.
Dame Cicely died on 14 July 2005 at St Christopher's Hospice.
A bibliography of publications by Dame Cicely Saunders can be viewed on the Cicely Saunders International website
copyright photograph by Derek Bayes
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Today is International Permaculture Day.
This is a good time to consider the investment ideas from the Permaculture movement:
“The time now is of transition, of asking yourself,…
Working together to rebuild resilience in Bellingham and all of Whatcom County.
I'm the new Coordinator at the RE Sources Sustainable Community Gardens: The RE Patch. We have raised beds available, central to Lettered Streets, Columbia Neighborhood and Broadway Park! We are also looking for landscape stewards for our food forest, native shade gardens, and xeriscaping as well as donations of plants, tools, mulch materials and occasional volunteers. Contact: firstname.lastname@example.org
In the interest of keeping our online conversation as inclusive, informative, respectful, participatory and fun as possible, the TWOG and our web administrator have come up with some guidelines which we hope will be clear and helpful. The guidelines include some suggestions to make your communication as clear and effective as possible, and also a (short!) list of types of communication that we won’t tolerate. These last include obvious things like: name…Continue
Back in 1999 I went in on 20 undeveloped acres of land in rural Whatcom County with some friends. Our plan was to create a small community, start with one shared house and expand out to several dwellings over time. I moved my converted school-bus, w/skylights, bedloft, propane appliances and great storage, onto the property early in 2000 and started clearing garden space. As it happened, the land partners found themselves unable to occupy the land for various reasons, seasons went by, and I…Continue
This is a community networking site for those interested in helping us achieve our vision of resilient and more self-reliant communities throughout Whatcom County with a local food supply, sustainable energy sources, a healthy local economy, and a growing sense of vitality and community well-being.
As a part of Village Books Children’s Book Week, Sarai Stevens, local author/illustrator/community activist, shares her children’s book of papercuts- a book to create dialogue between adults and children around the environmental and economic challenges we face and the great opportunity that stands before us if we choose to grasp it.
As parents and moral beings, Sarai believes we must create healthy systems of being that move us beyond our current economy rooted in consumption and limitless growth. Coming from a place of love and compassion, we can be open with our children about the challenges we face if we actively involve them in envisioning and manifesting new paths to the future. There will be time during discussion for children and adults to share their visions of happier, healthier, more resilient communities. More info here.
(See Transition Whatcom sponsored events here.)
Provide your thoughts on what film TW should show next! Visit the group to add your comments.
Help with existing projects of the Transition Whatcom Organizing Group or suggest projects you are willing to help with! Join the discussion.
We aim to unleash the collective genius of our community to find the answers to this momentous question:
For all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how do we...
Dramatically reduce carbon emissions (in response to climate change);
Significantly increase resilience (in response to peak oil);
Greatly strengthen our local economy (in response to economic instability)?
The goal of Transition Whatcom (and all Transition Initiatives) is to create a long term Energy Descent Action Pathway, a blueprint- by the community, for the community- of how to significantly reduce energy use and yet provide for our basic needs in times of energy scarcity.
Transition Initiativesmake no claim to have all the answers, but by building on the wisdom of the past and accessing the pool of ingenuity, skills and determination in our communities, the solutions can readily emerge. Now is the time for us to take stock and to start re-creating our future in ways that are not based on cheap, plentiful and polluting oil but on localized food, sustainable energy sources, resilient local economies and an enlivened sense of community well-being.
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For those in galaxies far, far away, Tuesday's column on Ursula Le Guin:
Ursula Le Guin is not one for guarded opinions. She believes "misogyny is the biggest, oldest social prejudice in the world," and one enjoying another revival as Hillary Clinton campaigns for the White House.
In the February issue of Harper's, Le Guin takes aim at the "stupidity of the owners of the publishing houses." Their enchantment with the big splash, she says, means "the best sellers are getting enormous advances, the money that used to go in royalties and advances to the mid-listers," the real heart and soul of the book trade.
And in her latest novel -- "Lavinia," due out in April -- she lends her voice to the title character, a mute witness in Virgil's epic poem, "The Aeneid," and measures the turbulent violence of the age.
"The battles in 'The Aeneid' are shockingly bloody," Le Guin said. "Virgil's patron was Augustus, the first emperor, and I think he was telling Augustus, 'Look -- this is the price of empire.' I found that very powerful and very relevant."
A legendary figure in science fiction for more than 40 years, the Portland writer isn't afraid to voice an opinion or revisit one. "The trouble with print is, it never changes its mind," Le Guin wrote in 1989, so she often returns to her most memorable essays, polishing, sharpening, apologizing for sounding a bit resentful when her point disappeared in the firestorm.
All too aware that old age is considered "a waiting room, where you go after life's over and wait for cancer or a stroke," Le Guin, 78, still writes like no tomorrow. Her stories ferment in the former sewing porch and nursery at the corner of her Portland home. If she's inspired by the view of Mount St. Helens, I'm sure the feeling is mutual.
"Writing is hard work," Le Guin says. "It uses you. The only thing I can compare it to is having a baby. That uses all of you, too. The first draft is the hard work; then comes the fun, putting it into shape. That's a pleasure. That's bringing up baby."
She was sending off stories to the science-fiction pulps before Pearl Harbor, chasing story arcs into places she never would have imagined. "The Left Hand of Darkness." The Earthsea novels. "The Lathe of Heaven" and "The Dispossessed." Short stories, children's stories, essays on women, words and song.
"I was lucky in my timing," Le Guin says. "I'm not a revolutionary, but I definitely rebelled against the way we were supposed to write when I was growing up, the way fiction was supposed to be, which was strictly realism: We all ought to be imitating Flaubert.
"Well, I didn't want to rewrite 'Madame Bovary.' I said to hell with that . . . I'll write what I see fit to write. My timing wasn't so great at first -- for 10 years, I couldn't sell anything -- but in the long run it was. And I was lucky to be in my 40s when the feminist movement began to mean something and change the way people thought. That was a tremendous boost to my work, when putting men at the center of everything was no longer a requirement."
Lest you think her preoccupied with gender, she eliminates it entirely in "The Left Hand of Darkness." Warfare disappears with it, Le Guin notes in the 1976 essay titled, "Is Gender Necessary?" one she has returned to on occasion to reflect on what the world might be like if men and women were truly equals:
"What our problems might be, God knows," Le Guin writes. "But it seems likely that our central problem would not be the one it is now: the problem of exploitation -- exploitation of the woman, of the weak, of the earth. Our curse is alienation, the separation of yang from yin. Instead of a search for balance and integration, there is a struggle for dominance."
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I attended the RSA conference this year, as I always do, and spent most of the time talking with attendees and clients about what they were learning and trends they were seeing. Here is a summary of what we discussed.
Although mobile security concerns seems to be a theme, I tried to dig deeper, and it seems that more than a few people are concerned about the upcoming changes to Facebook’s currency model. Facebook plans to force all users to use “Facebook Credits”. The worry is that since Facebook is on virtually every smartphone in the world, the digital wallet may come to the consumer faster than expected via facebook. The Facebook credits system is similar to PayPal or Google Checkout; however, since mobile phones don’t normally contain identity information they haven’t really been targeted. Once faceobok account can store credits, like a bank account, having a mobile virus or Trojan that steals your facebook login/password will be akin to stealing your bank account username and password. I think we have heard this story before…
The cloud is always a hot topic but it seems as if nothing has changed. It is all about cost savings and whatever cost to security. As Dave, CSO from eBay put it. Vivek Kundra, whitehouse CIO, plans to save over 20billion by moving to the cloud and when you are saving 20 billion, who lets security get in the way?
Other people were more realistic and have conceded that the cloud will happen and they need to have data classification and risk management processes in place to ensure the *right* date moves to the cloud. A couple cloud vendors mentioned that they will need to educate their customers on how to do risk management and data management so that their customers can securely move to the cloud. This is a departure from the “We don’t talk or tell you about our security processes” stance the cloud vendors had last year.
Also, Symantec is making a big splash with their .cloud initative which is a marketing rebranding of all their cloud offerings including cloud based endpoint protection, cloud email encryption and filter, and cloud based web filtering. While the moniker may be funny and many have laughed at it, it is simple and effective. AV.cloud sounds much better than “cloud based anti-virus”. Marketing changes aside, not much has changed in terms of the technology behind the solution but Symantec is committed to heavily investing into .cloud and becoming the premier cloud security services provider in the world.
As I met with attendees and vendors, I asked if CIOs were adding cloud security services into their ROI analysis when moving their data to the cloud, almost everyone said no. Is this an indicator that cloud services don’t apply to the enterprise or perhaps the security CIOs want is ”real security controls” on the platforms, operating systems, and databases in the cloud rather than just moving their security tools from on-premise to the cloud? It seems to me the only people looking at cloud security services is the SMB.
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In an excoriating piece in Truthdig, columnist Chris Hedge labels Hurricane Sandy “the Katrina of the North.” He begins and ends with 76-year-old Avgi Tzenis, whose house in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, was wrecked when three feet of water and sewage swept through it five weeks ago. She was widowed last year after nursing her husband through years of dementia, and has no idea how she’s going to pay for repairs.
I just finished How We Age: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Growing Old, by Marc Agronin, a geriatric psychiatrist. It was Agronin who introduced me to the psychologist’s fallacy, and he reiterates the point in a clip from a Today Show appearance, cautioning against unduly negative assumptions about the lives of the old old. “We have to be very careful and not project our own fears of aging,” he explains. “Their lives can be way better than we imagine.”
On 9/11, the Animal Rescue League got into Ground Zero faster than Human Services. “They had a plan,” Robert Butler pointed out at the 2008 Age Boom Academy. “How many states practice their nursing home evacuation plans?” The highly safety-conscious Japanese do practice their drills, but it didn’t spare the lives of many elderly residents of tsunami-ravaged Shintona.
I’m making my way through Never Say Die, Susan Jacoby’s screed against the perky marketing of “the new old age.” More on that soon, much more, but it’s in her first chapter that I found the following statistics, from Muriel Gillick’s The Denial of Aging: “The latest prediction is that if you are just now turning 65, you have nearly a 50 percent chance of spending some time in a nursing home before you die. Approximately 10 percent of those nursing home stays will be short-term, intended for recuperation after a hospitalization. The remainder will be for the long haul, with discharge to a funeral parlor, not to the family home.”
The heart of the matter, concisely put by the ILC-USA’s Executive Director Everette Dennis in his opening remarks at this annual journalism seminar, is the “perception of aging as a social problem versus as a great human achievement.”
A lovely piece in the Science section of this week’s New York Times talks about what William James called the psychologist’s fallacy: “assuming incorrectly that one knows what someone else is experiencing.” Meeting a woman who had just lost her husband of 70 years, Dr. Marc Agronin presumed that she would be grief-stricken. Just the opposite, in fact.
When I posted about getting accepted by the 2008 Age Boom Academy, I was hoping to find out why it’s so hard to galvanize a national conversation around longevity-related issues. I spent last week at the Academy learning the answer, and it isn’t pretty.
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Barry Deck’s Template Gothic is vernacular in inspiration and futuristic in effect. Is it a bizarre one-off, or the shape of typefaces to come?
The process by which particular typefaces come to embody the look, mood and aspirations of a period is mysterious and fascinating. It cannot be predicted with any accuracy and no single designer can will it to happen, but somehow a typeface will look fresh, unexpected, precisely attuned to the moment – and a consensus emerges. Eventually, with repeated applications in less and less appropriate contexts, the face becomes exhausted, incapable of inducing the required frisson and falls into disuse, until such time (it may well never happen) when it is revived.
In Britain, such a fate has overtaken the angular post-constructivist type designs of Neville Brody, Zuzana Licko and Max Kisman. By a curious paradox (helped along in Brody’s case by himself) these faces, once so urgently new, are judged less ‘contemporary’ than sans serif stalwarts that one might have supposed to be irredeemably passé.
Now, just a year or two into the 1990s, comes a typeface so far removed from the unbending geometries of the 1980s that it evokes an authentic sense of what the art critic Robert Hughes called ‘the shock of the new’. The uses it has found give a good sense of its flavour – from the soundtrack album for Wim Wender’s new science fiction film Until the End of the World, to a flyer announcing a season called Towards the Aesthetic of the Future at London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts.
Template Gothic, designed by CalArts graduate Barry Deck, might set a boffin-like brow towards the future, but it also maintains an affectionate toehold on the past. Tony Arefin, a British designer who was one of the first to use the face, compares its effect to the street market/super-building contrasts of Blade Runner: ‘It has a mixture of low-tech with high-tech.’ The low-tech, we know from Deck’s account, comes from the typeface’s origins in a stencilled sign he saw in his local Laundromat. On this level, he suggests, it is a ‘homage to the vernacular’. The irregular, tapering strokes, thickened junctions, inconsistent weight and lopsided rhythm combine to suggest letters afflicted by what the designer calls the ‘distortive ravages of photomechanical reproduction’. Created digitally with the type design program Fontographer, the face embodies a post-modern narrative on the methods of character-generation it supersedes.
Template Gothic’s ‘high-tech’, too, is impeccably postmodern. This is a playful reminder (and revision) of the future as it was imagined in the 1950s – an organic age of kidney dish-shaped tables from which the straight line and the right angle have been expelled. These are fuzzy forms – suggestively vague rather than robotically exact – to match the dawning era of fuzzy logic. Deliberately ‘imperfect’, though oddly lucid, Template Gothic is sufficiently malleable to withstand the most casual designs. There is no way of knowing how it will look in five years’ time, let alone fifty. For now, it is one of the most interesting and original new faces we have.
First published in Eye no. 6 vol. 2, 1992
Eye is the world’s most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published quarterly for professional designers, students and anyone interested in critical, informed writing about graphic design and visual culture. It is available from all good design bookshops and online at the Eye shop, where you can buy subscriptions, back issues and single copies of the latest issue. You can also browse visual samples of recent issues at Eye before You Buy.
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Almost | God
God is not a God of Almost
God is the potter. We are the clay. What does a potter do? He puts the unformed clay and places it on a turning wheel and begins to shape and mold you until he has a perfect and unique vessel.
God doesn’t quit half way through… no, no, a thousand times NO!
My God is not an almost God. He is a God of more than enough. He will take you all the way through regardless of your circumstances.
If you are a drug addict, he will take you as you are and not only break the yoke of crack, smack, or whatever you are tripping on at the moment but utterly destroy it!
My God is Bigger than all addictions! Amen
Almost is not good enough God will see you through…
16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter.
17If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king.
18But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
My God is not an almost God. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, was given a choice to worship gods made by human hands or to burn to death in a fiery furnace. I feel that most of the religious world today would fail if given this choice. Would You?
God will see you through the fire
19Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was
changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake,
and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it
was wont to be heated.
20And he commanded certain mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21Then these men were bound in their hosen, their tunics, and their mantles, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
22Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.
23And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste: he spake
and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
25He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods.
26Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace: he spake and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the Most High God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came forth out of the midst of the fire.
27And the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power upon their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their hosen changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them.
God will Guide You Too
God will not only guide you through the fire of life’s trials he will make you fire proof against the fire. When you come forth from the flames and heat, that not even the smell of the smoke will be on you. God is not an almost God, he is a God that will see you through any and all circumstance’s.
Un-like mankind my friend, God is not an almost God.
Word Count: 674
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Posted by ESC on June 22, 2006
In Reply to: Re: "I'm just saying.." posted by Smokey Stover on June 21, 2006
: : What is the origin of the popular saying "I'm just saying.." Like if I tell a friend. "I'm not saying you're at your skinniest. I'm just saying...(pause)"
: The verb "to say" is transitive, that is, it requires an object. "I'm just saying" (or "I'm just saying..." if you prefer), in which no direct object follows, is an elliptical expression made intelligible by what precedes it in the conversation, that is, its antecedent. If you have been pointing something out to someone who strongly desires not to hear it, that individual may have a bad reaction, or may seem to be about to have a bad reaction. Exempli gratia, Friend: "Janice, you're really flirting with danger if you go out with that guy. You should be careful." Janice: "How dare you? Are you accusing him of something? Are you accusing me of being stupid?" Friend: "I'm just saying...." It's an effort to deflect anger and distrust generated by something you said in good faith and with good intentions. "I'm not accusing, I'm not criticizing, I'm just giving you something to think about by what I've been saying."
: If you say, "I'm just saying...," you pre-suppose that your interlocutor already knows what you have been saying. You could, of course, be explicit: "I'm just saying, be careful."
: I believe the phrase "I'm just saying," with no direct object, became popular in the 1980s or 1990s, but someone else may have better information.
I first noticed the phrase on Internet. Usually followed by a smiley face emoticon.
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The picky eater who came to dinner
With Americans' appetites subject to an array of dietary restrictions, balancing one guest's requirements for gluten free with another's for meatless can be a juggling act.
The New York Times
No one would touch it.
The offending object? A footlong loaf of bread, stuffed with savory cheese, purchased at a beloved Italian bakery and presented with pride at a recent potluck meal. "This bread is delicious," I crowed.
The kitchen went quiet. You'd think I had offered up a bouquet of poison ivy. One guest said she was gluten free. Another didn't consume milk products. The mood lifted only when someone else arrived with a large bowl of quinoa and lentils.
It's becoming harder for Americans to break bread together. Our appetites are stratified by an ever-widening array of restrictions: gluten free, vegan, sugar free, low fat, low sodium, no carb, no dairy, soyless, meatless, wheatless, macrobiotic, probiotic, antioxidant, sustainable, local and raw.
Though medical conditions like celiac disease and severe allergies have long relegated a small percentage of diners to rigid diets, more and more eaters outside this group appear to be experimenting with self-imposed limits, taking a do-it-yourself, pick-and-choose approach to restricting what they consume.
Some group-dining devotees say they are happy to adjust as the occasion demands. In April, Coco Myers, a writer who avoids gluten and lactose, invited a fish-averse friend to a dinner party in East Hampton, N.Y., hosted by a couple who don't eat red meat. A few days earlier, the hostess (Scott O'Neil, a painter and an amateur cook, who had been planning a seafood stew) emailed Myers to ask about problem foods.
"Sometimes I go to dinner parties, and you just deal with what you get, right?" Myers recalled. "But she put it out there." So she compiled a dietary no-fly list: no fish, no gluten, no lactose.
O'Neil was up to the challenge. "Nowadays I always ask, because there's so many things people don't eat," she said. She swapped the stew for a mixed grill with chicken, scallops, salmon and tofu, rounding it out with rice, an asparagus-topped salad and an upside-down rhubarb cake.
Joanne Heyman, who owns a consulting firm in New York, thinks that stories like this illustrate just how much "the locus of responsibility has moved from the eater to the hostess." Heyman, a former vegetarian, said she recently organized an invitation-only business dinner for two dozen people. On the day of the event, she started getting last-minute notes from guests saying they were vegetarian, vegan or gluten free.
"The distinction is not that people have restricted diets," she said. "It's their attitude about whose responsibility it is to meet their dietary needs."
But where are all of the atomized eating habits coming from? Do these diners have anything in common, apart from ownership of single-serve Tupperware? Unlike the diet fads of yesteryear (Atkins, Zone, South Beach and countless others), many contemporary eating styles speak directly to values and virtues, aiming to affirm your ethos rather than nuking your love handles.
Today's restricted eaters are prone to identity-driven pronouncements along the lines of "I'm gluten free." (It's worth nothing that, back in the aughts, no one declared "I'm Atkins!" Except, quite possibly, Dr. Robert Atkins himself.)
Consumers seem to be building self through sustenance, adjusting their appetites to reflect independence and moral character. In numerous interviews with restricted-diet adherents and those who study and feed them, control and identity were two common themes on everyone's lips.
"It's an alternative way of finding an identity in a place where identity is increasingly uncertain," said Richard Wilk, the director of Indiana University's doctoral program in food studies. "So much of our lives are completely out of our control. You can go to college and not get a job. You can do an internship and not get a job. The economy takes some new tack every 15 minutes."
Meredith Yayanos, a musician and a founder of the alternative culture magazine Coilhouse, adapts her diet to influence her mood. "I love the idea that there's a mix and match going on," she said.
Yayanos first dropped gluten, sugar and carbs on a friend's advice after being mugged at gunpoint, a trauma that left her fending off panic attacks and depression. "Within 48 hours, it felt like a thick layer of gauze had been pulled off my brain," she recalled. Now Yayanos revisits that diet whenever her mood drops. She's noticed her friends experimenting with food, too, essentially "hacking" their bodies, tinkering with different fuels to reap feelings of clarity and energy.
But Fabio Parasecoli, a native of Rome and the coordinator of food studies at the New School, worries that diverse diets can kill the pleasure of shared meals. "For me, food is very social, and I would never show up at someone's place with Tupperware," he said. "It's difficult when dietary choices prevent people from fully participating in social life."
Meg Geldart, a circus acrobat in Portland, Ore., is determined not to let that happen. She frequently cooks meals with as many as 20 friends who are, variously, omnivorous, gluten free, dairy free, soy free, vegetarian, vegan, diabetic or allergic (to garlic, onions, nuts or legumes).
"It just became havoc," Geldart said. She and her friends eventually arrived at a decision: "Not everyone's going to be able to eat everything." But with careful planning (plus a lot of recipe collecting and cross-referencing of diets), they've been able to ensure that, at any given meal, everyone can eat something.
"We did an East Coast-style clambake that was really fun," she said. "Our vegans and vegetarians weren't too excited, but we did a vegetable roast for them."
Still, even in Geldart's hometown, that famously tolerant foodie mecca satirized on "Portlandia," patience may be waning. On the website of the local alt-weekly The Portland Mercury, anonymous readers recently aired their frustrations over restricted diets. "You probably don't have celiac disease anyway. Self-diagnosis on WebMD doesn't count," one wrote.
"At restaurants, I ask for extra gluten on everything," said another.
Some restaurants steadfastly refuse to change a single dish to meet restrictions, on the grounds that even small alterations can slow a busy kitchen and butcher carefully calibrated recipes. Last year, Gjelina, a Los Angeles restaurant with a no-alterations policy, made national headlines after refusing to sideline the toppings on a smoked trout salad for Victoria Beckham, who was pregnant and dining with the celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. Both guests walked out.
"It's the restaurant's policy not to change any part of the menu," said Fran Camaj, Gjelina's owner, who commented on house rules in general but declined to address specific incidents or guests. "If you don't like the policy, that's fine, best of luck."
Even if some folks won't budge, the spending power of independent-minded eaters is moving the marketplace. Many diners are driven by tales of adulterated food that perennially make the news, creating skeptical consumers.
By controlling consumer spending, restrictive diets also make personal choices political. "The government-industrial farming complex really offends me," said Detective Daniel Kraus, with the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office in Oregon City, Ore., who eats with his health and his ethics in mind. "I'm not with the Occupy Wall Street types at all. I'm a Ron Paul Republican."
He added: "When I go to the grocery store, it makes me mad that I can't buy barbecue sauce because the No. 1 component is high-fructose corn syrup."
Kraus said he stopped eating grains, legumes and dairy about 18 months ago as part of the "paleo" diet, which he said lowered his weight and blood pressure. This popular regimen, also known as the Paleolithic (or caveman) diet, consists of foods that our ancestors could pick or kill with a stick, arguing that human beings lack the appropriate digestive equipment to eat complex, processed foods.
But not everyone's rushing to change their habits; some foodies are downright skeptical of the ongoing dietary fragmentation. Josh Ozersky, the founder of Meatopia, an annual bacchanal for carnivores in New York City, argued that the atomization of eating styles is about more than health.
"Like a lot of chefs, I'm convinced that these diets are not always the results of the compromised immune systems of American diners, but their growing infantilism and narcissism," he said.
Does Ozersky plan to accommodate dietary diversity at his next event?
"My attitude has been a very clearsighted, unilateral anticipation and dismissal of all of those issues," he said. "Meatopia is all meat. Anyone who doesn't like that can go to vegetopia."
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On March 20, 2008, the non-profit Global Kids launched the International Justice Center in Second Life, a virtual clearinghouse supporting public information and action in support of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and related human rights concerns. The inaugural event featured presentations by Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and Lloyd Axworthy, former foreign minister of Canada. This footage was prepared by the Second Life Cable Network (SLCN.tv). For more information, see the Justice Center website at http://justicecenter.net.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
This week's latest from MBC which will be on the channel shortly.
Last week's sudden onslaught of new rules about trademark accredition by Linden Labs have caused great concern amongst those living and working inworld, having, as they have, implied a degree newly required implementation that borders on the absurd. In addition, the lab's seeming urge to impose new rules this late in the game are considered not to bode well for the future direction of what is now almost a world that dare not speak it's (own) name.
It certainly goes against the spirit of the community that has built what can considered to be a superlative template for the future of the metaverse. Without the existence of common platform protocols a lot has been left to faith and trust - something many would now claim the lab has betrayed.
With the likes of Sun Microsystems developing open platforms that look set to eclipse the promise and vision of Linden Labs, there is a fear that we could see a mass exodus from everyone's favourite building and creating grid.
Good to see that this week's news, whilst not exactly focusing on it, has absorbed the message and interpreted it during the programme to a "vitually" laughable degree.
Let's hope Linden Labs see the error of their ways and realise that some consideration of their users/population might not be remiss in these rapidly changing times. Many good organisations and individuals have invested massive time and money supporting them despite huge teething problems - the last thing they want to see is a new arrogant offspring rapidly proving itself unfit for purpose.
Linden Labs are a business of course - but one wonders what it's value will be if the brand becomes obselete. In this case the brand is a cumilative effort on the part of virtual citizens colonising a new technological frontier. Prohibit that or impose boundaries on it and those who lead the way will turn elsewhere.
A cautionary tale methinks.
from blip.tvposted with vodpod
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Promo for the movie "fly me / volavola" and filmed in Second Life.
The production of Volavola has started in the beginning of 2008 and is still in progress. A lot of production was done using the new Lip-Synch client viewer.
from www.creativemachinerposted with vodpod
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The International Justice Center opened recently in Second Life with a panel discussion featuring International Criminal Court pro The International Justice Center opened recently in Second Life with a panel discussion featuring International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. What will the SL community do to further the cause of the forgotten and helpless of the world? Draxtor Despres captured some voices from the frontlines.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Artist Cao Fei created a city within the online game Second Life. A six minute video is projected in a reflecting pool and in the back a 25 minute video of the artist's avatar having a relationship with another avatar. As one may expect from shifting identities and alternate lives, it's quite wistful (the NY Times calls it haunting.) The show is called "RMB City" showing at the Chelsea art gallery, Lombard-Freid Projects.
A machinima by Gary Hazlitt completed on easter Saturday afternoon 2008. The song 'Hide and Seek' is by Imogen Heap from the album 'Speak for Yourself'.
Special thanks to the creators of Second Life sims Planet Mongo (spelt wrong on video, I know not Mondo, sorry rush job! ;-() built by Lumiere Noir and Svarga built by Svarog Laukosargas. Deakin sim and spaceship for this video built/designed by Gary Hayes.
Lip sync animation created using Crazy Talk 5, green screened in Final Cut. The spaceship shots were filmed live in Second Life.
An old clip here but nonetheless relevent today. Advice for the business fraternity in Second Life.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Twinity is a new metaverse platform and I tried out the beta some weeks back, only to find it very empty. This weekend, one of Second Life's leading creators took a peek too and managed to construct this exhibit.
The artist is Angrybeth Shortbread and if the mail is to be believed she spent some some thinking about this whilst playing air-guitar in my apartment. Beteer hop back in and check methinks.
from blip.tvposted with vodpod
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
The best known Second Life journalist W. James (Hamlet) Au talks about his views on the online world, and why Second Life itself won't go away at ETech, the Emerging Technology Conference organized by O'Reilly Media in San Diego in March 2008.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
IBM has debuted its newest island in Second Life: IBM Virtual Healthcare Island. The island is a unique, three-dimensional representation of the challenges facing today's healthcare industry and the role information technology will play in transforming global healthcare-delivery to meet patient needs.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
"All footages in the short movie "ILLUSION" are taken in Second Life, which is an 3D online virtual game. In Second Life, you can create your own virtual ego, be whoever we want to be and do whatever we want to do.
The main actor in "ILLUSION" is Chara Oh. Chara Oh is my virtual ego in Second Life and he is controlled by me - a 23 years girl in real life. In second life, Chara Oh ( = I ) meet another virtual ego called Agne Auer ( the girl in the movie). After chatting in the virtual world, we feel like that we like each other. So we started virtual relationship in Second Life. The footages are some of the screen captures I took when we were together.
The film emphasis the virtual egos, questions the notion of "self-identities". How many sides can we have as a person? The film also alludes emptiness and solitude emotions inside modern city people."
Director, Camera and Editing: Chara Oh
Background's Music: David Bowie "Space Oddity"
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Northern Lights Over Mt. McKinley
ridge through the
clouds was surreal and beautiful. It took a day to master the ridge
and reach the Great Icefalls of the Muldrow Glacier.
We started our
next day at 3 am to cover as much of the Muldrow Glacier before the
temperature rose and the snow softened. The trek became rough with
125 lb packs on our back. As the snow warmed, we started to break
through the ice bridges and drop into crevasses. Everyone in the
group wore snowshoes and stayed roped together to keep each of us
from falling past our waist into a crevasse. By the end of the day
we were snow shoeing in glacier slush above our knees. All of us
ended up breaking through the snow bridged crevasses, but our falls
were arrested mostly by the gear hanging on our backs.
As we left the
Muldrow Glacier we reached McGonagall Pass and could see Wonder Lake
(our destination) 26 miles to the north. We set up camp for the
night and consumed our remaining food supplies. It felt great to
of the climbing gear we had been wearing for over three weeks.
morning we woke to rain, but we were glad to be on solid rock and
anxious to see plants and the color green again. This part of
Denali National Park sees few visitors and there was little sign of
any trail most of the day. We stayed on caribou trails and headed
due north, crossing several fairly large streams and rivers. With
the rain we are soaked to the bone so at this point river crossings
didn’t make much difference. Also at this point the mosquitoes
became unbearable...even for Alaskans!
Our goal was to
reach Wonder Lake by 6 pm to catch the last Park Service Bus to the
Park entrance. At about 5 pm we reached the McKinley River, the
last major hurdle. The river is about a mile wide, braided, ice
cold and chest deep. We crossed the river as a group, in a line,
with loaded packs on our backs, hanging on to a single spruce pole.
The crossing was slow and difficult. Once on the north side of the
McKinley River, there was no sign of a trail. We finally wandered
onto the Park road at 10 pm a couple of miles east of Wonder Lake.
A Park employee
on a bicycle happened by shortly thereafter. He was so alarmed by
our appearance that he left all his food and took off to find the
Park Ranger at Wonder Lake.
We had all lost at least 30 lbs or more, our clothes were hanging on
our slighter frames, we were covered in mosquitoes and we probably
looked like refugees from a concentration camp!
The Park Ranger
found us a camp site but the Park bus driver offered to let us sleep
on the bus and escape from the mosquitoes and rain.
Wonder Lake was excited to meet climbers who had reached the summit
of Mt. McKinley and hiked all the way to Wonder Lake. All the
campers decided to cook us a dish. We had a great meal and enjoyed
sharing stories of the climb and posed for many pictures. We didn’t
realize at the time that everyone kept their distance. At 6 am the
next morning we took the six hour bus ride out of the Park….with all
the windows open. We apologized to our bus mates…If you think about
it, a month without a shower and a change of clothes really is a bit
Harvey (second from right)
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Baldy Mountain is a very popular hiking destination in the Bridger Range north of Bozeman, Montana. Even though it appears as the highest mountain in the range when viewed from Bozeman, it is the second lowest of the six named peaks in the range. One of the most interesting things to note about this mountain is that the summit register and the metal pole that is meant to be a summit marker are not on the summit; hundreds of people a year do the strenuous hike to the highest point visible from the city and sign the register, all the while ignorant of the fact that they are nowhere near the top! The true summit is nearly a mile farther north along the ridge, and requires some class 2 moves to reach the top.
Baldy Mountain is easy to spot; just look for the large "M" on the hillside to the north of Bozeman and you are looking at the lower slopes of the mountain, which is the southernmost peak in the range. A hike to the top takes you through some beautiful forested areas to an exposed ridge above the treeline that provides wonderful panoramic views of the surrounding area.
Note: This page was reworked on September 28, 2009 by the new page owner, musicman82, from its original form by the first page author. Thanks to VincePoore for his help with the mileages.
Getting There and Climbing Information
From Main Street in Bozeman, MT, turn north on North Rouse Avenue (later becomes Highway 86) and drive for just over 4 miles and look for the "M" trail head on the left. There is a large parking area, which often overflows onto the highway due to the fact that this is a heavily used area.
Take one of the two trail options to reach the "M" (both the left and right forks get you there), and then make your way to the top of the "M"; look for the obvious trail that keeps heading up through the trees. Some sections of this trail are quite steep, and it gets you up in a hurry. At the rock formation, the trail turns left and follows the top of the ridge to a prominent point which offers the first good views of the false Baldy summit. After descending a little, the trail remains level for a while before heading left along the hillside and through the last trees. At this point, the trail gets very steep as it climbs the loose scree to the false summit, where you are greeted by a pole and a box containing the summit register.
Continue down and up along the ridge to the north for another half mile and look for the very large rock outcropping that is easily recognizable as the highest point. The simplest way to the top is to head right around the rocks and scramble up easy Class 2 terrain to the flat rocky summit. Any number of Class 3 routes may be climbed as well, which provides a nice diversion after so much walking. There is a small rock cairn on top that has been constructed in the last couple years; it now sits at the end of the rock tip in this image by VincePoore.
Reaching the summit of Baldy Mountain is a one-way hike of almost 4.5 miles with about 4000 feet of elevation gain. Allow at least five or six hours to complete the trip up and down; it can be done faster, but most people will take significantly longer than that. It is also possible to access the summit of Baldy Mountain via the Bridger Ridge traverse, which follows the ridge down to Baldy from Bridger Peak, which lies to the north.
Red Tape/CampingThere are no permits or fees required to hike on Baldy Mountain. The peak is covered with snow well into May most years, but there is generally a good snowshoe trail up to the summit. Bring plenty of water, as this is a strenuous hike and there is no water along the trail.
Camping is not allowed anywhere along the Bridger Recreational Trail.
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December 8, 2010
Christmas for Families
Deep Cove Crier December, 1988
As a child, the most exciting time of year for me was Christmas time. Naturally presents decorated in beautiful green and red satin paper were what I looked forward to. My brother and I would carefully count the presents under the tree to see who had more! Obviously, we thought, the other person had more. And then! Christmas Day the biggest, most expensive present was the one we liked the best. Now, of course, I realize that it really is the thought that counts and not the price tag.
Decorating for Christmas was always a wonderful time in our house. First we would go buy a real tree at the tree lot, set it up in the window, and start decorating. Not only did we decorate the tree but my dad also put miniature lights around this huge mirror and set up the angels dancing around the candle chimes. My little brother’s eyes would glow when we turned off the normal lighting and just left the Christmas lights on in the living room. What a beautiful sight!
As a child, I loved the presents, the lights, the turkey, and the tinsels, but I couldn’t understand why my mom would try to spoil a good holiday by trying to drag me to church. To me, that was going a little far! As I grew older, the delight of Christmas faded bit by bit, year by year. I wondered what was wrong, and decided that the problem must be that my parents weren’t spending as much money on me as before In fact, my presents cost them far more than I would have imagined. Eventually I became cynical about Christmas and wrote it off as commercial exploitation.
17 Year Old Christmas
At age 17, I met some friends who had a joy and inner peace that really attracted me to them, Christmas still excited them. I asked them: “Why?” They told me they were excited about a child in a manger. At age 17, I too came to know that child. I made a manger for Him in my heart. Once again Christmas stirred within me “Peace on Earth, Good will to Men” Once again I could sing “Joy to the World” and really mean it. Our Christmas prayer is that all those reading this article feel the peace of that little baby lying in the manger.
The Reverend Ed and Janice Hird
St. Simon’s Church North Vancouver
Anglican Mission in the Americas (Canada)
-award-winning author of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’
p.s. In order to obtain a copy of the book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’, please send a $18.50 cheque to ‘Ed Hird’, #1008-555 West 28th Street, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2J7. For mailing the book to the USA, please send $20.00 USD. This can also be done by PAYPAL using the e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org . Be sure to list your mailing address. The Battle for the Soul of Canada e-book can be obtained for $9.99 CDN/USD.
-Click to download a complimentary PDF copy of the Battle for the Soul study guide : Seeking God’s Solution for a Spirit-Filled Canada
You can also download the complimentary Leader’s Guide PDF: Battle for the Soul Leaders Guide
Posted by edhird
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The shootings in Connecticut have the potential to do to schools what 9-11 did to airports.
Armed guards and metal detectors. Will my kindergartner be sent through a child-sized backscatter next year in search of contraband under her clothes?
Will her juice box be limited to 3.4 ounces out of fear that lunchboxes could harbor liquid explosives?
Parents, this is what we're up against.
On Friday the National Rifle Association doubled down on its refusal to consider any sensible restrictions on military-style weapons or high-capacity ammunition clips. And not a word was said about closing loopholes that allow people to buy guns at shows without background checks.
Instead, NRA Chief Executive Officer Wayne LaPierre blamed the media, violent video games and gun-free schools for the massacre that left 20 first-graders, six women, the gunman and his mother dead Dec. 14.
The NRA wants to create what it calls a "National School Shield" program that, apparently, would turn our schools into fortresses where every parent and child is reminded each day that a gunman could be lurking just around the corner.
As a taxpayer, as a school volunteer and as a mother, I can't accept that strapping a bulletproof backpack to my child and sending her to a campus bristling with guns is the only way to keep her safe.
A lot of people have discussed ways to improve school safety in the week since the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Mayor Teresa Jacobs acted swiftly last week to station a deputy sheriff in 60 elementary schools in unincorporated Orange County.
It wasn't a radical idea, considering school resource officers are commonplace in middle schools and high schools.
By extension, the NRA's call for armed guards in all schools isn't so drastic either. But it will be expensive. Orange County's move will cost $3 million, and that only buys us the next five months.
The fallacy is believing that it solves the problem. One deputy can't be expected to cover an entire school at once. School campuses are vast and often have many ways to come and go, especially on foot.
A single armed guard at a school is more of an exercise in security theater, a specialty of the Transportation Security Administration at airports where all the checkpoints are designed to make people feel safe without offering much of a guarantee.
The TSA is often criticized for failing spot checks that allow dangerous objects past the checkpoint while busy making sure shampoo bottles don't exceed the allotted 3.4 ounces.
Some pro-gun politicians have gone farther, suggesting all faculty and principals be armed at our schools.
Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said he thought arming teachers is a swell idea, but I haven't heard a single teacher or administrator echo that.
In fact, I talked to one administrator this week, who also is an NRA member, who said such a policy could be so dangerous he would resign if it ever took effect.
In Michigan, the Legislature passed a law to allow guns in schools and day-care centers, but it was vetoed last week by the governor.
LaPierre of the NRA stopped just short of calling for teachers and principals to be armed but said lawmakers should no longer boast about making schools "gun-free zones."
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," LaPierre said.
But that simply isn't true. Another way to stop deranged gunmen would be to make sure they can't get their hands on firearms and high-capacity magazines to begin with.
There is no single solution.
The NRA and, on the other side, the folks calling for extreme limitations on gun ownership must understand that gun violence needs to be approached with both offense and defense.
Conning ourselves into believing extreme defense, such as armed teachers and schools as fortresses, will not only make schools potentially more dangeorus, but also make our kids feel like they are going to the O.K. Corral every day. They may be too young to get the reference, but they know the feelings of threat and danger just the same.
As parents we have a choice:
We can send our children to schools, or we can send them to armed camps every day.
firstname.lastname@example.org or 407-420-5448
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- Tom Maynard inquest
ECB to target recreational drug use
The ECB is to introduce further drug testing as a result of the death of Tom Maynard in June 2012.
An inquest on Tuesday heard that samples taken from Maynard's body contained high levels of alcohol and traces of ecstasy and cocaine consistent with that of a "daily or habitual" drug user. In her summing up at the end of the inquest, the coroner, Dr Fiona Wilcox, urged cricket's authorities to test hair samples in order to detect drug use.
Now the ECB and the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA), the players' union, aim to increase the amount of drug testing with a view to not just catching drug cheats but also helping those who may be suffering from addiction.
The ECB currently carries out around 200 tests a year. That means they test somewhere between 35-40% of the registered professional players in county cricket. Last year one player, Abdur Rehman, who was playing for Somerset, tested positive for cannabis following an in-competition test.
Now, however, they appear set to carry out more tests. While they have not committed themselves to hair-sample testing - one of the more effective methods of looking for drug use over a longer period - the ECB, in co-operation with the PCA, has agreed to develop an out-of-competition testing programme to encompass recreational drugs. These measures will supplement the ECB's existing anti-doping programme, which involves in- and out-of-competition testing through UK Anti-Doping, in compliance with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code, and the financial support provided to the PCA for player education and support programmes.
England players are tested, in addition, as part of the ICC's own anti-doping programme for all international cricketers, which are also WADA compliant. To date, no England player has tested positive under these programmes.
"More testing will improve our chances of helping players with a problem which is as much societal as it is sporting," PCA chief executive told the BBC. "We have a comprehensive programme of testing in and out of competition for performance-enhancing drugs - very much in line with the WADA code - testing in competition and also testing for recreational drugs.
"What we are now in discussions with the ECB on is whether we need to extend the testing for recreational drugs to out of competition and I think we both think that that is a good idea. We are working on plans for that and investigating the practicality, following sports such as rugby and football which have done similar things.
"We all think that the use of recreational drugs out of competition needs to be thought of very differently from performance-enhancing. The purpose of the taker is very different - they are not cheating and need to be thought of differently and it is too easy for people to confuse this."
As things stand, there is no mandatory ban for players caught with recreational drugs - including ecstasy and cocaine - taken from out-of-competition samples. The PCA hopes that would remain the case and, in the first instance at least, a player would be referred for treatment, counselling and support, with suspensions only applied to repeat offenders. In-competition testing is defined as being from 6am local time on the first day of a match up until one hour following the completion of the match.
Surrey conducted an internal enquiry following Maynard's death, which was ruled to be accidental after he was found on the tracks of the London Underground last summer. The club's chief executive, Richard Gould, told ESPNcricinfo that he was satisfied that Maynard's drug use was a "one off". Team-mates Jade Dernbach and Rory Hamilton-Brown both insisted that they had no knowledge that Maynard had ever taken drugs.
In a statement following the inquest verdict of accidental death, the ECB said: "While the ECB accepts that recreational drug use is a part of modern society, we do not condone it and will take all reasonable steps to prevent its use within the game. We also believe we have a responsibility to educate all our players and are committed to supporting any player who needs help in this area.
"In the light of today's verdict, ECB and Surrey CCC would like to reiterate that this incident was a terrible human tragedy and again extend our condolences to the Maynard family and to Tom Maynard's many friends and colleagues within the professional game.
"ECB and Surrey CCC would like to end by echoing the statement issued by the Maynard family earlier today. The results of this inquest do not define Tom Maynard or alter in any way the tragedy of his passing. Tom was a great man and a great cricketer and will be remembered forever by everyone who had the privilege to know him."
George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
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There are lots of men and women advantage from being on the fat loss program. However, when deciding on a diet program for you personally, there are numerous things you need to contemplate. Are you
heading enjoy to take pleasure in the diet program? It is fairly demanding should you hate getting on a diet. You cannot power yourself to consume you don't like. Slimming down is difficult
whenever you are stressed. The a lot more you hate the meals inside your diet regime, the much more you're tempted to cheat and consume your favorites. You should also contemplate the health
aspects of the diet you will be taking. Will you be finding all the nutritional vitamins and nutrients you will need? If not, then do not consider a health danger.
As an apart here, one in the major factors for proudly owning a treadmill is to get an aerobic (cardio) exercise. For lots of people, and for numerous reasons, elliptical trainers, stair steppers,
and/or stationary bicycles may be a greater choice completely. To the moment, even so, we will just evaluate apples to apples and try to determine the advantages and drawbacks of exercising on the
The INSANITY exercise plan by Shaun T is based on the notion of Max Interval Instruction, exactly where he inverts the traditional concept of brief intervals of large intensity exercise with long
moments of low intensity this kind of that you just destroy your self for extended intervals of time weight
with only slight breaks. This leads to your
body working anaerobically for these lengthier durations as you exceed your VO2max abilities. The consequence? Extreme results as your physique is pressured significantly out of its ease and
comfort zone and requested to perform in a level that is certainly the equal of red lining a car. Does this sound proper for everybody? Naturally not, which is why INSANITY is marketed just for
advanced athletes. But how do you understand if you're an 'advanced athlete'? The INSANITY Physical fitness test is the answer.
When we get this strategy, it truly is simple to obtain drinking our minimal advised quantity of drinking water each day. If we're inside the addiction of consuming drinks containing caffeine and
booze, we ought to take actions to solve this issue by lowering our consumption. If we do not reduce our consumption, it's going to continue to function versus us no matter how significantly h2o we
consume. Steadily, we ought to substitute these types of drinks with added h2o, and our hydration levels is going to be healthy all through the day.
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall is an epic adventure that began using a simple question: "Why does my foot hurt?" Searching for an solution, McDougall sets off to locate a tribe in the world's
greatest runners and find out all of their secrets. Within the method, he exhibits that everything we all know about operating is incorrect. The unique Tarahumara Indians from the Copper Canyons in
Mexico have practiced tactics that let them to runs hundreds of miles with no relaxation. Their superhuamn talent is matched by their unbelievable wellness and serenity, leaving them proof against
diseases. Within this guide, the author uncovers their secrets and finds his personal inner ultra-athlete.
Many health programs are healthy
out on the internet, in gyms, spas, health centers as well as in publications. The main objective
of all is usually to unfastened fat but everyone is different. What works for your friend may possibly not work for you personally.Whatever you select, make sure its a healthy weight reduction and
a long term weight loss.
The want of a fatty liver diet plan is very crucial when an individual is diagnosed with fatty liver disease. The fundamental concept powering adoption of a distinct diet plan is always to lessen
the body fat inside the liver, plain and basic. It offers a far better high quality of lifestyle which is centered and focused on a healthy and completely working liver. This illness is generally a
illness that is caused because of the surplus of unwanted fat in the liver, and internal fat which is not observable to you. If an individual follows a correct diet program to the correct well
being from the problem, then the reduction of excess fat in isn't only possible, but warranted. This diet plan will gradual the progression of and reverse the effects from fatty liver disease. The
foremost position to become stored in thoughts is to focus around the correct eating behavior which are meant to eradicate the unwanted fat within the diet regime.
Audio naturally stimulates motion from the human body. What occurs when you listen to a great defeat around the radio otherwise you listen to your preferred track in a concert? You commence to tap
your foot, nod your head, or sway facet to facet. Many people appreciate frequenting evening clubs because they can dance by means of the night to songs that makes them desire to move. Songs and
movement naturally go together, and children commence finding out that at quite youthful ages once they are exposed to early childhood songs courses.
For those of you who're lifeless critical about finding out the best way to get six pack abdominals and how to drop weight fast
, the primary
thing that you simply have to focus your consideration on inside the beginning phases of the abdominal program is your muscle mass constructing body fat loss diet program. This is the only most
significant thing that may directly have an effect on the amount of physique unwanted fat you will be able to drop. Not simply will you need to place together a diet plan that will elevate your
natural excess fat buring capacity and melt off fat, but you will need to be in a position to place it together correctly in order that it is as efficient as you possibly can. Following you get you
nourishment program lined out for unwanted fat reduction good results, then it really is time for you to move on for your weightlifting routines. You really do not should get overly complicated
with your bodyweight lifting exercises, to be able to burn off unwanted fat you just need to decide to getting to the health club 3 - 4 instances each and every week.
Wholesome diets for families undoubtedly do not need to be boring, since they are likely to consist of quite a few nuts, seeds, organically developed meals stuffs like cereals, whole grain breads,
fresh veggies and fruit, beans and legumes, and healthy oils like olive oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil. Processed meals are undoubtedly heading to become kept at a minimum. Low-sodium diet
programs indicate that your salt intake goes to be lessened, but for those who have the habit of eating factors that are very spiced, all you have to do is eat low-sodium salt with a number of
herbs mixed in them. Try garlic, celery, parsley, and also other spice combinations combined with salt to spice up your fruit and vegetable combination.
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County Offers Roadside DUI Death Markers
On what may be the biggest drinking "holiday" of the year, Cook County announces a new plan for roadside DUI death memorials.
The night before Thanksgiving is known as the biggest party night of the year. Almost a holiday unto itself with a name of its own, Black Wednesday is a night to rival New Year's Eve and St. Patrick's Day for overindulgence in alcohol.
In many communities, extra officers will be on patrol and local officials warn bar owners not to overserve their patrons.
So it's not a coincidence that Cook County this week announced a new DUI Memorial Program. For $150, families of anyone killed in a DUI fatality can purchase a roadside memorial marker to be placed alongside any highway under the county's jurisdiction.
The marker includes a “Please Don’t Drink and Drive” sign and an optional commemorative plaque with the deceased loved one’s name and accident date. The victims of accidents that occurred on or after Jan. 1, 1990 are eligible.
In 2010, 743 people were hurt and 15 died in 2,780 alcohol-related crashes between the Wednesday and Sunday of the Thanksgiving holiday, according to the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists. Throughout the year, 436 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes, which was 47 percent of the 927 total crash fatalities on the year, according to the Secretary of State's office.
The county installed the first memorial sign in mid-October on the anniversary of Oleg Oleinik's death. He died in a DUI-related crash in Glenview in 2008.
The Cook County Department of Highways will install and maintain the marker for two years. A similar program is offered by the State of Illinois.
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Bible: 1 Sam. 11:14-15
11:14 Samuel said to the people, “Come on! Let’s go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.” 11:15 So all the people went to Gilgal, where 1 they established Saul as king in the
Lord’s presence. They offered up peace offerings there in the Lord’s presence. Saul and all the Israelites were very happy.
NET Bible Study Environment
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People in Texas
Cost of Living,
The 2012 Texas, TX, population is 25,145,561. There are 96 people per square mile (population density).
Family in Texas, TX
The median age is 33.6. The US median is 37.3. 48.20% of people in Texas, TX, are married. 10.55% are divorced.
The average household size is 2.75 people. 33.92% of people are married, with children. 15.08% have children, but are single.
Race in Texas, TX
70.40% of people are white, 11.85% are black, 3.84% are asian, 0.68% are native american, and 13.24% claim 'Other'.
37.62% of the people in Texas, TX, claim hispanic ethnicity (meaning 62.38% are non-hispanic).
Texas People SperlingViews
Not so Great: Texas is not the ideal place for everyone, least of all me.We live in a town so boring, the excitement is watching the grass grow. Nothing to do, no place to go withour... (read more)From Texas: I've Lived in Multiple States and Multiple communities... I hope I will be a helpful... (read more)San Antonio Riverwalk, Down The Drain!: The San Antonio Riverwalk is really down the drain. My friend Tom and I took a short vacation there because he had never been to Texas before and this is one of the... (read more)Have an opinion about Texas? Leave a commentTo See All SperlingViews for Texas Click Here
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A growing number of alumni and friends incorporate philanthropic giving into their financial and estate planning. Make a significant gift to UVI's future through your estate from a simple bequests, trusts or
A charitable bequest is the most common form of providing an ultimate gift to the University to perpetuate your life interest and influence into the future. A bequest is a provision in one’s last will and testament where a gift or property is transferred from an estate to UVI. A bequest can also be made by simply adding a codicil to an existing will. It is one of the simplest, cleanest, easiest forms of planned giving.
The estate note is a simple, written agreement with UVI that specifies the amount of your intended gift and states how it is to be used by the University. An estate note is especially useful if you desire to make a
gift commitment over a period of years toward an endowment, a building project, or another specific program.
The living trust is sometimes called an inter vivo trust because it is created and begins functioning during your lifetime. You can use this trust to organize personal finances, provide for family members, your
own disability, and make gifts to UVI. The trust agreement, written to meet your needs and specifications, keeps you in control of your assets during your lifetime and also specifies how your property should
be distributed after your death. A living trust can be revocable or irrevocable. Even if you have a living trust, it is still advisable to have a will. A will transfers through Probate Court into the trust any assets
or property that are either deliberately or inadvertently omitted. A living trust can avoid probate delays and reduce the expenses of estate administration.
Charitable Lead Trust
The charitable lead trust is a gift of income to UVI. You select the assets to place in trust, and the length of time that your trust will last. Income from the trust is paid to UVI for the specified period of time. When the trust terminates, the assets (or principal) are returned to you or distributed to whom you choose. Income received by UVI from this trust is used for the purposes you specify.
Charitable Remainder Trusts
Charitable remainder unitrust is a life-income plans that irrevocably transfer assets to a trust. The unitrust pays the donor an annual income for life. The income is based on a fixed percentage, which is determined by the fair market value of the trust assets as re-valued annually. Upon death the trust assets are transferred to UVI.
Life insurance is another convenient way to make a future gift to UVI with a minimum investment. Some benefactors make a gift of new, paid-up policies or existing ones that are no longer needed. A gift of
existing life insurance that you own may be completed by assigning ownership and delivering the policy to UVI. You would receive an immediate income tax charitable deduction for the current value of
such a policy. UVI must be the owner of any policy if you wish to receive an income tax charitable deduction. If you give UVI a policy that is not fully paid-up, you receive a charitable deduction for your
annual premium payments.
There are a variety of charitable giving options that can benefit you, your heirs, save on capital gains and income taxes, and benefit UVI at the same time. UVI can work with your financial advisor to identify
funding opportunities at the University.
For more information contact the University Development Office at (340) 693-1040.
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Following a three week enquiry, The Moordale Energy Ltd. Ryedale gas project proposal has been approved, meaning that a new gas well will soon be built in the North Yorkshire Moors Park.
The development, which will cost £50 million, will affect rural towns and villages in the vicinity including Ebberston, Allerston, Wilton and Thornton-le-Dale.
Eric Pickles, secretary of state for communities and local government, gave the green light for the gas processing facility to be built next to Hurrell Lane, near Thornton-le-Dale. The site is surrounded by agricultural land in all directions, with the National Park boundary to the west side of Hurrell Lane.
The move has been controversial as the North York Moors National Park Authority, the North Yorkshire county council and the other two councils representing the area rejected the proposal and a campaign group, Against Having Sour Gas in Thornton (Aghast), collected more than 10,000 signatures opposing the plans. Adam White, co-founder of Aghast, is “hugely disappointed” by the approval of the project. Aghast believe that the plant will ruin Ryedale’s countryside and damage Thornton-le-Dale’s tourist industry.
However, Lawrie Erasmus, Moorland Energy’s chief executive, said: “The go-ahead for the Ryedale gas project is excellent news for the Ryedale area as it will involve investing millions of pounds in construction and infrastructure work and create temporary and permanent jobs as well as modern apprenticeships.”
The project will receive £10m investment over the next 20 years and will create 25 permanent jobs and supply gas to 75,000 homes a year.
Moorland has said it will keep noise levels and smell to a minimum and promised to consult residents.
Erasmus said: “We demonstrated at the inquiry our significant measures to mitigate that impact.
“I am confident that local residents will come to recognise that the perceived impact will not be quite as great as they thought.”
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Umbria isn't just a lovely landscape, though, as its historical-artistic beauty is also wonderfully integrated into its natural backdrop. There are notable and numerous traces of Umbria's ancient past: the set-up of its old towns, the narrow and quiet lanes, the castles, the isolated towers atop the hills all help re-create a typical medieval atmosphere around the region. Time seems almost to have stopped in Umbria. A holiday in Umbria is an unforgettable experience for many, because it is the best way to get a real taste of Italian traditions and culture.
This landscape which is on a human scale does not distract us, but invites us to meditate and withdraw into ourselves, and is perhaps the most authentic and original aspect of the region. It is through this environmental connection between present and past that we can find the main characteristics of Perugia, regional capital and hospitable town of Etruscan and Medieval origins; of Assisi, home of Saint Francis; of Gubbio, the purest medieval city in Umbria, of Spoleto, Todi, Spello and many other more minor centers – minor only for their size and number of inhabitants, but all equally diffused with those Umbrian characteristics: spiritual quiet, untouched nature, history and art. While this is a place where tourists are invited to regenerate their soul, there is however equal importance placed on the material aspects of life, as typical Umbrian cuisine is famously from the earth: oil, wine, mushrooms, truffles, game and cheese are key ingredients in genuine, tasty, appetizing dishes.
Tourists come to Umbria to revitalize their spirit and for a taste of a typical style of Italian life, but also to fuel their bodies with careful attention to the tastes and flavors of delicious cooking. Umbria isn't just a place to pass through, but a place where people choose to stay. And many, by choice, decide to remain for longer periods. Renting a house, an apartment or a villa in Umbria is the best way to fully savor the calm and inner peace that this land offers. If you choose to stay at the Luxury Residents Villa Nuba, your vacation in Umbria will be unforgettable: deluxe apartments for rent in an old farmhouse in the countryside, just a short distance from the historical center of Perugia, equipped with every comfort and furnished in style. Outdoors, you will enjoy seclusion while admiring the enchanting surrounding views, swimming in our new salt water swimming pool, listening to lovely Italian melodies or simply reading a book in the garden. If you just can't get away from work, no worries: every apartment offers wireless, high-velocity internet connection. But, trust us, it will be difficult to work: the green hills which envelop Villa Nuba are the ideal setting for relaxation and with a good glass of red wine... Umbrian, of course!
Villa Nuba holiday rental cottages in Perugia is proud to be First on TripAdvisor as the Best "Specialty Lodging" in Umbria in 2010 and in 2011 . Villa Nuba vacation rental is also the Top Winner 2011 vacation rental in Umbria on the prestigious FlipKey - TripAdvisor vacation rental site .
Contact us, we look forward to meeting you!
Copyright© 2010-2012 Villanuba. All rights reserved. Web design and hosting by IDEALIAGroup
Nuzzaci Giuseppe Str. Eugubina,70 - 06125 - Perugia - Partita IVA 03090280540
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Gone are the days when a cashier's check was as good as cash. Criminals now have the printing technology to create official-looking but bogus cashier's checks. Your best advice is to question any check you receive from a stranger, even if your bank allows you to cash it and makes the funds available to you. Days or weeks later, you could learn the check bounced.
A common scam is for a consumer to receive a cashier's check, along with a request to keep some of the money and transfer the rest elsewhere. For more on this, see the entry on overpayment scams.
Sample bogus cashiers checks
To view a sample bogus cashier's check, click here. The bogus check is sent as a down payment on "lottery winnings" so that the "lottery winner" can pay administrative and clearance fees. The "winner" is directed to deposit the bogus cashier's check and send a personal check in that amount to claim "lottery winnings". Alas, the bogus cashier's check bounces and there are no "winnings". So the "winner" turns out to be a "loser" in this scam.
To view a second sample bogus cashier's check, click here. The bogus check bounces as the issuer was never located.
To view a third sample bogus cashier's check, click here.
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CG76905 - Wasting assets: shotguns
The following text is reproduced from Tax Bulletin 45 published in February 2000:
THE CAPITAL GAINS TAX TREATMENT
We have received a number of enquiries recently about the capital gains tax treatment of pairs of shotguns and this article sets out our views on the point. It is written on the premise that any transactions by private individuals involving the acquisition and disposal of such guns are not regarded as “trading” or an “adventure in the nature of trade” within the charge to income tax under Case I of Schedule D.
It is common for items such as shotguns to be purchased and sold in pairs, generally matched according to their maker. This does not, in our view, mean that a pair of guns should be treated as the asset (singular) for capital gains tax purposes rather than as two separate assets. The guns may well have been bought and sold together but they are still separate assets and any computation should apportion the figures for the disposal consideration and the cost or 31 March 1982 market value as appropriate, between the two guns.
This distinction could be important where the overall consideration for a pair of guns is £12,000 or less so that each single gun would have realised less than the £6,000 exemption, TCGA 1992 s 262(1). Where in such circumstances a loss arose by reference to the original cost or market value of each gun, that loss would then be restricted using a deemed disposal figure of £6,000 for each gun, TCGA 1992 s 262(3).
We accept that this raises a further question which is whether the pair formed a “set”, TCGA 1992 s 262(4). Assuming that the requirement in that sub-section about the guns being sold to the same person would have been satisfied, that still leaves the question as to whether they would have been similar, complementary and worth more together than separately.
This will depend on the facts of the particular case but we would point out that while there is unlikely to be any doubt about the first two requirements given the nature of such sales, the third is likely to turn on the type of guns involved and whether these could be said to form a natural pair. While the limited number of cases we have seen suggest that this is likely to be the case where shotguns are concerned, there have been exceptions so the answer will turn on the facts of a particular disposal.
Assuming however that the “asset” was disposed of for more than £6,000, we then need to look at TCGA 1992 s 44 and the questions now become—
- is a gun, singular or plural, a “machine” or “machinery”, given that we do not distinguish between these terms in this context?
or, if not—
- did it have a predictable life not exceeding fifty years or less when it was acquired by the person making the disposal?
So far as question (1) is concerned, the word “machinery” is not defined for capital gains tax purposes so it must take its ordinary meaning. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a machine as—
“an apparatus for applying mechanical power, consisting of a number of interrelated parts, each having a definite function”.
In our article in Tax Bulletin Issue 13, October 1994, we set out our views on the various types of asset which we regard as “machinery” and those included antique clocks. However, in our view there has to be a subtle difference between clocks and shotguns. Once you have wound up a clock, it continues to tick more than once, whereas with a shotgun once you have pulled the trigger, you only get one discharge out of the barrel. That said, we accept that you then have to go on and consider what happens if you have an automatic weapon or machine gun which effectively fires continuously.
While we take the view that the matter is not free from doubt, we would generally accept the argument that all types of gun should be treated together under the general description of “machinery” so that they would have a predictable life of less than fifty years, TCGA 1992 s 44(1)(c).
In any event, assuming that these guns have been acquired for sporting or recreational purposes or by a farmer or gamekeeper as working guns, then the answer to question (ii) is, in our view, probably going to be that their predictable life by reference to the purpose for which they were acquired, TCGA 1992 s 44(1)(b), would not exceed fifty years.
It should however be borne in mind that, in the case of working guns particularly, where capital allowances had been or could have been claimed on the original acquisition cost of the gun, then any gain on its disposal would still be chargeable, TCGA 1992 s 45(2), notwithstanding its having a predictable life not exceeding fifty years.
Whether a particular chattel should be classed as “machinery” is very much a question of fact which can only be answered by looking at the state and nature of that chattel. Accordingly, we regret that it is not possible for us to issue a fully comprehensive list of those chattels which would, or would not, fall into this category. However, our capital gains tax manual looks at this and associated matters in the following paragraphs—
CG76870-76876—chattels generally, including antiques, militaria, medals & toys;
CG76880-76884—sets, including non-sterling coins and bank notes, stamps, books and magazines;
CG76900-76911—wasting assets, including clocks and watches, motor cars, locomotives and ships.
These paragraphs also set the general principles which we use to decide if a particular chattel was or was not an item of machinery.”
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Bill documents — Transport for London (Supplemental Toll Provisions) Bill [HL] 2006-07 to 2010-12
Bills (with Explanatory Memorandum)
Full text of the Bill as introduced and further versions of the Bill as it is reprinted to include amendments made during its passage through Parliament. The explanatory memorandum, which appears before the text of the bill, explains the bill’s purpose in detail and includes a statement as to the Bill’s compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.
|Bill as brought from the Lords on 30 June 2011 | PDF version, 327KB||30.06.2011|
|Bill as amended in House of Lords Unopposed Bill Committee | PDF version, 207KB||18.11.2008|
|Bill as introduced into the House of Lords | PDF version, 189KB||22.01.2007|
|Text of Bill as amended in Parliament in November 2006 | PDF version, 189KB||15.11.2006|
The Government is required to make a report on the promoters’ statement of compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights as soon as the bill has received a first reading. If the Government wishes to make its views about the provisions of a bill known it does so by making one or more further reports which are considered by a Committee on the Bill in the House to which the report is made.
Stay up to date
Keep up to date with the progress of Bills going through Parliament. Sign up for email alerts or use our RSS feeds.
Find out how Private Bills change the law and who Private Bills affect.
Learn about the different stages of a Private Bill and how you can get involved.
If you are "specially and directly affected" by a Private Bill you may oppose the Bill or seek its amendment before a Select Committee in either or in both Houses.
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http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-12/transportforlondonsupplementaltollprovisionshl/documents.html
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An Episode of the American Civil War.
. All you got to do is to sit down and wait as quiet as you can. Then pretty soon you'll find out I was right."
His comrade grunted stubbornly. For a moment he seemed to be searching for a formidable reply. Finally he said: "Well, you don't know everything in the world, do you?"
"Didn't say I knew everything in the world," retorted the other sharply. He began to stow various articles snugly into his knapsack.
The youth, pausing in his nervous walk, looked down at the busy figure. "Going to be a battle, sure, is there, Jim?" he asked.
"Of course there is," replied the tall soldier. "Of course there is. You jest wait 'til to-morrow, and you'll see one of the biggest battles ever was. You jest wait."
"Thunder!der!" said the youth.
"Oh, you'll see fighting this time, my boy, what'll be regular out-and-out fighting," added the tall soldier, with the air of a man who is about to exhibit a battle for the benefit of his friends.
"Huh!" said the loud one from a corner.<
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Cops & Courts
Criminal Justice Conversations with David Onek: The Wire’s Sonja Sohn
Actress Sonja Sohn, known for her role on the HBO series The Wire, talks with host David Onek about her work as co-founder of Rewired for Change, a nonprofit supporting at-risk youth in Baltimore. She also discusses how her personal life has shaped her commitment to ending children’s exposure to violence, the power of leveraging celebrity to fuel social change and much more.
On what motivated her to start her own nonprofit:
"During the 2008 election cycle, some of the actors from The Wire were invited by the National Urban League president, Mark Morial, to accompany him on a voter empowerment tour of Virginia. During that tour, we engaged in some very thought provoking conversations with Mark and his colleagues on the bus around how celebrity can be used to support grassroots change, and how important entertainers were in the Civil Rights movement. He had just observed how that seemed to not be occurring as much now, and what a shame it was, and that seed was planted certainly with me and the fellows who were on that bus at that time."
On her own experiences with violence:
"There were just far, far, far too many days when going outside to play was also fraught with tension and anxiety. Am I going to have to defend myself against something today? What kind of fights are going to go on? You know, there was domestic violence in my house, and so being in the house was fraught with tension and anxiety and sometimes felt unsafe, and going out in the community, you know, with my kids, with my friends, there was that same feeling. There always seemed to be some sort of threat, and there was always ways that we would have to negotiate that threat."
On playing a cop on a major TV show:
"There were some insensitive cops when I was growing up that I came in contact with, and I’d found them not helpful in situations when I needed assistance. But, after having to do ride-alongs with cops – that was part of my research, to understand why certain people became cops – I got an inside look at some good “police.” And there’s one, Major Melvin Russell, who’s the Eastern District commander here, who is just an absolute dream, and an angel, and a God-send to this city. He puts a tremendous amount of effort into developing relationships with the community, caring for the community, connecting community police into the faith-based movement."
The Criminal Justice Conversations Podcast with David Onek features in-depth, thirty-minute interviews with a wide range of criminal justice leaders: law enforcement officials, policymakers, advocates, service providers, academics and others.
The Podcast gets behind the sound bites that far too often dominate the public dialogue about criminal justice, to have detailed, nuanced conversations about criminal justice policy.
Podcast host David Onek is a Senior Fellow at Berkeley Law School and a former Commissioner on the San Francisco Police Commission.
You can find more information on the Criminal Justice Conversations Podcast and listen to all past episodes on the Podcast web site.
Like Criminal Justice Conversations on Facebook
Follow Criminal Justice Conversations on Twitter
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A next-generation guided ammunition system for intercepting enemy fire that Lockheed Martin is developing for the Army has hit its targets in an initial series of tests by the company. Lockheed’s Extended Area Protection and Survivability (EAPS) hit-to-kill interceptor is a ground-mounted gun system meant to stop and destroy enemy rockets, artillery shells, and mortars by tracking fired targets before they reach their intended mark.
The weapon -- which has a 360-degree range of protection -- represents a new direction in anti-artillery fire aimed at keeping Army ground forces safe from enemy weapons after they are launched, a capability that is currently limited, according to the Army.
Bill Nourse, manager of the Extended Area Protection and Survivability Program, explains the concept behind an interceptor missile to John McHugh, secretary of the Army; John Rogers, civilian aide to the secretary of the Army; Gen. Ann Dunwoody, commander of Army Materiel Command; and Steve Cornelius, director for Missile Development, AMRDEC. Nourse holds in his hand the system's interceptor bullet, which is designed to be compact and lightweight.
During recent tests, the EAPS system’s fire control sensors were able to track targets for a full target engagement sequence, from launch of an enemy projectile to a simulated launch of an EAPS missile to interception of the enemy weapon, according to Lockheed.
The company collaborated with the US Army Research Development & Engineering Command/Aviation Missile Research Development & Engineering Center (AMRDEC) to conduct the tests, which demonstrated the system’s ability to track and intercept an enemy weapon from the time it’s been launched during its entire trajectory. "The data collected is being analyzed so that the program learns as much as possible and we can incorporate improvements and changes where needed," said Loretta Painter, AMRDEC EAPS program director, in a press statement.
Lockheed has designed the EAPS system to be small and agile. Its interceptors, or bullets, weigh about 3kg and are less than 50mm in diameter and less than 1m long. In addition to the interceptor, the system also features a radar-sensing system for tracking its targets. The system was also built to be modular, supporting existing and multiple launchers and fire control sensors that the Army already has been using.
Affordability is also a key design goal for the system, which Lockheed said will meet the AMRDEC's goals for average unit production costs at specified quantities. The initial series of EAPS tests is a precursor to several more Integrated Demonstration flight tests of the system Lockheed has scheduled, including a non-targeted test flight later this month and several guided flights against tactical targets later in the summer.
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Hollywood-born artist Jann Haworth (b. 1942) is among the few women associated with the Pop Art movement of the 1960s. Her sewn cloth soft sculptures refer to typically American Pop themes such as fast food, film stars, cheerleaders, cowboys and comics, as well as to her experiences of living in England during a period of cultural transformation. Developed in partnership with the artist, this exhibition is the first UK solo show of Haworth’s work in a public gallery since 1972.
In 1968 Haworth won a Grammy award for her work as co-designer of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover. POP Jann Haworth contains behind the scenes photographic images of the making of the Sgt. Pepper album set as well as Old Lady II, the life-size sculpture that first appeared in 1967 as a Granny on the album’s photo montage cover. The artist has restored several works expressly for the show, offering a rare opportunity to see Haworth’s early soft sculptures alongside more recent pieces including giant charm bracelets and corset canvases. Wolverhampton’s own still-life sculpture, Donuts, Coffee cups & Comics (1962) will be on display alongside other donut sets, for the first time since it was acquired for the Pop Art Collection in 2008.
Be the the first leave an opinion
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Many felt dejected and in despair of the disunity amongst their community. All were viewed as agents of the Colombo government. Keen and long standing activists were not spared by those suspicious minds. Confusion created near street fights, sometimes for real. Big Diaspora initiatives were threatened with legal action by their own. The Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) was split and near breaking point. Questions of misuse of funds and mistrust made fund raising a nightmare for many genuine projects. Television debates have become like soap-opera with personality clashes in public view. International Diaspora lobby organisations such as Global Tamil Forum (GTF) and others were running out of steam.
This was when President Mahinda Rajapaksa came for their rescue as a unifying force in December 2010. Let alone he ignored the wise advice given to him by former judge, Justice Jayasinghe who was not only the then Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in London but was also a friend for many years, the President announced of his arrival well in advance. External Affairs Ministry on advice from the Bell Pottinger, the UK based lobbyist went public in a big way to announce the arrival of the President and portrayed the event at the Oxford Union as a historic one. The build up was unparalleled.
What actually transpired was a shameful diplomatic disaster that no Sri Lankan would want to be reminded of. This diplomatic blunder gave the Tamil Diaspora particularly in the UK the lifeline they desperately needed.
Groups came together, Tamil media got distracted, lobbying got revived, old contacts became alive, and unity in action was remarkable. With a united front they gave a good hiding to the President who was almost chased away in shame a day early fearing further embarrassment of an impending legal challenge against one of his security men alleging to be a war criminal.
Being chased away felt so bad that the President’s siblings and the entire cabinet came to the Colombo airport to receive and console him. The next Sunday Times in Colombo summed up well with a photograph of President’s arrival rushing in with a hand on his forehead.
The entire Tamil Diaspora around the world cheered in joy of a successful operation well executed. That perhaps was the turning point that has continued with many other vital successes for the Diaspora worldwide to date. Global Tamil Forum’s (GTF) successes are a classic example.
If this self inflicted grief was not enough, the Defence Secretary like clockwork opens his mouth to credible international media putting his foot in his mouth periodically.
What is this about the Rajapaksas who could have been revered as a family of saviours of uniting the land but will likely to go down in history as dividing the people.
When the Tamil Diaspora were gloating after the decisive blow they gave the Rajapaksa regime in Geneva in March 2012, President Rajapaksa hands them over yet another opportunity. This time he declares he is coming to be with the Royalty. If he had just stuck to the plan, may be the damage could have been limited. It’s not to be! He wants more. More of what one might ask. Although he might have wanted more of publicity, instead he got seriously negative publicity indeed!
Not being invited is one thing, but being invited and the entire session being cancelled because of you, must be a hard message to swallow.
Tamils took their old script, brushed away the dusts and implemented the same plan to precision. This time there was a ‘kick’ in their attitude. They knew what they were doing because of the trial run that was given to them courtesy of our President. The same old airport protest with LTTE flags and a lot of them this time, the legal action against accompanying staff, releasing of war crimes evidence, media exposure with disgruntled Channel 4 being the cheer leaders, demonstrations, protest marches, leaflets, emails, texts, twitters, face book links you name it.
Chased away yet again in shame! President Rajapaksa and his associates may shrug away counting the blessings as they see it but the price and the pride was paid buy us the real people of that beautiful island.
Little by little the Tamil Diaspora through their legal initiatives has blocked senior military personnel travelling to Europe or North America. Politicians who have been involved in the war are now scared to travel including the head of state.
When all other national leaders and representatives arrive with dignity and honour in their own vehicles with their national flags flying in with pride, our president has to be smuggled in an unidentified vehicle without our national flag for a formal lunch in an overseas country.
What has come to our country’s pride? Do we actually deserve this? For the mistakes of a few the entire nation pays a price.
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Although I have previously worked on multiple mobile apps but this is something new to me. After a lot of struggle, I have come up with an architecture which is illustrated with the help of a high-level flow diagram:
We have decided to go with client-server model. There will be a centralized database on server. Each client will have its own local database which will remain in sync with server. This database acts as a cache for storing things that do not change frequently e.g. maps, products, inventory etc.
With this model in place, I am not sure how to tackle following issues:
- What would be the best way of synchronizing server and client databases?
- Should an event get saved to local DB before updating it to server? What if app terminates for some reason before saving changes to centralized DB?
- Will simple HTTP requests serve the purpose of synchronization?
- How to know which users are currently logged in? (One way could be to have client keep on sending a request to server after every x minutes to notify that it is active. Otherwise consider a client inactive).
- Are client side validations enough? If not, how to revert an action if server does not validate something?
I am not sure if this is an efficient solution and how it will scale. I would really appreciate if people who have already worked on such apps can share their experiences which might help me to come up with something better. Thanks in advance.
Client-side is implemented in C++ game engine called marmalade. This is a cross platform game engine which means you can run your app on all major mobile OS. We certainly can achieve threading and which is also illustrated in my flow diagram. I am planning to use MySQL for server and SQLite for client.
This is not a turn based game so there is not much interaction with other players. Server will provide a list of online players and you can battle them by clicking battle button and after some animation, result will be announced.
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According to the National Association of Realtors **sales of existing homes fell 8 percent in September. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of just over 5 million units, if realized, would be the slowest pace on record.
**A subsequent Commerce Department report, however, showed new home sales rose 4.8 percent in September from August's levels. That news should have been friendly to the stock market, as economists had predicted a decline. **But the Dow trended lower since the gain was due to a downward revision of August sales to the lowest level in more than a decade.
**Investor uncertainty was exacerbated by an unexpected decline in orders for durable goods, which left **Wall Street pondering whether the Federal Reserve will be compelled to lower interest rates again next week to boost spending.
In rural America, where hardly anything seems certain these days, farm policy reforms got one step closer to becoming a reality, as the Senate Agriculture Committee unanimously approved the $288 billion dollar Food and Energy Security Act -- commonly known as "The Farm Bill."
-increased spending for nutrition programs
-more funds for conservation programs
-money for energy crops
-a ban on packer ownership of cattle
-a permanent disaster aid program
-And reinstatement of the Country of Origin Labeling program.
Even with the unanimous vote, some committee members were still concerned about the amount and manner of subsidy payments to farmers.
Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas: "Now I defy anybody to stand up in front of any farm organization, any commodity group, and explain this ACR program and how it works and not reach the conclusion that down the road you are denying crop insurance to where it is needed the most."
Long before leaving his position as Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns appealed to members of both House and Senate Agriculture committees to reform the so-called "safety-net" for farmers. In what appears to be a nod to the request, the Senate Agriculture Committee did cap payment limits but only for non-farmers. Those farmers earning an adjusted gross income, or AGI, above $750,000 would no longer receive any subsidy payments. The House version of the bill caps AGI at $1 million for fulltime farmers and the current law sets the mark at $2.5 million.
This part of the measure met with considerable criticism from Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa who favors much lower limits on farm payments.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa: "These reforms are window dressing; they don't accomplish much at all."
The American Farm Bureau took the opposite tack, asking for the current subsidy programs to remain in place.
Farm state Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, will join Grassley to introduce an amendment capping government payments at $250,000.
Tara Smith, American Farm Bureau Federation: "We actually support maintaining the safety-net structure that is in place. We think its worked really well for farmers over the last few years."
Not wishing to slow down the committee process, several Senators elected to hold their amendments until the legislation reaches the Senate floor.
Overall, Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Conner was displeased with the bill. His objections were centered on what he felt was the lack of meaningful reform to farmer payment programs and an apparent unwillingness by the committee to institute payment limits.
The other sticking point was over the type of payment programs. The current farm safety-net will remain in place until 2010 when a new program called Average Crop Revenue or ACR, will be offered. Similar to elements in the House bill, ACR will pay farmers only when prices are down. The National Corn Growers Association, among many commodity groups, has been a proponent of ACR and the Congressional Budget office figures indicate the program will save $3.7 billion over the 5 year life of the bill.
Farm advocacy groups like the National Farmers Union have objections to ACR because the payments come in the form of a loan. Farmers would be required to pay back the difference between what they received in ACR payments and the amount they were paid for their crops.
And the program didn't fair well with Republican Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas either.
Sen, Pat Roberts, R-KansasL: "In the nine hardest years for Kansas wheat producers the program would have paid out only twice. Seven out of those nine years we would not have been, or we would have been in the same boat under this ACR program. That got my attention."
Several senators also were concerned ACR would encourage farmers growing major crops like corn to drop out of the crop insurance program.
The bill now goes to the Senate floor for debate.
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It's Week 23 of our Sharing Memories - A Genealogy Journey Please join us each Sunday as we write and share our memories of childhood. Your descendants will be thankful that you did! Write here as a comment, or on your own blog, or in a private journal, but please write!
After reviewing the iPhone app EasyBib (which I love!) I started thinking about books. I love books and reading. I grew up in a home where reading was definitely encouraged and I was already reading when I went to Kindergarten.
Was your family home full of books? Do you remember the first time you went to a Library? Did your mom or dad read you a bedtime story at night? What is the very first book you remember reading? What is the first book you received as a gift? What is your favourite childhood book? How old were you when you started reading? Did you read to your own children or grandchildren? Do you have a home full of books as an adult? Tell us about your books and reading memories.
My mother was an avid reader. We were poor but we had books. Lots of books. And there was no censorship, I was allowed to read anything I wanted except for romance novels. My mother considered those "trash" and there were none in our house. But some of my friends had romance magazines that I wanted to read but that was against mother's rules.
I grew up reading Frank Yerby novels (I didn't understand everything I read and I remember asking my mother about some of the more descriptive love and intimacy passages) As I recall they were historical fiction with a wonderful soupcon of romance!
If I couldn't find a book to read over breakfast or lunch, I'd read the cereal box or the label on a can of soup. Seriously. My mother and sister were the same. We read constantly.
My mom also had a shelf full of Reader's Digest Condensed Books but I didn't enjoy those as much as the full-length historical novels. I guess I was hooked on History at a very young age!
I confess to also loving True Detective Magazines. So gory and horrible but for some reason they fascinated me. I have no idea why my mom let me read them as I used to have terrible nightmares and I was reading those by the time I was 8 years old.
My mom did her weekly trip to the local library for books but I don't recall ever going with her. Our small-town library had an adult section and a children's department and anyone under 16 was not allowed to check out a book from the adult's area. So I just read all my mom's books when she was done with them. When I was 14 my mother arranged for me to work part-time at the library and all summer long, so I think librarian stuff is in my genes
The first book I owned was "Little Women" by Louisa My Alcott. My cousin and his wife gave it to me for my 10th birthday. I was thrilled!
The next year they gave me "The Dog Who Wouldn't Be" by Farley Mowat and I was hooked. I'd never had my very own books before and that started me on my book acquisition tendencies
But my favorite book of all time and one I still have in my possession, is my mother's copy of "Miracle on 34th Street" by Valentine Davies. It's only 120 pages - a small red book about 7 1/2 inches by 5 inches. I'm not sure if there was a dust jacket but I don't have one. It was published in 1947 and I suspect given to my mother as a gift. I can't see her reading it, let alone buying it!
I used to take my own children to our local library every week for storytime and to choose books. Every night I read them a bedtime story. I'm sure that one of the things they'll remember about me is my love of reading. Hopefully I instilled that love in them too.
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PLANK DECEMBER 28, 2012
It’s a sign of the legalization of American politics that activists worry about being thwarted by the Supreme Court even before they’ve managed to pass anything: Although they haven’t yet squeezed any new regulations through Congress or the state legislatures, gun-control advocates already fear that the Supreme Court will invalidate whatever progress they achieve.
They should stop sweating. Despite its turn to the right on gun control, the Supreme Court should almost certainly uphold any of the new regulations that have a chance of being enacted, according to the logic of its decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago. Both liberal and conservative judges, from Justice John Paul Stevens on the left to Judges Richard Posner and J. Harvie Wilkinson on the right, denounced the decisions when they were handed down. But both decisions were relatively narrow, prohibiting states from imposing total bans on the firearms in the home. They shouldn’t be read to threaten the kinds of regulations that states and the federal government are currently debating--including an effective federal database for permit holders. The problem with the constitutional debate over guns, in other words, isn’t the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment decisions but an over-reading of them by a handful of lower court judges--mostly notably, Posner himself.
Heller and McDonald struck down the two most restrictive gun regulations in the country--Chicago and D.C.’s total bans on gun possession in the home. No other state or municipality had similarly sweeping bans on private gun possession, and in this sense, the Court was playing a familiar role of bringing state and local outliers in line with a national consensus. Since the decisions came down, there have been hundreds of civil and criminal challenges to gun control laws, and the vast majority of them have been unsuccessful. Unfortunately, a few lower courts have seized on language in Heller and McDonald to strike down state laws that forbid felons from possessing firearms, for example, or that require applicants for concealed carry permits to show a “good and substantial reason.”
The oddest of the lower court opinions came recently from Judge Posner in Chicago. On December 11, days before the Newton slaughter, Posner struck down Illinois’ ban on carrying a “ready to use” gun in public. Given his previous criticisms in this magazine of the Supreme Court’s Heller and McDonald decisions protecting the right to bear arms inside the home, Posner’s expansive reading of those decisions was both glib and perverse. Posner’s opinion said little about the text of the Second Amendment or what its authors may have intended about whether the right to keep and bear arms in should apply as expansively outside the home as inside it. He included a meandering section on the empirical debate about whether or not gun control laws are effective, only to conclude that “the empirical literature on the effects of allowing the carriage of guns in public fails to establish a pragmatic defense of the Illinois law.” His cavalier conclusion: “Anyway the Supreme Court made clear in Heller that it wasn’t going to make the right to bear arms depend on casualty counts.”
Although the Supreme Court focused on the right to keep arms in the home, Posner read this right, which he had previously denounced, broadly rather than narrowly. “To confine the right to be armed to the home is to divorce the Second Amendment from the right of self-defense described in Heller and McDonald,” he wrote. “It is not a property right--a right to kill a houseguest who, in a fit of aesthetic fury, tries to slash your copy of Norman Rockwell's painting, Santa with Elves." And based on this flat-footed punch line, Posner went on to extend the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment right to strike down Illinois’ broad ban on carrying ready-to-use guns in public. He said the Second Amendment applied just as expansively outside the home as inside it, without indicating what the limits of the right might be. “The interest in having sex inside one’s home is much greater than the interest in having sex on the sidewalk in front of one’s home,” Posner wrote. “But the interest in self-protection is as great outside as inside the home.” Posner’s ultimate conclusion may have been defensible, but he could have made clear that the text of the Second Amendment, and the Supreme Court decisions forbid only total bans on the right to keep arms in the home or to bear them outside – bans that no legislature except for Illinois (and the District of Columbia) have passed.
Contrast Posner’s opinion with those of other appellate courts to consider the question. Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, another conservative critic of the Supreme Court’s gun decisions, is, unlike Posner, a consistent advocate of judicial restraint – that is, of the idea that courts should generally defer to legislatures and decide cases narrowly rather than broadly. In refusing to decide whether the Supreme Court’s recognition of an individual right to bear arms should apply outside the home, Wilkinson presciently wrote the following in March 2011:
This is serious business. We do not wish to be even minutely responsible for some unspeakably tragic act of mayhem because in the peace of our judicial chambers we miscalculated as to Second Amendment rights. It is not far-fetched to think the Heller Court wished to leave open the possibility that such a danger would rise exponentially as one moved the right from the home to the public
square. If ever there was an occasion for restraint, this would seem to be it. There is much to be said for a course of simple caution.
In a similar spirit of caution and restraint, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in August, upheld a New York law requiring people applying for a concealed carry permit to show “proper cause.” The Court stressed that, “unlike the situation in Heller where ‘[f]ew laws in the history of our Nation have come close’ to D.C.’s total ban on usable handguns in the home, New York’s restriction on firearm possession in public has a number of close and longstanding cousins.”
The Court stressed that even if the right to keep and bear arms applies outside the home (as the plain text of the amendment suggests that it may), there’s a long history and tradition of states regulating the right to carry concealed weapons. As Adam Winkler argues in his book Gunfight, laws restricting concealed carry permits to those who can show a special need to have a gun date back to the 1920s, when they were drafted by the NRA, which used to support reasonable gun regulations.
In other words, as the Second Circuit convincingly concluded, the text and history of the Second Amendment suggest there is a limited right not only to keep a gun in the home but to bear it in public: that’s why Illinois’s total ban on public gun possession couldn’t withstand constitutional scrutiny. But the Illinois ban is a national outlier. Lower courts have been systematically upholding less draconian regulations, and should uphold all of the regulations that are being debated in the wake of the Newton shooting, including laws limiting permits to carry concealed weapons to those who can show an individualized need for a firearm, and universal background checks to ensure that felons and the mentally ill can’t get access to guns (a restriction the Supreme Court signaled it would approve.) Winkler suggests that the hardest constitutional question would be an assault weapons ban, but that the Court would likely uphold such a ban as well: “Although assault weapons are commonplace in America,” he told me, “I think the Court is likely to say that they’re not commonly used for self-defense.”
And what about one of the most meaningful gun control measures: a federal registry of gun transactions of the kind that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is prohibited from maintaining under current law? An effective database would be far preferable to the kind of transparency vigilantism that the Journal News in Westchester exhibited by posting an interactive map with the names and addresses of handgun permit holders in its readership area. (This privacy violation provoked a Connecticut lawyer to retaliate by posting the home address and phone number of the Journal’s publisher and staff reporters.) Because the right to keep and bear arms is indeed a constitutional right, it would be no more appropriate for the federal or state governments to post the names of permit holders than it was for Alabama to try to force the NAACP to reveal its membership list – a privacy violation that the Supreme Court has said the First Amendment forbids. But an effective federal database that makes it possible for law enforcement officers to access the names of permit holders would be the kind of reasonable regulation that the Second Amendment allows.
For all of the hyperbole about the Supreme Court’s Heller and McDonald opinions, it turns out that they may have played a constructive role in the framing the current gun control debate -- prohibiting complete bans on the right to keep and bear arms but allowing sensible regulations. It’s too bad that a few overzealous judges have extended the decisions further than the Second Amendment or the Supreme Court requires.
Jeffrey Rosen is the legal affairs editor of The New Republic.
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Options for remote LED display: Optical repeaters, infrared or fiber optic cable?
I am installing a sign outside an office building that has an LED display that is controlled remotely via a fiber optic cable. However, to run the cable I have to dig a trench through 100 feet of parking lot. Can I eliminate stringing this wire by using an optical repeater?
The bad news is that you cannot use an optical repeater to eliminate that strand of fiber that threatens to bisect your parking lot. Repeaters are placed between the transmitter and the receiver in a system to boost and regenerate deteriorating light waves that travels through the fiber optic cable. These light transmissions lose their strength because of things like dispersion and the scattering of the light. The problem increases with the length of the cable, so repeaters are used to refresh and amplify these signals and reduce or eliminate data errors.
The good news, however is that there are wireless LED signs available that can be controlled by infrared communications, your personal computer, or even your cell phone. It really depends on what kind of information you are displaying on that outside sign. If the data requires a wide bandwidth, then fiber is often the way to go and digging a trench or stringing overhead wires is inevitable.
This was first published in February 2004
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together, reflected together and learned together. What’s the greatest testimonial to the effectiveness of learning games? ”Thank you for the course,” Uma said. “I didn’t fall asleep once. In fact, I stayed awake because I didn’t want to miss one bit of it.” If that’s how Uma defines successful learning then that makes us all winners.
Recommended Learning Game Resources
Collection of games on Lean, Agile, Process Improvement and Personal Development to help individuals and organizations deliver more value
Rediscovering the lessons we learned as children but have since forgotten for personal development through storytelling, role-play and interactive games
Games for software professionals involved in project management, process management and much more
Games to help companies improve business performance through collaborative and cooperative play
About the Autho r
Portia Tung specializes in Agile Enablementand organizational change as a Consultant-Coach and Chief Strategy Officer of emergn. She builds effective and meaningful teams by pragmatically applyingLean and Agile Values, Principles and Practices.
She has had a number of roles over the years, ranging from Java developer to technical team lead. She works in a multi-disciplined capacity to enable organizations to deliver higher business value faster by tapping into the power of teams.
Portia is also the creator of Agile Fairytales , a series of learning games that help adults rediscover the lessons we learned as children but have since forgotten. Portia loves inventing and playing games because she believes we can all improve continuously through play to achieve our goals .
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Escanaba Firm Puts Green Tech on Buses
Three Michigan cities are trying out new technology to make their buses greener thanks to $538,000 in federal stimulus funds and an Upper Peninsula company. Engineered Machined Products, based in Escanaba, MI, is installing mini-hybrid thermal conversion kits on 19 buses in Bay City, Battle Creek, and Saginaw. The technology, originally developed for the U.S. Army to make its fleet more efficient by reducing engine overheating, increases fuel economy by 3 to 10 percent, according to Engineered Machine Products. Fuel savings alone can amount to as much as $2,000 per bus annually, the company says.
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Photo: Jacob in the movie Twilight, being a mammal.
Sometimes when we're leaving for work, the cat follows us to the door. As we go out, there's a glass-paned door that we shut between her and us. She will have been following us, looking up at us. Then there's a sad little moment. As we put our shoes on outside the door, she sits down on the floor on the inside, and then she stops looking at us and looks at some distant space on the floor a few feet away.
It's a moment we all recognize. This gesture, this way of experiencing a moment, this passing brief sad look, is something that cats and dogs do, and people do. We are all social mammals. And this little look-down-at-the-floor maneuver is something we do when we are feeling small, feeling that someone who we want to pay attention to us is no longer concerned with us.
I have felt that way at various times; we all have, right? Any teen movie is full of that look. So many times in my life, I've looked just like the cat looks when we leave for work. And if you had asked me at any such moment how I was feeling, I could have put words to it, likely embedded in the context of the particular moment. But I think there are a lot of things that we feel that are just mammalian. And this is one of them: it's a small melancholy moment of a social animal feeling alone. It is deep wiring, not in the sense of being a deeply-felt feeling, but in the sense of being some long-ago-evolved part of being a social mammal. It is some basic part of who we are, our animal selves, not our language and culture selves.
They've gone away and I'm still here. There's the floor. I'm alone here. A moment to absorb this. OK.
And then it passes: you look somewhere else, think about the next thing to take your mind to something else, comfort you: you turn to go find a little bit of food, or a blankie, or maybe a new email that might have arrived on your iPhone.
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Entrepreneurial ecosystem keeps building but trick is to get it to a tipping point
If you build it, will they come?
Wake up and good morning. News of Tampa Bay start-up activity and the efforts to support entrepreneurs is gathering steam even as eyes remain focused on the potential of the planned First WaVE Venture Center as a one-stop shop for business start-ups coming soon to the Beer Can building (Rivergate Tower) in downtown Tampa. Here's a sampling:
* The Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce just launched a Startup Scholars Program aimed at choosing three entrepreneurs and assisting them with mentors and assistance in finding seed capital and providing guidance in sales growth. The chamber will help assess any gaps in a start-up plan, offer a chamber membership to enourage access to events and networking opportunities, provide a mentor selected by the chamber's business innovation subcommittee, plus "recognition" of being chosen as a startup scholar. Hey, anything that keeps some momentum going in building the area's so-called "entrepreneurial ecosystem" is good news. Let's hope this new program talks to the other projects already in the works, including the coming First WaVE Venture Center. Read more about the chamber program.
* One of the original six start-ups that made it through the Gazelle Lab business accelerator program at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg is making recent progress. We knew it then under the name AutoIQ, a business designed to help drivers connect wirelessly with automotive services. It's changed its named since then to Carvoyant and now we learn it's just received venture capital funding from a Massachusetts "seed stage" investor called Stage 1 Ventures. Entrepreneur-in-charge Bret Tobey (photo, left) is Carvoyant CEO (read his blog here). Read more about the funding here. (Tobey photo, James Borchuck, Tampa Bay Times.)
* The challenge of finding investors in area start-ups was raised at an 83 Degrees Wednesday evening event held at downtown Tampa's CAMLS building featuring Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn (photo, right) and others. Buckhorn reminded the audience that there may be plenty or rich people willing to invest in businesses in the Tampa Bay area. But they tend to be older investors much more comfortable putting their money into real estate projects and old school (my word) opportunities rather than technology start-ups they do not really understand. That's the big trick here, isn't it? It's been pointed out that there's really a thin core of senior statesmen serial entrepreneurs with the success, wealth and track record to step up and help the best ideas in area start-ups. Some of those names include Tom Wallace, now of Red Vector in Tampa, who has personally invested in a Gazelle Lab start-up, Clay Biddinger now of Kenyon Energy and John West who sold his System One tech staffing business to Monster.com and is now focused on building his business called Hire Velocity and its more recent parent company Hire Partners.
The point? Building a start-up culture with even the slightest feel of Silicon Valley requires more start-ups, more failures, more successes and another generation or two of serial entrepreneurs here to invest locally in new businesses. That must be encouraged but it will also take patience and a discipline (historically not one of Tampa Bay's or Florida's strengths) to stay the course.
(Buckhorn photo: Edmund D. Fountain, Tampa Bay Times.)
-- Robert Trigaux, Business Columnist, Tampa Bay Times
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