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If you have unpredictable tastes, but only focus on one show at a time, it might be most cost efficient to just buy all your television a la carte. For the price of a year of cable, the average viewer can buy 26 seasons of TV. Assuming these are all 45 minute shows with 14 episodes, that’s almost 300 hours of content. If you can’t ever imagine yourself watching more than that, then this plan is for you. Don’t forget to grab a TV antenna for major live events like the Oscars or the Super Bowl, or if you just want the option of kicking back and watching prime time now and then.
Bundles that include television service are offered by cable and phone companies. Since fiber-optic is only available in limited areas, the phone companies usually also offer a bundle where the TV component is delivered by a partner satellite TV company. In any case, bundling TV with some combination of home phone and Internet can yield monthly savings. Click below to see and compare bundle offers.
Amazon has already taken steps toward this idea. Its customers can subscribe to different content providers through Amazon Video Channels, including traditional television providers like HBO and Showtime as well as streaming content providers like Britbox and IndiePix Unlimited, then view them all through Amazon Prime Video. Individual accounts and payments are still required, but the notion of one killer app or portal that allows access to everything is such an enticing idea that it’s difficult to imagine that companies aren’t already discussing the possibility. And Xfinity’s deals with Netflix and Amazon suggest that even guarded companies with a strong proprietary interest in their original content are willing to come on board.
(It’s worth noting that Sarah’s not really a television addict, but that she likes to have the TV on in the background while she’s doing busywork, of which she has quite a bit from her job. You can often find her in the late evenings with about 70% attention on some low-intensity work task and about 30% attention on something on the television. Personally, I prefer to listen to white noise when working, but to each their own.)
The major network channels are all broadcast in HD. And you'll be pleasantly surprised to learn that the quality of uncompressed HD video in an antenna feed is actually superior to what you've been getting with your cable box. Cable operators have to deliver hundreds of channels, plus broadband and phone service over a single connection to your home, so the TV signal is usually compressed to conserve bandwidth. Not so with your OTA feed. The difference is immediately noticeable. Outside of a Blu-ray movie, this is the best output I've ever seen on my TV. And did I mention the channels are free?
PlayStation Vue plans aren’t that much cheaper than traditional cable or satellite, so it’s probably not the best option if you‘re cutting the cord to save money. It does offer a 5-day free trial, so you can test it out (two days shorter than any other streaming service), but make sure to cancel by day five, or you‘ll be charged for the whole month.
If you’ve ever doubted the excellence of YouTube, perform this simple exercise. Pick a favorite band or musical act, type in its name followed by “live” or “in concert”. It doesn’t matter what era we’re talking about, you’re going to find something amazing to watch – and it won’t be a program that you’ll ever find offered by Comcast, Spectrum or any other cable TV or satellite company.
I hate to be a downer but I think I see some things coming that are a continuation of manipulation of the content consumers (us) get, with how we can view and how we will still have what we pay maximized over us. I think that the content providers are likely going to give us a complete on demand service so we won’t have to mess with a dvr system. But guess what, that then gives the providers full control over what exactly is provided. What I mean is they are going to make sure we cannot move to where we want timewise in a program easily and we certainly can only avoid some of the commercials if any of them. The content providers are going to make sure any deal they make requires this kind of thing and allows for no in house dvr systems. I have to watch some programming on the nbc sports site (on demand) and it is an eyeopener as to how awful and controlled that viewing experience is.
We mentioned before: YouTube TV is not YouTube Red. Red is more like an advanced, commercial-free version of regular ol' YouTube. The YouTube TV option costs more and has a lot of catching up to do to rival the other live TV streaming services. It's in limited cities, has limited channels, and is available on limited devices (Chromecast, Android, iOS, LG and Samsung TVs, Xbox One, and browsers on PCs). It doesn't even bundle in YouTube Red as part of the service—you'd have to spend another $10 a month on Red to keep ads out of your regular YouTube streaming. Premium channel add-ons include $11-a-month Showtime, $5-a-month Shudder, and $7-per-month Sundance. The big plus: unlimited storage in the cloud-based DVR option.
Cable TV was once the ultimate entertainment necessity. The over-the-air days of VHF/UHF television signals couldn't keep up with voracious viewers who needed more, more, more channels. Having a cable directly pumping all that content into your home became the norm, and the cable providers—which likely provide your high-speed broadband internet access as well—knew they had you on the hook.
Then take a look at that list you’ve been putting together. How is it looking? Chances are it may appear a little messy with many side notes and some networks scribbled out. If so, good. Maybe for the first time in your life, you’re taking a hard look at what you are spending on a channel by channel basis. That’s essentially the worst nightmare of cable TV operators.
There are plenty of cable service providers in the country and most of them offer attractive packages or plans to their customers at affordable prices. However, customers who are in search of a cable service provider commonly asks, “who is the best cable service provider in the country” and “how can I acquire a cheap cable TV deal from the providers”.
In broadcast television, cord-cutting refers to the pattern of viewers, referred to as cord-cutters, cancelling their subscriptions to multichannel subscription television services available over cable, dropping pay television channels or reducing the number of hours of subscription TV viewed in response to competition from rival media available over the Internet such as Amazon Prime, Sling TV, Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix and YouTube Premium. This Internet content is either free or significantly cheaper than the same content provided via cable.
I get asked about the best cable TV alternatives on a regular basis by readers so I wanted to write a post that outlines some of the cheaper alternatives to cable TV that still let you watch the shows you like. If you want to cut the cord and wonder what channels you can get without cable, this post shows the best cable replacement services to consider.
Not only do you have access to stream over 40,000 hit movies and TV shows, but you get free music, books, and unlimited photo storage as well. Your membership also includes free 2-day shipping from Amazon.com regardless of the order size. Some metropolitan areas offer 2-hour shipping. For more information, check out all the benefits you receive with Amazon Prime.
CableTV.com makes it easy to pick an Internet and TV service provider in Dallas. We have the scoop on Internet and TV provider options in Dallas, TX, including product reviews and prices for packages available in your area. With all that information readily available, you can quickly compare your options and determine which Internet and TV services fit your needs and your budget.
It could be true that choosing one of these options won’t get you all of shows you could get with cable. However, if you truly want to get rid of cable, knowing what some of the options are can help you choose the BEST one. Then you can make the decision of whether or not it is worth it to spend the additional money to get the extra one or two channels through cable OR sacrifice one or two shows to save a BUNCH of money. It just depends your priorities.
If you don't feel like paying exorbitant cable or satellite fees, but still crave the sweet pablum of basic cable programming, you can always try a cable-replacement service. These online streaming subscriptions deliver live (and on-demand) channels over the internet, and while they're not cheap, they're not as hellaciously expensive as traditional cable or satellite fees. If streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Video aren't enough for you, read on to find out how you can reintroduce live TV into your home without signing your life away to an onerous cable contract.
My plan is to use sling and alternate between Amazon Prime and Netflix for certain things. I don’t need them all year. Amazon Prime will be a month around xmas, and then 6 months later. Then 1 month for Netflix to catch things I want to watch there in between. No need for a full year. I may use sling. Depends on what all channels and shows I can find there. I have never had much luck cutting a deal with comcast though, and I will still be dependent on them for internet.
Parks Associates estimated that in 2008, about 0.9 million American households relied entirely on the Internet for television viewing; by 2017, this figure had increased to 22.2 million.[2] Leichtman Research Group found that six percent of Americans watched at least one show online each week in 2008, a figure that grew to eight percent in 2009. The number of Americans subscribing to cable service increased two percent in 2008, but the growth had slowed. Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. found that in the fourth quarter of 2008, the increase was seven-tenths of one percent, or 220,000 homes, the lowest ever recorded.[3] A Centris report showed that 8% of Americans expected to cancel their pay television service by the third quarter of 2009. About half of Americans tried to get a better deal from a provider other than the one they were subscribed to. Amazon Video, Hulu, iTunes, Netflix, Sling TV and YouTube, made cancelling service possible for those who would be unable to see their favorite programs over the air. Sports programming was a big reason for not cancelling pay television service, although online options existed for many events. Another problem was the inability to watch many programs live, or at least soon enough in the case of a television series.[4]
I am now paying a total of $184/month to Spectrum for my 3 in1 package! I am a 67 year old woman. I really need to lower my expenses for all three services. This is the best most detailed article I have found. But I still don’t know where to begin. I need is to know what steps to take. Is it possible to talk to you so you can walk me through. Thank you.
I am really excited that I found this site. I am beginning our quest to cut the cord. First, I plan to make the indoor DIY antenna that was demonstrated in the video. Next, I will be calling Verizon to strong-arm them into a serious reduction. We currently pay close to $180 a month for Fios service (cable TV, phone and internet) we do not use DVR service and only have 2 TVs (one with an HD box and one with a standard box. I wish to keep only the phone and internet service. We have an Amazon Fire Stick and are looking to get the most out of it. Wish me luck… momma needs a new pair of shoes!!!
Sony PS4 (starting at $299.99) / Microsoft XBox ($299 to $499): One of the biggest unexpected players in this space has been the major video game console companies. The Sony PS4 and Xbox One X are state-of-the-art in terms of their streaming capabilities, and they’re even creating their own services that attempt to serve the same functions as traditional cable TV. (More on that later.) The Xbox One S, Microsoft’s previous model, was still for sale as of August 2018, at $200 less than the One X. Click here to compare the two on the Xbox website.
DIRECTV is the go to satellite TV provider for sports fanatics. Get exclusive access to every live game every Sunday with NFL Sunday Ticket. Watch your favorite teams on your TV or stream the games on your laptop, phone, tablet, or gaming console. NFL Sunday Ticket also comes with the DIRECTV Fantasy Zone Channel, so you can get all the stats you need on your fantasy team. You'll also have access to Player Tracker, which lets you keep tabs on the stats of your 20 favorite players. Have too many live games going on at the same time? The DIRECTV Red Zone Channel lets you watch multiple games at once, on the same screen. You'll never miss a touchdown again.
With the exception of Sling TV and HBO Now, the latter of which is available for $15 per month, prices for these services start at under $10 apiece. It’s easy to mix-and-match providers as none of these companies require contracts. You can even share login info with a friend down the block or sibling on the other side of the country, without worrying about anyone getting on your case.
The newest leg of CBS’s digital effort is a free sports streaming service called CBS Sports HQ. There is no games or any other sporting events. CBS Sports aims to be a destination for game highlights and talk about your favorite teams. It will be interesting to see where CBS takes this platform in the months ahead. CBS Sports HQ is available on the web or within the CBSN app.
Offer(s) valid with 12 month Promotional Discount. Local TV regularly $25.95/month.Wave digital equipment required on every connected TV. $2.72/month Interactive Equipment Fee on first digital or HD receiver. STARZ and STARZ ENCORE regularly $12/month each or $17/month for both. MOVIEPLEX regularly $5/month. After 12 months, Roku regularly $5/month. $100 Visa gift cardand Free Installation offer good with online order of High Speed 100 and up at 12-months, with offer code “CYBER100”. Customers must be in good standing for 90 days in order to be eligible for the Visa gift card. After 90 days, customers will receive an email with instruction on how to redeem the gift card online. Free Installation, regularly $60, is good for online orders with offer code “CYBER18”, and includes set-up for up to 2 TVs on existing outlets. Additional outlet and special wiring fees may apply. Serviceable areas only. Prices subject to change. Not valid with other offers. Certain restrictions and additional fees may apply. Call for complete details. WASHINGTON RESIDENTS: The base rates listed are subject to a 2% Regulatory Recovery Fee, which added together determines the total price.
The first thing you may want to consider is an HD antenna. This doesn't provide a way to watch streaming videos, but if you want to watch live TV, it's the cheapest and simplest solution. You may remember having rabbit ears on your hand-me-down TV as a kid — an HD antenna is basically the modern-day version of that. You hook the device into your TV, put it somewhere near a window and watch as the free channels roll in.
Happily, the NFL has remained committed to airing local market and national games on free broadcast TV networks, so your TV antenna is going to provide ample football coverage! You'll get Sunday games, Sunday Night Football and Thursday Night Football. The only thing missing is Monday Night Football, which is only available on ESPN. There's now a great solution for cord cutters to get ESPN at a low cost and we'll explain more in the Streaming Services section below.
Bonuses Unlimited internet data, HD channels, access to AT&T Wi-Fi network, 3 months of free premium channels Free Contour HD receiver, free premium channel of your choice for 1 yr 24/7 customer support team, comes with HD DVR service to record up to 2,000 hours High internet speeds, unlimited internet data, free HD, free Spectrum TV App for multiple device viewing Optional DVR and premium channels, can customize cable package to your family Highest internet speeds for the lowest monthly price
Many cord cutters opt for online streaming services to save money on TV. But in reality, those cord cutters often end up spending more money than they would for a cable TV package. To get all of your favorite shows and networks, you would probably need to get subscriptions from multiple streaming services. Add up the combined costs of Hulu, Netflix, and Sling TV, and you're at about $40. For the same price, you could get a DIRECTV package with over 155 channels and thousands of on demand titles to access on the go. Why limit yourself to just a few networks and deal with the hassle of paying for multiple streaming services?
Your Local Library: Your local library will most likely have a decent selection of DVD movies that you can check out for a week or more. In fact, many libraries will actually buy copies of new releases that you can reserve. My local library tends to be a bit picked over, but if you get on a waiting list you can usually find movies or TV shows you’d enjoy watching.
Adam… there are countless options and opinions out there on what’s “best” but it all boils down to what the readers want and need. The wife and I cut cable completely about 6-7 years ago. We have internet only for $50/mo. We now have a $4 a month (taxes only) VOIP phone (Ooma) for home phone, cut our cell phones down to bare minimum $5/mo. plans and rolled the savings to an amazing 55″ OLED SmarTV television on an open box deal. Between the apps on that, the computer attached by HDMI, the over the air antenna and free apps and web sites, we don’t need any of the devices or subscriptions to have it all… and then some. There’s no need for Netflix, Hulu, Prime, Sling, Philo, Fire Stick or anything. Our motto is keep it simple. We get library access online 24/7 and instead of asking “what’s on TV tonight?” the question is “what do you WANT on TV tonight?” … $54/month total… we’re good!
I ‘Cut the Cord’ a few months ago on National Cord Cutting Day (it was coincidence). YouTube TV through Chromecast for my older TV’s. Called and threatened to cancel the internet and phone from Comcast until I got hte Retention Specialist. Now I got the cheapest and fastest internet and phone and I’m still saving just over $100 a month. Sad thing is my wife already figured out how to spend those savings and then some…
Netflix ($7.99/mo., $10.99/mo., $13.99/mo.): What HBO has been to premium cable, Netflix has been to subscription streaming services, offering buzzed-about programming that anyone who wants to be “in the know” regarding contemporary television needs to see. It got a head-start on its competitors by producing must-see original content, and it continues to expand its library every month with new series and movies that generate a lot of buzz. (Think “Orange Is the New Black,” “Stranger Things,” “BoJack Horseman” or “Jessica Jones”) The service has been licensing fewer older TV shows and films in recent years, but it still offers a lot of high-quality product from those realms, including great British television, recent CW and Fox series and a surprisingly healthy amount of contemporary foreign cinema.
I put a couple of units to the test and found that the new breed of antennas really work as advertised. In an environment like New York City with numerous obstacles to transmission towers, a major selling point of cable TV in the analog era was that it was the only reliable way to get a clear signal from the free network channels. But today, on a lower floor of my Brooklyn brownstone, I can get 60 OTA channels with a small tabletop antenna like the $50 Mohu Curve, which has a 30-mile antenna range. It did take a bit of trial and error to find the spot in the room with the strongest signal for most stations, but I got the best results by placing it near a window.
Some providers have both TV and internet available to bundle. Other providers sell TV only or internet only. Companies that offer only one service often partner with TV-only or internet-only counterparts to provide a complete service. For example, satellite TV can be paired with DSL or fiber internet to save you time and money. Using our handy comparison tool, you can look at all TV-only, internet-only, and TV-and-internet options available in your area.
Let’s get some of bad news out of the way. If your goal in cord-cutting is to save money — but you’d prefer not to lose access to anything you’re currently watching via your cable or satellite subscription — then you should be aware that the money you save on one bill may be immediately redistributed to another. Additionally, unless you want your “Game of Thrones” episodes to look blurry and choppy, you’ll want to make sure you have the proper internet package.
Television manufacturers have been moving toward “smart TVs” that connect to the internet and provide access to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and the like. The selection of apps on these sets vary depending on licensing agreements made between the manufacturers and the O.T.T. services. (O.T.T. is short for “over the top,” a term applied to any streaming media provider to which a consumer can subscribe directly.) Also, not all of them will let you plug in and get a seamless, cable-like TV experience without any other hardware. The technology and interfaces are certain to improve in the years ahead, but for now, for the best results, you’re better off just investing in a set-top box.
The comments about Spectrum DVRs are not accurate based on our experience. We have Spectrum (previously Time Warner) and our DVR allows us to record 4 channels simultaneously (not 2) while watching a fifth channel. Also, our DVR can store substantially more than 21 hours of HD content as the review claims. I’m only guessing, but I’m sure we are able to store at least 100 hours of content. Overall, we’ve been satisfied with the Gold package. There are lots of channels including premium channels (HBO, Showtime, NFL Network, etc.) and there are decent mobile viewing capabilities. The Spectrum app allows you to watch all content and manage DVR settings when you’re connected to your home Wi-Fi. Substantially fewer channels are available on the Spectrum app when accessed via the internet; however, this is shortfall can largely be made up by downloading the apps for individual channels such as HBO Go, Show Anytime, Max Go, etc. On the negative side, Spectrum is expensive and the internet speeds never measure up to what they advertise. Instead of getting 100Mbps we get about 50 down/35 up. In fairness, most people I talk to all seem to have the same complaint about their service provider. And, of course, the customer service generally stinks.
All services may not be available in all areas. Subject to change without notice. Some restrictions may apply. Installation fees may apply. Offers valid for new residential customers only. Promotional rates apply for 12 months. After 12 months, standard local rates will apply. All prices exclude applicable taxes, fees and one time charges. See other applicable terms and conditions below. To receive all services, Digital TV, remote and lease of a Digital set-top box required. Some services are not available to CableCARD customers. Not all equipment supports all services. HD set-top box and HDTV set required for HD service. All services may not be available in all areas. Subject to change without notice. Some restrictions may apply. Installation fees may apply. Offers valid for new residential customers only. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners TM and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Time Warner Cable and the Time Warner Cable logo are trademarks of Time Warner Inc. Used under license. ©2014 Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC. All rights reserved.
Here at Providers By Zip, we’re fully aware that analyzing and comparing television and internet service providers can be a lengthy, complex process. With so many different television and internet providers per zip code, it can be an incredibly tough choice to make. That’s why we’ve made it our mission to make the decision easier for you and eliminate any unnecessary hassle. Your days are busy enough without the additional stress of having to conduct research into numerous different service providers. Our helpful service is now known to be one of the leading internet and television comparison tools.
We haven’t mentioned customer service with other cable TV providers, but we think we should emphasize that Xfinity customer service is known for being especially terrible. We understand if you’re not surprised—Xfinity has earned its reputation. However, many of us still use Xfinity because it’s the best of what’s available (most people have access to only one or two cable TV providers in their area).
Cable TV is fairly easy to install, but it can also be time-consuming. Cable companies will send someone to install the system of cables and cable boxes for you. However, these appointments can eat up a lot of time and cost extra. Cable companies generally don’t give a specific price quote for their installation services, but installation service can often run as high as $200 depending on the provider.
No cable service truly offers a la carte cable TV. However, through VUDU, iTunes and Amazon (even if you’re not a Prime Instant Video subscriber) you can buy episodes of entire seasons of shows a la carte. This includes shows currently airing. At first, that might seem expensive, but shows are $1.99 an episode and you can get a discount on the season pass. I saved a ton of cash this way when my family cut the cord. My family purchases only 3-4 season passes a year, keeping it under $10 a month.
However, customers who do not have a cable TV service at their home will also be able to subscribe to a cable internet service, as most cable TV providers offer standalone internet service to customers. However, if you are planning to bundle either two or three of your services, get in touch with your preferred cable TV provider, as they will also be able to help you with that. Below are a few factors that you need to consider before subscribing to a certain cable internet service provider.
Many rely on their cable provider for home phone service. Like most of their services, it can be replaced with a much cheaper internet based service. For those who need a little more than a cell phone after they ditch their cable TV subscription, I recommend PhonePower (formerly BroadVoice.) They are an affordable and reliable phone service provider that uses your existing internet connection.
The first change is time. TV can suck you in and not let you go. It’s easy to justify killing 15 or 20 minutes when you have a few minutes of down time. But sometimes that 15 or 20 minutes can turn into an hour or two. We are now more intentional with what we watch and when we watch it. Channel surfing is a thing of the past. I find TV much more enjoyable when I plan my viewing time – that way I don’t feel guilty or feel like I could be doing something more productive.
Once tuners that could receive select mid-band and super-band channels began to be incorporated into standard television sets, broadcasters were forced to either install scrambling circuitry or move these signals further out of the range of reception for early cable-ready TVs and VCRs. However, once all 181 allocated cable channels[which?] had been incorporated, premium broadcasters were left with no choice but to scramble.
Bear in mind that, if you’re on the ball, there’s also plenty you can watch for free — with no need to subscribe to anything. This may change in the future as major media companies put more of their products behind a paywall, but for now, some major channels (like ABC, Fox, the CW and PBS) make select episodes of their shows available online for nothing, for a limited time after their original broadcasts. You can watch them through a web browser or through an app on your set-top box.
Overall, Amazon is still playing catch-up when it comes to Netflix and other streaming services just because they don’t have as much content. However, at technically $8.25 / month it is a bit cheaper than your typical $8.99 or $9.99 package, and you get free, 2-day shipping as a perk. If you shop online a lot, that could end up swinging your choice.
Cable-replacement streaming services work exactly the same as having cable — live channels presented in real time — except they come streaming over the Internet rather than via an analog wire. The upside is that you don't have to give up the channels that you love. Sling TV carries multiple ESPN stations, plus Cartoon Network, TBS, Bloomberg, CNN, History and dozens of others. PlayStation Vue offers SyFy, Spike, USA, VH1, Fox News, Nickelodeon and more. You can also record programs to watch later on PS Vue, just like you would with a cable DVR box.
One of the advantages of unplugging from the physical cable sticking out of a socket in your home is that you’re free to enjoy the entertainment you’re paying for on any screen you happen to have handy, be it a laptop, tablet or mobile phone. Many streaming services, like Netflix and Hulu, keep track of what you’re watching and will let you pause a show or movie on one device, then pick it up later on another device.
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Amazons incredible plant-filled biospheres open in Seattle
Filed under Eco, Green, Recycle
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Amazon has finally opened its stunning new downtown Seattle office and it’s unlike any workspace we’ve seen before. Amazon Spheres, which celebrated its grand opening yesterday, is part greenhouse and part office housed within three glass geodesic domes. Designed by NBBJ , the $4 billion “mini-rainforest” campus will house over 800 Amazon employees in addition to more than 40,000 plants in an ecosystem built to emulate a verdant cloud forest. Located at the corner of Lenora Street and 6th Avenue, Amazon’s giant geodesic domes are made with a steel frame holding 2,643 laminated glass panels made up of four-layered low-iron glass to minimize heat loss. The largest of the three domes measures 90 feet tall and 130 feet in diameter with five floors (and a four-story-tall living plant wall that grows 200 plant species). Retail space occupies the ground floor and part of the first floor. Over 400 species of plants from more than 30 countries are represented in the domes and are cared for by a full-time horticulturalist. Nearly all of the plants were grown in a suburban greenhouse for the Spheres project. The flora centerpiece is a 55-foot-tall Ficus tree (nicknamed Rubi) that weighs almost 36,000 pounds and was craned into the space through the roof. The plantings are mostly organized in either the Old World garden that features African and Asian plants, or in the New World garden with a focus on the Americas. An architectural highlight is undoubtedly the “bird’s nest,” a timber treehouse suspended 30 feet in the air that serves as an intimate meeting space. Related: Amazon’s biospheres spring to life with first planting in Seattle The interior temperature will be stabilized at 69 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit with 60 percent humidity, and the climate will vary throughout the space. Recycled heat from the nearby data center is used to heat the Spheres. The project is on track for LEED Gold certification. The public is welcome to take a free tour of the facilities but must first book with Spheres Discovery at Understory . + NBBJ Via Bloomberg Renderings via NBBJ, photos via Amazon
Tags: amazon, amazon spheres, architecture, climate, Eco, garden, nbbj, space
Ruins of Swedens oldest church put on a new A-frame shelter
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Medieval history meets modern architecture at Kata Farm, a ninth-century church that now serves as a shelter and exhibition hall in Varnhem, Sweden. Designed by Stockholm-based AIX Arkitekter AB , a new 300-square-meter timber A-frame structure sits atop the remains of Sweden’s oldest Christian church that’s also thought to be the country’s oldest building. Glue-laminated timber was used as the primary material for the new structure. Located on the grounds of Varnhem Abbey, Kata Farm was named after the woman who ruled the farm and allowed the church to be built. The new timber structure, which was built to protect the farm foundations from the elements, is raised on a series of pillars to minimize site impact . An elevated walkway with a glazed railing and signage wraps around the exposed stone ruins and is punctuated by glass panels allowing for top-down views of the burial sites, including Kata’s tomb that dates back to the mid-1000s. Related: Stunning chapel in Japan brings a fractal forest indoors The glue-laminated timber trusses are exposed and timber left unpainted for a minimalist look to complement the excavated grounds. In contrast to the light-colored interior, darker tar-treated pine planks clad the sloped exterior. The building can be accessed via a staircase that leads up to an outdoor deck or a glazed elevator on the opposite side of the building. + AIX Arkitekter AB Via ArchDaily Images © Antonius van Arkel
Tags: a-frame, aik arkitekter ab, amazon, amazon spheres, garden, kata farm, nbbj, ruins, space, sweden, tar treated pine, varnhem, varnhem-abbey
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By Dorothy Guerrero in March | April 2013, Scholarships, TXEX on March 1, 2013 at 9:00 am | No Comments
How the Texas Exes became a scholarship powerhouse.
The word “ex” can be profoundly misleading. For Texas Exes members, The University of Texas is not a bygone experience—it’s a living, breathing commitment. A great university like UT faces different challenges in different times, and throughout its history the Association has rallied members to do for the University what it could not do for itself. The scholarship program grew out of a need to reach the brightest students who may have otherwise been left behind.
As the Texas Exes celebrates the second class of the game-changing Forty Acres Scholars Program, it’s worth taking a look back at how the Association’s giving program came to be. The Texas Exes scholarship program goes back more than 114 years. In the beginning, the need was straightforward: how to make it possible for every student who wanted a university education to receive one? Early members of the Texas Exes endeavored to create a large student-loan fund for that purpose.
Through the years, members have continued to recognize the pivotal role the University has played in their own lives by creating scholarships to help students from all over the world experience the same first-class education. The Association’s unique and ever-evolving scholarship program awards about $2 million a year to almost 700 students.
An early scholarship founded in 1966 was called the “Return of the Favor.” The Association matched various scholarships given by clubs, then asked recipients to repay them after graduation when they could afford to.
Texas Exes chapters around the country became fundraising machines. Through events— like student-faculty mixers, dinners, auctions, lectures, and chili cook-offs—the chapters have joined forces to raise money for their hometown students. In 1988, 70 participating chapters gave scholarships to 185 students. In the 2012-13 academic year, chapters awarded 336 students with $449,095.
‘Yes’ is the response that scholars will often hear, ‘Yes, try it. Yes, I’ll connect you. Yes, come see me. Yes, we’ll recommend you. [The Forty Acres Scholars Program] is student services on steroids.”
Chris Hardesty, BBA ’08, vice president of scholarships for the Texas Exes Dallas Chapter, says that over the past 25 years, the chapter has given $1 million to more than 400 students in the Dallas area. “Our scholarship committee is trying to take it to the next level,” Hardesty says. “People are really starting to understand the impact they have on these students’ lives.”
A major turning point for the scholarship program came in 1996. That year, the U.S. Fifth Circuit ruled in Hopwood v. Texas that an admissions policy at The University of Texas School of Law that factored in race was illegal. As a result, UT was no longer allowed to use affirmative action in admissions.
Larry Temple, BBA ’57, LLB ’59, Life Member, Texas Exes President from 1997-98, asked alumni to step in, and the Association in turn asked key private donors to help do what the University could not: target minorities. Among the donors were Joe, BA ’51, LLB ’58, and Teresa Lozano Long, BS ’48, MEd ’51, EdD ’65, Life Members, Austin philanthropists who have given millions to the development of education, arts, and culture throughout Texas.
In response to the Hopwood verdict, the first Texas Leader Scholarships were awarded in 1998 to 134 recipients for a total of $837,125. In the years since, Hispanic and African-American UT students have received 1,520 Texas Leader Scholarships totaling more than $10.7 million.
“The students that I’ve been particularly impressed by,” Joe Long observes, “are from very small communities. The fact that they have been able to come to the University is outstanding. Even though they come from small schools, they do very well.”
Teresa Lozano Long, formerly a health and physical-education teacher in Alice, Texas, says, “Working with minority students and knowing that they had no hope of ever dreaming of going to college really has created an interest to help students.”
In 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court abrogated Hopwood with its decision in Grutter v. Bollinger. Since then, UT has reintroduced a new admissions policy that considers race as part of a holistic review. The battle over affirmative action continues with Fisher v. The University of Texas, currently before the Supreme Court.
In many ways, the Forty Acres Scholars Program is the culmination of the tireless work of the Association. UT’s first full-ride, merit-based scholarship focuses on connecting the University’s most talented students with distinguished faculty and alumni. The program’s emphasis on community and stewardship was passed on from its predecessor, the Texas Excellence Awards for Scholarship and Leadership, first endowed in 1982 by Lowell Lebermann and Mike Myers. They had a vision of a program that would appeal to elite Texas high school students.
Generous alumni like the Longs and chapters like Dallas have endowed Forty Acres Scholarships. Having played a huge role in the scholarship program’s history, alumni see the enormous potential in this innovative scholarship.
Ann Howard, BA ’85, MPA ’88, JD ’88, Life Member, who has been involved in creating the program’s content, says that with this scholarship, “yes” is the response that scholars will most often hear. “‘Yes, try it. Yes, I’ll connect you. Yes, come see me. Yes, we’ll recommend you.’ It’s student services on steroids, with a focus on engaging the experiences of alumni with the curiosity of scholars.”
Students and donors ultimately get the same thing from the Texas Exes scholarship program: flexibility. Many funds are University-wide—the money can be applied to any college or program at UT. Donor and scholars are able to focus on their unique needs and goals, while benefitting from a full-service program that nurtures the donor-scholar relationship before and after a student’s time on the Forty Acres.
The Texas Exes has been working toward the ideal scholarship from the very beginning—one that lives up to the promise of the University and cultivates future leaders and guardians of higher education. The combined power of matching, named, and chapter scholarships, and the Forty Acres Scholars Program is making generations of dreams come true.
Photo by Brett Bowlin.
Tags: Chris Hardesty, Fisher v. The University of Texas, forty acres scholars program, Joe Long, Teresa Lozano Long
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IOC Creates Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020
There will be a refugee olympic team at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The decision was taken today by the membership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the 133rd IOC Session in Buenos Aires.
The initiative is a continuation of the IOC's commitment to play its part in addressing the global refugee crisis and another opportunity to continue to convey the message of solidarity and hope to millions of refugee and internally displaced athletes around the world.
The IOC Session has mandated Olympic Solidarity to establish the conditions for participation and define the identification and selection process of the team. These elements will be carried out in close collaboration with the National Olympic Committees, the International Sport Federations, the Organising Committee Tokyo 2020 and the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR.
The announcement of the Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020 members will be made in 2020.
IOC President Thomas Bach said:
“The IOC Session has once again endorsed this initiative. In an ideal world, we would not need to have a Refugee Team at the Olympic Games. But, unfortunately, the reasons why we first created a Refugee Olympic Team before the Olympic Games Rio 2016 continue to persist. We will do our utmost to welcome refugee athletes and give them a home and a flag in the Olympic Village in Tokyo with all the Olympic athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees. This is the continuation of an exciting, human and Olympic journey, and a reminder to refugees that they are not forgotten.”
UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi commended the decision:
“In 2016, the Rio refugee team captured the imagination of people around the world and showed the human side of the global refugee crisis through sport. I’m delighted that this tradition is to continue in Tokyo. Giving these exceptional young people the opportunity to compete at the very highest levels is admirable.”
Back in 2015, the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team was formed by the IOC. Ten athletes were chosen to represent people who are too often forgotten. It was a historic moment in Brazil when a team consisting of refugees participated for the first time ever in the Olympic Games at Rio 2016. As they marched in the Opening Ceremony, two swimmers, two judokas, a marathon runner and five middle-distance runners who originally hailed from Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo became instant role models for the 68.5 million or so refugees and internally displaced people, and true global ambassadors for the values of Olympism.
Since the Olympic Games, the IOC has continued to support these 10 Refugee Olympians, as well as a number of other refugee athletes across five continents via Olympic Solidarity’s Refugee Athlete Support Programme. Through scholarships, which come in the form of monthly training grants and fixed competition subsidies, Olympic Solidarity and their host National Olympic Committees help these refugee athletes to prepare for and participate in national and international competitions. UNHCR, through its long term collaboration with the IOC, plays a crucial role in all stages of selection, approval and follow up of the athletes.
Furthermore, in September 2017, the IOC launched the Olympic Refuge Foundation to support more broadly the protection and empowerment of vulnerable displaced people through sport and through the creation of safe spaces; again, partnering with UNHCR and local implementation partners in the field.
For the last 20 years, and with the collaboration of UNHCR, the IOC has been providing relief to refugees and internally displaced people by using the power of sport to promote youth development, education, social integration and health. These actions have brought the joy of sport and the related psychological healing to refugee populations in many camps and settlements around the world.
As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.
These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
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Day of Remembrance for Raud the Strong
This month, we focus on a hero of the folk by the name of Raud the Strong. To start out to tell his story and why he is important to the folk, we need look no further than the first virtue: Courage. These days are trying times with many outside pressures- men and women of courage such as Raud the Strong are needed now more than ever. Whether this be by our fighting men on the fore front of danger, or our fellow folk making everything work in our communities and families.
His deeds come to us in the reading of the Heimskringla (The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway) by Snorri Sturlason. He is described to us as a man astute in his dedication to Odin and Thor, whom was also a well-known practitioner of the art of Seiðr. Hailing from Godey in the Salten Fjord of Norway, he quickly became a target of King Olaf Trygvason during his reign as King Olaf had recently acquired control of Norway from Jarl Haakon. With his new-found power in Norway, King Olaf set out to convert and baptize by the sword whomever he could to consolidate control over the region.
Hearing of King Olaf’s plans, Raud quickly assembled a force of men on ship and foot to confront King Olaf whom was coming from the south in Halogaland, which he had previously proselytized. A good friend Thorer Hjort joined Raud’s host adding another ship and many more men. When the two forces met, a fierce sea battle ensued. Raud’s ship was renowned as a large ship, with a gilded head formed like a dragon. He sailed the ship with extreme skill which was attributed to his use of Seiðr and being a powerful Wizard. He and Thorer were forced to retreat however, with Thorer being killed. Raud was able to escape that day, but he stood up to King Olaf and confronted him on his own terms.
King Olaf continued onward to continue to search for Raud. Sailing into the Salten Fjyord where Raud was said to be, he encountered a terrible storm which delayed him for a week, of Thor’s doing no doubt. He then encountered a Bishop by the name of Sigurd, which gave him counsel and advised him to continue baptizing and of Raud’s whereabouts.
Coming to Godey where Raud’s home was, King Olaf and his men disembarked their ships and made for the home. Immediately upon entering Raud’s property and home everyone staying there, including Raud were bound and arrested. Some men and servants were killed by Olaf’s men, and some were not. Raud was spared and brought before King Olaf. King Olaf demanded that Raud renounce the Gods and be baptized- Raud would have none of this. Standing true to his faith and the Gods, Raud exclaimed against the Christ and made a mockery of the false God by saying he would never believe in Christ. Naturally, King Olaf did not take a liking to Raud’s proud defiance.
King Olaf ordered that Raud was to die by the most terrible means. He was bound on a beam of wood, and a pin of wood affixed in his mouth to keep it open. There are different versions of how Raud was put to death for his bravery resisting conversion, but the most popular was that an adder was fashioned to be put down his throat. It is said that the adder would not go into his mouth- and that a drinking horn was placed, and the adder forced down the horn with a hot piece of iron. Raud died from the adder chewing through his side after being forced down his throat. King Olaf took Raud’s property, baptized his men whom were willing, and killed the rest. For this martyrdom we know Raud the Strong as a hero to our folk.
This is a very important story telling the importance of standing true and strong to your convictions, values, beliefs and ultimately our faith in the eye of adversity. You will encounter many challenges throughout life where your values are tested- will we stand the ground as Raud did in direct opposition of the Tyrants in life such as Olaf? Life presents us with these challenges day by day. Live up to the example set forth by Raud the Strong and see what richness the power of conviction can add to your life. Let us all give remembrance to the courage in this example! The Gods expect no less of us, and the character of our folk deserves no less either!
Hail Raud the Strong!
Rocco Urman, Three Rivers Kindred
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Sammy Fain
Big Circus, The (1959) July 23 (ET) - REMINDER
Swing Fever (1943) August 06 (ET) - REMINDER
Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) August 06 (ET) - REMINDER
Two Sisters From Boston (1946) August 28 (ET) - REMINDER
With a Song in My Heart (1952) August 30 (ET) - REMINDER
FOR Sammy Fain YOU CAN
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Also Known As: Samuel Feinberg, Samuel Fain Died: December 6, 1989
Born: June 17, 1902 Cause of Death: heart attack
Birth Place: New York City, New York, USA Profession: composer, pianist, songwriter, radio performer
Academy Award winner Sammy Fain built himself an incredible career as a musician. In 1928, he appeared in vaudeville with Artie Dunn. Fain began his entertainment career with his music featured in films like the musical "Footlight Parade" (1933) with James Cagney, "Goin' to Town" (1935) and the Kathryn Grayson musical "Two Sisters From Boston" (1946). His music also appeared in "Peter Pan" (1953) and the Danny Thomas drama "The Jazz Singer" (1953). In addition to his music, Fain appeared in "Dames" (1934) with Joan Blondell. Fain was nominated for a Music (Song) Academy Award for "April Love" in 1957 as well as for a Music (Song) Academy Award for "A Certain Smile" in 1958. Fain won a Music (Song) Academy Award for "Calamity Jane" in 1953 as well as a Music (Song) Academy Award for "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" in 1955. In the seventies, Fain's music continued to appear on the silver screen, including in films like the Alejandro Rey drama "The Stepmother" (1972), the action picture "The Teacher" (1974) with Angel Tompkins and the thriller "The Parallax View" (1974) with Warren Beatty. His work was also in "The Specialist" (1975). Fain won an Academy Award for "The Stepmother" in 1972...
Academy Award winner Sammy Fain built himself an incredible career as a musician. In 1928, he appeared in vaudeville with Artie Dunn. Fain began his entertainment career with his music featured in films like the musical "Footlight Parade" (1933) with James Cagney, "Goin' to Town" (1935) and the Kathryn Grayson musical "Two Sisters From Boston" (1946). His music also appeared in "Peter Pan" (1953) and the Danny Thomas drama "The Jazz Singer" (1953). In addition to his music, Fain appeared in "Dames" (1934) with Joan Blondell. Fain was nominated for a Music (Song) Academy Award for "April Love" in 1957 as well as for a Music (Song) Academy Award for "A Certain Smile" in 1958. Fain won a Music (Song) Academy Award for "Calamity Jane" in 1953 as well as a Music (Song) Academy Award for "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" in 1955. In the seventies, Fain's music continued to appear on the silver screen, including in films like the Alejandro Rey drama "The Stepmother" (1972), the action picture "The Teacher" (1974) with Angel Tompkins and the thriller "The Parallax View" (1974) with Warren Beatty. His work was also in "The Specialist" (1975). Fain won an Academy Award for "The Stepmother" in 1972 Fain's music was most recently featured in the Angelina Jolie blockbuster family adventure "Maleficent" (2014). Fain passed away in December 1989 at the age of 87.
Harold Teen (1934) Piano player
Dames (1934) Songwriter, Buttercup Balmer
Music Makers: An ASCAP Celebration of American Music at Wolf Trap, The (1987)
Johnny Carson Presents the Sun City Scandals '72 (1972)
Hollywood Newsreel (1934)
Appeared in vaudeville with Artie Dunn
First contribution to feature score, "Young Man of Manhattan"
Broadway debut as composer, "Everybody's Welcome"
Feature acting debut, "Buttercup"
Sally Fox. Married in 1941; divorced in 1949.
Frank Fain.
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Following Multi-State Tour, Ohio Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan Mulls 2020 Run
April 2, 2019 April 1, 2019 Andrew Shirley
Saturday evening, Ohio Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan made one of his last appearances in a multi-state blitz tour of early presidential primary states. When Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown decided not to run last month, most Ohioans thought that would be it for Ohio politicians entering the 2020 race. Yet Rep. Ryan, despite not announcing his candidacy or forming an exploratory committee, seems to be making all the moves one would expect from a 2020 candidate.
The nine-term representative from Ohio’s 13th district (formerly 17th), has been prominently featured at several Iowa events. Saturday, he appeared at the Heartland Forum. The event was organized and sponsored by the Huffington Post, several Iowa state papers, and Open Markets Action. Ryan was joined by declared and potential candidates; “former U.S. HUD Secretary Julián Castro, Rep. John Delaney, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Tim Ryan, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.”
While he has found positive support at this and most of his campaign events, some of his recent comments seem to clash with the direction of the Democratic party in 2020. At an event in New Hampshire, the potential 2020 candidates said to Fox News:
I think we’ve got to be very careful. We come off sometimes as hostile to business… we’ve got to come together. And that includes being engaged with the business community. You can be hostile to greed, you can be hostile to income inequality, you can be for raising raises … but you can’t be hostile to businesses because 98 percent of businesses are small business people. We can’t green the economy without the power of the free-market system.
While the majority of the 2020 democratic candidates have attempted to distance themselves from the “socialist” handle, these comments may bristle the more vocal elements of the democratic coalition that wish to see their party unequivocally embrace socialism.
In interviews and meetings, of Rep. Ryan has expressed what he sees as his key political advantage: the ability to win over the President Trump voters who left the Democratic party in the 2016 election. In a local interview, Jeremy Dumkrieger, the Woodbury County Democratic Party Chair specifically stated of Rep. Ryan:
I think being from Ohio and someone who can win and trump districts especially, he knows how to relate to folks who are working those industries who are just devastated by the tariffs situation and he knows how to win and fight for those people.
This strategy is not far off from the one almost enacted by Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (D): make a progressive case that emphasized healthcare, unions, and protections for blue-collar workers in the hope of harmonizing the socialist and blue-collar voters into one coalition. It’s worth noting, however, that Brown, who outlined this approach, declined to run after testing it in key battleground and early primary states. Many speculate that the reason he declined to run was that this message failed to resonate with the more pragmatic blue-collar voters.
As of Sunday, he has returned home to Ohio and his announcement is expected in the coming weeks.
Andrew Shirley is a reporter at Battleground State News and The Ohio Star. Send tips to aashirley1809@gmail.com.
Photo “Tim Ryan Campaigns” by Tim Evanson CC2.0.
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Home » News » Posts » Put Video Ads Where User Attention Truly Resides
Put Video Ads Where User Attention Truly Resides
“Viewability is kicking brands and agencies in the gut,” said Mark Yackanich, CEO of Genesis Media, in a recent extensive interview. Genesis Media recognized problems associated with fraud and viewability as early as 2010, when the company was founded. With ever increasing demand for video ad inventory (which eMarketer has estimated will reach $7.5 billion in the U.S. this year, up about 42% from the year before) Yackanich believes his company can give advertisers the video ad inventory they want with the viewability relief they need.
Genesis Media calls itself “the attention platform,” with a technology that can put out-of-stream video ads in places where viewers will want to see them. “If you understand where attention truly resides, then you can place ads there,” explains Yackanich. The company officially launched the product that is gaining traction — PAR or Page Attention Rank — more than four years after it was founded, in May 2015. In recent months, they have gotten help from a strategic partnership with NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. “The math itself has been in development for anywhere between 12 and 18 months,” said Yackanich. “We tried multiple roads before we finally got to this idea of content attention, because it’s the content that carries attention–the ad doesn’t carry attention. It’s all about the content and that was an important realization.” The company has applied for a patent for their core proprietary technology that “allows us to collect, synthesize, calculate, store and target individual URLs and users.”
Genesis sits between agencies and publishers, but Yachanich thinks that they are “much more publisher-oriented. For example, we might say ‘we have now integrated with your platform, we’ve looked at your traffic, we’ve looked at your audience. We think that if we were to tune our platform in the following ways, we believe that you’re going to achieve the best results.’ It’s very consultative.”
According to the company, Genesis has added 700 newspaper publishers over the last several months. “Anyone who owns great content that’s editorialized by a professional editor, that has a brand that is seeking audience, those are the places where our products are resonating most right now. And that’s where we seek the greatest pull from our partners from the agency side.”
One advertising customer using Genesis as their primary out-of-stream provider is Aria, the resort casino. Carl Cohen who was VP of Marketing (until October 2015) said in an email interview that Aria started testing the platform for ad campaigns starting in June 2014. Of the current 2015 digital domestic plan, approximately 28% of Aria’s budget is video, using video advertising primarily as a brand engagement vehicle. They started to work with Genesis because, said Cohen, “We are open to testing new formats and technologies as they arise and maintain an evergreen campaign with those that beat industry benchmarks and shine in terms of delivering the ARIA experience in the digital space.”
Beyond out-of-stream
The company has received about $17 million in funding, with the most recent, a Series B round in mid 2014. Yackanich ideally sees Genesis’ PAR product as “that foundational element that allows the ecosystem to optimize the delivery of their media.” He sees the “next frontier” for the company as going beyond out-of-stream video advertising and “influencing the way that display is spent, that more rich media is spent, that other ad units are employed on the page. We have all of the data tools to tackle those challenges.”
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MP responds to concerns regarding adverse childhood experiences.
On 11 May 2015 I wrote a blog post entitled ‘welfare isn’t just about being a decent human being’. It was mainly about the impact of adverse childhood experiences and the need for the government to invest in a more preventative approach. I was encouraged today to receive a letter from my newly elected Conservative MP, Mary Robinson, in response to the concerns I outlined.
She stated that she shared my “view that raising children out of poverty and giving them more life opportunities at an early age will do more than can ever be achieved through simple welfare”. I think that is the heart of the problem. Welfare isn’t simple.
"Welfare" spending, according to the government’s public expenditure statistical analyses, accounts for 25% of the total and is defined as "social protection". It includes £28.5 billion on "personal social services". It includes spending on a range of things, such as looked-after children and long term care for the elderly, the sick and disabled. Unlike other elements of "social protection" it is not a cash transfer payment and in many ways has more in common with spending on health than spending on social security benefits. Another £20 billion of the spending counted under welfare is pensions to older people other than state pensions. That includes spending on public service pensions – to retired nurses, soldiers and so on. In addition to state pensions a further £28 billion is spent on pensioners, of which £15 billion goes on benefits specifically for that group, such as pension credit, attendance allowance and winter fuel payment, while the remaining £13 billion is largely spent on housing benefit and disability living allowance. So of the £205 billion or so spent on tax credits and social security benefits about £111 billion is spent on those over pension age and £94 billion on those of working age.
The welfare state has changed a lot over the years and it is easy to lose sight of the principles upon which it was founded. Welfare, in my mind, is not just about cash payments but a whole system that works to protect and care for its citizens. In 1942, the Liberal politician William Beveridge, who the government set the task of discovering what kind of Britain people wanted to see after the war, declared that there were five "giants on the road to reconstruction": poverty, disease, ignorance, squalor, and idleness. To defeat these giants, he proposed setting up a welfare state with social security, a national health service, free education, council housing and full employment. Whilst the needs of the nation have changed over the years the general premise is still tangible in the Liberal Democrats constitution: no one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.
Here are my thoughts in response to the points raised by Mary Robinson MP in her letter:
'The Government remains committed to its goal of eliminating child poverty by 2020'
According to Mrs Robinson, the government remains committing to not just reducing but eliminating child poverty by 2020. This is a tall order for any government, particularly when all the current research points to increased child poverty by 2020. The Joseph Rowtree Foundation estimates that by 2020 one in four families will be in poverty and if this were to happen it could cost the UK £35bn in today’s terms.
'300,000 fewer children are in relative poverty'
While one measure suggests Mrs Robinson is right, another can as easily be used to say she’s wrong.
There’s no single definition of ‘child poverty’ in the UK. Official bodies measure it in three main ways. The first, takes a certain ‘low’ level of income and counts how many children live in households at or below that level. The second finds out the ‘middle’ income nationally and counts children who live in households earning less than 60% of it. This is known as the ‘relative’ poverty measure and is the one the Mrs Robinson was referring to. The other way is to count children in families which have poor living standards. For example, where there’s no safe place to play outdoors or they can’t afford things like school trips.
So, there are 300,000 fewer children living in ‘relative’ poverty but this isn’t always a useful measure. As the government itself has conceded, when everyone’s income falls, this can mean poverty falling as well, which isn’t very intuitive.
'A record 31.1 million people in work'
This latest round of figures put the employment rate at 73.5 per cent, it’s highest since records began in 1971. However, of the current 31.1 million working people in the UK at the end of March, only 53% are full time employees on someone’s payroll. The other 47% are what are referred to as ‘Self Drive Workers’ who are not dependent on one employer for their total income. In broad terms, this 47% have to find their own work. The UK has been moving away from this traditional work model for some years - and now it has become significant.
Furthermore, data also shows us that there were 697,000 people on zero hour contracts in October-December 2014, compared with 586,000 in October-December 2013. The proportion of workers on a zero hour contract in October-December from 2000-2012 was under 1%. In 2013, it hit 2%. In 2014, it was 2.3%. A provision in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, which was passed under the Liberal-Conservative coalition government and came into force on 26 May 2015, intended to ban clauses that allow employers to block zero-hours employees from holding jobs elsewhere; however, it has been described as toothless by lawyers.
'Poor children are doing better than ever at school'
Research shows that of those eligible for free school meals in 2008/09, 73.3% did not achieve at least 5 GCSEs A* to C (including English and Maths) compared to 45.5% of pupils not eligible for free school meals. In 2013/14, 63% did not achieve at least 5 GCSEs A* to C (including English and Maths) compared to 35.8% of pupils not eligible for free school meals. However, the Joseph Rowtree Foundation warns that it is not possible to directly compare 2013/14 figures with earlier years due to the changes in methodology. Nevertheless, I would credit some of the improvement, whatever it might be, with the introduction of the pupil premium.
'The Pupil Premium is supporting poor children in reaching their full potential and helping to close the attainment gap'
While, there is no doubt that the pupil premium was included in the Tory manifesto before the 2010 election, it has widely been accepted that the idea for an additional sum of money to go to students in receipt of free school meals not only came from the Lib Dems, but was the idea of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Indeed, it is understood Mr Clegg first put forward the idea of a pupil premium back in 2002.
'The personal allowance has been raised to £10,600'
Raising the personal allowance was a Liberal Democrat red line in 2010, which they delivered despite David Cameron telling the nation it was ‘unaffordable’.
Indeed, increases in the personal tax allowance have improved the circumstances for many families in in-work poverty, but the most recent increase will not help those most in need who already have earnings below the tax threshold. Furthermore, under Universal Credit, 65% of any additional income recipients get from an increased tax allowance they will lose through reduced entitlement to Universal Credit.
In March, the Chancellor set out in his budget the path of income tax bands from 2015/16 to 2017/18; raising the personal tax allowance to £11,000, and the higher rate threshold, to £43,300. This sounds great, but because tax bands are up-rated by inflation anyway, delaying the £11,000 by two years substantially reduces the benefit to taxpayers. In the absence of any policy intervention, the personal tax allowance would be expected to rise to around £10,760 in 2017/18 anyway. This means the announced measure is a rise of just £240, and a benefit of £48 in reduced tax for basic rate taxpayers, rather than the £80 they would receive had it been implemented this year. Conversely, the rise in the higher rate threshold is £400 higher than where it would fall if increased in line with inflation.
Universal Credit will lift around 300,000 children out of poverty thanks to increased entitlement
Universal Credit is a single monthly payment for people in or out of work, and will merge together some of the benefits and tax credits that they might be getting now. Universal Credit was launched in October 2013 with a gradual transition to be complete by 2017, replacing:
Housing Benefit
The good news is that it’s supposed to be simpler and there are no limits on how many hours a week people can work if they’re claiming Universal Credit. Instead, the amount they get will gradually reduce as they earn more, so they won’t lose all their benefits at once. You can find out more at the Money Advice Service.
It is thought that Universal Credit will lead to an increase in employment due to improved financial incentives, simpler and more transparent system, and changes to the requirements placed on claimants. Overall, it is said, this could lead to the equivalent of up to 300,000 additional people in work from improved financial incentives. This is not the same as lifting 300,000 children out of poverty.
There is cross-party support for the theory behind the benefit, but its delivery has been delayed and criticised. Unite union has claimed that it creates a division between a "deserving" and an "undeserving poor". In its initial estimate of the new system, the Institute for Fiscal Studies have said that the poorest are likely to do better, especially couples with children. However, the second earner in a family is likely to lose out in the long-term in many cases. Some charities have argued that, because of a broad-brush approach that universal credit takes, those with more complex benefit claims may lose out, such as some people with disabilities who go to work. Also, those without a bank account, or who do not have internet access, will have to seek advice to prepare for the new way this benefit is run and paid.
Minimum wage increased by the largest amount in six years
The 2014 increase in the adult rate lifted the real value of the minimum wage for the first time in 6 years through the biggest percentage increase since 2008. Great!
Speaking at the Liberal Democrats party conference in Glasgow on 14 September 2013 it was Vince Cable that pressed for an increase in the minimum wage amid concerns that the lower-paid workers were still not benefiting from the “burgeoning economic recovery”. George Osborne on the other hand spoke on the 10 January 2014 to warn that a “self-defeating” increase to the minimum wage could cost jobs. Thankfully, on the 16 January 2014 he had a change of heart. Perhaps it was the Lib Dems that told him the “economy can now afford” to raise the rate?
I agree that “there remains much work to be done”. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation is currently developing an anti-poverty strategy for the UK. As a part of this four year programme they have undertaken a review of effective strategies across the EU to determine their key characteristics. This review suggested that key to an effective strategy are clear mechanisms of responsibility and accountability, implementation plans and a monitoring and review process. It also found that clearly linking strategies to economic policy made them more effective. They assert that the Child Poverty Strategy 2014-17 (referred to in Mrs Robinson’s letter) does not sufficiently meet these criteria. In particular, while it does include some steps necessary to address child poverty, it neither assesses the impact of these measures upon child poverty, nor does it include milestones by which it can be held accountable during the course of its three years. In short, it does not offer any mechanism of accountability beyond achieving a reduction in the total number of children in poverty by 2017. Furthermore, it does not account for the impact of further reductions to welfare budgets over the coming year, which research for JRF by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows is likely to significantly increase the number of children in poverty. The JRF report suggested that the impact of changes to personal tax and benefit policy announced by the coalition government is likely to increase both relative child poverty by 200,000 in 2015/16 and absolute child poverty by 200,000 in 2015/16.
It would seem there is indeed much more to do. I concluded my previous post by saying that Local Authorities need greater funding to hire more social workers so that caseloads are at a manageable level where they have the time to undertake intensive direct work with families again. The government needs to fund preventative and outreach services that can directly tackle problems before children become at risk of significant harm. Instead, proposals have been tabled to jail social workers who fail to prevent neglect, despite the necessary infrastructure to properly address it; and the shock result of a Conservative majority victory signals deeper, faster cuts than ever before. None of these points were addressed in Mrs Robinson's letter. Perhaps this was an oversight and I would welcome further dialogue. Communitycare has urged Social Workers to channel whatever they are feeling about the election result into something that isn't apathy. I have only just begun...
Thanks for reading! Follow me on facebook and twitter to see future posts.
What is ACE and why is it important to you?
Whitney was right in 1985 when she sang “the children are our future” but does the government believe this only applies if you’re from a certain background? I recently read an article by Dr. Charles Lewis where he asks if the US is witnessing a new wave of social Darwinism. Perhaps the UK should also reflect upon this question. What kind of future will the most vulnerable children in our society have unless we invest in them and their families both financially and emotionally?
The shock result in the UK general election was a wakeup call and we need to re-examine how social issues are discussed within the media if they are to be seen as relevant to the electorate. Labour are reportedly “soul searching” whilst the Liberal Democrats have launched a “fightback” but we should all be engaged in the debate.
Many people believe that the core tenet of democratic voting is that we should vote for those that best represent our personal interests; however, we should all have a vested interest in the welfare of those living in poverty and with adversity, and we know that the socially excluded are less likely to vote and have their interests represented.
In my post on the 11 May 2015 I described how poverty is considered to be the best predictor of mental health disorders because it is a predictor of all the other things that are causal. I explained how adverse childhood experiences (ACE), many of which are compounded by poverty, are strongly related to adverse behavioural, health and social outcomes; creating a cyclic effect where those with higher ACE counts have higher risks of exposing their own children to ACEs.
These childhood experiences place a huge burden on the NHS, social care and judicial system. Surely it is plain to see that investing in services earlier will not only improve the life chances of the most vulnerable children in our society, but it will also alleviate some of the pressure on other services. The government needs to invest in an infrastructure that can be preventative as well as reactive. We would all benefit from it.
If we are concerned about crime, we might want to look at the causes of crime. Childhood adversity is associated with adult criminality and it has been recommended in a 2013 study that to decrease criminal recidivism, treatment interventions must focus on the effects of early life experiences. Indeed, a UK ACE study found that preventing ACEs in future generations could reduce levels of violence victimisation by 51%, violence perpetration by 52% and incarceration by 53%.
If we are concerned about the NHS, we might want to look at the causes of the negative health outcomes that place a burden on its service. Previous studies have found that there is a dose-response relationship between adverse childhood experiences and health outcomes. For a person with an ACE score of four or more, the relative risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was around two and a half times that of someone with an ACE score of zero. For hepatitis, it was also two and a half time times. A person with an ACE score of seven or more had triple the lifetime risk of lung cancer and three and a half times the risk of ischemic heart disease.
In 2014 a Bulletin of the World Health Organization described how people in the UK with at least four adverse childhood experiences were at significantly increased risk of many health-harming behaviours. They said modelling indicated that prevention of adverse childhood experiences would substantially reduce the occurrence of many health-harming behaviours. But that's not all... they also found that preventing ACEs in future generations could reduce levels of early sex (under 16 years) by 33%, unintended teen pregnancy by 38%, smoking by 16%, cannabis use by 33%, heroin/crack use by 59% and poor diet by 14%.
Until we see political and social reform Social Workers can help the vulnerable groups they support by working in preventative ways, rather than concentrating solely on crisis intervention; act as advocates for people that encounter injustices; empower people to become involved in decisions that affect them; challenge oppressive working practices; and most importantly, advocate for political and social change.
It is important for social workers to engage in the current debate about how to prevent harmful childhood adversity and challenge structural inequalities that compound them. If you would like to learn more, I've added some recommended books at the end of this post. You should also take a look at this video of Mark Bellis at the World Health Organisation:
Welfare isn't just about being a decent human being.
I read in the Guardian today that Downing Street have announced Iain Duncan Smith will remain Work and Pensions Minister following the Conservatives electoral win last week. They reported that he will “continue with his task of “making work pay and reforming welfare” as the government implements the universal credit reforms and imposes £12bn in cuts on the welfare budget”. This will be in addition to the £30bn that the Institute of Fiscal Studies say the Tories will also need to find in real-terms cuts from ‘unprotected’ departments, including social care and defence. The news of a Tory win last Thursday didn’t go down well with some. There were large demonstrations in London over the weekend; although it was only the violent clashes with riot police outside Downing Street that seem to have made the headlines. However, the arrests don’t seem to have deterred them; and the anti-austerity group behind the protest are planning another demonstration outside the Bank of England next month.
Like many, I am genuinely worried about the proposed cuts and what that means for social work. I posted last week that Peter Kinderman, Professor of Clinical Psychology & Head of the Institute of Psychology, Health & Society at the University of Liverpool, has said that one of the best predictors of mental health disorders by far, whether it’s depression, suicidality, psychosis, are all life events. The strongest predictor all by itself is poverty. Not because poverty by itself causes depression, but because it is a predictor of all the other things that are causal. So poverty has been described as the causes of the causes. And those other causes are a whole raft of things – childhood neglect, childhood abuse, loneliness, and problematic parenting, which is usually inter-generational. It’s not about bad parents, it’s about who themselves haven’t perhaps had the sort of childhood that predisposed them to good enough parenting. And so the cycle continues…
There are currently 3.5 million children living in poverty in the UK. That’s almost a third of all children. 1.6 million of these children live in severe poverty. But what the Conservatives don’t want you to know is that 63% of children living in poverty are in a family where someone works. This is why welfare, preventative services, family support and intervention are so vital. We need to break the cycle by providing welfare that brings children out of poverty. Services need to be funded and available to support the most vulnerable and improve parenting so that children can be safeguarded in the care of their family. However, services that were once available have been decimated through cuts over the course of the last parliament and they look set to get worse by 2020.
But welfare isn’t just about being a decent human being; it also makes economic sense.
In the mid-'90s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discovered an exposure that dramatically increased the risk for seven out of ten of the leading causes of death in the United States. In high doses, it affects brain development, the immune system, hormonal systems, and even our DNA. People that are exposed in very high doses have triple the lifetime risk of heart disease and lung cancer and a 20-year difference in life expectancy. It’s not about eating GM foods. It's childhood trauma: things like abuse or neglect, or growing up with a parent who struggles with mental illness or substance dependence; things that we know, according to Peter Kinderman, are strongly linked to poverty. Take a look at this 2014 TED talk by Nadine Burke Harris.
The Adverse Childhood Experiences study found that there was a dose-response relationship between ACEs and health outcomes: the higher your ACE score, the worse your health outcomes. For a person with an ACE score of four or more, their relative risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was two and a half times that of someone with an ACE score of zero. For hepatitis, it was also two and a half times. For depression, it was four and a half times. For suicidality, it was 12 times. A person with an ACE score of seven or more had triple the lifetime risk of lung cancer and three and a half times the risk of ischemic heart disease, the number one killer in the United States of America.
Now, you might be thinking – this is interesting but it’s about a study conducted in the United States. Can we rely on the findings to support welfare as a public health initiative in the UK? Well…. In 2014 Mark Bellis and colleagues published a retrospective study to determine the impact of adverse childhood experiences on adult health behaviours and health outcomes in a UK population. They also found that increasing ACEs were strongly related to adverse behavioural, health and social outcomes. Compared to those with 0 ACEs those with 4+ ACEs had a greater risk of poor educational and employment outcomes; low mental wellbeing and life satisfaction; recent violence involvement; incarceration; recent inpatient hospital care and chronic health conditions; and early unplanned pregnancy. All of this suggests a cyclic effect where those with higher ACE counts have higher risks of exposing their own children to ACEs.
There are more studies here, here, and here.
It’s clear that these childhood experiences place a burden on a UK population’s health, NHS and judicial system; and there is a strong case for the government to invest in effective interventions to prevent them. That’s why the World Health Organization and global health partners are promoting research into the extent and impact of them around the world. So, why is it that during this time of growing evidential support for preventative work, is the government promoting a false economy through welfare cuts and dismantling the welfare system???
In 2007 Lynne Wrennall identified failures in the UK’s work with vulnerable children. She believes that the morale of a “great many caring, compassionate, highly competent, and creative social workers” would be “vastly improved if their primary function was again focused on assisting, rather than dismantling, families, upon working creatively toward this end with the resources and the legislative and managerial support to do so”. However, she also acknowledges that sometimes “an out-of-home placement is unavoidable”, and that in those instances “a programme leading towards re-unification and rehabilitation must be implemented”. She advocates for a “European model” that “strongly favours an educative role for social workers and a primary task of maintaining family unity, utilising and coordinating services toward this end and focusing on `educating’ the parents and family in social norms and values”.
But for this to happen the conservative government would first need to reframe the way it thinks about the most vulnerable people in our society and invest in their future wellbeing and health. Local Authorities would need greater funding to hire more social workers so that caseloads are at a manageable level where they have the time to undertake intensive direct work with families again. They would need to fund preventative and outreach services that can directly tackle problems before children become at risk of significant harm. Instead, proposals have been tabled to jail social workers who fail to prevent neglect, despite the necessary infrastructure to properly address it; and the shock result of a Conservative majority victory signals deeper, faster cuts than ever before. Communitycare has urged Social Workers to channel whatever they are feeling about the election result into something that isn’t apathy, because the profession looks set to be needed like never before and I have to agree.
P.S. Please follow me on facebook and/or twitter to see posts as they're added to my site
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What 4 of HubSpot’s Recruiters, Hiring Managers, & Executives Say About Being a “Jack of All Trades”
When Karla Cook, the current Editor of HubSpot’s Marketing Blog, first joined the team as a staff writer in July 2016, she realized she had more in common with most of her new teammates than she originally thought.
As a rhetoric major at Bates College, a liberal arts school in Maine, Karla spent more time analyzing political speeches and honing her debate skills than studying marketing methodologies. She had also just spent the last year and a half working as a Support Engineer at HubSpot and was working her way through a masters degree in Corporate Communications.
In other words, she was what most corporate folks would call, a “jack of all trades”. But, as a pleasant surprise to her, so were many of her teammates at HubSpot.
On the Blog Team, five of the seven total members were liberal arts graduates with majors spanning from theatre, communications, psychology, government, and international relations. Most of the bloggers didn’t begin their careers in marketing either. Grant writing, admissions, business analysis, production, and journalism sparked most of the team’s journey into the working world.
A year after Karla joined the team, Cobloom (a SaaS growth marketing agency) released a research report about the SaaS blogs who attract the most organic search traffic in the world. HubSpot’s blog was ranked number one.
With a team full of generalists who never studied or specialized in marketing, they still generated three times more organic traffic than Google’s own blog. So is the old saying that a jack of all trades is a master of none actually true? And why is there so much suffocating pressure put on college students to specialize in only one discipline?
As jobs become more specialized in today’s workforce, it seems logical to hone a specific skill set, especially during school.
But only learning the skills that match the exact requirements of a job today might not prepare you for your job tomorrow.
According to a study conducted by researchers from LinkedIn and the World Economics Forum, majoring in specialized subjects like marketing, finance, IT, and computer science don’t teach students the necessary skills to adapt to sudden industry changes and other fields of work, whereas broad majors like literature, history, political science, and economics do.
Mark Cuban, a billionaire investor, has also called liberal arts majors free thinkers who can quickly adapt to the rapid evolution of most industries nowadays.
Marketing is one of the ever-evolving industries that Cuban says liberal arts majors thrive in. Fifteen years ago, content marketing didn’t even exist. But, today, it’s the top hiring area in the creative job market, with 25% of executives planning to grow their team this year.
Meghan Keaney Anderson, a Vice President of Marketing at HubSpot, believes content marketing’s swift evolution will continue to accelerate. And the only way to keep up is by being adaptable.
"The world changes incredibly quickly in our industry. What is today a central skill, channel, or strategy may not be tomorrow. We need people who are adaptable and, more than that, who are fascinated by change and have a mental framework and curiosity to learn new approaches,” she says. “I've found that liberal arts majors in particular have a great disposition for that kind of work -- critical thinking, diverse interests, and a strong inclination to understand new areas."
Keaney Anderson suggests there may be some essential content marketing skills today that will be rendered superfluous in the future. There could even be roles sprouting up that don’t even exist right now. This isn’t intimidating to liberal arts majors or jack of all trades, though. They’ve learned how to learn and feel comfortable grasping new skills and concepts.
But one skill the industry will always need and marketers constantly need to keep honing is storytelling -- neuroscience proves that it's the best way to capture people’s attention, bake information into their memories, and forge close, personal bonds. We’re programmed to pay our undivided attention to a great story -- that’ll never change.
For a story to be compelling, though, it needs good writing behind it. But writing well in the marketing world doesn’t mean scribbling the most flowery and poetic prose possible. It means logically presenting or dissecting an argument in a clear, concise, and compelling way.
According to Emma Brudner, HubSpot's Director of both the Blog and Community Teams, diversifying your education or skillset will arm you with the critical thinking abilities needed to write well.
“Liberal arts teaches students to not only write, but also to think critically. David McCullough, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, once said ‘Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly.’ I love this quote and I think about it a lot when hiring writers.” she says. “For the type of writing my team does, being able to organize thoughts and information clearly is imperative -- even more important in my experience than the specific knowledge a more specialized degree, like marketing or advertising, might instill.”
While Brudner speaks to the importance of sharpening your critical thinking skills to write compelling content, developing your creativity is just as crucial for marketing success. According to neuroscience, it’s what drives innovation.
Creativity happens when you mash seemingly unrelated concepts together to form a new idea. Neuroscientists call this synaptic play, and the more incongruent the concepts are, the more synapses occur in your brain.
Studying a variety of disciplines or working in different fields supplies you with a bank of diverse knowledge and experiences to pull from to make these creative connections. And Kipp Bodnar, HubSpot’s Chief Marketing Officer, believes a brain full of diverse inputs will lead to much more inventive ideas.
“Connecting the dots is where so much of the success in marketing comes from. When you have a marketer who has done various aspects of marketing, they are able to understand how everything works together, which helps them accomplish much more than if their focus was isolated to only one deep discipline.”
Bodnar is describing something called cognitive diversity, where having a lot of different inputs in your head lets you connect dots that have never been connected before, giving you an entirely different perspective on things. This not only enables you to be more creative, but it also allows you to challenge the status quo and push your team to do better work.
Liberal arts majors and jack of all trades tend to have more cognitive diversity than their specialized peers, which is a huge reason why Sara DeBrule, the International Marketing Recruiting Team Lead at HubSpot, believes a jack of all trades can be a vital asset to any type of team.
“For a team where the majority of people are specialized, the case for hiring someone who is a jack of all trades is that they have enough perspective on the different types of marketing that they can test the assumptions of a team, push a team to operate in a more cross functional capacity, and round out the overall experience,” she says. “Jack of all trades can also be crucial for an early stage company where it's an all hands on deck effort and people need to leverage disparate skill sets on a daily basis and context switch.”
The Jack of All Trades Can Be a Master of All
When I was a freshman in college, skeptically studying economics at a liberal arts school, I spent countless hours scouring the internet for every article that weighed the pros and cons of a general and specialized education. Every liberal arts critic said I was going to lag behind my specialized peers at work. Every proponent said I was going to propel past them.
So after hours on the phone with my dad and getting his blessing to transfer to a school where I could major in finance, I decided to go with my gut. I took a chance on the arts. And it’s the best decision I’ve ever made.
My liberal arts education taught me how to learn, think critically, and, most importantly, write. And those skills got me a job at HubSpot. If I had taken the other route, who knows what I’d be doing. Odd are, I’d be wearing a suit to work everyday and crunching numbers in a spreadsheet, not knowing what I’d do with my career if an algorithm started doing my job better than I could.
Topic: Marketing
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Brian Greene still plugging string theory
Sam Harris interviews Brian Greene in this two-hour video.
Greene is indignant when Harris says that string theory has failed to deliver the goods. Greene says that the theory has made great progress, and has merged gravity and quantum mechanics. The only trouble is that we do not know what that merged theory is, and it has made any testable predictions. That is not much of a criticism, he says, because no quantum gravity theory will ever make any testable predictions.
Someone asked about Bohr saying that physics is about observables. Greene prefers a wider view, and says that physics should look behind the curtain and tell us what is really going on.
So Greene can justify a string theory with no testable predictions.
Greene also defended many-worlds theory and Bohmian mechanics, altho he has not fully adopted them because the measurement problem is unsolved.
Harris points out that Bohmian mechanics is nonlocal, so doing something in one place can have an instantaneous distant effect. Greene agreed, but said that quantum mechanics is nonlocal anyway.
Greene is very misleading here. It is true that in textbook QM, if you make a measurement and collapse the wavefunction, then your knowledge of some distant particle can be immediately affected. You can say that is nonlocal, but classical mechanics is nonlocal in the same way. Bohmian mechanics is different in that it says that an electron is in one place, but its physical effects are in another place. That is a fatal flaw, since no such nonlocality has ever been observed in nature.
And any defense of many-worlds is nutty.
He gives this argument, common among many-worlds advocates, that it is a simpler theory, and thus preferable under Occam's Razor. He gives an example. Suppose a simple quantum experiments results in an electron being in one of two places, symbolized by his left hand and right hand. Suppose you then find the electron in his left hand. Under Copenhagen, you would deduce that the electron is not in his right hand. But that deduction is an extra step, and the many-worlds theory is more parsimonious because it skips that step and posits that the electron is in his right hand in a parallel universe.
It is amazing to see an educated man make such a silly argument with a straight face. The argument really doesn't even have much to do with quantum mechanics, as you could use it with any theory that makes predictions, and concoct a many-worlds variant of the theory that does not make any predictions.
Besides many-worlds, Greene defends physical theories in which anything can happen. If you assume infinite space, infinite time, infinite universes, etc., then pretty much anything you can imagine would be happening somewhere, and happening infinitely many times. In particular, Jesus rose from the dead.
Greene agrees with Harris that humans have no free will. Greene rejects Harris's determinism, but says that the laws of physics have no room for free will.
At least Greene did not go along with Harris's wacky consequentialist vegetarian philosophy.
It is too bad that Physics does not have better spokesmen.
Labels: quantum, strings
CFT January 11, 2019 at 2:26 PM
If I said I had a solution, and you asked where, and I said it was located somewhere in a haystack of 10^500 (this is now a very low estimate) solutions... I don't think you would consider my answer a 'solution' even remotely useful for finding a working answer.
Nothing we can actually measure is infinite, invoking it in a relationship or ratio with anything finite is meaningless. Scientists should stay away from using the term infinite in arguments as it is untestable and resolves nothing.
MD Cory January 13, 2019 at 6:29 AM
"You can say that is nonlocal, but classical mechanics is nonlocal in the same way."
Again, not sure you understand the significance of nonseperability. Can you show me a classical physics example that gives the same results as Bell's test experiments?
As I said before, there is a physically real correlation at a spacelike separation. It doesn't matter if you think the wavefunction is ontic or not or that Bohr's distinction between the classical and quantum holds because you have a macro-level correlation in the world beyond the speed of light that anyone with eyes can observe. It really has nothing to do with false counterfactuals given that we are not trying to talk about unobserved measurements but the very ones we actually made. You can't use hidden variables, so what is the common cause? Perfect anti-correlation of spins at equal angles rids separability and correlations at unequal angles destroys hidden variables.
Roger January 13, 2019 at 10:20 PM
MD Cory, fair question. I will post an answer.
Yes, there are real correlations.
The perfect anti-correlation of spins at equal angles is just what you expect from a classical theory, if a conservation law applies. If two identical particles get ejected from one point, then we expect conservation of energy, momentum, angular momentum, etc. So measuring one tells you what to expect from measuring the other. If you consider that nonlocal, then classical mechanics is nonlocal.
Yes, correlations at unequal angles destroy local hidden variables. Okay, but saying that there is no local hidden variable theory allows the possibility of other local theories.
The common cause is physical, and not described by hidden variables.
The derivations of Bell inequalities always use something like spin, where measuring spin in one direction disrupts what would have been measured in another direction. It only seems fishy if you start making some assumptions about counterfactuals.
MD Cory January 14, 2019 at 7:42 PM
Bell is a statement of mathematics. Bell: "Let this more complete specification be effected by means of parameters λ. It is a matter of indifference in the following whether λ denotes a single variable or a set, or even a set of functions, and whether the values are discrete or continuous." Lambda can be psi, so QM is nonlocal. If you reject the concepts of quantum mechanics then you are overrating the accomplishments of quantum mechanics to explain the world, let alone the newfangled nonsense they are talking about now.
Roger January 14, 2019 at 8:02 PM
Bell only proved that his classical alternative to QM is nonlocal. He didn't prove anything about QM, except that it differs from his classical alternative.
Nonsense. QM is a nonlocal theory, whether reality is or not. Lambda can be psi! Furthermore, there is nothing statistical in the Greenberger–Horne–Zeilinger experiment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GHZ_experiment
No, lambda cannot be psi. The Bell inequality has been tested experimentally. The QM of psi was confirmed. The lambda was disproved. The whole point of Bell's theorem was to show that it is not possible to have both.
Whether or not there is anything statistical in GHZ is irrelevant.
Yes, lambda can be psi. Good God, go read the paper! Bell simply conditionalizes on it. Bell's inequality isn't strictly about quantum mechanics. QM predicts the violation, so it's nonlocal. Your point about counterfactuals is what is irrelevant.
"Indeed, Werner’s conceit that Operational quantum physics is some newfangled theory, the likes of which never occurred to Einstein and Bell (and me) is a complete fabrication: Operational quantum physics is just plain-old vanilla Copenhagen quantum physics, the very theory that Einstein derided for its spooky action-at-a-distance. He derided it for exactly the reason illustrated in Werner’s own presentation: by taking the physical state just to be the epistemic state, the theory already commits itself to violating EPR-locality in an EPR situation. The predictive state ascribed to S1 is changed after observing the distant system S2. So if the predictive state is the physical state, then the physical state changes. The geometry of the state space plays no role at all in this argument."
https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1408/1408.1828.pdf
Non-realists simply don't have a theory and there's nothing convincing about their arguments that such a theory would not need to revamp quantum mechanics to get anywhere.
"At the end of the day, it may be that the lesson of Bell’s theorem is that the world is causally non-local. Or it may be that the lesson is that measurements have multiple equally real outcomes. Or it may be that effects can come before their causes. Or it may even be that no description of the quantum world can be given—although this latter conclusion seems to me to be a last resort."
http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/11372/
MD Cory January 16, 2019 at 12:45 PM
"As should be clear from a fair reading of the Bell original article, the Bell theorem starts exactly from the alternative established by the EPR-Bohm argument—namely, locality and completeness cannot stand together—and goes for the proof that, whatever form the completability of quantum mechanics might assume, the resulting theory cannot preserve the statistical predictions of quantum mechanics and be local at the same time: this means that neither a pre-existing property assumption (or ‘Objectivity’ or ‘Classicality’ or whatever synonymous one likes to choose) nor a determinism assumption are assumed in the derivation of the original Bell inequality...
Suppose in the actual world the experimenter has chosen the axis z: if her measuring operations cannot affect by definition what axis is chosen – and what outcome has been obtained – on the other side, this holds naturally for whatever choice and this makes it invalid to claim that in an ordinary EPR argument we have adopted a conterfactual definiteness assumption in addition to locality"
https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1705/1705.01356.pdf
You provide examples of people who refuse to accept quantum mechanics. It is like finding people who are hung up on the twin paradox, and refuse to accept relativity.
Funny, they would say the same about you. You have no argument but ad hominems. Here is Bell: “THE paradox of Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen [1] was advanced as an argument that quantum mechanics could not be a complete theory but should be supplemented by additional variables. These additional variables were to ***RESTORE*** to the theory causality and locality [2]” https://cds.cern.ch/record/111654/files/vol1p195-200_001.pdf
The only position localists have left is a mystical anti-realism they can't even explain. Consistent histories just abandons logic: "But a physical theory is not simply a game for which one can impose arbitrary rules about what reasonings are permitted for the propositions of the theory; if a physical theory implies both P and Q then the logical consequences of both P and Q will hold in a world governed by that theory and there is nothing that the proponents of the theory can do to prevent that. One might try to find an actual objection against the reasoning leading to inequality (1), but one cannot simply state as a ‘rule’ that the reasoning is forbidden." http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Bell%27s_theorem#Consistent_histories
Ronde (2015) says Griffiths "framework" theory is contrived: "Unfortunately, still today the problem remains with no solution within the limits of the orthodox formalism. There is no physical representation of the process without the addition of strange ad hoc rules, unjustified mathematical jumps and the like. These rules 'added by hand', not only lack any physical justification but, more importantly, also limit the counterfactual discourse of the meaningful physical statements provided by the theory" https://arxiv.org/abs/1502.05396
I don't find these kinds of ad hoc explanations even remotely convincing.
Roger January 17, 2019 at 9:29 AM
No, the hidden variables are not intended to restore either locality or causality. They have nothing to do with either one. They are to replace quantum theory with a classical theory.
Let me refine the point: to somehow who doesn't project paranoia onto certain physicists, a local hidden variable theory is certainty meant to restore locality. I would certainly believe that is why Bell said this and not what you said.
When you just make logic up as you go along, I guess I can simply profess to not understand what you are saying. The point about counterfactuals simply doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever: Bell cites exactly the EPR correlations (for any chosen direction a to measure spin) and a locality condition ("if two measurements are made at places remote from one another the orientation of one magnet does not influence the result obtained by the other") and concludes ("it follows that") that the theory must postulate an initial state for the particles that predetermines the results of all possible spin measurements and therefore must assign a more complete state than the singlet state. No invocation, either explicit or implicit, of any assumption of counterfactual definiteness appears in this argument. Rather, a form of counterfactual definiteness, i.e. the claim that the initial state of the particles must determine what the result of any spin measurement would have been, follows from the argument. For if the initial state of the particles predetermines the outcome of spin measurements made in any direction, then the initial state determines what the outcome would have been had any specific measurement been made. What Bell would have said about counterfactual definiteness is just what he said about determinism: to the limited extent that counterfactual definiteness plays any role in the argument, it is not assumed but inferred. What is held sacred is the principle of "local causality"—or "no action at a distance".
https://scinapse.io/papers/2071535262
Is some research too politically dangerous?
Belief in infinite doppelgangers
No need for new collider
The Black Hole Singularity
Psychiatrist blogger tries Kuhnian paradigms
Atomic laws are not deterministic
IBM announces quantum computer
Paper argues QM is about determinables
The characteristic trait of quantum mechanics
The Mind Body Problems
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Healthbase customer: From Indiana to India: Dyer woman seeks health care abroad
Healthbase customer talks to nwi times regarding her upcoming spine surgery medical travel:
In less than a week, Erin Tacke will fly 8,500 miles for surgery that could be done five minutes from her house. Stuck with an insurance plan that won't cover the procedure and without $100,000 handy to pay out of pocket, the 37-year-old Dyer woman will have a minimally invasive spinal fusion in Bangalore, India. "I feel really good about the decision," she said. "It's a little scary, but that's OK." The fear is quelled by hope that the ever-present pain, pinching and numbness will be gone in hours and that a healthier life will come after physical therapy. The married mother of two, who also is a breast cancer survivor, is among the growing number of people seeking cheaper medical treatment overseas. She arranged the surgery through medical tourism company Healthbase Online Inc.
Healthbase started with hospitals in five countries and now works with 21. The company links patients with doctors who offer medical, cosmetic and dental procedures. Facilities and doctors must meet local and international standards. The company does cost and doctor comparisons, and the patient chooses one.
Tacke had a conference call with her neurosurgeon, who often travels to the U.S. to give medical talks and even did his clinical fellowship at Wayne State University in Detroit. "It's not like I picked a name out of a hat," Tacke said. Tacke, who had a discectomy in 2007, is covered by her self-employed husband's insurance policy. But the discectomy — the surgical removal of herniated disc material that presses on a nerve root or the spinal cord — puts her in a "pre-existing condition" category. She signed a document stating medical treatment to her spine would not be covered. In 2009, the pain returned, and an MRI showed things had worsened. She tried cortisone shots and physical therapy, to no avail, and has leaned on narcotic painkillers and muscle relaxers since then.
She said going abroad for care is the best option for her. The 2010 major federal health care overhaul, often called Obamacare, does not fully take effect until 2014. "To be asked to hold on for two more years, it's not a way to live," she said. Tacke said in the U.S. she would have paid up to $100,000, not including physical therapy, for her surgery. In India, it will cost $16,000, including the surgery, meals, airfare, transportation and the post-surgery hotel stay for her and her mother-in-law. The hospitals have a separate wing for international patients. The rooms have an extra bed for the patient's companion, as well as Internet access, TV and DVD player. Some people picture the impoverished parts of India when Tacke mentions her trip, but she is quick to show them websites for the modern hospital and upscale hotel where she will recover.
More at:
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/dyer/from-indiana-to-india
-dyer-woman-seeks-health-care-abroad/article_8ab9efe8-d614-5d4c-b510
-32f763366c1e.html
Posted by Healthbase Blog at 6:25 AM
Healthbase customer: From Indiana to India: Dyer w...
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Table Reflection: Handling Player Character Death
Most tabletop games take place in a world where death is a daily or weekly risk; they are glimpses of adventure, action, and risk rather than merely consisting of experiences with safety and security of an organized and regimented society. As such, characters tend to die, and many of these characters will be important. Some are meant to die, and others are not, but there’s a few general rules for the death of player characters that will keep GM’s and players happy.
A core element of player death should be consent. This doesn’t necessarily have to be on a case-by-case basis, but even just a simple acknowledgment that a certain game is likely to kill characters. Obviously, it’s not always practical to ask players if they will let their characters die after an event which precludes recovery happens, such as their unfortunate transformation into chunky tomato paste, so there has to be some middle-ground. A lot of this can be sidestepped in systems that allow player narrative control, such as Savage Worlds, in which a Bennie can be used to change the course of play and prevent death. In many cases it will be necessary to roll back time to avoid players’ characters demises, though this is not always more desirable.
Should death happen, however, the question arises of how to let players resume play. In some games, death is a method of preventing character unbalance; in Shadowrun it’s often better to kill off a character than to let them hit the immortality-style power levels that come with 750 or 1000 Karma (or even 250, depending on who you ask), at least from a GM’s perspective. In addition, a game like Dungeons and Dragons can be kept from going into epic level content this way, if a game master wants to keep the same feel for the whole campaign.
In these cases it is advisable to start characters again from scratch. This has the unfortunate downside of creating characters less powerful than the rest of the group, which, again, shows more in an inflexible regimented system like Dungeons and Dragons where characters are given explicit levels than in something like Shadowrun or Savage Worlds where characters are built from points and have aptitudes and flaws that allow them to have power beyond what would normally be a “level’s average” in exchange for being less powerful in other ways, and players may be locked into the same archetype across multiple lives.
However, in many games you can run constantly advancing characters and catch players back up to where they were, especially early in a campaign or if the players are encountering goals that are always designed for their level. The caution about this is to make sure that it doesn’t become a way for players who are merely bored with their characters to play a new guy every week. Although this is not always undesirable, it does mean more effort for the GM and can cause unforeseen consequences with party role interaction.
One of the key elements of all player character death, however, is to make sure that it’s fair. As a GM or a player, you do not want to inconvenience the group with constant deaths without a good cause, and as a GM you are also responsible to not pick on individual players, since group unity is a major part of having a good experience at your table.
Author KylePosted on September 13, 2013 September 12, 2013 Categories Table ReflectionTags Characters, Death, Table Reflection
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Why Legalization Matters for Cannabis Research in Canada
Nov 13, 2018 10:00:00 AM / by Alex Goldberg, Ph.D
Canada has recently passed new legislation legalizing cannabis throughout the country. Lineups at government-regulated stores were seen all over the country, with people eagerly awaiting legally sold marijuana for the first time ever in Canada. The demand is high, with many shops around Canada quickly selling out of many popular products on day 1. As the market is set to explode, the Canadian government has begun to invest heavily towards cannabis research, with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research funding around $20 million worth of projects within the last 5 years and ready to dole out another $3 million in the next few months.
Currently, the Canadian government has set tight restrictions and regulations on the sale of cannabis. There is an age limit, a carrying limit of 30 grams per person, and restrictions on promoting the use of cannabis, particularly to those under 18 years of age. To sell cannabis, you must be licensed by the government; however, there are currently 129 producers allowed to distribute the plant, making it highly accessible. You can buy from in-person or online stores, where cannabis products are classified into two strains: indica, which gives a typically calming high, and sativa, which has more invigorating effects. Each strain can be purchased individually, as a hybrid, or as a blend in either flower, ground, pre-rolled, oil, spray, or pill form.
The cannabis plant is renowned for its trichomes, small structures on the epidermis of the cannabis plant that release compounds with strong odors that deter animals from eating them. The two chemicals that cannabis primarily secretes are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is responsible for its mind-altering effects, and cannabidiol (CBD), which has anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety properties. These compounds exert their effects by binding to endogenous cannabinoid G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and activating downstream mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling. The two most characterized receptors are cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2), which are distributed throughout the body, including in the brain, peripheral nervous system, gut, immune system (in macrophages, lymphatic tissues, and the spleen), arteries, heart, lungs, and endocrine glands. Because of this, ingestion of cannabis can have widespread physiological effects, ranging from increased appetite to cytokine release and dampening of pain.1,2
While the main attraction of legalizing cannabis lies in its recreational use, marijuana plants have also been studied extensively for both their therapeutic potential, giving rise to a global medical marijuana industry. Though cannabis itself is still not approved by the FDA for any specific use, CBD was approved this year for patients who suffer from two rare forms of epilepsy, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome, that can cause frequent and severe seizures. Two other synthetic cannabinols, dronabinol and nabilone, were approved many years ago for the treatment of nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy in patients with cancer (dronabinol is also approved to treat anorexia in patients with HIV). With cannabinoid receptors found in the digestive system (one of the reasons people get the munchies after smoking cannabis), much current research has gone into monitoring the effects of cannabinols on gut-associated diseases, like Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and gastric ulcers. These compounds have also been studied as therapeutics for chronic pain and inflammation, ocular pathologies (e.g. glaucoma, retinitis pigmentosa, and diabetic retinopathy), and neurodegenerative diseases.1
Unfortunately for scientists, the Canadian government has yet to rescind its regulations on using cannabis for research purposes. An exemption must still be requested prior to performing any study on the plant, though several prominent researchers are asking the government to ease the current restrictions, with the hopes that more data can be gleaned from cannabis’ legalization that would address both the risks and potential benefits of the plant and the compounds it produces.
Maurya N, Velmurugan BK. Therapeutic applications of cannabinoids. Chem Biol Interact. 2018;293:77-88.
Vadivelu N, Kai AM, Kodumudi G, Sramcik J, Kaye AD. Medical Marijuana: Current Concepts, Pharmacological Actions of Cannabinoid Receptor Mediated Activation, and Societal Implications. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2018;22(3):1-10.
Topics: Science, Clinical Trials, Cannabis
Written by Alex Goldberg, Ph.D
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Happy July 4th!
Happy July 4th, Everyone!
Today is supposed to be a day to celebrate our nation's independence (if you're from the United States).
Many of us like to use it as an excuse to get together with family or friends and barbeque. Although, I'm in the North, and IT IS HOT!
I don't know the temperature, but reports indicate that it could reach 100 degrees, and we're in the "cold" part of the country. So I don't know how much outdoor partying will be happening. Then again, there are always people who like to try staring down Mother Nature--only to lose, every time! So there might be plenty of outdoor parties--even on a scorching day like today.
Taken from Wikipedia, here is some background on July 4th, the Independence Day of the United States.
Independence Day (United States)
"Fourth of July" and "4th of July" redirect here. For the date, see July 4. For other uses, see Fourth of July (disambiguation).
Displays of fireworks, such as these over the Washington Monument, take place across the United States on Independence Day.
Observed by
The day the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress
Fireworks, Family reunions, Concerts, Barbecues, Picnics, Parades, Baseball games
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.[1][2][3]
2 Observance
3 Customs
4 Unique or historical celebrations
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain.[4][5] After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.[6]
Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.[7]
Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.[8][9][10][11][12]
In a remarkable coincidence, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, but another Founding Father who became a President, James Monroe, died on July 4, 1831, thus becoming the third president in a row who died on this memorable day. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, was born on July 4, 1872, and, so far, is the only President to have been born on Independence Day.
An 1825 invitation to an Independence Day celebration
In 1777, thirteen gunshots were fired in salute, once at morning and once again as evening fell, on July 4 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern American would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews, and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white, and blue bunting.[13]
In 1778, General George Washington marked July 4 with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute. Across the Atlantic Ocean, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, France.[14]
In 1779, July 4 fell on a Sunday. The holiday was celebrated on Monday, July 5.[14]
In 1781 the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognize July 4 as a state celebration.[14]
In 1783, Moravians in Salem, North Carolina, held a celebration of July 4 with a challenging music program assembled by Johann Friedrich Peter. This work was titled "The Psalm of Joy".
In 1791 the first recorded use of the name "Independence Day" occurred.
In 1820 the first Fourth of July celebration was held in Eastport, Maine which remains the largest in the state.[15]
In 1870, the U.S. Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees.[16]
In 1938, Congress changed Independence Day to a paid federal holiday.[17]
In addition to a fireworks show, Miami lights one of its tallest buildings with the patriotic red, white and blue color scheme on Independence Day
New York City's fireworks display, shown above over the East Village, is sponsored by Macy's and the largest[18] in the country
Patriotic trailer shown in theaters prior to the July 4, 1940
A festively decorated fourth of July cake.
Independence Day is a national holiday marked by patriotic displays. Similar to other summer-themed events, Independence Day celebrations often take place outdoors. Independence Day is a federal holiday, so all non-essential federal institutions (like the postal service and federal courts) are closed on that day. Many politicians make it a point on this day to appear at a public event to praise the nation's heritage, laws, history, society, and people.
Families often celebrate Independence Day by hosting or attending a picnic or barbecue and take advantage of the day off and, in some years, long weekend to gather with relatives. Decorations (e.g., streamers, balloons, and clothing) are generally colored red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag. Parades are often in the morning, while fireworks displays occur in the evening at such places as parks, fairgrounds, or town squares.
The night before the Fourth was once the focal point of celebrations, marked by raucous gatherings often incorporating bonfires as their centerpiece. In New England, towns competed to build towering pyramids, assembled from hogsheads and barrels and casks. They were lit at nightfall, to usher in the celebration. The highest were in Salem, Massachusetts (on Gallows Hill, the famous site of the execution of 13 women and 6 men for witchcraft in 1692 during the Salem witch trials, where the tradition of bonfires in celebration had persisted), composed of as many as forty tiers of barrels; these are the tallest bonfires ever recorded. The custom flourished in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and is still practiced in some New England towns.[19]
Independence Day fireworks are often accompanied by patriotic songs such as the national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner", "God Bless America", "America the Beautiful", "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", "This Land Is Your Land", "Stars and Stripes Forever", and, regionally, "Yankee Doodle" in northeastern states and "Dixie" in southern states. Some of the lyrics recall images of the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812.
Firework shows are held in many states, and many fireworks are sold for personal use or as an alternative to a public show. Safety concerns have led some states to ban fireworks or limit the sizes and types allowed. Illicit traffic transfers many fireworks from less restrictive states.
A salute of one gun for each state in the United States, called a “salute to the union,” is fired on Independence Day at noon by any capable military base.[20]
In 2009, New York City had the largest fireworks display in the country, with over 22 tons of pyrotechnics exploded.[18] Other major displays are in Chicago on Lake Michigan; in San Diego over Mission Bay; in Boston on the Charles River; in St. Louis on the Mississippi River; in San Francisco over the San Francisco Bay; and on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. During the annual Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival, Detroit, Michigan hosts one of the world's largest fireworks displays, over the Detroit River, to celebrate Independence Day in conjunction with Windsor, Ontario's celebration of Canada Day.
While the official observance always falls on July 4th, participation levels may vary according to which day of the week the 4th falls on. If the holiday falls in the middle of the week, some fireworks displays and celebrations may take place during the weekend for convenience, again, varying by region.
The first week of July is typically one of the busiest American travel periods of the year, as many people utilize the holiday for extended vacation trips.[21]
Unique or historical celebrations
Originally entitled Yankee Doodle, this is one of several versions of a scene painted by A. M. Willard that came to be known as The Spirit of '76. Often imitated or parodied, it is a familiar symbol of American patriotism
Held since 1785, the Bristol Fourth of July Parade in Bristol, Rhode Island is the oldest continuous Independence Day celebration in the United States.
Since 1868, Seward, Nebraska has held a celebration on the same town square. In 1979 Seward was designated “America’s Official Fourth of July City-Small Town USA” by resolution of Congress. Seward has also been proclaimed Nebraska’s Official Fourth of July City” by Governor James Exon in proclamation. Seward is a town of 6,000 but swells to 40,000+ during the July 4 celebrations.[22]
Since 1912, the Rebild Society, a Danish-American friendship organization, has held a July 4 weekend festival that serves as a homecoming for Danish-Americans in the Rebild section of Denmark.[23]
Since 1916, Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City supposedly started as a way to settle a dispute among four immigrants as to who was the most patriotic.
Since 1959, the International Freedom Festival is jointly held in Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario during the last week of June each year as a mutual celebration of Independence Day and Canada Day (July 1). It culminates in a large fireworks display over the Detroit River.
Numerous major and minor league baseball games are played on Independence Day.
The famous Macy's fireworks display usually held over the East River in New York City has been televised nationwide on NBC since 1976. In 2009, the fireworks display was returned to the Hudson River for the first time since 2000 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's exploration of that river.[24]
Since 1970, the annual 10 kilometer Peachtree Road Race is held in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Boston Pops Orchestra has hosted a music and fireworks show over the Charles River Esplanade called the "Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular" annually since 1973.[25] The event was broadcast nationally from 1987 until 2002 on the A&E Network, and has aired since 2003 on CBS.[26][27]
On the Capitol lawn in Washington, D.C., "A Capitol Fourth", a free concert, precedes the fireworks and attracts over half a million people annually.
1776 (musical)
Constitution Day (United States)
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS: JULY 4TH
Taken from the www.FamousBirthdays.com site, here are some birthdays of celebrities and other famous people.
MALIA OBAMA 14
Oldest daughter of 44th U.S. president Barack Obama
Birthplace: New York
Profession: Other
About: Oldest daughter of 44th U.S. president Barack Obama
Did You Know: My sister is Sasha, my mother is Michelle, and my Portuguese Water Dog is Bo.
Associated with: I am the daughter of Barack Obama.
MITCH MILLER (1911-2010)
Bandleader popular for men's chorus "Sing Along with Mitch"
Profession: Musician
About: Bandleader popular for men's chorus "Sing Along with Mitch"
Did You Know: During the 50's & 60's, I headed Colombia records.
Associated with: I have performed with George Gershwin before.
GERALDO RIVERA 69
Ambitious TV personality, news reporter, and talk show host.
Profession: TV Actor
About: Ambitious TV personality, news reporter, and talk show host.
Did You Know: Cheech Marin, a long-time friend, did a parody naming me, "Horrendo Revolver". Also, although some reporters peg me as a "trash journalist," I have been a reporter for Fox News and NBC.
Associated with: John Lennon and I did a benefit concert once
MIKE THE SITUATION SORRENTINO 30
Muscle-bound reality star of "Jersey Shore" on MTV
Profession: Reality Star
About: Muscle-bound reality star of "Jersey Shore" on MTV
Did You Know: I'm an Italian-American reality star better known by my nickname, The Situation, and I love to "GTL" and "fist pump".
Associated with: I have been on 'Conan' with Conan O' Brien.
GEORGE STEINBRENNER (1930-2010)
Irascible owner of the New York Yankees starting in 1973
Birthplace: Ohio
Profession: Entrepreneur
About: Irascible owner of the New York Yankees starting in 1973
Did You Know: People thought I was a jerk, but my baseball team won more than anyone else.
Associated with: I was in one episode of 'Seinfeld' with Jerry Seinfeld.
GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA 85
Voluptuous actress made movies in Italy and America
Birthplace: Italy
Profession: Movie Actress
About: Voluptuous actress made movies in Italy and America
Did You Know: I'm Italian and an actress, and in the 50's I was considered the world's most beautiful woman.
Associated with: I was in 'Hotel Paradiso' with Alec Guinness.
ANN LANDERS (1918-2002)
Advice columnist, twin sister of Abigail Van Buren
Birthplace: Iowa
Profession: Journalist
About: Advice columnist, twin sister of Abigail Van Buren
Did You Know: My real name is Ruth Crowley, but I used a pen name for my column.
Associated with: Abigail Van Buren is my sister.
GLORIA STUART (1910-2010)
Actress since the 1930s played Old Rose in "Titanic"
Birthplace: California
About: Actress since the 1930s played Old Rose in "Titanic"
Did You Know: I'm a third generation Californian and was in "The Invisible Man".
Associated with: I was in 'Titanic' with Kate Winslet.
NEIL SIMON 85
New York playwright of "The Odd Couple" and "Biloxi Blues"
Profession: Author
About: New York playwright of "The Odd Couple" and "Biloxi Blues"
Did You Know: I won a Pulitzer prize for my play "Lost in Yonkers".
Associated with: I was once married to Marsha Mason.
ABIGAIL VAN BUREN 94
Advice column writer of "Dear Abby", which solved newspaper readers' personal problems
About: Advice column writer of "Dear Abby", which solved newspaper readers' personal problems
Did You Know: My legacy and column is now carried on today by my daughter, Jeanne Phillips.
Associated with: I got my last name by taking it from President Martin Van Buren.
CALVIN COOLIDGE (1872-1933)
30th U.S. president (1923-1929)
Birthplace: Massachusetts
Profession: Politician
About: 30th U.S. president (1923-1929)
Did You Know: Despite meeting with reporters more often than any other president, I'm known as a quiet man.
Associated with: Ronald Reagan shared in my view that the size of government should be reduced.
FLOYD LITTLE 70
I am a Pro Football Hall of Fame running back who played for the Denver Broncos.
Birthplace: Connecticut
Profession: Athlete
About: I am a Pro Football Hall of Fame running back who played for the Denver Broncos.
Did You Know: My nickname was 'The Franchise'.
Associated with: Troy Aikman was also a College Football Hall of Fame inductee.
EVA MARIE SAINT 88
Known as Brando's girl Edie Doyle in "On the Waterfront"
Birthplace: New Jersey
About: Known as Brando's girl Edie Doyle in "On the Waterfront"
Did You Know: I worked with Hitchcock and Brando, and received an Emmy in the 90's.
Associated with: I was in 'North by Northwest' by Alfred Hitchcock.
LEONA HELMSLEY (1920-2007)
I am a business woman focusing on the real estate industry, but was later convicted of tax evasion.
About: I am a business woman focusing on the real estate industry, but was later convicted of tax evasion.
Did You Know: My tyrannical behavior got me the nickname Queen of Mean.
Associated with: I once created a huge scene with a misbehaving waiter in front of lawyer, Alan Dershowitz.
RUBE GOLDBERG (1883-1970)
Cartoonist drew complicated inventions to do simple tasks
About: Cartoonist drew complicated inventions to do simple tasks
Did You Know: I was born in San Francisco and founded the National Cartoonists Society.
Associated with: An episode of 'X-files' with Shia LaBeouf was named after me.
GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI (1807-1882)
Italian politician and general,considered to be one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland".
About: Italian politician and general,considered to be one of Italy's "fathers of the fatherland".
Did You Know: I was a central figure in the Italian Risorgimento and fought many military campaigns to form a unified Italy.
Associated with: Many of the greatest intellectuals of my time, such as Victor Hugo, admired me.
TAKAHISA MASUDA 26
I am a Japanese idol and singer signed under Johnny's Entertainment's group, News.
About: I am a Japanese idol and singer signed under Johnny's Entertainment's group, News.
Did You Know: I used to be a backdancer for senior groups like KAT-TUN.
Associated with: I was a part of the group News with fellow member, Keiichiro Koyama.
JIN AKANISHI 28
I am a Japanese singer/songwriter, actor, and radio host who previously sang with the group KAT-TUN.
About: I am a Japanese singer/songwriter, actor, and radio host who previously sang with the group KAT-TUN.
Did You Know: I left KAT-TUN to study abroad in America.
Associated with: KAT-TUN was able to top all three Oricon charts, being only the second artist to do so besides Ayumi Hamasaki.
GINA GLOCKSEN 28
I placed 9th in the sixth season of American Idol.
Birthplace: Illinois
About: I placed 9th in the sixth season of American Idol.
Did You Know: I appeared in season 5, where I was cut in the Hollywood round.
Associated with: I chose fellow American Idol star, Jordin Sparks, to be one of my eight bridesmaids.
BECKI NEWTON 34
I am an American actress best known for playing Amanda Tanen on Ugly Betty.
Profession: TV Actress
About: I am an American actress best known for playing Amanda Tanen on Ugly Betty.
Did You Know: I did TV commercials for Olive Garden.
Associated with: I work with America Ferrera on Ugly Betty.
GEORGE MURPHY (1902-1992)
Dancer, actor, U.S. senator from California
Profession: Broadway Star
About: Dancer, actor, U.S. senator from California
Did You Know: I starred in Broadway Melody of 1938 & Broadway Melody of 1940 in addition to serving in the U.S. Senate.
Associated with: I was a U.S. Senator during the era of Richard Nixon.
American novelist and short story writer who focused on dark romanticism.
About: American novelist and short story writer who focused on dark romanticism.
Did You Know: One of my most famous works is my novel, The Scarlet Letter.
Associated with: Edgar Allan Poe often critiqued my works harshly, but in the end, he recognized the brilliance of my work.
KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND 61
I am an attorney who was the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Maryland from 1995 to 2003.
About: I am an attorney who was the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Maryland from 1995 to 2003.
Did You Know: I am a member of the famous Kennedy family.
Associated with: I was succeeded by Michael Steele as Lieutenant Governor of Maryland.
EMERSON BOOZER 69
Played entire career with the Jets, helped the Jets defeat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.
Birthplace: Georgia
About: Played entire career with the Jets, helped the Jets defeat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.
Did You Know: I ran for over 2,500 yards in college at Maryland Eastern Shore, and in 2010, I was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
Associated with: My quarterback that led us to victory in Super Bowl III was the great Joe Namath.
SAM FARR 71
U.S. Representative for California's 17th congressional district.
About: U.S. Representative for California's 17th congressional district.
Did You Know: My father was a California state senator for many years.
Associated with: I participated in and served for the Peace Corps, like astronaut Mae Carol Jemison.
EDWARD CRAVEN WALKER (1918-2000)
Inventor of the Lava Lamp.
Birthplace: India
About: Inventor of the Lava Lamp.
Did You Know: I was a pilot in World War II.
Associated with: I took Thomas Alva Edison's idea of the light bulb to a whole new level.
STEPHEN MATHER 145
Millionaire and owner of Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company.
About: Millionaire and owner of Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company.
Did You Know: I suffered a severe episode of bipolar disorder in 1903.
Associated with: I became a dedicated conservationist, following in the footsteps of the influential John Muir.
HISTORY-FUN FACTS ABOUT JULY 4TH
As presented by www.PurpleTrail.com...
Independence Day – Fun Facts, History & Trivia about the 4th of July
Here are some Independence Day fun facts, history and trivia. On July the 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress. Thereafter, the 13 colonies embarked on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. This most American of holidays is traditionally celebrated with parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country. As you send out your July 4th party invitations, take a minute to think about how much you really know about what we are celebrating.
4th of July History & Trivia -Did You Know…
The major objection to being ruled by Britain was taxation without representation. The colonists had no say in the decisions of English Parliament.
In May, 1776, after nearly a year of trying to resolve their differences with England, the colonies sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress. Finally, in June, admitting that their efforts were hopeless; a committee was formed to compose the formal Declaration of Independence. Headed by Thomas Jefferson, the committee also included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Philip Livingston and Roger Sherman. On June 28, 1776, Thomas Jefferson presented the first draft of the declaration to Congress.
Betsy Ross, according to legend, sewed the first American flag in May or June 1776, as commissioned by the Congressional Committee.
Independence Day was first celebrated in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.
The Liberty Bell sounded from the tower of Independence Hall on July 8, 1776, summoning citizens to gather for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon.
June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress, looking to promote national pride and unity, adopted the national flag. “Resolved: that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”
The word ‘patriotism’ comes from the Latin patria, which means ‘homeland’ or ‘fatherland.’
The first public Fourth of July event at the White House occurred in 1804.
Before cars ruled the roadway, the Fourth of July was traditionally the most miserable day of the year for horses, tormented by all the noise and by the boys and girls who threw firecrackers at them.
The first Independence Day celebration west of the Mississippi occurred at Independence Creek and was celebrated by Lewis and Clark in 1805.
On June 24, 1826, Thomas Jefferson sent a letter to Roger C. Weightman, declining an invitation to come to Washington, D.C., to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It was the last letter that Jefferson, who was gravely ill, ever wrote.
Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on Independence Day, July 4, 1826.
The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence did not sign at the same time, nor did they sign on July 4, 1776. The official event occurred on August 2, 1776, when 50 men signed it.
The names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were withheld from the public for more than six months to protect the signers. If independence had not been achieved, the treasonable act of the signers would have, by law, resulted in their deaths.
Thomas McKean was the last to sign in January, 1777.
The origin of Uncle Sam probably began in 1812, when Samuel Wilson was a meat packer who provided meat to the US Army. The meat shipments were stamped with the initials, U.S. Someone joked that the initials stood for “Uncle Sam”. This joke eventually led to the idea of Uncle Sam symbolizing the United States government.
In 1941, Congress declared 4th of July a federal legal holiday. It is one of the few federal holidays that have not been moved to the nearest Friday or Monday.
Read more on the Declaration of Independence.
Independence Day Trivia & Facts – An Inspired America:
Thirty places nationwide with “liberty” in their name. Liberty, Missouri (26,232) boasts the highest population of the 30 at 26,232. Iowa has more of these places than any other state at four: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty.
Eleven places have “independence” in their name. The most populous of these is Independence, Missouri, with 113,288 residents.
Five places adopted the name “freedom.” Freedom, California, with 6,000 residents, has the largest population among these.
There is one place named “patriot” — Patriot, Indiana, with a population of 202.
And what could be more fitting than spending the day in a place called “America”? There are five such places in the country, with the most populous being American Fork, Utah, with 21,941 residents. Check out American Fact Finder.
-The Declaration of Independence 4 of July, 1776.
Shop our gorgeous patriotic design collection of July 4th Party Invitations
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U.S. Markets- Week in Review
September 24, 2018 | IN Insider, Education, Expert | BY Trading Central
What's new in U.S. markets? Get up-to-speed quickly with our brief rundown of last week's key market movement written by our North American research desk. It only takes five minutes to learn about the biggest movers, significant technical events, earnings preview and notable corporate news.
The S&P 500 gained 0.85% for the week, with the Nasdaq ending the week slightly negative. The real story was the strong performance of the DOW closing up 2.25% on the week.
On the economic data front, Initial jobless claims reached 201k in week ended September 15th (estimated 210k) from 204k in the previous week. In addition, the Philadelphia Federal Business Outlook increased to 22.9 in September (expected 18) vs. 11.9 in August. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index improved to 60.2 in week ended September 16th from 59 in the prior week. In addition, the Leading Index improved by 0.4% in August (estimated 0.5%) vs. 0.6% in July. Finally, existing home sales remained unchanged MoM at 5.34M in August (expected 5.37M).
We remain bullish the S&P 500 with a cautious tone as the index sits at record highs inside a rising wedge pattern. Our stop-loss pivot is set at 2873 to match the previous record high set back in January. Our short term targets are set at 2971.75 and 3000. The rising wedge pattern is a warning sign of a possible market top forming. Look for a close below the 20-day simple moving average to confirm the bearish wedge pattern. A small pullback is warranted at these levels before a continuation higher beyond the record high. The RSI remains above its 50 level supported by a short-term rising trend line indicating positive momentum is still in play.
70% of S&P 500 stocks are trading above their 50-day moving average. Historically when this level reaches the 75% to 80% zone there has been a dip in the markets.
The VIX is now bullish above key support at 10.45. We anticipate a gradual increase in volatility as we are currently at historic low levels. A pullback in the markets is anticipated within the next few weeks as we approach VIX support.
Looking at relative strength of the majors, The DOW vs the Nasdaq index had been underperforming throughout the year until this month where the ratio broke above the long term declining trendline. For the month of September, the DOW leads all U.S. indices. Technology stocks have been under pressure and this trend may continue until the end of the year.
Notable technical events:
50D MA cross over: Booking Holdings (BKNG +0.46% to $1956.74), Chevron (CVX +1.43% to $121.13).
Relative strength stock/S&P500 50D MA cross under: NetFlix (NFLX -1.14% to $361.19).
Key corporate news,
On the corporate front, Texas Instruments (TXN +4.45% WoW to $110.05) boosted its quarterly dividend by 24% YoY to $0.77 (estimated $0.75) and announced that its Board has authorized a repurchase of an additional $12B of its common stock over time.
Adobe Systems (ADBE -5.03% WoW to $260.88) has entered into a definite agreement to acquire Marketo, the cloud platform for B2B marketing engagement, for $4.75B. The transaction is expected to close in 4Q2018.
McDonald's (MCD +2.77% WoW to $165.3) raised its quarterly dividend by 15% to $1.16 and boosted its cash return to shareholders to $25B for the three years ending 2019.
Red Hat (RHT -9.57% WoW to $134.62) reported 2Q adj. EPS of $0.85 (estimated $0.82) vs. $0.77 a year ago on revenue of $822.7M (forecasted $828.1M) from $723.3M in the previous year. Net income diminished by 10.5% YoY to $86.9M. The Co released its 3Q guidance of adj. EPS at $0.87 (estimated $0.92) and expects revenue to range between $848M and $856M (expected $862.1M). Finally, the Co sees FY adj. EPS at $3.45 - $3.49 (forecasted $3.47) and revenue reaching $3.36B - $3.4B (expected $3.4B).
Bank stocks like Citigroup Inc (C +5.12% WoW to $74.15), JPMorgan Chase (JPM +3.83% WoW to $117.85), Bank of America (BAC +2.17% WoW to $31.03), Goldman Sachs (GS +2.66% WoW to $235.34) and Morgan Stanley (MS +2.53% WoW to $49.41) were the top movers of the S&P500 as the 10-year and 30-year yields rose to the highest level since May 18th.
Copart (CPRT -18.9% WoW to $52.58) reported 4Q adj. EPS of $0.42 (estimated $0.48) vs. $0.35 a year ago on revenue of $449.2B (forecasted $448.5M) from $378.6M in the previous year. Net income jumped 56% YoY to $109.7M.
Unumprovident (UNM +9.78% WoW to $40.51) has finalized its reserve review for its long-term care block of business and expects to boost its long-term care GAAP reserves in 3Q2018 by appx. $590M after-tax ($750M before-tax).
Twitter (TWTR -5.38% WoW to $28.5) fell during trading hours after a MoffettNathanson analyst cut the Co's price target to $21 from $23 and warned that expenses are expected to rise later in 2018 and 2019 given its "dire need" to improve the safety of its platform and its video initiatives, according to Bloomberg. In other news, the Co dropped as TechCrunch reported that a bug may have sent users' private direct messages to the Co's developers without authorization. The issue started in May 2017 but was only resolved once the Co discovered it on September 10th 2018.
Fedex (FDX -3.18% WoW to $247.32) reported 1Q adj. EPS of $3.46 (estimated $3.8) vs. $2.51 a year ago on revenue up 11.75% YoY to $17.1B (forecasted $16.87B). The Co raised its FY guidance on adj. EPS in a range of $17.2 - $17.8 (expected $17.37) from the previous forecast of $17 - $17.6.
General Mills (GIS -6.89% WoW to $44.46) announced 1Q adj. EPS unchanged YoY at $0.71 (estimated $0.64) on net sales up 8.6% YoY to $4.09B (forecasted $4.12B). Gross margin on an adjusted basis decreased by 160bps YoY to 33.6%, lower than expectations of 34.3%. The Co reaffirmed its FY2019 targets including adj. EPS growth between remaining flat and increasing by 3% vs. FY2018.
Union Pacific (UNP +4.82% WoW to $164.99) unveiled its Unified Plan 2020 which consists of implementing "Precision Scheduled Railroading principles". This initiative is expected to help the Co reach its 60% operating ratio goal by 2020. According to Bloomberg, the PSR principles are taken from the "railroading legend" Hunter Harrison.
U.S. Earnings Preview for next week
NKE US
On Tuesday in after-hours, Nike is expected to report 1Q EPS of $0.625 vs. $0.57 a year ago on higher revenue of $9.9B from $9.1B in the previous year. Recently, the Co's price target was boosted to $100 from $90 at Guggenheim. From a chartist point of view, the RSI is above 50 while the MACD is positive and above its signal line. The configuration is positive. Moreover, the stock is trading above both its 20 and 50 day MA (respectively at 82.36 and 80.09). Nike is currently trading near its 52 week high reached at 85.85 on 19/09/18. We are looking at the next target of $90.4 with a stop-loss of $82.2.
CTAS US
On same day, Cintas is likely to post 1Q EPS of $1.8 vs. $1.48 a year ago on revenue of $1.7B vs. $1.6B a year earlier. From a technical point of view, the RSI is below 50 while the MACD is below its signal line but remains in positive territory. The MACD must penetrate its zero line to expect further downside. Moreover, the stock is trading under its 20 day MA (213.71) but above its 50 day MA (208.68). Finally, Cintas has penetrated its lower daily Bollinger band (210.62). Cintas is currently trading near its 52 week high reached at 217.34 on 07/09/18. We expect to reach our lower target of $201.5 with a stop-loss set at $217.2.
KMX US
On Wednesday, CarMax is awaited to announce 2Q EPS of $1.22 vs. $0.98 last year on revenue of $4.6B compared to $4.4B in the prior year. The Co was recently cut to "sell" from "hold" at Morningstar. Looking at the chart, the RSI is above 50 while the MACD is positive and below its signal line. The stock could retrace in the short term. Moreover, the stock is above its 20 and 50 day MA (respectively at 78.29 and 76.4). CarMax is currently trading near its 52 week high reached at 81.67 on 22/06/18. The stock is likely to hit our target of $82.5 with a stop-loss set at $76.8.
CCL US
On Thursday, Carnival is anticipated to unveil 3Q EPS of $2.31 vs. $2.29 last year on revenue of $5.8B from $5.5B in the previous year. Recently, the Co was downgraded to "hold" from "buy" at Morningstar. Technically speaking, the RSI is above 70. It could mean either that the stock is in a lasting uptrend or just overbought and therefore bound to correct (look for bearish divergence in this case). The MACD is above its signal line and positive while the configuration is positive. Moreover, the stock is above its 20 and 50 day MA (respectively at 62.68 and 60.49). Finally, Carnival is trading above its upper Bollinger band (standing at 66.32). Our next target is set at $69.9 with a stop-loss set at $65.1.
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A Dip Into History: Rebuilding The Furniture Game
Kara Miller
Credit: Mikel Ortega / Flickr / Creative Commons
And now a dip into history… For the story of Ingvar Kamprad, a man who loved his Volvo. He loved the idea of holding onto it year after year, as the number on the odometer got steeper and steeper.
Eventually, he did get rid of the car, but not until he had owned it for more than two decades and squeezed every bit of life out of it.
Ingvar is legendary for that kind of hard-core thriftiness. He likes to eat at low-priced restaurants and even apparently plans his trips to the supermarket at times when the store starts slashing prices to get rid of merchandise, just to save a bit more money.
Ingvar isn’t in denial about being cheap – he’s said that’s just the way he is. He also happens to be a billionaire, with his current net worth estimated at $3.5 billion.
He began building his fortune many years ago by buying matches in bulk and then selling them to individual customers so he could pocket the difference. That was when he was six. At 17, Ingvar started the company that made him famous.
It’s a company that revolutionized the sales of something pretty basic, that made its name in large part by being cheap. Ingvar Kamprad named the company after his own initials and the area he’s from – Elmtaryd, Agunnaryd – resulting in “I.K.E.A.”
IKEA’s notion that you could put furniture together yourself – which would save money in both labor and shipping – marked a huge change in the way furniture was sold, and who could afford to buy it.
Today, Ingvar is almost 90 and lives near IKEA’s offices in Sweden. He’s still very involved in the company and, reportedly, has no plans to retire.
This segment originally aired on October 16, 2015. It was rebroadcast on September 30, 2017.
IKEA, Business, Culture, WGBH, furniture, pri
Can Politicians Reach Across The Aisle?
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CART FedEx Championship Series: Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio
Topics: Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio
Patrick Carpentier
Cristiano da Matta
Christian Fittipaldi
LEXINGTON, OHIO
MERRILL CAIN: Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. We'll go ahead and get started with our top three press conference following provisional qualifying for Sunday's CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio. We'll begin with Christian Fittipaldi, to my immediate left, driver of the #11 Lilly Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone, he was third quickest in today's session with a best lap of 1:07.436 seconds, a speed of 120.541 miles per hour. Christian has yet to earn a Top 3 starting spot in his six previous visits here to Mid-Ohio, although he does have a podium finish of third to his credit, that coming in the 2000 event. Christian, if you would, talk about your qualifying effort today. Seemed like it was tough for everybody to get a clear lap out there today.
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI: I think it's pretty obvious when people wait until the very last minute, they go out, they have a huge, I would call it, domino effect. And to be quite honest with you, no one -- it isn't anyone's fault. But at the end of the day it is, because everyone is screwing everyone's lap there. If I have a car in front of me that's slowed down because of two cars that are in front of him that also slow down, it creates a huge chain reaction, and there's nothing you can do. So I think everyone should be mad at everyone right now, unless if you're slowing down, you should get out of the way. That's what common sense tells you. But unfortunately, it doesn't go that way. No one is playing that game out there. I'm not doing it. Shorty's is not doing it. None of the other 16, 17 drivers out there are doing it. So this is what happens in such a turbulent session. First run of tires, I had to pass people on my quickest lap, so the whole day I never did like two laps in the row where the tires got better. Definitely without touching the car, there's a lot more in the car yet to come. I'm pretty sure the young man here is going to say the same thing, there's a lot more in his car. We'll wait and see until tomorrow. I'm pretty happy. The car ran well this morning. I think we're going to be up there again tomorrow.
MERRILL CAIN: Our CART FedEx Championship Series points leader Cristiano da Matta qualified second in provisional qualifying session. Driver of the #6 Havoline Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone, he claimed the second spot in today's session, putting up a lap 1:07.095 seconds, a speed of 121.154 miles per hour. Cristiano will be looking to earn his best ever starting spot in Mid-Ohio. He's yet to earn a grid position in the first three rows in any of his previous three starts. As we mentioned, the series points leader, Cristiano has won three consecutive poles and five of the last six poles overall. Cristiano, if you could talk about your qualifying effort today.
CRISTIANO DA MATTA: I think everybody is probably going to be complaining about the same kind of things. But as Christian was saying, it's a game you play. You wait until the very end for the better track. You got more traffic. You might got a red. So we played it -- of course, we don't have a crystal ball to see when the track is going to be clear or not. But today happen exactly the same thing that happen in Vancouver two weeks ago on the Friday session when everybody went out on the same time with like 20 minutes to go, and then everybody still had two runs to do with 20 minutes to go. Of course, that makes the track very busy. I'm sure everybody is going to be complaining about the same thing, clear laps and all. But, of course, I felt like I had the car to fight for pole, and I think somebody told me I was on pole until 15 seconds to the red flag. So I'm not happy with my grid position, but on the other hand I'm very happy with my car, very happy with the engine, very happy the way everything has been working for us this week. We just have to try to find a better way, not only us, but like everybody together, to play this qualifying a smarter way.
MERRILL CAIN: Thanks, Cristiano. We're joined now by Patrick Carpentier, driver of the #33 Player's/Indeck Ford/Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone. He wins the provisional pole for Sunday's race with a best effort of 1:07.040 seconds, a speed of 121.253 miles per hour. He earns one championship point and guarantees himself a front row starting spot. The point gives Patrick 73 points in the season and moves him to within one point of Bruno Junqueira and Michel Jourdain, Jr., who are tied currently for third with 74 points. Pat, has to be a great feeling for you. As we were talking, there's been a lot of speculation concerning your future. I guess this provisional qualifying effort couldn't have come at a better time for you.
PATRICK CARPENTIER: Yeah, no, I'm pretty happy. I've been lately out of many team and into many other team. Actually, none of that's happening right now. We'll see what's going to happen. But I'm really happy today. Like Cristiano said, sometime you need a bit of a break to get it. And we put a good lap in. And I passed the start/finish line. I heard "P1." Then the next thing I heard, "Red flag." I said, "Am I still P1?" They said yeah. That was it. I'm really happy, it gives me a front row start for the race tomorrow. I know it's going to be a really long race. They lengthen it a little bit. It's going to be important to be at the front. Team Player's did a good job. My engineers changed the car pleat completely from this morning to this afternoon. They make the right decision. So was good.
MERRILL CAIN: The red flag that prematurely ended the qualifying session came about with a minute 30 left on the clock, we can verify that. We'll open it up for questions for our top three provisional qualifiers.
Q. (Inaudible)?
CRISTIANO DA MATTA: In Vancouver, we were more worried than here. In Vancouver, of course, you're hitting all kinds of curbs. This track is not a track that use a lot of curb, so not the same kind of needs.
CRISTIANO DA MATTA: Well, 1:05 seems pretty far away right now. It's strange. This track, I think it changes so much sometimes from one day to the other. When we tested here like one month ago, we did like 1:06.0. Today with the same car, we are doing 1:07.0. It's just one second off. Nothing different in the car. It depends so much in the track. Of course, there's a lot of others series running here as well, so it puts lots of different rubbers. We never know exactly if that's going to be good or bad for us. Historically, usually there's a big improvement on the track on the second day of qualifying.
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI: I think pole time tomorrow is going to be between 1:06.0 and 1:06.5 .
CRISTIANO DA MATTA: Don't go faster than that (laughter).
PATRICK CARPENTIER: I don't know what it's going to be tomorrow. We tested here. There was a lot of rubber. We ran 1:05.7 during the test. I'm not sure tomorrow we're going to be go as fast. I think Christian is right about the time, I think it's going to be up at the front tomorrow.
PATRICK CARPENTIER: For the first one, I have no idea why Bruno came to me pissed off like that. I think it was Kenny that was in front of me that kept slowing down to get a gap, so I did the same thing. I was trying to slow down to get a gap. My team said that there was no space available behind me. So I was just trying to get a gap early on. At the end, I just ran all my laps as fast as I could to try to do the lap time. So I'll have to look at the tape because I didn't see. Maybe I blocked him, maybe I did not. I have to look at it, I don't know.
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI: Adding to that question a little bit, I think everybody is wrong after. There isn't one driver out there that is right. If you're slow, you have to get out of the way. But no one wants to lose their track position. And that's why people keep on running and slowing everyone else. I would love to have that performance, but unfortunately we don't have any tire warmers in the series. It's impossible for you to post your time, your quick time, on the first lap. If we did have any tire warmers in the series, it would make qualifying a lot more nice to watch because everyone knows that once you went out of the pits, it would be only one lap and then in. I can guarantee you, we wouldn't have half of these traffic problems that we have right now because right now we need to build a pace for us to do a lap.
PATRICK CARPENTIER: We're pretty confident actually here. I think it's a track that suits the Reynard pretty well. The faster racetrack, like here, Elkhart, Laguna Seca, Portland, these types of track, Cleveland, seem to suit our car better. What we're struggling more is more on the street circuits. We seem to be having a problem to produce downforce at low speed when the car needs to be a bit higher from the ground. I'm pretty happy here, but we tested fast. We're hoping we're going to be fast. Team Player's is working really, really hard to keep developing the chassis, keep making it better. I think so far they've done a pretty good job.
PATRICK CARPENTIER: I didn't think there was going to be that much traffic at the end. I thought on this type of track would be kind of more by ourselves. But it seems like everybody was kind of around the same pace, and traffic played into it a little bit also. But from the time we did on the first set of tires to the second set of tires, that indicates to me it was better to wait today. It's always a risk you take. Sometimes it's better to get a clear lap than to get a little bit more rubber on the track.
CRISTIANO DA MATTA: Yeah, I think this track, for a road course, is a little bit more sensitive than other road courses. I'm not sure if it's because of the concrete patches. But I always feel like, even throughout the weekend, is bigger difference here on lap time from Friday to Saturday to Sunday in this track than you usually see in other ones. So maybe that's why everybody was waiting all the way to the very end. I think maybe there's a place, a road course, that makes it a little bit more different. I think this is the place.
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI: That's a good point. That's what we did in the last race. I don't know if you noticed, both of us went out in the beginning of the session - I can't remember - five or 10 minutes into the session. I think that made also everyone else come out after us. So it changed the whole format of how it was last time from Friday to Saturday. But here I think the difference in the track from the beginning of the session until the end is a little bit bigger than in the last race. Historically in this place, the more rubber you have down, a lot quicker you go. It's not a matter of picking up one-tenth, sometimes without even touching a car, just because you run about 10 or 15 minutes later, there's a lot more grip out there, you go up to half a second quicker.
MERRILL CAIN: Cristiano, will the tactics change tomorrow?
CRISTIANO DA MATTA: I don't know. I wish it changes, but I don't want to be the first out (laughter).
PATRICK CARPENTIER: It's always a bit of a distraction when you're into the unknown. But I think that's life in racing. I think there's a lot of guys in the same situation. I think a lot of us won't know what's happening until later in the year. I just got to drive the car the best I can and do the best job I can. Right now I'm trying to focus on getting as many points and going up in the championship more. That's about the only thing that is going to work for me. Besides that, I kind of been talking, a lot of people have been talking lately, but I don't know nothing and I think it's a bit early. I'm just going to drive the car and try to win races and get some points. We're going to see I think what happens more later in September and October.
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI: The latest and greatest rumor out there, I heard Pat being linked to a Newman/Haas drive. That is true or not?
PATRICK CARPENTIER: Next question.
PATRICK CARPENTIER: We're going to work hard. We're going to try to get another point. If we can do that, to confirm it, that would be fantastic. If not, we're starting on the front row. We're going to try. It's going to be a long race, so the tires are important to be in good shape, too. We're going to try to improve the car. I mean, if I'm second tomorrow, but I'm a second and a half off of the Top 10, then it's going to be a long race. We've got to keep working hard and try to get the pole again tomorrow.
CRISTIANO DA MATTA: Distance on the race? Personally, I think the races are getting a little too long. A race like Cleveland, for example, you see after the fourth pit stop, everybody was pretty much just waiting for the race to finish. I would prefer to have the races a little shorter like used to be in the past. I think we talked about that on the drivers meeting. Most of the drivers actually prefer it, too, because we have road races with more than two hours, two hours and 10 minutes. Normally the time for those things is an hour and a half, an hour and 45. It makes a difference for equipment, for reliability on the cars, engines and everything. It changes it a little bit. Not so much of a sprint.
PATRICK CARPENTIER: The thing is that Cleveland was really, really tough. Here I think is one of the toughest race we get all year because we're always turning, elevation changes, hard braking, heavy G-load. If it's really hot on Sunday, I think it's going to be a really tough race. It's a longer race. The pace, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be coming down at all. It's like every lap's like a qualifying lap. You run pretty hard. We have a stretch of four races. It's tough on the cars and everything.
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI: I'm not the best guy to answer you that question because my short races from next year onwards are probably going to have three hours and a half. So I'll pass on that one (laughter).
CRISTIANO DA MATTA: We talk. In race, for example, was supposed to be a hundred and something laps.
CRISTIANO DA MATTA: That's the same expression everybody used in the drivers meeting. They shortened the race 92, 93. It's a little bit better. Wally is taking care of us (laughter).
MERRILL CAIN: Gentlemen, thank you very much. Good luck in the final round of qualifying tomorrow.
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Person of the Year 2008
Runners-Up
People Who Mattered
Fond Farewells
Person of the Year Videos
Pictures of the Year 2008
In one of the craziest elections in American history, Barack Obama overcame a lack of experience, a funny name, two candidates who are political institutions and the racial divide to become the 44th President of the United States
By Steven SpielbergWednesday, Dec. 17, 2008
Michael Caronna / Reuters
On the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008, 2 billion TV viewers and thousands in attendance in the now famous Bird's Nest were treated to an unforgettable spectacle at the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games.
Behind it all was the creative genius of Chinese film director Zhang Yimou. Drawing from the depths of the cultural heritage and ingenuity of the Chinese people, showcasing ancient Chinese inventions paper, printing, gunpowder, ceramics and the compass that have shaped civilization and channeling the sensibility and spirit that unite his fellow 1.3 billion citizens, Zhang told China's story to a watching world. He created arguably the grandest spectacle of the new millennium, and it was viewed by nearly one-third of the world's population. With this work, Zhang obtained a stature shared by very few peers.
In telling China's story, Zhang explored the character he, or peaceful harmony an ideal critical to Chinese culture. This level of thematic and creative artistry is rare in the controlled realm of filmmaking, let alone in a multidimensional arena with thousands of performers and visual set pieces that seemed to border on the impossible yet it was all happening live, before the eyes of the world.
There is much mythologizing surrounding Zhang's rise to prominence, given that his first job was as a farmhand and then a laborer in a cotton mill. But the story I enjoy most is that he gave blood over a period of months to earn enough money to purchase his first camera. He was 25. When the Beijing Film Academy reopened in 1978 after the Cultural Revolution, he was 27, already considered too old to become a filmmaker and lacking many of the necessary credits. Undaunted, he offered his portfolio of photographic works and was admitted to the department of cinematography.
Zhang became a filmmaker, and for the past two decades, he has inspired the world's fascination with China through his cinematic vision. Not since the great British director Michael Powell has a director used color so effectively to tell stories. In Red Sorghum (1987), Ju Dou (1990) and his magnum opus, Raise the Red Lantern (1991), the vivid use of red in the manufacturing of wine, the traditional wedding gown, the process of dyeing silk and even the crimson splashes of blood illuminate Zhang's celebration of life, exoticism and death. Ju Dou was the first Chinese film to be nominated for an Academy Award; Raise the Red Lantern was the second.
Zhang also brought the actress Gong Li to prominence, casting her in starring roles in six of his films. Together they are credited with introducing sensuality and eroticism to Chinese cinema. Western audiences are probably familiar with Zhang more from his action movies: Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004) and his most Shakespearean work, Curse of the Golden Flower (2006), in which he choreographed giant armies in ways not seen since the heyday of the Busby Berkeley musical extravaganza.
Zhang was no stranger to live theatrical events either. In 1998 he staged and directed Puccini's opera Turandot at the Forbidden City in Beijing. He directed a folk musical in 2003 and staged it outdoors on the Li River. In 2006 he mounted Tan Dun's The First Emperor for New York City's Metropolitan Opera.
All this work and its complexity should have prepared me for the depth and breadth of Zhang's vision, apparent even in its early stages when he first contacted me in 2005 regarding the Beijing ceremonies. We met on a sunny afternoon in East Hampton, N.Y., and I knew immediately we were going to become good friends. With computer renderings on his laptop, he showed me what he was thinking. That was when I realized that every movie he had ever made would be a luminous precursor to what was surely going to be a personal journey of destiny. Zhang would be the creator-director of the Olympic ceremonies, with the honor of putting on what would become the greatest show on earth, with China at center stage. I was honored to have been one of the first people stirred and inspired by Zhang's ideas.
At the heart of Zhang's Olympic ceremonies was the idea that the conflict of man foretells the desire for inner peace. This theme is one he's explored and perfected in his films, whether they are about the lives of humble peasants or exalted royalty. This year he captured this prevalent theme of harmony and peace, which is the spirit of the Olympic Games. In one evening of visual and emotional splendor, he educated, enlightened and entertained us all. In doing so, Zhang secured himself a place in world history.
Spielberg has won three Academy Awards, two for Best Director. He withdrew as an adviser to the Olympic ceremonies to encourage greater efforts by China to bring peace to Darfur
See the Six Degrees of Barack Obama.
Next Ingrid Betancourt
Obama: The College Years
Barack Obama on Flickr
Graphic: Six Degrees of Obama
Graphic: TIME's Person of the Year 1927-2010
Henry Paulson
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'Twas the trading day before Christmas and all through markets, investors were nervous, and not just in small pockets.
December 2018 was a month most stock investors really just want to forget, but we must remind one and all that, you get what you get, and we sincerely hope you're not too upset.
The stock market had risen for nearly 10 straight years, and a bear market now and then just happens, due purely to emotional fears.
While no one can predict the next S&P 500 index low or high, the latest figures make the economic forecast extremely bright.
Sparing you further rhyme, here's an analysis of the facts and it won't take much time.
The market was spooked by the Fed's decision to hike interest rates on December 19th.
Hiking interest rates flattened the yield curve, and that's the key lever of the U.S. economy. Regulated by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, an independent body, the yield curve is the difference in yield between a 10-Year U.S. Treasury bond and the Federal Funds Rate. The Fed funds rate is the interest rate charged by the Fed, the central bank of the U.S., and tracks closely with the movement of the highly-liquid 30-day Treasury-Bill. The yield curve on December 24th, shown in green, is flatter than it was just a week earlier. The difference between the one-month T-Bill and the 10-year Treasury Bond declined. At the start of 2018, the gray line shows that the slope of the yield curve was much steeper.
Charting the S&P 500 stock index total return against the yield curve since 1983, the Fed's rate hike and the stock market plunge.
In the previous two economic expansions, the yield curve's plunge preceded stock market downturns.
That's what made stock prices drop sharply, fear that the Fed was about to cause a recession.
But the real economy shows no sign of a recession. The economic indicators show the economy is doing just fine.
The monthly survey of about 60 economists by The Wall Street Journal, conducted in early December, before the Fed rate hike, resulted in a consensus forecast for a 2.3% growth rate for 2019. That's robust. It's down from 2.5% last month but certainly nothing like a recession in which the economy shrinks.
The forward-looking U.S. Leading Economic Index — a composite of 10 components of economic growth — rose in November by two-tenths of 1%. It had ticked down by three-tenths of 1% in September before resuming its long ascent in record territory dating back over two decades.
The Conference Board economics research department, which analyzes this data, said, "Solid GDP growth at about 2.8 percent should continue in early 2019, but the LEI suggests the economy is likely to moderate further in the second half of 2019."
The 2.8% growth expected by the Conference Board is much higher than the 2.3% consensus forecast of economists surveyed in The Wall Street Journal.
The LEI has definitively collapsed many months in advance of the last two recessions. Nothing like that is happening now.
In addition, the LEI in the past has collapsed well in advance of the peak in stock prices. The red circles highlight the start of sharp declines in the LEI in advance of the last two stock market declines.
The December stock market plunge was not preceded by a collapse of the LEI.
It's dissonant from the fundamental economic data.
The stock market has been spooked by the Fed's rate policy, but fundamentals show no sign of a traditional bear market recession.
While the S&P 500 fell by 19.8% from its September 20th high and, thus, this plunge makes it into the record books as an official 20% bear market after rounding, the real economy remains strong.
After one of the wildest weeks in Wall Street history, the Standard & Poor's 500 index closed on Friday at 2485.74.
This article was written by a veteran financial journalist based on data compiled and analyzed by independent economist, Fritz Meyer. While these are sources we believe to be reliable, the information is not intended to be used as financial or tax advice without consulting a professional about your personal situation. Tax laws are subject to change. Indices are unmanaged and not available for direct investment. Investments with higher return potential carry greater risk for loss. Past performance is not an indicator of your future results.
This article was written by a professional financial journalist for Ashford Investment Advisors and is not intended as legal or investment advice.
�2019 Advisor Products Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Six Problems with the Common Core State Standards Initiative
Life is Always the Right Choice
Emmett McGroarty
American Legislative Exchange Council,
Common Core State Standards,
With Jane Robbins
(below is an executive summary of a white paper written by Jane Robbins and myself)
The American Legislative Exchange Council’s Public Sector Board of Directors must decide whether to uphold the Education Task Force’s approval of the Comprehensive Legislative Package Opposing the Common Core State Standards Initiative. The Task Force’s public-sector members approved the package on a 14-6 vote, and its private-sector members approved the package on an 8-4 vote. This legislation provides a model for legislatures to reclaim state responsibility for education decision-making –which has been gravely impaired as a result of the Common Core.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative presents the following problems:
1. Manner of creation and propagation
The national Common Core State Standards (the “Standards”) were not created by the states, but rather by private organizations in Washington, DC, with lavish funding from private entities such as the Gates Foundation. The federal Department of Education then used legally suspect means – the Race to the Top competition and the promise of waivers from No Child Left Behind – to impose the Standards on the states. This effort has been accompanied by a misleading campaign to present the Standards as “state-led” and “voluntary.”
2. Mediocre quality
The Standards, which are intended to prepare students for nonselective community colleges rather than four-year universities, are inferior to those of some states and no better than those of many others. Common Core’s English language arts standards consist of empty skill sets that, once implemented, might not require reading skills any higher than middle-school level. Furthermore, their de-emphasis of the study of classic literature in favor of “informational texts” would abandon the goal of truly educating students, focusing instead on training them for static jobs. Among the many deficiencies of the mathematics standards is their placement of algebra I in grade 9 rather than grade 8, thus ensuring that most students will not reach calculus in high school, and their mandate to teach geometry according to an experimental method never used successfully anywhere in the world. Contrary to previous claims by their creators, the Standards are not “internationally benchmarked.”
3. Illegal direction of curriculum and usurpation of state autonomy
The point of standards and assessments is to drive curriculum. By imposing the Standards on the states, and by funding their aligned assessments and imposing those on the states as well, the U.S. Department of Education is violating three federal statutes prohibiting its direction, supervision, or control of curriculum. In addition, because states that adopt the Standards must accept them word for word and will have little opportunity to add content, the states must relinquish their autonomy over public education, all to the denigration of parents’ rights.
4. Vague and unaccountable governance
It is not clear what governance structure will be created in the future to address issues related to the Standards. What is clear is that the Standards are owned and copyrighted by nongovernmental entities unaccountable to parents and students in individual states.
The only national study done of the potential costs of implementing the Standards and assessments estimates nationwide costs of almost $16 billion over seven years. Continuing costs will be substantial, especially with respect to professional development and technology maintenance and upgrades.
6. Threats to student and family privacy
The federal Department of Education (the “Department”) is using the Standards and the assessments as vehicles to mandate the construction of massive state student databases. The Department has also gutted federal student-privacy law to allow greater sharing of student data with other government agencies and private entities. Partnering with the Department of Labor, the Department seeks to build a data system that allows tracking of individual students from preschool through the workforce. This vision not only creates substantial risks of privacy breach, but it also encompasses a worldview of the proper role of government that is greatly at odds with American founding principles.
For these reasons, the Public Sector Board of Directors should uphold the Education Task Force’s approval of the Comprehensive Legislative Package Opposing the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Jane Robbins is a Senior Fellow with American Principles Project. Her works includes education policy, student privacy and parental rights issues. Ms. Robbins is a native of Pendleton, South Carolina, and is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Clemson University.
Ddshrper says:
why are the social media icons in the middle of the page, blocking the article? this is very annoying.
Shane Vander Hart says:
I don’t know they don’t look that way on any of my computers. What size screen do you have and what web browser are you using?
9.7 Million Twitter Users Reached During #StopCommonCore Twitter Rally
9,788,450 Twitter users to #StopCommonCore to call on ordinary citizens to join and lobby for repeal of Common Core State Standards.
Arne Duncan the Common Core Bully
What happens when a state decides or some state legislators decide they…
Union Overlords Cave … Partially
This isn’t the end of the story. There will be more to…
John Hitchcock
Glenn Beck Blasts the Common Core
Glenn Beck shined a spotlight on the Common Core State Standards in his show on The Blaze TV saying it is one of the greatest problems we now face.
Emmett McGroarty is the executive director of <a…
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Sad way to celebrate 56 years
COLUMNIST Photo by:Irving Ward
It is noteworthy that the announcement of the planned shutdown of the refinery of Petrotrin has emerged in the week of the observance of Trinidad and Tobago’s 56th anniversary of political independence.
Petrotrin is both an actual and symbolic expression of the nation’s economic independence, since it is a flagship project and a core pursuit of our most prized and essential industry.
Its vision includes being ‘a high performing energy organisation, that delivers superior results to its shareholders every time, all the time’.
It is also the result of a dogged campaign by the people’s sector for localisation of the commanding heights of the economy.
Petrotrin embodies Trinidad and Tobago’s economic ambitions, our involvement in the most successful and vital sector in the global economic environment.
But Petrotrin is also the embodiment of poor corporate governance, expressed in bad policy decisions, wastage, corruption, nepotism - and more.
Today, the pride of our energy sector stands bereft of the ability to ‘deliver superior results to its shareholders’ and is a testament of monumental debts, amounting to $13 billion, a lack of viability, resulting from an absence of innovation and of weak and indifferent leadership.
Most of this took place under the management of two so-called energy czars, who have been honoured with the highest national awards and are lionised as icons.
Under their watch, the WGTL project cost taxpayers almost $3 billion, and yet the Rowley regime withdrew litigation for breach of fiduciary duties against the executive chairman and board of directors.
The cost of the gas optimisation project escalated from US$350 million to US$1.6 billion and was delayed by several years.
The ultra-low sulphur diesel plant set taxpayers back by TT$3.1 billion, from an original budget of TT$780 million and requires a further $2 billion to complete.
The structure of shame that is the ugly and incomplete corporate headquarters cost $170 million, and its land space was expanded from 60,000 to 168,000 square feet. It remains a painful and vivid reminder to thousands of motorists, on a daily basis, of mismanagement and squandermania of past PNM regimes.
There were other costly ventures, which led to staggering debt and to the downgrade of Petrotrin by international rating agencies.
Most of these projects were pioneered from 2003 to 2009, under successive PNM governments and when the current prime minister was an active and frontline member of the Cabinet.
Today, facing bond repayments of US$ 850mn in 2019 and US$750mn in 2022, with a wage bill in excess of twice the international average and adjudged by Solomon Associates, a leading global performance measurement company, as functioning in the bottom of the fourth quartile of the energy sector internationally, the future of the company’s operations look bleak.
The current state of the energy company is a legacy of the critical lack of national and industry planning, along with the absence of transparency and probity.
In fact, the Rowley regime shamelessly withdrew the legal action against the “energy czar” who masterminded the scandalous WGTL project and even kept him as an important member of the National Energy Council.
Some of the very directors involved in WGTL are still hovering around Petrotrin, providing critical advice and bleeding the organisation.
Ultimately, over 2000 employees and their families will be affected in addition to several ancillary businesses and their employees, which potentially can run into several thousand people being put on the breadline.
This will undoubtedly cause severe hardship and social and economic dislocation.
The critical question remains however is what has become of the Memorandum of Agreement signed in April 2018 between Petrotrin and the OWTU to establish a working committee comprising representatives of both parties that will work over the next 18 months to “address, resolve and agree on the four organisational structures, work processes and skills/competencies and manpower requirements which will make the company internationally competitive, thus ensuring its survival, sustainability and profitability.
This flagship venture has become a national financial albatross and the symbol of wretched governance of successive PNM regimes.
The collapse of the Petrotrin refinery is the result of systemic poor governance, also expressed at other loss-making State enterprises.
It is ironic that this is taking place while Trinidad and Tobago is celebrating national “independence.”
Vasant Bharath is a former MP and minister in the People’s Partnership government.
Stop buying into US nonsense
Venezuela natural gas deal
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