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You make a good point about how America and Russia were once allies before we became cold war enemies. We need only to look at the historical relationship between the U.S. and Germany and the U.S. and Japan to recognize the immense potential of a positive relationship developing between Russia and America. It did not take very long for the bitterness of WWII’s arch enemies to give way to the rewards, success and friendship of free and open societies. The Marshall plan is a great example of how we might approach solving some of the great problems facing our world today, like a fair and peaceful solution to the Mid-East conflict. The evidence is overwhelming. Russia and the U.S. could be partners in progress. We have much more to unite us than we have to divide us. We face the same terrorist threats and the same concerns over nuclear proliferation. We have the same desire to advance our citizens with respect to their health, education and economic success. We all want to raise our families in peace and prosperity.
We also appreciate the founding purpose of the United Nations, but we have legitimate reasons to be skeptical of it, not the least of which, is the lack of its effectiveness, its socialistic leanings and the historical lack of cooperation between the U.S and Russia. It comes down to an issue of trust, and freedom, which goes to the heart of the American soul. We are fierce individualists. We believe that the power of government rests with the individual citizens who have a responsibility to exercise control over their government. The government is there to serve us, not to control us. Every time we, as individuals, give up power and personal responsibility to government entities we give up our individual liberties. The further away (local, state, national, and international) the governmental entity is, the worse the outcome and the harder it is to get the power back. Every time we give up our individual liberties we reduce progress for all humans.
We have had our own taste of socialism over the last few years under the leadership of President Obama, and it is a bitter and disappointing experience. Many of us view the United Nations as just another large bureaucratic, ineffective and unaccountable organization diluting the power of the American citizen and promoting anti-American sentiment throughout the world.
Speaking of accountability, America faces much larger challenges than Syria. Today, America is involved in a gigantic struggle for its own soul and its future. Will we embrace the concepts of maximum individual freedom, responsibility, independence and privacy like our founders envisioned or will we allow huge unaccountable bureaucracies to take our freedoms from us? Will we succumb to the bribery of low information voters with government handouts and the corruption of giant special interest lobbyists or will we stand up for truth and justice and our belief in self reliance and capitalism which are the core principles on which this great country was built?
Unfortunately our current President seems to agree with you about American Exceptionalism. He apologizes to the world for an America he should be proud of. Oh, he says the right words to us, but he acts just the opposite. He promises boldly what he knows he can’t deliver. He hides the truth and he supports the people who work for him, who lie in front of Congressional hearings. He does not respect the will of the American people and he disrespects the institutions that have been set up to protect us. He spends our grandchildren’s money with no sense of responsibility nor does he have any inkling of the horrendous impending consequences for America of his bad leadership. He attacks our energy independence, capitalism, free enterprise and the institutions that have made America great. He successfully divides America when he could easily be uniting it. Instead of celebrating the progress we have made on racial equality, he sows the seeds of discontent. He forces really bad laws (like Obamacare) on the public against their will. He is aided and abetted by a free press that has forgot and/or ignored their critical responsibilities to protect our democracy by demanding the truth wherever it leads. We have lost more freedoms to our internal enemies over the last five years than we have lost to our external enemies over the last 50 years.
So Mr. Putin, you see that we have a lot bigger problems that America needs to address instead of creating a new one by invading Syria. Fortunately, we are an exceptional country and the forces of freedom and responsibility will soon emerge with an even greater conviction to reestablish the rule of the people over our government. We are an exceptional country because we are protected by a Constitution and a Bill of Rights and a Declaration of Independence that very specifically limit the power of the federal government in favor of the individual and the States. We are an exceptional country because we recognize that our freedoms were given to us by our Creator and no government, religious organization or corporate bureaucracy has any right to take any of our freedoms away from us. Not even Prince Machiavelli himself. Be assured that we will put our own house in order and be the world leader that speaks clearly and unambiguously.
So please, don’t let the America you see today give you a false impression of weakness or lack of conviction. We are not happy with what has happened to America over the last five years. Democracy is imperfect and sometimes we vote with our hearts and not our heads. But America always gets it right in the long run and there is nothing more powerful than a united free people that finally figures out that they have been misled.
So now, President Putin, it’s time to, as we say in America, to “put your money where your mouth is”. The real world issues are nuclear proliferation, Iran, world-wide terrorism sponsored by Islamic terrorists, and world economic success. We need Russia to come together with America and guarantee that Iran will not get nuclear capability and that those countries that already have it will not allow it to be provided to others. Nuclear catastrophe remains the biggest threat to the world and you, President Putin, could become a world-wide hero by joining America and other peace loving countries to lead a grand plan to reduce the nuclear threat to humanity. I can only speak as an individual, but I believe a world wide effort led by Russia and America, starting with Iran, would be welcome by the American people. It is certainly a much better idea than spending trillions of dollars on future wars that will surely come if we don’t take aggressive action to solve this problem now. In the spirit of capitalism Russia and its people could benefit greatly by joining America as partners in peace. Given what happened to Japan and Germany, it’s really not that great of a leap to envision Russia and America coming together in peace and prosperity.
Finally, there may be a language misunderstanding with respect to “American exceptionalism.” We agree with you that as individuals we are all equal in the eyes of the Lord. None of us by nature are superior to the rest of us. We want the same things for our families as the people of any other country; security and the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. These are natural rights of all humans and we have a responsibility to help all humans secure these rights. But this is not to be confused with socialism or communism which the vast majority of Americans do not believe in. While we believe in equal opportunity we do not believe in equal outcome. Every individual has the right to distinguish themselves (to become exceptional) through, hard work, education, perseverance, risk taking, individual choices and yes even luck. We believe in private property, capitalism, self-reliance and individual achievement and we encourage exceptionalism. Whether it’s academics, sports, business, music or community service, or our service to our country, we encourage and honor exceptionalism.
It is not dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional. It is only dangerous if they don’t earn it or deserve it. It’s like the Olympics. Every four years we get together to see, who the most exceptional athletes in the world compete. And every time we are amazed at how exceptional these athletes are. They are exceptional because they are talented, train hard and exercise discipline. This is a good thing to encourage and they deserve their gold metals, not to have them redistributed to those that were not exceptional. We do not encourage people to think of themselves as exceptional, because of their color or their political status, their connections or their ethnicity. To consider them exceptional they have to earn it.
America is exceptional for very different reasons. America is much more than a physical space with great natural resources. America is much more than a nation state with an exceptional history of fighting for the freedom of other nations thousands of miles away. America is an idea of individual liberty and personal responsibility that can help people throughout the world. America is a way of life, and a belief in the sovereignty of the individual. America is philosophy that is enshrined in our founding documents. America is exceptional because it is the best hope for freedom for the rest of the world. We are proud and exceptionally lucky to be Americans. We understand that our freedom is dependent on our ability to recognize and fulfill our responsibilities as individuals and as a country. We also understand that individual freedom can only be sustained to the degree that we exercise an equal level of responsibility as individuals and as a country.
Just as you say that “we must not forget that God created us equal” we must also remember that God gave to us as individuals the right to self-determination and there is no doubt that God did that with the expectation that we would use that right to become better human beings- perhaps even exceptional ones.
This entry was posted in Blog on December 20, 2013 by thomaswreed.
Malta Freeport Terminals lauded 67 employees who marked their 25th year with the company. They were presented with a memento in recognition of their dedicated service.
The majority of these employees work in operations, but several come from other departments, including engineering, IT, HR, billing and maintenance.
Malta Freeport Terminals CEO Alex Montebello said these employees had grown with the Freeport, which over the past quarter century has expanded exponentially to become one of the major transhipment ports in the Mediterranean.
The Freeport handled just 8,000 containers when these employees joined the company. This figure has today reached 3.08 million. And 2017 is expected to be another record-breaking year.
Mr Montebello said: “Right from the outset, the company had a very clear vision of what it wanted to achieve and has invested substantially in state-of-the-art facilities.
“But none of this would have been possible without the dedication and commitment of our people who are, and always will be, Malta Freeport Terminals’ greatest asset.
"Parugu Pargu", the first song from 'Chitralahari', composed by Devi Sri Prasad, has released today. As expected, the song is catchy. It reminds us one of Devi Sri Prasad's old hits from blockbuster "Attarinitiki Daaredi". A good sign, isn't it?
Saxophone music by Martin has made all the difference to this number. Composed and written by Devi Sri Prasad, the song is crooned by David Simon.
'Chitralahari' stars Sai Dharam Tej in the lead role. Kalyani Priyadarshan and Nabha Natesh are the heroines. Directed by Kishore Tirumala, the film is set for release on April 12.
Embedded video for Chitralahari first song is instantly addictive!
A Kanawha County Family Court judge is facing a battery charge following an incident at a Charleston hospital.
Charleston police arrested 61-year-old Mark Snyder on Monday night. He's accused of grabbing a nurse's arm and trying to drag her down a hallway at Charleston Area Medical General Hospital.
A criminal complaint says the nurse told police that Snyder was upset about the care of a patient he was visiting. The complaint says Snyder refused several requests to leave and was escorted out of the hospital by a security guard.
West Virginia's tax revenue slide is continuing as October's collections fell about $8 million below estimates.
Deputy revenue secretary Mark Muchow tells media outlets that collections of personal income, consumer sales and business and occupation taxes were all below estimates.
Personal income and consumer sales taxes are the state's biggest sources of tax revenue.
Natural gas production boosted severance tax collections above estimates. But Muchow says it wasn't enough to offset the declines.
The Mingo County Commission is expected to name a new county prosecutor and county commissioner this week.
Former prosecutor Michael Sparks and former Commissioner David Baisden resigned in October after they were charged in separate cases stemming from a corruption probe.
WSAZ-TV reports that the commission interviewed candidates to replace Sparks and Baisden on Monday. Commissioners plan to name a new prosecutor and magistrate at their meeting on Wednesday.
A judge called the inner workings of the Gene Spadaro Juvenile Center “concerning” after receiving a report from a court monitor for the Adjudicated Juvenile Rehabilitation Review Commission.
The Commission was established in June of 2011 to examine the operations and programs of the Division of Juvenile Services facilities across the state. Cindy Largent-Hill is a member of the commission and visited the Spadaro Juvenile Center in Fayette County Monday.
Judge Omar Aboulhosn heard what may be the last evidence in the case filed by Mountain State Justice against the Division of Juvenile Services.
Mountain State asked three juvenile residents to testify in an evidentiary hearing Tuesday in Kanawha County Circuit Court.
B.M., identified only by his initials for the court, is a juvenile resident of the Sam Perdue Juvenile Center in Princeton. He is one of the 25 residents relocated after Aboulhosn order the closure of the Harriet B. Jones Treatment Center in Salem over the summer.
In 1960, then-Senator and Presidential Candidate John F. Kennedy visited McDowell County, West Virginia and forged a bond with those living in the state's southern coalfields. It was a victory in West Virginia's Democratic primary that helped confirm his broad appeal to the rest of America. After winning the presidential election, Kennedy exposed the rest of the country to the perils of poverty that faced the region. In this article, USA Today reports on the way Kennedy's assassination has resonated with those living in southern West Virginia, the way things were then, and how they are now.
A hearing in Kanawha County Circuit Court will determine whether or not juvenile residents of state facilities will see a difference in the way grievances are handled and an increase in educational opportunities.
Mercer County Judge Omar Aboulhosn will be presented a proposed agreement between the Division of Juvenile Services and Mountain State Justice, a Charleston based public interest law firm whose lawsuit against the division resulted in the closure of the Salem Industrial Home for Youth and later the Harriet B. Jones Treatment Center.
Former Arkansas governor and Fox News host Mike Huckabee made a stop in West Virginia to help energize the state Republican Party during a fundraiser Friday night.
An evening that started with state GOP Chairman Conrad Lucas poking fun at an array of federal indictments coming from Mingo County, all against Democratic leaders, transitioned to focus on what Huckabee called the true message of the Republican party—valuing every life based on inherent worth given by God and not status.
The Washington Post breaks down West Virginia's transition from being a state that has traditionally favored Democrats to becoming more and more likely to vote Republican.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission got an earful from Eastern Panhandle electric customers unhappy with Potomac Edison’s billing practices during a public hearing Wednesday evening and Thursday morning in Shepherdstown, W.Va.
Customers are upset because last winter and spring they received estimated monthly bills that were much higher than normal. In some cases the electric company did estimated readings several months in a row. Delegate Stephen Skinner (D-Jefferson) was among those who spoke during the hearing.
Only days into the 2013 Legislative session, it became obvious to those eyeing the halls of the state Capitol it would be the year of Education Reform. With the passage of the governor’s bill, immediate steps were taken to improve student achievement, but some steps couldn’t be implemented so quickly. Legislators are still learning how they can help improve early childhood education in West Virginia.
How much do we know about drilling horizontal wells?
The Horizontal Well Control Act of 2011 required studies be conducted to gain a more profound understanding of all that's entailed in the natural gas drilling that's sweeping northern West Virginia. Those reports are coming due, and legislators are hearing from scientists who have been looking into the matter.
Two major reports are being discussed in Charleston this week. One looks at air and noise pollution, while another considers water use related to Horizontal Well drilling.
A company involved in the problematic federal health care exchange website has a contract to design a system to manage West Virginia state government accounts.
CGI Group subsidiary CGI Federal is the developer of the complex U.S. government website that's been hit by technical problems, resulting in long waits for Americans to sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
Can the DOH take over the state turnpike?
The governor, the legislature, even a special commission on highways are all looking for ways to fund state roads. A select committee on Infrastructure is trying to find ways to save money and increase efficiencies by combining the Division of Highways and the governing authority of the state’s Turnpike, but simply combining the two would create serious legal implications for the state.
Background A complete remission is essential for prolongingsurvival in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Daunorubicinis a cornerstone of the induction regimen, but the optimal doseis unknown. In older patients, it is usual to give daunorubicinat a dose of 45 to 50 mg per square meter of body-surface area.
Methods Patients in whom AML or high-risk refractory anemiahad been newly diagnosed and who were 60 to 83 years of age(median, 67) were randomly assigned to receive cytarabine, ata dose of 200 mg per square meter by continuous infusion for7 days, plus daunorubicin for 3 days, either at the conventionaldose of 45 mg per square meter (411 patients) or at an escalateddose of 90 mg per square meter (402 patients); this treatmentwas followed by a second cycle of cytarabine at a dose of 1000mg per square meter for 6 days. The primary end point was event-freesurvival.
Results The complete remission rates were 64% in the group thatreceived the escalated dose of daunorubicin and 54% in the groupthat received the conventional dose (P=0.002); the rates ofremission after the first cycle of induction treatment were52% and 35%, respectively (P<0.001). There was no significantdifference between the two groups in the incidence of hematologictoxic effects, 30-day mortality (11% and 12% in the two groups,respectively), or the incidence of moderate, severe, or life-threateningadverse events (P=0.08). Survival end points in the two groupsdid not differ significantly overall, but patients in the escalated-treatmentgroup who were 60 to 65 years of age, as compared with the patientsin the same age group who received the conventional dose, hadhigher rates of complete remission (73% vs. 51%), event-freesurvival (29% vs. 14%), and overall survival (38% vs. 23%).
From Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam (B.L., P.S., M.J.-L.); the Department of Hematology, Free University Medical Center, Amsterdam (G.J.O.); the HOVON Data Center and Department of Trials and Statistics, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam (W.P.); University Medical Center, Maastricht (H.C.S.); Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam (B.J.B.); University Medical Center, Groningen (E.V.); Isala Hospital, Zwolle (M.M.K.); and University Medical Center, Utrecht (L.F.V.) — all in the Netherlands; Hôpital Mont Godinne, Yvoir (C.G.); Hôpital St. Luc, Brussels (A.F.); and University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven (J.M., G.V.) — all in Belgium; University Hospital, Bonn (M.L.-T.); the Department of Internal Medicine III, University-Hospital, Mainz (J.B.); and the Department of Internal Medicine III, University of Ulm, Ulm (H.D.) — all in Germany; and University Hospital, Basel (A.G.); and Inselspital, Bern (T.P.) — both in Switzerland.
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As robots become more autonomous, the notion of computer-controlled machines facing ethical decisions is moving out of the realm of science fiction and into the real world. Society needs to find ways to ensure that they are better equipped to make moral judgments than HAL was.
Military technology, unsurprisingly, is at the forefront of the march towards self-determining machines. Its evolution is producing an extraordinary variety of species. The Sand Flea can leap through a window or onto a roof, filming all the while. It then rolls along on wheels until it needs to jump again. RiSE, a six-legged robo-cockroach, can climb walls. LS3, a dog-like robot, trots behind a human over rough terrain, carrying up to 180kg of supplies. SUGV, a briefcase-sized robot, can identify a man in a crowd and follow him. There is a flying surveillance drone the weight of a wedding ring, and one that carries 2.7 tonnes of bombs.
As that happens, they will be presented with ethical dilemmas. Should a drone fire on a house where a target is known to be hiding, which may also be sheltering civilians? Should a driverless car swerve to avoid pedestrians if that means hitting other vehicles or endangering its occupants? Should a robot involved in disaster recovery tell people the truth about what is happening if that risks causing a panic? Such questions have led to the emergence of the field of “machine ethics”, which aims to give machines the ability to make such choices appropriately—in other words, to tell right from wrong.
Instead, society needs to develop ways of dealing with the ethics of robotics—and get going fast. In America states have been scrambling to pass laws covering driverless cars, which have been operating in a legal grey area as the technology runs ahead of legislation. It is clear that rules of the road are required in this difficult area, and not just for robots with wheels.
First, laws are needed to determine whether the designer, the programmer, the manufacturer or the operator is at fault if an autonomous drone strike goes wrong or a driverless car has an accident. In order to allocate responsibility, autonomous systems must keep detailed logs so that they can explain the reasoning behind their decisions when necessary. This has implications for system design: it may, for instance, rule out the use of artificial neural networks, decision-making systems that learn from example rather than obeying predefined rules.
Second, where ethical systems are embedded into robots, the judgments they make need to be ones that seem right to most people. The techniques of experimental philosophy, which studies how people respond to ethical dilemmas, should be able to help. Last, and most important, more collaboration is required between engineers, ethicists, lawyers and policymakers, all of whom would draw up very different types of rules if they were left to their own devices. Both ethicists and engineers stand to benefit from working together: ethicists may gain a greater understanding of their field by trying to teach ethics to machines, and engineers need to reassure society that they are not taking any ethical short-cuts.
Technology has driven mankind’s progress, but each new advance has posed troubling new questions. Autonomous machines are no different. The sooner the questions of moral agency they raise are answered, the easier it will be for mankind to enjoy the benefits that they will undoubtedly bring.
Former Hillsboro Banner editor and current contributing writer and columnist Neil O. Nelson is leaving Hillsboro and moving to Harvey, N.D.
The annual Hillsboro Business Association customer appreciation pancake and sausage&nbsp; breakfast will be served from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Hillsboro Community Center.
Former North Dakota Class B player of the year Craig Nelson will be offering a basketball camp for kids June 17-20 in Hillsboro.
Recent payments from parents and donors have cut the percentage of overdue lunch fees owed to the Hillsboro School District by nearly a quarter the past month.
Looking for Information on Banned Books Week?
The American Booksellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression site has a section dedicated to Banned Books Week, which includes a nice listing of books that have been challenged or banned along with the stories behind the challenges/ bannings.
The Banned Books blog is dedicated to reading and reviewing banned books.
Book Review: Who the Hell is Pansy O'Hara?
Long life to tramezzini with one zed, in venetian , and once you try them you will understand how much they contribute to the venetian art of living! If the idea is really crapped, your friends would rather say: La numerazione delle case nei nostri sestieri la introdussero loro?
No difference and no discrimination based on nationality, as you can see: In Venice we walk a lot and, instead of having two big meals sitting in a restaurant, we enjoy having small food several times a day, together with a drink.
Per illustrarlo, partiamo da questa moneta: Someone even says that these are the best conditions for appreciating the special misty beauty of Venice. A chi volesse approfondire le motivazioni mjlioni che nel portarono i veneziani con i muranesi e i chioggiotti!
Divisi per gli 8. CAIGO with accent on letter i: Questo sito utilizza cookie.
May I introduce mine? I transfughi a quel punto rientrarono in patria, ma le quote di mercato no: A masterpiece of blown glass by Maestro Gino Cenedese, entirely made in Murano:. Crea un sito o un blog gratuitamente presso Barenw. Do you come from Padova? Certo, ma era semplicemente per tassarle meglio: For more information I recommend the official website of the gondola makers, where you can learn much more: On this page you will find some of them, in alphabetical order, with a short explanation.
Pellestrina almost in its entirety and the western part of the Lido island where the Murazzi start shortly after the Excelsior Hotel. La Boemia era una delle gemme della corona austro-ungarica, e quando Venezia venne consegnata in mano austriaca per due volte: I can reassure you on the fact that no blood on the floor follows, after the warning. A chi volesse approfondire, consiglio questa lettura: In your box, probably.
The one in the picture belongs to the Fontego dei Tedeschi, and can be seen in its inner court:. They are precious in summer time, when they protect us from the heat of the sun.
Rispondi al Nostro Sondaggio. Although very similar to Italian but closer to Latin, since Venice did not experience any foreign occupation until ! Do you come from New Zealand? In questa pagina miloni troverete alcuni, in ordine alfabetico.
Or, if you are standing in the middle of an overcrowded vaporetto with your 5 pieces of luggage when people need to get off the boat. For more information, ask Corto Maltese the cartoons character created by Hugo Pratt, who used to live and work in the Malamocco village. My advice is to enjoy each of them!
Long life to tramezzini with one zed, in venetianand once you try them you will understand how much they contribute to the venetian art of living! May I humbly refer to it? You can read it at: Altri tempi, altri metodi. The tradition is so old and strong that this event has its own official glossary: La farmacia porta ancora il suo nome e si trova in Fondamenta dei vetrai ai piedi del Ponte longo che attraversa il Canal grande di Murano.