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warc | 201704 | News Releases
REF NO.: 68
Its no secret that housing people in Canadas north is a major challenge. However modern sustainable housing solutions for Nunatsiavut are now one step closer to reality thanks to a recent announcement.
SakKijânginnatuk Nunalik: the Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI) of the Nunatsiavut Government and its principal research partner Dr. Trevor Bell of Memorial Universitys Department of Geography, will share the 2013 Arctic Inspiration Prize along with two other Canadian research teams.
Established in 2012, the $1-million prize was designed for those research teams that have made a substantial, demonstrated and distinguished contribution to the gathering of Canadian Arctic knowledge and have proposed plans to implement this knowledge for real world applications for the benefit of Arctic Peoples.
The announcement was made on Dec. 11 at a ceremony in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Memorial University is very proud of the socially responsible leadership that Dr. Bell has exhibited, said Dr. Gary Kachanoski, president and vice-chancellor of Memorial University. His work has a unique intellectual signature of innovative interdisciplinary research that distinguishes him from his colleagues and characterizes a particular and distinctive approach and contribution to many fields. He has worked closely with the Nunatsiavut Government as a principal investigator and partner on a range of environmental and community projects and has helped secure external funding for research activities in support of these initiatives. On behalf of the Memorial University community, I offer my sincere congratulations to Dr. Bell and his team on this great accomplishment.
For SakKijânginnatuk Nunalik, the knowledge-to-action (K2A) plan proposes to build and monitor a pilot multi-unit residential dwelling for Nunatsiavummiut that is culturally relevant, affordable, energy efficient, technologically smart, and adapted to new climatic and environmental realities.
The K2A plan integrates expert knowledge of current housing challenges, local knowledge of housing needs and preferences and professional knowledge of construction methods and materials to build modern healthy housing as a cornerstone of sustainable communities in Nunatsiavut.
Healthy homes in Nunatsiavut (InosiKatigeKagiamik Illumi) is only one of many research projects that fall under the umbrella initiative of Sustainable Communities, said Dr. Bell. This initiative began at the community level and emerged from a multifaceted, holistic strategy to build sustainable Nunatsiavut communities. AngajukKâks (mayors) and local councils were frustrated with the status quo and the inability to make progress on chronic issues; they unanimously decided to try something different, to forge a comprehensive, inter-departmental, multi-disciplinary research program to help develop and guide a new approach for building Nunatsiavut communities.
Dr. Bell, who is considered a principal research partner and champion by the Nunatsiavut Government, believes that the focus on local priority issues, recognition of the value of research and the close links between researchers and decision-makers at all levels in the region have been a key element in the success of SCI.
The initiative has received the full support of the Nunatsiavut Government and has had immediate impacts on policy and decision making, he said.
The executive council of the Nunatsiavut Government recently voted unanimously to have the approach of the Sustainability Communities Initiative mainstreamed through the entire government in order to respond effectively to outcomes and findings.
SakKijânginnatuk Nunalik is an outstanding example of using research for the betterment of Inuit, said President Sarah Leo in a statement released Dec.12. I want to commend the dedicated team of professionals for their hard work with this initiative, and to thank them for making this award possible.
The success of the Sustainable Communities Initiative has attracted attention from a variety of government departments on both federal and provincial levels. Dr. Bell has presented to Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, Health Canada, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), Canadas national Inuit organization, and to the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (who are establishing building programs in Cambridge Bay).
For the past decade or so I have worked closely with northern communities and regions on co-designed research projects that address the challenges of climate change and promote and evaluate adaptation actions, said Dr. Bell. Working with the Sustainable Communities team and Nunatsiavummuit has been the most rewarding and transformative of my academic career. Our action-oriented research is affecting meaningful change in a remote area of our province that has experienced rapid political, socio-economic, climatic and environmental changes in recent decades. Winning the Artic Inspiration Prize is wonderful recognition of the value of applied and engaged research, especially research that directly affects quality of life in communities. I hope it inspires our early career researchers at Memorial to engage communities and regions with their knowledge and expertise.
This winter Dr. Bell and the SCI team will analyze recent housing assessments and gather input from the communities on how new Nunatsiavut housing should be designed and built.
- 30 - | 5,468 | 2,451 | 2.230926 |
warc | 201704 | A former editor at The Sun News had a habit of asking staff members at the beginning of each year: “What do we want to be known for this year?”
As I leave the newspaper after spending the better part of a decade reading and writing about the successes and challenges the Grand Strand experiences, the question returns to me, after a fashion. What do I want The Sun News to be known for in the future?
I’d like the paper to be known as a voice of fearless, deliberate calm.
Thousands of our readers have spent the past few years feeling as though the scaffold of support they’ve built up over decades is falling down, beam by beam. Many of us in the journalism industry feel the same at times. In times of stress, the human instinct is to look inward, to pull our heads back inside our shells or erect barriers to wait out the storm. Many of us – readers and journalists alike – are looking around these days and tallying up those we feel are for us and those we feel are against us.
As boundaries are drawn and battlements are mounted, my hope is that the newspaper will continue to provide a measure of calm defiance, eschewing any easy labels.
In the cauldron of World War II, as fears ran high, Americans’ hate turned on Asian immigrants and manifested itself in the internment camps. Anti-Semitism reached its peak during the Great Depression. During Vietnam, the stress created that maelstrom of chaos called the ’60s. In all of these unsure times, people looked around and huddled together with similar people, thinking “These people look like me. They’ll help me. The other ones, the different ones, they’re the ones creating the problems.”
We’ve seen this phenomenon in action in recent years. For proof, we can turn almost any day to the letters to the editor we receive, which blame the nation’s problems on illegal immigrants, on foreign investment, on liberals, on homosexuals, on Muslims, on the Republicans, on the Democrats, on anybody who doesn’t go to their church and live on their street. As anyone who has had to moderate the comments on our website could tell you, many of our readers still harbor plenty of prejudices.
As a newspaper that covers all of these constituencies, it’s The Sun News’ responsibility to treat all of them equally and provide a place where they can meet each other and, forgive me for being cliched, can realize that their similarities outweigh their differences. If it were ever important for the paper to make a goal of promoting calm and understanding above hasty action and unbridled passion, now is the time, as we fight the temptation to withdraw ever more into our own circles.
How can a paper reach such lofty goals? How can it help bring a community together? It can make a point of reflecting not just its readers, but its community as a whole. It can highlight the successes and challenges of people from varying backgrounds and walks of life in all sorts of situations. Reporters and editors can make use of the Strand’s large contingent of ethnic shops and churches and restaurants for all sorts of stories and not save them just for stories on immigration or “ethnic issues.” The news can help tamp down prejudice and fear by transforming our neighbors from crude stereotypes into real people.
The paper can author stories and headlines that don’t sugarcoat the truth but which also don’t raise readers’ level of fear solely for the purpose of selling one more paper. It can make a point of finding actual, normal residents for stories, putting faces to the issues instead of relying on cold (and often scary) reports or faceless officials.
It can do its part to debunk bad and prejudiced stories, the misinformation and thinly veiled lies that make the e-mail rounds and that our readers often forward to us asking for illumination. The newspaper can offer hope by searching out and reporting stories of success amid so much failure.
I may be a hopeless idealist, but I didn’t choose this business to make money (who does?). When so many people in our community are struggling, as they have in recent years, I would like to think that we can do our part as journalists to bring them together to build a raft instead of letting each group cling jealously to its own bit of wood and sink alone.
That’s my vision for the future. That’s what I hope The Sun News will be known for. Good luck, guys. | 4,498 | 2,135 | 2.106792 |
warc | 201704 | On Monday, April 5, 2014, the United States Supreme Court announced [2] that the excessive force lawsuit filed by Washington Nationals baseball player, Robbie Tolan, was improperly dismissed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In reaching this conclusion, the Supreme Court agreed with arguments presented by the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) in the amicus brief [3] it filed in support of Mr. Tolan's appeal. Specifically, the Supreme Court concluded that the lower court improperly failed to consider the evidence supporting Mr. Tolan's excessive force claim and recognized that, contrary to the decision below, "[t]he witnesses on both sides come to this case with their own perceptions, recollections, and even potential biases."
Robbie Tolan was shot by a police officer in the driveway of his parents' home after being mistakenly suspected of driving a stolen car. He filed a civil lawsuit against the Bellaire, Texas, Police Department in federal court, alleging excessive force. The District Court granted the Police Department's Motion for Summary Judgment and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed. Mr. Tolan filed a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court and LDF filed an amicus brief in support of this request for review.
In its brief, LDF argued that the circumstances of Mr. Tolan's shooting were tainted by indicia of racial bias, and these facts were not properly taken into account by the circuit court in its review of the evidence. LDF also asserted that the lower courts' assessment of the officer's conduct should not have ignored the influence of subconscious stereotypes which falsely associate race with criminality, aggression, and violence, and it detailed the science of implicit bias to show how it may have influenced the officer's hyperaggressive behavior (the shooting took place 30-seconds after he arrived on the scene) as well as any evaluation of its "reasonableness."
In reversing the lower courts' decisions, the Supreme Court agreed with LDF that the Fifth Circuit improperly failed to take into account the relevant evidence supporting Mr. Tolan's version of the events. And, echoing LDF's arguments, the Supreme Court acknowledged and credited the relevance of potential bias in a court's evaluation of the reasonableness of a police officer's conduct in a racially charged shooting case.
The case will return to the lower courts for an evaluation of the police officer's entitlement to qualified immunity based on a proper review of all of the relevant evidence.
Jenner Block represented LDF in this amicus brief. | 2,651 | 1,237 | 2.143088 |
warc | 201704 | If you are among the thousands of dog owners whose dogs are spooked by sparklers or rattled by rockets, Dogs Trust is on hand to help calm those canine quivers.
Ireland’s largest dog welfare charity is offering advice to help petrified pooches and their owners enjoy a fright-free October.
Many dog owners are simply unaware of the affect that firework fear can have on their dogs and each year the charity is inundated with calls from dog owners who simply don’t know how to calm their doggies
“The most important safety tip we can give dog owners is to keep your dog indoors,” explained Mark Beazley, executive director of Dogs Trust.
“Last Halloween we saw an increase in stray dogs as many family pets got frightened by fireworks, ran off and were too disorientated to find their way home. Another very important tip is to ensure your dog is microchipped. That way if your dog does get lost, he can be scanned and returned home safely.”
Dogs Trust has issued some simple tips to help make the firework season less stressful for their four-legged friends:
Before the fireworks begin:
- Walk your dog before dark
- Feed your dog before the fireworks begin
- Provide a safe hiding place for your dog indoors and close the curtains
- Turn up the volume on your TV or radio to drown out scary noises
- Do not leave your dog in the garden
- Be extra careful when opening the door as your dog may escape
- Never force your dog to wear a costume
- Keep the treats and sweets away. Chocolate and raisins are poisonous to dogs.
For more information visit www.dogstrust.ie/az/f/fireworks to download a free ‘Firework Fear and your Dog’ factsheet. | 1,696 | 911 | 1.86169 |
warc | 201704 | Law schools are discriminating in their admissions policies, the
New York Times suggests. From 1993 to 2008, both the percentage and number of black and Mexican American law students declined, despite the fact that their grade-point averages and Law School Admissions Test scores were rising. Schools are setting their standards “very high,” one law-school dean explained. And yet we know, he went on, “those students with slightly lower L.S.A.T. scores can graduate, pass the bar, and be terrific lawyers.”
Well, yes, they
can graduate, and can pass the bar, but as UCLA law professor Richard Sander has shown, students who come into law schools already behind are less likely to complete law school and far more likely to fail the bar exam repeatedly than their more academically skilled peers.
In any case, black and Mexican American scores have been going up; maybe those of whites and Asians have been rising more impressively — widening the racial gap in performance. The
Times describes minority credentials as “very close” to those of white applicants, but how close is “very”?
Are we really to believe American law schools want more whites and fewer blacks and Mexican-Americans?
When will the racism-everywhere become yesterday’s tune? As Roger Clegg reported in a splendid little Corner piece yesterday, the Ninth Circuit has decided the State of Washington, in disfranchising felons, has violated the Voting Rights Act. The state’s criminal justice system is rife with racial discrimination, the court found.
“Minorities are disproportionately prosecuted and sentenced, resulting in their disproportionate representation among the persons disenfranchised under the Washington Constitution,” Judge A. Wallace Tashima wrote for the Circuit Court. The disproportionately high representation of (non-Asian) minorities in the prison population suggests a criminal justice system infected with racism. But suppose the court had found that blacks and Hispanics have actually been committing felonies in disproportionately high numbers. No matter. That would only show that the entire society — not just the criminal justice system — is racist. Racism drives them to a life of crime.
How to answer such arguments? You can’t.
— Abigail Thernstrom is the author, most recently, of Voting Rights — and Wrongs: The Elusive Quest for Racially Fair Elections. She is an adjunct scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. | 2,577 | 1,303 | 1.977744 |
warc | 201704 | Turkmenistan is essentially self-sufficient in energy resources, with natural gas by far the most plentiful resource. Proven reserves of natural gas are among the world's largest; in early 2002 they amounted to 2.9 trillion cu m, or about 2% of the world's total. Production in 2001 (excluding gas-flared or recycled) totaled 46.5 billion cu m. Natural gas is found primarily near Mary; these fields in south-central Turkmenistan account for 80% of annual production. Turkmenistan is a major exporter of natural gas to the former USSR, and is the only republic, besides Russia, to export to Europe. Several former Soviet republics now owe significant amounts of money to Turkmenistan, inclucing Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan. In October 2000 Turkmenistan agreed to resume gas exports to Ukraine, which had been interrupted since spring of 1999 because Ukraine had owed $281million at that point. Turkmenistan is developing alternatives to Russia's pipeline network as part of its strategy to increase natural gas exports. About 49% of primary energy consumption was fueled by natural gas in 1998, with the remainder coming from oil. In 2001, Turkmenistan's total installed electrical capacity was 3,930,000 kW. In 2000, net electricity generation was 9.3 billion kWh, of which more than 99% came from fossil fuels. In the same year, consumption of electricity totaled 7.7 billion kWh.
Oil is produced in small quantities in the west, on the Cheleken Peninsula, near Nebitdag and Kum Dag, and along the Caspian lowlands. Proven oil reserves totaled 546 million barrels at the beginning of 2002. In 2001 production amounted to about 159,000 barrels per day. A ten-year program was in place to raise production to almost 1 million barrels per day by 2010. Refining capabilities are limited and antiquated; both refineries are slated for modernization and expansion to help meet increased demand. | 1,922 | 1,025 | 1.875122 |
warc | 201704 | http://www.naturalnews.com/039016_vitamin_D_skin_lotions_DNA_damage.html
(NaturalNews) Though the mainstream sunscreen and skin care industries have a rather long way to go in correcting certain misinformation propaganda of decades gone by, the market may soon experience at least a slight shift in direction. Initial reports out of Australia indicate that researchers there say a new vitamin D-like compound might prove beneficial as a means of reducing DNA damage that leads to skin cancer, including a reduction in wrinkles and dark spots which can appear as a result of excessive sun exposure.
According to Professor Rebecca Mason at
Sydney University's
Bosch Institute for Medical Research, the compound has the ability to "reduce DNA skin damage by 50 percent and probably by more than 60 to 80 percent." The
Australian Research Council
, backed by its commercial partner Ultraceuticals, is funding her research team in hopes of putting the product into sunscreen and after-sun lotions. During her career, Mason has also reportedly accepted remuneration from Key Pharmaceuticals and funding from Nestle. (www.mja.com.au
)
While early reports seem optimistic, little information regarding this new compound is available currently. Questions remain as to its origins, its behaviors, and its usefulness, when compared with actual vitamin D acquired through sunlight or via quality nutritional supplementation. In fact, the only information currently being reported on the new compound appears to be that the product's distribution on the market place is still two years away.
Vitamin D - What it is and why we need it
By now, the health risks associated with not getting enough vitamin D are widely documented. Though quite necessary to our health as humans -- especially for our bones which rely on it for the proper metabolism of calcium and phosphorous -- vitamin D
cannot be obtained in foods alone and must be produced by the body through exposure to UVB sun rays or taken in the form of more advanced nutritional supplementation.
Technically speaking, because it is something we require to live but
must be produced in our bodies
, vitamin D is not a true vitamin at all. In fact, it was misidentified as such by a researcher who, back in 1920, misjudged the reasons behind fish liver oil's success in preventing rickets in dogs; but by the time his error was discovered four years later, the misnomer had become tradition, resulting in its official identification as a "vitamin" by experts in public health and nutrition. (http://www.drsoram.com/what-is-vitamin-d/
)
It turns out; however, that this substance known as vitamin D is important for much more than just preventing rickets. It is also critical for healthy bones. One of the main troubles with low vitamin D levels, according to
Australian Medical Association
president Dr. Steve Hambleton, is that the person cannot absorb calcium from the gut, and their body must then seek calcium from an alternative source -- the person's own bones. Maintaining appropriate levels of vitamin D can also assist in the prevention of any number of conditions, such as cancer, autism, asthma, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, influenza, depression and even pregnancy complications; whereas deficiency carries risks of developing such conditions.
Getting more natural vitamin D in your life
Well, Mother Nature knows best... Go sit in the sun! Your body has the power to make up to 20,000 IU of vitamin D in just a half-hour of sun exposure during midday in the summer time. That is an estimate; however, and does not apply to everyone. Factors like age and skin tone can play an important role in determining how much sun exposure is right for you. For more information, please refer to this helpful graphic at: http://www.naturalnews.com/infographic-the-vitamin-d-guide.html
and video at: http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=5A62FC73922FD51A88E62E42C5A0AD5E.
And let your body do the rest. It knows what to do.
When sun-soaking seems less practical, you can seek out your vitamin D in certain foods like certain fish, eggs, and mushrooms; however, many argue that a person cannot eat enough of these foods to attain optimal levels of vitamin D. For this reason (and that some of these sources like fish often also contain toxic levels of mercury), it may be wise to consider taking a quality supplement instead. If you do, be sure to look for vitamin D3, which is the pre-vitamin version that the body eventually converts into the substance so necessary for the repair and maintenance of most tissues and cells in the body.
Sources for the article include:http://www.news.com.auwww.mja.com.auhttp://www.drsoram.com/what-is-vitamin-d/http://www.drlwilson.com/Articles/why%20take%20supplements.htmhttp://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=5A62FC73922FD51A88E62E42C5A0AD5Ehttp://www.naturalnews.com/infographic-the-vitamin-d-guide.html
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warc | 201704 | Eligibility for Services
All disabilities are medical conditions, but not all medical conditions are disabilities. To be eligible for services, students must provide medical documentation that provides information about a substantial limitation to one or more major life activities, specifically as it applies to meeting the demands of University life, in and/or out of the classroom. Although some disabilities do not change over time, the medical documentation must address the student’s current level of functioning. IEP’S and 504 Plans, although providing historical evidence of services and accommodations, are generally not considered sufficient to make a student eligible for services in post-secondary education. However, in all situations, every student will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
The Office of Veteran and Disability Support Services (OVDSS) provides services and reasonable accommodations to currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate / professional students with disabilities. Equal access is an institutional commitment, and the Office of Veteran and Disability Support Services seeks partnerships throughout the University to achieve that goal. Partial list of Disability Types Disclosed at North Carolina A&T State University
Acquired Brain Injury / Traumatic Brain Injury
Ankylosing Spondylitis Attention Deficit / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Cerebral Palsy Hearing Impairment HIV / AIDS Learning Disabilities Lupus Physical Mobility, Dexterity and Chronic Health Processing Speed Psychological Disorders Seizure Disorders Sickle Cell Anemia Speech Impairment Visual Impairment Others | 1,648 | 851 | 1.936545 |
warc | 201704 | Depending on one’s point of view, the Catholic publishing world — specifically books and periodicals — is:
a. in big trouble
b. experiencing massive growing pains as it deals with change. c. facing exciting challenges and opportunities as it embraces the digital revolution. Or, d. all of the above.
The Catholic publishing world has certainly had its share of losses, and recent years have been difficult on several publishers.
Print periodicals have been battling a steady decline in renewals, combined with skyrocketing publishing costs for several years. The economic downturn that began in 2008 has caused some consumers to view religious books and magazines as luxuries. On the other hand, there is a growing demand for digital information from the under-45 demographic.
Amazon.com, the online book seller, recently announced that sales of e-books now outpace sales of printed books. Sales of mobile devices such as Apple’s iPad, Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes and Noble’s Nook are growing exponentially, and along with this, a demand for mobile applications that contain all types of information and entertainment formerly purchased in hard copy.
Author and commentator Russell Shaw believes that demand for hardcopy books will decline sharply.
“I’ve thought for a long time that the amount of books published will be greatly reduced, and that’s true for both secular and religious books,” Shaw said. “Books will still be purchased by an elite audience, while the majority will be tweeting and twittering and watching their screens.”
Shaw, a former spokesman for the U.S. bishops’ conference, believes that time is running out for any publisher that has not taken digitized books seriously, even while the need to “retain some capacity for old-fashioned books will always be worthwhile for a niche market of those who still want them.”
Tim Walter, executive director of the Catholic Press Association, sees a difficult challenge for Catholic periodicals as younger readers demand free content on publishers’ websites: “Everyone knows that the print product is still the financial foundation of those other media forms. Without the revenue that comes from subscriptions and advertising, what will support those digital platforms? Writers want to be paid for their work, whether it appears in print copy or on the Internet. We’ve been conditioned to expect free Web content so long as we pay our $40 per month for Internet access. That’s like paying so much a month to a grocery store for the privilege of entering, but then just taking all the food you want. No money would get to the food vendor with that model.”
Most Catholic publishers are learning to ride the digital wave. Some are just testing the waters. Others have already dived in. Yet questions remain: How much, how soon, and where is it all leading? Will printed books disappear within 10 years, as some have predicted? Or will there still be a market for them in the foreseeable future? Catholic publishers must try to answer these questions with one eye on a mission to spread the truth and the other on their bottom line.
The Register, for example, which has had four owners in its 84-year history, almost ceased publication at the end of 2010. In spite of several cost-saving measures over the past two years, including reducing the frequency of its print edition to biweekly while significantly upgrading its Web presence, it had not been able to meet rising production costs with subscription and advertising revenue — and even with donations. The newspaper’s publisher since 1995, the Legionaries of Christ, found itself caught in a perfect storm of a bad economy, rising costs and a scandal involving the order’s founder, Father Marcial Maciel.
The Register’s former sister publication,
Faith & Family magazine, a full-color quarterly for Catholic families, also was struggling. In February, it found a new home with Bayard Publications, an international communications group owned by the Assumptionist order.
The privately owned company would not release any transaction details, but it did release this statement: “Bayard Inc. is a global publishing apostolate owned by the Augustinians of the Assumption. Bayard’s principle mission is evangelization through media and education. The continued presence of
Faith & Family magazine as it ministers to young families committed to Catholic teaching and traditions resonates with Bayard’s global mission.”
Another recent change in relationship involved Sophia Institute Press, a longtime publisher of both vintage Catholic classics and works of modern authors. Sophia hit a financial roadblock and was also put up for sale late in 2010. Although many of its titles were in high demand, accumulated debt had prevented them from being reprinted. A recent partnership agreement between Sophia and Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, N.H., is intended to save the nonprofit publishing house. Thomas More’s president, William Fahey, launched a fundraising campaign in late March to cover Sophia’s most pressing debts to enable reprinting back-ordered titles and to begin publishing some new titles. According to Fahey, half of that goal was met during the first week of the campaign.
Complete Changeover
One company that left hard copy behind several years ago and never looked back is the Morley Publishing Group, Inc., publisher of the former
Crisis Magazine and now of the popular news and commentary website Inside Catholic. Editor Brian Saint-Paul says that the 2007 decision to cease printing Crisisand move to an online format was “controversial, even among our supporters, but in the last three years, we’ve demonstrated that this was the right move to make.” Saint-Paul noted that skyrocketing postage and printing costs, plus falling renewal and new subscriber numbers, were the writing on the wall. Today, Inside Catholic has as many as 150,000 unique visitors (as opposed to hits) each month. Although subscription income has vanished, so have the expenses of printing, mailing and maintaining office space: The editorial staff all work from home. For now, fundraising is covering all but the tiny percentage of expenses offset by banner ad revenue.
The next frontier for Inside Catholic is a mobile-device application. Saint-Paul noted, “People simply do not want to read anything longer than 800 or 1,000 words from a computer screen — it’s just not comfortable. So we had to leave behind one of the main features of
Crisis — lengthy, analytical pieces related to our mission of integrating the Church’s social teachings with democratic capitalism. A mobile device provides a more comfortable reading experience. You can sit on the couch sipping tea, or read in the bathroom or on a train. Longer articles will be a reality once more. So, in a way, the app will enable us to return to our Crisis roots. It will be a true magazine again.” Variety of Offerings
Unlike Morley, other publishers have more than a single product. They manage diverse offerings that can include trade paperbacks, curricula and pamphlets, as well as periodicals. They must make a profit on print products while still investing in the uncertain and ever-changing world of digital technology.
One year from its 100th anniversary, Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., is the venerable powerhouse of the Catholic publishing world. With products that range from books to periodicals to bulletin inserts to collection envelopes, OSV does not see the digital platforms as the be-all and end-all. But it is certainly taking steps to make use of them.
“The advantage at OSV is that we always had a mindset of being a content company, rather than format-focused. Whenever we analyze a new project, we ask: What is the best way to get this particular content into as many hands as possible?” said marketing director John Christianson. For OSV, that might be a book, a pamphlet, a piece of catechetical curriculum or free online articles or the
Our Sunday Visitor paper. OSV sees no point in abandoning tried-and-true printed material when there is still a need.
OSV is proceeding cautiously with e-books. Currently, there are 15 OSV titles available for the Kindle e-reader. The Daily Take blog is available to Kindle readers. And in the works is a mobile edition of the entire
OSV website, which includes news, blog commentary and free educational content, as well as the complete OSV catalog . These forays into new digital platforms are described by Christianson as “experimentation mode. We know it’s not enough to just have information and expect people to find us. We have to meet them where they are, and trust that the revenue will eventually follow.” Catholic E-Books
Another major player, Ignatius Press, can only be described as “confident.” With 2010 sales at an all-time high, the San Francisco-based publisher intends to go full-steam ahead with their traditional array of books, music and DVDs — but also to continue an aggressive digitizing project that began one and a half years ago.
“We have a full-time staff person putting virtually all of our new books and many of the old ones into e-book form,” said marketing director Tony Ryan. “When Father Fessio returned to us from Ave Maria University, he realized we had to jump on this. Right now, the vast majority of our sales are still hardcopy, but some e-books are doing pretty well.”
A recently released second edition of The Ignatius Bible has sold about 6,000 e-books versus 27,000 print editions. The next digital challenge facing Ignatius is to produce more MP3 audio books.
“Producing these is a slower process than e-books,” Ryan said. “And there’s the expense of hiring a professional reader. So far, the sales are low, so we’re not sure whether this will catch on or not.”
Ryan also mentioned recent initiatives unrelated to the digital revolution. Ignatius has been working with several mainstream Christian publishers to make products available to the Catholic market. The Ignatius edition of Zondervan’s new Catholic audio Bible is one example. And a special edition of Abby Johnson’s pro-life conversion story,
Unplanned, was the result of an unusual collaboration among Ignatius, Protestant publisher Tyndale House, and the evangelical group Focus on the Family. “When we first contacted Tyndale to see if we could do a joint effort, their first reaction was that this was a wild idea. But they thought about it and were soon on board with the idea. It was a way for them to penetrate the Catholic market.” A little more than two months after its release, the Ignatius Unplanned is already in its third printing. In the Steps of St. Paul
Catholic publishers are finding new ways to evangelize in the digital world — and keep the printed word alive. If St. Paul were on earth today, would he be developing an iEpistles app? Sister Kathryn Hermes of the Daughters of St. Paul thinks so. The Daughters, a large congregation dedicated to spreading the Gospel through the media, made a decision two years ago to embrace digital development. Sister Kathryn was designated by her superior to direct the initiative.
“It began with lots of research and consulting,” she said. “We developed a new editorial process by which we could start to prepare manuscripts to be digital content from the beginning. We took on a new way to work together — instead of another [digital] department, we have cross-departmental teams, pulling together those who have the talent, expertise and information to do a specific project. Learning to think digitally was lots of extra work, but with the hope and excitement of spreading the Gospel to a new digital ‘continent,’ we made the effort.”
The Daughters have been dealing with the challenge of change for many years. Once upon a time, the sisters printed and bound their own books on the lower levels of their sprawling Boston motherhouse. These tasks have long since been outsourced. Two print periodicals have closed down, and the third, a children’s magazine, has been transformed into the online J-Club.
Along with the drive to make digital editions available has come difficulties in distribution. The Daughters’ effort to do so on their own was not an efficient way to use resources. A digital distribution agent, or aggregator, now handles the process of moving e-books to online retailers and keeping track of sales.
Recent successes include mobile applications that have received high customer ratings. These include an interactive Rosary, beginning contemplative prayer guide, saint of the day, and an iMissal app with daily liturgy and other devotions. Sister Kathryn said that authors designing apps must re-imagine themselves as “creators of content” who “pull print, audio, images, design and marketing all into one.”
Sister Kathryn summed up both the challenge and the hope of the digital era in a way that must resonate with all Catholic publishers: “The most difficult challenge of all is the constantly changing nature of modern media. You realize that every choice you make is going to be temporary. You have to have a way out of each plan you make so that you are ready when the next change comes along. … Some experts think print will be gone in 10 years. We have to rethink everything in case that turns out to be true. We have no choice, since it is our mission to use every method of evangelization there is, to find and serve people in whatever space they move and live, and to let God encounter them in those spaces.”
Register correspondent Daria Sockey writes from Venus, Pennsylvania. | 13,950 | 6,215 | 2.24457 |
warc | 201704 | Long-term use of prescription painkillers has been linked to depression by a study in the US.
A team at Saint Louis University studied data from around 50,000 veterans with no history of depression who had been prescribed opioids.
They found that those who stayed on the drugs for 180 days or longer had a 53 per cent increased risk of a depressive episode, while subjects who took them for 90 to 180 days saw their likelihood of mood problems rise by a quarter compared to people who only used prescriptions for one to 89 days.
Dr Jeffrey Scherrer, lead author of the study, said in the Journal of General Internal Medicine: 'These findings suggest that the longer one is exposed to opioid analgesics, the greater is their risk of developing depression.'
According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 807 fatal overdoses involving prescription drugs in Britain last year, with around 62 million prescriptions written for all types of painkillers. | 967 | 563 | 1.717584 |
warc | 201704 | Maybe it’s time to rethink the internet. The main purpose of the web, as we know it, is to sell ads—by trading off of our personal information, our status updates, our baby photos. And despite its freewheeling roots, the internet has come to be dominated by just a few companies, from Amazon to Google to Facebook, all of which “silo” information in some way. And countries like China are able to very effectively control what their citizens see and read.
Meanwhile, none of the web was built to last. Visit your favorite website from 1998 and see if the links still work, or if that glorious open and shutting mailbox GIF is still up on your GeoCities website. (Speaking of which, where did GeoCities go?)
It seems needless to worry about any of this in an era when the internet is giving us more almost daily. But for a lot of the internet’s early founders, and for a lot of its contemporary tinkerers, now is the time to dream of a better web—one where you could control your own information and decide how to use it, where links and videos and even programs would last forever, and where anonymity was baked into the system.
Dreaming about and creating the next version of the internet is the goal of the Decentralized Web Summit, a conference hosted June 8-9 by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit dedicated to universal access to all knowledge.
The Internet Archive is housed in a massive old church, complete with a dome topped by stained glass. To watch a speech, one must sit in a pew. There is no password on the Wi-Fi. The slats that once displayed hymn numbers now read 314, 159, 265—the first digits of pi—on one side and 161, 803, 399—the ratio of the Fibonacci Sequence—on the other.
Behind the pews, in a space where organs once sat, are the servers that actually run the Wayback Machine, a project that aims to save all the old websites in history. Seemingly silent moments are actually filled with the hum of the fans on the boxes keeping the servers cool; dozens of flashing lights each show requests from the archive, which serves everything from the first whitehouse.gov, from 1996, to Apple’s first attempts at e-commerce. If it wasn’t for this San Francisco nonprofit, those early pieces of internet history would already be gone.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, which has become the backbone of economic invention for the past two decades. Today, he wants to change it. The internet set off a massive wave of innovation, Berners-Lee says, but he worries that it’s increasingly become a series of silos, like Facebook and Twitter, that try to keep their users on their sites or push them to proprietary apps for access.
“It’s time to re-decentralize the web,” Berners-Lee told the conference.
Looking back at the glory days of the web, to a time when the internet was still in its infancy, may seem like folly. But the internet of the late 1990s was a wild place. It was more likely to be found on servers in people’s bedrooms or on university machines than in a corporate rack space. Sure, the backgrounds made things a bit unreadable and perhaps everyone was a little too fond of animated GIFs, but it was also a little quirkier, a little crazier.
And the first search engines didn’t tell people how to optimize as much as figure out what the hell was going on. The programmers and technologists dreaming of the decentralized web want to bring back a bit of that self-starting ethos. It’s a Google-Amazon-Facebook world, sure, but it wasn’t supposed to end up that way.
There’s more to decentralizing the web than dreaming beyond the mega-corporations that built it. The subtitle of the conference is “Locking the web open,” which refers to the hope that the next-wave internet will make it technically impossible to block access and will preserve anonymity for users.
Brewster Kahle founded the Internet Archive, and he also sits on the board of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group dedicated to preserving digital rights. Kahle says part of his motivation for looking for a new internet came from the National Security Agency files released by Edward Snowden. Among them was evidence that Britain’s spy agency watched all the readers of WikiLeaks and recorded their IP addresses. “We want to make [the web] reader-private,” Kahle said. You shouldn’t feel you have to hide something you research, he insisted.
The web as it exists now does only one of the three things Kahle thinks should be required. “It’s not reliable, it’s not private, but it is fun,” Kahle said. The decentralized web could change that, he thinks, if it builds in encryption and uses the technology that drives peer-to-peer technologies—like BitTorrent, a file-sharing system that requires its users to contribute to the system, and bitcoin, a digital currency that is anonymous but also verifiable. Changes to how the web works, and how we surf it, could “bake the First Amendment into the code itself,” Kahle said.
But getting there will take a lot of people like Tantek Çelik, a co-founder of IndieWeb and Mozilla’s web standards lead. Çelik started IndieWeb to bring together people interested in taking control of their content. The way the web works now, he says, “you give up your identity, you give up your data, and you give up your privacy.” IndieWeb helps produce software that lets people use the web how they want and keep their information to themselves.
One of IndieWeb’s projects is Known, a content-managing system and blogging platform like WordPress—but one that also allows users to share content, as they would on social networks such as Twitter, or check into events. It’s a start, but Çelik says getting people to run their own sites instead of relying on giants like Facebook, which have made things very easy, will take work. Still, he’s happy with his growth: He said there are 10 times as many people running indieweb code this year as last.
It’s a project built from passion and cooperation. That may not seem like a combination that can compete with Amazon’s billions when it comes to the future of the web, let alone grow. But that ethos was actually behind a lot of the early innovations on the web. “Your content is yours, you’re better connected, and you are in control,” Çelik said.
One of the conference's sponsors was Google, which may be a sign that the web giant doesn’t see an immediate threat in breaking the web as we currently know it.
Vint Cerf, who was one of the founding drivers of the internet and now works for Google, gave a keynote speech at the conference that centered on making the web more permanent. He has reservations about building the web around decentralized systems, especially the type that require participation, such as BitTorrent systems.
“The folks here who are focused on the distributed web idea have the hope you won’t need a business model because people will just share the resources,” Cerf says. “I’m nervous about the economics of that. I’m worried about the skill of the people we’d be relying on to maintain that software environment. As much as I like the sociological idea, I’m not 100 percent sure that’s the most reliable system.”
Cerf does have dreams of improving the core functionality of the web, though. He hopes to make information, and links and videos, live forever, something he calls the “self-archiving web.” Creating a version of the internet that won’t break with age was another goal of the technologists here.
Whatever the future of the internet, it’s clear we’re not yet on the final version. For the people at the Decentralized Web conference, the future looked a bit more like anarchy than corporatocracy or government control.
“The decentralized web is going to give anyone the same power as a corporation,” said Kyle Drake, another programmer hoping to bring back a bit of the ’90s verve with Neocities, a replacement for that departed giant of the World Wide Web, version 1.0: GeoCities. | 8,275 | 3,748 | 2.207844 |
warc | 201704 | Over the past year, China has seen a rash of labor disputes, as employees of state- and foreign-owned factories have begun to clamor for better working conditions and higher wages. That’s led some to speculate that the Middle Kingdom will begin losing basic manufacturing jobs to nations like Bangladesh and Vietnam, which produce goods more cheaply. Already, some factories that churn out low-end items like shoes or garments are looking for cheaper pastures.
Yet, rather than fleeing the country, companies hoping to cut labor costs may instead move to China’s heartland. And with good reason. According to a recent paper by the Economist Intelligence Unit, more than half of China’s -fastest-growing cities with populations above 850,000 are located in its central region. These cities offer manufacturers a steady supply of low-cost workers, an ideal location to transport goods both east and west, and a foothold in a fast-growing region with long-term growth potential. Foxconn, an electronics company that raised wages earlier this year after a spate of employee suicides, plans to recruit 200,000 employees to work in its new factory in Zhengzhou; the city is located in the country’s most populous province and serves as a major transportation hub. With Chinese authorities encouraging a new class of consumers throughout the heartland as well as along the coast, the country may soon lay claim to being the world’s market as well as the world’s factory. | 1,496 | 825 | 1.813333 |
warc | 201704 | IMARC Group, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms, finds that the total consumption volume of milk in India grew at 5.3% during 2010-11 - 2011-12. Estimates from their latest report “Indian Dairy Market Report & Forecasts 2012-2017” suggest that the total market for dairy products in India is expected to surpass US$ 86 billion by 2017.
Milk in India is perceived to be associated with good health and wellness; as a result, it represents a major part of the Indian diet. Apart from its direct consumption, milk is also used in the preparation of various other products like tea, coffee, yoghurt, curd, cheese, paneer, traditional sweets, butter, ice cream, ghee, etc. This has resulted in India becoming by far the world’s largest consumer of milk.
Currently around 49% of the total milk produced in the country is consumed as liquid milk. Out of the reaming 51%, around 26.5% of the total milk is converted into ghee, 7% is converted into curd and 6% is converted into butter. The remaining 11.5% milk is converted into other dairy products such as paneer, khoa, ice-cream, etc. Dairy products in India are currently consumed fresh with a very small share being processed for value addition. With the growth of the health and wellness market, however, we expect the market for value added dairy products to grow exponentially in the coming years.
IMARC Group’s new report “Indian Dairy Market Report & Forecasts 2012-2017” an updated and far more extensive and analytical version of their popular 2011 study, provides and draws upon a comprehensive analysis of every major dairy segment in India. The study, which has been undertaken using both desk research and two waves of qualitative primary research, has analyzed three aspects of the Indian dairy market.
The first section quantifies the Indian dairy market into fourteen major segments and investigates the current and future opportunities in each of these segments. The second section provides an in-depth understanding of dairy consumption patterns among Indian consumers and the potential of value added dairy products. The third section investigates into the usage of natural colouration in dairy products and evaluates their current and future potential.
What we have achieved in this report:
Comprehensive situation analysis of the Indian dairy market and its dynamics:
Segments covered: Milk, UHT Milk, Curd, Butter, Ghee, Paneer, Cheese, Khoya, Skimmed Milk Powder, Tea, Coffee, Dairy Whiteners, Infant Nutrition, Malt Beverages and Ice Cream
Focus of the analysis in each Class:
• Drivers and challenges in each market;
• Historical, current & future sales trends (2006 – 2017);
• Historical, current & future volume trends (2006 – 2017);
• Historical, current & future price trends (2006 – 2017);
• Size and analysis of the organized and unorganized markets;
• Structure of the market;
• Key players and products available in these market.
Understanding the dairy consumption patterns of Indian consumers and evaluating the potential of value added products:
In order to gain an insight into the awareness and acceptance levels of value added dairy products, IMARC Conducted in-depth interviews with Industry experts and consumers in major metropolitan and tier-1 cities in India.
Focus of the analysis:
• Buying behavior;
• Price sensitivity;
• Nutritional requirements;
• Consumer awareness of value added products;
• Brand loyalty and switching trends;
• Potential of value added dairy products in India.
Understanding the current landscape of natural colouration in dairy products
Classes Covered: Butter, Cheese, Yoghurt, Margarine, Flavored Milk and Ice Cream
Focus of the analysis:
• Size of the natural colouration market in India;
• Key drivers and challenges in the market;
• Usage of natural colouration in dairy products.
Information Sources:
Information has been sourced from both primary and secondary sources:
• Primary sources include industry surveys and face to face/telephone interviews with consumers and industry experts.
• Secondary sources include proprietary databases and search engines. These sources include company websites and reports, books, trade journals, magazines, white papers, industry portals, government sources and access to more than 4000 paid databases.
To buy the complete report or to get a free sample, please contact:
IMARC Group - Asia
E: apac[.]imarcgroup.com / P: +91 120-415-5099
IMARC Group - Europe, Middle East & Africa
E: ema[.]imarcgroup.com / P: +44 702-409-7331
IMARC Group - Europe, Middle East & Africa
E: america[.]imarcgroup.com / P: +1 631-791-1145 | 4,780 | 2,012 | 2.375746 |
warc | 201704 | I was at an Italian restaurant in Melbourne, listening as a woman named Lesley talked about her housekeeper, an immigrant to Australia who earlier that day had cleaned the bathroom countertops with a bottle of very expensive acne medication: “She’s afraid of the vacuum cleaner and can’t read or write a word of English, but other than that she’s marvellous.”
Lesley works for a company that goes into developing countries and trains doctors to remove cataracts. “It’s incredibly rewarding,” she said as our antipasto plate arrived. “These are people who’ve been blind for years, and suddenly, miraculously, they can see again.” She brought up a man who’d been operated on in a remote area of China. “They took off the bandages, and for the first time in two decades he saw his wife. Then he opened his mouth and said, ‘You’re so . . . old.’ ”
Lesley pushed back her shirtsleeve, and as she reached for an olive I noticed a rubber bracelet on her left wrist. “Is that a watch?” I asked.
“No,” she told me. “It’s a Fitbit. You synch it with your computer, and it tracks your physical activity.”
I leaned closer, and as she tapped the thickest part of it a number of glowing dots rose to the surface and danced back and forth. “It’s like a pedometer,” she continued. “But updated, and better. The goal is to take ten thousand steps per day, and, once you do, it vibrates.”
I forked some salami into my mouth. “Hard?”
“No,” she said. “It’s just a tingle.”
A few weeks later, I bought a Fitbit of my own, and discovered what she was talking about. Ten thousand steps, I learned, amounts to a little more than four miles for someone my size—five feet five inches. It sounds like a lot, but you can cover that distance in the course of an average day without even trying, especially if you have stairs in your house, and a steady flow of people who regularly knock, wanting you to accept a package or give them directions or just listen patiently as they talk about birds, which happens from time to time when I’m home, in West Sussex, the area of England that Hugh and I live in. One April afternoon, the person at my door hoped to sell me a wooden bench. It was bought, he said, for a client whose garden he was designing. “Last week she loved it, but now she’s decided to go with something else.” In the bright sunlight, the fellow’s hair was as orange as a Popsicle. “The company I ordered it from has a no-return policy, so I’m wondering if maybe
you’ d like to buy it.” He gestured toward an unmarked van idling in front of the house, and seemed angry when I told him that I wasn’t interested. “You could at least take a look before making up your mind,” he said.
I closed the door a couple of inches. “That’s O.K.” Then, because it’s an excuse that works for just about everything, I added, “I’m American.”
“Meaning?” he said.
“We . . . stand up a lot,” I told him.
“Oldest trick in the book,” my neighbor Thelma said when I told her what had happened. “That bench was stolen from someone’s garden, I guarantee it.”
This was seconded by the fellow who came to empty our septic tank. “Pikeys,” he said.
“Come again?”
“Tinkers,” he said. “Pikeys.”
“That means Gypsies,” Thelma explained, adding that the politically correct word is “travellers.”
I was travelling myself when I got my Fitbit, and because the tingle feels so good, not just as a sensation but also as a mark of accomplishment, I began pacing the airport rather than doing what I normally do, which is sit in the waiting area, wondering which of the many people around me will die first, and of what. I also started taking the stairs instead of the escalator, and avoiding the moving sidewalk.
“Every little bit helps,” my old friend Dawn, who frequently eats lunch while hula-hooping and has been known to visit her local Y three times a day, said. She had a Fitbit as well, and swore by it. Others I met weren’t quite so taken. These were people who had worn one until the battery died. Then, rather than recharging it, which couldn’t be simpler, they’d stuck it in a drawer, most likely with all the other devices they’d lost interest in over the years. To people like Dawn and me, people who are obsessive to begin with, the Fitbit is a digital trainer, perpetually egging us on. During the first few weeks that I had it, I’d return to my hotel at the end of the day, and when I discovered that I’d taken a total of, say, twelve thousand steps, I’d go out for another three thousand.
“But why?” Hugh asked when I told him about it. “Why isn’t twelve thousand enough?”
“Because,” I told him, “my Fitbit thinks I can do better.”
I look back at that time and laugh—fifteen thousand steps—Ha! That’s only about seven miles! Not bad if you’re on a business trip or you’re just getting used to a new prosthetic leg. In Sussex, though, it’s nothing. Our house is situated on the edge of a rolling downland, a perfect position if you like what the English call “rambling.” I’ll follow a trail every now and then, but as a rule I prefer roads, partly because it’s harder to get lost on a road, but mainly because I’m afraid of snakes. The only venomous ones in England are adders, and even though they’re hardly ubiquitous, I’ve seen three that had been run over by cars. Then I met a woman named Janine who was bitten and had to spend a week in the hospital. “It was completely my own fault,” she said. “I shouldn’t have been wearing sandals.”
“It didn’t
have to strike you,” I reminded her. “It could have just slid away.”
Janine was the type who’d likely blame herself for getting mugged. “It’s what I get for having anything worth taking!” she’d probably say. At first, I found her attitude fascinating. Then I got vindictive on her behalf, and started carrying a snake killer, or, at least, something that could be used to grab one by the neck and fling it into the path of an oncoming car. It’s a hand-size claw on a pole, and was originally designed for picking up litter. With it I can walk, fear snakes a little less, and satisfy my insane need for order all at the same time. I’ve been cleaning the roads in my area of Sussex for three years now, but before the Fitbit I did it primarily on my bike, and with my bare hands. That was fairly effective, but I wound up missing a lot. On foot, nothing escapes my attention: a potato-chip bag stuffed into the hollow of a tree, an elderly mitten caught in the embrace of a blackberry bush, a mud-coated matchbook at the bottom of a ditch. Then, there’s all the obvious stuff: the cans and bottles and great greasy sheets of paper that fish-and-chips comes wrapped in. You can tell where my territory ends and the rest of England begins. It’s like going from the rose arbor in Sissinghurst to Fukushima after the tsunami. The difference is staggering.
Since getting my Fitbit, I’ve seen all kinds of things I wouldn’t normally have come across. Once, it was a toffee-colored cow with two feet sticking out of her. I was rambling that afternoon, with my friend Maja, and as she ran to inform the farmer I marched in place, envious of the extra steps she was getting in. Given all the time I’ve spent in the country, you’d think I might have seen a calf being born, but this was a first for me. The biggest surprise was how unfazed the expectant mother was. For a while, she lay flat on the grass, panting. Then she got up and began grazing, still with those feet sticking out.
“Really?” I said to her. “You can’t go
five minutes without eating?”
Around her were other cows, all of whom seemed blind to her condition.
“Do you think she knows there’s a baby at the end of this?” I asked Maja after she’d returned. “A woman is told what’s going to happen in the delivery room, but how does an animal interpret this pain?”
I thought of the first time I had a kidney stone. That was in New York, in 1991, back when I had no money or health insurance. All I knew was that I was hurting, and couldn’t afford to do anything about it. The night was spent moaning. Then I peed blood, followed by what looked like a piece of gravel from an aquarium. That’s when I put it all together.
What might I have thought if, after seven hours of unrelenting agony, a creature the size of a full-grown cougar emerged, inch by inch, from the hole at the end of my penis and started hassling me for food? Was that what the cow was going through? Did she think she was dying, or had instinct somehow prepared her for this?
Maja and I watched for an hour. Then the sun started to set, and we trekked on, disappointed. I left for London the next day, and when I returned several weeks later, and hiked back to the field, I saw mother and child standing side by side, not in the loving way that I had imagined but more like strangers waiting for the post office to open. Other animals I’ve seen on my walks are foxes and rabbits. I’ve stumbled upon deer, stoats, a hedgehog, and more pheasants than I could possibly count. All the badgers I find are dead, run over by cars and eventually feasted upon by carrion-eating slugs, which are themselves eventually flattened, and feasted upon by other slugs.
Back when Maja and I saw the cow, I was averaging twenty-five thousand steps, or around ten and a half miles per day. Trousers that had grown too snug were suddenly loose again, and I noticed that my face was looking a lot thinner. Then I upped it to thirty thousand steps, and started moving farther afield. “We saw David in Arundel picking up a dead squirrel with his grabbers,” the neighbors told Hugh. “We saw him outside Steyning rolling a tire down the side of the road”; “ . . . in Pulborough dislodging a pair of Y-fronts from a tree branch.” Before the Fitbit, once we’d eaten dinner I was in for the evening. Now, though, as soon as I’m finished with the dishes I walk to the pub and back, a distance of 3,895 steps. There are no street lights where we live, and the houses I pass at 11 P.M. are either dark or very dimly lit. I often hear owls, and the flapping of woodcocks disturbed by the beam of my flashlight. One night, I heard a creaking sound, and noticed that the minivan parked a dozen or so steps ahead of me was rocking back and forth. A lot of people where we live seem to have sex in their cars. I know this because I find their used condoms, sometimes on the road but more often just off it, in little pull-over areas. In addition to spent condoms, in one of the spots that I patrol I regularly pick up empty KFC containers and a great number of soiled Handi Wipes. Do they eat fried chicken and
then have sex, or is it the other way round? I wonder.
I look back on the days I averaged only thirty thousand steps, and think, Honestly, how lazy can you get? When I hit thirty-five thousand steps a day, Fitbit sent me an e-badge, and then one for forty thousand, and forty-five thousand. Now I’m up to sixty thousand, which is twenty-five and a half miles. Walking that distance at the age of fifty-seven, with completely flat feet while lugging a heavy bag of garbage, takes close to nine hours—a big block of time, but hardly wasted. I listen to audiobooks, and podcasts. I talk to people. I learn things: the fact, for example, that, in the days of yore, peppercorns were sold individually and, because they were so valuable, to guard against theft the people who packed them had to have their pockets sewed shut.
At the end of my first sixty-thousand-step day, I staggered home with my flashlight knowing that I’d advance to sixty-five thousand, and that there will be no end to it until my feet snap off at the ankles. Then it’ll just be my jagged bones stabbing into the soft ground. Why is it some people can manage a thing like a Fitbit, while others go off the rails and allow it to rule, and perhaps even ruin, their lives? While marching along the roadside, I often think of a TV show that I watched a few years back—“Obsessed,” it was called. One of the episodes was devoted to a woman who owned two treadmills, and walked like a hamster on a wheel from the moment she got up until she went to bed. Her family would eat dinner, and she’d observe them from her vantage point beside the table, panting as she asked her children about their day. I knew that I was supposed to scoff at this woman, to be, at the very least, entertainingly disgusted, the way I am with the people on “Hoarders,” but instead I saw something of myself in her. Of course, she did her walking on a treadmill, where it served no greater purpose. So it’s not like we’re
really that much alike. Is it?
In recognition of all the rubbish I’ve collected since getting my Fitbit, my local council is naming a garbage truck after me. The fellow in charge e-mailed to ask which font I would like my name written in, and I answered Roman.
“Get it?” I said to Hugh. “
Roamin’.”
He lost patience with me somewhere around the thirty-five-thousand mark, and responded with a heavy sigh.
Shortly after I decided on a typeface, for reasons I cannot determine my Fitbit died. I was devastated when I tapped the broadest part of it and the little dots failed to appear. Then I felt a great sense of freedom. It seemed that my life was now my own again. But was it? Walking twenty-five miles, or even running up the stairs and back, suddenly seemed pointless, since, without the steps being counted and registered, what use were they? I lasted five hours before I ordered a replacement, express delivery. It arrived the following afternoon, and my hands shook as I tore open the box. Ten minutes later, my new master strapped securely around my left wrist, I was out the door, racing, practically running, to make up for lost time. ♦ | 14,524 | 6,561 | 2.213687 |
warc | 201704 | How have gamers responded to the recession? While much of the conversation has focused on fluctuations in new game sales, a new study "The Value Gamer: Play and Purchase Behavior in a Recession" by the Nielsen Company shows there is much more to the story. Over the past several months, the number of hours that gamers claim to be playing is at an all time high, part of a rising trend in gameplay that began in 2007. Additionally, gamers have increased their purchase of used games to record-breaking totals since the Video Game Tracking survey began asking about this in 2006. The same is true for subscriptions to video game rental services by mail. Taken together, these trends point to gamers' continued engagement with the category even as their budgets have come under pressure. Overall, the recession has not abated the trend of increasing gameplay and may have in fact accelerated it as gamers look to get more value out of the games they own.
"Primarily, we believe mainstream gamers are playing more of the broadly appealing games (i.e Wii Fit, Guitar Hero and Rock Band) pushing their hours of gameplay up," said Michael Flamberg, director of client consulting, Nielsen Games. "The social aspects of these games have engaged them. We don’t believe hardcore gamers are driving up the usage averages we've observed. Second, gamers may be looking to stretch their entertainment dollar further through playing games they own more. The importance of value for them is evident in the findings on used game purchase."
In terms of why new game sales have been soft, Nielsen offers three contributing factors that explain this:
For more, download The Value Gamer: Play and Purchase Behavior in a Recession and read the coverage in the Los Angeles Times.
A gamer is defined as claiming to have purchased a title in the past 6 months and played for at least 1 hour per week on any of the current consoles or the PC. | 1,933 | 1,018 | 1.898821 |
warc | 201704 | 2017 Market Outlook - All reports by Nikko Asset Management
Previously, capital markets had become highly conditioned to a “lower for longer” world, with the search for yield having implications both within and across risk asset classes. Even before the US election result, markets had started to factor in a more inflationary outlook. The exact cause of this more conducive pricing environment can be debated, but the rate of growth within China and its knock-on implications for commodity prices is certainly one contributing factor.
With this as a context, the ascendancy of Donald Trump to US president is certainly a push on a door that was already ajar. His election promises, whatever the ultimate reality, would appear more inflationary than the current status quo. When combined with ongoing optimism regarding US growth and a reasonably firm US labour market, we are clearly set for a significant test of bond investors’ nerves. This has implications for how investors appraise companies within the equity markets.
Global growth prospects
Will renewed optimism be matched by reality? This is the key question we need to answer. We would summarise the case for cyclical optimism as follows:
The election of Trump and success in both houses will result in policy promises having a reasonable probability of being delivered. Higher fiscal spending combined with possible protectionism and easier regulation on businesses are all inflationary in nature. Existing economic trends in the US are suggestive of a tightening labour market, making any growth surprise likely to be more inflationary. Chinese credit conditions, albeit too focused on the old state-owned enterprises, have been much easier than expected, with an impact on both global demand and commodity prices while this remains in place. While willingness to borrow has been a challenge to date, the impact of greater government borrowing in the US is driving the yield curve steeper, increasing margin opportunities for banks and hence the propensity to lend. Economic stagnation is the default setting for many investors, and hence there remains potential for reappraising the relative merits of equities and those businesses more reliant on a conducive economy.
However, we would counterbalance these views with the following observations:
Quantitative easing (QE) has not convincingly changed the behavior of the private sector in most developed economies. Borrowing for investment and expansion has been limited, while refinancing to boost equity valuations has been rife. Fiscal profligacy has been attempted in countries such as Japan with limited lasting effect. Low rates have ensured the survivability of poorer corporations, and the sensitivity to rising rates and resulting defaults may be greater than in the past. Risk assets in aggregate have been elevated by QE. The willingness to direct growth through fiscal means suggests that valuation support for financial assets is now diminishing. The point where inflation becomes negative for overall valuations may be closer at hand than would be typical, despite the still low level of rates. While central bank policy has dampened market volatility, political turmoil and its uncertainty have been unleashed. Mr Trump’s policies would appear to be harder to predict than most, particularly in the global sphere, making geopolitical issues an unknown headwind. The renewed rise in the US dollar will be a challenge for certain emerging markets, and with the UK already having taken a lead in the currency devaluation race, the prospects for growth in the global economy when measured in US dollars is less convincing.
In summary, the cumulative positioning of investors in companies and asset classes that are deemed safe in a “lower for longer” environment is undergoing a significant test at present. The scale and duration of changes to date would suggest that more capitulation is likely if the policy measures being promised by Mr. Trump are enacted. However, rotational mean reversion of risk premiums is not a new phenomenon and a fair degree of convergence has been enacted by the market post-election. The rate of growth in the real economy will remain a frustration for investors in 2017 and beyond, and hence profit delivery rather than hope will matter again over time. We continue to focus our portfolios where we have conviction on profit growth being delivered by business franchises we trust and are not necessarily dependent on a cyclical tailwind. | 4,535 | 2,135 | 2.124122 |
warc | 201704 | For the last few weeks we've been discussing the Bible. We've discussed what the Bible is, and creation vs. evolution. Now let's move on to sin.
This week I've asked my wife, Rabbi Linda Seidman, to lead us in a careful look at the Garden-of Eden-story. For some readers this story explains why the world is the way it is. For others, it is just another myth that has been passed on from ancient times. Whatever your view, let's look again at the actual story. What does it really say? What does it teach us today? Why is it in the Bible. If you forgot the story, look it up in Genesis 2:8- 3:24.
Who are the actors in this event? We have God, Adam, Eve, and of course the snake. What does each of them do?
Let's first consider God's role in the story. God told Adam, "Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die." (Gen 2:16-17) You might ask: Is it fair for God to expect man to understand what is bad, since at this point in the story Adam doesn't know what good and bad actually were. The word "sin" appears only after the story of Cain and Abel in Gen. 4:7. There it says "Sin is always crouching by the door. Yet you can be its master."
Next let's look at Adam and Eve. Adam told Eve what God said about the tree. When Eve talks to the serpent she quotes God as saying, "You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die." (Gen. 3:3) That is certainly not what God originally told Adam. Did Adam tell Eve a lie? Eve sees the serpent coiled up in the tree and the serpent even says to her, "You are not going to die." Should Eve believe her own eyes and ears or listen to the words of her husband?
Lastly we have the snake. The snake had a really easy sell. The fruit would help Eve become "like the divine beings who know good from bad." (Gen: 3:5) "When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes and that the tree was a desirable source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate." (Gen. 3:6)
When God confronts Adam and Eve, we get to the last sin in the story. No one will take responsibility for their actions. Each one blames someone else. Adam says Eve gave him the fruit. Eve says the serpent duped her. What if each admitted their part in the act? What if Adam said, "I ate of the fruit and now I understand that I did something bad"? What if Eve said, "I understood that my husband exaggerated, but I now know I should not have listened to the serpent and eaten the fruit?"
Today we live in a world where people are quick to blame others for their actions. "S/He made me do it." It is almost as if we have not learned the consequences of not accepting responsibility for our own actions. It certainly is much easier blaming other. We have still not learned the lesson that was taught in the Garden.
You can imagine the self-satisfied snake grinning through all of this and imagining himself blameless. But, of course, God punishes the snake too.
What a story! What is it trying to tell us? How do we decide whom to blame? What is the point of the story?
If you blame it all on God, vote for Option 1: God should not expect man to behave properly without teaching good and bad.
If you believe that Adam actually caused the whole problem because he lied to Eve, please vote for Option 2: Basically, it is Adam's sin.
If you feel that Eve was the weak link in accepting the words of the snake over that of her husband please vote for Option 3: Eve should not have listened to the snake.
If you think that the snake (symbol for temptation) started the chain of events and is therefore most guilty, vote for Option 4: The snake is the major culprit.
If you believe that all three of the participants had a part in the sin, except for God, vote for Option 5: Adam, Eve, and the snake were all guilty.
If you believe that all three of the participants AND God had a part in the sin, vote for Option 6: All participants played a part in the sin.
If none of these expresses your view, vote for Option 7: None of the above.
Why is this story in the Bible? Is it important in your understanding of how the world works? Is it history, legend, or fiction? I look forward to your votes and comments online.
Please join the discussion below and take the poll at lower right. Related Links Most Popular Related Links Muslim teacher at Catholic school? It adds up Fate-stricken couple get dream wedding today 1987 murder-suicide created unlikely heroes Aiden's special need? A tough mom She won $266 million; chatted on 'Oprah' Turning around post-goal depression Newport couple gives $5 million to girls No job, no prospects, but he still teaches Teachers: An investment that pays off | 4,775 | 2,250 | 2.122222 |
warc | 201704 | Organizations of all kinds want to hire students and alumni who have done their research and understand how they might be a good fit with the company. Take the research skills you’ve developed in school and apply them to your job search. Your detective work will pay off!
Identify potential industries
Before you find companies you may want to think about what industries are appealing. Some occupations have fairly specific industries. For example, the medical imaging occupation is done in the health care industry but there is a difference between a hospital environment and a clinic environment. Some occupations can be done across a wide variety of industries. One can work in operations in a wide variety of businesses, in even in some non-profits, government and educational settings. Thinking about what type of industry might be appealing will help you be focused.
Identify potential organizations of interest
Everyone knows Nike and Intel, but there are tens of thousands of other organizations out there, and many places to find them:
Use the LinkedIn Connections/Find Alumni tool to discover companies where alumni work. Use LinkedIn to search for a company, then scroll down to check out the People also searched for section to discover related companies. Interested in the Silicon Forest? Check the Wikipedia entry for a list of companies. Renewable energy or environmental businesses a focus for you? Check out the NEBC directory Use job search engines like Indeed and SimplyHired to see who hires in your industry (you don’t need to limit the geography if you are just researching companies). What are the top firms in your target industry? Use business journal lists from publications such as the Portland Business Journal and Oregon Business to find the top companies in your target industry in a certain geography. Our Portland Business login credentials: career@oit.edu; password is CareerPBJ2016 Glassdoor has a lot of information about companies (but like other ratings sites, be sure to evaluate the ratings in context). Review the list of Oregon companies by major below. For companies in other states go to buzzfile.com | 2,161 | 1,070 | 2.019626 |
warc | 201704 | Washington, Sept 9 (ANI): Scientists have discovered that elimination of a molecular gatekeeper leads to the development of arthritis in mice.
The newly discovered gatekeeper is a protein that determines the fate - survival or death - of damaging cells that mistakenly attack the body's own tissues and lead to autoimmune disorders such as arthritis.
Better understanding how arthritis develops will offer scientists an opportunity to explore new types of treatments for patients whose arthritis has not been effectively treated with current therapies.
"This finding is an encouraging step forward for researchers, clinicians and arthritis sufferers, many of whom fail available therapies," said lead researcher Frances Lund, professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy/Immunology and Rheumatology at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
"An added bonus is that this finding may help in the search for new treatments for other autoimmune disorders, such as lupus."
The protein at the center of the new finding, known as Gaq (G alpha q), is part of a larger signaling pathway that Lund and collaborators from across the United States and China investigated in mice.
Gaq regulates B cells, one type of immune cell that the body maintains to fight off invaders like bacteria, viruses and parasites. While most B cells help defend the body, some B cells are autoreactive - they turn against the body's own tissues.
In mice, Gaq normally stops autoreactive B cells from building up in tissues by suppressing the pro-survival signaling pathway uncovered by Lund's team. When Gaq is eliminated, autoreactive B cells are able to pass through internal 'checkpoints' that typically get rid of these harmful cells, creating a buildup of the cells that contributes to the development of autoimmune disease.
Several new studies expanding on the current finding are in the works, including testing whether drug compounds that alter the expression or activity of Gaq in mice can slow the development of autoimmunity.
Beyond preclinical testing in mice, researchers also hope to start screening Gaq levels in patients to learn more about how the protein works in humans.
According to Lund, "There is a subset of cardiac patients who, due to an inherited genetic mutation, have increased levels of Gaq. We are now looking to see if some arthritis patients have mutations that favor decreased levels of Gaq. If we find these patients, someday we may be able to design targeted, personalized therapy for this subpopulation of arthritis sufferers."
The study has been published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine. (ANI) | 2,635 | 1,291 | 2.041053 |
warc | 201704 | (Presseportal openBroadcast) -As many of you already understand our reality is created by us by our dominating thoughts. By always focusing on exactly what we desire and visualizing that we have it in our possession, it'll finally manifest itself into our truth. But anyone who has tried to use this law to their own advantage without specific tools for example binaural beats , already knows, it is much easier said than done. Get more information adout binaural beats http://forcefedpsychology.com/binaural-beats/
This really is largely due to the society that we live in and subconscious programming since youth. We live in a fast paced day and age with technological distractions all around us. Finding minutes of quiet and tranquility, even for a short moment, appears not almost tangible. We go through life on autopilot becoming slaves to the system we despise.
Another problem with attempting to show the reality we desire is the fact that we really do not believe it is possible. We accept reality for what it's and we deal with it instead of altering it. How our notions send out a greater dynamic vibration than other things, and when we hear all this junk about quantum physics, the law of attraction, it is difficult to really believe it on a conscious and subconscious level.
But even if the troubles of the outside world can calm to focus on we actually believe that it is not impossible, and what we want, there's still another problem: Our brainwaves will not be aligned accurately that we desire. This requires enormous amounts of practice and training to fully master.
So what do I mean when I say brainwaves that are aligned?
I mean that your brainwave frequencies are ready to accept the life you really desire, and favorable, amplified, synchronized, free streaming. If not, then all your efforts to establish the life you need is an entire waste.
If you understanding anything then you understand and touch is all a form of energy. When two energies are resonating at the same frequency then they will attract to each other. Your ideas have the largest energy vibration, meaning that everything you think about with the correct techniques and brainwaves, will attract itself.
The simplest, quickest, and by far the best method to establish the reality you desire, in case you are really serious about changing your life, is by using binaural beats. By entraining your brainwaves to desired states of consciousness these scientific sounds create the most powerful and positive frequencies of your brain. By utilizing binaural beats and implementing law of attraction techniques at precisely the same time, you'll manifest your reality at a a speed that is much quicker. | 2,700 | 1,313 | 2.056359 |
warc | 201704 | Steam cleaning your carpets is one of the most toxic things you can do to your home because of the chemical perchloroethylene contained in most commercial carpet cleaning solutions. But for the do-it-yourselfer, there is a simple, natural alternative for green carpet cleaning.
Perchloroethylene, or PERC, is a known carcinogen, and often makes people feel dizzy and short of breath durring and right after it has been applied to carpets. Worse, however, is the fact that it clings to carpet fibers and remains in the home long after the carpets start getting dirty again. It can be especially bad for young children who spend a lot of time on the floor, close to the carpet.
Thankfully, you can easily make your own non-hazardous cleaning solution with just vinegar and water. Mix equal parts white vinegar and warm water with a few drops of your favorite essential oil—lemongrass and eucalyptus are great options—and use the solution in any rented or purchased home steam cleaner. The vinegar helps lift stains and is a natural antibacterial agent and the essential oils deodorize your carpets naturally.
For more stubborn stains you can try a higher ratio of vinegar to water, or pre-treat the stains with a mixture of equal parts natural dish or laundry soap and baking soda. Allow the soap mixture to stand on the stain for a few minutes before cleaning with the vinegar and water in the steam cleaner for best results.
Always be sure to test a small patch of carpet with these or any other cleaners in an inconspicuous spot (like under the sofa or in a closet) before treating your whole rug.
image by by Janine | 1,634 | 842 | 1.940618 |
warc | 201704 | Portable Air Sensors May be Coming to Cellphones
Posted: 09:09AM
Author: Guest_Jim_*
Though the fervor over air pollution may have decreased over the recent decades for other, more visible pollutants, the problem still exists in many areas. In these areas though, there is not necessarily a great number of monitoring stations and what data the few do collect are not always accessible to the public. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego are starting to change that though with portable sensors and cellphones.
There are many different kinds of air pollutants, but the three most common emissions are ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide, so the sensors the researchers developed only monitor them. After building 20 of these sensors, they and cellphones for them to connect to, were given to 30 users to have with them for four weeks. During that time the user could check the air quality and in some case, they responded to it. For example, the users and later the researchers found, that by changing a bicycle route, even by one block, air pollution could be avoided. Also driving at another time of day than rush hour can greatly improve air quality.
While the study has ended, the CitiSense program is likely to go on as the sensors are relatively cheap and could be easily deployed to analyze air quality throughout different cities. Also it may be possible to shrink the sensor down to fit into cellphones, so users can always monitor air quality. Either way, the information gathered on where pollution-hot-spots are could do a great deal to improve the health of those exposed to it. | 1,625 | 867 | 1.874279 |
warc | 201704 | Do we really need government to take more decisions away from parents? This question is being considered right now in Harrisburg.
Governor Ed Rendell proposes $75 million on his “Pre-K Counts” initiative for pre-kindergarten education for four-year-olds, but it unfairly discriminates against existing church-affiliated pre-K programs. It interferes with religious freedom; only aids families in certain geographic locations; discounts parental choice; and costs more.
There are better options for helping children get ready for kindergarten – Senator Mary Jo White’s (R-Venango) pre-K grants proposal now seeking co-sponsors, or the existing, successful pre-K Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program.
Advocates for the Rendell proposal claim that any pre-school can apply for funding, but in order to qualify providers must accept regulations that include those that allow the government to dictate program content. The legislature long ago exempted religious facilities from these types of restrictions to protect the freedom to provide religious education. Catholic pre-schools would have to forego this constitutional freedom to participate in this program.
But that requirement aside, Catholic providers still might be prevented from participating because of First Amendment concerns over the funding mechanism in the governor’s plan that would require direct payments from the government to the school.
The governor’s supporters say every community will be eligible; but, some will be more eligible than others. School districts serving 30 percent or more children free or reduced lunches get priority. So, poor families who happen to live in more affluent school districts will not have the same chance to participate in pre-K programs. Ironically, wealthier families in priority areas could take advantage of the program. With such scarce resources, we need to be sure that those with the most need get aid first. The tax dollars spent for Pre-K Counts are disconnected from those who really need the help – individual families.
In contrast, Sen. White’s grants proposal and the existing EITC program are connected to families in need no matter where they live and only those families with the truest need are served.
Parents are responsible for the education of their children. It is their role to choose the school that best suits their needs, especially during the particularly formative years of their pre-K aged children. The Pre-K Counts program places the decision making with the government, not with parents.
The governor’s proposal unfairly excludes religious pre-K programs from the list of opportunities available to families in need. The other options leave that choice up to the parents, and are therefore the preferred options.
The governor’s $75 million will educate 11,100 students over the space of one year – an average cost of $6,750 or more per child each year. The existing pre-K EITC program in the last three years cost the taxpayers only $15 million while helping 10,935 children, an average per kid cost of $1,370. The EITC program helps families for a lot less money. Imagine what it could do with just a portion of that $75 million.
Urge your legislators to vote “no” on the governor’s Pre-K Counts program. Tell your representative and senator that if Pennsylvania taxpayers are going to make this critical investment in their children, there are smarter, more cost effective ways to do it by supporting a pre-K grants program or by expanding the already successful pre-K EITC. Log on to the Catholic Citizens’ Action Center at pacatholic.org to send an e-mail.
(559 words)
PCC Column April 2007 by Amy Beisel, Communications Director of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference – the public affairs arm of Pennsylvania’s Catholic bishops and the Catholic dioceses of Pennsylvania. | 3,923 | 1,857 | 2.112547 |
warc | 201704 | Internal Control Audit and Compliance: Documentation and Testing Under the New COSO Framework (Wiley 9781118996218| Ciltli | Büyük boy | 19x26,7x3,99 cm. | İngilizce | 416 Sayfa | Türler İktisat Ease the transition to the new COSO framework with practical strategy Internal Control Audit and Compliance provides complete guidance toward the latest framework established by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO). With clear explanations and expert advice on implementation, this helpful guide shows auditors and accounting managers how to document and test internal controls over financial reporting with detailed sections covering each element of the framework. Each section highlights the latest changes and new points of emphasis, with explicit definitions of internal controls and how they should be assessed and tested. Coverage includes easing the transition from older guidelines, with step-by-step instructions for implementing the new changes. The new framework identifies seventeen new principles, each of which are explained in detail to help readers understand the new and emerging best practices for efficiency and effectiveness.
The revised COSO framework includes financial and non-financial reporting, as well as both internal and external reporting objectives. It is essential for auditors and controllers to understand the new framework and how to document and test under the new guidance. This book clarifies complex codification and provides an effective strategy for a more rapid transition.
Understand the new COSO internal controls framework Document and test internal controls to strengthen business processes Learn how requirements differ for public and non-public companies Incorporate improved risk management into the new framework
The new framework is COSO's first complete revision since the release of the initial framework in 1992. Companies have become accustomed to the old guidelines, and the necessary procedures have become routine – making the transition to align with the new framework akin to steering an ocean liner.
Internal Control Audit and Compliance helps ease that transition, with clear explanation and practical implementation guidance. | 2,231 | 1,063 | 2.098777 |
warc | 201704 | Use and Value of Performance Evaluations Research Paper
Length: 7 pages Sources: 5 Subject: Careers Type: Research Paper Paper: #51705811 Excerpt from Research Paper :
Value of Performance Evaluations
Some people think of the performance evaluation as little more than a waste of time. They believe that given that they are mandatory and generally completed in a relatively short period of time, performance evaluations fail to capture an employee's true performance or give the employee meaningful feedback that would enable him or her to improve performance. As a result, many have suggested that the performance evaluation process be eliminated or significantly changed. These criticisms of the performance evaluation process might lead some to the conclusion that performance evaluations have no use or value. However, there are several reasons that such a conclusion is premature.
Examining this problem is appropriate because employers need to have a way to assess their workforce. It is well-established that employee productivity, job satisfaction, efficiency, and attitude can all have a tremendous impact on an organization's output, and, therefore, on profitability. However, it can be difficult to assess those different aspects of an employee's work contributions on a daily basis. Sometimes those employees who are seemingly always busy are the ones who are the least productive, while other employees may engage in a sufficient amount of work and encourage team building without ever drawing attention to themselves. Ideally, the performance evaluation process allows a manager or supervisor to spend a significant amount of time focuses on a particular employee's performance, so that the manager can assess strengths and weaknesses in that employee's performance. Moreover, the performance evaluation should provide an opportunity for coaching; it is not enough to inform an employee that his performance in a certain area fails to meet the organization's standards; a good performance evaluation should then focus on how the employee can change behavior to meet standards.
The problem is an important one because organizations need to have a way of assessing whether their employees are contributing meaningfully to the organizations. Moreover, they need to have a process that measures real performance. The criticisms of the traditional performance evaluation include charges that these evaluations are so generic that they do not provide meaningful insight into an employee's strengths or weaknesses. Instead, because they are generic, they simply provide an overview of the manager or supervisor's impression of an employee's capabilities. This does not provide the organization with sufficient information about the employee to make decisions about promotions, career paths, and additional required training. Furthermore, it does not provide the opportunity for sufficient coaching, which can aid the individual. Therefore, a meaningful evaluation process would be helpful for employers and employees.
This research paper will examine the modern employee performance evaluation. It will examine current research about employee performance evaluations, focusing on those who critique the process as well as those who praise the process. It will look at some of the criticisms in the modern process and what changes may need to be made in the current evaluation procedure in order to make evaluations more meaningful. It seeks to answer the following to questions: 1) What is the use and value of the employee performance evaluation process; and 2) What can be done to enhance the utility of performance evaluations?
Methodology
This research paper will be a review of the literature. Literature reviews can be a very complex research methodology because the researcher has to be able to assess the merit of sources used in the research before using those sources. In an area like human resources, there is so much research available that it can be difficult to focus on quality research and avoid research that was clearly tailored to meet a particular agenda. In order to find resources, the researcher engaged in a basic Google search using the search term "the use and value of performance evaluations." From those initial search results, the researcher skimmed a number of articles, and then selected an article from a peer-reviewed journal, which had sufficient evidence to support the author's perspective, did not show bias, used a scientifically appropriate research methodology, and presented information arguing against the author's conclusion as well as information that supported that conclusion. The researcher used that references list in that work as a starting point for the examination of other sources; this process was repeated a number of times until the researcher had sufficient information to write the research paper.
Analysis and Discussion
With all of the problems with performance evaluations, some people may be left asking, "Why measure performance?" (Behn, 2003). There are a variety of different possible answers to that question, but it comes down to the fact that, "measuring performance is good. But how do we know it is good? Because business firms all measure their performance and everyone knows that the private sector is managed better than the public sector" (Behn, 2003). Performance measurements help encourage efficiency. However, knowing why one should measure performance does not suggest what kind of performance should they measure, how should they measure it, and what should they do with these measurements?" (Behn, 2003). There is considerable disagreement about these different questions.
Intended Use of Performance Appraisals
In order to determine if performance appraisals are effective, one needs to consider what performance appraisals are intended to do. Many people believe that performance appraisals are only intended to provide top-down assessment of employee performance. However, "performance appraisal is intended to engage, align, and coalesce individual and group effort to continually improve overall organizational mission accomplishment. It provides a basis for identifying and correcting disparities in performance. Thus, it is activities oriented" (Grubb, 2007). An activities orientation means that performance appraisal does not focus on an employee's personality but on how the employee complies with work expectations. Therefore, the performance appraisal not only provides an opportunity for evaluating performance, but also for assessing the rewards an employee receives for compliance, such as pay raises, as well as identifying training needs. "It also may provide the basis for other personnel actions which typically include: (1) performance pay, (2) training and career development, (3)
promotion and placement, (4) recognition and rewards, (5) disciplinary actions, and (6)
identifying selection criteria" (Grubb, 2007).
Encouraging Employee Change
Clearly, one of the goals of the evaluation process is to try to encourage employee change in order to enhance workplace efficiency. "The primary task of management is to get people to work together in a systematic way. Like orchestra conductors, managers direct the talents and actions of various players to produce a desired result. It's a complicated job, and it becomes much more so when managers are trying to get people to change, rather than continue with the status quo. Even the best CEOs can stumble in their attempts to encourage people to work together toward a new corporate goal" (Christensen et al., 2006). The problem with this approach is that when people are encouraged to change, they may feel as if they are a problem, rather than examining whether it is simply a matter of behavior.
Compensation
Focusing on the compensation aspect of the employee performance review procedure reveals something interesting about American financial ideals in the workplace. "Two commonly held American beliefs are that that an individual's pay should directly reflect the performance and contributions made, and that money motivates improved performance. Many organizations act on these beliefs by tying individual pay increases to their performance ratings following annual review" (Grubb, 2007). However, even exceptional employees face limits in their possible pay increases, which may make it difficult to truly reward exceptional performance. This is particularly true when an organization's financial resources are strained. Therefore, while the financial aspects of performance reviews may have the goal of rewarding exceptional work behavior, "it turns out that it while the objective is noble, the way it is pursued causes widespread difficulties"(Grubb, 2007).
Employee Perceptions of Performance Appraisals
Performance appraisals are often completed in a compressed amount of time, with the supervisor evaluating the employee on a very limited amount of work rather than focusing on the employee's work as a whole. Moreover, while employees are often given the opportunity to contest particular parts of the evaluation process, they often have little opportunity for input. This places employees at the mercy of managers and supervisors, who may not actually be sufficiently skilled at their jobs to engage in adequate evaluations. Therefore, it is important to consider employee reactions to the appraisal process. "Employee reactions to the performance appraisal (PA) process have been identified as a potentially important influence on employee acceptance of the performance appraisal process. One such reaction is the perceived fairness of the performance appraisal experience. Previous studies have tended to focus on single aspects of the PA process that impact on PA fairness (Kavanaugh et al., 2007). The perception of fairness depends on a number of factors including the employee's ability to participate in the evaluation process, how the employee feels about the supervisor, and how much the employee knows about the evaluation process (Kavanaugh et al., 2007).
What the above makes clear is that performance appraisals are not conducted… | 10,170 | 3,962 | 2.566885 |
warc | 201704 | WCC general secretary calls for urgent action in the Horn of Africa
August 26, 2011
GENEVA
In comments to staff of the World Council of Churches (WCC) on Aug. 18, the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit expressed alarm at the “blocking and hindering of the food supply in famine-struck Somalia, with the effect that more and more people are dying. This interference with humanitarian aid is inhumane and must be strongly condemned.”
The WCC general secretary continued: “Recent reports indicate that 400,000 children are at risk of death if action is not taken now. People of all ages are dying, hour by hour. Governments must find workable solutions to the political circumstances that hinder the delivery of water, food and other supplies.”
He continued, “The famine is a human tragedy that should be addressed immediately, regardless of political struggles in a given nation. The international community, including African churches and all church-related relief agencies, must move swiftly to make assistance available. Innocent lives are at stake.”
Tveit voiced WCC support for its partners in Somalia and throughout the Horn of Africa, particularly the ACT Alliance, an alliance of 111 churches and agencies working in humanitarian assistance, advocacy and development. The alliance includes the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
He concluded, “The World Council of Churches calls upon churches, specialized ministries and generous individuals to lend financial support to the work of the ACT Alliance and its member organizations. At this crucial time, it is essential that we remember to keep all the people of the Horn of Africa in our prayers.” | 1,684 | 898 | 1.875278 |
warc | 201704 | Five years after an engineer's moment of inattention sent one of its commuter trains crashing head-first into a freight train, Metrolink on Thursday, Feb. 20, introduced a computerized safety system designed to prevent such tragedies.
The Sept. 12, 2008, crash in Chatsworth killed 25 people and made the development of such a safety system a nationwide mandate. Investigators concluded the engineer had been texting and barreled through a red light, then slammed into the oncoming freight train with enough force to shove the locomotive into the first passenger car.
Metrolink pledged in the aftermath of the crash to become the first commuter-rail agency in the nation to implement Positive Train Control, a computer system designed to automatically stop a train before a collision. It made good on its promise this week when the first commuter train in the country with the system operational shuttled through Orange and Riverside counties.
âI have spent my entire life around the rail,â said Pat Morris, Metrolink Board chairman and San Bernardino mayor, âbut this is unequivocally the most instrumental piece of technology ever implemented for train safety.â
San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris, who is Metrolink chairman, called it âthe safest commuter train in America.âs
Positive Train Control uses a network of GPS and radio signals to monitor all trains on the tracks. It can override the engineer and stop a train if it anticipates a collision or slow a speeding train to prevent a derailment.
In that sense, it's like having a GPS system in your car that can hit the brakes if it senses that you're about to run a red light.
The system, however, canât do anything to stop random events, such as people crossing tracks on foot or cars coming too close to oncoming trains.
âWe are trying to do as much education for the public as we can,â Corona Mayor Karen Spiegel, a member of the Metrolink board of directors, said in a telephone interview, âbut there are still going to be people who put their cars on the tracks and think they are going to beat the train. But the train is always stronger and faster.â
The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates train collisions, has called for such a computer-aided control system since the late 1960s. Such a system would have prevented the Chatsworth crash, it concluded.
Metrolink made Positive Train Control its highest priority after the Chatsworth crash and expects to spend at least $216 million equipping its trains with the system.
The project has not been without problems: It's more than a year off schedule and around $5 million over budget, and the unexpectedly high cost to run it â" around $10 million a year â" contributed to a 5 percent fare increase last year.
Spiegel said she was initially concerned about the cost of the project.
âBut when you are on the cutting edge there is a risk there will be unforeseen cost overruns, because you don't have anything to compare it to,â Spiegel said. âIf you save one life, stop one train wreck, it's worth it. You can't put a dollar sign on that.â
In the aftermath of the Chatsworth crash, Congress had ordered all passenger trains and most freight trains to install Positive Train Control by the end of 2015. The rail industry has maintained for years that many railroads cannot hope to meet that deadline because of the high costs and complexities involved and has pushed Congress to extend it. | 3,522 | 1,651 | 2.133253 |
warc | 201704 | ONE THING I never worried about was losing my hair. When I was growing up, my hair was so thick and heavy that every time I got it cut, the beautician used thinning shears. Then, about four years ago, I began to notice more strands of hair stuck to my brush and littering my sink. I fell into a panic — and did some research to see what I could do.
The American Academy of Dermatology estimates that at least half the women in the U.S. will experience some form of hair loss by the time they hit 50. The problem typically falls into a few general categories, explains Susan Taylor, a Pennsylvania Hospital dermatologist. One, telogen effluvium, describes a generalized hair-shedding. It can occur in the months post-childbirth, after you stop birth control pills, or after a major emotional or physical trauma. Fortunately, in most cases it recedes within a year.
Another type of effluvium is brought on by medication or a medical problem, such as severe anemia, hormonal or endocrine abnormalities, or a thyroid disorder. Dermatologists will take a history, then order blood tests and maybe a scalp biopsy to determine the cause. That’s how I learned that an underactive thyroid was the reason my hair had begun to paper the bathroom floor. “These conditions are treatable and often reversible,” says Taylor, “but it may take up to a year.” After I started thyroid medication, my hair did grow back, but not as densely as before. Turns out I was also suffering from the third type of hair loss, female pattern baldness.
The official label for this widespread hair loss is “androgenic alopecia.” Women don’t get large bald spots like men do, but if your hair is relentlessly thinning, your hairline is becoming more see-through and your part is growing wider—you’ve got FPB. It’s genetic, and occurs with the plummeting estrogen levels related to menopause.
Some women will opt to slow the progression of FPB with the topical solution minoxidil (marketed as Rogaine). “This can take up to a year for results,” says Penn dermatologist George Cotsarelis, “and it’s better for keeping what you have than replacing what you’ve lost.”
But I wanted more immediate gratification — and found it in the Bala Cynwyd office of Joseph Gallagher, a former orthopedic surgeon who switched to hair transplantation in 1993. The transplant game has greatly changed since the days when hair plugs looked as clunky as the name implies. Gallagher examined the bare spots on either side of my forehead, ran his hands over my head, noted that I had plenty of donor hair (that’s critical), and declared me an ideal candidate. | 2,709 | 1,435 | 1.887805 |
warc | 201704 | Location, location, location.
Philadelphia’s biggest problem is also its greatest asset: underused real estate where people are neither living nor working. Our 40,000 abandoned lots help nobody. As a city, we should sell as much of this land as possible, as fast as possible. Much of our inner city is now salable at market rate. Grab it while we can, should be our motto.
But we should try to retain working-class neighborhoods close to the Center City job hub. For this reason we welcome the initiative of City Council President Darrell Clarke and the Building Trades Council to seek $681 million in untapped state and federal funding for 1,500 affordable housing units.
Mixed-income neighborhoods are a good way for a city to go. Public policy should favor the retention of low-income housing within easy reach of Center City, where the jobs are these days.
But it is a fact that Philadelphia is among the poorest big cities. And the poor cannot pay the taxes to fund all their needs.
Therefore the city needs to entice as many non-poor people as possible to settle in it, as soon as possible. New market-rate housing must remain the engine of urban revitalization here. Frankly, the city has lost too many middle-class neighborhoods and needs to grow some new ones in a hurry.
Any efforts to curb neighborhood revitalization risk killing this baby in its crib. Patient work to nurture rebirth is the winning play for neighborhood leaders of all classes. We urge this clever campaign for affordable housing to work in tandem with the Philadelphia Housing Authority and City Planning Commission to preserve as many parcels as possible that are suitable for market-rate development while they assemble affordable-housing projects.
Is our political class up to this challenge? | 1,802 | 950 | 1.896842 |
warc | 201704 | Today, another study about the sexual habits of young people asserts something about Millennials that we almost all already know: child medicine journal
Pediatrics published the results of a six-year study their researchers did at a Texas High School, examining what comes first, sex or the sext? Are sexy pictures a precursor to sexy behaviors or more of a morning-after thing?
Looks like they are more of a preview than a recap. As study author Jeff Temple, told the
Washington Post:
“Sexting preceded sexual behavior in many cases… The theory behind that is sexting may act as a gateway or prelude to sexual behaviors or increases the acceptance of going to the next level.“
So talking about sex digitally as opposed to verbally tends to precede it? Can’t say I’m surprised.
At 22, I’m older than kids who were given smart phones in elementary school, but even those of us who are finished with college definitely began our sex careers with sexting. While the study narrowly defines sexting as the exchange of nude photos, more innocent versions of sexting certainly began at my middle school, starting with plain-old-fashioned flirting over flip phones (Sample text: "I mean, you’re the hottest guy at school, but you probably already know that…)
Like the kids in this study, kids of my cohort used sexting not just as digital foreplay but as an important part of discovering our own sexuality and desire. Over text messages, iChat, and social media platforms, we were allowed to play with sex long before we were actually having it. Sometimes this becomes a sad attempt at intimacy; other times it’s a way to step out of one’s isolated safety zone. The level of experience is diverse, and there’s much more going on than nude pics, which
Pediatric’s study seems to define as sexting in its entirety, eager to apply that information to their thinking on risk-prevention.
I think the next phase of the study should collect data on how long the average teen sexts before they have sex. For some of us, it’s years. For others, it’s weeks. In related demands, I also want to know who today’s true sexual instigators are. Boys still get a bad rap for pressuring girls to sleep with them, but after ample experience with today’s apathetic, porn-brained crop—my money is on the ladies. Always trust a woman to get the job done. | 2,421 | 1,267 | 1.910813 |
warc | 201704 | "MELODY IN YOUR HEART"
Our Lord during His earthly ministry was traveling from Judea and heading for Galilee . This was a journey that He and many others made often. As this journey was a south to north endeavor, you could not traverse this distance without going through the region of Samaria (
John 4:1-6).
The Samaritans at the time of the Lord were a despised people by the Jews. This goes all the way back to the return of the captives from Babylon . A few of the poorest people were left behind when the 10 northern tribes were taken into Assyrian captivity. After many years the Babylonians assumed control over Assyria and their captives. In addition, they would destroy Jerusalem and take captive the remaining inhabitants of Judah and Benjamin. Finally after 70 years of captivity, Cyrus, king of Persia , which now controlled the interests of Babylon , allowed the captives to return home.
At the return to Judea , the captives began the long and grueling task of rebuilding. In addition, there would be a call for ethnic purity in order to cleanse themselves from pagan influences (see:
Ezra 9-10). The inhabitants of Samaria did not heed this call to purity and remained intermingled with the foreign peoples. Thus, they were expelled from Jerusalem and temple worship of God.
By the time of the Lord coming to this world, the relationship between the Jews and the Samaritans had truly deteriorated into a bitter and hated one.
Now as the Lord traveled through Samaria , He would come to Jacob's well outside the city of Sychar and come into contact with a woman of Samaria . Two things are going to be recognized by the Samaritan woman as unusual when Jesus would ask her for a drink; first, is that he is speaking to a Samaritan and second, is that he is speaking to a woman! Neither, was the practice of the day by the Jews traveling through their territory.
As the conversation developed, she would become convinced that He was a prophet (
John 4:7-19). This would sponsor her to make a statement to the Lord, note: John 4:20 “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
The Lord's response to this statement is at the heart of the introduction of this lesson, note:
John 4:21-24 “Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem , worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” First, the Lord is speaking of a coming time (“the hour is coming”), so we know then that He is speaking of a time after the present order of worship to God is no longer in affect. The fact that He says “hour”, shows that it is near. He is making known the time when Messianic rule begins and the kingdom worship begins. Second, the Lord teaches that location is no longer going to be a factor in the worship of God. Third, the Lord teaches that during this coming hour, worship to God will be in spirit and truth.
Although this statement was written in Greek, the English word that we use for the Greek, ‘
Proskuneo ' which means to pay homage or reverence (worship); comes from the root word “ Worth-ship ”. This root word denotes a worthiness of special honor. This is the very concept of worship; to pay homage, reverence, and to honor God because of His worthiness.
The concept of worship as the Lord would describe to this woman is directional! He is seeking such to worship Him! It is from us to God that worship is offered. This is a lost concept in the Christian world today. The common practice of today is to go to worship strictly for “
what's in it for me!!!”
In our text, Jesus describes that
“true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth”! By this statement, Jesus indicates that there is a difference between worshipers. He taught this same thing in the Sermon on the Mount, note: Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”
Since worship is to pay homage and reverence to a worthy source and true worshipers do this in spirit and truth, we learn some very valuable lessons.
First, is that God is looking only for those who worship Him His way, or according to what pleases Him and not us! Did that really sink in? How many times do we hear or even say, “I like to go to this church because ‘I' like this, or ‘I' like that”.
This statement by the Lord is what it means to worship Him in truth, or as Jesus said, “
he who does the will of My Father in heaven”. Genuine worship is only genuine if it is according to what God has revealed as acceptable to Him! Second , is that God wants us to worship Him in spirit. The translators have this correct! It is not capitalized because it is talking about our spirit. How do we worship God in our spirit? Did you ever consider that late at night, when you are by yourself, and you pray without saying a word, knowing that God knows everything you are saying, that you are actually practicing communicating with God in the spirit. This is what Jesus is speaking of; the inward disposition, emotion, and realization that you are presenting yourself to your God. Hoping, in all hope, that your are pleasing Him! Third, is that Jesus said those who worship God “ must” worship Him this way. This indicates that it is not up for discussion or negotiation, but is absolutely necessary!
All this to say that worship is established by revelation of scripture and in order to be acceptable to God, it must be practiced as He has indicated. This would be emphasized by the Apostle Paul, note:
Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Now, let's consider what we have learned in application to our worship services. Particularly in singing!
Remember, in spirit and truth!
So, what has God revealed concerning what He wants and what pleases Him?
Ephesians 5:19-20 “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” Colossians 3:16-17 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” First, the Apostle Paul, being a Jew of Jews ( Philippians 3:5), knew exactly what the word “psalms” meant (noun). That is why he used the specific action word, “singing” (verb) to describe how Christians were to practice using psalms.
These instructions provide truth, so that we can genuinely worship God in this grace, His way!
Second, the only instrument we are to use is our hearts. Not the blood pumps within our chests, but our minds after the same fashion as we use it when we pray. We express our joy, when we sing songs about salvation in Christ Jesus. We express or sorrow while singing the songs about the suffering of the Christ of God on our behalf, etc… This is how we worship God in spirit, in this grace. Third, we also learn that in this instruction, like all instruction to Christians, it is universally applicable. That is, every single Christian can worship God in this fashion, as everyone can create melody in their hearts. God is not a respecter of persons ( Acts 10:3; Romans 2:11; Galatians 2:6; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25). Everyone can present themselves as holy sacrifices to God in this fashion, universally!
Remember, we are seeking to become living sacrifices, holy (set apart), acceptable to God. That means that we are not seeking what we like when we worship, but simply what pleases God. This means in many cases that we definitely have to transform our minds!
So, when we are singing and the words of these hymns and spiritual songs are leaving our lips, let's make sure that the melody of our hearts are heard by God and come before Him as a sweat smelling aroma!
YOUR HEART IS THE ONLY INSTRUMENT GOD WANTS !!! | 8,887 | 3,833 | 2.318549 |
warc | 201704 | It seems like every year we are talking about active threat/shooter responses by police. Unfortunately, there's more to talk about now becuase these incidents are happening more frequently and at greater risk to the officers and the communities they serve. These tragedies have led to learning opportunities. The staff at the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) recently completed a study titled; "The Police Response to Active Shooter Incidents,"containing significant statistics that should shape how officers are trained in responding to an active threat situation.
Since the 1999 Columbine school shootings, every officer knows that you can't just stand by and let an attacker claim more victims. I've been on the job for about 29 years and never had to respond to an active threat/shooter. I am thankfully in the majority. But I also know that it is pure coincidence that I have not. I know that my chances of responding to such a catastrophic incident are no greater or less than any other officer. So, until I retire, I have to think about it, train for it, and be ready. The PERF report is a raw look at facts, circumstances and results of 84 active shooter incidents from 2000 to 2010. The results were presented to more than 200 police executives who met in Washington DC recently to discuss the findings.
Prof. J. Pete Blair, of Texas State University summarized the report findings. His premise is that we have to learn from past events to better respond to the inevitable future events. Here are some noteworthy statistics from the PERF report:
In 2009, incidents spiked up, and have remained there. The rise in tragedies gives police an invaluable learning tool that most would never want to have.
Of the 84 events studied, 29 took place at schools and 31 took place at a business or retail location. We think more about school shootings or knife attacks, maybe because an attack at a school is so much more shocking than an attack at a workplace or mall. The statistics show that we should be thinking about both.
80% of the events happened at one location. 20% involved multiple locations where the suspect moved on foot from one place to another. So an officer needs to be prepared for multiple locations, inside and outside of buildings.
Half of the cases were resolved prior to police arrival. Most commonly they ended in susicide by the shooter. That means half of them were not resolved when the first officer showed up. So don't respond with the expectation that it will be over by the time you get there.
When police do get there while there is still an active threat, about half of the time police intervention stops the violence, either directly or indirectly by suspect suicide.
Solo entry is dangerous for the officer. One-third of the time the officer is shot. Yes, a third of the time that an officer went in alone, he or she was shot. So when you react alone to a stimuli, you have to know that you may get shot. This doesn't mean that you don't act, it means that you act with a survival mindset.
EMS responses are delayed because it takes time for officers to give the all clear. Why? The report pointed out that when something like this happens, there are many different calls to 911 with varying descriptions, locations and sightings. So when there is only one shooter that is neutrlized, it may take a while for police to be sure there was only one. This brings us to the next point.
Police officers may be the only help the injured victims have for some time. So officers need to be issued trauma kits with tourniquets and occlusive dressings. The report shows that the officers may be in a position that they are the only ones to provide the quickest aid to victims.
It is worth it for every officer to read this report from cover to cover. There are things in it that will help get you in the right mindset if the improbable happens. The most important thing that I got out of the report is a simple reminder that officers need to train to expect a fight. When you are going to an active threat incident, don't assume the shooter will off himself before you get there and don't assume that he'll do it when he sees you. The statistics don't show that and it's an unrealistic expectation by the officer. If you count on the suspect aggressively engaging you, then you won't be taken by surprise.
Another aspect of the report validates the trainig that I received and I assume most officers get. That being, officers need to act on actual intelligence gathered before arriving and intelligence gathered in the seconds after arrival. Use your eyes and ears. Look at the building and the people on the scene. Listen to what's going on. Listen for the threat or victims responding to violence. Quickly gather information from any valid source and act, react as needed. If an officer arrives alone or arrives with other officers, then react with the resources you have, knowing that police work is dangerous and you may quickly be in a fight for your life. If you are able to stop the agressor from taking more victims, then you have done your job. | 5,099 | 2,322 | 2.195952 |
warc | 201704 | Back in 1988, Calibre Press released a stunning law enforcement training tape titled "Surviving Edged Weapons." It included a sequence that showed how long it takes the average officer to draw and fire his or her sidearm when reacting to a charging, knife-wielding suspect.
In repeated scenarios of similar attacks with different officers, the video reveals that it takes about one-and-a-half seconds for the officer to draw and fire two shots. From that time reading, the narrator determines that the attacker could be as far away as 21 feet and still stab the officer before he could effectively fire his handgun. The tape then goes on to discuss tactical alternatives such as side stepping the opponent or using intervening objects to disrupt the line of attack.
The tape is great, but it has led to a dangerous myth. Over the years, this simple demonstration of draw speed has morphed into an astounding misconception that now permeates law enforcement and security training, "The 21-Foot Rule."
Let's take a close look at why this almost universal law enforcement myth is dead wrong.
Expanding the Circle
Research by Dr. Bill Lewinski of The Force Science Research Center and Dr. Marvin Fackler has repeatedly shown that officer reaction times are significantly longer than commonly believed.
Now consider that the officers on the Calibre tape knew where the suspect was, what he was armed with, and that he was about to charge. On the tape, the suspect begins to move and the officer begins to draw. That eliminates the real-world delays of perceiving the threat and then making the decision to defend with gunfire.
The Force Science Research Center has shown that it takes the average officer about half a second to perceive a threat and approximately another half second to decide what to do about it. All of this has to happen before the officer begins his or her draw stroke. What this means is that with the threat closing at seven feet per half second, we are closer to a 35-foot rule.
And it is extremely difficult to smoothly draw and accurately fire when under a life-threatening attack. So that means that we had better add another 10 feet to allow for the attacker to keep coming if we miss center mass or even if we hit him, even mortally wound him, and he doesn't go down.
It's now the 45-foot rule.
Behind the Reaction Curve
A few years ago, a scenario was set up to surprise the cadets at a police academy. A single target was placed to one side of the range. During a break in the training two days later, an instructor walked up behind an armed cadet and calmly said, "The blue target to your left is a threat. Shoot it twice. Now!"
The average time for each student to accomplish this test was 2.6 seconds. A 2.6-second draw and fire time translates to about 37 feet of suspect motion.
And realize that the students were told there was a threat and what force to apply. Only the element of surprise was added to the encounter. Without the instructor's command, we must add seven feet for discovery of the threat and another seven feet for the decision to shoot. That's a grand total of 51 feet.
Closing the Reaction Gap
The first thing we have to discuss is what we would do in an actual attack. If you really know the suspect is about to charge, wouldn't you prudently draw your firearm to at least a low ready position before the suspect charged?
Also, once the suspect attacked, wouldn't you give ground to increase the distance between you and his knife? Wouldn't you also seek the cover of some intervening object to slow your opponent's charge?
Finally, as the ultimate delaying tactic, wouldn't you also place some shots across the attacker's pelvic girdle rather than center mass to break a hip or leg bone and perhaps cause the suspect to fall?
There are a number of ways to reduce our newly established 45- to 51-foot danger zone.
You should remain alert to the suspect's hands and motion, keep as much distance as practical from the suspect, and have a preplanned direction of escape. Be aware of intervening objects that could reduce the speed of an attacker or force a change in his direction.
No Line in the Sand
Despite what some would have you believe, there is no 21-foot kill zone. Deciding when to shoot a suspect who is holding a knife is one of the toughest judgment calls you will ever make.
Some years ago while on patrol, my partner and I observed a young fellow chasing another down the Las Vegas Strip at 2 A.M. while swinging a machete in the air. We pulled over to intervene and, as I exited the car, I commanded him to drop his weapon.
He pointed his finger at his chest and looked around in an apparent effort to see if I was shouting at him or someone else. As I assured him I meant him, he began meandering toward me as if he could not hear.
The distance quickly closed to 15 feet. I gave a few feet of ground and leveled my SIG on his chest; he suddenly placed the machete down on the sidewalk and followed my directions to place his hands on our patrol vehicle fender.
I soon learned that his beef with the intended victim was caused by a shouted obscenity. A bit more investigation revealed that this subject was severely mentally retarded.
Should I have shot him under "The 21-foot rule?" Maybe, but he appeared to be confused and, at least when I confronted him, non-threatening.
Could I have shot him legally? I presume I could have. And don't get me wrong, I would never second guess any officer firing under similar circumstances. These are judgment calls based on your experience and the totality of known circumstances.
And not everyone closer than 21 feet with an edged weapon is a real threat. It's the totality of the circumstances and not the 21-foot rule that determines whether you should fire.
A determined attacker can easily close a 21-foot distance much faster than a surprised officer can perceive the threat and neutralize it by shooting. Sometimes, however, even inside of 21 feet, the attacker is not a true danger. Never assume that any specific distance provides a safe zone (or a free fire zone) on the street.
Training Solutions
A "charging attacker" drill can be set up quickly and inexpensively.
On your training range, install a wire seven or eight feet off the ground on one lane from your backstop to the area behind the firing line. Parallel to this wire, attach a foot-long piece of two-by-two wood using cup hooks so the wood can slide back and forth along the wire. From the center of the two-by-two, run a one-by-two board down toward the ground and staple onto it a cardboard IPSC-type target at human height. As an alternative you can mount a cardboard target backer and staple on your qualification silhouette. A string attached to the end of the two-by-two can then be used to pull the target toward the shooter.
Now place the shooter at seven yards with his firearm at low ready and have him engage the target when it moves toward him. The instructor pulling the string controls the speed from meandering suspect to a full-out charging opponent. Next try the same drill starting with a holstered handgun.
During these drills, it is important to keep another instructor right behind the shooter to prevent him or her from turning and firing sideways as the target passes.
For a real eye opener, try this from a normal "hostile interview" distance of 6 to 8 feet. You will quickly learn that you have no chance to draw and fire fast enough to stop this type of threat. You must give ground, side step, or use objects to disrupt the subject's line of charge. After running this training drill a few times, you will rethink the 21-foot rule.
Bob Irwin is a lieutenant with the Boulder Constable's Office and operates The Gun Store in Las Vegas, Nev. He has taught firearms and use of force in 28 police academies over his 35-year career and teaches Law Enforcement Instructors for Nevada POST as well as civilian instructors for the NRA. | 7,982 | 3,685 | 2.166079 |
warc | 201704 | SAN FRANCISCO — For those who value the free flow of information on the Internet, there’s only one thing more frightening than having the U.S. government control the Web.
That would be having the United Nations in charge instead.
Story Continued Below
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers opens its annual meeting here Monday, and its international board of experts will go about their jobs of mulling whether .love and .gay and .web should be added to existing domains like .com, .net and .biz.
But they’ll carry out that work in the midst of a turf fight among the United States, other governments and free-speech advocates over who should have control of the domain process.
For now, it’s ICANN, a California nonprofit the Clinton administration helped create in the early days of the Internet. But President Barack Obama’s Commerce Department has suggested that countries around the world retain veto power over new domain names. And countries such as China and Libya have suggested that the United Nations take control of the process.
And that has some free-speech proponents alarmed.
“Domain names and numbers are one of the few chokeholds of free speech,” said Susan Crawford, a former special assistant to the Obama administration on science, technology and innovation policy. “By having a government-led institution, it will immediately insert lowest-common-denominator speech demands into the decision-making process.”
Recent events have heightened concerns about government control.
Governments in Egypt and Libya blacked out parts of the Internet during recent protests. Meanwhile, the U.S. government’s seizure of more than 100 domain names of websites accused of copyright infringement has sparked cries of First Amendment violations here at home.
The reason that control of the Internet’s addressing and numbering system is important is that, in the technical workings of cyberspace, you have to have a name and number to exist.
The U.S. government is “ganging up with other governments,” charged Milton Mueller, a professor at Syracuse University who has been involved in ICANN. “The thing that’s concerning is that if ICANN makes some kind of deal, who will be cut out of the process? Will ICANN become a remote, bargaining game between this tiny board and a few powerful governments?”
The irony is that the Internet was developed as part of a Department of Defense project some 40 years ago. In 1998, after Web browsers popularized the new medium, the Clinton administration helped set up
Now, the governance of cyberspace is entering a new age.
“ICANN is embarking on the biggest change in its lifetime,” said Kim Davies, who is responsible for domain names at ICANN. “Both ICANN and governments are grappling with what role they play.”
Some lawmakers want to make sure the decisions don’t fall into the wrong hands.
Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) spoke to those fears in January when she proposed a House resolution to fight any effort to push control of the Internet to the U.N. “It has become increasingly clear that international governmental organizations, such as the United Nations, have aspirations to become the epicenter of Internet governance,” she said in a statement. “And I’m going to do everything I can to make sure this never happens.”
But others argue that ICANN’s model is out of step with the Internet’s growth and importance. With an estimated 2 billion people online, and more joining every day, running the Internet should be in the hands of an international, democratic body, they say. | 3,706 | 1,791 | 2.069235 |
warc | 201704 | The New York Nobody Knows: Walking 6,000 miles in the city (Princeton University Press) US: Oct 2013
“A Tale of Two Cities” was the income-inequality theme of Bill de Blasio’s successful New York City mayoral campaign last fall.
The New York Nobody Knows, by a City University of New York professor, could be called “A Tale of Many Cities”. Helmreich walked every block in the city (and wore out nine pairs of shoes) in order to collect data on the changing ethnicity and culture of the Big Apple.
Some of us may know some of what he now knows, but he sure did find a lot of variations besides the obvious dichotomy of rich and poor.
At first, I feared that his introduction—the “how I did it” part– might be the best part of the book. That fear turned out to be unfounded. Helmreich tells how he dressed (inconspicuously, except for a pedometer) and how he engaged people in conversation without coming across as intrusive.
Indeed, his approach was the opposite of what a reporter might do to get a “man on the street” story. Instead of flashing credentials and holding a notebook, Heimreich had a tape recorder in his pocket. He used it wherever possible, but did not insist on recording everyone. He sometimes had long subway rides, so he would carry a book, but he used what he called the “Tic-Tac method” to put it in safe keeping once he reached a neighborhood. He would buy a box of the breath mints at the first small grocery he found, and ask the proprietor to hold both his purchase and the book he was carrying until he returned. They could keep both, he told them, if he did not come back.
Hardly anyone refused to talk to him. Moreover, walking was crucial for noticing the smallest details, e.g., the letter “M” engraved on the facade of a building, the relative cleanliness of a street, the number of men, women or children in a park on a given day. Walking is also the sport New Yorkers excel in; no one would question his choice of transportation.
There are no surprises here. Summing up his findings on page two, Helmreich writes: “New York is a city with a dynamic, diverse, and amazingly rich collection of people and villages whose members display both small-town values and a high degree of sophistication. This stems from living in a very modern, technologically advanced and world-class city that is the epitome of the twenty-first century. To which any savvy New Yorker might retort: “So what else is new?”
What is new is Helmreich’s accretion of details. In talking to a homeless panhandler, he learned about the man’s careful attempt to look presentable and his daily take ($60 to $70 a day, although that can’t be verified.) He noted how different ethnic groups play cricket at a Staten Island park while others play dominoes and still others play chess. He was a tireless visitor at religious services and processions. He astutely noted the impact community gardens can have on a neighborhood’s attractiveness.
He discovered out-of-the-way gems that most New Yorkers know nothing about, such as the Chinese Scholars Garden at Snug Harbor on Staten Island and the Hebrew charter school in Brooklyn where one-third of the students are black. He found million-dollar homes in Brooklyn’s Dyker Heights whose Christmas decorations have become tourist attractions. He did not hesitate to walk through dangerous gang-ruled sectors of the city like Fordham in the Bronx.
If the book has an overriding theme, it has to do with gentrification; do newcomers really mix in with old-timers in gentrifying areas? What happens to the poor who are displaced? While he has no pat answers, Helmreich coins a few good terms. Parts of North Williamsburg display “nouveau grit” – meaning they are both gritty (decaying industrial buildings) and hip (new music venues and ferries as fast transport to Manhattan give it cachet). What seems like a cultural and ethnic stew in some neighborhoods is actually “daygration”, a mingling of people during the daylight hours that changes when the Korean or Yemeni deli owners in white or Hispanic areas, or the black service workers at white senior centers, return home from their work locales at the end of the day.
The author’s walks are supplemented by formal interviews with the four recent mayors, Edward I. Koch, David Dinkins, Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, whose tenures span 35 years. Because his research took place from 2008 to 2012, what he actually saw was the Bloombergian New York, with its sharp decline in crime, pedestrian and bicycle thoroughfares and ever-present construction cranes. (Because he stopped in June 2012, he makes no mention of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy.)
As a sociologist, Heimreich is extra cautious about rendering judgments, and if anything, he errs on the side of optimism. After one conversation with a white Canarsie resident, he notes that the man harbors “strong prejudicial views”, but conceals them: so he can do business with people he dislikes.
On the other hand, Helmreich suggests that the drop in crime can be misleading. In one tough neighborhood, Verizon made a pact with a street gang; the company won’t touch the graffiti on the wall of one of its buildings as long as the gang leaves its employees alone.
Helmreich’s shoe leather was worth it; the book is a thorough study, even if many of his observations might sound self-evident to New York residents. His statistical data are interesting (one tortilla factory in 1985, six tortilla factories producing millions of tortillas weekly in 2001), but his anecdotes give the book life. He wonders why people would become the first gentrifiers in a neighborhood and the answer is “more space” or “lower rent”, but there is also an attitude that more gentrifiers will soon bring better amenities to a neighborhood such as North Williamsburg. Once that happens, the common complaint is that an area is becoming “too commercial”.
What does Heimreich leave out of his amazingly thorough New York experience? Two elements that I miss are the gay and lesbian influence on the city mosaic and the role of big-foot universities, principally NYU and Columbia. The latter altered historic areas with their power grabs for more and more real estate. Both topics are touched on only lightly.
Also, a question Helmreich doesn’t raise is whether he would have found so many New Yorkers as “friendly and open” if he had been a woman or a dark-skinned black man strolling on the turf of others.
Having put in so much time on this project, Helmreich remains a man in love with his native city. It’s a “living theater” and “the world’s largest outdoor museum”, its population indelibly marked by the events of 9/11 yet committed to a path of more assimilation of diverse newcomers. It has so much to offer, he assures readers,that its destiny is to remain a great world city for “a long time to come”.
A key question now, as the city has emerged from the Great Recession and the huge displacement caused by Sandy is: Does Helmreich capture the dynamic pace of change in a city that as he points out, is very different now than it was even 15 years ago? He knows that he cannot. So don’t take The New York Nobody Knows as the final word on New York ethnography. This city of immigrants is constantly changing, growing and gentrifying, even when no one is taking such copious notes. // Re:Print
"Ever wondered what the difference between cinnamon and cassia is?
The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs will teach you. | 7,747 | 3,793 | 2.042447 |
warc | 201704 | Kimberly Snyder might just be the queen of detox. Not only does she have practically all of Hollywood sipping on her Glowing Green Smoothie, but she also just released a new book, The Beauty Detox Power ($19), to address the more emotional aspects of what it means to detox. In fact, she believes in how your emotional state helps or hinders weight loss so much that she wants you to stop a habit that's common among many women. If you do, you'll see weight-loss results even faster, Kimberly promises.
Your new mission? Stop with the negative talk if you want to lose weight. It may sound like it won't be effective, but Kimberly's reason for wanting you to stop body shaming yourself in order to see the pounds drop actually has scientific heft. "Most people don't even realize what they're saying to themselves, and most people only think that the only factors that affect their weight are what they're eating and how they're working out," Kimberly said. In fact, studies have shown that your thoughts matter when it comes to your waistline. Kimberly points to a Harvard study that followed 84 cleaning women; half were told that their physically demanding jobs met the requirements for exercise as set by the Surgeon General, while the other half weren't given any information about their activity level and calorie burn. After a month, researchers found that the group of women who were told that what they were doing was good for them lost body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, and BMI — even though they hadn't changed anything about their actual physical habits or altered their diets at all. The other group, on the other hand, didn't lose any weight. "Your thoughts are nutrition in the way that food is," Kimberly explained about the study results. "Your mind really has a big part in shaping your body. If you keep saying to yourself, 'It's so hard for me to lose weight, I'm just going to gain it back,'" then you aren't setting yourself up for success.
Kimberly's advice to stop with the "I'm fat" talk can be easier said than done, especially in a world of constant online judgment and photoshopped images of the "ideal" woman. Even Kimberly herself admits that she used to participate in casual body bashing when with friends. But knowing that thoughts can affect actual change should help you nix the habit, she says. "It's just a shift in listening to what you're saying," she advised. "Stop saying negative things about your body, whether it's out loud or in your head. It's the first important thing" if you want to lose weight. | 2,563 | 1,311 | 1.954996 |
warc | 201704 | THE WILLAMETTE'S newest bridge will be a gleaming white, cable-stayed suspension bridge built over four years to the tune of $135 million. After much debate over budget and design, the bridge broke ground in July.
But the construction schedule for the massive, high-profile project is decided by something very simple: fish.
Yes, the humble salmon has a major say over the new Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge, which will carry pedestrians, cyclists, buses, and the Orange Line over 7.3 miles from Southwest Portland to Southeast Portland starting in 2015. A federal environmental law requires that construction not disrupt the migration of endangered fishes. The Willamette has six species of endangered salmon whose personal schedules must be taken into account.
Construction of in-water projects all across the country must be completed during what's called a "fish window," determined by the National Marine Fisheries Service. In the Willamette, there's a slim four-month period when salmon aren't migrating up the river as much as during the rest of the year."It’s just one of the rules that we all have to play by," says Alan Moore of environmental group Trout Unlimited. "But frankly the fish were here first, before we started driving piles into their rivers." Since the Willamette's fish window begins July 1 and ends October 31, any work that's not finished by Halloween has to be put off for another nine months.
"On the first day of the window we were at work," said TriMet Communications Director Mary Fetsch. If materials malfunction or don't come in on time, or the crew gets behind by a week or two, the small delay could wind up costing them months.
"Basically, we have a lot of work to do in those 123 calendar days," says TriMet Project Director Robert Barnard. "When you've got a $1.49 billion project you might imagine a year of delay costs a few nickels."
TriMet has a mixed history of sticking to schedules. The public transit agency proudly opened all five previous light rail projects on time and on or under budget. On the other hand, the WES commuter rail was delayed due to manufacturer problems and opened five months late in 2009. And the Portland Streetcar project, a joint city-state-federal project that TriMet will operate once it's completed, is currently five months behind schedule.
Adding to scheduling worries is that the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail project is TriMet's first experience with in-water bridge construction and fish window restrictions.
But for now, TriMet says the light rail project is on schedule.
Some projects do miss the fish's finicky window. Clackamas County had to push back the replacement of the Clackamas River Bridge by a year (to February 2012) after it had completed design of the bridge and hired a contractor, but missed the fish window deadline. Fish windows impact the planning of numerous projects in Oregon, including the Sellwood Bridge construction and the Columbia River Crossing I-5 freeway expansion.
So what's wrong with building underwater among the fishes? It turns out that salmon have delicate ears. According to biologists, the sound of hammers striking material in the water can cause bruising, internal hemorrhage, and ambiguous "stress" within the Willamette's four types of endangered salmon. Construction lights can also lead to the demise of the precious fishes.
"Artificial lights can attract both prey and their predators to the same place at the same time," says project environmental consultant Bill Hall of Portland-based company Parametrix.
If the project can hit its deadlines, by fall of 2015 Portlanders will commute over the new bridge as salmon commute beneath it. In quiet peace.
This article has been updated from its original version. TriMet was originally listed as a "partner" on the streetcar project—the agency's role was clarified. | 3,890 | 1,947 | 1.997946 |
warc | 201704 | It’s only human nature. Just as someone who has eaten well cannot understand someone who is hungry, there are few people who can fully understand the needs of people with various handicaps.
For years these people weren’t talked about and were also hardly seen. They were hiding behind the windows of their homes. They were worried about being misunderstood and society wasn’t sure how to face them. The uncertainty of this relationship has only recently started changing. It’s still not ideal as prejudice has deep roots and it’s hard to overcome, in this sense we have a long road ahead. Nevertheless, it’s good that we have started together on this journey. Among us in Prague we have quite a large number of handicapped people.
They are not only people in wheelchairs, blind, deaf or others with physical disability. Others are people with mental illnesses. Despite this they all want to live and can live a full life, just like the rest of us. It makes for a better life if we know how to help them. Our portal on this website gives space various organizations and charities whose goal is to help handicapped people. The website's aim is to inform handicapped people of the options that others have prepared for them.
There is space for articles by handicapped people and we especially welcome these if this provides a way for them to confide their problems and the ways they are dealing with them on their own without the help of others. | 1,477 | 757 | 1.951123 |
warc | 201704 | The American Presidency Project
• Lyndon B. Johnson Special Message to the Congress on the Problems of the American Indian: "The Forgotten American." March 6, 1968
To the Congress of the United States:
Mississippi and Utah--the Potomac and the Chattahoochee--Appalachia and Shenandoah . . . The words of the Indian have become our words--the names of our states and streams and landmarks.
His myths and his heroes enrich our literature. His lore colors our art and our language. For two centuries, the American Indian has been a symbol of the drama and excitement of the earliest America.
But for two centuries, he has been an alien in his own land.
Relations between the United States Government and the tribes were originally in the hands of the War Department. Until 1871, the United States treated the Indian tribes as foreign nations.
It has been only 44 years since the United States affirmed the Indian's citizenship: the full political equality essential for human dignity in a democratic society.
It has been only 22 years since Congress enacted the Indian Claims Act, to acknowledge the Nation's debt to the first Americans for their land.
But political equality and compensation for ancestral lands are not enough. The American Indian deserves a chance to develop his talents and share fully in the future of our Nation.
There are about 600,000 Indians in America today. Some 400,000 live on or near reservations in 25 States. The remaining 200,000 have moved to our cities and towns. The most striking fact about the American Indians today is their tragic plight:
--Fifty percent of Indian schoolchildren-- double the national average-drop out before completing high school.
The American Indian, once proud and free, is torn now between white and tribal values; between the politics and language of the white man and his own historic culture. His problems, sharpened by years of defeat and exploitation, neglect and inadequate effort, will take many years to overcome.
But recent landmark laws--the Economic Opportunity Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Manpower Development and Training Act--have given us an opportunity to deal with the persistent problems of the American Indian. The time has come to focus our efforts on the plight of the American Indian through these and the other laws passed in the last few years.
No enlightened Nation, no responsible government, no progressive people can sit idly by and permit this shocking situation to continue.
I propose a new goal for our Indian programs: A goal that ends the old debate about "termination" of Indian programs and stresses self-determination; a goal that erases old attitudes of paternalism and promotes partnership self-help.
I propose, in short, a policy of maximum choice for the American Indian: a policy expressed in programs of self-help, self-development, self-determination.
To start toward our goal in Fiscal 1969, I recommend that the Congress appropriate one-half a billion dollars for programs targeted at the American Indian--about 10 percent more than Fiscal 1968.
STRENGTHENED FEDERAL LEADERSHIP
In the past four years, with the advent of major new programs, several agencies have undertaken independent efforts to help the American Indian. Too often, there has been too little coordination between agencies; and no clear, unified policy which applied to all.
To launch an undivided, Government-wide effort in this area, I am today issuing an Executive Order to establish a National Council on Indian Opportunity.
The Chairman of the Council will be the Vice President who will bring the problems of the Indians to the highest levels of Government. The Council will include a cross section of Indian leaders, and high government officials who have programs in this field:
--The Secretary of Agriculture, whose programs affect thousands of Indians.
--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, who can bring better housing to Indian lands.
SELF-HELP AND SELF-DETERMINATION
The greatest hope for Indian progress lies in the emergence of Indian leadership and initiative in solving Indian problems. Indians must have a voice in making the plans and decisions in programs which are important to their daily life.
Within the last few months we have seen a new concept of community development-a concept based on self-help--work successfully among Indians. Many tribes have begun to administer activities which Federal agencies had long performed in their behalf:
Passive acceptance of Federal service is giving way to Indian involvement. More than ever before, Indian needs are being identified from the Indian viewpoint--as they should be.
This principle is the key to progress for Indians--just as it has been for other Americans. If we base our programs upon it, the day will come when the relationship between Indians and the Government will be one of full partnership--not dependency.
EDUCATION
The problems of Indian education are legion:
Standard schooling and vocational training will not be enough to overcome the educational difficulties of the Indians. More intensive and imaginative approaches are needed.
The legislation enacted in the past four years gives us the means to make the special effort now needed in Indian education: The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Education Professions Development Act, the Vocational Education Act, and the Higher Education Act.
The challenge is to use this legislation creatively.
I have directed the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare:
Pre-School Programs
In the past few years we as a Nation have come to recognize the irreplaceable importance of the earliest years in a child's life. Preschool education and care--valuable for all children--are urgently needed for Indian children.
We must set a goal to enroll every four and five-year-old Indian child in a pre-school program by 1971.
Federal Indian Schools
Since 1961, we have undertaken a substantial program to improve the 245 Federal Indian schools, which are attended by over 50,000 children. That effort is now half completed. It will continue.
I am asking the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, to establish a model community school system for Indians. These schools will:
To reach this goal, I propose that the Congress appropriate $5.5 million to attract and hold talented and dedicated teachers at Indian schools and to provide 200 additional teachers and other professionals to enrich instruction, counseling and other programs.
To help make the Indian school a vital part of the Indian community, I am directing the Secretary of the Interior to establish Indian school boards for Federal Indian Schools. School board members--selected by their communities--will receive whatever training is necessary to enable them to carry out their responsibilities.
Higher Education
Indian youth must be given more opportunities to develop their talents fully and to pursue their ambitions free of arbitrary barriers to learning and employment. They must have a chance to become professionals: doctors, nurses, engineers, managers and teachers.
For the young Indian of today will eventually become the bridge between two cultures, two languages, and two ways of life.
Therefore, we must open wide the doors of career training and higher education to all Indian students who qualify.
HEALTH AND MEDICAL CARE
The health level of the American Indian is the lowest of any major population group in the United States:
We have made progress. Since 1963:
I propose that the Congress increase health programs for Indians by about ten percent, to $112 million in Fiscal 1969, with special emphasis on child health programs.
But if we are to solve Indian health problems, the Indian people themselves must improve their public health and family health practices. This will require a new effort to involve Indian families in a crusade for better health.
Recent experience demonstrates that Indians have been successful in working side by side with health professionals:
I am directing the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to build a "community participation" component into every Federal health program for Indians which lends itself to this approach.
Essential to this effort will be a large, well-trained corps of community health aides drawn from the Indian population: nursing assistants, health record clerks, medical-social aides and nutrition workers. These community health aides can greatly assist professional health workers in bringing health services to Indian communities.
I recommend that the Congress appropriate funds to train and employ more than 600 new community Indian health aides in the Public Health Service.
These aides will serve nearly 200,000 Indians and Alaska natives in their home communities, teaching sound health practices to the Indian people in several critical fields: pre-natal health, child care, home sanitation and personal hygiene.
Our goal is first to narrow, then to close the wide breach between the health standards of Indians and other Americans. But before large investments in Federally-sponsored health services can pay lasting dividends, we must build a solid base of Indian community action for better health.
JOBS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The plight of the Indians gives grim testimony to the devastating effects of unemployment on the individual, the family, and the community:
With rare exception, Indian communities are so underdeveloped that there is little, if any, opportunity for significant social or economic progress.
Two percent of all the land in the United States is Indian land. Indian lands are about the size of all the New England States and a small slice of New York. But many of their resources--oil, gas, coal, uranium, timber, water--await development.
The economic ills of Indian areas can have a major impact upon neighboring regions as well. It is not only in the best interests of the Indians, but of the entire Nation, to expand Indian economic opportunity.
Jobs
Special employment programs have been established to help meet the needs of Indians. In 1967 alone, more than 10,000 men and women received training and other help to get jobs under the Indian Bureau's pro, grams--double the number served four years ago. These programs:
To meet the increasing demand, I propose that the Indian Vocational Training Program be expanded to the full authorization of $25 million in Fiscal 1969--nearly double the funds appropriated last year.
As a part of this effort, I have asked the Secretary of Labor to expand the Concentrated Employment Program to include Indian reservations.
Area Development
The economic development of potentially productive Indian areas suffers from a lack of base capital to permit Indians to take advantage of sound investment opportunities and to attract private capital.
The Indian Resources Development Act, now pending before Congress, contains provisions to spark this kind of investment.
The central feature of this Act is an authorization of $500 million for an Indian loan guaranty and insurance fund and for a direct loan revolving fund. These funds would:
The Indian Resources Development Act would also permit the issuance of Federal corporate charters to Indian tribes or groups of Indians. This charter gives them the means to compete with other communities in attracting outside investment.
I urge the Congress to enact this program for the economic development of Indian resources.
Roads for Economic Development
Without an adequate system of roads to link Indian areas with the rest of our Nation, community and economic development, Indian self-help programs, and even education cannot go forward as rapidly as they should.
Large areas inhabited by Indians are virtually inaccessible. For example, on the vast Navajo-Hopi area there are only 30 percent as many miles of surfaced roads per 1,000 square miles as in rural areas of Arizona and New Mexico.
The woefully inadequate road systems in Indian areas must be improved. Good roads are desperately needed for economic development. And good roads may someday enable the Indian people to keep their young children at home, instead of having to send them to far-away boarding schools.
I propose an amendment to the Federal Highway Act increasing the authorization for Indian road construction to $30 million annually beginning in Fiscal 1970.
ESSENTIAL COMMUNITY SERVICES
Housing
Most Indian housing is far worse than the housing in many slums of our large cities.
To begin our attack on the backlog of substandard housing:
These steps are a strong start toward improving living conditions among Indians, while we deal with the underlying causes of inadequate housing. But the present housing law is too rigid to meet the special needs and conditions of our Indian population.
I am therefore submitting legislation to open the door for more Indians to receive low-cost housing aid, and to extend the loan programs of the Farmers Home Administration to tribal lands. In addition:
Community Action
Programs under the Economic Opportunity Act have improved morale in Indian communities. They have given tribes new opportunities to plan and carry out social and economic projects. Community action programs, particularly Head Start, deserve strong support.
I am asking the Congress to provide $22.7 million in Fiscal 1969 for these important efforts.
Water and Sewer Projects
Shorter life expectancy and higher infant mortality among Indians are caused in large part by unsanitary water supplies and contamination from unsafe waste disposal.
The Federal Government has authority to join with individual Indians to construct these facilities on Indian lands. The government contributes the capital. The Indian contributes the labor.
To step up this program, I recommend that the Congress increase appropriations for sale water and sanitary waste disposal facilities by 30 percent--from $10 million in Fiscal 1968 to $13 million in Fiscal 1969.
CIVIL RIGHTS
A Bill of Rights for Indians
In 1934, Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act, which laid the groundwork for democratic self-government on Indian reservations. This Act was the forerunner of the tribal constitutions--the charters of democratic practice among the Indians.
Yet few tribal constitutions include a bill of rights for individual Indians. The basic individual rights which most Americans enjoy in relation to their government-enshrined in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States--are not safeguarded for Indians in relation to their tribes.
A new Indian Rights Bill is pending in the Congress. It would protect the individual rights of Indians in such matters as freedom of speech and religion, unreasonable search and seizure, a speedy and fair trial, and the right to habeas corpus. The Senate passed an Indian Bill of Rights last year. I urge the Congress to complete action on that Bill of Rights in the current session.
In addition to providing new protection for members of tribes, this bill would remedy another matter of grave concern to the American Indian.
Fifteen years ago, the Congress gave to the States authority to extend their criminal and civil jurisdictions to include Indian reservations-where jurisdiction previously was in the hands of the Indians themselves.
Fairness and basic democratic principles require that Indians on the affected lands have a voice in deciding whether a State will assume legal jurisdiction on their land.
I urge the Congress to enact legislation that would provide for tribal consent before such extensions of jurisdiction take place.
OFF-RESERVATION INDIANS
Most of us think of Indians as living in their own communities--geographically, socially and psychologically remote from the main current of American life.
Until World War II, this was an accurate picture of most Indian people. Since that time, however, the number of Indians living in towns and urban centers has increased to 200,000.
Indians in the towns and cities of our country have urgent needs for education, health, welfare, and rehabilitation services, which are far greater than that of the general population.
These needs can be met through Federal, State and local programs. I am asking the new Council on Indian Opportunity to study this problem and report to me promptly on actions to meet the needs of Indians in our cities and towns.
ALASKAN NATIVE CLAIMS
The land rights of the native people of Alaska--the Aleuts, Eskimos and Indians-have never been fully or fairly defined.
Eighty-four years ago, Congress protected the Alaska natives in the use and occupancy of their lands. But then, and again when Alaska was given statehood, Congress reserved to itself the power of final decision on ultimate title.
It remains our unfinished task to state in law the terms and conditions of settlement, so that uncertainty can be ended for the native people of Alaska.
Legislation is now pending to resolve this issue. I recommend prompt action on legislation to:
THE FIRST AMERICANS
The program I propose seeks to promote Indian development by improving health and education, encouraging long-term economic growth, and strengthening community institutions.
Underlying this program is the assumption that the Federal government can best be a responsible partner in Indian progress by treating the Indian himself as a full citizen, responsible for the pace and direction of his development.
But there can be no question that the government and the people of the United States have a responsibility to the Indians.
In our efforts to meet that responsibility, we must pledge to respect fully the dignity and the uniqueness of the Indian citizen.
We must affirm their right to freedom of choice and self-determination.
We must seek new ways to provide Federal assistance to Indians--with new emphasis on Indian self-help and with respect for Indian culture.
And we must assure the Indian people that it is our desire and intention that the special relationship between the Indian and his government grow and flourish. For, the first among us must not be last.
I urge the Congress to affirm this policy and to enact this program.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON
Citation: Lyndon B. Johnson: "Special Message to the Congress on the Problems of the American Indian: "The Forgotten American."", March 6, 1968. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley,
The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=28709.
© 1999-2011 - Gerhard Peters - The American Presidency Project | 18,719 | 7,781 | 2.405732 |
warc | 201704 | Washington D.C. (PRWEB) November 07, 2012
The Project for Natural Health Choices Inc., a natural health company, is launching a campaign targeting the FDA’s revised draft guidance of the “New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) notification protocols”. The Project for Natural Health Choices Inc. wants to rally against the proposed FDA’s regulations that they believe will strip people of their constitutional rights to natural health products.
The proposed FDA regulations may become a problem for natural supplement consumers and industry alike. Basic vitamins like Vitamin A, B complex, C, and D, as well as CoQ 10 may be outlawed and nutritional supplements could be subject to outrageous testing requirements such as undergoing studies that mandate giving subjects doses multiplied by a “safety factor” of as high as 2,000 times the recommended dose, resulting in virtually every one of them being banned.
Animal activists may potentially get involved if costly animal testing became mandated, inflating the cost of basic natural dietary supplements. The only companies that would remain viable will be pharmaceutical giants that are only willing to provide the public with expensive brand drugs that they own monopolies on.
These proposed regulations are the FDA’s belated attempt at compliance with The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), which had been originally formulated to help Americans achieve good health and greater well being by making supplements abundant and affordable. During the comment period following the release of the draft guidance that ended in December 2011, industry trade associations and natural health rights groups unanimously had called for the guidance to be withdrawn.
Senators Hatch and Harkin, the original authors of Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), and a number of other members of Congress sent letters to FDA expressing similar views. The stubborn FDA still didn’t budge even as Harkin and Hatch reprimanded the draft guidance, saying that it went beyond the scope of the law. They felt that it by transformed a simple notification system into an approval system, where the FDA will have the power to approve or deny any supplement created in the past seventeen years and that this would result in making the FDA the definitive authority of which natural supplements will and will not be available.
In June 2012, during a second high level meeting with Hatch and Harkin, and almost after a year of industry and citizen’s group outcry, the FDA finally agreed to revise the new dietary ingredient (NDI) draft guidance. However, the degree to which the FDA will actually change the original proposal is a somewhat of a mystery.
The Natural Health Choices Project, Inc. has drafted “The American Bill of Health Rights”, a petition that offers citizens an opportunity to make their voices heard and protect their constitutional rights. Larry Berman, president of the company, has a goal in mind. “We want to inform people about how the passing of these regulations would fundamentally change the natural supplement industry as we know it. I’m glad the FDA finally decided to revise, but that doesn’t mean we’ve won the battle. Major revisions are needed and it’s important we participate because our constitutional right to natural health supplements is at stake.”
Berman, a veteran and natural health enthusiast believes that the difference this campaign will have will depend on “each and every signature, especially when we don’t have the money to influence regulations like the pharmaceutical companies dish out”.
To sign the petition, go to http://www.naturalhealthchoicesproject.com/petition/ | 3,792 | 1,780 | 2.130337 |
warc | 201704 | Dover, Delaware (PRWEB) November 06, 2013
Kitchen $centse at dinnerwithjoy.com is a different type of cooking blog. Owning a personal chef service taught Joy Wielland, several things. She saved money on her personal food needs, when she applied the techniques she used professionally to enable her to quote a price, insure top quality ingredients and still meet her bottom line. People, especially working parents want to relax at day’s end, and enjoy a good meal, with no fuss. Well pre-planned menus and enlightened shopping can eliminate overstocking, duplications, and impulse buying, the three major causes of inflated food spending.
When people generally began to express concern over rising food prices, she created her blog Dinner with Joy’s Kitchen $centse at dinnerwithjoy.com which focuses on economizing on food expenses through organized menu planning and informed food shopping rather than using cheaper ingredients and "fillers." To this end, her blog is unique in that each of her posts contains text explaining her recommendations.
Friends with whom Joy shared her methods of saving experienced such positive results that she has outlined the process in detailed steps, including incentives and success tips, in an ebook "Diet for the Food Dollar, "now available on her blog. The book also contains a valuable kitchen tool, a collection of charts covering; weights, measurements, conversions, pan sizes, types of meat including seafood, uses of cuts, cooking times, grains, oils, herbs, spices, cheeses, ingredient substitutions and calorie values. Diet for the Food Dollar isn’t a "quick fix" but rather a one-size-fits-all guide on How to Control Food Expenses. A series of short "How To…" PDFs on related subjects is planned for the near future.
Joy has written a menu cookbook Dinners With Joy, outlining how a personal chef service provisions clients with multiple different meals in one day. The book divides three months of entrée recipes into weeks, each with cooking tips, suggested sides, dessert recipe and detailed shopping list including a pantry check. It also contains information on shopping for meats, poultry, and seafood, plus a guide to making and using sauces. It is available both on Amazon and her blog. Three other cook books are in various stages of completion, including a sequel to the original.
She is a contributor to Ezine Articles.com and The Bwyd, on-line food magazine (http// the bwyd.com) Chill Magazine and Frederator Books. She regularly guests on heartzipperblogspot.com, cooksnaps.com, has guested on good-cooking.co.uk and chefneeds.com among others. | 2,647 | 1,407 | 1.881308 |
warc | 201704 | Standing Committee A Thursday 26 April 2001 (Afternoon) [Mr. Jimmy Hood in the Chair] (Except clauses 1 to 3 and 16 to 53 and schedules 4 to 11) Clause 5 Alcoholic liquor duties
Question proposed [this day], That the clause stand part of the Bill.
4.30 pm
Question again proposed.
Mr. Michael Jack (Fylde): I welcome you to our proceedings, Mr. Hood. When we broke from the morning session, I was observing that the Customs and Excise press release C&E2 stated that the measure had the full support of the National Association of Cider Makers. However, the representation that I received from Devon Contract Packing Ltd makes it clear that the measure was not put forward by the National Association of Cider Makers but, as the letter says,
``by the two largest manufacturers, privately, after an NACM meeting.''The letter makes a further point:
``The worst part of the proposed legislation is the immediate implementation date. As there was no prior warning that this legislation was pending, or indeed no consultation with any of the firms who currently use DPD, we will be put in an impossible commercial position.''That does not seem to me to be a very sensible way to go about things. Devon Contract Packing Ltd is a small enterprise and, as the hon. Member for Torridge and West Devon (Mr. Burnett) said, it is in an area that is suffering the economic ravages of the foot and mouth outbreak.
I hope that the Financial Secretary will give us some hard facts as to why the measure has been put forward. There is no specific information in the Government's propaganda about the potential duty losses. Devon Contract Packing Ltd says that it gains financially from the status quo to the same extent that the big cider manufacturers gain from their deposit arrangements. The letter concludes by proposing a complete review of cider duty, and that would be right way to discuss the measure.
Mr. Richard Ottaway (Croydon, South): I welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Hood. I endorse the remarks made by the hon. Member for Torridge and West Devon and my right hon. Friend the Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack). They made their points succinctly.
In truth, the argument boils down to two fundamental points. First, pre-existing contracts are in place. If the 12-month moratorium that has been suggested were allowed to come into effect, the small producers would not be put at a disadvantage. Secondly, the position of wine producers has not yet been addressed, and the small cider manufacturers feel that that is unfair. They argue that the regulations have been in place for 25 years and, if the wine producers are entitled to consultation before the rules are changed, they should have the same entitlement. My right hon. Friend the Member for Fylde made the point about consultation. Under the circumstances, we hope that the Financial Secretary has listened to the points that have been made.
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Stephen Timms): I, too, welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Hood.
Clause 5 provides for an amendment to the Alcohol Liquor Duties Act 1979, which will give Customs and Excise the power to tackle tax avoidance practices in the production of cider and perry. I want to give a careful account of that, because the position is a little different from the one that we have been informed of so far.
The measure provides power to make regulations regarding operations and processes performed on cider and perry. In addition to regulating those activities, it will enable Customs and Excise to prohibit operations after the duty point that would, if they had been carried out before it, have resulted in greater duty being payable on the finished product. The most common example is the dilution of cider after duty has been paid. As we have heard, cider is dutied in bands according to strength. Dilution is a straightforward tax avoidance practice whereby cider is produced at the top end of a band and duty paid on that volume, and then diluted to decrease its strength but increase its volume, effectively reducing the duty liability of the finished product.
Mr. John Burnett (Torridge and West Devon): Will the Financial Secretary give way?
Mr. Timms: Before giving way, I must point out that dilution before the duty point is indeed standard practice in the industry but dilution after the duty point did not, as far as I know, begin until 1999. Neither the National Association of Cider Makers nor Customs and Excise are aware of any cider maker diluting after duty pointwhich would, if it were legal, be an obvious duty-avoidance techniqueprior to February 1999. I will explain in detail how that process arose.
Mr. Burnett: I also welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Hood. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I shall make a concise intervention and hope that I might catch your eye thereafter.
The situation is not as clear-cut as the Financial Secretary has asserted because, as I said this morning, there are at least three aspects: the small cider makers who dilute post duty cannot afford a bond; they pay duty on ullage and spillagewhile the contrary is not the case for the large bonded companies; and they pay their duty upfront.
Mr. Timms: I shall come to each of those points. The smallest cider makers do not pay duty at all. We are talking about an operation whereby a medium-sized cider producer sends product in bulk to a bottling operation, rather than making cider. Small cider makersthe real cottage industrydo not pay any duty.
Cider makers have long been aware that the dilution of cider after the duty point is, in the eyes of the law, a tax avoidance scheme and that legislation to outlaw the practice would be introduced at the earliest opportunity. The National Association of Cider Makersreference has been made to two large companies who belong to ithas fully supported that practice and has included a statement to that effect in its own code of practice. In the letter that it sent to all members of the Committee the association said:
``Ever since 1976, it has been a condition of NACM membership that no cider maker should indulge in this practice.''I am not therefore sympathetic to any cider makers who have decided to engage in the practice and obtain a short-term gain over their competitors in a duty benefit. If cider makers have invested on that basis, they have done so entirely at their own commercial risk.
Cider duty was reintroduced in 1976. The Customs interpretation of the law at that time was that dilution of duty-paid cider was not allowable and, as I have said, that was fully supported by the National Association of Cider Makers. With the introduction of the single market and the adoption of the European Union structures directive, it was confirmed that operations performed after the duty point, which would result in more duty being payable, are not permitted.
In February 1999, PricewaterhouseCoopers, a company of some ingenuity in these matters, challenged the Customs' interpretation of UK law on behalf of a bottling companynot the one that hon. Members were talking about. Legal advice to Customs, taken in response to that challenge, was that legislative amendment would be necessary to make the practice clearly illegal. However, until February 1999 no one had thought that it was not illegal. In March, Customs informed PricewaterhouseCoopers that steps would be taken to prohibit the practice and, concurrently, the National Association of Cider Makers was informed; it fully supported the Customs' position, and in April 1999 issued advice to its members to that effect.
4.41 pm
Sitting suspended for a Division in the House.
4.55 pm
On resuming
Mr. Timms: I shall resume the chronology of events that I was running through. I referred a moment ago to a letter that I said had been sent to all members of the Committee. I understand that that is not the case; it was sent to members of the parliamentary cider group.
Mr. David Taylor (North-West Leicestershire): Would that be termed in-cider trading?
Mr. Timms: It probably would. If only I could think that quickly myself. However, as I said, the letter said that it had been a condition of NACM membership since 1976 that no cider maker should indulge in that practice. In April 1999, the NACM issued advice to its members outlining its support for Customs' position. It reads:
``In line with its established policy, NACM members are asked to ensure that wittingly or unwittingly they do not become involved in the supply of bulk duty-paid cider that may then be diluted and resold.''The notice also pointed out that as consistently advised by Customs and Excise, the provision of duty-paid cider for resale is an offence. So the position was clear.
We did not include the provision in last year's Budget because of pressure on space in the Finance Bill, but Customs became aware last September of another bottling companythe one that operates in the constituency of the hon. Member for Torridge and West Devondiluting duty-paid believed to be supplied to them by a then member of the National Association of Cider Makers. Customs wrote to Devon Contract Packing on 13 September explaining that although nothing in current law prevents that practice,
``We plan to legislate against the practice at an early opportunity.''So the position was made clear to the company concerned seven months ago.
In the run-up to the Budget, the National Association of Cider Makers pressed for the law to be clarified. On Budget day, the NACM held its annual general meeting, during which the resignation of the company that is supplying the company in the hon. Gentleman's constituency was demanded, and the company ceased to be an NACM member from that date.
Mr. Burnett: May I clarify just one quick point of detail? Did the Financial Secretary say that the letter of 13 September was written to Devon Contract Packing? | 9,892 | 4,092 | 2.4174 |
warc | 201704 | The Department for Work and Pensions has launched an electronic claim service that also has a facility for advising change of circumstances such as a new address or a different partner. The service is not totally electronic, because claims must be supported by a birth certificate. Research by the Department published recently makes it clear that unless the marketing challenge can be met, take-up will be modest.The Department surveyed its different client groups to assess interest in electronic services. Overall only 8% of respondents said they would use the Internet to contact the Department in the future. 57% preferred the telephone, 38 % face to face and 5% said they would write a letter.
Barriers to greater Internet usage were found to be limited access, usually resulting from the cost of owning a computer and lack of knowledge and experience. There was also widespread concern about Internet security. Respondents said they would not feel comfortable providing personal details over a government website, because of internet security generally, rather than the government’s use of information.
The survey revealed that raising awareness of the potential of the Internet increased the likelihood of people actually making use of it. At the end of the questionnaire people were asked how likely they would be to use it for the Department’s services and 28% said very likely, and 33% fairly likely. This marked difference to their earlier responses to the question of how they would contact the Department in the future shows that marketing could affect attitudes substantially. | 1,605 | 820 | 1.957317 |
warc | 201704 | A team of researchers, led by
Professor Takao Someya and Dr. Tomoyuki Yokota, at the University of Tokyo published a new study called Ultra flexible organic photonic skin, on April 15, which stated the development and release of the newest breakthrough in biomedical technology, a new type of high-quality electronic skin, or e-skin, that turns the body into a screen, displaying important health information.
The ultimate goal of this device is to be a reflective pulse oximeter, which means that it will unobtrusively measure people’s pulse and blood oxygen concentrations. The data can be laid over actual skin directly on the body. This can help doctors and nurses to monitor a patient’s condition, or help athletes to keep track of their energy and progress.
This project is aimed to integrate electronic devices with the human body for the improvement or restoration of body function for biomedical applications.
The device, including the substrate and encapsulation layer, is only 3 micrometer (μm) thick, which is one order of magnitude thinner than the epidermal layer of human skin. It is made with a material that looks like a plastic wrap, alternating layers of inorganic and organic material, such as Silicon Oxynitride (inorganic) and Parylene (organic). This layering helps to prevent oxygen and water vapor from passing into the skin, prolonging the shell life of the device from just a few hours to about several days. This is a problem that occurred on previous e-skin prototypes, which often only last for a few hours once exposed to the body and air, but now it is fixed.
The e-skin integrates highly efficient polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) and organic photodetectors (OPDs), to allow multiple electronic functionalities such as sensing and displaying on the human skin. Also, it has an air-stable and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, ideal for a wide range of biomedical applications.
Because of the innovative creations that have been done throughout the recent years for health purposes, this researchers thought it was necessary to create a very thin wearable device that could be, at the same time, comfortable for people, so it can have the least impact on the part of the body they are attached to.
The bright display of the device uses less power compared to other e-skins developed in the past, which is very helpful since, for industrial applications, it is important to fabricate wearable devices using processing methods that maximize throughput and minimize cost.
“What would the world be like if we had displays that could adhere to our bodies and even show our emotions or level of stress or unease?” Professor Someya said. “In addition to not having to carry a device with us at all times, they might enhance the way we interact with those around us or add a whole new dimension to how we communicate.”
Source: Science Advances | 2,929 | 1,479 | 1.980392 |
warc | 201704 | States with OSHA-Approved State Plans have six months to adopt standards that are at least as effective as OSHA’s. States also have the option of having the same enforcement phase-in plan that OSHA has adopted.
States Plans that cover both public and private workplaces: Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.
OSHA rules also permit states to develop plans that cover state and local government workers only. States that have such plans: Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, and New York. | 677 | 434 | 1.559908 |
warc | 201704 | NEWS & PRESS
In 2010 scientists discovered four 'monster' sized stars, with the heaviest more than 300 times as massive as our Sun. Despite their incredible luminosity, these exotic objects, located in the giant star cluster R136 in the nearby galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud; have oddly so far been found nowhere else. Now a group of astronomers at the University of Bonn have a new explanation: the ultramassive stars were created from the merger of lighter stars in tight binary systems. The team present their results in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), at a distance of 160000 light years, is the third nearest satellite of the Milky Way galaxy we live in and contains around 10 billion stars. The LMC has many star forming regions, with by far the most active being the 1000 light year diameter 'Tarantula Nebula' where the four supermassive stars are found. This cloud of gas and dust is a highly fertile breeding ground of stars in the LMC also known as the "30 Doradus" (30 Dor) complex. Near the centre of 30 Dor is R136, by far the brightest stellar nursery not just in the LMC but in the entire 'Local Group' of more than 50 galaxies (including our own) and the site of the perplexing ultramassive stars.
Until the discovery of these objects in 2010, observations of the Milky Way and other galaxies suggested that the upper limit for stars formed in the present day universe was about 150 times the mass of the Sun. This value represented a universal limit and appeared to apply wherever stars formed.
"Not only the upper mass limit but the whole mass ingredient of any newborn assembly of stars appears identical irrespective of the stellar birthplace", says Prof. Dr Pavel Kroupa of the University of Bonn, a co-author on the new paper. "The star birth process seems to be universal".
The newly discovered four ultrabright ultramassive stars in R136 are quite an exception to this widely accepted limit. Does their discovery mean that the star birth in the 30 Dor region is happening in a very different way from elsewhere in the universe? If so it would challenge the universal nature of the process of star formation, a fundamental premise of modern astronomy.
The Bonn group, also including lead investigator Dr Sambaran Banerjee and team member Seungkyung Oh, modelled the interactions between stars in a R136-like cluster. Their computer simulation assembled the model cluster star by star, so as to resemble the real cluster as closely as possible, creating a cluster of more than 170,000 stars packed closely together. At the outset Seungkyung ensured that the stars were all of a normal mass and were distributed in the way expected.
To compute how even this relatively basic system changes over time, the model had to solve 510,000 equations many times over. The simulation is complicated by the effect of the nuclear reactions and hence energy released by each star and what happens when two stars happen to collide, a frequent event in such a crowded environment.
These highly intensive, star by star calculations are known as 'direct N-body simulations' and are the most reliable and accurate way to model clusters of stars. The Bonn researchers used the N-body integration code "NBODY6", developed primarily by Sverre Aarseth of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge and took advantage of the unprecedented hardware acceleration of video-gaming cards installed in otherwise ordinary workstations to fast forward their calculations.
"With all these ingredients, our R136 models are the most difficult and intensive N-body calculations ever made", say Pavel and Seungkyung.
"Once these calculations were done, it quickly became clear that the ultramassive stars are no mystery", adds Sambaran. "They start appearing very early in the life of the cluster. With so many massive stars in tight binary pairs, themselves packed closely together, there are frequent random encounters, some of which result in collisions where two stars coalesce into heavier objects. The resulting stars can then quite easily end up being as ultramassive as those seen in R136.
"Imagine two bulky stars closely circling each other but where the duo gets pulled apart by the gravitational attraction from their neighbouring stars. If their initially circular orbit is stretched enough, then the stars crash into each other as they pass and make a single ultramassive star", Sambaran explains.
"Although extremely complicated physics is involved when two very massive stars collide, we still find it quite convincing that this explains the monster stars seen in the Tarantula", says Banerjee.
"This helps us relax", concludes Kroupa, "Because the collisions mean that the ultramassive stars are a lot easier to explain. The universality of star formation prevails after all."
Science contacts
Dr Sambaran Banerjee
Prof. Dr Pavel Kroupa
Media contact
Dr Robert Massey
Images and captions
The "super-cluster" R136 in the Tarantula nebula. From left to right: the Tarantula nebula and the R136 cluster within it. Using a combination of instruments on ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered the most massive stars to date, some weighing at birth more than 300 times the mass of the Sun, or twice as much as the currently accepted limit of 150 solar masses. The most extreme of these stars was found in the cluster R136. Named R136a1, it is found to have a current mass of 265 times that of the Sun. The origin of such monster stars is a challenge for the current understanding of star formation mechanisms. Credit: European Southern Observatory.
This artist's impression shows the relative sizes of young stars, from the smallest "red dwarfs", weighing in at about 0.1 solar masses, through low mass "yellow dwarfs" such as the Sun, to massive "blue dwarf" stars weighing eight times more than the Sun, as well as the 300 solar mass star named R136a1. Credit: European Southern Observatory.
An illustration of the Wolf-Rayet star R136a1, the most massive star known. Credit: Wikipedia
Further information
The new research was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). It appears in "The emergence of super-canonical stars in R136-type star-burst clusters", S. Banerjee, P. Kroupa, Seungkyung Oh, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, in press. A preprint of this paper can be downloaded from http://arxiv.org/abs/1208.0826
Notes for editors
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS, www.ras.org.uk), founded in 1820, encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. The RAS organizes scientific meetings, publishes international research and review journals, recognizes outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 3500 members (Fellows), a third based overseas, include scientific researchers in universities, observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.
Follow the RAS on Twitter via @royalastrosoc | 7,246 | 3,327 | 2.177938 |
warc | 201704 | 6 November 2013
The British Red Cross has teamed up with the Big Issue Foundation to teach life-saving skills to those selling the magazine on the streets.
To mark the Big Issue’s annual Health Week (which runs from 4-8 November), the Red Cross is providing tailored first aid sessions to street vendors across towns and cities in the UK.
The organisation is also handing out specially made first aid leaflets – containing simple instructions on what to do in an emergency – that fit niftily into Big Issue ID badge holders.
Greater risk
Joe Mulligan, head of first aid education, said: “Homelessness exposes people to extreme weather, poor health, greater risk of infection and violent crime.
“All this makes a strong case for ensuring Big Issue vendors have basic first aid knowledge so they can offer support, particularly to other homeless people when they’re in need.”
Vulnerable people
The Red Cross already works regularly with this particularly vulnerable community. In the past year alone, it has given first aid training to over 1,600 homeless people across Britain.
The Big Issue magazine has a network of 2,000 vendors across the country. | 1,196 | 663 | 1.803922 |
warc | 201704 | March 7, 2012 Women ‘Significantly’ Less Attracted To Men With Beards
A new study finds that while men with facial hair seem to earn higher respect from other men, women find them significantly less attractive, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday.The study, reported in Behavioral Ecology, used pictures of 19 men in normal poses and making angry faces, both with full beards (greater than six weeks of growth with no trimming) and without facial hair, to determine how the men were perceived.
The photos of the men - who were from New Zealand and Samoa - were then shown to more than 200 women (also from New Zealand and Samoa) who were asked to rate the men´s attractiveness.
The women rated the clean-shaven men significantly more attractive, and said the men with beards appeared older and more aggressive, the study found.
The researchers then showed the pictures to other men, who said the men with beards displaying an aggressive facial expression appeared older and angrier than the same men when clean-shaven.
However, both sexes said that facial hair added gravitas, with the bearded men perceived to have a higher social status and commanding more respect from other men.
The results of the study suggest that beards send a signal of masculinity to other men, while doing little to attract women.
“The beard appears to augment the effectiveness of human aggressive facial displays,” the researchers said.
“These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the human beard evolved primarily via intrasexual selection between males and as part of complex facial communication signaling status and aggressiveness,” they concluded.
Given that a man with a full, six-week beard will look entirely different than one with a few days or even a couple of weeks of stubble, men with facial hair shouldn´t rush to shave it all off just yet. In fact, previous research suggests that men with light stubble actually draw the most favorable response from women, the paper reported.
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On the Net: | 2,051 | 988 | 2.075911 |
warc | 201704 | February 15, 2012 Let’s Stretch…
The proteins actin, myosin and titin are big players in the business of muscle contraction. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Hamburg, Germany, have now examined another muscle protein — myomesin — which they discovered can stretch up to two-and-a-half times its length, unfolding in a way that was previously unknown. The study is published 14 February in the open-access, online journal PLoS Biology.
Myomesin links muscle filaments, which stretch and contract, so it has to be elastic. Matthias Wilmanns, Head of EMBL Hamburg, and colleagues at the Technical University of Munich in Germany, and The Institute of Cancer Research in the UK, used X-ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering, electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy to reveal the mechanism behind the protein's ability to stretch. The stretchy part of myomesin, analysed by Wilmanns and colleagues, is like a string of pearls, with immunoglobulin (Ig) domains spaced out along an elastic band of structures known as alpha helices."Looking at these alpha helices was self-suggestive in itself," says Wilmanns. When the protein is pulled, the helices unfold, whereas the Ig domains do not — a finding that could help to solve an ongoing debate in the field about the potential elasticity of Ig domains.
Next, Wilmanns and his group would like to explore myomesin's role in the body and how it interacts and communicates with other muscle components.
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On the Net: | 1,545 | 868 | 1.779954 |
warc | 201704 | Russia's Armed Forces Await Automated Command and ControlIn 2015
Publisher Jamestown Foundation Publication Date 19 March 2013 Citation / Document Symbol Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 10 Issue: 51 Cite as
Jamestown Foundation,
Russia's Armed Forces Await Automated Command and ControlIn 2015, 19 March 2013, Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 10 Issue: 51, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/514997e72.html [accessed 23 January 2017]
Comments Roger McDermott Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Moscow's plans to modernize the conventional Armed Forces by 2020 hinge upon the successful design and adoption of automated command and control (C2), which has presented numerous challenges during testing. Moscow now plans to rush through its introduction; yet, none of the Ground Forces brigades will begin using the system until 2015 at the earliest. According to some indications, the automated C2 may be a second best choice, while its design and defense ministry plans to introduce it in military units are flawed (see EDM, December 4, 2012).
Having experienced several setbacks to the automated C2, or Unified System for Command and Control at the Tactical Level (Yedinaya Sistema Upravleniya v Takticheskom ZveneYeSU TZ), by the end of 2013 the system's first brigade set will arrive at the specialists' training center, deployed since November 2012 at Western Military District's 1st Command and Control Brigade in the Moscow Village of Kalininets. Later, all eleven branches of the Ground Forces Military Education-Scientific Center will receive this system costing around 10 billion rubles ($320 million). By 2015, the YeSU TZ will begin arriving in the combined-arms brigades in the Ground Forces (http://izvestia.ru/news/544954). A spokesman for Sozvezdiye Concern, which is developing the system, said that officers and enlisted personnel currently do not understand how to use it. Consequently, "The training center in the Moscow Region will become the forge of cadres of state-of-the-art methods of the conduct of a ground engagement," he explained (http://izvestia.ru/news/544954). According to Izvestiya's sources, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin played a crucial role in pushing through the introduction of the YeSU TZ. Nonetheless, the Military Industrial Commission under the Russian government earlier demanded the rejection of the system in favor of the Zarya-25 automated C2 system, which was developed by the Central Scientific Research Institute (TsNII) of Economics and Systems Management. However, a decisive factor was that the Zarya-25 remains in an early phase of readiness with testing scheduled to commence only by 2015. During the large-scale military exercise Kavkaz 2012, the testing of the YeSU TZ revealed more than 200 flawsthough 160 were attributed to human error, and others have allegedly been addressed. Now the emphasis will switch to training officers in order to prepare the introduction of the system (http://izvestia.ru/news/544954). Aleksandr Khramchikhin, the deputy director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, doubts the system's functionality, since it is designed only for one branch of troops. "This is fundamentally inadvisable. In order to create troops for network-centric warfare, we need complexes for the entire Armed Forces which are interoperable. Sozvezdiye, perhaps, is better than nothing but this is a rush job and not the realization of the concept," he highlighted. Dmitry Kandaurov, an independent Moscow-based expert on automated C2 systems, agrees. Kandaurov asserts that its introduction should begin by equipping line units with the YeSU TZ and not the training centers so that future specialists may be later selected based upon their experience. "We have the command and control subsystems of the Missile Troops and Artillery, PVO [Air Defense] and so forth; there must be precise coordination between them. Otherwise, the presence of dissimilar subsystems will result in the increase of the combat command and control cycle and miscommunication between the units," Kandaurov told Izvestiya (http://izvestia.ru/news/544954). Kandaurov argues that it would be simpler to create classrooms within the Ground Forces brigades, where two or three automated C2 systems may be simulated, while several trained specialists can augment a platoon of instructors. The problem of uniformity is also important to highlight. As the Airborne Forces Commander Colonel-General Vladimir Shamanov has emphasized, the elite units will complete the process of adopting automated C2 systems by the end of 2013. However, the system for the Airborne Forces is different, designated as "Andromeda-D." Though it has apparently performed well during tests in recent exercises, it may not be fully introduced into service until 2015 (Krasnaya Zvezda, February 14). In 2012, Voyennaya Mysl carried a critically important article on automated C2. The authors, Colonel Vladimir Orlyanskiy, Colonel Pavel Dulnev and Lieutenant-Colonel Aleksei Kostenko, examined automated C2 systems as an integral component in the conduct of network-centric warfare. Orlyanskiy and Kostenko are senior academic staff members at the Center for Educational and Information Technologies at the "Combined-Arms Academy of the Russian Federation Armed Forces" Ground Forces Military Educational and Scientific Center. The article considered the central role played by such systems in the application of network-centric approaches to warfare, and grappled with the problems revolving around the efforts by the Russian Armed Forces to develop their own "single information space." The authors pointed out that a number of state institutes and private companies are involved in the research and development of automated C2, but suggested they actually lack the necessary level of "coordinating their activities." "Nobody is surprised anymore by a situation where dozens of automated command and control systems that are not compatible with one another may come together in military operations in the battlefield," they noted (Voyennaya Mysl, no. 5, 2012). However, referring to the Military Education and Science Centers created under the "[former Defense Minister Anatoly] Serdyukov reform," the authors identified a much deeper problem resulting in the lack of development in appropriate mathematical models without progress in further progress in the military science. New hardware and software systems have not been introduced, the "mathematical equipment" is 30 or 40 years old, and its creators "can no longer improve it, for objective reasons, while new developers are in no hurry to appear." This situation, in the authors' view, has left the Armed Forces in an impossible position, with little prospect of resolving these fundamental issues. They conclude: "It is a well-known axiom that without the development of the material basis of the armed struggle it is impossible to improve the theory and practice of the art of war. Consequently, without the creation of, if not a universal, at least a sufficiently effective automated system of command and control of troops and weapons, any talk of the broader prospects for waging so-called network-centric warfare loses all point" (Voyennaya Mysl, no. 5, 2012). Rogozin's efforts to push the introduction of the new C2 system seem premature, ignoring reservations among senior officers and experts. One thing is clear: as the YeSU TZ appears in the brigades, it will not prove to be the panacea longed for by the defense ministry's leadership. | 7,809 | 3,542 | 2.204687 |
warc | 201704 | Children with Down syndrome grow differently from other children; © panthermedia.net/DenysKuvaiev
More about the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia at: www.chop.edu
Pediatric researchers have developed the first set of growth charts for U.S. children with Down syndrome since 1988. These new charts provide an important tool for pediatricians to evaluate growth milestones for children and adolescents with this condition. With these new charts, pediatricians will be able to compare each patient's growth patterns with peers of the same age and sex who have Down syndrome.
"Growth is a good indicator of a child's health and well-being, so it's an essential part of the pediatric examination," said study leader Babette S. Zemel, Ph.D., director of the Nutrition and Growth Laboratory at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). "Children with Down syndrome grow differently from other children, so it is important to have growth charts that reflect their unique growth pattern." The study project, the Down Syndrome Growing Up Study (DSGS), was funded by a four-year, $1.2 million grant to CHOP from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Down syndrome, a multisystem genetic disorder resulting from an extra copy of chromosome 21, occurs in about one in 700 U.S. births. Doctors and parents have long known that children with Down syndrome tend to grow more slowly and are shorter than most other children. Thanks to medical advances and improved access to care, overall health and well-being has improved for these patients; for example, life expectancy has increased from 35 years in 1985 to 53 years in 2007. This study investigated whether growth patterns have also improved. The researchers followed 637 participants, up to age 20, recruited from the Trisomy 21 Program at CHOP and from community locations and pediatric practices, mostly in the greater Philadelphia area, between Jan. 2010 and July 2013. All the participants were in their usual state of health at the times of measurement and, on average, had three study visits at which measurements were taken. Children under age three showed marked improvements in weight gain compared to the 1988 U.S. growth charts for children with Down syndrome. Improvements in height, reflecting taller stature, occurred mainly in males aged two to 20, relative to the earlier charts. In general, the DSGS charts were consistent with charts from U.K. children with Down syndrome, published in 2002. The DSGS team also created the first-ever body mass index (BMI) charts for children with Down syndrome. The researchers noted that the charts do not represent an ideal distribution of BMI, but only describe BMI distribution among their study participants. They added that further investigations should determine how to use the BMI charts to screen patients for excess body fat and associated health symptoms. "These charts more accurately reflect the growth of contemporary children with Down syndrome living in the U.S.," said Zemel. She added: "It is clear that growth has improved for infants and toddlers with Down syndrome over the past few decades, and that males are taller. The new BMI charts will be helpful for evaluating excess weight gain, which is mainly a concern as children advance through the teenage years. Ongoing research at CHOP, led by Dr. Andrea Kelly, and at Children's National Health System, led by Dr. Sheela Magge, will help determine if there are health consequences of excess weight in teens with Down syndrome." REHACARE.com; Source: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | 3,592 | 1,704 | 2.107981 |
warc | 201704 | According to the Bureau of Labor, “Employment of carpenters is expected to increase 13% during the 2008–2018 decade.” Even if the Bureau missed the boat on calculating in the effects of an economic downturn, there’s no arguing that the current trade labor force is aging and there are fewer young people interested in pursuing trade careers.
“As an industry we have to spread the word and improve education for people to take these positions,” says Roger Gutheil, president of the employee benefits and HR consulting firm GMR Associates, in Rochester, N.Y.
Most of Gutheil’s clients are in the building and construction industry, and as a state board member and a regional council member of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), a national trade association, he sees firsthand the effects of the aging workforce.
Hands-on Training
“There’s an idea that everyone is supposed to go to college. That’s our most formidable challenge,” Gutheil says. When his ABC council was approached by the Boy Scouts Explorer Program to set up a group (or a “post,” as it’s called) for skilled trades, they began a trial program.
Nearly 70% of high school graduates go to college within two years of graduating. But only about 4 in 10 Americans have obtained either an associate’s or bachelor’s degree by their mid-20s.
Now in its third year, the program takes boys and girls of ages 14 to 20 and introduces them to masonry, carpentry, HVAC, drywall, plumbing, electrical, heavy equipment, finish carpentry, and project management over the course of eight two-hour sessions.
Individual businesses donate their time to hands-on learning at a jobsite or in their offices along with a short lecture on what these jobs entail, what the job prospects are, and where to follow up for more formal training and certification.
ABC also has added a session on apprenticeship training and coordinated with New York’s SUNY (State University of New York) programs.
The plan is to take the Boy Scouts Explorer program to ABC’s four other New York state regions in 2012 and then bring it to the national ABC office for other states to pick up.
“The program is only as good as the people involved in it,” Gutheil points out. “We’ve got to break down the stereotype of these professions. We’re increasing our focus on getting to those at the high school level and getting a better handle on marketing the benefits of these careers.”
—Stacey Freed, senior editor, REMODELING. | 2,582 | 1,356 | 1.90413 |
warc | 201704 | CEC’s Chief Executive Officer, Matthew Warren, says the endorsement by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) is the penultimate step towards the creation of thousands of new green jobs and delivering the first big cuts in national greenhouse emissions.
“We congratulate the federal government for delivering on its commitment to the development of a clean energy industry in Australia. … Successfully deploying the 20% target of renewable energy in Australia by 2020 will unleash the ingenuity of Australia’s energy industry, accelerate research and development and will reveal quickly the scale and potential of this important emerging industry,” Warren says.
The CEC has been working closely with the Australian Government since January to fine tune the draft legislation released in December.
Warren adds: “The refined RET legislation incorporates crucial changes which will ensure accelerated investment in clean energy so the industry can play an immediate role in reducing Australia’s greenhouse emissions and help drive a new green economy.”
The renewable energy target bill will be tabled in the coming weeks. | 1,170 | 636 | 1.839623 |
warc | 201704 | Published on : Jun 29, 2016
The global roofing market is witnessing a significant surge, thanks to the rapid growth of the construction industry. The increasing rate of urbanization and the rise in the living standards of people across the world is boosting this market remarkably.
Asia Pacific to Maintain its Lead in Global Roofing Market In 2015, Asia Pacific dominated the global roofing market with a share of more than 40% in terms of volume. The rapid rise in the construction industry, owing to the increase in commercial, residential, and non-residential construction activities, is the key factor that has driven this regional market in the recent past.
Analysts project the Asia Pacific roofing market to remain dominant and register the fastest growth among all the regional markets in the coming years. The rise in the disposable income of people in this region has triggered its urbanization, which is likely to boost demand for fancy roofs in Asia Pacific. Apart from this, the increasing number of medical centers, commercial buildings, hotels, educational institutions, and offices spaces in India, China, and Japan is also projected to propel the roofing market in this region significantly in the coming years.
Here is a snapshot of the performance of other regional markets over the next few years.
Firestone Building Products Co., Owens Corning, CertainTeed Corp., GAF, Duro-Last Roofing Inc., IKO Industries Ltd., Atlas Roofing Corp., Carlisle, TAMKO Building Products Inc., Johns Manville, Braas Monier Building Group Services S.A are the leading enterprises operating in the global roofing market. | 1,628 | 822 | 1.980535 |
warc | 201704 | Puerperal psychosis Puerperal psychosis: Introduction
Puerperal psychosis: An acute mental illness which occurs to a mother following childbirth. More detailed information about the symptoms,causes, and treatments of Puerperal psychosis is available below. Symptoms of Puerperal psychosis
See full list of 17symptoms of Puerperal psychosis
Home Diagnostic Testing
Home medical testing related to Puerperal psychosis:
Child Behavior: Home Testing Mental Health (Adults): Home Testing more...» Wrongly Diagnosed with Puerperal psychosis? Puerperal psychosis: Complications
Read more about complications of Puerperal psychosis.
Causes of Puerperal psychosis
Read more about causes of Puerperal psychosis.
Disease Topics Related To Puerperal psychosis
Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Puerperal psychosis:
Puerperal psychosis: Undiagnosed Conditions
Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:
Misdiagnosis and Puerperal psychosis Undiagnosed stroke leads to misdiagnosed aphasia: BBC News UK reported on a man whohad been institutionalized and treated for mental illnessbecause he suffered from sudden inability to speak.This was initially misdiagnosed as a ...read more »
Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is fora patient to show mental decline to dementia.Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical conditions,...read more »
Rare type of breast cancer without a lump: There is a less common formof breast cancer called inflammatory breast cancer.Its symptoms can be an inflammation of the breast...read more »
ADHD under-diagnosed in adults: Although the over-diagnoses of ADHDin children is a well-known controversy, the reverse side related to adults.Some adults can remain undiagnosed, and indeed the condition has usually...read more »
Bipolar disorder misdiagosed as various conditions by primary physicians: Bipolar disorder (manic-depressive disorder)often fails to be diagnosed correctly by primary care physicians.Many patients with bipolar seek help from...read more »
Eating disorders under-diagnosed in men: The typical patient withan eating disorder is female.The result is that men with eating disorders often fail to be...read more »
Depression undiagnosed in teenagers: Serious bouts of depression can beundiagnosed in teenagers.The "normal" moodiness of teenagers can cause...read more »
Undiagnosed anxiety disorders related to depression: Patients with depression (see symptoms of depression)may also have undiagnosed anxiety disorders (see ...read more »
Undiagnosed celiac disease in pregnancy harms fetus: The failureto diagnose the common but less known digestive disease celiac disease (see symptoms of celiac disease)is linked to adverse fetal outcomes.See misdiagnosis of celiac...read more »
Misdiagnosed weight-related causes of infertility: A woman's weight statuscan affect her level of fertility.Although obesity or overweight can in themselves reduce...read more »
Read more about Misdiagnosis and Puerperal psychosis
Puerperal psychosis: Research Doctors & Specialists
Research related physicians and medical specialists:
Pregnancy & Fertility Health Specialists: Baby & Newborn Health Specialists: Womens Health Specialists: Mental Health Specialists: Child Health Specialists (Pediatrics): more specialists...»
Other doctor, physician and specialist research services:
Hospitals & Clinics: Puerperal psychosis
Research quality ratings and patient safety measuresfor medical facilities in specialties related to Puerperal psychosis:
Hospital & Clinic quality ratings »
Choosing the Best Hospital:More general information, not necessarily in relation to Puerperal psychosis,on hospital performance and surgical care quality: Puerperal psychosis: Rare Types
Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:
Evidence Based Medicine Research for Puerperal psychosis
Medical research articles related to Puerperal psychosis include:
Click here to find more evidence-based articles on the TRIP Database
Puerperal psychosis: Animations
More Puerperal psychosis animations & videos
Research about Puerperal psychosis
Visit our research pages for current research about Puerperal psychosis treatments.
Puerperal psychosis: Broader Related Topics
Types of Puerperal psychosis
User Interactive Forums
Read about other experiences, ask a question about Puerperal psychosis, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:
Contents for Puerperal psychosis: | 4,624 | 1,782 | 2.594837 |
warc | 201704 | New Iberia and Morgan City are located in Southern Louisiana. Both are involved in diverse activities associated with the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas from the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). New Iberia is a sugarcane town that acquired an oil sector. Morgan City is a shrimping and commercial port on the Atchafalaya River that was strategically poised to become a prominent fabricating, service, and supply center for the oil and gas industry. The communities, with populations of 30,000 and 12,000, respectively, are amenable in size for ethnographic study which, in its broadest sense, endeavors to understand the social, political, economic, and cultural dynamics of communities. The study found that offshore oil and gas activity is the source of many kinds of workplaces and patterns in which many different lifestyles develop. Workers and their families have indicated that the nature and extent of OCS-related effects vary according to industry sector and position within the sector and the company. Factors that influence effects include the stability and vulnerability of employment in the sector, wages and opportunities for advancement, work schedule patterns, and safety. Within and among sectors, company responses to industry fluctuations, restructuring, and other changes in the oil and gas industry differ considerably, and these responses contribute to the impacts felt by workers and families.
The results of this research are reported in two companion volumes. Volume I surveys the effect of OCS activities on workers in diverse sectors of the industry, on individuals and families, and on communities. Volume II, Case Studies, looks at the communities of New Iberia and Morgan City, the multigenerational attitudes towards work in the oil and gas industry, and recent changes in two transportation sectors, trucking and offshore supply vessels.
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warc | 201704 | A massive, multifaceted campaign to transform health care through nursing is off to a promising start, new data show.
In its first three years, the Future of Nursing:
Campaign for Action has made steady progress in areas relating to nurse education, practice, interprofessional collaboration, data collection, and diversity, according to a series of “dashboard” indicators that were released last month.
“We are moving in the right direction, and we expect progress to accelerate in the years ahead,” said
Campaign Director Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). “Our biggest accomplishment, though, cannot be measured in numbers. Since the Campaign began in late 2010, there has been a continuing cultural shift in attitudes about nurses and nursing and the critical role nurses play in health and health care.”
RWJF Senior Program Officer Nancy Fishman, MPH, agreed. “Because of the
Campaign, there’s more awareness about the importance of preparing the nursing workforce to address our nation’s most pressing health care challenges: access, quality, and cost.”
The
Campaign, which is led by RWJF and AARP, has created Action Coalitions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that are comprised of nurses, other health providers, consumers, educators, businesses, and others. It was launched in response to a groundbreaking report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) that called for a transformation of the nursing profession to improve health and health care.
That transformation is beginning to take place, according to the dashboard—a set of graphic illustrations that measure progress in key areas. The
Campaign has also released a set of “supplemental indicators” that provide more detailed information about Campaign progress.
Between the fall of 2010 and the fall of 2012, the number of nurses enrolled in doctoral programs rose 43 percent, from 11,645 to16,685. Much of the growth came in DNP—or doctorate of nursing practice—programs; the number of students enrolled in these practice-oriented programs jumped from 7,304 in 2010 to 11,575 in 2012. Enrollment in research-oriented PhD programs has also grown; in 2012, 5,110 students were enrolled in these programs, up from 4,611 in 2010.
The data reflect significant progress toward the IOM report’s recommendation to double the number of nurses with doctorates—the kind of nurses who are needed to fill faculty vacancies, conduct scientific research, and provide highly skilled nursing care to a patient population living longer but sicker, with a greater number of chronic conditions that require complex care. An RWJF-supported program, the
Future of Nursing Scholars, will also help to boost the number of nurse leaders prepared with research-oriented doctorates, Hassmiller said.
The percentage of employed nurses with baccalaureate degrees is also on the rise, reflecting progress toward another key IOM report recommendation: that 80 percent of the nation’s nurses hold bachelor’s degrees or higher by 2020. In 2010, 49 percent of the nation’s nurses held bachelor’s degrees in the science of nursing (BSNs); in 2013, 51 percent did—a 4 percent increase.
“The percentage increase may seem small, but it reflects real growth,” Fishman said. The nursing workforce is 3 million strong, she noted, so every additional percentage point represents 30,000 more nurses with bachelor’s degrees.
Moreover, more nurses are enrolling in baccalaureate programs, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and the number of graduates in RN-to-BSN programs is ballooning—signs that the percentage of employed BSN-prepared nurses will continue to rise, Hassmiller said.
Change ‘Takes Time’
Still, the IOM report’s “80 by 2020” goal remains far off, and change will not come overnight, Fishman said. “Moving these numbers takes time.”
That’s true of other
Campaign objectives as well, according to Joanne Spetz, PhD, professor at the Institute for Health Policy Studies and associate director for research strategy at the Center for the Health Professions at the University of California, San Francisco. “Each of the IOM recommendations has a fair amount of challenge associated with it. Everything the IOM report recommended was absolutely spot on, but if the goals were easy to meet, then they would have been met already.”
The IOM recommendation related to scope-of-practice, for example, faces opposition from some organized physician groups and is subject to the whims of state-level politics. But it is moving forward nonetheless.
Since 2010, seven states—Minnesota, Connecticut, Kentucky, Nevada, Rhode Island, North Dakota, and Vermont—removed statutory barriers that prevented nurse practitioners (NPs) from providing care to the full extent of their education and training.
Other states have passed laws that build momentum toward full practice authority for NPs. Texas, for example, removed a restriction requiring on-site physician supervision of nurse-led retail health clinics. And Utah allowed NPs to be reimbursed by Medicaid for the services they provide to beneficiaries in the state.
“More and more states are modernizing laws every year as a result of the
Campaign and its efforts to raise awareness about the importance of removing barriers to practice and care,” said Winifred Quinn, PhD, director of advocacy and consumer affairs at the Center to Champion Nursing in America (CCNA), an initiative of AARP, the AARP Foundation, and RWJF. These kinds of advances, she said, will help increase consumer access to care. CCNA coordinates the Campaign for Action.
Diversifying the nursing workforce is another key goal of the
Campaign, and progress is being made in this area, too. The number of minorities in the nursing workforce is gradually rising, as is the share of the nursing workforce that they represent, according to the Campaign’s supplemental indicators on diversity.
In 2010, about 24 percent of the nation’s RNs identified as minorities; that percentage inched up to 25 percent in 2012. Data collection is improving in this area too. In 2011, 34 states collected data about the race and ethnicity of their nursing workforces; in 2012, that number jumped to 44.
The IOM report also calls for more interprofessional education and collaboration among health professions students, and the dashboard notes progress there, too. In the 2011-2012 academic school year, two of the nation’s top nursing schools that also have graduate health professional schools required at least one interprofessional clinical course or activity. In the 2012-2013 academic year, two more schools required interprofessional courses or activities.
Thirteen states, meanwhile, increased the number of data items they collect on the nurse workforce between 2010 and 2013, which helps build the national infrastructure for collection and analysis of interprofessional health care workforce data. Comprehensive data are needed to enable policy- and decision-makers to ensure that the nation has an adequate supply of nurses.
Nurse leadership is another key goal of the IOM report, but progress in this area is difficult to measure, Spetz said. As of 2011, 6 percent of the nation’s hospital boards had nurse members, and new data won’t be released until later this year or next. “The leadership indicator is a sticky wicket,” Spetz said. “There are a lot of ways nurses can and are taking on leadership roles, and we’re not necessarily going to see the totality of that in a single indicator.” | 7,824 | 3,416 | 2.290398 |
warc | 201704 | “Good morning, children.”
“Good morning, Director Riveroll.”
“Please tell me what REACH stands for.”
In unison, the children yell, “Respect. Enthusiasm. Achievement. Citizenship. Hard work.”
“Good job,” Riveroll says while tossing (unsharpened) pencils to the kids as prizes.
Riveroll descends from his perch and makes his way to a gate in the chain-link perimeter. There he’s joined by Dolores Garcia, the school’s family services coordinator. He stands by the westward fence post, she by the east. Then, while inspirational music blares from the school’s public address system (“Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” by the Spice Girls, “It’s Off to Work We Go” by the Seven Dwarves, and “ABC” by the Jackson 5), the students enter the campus in lines. Riveroll greets each girl as she enters with a handshake and a “good morning.” The girls break their silence only to return the greeting while looking Riveroll in the eye. The boys do the same with Garcia. Standing a few feet into the campus, Strom narrates the action. “We call this the Gates of Wisdom. Every morning, the kids line up to come onto campus. When they come through the gate, they are greeted by the director or by one of the other staff. We teach them to shake hands, say good morning, and look the person in the eye when they shake hands. It shows respect, and it’s a great life lesson. Then we check their uniforms.”
As if on cue, Strom calls to one of the male students, “I need you to button up that top button, and make sure that you tuck that shirt in.”
Once on campus, the students hustle straight to class as faculty and staff members standing in the hallways exhort them to do just that. In five minutes, with little noise and lots of hustle and encouragement, all 800 kids are safely in their classrooms — no loitering, no yelling, no running and, most importantly, no fighting.
The Culture War
Before September 2004 was out, Riveroll had decided to invite the community in for “work group” discussions on how to improve Gompers. Michelle Evans, now Gompers’ assistant to the dean and a board member, attended those meetings. “She was the angriest parent there,” Riveroll says with a smile.
You wouldn’t believe it, looking at Evans. Her face emanates motherly kindness. But she doesn’t deny the charge. And when she gets talking about those days, a tidal wave of strength and attitude flows from her. Her silver and stone bracelets clink and clank as she tells a story about her son, an honors student at prior schools, being tracked into subpar classes and growing more and more disgruntled at Gompers in September 2004. After, by her own admission, chewing out teachers and administrators on campus, she came to one of the first community meetings. “I went home, rested, got dressed, got up, and I was the first one at the door at six o’clock,” Evans recalls. “Only ten other parents show up, and all these district staff show up. I am thinking, ‘What kind of parents…? No one is here.’ Then the district staff tells us in all this big fancy language that basically our school is failing because it hasn’t passed AYC or NCLP or something like that. I don’t know what those things mean. So I stand up and say, ‘First of all, talk to me in a language that I can understand. What is AYC? What is API? What is NCLP? All you white people can tell me is that you are going to close my neighborhood school down. So what am I supposed to do with my children? I don’t have a car. I don’t think so. You guys are going to fix it.’ ”
“The first parent meeting,” Riveroll recalls, “there was a lot of anger. This group had seen principals come and go and nothing ever change, so why should anyone listen to me?”
The meetings grew larger, up to 35 parents at each, and Riveroll heard a lot more anger. Parents, he says, were “infuriated that we had to bus the kids out of the community to get a good education. We had to get them up at 6:00 a.m. because their own neighborhood school wasn’t meeting their needs. A social injustice was happening, and that is a great catalyst for change.”
But for decades people had been saying change was needed at Gompers — and at nearly every inner-city school in America, for that matter. Underfunding, inner-city poverty, a lack of two-parent families, state budget cuts, bloated bureaucracies, and other seemingly insurmountable societal ills were offered as root causes. Riveroll had a simpler answer to what was wrong: culture. The violent culture of the surrounding streets spilled onto the campus, despite the police presence. Besides posing a physical danger to students, the nearly daily fights made Gompers an undesirable post for teachers. “We had a 75 percent attrition rate,” Strom says, “meaning three-quarters of our teachers were leaving every year. It was a scary environment for teachers as well as students. They didn’t want to be here.”
“There were 18 vacancies on day one of the [2004–2005] school year,” Riveroll adds. “So we started the school year with [teaching] vacancies, and we had substitutes that lasted throughout the whole year. There was a whole system that was denying equality in education for the students of this community, and that needed to change.”
Asked to explain his program of culture change, Riveroll instead offers to show what he means. He walks down one of Gompers’ broad hallways toward the intersection with a crossing corridor, arriving just as “transition” — the time between classes — starts. Kids exit their classrooms silently in lines accompanied by their teachers. There’s very little talking. “Before, kids would come out, congregate, and fight. No one was on supervision,” Riveroll says. “The transitions were a madhouse: kids running, breaking windows, dipping in and out of classrooms, fighting, very loud. There were huge tardy rates for classes. Even if their class was five seconds away, they would be ten minutes late. Now look, this is the transition. Supervision is all around — everybody is on supervision. These are
our students. They are our kids.” | 6,424 | 2,998 | 2.142762 |
warc | 201704 | Supplier diversity is a proactive business process that seeks to provide historically disadvantaged suppliers equal access to purchasing opportunities. It promotes supplier participation reflective of a company’s diverse customer base and the diverse business community.
The business case for a company to have a quality supplier diversity program includes the following:
■ Any company that expects to do business in this millennium has to understand the demographics of its customer base.
■ The minority population is the fastest growing segment in the U.S. — projected to be 50 percent as early as 2020.
■ Minorities and female consumers are also the fastest growing segment in the U.S. marketplace and they are loyal customers.
■ Minority and Women Business Enterprises represent a significant and growing proportion of the economic pie.
■ Companies that embrace diversity and establish early successes in this area will have a competitive advantage in the future marketplace.
For the last 12 years, the Consortium of African American Organizations has been involved in many supplier diversity efforts. CAAO has seen what works well.
Building your program
Here are five things a company should have in place to build a successful supplier diversity program:
1. Corporate commitment — The only way any supplier diversity program is going to succeed for the long term is to have a written commitment from the CEO all the way to those in the purchasing department. A company diversity policy should be put into place that reflects the commitment to the corporation to work on having a qualified diverse supplier base. 2. Analyzing the current situation and setting goals for improvement — Before a company implements its supplier diversity plan, it should analyze where the company stands in doing business with MWBEs locally and nationally. A set of reachable goals should be established that allows the company visible and increased improvements in its MWBEs spend. The company should communicate its supplier diversity goals both internally and externally. 3. Involvement of community based organizations — Each community has organizations that work closely with MWBEs. This includes organizations that provide training, networking opportunities and financial education/assistance.
In Northeast Ohio, groups like CAAO, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland, the Minority Business Development Agency, the National Association of Women Business Owners, the NAACP and the Hispanic Business Association are examples of some of the organizations that help corporations connect with qualified MWBE vendors.
4. Creating mentor/mentee training programs — Many successful supplier diversity programs have developed mentor programs for both qualified MWBEs and those who are one or two steps away from qualifying. These programs can be designed to help the MWBE with coaching, guidance and training to better position the MWBEs for new business opportunities and overall growth. 5. Monitoring progress — This is an important part in any supplier diversity program that is trying to set goals. A designated individual should report on a regular basis the actual usage of on-site diverse workers on major projects, as well as the different departments (not just construction) reporting on a variety of contracts being sent to and won by diverse vendors. ●
William Holdipp Jr. is the assistant executive director of the Consortium of African American Organizations. For more information, visit www.caao.net. | 3,577 | 1,634 | 2.189106 |
warc | 201704 | Mundo agrario On-line version ISSN 1515-5994 Abstract
IZCARA PALACIOS, Simón Pedro and ANDRADE RUBIO, Karla Lorena. Problemas de salud de los jornaleros tamaulipecos empleados con visas H-2A en Estados UnidosHealth problems of tamaulipas's farm workers employed with H-2A visas in the United States.
Mundo agr. [online]. 2011, vol.11, n.22, pp. 00-00. ISSN 1515-5994.
From two decades ago Tamaulipas' farm workers have received a large amount of H-2A visas to work in the farming sector. U.S. farmers find it appealing to hire Tamaulipas' workers because of the proximity of Tamaulipas to the frontier, which lowers transportation costs, which have to be paid by the employers. It is well reported that low-skilled guest worker programs leaves foreign workforce open to abuse and exploitation. Poor compliance with federal regulations like the Worker Protection Standard and Workers Compensation Insurance increases the risk of pesticide poisoning and injuries among agricultural workers, and those who suffer work-related injuries or illnesses forgo needed medical care. This paper examines the health problems suffered by Tamaulipas's H-2A workers employed in U.S. agriculture.
Keywords : H-2A visas; Farm workers; Pesticide use; Tamaulipas; United States. | 1,269 | 723 | 1.755187 |
warc | 201704 | This paper has been added to your cart ($35.00)
Ultra-precision raster milling is an emerging manufacturing technology for the fabrication of high precision and high quality components with a surface roughness of less than 10 nm and a form error of less than 0.2 μm without the need for any subsequent post polishing. Surface quality of a raster milled surface is affected by process factors and material factors, respectively. The process factors involve cutting conditions, cutting strategies, and relative vibration between the tool and the workpiece which are related to the cutting geometry and the dynamic characteristics of the cutting process. The material factors considered are material property and swelling of the work materials. Due to different cutting mechanics, the process factors affecting the surface quality are more complicated, as compared with ultra-precision diamond turning, such as swing distance and step distance. This paper presents an experimental investigation of the distinctive process factors affecting the surface roughness in ultra-precision multi-axis raster milling. Experimental results indicate that the influence due to the process factors can be minimized through a proper selection of operational settings and better control of dynamic characteristics of the machine. | 1,318 | 642 | 2.05296 |
warc | 201704 | LSD, Ecstasy, psilocybin -- these are not drugs generally associated with medicine. But they are all taking center stage at this weekend's "Psychedelic Science 2013" conference in Oakland, which brings together more than 100 scientists from around the world doing research on the use of these drugs to treat, among other things, alcohol and tobacco addiction and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Rick Doblin is the founder of MAPS, a non-profit pharmaceutical company that organized the event. He says the government appears more open now to medical studies involving these
"We are enjoying a change of heart at the regulatory agencies both at the FDA and around the world," he says, "and they’re opening the door into both the benefits for therapy and for neuroscience research."
Scientists participating in the conference include doctors from UCLA, NYU and Johns Hopkins. Their work includes studies on LSD to treat alcoholism; psilocybin to ease end of life anxiety and fight tobacco addiction; Ecstasy to treat Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome; and Ayahuasca for drug addiction.
"These drugs have incredible scientific potential and incredible healing potential," says Doblin.
The Psychedelic Science conference lasts through Monday. | 1,254 | 701 | 1.788873 |
warc | 201704 | Comparing Surveillance Options for SMBs, Enterprises During the past 20 years, product technology within the analog security video industry had been very stable, with only minor product advances.
In the analog security video boom, end users’ surveillance needs were very similar, regardless of their company’s size, but today’s surveillance product technologies are rapidly changing this historical norm. The needs of small and midsized businesses (SMBs) are moving in the opposite direction of enterprises, where the surveillance needs are getting more closely aligned with the enterprise’s IT requirements. What makes these market segment observations interesting is that all end user needs are largely based upon the available product technology. This is evidence that the significant product technology introductions over the past five years are going to become mainstream.
During the past 20 years, product technology within the analog security video industry had been very stable, with only minor product advances. In fact, for many years the only real differences were price based. Pricing has a wide range of possible impacts on the market, but those tend to be the opposite impacts of product technology. Between enterprises and SMBs, product technology over price has the greatest influence. So as product technology advances, new market opportunities become available to end users of any means, independent of price. This is where the IP surveillance products are changing the SMB markets and showing big surveillance product technology requirement differences, provider changes and price variations.
Small Business, New Providers, Bigger Expense
Small businesses typically have fewer than eight cameras, and they make up a large part of the DVR market. A small business’s surveillance needs are most often serviced by the building alarm monitoring industry, which is accelerating offerings of network-based products, including surveillance. However, in addition to these traditional small business security providers, new companies are entering the small business surveillance market, often from the traditional telephone and cable providers. These non-traditional security companies own the IP network and already have existing relationships with the small business owners and end users. These two service providers are offering similar IP surveillance product technologies, but very different service plans.
One of the big differences between the two types of providers comes from their business models: The traditional security providers’ business model is centered on monitoring, whereas a telecommunication or cable provider is about bundling additional paid services or network-consuming devices onto a network that they provide. In the latter case, you are self-monitoring for your business. This trend of self-monitoring is also impacting the security officer industry. Traditional guard companies may have to turn to new types of “remote” guarding or remote live monitoring to keep your business.
Midsized Business, Supersized Technology, Big Risks
For midsized businesses, surveillance systems are moving from a “nice to have” to a “must have.” Here, you make relatively big investments in product technologies well ahead of larger enterprises. Rapid adoption of product technology for midsized businesses is a key to survival; it is also a way of being able to scale your operations to become global or achieve higher growth. The same holds true with IP surveillance systems, which range from 16 to as many as 1,000 cameras in system size.
When managing security for a growing business, keep in mind the differences in choices of the type of technology, who is servicing the business and the product technology risks. Where a small business’s end user is typically buying a safe, bundled offering, the midsized business’s end user is purchasing a riskier, standalone system from a traditional security systems integrator. You would negotiate the price and select best-of-breed equipment from an expansive range of product offerings. This contract is typically negotiated with a similarly sized service provider, which can create a business partnership between equals to offset some of your implementation risks. Compare that to the small business’s security manager, who is buying the listed price and choosing from a limited product choice from a much larger service provider.
Enterprise Business, Enterprise IT, Lowest Prices
Lastly, within the enterprise class come enterprise-sized IT requirements. The importance and costs of IT compliance to the enterprise often outweighs the actual surveillance product’s technology requirements. Enterprise security contracts also come with the lowest per-unit price tag, thanks to your enterprise’s purchasing power and the maturity of your procurement process. Although enterprise-class businesses make up a small segment of the overall market, their impact is significant: Surveillance manufacturers will make large R&D product investments in the hopes of winning your business, only to sell their wares at the lowest unit pricing. This results in enterprise end users having the lowest year-over-year R&D product return on investment.
Target Practice
So, the best bundled services are targeted to the small businesses, the best surveillance product technology is targeted at the midsized businesses, and the lowest price is targeted at the enterprise. Knowing where you stand as a business, and how that standing affects your security partners, will help guide you to your best surveillance options.
About the Columnist: Keven Marier is the founder and CEO of Connex International, Inc. He has a 20-year background in technology consulting, publishing and educating within the physical security technology and enterprise IT industries. | 5,904 | 2,374 | 2.486942 |
warc | 201704 | Summary: We can only evangelize the people within the culture of death by understanding the culture and standing with the people to share the Word of God.
Monday of 16th Week in Course
July 19, 2010
I did an informal survey of the network TV commercials one evening and was not surprised at the results. Most of the ads were for automobiles and trucks. The rest were for discretionary purchases or for merchandise you couldn’t advertise on radio or TV thirty years ago. All of this “stuff” is supposed to make us happy, but none of it can do so. God has showed us what can make us happy: it is the good. And it involves not what we should buy but what we should do: act justly, love in loyalty, and walk humbly with our God.
The ironies of our day are too many to count. The one that seems to hit the front page almost daily has the New York Times and CBS News, which never met an abortion they didn’t like, lecturing the Catholic Church on morality and canon law. The irony is that they are trying to turn the best friend of humankind into a monster. The teachings of Christ, conserved and proclaimed by the Bride, the Church, are the only truths that can get us out of the hole we have dug for ourselves by our sin. Lose that hope and humanity has lost it all.
Archbishop Gomez tells us that we need to understand our culture from the “inside out–its values and aspirations, its strengths and weaknesses, its positive and negative aspects. We need to always be on the lookout” (25) for new ways to spread the Gospel in “arts, politics, media, business, science, research; even to the fields of sports and popular entertainment.” (26)
This is not proselytizing. Proselytism involves standing outside the world and pronouncing judgement, much like the people who stand outside arenas with placards telling the promoters they are going to hell. The laity must stand with the people who need Christ, perform their work “to the highest possible standards and with a Christian perspective.” This requires you to show through your work and through your friendships with your colleagues, “the harmony between faith and reason, and the new insights that are possible if we think of creation and discovery as something we do in partnership with our Creator.” Don’t keep your faith to yourself, or you will just be allowing the culture to insulate itself from the voice of the Redeemer. You are the “key to preventing that from happening.” If you are silent, materialism and consumerism will dominate. | 2,580 | 1,342 | 1.922504 |
warc | 201704 | Transitional Reinsurance Fee — HHS Issues Final Regulation
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has published final regulations that will enable plan sponsors and insurers to calculate their liability under the transitional reinsurance fee (TRF) provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The fee is $63 per year, per covered life ($5.25 per month). It applies to insured and self-insured group health plans beginning in 2014. .
The TRF applies to calendar years 2014 through 2016. This fee is expected to decrease in 2015 and 2016. The first TRF payment will be owed to HHS in December 2014 with respect to the 2014 calendar year. Congress would need to amend the law to extend the TRF beyond 2016. The final regulation is effective May 10, 2013.
When drafting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), Congress tapped employers and insurers to bear the cost of a temporary reinsurance fund that will seek to stabilize premiums for coverage in the reformed individual health insurance market (inside and outside the exchanges) for a three-year period from 2014 through 2016.
Insurers and plan sponsors are permitted to deduct the TRF expense as an ordinary and necessary business expense (unlike the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) fee, which is an excise tax and is not tax deductible).
The final rule provides that TRF contributions must be made with respect to “major medical coverage.” COBRA coverage generally qualifies as major medical coverage and if no other exception applies, it will be subject to the TRF contribution. The TRF contribution must be made for all “reinsurance contribution enrollees,” which includes
all individuals covered by a plan for which reinsurance contributions must be made — employee, spouse, and children. . The TRF contribution is determined by multiplying the average number of covered lives of reinsurance contribution enrollees during the applicable benefit year (the calendar year) by the contribution rate for the applicable benefit year.
The final rule provides several methods for counting covered lives. Insured plans may use an actual count method, snapshot method or member-months method. Self-insured plans may use an actual method, snapshot method or Form 5500 method. The preamble clarifies that a plan would not have to use the same counting method for the TRF calculation that is used for purposes of the PCORI fee.
As your TPA, we plan to offer this service to our clients. Details will be forthcoming. | 2,562 | 1,200 | 2.135 |
warc | 201704 | Car sharing is a wonderful thing, helping reduce or eliminate the need to own a car, helping reduce traffic congestion and free up parking. But there’s some flaws in this model, as Michael Keating, CEO of Scoot shared in the above interview with Shareable’s Neal Gorenflo.
Scoot is, as Keating says, the Zipcar of electric scooter sharing. So why scooters? Keating says,
“My concern was that I think cars aren’t a very good way to get around within cities. They’re a really awesome form of transportation if you’re leaving town or going anywhere outside of a crowded, congested city”. He goes on to say that electric cars and shared cars are fine too, but they’re still cars taking up unnecessary space for an often underutilized asset.
Scoot is launching in San Francisco, and having lived there myself, this makes complete sense. Hills and an improving but subpar road infrastructure make it somewhat unfriendly for biking. Most everybody uses the packed, often late mass transit largely because parking is scarce and prohibitively expensive. I recall being thrilled if I found parking within 5 blocks of my home.
So why not electric bikes? Scoot’s aim is to compete with cars being fast enough to move in typical city traffic flow at 30 mph, but on two wheels for a smaller footprint, increased agility, and the ability to park right in front of your destination, or slotted in between parked cars on their metered time.
Scoot is currently in beta at The Hub, the premier coworking space for social entrepreneurs in San Francisco's tech-saturated SoMa district. It’s a natural starting point as people there are already inclined to share resources. My initial thought was, will the feedback they get be skewed by the type of people drawn to such a workspace?
As it turns out, coworking spaces are a central part of their launch strategy. They plan to expand to other coworking spaces and tech companies that want to offer this service to their tenants and employees. Keating puts it well when he says,
“Work is what induces most travel. Commute, business meetings, going to lunch.”
Scoot reports reduced stress as one the benefits too. Keating said one member reported being very relaxed since she didn’t have to pack herself into the train, fight traffic, or chase after parking. Others are using it as quick on-demand alternative to taxis and short distance trips in general.
Listen in for Keating’s interesting food analogies, comparing Scoot to a cup of coffee or smoothie, bicycling to a salad, and driving to steak!
Electric scooters, it turns out, are not merely some niche tech toy. According to Keating, they are the fastest growing form of personal transportation, some 20-30 million already on the road, primarily in rapidly urbanizing China, where people are leveling up in income but fuel availability can be restricted.
One surprising fact is that Scoot’s vehicles have no speedometer or odometer. Your phone is the dashboard! Placing the phone in a dock, it authenticates you, allows you to turn on the scooter, then becomes its dashboard, even serving as a mapping tool as needed.
Scoot is a promising entrant into the shared vehicle market, which could translate well in any number of urban environments, and college towns as well.
What do you think of the idea of sharing scooters? Please share in comments. Don't miss Shareable's latest stories!
Get Shareable in your inbox once a week | 3,498 | 1,782 | 1.962963 |
warc | 201704 | When it comes to Christian camping, most of what you'll need is common sense - some place to sleep, some things to cook with, something to eat from, etc. However, there are some everyday items which will make your trip much easier and more enjoyable - things you don't
need, but shouldn't be without. What follows is our list of OPTIONAL ESSENTIALS! A backpack or hip-pack:It's always better to have your hands free, out on the trail. A serrated knife:Skip the go-go-gadget Swiss Army knife. All you really need is a sharp blade with a serrated edge. It slices more easily and cleanly, and stays sharp longer. A good pair of scissors:Surprisingly, these come in handy more often than you might think. It seems something is always in need of proper cutting around a camp. An extra tarp:Tarps are inexpensive and versatile additions to your campsite. They can be used to cover supplies in case of rain, as tent foot prints, or can be strung up for shade on sunny days. A good length of rope:Twenty-five, at least, preferably of high quality synthetic materials. This can be used for tent / tarp setup, as a clothesline, or for hoisting food into trees when appropriate. A "quick boil" camp stove:These are stoves that are designed mostly for one purpose - to boil water as quickly as possible, which comes in handy for everything from coffee in the morning to making just-add-water meals to cleaning the dishes. Fire-starters:Whether waxed incense or simple newspaper, fire-starters are a blessing when you're too tired to mess around with damp wood or little kindling. Toilet paper:When you need it, it's never there, so keep a roll in your pack for emergencies, including use as tissue or as a fire-starter. This is an old traveler's trick which has worked wonders around the world. Hand sanitizer:Your hands may be dirty, but at least they won't be full of germs. Alcohol-based no-wash gel is your best bet in a pinch. Water jugs:Easy to fill for drinking, can be used as a table lantern in conjunction with a flashlight, excellent for putting out fires. Rubber-soled slippers:Give your feet a break and get comfortable! Slippers are an amazing treat after a long hike, and the rubber soles will keep your feet safe and dry. Candles:Perfect for lighting your campsite after dark, and some keep bugs away! Headlamps:Forget the flashlight - these devices may look better-suited to subterrannean exploration, but they're incredibly convenient and great for reading at right, doing the dishes in the dark, and generally keeping your hands free. Pie Irons:These ingenious cast-iron contraptions allow you to make hot sandwiches filled with anything you choose, from pizza sauce and cheese to apples and cinnamon. Don't forget the butter on the outside of your bread so you can pop these toasted morsels out! Air Mattresses:Unless you're going backpacking, take the plunge and get yourself a nice air mattress - not the ones that are an inch thick, but the ones that are sixinches thick. You'll sleep better and your back will thank you. Cloth Sleeping Bags:These cotton sleeping sacks are perfect in any season - great by themselves in the summertime, or pop it into your regular sleeping bag in the winter time to put some "sheets" under your "covers". Camp chairs:They're worth it. S'more stuff:A camping staple - graham crackers, chocolate, and toasted marshmallows add something to every good camping trip. Musical instruments:Harmonicas, hand drums, backpacker guitars...a musical instrument is the perfect complement to nights next to a cozy campfire.
Any or all of these items will greatly augment your youth group or men's ministry camping experience. Keep them in mind to help keep your trip happy and joyful as you commune with nature in the service of fellowship and togetherness in God's love.
For the basics of camping supplies, please see Camping Supply List. | 3,880 | 2,036 | 1.905697 |
warc | 201704 | Users should use and reuse weak passwords for websites which don’t hold valuable information, say researchers from Microsoft, overturning decades of accumulated wisdom on internet security. By not having to worry about remembering complex unique passwords for every individual website, users can focus their efforts on recalling secure passwords for high-value sites like banking or e-commerce. What’s more, the researchers, Dinei Florêncio and Cormac Herley from the Redmond-based software company and Paul C van Oorschot from Carelton University in Canada, argue that password managers introduce more problems than they solve. While they allow the use of fully random, completely unique passwords, they also introduce a single point of failure: users can lose or forget the password to their password manager, or the cloud service that hosts their passwords could be hacked. | 893 | 515 | 1.733981 |
warc | 201704 | The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued a proposed rule on opt-out payments offered by employers to employees who decline group health coverage.
An opt-out payment is narrowly defined as a payment that is made only when an employee declines coverage under the group health plan. The proposed rule affects when cash opt-out payments change the amount employees are required to pay for their health care contribution when determining whether premiums are considered “affordable” under the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility penalty 1
The proposed effective date of the rule is the plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2017. Comments on the proposed rule can be submitted until September 6, 2016, and a final rule will be issued after that. With a final rule not possible until the fall, employers with calendar-year plans will need to implement changes even before a final rule is issued.
Affordability of group health plan coverage is important for purposes of the Affordable Care Act’s employer shared responsibility penalty and related reporting requirements (
e.g., how large employers complete IRS Form 1095-C). Large employers (those with 50 or more full-time employees or equivalents) that do not offer affordable coverage to a full-time employee would have to pay a penalty if that full-time employee receives a premium assistance tax credit in an Exchange/Marketplace.
Coverage is considered affordable if the employee’s cost for self-only coverage does not exceed a certain percentage of their household income (9.69 percent in 2017). Because it is difficult for an employer to know an employee’s household income, affordability is generally determined by comparing the employee’s required contribution against certain measures of income.
For example, if an employee’s required contribution for self-only coverage for the lowest cost plan is $95.93 per month or less for the 2017 calendar year, the plan would be considered affordable. 4
The proposed rule addresses opt-out payments and when those payments increase the amount of the employee’s required contribution.
The general rule is that an opt-out payment increases the amount of the required contribution for health coverage for all employees. 6 Example: An employee who enrolls in self-only coverage pays $75 per month. An employee who waives coverage is paid $50 per month. If the opt-out arrangement meets all of the above requirements, then the opt-out payment does not increase the cost of any employee’s contribution for purposes of the affordability test. For purposes of the employer penalty, each employee’s required premium is $75 per month (whether the employee enrolls in the plan or waives coverage). If the opt-out arrangement does not meet all of the above requirements, the IRS will consider the required contribution to be $125 per month ($75 plus $50) for all employees (whether they enroll in the plan or waive coverage).
As noted on page 1, the proposed effective date is the plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2017. However, there is a delayed effective date for opt-out arrangements that are required under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement in effect before December 16, 2015. For such bargained arrangements, the new rule will not apply until the later of the beginning of the first plan year that begins following the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement (disregarding any extensions) or the applicability date of the final rule on opt-out payments.
Employers with calendar-year plans will currently be in the process of setting employee contribution strategies for 2017, and preparing open enrollment materials for the fall open-enrollment period. Employers with an opt-out cash payment should ensure that the new requirements are included in any plan documents or participant communications that refer to the opt-out. For example, open-enrollment materials describing the opt-out arrangement, as well as attestation forms that waiving employees complete, will need to include new language about employees and family members having other “minimum essential coverage” coverage that is not individual market coverage. Employers will also need a process to review employee attestations regarding whether other coverage exists.
In addition, employers that have not yet determined if their flex credit program meets the requirements set out in Notice 2015-87 should review those programs and make necessary changes. Those new rules, which are discussed in a separate Sibson publication,
also take effect with the 2017 plan year. 11
Sibson works with plan sponsors and their attorneys on compliance issues. We can help design employee contribution strategies and determine if coverage meets the Affordable Care Act’s “affordability” requirement. Sibson can also recommend the changes that should be made to an opt-out arrangement or flex-credit program and draft open-enrollment materials and employee attestation forms.
For more information about how these new rules may affect your plan, please contact your Sibson consultant or the Sibson office nearest you.
1 This proposed rule was published in the July 8, 2016 Federal Register. 2 For more information about the employer shared responsibility penalty, see Sibson Consulting’s January 15, 2015 publications, “Identifying Full-Time Employees Under the Affordable Care Act’s Employer Shared Responsibility Penalty,” “Affordable Care Act's Employer Shared Responsibility Penalty Takes Effect in 2015” and “How the Affordable Care Act's Employer Penalty Applies in 2015 to Employers with Non-Calendar-Year Plans.” 3 For more information about these reporting requirements, see Sibson’s October 1, 2015 Update, “The IRS Has Issued Final Instructions on Affordable Care Act Reporting that Clarify Key Issues for Employers.” 4 Employers are allowed to rely on certain safe harbors that compare the employee’s required contribution to measures of income that are known to the employer ( i.e., W-2 wages, the employee’s rate of pay or the FPL for a single individual). 6 The proposed rule generally follows the approach first announced in December 2015 in Treasury/IRS Notice 2015-87. For a summary of Treasury/IRS Notice 2015-87, which first addressed the issue of opt-out payments and affordability, see Sibson’s February 2016 Update, “New Affordable Care Act Rules Affect Flex Credits, Opt-Outs and Health Reimbursement Arrangements.” 10 Minimum essential coverage generally includes most forms of group or individual coverage. However, “excepted” benefits such as limited-scope dental or vision benefits are not minimum essential coverage. 11 See Sibson’s February 9, 2016 Update, “New Affordable Care Act Rules Affect Flex Credits, Opt-Outs and Health Reimbursement Arrangements.” Update is Sibson Consulting’s electronic newsletter summarizing compliance news. Update is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. It is not intended to provide guidance on current laws or pending legislation. On all issues involving the interpretation or application of laws and regulations, plan sponsors should rely on their attorneys for legal advice.
Sibson Consulting is a member of The Segal Group.
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Update and other Sibson publications, join our email list.
Copyright © 2016 by The Segal Group, Inc. All rights reserved. | 7,604 | 2,892 | 2.629322 |
warc | 201704 | It hopes to draft strategies for Silverton and San Juan County to cope with change
Mountain Studies Institute is turning up the heat on its San Juan Climate Initiative, hoping to assess the potential impacts of climate change and address the issue through planning and community action.
A conference on the issue will bring researchers to Silverton Oct. 7-9.
Koren Nydick, outgoing director of MSI, said that despite the skeptics, “for me, the science is unequivocal. We are already seeing some effects.”
She pointed to a “pronounced warming trend” in the San Juan Mountains since the 1970s, and said that it appears to be linked to the steep rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
The question is how will the changing climate affect the San Juans.
“We don’t have a lot of information yet on impacts,” Nydick said. “One of MSI’s goals is to try to remedy that.”
But data show temperatures on rising and snowfall decreasing.
“Snow depth and snow fall has more consistently been below average in recent decades,” Nydick said.
She said by the middle of the century, the San Juans could see a reduction of 30 to 60 days a year in its “frozen season.”
“Some species may benefit and some may lose out,” Nydick said.
One study showed marmots emerging from hibernation an average of 38 days earlier than in 1977 and robins arriving here about 14 days earlier.
“Some animals are changing their patterns,” Nydick said.
While researchers can develop scenarios on what the San Juans might face in the future, Nydick said there are still many variables.
Those include how fast carbon dioxide emissions will continue to rise, how climate systems respond and how the physical and biological environments react.
“Uncertainties are not going away any time soon,” Nydick said. “But we need to make decisions even under conditions of uncertainty. And this is where MSI is finding its niche.”
Nydick said MSI intends to try to provide data that will help guide various policy makers in trying to cope with the changes to come.
Marcy Demmy Bidwell, who is now the interim executive director at MSI, pointed to other communities that have begun to implement plans to cope with a changing world, including Kimberley, British Columbia, and Bonner County, Idaho.
She said La Plata County is also working on such a plan, with a draft expected next month.
And now MSI is trying to gauge interest in San Juan County for also taking steps to prepare. | 2,558 | 1,294 | 1.976816 |
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1.The repurchase of outstanding shares(repurchase) by a company in order to reducethe number of shares on the market.Companies will buy back shares either toincrease the value of shares still available(reducing supply), or to eliminate any threatsby shareholders who may be looking for acontrolling stake.
2.Sources of Buyback , Section 77A (1)Buyback can be done either out of :i . Its free reservesii. Security premium accountiii. Proceeds of any shares or other specifiedsecuritiesNote: Buyback of shares of any kind is notallowedout of fresh issue of shares of the same kind .
3.company is allowed to purchase its own shares or otherspecified securities unlessa) The buyback is authorized by its articlesb) A special resolution has been passed in generalmeeting of the company authorizing the buybackc) The buyback is less than twenty-five per cent of thetotal paid capital and free reserves of the companyd) The ratio of the debt owed by the company is notmore than twice the capital and its free reserves aftersuch buybacke) All the shares or other specified securities for buybackarefully paid upf) The buyback is in accordance with the regulationsmade by the SEBI in this behalf
4.Buyback within 1 year U/S 77A (4) Every Buyback shall be completed within 12months from the date of passing the special regulation.Methods of Buyback U/S 77A (5)The Buyback may be made :a) From the existing share holders on aproportionate basisb) From the open marketc) From odd lotsd) By purchasing the securities issued to theemployees of the company under ESOS
5.Company is required to make Public announcement in One NATIONAL English Daily One Hindi National Daily One Regional Language DailyPublic announcement should specify Specified Date i.e. the date of dispatch of the offer letter notlater than 30 days but not later than 42 days Company should inform SEBI within 7 days, Offer shall remainopen at least for 15 days Company shall complete verification with in 15 days from thedate of closure Buyback is permitted through six routes, namely the tenderroute, open offer route, reverse book building, odd-lot sharepurchase, reverse rights and purchase of employee stock option
6.Objectives of Buy Back: Shares may be bought back bythe company on account of one or more of thefollowing reasonsi. To increase promoters holdingii. Increase earning per shareiii. Rationalise the capital structure by writing offcapital not represented by available assets.iv. Support share valuev. To pay surplus cash not required by businessIn fact the best strategy to maintain the share price ina bear run is to buy back the shares from the openmarket at a premium over the prevailing marketprice.
7.Helps company in reducing its share capitalResults in lower capital baseCompany has advantage of servicing reduced capitalbase with higher dividend yieldIt is a good check on companies having poorliquidity positionProvides capital appreciation to investorsGives signal to market that shares are undervaluedHelps promoters to formulate an effective defencestrategy against hostile takeover bids
8.Buyback implies under valuation ofcompanies stockThere exists less or no scope for furtherexpansionClever way for managers to invest cheaply ina companyIt does not make difference to shareholders,whether the company returns cash in theform of increased dividend or by way ofrepurchase
9.EXAMPLE: Shares of Zee Entertainment rose over2% in early trade on Monday after the companysaid it may buy-back equity shares of thecompany up to a value not exceeding 10 per centof the paid up capital and free reserves. In afiling to the BSE, ZEEL said a meeting of its boardof directors will be held on April 4 to considerthe proposal. Earlier this month, ZEEL hadannounced closure of a buy-back programmethat commenced on July 27, 2011. At 11:10 a.m.,shares of the company were trading 2.5% higherat Rs 129.70. The stock has hit a high of Rs135.50 and a low of Rs 128.10.
10.An increase in the number of outstanding shares ofa company's stock, such that proportionate equity ofeach shareholder remains the same. This requires approvalfrom the board of directors and shareholders.A corporation whose stock is performing well may chooseto split its shares, distributing additional shares toexisting shareholders. The most common stock split istwo-for-one, in which each share becomes two shares.The price per share immediately adjusts to reflect thestock split, since buyers and sellers of the stock all knowabout the stock split (in this example, the shareprice would be cut in half).Some companies decide to split their stock if the price ofthe stock rises significantly and is perceived to betoo expensive for small investors to afford. also calledsplit.
11.Stock Dividends (expressed as percentage)• Payment of additional shares to common stockholders. A10% stock dividend means that shareholders get 1additional share for every 10 they own.Stock Splits (expressed as ratio)• A proportionate increase in the number of commonshares.A 2:1 stock split means that stockholders will receive oneadditional share for every one they own.• In both cases, share value is diluted but total equityremainsthe same
12.The total number of shares outstandingincreases.• In a 3-for-2 stock split, 3 new shares are issuedforevery 2 pre-split shares outstanding.• Thus, there is a 50% increase in the number ofshares outstanding.• A stock split alters the par value of the sharesBut there is no transfer of balances between theequity accounts(no transfer from reserves toshare capital)
13.Some believe that there is an advantage for aninvestor when a company decides to split itsstock. This action be a leading indicator that thecompany is doing well and expects revenue toincrease in the near future. Although somedisagree with this theory, there are not manycompanies who would split their stock if theywere losing money.
14.The main advantage of a stock split for acompany is that when a stock is split, it maylead to a buying frenzy. Many perceive thestock split as an indication that the companyis doing well, but that is not always the case.If there is a buying frenzy, the stock willnaturally begin to rise in price.
15.Although many see a reverse stock split as asign that a company is in some trouble, areverse stock split can also provide anadvantage. When a stock price becomes toolow, companies will sometimes do a reversesplit, which will allow the company to remainlisted in their particular exchange when theywould otherwise be delisted.
16.On the downside, stock splits may cause investorsto expect more about how the companyperforms. If these expectations are not metinvestor confidence may be shaken and the resultcould be a drop in share prices.The bottom line is a stock split does nothing toaffect the worth or performance of a company. Itmay be nice to own more shares, but in the endyour 2 five-dollar bills are still worth the same asyour ten-dollar bill.
17.Apple split its shares on Feb. 28, 2005, bytwo-for-one, and also on June 21, 2000, bytwo-for-one. Apple's stock was trading forabout $90 a share on an unadjusted basiswhen it split in 2005 and $100 a share whenit split in 2000.
18.After a stock dividend,• the per-share cash dividend is usuallyunchanged.• After a stock split, the cash dividend is eitherunchanged or reduced less thanproportionately.• In both cases, the cash dividend per originalshare increases.
19.Assume the share price is $45 before the stockdistribution. After a 3-for-2 stock split, the share pricewill be ___________ | 8,078 | 3,503 | 2.306023 |
warc | 201704 | Home > Business > Article
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And the spending proposals do not include the costs of a possible war, which US officials estimated on Friday at $US60 billion to $US100 billion or more.
Analysts say defence stocks may be sliding now because they were pushed too high by Wall Street anticipation of higher security spending than materialised following the 2001 terrorist attacks. Investors also may be betting on a short war in Iraq or questioning whether there will be a war at all.
"Defence stocks were materially overvalued to begin with, based on the industry's long-term earnings growth and profitability prospects," said Robert Friedman, senior aerospace and defence analyst for Standard & Poor's. "Stock prices are just now re-entering the atmosphere again."
The Defence Sector index gained more than 40 per cent in the months after September 11, 2001, although it has lost that and more since then.
In recent weeks the index has slid even as the US deployed more than 200,000 troops in the Persian Gulf.
US officials are lobbying for the necessary votes for a new UN Security Council resolution authorising force against Iraq despite resistance from nations such as Russia and France.
"With war and uncertainty being bad for business, defence companies are no exception," said Nicolas Owens, defence and aerospace analyst for Morningstar Inc. "People are saying, depending on how this conflict goes, it might change defence priorities and spending."
Mr Owens argued that expectations of war may have been priced into the stocks long ago.
"Defence companies make most of their money from long-term development projects and are not really tied to military conflicts," he said.
"They're in the business of readiness. I would believe the Pentagon already has a healthy inventory given the build-up that we have seen."
In addition, while defence spending saw double digit growth in 2003, some analysts are expecting increases in coming years of a modest 4 per cent or so.
Doug Sandler, chief equity strategist at Wachovia Securities, said prospects might be better for the larger contractors that focus solely on defence because companies that have both commercial and defence businesses are vulnerable to such things as the downturn in the airline industry.
"The reality is that we are going to continue spending on defence equipment and products for a long time," he said.
Other analysts suggested stock winners could be smaller companies that gain government contracts in the event of a war with Iraq, such as those specialising in surveillance equipment.
But Mr Friedman advised investors to keep a longer-term focus. "One shouldn't buy stocks based on what short-term market psychology is.
"You should invest based on a company's own earnings growth and profitability prospects ... Everything else is pure speculation."
For the week, the three main gauges snapped a two-week winning streak. The Dow had a weekly loss of 127.03, or 1.6 per cent and closed at 7891.08. The Nasdaq was down 11.50, or 0.9 per cent, for the week to end at 1337.52. The S&P 500 index fell 7.02, 0.8 per cent, to finish at 841.15.
Associated Press
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warc | 201704 | Malcolm Maiden: Even with sky-high shares, Commonwealth Bank is still a refuge for yield-seekers CBA records $4.62 profit - but sends a warning
Australia's biggest company – the Commonwealth Bank reported its interim results this morning – with another strong result.
Here are 11 revealing charts about future bank profits, the housing market and the fate of the Australian economy.
Dividend delight
This is why the punters love the banks – consistent dividend growth – but the banks have been forced to pay out a greater portion of their profits in the form of dividends to keep yield hungry investors happy.
High yield
Australia's banks aren't the most profitable in the world – but they have among the highest dividend yields. Some fund managers think the banks are overvalued compared to global peers because they aren't more profitable they simply pay higher dividends.
Property boom
House price rises are good news for the banks but they're rising faster than incomes which means household indebtedness is rising.
First home buyers
First home buyers aren't on strike. They just can't afford to live in their first homes. So they're buying investment properties renting them out and taking advantage of negative gearing.
Margin fall
The bank's net interest margins have benefited from improved funding costs but competition for business in a low growth environment has meant they've passed this on to customers – reducing their margins.
Funding costs
The CBA has an advantage over its peers in that most of its deposits are sourced from households rather than companies– which tend to be cheaper and get better treatment from regulators. Wholesale funding costs have hardly improved over the year so any reduction in funding costs are more likely to come from deposit rate reductions.
The home loans battle
The CBA expanded its home loan book modestly over six months – it had to write $40 billion of business just to keep pace with customer repayments as borrowers use low rates to pay down their home loans. The CBA is also trying to show investors that it hasn't been sucked into chasing share of the investment property loan market – which regulators are now concerned about.
'Low hanging fruit'
This could be a tailwind for future profits. The 'low hanging fruit' of funding cost improvements has occurred over the last two years and looks like its stabilised. This means that if competition stays strong, the banks will have to pay for market share without being able to recoup costs through lower funding costs.
Safety first
Australians are still a cautious bunch. They're still scared about losing their jobs, don't expect wages to rise, and would rather save money and cut debts than gear up.
Infrastructure
Businesses aren't borrowing to invest so its up to governments to invest in infrastructure to help boost economic activity.
The young and unprofitable
CBA historically has been great at attracting young (and unprofitable) customers (remember the 'dollar-mite accounts and money boxes'!) This chart shows they're more determined not to lose their young customers as they go to uni, get a job and get a home loan. | 3,204 | 1,542 | 2.077821 |
warc | 201704 | If you are looking for an Alcohol Treatment Program you might want to know more about the St. Jude Program. We offer the only effective Alternative to Conventional Alcohol Treatment Program in the nation.
The initial theory of co-dependency was created to explain a non-problem: the often volatile relationships between substance users and non-users. The co-dependency theory makes two false assumptions. The first false assumption is that substance users are sick (diseased) people, which they are not. And, the second false assumption is that if an individual stays in any type of relationship with a substance user, the non-user is just as sick as the substance user. Both assumptions involve "illnesses" that take the place of individual responsibility for thoughts, behaviors and actions. In reality, both the substance user and the non-user are making their own choices based on their own desires and needs at any given moment; they are certainly not suffering from an illness.
To mislabel a person's voluntary relationship motives and behaviors is to cause non-users to look for solutions in modern co-dependency therapy and "family days" at drug and alcohol treatment programs. Being that the premise of "sickness" is patently false; the therapy to address the "co-dependency sickness" is also false. It is a mythical problem in search of a nonexistent solution. For substance users, this search can last too long and some die before finding the truth. For the non-user in the relationship (spouse, sibling, friend, co-worker, etc.,) they are taught that they are also at least partially at fault for the substance user's erratic choices and behavior. They spend their days with guilt and confusion as to where they went wrong.
Those in alcohol treatment programs trying to help families with alcohol or drug users must understand that people do things that they believe will satisfy them or make them happy. For the active substance user, that activity involves getting high or drunk. For non-users, a part of their happiness may be staying involved with the substance user regardless of the substance user's chaotic and sometimes abusive behavior. Because these relationships often cause both participants pain and unhappiness they are classified, by the drug and alcohol treatment industry, as "sick" relationships. Unhappiness, however, is a normal consequence of certain choices. It is not a sickness.
There are relationships in which the participants truly love each other, unconditionally. These people usually do not look for outside help because they do not feel they need it. However, most relationships that include a substance user are not so accepting. It is in these relationships that the term co-dependent would seem to apply. This is especially true when the non-user complains bitterly about the drug or alcohol use. The non-user is deeply hurt over and over again, sometimes for years or even decades. Yet, the user and non-user remain steadfast in their relationship. These people do not remain in these relationships because of a sickness. Rather, they stay for two dominant reasons: the hope of love (no matter how little) and an internal desire to "fix" the other person. Sometimes this drive to fix the other person is based on their perception that by making their loved one better they will in turn experience greater self-esteem and happiness. This desire to "fix" their spouse is not a sickness; it is an intense drive to make the other person happy so they, too, can then be happy.
The underlying driving force in these relationships is the pursuit of happiness, much as it is with all areas of life. Sometimes this is very hard to recognize because these relationships can be incredibly painful. But, much like the substance user's nearly futile search for happiness through drugs and alcohol, the comfort found in these types of relationships is usually sporadic, fleeting and just barely satisfying enough to keep these people together. And yet, it does.
In those cases in which the relationship's balance of love and pain are teetering on total collapse but remain in this volatile state for years, the participants are unwilling to find other options for love and comfort in their lives. This situation is defined by the participants having found a state of being together that does little to demand personal change, regardless of the consequences. In short, these limited relationships may be the only love option they see at the time, and the miniscule return of emotional happiness is enough that any major personal changes are not seen as immediately needed. How many marriages, in your opinion should have split long ago, but have remained intact? When asked why they stay together, most often the honest answer is simply, "I love him (her.)" Perhaps this is true, but as an outside observer there seems to be a steep price to pay, with limited benefits, for the non-user. Like the non-user, the substance user's option list does not include breaking apart. The relationship stays together, albeit volatile and emotionally draining. The return each receives is simply enough to avoid what may be a difficult change and a move into an unknown future.
Love can mean different things to different people. In some cases non-users may have a personal perception that love and their self-image is tied up in a learned behavior of trying to "save" the substance user. In those rare instances in which they appear to have saved their spouse from certain destruction, they feel happy. This pattern can happen over and over, and sometimes for an entire lifetime. From the substance abuse treatment industry's subjective, judgmental viewpoint, these relationships are labeled as "sick." This could not be farther from the truth. Behaving in a relationship such as this is not a sickness, but rather a form of acquired happiness that has little return for the emotional investment. But, it is still happiness for the participants.
Non-users stay in the relationships to fix substance users so that non-users can improve or validate their own self-image. In these situations, the non-user usually ends up unhappy and bitter when the substance user does not behave. When the change does not happen quickly, the non-user is let down repeatedly, causing resentment, hurt feelings, and a sense of hopelessness. In some of the more extreme cases, even the hurt feelings and bitterness is a form of relative happiness, as this is a way for that individual to convert the chaos into gaining attention from others and validating their existence as a perpetual victim, feelings they savor and value. Once again, from an outside perspective this situation seems totally counter to happiness and satisfaction, but looking past the chaotic rim of the relationship, you see that people are ultimately driven by the pursuit of personal happiness.
This phenomenon of accepting such little positive return for the massive emotional effort expended is driven by the perceived lack of other options that non-users believe they have at that moment. So, much like those who hurt themselves physically to "feel" again, or gain attention and love, non-users often stay involved to gain a marginal amount of comfort. Many of these perceive that they have little internal worth. This lack of self-worth can be caused by any number of factors, many of which may have nothing to do with the relationship. Regardless of the cause of this lack of self-worth, their value is then placed on the substance user's behavior and response to their ultimatums.
This fixation on being emotionally tied to their object of love can be lessened by creating options that do not include the relationship. For instance, the pain of being emotionally tied to a substance user's lack of attention can be lessened by non-users developing new goals, and moving towards these goals, thus personally fulfilling themselves and lessening their need to look to others for happiness. Creating confidence and independence does not mean that the relationship must end, but rather, that the relationship can be enhanced. There are, of course, many relationships that end once one member decides to grow beyond the confines of the relationship.
Having insecurities, although sometimes destructive, is a natural human condition. However, labeling people, who are already insecure, with self-defeating labels such as "co-dependent" does not help. Understanding yourself, whether you are the substance user, the spouse, or the family member or the friend, is the beginning of finding new options and new ways to happiness. | 8,633 | 3,504 | 2.463756 |
warc | 201704 | For small to mid-size companies looking to improve their overall maintenance, we recommend PMXpert as a feature-rich CMMS solution. PMXpert helps maintenance managers improve the overall process of maintaining buildings and equipment by streamlining overall workflow, while also creating a way for companies to stay proactive in the maintenance process. This allows businesses to prevent potential problems before they crop up, and they can easily spot ways that they may be losing money.
In the software business for nearly 30 years, PMXpert is designed with a highly intuitive platform that allows users to easily navigate between key features using minimal clicks. The scheduling module automatically schedules services as they are due, ensuring that all equipment is serviced in a timely manner. By taking a proactive approach to maintenance, companies limit equipment downtime, saving resources and boosting production.
This system also smartly records every expense, allowing users to pull detailed expense reports and pinpoint where the issues are occurring. This tells companies when to replace equipment and helps them eliminate practices that drain resources, improving their overall bottom line. PMXpert also provides a simple way to manage on-demand work requests, creating a more organized process with minimal disruptions.
PMXpert is customizable to any industry. This system is versatile, and can be used by a wide variety of company types. While they particularly excel at Preventive Maintenance and Work Order Management, the system can also provide Asset Management, Inventory Management, Predictive Maintenance. | 1,635 | 840 | 1.946429 |
warc | 201704 | Question
Consider an asset that provides the same return no matter what economic state occurs. What would be the standard deviation (or risk) of this asset? Explain.
Answer to relevant QuestionsWhy is expected return considered “forward-looking”? What are the challenges for practitioners to utilize expected return? Why do most investment scams conducted over the Internet and e-mail involve penny stocks instead of S&P 500 Index stocks? Compute the expected return and standard deviation given these four economic states, their likelihoods, and the potentialreturns:Paccar’s current stock price is $48.20 and it is likely to pay a $0.80 dividend next year. Since analysts estimate Paccar will have an 8.8 percent growth rate, what is its required return? Suppose your firm wanted to expand into a new line of business quickly, and that management anticipated that the new line of business would constitute over 80 percent of your firm’s operations within three years. If the ...
Post your question | 1,024 | 583 | 1.756432 |
warc | 201704 | By Robb Bailey
Surf wax was designed to make the top surface of surfboards tacky. Although wax is a great way to keep the deck of a surfboard stickified, maintenance is a bit of a task (lazy surfers, right?). Wax requires constant re-application, and after a few sessions in the water it’s usually time to strip the old stuff off and start fresh. A more permanent solution is available with the use of deck grip.
Using deck grip or surf wax on a surfboard are equally effective methods to getting the tacky factor that surfers look for. In fact, most shortboarders use a traction pad for their rear foot and wax for the chest/front foot area, utilizing a combination of both. But there really is no “correct” or “right” way to get your board set up. It’s a personal choice, and every surfer will choose a slightly different setup depending on preference. | 888 | 526 | 1.688213 |
warc | 201704 | An amendment that would have eliminated direct payments and the non-recourse loan and replaced them with an expanded crop insurance program became the first to go down in defeat as the Senate began debating on and voting on changes to the 2007 farm bill.
The Senate refused to agree to the amendment proposed by Sens. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., by a vote of 37-58 Tuesday (Dec. 11). The amendment was the first of 40 — 20 on each side — that could be offered for the 2007 farm bill under an agreement reached by Senate leaders.
Both Lugar and Lautenberg tried to cast the amendment, also known as the Farm Ranch Equity Stewardship and Health (FRESH) Act of 2007, as a reform measure that would save taxpayers roughly $4 billion and enable more beginning farmers to get into the business.
“The farm bill we have before us does not provide meaningful reform,” said Lugar, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee when Freedom to Farm was enacted. “Our current farm policies, sold to the American public as a safety-net, actually hurt the family farmer.”
But Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., the senior Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, said the FRESH amendment would tend to concentrate payments among older farmers to a greater extent than the current law.
Despite media reports claiming a small percentage receive the lion’s share of farm payments, Conrad said the reverse was true — that smaller farmers receive a bigger share of payments than growers who produce most of the country’s food and fibers.
Environmental groups that had thrown their support behind the FRESH amendment expressed disappointment at the vote. Among those were Environmental Defense, which had participated in several media events promoting passage of the legislation.
“We applaud Senators Lugar and Lautenberg for their leadership in highlighting the failures of our current farm policies and proposing a more efficient and effective safety net for producers,” said Sara Hopper, farm bill attorney for Environmental Defense.
“Thirty-seven senators stood up to intense special interest pressure from one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington today in voting for the FRESH amendment. We are pleased with the actions of this bipartisan group of lawmakers, but we are deeply disappointed that more senators did not join them.”
She said senators would have other opportunities to vote for farm policy reforms that increase funding for conservation, nutrition, and other national priorities, and “we hope they’ll do so.”
e-mail: [email protected] | 2,642 | 1,329 | 1.987961 |
warc | 201704 | It was a meal that wasn't so nice, and I inadvertently tipped twice.
That's my Twitter-size take on Fresh American Bistro at the Sole on the Ocean resort in Sunny Isles Beach, which I reviewed this week.
I suppose I can chalk up the uneven food to a bad day for the kitchen. But I have a harder time digesting the unfortunate double-tip episode for our party of four, which left an especially sour taste.
The bottom line: I ended up leaving a $60 tip on top of an automatic 18 percent gratuity ($47.70) that had been built into the check, which was hard to read. And nobody said a word.
"I'm so sorry about that," restaurant manager Zakia Sanchez says in a follow-up phone conversation. "This a resort, and the automatic gratuity is a policy of the resort. It's not the server's policy."
But the restaurant and servers could and should do a better job of alerting diners to the built-in tip, which is imposed on all checks and not just larger parties. The policy isn't spelled out on the menu, nor on the restaurant's website or Facebook page. And when credit-card slips are brought, there's still a line that reads, "tip" with a blank space.
(THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH WAS UPDATED ON AUG. 11 TO REFLECT THE $60 credit-card refund initiated by the restaurant) Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice…well, I’m reluctant to go back but the restaurant did atone by initiating a credit-card refund for the extra $60 and Sanchez also offered me comped cocktails on a future visit.
The issue of whether tipping should be scrapped entirely and replaced with higher wages for restaurant staff and higher prices for diners is a topic for another day. My immediate concern is how restaurants in tourist-heavy South Florida handle gratuity policies.
It can get awfully confusing out there, even for savvy consumers who eat out frequently. Many restaurants automatically add tips for large parties (six or more). But it seems more are adding automatic 18 percent or 20 percent tips to all tabs, especially at hotels and in touristy areas of Miami, Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale. And it's not just formal restaurants doing it, but also places that sell cheaper eats. I understand the rationale: Many foreign tourists aren't accustomed to tipping, because service is included in Europe, Canada and parts of Latin America.
The key to me is disclosure. Restaurants should clearly state tipping policies on menus, checks, credit-card slips and websites. And it wouldn't hurt to have servers mention it when they bring the tab.
That wasn't the case with me at Fresh American Bistro, where it slipped by because of a smudged, faint check that the server explained was due to printer malfunctioion.
He was helpful enough to itemize all the items on my bill in handwritten ink ("APP, ENTREE, SIDE"), but he didn't point out the $47.70 line for gratuity. I didn't catch it until the next day, after I already left the $60 tip on the credit-card slip. That brought his haul to nearly $108 on a base tab of $265, 41 percent.
It was an easy score for him. But in the long run, I think it's a losing game.
Have you had any similar tipping horror stories? Let me know, along with how the restaurant handled it. mmayo@southflorida.com, 954-356-4508. Instagram: @mikemayoeats | 3,281 | 1,734 | 1.892157 |
warc | 201704 | THIS IS THE ARTICLE BY
Prakash Iyer is MD, Kimberly-Clark and Executive Coach. I READ IN THE INTERNET FEW DAYS AGO..I JUST LOVED IT.
Smash the peg. Set yourself free
In life we often play the role of the elephant trainer. Handle your baby elephants with care. Don’t be overly critical. Don’t belittle them. Don’t chain them to a peg!
Do reply me if you like it..
DO you know what they do to keep a circus elephant from running away? They tie a metal chain onto a collar around the mighty elephant’s leg – and tie it to a small wooden peg that’s hammered into the ground. The 10-foot tall, 5,000 kilo hulk could easily snap the chain, uproot the wooden peg, and escape to freedom. But it does not do that. In fact it does not even try. The world’s most powerful animal, which can uproot a tree as easily as you and I can break a toothpick, remains tied down by a small peg and a flimsy chain. How come?
It’s because when the elephant was a baby, its trainers used exactly the same methods. A chain was tied around its leg and the other end of the chain was tied to a metal stake on the ground. The chain and peg were strong enough for the baby elephant.
And now when the big circus elephant is tied by a chain around its leg, it remembers the pain it felt as a baby. And it does not try to break away. So even though it’s just a chain and a little wooden peg, the elephant stands still. It remembers its limitations, and knows that it can only move as much as the chain will allow. It does not matter that the metal stake has been replaced by a wooden peg. It does not matter that the 100 kilo baby is now a 5,000 kilo powerhouse. However, the elephant’s belief prevails.
If you think about it, we are all like the circus elephant. We all have incredible power inside us. We have it in us to take on the world. And of course, we have our own chains and pegs. Our self-limiting beliefs that hold us back. Sometimes it’s a childhood experience or an early failure. Sometimes it’s something we were told when we were younger. That becomes our chain and peg, holding us back from doing what we are capable of, stopping us from achieving what was well within our powers. Time then to ask the question: what’s holding you back? What’s your chain and wooden peg?
When we are young, many of us grow up on a diet of “Don’t do that”, or “You can’t do it!”, or “You are no good!” And we stop ourselves from aiming high. We say “I can’t do it because…” and fill in our favourite excuse. Because I don’t speak English too well. Because I didn’t study in a premier B-school. Because I come from a poor family. Over time, these beliefs about our limitations become stronger and stronger. These self-limiting beliefs become chains that stop us from trying. Circumstances change, metal poles get replaced by wooden pegs – but we don’t recognise that. We stop trying. We give up without even trying.
And in life we often play the role of the elephant trainer, too – as parents, teachers, colleagues or friends. When that happens, remember to handle your baby elephants with care! Don’t be overly critical. Don’t belittle them. Don’t chain them to a peg!
Remember, we all have the strength of an elephant. Don’t let a mere chain-and-peg hold you back. It’s a good idea to recognise what’s holding you back. And break the shackles of your self-limiting beliefs. It’s sad when we allow our achievements in life to be determined not by our strengths and our powers – but by our self-limiting beliefs.
Time then to break free. Snap the chain. Smash the peg. Break your self-limiting belief. Set yourself free. Today!
Unleash the elephant within! | 3,831 | 1,695 | 2.260177 |
warc | 201704 | The Difference Between Superstition and Intuition
Superstition typically has been taught to you and passed down from some outside source. It's stuff like the number 13 is unlucky, or you don't want a black cat to cross your path. Superstition is almost always fear-based. You're afraid that if you do such and such, then something bad will happen to you. Now go throw a bunch of salt over your shoulder and knock on wood.
I know a lot of people are into numerology and stuff like that, but for the purposes of this blog post, let's put that aside. When you have a strong sense of intuition, stepping back into numerology and other predictive practices makes sense. You can clearly see what's true for you. I think this is especially true with astrology. There are some people who are really in tune with astrology; their readings really kick ass. But even when they're really on it, it's still so important to find the truth in the reading for you. Not all parts of a reading or prediction will apply to you, especially for generalized readings for the masses that are on Web sites or in books. If you don't have a strong sense of intuition and knowing, these tools turn into superstition. You may stay at home because you got a bad reading about today and are afraid something uncomfortable will happen to you.
Practicing With Your Intuition
You probably already have practice with your intuition, but you may not have been calling it that. You may have figured out a problem on gut instinct or a hunch; that's intuition. Same thing, but different words. You may have had a feeling that your mother would call today; that's intuition. I use all those terms inter-changedly. I know a lot of people aren't necessarily comfortable with the term intuition. I think it's because it's often married to superstition and because the rational mind's claim to superiority is so pandemic in this culture. Nonetheless, you need to find your comfort zone with intuition. You can practice with it doing virtually anything, such as:
Your phone rings. Don't look at who's calling. See what your feeling is about who it is, then see if you're right. You have two job offerings. See what your feeling is as to which to choose. Take a deck of cards. Try to predict if the next card is black or red. Getting Comfortable with Uncomfortable Intuitions
I wrote a whole blog post about getting comfortable with uncomfortable intuitions, and I encourage you to click the link above. The central point is that some of our intuitions run up against our fears. This can make us feel very afraid or upset about something we know we need to do. Doing your spiritual work on the fear is essential to make it easier to hear your intuition, but sometimes, you simply need to do the difficult thing that is arising despite how scared you are by your intuition. The more you trust the intuition and face the fear, the more your intuitions are likely to come easily. Additionally, life tends to expand more rapidly any time you face fears. That's one of the central themes of the spiritual path.
Don't Think Too Much
Thinking is a very useful tool on the spiritual path, and it's one that I'll talk about in an upcoming blog post. However, thought really gets in the way of intuition. If you start rationalizing, you're not using your intuition. Intuitions come fast. The mind is slower, but it can come and block out the message. The intuition must be trusted, and especially as you build your spiritual foundation, you're going to start getting more and more messages. Practicing with little things helps you be prepared when bigger messages come through that require more action and potentially big life changes.
Intuition Is the Core
At the core of just about everything I write about is your intuition--your inner knowing. Your intuition will help you to find what's true and helpful to you in all my writing. Not everything I write will work for you. I understand this, and I hope you do too. But the mind has a way of picking and choosing things because of convenience, patterning, and fear of change. Your intuition will take you where you need to go and show you what you need to know. Because at the end of the day, the path to spiritual awakening runs straight through the center of you. I am just pointing to that doorway; your intuition will help you turn the knob and walk through.
Next blog: Expanding Your Imagination | 4,411 | 1,964 | 2.245927 |
warc | 201704 | Save $246 with the Economy Price Plan
Energy can represent a significant expense, especially to households on tight budgets. Customers with limited incomes (see chart below) can receive a monthly discount ($20 November - April and $21 May - October) off SRP charges through the Economy Price Plan – that's $246 a year.
Here’s how it works
If you meet the eligibility requirements listed below, call SRP at (602) 236–8888 to qualify and immediately begin receiving the monthly discount on your SRP electric bill. If your SRP charges are less than the monthly discount, the billed amount will be decreased to $0.
If you are an SRP M-Power® customer, the monthly credit will be available on the first of each month and will be applied as a credit to your smart card with a minimum of $1 purchase.
You must reapply annually to continue qualifying for this monthly discount. SRP will notify you when it is time to reapply.
View the plan
For information about the Economy Price Plan, you can view the price plan details.
Eligibility
You may be eligible for this discount if you meet the following conditions:
You are an SRP customer with an account in your name. You live at the address where the discount will be received. This address must be your permanent residence.
Your total monthly household income before taxes and/or deductionsmust be at or below the federal income guidelines below:
Household size Monthly income level Household size Monthly income level 1 person $1,485 6 people $4,073 2 people $2,003 7 people $4,591 3 people $2,520 8 people $5,111 4 people $3,038 9 people $5,631 5 people $3,555 10 people $6,151 For more than 10 people, add $520 per person
Federal income guidelines are subject to change without notice. Current eligibility guidelines define "income" as including, but not limited to, the combined income of all people living in your home including wages or salary, Social Security income, Veteran's benefits, disability, unemployment and retirement benefits, pensions, rental income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), interest and dividends.
How to enroll
Enrollment is easy. Call SRP at (602) 236–8888. Outside Phoenix area call (800) 258–4777. We're here to serve you 24-hours a day, seven days a week. If you qualify, we will enroll you immediately.
Credit counseling
We know that energy can represent a significant expense, especially to households on tight budgets. In many cases, SRP's Customer Resource Counselors can offer referrals for possible assistance.
When appropriate, SRP representatives will refer customers to our counseling team. Counselors then link these customers to resources available in the community, such as energy funds, shelter, food, clothing or medical care.
As part of SRP's efforts to provide value to the communities we serve, our counselors also conduct energy education workshops and participate in various community events, recommending beneficial SRP programs. | 3,028 | 1,489 | 2.03358 |
warc | 201704 | The Mayor said he wanted to build the ambitious total, including 30,000 social housing units, within three years.
The £5 billion scheme will attempt to get middle-income families on the property ladder and ditch previous mayor Ken Livingstone's target that all new schemes are 50 per cent affordable.
Mr Johnson said: "These plans aim to put London on a strong footing for the eventual upturn in the housing market."
The scheme will see:
● Stalled developments receiving public money to go ahead, in return for providing affordable homes.
● Unsold new houses being bought and made affordable.
● More flexible schemes for existing social tenants who aspire to own their own home.
● An increase in the number of family-sized homes available to rent or buy.
● £60 million spent on bringing back long-term empty homes into residential use.
● The number in temporary accommodation halved by 2010 and rough sleeping ended by 2012.
The Mayor wants to give a third more Londoners a foot on the property ladder by raising the income threshold for publicly funded ownership schemes.
Households earning up to £72,000 - or a couple paying the basic rate of income tax - will now be able to access help from which they were previously excluded.
Many middle-income families missed out on the housing boom as they were considered too wealthy for government subsidies, but not rich enough to profit from the market themselves.
Mr Johnson's strategy represents a shift from the previous administration's focus on providing more social rented housing towards the Thatcherite dream of greater home ownership.
Funding will be used to develop subsidised rent and rent-to-buy schemes, which could be sold at a profit or turned into permanent affordable homes when the upturn eventually arrives.
Eligibility for schemes will no longer be based on employment in a bid to support workers from all industries, rather than exclusively key workers such as nurses and teachers.
"The strategy focuses not only on the issues facing the housing market in these difficult times but the historic problems of affordability, homelessness and overcrowding," the Mayor said.
"It is designed to meet the needs of Londoners aspiring to get a foot on the housing ladder. By enabling ordinary Londoners to move from being subsidisers to being investors in new homes, we will provide timely support to a struggling development sector."
The Mayor's director of housing, Richard Blakeway, added: "What Londoners overwhelmingly want is to own their own home and it certainly isn't for us to decide what they should do, it's for us to respond.
"If we become a shareholder, rather than a subsidiser, we're getting money back we can then invest in housing in the future."
However, Mr Johnson's First Steps proposals are certain to raise concerns that financially vulnerable families could be encouraged to invest in the housing market when prices are still plummeting.
The London Assembly's housing committee has called on the Mayor to "shift away" from home ownership and instead focus on boosting the rented sector, at least until confidence returns to the market.
Mr Johnson has scrapped Ken Livingstone's 50 per cent affordable housing target and plans to negotiate with the boroughs to provide 50,000 affordable homes during the next three years, of which 30,000 will be social rented.
But housing experts have warned - and Mr Johnson has already conceded - that his ambitious target will be extremely difficult to deliver in the current economic climate. As a result, he plans to support the struggling construction sector by helping developers financially kick-start stalled developments, buying up unsold market homes for affordable housing and providing public sector land - owned by Transport for London, the London Development Agency and councils - for new housing schemes.
The Mayor's draft housing strategy also includes plans to:
●Ensure higher environmental standards, better accessibility and more beautiful design in new homes.
●Support regeneration schemes to "design out" crime by designing footpaths so they don't provide hiding places for attackers, adequate street lighting and clearly defined public and private spaces.Reuse content | 4,302 | 2,010 | 2.140299 |
warc | 201704 | Despite statistics showing a soaring number of prenups, Wayne and Coleen didn’t sign one when they married last month. Here, divorce and matrimonial lawyer Vanessa Lloyd Platt tells us about signing on that dotted line
Newlyweds Wayne and Coleen didn't sign one
High-profile divorces, such as McCartney-Mills, have meant that some men are panicking at the thought of a settlement. Hence the rise in popularity of prenups – we’ve seen a 15 per cent increase in our firm in the past year. They’re most popular with celebs, wealthy businessmen and women, lawyers, accountants, bankers and brokers. Agreements are especially common in second marriages where adult children suggest a prenup to protect their inheritance from their new step-parent.
Despite popular thinking, they can be legally binding
If both parties have had legal advice, the agreement has been signed at least a month before the wedding, the finances have been disclosed and the contract is deemed fair by the judge, the prenup is likely to be seen as legally binding. In America and most of Europe, prenups are legally binding; we’re years behind because English courts think they should be the arbiters of what’s fair.
…but sometimes, it can be too late
Raising the issue of a prenuptial agreement can be tricky and some men are stupid enough to contact us a week before the wedding – when it’s too late. Ex-Baywatch star David Hasselhoff got his wife to sign a prenup 30 minutes before their marriage. When they divorced, the agreement did not stand up in court and according to reports the assets were split 50/50.
Signing can be stressful
We often have ‘nearlyweds’ in our offices in floods of tears saying, ‘Look what he wants me to sign!’ I even know of couples who have split up before making it to the church because they can’t agree on the prenup.
No cheating and no weight gain can be written into a prenup
In the US, unlike Britain, you can have virtually anything written into a prenup. For example, Catherine Zeta-Jones had a no-cheating clause for Michael Douglas – he’d have to pay a penalty if he transgressed. People have even stated that if their partner goes over a certain weight they’ll get nothing.
Bridesmaids are getting signed up too
Some brides ask bridesmaids to sign a contract before their wedding. It can have clauses about not gaining weight, falling pregnant or changing their hair.
The largest celebrity prenup known is the alleged £22 million between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
If they divorce, it’s thought that Tom will give this sum to Katie. Many prenups work on a sliding scale. For example, for each year of marriage the partner gets say £1 million, and then after five years this may go up to £5 million a year. Properties, yachts, shares and jewellery are often included. Children are not.
Vanessa Lloyd Platt is the proprietor of Lloyd Platt & Co,
More about: Cheating (sexual Relationship) David Hasselhoff Divorce And Separation Marriage Michael Douglas Wedding | 3,096 | 1,553 | 1.993561 |
warc | 201704 | Unite published a dossier drawn from annual reports between 2003 and 2007, showing that the basic pay and cash bonuses, excluding share-based payments, of just five chief executives at HBOS, Lloyds TSB, RBS, Barclays and HSBC totalled more than £52 million.
A few executive directors of RBS, Lloyds TSB and HBOS - three banks which the Government will take a £37 billion stake in - have earned a combined £122 million in pay and bonuses including more than £64 million in cash bonuses alone, said the union.
The total remuneration, excluding share-based payments, for a handful of executives included in the annual reports of major British finance companies and the majority of UK subsidiaries of overseas finance firms totals an "astonishing" £729.3 million.
Unite called on the Government to appoint a representative to the boards of the bailed-out banks who has the power to oversee and ensure a "fair and transparent" pay policy.
"Many of the short-term, high-risk decisions made by executive directors, which were richly rewarded, have proven to be disastrous for the economy. The pay of the senior executives pales in comparison to the stake the taxpayers have taken in the banks. But these huge rewards were directly responsible for the risky strategies senior executives advanced," said the report.
Derek Simpson, joint leader of Unite, said: "Directors will be forgoing their cash bonuses this Christmas but, thanks to them, millions face uncertainty in the new year. We need action in the long term to end the current rot across Britain's boardrooms.
"Boardroom pay practices are not only unjust - they have contributed to the worst financial crisis in decades. As taxpayers, we now have a significant stake in the country's banking system. We are urging the Government to set an example and take an active, interventionist approach to ensure fairness in the boardroom and an end to rewards for failure.
"The reality for ordinary bank workers is insecurity, unpaid overtime, inferior pension schemes, onerous performance targets and below-inflation pay increases. For the culprits of the credit crunch it was gold-plated pensions, golden handshakes and huge rewards for failure. Anyone who thinks that the free market is the way to organise the economy must still think the Titanic is seaworthy."
The report, based on a study by the Labour Research Department, was issued ahead of a Treasury Select Committee hearing on pay in the banking sector. Employees of Lloyds TSB and HBOS are to hold a demonstration outside the LTSB extraordinary general meeting in Glasgow, calling on shareholders to help protect jobs.Reuse content | 2,680 | 1,369 | 1.957633 |
warc | 201704 | Food Wine For Better Cooking
by Michael Selvon
. If you are one of the thousands of people who don't know a lot about wine, then this article is for you. Here, you will learn a little something about food wine and what wines should be pared with what foods. It is impossible to learn everything at...Similar Editorial : Learning The Art of French Cooking
| Tags : Cooking With Red Wine
Food And Drink Recipes For The Family Cookbook
by Jim Brown
. One of the greatest gifts that children can give their Mother is their own recipes for the family cookbook. Mothers spend a considerable amount of time teaching their daughter's to cook and when they grow up, the Mother is always curious about how...Similar Editorial : Two Great Family Favorite Chocolate Recipes
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Factor In Home-Cooked Food In Your Diet Plan
by Alberto Martinez Miller
. The importance of home-cooked food, whether or not you are on a diet or a weight loss program, can never be overemphasized.For one, home-cooked food is definitely more nutritious and healthy than outside food as it is not produced on a mass scale,...Similar Editorial : How to Get Home
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Quick And Easy Health Food Selections Make Cooking Fun
by James Brown
. Homemakers put great confidence in the items that they keep on hand to prepare family meals. If they purchased those items from a health food market then they know that they are definitely healthy because all of them are organically grown. There are...Similar Editorial : Quick Easy Dinner Recipes
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Cook Amazing Food With Microwaves
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. It is a brad new heating technique. This heating excitation is very regular which results in thorough cooking of the food item. It is a very safe, efficient and quick method of cooking the food. However these electrical devices do not bake or brown...Similar Editorial : Champagne
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Low Carb Cooking versus Low Fat Cooking
by Mike Singh
. If you want to get in shape, exercise is a great way, perhaps the best to start. However, if you really want to improve your body, then losing fat will often be an integral part of your plans. While there are literally hundreds of diets and eating...Similar Editorial : Cooking Quick Low Carb Lunches
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Mouth-Watering Tips for Cooking
by Khieng (ken) Chho
. Cooking is passion...Is this exclusive for people who are fond of eating? Of course not, because it does not follow that when you love to eat you also know how to cook. In fact, whether you accept it or not, this is the reverse of reality. Majority...Similar Editorial : Mouth Watering Free Bread Machine Recipes
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Tips to Cooking Healthy Meals
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. Cooking a good nutritious meal does not have to result in torture for your taste buds. In fact, aside from it being pretty easy to prepare, adhering to experts' cooking tips and tricks can turn you into cook extraordinaire. All you have to do is know...Similar Editorial : Cooking Tips for Healthy Food
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Making Cooking An Enjoyable Experience
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. The art of cooking is a joy for many people, while some seem to dread it like the plague! Many factors contribute to this love or hate relationship that so many have with cooking; personality traits, prior cooking experiences, knowledge passed down...Similar Editorial : The Coffee Experience
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Cooking -Time Is Up!
by Jim Brown
. Many times an occasion will occur when you need to time your cooking. There is no reason to burn that cake again. Don' let time slip up on you when cooking. It is very easy to find a cooking timer.Nearly all appliances such as microwaves and stoves...Similar Editorial : Cooking With Chocolate
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Cooking- Cooking With Kids
by Kelvin Ho
. Kids love to be creative. Cooking is a great outlet for kids to express their creativity. It can also help provide a wonderful way to build and develop self-esteem. One-on-one TimeWith our lives so busy, cooking provides a wonderful way to spend...Similar Editorial : Christmas Cooking Fun With Kids
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Fat Free Cooking Utensils: Make Tasty, Healthy Dishes
by Robin Holland-smith
. Our lives have become much more complicated. As a result, more people are trying alternative cooking methods. It is not easy to cook if you don't have enough time. Even boiling milk can be difficult if you don't have the time. It goes without saying...Similar Editorial : Must
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Simple Methods For Cooking Eggs
by Rwakefield
. Eggs are one of the most versatile cooking ingredients. They cross all national boundaries and are a key ingredient in most national cuisines. Even the worst cook can learn to prepare eggs using some uncomplicated methods. Possessing the elemtary...Similar Editorial : Popular Cooking Methods for Fish
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Use These Superfoods In Your Cooking
by Rwakefield
. Athough many people think of the term 'superfood' as a modern phenomena, records show that the term has been in use since at least 1945, and possibly early if we allow the hyphenated version, 'super-food'.So what are they, and are they really all...Similar Editorial : Cooking Fun Teaches Life Lessons
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The Basics Of Pressure Cooking Dishes!
by Jaipreet Singh
. You must be familiar, by now, that there are a wide variety of cooking alternatives, which exist today. You can put together French dishes, Korean, Italian, and a multitude of other delectable cuisines. Besides, you can prepare food using an oven,...Similar Editorial : French Cooking Dishes
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Cooking Party Invitations
by Simon Ford
. Cooking party invitations for all the chefs in your life. Sounds fun and yummy. We’ve got what you need for your invitations and we’ve also got some great tips for you to make your cooking party go smoothly and be a success. * If you are doing...Similar Editorial : Hosting a Coffee Party
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Cooking With Oil - Easy Or Difficult
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Positive Techniques For The Kitchen -cooking Tips
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Save Water And Energy With Waterless Cooking
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How To Make A Cornish Pasty cooking
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If You Want To Be A Great Cook
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Cooking: Get the Kids Involved For Quality Time
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Cooking For Diabetics
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warc | 201704 | It’s sadly ironic that a disorder affecting 1 in 110 children (by current estimates) can leave you feeling so alone. How can a world of almost 7 billion people have around 63,000,000 Autistic people in it and still leave us feeling like we have no one to talk to and no one who will understand what we’re going through? Mathematically, it seems ridiculous.
But the truth of the matter is that we do feel alone, we do feel isolated and we do feel like no matter how hard we try, we just can’t get people to understand what it’s like. More so than that, we feel lost as there are far too few programs, organizations and professionals for us to talk to.
Luckily, for many of us, we have already had a fair amount of experience with the internet and have grown accustomed to seeking out information for ourselves, some are even adept at researching for more information, or keeping themselves up to date on current trends. But it’s only been in the last 3 or 4 years really that our greatest tool has been brought to us, social websites!
Now, more than ever, we can connect and share stories and information with each other one on one or in groups. Facebook and Twitter are my personal favorites and I have received an overwhelming amount of support from the wonderful people I’ve found there.
I highly recommend using these and many other social sites as tools in your quest to add more information to your arsenal, and even to help gain that extra support, motivation and inspiration you may need to get you through some of the tougher days.
I do have a couple words of warning however, from my own personal experiences.
Beware the temptation to win the popular race. This is especially tempting on Twitter where you see that # next to your Followers indicator and you just want it to go up and up and up. The truth is, you’re seeking knowledge and information that is extremely important to you. What you need is a community of followers and those you follow that will give and take from you the strength and information that will keep you all going. It’s not a popularity contest, as many on these sites will have you believe. Don’t let anyone “TELL” you what to think. It’s very easy to see a Facebook fanpage with hundreds of thousands of fans, or a Twitter account with hundreds of thousands of followers and think that they must know what they’re talking about, so what they say is obviously right. I think, in most cases, they would never do that and would only do their best to advise or share information and let you make your own decisions. But there are some out there who try to make up your mind for you, and try to ‘convince’ you to think the things they think. Remember, no matter the ‘popularity’, these are just real people out there like you and I, and they have no right to tell us what to think.
Don’t tell yourself you’re a nobody and shouldn’t contribute, because all of the people in the community are created equal. Perhaps they have done more research than you have, perhaps not… but they’re real people. And as a community, I’ve never once felt like I wasn’t appreciated for giving my two cents. It’s been a truly remarkable experience actually, intimidating at first but as I started to receive welcomes, feedback, support… I found that these places aren’t so bad.
I always pictured them as prank places for kids, you know… where teenagers go and talk about the latest pop stars and share dumb jokes but in all reality, there are some very very intelligent people, extremely supportive people and an absolutely amazing community that you can be a part of.
I really do hope you take the plunge, it’s so worth it.. and when you do, visit my fan page: http://www.facebook.com/autismfather
Be sure to scroll down on the left hand side and view the “Favourite Pages” section to find some truly wonderful fan pages full of information, people and stories.
Also, visit my twitter lists as they are filled with people just like you who would love to hear about your experiences, and may have advice or may even learn some things from your story themselves:
http://twitter.com/autismfather/autism-parents – A list of people who have at least one Autistic child. These people know and understand what you are going through. http://twitter.com/autismfather/autism-resources – A list of resources where you can get the latest news, research, events, charities and more stories. http://twitter.com/autismfather/amazing – This list is called ‘amazing’ because that’s the only way to describe the people on it… they have Autism, and they share their experiences on Twitter.
1 in 110 is staggering… you are most certainly not alone, not any more. Join us and become an active part of the community. Every person that does makes it stronger. | 4,959 | 2,258 | 2.196191 |
warc | 201704 | the country, however it wasn't the murder itself that shocked people. According to
Gansberg's essay "37 Who Saw Murder Didn't Call the Police" the shock was that
thirty seven people witnessed the murder but no one called the police. Since then this
case has been used as an example of human fear in criminal and psychology classes.
However there have been more accounts which tell a different story of the incident.De
May's essay says although thirty seven people heard something they didn't know what
was actually going on which is why nobody called the police.
"37 Who Saw Murder Didn't Call the Police" is the story of the brutal killing of
Catherine Genovese ,a young women living alone in the quiet upper middle class
neighborhood of Kew Gardens, in Queens, New York.What we learn from the story is
that her cries for help in the middle of the night led thirty seven people to watch her being
fatally stabbed and the reaction of them was to treat her ongoing murder as a bad
television show that could safely be turned off.The crime was doubly terrifying because
witnesses to the crime might very well have saved her life if only they had the courage
and the compassion to get involved.Assistant Chief Inspector Frederick M.Lussen,from
the story, said"As we have reconstructed the crime the assailant had three chances to kill
this woman during a 35-minute period.He returned twice to complete the job.If we had
been called after the first attacked,the woman might not be dead now".The witness who
called police,explained that he had called the police after much deliberation,he called first
friend for advice and then went to the apartment of the elderly woman to get her to make
the call."I didn't want to get involved"was his exuse.Another witness said"There is no
legal responsibility for any citizen to report a crime".One couple explained that they saw
everything very well but asked why they hadn't called the police they replied"We don't
know".And one witness said"I was tired, I went back to bed".This is why Gansberg's
essay became a national news story of human fear.
On the contrary De May's essay is telling us that Gansberg's story is mostly wrong.
According to De May's story not all of 37 witnesses were eye witnesses. He explains
that whatever the precise number, merely being "witnesses" does not necessarily mean
that the 37 saw, heard or understood what was happening. For example, if a man were
only half awakened by Kitty's screams and then immediately drifted back off to sleep not
to remember that fact until the next morning, he would still be a "witness" although he
heard little and saw or understood nothing. So the real questions are, what did the 37
witnesses see or hear that night, and what did they think it meant?
Also there is no suggestion that they saw knife, blood or any act of violence.One lady
said" It looked like she was reaching for her purse. She bent down and picked
somethingup. I don't know what it was".De May's story says that only two eye witnesses
are known that had the closest view of all and they said" "The way she walked made us
think she was either drunk, or had been beaten up. She walked slowly, holding on to the
building wall for support as she did". Misunderstanding could have come form a fact that
the first attack occurred only a few feet from a bar called Old Bailey. Loud early
morning behavior outside of any bar is not unusual, and Old Bailey was no exception - a
fact that residents had previously complained about. Not having seen the first stabbing,
many witnesses probably dismissed the commotion as alcohol related. So, the fact that
Kitty got up and walked away at all - whether staggering or dreamlike - must have been
falsely... | 3,780 | 1,858 | 2.034446 |
warc | 201704 | XYZ & Associates is a small to mid-sized CPA firm in Independence, Ohio. I am currently employed at the C-Corp as a staff accountant and client service manager. XYZ & Associates is a service based firm that provides services such as financial planning, tax planning & preparation, auditing and payroll services, as well as business valuation services. As of right now, the company is currently staffed with eleven employees. Of the eleven employees, only three are below the age of thirty. Two of the eleven employees are in their thirties, while all remaining employees are above the age of fifty. The employees age fifty and above are often referred to as “Baby Boomers,’ while the employees thirty and above belong to “Generation X,” and the final three employee’s aged in their twenties are called “Generation Y.” The CPA firm only staffs five licensed Certified Public Accountants. One of the “Generation Y” employees recently received his CPA, while all other practicing CPAs are ages thirty-one and above. Due to the smaller size of the firm, each employee focuses and practices all different aspects of services the firm provides, regardless of whether or not they are licensed CPAs. Clients are almost always satisfied with the work of the company; however, the employees do not always feel comparable in emotions. Employees often seem to clash in working styles, consequently causing adhesion in the office. Because the firm was formed in 1991, certain traditional values have been adopted into the company’s culture. While these values are embraced by the baby boomers in the company, the Generation Y does not seem to always understand these values. The dissimilarity between the generational gaps in the workplace often causes a negative tension in XYZ & Associates. Whether the issues relate to attire, technology, or opinions on promotions, the variance in beliefs between the generations exists. Not only does the variance exist, but it is also the cause to many issues in companies today.
Problem Statement
For decades, the workplace has been staffed by different generations; however, the generational diversity amongst the workplace has recently increased at XYZ & Associates. There are increasing amounts of varying generations employed not only at XYZ & Associates, but in companies everywhere. There are more different generations employed and working together today than ever before. It is questionable, however, whether or not the generational gap is beneficial to a company. We know the different attitudes, values, expectations, and behaviors between the generations have the ability to create adhesiveness in the workplace, but is there a way to reconcile these differences? Must the Generation Y, or Millennials, and the Baby Boomers come together and find a way to coexist? The Generation Y values a different working style than the generation Baby Boomers. Some believe this is in connection to the past experiences and the history they are familiar with. At XYZ & Associates, the generational differences and values are apparent, but it is difficult to say why they exist and what exactly these differences are. It has been said that the variances in the Generation Y and Baby Boomer may be a direct effect from their upbringing. The different generations grew up knowing dissimilar lives, which in turn has provided each generation with their own values and behaviors. These dissimilarities are both complex and simple, but exist and cause complications nevertheless. How do managers and employees the same, settle these differences and learn to appreciate one another? Literature Review
Many scholarly resources have implicated the generational gaps in the workplace and have found interesting results and theories on how they affect the working environment. For example, in “A Second Look at Generational Differences in the Workforce:... | 3,931 | 1,713 | 2.294804 |
warc | 201704 | Even if you travel to the ends of the Earth to reach the perfect bug out location, or you think you have everything accounted for in a bug in scenario, your survival may depend on the contents and security of a single room.
Some people feel panic rooms are useless, or that escaping is always a better option, but a panic room is really useful until immediate dangers pass.
When used with awareness of the pitfalls of panic rooms and within the context of a comprehensive survival plan, panic rooms can save your life. Here are the right answers that will help you turn your panic room into the safest location on earth.
You Need Safe Entrances and Exits
Some preppers disregard the usefulness of panic rooms because once you go into the room, there is usually no other exit. If someone that intends to cause you harm finds the entrance or manages to break in through some other part of the room, you will have no way to escape.
Is there any way to solve this issue? I think there are some ways you can try to mitigate this problem and still have a panic room located close enough to where you live. Here’s what to do:
Have at least two entrances or exits to the panic room. One should be well hidden in a wall or some other area where it will not be easily found. The other entrance should lead underground or through some other route that would not be easy to follow. Both entrances should be booby trapped so that they are destroyed once you pass through them (use the traps only if you want to prevent others from reaching you.) For example, if you have an entrance behind a closet in your home, set traps so that the building or parts of it near the entrance collapse. Even if someone enters the home looking for you, it may take a few hours, or even a few days before they are able to find the doorway or the panic room. If you must exit the panic room by the second doorway, make sure that no one can follow you by setting the entire room to collapse. If you are escaping through an underground tunnel, or moving from tunnels, through crawlspaces, or other unusual routes, do not forget to booby trap them as well. Remember, you won’t be trying to go back along the way you came, but you may need to slow attackers down as they pursue you. City dwellers and others that rely on building shafts or underground tunnels should travel through these areas at least 3 – 4 times a year. Make as many diverse routes and maps as possible, plus be aware of all risks associated with being or surfacing in certain areas. Get Electronic and Manual Surveillance
If you are going to box yourself and your loved ones into a room, you still need to know what is going on in the world around you. Cameras and surveillance equipment may seem important, however, they can fail at the wrong moment, be tapped into by adversaries, or even alert others to the fact you may be hiding somewhere nearby.
That’why, before purchasing and setting up these devices, always make sure that you know what their vulnerabilities are, and whether or not you can get around them.
Rather than rely solely on electronic surveillance equipment, consider some manual methods that can be used regardless of the situation. When building your panic room, look into different natural acoustic systems that will enable you to pick up different sounds around you without revealing your presence.
Use these listening posts in combination with dogs, insects, or other animals that will either make noise, or stop making noise when someone else is around. You can also use mirrors set at different angles to see further into nearby rooms that are located near the entrance of your panic room.
Don’t Forget About Secure Communications
Great care must be taken when choosing communications equipment for the panic room. Not every situation will be one in which you don’t want others to find you.
For example, if there is a tornado or other natural disaster, you’ll need to be able to call out to rescue teams or anyone else that can get to you, so keep a cell phone with you, and also a ham radio.
When setting up the panic room, make sure that you can get a signal out so that you can call for help. Or you can install phone lines and other communication lines in such a way that they won’t be destroyed in a disaster scenario.
Considering the way the world is going these days, there may be times when you need to reach out to other survivors without drawing attention from rioters or others that might harm you.
In these cases, cell phone, radio, and most other signals can lead attackers right to you, so you could try using trained carrier pigeons or other animals that can be relied on to deliver messages. It will take more time than you like, but it may be better than doing nothing at all.
Depending on the distances involved, spark gap generators combined with unique codes similar to Morse Code may be of use. If there are other survivors that may take to panic rooms in your local area, you can set up acoustic pathways between buildings or along underground paths that can be used to transmit tapping or banging sounds.
Trained animals may pick up these sounds at greater distances and be used to draw other survivors to a place where they can better hear the signals being sent. Just remember that prospective attackers may also have trained animals available to pick up sounds. This is why working out a unique code that is only known to those you trust is very important.
Basic Daily Living Need Supplies to Store
Food, water, hygiene products, medications, first aid kits, clothing, and other basic items are important to be stored in your panic room. Since you may be staying in for days, weeks, or even months, there are some other things that could help you survive:
Blankets and other equipment that you can use to keep warm or cool off Weapons for your defense Verified safe mushroom starter kits for mushrooms that will mature in just a few days or weeks, and seeds for sprout gardens Insect farms and necessary eggs for growing and maintaining successful colonies Lighting and soil sufficient for growing key herbs that can be used to manage medical and first aid needs. Zeer pots and ice/salt chests that can be used for refrigeration. You might be preparing most of your foods from fresh sources, and you’ll need at least some refrigeration onhand. Printed reference or “how to” materials that can be used to help you manage different needs while in the panic room. Since modern computers and cell phones all contain tracking chips, keep them off and with the power source (including backup batteries) disconnected to protect your location. Rely on printed materials as opposed to looking them up on an electronic device. Fire starting and other basic emergency gear that you can take with you if you have to leave the panic room. Try to fit everything into a single “bug in” bag so that you can live mainly from that bag and travel at a moment’s notice. Simple hand tools such as screw drivers, hammers, nails, wrenches, measuring tapes, sewing kits, wrenches, crowbar, ax, and saws, and maybe goggles, ear plugs, and dust masks. You probably won’t be doing much with these tools while you are in the panic room, but they might become useful if you have to plan your way out. Is It Secure From Information Gathering Methods?
One of the most important things about a panic room is that it must be difficult, if not impossible to detect. Unfortunately, most people stop at sound proofing and do not consider other technologies that can be used to find panic rooms above and below ground. Since this technology is always changing, do you research to figure out how to best secure the room.
For example, not so long ago, an underground bunker or panic room was considered best because few things could detect the outline of the room or what was inside. Today, ground penetrating radars can easily reveal the location of a panic room and also the exact location of the exits.
If you decide to have the panic room above ground, be aware that there are now systems that can “see” inside houses and reveal the presence of guns, people, and anything else of interest. Make sure that the room will not reveal itself on thermal imaging sweeps as well as ones designed to pick up different kinds of objects within a location.
In just about every case, the way things are distributed through the room will be a key factor. For example, if you have water stored in the panic room, break up the locations so that the box-like shape of the cases doesn’t register. Always try to make everything either look like a natural formation (for the setting in question) or so small that a single item would be mistaken for some kind of debris or simply seem to belong there.
Make the size and shape of the room as irregular as possible. For underground panic rooms, study how underground caves and caverns look. Think about how entrances, exits, and tunnels can be disguised so that even if they are detected with various kinds of equipment, they will be overlooked.
If the panic room is located in a wall or some other part of a building, make it look like a space that no person would be living or hiding in. If necessary, store your caches of equipment in different areas that you can get to easily enough. Make sure that all paths between caches are also protected from different kinds of surveillance equipment.
Choose Walls, Floors, Ceilings, and Doors that Cannot Be Breached
Do you fear the panic room won’t resist? Here are just a few things that the walls of a panic room must be able to withstand:
Bullets, grenades, or any other propelled munition – sand bags, earth, and thick layers of cement may be your cheapest and best options. Nuclear radiation – earth and water will be your two cheapest options. While lead can also stop nuclear radiation, it takes very thick walls to be useful. Electrical discharges or EMP waves – surround the room with a Faraday cage. Contrary to popular belief, underground rooms can also be susceptible to electricity. When hunting for earthworms, all you have to do is stick electrodes in moist ground, and the electricity will cause them to surface. If someone is determined to harm you or drive you from the panic room, consider that they may decide to use high voltage. Flooding – in a natural disaster or some other situation, flooding may be the biggest threat to your safety. Make sure the room is waterproof and can also withstand large amounts of water flowing around it. Mechanical force – no matter whether your panic room is in a building or underground, earthquakes, bombs, or other powerful mechanical forces can easily cause everything around you to crumble. The panic room needs to be well fortified so that the walls, ceiling, and floors do not give way. If at all possible, try to make the outer area of the room somewhat egg shaped and not tethered to anything around it. At the very least, if something comes crashing down or around the panic room, it may be pushed out of the way instead of absorbing the entire crash. You can also use extended walls as energy absorbers much like the way crumple zones are used to absorb the force of a crash in modern cars. Temperature fluctuations – when you are stuck in a room with no place to go, it may be harder than expected to control the temperature. Choose materials that insulate well so that you need as little fuel as possible to change the temperature. Together with that, at least the inner layers of the panic room walls, ceiling, and floors should be able to disperse humidity that gathers up in the room. You may want to keep the humidity in the room and condense it to form water, or let it escape through an intermediary layer in the wall system. Aside from being very uncomfortable, excess humidity can also lead to the buildup of mold, mildew, and algae. Making sure the walls can vent properly is very important if you wish to stay healthy while in the panic room. Capacity to Renew and Recycle
One of the most important, but overlooked part of panic rooms is the capacity to renew and recycle everything that is used or produced in the room. Water, food, and medicine usually run out sooner than later.
You must be able to grow your own foods, produce herbal medicines, and produce water. As icky as it may sound, that means you will need to be able to recycle urine and feces as opposed to simply looking for ways to dispose of it.
Learn about different composting systems and also water purification methods, which includes making sure that you know how to eliminate pathogens, and also work safely with waste materials. If at all possible, put an annex onto the panic room where you can take care of these matters. Some other things you should be able to do in the panic room include:
create compost from cooking waste and scraps make paper from scraps and bits use tin cans, plastic bottles, or anything else found in the room to your advantage. Power and Lighting
If you build your panic room to be as secure as possible, chances are there won’t be any windows, so you will need a secure and renewable source of lighting that does not include making fires. Here are some things you can try:
Generate electricity using exercise equipment, body motion gear, and gravity fans. Know how to use tin foil and other reflectors to concentrate light so that you can grow a larger range of plants. Keep LED bulbs on hand and make sure that you have the proper sockets and power supply boards for them. Make sure that everything in the room can run on 9 volts or less. You should also know how to make earth batteries and other low-tech batteries
If you can make light and mirror tunnels, maybe you can get light from the outside into the panic room. Remember that even one small mirror or what looks like an air or access shaft can give away your presence or allow toxic fumes, pathogens, or other dangerous materials into the panic room.
No matter how secure you feel about your store of flashlights and batteries, make sure that you can improvise every single part of a lighting system from within the panic room. Light is absolutely essential for plant growth, and also for carrying out many daily activities.
Along with electricity, you may need some other fuels for cooking and keeping the room at a comfortable temperature.
You Need Air Purification
No matter how large or small the room is, you must be able to renew oxygen levels in the room, otherwise you will suffocate. Use multiple methods so that if one fails, you have another means to achieve this goal:
Choose plants that absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen regardless of whether it is day or night. Use a combination of ventilation shafts and filters so that you can remove contaminants from air that will be released into the room. You can study the filters used in biohazard, nuclear, chemical hazard, and dust respirators to see which materials to use in the air purification system. Since many of these materials need to be replaced on a routine basis, you should either know how to recharge the materials or make replacements from scratch Keep chemicals on hand that will release oxygen when mixed. This would be an emergency system that may give you a few extra hours while you repair other systems or prepare to exit the room.
Remember that oxygen concentrators do not produce oxygen. Rather, they take oxygen from the air and deliver it through narrow tubes so that more reaches the person in need of extra oxygen. In an airtight panic room, an oxygen concentrator will not be of use unless it can actually produce more oxygen, and then release it into the room.
It Has to Be Defendable
The basic idea of a panic room is that you will be safe from anyone that might try to harm you. On the other side of the equation, thousands of people that have hidden out in panic rooms have been captured or died because the location of the room was discovered.
As a last ditch resort, you should have some kind of weapons on hand so that you can stave off attackers long enough to escape, or take out as many as possible before they capture or kill you. You will also need weapons that can be used once you leave the panic room. Here are some things that may be of use:
Since the panic room is going to be fairly tight and cramped, you will need to lead intruders to kill zones where you either have traps set up, or where you can attack with ease.
A low caliber handgun may be more useful than a rifle or other gun with more stopping power. Remember that if the walls, doors, ceiling, and roof are well fortified, bullets are also likely to ricochet off them. You can try building in a bullet absorbing layer, however lower caliber rounds may still be your best option.
Have bullet proof helmets, vests, and other gear for you and everyone else in the room. If you do have to shoot, or you wind up being shot at, this gear may keep you from getting killed. If you are hit while wearing bullet proof gear, you can expect bruises, broken bones, and other injuries.
Swords, knives, spears, bow and arrow, slingshots, monkey fists, axes, poison darts and other hand combat weapons may be of use. Be sure to carefully study different kinds of bullet proof and weapon proofing gear so that you can get through any kind of armor with your weapons.
Depending on your outlook, you may also want to rig the panic room up so that it will blow up and take everyone with it. As a last resort, if you cannot escape, and do not want to be captured, this may be your last and final option.
A number of things must be carefully considered when building a panic room, where you can recover, regroup, and gather strength after a major disaster. A panic room can also be a serious liability if you do not prepare for all the problems that can occur. From mold build up on the walls to cell phone signals revealing your location, even the most minute details can spell disaster.
If you do decide to build a panic room, try living in it for hours, days, weeks, and months. Once you know that you can live in the room for extended periods of time, and escape if needed, the room will truly be a key survival asset instead of just providing a false sense of security.
This article has been written by Carmela Tyrell for Survivopedia.
7,040 total views, 7 views today
Nuclear Survival: Bugging Out Safely After An Atomic Blast - January 15, 2017 Vehicle Prepping: Replacing The Control Module Of Your Car - January 12, 2017 6 Basics To Follow When Building Your Weapons - January 9, 2017 How To Prepare Your Tractor For An EMP - January 6, 2017 17 Ways A Prepper Can Reuse Motor Oil - January 2, 2017 10 Problems That Kill Your Rural Survival - November 11, 2016 Surviving Off-grid: 5 Ways to Manage Chimney Creosote - November 6, 2016 How To Choose The Best Batteries For Prepper Solar Systems - November 3, 2016 Moving Your Computer Off Grid - November 1, 2016 10 Ways To Harness Wind Power - October 12, 2016 | 19,121 | 8,033 | 2.380306 |
warc | 201704 | CASE STUDIES | Reports
Carbon Calculating
Carbon CalculatingCarbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gases that which traps solar heat and warms the earth’s climate. Every time we burn these fuels we produce more waste carbon dioxide – 8 billion tons a year in fact. Within 50 years we will have twice as much Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere as we had before industrialisation. By 2050 climate change will have directly led to the extinction of 30% of species, the death of 90% of coral reefs and the loss of half the Amazon rainforest.
Flying is the most carbon intensive way to travel. ‘Aviation at present accounts for 3% of greenhouse gases and generates nearly as much carbon dioxide in one year as the total population of Africa.’ There is a lot of debate about helping reduce carbon emissions (or carbon offsetting) and there are a few organizations around the world that help you contribute by planting trees.
Some organizations to consider are:
Friends of Conservation Carbon Calculator Choose Climate Climate Care Future Forests Woodland Trust Trees for Life
* Be warned that some organizations are more press relations that actually reducing carbons. Also there are arguments that it is better to preserve a bog than plant a tree-be conscious!
Sources for stats: www.risingtide.org.uk, www.friendsofconservation.org | 1,346 | 742 | 1.814016 |
warc | 201704 | Helical Strakes with your Chimney?
Helical strakes are often used on chimneys to reduce vortex induced vibration (VIV). However, these strakes also have a significant drawback - they induce massive increases in drag and side forces that have significant structural implications for the chimney. Read on for a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study that compares a smooth cylindrical chimney to the same chimney with helical strakes.
Velocity magnitude contours
Velocity magnitude contours
Side Force
The side force (perpendicular to the flow direction and parallel to the ground) time history shows that the helical strakes chimney has a lower frequency of VIV than the smooth chimney. However, the average side-force magnitude for the helical strakes chimney is many times (~300%) higher than that of the smooth chimney.
Drag Force
The drag force time history shows a massive increase in drag (~200%) for the helical strakes chimney compared to the smooth chimney.
Compares a helical strakes chimney to a smooth chimney
Conclusion
This set of CFD simulations does not account for fluid-structure interaction, so if the frequency of the VIV is similar to the natural frequency of the structure then you are likely to see larger amplitude side-force oscillations.
The average side forces are only ~1% of the drag forces for each chimney.
The chimney designer has to weigh carefully the need to reduce VIV with helical strakes over the associated large increases in drag.
Notes Chimney: diameter (D) = 2 m, height = 20 m Helical strakes: pitch = 10 m (5D), strake width = 0.2 m (0.1D) Wind speed = 22 m/s (50 mph) Simulations created and performed in Caedium Professional using the incompressible, transient RANS solver, and the k-omega SST turbulence model Select Language Recent blog posts Fluid Dynamics in 2016 Lessons in CFD from 2016 CFD Simulations of 2016 Perfect Gifts for CFDers Intuition and Fluid Dynamics Turbulence Model Selection Double Diffusers and F-Ducts Explained Fluid Dynamics News: Hydraulic Capsule Pipelines and Fish Farming Sea Cages Symmetry for CFD to the Rescue Amazing 3D Maze Solved by CFD | 2,135 | 1,034 | 2.064797 |
warc | 201704 | A well-executed video strategy can deliver higher levels of customer service, increase your customers’ confidence in their purchase decisions, decrease product returns and give customers a more favorable opinion of your brand.
To achieve this level of success with video marketing, it’s critical to pay close attention to consumer sentiment and use that feedback to improve video planning and implementation.
One way to do this is to enable consumer ratings and comments in your video player. By listening to these, you may uncover qualitative data—positive, negative or neutral—that can validate your video marketing approach is right, or tell you to change course.
We conducted a sentiment analysis of 2,500 individual comments from videos on the Invodo video platform. These were a mix of videos produced by Invodo and third parties. Four key recommendations to improve video marketing content emerged from that analysis:
Show the Product: Your video should give consumers a better understanding of how your product works and its key features than what they could learn from text or still images. In fact, 55 percent of the comments we analyzed that were either negative or neutral in tone were what we call “Requests for Information.” The consumer, after watching a video, wanted to know more—such as how a product looks from the inside, or what sound it makes, or what materials it’s made of. When you’re deciding what content to include in a product video, don’t assume anything is obvious. Make the Video Realistic: Give the consumer a frame of reference when you’re featuring a product in a video. This includes giving the product scale, measurement and sizing information, and to show the product in a context that it’s supposed to be used. For example, show your sweater exhibited by a model, or show how your tablet can be held in one hand. Of the negative or neutral comments we analyzed, 21 percent were a “Request for Context.” This is where video shows its real value in comparison to other marketing assets. Put Videos in the Right Place: Imagine trying to watch a video about a specific tablet, only to be shown a video that introduces you to tablets in general, without specifics about the one you’re thinking about buying. Among category videos, 10 percent of the complaints we analyzed were about the video not being specific enough. Successful video marketing uses category videos for consumers higher up in the purchase funnel who are considering whether or not to buy a certain product (such as tablets or paper shredders). Product videos tell consumers about a specific product. Make sure you merchandise your videos on the right pages. Pay Close Attention to All Comments: Even a small number of comments about a product can give you actionable insights. For example, 6 percent of the negative or neutral comments analyzed were critical of the product itself. In other words, after watching a video, that consumer wanted the product to be different. You can take these comments to help make your product better and show consumers you’re listening to their feedback. Another 1 percent of the comments we looked at said they felt the videos were overly salesy or made claims about the product that may be difficult to back up. This feedback can help you optimize your videos to be more educational, meeting the consumer’s expectation, and less of a sales pitch.
Consumers are not only coming to expect video as part of the online shopping process, but are relying on it more as part of a satisfying experience. The key to success in e-commerce is listening to, and understanding, your target consumers as intimately as possible. | 3,743 | 1,696 | 2.206958 |
warc | 201704 | Current Biology, resolve “Darwin’s dilemma”: the sudden appearance of a plethora of modern animal groups in the fossil record during the early Cambrian period.
“The abrupt appearance of dozens of animal groups during this time is arguably the most important evolutionary event after the origin of life,” says lead author Associate Professor Michael Lee of the University of Adelaide’s School of Earth and Environmental Sciences and the South Australian Museum.
“These seemingly impossibly fast rates of evolution implied by this Cambrian explosion have long been exploited by opponents of evolution. Darwin himself famously considered that this was at odds with the normal evolutionary processes.
“However, because of the notorious imperfection of the ancient fossil record, no-one has been able to accurately measure rates of evolution during this critical interval, often called evolution’s Big Bang.
Read more at: Phys.org | 976 | 550 | 1.774545 |
warc | 201704 | "Making predictions is very difficult," the Danish physicist Niels Bohr was fond of saying, "especially about the future." Such difficulty doesn't stop assorted experts from lining up at this time of year to make bold statements about what the next 12 months will hold.
Some are unlikely - I think we've all given up expecting flying cars any time soon, for example - while others, such as the rumoured Apple-made television set, seem to return every year without fail.
There are some things we know are coming next year. The rollout of 4G mobile broadband will expand beyond the EE network in the middle of 2013, for example. Other events are unconfirmed but likely. There will be a new iPhone and at least one new iPad next year, though Apple's release schedule has changed in 2012, making more precise predictions tricky.
Though 4G will be more widespread by the middle of next year, there will be plenty who will believe the prices are too high or who will find themselves outside the coverage area. With some parts of Britain still struggling to get a good 3G signal, the country is unlikely to be enjoying home broadband speeds on the move by the end of the year.
Elsewhere, BlackBerry-maker RIM will probably continue to struggle but may survive 2013 without either going out of business or being bought. Mobile rival Nokia will likely end the next year in much the same position. The growth of Google's Android operating system will continue and the quality of the devices on which it runs will grow ever better but the search giant is likely to see increased competition from Amazon. The online retailer's Kindle range is affordable, easy to use and threatens to lock-in low-end customers just as Apple has done at the higher end of the market.
The growth of mobile gaming will continue to challenge dedicated gaming devices such as the Sony Vita and Nintendo 3DS, while the increase in tablet computers will pull more living room gamers away from their consoles. Even the PC games market could be at risk, if Steam does indeed produce its own Linux-powered games console.
Tablets were reportedly selling at a rate of one per second in the run-up to Christmas and it will be interesting to see what effect that has on ereader sales in 2013. The growth of tablets, particularly cheaper models such as Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire, means that many will be happy to read ebooks on those instead of on a dedicated device. While some will prefer the advantages of the ereader - no backlit screen and longer battery life - for example, those gadgets could still end the year as a niche device.
Whatever happens, the technology world in 2013 is bound to be eventful and the odd surprise or two is guaranteed. Just don't hold your breath for that Apple television set. | 2,795 | 1,453 | 1.923606 |
warc | 201704 | When working with a large Australian company recently, I asked a group of 30 team leaders what they would do if they overheard an employee telling a racist joke. Their response, almost in unison, was surprising: “We’d laugh.”
Jokes in their organisation – even those of a racist nature – are seen as a way for people to connect and bond despite the potential consequences for offence and litigation. They were convinced that if they were ever to do what’s right, which is to publicly condemn the racist joke, they’d damage morale within the team and turn a positive experience into a negative one.
Such moral dilemmas are arising frequently in workplaces. Even in cases where what’s right and wrong are clearly stipulated in policy manuals and codes of ethics, much is still left open to interpretation and subjectivity.
I once worked for a call centre in which the leaders had to listen to employees’ calls remotely for quality coaching purposes. What many employees didn’t realise was that it was common for even their personal calls to be monitored, with the leaders secretly giggling afterwards as they shared what they’d heard.
In that case, the leaders weren’t breaking any rules. It was legitimate for them to wait for a personal call to finish so they could hear the beginning of the next one. But their reaction to what they heard exposed their real intention.
One final example. A colleague of mine ran a staff satisfaction survey a few months ago. It was branded an anonymous way for employees to voice their opinion. Supposedly anonymous, anyway. The thing about some internal surveys is that you can easily track down the respondents and what they said.
And that’s precisely what happened when one of those respondents made a nasty and unfair comment about his manager. The comment was the type that would most probably result in the termination of his employment had it been said aloud and in person.
But it wasn’t, and so in the absence of sacking him, his career within that organisation is now unlikely to progress. He’ll be left wondering why he’s not being promoted without realising the political ramifications of his brutal words, words that weren’t supposed to betray his identity.
In each of those examples, the morality of the leaders has been called into question. Your perception of their immorality will differ based upon your worldview and upbringing. So which of the three do you think are morally right and which are morally wrong?
The challenge with morality is that it requires confidence and bravery. In an insightful analysis published in the
Business Ethics journal, the researchers concluded that moral courage is essential in every business. They refer to it as “habits of the heart”, defining a morally courageous person as someone who makes decisions based on what’s good for others, despite any personal risk.
In the book
Moral Courage, Dr Rushworth Kidder (the founder of the Institute for Global Ethics) lists five characteristics that morally courageous leaders have in common. Flipped in reverse, these attributes also illustrate what tempts them to behave immorally in the first place. Immoral leaders: Are influenced more by personalities than by principles. Are intolerant of ambiguity and personal loss. Seek immediate gratification and simple rewards. Do not think independently. Lack persistence and determination.
Anyone anywhere is capable of abandoning the famous golden rule: “Do unto others…
When one or more of those underlying factors is present, leaders are more inclined to do whatever it takes in the pursuit of a short-term goal – even if that means sacrificing their ethics and personal values.
Of course, it’s not just leaders. Anyone anywhere is capable of abandoning the famous golden rule: “Do unto others…”
What examples of immoral behaviour have you witnessed in your workplace? Follow James Adonis on Twitter @jamesadonis | 4,043 | 1,951 | 2.072271 |
warc | 201704 | The story of Noah’s ark and its associated flood continues to be retold to children and studied by theologians, alike. While some dismiss it as a mere fable, others believe wholeheartedly that the event literally unfolded, with a massive down-pouring of water ravaging the earth at God’s command. Among those who believe that Noah’s flood was a very real historical occurrence is Robert Ballard, one of the world’s most famed archaeologists.
Ballard, known for finding the Titanic, is now searching for evidence of one of history’s most talked-about events. Unlike other investigators who have their minds set on finding the actual ship, Ballard and his team have gone to Turkey to search for clues and evidence that corroborates the notion that a flood wiped away civilization thousands of years ago.
The investigation is taking place in the Black Sea off of the coast of Turkey, as Ballard is searching for the ancient civilization that was permanently covered by water, ABC News reports.
“We went in there to look for the flood,” Ballard explained in an interview with ABC’s Christiane Amanpour. “Not just a slow moving, advancing rise of sea level, but a really big flood that then stayed… The land that went under stayed under.”
Following theories that a flood did, indeed, occur in the Black Sea region, Ballard became determined to investigate. According to ABC, his team found an ancient shoreline 400 feet below the surface, proving to the archeologist that the massive flood unfolded as documented in the Bible. The research team decided to carbon date the shells that were found on that shoreline, estimating a timeframe during which the event unfolded.
According to Ballard, he believes the flood occurred around 5,000 B.C. — a time at which point some experts believe Noah’s flood may have occurred. The story of the flood has purportedly been passed on from generation to generation, inevitably making its way into the Bible. ABC News explains:
Some of the details of the Noah story seem mythical, so many biblical scholars believe the story of Noah and the Ark was inspired by the legendary flood stories of nearby Mesopotamia, in particular “The Epic of Gilgamesh.” These ancient narratives were already being passed down from one generation to the next, centuries before Noah appeared in the Bible.
“It probably was a bad day. At some magic moment, it broke through and flooded this place violently, and a lot of real estate, 150,000 square kilometers of land, went under,” Ballard explained.
Unlike others who believe that Noah’s actual ark will be found, the archeologist thinks otherwise. Regardless of the fact that he doesn’t expect to find an actual vessel, Ballard believes that his research could lead to discoveries about a people whose land was ravaged 7,000 years ago. Next summer, he will return to Turkey to continue his research (read more about this fascinating story here).
“It’s foolish to think you will ever find a ship,” he said of the ark. “But can you find people who were living? Can you find their villages that are underwater now? And the answer is yes.”
The discussion about the ark’s historical merits comes as Johan Huibers has opened a life-size replica of the vessel for public viewing in the Netherlands. | 3,389 | 1,639 | 2.067724 |
warc | 201704 | HIV/AIDS Stigma
August 2003
We have all seen the pictures on television: Ryan White was thrown out of school, taunted by his neighbors, and ostracized by his community, all because he had AIDS.
People living with HIV/AIDS in the United States have been the targets of stigma since the first cases were diagnosed. Since then, discrimination in the workplace, in social settings, and even in attempts to secure safe housing have created dire circumstances for those living with HIV disease. This is not a problem confined to the United States. Globally, with more than 42 million people living with the virus, the effects of HIV/AIDS stigma exceed what most of us have the capacity to understand.
HIV-related stigma refers to unfavorable attitudes, beliefs, and policies directed toward people perceived to have HIV/AIDS as well as their loved ones, associates, social groups, and communities. The stigma is rooted in prejudices involving gender, sexuality, illness, and race. Organizations serving people living with HIV disease face important questions regarding stigma. How can they provide for patients who live with the very real threat of being ostracized? How can they help individuals cope with stigma? What can they do to help prevent or eliminate HIV-related stigma?
Stigma: What is it?
The well-known social anthropologist Erving Goffman pioneered the study of stigma. Goffman is widely credited with providing the theoretical underpinnings that frame most stigma research. In his landmark book
HIV infection fits this profile. First, people infected with HIV are often blamed for their condition. Second, although HIV is treatable, it is nevertheless an incurable and progressive disease. Third, HIV transmission is not well understood by many in the general population. Finally, although asymptomatic HIV infection can often be concealed, the symptoms of HIV-related illness cannot.
HIV-related stigma manifests itself in a variety of ways, which may be segmented into the following categories:
The devaluation of identity and discrimination associated with HIV-related stigma do not occur naturally. Rather, they are created by individuals and communities who, for the most part, generate the stigma as a response to their own fears. HIV-infected individuals, their loved ones, and even their caregivers are often subjected to rejection by their social circles and communities when they need support the most. They may be forced out of their homes, lose their jobs, or be subjected to violent assault. For those reasons, HIV-related stigma must be recognized and addressed as a life-altering issue.
HIV/AIDS Stigma and the General Population
Gregory M. Herek, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of California at Davis, is an internationally recognized authority on HIV-related stigma, prejudice against lesbians and gay men, hate crimes, and antigay violence. As early as 1990, Herek observed that people diagnosed with HIV are viewed more negatively than people diagnosed with other incurable diseases. He also noted that gay men and injection drug users are disproportionately susceptible to HIV-related stigma and discrimination. Yet, people who acquired HIV through no action of their own are often referred to as "innocent" or "blameless."
A 1991 random-digit-dialing telephone survey conducted by Herek and John Capitanio sought to measure the extent of HIV stigma in the U.S. population. The authors found that 27.1 percent of all participants had a "stigmatizing response" when asked if they felt angry towards people with AIDS. When asked whether people living with AIDS should be separated from the general population, 35.7 percent of the participants gave a stigmatizing response.
Herek and Capitanio conducted a similar follow-up telephone survey in 1992, and a third in 1997. The results suggested increasing levels of stigma and a "hierarchy of blame" regarding HIV/AIDS. They wrote, "In our 1991 survey, for example, 20.5 percent of respondents agreed that 'people with AIDS have gotten what they deserve.' Approximately 6 years later, in the 1997 survey, 28.8 percent agreed with the statement, an increase of roughly 40 percent."
Following a 1999 telephone survey, Herek and colleagues concluded that some expressions of stigma declined during the 1990s.
Stigma and Violence
Disclosure of HIV positivity may provoke violence in intimate relationships.
In another study, Herek and colleagues found greater psychological distress among victims of sexual orientation-based hate crimes than among victims of non-bias-related crimes.
Stigma and the Care System
Research devoted to stigma and access to care falls roughly into three categories:
A number of studies have provided evidence that stigma is associated with delays in HIV testing by people who are at high risk of HIV infection.
Similarly, a 2000 Kaiser Health Poll found that one-third of survey respondents said that if they were tested for HIV, they would be "very" or "somewhat" concerned that people would think less of them if they discovered they had been tested.
Over time, studies have shown a decrease in severe reactions to being notified of positive test results; however, research indicates that notification is still associated with HIV stigma-related distress. After a person tests positive, he or she faces many difficult issues, including whether to disclose HIV seropositivity to partners, friends, family, and health care providers as well as how to enter and adhere to care.
Accessing health care can be a problem for people with HIV/AIDS because the health care system itself can be a source of stigma. Health care professionals, particularly those who infrequently encounter people living with HIV/AIDS, may be insensitive to stigma-related concerns. Moreover, procedures for maintaining patient confidentiality are not always in place and, even where they are, they are not always adhered to.
Research from earlier in the epidemic revealed that health care providers' fear of contagion and death can have negative effects on their attitudes toward and treatment of HIV-positive patients. Health care providers also may fear stigmatization themselves because of their work with HIV-positive patients.
Volunteers as well as nonvolunteers consider HIV/AIDS volunteerism to be more stigmatizing than other forms of volunteerism.
Interventions
HIV-related stigma can negatively affect self-esteem and mental health while increasing the risk of discrimination and violence. These factors can foster a reluctance to seek care. HIV/AIDS-related stigma also fuels new HIV infections because it can deter people from getting tested for the disease, make them less likely to acknowledge their risk of infection, and discourage those who are HIV-positive from discussing their HIV status with their sexual and needle-sharing partners.
Interventions to reduce HIV-related stigma are crucial for improving the care, quality of life, and emotional health of people living with HIV/AIDS. Moreover, reducing stigma may actually help reduce new HIV cases. The importance of HIV-related stigma interventions is highlighted in the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS publication
Most of the literature related to HIV stigma focuses on policy and regulatory concerns. Considerably less attention has been devoted to programmatic interventions, which attempt to change attitudes and behavior. This situation is regrettable because a multifaceted approach that goes beyond legal protections is necessary to change social climates that may legitimize discrimination.
Legal and Policy Interventions
In the early years of the epidemic, a consensus emerged among public health officials that AIDS must be approached differently from other infectious diseases and sexually transmitted infections. Officials wanted to avoid stigma and mistreatment that could "drive the epidemic underground," which would compromise access to care and services, deter or delay HIV testing, and undermine the effectiveness of HIV prevention efforts. Officials promoted noncoercive prevention measures that respected the privacy and social rights of those who were at risk. Because no treatment for HIV/AIDS existed at the time, mass education, voluntary testing, and counseling were the key elements in this public health strategy.
Public health officials' efforts did not prevent HIV/AIDS-related discrimination, however. Despite legal precedents and protective legislation, discrimination against people living with HIV, as well as against those believed to be HIV-positive, has been reported in the areas of employment, health care, insurance, and education. Ironically, some institutional policies and laws designed to protect people with HIV from stigma can help perpetuate it. For example, privacy laws that aim to protect HIV-positive people from stigma by keeping health information confidential may also contribute to the characterization of AIDS as a "dirty little secret."
Still, legal protections are essential components of the societal response to stigma and discrimination.
The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) expanded the reach of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and made discrimination on the basis of disability unlawful. In Bragdon v. Abbot (1998), the first discrimination case involving HIV infection or AIDS to reach the Supreme Court, the Court ruled that Congress intended HIV infection to be included as a disability under the ADA.
Program and Service Interventions
In a review of 21 studies from developed and developing countries, Brown and colleagues analyzed the types of interventions that could help decrease HIV-related stigma.
Information. Information can be delivered by advertisements, brochures, information packs, classes, or lecture presentations. This approach frequently includes a factual description of the disease along with details regarding modes of transmission and methods of risk reduction.
Counseling. Information-based approa-ches are often combined with counseling (e.g., support groups for people living with HIV/AIDS). This strategy provides social reinforcement for positive attitudes, behavior change, and maintenance of safe behaviors. Participants receive personal support for resolving issues with spouses, partners, families, and others in a safe environment.
Coping skills acquisition. Master imagery and group desensitization are two techniques for acquiring coping skills. In master imagery, a person is presented with a hypothetical situation in which he or she has contact with an HIV-positive person and is taught appropriate coping skills for resolving the situation. Group desensitization begins with relaxation training and then progressively exposes the individual or group to a number of situations involving people living with HIV/AIDS. Participants use the newly learned relaxation techniques to minimize tension during the hypothetical situation.
Contact. Contact with HIV-infected or -affected individuals may be used alone or in combination with other strategies. Contact can create an environment in which the general population can interact with the stigmatized group, either directly or vicariously (e.g., through the media). The theory is that increased personal contact with an HIV-positive person will demystify and dispel misinformation, generate empathy and, in turn, reduce stigma and prejudice. Contact can range from a face-to-face conversation to hearing a testimonial from HIV-infected or -affected persons.
The stigma-reduction interventions described above appear to work. However, most of the interventions were tested on a small number of subjects, and few studies looked at whether changes in attitudes and behaviors were sustained over time.
Today, providers struggle to help those in care cope with HIV/AIDS stigma. However, knowing what should be accomplished and knowing how to make it happen are completely different issues. Research on HIV stigma is not comprehensive, but providers may rely on several fundamental principles (see box).
Throughout history, societies have stigmatized groups of all kinds for various reasons, mostly as a result of ignorance, misconceptions, and superstitions. AIDS is a disease -- nothing more. With time and education, AIDS stigma may someday be seen as an artifact of a less enlightened time.
Interventions to prevent HIV-related stigma and discrimination are integral components of the comprehensive approach to HIV/AIDS described by the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. The AIDS Institute provides programs and services in applied settings, including training for clinical and nonclinical providers, consumer education, social marketing approaches for communitywide education and awareness, and support for consumer complaints. For example, the AIDS Institute offers free training and clinical education programs that address prevention of stigma and discrimination. The programs take place at locations throughout the State. Topics include HIV/AIDS confidentiality law, cultural diversity, domestic violence, HIV testing procedures, HIV reporting and partner notification, gender identity and expression in communities of color, and treatment education. The New York State Targeted Provider Education Demonstration Program, funded by HRSA/HAB, builds capacity in minority organizations for education and training of health and human service providers.
In 1997, researchers examined Earvin "Magic" Johnson's announcement that he was HIV positive to measure the effect of his disclosure on HIV-related stigma among the general public. Two-wave, random-digit-dialing national telephone surveys were conducted. Johnson's disclosure took place 3 weeks before Wave II. Results showed that respondents who were highly influenced by Johnson's disclosure became less intent on avoiding people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHs). The study also found that direct contact with PLWHs was associated, though not significantly, with less support for coercive AIDS policies and less blaming and avoiding of PLWHs.
In 1998, researchers surveyed 320 Jamaican youth to improve attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHs) by encouraging acceptance and compassion. Interventions included peer education and workshops, street interviews, conversations with PLWHs, and concerts. The effect of each intervention was measured by the participants' willingness to sit next to, eat with, and visit PLWHs. Analysis occurred through questionnaires, focus groups, and direct observations. Results showed a "significant increase" in positive attitudes toward PLWHs on all measures and a reduction in the number of participants who sought isolation for PLWHs.
In May 2003, the HIV/AIDS Bureau brought together leading experts on HIV/AIDS stigma to identify key issues in addressing stigma through the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act programs.
Together, researchers, program directors, and consumers created a comprehensive picture of how stigma continues to block access to care, negatively affect quality of life, and fuel HIV incidence. Presenters illustrated how some interventions are reducing the effects of stigma in the populations they serve.
The Bureau's consultation is generating important outcomes:
Practical Steps to Prevent HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination: A Checklist for Public Health Practitioners
Statutory/Regulatory Environment
Policy Development
Program and Services
This article was provided by U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.
The content on this page is free of advertiser influence and was produced by our editorial team. See our advertising policy. | 15,726 | 6,515 | 2.413814 |
warc | 201704 | As a college student in the early 1970s, I marveled as the nation's interstate highway system was being completed, less than 20 years after President Eisenhower kicked off the most ambitious highway construction project in history.
In those days, my holiday and summer vacation drives to and from college in Washington, D.C. from my hometown in New Orleans were marked by detours on and off the then-new highways onto older federal highways, as different states were at various stages of completing the national network.
In contrast, I have shared the same concerns about the alarming condition of many of our key highways, bridges, and tunnels, as many Americans have. The current recession, and the resulting Barack Obama stimulus plan, is a welcomed impetus to address a problem that was going from bad to worse.
The new administration sees the same New Deal stimulus opportunity in infrastructure that FDR saw in the 1930s. We will know more details by the time you read this, but at the first of the year, the kick-start to infrastructure spending was the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' (AASHTO) compilation of 5280 “ready-to-go” projects worth an aggregate of $65.91 billion.
A group that represents transit agencies proposed about $32 billion in subway, light rail, and bus projects. The Airports Council International says there are about $1 billion in runway and other airport improvements that are ready to go. The States for Passenger Rail Coalition has a list of $1.4 billion in track upgrades and rail station improvements.
Also in the short term, the National Governors Association (NGA) is simultaneously pushing a wish list of $136 billion in jobs-producing public works projects—mostly road and bridge repairs—that have already won regulatory approval and just need funding.
Billions and trillions
These projects are just part of a total stimulus plan Congress will push through before the end of January. The emerging plan could be valued at $675 billion to $775 billion over two years, although it's been reported that lawmakers' add-ons could raise it to $850 billion. Obama's advisers say an $850 billion plan could generate about 3.2 million jobs by the first quarter of 2011.
But some economists favor an even bigger stimulus of up to $1.3 trillion. Like the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, the plan will likely result in much more by the end of 2009. Many experts believe the total package could easily reach the $1 trillion mark if unemployment keeps climbing in 2009 and pressure mounts on the administration to do more.
Make no mistake about it, beyond the NGA and AASHTO, Congressional leaders have been lobbied hard by the United States Conference of Mayors, National League of Cities, National Association of Counties, Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, National Association of Regional Councils, National Association of Development Organizations, American Planning Association, and the American Public Works Association.
There is no doubt Congress will pass a bill early in the year, marking 2009 as the beginning of our industry's recovery. | 3,160 | 1,608 | 1.965174 |
warc | 201704 | The current Great Recession, as some call it, has destroyed confidence as much as it has jobs and wealth. From our peak, inflation-adjusted GDP has fallen by 3.9%. The mild downturns of 1990-91 and 2001, each just eight months long, brought losses to the real GDP of just 1.4% and 0.3%, respectively.
The recession that sunk its hooks into the U.S. economy in the fourth quarter of 2007 has set records in vital categories such as manufacturing and trade inventories (the steepest decline since 1949), capacity utilization (lowest since at least 1967) and industrial production (sharpest fall since 1946).
History tells us, the deeper the slump, the stronger the recovery. A well-regarded economist recently said that the most important determining factor of the strength of a recovery is the depth of the downturn that preceded it. There are no exceptions to this rule, including the 1929-39 period.
Growth snapped back following the downturns of 1893-94, 1907-08, 1920-21, and 1929-33. At the trough in 1933, the unemployment rate stood at 25%. (If there had been a measure of labor underutilization back then, it likely would have been about 44%, compared to 16.8% today.)
At the same time, the consumption share of GDP was above 80% in 1933, and the household savings rate was negative. Yet, in the four years that followed, the economy expanded at a 9.5% annual average rate, while the unemployment rate dropped 10.6 percentage points.
Our recession does bear comparison with the slump of 1981-82. In the worst quarter of that contraction, (the first quarter of 1982), real GDP shrank at an annual rate of 6.4%, matching the steepest drop of the current recession (the first quarter of 2009). Yet the recovery, starting in the first quarter of 1983, experienced quarterly growth rates (expressed as annual rates of change) over the next six quarters of 5.1%, 9.3%, 8.1%, 8.5%, 8.0%, and 7.1%. Not until the third quarter of 1984 did real quarterly GDP growth drop below 5%.
High unemployment
The 10.2% unemployment rate for October is a grim reminder of how steep the fall has been and it will undoubtedly rise further, even though the economy has returned to positive GDP growth (3.5% in the third quarter). But falling employment always lags a recovery. When the early 1980s recession ended in December 1982, unemployment was at 10.8%; it didn't fall below 6% until September 1987.
Remember, in the Great Depression, falling prices opened wallets. Finding bargains in homes, stocks, and many other goods and services, consumers and investors snapped them up, a truism we are witnessing in the housing market today. The Economic Cycle Research Institute's long-leading index of the U.S. economy, along with supporting sub-indices, are making 26-year highs and point to the strongest bounce-back since 1983.
The last time a recession ravaged the labor market as badly as this one, which was 1957-58, payrolls then climbed by a hefty 4.5% in the first year of an ensuing 24-month expansion. Of course, there is no assurance that growth this time will match that pace, only that growth is likely to surprise us by its strength, not its weakness.
I found a great quote from the English economist Arthur C. Pigou which speaks volumes: “The error of optimism dies in the crisis, but in dying it gives birth to an error of pessimism.” | 3,355 | 1,760 | 1.90625 |
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