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U.S. Consumers Had Short-Term Response to First BSE Announcements
Feature: Food Safety
by Fred Kuchler and Abebayehu Tegene
Food purchase data reveal that the response of U.S. consumers to the 2003 discovery of BSE in two North American cows was limited and dissipated within 2 weeks.
Purchase data are a more reliable source of information on consumers' risk perceptions than consumer surveys.
Future food safety announcements may not have the same effect on consumers' food purchase decisions because consumers' risk perceptions are likely to change.
In May 2003, several U.S. Government agencies announced that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE—also known as mad cow disease) had been found in Alberta, Canada. The following December, agencies reported that a cow in Washington State had BSE. Both of these announcements had the potential to influence consumers' food choices and retail food markets in the United States.
To measure consumer reaction to those announcements, ERS researchers compared household-level retail food purchases of three types of beef products before and after each announcement to see if consumers reduced their purchases of those products, and, if so, for how long.
Evaluating the impacts of BSE announcements is only the first step in being able to forecast the impacts of other BSE or food safety announcements. Consumers' reactions to food safety news will be influenced by how much it changes their risk perceptions. Consumers' beliefs about food safety may change over time, and subsequent announcements could be made under very different conditions.
Beef Purchases Fell Briefly in Some Markets
Many consumer surveys were conducted after the BSE announcements. Each survey asked consumers whether they reduced beef consumption following the announcements. The main drawbacks to such surveys are that consumers' memories of previous food purchases may be error prone and consumers may sometimes feel compelled to answer in the affirmative. Using records of food purchases can be a more reliable means of assessing consumer response.
Food purchases vary throughout the year and evolve over time. Americans habitually consume more of particular foods seasonally and around holidays. Some foods, over time, have fallen out of favor while other foods have taken their places. Change attributed to BSE announcements might be confused with seasonal purchase patterns or longrun trends if underlying patterns created by habit and tradition, as well as evolving preferences, are not taken into account.
ERS researchers used food purchase records to establish a pre-BSE-announcement baseline. Researchers examined three markets—fresh beef, frozen beef, and frankfurters. Frankfurters are more processed than frozen beef (primarily steaks and hamburger patties). More processed food satisfies demands different from those for fresh or frozen beef, so a BSE announcement might have different impacts on consumers' frankfurter purchases than on other meats.
Using purchase records from the Nielsen Homescan panel, researchers estimated total U.S. beef purchases before and after each announcement. Data were available from 1998 through 2004, extending more than 5 years before the first announcement and a year after the second announcement, allowing comparisons of purchases before and after the announcements. (The Nielsen Homescan panel is a nationally representative panel of households that scan their grocery purchases at home, thereby providing detailed information about each food item, including the purchase date, expenditure, quantity, and attributes that finely differentiate food products. Panel size varied from 7,124 households in 1999 to 8,833 households in 2003.)
Weekly purchases of fresh beef products exhibit strong underlying patterns. Fresh beef includes roasts, steaks, veal, hamburger, ribs, and liver purchased from grocery store meat counters. Fresh beef purchases show a 7-year downward trend, at an average rate of 5.2 percent annually.
Fresh beef purchases also display seasonality with predictable peaks and troughs throughout the year. Troughs in beef purchases occur just before Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Deep troughs occur exactly as other meats peak (turkey at Thanksgiving). Peaks in early March and around summertime holidays are typical.
Frozen beef and frankfurters display different longrun trends, but all three types of beef display peaks at summertime holidays and troughs prior to Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The May 20 announcement came just before the Memorial Day peak in purchases and the December 23 announcement came just before the trough at Christmas.
After accounting for trends and seasonality, researchers found that the market for fresh beef provided the strongest case for an impact from the BSE announcements. There is no statistical evidence that the Canadian announcement altered purchase patterns of fresh beef, but purchases during the first 2 weeks after the Washington State announcement were unusually low. Following the announcement, frozen beef purchases fell only for the first week. In contrast, frankfurter purchases dropped in the second week following each announcement, but purchases of no-beef frankfurters also fell, suggesting that unrelated events were more likely responsible for the decline.
Statistical uncertainty precludes a calculation of a reliable estimate of the pounds of fresh beef not purchased because of the BSE announcements. However, the duration of adjustments is clear. There is no evidence of any response beyond 2 weeks after the announcements.
BSE Announcements Did Not Change Consumers' Risk Perceptions
The short duration of the drop in beef purchases suggests that the announcements did not fundamentally change consumers' risk perceptions. Assuming that consumers always make food choices under some set of assumptions about risks, they will adjust food choices only if the news changes their risk perceptions. For the BSE announcements to change consumers' purchase behavior, they would have had either to affect consumers' perceptions of the likelihood of contracting variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)—the human form of BSE, which is strongly linked with exposure to BSE—or to change consumers' perceptions of the severity of the health outcomes.
Survey evidence on consumers' BSE risk perceptions supports the conclusion that the announcements did not change consumers' risk perceptions, although consumers did become more aware of the disease and its human variant. Consumer surveys conducted by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association asked consumers if they had heard about mad cow disease in the last month. Results indicated that awareness of BSE increased after both the Canadian announcement in May 2003 and the Washington State announcement in December 2003. In the latter case, awareness increased from 61 percent during the quarter prior to the announcement to 96 percent in the quarter after. The survey also asked respondents if they were confident U.S. beef is safe from BSE. The quarterly surveys show the share of respondents confident in beef's safety increased even after each 2003 announcement.
In addition, U.S. consumers' knowledge of vCJD seemed to increase after the announcements. For example, Joost M.E. Pennings, Brian Wansink, and Matthew T.G. Meulenberg conducted a survey of consumers in the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands in the last week of January and the first week of February 2001 (before either U.S. BSE announcement but after the first announcement of finding BSE in Germany). The survey characterized U.S. and Dutch consumers as perceiving significantly less risk from beef than German consumers. Survey results also indicated that U.S. consumers were the least informed about vCJD. A survey by researchers at Rutgers University conducted in mid-January 2004 (after both announcements) indicated that, although Americans were still far from fully understanding all the consequences of vCJD, about 75 percent were aware that vCJD could be fatal.
It is surprising that the purported increased awareness of vCJD after the two announcements did not lead to a larger fall in beef purchases. Analysis of the publicity BSE received in Great Britian showed a substantial, but temporary drop in beef demand in the early 1990s. It also revealed a smaller, but persistent reduction in demand. Analysis of the first BSE announcement in Japan showed qualitatively similar results: an immediate drop in beef consumption along with a longer-lived reduction in demand.
The symptoms and outcome of vCJD lead one to speculate that consumers could react negatively to BSE announcements. BSE and vCJD fall into the class of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). All TSE diseases display a prolonged incubation period of months or years and are progressive and debilitating neurological illnesses. There is no treatment for them, and they are always fatal.
If BSE announcements had signaled consumers that beef was unsafe, there were few preventive actions consumers could have taken, other than switching to other meat products. Unlike bacterial contamination, which may be controlled with cooking methods and ordinary hygiene, there are no such safeguards against vCJD. Likewise, bacterial contamination poses a lower risk of illness or death to healthy adults than to those with compromised immune systems, the young, or the elderly. In other countries, vCJD has killed people with no underlying health problems, so being healthy might not offer much defense.
Since the first announcements, additional food safety regulations have created greater protection from BSE exposure even if infected cattle were slaughtered. Safety experts have identified particular tissues in an infected animal's carcass that could be unsafe. As long as those tissues are removed from the food supply at the source, any and all other products derived from the carcass are considered to be safe. But unless consumers are as aware of these safety measures as they are of infected animals, the existence of infected animals could reduce beef consumption.
Government Took Action After BSE Discovery
Given the dreadful nature of vCJD, the limited consumer response suggests that consumers considered additional information in making beef purchase decisions. It appears that as consumers were becoming more aware of BSE and vCJD, they were also getting the message that the risk of exposure or contraction was very low. After the BSE discoveries, several Federal agencies made public statements that the likelihood of exposure to BSE was negligible and that the government was taking steps to reduce the risk even further.
On May 20, 2003, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement saying that the Government of Canada reported that a cow in Alberta had tested positive for BSE. FDA said meat from the infected cow did not enter the food supply and, although there was no evidence of transmission to other animals, the infected cow's herd mates would be destroyed as a precaution. In its statement, FDA stated, "To date, no case of BSE has ever been found in the U.S., despite years of intensive testing for the disease."
FDA described USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service import prohibitions on cattle and beef from countries that were on the list of BSE-restricted countries (which was immediately amended to include Canada). FDA also highlighted its rule prohibiting mammalian protein from being fed to ruminants; that rule was designed to limit the spread of BSE within the United States even if it did cross the border.
In December 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a statement after the Washington State finding. CDC also described some of the USDA programs—the testing that confirmed the BSE finding, the beef recall, and the epidemiologic investigation into the disease source—as well as the apparent species barrier protecting humans from BSE. In its statement, CDC stated, "The risk to human health from BSE in the United States is extremely low."
Following the Washington State finding, the Secretary of Agriculture was interviewed by major media outlets and issued public statements describing new programs that USDA was undertaking. For example, on December 30, 2003, the Secretary announced an expansion of the ongoing surveillance program, new regulations that would reduce consumer exposure to BSE if it were in animals intended to be part of the U.S. food supply, and development of a national animal identification system. New regulations included a ban on the use of downer cattle—those too sick or injured to walk—for food uses; a requirement that slaughter plants remove, segregate, and dispose of tissues most likely to harbor the BSE agent, so they do not enter the human food supply; process-control regulations on advanced meat recovery that would prohibit spinal cord tissue; and a regulation prohibiting the use of air injection to stun cattle. A technical team provided daily public statements for several weeks, reporting progress in the epidemiological investigation and on tracing the infected animal's cohorts. USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service provided updates on the meat recall. And, like the CDC and FDA statements, the Secretary of Agriculture reminded the public that "…our food supply and the public health remain safe."
The limited response to the BSE announcements indicates that consumers did not revise their perceptions of the likelihood of exposure to BSE. They thought the risk was low before and after the announcements. In addition, the negligible likelihood of exposure seemed to have had a larger influence on food choices than increased awareness of BSE and vCJD.
Future Announcements Likely To Generate Different Responses
If consumers always responded the same way to food safety news, one study would provide information allowing analysts to confidently predict consumer responses to other food safety incidents. That is, understanding responses to one BSE announcement would point to responses to another BSE announcement or entirely different food safety issues. Unfortunately, one study is not enough because consumers' risk perceptions are likely to differ among news events.
Measuring the impacts of the 2003 BSE announcements provides some information about consumer behavior, but also reveals the gaps in our knowledge about the baseline factors that guide food choices and the attributes of risks that are most important to consumers. This case reveals that consumers' beliefs about the likelihood of exposure to BSE were the most significant factors affecting the outcome. But it does not say how low the likelihood of exposure has to be before it is the only factor that guides consumers' food choices.
There is no reason for consumers' ideas about the likelihood of exposure to BSE to be rigid. Since 2003, there have been additional BSE announcements in Canada and the U.S. These newer announcements could have already changed consumers' risk perceptions. Any additional BSE announcements could also change risk perceptions. And consumers' response to future food safety news could yield entirely different food choices.
Did BSE Announcements Reduce Beef Purchases? , by Fred Kuchler and Abebayehu Tegene, USDA, Economic Research Service, December 2006
Food Safety , by Sandra Hoffmann and Michael Ollinger, USDA, Economic Research Service, January 2021


That's right. We've loaded up the imaginary internet trucks and relocated the Redskins Blog to the easier-to-remember http://blog.redskins.com, so update your bookmarks accordingly.
When Baugh was with the Redskins, his jersey number was 33 — the same as the total score in last night's game. Not quite the same as all the occurrences of 21 toward the end of last season, but a nice incidental tribute nonetheless.
And now you know the real answer to that question: "When you need to use the awesome power of arithmetic to assign false significance to arbitrary events." Also, "When calculating gratuity on a restaurant bill," but that's less important here.
Ah, I remember the halcyon days of this season, when it seemed like we were posting awards like this every other day. Chris Horton, rookie of the month? Sure! Clinton Portis, FedEx Ground Player of the Week? Let's do it!
It's been a little while between awards, what with the losing skid and the falling-out-of-the-playoff-picture deal, but we're back on the right side of things this week: Ryan Plackemeier is your NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
It was hard to imagine this day, back when people were savaging the initial Pro Bowl balloting that had Plackemeier as the leading vote-getter in the NFC, but I think we all knew it would arrive eventually. I mean, when you pick a guy up mid-season to replace your rookie draft pick, you always expect that guy to become Player of the Week just a few weeks later. It's inevitable.
Plack attack! Ryan Plackemeier pins his third punt inside the ten, and his second inside the five. Part of me is deeply frustrated that so many guys are showing up now that things don't matter, but the more optimistic part of me is pleased to see that no one's given up on the season just yet. He's making a strong case for himself as Redskins special teams player of the week.
Redskins Special Teams Player of the Week? I was aiming low.
Yesterday, I posted pictures of Rocky McIntosh's stunning Christmas ensemble, but you really can't appreciate the awesome majesty of the Rocky Holiday Experience without seeing it in motion and hearing the dulcet tones of "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer".
Thank goodness for this video, then. Happy holidays!
There's a lot of history here at Redskins Park — trophies, memorabilia, things like that. And pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Most of them are tucked away in file folders, out of sight and out of thought until you need them (like the Sammy Baugh photos until the sad events of this past week), but today I stumbled across a stack of photos and thought a few of them were worth sharing.
Mark Moseley and Joe Theismann, presumably on the set of some kind of talk show. Both of these guys look remarkably the same despite the passing of 25-ish years.
Only two shopping days left until Christmas — and if you've been meaning to give Chanukah presents, now would be an excellent time to do so — and the folks at Redskins Park are getting into the spirit of things. Andre Carter was wrapping presents in the lobby, a Redskins-ornamented Christmas tree stands in front of the 70th anniversary team picture, and the training room has its own tree, complete with holiday CD collection.
Players are ducking in briefly before heading out to finish their holiday shopping. "One more gift left to buy," said Pete Kendall. I asked if he had an easier time bulling through the crowds, given that he blocks for a living, and he shook his head. "I hate crowds, because I don't try to plow through 'em. I always find myself–" and he mimed twisting and turning through a crowd.
I suggested that this made him more of a Barry Sanders type than a Jerome Bettis type, and he laughed. "I don't know that I'd use that exact analogy," he said, before leaving to take his daughter shopping.
If you've ever worked in an office, it's pretty standard holiday workplace stuff. And every workplace has the Wacky Guy Who Gets Very Excited And Dressed Up For The Holidays; at Redskins Park, it's Rocky McIntosh.


Here you can see the actual sizes of 0.7ct Heart (5.18×6.14×3.64mm) and 0.9ct Heart (6.09×6.72×3.84mm) as they would appear on a ring and finger.
0.9 carat Heart (6.09×6.72×3.84mm) has approx. 29% more face-up area than 0.7 carat Heart (5.18×6.14×3.64mm).
The face-up size of this 0.7 carat Heart (5.18×6.14×3.64mm) is within the normal range for 0.7ct diamonds of this shape. Compared to 0.7ct Heart reference diamond (see below), this diamond is of adequate size when viewed from the top. In short, all is OK, this diamond looks its weight.


Jubal calls a manager to his mom fired. Why would he that that? Listen and find out.
What happen when you forget your support animal at a restaurant? In Jubal's case, find as soon as possible.
Jubal calls an Italian Restaurant owner. To let him know he moving his business in right across the street. He will stop at nothing to dominate the competition.
She is trying to sell her car on Craigslist. So far it's not going to well. With people trying low ball her on the price. Jubal is no different. Can he bring the price of the car down?
Jubal brings in Ted the stoner for this Phone Tap. There is a wedding party involved. And in Ted's state of mind. a mistake a bound to happen.


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Q: Applying an lm function to different ranges of data and separate groups using data.table How do I perform a linear regression using different intervals for data in different groups in a data.table?
I am currently doing this using plyr but with large data sets it gets very slow. Any help to speed up the process is greatly appreciated.
I have a data table which contains 10 counts of CO2 measurements over 10 days, for 10 plots and 3 fences. Different days fall into different time periods, as described below.
I would like to perform a linear regression to determine the rate of change of CO2 for each fence, plot and day combination using a different interval of counts during each period. Period 1 should regress CO2 during counts 1-5, period 2 using 1-7 and period 3 using 1-9.
CO2 <- rep((runif(10, 350,359)), 300) # 10 days, 10 plots, 3 fences
count <- rep((1:10), 300) # 10 days, 10 plots, 3 fences
DOY <-rep(rep(152:161, each=10),30) # 10 measurements/day, 10 plots, 3 fences
fence <- rep(1:3, each=1000) # 10 days, 10 measurements, 10 plots
plot <- rep(rep(1:10, each=100),3) # 10 days, 10 measurements, 3 fences
flux <- as.data.frame(cbind(CO2, count, DOY, fence, plot))
flux$period <- ifelse(flux$DOY <= 155, 1, ifelse(flux$DOY > 155 & flux$DOY < 158, 2, 3))
flux <- as.data.table(flux)

I expect an output which gives me the R2 fit and slope of the line for each plot, fence and DOY.
The data I have provided is a small subsample, my real data has 1*10^6 rows. The following works, but is slow:
model <- function(df)
{lm(CO2 ~ count, data = subset(df, ifelse(df$period == 1,count>1 &count<5,
ifelse(df$period == 2,count>1 & count<7,count>1 & count<9))))}

model_flux <- dlply(flux, .(fence, plot, DOY), model)

rsq <- function(x) summary(x)$r.squared
coefs_flux <- ldply(model_flux, function(x) c(coef(x), rsquare = rsq(x)))
names(coefs_flux)[1:5] <- c("fence", "plot", "DOY", "intercept", "slope")

A: Here is a "data.table" way to do this:
library(data.table)
flux <- as.data.table(flux)
setkey(flux,count)
flux[,include:=(period==1 & count %in% 2:4) |
                (period==2 & count %in% 2:6) |
                (period==3 & count %in% 2:8)]
flux.subset <- flux[(include),]
setkey(flux.subset,fence,plot,DOY)

model <- function(df) {
  fit <- lm(CO2 ~ count, data = df)
  return(list(intercept=coef(fit)[1],
              slope=coef(fit)[2],
              rsquare=summary(fit)$r.squared))
}
coefs_flux <- flux.subset[,model(.SD),by="fence,plot,DOY"]

Unless I'm missing something, the subsetting you do in each call to model(...) is unnecessary. You can segment the counts by period in one step at the beginning. This code yields the same results as yours, except that dlply(...) returns a data frame and this code produces a data table. It isn't much faster on this test dataset.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Q: getParameterByName return null value in JavaScript in Phonegap with iphone I am new in phonegap. I had passed URL. It is return null.
and used function for get URL value and call getParameterByName('label')
<a href="add-personal-info.html?label=lbl_alias" data-transition="slide">

function getParameterByName(name)

{
    name = name.replace(/[\[]/, "\\\[").replace(/[\]]/, "\\\]");
    var regexS = "[\\?&]" + name + "=([^&#]*)";
    var regex = new RegExp(regexS);
    var results = regex.exec(window.location.search);
    if(results == null)
      return "";
    else
      return decodeURIComponent(results[1].replace(/\+/g, " "));

}

Please help..

A: Don't sure if I understand your question but if you want to get the value of your "label" parameter you can simply use :
$(document).ready(function()
{
    var label_value = window.location.search.replace("?", "");
    label_value  = label_value.replace("label=", "");
});

You have to modifiy this code if you have more than only one parameter in your URL.
Hope this helps ! Bye !


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The Vertical View Ltd / Shutterstock
About Glasgow
Glasgow is a port city on the River Clyde in Scotland's western Lowlands. It's famed for its Victorian and art nouveau architecture, a rich legacy of the city's 18th-10th-century prosperity due to trade and shipbuilding. Today it's a national cultural hub, home to institutions including the Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet and National Theatre of Scotland, acclaimed museums and a thriving music scene. Greater Glasgow had a population of 1,199,619 at the 2001 census. Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Britain. Glasgow is also well known in the sporting world for the football rivalry of the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers. Winters are cool and overcast, with a January mean of 5.0 °C (41.0 °F), during the summer months (June to August) the weather can vary considerably from day to day ranging from relatively cool and wet to quite warm with the odd sunny day. The city has many amenities for a wide range of cultural activities, from curling to opera and ballet and from football to art appreciation; it also has a large selection of museums.
The Best Of Glasgow
Are you a Glasgow Kosher establishment or tour operator?
Jewish History, POI & Kosher Establishments in Glasgow
Glasgow has seven synagogues with the seventh largest Jewish population in the United Kingdom after London, Manchester, Leeds, Gateshead, Brighton and Bournemouth, but once had a Jewish population second only to London, estimated at 10,000 in the Gorbals alone. The population today is around 4,100. About half the Scottish Jewish population live in the Glasgow suburb of East Renfrewshire where they made up 3.5% of the population. A further 1,119 Jews are in Glasgow City (17% of the Scottish total). Most of Jewish life has moved further south from Gorbals and now is located around Giffnock and Newton Mearns where there are synagogues. There are another 3 synagogues as well as these two main ones. There are two kosher eating establishments L'Chaims and Mark's Deli both located in Giffnock, you can also buy kosher food from Marks Deli.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Category Archives: mcalmont and butler
mcalmont and butler, music, singles, site of interest, video
Best ever Spring Singles No.3 – McAlmont & Butler 'Yes' (1995)
April 6, 2008 5mudg3	Leave a comment
This was an amazing comeback. After creating big headlines in the music press after leaving Suede in 1994, Bernard Butler tried a few collaborations. After briefly joining The Verve, he teamed up with Soul singer David McAlmont, and their short initial spell together created some magical results, the ace in the pack being their first single, 'Yes'.
A glorious, soaring vocal from McAlmost matched by the Spector-like musical arrangement by Butler made this song a Nineties classic, with it reaching, fittingly, the top 10 after its release in May 1995 (it eventually got to no.8).
The lyrics seem to be an update on 'I Will Survive', with Gloria Gaynors defiance in the wake of a lover leaving replaced by McAlmonts resolve that he is over the heartbreak, and he will carry on, and by the way, 'am I looking better??'.As for him falling for the same trick twice;
"I feel well enough to tell you what you can do with what you got to offer"
Its such a glorious opening, with Butlers guitar intoning, leading onto a fantastic orchestral swell, the strings replaced by McAlmonts beautiful falsetto.
What a single – I played it incessantly that Spring. It was like the gateway to the Summer of 1995, which, like this single was full of sunshine.
They didn't last long as a duo, splitting up in the same year. Luckily they had recorded enough material for an album, 'The Sound of McAlmont & Butler', where there are other classic pop moments such as the epic 'Disappointment'. If I was to recommend one album to you this week, it would be this one. It is dirt cheap as well (under a fiver at amazon at the moment). It is basically a collection of the songs (A & B sides) they released in 1995 – 6 of the tracks are from the 2 CD releases of 'Yes' (the red and blue covers pictured here on this post).
They did reunite and record again, but nothing really came close to this epic, beautiful and stirring statement of intent.
Lyrics to Yes – make sure you sing along!
Wiki entry for McAlmont & Butler


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Press Release / Feb. 22, 2007
New survey shows US jewelry retailers are not doing enough to combat blood diamonds
Tweet Share Diamonds DONATE
For Immediate Release Contact: Suzanne Trimel at Amnesty: 212-633-4150
Thursday, February 22, 2007 Corinna Gilfillan at Global Witness: 202-721-5670
NEW SURVEY SHOWS U.S. JEWELRY RETAILERS ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH TO COMBAT BLOOD DIAMONDS, SAY GLOBAL WITNESS AND AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA
(NEW YORK) -With the Oscar night ceremony drawing renewed attention to blood diamonds, a new survey by Global Witness and Amnesty International USA shows the $33 billion-a-year American jewelry retail industry is failing to take adequate measures to help consumers avoid conflict diamonds. The Oscar-nominated movie "Blood Diamond" whose stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou are best actor contenders, illustrates the horrors of a brutal civil war in Sierra Leone funded by the trade in diamonds.
In a survey conducted between December 2006 and February 2007, the human rights groups surveyed the 37 jewelry retailers listed by National Jeweler magazine as the $100 Million Supersellers. The main findings include the following:
Half of these leading American jewelry retailers failed to respond to the requests to provide information about their policies on blood diamonds.
Fifty six percent of those who did respond reported having no auditing procedures in place to combat blood diamonds, despite the recommendation to do so by the trade association Jewelers of America.
Fifty seven percent of the top jewelers do not have any public information posted on their websites about their policies on blood diamonds.
The survey also noted that a few industry leaders such as Helzberg Diamond Shops, Sterling (Signet) and Tiffany & Co. have taken stronger measures to combat conflict diamonds, including third-party auditing.
The survey is being released amid new reports of diamond smuggling and as blood diamonds from West Africa are reaching the international diamond marketplace. On February 4, 2007, two men in Tucson, Arizona, were arrested for smuggling 11,000 carats of diamonds from Africa in violation of the U.S. Clean Diamond Trade Act. These and other reports of illegal diamond trafficking from Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and Ivory Coast clearly highlight the loopholes in the Kimberley Process, the government-run diamond certification scheme designed to eliminate the trade in conflict diamonds. Blood diamonds have fuelled conflict in Angola, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Liberia, leading to millions of deaths and egregious human rights abuses.
"Americans buy half of the diamond jewelry sold worldwide-$33 billion a year in U.S. sales," said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA. "We feel that this industry has an obligation-and consumers should demand-that the diamonds that are bought and sold are conflict-free."
"It is completely reasonable to demand that this industry give consumers adequate assurances that the diamonds they buy are conflict-free, given the devastating human toll of blood diamonds," says Charmian Gooch, Founding Director of Global Witness. "With such huge profits, retailers should be willing to do more to solve this problem."
To help ensure that the diamond industry is living up to the necessary standards, Amnesty International and Global Witness are calling for the following action:
- All sectors of the diamond industry, including the diamond jewelry retail sector, should implement third-party audit measures and responsible sourcing policies;
- The U.S. and other governments should carry out stricter oversight of the diamond industry and strengthen and improve enforcement of the Kimberley Process and the Clean Diamond Trade Act.
- Jewelry retailers should make their policies on conflict diamonds prominently accessible on their websites.
"Blood Diamond," directed by Ed Zwick, is set during Sierra Leone's civil war; In addition to Hounsou and DiCaprio, the film features Jennifer Connelly, who is Amnesty International USA's Ambassador for Human Rights Education and has shot Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to help build awareness of the conflict diamond problem.
(To request copies of the full report, contact Suzanne Trimel at Amnesty International USA, [email protected], or Corinna Gilfillan at Global Witness, [email protected] or go to www.blooddiamondaction.org)
Global Witness campaigns to achieve real change by highlighting the links between the exploitation of natural resources and the funding of conflict and corruption. Through a combination of covert investigations and targeted advocacy, Global Witness has changed the way the world thinks about the extraction and trading of natural resources, and the devastating impact their unsustainable exploitation can have upon development, human rights and stability. Global Witness was co-nominated for the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for its work on conflict diamonds and awarded the Gleitsman Foundation Prize for international activism in May 2005.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 1.8 million members worldwide. Amnesty International undertakes research and action focused on preventing and ending grave human rights abuses, including violations of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights.


Coloring Pages ~ Giant Coloring Books The Bears And Activity Book Publications Oversized Christmas giant coloring books. Giant Christmas Coloring Books. Giant Size Coloring Books. Giant Coloring Books Target.


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What is a ECoC?
Transformative Tourism
Creative-driven
CultourIsCapitalFest
Matera TLab, 7th February 2020
The city of Matera, European Capital of Culture 2019, was one of the five cities to held TraCEs Co-Creation Tlab with a great success of participation and results, last 7th of February.
As Raffaele Vitulli, Materahub co-founder and project manager, explained: "Matera has become an international tourist destination in the past 30 years, thanks to a series of important awards received by UNESCO (1993) and Europe. Unfortunately, Matera attracts many hikers, people who visit the city in a few hours and who do not generate wealth, but only costs for the community". On this matter, it becomes essential to support cultural and creative actors as well as tour operators to collaborate together, even more in transformative travel framework, so it says the expert: "Transformative tourism, together with relational tourism and sustainable tourism, represent the future for the city in the coming years, because its necessary to build new job opportunities for young people".
Considering the efforts and approach of the city to create new touristic experiences, it was the perfect stage to take place Cultour is Capital Tlabs. The workshop was joined by a great diversity of professional profiles and led by the trainer and travel product development expert, Simona Polli. All together worked to open new paths and new touristic experiences for a city with a long way to go in the tourism field.
"It is not easy to bring innovation in the tourism sector. An effective way can be the recipe of the TLAB, because it favors the meeting between tour operators and cultural and creative industries -Vitulli declared-. The first experiment on Matera was quite effective: we made detailed recruitment that allowed us to build groups that could work together in the laboratory, people and organizations who already knew each other but who never thought they could collaborate. Some very successful and effective ideas of experience have been produced, which we will follow in the coming weeks to launch them on the market and make them become good practices for the next TLAB that we will implement in the city".
The content of this web site represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility; it cannot be considered to reflect the views of the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and the Agency do not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.
CultourisCapital is the commercial brand of the TRACES project, which has received a grant following the
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Speech at Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific
Santos, the President of this. The Vice-Presidents of the different departments here, who are with us this morning, and all of the faculty and staff. Of course, the Cadets, good morning to you all.
I have to say that I was very impressed. Of course, the simulators and all the equipment is also very impressive. I think I managed to run the. That is why it important that your training is complete. More impressing than all the electronic wizardry that we see, more impressive than all of the facilities here, is the system that you have put together to train our seamen to be prepared for the potentials that are available all around the world. As the Admiral has said, it is very clear that we in the Philippines have gained the reputation of being one of the best, if not the best seamen in the world. This reputation has not been gained easily. It took many, many, many years of the world experiencing the benefits of having Filipino seamen on board. It's important especially for our continuing presence of all the different vessels that plied the world's. It is very important that the training that we provide brings us up to the standard that is expected now. It is expected already of Filipino seamen. Mataas na ang standards na binibigay.I'm sorry, I'm only meant to speak in English.
The standards to which Filipino seamen are held to are higher that I would imagine than others because much more is expected of you. Much more is expected because of the good experience that both the ship owners and the other crew members have had with Filipinos. You should be very proud to be keeping up this tradition. You should be very proud that you are such an important part of the Filipino, never mind the economy, we know already that the economy…
The four hundred plus thousand Filipinos remitted last year, five billion US dollars. That is an impressive amount but as important as the dollars and cents that you will send back, that you will inject into the financial system into the economy is that continuing reputation. You all serve in your own way as ambassadors of the Philippines. You represent the Philippines when you are on boarding ships. I do not speak of ambassadors in terms of diplomacy, but again, to introduce what Filipinos are like, to introduce what Filipinos are capable of, and to teach our friends from different countries that the Filipino is hard working. The Filipino is well trained. The Filipino understands the systems. The Filipino will become an important part of any crew that they join. This is to continue the tradition that has been set over many, many, many years before even the term "OFW" existed.
We did not talk about OFW's yet because the term "OFW" came in the mid 70's. Before even that existed, already Filipino seamen were recognized abroad as the best seamen. That is why we comprise the largest number of seamen that serve in the merchant marine all around the world.
So I am very happy to see that not only are we of international standard in terms of the facilities, in terms of the training, in terms of even the results in your examinations, even in your certification, that the training continues to be, not only an international standard, but in this case, we can be proud to say, you are held to a higher standard, you are held to a Filipino standard. That has become the standard that all ship owners now are looking for.
I must congratulate all of those who are members of the faculty and the staff because of the impressive results that you get. The number of seafarers that you have trained and the continuing drive to keep a higher standard that is required. That is something very important.
So again, as we went to the briefing, it was very disappointing to know, to listen to the fact, that there seems to be a lack of recognition by the government in the important part that you all play again, not in our economy, but in our country and in our presence abroad.
We do not have enough training ships and I think we have convinced Congressman Martin Romualdez to donate his brother's yacht. His brother still doesn't know. We will have to tell him after we finish here. But that is something we have to continue to work towards because it is not a small item, it is something that needs to be again, we need to adopt a policy that is more supportive of all your efforts. With that, that is a continuing work that we have to do. We do not realize it because all of you are not in the Philippines. The work that you do, we do not see. So it is only coming to places that we are reminded of how many of you are out there putting forward the good face of the Filipinos and working and giving many real contribution to the Merchant Marine. So it is extremely important.
As they say, if you will study Management course, many would say that you should invest in the departments that are the most successful. By that job, by that measure, we should be investing more in facilities like MAAP, facilities that are still required, that are needed in training ships, in equipment, in maritime schools and in the continuing support of our seafarers.
So, I congratulate you all- all of the staff and the faculty of MAAP, and the Cadets for the continuing good work that you do and for continuing to make the Filipinos proud that they are Filipinos because we are always reminded that in the end, it is only our Filipinos who will put forward the good reputation, the good skills, the good qualities of what it means to be a Filipino. Keep up the good work and we are here to support you. Thank you.
Ayuda ng DFA at OWWA sa pamilya ng mga OFW na nasawi sa aksidente sa Saudi ibigay agad
Press conference : Mariveles, Bataan
© 2021 Bongbong Marcos


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The State Library Victoria, in partnership with The Baldessin Press & Studio, offers a special residency opportunity as part of their annual fellowship program.
2017 Creative Fellowship Residency announcement event, State Library Victoria
L-R: 2017 resident Kyoko Imazu, 2016 resident Ros Atkins, Tess Edwards, Indra Kurzeme, Nicole Bowller
State Library Victoria, in partnership with The Baldessin Press & Studio, offers two special residency opportunities as part of their annual Creative Fellowship program.
The Amor Residency
The Amor Residency at The Baldessin Press & Studio is generously supported by Rick Amor and is offered to a printmaker wishing to further their printmaking practice, using research material from the State Library to inform their practice.
The Amor Residency at The Baldessin Press & Studio may take place at any time within the year of the award, according to the recipient's project and research plans. The offer may include accommodation onsite at the Press, printmaking tuition/technical support, limited materials or editioning to the sum of $5000. Please contact us prior to submitting your application so we can provide further information on how you may wish to allocate the prize, specific to your project and needs.
The successful recipient also receives a State Library mentor and a dedicated space within the Library for their research throughout the year, as well as the opportunity to be involved in the Baldessin Press events.
We encourage applicants who wish to further their printmaking practice, or artists wishing to explore the medium for the first time. Please provide strong visual support material (good quality images of previous artwork) in the application.
Tate Adams Artist's Book residency
Commencing from 2019
Baldessin Press & Studio in conjunction with State Library Victoria is pleased to announce a new Residency/Fellowship for 2019, thanks to the generous sponsorship of Morag Fraser AM.
This will be the Tate Adams Memorial Residency at Baldessin Press and SLV, awarded for the creation of an Artist's Book.
Applications are invited from an artist, to accomplish a limited edition or unique state artists book, using research from SLV and the studio facilities at Baldessin Press & Studio.
Each application will be judged on individual merit, including the artist's personal conception, expression and definition of book art. We recognise that a high degree of flexibility is required in this, and will make allowances accordingly.
The applicant artist's proposed book project should be, as far as possible, clearly described, including the content, design and finished object. This may (or may not) include original text, typography, printmaking component, and binding / presentation. Sketches and examples of previous work are welcome as well as images of prints etc. Creative content is of primary importance.
Baldessin Press can supply studio access, accommodation and assistance to facilitate the book project in many ways, to the sum of $5000 over the 12 month period. It is expected that each creative project will be unique, therefore requiring a level of flexibility in its realisation.
State Library Victoria offers a place as a prestigious Creative Fellow, with all the advantages and privileges this entails, including access to the SLV's impressive collection of artists books.
More information will soon be released on State Library Victoria's website shortly. Applications will open in February 2019 for the July 2019 - June 2020 Fellowships.
Please note - there will be an information session at the SLV on February 19th. Information here - http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/2019-fellowships-information-evening
Applications are scheduled to close on Sunday 28 April.
Visit the State Library to learn about next year's application process.
2018 Amor resident Glen Skien
At the fellowship announcements, July 2018, State Library
2017 Amor Resident Kyoko Imazu
Photo: Oleksandr Pogorilyi
2016 Amor Resident Ros Atkins with Silvi Glattauer
2014 Amor Resident William Kelly
2016 Amor Resident Ros Atkins
George Baldessin prints on display at the State Library