text:
Authors@Google: Paul Brest
Asperger's to be eliminated as a diagnosis
Shot Show 2013 & Who is FateofDestinee?
Choose Passion Vine
The Serpent in the Sword: Part 4 - Interlude
First credit cards - overcoming my fears
Within this Decade: America in Space - 1969
GCCIS Dean's Lecture Series: Dr. Gary McGraw
Timeline Editing: Track Patching
NFO 2006: Diversity Panel - Part 3
Ferrari 458 Spider Nailed - CHRIS HARRIS ON CARS
Uploaded by AtGoogleTalks on 31.07.2009
>> I could tell you all sorts of things about Paul, but I'm not going to because I think
his message is just too important to Ident anymore. So without any further ado, I'd like
to welcome Paul Brest. Thank you. >> BREST: I wonder whether the talk should
be called, "Philanthropy, with or without anesthesia," based on that accompanying metaphor.
So, how Harvey is sorry that he couldn't be here with me, my co-author. But it also will
allow me to kind of say some things that he might disagree with. I'll talk a little bit--I'm
not going to talk about the book as such except to tell you that our notion was that this
is the book that would be found in the self-help section of bookstores. But it would be of
an airplane bookstore, airport bookstores, but it would be in the executive air terminal.
That hasn't yet been realized. Afterwards, we can, you know--I'm happy to tell you something
about the process of writing a book--a number of you--probably many of you have written
a code with other people. And writing a book with one other person has its own complexities,
not different ones from--when you're sharing a code. What I want to talk about is not the
book as such, but the only thing I really know about, which is, is strategic philanthropy,
and that's what the book is about. And strategic philanthropy is basically about reaching a
goal. And I'm going to use the metaphor of a destination--probably go further with it
than you think makes any sense. But I want to begin by saying strategic philanthropy
has nothing to say about what your goal should be. If you think about traveling, you know,
you might decide you want to go to Africa to work for the Peace Corps or go to Mount
Everest to climb it or go across town to see Aunt Sally or go to a bank to rob it. And
that's--those are pre-strategic decisions, right? It's only after you choose the goal
that you can figure out the best way to go there. And so too in philanthropy; there are
also its impossible goals. And what strategic philanthropy doesn't say which goal to choose,
it tells you--it's a framework, really, for how to get their best. You know, there's this
old saying from the Cunard (ph) lines which used to have--maybe they still have cruises.
They used to have great trench--oceanic service. And it was getting there that is half the
fun. Well, what's really important about strategic philanthropy is getting there. If it's not
fun on the way, then you're probably not going to continue doing it. But the real objective
is not the fun of the journey, it's getting there. So I want to talk about what I think
are the basic elements. We already--I'll come back a little bit, but it's having a clear
goal, having a strategy for achieving the goal. The strategy needs to be based on a
sound theory of change, which is the sort of non-profit term for the theory of how the
world works. You need feedback and you need to talk about risk. So I'm going to begin
by talking about some earlier philanthropists. Does anybody recognize these guys? Ferdinand
and Isabella, right? Ferdinand and Isabella are my philanthropists, and their goal was--I
would think you could describe it too. One of their goals was to have their grant to
get to India, but it was better trade routes to the Far East. More effective--I should
say, by the way, that--and motives are really not important in understanding strategic philanthropy.
But it's interesting to think about their motives. They were--they had some purely unself-interested
motives. They were interested in spreading Christianity to the world. But they were obviously
interested in their own, in their country's welfare, which was probably not distinguishable
at that time. So you could think of them as sort of early mission-related philanthropist
in the same way that Google's philanthropy is mission-oriented as well; doing good but
also connected with the company's mission. So people's goals can change over time. Indeed,
the very process of pursuing your goal may give you some different goals. But at any
given time, you need to know of where you're going, right? That's sort of a tenant of strategic
philanthropy. It maybe fun to toddle around in the--I wonder what is blocking the top
of the thing. Well, it doesn't matter, as long as we can see part of the pictures. You
know, that no one is going to pay it on profit organizations just to go sailing around the
bay, sailing around the bay just for the fun of it. You need to have some sort of destination.
Okay. So before, you know, no philanthropy happens on a blank slate, right? There's always
something that has gone before. And the first thing to do if you're a philanthropist starting
in an area is learn what the relevant knowledge is in the field. At this point, Ferdinand
and Isabella looked to the Hogwarts Press' classic book on, "Navigation In The 15th Century."
And they learned about navigation, whether ships--whatever they need to learn about.
Well, I'm talking about philanthropy that is grant-making philanthropy. And if you're
a grant maker, you need to look for a grantee. So maybe what Ferdinand and Isabella had in
mind was Horatio Nelson, a great--since I'm playing [indistinct] with history, you know,
a great leader of a great organization, the British Navy. For better or worse, they ended
up with Columbus as their grantee. So you have a goal, you have a general approach at
this point. You've done due diligence and you've found your grantee. And--but you need
to have a strategy for achieving your goal. And in this case, the strategy was sail west.
Up to this point, trips from Europe to the Indies had taken Eastern water routes. They
had very often taken parallels overland routes and here the idea was sail west. A strategy
is only as good as the theory that underlies it, right? So in this case, the theory which
you're all familiar with is--that the earth is round. And by the late 15th century, most
educated Europeans thought that the earth was round. There were some serious mis-estimations
in just how large it was. But without a theory, as you'll see, I mean, it make sense to engineers
for sure, your strategy is not going to work. Well, let's--we'll return to Columbus. But
let's talk about philanthropy. So at this--in some ways, I'm just giving you, you know,
a short list of thousands of possible philanthropic goals. These are goals that people are actually
pursuing, and so, reducing meth abuse in Montana, preventing malaria in Africa. I put in the
two sides of say, proposition A, promoting and opposing gay marriage to emphasize that
point that I've said earlier, which is you can be strategic in achieving any goals and
you can be strategic in--on opposite sides of an issue. So there were philanthropies--individual
philanthropies and--at least in some foundations on both sides of proposition eight. Being
strategic doesn't mean you're on the right side; it means you're using your resources
as best as possible to achieve your goals whatever they happen to be. I'm going to use
the last of these examples. Achieving education for better outcomes for disadvantaged children
in Philadelphia, which is a goal that, you know, no one would be on the opposite side
even if that is not your passion. And I use the example for some reasons that I will explain.
So here's a general goal. Once again, you need to do due diligence. You want to find
a good leader of a good institution and, you know, then the philanthropist might have looked
for a charter school, organization school. They might have decided to look for a different
place in Philadelphia. But in this case, look for, you know, found the school superintendent
of Philadelphia, a good leader of a good school. I think before--I think I've gotten a little
bit ahead of myself because what I like you to do is take a minute. And I've given you
a hand-out sheet and, you know, if you have a pen or pencil and willing to use a low tech
device like that, just jot down; and if you don't, just keep it in your mind. What is
the goal--whether you have done philanthropy, you know, from your checkbook or have a donor
advised fund or just do interest in philanthropy, choose a goal that you're really excited about,
something that motivates you as a goal for your own philanthropy. Let me take just a
second to let you think about that. All right. So, I won't to ask you to do the due diligence
part, but we'll come back to some other parts of the form. So, just as Columbus and his
philanthropist had to learn from the field, there's a lot of learning--there's a lot of
information out there anyway about what might improve the outcomes for disadvantaged kids
in Philadelphia. Some places have tried dressing the kids in school uniforms, Teach for America,
you know, has bright, committed kids from university starting to teach, KIPP academies
have long school days and long school years, and so on, and so forth. What's really important
is that you have some reason to believe that the activity you're engaging--having school
uniforms, whatever it is, leads to better outcomes. You need to fill in, and this is
sort of a basic tenant of strategic philanthropy or any sort of strategy. You need to fill
in the blank, and you can't rely on a miracle. If you haven't filled in the blank between
your activity and the outcome you have, and sometimes it's the number of steps you need
to fill in, then you expect the miracle to happen. And, you know, social change is so
hard that the likelihood of a miracle is really, really small. So take a moment. You set out
a goal, take a moment and jot down for yourself. I'm not--nobody is going to call on you to
answer this. What is your general strategy and what is the theory that underlies it?
The equivalent of sale west being the strategy and the earth is round being the theory. Now,
what's going to get you to your philanthropic goal? Well--so there was an overall strategy
that Columbus had and Ferdinand and Isabella, his philanthropists. But an overall strategy
like sail west needs to be implemented, right? It's pretty vague. So what you need next is
a plan. So--oh, I'm sorry. Once again, I'm ahead of myself. So the particular strategy
we're going to use in this example, by the way, is adaptive learning. And let me tell
you what adaptive learning is in the Philadelphia example and then we'll come back to Columbus.
Adaptive learning is the idea that the teachers make plans for each student individually.
They see how the student is doing. They give the student feedback based on how he's doing;
they then change the lesson plan as necessary. So it's a continuous loop in--and the theory
is that that will lead to better educational outcomes. And I use it--the reason I like
it because I think it's a metaphor for philanthropy as you'll see by the time we're done with
this, that philanthropy also is adaptive and feedback plays a really important rule. All
right. So back to what a plan is, though. So, it wasn't just enough to say, you know,
like sail west, they need Columbus needed and a philanthropist needed a business plan,
you know, how they need to buy and provision the ships and recruit a crew, but then you
also need to chart the course. You need to chart the course as well. And so, too, you
know, a school example, you know, adaptive learning is a kind of broad idea. But you
need to implement it. So you need to train the teachers in assessment, the teachers need
to specify achievement goals for each student, they need to translate those into assessments
for each student and its sort of a recursive process which ultimately leads to improved
outcomes. So my question for you is what's your plan? That would probably take longer
to really specify, but, you know, you had a general strategy. What do you actually need
to do to make it work? For example, if the goal--if you're interested in reducing teen
pregnancy, then you probably have a teen pregnancy clinic and the strategy would be to recruit
the kids you thought you wanted to work with, to recruit counselors and so on and so forth.
So what would be a strategy for achieving your goals? Well, I'm not going to call on
anybody to be great during the discussion if you can allude to some of your own examples.
Okay. Something that's really helpful in philanthropy is to have targets, right? So the target for
them, Isabella and their grantee, Columbus was India. In this case, the philanthropist
and the school superintendent have agreed that in 2008, only 60% of fifth graders were
doing math at grade level and the goal is by 2012, to have 80%. You might say, "Gosh,
you know, I mean, why not aim for a 100%" because the target--you've done fundraising
campaign. So the target needs to be ambitious, but realistic. There's sort of two reasons
to have targets. One is you hold--everybody knows what they're aiming for, you hold yourselves
accountable to try to achieve it. There's another reason that's sort of structural.
There's nothing like a target to clarify what your goal is, right? As between going to the
less improved outcomes for disadvantage kids and saying, "This is actually what we want
to accomplish." You know, you know if you're there, you know, you know if you've gotten
to India. So you might jot down the target for, you know, a--it could be ideally numerical,
but it might be a qualitative target that you and somebody else could agree--that you
would achieve it or not, how you would know whether you would actually achieve your goal.
So, I now come to kind of one of the weakest parts of philanthropy. Surprisingly, we called--though
I think there's work in remedying it, and that is getting feedback. Oh dear, I don't
think Columbus is--so, that's okay. So what Columbus had, you know, Columbus basically
relied on a compass and dead reckoning. And we were talking before about flying. If you
have ever flown a plane or had gone on a boat, you can start off with a great compass heading.
You can even know what the winds are, but if you don't have some other form of feedback,
you're going to be off course very soon. After awhile came the sextants and a--actually,
the result of a great philanthropic contest, the ships goniometer, which is a way of keeping
track of longitude and latitude. And now, my guess is that those of you who drive to
work probably have a GPS system in your car. I mean, feedback is absolutely essential.
Dead reckoning doesn't work with flying and sailing, and it sure doesn't work in social
change. So how do you track in this Philadelphia school example whether we're on the course?
Well, we said initially, you know, in order to make this work; teachers need to be trained
in assessment. Well, you see whether the teacher show up for training. You may give them little
spot quizzes. They need to specify achievement for the--targets for the kids. You may rely
on self-reporting. You may kind of randomly sit in and see how they're doing. But they're
also some ways of assessing whether they're on course. The issue at this point is not
whether they achieve the ultimate goal, but are they--are they on course toward achieving
it? And a question for you, not surprisingly, is how would you track progress for your goal?
Not whether you would have gotten there. Not whether you had saved whatever part of the
world you're trying to save in your own philanthropy, but how would you know if you're on the way?
To go back to my example, if it's a teen pregnancy prevention clinic and part of it is counseling
kids, then if the kids--you need to know whether the kid show up, whether the counselor show
up and whether there are counseling sessions, and you might want to know what actually goes
on in the counseling sessions. So, Columbus' tracking was as good as it could be at that
time. The basic theory of change, the basic idea that the earth was round was right. But
the map was sort of incomplete as you know. And Columbus' voyage turns out to be an example
of failed philanthropy, right? The crew may have been really happy in where they ended
up. But the philanthropists were disappointed in the result. There's a lot of failed philanthropy.
I mean, a lot of philanthropy is like this in the sense that it's high risk. The likelihood
of achieving your outcome is not so great. Of course, unless you're clear about what
your goals are, and that's why targets help, you don't even know whether you achieve your
outcome as well. So how did our project in Philadelphia work? Well, then if you look
at a whole lot of different studies not in any one city, adaptive learning has--can make
a huge boost especially for disadvantaged kids, seven-tenths of the grade level. Did
it actually work in Philadelphia? You know, I don't know. For one thing, the reason I
use Philadelphia as an example was, it's the only place where I could see something that
said Philadelphia, the name of the school district. I couldn't find the slide that had
other school there. So it's hypothetical. But there are a lot of reasons that adaptive
learning might work in general and might not work in a particular case. It might be that
the population is a different one or if it's just not implemented very well. Why, because
I mean, you know, implementing any social change strategy and educational strategy,
for example, is difficult. So I mentioned the failed philanthropy of Ferdinand and Isabella,
and let's talk a little bit about risk in philanthropy. The risk for Columbus and his
grantee were--all the risk of navigating in, you know, navigating the ocean in those days.
And the rest of the crew might mutiny because they ran out of provisions or they were afraid
of falling off the face of the earth. And the risk of falling off the face of the earth,
that was a possibility. For most philanthropy, the risk is not endangering life and limb,
although sometimes it is. It's that that you have put money into something. You put a lot
of money into something and it just doesn't turn out to work. And you might think for
a moment about what the risks are in your own plans, where could things go wrong in
a way in your own strategic plan that the money would turn out to be wasted. Where are
the possibilities for failure the greatest? How do you know if a risk is worth taking?
Because I'm going to suggest--when I think about the work of the Hewlett Foundation where
I work, I would say that a huge amount of the philanthropy we do has a lower than fifty-fifty
chance of succeeding. So how do you think about risk? Well, some of you are probably
familiar with kind of a simplified version of expected return. Expected return is the
benefit of everything works out, discounted by the possibility that it won't work out
over the cost. And what I want to suggest is this is a healthy way, a good way of thinking
about risk even if you can't quantify. And I think philanthropy could do a lot more of
work in quantifying, both what the benefit is and what the probability of achieving the
benefit is than we do for the most part. But even if--even where you can't quantify, the
first point of it is we think this way in everyday life, right? We certainly think about
business investments, right? And so, you--I mean, this is a hard time to talk about what
a safe--what a safe investment for your personal IRA is. But, you know, you can put it onto
your mattress or put it in a government bond, and it's very little risk and low return or
you can put them something riskier. We think about it when we get car insurance, when we
go out of [indistinct] and somebody tries to sell us an extended warranty for the product.
Probably not a good idea, but--so we think about it--I think it's a good way to think
about philanthropy for these reasons. First of all, if you don't recognize the risk, you're
not going to know how to mitigate them. All right? If you don't know where the dragons
are if you're crossing the ocean, you're not going to know how to avoid them. And philanthropy
is full of dragons. And it justifies--this is the expected return approach, it justifies
high risk, high return ventures. The Hewlett Foundation has made the single largest commitment
in its history, $100 million a year for five years to support work, to reduce climate change.
In fact, Hal Harvey, my co-author, we spun off an organization that he's running called
ClimateWorks. The likelihood that all of the philanthropy together is going to change government
policies that will ultimately change CO2 emissions, I would put it far less than 50 percent but,
boy, is the impact important if the theory of change is right. And we have good reason
to think that it is that CO2 emissions do cause global warming. And global warming is
likely to do damage. If there is--the word "failure" is a dirty word in the non-profit
sector in general and in philanthropy. And talking about risks is a way of talking about
failure in a rational way. I mean, there's no venture capitalist who doesn't expect quite
a few of his or her investments to fail. And philanthropy is not all that different. And
it can help understand your own risk tolerance as an individual or foundation. Some people
are willing to take huge risks. Others want things to be safer. So let me stop there.
Actually, one--I want to show you one last slide. Then I want to leave time for Q&A.
So I was thinking when I thought that hell wasn't going to be here, this is the one picture
in the--but we have a few cartoons. In this one picture that we designed and this is hell's--among
hell's many contributions, but somehow, I think hell is the proudest stuff in the book.
And it's a way of thinking about your own philanthropy, which is--imagine a scale--you
can have a more complicated scale but imagine three vectors. One is the problem that you're
dealing with. You can talk about philanthropy in terms of opportunities or problems. I think
problem orientation is probably a good way. Is the problem you're dealing with one that
affects the quality of life or does it affect life itself? So quality of life, you might
decide, you know, to build a football field or supports arts organizations in your community.
And the other extreme is the extinction of life or much of it through nuclear proliferation,
nuclear explosion, climate change, what have you. That's one axis. Another one is the problem
you're dealing with the danger, reversible or not. That is the vertical axis. So, you
know, air pollution is actually quite easily reversal. You stop the pollution one day and
it ends the next. Water pollution is usually reversible and they take decades to do it.
Loss of bio-diversity is irreversible unless Google comes up with some great new convention.
And then, what's the scale of it? And scale can mean lots of different things. Once can
be--is it local and kind of tangible? You know, the high school football field, it's
local. Or, you know, at the other extreme--you know, is it--is the scale of one that is distant
and going to affect huge numbers of people who are anonymous to you. Well, you could
think of this as the small cube, being issues that are local, reversible quality of life.
And then you can imagine some issues, and I think climate change, nuclear--the dangers
of nuclear explosion are in and all of the scales there in the big cube, right? They
threaten life itself. They're distant, anonymous, and irreversible. It's maybe a way of thinking--and
of course, you don't--you can have mid points of any of these and you can be at one end
of the spectrum on one of these vectors, and another, and another. I think a lot of people
at the beginning of their own philanthropy, tend--I think my own personal philanthropy
is being very much in the small cube, right? You want things that are local, tangible,
your college, your high school, your town, your symphony orchestra. And then some people
branch out. How has a very clear normative view about this? Barely disguised in the book,
which is being out in the outer cube dealing with the big problems is what should be done.
And I think--I think for established foundations. That maybe right. But my own view is that
we, you know, that the different people need to find their different comfort level. You
can deal with the same essential problem on different levels. So why don't I stop there
and--it says, "The end," that's a good place to stop. And let's open it up for conversations.
What did I say that you found utterly wrong or annoying and in need of correction, and
what are your own thoughts on some of these issues. And if you want to allude to your--you
don't need to, but if you had some thoughts as you jotted down your own thoughts, your
own philanthropic strategy, that's fine. >> So, I'm not sure if I can articulate this
point clearly but much of what you said seems to apply in the context of large foundation
such as the Hewlett Foundation where there's a large sum of money that needs to be invested
so that you could make significant social change with this. But for those of us who
have more modest means, shall we say, the philanthropy we do is unlikely to have a significant
impact like this. And so, in our own giving, for example, we've often given through intermediaries,
whether they'd be foundations or disaster relief organizations, or what have you. So
intermediaries that have presumably much more significant means and you're adding a little
to it. How does this idea of strategic philanthropy help for individual contributors with modest
means? It's not--as clear to me. >> BREST: Well, I-I think that's--the book
says--this book is written for anybody who gives away between $100,000 thousand and $100
million a year. And I think your question is right. How--you can't do the kind of due
diligence that Ferdinand and Isabella do when you're giving away the amount of money that
most of us in this room, myself included, do for our personal account. What aspects
of strategy work? Well, one is being clear about your goals, you know, for example, you
know, what do you expect before you look for the organizations, if you're doing disaster
relief or trying to reduce malaria in Africa. So, what are you trying to accomplish? And
then, even though you can't do deep due diligence because you don't have time for it? There
are ways of finding out whether the organizations that you're supporting are achieving those
goals. I think that personal philanthropy and most of the non-profit sector are stuck
in an unfortunate cycle where the organizations provide very little information about what
they're actually accomplishing. I mean you can get glossy brochures and you may get the
same glossy brochure five times a year in the mail. But does it say, "What are the organization's
goals? What are its strategies for accomplishing them? And how well is it doing? Is it--are
they on course? Are they achieving some of their targets?" So the organizations don't
provide that and individual philanthropists, most of us, don't ask for it. And I wonder
why we don't ask for it. And I think sometimes we don't ask for it because we think that
it's not available, and of course, they maybe not be available because we don't ask for
it. I think the key to this, and I think even right now--my guess is if do you think about
your own philanthropy, all of us in this room, we could be more demanding of information
for the organizations and then decide. You know, this organization really looks like
it's doing a good job. At least they have a theory of change. At least they have a strategy,
whereas some of us don't. I think the key to this ultimately lies in Web-based devices.
There are few interesting experiments where organizations. In order--the Greater Kansas
Community Foundation has a Website for all of its donors. And the organization who wants
to be listed on the Website has to at least have the elements of what we've talked about.
They have to say, "What their goals are? How they would know--what their targets are? How
they would know if they were achieving it? And how did they do last year?" And you only
get listed if you have that. Well, Kansas City donors are becoming better informed,
and I think more demanding. So what used to be everybody being stuck, you can think of
as rising possibilities. So I think back for the individual philanthropist, is what you
can do even without giving away $100,000 a year.
>> So, in fact, to brainstorm just a bit on this last point. There are all of these charity
rating organizations. I'm blanking on the names of all of them. But that basically say
how efficient they are in X, Y, and Z. Would it be a useful exercise to figure out if you
could convince one of these, or one or more of these organizations to add additional criteria
so that in order to be--in order to be rated, you know, you get your four-star rating but
you also have to have your theory of change listed in one of these organizations. I'm
trying to figure out if there's anything individuals or an organization could do to prod these
charity rating organizations to do that. >> BREST: Well, that's something which we--we
actually have a small--as you know, we have a small program in philanthropy of the foundation.
And this is the probably the central thing we're working on. There is a rating organization
which, at the moment I think, does more harm than good called Charity Navigator. And it
just presents the financials, so it--you know, how much--what are your administrative cost?
What are your fund raising cost and--just looks so where you can get off the internal
revenue code returned, or the internal revenue return. Well, looking only in financials should
be looking and only at cost mainly, we'll be looking at one half of the balance sheet
as a business. In every single, you know, what are you doing this--make any difference.
You can be in an organization with very low cost and be doing zero in terms of whatever
your philanthropic outcomes are, or an organization with fairly high cost and just having a terrific
impact. The new head of Charity Navigator has said that he wants to move to more outcome-oriented
measures. And I think that's been a bit of peer pressure, it's been people like me and
others saying that they're harmful. We'll see where it goes. It's much easier to just
look at the metrics of the IRS return than it is to look at outcomes. And the non-profit
sector to me, you think its strategy--strategic philanthropy, you could put strategic anything.
I mean, strategy is strategy whether it's business, philanthropy, public policy. But
a lot of the sector doesn't think or doesn't know the concepts--not the vocabulary--and
the basic concepts of goal strategy feedback in the like. And it's odd, isn't it? Because
the same person who's running a non-profit organization, who can't tell you what their
goals are and how they're going to achieve it. If they're doing a home improvement project,
you know, they're building a new sun porch. It can basically do a strategy in this way.
So it's a matter, I think, of educating the organizations. And I think that the Web-based
services like this are going to make all the difference. Yes.
>> Hi. I have a question about risk. If you are strategizing about how to go about your
project and you discovered that the risk is extremely high, how do you--how do you work
through that in a sense of being able to solicit funds or making--or persuading people to come
to your cause if you know specifically that there is a high risk? And I know you're saying,
"Well, the payoff has to be extremely high." But how do you advance that argument? What--you
know--what has been your experience on addressing risk?
>> BREST: All right. So, in some ways, it could be that the non-profit sector has benefited
from the fact that nobody ever talks explicitly about what the risk is. And that, you know,
if you put your money into something and the organization says, "You know, there's only
one-in-a-hundred chance you will succeed. That may de-motivate people." Let me come
back to that respond. But then talk about the problem of de-motivation. But if you think
of--if you actually think about the charity that any of us do. But if you're giving to
a high school football team or to the San Francisco symphony, which the Hewlett Foundation
does, the latter, not the former, the risks are very low, right? And, you know, non-profit
arts organizations are in a lot of peril right now. But the San Francisco Symphony is going
to be here next year and your contribution to it is going to help. But think about work,
whether it's trying to reduce malaria in Africa or, you know, improve the environment in some
part of California. We put money into something which is, it doesn't seem all that risky,
which is improving air quality in the central valley, Fresno, and other areas where diesel
and other pollutions just makes it--makes people very sick. The work--because the work
is policy change and any work that involves policy change is high-risk. There's no assurance
that we're going to succeed or other foundations working in this are going to succeed. And
you can succeed and then there can be a setback, right? So that the economic problems of the
valley have resulted in what looked like we're on a trajectory to success suddenly being
cut because it costs money to reduce diesel pollution. I guess I think that this is maybe
more optimistic than realistic that if organizations are really candid about the risk, but also
what the potential returns are, that, that will create a conversation at a more--at a
higher and more realistic level. You know, every time somebody puts money into cancer
research or research on any disease, the likelihood that a particular research team is going to
come up with something is very low. You hope that enough people will put enough money into
different approaches. I just want to say one thing about--you know, I teach in my--I continue--I
used to be at Stanford. I continue to teach one course on judgment and decision making
in a public policy program. And the judgment decision making literature which as how people
actually--It's not the normative literature of how--you know, what a good model for decision
making is like and the expected returns, how do people actually make decisions, has sort
of some depressing thoughts for a strategic approach to philanthropy, which is when people
start being very cognitive rather than emotional about philanthropy, they give less. If you
want to--there's a depressing experiment where if you want people to give for hunger in Africa
and you show them a picture of one starving child, they'll give this much. If you show
this child and then give statistics about starving children, they will give less. So
it looks like it may actually involve different parts of your brain, and when the cognitive
rather than the emotional parts of the brain light up, you become less philanthropic. I
don't think that's an issue for philanthropy for foundations, especially where you're giving
away other people's money. But I--it's a little bit worrisome in terms of asking organizations
to be really articulate about their goals and their achievements. Go ahead.
>> Hi. Thanks for the talk. It's been very useful. I have an example--and there are few
examples like this of philanthropic projects where many of the steps seem to be kind of
not applicable. And so, I'm going to give the example of proposition eight, right? So
the goal is clear. The strategy is reasonably clear. There's an organization called "No
One Profit," and you would donate to them and they had a set of things they were planning
to do. There was actually no way to track progress. We have no unascertained date whether
you'd succeeded or you'd fail. And the risks are unknown, right? You don't know what the
chance of success is. How would the Hewlett Foundation think of a problem like that?
>> BREST: So, policy--a huge amount of the work we do involves policy change. And I think
you're right that with policy change, whether it's Prop 8 or Waxman-Markey which, a lot
of our grantees have been working on, you know, pass the house, the climate cap legislation,
risky in the Senate. Unlike the symphony or unlike feeding starving children, right? If
you're getting to a food bank, assuming the place is even halfway while running, you can
find out every additional dollar provides more food. And it's linear, or more or less
linear. With policy change--and you can think of prop--know on Prop 8 is being--I mean,
it is, it was attempt to influence policy not by a legislature but by the whole electorate.
It's not linear. So you can, you know, sometimes it's all or nothing. And you're going on this
level and you either win or lose. I think that grantee organizations can be more or
less smart about that. And that, again, this goes back to the question of how much individual
due diligence you can do. We ended up supporting the ACOU on this issue. And other foundations
we know supported other organizations based on their track record. That is how smarter
they are about advocacy. And they just--you know, so with respect to advocacy, you want
to ask if you have the time, you know, who are you, you know, what is your strategy,
who are you trying to reach, what voters are you trying to reach, how are you doing it?
And this year you had an interesting strategy for trying to get on college campuses, young
voters. And--but I think--let me--so, the answer is, it's really hard to quantify. And,
you know, Prop 8, sort of whichever side you were on, you may have thought it was so important
that no matter what the risks are, it was worth doing it. And in fact, you had enough
public opinion polls to know that the risk were seem to be roughly 50-50, right, because
I mean the electorate was pretty divided ahead of time. I mean, I think about the work we
do in climate--we're supporting in climate change where it has to pass the house. There's
also--I mean the bill has already been watered down in ways that some environmental advocates
think they'd rather not see it pass. I think that's wrong. You know, the ex-ante, the probability
of passing the house seemed, you know, lower than 58 percent. The probably of passing the
Senate seemed--and now seems pretty low. And of course, for those of you, probably everybody
in this room who knows how to do probabilities, you have to multiply it, right? So if there's,
you know, a 40 percent chance of passing the House and a 40 percent chance of passing the
Senate, then the overall chance is pretty low. So you have to decide it is really important.
But policy change requires a significant appetite for risk.
>> Okay. I think we're just about out of time now, so I want us to thank Paul one more time
for coming out and--well, Mr. Brest, thank you.
>> BREST: Thank you.


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Just this past week one of our hometown boys came home from Afghanistan. The problem with that is he is to be buried in two days.
21 year old James Finley was an Army Specialist. He and members of his company were hit by a suicide bomber. He is our hometown hero.
James' father is an associate pastor at the Baptist church here in town where they they will have the funeral.
It is a sad days for Lebanon,Missouri.
To the family of James: thank you for raising a great man. He went so that we all can live the life we do. Of course James did not make the decision that our military should be in the Middle East, he just followed orders. That is the basis of my point.
There is a church in Topeka, Kansas that has the gaul to call themselves Baptists and Christians. They preach hate.
The name of this church is Westboro Baptist. They have been in the news for protesting military hero's funerals. In my opinion, this is just WRONG! Theyt claim that God hates America and that is why service men are dying.
They have a website called Godhatesfags.com. I will put the link at the bottom. I think this group is picking the wrong town to come to. Most of us were taught that God is love. God can show no hate. He loves us, just not some of our ways.
Mr Phelps,pastor of Westboro, I hope you read this. Do you actually think that Jesus would go along with what you do?
We as a town are going to use solidarity to block your protest. No grieving family should have to see your hate.
Do you feel that anyone who dies-God hates. Be careful answering that until you read my other hubs.
My grandson was killed at 23 months old. God did not hate him.
Please call off coming to Lebanon, Missouri Westboro Baptist church--You will NOT LIKE your welcome.
I will put links here for you to go see these idiots for yourself.
Thanks honey. They are a sick bunch. Not all churches are this way.
After 4 years these people still keep getting away with this...I can not understand. I do dare say: "they are evil". Many people think that every church is the same. 1 John 3:10 says: "By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother."
Hi, very sorry to hear about that. Don't link to their websites or you are promoting their website.
It has come to my attention they are going to picket the boy scouts who died in the tornado---VERY SICK PEOPLE----THEY SHOULD BE PUT IN MENTAL FACILITIES.
Well,they didn't show--Our streets were lined with many many people all waving flags.
I am very glad this group rethought what they were about to do--I believe our city leaders threatened them with our local jail--great job Mr Mayor!!
The video does actually show them for the stupidity they show.
My condolences to the Finley family--your son is a hero and we thank you for your sacrifice.
Anyone who preaches hate are as bad as those the troops are fighting in Afghanistan!
What happened to defending the country against all enemies, foreign or domestic?
Just because there is free speech doesn't mean you have a right to incite hatred, does it?
I won't view the video links though because I feel that is just giving them more attention than they warrant.
From Canada, I am deeply saddened that in the freedom fought for by our brave military who put themselves in harms way, group like this one at Westboro dishonour those who suffer and mourn. How can such teaching be allowed to thrive and disrupt, disrepect families like this? Where is the accountability of this group to whatever denomination it belongs to? Thank you Froggy213 for standing up for the fallen hero in your town.
I am so proud of our community--the mayor has called for all businesses to close down and we are to line the streets to show our solidarity.
Thank you for all of your comments--I tried to put links first to the Patriot Guard and to our heros but they wouldn't take.Normally I wouldn't put links to hate groups such as this,but I feel people should see what these sick,deranged idiots are doing.If someone joins these groups be ready to burn for life everlasting.
I have heard of this group before and it is totally disgusting how they can call themselves christians! It is groups like this that turn so many from christianity today. Why would anyone want to be a part of such hatred? It is sad that other people think that all christians are this hateful but it isn't true. Calling yourself a christian doesn't make it so! And you are so right. God does NOT hate people. The bible even tells you to hate the sin, not the sinner. I have to wonder what this group of people are reading because KJV does not promote this type of hatred! I only hope that other people will see these people as the haters that they are rather than believing that they really are christians. And may God bless Patriot Guard and anyone else who works to protect families from this hatred as well!
This is a great hub exposing their true nature. When there was a mine explosion here in WV they decided that all people from here were fags. They said they were going to come here and protest the funerals of those killed in the explosion. What they didn't realize is that miners don't take crap from anyone. and if I recall correctly the state police said they wouldn't protect them.
Thanks for writing this hub and bringing this to everyone's attention.
What a shame that these people refuse to give a family peace to grieve for their loved one. Its disgusting. I would not include a single link to their organization as it will only give them the attention they want, and might help them enlist other members--just a suggestion. I didn't click on the links so I don't know what is contained in them.
My gosh, people are evil, I remember hearing something about this but I didn't realize how bad it was. I'm so over it.
I hope someone is reading this too!
Thank you Froggy213 for keeping us mindful of the many who would cloak themselves in a semblance of righteousness, and are not. This sort of thing is one of the reasons I am so adamant about studying the word of God for ourselves, so we are not duped into believing such nonsense. Good for you Froggy213, I wish to add my voice with yours and many others to condemn this disgraceful and ungodly behaviour.
this is a disgrace, i can't believe those people would protest at a soldier's funeral! and to think they call themselves christians...disgusting.
I is sad for all true Christians to have this man associated with Christiandom. Fred Phelps is definately NOT a follower of Christ. They came to SW Kansas to protest at the funerals of 5 teenage girls who were killed in car wreck. God bless the Patriot Guard who follow Phelps around and block Phelps and his fellow idiots (who are mostly his family members) from the funerals.
We had a similar "protest" planned for a funeral in Alabama quite a few months ago. It is incredible that a "church" and a "pastor" could be so hate filled. Their vitriol, as desert blondie says, is the true definition of sad and totally lacking in human understanding..let alone of a loving God. One thing to pass along to the town and family is that there are usually motorcycle gangs that will come to the funeral to "block" the protest from being viewed by the family and mourners. I think they are called the Patriot Guard Riders. It worked in Alabama. Best of luck to the family and friends of this fallen patriot. God Bless.
I'd heard of this group, that protests soldier's funerals, hadn't really grasped that they consider themselves a "church." How terribly terribly sad for the Finley's and all families that must endure this group's vitriol. And so good of you and your colleagues who are goint to do all you can to keep their protests from affecting this grieving family. thank you for bringing this issue to the attention of hubbers.


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Coetzee married phillipa jubber in 1963 and they had two children together, nicholas 1966 and gisela 1968 . 650I ULTRA. He relocated to australia in 2002 and lives in adelaide. Tony morphet was the first and best critic to understand the significance of dusklands, a new form of narration, a new way of.
Jm coetzee's official biography to hit shelves this summer, guardian, 21. But in disgrace he is intent on much more, and his art is as uncompromising as his main character, though infinitely more complex. It became apparent to me that there were heights that were attainable and that those could be reached by careful, quiet, slow work. In 2003 he was awarded the nobel prize in literature. Jm coetzee s work certainly fits him into the same mould as lurie, a man who has never been afraid to follow a thought down its winding track. Latest obituaries in dorothy west virginia, obituary listings by city and state.
At the opening of foe, susan barton washes up on the shore of a small rocky island, somewhere in the south seas, sometime in the early eighteenth century. He tries to share the message of how oppression, be it colonial. Litt, university of strathclyde, glasgow, 1985, jerusalem prize for the freedom of the individual in society, 1987, sunday express book of the year prize for age of iron, 1990, premio modello for the master of petersburg, 1994, irish times international fiction prize for the master of petersburg, 1995, booker. Coetzee won the 2003 nobel prize for literature. He writes his works in english, afrikaans and moved to australia in 2002 and became a citizen in 2006. Coetzee who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider. Never one to stray from controversy, i would like to offer up the idea of the author of disgrace being a racist and what's more, that david lurie's views of black south african people in the book are actually his own, coetzee, in refusing to engage in public discussions of his work, does not make his life, or the lives of his interested readers, any easier.
Search obituaries by state and city. Born in budapest and raised in san diego, her southern. Jm coetzee, the sleeves of his crisp white shirt rolled to the elbows, looks tired. Postcolonial feminism, silence and storytelling in j. In 1972, he returned to south africa and joined the faculty of the university of cape town. In one volume, jm coetzee's majestic trilogy of fictionalised memoir, boyhood, youth and from provincial life opens in a small town in the south africa of the 1940s. On 21 december 2012 acclaimed novelist and former uct professor of english literature jm coetzee visited the university to give a reading of his recent work. Coetzee, an interview in triquarterly 69, no.
If you have any unfortunate news that this page should be update with, please let us know using this form. B l premium this article is reserved for our subscribers. In 1999, the south african writer j.m. It is hard to believe a writer as adamantly modern as jm coetzee has reached an age venerable enough to warrant a volume such as this. After a short-lived, impulsive affair with a student, romance poetry teacher, david lurie resigns his position at cape town technical university and retreats to his.
J. M. Coetzee Biography, Childhood, Life Achievements.
Coetzee s new novel, disgrace, which is set in a violent post-apartheid south africa, david lurie, a cape town academic, reaches a similar conclusion when his daughter lucy is gang-raped by three black men at her isolated homestead in the eastern cape. The main characters of this fiction, cultural story are david lurie, lucy lurie. This might not matter so much if coetzee, 69, wasn t in danger of establishing a virtual stranglehold on the competition. But in foe, adventurous crusoe becomes weak-minded cruso without an e , civilized friday from a caribbean descent becomes a negro whose tongue was cut off and unable to speak. You are about to report this weather station for bad data. Born in cape town, south africa, on february 9, 1940, john michael coetzee studied first at cape town and later at the university of texas at austin, where he earned a. Disgrace was written afterwards of the new constriction that was done in south africa. Coetzee was born in south africa in 1940.
Coetzee how i learned about america -- and africa -- in texas 1984 coetzee wrote of the lessons he learned while at the university of texas in the 1960's. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. Kannemeyer, published by scribe on monday $39.99 , and which will be reviewed by geordie williamson in these pages next week. We learn that he gets his jollies out by visiting a prostitute named soraya once a week, and that while he fulfills his desires with her, the sex is missing that wow factor. His partner, dorothy driver, is an academic at the university of adelaide.

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London Gatwick Airport has unveiled the latest round of grants by the Gatwick Foundation Fund with £100,000 (US$130,000) awarded to 21 projects across the counties of Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
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Abi Aftalion, fundraising and development manager at St George's Community Children's Project, Tunbridge Wells, said, "At St George's Community Children's Project, we provide low cost childcare for vulnerable families who need our support.
Kangaroos, based in Haywards Heath, Sussex – a charity which provides fun, inclusive social and leisure activities for children and young adults with learning difficulties as well as physical, sensory, medical and behavioral difficulties.


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Home	TV	Arrowverse: What Stephen Amell, Grant Gustin & Others Were Known For
Arrowverse: What Stephen Amell, Grant Gustin & Others Were Known For
by Conor O'Brien 22nd June 2020
written by Conor O'Brien 22nd June 2020
The Arrowverse has existed since 2012, making stars of Stephen Amell, Grant Gustin and the other series leads. What were they doing before entering the world of DC Comics?
As any fan of DC television will know, the Arrowverse franchise began on The CW back in 2012 with "Arrow". Canadian actor Stephen Amell was cast as the titular hero, supported by an ensemble including Katie Cassidy, David Ramsey, Paul Blackthorne and Susanna Thompson. No one knew it at the time but this would become the start of an eight-year journey for Arrow as well as establishing a whole connected universe across the network.
Over the past six years, other shows such as The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Batwoman, Black Lightning and Stargirl have joined the ranks of the Arrowverse. Although many of the actors across all the series have become recognisable names and faces, perhaps none more so than the lead actors.
Each number 1 on the call sheet had worked professionally on earlier series but were not widely known. Some were more high-profile than others. Nonetheless, their new Arrowverse roles were their big breaks. Let's take a look at what they were up to before joining the franchise.
Stephen Amell – Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
Before becoming the Arrowverse's original vigilante, Stephen Amell had been acting professionally for almost a decade. Starting in his native Canada, Amell appeared in Degrassi: The Next Generation, Heartland, Flashpoint and Missing as well as being a regular in half-hour sitcom Rent-A-Goalie.
Making the move to the United States, Amell continued to pick up work. He guest-starred in numerous successful shows such as CSI: Miami, 90210, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The Vampire Diaries and New Girl. Before landing the role of Oliver Queen, Amell had a seven episode arc as "Scott Becker" on Private Practice.
Amell was cast as Oliver Queen in January 2012 and continually played the role for all eight seasons of Arrow, one of only two cast members to do so. He played Oliver for the final time in January 2020, when Arrow's finale aired.
Grant Gustin – Barry Allen/The Flash
Before becoming the Fastest Man Alive, Gustin was terrorising glee club New Directions on Fox's hit musical drama Glee. He played the role of Dalton Academy warbler Sebastian Smythe between 2011-2013. This was Gustin's breakthrough television role, having previously starred as "Baby John" in a Broadway production of West Side Story.
During his stint on Glee, Gustin also appeared in other projects. Namely, an episode of CSI Miami in which he guest-starred alongside Glee castmate Romy Rosemont (Carole Hudson, Finn's mother) and played a dual role as long-lost twins.
Gustin also appeared in multiple episodes of 90210 as "Campbell Price". Fun fact: his first episode on this show overlapped with the final appearance of future on-screen daughter Jessica Parker Kennedy, who would later play Nora West-Allen.
Gustin landed the role of Barry Allen, originally a guest character on Arrow, in September 2013. Gustin shares many personal connections with his series. He and co-star John Wesley Shipp were both born in Norfolk, Virginia in January. Shipp began playing an earlier version of The Flash in 1990, the year that Gustin was born.
Melissa Benoist – Kara Danvers/Supergirl
Much like Gustin, Melissa Benoist also got her start on Glee, where she played New Directions member Marley Rose between 2013-2014. Benoist joined the series as part of a newer group of club members, which also included Jacob Artist, Alex Newell and Becca Tobin.
She made her film debut in 2008, with Tennessee, starring Ethan Peck and Mariah Carey. Perhaps more notably, Benoist played the supporting character Nicole in Whiplash (2014), a film which won numerous Academy Awards including Best Supporting Actor for co-star JK Simmons.
Additional television appearances included stints on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Blue Bloods and Homeland, among others.
Benoist's casting as Supergirl was announced in January 2015. She continues to play the role to this day, with the series entering its sixth season in 2021.
Caity Lotz – Sara Lance
Caity Lotz, a former dancer, began her acting career in 2006. Her debut film role was Bring It On: All or Nothing, which starred Hayden Panetierre. In 2012, Lotz had the lead role in The Pact, a horror film directed by Nicholas McCarthy.
Furthermore, Lotz had a five-episode role on Mad Men, as Stephanie Horton. She also guest-starred in Dance 360 and Law & Order LA. In 2011, she played main character Kirsten Landry on Death Valley, which ran for only one season.
Lotz was originally cast for a recurring role on Arrow in 2013. However, she later became part of the spin-off Legends of Tomorrow from 2016. She's now one of two remaining cast members from the pilot.
Following the departures of co-stars such as Victor Garber, Arthur Darvill and Brandon Routh, Lotz's Sara Lance is unquestionably the lead character of Legends.
Cress Williams – Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning
Originally, Cress Williams' Black Lightning was not part of the extended Arrowverse, instead existing as its own entity. However, with Jefferson Pierce's role in Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Black Lightning character seems to be a fixture in this new iteration of the universe.
Before landing the superhero role, Williams played characters in a wide range of television series, including Friday Night Lights, Grey's Anatomy, Prison Break, ER and Hart of Dixie.
In addition to his television appearances, Williams had roles in films, namely Never Been Kissed, Fallen, Ball Don't Lie, Little Black Book and Lowriders.
In February 2017, Williams' casting as Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning was announced. He became the first African-American title character on The CW and later in the Arrowverse. The regular supporting cast includes China Anne McClain, Nafessa Williams, James Remar and Jordan Calloway.
Ruby Rose – Kate Kane/Batwoman
Although Ruby Rose's departure from the role of Batwoman has already been confirmed, she is still the incumbent actress until a recast is announced.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, actress and model Rose worked for MTV Australia. Rose has also been a television host, with her work in this field including Australia's Next Top Model and The Project.
Rose's acting roles prior to Batwoman include the films John Wick: Chapter 2, Pitch Perfect 3, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and XXX: Return of Xander Cage. Her big break came with her performance as Stella Carlin in the third season of Orange Is the New Black, released on Netflix.
Rose's casting as Batwoman was made public in August 2018. Her departure, announced in May 2020, comes ahead of the show's as-of writing forthcoming second season.
Brec Bassinger – Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl
The newest (and youngest) actor on this list, Brec Bassinger was no stranger to being a series lead. This was long before she ever acquired Stargirl's Cosmic Staff or distinctive outfit. Between 2015 and 2016, Bassinger starred in the title role of Bella and The Bulldogs, a Nickelodeon sitcom. The creators of that series, Gabriel Garza and Jonathan Butler, now write for The Flash.
Bassinger has also appeared in The Haunted Hathaways, The Goldbergs, School of Rock and The Loud House. She played a leading role in the Hulu series All Night and has appeared in Status Update (direct-to-DVD), 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (feature film) and Liar, Liar, Vampire (television movie).
Although the series premiered in May 2020, Bassinger was announced as Stargirl back in September 2018, being the first actor cast for the series. Bassinger's character, Courtney Whitmore, is named for and inspired by creator Geoff Johns' younger sister, who died in a plane crash in 1996.
The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Batwoman and Stargirl are all airing on The CW. Additionally, Stargirl airs a day earlier on DC Universe, a subscription service.
Follow writer Conor O'Brien on Twitter and Instagram – @CourageousConor
Conor O'Brien
Conor is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Courageous Nerd, who has conducted several interviews as well as having written articles, features, and reviews. He enjoys watching a variety of content, although his preferences are often science-fiction, fantasy, or horror. Conor also finds it weird to be writing in third-person.
'Love, Victor': Will More 'Love, Simon' Characters Return For Hulu Series?
Stargirl Season 2: Will Neil Jackson's Jordan Mahkent/Icicle Stay?
Anya Taylor-Joy: Life and Career before The Queen's...
DC's Stargirl Season 2: Where You've Seen The...
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Dallas Hart on acting, music, and Greenhouse Academy...
Olivia Benson: Courageous Nerd Hall of Fame
John Yorke discusses 'Into The Woods', EastEnders, Shameless...
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All Creatures Great and Small: Meet the 2020 cast
Schitt's Creek: Main Characters, Ranked
Stargirl: Is Mike Dugan from DC Comics?
John Stamos: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Full House's Uncle Jesse
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A new version of the "acpi poweroff fix". People who were having trouble with ACPI poweroff, please test and report.
Dropped - might have been wrong.
md: make raid5 and raid6 robust against failure during recovery.
hw watchdog vs softdog fix.
allow vma merging with mlock et. al.
Log full of "ing_filter: fixed ippp2 out ippp2"


Koa is a Node.js-based web application and API framework that offers an expressive, robust foundation. Designed by the same team that designed Express.js, Koa leverages generators so that developers may eschew callbacks and improve error handling. Unlike similar frameworks, Koa does not use middleware within its core, and as a result has an especially small footprint. Instead Koa-based applications are objects that contain an array of middleware generator functions. Developers can compose and execute these functions in a stack-like manner by request. Common tasks include proxy support, content negotiation, redirection, and cache freshness.
With the AppDynamics platform you can monitor, troubleshoot and diagnose performance issues in your Node.js applications built on the Koa framework – in real time, and in production.


I was approached by Baker Days to review one of their cakes. When I first got the request I couldn't think of any reason or occasion I would need a cake delivered to my front door (yes I hear you, a fat girl actually questioning why someone would want to send her cake and right on her door step.) Well I thought long and hard and thought it would make an amazing present for my brother. With his 21st coming up and due to commitments I wasn't able to get home for it, so I asked the amazing staff at Baker Days would it be okay to send to him it.
I sent off the cake design I wanted along with the images and the text, and within about a day they had confirmed the cake. I then received an email to confirm it was being sent and the very next day my mum called to say it had arrived. The whole process was the most easiest, stress free experience I have ever had. I can not praise the company enough for how efficient they were.
Both my mum and brother were over the moon when it was revealed at the party. My brother even shred a tear and couldn't be thankful enough for such a special personal present. When I was sent the pictures, I really couldn't believe my eyes at how professional and amazing it looked either. Everyone at the party commented and all thought the idea was ingenious.
I can't recommend Baker days enough, especially if your looking for that one off special present for a loved one.


text:
Rent controls that aren't so tough landlords sell up?
by Property118.com News Team
10:08 AM, 17th September 2019, About 3 years ago 6
The Fabian Society, a left wing but not Marxist think tank, has released new research claiming private renters support for rent controls is motivated by more than just saving money, but also to tackle insecurity and unfair treatment. However, renters want rent controls that make a difference, but that aren't so tough on landlords that they feel forced to sell-up.
Is this a mutually compatible set of objectives in the real world?
The Report is titled Beyond affordability: What tenants want from rent controls. Click here to download.
It is published in partnership Shelter
Beyond Affordability, lays out a framework for politicians seeking to implement a rent control policy. It presents the priorities and concerns of renters themselves, gathered through a series of six in-depth focus groups held across England. The report is published amidst growing political attention to the policy, with both the UK Labour party and London Mayor Sadiq Khan committed to the policy.
The key lessons in the report include:
There is strong support for rent controls among the tenants we spoke to. They want the policy to address the key problems they face: insecurity, powerlessness and high rents.
Fairness and security are higher priorities than saving money. Renters aren't motivated simply by a desire to reduce the cost of their rent. They prioritise having fair and transparent rules for the level of rent; a chance for greater security in their home; and a system that is fair for both tenants and landlords.
Renters are pragmatic and worried about unintended consequences. They want a rent control policy that goes far enough to make a noticeable difference, but are concerned by unintended consequences such as any proposals causing landlords to sell up. To win support for any rent control plans, politicians must think through implementation and take steps to mitigate any adverse impacts on private renters themselves.
Renters want rent controls to be part of a wider package. The problems in the private rented sector go far beyond the level of rent and tenants want action on a range of issues including social housing.
Report co-author and Fabian Society deputy general secretary Olivia Bailey said:
"Well designed rent controls can tackle rising costs and falling standards in the private rented sector. But politicians must base their plans on the views of renters themselves.
"Tenants want rent controls to enhance their security and make the system fairer. They want help with soaring costs but are worried about slashing rents which could risk landlords selling up.
"A policy that offers fairness, security and stable rents will command support at the ballot box and give millions of people the comfort and security of an affordable, decent home."
Greg Beales, campaigns director of Shelter, commented:
"Many of the country's 11 million private renters are feeling the full force of the housing crisis and there's no doubt they need a fairer deal. We hear from people every day who, despite working every hour they can, constantly struggle to cover their rent.
"Rent controls are used around the world to give tenants predictable and stable rents, which allow renters to plan for the future and feel secure in their homes. This report shows an appetite among renters here for sensible rent control proposals, and demonstrates how they could be viable for policymakers.
"But any form of rent control must always work for those hit hardest by affordability pressures. And, as this research shows, no form of rent control can be hailed as a magic cure. Any scheme must sit alongside a clear government commitment to build the 3 million social homes this country needs, to solve the housing emergency once and for all."
Denise G
10:33 AM, 17th September 2019, About 3 years ago
do they have an actual evidence that there's a fall in standards in privately rented accommodation?
ahloughlin@gmail.com
I just raise rents by latest RPI, it is simple and clear to both sides. All my tenants seem happy with this as it is a known figure with no ambiguity
Monty Bodkin
Reply to the comment left by Denise G at 17/09/2019 - 10:33
"Do they have an actual evidence that there's a fall in standards in privately rented accommodation?"
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/774820/2017-18_EHS_Headline_Report.pdf
Across all tenures, the proportion of non-decent homes declined between 2007 and 2017
Michael Barnes
17:11 PM, 17th September 2019, About 3 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Monty Bodkin at 17/09/2019 - 11:09
That is proportion, not number.
if you build 100,000 new homes, they are going to be decent.
The non-decent homes are still there, but the proportion drops. Indeed the number of non-decent homes could increase but the proportion still drop.
7:28 AM, 18th September 2019, About 3 years ago
Reply to the comment left by Michael Barnes at 17/09/2019 - 17:11
The number can be extrapolated from the survey.
Either way, standards aren't falling in the rented sector.
12:43 PM, 23rd September 2019, About 3 years ago
Don't know why they are worrying themselves with this rubbish - the jig is up, start building pods.
Esther McVey speech on supply and demand side housing policy
Does Multi occupancy/HMO affect property value?


text:
Scientists worried about Greenland's melting ice
NASA scientists are worried about record ice loss in Greenland as they study the dramatic effects of climate change.
Greenland's ice has been melting faster and faster in the last decade. Experts blame global warming.
NASA is tracking how arctic temperature change is affecting weather all around the globe.
"When the ice sheet loses ice it goes back into the ocean and raises sea levels. But for sea ice the story is a little bit different. Sea ice collects snow on it and it makes it very reflective to the sun's light. But as that sea ice shrinks it exposes more of the dark ocean water and that ocean water then warms up and it warms up the overlying air," said NASA scientist Nathan Kurtz.
More: climate.nasa.gov/evidence


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For several of us travel is generally for pleasure, so that we are unlikely to associate travel with difficult labor or torture. The airline should submit the charge beneath the appropriate merchant code, market code, or required service or product identifier for the charge to be recognized as an incidental air travel fee. Travel is accessible to organizations, organizations and folks who supply or plan to offer goods, services or content in the travel and tourism business. Booking a rental vehicle anyplace in the globe couldn't be simpler with Travelocity. Connect with a Platinum Travel Counselor for a custom itinerary or tailored suggestions.
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text:
Mike DeAngelo
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Writers: Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken, Damien Chazelle
Stars: John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr.
Review By Mike DeAngelo:
It's difficult to review a movie where one should know as little as possible going in to it. There aren't a lot of major studio films that have the luxury of mystery due to the insane amount of marketing that's thrown behind 95% of their releases. Look at Batman V. Superman, for example. Their marketing approach is about a subtle as a hammer to the face. They want to spoon feed the audience the entire plot, so they can know exactly what to expect going into the movie. I understand what they have invested in the film and how much they need it to succeed, but this approach drives me a bit batty (pun intended). It takes away a lot of the wonder that one can experience in the theater.
Like them or not, J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot know how to market a damn movie. From something as small as the first Cloverfield to the massive Star Wars: The Force Awakens, they reveal only what they need to intrigue an audience and nothing more. With Star Wars, they gave you glimpses of moments here and there, but revealed basically nothing in the process. The marketing preserved the mystery for the theatrical experience, and was a breath of fresh air compared to other blockbusters in the last 10-20 years. But, it wasn't anything new - J.J. has been doing this for a long time. The first time I remember seeing what's been lovingly referred to as "The J.J. Abrams Mystery Box Approach," I was sitting in a theater waiting for some movie I can't remember and the trailer for Cloverfield came on – in fact, they didn't even reveal the title. Only 1/18/08 – the release date. Here's how effective that trailer was – I didn't just look that date up. I remember it specifically because of the trailer. I have a terrible memory. I can't remember certain family member's birthdays most years, but I remember 1/18/08 because the trailer etched it into my damn brain with only a few mysterious hints at what was to come and nothing more. I think I liked the marketing more than the actual movie – and I'm a fan of the movie. (Check out the first trailer for the original Cloverfield movie below!)
Imagine my surprise when, after years of J.J. Abrams saying that there was no Cloverfield sequel in the works, the 10 Cloverfield Lane trailer pops up out of nowhere – not only that, it was less than a mere couple months before release. The Mystery Box returns – and with a Cloverfield sequel! Huzzah!
So, after all of this marketing babble, did the mystery box deliver again? The answer is a complicated yes and no. 10 Cloverfield Lane is a pretty damn good movie, but it's almost done a disservice by its inherent relation to the first Cloverfield movie. Just having Cloverfield in the title both telegraphs some of the twists and misleads at the same time. That's not to say that there are zero surprises to be had – there are some genuine shocks, but they are softened by the title.
In some ways the movie feels like a reaction to the criticism of the first Cloverfield. Hated the shaky cam? Gone! Hated the spoiled brats that refused to listen to logic? Gone! Hated the corny love story? Blammo! Be gone!
As many reviews are mentioning, every actor brings their A-game for this one. John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr. all do a phenomenal job not only bringing the characters to life, but making them very human. Some are saying that John Goodman deserves Oscar recognition for the role. While his performance is top-notch, I think the movie hinges on Mary Elizabeth Winstead's performance more than anything – and she nails it. Not only does her character have a wonderful arc, but she's another welcome addition to the modern badass/smart/real female roles that have been cropping up in action movies lately.
Now let's try to discuss the last 10-15 minutes without spoilers…this should be fun. If you've yet to see it and want to go in completely clueless, i'd turn back now. I'm going to avoid spoilers, but there are some structural spoilers that are unavoidable in the discussion of the film's final act.....
Still here? OK! All I can say is that the movie shifts so jarringly that it's hard to reconcile it in your head. It's a completely different movie – a movie that I would also see, but a big change, nonetheless. Not that the change is all that shocking, it just slaps you in the face with how quickly the previous hour and change is abandoned for a very different kind of movie. Again, it's not that I hated the last 15 minutes, I just feel like it was a bit unnecessary. I personally would have kept the original scripted ending that's floating around the web, as it feels smaller and more in line with the movie that came before.
Overall, the film is a very tense, well-acted, and well-made piece of cinema. Director Dan Trachtenberg should be proud of his debut feature film, and will no doubt have a very fruitful career in Hollywood. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller. Just try to eliminate any expectation of a significant connection to its namesake and you should enjoy it just fine.
In the words of a great man, that's all I have to say about that…
OVERALL RATING: 8/10 Mystery Boxes
Newer PostMAN OF STEEL
Older PostThe Wave (Bølgen)


The introduction of drywall has fully modified the way in which inside wall finishing was performed. It finishes interior wall and reduces development time significantly. Drywall is popularly often called wall board, gypsum board or plasters board and is used to make inside walls and ceilings. The most necessary parameter which is taken into consideration while installing drywall is its dimension and thickness. In the field of interior wall decorations, a drywall is a revolutionized method.
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Page 39 - Challengesofaging | Amazing Your Home Ideas Contemporary Dining Table. Outdoor Up Lighting. Brass Console Table.
best home design ideas, like Contemporary Dining Table. Outdoor Up Lighting. Brass Console Table.


Ugh, look at all that syntax.
Nice(r) type system (than C++ and Java). I'll stick with multimethods though.
Concurrency semantics, hmmm... Shared mutable memory between threads? I think I'll stick with Clojure for now thanks.
It has anonymous functions and closures and sort-of first-class functions? Good. Welcome to the 1960's.
Compared to a Lisp, this language looks indistinguishable to C, Perl, Python, Java etc. It looks like such a small incremental improvement (if it even is an improvement). Yet another imperative, for-loop-wielding, curly-brace-using, pointer-mangling, state-mutating, OOP language.
In fact via Reddit today I read this awesome post to a mailing list which compares Go with ALGOL68, and it gave me a would-you-look-at-that moment. Once you learn a few languages that are significantly different from ALGOL derivatives, all ALGOLish languages start to look eerily similar. Are we really stuck with ALGOL-derived languages being the only viable mainstream languages for all time? How much polish can we possibly apply to the same turd?
Then I realized, I'm turning into a Lisp snob. : ( Learning a Lisp apparently does spoil you for the rest of time. I am without a basis to judge whether this language will be a successful replacement of anything. All I know is I probably won't use it. Honestly I'm much more excited about new things on the horizon in Clojure. And I still have getting better at Haskell on my TODO list.
Great post. It all begs the question of why google doesn't just use lisp? C has been the mind crack of programming, once a coder starts with it, they never give it up.
ps-I saw Jesus on my curtains.
I think the reason is that lisp isn't used is typing. There is the perception that a systems language would need to have static typing and there isn't (please correct me if I'm wrong) a stand-out statically-typed lisp.
Haskell has static typing and is even more concise than lisp. It doesn't have macros, but there are several language extensions (template haskell) that provide that sort of functionality. One of then will no doubt be included in the next version of haskell coming out next year.
@Joe: Awesome. Say hi for me.
@Dan: Finally made me register over there, way to go.
@Alex: Yeah Haskell is a great language too. I'd hesitate to say it's more concise than Lisp. Fewer characters per line maybe (thanks to all the punctuation operators and point-free stuff). But Haskell still has a lot of boilerplate; Lisp can be made essentially boilerplate-free. Admittedly I haven't tried Haskell macros / templates.
You bring up some nice points. I really liked the mailing list post.
"Great post. It all begs the question of why google doesn't just use lisp? C has been the mind crack of programming, once a coder starts with it, they never give it up."
Google probably doesn't use Lisp for a number of reasons. Foremost, there exists no really good implementation of Lisp. Common Lisp is a mess with its Lisp 2.0 stuff (they treat functions and variables differently), Clojure runs on the JVM, which results in some weird syntax in places and it's a ball and chain no one really wants to deal with. The Scheme world is unbelievably fragmented. In addition, whilst Lisp is a "multi-paradigm" language, it is most beautiful and most powerful when used functionally. Currently, most of, if not all Google's software engineers are primarily versed in imperative and OO programming. Retraining them to code functionally would be tedious and expensive.
"I think the reason is that lisp isn't used is typing. There is the perception that a systems language would need to have static typing and there isn't (please correct me if I'm wrong) a stand-out statically-typed lisp."
Types are not the issue. Lisp can be made to have a strong static type system (see ftp://ftp.cs.utexas.edu/pub/boyer/diss/akers.pdf).
I tire of the fad that is Haskell. It is definitely an interesting SML/Miranda derivative with some nice properties (lazy evaluation can be good... sometimes), but it is not the end-all-be-all of functional programming. Most Haskell programmers I have met don't actually have the slightest clue about the "advantages" of a purely functional language, nor are they capable of explaining what a monad is (which is central to the language's purity). They're fanboys riding the propaganda bandwagon and it's just plain annoying. Further, not to make this a language war, but suggesting Haskell in place of a Lisp is comparing apples to oranges. In Lisp, code is data and data is code. This concept is completely absent in languages like Haskell, Clean, SML, etc.
It seems you (as well as several other people) can only imagine a future with Haskell or Lisp syntax as if anything else is inferior. I find that to be foolish and immature.
Go was specifically designed to be a systems language, period. Lisp was never designed as so, and perhaps that is why its hardly used as a systems language today. Personally, I like Lisp, Haskell, and Python but I also know C is a great systems language even though its not perfect and its a bit passed its prime. Thus Go seems to be a good progression from the C/C++ family (I never really saw Java being a systems language but that's my opinion).
Anyway, I agree I think you're becoming a bit of a lisp snob. It might suit you to be a bit more open minded and objective. Even if you don't fully understand the design of Go, you should be able to understand that it was designed by people who have credible experience and skill in designing languages and systems. And sorry to spoil things for you, but the last thing I can imagine is Clojure being the next systems language.
Your post essentially is a brief comparison of a selection of fruits without much substance.
"That's why I reserve the right to match the language to the problem, and even - often - to coordinate software written in several languages towards solving a single problem."
Personally I think LISP is the ugliest functional programming language, and I've used ML, Haskell, LISP and Erlang.
"Go was specifically designed to be a systems language, period. Lisp was never designed as so,"
Wat? Sorry, Lisp was absolutely a systems language for two decades or so, occupying a position for Lisp Machine hardware similar to C for C Machine hardware ("Unix boxes").
It all begs the question of why google doesn't just use lisp?
No one has brought up the most straightforward explanation. Google is much like any other Java/Web 2.0 cube farm: armies of wage slaves engaged in pyramid-building drudgery, though with above-average pay, plush armchairs, and free lunches.
"The interchangeable component model of software engineers seemed to work reasonably well there. It's just not a business model in which I wish to be involved, at least not on the component-provider side. So after a year at Google I quit and returned to JPL."
Erann Gat: "Lisping at JPL"
It's not snobbish to identify ALGOL descendants, nor is it snobbish to point out, as McCarthy did, that "Ruby still isn't up to where Lisp was in 1960".