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Campaign financial disclosure forms: Looking at county election coin
So, I spent some time looking over the campaign financial disclosure statements that were due Friday, and, well, some folks either didn't bother to turn them. That said, they could also have sent them in registered mail so long as they're postmarked. And before anyone starts blaming Elections Administrator Cliff Rodgers, don't. He runs a pretty tight ship over there.
Anyhoo, these statements cover the period of July 1, 2013 through Jan. 15. For this entry I'm focusing only on the non-partisan school board races and some of the bigger county seats. Also note that for the most part I'm only jotting down numbers for candidates who have actually turned in nominating petitions (except in a few cases where it's a given that they're going to run or seek re-election).
I'll hit up some of the other races later.
Also, keep in mind that there are some people who have raised quite a bit of coin and have probably tapped the well at this point, and there are others who haven't even begun to rake in the bucks.
These are early numbers and don't mean a whole lot (except in a few real obvious cases that I'll let you figure out).
The county primary is set for May with an August general election. (For the purposes of this post, whichever candidate has the most money gets listed first. Also, unless noted, all candidates are Republicans except in the school board races, which are non-partisan, although, they're probably mostly Republicans, too.)
Incumbent Gloria Deathridge: Didn't raise anything during the current reporting period but had $1,900 on hand before spending $673, which brings her to a little more than $1,221.
Marshall Walker: Didn't file one.
Absher: Raised $163 and spent $15
Jeffrey "Scott" Clark: Standing at zero with no activity
Terry Hill: Raised $10,650, including what looks like $6,000 in loans to herself, and spent $1,100. A couple donors of note are Steve Hill, Cathy Ackerman and Cindy Buttry. If you don't know who they are, I can't help you. Heh.
Bradley Buchanan: Raised $400 (including a $200 loan) and spent $25
Tamara Shepherd: Didn't file one.
R. Larry Smith raised $17,500, increasing his bank roll, which already included coin from his days on the commission, to just under $27,720.
Patti Lou Bounds raised and spent a big goose egg.
District 9 seat
Amber Rountree collected a whopping $100.
UPDATE: Incumbent Pam Trainor turn one in or the election commission but doesn't have to at this point. She closed out her last report with no money in the band and didn't appoint a treasurer until after Jan. 15, so she gets a pass, according to election stud Cliff Rodgers.
Incumbent Jimmy "J.J." Jones: The Man with the Badge boasts a "who's Who of Donors" that is just too long to list, so click right smack here for the names. Jones raised $142,630 this period. Combine that with the $51,244 he already had in the treasure chest and the $24,390 he spent, and he's left with ONLY $169,500.
Bobby Waggoner: Has $16,577 on hand after raising $20,158 and spending $3,581. His report is right smack here.
Charles "Sam" Hammett: He's got $175 in folding paper on hand. His numbers are here.
Incumbent Tim Burchett: The big dog doesn't have much in the tank right now, but that's not going to matter as there isn't anyone – ANYONE – in this county that will beat him for the county mayor's seat. And you can take that one to the bank. (So long as he's paying attention this time around.) Burchett currently has $2,940 on hand. On his last report he had $3,340. This time around he added $1,500 but spent almost $1,900. Here's his coin report right smack here.
CRIMINAL COURT CLERK
Incumbent Joy McCroskey: She didn't raise any money this time around but had $6,354 in the chest and spent $820, so she's down to $5,534
Mike Hammond: Hammond raised $2,500 this period but also transferred his commission coin – a total of $2,672 – into the pot. He then spent $4,050 on stuff like stickers, yard signs and a big ole kickoff party at Calhoun's on the River, so now he's got $1,120.
Ed Shouse: Easy Ed has almost $14,600 on hand. He raised $14,375 this go-around, which he combined with another $2,200 from his time on the commission, and then reduce that by almost $2,000 in expenditures, and, well, you get the math.
Incumbent Craig Leuthold: Leuthold has $8,075 on hand right now. He raised $8,828 this period but spent $7,430. Still, he had $6,675 in the bank from his time on the county commission. More than a couple thousands in donations came from family members.
James Berrier, a Democrat: He didn't file one.
Posted by Mike Donila at 9:58 PM 1 comment:
Labels: A bunch of elected officials, anyhoo, Cliff Rodgers, Elections
Hundreds of sex offenders living within 1,000 feet of bus stops
North Knoxville students returning home from school
Hundreds of registered Knox County sex offenders, including those convicted of molesting, raping and abusing minors, live in areas that parents say is dangerously close to where their children congregate: school bus stops.
"It's disturbing," said Stephen Buie, whose son attends fourth grade at Spring Hill Elementary. "It's disturbing to know that there's pedophiles (that close to) children."
A WBIR 10News investigation found that of the county's almost 600 known sex offenders, roughly 260 of them live within 1,000 feet of the stops, and many live within walking distance of multiple ones. State law, however, only restricts sex offenders whose victims were minors from knowingly living or working within 1,000 feet of schools, day care centers, parks or playgrounds.
Tennessee, unlike some other Southeastern states, does not require a buffer zone between sex offenders and bus stops. And local school officials, who oversee a district of some 57,700 students, say they don't even chart where sex offenders live when creating bus routes and schedules each year.
You can read the entire story and check out the video report right here.
Posted by Mike Donila at 8:08 AM No comments:
Labels: WBIR
Buchanan seeks District 6 BOE seat
Info from another Knox County Board of Education candidate, this one from Brad Buchanan, who is running for the 6th District seat current occupied by Thomas Deakins, who is not seeking re-election.
We are delighted to announce that Bradley (Brad) Buchanan is running for the District 6 Board of Education (BOE) seat. Several things set Brad apart and make him the obvious choice for the position.
Brad and his wife are the proud parents of four children. Two attend Amherst Elementary and their oldest is at Karns Middle School, both District 6 schools. Their youngest will soon enough be following in his older sisters' footsteps. Having children currently in Knox County schools provides a unique perspective. Brad has first-hand knowledge of policy changes, testing schedules, testing anxiety, and educational shifts.
Brad is currently a Senior Systems Architect for a great local company, but he started his professional career in the classroom. Prior to earning his MS in Computer Science he completed his MEd in Secondary Education specializing in Business Education. Brad taught business and computer classes in high school for 4 years and then taught 2 additional years at the collegiate level. Brad remains closely linked to education through his wife of nearly 20 years. She has taught for 15 years, the last 9 years with Knox County Schools.
Brad has a true respect for educators and public education. He values educators as the true professionals they are. Brad believes that as much funding as possible should directly touch the students. This means that money should be spent on services, personnel and items that directly impact the students' education and not routed around them to a top heavy central office or private companies. Brad also feels that teachers should TEACH and not be tied to restrictive frameworks and punitive systems that hinder their ability to reach their diverse populations.
Brad has been meeting with parents, educators, principals, and students to listen and learn about concerns and successes among their schools. As your District 6 BOE representative, Brad would be committed to being a true voice for the students, educators, and parents.
Buchanan at this point will face Tamara Shepherd and Terry Hill in the May primary. In addition, Sandra Rowcliffe and Ronald Hennen also have picked up nominating petitions but haven't turned them in yet.
The general election is set for August and the top two vote-getters in the primary will move on. The BOE races are non-partisan.
As always, send me your elections stuff and I'll post it.
Posted by Mike Donila at 9:11 AM 1 comment:
Labels: Elections, Knox County School Board
Task force to look into BEP funding
Yesterday, the Tennessean posted an article by Chas Sisk (who is a bad a$$ state reporter but not as bad a$$ as my guy Tom Humphrey) that said Gov. Big Bill has formed a task force to study the state's Basic Education Program, or BEP, funding to schools.
Sisk notes that the formula, which factors in enrollment, tax revenues and school staffing, was last adjusted in 2007. (I know some folks don't want to hear this, but you can thank for then-county Mayor Mike Ragsdale for that.)
The move is good news for the Big Four counties as they'll more than likely get some more coin.
Last year Knox County received almost $172 million, but Knox is considered a "donor" county, meaning it turn into a lot more – about $40 million in sales taxes – than it gets back.
That could change.
"The students don't get that money – it gets distributed to other schools across the state," Knox County Finance Director Chris "Money Bags" Caldwell told me today. "But this has always been a fight between the rural and urban counties."
He said that seven years ago, the state formed what essentially has been dubbed BEP 2.0. He said Knox County – if it was fully funded under 2.0 – should have received an additional $20 million. It didn't. Caldwell, who was out buying ties yesterday because the county is closed and wasn't near his finance books, said he believed it jumped "about $10 to 15 million" at the time.
The task force will report back to the governor at the end of the year.
UPDATE: Ha ha. Randy Neal weighs in. Apparently the task force already exists.
Posted by Mike Donila at 1:00 PM No comments:
Labels: Chris Caldwell, Gov. Bill Haslam, Mike Ragsdale
Robert Taylor talks about sacrifices, dedication to his school students
I'm willing to bet that there is absolutely no one - no one - in that educational ivory tower who has sacrificed like Robert Taylor, a special education teacher for the past eight years at Amherst Elementary School, has.
I met Taylor awhile back when I was working on a story regarding the school system. I've got a pretty good BS meter. This guy is genuine, the real deal.
The following is from Monday's form the Knox County Commission hosted to listen to teachers talk about some of the problems they face from the school system.
Posted by Mike Donila at 7:50 AM 2 comments:
Labels: Knox County Commission, Knox County School Board, Robert Taylor
Stokes campaign ad touts experience
Billy Stokes' campaign for Knox County Circuit Court Judge (Division 1) released its first Internet advertisement (I guess this is the second – heh) called "Experience." The add, according to a release "exclusively details Bill's Knoxville roots, 30 years of trial experience, and dedication to the people of Knox County."
You can find it right smack here, and you can find the full release and script right here.
As always, send me your political stuff and I'll post it. Maybe. Heh.
The county primary is set for May with the general elections in August.
In addition to Stokes, Ray Jenkins, Kristi Davis and William "Bill" Ailor, all Republicans, also have picked up nominating petitions to run for the seat.
Labels: Bill Ailor, Billy Stokes, Elections, Kristi Davis, Ray Jenkins
Jones, Knight raised a TON of coin
Well, the Man with the Badge turned in his campaign financial disclosure forms today and he might need a new nickname: Sheriff Money Bags!
Jimmy "J.J." Jones has apparently raised some $169,400 in his bid for re-election. He faces Robert "Bobby" Waggoner and Charles "Sam" Hammett Jr. in the May Republican primary.
Democrat Tracy "T.A." Clough also has taken out a nominating petition to run for the seat but hasn't turned it in. So, too, has Donald Wiser, an Independent. But, Wiser also took out a nominating petition to run for the Register of Deeds seat, so I wouldn't take that one too seriously. Heh.
The general election, which – come on, let's face it, it's really over after the Republican primary – will be held in August.
The disclosure forms are due Friday, but, technically, they can be late or pretty much filed whenever you like, because it's not like the state Ethics Committee, which is supposed to punish such ne'er-do-wells, actually has any guts.
Additionally, I'm also hearing that Charme Knight, a Republican and the only candidate so far to run for the open District Attorney General seat, has raised about $120,000 in folding paper.
Now, you're not going to find any of this on the election site right now, because the office is closed. So, check back tomorrow.
In the meantime, it appears that Jones isn't done raising money. He also has plans to host a meet-and-greet/minor fundraiser/pizza party on April 15 at the Expo Center. The event is designed to boost his election base.
Note that April 16 is the first day of early voting.
As always, send me your campaign stuff and I'll post it.
Labels: Bobby Waggoner, Charme Knight, Elections, Ethics Committee, Sheriff Jimmy JJ Jones, Sheriff's Office
BOE campaign kickoffs for this week
A couple of campaign kickoffs to mention:
Sally Absher, who is running for the 4th District School Board seat, will hold her first campaign shindig from 5 to 7 tonight at Calhoun's on Bearden Hill. Her slogan, according to her flyer, is "a voice for students, teachers, parents, and taxpayers." She notes that contributions are appreciated.
Absher is expected to face incumbent Lynne Fugate and Jeffrey "Scott" Clark" in the election. In addition, Laurel Alford has picked up a nominating petition to run, but hasn't turned it in.
Terry Hill, who is running for the 6th District School Board seat, will host her first shindig on Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Barrington Subdivision Clubhouse on 5716 Bridgehampton Drive.
Her campaign email to me this morning noted that she's been campaigning for several months, meeting with parents, teachers, principals and business leaders.
Hill said she is running "to bring real ideas and real solutions to the challenges facing public education in Knox County."
"Together we can make sure our children receive the education they deserve while providing the taxpayers the return on investment they deserve," she added.
Hill is expected to face Bradley Buchanan and Tamara Shepherd in the elections. In addition, Ronald Hennen and Sandra Rowcliffe have picked up nominating petitions to run for the seat, but haven't turned 'em in.
The county primaries are set for May, and the top two vote getters in school board races will move on to the August elections. The school board races are non-partisan.
As always, send me your campaign stuff and I'll post it, so long as you return my calls if you win. Heh.
Jenkins for judge sets Feb. 7 kickoff
Got this in the email today:
The campaign of Ray Jenkins for Judge of the Knox County Circuit Court, Division I announced its official Kickoff event is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 7 at the Downtown Crowne Plaza from 5-7 p.m. Light hors d'oeuvres will be served. Contributions welcome but not required.
"We are looking forward to a big turnout and a great night of fellowship with friends and supporters. This is First Friday, so come out and celebrate with us and then enjoy First Friday in downtown Knoxville," Jenkins, a Republican, said in a statement today. "We have a large number of volunteers and supporters signing up and as the old saying goes – 'the more, the merrier!'"
In addition to Jenkins, Billy Stokes, Kristi Davis and William "Bill" Ailor, all Republicans, also have picked up nominating petitions to run for the seat.
McMillan for judge releases first ad
Checking email this morning and noticed I received something from the Greg McMillan campaign. He's a Republican running for the 4th Circuit Court Judge seat against Democrats Daniel Kidd and David L. Valone.
In addition, Republican Patti Jay Lane has picked up a nominating petition but not yet turned it in.
McMillan's email noted that he's releasing his first ad, dubbed "Knoxville: My Hometown."
You can read the full release right smack here.
As always, if you're running for office, shoot stuff my way and I'll put it up. The primary is set for May and the General in August.
Posted by Mike Donila at 11:34 AM No comments:
Labels: Elections
'Inside Tennessee' debates vouchers
Tune in at 9:30 a.m. Sunday (Channel 10, WBIR of course) to catch the latest Inside Tennessee program and the discussion we had about the merits of school choice in the state.
The guest were Justin Owen, president and CEO of the Beacon Center, and Joan Grim, a UTK professor and voucher skeptic. Myself, local attorney Dennis Francis and PR/consultant Mike Cohen joined the panel.
This was one of the more lively episodes and there was some good back and forth banter between Grim and Owen, as well as between Francis, a Democrat, and Cohen, a Republican.
Course that meant we weren't able to ask everything we had planned, but, well, whatever . . . .
Tune in. Good stuff.
Labels: Dennis Francis, Inside Tennessee, Vouchers
McCroskey stepping down? Not so fast
The rumors are picking up again in the old Death Star that the embattled Joy McCroskey, Knox County's criminal court clerk, is contemplating stepping down from office or even not running for re-election.
This comes after a robo call to voters last week that asked residents who they would pick in the upcoming race: McCroskey or Mike Hammond, a county commissioner who plans to run for the seat.
(Steve Williams, a local attorney who also has picked up a nominating petition, was not a choice in the survey.)
Awhile back, when we first broke the story about the many of the problems in McCroskey's office, she did ask at least one employee whether she should step down. That person told her no.
My guess is that she won't now, either. McCroskey can be pretty defiant, so I don't expect her to give up so easily. Plus, she's still got plenty of supporters and there's a lot of folks out there who will vote for her if only to vote against Hammond. (Also, Williams might take votes away from Hammond, and it's the top vote-getter - you don't need "50 plus 1" - in the Mayor Republican Primary who moves on to the August General Election.)
Another rumor is that she won't turn in her petition by the Feb. 20 due date, a move that would essentially signal her resignation (although she'd still serve until the end of August).
I doubt even that happens.
We'll see. Stranger things happen in that building.
Labels: Elections, Joy McCroskey, Mike Hammond
Knox County school coverage roundup
Full disclosure: I'm totally ripping off this blog post from Randy over at the hippie site. Randy, by the way, will be on our 5 p.m. 10News show tonight to talk about his blog.
Anyhoo, as predicted the County Commission bumped the teacher discussion ahead a week. But, there was plenty to talk about during the school board's meeting. You can find the roundup right here.
In addition, here's the results of the anonymous teacher survey, and the comments from the teacher survey, and Superintendent Jim McIntyre's action plan memo.
These are problems that have been lingering for a long, long time. Too bad it took an election year to actually get something done.
Labels: anyhoo, Jim McIntyre, Knox County Commission, Knox County School Board
Hopson endorses Rountree for BOE
Lauren Hopson might not run for office this time around, but it certainly looks like she's endorsing a fellow educator.
Hopson, the third grade teacher from Halls Elementary who kicked off the whole so-called "revolt" last October by having the guts to say what probably almost every teacher in this county thinks, is currently serving as the political treasurer for Amber Rountree. (If this isn't an endorsement I don't know what is.)
You can find the appointment right smack here.
Rountree, so far, is the only South Knoxville candidate to turn in a nominating petition. At this point four others, including incumbent Pam Trainor, have picked up the paperwork to run but haven't completed it.
However, two of them – Larry Clark and Jim McClain – have suggested that they won't run. (I'm not quite sure anyone has even heard from William Hiscock, who also picked up a petition and coincidentally lives in Rountree's neighborhood.)
I'm guessing that Trainor is in, since her website now says "re-elect" her. Still, she's in for a tough race. Trainor lost a ton of support in the 9th District, particularly after her episode in Bizarro World.
Labels: Amber Rountree, Elections, Knox County School Board, Lauren Hopson, Pam Trainor
Teacher 'revolt' at BOE not commish
The Knox County Commission holds court today at 2 p.m. over at the old Death Start. Despite what the other guys think, don't expect a whole lot to happen today.
There's been some talk about a teacher "revolt," a craftily worded description no doubt penned by Commissioner Tony Norman to strike at his arch nemesis Jim McIntyre. Heh.
Anyhoo, there's probably not going to be a discussion, or at least a deep discussion about teacher issues today.
BUT, some commissioners are lining up speakers so expect some fireworks during NEXT Monday's commission get-together.
Further, Do expect some fireworks tonight as officials talk about the anonymous teacher survey and some other teacher-related stuff during the Board of Education meeting. I'm sure you'll find a few teachers there. Heh.
Labels: anyhoo, Jim McIntyre, Knox County Commission, Knox County School Board, Tony Norman
Rowcliffe's ironic email to PTA
So, Sandra Rowcliffe, president of the Knox County Council PTA, picked up a nominating petition to run for office – specifically the 6th District school board seat.
Now, picking up a petition doesn't necessarily mean you're actually going to run. (You have to get the signatures and turn it in to the Election Commission to get on the ballot.)
But, roughly a week later she sends an email to PTA members, telling them not to get all political.
Maybe I'm the only one who sees the irony in this. You know: Do as I say, not as I do.
Naw, I doubt it.
Here's the email (Subject: protocols to follow):
Hello Knox County Principals and Local Unit PTA Leaders-
Because we find ourselves in what seems to be a fairly active political climate in Knox County, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you all of several protocols to be followed with regard to elections, candidate debates, and legislative positions. These are NOT rules and regulations enforced through PTA but rather through the IRS if an organization is considered a 501(c)3 not-for-profit group.
Therefore, Principals, I would ask that if your parent group is a PTO as opposed to a PTA that you inform them as well if they are, in fact, a 501(c)3.
Representing PTA
As a PTA leader, you represent PTA wherever you go. It does not matter where you are - on Facebook, the grocery store, your church or your school - people look at you and think "PTA."
It is also important that you know when you can publicly speak for PTA and when you may not. Only the president of a PTA or the Board/Executive Committee may authorize you to speak for PTA. No one else has that authority. This is true for a local unit, council, district, state or the National PTA. If you are contacted by any media sources or outlets regarding statewide issues, you should refer that person to the state PTA President or executive board. Likewise, if you are contacted about county issues, you should refer that person to the county PTA President. It is important that you only make statements that represent Board approved PTA position statements when representing your local unit PTA.
PTA is a non-commercial, non-sectarian and non-partisan organization. Because PTAs are 501(c)3 tax-exempt organizations, the IRS rules regulating some types of legislative activities of non-profit organizations must be followed.
Certain political activities are absolutely prohibited: supporting or opposing political parties or candidates for federal, state, or local public office. PTA may only engage in non-partisan, issue-oriented advocacy. PTA members are encouraged to be informed voters. Likewise, PTA units are encouraged to take an active role in informing both their members and community members about pertinent educational issues.
In an effort to maintain a non-partisan effort, it is strongly encouraged that all candidates be invited and allowed equal time to address the public and answer questions when legislative forums and candidate debates are hosted.
PTAs must be careful not to be used by other individuals, groups or organizations to promote non-PTA interests. In voter surveys, PTA is widely respected for its positions on children's issues.
Thank you for your time, and please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Sandra Rowcliffe, President
Knox County Council PTA
Labels: Elections, Knox County School Board, PTA, Sandra Rowcliffe
Padgett expected to run for clerk
Word going around is that Knox County Clerk Foster Arnett Jr., a Republican, will have some competition in August's general election. (He's not expected face an opponent - or one of any merit, anyway - in the May primary.)
Mike Padgett, a Democrat, who was term-limited out of the clerk's office in 2007, has picked up - or plans to up - a nominating petition for the seat. And yes, before you ask, he can run again. Term limits apply to the amount of terms in a row someone can serve, rather than the overall number of terms.
The last time Padgett, as I recall, was really involved in politics was a failed bid in the Democratic Primary for the U.S. Senate in 2008. His son, Mark, lost the city mayoral bid a couple years ago to Madeline Rogero in a non-partisan race.
Labels: Elections, Foster Arnett, Mark Padgett, Mike Padgett, Term limits
Audit released - some problems found
A combined series of accounting errors between the county trustee's office and the finance department during 2011 and earlier led the school system to operate under the guise that it had $1 million more in its reserve funds than it actually did during the past couple of years, according to a report made public to the county's Audit Committee on Tuesday.
No cash, however, actually changed hands and the money was never spent. The mistake occurred on paper only.
Still, auditors dinged the county for the snafu, saying it could eventually have led to more compounded accounting issues, and "resulted in unnecessary complexity in the Trustee's accounting records."
Since discovered, though, the mayor's office and trustee's office have corrected the matter, using more "stringent recordkeeping procedures" put in place last year at the recommendation of the Audit Committee, according to county Finance Director Chris Caldwell.
"There's no such thing as a good finding, but this is a good finding in the sense that the procedures worked and for the first time in a long time, there is a great communication between the Trustee's Office and the finance department that allows us to tie down every account," Caldwell said.
The county's Audit Committee spent part of Tuesday discussing the county's annual report, an in-depth analysis that delves into the fiscal year budget that covered July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.
In it, the external auditor, Knoxville-based Pugh & Co., cited three problems.
External auditors found a $2.4 million discrepancy between the county's financial books and the Trustee Office's financial books. They called the difference a "material weakness," a technical description that describes a misstatement which could take longer to correct or could be missed altogether.
The $2.4 million overstatement stemmed from a series of liability accounts that were never reconciled between the two departments for a number of years.
The mistake led officials to believe that the county's reserve fund – and the school system's reserve fund – each appeared to have about a $1 million more in them then they really did. (The school system gets a cut of collected property taxes.)
Caldwell said now both offices have put procedures in place to fix the matter and to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Auditors also noted two "significant deficiencies," mistakes that are slightly less damning than material weaknesses but still keep management from discovering a problem in a timely manner.
Auditors said the county's accounting systems doesn't produce reports that allow auditors to easily follow the county's capital assets, which include any equipment that's worth more than $5,000, like vehicles or buildings.
The county by the end of the month plans to bring in a consultant to tailor the reporting needs and resolve the matter, Caldwell said. The consultant will probably cost about $5,000.
The audit also said that the county at times didn't adhere to the Davis-Bacon Act, a federal mandate that requires officials to follow certain rules to ensure that the contractors who oversaw a series of low-income housing projects funded with more than $200,000 in "community development block" grants turned in the proper payroll paperwork.
County officials said turnover in the community development department at the time created a lapse in monitoring. The new employees have been trained in the proper procedures.
Neither Caldwell nor Leuthold were in charge of their respective departments when the mistakes occurred.
Mistakes that aren't corrected could end up affecting the county's bond rating, which could lead to higher interest rates when the county takes out loans or issues bonds.
Labels: Audit Committee, Chris Caldwell
County audit to note a few problems
As I said would happen back in mid-December, the county received a clean bill of health from its auditors in a review tied to its annual report, which covered the entire previous fiscal year.
However, I noted that when the county officially turns over the single audit report (this is kind of the sister report to the comprehensive finance report, or CAFR), that there were going to be some problems.
Well, that report will be made publicly on Tuesday when the Audit Committee accepts it. And, like I predicted, officials will talk about several problems auditors found.
"A government our size is always going to have an audit finding," said County Finance Director Chris "Money Bags" Caldwell. "We expect a handful of findings. The key to the thing is cleaning up the findings from the previous year."
However, Caldwell, who didn't actually take the top finance gig until the middle of last year so you really can't blame him for any of it, said the county has taken care of the problems.
You can read the original story I wrote right smack here.
A different look at teacher survey
In the KNS' continuing effort to hunky-dory-up (first time I've ever used that word in print) all things for the school system, the paper's latest press release today – right smack here if you want to pay money for stuff you can find elsewhere for free – left out some crucial information.
Big surprise. But, hey, it's not just me complaining. Hit the social media world. Lots of folks have expressed dismay! (Yellow Card for you, KNS. Heh.)
Anyhoo, the school system last night released the results to its anonymous teacher survey.
Let's look at how the Slantinel reported the "facts" and then let's look at how the real world sees them.
KNS: 29.9 percent of teachers agreed that Common Core standards will benefit instruction and student learning, while 22.6 percent disagreed.
Real World: A combined 37.3 percent of teachers "STRONGLY Disagree" and "Disagree" that Common Core standards will benefit instruction and student learning, while 35.6 percent "Agree" and "STRONGLY Agree."
Big FREAKING difference, huh? See how it gets switched around when you include more facts?????
How about another one:
KNS: 32.5 percent disagreed that teachers had the opportunity to provide input regarding the district's strategic direction, while only 17.8 percent agreed they had.
Real World: A combined 60.9 percent "STRONGLY Disagree" and "Disagree" that teachers had the opportunity to provide input regarding the district's strategic direction, while only 19.2 percent "Agree" and "STRONGLY Agree."
Now, in order to continue its consistent quest of inconsistency, KNS decides to note that "77.9 percent of teachers said their school was a good place to work and learn."
Well, wait a minute here, but that 77.9 percent is a combination of the "agree" and "strongly agree" categories. Why combine them both now????
'Cause everything is hunky-dory.
In the meantime, you can find the entire survey right smack here and make up your own mind.
Whether you agree or disagree.
Labels: anyhoo, Knox County School Board, Knoxville News Sentinel, Yellow Card
Regas could still operate as eatery
Well, it looks like there's a chance the Regas Restaurant could remain an eatery.
I just got off the horn with Roger Moore, president of the real estate services firm Sperry Van Ness/R.M. Moore, which helped oversee the sale, and he said the new owners have "no definitive plans" yet but could potentially lease the lower portion of the building for restaurant and office space.
(Moore by the way is no relation to the baddest a$$ James Bond but a nice guy nonetheless.)
The new owners, he said, are a group of local investors, dubbed Regas Property, LLC.
"I can't say as of yet who they are because they don't want it made public yet, but they have a passion for Knoxville and the Regas," he said. "The property is important to them to maintain and as part of Knoxville's history."
Moore added that the investors, in part, also purchased the iconic building because there were other potential suitors that wanted the property but planned to demolish it."
Labels: Regas Restaurant
Regas Restaurant sold for $2 million
Area's in blue were sold
The former Regas Restaurant, a long-time downtown meeting place for some of the area and region's biggest political players, has been sold for $2 million to a new company dubbed Regas Property, LLC, according to the paperwork filed Monday with the Knox County Register of Deed's Office.
The building, located at 318 N. Gay St. just north of Market Square, closed Dec. 31, 2010. At the time, proprietor Bill Regas said the eatery was tough to keep open as it competed with construction projects, other nearby culinary competition and an overall poor economy.
Brothers Frank and George Regas founded the restaurant in 1919.
The sales includes the iconic building, and the property and parking lot that fronts West Depot from N. Gay Street to Williams Street with the exception of a 25-foot strip owned by the City of Knoxville. The total is roughly 2.25 acres.
Regas Property, LLC is a new company. The address goes back to real estate services firm Sperry Van Ness/R.M. Moore.
Big Bill vs. Raccoon for Governor
I meant to post this on Friday, but looks like Big Bill will have some competition during his re-election. Or, well, he'll have a challenger anyway. From Tena Lee of the Gallatin News Examiner:
A Gallatin man who made national headlines when state wildlife officials confiscated his pet raccoon last year has announced he is running for governor.
Mark "Coonrippy" Brown, 55, pulled a petition for the office on Friday with intentions to challenge incumbent Gov. Bill Haslam in the Republican primary in August.
"This is all about the raccoon," Brown said.
Brown gained national attention in July following the seizure of his pet raccoon, Rebekah, by Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officials. Brown claimed he was targeted by the agency after videos of him with another raccoon, Gunshow, went viral. His quest to regain ownership of Rebekah was eventually featured on CNN when he appeared on the Anderson Cooper 360 RidicuList in August.
Brown said his letter to TWRA officials seeking a permit went unanswered and a petition to Haslam with over 60,000 signatures was returned unopened.
"Gov. Haslam ignored the cries from the entire United States," he said.
The Gallatin High School graduate said that by running for governor he hopes to "expose the people in office who are not for the people."
"He can free prisoners, he can pardon people, but he refused the online petition and refused to accept the letter," he said. "All eyes were on Tennessee and it made us look bad. It made it look like we were under Caesar's law."
Brown said he has plenty of support for a campaign on Facebook, YouTube and "the media across the planet."
The licensed firearms dealer and former city of Gallatin employee said he's not deterred by his lack of political experience and hopes to capitalize on his outsider status.
"We've got to take this country back one state at a time," he said. "We live in the United States of the Offended -- not the United States of America."
Friday was the first day candidates could pick up petitions for the Aug. 7 state and federal primary races and for nonpartisan Sumner County general election seats, such as school board. The deadline for petitions to be returned is noon on April 3.
State, Farragut candidates can get nominating petitions for election
Only a handful of candidates on Friday picked up a nominating petition to run in the primary election for open state House and Senate seats that represent the area, according to the Knox County Election Commission.
However, most incumbents have suggested recently that they plan to seek re-election.
The deadline to qualify is noon April 3.
As it stands, Cheri Siler, a Democrat and instructional coach in the Knox County school system, picked up a petition to run for the 7th District state Senate seat currently held by Republican Stacey Campfield.
Knox County Commissioner Richard Briggs, a Republican, also is expected to challenge Campfield, but he did not pick up a petition yet.
The state primaries are set for Aug. 7 with the general election is scheduled for Nov. 4.
Also on Friday, state Rep. Gloria Johnson, a Democrat, picked up a petition to seek re-election for her District 13 seat, as did state Rep. Steve Hall, a Republican and the District 18 House incumbent.
The following state seats also are up for re-election: 5th District Senate (Randy McNally, R); 14th District House (Ryan Haynes, R); 15th District House (Joe Armstrong, D); 16th District House (Bill Dunn, R); 19th District House (Harry Brooks, 19); and 89th District House (Roger Kane, R).
Friday also marked the first day that Town of Farragut candidates could pick up nominating petitions, although no one did. The mayoral post and two alderman seats are up for re-election. The seats are non-partisan. That election is also set for Aug. 7.
Candidates need to meet certain qualifications to run for office. In addition, they need 25 signatures from registered voters who can vote in that particularly race.
Labels: A bunch of elected officials, Elections
Was McClain's BOE candidacy a ruse?
Word I'm hearing now from several sources is that Jim McClain, who picked up a nominating petition on Dec. 27 to run for the 9th District School Board seat, did it for show, rather than to actually run.
Anyhoo, Georgiana Vines over at the Slantinel wrote a column about his possibility as a candidate – right smack here for the pay wall that mostly features information that you can read elsewhere for free – and, well, quite frankly, at the time I wondered what his intentions were.
As Vines noted, he didn't really distinguish himself from Pam Trainor, the incumbent whose campaign he actually managed four years ago. In her column, McClain suggested that he "sees the reasoning for Common Core standards" and didn't "blame McIntyre for the mixed feelings in the community."
So what were his motivations? Well, maybe he will run. Or maybe he just wanted to get the juices flowing, maybe get some other folks invigorated enough to run.
Whatever the case, two others since then – retired teacher Larry Clark (as noted by the rogue blogger Brian Hornback right smack here) and librarian Amber Rountree – have also since picked up nominating petitions.
Those two, I suspect, will distinguish themselves from Trainor who (from the way I'm hearing it) pretty much ignored the overall will of South Knoxville residents when she approved the superintendent's gazillion dollar school budget a few years ago and then most recently agreed to give the superintendent another year on his contract.
The biggest beneficiary if McClain does pull out, however, will more than likely be Clark if he does decide to run. I suspect that the two of them would have split each other's votes, allowing Rountree and Trainor to slide into the August general election. (This is assuming it would have been a four-person race.)
Now, it's going to be a little harder to predict.
Well, not really.
But that's for another time.
For the latest on who has picked up petitions, click right smack here.
Labels: anyhoo, Elections, Knox County School Board, Pam Trainor
Davis to host kick-off gig Jan. 7
Local attorney Kristi Davis, who is seeking the Circuit Court Judge Division 1 seat, announced a campaign kick-off reception for Tuesday from 5-7 p.m. at the Bistro at the Bijou.
The public is invited and campaign contributions are welcome but not required.
The primary is in May and the general election is set for August. Incumbent judge, Dale Workman, has said that he won't seek re-election.
Davis, a Republican, is expected to face opposition from attorneys Ray Jenkins, Billy Stokes and Bill Ailor, who have also announced their intentions to seek the position. All are Republicans.
As always, any candidates can send me their election announcements, campaign plans, etc. for publication.
KCSO releases NYE traffic stats
The Knox County Sheriff's Office today released its holiday traffic stats for New Year's Eve, and it looks like deputies popped 11 people for DUI.
The Man with the Badge and crew conducted saturation patrols throughout the county, starting at 9 Tuesday night and ending at 5 Wednesday morning.
Deputies issued 405 citations for various offenses and threw 95 people in the clink.
They also worked seven crashes where alcohol was involved. No fatalities, however, were reported.
Labels: Sheriff Jimmy JJ Jones, Sheriff's Office
Knoxville unveils homelessness plan
The City of Knoxville, in a long-winded press release that was no-doubt written by new spin-guy Eric Vreeland (who never met a news story he couldn't hack 4 inches off - heh), has released a draft plan to combat homelessness.
You can find the plan itself right smack here. (And no, I'm not copying and pasting the whole release.)
The city will host a "public input session" at 5:30 p.m. on Feb 11 at the Cansler Family YMCA, 616 Jessamine St.
The City Council has set a 5:30 p.m. Feb. 27 date to talk more about the plan. The council will hold that meeting in the Main Assembly Room of the Death Star.
You can also email comment about the plan to Michael Dunthorn at mdunthorn@cityofknoxville.org.
Labels: Compassion Knoxville, Homelessness, Knoxville City Council
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It's ASEAN moment in the Philippines capital – sparkling lights, giant Christmas tree and ASEAN emblems splashed all over this bustling metropolis conjure up a festive atmosphere that's in keeping with the 50th anniversary celebrations of this vibrant grouping of 10 Southeast Asian nations. And Philippines' maverick leader Roderigo Duterte has launched a veritable charm offensive as he rolls out the red carpet to welcome a host of world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, among others, for this defining marker in the history of ASEAN.
For India, the Manila summit will be an opportunity for Prime Minister Modi to underscore New Delhi's strategic intent to play a bigger role in the region and impart more depth and content to its Act East policy.
On the strategic side, all eyes will be on the message coming out from the ASEAN summit on the South China Sea, where China's suspected expansionist agenda has renewed anxiety about Beijing's intentions and the region's response to it. Ahead of the summit, Mr Duterte has already voiced his concerns and underlined the need for a written code of conduct that will ensure responsible behaviour by China in the disputed water body.
Looking ahead, as they celebrate 25 years of multifarious engagement across the spectrum, India and ASEAN will be looking to map new frontiers and raise the bar for this mutually empowering partnership. The message coming from the Manila summit will have a critical bearing on the future of this economically dynamic region and how it handles differences and power games to focus on the larger dream of realising the potential of an Asian Century.


The media hype about dancing school kids who mature in the face of challenge has meanwhile faded. But this doesn't mean that the feet have fallen asleep at the Berlin Dance in Schools program. Since 2009, Ballhaus Naunynstrasse, for example, has adopted one of the 11 schools participating in the Berlin ZOOM patron program, enabling the 4th graders of the very engaged Nürtingen elementary school in Kreuzberg to enjoy dance theater projects. Following Canan Erek ("The Others" and "Class Trip"), Berlin dancer and choreographer Modjgan Hashemian has taken on the subject of computer games with the children. Of course computer games are no longer a low-mobility recreation in the era of PlayStation Move and Wii consoles. But dance still remains a step ahead of virtual reality in some respects: the choreographic rules are developed together, and no one can lose.


Grace just told me the strangest story. She drew a picture and said it was bones of her sister's cat. I thought she meant it was a picture of Katriel's bones, but no she meant her sister's cat. Her other sister, Polka Dots?
Confused yet? I was. Grace said she had another sister and 2 brothers. They live in Heaven. She said they're not sick or anything, they just live in Heaven, like it's a just different city you could visit if you were in the neighborhood. Her sister's name is Polka Dots. Hilarious. If we adopt again I might skip the M/N/O and move straight to Polka Dots. I asked if Polka Dots was from China, but she no, Polka Dots is from Wyoming (all white people are from Wyoming, like Mommy is). Then she told me about her two brothers. The oldest is named Speedy. He is from China. The younger brother is named Pebbles. He is Congolese. They all live in Heaven with Polka Dots' pet cat, Zoe, and Grandma Grace (my grandmother, whom Grace was named for).
Should I be worried? Or does Grace have a budding career as a fiction writer?


1 Samuel 15:1-3 makes it abundantly clear what the distinction between Saul and David looks like. Verses 1-3 says, "Samuel also said to Saul, 'The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: "I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."'" Saul was given a mission. God remembered what the Amalekites did to Israel and it was cowardly and it was criminal. They waited until the end of the day and they attacked the end of the column – the women, children and elderly. They did not do war honorably. So the reason God hated the Amalekites was because they were terrorists. They shed innocent blood and conducted war exactly like today's radical Muslims conduct war. This gives us insight into how God feels about terrorism. He commanded Saul to, "…Go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey." God wanted to utterly destroy them. But men like Saul will never reap the kind of harvest that men like David will. Only those of us who learn to pray the judgment of God can bring in that harvest. God is ready – are we?


text:
Q: Can java be used to write blogger widgets? I want to write a widget for Google's Blogger. Those are created in javascript and html, but is it possible to write it in java (java and html maybe) ? Have you done a thing like this before ?

A: For starters you will have to take care of the Server of the blog for you to use Java Widgets.
It may(must) be possible to write Java widgets but it is not advised.
I would suggest you to use HTML/JavaScript and PHP for the blogger widgets.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Vision: The uninsured will receive primary health care.
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Attention We cannot guarantee the clinic costs to be completely accurate. Costs are displayed for informational purposes for our users. We have compiled prices provided by users and online research. In order to obtain actual costs please contact Au Sable Free Clinic directly.


Check out our summer catalog here!
First timers call the Center at least 24 hours prior to get on Tuesday Studio email list.
Join us for an informal and lively studio session. Recommended for advanced-beginners and intermediate students working in any 2-D medium, subject, and style you choose. The instructor provides technical tips, constructive feedback and assistance in achieving goals set by the student. This studio is about encouraging growth and artistic expression. Students should bring their own supplies, reference materials and a work in progress. No Advance Sales; Pay at the door. Check with the Center to ensure Studio is Open each week.
Are you in search of new opportunities to nurture the creativity in your little Picasso? In this class we will explore a variety of mediums and themes involving drawing, painting, collage, and sculpture geared toward the youngest student. Each child will learn to greater appreciate art and their own creative power. Course Fee includes tuition and supply fee.
Do you provide Mom and Dad with lots of entertainment at home? Then bring your imagination and explore your talents in this marvelous adventure into acting. Theatre games and improvisation provide a wealth of new acting skills and self-confidence to budding actors!
Got the acting bug? While perhaps not as easy as accomplished actors make it seem, acting builds on techniques that you can learn and practice. In this class, you will learn many techniques so important to auditioning and developing not only your acting abilities, but your self-confidence. This is your chance to explore audition basics, warm-up routines, script work, improvisation, scene study and character study. Action!


As long as functionality, user experience, security and alternative payment methods are considered from the very beginning of the design process, all parties involved will reap the rewards.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is not new. In fact, connected devices with a wide range of functionalities are already widely used in the home, a trend that shows no sign of abating. In fact, Gartner has predicted that there will be 20.8 billion connected 'things' by 2020, an increase from 6.4 billion in 2016 . However, with increasing demand for such technologies comes a shift in consumer expectation. Today as consumer awareness of IoT builds, there is the growing expectation that it should play a role at every touch point of their journey as a customer. In turn, such demand has encouraged payments to become the perfect 'finishing touch' and provide a pivotal role in the evolution of IoT.
Consumers with connected fridges can expect to see food automatically restocked, and owners of electronic assistants, such as Alexa and Siri, will be able to purchase the latest items on their wish lists with a simple voice command. IoT and payment technology are also making significant strides in wearable items. For example, rings are being developed into 'tokens', meaning that they can replace sensitive payment account information, such as a 16-digit account number or payment card, to enable consumers to pay for goods with just a tap of the ring. As more IoT technology incorporates payment capability, it signals an exponential rise in the Internet of Payments (IoP) ecosystem.
However, to ensure the IoT and IoP industries continue to flourish with the development of new innovations, it's vital the industry maintains consumer trust and interest to ensure longevity. To do so, the IoT industry must address consumer demand with a focus on the overall customer experience. To maximise consumer buy-in, global technology companies should consider how they can continue to integrate payment capabilities into the development of new IoT products in order to create the most seamless experience for the end user.
Considering the current state of play in the market, Visa is leading the way with its Visa Ready Programme for IoT initiative, which integrates the Visa Token Service into wearable items and mobile wallets. As part of this, it is partnering with companies such as Accenture, FitPay and Samsung. Visa are also working with Honda to develop technology that can detect when a car's petrol is low and enables users to pay for a refill using an app that is connected to the in-car display. This is yet another example of how Visa are continuing to immerse payments into every touch point. It is this level of integration that holds the key to marrying the world of IoT and payments, and will encourage widespread consumer adoption.
Ultimately, it's an exciting time for tech developers, retailers and manufacturers looking to maximise the surge in consumer adoption, but it's important that the user experience is kept front of mind from the very beginning to ensure payment capability is not a bolted-on feature. Only then will these solutions be as seamless and fit-for-purpose as possible.
Accessibility is key and whilst connected appliances such as fridges, that automatically pay for depleted items, seem practical and useful in theory, in practice, developers and payment providers need to work together to also ensure that the payments' ecosystem validates identity and addresses security risks. Trusting your fridge with your credit card seems a strange concept, but it is the role of those in financial services and payment providers to ensure that consumer data is protected, and a safe portal between merchant and consumer is created as a core part of the technology design.
Considering 38 million transactions were carried out on a mobile device in 2016, (a 247 per cent increase on 2015) , it's clear that consumers are receptive to using payment methods that promise the fastest, most convenient ways to pay. But, such growth can only be harnessed if user experience is prioritised. It's important to consider that not all consumers will want their fridge aligned with their personal account, especially if there isn't a certain level of security to ensure that they are the only ones who can initiate the payment. To address this, and ensure that the technology has mass-appeal, manufacturers must consider alternate payment preferences around the world. For example, Germany is predicted to become the second highest spender on IoT technology by 2020 , but its population's preferred payment method is currently bank transfer. With that in mind, there needs to be some thought into how this technology can be altered to appeal to an international market.
It is fundamental that payment preferences are considered at the very beginning of a product life cycle. However, to cater to international markets with differing payment preferences, payment service providers must be involved early in the design phases to ensure that the IoP ecosystem can continue to flourish worldwide.
To make sure the future of the IoT and more specifically IoP, is a success, those manufacturing the technology need to work closely with third-party providers such as acquirers, issuers, merchants and processors to ensure that manufacturers can securely accept the deluge of new payment methods into their latest connected products. As long as functionality, user experience, security and alternative payment methods are considered from the very beginning of the design process, all parties involved will reap the rewards.
Whilst it's a market that is set for exponential growth over the coming years, it's imperative that all stakeholders keep the end user front of mind. To do this it's also vital that alternative payment methods are a key consideration throughout the development process to ensure that the technology is accessible on an international scale.


text:
Amerikansk ibisstork (Mycteria americana) är en av tre amerikanska arter storkfåglar och den enda förekommande i Nordamerika. Den förekommer från södra USA via Västindien och Centralamerika till stora delar av Sydamerika. Arten är vida spridd och talrik, men minskar i antal, dock inte tillräckligt kraftigt för att anses vara hotad.

Utseende

Den amerikanska ibisstorken är 85–115 centimeter lång med ett vingspann på 150–175 centimeter. Den väger i regel 2050-2640 g. Huvudet och halsen saknar fjädrar och är gråsvarta. Näbben är lång, böjd och mörk. Fjäderdräkten är vit med svarta vingpennor och svart stjärt. Juvenila fåglar har gulaktig näbb och gråa fjädrar på huvud och hals. Amerikansk ibisstork uppträder ofta på hög höjd i flock.

Utbredning och systematik
Amerikansk ibisstork återfinns från Argentina i söder genom stora delar av Sydamerika till Centralamerika och Västindien, och norrut till södra USA. Den behandlas som monotypisk, det vill säga att den inte delas in i några underarter.

Släktskap
Släktskapen arterna emellan inom Mycteria är oklara. Anatomiska studier placerar amerikansk ibisstork som systerart till artparet afrikansk och indisk ibisstork, medan den enligt studier av mitokondrie-DNA liksom beteende och morfologi är den mest avvikande arten i släktet.

Ekologi
Amerikansk ibisstork återfinns oftast vid grunt sötvatten såsom dammar, sumpmark, mangroveträsk och översvämmade odlingar. Födan består av fisk, små reptiler, amfibier och kräftdjur. Jakten sker i grunt vatten genom att röra upp bottenslam med fötterna och svepande rörelser föra näbben halvöppen i vattnet, i jakt efter byte och sedan stänga den på 1/40 sekund vid kontakt med byte. Den kan också hitta byten med hjälp av synen. Det är effektivast för den att födosöka om vattenståndet är 15–25 centimeter högt, eftersom födan då koncentreras till en mindre volym.

Häckning
Häckningen sker i träd i kolonier. Boet byggs av honan av material som hanen hämtar. Äggen är vita, tre till fem till antalet och ruvas i en månad. Under häckningssäsongen kräver en storkfamilj 200 kilogram fisk och andra bytesdjur. Om födotillgången tryter, överges ungarna.

Status
Känsligheten för förändrade vattennivåerna är ett hot mot arten, men eftersom utbredningsområdet är förhållandevis stort och populationen inte är särskilt liten så kategoriseras arten idag som livskraftig av IUCN, även om arten minskar i antal. Världspopulationen uppskattas till 450 000 vuxna individer.

Referenser

Källor
 All About Birds läst den 20 januari 2010
 Florida Fish and Wildlife Comission läst den 20 januari 2010
 Pranty, Radamaker, Kennedy Birds Of Florida

Noter

Externa länkar

 Bilder och filmer på Internet Bird Collection
 Läten på xeno-canto.org

Storkar
Fåglar i nearktiska regionen
Fåglar i neotropiska regionen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Analog, also called linear, circuits amplify and condition signals from continually varying phenomena such as sound, temperature, and radio waves. Because of the nearly infinite resolution required to process these signals, analog circuits demand high precision in design and manufacturing. Analog vacuum tube operational amplifier (op-amp) designs were paced by the concepts developed by Columbia University researcher Loebe Julie. The first germanium transistor op-amp appeared in 1958 with silicon versions in 1960. Nexus Research Labs offered the first pre-configured op-amp modules in 1962 followed shortly by Burr-Brown and Philbrick Researches.
Amelco, Fairchild, RCA, TI, and Westinghouse developed early analog ICs. H. C. Lin of Westinghouse employed on-chip component matching and his lateral PNP patent on a custom op amp for the Autonetics Minuteman II missile in 1963. But the Fairchild µA702 op amp, created in 1964 by the team of process engineer Dave Talbert and designer Robert Widlar, was the first widely-used commercial product. Their 1965 successor, the µA709, established a mass market for analog ICs. Talbert and Widlar moved to Molectro (later acquired by National) in late 1965 where they built a linear dynasty beginning with the LM101. Then in 1968 Dave Fullagar of Fairchild one-upped the LM101 by adding an internal compensating capacitor to deliver the µA741, the most popular op-amp of all time.
Specialty analog IC manufacturers evolved extensive catalogs of amplifiers, comparators, data converters, power management devices, and numerous specialty circuits for automotive, consumer and communications applications. Analog devices typically have much longer life cyles than digital I/Cs. Examples of 40 year-old designs that remain widely used today include Fullagar's µA741 op-amp and the 555 timer created by Hans Camenzind for Signetics.
Lin, Hung Chang, "Complementary transistor structure," U. S. Patent 3,197,710 (Filed May 31, 1963. Issued July 27, 1965).
Lin, Hung Chang, "Method of making Complementary Transistor Structure," U. S. Patent 3,412,460 (Filed May 31, 1963. Issued November 26, 1968).
Widlar, R.J. "A monolithic operational amplifier," Fairchild Semiconductor Application Bulletin APP-105/4 (April 1966).
Giles, James, N. ed. Fairchild Semiconductor Linear Integrated Circuits Applications Handbook. (Mountain View, CA: Fairchild Semiconductor 1967) pp. 33-72.
Gilbert, Barrie. "A Precise Four-Quadrant Multiplier with Subnanosecond Response," IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits Vol. 3, No. 4 (1968) pp. 365-373.
Augarten, Stan. "A Semiconductor Best-Seller - µA709," State Of The Art: A Photographic History of the Integrated Circuit. (New Haven & New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1983) pp. 18.
Camenzind, H. "Redesigning the old 555," IEEE Spectrum, vol. 34, No. 9, (September 1997) pp. 80-85.
Lécuyer, Christophe. Making Silicon Valley: Innovation and the Growth of High Tech 1930-1970. (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2006) p. 248.
Jung, Walter G. ed. Op Amp Applications Handbook. (Reed/Elsevier, 2006) pp. xv-xvi and Chapter 8.
Lojek, Bo. History of Semiconductor Engineering (Springer, 2006). pp. 247-290.
Lee, Thomas H. "Tales of the Continuum: A Subsampled History of Analog Circuits," IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society Newsletter (October 2007).
Young, Ian. "A History of the Continuously Innovative Analog Integrated Circuit," IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society Newsletter (October 2007).
Sporck, Charles Fairchild and National. The Silicon Genesis Interviews (2.21.2000). Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California.
Gifford, Jack Fairchild and Maxim. The Silicon Genesis Interviews (7.21.2002). Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California.
Dobkin, Bob & Williams, Jim National and Linear Technology. The Silicon Genesis Interviews (4.19.2006). Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California.


Setting up a CNAME record for each of the domain addresses or subdomains that you've got in a hosting account will enable you to direct it to a different domain/subdomain. The forwarded domain will lose all its records - A, MX and so forth, and will take the records of the domain address it's being pointed to. In this light, you cannot set up a CNAME record to forward your domain name to a third-party company and retain a working e-mail service with the first provider. Also, it is very important to know that a CNAME record is always a string of words and never a number because it is regularly mistaken for the A record of the domain being redirected. One of the primary uses of a CNAME record is to point a domain address you own through one company to the servers of another provider if you have created a website with the latter. That way, the website will appear under your own domain name, not under some subdomain provided by the third-party provider.
Creating a CNAME record with our Linux cloud packages is very easy. Our in-house built Hepsia Control Panel has a section committed to the DNS records of your domain names, so you can set up a new CNAME record for any domain or subdomain hosted in your account in a couple of easy steps. You'll find a video tutorial in the same section where you can see the process first-hand. This feature provides you with many opportunities - if you create a company site on our end, as an illustration, the workers can use their emails with the company domain name, not with the address of our mail server. If you decide to set up an Internet site by using a different company which offers online web design services, you can easily forward a domain address hosted here and use it for the website. Last, but not least, if you have a web-based store and you have a billing system for http://your-domain.com and/or an SSL certificate, you could create a CNAME record for the www subdomain and point it to the main domain address, so all your visitors will be forwarded to a secure URL.
If you have a semi-dedicated server from our company and you want to create a CNAME record, it will take only a couple of mouse clicks to complete this task. The plans are managed via our in-house built Hepsia hosting Control Panel in which you will find a section dedicated to the DNS records of the domain addresses and subdomains hosted within the account. To create a CNAME record, you will simply have to pick the record type and the hostname (domain or subdomain), input where the latter is going to be forwarded to and save the change. The new record will be active almost immediately in our system and will propagate worldwide within a couple of hours. Editing or deleting an existing CNAME record in the account is just as easy and takes a click. In case you experience any difficulties, you can go through our comprehensive help article, check out the short video on the topic that we have added in the Control Panel, or simply contact us for assistance.


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Where do I select T-shirt size?
You will be sent a Kickstarter survey after the project is fully funded and rewards are being prepared for fulfillment. You will be asked to select a size at that time.
Where do I indicate the name of the Rad Girl I want printed in the book?
You will be sent a Kickstarter survey after the project is fully funded and rewards are being prepared. You will be asked to give us a name at that time.


In recognition of the omnipotent, we went to the Planetarium and saw "Dark Matter."
We were then given 2 hours to have lunch and create a little something.
I made this short video. For the smoothest playback, hit pause first and let it buffer its way to the end.
Jacqui - Who's a clever girl, then?


text:
Trends – B2C eCommerce accelerating worldwide
According to eMarketer's forecasts, worldwide business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce sales were expected to increase by 20.1% in 2014 to reach $1.500 trillion. The rapidly expanding online and mobile user bases in emerging markets, increases in mcommerce sales, advancing shipping and payment options, and the push into new international markets by major brands are going to be the key factors behind the continued growth. (Source: Emarketer)
The B2C eCommerce industry is booming with emerging economies (majorly Asia & LATAM) driving much higher growth than the developed economies
eCommerce is increasingly becoming a global trend and no longer restricted to US and UK
In 2010, US & Europe contributed over 70 percent of global B2C ecommerce sales. However, by 2014 this percentage has come down to 55 percent, whereas percentage of emerging economies (including India, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil & Argentina) in global B2C ecommerce has gone up to 23 percent
eCommerce sales is largely driven by over 1 billion digital buyers around the world. Asia Pacific currently contributes to about 45 percent of the buyers.
GDP Per capita in emerging markets is expected to rise from 4,486 USD to close to approx. 5,846 USD by 2016. Rising disposable income will further drive eCommerce.
China alone is forecasted to cater to 20 percent of global demand for luxury goods by 2020 of which significant percent will be sold online.
Trends that will shape the B2C eCommerce
Omni-channel commerce: Increased market concentration will lead to omni-channel adaption, customer centric approaches by companies
Localization: Hybrid model whereby websites all run on a single global platform that is managed centrally, but operations are localized
Innovative fulfilment approaches: Cash on delivery / One day delivery will be the standard services which will remain necessary to win customer loyalty. For example, Amazon and Alibaba are testing drone technology to facilitate one-day delivery.
Continued popularity of Marketplace model: The model will remain popular in Asia mainly due to constraints related to FDI in direct online retail and easy scalability
Global brands expanding in growth markets: Increasing interest of global brands to expand in Asia Pacific eCommerce market
Mobile Commerce: With increasing smartphone penetration mobile e-tailing will grow in popularity; in the matured markets tablet usage is also popular.
Increased consolidation: Global giants such as Amazon and Alibaba and growing companies like Flipkart (India) and Zalando (Germany) will look to acquire smaller players to gain scale, portfolio, and cost synergies. Example: Flipkart acquired Myntra in 2014. Recently, there were speculations that Alibaba could buy eBay.
Disruptive innovations in analytics
The data-intensive eCommerce industry is forefront in capturing and leveraging data for decision making across the value chain, compared to other industries such as manufacturing or healthcare.
However, with continuous technological innovations many eCommerce companies are struggling to familiarize. Race for disruptive innovations in logistics, mobile commerce, and social media to address rising pressure of enhanced customer service are leading to rapid advancement in analytics in the eCommerce industry.
For example, Amazon filed a patent for 'anticipatory shipping' in December 2013. It is a predictive analytics algorithm that enables a proactive system of delivering products to customers before they place an order.
While analytics using web, social, and mobile interactions is commonplace in eCommerce, the use of visual analytics in eCommerce is relatively less explored. Visual Analytics is nothing but analyzing data collected from visual searches. Have a look at one of our previous blogs "Applying Visual Social Analytics in Ecommerce", that explores the possibilities of customer insights using Visual Analytics.
Huge investment through Venture Capitalists in online / B2C ecommerce retail has provided a big boost to the growth of the sector, especially in Asia
Alibaba which drives 80 percent of online sales in China is valued at approx. 180 billion USD which is higher than 150 USD billion valuation of Amazon.com
There are multiple other players (example: Jabong, Snapdeal in India Coupang in S. Korea & Rakuten in Japan). There has been huge increase in the valuations of the companies especially after listing of Alibaba in USA.
India-based Flipkart started in 2007 and received an initial investment of 1 million USD in 2009. The company is currently valued at 11 billion USD.
Is the sector headed for dot-com-like bust?
Investors seem to have developed an insatiable appetite for eCommerce stocks. However, after several years of operations most of the eCommerce businesses are struggling to be profitable. Example: Flipkart is yet to achieve the break even though their sales measures in millions of dollars
Amid the current stock market hype about Alibaba, Flipkart, Zalando, and Rocket Internet, parallels are already being drawn to the Internet stocks boom
There are several reasons why the eCommerce companies are not profitable –Aggressive expansion in new retail segments, acquisitions, heavy discounting and advertising to attract new users, increased competition, looming threat from global players with deep pockets (Amazon, eBay)
With significant scope for expansion in emerging markets and continued investments from VCs, the eCommerce boom may face downward trend in the next 3-5 years. However, most eCommerce vendors will struggle to match up with the heightened ROI expectations from aggressive investors.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Magento set content in action I'm quite new to Magento
And I'm creating the payment module which redirects to PaymentController
I have redirectAction
And I need to solve a simple task:
I need to show the content from a .phtml file in
$this->loadLayout();
    $cmsBlock = $this->getLayout()->createBlock('cms/block')->setBlockId('cms_block_fail');

    $this->getLayout()->getBlock('content')->append($cmsBlock);

    $this->renderLayout();
    return $this;

And nothing is showing up
All I need is just to show some html in the main site layout

A:
Use registry to pass data to template.

Create registry on controller and and display into phtml file.
check below link how to create registry:-
http://blog.chapagain.com.np/magento-how-to-set-and-get-registry/


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Topic: John Updike
Latest Headlines Quotes
John Updike News
Top News // 2 years ago
On March 18, 1937, a natural gas explosion at a public school in New London, Texas, killed almost 300 people, most of them children.
On March 18, In 1937, a natural gas explosion at a public school in New London, Texas, killed almost 300 people, most of them children.
UPI Almanac for Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Odd News // 6 years ago
UPI Almanac for Tuesday, March 18, 2014.
UPI Almanac for Monday, March 18, 2013.
UPI Almanac for Sunday, March 18, 2012.
Entertainment News // 1 decade ago
Harvard acquires Updike papers
Harvard University says its Houghton Library will house the late U.S. author John Updike's manuscripts, photos and correspondence.
Romijn cast in 'Eastwick' pilot
U.S. actress Rebecca Romijn has been cast as a witch alongside Lindsay Price and Jaime Ray Newman in the drama pilot, "Eastwick."
Author John Updike dead at 76
Celebrated author John Updike died of lung cancer Tuesday in Massachusetts, his publisher announced. He was 76.
Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or doing it better
The almanac Mar 18, 2009
There's a kind of confessional impulse that not every literate, intelligent person has
Author John Updike dead at 76 Jan 27, 2009
Drug offers hope against disease with progressive lung scarring
John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 – January 27, 2009) was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic.
Updike's most famous work is his Rabbit series (the novels Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit At Rest; and the novella "Rabbit Remembered") which chronicled the life of Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom over the course of several decades, from young adulthood to his death. Both Rabbit Is Rich (1981) and Rabbit At Rest (1990) received the Pulitzer Prize. He is one of only three authors (the others being Booth Tarkington and William Faulkner) to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction more than once. Updike published more than twenty novels and more than a dozen short story collections, as well as poetry, art criticism, literary criticism and children's books. Hundreds of his stories, reviews, and poems appeared in The New Yorker, starting in 1954. He also wrote regularly for The New York Review of Books.
Describing his subject as "the American small town, Protestant middle class", Updike was well recognized for his careful craftsmanship, his unique prose style, and his prolificness. He wrote on average a book a year. Updike populated his fiction with characters who "frequently experience personal turmoil and must respond to crises relating to religion, family obligations, and marital infidelity." His fiction is distinguished by its attention to the concerns, passions, and suffering of average Americans; its emphasis on Christian theology; and its preoccupation with sexuality and sensual detail. His work has attracted a significant amount of critical attention and praise, and he is widely considered to be one of the great American writers of his time. Updike's highly distinctive prose style features a rich, unusual, sometimes arcane vocabulary as conveyed through the eyes of "a wry, intelligent authorial voice" that extravagantly describes the physical world, while remaining squarely in the realist tradition. Updike famously described his own style as an attempt "to give the mundane its beautiful due."
FULL ARTICLE AT WIKIPEDIA.ORG
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "John Updike."


text:
Sannazzaro peut être :

Un patronyme italien

 Jacopo Sannazzaro (1458-1530), poète italien, selon une orthographe alternative de son nom
 Carolina Sannazzaro (1825-1907), soprano italienne

Un toponyme en Italie
 Sannazzaro de' Burgondi

Voir aussi


"The '-ize' forms have been in use in [British] English spelling since the 15th century: they didn't originate in American use…"
Maybe the poster confused his Latin singular universum with what I believe would be universi in plural form. One "i" only though. In some "cases" anyway. Sort of like fungus and fungi directly adopted in English.
They are integrating Polygon models into Solid Edge is the main point. so that exports for 3D printing and FEA are available.
But they have a long way to go for reverse engineering. In that case they need points to nurbs, then nurbs to polygons. I bet it will be about ST 15 before nurbs are available.
I bet they add Primatives to Polygons as the only flow to start.
On down the reverse engineering line of operations...100 more.
Once 8 Ghz x 8 core cpus are common (and multi threading) along w/ 32 gig vid cards, then processing point clouds can start to happen fast.
@bnemec Please do train yourself in Synchronous, take the time to learn this, it only takes a few hours to get it done, you will appreciate Solid Edge more if you master Synchronous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzcyWAiuIfE since then the Steering Wheel and Live Rules has improved a lot.
After that pick a few more from the same author, they are wonderful.
Do not start with creating parts in Synchronous, but take a simple assembly and some parts from the training folder in Solid Edge and convert them to Synchronous and play around.
Solid Edge ST is the best tool around, compared to "simple" software like Solid Works and Inventor.
If it was a formula 1 race, the driver of the Solid Edge ST car would have lapped those other "cars" multiple times and was enyoying coffee and watch them finish.
I think I've already mentined in another post, but there is a real good document on installation DVDV of Solid Edge.
Due to the fact that - at the moment - I only have a German DVD available, I only can show You the German veriowsn of it.
do you know if the new release of SE will bring a mid-plane command ?
what do You expect by tis function/command?
What shall it do for You?
I am expecting to get a quick tool to create mid-plane between two elements/bodies I n Solid/modelling environment as well as in Asy env.
Solidworks has this functionality and it is working fast and well.
Now I have to measure the distance before I want to place the plane between - with mid-plane you can get it in 1-2 clicks.
I do appreciate you suggestions and will spend some lunchtimes looking at the videos you have recommended. I must be honest and point out that the mindset of "it only takes a few hours to be productive in ST" has me put off to the whole notion and part of what I find frustrating with shiny new features that tend to get in the way of getting work done. I have spent several sets of several hours working through the Sync tutorials and playing around in the example models, searching online blogs and videos. I am no farther than just that, playing around with models which is far removed from being useful in a production environment where models must be reliable and editable by over a dozen other members of the design department. Maybe it's just my barnacle brain keeping me stuck in the dark ages of parametric modeling and causing me to fail to see the light of ST, I don't know.
I already have too many unfinished personal goals to add another. Aside from some time on lunch breaks, I'm not inclined to invest more of my personal time into something that will be of little use to me. Unless I would have a break through and use my new found skill to lead the charge that drives our department into the ST age, ST will remain taboo at work. Also, I don't do much modeling for personal projects. For me, SE is just a tool at work, a means to an end; I have other hobbies that I would spend my personal time on.
But that's just me, honestly I'm a little envious to those who can jump on every new release and implement any new style of modeling without looking back. Little by little I might get the hang of ST, we'll see.
If you cannot find a Solid Edge setting, confirm you have a file open of the type that will be affected.


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Landscapes & Letters
Paul McCarney
The Ethics of Killing Animals: There Is No One Answer
4 Steps to Keep Your Bow in Top Shape
Harvest or Kill? Considering Our Choice of Language in Hunting Stories
Ocean Conservation Through Marine Protected Areas
Posted on July 17, 2018 By Paul McCarney
Canada has less than two years to meet its target to protect 17% of terrestrial and inland waters and 10% of ocean areas by 2020, commitments made under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Icons of the conservation movement, such as John Muir and Henry David Thoreau, are widely credited for convincing the public to care about protecting natural spaces in the late 1800s. Today, 47 National Parks protect 328 198 square kilometres of land across Canada. Canada also has the longest coastline in the world of over 200 000 kilometres, running through three oceans. Our oceans provide critical habitat for over 40 species of marine mammals, including whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, and polar bears, and dozens of fish species. Marine protected areas are quickly becoming critical conservation tools to protect ocean ecosystems and species.
As we near the 2020 deadline, it is important that we don't just race to meet our minimum conservation targets. We also need to ask, are protected areas effective to achieve truly meaningful biodiversity conservation for the future?
Background: Biodiversity Conservation Targets
Biological diversity – or biodiversity – refers to "the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems".
Polar bear (Ursus maritimus) in the Gulf of Boothia, Nunavut.
At the 2010 meeting of the Conference of the Parties (the term that refers to the countries who have signed a Convention) to the CBD in Japan, Canada agreed to a Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, which involves a set of 20 targets to be pursued from 2011-2020 known as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.
Under Target 11 of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, countries agreed that,
By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.
Countries will achieve this target by increasing and improving protected areas and spaces.
Why We Need Marine Protection
The need to increase ocean conservation is apparent. Ocean ecosystems are vital for the health of the planet. The world's oceans have tremendous cultural, economic, and ecological importance for billions of people. Unfortunately, the world's oceans face increasing threats due to climate change and other anthropogenic factors, such as overfishing, entanglements in fishing gear, shipping, oil and gas exploitation, and pollution.
Canada is an Arctic country. Arctic environments face increasingly longer ice-free seasons, with reductions in both the timing and extent of sea ice. As sea ice declines, there will be increased pressure on Arctic ecosystems from marine shipping, oil and gas exploitation, and commercial fishing. Already, about 80% of the world's fish stocks are depleted, overexploited, or fully exploited.
There are only an estimated 350 North Atlantic right whales left in the world. These species call Canada's oceans home and need areas where they are protected from entanglement in fishing gear, the biggest threat to their survival. Source: Center for Biological Diversity
The Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA) lists 69 marine mammals and fish as Endangered or Threatened and another 44 as Special Concern. The North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) spends part of its year in Canada and may be reduced to as few as 350 individuals left in the world. Over the past 15 years, on average, listed species have continued to decline and the rate of that decline has actually increased. Based on data from 2 313 monitored populations, marine species declined by an average of 9% between 1970 and 2014.
READ I Support the Seal Hunt: An Ecological and Social Basis to Reconsider Perceptions
Protecting marine species and ecosystems ensures that human communities that rely on oceans for cultural and sustainable economic uses can continue to do so in the future, safeguarding both ecological and human well-being. For instance, the Nunavut Government estimates that the seal hunt in Nunavut provides communities with an estimated food value of $5 million. WWF reports that the world's oceans are the main source of protein for one billion people around the world.
To meet the target to protect at least 10% of marine areas by 2020, Canada and other countries have created marine protected areas. While each country has its own legal frameworks to create marine protected areas, they share many similarities. Similiar to parks and protected areas on land, marine protected areas are identified areas in the ocean set aside for conservation that have specific management frameworks and permitted uses. Marine protected areas provide governments with the tools to exclude harmful human activities from taking place within their borders.
Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area. Source: Parks Canada
Marine mammals and fish are not static. I mentioned that 113 marine mammal and fish species are listed under SARA in Canada. The problem with species at risk legislation is that it tends to be overly focused on individual species and too often does not do enough to protect wider habitats and ecosystem functions that species rely upon. As with terrestrial ecosystems and species, effective ocean conservation depends on connectivity and networks of marine protected areas that are safeguarded from harmful human activities.
Creating Marine Protected Areas
In Canada, the government is using three main mechanisms for marine protection to create a network of protected areas, "established and managed within an integrated oceans management framework, that contributes to the health of Canada's oceans and marine environments".
Through various legislative frameworks, the Government of Canada can create Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), National Marine Conservation Areas (NMCAs), and National Marine Wildlife Areas. Each form of marine protection falls under the jurisdiction of different federal government departments and agencies and each takes a different approach to protection. Canada can also create what are referred to as Marine Refuges, areas of ocean closed to commercial fisheries but generally carry far less protection than the other three mechanisms of protection.
Canada's marine protected areas network is being advanced in five priority marine bioregions: the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Scotian Shelf, the Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves, the Western Arctic, and the Northern Shelf. Source: Fisheries and Oceans Canada
The Government of Canada acknowledges that meeting its targets will require "collaborative and collective action" with multiple interests. Canada's protected areas strategy includes an Indigenous Circle of Experts, a National Advisory Panel, and a National Steering Committee.
READ Genetically Pure Bison in North America
In particular, the government states that meeting its targets "will rely on meaningful, full and effective participation of Aboriginal peoples, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples". To that end, Canada has also recognized the need to respect Indigenous jurisdiction through the creation of Indigenous protected areas. (There is a lively and important discussion about the need to "decolonize conservation" and the historical impacts of nature preservation on Indigenous rights.)
"Canada's natural spaces are a vital component of our culture, heritage, economy and our future, and they are of global importance."
As of June 2018, Canada has protected roughly 454 381 square kilometres of marine areas, contributing to 7.9% of its marine conservation targets (by contrast, we have protected 10.5% of terrestrial and freshwater areas).
Are Protected Areas Enough?
The problem with the international biodiversity targets and the marine protected areas model is that they focus strictly on achieving a quantitative area of protection but do not necessarily address the differences between cultural needs, ecosystem services protection, and the biodiversity value of areas.
In a recent paper published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia called for the development of "nature retention targets" focused on keeping natural systems and processes functioning. Martine Maron and colleagues note that even if we succeed in protecting 10% of ocean areas, most "evolutionary processes, ecological functions and biota are, and probably will always be, beyond the boundaries" of national jurisdictions.
Maron and colleagues argue that protected areas are being relied upon to achieve too many purposes beyond protecting biodiversity. Instead of focusing on a percentage of protected ocean areas, we need a multi-faceted approach that can address all the needs of biodiversity and humanity. Such a multi-faceted approach will include protected areas but will not exclusively rely on them.
In a "nature retention" approach, we should focus on developing quantitative indicators for a desired global state of nature. For protected areas to be truly meaningful, we should establish area-based and quality-specific targets that clearly identify the intended benefits to nature conservation and human well-being.
The leatherback sea turtle, listed as endangered in Canada since 2012. Source: WWF
To be effective conservation tools, marine protected areas also need to have the teeth to exclude potentially harmful human activities. In fact, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which outlines six categories of protected areas and associated criteria, specifically excludes industrial activity from marine protected areas.
Unfortunately, in Canada, marine protected areas do not automatically exclude activities such as oil and gas exploration or shipping. For example, the Laurentian Channel Marine Protected Area, off the coast of Newfoundland, is set to remain open to oil and gas exploration in over 80% of its area, which could have potentially harmful effects for species such as the endangered leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).
The future of biodiversity depends on healthy, functioning ecosystems. Since nature and wildlife are not static, it is difficult to address their needs with static lines on maps. As 2020 fast approaches, Canada and other countries are hurrying to meet their conservation targets. But we need to ensure that we are not simply checking the appropriate boxes without keeping an eye on the long-term goals of biodiversity conservation and nature retention.
READ Castor canadensis: Keystone Species and Canadian National Symbol
I'm optimistic about the attention that marine protection is currently receiving. If we can make marine protected areas meaningful and effective conservation tools, they are a great opportunity for the multiple levels of government in Canada to respect Indigenous jurisdiction and to advance conservation needs that have been recognized internationally.
Appise Bay in Nain, Nunatsiavut.
An exciting recent initiative for integrated and adaptive marine management and conservation is the Imappivut Marine Plan in Nunatsiavut, Labrador. In September 2017, Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Nunatsiavut Government (the Inuit regional government in Labrador) signed a Letter of Intent to develop a marine plan for the 48 690 square kilometres of coastal and marine areas within the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement. The Nunatsiavut Government is setting an important precedent in its work to develop a plan that represents the needs of human communities and marine ecosystems and species.
When addressing species at risk, we also need to focus on habitat level needs. Wildlife needs healthy, connected habitat that meets all of its needs. Canada's record of species at risk management to date is not outstanding. The Government of Canada takes far too long to identify critical habitat for wildlife listed under SARA (a fundamental step in identifying recovery plans). At the provincial level, provincial governments have been slow to act to take strong management action for species at risk (see caribou in Alberta).
If we are going to effectively manage and conserve the world's oceans (and land and freshwater) we need to focus on the needs of wildlife and ecosystems. As the world changes and faces new threats to biodiversity, our management approach and policies also need to change. We will need a system of adaptive management that can continue to address needs as they arise and respond to changing conditions – this might mean adjusting the borders of protected areas accordingly. It will certainly mean excluding harmful human activities from protected areas.
I encourage everyone to visit WWF's campaign to send a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling for a ban on oil and gas activities in marine protected areas.
← A Second Summer Reading List of Outdoors Books
Anthropomorphism: What Is It and Can It Benefit Conservation? →
Category: Management & Policy Tags: Aichi Targets, Biodiversity, Conservation, Convention on Biological Diversity, Featured, Marine protected areas, Oceans, protected areas, Whales
Ethics & Culture
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Aldo Leopold Archery arrows Backcountry Black bear books Boone and Crockett Club Bowhunting Canada Caribou Cecil Conservation cpaws ducks unlimited Ecology emotion Ethics Featured Hiking Humboldt Hunting hunting ethics hunting stories hunting writers Hunt to eat lion hunting management Nature Ontario Predator predators Rachel Carson Research Roosevelt science Steven Rinella stories trophy hunting Waterfowl Whitetail Wildlife Wildlife conservation wildlife management wolves yellowstone
"Hunting is one of the hardest things even to think about. Such a storm of conflicting emotions!" – Edward Abbey


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Arcade Fire debuted more new songs on an NBC special after SNL (watch)
BrooklynVegan Staff Published: September 29, 2013
Arcade Fire came to NYC this weekend to perform on SNL and then air an NBC special. On SNL, they performed "Reflektor" and debuted another song, "Afterlife," and on the special they debuted a few more songs off their upcoming album, titled Reflektor, which is due out on 10/29 via Merge.
The special was directed by Roman Coppola and features appearances from Michael Cera, James Franco, Eric Wareheim, Bono, Aziz Ansari, Zach Galifianakis, and more. You can download audio of the new songs here, and watch the NBC special below...
Arcade Fire - "Here Comes the Night Time" NBC Special
Filed Under: Arcade Fire, NBC
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