However, the talent factory of the US is now facing competition: Germany. More and more young people from around the globe are making the decision to study, work and live in Germany. Why? What is so attractive about a country whose language is not easy to learn, and that is considered bureaucratic, complicated and overregulated? At this year's meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Chicago, three young researchers from three different continents will speak at a press event organised by the Helmholtz Association about why they have chosen Germany as their place of work and residence. Xiaoxiang Zhu from China, Daniela Panáková from Slovakia, and Emad Aziz from Egypt met with us beforehand for an interview.
The Helmholtz Association is one of the main partners of the AAAS Annual Meeting, which provides a forum for scientists, journalists and communications sector representatives from across the world to come together and share their experiences. The comprehensive programme includes talks, workshops and discussion rounds, and provides an excellent environment for networking.
At this year's meeting, which takes place from 13 to 17 February in Chicago, representatives from the Helmholtz Association will hold a panel discussion with three scientists from China, Slovakia and Egypt in front of an audience of over 100 international journalists on the topic of why more and more young people are choosing to launch their scientific careers in Germany.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an international non-profit organisation for the worldwide promotion of science. Alongside its involvement in the fields of education and social development, the AAAS is also an interest group and professional organisation. The AAAS organises events for its members and publishes the journal Science as well as numerous scientific newsletters, books and reports. It also implements programmes worldwide to promote a better understanding of science.
Xiaoxiang Zhu, born in 1984, works for the German Aerospace Center.
You are originally from China but have chosen to pursue a scientific career in Germany. Why Germany?
I moved to Germany, and ended up staying here, thanks to a series of fortunate coincidences. After completing my Bachelor's degree in China, I moved to Munich to be with my boyfriend, completed an international Master's programme at the Technische Universität München (TU München), and wrote my final thesis at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The TU München offered me a scholarship very early on to pursue a doctorate in collaboration with the DLR. Since then, I have been working, researching and living in Munich.
What makes Germany so appealing to you as a scientist?
Mostly the collaboration between Helmholtz Centres and universities - in my case between the DLR and the TU München. As a scientist in the field of Earth observation, not only do I have access to outstanding information technology facilities, but also to current data from state-of-the-art satellites. I am involved in large satellite projects, and I can teach students, inspire them, and get them excited about my fields of research.
You are only 29 years old and you already have a very impressive CV behind you. You are an aerospace engineer and a university lecturer, and you run a Young Investigators Group as well as various projects in the field of Earth observation. What do you still aim to achieve?
My current projects are keeping me very busy for the moment. Developing the Young Investigators Group is my top priority; I am responsible for ten students, PhD students and scientists. Our aim is to develop new algorithms to be able to collect more data from future German and European Earth observation satellites. My next personal aim is to gain a professorship, but most of all I want to turn my students and PhD students into successful scientists.
I develop algorithms for Earth observation signal processing. Germany is conducting two radar missions (TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X) and will launch what is known as a hyperspectral satellite (EnMAP) in 2017. The first ESA Sentinel-1 satellite will be launched on 28 March 2014, and we will use its data to develop the algorithms. Based on these radar data, we are aiming to create, for example, three-dimensional city models and to collect information on the deformation of buildings and soil subsidence. Using hyperspectral imaging - images created from many, closely spaced wavelengths - we want to gather information on materials, but also to sharpen the images beyond their initial resolution in order to develop new applications.
You work in a field that is presumably dominated by men. Where does your interest in the field come from?
I've always been fascinated by space - even as a child. I was also interested in mathematically challenging tasks from a very young age. I took part in numerous maths competitions and I always liked to tackle difficult problems. But I also want to achieve something through my research, ideally as part of an interdisciplinary team. Therefore, what I do for a living today is no coincidence. The satellite technology in the field of Earth observation perfectly combines my passion for space with my maths skills and interests. In addition, the working conditions at the DLR and the TU München are great. And as for women - more and more female scientists are entering highly technical professions like mine. That's mostly down to the internationalisation of our teaching and large-scale research projects. But there ought to be even more female researchers, so my generation is also acting as a role model.
Do you plan to stay in Germany?
I will be staying in Germany for the time being. Bavaria in particular is close to my heart. However, I am always open to new things and I don't want to rule out the option of spending a few years in another country - the United States, for example. Many aspects of life just fall into place and work themselves out.
Xiaoxiang Zhu was born in China in 1984. After completing her Bachelor's degree in Space Engineering in China, she enrolled at the TU München, where she completed a Master's degree in Earth Oriented Space Science and Technology, which links the technical aspects of observation systems with the applications of Earth sciences, satellite remote sensing, and navigation. In 2011, Zhu received her Doctorate of Engineering and began lecturing at the TU München. She runs several project groups. Since September 2013, she has been running a Helmholtz Young Investigators Group researching the field of Earth observation. She lectures at the TU München and is often invited to give seminars at universities in China and the US. She has received numerous awards for her research.
Daniela Panáková (born 1976) is a researcher at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin-Buch.
You began your scientific career over ten years ago in Dresden, and went on to spend several years in the US, at Brigham and Women's Hospital at the Harvard Medical School in Boston. You then returned to Germany. What brought you back?
I'm a European through and through, and I was therefore very keen to base my research in a European country and to foster groups of junior researchers here. In my opinion, Germany is one of the countries that has been most successful in promoting young talent. Alongside the many different targeted funding programmes, there are a wide variety of measures in place for supporting junior scientists, ranging from financial subsidies to career advice to excellent framework conditions. That's why I wanted to come to Germany, and I'm really happy that everything has worked out. As I had already lived here, I was familiar with the German science system and knew that this was the best place to carry out my research. To start with, the scientific community here takes the issues facing our society very seriously and is very active in working towards solving them. Then there was the excellent team here and the impeccable laboratory facilities - the conditions and the level of motivation were just right.
You now work and carry out your research at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin-Buch.Why did you choose the MDC?
While writing my PhD, I discovered my interest in the functioning of the heart and how it interacts with the circulatory system. It's also important to me that my research contributes to medical advances in how we treat cardiovascular disease - the most common disease in our society. The MDC is internationally renowned for its research in this area.
What are you currently researching with your Young Investigators Group?
We're currently looking at the zebrafish, a model organism used by developmental biologists, to research how signal transmission regulates the development of the heart and calcium flows. We are investigating the embryonic stages of development, that is to say those that precede birth, and are hoping to find out what role these flows play in how heart cells communicate with one another. These same processes come into play during certain diseases of the heart. We have discovered that misregulated signal transmissions and electro-chemical impulses can impair the functioning of the heart - and in certain circumstances lead to heart disease.
Where do you see yourself in five years? Will you stay in Germany?
I love my work at MDC, and I love my life here. If it were down to me, I would stay here until at least 2020, when my Young Investigators Programme comes to an end. It's not just my decision, though. My Young Investigators Group will be re-evaluated in 2015, and the outcome of that will determine whether or not our research continues and what happens next in my career.
Daniela Panáková is from Slovakia and studied biology at the Comenius University in Bratislava. She wrote her PhD at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, and in 2007 went to work at the Harvard Medical School in Boston. There, she worked initially in the Heart Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, before moving to the Brigham and Women's Hospital in 2009. In 2008, she was awarded funding in recognition of her achievements by the international Human Frontier Science Program. Since 2011, Panáková has led a Helmholtz Young Investigators Group at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin-Buch and a research group at the Charité university hospital in Berlin.
Emad F. Aziz, born in 1978, works at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie (HZB).
Apart from research stays in Switzerland and California, you have worked at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin in Germany since the beginning of your scientific career. Why Germany?
When I graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry in Egypt 13 years ago, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) offered me a grant to conduct research in Germany. I was curious, accepted the offer, and came to Berlin in 2001. First I worked at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), and then in 2004 I switched to the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB). At the same time, I took a bilingual course at the Freie Universität Berlin to get my Master's degree in Physical Chemistry. After this, I obtained my PhD in Chemistry and Natural Sciences at what was then BESSY and is now the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. I've now been at the HZB for ten years. When I came to Germany I quickly got the feeling that this is exactly the right country for me. I have built up a research group here and last year I got married.
Would you have had an alternative to Germany?
I could have gone to the US for a longer period, but that struck me as too easy. I need to be challenged and I follow the motto "No risk, no fun". Germany was a challenge for me from the very start: the language was difficult to learn, the people were very withdrawn at first and, worst of all, there were all the rules and formalities - particularly in the field of research: writing proposals, attracting funding, publishing. It was not easy to find my feet here but I rose to the challenge. I've now even acquired German citizenship.
Things that seem impossible at first glance. I am a free spirit, I talk my ideas over with decision makers, and I motivate my team. I live and work by the principle that you should try everything and fight for a cause. In Germany I can do just that; I'm able to explore my ideas and my visions. This does my research good, as well as my life in general, which I'm very content with. I've had a long time to get used to the rules of research; they're no longer an obstacle for me. I've now got quite good at writing proposals and I've internalised the rules of publishing.
Our research is in an area that brings together physics, chemistry and biology. We are investigating the electrical properties of ions, molecules and polymers in liquid environments. In concrete terms, I have developed complex measurement methods for investigating the structure of chemical and biological materials as well as the reactions of these materials in solutions and at fluid-solid interfaces. Alongside my research, I am developing a high-efficiency laser laboratory at the Freie Universität Berlin and the HZB for generating ultrashort laser pulses.
Do you think you will you leave Germany one day?
My whole life is here - I can't imagine a better place in the world. But, never say never. If my visions, my ideas were to take me somewhere else, I'd be open to that.
Emad F. Aziz was born in Cairo. He graduated there with a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry in 2001 and obtained a grant from the DAAD, bringing him to Berlin, where he went on to obtain his Master's degree and PhD. Since 2004, he has been working at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, where he heads a Helmholtz Young Investigators Group. In addition to this, he holds a professorship at the Freie Universität Berlin. The methods he devised enable researchers to gain insight into extremely fast, complex processes, such as those that take place in catalysts or in biologically important molecules such as haemoglobin and myoglobin. In 2011, Aziz was awarded an ERC Starting Grant by the European Research Council for his research, and he has received a variety of other accolades and awards.


Passive income includes regular earnings from a source other than an employer or contractor. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says passive income can come from two sources: rental property or a business in which one does not actively participate, such as being paid book royalties or stock dividends.
Overview: One popular strategy for passive income is establishing an information product, such as an e-book, audio course or DVD, then kicking back while cash rolls in from the sale of your product.
Opportunity: Information products can deliver an excellent income stream, but they're hardly a passive activity, Tresidder says.
Tresidder says you must build a strong platform, market your products and plan for more products if you want to be successful.
Once you master the business model, you can generate a good income stream, he says.
Overview: Investing in rental properties is an effective way to earn passive income.
How much return you want on the investment.
The property's total costs and expenses.
The financial risks of owning the property.
For example, if your goal is to earn $10,000 a year in rental income and the property has a monthly mortgage of $2,000 and costs another $300 a month for taxes and other expenses, you'd have to charge $3,133 in monthly rent to reach your goal.
Risk: Now, the question becomes one of risk: Is there a market for your property? What if you get a deadbeat tenant who pays late or one who damages your property? Any of these factors could put a big dent in your passive income.
Overview: With affiliate marketing, website owners or bloggers promote a third party's product by including a link to the product on their site.
Opportunity: When a visitor clicks on the link and makes a purchase from the third party, the site owner earns a commission.
Affiliate marketing is considered passive because, in theory, you can earn money just by adding the link to your site. In reality, you won't earn anything if you can't attract readers to your site who will click on the link and buy something.
Risk: If you're just starting out, you'll have to take time to create content and build traffic.
Overview: A peer-to-peer (P2P) loan is a personal loan made between you and a borrower, facilitated through a third-party intermediary such as Prosper.com or LendingClub.com.
Opportunity: As a lender, you earn income via interest payments made on the loans. But because the loan is unsecured, you face the risk of default.
Diversify your lending portfolio by investing smaller amounts over multiple loans. At Prosper.com, $25 is the minimum investment per loan.
Analyze the historical data on the borrowers to make informed picks.
Risk: It takes time to master the metrics of P2P lending, so it's not entirely passive. Because you're investing in multiple loans, you must pay close attention to payments received. Whatever you make in interest should be reinvested if you want to build income.
Overview: Shareholders in companies with dividend-yielding stocks receive a payment at regular intervals from the company.
Opportunity: Since the income from the stocks isn't related to any activity other than the initial financial investment, owning dividend-yielding stocks can be one of the most passive forms of making money.
"ETFs are an ideal choice for novices because they are easy to understand, highly liquid, inexpensive and have far better potential returns because of far lower costs than mutual funds," Graves says.
That said, there are ways to invest in dividend-yielding stocks without an initial investment of a huge amount of time. Graves advises going with exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. ETFs are investment funds that hold assets such as stocks, commodities and bonds, but they trade like stocks.
Compare your investing options with Bankrate's brokerage reviews.
How many streams of income should I have?
There is no "one size fits all" advice when it comes to generating income streams. How many sources of income you have should depend upon where you are financially, and what your financial goals for the future are.
But having at least a few is a good start.
Saving vs. investing: What's more important and why?


What's the Role of Online Video for Franchisees?
Online video can be a great way to enhance the web presence of your franchise location, though it isn't right for every kind of franchise. If you own a Subway franchise in a busy office park, you're going to have a steady lunch crowd as long as your location provides the basics – speed, cleanliness, and good service. On the other hand, if you own a gym franchise in a large city or suburb, for example, online video can give viewers a great sense of what you're all about.
How do you know if you need video?
Put yourself in the customer's shoes. Would you want to see the inside of the business or hear from the owner before taking the next step and making a connection or visit? If so, online video can help. Some of the franchise types (but certainly not all) that can benefit from video include: restaurants (though not as much for fast food), fitness centers, dance centers, dent removal, cleaning companies, any type of repair or service companies, business coaching, and retail franchises.
These days, even a candid smartphone video looks better than a high-end camera from 20-30 years ago. If you're trying to showcase your facility, I would recommend hiring a local pro. It's very hard to get a good video of that type without a little help. If you're recording a personal message, though, it's pretty easy to make a sincere and effective video all by yourself. Check out some online video tutorials if you're not sure how to make and upload a good video.
As with anything franchise-related, you may need to get permission from your franchisor. Check your agreements to see what you're allowed to do on your own vs what requires approval. The amount of freedom varies greatly by franchisor, so it's best to double-check before you start uploading content.
If you have anything to add, or any questions, let us know in the comments!


We were made welcome with a very generous welcome pack and also a mid week treat. The location was excellent being a short distance to the A9 which made exploring easy. Thanks to Margaret and Alex for a lovely comfy stay.
This location is also ideal for exploring Highland treasures in all directions and returning to the Mews after a long day is a most welcome haven. A lovely quiet and rural setting with amenities close to hand. Many thanks to Alex, Margaret and Rachel.
Our hosts were very kind - we had a basket of breakfast basics, a bottle of wine, and butter, milk, and juice in the fridge. Very comfortable apartment in the countryside.
Everything you would need. Fabulous bed and great shower. Appreciated the welcome and mid week treats. We stayed for 6 nights.
There were lovely little touches like fresh flowers in the bedroom. The apartment was immaculate, well equipped, warm and comfortable. As far as situation, it was perfect for exploring the beautiful region and it's attractions.
The flat is absolutely amazing, it has quality and charm. The owners have thought of everything. They are very friendly but not intrusive. We stayed for a week perfect location for touring around the area. We will recommend it to anyone who is thinking of coming to the area. The welcome pack perfect too. Thank you so much.
The owner was on hand but for us everything was perfect. The welcome basket was more than expected and very 'welcome'. We can't recommend this property highly enough.
The Mews Apartment is privately situated in the heart of Scotland's Highland countryside, in the grounds of the owners' Daviot Lodge and small livestock farm with cows and calves, just six miles south of Inverness.
Set away from the main lodge, with a private decked area overlooking open fields, the apartment has been finished to a high standard with great attention to detail, ensuring a comfortable home-from-home stay.
The bright open plan living space makes preparing a meal a sociable event and on a pleasant summer's evening guests can enjoy a spot of alfresco dining on their private decked terrace whilst appreciating the lovely views to the hills beyond.
The immaculate bedroom ensures a great night's sleep and is just next door to the contemporary shower room.
Everything is on hand so guests can simply relax in the comfort of their holiday apartment.
There are plenty of things to see and do from the doorstep with the famous Culloden Battlefield just a few minutes' drive away.
Also in very close proximity are the Clava Cairns, a prehistoric cemetery with three exceptionally well-preserved burial mounds, each enclosed by mystical stone circles and an incredible atmosphere!
The area is ideal for walkers and wildlife lovers, with deer roaming freely in the surrounding fields, whilst further afield, there is so much to do and see.
Why not travel along the banks of Loch Ness and do some monster-spotting en route to the fabulous West Coast?
Or perhaps visit Aviemore and participate in some of the many year-round outdoor pursuits available?
Inverness is a vibrant city offering an interesting day out with some excellent restaurants set along the banks of the River Ness.
At the end of a busy day you will simply love to return to this wonderful apartment.
The Capital of the Highlands, the city of Inverness, is the gateway to the countless delights of the Highlands of Scotland.
Towering mountains, dark lochs, great forests and precipitous sea cliffs are all within easy reach.
Of particular note is the legendary Loch Ness, which is surrounded by some truly breathtaking scenery, although most visitors are usually on the lookout for something a bit more mysterious! Just outside the city is the Culloden Battlefield at Culloden Moor (National Trust).
The site of the last major battle fought on British soil, there is an award-winning display depicting the battle, whilst a walk on the field serves as a poignant reminder of the clansmen who lost their lives.
Inverness itself has much to offer, museums, an art gallery, fine theatre and leisure facilities, not to mention shops, pubs and restaurants.
The River Ness flows through the city and both the river and neighbouring Moray Firth are home to a diverse range of wildlife and marine life including red kites, along with dolphins, which can sometimes be seen from the shore, or on trips from the harbour..


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I haven't gamed as much as I've wanted to lately (I'm sure you can relate), so I'm making an extra effort to get more games to the table, especially those that offer a solo variant.
Fantasy Flight Games previewed The Corellian Conflict, the upcoming campaign for Star Wars: Armada, which "adds structures for campaign turns that add new layers of strategic decisions to each of your battles. Teams plan their assaults in the Strategy Phase, engage the enemy in the Battle Phase, and reap their rewards (or suffer their losses) in the Management Phase." It can be pre-ordered now.
In its Top 10 Most Successful Kickstarter Games of All Time, insidermonkey.com lists five board games among the most successful.


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Home / News & Events / Events / Responsible Business Awards in Northern Ireland CLOSING DATE
Responsible Business Awards in Northern Ireland CLOSING DATE
The Responsible Business Awards in Northern Ireland are the most prestigious and respected awards championing responsible business.
Offering the opportunity for Northern Ireland organisations to be recognised for their outstanding contributions to their people, the planet and the places where they operate, these Awards celebrate businesses that are making Northern Ireland a better place.
Today is the closing date for entries. Please submit your applications online.
Remember these two important dates:
Judging days: 21 and 22 April 2020
Gala night: 28 May 2020
For more information, contact Helen Bowman.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Invicta's JT Corduba looks awesome on your wrist. It can't help it. With its large yet slim design, it's seemingly simple yet totally stuns. And lightweight thanks to the polyurethane strap, so you just get to go about your day without being weighed down or feeling constricted. Lucky you. Complete with perforated panels down the sides of the strap, the JT Corduba shows its sophisticated side with the mother-of-pearl dial. Again, that wide open arrangement looks simple but it has a clean, modern look that's so fitting for your live-life-in-the-now attitude. Large hour markers brighten with Tritnite filling as a date window and two subdials do all the work.


Under Construction - just in time for the Holidays! Give your family a huge new yard for the new years. Stunning French Country style home on large lot that backs up the the pond. 4 large bedrooms, a loft, a study, formal dining, this home has it all. Oversized tile covers the main living areas downstairs, perfect for easy clean up. Huge L shaped kitchen features 42" upper cabinets, beautiful Linen color with Ember Glaze and then features cherry Slate cabinets on the island with breakfast bar. New Caledonia granite counter tops really make the glaze stand out. Tile back splash ties it all together. Spacious gathering room is open to the breakfast area, dining room, and kitchen. This home is meant to entertain! Lanai off the back of the breakfast nook gives even more space to hang out. Powder room located on the main level is so convenient. Study is located off the far end of the gathering room, great space for at home office or craft room. Upstairs features owners suite with two walk in closets, dual sink raised vanity with Slate cabinets and granite, large shower, and a private water closet. 3 other large bedrooms flank the large loft and share a full bath that features granite as well. Loft is perfect for children's play area and is big enough to hold a desk for homework too! This large home has it all! Pre wiring for ceiling fans, 6 tv/data ports, Ecobee4 Smart thermostat, 15 SEER air conditioning and more.


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DC Comics Available on E-Readers
November 8, 2012 By Mike Hickerson Leave a Comment
DC Comics has expanded its digital content. Starting yesterday, the comic book publisher has begun releasing issues to e-readers.
Titles from the comic book publisher including Justice League, Bat Girl, Green Lantern, Fables and American Vampire, among scores of others, are now available on all major e-bookstore platforms including Kindle Store, Apple's iBookstore and the Nook Book Store, DC announced.
"As e-readers and tablets continue to explode in popularity it's important for us to offer consumers convenience and choice in how they download digital comics and graphic novels and these new distribution deals with the top three e-bookstores do just that," DC Entertainment co-publisher Jim Lee said. "We're very excited to work with Amazon, Apple and Barnes & Noble to bring best-selling DC Comics and Vertigo periodicals to their e-bookstores."
With the move, DC Entertainment becomes the lone comic book publisher to offer its periodical lineup across all major e-bookstore platforms and comes a year after DC Comics launched The New 52 when the company released the issues day and date in print and online, offering multiple download options.


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Beretta USA to Locate New Manufacturing Facility in Tennessee
Posted by matteo recanatini on Jan 29, 2014 11:05:00 AM
World's oldest firearms manufacturer and major U.S. defense contractor to expand to Gallatin, Tn.
NASHVILLE – Beretta USA officials along with Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty announced today the company will expand its U.S. operations by building a new firearms manufacturing plant in the Gallatin Industrial Park. Beretta, a global manufacturer of high-quality sporting and military firearms, will invest $45 million in a state-of-the-art manufacturing and R&D facility. Beretta will create 300 new Tennessee jobs. The company is expected to complete construction on the facility this year.
Beretta is the world's oldest manufacturing dynasty, operating since 1526 in Italy. The company is privately owned and operated by members of the 15th and 16th generations of the Beretta family. Beretta supplies quality sporting and self-defense firearms to consumers worldwide. The company manufactures the U.S. Armed Forces M-9 pistol, the standard sidearm of U.S. soldiers since 1985. Beretta will make firearms at the new Gallatin plant from both their sporting and tactical product lines.
"Beretta is one of the world's greatest companies, and their decision to expand into Tennessee speaks to the standards of craftsmanship and quality our state's workforce embraces every day," Haslam said. "Attracting a legendary company like Beretta reinforces our goal of becoming the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high-quality jobs. I want to thank the Beretta family for their substantial investment in Tennessee and the 300 jobs they'll create in Sumner County."
"Today's significant announcement by Beretta USA is a historic moment for the state of Tennessee, the Haslam Administration and ECD," Hagerty said. "Beretta is one of the best brands in the world. Tennessee's global reputation for manufacturing in an artisan tradition means we are able to attract companies like Beretta, with a proven commitment to excellence. Tennessee continues to earn global accolades for our business climate, and we boast the best balance sheet in the nation. I appreciate Beretta's decision to locate in Tennessee, and we look forward to a partnership that will last centuries."
"From the moment when we started to consider a location outside of the State of Maryland for our manufacturing expansion, Governor Haslam and his economic development team did an excellent job demonstrating the benefits of doing business in Tennessee. We are convinced we could find no better place than Tennessee to establish our new manufacturing enterprise. We look forward to building operations here and being part of your community for many years to come," said Franco Gussalli Beretta, Vice President and Managing Director of Fabbrica D Armi S.p.A and Executive Vice President of Beretta USA.
"When Beretta chooses a location for its business, we start with the possibility that we will be in that location for decades, if not hundreds of years, to come. We move forward with confidence knowing that Tennessee is a great place to do business. We look forward to our opportunities here and we look forward to working side-by-side with our new Tennessee neighbors," said Jeff Reh, Beretta USA Member of the Board of Directors for Beretta USA.
Read the full transcript of Vice President and Managing Director of Fabbrica D Armi S.p.A and Executive Vice President of Beretta USA's Franco Gussalli Beretta's speech here.
Read the full transcript of Beretta USA's Board of Directors Member Jeff Reh's speech here.
Beretta, established in 1526, is the oldest industrial dynasty in the world tracing its roots through 16 generations of continuous family ownership. Firearms bearing the Beretta name have been sold for almost 500 years. Beretta USA Corp. was founded in 1977 and supplies the standard sidearm to the U.S. Armed Forces. Today, Beretta manufactures, distributes and markets a complete line of firearms, accessories and apparel. Beretta also owns and operates six retail Beretta Gallery stores worldwide. For additional information, visit Beretta.com
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The Theology of Work Bible Commentary
Bible Commentary / Produced by TOW Project
The Theology of Work Bible Commentary is the only commentary covering what every book of the Bible says about work. Approximately 2 million Christians who work, pastors, scholars and others access it free online every year. Covering almost 1000 passages of Scripture, it incorporates a wealth of applications, examples, and ilustrations in formats ranging from video and audio to pictures and text. It covers all kinds of work, whether paid or unpaid. It is the core product of the Theology of Work Project, the deepest, largest, and most trusted source of biblical, theological, and practical material related to work.
Does the Bible Really Say Much About Work? (Click to Watch)
Click any book below to begin exploring the Theology of Work Bible Commentary. Or use the search bar at the top of every page or the TOW advanced search to directly find references to a particular Bible passage or topic.
Genesis / Exodus / Leviticus / Numbers / Deuteronomy / Joshua / Judges / Ruth / 1 Samuel / 2 Samuel / 1 Kings / 2 Kings / 1 Chronicles / 2 Chronicles / Ezra / Nehemiah / Esther / Job / Psalms / Proverbs / Ecclesiastes / Song of Songs / Isaiah / Jeremiah / Lamentations / Ezekiel / Daniel / Hosea / Joel / Amos / Obadiah / Jonah / Micah / Nahum / Habakkuk / Zephaniah / Haggai / Zechariah / Malachi
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About the Theology of Work Bible Commentary
Although a commentary is typically a tool for pastors and scholars, the TOW Bible Commentary is also widely used by ordinary working Christians. Millions have found that its applications and examples help them understand and put into practice what God intends for their work. Pastors use it to help include work in their regular weekly sermons. Seminary and university faculty and students use it help integrate Christian faith with matters of work and economics.
The other materials on the Theology of Work website—topical articles, small group studies, devotions, sermons, church models and examples, case studies, personal reflections, curricular modules, and many others—are grounded on the biblical foundation provided by TOW Commentary. The TOW Bible Commentary is also available in print and Logos Bible Software format.
The Theology of Work Bible Commentary incorporates materials from over 120 contributors representing the breadth of the historic/orthodox Christian faith, vetted by an Editorial Board of biblical scholars, pastors and workplace experts meeting in person discuss, amend, and improve each passage in the commentary. Over seven years in the making, and continually updated online, this multi-faceted commentary reflects the true nature of work as described in the Bible.
What People are Saying About the Theology of Work Bible Commentary
"The Theology of Work Project is providing desperately needed resources to pastors and the entire church on what the Bible has to say about our work."
- Tim Keller, pastor, Redeemer Church
"This commentary was written exactly for those of us who aim to integrate our faith and work on a daily basis and is an excellent reminder that God hasn't called the world to go to church, but has called the Church to go to the world."
- Bonnie Wurzbacher, former senior vice president, The Coca-Cola Company
"This series is a magnificent contribution to one of the most neglected themes in Christian ethics...The conversation about faith and work is deeper and richer thanks to the Theology of Work Project."
- Andy Crouch, author and executive editor, Christianity Today
Learn What The Bible Says About Work from 3 Different Professionals
A businessman, a management professor, and a pastor each explain in their own words what the Bible says about...
TOW Bookstore
To buy Theology of Work Project books and other resources related to faith and work, check out the Theology of Work...
Romans and Work
Romans has been exceptionally important in the development of Christian theology.
Genesis 1-11 and Work
The story of work and its purpose unfolds in this commentary on the book of Genesis.
Ruth and Work
This Bible commentary on Ruth reflects deeply on work, economics, and most of all, God's faithfulness.
Colossians and Work
Colossians helps us understand the context of our lives and work within God's story.
Proverbs and Work
The book of Proverbs offers invaluable wisdom for work and life.
Psalms and Work
This commentary on the book of Psalms reminds us of the importance of work and how we work, and God's presence...
Ecclesiastes and Work
Ecclesiastes provides an honest, unvarnished look at the reality of work.
Acts and Work
This commentary on the book of Acts explores the commitment to service that formed the foundation of the early...
Matthew and Work
Matthew, the tax collector-turned-apostle, recounts Jesus' actions and teachings to show us how God intends us to live...
The Book of Revelation and Work
The book of Revelation provides some of the keenest insights in Scripture concerning the "big picture" of work.
Every resource on our site was made possible through the financial support of people like you. With your gift of any size, you'll enable us to continue equipping Christians with high-quality biblically-based content.
Theology of Work Bible Commentary - One Volume Edition
The Theology of Work Bible Commentary is an in-depth Bible study tool put together by a group of biblical scholars, pastors, and workplace Christians to help you discover what the whole Bible--from Genesis to Revelation--says about work. Business, education, law, service industries, medicine, government--wherever you work, in whatever capacity, the Scriptures have something to say about it. This edition is a one-volume hardcover version.


Awakening Joy – App, blog, book, classes, events, free audio talks, retreats, and workshops focused on joy.
Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley – Researched-based tools and practical resources to build happiness, resilience, and connection.
Live Happy – Articles, clothing, gifts, Live Happy magazine, and podcast centered on positive psychology.
How can you eXamine your positives to assist you in your healing journey?


Kestrel is a class of seven children in Y1, Y2 and Y3. Some of the children experience SEMH needs, some have an autistic spectrum disorder, and some experience cognition and learning difficulties. The school day in Kestrel is varied and differentiated to meet the needs of the children. English and maths are taught in the mornings, and other subjects are taught through a topic based approach in the afternoons.


Ashley Horton (Blog: Ashley Horton | Instagram: @ashleyhorton75# | Pinterest: @ahorton | Twitter: @ashleymh1675) has a final pair of layouts to wrap up Bits Week!
Happy last day of February! We'll be debuting our February Design Team Gallery tomorrow so be sure to stop by then to get INSPIRED!
The Bits giveaway winner will be announced tomorrow - have you entered?!
I'm so super excited to announce our Bits Week Guest Designer - Jenni Calma!
Short bio: I live in the South with my husband and two children, ages 9 & 7, and our sweet rescue dog Lola. My husband and I are both architects and avid renovators. After 7 years we are almost finished with the entire renovation of our 60's mod rancher! I also love to read, paint, and cook.
How did you get started scrapbooking? I started scrapbooking about 13 years ago after keeping wedding memorabilia and things from our honeymoon that I wanted to showcase somehow. My husband bought me a pink scrapbook when I was pregnant with my daughter and I quickly became obsessed.
What is your favorite American Crafts product? That is SUCH a tough question! I can hardly remember the last time I made a LO without any 'This To That' foam dots so that is probably my favorite "tool." For products, I would have to say it is a tie between the chipboard pieces/bits and cardstock. Nothing cuts better on my Silhouette than American Crafts cardstock!
I love scrapping photos in a series or snapshots taken at one second intervals, especially in a grid format. With a photo heavy page like this, I tried to leave some white space by shifting all the photos and papers to one side and make it more dynamic.
I don't think there is a better collection for a Daddy/Daughter page than the sweet colors and patterns of Polka Dot Party. I wanted the page to have lots of embellishments that trickled down towards the bottom.
These Die Cut Tags make a quick and easy everyday card! I just love the hot pink layered over the grey patterned paper.
This patterned paper with all the frames reminded me of all the scrapbook pages that have not made into a scrapbook yet so I had to do a layout about my "happy place!" I did a little watercolor or stamping under each frame I layered with another embellishment to move your eye to that spot.
I cut out the type written words from one of the Polka Dot Party cut apart pieces of paper. I thought it would look cute to have the words on this little paper like it was coming out of the die cut typewriter.
I put together this little mini album with some of my favorite silly faced photos. I tried to limit each page to 2 or 3 colors that complemented each other and had at least one round embellishment or other "Bits" to break it up.
I had too many photos of the latest crazy snow to leave out, so I made a collage in Photoshop. All the polka dots and bright colors inspired a little gelato play on the background piece to tie all the colors and round shapes together.
Visit Jenni's Blog, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter to follow her and see more of her amazing designs!
Erin Stewart (Blog: Erin Stewart | Instagram: @erinstewart | Pinterest: @erinstewrt) made this delightful mini album featuring Bits Tags and she's going to show us how to re-create it in a video!
Such a beautiful and fun way to share your instagram photos!
Here's a chance to win a fun prize pack filled with Bits!
Leave a comment on this post by Friday February 28th telling us something that makes you happy and we'll choose a winner and let them be known in Friday's post. Good luck one and all!
Have a wonderful weekend filled with lots of love, scrapping, and glitter!
Giveaway winners from the Valentine's Day Blog Hop and Glitter Week will be announced tomorrow so make sure you've entered!!
I'm so excited to introduce our Glitter Guest Designer - Natalie Elphinstone!
Short bio: My name is Natalie Elphinstone and I live in sunny Australia with my ever supportive stay-at-home husband and our two gorgeous girls aged 7 and 4. I work full time as a doctor specialising in Obstetrics and Gynaecology which can be a little intense at times so I love to unwind by heading to my scrap room and playing with some paper and paint. I think the creative process is so therapeutic! But more importantly I love that I'm the memory keeper of the family and you'll always find journaling on my layouts as I try to preserve the story. Right now I'm honoured to be named as one of the Australian Scrapbooking Memories Masters for 2014 and blessed to be designing for Studio Calico as well as being a Jenni Bowlin Studio Ambassador.
How did you get started scrapbooking? I started dabbling in scrapbooking when I was at home with my first daughter in 2007, but it was another couple of years before I discovered the wonderful world of online shopping, blogs, conventions, forums, kit-clubs, and manufacturers. I've never looked back since!
What is your favorite American Crafts product? There are some core AC products that I'll never be without such as the cardstock, This to That adhesives, and Precision Pens. And my all-time favorite collection has to be Amy Tangerine Sketchbook with it's delightful mix of watercolours and doodled designs. Love it to bits!!
Brush script is right on trend at the moment but I added an exciting twist by sprinkling my handpainted title with two tones of glitter for an ombre effect too. This was so much fun, I'm definitely going to do it again!
I freehand cut a series of hearts out of different textured papers including my favourite POW Glitter Paper and layered them to create a dimensional embellishment for this simple card.
To add some fun background texture I mixed glue with water and let it dribble and splat across my page. Then I sprinkled it with WOW Extra Fine Glitter in a bright contrasting colour.
A mini album doesn't need to be complicated. I created mine by folding up some long strips of paper and attaching my photos and the Stitched Vellum Pockets to hold my journaling and extra memorabilia. The Glitter Tape can be cut into different shapes to add some sparkle.
These wooden cutlery pieces started off plain, but with the quick addition of a splash of paint and glitter they can be matched to any party colour scheme you can think of.
Be sure to stop by Natalie's Blog, Pinterest, and Instagram to see more of her amazing creations!
1. Gather your supplies: patterned paper in assorted bright colors (torn strips and scraps will do perfectly), ribbon, sequins, Zazz glitter glue, double-sided tape, feathers, a small dowel (or chopstick), Mod Podge, and a paper plate.
2. Draw or print a mask shape onto paper, transfer to a paper plate, and cut out with scissors.
5. Continue applying Mod Podge and papers to completely fill the mask with a mosaic of color.
6. To give the entire mask a shimmery finish, brush on a generous coat of Zazz! glitter glue, and let dry.
Now your Mardi Gras mask is all ready to decorate!
7. Run a piece of This To That double-sided tape along the entire length of the dowel (or chopstick).
8. Wind ribbon around the dowel, starting at the bottom, adding feathers near the top. Secure the last inch of ribbon with tape and attach the dowel to the edge of the mask with another piece of tape. Snip the mask at the opposite end, rounding the corner as shown.
9. Staple 8-inch and 12-inch lengths of ribbon onto the back of the mask. Using glitter glue, adhere sequins above the eye holes.
And there you have it, a colorful Mardi Gras mask for play or decoration!
Create a Mardi Gras centerpiece by adding your mask to a clear vase filled with colorful beads!
Want a chance to win a glittery prize pack?
Leave a comment on this post by Friday February 21st and tell us what your favorite glitter product is - I'll announce the winner this Friday!


This study aims to determine the effect of the money supply and the exchange rate of foreign trade on inflation in Indonesia. This study concludes that the money supply has a positive and significant influence on inflation. The foreign trade exchange rate has a negative relationship to inflation, but the effect is not statistically significant. For further research it is recommended to add other independent variables that are related and take into account the exchange rate of foreign trade according to the group of goods.


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Blackmailing Europe with migrants
Lukashenko is diligently playing a role of "Putin's willing provocateur."
The European Union's 6,000-km land border between Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Russia, and its eastern member states (Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania) has not been seen as a major gateway for illegal migration until recently. According to Frontex (European Border and Coast Guard Agency), the scale of illegal migration flows across the bloc's eastern border was much smaller than on any other migration route to the EU, accounting for less than a percent of the total.
In 2015, when the influx of refugees to European countries reached proportions that haven't been seen since World War 2, a total of 1,927 illegal border crossings were recorded on the eastern frontier. For reference, in the same year, 764,333 people illegally entered the EU via the Western Balkans, and 885,386 – via the Eastern Mediterranean. Even the temporary Arctic route, which operated between October and December 2015, was used by 6,000 asylum seekers, mainly from Afghanistan and Syria. This is triple the flow recorded at the Eastern border throughout that year.
This year, however, the situation on the EU's eastern border has changed dramatically. Compared with 2020, the number of illegal crossings has spiked by a stunning 1,407%. But it is not the total number of migrants that was impressive, since that remained quite low anyway (for instance, German police registered 6,600 migrants who illegally arrived from Belarus, primarily in October). The most striking thing is the way these figures have been achieved: the said illegal migration channel has been artificially created by the regime run by Belarus' self-proclaimed president.
Migrants are brought into the country in an organized manner, being promised an easy transfer to the EU. They are then taken to the country's Western border in large groups and forced to rush the borderline at gunpoint, not offered a chance to retreat. Earlier on the Belarusian-Lithuanian, and now on the Belarusian-Polish border, the developments resemble front-line reports: provocations, border penetrations, skirmishes, and gunfire. In this way, Lukashenko is taking revenge on neighboring EU countries for supporting the Belarusian opposition.
Gaddafi, the late dictator of Libya, did quite the same back in 2011. In retaliation for Italy's support of his opponents, Gaddafi created an "inferno" on Lampedusa, a small Italian volcanic island in the Mediterranean, deploying boats carrying thousands of desperate African migrants. Hundreds died trying to cross the sea.
"Putting desperate people on a boat and pushing them off into the sea — sending them to die in the Mediterranean — is something very close to being yet another crime against humanity," said then-Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
At least 10 migrants have already died of cold and hunger in the woods on Belarus' western borders. Propagandists employed by the Lukashenko regime say more casualties are expected, in advance blaming Poland.
Anton Shekhovtsov, a Ukraine-based expert on the Kremlin's ties with far-right and extremist groups, sees this as an "act of state-sponsored terrorism."
Does Lukashenko act on his own or at the Kremlin's behest?
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has accused Putin of orchestrating the ongoing migration crisis on the country's border with Belarus.
"Lukashenko is the executor of the latest assault, but this assault has a sponsor who is to be found in Moscow, and this sponsor is President Putin," Morawiecki said at an emergency debate in Poland's parliament.
Belarus would never have acted so aggressively on the Polish border without Moscow's consent, a clear signal of approval from Putin. It acts as Russia's agent, believes expert on Russian military policy Jakob Hedenskog with the Swedish Defense Research Agency.
Chatham House also refers to Belarus as "another tool in Russia's hybrid warfare against Western liberal democracies."
Indeed, not only does Moscow not prevent Minsk from fomenting an explosive conflict on the formally common border (of the Union State), it also echoes its neighbor's rhetoric, blaming the West for the ongoing crisis. However, the approval of this scheme, which fits into the Kremlin's policy of stirring up and weakening Europe, doesn't necessarily mean Lukashenko isn't acting on his own. He has long been hostile to Poland and almost 20 years ago, he already intimidated the neighboring country by saying that "we have about 150,000 illegal migrants from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and other countries, who are all ready to cross this border."
"I'm confident that Europeans will not just come to Belarus, they will crawl and ask us for help in cooperation, at least in the fight against drug trafficking and illegal migrants because this is now their most painful point. Therefore, they can't help but need our cooperation and support. And one more thing… If they don't pay, we will not be protecting Europe from this influx at our own expense... They should at least ask us to fight against this, and also pay us," Lukashenko said in a 2002 interview.
In the same interview, almost 20 years ago, he criticized Putin for his "great love for the European Union" and for "Russia accession to NATO on an extra stool." So the Kremlin does not need to pit him against the West and ensure his relevant stance: this is an integral part of his worldview. He might have suggested on his own that Europe could be blackmailed through a border crisis.
By the way, the Lukashenko regime has been taking money from the EU for decades to restructure Belarus' border control agencies and develop infrastructure. In 2001 and 2012 alone, the European Union's support for Belarus in the field of integrated border management totaled approximately EUR 47.5 million.
Putin's willing provocateur
However, Lukashenko's anti-Western views and proneness to blackmail don't mean that Moscow is not interested in this crisis and that it's not fuelling it, encouraging Lukashenko with its support. Moscow may believe it is killing two birds with one stone: delivering a blow to Europe and cutting off opportunities for Lukashenko to walk back, leaving him no room for political maneuver.
He doesn't leave much room for himself, either, claiming that Western powers seem to be deliberately moving their troops closer to the borders of the Union State under the pretext of resolving the migration crisis and threatening that "we have something to move closer to the borders as well, and Russia – even more so." Of course, Russia is happy to back such rhetoric.
The Atlantic Council think tank aptly calls Lukashenko Putin's willing provocateur. He acts at his own will, but for Moscow's benefit. The publication compares Lukashenko with Kadyrov, branding the latter "Putin's willing executioner" who eliminates Putin's critics, allowing him to "leave no fingerprints" of his own.
According to General Roman Polko, former Commander of the GROM spec-ops forces unit, Lukashenko is indeed trying to deploy a "human bomb" against Poland, being naïve enough to believe that Europe will yield to blackmail, lift sanctions, and possibly even provide some financial assistance to stop the flow of migrants. But at the same time, it's Putin who's "pulling the strings."
"Putin is constantly waging a hybrid war. He knows he's too weak to win an open armed conflict with NATO. In addition, Russia is too dependent on Western economies to afford such a conflict," said the general.
In fact, according to the Atlantic Council, the crisis manufactured by the Belarusian dictator mimics the tactics previously used by Russia. It refers to the 2015 migration crisis, which peaked after Russia joined the war in Syria.
In 2015, Syrian armed rebels made significant progress in fighting the forces of Bashar al-Assad's regime and threatened to undo the government forces' hold over Damascus.
President Assad turned to the Kremlin for help, and on September 30, the Russian Federation Council authorized President Putin to launch a military campaign on Syrian territory. In September 2015, Russian air force launched air strikes on anti-government forces (somewhere between 7,000 and 15,000 sorties, according to various estimates, with over 12,000 targets hit). This dramatically changed the course of the military conflict. President Assad, whose defeat was almost a certainty at that point, ultimately remained in power.
This was accompanied by a huge migration wave, with hundreds of thousands of Syrians fleeing westward in an attempt to escape the war. The autumn and winter of 2015 brought to Europe a tide of migration far greater than the one caused by the war in the former Yugoslavia. Nearly a million refugees arrived in Germany alone.
The wave of refugees created a number of unresolved issues. It strengthened the positions of right-wing populist leaders, parties, and movements, sew divisions among European countries, pushed the UK toward Brexit, and provided fertile ground for the Russian propaganda with its apocalyptic images of Europe's demise. Russians argued that Europe could survive only by going for an alliance with Russia.
The same narrative is being promoted by Belarusian propaganda, which is no longer different from the Russian: "Europe can remain strong only if it's in good relations with Belarus and Russia."
They appeal to "real" Europe, which includes Germany and France, whom they refer to as countries that "have at least some sovereignty." A proof of sovereignty in this case is apparently concluding treaties beneficial to Russia. They speak contemptuously about Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine. These three allegedly provoke conflicts which "real" Europe doesn't need, but they will be quickly destroyed.
"A military solution to this conflict would lead to the end of Polish statehood and Lithuanian statehood, as well as fragmentation of the European Union. We are not even talking about Ukraine – this state doesn't exist as such," claims Russia's STV outlet.
Thus, the script of this political play is very similar to the one dating back to 2015: create a crisis, blame it on victims, and then proffer oneself as a solution. But this time, the truth is too obvious: while in 2015, Russia wasn't caught red-handed, the artificial nature of the current crisis is apparent. Therefore, propaganda that tries to deploy the same trick can be easily called by its real name: hypocrisy and cynicism. Meanwhile, the approach used is clearly seen as inhuman and gangster-like.
In addition, when someone claims that the mob of migrants that is crushing border fortifications using identical is "self-organized," or that this is "a move of despair," or "let them just try shooting women and children," Ukraine is very well aware what it actually means: a hybrid war.
Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security
U.S. senators introduce bill to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression
EU Commissioner Varhelyi to visit Kyiv next week
Zelensky appoints Ukraine's ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Zelensky says Russia may try to occupy Kharkiv


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The Silent Tsunami - the Globalization of the Hunger Challenge
Josette Sheeran (UN World Food Program)
Keynote address delivered at the Peterson Institute
I want to thank the Peterson Institute and Fred Bergsten-you in particular-and Jeff Schott and others who helped put this together. For many of us, the Peterson Institute has been a vital resource for over three decades here in Washington. It certainly is a place I have relied on over and over again. I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to meet with you today to explain what we are seeing out there on the frontlines of hunger.
Today we come together to address one of the most pressing global issues of our time-the impact of soaring food prices on the world's most vulnerable and the hungry.
In February rice cost $460 a metric ton; just five weeks after that prices reached $780 a metric ton and just a few weeks after that it reached record levels at $1,000 a metric ton.
Is this challenge fundamentally different than the crisis of the early 1970s, which [was] quickly followed by another era of cheap and abundant food and oil? Or are we witnessing a structural shift in global agricultural markets?
Other commodities have doubled or tripled in price over the past year. Consumers are getting hit worldwide-for some it is a painful pinch, for those living on less than 50 cents a day it is a catastrophe.
Of course, we are all consumers when it comes to food. Food is so basic to human survival that its denial is a denial of life itself. Some say there are only seven meals between civilization and anarchy-at the seventh meal lost, all begins to fall apart as people are reduced to fending for survival. Ensuring access to adequate, affordable food and nutrition is certainly one of the fundamental roles of government, and, indeed, of civilization itself.
Today, the global food supply system is groaning under the strain of sky-rocketing demand, soaring cost of inputs, depleted stocks, crop loss due to drought, floods and severe weather. Last June, I warned we were facing a perfect storm for the world's most vulnerable. Today, I believe we are in the eye of that storm.
News reports and images from deadly riots in Haiti, triggering the collapse of the government, and elsewhere throughout the globe, are stark reminders that food insecurity threatens not only the hungry but peace and stability itself.
This is a very smart, august audience, so I am going to conduct a pop quiz. I am going to quote someone and see if anyone in the audience can identify the source.
"The threat of famine, the fact of hunger have haunted men and nations throughout history.... This eternal problem has now taken on unprecedented scale and urgency and...can only be dealt with by concerted worldwide action.
"Our challenge goes far deeper than one area of human endeavor....We are faced not just with the problem of food but with the accelerating momentum of our interdependence.... In the past thirty years the world came to assume that a stable economic system and spreading prosperity would continue indefinitely.
"Now there are fundamental questions about our capacity to meet even our most basic needs.... Partly due to bad weather around the globe, world grain production declined for the first time in two decades. We [are] made ominously conscious of the thin edge between hope and hunger, and of the world's dependence on the surplus production of a few nations....
"The contemporary agenda of energy, food and inflation exceeds the capacity of any single government, or even a few governments together, to resolve. All nations...are linked to a single economic system. Preoccupation with narrow advantage is foredoomed.... The poorest and the weakest nations will suffer most. Discontent and instabilities will be magnified in all countries. New dangers will be posed to recent progress in reducing international tensions.
"This need not be our future. There is great opportunity as well as grave danger in the current crisis.
"We must begin here with the challenge of food. No social system, ideology or principle of justice can tolerate a world in which the spiritual and physical potential of hundreds of millions is stunted from elemental hunger or inadequate nutrition. National pride or regional suspicions lose any moral or practical justification if they prevent us from overcoming this scourge.
"In short, we are convinced the world faces a challenge new in its severity, its pervasiveness, and its global dimension.... Let us agree that the scale and severity of the task require a collaborative effort unprecedented in history.
"And let us make global cooperation in food a model for our response to other challenges of an interdependent world-energy, inflation, population, protection of the environment."
The person who gave that speech, according to a Time magazine report at the time, felt this keynote address was one of the most important speeches of his career. The words were spoken almost 35 years ago, by then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to the United Nations World Food Congress on November 5, 1974.
As you have heard, there are stark similarities between the global food crisis of the early 1970s and of the food challenge we face today. And we are seeing a robust global response to confront the challenge. The Secretary-General of the United Nations has formed a global task force to map out a forward strategy, from emergency response to long term solutions. The President of the World Bank has called for a "new deal" on global food policy and has activated the Bank to partner with governments and institutions across the globe on urgent responses and solutions. The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has pledged to assist nations on financing for imports and balance of payment challenges. The world will gather June 3 through 5 for an urgent world food security summit in Rome, Italy at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to discuss these urgent challenges.
The World Food Program (WFP) is enormously grateful for the quick response to our extraordinary emergency appeal. Let me hold up this red cup which many of you have seen before which is from our school feeding program in Rwanda. Today, we can fill this cup with 40 percent less food than we could last June with the same contribution just due to the higher food costs.
We put out an extraordinary appeal for $755 million and we are about 60 percent the way there. We are enormously grateful to the United States for the release of $200 million from the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust and the President's announcement last week of a requested $1 billion in new emergency and developmental food and agriculture aid for 2009. This continues America's noble tradition of being a global leader in the fight against hunger. And Members of Congress are even today pushing hard for a robust emergency supplemental for 2008 to help with the challenge.
Other nations have stepped up to the plate, including Canada announcing last week an additional $50 million in aid, and a total untying of all contributions, providing the WFP with cash to purchase food from poor farmers in the developing world.
And progress has indeed been made since the time of the Kissinger speech. The world today is nurturing more people than ever before in human history, and we have cut the proportion of hungry in half, from about 37 percent in 1969 to 17 percent last year. With advances in seed, fertilizer and production technologies we have doubled yields for many crops for the past three generations. But we are not keeping pace with demand. The absolute number of hungry people-defined as those unable to meet the basic caloric and nutritional requirements for human health-have continued to grow to 860 million, with an estimated 4 million people added every year. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls hunger and undernutrition the number one threat to public health, killing more people than HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Every ten days the world loses 250,000 people to hunger related deaths, the equivalent of the casualties from the Asian tsunami. The vast majority of those casualties-160,000-will be children.
Now the World Bank estimates that an additional 100 million people will be thrust into deeper poverty and hunger due to the soaring food prices. The director general of the Asian Development Bank said yesterday that a billion people in Asia are seriously affected by the surging costs of daily staples.
I have traveled in recent months to Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, Mali, Egypt and Syria and talked with farmers and consumers. They express confusion and frustration as to what is robbing them of milk for their children, their weekly portion of meat, or, for those who make less than 50 cents a day, reducing them to a single bowl of grain or one piece of bread. With little awareness of the macroeconomic forces at play, many blame their own leaders or local suppliers, millers, traders and anyone else-threatening confidence in fragile democracies and markets. The world's misery index is rising as soaring food and fuel prices roll through the lives of the most vulnerable; a silent tsunami that respects no borders. Most do not know what has hit them.
The issue here is resiliency, and for those living on less than 50 cents a day there is no place to retreat. This is the new face of hunger, with people who were not in the urgent category just months ago, joining the ranks of desperation.
Many nations also are exhausting their own coping strategies, with grain reserves reaching record lows, foreign currency reserves to purchase costly food imports depleted and mitigation strategies, such as removing import taxes on food, already accounted for.
Joachim von Braun, the Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute, warns that, "The world food system is in trouble and the hot spots of food risks will be where high food prices combine with shocks from weather or political crises. These are recipes for disaster."
Perhaps the fundamental question will be: is this challenge fundamentally different than the crisis of the early 1970s, which quickly followed by another era of cheap and abundant food and oil? Or are we witnessing a structural shift in global agricultural markets, a new era of rapid and persistent growing demand for food crashing against resource limitations in fossil fuels, land and water, coupled with climatic changes that introduce unprecedented levels of uncertainty into annual agricultural yields?
These are the questions we must urgently ask, because they must inform an urgent global response. The answers, and the actions, will determine whether together we enter an era of opportunity and hope; or a world of scarcity where nations and individuals fend for themselves, with the world's bottom billion losing out once again.
Let us quickly explore three subjects: 1) the revolution in food aid; 2) the new face of hunger; 3) a global call to action.
Revolution in Food Aid
The World Food Program is the world's urgent hunger institution-you turn to us when all else fails to prevent life-threatening food and nutrition vulnerability. The WFP has been undergoing a transformation in how it does business-this is not your grandmother's food aid.
The WFP is the world's largest humanitarian organization and charged with the responsibility to meet hunger when all other systems collapse. Today, the WFP manages a global lifeline that can reach any corner of the world in 48 hours-as we did after the war in Lebanon and we will seek to do today in Myanmar following the devastating cyclone there. The WFP uses thousands of planes, ships, helicopters, barges and, if needed, donkeys, camels and elephants. We deliver not only food, but an array of life-saving goods for dozens of partners, including medicines for WHO. Our Humanitarian Air Service brings 400,000 humanitarian and development workers in and out of disaster zones each year-including 10,000 in and out of Darfur each month. Today we reach up to 90 million people a year threatened with starvation and acute malnutrition. We are also among the most efficient in the world, using only 7 percent of our budget on overhead. We have state-of-the-art controls on food distribution, from purchase to consumption.
The WFP is 100 percent voluntarily funded; receiving no assessed funds from any source. When the WFP was founded back in the early 1960s, it literally was a surplus food program with nations of the world sharing their bounty with the world's hungry. This saved many millions of lives, but also could be a rather blunt instrument, leading at times to a mismatch between populations and food products and could lead to disruptions in local agricultural markets. Today, less than 2 percent of our food is surplus donation. And today, up to 55 percent of our budget is cash, allowing us to purchase food from farmers throughout the developing world. Today, 80 percent of the WFP's cash for food is used to procure food in the developing world. This year, this will infuse around $1 billion into poor farming economies.
The WFP has evolved, and in June, I will present to our Board a new strategic plan marking a historic transition from what I call a food-aid agency to a food-assistance agency. What I mean by that is looking at how we can use food and food assistance to not only meet critical emergency needs, but, whenever possible, to work in concert with fragile local markets and agricultural production to help ensure urgent hunger interventions help strengthen local food security on a more lasting basis.
To that end, we have:
1) Upgraded our needs assessments and vulnerability analysis, which we conduct for the global system, to include local market conditions. Thanks to a three year project just completed, we can now assess down to the household level what is causing the hunger vulnerability-is it, for example, crop failure or that food in the markets is too expensive? Obviously, that would inform our response.
2) We seek to ensure our hunger responses are supportive of local markets and farmers whenever possible. For example, during the recent floods in Mozambique, food could not reach the victims, and they could not afford to buy it, but there was plenty of food on local markets. In that case 80 percent of the food for the victims was purchased from Mozambican farmers-creating a win-win solution.
3) To that end, we are asking our Board to approve a broader tool box or responses to hunger that can be more nuanced in protecting local markets while addressing urgent hunger and nutrition needs. These responses range from bringing in commodities when necessary, such as in Darfur where 70 percent of the more than three million people we feed everyday are fed with American commodity aid and there is not enough extra local food to purchase; to local purchase where often there is no food on the shelves but there is food on the farms but no infrastructure to get it out, and the WFP can go and get it as we do in the DRC where we tripled our local purchases this year in the middle of major conflict; also targeted food vouchers or cash as we have done in Pakistan and in Indonesia after the economic troubles there in the 1990s, and which may be appropriate in the context of the current challenge; to food for work and assets, which can help build local capacity in food security systems and infrastructure.
4) We have also introduced what I call the WFP's 80-80-80 solution: today 80 percent of the WFP's cash for not only food, but also land transport is spent locally and 80 percent of the WFP's staff is locally hired. This helps build permanent local capacity and knowledge about food security. I am adding another 80 to the 80 solution-because also more than 80 percent of our activities take place outside of our headquarters in Rome or in the major cities of our partner countries. We are deep into the rural economies, helping improve desperately needed local infrastructure.
That leads to the final bullet.
5) We seek, whenever possible, to transform food into a productive investment into these economies. To that end, the WFP, in exchange for life-saving food, has helped train local populations and, over the past four decades, together with experts from the FAO, we have planted more than five billion trees in the developing world, helping stabilize ground soil; have de-mined and built tens of thousands of kilometers of vital feeder roads, including over the past few years reopening more than 10,000 kilometers of roads in DRC, Angola and Southern Sudan. Last year, the government of Southern Sudan became one of our top ten donors as the WFP partnered with them in reopening roads for farmers, and building schools and hospitals through food for work programs, allowing us to reduce dependency and cut general food distribution in half.
In all our work, we now look at what I call the value chain of hunger to ensure our interventions are coherent with the work of governments-our number one partners-and our UN partners such as FAO, UNICEF, WHO, UNDP and our vital NGO partners such as CARE, World Vision, Oxfam, Caritas, and the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement.
On local purchase, I will just give you one example in Senegal. President Wade has called for action on goiter, a huge challenge for Senegal where virtually none of the salt for local consumption was iodized. They have big salt producing companies that do iodize but most gets exported. To support the President's call to action, the WFP decided that we would purchase our salt for our programs in Senegal from 7,000 village salt producers and, partnering with the Micronutrient Initiative, we helped the villagers obtain the equipment and receive training in the technology to iodize the salt.
Today 7,000 salt producers-most of them women-have a steady income and they provide 100 percent of the salt needs for our Senegal program. In fact, they now produce iodized salt for the local markets, which is helping address what President Wade called one of the biggest health challenges in Senegal. This is a win-win situation. The salt-ladies of Senegal are so good that we were able to now buy some of their salt for our regional programs. There are now many such examples. Last year, in our school feeding program in Ghana, 100 percent of the food was purchased locally. This is the kind of win-win solution that we feel can use food assistance to break hunger at its root.
New Face of Hunger
Let me talk about the challenges we face-and the action we feel is needed-to address what I call the "new face of hunger."
Soon after joining the WFP, I looked at our portfolio of work and became very concerned about the trends. The world was consuming more than it produced, food stocks were being drawn down and the stock-to-use ratios were at all time lows.
When did this tip into a crisis mode for the world's most vulnerable? While things were already difficult, I would point to last June as the launch pad for a period of aggressive and relentless price increases that have left poorer nations and the WFP itself reeling. Between June of last year, as I mentioned, when we priced our programmed of work for 2008, and February of this year, our cost drivers of food and fuel had increased 55 percent. This pattern of aggressive increases has continued for most commodities, with the exception of wheat, which has dipped down a bit recently.
Globally, we have seen the price of rice more than double in recent months. We have seen the same type of pattern with maize. Wheat has been the same, with a recent dip-but still priced much higher than in June 2007. And sorghum prices have also skyrocketed.
This audience knows well the confluence of factors cited for the increases-the very positive economic boom in many major developing countries; record prices of oil, which raises the price of food production from fertilizer to delivery; to the fusing of food and fuel markets with the use of food as an industrial input, such as biofuel; with severe weather throwing in additional supply shocks. These factors have created a supply and demand challenge that may take some years to sort out. Food supply is relatively inflexible and vulnerable to unpredictable factors such as weather-300,000 hectares of rice production were lost overnight in the Bangladesh cyclone last fall and the storm in Myanmar has hit the rice bowl just during harvest. According to the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, the total number of disasters worldwide on average is now 400-500 a year, up from an average of 125 in the 1980s.
And there have been what I call the follow-on factors-nations shutting down export markets further tightening supplies. In addition hoarding and market speculation are also now contributing factors.
This is creating perhaps the first globalized humanitarian emergency. It has been said that a hungry man is an angry man. Food riots and protests have broken out throughout the world, triggered by a new face of hunger in urban areas; areas that have attracted the majority of the world's population in search of opportunity. While it has been said that famines are incompatible with democracy, I will tell you that some of the world's gold standard new fledgling democracies are the nations under most pressure now. These nations, many of which are dependent on imports to feed up to half-or more-of their populations are reeling under the combined hit of record food and fuel prices.
Countries are coping with food inflation and import dependency in different ways. Many have removed import tariffs, sacrificing revenues, but alleviating price pressure. Today it is estimated that more than 40 nations have imposed export controls on commodities, greatly restricting global markets. Today the WFP-a buyer in more than 80 nations, has humanitarian food trapped in nations that have banned exports. We face a major pipeline break in food supplies to Somalia, as 12,000 metric tons of food we purchased in Kenya is now blocked from export. This is happening in numerous places. Today, one third of the globe's wheat suppliers, have banned exports.
Countries most at risk are developing nations that are import-dependent and already experiencing an additional shock from conflict, floods, droughts or storms. Think here Afghanistan, Somalia, Haiti, Burundi, Mauritania and others.
The WFP has mapped countries on a scale of high vulnerability to low vulnerability. By far, the greatest vulnerability is in Africa.
We have also mapped individual vulnerability. Most urgent to watch here are those whose health is already fragile or critical-the under two year olds, pregnant and lactating mothers, HIV/AIDS patients, refugees and international displaced persons (IDPs) who cannot meet their own food needs. The new face of hunger is also more urban than before.
As the world's most vulnerable struggle on the thin edge of survival, we are seeing negative coping strategies in full force:
for those living on less than $2 a day, education and health are being sacrificed. Livestock is being sold off.
for those living on less than $1 a day, milk, protein and fruits and vegetables have become rarities, if at all;
for those living on 50 cents a day, it is a catastrophe, with whole meals being lost, or whole days without food, or diets totally devoid of nutritional content.
Let me give two examples:
In Haiti, vulnerability has been compounded by coping strategies that were already greatly weakened. As you have read, mud cakes-originally used for medicinal purposes only-are now sold, and consumed, as a staple. Even those prices have shot up.
In Burundi, the poor staple for the poorest of the poor is something called 'black flour'-it is cassava that is moldy and looks something like blue cheese-even that has gone up threefold.
As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said, this crisis threatens the hard earned development progress of many nations across the range of Millennium Development Goals.
Here are our concerns at the WFP:
First, in a time of increased need, the WFP is able to reach fewer people than even just months ago. Due solely to soaring prices, today the WFP has 40 percent less food in the pipeline. For our programs, this is a direct impact. I was just in Kenya, in the Kibera slums, at a school where many of the children rely on the WFP for their only food each day. Some are now taking home half their cup of food for younger siblings who do not have any.
For these children the vulnerability is profound. We are not talking about meat, potatoes, vegetables and a little desert that get sacrificed in hard times. It is the one cup of porridge. We announced this week that we have to cut 450,000 school lunches in Cambodia and we have another number of countries where we will have to make cutbacks.
Second, right now, as I have already mentioned, we have an emerging new face of hunger. The WFP estimates that an additional 130 million will be unable to meet their foods needs due to the high prices crisis.
Third, we are concerned about access to food supplies. For example, we tried to buy wheat this fall to make biscuits for the victims of the floods in DPRK and for 10 days-and for the first time in our memory-we could not buy it anywhere in the markets in Asia. In past weeks we have had commodity contracts broken. Between the time we made the contract and picking up the food two weeks later, prices had risen so quickly that the grain went to a higher bidder, with the supplier willingly paying the WFP the 5 percent performance bonds to get out of our contract. We also have food aid trapped in nations as I mentioned. We also are finding fewer and fewer markets open to procurement at all, with an estimated 40 nations currently under some form of export controls.
The fourth is connected to that. One would expect that the natural reaction from farmers to high prices would be to plant more and that is happening throughout the major developed economies. But in the developing world, there are indications that the reverse is happening in many places. I knew that most poor farmers were not benefiting from the high prices because half the hungry in Africa are farmers who cannot even produce enough for their own family. Most are so disconnected from markets that they really cannot benefit. What I did not fully realize is what I saw in Kenya when I talked with farmers and visited the Rift Valley; fertilizer has gone from 1,700 shillings there in December to 4,000 shillings just 12 weeks later. There-the breadbasket of Kenya-farmers were planting one-third of what they were planting a year ago. According to FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, this is happening throughout the developing world. These farmers are retreating to subsistence mode, withdrawing from markets until things stabilize. As the FAO pointed out late last year, this could indicate serious shortages in upcoming harvests, further compounding our challenge.
My fifth concern is that many of the policy reactions globally and locally may actually be helping feed the crisis, not people. It is understandable that nations will use whatever levers they have to alleviate pressure and help meet the needs of their people. Yet some of these may deepen the challenge. Today, many of the world's farmers are under price controls, further discouraging increased planting; inputs rise, but food prices are under a ceiling. A range of major food exporters have put blocks on food exports almost overnight, from China, to Vietnam, to Argentina, to Kazakhstan. This global rash of "beggar thy neighbor" responses will not provide a solution. In addition, many nations who can afford to are stockpiling, further tightening supply and driving up prices.
And lastly, I am concerned that as high prices persist we are entering a second phase of this challenge, one that is threatening not only caloric intake, but nutritional status and livelihoods. The WFP's vulnerability mapping of household needs is finding that coping strategies, such as selling off livestock and other possessions, shifting to cheaper foods, sacrificing health and education, are being depleted, without any clear indication that relief is in sight.
Global Call to Action
What should be done? We must take this crisis as a call to global concerted action to support the governments and people hardest hit and to help stabilize the global response. The Secretary-General's task force was formed to help provide a coherent strategy of response. We are working closely together-all of us-the WFP, others at the United Nations, with the World Bank and the IMF. The Secretary-General has appointed coordinators Sir John Holmes and David Nabarro to help on this global action plan.
Among the actions that we-the WFP-see as urgent are:
First, we do have to help governments alleviate immediate suffering and prevent a crippling outbreak of severe malnutrition that could set global development back by decades. When there is no food to be had, we must keep the humanitarian pipeline full. We are working with partners such as UNICEF and WHO to scale up therapeutic feeding to reach children most at risk. We have the tools-we can reach children quickly and can alleviate acute humanitarian crises.
Second, we need humanitarian access to food and today I call on all nations to provide procurement access for humanitarian purchases. The International Food Policy Research Institute's (IFPRI) Joachim von Braun has urged the world to consider humanitarian grain stockpiles that can be drawn down on systematically over the next few years as we adjust to this challenge. We urge a dialogue on this issue.
Third, we must help nations ramp up safety nets such as school feeding and productive social safety nets, as the WFP does in partnering with the Government of Ethiopia. To this end, we call on Congress to urgently support the substantial predictable funding for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program in the current farm bill.
Fourth, to ensure the next harvests, urgent action is needed on agricultural inputs, priced out of the reach of poor farmers. the FAO's Jacques Diouf estimates that $1.7 billion is needed urgently and the world must act on this call. IFAD is deploying an action plan on fertilizers that will put an immediate $200 million in the reach of governments that want to act.
Fifth, the African Union, under NEPAD and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has called on all governments in Africa to invest 10 percent of their budget in agriculture; nations that have, such as Ghana and Malawi, are beating the hunger curve. The average investment is now 4 percent throughout the continent. Shifting to 10 percent would put an additional $5 billion on the table.
Sixth, the World Bank has doubled its investment in agriculture in Africa and has activated globally to assist governments on short term and long term solutions.
Seventh, the IMF has announced plans to help nations deal with import financing challenges and balance of payments issues.
Eighth, and perhaps, most critically, as the FAO has called for, we must all join forces to boost agricultural production, especially in the developing world. The Gates and Rockefeller Foundations have formed the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa-or AGRA-under the leadership of Kofi Annan, and there are the fantastic contributions of Norman Borlaug, Jeffrey Sachs and many others, who are joining to boost production with the African Union and governments throughout the world. These efforts can help ensure an era of plenty and stability for all.
At the 1974 World Food Conference in Rome, Henry Kissinger set the bold objective that, "within the decade no child will go to bed hungry, that no family will fear for its next day's bread, and that no human being's future and capacities will be stunted by malnutrition."
A number of countries have been on track to reach the Millennium Development Goal on hunger and will by 2015 if we stand with them-Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Malawi, Vietnam and others. We must stay the course. Many countries are doing the right things. We must stand by their side.
I am an optimist. My ancestors were from Ireland and left during the famine and yet just two generations later we have left an economy of famine to one of prosperity. It can be done.
Defeating hunger is achievable; it requires no new scientific breakthrough. We know how to do it, and I thank you all for joining me today for this urgent discussion.
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