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Is Sacramento the Next Big Fight in #RedForEd Wave? - California Educator
Is Sacramento the Next Big Fight in #RedForEd Wave?
Sacramento City Teachers Association authorizes strike over unfair labor practices
The #RedForEd Wave has already swept through Los Angeles and Oakland this year, with thousands of brave educators going on strike and leading massive movements to fight for the soul of public schools. Is Sacramento the next big fight of the Educator Uprising?
Frustrated and fed-up by continued deceit, disrespect and outright violation of their contract, Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) voted to authorize a strike over egregious unfair labor practices and unlawful activity by Sacramento City Unified School District's superintendent and school board. With 70 percent of SCTA members voting, 92 percent approved a strike to stop the district's unfair practices and unlawful behavior, SCTA leaders announced Friday.
The SCTA bargaining team offered to meet with SCUSD at the end of the month to give the district an opportunity to correct its ongoing unlawful behavior. If SCUSD's conduct and unfair practices continue, the executive board is authorized to set a strike date, likely in the next month.
"It's truly unfortunate that teachers may be forced to strike to get Superintendent Jorge Aguilar, Board President Jessie Ryan and other district leaders to obey the law, including things as simple as agreeing to meet with us and honoring agreements they signed 15 months ago," said Sacramento City Teachers Association President David Fisher. "What kind of example are they setting for the 40,000 students in our district?"
If 2,800 Sacramento City educators do indeed go on strike, it would be the first #RedForEd-era strike in the country over unfair labor practices and a school district reneging on a contractual agreement. SCTA says SCUSD's continued unlawful activity is giving them no choice but to take direct action. These transgressions include:
Refusing to honor the collective bargaining agreement approved by both sides in December 2017, which included class-size reduction and increased numbers of school nurses and psychologists, violating the contract;
Refusing to meet at reasonable times and places with representatives the educators have elected to have represent them, and attempting to dictate who the teachers have represent them at the bargaining table;
Making unilateral and unlawful changes to the wages and working conditions of teachers without bargaining;
Failing to send district representatives to the bargain table who have the authority to negotiate on behalf of the district, rendering bargaining meaningless.
SCTA has also challenged the legality of recent school board actions to lay off 400 educators in light of alleged violations of the Brown Act's open meeting requirements (detailed here and here). Additionally, SCTA has questioned SCUSD's gross fiscal mismanagement—the district stands on the brink of state takeover due to insolvency, particularly in the aftermath of a scathing audit by the State of California's Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team. If all that wasn't enough, there are also serious unanswered questions about potential conflicts of interest by Superintendent Aguilar and other top district administrators. Recently, the California Joint Legislative Audit Committee directed the state auditor to conduct a forensic audit of SCUSD due to growing concerns of fiscal mismanagement.
Follow SCTA on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news on this fight.
Posted by Mike Simpson at 10:31 AM
Billionaire-Backed Lawsuit Against Teacher Tenure Fails in Minnesota - Progressive.org
Billionaire-Backed Lawsuit Against Teacher Tenure Fails in Minnesota
Trump has proposed to slash funding for public education in his 2020 budget. In courts across the country, however, public schools are holding up in lawsuits brought by pro-charter interests.
President Donald Trump just released his 2020 budget, and once again, education funding is on the chopping block. Since taking office in 2017, Trump has prioritized pumping more dollars into the Defense Department while cutting funds from the Department of Education as well as health and human services.
So far, Congress has refused to enact the large-scale cuts to education that Trump has proposed. For 2020, Trump is seeking a 10 percent cut in education spending, equaling just over $7 billion. Targeted programs include a student loan forgiveness program for those who take up public-service jobs, a professional development model for teachers , and funding for student enrichment opportunities.
There are a few education programs that the Trump Administration is eager to douse with resources, however. The 2020 budget calls for an increase of $60 million for federal charter school grants to facilitate the growth of the publicly funded yet privately managed schools. Similarly, Republican lawmakers have pushed a tax-credit scholarship program—worth $5 billion annually—that would divert resources from public education and promote access to private schools.
These priorities line up with those of Trump's Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos. In a statement regarding the 2020 budget, DeVos praised the Trump Administration for its "continued commitment to expanding education freedom," and celebrated the many ways this "freedom" can be acted upon—including school choice, and a preference for "returning power education decisions to those closest to students."
DeVos's plans and the Trump Administration's budget proposal reveal a solid commitment to market-based school privatization strategies as the way to manage public education in the United States. But as a recent case in Minnesota highlights, many of these plans may not work.
In Minnesota, a billionaire-funded, pro-education reform outfit, recently backed away from its behind-the-scenes effort to blame unionized teachers as the cause of unequal access to a high quality education.
The Partnership for Educational Justice has attempted to tackle teachers' unions from a legal angle, primarily through a handful of lawsuits filed in CONTINUE READING: Billionaire-Backed Lawsuit Against Teacher Tenure Fails in Minnesota - Progressive.org
Ed Notes Online: School Scope: Parent Action Conference: Opt Out Yes, Charters NYET!
School Scope: Parent Action Conference: Opt Out Yes, Charters NYET!
By Norm Scott
The annual Parent Action Conference sponsored by NYC Kids PAC, Class Size Matters and Community Education Council District 2 (CECD2) took place on March 9 at the Peck Slip School in lower Manhattan, attracting some of the leading parent activists in the city. Kids PAC is the only lobby group focusing its attention directly on the interests of the children in public schools. The opening session was a discussion with state legislators:
Alicia Hyndman, Queens NYS Assembly Democrat 29th District, Jo Anne Simon, Brooklyn NYS Assembly Democrat 52nd District, Robert Jackson, NYS Senator from Manhattan. They were asked to respond to questions on a number of issues.
They all supported parent rights to opt out of standardized tests, opposed attempts to punish schools when numbers of parents opt out and opposed lifting the cap on charters in New York City, which has been reached. There are still over 90 slots open in the rest of the state and the charter industrialized complex has been pushing to get those added to our oversaturated city. It was pointed out that Republican state legislators support charters but few if any charters exist in their districts – they love them from afar as long as those charter bucks role in – but otherwise, NIMBY. They were also asked about the upcoming renewal debate on mayoral control. They all called for more limits and oversight.
At lunch we heard from Brad Lander, City Councilman from Brooklyn, and newly elected State Senator John Liu, who is making a comeback after being out of the public eye since the 2014 mayoral election – he was my choice. Liu is very well liked and as new chairman of the State Senate Education committee will have a lot to say about education. He is holding hearings on March 15 on the mayoral control issue – I am hoping to cover some of the hearing for The WAVE – maybe after a nice morning ferry ride.
Workshops were held on a number of issues. I attended the opt-out workshop which gave parents thinking of opting their children out of testing some practical hints on how to push back against administrators trying to talk them out of it. There is a parent opt out support group for anyone reading this who might be interested in saving their kids from the torture of the test. Contact me.
I also attended a workshop on fighting charters and there were a hell of a lot of angry parents there whose schools have been fractured by charter co-locations, including some former charter parents whose children were pushed out of the schools. A representative of the Community Education Council in District 15 (CECD15) reviewed some of the proposed changes to the charter law that calls for more oversight of charters. CEC15 has passed resolutions supporting these changes and word is CONTINUE READING: Ed Notes Online: School Scope: Parent Action Conference: Opt Out Yes, Charters NYET!
Posted by Mike Simpson at 9:49 AM
Badass Teachers Association Blog: Pam Harbin Wants to Go From Pittsburgh School Board Watchdog to School Board Member by Steven Singer
Pam Harbin Wants to Go From Pittsburgh School Board Watchdog to School Board Member by Steven Singer
Originally posted at: Pam Harbin Wants to Go From Pittsburgh School Board Watchdog to School Board Member | gadflyonthewallblog - https://wp.me/p4QD1W-35u via @StevenSinger3
My friend Pam Harbin is trying to undergo a startling metamorphosis.
She wants to transform from an education activist into a Pittsburgh School Director.
Now that Board President Lynda Wrenn is stepping down after 4 years, city voters in District 4 will have to decide whether Harbin can make the change. The election is on May 21.
Residents in parts of Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze, Shadyside and North Oakland already know Harbin as a fierce warrior for children's civil rights, the plight of disabled kids and authentic public schools.
I've known Pam, personally, for years in my own role as an education activist. Though I don't live in the city, I've participated in numerous collective actions to fight for the schools all our children deserve. And right beside me in every case – often in front of me – was Pam.
I may not live in the district, but I wish I could vote for her. Harbin is an amazing leader with boundless energy, piercing intelligence, a deep knowledge of education policy, an advanced degree in finance and marketing, and an impressive track record of education justice achievements.
"I am deeply concerned for our system of public education," she says. "The status quo isn't working for all children. Thankfully, there are many people here in Pittsburgh and across the country who are fighting for investment in, and transformation of, our public schools. Unfortunately, their efforts are hindered by the well-funded organizations who fight for public school disinvestment, privatization, and for the elimination of teachers' right to unionize."
For the past 12 years, Harbin has been at the forefront of every major battle for the future of Pittsburgh's public schools and the rights of its students.
Harbin was instrumental in pushing city school board directors to enact a suspension ban from Pk-2nd grade for minor non-violent conduct. She successfully fought to stop the district from implementing a physical restraint protocol that wasn't trauma informed. She successfully fought against a policy that would have allowed school police officers to carry guns. She supported a CONTINUE READING: Badass Teachers Association Blog: Pam Harbin Wants to Go From Pittsburgh School Board Watchdog to School Board Member by Steven Singer
CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Ignoring St. Patrick's Day Edition
ICYMI: Ignoring St. Patrick's Day Edition
The Irish contribution to civilization is huge and their history in America is instructive, but don't get me started on the wearing of the green. At any rate, I have your weekly reading list handy. Remember to share!
Southwest Key Schools, Charters and Immigrants
How to make money from the misery of children, and how charters tie to the detention of immigrants. A charter operation makes millions, but students eat in the gym.
Portfolio Model Explainer
Matt Barnum puts together a pretty decent explainer of the whole portfolio system. I'd correct a few points, but if you're trying yo figure out what it's all about, this is a good primer.
Education Reformers Keep Pushing the Same Stuff
Nancy Flanagan pulls apart a Mike Petrilli piece and finds the same old same old hiding inside.
The Chicago Charter CEO Gets A Raise-- But Not A Big One
One more example of charters operating like a business-- a bad one. This charter is just struggling to meet minimum standards. Must be time to give the CEO a raise.
Remember All Those Anti-Tenure Lawsuits? One Just Died In Minnesota
Sarah Lahm follows another of those Campbell Brown-spawned lawsuits designed to strip teachers of job security. It hasn't gone well for reformsters.
State Leaders Rip Takeover Law
Ohio legislators are waking up to how big a mess their state takeover law (proposed and passed in just one day) is making, just as it is poised to gut some of the state's major districts.
Who Pays for the Education Writers Association
Laura Chapman takes a look at who exactly foots the bill for the EWA. It's not a list to inspire confidence (and I'm not just bitter because bloggers can't join).
The Cost of Ignoring Developmentally Appropriate Practice
It can't be said too much-- pushing the littles in the hopes that they can somehow be made smarter faster sooner is not just dumb, but is actually destructive.
And for a non-education policy moment of beauty, check out the=is Van Gogh painting rendered into a 1.2 acre field of plants and landscaping.
OK: The Four Day Week
40by Peter Greene / 1d
Oklahoma has been a great demonstration of what happens when state leaders decide that they just don't want to spend money on education. Oklahoma has led the nation in education spending cut s, and schools and teachers have paid the price. But Oklahoma performed an interesting little experiment, one that is apparently about to end. The path was cleared by a rule that measures the school year in ho
Micro-Credentials 101: Do We Need Badges?
by Peter Greene / 2d
Micro-credentials are one of the hot rising ideas in the education space. To understand the basics, go look at your child's Xbox or PlayStation. For most of the major games, there is an accompanying set of achievements, or badges. Every time a player achieves a particular task (kill 50 zombies without reloading, drive over every tree in the enchanted forest, smash every Lego fire hydrant, etc.) t
Maybe We Should Talk About College Readiness Again
200+by Peter Greene / 3d
College and career ready. College and career ready. College and career ready. How long have we been reading and listening to that magical phrase, quietly at first and now omnipresent as the euphemism of choice for people who no longer dare say "Common Core." It is a hollow phrase, completely empty of meaning. It never, ever, comes with a list, description, or quantification of what "college ready"
OH: Beating Back School Takeovers
If there is any benefit at all to the complete hash of the takeover of Lorain City Schoo ls, it's that it has brought renewed attention to Ohio's terrible takeover law and renewed energy to attempts to bust that law. There are actually two proposals floating around currently, both bipartisan. State Reps. Kent Smith, D-Euclid, and Steve Hambley, R-Brunswick, announced House Bill 127 this week. The
NY: Rochester, Mayoral Control, Vultures, and the Problems of Democracy.
It has been almost a decade since a mayoral school coup was a hot topic in Rochester . Mayor Robert Duffy wanted to implement NYC style mayoral control. There seemed to be support for the move; the superintendent even had a nifty portfolio plan whipped up and ready to go . But Andrew Cuomo tagged Duffy as his running mate for governor, and Duffy was out of Rochester politics about a year after he'
Gigging, Progress, and the Unmaking of American Work
This is not really about education, and it is totally about education. Over at The Nation, Malcolm Harris has written a review of Sarah Kessler's Gigged: The End of the Job and the Future of Work. It's a thoughtful and worthwhile read, even if you decide not to tackle the entire book. Harris opens with the cautionary tale of failed start-up Webvan, and notes the lessons that the founder Peter Rela
Bug-In-Ear Coaching: Why Is This Still A Thing?
You're a young teacher, working hard to get the hang of running a classroom, sequencing instruction, monitoring a roomful of students, tracking the clock, and otherwise managing your role as educational Boss Of The Room. It reminds you of when you first started driving, and it was taxing just to carefully monitor everything that needed to be monitored. Your hands are full and your brain is just th
ICYMI: Actually Nice Out Edition (3/10)
Here's an assortment of goodies to read from last week. I know I say this all the time, but it takes readers to make a piece of writing spread. So always share what you think needs to be shared. Everyone can amplify the important voices, and these days that is super-important. Winning At Any Cost Arkansas gives prize money to its top schools. How far did the charter Haas Hall Academy go to stay on
TX: Charters Don't Want To Serve All Students
The charter school pitch often focuses on the idea that all students deserve choices, that families should be able to explore options. Here's the CEO of KIPP Texa s, speaking about the big Texas KIPP merger: We realized our organizations wanted to improve student success across the state and we wanted to create an environment to serve more KIPPsters. And here's Starlee Coleman, CEO of the Texas Ch
Can HAL 3000 Take Your Class Notes For You (And Is EdWeek Starved For Story Ideas?)
Can a piece of computer software take notes for students in a K-12 classroom? No. Okay, we should be done here, but Benjamin Herold, staff writer, has posted a curious article at EdWeek. The headline (Could Artificial Intelligence Automate Student Note-Taking?) might have alarmed you if you saw it, but I'm going to explain why you can relax. Here's how he leads off: "I'm afraid I missed the part a
Why Do Teachers Have Such Lousy Parental Leave?
100+by Peter Greene / 10d
At Working Mother, Amy Sherman asks a really good question-- It's a Mom-Dominated Profession. So Why Are Teachers Getting the Shaft on Maternity Leave? Of course, we're talking about US teachers, because we rank at the very bottom of the barrel for developed (or in some cases, even semi-developed) countries when it comes to maternity leave. For all our noise about babies and motherhood and how par
Teacher Merit Pay Is A Bad Idea
72by Peter Greene / 10d
Florida's governor is planning to boost the state bonus program for teachers , even as Denver teachers walked off the job over their district's version of an incentive program. So it's worth taking a moment to step back and remember why teacher merit pay and bonus systems are just a bad idea. First, they can't work like a private sector bonus system. In the business world, bonuses and incentives
The $5 Billion DeVos Money Laundromat
You have read by now that Betsy DeVos is finally going to get one of her favorite policy ideas floated past Congress . But what the heck is it, and why is it a problem? To understand, we have to look first at what's been happening in some states. The financial device we're talking about is a Tax Credit Scholarship, and it's a bit of a clever dodge. Let's say I'm the State of New West Virkota. The
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Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, Prior Lake, United States of America - Lowest Rate Guaranteed!
Located in Prior Lake, Mystic Lake Casino Hotel is connected to the convention center, within a 5-minute drive of Meadows Course at Mystic Lake and The Wilds Golf Club. This casino resort is 5 mi (8.1 km) from Saint Francis Regional Medical Center and 5 mi (8.1 km) from Stonebrooke Golf Club.
Clean beautiful rooms! Friendly staff!
That there were things to do, restaurants, bingo, casinos, plays to just hang out!
It was convenient for where we needed to be...the room views were very nice and our room was conveniently located close to the pool area.
It was our first time to Mystic Lake and we really enjoyed our time. The steakhouse restaurant was fantastic (had the prime rib). And overall, it was a fun atmosphere.
Cigarette smoke. I had to convince myself to not let it ruin our time at Mystic Lake but it was hard. You couldn't escape it anywhere you went, even in our non-smoking room. I'm not used to being around it and it was really awful.
The hotel room was gorgeous! We attended the Bare Naked Ladies concert and realized cakes out to the DJ at Drink.
We had to call and complain about the people next door to us at 2:30am as they were being very loud and obnoxious. I wish there were tame versus rowdy indicators so we could be on a floor with those that ha e like "goals" for their stay.


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tv News Al Jazeera September 9, 2013 5:00am-5:31am EDT
and leading from that gas into lebanon and jordan and providing an incredible burden to each of those countries and others in the region. this is a humanitarian catastro catastro-phy and it will make things worse for everybody, the united states is proud to say we have been the largest humanitarian donor. we recognize that responsibility and we are also proud to say
that we stand with our friends here in great britain who are the second largest donor. so we don't come to this with a sense that all we care about is some kind of a military response. we come to this with years now of effort, literally years of effort, to try to bring the parties to the table and create some kind of political solution because that remains our top priority. i -- our respected leaders made it clear in st. petersburg that we believe a strong international response is necessary to ensure that atrocitys like the one that assad committed against hundreds of his own people are not going to happen again. and our special relationship with the uk is not just about
syria, it's not just about a response to this humanitarian crisis, it's also about the future and climate change and economic prosperity for all of our people. we are not only -- we are both committed to try to move forward on a trade relationship, to grow jobs for our people. and we are not only each other's largest investors in each of our countries, one to the other, but the fact is that everyday almost 1 million people go to work in america for british companies that are in the united states just as more than 1 million people go to work here in great britain for american companies that are here. so we are enormously tied together obviously. and we are committed to making both the u.s., uk and the
u.s.-eu stronger drivers of prosperity. last month the united states held the first round of the negotiations for the trans atlantic trade partnership and we will continue to work closely together because we both believe that working with the uk and the rest of the eu to finalize an agreement is going to create new investments, to add to those millions of people in both countries i just talked about, it will create new jobs and it will create growth on both sides of the atlantic. so as margaret thatche put it bluntly, the uk and u.s. are real and true friends and our relationship which is grounded in those values and traditions we both referred to remains as relevant today as it has been in the past and we look forward to continuing to strengthen this
relationship and working hard to make real progress on the very many challenges that we face in an increasingly complicated and in too many places dangerous world, thank you, william. >> thank you very much. we will have a couple of questions from each side of the atlantic, and kyle you can pick the round. >> james robins from bbc news, mr. secretary how seriously do you take the threats of assad of retaliation by allies if the u.s. does strike, the risk and drags the united states further in conflict and if britain said yes rather than no to strikes the president would order them by now, wouldn't they, and you build a different sort of coalition using powerful argument for action against inaction. the logic of that surely is that whatever the votes in congress the president will go ahead with
strikes, the votes can't change his moral position. >> well, i'm not surprised to find here a well-put question that basically tries to get me to answer something that the president has not decided. so i just have to tell you that the president made a decision based on his gut and his best sense of what was best for the united states of america and our congress and our democracy. and he knew it would be tough. he didn't -- there was no misinterpretation of the vote here. i think that is why the president made a very courageous decision, to go to the congress notwithstanding what happened here, recognizing that in our democracy it was important to
ask for the congress to also invest in this effort. and i can't tell you that if the vote had been different the president would have made a different decision at all. i think he was thinking about the best way to proceed and he made his decision about the best way to proceed. i'm confident that congress is going to listen very, very carefully and is listening carefully. members of doing their homework and diligence here, there are a lot of briefings in the course of the last week. we will have a full house briefing later today that i will take part in, a full senate briefing tomorrow. i believe the president will then talk to the american people. but what i think is important here, i met with a friend of mine who is a member of the british parliament telling me here still there was some people who question the evidence. who are not sure that in the
post iraq moment we are not going to be confronting a pre-iraq presentation. and there is a lot of fear of that. i understand that fear. i was in the congress when we voted on iraq. and i know the deficits of the intelligence back then. and that's why we took our time, very, very carefully, secretary chuck hagel was senator hagel as i was senator kerry and both of us are determined now as appointed officials of the obama administration to do our utter best not to have history suggest that we were less than thorough with respect to this intelligence. so we took more time. the president instructed that he wanted the story told as fully as was possible without compromising intelligence sources and methods.
intelligence community was instructed to release more information than we ever have previously in this kind of a situation. and so we declassified things that normally would not be declassified. and there is a risk in that. but the risk of not having people understand the full measure of the evidence i think the president decided was greater. so what have we put out to people, what do we know about this? notwithstanding president assad's interview which has not been made fully public, we know that his regime gave orders to prepare for a chemical attack. we know that they deployed forces and put them in the places where this took place. we know by tracing it physically where the rockets came from and
where they landed. and it is no accident that they all came from regime-controlled territory and all landed in opposition-controlled or contested territory. we know this. we know that within moments of them landing in that territory the social media exploded with videos that we also know could not be contrived and we have done various means of ascertaining that through technology check up. so we know that those are real and we see people dying, children, young kids, not old enough to even speak, heaving for breath, spasmming, you know, struggling. and we see all of that within instants of this happening in the very area that we trace that
the rockets landed. then we hear and know the regime is issuing more instructions to stop the attack and we know they issue instructions to their people that they are worried about the un inspectors finding what was going on. and then they shell the area that was attacked for four days with four times the i can't remember the exact number of shells that occurred in the previous ten days. and we also know through confirmation through other technical means with other countries acknowledgment this happened. syria and iran have admitted there was a chemical attack. they just tried to blame it on people who have no scientific capacity to do this and where there is no evidence that they have any of the weaponry to be
able to do it and most importantly just as a matter of logic tell me how they would do it from the center of the regime-controlled area and put it into their own people. it defies logic and defies common sense here. so the evidence is powerful and the question for all of us is what are we going to do about it? turn our backs? have a moment of silence? we are a dictator with impunity and threaten the rest of the world that he will retaliate for his own criminal activity because he is being held accountable? we live in a dangerous world as it is, folks. and that kind of threat is nothing different from the threat we face every single day. and if we don't stand up to it we will face it more and they will think they can intimidate anybody. i don't believe we should shy from the moment.
the risk of not asking is greater than the risk of acting. and everybody needs to stop and think about that hard. >> let me answer that before the next question and secretary kerry has logic of what he says about the evidence, it's very, very compelling, but on the bbc's question also about the latest remarks of president assad, we must not fall in the trap of attaching too much credibility of the words of a leader, president assad who presided over so many war crimes and crimes against humanity and shown a murderous disregard for the welfare of his own people. often denied events that have happened, refused in the past to admit the existence of chemical weapons now acknowledged. so let's not fall into the trap of believing every word that comes out of the mouth of such a
man. next question? >> cbs. >> thank you. >> mr. secretary, in that cbs interview that you just referenced, bashir asaid said the presentation you made reminds him of quote his words of the big lie that colon powell said in front of the word about weapons of mass destruction in iraq and says you personally have presented no evidence of a chemical weapons attack, just your confidence and your convictions. and he disputes the argument you just laid out, his argument saying his government relies on reality, not social media and says russian intelligence contradicts this false evidence. what is your response? and, secondly, is there anything at this point that his government could do or offer that would stop an attack?
>> sure, he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week, turn it over, all of it. without delay and allow a full and total accounting for that. but he is not about to do it. and it can't be done obviously. but with respect to the credibility issue, look, i just answered that. i just gave you real evidence. evidence that as a former prosecutor in the united states i could tell you i can take into a courtroom and get admitted and i believe this man, i mean, i personally tried people who have got away for long prison sentences or life for less evidence than we have of this. so i'm confident about the state of the evidence. you can go to the white
house.gov, read the unclassified report and make your own judgments. what does he offer? words that are contradicted by facts. and he doesn't have a very strong record with respect to this question of credibility because i personally visited him once at the instruction of the white house to confront him on his transfer of scud missiles to hezbola and he simply denied it to my face despite the evidence i presented and showed him. this is a man who killed through his regime a thousand of his own citizens over 100,000 or about 100,000 have been murdered over the course of last month, he sends scud missiles into schools. he sends airplanes to bomb
children. everybody has seen that. this is a man without credibility. and so i will happily stand anywhere in the world with the evidence that we have against his words and his deception and his acts. >> another question? >> mr. secretary, despite all of the evidence and all of the rhetoric you deployed all voters all opposed to military action in syria, why do you think that is and what makes you think that you know better? >> well, i would never claim personally to quote know better. there is a certain arrogance in that that i learned long ago in american-elected life, it doesn't serve you very well. but i would say that a lot of folks have a visceral reaction
to public people presenting evidence post iraq where they have serious doubts without sort of seeing all the evidence and not everybody has or does and also there is just an instant reaction by a lot of people to say, whoa, here we go again, this is going to be iraq, this is going to be afghanistan and i understand that. i'm very sympathetic to that feeling. if i weren't -- in the administration and i didn't have access to what i have, i'm sure i would have the exact same reaction and i probably would be very questioning of public people. that's why i'm standing up here today, that is why i went to the european community, that is why i will be briefing congress together with other members of the administration and that is why the president will talk to the american people because our responsibility is to share what we know and to lead and to try to bring people to a point where they can agree with us
hopefully. now, i believe that the aftermath of the iraq experience and afghanistan leave a lot of people saying we don't want see our young people coming back in a body bag and so forth. but that is not what we are talking about. and what we have to do is make clear to people that this is -- we are not talking about war. we are not going to war. we will not have people at risk in that way. we will be able to hold bashir asaid accountable without engaging in troops on the ground or any other prolonged kind of effort in a very limited, very targeted, very short-term effort that degrades his capacity to deliver chemical weapons without assuming responsibility for syria's civil war and that is what we are talking about doing,
unbelievably small, limited effort. that has been engaged in previously on many different occasions. president regan had a several hours or whatever effort to send the message to qaddafi in the wake i think of pan-103 and other terrorist activities and other times people engaged in making it clear that you have to draw a line and there are consequences for actions when people step over those lines. if you don't draw the lines and the civilized world is not prepared to enforce those lines, you are giving complete license to people to do whatever they want and to feel that they can do so with impunity. if you want to send iran and hezbollah and assad a congratulations message do what you want and say don't do anything.
we believe that is dangerous and we will face this down the road in some more significant way if we are not prepared to take some kind of a stand now. so that's our argument. it's not that i know better or someone knows better. it's an argument that we believe is based on fact, on evidence, on history, and we ask people to take a close look at it and make their own judgments. >> one more question from the american media. >> yes, the question for mr. secretary, sir, now that the british parliament has decided against british participation in a potential military strike in syria, is there any way in which your government might do more in syria by arming the opposition or upgrading, nonlethal material assistance to the rebels or in deference to public opinion at home in your parliament's
decision, is your government standing on the sidelines and providing moral support and sir can you support military action by the obama administration b even if the american congress does not vote for that action and then a question for secretary kerry, sir, with the obama administration consider releasing still more intelligence or perhaps some physical evidence of syrian use which you did not provide to counter the assertions and is there anything that links mr. assad directly to the attack and do you have such information or not and do you think it matters if you don't have such information? thank you. >> on the first part of that question, and you can gather from some of our opening remarks that the uk is heavily engaged and addressing problems thrown up by the crisis in syria and the g-20 nations and organizations and looking at how
we seriously ramp up the humanitarian assistance with new diplomatic efforts on getting humanitarian access which is one of the great problem, this is a regime that actually tries to prevent humanitarian aid getting to its own people in some cases, removes medical supplies or obstructs medical supplies from getting to the right place. so the prime minister convened, the meeting had strong support with the united states. we led the way in the latest round of increased nations to the humanitarian effort with the extra 52 million pounds. the uk is at the forefront with the united states and others of that piece of work. and it will become all the more important in the coming months. we are also doing a great deal to assist the stability of neighboring country, and particularly lebanon and jordan and direct assistance we give to the lebanese armed forces
including jordan and equipment to help them cope on their border. we are heavily engaged at the united nations and all forums in the continuous efforts of a resent months to bring about a geneva two peace process and with the opposition, with the syrian national coalition who i met last week and who we can regard, who are we can regard as a democratic non-secretarian position we give them a great deal of practical nonlethal assistance and including the delivery and resent days of equipment to protect against chemical attack, escape hoods, injections, detector paper to help people survive chemical attacks and doing more of that in the future. as you can see, the united
kingdom is in very many ways trying to bring about working with the united states and allies and trying to bring about a political solution and alleviate the problems there and prevent the spread of the crisis to other countries. involving all of those ways, we are fully respecting the vote in our parliament, on our attitude to a decision in the united states, that is for united states. we have our own constitution and parliamentary complications and rules. we will leave it to the united states to address their issues. these are two great homes, two of the greatest homes of democracy in the world and each work in slightly different ways. and but we each have to respect the way each other's democracy works and we do. john? >> and we do. >> that is for sure.
i don't know, honestly i don't know if the president will make a decision to release more, whether there is a consensus that more needs to be released. we released an unprecedented amount of information and obviously there is a risk in some of this because you can conceivably in certain circumstances compromise your ability to be about to intercept a plot or track what terrorists are thinking about and planning so you have to be very, very careful in those judgments and that is exactly what the intelligence community and it took a while to get to where we are. but, and this is very, very important, but the elected representatives of the american people, members of congress, have a right to go to the intelligence committees and to
the intelligence community and be briefed. so it's not being hidden from people and they can be the judges of the additional intelligence they see or don't see which is how a repickn repu works. with respect to assad, the chemical weapons in syria, we have tracked for some period of time now are controlled in a very tight manner by the assad regime. and it is bashir assad and mirir assad his brother and a general who are the three people who have control over the movement and use of chemical weapons. but under any circumstances, the assad regime is the assad regime. and the regime issues orders and
we have high-level regime that have been caught giving these instructions and engaging in these preparations with results going directly to president assad and we are aware of that. so we have no issue about the question here of responsibility. there is none. the asaid regime is the assad regime and they control the weapons and have a huge stock of these weapons, very threatening level stock that remains. and that is why this issue is of such grateful and so important. and there is no issue whatsoever in the mind of the intelligence community or the administration or certainly in the minds of all those people like senator feinstein and saxby chambliss the ranking member and others who came to the conclusion that
the regime engaged in this activity. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> appreciate it. >> keep your hands off chemical weapons which kill people, the message which the u.s. secretary of state says the world needs to send to the assad regime and the u.s. secretary of state said he was committed to bringing the parties to the table but said if one party believes he can wipe out the people with chemical weapons he will not come to the table and it was echoed by the british foreign secretary saying there is no political solution if they eradicate the opposition, let's bring in lawrence lee to discuss some of what has been said there. first of all we have seen in the last hour-and-a-half four different foreign ministers from four different countries from both sides of the political divide talking about the importance of revising geneva talks but with different perspectives to get to the
negotiating table. >> ♪ my name is jonathan betz. i'm from dallas, texas, and i'm
the unemployment rate sa down again. i'll tell you what the fastest growing job in the country is and why you shouldn't aspire to it. the race is on to convince young americans to buy health insurance, but what happens if young invincibles just say no? i'm ali velshi, and this is "real money." welcome to "real money." you are the most important part of the show. tell me what you think by tweeting me
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Tag Archives: jews
One Texan's remedy for War: 'Preemptive Love'
Posted on November 2, 2013 by Greg
Jeremy Courtney, Author of "Preemptive Love: Pursuing Peace One Heart at a Time" and co-founder of the Iraq-based charity, the Preemptive Love Coalition. (Photo by Abigail Criner.)
When a native Texan named Jeremy Courtney took the stage at the 2012 Q Conference he had no idea he would, in effect, be pitching his 2013 memoir, "Preemptive Love: Pursuing Peace One Heart at a Time."
Q conferences are progressive yet evangelical (yes, both) Christian forums, similar in format to the more secular TED talks. This particular Q (stands for Question) occurred in April 2012 in Washington, D.C., seven months before President Obama was reelected. More than 30 speakers ranging from a peacemaking Palestinian Christian (yes, both) to a hawkish Southern Baptist firebrand descended on Washington to inform, influence and otherwise inspire the nation's sagging Christian majority (not to be confused with Moral Majority). In talks scaled to fit the capital's rushed schedule and attention span, each speaker was allotted slots of three, nine or 18 minutes.
Courtney, a slender, shaved-headed humanitarian who looks more like a Buddhist than his native Baptist, had scored one of the conference's grande sizes. Nine minutes. He'd fly six thousand miles from his home in Iraq to speak for less time than it took to board any of his connections. In the Andrew Mellon Auditorium, three blocks south of the White House, he paced on the stage in front of 700 Q "participants," as the conference refers to its influential attendees. Nine minutes gave Courtney no time for colorful narratives, long anecdotes or drawn-out punchlines. He hardly had time to clear his throat. He got straight to the point.
"It wasn't an easy morning," he began, "when I woke up in Iraq with my wife and kids and found out that a fatwa had been issued against us calling for our death(s)."
You could have heard a phone vibrate inside the palatial seven-story auditorium. If he didn't have them at fatwa (an official ruling given by Islamic clerics) he had them at death.
It was an evocative beginning to an amazing story (and now book) about a modern-day Gospel. Courtney's memoir is the Good News of how mending the bodies of children restores hearts— literally and figuratively; theirs, ours and across "enemy" lines. In a blurb I wrote months ago for "Preemptive Love" (Howard Books, Oct. 1, 2013) I describe how the work of Courtney and his upstart international charity could "rewrite the hard wiring that holds humanity hostage."
The hard wiring, in this case, is the fear that fractures humanity and keeps us locked in our comfort zones. It poses as pride, prejudice, and, often, as absolute faith. It can pit nation against nation, religion against religion, and, ultimately, it's what drove an Iraqi mullah to order the death of Americans who were saving the lives of Iraqi children.
"Preemptive, what I mean by that is this act when we jump to help someone else, to serve another before they've done anything for us," Courtney told to the Q audience. Early in his book he explains it this way:
"I had not named it yet— that passion and joy that caused me to suspend my questions and fears. My military friends had mantras like 'Better to be judged by twelve than carried by six' and 'Shoot first; ask questions later.' But I had watched Iraq destroy nearly all the people who allowed themselves to live in a constant state of suspicion or cynicism. So I adopted my own motto: 'Love first; ask questions later.' Today I call it preemptive love."
Without any medical training and very little prep, he helped start an Iraq-based international development organization, Preemptive Love Coalition, which facilitates the heart surgeries needed for a massive backlog of sick Iraqi children. Iraqis have suffered three decades of war (beginning in 1980 with Iran), Saddam's chemical weapons, 13 years of economic sanctions (1990-2003), and countless tons of the depleted uranium and white phosphorus used in U.S. munitions. Its healthcare system is decimated, and, contrary to the controversial findings in a recent World Health Organization study, doctors from across Iraq report alarming increases in cancer rates and congenital birth defects.
Not long after moving to Iraq in 2006 to help rebuild it, Courtney, who'd earned a masters degree in international studies from Baylor University, heard about tens of thousands of Iraqi children suffering from heart defects. On average there are 30 new cases every day in Iraq, he said at the sixth annual Q Conference. But to get the children to surgery, he and his Preemptive Love cohorts took a road less (read: dared not) traveled. At the time, they had no other choice.
They sent Iraqi children to doctors in Israel. In other words, American Christians sent Iraq's Muslim children to the Jewish state. To be saved. Literally.
In the fatwa, an Iraqi religious leader, or mullah, had used a phrase that immediately resonated with Courtney. "We must stop this treatment lest it lead our children to learn to love their enemies," he recalled loudly at the Q Conference.
He paused, allowed the revelation to sink in.
"I was scared,' he continued. "But I was thrilled by the mullah's conclusion. We were saying the same thing: Be careful, preemptive love works."
This threat from a high-ranking mullah was definitive evidence for him. It proved the efficacy of preemptive love. Hate could be recast by persistent, selfless acts of charity. War's barbaric diplomacy could be repaired. Maybe, some day, an enlightened generation of Arab children would bridge the Middle East's vast divide and make the region whole. Maybe the entire world could evolve.
"Every day in Iraq there seems to be an occasion to wake up again and make the decision to love indiscriminately," Courtney said, describing for Q participants how his office had almost been blown up, his home broken into and bugged, his staff arrested on trumped-up charges. "Through these postures of preemptive love we've been able to go on and earn the trust of Muslims leaders across the country. We've made friends out of enemies."
Eventually, a Muslim friend and sheikh in Iraq intervened on Courtney's behalf and Preemptive Love continues its work in Iraq today. Better, it no longer needs to choose the road less traveled. Today it is helping to rebuild Iraq's healthcare system by bringing surgeons into the country and training local doctors to perform the heart surgeries.
"I don't have time to tell you all of the amazing things God is doing in the lives (of people) across Iraq," he said, concluding his nine-minute talk, "but I'll just tell you this: Violence unmakes the world but preemptive love unmakes violence. Preemptive love remakes the world."
As he exited the Q stage and spoke with participants, a woman asked if she could buy a copy of his book in the store there in the Mellon Auditorium.
"I've not written a book," he said. "I don't have one in the store."
She smiled confidently. "Would you like to have one in it?"
Turns out she was an acquisitions editor for a publishing house. That conversation led to others, which soon led to a top-tier literary agent (Chris Ferebee) and, several months later, Courtney signed a book deal with Simon & Schuster imprint, Howard Books. He was given five months to write the manuscript's first draft.
Between frequent trips to his home near Lubbock, Texas and Preemptive Love's work in Iraq, Courtney, now 34, expounded on his theology of preemptive love. His nine-minute Q talk quickly blossomed into an inspiring 230-page memoir. At its conclusion, near the end of the Afterword, he writes:
"Where you are sitting in the world as you finish this story may influence how you interpret my idea of preemptive love. If you are in the States, you may think first in terms of American kindness toward enemy Iraqis. If you are in Iraq, however, you may be more quick to see the countless times in this story in which the Iraqis acted first, offering protection, intervening, or taking a risk to welcome us in, even though we were often cast as their enemies. The truth is, preemptive love does not begin in the heart of humanity. Neither Americans nor Iraqis are inherently better at loving first than the other. We are all tribal, programmed to protect our own.
Instead, preemptive love originates in the heart of God. The one who made the universe and holds everything in it— the one to whom Muslims, Christians, and Jews are all ostensibly pointing— is the first and the last enemy lover."
See video: JEREMY COURTNEY at 2012 Q CONFERENCE
Posted in Political, Spiritual	| Tagged Christians, Greg Barrett, heart defects, Iraq, Iraqi Muslims, Israel, Jeremy Courtney, jews, Muslims, Preemptive Love, preemptive war
Promises dashed, poster trashed, can hope in Obama be recycled?
FROM MY HUFFPOST BLOG:
This day four years ago I had a large poster of presidential hopeful Barack Obama tacked to my office wall. He's wearing a dark suit, white shirt, and the candidates' perfunctory power tie; this one is burgundy with silver pinstripes. His gleaming white smile looks airbrushed and his right hand is raised in salute to a tide of supporters. So powerful, so commanding, it seemed that with a simple wave he could quiet Washington's roiling and partisan Red Sea.
"Yes We Can," the poster reads.
Eleven weeks after the election he presided over an adoring audience of some 1.5 million people crowded onto Washington's Mall for inauguration day. Freezing temperatures and icy gusts didn't stand a chance in the face of his radiance. To a nation and a world desperate for change it was like Obama could have fed those masses with two fish and five loaves.
To me, a print journalist wooed by his magnetism the morning after his 2004 convention speech (see "Democrats' brightest shine at national convention") the United States had elected a world leader. Finally. Given his multinational upbringing, Obama would surely tamp down mindless rhetoric about "American exceptionalism" and advocate instead for a united world. The White House and Washington would no longer be owned by K Street, Wall Street and Israel.
So I too drank of the Obama Kool-Aid. Tasted like miracle wine. I didn't give a rat's ass about his middle name (Hussein), birthplace (Honolulu or Jakarta made no difference to me) or, even, his religious pledge. Give me an earnest and honest Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or Atheist over a misled, hypocritical Christian any day. Just, dear Lord, give me a wise and righteous leader.
Five months later, when President Barack Hussein Obama flew to Cairo and addressed the world's 1.5 million Muslims, he quoted from the Talmud, the Quran and the New Testament. Amen Brother. Woot-woot!
By now I was thanking the heavens for Obama's mama. Literally. I bowed my head and gave thanks for Stanley Ann Dunham. When Barack had been a schoolboy in Indonesia, the world's largest Islamic nation, Stanley Ann had sent him to a neighborhood Catholic school and then to a predominantly Muslim school. At one he studied the catechism; at the other he learned about the muezzin's call. On Easter or Christmas she might drag him to church, but she also took him to Buddhist temples, Chinese New Year celebrations, Shinto shrines, and to ancient Hawaiian burial sites. In The Audacity of Hope, Obama recalled how his mother, a stubborn secularist, believed that a good education required a working knowledge of all the world's great teachings and religions.
So his inclusive speech in Cairo shouldn't have surprised me. But after eight years of a professed born-again Christian residing over American politics, it did. I'd forgotten that U.S. presidents could be great.
"I come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect," Obama said to a rapt audience at Cairo University on June 4, 2009. "There must be a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground. As the Holy Quran tells us, 'Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.'"
From where her ashes had been spread along Oahu's glorious Lanai Lookout, the late Stanley Ann (deceased for 17 years tomorrow) was living large in her son's enlightenment. I was sure of it.
The election, inauguration, Cairo. Those were heady days. I was Obama intoxicated.
Of course we could. Why the hell had we waited so long?
Then, two years ago, I took Obama's poster down. Rolled it up and put it away. No singular event inspired the action. No fit of anger or irrational spontaneity preceded it. However, I had thought it odd that a Nobel Peace Prize winner was championing the unmanned drones that routinely killed innocents alongside the (alleged) guilty. No judge or jury for either. Also, I'd noticed how the National Debt Clock near Times Square continued ticking off inconceivable amounts of gross debt. And in the wake of his inauguration, Congress had remained as partisan as ever, even more so.
Apparently Obama's raised hand had quieted nothing. Perhaps no mere mortal could shed the weight of two wars, an economic collapse and Capitol Hill's frat-house loyalties. Obama was human after all. Go figure. Maybe he was just another silk-tongued politician who had convinced us that he could work miracles. I suspect he'd even convinced himself.
So the poster came down. I was tired of looking at it and being reminded of the broken promise. Not the embellished campaign pledges that all candidates make; rather, the singular hope that had been fully inspired by our new multinational president. Obama inflated us and then let the air scream out. Nothing much changed under his watch. Looking at the poster every day only reminded me of that sorry fact. Of how the miracle wine had turned sour. Of how the hope that had risen in our throats as soon as McCain conceded began to taste like bile. Of how the post-election, post-Palin celebrations that flowed from Washington to London to Amman, Gaza, Baghdad and Tehran eventually went flat.
In Cairo, Obama had injected a decided sense of promise into global politics, Western, Far Eastern and Middle Eastern alike– Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, all of us.
"It is easier to start wars than to end them. It is easier to blame others than to look inward. It is easier to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share," he'd said, finishing his speech to a standing ovation. "There is one rule that lies at the heart of every religion– that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This truth transcends nations and peoples; a belief that isn't new; that isn't black or white or brown; that isn't Christian, or Muslim or Jew."
Then he'd corrected the behavior of our world's three most warring faiths. Used their own words. Seared the lesson on them as if he were branding his mark on the world.
"The Holy Quran tells us, 'O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.' The Talmud tells us: 'The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace.' The Holy Bible tells us, 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.'"
Recalling that, I dug out the poster from the closet this week. It's ripped and wrinkled and doesn't hold much promise. On Tuesday I'll vote again for Obama. (What are my choices, really?) But this time there will be no Kool-Aid, no dreaming, no inflated sense of change.
The only hope I hold is that the second time is the charm– not only the charmer.
Posted in Political	| Tagged Barack Obama, cairo, christianity, Election Day, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Israel, jews, John McCain, Middle East, Muslims


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Lotion | More Crunchy Beach Mama!
I feel fortunate that I have never dealt with head lice. Not when I was a kid and not with my own kids. I know it is a very common problem and I've heard lots of stories, but crossing my fingers that it is only stories I will continue to hear and I'll never have my own to tell!
If my kids do come home with head lice, I'm not even sure what I would do. I think that I would head down to the drug store to buy a treatment where you apply a cream on the head to comb out the nits. I've learned after writing this post that most moms would do this, but is it the best course of action?
The online survey was conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Sanofi Pasteur during back-to-school season about Head Lice Management and Treatment. More than 2,000 U.S. moms aged 25 and older were studied.
Moms define the ideal head lice treatment as one that works quickly, is safe, and is easy to use. Statistics showed that while 67% of moms are aware of prescription treatments and 80% are aware of over-the-counter (OTC) treatments, around seven in ten recognize that not all head lice treatments work the same. Only 32% of moms who used an OTC treatment the last time they dealt with head lice and say the infestation was eliminated with just one treatment; the remainder (68%) say they used two or more OTC applications to treat the infestation or report the treatment did not resolve the infestation.
Bottom line? It sounds like getting a prescription from your doctor was a faster way to treat it! Did you know this?


The price can try to rebound reaching 1.1345 level in the wake of the EU stock market selloff prior to the Fed. meeting and the publication of the Brexit referendum results.
The price is lower than the middle Bollinger band, higher than SMA5 but lower than SMA14. RSI resides lower than 50% level and is trying to breach it. Stoch are in the oversold zone at the moment, turning upwards.
Trading recommendations: The pair can rise being locally oversold reaching 1.1345 level from which it is to be sold with local target of 1.1285 expecting further fall to 1.1215.


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C + C Culture Factory: Life in London
Reviews of things we've seen, notes on things we're planning to see, and a handy list of the best nights to rob our house
← Preview: The Night Shift, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 4 May
Preview: One-on-One Festival, Battersea Arts Centre, 9 April →
Preview: The Most Incredible Thing, 26 March
Posted on February 25, 2011	by Cabe
I used to go see modern dance at the Joyce when I lived in NY – a friend of mine was the dance critic for the Sun. (She's now I think a Culture critic for the WSJ – doing well.) I don't like ballet for the same reason I don't like opera or live classical music – the strictures of it make it feel like the focus is more on flawless execution than on creative self-expression.
But some modern dance I've seen has been a bit more free and athletic – it can give the same rush as when you're watching baseball highlights and someone makes an amazing catch. So I am going into this one optimistically. I've also heard great things about Sadler's Wells, but not yet made it there in four years of living here – now that will change.
This, like so many good things, came to me by Aliceson's On Culture blog – here is her post (the key bits at least)
On the show:
The show was dreamed up by the Pet Shop Boys who first approached SW three years ago about creating a full length, contemporary ballet. As Alistair Spalding, SW's CE told us, he knew Javier De Frutos was the only choreographer to do it, and he was brought on board in December 2008
It's a narrative ballet set to pop music (done – I love narrative ballets). Whilst the storytelling is traditional, the choreography is definitely modern. This show is part dance, part concert, and part theatre – a magical combo
The original Hans Christian Anderson story upon which the piece is based is only 4 pages long! and served as the basis for a much more extensive treatment. The show's running time will be 90 minutes, excluding intervals
In the videos we watched of rehearsals, the dancing was extremely impressive. The dancers themselves come from a mix of classical and contemporary backgrounds which lends itself well to the Pet Shop Boys music
On Javier:
In addition to all of the above, it was hard to leave without feeling the passion of the work that Javier is doing and writing down quite a few of his quotes!
On why he said yes to the project: "Because it was a collaboration with the Pet Shop Boys…I'm not a fairy tale kind of person, nor am I a Hans Christian Andersen lover."
On his job: "freakishly, the most stupid job in the world…being first a vocation/addiction, then a profession."
On theatre versus dance: "I'm a greater lover of theatre than dance. I'm not a lover of dance but apparently I'm good at it"
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Tweets from our alter ego, CultureFactor
Reviewing first preview is like writer being judged on an early draft. Displays little understanding of creative process. #hamletbarbican 3 years ago
Whatever your creative tastes, do check out the CentralStMartins graduation exhibits this weekend. Gorgeous, inspiring stuff @CSM_news 4 years ago
While this evening on @TheBumBumTrain was no fun at all, I can vouch for it being almost as good to be a cast volunteer as a passenger. 4 years ago
Last week's big treat: @iFagiolini Renaissance murder mystery Betrayal. Sublime voices and dance. See it in Salisbury @AgeasSalisFest 4 years ago
Deeply moved by #Everyman @NationalTheatre. Asking big questions of the audience, while making us laugh. An astounding balancing act. 4 years ago
Follow @CultureFactor
Tweets from our big sister, StageScan.com
4x5-star pro reviews for Annie Baker's John @NationalTheatre. "Sometimes five stars doesn't seem quite enough to ca… twitter.com/i/web/status/9… 1 year ago
14 five-star pro reviews. A "world-shattering hip-hop musical"... "a bona fide game-changer"... "astonishing… how w… twitter.com/i/web/status/9… 1 year ago
7x5*s for Everybody's Talking About Jamie (@JamieMusical) at the Apollo Shaftesbury Avenue. "Unapologetically, hila… twitter.com/i/web/status/9… 1 year ago
Follow @stagescan
Previews: highlights of what we've booked for the next half year, and why
Review: One Man, Two Guvnors
Old Fashioned at Conrad Hotel, Hong Kong
Most-read posts in the past week
Previews: highlights of what we've booked for the next half year, and why
Handpicked London Quirky collection of interesting things in London – no connection, but often an inspiration
On Culture Our friend Aliceson Robinson's excellent writing about the business of culture
StageScan.com The most personal, witty and complete theatre website in London – OK, we're biased, but it's true: will find you shows you'll love based on your preferences and an elegant summary of professional reviews
The Happiness Project London A like-minded stranger blogging on things we like
Archives Select Month November 2011 October 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011


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Home / News / Press releases / CEMR statutory affairs
Congress of European Municipalities and Regions
CEMR statutory affairs - 13.04.2006
CEMR's general assembly on the future of public services in Europe
The future of public services in Europe will be the main theme of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions' general assembly taking place in Innsbruck, from 10 to 12 May 2006.
The first day, marked by the intervention of the President of the European Commission, Mr. Barroso, will focus on the role of local and regional authorities in Europe.
Public services will be the main topic of the second day: How to adapt to the demographic challenges? How to guarantee access for all to public services? How to learn from each other in order to meet the needs of the most vulnerable? Other workshops will draw on local democracy in South-East Europe or the involvement of the population in twinning activities.
The European Charter for equality of women and men in local life, a CEMR project, will also be officially presented during the third day of the general assembly. European local and regional leaders will be invited to sign the charter and to publicly commit themselves to concrete measures for gender equality at all levels of local life.
There will also be a special session on town twinning and another on the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.
More than 1.000 participants from will attend, including:
. the Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria, Wolfgang Schüssel (to be confirmed);
. the President of the Committee of the Regions, Michel Delebarre;
. Members of the European Parliament including Jan Olbrycht, Oldrich Vlasak, Gilles Savary;
. Mayors among others Hilde Zach (Innsbruck), Ryszard Grobelny (Poznañ), Michael Häupl (Mayor and Governor of Vienna and CEMR's President), Wim Deetman (mayor of The Hague and CEMR first vice president) Wolfgang Schuster (Stuttgart), Barbel Dieckman (Bonn); George Giannopoulos (Rhodes)...
. Representatives of the European Commission;
There will be simultaneous interpretation into German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek and Czech for the opening ceremony, the opening session, the plenary sessions and the closing ceremony.
To find more information on the event or to register online, please go to the website of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions' general assembly (CEMR).
Note: Journalists will have free access to the general assembly provided they are in possession of a valid, official press card delivered by the national association of journalists of their country.
Dates and place of conference: 10-12 May 2006 - Congress Innsbruck - Rennweg 3 - A-6020 Innsbruck
Georgina Mombo Rasero
Media Coordinator
Tel. : +32 2 500 05 34
Skype : georgina.mombo


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Creating Change for Young Male Survivors of Violence
"I wish that people like me had come and talked to me when I was young," Malik Ali comments as he reflects on his own experiences growing up in Richmond, CA, where violence was pervasive and supportive role models were few. As a young person, he struggled in school and was in and out of the juvenile justice system. Today, his perseverance and resilience to overcome the obstacles of his youth are gifts that he draws upon to reach young men like him. "My goal is to serve as a role model, mentor, and counselor," he remarks.
Ali is one of four clinical case managers hired this year as part of the Young Men's Empowerment Collaborative (YMEC). The YMEC is a partnership between the West Contra Costa Unified School District, the California School-Based Health Alliance, Bay Area Community Resources, the YMCA of the East Bay, Catholic Charities of the East Bay, and other community-based organizations. The collaborative aims to increase educational and health equity for boys and young men of color who have experienced complex trauma stemming from community violence and crime across five schools in Richmond, CA, by meeting the following goals:
Create a supportive school climate for young male survivors of violence by enhancing restorative, trauma-informed systems of care and strengthening the ability of school staff to recognize trauma survivors, respond effectively, and refer them for appropriate services.
Increase the portion of young male survivors of violence who are identified and served by expanding screening and outreach.
Create an effective response to violence through the use of evidence-based interventions in school-based health centers to help boys and young men of color at school.
Malik Ali (left) and Shawn Baker (right) serve as YMEC Clinical Case Managers with the YMCA of the East Bay.
Nearing the end of the first year of implementation, the YMEC cultivated relationships with nearly 300 young men of color on school campuses. 43% of these students reported experiencing high exposure to traumatic events, like community violence. Subsequently, they were referred to the YMEC Clinical Case Managers, like Ali, and invited to participate in young men's groups that focused on helping them understand and address their trauma and grief. The groups also provided these youth with skills to cope during stressful, triggering moments and connected them with others who may share similar experiences.
In reflecting on the impact that the YMEC has already had, Ali adds that the collaborative has increased resources and supports for students to cope with their stress and triggers. "Students now have a space that they can go to when they are feeling overwhelmed and a person who they can call on day or night and will listen to them without judgment."
Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime.


Changes in bird species distribution is an expected impact from global warming, and mobile bird populations can be critical first indicators of climate change impacts. According to Massachusetts Audubon Society's "State of the Birds 2011" report, range shifts of bird species were already occurring. Southern forest birds such as the Red-bellied Woodpecker and urban/suburban species like Tufted Titmouse and Carolina Wren had spread northward. White-throated Sparrows, at the southern edge of their breeding range in our state, were said to be declining, and many other species may follow suit as forest types evolve, especially migrants dependent upon multiple areas and habitats.
Birdfeeders are a convenient way to study bird population trends and indirectly nearby habitat quality. Avian abundance and diversity at feeders sheds light on what birds we have and whether or not limited food supplies are increasing the use of feeders by a given species. In 2011 as part of the Biodiversity Initiative, we began monitoring feeders year-round at the Lloyd Center on a weekly basis. We are combining data from "Project Feederwatch", a feeder observation program through Cornell University which includes participants throughout North America and focuses on late fall and winter bird populations (mid-November through March), and "Lloyd Center surveys" which are structured similarly, and cover spring, summer and early fall (April through October).
Songbirds (passerines) which are predicted to be especially vulnerable to climate change are the focus, but any species that visits feeders are included in the survey. Surveys cover a two-day period and involve a tally of total numbers of birds that visit the feeder area during a count day. Because weather impacts counts, conditions (e.g. temperature, wind, cloud cover, precipitation, snow cover) are taken for each survey.
Stay tuned for future data postings regarding this ongoing Biodiversity Initiative project.


The funky colors and the neon colors are the latest trend in interior designing and décor. Inspired from fashion trend the funky colors and the neon colors are too exciting to decorate with. Though many of us who prefer to have traditional or contemporary décor will not prefer to have these colors as these colors in neon are behind to right for normal. Decorate home or the room with personalize palette of colors which reflects your style. With the funky colors and neon colors you will be able to create depth and even warmth in your design and décor by implementing funky fabrics, paints and the accessories.
Funky colors evoke memories, convey retro style and are able to delight senses. Many interior designers who want to decorate with off center colors choose funky colors sparingly as the accents. Create an accent wall and make it as focal point. Select wall and area you want to make focus and thereafter using funky colors and patterns decorate your wall. You can paint a wall in solid color or create patterns like checkerboard and this way you can use more colors. Textured wall papers are great ways to add neon colors and funky colors.
Now that you have done with wall you can start with picking the fabrics. Infuse room or home with feel good fabrics in neon or funky colors. Shop such fabrics at retro fabric store or ask your decorator to get it custom dyed. Neon pink, Neon orange, hot pink or plush velvet are awesome for throw pillows, rugs, etc. You can also get painted furniture which will look awesome.
Textured lamp shades give amazing touch to your home's funky décor.
Available are also funky shaped furnishings and these will add perfect finishing to your home. examples are lavender color circular couch with unusual legs, black lamp which is shape of animal, or have quilted furniture in the bold blue shades or the vibrant mustard.
Decorate your bedroom with padded pink leather headboard mounted on wall.
Don't opt for ordinary fixtures but have funky conversation pieces.
Mute out your funky color such that it is not too extensive. Incorporate the fleur de lis motif in your living room where you have used bright color, or use black pattern over solid color, use stencil horizontal or vertical and accents which will tone down neon and funky colors and it will compliment it. Add crystal chandeliers and the luxurious fabrics to make your room look stunning.
The interior with the muted color looks stunning! The pale white background with the brilliant yellow-colored resting couch is certainly an interior to behold. People will certainly yearn for this.


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Social Media Marketing: How Dell turns brand detractors into fans
Five years ago, Dell had little presence on social media. That changed when the computer company realized 4,000 conversations about the brand were happening online every day, and the company was not present.
Since then, Dell has invested millions of dollars worth of time and resources in joining those conversations. In fact, one in 12 of Dell's more than 105,000 employees has attended its Social Media & Community University, which encompasses up to 12 hours of training on representing Dell's best online.
In addition, Social Outreach Services, a team representing 14 languages, actively monitors and participates in social media.
A lot has changed since 2006, and these changes have paid off handsomely for Dell – especially for its B2B business, says Richard Margetic, Director of Global Social Media, Dell.
"Social media has made more of an impact, significantly on B2B than B2C," he said.
"For us, B2B is about relationships, and social media is all about relationships," he added.
B2B Social drives revenue.
While Margetic cannot share specific numbers, he says B2B social media initiatives drive "a significant chunk of their B2B business."
Here's where he can provide specifics:
Every week, Dell's Social Outreach Services team addresses approximately 3,000 issues. All but 3% of those issues come to some resolution, and 40 to 50% – about 1,200 – of the people who initiated them end up speaking positively about Dell online.
How to connect with brand detractors
Conceivably, by participating in social media, Dell transforms approximately 62,000 brand detractors into fans every year.
Margetic said your business could achieve similar results – start paying attention to what is being said online about your business and industry. By doing so, in addition to having a chance to recruit some brand converts, you'll acquire what you need to develop a core marketing strategy:
You'll identify who is talking about you – the influencers.
You'll find out what they're talking about and how they're saying it. This will give you the keywords, messaging points, and pain points from which you can build marketing materials.
You'll find out what social media platforms they're using and, consequently, identify where to focus your marketing budget.
Free tools to listen to social media conversations
Here are the free tools Margetic advised using immediately to hear the social media conversations impacting your business:
Google Alerts: Whenever your company or your industry is mentioned online, Google will notify you. You can have these delivered daily, weekly, or as they happen.
Twitter search: Type in your company name, keywords, or industry to find out what people are saying in real-time.
"You'll quickly get insight into who your marketplace influencers are," Margetic explained.
LinkedIn: Type your business name, industry, or keyword into the search box to identify where you are being mentioned on LinkedIn. You can look at your first- and second-level connections and beyond to hear what they have to say about any topic you want and filter conversations by geography, company size, industry, and more.
"This is a phenomenal tool, especially when you consider that more than 85% of the visits to LinkedIn have nothing to do with job hunting. Instead, people are sharing information and driving relationships," Margetic said.
Pinterest: Find out if your content is being repinned by going to "http://pinterest.com/source/your company's URL."
For example, http://pinterest.com/source/marketingsherpa.com.
Investing in social media tools
You can invest in a social media monitoring tool, as well. Dell has designed its own platform to monitor conversations, but Margetic noted plenty of other solutions for businesses that want to do more than manually search social media sites. These platforms allow you to manage and search multiple sites simultaneously and see results in real-time.
Monitoring social for demand generation
Margetic believed monitoring social media should be considered a key lead generation activity.
"It's just fundamentally sound business practice," he insisted. "Paying attention to what is being said [about you and your industry] online will tell you which people are talking, what they're saying, and where they're saying it, which will help focus your lead-generation efforts.
"If you're not involved in these conversations, you need to reconsider your priorities," Margetic concluded.
Becoming a Social Business – Dell SlideShare
Social Media Marketing: 6 tips for running a valuable LinkedIn group that attracts prospects
B2B Social Media Marketing: Focus on leads, not likes
How IntraLinks Used Social Media to Generate Twice as Many Sales-ready Leads as Any Other Channel
Better Social Selling, an Interview with Jill Rowley
LinkedIn is a very useful tool in promoting brand. There are many professionals in your field that can make a great following of your brand if you know how to make your LinkedIn profile attractive. Dell is doing the right thing. A bad review online spreads like fire, leading to potential loss of customers. If a company like Dell knows how to turn this bad review around, that company is going in the right direction.
Great article about the importance of engaging with your customers on social media websites. With people talking about brands more than ever on social media sites like Twitter and LinkedIn around the world, keeping a finger on the pulse of those conversationsgoes a long way in building positive brand reputation. The fact that Dell has turned 62,000 people in the public into fans every year speaks for itself in terms of the value that these social media outreach employees are bringing to the company. Kudos to a large company like Dell taking charge of their reputation in social communities.
Vinay Bhagat says:
Another opportunity for B2B marketers, is to embrace the transparency of inviting end-user reviews of their products. B2C purchasing has been transformed by such peer reviews – think TripAdvisor, Yelp, Angie's List, Amazon. At TrustRadius, we are building a community for professionals to safely share insights about enterprise technologies, through in-depth reviews, discussions, etc. We are proud to have Richard participate as one of our beta members.
Glad to see Dell taking the lead and recognizing this huge opportunity. As they stated in the article, many companies are developing social monitoring tools to simplify the engagement process yet the key to an effective solution is one that uses predictive technology to create efficiency and accuracy through out the workforce chain allowing for a much more intelligent, engaging and personalized experience.
How to Use LinkedIn to Generate Leads
B2B Social Media: How do you measure the ROI of a LinkedIn InMail campaign?