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Home / Daily Dose / Activists Urge FHFA to End Conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Activists Urge FHFA to End Conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
in Daily Dose, Featured, News, Secondary Market November 20, 2015 2,336 Views
A fair and affordable housing market is something that has been on the minds of many in the industry, but is the conservatorship between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac weighing down homeownership?
Members of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the National Council of La Raza wrote a letter recently to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Melvin L. Watt. The letter questions the role that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will play in the housing market in the future in terms of promoting fair and affordable housing.
The Leadership Conference and the National Council came to the consensus that "bringing the conservatorship to an end so that Fannie and Freddie may step up their role in promoting homeownership" will need to happen to push fair and affordable housing.
The two organizations noted in the letter that homeownership is key to moving more Americans into the middle class, but much concern remains despite economical improvements since the 2008 financial crisis.
Minority communities are not likely to experience financial benefits of homeownership benefits, as a 30.4 percent gap remains between black and white homeownership has only widened over the last ten years.
"We must do all that we can to enact policies that will help reverse these disturbing trends," the organizations wrote in the letter. "FHFA can lead on this, do it responsibly, and do it without putting taxpayers at risk."
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the National Council presented two factors in the letter that will help meet this goal:
"First, particularly given the demise of GSE "overhaul" legislation on Capitol Hill, it is clear that any successful policy to promote affordable homeownership must involve strong leadership into the future by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These entities will be vitally important to the continued growth of our nation's housing market, and to the ability of consumers to continue obtaining affordable, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages. The proposed bills in the 113th Congress to eliminate the GSEs would have been counterproductive, negatively impacting communities of color and young people, and impeding our ability to grow our nation's middle class."
"Second, the GSEs require capital if they are to serve their historic mission. As your agency proceeds with its decisions on affordable housing policies, those policies naturally must be balanced with FHFA's statutory obligation as conservator to the safety and soundness of these enterprises. We applaud FHFA for its announcement last month on the expansion of lending to middle class borrowers, but we note that this expansion will require capital. We also note that some of the current proposals to raise g-fees and to impose new requirements on private mortgage insurers will increase the costs of borrowing, and would still fall short of building the capital needed to grow a robust and healthy housing market. This is especially true given the GSE's status in what Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California) describes as seemingly "permanent conservatorship," where they are unable to rebuild capital."
The organizations stated that the homeownership must be increased in the communities they represent, but in order for this to happen the conservatorship must end so the GSEs can rebuild their capital.
"Both agencies have become profitable, and could remain so while still giving the taxpayers a large return on the government's investment," the letter stated. "We are not suggesting this be done without significant reforms to ensure that all markets are being served fairly, and without important taxpayer safeguards"
"We look forward to working with FHFA to formulate a plan that increases homeownership for more Americans while further reducing the liability of another catastrophic event on the backs of taxpayers. Exploring an end to the conservatorship and allowing the enterprises to build capital should be an important component of this effort," the letter concluded.
Click here to read the full letter.
Conservatorships Fannie Mae FHFA Freddie Mac Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights National Council of La Raza 2015-11-20
Brian Honea
Tagged with: Conservatorships Fannie Mae FHFA Freddie Mac Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights National Council of La Raza
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About Author: Brian Honea
Brian Honea's writing and editing career spans nearly two decades across many forms of media. He served as sports editor for two suburban newspaper chains in the DFW area and has freelanced for such publications as the Yahoo! Contributor Network, Dallas Home Improvement magazine, and the Dallas Morning News. He has written four non-fiction sports books, the latest of which, The Life of Coach Chuck Curtis, was published by the TCU Press in December 2014. A lifelong Texan, Brian received his master's degree from Amberton University in Garland.


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Special Counsel Reveals New Look and Repositioning
Parent company unites its legal recruitment, executive search and eDiscovery arms and introduces new consultancy division
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – December 3, 2018 – Special Counsel today debuted a company rebrand and new positioning that will integrate its previously acquired eDiscovery company and existing sub-brands under one digital footprint, emphasizing an end-to-end suite of specialized offerings and formally introducing its legal consulting division. The purpose of this transformation is not only to unify all aspects of Special Counsel's capabilities, but to meet the legal industry where it's headed, geographically, technically and functionally.
Special Counsel started in 1987 as a legal staffing provider and has grown exponentially over the last three decades. Forecasting client and industry demand, Special Counsel continued to cultivate its core services until it became what it is today, a full-service leader in legal consulting, attorney recruiting, legal talent, legal technology and eDiscovery solutions, with a growing international footprint.
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Special Counsel's new positioning breaks down its offerings into four divisions:
Special Counsel's existing legal talent and recruitment unit is now named SCI. This division will continue to build on its large network of legal support talent to help companies and law firms hire legal support professionals and legal technology specialists for contract and permanent positions. SCI also specializes in placing attorneys in interim positions.
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Parker + Lynch Legal, Special Counsel's attorney recruiting division, will continue to operate at the gold standard for placing top candidates, from associate level to general counsel, in prominent law firms and corporate legal departments across the nation.
D4, which was acquired by Special Counsel in 2016, will continue to be its technology and eDiscovery division. With a team of premier subject matter experts and cutting edge technology-based solutions, D4 specializes in delivering exceptional, flexible and innovative eDiscovery and managed services to law firms and corporations in the US, China and the UK.
Special Counsel will officially launch a legal consultancy division under the name of its former eDiscovery arm, EQ. This unit will partner with clients to solve challenges related to cybersecurity, data analysis, information governance, managed review and more.
"These four divisions are distinct, but share the same core values," said Chamberlin. "They enable us to be a flexible partner equipped to provide right-sized solutions and specialized resources on a case-by-case basis, and equally important, they allow our internal talent to hone their expertise while fostering collaboration across the larger organization. We believe these guiding principles will push Special Counsel further than it's ever gone before."
For more information about Special Counsel's new look and positioning, visit the redesigned website.
About Special Counsel
At Special Counsel, we are a leading provider of legal consulting, attorney recruiting, legal talent, legal technology and eDiscovery solutions, with a growing international footprint. But there's more to being a leader than having tremendous size and scale. Our strength comes from our ability to partner with clients to create solutions on a case-by-case basis. It comes from our gift for fostering, furthering and promoting the expertise of our people. And it comes from our commitment to doing business with transparency, flexibility and integrity. That's what sets us apart. That's what makes us Special. To learn how we can help you, visit specialcounsel.com.
Special Counsel is a proud part of the world's leading HR solutions partner, the Adecco Group, serving as its legal solutions business unit.
To learn more about Special Counsel, please visit www.specialcounsel.com.
At Special Counsel, we are a leading provider of legal consulting, attorney recruiting, legal talent, legal technology and eDiscovery solutions, with a growing international footprint. But there's more to being a leader than having tremendous size and scale. Our strength comes from our ability to partner with clients to create solutions on a case-by-case basis. It comes from our gift for fostering, furthering and promoting the expertise of our people. And it comes from our commitment to doing business with transparency, flexibility and integrity. That's what sets us apart. That's what makes us Special. To learn how we can help you, visit specialcounsel.com..
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ERS Staff Directory
Maros Ivanic
Agricultural Economist
maros.ivanic@usda.gov
Maros Ivanic is Agricultural Economist with the Market and Trade Economics Division at USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS), where he analyzes U.S. poultry and egg markets.
Maros Ivanic joined ERS in 2019. Previously, he worked at the International Finance Corporation and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, both members of the World Bank Group, where he analyzed global agriculture and poverty. His other appointments included Senior Expert at the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting in Qatar and a research position with the Center for Global Trade Analysis at Purdue University.
Maros holds a Ph.D in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University.
Ivanic, Maros, and Will Martin (2018). "Sectoral productivity growth and poverty reduction: National and global impacts." World Development, Pergamon, vol. 109, pages 429–39.
Ivanic, Maros, and Will Martin (2014). "Poverty impacts of the volume-based special safeguards mechanisms." Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. doi: 10.1111/14678489.12068
Ivanic, Maros, and Will Martin (2014). "Implications of domestic price insulation for global food price behavior." Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, 42(C):272–88.
Ivanic, Maros, Will Martin, and Hassan Zaman. (2012) "Estimating the Short-Run Poverty Impacts of the 2010–11 Surge in Food Prices." World Development 40(11):2302–17.
Maros Ivanic and Will Martin. (2010) "Poverty impacts of improved agricultural productivity: opportunities for genetically modified crops." AgBioForum, 13(4):308–13.
Ianchovichina Elena, Maros Ivanic and Will Martin. (2010). "The Growth of China and India: Implications and Policy Reform Options for Malaysia." Asia-Pacific Economic Literature 24(2):117–41.
Ianchovichina, Elena, Maros Ivanic, and Will Martin. (2009) "Implications of the Growth of China and India for the Middle East." Middle East Development Journal 1(1):1–25.
Ivanic, Maros, and Will Martin. (2008) "Implications of Higher Global Food Prices for Poverty in Low-income Countries." Agricultural Economics 39(s1):405–16.
Hertel, Thomas, David Hummels, Maros Ivanic, and Roman Keeney. (2007) "How Confident Can We Be in CGE-based Assessments of Free Trade Agreements?" Economic Modelling 24(4):611–35.
Hertel, Thomas W., Roman Keeney, Maros Ivanic, and L. Alan Winters. (2007) "Distributional Effects of WTO Agricultural Reforms in Rich and Poor Countries." Economic Policy 22:289–337.
Hertel, Thomas W., and Maros Ivanic. (2006) "Making the Doha Development Agenda More Poverty friendly: The Role of South-South Trade." Review of Agricultural Economics 28(3):354–61.
Hertel, Thomas W., Maros Ivanic, Paul V. Preckel, and John A. L. Cranfield. (2004) "The Earnings Effects of Multilateral Trade Liberalization: Implications for Poverty." World Bank Economic Review 18(2):205–36.
Hertel, Thomas W., Maros Ivanic, Paul V. Preckel, John A.L. Cranfield, and Will Martin. (2003) "Short- versus Long-run Implications of Trade Liberalization for Poverty in Three Developing Countries." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 85(5):1299–1306.
Hertel, Thomas W., Paul V. Preckel, John A.L. Cranfield, and Maros Ivanic. (2003) "Multilateral trade liberalization and poverty in Brazil and Chile." Economie Internationale 94–95(2,3):201–33.
ERS Publications by this Author
International Food Security Assessment, 2022–32 Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade: February 2022 Economic and Food Security Impacts of Agricultural Input Reduction Under the European Union Green Deal's Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies
Amber Waves Articles by this Author
Farm to Fork Initiative to Restrict European Union Agricultural Inputs May Increase Food Prices, Further Global Food Insecurity
Last updated: Tuesday, March 15, 2022
For more information, contact: Maros Ivanic
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Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative – Three distinct behavioral profiles in siblings of children with autism at 18 months predict autism diagnosis at age 3. The findings, published 2 October, point to multiple developmental pathways to the disorder.
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Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative – Boys with autism who carry rare, spontaneous mutations have lower intelligence quotients and more severe symptoms than do those who may have inherited the disorder.
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Medical Xpress – Melanie Tyner-Wilson is facing one of her toughest battles yet. She wants nothing more than to help her son Jay Tyner-Wilson, who is a person with autism, land his first real job.
DisabilityScoop – FRANKLIN – Westport resident and Columbus North High School senior Sean Gilly spread a wealth of information about autism spectrum disorders (ASD) during the autism panel discussion he hosted at Franklin College on Oct. 28 as his senior project.
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I want to go sooooooo bad! You guys don't know how many times Shawn has had to hear me say this. So this year I will visit Gettysburg. I am thinking closer to the fall of the year. Let me know if you guys make another trip.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it Chaps! It is a different kind of place.
I really do hope ya make it there this Fall Michelle. I think that's the best time to go.


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You are here: Home › Salut! commentary › The improving image of Sunderland AFC. New kit revealed
Salut! commentary July 9, 2018
The improving image of Sunderland AFC. New kit revealed
Order from the club by clicking the image
Malcolm Dawson, deputy editor, writes……..Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven appear to be men of their word. OK Charlie is a professional PR guru so we'd expect him to be good at his job, but so far the new owners are delivering:
* a new manager who seems to be developing a positive work ethic and has promised an entertaining style of football
* new signings within budget who are all speaking highly about Sunderland AFC and their delight at coming to Wearside
* players who do not wish to buy into the club's future given short shrift with a promise that the club will not be taken for a ride by players and their agents
* the beginning of the replacement of the pink seats, an increasing involvement of the fans, an acknowledgement that supporters are the club and a repairing of that damaged relationship.
This afternoon has seen the launch of the new season's home and away kit and again Stewart has shown that he is not talking rubbish. A few weeks ago he told us that while the designs had been agreed long before he took control we, as fans, would be a lot happier with the new shirts and I can't envisage anyone, who thinks last year's effort was superior to those unveiled today. Well the home kit at least. (See it here on safc.com)
The new shirts as sent out in the club's e-mail
Courtesey of www.safc.com
It looks like a proper Sunderland strip. The stripes are wide and though some fans prefer the middle stripe to be red, that's nit picky. Once again we have a traditional looking shirt with a round collar and an absence of fussiness. The shorts are black and the socks red. Fine by me. My one gripe might be that we are told there may be occasions when the shirt is worn with red shorts to avoid a clash with the opposition. Personally, as someone who first watched the team of Harvey, Hurley, McNab I got accustomed to seeing us play in white shorts. so I'd have rather seen that than red but hey – at least we won't look like sticks of Seaburn rock when the Lads take the field.
The change strip is a rather smart black but this time Adidas and their marketing team haven't tried to win us over by pretending it was chosen as a mark of respect to the area's mining heritage. This time just let it stand on its own as a smart piece of kit. I like it.
I expect the supporters who watch the boys run out at Darlington tomorrow will feel just as positive about one more tiny piece in the feel good jigsaw.
Tags: SAFC
Burton, Scunthorpe or Peterborough – who'll join Sunderland, Barnsley, Charlton and Portsmouth?
ALS, Charlie Methven and 'a small cabal of so-called supporters'
Salut! Sunderland welcomes Lee Burge, competition for Jon McLaughlin
Lee Cattermole out, another McLaughlin in as Sunderland preparations move up a gear
17 Responses to "The improving image of Sunderland AFC. New kit revealed" Subscribe
malcolm July 9, 2018 at 2:22 pm #
The club e-mail says the home kit also has interchangeable red shorts and features red socks. Since posting this I have seen pictures with black shorts and socks worn together.
My preference is for black socks but clarification may be needed before I can say for certain what the first choice will be at home.
Terry July 9, 2018 at 2:39 pm #
Big thumbs up from me. Red shorts? I've got images of Brian Heslop and Bruce Stuckey in my head now.
Could be worse Terry. At least they've replaced those of James Vaughan and Brendan Galloway.
Jeremy July 9, 2018 at 4:00 pm #
Now that's a Sunderland shirt. Champion. It will also look a load better without a horde of overpaid ar*seholes filling them.
Whoops sorry lads. Did I mention ar*seholes without also referring to R*dwell in the same sentence?
Two ex Sunderland stars in an England team in the semis of the World Cup.
Sun beating down like there's no tomorrow.
Its been a while since any of those.
KevS July 9, 2018 at 7:06 pm #
No stripes on the back !! Better than last year, obviously – what wouldn't be. But compared to the club's proper, traditional strip it's still sh* te
malcolm July 10, 2018 at 7:15 am #
Latest reports seem to suggest that plain backs is an Adidas design policy and applies to all their striped shirts. If that's true then it looks like we'll be stuck with plain backs for as long as they are our kit suppliers.
Bill July 9, 2018 at 7:47 pm #
Without stripes on the back it is not a Sunderland shirt and I won't be buying it.
Perhaps that's why all the early pictures were front views?
How many people who voted that it's "just the job" know that there are no stripes on the back?
Peter Sixsmith July 9, 2018 at 8:23 pm #
Stripes on the back make the numbers and names difficult to read. That's why they go for either a plain back or a large square. It's better than last years and makes us look like Sunderland again and not an ersatz Sheffield United. Anyway, we have no idea who the players are, so we will need the names to be legible from Row 31 in the East Stand.
Norman Peacock July 10, 2018 at 8:33 am #
Did not appreciate no "rear "stripes until read same.
An "own" goal for me .
Terry July 10, 2018 at 1:44 pm #
I remember European games from years ago when the shirt numbers were obscured by shirt stripes. Juventus in particular. Then the numbers were stitched onto a white square of material which itself was stitched onto the shirt. The mags were in Europe at the time IIRC. I'm sure, despite what the media say, that EUFA required numbers to be on a plain panel background. I voted thumbs up before seeing the rear of the shirt. Don't like it but it is a seismic leap forward from the shambles of last season. Browsing the club shop shows the amount of tat produced by adidas that the club have to spin as being marketable. They could at least provide us with a measly shirt we want. Immaterial to me though. I hide my 66 year old XL pear-shaped body behind my virtuous claim that I won't buy anything bearing a gambling sponsor's logo. Beer I can live with although Tuborg was stretching it a bit. Wouldn't it be nice to have no logo?
Keith Hutton Africa July 10, 2018 at 9:10 am #
I have always believed and tradition supports this, that the centre stripe should be red.Stoke have a central white stripe. It certainly looks better that last seasons pyjamas
In the majority of historical photos the middle strip is red Keith but I love this picture which would seem to suggest these shirts were made by pupils in the 1st year needlework class at Southwick Secondary School.
Hope this link works
Keith Hutton Africa July 12, 2018 at 10:52 am #
Yes Malcolm very poorly made, but that was some team. Tueart, Joe Baker Gordon Harris and Colin Todd all English internationals in their day
malcolm July 12, 2018 at 11:54 am #
True Keith. Naff shirt, decent team, unlike last season's crap shirt, crap team combo.


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text:
https://orionmagazine.org:443/article/commencement/
Orion Magazine > Articles > Feature > The World As We Know It > Commencement
By Terry Tempest Williams
Painting by Mary Frank, used with permission Migration, 1999
This is the first essay in a three-part series by the author. See also part two, "Ground Truthing," and part three, "Engagement."
SINCE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 we have witnessed an escalation of rhetoric within the United States that has led us to war twice in two years. We have heard our president, our vice-president, our secretary of defense, and our attorney general cultivate fear and command with lies, suggesting our homeland security and safety must reside in their hands, not ours. Force has trumped debate and diplomacy.
Our language has been taken hostage. Words like patriotism, freedom, and democracy have been bound and gagged, forced to perform indecent acts through the abuse of slogans. Freedom will prevail. We are liberating Iraq. God bless America.
For many of us, the war on terror is not something that has been initiated outside our country, but inside our country as well. We wonder who to trust and what to believe.
I have always believed democracy is best practiced through its construction, not its completion — a never-ending project where the windows and doors remain open, a reminder to never close ourselves off to the sensory impulses of eyes and ears alert toward justice. Walls are torn down instead of erected in a counter-intuitive process where a monument is not built but a home, in a constant state of renovation.
It was within this context of witnessing America at war and contemplating democracy that I accepted an invitation to deliver the commencement address to graduating seniors at the University of Utah on May 2, 2003. I was to receive an honorary doctorate degree in the humanities. Nothing could have meant more to me than to be recognized by my own school in my own town. They know who I am and who I am not. We share a history and history is always complicated. For me, personally, the stakes couldn't have been higher.
Before the speech, I had had the great pleasure of meeting with a group of graduating seniors. What I heard were mature voices, steady minds, speaking from a generation that had witnessed the beginning of two wars, Afghanistan and Iraq, while students at the university. They were not interested in ideas or language that polarized people: Christianity vs. Islam; republicans vs. democrats; Mormons vs. non-Mormons; wilderness vs. development. They talked about alternatives, solutions, how to speak a language that opens hearts rather than closes them. These students were acutely aware of complexities and hesitant to take sides before considering all the evidence.
I had fifteen minutes to speak from my heart to these young people on their graduation day. My heart was pounding.
President Machen, Senator Bennett, members of the Utah State Board of Regents, distinguished guests, faculty, family, and most especially, University of Utah graduates; it is a great privilege to stand before you this morning…
Lives change at this university. Mine did. I remember the moment. The class was American Romanticism. The professor was Dr. William Mulder. He introduced us to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Emily Dickinson. It was in this course, I realized, "Yes, I am a Mormon, but I am really a Transcendentalist."
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
— Emily Dickinson
These words became sacred text.
I realized that in American Letters we celebrate both language and landscape, that these words, stories, and poems can create an ethical stance toward life: Melville's Great Whale; Whitman's Leaves of Grass; Thoreau's Walden Pond; Emerson's "Oversoul" — the natural world infused with divinity. I came to understand through an education in the humanities that knowledge is another form of democracy, the freedom of expression that leads to empathy.
It begins with our questions…
Up until now, the words of my speech had been safe, no feathers ruffled.
How do we engage in conversation at a time when the definition of what it means to be a patriot is being narrowly construed? You are either with us or against us. Discussion is waged in absolutes not ambiguities. Corporations have more access to power than people. We, the people. Fear has replaced discussion. Business practices have taken precedence over public process. It doesn't matter what the United Nations advises or what world opinion may be. America in the early years of the twenty-first century has become a force unto itself. The laws it chooses to abide by are its own. What role does this leave us as individuals within a republic?
Abraham Lincoln warns: "What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and independence? It is not our crowning battlements, our bristling sea coasts, our army and our navy. These are not our reliance against tyranny. All of these may be turned against us without making us weaker for the struggle. Our reliance is in the spirit which prized liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands everywhere. Destroy this spirit and you have planted the seeds of despotism at your own doors. Familiarize yourselves with the chains of bondage and you prepare your own limbs to wear them. Accustom to trample on the rights of others and you have lost the genius of your own independence and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises among you."
How do we engage in responsive citizenship in times of terror? Do we have the imagination to rediscover an authentic patriotism that inspires empathy and reflection over pride and nationalism?
I would submit that we can protect and preserve the open space of democracy by carrying a healthy sense of indignation within us that will shatter the complacency that has seeped into our society in the name of all we have lost — knowing there is still so much to be saved.
What does the open space of democracy look like?
In the open space of democracy there is room for dissent.
In the open space of democracy there is room for differences.
In the open space of democracy, the health of the environment is seen as the wealth of our communities. We remember that our character has been shaped by the diversity of America's landscapes and it is precisely that character that will protect it. Cooperation is valued more than competition; prosperity becomes the caretaker of poverty. The humanities are not peripheral, but the very art of what it means to be human.
In the open space of democracy, beauty is not optional, but essential to our survival as a species. And technology is not rendered at the expense of life, but developed out of a reverence for life.
Reverence for life.
I was halfway through the speech with my heart still pounding. It was difficult to establish eye contact.
The open space of democracy is a landscape that encourages diversity and discourages conformity.
Democracy can also be messy and chaotic. It requires patience and persistence.
In the open space of democracy, every vote counts and every vote is counted.
I could feel the republicans in the Huntsman Center (thousands of them) thinking, "Here's just another two-bit liberal grousing over George Bush."
Stay focused, I said to myself, follow the words.
When minds close, democracy begins to close. Fear creeps in; silence overtakes speech. Rhetoric masquerades as thought. Dogma is dressed up like an idea. And we are told what to do, not asked what we think. Security is guaranteed. The lie begins to carry more power than the truth until the words of our own founding fathers are forgotten and the images of television replace history.
An open democracy inspires wisdom and the dignity of choice. A closed society inspires terror and the tyranny of belief. We are no longer citizens. We are media-engineered clones wondering who we are and why we feel alone. Lethargy trumps participation. We fall prey to the cynicism of our own resignation.
When democracy disappears, we are asked to accept the way things are.
I beg you: Do not accept the way things are.
I finally relax and find my footing.
Question. Stand. Speak. Act.
Patriots act — they are not handed a piece of paper called by that same name and asked to comply.
To engage in responsive citizenship, we must become citizens who respond. Passionately. This is how we can make a difference. This is how we can serve society.
What is at stake? Everything. Everything we value, cherish, and love. Democracy.
It was true in 1776. And it is true in 2003. This is the commitment we make to a living, breathing, evolving republic.
Thomas Jefferson said, "I believe in perilous liberty over quiet servitude."
May we commit ourselves to "perilous liberty."
Our insistence on democracy is based on our resistance to complacency. To be engaged. We may be wrong. We will make mistakes. But we can engage in spirited conversation, cherishing the vitality of the struggle.
Democracy is built upon the right to be insecure. We are vulnerable. And we are vulnerable together.
This is what the open space of democracy looks like.
Make us uncomfortable.
Make us think.
Make us feel.
Keep us free.
THE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS was met with both boos and applause in equal parts, as far as I could tell. Many students in the College of Business sat in their seats defiantly, breaking their code of good behavior by cupping their hands around their mouths yelling in the negative. Utah Senator Bob Bennett and former Senator Jake Garn had their heads bowed in disapproval. Students in the College of Humanities were on their feet cheering with much of the faculty. It did not feel personal. I simply witnessed my hometown mirror the ideological split alive in our nation.
THE SPRING OF 2003 was a moment in time of unseemly American bravado. We had arrived in Baghdad with unprecedented speed and relatively little opposition, as a long convoy of humvees and tanks rolled into the ancient city. American casualties were few and a kick-ass attitude more akin to football than war permeated this country like a fever.
Those of us who protested the war, and there were millions around the world, were told to eat crow. After the graduation ceremony, Tom Korologos, another recipient of an honorary degree (a Utah native and powerful lobbyist in Washington, D.C., who after being named a senior advisor to Paul Bremer successfully persuaded Congress to release $87 billion for the ongoing war in Iraq), extended his hand and with wry humor quietly said, "You don't know what the hell you are talking about. I'd like to take you to Baghdad and see what you'd say then." As we walked off the stage together, he was waving a small American flag.
Afterwards, Senator Bennett, our neighbor and former Mormon bishop, took me aside and in a brief conversation said, "In the spirit of democracy, I want to register my strong dissent to your talk." A few weeks later, I received a four-page, single-spaced letter from Senator Bennett dated May 7, 2003. It was not on official stationery, but plain paper straight out of his own computer.
Dear Terry:
….As I listened to you outline things that are important to you, an interesting question popped into my mind: What would she be willing to die for? Waging war always creates the risk of dying, so any discussion of war raises that issue. Then I asked myself what I would be willing to die for. The answers that came were predictable, at the front end — family, certainly — followed by church, protection of community, and yes, finally, the cause of freedom, for others as well as my own family and friends.
That is what went on in Iraq. To use Colin Powell's comment, which I quoted to you, America has sent brave young men and women voluntarily all across the world to fight for peace and freedom. We did it this time not only for Americans but for Iraqis and all the others in the Middle East who will benefit enormously as a result of the removal of Saddam Hussein. "Greater love hath no man than this," Jesus said, than that he "will lay down his life for his friends." I think the willingness to risk death in the cause of freedom for others deserves enormous respect. Again, as Powell said, we do not do it for territory…"
I put down the letter. He had asked a provocative question. What was I willing to die for? Like Senator Bennett, I come from a religious tradition where the founder, Joseph Smith, was murdered for his religious convictions. There is no shortage of martyrs among Mormons. I also recognized the long line of military service in my family. We grew up on war stories told to us by our great uncles who served in World War II and my cousin, Scott Dixon, has never fully recovered from the horrors he witnessed in the first Gulf War.
It occurred to me, over the many weeks that it took me to respond to Senator Bennett's letter, that what mattered most to me was not what I was willing to die for, but what I was willing to give my life to. In war, death by belief is centered on principles both activated and extinguished in the drama of a random moment. Heroes are buried. A legacy of freedom is maintained through pain. Life by belief is centered on the day-to-day decisions we make that are largely unseen. One produces martyrs born out of violence. The other produces quiet citizens born out of personal commitments toward social change. Both dwell in the hallowed ground of sacrifice.
In my response to Senator Bennett I mentioned that before the war in Iraq, thousands of Americans turned to poetry to voice their opposition to the invasion, creating the largest written protest in the history of this country. Eleven thousand poems were presented to Congress on March 5, 2003, by Sam Hamill and W. S. Merwin. My words were among them:
The erosion of speech is the build-up of war.
Silence no longer supports prayers, but lives inside
the open mouths of the dead.
After much thought, I told the Senator that what I would be willing to die for, and give my life to, is the freedom of speech. It is the open door to all other freedoms. We are a nation at war with ourselves. Until we can turn to one another and offer our sincere words as to why we feel the way we do with an honest commitment to hear what others have to say, we will continue to project our anger on the world in true, unconscious acts of terror.
DEMOCRACY INVITES US TO TAKE RISKS. It asks that we vacate the comfortable seat of certitude, remain pliable, and act, ultimately, on behalf of the common good. Democracy's only agenda is that we participate and that the majority voice be honored. It doesn't matter whether an answer is right or wrong, only that ideas be heard and discussed openly.
We are nothing but whiners if we are not willing to put our concerns and convictions on the line with a willingness to honestly listen and learn something beyond our own assumptions. Something new might emerge through shared creativity. If we cannot do this, I fear we will be left talking with only like-minded people, spending our days mumbling in the circles of the mad. I recall the words of William Faulkner, "What do we stand to lose? Everything."
How we choose to support a living democracy will determine whether it will survive as the beating heart of a republic or merely be preserved as a withered artifact of a cold and ruthless empire.
If we cannot engage in respectful listening there can be no civil dialogue and without civil dialogue we the people will simply become bullies and brutes, deaf to the truth that we are standing on the edge of a political chasm that is beginning to crumble. We all stand to lose ground. Democracy is an insecure landscape.
Terry Tempest Williams is the author of numerous books, including the environmental literature classic, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place. Her most recent book is The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks, which was published in June 2016 to coincide with and honor the centennial of the National Park Service. Her writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times, and numerous anthologies worldwide as a crucial voice for ecological consciousness and social change.


Development of technology in the world has affected the business community in that it has introduced the aspect of virtual reality into the field. A 3-dimensional computer use that a person can interact with is simply known as virtual reality. It has been used by different firms when creating their websites which are intended to delivering services to their clients in a better manner. When designing a website, user experience and customer experience are the things that should be taken into account. Consumer experience refers to the way the client interacts with the firm during the period which they are customers whereas user experience is the ability of an individual to operate a firm's computer application in terms of the ease of use. The website that the enterprise develops should be one that serves the customers in the best way since the client is the most vital resource in the business. Debated in this item are the reasons that should lead the firm into considering the client experience when designing websites for the company.
The fact that the website belongs to the client and not to you must be put into account. There is need thus that the experts you hire to design your website make it easy to use for your clients. Developing a site that will enhance a good customer experience should be the one that your designers should create.
It is important that the site is straightforward regarding what is needed of those who visit the site. Depending on the kind of business, you may require the visitor to purchase or register with the website. The chance of bad customer experience can be eliminated by ensuring you say clearly what you want the visitors to the site to do for you.
The customer experience that the website creates determined by the ability of the design experts to understand the clients. They should come up with a website which they would appreciate to use if they were to be the clients of the business. It is only through such technique that you can be confident that the customers will appreciate the website that you have created. It is not okay for the designers to develop a website like that they could make for the fellow developers. In this case, you will make the customers unable to use your site, and as a result you will lose them.
The look at the site will determine whether or not customers will be drawn to your enterprise. It is advisable that the photographs that you put on this website be ones that the clients may want to look at. Amusing pictures and exciting quotes are some of the things that you can fix on the website to entice the clients. In this way, you will increase the customer's experience with your firm.


text:
using namespace gl;

namespace
{

void insertExtension(
    const std::string & extensionName
,   std::set<GLextension> * extensions
,   std::set<std::string> * unknownExtensionNames)
{
    const auto extension = glbinding::Meta::getExtension(extensionName);

    if (GLextension::UNKNOWN != extension)
    {
        extensions->insert(extension);
    }
    else if (unknownExtensionNames)
    {
        unknownExtensionNames->insert(extensionName);
    }
}

// Implementation for functions with optional parameters (extensions, supported).
// This design prefers a reference focussed interface over optional
// parameters via pointers while maintaining a single implementation.

std::set<GLextension> extensions(std::set<std::string> * const unknown)
{
    const auto v = glbinding::ContextInfo::version();

    if (v <= glbinding::Version(1, 0)) // OpenGL 1.0 doesn't support extensions
    {
        return std::set<GLextension>{};
    }

    auto extensions = std::set<GLextension>{};

    if (v < glbinding::Version(3, 0))
    {
        const auto extensionString = glGetString(GL_EXTENSIONS);

        if (!extensionString)
        {
            return extensions;
        }

        std::istringstream stream{ reinterpret_cast<const char *>(extensionString) };
        auto extensionName = std::string{ };

        while (std::getline(stream, extensionName, ' '))
        {
            insertExtension(extensionName, &extensions, unknown);
        }
    }
    else
    {
        auto numExtensions = 0;
        glGetIntegerv(GL_NUM_EXTENSIONS, &numExtensions);

        for (GLuint i = 0; i < static_cast<GLuint>(numExtensions); ++i)
        {
            const auto name = glGetStringi(GL_EXTENSIONS, i);
            if (name)
            {
                insertExtension(reinterpret_cast<const char*>(name), &extensions, unknown);
            }
        }
    }

    return extensions;
}

bool supported(const std::set<gl::GLextension> & extensions, std::set<gl::GLextension> * unsupported)
{
    const auto supportedExtensions = ::extensions(nullptr);
    auto support = true;

    for (const auto extension : extensions)
    {
        if (supportedExtensions.find(extension) != supportedExtensions.cend())
        {
            continue;
        }

        support &= false;
        if (unsupported)
        {
            unsupported->insert(extension);
        }
    }

    return support;
}

bool supported(
    const std::set<glbinding::AbstractFunction *> & functions
,   std::set<glbinding::AbstractFunction *> * unsupported
,   const bool resolve)
{
    auto support = true;

    for (const auto function : functions)
    {
        if(resolve)
        {
            function->resolveAddress();
        }

        if (function->isResolved())
        {
            continue;
        }

        support &= false;
        if (unsupported)
        {
            unsupported->insert(function);
        }
    }

    return support;
}

bool supported(const glbinding::Version & version
    , const bool resolve
    , std::set<gl::GLextension> * unsupportedExtensions
    , std::set<glbinding::AbstractFunction *> * unsupportedFunctions)
{
    const auto requiredExtensions = glbinding::Meta::extensions(version);
    const auto requiredFunctions = glbinding::Meta::functions(version);

    auto support = true;

    support &= supported(requiredExtensions, unsupportedExtensions);
    support &= supported(requiredFunctions, unsupportedFunctions, resolve);

    return support;
}

} // namespace

namespace glbinding
{

std::string ContextInfo::renderer()
{
    auto s = reinterpret_cast<const char *>(glGetString(GL_RENDERER));

    if (!s)
    {
        return "";
    }

    return std::string{ s };
}

std::string ContextInfo::vendor()
{
    auto s = reinterpret_cast<const char *>(glGetString(GL_VENDOR));

    if (!s)
    {
        return "";
    }

    return std::string{ s };
}

Version ContextInfo::version()
{
    auto majorVersion = 0;
    auto minorVersion = 0;

    Binding::GetIntegerv.directCall(GL_MAJOR_VERSION, &majorVersion);
    Binding::GetIntegerv.directCall(GL_MINOR_VERSION, &minorVersion);

    const auto version = Version(static_cast<unsigned char>(majorVersion & 255)
        , static_cast<unsigned char>(minorVersion & 255));

    // probably version below 3.0
    if (GL_INVALID_ENUM == Binding::GetError.directCall())
    {
        const auto versionString = Binding::GetString.directCall(GL_VERSION);
        return Version(versionString[0] - '0', versionString[2] - '0');
    }

    return version;
}

std::set<GLextension> ContextInfo::extensions()
{
    return ::extensions(nullptr);
}

std::set<GLextension> ContextInfo::extensions(std::set<std::string> * unknown)
{
    return ::extensions(unknown);
}

std::set<GLextension> ContextInfo::extensions(std::set<std::string> & unknown)
{
    return ::extensions(&unknown);
}

bool ContextInfo::supported(const std::set<gl::GLextension> & extensions)
{
    return ::supported(extensions, nullptr);
}

bool ContextInfo::supported(const std::set<gl::GLextension> & extensions, std::set<gl::GLextension> & unsupported)
{
    return ::supported(extensions, &unsupported);
}

bool ContextInfo::supported(const Version & version, const bool resolve)
{
    return ::supported(version, resolve, nullptr, nullptr);
}

bool ContextInfo::supported(const Version & version
    , std::set<gl::GLextension> & unsupportedExtensions
    , std::set<AbstractFunction *> & unsupportedFunctions
    , const bool resolve)
{
    return ::supported(version, resolve, &unsupportedExtensions, &unsupportedFunctions);
}

} // namespace glbinding