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William Pember Reeves was the eldest son of the Hon. William Reeves, Resident Minister for the Middle (South) Island in the Fox Ministry of 1869–72 and principal proprietor of the Lyttelton Times. His mother, Ellen Pember, was a daughter of a wealthy Clapham stockbroker and sister of E. H. Pember, a successful parliamentary lawyer and unsuccessful poet. William Reeves failed on the Stock Exchange and – after his debts were paid in full – the family migrated to New Zealand. William Pember Reeves was born in Lyttelton on 10 February 1857, three weeks after their arrival; so, though he was a New Zealander, he was to say that he “only just managed it”.
Reeves was educated at a private “prep” school in Christchurch, the local high school, and (1867–74) the Christ's College Grammar School. He had an outstanding academic career, winning Provincial Government scholarships in 1866 and 1871, a Somes scholarship in 1873, and the University of New Zealand scholarships in classics, English, modern languages, and history in 1874. He then went to England and intended to read law at Oxford, following in the footsteps of his Uncle Edward, but a breakdown of health (tuberculosis was suspected) interrupted his plans. He returned to New Zealand where he worked as a cadet at Lowcliff, a sheep station near Ashburton, in 1876–77, recovering his health. He then became a law clerk and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in 1880, but took little interest in his profession, appearing in only one case, and reporting Supreme Court cases in Christchurch for the New Zealand Law Reports in 1883–85.
Reeves's absorbing occupations at this time were cricket and rugby. He played for Canterbury against Otago at rugby in 1878, but was too light for the game, though he showed great pluck as a three-quarter back. He was one of the best Canterbury bats, and represented his province on a number of occasions in local competition and against visiting English and Australian XIs. In 1890, while he was in Parliament, he was injured in a game of Association Football, in a collision with A. P. Harper, the mountaineer.
Increasingly Reeves was drawn to journalism as a career. In 1883 he was parliamentary reporter for his father's paper; in 1885 he became editor of the weekly Canterbury Times; and in 1889–91 he was editor of the Lyttelton Times. He resigned on becoming a Cabinet Minister. Shortly afterwards his father died, virtually bankrupt, leaving his son a relatively poor man. Though he lost his connection with the Lyttelton Times, Reeves continued to write leading articles for some years. He was one of the outstanding leader writers New Zealand has possessed. He wrote on a wide variety of topics with wit, clarity and – on political questions – party prejudice.
In 1887 Reeves founded the Canterbury Electors' Association, a strongly provincialist political organisation with a pronounced radical element that was evident in denunciations of the rich and an appeal for working-class votes. In the election of that year, parliamentary candidates backed by the association had a sweeping success. Reeves unseated the member for St. Albans. But the Stout-Vogel Government, which the association supported, was defeated. From 1887–90 Reeves sat in the Opposition, among the disorganised remnants of the Grey and Stout-Vogel Government supporters. He made a reputation as a witty debater, and when the Atkinson Government was defeated in 1890, John Ballance appointed him Minister of Education, and Justice, and, later, of Labour, in the first Liberal Government.
Reeves's opinions moved strongly to the left in 1887–96. He was very sympathetic to socialism (his son was christened Fabian), and in 1890 he outlined socialist theories in a pamphlet under the pseudonym “Pharos”. He was a hard working and (because of his radicalism and acid tongue) unpopular Minister. As our first Minister of Labour, he introduced a large number of measures regulating conditions in factories, ships, etc., the most important being the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act of 1894, which aimed at encouraging trade unionism and preventing strikes. It was the first such compulsory Act in the world and influenced legislation in Australia. In New Zealand, its influence on industrial (and class) relations has extended to the present day. Within three years, and against strong opposition, even from Liberals, Reeves gave the country the most complete labour code in the world. As Minister of Education, during a depression, he was able to achieve much less of importance.
With Edward Tregear the head of the Department of Labour, a socialist, a poet, and a linguist, Reeves formed an effective partnership. But he was not on good terms with R. J. Seddon, who succeeded Ballance as Premier in 1893, despite Reeves's opposition. By 1895 Seddon opposed further labour measures, the prospect of which alarmed the right-wing Liberals, and early in 1896, to their mutual relief, Reeves left for London as Agent-General.
Reeves was an efficient Agent-General (later High Commissioner). He became a friend of G. B. Shaw, the Webbs, and other leading leftwing intellectuals, writers, and politicians. Much of his time, for seven years, was devoted to writing. In New Zealand he had produced two volumes of verse, mainly satirical, in partnership with G. P. Williams. In England he published two more which included his best known poems, The Passing of the Forest and A Colonist in his Garden. In these and a few other poems, Reeves grappled with some of what have become chief preoccupations of New Zealand writers, and his work merits its continuing place in anthologies, though his was not a major talent.
In 1898 Reeves wrote The Long White Cloud, a history of New Zealand which is still in print. It was a remarkable achievement, judicious, thoughtful, lively, and clear. Few national histories have been better presented, and Reeves's views continued to dominate New Zealand historical writing for very many years. Then came State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand (2 vol., 1902), a scholarly work which has not been superseded as a survey of the radical and experimental legislation of the period.
Reeves's later life was a disappointment. From 1908 to 1919 he was Director of the London School of Economics, but was not a success as an academic administrator. From 1917 until 1931 he was chairman of the board of the National Bank of New Zealand. Throughout these years he was often ill. The death of his son in the Royal Naval Air Service in 1917 was a blow from which he did not recover for many years. From 1913–25 a main interest was the Anglo-Hellenic League, of which he was first president. He loved Greece and the Greeks, supported their claims for territorial expansion, and was rewarded by a doctorate from Athens University and several Greek royal honours, including a knighthood.
In 1924 Reeves roused himself from prolonged depression and revised The Long White Cloud for a third edition which included inferior chapters by another writer. For a few months in 1925–26 he made a tour of New Zealand on behalf of the bank. This greatly cheered him for he was welcomed and praised by friends and old political foes alike. He died in London on 16 May 1932, survived by his wife, née Magdalen Stuart Robison (whom he had married in 1885) and two daughters.
Reeves was a rare “all-rounder”, though he suffered most of his life from ill health, especially from neuralgic headaches. He succeeded at sport and politics, by determination, by driving himself beyond his nerves' endurance, and suffered in consequence. Two of his marked traits are not often combined: he was a valetudinarian who on several occasions showed great physical courage.
Reeves was rather aloof in manner and rarely popular among his associates, though greatly admired by trade unionists in the nineties and by New Zealand writers and intellectuals of later years. He was an unusual figure in our politics, a scholar and thinker, who was the Government's chief theoretician, strongest radical, and best debater. He had a gift for (sometimes biting) epigram, which did not endear him to his opponents, but was at the same time unusually thinskinned – too sensitive, indeed, for a long career in politics. He found the English intellectuals more congenial than most people in New Zealand, but hating the climate and the class system, he never ceased to feel an expatriate.
by Keith Sinclair, M.A., PH.D., Professor of History, University of Auckland.
Evening Post, 21 May 1932 (Obit)
Christchurch Star-Sun, 8 Feb 1957 (article by Richards, J. W.).
Co-creator
Keith Sinclair, M.A., PH.D., Professor of History, University of Auckland.
How to cite this page: 'REEVES, the Hon. William Pember', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New ZealandURL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/1966/reeves-the-hon-william-pember (accessed 20 Nov 2018)
| 9,055 |
Nestlé reports nine-month sales for 2017
Organic growth of 2.6%, with 1.8% of real internal growth (RIG) and pricing of 0.8%.
Total reported sales decreased by 0.4% to CHF 65.3 billion (9M-2016: CHF 65.5 billion), reduced by net divestments of 2.6% (mainly due to the creation of the Froneri joint venture) and negative foreign exchange effects of 0.4%.
Organic growth was 0.8% in developed markets and 5.1% in emerging markets.
We confirm our sales guidance for 2017, and now expect organic growth for the full year to be around the level of the nine-month period. The underlying trading operating profit margin for 2017 is set to improve by at least 20 basis points in constant currency, in line with our expectations. Our structural savings initiatives are progressing faster than originally planned, leading to an additional increase of CHF 400-500 million in restructuring and related expenses in 2017. As a result, our trading operating profit margin will decrease by 40-60 basis points in constant currency. We expect underlying earnings per share in constant currency and capital efficiency to increase.
Total group
Zone AMS
Zone EMENA
Zone AOA
Nestlé Waters
Nestlé Nutrition
Other businesses
Sales 9M-2017 (CHF million)
65'272
20'490
11'821
11'853
6'150
7'711
7'247
Sales 9M-2016 (CHF million)
65'514
20'086
13'046
11'623
6'134
7'707
6'918
RIG
1.8%
0.3%
1.4%
3.6%
2.1%
0.4%
5.0%
Pricing
0.8%
1.0%
0.5%
1.7%
0.1%
0.6%
0.1%
Organic growth
2.6%
1.3%
1.9%
5.3%
2.2%
1.0%
5.1%
Net M&A
-2.6%
-0.7%
-10.5%
-0.5%
-0.4%
-0.4%
-0.6%
Foreign exchange
-0.4%
1.4%
-0.8%
-2.8%
-1.7%
-0.4%
0.3%
Reported sales growth
-0.4%
2.0%
-9.4%
2.0%
0.1%
0.2%
4.8%
Mark Schneider, Nestlé CEO: “Our sales results for the nine-month period are in line with our expectations communicated in July.
Organic sales growth continued to benefit from industry-leading volume growth, which illustrates our ability to innovate and meet consumer demand. Pricing remained soft. Zone AOA saw further improvement in organic growth. As expected, Western Europe returned to positive organic growth, with significant contributions from coffee and confectionery.
Improving our efficiency is a key priority. We have identified further opportunities to accelerate our margin improvement, leading to a further increase in restructuring and related expenses in 2017. Consequently, we now expect our trading operating profit margin to decrease by 40-60 basis points. The development of our underlying trading operating profit margin is fully in line with our expectations for 2017.”
Group sales
Organic growth increased to 2.6%, supported by improved RIG of 1.8%. Pricing softened slightly to 0.8%. Net divestments had a negative impact of 2.6%, largely related to the creation of the Froneri joint venture. Foreign exchange reduced reported sales by a further 0.4%. Total reported sales were CHF 65.3 billion (-0.4%).
Growth in Zone AMS remained subdued. North America was flat in the context of negative category dynamics. Brazil was affected by the difficult trading environment, while Mexico remained resilient and other parts of Latin America continued to deliver good growth. Zone EMENA saw a significant improvement in growth compared to the half year, as the coffee and petcare categories drove strong RIG in the third quarter. Zone AOA’s growth was strong, with steady improvement in China and sustained high growth in other sub-regions supporting the positive trend. Nestlé Waters was impacted by poor weather, which weighed on growth in the third quarter. Growth in Nestlé Nutrition remained soft. Nespresso reported mid-single-digit growth, with double-digit growth in North America. Nestlé Skin Health benefited from the phasing of several new product launches. Nestlé Health Science reported mid-single-digit growth.
Growth by category was broad-based, led by coffee, petcare and ambient culinary.
Organic growth remained at 1.3% but the RIG component improved to 0.3%. This was due to stronger RIG in Latin America during the third quarter. Positive contributions in both North America and Latin America contributed to pricing of 1.0%. However pricing dynamics shifted during the third quarter, as North America’s pricing improved while Latin America’s pricing declined. Net divestments reduced reported sales by 0.7%. Foreign exchange increased reported sales by 1.4%. Reported sales in Zone Americas increased by 2.0% to CHF 20.5 billion.
Our organic growth in North America was flat in a context of soft consumer demand. RIG was slightly negative, but there was a modest improvement in pricing. Our coffee creamers, petcare, U.S. frozen food and pizza businesses generated growth, offset by declines in confectionery and ice cream. In Brazil, RIG increased significantly during the third quarter, as broad-based price decreases were introduced in line with market dynamics and input cost deflation. Mexico maintained a resilient level of growth despite the impact of natural disasters. Petcare continued to see double-digit growth across Latin America.
Zone Europe, Middle East and North Africa (EMENA)
1.9% organic growth: 1.4% RIG, 0.5% pricing.
Western Europe returned to positive organic growth, with both positive RIG and pricing.
Organic growth accelerated across all sub-regions. RIG improved significantly in Western Europe, with good third-quarter growth in coffee, confectionery and culinary. Central and Eastern Europe continued its strong momentum, particularly in Russia, reflecting increased distribution. Petcare was strong across the zone, with double-digit organic growth in Central and Eastern Europe. Growth in the Middle East and North Africa improved in the third quarter, but the trading environment remained challenging overall.
Zone Asia, Oceania and sub-Saharan Africa (AOA)
5.3% organic growth: 3.6% RIG, 1.7% pricing.
South-East Asia continued its good organic growth, based on RIG.
China’s organic growth was positive, supported by both RIG and pricing.
Sub-Saharan Africa continued to grow, and the South Asia region maintained strong RIG momentum.
Japan maintained solid organic growth with strong RIG.
Sales 9M-2017
Sales 9M-2016
RIG
Pricing
Organic growth
Net M&A
Foreign exchange
Reported growth
Zone AOA
CHF 11.9 billion
CHF 11.6 billion
3.6%
1.7%
5.3%
-0.5%
-2.8%
2.0%
Organic growth was strong, reaching 5.3% at the end of September. RIG improved to 3.6% with pricing at 1.7%. Net divestments and foreign exchange reduced reported sales by 0.5% and 2.8%, respectively. Reported sales in Zone AOA increased by 2.0% to CHF 11.9 billion.
Growth in China continued to improve in the third quarter with positive momentum across the portfolio, particularly in coffee and culinary. South-East Asia maintained mid-single-digit growth, and sub-Saharan Africa reported double-digit growth. South Asia also delivered solid growth, successfully managing the introduction of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India that had a negative impact on pricing.
Nestlé Waters
2.2% organic growth: 2.1% RIG, 0.1% pricing.
In the United States positive organic growth was maintained over the nine-month period, while the third quarter saw a decline.
Europe saw low single-digit organic growth with negative RIG in the third quarter.
Nestlé Waters saw a decline in developed markets in the third quarter. This was largely due to difficult comparables and poor weather that impacted demand in North America and Europe. Competition remained intense, with sustained pricing pressure across all developed markets. There was good momentum in emerging markets. The international premium brands continued to drive growth globally.
Nestlé Nutrition
1.0% organic growth: 0.4% RIG, 0.6% pricing.
In China organic growth remained subdued but with an improvement in the third quarter.
The United States and Mexico had slightly positive organic growth but Brazil declined on lower pricing.
Growth in China improved in the third quarter due to the good momentum of NAN and Illuma. Growth in the United States remained generally subdued, while infant cereals performed well. The comprehensive re-launch of Gerber, including organic and natural ranges, began during September. Brazil declined as price adjustments were made to reflect local input cost deflation.
Other businesses
5.1% organic growth: 5.0% RIG, 0.1% pricing.
Nespresso continued its mid-single-digit organic growth, including double-digit growth in North America.
Organic growth accelerated to 5.1% driven by strong RIG of 5.0% and improved pricing, which was broadly flat. Net divestments reduced reported sales by 0.6% but foreign exchange effects had a positive impact of 0.3%. Reported sales in Other businesses increased by 4.8% to CHF 7.2 billion.
Nespresso’s consistent mid-single-digit organic growth was supported by double-digit growth from North America, solid growth in EMENA and strong growth in AOA. Nestlé Skin Health benefited from several new product launches during the third quarter. Nestlé Health Science maintained mid-single-digit growth driven by medical nutrition, particularly in pediatric care and specialty products.
Outlook
We confirm our sales guidance for 2017, and now expect organic growth for the full year to be around the level of the nine-month period. The underlying trading operating profit margin for 2017 is set to improve by at least 20 basis points in constant currency, in line with our expectations. Our structural savings initiatives are progressing faster than originally planned, leading to an additional increase of CHF 400-500 million in restructuring and related expenses in 2017. As a result, our trading operating profit margin will decrease by 40-60 basis points in constant currency. We expect underlying earnings per share in constant currency and capital efficiency to increase.
Annex
Nine-month sales overview by operating segment
Total group
Zone AMS
Zone EMENA
Zone AOA
Nestlé Waters
Nestlé Nutrition
Other businesses
Sales 9M-2017 (CHF million)
65'272
20'490
11'821
11'853
6'150
7'711
7'247
Sales 9M-2016 (CHF million)
65'514
20'086
13'046
11'623
6'134
7'707
6'918
RIG
1.8%
0.3%
1.4%
3.6%
2.1%
0.4%
5.0%
Pricing
0.8%
1.0%
0.5%
1.7%
0.1%
0.6%
0.1%
Organic growth
2.6%
1.3%
1.9%
5.3%
2.2%
1.0%
5.1%
Net M&A
-2.6%
-0.7%
-10.5%
-0.5%
-0.4%
-0.4%
-0.6%
Foreign exchange
-0.4%
1.4%
-0.8%
-2.8%
-1.7%
-0.4%
0.3%
Reported sales growth
-0.4%
2.0%
-9.4%
2.0%
0.1%
0.2%
4.8%
Effective as from 1 January 2017, Nestlé Professional is reported as a regionally managed business included in the zones. Effective same date, Venezuela is excluded from RIG, pricing and organic growth to better reflect the underlying business performance.
| 10,852 |
Blu-ray is emerging as a holiday hero for Hollywood as the film industry grapples with the rise of online video and a persistent slump in its most profitable source of revenue: DVD sales.
A combination of the weak economy, online piracy and low-cost rental and streaming services has driven continued declines in DVD sales this year, but strong growth in Blu-ray—premium-priced discs that offer a higher-quality home viewing experience—suggests consumers still have an appetite for physical home-movie products.
The trend has led some to question whether the electronics industry's embrace of Internet-connected television sets and set-top devices has come too early, leaving consumers confused by the myriad of technology choices and content limitations of online video. That prospect has fueled concerns that the industry might not be allowing its Blu-ray business to live up to its potential.
"Blu-ray is not going to live up to its older brother—the DVD—but if people don't give up on physical products prematurely, it still has the potential to have a decent run," said Russ Crupnick, entertainment analyst with NPD Group, a market-research firm. "There's a much better selection on Blu-ray than on video-streaming services, and people are far more comfortable with the format, so I think the industry is in danger of moving faster than consumers want to on these new online platforms."
Sales of Blu-ray movies were up 75% year-to-year at the start of the holiday shopping season, according to Nash Information Services, and are expected to nearly double for the full year. Blu-ray is on track to be a $2 billion business this year, while the DVD business—down 13% through the first three quarters of the year—is expected to shrink to $8 billion.
NPD Group said that 13% of U.S. households had a Blu-ray player at the beginning of the holiday season, and that number could rise to 20% early next year, driven by a proliferation of Blu-ray players available for under $100 in this holiday season.
"Blu-ray is on the brink of becoming really mainstream," said Bruce Nash, head of Nash Information Services, who expects it to grow into about one-third of the home video market. "If you look back five years, people would buy DVDs on their way home on a Friday in order to watch a film—maybe only once. With Blu-ray, people are a lot more selective. They'll watch those one-time movies on-demand through their cable provider or they'll wait to rent it through Netflix, but big movies like 'Inception,' 'Avatar' and 'Toy Story 3' can be successful on Blu-ray."
On Thursday, Amazon.com Inc. was selling the three-disc extended collector's edition of "Avatar" on Blu-ray for $24.99, while the DVD version was priced at $15.49.
Studios are bolstering their Blu-ray offerings by selling titles in value packs that also include a DVD version of the film and a digital file that can be transferred to a laptop or mobile device.
"Blu-ray is driving the high-def revolution in the living room," said Mike Dunn, president of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. "There's developing digital delivery methods that are getting a bit of attention, and for good reason as they represent a significant opportunity for growth, and Blu-ray is compatible with all of them. The format is the gateway to digital in the most affordable and easily adaptable way."
I agree that people still want to own their movies on the highest resolution and picture format such as Blu-ray.
Until it is affordable to have a good large storage media server that you can buy and download HD movies to at full bit rate and resolution I will keep purchasing movies I like on Blu-ray.
| 3,672 |
THE LONG WAIT FOR MENTAL HEALTH COVERAGE
Saturday
Sep 28, 2013 at 12:01 AMSep 28, 2013 at 5:45 AM
c.2013 New York Times News Service
c.2013 New York Times News Service
The first time Melissa Morelli was taken to the hospital, she was suicidal and cutting herself, her mother says. She was just 13, and she had been transferred to a psychiatric hospital, where she stayed for more than a week. Her doctors told her mother, Cathy Morelli, that it was not safe for Melissa to go home. But the family’s health insurance carrier would not continue to pay for her to remain in the hospital.
The second time, the same thing happened. And the third and the fourth. Over the course of five months, Cathy Morelli took Melissa to the hospital roughly a dozen times, and each time the insurance company, Anthem Blue Cross, refused to pay for hospital care.
“It was just a revolving door,” Morelli said.
“You had not been getting better in a significant way,” Anthem explained in one letter sent directly to Melissa, then 14, in July 2012. “It does not seem likely that doing the same thing will help you get better.”
Desperate to get help for her daughter, Morelli sought the assistance of Connecticut state officials and an outside reviewer. She eventually won all her appeals, and Anthem was forced to pay for the care it initially denied. All told, Melissa spent nearly 10 months in a hospital; she is now at home. Anthem, which would not comment on Melissa’s case, says its coverage decisions are based on medical evidence.
Melissa’s treatment did not come cheap: It ultimately cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, Morelli said. Patients often find themselves at odds with health insurers, but the battles are perhaps nowhere so heated as with the treatment of serious mental illness.
It was not supposed to be this way. A federal law, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, was aimed at avoiding fights like this over coverage by making sure insurers would cover mental illnesses just as they cover treatment for diseases like cancer or multiple sclerosis.
Long a priority of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, it was squeezed into a bank bailout bill with the help of Christopher J. Dodd, then a Democratic senator from Connecticut, after Kennedy learned that he had brain cancer, which turned out to be fatal. The law requires larger employer-based insurance plans to cover psychiatric illnesses and substance-abuse disorders in the same way they do other illnesses.
But five years after President George W. Bush signed the law, there is widespread agreement that it has fallen short of its goal of creating parity for mental health coverage.
As enrollment in coverage under the Affordable Care Act becomes available Tuesday, the rules underlying mental health coverage in general — for both private insurers and the new health care exchanges — are still unclear, mental-health patient advocates say, leaving patients and families to grind through the process as best they can.
Deciding how mental illness should be treated — and at what cost — is no easy matter. Unlike some physical ailments for which there are reams of studies suggesting a relatively clear standard of care, there is often little accepted medical evidence to support the range of treatments for many mental illnesses, like schizophrenia and severe depression.
“It’s very different from the approach to a bypass procedure or a hip replacement,” said Karen Ignagni, the CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade association representing the nation’s health insurers.
At issue is not coverage for run-of-the-mill care like prescription medications for depression or a few visits with a therapist. Insurers generally cover these costs the same way they cover medications for, say, high blood pressure.
But when patients need months of residential care, for example, or meetings with a therapist several times a week, insurers balk. The insurance executives say that the medical benefits of such treatments are not clear and that the industry is essentially being asked to write a blank check.
Mental health accounts for a small part of total health care spending — by one estimate, $113 billion annually, or less than 6 percent of the $2.6 trillion overall health care bill. But pressure is intensifying on insurers under the Affordable Care Act, which includes mental health care as an essential benefit, because they are already trying to keep the premiums they charge for plans on the new state marketplaces as low as possible. Insurers are concerned about the potential for new costs, while patient advocates worry that mental health will be neglected.
Both sides say Washington is partly to blame. The federal government has yet to write the mental health act’s final regulations for insurance companies, leaving a crucial gap between the intent of the measure and how it actually works.
(BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.)
Kennedy’s son, Patrick J. Kennedy, the former congressman from Rhode Island who was one of the law’s main backers, said he worried that the Obama administration had delayed the rules because officials were preoccupied with the president’s broader legislation and needed the insurance companies’ support.
President Barack Obama “needs the private insurers to implement this law or it’s not going to work,” said Patrick Kennedy, who has talked openly about his struggles with depression and bipolar disorder. He has held hearings on mental health issues across the country to talk to patients and their families, including one earlier this year where Cathy Morelli spoke.
Insurance companies, for their part, say they would welcome final rules under the 2008 law.
“We think it may create better clarity,” said a spokeswoman for Aetna, which says it fully supports the 2008 parity law.
The administration says it will draft the rules by year-end. While the act was clear about preventing insurers from setting strict time limits on treatment, it is vague about how parity is to be achieved. The most contentious areas are intensive treatments at a doctor’s office or clinic as well as potentially lengthy hospital stays. If an insurer does not typically limit outpatient medical treatments, for example, there is debate over what standard it can then apply to outpatient therapy sessions that could go on for months, if not years. It is those kinds of details that the final rules are expected to address.
(END OPTIONAL TRIM.)
Like many others, Cathy Morelli fought for a child’s care outside of the courts, but some patients and their families have filed lawsuits against large insurance companies. And they cite the 2008 law.
Jonathan Denbo, the director of marketing for CBS Sports Network, filed a lawsuit against the UnitedHealth Group earlier this year. Denbo, who had generalized anxiety disorder, began seeing a therapist twice a week after his mother died. The sessions cost $250 each, according to his lawyer. Last year, UnitedHealth told him that it would no longer cover his treatment, saying that he was “generally functioning quite well” and that he should be able to manage his condition on his own or through community resources, according to the suit.
“The use of multiple weekly therapy sessions is limited to acute exacerbations of illnesses or in the context of a clinical urgent situation in order to prevent a higher level of care,” UnitedHealth said in a letter sent to Denbo.
The psychotherapist for Denbo said UnitedHealth was violating the mental health law because, under the employer’s plan, the insurer does not require prior approval of out-of-network outpatient care. Denbo declined to be interviewed for this article. He and other patients are plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against UnitedHealth that is seeking class-action status.
In another case from the same lawsuit, Brad Smith, a marketing associate at the Seattle subsidiary of Sysco, a food products distributor, was urged to consider residential treatment for his teenage son, who was suffering from severe depression. Last March, the young man was involuntarily hospitalized at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, where the staff recommended residential treatment.
UnitedHealth agreed but then stopped paying for the care nine days after the young man was admitted. In its letter to the boy’s parents, UnitedHealth said stopping the treatment created only “limited risk” that the teenager would return to the hospital. There is “no expectation of further improvements in the shorter term,” the letter said, suggesting that it would not pay for care that would not result in his getting better anytime soon.
Smith nonetheless continued with his son’s care and, he says, he and his former wife have spent $100,000 trying to help him.
“I’m currently way over my head in debt,” he said.
He recently sold his house at a $31,000 loss. He now lives with his sister. His son came home in August, and Smith says he thinks the treatment was successful.
“It was, oh my God, we’ve got this kid back,” he said.
The idea that UnitedHealth would cover care only if patients could show that their conditions were likely to worsen without it represents a clear double standard, said D. Brian Hufford, the lawyer representing plaintiffs in the UnitedHealth case.
Hufford is seeking a preliminary injunction for some of his clients, who, like Smith, cannot afford to pay for continuing treatment.
UnitedHealth declined to comment on the lawsuit, which it is seeking to have dismissed. UnitedHealth says that it uses case managers to help patients find alternatives when it will not pay for certain treatments and that it is pushing for additional research into what treatments are effective.
(BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.)
Regulators have also raised concerns. In another case that is not part of a lawsuit, and which involves a young woman from California, Anthem Blue Cross cut off benefits for residential care after five days. The facility temporarily placed the woman in a conference room.
“I was very confused the whole time,” said the woman, whose parents hired an expert to help appeal the Anthem decision. An independent review, authorized under state law, found that Anthem had to cover the treatment. Anthem tried to deny the care again but was overruled.
The cost of her treatment was around $100,000. Regulators concluded that Anthem did not comply with the state’s insurance law, which is similar to the federal act. Anthem declined to comment.
(END OPTIONAL TRIM.)
Determining what the 2008 law requires “is challenging,” said Brent A. Barnhart, the director of the California Department of Managed Health Care, one of two regulators overseeing health insurance in the state.
In late June, Barnhart’s department fined the state’s largest health plan, run by Kaiser Permanente, $4 million for deficiencies that limited access to mental health care under California law. In one location, the state found a website that seemed to indicate members could not get care if they had a “chronic mental illness.”
“What we found was they were falling way, way short,” Barnhart said. “The fine was intended as a wake-up call.”
Kaiser, which says it is has addressed the department’s concerns, said it was in discussions with the agency about the fine.
Barnhart said he worried that other plans might also make it hard for people to get treatment.
Insurers, he said, seem to continue to view mental health as “secondary to all other health.”
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‘Friday Night Lights’ cast has ideas about where their characters are today
If that mantra doesn’t immediately make you nostalgic for those days Explosions in the Sky’s “Your Hand in Mine” came on the screen and “Friday Night Lights” began, then you need head straight for Netflix and do some serious binge-watching.
It’s been 10 years since the premiere of “Friday Night Lights,” which was filmed right here in Austin. In honor of the show’s anniversary, the cast reunited at Del Valle high school during the ATX Festival in June.
Entertainment Weekly released footage this week from the cast’s reunion on the field in which they theorize on where they think their characters are today. Tyra Collette is likely back in Dillon, married to Tim Riggins. Jason Street built himself a great life and Luke is probably still pining for Becky. Watch below:
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SEO Pricing Guide
The price of SEO services is dependent on many factors including quality of work, country where the SEO work is done, the breadth and depth of work completed, the experience of the SEO, and the competitiveness of the category in which an SEO shopper find himself. These, as well as other factors, determine the final pricing of an SEO campaign. It is important to note that much like most other things, you get what you pay for; however, high pricing is not always indicative of high quality service; but at the same time, low pricing is rarely coupled with results which will be deemed successful by SEO clients.
The above commentary is a general overview of what determines SEO pricing; however, it does not include specific number so that shoppers can properly evaluate an SEO proposal. So, let us expand upon the above introduction with specific examples, and numbers which can be used as an SEO pricing guide.
Types of SEO Campaign Pricing
Avoid getting caught up in the hype of low SEO pricing. You get what you pay for.SEO services come in a variety of types. This establishes a helpful way of discussing pricing as it is not possible to translate the pricing from one type of service to another. We will also discuss elements of the campaign which should have no bearing on the price.
One-Time SEO
One-time SEO, as the name suggests, is a one-off service which is comprised of an on-site optimization, and is generally accompanied by several hours of follow-up consulting to explain the work, and provide guidance for the client moving forward. The pricing for such a service is highly dependent on the size and complexity of the site. The competitiveness of the market for a business does not come into play, as the work is meant to address any deficiencies in regards to technical, organizational, and contextual nature.
Price Range: $1,000.00 – $100,000+
Note: the difference between a one-time SEO service and an SEO audit is that the one-time SEO offering includes hands on work on the website; whereas an SEO site audit is basically a document which details the finding of the SEO professional, with directions about how implement changes and undertake fixes.
SEO Site audits
An SEO audit is similar to one-time SEO; however, it does not include hands-on work on the client’s website; instead, the audit document details the deficiencies of a website, identifies opportunities, and provides a roadmap of how to implement changes and exploit the uncovered opportunities.
Price Range: $500 – $100,000+
Local SEO (Monthly)
Local SEO services are for low competition small businesses which serve a limited geographic area with high population density, or a large area with low population density. The types of businesses which are best suited for local SEO include small print shops, car washes, or professional services. There are of course, high competition categories such as legal and medical services, which will have costs on the higher end of the price range.
Price Range: $250 – $5,000 per month
National SEO (Monthly)
This robust SEO offering, as the name suggests is suitable for businesses which target a national audience, and would like high rankings without geographical limitations within a given country. Many of these businesses are ecommerce site which introduces another level of complication to the search engine optimization process. Like local SEO, the level of competition has a very wide scale, which is reflected in the price.
Price Range: $750 – $10,000+ per month
SEO by the Hour
SEO services which are billed hourly can either be monthly or on an as-needed basis. The charges are based on the number of hours spent during a given time-period (usually one month). The hourly price depends mostly on the experience level and technical sophistication of the search engine optimizer. The below price-range does not take into consideration overseas (outside of the United States) service providers.
Price Range: $50 – $700 per hour
SEO Elements Which Should Not Impact the Price
Above, we discussed the variety of situations and factors which impact SEO pricing; however, there are several elements which are often used to justify cost. The below list is comprised of the most common of those factors which should not impact pricing.
Number of keywords to be worked on as part of the SEO campaign
The volume of link acquisitions (a proper SEO campaign does not aim to generate a high volume of links)
Number of pages to be optimized (an ongoing campaign would optimize a growing number of pages if and when the health and search engine friendliness of the site calls for it)
About Us
We are providing link building service, we have huge data base sites and we have also access on premium websites. Our manual link building experts are dedicated to creating quality links to help you achieve top spots in search engine rankings.
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Screenshots of PC iMail
PC iMail Publisher's description
Create and send personalized newsletters and announcements.
PC iMail helps you send personalized newsletters, press releases, and mail merge campaigns. Import your contact's email addresses, first names, and last names from Outlook or Exchange Server and then insert this information into each message wherever you want it to appear (e.g. Dear [FirstName] [LastName]).Set time delays in between each message, to comply with ISP limitations and ensure that your account remains in good standing. And since it sends your message individually to each recipient, you'll never have to worry about your message being rejected from having too many recipients.Many group mail delivery services will charge on a per-mailing basis, resulting in on-going and costly marketing expenses. PC iMail will pay for itself after only a single mailing, and gives you full control over your message content, style, and delivery.Registration removes order reminders and allows an unlimited number of messages to be sent. This is a one-time payment - you will never be asked to pay ongoing monthly or maintenance fees, and upgrades are always free.Looking to lower your per-person licensing cost? Maximize your savings with the site license option below, and pay a fixed rate for an unlimited number of users within your company.
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Changes on the new version:Imports email addresses from Exchange Server, and runs on Windows Vista
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The men, who are cousins, are accused of snatching the woman, who is in her 20s, in the 700 block of Broad Ripple Avenue on the night of Dec. 30. After beating the victim and raping her multiple times, the suspects left her on a snowy sidewalk, according to court documents.
Police said the victim made her way to a house, approximately eight miles away from where the incident occurred, and rang the doorbell. The homeowner called 911.
The victim suffered from a brain injury called subarachnoid hemorrhage, stated court documents. The injury impacted the woman’s memory, but police said she was able to recall enough information to assist in the investigation.
Authorities said they were later able to track the woman’s missing cellphone to Lane’s house.
Brown and Lane were transported to the Marion County Jail. They are expected to appear in court for a jury trial on June 17.
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Category: In Focus
As the game nurse forward fantastic talent with great ability all over the planet, you get surprised with the pace they are turning up. Barcelona’s 16 year old Ansu Fati is one to really have a look at and at his age, really showing that this is not stopping. When Ansu Fati, Barcelona getting approval…
England are close to winning a title again and the players to chose from are young and ready for their next step in professional football. To see Gareth Southgate being the man to bring this project to the stars and hopefully a winning title, without any such experience from his past, neither as player or…
David Silva joined Manchester City from Valencia. The year was 2010 and since then nor the player or club have looked back. A fee of £26million was reported to be the amount paid as of today looks a total steal going back a decade or so. His contribution has been one phenomenal and his ability…
Fabinho did feature in a number of games last season, but the 25 year old did not get all the headlines. His presence in the Liverpool team is so vital in the sense that he fills those little gaps, which opens up, with so many players attacking in the pace they does. He might not…
Sometimes players goes under the radar and turns up like lightening strikes and without any notice. Pundits almost always overlook these players, some of them even stamps them as “not good enough” or “finished”. Yes this guy is “Finish” and he was a player that last season scored 29 goals in the Championship and really…
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Sunday, August 16, 2009
26 comments:
That's cute, but do you really think the average Englishman gets the kind of medical care that he does? There's a reason Hawking gets the best possible medical care. It's an example of rationing. Some patients are considered worthier than others.
Steve, do you think anyone with Hawking's condition would have a prayer of ever getting private insurance?
This, to me, is the biggest argument in favor of reform and a public option: there will always be people with great health care needs who are uninsurable by private companies. What do you think should be done with such people?
Hawkings condition dates to his undergraduate days when he was an "average Englishman". Hawkings was not considered "worthier" than others. Hawkings was kept alive by the NHS for a long time before he was famous. Today, as far as I know, Hawkings still receives no more the NHS than any other Englishman; any "extra" care comes from non-government source and non-government funds. No plan being considered in the U.S. would prohibit such extra care from non-government sources.
Had Hawkings been covered by private insurance at the time of diagnosis, that company would have jumped over the moon in its efforts to drop his coverage. Certainly no private insurance in the U.S. would have lifted a finger for Hawkings after he was diagnosed as an undergraduate. No government health care, no Hawkings.
Steve, do you think anyone with Hawking's condition would have a prayer of ever getting private insurance?
This, to me, is the biggest argument in favor of reform and a public option: there will always be people with great health care needs who are uninsurable by private companies. What do you think should be done with such people?
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Since I'm uninsurable myself, due to preexisting conditions, I'm not unsympathetic to the concern.
However, as a number of critics (of Obamacare) have pointed out, if insurance companies couldn't exclude anyone on the basis of a preexisting condition, then no one would take out health insurance until they got really sick. They wouldn't be paying into the system. So insurance companies would go bankrupt.
I'd also point out that back when I was a kid (1960s), no one had health insurance. We didn't need it back then. Health care was more affordable. It was fee for service.
So instead of taking the status quo as a starting point, and simply extending the status quo to others (which is not cost-effective), we should begin by asking why the cost of health rises every year above the rate of inflation.
So to use Hawking as an analogy is a bit wide of the mark, yes? Your average Brit doesn't get those benefits, and it could be argued that the "extra help" is what pushes Hawking along whereas with your average Brit they in fact would be dead, or may as well be.
Oh, BTW, to say you would berate someone's reading comprehension skills if you were someone else is basically to berate the reading comprehension skills, albeit by hiding behind what you say another would do. Your feigned chivalry doesn't impress. Or, are you the final T-blogger cylon?
"You did read the bit about the extra care coming from non-government sources, yes? I believe at this point, if I was a T-blogger, I berate your reading comprehension skills."
Yes, I read it. And it undercuts your argument. By your own admission, public health care is insufficient to provide for his needs. He has to fall back on private resources to supplement what is lacking in public health care. Try to follow your own logic to its logical conclusion.
BTW, I happen to know, or know of, various individuals with personal experience of British health care. It doesn't make for pretty reading.
There's also this transparently fictitious notion that public healthcare can make affordable what is otherwise unaffordable to the general public. Well, gee, where do you think gov't gets its revenue in the first place? Public health care is just a case of the public writing itself a check. There's no savings.
Steve, if I understand it correctly, Obama's health care plan includes a mandate that everyone must purchase private health insurance. This would eliminate the problem you discuss of people only signing up for health care after they got sick. He addressed that specifically in a town hall meeting yesterday.
I believe this is how universal health care is achieved in Switzerland (or is it Sweeden?). They have universal coverage and a totally private health care system. Everyone there is required by law to purchase health insurance, and those who can't can apply for government aid to do so. That would be a win-win for everybody. No big government program, nobody getting a free ride, a big influx of cash to insurance companies, and everybody's covered.
But to take issue with other points you make, it's just not true that there are no savings in public insurance. The US private system costs 3 times as much per person as the public options in other industrialized countries. The reason for that is that people with private insurance in the US are already paying for the uninsured. With the public option, everybody is paying something, so the costs are spread out. With the US system, you have 70 percent of people paying not only for themselves but also for the 30 percent of people who aren't paying anything. When everybody's paying, everybody can pay a little less.
I'd also say that while I'm a liberal, I'd have no problem at all with some sort of sensible tort reform, since defensive medicine is certainly one of the reasons health care costs are going up. And I also don't know why competition across states is disallowed. I'd be in favor of those restrictions going, too. So, I think conservatives do have good ideas on this issue that should be included in the bill. That would be a better contribution than just yelling like a banshee at town hall meetings.
How does it undercut my argument? How does this lead to the conclusion that public health care is insufficient to provide for his needs? I thought we’re talking about the extras here.
Hawkings received care from the NHS for many years when he was just an average Englishman. The NHS did the job, it kept Hawkings alive. No government health care, no Hawkings. When Hawkings was an unknown, it didn’t favor others over him, and today, it doesn’t favor Hawkings over others.
The NHS also keeps alive others with his conditions. NHS care was sufficient for Hawkings and it’s sufficient for others with his conditions. I don’t know exactly, in detail, what the NHS provides, but it certainly sustains the lives of those who would not be sustained by private insurance. Any time private insurers want to step up and do the job, I'll applaud them for it. In the meantime, what are we to do about those with Hawking's condition?
Now, Hawkings can afford some extras, but how is this a strike against the NHS or an argument for less government involvement in health care? What exactly is your complaint or how exactly does the Hawkings case demonstrate a problem with government involvement in health care?
Do uou think that everyone with Hawkings condition should have motorized wheelchair with the ventilator, computer interface, voice synthesizer, and all the other accessories? So do I. How are we going to do this
“Steve, if I understand it correctly, Obama's health care plan includes a mandate that everyone must purchase private health insurance. This would eliminate the problem you discuss of people only signing up for health care after they got sick.”
That solves one problem by creating another. Like any investment, health insurance is a calculated risk. Does the potential benefit of coverage in case you might need it outweigh the downside of spending thousands of dollars a year, year after year, on something you may not need until a much later date?
From what I’ve read, a fair number of twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings don’t buy health insurance because they don’t think, statistically speaking, that it’s cost effective for them. And that’s a very rational calculation for them to make. By the same token, I expect some of them who are presently covered would like to lower the withholdings on their paycheck, but currently lack that option.
Gov’t has no right to coerce them into buying health insurance if they don’t want to, probably don’t need to, and could use that money (which is, after all, their own hard-earned money) on other things they need or want.
“The US private system costs 3 times as much per person as the public options in other industrialized countries.”
Well, what about that?
i) There are good reasons and bad reasons why health care is more expensive here. One reason is redundancy. We have more MRIs and other gizmos per capita than other countries. It might be more cost-effective to have fewer MRIs per capita. But, of course, there’s a trade-off: more people chasing fewer goods and services.
If Americans are prepared to pay for the convenience of having redundancy, why should gov’t deny them the right to do so?
ii) I also don’t know how you do the comparative analysis if you’re comparing out of pocket expenses (e.g. health care premiums, copays, deductibles) with socialized medicine subsidized by higher tax rates (e.g. Sweden).
iii) And, of course, there’s a tradeoff between cost and quality. To take two examples:
a) Canadians crossing the border to get timely services they can’t get in Canada. That’s hardly cost-effective for them. They are paying double. Supporting socialized medicine in Canada through their tax revenues while paying out of pocket in America to get what they need, but don’t receive in Canada.
b) What about the 15,000 French seniors who died in a heat wave back in 2003? That would be equivalent to 75,000 American seniors dying in a heat wave. Is that you’re idea of quality health care?
“The reason for that is that people with private insurance in the US are already paying for the uninsured.”
Of course, there are ways of changing that.
“With the public option, everybody is paying something, so the costs are spread out. With the US system, you have 70 percent of people paying not only for themselves but also for the 30 percent of people who aren't paying anything. When everybody's paying, everybody can pay a little less.”
i) Those currently without coverage would make greater use of medical services if it were more freely available–thus hiking the price.
ii) And don’t forget that the same number of doctors and nurses would be treating far more people.
iii) Obamacare would be a magnet for a new wave of illegal immigration. What’s the cost of that?
Saying you're not going to buy health insurance you don't think you'll need it is like saying you don't need to buy car insurance because you don't think you'll need it. The government still mandates that everyone who drives buys car insurance, because statistically speaking accidents will happen at a certain percentage and somebody is going to have to pay for it. In like fashion, a significant portion of 20 and 30 somethings will either become catastrophically ill or get in horrible accidents. And that's a cost that, eventually, has to be borne by the rest of us, either through higher premiums or higher taxes.
We have to do something. The empty mantra of "freedom" means little when we're facing a problem that's going to bankrupt us as a country. That's the issue in this debate: the liberals are dealing with hard, difficult facts, and the conservatives are dealing purely in abstracts. I've recently been quoted a statistic that says that health care in the US has an inflation rate of 40% every three years. In an ideal world, everyone would be free to do whatever they want. But this is not a perfect world. Whether these costs are because of redundancy or not, we can't survive as a country paying that much for health care. We have to do something to get costs down, and universal private coverage is one way to do it.
Further, it's not plausible that we've got 3 times as much of everything per capita as other countries have, because our quality of care compared to those other countries is extremely low, even when comparing people of similar ages with the same conditions. But even if it were true, if we have 18,000 people a year dying for lack of these redundancies, then what good are they doing? Besides, on the assumption that these redundancies exist, they won't disappear when universal coverage is passed.
On the issue of Canadians crossing the border, in real numbers, there are more Americans who seek health care in other countries than there are foreigners who seek health care here. And the Americans who seek health care outside of the country aren't paying double, they're paying many times as much as their counterparts. They first pay 3 times as much for their private insurance and then have to go pay out of pocket in another country (unless you think their private insurance is paying for procedures in other countries - in which case I have a bridge you may be interested in.)
The heatwave deaths in France aren't a result of bad health care it was a result of a lack of air conditioning. Most of those deaths occurred in private residences in areas of the country that are usually cool even in August, so many elderly people who never needed air conditioners were caught off guard and died in their homes. It takes a special kind of callousness to lay the blame for that on France's health care system. You're too smart to be lead around by the nose by Glen Beck et al on that particular talking point.
It's a fallacy to think that those without health insurance don't avail themselves of any health services at all. They do. They go to the emergency room. And then we pay for them. If coverage were universal, instead of congregating in emergency rooms and creating 6-7 hour wait times, these people would go to family practitioners. Thus I don't agree that there will be more people chasing the same number of services. I think there will be the same number of people seeking care from a more diverse group of providers instead of all congregating in the emergency room. There may be some short term glut but I have enough faith in the capitalist system that I don't think demand will exceed supply for very long. If there's lots of money to be made in the health care professions, there will be an increase in the number of health care professionals.
I don't know what you mean by "Obamacare". If the reform bill passed just mandates that everyone buy private health insurance (word now is that Obama is dropping the public option) how will that produce a wave of illegal immigration? Were a private option to remain on the table, remember that it would still require the payment of premiums. The public option would not be a single payer system financed by taxpayers. It would require people pay premiums and deductibles just like private insurance. The only thing it wouldn't do is reject people for pre-existing conditions. So I can't see how a public option would increase immigration. Even in single-payer systems like that in Canada, it is nearly impossible for a non-citizen to receive free care. It's difficult for non-citizens to even purchase cheap medication in Canada. The immigration issue is a red herring.
"Saying you're not going to buy health insurance you don't think you'll need it is like saying you don't need to buy car insurance because you don't think you'll need it."
That's hardly an intelligent comparison. The reason drivers are generally mandated to buy car insurance is because, in they injure someone else in a traffic accident, the medical bills of the injured second party will be covered.
"Up to 1974, I was able to feed myself, and get in and out of bed. Jane managed to help me, and bring up the children, without outside help. However, things were getting more difficult, so we took to having one of my research students living with us. In return for free accommodation, and a lot of my attention, they helped me get up and go to bed. In 1980, we changed to a system of community and private nurses, who came in for an hour or two in the morning and evening. This lasted until I caught pneumonia in 1985. I had to have a tracheotomy operation. After this, I had to have 24 hour nursing care. This was made possible by grants from several foundations."
"That's hardly an intelligent comparison. The reason drivers are generally mandated to buy car insurance is because, in they injure someone else in a traffic accident, the medical bills of the injured second party will be covered"
Steve, the reason the comparison is intelligent is because a statistically determinable amount of 20 and 30 somethings who don't buy insurance because they don't think they need it will require expensive health care before they purchase insurance. And if they don't pay into the system before that happens, the cost is borne by the rest of us. Thus, it is not just themselves they potentially hurt when taking this risk. They're gambling, but when the gamble fails, as it must and always will for a statistically significant portion of that age group, they aren't the ones who pay, we are. Thus, there is the same justification for requiring people to have health insurance as there is for requiring people to have car insurance: because it's not fair that the rest of us have to pay for the unnecessary risks that they take.
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About Me
I am the author of C. S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea: In Defense of the Argument from Reason, published by Inter-Varsity Press. I received a Ph.D in philosophy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1989.
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3 Quick Tips to Stress Less and Improve Your Health
By Susan Sloane, BS, RPh, CDE
1 Comment
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Susan B. Sloane, BS, RPh, CDE, has been a registered pharmacist for more than 20 years and a Certified Diabetes Educator for more than 15 years. Her two sons were diagnosed with diabetes, and since then, she has been dedicated to promoting wellness and optimal outcomes as a patient advocate, information expert, educator, and corporate partner.
We are all too familiar with the cute wall plaques: “Stay calm and carry on!” Well, that can be a lot easier said than done.
We live in a world where we are available 24/7 because of our technology and phones. If we are always available, we can always be interrupted. Most people don’t know how to relax anymore. Even when we lie down to sleep our computers or cell phones are within reach or earshot. We can even say that this type of constant stimulation is not a bother to us at all, that we don’t feel stressed, just more connected to others. The question is do we have to actually physically “feel” stress in order to know that we are stressed?
The causes of stress
The stress response, also known as “fight or flight,” was originally adapted to be able to flee from or fend off predators. In modern times, we are not running from prehistoric beasts, but there are many unseen forces that ignite the stress response. When our nervous systems get the signal that we have encountered a stressor, a flurry of hormones is released to help ramp up our bodies to be up for a challenge. These hormones such as epinephrine and cortisol play a role in helping us get energized for whatever foe we may be facing.
Occasional stress is fine as we all face stressors at various times. It is when that stress becomes embedded in our everyday life and is more chronic that it can pose a serious health problem.
After an acute stress like a scare or short illness, the body dials down the stress hormones and returns to a normal state. There is increasing evidence, however, that chronic or frequent stress never gives the body a chance to return stress hormones to normal and they remain elevated. This leads to inflammation inside of the body relating to blood vessels and possibly internal organs, and also leaves the body with toxic oxidative byproducts, which can be damaging to body tissues.
Tips to reduce stress
Now that you know the effect of stress and what stress hormones can do to your body, you may ask, "How can I not be stressed in this fast-paced world we live in?"
Although it is impossible to keep all stress out of our lives, it is possible to lessen our degree of stress by adopting a few healthy ways to approach stressful situations.
One of the best ways to help beat stress is to exercise! It is not necessary to become a star athlete; any type of increased physical activity is a great tool to reduce stress. There have been many published studies to help prove this.
Another great way to improve your stress tolerance is to work on developing a positive attitude. One of my very favorite quotes and a rule I try to live by is, “The miracle you wish for may not always be the miracle you receive.” Say you've been laid off from your job—this can be seen as a huge stressor and a negative. But I hear so many stories of people who took this time to find their true passion and an even better career. Find this positive attitude within you every day.
Of course another great way to lessen stress is to engage the support of others who are facing similar problems. It may not be able to solve all your problems, but will provide comfort and support in a caring community. Any support group that gives you comfort is great.
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Well for what I paid I guess I did ok. Now that I've had this reciever for a while though I can truely say, "I think its total junk." How can you guys write "Plenty of power"? 500 watts? HA. I have a set of cheap $100 Altec Lansing computer speakers that will easilly give this thing a run for the money. The RMS on those Altec Lansing (Mod # 251, 5.1 surrounds)??? 90 freakin watts. Whats wrong with that picture? If I had a slightly more powerful sub on those it would beat the snot outta the SA-DX950.
OK, whats my overall set-up? I have a pair of Cerwin Vega VS-150's for mains, JBL N-Center, and a pair of JBL S-38's for rears. I also have a Yamaha YST-SW215 Sub. Lets face it, if I didn't run the sub, the power protection circuit would trip in minutes. Am I the only one with this piece of junk that enjoys loud music from time to time? I don't think I've made it over an hour or so without tripping the protection circuit, and thats now, after I know I have to back off a bit.
Its hard to even think of the features when I can't even get past its poor power handling capablities.
Looking at the options, sound modes etc., thier not bad at all for the money. The remote and layout of the reciever itself could have been thought out better but the only thing that stands out as a bad option is the inability to adjust the sound fields (ie. center, left, right surrounds) without the use of the remote.
The sound reproduction from this model is actually quite good. Movies and music alike sound really good. I find I still preffer stereo for music and my only other complaint would have to be; when you connect to a tv or cable box through an optical cable, you lose the sub all together when going into stereo mode. Thats incredibly annoying when your watching a good music video or something.
Its my opinion that this product is intended for cheap entertainment and geared towards... audio newbees, children, the elderly and people who dont care "Just how loud it goes".
Great A/V receiver, and an excellent buy. Not too heavy with bells and whistles, and those that are provided are not the best ones on the market. I've been using it for over two years with no performance failures. Plenty of power, and plenty of bass with good, well-positioned speakers.
The remote, however, sucks. I have never seen a more poorly laid-out button pad. The DVD controls lack a pause button, and the lightweight feel screams "cheap."
The five built-in DSP settings are not outstanding. They provide an effect, but "theater" makes dialog hard to understand, and "sim surround" just gets loud and confusing. The "hall" and "live" settings are ok on music, though.
One characteristic I question is the lack of control over the audio when using the optical cable input. There is no control on bass and treble when in digital signal mode. Also, the DSP functions only work on an analog signal, so what comes from your DVD player via optical cable is what you get through the system.
This is a follow up to the review I gave back in 2001. I tried to replace this receiver with a Marantz 5300 (it has DolbyII and 6.1), but after one week I returned the Marantz ... it didn't sound as sweet as the Technics and it didn't seem to have as much power (I can get 6.1 out of the Technics by using an old Dolby stereo receiver). The Marantz cost twice as much and I had to turn the volume control to almost full to get what the Tech gives me at a quarter volume.
At some point I may try the Panasonic (Technics)SA-HE100, it has DolbyII and 6.1.
My only complaint is the remote but I replaced that long ago.
If the receivers in this review where all based on true value for money ... this receiver would be at the top.
This is my follow up submitance for this product. In the 13 months I've had it, there have been no problems whatsoever and I have been very pleased with performance. I have to say that I've been contemplating upgrading to another rec't I'm gravely interested in, but I just can't see any valid reason besides the "bells and whistles".
DD-ex, DTS-es are not readliy available on DVD's as of yet. Don't have PL II, just use stereo mode, sounds fine to me.
I'm using a low end Polk speaker package, and it's awesome. I've had neighbors ask me how I get my movies to sound like "that". The DX-950 puts out, that's really all there is to it. No heat problems either.
The DX-950 rec'r has been a joy. I'm just sorry that the Technics line has been phased out. I think they would've had a good horizon on upgrades to look for.
About the bass complaints. Either get the right speakers or invest in a sub!!!! Music cd's are not DTS!!!!
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21 Savage's Release From ICE Sparks Demand For Young Nudy's Freedom
No updates on Young Nudy and SG Tip's release from prison.
21 Savage is officially out of ICE's custody after he posted bond earlier today. However, the rapper's release has sparked questions about when Young Nudy will be free. Nudy was arrested at the same time as 21 Savage and SG Tip in Atlanta on Super Bowl Sunday. There hasn't been much information pertaining to their arrest recently but the release of 21 has called for Nudy's freedom.
Fans are calling for Young Nudy's freedom after he was detained on Super Bowl Sunday. Nudy's charges, as well as SG Tip, are still unclear to the public and there are very little details about their current detainment. However, Nudy's DJ, DJ BJ, did reveal that some of the details that spread after news broke out of his arrest aren't accurate. The most recent update on Nudy's arrest came last week when Future said the rapper would be "home so soon." Hopefully, we could take Future's word for it.
21 Savage's legal team shared a statement following the rapper's arrest earlier today. The rapper thanked his fans, friends, and family for supporting him and bringing awareness to his and other undocumented immigrants' situation. They said, "He will not forget this ordeal or any of the other fathers, sons, family members, and faceless people, he was locked up with or that remain unjustly incarcerated across the country. And he asks for your hearts and minds to be with them."
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iFanboy’s 2011 Holiday Gift Guide: Comics for Kids!
There are many kids out there, and there are comics for most of them. If you’ve got rugrats on your list, here are some of our choices for things to wrap that don’t need to be inserted into a high definition console, and cost much less.
For the kid who loves dinosaurs, robots, and dinosaurs who are part robot:
What does a man do when he’s established a major foothold in a premiere comic book publisher, and a burgeoning zombie-based television empire? If you’re Robert Kirkman, you team up with Jason Howard and produce an incredible fun book about a boy and his dinosaur, and you call it Super Dinosaur. While there is no toy line, one could easily see one. There’s more to the story than a T-Rex with robot arms and a great personality though. There’s some heart, and an underlying story about family and responsibility. More than that, it’s just a lot of fun.
For the kid who isn’t quite ready for Lord of the Rings, but loves a huge story:
Jeff Smith’s Bone is the industry standard for smart kids who love adventure, magic, mystery, and just a little scary into the mix. The single volume is a great read for kids and adults alike, and it will take a good amount of dedication to get through the thing. For new comic readers, they’ll be lead easily through the massive story by the master level cartooning of Jeff Smith. The only problem is, after Bone, it’s hard to find anything to match it. But it’ll be 1300 pages before you have to worry about that.
For the kid who would rather hang out with a bear instead of a dinosaur:
Skirting the fine line between all-ages and kids books, Reed Gunther does it all. It’s a wonderful whimsical western about a cowboy finding himself in mishap after mishap, all the while accompanied by his trusty companion, Sterling, a very friendly and smart bear who does not mind being ridden upon. The humor is both broad and subtle depending where you look, and the action is big enough to just barely fit in the state of Texas.
For the kids who let their imaginations run wild:
Mandy is eight years old, and she’s cool and calm, channeling all her emotions into her monster drawings. Things in Sketch Monsters get crazy, of course, when the monsters come to life, and that becomes a whole thing! The hardcover format is familiar because it looks like other kids books, but inside, it’s comics, the greatest storytelling medium of all. Bonus points for having a female lead character!
For kids whose name is ______ and they like to dance:
You don’t need to explain to kids what Yo Gabba Gabba is, but you do need to use this unique in to show kids how much fun comics can be. Plus, if you’re like me, you get a chance to do all the voices, even if your Toodee needs a lot of work. The book is chock full of comic book masters, but they’re just there having a good time with your kids, in a very cool way.
For kids who did finish Bone, and want more:
Scott Chantler is known by grown up comic book readers for doing wonderful historical fiction and non-fiction, but the Three Thieves series is flat out adventure and fun in a magical land and time that is not ours. A band of misfits gets involved in a robbery, and things go way over their heads from there. It’s swords and goblins and giants and tavern intrigue done with deft comic book skill and a lot of fun. The first two volumes are available now, and eventually, there will be five more books in the series. Book One, Tower of Treasure won a Shuster Award for Best Kids’ Comic.
For the kid who wants to be a superhero:
Brian Michael Bendis is arguably the most successful comic book writer in the last decade. So it makes perfect sense that he would release Takio, in collaboration with Michael Avon Oeming, and his young daughter Olivia. It’s the story of two girls who get superpowers, and obviously decide to become superheroes, and the first volume is the perfect size to get started, and introduce some kids, maybe even girls, to what comics can do.
For the kid who has the father who wants to bond over the DCU:
Tiny Titansis the gateway comic of choice for many a comic book dad with little kids around. Taking the characters of the DC Universe, and reimagining them all, and we mean all, as kids, these whimsical heroes and villains are great for early readers, and completely devoid of anything controversial or as adult as the grown up versions. It’s a sure winner, as proven by the Eisner Award for Best Kid’s Publication in 2010.
For the kid who liked that Muppet movie almost as much as their parents:
To take the best advantage of this renaissance of fine culture, e.g. The Muppets, keep the party going with very well made Muppet Show comic books, like BOOM! Studios and Roger Langridge. The comics, started long before it was cool (again), capture the fun of the Muppet Show in panel form, and should keep your frog/chicken/rat/weirdo/bear/monster/pig obsessed wee ones happy for a little longer.
Amazing timing sir. I know that you mentioned ‘high definition console, and cost much less.’ What about trades like these that is available on digital like NOOK, Graphicly – etc.
I just re-started and for the first time finished BONE. And it fueled my direction to introduce my 9 year old nephew. Final Question. Do you have suggested ages on the above recommendations? I fear that BONE may be a few short years older than my nephew.
The appropriateness for various children or various abilities is not something I could hope to guess at. It’s a starting point, but you’ll have to sort out what works for what kids. I’ve heard of 8-9 year olds loving Bone. But it depends on the kids and what the parents feel is appropriate.
Can we talk for a moment about how wonderful Owly is for emerging readers (aka: kids that understand how a book works but can’t read yet?) not only is the story great (and princess free!) but without words, everything is communicated through expressions and actions – which are interpersonal skills all kids need to learn. The stories are about being brave, having compassion, helping others, solving mysteries, etc, which are again, things you can’t reinforce enough with ego-centric wee ones. It’s all well-integrated into the story so it doesn’t feel like edutainment the way everything on nick jr. or the disney channel does.
The best part? They have no idea they’re learning all these things. They just like the Owly’s adventures. Once a child gets past the “it must be bright and shiny and chewable” stage of book-having, Owly should be your first stop. …and they’ve licensed stuffed animals, too
At the risk of tooting my company’s own horn, I will point out that this list should definitely include PRINCELESS from Action Lab Comics. This book has been very well reviewed, and has a positive, kid-friendly message. It is a great book for parents to give to children, including little girls!
Oh, and then there are the ‘Polo’ books by Regis Faller. Not strictly comics but definitely sequential storytelling in wordless six panel pages. Working as a preschool teacher i have introduced those books to 3-6 year olds and have created many Polo fans. I let the kids ‘read’ the books to each other. I have much fun seeing, that the kids are understanding the invisible art that comics are, when they let me know that they are not only ‘reading’ what they see in the panels but also what happens in between the panels. These experiences often make me sad, that besides Owly, Korgi and Polo there are no other wordless comics for emerging readers. Because the 3-6 year olds find wordless picture books often too simple and can’t read books with words on their own. At all creators: make more all ages wordless comic books!!
Unfortunately, except for the magazine-format reprint that Marvel put out, all of the Boom! Studios Muppets comics are out of print. Would’ve been nice for Marvel or Disney to think about maybe having them ready for the increased interest from the movie.
I bought the first to kids books of Bone to start introducing some children to the wonderful world of comic. I purchased a copy of Walt Disney ‘s Donal Duck “Lost on the Andes” by Carl Banks, whom was a great cartoonist.
| 8,322 |
Broadband forum: Problem with Motorola 3347 modem
I'm having a problem with my Motorola 3347 modem dropping my DSL connection every day at 9:00 am. Occasionally it will happen in the evenings (no big problem), but it happens every day at 9:00 am without fail (big problem because my wife works from home in the mornings and must have an internet connection). After 30-50 minutes it will start back up on its own.
I've talked to CenturyLink, our ISP, and they say its a problem in the modem firmware (version QM02-7.8.4r10). They've run a diagnostic on our line and say there has been no interuption of service on their end. Their solution: I need to buy a new modem since they no longer support the one I have.
My question: Is this a modem problem or a CenturyLink problem? If a modem problem, is there anything I can do other than buying a new modem?
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This thread is more than days old. It is very likely that it does not need any further discussion and replying to it will serve no purpose. However, if you feel it is necessary to make a new reply, you can still do so.
| 3,478 |
auto_connectAutomatically connect to an ETP server when starting Everything, set this ini setting to the following:Empty = no auto connect.[username[:password]@]host[:port]Example: localhostExample: username:password@localhost:21
You can run more than one instance of Everything by using ''multiple instances''.Using multiple instances you can run one instance as you would normally and another to index folders for the ETP Server.
| 432 |
Follow by Email
The New Eugenics – same as the Old Eugenics?
There has been a lot of talk lately, in the
blogosphere at least (1,
2, 3, 4,
5),
about the idea of using molecular genetics to predict and select for higher
intelligence in humans (through pre-implantation
screening of embryos, for example). The prevailing view among many
discussing this idea seems to be that if we can do it, we obviously should do
it. The casualness with which this conclusion is reached is astonishing to me,
given the history
of humanity’s efforts in this area. To many commentators, it seems to be a
given that having more intelligent people, across the population, is not only obviously
a good thing, but one that supersedes any other considerations.
Selecting for increased intelligence
doesn’t sound so bad, when you phrase it like that, until you realise that it
actually involves the converse – selecting against individuals with lower
predicted intelligence. I am not ascribing the following chain of thought to
any particular persons, but here is the fundamental logic of eugenics, applied
to intelligence:
For any individual, being more intelligent
is better than being less intelligent. (All else being equal, that’s fair
enough, I suppose). People who are more intelligent are therefore better than
people who are less intelligent. (See how easy it is to get there?) At least,
it would be good if we had more of the former and less of the latter. We
should, as a society, seek ways to ensure that is the case. In the past, this
would have involved policies on who is allowed to live or breed or migrate into
a society, or inducements to get the more clever people to breed like they vote
in Chicago – early and often. Nowadays, if we can employ pre-implantation
genetic screening to predict intelligence, then we should use that method, or at least make it available, to
select and implant those embryos that are predicted to be more intelligent. This will inevitably be at the expense of ones predicted to be
less intelligent. The former should be granted life and the latter should not.
Is all that just self-evident? Is that how
we should define progress in our society?
The amazing thing, in the pieces I have
been reading recently, is that something approaching this position seems to
have been reached not after lengthy and sober consideration of the moral and
ethical issues surrounding the idea, but in total disregard for them. The
following questions don’t seem to have come up: Is it right to claim some
people are superior to others or of “higher
quality”? Is it right to actively select between embryos (or to selectively
abort foetuses) on any criterion? (Many people would say no, though it already
happens routinely for serious medical conditions, and even for sex in many
parts of the world). If there are some criteria that can be considered
legitimate, what are they? How do we decide? Who makes those decisions? Should
society as a whole ever have the right to dictate such decisions? Or should
society allow complete freedom to individuals to make such decisions on any
criteria they wish? If selection is permissible, is intelligence really the
primary trait on which such selection should be based? What about kindness or
decency or bravery or empathy or not being a douche? Do any of those get a look
in? Would we lose anything from human society by selecting purely for those who
perform better on IQ tests?
The impression one gets is that the people
proposing such ideas think the world would be a better place if there were more
people like them in it. The spectacle of cosseted academics bemoaning the
degraded intellect of the masses and suggested something should be done about
it is not an appealing one. And it is not without consequences.
There seems to be little recognition of the
potential harm to the reputation of genetics as a science when it is associated
with public claims of this sort. This discipline still bears the taint of
previous misuses, most notably as justification for the murderous eugenic policies of Nazi
Germany or enforced sterilisations of the “feeble-minded” in many US states
which ran from the early 1900’s to as late as 1977 in North Carolina. Many
other countries enacted similar policies.
The themes of genetic classism and
discrimination and of elitist scientists “playing God” resonate widely in our
culture (from Shelley’s Frankenstein
to GATTACA to the X-Men). Indeed, the extensive coverage
of a study on the genetics of IQ that is currently underway at the Beijing
Genomics Institute (BGI) suggests
that the media knows a good story when it sees it. It seems to me that this has
attracted attention not because of any scientific advance or discovery (the
study has not yet been completed) but because of the way those involved and
commenting on it have acted as cheerleaders for the idea of prenatal prediction
and selection.
“How
does Western research in genetics compare to China’s?We’re pretty far behind. We have the
same technical capabilities, the same statistical capabilities to analyze the
data, but they’re collecting the data on a much larger scale and seem to be
capable of transforming the scientific findings into government policy and
consumer genetic testing much more easily than we are. Technically and
scientifically we could be doing this, but we’re not.”
Some would argue it is not the place of
scientists to decide the ethical issues – it is our job just to do the science.
If society abuses it, well, that is not our fault. This is a case where I
strongly disagree – we cannot disentangle the moral issues from the scientific
ones. It is too easy to use scientific findings to justify policies that would
otherwise be deemed abhorrent; too easy, as Hume noted,
to mistakenly derive a prescription of how things ought to be from a description of how they are.
In this case the science is too complex and
our understanding still far too fragmentary to even describe how things are.
But reading some of the commentaries one would think that our ability to
predict intelligence based on molecular genetics is really just around the
corner; that we will have this knowledge in hand within a few years and
Pandora’s box will have been opened, whether we like it or not. I find this
scenario highly implausible, for several reasons.
First, we have not yet identified any genes
“for intelligence”. We know many that, when mutated, can cause intellectual
disability (many hundreds,
in fact), but none that clearly contribute to variation in the normal range
(normal in the statistical sense of that word). Zero, zip, bupkis. We are
starting from effectively complete ignorance as of this moment. In fact, we
don’t even understand the genetic
architecture of intelligence. It is clearly very highly heritable, but we
don’t know how many genes are involved, either across the population or in any
individual, we don’t know whether the genetic variants are common or rare, we
don’t know whether they specifically affect intelligence or have more general
effects on robustness of the genetic program and its execution to build an
efficient brain and we don’t know how multiple such variants would interact
with each other. That’s a lot of don’t knows.
The answers to those questions will
determine the best strategies for finding variants that affect intelligence and
also, crucially, our ability to predict an individual’s
IQ based on signatures that we can only detect by averaging across the
population. If we want to be fanciful, we can imagine a future scenario where
we have in fact identified many genetic variants across the population that
clearly contribute to differences in intelligence. Some may be common, but my
expectation is that most would be quite rare. Now we want to look at some new
individual’s DNA and predict their IQ based on that knowledge (or maybe look at
two individuals and predict which one’s IQ will be higher, even if we can’t put
a number on it).
Here are the problems: first, IQ is indeed
highly heritable, but a lot of the variation across the population is
non-genetic (at least 20-30%); that imposes a significant limit on accuracy of
even a perfect genetic predictor. Second, if IQ is largely affected by rare
mutations, then each new person will have some IQ-affecting variants that we
have never seen before in our population sample and that we will be unable to
recognise as such. Third, any individual will also have a unique,
never-before-seen combination of variants, which may interact in highly
unexpected ways. Finally, any such predictor would have to be extremely precise
to distinguish between the IQ of not just any two random individuals, but two
siblings, where the range will obviously be much narrower.
To paraphrase Yogi Berra, making
predictions is hard, especially about the future. But I am willing to go out on
a very sturdy limb and predict that we will not be able to build useful predictors
for IQ any time soon. We’re not there, we’re not nearly there and there may even
be fundamental limits that mean we will never get there.
A post from 2012
by Greg Cochran goes even further, suggesting that a variety of approaches to
improve intelligence are imminent, from selection to molecular interventions designed
to correct mutations lowering intelligence. This not only fails to consider any
of the ethical and moral issues described above, it similarly ignores the
additional ones that arise when considering modifying the human germline! It
also greatly exaggerates our technical abilities to do that. Yes, we can modify
the germline in model organisms like mice, but what this simple statement
glosses over is the fact that generating any such genetically modified
individual involves a lot of trial and error. This science is messy. Most of
the embryos (or cells) one tries to modify do not get modified in the expected
way and one has to screen through many hundreds typically to get ones with the
desired change. (Even those can sometimes have other, random changes one didn’t
plan for). This is clearly not a strategy we could countenance in humans.
In the meantime, before we go proposing scientifically
impractical and morally questionable extreme measures, we have a proven and
powerful tool to make people smarter: education.
Comments
"In the meantime, before we go proposing scientifically impractical and morally questionable extreme measures, we have a proven and powerful tool to make people smarter: education.
It works, bitches"
No it doesn't. Come on. I take it you're familiar with the recent studies detailing the failure of "working memory" training. These are only one example that show that more knowledgeable ≠ smarter.
There is a very good reason to select for intelligence. Intelligent people makes modern civilization go around (see Greg Cochran here: Sustainability | West Hunter). Civilizations are dependent on their "smart fractions" (see my compilation of evidence for that here: HBD Fundamentals | JayMan's Blog). As Greg Cochran points out in the above link, our modern society is failing on several fronts in that regard, and is suffering measurable decreases in average intelligence. Only by offsetting that trend can our advanced civilization be sustained.
"For any individual, being more intelligent is better than being less intelligent. (All else being equal, that’s fair enough, I suppose). People who are more intelligent are therefore better than people who are less intelligent. (See how easy it is to get there?) At least, it would be good if we had more of the former and less of the latter."
The last sentence here gets at the gist. What's relevant here is that society is generally better off when it has a higher share of intelligent people.
"If selection is permissible, is intelligence really the primary trait on which such selection should be based? What about kindness or decency or bravery or empathy or not being a douche? Do any of those get a look in?"
Perhaps one day those things will come into play, once the genetic architecture of those have been deciphered (my suspicion is that this will take a lot longer than it will for IQ). But, it's not like it's an either/or with selecting for IQ. Selecting for IQ will not diminish those things, and indeed, may actually increase the share of those things, since they correlate to some degree with IQ (Indeed, this is basis of my attempts to boost the struggling fertility of American liberals - see: Another reminder…, Dystopian Conservative Future?, Expectations and reality: a window into the liberal-conservative baby gap). In short, it's not really anything of concern.
"Finally, any such predictor would have to be extremely precise to distinguish between the IQ of not just any two random individuals, but two siblings, where the range will obviously be much narrower."
As for your whole statement on the feasibility of selecting for IQ in embryos, this seems like a largely moot point. Why? Because the alternative, the current one, is no selection at all. Even if the selection methods developed have low accuracy in determining IQ, as long as it's not zero, it will, on average, serve to boost the IQ of the embryos that get selected by it. Right now, smart couples are stuck with doing it the old-fashioned way – simply having children and hoping for the best. This is a process that assures a loss in IQ overall (thanks to regression to the mean). I'd know I'd relish the opportunity to improve the odds of having the brightest (and healthiest, and most attractive) children I could.
Well, I think you've illustrated a few of my points nicely, particularly the mindset I aim to challenge. You state: "society is generally better off when it has a higher share of intelligent people" as a truism. My point is that that statement is not obviously a truism to most people.
As for the technical possibility of a predictor - I would say a crappy predictor is worse than no predictor at all.
Regarding education, I am not saying it necessarily boosts IQ test performance per se (I don't care if it does or not). I am saying it teaches people how to think better - at least a good education does. (I know mine did anyway - perhaps you were as good at thinking when you were five years old as you are now). If you are concerned with the general intellectual abilities of the populace (I presume in the U.S.) you might better spend your efforts on improving equality of the educational system.
"You state: 'society is generally better off when it has a higher share of intelligent people' as a truism. My point is that that statement is not obviously a truism to most people."
Indeed. Perhaps that's part of the problem (that most people don't realize that)? Whether or not most people believe it, it is objectively true that societies that have a greater share of intelligent people are generally much better off than those that have a smaller share – given the presumption that you regard a society with greater wealth per capita, lower crime, better health, better functioning institutions, and more advanced technology to be a better society to live in than a society that ranks less well on these things.
"If you are concerned with the general intellectual abilities of the populace (I presume in the U.S.) you might better spend your efforts on improving equality of the educational system."
The nature and distribution of cognitive ability indicates this will be a fruitless effort. Indeed, if we take international data on education performance (e.g., the PISA) at face value, Americans are performing better than similar populations elsewhere. There just doesn't seem to be much more juice that we can squeeze out of that fruit.
"The problem with your logic and Razib's comment: "imagine you, but bright of mind, and beautiful of face!" is that would NOT be you - that would be your brighter, more beautiful sibling who got born instead of you. You would have been washed down the sink of the IVF clinic."
Hmmm, but how is this much different than what happens at fertility clinics already?
I think we all can agree (or, at least, this is certainly my position) that all people living now are deserving of dignity and respect, and are all deserving of moral regard by virtue of being human. However, the argument you're advancing here, ethical issues with selection amongst embryos, which aren't people (yet), is in the vein of a pro-life (i.e., anti-abortion) view. If that is your view, then I can see why you'd make the case you're making, but I do not share this view.
While there are comparisons between societies with higher average IQ and lower average IQ, it is not clear so far what influence the variance in IQ has.
If a future technology rises everyone's IQ to maximum possible, then by definition everyone's IQ will be close to 100 and very very low variance (we are manipulating a random occurrence and could no longer expect the distribution to follow a bell curve). Is there any evidence if those are desirable societies?
What meaning would IQ has if everyone has same IQ? Then it would stop correlating positively with income or happiness as people push for some other distinguishing feature (as with elite colleges admissions with a number of applicants having 'perfect' SAT scores).
This is similar to having 'beauty' too. South Korean beauty contestants have all same features from plastic surgery. What use is 'beauty' then? What does it mean to have 'better you'?
OTOH, leaving to market forces alone, we may push above average IQ population to increase the IQ of their offspring and end up with bi-modal distribution. Then increasing 'average IQ' has no meaning when low IQ->low economic status-> no investment for IQ increase -> low IQ. The % of 'trouble making' low IQ population will remain the same even if 'average IQ' is pushed up. (this is assuming fertility rate is same across the board. It may so happen that elite fertility rate may drop further due to cost of IQ enhancement with each offspring).
"If a future technology rises everyone's IQ to maximum possible, then by definition everyone's IQ will be close to 100 and very very low variance (we are manipulating a random occurrence and could no longer expect the distribution to follow a bell curve)."
Yeah, first of all that's not going to happen any time soon. Second of all, 100 wouldn't be the ideal number...
"Is there any evidence if those are desirable societies?"
Well if by "everyone" you mean every last individual then no, because not much would get done if everyone had an IQ of 100 (a person with an IQ of 100 isn't all that smart). On the other hand, if by "everyone", you mean every society would have a mean IQ of 100, yeah, that actually wouldn't be too bad, and in America, at least, a marked improvement over the current situation.
100 will be the number by definition of IQ. That is simply the mean. 100 in current society is may be 135 in the past society (Flynn effect), but 100 it will be when everyone does DNA-checking for errors (as Cochrane proposed).
I don't know how you say "a person with an IQ of 100 isn't all that smart". If everybody below IQ of 115 dies out today, the person with IQ around 120 (the remaining will be exponentially distributed) will have new IQ of 100. Does the same person stopped being smart?! IQ is only a relative measure.
Perhaps you have looked at caste societies and stratification by endogamy? The mean IQ may still be 100, but bi-modal distribution isn't all that desirable.
"If there are some criteria that can be considered legitimate, what are they? How do we decide? Who makes those decisions? Should society as a whole ever have the right to dictate such decisions? Or should society allow complete freedom to individuals to make such decisions on any criteria they wish?"
In any Western nation, if this process is allowed at all, almost certainly it would give choice freely to couples — as it should. Most couples with the interest in doing this at all will likely want to select for intelligence, as well as for physical health and beauty, which they may incidentally do by selecting for IQ. As Razib Khan put it, "The marketing pitch for this writes itself: imagine you, but bright of mind, and beautiful of face!" Razib indeed notes there that objections to eugenics are moot: we already practice eugenics. Not only through the obvious method, selecting a mate (which for me was a very conscious choice), but through technological interventions as the kind we're discussing here: abortions of fetuses with Down syndrome and with Mendelian ailments. The eugenics we're discussing is nothing qualitatively different from what is going on already.
The "guilty by association" aspect by raising the specter of a slippery slope to coercive eugenics and Nazism is unfounded. First, as noted, this is a classic slippery slope fallacy. Second, as noted, most adamantly by Greg Cochran, society – on its present course – is in big trouble anyway. What, really, be the worse option?
The problem with your logic and Razib's comment: "imagine you, but bright of mind, and beautiful of face!" is that would NOT be you - that would be your brighter, more beautiful sibling who got born instead of you. You would have been washed down the sink of the IVF clinic. So it goes.
Whether education makes people smarter rather depends on what you consider 'smartness' to be - is it IQ scores, or something more 'fundamental'?
We recently had a paper on this, showing that years of education were associated with improved IQ score across the lifespan, but not with faster scores on elementary cognitive tasks like Reaction Time and Inspection Time: http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2012-34906-001
We recently had a paper on this, showing that years of education were associated with improved IQ score across the lifespan, but not with faster scores on elementary cognitive tasks like Reaction Time and Inspection Time
Of course, they do. But the correlation is mostly spurious. Higher intelligence leads to higher IQ scores and higher educational attainment, almost never the other way around.
Did you bother considering whether you were wrong about the direction of causation? Of course, you didn't. Almost nobody ever does, but behavior geneticists have known the answer for over two decades running.
What the hell are you talking about? We mention causality throughout the paper, how on Earth could you have missed... oh, wait. You didn't read it, but thought it would be OK to be supercilious about it in a internet comment. Nice one.
Eugenic ideas are impracticalities that do not translate well through the evolving dimensionalities of experienced life conditions (why are the less socially established more likely to be immigrants/use drugs/engage in unprotected sex and exhibit hypersexuality)...richwine may only just be politically incorrect if the effect of "pacified" heavy labor in tropical climates on epigenetics and generational ontogeny...(Hearty adaptation within the thick center of the human genetic tree...those without drives for reproduction are on the frayed corners/legal permanence as compensation for hereditary status...)
But I am willing to go out on a very sturdy limb and predict that we will not be able to build useful predictors for IQ any time soon. We’re not there, we’re not nearly there and there may even be fundamental limits that mean we will never get there.
Wow, I'm glad not all scientists are like you. Otherwise we'd still be getting around in buggies.
Anyway, your aversion to eugenics probably arises from a life spent around high-IQ individuals. You take it for granted. It's easy to talk morality and equality when you don't come into contact with welfare moms and drug addicts on a regular basis. But when you come from po' white trash like I do, you tend to see things differently. Upping the average IQ of humanity would be a very, very good thing, and I'm eternally grateful that not everyone thinks like you about this issue.
No, my aversion to eugenics does not come from hanging around exclusively with really clever people. (What a strange supposition!) My aversion comes from finding repugnant the idea of assigning a value to human beings based on their intelligence or any other criterion and using it to decide who gets to exist.
No one is suggesting state-sponsored, round-up-the-undesirables-and-gas-em policies. Anyone alive today is, by that very fact of existence, deserving of basic rights and dignity. Eugenics is about encouraging private citizens to recognize the importance of genetics to various traits and to control for their offspring's phenotypes as much as possible, as technology becomes available. (Will there be a guinea pig stage to this? Of course.)
There will continue to be nothing stopping parents from going ahead to have that Down's baby if they want it; thankfully, people are already more eugenics-minded than they think. Down's fetuses are frequently aborted; something like 80% (though that stat may be high). And Jodie Foster made it socially acceptable for same sex couples not to feel bad about looking for high quality sperm. I see no moral difference between these practices and eugenic practices more generally. The slope between anti-dysgenics and eugenics is wonderfully slippery.
You're obviously correct that eugenics technology is not around the corner; and the indeterminate nature of genetics may thwart it entirely. But I get the sense that foregrounding this point is simply a way to foreclose on all research toward eugenic applications entirely. Are you letting the moral impulse control the possibilities? I work in natural language processing, and our goals are constantly thwarted by the nuance and indeterminacy of human language, but I don't know anyone who says, "Well, screw it, let's not waste our time."
(Lastly, I'll reiterate that you would probably be much less averse to eugenics if you were forced to deal with unproductive morons on a regular basis.)
Your last comment reminds me of a guy I know who is working at a grocery store. He pushes around the carts. Just today he told me, his mom has a PhD in zoology, his dad a degree in biochemistry, his sister is a grad student in neuroscience... and he? He just doesn't give a fuck. You think this guy is stupid? I don't think so.
Inteligent people have their very own problems. In most jobs they are just bored and underachieving, since they lack a challenge. Some are socially awkward because they are just to busy thinking about stuff. And sometimes they just don't give a fuck about what others think they should be doing with their lives. Many of them just love to be egocentric misfits who don't want to do anything twice.
Let me put this into clearer words for you: Just because a person is smart doesn't mean s/he is automatically a great, productive genius who wants to do what you think s/he should. Or is interested in politics enough to be an informed voter in a democracy.
Inteligent people are the hardest to deal with. When everybody is inteligent, you will have to deal with a very new class of unproductive morons on a regular basis.
Your last comment reminds me of a guy I know who is working at a grocery store. He pushes around the carts. Just today he told me, his mom has a PhD in zoology, his dad a degree in biochemistry, his sister is a grad student in neuroscience... and he? He just doesn't give a fuck. You think this guy is stupid? I don't think so.
Every once in a while, intelligent parents produce short progeny, and tall mothers give birth to short offspring, entirely for hereditary reasons. A quantitative genetic model would account for every single one of these outcomes. There is no reason to assume that your buddy is intelligent, no matter how accomplished his near relations may be.
Every single gametic union is a hereditary roll of the dice -- sometimes, you don't get quite what you bargained for, and even the best set of cards might ruin a good game. R.A. Fisher understood why, nearly a half a century before the advent of molecular biology. Somehow you don't.
Even assuming that your acquaintance really were as intelligent as his relations, he most certainly would have worse outcomes if he were to suffer brain damage that reduced his IQ by a good 20-30 points. Your observation is about as truthful as the assertion that height has nothing to do with basketball playing ability, because there are plenty of tall people who are weak and spindly looking. (Therefore, it would be counterproductive to boost the basketball prowess of your descendants by selecting for taller height.) Wrong.
My aversion comes from finding repugnant the idea of assigning a value to human beings based on their intelligence or any other criterion and using it to decide who gets to exist.
This already happens. Think of all the potential children who could have been born, if only you had bedded down with the local meth addict with a cleft palate and cystic acne!
And people already do the other thing. Every time you, or somebody else rejects a job (or grad school) application on the basis of (assumed) qualifications and skills, you assign a numerical value to that individual, whether you like it not. Every time the local high school beauty turns down a date with a shorter, scrawny looking guy, she and others like her have tattooed him with their social presumptions. It's not fair, but that's life.
Resources are scarce, and so is social capital. This won't ever change, eugenics or no eugenics.
There is a difference between evaluating someone as a potential mate (or as a job applicant) - and assigning an overall *moral* value or worth to a person. Deciding not to date someone is very different from saying they have less of a right to exist or that society would be better off if less people like them existed.
But Kevin, we already say that it is okay to do that. I'll bet most of your acquaintances believe that nothing should interfere with a woman's right to choose whether to bring a fetus to term. That is judging "less of a right to exist" and deciding no right to exist.
Roger, you are right in one respect: in a society (like the US) where abortion is legal and freely available as a matter of personal choice, it's hard to argue that having that choice be informed by some genetic information about the fetus is somehow a bad thing or should not be allowed. On the other hand, one could say that having abortion available for people who do not want to have a child for whatever reason of personal circumstance, is morally (or at least practically) distinct from having such decisions made on the basis of the predicted characteristics of the resultant child. Choosing not to carry a fetus to term is one thing, choosing not to do so because they are predicted to be a bit less clever or because they're female or, say, because they are predicted to be homosexual or left-handed or a psychopath or a bit shy - that just seems to me like a distinct kind of action to take. It's the difference between aborting a child because you don't want to have a child and aborting a child because you don't want to have that particular child. (I know I'm not doing a good job of articulating why I think there's a difference - one illustration of a practical difference is in the very skewed sex ratio in India and China arising from selective abortion of female fetuses).
Of course, many other societies regulate abortion and things like pre-implantation diagnosis very differently (including Ireland, for example), so the ethics of such policies start from a very different point.
Also, you are wrong about my acquaintances (at least the "nothing" should interfere with part). Probably shouldn't bet on things like that :)
I think I understand the distinction you are making. I just don't know whether it is morally meaningful.
Is there a moral difference in the following situations? I walk into a school and kill the first ten students I see. IWIAS and kill the first ten boys I see. IWIAS and kill the first ten girls I see. IWIAS and kill the first ten whites I see. IWIAS and kill the first ten blacks I see. IWIAS and head for the life skills classroom where I kill the first ten people with Downs Syndrome I see. IWIAS and head for the National Honor Society induction, where I kill the first ten inductees I see.
Certainly, some reasons for abortion have a practical effect; "too many males" result "from selective abortion of female fetuses." But if practicality is a reason to interfere with the decision to have an abortion, similar arguments can be made for practicality to be a reason to interfere by forcing an abortion. E.g. to force an abortion of a fetus with Downs Syndome because otherwise there will be "too many" of them.
If there are any female readers of this blog, I wonder just how many of them would accept a sperm donation from a 5'3", high school dropout with a family history of alcoholism? No matter where their sympathies lie on the nature-nurture debate, I would venture to guess virtually none.
If you insist that my axiomatic assumptions are flawed, and that I place an unwarranted emphasis on phenotypes whose values are ever-changing, ephemeral, and constantly under revision by the whims of a capricious society -- fair enough. (Why, we've never seen this ever before in the history of our species, but perhaps there will come a day when men who are short, stupid, and ugly will enjoy the same life outcomes as their better endowed peers.) Even if you may not value these phenotypes myself, other people certainly do, and social institutions are the heart and soul of humanity itself. All else held equal, a man (or woman) with a "high IQ" on a remote island has no intrinsic value -- neither high nor low, relative to his peers, but once he is transported to a society where problem solving and innovation are at a premium, his social worth will skyrocket. And I ask you this -- would you rather be a tall man among midgets, or a midget in the company of giants? (Even a man of short stature should feel lofty among a crowd of African pygmies.)
The question is whether we can predict the extent to which our notions of intelligence, beauty, and social worth will change in the foreseeable future. If the social consensus, or certain elements thereof remain largely unaltered, then you would be remiss not to exploit every opportunity in your arsenal to maximize the potential value of your progeny. (Even in our current state of ignorance, this is not as foolish of a bargain as a strict social constructionist might presume -- there are indeed markers of health and beauty that remain constant across all cultures, both past and present.) As Richard Dawkins once observed, what is the moral difference between forcing your daughter to take violin lessons, and implanting a gene into an embryo that may facilitate the same outcomes? What is the distinction between forcing your son to drink milk three times a day, and selecting for taller height in your children in vitro? None but the superficial details!
And we know which intervention would have the greatest possible effect, if we could manipulate the full range of genotypic values present in our population.
As the Flynn effect demonstrates, IQ scores themselves are a dimensionless quality that are of little intrinsic value -- for all we know, today's score of 100 might become tomorrow's 70, but the psychometric literature demonstrates unequivocally that one's relative ranking on the IQ pecking order has immense predictive value. After controlling for heredity, socioeconomic status, parenting, and school quality explain little of the total variance. Knowing that all cognitive skills that are valuable in our advanced industrialized society are highly correlated, it seems unlikely that this should change in the foreseeable future.
You may avow an abiding trust in an educational system that explains very little of the total variance in IQ scores, once heredity has been accounted for. But I place my faith in the twin and longitudinal adoption studies. Only one of these actually works.
And of course -- if I had to make a choice, for all I am concerned, the high school dropout was born that way.
Now I am curious. What risk? What odds? I think attempting genetic engineering on people is much more risky than teaching them to use their capacities optimally. The challenge right now is to help all of humanity to become well educated and informed so they can make smart decisions (it really doesn't matter how long individuals take for those).
Genetical engineering of human inteligence will not be attempted before we have ANY working gene therapy. We have health regulations that prevent it. My 'prediction' will be that first there will be gene therapy that does not enter the germ line and are only used in severly ill people. While doing this we will learn a lot about genetic manipulation of humans and we might start to exchange 'sick genes' by genes that allow above-average performance (as some prosthetics already do today - or even glasses). When this is achieved, people with genetical illnesses will want to change this not only for themselves but also for their offspring and if gene therapy has proven safe by then, people will attempt to change the germ lines of people. Also, IF it proves safe the idea of reducing genetic risk factors for certain illnesses and 'civilisatory' illnesses will not be so far anymore.
At this point we might have first effects on intelect, since some of the genes will be changed to reduce risk of mental illnesses. However, for all we know today this is extraordinairily hard to do. Thousands of genes appear to have an effect on intelect and it appears there is a delicate interplay between all of them.
However, before we get to the point where we start designing our babies (if ever), there is a LOT of other stuff to do that has higher priority, right now. Getting to that point will take AGES. Not because I think science doesn't progress fast, but because to test the consequences of genetic engineering on people literally takes life times.
I think this discussion is premature and at this point right now, it should be about gene therapy of severly genetical ill people, not some science fiction that probably is several decades away. We won't be tinkering with the human genome before we have the basics down.
This is how medical research works: You can't attempt something without figuring out how, first, and you can't experiment on humans without quadrupel checking that it's safe. Life-time changes to the genome take life-times to investigate. So I think this problem is about a century away and we might rather focus on what's next on the list.
When we actually reach the point where designer babies really come into reach, ethics will be very different from today. So we should leave these decisions to the people who really are affected by it.
Our current goal in human gene manipulation can only be to help people with genetic disorders who would otherwise die.
Education benefits everyone, regardless of IQ. Of course innate differences remain - I am not suggesting education erases those. But if you want to make people better at thinking, it's a proven way to do that, unlike the imaginary ways being proposed by people suggesting we can molecularly predict intelligence. Usain Bolt may be a better sprinter than I am due to innate differences, but he also required years of training to get to the level he is at. And years of training would make me a better sprinter too, even if I never approached his level.
Whether or not personal eugenics is moral or immoral is a debatable question.
But people will want to do it, once a mechanism is made available. And you can't stop that. Outlaw it here, if you want -- those who have the means will only travel overseas, and China has no shortage of eager researchers with more aptitude than scruples.
People sure seem to enjoy slaughtering one another in ever more creative and destructive ways, thanks to modern advances in physics and chemical engineering. (In fact, some cultures today seem to prioritize this "gift" of science above and beyond education, sanitation, and modern infrastructure. Tant pis.) And nobody could stop that, either.
Woe be upon our civilization if your worst case scenario comes true. Whether or not it does, the future sure will look hilarious!
"You would have been washed down the sink of the IVF clinic. So it goes."
Wow! Wow! Wow!HEAVY metaphysics assumptions here!So, the "you" you are now was wholly defined at conception, and may be even had received a "soul" at that point?I am of the very opposite view that my current "self" is the sum total of my "life events" up 'til today and nevertheless I wish some of those life experiences would have been different for the better, see?
I meant the genetic "you" - the embryo that would have become a certain person (not suggesting the embryo is the same as the adult person). This was in response to this quote: "imagine you, but bright of mind, and beautiful of face!" The point was that the selection for increased intelligence does not make an individual smarter - it chooses another, smarter (genetically different) individual over them.
And... this smarter, genetically different indivudual who, in the absence of eugenics, would NOT have been brought up to life is obviously in no position to complain as of today.How is THIS different from the one "washed down the sink" who is no more able to complain as of today?
The attractive thing about preimplantation embryo screening, ethically and pragmatically, is that parents would get to decide which of their own potential children, from combining their own genotypes, they would prefer to bring into existence.
This can be done without any government policy, any coercion, any genetic engineering, or any centralized agreement about what constitutes a better person. It's simply an expanded form of reproductive freedom -- if you support freedom of mate choice, freedom of contraception, and freedom to abort based on genetic abnormalities, how can you object?
I see your argument, but think (maybe feel is more accurate) that there are important differences. Parents choosing "which of their potential offspring they prefer to bring into existence" just feels ooky to me. Like a prenatal "Sophie's Choice". Freedom to abort based on genetic abnormalities is one thing (which I have no problem with, though even that can be extended based on how one defines an "abnormality") - but selecting based on smaller differences which would not impact health directly is something else. I guess it's the implicit assignment of differing levels of "quality" that bothers me. Part of my point in the post is to ask whether IQ should be the sole or primary criterion in such a decision (even if you accept such a decision should be made at all). Having people with high IQ say it obviously is is like having the LA Lakers say height should be the selecting factor.
In any case, with respect to IQ, our predictive power is currently zero and likely to remain close to that for quite some time, I expect.
"Education benefits everyone, regardless of IQ."uhh, actually the research is very clear: smarter people benefit from good teaching/education much, much more than non-smart people. Good education SPREADS OUT the distribution - the smart gain A LOT, the non-smart gain a little.
Took me a while to read through all the comments on here. I think there are a couple fallible assumptions being made by the pro-eugenics folks.
Right away, I know their counterargument to this post is going to be ‘we won’t know until we try!’ But that’s the very last thing you say before Pandora’s Box opens.
There have been a few analogies to basketball. In particular:Height is to winning at basketball as intelligence (g) is to winning at society.Here are two extensions of this analogy to consider.
1.) There might be inherent limitations to selecting for IQ. In particular: draining other qualities at the expense of selecting for IQ. There are many 7’ people that are horrible athletes. Physical (or biophysical, if you like) limitations make it increasingly difficult for someone of that height to achieve basketball success. And if you make a 9’ tall human, he might be somewhat useful at basketball, but there would be a bunch of 6’ and 7’ guys running circles around him. A team full of 9’ players without any corresponding 6’ players could be pretty bad. The point of this analogy being that height, like IQ, isn’t the only factor in success, and when you select everyone for only one factor it is not obvious a net benefit will ensue (even when you know the parameters of the game).
2.) So, you say, what if there aren’t inherent costs to the benefits and we can actually enhance ALL ‘desirable’ qualities simultaneously. What if somehow we can overcome biophysical limitations and make everyone 12’ tall and as fast as Usain Bolt? Or better yet: 20’ tall and as fast as a cheetah! Well, basketball has rules. And baskets 10’ tall. And 94’ x 50’ courts. Such players will quickly be constrained by the limitations of the game and start fouling out really quickly. Or become increasingly less effective as their size/speed combinations become unwieldy within the dimensions of the game.
Just change the rules then! And now we've reached where things can get really bad. The analogy to changing the rules of ‘winning at society’ include such things as genocide, social injustice, dystopias and so many more things I can hardly imagine (http://gawker.com/5569338/errol-morris-on-unknown-unknowns).
You might think this is a dumb analogy: but I implore you that it is not. We are constrained by the physical world we live in. We SHOULD BE constrained by making humanity better in an ethical way. Maybe you want to roll the dice and possibly incur the Wrath of Khan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics_Wars#Eugenics_Wars_and_World_War_III)—but it’s not so easy to close Pandora’s Box once it’s open.
PS—I’ll admit I am poorly read on the relationship between psychophysical measurements and intelligence. But I believe equating reaction times and inspection times with “intelligence” is flawed on many accounts. One, the limitations of measuring and utilizing intelligence itself (as I go on about here http://jjsakon.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/some-thoughts-on-the-newfangled-eugenics-stuff) has holes. Two, processing speed is just one of MANY components of making beneficial decisions for a person (or a society). And at that point it collapses into points 1 and 2 above.
There will always be unkowns in everything. Any action involves risk and accepting unknowns. If you wait for every unkown to be understood, you will wait forever. I'm not advocating blatant recklessness, but accepting calculated risk is a necessity.
"greatly exaggerates our technical abilities"
Sure, but this is a reason to improve our abilities, not abandon the premise.
"we have a proven and powerful tool to make people smarter: education."
How can you make this claim, that education is "proven" to make people, all people, smarter, and deny the mountains of evidence, debate, and objection to the contrary while criticizing opt-in eugenics proponents of lacking some infinite level of evidence.
Thanks Clay, for your comments. My point about there being a lot of unknowns is not that we should not do the research, it's that we should not claim that an ability to make accurate predictions is right around the corner - it isn't.
As for education, I thought the point was so obvious it would not need a lot of discussion, but apparently not. Perhaps I was not being clear - I do not think education can equalise intelligence, nor do I think everyone benefits from education to the same extent. But I do think everyone benefits to some extent and don't know of any evidence that would contradict that. Those benefits extend even to people with frank, clinical intellectual disability.
"First, we have not yet identified any genes 'for intelligence'. We know many that, when mutated, can cause intellectual disability (many hundreds, in fact), but none that clearly contribute to variation in the normal range (normal in the statistical sense of that word). Zero, zip, bupkis."
If you are going to comment on this, you should be factually accurate. FNBP1L is a corroborated IQ gene.
I disagree. FNBP1L is the "most significantly associated gene for adult intelligence" and "has a significant effect on childhood intelligence." (Benyamin et al) Davies et al found that it achieved a genome-wide significant association that a much smaller validation cohort could not replicate. Other GWAS research has suggested "a possible relaxation in the current [genome-wide significance] threshold." (Panagiotou & Ioannidis)
From the same papers: "Analyses of individual SNPs and genes did not result in any replicable genome-wide significant association" and "In our meta-analysis, we did not find any SNPs that reached a genome-wide significant P-value".I understand it popped out from gene-based tests, but the results from these are hardly compelling. My guess is if you asked the authors to wager on it being real, you'd have to offer them pretty good odds.
That would be quite a coincidence for two independent genome-wide studies to find that the gene was the "most strongly associated gene" purely by chance. It is "strongly expressed in neurons." These are not candidate gene p-value significance standards, but even those produce results that show "enrichment" in follow-up GWAS research. (Vimaleswaran et al)
Skipping over the deluge of other comments, I'd like to add my view. I think you might have radically misunderstood the issue.
"For any individual, being more intelligent is better than being less intelligent. (All else being equal, that’s fair enough, I suppose). People who are more intelligent are therefore better than people who are less intelligent. (See how easy it is to get there?)"
The second idea might be a reason to embrace eugenics of intelligence for some people, but it is probably not relevant to the question of pre-implantation screening. This screening is not done for society, it is done for families. Big difference there. Parents want the best for their children - this is pretty-much a universal thing, and parents want to choose the best brain and the best life and the best future for their own children. This is not the same as intentionally engineering a utopian society.
Did you make a clear distinction between selecting for genes for better intelligence and screening out genes known to cause intellectual disability? Once again, this is a very important distinction to make. No family should feel obliged to happily tolerate a family history of intellectual disability. We are morally obliged to offer effective help to such families, just as we are morally obliged to fund preventative mastectomies for women with the breast cancer gene on a free national health scheme.
Thanks Lili, for your comment. You are right that there are two (or several) issues that can be considered separately. On the one hand, you have parental choice - especially to select against implanting embryos that are genetically predicted (very strongly) to be intellectually disabled. This goes on now and I do not in any way oppose it for serious conditions.
The second is whether this kind of screening can and should be extended to IQ in the normal range, which is very different, to my mind. First of all, it can't, so there's that. Secondly, what I was reacting to was the implicit assumption that it is obvious that we should do that if we can. You say parents "want the best for their children", which is obviously true (it's a great line from GATTACA, in fact). But really, when talking about selection, you are talking about parents "wanting the best children" - not choosing that your child be more intelligent, but choosing the more intelligent child over the less intelligent one. To me, that is a very different thing, though I know others disagree.
As for the wider eugenics issue, that was in reaction to several pieces that come pretty close to casually advocating these kinds of things on a societal level. Not surprisingly, more people seem in favour of parental choice eugenics than socially mandated selective policies. I was trying to argue that even the parental choice version has a number of attendant moral issues that merit serious discussion.
Suppose it was found that for the last 20 years some natural compound had been leaching into the water supply, subtly altering fetal genes such that babies are born with an IQ 5 pts less than those not exposed to the waste. In that case most people would advocate actions to clean up the waste in order to prevent the reduction in IQ. Yet that situation involves a very similar trade off between counterfactual people. What would your response be to that particular situation?
Nick Bostrom's reversal test (http://www.nickbostrom.com/ethics/statusquo.pdf) is useful in these situations as well. If you're not convinced that a society with more people with higher IQs would be a change for the better, what about a society where more people have lower IQs? If you think that also wouldn't be a change for the better then you'd need to have a good explanation for why the IQs we happen to have also happen to be the optimal IQ rather than the, to my mind, more likely situation that we're existing somewhere on a slope of either continuously increasing benefits of IQ or continuously increasing harms.
You advocate education as a method of making people smarter. Are educated people "therefore better" than the non-educated? The fact that you think there are steps we should take to shape the types of people there are in society (education) suggests that you make assignments of moral worth about people in society already. You have a person A, you can take steps to educate them giving person A*, or you can choose not to educate them giving person A**. I would argue that, while genetically identical, A* and A** are different people, in exactly the same way that identical twins are. Your selection of A* over A** makes exactly the same moral assignment you accuse eugenicists of.
Perhaps intelligence as measured by IQ isn't something we want to select for, but if you believe that the set of skills/abilities imparted on people through education are positive then how would you argue against a genetic selection shown to increase people's "educatability" (pretending such a test were possible)? And if using genotyping is questionable due to the various difficulties involved in devising a genetic test, why not use a phenotypic approach? It would only affect a small corner of society but by allowing women seeking sperm donors to select by IQ of the donor you would sidestep the scientific problems involved in genotyping (although not the moral concerns).
Have you read either "What sort of people should there be?" (scan of the book available for free here http://jonathanglover.co.uk/books/what-sort-of-people-should-there-be) or "Choosing children" by Jonathan Glover? Both have very nice philosophical considerations of exactly these types of questions. I don't actually advocate eugenics but I always find it interesting to look at these things from the other side. Thanks for the interesting read!
The morality of selecting for or against any trait should not be the first item for discussion. To begin with, I see this less as an issue of scientific appropriateness and more an issue of reproductive common sense. Having VERY closely experienced life with autistics, bipolars, schizophrenics, etc. I can confidently say not everyone should be allowed to have children period -- even if that would have meant I would not have been born.
I find it ironic that it is well-educated reasonably well-functioning people who have not had parents or multiple family members with mental health or cognitive disorders who are the ones discussing this topic. I also find it ironic that these same people talk about whether or not it is right to intervene in genetics while the masses in the lower echelons of human functionality reproduce randomly and without consideration of the consequences to their children, themselves, or society.
If we are going to select for traits, why not select against power mongering individuals who would abuse the use of eugenics for personal gain of some sort and select for individuals who would recognize the importance of considering the total perspective of the child and the wisdom of bringing it into existence before niggling over whether genes should be altered or not.
From a strictly scientific point of view, this is not merely some simple single gene human recipe change. X-inactivation, unknown interactions between genes, epigenetic influences, etc. can all combine to skew the outcome of the genetically designed individual. We need full genome information from many many more individuals and a plan for what to do with mistakes before jumping onto the genetically designed human band wagon.
"But really, when talking about selection, you are talking about parents "wanting the best children" - not choosing that your child be more intelligent, but choosing the more intelligent child over the less intelligent one. To me, that is a very different thing, though I know others disagree."
No, when I discuss parental selection for higher IQ I consider that I'm writing about parents wanting the best for their children by selecting the best embryos. It is all about selecting embryos, not people. These days most people decide to a degree how many kids they will have and when they will have them and with who. There are planned roles or vacancies that embryos can fill. The best embryos for the roles can be chosen. This is not an ethical problem if you do not consider an embryo to be a person. I think these days most people think in this way, if they think at all.
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We don't get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? So this is what we've chosen to do with our life.Moose Knukles
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Can molecular memories of our ancestors’
experiences affect our own behaviour and physiology? That idea has certainly
grabbed hold of the public imagination, under the banner of the seemingly
ubiquitous buzzword “epigenetics”. Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance is
the idea that a person’s experiences can somehow mark their genomes in ways
that are passed on to their children and grandchildren. Those marks on the
genome are then thought to influence gene expression and affect the behaviour
and physiology of people who inherit them. The way this notion is referred to – both in
popular pieces and in the scientific literature – you’d be forgiven for
thinking it is an established fact in humans, based on mountains of consistent,
compelling evidence. In fact, the opposite is true – it is based on the
flimsiest of evidence from a very small number of studies with very small
sample sizes and serious methodological flaws. [Note that there is, by contrast,
very good evidence for this kind…
I recently wrote a blogpost examining the
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their offspring, and, more importantly, even to their grandchildren. Having
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GWAS (genome-wide association studies) for
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Broken Bread is moving!
We are super excited to announce that we will be moving the restaurant to downtown Salem this fall. We will be located at the corner of Center and High Streets in the Equitable Center, previously home to Willamette Noodle Too and Nosh.
This location offers greater visibility, accessability and the opportunity to deliver our fresh Farm-To-Table concept to a wider audiance.
We truly appreciate all of our loyal customers and especially the way you have embraced Broken Bread's message to deliver local, fresh and seasonal products to Salem diners. Rest assured you will find the same menu, great service, and awesome food in the new location!"
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Argument preview: Defining the jury’s role on death penalty
Posted Sat, October 10th, 2015 12:09 am by Lyle Denniston
Analysis
For years, the Supreme Court has been engaged in an energetic effort to enhance the role of the jury in criminal courts. No part of that has been more actively pursued than deepening the jury’s involvement in sentencing — a part of the process long dominated by trial judges. A new case from Florida, set for argument at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, provides a new test.
Florida is the last state to hold out against a common requirement that jurors must be unanimous in both specifying why a convicted individual is eligible for a death sentence and recommending a sentence. Juries in Florida death penalty cases have only an advisory role to begin with, and even that influence on the judge is potentially lessened by the lack of unanimity and by the judge’s authority to make the key decisions anyway.
The Court is examining the case of a brutal slaying at a Popeye’s fast-food restaurant in Pensacola, Fla. (Hurst v. Florida), to determine how far a state may go to assign the important decisions on death sentencing to the judge. The Justices attempted to curb that role, and give more of it to the jury, in a 2002 decision but the Florida Supreme Court has essentially exempted the state’s capital punishment process from that ruling.
In Ring v. Arizona thirteen years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that a judge may not make the factual findings about “aggravating factors” — the seriousness of the crime that can make an individual eligible to be sentenced to death — because that role under the Sixth Amendment belongs to the jury. The Court has said repeatedly that, if a potential sentence is to be made more severe, the enhancement must be based upon the jury’s findings.
The Court, however, has never ruled that juries must be used in the sentencing phases of a case in which a death sentence is a possibility, and it has never ruled that a jury recommendation of a death sentence must be by a unanimous vote. It has allowed guilty verdicts by less than unanimous votes in cases involving lesser crimes. The case set for a hearing next Tuesday could provide new interpretations on both of those issues.
The Hurst case involves Timothy Lee Hurst of Pensacola, who was nineteen years old when he was accused of murdering a co-worker at a restaurant there in 1998. His lawyers claimed that he had a history of mental disability, and the jury in his case found that he had no prior crimes on his record, and that his age was a factor in his favor. He wound up with a death sentence, however, after the jury proposed it by a vote of seven to five.
Under Florida’s capital punishment law, a death sentence may be imposed if there is at least one “aggravating factor” in the case; if there is none, the maximum penalty can only be life in prison.
Florida law splits up the roles on death sentencing between the jury and the judge. The jury’s advisory role is to ultimately recommend a sentence to the judge. To do that, the jury weighs aggravating and mitigating factors and decides whether to recommend a death sentence. It can make that final recommendation on a split vote — it must be at least seven to five, as it was in Hurst’s case. But there is no need for even a majority of jurors to agree on even one of the aggravating factors the jurors as a group had apparently indicated did exist.
The sentencing duty then shifts to the judge, who does the same weighing process of the two kinds of factors; in doing so, the judge is not bound by what the jury concluded. The judge then decides for or against a death sentence, again with no duty to follow the jury’s recommendation.
The Florida Supreme Court, upholding that process as used in Hurst’s case, found no constitutional problem with the role of either the jury or the judge. The state court divided four to three, with the dissenting justices arguing that the Florida approach violates both the Sixth and Eighth Amendments and deviates from the Supreme Court’s ruling in Ring v. Arizona.
Hurst’s lawyers took the case on to the Supreme Court, raising two multi-faceted questions, with most of them focusing on the split role of judge and jury. The Court granted review in March, rephrasing the issue to be whether the Florida scheme violates either the Sixth Amendment or the Eighth Amendment “in light of this Court’s decision in Ring v. Arizona.” The order did not specify whether it would consider Hurst’s argument that he also had a claim of mishandling in his trial of a mental disability claim, but the Court did not appear to have accepted that for review and it has dropped out of the case.
Hurst’s brief on the merits largely separates the arguments between the Sixth Amendment, claiming that provision is violated by the jury’s limited role in finding whether Hurst was eligible for a death sentence, and the Eighth Amendment, claiming that provision is violated by allowing the judge to impose the sentence after a split verdict by the jury. However, he also levels a separate Sixth Amendment challenge to the judge’s role in imposing a death penalty.
Although his brief argued at length on the jury role in assessing the aggravating factors, there is language in the brief suggesting that his lawyers do not regard that as the main focus of his case. If the Court were to find that the jury has an adequate role in sorting out eligibility for a death sentence, the brief contended, the Court should at least strike down his death sentence because Florida minimizes the role of the jury as the moral representative of the community in determining what penalty was appropriate, and because allowing a recommendation of death by no more than seven votes makes it impossible to know what the jury actually thought about punishment.
Noting that there is uniformity among the other forty-nine states and the federal government in requiring a unanimous verdict as the norm, the brief said that the split-vote approach “disregards the bedrock principle that the jury system is predicated on meaningful deliberations, which a simple-majority vote cannot safeguard.”
Florida’s brief on the merits noted that the Supreme Court has examined its capital punishment scheme at least four times before and has not found it to be flawed under the Constitution.
The state also insisted that Hurst’s lawyers had exaggerated what is required under Ring v. Arizona. That decision, it contended, only mandates a role for the jury in the death-eligibility analysis, and does not insist that it have a role in the actual selection of the sentence to be imposed.
As long ago as 1972, the state’s filing said, the Supreme Court indicated that jury unanimity is not required in criminal cases. In fact, the state contended, the Court has never ruled that a state must use a jury in any part of the sentencing process. Turning back to the record of this case in lower courts, the state said that Hurst’s lawyers actually conceded that the evidence in the case made him eligible for a death sentence; thus, it argued, his lawyers have waived any argument they might seek to make about the inadequacy of the jury’s role in the death-eligibility phase.
Hurst has the support of amicus briefs from civil rights groups, former judges on the Florida Supreme Court and on lower state courts, and the American Bar Association.
Amici support for Florida came from Alabama and Montana.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Hurst will be represented by Seth P. Waxman, Washington, D.C., attorney and former U.S. Solicitor General. Arguing for Florida will be Allen Winsor, the state’s solicitor general. Each will have thirty minutes of time.
Current Relists
Conference of November 16, 2018
Andersen v. Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri Whether the provisions of the Medicaid Act that require participating states to include in their plans the ability of eligible individuals to obtain services from any “qualified” provider, 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(23), but grant states broad authority to exclude providers for violating state or federal requirements, 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(p), indicate that Congress clearly and unambiguously intended to create an implied private right of action to challenge a state’s determination that a provider is not “qualified” under the applicable state regulations.
City of Escondido, California v. Emmons (1) Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit erred in denying the officers qualified immunity by considering clearly established law at too high a level of generality rather than giving particularized consideration to the facts and circumstances of this case; (2) whether the lower court erred in denying the officers qualified immunity by relying on a single decision, published after the event in question, to support its conclusion that qualified immunity is not available; and (3) whether the lower court erred in failing or refusing to decide whether the subject arrest was without probable cause or subject to qualified immunity.
Fleck v. Wetch (1) Whether it violates the First Amendment for state law to presume that the petitioner consents to subsidizing non-chargeable speech by the group he is compelled to fund (an “opt-out” rule), as opposed to an “opt-in” rule whereby the petitioner must affirmatively consent to subsidizing such speech; and (2) whether Keller v. State Bar of California and Lathrop v. Donohue should be overruled insofar as they permit the state to force the petitioner to join a trade association he opposes as a condition of earning a living in his chosen profession.
Major Cases
In re Department of CommerceWhether, in an action seeking to set aside agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 701 et seq., a district court may order discovery outside the administrative record to probe the mental processes of the agency decisionmaker—including by compelling the testimony of high-ranking Executive Branch officials—when there is no evidence that the decisionmaker disbelieved the objective reasons in the administrative record, irreversibly prejudged the issue, or acted on a legally forbidden basis.
The American Legion v. American Humanist Association(1) Whether a 93-year-old memorial to the fallen of World War I is unconstitutional merely because it is shaped like a cross; (2) whether the constitutionality of a passive display incorporating religious symbolism should be assessed under the tests articulated in Lemon v. Kurtzman, Van Orden v. Perry, Town of Greece v. Galloway or some other test; and (3) whether, if the test from Lemon v. Kurtzman applies, the expenditure of funds for the routine upkeep and maintenance of a cross-shaped war memorial, without more, amounts to an excessive entanglement with religion in violation of the First Amendment.
Gamble v. United StatesWhether the Supreme Court should overrule the “separate sovereigns” exception to the double jeopardy clause.
Timbs v. IndianaWhether the Eighth Amendment’s excessive fines clause is incorporated against the states under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Apple Inc. v. PepperWhether consumers may sue anyone who delivers goods to them for antitrust damages, even when they seek damages based on prices set by third parties who would be the immediate victims of the alleged offense.
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President Trump called out the establishment media on Sunday, saying “their fake & dishonest reporting” is “causing problems far greater than they understand.”
“The Fake News is doing everything in their power to blame Republicans, Conservatives and me for the division and hatred that has been going on for so long in our Country. Actually, it is their Fake & Dishonest reporting which is causing problems far greater than they understand!” Trump said on Twitter.
The Fake News is doing everything in their power to blame Republicans, Conservatives and me for the division and hatred that has been going on for so long in our Country. Actually, it is their Fake & Dishonest reporting which is causing problems far greater than they understand!
There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news. The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly. That will do much to put out the flame…
Many establishment media commentators capitalized on the horrific shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue to criticize President Trump.
“And a word to my fellow American Jews: This president makes this possible. Here. Where you live. I hope the embassy move over there, where you don’t live was worth it,” GQ writer Julia Ioffe tweeted over the weekend.
And a word to my fellow American Jews: This president makes this possible. Here. Where you live. I hope the embassy move over there, where you don’t live was worth it.
CNN commentators Ana Navarro and Symone Sanders also used the shooting to attack the Trump White House, while their network continues to employ Marc Lamont Hill, who palled around with vicious anti-Semite Louis Farrakhan.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders went after the Washington Post for using the shooting to lambaste the president.
Sanders tweeted, “Is there any tragedy the Washington Post won’t exploit to attack President realDonaldTrump? The evil act of anti-Semitism in Pittsburg was committed by a coward who hated President Trump because POTUS is such an unapologetic defender of the Jewish community and state of Israel.”
Is there any tragedy the Washington Post won’t exploit to attack President @realDonaldTrump? The evil act of anti-Semitism in Pittsburg was committed by a coward who hated President Trump because @POTUS is such an unapologetic defender of the Jewish community and state of Israel. https://t.co/0tCNpepC9k
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President Yoweri Museveni and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces has said that an Army Officer without a good political orientation is a disservice to society. He attributed poor performance and…
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Status update: Facebook has 2 billion users. Can it reach 3 billion?
Facebook now has 2 billion users, but can it reach 3 billion? Mark Zuckerberg says: "What we really care about is being able to connect everyone." But the giant social network faces barriers for growth.
SAN FRANCISCO — It's the biggest status update ever from Mark Zuckerberg: Two billion people — more than a quarter of the world's population — hang out on Facebook at least once a month.
The milestone that Zuckerberg announced Tuesday is all the more remarkable because no other Internet company has ever reached it. If Facebook were a country, it would be the most populous.
"As of this morning, the Facebook community is now officially 2 billion people!" he said in a Facebook post announcing the milestone. "It's an honor to be on this journey with you."
Yet in an interview at his company's Silicon Valley headquarters, the Facebook CEO downplayed the significance of reaching 2 billion users, instead focusing on what the giant social network has yet to accomplish: Wiring the entire planet.
"What we really care about is being able to connect everyone. So two billion, there wasn't as much fanfare around it," he said. "We still haven't connected everyone."
Zuckerberg is faced with a daunting challenge: How to keep growing when a huge chunk of people already use Facebook. The next billion will be a lot tougher to wrangle than the first two because not everyone in the world has an Internet connection and a few parts of the world are off limits to Facebook.
"The first billion is easy. The second billion is somewhat harder. Getting past that is going to be even more of a challenge," said eMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson. "Part of it is the law of large numbers and part of it is that there are still places in the world where Facebook is blocked or people don't have access to the Internet to get on Facebook."
Some two-thirds of the world's population are not on the Internet. About 15% of people live in remote regions that have no access. In other places, people have Internet access but can't afford it or they have simple feature phones or cheap smartphones with spotty connections.
Of the 3 billion people who are the Internet, about 700 million are in China. Facebook is trying to set the stage for a return to China, where it's been blocked since 2009. Another challenge: In some places, Facebook hasn't managed to wrest a majority of users from local social networks.
"I do think these are large shifts that are good moments to reflect on what our responsibility is in the world and what things we can uniquely do," Zuckerberg told USA TODAY of hitting the 2 billion user mark.
Recognizing the difficulty ahead, last week Facebook changed its mission statement for the first time. After a decade of promoting Facebook as a service that connects small groups of friends and family, Facebook is broadening its focus for the next decade to "give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together."
Facebook reached 1 billion users in September 2012, which Zuckerberg describes as "the single milestone that I am most proud of for the company, much more than any business metric or anything like that."
"For so long we were rallying around serving a billion people and getting to a billion people is sort of this moment," he told USA TODAY. "But 1 billion wasn't really the goal. It was a proxy because it was a very big round number."
What has been remarkable to Jan Dawson, chief analyst with Jackdaw Research, is how Facebook has been able to accelerate growth in areas outside North America and Europe even as barriers to that growth increase. Dawson told USA TODAY in February that Facebook was on track to hit 2 billion users by late June.
Over the last five years, the developing world has boosted Facebook’s growth as the company made its mobile app easier to use on rudimentary Android smartphones and in places where bandwidth is low, adding 746 million users in Asia and a region it calls "Rest Of World" since hitting 1 billion users.
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Facebook Inc. is said to be considering a move into scripted television programming.
Video provided by TheStreet
Newslook
Still, data has to be cheap enough that people in developing countries can afford it. Technology has to be built that works in areas where there is low bandwidth or none at all. And Facebook has to give people in these areas a compelling reason to go online.
For their part, investors are far more interested in how Facebook plans to cash in on the users it already has than how it plans to sign up more of them, especially in poorer parts of the world where it will be harder for Facebook to make money, says Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.
Facebook already has an impressive percentage of people on the Internet, with 1.28 billion people using it every day. That kind of audience gives Facebook an enormous competitive advantage in growing advertising sales, he said.
U.S. revenue from digital ads will jump 32% this year, according to eMarketer. Revenue growth is being fueled by an increase in usage and time spent on Facebook, which is attracting advertisers in greater numbers, the research firm found.
Facebook has other sources of future user growth. It has three apps — Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram — that each have more than 1 billion users apiece. Instagram is also boosting revenue growth. It's expected to generate 20% of Facebook's U.S. mobile revenue this year, up from 15% last year, according to eMarketer.
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An Insight
Sometimes you see something that jumps out at you. It's been there all along but you never really connected the dots or put it together with the other information you know about this case. For me it was the suitcase with the blanket with JAR's semen on it and the Dr. Seuss book in it. Let me explain my insight and why it makes sense. This suitcase and what is in it is extremely interesting. I've always been suspicious of JAR and this looks incriminating toward him as if it was some kind of a grooming kit to molest JB in the basement, but as we know JAR was not in Boulder that night. But then right behind that, my insight: This suitcase, its contents, and its placement in the basement under the window near where the dead body was found are all clever staging. But who would stage such a thing and why? The answer leaped out at me: John Ramsey staged this, cleverly and intelligently and knowingly. Nothing about the suitcase was an accident. Not the contents (including the semen) or the placement. This was done by someone very intelligent for the purpose of pointing fingers of suspicion in as many other directions as he possibly could (even to his own son JAR) to hide the truth of what really happened to JB. The suitcase is very obvious staging, but only one piece of information to be connected to others. What else is staged? The rope inside the sack in JAR's bedroom that both parents claim they did not belong there. Once more staging. But, JR did not stage alone, and this is critical to understanding the murder. PR helped stage at the very least by writing the RN. JR was the mastermind of the staging, and PR was assisting with the staging. That tells us something right there, because there are only two reasons why PR would help JR stage: Either she murdered JB and was assisting JR because she thought it was in her best interest to do so) or BR did and she was helping her husband stage because she wanted to help him protect their son. Either way JR did not kill JB but he was definitely involved in an obstruction of justice and a coverup. He staged many things, including possibly the garrote around JB's neck. I really think PR killed her daughter unintentionally and she was a distraught, emotional nervous wreck afterwards. She was in a total panic and didn't know what to do, but her husband did know what to do. All of the staging including the RN was his idea. Her husband knew about it soon after it happened and he quickly realized that there was no way to make it look like an accident, so they came up with a plan, on the spot, to obfuscate the crime scene and to stage as many things as they could to protect her. I can see this happening very strongly.
Sometimes you see something that jumps out at you. It's been there all along but you never really connected the dots or put it together with the other information you know about this case. For me it was the suitcase with the blanket with JAR's semen on it and the Dr. Seuss book in it. Let me explain my insight and why it makes sense. This suitcase and what is in it is extremely interesting. I've always been suspicious of JAR and this looks incriminating toward him as if it was some kind of a grooming kit to molest JB in the basement, but as we know JAR was not in Boulder that night. But then right behind that, my insight: This suitcase, its contents, and its placement in the basement under the window near where the dead body was found are all clever staging. But who would stage such a thing and why? The answer leaped out at me: John Ramsey staged this, cleverly and intelligently and knowingly. Nothing about the suitcase was an accident. Not the contents (including the semen) or the placement. This was done by someone very intelligent for the purpose of pointing fingers of suspicion in as many other directions as he possibly could (even to his own son JAR) to hide the truth of what really happened to JB. The suitcase is very obvious staging, but only one piece of information to be connected to others. What else is staged? The rope inside the sack in JAR's bedroom that both parents claim they did not belong there. Once more staging. But, JR did not stage alone, and this is critical to understanding the murder. PR helped stage at the very least by writing the RN. JR was the mastermind of the staging, and PR was assisting with the staging. That tells us something right there, because there are only two reasons why PR would help JR stage: Either she murdered JB and was assisting JR because she thought it was in her best interest to do so) or BR did and she was helping her husband stage because she wanted to help him protect their son. Either way JR did not kill JB but he was definitely involved in an obstruction of justice and a coverup. He staged many things, including possibly the garrote around JB's neck. I really think PR killed her daughter unintentionally and she was a distraught, emotional nervous wreck afterwards. She was in a total panic and didn't know what to do, but her husband did know what to do. All of the staging including the RN was his idea. Her husband knew about it soon after it happened and he quickly realized that there was no way to make it look like an accident, so they came up with a plan, on the spot, to obfuscate the crime scene and to stage as many things as they could to protect her. I can see this happening very strongly.
Good post. I'm more in the BDI. But what you say does make since.
JUSTICE FOR MICHELLE AND RYLAN
All posts, unless sourced, are my opinion only and they are to remain here in Websleuths and are not to be used elsewhere. Thank you!!!!
Sometimes you see something that jumps out at you. It's been there all along but you never really connected the dots or put it together with the other information you know about this case. For me it was the suitcase with the blanket with JAR's semen on it and the Dr. Seuss book in it. Let me explain my insight and why it makes sense. This suitcase and what is in it is extremely interesting. I've always been suspicious of JAR and this looks incriminating toward him as if it was some kind of a grooming kit to molest JB in the basement, but as we know JAR was not in Boulder that night. But then right behind that, my insight: This suitcase, its contents, and its placement in the basement under the window near where the dead body was found are all clever staging. But who would stage such a thing and why? The answer leaped out at me: John Ramsey staged this, cleverly and intelligently and knowingly. Nothing about the suitcase was an accident. Not the contents (including the semen) or the placement. This was done by someone very intelligent for the purpose of pointing fingers of suspicion in as many other directions as he possibly could (even to his own son JAR) to hide the truth of what really happened to JB. The suitcase is very obvious staging, but only one piece of information to be connected to others. What else is staged? The rope inside the sack in JAR's bedroom that both parents claim they did not belong there. Once more staging. But, JR did not stage alone, and this is critical to understanding the murder. PR helped stage at the very least by writing the RN. JR was the mastermind of the staging, and PR was assisting with the staging. That tells us something right there, because there are only two reasons why PR would help JR stage: Either she murdered JB and was assisting JR because she thought it was in her best interest to do so) or BR did and she was helping her husband stage because she wanted to help him protect their son. Either way JR did not kill JB but he was definitely involved in an obstruction of justice and a coverup. He staged many things, including possibly the garrote around JB's neck. I really think PR killed her daughter unintentionally and she was a distraught, emotional nervous wreck afterwards. She was in a total panic and didn't know what to do, but her husband did know what to do. All of the staging including the RN was his idea. Her husband knew about it soon after it happened and he quickly realized that there was no way to make it look like an accident, so they came up with a plan, on the spot, to obfuscate the crime scene and to stage as many things as they could to protect her. I can see this happening very strongly.
This theory would require premeditation, detailed planning, a clever criminal mind, cooperation among three family members, and superpowers. BDI theories, though very popular here, are far from "most likely"...
This theory would require premeditation, detailed planning, a clever criminal mind, cooperation among three family members, and superpowers. BDI theories, though very popular here, are far from "most likely"...
It would not necessarily require premeditation. If JR discovered that PR or BR had killed JB on the night of 12-25 and he believed there was not a way to make the authorities believe the death was accidental, then he could have quickly made the determination that he had to think of something quick to protect a still-living family member (he couldn't do anything about JB at that point. She was already dead.) So he devised, on the spot, a plan to stage an intruder. That requires an intelligent, thinking person trying to save a family member from prison and from their life being ruined. It does require detailed planning and a clever mind. I personally don't think BR was involved. I think PR did it and then JR and her staged everything with BR knowing what was going on. No superpowers required, just an intelligent male mind using all of his wits to throw LE off the scent of a family member.
You are correct I said none of it was accidental. Whoever put those things in the suitcase chose them carefully and knew why they were putting them in there. As to your question, how did JR know JAR's semen was on the blanket, I cannot answer that. But I believe he chose that blanket for a reason. He just didn't grab some random blanket. He chose the blanket belonging to a male who masturbated. It was his son, so you think he might know that.
I am undecided as to whether the suitcase or its contents really were involved.
JR had said that it was a suitcase that JAR used to bring things home from his dorm room. Si it isn't that odd to have a comforted in there, probably brought home to be laundered. The housekeeper did say that the basement washer/dryer was used for larger items (like JB's white blanket). And it isn't unusual for there to be semen on the bedding of a college-age boy.
Also, it was FW who admitted he was the one who actually moved the suitcase under the window. He had noticed the broken glass on the floor under the window that was behind the furnace, and even picked up a shard of glass and, I believe, rested it on top of the suitcase.
One thing that doesn't fit....the Dr.Seuss book. It may or may not have belonged to JAR, but certainly doesn't fit with items he'd have packed in the suitcase or have in the dorm. I have read various claims that JB's hair/fibers were found in the suitcase or on the comforter, but I don't know that this has ever been officially stated as fact.
THIS time, we get it RIGHT!
This post is my constitutionally-protected opinion. Please do not copy or take it anywhere else.
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| 1,882 |
Is it just us, or does the fact that jeans company Levi Strauss & Co has commissioned Damien Hirst to design a few pieces for the spring season smack a bit of desperation?
Whatever, last Saturday evening, after the show at Gagosian gallery, which represents Mr. Hirst, nice Levi designer Adrian Nyman told us about the genesis of the collaboration, which took about four months.
"I had done a collection that Damien had bought at the Barneys department store that he really liked," he said. "So, he contacted me because he wanted to have more of the range"—Britspeak for line—"and through there we just struck up a rapport and I said, 'Would you like to do something?' I had this idea of Warhol with the new Warhol—you know, Damien has taken that torch. So, that was kind of the nexus that we jumped off from. And Damien created all this artwork just for the fashion show, so on many levels it was a great experience."
The resulting apparel: a pair of jeans, a mini skirt and a "Classic Trucker," all done in a rainbow striped pattern.
| 1,044 |
Royal Savage
By Victoria Ashley
Description
ROYAL SAVAGE I CAN'T CLOSE MY EYES… I refuse to. Every time I do, all I see is blood, death, and pain. I can feel it - almost taste it, bringing me back to that night. It doesn't matter that I'm still breathing; I no longer need it, I no longer want it. I despise it along with everything else around me. The only thing I long for is to f*****g fade away. I've given up. Until her at least… AVALON. She comes into my world, knocking me on my ass. It turns me on to have her around me. Makes me want to wrap my hand around her tight little throat and f**k her until she feels my pain, feels the monster in me, but also makes me want to protect her from the very thing that she should be afraid of... me.Once she sees the damage that I'm capable of; she'll look at me like everyone else around me does: with fear.
AVALON KNIGHT HIS EYES... THE DARKNESS IN them draws me to him, making me want to taste him, feel him… and save him. I shouldn't have gotten on the back of his motorcycle that day. I know that now. Colton warned me. I was told it was dangerous. I was told that nothing would be the same. He was right. ROYAL is dangerous, dark, and seductive; the very thing that keeps me hanging on, willing to give my last breath just to touch him… breathe him in. He's savage, inked, and highly captivating. So different from his brother… He's hazardous to my health, mind, and body, yet the only thing that I crave. I want to free him. I want to change his mind, but I'm afraid that he's already too faded…
Reviews
Good
4
By Prince Darkness
Is a good book to read
Great book!
5
By Legal Regal
Great characters, great story and I can’t wait to read more from this author!
Hearts can heal and love again
4
By kathyesf
This is the first book I have read by this author and it will not be the last. This is a story of a man that has lived through a horrible nightmare and lost everything and is trying to just get through every day. Avalon is underwhelmed in her love life and is in a relationship that is dull. These two meet and sparks fly. Their story pulls you in and makes you root for them. There are moments that are truly heartbreaking, but there are also parts where you hope that a heart can heal and learn to love again. The end was WOW, I didn't see it coming and when it did I was blown away and loved that the author put this twist in. Definitely recommend.
Wow
5
By Joeygirl1980
Wow. Where do you even start. This book has you hook line and sinker. You can not put this book down. Royal is one tough, hot head headed man. But with everything he has been through you see why. Ava is his match. She takes the beast. This book keeps you hooked from page one. It is deep and dark but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I hope we get more of this series. Each one of the guys in it you fall for so I hope Blaine and Jax get a book too. A must read. But be forward. It can get dark in some places. But so worth the read.
Savage book!
5
By NajahIman
I have enjoyed a few of the authors other books, so gave this one a try. I was pleasantly surprised! I was instantly drawn into the story through the attraction I started to form for the characters. Royal seems so hot and I would gladly let him ink my body! Avalon knows what she wants and won't let a lacking boyfriend stand in her way. The sex scenes has me walking around wet, with hot rough encounters. The only thing this book left me wanting more of, are pages! I'd love to have read 600 more pages with follow ups on other characters I've fallen for.
Team Royal!!
Get ready for Royal to blow your mind d and capture your heart! One of my favorite books EVER!
5
By Chatterbox21828
Victoria Ashley far outdid herself with this book. It's hands down her best book yet and one of my favorite books ever! Reading this story is like reading her heart in words. She poured so much of herself into this book and stepped far outside of her comfort zone. She took a risk and boy did it pay off! What she has given us with Royal's story is pure perfection! If I could give this book one word it would be epic! You get Royal who is so dark and pained that you instantly fall for him and want to comfort him. You can't help but know that he's a good guy done wrong in some way. Ava comes into his life at the most unexpected time and when two lives like theirs come together it is absolute magic! This story is a journey of peace, love and forgiveness. You will get so pulled into this book so be prepared to have every emotion possible! There are twists that I didn't see coming and I was left speechless. My heart was all in with this book. I was so invested and only hoped that by the end of the story I would come out whole. I was so happy to read the final words of this book but it was also bittersweet because I never wanted it to end. Although I truly feel that this story never will end because once you meet Royal he will live on in your heart and hold a piece of it forever. You can't forget the other characters in this book also. They brought a element to this book that lift it up right at the moments when it needed it the most. I only hope that they will get their own book someday because those boys are never at a loss for words and have plenty more to say! Thank you Victoria for allowing yourself to try something different because what this book will bring to so many is never to give up. Even at the darkest moments there is a light at the end of the tunnel no matter how far away it is. It's there you just have to fight to get there no matter how hard of a journey it is. Thank you for allowing me to believe and know that even in the darkest times the sweetest rewards can be found. You just have to look for them. When a book can affect you like that it is just special. I could talk about this book forever but I'll leave it to the reader to read it and experience everything that I have. Get ready to meet Royal Savage! Once you meet him you'll never be the same!
😢😢😢
5
By CHriStINa😬
I loved it so much.... The ending was the best part!!!! Royal and Avalon are so good for each other.... Great book Victoria Ashley never disappoints.....
| 6,221 |
While I was being driven from work to pick up my car at the auto repair shop, the shuttle driver kept me fascinated explaining his research into family ancestry.
I can identify with him because while I haven’t done any ancestry research, I still place importance on my family’s past, present and future. I really like that sense of belonging.
Maybe you’ve heard it said that we all belong to what some spiritual folks call “God’s family”. Or maybe they’ve told you we’re all “children of God”. If you believe in a creator, that probably makes sense and has a sweet appeal.
But is it true? From the perspective of my faith – I follow Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is God’s Son – we are all God’s creations. Beyond the procreating actions of our parents, serious Jesus followers believe none of us would be here without God.
However, that doesn’t mean we’re in His family. Consider this: many of us know of someone whose family has a ‘black sheep’ – a person who, through their awful behaviour, has been kicked out of the family. They’re cut off from communication and banned from family events.
Now consider the character of God. Whether you agree or not, He’s perfect. How can I advance this? Well, let me quote Jesus: “you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
Note what Jesus is saying:
This is the character of God.
We must also be perfect in order to meet God’s standard and, after our earthly lives end, spend eternity with Him in Heaven.
The reality is, we’ve all fallen horribly short of God’s standard. An ancient prophet wrote, “It is your sins that separate you from your God. He turns away from you when he sees them.” So we’re all black sheep who are NOT in God’s family.
But there’s good news here. God WANTS YOUin His family. In fact, He’s so driven by that desire that He sent Jesus to earth to show us how to live and then to sacrifice His life to make up for all the wrong things we’ve done and all the right things we’ve failed to do.
If you give this serious thought, you’ll realize Jesus is a life-changing gift of love and mercy. All you have to do is accept it. And if you do that, with thoughtful sincerity, God sees you as He sees Jesus: perfect in every way.
Furthermore, if you accept the gift of Jesus, declare Him to be your Lord and Saviour, then you become more than God’s creation. You become part of His family. Then He comes into your life and starts to make you more like Jesus.
Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.
| 2,613 |
Holiday Stories and Warm Wishes
12/30/2008 at 03:36 PM.
Hi all!
I just wanted to take this time to wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year!!
I also thought it wld be fun to share holiday stories and New Year's resolutions.
For us, this was a very special yr. Through all our struggles, this season has somehow brought our family closer together. My husband and I have decided to turn over a new leaf, placing emphasis on a fresh positive outlook for 2009.
A funny story: Our boys were playing in the snow, when one of them lost his boot. He immediately started whining. Our older son took notice of this, found the boot and buried it deep in the snow. To get back at him, our little guy grabbed his brother's glove and threw it across the yard. In doing this, they both fell over into the snow.
My husband caught the whole thing on video. Once inside, we all sat down to watch the tape. It was funny to watch, and even the kids laughed.
Life is too short. Enjoy the little moments, and try not to sweat the small stuff.
Thank you concerned! I love to put the old videos on and see my grown boys so innocent and chilly faced!!
My boyfriend and I have decided that our resolution is to practice better discipline in 2009. This will range from eating to parenting.
We gathered for the holiday and we played a game where family members pair up to wrap a present faster than their opponents. The twist was each person must keep one hand behind his/her back, forcing us to work together! It was hilarious!!
Thank you for the wishes, concerned! I'm glad I clicked and read your post.
I had been so busy with our New Year's Day party preparations, that I had not taken time to stop and reflect on the past year and think of resolutions for the coming year.
Reading your post made me think of my mom, who died just before the holidays several years ago. But don't feel bad, because your post made me smile with the memory of her!
Why I thought of her reading your post is because she was known for always saying "Don't sweat the small stuff!" much as you wrote at the end of your post.
So I think I will try to make that my resolution, in my mom's memory.
A story? Well, since I am thinking of my mom, here's one about her. I remember being really sad, missing my mom while driving to work a couple of weeks after she died. She left us very suddenly and unexpectedly, and so I didn't get a chance to talk to her before she died. Just then, on the radio the song "I Hope You Dance" came on, and I felt like it was my mother talking to me, giving me her wishes on how to live my life. You see, she loved, loved, loved to dance. It was her "thing". Although it made me teary, it also made me feel good. I still always think of her when I hear that song.
"...And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance...I hope you dance."
So I think that will be my other resolution or motto for this coming year! Sometimes I am inclined to just skip things, or "sit it out", but I will try to push myself to "dance"! :o)
highlights
Kindergarten Readiness App Wins Gold
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| 3,587 |
Amiga-esque shmup Sky Force Reloaded is out now
As a shmup aficionado, The Sky Force games have always sat on the periphery of my awareness. Despite Polish developers Infinite Dreams‘ origins working on Amiga games, their platform of choice for their flagship shmup series was the iPhone of all things. It seemed foolish, and I initially dismissed the original game as being entirely unsuited to the platform. I was wrong.
Against all odds, the genre flourished. Even Japanese bullet-hell monsters Cave began porting their arcade classics to phones and tablets, and the Sky Force series became one of the better-known mobile shooter franchises. Now, Infinite Dreams have come on home to PC with Sky Force Reloaded, and might just have a thing or two to teach us about accessibility in the genre.
Sky Force Reloaded is an interesting blend of eastern and western shmup design, with some chunky bullet-soaking enemies, but also some interestingly intricate bullet patterns and a relatively unforgiving health system. The closest point of reference I can give would be Grasshopper’s Sine Mora, minus some of the visual creativity and soul-rendingly bleak storytelling. Mechanically, it adopts a few traits from the likes of Raiden and 1942, especially the way it handles enemy waves and powerups, and the whole blend is neatly spiced with a very Amiga-styled pseudo-chiptune/tracker soundtrack.
The end result is a very polished, if slightly straightforward shmup. Rather than play the entire campaign in one sitting (it’s quite lengthy at 15 levels long), you take on stages individually as you see fit, replaying and mastering them to fulfil achievement requirements, and spend the golden star pickups you accrue on permanent upgrades to your fighter. While this could throw off balance easily, true completion of a level requires zero damage taken and 100% of enemies cleared, which is a difficult feat even with a fully tricked out fighter. Mercifully, even failed runs will give you some more money to pour into your long-term upgrades.
Still, the fact that it offers varying degrees of success for any given level opens this one to a much wider audience. Merely surviving to the end of a level is relatively easy (at least early on) but mastery is encouraged. Perhaps a side-effect of the series’ gestation on touchscreen devices, the lower requirements for entry means that the game can turn up the heat more gradually. Even if you’ve no experience with the genre, you’ll be weaving through bullets in no time, assuming a little determination.
| 2,564 |
Events are being duplicated
DAVDroid has recently begun to duplicated repeating events [annot: just checked: This does not only affect repeating but also one time events, not all of them, though] from two of my calendars, both of which are from Nextcloud 11. One of the calendars being readonly, the other one read-write. I see one event 8 times for the same date, another one 4 and another one 2 times. I have no issues with them on other clients.
I used to observe the same problem in the past, but at some point it went away. Now it is back, for some reason.
If you need logs, I can happily provide both DAVdroid and nextcloud server logs, but I am not sure what kind of logs are needed, please advise.
Not that I know of. The multiplication of events seems to happen at random
Does it only happen for recurring events?
I think that used to be the case some time ago, but now even single, non-repeating events appear multiple times in the calendar.
Some of these problems were fixed in newer calendar providers, so updating the Android version might help.
In fact I have not yet experienced the issue on a different device with newer Android version. Not sure about which Android version is my friend who is also experiencing this issue on, will get back to you on that one
@benjamin-kwiatek In our tests and for thousands of Nextcloud and iCloud users, this problem does not occur so we won’t remove them from our list. We also use DAVdroid for ourselves and have not seen this problem.
Again: Is there a way to reproduce the problem? For instance, a test account for which the same steps lead to duplicated events? Without ever having seen this problem, I really can’t look into it.
I know it’s a developer’s nightmare but Kuba stated correctly. IT HAPPENS RANDOMLY.
I’ve deleted my recent duplicates and recreated the event exactly as before.
But the duplication didn’t take place this time.
But the problem REALLY EXISTS and as Kuba confirms, it’s not just the fault of my sh**ty LG phone still waiting for Android 7…
Is there any way I can inspect the calendar storage since the problem seems to come from the way davdroid uses this layer? (Remember: I can make the problem go away be deleting all the calendar storage data and resyncing).
Is there any way I can inspect the calendar storage since the problem seems to come from the way davdroid uses this layer? (Remember: I can make the problem go away be deleting all the calendar storage data and resyncing).
The best approach I know is to have DAVdroid logs on all the time and wait for some duplication, and then graze through all the logs.
You can also query the calendar storage by various methods. If you have a rooted phone, you can fetch the whole DB. Or you can do adb shell and then query the provider like content query --uri content://com.android.calendar/calendars (requires USB debugging active). You can view
Until today I thought that the problem is related to the S-Planner app. But with the last update of DavDroid S-Planner crashes nearly on every operation, so I switched to DigiCal. But the duplicated entries remains.
The duplications in my case only appear on birthdays (which is 95% of my repeated events).
About 20% of the birthdays are not duplicated
About 50% of the birthdays are twice
About 30% of the birthdays are triple
Desktop applications (like Thunderbird Lightning or Apple Calendar) does not show this behaviour.
well, not an option for me
anyway - throwing the phone into a river does not alter the ics entries within the database - therefore I doubt that an invalid entry is the culprit. Probably it is related to caching of DavDroid?
@kuba-orlik Would be interesting which device you now have. As said above, we need much more information. Every information we can get, because we have too little information to find the cause of your problem.
I also guess that you didn’t switch server, so for me it sounds like that could be related to your server… especially when considering that most people (including myself, using DAVdroid every day) don’t have that problem. But who knows, without logs and reproducing we won’t find it out.
| 4,178 |
Meta
Aust Jazz Museum
We all know that jazz in Australia is alive and well! Great musos all over the country, lots of talented youngsters graduating from colleges and universities every year, clubs, pubs, festivals…
But what about our jazz history? The great post-war jazz blooming of the Bells, Graeme and Roger, Ade, Graeme Coyle, Bob Barnard, and more. Some of the great gigs of all time were recorded on tape and acetate, and you know what happens to them over time: they disintegrate.
A bunch of concerned jazz lovers got together in 1996 and established the Victorian Jazz Archive in a bid to preserve Australia’s jazz heritage, at a time when historic recordings on media such as tape and acetate were in danger of being lost forever due to deterioration. Today, now known as the Australian Jazz Museum, we continue to collect, archive and share great Australian Jazz. We are a fully-accredited museum, and are totally self-supporting and run entirely by volunteers. In addition to maintaining our constantly-growing music/print/photo/instrument collection, we provide research support to scholars and music presenters, and host improvisation workshops for aspiring jazz musicians. Our little shop stocks over 300 different jazz CDs and is open to the public.
While we regularly organise live jazz concerts for fund-raising purposes and to entertain tour groups, we see our role more as augmenting that of the bands, clubs and entrepreneurs who actively provide live jazz music to the public. We preserve heritage, provide an archive for contemporary recorded jazz, and help to nurture the jazz musicians of the future. The Museum includes a space which can be put to use for rehearsals, and is available free-of-charge to jazz bands.
Membership dues play an important part in covering our operating expenses. Membership costs only $50/year. Members receive a free CD of their choice from our own series of CDs of rare jazz recordings; 10% off any CD, DVD or book from our bookshop; our excellent quarterly magazine; and use of our Members’ library. If you’re a musician doing regular gigs, Musician membership is only $25/year, and we will list your gigs on our Events web page.
In addition to recordings by Australian artists we also have a large collection of overseas-recorded jazz on 78 RPM disks, vinyl and CD.
We always welcome new donations, as they present continued opportunities for us to preserve and share what might be rare examples of Australia’s Jazz heritage. And we’re always happy to get new volunteers.
Please visit our website: www.ajm.org.au. We would like to welcome you in person if you’re in the area during our open days, Tuesday and Friday 10AM to 3PM. You can contact us during these hours on 03 9800 5535.
| 2,764 |
Ed Balls: I have not U-turned over non-dom rules
Balls argued that the video had been misleadingly edited (Source: Getty)
Labour's shadow chancellor Ed Balls hit back at the Tory party yesterday after being accused of contradicting himself over a new plan to end non-doms’ tax status.
Balls, along with party leader Ed Miliband, said that a Labour government would scrap the non-domicile rule that allows people to reduce the amount of tax paid on earnings from outside the UK.
A similar system would remain an option on a short-term basis of two or three years, Labour said.
Nonetheless, the Conservative party went straight on the attack, publishing a video from January in which Balls said: “If you abolish the whole status it will probably end up costing Britain money.”
Balls argued that the video had been misleadingly edited. “They have dropped the part of my interview where on non-domicile rules I say, ‘I think we can be tougher and we should be and we will’. That is exactly what we have proposed [today],” he said.
Chancellor George Osborne said the policy announcement was “a complete shambles”, and that he had hiked the levy non-doms pay .
Simon Walker, the director general of the Institute of Directors, said: “Attacking non-doms is a shrewd political move, but the economics of the proposed reforms are unconvincing. It’s very unclear what additional revenue would be raised, but the UK’s international reputation would be put at risk.”
| 1,490 |
The beefy medium weight is just right for casual, washable slipcovers. I think you will also like how versatile it is. My customer combined it with other slipcovers I made in Maharaja Charcoal and Catalina Ticking Black Pearl for her Lake Michigan home. Beautiful!
| 264 |
The US electorate has spoken. The Republican party yesterday won a majority in the US Senate, meaning the party controls both chambers of Congress for the first time since 2005. That’s thrown the future of US climate policy into some doubt, as Republican voters and politicians are generally less concerned about the issue than their Democrat colleagues.
Last year, President Obama announced his climate action plan. The centrepiece of the policy is a new regulation requiring power plants to cut emissions 30 per cent by 2030, known as the clean power plan.
The Republican’s Senate leader-elect, Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell, describes the policy as “a massive, big-government boondoggle“, and has pledged to try and overturn it. There are a number of ways the Republicans may set about this.
The Republicans already controlled the House of Representatives. Yesterday they won an additional seven seats in the Senate, giving the party a majority. That means the Democrats do not have enough members of Congress to block such a move.
The Republicans may also add clauses to any legislation the Democrats and president really want passed, known as riders, with the aim curbing Obama’s plan.
If Obama’s clean power plan is rolled back, it could have serious implications for international climate negotiations. Lots of countries argue that they shouldn’t be expected to act until the US does as it has the world’s largest historical emissions. China’s approach to the climate negotiations has arguably softened since Obama announced his action plan.
If the climate plan was no longer in place, or significantly curbed, China and nations may be reluctant to commit to strong climate action. That would represent a big blow to negotiators’ chances of getting a new global climate deal in Paris.
Committee powers
The election result means Republican senators are set to become chairs of some prominent committees. That gives a high-profile platform to some politicians vehemently opposed to tackling climate change, as The Nation points out.
Climate skeptic committee chairs such as Inhofe, Ted Cruz, and Ron Johnson may also move to cut funding to those charged with implementing Obama’s climate plan, such as the Environmental Protection Agency.
Combined, the committee chairs make the Senate altogether less climate-friendly.
That could spook other governments in the run-up to next year’s international climate negotiations. If they don’t think the US’s more proactive approach to curbing emissions is going to last, they are less likely to agree to taking action themselves.
Keystone XL
The Republicans are also likely to try and push the approval of a new oil pipeline connecting the US to Canada’s tar sands.
Campaign group 350.org have campaigned heavily against the project, called Keystone XL. It says the pipeline could deliver 800,000 barrels of the “world’s dirtiest oil” to the US each day, pushing up emissions.
The Republicans have always been in favour of the pipeline, and a number of Democrats also approve. Now the Republican’s have a majority in the Senate, they can table a vote on the pipeline, something the previous Democrat leader Harry Reid had been avoiding.
Democrats that oppose the pipeline are now unlikely to have enough votes to block it. That means President Obama will either have to veto the project or give Keystone XL a permit.
If the US builds new fossil fuel infrastructure, it may be harder for it to persuade other countries to decarbonise their energy systems. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says fossil fuels need to be phased out by 2100 if the world is going to avoid temperatures rising more than two degrees above pre-industrial levels.
If the US approves the Keystone XL pipeline, it could look like the country is ignoring the IPCC’s advice, potentially creating political space for others to do the same.
Global issues
The US’s efforts to curb emissions and the world’s prospects of taking action are largely synonymous.
Those unsure of the Senate’s international influence need only to think back to 1997, when a Republican Senate refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. That decision meant the world’s only binding agreement to cut emissions was hamstrung from the start. Many say it never recovered.
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Klout names the top 10 most influential games companies at GDC 2012
Klout, a company that measures influence online, has revealed the top ten most influential games companies present at this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC).
PlayStation dominates the list, beating Electronic Arts by two points, with Xbox tagging close behind. In fourth place is the social network game development company, Zynga, which has brought some of the most widely used applications to Facebook, including FarmVille.
Rockstar Games—the developer/publisher responsible for blockbuster titles like Grand Theft Auto, L.A. Noire, and Red Dead Redemption—places fifth with Capcom USA ranked only one point below it. Capcom is the colossal company behind Resident Evil and Street Fighter, among other games. SEGA (Sonic the Hedgehog, Phantasy Star) is tied with Capcom in points but sits at seventh on the list.
Nintendo of America and Ubisoft both scored 64 points and maintain the eighth and ninth positions, respectively. Finally, Epic Games, known for their Unreal Engine technology and successful Gears of Wars series, bottoms out the list at tenth.
Klout measures influence based on a company's "ability to drive action in social networks." Their website describes the Klout Score as something that constantly evolves as companies build their influence over time. As the scores becomes higher, it becomes exponentially more difficult to increase it further. The average Klout Score is 20.
| 1,480 |
LoadedKen Bruen
Blame the Irish.
I always do.
The fuckers don't care, they're used to it, all that Catholic guilt they inherit, blame is, like, habitual. Too, all that rain they get? Makes them amenable to bad shit. I've known my share of micks-you grow up in Brixton, they're part of the landscape. Not necessarily a good part but they have their spot. Worked with a few when I was starting out, getting my act together. I didn't know as much as I thought I knew, so sure, I had them in my early crew.
Give them one thing, they're fearless, will go that extra reckless yard, laugh on the trip, and true, they've got your back, won't let you get ambushed. But it's after, at the pub, they get stuck in it, and hell, they get to talking, talking loose. Near got my collar felt cos of that. So I don't use them any more. One guy, named, of course, Paddy, said to me: "Not that long ago, the B'n'Bs . . . they had signs proclaiming, No coloureds, no dogs, no Irish ."
He was smiling when he told me and that's when you most got to worry, the fucks are smiling, you're in for the high jump. Paddy got eight years over a botched post office gig, he'd torn off his mask halfway through the deal, as it itched. I'd driven to the Scrubs, see if he needed anything, and he shook his head, said, "Don't visit any more."
I was a little miffed and he explained, "Nothing personal but you're a Brit."
Like that made any sense, he was in a Brit nick . Logic and the Irish never gel, but he must have clocked my confusion, added, "In here, I'm with my countrymen. They see a Brit visiting, I'm fucked."
Let him stew.
Life was shaping up nice for me. Took some time but I'd put it together real slow. Doing some merchandise, a little meth, some heroin, and, of course, the coke. Didn't handle any of the shit my own self, had it all through channels, lots of dumb bastards out there will take the weight. I arranged the supply, got it to the public, and stayed real anonymous, had me a share in a pub, karaoke four nights a week, the slots, and on a Sunday, a tasty afternoon of lap dancing. The cops got their share and everyone was, if not happy, reasonably prosperous. None of us getting rich but it paid for a few extras. Bought into a car park and, no kidding, serious change in that.
Best of all, I'd a fine gaff on Electric Avenue, owned the lease, and from outside, looked like a squat, which keeps the burglars away. Inside, got me Heal's furniture, clean and open-plan living room, lots of wicker furniture. I like it, real laid-back vibe. No woman, I like my freedom. Sure, on a Friday night I pick up some fox, bring her back, but she's out of there by three in the morning. I don't need no permanent company. Move some babe in and that's the end of my hard-bought independence.
Under the floorboards is my stash: coke, fifteen large and a Glock. The baseball bat I keep by the bed.
Then I met Kelly.
I'd been to the Fridge to see a very bad hip hop outfit who were supposed to be the next big thing. Jeez, they were atrocious, no one told them the whole gangsta scene was, like . . . dead. I went down to the pub after, needed to get the taste out of my mouth. I ordered a pint of bitter and heard, "To match your mood."
A woman in her late twenties, dressed in late Goth style, lots of black make-up, clothes, attitude. I've nothing against them, they're harmless, and if they think the Cure are still relevant, well, it takes all kinds . . . better than listening to Dido. Her face wasn't pretty, not even close, but it had an energy, a vitality that made it noticeable. I gave her my best London look with lots of Brixton overshadow, the look that says, Fuck off . . . now .
She felt an explanation was due, said, "Bitter, for the bitterness in your face."
I did the American bit, asked, "I know you?"
She laughed, said, "Not yet."
I grabbed my pint, moved away. She was surrounded by other Goths but she was the centre, the flame they danced around. I'd noticed her eyes had an odd green fleck, made you want to stare at them. I shook myself, muttered, "Cop on."
On my second pint, I chanced a glance at her and she was looking right at me, winked. I was enraged, the fuck was that about? Had a JD for the road-I'm not a big drinker, that shit becomes a habit and I've plans, being a booze hound isn't among them. Knocked it back and headed for the door, she caught up with me, asked, "Buy me a kebab?"
Now I could hear the Irish lilt, almost like she was singing the words. I stopped, asked, "What the hell is the matter with you?"
She was smiling, went, "I'm hungry and I don't want to eat alone."
I indicated the pub. "What about your fan cub, won't they eat with you?"
She almost sneered. It curled her lip and I'd a compulsion to kiss her, a roaring in my head, What is happening to me?
"Adoration is so, like, tiresome, you fink?"
The little bit of London- fink -to what? To make me comfortable? "I wouldn't know, it's not a concept I'm familiar with."
She laughed out loud, and her laugh made you want to join in. She said, "Oh, don't we talk posh, what's a concept, then? Is it like a condom?"
I'm still not sure why, but I decided to buy her the bloody kebab-to get rid of her, to see what more outrageous banter she'd produce? She suggested we eat them in the park and I asked, "Are you out of your mind? It's a war zone."
She blew that off with: "I'll mind you ."
The way she said it, as if she meant it, as if . . . fuck, I dunno, as if she was looking for someone to mind. So I said my place was round the corner and she chirped, "Whoo . . . fast worker. My mammie warned me about men like you."
I'd just taken a bite of the kebab, it was about what you'd expect, tasteless with a hint of acid. I had to ask. "What kind of man is that, a stranger?"
She flung her kebab in the air. "No, English." Then she watched the kebab splatter on the road, sang, "Feed the birds."
Bringing her back to my place, the first mistake-and if it were the only one, well, even now, I don't know what was going on with me, like I was mesmerized.
She looked round my flat, and yeah, I was pretty damn proud, it looked good.
"Who lives here, some control freak, an anal retentive?"
Man, I was pissed, tried: "You have some problem with tidiness, with a place being clean?"
Fuck, you get defensive, you've already lost.
She was delighted, moved to me, got her tongue way down my throat, and in jig time we were going at it like demented things. Passion is not something I've had huge experience with-sure, I mean I get my share, but never like that.
Later, lying on the floor, me grabbing for air, she asked, "What do you want?"
She was smoking. I didn't think it was time to mention my place was smoke-free, so I let it slide, not easily, bit down. I leaned on one elbow, said, "I think I just had what I want."
She flicked the butt in the direction of the sink; I had to deliberately avert my eyes, not thinking where it landed. She said, "Sex, sex is no big deal. I mean in life, the . . . what do they call it . . . the bigger picture ?"
I wanted to be comfortable, not go to jail, keep things focused. I said, "Nice set of wheels, have my eye on - "
She cut me off, went: "Bollocks, fecking cars, what is it with guys and motors? Is it like some phallic symbol? Got me a mean engine ."
Her tone, dripping with bile. Before I could get my mouth going, she continued, "I want to be loaded, serious wedge, you know what I'm saying?"
I nearly let slip about my stash, held back and asked, "So, you get loaded, then what?"
She was pulling on her clothes, looked at me like I was dense. "Then it's fuck you, world ."
She was heading for the door, I asked, "You leaving?"
That's what I always wanted, get them out as soon as possible. Now, though . . .
Her hand was on her hip and she raised an eyebrow. "What, you think you're up for another round? I think you shot your load, need a week to get you hot again, or am I wrong?"
That stung, I'd never had complaints before, should have told her to bang the door behind her, near whimpered, "Will I see you?"
Her smile, smirk in neon, said, "I'll call you."
And was gone.
She didn't . . . call.
I went back to the pub, no sign of her. Okay, I went back a few times, asked the barman. I knew him a long time, we had, as they say, history, not all of it bad. He was surprised, said, "The Irish babe, yeah?"
I nodded miserably, hated to reveal a need, especially to a frigging barman, cos they talk to you, you can be sure they talk to others, and I didn't want the word out that I was, like . . . bloody needy, or worse, vulnerable. That story goes out, you are dead, the predators coming out of the flaming woodwork. He stared at me. "Matt, you surprise me, hadn't figured you for a wally."
Bad, real fucking bad.
I should have slapped him on the side of the head, get the status established, but I wanted the information. I got some edge into my voice, snapped, "What's that mean?"
He was doing bar stuff, taking his own sweet time, stashing glasses, polishing the counter, and I suppressed my impatience. Finally he straightened, touched his nose, said, "Word to the wise, mate, stay clear, she hangs with that black guy, Neville, you don't want to mess with that dude."
Neville, story was he offed some dealer, did major trade in crystal, and was serious bad news. I moved to leave, said: "I knew that."
He didn't scoff but it was in the neighborhood. "Yeah, right."
Fuck fuck fuck.
The bitch, playing with me, I resolved to put her out of my head, get on with my business. Plus, I had to get a new carpet, the cigarette had burned a hole right where you'd notice.
A week later, I was in the pub where we had the karaoke nights, nice little earner, punters get a few on, then they want to sing, did brisk sales those nights. I was at the back, discussing some plans with the manager, when I heard a voice go, "I'd like to sing 'Howling at Midnight'."
It was her, Kelly, with the Lucinda Williams song, one of my favorites, she no doubt saw the CD in my gaff. I looked quickly round, no sign of Neville, the pub hushed as she launched. Her voice was startling pure, innocent, and yet, had a hint of danger that made you pay attention. When she finished, the applause was deafening. The manager, his mouth open, whispered, "Christ, she's good."
Then she hopped off the stage, headed in my direction, small smile in place. I resolved to stay cool but to my horror whined, "You never called."
Even the manager gave me an odd look.
"What happened to hello, how have you been ?" she asked.
I moved her away, touching her arm lightly, and just that small gesture had me panting. She said: "Yes, thank you, I would like a drink."
I ordered two large vodkas, no ice, and tonics. She took the glass. "I'd have liked a Bushmills, but shit, I just can't resist the alpha male."
The touch of mockery, her eyes shining, that fleck of green dancing in there. I was dizzy, decided to get it out in the open, asked, "What do you want?"
She licked the rim of the glass, said, "I want you inside me, now."
Never finished my drink, never got to mention the black guy either. We were in my place, me tearing off my shirt, her standing, the smile on her lips, I heard: "White dude is hung."
She'd left the door ajar. Neville standing there, a car iron held loosely in his hand. I looked at her, she shrugged, moved to my left. Neville sauntered over, almost lazily took a swipe at my knee. I was on the floor.
"Cat goes down easy."
Kelly came over, licked his ear. "Let's get the stuff, get the fuck out of here."
He wanted to play, I could see it in his eyes. He drawled, "How about it, Leroy, you want to give us that famous stash you got, or you wanna go tough, make me beat the fucking crap outta you?" Either is, like, cool with me. Yo, babe, this mother got any, like, beverages?"
I said I'd get the stash, and he laughed.
"Well, get to it, bro, shit ain't come les' you go get it."
I crawled along the carpet, pulled it back, plied the floorboard loose, Kelly was shouting, "Nev, you want Heineken or Becks?"
I shot him in the balls, let him bleed out. Kelly had two bottles in her hands, let them slide to the floor, I said, "You're fucking up my carpet again, what's with you?"
I shot her in the gut, they say it's the most agonizing, she certainly seemed to prove that. I bent down, whispered, "Loaded enough for you, or you want some more? I got plenty left."
Getting my shirt tucked into my pants, I made sure it was neat, hate when it's not straight, ruins the sit of the material. I looked round, complained: "Now I'm going to have to redo the whole room."
Ken Bruen is the author of many novels, including The Guards, winner of the 2004 Shamus Award. His books have been published in many languages around the world. He is the editor of Dublin Noir and currently lives in Galway, Ireland. "Loaded" has been nominated for The Short Dagger Award from the CWA, to be announced in October.
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Charles Henry Spencer Jr.
Wednesday
Oct 30, 2013 at 12:01 AM
PAMPA - Charles Henry Spencer Jr., 72, died Monday, Oct. 28, 2013.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday in Calvary Baptist Church with the Rev. Thacker Haynes, pastor of United Methodist Church of McLean, and the Rev. Dallas Stringer, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, officiating. Burial will follow in Fairview Cemetery. Arrangements are by Carmichael-Whatley Funeral Directors of Pampa.
Mr. Spencer was a lifelong resident of Pampa. He was a mechanic for Celanese Chemical Co., retiring in 1996 after 31 years of service.
Survivors include two sons, Stephen Spencer and Charles Spencer, both of Pampa; three stepdaughters, Stephanie Moore of Fort Worth and Stacie Winegeart and Shayla Winegeart, both of Pampa; two brothers, Don Spencer of Mesa, Ariz., and Paul Spencer of Hico; three sisters, Charlene Blaylock and Katrina Bigham, both of Pampa, and Janis Ferguson of Fort Worth; and 15 grandchildren.
Amarillo Globe-News, Oct. 30, 2013
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Eastgate Center: A sign it's time to be saved
By JAMESON COOK
Thursday, May 9, 2013
A former Roseville man is preserving the city's history, one letter at a time.
Joe Niedzielski, 57, has purchased the "Eastgate Center" shopping center sign that will be removed today to make way for a new one at Gratiot Avenue and Frahzo Road. It comes after Niedzielski, years ago, saved the old Gratiot Drive In sign that he keeps at his St. Clair County home.
"It's another artifact that's gone by the wayside that needs to be saved from the scrap pile," Niedzielski said of the Eastgate sign. "I don't want to see things like this disappear forever."
Niedzielski in December paid $1,000 as the sole bidder for the sign on www.ebay.com offered by the center's owners, the Komer and Rosenberg families. Today, he will spend another $1,500 or so to have it dismantled by Phillips Sign & Lighting, a Harrison Township company.
Roseville Historical Society President Pat Chownyk praised Niedzielski's nostalgic act. The sign was erected about the time the center opened in 1954, replacing an airport that was known by several names -- Hartung, Packard Field, Gratiot and Detroit-Gratiot -- that also was the site of an annual carnival.
"It think it's great," Chownyk said. "He's trying to preserve the history of Roseville. For that, we have to be grateful. ... We have to preserve what we do have because people forget, and they don't care after a while, either.
"Joe is a dreamer. He's trying to preserve them the best that he can."
The incident is deja vu for Niedzielski. More than 28 years ago, on a Sunday night in October 1984, while others were celebrating the Detroit Tigers World Series victory, he dragged the large and heavy Gratiot Drive-In letters from its demolition site at Gratiot and Masonic Boulevard. He was allowed to store the letters in a city Department of Works facility for five years, then a friend's home for several years. They've been kept in a covered trailer on his property the past nine years.
Niedzielski told The Macomb Daily in 2004 he hoped to display the letters. But his plan has been stalled by obstacles to constructing a building on his property.
The Historical Society a few years ago tried to display the "G" at an event, Chownyk said. But it was too heavy and bulky to show off properly.
Niedzielski maintains his vision of creating a site to display both signs along with other memorabilia that he and others have saved from days gone by. But that requires more funds that he has, said Niedzielski, who works at the Chrysler Corporation factory on East Jefferson in Detroit.
"I'll store it until I find some time to restore it," he said. "I'd like to display it. Maybe that's a pipe dream.
"I want it to be like a Field of Dreams -- ' If you build it, they will come,' " he added, referring to the famous movie and line. "What people want is memories, something to warm you up when everything disappears."
Eastgate Center manager Sherrie Cohen said "it's nice" that Niedzielski will save the sign as the time has come for it to come down.
"It's a tired old sign," Cohen said. "It needs a major overhaul. It's not workable in today's environment."
A new sign will be constructed where an electronic flashing sign is located, Cohen said.
The elevated old sign has weathered storms, thrown rocks and bird collisions. Several of its letters have been replaced over the years, and a couple are in need of replacement, Cohen said.
The original bright yellow letters on dark blue background were later overlain with light-blue letters and a white background. Niedzielski hopes to peel them back to expose the original neon letters.
Two spheres that intersected each other and the lettering were removed at some point. The neon spheres flashed.
"It was quite a sign in its day," Niedzielski said. "It was a helluva sign. It had tons of neon."
That signage style represented the time-period it was erected. The use of neon and orbitals were popular in the 1950s, as the orbitals referenced the excitement and fear over atomic energy and the nuclear age.
The sign was there in Oct. 26, 1960, when John F. Kennedy spoke days before he defeated Richard Nixon for the presidency. Niedzielski recalled attending the campaign speech as a 5-year-old with his parents.
The center opened in the bedroom community during metro-Detroit's suburban boom, three years before Eastland Mall opened a few miles south in Harper Woods.
"It was a wonderful and great place," said Chownyk, who lived near 12 Mile Road and Gratiot. "I would take the bus there. It had Federal (Department Store), a dime store, a jewelry store, anything you wanted. Before it opened you had to go to Mount Clemens or Seven Mile and Gratiot."
Hundreds of thousands of motorists have driven past the sign on the often congested and cruised Gratiot throughfare.
The center's initial roster of shops also indicate the changing times. Federal was prominent but burned down in 1978. The Kmart that located in the same spot is now Kroger and TJ Maxx. Wrigley's supermarket and S.S. Kresge Co. were prime destinations for shoppers.
Cohen said a couple of original stores remain, such as Sherwin Williams.
The shopping center, which she said was the first strip mall in Michigan, has continued to thrive over the decades, Cohen said. There are vacancies at two small store locations, she said.
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China hits back at criticism over Nobel laureate's death
Beijing lodged official protests with the United States, France, Germany and the United Nations human rights office over their "irresponsible remarks" regarding Liu Xiaobo, and also criticised his Nobel status.
After the death of 2010 Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo on July 13, 2017, concern turns to his widow, Liu Xia ,sene here with photos of her husband in 2012. China has decried international criticism of its treatment of Liu, and made every attempt to erase all record of Liu's existence, even removing emojis and condolences from social media. Ng Han Guan/AP
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China lashed out on Friday at international criticism after it denied Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo's dying wish to leave the country.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing lodged official protests with the United States, France, Germany and the United Nations human rights office over their "irresponsible remarks" regarding Liu Xiaobo, and also questioned his status as a Nobel laureate.
"Conferring the prize to such a person goes against the purposes of this award. It's a blasphemy of the peace prize," he said.
China also rushed to remove emojis and condolences from social media posts on Liu's death.
The United States and the European Union paid tribute to Liu Xiaobo as it urged President Xi Jinping's government to let his widow, the poet Liu Xia, leave the country. She o has been under house arrest since 2010..
Germany expressed regret that Beijing ignored its offer to host Liu while French president Emmanuel Macron remembered him as a "freedom fighter". Britain hit out at China for preventing Liu from travelling overseas for treatment.
The UN human rights commissioner, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, said Liu "was jailed for standing up for his beliefs".
While China lodged protests, some of the global reaction to his death was relatively muted, highlighting China's emergence as an economic and diplomatic superpower on the world stage.
US President Donald Trump and Mr Macron offered praise for Xi at a joint press conference in Paris and only voiced sadness for Liu later in statements.
In a sign of China's growing confidence, the state-controlled Global Times newspaper said in an English-language editorial that "the West has bestowed upon Liu a halo, which will not linger".
Liu was jailed in 2008 after co-writing a petition calling for democratic reforms. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison for "subversion" a year later and became the first Nobel Peace Prize laureate to die in custody since German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky in 1938, who had been held by the Nazis. He was represented by an empty chair at his Nobel prize ceremony in Oslo in 2010.
The government has tried over the years to erase any memory of Liu and a search for his death turned up nothing on Baidu, China's Google-like search engine.
A day after Liu's death, attention turned to the fate of his widow, Liu Xia. Chinese doctors said she was by her husband's side when he lost his battle with liver cancer on Thursday at the age 61, only a few weeks after he was transferred from prison to a hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang. Liu's main doctor said he was able to say goodbye to his 56-year-old wife and in his final moments told her to "live well".
But authorities have restricted her contact with the outside world and her whereabouts were unknown following the death of her husband, a veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests whose advocacy for democratic reform infuriated the government.
The foreign ministry spokesman said he would "not make prejudgements" about whether Liu Xia could go abroad and that China always handles the entry and departure of its citizens "in accordance with the law".
US secretary of state Rex Tillerson paid tribute to Liu Xiaobo and called on Beijing "to release Liu Xia from house arrest and allow her to depart China, according to her wishes".
The EU urged Beijing to let Liu Xia and her family bury the dead democracy campaigner "at a place and in a manner of their choosing, and to allow them to grieve in peace".
Jared Genser, a US lawyer who represented Liu, said all contact with Liu Xia had been cut off in the past 48 hours.
"I am deeply worried about what's happening with her right now," he said.
- Censoring emojis -
Liu was jailed in 2008 after co-writing a petition calling for democratic reforms. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison for "subversion" a year later.
He became the first Nobel Peace Prize laureate to die in custody since German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky in 1938, who had been held by the Nazis.
The Chinese political prisoner was represented by an empty chair at his Nobel prize ceremony in Oslo in 2010.
The government strived over the years to erase any memory of Liu and a search for his death turned up nothing on Baidu, China's Google-like search engine.
China's censors raced to scrub social media networks of emojis of candles and "RIP" tributes following his death.
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Rochester Murals Included in WPA Art Film
The film focuses on works created under FDR's Works Progress Administration. The New Deal agency put many skilled and unskilled laborers back to work on government payroll.
Rochester native Carl Peters was hired to paint two murals for Madison High School, which was torn down in the 1980's. But the paintings, and their messages, remain.
"Life of Action" and "Life of Contemplation" are each 22 feet high. Filmmaker Michael Maglaras says they reflect the attitudes of the time.
" 'Life of Action' is all about the reconstruction of America, putting people back to work. It is filled with scenes, primarily of men working, you know, creating opportunities for jobs."
He says "Life of Action" is also, in many ways, a call to action.
"There is a very central figure in the center of the mural itself, who clearly is an architect, and before him is a blank canvas that he's pointing to, and he's essentially suggesting that anyone looking at this mural, in this case presumably high school kids, would see that although all these men are working in 'Life of Action,' that the future is a blank page."
The other mural, "Life of Contemplation," is about Americans using their intellect to rise above their challenges and circumstances.
" 'Life of Contemplation' is a more lyrical piece... It's about about cerebral side of our rebuilding as a country during the Depression. It's about learning, it's about books, it's about education."
Maglaras says the murals, which seem to mirror each other, explain that it takes both of these particular strengths to rebuild a nation. Much of the art work commissioned in this time, and featured in Maglaras' film, have similar themes of rebuilding, restoring, and overcoming.
According to Maglaras, the paintings also include Rochester residents.
"In fact, Carl Peters used a number of Madison High students and teachers in both these murals and you can see that that's the case when you look closely at the work."
Both murals are on display at the Wilson Magnet School, but they are behind glass. Maglaras says it was a painstaking process to photograph them, but thanks to a collaboration with the gallery and Fotowerks, the paintings will be able to appear in his upcoming film.
The film is called, "Enough to Live On: The Arts of the WPA." The film commemorates the 80th anniversary of the agency and the artists who were employed by it.
Here's a segment of the film featuring the murals and the photography process used to capture them:
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My little homage/counterpoint to Picasso’s Le Suite Vollard does seem chock full of hubris. I’m quite aware of that. I don’t think you can make art without a good dose of it. What caused Picasso to take on Cezanne? What caused Matisse to take on Van Gogh?…
Last night I was working on a plate, Sacred Heart Virgin & Child. I was trying to unify the head and the body, which looked disjointed in previous proofs. I used a little trick I first did in Sacred Heart Infant Jesus. I took some acrylic floor…
This project, Le Suite Gesu, is a product of germination, specifically as I entered my sixties, a new way of looking at the world sprouted in me, and is expressing itself in printmaking. I abandoned printmaking after grad school, 25 years ago. Our first week at…
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Archive for June, 2017
We are back where we started. In the north. Life’s a circle. It’s true.
People ask, ‘it is like coming home?’
Yes – for the familiarity of the skyline, old faces, knowing – mostly – where to go to get what.
And no – for in the intervening ten years much has changed: many old faces have been replaced by new, younger, unfamiliar ones who do not know I bear a history here, who will treat me with the disdain that sometimes attaches to newbies, for – especially – that my own intrinsic geography has changed: I am a different person than the one who left here a decade ago. I am older. The many worries of recent years have left question marks as to the uncertainty of our future furrowed to my brow, but laughter too, in the creases around my eyes, deepened for squinting into many, many beautiful sunups and sundowns. My children are grown – and two flown; when I left they were all school children.
In the last ten years I have lived in almost a dozen houses, a rare few long enough to morph as Home. I have lived in three countries in four years. I have packed a removals truck six times in five and followed it a minimum of five hundred miles cross country, over borders, invisible lines in the African dust.
For the most part, the landscape of the last decade has been lonely. Rare new friends stand tall, like baobabs on a plain that stretches until I can’t see anymore; they have helped me to feel rooted when I did not. And I clung to old friends like life rafts. Some – inevitably – drifted off: it was I who was drowning, after all. I who needed them more than they me; their busier, social, populated lives kept them buoyant. I feel no rancour: my world, for its staggering isolation and vast skies, was diminished. My views at once both sprawled and shrunken: to Ant. To the children. To my animals. To my – increasingly – travel weary possessions. I have taken a handful of photographs everywhere I have gone, to pin to a mirror, a fridge, to remind me what I’m about, whilst I waited for a container chock full of a life lived elsewhere.
If you asked me six years ago, when we left the Outpost first time around, whether I’d be leaving if I could see the maelstrom I was stepping into, I’d have balked. I’d have said, ‘are you mad? you expect me to leave my – admittedly – solitary but safe position to traipse through three countries, six or seven homes, half a dozen jobs, dragging my children behind me in a turbulent wake?’. No thanks I would have said – sternly and emphatically – and I’d have stayed firmly put.
But ask me now, ‘would you undo what has been done?’ and that’s a harder question to answer. It hasn’t been all bad. There have been some very bad bits, some bits where I felt cowed, defeated, broke – and broken . But there has been adventure, tons of new adventure, huge, soaring challenges, new places, new faces, and each one has carved a small groove in me – nicked me with an experience I would not otherwise have had – which partly accounts for the changed shape I bear now.
I have learned many things. I have learned that my children are stronger than they ought to have been at so tender an age. I have learned that you can cart a cat through several countries sitting on the back seat of a landcruiser with two dogs and nobody comes off any the worse. I have learned that I can navigate new cities. I have learned how to make lampshades. I have learned how to design fabric. I have learned which friends will always be worth hanging onto for they have allowed me to cling in needy and unattractive fashion. I have learned how to pack a 40ft container with thrift so that I get much more into it than is seemly. I have learned – in this vast, unwieldy period where I was often disorientated – to narrow my gaze to that which is close and near and manageable: I have made jam. Literally. This most recent move was preceded by four batches of marmalade so that into said container went jars bejeweled with the citrine hues of Seville, perfumed with ginger.
And I have learned, as the flotsam and jetsam thrown up by a single bad choice six years ago buffeted and toppled me, that Ant was my anchor. And I his.
So no. I would not have asked for the last six years.
But nor would I want to erase the lessons I have been forced to counter.
I am Home. It mostly looks the same: those two mountains under which I sit stand majestic sentinel over miles and miles of spilling Africa. It is subtly changed.
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A voice in the wilderness crying, "Without vision, the people perish.."
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
RANDOM MEMORIES OF BALTIMORE
I haven't mentioned much about Baltimore in my 2+ years of postings. Baltimore was our first stop in 42+ years of marriage. I have no photos immediately at hand.
On one of my treks from Norfolk VA to Baltimore, I finally found a rental in Ferndale, a suburb. It was a very old two story house with basement that had been converted into two "apartments." We rented the larger lower one; electricity and water/sewer were paid.
The upstairs renters varied and often were short term. They made lots of noise. The ceiling was thin; we knew when they were on the toilet or taking baths (together) from sounds inas the drain pipe from the upper floor as it descended, exposed through our kitchenette, right near our little dinette. Glad it was cast iron and never leaked! We heard some interesting conversations while dining. The drainpipe and thin ceiling were very good megaphones.
One couple was into drugs and had a lot of parties. (also a dog which was prohibited by our landlord). The drugs led to a raid and they were evicted. I understand the dog's eliminations were all within the apartment and further description is needless. The landlord had unimaginable expense in making the apartment livable again.
About a year later the city sewer backed up into our basement. The city owning the sewer plant had to evacuate all of us into motels and were responsible for cleaning up the mess. YUCK YUCK YUCK. My darkroom was in basement; I think we had sort of a den in basementwhich we did not use.
This was a very busy time of our "just married" lives. I had found employment with a pharmacy chain, READ's, as a relief pharmacist. I covered all of Baltimore.
I quickly learned it was a city, whose citizens were of varied ethnicity. There were blacks, whites, Polish and Jewish to name a vary few. It was somewhat amusing, within the city, various ethnic groups seemed to segregate themselves into areas of the huge city.
The pharmacy chain seemed to have mainly Jewish ownership, administrators, supervisors, etc. A large number of pharmacists were Jewish of various sects. The Jewish supervisor and person in charge of hiring pharmacists, said he loved to have a few "Gentiles" come along as they worked the Jewish holidays. I obligingly and gladly worked their holidays, but strangely the same Jewish persons wanted off all the "Gentile" holidays, too.
I had to learn a bit of a new language, as Texanese was not spoken in Baltimore. A BUN and a ROLL were exactly opposite my definition of each. A bag and a sack were different too. Nobody there knew what a gunny sack was.... A delightful older Jewish pharmacist worked along side me at one of the all-night stores. He educated me in the language of Baltimore, not to mention he thought I had an awful accent and drawl. I thought the same of his Yiddish.
My husband is not a sports addict at all, but liked baseball a bit. We went to several Baltimore Orioles games. The tickets were not too expensive, especially when compared to the Baltimore Colts who were at their pinnacle of success with Johnny Unitas.
We usually left game early. If it were a close game, we sat in the car and listened to the finish. One midsummer night I noticed a long line forming around the stadium. There were make-shift tents and cook stoves for cofee and hot snacks. I asked a passerby why the line was forming, as it was past 10 p.m.
To my amazement, these die-hard fans were forming to buy season tickets for the Baltimore Colts. Some had been there more than one day! Obviously, I never attended a Colts game. [Nor my Dallas Cowboys, either, and guess I never will, as one ticket is terribly expensive.]
We were tourists when our schedules allowed--Like Gettysburg, Fort McHenry, Washington DC several times. I loved the Smithsonian museums.
What amazed me was how many Baltimore citizens never visited Fort McHenry. My husband's ship was moored near Fort McHenry, inspiration for our national anthem.
We never made Pimlico, the second leg of the Triple Crown of Horse racing, but we attended some kind of buggy racing, and a lot of demolition derbies.
We bought new cars, and wardrobes, and in general, settled into marriage, as much as possible.This house is where I discovered a certain clock from Shelly's family was haunted which will have to be a separate story.We had good neighbors with a spoiled old German Shepherd named Felicia, of which I have previously written. She had a 4 p.m. daily gravy train over about a 4 street area.
We made one or two trips to Texas, also.Then the military change of station and new orders changed life again.
[Apologize for not finding pictures. I recently discarded all slides and prints.]
11 comments:
How funny that your could hear all your neighbor's conversatons. Guess that means they heard yours too. How neat you got to go to the baseball games. I adore baseball and have only been one time when I was a kid. Thank goodness for TV.Can't wait to hear about the haunted clock.
Patty and I live on Dundalk Avenue in the city of Baltimore in 1956 and about half of 1957. We saw the first "submarine" sandwich advertised there. I worked at the bureau of motor vehicles at night cleaning up one floor - consisting emptying ash trays and trash cans. Tool about 4 hours to do. After that I worked at Cross and Blackwell cleaning up a huge stainless steel catchup vessel. Sometimes found a cooked clean pigeon that had fallen in the vat while it was cooking. Thinking of all that catchup that went through the pigeon on the way to bottling.
I still own Canon Lenses. I have sent my best Canon Lens to Adorama to see what they will give me for it. It takes about 10 days for it to get there and be evaluated. It is a $1325.00 lens if I had to replace it so I am not going to give it away. If I do not agree to their offer they send it back.
The lens I bought is shorter 18mm vs 70mm on the Canon and longer 270mm vs 200mm on the Canon lens so it reaches out farther and gets up closer. I tried it out -- the Tamron -- and like what it does but there are obvious differences, I am testing it and own it and it ended up costing over $725.00 dollars.
I tested it out yesterday pretty good, in the rain at a car show and at a reunion at a vocational school where I taught 40 years ago. What a whiz bang place that is nowadays and it oozes bling. Will post some pics of the events today...
About Me
A restless mind and restless soul, 70+ in age, married, retired pharmacist, former city alderman, with unlimited interests and curiosity, including, but not limited to, photography, computers, our dog, politics and religion (spirituality). However, I rarely blog or comment on the latter two subjects. In another life I may be a student in perpetuity.
A former Texan, I now live in the Ozarks of northern Arkansas. I have also lived in Virginia, Maryland and Morocco at various times of my married life.
Welcome to Coward's Corner with Luckie - our small corner of the bloggersphere
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Building a Pine Kid’s Desk
Pine desks can be pricey when bought from a furniture store, however, with some elbow grease one can be built for about $60.
Kid's Pine Desk Complete
Step 1: Plan it
Planning should be the first part of any project and Google Sketchup was used to plan this one.Google sketchup is a great piece of FREE software for do it yourselfers. After going through a few of the tutorials you will be able to design a few basic things. This desk’s dimensions is H25″ x W36″ x D20″.
Cut the 48″ pine panel in half. Note that cutting in half will not result in two equal pieces of 24″ because the blade usually eats at 1/4″ to 1/2″ when cutting. Screw the 2 19 inch strips (one in each leg). This will be used as the support brackets for the legs. Screw these into the top of each leg using the 8×1-1/14 screws.
Legs with wood brackets (pine strip)
Step 5: Adding legs to desk top
using the 8×2 screws, screw the legs into the desktop through the predrilled holes in the pine strip wood brackets.
Adding legs to desk top
Step 6: Support Backing
cut 1.5 inches off the 3/4″ x 12″ x 36″. attach the 8 inch pine strips to both sides for support backing and screw into both legs. Sand thoroughly and coat the desk in a polyurethane sealant. This will darken up the pine just a bit, but still leave the natural look. If you choose to stain, now is the time to do so.
Kid's Pine Desk Complete
Step 7: Enjoy
And in a few easy steps you have a complete kid’s desk made from pine.
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Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Practical Cosmetic Solution For Acne
Pimples can be a challenging issue to attack but it can be done. The concern always becomes what is the best pimple treatment? The reply is always the same, the merchandise or service that operates for you is the best procedure. One items that many have had success with is the Practical cosmetic option.
For those that are fortunate enough not to have experienced from pimple they usually think it’s just a small issue, or that it’s just a young issue. Nothing could be further from the simple fact.
Acne can be can cause psychological problems and play on the a person's self respect. Kids are especially hit challenging. In no other period in our existence is the way we look so important to us and content made by other teens can be really challenging on ones self respect.
For some the pimple vanishes as they depart the youngster decades behind only to come back the periodic zit. For others they continue to experience sometimes into their 50’s. The ones who experience will tell you that the issue is not so little as some might think.
This is one of the reasons that The Practical range of skincare items has met with such objectives. Especially the delicate proactive cosmetic option which has established to be a actual option for many pimple people.
Most pimple people have used decades trying one option after another, sometimes having achievement, other times disaster. But the proactive cosmetic option seems to be something different. It operates at fighting the pimple at the actual of the issue or should we say the string of the issue. Several recommendations and opinions seem to indicated that many customers have had fantastic outcomes with the Practical cosmetic option.
If you want to notice it from the customers, you need only do a quick google search for pimple sufferers’ community message boards and conversation categories. There research for yourself how a people all had discovered outcomes from different items yet when this team all tried Practical Facial Cleanser they all revealed achievement. Even for those that did not see their pimple go away discovered their pimple decreased to a level they could deal with quickly at all.
For decades pimple people have explored the planet to find an item or service that labored and labored well, while lasting the physical distressing and the psychological suffering. Pimples can be culturally incapacitating. Lastly here is an item or service that seems to make a actual change in the quality of their epidermis and as their epidermis helps so does their self assurance. This indicates Practical might discovered the miracle mix of substances.
The main items in the Practical pimple range are the option, the compatible toners, and the fixing treatment. Practical says this is a exclusive collaboration therapies with the substances in each factor of the pimple option working together to strengthen the situation of your epidermis. Not only does it get rid of the pimple epidermis produces a healthy younger gleam. Now that is magic! This could be a company new day in pimple treatments!
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The F-35 wasn't a black project, the stealth aspects of course remain classified like all other U.S. stealth based aircraft but this project is unilateral spanning variants for several allies, Britain and Germany.
The F-35 wasn't a black project, the stealth aspects of course remain classified like all other U.S. stealth based aircraft but this project is unilateral spanning variants for several allies, Britain and Germany.
Yup. The X-35 and the X-32 were both considered, but Boeing's X-32 was just so ugly. And too radical.
I *think* the real reason the X-32 wasn't chosen was because there was a back-room deal to build the Lockheed variant after they lost the F22 battle. Technically, theirs was superior; but their bid was too much.
^Possibly. I've heard that all over when the X-35 was chosen, but I'm glad Lockheed won, though.
The X-32 was really radical though. So much that the demonstrator couldn't even have the radical Pelikan tail, and that they had to submit a second design in the middle of the X-32 production with conventional wings for the actual proposal. And I remember them having to remove the front "chin" of the plane during the VTOL test because of safety precautions. That kind of kinks does make a test plane design seem unreliable.
The Gov. has to make sure that there is "still" competition in the aerospace industry by dishing out contracts to the generally better bid; with exceptions when the longevity of the other is in question
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About the President
Dr. Noreen M. Carrocci became the fourth female and first lay woman to hold the presidential office at Newman University when she was inaugurated in 2007. Since arriving in Wichita, Dr. Carrocci has been an active, visible face on Newman’s campus, within the Wichita community, and throughout the region while actively promoting the benefits of a private Catholic education at Newman University.
Dr. Carrocci came to Newman from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, where she served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Communication from 1998 until 2007. Prior to her tenure at Spring Hill, Dr. Carrocci was Dean of the Undergraduate College at the University of St. Thomas (MN), and faculty member, department chair, and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Saint Louis University. During the 1991-92 academic year, Dr. Carrocci was an American Council on Education Fellow at Tulane University. She earned her Ph.D. (1979) and M.A. (1977) degrees at the University of Kansas in Speech Communication & Human Relations, and her A.B. degree (1975) at Miami University (OH) in Speech Communication and Psychology.
During her tenure, numerous campus improvements and additions have been completed, including the construction of two residence halls, one of which was named Carrocci Hall in 2016 at the request of a major donor. Another project completed during her tenure was the Dugan Library and Campus Center, as well as outdoor gathering spaces like Founders Plaza, a beautiful outdoor monument which honors Newman’s sponsoring order the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, and their foundress St. Maria De Mattias. Dr. Carrocci also led a $30 million capital campaign to build a new 51,400 square foot science center named the Bishop Gerber Science Center in honor of the Most Rev. Eugene J. Gerber, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Wichita, and to upgrade facilities in Eck Hall, which houses the university’s nursing and health sciences programs. The campaign was also designed to grow the university’s endowment, and provide for the Newman Fund, which supports student scholarships.
In addition to making physical changes on the Newman campus, Dr. Carrocci oversaw the implementation of a nationally-recognized core curriculum called the Newman Studies Program, with the help of top academic administrators and numerous faculty.
A professor at heart, Dr. Carrocci greatly enjoys connecting with students, alumni, donors and anyone who loves Newman University. She is married to Robert (Bob) Benson, a principal with The Beta Group, a consulting firm specializing in strategic and financial management of information technology. He also serves as an adjunct professor with Tilburg University in the Netherlands.
President Carrocci is an active member of the Kansas Independent Colleges Association (KICA), the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU), and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), as well numerous community committees.
Sample Speaking Engagements
Rotary Club of Wichita Downtown
Eastside Rotary Club Meeting (Wichita Country Club)
KNSS Radio Interview with Steve McIntosh
Wichita Independent Business Association
West Wichita Rotary Club Meeting (Rolling Hills Country Club)
Spangles Corporate Leadership, Quarterly Meeting
If you're interested in having Dr. Carrocci connect with your civic or business group, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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The Upside Down House
The Upside Down House is an attraction in Niagara Falls constructed and built by Marek Cyran with help from Daniel Czapiewski, two creative Polish men. The Upside Down House is upside down from the outside to the inside, this house looks as if it has been literally picked up and placed on it’s roof. It is a great place to visit.
The Upside Down House is open seven days of the week and it will be hard to miss when you are driving along Clifton Hill. The Upside Down House is open to the public. Children under four are free.
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At Stoney Brook Grille we raise the bar for American cuisine. We encourage our guests to relax at what has been called one of the most modern Somerset County restaurants. Our carefully crafted menu features all of your favorite appetizers, drinks, entrees, and desserts all at an affordable cost to you. We find that our array of options and fun design give us an upbeat edge among restaurants in Somerset County NJ. Whether you are having a drink with a friend or dinner with the whole family we invite you to dine in style. In Somerset County restaurants are held to a higher standard by our neighbors. That’s is why we step up our game with a chic atmosphere and a menu you’re sure to enjoy.
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About our Firm :
Strode Construction has been custom home builders in
Washington State since 1946.
Our experience, tried and true construction techniques and the
finest materials are key to our success. But most importantly
the customer relationships we build make us the best choice for
your next new home or renovation.
Our mission is to provide the highest standard of craftsmanship
and customer service in the industry. We are dedicated to making
the building process as enjoyable and rewarding as possible.
Whether your project is large or small, we ensure the same
dedication to you and your dreams.
We are looking forward to building a lifelong relationship with
you, thank you for taking time to learn more about us.
Contact us today to discuss how we bring your dream project to
life.
YOUR DREAM HOME
IS A PHONE CALL AWAY!
Our Firm's History
Strode Construction Est. 1946
We have been building the finest homes in the northwest for
three generations. We like the team approach to building,
working closely with the owner and architect to visualize
and create beautiful homes for people who appreciate
excellence. We want to build your home, not just contract
it. In wood, concrete, stone, metal and glass we invite the
challenge.
Our Philosophy:
As owners of Strode Construction we believe it is our "hands
on" approach to building and excellence in craftsmanship
that sets us apart from all the others. Using the latest
technology our team of mature experienced craftsmen will
build your home from start to finish with a pursuit of
excellence and attention to detail unmatched in the
industry. You can have craftsmanship the way it used to be.
We invite you to call.
Jim,
This house is absolutely gorgeous!! We sure appreciate the fine
job you did. It is truly outstanding thanks to your fine
workmanship and organizational talents. We couldn't have found a
better builder. Good luck with your new endeavor. We would like
to keep in contact with you, Jan and your family.
Thank you!! We're pleased!! -
Sally & Cappy
----------------------------
Judy and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for
the extraordinary job which you and your crew performed in
construction of our residence. The business-like manner in which
you proceeded and the quality of your work were exemplary and we
feel quite fortunate to have had the benefit of your services.
Please pass our thanks and best wishes along to your crew.
Please let us know if we may ever be of assistance or provide a
reference in regard to your future job opportunities.
Sincerely,
Steve & Judy
----------------------------
Hope everything is going well for you. We continue to love our
house and say thank you Jim every day!
Wanda & George
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#Fudan University Poisoning#
Fudan University graduate student suspected of being poisoned by roommate in critical condition
April 1st, a Fudan University class of 2010 [year of entry] medical graduate student was feeling unwell and was taken to a hospital affiliated with the school to see a doctor. After being hospitalized, his condition worsened, losing consciousness and suffering liver failure. The hospital conducted multiple consultations and diagnoses but has not yet found the cause. Police investigating the remaining water in this student’s dorm water dispenser detected traces of a poisonous chemical compound, essentially determining that a roommate and fellow student is the suspect.
@央视新闻 [CCTV News]: Huang Yang, tonight we bid you farewell : He was from Rong county of Sichuan province, who in 2005 was admitted to Fudan University with a [gaokao college entrance examination] score of 690 points. Both parents are retired workers, and his family financial situation is difficult. All of his university expenses were paid with money he earned himself, never having once used his family’s money. He optimistically sought to improve himself. The medical expenses for his mother’s liver surgery also came from money from his scholarships, hard-work, and scrimping on expenses. Today, a 28-year-old young life has come to a sudden stop! Tonight, we’ll light candles, and send you off!
This microblog post currently has nearly 2m reshares with over 65k comments spanning 3200 pages, making it one of the top posts on the Sina Weibo social network. Most of the comments left by Chinese netizens were candles and condolences.
@复旦大学 [Fudan University Official Microblog Account]: We report with great sorrow that class of 2010 master’s degree graduate student Huang Yang died at 3:23pm on April 16th at Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University after efforts to resuscitate him failed. During Huang Yang’s stay at the hospital, the hospital expended all efforts and multiple consultations to save him, and we did our best to save our own student. For parents to lose a beloved son and a school to lose a valuable student, we express deep grief!
This microblog post was reshared over 163k times and 62k comments over 3100 pages. Again, most of the netizen comments were candles.
@李佳佳Audrey: Victim and friend Fudan student’s latest update: When I went to see him on Friday, he had already become completely unrecognizable, his entire body swollen, his breathing tube full of bloody bubbles. In just a short week, he’s gone. What is even more unexpected is that he had been poisoned by someone. The poisoner is his good friend and roommate, who had put 10x the dosage of an experimental chemical compound in the water dispenser, leading to his good friend in just a few days suffering liver failure, emphysema, then brain death.
#Fudan University Poisoning Case#
April 16th, Fudan University poisoning victim Huang Yang @yunghuang died, the toxin being N-Nitrosodimethylamine. On the 9th day after Huang Yang fell ill, he received a mysterious text message reminding him of a certain chemical drug, which proved to be a major break in the case, leading to suspect Lin Senhao @大汉漠北. It’s said that Huang Yang was killed by mistake. May fellow student Huang Yang rest in peace, and the murderer be severely punished!
This hashtag currently has over 372k discussions. “Huang Yang” is currently also the most searched keyword on Sina Weibo, yielding 1.4m results.
The story likely goes like this: Poisoning suspect Lin Senhao’s real intention was not to poison Huang Yang, but rather another roommate Jiang Cheng. He had previously in 2012 registered an account on Baidu named “诛姜成”, where he asked a lot about toxic/poisonous chemical compounds, his intention also likely not being to directly poison [Jiang Cheng] to death, but to use small dosages to slowly poison him and eventually kill him, only to unexpectedly use the wrong dosage and mistakenly kill Huang Yang, ultimately causing a tragedy.
Lin Senhao felt guilty, and when experts were unable to diagnose the illness, he used his mobile phone to send a text message to Huang Yang, telling him the poison’s chemical compound, so that Huang Yang could be saved. However, it was precisely because of this text message that a suspect was arrested.
Lin Senhao
The Fudan University Poisoning case reminded Chinese netizens of a previous case, resulting in the following hashtag also trending…
#Tsinghua University Poisoning Case#
Tsinghua female student mysteriously poisoned, what happened remains unknown to this day
1994, Tsinghua University class of 1992 Chemistry major Zhu Ling exhibited symptoms of thallium poisoning, resulting in full body paralysis, 100% permanent disability, and brain damage. Zhu Ling’s parents believed she was “intentionally poisoned” by her roommate, with the case going on over 10 years now without being solved.
Help us maintain a vibrant and dynamic discussion section that is accessible and enjoyable to the majority of our readers. Please review our Comment Policy »
Anna
Sofa.
As my prize tell me that you miss the most.
billy
That you are a complete and utter arsehole who dserves a swift kicking and of course – CUNT!
Anna
So you miss being a complete and utter asshole and you deserve a swift kicking. Oh btw PUSSY!
billy
I don’t know if you noticed – but the story is about a kid who was slowly murdered by some twat he shared a room with – and the only comment you can come up with is ‘sofa’ like a demented retard, an unfeeling robot with the IQ of a tadpole. Fuck off back under your paving stone – CUNT!
Anna
At the end of the day it is my choice if I want to be a cunt or not, just as much as its your choice to reply back and or be a cunt yourself. The reality of it is, this is the internet. have as much right to be an utter cunt if I want as you do. If you can’t figure this then you have the IQ of well …. this lump of cheese sitting in my fridge.
Would you like me instead go oh that’s shocking another murder in the world has happen just to please yourself, I’m not you and I don’t care about what you said – so go ahead and call me cunt all day long.
BTW is EQ not IQ – PUSSY
billy
You have the right to be an utter cunt, and I have the right to call you out on being an utter cunt – which you are being, good to see you at least admit to it.
Say what you want. But if the best you can do is ‘sofa’ acting like a brain dead retard without an original thought in that one megawatt brain of yours. Then why bother? You are just announcing to the world that you are a complete waste of space without an original thought to call your own.
Anna
Yeah yeah whatever, likewise saying CUNT after each time someone posts something you don’t like, fucking original and not been used a 1000 times on forums.
Who’s the waste of space, the cunt or the cunt that answers the cunt thinking that the cunt is a waste of space. So fucking funny, oh as I’m on here, Hello world, and Billy and of course PUSSY
Rick in China
As much as I dislike reading most of billy’s posts, he has some valid points. Sofa is about as cool as “yolo”.. maybe even a little less.
billy
Oh Rick – you will get to love me when I marry your mum and I get to be your stepdad! We will get on like a house on fire!
Anna
I apologized, I did it to know Billy would bite back using CUNT, a rather ambiguous word for what its being used for. I suggest that the mods post something to further discussion. I was never really a one for saying sofa, but billy has now put some fun into it I feel like doing it again for a while.
billy
Every time you post ‘sofa’ you will be called a cunt. If you don’t then you won’t. It doesn’t bother me either way. The ‘sofa’ sheriff is in town and is here to stay!
donscarletti
Are you cunts still arguing here?
By the way, a nice Chinese girl asked me how to say 傻屄 in English. I reply to her truthfully “dumb cunt”, now she talks like a sailor and won’t stop.
billy
In life Scarletti, some cunts are bigger cunts than others, on Chinasmack – the Sofa kings (and queens) are the biggest cunts of them all.
MonkeyMouth
you and anna can share the sofa…. bust all the springs so it cant be used again
Agreed, that sofa thing is ridiculous; better leave it to the locals. (I wonder if they still use it, I hope not)
billy
No, not at all, Most of the stuff that get’s posted on here I disagree with and don’t like. However, I don’t call anyone a cunt because they post something I disagree with. Now ‘sofa’ has been posted on threads about collapsed buildings, murdered kids (like now for instance) and all kinds of horrible atrocities and incidents – therefore – making the sofa poster a cunt of the highest standing. I have made it my business now to call every poster of ‘sofa’ a cunt. You are today’s cunt and it is wholly deserved. Try not to be the ‘cunt’ tomorrow.
you are a cunt anyway, no need for confirmation. Don’t worry about past ‘sofas’ – we will be labelling all guilty parties as such in the future.
MonkeyMouth
a cunt because? sir? please explain, sir. and btw… who the fuck is your ‘we’>? you and the other gua wa zi??
billy
MM – If you look at the post above mine, you wrote and I quote ‘look it up and call me a cunt, will ya?’ So your wish is my command! What can I do? I like to please the patrons on ‘ChinaSmack’ even the ‘sofa’ kings and queens if they ask for a free character appraisal.
MonkeyMouth
you said i am a cunt ‘anyway’, implying i am a cunt regardless of me desire to sit on a comfy sofa or not. i am gonna remember this for when you misstep….. then you will get a free character destruction
billy
You are, but seeing as you wanted conformation, I thought I would help you out. I don’t give a shite – you character demolish me all you want – it is a free world you cunt!
MonkeyMouth
the equalizer of a tadpole?
Anna
and just to make some inner moral part of you happy. RIP the poor guy.
billy
Good – now you are 5% less of a cunt than you was an hour go – well done!
Anna
w/t
Irvin
Yeah I thought of killing my roommate too when I was in uni. never got around to it though cuz I was bad at chemistry and knifing him is too messy.
Lol my college roomie was a bitch as well and I’ve thought of dirty revenge plenty of times with no fruition. I caught her one day dusting her floor mat on my bed and she wanted me to change roommates and I purposely didn’t just to annoy her. (I suspect roomie did worse things and I stayed just to annoy her but that wad the extent of my actions.) << Petty revenge confession bear.
the ace of books
And this is why I’m never living with a random roommate again.
Agus
Uni? OMG, you’re an Aussie…
Mark
This is so so sad
billy
That is why I would never share lodgings with anyone else, especially at the age of the deceased. Too set in ones ways and that they way you live might drive the unbalanced amongst who you live with to do something stupid. RIP.
Jeffrey Wu
^In case anyone got confused by his grammar and spelling, here’s a translation.
This is why I would never share lodgings with anyone, especially at the age of the deceased mentioned in the above article. Being too set in one’s habits can drive a potentially imbalanced roommate to do something stupid.
billy
Nothing wrong with what I wrote Jeffrey Wu – you are probably still upset at being passed over for that teaching job at Wall Street English for some Estonian with blond hair! Silly cunt!
No need to be so sore. He just did you a favor since you obviously have not passed high school
slob
Grammar nazi? HEIL!
billy
Ignore him – he is just being a complete and utter tit.
the ace of books
Because correcting other people’s sloppy writing is just like killing 11 million people.
the ace of books
Thanks for the translation :D
Bugs Bunny
BS of chemistry and pharmchy, i do not take pills at all.
and i am healthy as a cow.
i should study for BA,everyone says this to me,i can write well,talk well…sigh! i just did not wanna be a fool so i chose BS,but it’s turned out failed…
no gun in china, so our students only can poison…
moldavidian
Be really thankful guns are so difficult to obtain in China and the penalty for murder is often death.
cc
You are a cow, can i suck on you’re teats?
Bugs Bunny
do not write to me any more, wuss!
even dare not to answer me!
your just panda banana, same wuss!
cc
Hmmm, yummy, Eatcock breast milk, must be nice and full of protein now you’re carrying my baby. Big fat titties.
Bugs Bunny
i do not know you, we never met, do not write this kind of things to me.i hope others can see what i write here.
so they will know.
cc
You meet me every night in you’re dreams, that’s why you wake up all moist and aroused.
Bugs Bunny
who dream of you?
i even do not know who your how you look like.
you said your in shanghai now, right? so, get out !
cc
I’m in your massage parlor waiting for you to attend to me, leave that other client alone and come to me baby
Bugs Bunny
fuck yourself
i work for a foreign company and take care of office,pay for salary…
go away! wuss!
even dare not to show up!
stop bullshit online!
idiot!
cc
I told you to leave that other client alone, i don’t need to know your servicing a whole foreign company, just come and service me, i need my happy ending now and a suck on your milk full titties
Bugs Bunny
you go die, wuss!
sob!
dare to write to me again….
Germandude
epic troll, cc. I give you that. Hilariously epic.
MonkeyMouth
healthy as a cow? watch out…. you’re gonna get a lot of flak for that….
Bugs Bunny
who your？
what is your previous name?
i feel your an old user here too.
MonkeyMouth
nah…. i’ve always had the same name. just didnt comment for a long time. old enough user here, though.
Jeffrey Wu
The segment titled “and so the truth slowly surfaced” is translated so poorly. He asked a lot of posionous chemical compounds? As if chemicals are sentient beings who can answer questions.
As for the second ridiculous passage; not directly poison him to death, but to slowly kill him. Umm… what difference is there between them? 致命 means to strike the killing blow or cause immediate death, your wording of “directly poison to death” is confusing and doesn’t correspond with the actual meaning.
The second part is that Lin did not intend to kill his target with one dose but because he used the wrong dose. That is what happened. His original plan was use small doses over time to slowly poison someone so they will die later and it will be harder for police to determine when he was poisoned and who is responsible.
I am sorry for the first mistake but I do not think my translation here is so bad or “ridiculous”. English is not my native language so I know my translations is not natural for many native English speakers. I am always trying to improve. Please be understanding.
billy
Don’t apologise – tell him to go and fuck himself.
BiggJ
For real.
Tadd
lol, i love reading your posts.. very, very refreshing haha
billy
Thank you Tadd.
slob
I’m pretty sure everyone who read it understood the meaning. I find it ironic that he’s a grammar nazi with the name Jeffrey Wu. ‘JE’ffrey ‘W’u.
BiggJ
Captain English….there must be some other English emergencies in the world that need fixing, your powers are wasted here.
Rick in China
I bet Jeffrey is afraid to drink his own water….. ;)
Nilerafter24
gtfo…. Is this a GRE reading forum ??Egotistic grammar Nazi. We all know Fauna makes mistakes from time to time.
Not related to this case, but the Tsinghua one. There is another side to it, there was a family member who was a KMT officer and their was a conspiracy that where was some kind of payback which involved her roommate’s hand. This is because another family member was found dead or crippled in a cave climbing accident but with cut ropes. but I have to confirm my sources for this.
But to be honest some of the chemistry labs at Tsinghua or the time I was there were not playing attention to health and safety.
BiggJ
I thought this would be a clear cut case of chinese suicide….even with all the evidence….suicide….less paper work.
TJDubs
Right, like that college student who was on his way home for New Year, when Rail Ministry thugs pulled him from the train and beat the bejesus out of him and then claimed he committed suicide, by jumping from the one-story building.
A Gawd Dang Mongolian
So he was so crappy at chemistry he killed the wrong guy with the wrong dosage?
Killed by a moron; just an extra kick when you down.
Nilerafter24
“”It is not enough that I should succeed, but I should see others fail.””
-Over-achieving Asian student
Extremely sad to hear of this. What a completely idiotic and needless death of an individual who could have certainly made a great contribution to the world.
mr.wiener
This is why you should only drink beer.
Why was he trying to poison the other guy anyway?
the ace of books
Ehn, beer is something I drink only when I can’t get mead.
Because he, like everyone else who has ever attempted to murder anotehr human being, has decided that a person’s life was worth less than the cost of the poison.
markus peg
He seemed admirable, poor guy… It’s a truly sad story.
But i don’t quite understand why? so the man tried to poison/kill someone else but ended up killing this student by mistake? so his intention was to kill someone either way even tho he poisoned the wrong person??
the ace of books
This is why you never murder someone yourself – you hire a hitman. It’s like rotating your tires: you could do it yourself, at a lot of time and energy, or you could pay someone else $25 to get it done right.
In seriousness, the horrible part is the “didn’t mean to kill him part, but that’s also what’s fucked-up about it: Would it have been ‘okay’ for the murderer’s conscience if he had managed to kill the ‘right’ person? He probably wouldn’t’ve sent that text…
lins
god damn it
why some are just auging with each other as if they’d like their god damned family and friends be poisoned
somebody dies, people!!!
cc
Did he ever wonder why he was the only one drinking from the water dispenser?
Jeffrey Wu
He got killed with one dose, so I think he couldn’t have noticed anything fishy. If the murderer’s original plan to kill over multiple doses over a lengthy period of time was put into action, then he probably would have taken note that he was the only one drinking from it.
JACKIE
The Bible also gives a few warnings about friends. A friend who is as close as
your own soul has the power to entice you to sin (Deut. 13:5-7). And a friend
who turns against you is unbearable – much worse than an enemy (Psalm 55:12-14).
And, when it comes to true friendship, the Bible implies that numbers do not
always mean safety (Proverbs 18:23-24). Just because you have many friends, that
does not mean that they are all faithful and true.
MonkeyMouth
take your bible and stick it up yer butt
dumbledore
Great, let’s hear more about what the bibble has to say on everything. I could use a good laugh.
mr.wiener
The Bible is a good book, but I wouldn’t take it as gospel.
Alphy
So am I correct to understand there are 3 guys rooming together? And somehow only 1 guy drink water and got poison? Obviously the guy who put the poison in is not going to drink it, but why the heck did he think only his target would drink the water from a water dispenser? That doesn’t make any sense, and obviously didn’t work. If it were suppose to be a slow poison, he must know that unless he clue in the unintended target he will eventually get poison even if assume he doesn’t drink much water. Is it perhaps not a water dispenser shared? Or a water kettle in the other guy’s private room?
MonkeyMouth
ya, know…. if we/they brought in ‘western’ criteria for diagnosing psychopathy ( i.e the big red DSM-V) we would find about a billion fucking psychopaths here in the heavenly kingdom. just sayin…..
linette lee
……only to unexpectedly use the wrong dosage and mistakenly kill Huang Yang, ultimately causing a tragedy…………..
He used the wrong dose killing the wrong person…ultimately causing a tragedy. So I guess if he would have used the right dose and killed the right person it would not have been a tragedy. ok…….
Where you find evil people like this? Intention to kill and commit murder. Death sentence please.
| 20,842 |
SatellaWave v0.1 Beta
SatellaWave v0.1 Beta is released. SatellaWave is the full version of SatellaWave, and pretty different of the Lite version. It's a BS File Maker, with all parameters, and more.
SatellaWave v0.1 Beta Changelog：
- Initial Release
This beta version only makes these types of BS files:
- Channel Map
- Town Status
- File/Folder/Directory
- Welcome
And can also split ROM files (ROM Splitter), and split to the new format of BSX Files (SX2 Splitter).
(Note to this point: All files made with SatellaWave non-Lite version, will be for bsnes-sx2 v008 and newer.)http://www.mediafire.com/?wdce3hvbyc1bt5a
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I Love You Phillip Morris (2010)
When upstanding Texas cop Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) realizes he’s gay, he changes his entire life and pulls a series of bold con jobs that lands him jail — where he meets his one true love, cellmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). When Morris is transferred to another prison, lovesick Russell mounts a series of jailbreaks just to be with his beloved soul mate.
This film has been all over the place for the past couple of years. It’s been getting edited, finding American distributors, and also trying to actually find a release. And although nobody will probably see this movie, you should really get out and try to.
The fact that this film couldn’t find an American distributor because it had “a lot of gay sexual sequences” is totally beyond me. Yeah, there is gay sexual happenings in this movie, but its not to the point of where your basically disgusted at everything that’s going on. In the first part of the film I was a little annoyed by how the gay stereotypes were all over the place, but they soon started to dumb down, and that’s what I liked the most.
This film is not flaming with gay material, it’s more about the sweet love story. This film had me laughing at a lot of parts, and really worked when it came to comedy all over the board, and not just gay sex jokes. Its sweet tone also is kept throughout the whole film, and you can actually feel an emotional connection to all of these characters, even though they may be a little messed up. The pace throughout is generally well-done, without moving too fast, or too slow.
But I honestly liked how the whole story was all true, and the con-man events that happen are even funnier. I think Steven Russell is just such a smart guy, that it was really interesting to see how his story played out into this film. He did many, many crazy things that I would have never have thought about, just to be with his boo, which was funny, and also sweet at the same time. Never have I watched a film and thought that I can do whatever want to do, and be who I want to be, I just got to be good at making stories up, and act really well.
The problem with this film is that the comedy and drama doesn’t quite balance out as well as I would have liked it to. By the end of the film you can kind of see that the film is relying too hard on the drama aspect, which kind of seemed strange, since this whole film itself was kind of goofy. But in the end, I guess it all worked out.
The best thing that this film has going for itself, is the fact that Jim Carrey is on fire (or flaming for that matter)! He is perfect as Steven Russell, and you can really see he is having fun actually playing a “character”. Everybody is so used to seeing Jim Carrey playing the usual Stanley Ipkiss, or Ace Ventura, that it really is a surprise when he can be an actual real-life person. I thought he was doomed, but he came back and showed me after all, why we all love him. It’s not the bravest performance ever, but he does a perfect job at mixing both his dramatic, and comedic aspect of his acting skills. Ewan McGregor is fine as Phillip Morris, as he plays this really gentle, sweet guy that just wants love. It’s great to see these two together on screen, cause they really do make it all work, and their chemistry is actually very solid, as strange as it may seem.
Consensus: Despite its flaws, I Love You Phillip Morris is a funny, fact-based, romantic comedy, that doesn’t exploit the homosexual love, and instead keeps it cute, with Carrey and McGregor doing great jobs in the leads.
| 3,602 |
LIBERTARIAN PARTY PLATFORM – 3.7 Self-Determination
Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of individual liberty, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to agree to such new governance as to them shall seem most likely to protect their liberty.
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Unity Medical Clinic
Welcome to Unity Medical Clinic of Santa Fe
Unity Medical Clinic, is a family oriented medical practice located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Our staff is available anytime during office hours to help you with any questions or concerns, relating to you or your family’s medical needs. We offer a wide range of family medical services and cosmetic procedures. Whatever your needs may be, we are confident we have the right solutions to help you stay healthy or improve your well-being with our individualized healthcare plans, through all stages of life.
We realize that researching and choosing the right provider for you and your family can be rather hard. And with so much information and review sites out there, it can be tough to make an informed decision. One of the most important factors of choosing healthcare, is knowing your needs will be met and your information will be kept confidential. Furthermore, it is important forming the right patient-doctor relationship with someone you can trust, and have the right comfort level with. After-all, this is the person who will be caring for you and your loved ones for many years to come. We want you to know you will be in the best care when receiving treatment at Unity Medical Clinic of Santa Fe. We are fully staffed to answer any questions you have about your healthcare and insurance plans.
We take pride in the quality and the value that each and every patient receives at our practice. We are fully dedicated to providing the highest quality care to our patients. We would like to welcome you to our growing family of patients receiving the best healthcare in Santa Fe.
| 1,654 |
Gas Prices Edging Up
The Dearborn-based auto club says late Sunday that the average price for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline was about $2.57 per gallon.
The current gas price is 34 cents above where it was a year ago, industry analysts said.
Rising gas prices can be attributed to a number of factors, he said. Output surged to a record 10.25 million barrels a day, swelling crude inventories for a second straight week following 11 weeks of declines.
The U.S. average diesel price is $3.04, up 5 cents from three weeks ago.
In Kern County, the average price is $3.30, which is slightly less than the state average.
Gas prices are on the rise and could reach levels not seen in almost four years. Or they could head northwest and pay $2.41 at the new Wawa at the corner of State Road 7 and West Copans Road in Margate.
At $2.58, the national gas price average has decreased for the first time week-over-week this year. Founded in 2000, the original GasBuddy website was a pioneer in crowd-sourced information, leveraging technology, big data, and a passionate community that now connects more than 70 million users with real-time, accurate fuel pricing information as well as reliable reviews of gas station amenities and services.
| 1,244 |
Atlas copco ga11ff manual
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| 2,378 |
Leading Team
Get to know the people behind E8 Partners.
Erik Roussel
Managing Partner
Erik started his career in the cleantech industry in 2007, developing new thematic funds for BeCitizen, one of the subsidies of Banque Privee Edmond de Rothschild. Tech passionate, he started directing some private equity investments for the count of SGFC - his family office based in Nyon.
Since then he has been involved in several private equity transactions and has diversified his investments in the cryptocurrency space. Erik holds a BBA and MBA in Finance and resides as board member of Zeno Ventures, SGFC-Family Office, Hedge Partners LLC and the Swiss Prop-tech Association.
Jean-Étienne Durand
Managing Partner
Jean-Etienne is a founding member of the Swiss Blockchain Association and the managing partner of E8 Partners a leading consulting firm in asset tokenisation with different expertises: strategy, legal, marketing and tech. As an advisor and mentor, he focuses on creating synergies and building successful new DLT services, among others, on existing solutions. He is an innovator, executive leader, and product & engineering expert with 18 years of experience, but above all a Blockchain Enthusiast. Jean-Étienne hold a master’s degree in programming from the École Nationale supérieure des Mines of Saint Étienne (Fr).
Roland Venesz
Head of Technology
Roland has been active as a software engineer since 2002. He was involved in the development and deployment of several high-profile projects - publishing/newsroom platforms and massive online campaigns - before co-founding an e-health focused development company in Bordeaux.
During the last decade and a half he has gained deep knowledge and experience in designing distributed, fault-tolerant and scalable service architectures. Blockchain technology has been his passion since 2013, today he is the technical leader of HedgeBlock, a tokenisation consulting firm.
Meet us
Check out our event for the next months
Hosted in an exclusive brunch setting in Davos, the E8 event will confront head-on the worries and the hopes of finance today. The focus will be on next-generation asset classes in the digital economy.
The 5th annual LSX World Congress is the new name for the Biotech and Money / Medtech and Money World Congress. The name may have changed, but it retains its core offering for the C-suite of the global life science industry.
Request a callback
Would you like to speak to one of our account managers over the phone? Just submit your details and we’ll be in touch shortly. You can also e-mail us for any further concern.
Please do not include confidential or sensitive information in your message. In the event that we are representing a party with opposing interests to your own, we may have a duty to disclose any information you provide to our client.
| 2,858 |
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Review: Priests of Mars
Having just finished (New York Times bestselling author) Graham McNiell's latest Black Library offering Priests of Mars, I felt I should offer up my thoughts on the book.
It tells the tale of a nominally Adeptus Mechanicus expedition into uncharted space to find a long lost explorator fleet. I say nominally because not only is there the AdMech, but a Rogue Trader, some Imperial Guard, Space Marines (Black Templars) and some freshly pressed ships crew getting their slice of the pie.
So a rather motley crew.
Our main characters are the aforementioned Rogue Trader, who far from being a dashing rogue presents a more thoughtful, if rebellious at times, take on that archetype. His motivations are not entirely clear and may even put him at odds with his shipmates
He has a card playing, womanising, smart ass Han Solo-esque sidekick of course
They are bringing along a talented stelar cartographer whose work is vital to the missions success
Butt heads with serious company types
Meet a variety of crazy characters
And they all have the best summer ever
Not quite...
This is 40k after all (and the Eldar get a look in too).
Without getting into too much of the plot, this is the sort of book I hope to see more of from the Black Library. It is a book about the characters, rather than a book about things happening to characters. They drive almost the entire plot, from the inception of the expedition to the petty (and not so petty) power plays that form the bulk of the interaction.
My beef with some BL novels has been that they've shoehorned in combat almost as if they feel it's expected to have some explosions as, hey, it's 40k right? A Thousand Sons had that weird bit with the Psychneuein and Cain often will ahve random mooks to fight, but Priest of Mars has a few pages of fisticuffs in a duel, and a bit of combat towards the end, but the novel wouldn't be drastically thinner without it.
I like that the BL is progressing beyond the need to have combat be all we see in the 40k universe, as there are many other aspects worth exploring besides war, and what better way than a good novel? I think that A Thousand Sons, Mechanicum and Outcast Dead have been some of the best recieved novels (from what I've seen and heard) shows that the fanbase is prepared to accept these novels as well.
But I digress.
The expedition generally goes pretty smoothly, but they may really have someone unseen pulling their strings
The book itself maintains a great sense of tension throughout - getting towards the end there was a very real expectation that it was all just going to go horribly pear shaped and end up with everyone dying horribly, especially when they start the actual exploratoring
Of course I won't say what happens exactly, but the one fault of the book is that it feels like the ending is pretty strong sequel bait (or a setup for a new series even). While I wouldn't be opposed to this, and would very happily buy any continuation, I am somewhat wary.
As with Prometheus, Priests of Mars ends with just as many questions as answers. I'm not entirely opposed to this as everything, while not finalised, is settled. It is a matter of personal taste but I've been feeling very much over the tide of sequels and remakes in almost everything lately (movies are my other great love aside from books). It irritates me no end to pick up a book, look at the back and like the synopsis only to see it's book three of the whatever dodecadology, first of the whocares cycle.
I blame Isobelle Carmody for taking forever to write the rest of the Obernewtyn books, personally.
Where'd I leave that tangent picture..?
Eh, doctor looking skeptical will have to do.
So anyways, Priests of Mars is a great book, and has terrific insights into not only Mechanicus society and mindset (there's a wonderful discussion of it between the Rogue Trader and the cartographer on the subject), but a few other nuggets, most notable of which is comfirmation that Sororitas (at least Hospitallers) can get married and a link to the Horus Heresy (rather spoilery, highlight between the pics to read:
- the Kaban machine is still kicking around in some capacity
So get this book if you liked any of McNiell's recent offerings or have a hankering for the non-dakka side of the Imperium. Even if you don't get it, as it will likely change your opinion.
Final score: 9.5/10 lost 1/2 a point for the sequel bait - sorry Graham, I still love you!
| 4,501 |
FFF-Ants In Their Pants!
It was an absolutely busy evening. I mean it was one of those days where you hit the ground running, you finally get in bed, and your head is still spinning. The kids were active as always and asked if they could go outside with the dogs. I thought this was a great idea. It would give me a chance to cook dinner, leave the back door open (so I could hear the little ones-dogs included), and give the four of them a much needed chance to burn some energy.
The play date in the backyard was in full swing, I was in a groove in the kitchen, and then I hear “playful” screams. I keep cooking and watching my guilty pleasure, Teen Mom. I was loving the peaceful moment I was having. I escaped for just a moment. I only had to break up one fight. It was a good evening. And then the four “angels” come bolting in the kitchen. Pumpkin is screaming, “Ants! Get them off of me!” He runs to the sink, turns the water on, and rinses his arm off. He is also trying to take his shirt off. I quickly rush him and his sister to the tub. After everyone was bathed, Benadryl and hydrocortisone cream administered, I was able to assess the situation. My facial expression was priceless. My poor babies looked like they had been attacked by a small country of ants. I just wanted to curl up and wither away. I felt HORRIBLE! I ignored their screams for a hot second to indulge in my own moment of sanity, and they were attacked by ants. This was such a low mommy moment for me. Of course the kids were clueless. They got attention, a fun bath, and medicine! Lesson learned.
LESSON LEARNED
No matter how many times they cry wolf, no matter how many times they scream or cry, always listen to each and every complaint, scream, or question. You just never know. Your angels could screaming for help as they are attacked by a small country of ants or a pack of wild dogs. Seriously, I made a promise to stop, listen, and react to every scream from from that point on.
| 1,986 |
Michael Bennett: I'm Gonna Sue Vegas Police ... Over Gun Incident
9/13/2017 6:02 AM PDT
Michael Bennett: I'm Gonna Sue Vegas Police Over Gun Incident
Breaking News
Michael Bennett and his lawyer are making it very clear -- their plan is to sue the Las Vegas Metro Police Department over that August 27 incident where he was detained at gunpoint.
The NFL superstar and his lawyer, John Burris, sat down with ABC News where they doubled down on claims he was racially profiled when 2 officers ordered him to the ground during an investigation into a possible active shooter at a Vegas hotel.
The Seattle Seahawks star is still adamant he was detained because he's a black man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time -- and says he was physically and verbally abused until cops realized he was an NFL player.
In fact, Bennett says it was only when cops Googled him, the abuse stopped.
"I went from being a black man to a football player."
Burris has laid down the gauntlet with the LVMPD -- saying, "Unless something changes drastically that we don't know of, we're gonna file a lawsuit."
| 1,099 |
Sri Ramana Maharshi on Bliss
The thought 'I am the body' is the thread on which are strung together various thoughts. Questioning within and enquiring, ‘Who am I?’ And ‘Whence this thought?’ all other thoughts vanish. Then the Self shines of its own accord. Such Self-awareness is the only Heaven; this stillness, this abode of bliss.
| 343 |
PuL Project
Name
Phone
Email
What is the PuL Project?
The project " Reorganization of Processes Surrounding Exam and Course Management including the Introduction of an Integrated Software Solution", PuL for short, aims for an improvement in the concerned processes surrounding the Student Life Cycle. Based on Bachelor and Master courses of study, the project encompasses not only the topics application and admission but also student and fee management. A large portion of the processes will be supported by new software, a so called integrated Campus Management System, in the future. The new system is called RWTHonline and will replace all of the CAS Campus and HIS systems used until now at the University by the end of 2018.
Why Reorganize the Processes?
The complexity and mass of processes in the area of studying and teaching drastically increased as a result of the increase in exams and exam regulations resulting from the Bologna Reform and the double class cohort. The situation at RWTH Aachen is aggravated by insufficient transparancy in the processes until now and heterogenous IT systems. The PuL project began in 2011 in order to respond appropriately to the changed framework. The project goals are to optimize the processes in studies and teaching and make them more transparent. This is first occuring through a general reorganization of the processes. Based on the optimized processes, a new integrated Campus Management System, RWTHonline, will be introduced that supports these processes.
Further Information
Who is involved in the PuL project?
In the PuL project, all faculties, students, involved administrative divisions, and the IT Center are brought together in order to actively contribute to the reorganization of individual processes and the selection of suitable software. The PuL project is coordinated by the Department of Academic Affairs and Registrar's Office under the professional responsibility of the department head. The project coordinators are Dr. Marguerite Franssen from Department 1.0 and Cristoph Becker from the IT Center. Overall there are a total of 100 active PuL project members at RWTH Aachen. All RWTH employees involved in studies and teaching and all students will work with the new system after the new software has been introduced at the end of 2018.
Newsletter
With PuL News, we regularly inform you of the newest developments in the project. Subscribe to the PuL-Newsletter. You will receive current information about the project first-hand:
| 2,515 |
There is a great need for an incisive look at all sides of modern maternity care in the United States, because — let’s face it — we all know it’s not perfect. This, however, is not that book.
The author is a strong advocate of home birth, water birth, midwives, “embracing the pain to make you stronger,” “parents know better than doctors,” natural = good, and very early potty training. She thinks bathing a newborn is harmful. She questions the need for well baby checkups: she thinks they are mainly a gimmick to sell vaccines. She questions the (science-based) practice of giving newborns vitamin K and prophylactic eye drops. She is against the use of chemicals in general. She reports that Johnson’s Baby Wash contains “a host of unpronounceable chemicals, some of which are known toxins…and carcinogens.” She doesn’t seem to have grasped the basic principle of toxicology that the poison is in the dose. She is against formula, which she says is killing babies, and against disposable diapers because they contain chemicals and petroleum and because they can cause your child to become infertile. Her only evidence for “infertility” is one study showing that disposable diapers raise scrotal temperatures. Indeed, plastic underpants are probably warm.(more…)
Back in 2008, I tried to look objectively at the scientific evidence for and against circumcision. I got a lot of flak from commenters who focused on the ethical issues rather than the scientific evidence. I concluded that the evidence showed small benefits and small risks, and I didn’t advocate either for or against the procedure. At the time, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ position was:
Existing scientific evidence demonstrates potential medical benefits of newborn male circumcision; however, these data are not sufficient to recommend routine neonatal circumcision. In circumstances in which there are potential benefits and risks, yet the procedure is not essential to the child’s current well-being, parents should determine what is in the best interest of the child.
Imagine if we could save lives from a dread and often fatal disease simply by performing a minor surgical procedure. People would hail this simple victory and rush to adopt it… Not exactly. The disease is HIV and the simple surgical procedure is circumcision and anti-circ activists oppose it under almost any circumstances.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) male circumcision policy states that while there are potential medical benefits of newborn male circumcision, the data are insufficient to recommend routine neonatal circumcision. Since 2005, however, 3 randomized trials have evaluated male circumcision for prevention of sexually transmitted infections. The trials found that circumcision decreases human immunodeficiency virus acquisition by 53% to 60%, herpes simplex virus type 2 acquisition by 28% to 34%, and human papillomavirus prevalence by 32% to 35% in men. Among female partners of circumcised men, bacterial vaginosis was reduced by 40%, and Trichomonas vaginalis infection was reduced by 48%. Genital ulcer disease was also reduced among males and their female partners. These findings are also supported by observational studies conducted in the United States. The AAP policy has a major impact on neonatal circumcision in the United States. This review evaluates the recent data that support revision of the AAP policy to fully reflect the evidence of long-term health benefits of male circumcision.
The AAP had long recommended male circumcision for prevention of urinary tract infections in young boys, but backed down in 1999, partly in response to pressure from anti-circumcision activists. According to circumcision.org:
Based on a review of medical and psychological literature and our own research and experience, we conclude that circumcision causes serious, generally unrecognized harm and is not advisable.
Some people think circumcision is mutilation; others want one even if they don’t know what it is. When I was working in an Air Force hospital emergency room one night, a young airman came in requesting a circumcision. I asked him why he wanted one. He said a couple of his friends had had it done, and he’d heard it was a good idea, and he was going to be getting out of the Air Force pretty soon and wanted to have it done while Uncle Sam would still foot the bill. I examined him: he had a neatly circumcised penis without so much as a hint of any foreskin remnant. I’ve always wondered what he thought we were going to cut off.
The subject of circumcision evokes strong emotions. Some people think of neonatal circumcision as a religious duty or a valuable preventive health measure; others think it is the epitome of child abuse. I have no strong feelings either way. I’m not sure what I would have decided if I’d had sons; fortunately my children were both daughters so I didn’t have to decide. I’m going to try to stand back and look at the scientific evidence objectively. What are the medical benefits and risks of circumcision? (more…)
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Monday, August 12, 2013
Things I've told you in my head this summer
Still here!
Rule number one of blogging seems to be not to open a post by apologizing for not posting for a long time, and here I am breaking that rule yet again: Sorry for the silence, friends, I've missed you! If it's any consolation, I've been writing to you constantly - in my head. There's been so much I've wanted to write about, and so very little time to do it. In no specified order, I've wanted to tell you:
A little about my little Gwen and who she has become in the past 9 months. She's such a sweet and cheerful little person, I'd like to share her with the whole world! Proud mom moments aplenty.
About being Norwegian and living so very far away from home. What I miss, what I don't, and how I make our house a tiny little outpost from home. There would be a lot about food and technology in this one.
About our new house! A few of the rooms are together enough that I'd be happy to show them to you, and you would wholeheartedly forgive me for not having all of my ducks in a row just yet.
About our little first townhouse, that we are getting ready to sell. Oh my sentimental heart, and oh, my financially practical self in full conflict mode. And here I would write a lot about how stinkin' hard it is to get a good days work in with two small kids in tow and when everyone insists on getting sick on the weekends. But in a fun way!
More about my dad and the whole grieving process. It takes time and hurts and is hard. And lonely. And I'm all sorts of conflicted about posting about it on my blog, when I've always wanted Project Project to be a positive place to come. But then I've always wanted to be honest and real about things too, and it's tricky to know which credo to live by. Do I write real and honest posts about something that is really hard, even if it could make for a whole slew of downer posts, or do I just not post for a while, because so much of what my heart wants to deal with in writing is navelgazy and hard? What I can't do is maintain a sunny online persona if I'm not feeling it in person. I don't think you come here for that either.
And on a different note entirely, I'd like to write about some parenting adventures we've had over the summer too: potty training, earning Fuzzies, allowing a little more freedom, preparing for preschool (eeep!), some little crafty kid projects and a few thoughts about the second child.
I feel like I have another navel-gazing post about finding my feet and readjusting to a new life in a new home in a new area in the works. This would be a mix of feeling a little at a loss not really having a lot of friends among our friends and neighbors, and some hopeful enthusiasm about the endless possibilities of it all! And I would be heartily impressed at Espen's ability to instantly make friends wherever we are.
Oh, and I have a few new projects in the works that I'd like to tell you all about. One will have to wait a little longer, and the other might just be a bloggy book club.
So these are some of the things I've been telling you about in my head all summer long. If there's anything in particular you'd like an actual blog post about, won't you let me know, and then just maybe. I'll feel inspired to write it?
And more importantly, how are you, and what have you been up to? I really did miss you, you know.
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'King Cocktail' Serves Up Prohibition History, Hangover CureProhibition ended 80 years ago today. To mark the occasion, Dale DeGroff, the man many credit with reviving the art of the cocktail, joins NPR to talk about the era's lasting effect on American life, current trends in bartending, and to share a few of his favorite recipes.
If you're going to a holiday party, there's a good chance you'll be sipping on an adult beverage of some sort. You can do that without looking over your shoulder for authorities because exactly 80 years ago today, Dec. 5, Prohibition came to an end and Americans were able to legally pick up their drinks again.
Dale DeGroff, aka King Cocktail, and the president and a founder of the Museum of the American Cocktail in New Orleans, says the Prohibition era left its mark on American life. He joins Tell Me More host Michel Martin to talk about that, and about current trends in cocktails.
Interview Highlights
On the idea that organized crime took off during Prohibition
I'm afraid that it's spot on. Really, basically, alcohol transportation, importation if you want to call it that, bootlegging was all controlled by organized crime. We actually did not even have organized crime in that official and very exact way prior to Prohibition. It really developed during Prohibition. So none of the benefits that we expected to accrue — none of that came to pass, unfortunately.
On the long-lasting effects of Prohibition
There are still so many states that have dry counties. There's something called DISCUS: Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. And it's kind of the lobby group for the beverage industry — alcohol beverage industry I should say. And they still, state by state, go after this byzantine group of what they called "blue laws" right after Prohibition, which are unique to each state and even county. Some of them were really silly. There were certain bars where only small 50 milliliter bottles were allowed to be used. There were other bars where alcoholic beverage bottles were not allowed to be on view, [laughs] just crazy stuff. And one by one, they're defeating these and overturning them. But yeah, even my profession — the profession of bartending — was badly damaged by Prohibition.
On Prohibition-era doctors who wrote alcohol prescriptions for malaise, depression, nerves, etc.
There were distilleries that were allowed to produce alcohol for medicinal purposes only, and that was a tongue-in-cheek goofy kind of a joke. Because a lot of the legal bootlegging took place right out of pharmacies. [Laugh]. ... I have copies of the old prescriptions doctors would write.
On the most exciting thing in cocktails today
I think it's the culinary bent that the profession has taken. Bartenders have adopted not only the ingredients from the culinary side — a lot more savory, herbal, unusual vegetables, fruit, spices — they've also adopted a lot of the techniques, a lot of the tools. When I hired 36 bartenders in 1986 at the Rainbow Room in New York City that had just been restored to its former glory, not a single bartender arrived with a tool of any sort in his hand — not even a paring knife; and my heart sank. But that's changed, and now bartenders are going to work with kits just like chefs are.
On a surefire cure for hangovers
Don't start or don't stop, because you can't have a hangover as long as you're drinking. ... You know the real only cure is to take a multivitamin and an aspirin just before you go to bed, but who remembers to do that when you come home after a night of drinking?
Preparation: Muddle a cherry and orange slice with the syrup, liqueur, and the dash of bitters in a bar mixing glass. Strain into an old-fashioned glass. Add the whiskey and ice, and stir. Garnish with an orange slice and a cherry.
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Still and all, why bother? Here's my answer. Many people need desperately to receive this message: I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone. --Vonnegut
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Who's Behind the FMA?
Evangelical leaders insist they know how gay marriage affects their voters—they'll stay home if politicians don't push for the FMA. "It's the one issue I have seen that eclipses even the abortion issue among Southern Baptists," says Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Last month James Dobson, the influential founder of Focus on the Family, met privately with key Republicans, including Frist, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader John Boehner, to warn them about the political consequences of failing to promote issues like marriage. "If you forget us, we'll forget you," he said, according to a GOP House leadership aide who was briefed on the gatherings, but declined to be identified discussing private meetings.
Though Bush himself has publicly embraced the amendment, he never seemed to care enough to press the matter. One of his old friends told NEWSWEEK that same-sex marriage barely registers on the president's moral radar. "I think it was purely political. I don't think he gives a s--t about it. He never talks about this stuff," said the friend, who requested anonymity to discuss his private conversations with Bush. White House aides, who also declined to be identified, insist that the president does care about banning gay marriage. They say Monday's events with amendment supporters—Bush will also meet privately with a small group—have been in the works "for weeks" and aren't just a sop to conservatives. MSNBC, via Andrew Sullivan.
I've never believed that Bush is racist (as claimed Kanye West) or even truly homophobic. Bush's "old friend" seems to confirm that suspicion. I don't know if that makes it better or worse that he's willing to publically push an anti-gay Amendment to appease his base. Better, since at least he's not necessarily a true homophobe, but worse, because he's doing something even he doesn't believe is right. Has the man no scruples?
And what the hell is wrong with the Southern Baptists? They believe that millions of babies are being murdered every single year, but keeping gay couples from marrying "eclipses even the abortion issue?" Explain to me how that's not pure homophobia.
19 comments:
It's all about shoring up Bush's sinking popularity in the polls and providing fodder for upcoming campaign commercials.
Does it really matter whether Bush truly supports this amendment that enshrines discrimination against an unpopular minority on principle or whether it's merely an act of political experidiency? Either way, it reveals an ugly truth about the man.
Somehow, I suspect that if the SBs did prioritise Right To Life, you'd manage to have a bash at them over that, too.
However, in an attempt to answer your question let me suggest this. Gay marriage is a priority now for a couple of reasons -
1) Abortion, barring circumstances that create a solid pro-repeal (of Roe vs Wade) majority on the Supreme Court is an issue that they can't do anything much about until the next presidential election at the earliest, when they can presumably campaign for a candidate who will promise to appoint pro-repeal judges. Gay marriage on the other hand is an issue that is still very much alive and in flux, and one where a strong campaign may actually make a difference. Tactics in other words, not homophobia.
2) As I've mentioned Roe vs Wade, I'll add that the gay marriage row reflects a real fear on the part of opponents of the tactics their opponents will use, as represented by RvW. To put it bluntly, I have yet to read any legal opinion that is prepared to argue convincingly that RvW is good law with a solid grounding in the constitution, and that it instead represents a particularly egregious case of activist judges finding a way of saying that the constitution says effectively what they want it to say. Gay marriage opponents are terrified that, no matter how many referenda they win on this issue (and it should be noted they have won every single one, the will of the people so far appears to be unambiguous - where gay marriage has been legalised in the USA it has been done so through the courts, not the ballot box) that the democratically expressed will of the people will simply be rendered moot by a panel of judges. They see that the only way of making sure this will not happen is by amending the federal constitution to explicitly define marriage as between a man and a woman. Amending state constitutions won't cut it - Nebraska's constitutional amendment has already been overturned by a federal court.
Frankly, liberals should recognise more that a lot of the sound and fury here is their own fault - if they showed more respect for democracy and less enthusiasm for using the courts to overturn democratic results they didn't like then there would be far less controversy. And abortion would still be almost as widely available as it is now, and nobody would be interested in the opinion of judges or politicians on the issue.
Somehow, I suspect that if the SBs did prioritise Right To Life, you'd manage to have a bash at them over that, too.
Make no mistake -- I think they're wrong about abortion, but at least I understand their POV. From their POV, they are standing up for human rights, which I can empathize with. Gay marriage violates nobody's rights.
Abortion, barring circumstances that create a solid pro-repeal (of Roe vs Wade) majority on the Supreme Court is an issue that they can't do anything much about until the next presidential election at the earliest
They can't do much about gay marriage, either. As stated, the Amendment has 0% chance of passing, which is identical to the odds (possibly worse, depending on wording) that an anti-abortion Amendment would have.
Gay marriage on the other hand is an issue that is still very much alive and in flux, and one where a strong campaign may actually make a difference.
If the Amendment is being used solely to bring attention to the issue, this is a valid point. However, it's unclear to me how it can "make a difference" regardless, since you admit that nothing short of an Amendment will get them what they want.
To put it bluntly, I have yet to read any legal opinion that is prepared to argue convincingly that RvW is good law with a solid grounding in the constitution, and that it instead represents a particularly egregious case of activist judges finding a way of saying that the constitution says effectively what they want it to say.
That may be, but it's not liberals who are behind it. So unless by "tactics their opponents will use," you're referring to tactics the (majority-Republican-nominated) Supreme Court will use, your point can't stand.
Frankly, liberals should recognise more that a lot of the sound and fury here is their own fault - if they showed more respect for democracy and less enthusiasm for using the courts to overturn democratic results they didn't like then there would be far less controversy.
As you well know, we are not set up as a pure Democracy for exactly the reason that comes up with gay marriage -- that of the tyranny of the majority. We have a Constitution in order (among other things) to protect the rights of people AGAINST the very tyranny of the majority that the anti-gay people represent. It was wrong when a majority of Americans opposed miscegenation and it's wrong when a majority opposes gay marriage or gay civil unions. In the case of human rights, the "will of the people" isn't as important as the rights the Constitution gives. That's why the Christians can't just vote that it's illegal to practice Islam. And those who interpret the Constitution's rights are the Supreme Court Justices.
And, one more time, neither Roe v. Wade nor the gay marriage rulings are the liberals' "fault" -- unless you're talking about 3 or 4 liberals on the Court.
I saw a photo on the CNN homepage this morning with someone holding a sign that said "Jesus said One man + One Woman = Marriage" Matthew 19:4-6.
Well, what about those of us who, pardon my french, don't give a crap what Jesus said?
Let's stop pulling punches here. If this country is founded on the principles of what Jesus said, then why let any non-Christian get married at all? Let's ban marriage for everyone except straight Christians.
"In the case of human rights, the "will of the people" isn't as important as the rights the Constitution gives. That's why the Christians can't just vote that it's illegal to practice Islam. And those who interpret the Constitution's rights are the Supreme Court Justices."
There is an unwritten pact at the heart of the constitution though - that the Supreme Court will only interpret the constitution as it is written, and will not use it as an excuse to pass the prejudices of (the majority of) it's members into law. This is the pact that many conservatives feel was violated when Roe vs Wade was ruled (just as liberals of an earlier generation thought the pact was violated when Dred Scott was ruled - or are you prepared to argue that was good law that necessitated respect too?), and they are clearly very much afraid of a repeat performance when/if gay marriage ever comes up before it, hence the push for an amendment. As I said before, there would be none of this heat if liberals were not prepared to subvert the constitution in order to get their prejudices into law.
Frankly, this is why I think the debate in European countries on both abortion and gay marriage has been both more civilised and more successful (for the liberals) than it has been in the US - because legalisation of both was achieved through a democratic process that both sides could regard as legitimate, and in which the losers could accept that they had fairly lost. There were no fiats from on high.
"And, one more time, neither Roe v. Wade nor the gay marriage rulings are the liberals' "fault" -- unless you're talking about 3 or 4 liberals on the Court."
Nonsense. the Supreme Court only rules on cases that are brought before it. It was liberal activists that pushed Roe to the Supreme Court and it will be liberal activists who push gay marriage there (as they already have done with the Massachussetts Supreme Court) as soon as they think they have a majority of liberal judges on the court.
And just to make it clear what I've said before - I believe that if you have to have civil marriage (which is a separate debate) it should be open to all citizens regardless of orientation. I do feel I am allowed to be contemptuous of the tactics employed by some of the people pushing it though - the end does not always justify the means.
Pardon me Random - Return what favor? I don't see anyone trying to pass a law to PREVENT you from living your life with the partner of your choice. No skin off your back, you have the right to get married if you want. It's hardly the same thing.
I'm not pushing my belief that there's nothing wrong with homosexuality on you. You're free to believe it's wrong if you wish.
If your particular interpretation of Christianity tells you gay marriage is wrong. Fine. No one is telling you you don't have the right to believe that. What we're saying is that you do not have the right to prevent another person from excersising his or her human rights because you think it's wrong.
Give me one solid anti-gay marriage argument that doesn't involve God or Judeo-Christian morals. This is, last time I checked, still a secular country.
I understand the argument that legislation has been circumvented through the courts. I don't agree with it, but I understand where you're coming from.
What this ammendment would do is prevent state legislatures and residents from pushing legislation that would legalize gay marriage in any state. So you're taking away the very right (for the legislature to codify marriage) that you're complaining the courts took away.
random asked: do you have source for that quote from Machiavelli? I've read a lot of his stuff, and that's not familiar to me. It doesn't really sound like his style either.
I think it's from 'The Prince' - I tried to find the exact source via Google but couldn't. I think he was either using Psalm 118(?) as an example or making a comment on it. Sorry I couldn't be more specific.
I'm all for gays having the right to raise kids and being recognized as committed lovers. But don't you think that we need to acknowledge that humans aren't adapted yet to a homosexual parenting? We need to adapt to it but we need to start dealing with these changes. Other social changes that we haven't adapted healthily yet in my opinion is the new phenomenon of cyber romance. We've adapted biologically to make choices based on visual and even aromatic cues. Those are completely absent in cyber relationships. Leading to confusing times. Sorry for the ramble.
Uber: People have the capacity to adjust to changing social norms. As little as 40 years ago many Americans believed that marriage between people of different races was not "natural" and ought to be outlawed.
I agree with Laura and Cyberkitten. What's the harm in permitting people of the same gender who love each other to get married? As Thomas Jefferson said about religious differences: "It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
"If your particular interpretation of Christianity tells you gay marriage is wrong. Fine. No one is telling you you don't have the right to believe that. What we're saying is that you do not have the right to prevent another person from excersising his or her human rights because you think it's wrong."
Laura, what part of
"I believe that if you have to have civil marriage (which is a separate debate) it should be open to all citizens regardless of orientation."
did you not understand?
Frankly, I'd be grateful if you could pay more attention to what I actually say instead of what you think I must have said - but to repeat (yet) again, if the state is going to provide something called civil marriage it has no business discriminating between citizens as to who can take it up. I do not see why this prevents me from expressing contempt for some of the attitudes of the people pushing the agenda however.
CK, no it's not "The Prince" - I know that one very well and I'm pretty sure it's not in there. It's an odd sentiment to find in a book that is essentially an instruction manual for the sort of people being warned against in the quote anyway.
Random: My bad. I was actually responding to the "Then with all due respect you will have scant grounds for complaint if those of us who do return the favour" and arguing why it doesn't really apply in this case.
random said: CK, no it's not "The Prince" - I know that one very well and I'm pretty sure it's not in there. It's an odd sentiment to find in a book that is essentially an instruction manual for the sort of people being warned against in the quote anyway.
'The Prince' was only an uneducated guess. I had a vague memory of the quote so Googled it. I saw it attributed to Machiavelli in several places so assumed it was probably true. But with the Net... who knows...?
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VPL-DX120
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DVD Review: 'Bereavement'
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Hadn’t yet had your fill of the serial killer genre? Well Anchor “blood in the water” Bay keeps the blood hits coming with the release of "Bereavement" out on DVD August 30. Check the body count below!
Title: "Bereavement"
Grade: 1
Cast: Michael Biehn, Alexandra Daddario, Brett Rickaby
Director: Stevan Mena
Rating: R
Runtime: 107 minutes
Release Company: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Website: www.anchorbayent.com
The Flick: I’ll fully admit I never saw "Malevolence," the film to which this picture is a prequel to, but after viewing the uninspiring "Bereavement" I don’t think it’s gonna end up on my Netflix queue. It’s a serial killer flick that starts with an interesting enough premise of a six-year-old kid with CIPA (can’t feel pain!) who gets kidnapped by a serial killer. Problem is the madman played by Brett Rickaby is an over-the-top flake, his victims are all annoying faceless screamers, and even his film foes (normally excellent Michael 'Kyle Reese' Biehn and pouty and moody teen Alexandra Daddario) don’t get the audience to root them. (When you don’t root for Hicks, something’s seriously wrong!) Director Stevan Mena has created one nasty, not fun, unscary, bad looking blood and guts ridden flick that tries to pass itself off as some sort of demented art horror flick, but just looks more like a Corman Classic - minus the tasty cheese.
Best Feature: Definitely the ‘Deleted Scenes’ where a ton of dialogue scenes and cool character stuff has been dumped – it’s the stuff that should have ended up in the flick. (It might have at least helped!)
Best Hidden Gem: Loved seeing John Savage struggle with trying to pinpoint why he chose to do this flick – his answer, ‘It’s a better script then most horror movies.”
Worth the Moola: If watching killer horror without passion, pleasure and minus the menace is you’re idea of a “stunning achievement” (courtesy of the DVD cover box!), you need to expand you’re cinematic horror horizons!
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Sega leads cross-promotional network for Japan devs
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Mobile firms combine player communities to advertise games to new users
A host of Japanese mobile developers led by Sega have reportedly banded together to create a cross-promotional network.
According to a Nikkei report spotted by Serkan ToTo, Sega is at the forefront of an initiative involving 14 other developers (such as Capcom and Taito) to create additional exposure by combining player communities.
The 15 companies have a combined user-base of more than 20m, with the long-term plan supposedly involving doubling that figure through the recruitment of other companies.
The report also suggests that the group was formed in an attempt to avoid the revenue share imposed by Japan’s leading networks. That includes the likes of Apple and Google, as well as DeNA and Gree who both take an additional cut of what would otherwise be revenue going to the developer.
Promotional pushes for the organisation are expected to kick off in the fall.
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Gabon dump out Morocco
A five-goal thriller at the Stade de l'Amitie saw co-hosts Gabon edge Morocco 3-2 after an action-packed game.
Last Updated: 27/01/12 9:35pm
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang holds off Morocco's Garcele Mehdi Francois
A five-goal thriller at the Stade de l'Amitie saw AFCON co-hosts Gabon edge Morocco 3-2 after an action-packed game.
The match was keenly contested early on as Gabon did well to match their north African opponents, with their home support also boosting their morale.
However, Morocco always looked more dangerous going forward and opened the scoring 24 minutes into the clash.
Younes Belhanda threaded the ball through the Panthers defence and found Houssine Kharja, who took a couple of touches before striking it low past Ovono with his left foot.
Gabon pushed for the equaliser until the break, but Morocco's defence held firm as they took their slender lead into the dressing room.
The second half was jam packed with excitement and intrigue and saw no less than four goals.
Daniel Cousin came on as a half-time sub for Gabon and made an immediate impact. The experienced forward had a two decent chances early in the half but was denied.
However, a two-goal salvo saw Gabon surge ahead 2-1.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalised with a superbly taken volley from 10 yards out in the 77th minute.
And only two minutes later, Cousin finally found the back of the net. The forward made room for himself in the Atlas Lions' area before slotting it with a powerful low shot into the bottom corner of goalkeeper Nadir Lamyaghri's goal.
A late penalty saw the north Africans back on level terms at 2-2 thanks to a clear-cut penalty in the 90th minute.
Younes Belhanda's strike hit Stephan Bitseki Moto's hand in the area and the ref awarded the spot-kick, which Houssine Kharja converted with composure.
The strike silenced the partisan crowd, but only momentarily. With the last kick of the match, Bruno Mbanangoye Zita sent the stadium into wild celebrations as he curled home a free-kick from 25 yards to clinch the 3-2 win, virtually secure Gabon's progress and send Morocco packing.
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An extension of the Common Sense Journalism monthly column by Doug Fisher, former broadcaster, newspaper reporter and wire service editor. From new media to old, much of journalism is just plain common sense."In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Unknown (often improperly attributed to Thomas Jefferson)
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
"Common sense is not so common" - Voltaire
"Common sense is instinct; enough of it is genius" - George Bernard Shaw
She certainly can comment if she wants to, unless there is a clear policy, law, etc., that prevents her.
And
maybe there is. But too often stories say an official said he or she
"cannot" comment. Often, a stock phrase that like "because the lawsuit
is ongoing" is thrown in - phrases that when you parse them really don't
say much.
And that subtly makes us complicit in one of
the favorite parlor games of many politicians and too many public
officials: linguistic obfuscation.
She would not comment. It's a conscious decision. We should make clear to readers/users that's the case.
If an official says he or she can't comment, then the conversation should be like this:
Them: I'm sorry, I can't comment on that.
You: Why is that?
Them: It's an ongoing legal case.
You: Yes, but why can't you comment? Is there a policy or is this your decision.
Them: I just don't comment on ongoing cases.
You: OK, then you would not comment. I understand.
If, OTOH, there's this:
You: Yes, but why can't you comment? Is there a policy or is this your decision?
Them: Yes, we have a policy against commenting in such cases.
You: Oh, is that a written policy? Where can I get a copy of it?
Them: Uh ....
Then
I'd probably still say the person would not comment and cited a (fill in
your governing body) policy against talking about ongoing legal cases.
(And you should continue pressing for that policy, just because ...)
If
the person were able to produce details of that policy or say it was on
the advice of a lawyer, etc., then "can't" is closer to acceptable. But
you now know details of why and should tell folks.
And even then, I think I'd favor "would not" with the explanation.
The
only times I think "cannot" is clearly called for is when there are
legal repercussions if the person talks. So if the mayor says she can't
comment because of a judge's gag order or she can't comment because
state law says officials can't talk about such and such, then OK.
In most cases, whether to comment is a decision made with free will,
which takes "would." Even with a "policy," a person usually is free to
decide to ignore it. (All the time we use anonymous sources who are doing
just that, don't we? So that little nicety doesn't seem to trouble us.)
"Can't"
seldom should be used, and when it is it should always have solid
explanation, not just a tossed-off stock phrase, because the subtle but
important implication is that the decision is being taken out of the
person's hands. If we acquiesce, it provides a veil of plausible
deniability. It's a reason pols and public officials like to use it,
just as they adore the passive ("mistakes were made").
Our job isn't to provide linguistic cover.
(Usage notes:
-
The widely established form is "declined to", not just "declined,"
comment. You decline something offered to you (another piece of pie,
perhaps), but you decline to offer something (in this case, a comment)
to someone else. The argument could be that you are declining the chance
to comment, shortened to declined comment, but that's really not the
sense of the interaction. And why even use that bureaucratic form when
"would not" is perfectly fine?
- Avoid "refused" - the
connotation has overtones of malice on your part. But if you catch his
or her honor carting away a bag of money and you ask what's up and all
you get is stony silence, then, yeah, "refused" might fit the bill.)
2 Comments:
I have also observed that most stories will use the phrase “cannot comment” without providing legal reasons to justify their statements. I agree with your claim that readers should be made aware of the difference between “won’t comment” and “can’t comment.” However, perhaps one reason that most writers will use the phrase “can’t comment” is because today’s readers feel that “won’t comment” has the same negative connotations as “refused to comment.” Or maybe writers just do not portray interviewee’s statement accurately because they are trying to appease their audiences. Either way, reader’s should strive to look for these differences and discover the truth in stories on their own.
About Me
Yes, I do coaching and consulting. That is the only shameless commerce you'll get from me here. Go to the bottom of the blog for more details.
Who am I: A longtime print and broadcast reporter/editor/producer and then AP news editor who now professes journalism at the University of South Carolina. (But please note, nothing on this blog represents official university policy or sentiment. If it did, I'd be very concerned.)My point: That journalism is a great occupation, that most journalism is common sense and that our problems arise when we sometimes don't use it.What's covered: My interests center on editing and writing and on editors and the challenges they face in a changing environment. I'm convinced editors are not being trained enough to face these challenges, but that common sense rules the day. I'm heavily involved in Newsplex, the new-media newsroom at the University of South Carolina. But my interests are wide-ranging, so anything, from ethics to some aspects of Web design, is fair game.
Hope you find something here worthwhile.
Common Sense Journalism  Yes, I do seminars and consulting. Among those I have worked with are the SNPA Traveling Campus, S.C. Press Association, N.Y. Press Association, Georgia Press Association, Mississippi Press Association, Virginia Press Association, Landmark Community Newspapers, American Copy Editors Society, Society of Professional Journalists, Lancaster (S.C.) News, The (Rock Hill, S.C.) Herald, The (Sumter, S.C.) Item, the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration. Contact me for more information.
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I’m a person on Patheos!
It is a bit strange to say that, but here I am, thanks to the kindness of the Catholic channel’s editor Sam Rocha. I am glad to see that many of my colleagues here are already my friends – Artur Rosman, Mark Shea, the Pezzulos, and even a fellow Byzantine Catholic, Henry Karlson. By making this list, I am sure that I have missed others who are my friends, for which I apologize. I hope to get to know my colleagues whom I do not yet know (or do not yet know well). Perhaps they will disagree with me sometimes, which will make for some useful interaction.
In any case, I’m looking forward to writing up a storm here. I also hear that the comment boxes around these parts are a bit of a wild ride, but I have faith that my colleagues will show me the ropes so that I can effective exert my sovereignty on the Disqus app. Eventually, I will get the hang of it, but until then, I ask for your patience.
Perhaps on this first post, I should say something about myself. My name is Justin. I wear a lot of hats in my professional and personal life. For example, I’m an academic geographer working at the nexus of Asian American studies and religious studies (which I don’t see as much different from theology, unfortunately for both me and my readers). I was also recently chrismated into an Eastern Catholic Church (the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church, if you must know).
But as I’ve been trying to make my way through the tricky jungle of this world as an adult, I’ve come to think of myself simply as a person. There are many influences on my thinking as a person – the ‘About‘ page on this blog lists Orthodox theologian Christos Yanarras and critical theorist Slavoj Žižek as two of them – but the larger point, I think, is that being a person means that I’m just a face faced by other persons. I fully appreciate the weight of saying this as someone who is supposed to be ‘Chinese’ (although I prefer ‘Cantonese’) because it is said that Asians and Asian Americans think a lot about ‘face.’ The only problem with such identity politics is that my own academic work is largely devoted to figuring out what other people think ‘Chineseness’ and ‘Asianness’ are, which means that I have no idea what these terms actually mean anymore in and of themselves. Because of this, I don’t feel like I need to save face; I just am faced as a face.
My blogging philosophy is that a ‘blog’ is a ‘web-log.’ It is therefore a log on the web of the thoughts that I as a person have chosen to publish. Some of these thoughts may not be fully mature; therefore, my blog can be taken as a log of my own immaturity. For example, I was an Anglican before entering the Eastern Catholic Church (although I did not grow up as an Anglican Christian – this is a subject that I can write about later). Because I did not have much experience with blogging, it was an open secret that I blogged as an anonymous character called ‘Chinglican at Table’ at a group blog composed of pseudonymous friends called A Christian Thing. Now that I am an Eastern Catholic person, I will no longer be blogging as Chinglican, and it is convenient that as I am retiring like the Dread Pirate Roberts, my friend Lue-Yee Tsang has taken to calling himself a ‘Chinglican’; although our politics are very different (he describes himself as a ‘monarchist,’ and I do not really know what that is), it is also nice that we grew up in the same Chinese evangelical circle known as ‘Chinese for Christ’ in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, because a blog is a log of my developing, immature thoughts, my posts as Chinglican have been imported into this blog, alongside a second blog that deserves equal criticism called Religion Ethnicity Wired.
Because of these two imports, I have some housekeeping to do. I will need to change my Facebook page and Twitter handle from ‘Religion Ethnicity Wired’ to ‘Eastern Catholic Person.’ I am thinking that my new Twitter handle, if it has not been taken, should be something like @jkhtsecperson, and my Facebook should be similar. Not only is this better for marketing, but it reflects better who I am online. As of writing this, I have not made these changes yet, but consider this post fair warning.
I imagine that my writing here will be as undeveloped as my previous two blogs. After all, if my thinking were more developed, I would have to send my work here to a peer-reviewed academic journal, which is what I try to do for some of my better writing. However, I also think that I will try to blog through some themes here, though spelling them out is not a commitment to writing about them or giving them equal weight. For example, I think much of my blogging will have an Eastern Catholic flavour because I think I generally do theology like someone who is Orthodox-in-communion-with-Rome anyway. That said, one of our greatest theologians, Robert Taft SJ, says that ‘Eastern Catholic theology’ is like the judicial definition of pornography – ‘It is difficult to define it, but we all know it when we see it.’
But what I will blog about as an Eastern Catholic person will most likely be a log of what I am thinking through. Sometimes, this will have to do with my own sui juris church in the Catholic communion; at other times, it may be about other such autonomous Catholic churches. At still other times, it will be about the Latin Church, as I plan to do soon because my friends at World Youth Day are doing very interesting things. Perhaps at other times, it will be about the various Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Church of the East, and maybe I will be trolled as a ‘Uniate’ when I do that. Because I grew up Protestant, I will not hesitate to write about the variety of them as well. Sometimes I will talk about human geography because the word ecumene(from which we get the word ‘ecumenical,’ which is what I am supposed to be as an Eastern Catholic) is a word from cultural geography; all it means is ‘the inhabited world,’ and that means that ‘secular’ themes insofar as they pertain to the saeculum are also fair game. I will certainly talk about Asian American politics, which will be a continuation from Chinglican and Religion Ethnicity Wired. On some posts, I will have a personal investment in what I discuss; at other times, the tone may be more distant, like a religious studies scholar – the difference will depend on what I am thinking about on any given day.
In all cases, I will be trying out ideas, and I welcome your comments, although I am told that I am sovereign in terms of moderating them, in the sense that, as the Nazi judicial theorist Carl Schmitt says, ‘Sovereign is the one who decides on the exception.’ What this means is that if you bear false witness against me (your neighbour) and call me a Nazi, I will likely decide that your comment is the exception and delete it. If said comment stays, it is also because I am sovereign. Apart from saving me the agony of having to explain myself to trolls, I think at a more important level that this is a useful pedagogical tool for learning the basics of critical geopolitics, which is an excellent way of vulgarly promoting my home discipline.
I am looking forward very much to interacting with everyone here, and I hope that you will have patience with me as I work on my housekeeping items as well as writing shorter and more readable posts. I have an Eastern Catholic memorial service (a ‘parastas’) to attend now, so I must be off.
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Varese Sarabande has announced the details for the upcoming period drama Bel Ami. The album includes the original score from the film written by Lakshman Joseph De Saram and Academy Award-winning composer Rachel Portman. The soundtrack will be released on March 20, 2012 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Bel Ami is directed by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod and stars Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci and Colm Meaney. The film revolves around a young man’s rise to power in Paris via his manipulation of the city’s most influential and wealthy women. The drama recently premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and will be released in the UK on March 9, 2012. A domestic release through IFC Films is expected later this year.
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Sometimes money can buy you happiness. For instance, I’m sure the Cubs would be happy to be rid of Alfonso Soriano and the remainder of the eight-year, $136 million contract he signed after the 2006 season. According to a recent report from Bruce Levine at ESPN Chicago, they might be aiming for just that. Levine’s source says that the Cubs “would be willing to absorb a high percentage” of the roughly $60 million remaining on his contract, which runs through 2014. That will certainly make him more palatable to other teams, but I still wonder if he’s worth a trade even at a steep discount.
Soriano has massively underproduced relative to his contract in the last three years. Injuries have limited him to 1,369 PA, and he has just 0.2 batting runs above average in that span. That ranks 107th out of 135 qualified hitters, just a tick behind Melky Cabrera. In total that performance, translated into WAR Dollars, was worth $14.7 million, or less than what Soriano will make in each of the next three seasons. There’s a good chance that his three-year total won’t even reach $18 million, making a trade for him a dicey proposition even without the contract.
One idea behind the trade is that Soriano might produce better numbers if he’s taken out of the field completely. That is, an American League team might find use for him a a DH, and maybe a part-time left fielder. While that might sound like an interesting notion, it’s not easy to prove. After all, about a half-win of his value from 2009 through the present has come from defense — UZR has rated him above average in the last two years. So that puts him further down the defensive spectrum, while taking away those supposed contributions. (If you can’t tell, I’m skeptical about UZR’s output on him.)
Essentially, for the DH theory to check out, we’d have to make the enormous assumption that playing the field has played a large part in Soriano’s injuries, and that the injuries are the primary cause of his offensive downswing. It’s plausible, I suppose, and it’s probably true to some degree. But is it true to the degree that would turn him back into a +20-run hitter for the next two to three years? Would it even turn him into a +15-run hitter? It would be great if it did, but again, those runs are less valuable coming from a DH. He’d be lucky to produce 3 WAR per year as a DH through the life of his contract, even with significant improvements at the plate.
Still, with the Cubs eating a big chunk of the contract, perhaps he’d be a worthy risk. All we have is an anonymous source, who might not even be within the Cubs organization, using the term “high percentage,” so it’s unclear what the Cubs are really thinking here. I doubt a team would want to pay Soriano more than $5 million per year, which would leave the Cubs eating $39 million of the $54 million he’s due from 2012-2014, with the question of his remaining $6 million from 2011 still on the table. I’m guessing the Cubs would eat at least $5 mil of that, meaning they’d be eating $45 million total, or 75 percent of the total contract. That’s a high percentage for sure, and it’s probably the minimum they could get away with.
Even if we arrive at a logical sum for the Cubs to absorb, we still have the matter of a team trading for Soriano. How badly do the Cubs wan to give him away? In other words, what kind of prospect would they require in exchange for eating 75% of Soriano’s salary? This is where things get really tricky. Soriano is a risk any way you slice it. He’d also come with a decent price tag. Why would a team give up a decent prospect for that? Why wouldn’t they save their decent prospects for, say, the aforementioned Cabrera? He’s not under team control for as long, but he’ll make far less than Soriano next year. Even if you trade him and sign him for an extension through 2014, I doubt he’d cost as much as the remainder of Soriano’s contract. There are other options out there, ones who can play defense, even, who would help more than Soriano.
Given the above breakdown, it’s pretty clear why the Cubs want to rid themselves of Soriano’s contract. It’s historically bad, and they’d do well to move on. But there are plenty of concerns, even if an acquiring teams removes injury risk by moving him to DH. He loses plenty of value in that case, so a team has to truly believe that he can recover some offensive value when completely healthy. That’s a big risk, even at $5 million per season. There might not be great options on the market, but there certainly are better alternatives. Try as the Cubs might, they might have to eat 100% of Soriano’s contract to get him out of town.
Agreed… these comment feeds are turning into sarcastic ridiculousness. Some of the informed commenters around here are getting just as annoying as the uninformed, sorry. The selfish humor induced banter is going to turn this place into youtube hell.
-22
A 3/54 for Soriano (not counting this year) is not a top 10 bad contract. Zito, Wells, ARod, Howard, Werth, Crawford, Lackey, Dunn, Jeter, and Braun are all worse (Okay maybe it’s 10th or so). Plus, Soriano provided 11 war for two division title winners at the beginning of his contract. While that alone doesn’t justify $136 million, for a team like the Cubs, it makes the contract more or less “worth it.”
I’m not saying this contract isn’t “bad”. I’m just saying it is not one of the top 5 worst contracts (there are like 26 100m+ contracts?) at either the time of signing or with the best information we have now. I’m not really interested in snipping off portions of a contract and evaluating them as independent decisions since its dishonest in evaluating the contract. If Soriano has put up 3 10+ WAR seasons and then lost a leg to a knee surgery gone bad, do we rank this as “WORST CONTRACT EVER” since clearly he’s a 0 WAR player with no possibility of return yet owed a vast sum of money?!?
UZR/150 at the Trop: 22.5
UZR/150 away from the Trop 7.5
(8 year sample size)
Knock Crawford down to a 7.5 defender as opposed to the 15 people think he is and his value changes significantly.
He’s still a great defender, but that value was overstated by the Trop… not only range but he actually had a significant plus arm when at the Trop (and obviously anyone who’s seen him throw would not be surprised that it’s negative on the road)
Unless he gets a bug offensive bump from Fenway… I think the contract will not look pretty in a couple of years (not that it looks all that great now)
Ok, who is the moron trying to put Braun in here? The guy does nothing but hit (serious statement/defensive joke). His isn’t bad until he starts to play like Wells, Soriano, Lackey, Dunn, or Zito, or he gets hurt and gets caught cheating like Rodriguez.
And you CAN’T stick Werth or Crawford in these groups. Both are in year one in new situations. Werth had to (try to) carry Washington with Zimmerman out, and he doesn’t get the comfort of being surrounded by a winning offense. Crawford has to get used to a high-pressure environment, and he got hurt, which kind of killed the slight bit of momentum he might have had going.
Let’s actually give them more than 3 months before we start calling those 2 historically bad contracts.
Ryan Howard will make a whopping $25 mil/year from 2013 through 2017, $125 mil total. His production this season is comparable to Carlos Pena’s. My vote for worst contract in baseball is Howard’s. There was and is simply no excuse for handing out that kind of money to Howard, especially since he was under contract already through 2012.
I keep forgetting when Howard’s deal goes into effect. Last year I thought it went into effect this year and then I was thinking it goes into effect next year, and now I see it starts in 2013 and I laugh and I laugh and I laugh.
Why are you talking about the present value of a contract? I guess if you wanna view contracts at arbitrary endpoints to determine the “goodness” of something in totality that is weird. (I guess the first A-rod contract sucked then.)
I view contracts in totality. I think his contract was the best of the three that was signed that winter. Useless metrics like “WAR” seem to agree with me. Whatever makes you happy though.
-13
What are you even talking about? It’s insane to say that the Soriano contract is/was worse than Carlos Lee’s? We’ll just have to agree to disagree about that then.
Soriano’s been worth about 15 “useless” wins since he signed w/ the Cubs. He had 1 great year and has been either terrible or slightly above average the rest. He’s set to make $54 million over the next 3 years and probably projects as a 2-2.5 win player at best each season. Needless to say, 2 win left fielders are fairly easy to find on the free agent market. You don’t need to pay them $18 M in order to secure their services. Those guys are eminently fungible. He’s Chris Heisey at about 36 times the price.
Now, all of this was foreseeable because he was 31 when he was signed by the Cubs. LOL!
1. The Cubs signed Soriano when they had a team that was a legitimate contender. They won the division twice and shit the bed in the playoffs both times.
2. Everyone knew at the time of the signing (at least I did) that it was for that brief period when their core was going to be together and still effective (Lee, Ramirez, Soriano, Z, etc) and that the back end would be pretty ugly. It was the price to pay to try to shoot for that window. They went for it.
As a Cubs fan I did not (and still don’t) really have a problem with the signing. You have to view it for what it was. They signed one of the best FAs that year to a princely sum in order to have a few really good shots at a WS. Didn’t happen, which sucks, but you can’t ignore that part of it because they’re paying the price now.
-9
You know, I’m not a parent or even a christian, not hardcore moral nor a right wing nut, however can we keep the language to a level of a professional? Damn, ass are fine. I just don’t see it necessary to drop the f-bomb here.
Alfonso Soriano is one of the premier players in the league. Any team lucky enough to receive his services will immediately be put into playoff contention. The guy is a proven winner and an asset to any ballclub savvy enough to pick him up. Why the Cubs want to get rid of this talent is beyond me.
I would really like to see Soriano land with the Rays…they could use a bona fide DH and Soriano fits the bill perfectly. The man is still an offensive force and will make a great addition to any team serious about competing.
I can’t see the Cubs getting anything resembling a good prospect, no matter how much of his salary they end up eating. For them, the sole incentive has to be saving money, because if there just isn’t a taker for him–and there very well may not be– they’ll be forced to eat all of the ~$60MM he’s still owed. Wiping their hands of any of that remaining salary would have to be seen as a small victory.
I’m not sure why the White Sox would make that deal, even if the Cubs picked up the difference, since they could probably (still) get a much more valuable player than Soriano if they’re willing to eat Dunn’s contract.
Yeah, I was thinking about this too. It’s absurd in reality, but it seems kind of sensible too. I can imagine that the change in personality matches would benefit both guys. But I somehow think that the chance of one team looking substantially worse than the other in a shared market would be too much for most administrations.
Dunn’s defense is just the worst tho. Does Fonzi + 15mil for Dunn seem do-able? I just don’t know where the Cubs would put Dunn. I doubt they’ll give Pena away because he’s going to be a type B, plus they owe him a 5mil cash payment in December that they would surely have to eat.
I don’t see any good reason why the Cubs shouldn’t cover at least 75% of Soriano’s contract if someone else (Sabean? Cashman?) wants to pay the other 25%. Take a PTBNL, save ~$15 million, open a roster spot for a player with some long-term value. Win-win-win.
No question Soriano is a huge overpriced contract, but he is not worthless. He is probably worth 2-3 WAR a season. Teams do a fair amount of work finding 2-3 WAR reliable outfielders. I doubt the Cubs can eat enough salary to get a prospect that will generate them 2-3 WAR a year in return, so I would not trade him if I was the CUBS unless they had a sure thing top tier prospect he was preventing from playing everyday. (I do not know if they do)
Plus, hasn’t their been some articles lately about how the NL is being pushed by realignment into adopting the DH? If that happens a year or so from now the CUBS will be happy to have Soriano around to plug into that hole.
lastly, I think Soriano’s ptofile better fits in a hitters park like Wrigley. he need to be in a homerun hitters park to have value. Most AL teams looking for more offense are in pitchers parks (Oak, Seattle, etc.). I am fairly sure a guy who rarely walks and gets all his value from hitting home runs is a worse fit in those parks.
That’s just it…the cubs do have a top 20 prospect who could be playing at the major league level tomorrow in Brett Jackson…Soriano has been batting 6 or 7th for the cubs most of the season with some success…but fact remains he is being paid 18 mil per season to be a 6 or 7th hitter on a bad offensive team. Cut the rope and be done with it
[1] I love how folks seem to think that league average to slightly above average players are all over the place, ready to be had for market value. That’s laughable. (I agree with the point you’re making).
[2] The problem with Soriano is the same old thing, he’s hacktastic as evident by his .298 OBP. He hits homers, which is good … but that’s pretty much it.
The problem with the Soriano performance is that about 60% of that WAR came in 2006-07.
At the time they signed him he was one of the best LF in the game. He was signed, along with Pinella, to increase the excitement and financial worth of the organization to raise the asking price for the sell of the team.
AS was worth 4 WAR in 2008 and 3 WAR in 2010. He’s probably not going to earn the full value of the contract, but he’s not going to be grossly overpayed if we use the standard 4-5M per WAR figure. He’s earned 14 fWAR as a Cub, so that’s anywhere between 48-70M, meaning he’s probably going to earn about 100M of the 136M paid to him.
I’ve been promoting this idea for weeks. Zito is a durable, capable #4 or #5 starter, which the Cubs desperately need. Soriano is a capable LF (and occasional 2B?) power hitter that the Giants desperately need. Their contracts are nearly identical, and both need a change of scenery where they’re no longer blamed for their ridiculous contracts.
As a Giants fan, I would add Rowand and a high level pitching prospect (Surkamp?) for Aramis Ramirez, this helps even out the contract differentials. Rowand might thrive in Wrigley, and the Cubs might acquire a future ace, which the Giants don’t need. Ramirez is with SF for the rest of 2011 at $14 Million/yr, with Sandoval moving to Catcher for most games. Posey (C) and Sanchez (2B) are back for 2012; Ramiriez won’t be with the Cubs in 2012 anyway.
Zito and Soriano are only untradeable if you lack creativity. This trade would give both teams things they need, while also giving players despised for their contracts a fresh start with new teams.
Soriano has said he’s willing to allow a trade, but Aramis has zero interest in waiving his no trade clause. The other issue with a trade for Aramis Ramirez is that, with a trade, his $16 million option for 2012 vests. So San Francisco would have to assume that Posey, Belt and Sandoval would all be good between 1B and C, less any IF playing time for Aubrey Huff.
Really, Ramirez probably would be worth 3-4 WAR in 2012 if he plays at his current level for another year. There really aren’t that many top-flight offensively-oriented 3B in the game (ARod, Zimmerman, Longoria, and a few more), so Ramirez retains value so long as he is more mobile than a statue.. But I’d think an AL team would find him more valuable as a future DH/3B than would an NL team.
ManRam also threw up 34 WAR for 160M. But WAR/$ is a pretty terrible metric for top top end contracts (it ignores that teams with significantly above average resources will be above the “average”, the limitations on roster spots/playing time, and the cost of marginal wins at fringes). I’d consider this one a solid value as well.
Interestingly, from a quick peek at Cot’s it appears that almost all the 90m contracts were great.
With all this talk about “worst contract,” I feel like there is something that people are ignoring (maybe because it is a little bit harder to quantify or compare), but that is the market size and such. Even if A-Rod does nothing for the remainder of his contract, I don’t think that is one of the “worst” contract. Maybe a player getting paid more than he deserves, but his contract does not cripple the team.
Well’s contract crippled the jays and it can only be black magic that they got rid of it.
I agree with this aspect as well. Viewing contracts in context of not just team talent (expected wins) but also with the contract as a portion of their payroll and how it may impact future rebuilding efforts.
Coming from a Cubs fan here, I really don’t it’s the worst contract in history…but it was terrible. People forget Hendry put all his chips in the middle in order to bring home a championship, gambling with an 8 year contract – the gamble simply did not pay off. Everyone, including Hendry and Soriano, knew his value going to plummet after 2-3 years.
IMO, the Milton Bradley contract was worse..considering Adam Dunn & Raul Ibanez were out there and cheaper.
Soriano has been a bit unlucky with a LD% over 18% and a BABIP of only .288
Aaron stole my thunder on Vernon Wells. I can’t believe nobody thought of him until then tho. At least no one has mentioned the real albatross around Kenny’s neck, Alexis Rios’ contract has been and always will be a worse contract than Dunn or Soriano.
The guy is a bum, mike quade is an idiot two peas in a pod. The good one is you have all the speed in the world sitting on the bench a kid that can run from home too first in 3 seconds but what the hell the cubs are so bad they really don’t need any base runners.
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SOUNDS
Philip Glass to Play His Music at UCSB Concert : The famed champion of minimalism has become the movement's most successful and popular composer.
There was a time, back in the dark ages of the mid-'70s, when the music of Philip Glass existed only on the very fringes of "serious" music. Considered a star of the second wave of minimalists, after Terry Riley and La Monte Young, Glass turned out works that were radical by virtue of seemingly simple elements--repetitive tonal patterns, chugging, insistent rhythms--at a time when the atonal schemes of serialism ruled the contemporary classical scene.
All of that seems like relatively ancient history by now. Arguments rage in critical and academic circles over Glass' significance in the music world, but in the role of composer as commercially viable entity, Glass reigns supreme. His catalogue includes operas, film scores, conceptual theater pieces, as well as instrumental pieces. Last year's big Glass release was his "Low Symphony," based on materials from the David Bowie album "Low."
At this moment, Glass has hit the road in stripped-down fashion, sans his regular ensemble or any accouterment whatsoever. He shows up to a gig--such as his UC Santa Barbara stop Friday night--sits down at the piano and churns out snippets of music from his vast catalogue. Glass began doing solo concerts five years ago, in support of his solo piano album on CBS. What began as a quirk has developed into a periodic practice for the composer.
In a phone interview from New Orleans last week, Glass explained the ongoing lure of going it alone. "It gets down to what I consider the fundamental relationship of the composer, the instrument and the audience, with nobody else there. It's rock bottom. You're talking about a quintessential communicative experience.
"When I was a kid and I played my pieces on piano, in some part of my mind, I envisioned that someday I'd be playing for a public. I did that with the ensembles and the operas and all that other stuff, but there's an experience that resonates very deeply in my psyche to be on the stage by myself with my music."
Meanwhile, back home in New York, Glass' production company and ensemble continue to hone a current large-scale project, a live synchronous score to Jean Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast," which will tour the world beginning this summer.
Whatever one thinks of his music, Glass has clearly struck a nerve with a wide audience, including serious music aficionados and also those who would steer clear of classical concerts. It has enabled Glass to keep his self-reliant musical machinery in constant motion--like much of his pulse-driven music--around the world.
Do these solo piano concerts reflect the nature of how your music is created? Do you write primarily on piano?
"I do. The instrument I have at home is a piano. My production studio and office is three blocks away. That's where I have all the synthesizers and samplers and where all the sound programming and the recording gets done.
"But at home, the only thing I have that is high-tech is an electric pencil sharpener. I have a piano and a desk, and I write music the way I've always written it. I begin the day with a piano and I end the day with a piano. In a way, I'm a relic, compared to the way the younger musicians use the writing programs."
Would you say that your earlier pieces, which have recently been reissued, were more about process and experimentation than later works?
"They were. And the thing to remember is that I'm a person who doesn't repeat my own history very much. If I've solved a problem really well, I tend to go on to something else. After I wrote 'Einstein on the Beach' (1976), the idea of writing the Son of Einstein didn't interest me at all.
I'm still thinking about new problems. That's what's interesting about developing, that you can still find yourself, at the age of 57, with musical problems that you don't know what to do with. If I write a piece and I know what I'm doing, I'm immediately suspicious."
You've been seemingly continuously prolific over the past 25 years or more. Has there been much creative downtime, when nothing came to you?
"Virtually not. Part of it is that I've built around myself an organization with a production company and an ensemble which needs to work.
"One of the axioms in our organization is that work leads to more work, and not working leads to more not working."
Have you thought about where minimalism fits in the context of contemporary music these days?
"It's found its niche. It was a period of time, really from about 1965 to '75, when that work was really being done. None of us accepted the moniker at all. It was an anti-establishment movement, and the agenda was nothing less than to reform the language of modern music. And we did it. How much of the music will be memorable or playable, I don't know.
| 4,897 |
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TNBSA is the apex body controlling and guiding the game of Billiards and Snooker in the State of Tamil Nadu. TNBSA is affiliated to BILLIARDS AND SNOOKER FEDERATION OF INDIA (BSFI). BSFI is directly under the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs – Sports Authority of India.
| 426 |
Tag Archive: quirky
Rushton Triangular Lodge is an oddity set in the middle of nowhere. As its name suggests, it’s built in the shape of a triangle. Everything about it relates to the number three: there are three floors, three windows per wall…Read more
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CFI Course
The View From the Right Seat
What is a Flight Instructor Certificate?
The CFI Certificate is one of the most difficult certifications in aviation to achieve. The FAA considers flight instructors to be an essential part of aviation’s education and safety system and wants to ensure that applicants have high levels of knowledge and motor skills. In keeping with that outlook, the FAA prefers that CFI applicants be examined by an FAA Safety Inspector instead of a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE) when possible.
The flight instructor certificate is usually the first stop after achieving the Commercial Pilot Certificate. As a CFI, a pilot can build hours and experience without having to pay directly for the cost of the aircraft. Historically, many CFI’s have been young pilots building time for an airline or other professional pilot career.
That has started to change in recent years. With strong demand for CFI’s, many older pilots are earning a certificate or coming back to instructing as either a way to earn income or indulge their desire to fly.
What is Involved?
Like other certificates, the CFI requires an oral and practical exam. The more difficult part is the oral portion. A wide range of knowlege and how to teach it is required. The flight portion consists of being able to fly and teach private and commercial maneuvers from the right seat. Most applicants are prepared for the exam after 15 hours of flight training.
| 1,458 |
About Me
well, I'm just an average paintball player on a budget. I am currently running a Proto 2011 Rail with a Invert TOO loader. i already own a Guerilla air 48/3000 aluminum tank( soon to upgrade). I'm moving, so I'll be leaving my team and heading to North Georgia, Hopefully I'll find a good place near there.
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Release Date: KITH x Nike LeBron Performance 15 Closing Ceremony
Aug 30, 2018
The KITH x Nike LeBron Performance 15 Closing Ceremony was revealed earlier this year, and the model is finally releasing to the public. Like the nickname says, this colorway will be the last iteration of the LeBron 15 line, as the Nike LeBron 16 is set to make its debut soon. The silhouette sports a mixture of Black and Multi-Color accents via a luxurious embroidered pattern flowing across its Battleknit upper.
Retailing for $255, look for the KITH x Nike LeBron Performance 15 Closing Ceremony exclusively in-store at Kith Los Angeles on August 31st. Always keep it locked to KicksOnFire for the latest in sneaker news, release dates and where to purchase your favorite kicks.
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Calgary Family Photographer Blog
Calgary's BEST family photographer, Dana Pugh, showcases her most recent commissioned and personal work here on her blog. You can see her latest specials and events plus family, children, newborn, maternity and commercial photography sessions. She has recently opened a studio in Okotoks, Alberta and often shares the resulting pictures here. It is fresh and modern. A place where you can have maternity and newborn photographs taken in a relaxed and casual atmosphere.
Calgary Family Photographer | Dana Pugh Photography
Calgary Family Photographer, Dana Pugh, has been Calgary's leading family, children, newborn, and maternity photographer since 2007. Dana is located in Okotoks, Alberta but will travel for sessions. NAPCP's first ever International Child Photographer of the Year.
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Research and Education
The education and research opportunities of a relatively undisturbed barrier island are rare and valuable. Examples of some research activities on the island include an evaluation of tooth wear and survival of vasectomized, rehabilitated deer fawns; investigations into invasive plants such as the tallowtree, and archaeological documentation. Other ongoing studies include annual monitoring of sea turtle nesting success, and neotropical migratory land birds, an evaluation of the impact of deer and feral hogs on the islands vegetation, and monitoring of various pathogens in wildlife. Currently, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Wildlife Resources Division and The Ossabaw Island Foundation cooperate to provide access for research on the island. The Ossabaw Island Foundation also offers educational opportunities that range from day excursions for students to extensive field trips for colleges, high schools and other educational organizations. All academic disciplines (cultural and scientific) provide valid opportunities for research and education, which should encompass Ossabaw's unique ecology and natural and cultural history.
| 1,172 |
Ballot Monkeys
Channel 4's Election Political satire Ballot Monkeys, described as a real-time political sitcom, was filmed on site at Pinewood Studios
As well as being able to accomodate the whole production, Pinewood was involved in devising the production workflow and schedule that happened all in one day.
To keep the show fresh and topical, all the final segments were written shot and edited on the day of transmission; some of the show was shot in the previous few days.
Paul Darbyshire, Broadcast Director for Pinewood Studios Group commented: “The show was like having four separate productions shooting at the same time, so a major hurdle was being able to ingest and manage 4 multicam shoots running continuously throughout the day. There were 8 camera’s shooting P2 on four political party buses so the quantity of media being generated was significant.”
The final programme was sent for transmission from one of Pinewood’s transmission galleries, utilising Pinewood’s diversely routed BT broadcast lines to tower.
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3 Days Trip to Goa Package
Arrival
Description :
Upon your arrival at Goa airport/ railway station, our tour representative assists you in smooth transfer to the hotel for a pre-booked stay.
The first day of your Goa trip will acquaint you with the rich Portuguese culture and heritage of this tiny Indian state. There are several remnants in Old Goa in the form of century old cathedrals such as Basilica of Bom Jesus and Chapel of St. Francis Xavier.
Goa is also known for its massive forts which were built by Indian rulers and Portuguese colonies which settled in Goa in the 15th century. Besides, you can visit the famous ‘Fort Aguada’ whose major portions have been converted into a luxury hotel.
Post sightseeing, return to the hotel for dinner and night stay.
Goa
Description :
The day of your days tour to Goa is dedicated to the exploration of North Goa beaches.
The charm of Goa beaches lies in its beautiful beaches lined on the seashore and attracts a huge crowd of Indian and international tourists. Some popular beaches that you can visit include Anjuna, Baga and Calangute. These beaches will allow you to indulge in water sports such as Para sailing, scuba diving and water skiing.
Besides, you can visit the local markets at Anjuna where you can purchase traditional jewelry, handicrafts and souvenirs.
The 2nd day of your Goa Trip will make you experience the nightlife of Goa. Proceed towards the Tito’s bar, one of the most happening party places in Goa to enjoy the vibrant nightlife. Besides, you can also visit the Ingo’s Saturday Night Bazaar famous for shopping.
Dinner and overnight stay in Goa.
Departure
Description :
On the day of your Goa Trip, you will head straight towards South Goa. Colva is a popular beach in South Goa. The beach is home to shacks, resort complexes, tourist cottages, discos and eateries.
Have some fun and laze around as the day will mark the end of your holiday in Goa.
You will be assisted in smooth transfer to the Goa airport/railway station to board flight/train for onwards journey.
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Includes all utilities (cable, electricity, internet, etc.), amenities, and special cultural programming for students.
Homestay
Homestay fees until August 17, 2018:
Option
Description
Price/
session8 weeks
Price/
session7 weeks
Price/
half-session4 weeks
Extra Nights
Traditional
Includes 7 breakfasts, 7 dinners, & 2 lunches each week.
$2,088
$1,827
$1,044
$37.29
Standard
Includes 7 breakfasts & 5 dinners each week.
$1,880
$1,645
$940
$33.57
Dinner only
Includes 7 dinners each week; no other meals.
$1,728
$1,512
$864
$30.86
Breakfast only
Includes 7 breakfasts each week; no other meals.
$1,560
$1,365
$780
$27.86
No meals
No meals provided. Students have kitchen access.
$1,280
$1,120
$640
$22.86
Note:
The prices listed above are valid until August 2018. Prices subject to change at any time without notice.
Homestay fees must be paid directly to the homestay family on the day that the student moves into the home.
Prices listed are for each ELI session. Each session lasts 7-8 weeks (approximately 2 months). These prices cover the student’s accommodations from the official move-in date to the official move-out date. If the student moves in with the family earlier than the official move-in date or moves out after the official move-out date, the student will be responsible for paying the price for each “Extra Night,”as listed in the table above.
There are additional fees that must be paid for homestay accommodations. Please see the table below.
Additional Fees
The following additional fees must also be considered for homestay accommodations:
Fee
Description
Amount
Homestay Placement Fee
The price that must be paid to the ELI Homestay Team when the student submits a homestay application. It pays the ELI Homestay Team to find a family for the student.
It is non-refundable.This fee is required. All students must pay this fee in order to live with a homestay family.
The fee that must be paid directly to the Homestay Family to protect against damage.
This fee is refundable. The family will give it back to the student when the student moves out of the house as long as the student leaves no damage to the Homestay Family’s property.This fee is required. All students must pay this fee in order to live with a homestay family.Note: Students are responsible for paying for any damage to the Homestay Family’s property that is valued at over US $100.
$100
Homestay Transfer Fee
The price that must be paid to the ELI Homestay Team when the student decides to leave one homestay family in order to live with another family.
It is non-refundable.This fee is optional. It is only necessary to pay this fee if the student changes homestay families.
$100
Airport Pick-Up Fee
The fee for picking up the student at the Philadelphia International Airport and taking him/her to the homestay family’s home. This fee should be paid directly to the homestay driver.
This fee is non-refundable.Note: The student’s flight details must be sent to the ELI Homestay Team no later than 2 weeks before the student’s arrival ([email protected]).This fee is optional. It is only necessary if the student chooses to use the homestay airport pick-up service.
$75
Airport Drop-Off Fee
The fee for driving the student from his/her homestay family’s home to the Philadelphia International Airport. This fee should be paid directly to the homestay driver.
This fee is non-refundable.This fee is optional. It is only necessary if the student chooses to use the homestay airport drop-off service.
$65
Late Fee
The fee that must be paid if a student submits the Homestay Application fee after the deadline.
The deadline for new students to apply for a homestay family is 2 weeks before the ELI session begins.
The deadline for continuing students to apply for a homestay family is Wednesday of Week 5 of the current ELI session.
This fee is non-refundable.This fee is optional. It is only necessary if the student does not apply on time for a homestay family.
Studio Green Apartments
There are several different apartment formats at Studio Green, and each has a different price. The following tables shows the price for each apartment type for each two-monthsession.
Prices until August 18, 2018:
Option
Description
Price/student
1 bedroom
1 student per apartment
$2,275
2 bedrooms
2 students per apartment
$1,675
Family unit
2 bedrooms
$3,120
Notes:
Prices listed are for each ELI session (7-8 weeks).
Prices include a $25 rental insurance fee.
A deposit of $250 must also be paid ($500 for family units); however, it will be returned to the student after he/she moves out if the apartment is left clean and in good condition.
All students who have chosen Studio Green must select an apartment format. If you do not select an apartment format, then we will automatically place you in whichever housing option is available and you will be held responsible for the price.
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Promenade
118 CARRIE CATES CT. Lower Lonsdale, North Vancouver
Brand and new exciting building in the heart of Lower Lonsdale. Promenade at the Quay by Polygon located conveniently at 118 Carrie Cates Court to include 12 stories, 177 units, spacious balconies, open concept living prime for entertaining, gourmet caliber kitchens, luxurious bathrooms, with mountain and front row city and water views to Downtown Vancouver.
At your door step you are surrounded by lively fine dining and entertainment, steps away from the Lonsdale Quay market, a lively neighbourhood with plenty of entertainment for all ages year round, and not to mention a quick jump on the Seabus to Downtown Vancouver.
If you are looking for more information on Promenade and the Lower Lonsdale lifestyle don't hesitate to contact me. As a North Shore REALTOR I have grown up and seen the transformation of the neighbourhood and would love to share my experience of living on the North Shore with you.
Arash Solaimani
Real Estate Expert
[email protected]
778.688.0544
E. & O. E. This is not an offering for sale. An offering for sale may only be made after filing a Disclosure Statement under the Real Estate Development Marketing Act
Request More Info Regarding Promenade
Arash Solaimani
This representation is based in whole or in part on data generated by the Chilliwack & District Real Estate Board, Fraser Valley Real Estate Board or Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver which assumes no responsibility for its accuracy - Listing data updated on February 21, 2018.
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1 Samuel 28:4 And the Philistines gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem; and Saul gathered all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa.(See RSV)
1 Samuel 31:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.(See RSV)
1 Samuel 31:8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in mount Gilboa.(See RSV)
2 Samuel 1:6 And the young man that told him said: 'As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and the horsemen pressed hard upon him.(See RSV)
2 Samuel 1:21 Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew nor rain upon you, neither fields of choice fruits; for there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.(See RSV)
2 Samuel 21:12 And David went and took the bones of Saul and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the broad place of Beth-shan, where the Philistines had hanged them, in the day that the Philistines slew Saul in Gilboa;(See RSV)
1 Chronicles 10:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.(See RSV)
1 Chronicles 10:8 And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa.(See RSV)
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Mako
(France)
Mako is a teacher in Plastic Arts from the north of France. He had already illustrated some novels by Didier Daeninckx, when he commenced working on some comics projects with the writer at Editions Berenice and at Emmanuel Proust Editions. With scripts by Daeninckx, Mako has made 'La Page Corneée' (1999), 'Le Train des Oubliés' (2003) and 'Bravado' (2005).
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Shah In Jammu, First Visit After Pulling Out Of Coalition In J & K
Jammu(PTI): BJP president Amit Shah today arrived here to address a rally to mark “historic martyrdom anniversary” of Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, days after his party’s decision to withdraw support from the PDP-led government in Jammu and Kashmir.
Shah, who is on a day-long trip to the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir, was accorded a rousing reception with party’s youth wing taking out a bike rally from the airport to the state guest house.
His public address will be significant as he is expected to touch on evolving political situation in the state following the party’s withdrawal of support from the Mehbooba Mufti government on Tuesday.
The state is now under governor’s rule.
Shah was accompanied by state party president Ravinder Raina and other senior leaders.
On June 20, Raina had said Shah will pay homage to the founder member of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Syama Prasad Mookherjee, on his martyrdom day and would also check preparedness of the state unit of the party for the upcoming parliamentary election.
The BJP observes June 23 as Mookerjee’s ‘Balidan Diwas’.
Shah would chair the party’s election committee meeting to discuss the issues for the next election. He will also hold meetings with digital media and social media volunteers, and participate in other organisational events.
The strategy of the party for the next year’s Lok Sabha elections is part of the discussions as the party is prepared to face the elections, a BJP leader said.
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Tuesday, January 20, 2015
The editor of national community
development magazine ‘Changing Ireland’, based in Moyross, Limerick, has
written to TV3’s chief executive, David McRedmond asking for improved treatment
by the station of disadvantaged communities.
He has also produced a video response to the first installment of the 'Breaking Crime' programme broadcast on TV3.
“There should be a much stronger focus on
the positive work being done on the ground, which ‘Breaking Crime’ barely
touched on,” said Allen Meagher in his letter to the TV3 boss.His views are echoed in reactions to the programme's focus on the capital's inner city, with the National College of Ireland saying the "negative publicity will make us even more determined to work together... at home, in the creches, schools, afterschools and in the community."
Established in 2001, ‘Changing Ireland’
highlights community-based solutions to supposedly impossible social issues.
The magazine is based in Moyross which was referred to in the first instalment
in the four-part series.
Mr. Meagher, speaking in Southill where the
joy-riding element was filmed, said, “The integrity of that programme, in my
view, was not quite what it should be. The car crime element provided
joy-riders with over a minute’s coverage while failing to mention a project in
the area that is successful in steering young people away from such activity.
Also, that element of the programme lacked continuity, notably when at one
stage a jeep disappeared.”
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DISCLAIMER
The views expressed in news reports and articles (and comments on them) are those of the author concerned. They do not, by any means, necessarily reflect the views of the editor, the editorial team, the project's management committee, or our funders.
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Per FDA guidelines Medical Device companies are required to establish complaint-handling procedures to detect, evaluate and appropriately address possible product-related problems. For the manufacturer, effective complaint handling is a complex and time-consuming process that integrates data collection, evaluation and risk assessment. eMDR is an effective reporting mechanism for handling complaints. Kacera’s presentation will examine the eMDR implementation process and how to benefit from eMDR.
“eMDR is an incredibly useful tool to help your company more effectively handle complaint reporting,” Kacera said. “Proper knowledge and planning will save your company’s valuable resources, time and frustration. If a company correctly implements an eMDR process, it can be one of the front-line defenses against serious complaint system weaknesses.”
The FDAnews virtual conference will be held Thursday, March 28, 2013, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT and features four back-to-back sessions dedicated to complaint handling and best practices for running the complaint department. To register, visit http://www.fdanews.com/conferences.
About Pilgrim Software, Inc.
Pilgrim Software, the world leader of cloud and on-premise enterprise solutions for quality and compliance management, delivers integrated applications for pre- through post-market operations of Life Sciences companies. For more than a decade, Pilgrim's tightly integrated 21 CFR Part 11-compliant system has enabled its clients to proactively manage documents, audits, complaints, nonconformances, corrective/preventive actions, supplier quality, and training, helping ensure product safety and regulatory compliance, reduce manufacturing costs, and improve customer satisfaction. For more information, visit Pilgrim Software’s website at www.pilgrimsoftware.com.
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We look at the alarming state of Robbins, Illinois and preview this year's Chicagoans of the Year chosen by Chicago magazine. And, we check in with Illinois Treasurer-elect Mike Frerichs. Plus, we get a visit from a man who's known as the king of the "too soon" joke, Gilbert Gottfried.
Photo Courtesy of Facebook
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Personalized Shoes- Make Your Shoes Say Your Name!
When you talk about shoes, there so many options out there that it’s no surprise your mind gets spinning. Shoes are great, aren’t they? They bring a certain sense of style, comfort and they also help you make a statement as you walk your path. However, have you ever thought about how great it would be if you could personalize your shoes? Well, if you have then I’m here to tell you that you actually can personalize them now! With Vans Shoes, you can now turn your regular sneakers into a fashion statement. You’d think it would cost a fortune, but with Super Saver Mama’s Vans discount codes, you can have the best products at the most affordable prices! Find the best Voucher Code from Supersavermama
What’s so great about them?
Personalized items are the best way to make a statement and show people who you are. It shows passion, commitment and defines your position in the world. Now the Vans online outlet has finally introduced the rise of personalized footwear so that you can conquer the grounds you walk upon. When it comes to style, you can easily trust the Vans old skool collection to provide you with the best that they have to offer. With the added touch of personalization, you can easily scream out everything you want to say without saying a word.
What can be made?
When speaking of personalized footwear, people believe that it means for putting up initials. However, when you avail the Vans coupon codes, you can customize your shoes however you want. I decided that I wanted to carry my cat everywhere, so I had a picture of her imprinted on my shoes. It’s like she never leaves my side! One of the best things that I’ve seen to be used when looking into personalizing shoes is the concept of animations. They are easily imprinted and give you the funky, care free look, something that’s bound to be a head turner as you walk down the street!
Vans is the perfect way to introduce comfort along with side stepping the very common, trendy shoes. Give it a try and you won’t regret it!
| 2,082 |
The Charlotte Bobcats: Rename Charlotte's NBA Franchise the HORNETS
Rare is the sort of unconditional love and undying devotion that was once the hallmark of the relationship between the city of Charlotte and her Hornets. Night after night, year after year, "The Hive" was alive; impassioned Beelievers wreaked a unique aural havoc upon all who dared to enter that hallowed hall. From the 20-win seasons of Rambis and Tripuka, to the genuine Eastern Conference contenders of the late 1990's, this city; this jewel of the New South; provided both the NBA and the nation at large a perfectly-executed blue print of the power of civic pride.
Then there were the lean years.
Our once beloved owner...let's just say he became somewhat less beloved. This was followed by the acrimonious arena issue. And in a matter of a few short seasons, the one constant in this city of flux, our beloved Hornets, was gone.
I defy any of you present for that final, crushing playoff loss to state that you didn't shed a tear as you filed into the parking lot.
But hope, as they say, springs eternal. B** Johnson managed to bring the NBA back to the Queen City in 2004. As my mother taught me to refrain from speaking of someone unless I had something complimentary to say, this will be the last I will mention of Mr. Johnson.
Let's cut to the chase. The B**Cats, from a marketing perspective, have been a PR disaster. The ownership has, in a round about way, admitted as much. Whether it was through their own doing (oh, I don't know...C-SET, anybody?!?) or factors outside of their control (the 'jilted-lover' scars of a fanbase done wrong), they've never taken hold in the city of Charlotte, much less on a national scale. Stroll through the streets of any major city long enough, and you're bound to see a hip kid sporting throwback Charlotte Hornet gear. I don't think I've ever seen any B**Cats paraphernalia outside of the metro area (and sadly, not much inside said area). The Honorable Sir Airness himself vented his frustrations in a recent Charlotte Observer article:
"Number one for 10 years!" Jordan said, his voice rising. "The community supported it and at that time, the Hornets supported the city. I want to duplicate that. I want us to be No. 1 in attendance and No. 1 in the community.
"If we ask people to invest in us, we must invest in them."
Let's face the facts, Mike. The swiftest, savviest, most crowd pleasing way to convince this community to "invest in (you)"?
GIVE US BACK OUR HORNETS.
Tom Benson has purchased the current New Orleans franchise, and he's made the fact that he IS changing that squad's name abundantly clear. Now, I could continue trying to be witty, keep trying to eloquently articulate what we all know needs to be said, or I could push the caps lock and let it rip...
GIVE US BACK OUR HORNETS.
That tiny fraction of the population who might qualify as 'naysayers' would have you to believe that 'it's all about winning'. Of course, on-court success (and with the young core this team is constructing, those wins are sure to come) is the number one goal. But the thing is, positivity in the win/loss column and a strong identity that is truly embraced and beloved by this community and fanbase don't have to be viewed as mutually exclusive.
In this case, we can have our cake AND eat it too.
We're not 'bobcats'. We're not 'cougars'. Or 'flight' or 'dragons' or friggin' diamond encrusted unicorns or any other sort of lame beast/means of transport. According to none other than that redcoat bastard Cornwallis himself, we're HORNETS. Don't talk about the money, don't talk about 'moving on'. This transcends both of those issues. It has nothing to do with petty nostalgias, and everything to do with RECLAIMING OUR BIRTHRIGHT.
Michael, David, NBA...nothing less will do.
GIVE US BACK OUR HORNETS.
And do it now.
Letter to
The Charlotte BobcatsMichael Jordan and the Charlotte B**Cats; David Stern and the NBA
I just signed the following petition addressed to: Michael Jordan and the Charlotte B**Cats; David Stern and the NBA.
----------------Rename Charlotte's NBA Franchise the HORNETS
Rare is the sort of unconditional love and undying devotion that was once the hallmark of the relationship between the city of Charlotte and her Hornets. Night after night, year after year, "The Hive" was alive; impassioned Beelievers wreaked a unique aural havoc upon all who dared to enter that hallowed hall. From the 20-win seasons of Rambis and Tripuka, to the genuine Eastern Conference contenders of the late 1990's, this city; this jewel of the New South; provided both the NBA and the nation at large a perfectly-executed blue print of the power of civic pride.
Then there were the lean years.
Our once beloved owner...let's just say he became somewhat less beloved. This was followed the acrimonious arena issue. And in a matter of a few short seasons, the one constant in this city of flux, our beloved Hornets, was gone.
I defy any of you present for that final, crushing playoff loss to state that you didn't shed a tear as you filed into the parking lot.
But hope, as they say, springs eternal. B** Johnson managed to bring the NBA back to the Queen City in 2004. As my mother taught me to refrain from speaking of someone unless I had something complimentary to say, this will be the last I will mention of Mr. Johnson.
Let's cut to the chase. The B**Cats have been a PR disaster...the ownership has, in a round about way, admitted as much. Whether it was through their own doing (oh, I don't know...C-SET, anybody?!?) or factors outside of their control (the 'jilted-lover' scars of a fanbase done wrong), they've never taken hold in the city of Charlotte, much less on a national scale (stroll through the streets of any major city long enough, and you're bound to see a hip kid sporting throwback Charlotte Hornet gear. I don't think I've ever seen any B**Cats paraphernalia outside of the metro area...and not much inside the metro area). The Honorable Sir Airness himself vented his frustrations in a recent Charlotte Observer article:
"Number one for 10 years!" Jordan said, his voice rising. "The community supported it and at that time, the Hornets supported the city. I want to duplicate that. I want us to be No. 1 in attendance and No. 1 in the community.
"If we ask people to invest in us, we must invest in them."
Let's face the facts, Mike. The swiftest, savviest, most crowd pleasing way to convince this community to "invest in (you)"?
GIVE US BACK OUR HORNETS.
Tom Benson has purchased the current New Orleans franchise, and he's made the fact that he IS changing that squad's name abundantly clear. Now, I could continue trying to be witty, keep trying to eloquently articulate what we all know needs to be said, or I could push the caps lock and let it rip...
GIVE US BACK OUR HORNETS.
We're not 'bobcats'. We're not 'cougars'. Or 'flight' or 'dragons' or friggin' diamond encrusted unicorns or any other sort of lame beast/means of transport. According to none other than that redcoat bastard Cornwallis himself, we're HORNETS. Don't talk about the money, don't talk about 'moving on'. This transcends both of those issues; it has nothing to do with petty nostalgias, and everything to do with RECLAIMING OUR BIRTHRIGHT.
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Ian Kennedy talks about facing Diamondbacks for first time
Former Diamondbacks pitcher Ian Kennedy joined Dan Bickley and Vince Marotta to discuss his return to Chase Field.
After being unable to replicate the success of his 2011 season, Ian Kennedy was traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks at this year’s trade deadline to the San Diego Padres for a pair of relievers. On Tuesday night, he started against his former team for the first time.
Given the recency of the trade and how long he played for the D-backs, Kennedy said there was an unusual atmosphere for the game.
“It was only what, three weeks ago, maybe a little over that I had been traded,” Kennedy told Arizona Sports 620’s Dan Bickley with Vince Marotta on Wednesday. “I described it like a more intense spring training game or intrasquad-type thing. It was so fresh since I was just teammates with those guys.”
Kennedy said it didn’t really kick in until Paul Goldschmidt came to hit.
“I have friends on other teams but it’s different when you play with them for so long,” Kennedy said. “You would play with a guy, like I became pretty good friends with Lyle Overbay and I pitched against him, but it’s not like the whole lineup. It’s one guy.”
Padres manager Bud Black was very helpful according to Kennedy, as he pulled the pitcher aside before the game and tried to walk him through what it was going to be like.
Kennedy said his skipper told him it was going to be different, and that while there were going to be some smiles, the best thing to do is just make the “weirdness” go away a little quicker.
Kennedy added he’s happy to be in San Diego, saying, “If you’re going to live anywhere I guess, you’re going to live in San Diego.” He’s also appreciated having a different set of coaches and players work with him to help improve his performance on the mound.
The D-backs play at San Diego September 23-26, so there’s a strong chance Kennedy could face his former club again this season.
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It is so important to have a goal and strategy for jumping into the social media world. Businesses know this and social media gurus make a ton of money telling people this.
In chuches many times people will say we need a Pinterest Board or we need a Twitter account or who is managing our Myspace presence. Maybe they see the church down the street doing it or maybe 20/20 told them that was the newest thing. Rather than opening an account on every service and then updating only a few of them regularly, take the time to decide on a Social Media Strategy.
To help with that I have created a very simple worksheet that will let your digital mission team (you have one of those right?) decide what services they are going to use and and how they are going to use those services. This sheet also includes the most overlooked part of a strategy. Deciding a measurable goal. It may be that the Snapchat account you are using really isn’t bringing in new people. Drop it, and put more effort into something else.
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andyveilXD Profile
Forums Owned
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Okay this is going to be really tough. Ive come to be aware that some of you who have been reading my column have suspected that I occasionally reveal subtle conservative tendencies maybe just a careless word slip, like referring to global warming as a hoax, to green energy as a scam, or to carbon dioxide as plant food. Occasionally when I catch sight of fellow faculty members whispering when they dont think Im looking, I worry that they may have noticed this as well. As you might imagine, living with all of this anxiety has been a quite an emotional burden.
Which raises an important question that some of us, and perhaps even you, have struggled very hard to answer about ourselves. Was I born this way?
Like, for example, did you become aware of an early euphoric carbon dioxide emission rush while sitting next to a cozy bonfire or home fireplace on a cool evening? Was it during a time in childhood when you outran an opponent, tagged them out of the game, and guiltlessly realized you enjoyed beating them in competition? Maybe it occurred much later in life when you began worry more about the next Ice Age than global warming, and more about drowning in rising debt than about polar bears drowning in rising oceans.
http://crownecomng ment.tumblr.com/
http://crowncapita lmng.livejournal.c om/
(Jul 23, 2013 | post #1)
The State of the Nations Air, and Your Lungs
http://www.thecrow nmanagement.com/th e-state-of-the-nat ions-air-and-your- lungs/
In most places, the quality of air in America is better than ever.
As China remains blanketed by an ever-thickening haze, we in the United States can be grateful of one thing: The air is getting cleaner in most parts. The American Lung Association reported in its State of the Air 2013 that 18 cities have lower dust pollution compared to previous years, while 16 had their lowest figures ever.
Nevertheless, the improvement is not that widespread. About 25 million Americans live in conditions of harmful levels of ozone and particle pollution. Around 131 million people (42%) live with either type of unhealthful environment. Californias busy and highly-populated metros rank badly in the rankings, consistently topping the five most-polluted metros by ozone, year-round and short-term particulate pollution. Bakersfield, the highest for particulates among 277 metros, fares worst of all although it has already improved.
In general, 119 counties have levels of ozone that affect the health of citizens with aggravated asthma, difficulty breathing, cardiovascular harm and lower birth weight. Particulate levels in 58 counties are such that they increase risks of heart attacks, strokes and emergency room visits for asthma and cardiovascular disease.
Cities, such as Salt Lake City and Fairbanks, Alaska, experience more frequent short-term spikes in pollution. Out of 25 cities that had the worst short-term problems, 14 recorded more poor days than in previous reports of the State of the Air. According to the report, some cities experienced higher pollution arising from increased burning of wood and other fuels for heating during winter, especially with the use of highly-polluting indoor wood-stoves or outdoor wood-boilers.
Of the cleanest cities, New Mexico proudly ranks third and fifth for least particulates (Santa Fe and Farmington), Wyoming has another (Cheyenne), then Prescott, Arizona, and St. George, Utah. To help you determine your citys ranking, the Lung Association website provides a friendly search function using the zip code.
State of the Air utilizes data gathered by the E.P.A. from 2009 to 2011. Its main objective is to promote continued enforcement of the Clean Air Act. Since 1970 when the Act was first amended, population and energy consumption has increased by about 50% while gross domestic product rose 212%, the report shows. Since then, emissions of the six most common pollutants have decreased by 68%. China, on the other hand, can only dream of achieving such a growth-to-pollutio n ratio.
https://twitter.co m/crownmaxrowford
(Jun 11, 2013 | post #1)
One Lexington senior lost more than $1 million to a man who befriended her on Facebook. He led her to believe he was originally from Charlotte but was currently working in Africa. He conned her into repeatedly sending him money overseas, supposedly to cover expenses until he was paid for his contract work and could return to North Carolina to marry her.
http://www.wbtv.co m/story/21161526/a g-warns-sweetheart -scams-on-the-rise
(Feb 14, 2013 | post #1)
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At Encore Wire, our capabilities go beyond just making wire. In our continuous efforts to maintain our customersʼ expectations and the value of Encore products and services, we strive to offer you more options and reasons to keep choosing us for all your wire needs. We stock all sizes and colors at our McKinney, Texas distribution center and maintain an inventory level that ensures the quality of service Encore Wire customers have come to expect, but we didn’t stop there.You asked. We delivered. READ ARTICLE
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