text:
8 Great Paint Ideas for Ceilings
Colourful paint really can be used for anything – it's the most versatile, accessible and creative decorating item there is. So why limit your adventures in colour to just your walls? Your ceilings make up a huge surface area of your home, but we usually paint them white, or leave them as an afterthought in new decorating schemes. This month we look at one of the least explored surfaces in the home, and suggest 8 great ideas for how to transform them with paint.
1. A simple switch
Most rooms follow a very simple formula – colour on the walls and white on the ceilings.
For a fresh take simply reverse the rule, using white for the walls and putting your favourite colour on the ceiling instead. The white walls will keep the room's sense of space, and the ceiling will give a surprising pop of colour.
Remember that light bright colours will make ceilings feel higher, while dark colours will 'lower' a high ceiling.
2. Just one shade
For a dramatic look that is also cosy and comfortable, take the paint colour on your walls straight over the ceilings too. This has most impact when you paint your walls in a darker shade.
Committing a roller-full of dark blue paint to the ceiling can feel nerve-wracking, but take the plunge and you'll see that one shade across a whole room makes a powerful, intentional statement. For multi-purpose spaces like this kitchen-diner, you can also limit the ceiling colour to just one area, emphasising the different zones in your space.
3. Soften a scheme
Ceiling colour choices don't have to be bold to work. Instead think of it as another wall in the mix, and one on which you can use sympathetic tones to achieve an overall balance in your space.
In this colourful kids room some of the sweetness has been taken out of the scheme by mixing sunny yellow and other ice-cream shades with a more subdued grey on the ceilings and floors.
4. Lighten up
For homes with dark paint colours on the walls, leaving the ceilings white can look like an afterthought.
Instead why not add a surprising splash of colour on the ceiling in a brighter, lighter tone. It will give the effect of 'raising' the ceiling, and can turn a slightly gloomy space into something much more uplifting and playful.
5. Add warmth
This kitchen has plenty of masculine elements – the dark floor, the black units. But the addition of pink to the ceiling brings softness and warmth to the light, balancing the whole.
To add warmth to a room via your ceiling colour choice you don't need to go for a strong shade – gentle greys, pinks or yellows, or even 'whites' with these colours in them, will help take the edge off rooms that otherwise feel stark and cold. In this example the bold orange splash on the upper wall also draws your attention upwards, while also making that super-high ceiling feel a little less lofty.
6. Play with proportions
…which brings us to using a coloured ceiling as a sort of decorating trick to adjust the proportions of a whole room.
A strong colour will usually make a ceiling feel lower, a bright one higher. But you can play further tricks by using the same shade on the ceiling and the cornicing, or even above picture rail level. The result will trick the eye, making the ceiling appear lower but also more integrated into the room as a whole.
7. Accent your features
Colour doesn't have to be used as a blanket – you can also use it selectively to highlight certain features on your ceiling.
A very simple step towards more colour would be to paint just your cornicing and ceiling rose. For historic beamed houses picking out the beams in a strong colour – or painting between the beams only – will pick out what makes the room so special.
8. Have some fun
Paint is supposed to be fun and flexible! So don't be afraid to be bold, create clashes, and just express yourself.
For more beautiful ideas on how to decorate your fifth wall, visit www.bit.ly/TCLookUp

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Iowa Kitchen Remodeling
Iowa kitchen remodeling companies all across the state from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids IA serve local customers and help them through the entire process of remodeling from start to finish. Whether you're from Davenport, Sioux City, or Waterloo, IA, you can get in touch with a local company that is there to help you with your project.
One of the problems we sometimes run into as Iowa residents is the lack of specific inspiration on these projects. We clearly see the need to get some work done, but many of us have trouble pinning down exactly what we want the finished kitchen to look like. Many dealers help customers by providing pictures to help them see more clearly some of the possibilities before them. Effectively planning Iowa kitchen remodeling work requires knowing exactly what you want the job to look like and what materials you'll need to do it. And professionals who can show you samples can give you great ideas on creative ways to think about design, giving you the chance to make your home truly one of a kind.
Using Example Kitchen Pictures
Having sample pictures of completed kitchens or even process photos that show the before, during and after stages of a job can truly come in handy. Most of us have never seen a project like this happen from start to finish. Seeing how things progress and getting a better idea of the order of things is extremely beneficial to any non professional.
Folks in Iowa who are even just thinking about possibly doing something to upgrade their kitchen sink and countertops or other areas of the room get a much better idea of the possible effects of a job when they see pictures. It is even better to look at actual finished jobs, and some Iowa kitchen remodeling companies do offer to bring potential customers to jobs in progress or recently finished remodels. The chance to see this stuff in person and to talk to other customers is also very beneficial.
But pictures and home visits can only accomplish so much. They in all likelihood will increase that itch to do a remodeling project. But they will not show us how exactly to pay for it. Once you know you want to do something like this in your kitchen, the next step is to work on the financial end of it. Finding out how much things will cost and where you are going to get the funds to do the job are both equally important at this stage.
Planning an Affordable Kitchen Remodel
Getting to know the products that you plan on using is important because you need to know how much money you'll have to come up with to make it all happen. So, homeowners at this stage should get some quotes on installations from Iowa kitchen remodeling companies. Each provider may come up with unique ideas on packages of products and design ideas to work around in your home. As an Iowa homeowner your job is to evaluate all of them and decide which one makes the most sense to you. It will probably require a combination of liking the price and the design as well as being in tune philosophically with the ideas of the Iowa kitchen remodeling company you go with.
Next comes what sometimes ends up being the tough part. Anyone who does not have pristine credit may have some trouble getting affordable financing terms. This is why it makes sense to work out these details early in the process of planning your Iowa remodeling job. Iowa kitchen remodeling companies larger than single installers who work by themselves usually can provide their own financing but it may not always be the best deal for Iowa homeowners. Check out bank home improvement loan rates or look into home equity if possible. All possibilities should be covered so you get the best financing for your Iowa kitchen remodeling project.
Creative Remodeling Designs
Kitchen remodeling is often a matter of choosing component parts that make sense as a whole. Picking cabinets you like is one thing. But finding wood cabinetry that look great with the tile floor is quite another. Creative design requires an open mind and access to product samples and displays. It is much easier to get the creative ideas flowing when you have some samples to work off of. It even helps Iowa homeowners to see things they don't like so they know what direction not to go.
Iowa kitchen remodeling is more than just physical work. The process of planning a kitchen remodeling project takes financial savvy, artistic acumen and organizational skills. Putting all the elements together in a cohesive way set a great Iowa kitchen remodeling project apart from all of the rest of them.
Compare competing bids for your kitchen remodeling project in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Sioux City, Iowa City, Waterloo, Dubuque, Ames, Cedar Falls, Boone, Burlington, Clinton, Fort Dodge, Fort Madison, Keokuk, Marshalltown, Mason City, Moline, Muscatine, Newton, Oskaloosa, Ottumwa, Rock Island, Spencer, Spirit Lake, Storm Lake and more.
Get the Lowest Prices
From Companies You Know
"The one thing keeping my kitchen from being perfect was the old and out-dated look it had. Opting for a full kitchen remodel was a great decision, and cheap."
Karen S, Jacksonville FL


text:
This is a very old entry — images are small, formatting is off.
Winnipeg Hockey gets Bellicose
Set to begin play in the 2011/12 season of the NHL, the Winnipeg Jets are the result of the purchase of the Atlanta Thrashers (who joined the league as an expansion team in the 1999/2000 season) by True North Sports & Entertainment with the full intent of bringing the team to Canada, where they own the MTS Centre in downtown Winnipeg. If, to some, the Winnipeg Jets name sounds familiar it's because it used to exist first as a World Hockey Association team from 1972 to 1979 and then as an NHL franchise from 1979 to 1996. Last week, the Jets unveiled their new identity designed by Reebok, that celebrates the city's ties to the Canadian Air Force.
"We felt it was important to authenticate the name Jets and we believe the new logo does that through its connection to our country's remarkable Air Force heritage, including the rich history and relationship that our city and province have enjoyed with the Canadian Forces."
— Mark Chipman, Chairman & Governor of True North Sports & Entertainment, Press Release
"The design cues for the plane were inspired by the military jets flown by the Air Force over the years. So not only were we able to establish a new identity for our brand, but we were able to maintain a traditional, time honoured look to the logo."
— Dorian Morphy, Senior Director, Marketing & Brand Management of True North Sports & Entertainment, Press Release
The new primary logo is based on the RCAF roundel and its McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet fighter jet rendered with the obligatory pointiness and shading of sports logos. The result is slightly odd. I don't think it's necessarily bad. It's bold and aggressive but there is just a little too much happening with all those angled, sharp points from the maple leaf and the jet and the addition of the North-pointing compass arrow. The muted colors don't help much in creating distinction between the elements and they turn everything into a bit of a mush.
The secondary mark with the hockey sticks and wings looks as if it came from another team, perhaps an inter-league of passenger planes. In contrast to the primary mark, this is totally G-rated. But I will grant that it will probably look great on merchandise and apparel.
Finally, there is the wordmark. A truly horrific piece of script. Not only is it unpleasant to look at but it makes no structural sense: why does the "J" connect with the "e"? I have never seen a "J" do that. And the "t" and "s" segue? Completely jarring. Loading Snell Roundhand and adding pointy ends to it would have probably been better. "We wanted to do something that authenticated the name Winnipeg Jets," said True North chairman Mark Chipman, "rather than just a new artist's take on it, we wanted to link it to something meaningful." Emphasis mine. Next time get the best of both worlds, even if it requires hiring an "artist".


text:
2015 Volkswagen Jetta GLI | Sporty Sedan
Disclaimer: Video shows 2013 Jetta Model
Enjoy exceptional performance, sleek styling, and incredible comfort with the 2015 Volkswagen Jetta GLI. With a unique design and powerful engine, this sedan is sure to stand out on the road. Seating for five ensures that your best friends get to experience the fun as well. Choose between the two trim levels: Base GLI and Autobahn.
Open the power sunroof and enjoy the beautiful day through it while driving the 2015 Volkswagen Jetta GLI. A distinct front bumper, grille, and side skirts provide a stylish look to this sedan. Red calipers for the brakes and 18-inch Mallory alloy wheels make for a sporty look that you will appreciate. Inside, it is all about sophisticated luxury with leatherette seats and a sport steering wheel. Turn up the volume on the Fender® premium audio system as you set your destination on the RNS 510 navigation system. KESSY keyless access features push-button start for added convenience.
Agile handling and responsive steering are the result of the 2.0L engine and multi-link rear suspension on the 2015 Volkswagen Jetta GLI. Choose either the manual or automatic transmission for optimal performance that fits your style.
2015 Engine:
- 2.0L TSI in-line 4-cylinder turbocharged: 210 horsepower with 207 lb-ft of torque
With numerous safety features and outstanding performance, the 2015 Volkswagen Jetta GLI is the ideal choice for city driving or cruising down the open highway. Find out more about this model or book your test drive at South Centre Volkswagen in Calgary, AB.
Craig Shostak
South Centre VW


text:
Factors to Think About When Buying Baby Bedding
Are you a first-time mother to be? Or maybe you have a child but are expecting another child? Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the decisions and choices when it comes to baby supplies? Do you want to make sure that you pick the right things, but do not know where to begin? The following are some easy to follow tips and suggestions for choosing the best baby bedding for your baby. Decorating the nursery is a big deal — it is the room where your baby is going to spend most of its time now and for years to come, you want to make sure it is a room that you all enjoy being in.
So, what should you keep in mind when shopping for baby bedding? With so much to get, your budget needs to be one of the most important deciding factors. If every time you look at the nursery you see dollar signs and feel guilty for overspending, you will not enjoy your time in there. If however, you spend only what you can afford you will feel a lot more at ease in your baby's room. There can be big differences in prices of nursery bedding. You can spend as little or as much as you want. Custom made bedding can come to thousands of dollars. However, you can buy right off the shelf at your local discount store and easily spend less than one hundred dollars. Everyone's budget is different. It is important that you stay within yours.
One of the next things that you should keep in mind when shopping for bedding for your baby is the gender of your baby and the theme that you want to use in the room. If you do not know the gender of your baby or are planning on using your baby bedding for future babies, it is wise to go gender neutral. Yellows, greens, some shades or blue, or bright primary colors will work for either a male or female child. There are also certain themes that will work for either sex. If you know the gender of your baby you can choose a theme that is more boy or girl specific.
Once you work out your budget and make a decision about a theme you can narrow down your choices quite a bit. There are a lot of options out there for baby bedding. Do not let all of the choices overwhelm you. Picking out your baby's nursery decor and bedding should be a fun experience, so do your home work, be prepared and then hit the stores or the Internet!


text:
Sally Brooks
Certified & Registered Yoga Teacher
I first fell in love with yoga as a stressed-out teenager with joint pain; back then yoga wasn't very popular and my class was usually just the teacher and me in the dance studio in her basement. I will never forget the sense of ease and calm that would wash over me as the practice soothed away my troubles. Little did I know that the seeds were being planted for the journey of a lifetime!
I re-discovered my love of yoga in 2005 and knew I had found my life's passion. The practice re-connected me to the freedom and playfulness of a childhood practicing handstands in the backyard, but with the mindfulness and wisdom to keep me grounded and steady in a grown-up life filled with responsibilities. I received my teacher training in 2006 with Margot Milcetich and the Brahmrishi School of Yoga.
I have taught many places in the Cleveland area, but I knew I found my home when I began practicing at Inner Bliss. The vibrant community of students, teachers, and Bliss Makers at IBY is like a living, breathing organism, and the energy there makes me feel so joyfully alive! It is a true honor to be able to serve such an amazing group of people through my teaching. In my classes I aim to open up a space for you to see clearly all of the beauty, love, and peace that already lies within you
Yoga is… already in us, waiting to be discovered.
Without yoga… I would have a hard time realizing the goodness that is all around me.
The breath is… expansion and contraction, attuning us with pulsation of all energy in the universe.
I am not defined by… The story I tell about my life. I'm always getting the chance to rewrite it.
The best hugs are… The ones that unexpectedly make your back crack.
Love is… all around you.
The best time of day… is tucking my kids into bed.
I heart Cleveland because… I am so inspired by the creativity, gritty tenacity and entrepreneurial optimism of the people who keep building this city one piece at a time.
Locally you might find me… at any park in Lakewood, probably practicing handstands.
If I could live anywhere I would live… In a yurt.


text:
For the past 18 years, the newsletter of Royal Statistical Society has published a fiendish Christmas quiz for its members. The quiz is a searching test of general knowledge, logic and lateral thinking, although no specialist statistical or mathematical knowledge is required to answer any of the questions. The 2011 version of this annual challenge appears below – are you up to the task?
Competition entries should be sent by email to firstname.lastname@example.com by 18.00 GMT, Wednesday 11 January. Competitors may find question titles helpful in solving some questions, and in three questions the title should be explained in order to receive full marks.
The prize will be a year's subscription to Significance magazine.
More information about the Royal Statistical Society can be found at www.rss.org.uk.
We will publish the answers on the Datablog in January.
1. Prime Ministers' questions (14 points)
If Winston Churchill: 'Blood, toil, tears and sweat' is written as Wi Cuc: 'Boo, ti, ta an wa', identify the following:
(a) Wa itt te Ye: 'I cu at oe of ay va es'
(b) ar Wi: 'All te tte es in Zc'
(c) nan sa: 'I eve dy; I eve tat; I ete et'
(d) aat Tat: 'We av bo a at'
How would Harold Macmillan: 'Never had it so good' be written?
2. Seedpods (12 points)
(a) Why might a fairy (1892), along with Herbie (1980), boys James (1961) and Eugene (in the 1920s), and four Liverpudlians (1967), each prove Jeanette (1985) correct?
(b) Why might the provenance of the same fairy, and jazz pianist CC, but strictly neither singer MA, nor KC's backing group, nor CS's best-known cartoon creation, interest JL (1963) and EM (1996)?
3. A curious incident (10 points)
Holmes and Watson repeatedly interview six suspects isolated in rooms arranged clockwise as follows: Mustard, Plum, Green, Peacock, Scarlett, White. Each room is connected to its immediate neighbours anti-clockwise and clockwise neighbours; eg the room holding Mustard is connected to the room holding White (anticlockwise) and the room holding Plum (clockwise), the room holding Green is connected to the room holding Plum (anticlockwise) and Peacock (clockwise) and so on. Holmes interviews Mustard first.
His interviews each last 15 minutes; at the end of each, he moves one room clockwise and begins his next interview. Watson interviews White first. His interviews each last 20 minutes; at the end of each, he moves one room anticlockwise and begins his next interview. If either investigator enters a room in which an interview is already taking place, he runs through to the next room and immediately starts a new interview there instead. Meanwhile, Wellington starts in the same room as Mustard, sleeps for 30 minutes and then moves one room anticlockwise, repeating this every 30 minutes. When Holmes enters a room in which Watson is conducting an interview and Wellington is asleep, Wellington fails to bark, and Holmes proclaims that he has already concluded that the suspect present stands guilty of stealing the silver. Who is the culprit?
Description: quiz 2011
4. Greek apparitions (8 points)
What do the following have in common with one with innocent eyes, one of America's sweethearts, and (twice) one who apologised for poetry?
J Edgar Hoover, John Updike, Ralph Anderson, Giuseppe Tartini, Alessio Tacchinardi, Rex Ingram and Tim Urban
5. Ulysses and the lion (6 points)
If Scotsman Adam equals American Andrew, and Canadian John equals twice New Zealander Edmund, then which Australian man equals Englishman Charles?
6. Upper and lower (6 points)
Explain the following linked sequences:
10, 9, 60, 90, 70, 66, 96, ...
1, 4, 3, 11, 15, 13, 17, ...
7. Literary notes (10 points)
The words in each of these lines may begin to evoke a country. Name the four countries.
(a) George Eliot concocts exceptionally generous cocktails
(b) Gertrude Bell adores good dry champagne
(c) Geoffrey Chaucer grabs a beer
(d) Catherine Cookson's boozy chums don't act gracefully
8. Number sequences (14 points)
Identify the following. In (a) and (c), provide the missing elements, indicated by question marks [in (c), the last element has an order of magnitude smaller than the others put together]. In (b), there are several missing elements, which need not be identified.
(a) T10C, 3VP, ?, N1, T3M, ?, T4M, 2MW, WW2, MFRA5555
(b) 'There's 51, 33, 13, 34 and 1 and 8 and ..., 74, 50 and 11. These...'
(c) TB4, T7DM, T13P, 3AT, 10LN, 12BMS, 5LP, T0, ?
9. Matching pairs (20 points)
In each of (a)-(e), pair each member of Group 1 to the element of Group 2 with which it shares a connection. Connections should be described as precisely as possible. In (d), the only five eligible pairs are listed. In (e), one element is to be identified.
(a) Group 1: Fate, Married, Memory, Popular, Tomorrow
Group 2: Annie, Cabaret, Cats, Kismet, Wicked
(b) Group 1: Marylebone, Juliet, Mayfair, Separate, Janet
Group 2: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9
(c) Group 1: Eliot, Longfellow, O'Casey, Turgenev, Woolf
Group 2: Garibaldi, Joyce, MacArthur, Marx, Norton
(d) Group 1: Capriati, Court, Emerson, Navratilova, S. Williams
Group 2: Bueno, Evert, Henin, Newcombe, V. Williams
(e) Group 1: Cow, Crane, Lion, Snake, ?
Group 2: Andorra, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Uganda
More open data
Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian
World government data
• Search the world's government data with our gateway
Development and aid data
• Search the world's global development data with our gateway
Can you do something with this data?
• Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group
• Contact us at email@example.com
• Get the A-Z of data
• More at the Datastore directory
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook


text:
Friday we needed to get our hiking shoes on as we were headed to Watkins Glen State Park. Located next to a village of the same name at the south side of Seneca Lake, this 778 acre park is famous for one thing, the 400ft deep gorge that you can walk through, passing 19 waterfalls, various water pools, numerous stone bridges, and tunnels hand carved out of the rock sides, oh and the stairs… LOTS of stairs. You have almost without a doubt seen pictures of the waterfalls and stone bridges in this park even if you didn't realize what you were looking at.
The day was pretty toasty but we didn't want to let that stop us so we woke to the alarm and headed out hoping to find a spot in the lower end parking lot before it filled up. Having successfully found a place to park the big ole truck we walked toward the gorge. I found it kind of amazing that just as you drive down a very ordinary small town street, the hill next to you opens up and there is this amazing crack leading back into the hill. I can only imagine what it must have been like for the first person who stumble upon this gorge, had they found it from the top of the hill I could have imagined the view down would have been quite frightening.
Our entry into the gorge had us climbing up steps through a tunnel which seemed like the perfect way to enter the strange terrain within the gorge. Though I tried to capture as much as possible with my camera, it really doesn't do it justice.
The hike has us crossing over the stream numerous times, walking along side, and in some cases underneath numerous waterfalls. It was all quite beautiful! As we got further into the gorge we found the air temperature dropping, which was a welcome relief to all of us.
The experience in the gorge wasn't quite as good as it could be though, given the time of year, and recent lack of rain, the water flow going through the gorge was down to a trickle. Spring and Fall are typically the best times to view the gorge as the waterfalls would be much more spectacular with several times the amount of water flowing over the rocks. We definitely intend to come back some day so we can see that! Another way in which the natural beauty was diminished was because of all the trash. Why oh why must people be so lazy and need to throw their water and soda bottles (which they brought in to stay hydrated as they viewed the splendor of the gorge) into the water. There were so many places, even with the low water flow, I wanted to take a picture of, only to give up because of all the junk lying around.
Despite the negatives the gorge was still very much worth the drive. We ended up walking about three miles while there, though that distance felt a bit more draining because of the close to a thousand steps that we had to climb.


text:
Wait what?! 2017 is already over?! No way! – Me, December 31, 2017
Yes. I thought that. I mean…it went way too quickly for me, and before I knew it, I was counting down seconds until midnight. So, today, I will be reviewing 2017, a really important scouting year for myself.
I will be doing it in an interview style, as I think that is the best way I can explain myself.
What are some of my scouting related achievements for 2017?
Well, my main achievement is the fact that I became a Youth Spokesperson, which I am very proud of (If you haven't seen my posts about how I became one, check them out here and here). I also managed a few smaller goals, such as getting some Personal Achievements Badges. A goal I had in my mind was to talk more to people, and I achieved that!
What are some things you would like to improve for 2018?
Oh gosh! Where should I start? Firstly, I think writing more and being more involved as a YSP would be a good start. I have only written one post and appeared once in public! I would also like to improve the quality of my writing for this blog…….and the quantity of it.
What are some things you plan on writing about on this blog and on the scouts.ca blog?
On this blog, I plan on writing about my adventures at camp, and some camping tips. I also plan on writing about some behind-the-scenes to the posts I will write on the official blog. Speaking of which, I do not know what the topic will be for me to write about, but if I'd have to choose, I will probably about being prepared to be at camp.
What is one thing you are looking forward to this year?
One thing? That's hard. I will go with my spring camp, as it is planned to be a self-contained camp, which is my favorite. I know I said one, but I have another one: the couch rally, which is a rally held in Yorkton, SK where we have to drive around the city on a couch we made. I have never actually been there, so these are the best details I have got.
Overall, how would you describe 2017?
I think I would describe it as being something new; something exciting. I think it was one of the best years of my scouting career and I enjoyed it.
I feel like 2018 will be an amazing year where I will discover and where I will encounter a multitude of new and bizarre things, and where I will make memories that will be with me for the rest of the future.
I would like to apologize for not having posted in so long, but I will promise to try to start posting a bit more. I have been busy on vacation and I had a lot of fun, and I would like to thank you for 25 followers!
Yours in Scouting,


text:
Give Now
The key to college planning is to start early. The College Board's Big Future site includes action plans to help parents and students navigate the road to college starting in middle school.
Beware of scholarship scams. Use caution when a company guarantees to find you a scholarship, requires a processing fee, asks for your credit card or bank account number, or promises to match you to millions of dollars in unclaimed grants and scholarships. Your eligibility for financial aid is based on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which you can complete and submit for free.
(757) 622-7951
Enewsletter Sign Up
Privacy Statement / Copyright Policy / Whistleblower Policy / Sitemap


text:
This project would not have happened without the expertise and dedication of the faculty and well over 175 graduate students, undergraduate students, staff, and community members who invested their time, talent, and treasure into the SJS initiative.
Pictured below are four graduate students who spearheaded the efforts: (l. to r.) Kaleefa Munroe, Project Data Manager; Cassondra Kellum, Project Co-Director; Colin Ashley, Project Field & Logistics Coordinator; and Andrew Wallace, Project Co-Director.
The lead researchers are listed below. For inquiries, feel free to contact Prof. Juan Battle <firstname.lastname@example.com>.
|Juan Battle
Principal Investigator
|Antonio (Jay) Pastrana, Jr.
| Jessie Daniels


text:
Hybrid Bike Rentals
Hybrid Bike Rental Rates:
- 3 hours: $40
- 1 day: $60
- 2 days: $110
- 3 days: $135
- 4 days: $160
- 5-7 days: $180
- 8-14 days: $210
- 3 weeks: $230
- 1 month: $250
Free delivery for all multi-day OR multi-bike rentals. For all 3 hour - 1 day single bike rentals please visit our bike shop in downtown Santa Barbara.
Trek 7.4 FX
Sizes: Sizes: XS, Small, Med, Lg and XL.
Colors: White, Grey, Orange
With ergonomic grips and a carbon fork this is one of our most popular hybrid rentals. It offers the best of both worlds by combining the speed of a road bike and the comfort of a city bike. The Trek FX has a granny gear or triple to make climbing easy and 32c tires. This hybrid is the perfect fitness bike and hybrid rental for getting around Santa Barbara.
Specialized Sirrus Sport & Elite
Sizes: Small, Meduim, Large, XL, and XXL
The Sirrus Sport provides road bike geometry with flat bar handling so you can ride fast on longer rides, but also be stable and quick in town. The carbon fiber fork brings down weight in the front end, while soaking up road shock. This Specialized hybrid also features a Shimano triple crankset enabling it to climb with ease and has 28c tires making it even faster. Santa Barbara has some great road riding and this is the perfect hybrid bike rental to help see as much of the city as you can.
Electra Verse 24d
Two sizes available: 17″ Medium & 19″ Large
A few more gears and another notch up the performance ladder, the Verse 24D will get the most out of you and the ride. We may be splitting hairs here, but three more gears is three more gears. And when you're at the top of your game, every detail matters. Then again, maybe you just like the color better.
Rental Duration
Book Now
|Note: Once booked, you will be able to choose which bike you would like to reserve.
|3 Hours
Book Now!
|1 Day
Book Now!
|2 Days
|$110 ($55/day)
Book Now!
|3 Days
|$135 ($45/day)
Book Now!
|4 Days
|$160 ($40/day)
Book Now!
|5-7 Days
Book Now!
|8-14 Days
Book Now!
|3 Weeks
Book Now!
|1 Month
Book Now!
|2 Months
Call to Reserve
Or Reserve your bike through the form below.
We are working hard to respond and can offer availability within 24 hours. Thank you! Phone: (805) 628-2444


text:
Contact Us
12 Comments
Hi there! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us so I came to take a look.
This site and others like it are awesome!! Thank you to the brave and kind folks out there who tell it like it is and keep those scam artist from getting any more money out of honest folk. Even Consumer Reports sometimes will cow-toe to some of these rip-off artist. You guys, I know I'm gushing, but really, you have saved the rest of us by being so forth coming with your experiences. Thanks and Cheers
Hello everyone, it's my first visit at this website, andparagraph is genuinely fruitful for me, keep up posting these types ofcontent.
Great posting. The mind can be our biggest ally and at the same time our biggest obstacle. I have been reading your blog for months now and finally have decided to send you a comment. Thanks for all of the insight and wisdom.LikeLike
keep writing perfectly pent content exactly what i was looking for very informative post by cikung
I really liked your blog post.Thanks Again. Really Great.
Good valuable information . This will be useful. Thanks.
Awesome! Its genuinely remarkable post, I have got much clear idea concerning from this paragraph.|
I'm truly enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It's a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Superb work!|
so much wonderful info on here, : D.


text:
I am a full professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Guelph, and Research Leadership Chair for the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences. From 1999-2002, I was Assistant Visiting Professor at the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (now ESCP-Europe), part of France's Grande École system. From 2002-2007 I was a Lecturer, then Senrio Lecturer in the Political Studies Department at the University of Otago, New Zealand.
In my work, I focus on Comparative Indigenous Politics in Canada, New Zealand, United States. I have also worked extensively in the areas of International Relations, American foreign policy, Holocaust and genocide studies, and critical race theory. My mother's family is Trinidadian Indian and my father's family is originally from Scotland but goes back many generations in Nova Scotia. Since these roots have been important in my upbringing and influence the direction of my work, I inevitably bring a multicultural perspective to pressing issues in political science which I hope creates a useful angle through which to assess some aspects of international and domestic politics. Please feel free to have a look and explore my articles, chapters, and books, read my blog and check out my links page. You will also find information on my research grants from the Social Science and Humanities Council of Canada.
I am active on three SSHRCC Grants:
- "Complex Sovereignties: Theory and Practice of Indigenous-Self Determination in Settler States and the International System" Principal Investigator (with Sheryl Lightfoot 2017-2022)
- "Transformative Memory: Strengthening an International Network" Co-Applicant on a SSHRCC Partnership Development Grant (Pilar Riano-Alcala at UBC is PI) 2018-21; value $197,690).
- "Embodying Empathy: Fostering Historical Knowledge and Caring Through a Virtual Indian Residential School" Co-Applicant on a SSHRCC Partnership Development Grant (Andrew Woolford is PI) 2014-17; value $196,000).
My recent grants include:
"Indigenous People and the UN Genocide Convention: A Study of Indigenous Assimilation Policies in Canada" (SSHRCC Standard Research Grant 2009-13; value $97,165)
"Bi-Nationalism as a form of Aboriginal-Settler Reconciliation in a Multicultural Context: What Can Canada Learn from New Zealand's Model of Power-Sharing?" SSHRCC Insight Grant 2013-17; value $274,030)
"Embodying Empathy: Fostering Historical Knowledge and Caring Through a Virtual Indian Residential School" Co-Applicant on a SSHRCC Partnership Development Grant (Andrew Woolford is PI) 2014-17; value $196,000).
My research output includes:
- * 3 sole authors books + 2 editions of a co-authored text book;
- * 3 co-edited books;
- * 21 Refereed Articles, 11 since 2012 (includes 2 introductions and 1 review article);
- * 26 Refereed Book Chapters, 11 since 2012 (Includes 4 Introductions and 1 Conclusion);
- * 1 co-edited academic journal special issue, 1 three article symposium within another special issue;
- * Several articles in the Globe and Mail, National Post, and Winnipeg Free Press;
- * 72 Papers/Presentations at Conferences / Symposia / Roundtables / Public Lectures (72 Items; 45 since 2012);
- * Drafts Under Review (5 Items: 4 book chapters, 1 journal article);
- * Book contracts for a sole-authored monograph Rollback, Resurgence, Reconciliation: The Canadian Settler State and Indigenous Genocide (either UTP or UBC Press) and for the adaption of Dickovick and Eastwood's US-focused text Comparative Politics: Integrating Theories, Methods, and Cases (Oxford University Press Canada).
If you'd like some more information or just want to say hello, please email me.


text:
Plagiarism Is an Acute Problem
How to Avoid Plagiarism
Order Non-plagiarized Essays from Our Service
When it comes to writing works like theses, dissertations and research papers, your originality is the key to success. The more original and authentic you write the better chances you have for good grades and good scores for your annual reports.
To help you out with your paper assignments, we have setup a team of hundreds of writers from English speaking world. Before they start doing the work for our customers, they are tested for their potential for writing non-plagiarized essays. Let us talk about the bit of work you need to do before we can serve you with our talent of writing. You have to give us all the minor details about your paper work. Depending upon the type of your paper work, appropriate writer is assigned with the particular work submitted by you.
After our writer ends up doing your work, then it is assigned to our editors for quality check so that you are not disappointed with its quality. We also want to make sure that you receive non-plagiarized essays. After the testing for plagiarism with our own software is completed, the paper work will be handed over to you.
Our service works for helping students in solving and overcoming their difficulties in various written assignments given to them by their institutes like theses writing, dissertations, research papers and essays. The students always want Non-plagiarized essays.
PrimeEssays.com has transformed into a reputed service for delivering students non-plagiarized essay writing and other types of paper works. The work we submit to you acquires high standards and you won't complain regarding the originality of work or its quality. Our writers fulfill your order considering the respective formats acceptable at the various reputed institutes. The prices are reasonable, you are also welcome to check out our discount offers.
Great prices for superb original papers
Your paper is written after thorough research, we always make sure that our writer completely understands the task. Most students don't expect much from on-line services. Although most students dream of a reliable helper in their writing.Try us and see that we fulfill our promises. When you approach PrimeEssays.com, your dream will definitely transform into a reality.
Our team at PrimeEssays.com is definitely aware of the consequences of providing our customers with plagiarized work. Our reputation is your reputation, we at PrimeEssays.com are worried about the success of every student ordering from us and will do everything to deliver authentic content.


text:
Currently, we are experiencing the consequences of a long decline in citizenship: one that has afflicted our politics with incivility, intolerance, excessive partisanship and gridlock. This has cascaded to cynicism, as Americans withdraw from a political system from which they have disconnected. Americans are less likely to belong to civic organizations than were their grandparents, choosing instead to spend more time in activities at home or with informal groups. The result is a decrease in group membership, along with less participation and lower voter turnout.
What can teachers and professors do? We argue students be required to undertake hands-on activities aimed at changing or enhancing the status quo. After all, a basketball team that spends the preseason in the coach's office learning the rules and strategies of the game but never practicing almost certainly would have a dismal record. Why would it be any different with politics and government? Why learn the rules of the game if you cannot practice? This does not mean requiring them to engage in partisan politics.
Michael Smith teaches this new curriculum in his Introduction to Political Science class at Emporia State. Many students complete astonishing work. One of the first happened in 2009, when PO 100 student (now Emporia State alumnus) Levi Poindexter enlisted the help of Norwich-area fire chief Tab Turner and former state Rep. Vincent Wetta, D-Wellington. Together, they persuaded KDOT to lower the speed limit on a dangerous stretch of highway near Suppersville, where a friend of Poindexter's had been killed in an accident. At first, Poindexter was like most Americans: He could not identify his state representative, much less explain how the Legislature functioned.
However, by working on an issue important to him, he mastered far more sophisticated lessons than that. He learned about the committee system by approaching Wetta, who was a member of the Transportation Committee. Poindexter also studied the oversight of agencies by the Legislature: He convinced Wetta, who then persuaded KDOT officials to lower the speed limit without requiring any new legislation. Finally, he learned to make allies: He could not have done this without Turner and Wetta.
Since then, PO 100 projects have expanded disabled accessibility on campus and in the community, gotten new water lines installed, pressured the city of Emporia to ramp up rental-housing code enforcement and so on. The typical success story comes from a student that starts at the "B" level, who fully commits once she realizes the curriculum will engage her in the real world, not just the classroom.
It is easy for teachers to fall into the trap of treating what we do in the classroom as a routine, forgetting what we know and do can build social capital and enrich lives. This is a wake-up call.
Michael Smith is an associate professor of political science at Emporia State University.
Bob Graham is a retired U.S. senator, former Florida governor and author or co-author of many books, including "America: The Owner's Manual," on which this curriculum is based. This column is excerpted from their article, "Teaching Active Citizenship," which originally was published in the July issue of "PS: Political Science and Politics."


text:
Go Back
Go To Articles Directory Home Page
To get the current article, - See Below (at the bottom of the page) -.
For top news titles, see below.
Web sites and videos listed in this page are frequently updated.
If you find that this page is useful (quality of web sites, images and videos, ...), you can add it to your favorites.
Bookmark Page !
Basic SEO To Explode Your Website Traffic
Is your website is dynamic? You need to be careful, or you might not do well in the search engines. Some spider handle dynamic URLs quite well, but others have trouble � and even those that do spider them might not look very deep within your site. The problem lies in the fact that you cannot really predict what will be delivered in these URLs at all times. If you have an inkling of what is going to happen to URLs most often plan ahead; try to insure that you do not run into problems regarding these URLs.
). To format a list, you use a list element (start with


text:
State Education and the 19th Century Voluntaryist Movement
"A Arte da Fuga" ("Die Kunst der Fuge", BWV 1080) é uma obra-prima de Johann Sebastian Bach:
um único tema musical persegue-se, a si mesmo e as múltiplas variações, num diálogo musical intenso desenvolvido a diversas vozes, rico de simetrias, inversões, ritmos e tempos diferentes.
Fugas para email@example.com
quinta-feira, julho 04, 2013
Libertarianism is incompatible with IP
Libertarianism is incompatible with IP por Stephan Kinsella:
.. it's not possible to square libertarian principles with IP .. The debate is over. Principles libertarians know this.
.. The argument against IP does not rest on being anarchist or even anti-legislation. It simply rests on the assumption that property rights in scarce resources are a good thing. Once you accept this, IP becomes impossible to justify. You cannot have both: property rights in scarce resources and IP. RAther, you can have property rights in scarce resources, but not allocated according to Lockean-libertarian principles (first-appropriation and contract). You have to introduce a new ownership rule to implement any form of IP, one that takes property rights in already-owned scarce resources from the libertarian owner and transfers it to a third party, just like any other socialistic welfare redistribution scheme.
This issue is clear. There is a reason libertarians have flocked to it; once they turned their attention to it, the answer is obvious--to those who are honest and have libertarian principles. And it was seen, very very clearly, long ago: by Benjamin Tucker over a century ago, and then in revived form by Sam Konkin, and Wendy McElroy, and then (partially) by Rothbard, and then by Tom Palmer, and, then, starting in the internet age, 1995-, when the issue gained renewed importance, by the bulk of libertarians: Austrians, anarchists, left-libertarians. Even honest utilitarians should oppose IP ..
IP is utterly evil. It is completely in opposition to what libertarians stand for. Principled, honest, thoughtful libertarians pretty much all see this. Thank goodness. Too bad it is not yet enough to defeat this abomination.
Economic Myths
Ten Great Economic Myths por Murray N. Rothbard:
Our country is beset by a large number of economic myths that distort public thinking on important problems and lead us to accept unsound and dangerous government policies. Here are ten of the most dangerous of these myths and an analysis of what is wrong with them.
Myth 1: Deficits are the cause of inflation; deficits have nothing to do with inflation.
Myth 2: Deficits do not have a crowding-out effect on private investment.
Myth 3: Tax increases are a cure for deficits.
Myth 4: Every time the Fed tightens the money supply, interest rates rise (or fall); every time the Fed expands the money supply, interest rates rise (or fall).
Myth 5: Economists, using charts or high-speed computer models, can accurately forecast the future.
Myth 6: There is a tradeoff between unemployment and inflation.
Myth 7: Deflation – falling prices – is unthinkable, and would cause a catastrophic depression.
Myth 8: The best tax is a "flat" income tax, proportionate to income across the board, with no exemptions or deductions.
Myth 9: An income tax cut helps everyone; not only the taxpayer but also the government will benefit, since tax revenues will rise when the rate is cut.
Myth 10: Imports from countries where labor is cheap cause unemployment in the United States.
argument from freedom vs others
Libertarianism, Bill Maher, and False Dilemmas:
.. if our goal is not just to be right, but to be persuasive, then starting with common ground can be rather more effective. Yes, we take a principled stand against the state coercion behind Social Security, but we also don't want people to suffer from rampant poverty. In fact, much of what's appealing about libertarianism is that it's a genuine path to both: we can be free and prosperous. We shouldn't water down our libertarianism but we should pay attention to when leading with the argument from prosperity—and using it as a way to then persuade on the issue of freedom—can be more effective than making only the argument from freedom.
Hacking Bitcoin
I Tried Hacking Bitcoin And I Failed:
There have been some major thefts – the BitFloor grab at 24,000 BTC, the Linode cloud robbery at 46,703 BTC, even the single user-steal at 25,000BTC.
But BitCoin's profoundly cool design allows one to track the thieves.
When $50K of BitCoins is stolen today, and is $500K of BitCoin five years from now, every last cent of that filthy lucre can be monitored with acute cryptographic precision until the end of time.
And indeed, as far as I've seen none of the stolen BitCoin have actually been spent in any way. There's actually an entire ecosystem around BitCoin – web sites, "mining pools", and the like – all of which would have to stamp their approval on a transaction involving the obviously stolen funds, none of which have seemingly been asked to.
And that's interesting, because possession of stolen property is and will forever be a criminal offense, and nothing is more provably stolen than the cryptographic taint of a transaction with money from a stolen account.
The State and BDSM:
There are obvious comparisons between BDSM and the State. BDSM can involve locking people in cages. Statism can involve locking people in cages. BDSM can involve electrocuting people (tasers/violet wand). Statism can involve electrocuting people (tasers/electric chair). BDSM can involve beatings. Statism can involve beatings. BDSM can involve a Dom micro-managing their sub's life. Statism can involve a legislature micro-managing their citizen's lives. BDSM can involve sadism, including bringing someone very near death (If the dynamic includes RACK). Statism can involve sadism including outright killing people, even children. BDSM can involve financial domination where someone's finances are put under the control and supervision of someone else. Statism can involve financial domination where someone's finances are put under the control and supervision of someone else.
I suspect there may also be similarities in the underlying motivations and emotions in Statism and BDSM. Within the division of labor of the modern State, different desires for domination can be played out only in certain roles. For instance, if someone is a sadist who enjoys hurting people they could join the police or the military. If they want a feeling of control or importance in some one's life they might join the legislature or become a teacher depending on how they have thought about that desire and the way they want to express it. And then there are different departments for more specific kinks, some of which are only legal in the context of working for the State, like a pedophile working for the TSA. (Clearly not everyone who works in these areas necessarily has the related kink, but these departments give an outlet for people who do poses them. Not all TSA agents are pedophiles or vice-versa, but if someone is a pedophile, they'd have an incentive to join the TSA. Also, these desires are necessarily conscious desires.)
There are also examples of the State providing an outlet for submissive desires. Many submissives talk about liking a feeling of being protected or of security ..
Despite some outward, superficial similarities between BDSM and the State there is a huge, bright red line between them: consent.
BDSM is play, but without consent it can be abuse, or rape, or worse ..
The Truth About Slavery
The Truth About Slavery.:
Why are White children not taught about the slavery that their ancestors suffered at the hands of other people and at the hands of their own? Why do we not celebrate the fact that ancestors of the White British children abolished the slave trade, while the forebears of their Black and Muslim classmates were busy fighting tooth and nail to keep the institution alive? If it had have been Muslims and not Europeans who had abolished the slave trade, this would be the focus of much celebration and fanfare.
It is only White children who are systematically stripped of their dignity and self-worth and made to loathe their history and their people. Only White children are publicly humiliated in such a way. Only White children are brainwashed into becoming cowed and rootless citizens, sculpted whilst young to accept all the dictates of the ideology of mass immigration and multiculturalism when they become adults.
The British people today bear no responsibility, either collectively or individually, for slavery. We should feel no guilt and we have nothing to apologise for. The only people who are owed an apology is the generation of White schoolchildren who have been deliberately taught to hate themselves and their people by sick and twisted individuals in pursuit of an equally sick and twisted Liberal-Marxist ideology.
Why are White children not taught about the slavery that their ancestors suffered at the hands of other people and at the hands of their own? Why do we not celebrate the fact that ancestors of the White British children abolished the slave trade, while the forebears of their Black and Muslim classmates were busy fighting tooth and nail to keep the institution alive? If it had have been Muslims and not Europeans who had abolished the slave trade, this would be the focus of much celebration and fanfare.
It is only White children who are systematically stripped of their dignity and self-worth and made to loathe their history and their people. Only White children are publicly humiliated in such a way. Only White children are brainwashed into becoming cowed and rootless citizens, sculpted whilst young to accept all the dictates of the ideology of mass immigration and multiculturalism when they become adults.
The British people today bear no responsibility, either collectively or individually, for slavery. We should feel no guilt and we have nothing to apologise for. The only people who are owed an apology is the generation of White schoolchildren who have been deliberately taught to hate themselves and their people by sick and twisted individuals in pursuit of an equally sick and twisted Liberal-Marxist ideology.
Freedom: The Unfolding Revolution
Freedom: The Unfolding Revolution por Jonah Goldberg:
Pick a date in the past, and you can imagine someone asking similar questions. "Why should women have equal rights?" some court intellectual surely asked. "Show me anywhere in the world where that has been tried." Before that, "Give the peasants the right to vote? Unheard of!"
In other words, there's a first time for everything.
It's a little bizarre how the Left has always conflated statism with modernity and progress. The idea that rulers — be they chieftains, kings, priests, politburos, or wonkish bureaucrats — are enlightened or smart enough to tell others how to live is older than the written word. And the idea that someone stronger, with better weapons, has the right to take what is yours predates man's discovery of fire by millennia. And yet, we're always told that the latest rationalization for increased state power is the "wave of the future."
What made the American experiment new were its libertarian innovations, broadly speaking. Moreover, those innovations made us prosper. Even Sweden — the liberal Best in Show — owes its successes to its libertarian concessions.
quarta-feira, julho 03, 2013
World libertarianism
If libertarianism is so great, why hasn't any country in the world tried it? The answer is that every country has tried it and every country practices it to one extent or another. This is the reason we experience progress, enjoy wealth, and have access to things like longer lives, food to eat, cities, smartphones, financial markets, useful websites, shoes, clothes, and the like. It's why we can mostly say what we want, fall in love and act on that, and do what we want in a general way provided we don't hurt others. These conditions all flow from human volition using private property (including property in ourselves) that is exercised whenever and wherever it is permitted by the authorities. Government doesn't create anything. It just takes stuff, overrides our preferences, and threatens us if we fail to comply. It has the same relationship to human liberty that a tick has to a dog. Just because ticks exist doesn't mean that dogs aren't real or are some untried experiment. Similarly, just because theft and murder exist doesn't mean that we should not rather have a world in which they did not.
Educação e Agricultura
Educação e Agricultura por José Manuel Moreira:
Tive uma colega na Universidade que .. foi desafiada a passar um fim-de-semana na Holanda .. ficou surpreendida .. cerca de 70% dos agricultores na Holanda eram engenheiros agrónomos.
A surpresa maior foi verificar, quando regressou, que em Portugal cerca de 70% dos engenheiros agrónomos trabalhavam para o Ministério da Agricultura. Percebe-se a ideia. Já naquele tempo os nossos licenciados não gostavam de se sujar: coisa mais para gente de Países Baixos.
Um contraste que ajuda a perceber o porquê de nos países ricos proliferarem os mercados e nos pobres os burocratas. Compreende-se, por isso, que, em vez da melhoria do sector, os agrónomos-burocratas se concentrassem na busca do melhor lugar .. ainda sobrava tempo para a reelaboração de planos falhados e medidas condizentes, acompanhados agora por ineptas entidades reguladoras e mirabolantes observatórios.
A comparação poderia alargar-se a outros ministérios. Mas hoje - em clima de greves espúrias - o que mais importa é a analogia com o da Educação. Durante anos sempre que alguém descobria não ser talhado para professor, logo admitia que o ideal seria ir para o Ministério ou para uma das Direções Regionais, ou então seguir a via sindical. No caso das Universidades, há também a ida para a Reitoria. O objectivo será sempre fugir a dar aulas e poder avaliar e dar ordens aos outros. Um sistema que criou uma monstruosa máquina de infernização em que as políticas educativas, em vez de servirem os alunos, se servem deles como peças de uma engrenagem em que burocratas e sindicalistas se unem no temor à descentralização e à verdadeira liberdade de escolha. Tudo por amor ao centralismo: que fecha escolas, mas não o Ministério.
Em tempos, Nuno Crato defendeu, como bem lembrou Bruno Proença, a implosão do Ministério para salvar a Escola. Não só não o fez como terminou uma entrevista à RTP1 dizendo existir liberdade de escolha em Portugal. Estamos conversados. Merece, como os professores, continuar nas mãos dos "Mários Nogueiras" do nosso tempo.
Olhem para o espelho
Olhem para o espelho por Miguel Botelho Moniz:
Querem um bode expiatório? Não será certamente Gaspar, Passos ou o "escurinho" do FMI (para usar as palavras do secretário-geral da CGTP). Olhem para uma constituição que parece um programa de governo. Olhem para um tribunal constituicional que desbarata a sua credibilidade para fazer política corriqueira. Olhem para os governantes que não têm coragem de fazer o que devem e continuam sempre a dar uma no cravo e outra na ferradura. Olhem para os "senadores" da república que não tendo responsabilidades actuais não se coíbem de deitar lenha na fogueira das suas vaidades e ódios pessoais. Mas acima de tudo, olhem para o espelho.BÓNUS: V for Vendetta Televised Speech
o quarto estado
The Second Superpower is the Real Fourth Estate:
"The Fourth Estate," as a nickname for the press ..
Three Estates themselves — the Crown, the Lords Temporal and Spiritual, and the bourgeoisie — were in theory supposed to be rivalrous interests that kept each other in check. But by the 19th century, after a limited insurgency by upstart industrial interests against the privileges of the landed classes, they had coalesced into a de facto class alliance: The monarchy, landed interests, Church and industrial capitalists against everybody else.
And in the United States the Fourth Estate, likewise, has ceased to be a check on the official branches of power and instead become part of the same interlocking establishment.
The new technologies of free communication and association mean, for the first time, we can take on powerful institutions — on a more than equal basis — without becoming powerful institutions. And that means the days of powerful institutions are numbered.
Sarcasmo Liberal do Dia
A propósito de Dois idiotas,
É preciso uma nova geração de líderes políticos visionários que reformem este sistema político-institucional que só produz geração atrás de geração de políticos medíocres incapazes de pensar no bem comum!
É preciso uma nova geração de líderes políticos visionários que reformem este sistema político-institucional que só produz geração atrás de geração de políticos medíocres incapazes de pensar no bem comum!
The Truth About Anarchism
The Truth About Anarchism:
The facts: anarchists believe that the initiation of violence is abhorrent, and as such should not be institutionalized into a monopoly force called a "state", with the laughable dictate that it judge and correct itself in its own court system. Anarchists believe that a "constitution", as a binding legal document, is not in fact binding upon anyone who doesn't sign it. Anarchists believe that the market, which already provides us with every product and service of which we can dream, can (and currently does in many places) provide the comprehensible services of defense and justice.
por Miguel Sousa Tavares,
Só uma classe que recusou, como ultraje, a possibilidade de ser avaliada para efeitos de progressão profissional - isto é, uma classe onde os medíocres reivindicaram o direito constitucional de ganharem o mesmo que os competentes - é que se pode permitir a irresponsabilidade e a leviandade de decretar uma greve aos exames nacionais. Nisso, são professores exemplares: transmitem aos alunos o seu próprio exemplo, o exemplo de quem acha que os exames, as avaliações, são um incómodo para a paz de um sistema assente na desresponsabilização, na nivelação de todos por baixo, na ausência de estímulo ao mérito e ao esforço individual.
Mas a greve dos professores vai muito para lá deles: reflecte o estado de espírito de uma parte do país que não entendeu ou não quer entender o que lhe aconteceu. Deixem-me, então recordar: Portugal faliu. O Portugal das baixas psicológicas, dos direitos adquiridos para sempre, das falcatruas fiscais, das reformas antecipadas, dos subsídios para tudo e mais alguma coisa, dos salários iguais para os que trabalham e os que preguiçam, faliu. Faliu: não é mais sustentável.
The Production of Security
The Production of Security de Gustave de Molinari (1849):
Now in pursuing these principles, one arrives at this rigorous conclusion:That the production of security should, in the interests of the consumers of this intangible commodity, remain subject to the law of free competition.Whence it follows:That no government should have the right to prevent another government from going into competition with it, or to require consumers of security to come exclusively to it for this commodity.
Under a regime of liberty, the natural organization of the security industry would not be different from that of other industries. In small districts a single entrepreneur could suffice. This entrepreneur might leave his business to his son, or sell it to another entrepreneur. In larger districts, one company by itself would bring together enough resources adequately to carry on this important and difficult business. If it were well managed, this company could easily last, and security would last with it. In the security industry, just as in most of the other branches of production, the latter mode of organization will probably replace the former, in the end.
.. this authority would be accepted and respected in the name of utility, and would not be an authority imposed by terror.
NSA - an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised
Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow:
BÓNUS - Texto completo
One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.
In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.
I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.
BÓNUS - Texto completo
terça-feira, julho 02, 2013
Rant Liberal do Dia
Ainda a semana passada estava o Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa na televisão a falar de salários de professores e profissionais da bola. Ora, o senhor pode ser muito boa pessoa, excelente docente de Direito, um comentador/entertainer muito popular. Em termos económicos é o que os ingleses chamam "ignoramus".
É que esta conversa de "alguma coisa está mal na sociedade quando os atletas recebem mais do que os professores" fica bem para dizer-se à mesa de chá, e uma pessoa faz um sorriso amarelo, e passa. Na TV nacional não.
E não há ninguém que lhe diga "professor, é assim que a realidade funciona. também há imensa gente que percebe pelo menos os rudimentos de economia, e podia estar a aparecer na televisão até sem receber, mas é o senhor que está aqui a ser pago para dizer essas baboseiras pirosas"
É que esta conversa de "alguma coisa está mal na sociedade quando os atletas recebem mais do que os professores" fica bem para dizer-se à mesa de chá, e uma pessoa faz um sorriso amarelo, e passa. Na TV nacional não.
E não há ninguém que lhe diga "professor, é assim que a realidade funciona. também há imensa gente que percebe pelo menos os rudimentos de economia, e podia estar a aparecer na televisão até sem receber, mas é o senhor que está aqui a ser pago para dizer essas baboseiras pirosas"
Krugman e Janelas Quebradas
Paul Krugman: A broken window equals economic strength:
.. Professor Paul Krugman, .. actually argues, presumably with a straight face, that a forced closure of some coal-fired electric generating plants would force new investment in power plants and increase average power prices, thus yielding "an increase in spending" and a "positive effect" on the economy.
Wow. Remember the broken window fallacy? If a window is broken, the result is more employment and economic activity, because, obviously, someone has to pay someone else to replace the window. Sadly, this story leaves out the spending on something else that the first someone would have undertaken had the window not been broken in the first place. The broken window results in a reallocation of resources and not an increase in aggregate wealth; that is a reality that any student in Economics 101 should learn. The spending forgone on something else offsets the dollars spent replacing the window, but in Mr. Krugman's world, the investments in new power plants and the higher spending on electricity represent new spending that otherwise would not have been made, because without the climate rules the dollars would have remained hidden in mattresses. Or something.
That the promulgation of new rules imposing large costs but yielding no benefits might have the indirect effect of increasing uncertainty and decreasing "spending" is a possibility not considered by Mr. Krugman. Nor is the larger effect of wealth destruction by regulation a parameter that he considers. One wonders why there is any "spending" at all in the absence of federal actions. What is clear, however, is that promises of a free lunch are as old as politics. And it is politics rather than economics that Mr. Krugman is practicing. Would the economy suffer if people spent less for access to the New York Times? The question answers itself.
the best of Farage
encontrado na net...
Nigel Farage - European Parliament - The Fight for Freedom and Democracy
Nigel Farage - European Parliament - The Fight for Freedom and Democracy
European Parliament videos from 2008 to 2013
Nigel Farage, Freedom and Democracy Party
destroying the monopoly over communication
Hayek (1945) on Why Network News Is Losing Control:
The World Wide Web is steadily destroying the monopoly over the airwaves, and it has just about destroyed the profitability of newspapers. This is a tremendous breakthrough for freedom in our time. It has broken the Progressives' 130-year control over public opinion.
Knowledge is decentralized. This decentralized system of knowledge is now being made available to the whole world. There are a billion people on Facebook. They share links to stories. These stories take longer than two minutes to read and evaluate. People may not read 12 different stories a day, but they read those stories that interest them, and which they can read in depth.
We are seeing the breakdown of the Progressives' control over the electorates of the West. They have possessed a government-granted monopoly since 1928 in the United States. All over the world, government-granted monopolies of control over radio spectrum are declining in political value. The spectrum is very valuable for other kinds of communications, but its value to the monopolists who are in bed with the federal government has declined for over a decade, and it will continue to decline.
Writing for Liberty
Why I Write por Walter Block:
Why do I write, publish, engage in public speaking, teach at university, try to mentor young people? Why am I a hard working member of the Austro-libertarian movement? There are several reasons. Let me discuss them in the order of increasing importance to me.
a. To improve things
b. Twist noses
c. Give something back; pay off Rothbard
d. Immortality
e. Beauty
NSA - E-Verify
If You Like the Surveillance State, You'll Love E-Verify:
BÓNUS (youtube): Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk 7/1/13: If You Like The Surveillance State, You'll Love E-Verify
According to David Bier of Competitive Enterprise Institute, there is nothing stopping the use of E-Verify for purposes unrelated to work verification, and these expanded uses could be authorized by agency rule-making or executive order. So it is not inconceivable that, should this bill pass, the day may come when you are not be able to board an airplane or exercise your second amendment rights without being run through the E-Verify database. It is not outside the realm of possibility that the personal health care information that will soon be collected by the IRS and shared with other federal agencies as part of Obamacare will also be linked to the E-Verify system.
Those who dismiss these concerns as paranoid should consider that the same charges were leveled at those who warned that the PATRIOT Act could lead to the government collecting our phone records and spying on our Internet usage. Just as the PATRIOT Act was only supposed to be used against terrorists but is now used to bypass constitutional protections in matters having noting to do with terrorism or national security, the national ID/mandatory E-Verify database will not only be used to prevent illegal immigrants from gaining employment. Instead, it will eventually be used as another tool to monitor and control the American people.
BÓNUS (youtube): Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk 7/1/13: If You Like The Surveillance State, You'll Love E-Verify
sobre-população, solução socialista
Malthus Revisited: Statists Seeding Fear Again:
In his June 24th interview with VICE, environmentalist-politician Michael E. Arth advocated Birth Credits, an authoritarian wet dream:Cuidado - o artigo depois discorre para umas baboseiras esquerdistas..."Each person would be issued half of a birth credit, which he or she can combine with a partner to have one child, or a person can sell his or her (half) credit at the going market rate. Each additional child costs one more credit. Noncompliance would bring a fine greater than the cost of the credit, and there would be sanctions for non-compliant countries (such as migration restrictions)."
Professores e Atletas
- Why is it that professional athletes get paid more than teachers?:
Why athletes earn a lot (and teachers don't):
Rich Athletes, Poor Teachers:
Best Answer .. It is called economics .. After college, you could train for a year and get a teaching certification. For 99% of us, no amount of training would ever prepare us to play at a professional level as an athlete. You either have it or you don't.Why Athletes and Movie Stars are Paid More than Teachers:
If you have a problem with it, then just don't pay the athlete's salaries. Don't go to games or buy products that they endorse. Don't watch the games, because the networks earn money based on ratings. Use the money you save and hand it over to your teachers.
Salary is not a pissing contest between whose job is the most 'important' or 'necessary'. It is a function of the utility that individual provides. Yes, an education is worth more than a baseball game. But while less than 100 people at a time can partake in the labor of an educator, thousands (millions if you include TV) can watch one man play 162 games per year.
By looking at rational actions of the individual this truth comes to light. Another reminder that, when dealing with economics, aggregates tend to distort the inner workings of the market and lead to false assumptions about what people do and do not value.
Why athletes earn a lot (and teachers don't):
As we look around the economy and assign some level of importance to jobs, we see that pay and importance don't always seem to match. Jobs like school teachers, police officers, firefighters, and nurses – all performing essential work that we can't do without – are paid substantially less than professional sports players, nationally renowned entertainers and actors and executives of big companies. It makes many people, like my wife, wonder whether the job market is fair and logical.
.. we don't have a national economic dictator or governing board that sets what various jobs will be paid. Instead, we have a virtual economic "free for all" where workers and businesses are free to negotiate, accept, and reject job offers and demands.
In this setting, the determination of salaries is rather simple. Salaries will be set by the interaction of the demand for workers in a particular job and the supply of workers able to do that job. Jobs for which there is a high demand but there is a low supply will pay the most, jobs with a low demand and high supply will pay the least, and the pay of other jobs will be in the middle.
Rich Athletes, Poor Teachers:
Aspiring athletes get to be superstars because they have some type of rare talent. Top athletes can do things that mere mortals can't. Most have paid a heavy personal cost to get there. Many more try, but don't even come close. Only a tiny fraction actually make it to the big time. The level of ability and dedication it takes to be a superstar is, indeed, very rare. That rarity makes athletes the diamonds in the realm of professional endeavors. They have millions of adoring fans willing to pay money to see them. The supply is extremely low and the demand is extremely high. They command a high price for the same reason that diamonds are expensive.
All athletes, however, are not diamonds: some are rubies; some are quartz; some are coal.
Those who are not diamonds command less pay and may play at lower levels, farm teams, semi-pro or amateur leagues.
There are also different levels in teaching. While some are not called "teachers," they still need to be included for comparison. Some are called professors, consultants, professional trainers, public speakers, writers, etc. The level of pay for any of them depends on the perceived value of the skill each individual exhibits in relation to the skills of those that would replace him or her.
Hence, a renowned consultant or professor with a significant reputation, someone who is a popular writer or has taught many thousands of people, may actually make millions of dollars. He or she is just as much a teacher, and, though called by a different name, can be thought of as a superstar of teaching.
Gay Marriage
Gay Marriage Is Not a Threat to Freedom - The right to marry a person of the same sex fits perfectly within Thomas Jefferson's conception of freedom.:
One reason Americans have moved so rapidly toward support of same-sex marriage is their stubborn bias toward liberty. When interest groups demand something material, or when they seek to take something from other groups, the public is apt to resist. But when a group asks to live and let live, it can usually count on getting its way.
The right to marry a person of the same sex fits perfectly within Thomas Jefferson's conception of freedom. "It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God," he wrote. "It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
The beauty of gay marriage is that it grants something to one group that doesn't come at the expense of anyone else. Heterosexual rights are undisturbed. Straight people could marry before any state legalized same-sex matrimony, and likewise after.
It's a bit rich for these groups to complain that the court is infringing on their freedom to infringe on the freedom of gays. Advocates of same-sex marriage are not trying to exclude heterosexuals from matrimony. They are only asking to be free to practice it, as well.
The only liberty they will lose is the liberty to deprive others of their liberty. Sorry, but that's one freedom a free society doesn't offer.
political systems
Se bem que a comparação com a "democracia" é um cheap shot,
Eric X. Li: A tale of two political systems
Eric X. Li: A tale of two political systems
post-traumatic Road to Serfdom
Quotation of the Day…:
As time went on, the fact that Britain and the United States did not become totalitarian was cited to discredit Hayek's warning [in The Road to Serfdom]. His critics did not realize how the experience of the war had inured people to the loss of freedom; their argument seemed to be that as long as planning took place outside forced-labor camps there was no danger.
segunda-feira, julho 01, 2013
Private police
This is What Budget Cuts Have Done to Detroit ... And It's Freaking Awesome:
Detroit is absolutely bankrupt .. Thanks to the financial situation of Detroit, emergency services like police and fire departments are being severely cut short ..
Dale Brown and his organization, the Threat Management Center (TMC), have helped fill in the void left by the corrupt and incompetent city government .. Brown explains how and why his private, free market policing organization has been so successful. The key to effective protection and security is love, says Brown, not weapons, violence, or law. It sounds a bit corny, yes, but the results speak for themselves.
Almost 20 years later and Detroit's financial mess even more apparent, TMC now has a client base of about 1,000 private residences and over 500 businesses. Thanks to TMC's efficiency and profitability, they are also able to provide free or incredibly low-cost services to the poor as well.
The reasons TMC has been so successful is because they take the complete opposite approach that government agencies, in this case law enforcement, do. Brown's philosophy is that he would rather hire people who see violence as a last resort .. TMC's funding is voluntary and subject to the profit-loss test; if Brown doesn't provide the services his customers want, he goes out of business.
This means that Brown is not interested in no-knock para-military SWAT raids, "officer safety" as the highest priority, bloated union pensions, or harassing people for what they have in their bloodstream. TMC works with its customers on the prevention of crime as well rather than showing up after the fact to take notes like historians.
Detroit's city government may be in shambles financially, but the citizens of Detroit are showing what happens when people are given their liberty back. For centuries, libertarians have been arguing for strict limits on state power, the benefits of private, civic society, and the bottom-up, spontaneous order that arises where free markets and voluntary interactions dominate. Perhaps we shouldn't be so scared and sicken with political Stockholm Syndrome the next time politicos fear-monger over budgets cuts.
Charter Cities (13)
No seguimento de Charter Cities (12), The Blank Slate State:
.. where most observers see a dysfunctional state, a few dreamers see hope for an experiment that may upend our notions of what a state can accomplish. For the last few years, libertarians and other futurists have gazed upon this misgoverned mess of mountainous jungle and imagined a clean slate for innovations in political and economic growth. Honduras, they believe, can become a laboratory for creating wealth-producing institutions that can then be replicated worldwide. The only catch: To become a 21st-century trailblazer, Honduras—or at least a small territory within it—must become, well, not Honduras.
The notion of carving out an area inside an existing country with its own set of laws—economically freer and less complicated for businesses and citizens to navigate—has been popularized under many names: charter cities, free cities, future cities, and LEAP (legal, economic, administrative, and political) zones. The notion of zones for trade and economic activity freer than the nation-states around them dates back as far as the Greek island of Delos in the second century B.C. and the Hanseatic League in the late Middle Ages. Hong Kong and other Chinese "special economic zones" are more direct ancestors.
The idea seems to be gaining steam in the early 21st century, with policy entrepreneurs from all over the political spectrum hatching their own versions. Each variant proceeds from the insight that bad government hurts an economy's prospects more than most people realize, yet can be escaped easier than you might imagine. Good governance, the theory goes, can blossom even within a bad system.
A Alimentação não pode ser um negócio
A/C Seguro e amigos da Terra da Demagogia, Louçãnettes, Comunocassetes, Motas Soares e camaradas e cheerleaders do Governo, etc:
La alimentación no puede ser negocio:
La alimentación no puede ser negocio:
El líder del trasnochado socialismo español, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, .. antes que decir algo sensato, prefiere dar rienda suelta a su habilidad para las frases bonitas. La última que ha lanzado este famoso químico español ha sido: "La salud no puede ser negocio". Desde luego, en un primer momento suena bien .. El problema es que, en la vida real, se trata de una soberana estupidez. Una frase hueca y ridícula, tras la cual sólo existe el vacío intelectual y la falta de propuestas serias.
Parece censurar con ello cualquier iniciativa privada que pretenda ofertar servicios sanitarios a cambio de dinero. Como si los servicios públicos sanitarios fueran gratis. La sanidad de calidad cuesta dinero, mucho dinero .. Es decir, se trata de uno de los servicios que necesitan de más recursos económicos y, sin embargo, su gestión la hemos puesto hasta ahora en manos casi exclusivas de lo público. Craso error.
Puestos a decir frases lapidarias ridículas, imagino que dentro de poco podríamos escuchar: "La alimentación no puede ser negocio"; y que acto seguido se expropiara Campofrío, Cuétara, Navidul, Telepizza, Cinco Jotas, Puleva o Ybarra. Si a Rubalcaba le parece mal que empresas privadas ganen dinero con la salud de los ciudadanos, imagino que también le parecerá un escarnio que haya empresas que obtienen pingües beneficios por ofrecer productos que calman nuestra necesidad básica de alimentarnos.
Seguimos siendo, en ocasiones, un país de pandereta, en el cual siguen produciendo urticaria conceptos como negocio, beneficio, capital, propiedad, privado o enriquecimiento. El hecho de que ofrecer un producto o servicio sea negocio es realmente estupendo, porque eso significa que será sostenible en el tiempo, que generará empleo, pagará impuestos y ofrecerá beneficios, lo cual será bueno para todos, porque esos beneficios se dedicarán a consumo, a reinversión o a ahorro, y las tres posibilidades son positivas para toda la sociedad.
o socialismo vendido ao estatismo
Dos nossos "amigos" left-anarchists do C4SS, Socialism: Caught in the Political Trap de Emma Goldman:
The aim of Socialism today is the crooked path of politics as a means of capturing the State. Yet it is the State which represents the mightiest weapon sustaining private property and our system of wrong and inequality. It is the power which protects the system against every rebellious, determined revolutionary attack.
The State is organized exploitation, organized force, and crime. And to the hypnotic manipulation of this very monster, Socialism has become a willing prey. Indeed, the representatives or Socialism are more devout in their religious faith in the State than the most conservative statists.
The Socialist contention is that the State is not half centralized enough. The State, they say, should not only control the political phase of society, it should become the arch manager, the very fountain-head, of the industrial life of the people as well, since that alone would do away with special privileges, with trusts and monopolies. Never does it occur to these abortionists of a great idea that the State is the coldest, most inhuman monopolist, and if once economic dictatorship were added to the already supreme political power of the State, its iron heel would cut deeper into the flesh of labor than that of capitalism today.
Socialism in its inception was absolutely and irrevocably opposed to this system. It was anti-authoritarian, anticapitalistic, anti-religious; in short, it could not and would not make peace with a single institution of today.
The political trap has transferred Socialism from the proud, uncompromising position of a revolutionary minority, fighting fundamentals and undermining the strongholds of wealth and power, to the camp of the scheming, compromising, inert political majority ...
Gun Control and the War on Drugs
Gun Control and the War on Drugs:
In both cases — laws that restrict which guns people may buy, own, and carry and laws that restrict which drugs people may buy, possess, and ingest — what we're dealing with are possession crimes: victimless offenses against the state, whereby merely having something is branded a crime and punishable by fines and imprisonment.
Both types of laws are terribly immoral, as they are affronts to basic personal liberty. In a free society, all individuals own themselves and the products of their labor and exchange, and are free to do as they wish so long as they do not commit violence and fraud against other people. Arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating people for the weapons they choose to own or the drugs they choose to consume are immoral violations of the rights of self-ownership and the corollary rights to control one's own body and property.
The right to self-ownership necessarily implies the right to self-defense and the right to peacefully acquire the means of self-defense. Hence, all gun control immorally violates the right to self-defense and self-ownership.
The right to self-ownership implies the right to self-medication and also the general right to decide what to put into one's own body. Either you own yourself or you do not.
So thousands of people who didn't even commit the crime — much less were proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt — end up in prison .. the punishments against people who break these laws end up being grossly unjust and disproportionate.
This atrocious assault on the basic human right .. has gotten precious little attention, partly because many supporters of gun rights are not sympathetic toward drug offenders, and many drug war reformers are all too apathetic about gun ownership rights.
As long as gun rights advocates don't see the direct threat to all our civil and financial liberties that inevitably follow from the drug war — and as long as opponents of the drug war fail to understand the evils that predictably come from a war on guns — Americans will continue to see their priceless liberties steadily stripped away by both programs, in all their unconstitutionality and immorality.
NSA - no clemency for Obama
Pardon Me? It isn't Snowden Who Needs Clemency:
Edward Snowden committed no crime. Rather, he exposed the crimes of the very administration being petitioned (and "classification" of information for the purpose of concealing criminal activity is itself illegal). To presume, as this petition does, an entitlement on the part of an acknowledged criminal to pardon — or to persecute — the hero who brings that criminal's actions to light is, in a word, perverse.
Obama and his associates haven't just violated "their" own codified laws. They have, by their own admissions, declared and prosecuted war on the very people in whose names they claim their power, wandering well beyond the pale of authoritarianism and raising the totalitarian flag over their battlements.
It isn't Snowden who needs clemency. It's Barack Obama, his co-conspirators and his accessories before and after the fact.
Anarchy Defended by Anarchists
Anarchy Defended by Anarchists:
.. there is no such thing as good government, because its very existence is based upon the submission of one class to the dictatorship of another. "But men must be governed," some remark; "they must be guided by laws." Well, if men are children who must be led, who then is so perfect, so wise, so faultless as to be able to govern and guide his fellows.
We assert that men can and should govern themselves individually. If men are still immature, rulers are the same. Should one man, or a small number of men, lead all the blind millions who compose a nation?
I have met very few intelligent women and men who honestly and conscientiously could defend existing governments; they even agreed with me on many points, but they were lacking in moral courage, when it came to the point, to step to the front and declare themselves openly in sympathy with anarchistic principles.
When once free from the restrictions of extraneous authority, men will enter into free relations; spontaneous organizations will spring up in all parts of the world, and every one will contribute to his and the common welfare as much labor as he or she is capable of, and consume according to their needs. All modern technical inventions and discoveries will be employed to make work easy and pleasant, and science, culture, and art will be freely used to perfect and elevate the human race, while woman will be coequal with man.
..Selfishness is not a crime; it only becomes a crime when conditions are such as to give an individual the opportunity to satisfy his selfishness to the detriment of others. In an anarchistic society everyone will seek to satisfy his ego; but as Mother Nature has so arranged things that only those survive who have the aid of their neighbors, man, in order to satisfy his ego, will extend his aid to those who will aid him, and then selfishness will no more be a curse but a blessing.
The popular demand for freedom is stronger and clearer than it has ever been before, and the conditions for reaching the goal are more favorable. It is evident that through the whole course of history runs an evolution before which slavery of any kind, compulsion under any form, must break down, and from which freedom, full and unlimited freedom, for all and from all must come.
Every day we live our principles, we truly live
Assange's Year on Ice: 'Every day we live our principles, we truly live'
BÓNUS - Wikileaks founder Assange: We are helping NSA leaker Snowden
Hayek e Pinochet
Leitura interessante - On the Hayek-Pinochet connection
NSA - Truth vs Power
The Truth Shall Keep Us Free por Andrew P. Napolitano:
Which is more dangerous to personal liberty in a free society: a renegade who tells an inconvenient truth about government law-breaking, or government officials who lie about what the renegade revealed? That's the core issue in the great public debate this summer, as Americans come to the realization that their government has concocted a system of laws violative of the natural law, profoundly repugnant to the Constitution and shrouded in secrecy.
These Snowden revelations continue to cast light on the feds when they prefer darkness. Whatever one thinks of Snowden's world-traveling odyssey to avoid the inhumane treatment the feds visited upon Bradley Manning, another whistleblower who exposed government treachery, he has awakened a giant. The giant is a public that has had enough of violations of the Constitution and lies to cover them up. The giant is fed up with menial politicians and their media allies demonizing the messenger because his message embarrasses the government by revealing that it is unworthy of caring for the Constitution.
Think about that: The very people in whose hands we have reposed the Constitution for preservation, protection, defense and enforcement have subverted it.
Snowden spoke the truth. Knowing what would likely befall him for his truthful revelations and making them nevertheless was an act of heroism and patriotism. Thomas Paine once reminded the Framers that the highest duty of a patriot is to protect his countrymen from their government. We need patriots to do that now more than ever.
Subscrever: Mensagens (Atom)


text:
Stop listening to the media and the hype about the debt ceiling debate in Washington. Here is the one resource you need to keep track of the balance at The Treasury and to answer the question, "Are we broke yet?"
Jul 29, 2011
Jul 27, 2011
From Barn Filling to Barn Raising: A biblical perspective on stewardship and giving.
"You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."
But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?"
This parable often crosses my mind.
In brilliant contrast, I think back to the barn raisings in the northeast part of our country. A young family would barter for and purchase materials and when the time was right, the community would show up to construct the barn. In an economy, then driven by agriculture, these structures were crucial. Each member of the community would bring unique skills and share those skills with younger generations as they worked together to create storehouses for their neighbors.
I love the picture of an entire community showing up, not to provide a hand-out, but to empower their neighbors, to invest in them, and to teach them how to invest in others.
Most folks don't own a barn today. If I showed up at my neighbor's door with my tool belt and offered to help them build a barn, I would most certainly get funny looks. Nonetheless, we do have storehouses today. As Americans, we amass our wealth in accounts and businesses and under mattresses. Many are seeking fulfillment as they attempt to gather more for themselves; always building bigger storehouses. But in the end they are caught, just like the rich fool in Jesus' parable.
Life that is full. Fulfillment comes, not when we have filled our barns so that we can eat, drink and be merry, but when we accept that Christ loves us. In a parable Jesus shares this command:
"Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself."
Mark 12: 30-31
We are instructed not only to love God, but to do it with everything we've got. That is exactly what the community was doing when they joined their strong backs, sweaty brows and talents to help their neighbors raise a barn.
Storehouses in heaven through philanthropy. What do you plan to do with God's money? The message of the bible has not changed. In order for Christians to act as biblical stewards today we must live up to these commands.
As we open our hearts and souls, and come to the realization that our true storehouse is in heaven, we find freedom to engage resources in furthering the Kingdom of God and in loving our neighbors. Perhaps you have skills that you should be passing down to a younger generation. The time you spend as a mentor will pay dividends for generations. Consider investing in the lives of those around you. Take the wealth that you have stored up and look for ways to positively impact your community.
Engage in conversations about the purpose of your wealth with your spouse and your kids. Design an estate plan and charitable plan that will point your children in the right direction, towards stewardship. Involve them in giving decisions and empower them.
Imagine if the rich fool had put in place plans to love his neighbors and to help them build their barns. His last day would have been fulfilling. He would have stored up riches in heaven. The U.S. tax code gives us incentive to act as good stewards. Planning for philanthropy is tax favored and if we don't act as stewards while we are here, the federal government will take a portion and make decisions for us. Take the time to gather your trusted advisors as you begin to build storehouses that will last.
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text:
Winslow Homer
b. February 21, 1836, Boston, Massachusetts
d. September 29, 1910, Scarborough, Maine
Snap the Whip; Breezing Up; Home, Sweet Home; The Country School; Eight Bells; Mink Pond; The Life Line
The price listed is per set. One set of Artist Prints contains seven high-quality images of works produced by an individual artist or, in some cases, a school of artists. All works are in the public domain. The images are printed on 8.5 x 11 coated-card stock durable enough for classroom use. Each set of prints includes a cover page which contains the title of the painting, the location where it usually resides, the year(s) it was painted and the size of the painting rounded to the closest 1/2-1/4 inch.
Artist Prints usually ship within 2 weeks.
For orders over 25 sets please contact us via email for pricing and shipping at info [at] riverbendpress [dot] com.
Images included in a set of Artist Prints may change from time-to-time.