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A. Executive summary
This report will show that throughout the period of review, Papua New Guinea made little progress in its political and economic transformation toward a more liberal democracy and market-based economy, which would allow Papua New Guineans more freedom of choice. The country underwent a severe recession in the late 1990s and only started to recover slightly in the early 2000s. In 2003, the country posted positive GDP growth after three years of recession. This growth was consolidated in 2004 and 2005.
The positive developments during the period under review include: continuity in government leadership (most previous prime ministers were forced from office within a two year period), a mild economic recovery, sound economic policies, sustained stability in the exchange rate, an increase in reserves, and some elements of stability in political parties. In addition, improvements in civil society have been preserved. The institutional hardware of a market economy, such as basic rules in the organization of a market economy, is firmly in place.
The country faces some deeply rooted problems, however, that may impede the transformation process. The level of socio-economic development is low. Per capita income is now actually lower than it was at the time of independence. Years of poor governance, persistently high levels of corruption and a secessionist civil war on the island of Bougainville has taken a heavy toll on the country.
In the period under review, the currency, prices and economic growth were relatively stable. This situation is unusual because, for most of the 1990s, the country was unstable and endured consistent negative growth, rapidly falling exchange rates, and constant changes in government. Rumors of military coups, the forced resignation of a duly elected government by the military, the hiring of mercenaries by the government, political instability and a breakdown of law and order also plagued the country.
Current economic development is based on foreign aid and a small but sustainable private sector. Property rights are well defined and, for the most part, enforceable. Although there is no welfare regime, cultural norms requiring the family to look after the weak compensate for the negative social side-effects of the capitalist system. Levels of political violence and extremism are low, but deficits in democratic transformation remain. For example, the rule of law is still weak, corruption persists at the highest levels and there continues to be tensions between tribal groupings. Ethnic or regional bias, gender discrimination, gridlock in politics, the deepening wealth gap and polarization between the political leadership and the general populace do not allow for a sufficient degree of consensus-building or for institutional efficiency in the democratic system.
Issues of concern for market transformation include consistency in economic and fiscal policies and an efficient bureaucracy. Other shortcomings include a high degree of economic dominance by big business and the need for further reforms in the financial and corporate sectors.
For the most part, deficits in transformation management must be attributed to the priorities, decisions and actions of the political elite. To some extent, however, the root causes of these deficits lies in cultural and historical issues. Nevertheless, Papua New Guinea has made some progress in political and economic transformation in the Pacific, a region that in recent years has suffered from deepening political conflicts, faltering democratic transformations, unbalanced economic growth, worsening socio-economic inequalities, military coups and devastating natural disasters.
The most significant event during the review period was the direct intervention by Australia, Papua New Guineas former colonial master, to take over control of the countrys bureaucracy and the police force in late 2004. This intervention will likely stabilize the entire country and it will help Papua New Guinea back onto its feet. While it is too early to assess the impact of this intervention, a similar intervention in the neighboring country of Solomon Islands suggests that it will be positive and will lay the foundation for a more stable country.
B. History and characteristics of transformation
Papua New Guinea has always been a relatively open economy since its independence from Australia in 1975. Papua New Guinea's economy is dual in nature, including asmall formal economy and a much larger informal economy where subsistence farming accounts for the bulk of economic activity. About 85% of the population lives in the rural areas and population growth is relatively high at 2.5% per annum. The formal sector provides a rather narrow employment base, consisting of workers engaged in mineral production, a relatively small manufacturing sector, public sector employment and service industries such as finance, construction, transportation and utilitiesof the population is engaged in the informal sector. Since independence there has been an urban drift, causing high urban unemployment, high crime and other related social problems.
Papua New Guinea's economic growth has been characterized by a heavy reliance on the mining and petroleum sectors. These two sectors contribute around 20% of government revenue and around 60% of export revenue. In recent years, agriculture, which accounts for about one quarter of exports, has expanded through cash crops such as coffee, palm oil, cocoa and copra. The other major export is raw timber logs.
Papua New Guinea is a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state. She is represented in Papua New Guinea by a Governor-General. The Governor-General is elected directly by members of the national parliament and performs ceremonial functions. Executive power lies with the prime minister and the cabinet.
Politics in Papua New Guinea has been marked by two distinct features. First, no government has completed a full term. More governments fall through votes of no
confidence than in general elections. The average life of a government is less than
three years. In Papua New Guinea it is not uncommon for a member of parliament to be elected as an independent and then join half a dozen political parties before the next election. In fact, most elected members of parliament start out as independents. The constant shifting of loyalties means that few governments have been safe from votes of no confidence other than during the grace period of 18 months when a new government is formed and during the 12 months before a general election. Members of parliament regularly switch support in return for ministerial posts, perks and other financial inducements.
The current Prime Minister Michael Somare, who was also the countrys first prime minister, may break this pattern. Through cunning political moves, patronage, sackings and adjournment of parliament, Somare has survived at least three serious attempts to topple him via votes of no confidence. If he remains prime minister until June 2006, he will be the first prime minister to serve a full five-year term.
The second feature defining politics in Papua New Guinea is the high level of corruption. Corruption reaches the very top echelons of government and is the single biggest cause of the countrys decline since independence. Huge sums of money have disappeared into the pockets of politicians or have been misspent by successive governments. Despite this, there is very little political will to fight corruption as it permeates every level of politics and the bureaucracy.
One of the most significant political events in the countrys history occurred in 2003 when the government signed an agreement, the Enhancement Cooperation Program (ECP), with the Australian government. Under the ECP, Australia will play a direct role in Papua New Guinea institutions. Australia will spend 2 billion kina in new aid money to resuscitate key Papua New Guineas institutions such as the judiciary, the civil service and the police, which has failed to function effectively for the past two decades. More than 60 Australian civil servants are to be placed in key posts dealing with finance and planning issues and extra judges will be recruited and paid by Australia. An Australian will hold the key judicial position of Solicitor General (the governments chief legal advisor). The most controversial element of the ECP is the deployment of more than 200 Australian policemen to front-line policing roles to deal with the total breakdown of law and order.
C. Assessment
1. Democracy
Democratic transformation in Papua New Guinea advanced little during the period of review. Major shortcomings in democratic consolidation remain, particularly regarding political representation, rule of law, the effective and efficient working of the democratic institutions, and consensus building. In short, democracy has made little progress over the past several years in Papua New Guinea.
1.1. Stateness
There is no problem with state identity in Papua New Guinea. The state has an unrestricted monopoly on power. Definition of citizenship is not a politically relevant issue. All citizens have the same civil rights. There is separation of church and state although the constitution does state that Papua New Guinea is a Christian country. Many political parties claim to be guided by Christian principles, but in reality they have no policies and no organizational structure or capacity. The political process is secular and freedom of religion is respected. More than 90% of the population is Christian.
Although state identity is not an issue, the country suffers from an inefficient, corrupt civil service, serious law and order problems, poor discipline in the army and police, and poor governance. There is almost universal cynicism toward political leaders who are seen as corrupt and self-serving. Most analysts see Papua New Guinea as an example of a weak state where the state is unable to implement even the most basic policies. Although the country is highly fragmented (there are an estimated 830 linguistic groups), the basic division in the country is between the highlanders and the people from the coast.
An exception to the issue of stateness is Bougainville. Bougainville is an island that is physically and culturally closer to the Solomon Islands than mainland Papua New Guinea. The people on Bougainville tried to gain independence in the 1970s but were unsuccessful. In 1989, a war of secession broke out and the issue remains unresolved today. In December 2004, the Papua New Guinea government unveiled a new constitution for the island, giving Bougainvillians a higher degree of autonomy. However, Francis Ona, leader of the main pro-independence group, has rejected the plan and has proclaimed Bougainville an independent state. It is unclear the extent of popular support enjoyed by Ona, but there is a significant number of Bougainvillians who prefer to be part of Papua New Guinea. The United Nations maintains a presence on Bougainville.
1.2. Political participation
There is universal suffrage and elections have been held in a timely manner since independence. The next general election is due in mid-2007. However, serious problems remain with participation. Elections are neither free nor fair. Massive vote buying, ballot rigging, clan voting, violence, intimidation and cheating are widespread, especially in the Highlands. Election-related violence occurs during virtually every general election. During the 2002 elections, more than fifty lives were lost. Nevertheless, transfer of power takes place peacefully after the election results are announced, and the military and the police have generally kept out of politics. There are no problems in asserting constitutional rights to political organization, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play an active role in voter education and civil society. Political and civil organizations such as NGOs and trade unions can and do form freely. There are many NGOs and new ones are regularly established. The state-run and private media are mostly free from government influence, and the concept of a free media is widely understood and respected by all major players. Newspapers regularly criticize government policies and expose corruption.
One area of concern is the low level of political participation by women, especially in leadership positions. The current parliament has only one female member. Since independence, there have been only four female parliamentarians. There is widespread political and cultural discrimination against women in the political arena, and women generally find it difficult to win elections. Discrimination against women is mostly cultural and is based on conservative beliefs that men are born to lead and women should look after the family and the household. This belief is particularly entrenched in the Highlands where, in some remote communities, women are extremely discriminated against.
1.3. Rule of law
Rule of law remains a major concern. Transformation deficiencies exist in the system of checks and balances between the executive, legislative and judicial branches. The political executive (a cabinet led by a prime minister) dominates the political process. This means that the parliament has little say in political decision-making processes. The parliament itself is extremely weak due to the high turnover rate: in every election, more than 70% of incumbents lose their seats. Consequently, after every election, the number of new parliamentarians always outnumbers those with experience. Many of these novices have no real idea how parliament works. Part of the problem also lies with the parliamentarians. More than 50% lack tertiary education and most have only a rudimentary education. It is also not uncommon to find illiterate parliamentarians, especially from the more remote constituencies. Debates in parliament usually center on personal issues rather than on substantive policy issues. There are signs, however, that better educated candidates are being elected to parliamentary positions.
The judiciary, on the other hand, is widely seen to be independent and free of corruption. The courts often disagree with the government and issue their judgments accordingly. Many parliamentarians and senior officials have been jailed for corruption. Unfortunately, incompetence and a lack of resources have led to a drop in standards within the judiciary in recent years. There are hopeful signs that the resource problem will soon be resolved. Under the ECP, the Australian government will pay for 18 senior legal specialists to be placed in the Solicitor Generals office, the Public Prosecutors Office, the National Court Registry, and the courts.
There is an acute problem with the maintenance of law and order in Papua New Guinea. An official inquiry into the police force in 2004 revealed that discipline had declined, corruption was pervasive and that the police regularly employ excessively violent tactics. Criminal gangs, called raskols, operate openly in all the major urban centers. These armed thugs are often better armed than the police. The production of homemade guns is a major cottage industry. In several surveys, the capital city of Port Moresby has been ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the world in terms of personal safety. The deployment of more than 200 Australian policemen to support the local police force beginning in late 2004 should help bring to about an improvement although it is generally agreed that it will take more than a decade to rebuild a professional police force.
The biggest problem, however, remains the issue of good governance. Corruption is endemic among the political elite and the bureaucracy. Papua New Guinea ranks 102nd in Transparency Internationals 2004 Corruption Perception Index. In theory, all parliamentarians and senior officials are subject to the Leadership Code (Organic Law on the Duties and Responsibilities of Leadership), a law governing their conduct while in office. Breaches of the Leadership Code can lead to dismissal from office.
Unfortunately, there is a purpose-built loophole in the code, enabling a person in breach of the code to escape punishment by simply resigning. Since the official is no longer legally defined a leader, he is no longer subject to the Leadership Code. Thus, many corrupt officials and politicians resign just before charges are brought against them under the code. There is also great reluctance to prosecute political leaders and other big men (men of influence) for fear of payback. This situation may improve in the coming years with the insertion of 36 economic and public administration specialists from Australia under the auspices of the ECP. These specialists will be placed in line positions to improve bureaucratic efficiency and to ensure that public funds are properly accounted for.
1.4. Stability of democratic institutions
Despite problems in the system of checks and balances, democratic institutions are remarkably stable. Institutional deficiencies are mainly due to poor governance, inefficiency and corruption. All relevant political and social players accept democratic institutions and regard them as legitimate. The central problem is that no government has ever served out a full five-year term. There is some evidence to suggest that this trend may be changing, however.
Throughout 2004, attempts were made to oust Prime Minister Somare through a vote of no confidence. Somares own coalition partner, Peoples National Congress (PNC), was among those plotting to replace him. Through a series of sackings, including throwing the PNC out of his coalition in May 2004 while simultaneously persuading an opposition party to join his coalition, Somare survived the challenge. Two other attempts to remove him from office were thwarted when Somare used his majority in a parliamentary committee to block the tabling of the no confidence vote. Somare also adjourned parliament three times for a total of nine and a half months between January 2004 and February 2005. If Somare manages to stay in power until June 2006, he cannot be removed constitutionally. Under existing laws, governments are protected by the constitution from no confidence motions for the first 18 months and the last 12 months of a five-year term. The last general elections were held in June 2002; the next general elections are scheduled for June 2007.
The main source of instability in other key institutions can be found in the overall instability of government. Every time a government changes hands, key personnel changes are made to reflect the policies of the new government or minister. Since the election of the Somare government in 2002, there have been several unsuccessful attempts to unseat Treasury and Finance Minister Bart Philemon and Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea, Wilson Kamit. The consistent economic and fiscal policy in the period under review is mainly due to the stability of these two entities.
1.5. Political and social integration
Political parties remain weak in Papua New Guinea. Political personalities and patronage are still more important than political parties. Political parties are seen as vehicles to facilitate personal ambitions or simply as an entity needed to help form a government. Political parties tend to be driven by personalities and regional or clan ties. All political parties in Papua New Guinea lack organization, political philosophy or any real public policies. This has resulted in a high level of voter volatility.
The most recent attempt to remedy this situation was the passage of the Integrity of Political Parties and Candidates Law in 2001. The law restricts the ability of serving members of parliament to switch parties. Members of parliament can only move from one party to another under specific circumstance such as the dissolution of that ministers party. The idea behind the law is to make parties more important than the individual minister of parliament and thus reduce the number of yo-yo ministers who switch from party to party, based on personal benefits. Many votes of no confidence succeeded because of these yo-yo politicians. Three years after the passage of the integrity law, it is still unclear how effective the law has been. Individual ministers continue to switch parties and have challenged the law in the courts. Some parties have been divided: some party members are in government while others sit on the opposition benches. Thus far, the courts have not ruled on any of these breaches of the law.
There are problems related to social integration in Papua New Guinea. Clan or tribe loyalties are generally stronger than loyalty to the state. In almost every urban center, hundreds of clan or regional associations promote clan or regional solidarity. In the highland regions, there are periodic fights between different tribes over issues such as compensation, land boundaries and payback killings. Toward the end of 2004, the highland town of Goroka was shut down for several days due to tribal warfare. During elections, clans reject national loyalties in favor of supporting other clans.
Despite these problems with social integration, there is strong support for liberal democracy among citizens. All relevant actors and groups understand that their interests are best protected by democracy.
2. Market economy
2.1. Level of socioeconomic development
Key indicators reveal a low level of development in Papua New Guinea. The countrys HDI ranking is 113 and its per capita real GDP is lower than at the time of independence in 1975. Social and poverty indicators remain poor, infant mortality is ten times higher than in developed countries, and the prevalence of HIV and AIDS is increasing. Efforts to eradicate poverty have been hampered by little growth in all sectors and a broken public service, especially in rural areas. Per capita GDP in Papua New Guinea was approximately $664 in 2003 and $757 in 2004. Despite recent positive GDP growth, Papua New Guinea's real per capita GDP in 2004 remains lower than that of 1994, reflecting an overall downward trend since 1994.
The countrys level of socioeconomic development does not allow adequate freedom of choice for all citizens. There is some evidence of social exclusion as a result of poverty, ethnicity, unequal access to education, and gender discrimination. Throughout the period of review, the country has not been able to reduce social disparities, poverty levels remain high and income disparity is getting worse.
2.2. Organization of the market and competition
On paper, the institutional hardware for a competitive market-based economy is mostly in place. Papua New Guinea has made some progress in restructuring its financial sector, including making the central bank more independent and establishing a commission on competition modeled on Australias Competition and Consumer Commission.
In practice, there are significant barriers to the functioning of a free market. High establishment costs, problems with maintaining law and order, the high cost of banking, bureaucratic red tape and political corruption remain major barriers to market entry. Despite its public pronouncements, the country is not foreign investor-friendly. A maze of regulations and paperwork must be navigated before a foreign enterprise can start operations in Papua New Guinea. The Investment Promotions Authority (IPA), supposedly a one stop center for foreign businessmen, is often sarcastically referred to as the Investment Prevention Authority.
The persistence of corrupt political leaders, combined with an incompetent and corrupt bureaucracy, often means that only businesses willing to pay bribes or facilitation money can win a significant advantage over competitors. Commissions of inquiry have found numerous instances of public tenders being awarded to companies or individuals who have bribed officials. Large and well-established companies have a significant advantage over newcomers. In recent years, the trend is for major companies to buy their smaller competitors and create an even stronger position. Among top businessmen, there is a lot of direct and indirect cross-ownership of businesses. Inadequate corporate governance is the norm rather than the exception.
Plans to privatize Telikom PNG, the government-owned monopoly, illustrate how a mixture of politics and business can derail the privatization process. The government announced in 2000 that it would sell 51% of its stake in the telecommunications company. After several rounds of bidding, Econet Wireless, a South African company, won the tender in 2003. The sale of the company faced strong opposition among Telikon employees who were used to low productivity and a poor work culture. It was an open secret that Telikoms payroll was 20-30% higher than what was needed. The opposition alleged that corruption was involved in the sale and that the sale price was far below true market value.
The role of the sale consultant, a former World Bank official who had been deported from Papua New Guinea by the Morauta administration, attracted much scrutiny. There was also a widespread belief that the sale would benefit foreigners working in tandem with selected Papua New Guinea elites. But what sank the deal in the end was a parliamentary motion brought by the son of the prime minister to stop the sale in November 2004. With this setback, privatization of other non-performing state assets such as Air Niugini has also come to a complete stop.
Trade unions and an outdated industrial relations regime have further impeded moves to free up the market. Trade unions, especially public sector unions, are strong and regularly threaten strikes. Many of the unions represent sectors that are unproductive or overstaffed. Any reforms will almost certainly mean job losses and the trade unions, often tied to political parties, have fought hard in the period under review to protect their constituents. In the 2002 general elections, the leader of the Papua New Guinea Trade Union Congress launched an unsuccessful bid as a candidate on a socialist platform.
Restructuring of the financial system has continued, but with only four banks in the country, there exists an unofficial oligarchy. One of the four banks, Bank South Pacific (BSP), controls more than 65% of the market and is the only bank with branches throughout the country. It thus holds an unofficial monopoly on rural banking. The other three banks, Australia New Zealand Bank (ANZ), Westpac and Maybank Papua New Guinea, concentrate mostly on business clients and can be found only in the countrys urban centers. Banks in Papua New Guinea are inefficient: for example, local checks require five working days to clear.
While the bulk of foreign trade is conducted with Australia, Papua New Guineas former colonial master, Asian businessmen are increasingly dominating the economy of Papua New Guinea. In the period under review, most new investments came from China and Malaysia. Papua New Guinea received little in terms of foreign direct investment due to the myriad economic and political problems in the country.
2.3. Currency and price stability
Monetary policy in Papua New Guinea during the review period was aimed primarily at curbing inflation. Inflation was at around 8%15% during the review period. The Central Bank also took steps to reduce interest rates and by 2004-2005, interest rates had fallen to under 10%. During the late 1990s, interest rates were as high as 26%. Foreign reserves were also up during the review period, helped by strong world commodity prices, especially for gold, copper, and oil. This underpinned a sharp rise in exports, thereby moving the external current account from a small deficit in 2002 to a surplus of 10% of GDP in 2003. The Papua New Guinea kina appreciated against the U.S. dollar by 20% during January 2003April 2004. For most of 2004, the kina stabilized at around $0.30. By the end of 2004, reserves had reached a high of US$700 million. The stability of prices and currency from late 2003 onwards is largely due to the efforts of the treasury and the Governor of the Reserve Bank to maintain consistency in monetary policy. The ability of the government to keep the currency steady is commendable given that, for most the late 1990s and early 2000s, the kina rapidly declined in value. In 1997, the kina was worth about $0.60, by the end of 2002, it was worth only $0.24. In the 1980s, the kina had been stronger than the U.S. dollar.
The Papua New Guinea kina is fragile and sensitive to political instability. If the government changes or new policies are adopted, another rapid decline in the kina is possible.
The central bank announced in 2004 that it intends to scrap control over foreign exchange. For many years now, businesses have been complaining that restrictions on the amount that can be remitted overseas (50,000 kina) were unrealistic. At the time of this writing, this policy announcement had not yet been implemented.
2.4. Private property
Papua New Guineas market economy is overwhelmingly based on private ownership. Property rights and the regulation of property are adequately defined. However, large sectors of the economy remain under government control. For example, telecommunications, airlines, motor insurance and water supplies are all owned and operated by State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). In theory, these utilities are supposed to behave like private sector companies, but in reality they are characterized by a civil service culture and practices. All of these SOEs are laden with debt, antiqued equipment and a workforce that is both bloated and unproductive. Moves by the government to privatize these SOEs have met with strong resistance from trade unions and the opposition. Since 1995, the government has only managed to privatize one SOE, Bank South Pacific, after a bruising political battle. The current government has tried but failed to privatize Telikom, and it is unlikely that there will be a privatization of any more SOEs during the term of this administration.
It should be noted here that while property rights and the acquisition of property are adequately defined under the law, these laws apply to less than 10% of the land. More than 90% of the land in Papua New Guinea is not surveyed and is deemed as customary land. It is not possible under present laws to get a title to these lands and their traditional owners are commonly referred to as landowners. Because these lands are not properly surveyed, disputes often arise over who the rightful landowner is. It is common for tribal war to erupt over land ownership disputes. Even land that has been properly surveyed and registered with the Lands Department can become the subject of landowner disputes. Often a tribe will claim compensation for land sold by their ancestors two or three generations ago, arguing that their uneducated and illiterate ancestors did not really intend to sell or give the land to the state. Big projects are often plagued by landowner disputes, representing a major disincentive for big developers. Even land acquired by the state is not immune from land ownership problems. Water supply in the capital Port Moresby is periodically disrupted when landowners shut down the dam to demand compensation. Different factions of landowners periodically shut down major oil and gas projects because of compensation disputes or internal political arguments.
The government has no plans to survey land, as it is politically unacceptable. In the early 1990s rumors that the government was planning to survey land led to riots in Port Moresby.
The problem with traditional landowners is not unique to Papua New Guinea. In many other countries of the South Pacific, land ownership disputes are common, but the level of violence relating to those disputes is generally lower when compared to Papua New Guinea.
2.5. Welfare regime
Papua New Guinea has no welfare regime. There is no national pension or health plan. Instead, welfare is based on familial and wantok support. Wantok (one talk) refers to people who speak the same dialect or language, signifying that the person is a relative or from the same clan. Social obligations based on reciprocity require one to aid a wantok. It is not uncommon for a house to be full of ones wantoks, who stay as long as they wish and live off the owner of the house. Many cases of corruption in Papua New Guinea can often be traced to wantokism, or nepotism. Wantokism is especially rampant in the civil service.
Every working adult in full-time employment is required to join a provident fund, which is based on regular contributions from both the employee and employer. Prior to 2000, the state-operated National Provident Fund (NPF) was the only fund legally entitled to take contributions. This changed, however, when senior politicians colluded with senior NPF management to defraud the fund of more than PGK200 million, and nearly causing the fund to collapse in the late 1990s. New legislation was quickly brought in to allow the operation of private provident funds. Those involved in the fraud, including the brother of former deputy prime minister, have not been punished for their crimes.
There are now several private provident funds in operation. Because the formal sector is small, these pension funds cover only a very small proportion of the population and cannot really be seen as welfare.
The health system is for the most part broken. Major hospitals around the country are routinely shut down or are forced to scale back services because they did not receive their budget allocations on time. A registered nurse often staffs aid posts in the rural areas with no medicine other than paracetamol (acetaminophen). Others rely on donor support, especially from Australia, to keep the hospitals running.
2.6. Economic performance
Throughout the review period, the Papua New Guinea economy grew modesty after three years of negative growth. Real GDP grew by 2.7% in 2003, by 2.8% in 2004 and about 2.6% in 2005. The overall balance of payments moved from an estimated deficit of 2.2% of GDP in 2002 to a surplus of 2.8% in 2003.
Economic growth was led by the agriculture and mining sectors. Coffee and cocoa production benefited from better weather conditions, and the production of palm oil, rubber, tea and copra oil also increased. Output of petroleum, gold, and copper was also higher during the period of review; relatively high oil prices contributed to economic growth. The government is committed to making the private sector the engine for growth. This strategy is appropriately called the Export-Driven Growth Strategy.
2.7. Sustainability
Environmental concerns have grown in recent years among citizens, lawmakers and government officials. There are half a dozen NGOs actively pursuing environmental issues, especially against timber companies. Despite the strong presence of NGOs, government policy has often tended to support developers. The governments commitment to economic growth as a basic strategy to reduce poverty means that environmental concerns are usually secondary concerns. In a recent World Bank review of timber projects, more than half the projects under review were found to have breached certain conditions, many of them related to the environment. Corruption is a factor in many instances where environmental concerns are ignored.
Papua New Guinea has an under-developed education system. Outside the main urban centers, schools lack even the most basic infrastructure. The standard of education now is lower than at the time of independence. Years of mismanagement, under-funding and fraud have meant there are very few good schools. Every year there are cases of travel funds stolen from teachers. Those who can afford it tend to send their children to international schools where the fees are often higher than the salaries of a headmaster in a public school. The adult literacy rate in Papua New Guinea is less than 50%.
Although in 2002 the government established an intellectual property office in 2002, there are virtually no research and development activities in Papua New Guinea. The establishment of the intellectual property office was done more to comply with international obligations rather than because of the need to protect patents. There are moves to codify traditional knowledge, but these activities lack the necessary expertise and funds for proper management.
3. Management
3.1. Level of difficulty
The level of difficulty in governing a country like Papua New Guinea cannot be underestimated. Since impendence, no government has served out a full five-year term. For the most part, politicians are self-serving, and almost every socioeconomic indicator has declined since 1975. Poor governance, high levels of corruption, the lack of adequate infrastructure, a small and unstable economy, aid dependency, low levels of education, ethnic conflicts and economic recession have all taken their toll on the country. The situation has become so bad that in recent years, Papua New Guinea has been reported to be on the brink of collapse and is a failed state. It has also prompted the government to accept the insertion of Australian public servants into line positions in the Papua New Guinea bureaucracy. Some 60 Australian specialists in financial controlling, accounting, law and economics began working in the country in late 2004. They will likely have a positive impact on establishing standards of good governance and making the public service more efficient.
3.2. Steering capability
The government has generally demonstrated determination in its strategy of economic reform, but this has been hampered by corruption and by a non-performing bureaucracy. Infighting among the parties in the ruling coalition and frequent changes in leadership positions contributed to the countrys malaise. Government departments often overspend their budgets. The size and payroll of the public service remains a central concern. Despite a hiring freeze, the number of public servants has gone up. There are at least 2,000 unattached officials that do no work but receive a full salary, a large number of ghost workers, many underemployed casual workers, payments of unallocated allowances and benefits, and high rates of absenteeism.
3.3. Resource efficiency
The government does not make efficient use of available economic and human resources for its economic and social policies. The size of the public sector is a major concern. Although the budget looks good on paper, many budget systems and processes are repeatedly flaunted. Appropriations are routinely breached and procurement procedures bypassed. Some of this is due to corruption while other misappropriations are due to incompetence or political interference.
One of the more competent government departments is the Central Bank and the Treasury and Finance Ministry. Reforms of the financial markets, banking sector and corporate sector have been planned adequately. Implementation, however, has been mixed. The government has been relatively successful in some areas, such as in monetary and fiscal policy, while in others, such as education and health, the system is barely functioning. The budget deficits since 2002 have been largely under control during the review period with the budget surplus at 6% in 2004 and a deficit of 1% expected in 2005.
The institutional framework of governance in Papua New Guinea does provide for a high degree of coordination among conflicting political objectives. In 1999, the government established a Central Agencies Coordination Committee (CACC), which provided a degree of coordination and stopped the turf battles among the main government departments. The CACC also acts as a gatekeeper for cabinet submissions. Nevertheless, this has not prevented individual ministers from making decisions that conflict with government policy or go against the wishes of the prime minister. In such cases, the minister can be removed or shifted to another ministry. The problem is that the bureaucracy lacks the capacity to implement many cabinet decisions. Many decisions taken at cabinet level are not immediately implemented or are watered down by the time of the implementation.
3.4. Consensus-building
All key political and social actors agree on the goal of a market-based, liberal democracy, and recognize the need for drastic reforms, although ideas about details and how to implement reforms vary greatly. There is no politically relevant actor with anti-democratic veto power but opposition parties, ruling parties, big business, labor unions and some societal associations have regularly blocked specific reforms. For years the bureaucracy has successfully resisted reforms. For example, discipline in the armed forces has collapsed, but attempts to reform the armed forces are met with threats of a military coup. An Australian-funded program to retrench a large part of the army and create a smaller professional force has met with limited success.
Although there are indications of a lack of consensus-building throughout the transformation process in Papua New Guinea, these are not signs of fundamental dissent about the direction of development toward democracy and a market economy. The Papua New Guinea Trade Union Congress (PNGTUC), long opposed to any economic reforms for fear of job losses, now appears willing to accept reforms as long as compensation for laid-off workers is generous.
There are also positive signs for consensus-building. There seems to be universal approval of the plan to insert Australian policemen into the Papua New Guinea constabulary. The problems with maintaining law and order, which have plagued the nation since the middle of the 1980s, has reached such a stage that some of the raskol gangs are willing to reform if the state can guarantee personal safety and employment. There is also consensus that the future of the nation lies in economic recovery. Without economic recovery and growth, all other reforms will have little chance of success. Above all, there is complete consensus that there must be political stability and an elimination of corruption among the political elite. All strata of Papua New Guinea society see corruption among politicians as the biggest obstacle to political stability and recovery of the nation. Corruption permeates every level of politics, bureaucracy and business.
3.5. International cooperation
Papua New Guinea is actively engaged in international and regional politics. For some time, Papua New Guinea has been the highest per capita aid recipient in the world. All three main multilateral agencies the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are active in the country. The United Nations maintains a presence in Bougainville. However, the roles played by all external actors are regulated by Australis activities, Papua New Guineas former colonial ruler. Under the ECP, Australia is scheduled to direct more than PGK2 billion into Papua New Guinea to resuscitate the entire state. On top of this money, Australia gives more than A$300 million annually to Papua New Guinea. All post-independence governments see foreign aid as the key ingredient in infrastructure development.
Papua New Guinea is also active in regional politics through the Melanesia Spearhead Group (MSG) and the South Pacific Forum. Papua New Guinea is the largest nation in the South Pacific other than Australia and New Zealand.
4. Trend of development
4.1. Democratic development
Even before the review period of this report, Papua New Guinea was a nation in crisis. Although it had all the institutions of a democratic state, most of these institutions were either not working or had been hijacked by interest groups. Corruption, poor governance, law and order problems and the easy availability of weapons means that democracy is procedural at best and a mirage at worst. There are signs that democracy may be strengthening, however. The current prime minister has survived several attempts to topple him and may be the first prime minister to actually serve out a full five-year term, bringing much needed political stability. More importantly, in 2004, the Australian government inserted some 60 advisors to advise and run key government departments. If successful, this could bring a level of professionalism to the public services not seen since the first few years of independence.
The biggest impediment remains the electoral system. Despite the introduction of a limited preferential voting (LPV) system in 2003, there is evidence that it has not led to better quality candidates being elected into parliament. In fact, voting analysis of the LPV in several elections in 2004 suggests that the results of the elections would have been similar had the old first past the post (FPTP) system been used.
One positive development is that NGOs are getting stronger in demanding a corruption-free political system. A branch of Transparency International was established in Papua New Guinea recently and it has published studies on political corruption and held workshops to inform the people on the real costs of corruption.
4.2. Market economy development
Recent basic indicators of social and economic development show that most criteria related to human development, gender equality and education levels have largely remained the same with no tangible improvements. The only area where there has been slight progress is in the area of economic development. The country emerged from recession in 2003 and has seen positive growth in 2004 and 2005. Assuming that the Somare government remains intact, there is no reason to doubt that there will be positive growth until at least 2007. Inflation, which has now been brought down to single digits, is expected to decline steadily to 2% by 2009, assuming that fiscal and monetary discipline is maintained. The external current account is projected to be balanced from 2006 to 2009, with higher non-mineral exports only partly offsetting the decline in mining and petroleum exports as existing resources are depleted.
The one exception to these positive trends is income distribution measured in terms of the Gini index: recent empirical data show a minor deepening of income inequality.


text: On Instagram recently, I've been teasing my new FOOLPROOF homemade salsa recipe (given to me by my friend Tiff, who is now a household hero). It's not only out-of-this-WORLD, good (Bubba says it's better than restaurant salsa, which is saying a lot…) but it's embarrassingly easy. All you need is a blender! The original recipe is

subset: commoncrawl


text: A vulnerability in the Facebook Application API allows the construction of a malicious Facebook application that collects user's personal information including: Full name, profile picture and friends list. Full name and picture of the friends are also accessible. The information is collected without user knowledge or consent. It is possible to launch the attack via an HTML IMG tag which greatly increases the severity of the breach because there is no need to have the user access the attacker's site. Instead, any online blog or forum that allows IMG tags in comments can be used. The user needs only to load the relevant page to launch the attack. The attack elegantly ends with a valid image so the page renders normally, and the attacked user does not notice that anything peculiar has happened This amounts to a unique kind of CSRF attack in which both the user's browser is tricked into performing an action without user consent (divulging personal information), and the attacker's server is the direct recipient of this action (via the Facebook app server). Demonstration and discussion of the attack: http://blog.quaji.com/2009/07/facebook-personal-info-leak.html Full disclosure and details: http://blog.quaji.com/2009/08/facebook-csrf-attack-full-disclosure.html The specific vulnerability used here has just been patched by Facebook, but it's likely that it is still possible to launch this type of attack using other mechanisms and other social networks. Ronen Zilberman http://quaji.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.webappsec.org/pipermail/websecurity_lists.webappsec.org/attachments/20090820/c8e7f0bd/attachment.html>


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Fri, 22 February 2013
The tech powering the PlayStation 4, the HTC One, the Chromebook Pixel, and more!
Direct download: Tech_Fetish_Podcast_Episode_157.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:41pm EST
Fri, 15 February 2013
We talk meteorites, the LHC, the HTC One, and Sony's PS4 prototype controller.
Direct download: Tech_Fetish_Podcast_Episode_156.mp3
Category:Technology -- posted at: 6:35pm EST
Fri, 8 February 2013
Scott, Justin, and Mark Ryan discuss new Ouya consoles, iOS 6 jailbreak milestones, next-gen rumors, and more.
Direct download: Tech_Fetish_Podcast_Episode_155.mp3
Category:Technology -- posted at: 6:15pm EST


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Grazing the Sky (2013)
- Studio: Independent
- Release: November 10, 2013
- Director: Horacio Alcalá
- Writer: Horacio Alcalá
- Cast: Antonio Segura, Max La Sala, Damian Istria, Erika Nguyen, Fadi Zmorrod
Video archive for the film Grazing the Sky, which has a domestic theatrical release in the year of 2013. There are currently two videos available for the film, of which one and only one is a trailer, as listed below. Happy viewing!
Featured Movie Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker


text:
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Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportu..
Kristof, D.Nicholas
Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family
Slaughter, Ann-Marie
The Second Sex
De Beauvoir, Simone
Be Awesome: Modern Life for Modern Ladies
Freeman, Hadley
Everyday Sexism
Bates, Laura
Unfinished Business
Slaughter, Anne-Marie
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Wollstonecraft, Mary
Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own
Bolick, Kate
The War on Women
Lloyd-Roberts, Sue
What Do Women Want?: Adventures in the Scienc..


text:
Atlantic Cape Community College and Rutgers University–Camden signed a Conditional Acceptance Agreement May 11, allowing students to complete three years of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at Atlantic Cape and seamlessly transfer to Rutgers–Camden for completion.The 3+1 agreement allows students to pay the lower tuition and fees at Atlantic Cape for an additional year, a savings of more than $20,000, before transferring to the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden.
Patricia Florio spent an entire career as a court reporter writing other people's statements.
But all along, the writer inside of her wanted to put her own words down on paper.
And at age 62, when many contemporaries were calculating Social Security payouts, Florio earned her bachelor's degree through Rutgers Off Campus Programs to help launch her second career as a writer.
When she worked in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., Florio had to painstakingly assure that every word was recorded correctly, for legal purposes. "On the job, and through someone who proofed my work, I learned how to become a perfectionist," said Florio. "And that is very much required when you're a court reporter."
Florio also had experience as a freelance newspaper reporter, giving her the background to launch her writing career. But she felt she needed the confidence that a college degree would provide.
Mishi Resian's life journey has taken her from a village in Kenya, to U.S. Army bases in Germany and New Jersey, to deployment in Iraq as an Army combat medic, and then to community college near her home in Galloway Township, N.J. near Atlantic City.
But no path has been more important to her than the walk for her Rutgers diploma.
In May 2015, Resian graduated as the first-ever student in the Center for Off Campus Programs in the Rutgers Division of Continuing Studies to earn a Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
Taking all those roads, her commute by contrast seems easy: While she is an Off Campus student, Resian chose for the past two years to drive the 100 miles from Galloway to New Brunswick to take all classes for her major in person. This semester, she also took three classes at the Rutgers Off Campus Programs location at Atlantic Cape Community College in Mays Landing, close to her home.
Stephen Dobbins fell in love with Shakespeare when his high school English teacher invited him to direct a scene from Romeo and Juliet. Now, as he graduates this month from Rutgers University-Camden, the Howell resident is setting his sights on recreating a Shakespeare tradition: Writing a play for a troupe of actors and producing it for audiences in public places, like restaurants, bars and parks.
Richard Novak from Rutgers University Division of Continuing Studies discusses the new academic partnership that allows County College of Morris graduates and others to earn Rutgers University degrees on the campuses of CCM.
On May 30, a new partnership between Rutgers University and Mercer County Community College (MCCC) was formalized. The partnership, a function of Rutgers Off-Campus Programs will expand opportunities for associate degree holders in the Mercer County area to earn Rutgers degrees on MCCC's West Windsor campus.
The Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony was hosted by MCCC President Patricia Donohue and Interim Vice President for Continuing Studies Richard Novak. The event was attended by state and county officials and MCCC and Rutgers academic administrators and staff.
"This initiative is designed to meet the needs of thousands of community college graduates who traditionally have faced great difficulty in transferring to a baccalaureate completion program. It recognizes the need for flexible options, such as online and hybrid courses, for those who have work and family obligations," said Novak.
In a new partnership to be formalized May 30, Rutgers University and Mercer County Community College (MCCC) will expand opportunities for associate degree holders in the Mercer County area to earn Rutgers degrees on MCCC's West Windsor campus.
Beginning in fall 2013, Rutgers' newest off-campus degree-completion program will offer three bachelor's degree programs at MCCC: labor and employment relations, RN to BS in nursing, and political science.
The two institutions will sign a memorandum of understanding formalizing their partnership in a ceremony at MCCC at 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor, at 10 a.m., Thursday, May 30. Rutgers Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Richard L. Edwards and MCCC President Patricia C. Donohue will sign the document, officially commencing the partnership.
Rutgers officially opened its new Lifelong Learning Center on the campus of Atlantic Cape Community College in Mays Landing at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 28 hosted by Rutgers President Robert L. Barchi and Atlantic Cape President Peter Mora. More than 200 guests attended the event.
The two-story, 22,000-square-foot facility enables Rutgers to expand academic opportunities for students from Atlantic, Cape May and surrounding counties who hold associate degrees and wish to earn Rutgers degrees – close to where they live or work – in such popular disciplines as psychology and criminal justice.
"This splendid building demonstrates our strong relationship with Atlantic Cape as well as Rutgers' commitment to address the growing educational demands of this region," said Barchi.
As Susan and Ashley Rivenbark begin classes as new Rutgers students this month, they are among the first to walk through the doors of the university's new Lifelong Learning Center on the campus of Atlantic Cape Community College in Mays Landing.
The Rivenbarks – mother and daughter – are starting the next phase of their college careers as students in Rutgers' off-campus degree-completion program. Both received their associate's degrees from Atlantic Cape last spring and were admitted to Rutgers' program there. Susan plans to complete her bachelor's degree in liberal studies and Ashley in psychology. They will be among 300 students projected to enroll at that site this fall.
As residents of nearby Hammonton, they see the new facility as a draw for other like-minded individuals wishing to complete their degrees.
"I think it will attract many new people like me from the area who are looking for a great opportunity closer to home," said Ashley.
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Starting in January 2013, K-12 educators in South Jersey will have more convenient access to Rutgers' Gifted Education Graduate Certificate Program, which will be offered for the first time at Rutgers' new facility at Atlantic Cape Community College in Mays Landing.
Free information sessions about the program will be held throughout the fall at Atlantic Cape.
New Jersey state law requires school districts to assess giftedness and provide gifted instruction in kindergarten through grade 12, but offers little guidance on program design or professional training, according to Liz Beasley, director of the program.
Jump back to navigation
More than 35 departments and units at Rutgers offer hundreds of credit and noncredit courses, certificate programs and enrichment opportunities to help individuals reach their professional and personal goals. Learn more at lifelonglearning.rutgers.edu.
Copyright © 2019, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.


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You have got to discover you, what you do, and trust it.
~ Barbra Streisand
As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.
~ Goethe
When I'm trusting and being myself… everything in my life reflects this by falling into place easily, often miraculously.
~ Shakti Gawain
Some things feel like they were meant to be; but, were outside the lines of our expectations…acceptance is the answer.
More will be revealed…
Way Spiritual Dave (my husband)


text:
From ETonline:
The Stanford Prison Experiment, which premiered this week at Sundance to mostly positive reviews, is not always an easy film to watch.
Much of the action takes place in barren 6-foot-wide hallway. The characters–seemingly normal and well-adjusted Stanford students recruited to participate in a landmark 1971 study about the psychology of imprisonment–take their role-playing as prisoner and guard to extremes, turning power-hungry, violent and occasionally sadistic. The "grown-ups," led by researcher Philip Zimbardo (played by Billy Crudup), watch a live feed of the action from a nearby office and fail to stop the abuse–fueled by their own power trips and unchecked ambition.
None of the men or boys come off looking very good in the film, though director Kyle Patrick Alvarez does a masterful job humanizing them. And it's impossible to watch without wondering how you'd react if parachuted into Zimbardo's simulated prison. Would you stand up for yourself–or for the humanity of others? And can we really know until we've been there?
"One of the big questions this film deals with is, 'Are we who we think we are?'" Crudup said when we sat down in Park City, Utah, this week to discuss the film. "This story talks about the ways we don't fulfill our own moral capacity, and that what we think of as our true self is actually the product of many different situations, institutions, and places."
Crudup (Almost Famous) is excellent as Dr. Zimbardo, a man who so badly wants to affect positive change in the world–and have an impact as a psychologist–that he's willing to let his study subjects endure psychological torture for what he perceives as a greater good. It isn't until the sixth day, when his girlfriend and fellow researcher (played by Juno's Olivia Thirlby) objects to the experiment's direction, that he finally accepts the damage he's doing.
Read entire review here.
Related Situationist posts:
- Zimbardo's Stanford Prison and Kingsfield's Harvard Law
- The Situation of Heroism
- Zimbardo Interview at The Believer
- Speaking Truth to the Situation
- Dr. Z. on Dr. Phil
- Situationist Phil Zimbardo Takes Over the Dr. Phil Show
- The Situation of Hazing, Torture, Gender, and Tears
- Gross & Evil
- The Lucifer Effect Lecture at Harvard Law School
- The Devil You Know . . . , and
- From Heavens to Hells to Heroes – Part II.


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With The Dark Knight Rises opening in only a matter of hours, Warner Bros. has released 11 new images from the final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. Once again, they largely feature the supporting cast; we do get a couple of shots of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, though.
It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act.
But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane.
Opening Friday -- well, seconds after midnight in some cities -- The Dark Knight Rises also stars Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, Tom Hardy as Bane, Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake, Matthew Modine as Peter Foley, and Morgan Freeman and Lucius Fox.


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Photo: Adam Dorobiala
Part 1
by Adam Dorobiala
Do you remember watching Gleaming the Cube and being so psyched when the crew skates through the airfield and hops in the airplane at the beginning of the movie to scope out local backyard pools to skate? Hopefully, you do. Backyard pools aren't as common as the backyard mini ramps that run rampant through the downtown area, but they used to be as easy to find as the sun in the sky. Anyway, when I got a call from a friend telling me that there was a backyard pool just waiting to be cleaned out and skated, I jumped on it. Donovan McArthur just so happened to have a beautifully shaded pool in his backyard that had been an insect breeding ground for too long, and after a quick phone call, he invited me to come clean it out and skate it. I knew that it would definitely be a tough job for one person, so another call was made to longtime friend Spock, and with his Vulcan skills in pool skating we set a date to clean it out and prepare it for a jam session.
We were armed with some buckets, a water pump, some hoses, two brooms, two shovels and the will to make the pool skateable. The cleaning session went by pretty quickly for such a cesspool of filth. Spock enlisted friend Brian Northcutt to assist and Willy Nevins came to help as well. It was a pretty basic cleaning session: pump some water out, check the line to make sure it's is still pumping, shovel swamp juice into buckets, dump the buckets and repeat until somewhat clean. Cleaning a pool is a lot like washing your hair––obviously the next step is rinsing and repeating followed by a quick rub down with a towel. After it was all clean and dry, we had a mini session to charge it with some positive vibes before the official date of shredding with all the super shredders. I'll let Donovan take over from here and explain his side of things and why/how it all went down in the first place.
Part 2
by Donovan McArthur
This is a story about a pool. A story about people coming together to appreciate something that was about to die––but I'll get to that in a minute.
The story actually started while filming a movie for the 48 Hour Film Project. A friend of mine named Greg Collete was over at my house for a wrap party and brought up the idea of getting local skaters over to my house to skate the pool. He said he knew just the right guys. I would be happy just to get rid of the mosquito-spawning ground in my backyard. Meeting new people and watching some of the sickest local shredders didn't sound so bad either. I knew that we had to act fast if we were really going to squeeze the last precious drops of life out of the pool. When I moved into the house with my two roommates, the property owners severely cautioned us not to get too attached to the pool, as it was slated for demolition later this summer. Once we understood how little time we actually had to give this old pool a proper send-off, the wheels really got into motion.
I was more than a little sketchy on whether or not the pool would even be safe. It's 36 feet long and approximately 15 feet wide, although it skates like it's tighter than that. There are two coffee cups on either end. The deep end coffee cup is 12 feet tall and goes a little over vert once you make it past the light, which is preceded by over five feet of vert surface near the top. On either side of the deep-end coffee cup, there are wicked four-foot transitions to the long sides of the pool cut in at sharp angles. The shallow end offers a sloped ramp entry into the bowl. The pool is fast, really fast, with super tight turns in the bowl. It was a daunting challenge to any and all who skated it. In fact, almost everyone who skated it described it as the gnarliest pool they've ever skated.
On the day that we actually had set up for the main party, we had a big group of locals come out and shred. Among them were Shannon Yates, Kendall Johnson, Mike Murdock, Mark Judd, Mike Martin, Dick Weed, Levi Faust, and Dan Jones, along with myself and a whole bunch of people that I never got names from. Every single person there did something sick. Mike Martin dropped in on each side of the pool, and described it as semi-controlled free falling. Shortly afterward, he pulled off a huge frontside air over the coping, which most people thought was one of the more incredible tricks of the day. Not to be outshined, Dan Jones stepped it up and backside ollied the huge four-foot tranny to the side wall, which I didn't think was actually possible. Spock consistently rode the coping, grabbing the nose of the board and landing with ease. Dick Weed put on a clinic on how to best shred the bowl, staying down there longer than anyone else, carving and turning like an absolute pro, and was able to even catch air in the side to side portion. Levi Faust tore the pool up, going more than three feet over the coping to land the gnarliest frontside air we'd seen in the pool. The most amazing thing about that was he'd just learned to frontside air three days before. Everyone was stoked—my roommates and I were excited just to see the pool finally put to good use.
Which brings me back to the death of the pool. As a rental property, pools generally just add to the potential liability that the property managers could be looking at if there was an accident. It was for this reason and more that the property owners wanted it destroyed. All I wanted was to share the potential that this pool had to offer. Potential to be more than just an insect breeding ground, or an accident lawsuit––potential to (for at least one day) be more than a pool, more like a symbol for sucking the marrow out of life, a symbol for using every resource you have to challenge yourself and push onward to new heights. For one day, it wasn't just an inglorious pool.


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It's crazy to believe how quick this year has passed. Personally it's been the worst in a long, long time, but musically it's definitely been one of the strongest. As to be expected, music websites and their dogs are posting end of year Best Of lists to show the reader that they're good at what they do, and also to recommend a lot of gems they could've missed out on. Here at Exploding Head Syndrome, we've only posted three reviews and have been alive for roughly three weeks, so we're using this Best Of season to recommend a whole bunch of music with 90% less words! Today we're posting our Top 15 EPs of 2013, which features all of the EPs we checked out on Elusive Little Comments.
15. Bill Times A Billion – Say It Nicer
14. Nadine Carina – Where I Love
13. The August List – Handsome Skin
12. Delta Will – It All Glows
11. Grounders – Wreck Of A Smile
10. Wonderflu – No End In Sight
09. The Sea – High On…
08. What, Really? – What, Really?
07. The Jettes – Jette Stream
06. Horse Party – Scarlet & Blue
05. Yukon – Well, Whatever Happens, Happens
04. Soupcans – Parasite Brain
03. The Spills – Spooky Roller Disco
02. Fruit Tones/Pink Teens – Hamlovers
01. Falling Stacks – Dogo Argentino
Falling Stacks' phenomenal EP Dogo Argentino tops our list after immediately getting us hooked on their music from first listen and still keeping us wet with excitement to this day. Tomorrow we will begin posting the Best Albums Of 2013 list, excitings.


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comprehensive vs. public schools March 13, 2007Posted by bennifo in Background, comprehensive vs public schools.
add a comment
Public schools
A public school is a independent secondary school, which is not run by the
government. It is somekind of school where the parents pay for their childrens
education. Public schools are selective schools and the entrance exam is taken at the age of 11 for girls and at the age of 13 for boys. Today 7% of the children in the UK go to such independent schools.
Comprehensive schools
Comprehensive schools are secondary schools, which took all the children in the local area regardless of their ability. They are the most common type of school in England. That is the reason why 90% of the pupils are educated at comprehensive schools.


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Stairwell rapists attack girl, 17
Daily Telegraph
January 08, 2010
POLICE have released still images of two males who may be able to assist with inquiries into the sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl on Christmas Eve.
About 1.00pm, the two males befriended the 17-year-old girl at Parramatta Railway Station. The girl went with the males to a nearby shopping centre where she was taken to a fire stairwell in a car park on level 7.
The girl has told police the males then forced her to the ground and sexually assaulted her. The males ran from the scene with the girl attending a nearby store where she reported the incident.
Police have released images of two males who may be able to assist them with inquiries into the matter.
The males are both described as being of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean appearance, and aged in their late mid to late teens.
Anyone with information on the identity of the males are urged to contact Parramatta Detectives on (02) 9633 0727 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Another Golden thread woven into Australia's "Rich Tapestry" of Multiculturalism and "Cultural Diversity" by the usual suspects.
"…..the two males befriended the 17-year-old girl at Parramatta Railway Station."
"There's no such thing as a Muslim having a non-Muslim friend, so a non-Muslim could be your associate but they can't be a friend. They're not your friend because they don't understand your religious principles and they cannot because they don't understand your faith."
When will non Muslim women in Australia get it through their thick skulls that in the Islamic Religion you are nothing more than an "Aussie Slut" "Skip Slut" "Aussie Pig" who is there for the taking by "the brave son's of allah" the Moon God,aka.The Great Satan?
Two teens arrested following Sydney sexual assault
Daily Telegraph
January 08, 2010
TWO youths have been arrested following the sexual assault of a teenage girl at a western Sydney shopping centre on Christmas Eve.
The pair allegedly forced the 17-year-old girl to the ground in a car park stairwell at a Parramatta shopping centre, and sexually assaulted her.
After police released images of two youths they wanted to speak with, two boys aged 15 and 17 surrendered themselves to officers at Fairfield Police Station about 5pm (AEDT) on Friday, police said.
They were questioned by detectives about the alleged sexual assault at the Parramatta shopping centre and later arrested.


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Enough talk about millennials. Let's talk about Generation Z, loosely defined as anyone born since 1995. Are these younger counterparts of Gen Y really worth all the recent hype?
At one quarter of the population (and growing), Gen Z represents $44 billion in annual purchasing power in the US, according to a study by ad agency sparks & honey—which, for marketers, is definitely not something to ignore.
Regardless of whether Gen Z is your target audience, understanding this group's social media habits—and how they differ from those of the much-touted millennial demographic—is essential to positioning your brand for long-term success. Here's what you need to know to keep current.
$44 billion: annual purchasing power of Generation Y in the US
—sparks & honey
Gen Z Defined & Differentiated
Drawing the line between Gen Y and Gen Z is a bit elusive: Some consider Gen Zs to include anyone born from 1995 to the present; others classify them as 7- to 17-year-olds born between 1998 and 2008. Simply put, Gen Z represents the post-millennial generation, those under 20 years old, who've never lived a day without mobile phones, social networking or online video.
Meanwhile, their impressive purchasing power comes mostly from their allowance—an average $16.90 per week. With the income Gen Z does make, much of it is spent online.
From the outside, these digital natives look strikingly familiar: They're online all the time and using social media more than ever. But looks can be deceiving.
Millennials may be digitally savvy too, but they grew up in a world pre-mobile phone and just on the cusp of the Internet boom. Thus, they learned to experiment and adapt with a rush of changes, from dial-up Internet and iPods to MySpace and Google Maps to text messaging and tablets.
Meanwhile, most Gen Zs could swipe before they could walk. Screens were always a part of their lives. Their parents shared their first birthdays, first steps and first words over blogs, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. They have laptops in elementary school. They use Google Drive for homework assignments. They make online friends around the world on video games and social networks.
Whereas tech-savvy millennials might have two screens, the tech-innate Gen Z often have five. Needless to say, these small differences have led to some surprisingly disparate attitudes toward social networks and online behaviors.
Gen Z Is Selective Instead of Excessive
"They tend to see online more as a tool for getting things done rather than a place to be discovered."
—Executive Jayne Charneski
Consumer Insights and Strategy Executive Jayne Charneski points out that for every trend, there's a counter-trend—and the same could be said for Gen Z.
"Whereas Gen Ys were known for their excessive online consumption, Gen Zs are known for their selective consumption,"Charneski said. "Sure, they're living their lives online, but they tend to see online more as a tool for getting things done rather than a place to be discovered and chase their 15 minutes of fame like Gen Ys."
This can be illustrated in Gen Z's obsession for Snapchat. The self-destructing messaging app sends a personalized and private photo or video directly to one friend or perhaps a handful of friends rather than to a whole feed of Facebook followers, which millennials were the first to do.
Gen Z Is Creating Instead of Curating
61% of Gen Zs would rather start their own business than work for someone else.
—sparks & honey
Gen Zs like making stuff instead of sharing stuff. They live-stream. They co-create. They take photos and videos, and edit them to perfection. With this focus, they're also less likely to pin and Retweet.
In fact, a Gen Z study by digital agency Deep Focus found that more than 50% of people in this group spend their free time building new skills, such as graphic design, video production and app development. Perhaps that's because, as the sparks & honey study shows, 61% of the people in this generation would rather start their own business than work for someone else, proving their entrepreneurial spirit runs high.
Gen Z Likes Images Instead of Text
Why send a word when you can send a picture instead? Emojis, pictures, videos and GIFs replace words to make text conversations and social networking fast and visual—or what some call snackable. That means content that's short and sweet, which appeals to Gen Z's quick attention span.
Don't forget the fact that this generation grew up with high-def video and photos as well as touch-screen iPhones with icons. It's no wonder that sites such as YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat rank so highly with them.
Gen Z Values Doing Instead of Watching
80% of Gen Zs are aware of the environmental impact humans have on the planet.
—sparks & honey
Charneski adds that Gen Zs are researchers instead of surfers and activists instead of slacktivists.
According to sparks & honey, 26% of 16- to 19-year-olds are currently volunteering, and social listening has found that Gen Zs want to "make a difference" and "make an impact." They're concerned with the economy, the environment and social causes, and 80% are aware of the impact humans have on the planet.
Generation Z also cares about:
- Global warming
- The cost of education
- Texting while driving
- Gender equality
Gen Z Looks to Influencers Instead of Celebrities
"Think YouTube stars and peer reviews."
—CEO Tim McMullen
Tim McMullen, CEO of redpepper, an agency that's created campaigns for a Gen Z audience, says this group craves personalized experiences that are quickly validated by friends.
"Gen Z is less influenced by celebrities but rather influencers," McMullen said. "Think YouTube stars and peer reviews."
Although Gen Zs may be tied to their phones, this lust for engagement with real people runs deep. Deep Focus' study found that 63% of Gen Zs want to see "real people" in advertisements, while 37% prefer celebrities. That might explain why 85% of them visit YouTube more than any other social site, where an average Joe can get millions of views and comments.
85% of Gen Zs visit YouTube more than any other social media site.
—Deep Focus
Those average Joes on YouTube have become celebrities in their own right, thanks to a strong fandom behind the video-sharing network. Take YouTuber PewDiePie, for example, who has nearly 40 million subscribers.
Conventions such as VidCon let fans connect with stars at meet-and-greets, which leads to another contradiction: Although 41% of Gen Zs spend more than three hours a day on their computers for non-school work, according to sparks & honey, they love to meet up in person when the opportunity arises. But the contradiction doesn't stop there. Around 20,000 fans showed up to this year's VidCon to get a photo with favorite stars, which Gen Zs then shared proudly all over social.
Striking a Chord With Gen Z
Marketers at first seemed stumped in trying to crack the code on millennials—which is perhaps why so much has been written about this group for so long. Luckily, Gen Zs aren't all that different, but knowing their preferences and quirks could add up to a bigger impact for your brand.
"Nuances like Gen Z's preference for digital privacy like Snapchat compared to millennials' social shouting on Twitter showcase how these distinctions can affect campaign performance—though both activities constitute spending time on social media," McMullen said.
These subtleties must be considered before launching a successful social campaign. One thing both generations have in common is that they'll take offense if something isn't tailored to their desires.
"Both Gen Z and Gen Y are adept multitaskers, so vying for their attention requires a personalized and integrated marketing approach," McMullen added.
Redpepper, the agency McMullen works for, produced Claire's award-winning Project BFFcampaign, which drove tween girls in droves to a sweepstakes for a custom BFF necklace-creation tool. One lucky winner's design was sold worldwide. Gen Z's sense of creativity and individuality was peaked, and over 20 days, the campaign resulted in three times the Facebook growth, a 27% increase in Instagram followers and nearly 100,000 visitors to the website and mobile experience.
Tapping into the Gen Z zeitgeist is essential—giving this group a sense that it is doing something special or part of an important cause that's being pushed forward.
"As activists, they want to change the world," Charneski said. "Marketers should ask themselves, 'Does this social campaign make them feel like they're making a difference?' It's the feeling that your campaign evokes that should always be the goal."
But that feeling won't matter if you can't find the right audience. While 81% of Generation Z uses social media, according to the Pew Research Center, they do not love being tracked by parents or anyone else. In fact, as sparks & honey notes, 25% of 13- to 17-year-olds left Facebook in 2014, and many have turned to less popular, privacy-focused sites, such as Snapchat and Whisper, which their parents have yet to infiltrate.
TL;DR: Too Long; Didn't Read
Ordinarily, this section would live at the top, but in the spirit of Gen Z, we're using it here to wrap things up. The key takeaway in differentiating these two generations is that Gen Z grew up in a world with an already-established landscape of social media and online behavior, which means they've been able to learn from Gen Y's mistakes while laying the groundwork for a new path. If you want to capture Gen Z's attention, you'll have to react fast—preferably in eight seconds or less.


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What's the most creative dessert idea you've come up with for a party? Please share a link if you have one.
I love to use "plays on words" especially when planning children's parties. My favorite creative dessert was the "Root-deer" Float Bar I did for a party last Christmas. It was simple, festive and root beer floats were an unexpected holiday treat! http://www.jacolynmurphy.com/2012/12/root-deer-floats.html


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dSploit Merges With ZImperium zANTI2Become a Patron!
Some of you, the ones who know me personally, already know that starting from the last July I've become part of the ZImperium family as a software developer and security researcher.
I've been "unofficially" already working/hacking with Elia, one of the two founders for 4 years, during this summer I met Zuk in Amesterdam and later on all of them in Tel Aviv.
We've talked a lot about this and finally we decided to join our efforts to create a better, faster and free product.
So I'm very proud to announce that dSploit was merged into zANTI, and the new version will (actually already is) zANTI2 which you can download here.
zANTI2 will be released as an open source software in the near future, meaning that the community, towards which I'm deeply thankful, will continue to be able to contribute, test beta features and so forth.
If you have an old version of dSploit ( anything rather than the last nightly build ), please remove it and download zANTI2 manually to have the latest code updates and features.


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We are Tandem
Founded in 1997, Tandem is an award-winning, full-service construction, development, and architecture firm focused on luxury residential, multifamily, and commercial spaces. We are based in Chicago, and have been a part of over 400 projects in the Chicagoland. We believe in challenging the status quo to find a better way to provide value for our customers. We strive to be responsive, accommodating, and fully responsible for our work. We look forward to opportunities for future collaborations!


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Julie a native of North Andover, MA, graduated University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. B.S. Exercise Physiology. Graduated Physical Therapy, Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angles, CA.
Currently, Julie is pursuing her Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Chapman University, Orange, CA.
Julie founded Southern California Aquatic and Physical Therapy in 1995. Julie achieved the Orthopedic Clinical Specialist Board Certification in 2008, in addition to her passion for orthopedics, she is driven to find evidence-based solutions to help those suffering from chronic pain and opioid usage. In 2017, Julie completed the Therapeutic Pain Specialist Certification, the first certification of its' kind in the country focusing on the latest pain research and treatment options. She has been a speaker for a National Conference for the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Association and other organizations. Julie has been a member of the American Physical Therapy Association since 1989 with focus on orthopedic, aquatic and private practice.
Julie believes the more education a client receives, the more success they will achieve!
Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Los Alamitos, Fullerton, Newport Beach, Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, Westminster, Irvine, Cypress, Anaheim, Brea, Tustin, Long Beach, Laguna Beach, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Hills, Corona Del Mar, Anaheim Hills, Yorba Linda, Tustin Ranch, Newport Coast, Santa Ana and all of Orange County!


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The Chautauqua Orchestra Camp includes string orchestra; chamber ensemble for strings, woodwinds*, brass*, or percussion*; and mixed orchestra for high school and advanced middle school students finishing grades 7–12. Woodwind, brass and percussion students finishing grades 5-8 are eligible for our Middle School Band Camp. The Chautauqua Jazz Camp is for saxophone, trombone, trumpet, and rhythm section students finishing grades 9–12.
All three camps are available as day-camps which begin Monday morning and end Saturday after their final performance - housing is not included for day-campers. Orchestra camp is also available as a residential camp which begins Saturday afternoon and includes opening weekend rehearsals and performances, weeknight programming, all meals, and chaperoned-housing managed by the Youth Chamber Connection of Pittsburgh. Students attending Band or Jazz Camp who are finishing grades 7-12 are also welcome to request residential housing, if space is available.
Instructors for all of our camps include members of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, as well as highly skilled teachers from around Western New York and Pennsylvania.
Chautauqua Institution is home to the world-class Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Chautauqua Opera Company, and Chautauqua School of Music. Campers receive a full-week gate pass, which will allow them to enjoy many of the recreational activities available on the grounds, and attend many of the evening events at Chautauqua Institution for no extra charge during the week of the camp.
We hope to see you Week 8 at Chautauqua Institution, August 12–17, 2019!
*See Orchestra Camp tab
Students may still register on site at McKnight Hall on Monday, August 12 at 8:15 a.m.
Please direct any questions to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Orchestra Camp
Orchestra Camp
Started in 2005, the Chautauqua Orchestra Camp is for intermediate-to-advanced high school and middle school students, finishing grades 7–12, led by master string educator, Donna Davis, and conductor, Edward Leonard.
Orchestra Camp Schedule for Day-Campers and Residential-Campers:
Monday–Thursday: 8:45 a.m.–3:15 p.m. – orchestra and chamber ensemble rehearsals
Friday: 8 a.m.–5 p.m. – rehearsals and performances – 9 a.m. performance in the Chautauqua Amphitheater and afternoon chamber recitals in Bestor Plaza (11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.) and McKnight Hall (3:30–5 p.m.).
Saturday: 10 a.m.–11:30 a.m. – performance in Elizabeth S. Lenna Hall
Residential Campers Check-in: Saturday, August 10, at 12:30 p.m., for group orientation, activities, afternoon and evening rehearsals, and an evening concert. Most residential campers will participate in two performances on Sunday, August 11: Ecumenical morning worship at 10:45 a.m. and Sacred Song Service at 8 p.m. in the Amphitheater. During the week, residential campers attend concerts together and enjoy special enrichment activities such as a master class, talent show, and more. Optional: day-campers staying in family-provided housing are welcome to participate in any of this additional programming, which is mandatory for residential campers.
*Woodwind, brass, and percussion applicants will be accepted to Orchestra Camp provided there is sufficient enrollment to form suitable chamber ensembles, and are therefore encouraged to register as early as possible after January 1, 2019.
We are excited to continue our association with Pittsburgh-based, Youth Chamber Connection (YC2). YC2 coordinates our residential camping program, now in it's 8th year, as well as many details of Orchestra Camp. In order for YC2 to best match students into chamber ensembles, and to ensure students are prepared and will have a positive experience at camp, all Orchestra Camp musicians are required to submit a 1–2 minute video demonstrating your current playing level at the time of registration. Please send the link to view your video to: firstname.lastname@example.com. (If you upload your video to youtube.com, be sure to use the privacy setting "Unlisted" rather than "Private," so we are able to share the link with our camp coaches.)
Day-Campers: Please register and pay via this website, by clicking the Registration Tab.
Residential-Campers: Please register and pay via YC2's website, by clicking the Registration button at this link: www.youthchamberconnection.org/camps. Note, space is limited for residential campers and is filled on a first-come, first-served basis.


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- This event has passed.
Dan Rodriguez
Christmas Show
Doors 6:30, Show 7pm
Dan Rodriguez, an artist based out of Minneapolis, MN, is creating quite a buzz in the Midwest. The groove-based, bluesy over-toned sound of his music, mixed with his powerful, yet seductive voice creates an atmosphere different from other music. It's refreshing, tantalizing, and just plain good!
Originally from Detroit, MI, Dan moved to Minneapolis in 2004 to pursue music. He started a band with his brother, Andre Rodriguez, and called it The Auburns. They played locally for a couple of years and grew together as a band, as brothers, and as musicians.
In January, 2008, Dan started a self-titled solo project in the Twin Cities. Promoting his band as a trio, Dan started playing venues in the local music scene. As things began to go well, a greater demand for Dan's music rose high enough to inspire him to record an album.
June 13th, 2008, the album Unreal was released in Minneapolis, followed by a self-titled EP in 2011. His next album, Roaring Dan, was released in the Summer of 2013.
In September 2014 Budweiser released their "Friends Are Waiting" commercial featuring Dan's performance of his original song "When You Come Home," which was written for the commercial and pitched through Minneapolis based company In The Groove Music.
The Summer of 2015 marks the release of Dan's most prolific, and widely distributed album "Come on Home," featuring the Budweiser song "Friends are Waiting" and singles "Rum River" and "California."
Dan has since been playing locally and touring throughout the Midwest and beyond, and sharing the stage with national acts including Grammy award winning duo The Civil Wars, Pete Francis (Dispatch), NeedtoBreathe, Augustana, Tyrone Wells, John McLaughlin, Andy Grammer and Eric Hutchinson.
"I've been in this business a long time. I recognize when somebody has something real. Dan is a true talent, and seems to be ushering in a new wave of singer/songwriters around the Twin Cities. I can honestly say I'm excited for the world to hear what he's got to offer." – Michael Bland
Doors 6:30, Show 7pm
December 11, 2018 @ 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Facebook Event


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One of the exciting things about the high-and-rising popularity of comic book movies is that there's such a wealth of characters to choose from - any of whom could be the next to make it onto the big screen as part of a standalone or collaborative story. The Flash and Wonder Woman have both been confirmed as having movie scripts in development, and Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick's long-struggling Deadpool movie is steadily pushing its way towards production.
The superhero name on everyone's lips this summer, however, is Superman. Man of Steel has been wowing comic book fans and average moviegoers alike with the promise of a compelling origin story and a face-off between Superman and General Zod that has the potential for some serious collateral damage.
Many fans have been on the lookout for Easter eggs in the promotional material released for Man of Steel so far, but some eagle eyes over at ComicBook.com are the first to spot this blink-and-you'll-miss it reference in one of the many action shots from the third trailer. As General Zod and Superman race towards each other, the Metropolis backdrop includes a billboard with a familiar logo on it.
Here's the full frame (click to enlarge) followed by a blown-up version of the logo.
Regular DC readers will recognise this logo as reference to Booster Gold, a long-standing member of the DC universe and member of the Justice League. Unlike Superman, Booster Gold doesn't have any innate powers, but as a time-traveller from the 25th century has enough futuristic gadgets to give him formidable powers, including flight, enhanced strength and power blasts.
Blaze Comics is a fictional publishing company in the DC universe that was responsible for the fictionalized version of the Booster Gold comics. The comics are one of the many forms of merchandising that build up around the time-travelling hero as he makes a comfortable living from self-promotion and selling out to anyone able to make him more famous than he already is.
Now, this Easter Egg could be anything from a casual in-joke to a hint that Warner Bros is secretly planning a Booster Gold standalone movie as its follow-up to Man of Steel (admittedly that last possibility is a little slim). Every indication so far has suggested that Superman will have been fully established as a superhero by the end of Man of Steel, opening the way for more DC superheroes to potentially make an appearance in future sequels or shared universe movies.
Marvel Studios has already successfully shown that a shared cinematic universe can not only work, but also prove to be a big draw for audiences, with their Avengers multi-franchise narrative. With rumors abound that Zack Snyder may be directing, and Christopher Nolan executive producing, the Justice League movie, could Booster Gold be one of the heroes heading towards a potential team-up?
Tell us what you think this Easter Egg means - if anything - in the comments.
Man of Steel will be in theaters on June 14th, 2013.
Source: ComicBook.com


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We, the undersigned human rights organizations, address you on this Fourth Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Public Security (MISPA) to follow up on the call upon governments to revise the orientation of drug policies that are being implemented in the Americas. This request for the governments took place during the 43rd Session of the OAS General Assembly which took place last June.
Read the letter (PDF) and see the signatories
Argentina has given the first sign that Uruguay's groundbreaking cannabis reform just may have started a domino effect across Latin America. Following the momentous vote by its smaller neighbor's senate this month — making it the first nation in the world to completely legalize the cannabis — Argentina's anti-drug czar Juan Carlos Molina has called for a public discussion in his country about emulating the measure. His comments are the clearest sign yet that Uruguay's strategy has kicked off a trend in the region.


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Did I begin this day in an early to me usual manner? of course I did at 5:00 am. Am I tired now? of course I am but it was a good day as I have finish up another busy day, however it was amazing and fun ....
I had an invite to get together with a friend over at Rural Rootz in Wiarton (drop in on their website to see them yourself by going HERE, as I guarantee you will not be disappointed). Somewhere I have passed many times in the past 10 years, however never getting around to stopping in at. Really could anyone believe I never got around to stopping in somewhere in my Community? that is amazing in itself, is it not?
Once my first commitment of the day was completed, I headed out to Country Road 13, which is the way you would head over to Oliphant from Hwy 6 at the top of the Wiarton North Hill ... very easy peasy to find and get to.
Once I arrived at Rural Rootz, I headed up the windy road into the forest towards a visit with my friend, Janet of soulsearchingtree.com. Some might remember seeing Janet on my blog posts a couple of times before, most recently this past Spring 2013 HERE. We had a really great visit, and I am looking forward to when we can have another.
Not only did I have an amazing and fun visit with Janet, I also had the pleasure of meeting Dianne Adams.
Dianne is getting to be quite well known about & about in South Bruce Peninsula by her "Strike a Pose". Janet and I "struck a pose" for Dianne today, however we are yet to see the photo she took. YIKES it could be scary !!! but it really was fun at the time. Dianne has a brand new Yoga DVD she has just released ~ YOGA with Dianne Adams, "Stretch & Flow" ~. For a copy of Dianne's DVD, please give Janet a call out at Rural Rootz the next month at 519-534-2522. Copies are only $15.00 each. You can easily follow Dianne on Facebook by doing so HERE.
The remainder of the day was spend in travel by representing the "Crabby Cabbie" out and about Wiarton. I went to a couple of places that I was familiar with, and not too familiar with.
Once place I was being "watched" very carefully, while at the other it seemed as if I was all alone other then a "hole" way out yonder.
I am certain the Sunshine in the above photo is quite noticeable, however most of the late afternoon had been getting intermittent periods of wet cold snow, with no exception at the moment this late in the day. Between wet snow and hail, it really has been another much cooler day. I am so NOT ready for Winter.
Since I did not get home until late afternoon, I had been grateful that I had leftover cooked chicken thighs in the fridge. What to do with these leftovers? easy peasy ....
... chopped up fresh leeks and onion sauteed in a bit of oil, added to turnip and carrot that I had cooked up within 15 minutes in the Pressure Cooker, along with some Cauliflower, all mixed together with the chicken and a jar of turkey gravey, topped with a mixture of Bisquick and ....
... voila' a very tasty Dinner of Chicken Pot Pie was served up in just over an hour's time of combined prep and cooking times.
Today I had made plans in my head to visit with Janet, go to my other meeting in Hepworth, head over to Sauble Beach to visit with my girlfriend, Colleen, then drop in with some Kleenex for my Mom, before returning home to clean.
Have I learned yet NOT to make plans in my head or otherwise since it never fails that my "Crabby Cabbie" husband usually has a way to change them up on me, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".