text:
Benefit All – Developing a Peaceful World
We all wish to make a positive difference in the world. The International Temples Project provides many opportunities to do this.
The International Temples Project
The books of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche clearly reveal how we can develop our own inner peace, which in turn leads to greater peace in our world. This profound relationship between the quality of our mind and the quality of our world is crucial for both Buddhists and non-Buddhists to understand if we wish to live in a more peaceful world. With this in mind, the International Temples Project, also established by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, aims to introduce the Buddhist faith and practice of the New Kadampa Tradition publicly, and to exemplify contemporary Buddhist practices through public service.
The ITP provides a range of facilities and services that enable people from all walks of life to gain special practical experience of the peace that comes when Buddhism is integrated with modern life.The scope and activities of the International Temples Project are constantly evolving in response to the ever changing demands of busy lives.
All items sold on this website are published under the auspices of the ITP and the profit from all of these sales are dedicated to public benefit through the ITP fund.


text:
A full-color guide to all the bells and whistles in your new Canon 60D
If you own a Canon 60D, you?ve got a camera for advanced amateurs and one that?s very close to professional-level equipment. Now it?s time to make sure you get the very most out of all that power. Julie Adair King teams up with Robert Correll to help digital camera users catch their skills up to what their cameras have to offer in this fun but thorough guide. Understand all your camera?s features, move beyond the security blanket of Auto mode, and start capturing the pictures you?ve dreamed of.
Gives you the full picture on Canon?s EOS 60D dSLR camera, in the friendly, easy-to-follow, For Dummies style Helps you explore the 18-mexapixel sensor, full HD video recording, a tilt-view LCD, and expanded in-camera editing tools and filters Teaches you tricks and techniques, with over 300 example photos and menu captures in full color Reveals how to adjust settings for optimal exposure, lighting, focus, and color Gives you ten top tips on photo editing
The Canon 60D dSLR camera, the expertise of Julie Adair King and Robert Correll, and your own, untapped ability?all you need now is the book! Canon EOS 60D For Dummies.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
4446.0 - Disability, Australia, 2003
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/05/2004
Page tools: Print Page Print All | |||||
One-in-five Australians report a disability: ABS One-in-five Australians reported a disability according to preliminary findings from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers released today. Almost 4 million people reported a disability last year with the rate similar for males and females. The rate increased with age, reaching 81% for those aged 85 years and over. The age standardised disability rates for total males, females and persons showed little change between 1998 and 2003 and the pattern across age groups was very similar in these two years. The 2003 survey also found that one-in-seventeen people (5.9%) had a profound or severe level of core activity limitation (i.e. they needed help with one or more of self-care, mobility or communication activities), a slightly smaller proportion than in 1998 (6.4%). However, the rate for people aged 85 years and over dropped more substantially, from 65% in 1998 to 54% in 2003, with the decrease more marked for males than females. People with a disability were less likely to have completed a higher educational qualification than those without a disability. One-in-five people aged 15-64 years in private households who had reported no disability had a bachelor degree or higher, compared to one-in-eight people (13%) with a disability. Other findings for people aged 15-64 years living in private households include:
Further information is in Disability 2003 Preliminary (cat. no. 4446.0). The final results are expected to be published in September 2004. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window. |


text:
One Take On Fire Company Compromise
I totally agree with the editorial "Compromise Is A Reasonable Solution" to the volunteer fire problem in Ocean City.
The actual compromise:
1. Chief Chris Larmore withdraws his name from application for Fire Chief.
2. The President of Town Council, Joe Mitrecic, resigns from City Council. Reason: Joe Mitrecic wrote a document and expressed his feelings at a council meeting that the chief must owe total allegiance to only City Council, so he must resign from chief of the volunteers, otherwise he would owe some trust to the volunteers.
No matter how often he said it, it all comes down to: "It's a matter of trust."
And neither Mitrecic nor Rick Meehan nor Nancy Howard nor Mary Knight nor Lloyd Martin have sufficient trust in Larmore.
I commend Council persons Jim Hall, Margaret Pillas and James Hancock for their openness and honesty in dealing with this issue.
Mr. Hall was correct when he said that the council should appoint Chris Larmore permanent chief of the fire service now, at that meeting because there is no need to do an expensive worldwide search to find a chief. I find it impossible to believe that, out of Ocean City's more than 100 firefighters, not one single person is qualified to be the chief. That sounds like a monumental insult or a really incompetent department.
If the council hires a person from outside of the department for chief, then that chief will owe his total loyalty to the council who hired him and not to the firefighters. Ah-hah.
The newspaper should support Pillas, who seems to kept in the dark by the
other members of the council. The newspaper should demand that she be given the documents in a timely manner and included in any private council discussions. She appeared to be the only councilperson who was not aware of the president's memo and idea until the actual meeting.
J.T. Walsh
Ocean City
People's Voice Often Unheard In State
I love Democracy. A government of the people, by the people and for the people. However, that isn't the case here in Maryland. In Maryland, the people's voice means nothing to those in power. You see, in Maryland, if the chairman of a committee doesn't like a bill that comes across his desk, he just simply ignores it long enough that it dies at the end of the session.
Case in point. On July 17, 2007, House Bill 2 – Revision to the MD CCW law, was filed. On Jan. 22, 2008, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing concerning the bill. Over 200 Maryland residents showed up in favor of the bill. Hundreds of others emailed, wrote letters and called the committee members showing favor for the bill. There was not one person at the hearing who showed up to oppose the bill. People of Maryland want to be able to protect themselves and their families by whatever means they are comfortable with, even if that means carrying a concealed weapon. You would think that with this much support, the chairman would at least allow the bill to be voted on. Well, that's not the case.
One person, Delegate Joseph F. Vallario, Jr., chair of the House Judiciary Committee, is stopping this bill from being voted on. For the past three years, this bill has been introduced and each time more and more Maryland residents show up in support for it; however, each time Delegate Vallario denies it a vote.
It would be funny, if it weren't so sad, that in a Democracy, one person can dictate what can and can't be voted on. Amazing. What is the chairman afraid of? Is he afraid that a bill that "he" is biased against might pass? I say we all demand that the bill be released for a vote and let the "whole" House decide. Otherwise, let us rise up and demand that it be placed on the ballot and allow the people of Maryland to decide.
David Hawkins
Beltsville, Md.


text:
Movies We Like
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying & Learned To Love The Bomb
In the heart of the Cold War, after the Cuban missal crisis, fresh from the assassination of President Kennedy, the world seemed to be on the brink of nuclear destruction. It was a tense era, as reflected by a number of the paranoid films that were produced - Fail-Safe, Seven Days In May, On The Beach, to name a few. Knowing the world it was released into makes the attitudes of the "black comedy" Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Learned To Love The Bomb, particularly black. While many Americans had fall-out shelters in their backyards, Stanley Kubrick's film was laughing at the ridiculousness of world annihilation, while wondering who are the hopeless leaders we have entrusted with our nukes and our planet's future?
Kubrick co-wrote the script with satirist Terry Southern (The Loved One, Easy Rider), kinda sorta based on a novel Red Alert, an actual thriller by Peter George. Dr. Strangelove was the final film of Kubrick's outstanding black and white period, following his other classics, The Killing, Paths Of Glory, and Lolita, a foursome as relevant and as diverse as any young American director has had. And like Lolita, Dr. Strangelove would be a showcase for the acting range of Peter Sellers. Here he would take on three utterly different roles, to much acclaim.
A deeply paranoid and perhaps insane U.S. Air Force general, Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden of Kubrick's earlier The Killing) sends his B-52s into the Soviet Union to start dropping nukes. He cuts off all outside communications. The only voice of reason on the base is Mandrake (Sellers), a well-mannered British officer there as an observer. Meanwhile, as the rest of the military becomes aware of this, unable to recall the planes, debates are waged in The Pentagon's War Room. General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) is a hawk, countering President Muffley's dove (again Sellers). Also on hand is the sneaky Soviet ambassador, Alexi (Peter Bull), and a wheelchair-bound former Nazi weapons advisor, Dr. Strangelove (Sellers in his third role). Muffley is forced to call the Soviet Prime Minister Dimitri Kisov and explain why the U.S. is about to nuke his country and why no one can stop it from happening. These War Room conversations are some of the greatest political satire ever put on screen.
On one of the B-52s, the mundane but fascinating details of a flight crew's process are shown. Led by Lieutenant Lothar Zogg (a very young James Earl Jones) and Major TJ Kong (Slim Pickens in a role that was originally also going to be played by Sellers, who decided he couldn't give the Texas character the authenticity it needed), at first they think it's an exercise, but soon come to grips with the nature of their mission. Eventually the airbase is invaded by the Army and Ripper kills himself, leaving the fish-out-of-water Mandrake to have to convince Colonel "Bat" Guano (Keenan Wynn) that they have to call the President, but they need change for the pay phone. One of the film's greatest lines concerns a soda machine. Back in the War Room, with his deep German accent, Dr. Strangelove explains the doomsday machine that is in motion to destroy everything, the world is going to end (though a plan is in place for a group of men and women to live underground in a bunker to mate and repopulate the earth. In 100 years they may be able to reemerge on the Earth's surface).
For such dark material, Dr. Strangelove is truly one of the funniest films ever made (black comedy - you don't always laugh aloud, until you think about it much later). So much of the dialog is quotable, so many now classic lines in this intelligent script. Sellers is of course brilliant. Though by most standards he is considered a comic genius, he had a hit-or-miss career. Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther series may be his signature role, but Dr. Strangelove and Being There a decade later are easily his two best films (and his two Oscar nominations).
The entire cast is memorable, but after multiple viewings the film may be stolen by Scott's subtly manic performance. His facial expressions alone are priceless, as he listens to others with the intensity that we have come to expect from Scott in so many other films. Scott was an all-time great actor and had a fascinating career, though when you think of Scott, you don't think "funny" (far from it). It's too bad he didn't explore his comic side more (or get a chance to do it with such a successful script).
Then again when you think "funny" you don't think of Stanley Kubrick. After Dr. Strangelove he would famously only direct six more films in 25 years, his color film period, all six of them of note to varying degrees of success (2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, and perhaps The Shining, could all be considered essential). Dr. Strangelove, along with Paths Of Glory and Full Metal Jacket, could all be labeled "anti war" films, but a more apt description would be "anti war makers." Besides the always-precise filmmaking skills, Kubrick's films often work on multiple levels. At his best Kubrick never wavers from asking the big questions. Dr. Strangelove in particular questions how mankind has reached this absurd point; it just takes one mad man and a number of inept politicos to destroy everything we know. And you're still going to have to answer to the Coca-Cola Company.
Dr. Strangelove was nominated for four Oscars: Best Actor (Peter Sellers), Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay.


text:
THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Chicken Out Rotisserie
Wholesome food prepared from scratch (go for an all-out chicken or turkey feast) at sensible prices.
Openings: Lunch & Dinner daily
- Parking available
- Dress code: Casual
- Heart-healthy dishes
- Kid-friendly
- Outdoor dining
THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Chicken Out Rotisserie Restaurant Review:
This chicken eatery is a local success story, the kind of to riches tale that makes an entrepreneur out of many. From a single location in Maryland, the owners took their simple idea---cook wholesome food from scratch and charge sensible prices---and spun it into a local empire. Locations are squeaky clean, service is prompt and courteous, and the food, generally as good as (maybe better than) homemade. No wonder that families, friends, and just about everybody park here for an all-out chicken or turkey feast, or at least a sandwich or salad, on a somewhat regular basis. We love their half-chicken meal with mashed potatoes and fresh veggies and always add on their apple crisp for dessert. Check the menu for new items, and even if you have your favorites, sample something different, such as their macaroni and cheese side dish. Of course, everything is available for carry out, and plenty of people take advantage of that.


text:
Stress, a genetic predisposition to strokes and possibly even poison hastened the death of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, medical investigators reported Friday. But syphilis? Not so much.
UCLA neurologist Harry Vinters and Russian historian Lev Lurie reviewed Lenin's medical records, autopsy and family history for an annual University of Maryland School of Medicine conference on famous people's deaths. Past conferences have reviewed the diagnoses for personages ranging from King Tut to Abraham Lincoln.
Lenin was debilitated by several strokes before dying in 1924 at the age of 53, but that raises questions about why he fell victim to such attacks at a relatively young age — and whether those strokes were enough to push him over the edge.
An autopsy found that blood vessels in his brain were extremely hardened, results that have been difficult to understand, said Philip Mackowiak, who organizes the yearly event. "No. 1, he's so young, and No. 2, he has none of the important risk factors," Mackowiak told The Associated Press.
Lenin didn't smoke — he never let smokers near him. He also didn't have diabetes, wasn't overweight, and the autopsy didn't find any evidence of high blood pressure, Mackowiak said.
There was "considerable suspicion" among Russians at the time of Lenin's death that syphilis was to blame, Mackowiak said.
Vinters said Lenin was treated for syphilis using the primitive medications available at the time. "Syphilis was fairly common in those days," he said. But he saw no evidence in Lenin's symptoms or the autopsy that syphilis was a factor in Lenin's strokes.
Genetic predisposition to a hardening of the arteries was more likely to have played a role in Lenin's decline. Vinters noted that the Soviet leader's father died due to similar causes at the age of 54.
Stress also is a risk factor for strokes, and there's no question the communist revolutionary was under plenty of that. "When someone's trying to assassinate you, that's pretty stressful," Vinters said.
Lurie, a St. Petersburg-based expert in Russian history and politics who also planned to speak at this week's conference in Baltimore, told AP that while Lenin had several strokes, he believes Josef Stalin may have finished him off with poison.
Lenin's health had been growing worse over time. In 1921, he forgot the words of a major speech, and he had to learn to speak again and write with his left hand after one stroke. A major stroke later left him paralyzed on one side, confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak.
In photos taken at the time, Lenin "really looked like an 80-year-old," Vinters said.
However, Lurie said Lenin had recovered enough in early 1924 that he celebrated the new year and went hunting. Lenin, who supported Stalin's rise to power, may have realized he made a mistake and began aligning himself with Leon Trotsky, which caused Stalin to poison Lenin, the historian said.
Lurie said poisoning was one of Stalin's favorite methods of disposing of enemies. He suggested that it might be worth doing an analysis on tissue from Lenin's brain, which is still preserved in Moscow — but Vinters was doubtful.
"There was actually a lab of the secret police that was focused on designing poisons that would never be detected after they had done their job," Vinters said. "It'll remain a mystery, basically."
Lenin's embalmed body still lies on public display in a Red Square mausoleum, almost 20 years after the collapse of the communist state he helped bring to life. Vinters, who reviewed autopsy records and the leader's clinical history, said toxicology tests that might have revealed poisoning were not conducted during the autopsy. Reports from the time also show Lenin was active and talking a few hours before his death.
"And then he experienced a series of really, really bad convulsions, which is quite unusual for someone who has a stroke," Vinters said.
Poisoned or not, Lenin's autopsy records clearly show that disease had taken a fatal toll, Vinters said. "Vascular disease, either strokes or heart disease, almost certainly would have taken him out in the next few months," he said.
If a patient with Lenin's symptoms came into a doctor's office today, he'd probably be put on lipid-lowering drugs, Vinters said. "He could have been placed on something like Lipitor," Vinters said. "Theoretically, he could have had some interventional work done as well."
Such medical interventions might include inserting a catheter or stents into the blood vessels to clear away the plaque. During his years as vice president, Dick Cheney underwent angioplasty, stent insertions and surgery to address his cardiovascular problems. In March, Cheney received a heart transplant at the age of 71.
Vinters said the University of Maryland School of Medicine's annual checkup on long-dead historical figures offered an opportunity to assess the progress of medical care over the course of decades, centuries and millennia.
"It's very interesting to look at this from a historical perspective," he said. "It's instructive to see how far we've come in understanding cardiovascular disease."
More about historical diagnoses:
- What if Abe Lincoln had survived?
- Marfan syndrome may have caused Lincoln's 'clumsy gait'
- Was Osama bin Laden 'Marfanoid'?
- Why male pharaoh had a feminine physique
- Scans resolve mystery over King Tut's death
- Chopin's hallucinations possibly due to epilepsy
- How did Mozart die? We now know the score
- Mystery of Napoleon's death said to be solved
- Univ. of Maryland: What killed Edgar Allan Poe?
- What killed Charles Darwin?
This report includes information from The Associated Press.


text:
For every torrent I download, I set its destination to my fileserver, which my Mac is connected to via Samba. When download speeds are higher than about 3 megabytes a second, Transmission will lock up (beach ball) for 10-15 seconds, work for about 10-15 seconds and then repeat.
Moving the data files to the local OS X drive completely eliminates this behavior, even at speeds above 5 MB/s. Finder doesn't seem to have any problem writing to the share at speeds even higher than that.
I posted on the Transmission forums that, when saving to the Samba share, I would constantly see "Prefetch failed, Operation not supported" debug messages in the Transmission log; literally hundreds of them every second for every torrent being downloaded. I suspect this has at least something to do with it, but haven't gotten a response on their forums.
Other than "Just save stuff on your local disk then, dummy", is there anything I should try?


text:
Click Image to View Our Gallery of 10 Easy Ways to Win an Oscar
In Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller plays shallow movie star Tugg Speedman, who makes a gritty Vietnam film in the hopes of finally winning an Academy Award. It's a shameless ploy Speedman has tried once before, when he took on another classic Oscar-baiting role: a man who's mentally challenged.
Alas, the Academy ignored his heartfelt performance in Simple Jack for a simple reason, according to Speedman's Russell Crowe-like costar (played by Robert Downey Jr.): "You never go full retard," he explains. "Check it out. Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man looks retarded, acts retarded, [but he's] not retarded. He counts cards. Autistic, sure. Not retarded. Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump. Slow, yes. Braces on his legs, but he charmed the pants off Nixon, he won the ping-pong competition. That ain't retarded. You went full retard, man. Never go full retard."
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Downey's character is on to something when it comes to panning for Oscar gold. An examination of the last 30 years of Academy Award nominees and winners reveals some clear and effective trends.
According to Jeanine Basinger, Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies and Founder and Curator of The Cinema Archives at Wesleyan University, the biggest key to winning an Oscar is "finding a role that plays against type" and in general, avoiding comedies and musicals.
"Go gay, be crippled, don't sing and dance on screen," Basinger advises. "Jimmy Cagney [who won for Yankee Doodle Dandy] is an exception to that, but he was playing a world-famous figure, so the rule really is don't sing and dance unless you're also playing a world-famous figure."
Other rules to live by, Basinger says, are "keeping out of comedy," "becoming a Vietnam veteran, preferably legless," and if you're an actress, removing all makeup while playing either "a prostitute or a nun."
Having a major comeback toward the end of your career (or life) is another great way to nab a little gold man, she says, as is playing a serial killer, starring in a movie about the Holocaust or Civil War, speaking with a funny accent, and putting on a lot of weight for a role. (Donning a prosthetic nose or doing something else to make yourself look as ugly as possible also works.) Dying on screen at the end of the movie ("either beautifully or horribly," Basinger says), or playing an alcoholic or person with serious depression (think Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas) can deliver, too.
Perhaps no one mastered the art of fishing for an Oscar with as much bait as Charlize Theron, who won Best Actress for 2003's Monster. In that film, Theron played a lesbian, gained a ton of weight, hacked several men to death in a serial-killing spree, and then died at the end of the movie by lethal injection. Her lover, played by Christina Ricci, struck a plea bargain with prosecutors and appeared to be her normal weight on screen. Ricci wasn't even nominated.
Like most industry insiders this year, Basinger's money is on Jeff Bridges for Best Actor. After all, the 60-year-old Bridges is the year's major comeback, he's never won before, and the character he played in Crazy Heart is an alcoholic.
Similarly, Mo'Nique ought to win because, while not quite a serial killer, she's the year's biggest monster—Hannibal Lecter reimagined as a welfare queen.
And Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds is another Oscar lock—he plays a monster, in this case a Nazi, with a fabulous German accent. Granted, it's his own Austrian accent, but it can't hurt.
Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.


text:
Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
Behind the Screens with Joshua Maloni
Countless singers toil away at their craft for years, working with vocal coaches, stylists and image consultants, hoping to land that "big break." Most are willing to do just about anything to land a record contract or a national spotlight.
And then there's Adley Stump.
She was just being herself when, on a whim in her junior year of college, she picked up a microphone for the first time.
"I've done choreography my whole life," she explained. "I was doing choreography for my sorority. They basically dared me to try out for the solo part for this show that I was choreographing, and I'll take a dare from anybody, so you know, I did it. And I think everybody was kind of shocked at how it sounded. I was kind of shocked by how it sounded. And they ended up giving me the part, and I went on to win an award across Oklahoma State with it."
But that was just the beginning.
"I won a contest the end of my junior year, had summer break, came back my senior year and I was like, 'All right. I want to do this.' So I started playing out in that saloon once a month, and then that's when my video got on the Internet. My mom posted it up, and an investor from Nashville - we started talking and he brought me to Nashville. And immediately we produced the album in five months," she says.
A prestigious award. ... A budding new career on Music Row. ... A seven-song EP showcasing her writing and guitar skills.
What more could a musician with less than one year of singing experience want?
How about an audition on NBC's "The Voice"?
Yup; she did that, too.
Adley performed Monday on television's top-rated reality/music show. After a bidding war between the coaches, she accepted an offer to perform on Blake Shelton's team.
In less than two years, Adley has flipped the script on the most notoriously ruthless, unwelcoming industry, and scored a level of success most musicians with 10, 20 and 30 years of experience have yet to attain.
For Adley, this musical journey has been nothing short of a whirlwind.
"The last nine, 10 months have been - I've been in Nashville about eight-and-a-half months. I got an offer to move here with an artist development deal, publishing and smaller record deal from a private company. And about a month before I graduated - at that time I had been singing about eight to nine months, just goofing around in Stillwater - (I) started to take it seriously about the last - my senior year in college is when I started taking it seriously, but never thought I could do it," Adley said. "I was playing in a saloon about once a month in Stillwater, Okla., just you know, goofing off for my friends. And we were able to gather a huge crowd, but it was all in good fun. And then me and my mom put a video on the Internet and that's (when an investor in) Nashville saw it, and said he saw a spark in me that he believed in, and he started conference calling, and he asked me to move out to Nashville and said he would back me if I did."
"The Voice" soon followed. She joked about the opportunity, saying, "I found 'The Voice' because I was, you know, a broke college student, and I thought, 'Man, I'm broke.' I need to go be on 'Jeopardy.' So I Googled how to be on 'Jeopardy,' and there was a list of reality shows pulled up. I found 'The Voice' on there, and you know, I saw auditions in Nashville at the time."
The television audience on Monday quickly fell in love with Adley's sense of humor, her Oklahoma accent, and her unique sense of style. She comes across as extremely intelligent and, despite her newness, she is highly polished.
Unlike some others in her position, Adley is not fake; she's not pretentious or trying to pull a fast one on audiences. As she said, "I'm Adley. Here's who I am."
"I'm just watching how God, you know, from my eyes, placed the puzzle pieces of my past to be able to be in this moment and be the best that I can be," she explained. "I worked for a non-profit called To Write Love on Her Arms: Presenting Hope and Finding Help for People Struggling with Depression, Addiction, Self-Injury and Suicide for two-and-a-half years. And I was the president of that at Oklahoma State, sort of representing that - meeting the need where it's at.
"And I formed community groups, and I was forced to speak to people. Every Tuesday night I was a discussion moderator, you know, and never letting there be awkward, dead silences. And, so, through my experience with cheerleading, learning how to conquer stage fright, learning how to perform, learning how to be in front of an audience, between cheerleading, between my leadership roles in my sorority, Pi Fi, and between speaking every Tuesday night in front of a group, I feel like that has helped me so much to be able to focus on the music, focus on learning how to be an artist, learning how to sing, and you know ... going through this whole process has taught me, really, how to sing.
"That's been part of this journey for me, and I feel like America's getting to watch me grow up and learn how to be a singer and how to be an artist. But I'm trying to pull from my record and other gifts that I felt like God had given me to be able to do what I'm supposed to do now."
"The Voice" airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on NBC. Follow "The Voice" online at http://www.nbc.com/the-voice, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/NBCTheVoice, and on Twitter at @NBCTheVoice and #TheVoice.


text:
The voices of Tax Policy Center's researchers and staff
Automatic enrollment is slowly gaining steam as the choice strategy to encourage retirement saving. A bold plan in California would eventually make the practice widespread and could revolutionize the state's saving landscape.
Last September, the California legislature approved a framework for automatically enrolling private-sector workers in a retirement savings plan. Employers with more than five workers would have to offer a workplace retirement plan, automatically enroll employees in the newly established California Secure Choice Retirement Savings Plan (SCP), or face a fine. Workers enrolled in SCP would automatically contribute 3 percent of their pay to an IRA-like account unless they opted out; like an IRA, benefits would be based on account contributions and investment returns. Employers are only required to set up the plan, not to contribute to the account, and there is no explicit cost to taxpayers.
A third-party—either a private firm or California's pension administrator (CALPERS)—would administer the plan, investing no more than half the pooled funds in equities. (A private administrator may be the superior option given CALPERS' recent history of fraud and mismanagement.) Annual administrative expenses would be limited to one percent of fund assets. The framework also calls for a guaranteed return, although the details have yet to be ironed out.
The plan is a long way from becoming a reality. The framework calls for further study of the plan's feasibility and costs, and additional legislation will be needed to turn the idea into policy. In addition, the IRS and Department of Labor must still rule on the legality of some of the details.
Nonetheless, California's plan shows exceptional promise. By utilizing automatic enrollment, which has been proven to bolster enrollment in private 401(k) plans, the plan could bring more than 6 million workers into the retirement saving universe. It takes advantage of a pooled investment strategy to lower administrative costs and ensure a balanced investment portfolio. The benefits would be progressively distributed. Workers take the accounts with them if they switch jobs. The plan is entirely self-funded with no extra cost to taxpayers. And it's entirely voluntary; workers who do not want to contribute may opt out.
But there's one big drawback: the guaranteed return purchased from private firms. Guaranteed returns would be great if they were free, but they're not. Workers would have to pay private firms to guarantee the investment return, which would increase investment fees, possibly a lot. The structure of the guarantee dictates the price. Guarantees that exclusively protect against steep losses or those that "collar" the return (i.e., impose a minimum and maximum return) are less expensive. Guarantees that ensure at least a modest return are pricey. One analysis put the cost of a guaranteed 2 percent real rate of return at 29 percent of contributions.
An important new study reinforces the benefits of automatic enrollment. In a sample of Danish workers, researchers at Harvard and the University of Copenhagen found that approximately 85 percent of retirement savers are "passive" savers. Passive savers don't respond to price subsidies like tax benefits, but will save more if automatically enrolled in a savings account. Importantly, the researchers found that under a system without automatic enrollment, 98 percent of contributions to existing retirement accounts were simply offsets to other types of saving—a finding that casts doubt on the billions of dollars in tax expenditures now devoted to encouraging retirement saving.
California's plan faces several hurdles before enactment. But the evidence suggests that if it ever becomes policy, the plan will go a long towards increasing retirement saving.
Posts and comments are solely the opinion of the author and not that of the Tax Policy Center, Urban Institute, or Brookings Institution.


text:
I don't hate on Megan Fox as hard as other people. She says dumb sh-t. She has a weird pretend face. She's crazy and temperamental. But I have more time for Megan than, say, Shelfy. Which doesn't mean I love her, of course not. Just that, well, now and again I am capable of saying nice things about her. Today's not really one of those days though.
At the Passion Play afterparty on Friday night – there were strict instructions pertaining to her arrival: no photos, don't shoot her, no interviews, leave her alone. Jesus, please. Why did you even bother?
She was late. Later than everyone else. Later than Bill Murray – more on him later. She was with Brian Austin Green. And here's where we might be fighting. Because Mr Megan Fox? Is SEX. Like, really, really hot in person.
We were at Buca. There's a slightly curved staircase that leads down to the venue. It's the perfect design to make an entrance. And they did. She was in a pale pink strapless cocktail dress with her hair all Veronica Laked, and he wore my favourite black on black: black shirt open at the neck, black suit, holding her hand up high as she descended in front of them. It was glamourous. It seemed like everyone in the room stopped talking. It was a showstopper. And I realised that, you know, on occasion, Megan Fox can have It. She is polarising, she is detestable, she is f-ckable, she is never just there.
But yeah she is totally a bitch. Scowling, disinterested at times, fronting like she's not willing to be looked at but exhibiting the kind of behaviour that gets her looked at. It's extremely entertaining. If you are a people watcher, as I am, you can't dispute that it's extremely entertaining.
As foul as she can be though, Megan was not too foul for Bill Murray. Please. I would have punched her in the face. Bill Murray arrived like Jay-Z. An entourage that included Graydon Carter. That cracked me up. But look at what he was wearing. I mean...
Amazing, right?
And he had with him the strangest companion. I didn't recognise him, a young kid in an old t-shirt who seemed really overwhelmed, not talking to anyone, and in my mind, I'd like to think that Bill bought a smokie from him at a street stand on his way over and invited him to come along for the ride and jam at the late night. After all, this is the man who shows up at random house parties and stars washing dishes, who has a 1-800 number and no agent. That's the best sh-t in the whole world.
So on Friday night, Bill Murray is gracious and friendly, talks to everyone, did not go straight to VIP and mixed among the regular folk for a while before he decided to grab the microphone and Marvin Gaye the joint. How was it? Whatever hilarity and awesomeness you're picturing, that's what it was.
Photos from Wenn.com and Flynetonline.com and Splashnewsonline.com and George Pimentel/Wireimage


text:
Cheap Jerseys from china Now, I thought, it was time for Drizzt to go through all the stages of his grief, not just for Bruenor but, once and for all, for ALL the Companions. At first he would be angry, sad, nostalgic and afraid to let go, but finally, in the end, he would realize that life goes on and so too must his adventures. There are plenty of people, elves, dwarves, and all manner of other creatures in the Forgotten Realms and plenty of good left to be done and adventure left to be had.. Cheap Jerseys from china
stitched jersey wholesale jerseys But what would he do to fix it? He hasn\'t offered anything whatsoever to get money out of politics. He claims to be self funded. He claims to be so rich that he doesn\'t need the money and won\'t owe any favors. I don know man, I from the states. And shit, I hope women aren insulted by my generalities. These are just averages and hypotheses, not the rule.. wholesale jerseys stitched jersey
Cheap Jerseys from china wholesale jerseys from china While I love Dr. Rowe, she is retired, and only stepped up to help the district she loves in a time of need. She in no way would have considered it if they had begged. The showbiz religious world is plagued with money making schemes and one of the easiest best place to buy football jerseys ways to get rich is to spend some time on the circuit and make up a few stories and after a few years you can write a book and it will appear on bookstore shelves, ebay or amazon and make you filthy rich. It does not matter if you are wicked in these circles because the important thing is that you put on a show for everyone. Welcome to the multi billion dollar God industry.. wholesale jerseys from china
cheap nfl jerseys I not sue what happened to the formatting nike nfl jerseys wholesale on the left column, but it seems like your indents are set to different start points. It hurts the look of the resume a little (at least to someone who does some graphic design). Align them so they all start along the same \"invisible line\".. cheap nfl jerseys
Cheap Jerseys free shipping These losses include double digit losses against the Bills and nike nfl clothing Dolphins.Taylor threw for 213 and the backs rushed for 75 yards on a 2.3 yd/carry average in that week 3 game. If the Colts put up those numbers (which by the way would be almost exactly the total yards/gm they average this year) I don think it reasonable to say that they will win the game.If you are betting the Colts this game, you are basically betting that the Broncos will turn it over more than two times AND that their offense is going to be held to about half of what Indy defense has been averaging this season. We took a good step towards this objective by going 2 0 with our picks as the Panthers upset the Vikings while the Ravens covered the spread in Pittsburgh. Cheap Jerseys free shipping
cheap nfl jerseys Last week was the first time I saw him willing to even hit somebody. The defensive line is doing ok, adding Williams was an attempt to add strength to that area, he is an upper echelon defender and will get better as he continues to learn our system, when you have a chance to get that type of player, you pull the trigger. On run defense, our biggest problem is the second level yards we are giving up. cheap nfl jerseys
discount nfl wholesale jerseys With the Spring season half way through, everyone noticed in April, the temperatures seemed dryer more warmer than last seasons Spring. Looking at the pattern we can see that Spring has bloomed late this year with the majority of the rain being seen in May lingering to June. May will continue to be rainy on and off as well as having hotter days here there but never lasting for more than one or two days. wholesale jerseys discount nfl
wholesale nfl jerseys 1968, when Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, by Sirhan Sirhan with a handgun, the reaction was the Gun Control Act of 1968, ban guns as much as possible, explained the CNN legal analyst. Idea that more guns make us more safe is so deeply ingrained now, but I think it worth pointing out it a very different attitude than it used to be. wholesale nfl jerseys
cheap jerseys Since then that time it seems if they improve one aspect of the game, another aspect of the game is worse than the previous years title. Then a year or two later they are promoting some new \" feature \" that had already existed in previous years releases.Thus the graphics improve a bit year to year, granted at a!much slower rate these days, but the gameplay is anyones guess.One example I can recall, was Madden 07, one of my favorite versions. You could control your lead blocker, which was cool and novel. cheap jerseys
Cheap Jerseys china Together with a panel of local judges, Google will review the applications and choose five winners who will receive $175,000 in grant funding and training. After the winners are announced, Minnesotans will be invited to vote on which project they believe will have the greatest economic impact. The winner of that vote will receive an additional $125,000 in funding.. Cheap Jerseys china
wholesale jerseys from china \"eBay has been a leading innovator in the world of commerce for almost 20 years; it\'s an incredibly special business,\" Donahoe said. \"Since joining eBay three years ago, Devin has proven to be an exceptional global leader and operating executive. He is steadily discount jerseys china enhancing eBay\'s unique assets and capabilities and creating new commerce experiences to ensure long term growth and commerce leadership. wholesale jerseys from china
real authentic nfl jerseys wholesale nfl jerseys from china I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn\'t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, \"Oh, like you\'re doing now?\" I was taken aback, and all I could say was \"Huh?\" but he kept cutting me off and going \"huh? huh? huh?\" and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. wholesale nfl jerseys from china real authentic nfl jerseys
Cheap Jerseys china Interesting read. Any of these second amendment enthusiasts ever heard of Mahatma Gandhi? Using Non Violence nfl jersey china paypal as a weapon somewhat intellectual stretch for a lot here threw out the British. It takes less of a sissy to stand up to a gun or weapon toting bully when you have no means of self defense, or choose to not use any methods of self defense. Cheap Jerseys china
wholesale jerseys from china Those who have actually shared their stories have very much helped me to understand the NB experience better. I see now that it often seems to have a lot in common with the trans experience, cheap nfl stuff with some important differences. Small size obviously, but still very enlightening. wholesale jerseys from china
Cheap Jerseys china This is the brand recognition Microsoft wants. They don want another console cycle with their flagship console with some weird nickname or be associated w/ a pointless model that means nothing. \"Xbox\" is the brand and they want to stay on brand. Her death would build so much more anticipation without it. That scene takes a lot of steam out of what we\'re trying to achieve. David was like, \"We won\'t show the death,\" and I was like, \"I don\'t care if you show the death! I only care that nobody knows it\'s going to happen until it happens and that you drag that out.\" I never got an answer about it. Cheap Jerseys china
wholesale nfl jerseys Back foot is staying where it is and I don think you trying to do that, I think that a result of not really using your lower half to rotate. I don think you should tinker much, but place a focus on generating some power from your back right hip. Not a low, but some and I think you generate a better whip, and get better compression.. wholesale nfl jerseys
wholesale nfl jerseys You are quite right it sometime feels like a rut. It definitely did for me. Often it is so deep that it impossible to fathom a way up or out. There are thousands of things to do and see in the Dells. It\'s not labeled a tourist trap for nothing! Even though it has the tourist trap rap, it\'s a great place to go with the family. We\'re lucky enough to live about 2 hours from there, so we typically visit the Wilderness Resort a few times a year for a day or two of family fun time.. wholesale nfl jerseys
nfl soccer jersey Cheap Jerseys from china Would a backgroud check have stopped a teacher from getting those weapons? She had NO police record. She pass ANY background check. So you COULD try and eliminate all guns. Introduction Unless you\'ve been living under a rock or taken one of those \"no social media for a month\" challenges lately you\'ll likely be aware of the woman whose photo accompanies this intro. This, for those few unfamiliar, is County Clerk Kim Davis. As an elected official Kimberly took an oath to uphold the law of the land here in the United States and recently failed to do her duty even after being ordered by a Judge to do so. Cheap Jerseys from china nfl soccer jersey
Cheap Jerseys from china IntroductionIt\'s been a while since I\'ve done an installment in this series primarily because it\'s a series that is meant to focus only on the fringes of already fringe beliefs. Subjects like creationism, bigfoot research or EVPs are too mainstream. So it takes a good long while for me to decide what subjects are weird enough to venture into for Into the Weird.. Cheap Jerseys from china
Cheap Jerseys free shipping John Smith America. My PUNCHLINE QUESTION > CAN PIERS OR JOHN EXPLAIN IN CAREFULLY CHOSEN WORDS JUST HOW MUCH GOOD ALL THE TIME THAT THE SENATE SPENT ON THE GUN BAN/ BACKGROUND CHECKS/ HI CAPACITY MAGAZINE BAN HAS DONE US??? PLEASE,EXPLAIN,,EXPLAIN ALL THE WASTED TAX PAYER DOLLARS GIVEN ERIC HOLDER THAT HE REFUSES TO MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT. EXPLAIN HOW MANY WERE SAVED THE STUDIES SHOWING ANY OF THESE IF PASSED WOULD HAVE SAVED THAT 1 LIFE THEY REPEAT ABOUT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Cheap Jerseys free shipping
wholesale nfl jerseys from china But this is behavior that\'s just outrageous and so that there would be a news story that would have more statements like this of this kind, I mean, gosh, I\'m sad to say that I\'m not surprised,\" Kaine said. \"I should be surprised and shocked. I\'m sad to say that I\'m not.\"A Clinton campaign source told CNN the campaign strategy in the wake of the tape will be to press Republicans to say if they still think Trump should be president.Member of \'Central Park 5\' blasts Trump\"Not just condemn what he said but that he should be POTUS,\" the source said.Two people close to the campaign told CNN the former secretary of state was unlikely to speak about the controversy Friday night. wholesale nfl jerseys from china
jersey china wholesale wholesale nfl jerseys So I left Algebra class and headed for gym with the vague announcement the principal had given replaying over and over in my head. No matter how I dissected it my mind kept coming back to the idea of the Rapture. I can remember what that felt like, the sick hot feeling in my stomach like my organs were cooking. wholesale nfl jerseys jersey china wholesale
Cheap Jerseys from china Otherwise, you\'re putting an awful lot of trust into whoever took the nike nfl game jersey photos. You might be able to claim rights to the pictures or even win a judgement in court against whoever spread them. However, the question of ownership won\'t mean a thing when your photo ends up on celebrity blogs and other websites where anyone with a web browser can make their own copy and share.. Cheap Jerseys from china
Cheap Jerseys free shipping As one of the fastest selling launch titles ever, Halo was the game that made the Xbox a major contender in the video game console market in an exceedingly short time. Microsoft was instantly thrust into the limelight as a spiritual successor to Sega and as one of the \"big three\" alongside Sony and Nintendo. They were the first American company to achieve such a level of prestige in the video game industry since Atari way back in the early eighties. Cheap Jerseys free shipping
wholesale nfl jerseys But the most egregious ( dangerous) thing he has done is blow off the Impeachment inquiry in direct, blatant, open defiance of Article One of the Constitution itself. If we forgive everything else, if he slides on obstruction, Article One will be effectively nullified and a dangerous precedent set that grants him and ALL future presidents real, absolute power. Because it established that Impeachment is the only power that exists that can reign in a President, if they are allowed to ignore it, it game over, there will be no checks on the Executive, period.. wholesale nfl jerseys
cheap jerseys This is why I don\'t appreciate people for shaming others who have good money. Everyone has a different story, not everyone has a silver spoon in their mouth day 1, some just work hard to be successful and have motivation, work ethic and a desire to accomplish something. So yeah, don\'t shame others for having money or how they spent it!. cheap jerseys
wholesale nfl jerseys You got that right. See, according to Cocteau plan, I nfl official jerseys the enemy. Cause I like to think, I like to read. In the book AND the movie, they were more apolitical. They all hated the war and being there, regardless of their politics. Alan Alda is a SUPER bleeding heart liberal and every show in the series carries his personal agenda in the script.If you judge every thing you read and watch thru the lens of being a liberal then you in for a real surprise when you grow up and get out in the real world where people in the workplace and in a polite society won even talk about politics.Jenny She can go at any time. wholesale nfl jerseys
wholesale jerseys from china If you listen to her talking leading up to the impeachment her biggest challenge was to get the press to help her frame it as non partisan despite partly line votes. Going over the top in how offended she was that the press could mention \"hate\" (a common word) made that one of the soundbytes of the whole day and having that soundbyte include how she such a good catholic woman seems extremely calculated to make that the context that people are hearing the announcement in. To me, it was painfully fake, but it was a great demonstration of how good she is at politics.. wholesale jerseys from china
wholesale nfl jerseys from china What you referring to is application portability, not document portability. Latex needs to come up with a portable document format. Even LibreOffice does this, as the saved document is basically a zip archive containing everything you need to view it. wholesale nfl jerseys from china
cheap jerseys And yes, it is smart defense to not leave your feet. But many times you HAVE to jump to defend. Now days in the NBA, offense is about creating space for shots. Why He a black belt in BJJ who has shown great grappling on the top and the bottom. He showed great takedown defense against a top level USA wrestler in Devin Clark. Krylov was able to take him down when he was off balance and Gus took him down multiple times and mixed his takedown attempts in well with his faints. cheap jerseys
Cheap Jerseys free shipping Sometimes all those stats and information can be overwhelming when all you want to do is check the score, and that\'s where this NFL Scores app comes in. This completely free app is very simple in that it shows you what teams are playing and when, then on game day it shows you the score and nothing more. It\'s beautifully simple and tells you just what you need to know.. Cheap Jerseys free shipping
wholesale nfl jerseys from china Pre level 6 you have to play around abilities, and be able to pressure hard enough that they lose hp so that they low and if they all in they lose, such as poking when they go for a cs or shoving them under tower and poking. After 6 you be strong enough to shove in hard and have wave advantage and this is where you have to begin pressuring for river control and wards, and follow roams if possible. Its really easy to get caught so shoving and pinging are you best bets against roam heavy players.. wholesale nfl jerseys from china
cheap nfl jerseys I making some assumptions here, but I comfortable with them given that we talking about Prep where we can really just filter individual values, but perform work against whole columns. Additionally, OP asks about the column ABC which implies the new column doesn have a name prior to this cleaning step or that the name is not useful and can therefore be named something meaningless. In either case, you better off just dropping that field.. cheap nfl jerseys
nike jersey nfl Cheap Jerseys free shipping Dick pics were mentioned and she and I started talking about how absurd they are. Guys didn believe us when we told them the frequency in which complete strangers will just drop their dick in messages for us to find. It the same with every woman I know, we all get dick pics and they never wanted. Cheap Jerseys free shipping nike jersey nfl
chinese jerseys website wholesale jerseys I support Wentz, but not blindly or to a fault. I fail to understand the logic of setting the bar for the Eagles at where the rest of the NFC east is. I get the seeding rules for play offs, but that SB season set the bar high for me. Another great section of river for you would be the Eleven Point. It remote enough that there aren any young drunks. It a spring fed Wild and Scenic best deals on nfl jerseys River with tons of fresh springs you can swim in and neat ruins to explore. wholesale jerseys chinese jerseys website
Cheap Jerseys from china So who is this other reluctant hero and where has he been for the past three days? Furthermore, his account last night really contradicts Mr. Ramsey viral report in numerous ways:Ramsey recounted how Berry was distressed and frantic even to get free, but well nourished and even appeared to have some degree of makeup on which seemed odd with a tshirt/ wifebeater on which is consistent with the facebook image of the hospital photo of her with her alongside her sister with her daughter. Ramsey mentioned a child emerging from the house shortly after Berry. Cheap Jerseys from china
wholesale nfl jerseys from china Navy needs better surveillance and reconnaissance systems if it to have any chance of detecting a Chinese build up in the Western Pacific in the weeks or days preceding a possible major war. \"So far we haven seen anything that looks fair to us,\" Pelosi told reporters after the House approved two articles of impeachment. The House still must vote to name impeachment managers, who will present the case in a Senate trial, but senior Democratic aides told Politico that the vote will probably not take place until at least early January.. wholesale nfl jerseys from china
cheap nfl jerseys Thank you Roy for allowing us to witness what it takes to be the best. We will all miss you.Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez said he would watch while his opponent threw.\"I can\'t believe it. So many times we competed against each other and even while competing, I wanted to see you!\" he wrote on Twitter.I can\'t believe it. cheap nfl jerseys
cheap nfl jerseys David Bowles from the RSPCA said: \"We\'ve campaigned against having wild animals in circuses for many years. They have complex needs that cannot be properly met in a circus environment. It\'s high time keeping wild animals in circuses is consigned to the history books and we look forward to the day that it is banned for good in England.\". cheap nfl jerseys
wholesale jerseys from china One example I can recall, was Madden 07, one of my favorite versions. You could control your lead blocker, which was cool and novel. The create a team options were near infinite in terms of uniform design, city locations etc. \"They think it\'s not their job. They think they will be instantly critiqued which they will be but it\'s not the job of athletes to avoid critique.\"\'There has to be solidarity\'Although a few retired footballers like David Beckham and Gary Lineker, along with controversial veteran player Joey Barton, opined on the Brexit campaign on social media, it is difficult to find examples of European athletes willing to risk their careers by speaking out against social injustice in the manner of Muhammad Ali, Martina Navratilova, or today\'s firebrand Kaepernick.Instead, European activism has historically been rooted in nationalism, notes sports sociologist Joseph Maguire of the UK\'s Loughborough University, citing examples such as Andy Murray\'s backing of Scottish independence or the jailing of footballer Deniz Naki in Turkey for a pro Kurdish Facebook post.Maguire also cites \"passive and covert\" symbols of protest including the fascist tattoos of former Lazio player Paulo Di Canio, and the silence of ethnically Turkish footballer Mesut Ozil during the German national anthem.But ethnic tension has become a growing concern in European soccer, with charges of racist slurs uttered by prominent players like Luis Suarez and John Terry, reports of gross under representation by minorities in managerial positions, accusations of anti North African sentiment in France\'s Euro 2016 selection, and abusive chants in Spanish football grounds.Retired English footballer Howard Gayle, who in 1977 became the first black player to play for Liverpool, says that unlike Kaepernick and James, black British athletes are reticent to attract controversy.\"A lot of people don\'t want to rattle that cheap nike china cage of racism and draw that attention to them, because they feel that it may (prevent) them from earning certain amounts of money,\" says Gayle, who detailed the hurdles he faced in his autobiography \"61 Minutes in Munich: The Story of Liverpool FC\'s First Black Footballer.\"\"Black sportsmen traditionally come from poor communities,\" he explains, \"so when (they) get the opportunity to get out of that community, they are reluctant to look at the principled approach of a stance against racism.\"Gayle who did not sing \"God Save the Queen\" as an England youth player and says he \"never really had that affinity playing for England\" made his stance public this year when he declined a nomination for a Member of the Order of the British Empire.The title, traditionally awarded at Buckingham Palace and known as an MBE, was to recognize his community work on social inclusion.\"I am well aware of the history of Africa and my ancestry,\" he says, referring to Britain\'s role in the trans Atlantic slave trade. \"To have \"A Member of the British Empire\" after my name wouldn\'t sit well with me as a black man.\"Photos: A timeline of social activism in sportsIn 2012 members of the Miami Heat led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh posed in hoodies in solidarity with slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.1 of 14Photos: A timeline of social activism in sportsAfrican American athletes have a long history of speaking up in defense of civil rights wholesale jerseys from china.


text:
Initiated by the arrival of Google Glass, the global market for smart glasses could amount to almost 10 million units by 2016.
Shipments of smart glasses may rise to as high 6.6 million units in 2016, up from just 50,000 in 2012, for a total of 9.4 million units for the five-year period, according to an upside forecast from IMS Research, now part of IHS.
Further magnified by Google's efforts to promote application development for the product, IMS says growth this year will climb 150% to 124,000 shipments, mostly driven by sales to developers, as presented in the high-end outlook in the attached figure.
Expansion will really begin to accelerate in 2014 with the initial public availability of Google Glass, as shipment growth powers up to 250 percent, based on the optimistic forecast.
Google Glass this month began shipping to application developers who registered as early backers and paid the $1,500 price tag.
This is expected to spur innovations in applications that should take Glass from early adopters to the mass market.
As the developers get to work and Google encourages venture capitalists to back them, shipments will begin to surge to high volumes, according to the upside forecast.
However, the success of Google Glass will depend primarily on the applications developed for it. If developers fail to produce compelling software and uses for the devices, shipments could be significantly lower during the next several years.
"The applications are far more critical than the hardware when it comes to the success of Google Glass," says Theo Ahadome, senior analyst, IHS.
"In fact, the hardware is much less relevant to the growth of Google Glass than for any other personal communications device in recent history.
"This is because the utility of Google Glass is not readily apparent, so everything will depend on the appeal of the apps.
"This is why the smart glass market makes sense for a software-oriented organisation like Google, despite the company's limited previous success in developing hardware.
"Google is betting the house that developers will produce some compelling applications for Glass.
The glass is half full?
According to the optimistic scenario, developers will succeed in producing augmented reality applications for smart glasses that provide the user with information that can be safely and conveniently be integrated into casual use.
Such applications typically are known as augmented reality, which involves adding a layer of computer-generated data to real-world people, places and things.
"The true success of Glass will be when it can provide some information to users not apparent when viewing people, places or things," Ahadome says.
"This information may include live updates for travel, location reviews and recommendations, nutritional information and matching personal preferences, and previous encounters to aid decision making.
"The upside for smart glasses will arise when they become a powerful information platform.
"In many ways, this is exactly what Google already does via other mediums, and also is why the upside scenario seems more likely.
Broken glass?
Under a more pessimistic scenario, IHS forecasts that only about one million smart glasses will be shipped through 2016.
According to this outlook, applications for smart glasses will be limited to some of those already displayed by Google in its Glass marketing.
These include scenarios where smart glasses become more of a wearable camera device than a true augmented reality system.
In this case, smart glasses will be mainly used for recording sports and other non-casual events, like jumping out of a plane, as demonstrated at the Google I/O developer conference in 2012.
However, Glass will face competition from alternative wearable camera devices already in the market, such as GoPro Hero or Recon MOD Live.
While the wearable camera market was worth more than $200 million in 2012, it is not the multibillion-dollar market that smart glasses can achieve with wider applicability.
"The less frequently consumers interact with any personal communications device, the less valuable it becomes," Ahadome says.
"If smart glasses become devices that are used only occasionally, rather than all the time, they become less attractive and desirable to consumers.
So, we shall ask the question again, is the future of mobile computing wearable? And which product will take the market lead? Tell us your thoughts below and check out the May issue of NetGuide here – on sale May 1.


text:
Do you have more than one thermostat and the SmartLinc?
The SmartLinc webpage supports one thermostat in the Thermostat Room. With MobiLinc you can expand your control to all of your Insteon enabled thermostats by performing the following in MobiLinc HD:
1. Tap "My Devices" (the icon that looks like a keypad).
2. Tap on the "Add Device" button in the upper right corner of the My Devices screen
3. Add in your Thermostat Insteon Address and Friendly Name.
4. Under "Module Type" Use the scroll wheel to select "Thermostat"
5. Tap Save.
6. Repeat for each thermostat.
7. A new icon will appear at the bottom of the screen for the thermostat interface.


text: 'In contemporary language and imagery, this poetry collection reflects a deep and abiding Aboriginality and an understanding that bridges past and present, nature and technology, the traditional and the modern. Chosen as a highly-commended entry in the David Unaipon Awards for unpublished Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers. Land Window, looks out onto the world, proclaiming humanity's eternal connection to the earth.' (Source: Google Books website)


text:
Danish historian of the thirteenth century, author of the "Gesta Danorum". The scanty information we have concerning his life is based chiefly on statements in his work, especially in the preface. His father and grandfather took part in the campaigns of Waldemar I of Denmark (1157-1182). He himself was a cleric; a layman of that time would hardly have had his knowledge of theology and classic lore. No doubt, he studied at foreign universities, probably in Paris. In the eleventh book of his history he speaks of the funeral of Bishop Asker (Esger) as having taken place in his own time. As that event happened in 1158 we may conclude that Saxo was born about 1150, but we do not know where; from the favour shown to Zealand, it has been inferred that that was his birthplace.
Saxo's history was written at the suggestion of Archbishop Absalon of Lund, who died in 1201 before the work was finished, whereupon the historian addressed himself to Absalon's successor Anders, who held the see until 1222. There is some doubt as to Saxo's position. In his preface he modestly refers to himself as the least among the followers of Absalon, but it is not likely that the bishop would have entrusted to an obscure and unimportant man the important task of writing a history of his native land. It is much more probable that Saxo held a high office, possibly a secretaryship, and that he enjoyed the bishop's intimate acquaintance. More than this we do not know. Attempts to identify him with a provost at Roskilde, a subdeacon in the monastery of St. Laurentius at Lund, or with a scribe named in Absalon's will, are purely conjectural and cannot be verified. The date of his death is also uncertain. The writing of the history occupied the greater part of Saxo's life. About the year 1185 the chronicler Swen Aggeson refers to the history as already planned, and the preface was not written until Waldemar II (1202-1241) had "encompassed the ebbing and flowing waves of the Elbe". This seems to refer to events of 1215 (or 1208?). Originally the work was to be a history of Absalon's own time, but it grew to be a complete history of Denmark from the earliest mythical period to the year 1187. It is written in an elegant, highly ornate Latin which excited the admiration of Erasmus of Rotterdam. The style is carefully modelled on that of the Latin authors of the "Silver Age", especially Valerius Maximus and Martinus Capella.
The work is divided into sixteen books, of which the first nine contain mainly mythological and legendary material, which is presented in uncritical fashion. The last seven, however, relating the events nearer Saxo's time, are historical, and are believed to have been written first. For these he relied on oral communication, especially on Absalon's own reports which, so Saxo tells us, he accepted like a Divine revelation. For the first nine books dealing with Northern antiquity the sources are old Danish poems, Runic inscriptions, and Norwegian-Icelandic sagas. These books possess a special interest for us on account of the ancient legendary material preserved therein, much of which has come down to us in no other form. Among the famous legends found here may be mentioned those of Balder and Hother (Book III), of Amleth (ibid.), the basis of Shakespeare's Hamlet, and of the archer Toko or Palnatoki (Book X), the prototype of the Tell of Swiss legend. No complete manuscript of Saxo's history is extant. Even in his own time the work received scant attention, partly, no doubt, because it was written in such difficult Latin. An epitome was made by an anonymous writer in 1431 and here the epithet "Grammaticus" (the lettered one) was first used. The first printed edition, made from a manuscript since lost, appeared in Paris in 1514 and has been the basis of all subsequent editions. The first critical edition was given by Stephanus Johannes Stephanius (Sor÷, 1644). The best modern editions are those of Mⁿller-Velschow (3 vols., Copenhagen, 1839-58) and of Alfred Holder (Strasburg, 1886). The latter contains also a careful bibliography. Translations were made into Danish by Anders S÷ffrins÷n Vedel (Copenhagen, 1575), by Grundtvig (Copenhagen, 1818) and by W. Horn (Christiania and Copenhagen, 1898). The first nine books have been translated into English by O. Elton, with notes by F. York Powell (London, 1894); into German by H. Jantzen (Berlin, 1900) and Paul Herrmann (Leipzig, 1901).
Consult the introductions to the works of ELTON and POWELL; MץLLER-VELSCHOW; JANTZEN; see also HERRMANN, op. cit., 466-470; OLRIK, Kilderne til Sakses Oldhistorie (Copenhagen, 1892 and 1894); PINEAU, Saxo Grammaticus (Tours, 1901); WATTENBACH, Deutschlands Geschichtsguellen, II (6 ed., 1893), 347.
APA citation. (1912). Saxo Grammaticus. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13497a.htm
MLA citation. "Saxo Grammaticus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13497a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Jess Paehlke.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.


text:
Jar of Cake - Löffle Mich
Bright, bold and well packaged, wouldn't this Löffle Mich jar of cake be a perfect gift for someone, or a delicious surprise at a picnic? I love the fun nature of it, well I love anything mini in a jar for that matter. If you are near Austria from what I can tell from my loose rusty German 'Löffle Mich' means something along the lines of 'Spoon me', right? You can find them here.
// via Blog Milk + Dieline
// via Blog Milk + Dieline


text: Interested in bonsai but not sure where to start? Begin here. This attractive, fuss-free tree sports compact leaves that fan out like small green umbrellas. Dwarf Hawaiian Umbrella trees are among the easiest bonsai to maintain and do extremely well in low light environments, making them perfect for placing on tables or sills by an office, kitchen or living room window that receives no direct sunlight.


text:
The legal maxim "Sic utere tuo ut alienum non lædas" (So use your own that you may not injure another's [property]) is fully recognized in the Mishnah (B. B. ii.) by the imposition of the following restraints:
- (1) A man should not dig a cistern, a cellar, an irrigatingcanal, or a laundry-tank so near to that of his neighbor as not to leave three palms' distance between the walls or boundaries; and he must plaster his own.
- (2) One must keep his vegetable (olive) offal and dung and brine and lime and flints three palms distant from his neighbor's wall; also his plants and plow-furrows and urine. The same distance must be kept from hand-mill to hand-mill and from oven to oven. He must not erect an oven in his own house without leaving four cubits between its top and the joists above, nor in an upper story without a layer of earth of three palms under it; nor a cooking-stove without such a layer one palm in height. Even then, if fire breaks out, he must reimburse his neighbor's loss (R. Simeon to the contrary being overruled).
- (3) One must not open a bakery or a dye-house or a cow-stable under his neighbor's wareroom. The former two are permitted under a wine-store, the heat not injuring Palestinian wines. A man may lawfully object to the opening of shops in the same court in which he lives, because the noise of the customers disturbs his sleep; but he may not forbid any one from making commodities in the court and selling them elsewhere, nor may he object to the noise of a hammer, of a hand-mill, or of children.
- (4) Windows should be placed four cubits above or below the wall of a neighbor, so that the latter can not from his wall look in; and four cubits away, so that the wall may not darken them; the builder of the wall to keep the distance.
- (5) A ladder should be kept four cubits away from a neighbor's dove-cot, so that weasels may not have access to the pigeons; and a wall a similar distance from a neighbor's roofgutter, to give him room for a ladder. A man should not set up a dove-cot in his field unless he has fifty cubits of land around it.
- (6) Trees should be planted twenty-five cubits from a walled town; carob- and sycamore-trees (on account of their thick foliage) fifty cubits away. If the town was there first, the owner of the trees must cut them down without compensation; if the town was built later, with compensation. In like manner and measure trees should be kept at a distance from a neighbor's cistern.
- (7) A fixed thrashing-floor should be situated at a distance of at least fifty cubits from a town; and a man should not have one on his ground unless he has fifty cubits of land around it in each direction, so that the chaff may not injure the orchards or plowed fields of his neighbors.
- (8) Carcasses and graves and tanneries should be kept fifty cubits from any town; and a tannery should be restricted to the east of a town.
- (9) In like manner vats for decomposing flax must be kept at a distance from a neighbor's lawn, pear-trees from his onions, and mustard-plants from his beehives. (Some of these rules are evidently built on mistaken notions as to what is harmful.)
- (10) A man should not plant a vine or any tree nearer than four cubits to his neighbor's field. If there is a fence between the fields, each one may plant next to the fence; but when the roots spread into the field of a neighbor, the latter may cut them out to a depth of three palms so that they may not interfere with his plow; and in digging a cistern or cellar he may cut them out to the necessary depth and keep the wood.
- (11) When a tree bends over the field of a neighbor, the latter may cut it off high enough to admit the passage of a plowman's ox-goad; if the tree is a carob or a sycamore, or if the land needs irrigation, he may cut off the branches along the plumbline.
- (12) When a tree hangs over the public highway, the owner should cut the limbs off high enough for a camel with its rider to pass under.
No trace of any of these provisions can be found in the Pentateuch. In the Babylonian Talmud some of them are modified to conform to the conditions of the country between the Euphrates and the Tigris. In the later codes (e.g., that of Maimonides, "Yad," Shekenim), and the Shulḥan 'Aruk also (Ḥoshen Mishpaṭ, 153-156), many of the provisions are changed or omitted for like reason, but other provisions are treated in connection with them which belong rather to communal government. Thus Maimonides adds to the rules of the Mishnah: "A hand-mill should be set at least three palms away from the neighbor's wall, not to heat it and not to annoy the neighbor's family; also a baking-oven, so as not to overheat the wall. A stone on which clothes are washed should be removed four cubits, as the water would weaken the wall. Urine should be kept three palms away from a brick wall and one palm from a stone wall."
On the other hand, Maimonides follows the dissenting opinion of Rabbi Jose in the Mishnah, and says, "the owner of a mustard-plant need not remove it from the neighbor's beehive; the bees should rather be kept away from the mustard-plant"; and he extends this reasoning to other parts of B. B. ii. 9. He teaches also that when a tree is planted at the proper distance from a neighbor's cistern, the owner of the tree is not at fault when the roots in growing spread so as to penetrate the cistern. He also recognizes the right of one who owns a wall at the edge of his lot to lateral support from the neighbor's soil. Not only should this soil not be dug up, but its owner should do nothing to prevent its being trodden down and hardened; e.g., he should not build walls near together at right angles to it. The legality of this extension of the rule is, however, doubted.
Neighboring Landowners as (= "Abutters"):The right of preemption which belongs to joint owners in general and to abutting landowners is unknown to Bible and Mishnah, and seems to have been evolved first by the Babylonian sages. Perhaps it was suggested to them by some custom of the new Persian kingdom, but they rested it wholly on the Scriptural passage: "Thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of theLord" (Deut. vi. 18), deducing therefrom the duty of keeping, in intercourse with one's fellow men, "inside the line of justice." The Talmud treats this subject in only one place (B. M. 108a, b). All the rules there given Maimonides has arranged clearly ("Yad," l.c. xii. 4-17) as follows:
- (1) If one among brothers (coheirs) or other joint owners sells his share to a stranger, the other brothers or part owners (or any one of them) may take it from the buyer and pay him back the price paid by him, so as not to have a stranger among them.
- (2) When one sells his ground to another, his neighbor owning adjoining land has the right to pay the price and to evict the buyer; and the buyer is then treated as the agent of the abutting owner; and whether the sale be made by the owner in person or through an agent or by the court, the law of preemption governs. Even though the distant buyer be a scholar, and the abutter be of "the people of the land," the latter is preferred (quoting Deut. vi. 18).
- (3) When there are several abutters, they all have the right of preemption; they can buy out the pụrchaser, contributing the money equally. But if one anticipates the others and buys, he can hold the lot against the others; and so several abutters who are on the spot can anticipate others who are absent.
- (4) When a joint owner sells his share to another joint owner, or a sole owner to one of several abutters, the other joint owners or abutters have no right of preemption.
- (5) Where one sells all his property, the abutter of one field can not evict the buyer; nor does the abutter's right arise upon a sale to the former owner, nor against one who buys from a Gentile.
- (6) Where one sells his field to a Gentile, he is put under the ban till he enters into an undertaking of guaranty against any trespass by the Gentile, and that the latter will deal toward Israelite abutters according to this preemption law.
- (7) The abutter has no preemption in renting land.
- (8) The sale can not be disturbed by the abutters where the owner sells to the mortgagee land which is under mortgage, or where he sells a distant field for means to redeem his home farm, or a poor field for the means to redeem a good one, or to find means to pay his dues to the government, or for funeral expenses, or for alimony to wife or daughters; for in all these cases the seller is pressed and might lose his sale if the buyer had to fear an eviction by the abutters. (Authorities later than the Talmud consider the case in which the abutter denies that the sale was brought about by one of these causes. If he can not prove the contrary, the buyer may clear himself by the "lesser oath." The abutter may also be required to prove that he owns the neighboring field, and is not a mere renter, metayer, or trespasser.)
- (9) A sale to fatherless infants or to a woman is not liable to be set aside by the abutters.
- (10) The owner of a building or of trees, if he has any interest in the ground, has the rights and lies under the duties of an abutter. When the next owner is separated from the old field by a hedge of trees, a high and solid building, or a deep ditch, if even one furrow can be run through from field to field, the abutter's rights attach; otherwise not.So far Maimonides. In Ḥoshen Mishpaṭ, 175, the law of preemption by abutters is treated much more at large, following later authorities; e.g., the abutter may complain that the seller and the distant buyer through collusion (κοινωνία) have named a higher price than was actually paid; and if this price is more than the value of the land, the purchaser must either clear himself by the "greater oath" or bring witnesses to prove the larger payment (§ 9). This code also recites that the abutter must, in order to enforce his right, be ready at once with his money; he may not say to the buyer, "Wait till I earn the money, and I will then pay" (§ 25). Nor if he is an infant, or sick, or abroad at the time when he hears of the sale, may time be asked for him to set up his right of preemption; for this would be a hardship on the buyer, and would discourage the sale of land (§ 34).The fulness of details in the Ḥoshen Mishpaṭ, supported as they are by older codes and by the responsa of great rabbis, shows that the abutter's right of preemption was by no means a dead letter, but was exercised wherever Jews dwelt together as landowners.


text:
About the ZendTo Service...
Email messages with large attachments can wreak havoc on email servers and end-users' computers. Downloading such email messages can take hours on a slow Internet connection and block any sending or receiving of messages during that time. In some cases, the download will fail repeatedly, breaking the recipient's ability to receive mail at all. Also, Internet email clients add considerably to the size of the file being sent. For example, saving an Outlook message with an attachment adds up to 40% to the file's size. To share files larger than 1MB, use the ZendTo to temporarily make a file (or files) available to another user across the Internet, in a secure and efficient manner.There are two distinct kinds of users that will be accessing the ZendTo system: inside users, who are associated with the Company running the service, and outside users, which encompasses the rest of the Internet.
An inside user is allowed to send a drop-off to anyone, whether he or she be an inside or outside user. An outside user is only allowed to send a drop-off to an inside user. That prompts the question: what is a drop-off?
drop-off: one or more files uploaded to the ZendTo as a single item for delivery to a person or people
There are two ways in which a user can dropoff multiple files at once:
- Attach each file individually on the dropoff page
- Archive and compress the files into a single package and attach
the resulting archive file on the dropoff page. There are many ways
to archive and compress files:
- Mac users can select the files in the Finder and Compress (see the File menu)
- Windows users can create a "compressed folder" or use WinZip
- Linux/Unix users, give the zip utility a try
When a user creates a drop-off, they enter some identifying information about themself (name, organisation, and email address); identifying information about the recipient(s) (name and email address); and choose what files should be uploaded to make the drop-off. If the files are successfully uploaded, an email is sent to the recipient(s) explaining that a drop-off has been made. This email also provides a link to access the drop-off. Other information (the Internet address and/or computer name from which the drop-off was created, for example) is retained, to help the recipient(s) check the identity of the sender.Making a Pick-up
There are two ways to pick-up files that have been dropped-off:Please note that the uploaded files are scanned for viruses, but the recipient should still exercise as much caution in downloading and opening them as is appropriate. This can be as easy as verifying with the sender mentioned in the notification email that he or she indeed made the drop-off. One can also check the computer name/address that was logged when the drop-off was created, to be sure that it is appropriate to the sender's Internet domain; IP addresses can be faked, though, so the former identity verification is really the most reliable.When viewing a drop-off, the user will see quite a few things:
- All users can click on the link provided in the notification email they were sent.
- An inside user, once logged-in to the system, can display their "Inbox" which is a list of all drop-offs waiting for them. Once logged-in, an inside user is able to access drop-offs without needing the email message.
The recipient has 180 days to pick-up the files. Each night, drop-offs that are older than 180 days are removed from the system.
- The list of files that were uploaded
- The sender and recipient information that the sender entered when the drop-off was created
- The computer name and/or address from which the drop-off was created
- Optionally a list of pick-ups that have been made
Resumable Downloading of Files
Most web browsers support resumable downloads. Imagine this scenario: you're sitting at your local coffee shop, downloading a 100 MByte PDF that a student uploaded to ZendTo for you. Suddenly, someone a few tables away starts watching the latest movie trailer (well, attempting to, anyway) and your wireless connection drops — you were 95MB into the download, and now you have to start over! Not so, if your browser supports resumable downloads; in which case, the browser requests only the remaining 5MB of the file.ZendTo features support for the server-side components of resumable download technology under the HTTP 1.1 standard.
Size Limitations on Uploads
Being able to upload files larger than 2 GB depends on the browser being used. The following major browsers have been tested:Browser | Uploads > 2 GB? | |
Safari 5.x | YES |
Chrome | YES | |
Firefox 5.x | YES | |
Opera 10.x | YES | |
Internet Explorer 6 | NO |
Internet Explorer 7 | NO | |
Internet Explorer 9 64-bit | YES | |
Firefox 5.x | YES | |
Opera 10 | YES |
The ZendTo software itself has limits on the amount of data that can be uploaded in a single dropoff. Even for browsers that support uploads larger than 2 GB, dropoffs may not exceed 500.0 GB per file, or 500.0 GB total for the entire dropoff.
If you are having the following issues when dropping-off or picking-up a large file:
- Your browser reports a bad or broken connection after downloading a significant portion of the file
- An error page is displayed that indicates you dropped-off no files
Based upon the original Perl UD Dropbox software written by Doke Scott. Version 4.28 has been developed by Julian Field.


text:
to Shreeji Consultancy
Hello and welcome to Shreeji Consultancy. Shreeji Consultancy is one of the reliable consultancy firm engaged in the business of providing a wide range of services such as Registration, Maintenance & Consultation to various clients. We are providing various services which helps you to save your time and you can spend that time for growth of your business.


text:
Posted by Editoress on 02/8/11
J&J Cycle in Kingston ON is looking for a full time employee for bicycle sales as well as bicycle assembly. The candidate must have a passion for cycling and retail sales experience is an asset.
Please call John or Sheila Gardner @ 613 389 6777 to discuss this position or e-mail your resume to firstname.lastname@example.com
Return to Cycling 4 Women homepage | Return to Canadian Cyclist homepage | Back to Top |


text:
To countdown the last 100 days until San Francisco's first regular season game, we're enlisting the help of the almost-finished 49ers Museum presented by SONY.
The Museum's By the Numbers Gallery will supply our historic numbers – and the stories behind them – as we get ready for the 49ers-Dallas Cowboys opener on Sept. 7.
After all, football is a game of statistics, but they're only meaningful in context. The Museum, built with education, innovation and heritage in mind, is aiming for an engaging and relevant experience in all facets of a guest's visit.
Visitors will find this to be the case in any one of 11 unique exhibits across 20,000 square feet celebrating past and present. On their way to the Museum's upper-level Super Bowls Gallery, the numerals in By the Numbers will start popping out along a wall, with the stories – and imagery – appearing behind them. The objective is to create a visually appealing repository of content that adds to what guests have already learned in their time exploring the space.
An example of a stat that won't make our countdown for obvious reasons: 149. This represents the franchise's career high for punt returns, but it belongs to a wide receiver known more for his pass-catching: John Taylor.
"We researched and wrote stories around numbers that are not obvious but instead add an element of intrigue," Jesse Lovejoy, the museum's director, said. "We also executed the gallery in a way that we think will also be visually appealing and complex."
We'll highlight some key stats over the three months ahead, and they will tell the tales that aren't often highlighted. This is the case at 97 and 100, where we commenced our countdown.
Learn more about the museum's offerings and accessibility at **levisstadium.com/museum**.


text:
iPhone 12 Series Hadley Blue Jay
Accessorize your phone without sacrificing security with our stylish hand designed hadley blue jay case. This pretty dual layer tough case uses an impact resistant polycarbonate outer shell and inner TPU liner for extra protection. Clear, open ports allow for easy connectivity. You will love this high quality phone case offering a distinctive design and excellent phone protection.


text:
As data breaches and hacking schemes accumulate, US companies are bombarded with Armageddon scenarios.
They are urged to model and insure against more and more complex data losses. The latest is today's news that Russian hackers have attacked J.P. Morgan Chase and four other banks. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is trying to determine if Russia is behind the cyber attack in retaliation for sanctions led by the US.
An increasing number of attacks has created demand for comprehensive cyber-insurance products, and for insurance companies willing to commit capital to the risk of catastrophic cyber losses. Insurance companies have hurried to meet this demand.
There is evidence, however, that what insurance markets regard as a catastrophic cyber loss may actually be a warm-up for the main event. Warnings of a cyber attack that shuts down not just a major retailer but whole industries have moved out of the realm of security experts. Recently, the federal government and some of the biggest companies in the nation have begun working in concert to identify, measure and protect against the mega-cyber loss — the one so big that it impacts national security and causes the stock market to falter.
The risk of bad underwriting: Past insurance gold rushes have ended badly for underwriters who sold policies aggressively to get premiums in the door, ignoring their risk modelers and the inevitability of losses from cyclical perils. Businesses need to consider whether this pattern might repeat itself in the cyber-risk realm. What if the risk of a massive cyber assault cannot be effectively modeled based on existing data? What if insurance companies are competing for cyber-insurance premiums more or less blindly?
In the wake of a huge natural disaster, property insurance companies often withdraw from writing property policies — or threaten to withdraw in an effort to gain government aid. For example, following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, State Farm withdrew from writing commercial and homeowners policies in Mississippi, citing the state's "current legal and political environment." That was an admission that these insurance companies incorrectly modeled risk, failed to mitigate risk through diversification or transfer to reinsurers, or did not heed their own risk modeling in pricing policies.
Wanted: better data security standards: Effective underwriting and pricing of the risk of a catastrophic cyber attack is elusive because there are no agreed-upon data-security standards guiding companies in their preparation for the Big One, to which insurance underwriters can refer in evaluating risk and pricing policies. Although the NIST Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity uses risk-management processes to enable organizations to inform and prioritize decisions regarding cybersecurity, it does not establish security guidelines.
If Congress were more effective at bipartisan problem-solving, it would appoint a special commission to hear evidence from security experts, risk managers and insurance underwriters to generate a set of best practices for measuring and protecting against the risk of a catastrophic cyber attack affecting critical infrastructure. But such concerted government action seems Utopian today.
The worst-case scenario, when the Big One happens, is that insurance companies will disengage from their corporate policyholders just as the wave of catastrophic claims breaks over insurance markets. When this catastrophe occurs, policyholders and their insurance companies must re-engage at a deeper level, to work through the aftermath of a disaster. But this kind of re-engagement is unlikely to happen absent better underwriting and pricing of cyber insurance, coupled with the best possible policy forms that minimize insurance companies' ability to raise technical-coverage defenses.
Without these important controls, it will be difficult for corporate policyholders to remain confident that when the inevitable mega-cyber attack happens, the insurance industry will be ready for it — and willing to pay what undoubtedly will be enormous claims.
Multi-tiered risk management: Given the uncertainties of risk transfer, what's a prudent company to do? Step one for avoiding an uninsured catastrophe is to beat cyber criminals at their own game through better data security. Yet experts constantly warn that no security protocols are sure to fend off a determined hacker. It may be naïve to rely solely upon good security in this threat environment.
The ultimate form of self-reliance against an uninsured or ineffectively insured cyberattack would be self-insurance, in which alternative vehicles such as captive insurance companies are used to dilute exposure. (Captive insurance companies are subsidiaries of non-insurance firms created to help protect their parent organizations against risk.) Those methods of transferring risk may be limited by the same capacity barriers found in standard insurance markets, although reinsuring a cyber-loss exposure covered by a captive might offer better risk-spreading opportunities.
Given the limitations of any one tool, the presence of disastrous cyber risk requires a multi-tiered strategy to mitigate and spread it. That is, a combination of vigilant security, alternative insurance vehicles and use of the many cyber-insurance products available to transfer this kind of risk away from its balance sheet. Plus, awareness that many of the more traditional lines of insurance, such as crime or general liability, may respond to at least a portion of the claim.
A truly prepared company will have coordinated these measures at the executive-suite level, with a clear vision of the scope of the risk. The need for the attention of a company's senior management and board has never been more urgent.
This story first appeared in MarketWatch


text:
Thymus dahuricus Serg.
Species in the Global Pollen Project's Master Reference Collection
- Parent Taxon
- Thymus
- Global Pollen Project UUID
- 85d02058-4202-4176-8972-5daee1a00cd5
- Botanical Reference
- None available. You can check The Plant List for further information.
Connected data sources
This taxon is currently linked to the following locations.
The Plant ListGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility