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A town on Ethiopia's border with Kenya is on edge after Ethiopian security forces shot and killed 10 people and injured 11 others Saturday, the mayor said.
Residents of Moyale, along with the Command Post, the military unit overseeing a recently enacted state of emergency, confirmed the casualties in the southernmost part of Oromia, a region gripped in recent years by protests and government crackdowns.
By most accounts, the attack was sudden and unprovoked. Armed security forces began shooting Moyale residents in the streets and in shops and restaurants, killing and injuring apparently innocent people, most of whom were in their 20s.
Moyale's mayor, Aschalew Yohannes, described how the attack began. "A young man was on his motorbike, and security forces stopped him and shot him," Yohannes said. "After that, they were shooting at everyone in the town. What we have confirmed so far is that there are 10 people killed and 11 people injured, and of those five have gone to Hawasa," he said, referring to a town more than 400 kilometers (249 miles) north of Moyale.
It isn't clear why Golo Waqo, the man on the motorbike, was stopped and shot. He may have been participating in a peaceful protest, according to Yohannes. After killing Waqo, the security forces continued shooting people in the busy district.
"This happened in the streets of the town, and there were residential houses and cafes, and this was a place where the people were normally going about their lives."
'Like an enemy chasing us'
Tamam Nageso, the principal of a school in the area, was returning home for lunch when the attack unfolded. The 34-year-old husband and father of one had just completed a morning of parent-teacher meetings at the school.
The award-winning educator was walking home when a bullet struck his leg. He fell down but managed to get back up to run for safety.
The bullets kept flying, and Nageso was shot twice more. He died in the street.
"This is like an enemy chasing us. There's no one to hold them to account, and we can only pray to God," a friend of Nageso told VOA Amharic by phone. "We have lost a friend whom we really loved, and from now on we expect the same for us."
Residents say the attack was unprompted, and the victims were simply going about their daily lives.
"There is a church around here, Abune Aregawi, and there are shops, residential places and restaurants," one resident told VOA by phone.
The woman said most of those killed were young, but two elderly people also died. The victims came from different ethnic groups and were going to and from work and carrying out their days in the Shewaber district, she added.
"I don't know how they view us, but this seems like they were taking some sort of revenge," she said. We don't know how to live, and we are so confused. All we can say is may God help us. That's all I can say, nothing more."
Wrong information
The Ethiopian government has characterized the attack as a mistake due to bad intelligence.
Soldiers received a dispatch about possible activity involving the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), according to General Hassan Ibrahim, who spoke to FANA, a state-owned broadcaster. OLF is a militant opposition group that wants the current government, which considers OLF a terrorist organization, removed from power.
It was based on that dispatch, the general said, that soldiers began attacking people in Moyale. At a press conference for local journalists, a Command Post official confirmed that security forces had killed nine people in the town and injured 12 others. After the briefing, one injured person later died.
Yohannes, the mayor, found the purported mistake implausible. "It is known that OLF sometimes makes some movements through the Kenya border in the past, but there is nothing that connects this incident with OLF," Yohannes told VOA Amharic.
The Command Post expressed deep regret for the attack and said it is investigating five people, including the person in charge of the security forces believed to be responsible for his incident.
Yohannes said the Command Post and local security forces aren't in close contact, making it difficult to get answers. He called for a meeting to ensure voices from his community are heard and has lodged complaints at every level of government.
"As the mayor of this town, I would say that this should never happen to enemies, let alone citizens. This has to be improved totally — that's what I believe. And the people are scared now due to what happened, so it is a really difficult situation," he said.
VOA's calls to government officials were not returned.
Calls for accountability
Yared Hailemariam, the executive director of the Swiss-based Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia, criticized the government's response.
Hailemariam said the incident in Moyale reflects the free rein given to security forces. Asking for forgiveness and investigating those directly responsible aren't enough, he said.
"They should hold to account not just the four to five people who are part of the security forces, but the authorities on top at the federal level leading the Command Post should be questioned," he told VOA Amharic.
Multiple sources told VOA that the attack resulted in large-scale displacements, with residents in fear of their lives fleeing over the border into Kenya.
One man who crossed into Kenya told VOA Amharic that he thought 2,000 people were staying in the area and said that most of the displaced people are children and women.
Another resident who fled has 13 children.
"Because security forces barged into our homes, opening the doors by force, and we didn't even have time to ask what the problem is, I was scared and left without shutting the door," she told VOA. "I am spending the night where I can, but I have nothing to feed my children."
The government declared a state of emergency on February 16 to stabilize the country following continued protests and unrest.

subset: commoncrawl


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The holiday season is a time for giving. When most of us think of giving, we think of gifts. The mere thought of tackling that Christmas list can be daunting. Maybe there isn't enough money to buy the gifts you'd like to give. Or perhaps you have a few of those "hard to buy for" people who have everything. So you put on your Betty Crocker hat and spend hours in the kitchen making cookies, sweet breads, and fudge to give as gifts. You make homemade ornaments and other Christmas crafts, or you buy another pair of socks and another boring tie.
I'm going to ask you to think a little less traditionally about gift giving, and consider giving of yourself this holiday season. I've been reading Rick Warren's new book "God's Power to Change Your Life". In his book, he discusses a well known topic - the fruits of the spirit. I got to thinking about how wonderful it would be to make a conscious effort to give one or all of these nine gifts. These gifts can be given to anyone and everyone, they cost you nothing but your heart, and they never go out of style.
What is love? So many people think of love as a strong feeling we have. We love our kids, our spouse, and our friends, especially when they are nice to us. But do we love people when they are unlovable, or do we love people who have hurt us deeply? Love is a matter of choice, and love is an action, not a feeling. How can we stretch ourselves and offer love in the most difficult situations? Give the gift of forgiveness to someone you've been holding a grudge against. Think loving thoughts of people when they are really aggravating you. Act lovingly to someone you do not like, and pray for people that mistreat you.
The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy, but yet many of us don't feel it. We equate joy with happiness, but the two are not the same. Your happiness depends on your circumstances - whether you're having a good day or bad day. Joy, on the other hand, is an attitude we can choose to have. Regardless of our situation, we can choose to be joyful. Consider changing your perspective and chucking self-pity. Focus on God's love and His plans for you, which are always good, even when you have to walk through the valley first. Give the gift of gratitude, cheerful giving, and service. Everyone loves to be appreciated and served with a smile.
Most of the time, the holidays are anything but peaceful. The stress that often comes with holidays makes for a chaotic time. So how can you offer peace to the people around you when they most need it? Spend time in prayer so that you can receive the spiritual and emotional peace that comes from God. Then you can give relational peace to others by having an internal sense of peace and turning away from conflict. Meet criticism with a calm and listening ear, instead of defensiveness. Offer compassion and understanding instead of anger and fighting words. Manage your own stress so you can be an example to everyone around you.
Rick Warren says you can test your patience in four ways. How do you deal with interruptions? How do you handle inconveniences? How do you respond to the irritations in your life? What is your reaction when you have to wait? Let's face it. The holiday season can really test our patience. Whether it's having to drive to 5 different stores to find the one toy that is out of stock, dealing with irritable and snobbish people, or waiting in endless lines, our reaction is the true test of how patient we are. Give the gift of patience by developing a deeper love for people, changing how you view situations, learning to laugh at the craziness, and depending on God to see you through the stressful times.
Do you ever stop and ask yourself how you can be kind to someone today? Acts of kindness require thoughtful effort. Smiling at people who are having a bad day is an act of kindness. Kindness can be expressed by taking the time to listen to someone who is hurting. Giving people genuine compliments and seeing the best in people is a way to show kindness. Go out of your way to do something nice for someone, and don't wait until it's convenient for you because that time often does not come. In this busy world, everyone can benefit from a little kindness.
According to Rick Warren, "God says in his Word that the good life is not based on looking good, feeling good, or having goods. He says the good life is a life filled with goodness - being and doing good. When you are being good and doing good, you are going to feel good, and you are even going to start looking good - or at least looking better." How can you give the gift of goodness? By being and doing good according to God's word, and not the world. Whenever I am perplexed by how to handle a tough situation, I always ask myself, "What would Jesus do?" How would Jesus offer goodness to people this holiday season?
Giving the gift of faithfulness means you are reliable, trustworthy, dependable and consistent. If you say you're going to do something, do it. If you make plans to meet a friend, follow through with the plans, and do not cancel. Keep your promises and be a woman of integrity. Let people know you can be depended on for help this holiday season. Avoid gossiping and instead be a trustworthy friend. Be faithful to God by spending time everyday thanking Him for the love and blessings he gives you, as well as giving of your time, talent, and financial resources. We all need faithful people in our lives - don't underestimate the power of this gift.
Everyone loves a gentle spirit. Gentle people are well liked and offer the gift of love and healing to wounded souls. There are so many ways to be gentle to people. Consider having compassion and understanding by being able to set aside your own needs and see things from someone else's point of view, instead of demanding your own way. One of the greatest gifts you can give to someone is that of being non-judgmental. Have you ever wanted to share something that was really important to you, but you feared how people might judge you? How good it would feel to be able to open your heart to someone that was totally non-judgmental. Gentleness involves talking to people with respect and disagreeing peacefully. James 1:19 says, "Let every man be quick to listen but slow to use his tongue, and slow to lose his temper".
Give yourself the gift of self-control. Many of the problems we face in our life develop from a lack of self-control. Whether we face weight loss issues, financial debt, bad habits, or disorganization, the root of the problem usually starts with us. So how can you give yourself the gift of self-control? It starts with taking responsibility and committing to change. Think positive, believe in yourself, and do not let your past failures dictate your future success. Ask someone in your life or hire a life coach to hold you accountable to the change you'd like to make. Stay away from anything that tempts you to backslide on your goal, and rely on God's power to see you through to the end. While the holiday season is about giving, you too deserve a gift.
There is no reason to worry about money or buying the wrong gift because everyone appreciates receiving gifts from the heart. So this holiday season give your family, friends, neighbors, strangers, God and yourself the gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.


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Argument preview: The CSRA and the right to vindicate constitutional claims
on Feb 17, 2012 at 11:46 am
I. Introduction
As the D.C. Circuit put it twenty-five years ago, "it has become something of a time-honored tradition for the Supreme Court and lower federal courts to find that Congress did not intend to preclude altogether judicial review of constitutional claims in light of the serious due process concerns that such preclusion would raise." When the Supreme Court hears arguments in Elgin v. U.S. Department of the Treasury on February 27, this time-honored tradition will be lurking in the background as the Justices consider the scope of administrative review available to former federal civil service employees under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA).
II. The CSRA and statutory bars to employment
At the heart of the dispute in Elgin is a 1985 federal statute (codified at 5 U.S.C. § 3328) that bars from civil service employment in the executive branch any individual born after 1959 who, despite being required to register for the Selective Service, knowingly and willfully declined to do so. Four former government employees who were fired or forced to resign because of this statutory bar sought to enjoin the provision in federal district court in Boston. Specifically, the plaintiffs maintain that (1) Section 3328 is an unconstitutional bill of attainder; and (2) it unconstitutionally discriminates on the basis of sex since, thanks to the exclusion of women from the Selective Service, it can only apply to men.
Whatever the merits of the plaintiffs' claims (the latter of which may well be foreclosed by Rostker v. Goldberg), the real question in Elgin is whether the district court was empowered to consider them. In the CSRA, Congress provided an alternative administrative remedy for certain government employees to challenge the basis for their removal if the removal is "for such cause as will promote the efficiency of the service." Although the CSRA nowhere provides that these administrative remedies are meant to be exclusive, the Supreme Court has hinted – and some lower courts have squarely held—that in cases in which such review is available under the CSRA, the removed government employee must first seek review before the Merit Systems Protection Board. An adverse decision from the MSPB may in turn be appealed to the Federal Circuit, whose decisions are reviewable via certiorari by the Supreme Court. Superficially, then, Elgin appears to turn on the relatively technical question of whether it is sufficiently clear, notwithstanding the silence of the statutory text, that Congress in the CSRA intended for the administrative remedial scheme to be exclusive.
The complication in Elgin is the uncertainty surrounding whether the plaintiffs' claims are in fact reviewable via the MSPB process. The district court (which ultimately ruled against the plaintiffs on the merits) held that it had jurisdiction because the MSPB is not empowered to review claims arising out of an "absolute statutory prohibition" to employment, such as the bar provided by Section 3328. And as Judge Stahl pointed out in his concurring opinion in the First Circuit, "[t]he MSPB consistently dismisses appeals related to terminations pursuant to § 3328 on these grounds, a position the government regularly advances before the Board and on which it succeeded in the MSPB appeal by [Elgin himself]." Indeed, the relevant Office of Personnel Management regulation specifically states that, once the agency determines that Section 3328 applies, "[t]here is no further right to administrative review." As the district court and Judge Stahl reasoned, if these claims do fall outside the scope of the MSPB's jurisdiction, it is difficult to believe Congress meant for such review to be exclusive – all the more so because such a result might raise serious constitutional questions.
The First Circuit nevertheless held that the CSRA review scheme implicitly forecloses the district court's jurisdiction. Writing for a divided panel, Judge Boudin explained that, even if the MSPB "may be powerless to strike down the statute, the Federal Circuit on review of the Board may do so, and, if it agreed with the plaintiffs on the merits, remand to the Board to grant relief." In other words, in the First Circuit's view, the process created by the CSRA could provide for vindication of the plaintiffs' constitutional claims, even if only on petition for review to the Federal Circuit. Judge Stahl disagreed, arguing that "the Federal Circuit has never reached beyond the limits of the MSPB to hear the merits of a claim otherwise barred from review. In only one instance has it hypothesized the possibility, and never before has it acted on the idea." Thus, in Judge Stahl's view, whether review in the Federal Circuit is available in theory, it has not been available in fact. Judge Stahl nevertheless agreed with the district court that the plaintiffs' underlying constitutional claims are ultimately meritless.
III. Elgin in the Supreme Court
If the briefing in the Supreme Court is any indication, the outcome may well turn on whether the Justices are more inclined toward Judge Boudin's or Judge Stahl's assessment of the Federal Circuit's authority. In their merits brief, petitioners open with the argument that because the CSRA does not expressly divest federal district courts of the equitable authority to entertain constitutional claims, that should be the end of the matter regardless of the scope of the Federal Circuit's jurisdiction. Invoking long-standing canons of statutory interpretation with regard to the equitable powers of the district courts, petitioners offer a series of fairly compelling policy reasons for why Congress should not be allowed implicitly to divest district courts of their traditional equitable authority.
The remaining two-thirds of petitioners' opening brief, though, is devoted to explaining why Judge Stahl was correct – and why the review provided by the CSRA would not provide them with a meaningful opportunity to litigate their constitutional claims. In particular, they articulate in substantial detail how, even if the Federal Circuit has the power to reach issues over which the MSPB lacked jurisdiction, it would nevertheless be left to decide constitutional claims like those at issue in Elgin without the benefit of a factual record. And although these two central arguments are presented separately, it is difficult to imagine, as petitioners conclude, that Congress in the CSRA could have meant to displace the district courts' traditional equitable powers with such truncated (and non-administrative) review in the Federal Circuit.
Like the petitioners, the government's merits brief begins with arguments based on Congress's intent before moving to the review actually available under the CSRA. Although the government concedes that the CSRA does not expressly oust the district court's jurisdiction, it nevertheless maintains that administrative review should be allowed to displace such authority when Congress's intent is "fairly discernible." As for the scope of review provided by the CSRA, the government's reasoning largely tracks that of Judge Boudin for the First Circuit: "[E]ven if the MSPB lacks authority to decide certain constitutional claims, that would not render the CSRA's statutory scheme inapplicable to such claims. Instead, . . . all it would mean is that the Federal Circuit would address the constitutional argument in the first instance." And if further factual development was necessary to resolution of the underlying constitutional claims, the government noted, the Federal Circuit has the authority to remand the matter to the MSPB.
Perhaps tellingly, though, the government's brief never suggests that the CSRA scheme should be seen as exclusive even if meaningful review is not available in the Federal Circuit. Ultimately, whether or not the prospect of meaningful review in the Federal Circuit is sufficient to displace the district court's equitable authority, all sides appear to agree that it is necessary.
IV. Conclusion
Throughout its merits brief, the government repeatedly analogizes the question presented in Elgin to the Supreme Court's 1994 decision in Thunder Basin Coal Co. v. Reich. There, the Court held that the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act implicitly precluded district court jurisdiction over a pre-enforcement constitutional challenge to an administrative order issued under the statute, even though the Act was explicit as to the exclusivity of administrative review for post-enforcement challenges and silent as to the exclusivity of pre-enforcement administrative review. As in Elgin, there were substantial questions in Thunder Basin concerning the agency's ability to provide meaningful review of the plaintiffs' constitutional claims, questions which the Court sidestepped by holding that "petitioner's statutory and constitutional claims here can be meaningfully addressed in the Court of Appeals." Thus, Justice Blackmun explained, "This case thus does not present the 'serious constitutional question' that would arise if an agency statute were construed to preclude all judicial review of a constitutional claim."
Although the parties will no doubt devote substantial portions of the oral argument to the question of whether Congress's intent is as clear in this case as the Court concluded it was in Thunder Basin, the ultimate disposition will far more likely turn on whether the Justices believe that, as in Thunder Basin, meaningful review is both formally and practically available in the Federal Circuit.


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Angelcare recalls baby monitors after 2 deaths
Posted: Nov 22, 2013 6:57 PM CST | Updated: Nov 5, 2014 12:41 PM CST
(CNN) -- \"Stop worrying while your baby sleeps!\" reads the box on one model of the Angelcare Movement Sensor with Sound Monitor.
\"The peace of mind you need,\" says the box containing another model.
But news announced this week by federal authorities working with the company was far from reassuring.
Citing two deaths by cord strangulation, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday that the company is recalling 600,000 Angelcare Movement and Sound Monitors with Sensor Pads.
\"The cord attached to the baby monitor's sensor pad is placed under the crib mattress, which poses a strangulation risk if the child pulls the cord into the crib and it becomes wrapped around the neck,\" the safety commission said Thursday in announcing the voluntary recall.
In one case, a 13-month-old girl died in San Diego in November 2011; in the other case, an 8-month-old girl died in Salem, Oregon, in August 2004.
\"In both fatalities, the cord from the sensor pads was pulled into the crib by the infant,\" the CPSC said in the announcement posted on its website.
Asked why years had elapsed between the deaths and the recall, CPSC Director of Communications Scott Wolfson said the agency had moved as quickly as it could. \"There are times when we see information we can act upon, and there are times when we need to gather more information,\" he told CNN in a telephone interview.
Angelcare settled a claim in the 2011 death and has no pending legal claims against it, said Rick Locker, a counsel for the company, in a telephone interview.
Though the recall affects only the United States, where both deaths occurred, and Canada, the company is offering rigid cord covers to consumers anywhere in the world, he said.
The monitors -- made by Angelcare Monitors Inc., of Quebec, Canada -- include a sensor placed in the crib under the mattress to monitor the baby's movement. On all models that did not include cord covers, the sensor pad is connected to the monitor unit by an approximately 11-foot electrical cord, which \"can be pulled into the crib and can wrap around the child's neck.\"
The recall covers all versions of Angelcare sensor monitors that did not come with the rigid cord covers, including numbers: AC1100, AC201, AC300, AC401 and 49255. The model numbers are located on the back of the nursery monitor unit. They were made between 1999 and 2013.
The company is offering a repair kit that includes rigid protective cord covers, a new, permanent warning label and revised instructions.
The monitors cost $100 to $300 and were sold between October 1999 and September 2013 at Babies R Us/Toys R Us, Burlington Coat Factory, Meijer, Sears, Walmart, Amazon.com, Target.com, Overstock.com, and almost 70 small baby-specialty stores.
\"Consumers should immediately make sure cords are placed out of reach of the child and contact Angelcare toll-free at (855) 355-2643 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm's website at www.angelcarebaby.com to order the free repair kit,\" the announcement said.
The CPSC announced in 2011 that there had been seven reports of strangulation by baby monitor cords since 2002. Since then, the number of deaths has risen to eight.
On Friday, eBay was offering 195 Angelcare monitors from as little as $0.99 to $260.00.
Selling recalled items is against the law, said CPSC's Wolfson, who added that his agency has an Internet surveillance unit to track down such sales.
\"What our experience is in the areas of Internet sales is that consumers just don't know about recall announcements,\" he said. \"They traditionally don't have malicious intent; they're just misinformed.\"


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Christine Harper and Michael J. Moore Wednesday, 19 December 2012 10:06 AM EST
For employees at the biggest Wall Street banks, 2012 brought a humbling post-crisis reality of job cuts, lower pay and tarnished reputations. For investors, it was a happier story.
The 81-company Standard & Poor's 500 Financial Index is up 27 percent this year, its largest annual increase since 2003, led by a 104 percent gain in Bank of America Corp. The index beat the broader S&P 500 Index for the first time since 2006.
Shareholders, impatient for the industry to boost profit, were rewarded as Wall Street firms cut jobs and pay, and exited businesses. The shrinking unnerved employees, who watched the chiefs of two big banks lose their jobs and others contend with a drop in deal making and stock trading, stiffer regulations, trading losses, rating downgrades and scandals involving interest-rate manipulation and money laundering.
"There's always grumbling on Wall Street, which is pathetic given how overpaid we all are, but there is a level of angst this year that is just unprecedented," Gordon Dean, who left a 26-year career at Morgan Stanley to co-found a San Francisco boutique advisory firm this year, said in a telephone interview. "It's just a profound sadness and dissatisfaction."
Shareholders and bondholders who saw compensation costs at the nine largest global investment banks outpace the gain in revenue from 2004 to 2008 are witnessing a shift: Executives are more focused on investors than rainmakers.
Job Cuts
The nine banks — Deutsche Bank AG, Barclays Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America, Citigroup Inc., UBS AG, Credit Suisse Group AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley — announced more than 30,000 job cuts in the first nine months of the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Total pay for traders and investment bankers is about half what it was in 2007, according to an October report from Options Group, a New York-based recruitment firm.
"Shareholders have become a lot more vocal," said Benjamin Hesse, who manages five financial-stock funds and leads a team of 15 analysts and fund managers at Boston-based Fidelity Investments, which oversaw $1.7 trillion in assets as of Nov. 30. "Managements are taking more shareholder-friendly steps, and that's really across the board."
Goldman Sachs cut headcount and raised its dividend in the second quarter, the first time the New York-based bank has done both in the same period. It also named the smallest class of partners since going public in 1999. Morgan Stanley probably will report lower compensation costs in 2012, even as its shares went up, something that hasn't happened in at least 15 years.
Rewarding Investors
Investors have rewarded management teams that presented the most ambitious restructuring efforts.
Citigroup, the third-biggest U.S. bank by assets, climbed 4.8 percent in the two days after its board ousted Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit, 55. Earlier this year, shareholders cast a non-binding vote rejecting Pandit's compensation package. The stock also jumped 6.3 percent when his replacement, Michael Corbat, 52, said the New York-based bank would cut 11,000 jobs.
After Switzerland's UBS said it would jettison most of its fixed-income business and cut as many as 10,000 jobs, the Zurich-based bank's stock price climbed above book value for the first time in 15 months. Many of its rivals, including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, haven't traded above that level all year. Book value is an estimate of how much the bank's assets would be worth minus all of its liabilities.
Pendulum Swings
Even after gains this year, shares of the nine banks still trade at depressed levels as investors question their ability to boost profits. Total return to shareholders, which includes price gains as well as dividends, has been negative since the end of 2008 at Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, Citigroup and Credit Suisse. Only Barclays has beaten the S&P 500 Index in that period.
For bondholders, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Large Cap Banking Index has produced a total return of 13.9 percent this year, beating the 11 percent return on the broader Global Large Cap Corporate Index. It was the first time the bank index outperformed the corporate benchmark since 2008.
"The pendulum has totally, totally swung," said Davide Serra, a managing partner at London-based Algebris Investments LLP, which he said has profited this year by buying bonds of some of the world's largest banks. "It's better to be a bondholder than an employee."
Blankfein Pay
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the fifth- and sixth-biggest U.S. banks by assets, began holding conference calls for bondholders this year. Goldman, which hadn't raised its dividend since 2006, has lifted the payout twice since January.
The bank's return on equity, a measure of how well it has reinvested shareholder money, dropped to 8.8 percent through the first nine months of 2012 from 19.2 percent in the same period in 2009. The stock traded below book value every day this year.
To boost returns, Goldman Sachs cut about 2,800 jobs and reduced firm-wide compensation 16 percent in the past two years. CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein, 58, who was awarded a record-setting $67.9 million bonus for fiscal 2007, received $12.4 million in compensation for 2011.
Across Wall Street "there's a recognition that things are going to change and that it's very difficult to justify paying people entrepreneurial wages when they're really utilizing the platform and the capital of a public company," said Michael Aronstein, founder of New York-based Marketfield Asset Management, which manages about $3.5 billion. "This has been in the cards for five years, but it takes a long time."
Record Fines
A focus on boosting shareholder returns also helps senior employees and executives, who are getting a larger portion of their compensation in stock than they did before the financial crisis. Blankfein owned 1.79 million shares of Goldman Sachs as of Nov. 28, according to a company filing. Their value has climbed $67 million since the beginning of the year to $228 million as the stock rose 41 percent.
Banks have been humbled this year by trading losses and unprecedented fines. HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe's largest bank by market value, agreed to pay a record $1.92 billion this month to settle U.S. probes of money laundering after being accused of helping to provide terrorists and drug cartels with access to the U.S. financial system. Standard Chartered Plc was fined $667 million by U.S. regulators for facilitating transactions with Iran in violation of sanctions. Both banks are based in London.
Trading Losses
Kweku Adoboli, 32, a former trader at UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, was sentenced to seven years in jail on Nov. 20 for fraud in connection with $2.3 billion in losses on unauthorized trades. The U.K. regulator fined the bank 29.7 million pounds ($48.3 million) on Nov. 26, saying the loss revealed weaknesses in management systems and internal controls.
UBS is set to pay as much as $1.6 billion to settle regulators' claims that it manipulated the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, according to a person familiar with the probes. The fine would be more than three times what London- based Barclays agreed to pay in June. About a dozen banks are under investigation for rigging the benchmark or equivalent borrowing rates in Europe and Japan.
Barclays's 290 million-pound fine led to the resignation of CEO Robert Diamond after 16 years at the U.K.'s second-biggest bank by assets. The day after he resigned Diamond, 61, told Parliament's Treasury Select Committee that "clearly there was behavior that was reprehensible." It was an abrupt turnaround for a man who had declared, 18 months earlier, that the period of banks' "remorse and apology" should end.
Dimon Apology
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon apologized for a trading loss of at least $6.2 billion at his New York-based bank. As head of the biggest and most profitable U.S. lender, he also was the highest paid of his Wall Street peers, awarded $23 million in pay and bonuses for 2011. He was one of the most aggressive defenders of his industry against politicians and regulators, having publicly mocked U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, challenged Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and faulted former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker.
"We have let a lot of people down, and we are sorry for it," Dimon, 56, told the Senate Banking Committee on June 12 about the loss at a JPMorgan unit that the bank said was supposed to invest the firm's own money and hedge its risk.
At least four senior executives have left the company or been reassigned since the loss was revealed in May.
No Sympathy
Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, 54, said last month that scandals such as Adoboli's trading loss have made it difficult to improve the industry's reputation. He said employees should stop complaining about lower pay.
"There's not a lot of sympathy," Gorman said at a Nov. 29 Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference in New York. "The rest of society is going through at least as difficult a time from a much lower starting base."
The industry's lack of popular support was evident at the polls this year. Wall Street employees gave more money to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign than to President Barack Obama's, only to see voters re-elect Obama. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat who has championed tougher oversight of banks, defeated Republican U.S. Senator Scott Brown in Massachusetts. In France, voters elected as president a Socialist candidate, Francois Hollande, who said "my enemy is finance."
Shareholders expressed some sympathy for those who have lost jobs at banks or are being forced to adapt lifestyles to new pay levels. The biggest U.S. banks are cutting at least $30 billion of expenses, and "I shudder to think how many people that is," said Kevin Conn, a financial-stock analyst at Boston- based Massachusetts Financial Services Co., which managed $310.8 billion in mutual-fund and institutional accounts worldwide as of Nov. 30.
Shifting Environment
"The environment has shifted probably a little bit toward shareholders," Conn said. "I'm not sure that there's specifically shareholder pressure to cut compensation, but there is shareholder pressure to raise returns."
Bankers such as Dean and his two Morgan Stanley colleagues who started Dean Bradley Osborne LLC this year say they got out just in time. He said he sees the misery on Wall Street when friends at big firms tell him how lucky he is to have left.
It's not luck, said Dean, 49, who has hired three other former Morgan Stanley bankers. It's about understanding that the best jobs in finance may not be at the banks anymore.
"I was just talking with my wife about this last night," Dean said. "I look back on this year, and this is the happiest year I've had in 20 years. It's just starting fresh. Being able to do it the way we know it should be done is so liberating that I actually look forward to coming to work. I can't say the last five years at Morgan Stanley I felt the same way."
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U.S. stocks pared earlier gains and ended little changed Thursday afternoon, as enthusiasm over upbeat economic data faded.
The Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq both finished in the red, while the S&P 500 managed to hold just above the breakeven line, snapping a four-day losing streak.
Trading is expected to remain choppy for the next month, as investors refrain from making any large bets ahead of the November elections. Investors are also waiting for more clarity emerges on Europe's debt problems, particularly Spain's troubles.
Earlier Thursday, the major indexes were modestly higher as investors welcomed an unexpected drop in the number of people filing first-time unemployment claims. The number of jobless claims fell 30,000 to 339,000 last week, hitting the lowest level since February 2008. The drop, however, was caused by an anomaly as one state posted a large decline in claims, which is not typical during the last week in September.
Also on the economic front, the U.S. Census Bureau said the trade deficit fell slightly to $44.2 billion in August, and the Labor Department also reported import prices rose 1.1% in September, while export prices rose 0.8%.
Shares of Sprint (S) surged 14%, making it the top gainer in the S&P 500, on news that Japan's Softbank is nearing a deal to buy a controlling stake in the third largest U.S. carrier for about $12.8 billion. Softbank (SFTBF)'s mobile arm had over 30 million subscribers as of August. Sprint's networking partner Clearwire (CLWR) soared over 70% on reports that it may also be taken over as part of the deal.
Earlier this week, there had been speculation that Sprint might make a play for rival MetroPCS (PCS). But last week, MetroPCS merged with T-Mobile USA operator Deutsche Telekom.
Related: M&A drought not letting up
In Europe, credit rating agency S&P downgraded Spain late Wednesday, warning that the latest plan to recapitalize Spanish banks "still lacks predictability."
Joe Heider, managing principal of Rehmann Financial, said many investors were seeing the downgrade as a positive catalyst that could force Spain to finally seek a bailout.
European stocks started off lower, but rebounded to finish sharply higher. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.9%, the DAX in Germany rose 1.1%, and France's CAC 40 climbed 1.4%.
Meanwhile in Asia, South Korea's central bank lowered interest rates for the second time this year. Markets ended the day mixed. The Shanghai Composite slid 0.8% and Japan's Nikkei shed 0.6%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong ticked up 0.4%.
Companies: Third-quarter earnings season is underway, but only a handful of companies reported Thursday, including hardware supply store Fastenal and Safeway. Fastenal (FAST) shares jumped as the company met earnings expectations, while Safeway (SWY) shares declined after the company posted weak same-store sales.
Realogy, the parent of real estate brokers Century 21, ERA and Coldwell Banker, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker RLGY after the company priced its IPO at the top end of its estimated range. Shares of Realogy (RLGY) rose 27% from their offering price.
Shares of Shutterstock (SSTK) jumped more than 27% in their market debut. The online stock photography company also priced its shares above the expected range in its IPO.
Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell versus the euro and British pound, but it gained against the Japanese yen.
Oil for November delivery added 82 cents to settle at $92.07 a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery rose $5.50 to settle at $1,770.60 an ounce.
Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note edged higher, pushing the yield down to 1.67% from 1.69% late Wednesday.


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It has been a while since I posted on here... I just stay so busy with Ebay (esp. around Christmas) and with my Family.. and working on changing things abit in my home.. cant wait to get it finished and post pics.
Here are a few things that I made in between Ebay orders on the items I carry all the time.


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For many families, the costs of child care and college are obviously intertwined. Parents pay for the former so that they can work and save up enough—to help pay for the latter. It's not news that the prices of both of these essential expenses are rising. But which is climbing the fastest?
According to the new report from Child Care Aware of America, "the cost of child care continues to increase while families struggle to afford quality care." The agency released some alarming statistics (using 2011 numbers), such as:
*The average cost for center-based infant care exceeded $10,000 a year in 19 states and the District of Columbia.
*In 40 states and the District of Columbia, the average annual cost of infant care in a center exceeded 10 percent of the median household income for a two parent family.
*In three states (New York, Minnesota, Massachusetts), the average cost for center-based infant care exceeded 50 percent of the median income for a single mother family.
*Child care fees for two children (an infant and a 4-year-old) in a child care center exceeded annual median rent payments in every state.
*In 35 states plus D.C., the average annual cost for an infant in center-based care was higher than a year's tuition and fees at a four-year public college.
(MORE: The Verdict Is In: Tackle Smaller Debts First)
All qualify as worrisome, disturbing factoids, for sure. Overall, however, the numbers show that child care costs don't seem to be rising all that sharply—around 2% year over year for infant care. In fact, costs have decreased in certain states. Two years ago, the organization's study stated that center-based infant care in Massachusetts averaged a whopping $18,750. In 2011, the same care cost under $15,000 per year in the Bay State.
Likewise, the 2010 edition of this study indicated that average annual costs for center-based infant care exceeded the costs of annual tuition and fees at a four-year state college in 40 states—more than the three dozen instances (35 states plus D.C.) where this situation is occurring lately.
Does this mean that child care is actually becoming more affordable? Well, no. In the post-recession era, incomes have declined as average cost of living expenses have risen, so the 2% rise in child care costs is often a lot more painful than it might sound. The larger takeaway is that even as child care prices are increasing, college costs are rising much faster, with some state universities hiking tuition by 40%, even 60% in recent years.
(MORE: Top 10 Conspicuously Expensive Purchases)
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently highlighted the trend in which high school students are deciding not to go to college because it's become so expensive, and they fear getting saddled with debts they can't pay off. The refrain one high school guidance counselor hears from many students scared to embark on a college degree is this one: "I'm afraid to take on debt, because I see what my parents are going through."
A story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, meanwhile, reflects on how parents are reacting to rising child care costs. In Minnesota, a year of state-college tuition is much cheaper than a year of having an infant in a child care center ($13,579). When median income is taken into consideration, Minnesota ranks as the second costliest state for child care centers.
(MORE: Student Debt: Why Even the Affluent Struggle)
So what are parents doing to get by? Often, they're cutting costs by resorting to cheaper care options, such as in-home (possibly even illegal and unlicensed) care services. This is so even though investigations have revealed that "serious safety violations and deaths occur more often with in-home care than with large child care centers," according to the paper.
Brad Tuttle is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @bradrtuttle. You can also continue the discussion on TIME's Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.


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Press Release
Online Facility for Overseas Pakistanis to Regularize/Block Extra SIMs
Islamabad: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has introduced an online facility for overseas Pakistanis in order to get their SIMs data regularized or to block the extra SIMs/connections issued against their Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC). This automated facility has been made available on the websites of PTA and all cellular mobile operators.
Since the successful launch of SIM Information System 668 a total of more than 12.6 million mobile subscribers have sought their SIM information through this system, out of which 9.2 million queries were received through SMS whereas 3.4 million queries were received through PTAs web-link of SIM Information System. An analysis of web queries revealed that around 60% of the total web queries were being made by Pakistani community living abroad. Written requests of overseas Pakistanis are also being received to facilitate them in lodging their complaints and getting extra SIMs removed against their CNICs. Overseas Pakistanis can now visit PTAs Website http://www.pta.gov.pk/668/sim_info_overseas.html to resolve this issue.
It may be noted that PTA introduced SIM Information System - 668 in October 2009, which enables the mobile subscribers to know total number of SIMs issued against their respective CNIC numbers with each mobile operator. A web-link of this service is already available on PTAs website.
Khurram A. Mehran
Director (PR)


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Chestnut Bavarois
I love many things in life, and this dessert sprung out of a an old love I have for chestnut puree and a new addiction my awesome aunt Agnes nourished this Christmas by giving me a really cool little book.
Everytime I go home, I ask my mom for a few favorites: boudin noir, blanquette de veau, viande des grisons, creme Danette or Mont Blanc, and "creme de marrons". On its own, it is just allright but when used in custards, cakes and mousses its flavor really shines through and the cream takes on a velvety smooth, somewhat chocolatey taste. We did not eat it in great quantity in our house thus it truly felt felt special when I could have some.
This Christmas, I dragged B. into the Grande Epicerie at Le Bon Marche where we stocked up on fine chocolate, Mariage Freres tea, jams and syrups and of course a jar of chesnut cream.
It had to be kismet or fate because while I was perousing a couple of French magazines on the plane home, looking for ideas for an upcoming dinner party I found a promising recipe for a "bavarois" using the chestnust. The picture looked nice enough, but after reading the above mentionned book I could not stop thinking about using glasses as a plating and serving medium.
They turned out perfect. The flavors were great and "grown up", the presentation allowed me to let the kid in me play around a little. "Verrines" are great for layering but the different types of glasses you can use really help support your imagination and creativity.
I have to warn you that you might see a lot more of this type of dessert on this blog because I have caught the bug! I have to mention Mercotte for starting this! Her blog is full of delectable creations!
Chestnut Bavarois, adapted from Avantages magazine:
Serves 6. Prepare it the day before so that it has time to set and allow the flavors to develop.
2 egg yolks
200 ml milk (about 3/4 cup)
30 gr. sugar (1 oz)
1 packet gelatine
200 gr. chestnut puree
2 Tb. cognac
200 ml. heavy cream
Sprinkle the gelatin over some cold water (I used 1/2 cup). Set aside.
Make a creme anglaise: Heat the milk until very hot. In the meantime, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale. When the milk is hot, slowly but steadily pour it over the egg yolks and continue to stir until well incorporated. Put the mixture back on the stove over medium low heat and continue to cook and stir until the cream coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and stir in the gelatin and the cognac. Mix well, add the chestnut puree and let cool to room temperature.
Whip the heavy cream to a stiff mousse and when the chesnut cream mixture is cool but not yet set, fold the whipped cream carefully.
At this point you can line indivual molds with plastic wrap and divide the mixture among them, refrigerate and when the mixture is set, inver the molds and remove the plastic, decorate and serve.
I took six small glasses and divide the mouse among those. I topped each with slightly sweetened whipped cream, a dash of cinnamon, a couple of chocolate cookie sticks and star fruit.
One of our guest could not make it to the party, so B. and I shared the extra one the night after. When I say share, I mean I let him have a spoonful and the rest was for me…he is the one who did not want to put the jar of chestnut puree in the suitcase in the first place (was getting heavy…but what's one more jar?) but now could not stop wanting more…


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Creating your own Publication List
You manage your publications in a single location with our RWTH Publications document server. You can use the data we re-edit to integrate publication lists into your own homepage.
You can find detailed directions in our RWTH Publications Handbook (en). You can contact us at any time if you have questions.


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Since 2000, IOM has been producing its flagship world migration reports every two years. The World Migration Report 2022, the eleventh in the world migration report series, has been produced to contribute to increased understanding of migration and mobility throughout the world. This new edition presents key data and information on migration as well as thematic chapters on highly topical migration issues, and is structured to focus on two key contributions for readers:
The first session of International Dialogue on Migration (IDM) 2023 took place on 30 and 31 March 2023, with the theme, Leveraging Human Mobility in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The session took place at a crucial time in light of the imminent SDG Summit in September, which marked the midway point in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and provided an opportunity to assess progress towards the SDGs.
The global response to climate change is at a crossroads. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its sixth assessment report summary for policymakers, notes that it is "more likely than not" that global average temperature increase will surpass 1.5 °C in the coming years.
Migration can be a powerful driver for sustainable development and is recognized as a cross-cutting issue throughout the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. While the inclusion of migration in the 2030 Agenda presents countries with a series of new migration data challenges and reporting requirements, when this was adopted in 2015 it was seen overall as a key opportunity to improve migration data.
Jointly developed by IOM and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, this guidance manual aims to support the efforts of governments and other stakeholders in improving data collection, management, sharing and use, so that more high-quality data can be leveraged to inform policy and programming.


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Book review: Ross Poldark by Winston Graham
Ross Poldark and Demelza, published in paperback by Pan to tie in with the new production, are the first two of Winston Graham's groundbreaking 12-book series which began in 1945 and ended in the 1970s. The first seven books were adapted by the BBC in a series broadcast between 1975 and 1977.
Graham, who died in 2003, was the author of more than forty novels, including Marnie, a nail-biting psychological thriller which was brought to the big screen by Alfred Hitchcock in 1964.
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Hide AdBut it was the thrilling and romantic Poldark family series, set in the rugged wilds of Cornwall in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, which won him acclaim and fame across the world.
It was a time of huge social change as revolutions in America and France caused the British working classes to question their extreme poverty, and the aristocracy to fear the loss of their wealth and privilege.
In the first book, British Army officer Ross Poldark returns to his land and his family in Cornwall in 1783 after fighting in the American Revolution. But the joyful homecoming he has anticipated turns sour.
His family and friends thought he was dead. Elizabeth Chynoweth, the woman he hoped to marry, is now engaged to his cousin Francis Poldark. His father is dead and the property he has inherited has been allowed to deteriorate.
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Hide AdBut his sympathy for the destitute miners and farmers of the district leads him to rescue Demelza Carne, a half-starved urchin girl, from a fairground brawl and take her home, an act which alters the whole course of his life…
In the second book, Demelza is now his wife but the events of these turbulent years – tin and copper mines closing down as prices slump, a dearth of fish, high food and rent costs – test their marriage and their love.
Demelza's efforts to adapt to the ways of the gentry, and to her husband, bring her confusion and heartache despite her joy in the birth of their first child.
Ross, meanwhile, begins a bitter struggle for the rights of the mining communities and sows the seed of an enduring enmity with powerful George Warleggan…
Steeped in humour, romance, passion and tragedy, the Poldark books are as exciting and fresh as they are timeless and memorable. Don't miss them!
(Pan, paperback, £7.99)


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GRENOBLE, France (AFP) - A woman dubbed the "Black Widow" of the French Alps goes on trial Monday for the murder of her husband, a case with troubling echoes of how four of her previous partners were poisoned, two of them fatally.
Manuela Gonzalez, 53, is accused of the 2008 murder of Daniel Cano, a 58-year-old metal worker whose charred remains were found in the back of his burnt-out car near the house he shared with her in Villard-Bonnot in the Isere region of the Alps.
Police quickly established that the fire had been started deliberately, that Mr Cano had consumed sleeping pills and that there had been tensions between the couple, both of whom were keen gamblers.
It subsequently emerged that Gonzalez had, without consulting her husband, re-mortgaged their house for 165,000 euros (S$286,000), and that, a month before his death, there had been a fire in Mr Cano's bedroom while he was sleeping alone.
The blaze was blamed on the family dog knocking over a candle but the couple's son testified to prosecutors that he had heard his father say, during an argument several days after the incident, "Manuela, don't take me for an idiot, there was no candle in my room."
As they looked into Gonzalez's past, investigators discovered that four of her previous partners had been poisoned in suspicious circumstances, two of whom died.
In 1983, her then husband spent three months in hospital having absorbed large quantities of anti-depressants.
A year later, a jeweller with whom she had begun a relationship was hopitalised after drinking tea she had laced with morphine derivatives as part of a plot to persuade him to write her a cheque for the equivalent of 12,000 euros. That episode resulted in a conviction and a two-year prison sentence.
In April 1989, another lover died in his garage as a result of what was declared a suicide caused by asphyxiation from exhaust fumes from his car.
Another partner died in 1991 as a result of fumes caused by a fire at a flat they shared. Gonzalez was accused of causing the death but the charges were dropped three years later.
"What is astonishing is that she has slipped through so many nets for such a long time," said Francois Leclerc, the lawyer representing the brother and sister of Daniel Cano.
Mr Leclerc said Gonzalez's past would be a key element in the prosecution case as, he argued, it reflected her modus operandi.
Gonzalez's lawyer, Ronald Gallo, argued that the previous cases were not relevant.
"Either they cannot be considered on statute of limitations grounds or they have already been judged," he said.
"From the beginning, the police have convicted her on the basis of her past. There is no proof, not even a single indirect witness."
The case is also expected to focus on whether Gonzalez, who is of Spanish heritage, suffered from a split personality and whether financial problems related to her gambling may have been a motive for her alleged murder.


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Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, the Senate redistricting chairman and incoming Senate president, exalted in his redistricting victory Friday in a letter to his Senate colleagues, sent moments after the court validated the Senate's revised maps.
"Contrary to the fears or perhaps the hopes of the cynics and the critics, Florida's citizens will now go forward to choose from among their neighbors who will represent them in the Senate and House of Representatives,'' Gaetz wrote. "Those elections will be held on time. Absentee and overseas ballots will be sent well in advance. Early voting will occur as scheduled."
Here's his letter:
April 27, 2012
11: 00 a.m. CT
To: Members of the Florida Senate
From: Don Gaetz, Chair, Reapportionment Committee
Just a few moments ago the Florida Supreme Court approved the amended Senate redistricting plan as submitted by the Legislature.
While we remain convinced that our original plan complied with both federal and state laws, we are grateful for the Court's clear direction which guided the Legislature in making changes to eight districts, the Lakeland area and the numbering of districts.
The constitutional amendments passed in 2010 required Florida to change its redistricting process in a way no other state has faced. President Haridopolos and Speaker Cannon responded to that historic challenge with clear direction to our House and Senate committees: follow the law and engage in the most open, inclusive, transparent redistricting process in Florida history.
Today's ruling by the Supreme Court affirms that the Senate Reapportionment Committee and the House Redistricting Committee were faithful to our mission. The Senate's thanks go out to Speaker-designate Will Weatherford and the House of Representatives for working with us as partners. Never during the past year and a half was there a moment when old House-Senate rivalries that accompanied past redistricting battles interfered with bi-cameral cooperation and good faith.
As Chairman of the Senate Committee, I'm grateful to every member of our reapportionment panel, Democrat and Republican. Disagreements on substance were expected and were civil and constructive. Minority Leader Rich and incoming Minority Leader Smith joined with Majority Leader Gardiner and Vice Chair Margolis to ensure that the suggestions, criticisms and proposals of every citizen, every group, and every senator were welcomed, listened to and considered respectfully. More than 6,000 Floridians participated directly in meetings, hearings, communications, submitted plans and testimony that led to the result announced by the Supreme Court today.
The House and Senate legal teams did their jobs very well. The Senate professional staff, led by John Guthrie, once again served the Senate and the people of Florida with integrity and great skill. Alex Kelly and the House redistricting staff performed to the same high standards.
If past is prologue, political interests whose partisan intents weren't achieved in the 2012 redistricting plan may carry out prolonged litigation to try to win in the courts what they could not win in the ballot box. That is their right.
Contrary to the fears or perhaps the hopes of the cynics and the critics, Florida's citizens will now go forward to choose from among their neighbors who will represent them in the Senate and House of Representatives. Those elections will be held on time. Absentee and overseas ballots will be sent well in advance. Early voting will occur as scheduled.
cc: Speaker Cannon
Speaker-designate Weatherford


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Copycat Steak 'n' Shake Frisco Melts
A delicious sourdough and beef patty melt topped with two types of cheese, tangy sauce and optional caramelized onions.
If you are lucky enough to have a Steak 'n Shake nearby, you may have tried their delicious Frisco Melt. They are addicting and delicious. If the craving strikes you and you'd like to feed your family for much cheaper than ordering these from the store, try my adapted recipe for Frisco Melts. I love them.
ingredients needed
- ground beef
- sourdough bread
- butter
- onion
- American cheese
- Swiss cheese
- Thousand Island
- Russian dressing
Steak 'n' Shake Frisco Melts Notes
- As a few comments pointed out, Frisco Melts don't always have onions on them. This varies from location to location. I love caramelized onions so I always add them.
- While two patties per sandwich are delicious, for most appetites it is a lot of food. I only use one patty per sandwich. It stretches the meal a little longer anyhow. If you do this, when you add the cheese in step 2, add both slices of cheese to one patty.
- Also, in a pinch I have used only Russian dressing for the Frisco sauce. If I had to choose either Thousand Island or Russian, I'd recommend the Russian dressing.
Looking for more copycat recipes? Check these out!
- Copycat Crunchwrap Supreme
- Cheesecake Factory Carrot Cake Cheesecake
- Copycat In-N-Out Cheeseburgers
- Copycat Domino's Cinnastix
- Copycat North Woods Inn Garlic Cheese Bread
- Copycat Johnny Carino's Italian Nachos
- Copycat Olive Garden San Remo Dip
Copycat Steak 'n' Shake Frisco Melts
- 1 lb ground beef
- 8 slices sourdough bread
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 onion sliced thin and caramelized (optional)
- 4 slices American cheese
- 4 slices Swiss cheese
Frisco Sauce:
- 2 Tbsp. Thousand Island
- 1 Tbsp. Russian dressing
- If you haven't already prepared the caramelized onions, do so first and set aside. Prepare the Frisco sauce and store in the fridge until ready to use.
- Roll ground beef into 8 golf ball sized balls. Heat a sauté pan to medium high. Add ground beef balls, about 2-4 to a pan, 2 if you have a medium sized pan, or 4 if you have a large pan. The meat should sizzle when you add it, if not, your pan is not hot enough. Let cook for one minute, then flip over and using the back of your spatula, smash the burger flat into a thin patty. After a short time and the ground beef is mostly cooked through, flip once more, and add Swiss to one patty, and one American slice to another. Cover sauté pan to help melt the cheese. Place on a paper towel to drain fat.
- Spread butter on bread, toast in a toaster oven or in a clean sauté pan until golden. Spread Frisco sauce to each piece of bread. Add warmed caramelized onions to one slice of bread. Add the patties and serve.


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Force India preview the Belgian GP
Sergio Perez is chasing his first points ever at Spa while Nico Hulkenberg is confident Force India are up for the fight…
Sergio Perez:
Q: Sergio, what have you been up to during your summer holidays?
SP: I spent most of my time in Mexico. During the season I don't manage to go home as often as I would like so it was a good chance to spend time with my family."
Q: Where better to resume the season than in Spa-Francorchamps?
SP: I love the track. It has amazing corners, lots of character and history. The racing is always intense because there are a couple of overtaking opportunities, especially in turn five if you get a good run through Eau Rouge. It will be interesting to see how these cars cope with Eau Rouge this year and whether we can still take it flat."
Q: What do you feel is possible this weekend?
SP: I've never scored points at Spa, so that's my first target. We also need to put the disappointment of Hungary behind us. Spa is a power track and I think we can perform well there. You also have to expect wet weather at some point so it could be quite unpredictable."
Nico Hulkenberg:
Q: Nico, are you feeling refreshed after your holidays?
NH: The summer break was a good opportunity to stay at home in Switzerland and relax. I'm feeling refreshed and ready to get back in the car because three weeks is a long time away from racing.
Q: How are you approaching the second part of the season?
NH: I'm feeling upbeat. There's a lot at stake, but the team is up for the fight. We made the most of our opportunities in the first part of the season and we need to do the same in the final eight races. I expect a close battle in the championship until the end of the season so we need to be consistently picking up good points.
Q: The Belgian Grand Prix is the next race – how much do you enjoy driving at Spa-Francorchamps?
NH: It's an amazing track and one of my favourites – as it probably is for everybody on the grid. There are so many iconic corners, such as Eau Rouge and Pouhon, which feel very special in a Formula One car. For the high and medium speed corners you obviously need downforce, but it's a trade-off with top speed on the long straights so you need good efficiency.


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Practically speaking, how easy difficult is it to spoof DNS?
What scenarios are more risky than others? For example:
A phishing email or twitter link that attracts users to click a hyperlink
A link on an internal sharepoint site on a different subnet
Where a malicious user may be on the same subnet.
other scenarios... (please add your own)


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We have been working on this for the past 6 months. The list has been kept in a very secret place. The Nordicleaks on Sprudge told only half the story….
We are very proud to announce the team of speakers for this year's Nordic Barista Cup.
Here is the line up:
Wanjira Njeru is Chief Executive Officer for the Coffee Board of Kenya. She is an Agriculture Value Chains Management specialist with a strong professional background & vast experience in Coffee Research and project management.
She has a special interest in coffee value chains, having served in the industry in various capacities for the last 18 years. Wanjira Njeru has immense knowledge and working experience with both the public & private sectors and demonstrable expertise in leadership. She is responsible to Government, Board & Industry for the Vision, Strategy, Leadership and overall oversight of the coffee sector.
At Nordic Barista Cup 2012 Wanjira Njeru will talk about "The trade of Kenyan coffee".
David joined the Marco R&D Team in 2011, having previously worked in a university doing scientific research, juggling his time with enthusiastic contribution to specialty coffee conversation online.
David Walsh has won the Irish Cup Tasting Championship twice, and has placed second in the World Championships twice.
At Nordic Barista Cup 2012 David will speak about "Why we brew how we brew"
James Hoffmann has been in coffee since 2004, starting at Gaggia UK before becoming National Training Manager for La Spaziale UK. In 2007 he left to start his own company with Anette Moldvaer – Square Mile Coffee Roasters – who have been operating since 2008. Further more he was the UK Barista Champion in 2006 & 2007, and the World Barista Champion in 2007.
He was also the UK Brewers Cup champion in 2011, the UK Cup Tasting Champion in 2008. He currently divides his time between Square Mile Coffee Roasters and a handful of consultancy projects within the world of coffee and equipment. At Nordic Barista Cup 2011 James hosted a lecture about reinventing espresso.
At NBC 2012 James will talk about "How to make coffee a viable career".
Head chef and partner at restaurant noma in Copenhagen. Noma opened the doors in January 2004 and since then it has been a rise to fame. Noma holds 2 Michelin stars and is voted to be number one restaurant in the world on Restaurant Magazine's "World's 50 best".
Rene has worked at several Michelin starred restaurants, among others Le Jardin Des Sens, El Bulli and The French Laundry. René Redzepi has re-invented the Nordic kitchen via noma, and is currently one of the most influential and quoted persons on the gastronomic scene world wide.
In March 2012 he was on the cover of TIME magazine.
At Nordic Barista CUp 2012 René will talk about "Coffee is the shit!".
Doug Zell's involvement with coffee began in the early 1990's. He had moved to California to begin a new business venture that ultimately failed and landed him in San Francisco where he drank his first cup of real Specialty Coffee at the now defunct Spinelli Coffee. It was love at first taste.
After stints at Peet's Coffee and Spinelli Coffee working in various capacities from barista to management, Doug packed all of his worldly possessions into an old truck and left San Francisco, on April Fool's Day 1995, bound for Chicago and parts unknown.
After devising a business plan in his parent's basement, Doug emerged to found Intelligentsia Coffee in Chicago's Lakeview East neighborhood on October 9th, 1995. He has held every position in the company from coffee buyer, to roaster, barista, delivery driver, bill collector, art director, floor sweeper and everything in between. Currently, he serves as Intelligentsia's CO-CEO. Today Intelligentsia is a coffee company with 8 coffee bars and 3 roasting facilities.
At Nordic Barista Cup 2012 Doug Zell will talk about "Coffee bars and the evolution of hospitality".
Morten worked as a restaurant manager in Oslo until 2003, he then started working as product manager/coffee buyer for Solberg & Hansen coffee roasters in Oslo, and was instrumental in building their quality of sourcing. He worked for Solberg & Hansen untill 2011 when he co-started a coffee importing company called Nordic Approach, with focus on sustainability and traceability, together with Tim Wendelboe.
At Nordic Barista Cup 2012 Morten will host a lecture and cupping about "Sourcing quality in Africa".
Hamish Anderson is one of London's most celebrated wine experts, having won many awards for the renowned Tate Britain cellar.
Tate Modern in London capitalised on this by making Hamish responsible for all wine buying. Hamish has also recently helped set up the Tate's own coffee roasting department.
In 2003 Hamish published the book "Vino: Great Wine for Everyday Life". The book's down to earth approach has won praise from the amateur and expert alike.
At Nordic Barista Cup 2012 Hamish will be speaking about "Terroir vs. Blending in Wine" as well has hosting a wine tasting.
A true intellect, Vince Fedele the CEO of VST, a company he founded in 1990, has been prolific in the development of technology in coffee.
More recently Vince has helped advance the specialty coffee industry, having won Best New Product awards two years running at SCAA with ExtractMoJo and the VST Coffee Refractometer and MoJoToGo for iPhone – now considered essential items for coffee brewing.
Vince's products have won quick adoption as standard tools for education and training by the Specialty Coffee Association of America, Specialty Coffee Association of Europe and most recently the Norwegian Coffee Association at the European Coffee Brewing Center at Oslo.
Oliver Strand regularly contributes to the New York Times, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine and GQ.
He is one of the restaurant reviewers for the New York Times dining section, and his column on coffee, "Ristretto," appears on the New York Times online.
Oliver Strand is writing a book on coffee to be published by HarperCollins.
At Nordic Barista Cup 2012 Oliver til host a lecture called "Coffee and the media".
Peter Kimata, a qualified agronomist, is responsible for overseeing dry milling at Central Kenya Coffee Mills (sister company to CMS). Over 30% of Kenya's coffee is annually milled at this facility, which serves over 200,000 farmers – in which Peter works closely with.
Originally Peter started studying Agricultural Engineering in 1992. And from 2001-2006 he worked as Agronomist at the Large Scale Coffee Estates. From 2007-2009 he was Senior Agronomist with CMS in Dorman Group. Peter is involved in Sustainable coffee production projects leading to Utz, FLO, RA and 4C certifications. He is also a Lead Auditor on Environmental Management.
At Nordic Barista Cup 2012 Peter Kimata will host a lecture and cupping about "Agronomy of Kenyan Coffee".
Tim Wendelboe runs his own roastery, espresso bar and coffee school in Oslo that specializes in importing and roasting some of the best coffees grown around the world.
Apart from winning three Nordic Roaster competitions together with his roasting team, he was the 2004 World Barista Champion and the 2005 World Cup Tasting Champion. Tim is an experienced lecturer and has been working as a coffee consultant for eight years. He is also wrote a book on coffee "Coffee with Tim Wendelboe " in 2010.
In 2011 Tim founded the green coffee import company Nordic Approach together with Morten Wennersgaard. The company specializes in developing, importing and selling high quality green coffee to roasters around the world.
At Nordic Barista Cup 2012 Tim Wendelboe will talk about his experiences with "Developing Green Coffee quality".


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BRITO, B - University Of California | |
PEREZ, A - University Of California | |
JAMAL, S - Technical University Of Denmark | |
BELSHAM, G - Technical University Of Denmark | |
Pauszek, Steven | |
AHMED, ZAHEER - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE) | |
Rodriguez, Luis |
Submitted to: Transboundary and Emerging Diseases
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 5/15/2012 Publication Date: 7/29/2012 Citation: Brito, B.P., Perez, A.M., Jamal, S.M., Belsham, G.J., Pauszek, S.J., Ahmed, Z., Rodriguez, L.L. 2012. Foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype O phylodynamics: genetic variability associated with epidemiological factors in Pakistan. Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. 60(6):516-524. Interpretive Summary: Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious viral disease of livestock, producing losses that are insidious in endemic settings and devastating in disease-free countries. The causing virus (FMDV) is highly variable with 7 different serotypes (A, O, C, Asia, Sat 1, Sat 2, and Sat 3). Vaccines do not confer cross protection between serotypes and in many cases not even among different strains within a given serotype. In Pakistan, FMDV causes numerous outbreaks and associated economic losses to the livestock industry. Little information is available regarding the epidemiology, viral strains circulating in Pakistan and their coverage by currently available vaccines. Additionally, the role of Asian buffalo in the ecology of FMDV has not been fully characterized even though they are known to remain asymptomatically infected for prolonged periods. Little is known about FMDV infections in the absence of clinical signs (subclinical infections and carrier state), which are believed to be key to the maintenance of FMDV in mixed animal populations. The importance of Asian buffalo as reservoirs of FMDV in persistent infection therefore remains as a critical knowledge gap in understanding FMD ecology in Asia. This knowledge is necessary to guide the implementation of effective and sensible control programs. Currently, only 15% of animals are vaccinated each year and at this time no government organized vaccination plan for the country has been implemented. A pilot control program sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is being implemented by the Pakistani government, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The information developed with this proposed research project will provide critical information regarding the effectiveness of FMD vaccines and the most suitable vaccination strategies leading to successful control of the disease. Technical Abstract: One of the most challenging aspects of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) control is the high genetic variability of the FMD virus (FMDV). In endemic settings such as the Indian subcontinent, this variability has resulted in the emergence of pandemic strains that have spread widely and caused devastating outbreaks in disease-free areas. In countries trying to control and eradicate FMD using vaccination strategies, the constantly evolving and wide diversity of field FMDV strains is an obstacle for identifying vaccine strains that are successful in conferring protection against infection with field viruses. Consequently, quantitative knowledge on the factors that are associated with variability of the FMDV is prerequisite for preventing and controlling FMD in the Indian subcontinent. A hierarchical linear model was used to assess the association between time, space, host species and the genetic variability of serotype O FMDV using viruses collected in Pakistan from 2005 to 2011. Significant (P < 0.05) amino acid and nucleotide variations were associated with spatial distance, but not with differences in host species, which is consistent with the frequent multi-species infection of this serotype O FMDV. Results from this study will con-tribute to the understanding of FMDV variability and to the design of FMD control strategies in Pakistan. Viruses sequenced here also provide the earliest reported isolate from the Pan Asia IIANT-10 sublineage, which has caused several outbreaks in the Middle East and spread into Europe (Bulgaria) and Africa (Libya). |


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It was not without more than a hint of irony that I purchased Barbara Ehrenreich's book, "Nickel & Dimed" on my first day of catering work in 6 years. The book is a classic piece of first-person journalism: the author gives up the life she knows to work various minimum wage jobs around the United States and document her experiences.
I was buying the book so I could talk about it to the journalism students I teach one day a week; when I finished paying for it, I looked down and noticed that I held the book in one hand and my heavy, steel-toe non-slip work boots in a plastic bag in the other hand. I couldn't help thinking, if I saw this scene in a book, I'd say it was positively contrived for dramatic effect.
Ehrenreich, a well-known writer with a PhD in Biology, worked as a house cleaner, waitress, and Walmart employee, in order to conduct a journalistic experiment. I was preparing to put my two degrees to use as a waitress out of sheer necessity.
A few weeks ago, I signed up with a hospitality recruitment agency. Luckily, within a few days, a recruiter got back to me and asked me how soon I could work, since I had plenty of experience from different jobs I worked before and during college. After an orientation day, I was put on for my first shift at a large catering venue.
Piece of cake, I figured.
But I'm a bit rusty. And the (used) shoes that the recruiter gave me were tight on the left foot and loose on the right, and both extremely heavy. What resulted was my invention of an unusual shuffle-gait something akin to Kevin Spacey's character in The Usual Suspects, but it was the only way I could manage traipsing around with dishes in my hand for an eight hour shift.
Thus, it was with immense gratitude that I volunteered for the job of putting stacks of glasses into an industrial washing machine and polishing each of the 120 glasses individually. It was sweet relief to stand in one place(and not have people eye me with curiosity).
Despite keeping busy the entire shift, for some reason, the day felt like it was a lead-up to a workday that never really began. We did chores – sorted out stacks of knives and forks, wrapped a hundred and ten fork-and-knife pairs in napkins, etc. – and served a buffet lunch to the same number of people, including people with pesky individual dietary requirements.
But by the end of the day, I felt like I was still waiting for the work to begin, and it wasn't because I wasn't busy or tired by the end of the shift.
It's a little embarrassing to admit, but, I think it was because I didn't really get to talk to anyone.
In my usual line of work, it is, quite literally, my job to talk to people. I'm a journalist by trade, so my work consists of asking people questions to help them draw their stories out from the backs of their minds to the tips of their tongues. Even if I'm not directly interviewing someone, I'm often talking to my bosses, or any of my several coworkers, about how to accomplish our goals.
But no one cared what I had to say when I put a ladle in my hand and chicken curry under his or her nose.
Maybe that's why, as soon as my coworkers took a joint lunch break, their personalities bubbled up and erupted right out of them. It was like somebody shook up a can of coke: the break room was a raucous party of quick-witted banter, light-hearted jibes between staffers, and a cacophony of laughs. Suddenly, all of the responsible employees who I had seen silently stacking cups and methodically pouring coffees had become boisterous and fun-loving characters.
Alas, however, as soon as the break ended, everyone went back to the business of working. Solemn eyes and closed lips met the clank of plates and the thud-thud-thud of inappropriately heavy boots for the rest of the afternoon, but for a few stolen moments. Whenever we talked, or felt like sneaking in a few bites of the leftovers in the kitchen, we huddled closely together and giggled mischievously, like children disobeying their parents.
If only in body language, we agreed not to rat one another out for our crimes of enjoying these simple pleasures.
The common misconception I dislike most about people in the hospitality professions is the assumption that we are dumb, or huge failures, upon whom everyone else has permission to look down.
Yes, when we are doing our jobs correctly, we are all but invisible, and that is not a problem. It's the condescension, and blatant lack of manners(e.g., the snapping fingers and the "hey you, get over here," types of attitudes) with which people often address those wearing any type of service uniform that I find wholly unacceptable.
Regardless of what kind of trousers or shirt, or silly shoes, any of us might be wearing, each and every one of us deserves to be treated with respect.
That's not to say that everyone was apathetic or rude towards us; in fact, there were many generous, jovial souls at one small cocktail party at an upscale locale in the center of the city.
Maybe it was because there were only about 40 guests, and, including me, two servers offering drinks and hors d'oeuvres, but by the third round of melba toast slices with gourmet chicken and cheese, I felt like we and the guests had practically become friends. We made a few polite jokes here and there, and we caterers made sure that everyone got what he or she wanted.
There is absolutely a distinct reward in anticipating someone's desires(is that wine glass is almost empty? does that person look hungry? thirsty? like she's wondering where the bathroom is?) and satisfying them, even before they have to mention it.
I'd watch in the corner of the room to see who was discreetly eyeing the food or beverages I was carrying, and then I'd slide my tray right under their noses with a devilish smile; they, in return, would send me a gracious nod or wink. It was similar to the way we caterers looked at each other whenever we stole a moment for a conversation or for a snack: like we shared a devious little secret.
Although I've only been on the job on a few occasions, for the time being (in spite of my shoes), I've found a certain job satisfaction. I've been able to put a few chicken-and-bacon-on-melba-toast induced smiles on strangers' faces. How many people can say that?
Photo by: Adikos


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Can artificial worm guts tackle our plastic problem?
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HUD seeks more detailed pay data on top officials
Department wants breakdown of executive compensation from public housing authorities.
The Housing and Urban Development Department is asking public housing authorities for more detailed salary data.
The department wants a more comprehensive picture of how PHAs pay their executive directors, including a breakdown of base salary, bonus and incentive compensation and which payments are made with federal funds, according to a notice in Friday's Federal Register.
HUD will accept comments on the notice through March 26.
After reports surfaced in 2011 of excessive compensation at some PHAs across the country, Congress imposed a $155,500 salary cap for fiscal 2012 on the amount of federal funds that can be used to pay PHA executives. HUD has decided to extend that cap and close a legislative loophole so that total cash compensation, not just base salary, falls under it. "We will take executive action to put this cap in place in fiscal year 2013 under our own regulations if necessary," the department said at the time.
The department collected 2010 salary data last August from public housing authorities across the country, and will collect 2012 data. HUD did not gather 2011 salary information because the cap didn't take effect until 2012, said department spokeswoman Donna White.
The 2010 data, which reflects total cash compensation including bonuses, showed that 97 percent of PHA executives earned less than $155,500. The average cash compensation of a housing authority executive director was $82,299 in 2010. HUD acknowledged, however, the data also showed "outlier PHAs that pay certain employees a level of compensation that is clearly excessive."
The executive directors of the public housing authorities in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chelsea, Mass., and Daytona Beach, Fla., were the top five highest earners in 2010, according to HUD's survey.
(Image via Voronin76/Shutterstock.com)
NEXT STORY: More on the FERS Supplement


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AWS Events and Webinars
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