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Where I live in Washington, D.C., about a mile and a half north of the Capitol, you can sometimes get a taxi in two minutes flat. And sometimes, after spending 20 minutes wistfully waving two fingers in the air while the traffic hurtles past, you have to give up and trudge to the train.
There's no way to tell which will happen until it happens—and so, I rarely bother to try hailing a cab. Neither do my neighbors. And the paucity of potential fares in my part of town—a relatively low-income, low-density neighborhood—also makes it harder to get cabs back home from other neighborhoods. Technically, it's illegal for D.C. cabdrivers to refuse a fare within the District, but then, technically, it's also illegal to drive above the speed limit, jaywalk, or falsely claim to have been awarded the Medal of Honor. On a typical Saturday night in the District, as far as I can tell, all of these laws are mostly honored in the breach.
Like most urbanites, I've spent a lot of time voicing the standard complaints: Why are taxis dirty and uncomfortable and never there when you need them? Why is it that half the time, they don't show up for those 6 a.m. airport runs? How come they all seem to disappear when you most need them—on New Year's Eve, or during a rainy rush hour? Why must cabbies drive like PCP addicts? Women complain about scary drivers. Black men complain about drivers who won't stop to pick them up.
What's a Ubermensch to do when she needs elite transportation but can't afford either a car and driver or expensive limo service?
What I'm describing is a classic market failure: people who are willing to do business together can't make it happen. If taxis and passengers only knew how to find each other, and could strike deals that would appeal to both, everyone would be better off. Why can't we fix this?
Fortunately we have our very own guide to the wild, wide world of the nearly-elite to help us navigate this tricky dilemma. Ms. McArdle takes time away from twittering and working on her magnum opus, The Freedom To Suck Worse Than Anyone Has Ever Sucked Before, to explain that the best way to be Uber is to use Uber.
As it turns out, a small but rapidly growing business is trying. One Friday night in December, my husband and I drove over to Adams Morgan for some karaoke with friends. "You drove?" a friend who lives near us asked incredulously. "I just used Uber."
McArdle is incredibly lucky in both her friends and casual acquaintances; whenever she writes a column she just happens to have discussed her subject matter with various friends or business associates, and those people invariably act like actors in a commercial, beholding her ignorance with incredulity or sad regret. Some people might be annoyed at being addressed with condescension and one-upmanship, but fortunately McArdle is not one of those (no doubt friendless) people.
Travis Kalanick, who co-founded Uber, told me that he and his partner "wanted to be able to push a button and get a ride."
I read someplace that reporters are taught to say the Important Person being interviewed "told me" instead of "said" to make the reporter seem more important. Not that McArdle would need to be told, I hasten to add.
That's a fair enough description of the service that they launched in San Francisco in 2010, and that is now available in nine major cities—including New York, Boston, and Paris—with plans for expansion to at least 25 more. Set up an account, plug in your credit-card number, and in less than five minutes Uber's smartphone app will be showing you a map of your location, the nearest available cars, and how soon one can get to you. Click the screen a couple of times, and a sleek black sedan is on its way.
Unlike traditional limo services, which rent you a car and driver by the hour, and usually on no less than an hour's notice, Uber charges time-and-mileage fares, just like taxis, and the cars it finds for you typically show up within 15 minutes of your request. That convenience and style is costly; in D.C., the price is usually at least 50 percent more than that of an equivalent cab ride. Uber's critics frequently imply—perhaps with a grain of truth—that it's a service for the affluent that takes fares from hardworking taxi drivers who are struggling to make rent. "Uber's real defenders," a D.C. blogger has written acidly, "comprise a mix of socialites, transportation fanatics, and libertarians."
Hendel wrote an informative, fair and amusing post on Uber, which no doubt is why McArdle did not link on it. Who needs the competition?
And yet, this analysis misses something important. Yes, Uber has created a higher-priced, higher-class service for people who can afford it—but it has also broadened the market to people who formerly couldn't get cabs at all. For my husband and me, the appeal of Uber is simple: it's there. A car that will actually show up to take me to the airport, or to my home, is worth considerably more than a cheaper, but unreliable, alternative.
As you dig deeper into Uber's story, you find out that it's about more than plush car service wherever and whenever you want—or even the innovative technology that powers it. Perhaps most of all, Uber's story is about the ins and outs of regulation—and about why cab service is so unsatisfactory nearly everywhere in America.
Of course it is. Some might say that it's about following the laws that all other taxis or limos must follow, but some people are just knee-jerk meanies who hate businesses. And you will not be surprised to hear that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, once again, has raised his horrific corpse from the grave to strangle innovation through his evil servant, the New Deal.
Almost all the everyday complaints about cabs trace back to this regulatory cocktail. Drivers won't take you to the outer reaches of your metropolitan area? The regulated fares won't let them charge you more to recover the cost of dead-heading back without a return customer. Cabs are poorly maintained? Blame restricted competition, and the inability to charge for better quality. Cabbies drive like maniacs? With high fixed costs for cars and gas, and no way to increase their earnings except by finding another fare, is it any wonder that they try to get from place to place as fast as possible?
The problem with this analysis is that evidently it is easy to become a taxi driver in DC, which, with the nature of the city itself as a capitol with a dense and wealthy working population, has created the highest taxi-to-population ratio in the nation.
Some of the most common taxis in the city include Ford Crown Victorias, Ford Tauruses, some Mercurys, and even some Lincoln Town Car models. Most of the District's 6,500 to 7,000 cab drivers own their own vehicles; in fact, the District is the only region in the country where the majority of cabs are independently owned and operated.[26]
D.C. now has more cabs per capita than any other city in America. If all of D.C.'s cabs were owned by one company, the firm would be the city's largest private employer. The open-entry system allows anybody who can pass the hackers' test and pass vehicle inspection to go into business as a cabbie. The industry also serves as a remarkably efficient example of what is known as para-transit, a form of moving people about that's more public than a car, but less so than, say, a bus.
Fortunately Uber has no such restrictions, as it is occupying a gray, non-regulated area presently, in which it does not follow either taxicab or limo rules. It can charge whatever it wants, at least for now. Regulation problem solved!
On New Year's Eve, Uber implemented its "dynamic pricing"—read: inflated fares to account for extra demand—without really explaining how it worked ahead of time. Suddenly, the tweeps and Facebookers previously enamored of the upstart were hurling tomatoes; one Rockville resident reported a charge of $185 to get home from Chef Geoff's near Ward Circle (a comparable cab ride usually runs $25). Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told the website All Things D that the firm was refunding some of the fares, but didn't plan to change the business model. "If you look at a club that charges a $20 cover on a normal night and then charges $100 on New Year's Eve—that's just what happens," he said.
Not long after that, Uber found itself in a fight with the D.C. Taxicab Commission. The company, the commission alleged, had failed to follow the relevant regulations for what it is—a car service—and was instead operating as a sort of taxi/limousine hybrid. Officials arrested a driver in a sting by the Mayflower Hotel, charging him with two violations of the rules. That misstep, though, Uber managed to spin in its favor. After all, its customer base doesn't appreciate regulations that interfere with their attempts to ditch D.C. cabs. Uber launched a social media campaign around the hashtag #UberLoveDC, which garnered them far more publicity than simply following the rules would have. Even the New Year's dustup helped them, in a way.
For Megan McArdle, this is a good thing.
The data and the ability to set fares are what let the company patch the holes in the current system. A car is always available (because at peak times, such as New Year's Eve, the company raises prices until supply matches demand). The car is well maintained. And as long as you're willing to pay the fare, that car will take you wherever you want to go, without regard to race, ethnicity, or ZIP code.
Hey, nobody said freedom was free! No doubt McArdle will be thrilled to be the happy recipient of Uber's mercurial pricing system. She is very supportive of innovation in business.
But don't forget this is Megan McArdle we're talking about, keen investigative reporter and scourge of the common man, wherever he may raise his common, and no doubt unwashed, head.
But just because Uber is good for its passengers and drivers doesn't mean that it's good for everyone. Taxi drivers are a powerful political constituency in many cities. And as Robert McNamara noted drily, "Like any other business, taxi drivers think it would be great if no one could compete with them." In some cities, including San Francisco and Washington, D.C., a regulatory backlash has hit the company hard.
In early February, I drove out to Anacostia, to one of those grim municipal buildings whose very exteriors suggest footsore queues and the smell of industrial-strength disinfectant. This is the home of D.C.'s Taxicab Commission.
I entered a little warily; two reporters were arrested last June for attempting to record a commission meeting.
I wanted to see what would happen if I applied for a license to drive a limousine in the District of Columbia. D.C.'s limo and taxi regulations seem to require that a license be issued to anyone who can meet fairly minimal standards: "The Office shall issue a license to each applicant who has complied with the requirements of this chapter," says Section 1209.1 of the District's municipal regulations. However, since 2008, the commission has apparently been ignoring this straightforward language.
The offices, located on the second floor, have a narrow entrance blocked by a security guard at his desk; you cannot see the bureaucrats unless he lets you past. "What do you want?" he asked me, not unkindly.
"I want to get a license to drive a limo," I told him.
"There's a moratorium," he said, and pointed to a memo posted on the wall.
I'd like to tell you exactly what the memo said, but the commission wasn't giving out copies—"We had some, but we ran out," said the security guard, and no wonder, given that the "temporary" moratorium has been going on for years. The gist was that there would be no new limo licenses until the commission decided to hand them out.
"Take a picture with your phone," suggested a nice driver who was waiting for an appointment in front of the desk.
"No pictures!" said the guard.
"Why not?," I asked. He shrugged. I gazed wistfully at the counter beyond, but decided against trying to charge through. After a moment, like numberless aspiring cab and limo drivers before me, I left empty-handed. The D.C. Council is considering a bill that could essentially make the moratorium permanent: entry into the city's limo market might then be nearly impossible.
Sniff! James O'Keefe would be so proud. McArdle also attended a meeting in support of Uber.
The real threat to the company is the promulgation of new regulations that would make business expansion impossible by cutting off the supply of licensed limos, and other regulations designed to shut down Uber entirely—that is, just the sort of measures being proposed in D.C. Uber's executives are well aware of these obstacles. Regulation, Kalanick told me, is "an issue we have to deal with in every city." So far, they've been surprisingly skillful at fighting back.
Shortly after Chairman Linton's sting, for instance, Uber began rallying its fans on Twitter, using the hashtag #UberDCLove. In late January, I attended an event the company set up at a sleek downtown club, which was crammed to the gills with Uber's neatly dressed fans, chatting animatedly while they enjoyed free pizza and drinks.
Kalanick, a short man with spiky black hair and a genial smile tattooed on his face, somehow got the entire crowd to watch an Uber PowerPoint presentation, which he narrated double-time, dropping the company's apparent motto—"A convenient, classy ride" roughly every 30 seconds.
Somehow? Surely McArdle is aware that "free" food and drink create a sense of obligation in the potential customer, and is a commonly used marketing technique.
The result was, incredibly, the nation's first populist limo movement. Whenever Kalanick mentioned Ron Linton's name, the crowd booed—one particularly enthusiastic fan kept shouting "Fuck that guy!" Kalanick's smile never wavered. He finished by telling the crowd: "I need you guys. So, one, stay on Facebook, stay on Twitter. Two, hearings—go to hearings. Go to political events." For the first time in 20 minutes, he paused. "The bigger we get, the harder it is to take us out." The crowd roared.
As I made my way toward the door, I bumped into Robert McNamara, the attorney fighting against many taxi regulations, who was there as an interested observer. "I'm impressed by how professional this is," he told me.
"The attorney fighting against many taxi regulations" just happens to work for the Institute for Justice, a "libertarian public interest law firm." You will absolutely not be surprised to learn that their initial funding came from the Koch brothers, or that they have ties to ALEC.
I must have raised an eyebrow, for he hastened to explain: "When you have an issue like this, the first thing you do is, you have a town hall. You find an excuse to get people in a room, and then you make them angry." For the moment, Uber's angry fans seem to be carrying the day. Though the D.C. Taxicab Commission has not recanted its position on Uber, it also hasn't made any further moves against the company.
That may change, of course. But every customer Uber gains in D.C. (and even out of it) makes the company harder to attack. Uber set out to change the taxi market. In enlisting scattered consumers against well-entrenched interest groups, it may end up doing something more revolutionary.
And no doubt when McArdle is surprised by unexpectedly large charges from Uber it will be the fault of regulation as well.


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All posts with the tag "leaves"
"As a new business, it was very important to me to get the right publicity photographs for my marketing materials. When I met David, he listened carefully to what I was trying to achieve with my brand, and then produced fabulous photographs that were exactly what I needed. He was extremely professional throughout but also nice and friendly. Myself and my clients found it easy to relax with him, which was essential to create the right vibe for the shoot. I would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone."

subset: commoncrawl


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by Nola Sizemore, Staff Writer for The Harlan Daily Enterprise
from The Harlan Daily Enterprise
Eric Roberts, physician's assistant-certified, has joined the medical team at the Clover Fork Clinic, located in Evarts.
Graduating from Leslie County High School, Roberts received his Bachelor of Science degree at Alice Lloyd College. After graduation, he began school at the University of Kentucky School of Medical Science where he completed the Physician's Assistant Program.
Physician's assistants are concerned with preventing and treating human illness and injury by providing a broad range of health care services under the direction of a physician or surgeon.
"I grew up in this area and I'm proud of my heritage," said Roberts. "I'm familiar with the customs of the people who live here."
Eric is married to Bethany Leann (Whitehead) Roberts. His parents are Geoffrey and Christina Roberts. He is a member of the Mozelle Church of God where his parents are co-pastors. His hobbies include fishing, hunting, playing music and camping.
"I'm looking forward to a career in rural medicine at the Clover Fork Clinic," said Roberts. "I'm now taking new patients and anyone wishing to make an appointment may call 837-2108 or 573-1499."
The original article can be found here.
Photo courtesy of The Harlan Daily Enterprise.


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Obama names budget official as acting IRS chief
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama named Danny Werfel, an official in his budget office, as the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, the White House announced Thursday.
Obama demanded the previous acting commissioner resign Wednesday after revelations the tax agency was applying extra scrutiny to conservative groups asking the government for tax exempt status.
Werfel, who serves as the controller of the Office of Management and Budget, will "lead efforts to ensure the IRS implements new safeguards to restore public trust and administers the tax code with fairness and integrity," the White House said.
He'll serve through the end of the fiscal year, and since he's being tapped to become acting commissioner won't be subject to Senate confirmation.
"Throughout his career working in both Democratic and Republican administrations, Danny has proven an effective leader who serves with professionalism, integrity and skill," Obama wrote in a statement. "The American people deserve to have the utmost confidence and trust in their government, and as we work to get to the bottom of what happened and restore confidence in the IRS, Danny has the experience and management ability necessary to lead the agency at this important time."
At the White House budget office, Werfel, 42, was responsible for enacting programs designed to enhance the federal government's integrity in financial management, reporting and accounting. He also helped Obama's administration implement and manage the forced spending cuts that went into effect March 1.
Previously he served in other roles at the OMB, and also acted as an attorney in the civil rights division of the Department of Justice.
He has a law degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a master's in public policy from Duke, the White House said, and received his bachelor's degree from Cornell.
He'll join the IRS as the tax agency weathers its largest scandal in years. Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner, have called for criminal charges against those employees responsible for the targeting of conservative groups, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched an investigation into the matter.
Obama again expressed outrage at the IRS's practices at a press conference Thursday.
"We will be putting in new leadership that will be able to make sure that -- following up on the audit -- that we gather up all the facts, that we hold accountable those who have taken these outrageous actions," Obama said. "As I said last night, it is just simply unacceptable for there to be even a hint of partisanship or ideology when it comes to the application of our tax laws."


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What Nokia's Windows move means for Open Source
Jim Zemlin, head of The Linux Foundation tried to make the best of it, "The Linux Foundation is disappointed in Nokia's decision today to choose Microsoft as the primary platform for its mobile phones. Tough times give birth to difficult decisions that we don't always agree with, but open source is--at its core--about choice. We believe that open source software is more than a sum of its parts, and the market is currently bearing that out. The Linux Foundation is here to enable collaboration among its members and the Linux community, and we invite participation in MeeGo [an embedded Linux for smartphones and other devices that was supported by Intel and Nokia] and any of our other many projects and programs."
I might add that Nokia is a gold member of the Linux Foundation. Nokia's been a member of the Foundation since 2007. The Linux Foundation itself had been, and I presume will continue to be a big MeeGo supporter. Nokia's move to Windows Phone 7 could not have made the Foundation nor its members happy.
In particular, although Nokia has said it will continue to support MeeGo, Intel, Nokia's chief MeeGo partner was not pleased. In a statement Intel said:
While we are disappointed with Nokia's decision, Intel is not blinking on MeeGo. We remain committed and welcome Nokia's continued contribution to MeeGo open source.
Our strategy has always been to provide choice when it comes to operating systems, a strategy that includes Windows, Android, and MeeGo. This is not changing.
MeeGo is not just a phone OS, it supports multiple devices. And we're seeing momentum across multiple segments--automotive systems, netbooks, tablets, set-top boxes and our Intel silicon will be in a phone that ships this year.
Still, you have to believe that Intel feels hosed by Nokia's move.
Another open-source group that's wondering what's going to happen next is Nokia's Qt division. Qt is the cross-platform framework behind both MeeGo and the KDE Linux desktop. Now, though, Qt looks like it's irrelevant to Nokia's future.
Aaron Seigo, a leading KDE developer and one of the chief designers of the KDE 4 desktop, wrote on his blog that "While I have little good to say of the announcement that was made, what remains of interest to me is the level of investment in Qt, the strategic positioning of MeeGo going forward and what KDE's role can and will be as both of those things continue to mature."
Seigo continued, "Open governance around Qt is moving forward briskly and from what I gather there are some interesting and useful announcements to come. R&D investment continues. However, we (KDE) won't know the full shape of how this will impact our landscape in the mid- and long-terms until we speak more with people at Nokia as well as within the Qt team itself. That's going to take weeks, not hours or days."
I asked Seigo for more of his thoughts on the matter and he replied, "The most important thing to keep in mind is that Qt is licensed under the LGPL (Lesser General Public License) and has a broad ecosystem around it. Regardless of what happens at Nokia, it won't be the end of the world."
While Qt's licensing situation is complicated, with no fewer than three possible licenses, the bottom line is that it's relatively easy to legally use Qt in software projects.
Seigo added, "That said, it is far, far too early to say anything conclusive about what it means for Qt and therefore by extension to F/OSS [Free and Open-Source Software] communities like KDE and their projects. We're (KDE) putting together an internal task force to work through these topics with Nokia as well as the broader Qt community and it will need a few weeks to arrive as useful conclusions."
"It's a dynamic situation that we're taking seriously and tracking, but we're also being careful not to jump the gun and either miss opportunities that arise as a result or make poor reactive decisions to challenges as yet not fully understood," he concluded.
That sounds like a fair assessment to me. We're going to need to wait and see.
I will add one more thing, from where I sit, Android is actually the least effected open-source project by Nokia's moves. MeeGo, followed by KDE and other Qt users are the ones with something to be concerned about. Google and its Android friends? I think they could care less.


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2 month weight average (maintenance)
, March 30th, 2012 at 06:38 AM (1729 Views)
Yesterday I added up my daily weights for the past 61 days since being done with the drops and then divided up to get my average... my average was my EXACT LDW!!! 148.8! Now, I'd love to be losing more BUT I'm definitely maintaining! Just thought I'd share!


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(CNN) -- Government officials in Alexandria, Egypt, increased security around places of worship following an explosion that killed at least 21 people at a church in the region, the governor told state media Saturday.
"We are stressing now on guarding churches," Adil Labib, the governor of Alexandria, told state-run Nile TV.
Evidence indicates that a suicide bomber caused the blast, the country's Interior Ministry said.
Even though the scene of the explosion was blocked off, protesters carrying crosses gathered near the scene, Nile TV reported.
Authorities believe the bomber was killed in the blast, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Forensic testing confirmed that the explosive device used was homemade and contained nails and ball-bearings, according to the statement.
Egypt's health ministry said 79 people were wounded in the attack in Alexandria, the country's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. Four of them were police officers posted outside the church to protect the Christians worshipping inside, the interior ministry said.
"We heard a thunderous sound of explosion. I fell on the ground. I saw a car burning. You cannot imagine what we have seen there. ... It was a horrible scene," said Nermin Nabil, who was crossing a street near the church when the blast went off.
Nile TV showed firefighters battling a blaze at the scene.
"This terrorism act has shocked us, hurt hearts of the Egyptians, Muslims and Coptics," said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who addressed the nation hours after the bombing. "I would say with confidence, that we will chase the people who planned and committed this terrorism act, and we will chase the people involved with them."
U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday condemned the attack.
"The perpetrators of this attack were clearly targeting Christian worshippers, and have no respect for human life and dignity," Obama said in a statement. "They must be brought to justice for this barbaric and heinous act."
"We are continuing to gather information regarding this terrible event," the statement continued, "and are prepared to offer any necessary assistance to the Government of Egypt in responding to it."
A car parked in front of Alexandria's Church of Two Saints exploded shortly after midnight, Egypt's Interior Ministry said. Coptic Christians were attending services there at the time of the blast, Nile TV reported.
The car was filled with explosives, Nile TV reported, citing the interior ministry.
A nearby mosque was damaged, and eight Muslims were among the wounded, the Interior Ministry said.
Mubarak called for a swift investigation of the "criminal act" and urged Egyptians to stand together "in the face of ... terrorism and those who want to disrupt the nation's security, stability and unity of its people," presidential spokesman Ambassador Sulaiman Awad said.
Labib told Nile TV that samples from the scene had been sent to a government lab as part of an investigation.
"The attack targeted all Egyptians and not just our Coptic brethren," Labib said, according to MENA.
Egyptian officials are blaming foreign elements for the attack, MENA reported.
Copts, who are adherents of an Egyptian sect of Christianity, make up about 9% of the nation's population. About 90% of Egyptians are Muslims.
Al-Azhar, one of Egypt's oldest centers of Islamic study and worship, issued a statement condemning the attack.
"This is a criminal act that can never be justified (in) any religion. Islam specifically prohibits any attacks on religious places. As a matter of fact, it tasks Muslims with protecting religious places of worship for Muslims and non-Muslims," Al-Azhar spokesman Mohammed Tahtawi told Nile TV.
In November, a group with ties to al Qaeda in Iraq announced that all Christians in the Middle East would be "legitimate targets."
Shortly after the message was released, Egyptian police sources confirmed that security had been reinforced at churches around the country and additional protection was being provided to the head of the Coptic Church, police said.
Tensions have been running high between Egypt's Muslim majority and minority Christians.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in November that 10 Coptic Christian homes and several businesses were burned and looted in Qena province in southern Egypt following rumors of a romantic relationship between a Christian man and Muslim woman. Security officials imposed a curfew and arrested several Muslims, the commission said.
Journalist Mahmoud Fouly and CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq, Jomana Karadsheh, Amir Ahmed and Yousuf Basil contributed to this report.


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This could well have been the want ad Esquire used to attract a writer for its story titled, "War Against Youth." This lengthy piece is the best compendium of warped logic and misplaced facts on this topic since the Peter Peterson financed film, IOUSA.
The whole story is given away in the first paragraph:
"In 1984, American breadwinners who were sixty-five and over made ten times as much as those under thirty-five. The year Obama took office, older Americans made almost forty-seven times as much as the younger generation."
That sounds really awful. Thankfully it is not true, as readers could find by looking at the chart that accompanies the article. This is a ratio of wealth not income.
This is a huge difference. Wealth adds up a household's total assets. This means the value of their home, their 401(k) and other savings, their checking account and car. The calculation the n subtracts liabilities: mortgage debt, car loans, credit card debt, and student loans. This is very different from income, which for most people means their wages and for older people their Social Security.
If the writer, the editor, the fact checker or anyone at Esquire had a clue, they would have caught this mistaken first paragraph and killed the piece. As their chart shows, the median net worth for households over age 65 was $170,494. That merits repeating a couple more times. The median net worth for households over age 65 was $170,494. The median net worth for households over age 65 was $170,494.
Again, net worth refers to total assets minus liabilities. This means that if we add up the home equity of the typical household over age 65, their 401(k) and all other savings, the value of their car and any other possessions they might have, it comes to just over $170,000. This is a bit more than the price of the median home.
In other words, if the typical household over age 65 took all of their wealth, they would have enough money to pay off their mortgage. After that they would be entirely dependent for their living expenses on their Social Security benefit, which averages a bit more than $1,200 a month.
To take another comparison, the lifetime accumulation of wealth of the typical household over age 65 would be approximately equal to what the CEO of Goldman Sachs earns in two days. A top hedge fund manager, who makes $3-4 billion a year, can pocket this much money in ten minutes. Yet, Esquire tells us that it is the high living retirees getting by on their $1,200 a month Social Security checks who are responsible for the questionable future facing the young.
Even this comparison of net worth is misleading. It shows that the net worth of households over age 65 increased from $120,000 in 1983 to $170,000 in 2009. However these numbers do not include pension wealth. A household over age 65 in 1983 was far more likely to be receiving money from a defined benefit pension than a household today. The loss of pension wealth would offset much of this modest gain in wealth over the last quarter century.
Also, using the ratio of the wealth of households over age 65 to the wealth of households under age 35 is just a foolish exercise. Households under age 35 never had much wealth. Their 1983 median wealth of $11,500 was not going to carry them far in life. The fact that it fell to $3,660 is not of great consequence compared to their career opportunities.
This would be like saying that homeless people are in trouble because the median amount amount of money they had in their pockets fell from $1.20 to 60 cents. Just as the main factor that will determine the well-being of homeless people is not the amount of change in their pocket, the main factor that will determine the well-being of the young is not their wealth.
A 25-year-old Harvard MBA with $150,000 in student loan debt will do just fine. The relevant issue for young people is their career prospects. These will not be very good if the 1 percent continue to get most of the gains from economic growth.
But the first paragraph is just the beginning. This piece is a true cornucopia of bad logic and misinformation. It tells readers that:
"The biggest boondoggle of all is Social Security. The management of entitlement programs, already weighted heavily in favor of the older population, has a very specific terminal point that coincides neatly with the Boomers' deaths. The 2011 report by the Social Security trustees estimates that, under its current administration, the fund will run out in 2036, so there's just enough to get the oldest Boomers to age ninety."
Social Security is projected to first face a shortfall in 2036, according to the Trustees projections (2038 according to the Congressional Budget Office), but it does not "run out in 2036," even in the absurdly unlikely event that Congress never does anything to address the shortfall. (The share of beneficiaries in the voting population will be about 50 percent larger in 2036 than it is today. Any bets that Congress won't pay full scheduled benefits?)
There will still be plenty of tax revenue being paid in 2037. This will be sufficient to pay about 80 percent of scheduled benefits. With benefits projected to be close to 40 percent higher (after adjusting for increases in the cost of living) in 2037, the payable benefit in 2037 would still be higher than what the typical retiree gets today.
Perhaps even more importantly, today's beneficiaries paid for their benefits. The return on their payroll taxes is reasonable (@1-3 percent, after adjusting for inflation), but hardly excessive. This is why it is absurd that Esquire tells us that:
"According to a 2009 Brookings Institution study, 'The United States spends 2.4 times as much on the elderly as on children, measured on a per capita basis, with the ratio rising to 7 to 1 if looking just at the federal budget.'"
Yes, using the Brookings Institution methodology the United States spends about 1000 times as much on billionaires as on children, measured on a per capita basis.
Figure it out yet? Billionaires own government bonds. The government pays them interest on these bonds. A billionaire like investment banker Peter Peterson might well get tens of millions of dollars a year in interest on these bonds. It's true that Peter Peterson paid for these bonds, but the Brookings Institution and Esquire says this does not matter.
The next golden nugget of ignorance comes in the very next paragraph:
"But the government's future ability to pay is decreasing rapidly precisely because the Boomers splurged so heavily during the Bush and Clinton years. Public debt per person in the United States currently stands at $33,777. George W. Bush inherited a public-debt-to-GDP ratio of 32.5 percent and brought it up to 54.1 percent during a period of economic growth."
If the measure of splurging is the public debt, then Esquire is on the wrong planet here. The gross debt of the federal government was equal to 64.1 percent of GDP at the end of 1992. It had fallen to 57.3 percent of GDP by the end of 2000. How could they get something so simple so wrong?
Of course the debt is not a measure of intergenerational equity. At some point everyone alive today will be dead. The bonds that they hold will end up in the hands of the next generation. This means that the debt will be paid from some members of younger generations to other members of younger generations. There can be an issue of intra-generational equity, for example if Bill Gates' children and grandchildren own all the debt, but there is no issue of inter-generational equity here.
What matters for inter-generational equity is the overall state of the economy and the physical and natural infrastructure that we hand down to future generations. By the first measure, we are doing quite well. Productivity is increasing at the rate of close to 2.5 percent annually. This means that after 30 years, the average worker will be producing more than twice as much in an hour of work as they do today. If this gain is relatively evenly shared (i.e. the distribution of income gets no worse), then the typical worker in 2041 will enjoy a standard of living that is close to twice as high as what workers today enjoy.
It's true that if we ignore global warming then this may not be the case. Similarly, if the U.S. manages to antagonize the rest of the world with its foreign policy, people here may not be able to enjoy the fruits of productivity growth. But this will have nothing to do with the Social Security and Medicare benefits received by baby boomers.
There is way too much other nonsense to address in this post, but one item is too delicious to pass up. There is a box with the heading:
"How to disenfranchise a generation."
The box then discusses the measures proposed by Republicans in many states to impose more restrictions on voting, most importantly requiring a government issued photo ID card to vote. Incredibly, Esquire tells readers that this rule is aimed at young people, as though they expect these measures to keep the children of Wall Street traders and Fortune 500 CEOs from having a vote.
In fact, these laws are quite obviously targeted at minorities of any age. The Republicans are not trying to keep their kids from voting. There are trying to keep the kids of African Americans and Hispanics from voting, as well as parents and grandparents. Does Esquire really not know this?
This article is a shameful effort to transform the realities of class war, where the wealthy have been rigging the rules to secure themselves most of the gains from economic growth, into a generational issue. The combination of ignorance and dishonesty in this piece is truly extraordinary.


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The creators of the iOS music making application NanoStudio, Blip Interactive have joined forces with with mobile music-making blog Palm Sounds and music hosting site SoundCloud to offer users of the bite-sized software the chance to win a range of goodies.
To take part, simply create a piece of music using NanoStudio and share your track from within the app to the official NanoStudio group on SoundCloud. There are two sets of prizes to be awarded to the winner of the popular vote and the jury's favourite, including a MIDI Mobilizer from Line 6, a pair of "the smallest earphones in the world" from JAYS, a one year SoundCloud Pro account, and a SoundCloud t-shirt.
Find more details of the competition here.


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Our next meeting of the
Midwest Narcolepsy Support Group
is scheduled for
Saturday, May 6, 2017
10:30 am - 12:00 noon
NorthShore University HealthSystem
Evanston Hospital
2650 Ridge, Evanston, IL 60201
Meeting Rooms G952-G956, - Evanston Hospital
At this Meeting we will have an open discussion on Narcolepsy and living with Narcolepsy, medication, diet, etc. We will also have a representative from Eastern Illinois University who wants to speak to us about research being conducted concerning the genetics associated with Narcolepsy and
Cataplexy and explaining how we could help with their research, if we would like to participate.
It is open to ALL - patients and their "Support Team" members.
Join us, your input is invaluable.Feel free to join us on the phone if you can't join us in person.
The conference phone is:
~ Passcode ~ 7432626#
Please note that we have a NEW PASSCODE
We hope to see (or hear from) you on Saturday!!


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Blueberries are among the fruits highest in antioxidant activity. So, they're gaining in popularity among gardening enthusiasts. If you haven't tried growing them, or you've grown them unsuccessfully, here are some easy tips to ensure your blueberry harvest is bountiful.
Most of a blueberry plant's roots are in the top 8 inches of soil, so your planting area should be wide, but not very deep. Dig a hole 3'x3′ wide, and about 12″-16″ deep. If you plant on poor draining soil, mound the shrub so it sits 6″-8″ above grade (these shallow roots deal well with wet soil, but remember that in droughts, anything raised dries out faster and will need watering).
To refill the hole, mix peat moss, shredded pine bark (not nuggets, but mulch, and it does need to be pine), and the native soil (unless it is clay, in which case you also have poor drainage, so plan on mounding and using the peat and pine bark 50/50). Blueberries must have acidic soil.
Refill the hole with the above ingredients in a 1:1:1 ratio (1 part peat, 1 part pine mulch, 1 part native soil if not heavy clay). Pine mulch works well for two reasons: it stretches your peat moss, which is more expensive; and it gives a nice texture to the mix, for better air circulation and water channeling. If you can't find shredded pine mulch, just double up on the peat moss. Canadian peat is the ideal additive.
Make sure to combine at least two blueberry varieties for cross-pollination, as some plants are not fertile by themselves. For two shrubs, you'll need one 3.8 cu. ft. bale of sphagnum peat moss; and two 3 cu. ft. bags of pine mulch. Once you get all this mixed into the hole, it's time for amendments. Add 6 cups (2 pounds) of alfalfa pellets and a half cup of soft rock phosphate (optional), or 3 cups (about 1 pound) of a balanced organic fertilizer. Stir it all into the top 8 inches of soil mix.
Pine fines, which are the little bits of chips and dust left over from the process of producing pine nuggets and pine mulch, make a wonderful soil amendment. Pine fines provide amazing results, especially in garden areas with low levels of organic matter. Add about 1 cubic foot to the planting bed for each blueberry plant. DO NOT use hardwood fines with blueberry plants, as the chemical makeup may adversely affect the pH and nutrient absorption.
Set the blueberry plant in the ground so that the top of its root ball is just covered by the mix in the hole. The planting area, after being amended with the peat moss and mulch, will likely have mounded slightly. This is fine, and will encourage rapid growth. Don't use compost or manure when planting blueberries, as these amendments will raise soil pH above what the plant requires to thrive.
Caring for your blueberry plant:
Pine needles are an ideal mulch for blueberries. Shredded leaves (no walnut), and shredded pine bark mulch are excellent for blueberry plants. DO NOT use hardwood bark mulch, hay or straw, as they alter pH and encourage weeds. During the year you plant it, and the following year, water the bush regularly (one good soaking weekly during the growing season, equal to about 5 gallons of water). You can top-dress (apply fertilizer under the mulch) with alfalfa pellets (2 cups) or granular organic fertilizer (1 cup) in March, and again in late May. Be careful not to over fertilize. Add 1-2 pounds of sulfur per plant each year. Do not fertilize after June in zone 3-5, or after July in zones 6-8.
Blueberry plants do not like cultivation (due to their shallow roots), so keeping them weed-free with a thick, porous mulch is essential for blueberry plants to thrive. Birds love blueberries, so use bird netting if you intend to have any berries for yourself!


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Tortue WA501008 Pink (Rose) Gold Watch
Price on Request
Retail $34,400
For more information, please contact the Concierge:
New or Never WornSpecial Order (?)
Special Order Timepiece
This is a Special Order timepiece that is acquired as a service to our clients at the time of order, subject to availability and confirmation of the order. If, for any reason, this Special Order is not confirmed, we will notify you promptly and your order may be canceled without any cost or obligation. Because Special Order timepieces are being acquired only for your order, they are not returnable for any reason. We recommend that clients familiarize themselves with the fit and appearance of any timepiece before ordering to ensure that they will be pleased with their choice of timepiece. For further information, contact email@example.com.
Complimentary shipping within the U.S.
Tortue watch, medium model, mechanical movement with manual winding. Case in 18K pink gold set with brilliant-cut diamonds, octagonal crown set with a brilliant-cut diamond. Silvered sunray effect flinque dial. Sword-shaped hands in blued steel. Mineral glass. Strap in shiny Bordeaux alligator skin, adjustable folding buckle in 18K pink gold. Case dimensions: 39 mm x 31 mm. Case thickness: 8.6 mm. Water-resistant to 30?meters.
- Item Number1446186125ConditionNew or Never WornHave a question?
- BrandCartierModelTortue WA501008GenderWomen'sMovementManual/Hand-Winding
- Case MaterialRose GoldBand MaterialAlligatorBand ColorBlack
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This picture was suppose to go with my post of my grandma for her birthday. It downloaded but it didn't show up on the post. This is Mamaw and Papaw Mann when they were dating. They were married about a month after this picture was taken and were married for over 60 years. They had seven children. Aunt Shelby, Aunt Martha Ann, Aunt Jenny, Uncle Danny, My daddy(Bobby), Uncle Greg, and Uncle Joey. Two of their children are already in Heaven with my PaPaw.
Don't they look so sweet together? She reminds me of Ashley Judd in this picture. My favorite actress.


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Our hybrid iPhone Pixels Case are made from specifically selected materials that offer the benefit of being slimline and lightweight while extremely strong and durable. Our cases undergo hundreds of tests to ensure we've optimized the materials used at the highest standards.
- Shock-absorbent wrap-around bumper for edge to edge coverage
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- Strong, extra durable outer shell resistant to cracking & chipping
- Slim & lightweight to protect without weighing down
- Easy-press buttons never hinder usage, feels like nothing's there
- Protects your phone from drops of up to 8 feet.
We strive to innovate and keep our cases ultra lightweight without sacrificing brilliant design and durability. This is why we choose not to show any branding on any of our cases. We believe our one-of-a-kind Pixels Case design will truly speak for itself.
Shipping & Returns
We ship worldwide. Your order will be carefully packaged and delivered wherever is most convenient for you. Shipping is free on all orders. You'll be able to track your package by using the Shipping Confirmation email that we send as soon as your order begins its journey. Please allow 1-2 business days to receive your shipment notification email after placing your order.
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Made by talented artists and designers hailing from diverse corners of the globe, the incredibly lively artwork infused in this collection will inject your daily routine with a generous dose of creative inspiration every time you cast your gaze upon your Phone case.
We strive to innovate and keep our cases lightweight without sacrificing brilliant design and durability.
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For this months crusade Michelle Ward have been kind enough to send me a small package of printing block material to use when I carv a stamp!
You just can't find this stuff here in Sweden, and I have wanted to try carving a stamp from soft printing block material for years now. I didn't enjoy cutting linoleum very much when I tried that, it was too hard and I kept cutting my fingers. Cutting in this material is a totally different experience. It's not like cutting butter but at least similar to carving in a soft sandwich. And saying it's easy to make marks in the material is not saying it's easy to cut shapes the way you want them to look. No way, that's not at all what I'm saying.
I wanted to cut out advanced ornaments and big swirly shapes, but discovered that the first shape I drew, a little heart, was almost too advanced for me already! I felt like my carving blades were too big and clumsy. Or was it me? In the end I was hacking out the shape instead of cutting it – and that's probably why it looks a bit like breadcrumbs coming loose from the block!
I decided not to be too disappointed that I couldn't carve Michelle Ward masterpieces but go for small icons that I could use in my diary or make small prints with. I think that's the right decision. I like all of the stamps I made, and I'm sure I will use them more than once. They are maybe looking infantile, but they are my hand carved stamps, made from my squiggly drawings.
The second one I carved was a long legged bird that is walking on the ground looking for something to eat. I'm going to use this one to make small prints and paint the ground and sky around him with watercolors. I bet that will be fun too. I really like carving stamps.
I also made two different flowers, the second one almost freehand without sketching very much at all. Then I was too tired to continue cutting, so I sewed together a finished sweater in front of a movie instead of making art.
I got four pieces of this material called Safety-Kut softoleum in 8 x 5 cm. I've only used one piece (!) for all of these four designs because I cut both back and front! So I will continue to sketch and look for designs to make into small stamps. I will continue to practice cutting and then using my stamps when I journal! One little bird already found his way to my diary! I think I will have to challenge myself even more and do image transfer too.
Now I'm going to take some time to surf the other members at the Street team and see what they've carved out for this crusade!
I think the most important thing when you participate in these things is to visit the others and make comments of encouragement and tell others that you like what you see. Isn't that why we send in our links? To be noticed and challenged and have fun? That's what I've been trying to do, both at the GPP Street team and other challenges I've been apart off. My favorite used to be Studio Friday but it doesn't exist anymore. Tine is having a baby soon!
So with Studio Friday gone I've joined the monthly challenge of the GPP Street team that Michelle Ward puts together. This month's crusade is called Cut it out and it's cutting your own stamps as you might have guessed by this post already?! Go check the others out and join in and show what you've carved out!
Look at Michelle Ward's stamps and read more tips from her. I'm putting up her rubber stamps on my wish list!
First I joined crusade #16 and made a timecapsual in my Art Journal but in February I didn't take time to post about #17 – a travel kit for journaling, though I submitted two previous posts. (oh and since then I've found a art bag that I will need to fill and write about soon). The first post with my art kit is about journaling in Ardeche in France and my post Watercolor me now is about journaling outside. Some people kindly visited these posts and commented on them, I think that was awesome! It's so much fun to get comments on your old posts as you then can re-visit them!
I've collected some links with even more information on carving stamps, if you're not dead already!
Carving out some stamp making-links
♥ Stamp Carving 101
♥ Carved your own stamp tutorial by Alma Stoller
♥ Hand carved stamp by Moki
♥ The Carving category at Belinda's blog
♥ Carving how-to from Ruth
Have fun making it your own!


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Julia has posted a half-dozen recent updates to her excellent Rwanda blog, about her work, thoughts on access to knowledge, and efforts with the Kigali Institute of Education. She includes some interesting photos of students showing off their Etoys storybooks and drawings.
She also reminded me of the CMU student group that visited Nonko School last month to run classroom workshops – an interesting model of community service.


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Lantana Camara
The growing and care of lantanas (Lantana Camara) is easy. These verbena-like flowers have long since been admired for their extended bloom time.
There are several varieties available that offer a multitude of colours. Depending on the region and type grown, lantana plants can be treated as annuals or perennials. Grow lantana flowers in the garden or in containers. Trailing varieties can even be grown in hanging baskets. Lantanas also make a great choice for those wishing to attract butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden.
How to Grow Lantana Flowers
Growing lantana in the garden is a great way to add colour and interest. Simply choose a sunny location and plant them in well-draining soil. Although these plants are tolerant of many soil conditions, lantana flowers prefer slightly acidic soil. Mulching with pine needles is an easy way to raise pH levels in areas with low acid.
Lantanas are planted in spring once the threat of cold weather and frost have ceased. Keep in mind, however, that they prefer warm temperatures so new growth may be slow to appear. Once the temperatures warm up though, they will grow abundantly.
Caring for Lantana Plants
- While newly planted lantanas require frequent watering, once established, these plants require little maintenance and are even tolerant of somewhat dry conditions. In fact, a good soaking about once a week should keep them relatively happy.
- Although it isn't required, lantana plants can be given a light dose of fertilizer each spring, but too much may inhibit their overall flowering.
- To encourage reblooming, cut the tips (deadhead) periodically. Overgrown plants can be given new life by cutting back a third of their growth. They will bounce back quickly. Regular pruning of the plant usually takes place in spring.
Common Problems with Growing Lantanas
- While lantanas are not affected by too many problems, you may encounter them on occasion.
- Powdery mildew can become a problem if the plant is not given enough light. In addition, the plant may develop root rot if it is kept too wet.
- Sooty mould is a condition that causes black discolouration on the leaves and is most often attributed to insect pests, such as whiteflies.
- Other common pests that affect lantana plants include lace bugs, which cause the foliage to turn grey or brown and then drop off.


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This article is more than 1 year old
Red Hat bags NTT as cloud partner
KVM virt for Japanese SMBs
Server virtualization wannabe Red Hat has notched up another cloud computing win with its commercial-grade KVM hypervisor. Japanese telco and service provider NTT Communications has said it is building its new cloud and Web hosting facilities using Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization.
RHEV, as it is called in the lingo of Red Hatters, was launched in November 2009 as a bare-metal, standalone hypervisor a little more than a year after the company acquired Qumranet, the Israeli company behind the KVM hypervisor, for $107m. The KVM hypervisor was embedded in RHEL 5.4 back in September 2009, but it is the bare-metal version, which provides more isolation of workloads - and presumably better performance on server workloads - that cloud makers are interested in. RHEV 2.2 went into beta in late March and is based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 kernel that itself was announced at the same time. This supports all the most recent x64 processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, and it is this upcoming version of RHEV that no doubt is closing the deals.
That's because RHEV 2.2 can support 16 virtual CPUs in a guest partition atop the hypervisor and that partition can be equipped with as much as 1 TB of virtual memory, if the underlying hardware physically has it. That's a lot more memory than other server virtualization hypervisors can dedicate to their guests right now. Some service providers are also probably keen on the virtual-to-virtual (V2V) conversion tool, based on the open source libguestfs project, that can convert guest machines running VMware's ESX Server or Citrix Systems' XenServer hypervisors to KVM - including modifying the parts of the guest that are dependent on virt management tools. This is a true V2V conversion, not requiring system admins to muck about in virtual file systems and changing out management tools by hand, Red Hat claims. RHEV 2.2 is expected to be available in the coming months, and will likely be the star at the Red Hat Summit in Boston in early June.
RHEV has been getting some traction among service providers. In early March, Swedish movie-on-demand service Voddler said it was using RHEV to virtualize the brand-spanking-new Cisco Systems UCS blade servers behind its movie service. And a week later, IBM said that its test and development cloud for programmers, given the catchy name Smart Business Development and Test on the IBM Cloud, which will be available sometime this quarter, will be based on KVM running on x64 iron. The CloudBurst on-premise versions of the IBM Cloud are preconfigured with VMware's ESX Server 3.5. So in this case, that V2V converter is going to come in handy if RHEV lets you run it backwards, moving RHEV stacks in development to ESX stacks in production. It would be far easier for IBM to just carve up chunks of its eponymous cloud and let customers choose what hypervisor they want for test, dev, and production. But you get fewer press releases that way.
NNT Com was one of the key partners Red Hat tapped to get input for developing RHEV and was one of the beta testers for the product. And because NTT Com is a member of the Premier Certified Cloud Provider program, along with Amazon thanks to its EC2 service, that means customers with internal RHEL licenses can move them over to the BizHosting Basic cloud, or buy new RHEL licenses to deploy on the NTT cloud. Biz Hosting Basic has been in beta test since last October with 60 customers, and is being rolled out in Japan with a base server slice costing ¥7,350 (about $78) per month.
Don't get the wrong idea here. NTT Com may be tapping Red Hat RHEV for its BizHosting Basic virtual server cloud, but two weeks ago it announced that it was using VMware's ESX Server to peddle another product called the Global Virtualization Service, which is available in Japan, Europe, and the United States.
All service providers are going to have to offer multiple hypervisors because no one company is going to have the kind of dominance VMware enjoyed in the early days of x64 server virtualization. ®


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You can also score points by submitting book puzzles.
The latest solution today was submitted by: egoego (6×6, 3 Punkte)
(which was solved puzzle number 31301224)
Users with less than 20 points and who have not submitted a solution in the past week are not shown. |
If you're curious: my username is pnm |
Page processing time: 0.228 sec.


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Middle-class dreams a myth: Government report
The reality is the middle-class is in debt and mortgaging its future to stay afloat.
The reality is the middle-class is in debt and mortgaging its future to stay afloat.
OTTAWA – Canada's middle-class is mortgaging its future to stay afloat, making the Canadian dream "a myth more than a reality."
That's the blunt assessment of an internal Conservative government report, an unvarnished account of the plight of middle-income families that's in contrast to the rosier economic picture in this month's budget.
The document was prepared last October by experts in Employment and Social Development Canada, the department that runs the employment insurance fund and other income-support programs. The Canadian Press obtained the report under the Access to Information Act.
"The wages of middle income workers have stagnated," it says, referring to the period from 1993 to 2007.
"Middle-income families are increasingly vulnerable to financial shocks."
The document, drawing on three years of "internal research," was prepared for the department's deputy minister, Ian Shugart, shortly before the resumption of Parliament last fall.
"In Canada, political parties are making the middle class a central piece of their agendas," notes the presentation.
A department spokesman, Jordan Sinclair, said in an email that the research "was not linked to the parliamentary schedule or topics raised within the House of Commons."
The authors say middle-income families have seen their earnings rise by an average of only 1.7 per cent a year over the 15 years ending 2007.
"The market does not reward middle-income families so well," says the report. "As a result, they get an increasingly smaller share of the earning's pie" compared with higher-income families.
Shugart was also told middle-class workers "get lesser government support for their work transitions," referring to a sharp fall-off in employment-insurance benefits compared with other economic groups.
The analysis stops short of the 2008 global recession, though other analysts have noted the economic crisis wiped out many well-paid manufacturing jobs in central Canada that have supported middle-class prosperity.
The report also refers to debt, saying "many in the middle spend more than they earn, mortgaging their future to sustain their current consumption."
"Over the medium term, middle-income Canadians are unlikely to move to higher income brackets, i.e., the 'Canadian dream' is a myth more than a reality."
Current Conservative messaging emphasizes a million new jobs created since the recession; Canada's relative economic stability compared with other industrialized countries; and various tax cuts provided to "average" families since 2006.
A spokeswoman for Employment Minister Jason Kenney said the report reflects "the period of time under the previous Liberal government," from 1993 forward. (The report also covers 2006-2007, the first two years under the Harper Conservatives; the department says an updated report is "not available at this time.")
"Our government has reduced taxes and made life affordable for Canadian families," Alexandra Fortier said in an email Sunday, adding a "typical" family of four enjoys tax cuts of $3,400 a year, thanks to Conservative policies.
That "typical" family includes working parents who together earn $120,000 a year, with two children.
This month's budget acknowledged the need to create jobs and provide workplace training, but the budget documents never refer explicitly to the "middle class." The term "middle income" occurs just three times in the main budget, and once in a news release.
Since becoming Liberal leader in April last year, Justin Trudeau has frequently cited the plight of the middle class, a theme repeated at the party's weekend convention in Montreal.
Research from the Library of Parliament shows that since Jan. 1, 2013, Trudeau has used the phrase "middle class" 52 times in the House of Commons, compared with twice for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and nine times for NDP Leader Tom Mulcair. None of them used "middle income."
Toronto Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland commended the public servants who produced the report, saying that for the Liberals "it was like getting a good grade on your homework."
"This is a very strong, non-partisan, data-driven report, focused on Canada, which confirms our assertion, which is at the centre of our policy, that the middle class in Canada is being squeezed and that we have to do something about it," she said in an interview from Montreal.
"The public discourse has been lagging — we've been in denial."
Freeland, who won a November byelection and now is the party's trade critic, is author of the 2012 book Plutocrats, which argues that wealth distribution has favoured the ultra-rich and left everybody else behind.
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The Northern Virginia Parents of Multiples (NVPOM) is an organization for families of twins, triplets, or higher-order multiples. We are an active, vibrant, volunteer-based group that provides both support and social activities for its members. We are a member of Multiples of America. Learn more about our club!
Who Are We?
NVPOM's purpose is to help each other feel prepared and more confident in raising multiple-birth children. We strive to broaden our members' understanding of various aspects of child development and rearing, especially as they relate to multiples. Join us for an exchange of information between parents, educators, doctors, and other experts, as well as an opportunity to meet other parents who have experienced similar joys and challenges in raising twins, triplets, and more.
Join Us!
NVPOM is non-discriminating. We welcome families in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC, with twins or higher-order multiples of any age to be a part of our growing family. If you have (or are expecting) multiples, click here to join now!
Prospective members are welcome to attend a general meeting prior to joining the Club. For further information regarding NVPOM, please e-mail our VP of Membership at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Member Support | Social Activities | ||
Club Involvement | |||


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This article is more than 1 year old
Happy Birthday, Turing's universal machine
Solving the unsolvable
It's just 71 years ago this month that a seminal paper from Alan Turing was published, which helped pave the way to today's multi-billion dollar IT industry and confer on Turing the title of father of modern computer science.
As is often the case in scientific endeavour, Turing was actually working on an entirely different task when he stumbled on a way to create a general-purpose computer.
The paper that encapsulated this machine? On Computable Numbers with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem.
The Entscheidungsproblem - which translated from German literally means "decision problem" - referred to a mathematical challenge laid down by German mathematician David Hilbert.
The Entscheidungsproblem goes to the very heart of Hilbert's thoughts on the nature of mathematics. At the start of the twentieth century deep questions were being asked about science and the tools used to think about scientific problems. In the same way that Einstein's work had challenged orthodox views of physics, so Hilbert and others questioned mathematics.
Hilbert posed three fundamental questions: is mathematics "complete", is it "consistent," and - the Entscheidungsproblem - is it "decidable". The first two were answered - negatively - in 1931 by the Austrian mathematician Kurt Godel.
Turing scuppered Hilbert's final question with his 1937 paper although the American mathematician Alonzo Church - later Turing's professor at Princeton - came up with a similar negative analysis a year earlier. The two approaches are generally combined as the Church-Turing Theorem.
Turing's real insight was, of course, the concept of a "Universal (or Turing) machine." He conceived the Universal Machine as a way to demonstrate that it was impossible to solve the Entscheidungsproblem.
But he had also stumbled on what was effectively the blue print for a general-purpose computer and this almost certainly justifies his status as the founder of modern computing.
Copies of Turing's original paper are available online both in facsimile and in text form. ®


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Seventy years ago, a legend was born. The very first vehicle to bear the Porsche name, the 356 'No. 1' Roadster, received its permit on 8 June 1948 and was in many ways the first Speedster. Although not officially designated as such, it nevertheless bore all the hallmarks and features of the Speedster as we know it today: open-top driving pleasure combined with a high-performance drive.
Seventy years later the legend is reborn. Unveiled on the 70th Anniversary of Porsche in June, the 911 Speedster Concept forges a thrilling link between that first Porsche and the production cars of today. With a purist's focus on sporty details, it represents the rebirth of a pure, open-top sportscar. Developed at the Porsche Motorsport Centre, home of the iconic 911 GT2 RS and 911 GT3 RS, its execution is historically sensitive. Incorporating many classic design elements found in its predecessors, the Concept is further enhanced with a Heritage Design style developed by Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur. Yet by drawing on the drive technology of current GT models, the Concept achieves a level of performance never before seen in a Speedster.
The 911 Speedster Concept will go into production in 2019 and will be the first car to be offered with the new Heritage Design Packages.
For more information on the 911 Speedster, or any other model within the Porsche range, please contact our Centre.
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Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Highs and Lows
In the cartoon strip, Peanuts, Lucy Van Pelt was forever offering to hold the football for Charlie Brown to kick. Each time he would take a run at the old pigskin, Lucy would pull the ball out from under him just before his foot made contact and he would land on his back. Usually, he would say something along the lines of "Good Grief!" This is how I feel about ALS. I'm Charlie Brown forever convincing myself that this time, things are going to go a little easier and every time I get into that state of optimism, Lucy van ALS pulls the fucking football out from under me. Once again, I'm on my back looking up at the sky but at least I get to see the stars.
In my old line of work, the performing arts, conventional wisdom was that in order to make it, you had to have natural talent, an indestructible work ethic, the ability never to give up, and of course, good luck. I did not have the second two and if you'll forgive my immodesty, that is why I'm not famous. Along those same lines, in order to deal with ALS, you have to be born with a talent to turn shit into shit-ade as well as an indomitable will to not fall to pieces just because your body and people you love are falling to pieces around you. It's not that I have this gift to be positive and it's not that I wake up every morning and decide that I will be positive--Its both.
Every week, I hear about another person who has ALS or cancer or who just lost a parent or whose kid is going through one of those nail-biting times that parents pray their kids get through. Every week, I meet someone whose loved one has lost a job, who has a serious medical problem and no health insurance. I'm serious. I meet more people with problems than Joe Biden did on the campaign trail. So many people are dealing with unbelievable challenges. How do we place them in triage order in our minds?
The truth is, I'm blessed with a talent for seeing the best I can in the worst situations and I have the discipline to place--nay, to force-- myself into a place of gratitude probably 5 or 6 days out of 7. That makes me better off than most people... except for this ALS thing that I mentioned in the beginning.
I got out of the hospital with this new lease on life. What that actually means is that after I got out of the hospital, all the great hospice drugs made me feel much better and oddly detached from how potentially fucked up it is to be in hospice in the first place. Avatar on morphine? Come on, you know you want to try it. Nevertheless, there I was, happy as a clam, figuring out the perfect valium/weed/morphine cocktails.
Then this weekend, I got really sick (OK super constipated, happy now?) while Mac was visiting and it was one of those inescapable times when one thinks, "Fuck. I'm not just faking this. I really am dying." It made me so angry to feel so bad while Mac was here. Then I went into a bit of a tailspin emotionally. It's hard to spend time with your kid thinking, "If it could just be like this all the time, I would be okay with it." And then feeling sick and thinking, "Why can't I just hurry up and die already?" It's a curious paradox to desperately want to stay alive and to be here and to share everything this glorious globe has to offer and yet, to feel like it would be such a relief to die.
I know a lot of people with ALS who have gone through so many more physical challenges and indignities than I have, and yet, they are still here, still actively engaged in the world, and if not in the world, at least in Facebook or Farmville. Compared to them, I am a great big pussy.
Someone was wondering aloud to me recently, searching for the metaphor for ALS. Of course there are so many, but among them is a weird and haphazard way we all lose function of different parts of our selves at different times and how we could simultaneously see them coming in super slow-mo and they seem to hit us out of the blue. That metaphor seems to be disequilibrium. Nothing is exactly one thing or another. Not the functioning of your body, not your state of mind, and not your proximity to this existence or any afterlife existence. It's all disequilibrium.
A long time ago, I performed a piece in which I read the book, "The Runaway Bunny" to my son. If you remember the book, it's one of those books like "I Love You Forever" that makes you cry and makes you wonder if crying at a slightly creepy book makes you a bad parent. I know they're great books, but they're also kind of creepy. "The Runaway Bunny" keeps telling his mom all the places that he'll run away and hide from her. She tells him if he hides behind a tree, she'll turn into a tree, etc. The kind of mom that you spend the rest of your life talking to your therapist about.
But I digress.
In the piece I performed that involved "The Runaway Bunny", I told my son who was actually a plastic doll swaddled in a baby blanket, "the day is coming when my kisses won't be enough to ease your pain. You will know pain and I will be powerless to protect you." I had no idea at that time how profoundly I would one day experience those words. I see my son and although he's tall and handsome and much smarter than me, I also see a little boy. I can't help it. And there's this urge to pull him onto my lap and to kiss his cheeks too hard and too many times and whisper into his ear that everything is gonna be alright. However, it's not. And I couldn't pull him on to me if I tried. And he would look ridiculous on my lap. So I am forced to be in that situation every parent finds themself in to some degree or another: That situation where you realize that you can do absolutely nothing to prevent your child from experiencing heartache.
This would probably not be easier if there were other mitigating circumstances, even though in my imagination, it always is. But the reality is if I had a supportive co-parent, I wouldn't think. "Well, I'm dying from this shitty disease, but it's okay because I have this supportive co-parent." What I'm about to say is so awesomely true I'm going to put it in quotes and credit myself because it's that good:
"Life can never get better than it is right now, but it could get a fuck of a lot worse."
-Carla Zilbersmith, January 2010
...which reminds me, for some reason; Mac was thinking of more effective tactical publicity strategies for Al Quaeda and it occurred to me that Allah would have a lot more martyrs if he just didn't offer 73 virgins to his martyrs. What about a combination? Maybe a couple of virgins, several cougars, some stone-cold freaks, bi-curious people, and a few of the S&M folk? Now if I'm a traditional martyr, I gotta figure, I still have quite a number of virgins coming to me (get it? "coming"?) and if I don't chose to partake in the cougars (because I'm stupid), I don't have to. On the other hand, if I'm Allah, I broaden my suicide bomber base to include people of all kinds of sexual proclivities. (I'm not sure why I'm writing this except for I live in hope of offending a wealthy extremist Muslim who will finally put a hit out on me.) It is something that I would look into if I were a terrorist though.
So, Saturday I was so sick that I spent almost the whole day on the toilet and the rest of the day sleeping because I was so exhausted. To say that I have zero privacy is to understate my current situation and I was prodded and poked in a way that none of you would like. Trust me on that. I was in such pain that I actually moaned out loud, which I didn't do in 36 hours of labor with Mac. And at one point, moaning and crying and saying out loud how much I hate my fucking life and how nobody knows how hard it is to be me, I turned into my own stern, internalized parent and said caustically to myself, "You really think you're worse off than someone in Port Au Prince?" and I couldn't help but laugh at how fucked up I am that even in extreme pain, I'm trying to figure out where my suffering is in the food chain of despair. I think I'm pretty high up on the food chain. I'm also high... up here on the food chain which I guess brings me a notch down on the food chain since some people can't even afford good meds. But anyway as I said, I'm pretty hight up there. I can't lift a blanket over me in the middle of the night, I get winded trying to roll over, I'm tired most of the time, I go back and forth between dry cracking mouth with sores and drooling and I go back and forth between constipation and diarrhea which is annoying when you can get on the toilet yourself. Imagine how annoying it is when it involves one or two transfers depending on if I'm in the bed or the wheelchair. Lots and lots of things in my life suck. However, my dad has relocated to take care of me, one call and my friends arrive en masse to help me, I genuinely enjoy my days with caregivers, friends and bird. On my birthday my friends snuck in and decorated the living area of my house with tons of butterflies made out of feathers. I eat my breakfast in an imaginary butterfly sanctuary. I have a really great boom box in my room that lets me fall asleep to the best music in the world. I have everything material I can possibly need and I always have. I mean, I can't imagine one Haitian dude on that whole island desperately searching for a door jam in his already ramshackle shack and saying in a shaky voice, "Well, at least I don't have ALS." There is always someone worse off than you which for some reason reminds me of the time I got skunked and I went to the grocery store to buy tomato juice and a homeless guy to whom I frequently contributed was in line next to me and he looked at me and said, "Damn, you stink."
The hospice chaplain visited the other day and left me by reciting a poem by Raymond Carver:
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
So I think, if you don't mind, I'm going to keep taking a run at that football because one of these days, I'm bound to kick it... no pun intended.
22 comments:
a great big pussy?
my ass - 6:42 PM
You are a beautiful writer Carla, even if a bit high. You're good enough to read over and over again.
Susan P.
From the state that used to be Democratic!!!!!!!!! - 6:43 PM
wow. maybe you would have been published a hell of a lot sooner had you been high then, too?! what amazing insight you have to a world I only attempt to decipher with a glass of wine and (yes, it's true) a farmville plot! I love you forever!
wen xo - 8:08 PM
The voice of a great wit...vibrant, humourous, a great spirit living out loud and we have this privledge of hearing your intimate storytelling. Yes, talent you have.
- Warren Schiffer said...
The words from your heart are a gift to all of us. Perhaps, they also help you sort out the turmoil that is living with ALS. They definitely cry out for awareness and action to cure this horrid disease. Btw, the butterflies sound nice; constipation/diarrhea, not so much. Hugs from NY ((((((((Carla)))))))) <-- that is a virtual hug, internet style. You are in my thoughts, always.
Beloved, beloved Carla,
You kicked that blogpost long, straight, and true.
I'm grateful beyond words,
Kathy - 9:36 AM
OK, now I want to know the story of getting skunked!!!!
- Gerry T said...
Hi Carla...you keep running at that football until you nail it right through the uprights!
And...speaking of football, I've got this DVD...
OK, helping Al Quaeda recruit suicide bombers? You wanna end up on the 'no fly' list?
Seriously, even in those "I wanna die" moments, you can uplift anyone around you. You're really more a Snoopy than a Charlie Brown anyway...
Bob - 4:15 PM
- Unknown said...
Dear Carla -- If this is your brain on drugs, they'll just have to recall those Public Service Announcements! Could anyone be more lucid? Your calendar keeps me thinking about you and all the brave Calendar models every day. Sending lots of love your way, Jeannine
- Steve said...
Simply brilliant Carla!! Can definitely relate to the "sh*t-storm", story of my life! Keep em coming! ;-)
- psalad said...
Carla, I don't know you, but I've been reading your blog for a while now.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE: "Life can never get better than it is right now, but it could get a fuck of a lot worse."
Simple, to the point, and 100% true.
Oh, and BTW, the writing was easy to follow and I couldn't tell you were doped up... :) - 8:31 AM
Here's another ALS heroine: http://www.care2.com/hero-next-door/372/?refer=6786.03.1264144834.888726
She's been nominated for the care2 Hero Next Door award; $2500 for ALS if she wins. Every penny counts, right? - 11:23 PM
Your indominitable spirit is pure inspiration. I can't even begin to imagine what it is like for you and, when I try I become terrified and depressed. Yet, you're living it with courage, humor and love. I hope your BLOG outlives you as it is a true inspiration and should endure.
...you rock!!!
Maureen - 2:45 PM
Carla, you're awesome, as always. Someone has no doubt shared this with you already, but this is too funny to not pass around. Absolutely non-serious stuff here -- but possibly even funnier in an altered state such as you find yourself in these days --
http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com/ - 4:45 PM
carla, checking in on you and I see that your spirit remains and I am grateful because I get to keep reading your words. Life is meant to be lived deeper and you have certainly suceeded at that. thank you.
maggie - 5:07 PM
- Unknown said...
Seriously, don't under estimate yourself you are one of the strongest women I know
"You do the best you can and you deal with the consequences. It's all there is." --Robert B Parker
- yvrapx said...
Great piece Carla, you have a wonderful sense of irony and humour.
If I could write as well as you do on your drugs, then please tell me the street name of those drugs.
Sandy - 11:39 PM
If you'd seen us in action at the Lair, you'd know that Mac has almost too many Mommies and Daddies. We are your co-parents, and you married us when he was 4 months old, rockin' himself to 'bababababa'. We've got your back,forever.
Sorry for the late post-I've a moment or two to spare this AM and can get caught up.
Love, Helene - 8:00 AM


text: Governor's Office Releases Economic Report on Bay Delta Conservation Plan Monday, August 5, 2013 | Sacramento, CA By: Harry Gibbons Dr. David Sunding, in the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics at UC Berkeley, helped author the report. "Taking all the positives and all the negatives from a strict economic welfare point of view, our conclusion is that the BDCP does clearly pass a cost benefit test to the tune of something like $5 billion," said Sunding. The report also estimates the plan will create around 177,000 jobs. Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla is Executive Director of "Restore the Delta". She says the report misrepresents the cost of the project and that "the figures put on disruption to the delta, delta fisheries, delta recreation, the delta economies, as usual are completely understated." The Bay Delta Conservation Plan will cost around $25 billion over its 50-year lifespan and is said to be the second largest public works project in California's history. Follow us for more stories like this CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today. Donate Today


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TALLAHASSEE, Florida (CNN) -- Florida Democrats want a do-over, but the state's Democratic congressional delegation on Thursday rejected a plan for recouping the 210 delegates the state lost when it moved its primary ahead of the approved time frame.
State Democratic officials knew voters' ballots wouldn't count when they were cast January 29.
The proposal -- floated earlier by state party officials -- called for a combined mail-in and in-person election to be held on June 3.
But House Democrats remained opposed to any revote -- particularly one involving mailed ballots.
"After reviewing the party's proposal and individually discussing this idea with state and local leaders and elections experts, we do not believe that this is a realistic option at this time and remain opposed to a mail-in ballot election or any new primary election in Florida of any kind," read a statement released Thursday afternoon by the state's Democratic congressional delegation.
Under the state party's plan, fundraising and public comment would begin immediately.
The plan would be "inclusive of all Democratic voters," according to a memo accompanying the draft plan that was sent Wednesday night to party leaders, including Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the party's candidates for the presidential nomination.
Any plan would need the blessings of the DNC and the Clinton and Obama campaigns.
"We really believe that all Floridians deserve to be heard," said state party Chairwoman Karen Thurman, but "if this is not what the people of Florida and our presidential candidates want, then we're not going to do it."
The proposal could prove problematic because Florida law bans the state from conducting elections by mail.
State party officials could outsource the election operations to a third party, but the company would need voters' signatures to verify the voter rolls. In Florida, it is illegal to sell voters' signatures.
Dean said Thursday he hadn't seen the proposal, but he acknowledged that it wasn't perfect.
"Of course there are going to be problems," he said, explaining that is why state party officials floated a proposal -- to get the kinks out. Watch how a mail-in vote could affect the race »
The cost for the proposed elections would have been between $10 million and $12 million, according to the state party memo.
The DNC stripped Florida of its delegates when the state moved its primary to January 29, ahead of the DNC-approved time frame. The DNC also stripped Michigan of its delegates; voters there cast ballots January 15.
Florida's Democrats knew when they cast ballots in January that their votes would not count because the primary date violated party rules. Neither candidate campaigned there, though Clinton held a few permitted fundraisers.
Clinton handily won Florida, winning not only most of the counties but also every county in the lower three-quarters of the state. She took 50 percent of the vote to Obama's 33 percent. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who has since dropped out of the race, snared 14 percent of the vote.
As the race for the Democratic presidential nomination nears its finish -- 42 states have already voted -- Obama leads Clinton in the delegate count, 1,611 to 1,480, according to CNN estimates. Clinton has the slight edge among superdelegates, 237 to 207.
If Florida were permitted to vote again, its 210 delegates could prove integral in determining the party's choice to challenge the presumed GOP candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Currently, 2,025 delegates are needed for a Democratic candidate to secure the party nomination. That number would increase if Florida and Michigan delegates were accepted at the convention.
"We are committed to working with the DNC, the Florida state Democratic Party, our Democratic leaders in Florida, and our two candidates to reach an expedited solution that ensures the seating of our full delegation in August," the House Democrats' statement said Thursday.
In Washington on Wednesday, Clinton said the results in Florida and Michigan were fair and should be counted. However, she would be open to new elections if the DNC won't honor the January results.
"There are two options: Honor the results or hold new primary elections," she said. "If you're a voter from Florida or Michigan, you know that we should count your votes."
Obama said Thursday that the notion of counting the January results "just defies logic" because he didn't campaign in either state and his name wasn't on the ballot in Michigan.
"I think you could ask my 6-year-old whether that was fair, and she would probably be able to say, 'No, that isn't,' " he said.
As for the Florida proposal, Obama reiterated his concerns -- chiefly about security -- regarding a mail-in vote, but said his campaign is "not going to make the final decision on it, and I'll abide by whatever rules the DNC lays out."
Dean said the DNC would work to find an option amenable to both candidates, "something that puts the vote back in the hands of the people of Florida and Michigan, but that is not easy to do." E-mail to a friend
All About Democratic National Committee • Hillary Clinton • Barack Obama


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