text:
Trader sailed a jeweled crown
Humanity rowed the way
Exploring to command more land
Scheming how to rule the waves.
Trader spied a virgin plain
And named it for velvet robes
Wrote home declaring,
"There's a place
Where totally folks are free
(Happily completely)
Nourishment fills the prairies and the hillsides
And animals stalk the mountains and the seaside
And fish abound the lakes and birds the skies
Signed sincerely."
Trader found the jeweled land
Was occupied before he came
By humans of a second look
Who couldn't even write their names shame
Trader said they're not as good
As folks who wear velvet robes
Wrote home again and asked, "Please help
Their breasts I see; they're not like me
Banish them from our prairies and our hillsides
Clear them from our mountains and our seaside
I want them off our lakes so please reply
Signed sincerely."
Trader he got the crown okay
Cleared humanity from his way
He civilized all he saw
Making changes every single day say
Shops sprang over the prairies and the hillsides
Then roads cut through the mountains to the seaside
The other kind fled to hide, by and by,
And so sincerely
Making it softly
Like the evening sea, trying to be
Making it go
Creating it gently
Like a morning breeze, a life of ease
Eyes that see
Beyond tomorrow, through to the time without hours
Passing the Eden of Flowers
Reason to live.
Embracing together
Like the merging streams, crying dreams
Making it full
Begging intently
For a slight reprieve, a night of ease
Hands to touch
Beyond the sorrow, on to the force without power
Piercing the crust of the tower
Reason to live.
Like a budding rose, humbling shows
Making it.
Struggling lonely
Like a desert field, break the seal, make it real
Ears to hear
Beyond the showers, on to the suns of tomorrows
Burning the flesh of all sorrows
Reason to live.
Reason to continue
Reason to go on
Reason to live
Reason to live
Reason to live


text:
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Sep 29, 2021

subset: commoncrawl


text:
daily disappearance of the Sun below the western half of the horizon
Sunset (or sundown) is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth's rotation. The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the Sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west. The ray path of light from the setting Sun is highly distorted near the horizon because of atmospheric refraction, making sunset appear to occur when the Sun's disk is already about one diameter below the horizon. Sunset is distinct from dusk, which is the moment at which darkness falls, which occurs when the Sun is approximately eighteen degrees below the horizon. The period between sunset and dusk is called twilight.
Quotes edit
- The death-bed of a day, how beautiful!
- Philip James Bailey, Festus (1813), scene A Library and Balcony.
- Sunsets are loved because they vanish.
- Ray Bradbury. From the Dust Returned (2001), Chapter 18.
- It was the cooling hour, just when the rounded
Red sun sinks down behind the azure hill,
Which then seems as if the whole earth is bounded,
Circling all nature, hush'd, and dim, and still,
With the far mountain-crescent half surrounded
On one side, and the deep sea calm and chill
Upon the other, and the rosy sky
With one star sparkling through it like an eye.- Lord Byron, Don Juan (1818-24), Canto II, Stanza 183.
- The sacred lamp of day
Now dipt in western clouds his parting ray.- William Falconer, The Shipwreck (1762), Canto II, line 27.
- There was strong music in the sky: the music of sunset. In the west, a wall of clear red amber through which the sun went blazing down. The remainder of the sky was smoky rose, a color like a perfume—musk. The earth had given up its tinctures. Heights and depths and long dunes were melting into the air.
- Tanith Lee, Delusion's Master (1981), Part 1 "The Souring of the Fruit", Chapter 1 "Storytellers"
- Down sank the great red sun, and in golden, glimmering vapors
Veiled the light of his face, like the Prophet descending from Sinai.- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (1847), Part I, Section IV.
- Softly the evening came. The sun from the western horizon
Like a magician extended his golden wand o'er the landscape;
Twinkling vapors arose; and sky and water and forest
Seemed all on fire at the touch, and melted and mingled together.- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (1847), Part II, Section II.
- Utu, shepherd of the land, father of the black-headed, when you go to sleep, the people go to sleep with you; youth Utu, when you rise, the people rise with you.
- Lugalbanda to Utu, the ancient Mesopotamian Sun god, in Lugalbanda in the Mountain Cave, Ur III Period (21st century BCE).[1]
- And the gilded car of day,
His glowing axle doth allay
In the steep Atlantic stream.- John Milton, Comus (1637), line 95.
- The setting sun, and music at the close,
At the last taste of sweets, is sweetest last.- William Shakespeare, Richard II (c. 1595), Act II, scene 1, line 12.
- When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?
- William Shakespeare, Richard III (c. 1591), Act II, scene 3, line 34.
- For now the sun is verging to the sea,
And as he westward sinks, the floating clouds
Suspended, move upon the evening gale,
And gathering round his orb, as if to shade
The insufferable brightness, they resign
Their gauzy whiteness; and more warm'd, assume
All hues of purple. There, transparent gold
Mingles with ruby tints, and sapphire gleams,
And colours, such as Nature through her works
Shews only in the ethereal canopy.
Thither aspiring Fancy fondly soars,
Wandering sublime thro' visionary vales,
Where bright pavilions rise, and trophies, fann'd
By airs celestial; and adorn'd with wreaths
Of flowers that bloom amid elysian bowers.
Now bright, and brighter still the colours glow,
Till half the lustrous orb within the flood
Seems to retire: the flood reflecting still
Its splendor, and in mimic glory drest;
Till the last ray shot upward, fires the clouds
With blazing crimson; then in paler light,
Long lines of tenderer radiance, lingering yield
To partial darkness; and on the opposing side
The early moon distinctly rising, throws
Her pearly brilliance on the trembling tide.- Charlotte Turner Smith, Beachy Head (1807, posthumous)
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations edit
- Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 769-70.
- Come watch with me the shaft of fire that glows
In yonder West: the fair, frail palaces,
The fading Alps and archipelagoes,
And great cloud-continents of sunset-seas.- Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Sonnet, Miracles.
- See! he sinks
Without a word; and his ensanguined bier
Is vacant in the west, while far and near
Behold! each coward shadow eastward shrinks,
Thou dost not strive, O sun, nor dost thou cry
Amid thy cloud-built streets.- Frederick William Faber, The Rosary and Other Poems, On the Ramparts at Angoulême.
- Oft did I wonder why the setting sun
Should look upon us with a blushing face:
Is't not for shame of what he hath seen done,
Whilst in our hemisphere he ran his race?- Lyman Heath, First Century, On the Setting Sun.
- Forming and breaking in the sky,
I fancy all shapes are there;
Temple, mountain, monument, spire;
Ships rigged out with sails of fire,
And blown by the evening air.- J. K. Hoyt, A Summer Sunset.
- After a day of cloud and wind and rain
Sometimes the setting sun breaks out again,
And, touching all the darksome woods with light,
Smiles on the fields until they laugh and sing,
Then like a ruby from the horizon's ring,
Drops down into the night.- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Hanging of the Crane, Part VII.
- Now in his Palace of the West,
Sinking to slumber, the bright Day,
Like a tired monarch fann'd to rest,
'Mid the cool airs of Evening lay;
While round his couch's golden rim
The gaudy clouds, like courtiers, crept—
Struggling each other's light to dim,
And catch his last smile e'er he slept.- Thomas Moore, The Summer Fête, Stanza 22.
- Long on the wave reflected lustres play.
- Samuel Rogers, The Pleasures of Memory, Part I, line 94.
- Methought little space 'tween those hills intervened,
But nearer,—more lofty,—more shaggy they seemed.
The clouds o'er their summits they calmly did rest,
And hung on the ether's invisible breast;
Than the vapours of earth they seemed purer, more bright,—
Oh! could they be clouds? 'Twas the necklace of night.- John Ruskin, The Iteriad, Sunset at Low-Wood.
- The lonely sunsets flare forlorn
Down valleys dreadly desolate;
The lonely mountains soar in scorn
As still as death, as stern as fate.- Robert Service, The Land God Forgot.
- The sun was down,
And all the west was paved with sullen fire.
I cried, "Behold! the barren beach of hell
At ebb of tide."- Alexander Smith, A Life Drama, scene 4.
- When the sun is setting outside so that you cannot even recognise the hand in front of you, go indoors!
- How fine has the day been! how bright was the sun,
How lovely and joyful the course that he run!
Though he rose in a mist when his race he begun,
And there followed some droppings of rain:
But now the fair traveller's come to the west,
His rays are all gold, and his beauties are best;
He paints the skies gay as he sinks to his rest,
And foretells a bright rising again.- Isaac Watts, Moral Songs, A Summer Evening.


text:
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text:
Some time ago, the development team at my firm staged a revolt against the sales team and senior management: our demand was that no Statement of Work was to be sent to a customer without first being reviewed by a member of the development team.
The message was clear: "We refuse to be held responsible to deliver on terms in which we had no say". Today it's not uncommon for a senior member of a development team to author a SOW in its entirety. In many ways they are better equipped than sales staff to write a SOW. They are good with documents (questionable), are very detail oriented, are great at finding loopholes, and at breaking down large ideas into small, manageable chunks. Today I would like to explore an important aspect of any Statement of Work: the pricing model.
Though there are countless pricing models in use throughout the world, the two that are most prevalent in the IT world are:
- Fixed Price (also referred to as Fixed Fee)
Both the price and the scope of work are set in the SOW and neither change without agreement from both parties. I, (seller) will provide you (buyer) with X, Y and Z in exchange for $A.
- Time and Material (T&M)
The buyer agrees to pay a set amount per hour plus the cost of materials and other expenses. I, (seller) will provide you (buyer) with X, Y and Z in exchange for $A per hour of effort needed to produced, Y and Z. You (buyer) will also reimburse me (seller) for any expenses I may incur (Hardware, travel etc.).
The major difference between these two is who bears the risk if you exceed the estimate. With Fixed Price, it's you the IT professional who bears the risk. With T&M it's your client. Regardless of what pricing model you choose, you will need to estimate what it will cost to perform the work (even with a T&M contract the client is going to want an estimate before signing it). As the professional, it is you who are responsible for the estimate, and logic would follow you should stand by your estimate and accept responsibility if it is off.
That said, any time you take additional risk you should be compensated for it. As a rule of thumb I would recommend charging a 20% premium on a fixed price contract over a T&M one. So the same contract under a T&M pricing model (assuming you are spot on with your estimation) will be 20% less than a fixed price one.
Based on the premise above, I propose the following: You should adopt a policy of always choosing Fixed Price over T&M unless you have a good reason not to. Before I delve into the details of what exactly is a good reason to choose T&M over Fixed Price, I want to dispel a few myths:
Myth: Risk is bad
Fact: Risk is an opportunity to make (or lose) money. It's neither good nor bad. As I have stated above you can easily earn 20% more just by accepting the risk associated with your own estimate.
Myth: T&M pricing protects you if you exceed your estimate.
Fact: If you exceed your estimate, even with a T&M pricing model your client will fight you tooth and nail over the overage, even small overages (This is even more true in today's world of tightened budgets). Often he will refuse to pay above the estimate forcing you into a compromise. Getting new business from this client will be substantially harder next time.
Myth: With T&M you don't need a change control process.
Fact: You will need to show hard evidence explaining why your estimate was wrong. The only evidence worth anything is client signed change control documents that clearly outline the cost of the change.
Myth: With T&M, the client benefits if you are under your estimate.
Fact: Consulting firms will simply not leave money on the table.
Myth: Incompetency in your firm's ability to accurately estimate is a good reason to choose T&M
Fact: Unless you are upfront with your client about your inability to estimate a project choosing this reason for T&M is unethical. You (your firm) are professionals; you sold yourself as experts with statements like "We've done this kind of stuff a hundred times before!" If you cannot properly estimate a project, you have no right to call yourself experts on the subject matter. If you would never tell your prospective client the real reason you are proposing T&M, your reason for choosing T&M is simply not valid, and likely unethical. You did the Estimate, you are the expert, and it's your job to know how long it will take and what problems may arise. (I'll say it a second time: You are a professional; accept responsibility for your estimates)
Myth: Double your estimate, just to be safe.
Fact: This myth comes in many varieties, which can range from adding 15% to quadrupling your estimate. The truth is, doubling your estimate will simply make your bid uncompetitive (or unrealistic), and you will lose the contract to a competitor. (Three's a charm: You are a professional; accept responsibility for your estimates)
Myth: Developers don't need to know the pricing model.
Fact: Everyone on the team needs to know the pricing model. It effects every decision the team makes that involves effort. Who is paying for the effort is always a factor in such decisions.
Okay, so what is a good reason to choose T&M? A good rule of thumb is "If you are unable or unwilling to give your client a solid estimate AND you can explain the reason you can't (or won't) in a way your client will understand and respect you should go with T&M". Keep in mind that just because you can't (or won't) estimate a particular task, doesn't mean that the entire SOW must be T&M. You can specify T&M for some tasks and Fixed price for others). Here are the most common examples:
Insufficient data to properly estimate it: Your client is asking you to migrate data from an internal proprietary system to a new system you are implementing. Your client says the data is clean and properly normalized. Because you have nothing other than your client's words to go on, your client should accept the risk of his information being wrong.
Your client wants to take part in the project in any way: If he is providing resources (ie internal developers or another vendor is participating that the client is managing) or if you are working on site, you should go T&M. You should not be held accountable for the performance of your client's resources where you are obligated to ensure they succeed. Chances are high that you will wind up performing this work in its entirety, while fearing to tell the client that his trusted employees are incompetent.
Your client has a culture of excessive meetings and bureaucracy: This kind of culture tends to exist with larger fortune 500 type firms. The only way to work with this kind of client on a fixed price basis is to specify in the SOW exactly what kind of documents will be submitted and how many hours of meetings will be attended. Often the client has to do days research just to get you a list (and templates) of documents that need to be submitted in order for the system to move from one environment to another. Unless you have a history with the client this is hard if not impossible to estimate.
Your client insists on T&M: This usually happens after you have built a relationship with your client; he trusts you and no longer wants to accept the risk and rewards (the 20% discount) of T&M.
Your client is looking for a support contract: With support contracts, instead of defining specific work to be done, only the type of work to be done is specified, and it is performed as needed.
The last point I want to make is this: if you are bidding on a very large project I would strongly suggest that you split the project into phases with separate contracts. The first phase will deal with requirements gathering and system design. Once that phase is done, you will be in a much better position to properly estimate the effort required for the development phase.
When your estimates are accurate everyone wins.
Filed under Project Managment


text:
2017-02-15 — This only works if you can trust God to bless you tomorrow. Like that's going to happen!
âYou have heard that it was said, âYou shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.â But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
— Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany of Our Lord, Series ACopyright © 1999 - 2004 James Wetzstein, except the bible of course. All rights reserved.


text:
Oooooooh happy Friday friends. Guess what? I finally finished our staircase! Let me tell you, with two little monkeys running around, I was forced to take this on late at night after they had gone to bed. So for the last ten days, yours truly has been up late sanding, staining, priming and painting, plus polyurethaning (is that a word?) in order to get our staircase to look like this.
Hello gorgeous!
Remember the before from last year? The blonde oak banister and the carpet? Last year, you'll recall we redid the banister and primed and painted the oak base white as a first step. This year, we finally have wood steps at last!
Last week, I started experimenting with some stain just to see how dark I could get the blonde oak treads with different colors and qualities. I had some leftover Walnut Gel Stain from a few previous projects. Then my carpenter recommended Duraseal in 'Antique Brown', which is also made by Minwax and sold to the trade to contractors. The Walnut stains were just not dark enough, and the 'Ebony' (far right) was too black.
I agreed with my carpenter's recommendation and the Duraseal won. It leans a hint mahogany but with two coats of poly on top, it was exactly what I wanted.
Before I could stain, I had to strip the paint off the curve on the bottom step. Some Citrustrip (which I compared to old school chemical strippers here) did the trick!
I also had to fill all the nail holes on the treads and risers then sand it down. This little 3M detail sander, used with some coarse sandpaper, worked great! No need to plug in my orbital, yes!
I used an old sock over a latex glove to apply the stain on every other step for the first coat, just so I could get up and down. The second coat I did late at night, and I stained every step, so I just camped on the couch after staining the last one.
The Duraseal was thick and gooey, unlike watery stains, so it penetrated the blonde wood very well. I got mega messy with my stain because I knew I would cover it up with primer and paint.
After two coats of Duraseal, and two coats of polyurethane, I taped off the stained steps and covered up the messy residue with none other than Zinsser Cover Stain! My fav.
I touched up the paint on the walls, painted the risers, and then painted the picture frame molding too.
Ta dah!
True love.
I'm not a matchy matchy girl, so I have no problem with the blonde oak floors right now, but my secret plan is to stain them darker.
Want the full chapters on the staircase from beginning to end? Chapter One: staining the banister; Chapter Two: ripping out the carpet and preparing the plywood; and Chapter Three: installing the risers and treads. Today is the happy ending!.


text:
Microsoft is building on widespread approval of Windows 10 to entice developers to develop on its platform, as the tech giant lays the foundation for continued widespread adoption of its operating system.
Highlighted during Microsoft Build, Microsoft's annual developer conference, developers are now attracted by the broad adoption of Azure Active Directory and the introduction of other critical components of CEO Satya Nadella's 'Mobile First, Cloud First' strategy.
"Despite the company's early failure and subsequent de-emphasis of Windows phones in the critical smartphone market," says Ezra Gottheil, Principal Analyst, Technology Business Research, "Microsoft is now giving developers good reasons to develop for their platform, which will protect the Windows franchise, help drive a PC refresh and leave open the possibility of competing in the smartphone market in the future.
New reasons to upgrade
Gottheil says Microsoft's well-document cloud and mobile strategy for PCs creates new ways to work with PCs, mobile devices and the cloud.
"The strategy enhances all devices and systems, focused on making them not only easier to use but more capable," Gottheil adds.
"These new tools, conversations, touch and ink are all available to developers, greatly accelerating the growth of PCs' utility."
For Gottheil, Microsoft is betting that many of these improvements will lead to a greater willingness to purchase new devices, systems and services, and when they do, to spend more.
"The entire PC industry, including OEMs, component suppliers and Microsoft, is suffering from past success," Gottheil adds.
"Old PCs continue to perform and serve their users and owners, extending the PC life cycle and reducing sales.
"New and inexpensive entry-level PCs are far more capable than their predecessors, driving a decrease in average selling prices as buyers choose "good enough" PCs. The Windows initiative to become "more personal" will give buyers good reason to refresh and buy a better PC to take advantage of the improved Windows experience."
To make the PC more personal, or easier to use and more powerful, Gottheil says Microsoft is broadening the types of interactions that Windows can handle, including spoken or typed language processing through Cortana, as well as through touch and stylus input.
Conversation is a new interface paradigm
As explained by Gottheil, Pseudo natural language interfaces (PNLIs) such as Cortana are important in making technology more useful.
"These interfaces leverage knowledge about the user and data to suggest actions that would be hard to specify through more traditional interfaces," Gottheil adds.
"Microsoft has made Cortana available on iOS and Android, making it the only cross-platform digital assistant, which is a distinctive advantage.
"Greater availability of Cortana - in Windows, directly via Windows PCs and crossovers into the Xbox gaming console, and Azure and its various mobility initiatives - not only confirms Microsoft's efforts to unify its developer platforms, but promises greater and more usable interoperability among Windows-powered devices for consumers and enterprise users."
Going forward, Microsoft has grand ambitions not only for Cortana but for a planned roster of PNLI bots integrated into Skype, Facebook and other applications across Windows, iOS and Android ecosystems.
Gottheil believes Microsoft views natural language as the next step in user interface development, with bots that proactively engage and interact with other bots to access information or services.
"While this "conversation as a platform" will take years to fully evolve, it highlights the significant shifts ahead for Microsoft and the device makers in its ecosystem," Gottheil adds.
Windows gets tactile
Microsoft is also working to develop more refined interactions between the stylus and the screen, highlighted through the company's acquisition of technology from Surface Pen maker N-trig, which looms large in Microsoft's Ink Workspace initiative.
A small number of stylus-friendly applications unveiled at various Microsoft events in 2015 have evolved into a library of pen-powered writing and sketching applications, Gottheil adds.
"Greater stylus support and handwriting recognition boosts the appeal of PCs for routine tasks by acting as a digital collator for handwritten notes and reminders, and a powerful intuitive tool for editing and annotation," Gottheil adds.
Microsoft stated its research shows 72 percent of people use pen and paper for at least one hour each day, highlighting a potential new customer segment for Microsoft and PC OEMs.
During Build, Microsoft emphasised the importance of touch in both tablets and traditional form factor PCs.
"Touch is an important enhancement to PCs, but most users and buyers are not yet aware of the benefits," Gottheil adds.
"As touch becomes more common, more users will come to expect touch as a part of the PC experience."
More powerful tools make for more useful PCs
Microsoft's expansion into new ways to work with PCs, mobile devices and the cloud enhances all devices and systems, making them not only easier to use but more useful.
"The new tools, conversations, touch and ink are all available to developers, greatly accelerating the growth of utility," Gottheil adds.
"All of this contributes to a greater willingness on the part of purchasers to spend for devices, systems and services."
Simultaneously, Gottheil believes the evolution of Windows challenges both Apple and Google to compete in the traditional PC market.
"Specifically, what Microsoft is doing justifies updating PCs and choosing more capable and more expensive PCs, which benefits Microsoft as well as the company's OEM partners," Gottheil adds.
"Microsoft and the OEMs continue to be challenged in communicating the benefits of the new Windows, new applications and services, and new PCs. This is especially true in light of the greatly increased capabilities of inexpensive entry-level PCs."
Going forward, Gottheil expects both Microsoft and the OEMs to reorient their marketing to more effectively communicate the improved experience available with the new devices.


text:
Everybody uses email as one of its primary communication means; Free Software desktop users are no exception. In this regard, email clients play a central role in the way we work and generally live in the Internet. These last years have seen some relative decline in the usage of email clients. The use of standard, more mature web technologies such as Ajax have made the online service of email providers much more attractive, while the justified criticism of "everyone's " email client, Outlook Express drove many to use the simple online interfaces of some major email service providers.
Today I would like to discuss the present state of Free & Open Source email clients. I do not intend to present a comprehensive state of the art of email clients but rather to share my experiences over several years as an user who has accumulated gigabytes of emails. I will mention non-Free Software applications such as Outlook and Apple Mail, which I also used.
I was willing to share my experience as -let's say it right away- I seem to have a problem with Thunderbird. Thunderbird is a nice application but for some reason I always had problem backing up my emails and mailboxes. Oftentimes, I would reopen an archive with Thunderbird to find unreadable messages. I may have done something bad, but what is interesting is that if I ever opened it either with Apple Mail or Claws , the mail would be displayed correctly and without data loss. For some time I was exclusively on a Mac, which I still use only as a laptop, and I used Thunderbird for my email. Aside these archival issues I was not really happy with the overall look and feel of the application and the beta of Thunderbird 3 failed to impress me.
This is why I investigated email clients again when I started to work on my main workstation that runs Fedora 10. I was hesitating between going back to Thunderbird (after a nice trip by Apple Mail) in spite of all my issues with it, returning toEvolution, an application that I had used several years ago, the intriguing Sylpheed / Claws twins, and even KMail.
I finally picked up Claws, and so far I don't regret it. But by installing it, configuring and using this application, I learned a couple of things about email clients. Let's review the options I had.
Thunderbird: It would have been the default fallback option but I was decided to look somewhere else.
KMail: I was very interested by KMail. Now part of the KDE's Kontact suite, its integration with the KDE desktop is excellent and the configuration very easy to perform. However, KMail had one big issue, perhaps one of perception: It would not handle large mailboxes. I decided not to take the chance. And besides, KDE apps tend to look awkward in non Qt environments.
Evolution: Evolution was a viable candidate for me. In fact, Evolution and Sylpheed – Claws have something in common that marks them as the exact opposites of Outlook and Thunderbird. They do not handle mail by mail account, but by mailboxes. And this makes a huge difference. This means that your application will be mailbox-centric, and not account-centric. You configure your mailbox first, and on top of it, you have your email alias, with the settings specific to the email account. Terminate your email account, get a new one and use the same mailbox. The mailbox usually has a proper format that is used for archival (mbox, maildir, MH) which is not application-dependent. The problem I had with Evolution wasn't its size, my new computer can handle the load pretty easily. Rather, I had used Evolution before and knew the Ximian guys (now Novell) had gotten it the wrong way: They had made the application too mailbox-centric in a sense. Evolution lets you have multiple accounts… but one mailbox. Folders and subdirectories won't change the fact that at the end of the day you will have to deal with one mailbox which is in my opinion not practical. On the other hand, Evolution comes with nifty little features (calendar, newreader, etc.) that are nice to have and to use.
Sylpheed – Claws: It turns out I chose Claws, perhaps because Sylpheed seems to have a slower development cycle and is a one-man effort. Claws is more populated and has more features. Claws really is a fork of Sylpheed although the two were supposed to work together and Sylpheed would have been the stable version of the couple. It seems it's not the case anymore. However, I think that the two share more than 80 % of their code, so I'm really just talking about the two at the same time here. I knew Claws had two advantages on the onset: it's lightweight (12 Mo) (therefore it's quite fast) and operates on a mailbox logic. I was quite surprised to see it was easy to configure, and it just required easy logical reasoning, something that is a bit rare in configuration assistants these days. I was able to consolidate and retrieve almost all my email in three years, something that never happened to me with Thunderbird and Apple Mail. The interface is a bit simplistic, being in GTK +2 but it is not unpleasant. One can customize it with themes if needed. I had several other pleasant surprises: GPG configuration was a breeze but you need to install plugins. However, plugins can do many other things: for instance they got me a calendar and a feedreader that can import OPML files…
I will thus recommend Claws to anyone who cares not just about freedom, but also about using a robust email application that is easy to use and configure and not lose emails.
The future of emails may be in the cloud, which I think is partly true; for people who uses email daily and handles several accounts, you need a really powerful, extendable buggy. I found mine: Claws.
Charles-H. Schulz (http://standardsandfreedom.net)


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Internationally, the prevalence of bullying in elementary schools ranges from approximately 11 percent in Finland to 50 percent in Ireland. In the United States, 19 percent of youths are bullied.
Though bullying behaviors decline as a student progresses through school, the numerous physical, mental, and social detriments can last well into adulthood. Bullying also impacts academic achievement, school bonding and absenteeism.
National media headlines during the last year indicate a need for a proactive approach to combat an issue that affects everyone's quality of life.
Bullying is characterized by an imbalance of power between the child who bullies and the target (another child). It can be physical, verbal, emotional or sexual. Bullying also includes harassment via email and instant messaging. Research shows that bullying generally begins in elementary school, peaks in grades six through eight, and persists into high school. Here are some startling statistics:
• 1 of 4 kids are bullied (25%);
• 1 of five kids admit to being a bully or doing some bullying (20%);
• 1 of 3 children and youth in grades 6 through 10 have been bullied (33%);
• 1 of 4 teachers see nothing wrong with bulling or putdowns (25%);
• The prevalence of having been bullied on school property was higher among females (21%) than males (18.7%);
• Among students, homicide perpetrators were more than twice as likely as homicide victims to have been bullied.
Several studies report that children who bully are more likely than their peers to get into frequent fights, vandalize/steal property; drink alcohol and/or smoke; be truant and/or drop out from school; and carry a weapon. Research also shows that for kids who identify as being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender the presence of a youth-led gay-straight alliance; inclusive curriculum materials; and the presence of supportive adults makes a significant and positive difference in the life of these kids.
Cyber bullying inflicts emotional harm in a stealth manner via Websites, chat rooms, email, cell phones and instant messaging. A National Institute of Health study that analyzed 6th through 8th graders indicated cyber bullying has more of a psychological impact on children and adolescents because they may not know who is harassing them online. The cloak of anonymity causes victims to feel dehumanized or helpless at the time of the attack. Specifically, some adolescents who are regular victims of cyber bulling may experience emotional distress and suicidal thoughts. Furthermore, cyber bullies are more likely to be older adolescents rather than their younger counterparts.
The most effective methods to reduce bullying involve a whole school approach. This includes assessing the problem, planning school conference days, providing better supervision at recess, forming a bullying prevention coordinating group, encouraging parent-teacher meetings, establishing classroom rules against bullying, holding classroom meetings about bullying, requiring talks with the bullies and victims, and scheduling talks with the parents of involved students.
The 2010 health care reform legislation presents a new opportunity to prevent bullying through the creation of school based health centers (SBHC) designed to increase student access to health and mental healthcare services. SCBCs have made health and mental services affordable, convenient and integrate clinical care with new public health interventions strategies.
Speak Up! Immediately tell an adult if you witness or are a victim of bullying.
Reach Out! Ask friends to join them in being a kid against bullying.
Be a Friend! Invite a kid who is being bullied to play with you.
Talk! Talk to your child to find out if she or he is bulling others.
Monitor your child's behavior and consult a mental health professional to rule out disability.
Take Action at Home! Teach your child how to respond effectively to a bully.
Take Action at School! Work with teachers and administrators to create a safe environment.
Support the development of school-based health centers in your neighborhood.
Merlin Langley, Ph.D., is an associate professor and former chair of the Department of Social Work at Florida A&M University. Join Langley for a live Twitter chat on Dec. 20 at 6 p.m. for answers to your questions about bullying. Follow@FAMU_LivingWell


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Mark Sanford on Budget & EconomyRepublican SC Governor; previously Representative (SC-1) |
With our unemployment rate continuing to lag the national average, we will persist in our push for a lower income tax rate for all South Carolinians so we can reverse this trend. We have effectively the highest income tax rate in the Southeast and the 5th highest rate in the nation and we believe that a lower rate will give South Carolina a competitive advantage when it comes to attracting jobs and encouraging business start-ups. Whether attracting new jobs and capital or looking to grow from within, we must remain competitive with other states (Florida has no income tax) and other nations (even Russia & China are lowering rates) if we are to compete globally.
Twenty years ago, the dollar was worth 360 yen. Today it�s worth slightly more than 100 yen. In official Washington, this fact is indeed cause for alarm. But far from worrying that our currency has lost more than half its value during that time. Government policymakers often tell us our currency is too strong--and should be weakened even further.
All these machinations aside, the basic point was this: we did not deserve a raise. If the budget is actually balanced in five years, then Congress may want to consider a raise. I don�t think it will be. One of my campaign promises had been not to take a pay raise until the budget was balanced--because if Congress is serious about spending less, we ought to begin with ourselves.
Others were unhappy too. Self-limited members took to the house floor and voiced genuine outrage with this highway bill.
The likely result of breaking the caps for highways would be a mad rush to break the caps on every other government program. After all, how could the other House committee chairmen sit by and watch Bud Shuster get everything he wanted, and more, and not draw the conclusion that they were entitled to oodles more money, too?
OFFICIAL CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY: Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual to designate three dollars on his or her income tax return (six dollars on a joint return) to be used to reduce the public debt of the United States.
SPONSOR'S INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT: Pres. Eisenhower apparently once said that he believed that there could be no surplus as long as our Nation was in debt. I come from that school of thought, and yet that is not exactly where we are right now in Washington.
Where we are right now is debating whether or not 90 percent or 50 percent, or some number in between, of these projected future surpluses should be allocated to the debt. What struck me is the fact that really more than just the Congress should be involved in that debate. It is for that reason that I introduce today the Taxpayers' Choice Debt Reduction Act.
What this bill would do would be to simply take the 1040, the tax return as we now know it. And right now, we can send $3 to the presidential campaign. This would create another box wherein we could send 3 bucks to debt reduction. That is not enough money to change our national debt, but it is enough money to make a small step in an important debate that we all ought to be a part of.
LEGISLATIVE OUTCOME: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means; never called for a House vote.
[As part of the Contract with America, within 100 days we pledge to bring to the House Floor the following bill]:
The Fiscal Responsibility Act:
A balanced budget/tax limitation amendment and a legislative line-item veto to restore fiscal responsibility to an out-of-control Congress, requiring them to live under the same budget constraints as families and businesses.


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The Mental Health Challenge
Mueller |
If the goal of behavioral healthcare in the correctional setting is at the very least to stabilize the mental health status of the inmate or to improve upon it by optimizing outcomes, then programming should be based on a best-practice approach. Facility planning and construction, in support of the program, should be predicated on evidence-based design practices.
The application of these principles, particularly from the facility planning and design perspective, creates a dilemma that at best can be frustrating and at worst irreconcilable for corrections administrators and the design team.
Although practiced in the healthcare arena for many years, evidence-based facility design has been only marginally applied in the correctional setting. Empirical evidence suggests that the built environment can have a beneficial effect on patient wellness and recovery, while concurrently improving staff attentiveness, productivity and satisfaction.
Many evidence-based design studies show a direct correlation between effectively implemented programs and positive effects on inmate behavior and recidivism. But few studies address the consequences of building design on inmate conduct and staff operations.
The implementation of evidence-based practices and guidelines can lead to a long-term reduction in the demand for criminal justice services among individuals with mental illnesses. With more individuals suffering from mental health issues and psychological disorders housed in correctional facilities than in state hospitals, the need for functional behavioral health services within correctional facilities is urgent.
An endless cycle of recidivism results when inmates with mental health issues are released with their needs unmet. Studies as far back as 1991 find that 64 percent of offenders with mental illness are rearrested within 18 months of release.
Evidence suggests the recidivism cycle can be broken by ensuring inmates have access to effective mental health treatment, services and support that assist recovery. However, few if any such studies specifically address the effects of facility planning and design on the behavior or social/psychological rehabilitation of inmates.
Most building planning standards applied to correctional facilities, such as those developed by the American Correctional Association, address either matters of control or constitutionally mandated conditions of confinement.
Some professionals argue that the direct supervision management model emulates an evidence-based planning parameter, but direct supervision is more accurately defined as a best-practice operational method that achieves architectural expression in podular housing design. True evidence-based building design embodies the application of specific architectural techniques to enhance rather than merely support a defined programmatic goal.
Healthy Facilities
The many evidence-based studies developed in the healthcare community may have direct applicability to the design of mental health facilities in the corrections setting. Yet, it is in the application of these proven parameters that the almost inevitable quandaries for the correctional practitioner find their origins.
If mental health services should strive to improve the psychiatric conditions of the patient then providers should attempt to employ all available assets, including those design elements that promote positive treatment outcomes. One could argue that this is especially true in correctional environments if, as evidence suggests, improvement in an inmate's mental health reduces the likelihood of repetitive criminal behavior.
Evidence from the healthcare industry indicates that spatial variety, selective use of color and texture, sound control, clearly articulated wayfinding, and access to daylight and the outdoors improve patient health and recovery. These same attributes improve staff efficiency, productivity, satisfaction and retention, recommending that evidence-based design practices be employed in the development of correctional mental health facilities.
However, if those same concepts were widely applied in the corrections environment a new building type that is quite uncommon, and possibly antithetical, to standard prison environs and practices would emerge. Though designed to be safe and secure for inmate patients and clinical staff, it would be a structure that communicates health and welfare rather than restraint and control.
Finding a Balance
The very evidence-based design parameters that enhance programmatic goals are the same attributes that encourage inmates to feign disability in order to gain entry to agreeable surroundings and avoid general population housing.
Despite the possibility that treatment services provided in such an environment may have positive results in reducing criminal behavior and recidivism, the overall institutional management problems also created could suggest that its operational desirability is in fact contraindicated.
Staff must have the ability to determine who should be committed to the facility, how long they should stay to successfully complete their specific program requirements, and when they should be discharged.
Most correctional administrators are aware that this in itself is problematic. Attracting qualified staff to the socially and geographically remote locations that typify correctional facilities, to the salary limitations of the industry and to the institutional environment itself presents a challenge for facility administrators.
Correctional officers must be trained to use protocols that enable them to identify and appropriately respond to inmates with mental health issues. A clear and consistent compendium of treatment-program standards must be established, including codified screening mechanisms and case planning guidelines, specific criteria for levels and delivery of care, designated uses of medication and an integrated data system.
Taken collectively, these approaches and procedures could create the circumstances necessary to allow corrections and mental health professionals to develop a new facility type within the prison system. Such a facility would represent a productive step toward rehabilitating a substantial portion of the prison population and reducing systemic recidivism.
James Mueller is executive director at KMD Justice, a division of international design firm Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz Architects, where he supervises all phases of development and service. Contact email@example.com.


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June 24, 2015 Update Adding "7 Food Labels Shoppers Should Ignore Because They are Meaningless" which is perhaps the most specific, descriptive, summation header I've seen in awhile.
Also, take a peek at this petition to get the FDA to get real about their food additive approval process, and this one asking Congress not to allow vested interests to add riders that gut the Dietary Guidelines with watered down pablum. In short, caveat emptor on all food industry fandangos, especially involving label literacy and health claims.
Feb. 19, 2014 Update Nice reminder in this health literacy tweet from Alexandra Black, R.D: "What does "all natural" mean on a food label? Jack squat." Check out the conflict of interest with "sponsored tweets" at the food and nutrition influencer conference. Egad.
Meanwhile, on the media literacy contradictions front, Stop Corporate Abuse is asking Olympic athletes to end junk food sponsorships like McDonalds, you can take action here to lend a hand.
Original post: Label Lingo: As I prepped my media literacy session for 8th graders to be in Unger Educational Media's new film, "The Math & Reading of What We're Eating: An Experiment with Food Labels" I decided extruding simple data from FDA food labeling is more challenging than scraping glitter glue off a favorite outfit.
Shaping Youth uses media literacy as a counter-marketing tool all the time, so I have no problem 'targeting my market' to gear the film session toward the brands and products that are flying in the faces of these kids. But wow, food labels are dicey.
Most of us aren't even sure what they MEAN. FDA standards are ever-changing: Lean and Low Sodium have recently been updated, Low Fat, Reduced Fat, Less Fat, Fat Free, Light are all quantifiable regulatory claims…
So which packaging terms are legit and which ones are bogus?
It's dizzying in complexity. No wonder CSPI calls food labeling the Tower of Babel. CSPI recently filed for an FDA labeling overhaul requesting ONE set of universal standards. Yay. It's gonzo training kids how to spot the spin of advertisers when product claims, nutrient boasts, screaming headlines and self-awarded nutrition seals inextricably enmesh.
Shaping Youth sends kids home with interactive mindfulness like PBS' "Don't buy it" for hands-on fun…But frankly, as a parent, I'm TIRED of food packaging games.
We're forced to do our homework with each trip down the grocery aisle squinting at portion distortion loopholes and trying to figure out what is and isn't healthy for kids.
Advertising is a huge part of the problem, compounded by blurry regulatory guidelines.What's 'real' and what's 'hype'? Here's an article I wrote for kids to take home to their parents…A cheat sheet of sorts, until things get clearer…
Shaping Youth: An Inside Look at Product Packaging
by Amy Jussel
From shelf positioning and end-cap displays to 'why to buy' snipes, color choices, romance copy and product sell, Shaping Youth counter-markets the impact of media and merchandising by revealing the tricks of the trade from within the industry.
Kids lap this up, because they want to be in the know…And we eagerly want to give them these life skills to be media savvy consumers. We reveal how "shelf talkers, tent cards, ring-neckers, point of purchase take-ones, tie-ins, and promos" influence the path to the checkout stand.
We walk kids through product launches, from name generation and logo development to package design and sales displays…but when it comes to food itself, it's getting harder and harder to feed kids just the facts.
Untangling conflicting messages is an artform, as FDA terminology butts heads with promotional hype and consumers are confused in the chaos.
The Food and Drug Administration has stringent guidelines for listing specific nutrient information, verbally as well as graphically. (8 pt. 'Helvetica Regular' typestyle, 4 points of leading, 10 pt. bullets; more minutiae than you care to cope with.) And yet…
Product packaging is all over the board touting claims that mean nothing unless viewed in full and proper context.
A truthful label like "no cholesterol" paired with a product that is high in total fat and saturated fatty acids is misleading and borders on deception.
"High in antioxidants!" "Low in carbohydrates!" "No cholesterol!" "Multi-grain!"
Meaningful or meaningless?
How can we tell what is & isn't regulated?
How can we tell what is mandated within FDA sanctioned terminology?
As the infamous saying goes, "It depends on what the definition of is, is."
Labeling rules exist for nutrient claims like reduced-fat and low-calorie, but the FDA has yet to come up with a legal definition for low-carb, reduced-carb, or carb-free.
Actually, it's illegal for manufacturers to put any of those terms on food labels.
Companies get around this with implied low-carb claims such as "carb options, carb smart, carb aware, carb sense and net carbs."
There are tons of blatant examples where nutrient statements are true, but skewed totally out of context.
My personal 'spot the spin' favorite is the huge FULL page ad in boldface type shouting "Zero Transfats!" alongside a monster bag of Lay's potato chips.
Blinking in amazement, you can read on to find they have the audacity to tout this as "great news" and even suggest we now pick up a few extra bags for the football season.
Yes, folks, let's eat more of these high calorie, sodium laden gems in copious quantities, or perhaps toss in a 'Smart Choices' healthier chip positioning for an aligned brand while we're at it? argh.
Point is, "Zero transfat" clearly does not convey the whole picture. What about the total fat content? The cholesterol? The sodium? Sigh.
What exactly DOES the FDA regulate?
Food labeling is required for most prepared foods, such as breads, cereals, canned and frozen foods, snacks, desserts, drinks, etc.
Nutrition labeling is voluntary for raw produce (fruits and vegetables) and fish. The FDA refers to these products as "conventional" foods.
Then there's the wild west frontier of dietary supplements that fall under the general umbrella of foods, but which have separate labeling requirements. This is the category where all those countless energy bars & "sports" marketing products live.
Dietary supplements include ingredients like "extracts, concentrates, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and substances such as enzymes, organ tissues, glandulars, and metabolites.
They can be found in various forms ranging from softgels to liquids or powders, or 'boosts' at the smoothie counter.
Unregulated "energy drinks" fall into the 'functional claims' and 'dietary supplements' categories with manufacturers blitzing kids to the tune of $3.4 billion a year.
31% of U.S. teens now say they drink these jolt-n-crash concoctions, and they're rolling out new 'energy' beverages to the tune of about one new drink a day.
Right now, this is my hot spot, as they're marketing 'wellness' to kids in epic proportion with misleading claims on sports drinks, caffeine charged energy drinks and sugary vitamin waters.
Take a peek at this jumble of FDA label claims…
There's even a "preliminary evidence health claim" allowable as long as the label qualifies it with an FDA disclaimer like, 'this evidence is not conclusive."
Huh? say what? Caveat emptor folks…that's a big warning sign.
Fact is, certain product claims require rigorous approval and certain ones don't require any approval at all.
None whatsoever. Nada. Bupkiss.
Many of these are euphemisms that fall under the 'structure/function' claims like "optimizes bone health" or "helps promote urinary tract health" or "maintains healthy lung function."
As a non-scientific rule of thumb, here's my cheat sheet for discerning fact and fiction in the grocery shopping aisle:
· If the claim is wordy, awkward, long & cumbersome, you can bet the feds were involved.
· Ditto if there's a disclaimer of any kind. (the stronger the disclaimer, the more the FDA is distancing itself…be wary of dietary supplements particularly!)
· If the food product has any 'disease' reference (naming cancer, stroke, or the heart for example) you can bet your bippy they MUST pass some serious scientific hurdles based on solid evidence.
·Huge Exception: foundation logos teamed with products in monetary partnerships, sponsorships, or alliances…
Be wary of 'heart healthy' alignments linked with artery cloggers and sugary cereals with diabetes foundations. (It's all very weird to me how numb consumers are to the whole concept of buying into this!)
·Beware of words like "supports, enhances, maintains, suppresses" which often do not fall under the FDA's stringent guidelines for those that promise to "prevent, treat, cure, mitigate, or diagnose" a disease.
·Safe bets: Quantifiable words regulated by FDA standards: 'Free, No, Without, Zero' also 'Low, Few, Little' also 'Lean/Extra Lean' and product claims "high in" or "good source of"
·Watch Words: "Part of…"(a balanced diet, a healthy breakfast, whatever…) "The taste of real…" (automatically tells you it's not real!)
By very nature, product 'descriptors' are designed to 'sell' not to 'educate.' The back of the box does the education, and reading it is fundamental.
Kids and parents need to read the ORDER of ingredients in the product and analyze the data on the back, or you're an easy mark for the behemoths of Madison Avenue who hope to snag you with a bright-n-bold burst on the front, heralding the latest nutritional buzzword d'jour.
Here are some common food claims & descriptors found on the CyberChefs Electronic Union website.
It's the quickest snapshot I could find to distill the 'Tower of Babel' on the FDA site into a set of standards I could transfer onto a poster board for kids.
When you see products marked with these prefix words:
"Free, no, without, or zero" they translate into these FDA standards for compliance:
Sugar=Less than 5 cal/serving
Sodium=Less than 5 mg/serving
Total Fat=Less than 0.5mg/serving
Cholesterol=Less than 2 mg/serving
That's info we can use, but no one has it. We have to wade through the clutter to make heads or tails of what we're putting in the wee ones by being dilligent about navigating the advertising crud that flummoxes all of us into oblivion.
One standard. One icon. One meaning. One system…I like an FDA overhaul idea.
No one's trying to take away choices, just give us a symbol with meaning so we can all be on the same page.
Then advertisers can snipe, flag, write clever headlines and persuade to a farethewell, but we as parents would have a labeling system we could use.
Right now I have to read the 'mice type' on the back of every product to analyze the loopholes from serving size portion distortion to ingredients at a macro and micro level.
Media literacy won't help kids if parents can't advocate for them by making healthy choices…
…And they can't make healthy choices if it's all buried in the spin.


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I'm back into my running training to prepare for a few runs in the summer and the annual Amsterdam Half Marathon. (It's the 5th anniversary of me and some friends going over so I'm hoping to follow up last year's PB with another this year.)
As part of this training, there are a bunch of different kinds of runs I'm doing. One of these is Interval runs.
(Definitely not me)
In simple terms, Interval runs are runs where you intersperse a steady pace with what's called threshold pace. Essentially, you run medium pace then speed up, medium pace, then speed up etc.
Last night I ran 6 x 800m threshold, and whilst I'm sitting here shifting my aching legs around, the point of the post isn't really about that. When I was running last night I was thinking about why running Intervals is essential to every Planner.
And this is why:
1) Intervals: Negative in the short term, positive in the long term
Intervals aren't much fun and immediately after you don't feel fitter. In fact you feel sore and you aren't looking forward to the next one. But cumulatively, intervals make you much better runner longer term.
They improve your running in two ways: 1) They give you a greater pace which means you can run quicker, more comfortably; 2) They help you recover quicker.
Planning Learning: Those weeks when you're under the cosh and you're in and out of meetings, running around working late will help you in the longer term. You may not see it at the time, but they do, and you'll realise it next time you're under pressure. Stretching your limits is key to improvement.
2) Intervals: Great for pulling teams together
Running intervals is tough. You get through the first couple OK, but when you get onto the third and fourth, it's a real mental battle. If you're alone you need all your mental ability to help you. However, when you run intervals together with others is when teamwork really kicks in as you push each other, inspire each other and pull together as a real team. It's in these stressful, exhausting times you value the people around you most.
Planning Learning: The role of the Planner is to be the person who inspires and helps the others when the going gets tough. You may be tired, demotivated and lacking inspiration as much as them but pulling together is key to not only getting through this time, but making every second beneficial.
3) Intervals: Exhilirating and exhausting
Intervals are bloody tough and even now writing this I can feel that unmistakable beautiful dull ache in my legs you get after intervals. It's a different kind of ache to that of plain distance. It somehow feels more acute, more sharp than the rounded ache of distance running.
But it's also bloody exhilarating and as much as I'm not looking forward to tomorrow's intervals I'm also chomping at the bit to do them, because I know the buzz you get when you do them. And I get that exhilaration from being exhausted. Of pushing myself.
Planning Learning: When you're going through a trough and you're low on energy and not motivated, turn that into exhilaration. Try and take a step back and realise all the effort you've put into the work. It's part of you. Of your life. Of your history. You've defined it, but it is helping define you. To coin a BBDO term of what it's all about: The work the work the work.
4) Intervals: Pride before results
There's no hiding when it comes to intervals. You have to give them 100% and nothing less. You can't bluff an interval and you're exposed when you're running them.
But contrary to how this post may sound, I'm really not very good at running. I have bad knees, I'm overweight and I always, *always* been last out of my group of friends. But I really don't care. I don't care because I know I've given 100%.
Planning Learning: If you can look yourself and your team in the eyes and you know in your heart you've given 100%, that's all you can do. Sometimes things just aren't meant to be. Remember that intervals help you recover quicker too so dust yourself off, get up and get on with it. There's always another event, another pitch, another brand.


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(November 8, 2012) The U.S. Department of Education today announced results for the third round of the Investing in Innovation (i3) competition, which will award the 20 highest-rated applications more than $140 million to expand innovative practices designed to improve student achievement. These 20 potential grantees, selected from 727 applications, must secure matching funds by Dec. 7, 2012, in order to receive federal funding.
"These potential grantees have innovative ideas to accelerate student achievement and address some of our biggest challenges in education," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "Identifying these applicants and having them foster partnerships with private donors will support promising approaches to tackle these issues, such as engaging parents as essential partners in their children's learning and improving student academic growth in math and science."
Of the 20 highest-rated applications, eight are in the "Validation" category and 12 are in the "Development" category. This year, the Department did not identify any potential grantees for the "Scale-up" category, instead choosing to invest in promising applicants in the other two categories.
Validation grants provide up to $15 million to fund innovations with moderate levels of evidence of their effectiveness, and grantees must secure private matching funds equivalent to at least 10 percent of their federal award. Development grants provide up to $3 million to support promising but relatively untested projects with high potential for impact on student achievement. Development grantees must secure private matching funds equivalent to at least 15 percent of their federal award.
The Development category has attracted the greatest participation in each of the three years of the i3 competition. In order to improve the application process and attract a broad range of proposals this year, the Department used a pre-application for Development grant applicants. The pre-application reduced the initial burden for applicants, provided timely feedback about the competitiveness of their applications, and helped ensure a high-quality pool of applications.
Applicants for the 2012 i3 competition submitted proposals focused on one of six absolute priorities: supporting effective teachers or principals; promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education; supporting the implementation of high academic content standards and high-quality assessments (Scale-up and Validation competitions only); increasing parent and family engagement (Development competition only); turning around persistently low-performing schools; and increasing student achievement and high school graduation rates in rural schools. Competitive preference also was given to applications focused on other key reform areas: improving early learning outcomes, increasing college access and success, addressing the unique needs of students with disabilities and limited English proficient students, improving productivity, or using technology.
As part of its efforts to support potential grantees as they secure private matching funds, the Department has been encouraging applicants over the past few months to reach out to potential private-sector donors. In addition, the Department has provided resources on its website to help potential i3 grantees in their efforts to secure a private sector match. If these 2012 highest-rated applicants secure matching funds, in total, the i3 program will encompass 92 grantees that are utilizing nearly $1 billion in federal funds to solve challenges in education.
2012 i3 grant awards will be announced no later than Dec. 31, 2012. A list of the 2012 highest-rated applications is below. More information about the i3 program can be found on the i3 website:http://www2.ed.gov/programs/index.html. More information about the 2012 highest-rated applications can be found at http://www.data.gov/education.
Validation Grants
Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Jobs for the Future, Inc.
LEED Sacramento
National Writing Project
New Leaders, Inc.
New Teacher Center
Texas A&M University
Development Grants
AVID Center
California Association for Bilingual Education
California League of Middle Schools
Central Falls School District
Citizen Schools, Inc.
Clark County School District
Columbia College Chicago
Intercultural Development Research Association
Internationals Network For Public Schools
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Virginia Advanced Study Strategies, Inc.
Cross-posted from the ED Blog.


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The City issues municipal bonds for major street/capital projects. When the City has another capital project, it will review the possibility of issuing bonds. The City's current municipal obligations are represented in the following graph:
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The increase in the property tax and the expected revenue generated from a sales tax total $702,000. The estimated loss of sales tax revenue from the relation of Walmart is anticipated to be around $700,000. Funds from an additional sales tax, if adopted, could be used to restore some or all of the service cuts in the previous budgets.
Resolutions adopted by the City Council are often used as way to express an opinion. Resolution 630 is not binding on future Councils; however, it does contain the intended uses for the sales tax funds as seen by the same City Council members who authorized the issue to be on the ballot.
Following the town hall meetings the community events budget for FY14 was cut in half and the Roe Boulevard Design elements and entryway updates were eliminated from the FY14 budget.
The City currently does not have an "emergency reserve." There is a general fund reserve, a bond and interest reserve and an equipment/building maintenance reserve.
If the sales tax is adopted, that will be a decision of the City Council. With restoration of services being the third on the council's priority list as set forth in the Resolution 630, specific restored items are not guaranteed, but it is intended that they would be discussed if the other two higher priorities were addressed. A few examples of other service items that have been removed from the budget during the past few years include: tree trimming and public works summer help.
Under the budget model discussed during the summer of 2013, the deputy chief's position will not be funded until January 2016. During that time the new chief of police can review current staffing models for possible alteration.
The Governing Body did not approve a three year budget. However, the Governing Body did forecast revenue and expenses for a period of three years. If the proposed sales tax is adopted, the Governing Body could consider the different many different uses for the sales tax, but they have stated a priority of intentions as outlined in Resolution 630. It generally states the priorities as first the emergency maintenance reserve would be funded; then general infrastructure needs would be considered, then service reductions could be considered and mill rate reduction.
A reduction in the property tax rate after the first three prioritized uses of funds have been considered. In addition, since the Governing Body did not know if the sales tax would pass, the potential revenue from the sales tax was not included in the 3-year budget projections.
In the past, the City used a mill and overlay for street maintenance. Now, other less expensive, shorter term, surface life extension techniques such as chip and seal and crack and seal are used more frequently. Additionally, there were many years where street maintenance was funded around the $400,000 level. In the FY14 budget, contracted and in house street maintenance is funded at $280,000.
The FY12 CARS project, Roe Boulevard phase 1 was constructed and consisted of curb repairs, remedial full depth patches, striping, sidewalk repairs and striping. The FY13 CARS project, Roe Boulevard phase 2 (surface treatment) was scheduled but has been deferred to the year 2015. The 2015 project is also set to have Federal Grant money for 48th and Roe intersection improvement. FY14 CARS project is currently slated for Nall Avenue, however, some minor repairs were done by Public Works crews in an effort to further its life beyond 2014.
The CID additional 1% tax was requested by the property owner. The property owner could also petition the City asking that it be removed from the property. If the property owner does not request that it be removed then it will remain in effect as it is today. The use of the CID funds could be used to improve the new tenant's space if that is how the owners of the property would like to use the funds and the City agrees.
Many do not realize that the Walmart building is not owned by Walmart or the building but it is owned by a group called the "Roeland Park TMM, LLC". The City has been working with the property owners to provide the necessary economic incentives to all them to create an attractive site for future development/re-tenanting. The City has provided ideas of possible tenants it would like to see; however, ultimately the decision is the property owners on who they will rent the property to, within the limits of the CID. The following is a long list from the CID agreement which lists business that will not be permitted and specifies restrictions on the businesses for which it may be used:
NW Roe and Johnson - This property has been sold to Commerce. The City is working with them on the possibility of getting a 2nd tenant on that site.
NE Roe and Johnson - The City is working with volunteer architects and designers and talking to different development consultants. The mayor, a couple of Council members and staff are working on different methods to move forward with development of this property.
4800 Roe (Old Pool Site) - This site has much potential, but also the most challenges including caves, a steep slope and difficult access on Roe. We have met with the County and are looking at trying to adjust the boundaries of two tax increment financing (TIF) districts so developers will have a more direct path at understanding development.
Most importantly, the City has no Development Department or staff and minimal funds to work with from the budget. The Mayor, Council, a couple specialists and some volunteers and others are giving much time to advance these sites in a responsible manner.
It is our understanding from the private property owner that the current lease with Walmart runs through July 2016. During the FY14 budget process time period, a senior manager of public affairs and government relations from Walmart reaffirmed in an email the company's intention to move to Mission and that current timeline was for a March 2015 departure or very shortly thereafter.
This could be an outcome, but that would be a decision of the Governing Body. The Council recently passed a resolution delineating a priority list for possible expenditures of the funds.
The sales tax projection is based on current sales totals minus the estimated impact, which is the loss of sales from Walmart and its impact on surrounding businesses as estimated by outside experts. For our ad valorem income, City staff projected that property tax values would decline slightly in 2014 (based upon trend for the past several years) and then level out during 2015 and 2016. It is difficult to estimate property value appreciation much beyond the next year. The county appraiser will provide the final total of assessed value on July 1 of each year for the next year's budgeting purposes.
The ballot language for the "27B" sales tax was approved to be used for the following purposes:
No projects have been paid directly from the 27B Fund since prior to 1997. The last two times Roe Boulevard was worked on, mill and overlaid (2006) or had curb and surface repair work completed (2012), the projects were not paid for from 27B sales taxes.
The City will continue to do its best to respond to media inquiries as they are made. The City will have a mailing containing facts about the sales tax but will not advocate for or against the election such as the encouraging residents to "vote no" or "vote yes".
There was discussion about funding the leaf program as part of the solid waste assessment on the June 3 Committee of the Whole meeting and June 3 Council meeting as well as in the July newsletter.
Kansas Statutes only allows up to 1% sales tax to be dedicated to a special purposes and up to an additional 2% which can be dedicated to general purposes. With the current sales taxes that are in place there is insufficient space under the state imposed cap to have an additional restricted sales tax at the 0.35% rate. Therefore this sales tax has to be for general purposes. Because of this, the City Council passed Resolution 630 which outlined intended uses for this fund.
It depends on what threshold one would consider enough in order to have a "surplus." The Government Financial Officers Association (GFOA) recommends a General Fund reserve of at least 16.7% of the general fund in normal economic conditions. With the expected loss of Walmart one could make the argument that these are not normal economic conditions and it would be prudent to err on the conservative side. Additionally, many communities in Johnson County far exceed the GFOA recommendation, and in some cases have reserves as high as two or three times this minimum.
Approximately $18,150 paid to the Johnson County Election Commissioner's Office to conduct the election.
The City does not currently have a copy of the Walmart lease and therefore is unable to answer this question at this time.
The owners of the property where Walmart is located have informed us that they have prospects, but have not provided details at this time.
We are not able to speculate on this item.
The program costs $28.06 per household, with 2,845 households, for a total of $79,830.70.
Total budget is $12,300,558, this includes all funds of the city. This equates to 5.7% of the total budget.
The governing body made the decision to put the vote on the sales tax before the voters in order to be proactive to the economic conditions forecasted with the leaving of Walmart.
See the Losses Referenced in Charts page for full information.
The City is unsure how long it will take for the owner to re-tenant the property, therefore we have projected anywhere from 1 to 7 years. The City is asking for this sales tax rate for a period of 5 years, beginning April 1, 2014 and expiring in March 31, 2019. The sales tax can be terminated early by the City Council. To extend this sales tax it would take another vote of the people.


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