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Stimulus Package for Robotics
If you've been tracking the economic developments in robotics, you know that only real business opportunities have been primarily in the military and entertainment industries. Several of my friends in consumer robotics joke about how their niche desperately needs a 'stimulus package' to get things moving again. They take the position that nothing revolutionary has happened in every day use of robotics for decades.
Although I think that significant progress in consumer-level robotics has been made, the relative stasis in robotics was brought home to me on a recent visit to an MIT museum that featured prototype planetary crawlers built for NASA in the 1970s. Although today it's possible to replicate the functionality of those crawlers with off-the-shelf components, they are just as compact, expertly machined, and functional as anything on the consumer market today. So, what happened to the innovation and rapid evolution characteristic of robotics decades ago, and why hasn't it percolated down to the consumer level?
Economics is obviously an issue. Most small robotics companies that don't have the good fortune to have contracts with the government have no choice but to innovate in order to make due with less. Because as enthusiasts we're in the same practical situation, our innovation tends to be in the realm of duplicating technology as inexpensively as possible. While this is certainly a worthy and practical exercise, it doesn't necessarily advance the field of robotics. But it can.
Furthermore, it doesn't take a team of scientists to innovate. Consider the developers of the 'killer apps' that eventually made the personal computer a consumer commodity. Most of these applications were created by one or two innovators, working with little or no capital, while holding down a regular day job.
Clearly, the equivalent of the electronic spreadsheet has yet to be developed in practical robotics for the consumer market. And without the killer app in consumer robotics, it will be decades before the family pooch is replaced by a robot capable of fetching the newspaper — assuming newspapers are still around.
All is not lost, however. Another way to frame the apparent lack of innovation is to argue that the pressure to innovate in a way that advances "the field" isn't there. Robotics, for many enthusiasts, is a means to an end. Students considering a career in engineering use robotics to gain practical, hands-on experience at problem-solving electrical and mechanical systems.
Engineers in training employ robotics to demonstrate concepts they've mastered, and computer scientists use robotics as a platform to explore artificial intelligence and machine learning concepts. For these innovators, the current state of readily available, somewhat standardized robotics platforms allows them to innovate in their areas of interest.
So, perhaps there isn't really a need for a stimulus package for robotics after all. It's just adjusting expectations that's in order. While robotic technology can help you park your car today, it will likely be decades before Wal-Mart offers personal care robots that will ferry your slippers and paper-thin view screen from one room to the next, check on your medications, and take out the trash. I have to admit that such a future would be nice.
For now, my CrustCrawler arm, fleet of Parallax carpet rovers, and homemade robots provide stable, useful platforms for my AI experimentation and, hopefully, innovation. SV
Posted by Michael Kaudze on 04/01 at 08:14 AM


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Aadi Amavasya - Praying to Ancestors
'Aadi' is the month in the Tamil calendar, corresponding to the July-August period in Gregorian calendar whereas 'Amavasya' means a no moon day. Thus, Aadi Amavasya is a no moon day in a Tamil month that is considered sacred for dedicating prayers to one's dead ancestors and forefathers. Worshipping Lord Muruga on this day might also prove beneficial.
Pitru Tharpanam
According to Hinduism, after dying, the soul of the dead passes from this world to the eternal one. They are judged according to their deeds and then sent to another realm to gain either punishment or reward. The transition from this world to another can be a difficult one, or a soul may experience problems in doing so. If that is the case, then a person closest to the dead might experience problems in his own life which can be in his marriage, education, job or any other arena. Therefore, it is important to help the forefathers in their smooth transition, and that can be easily done on Aadi Amavasya.
The ritual of offering prayers and food to ancestors is known as Pitru Tharpanam. A priest who is well versed in all the scriptures and who is spiritually enlightened can be appointed, and he will chant specific Mantras. He will also guide you in performing all kinds of rituals like taking a dip into a sacred river or offering flowers in the name of the dead person or making a charity. This will help in a peaceful crossover. Fasting on this day also proves beneficial, though one might consume one meal a day. Holy places like Agnitheertham It is a sacred place situated in Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu) which is attended by pilgrims and couples wanting childrenin Rameswaram, Thriveni Sangamam in Kanyakumari and banks of Kaveri River An Indian River flowing along the Western Ghats and in two States which are Karnataka and Tamil Naduare filled with worshippers.
One can also communicate with the ancestors personally, in the comfort of one's home by putting their picture near one's pillow while sleeping and lighting a candle in front of the picture. Offer them a prayer and their favorite food. They might come in one's dreams, bless them and ease all the troubles.
Benefits of Pitru Tharpanam
To succeed in life, it is important to gain the blessings of ancestors. If they are not peaceful in their abode, then the close members of their family can experience hardships. Every aspect of life can be badly influenced. That is why it is necessary to honor them to gain success and an easy going life.

subset: commoncrawl


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Olfactory Omniscience
Oh my god! It's the Disembodied Head Nurse!
She can wither you with one glance.
She is the bane of every staff nurse, intern and doctor who has the audacity to cross the threshold of her ward.
Years of knowledge will flee your brain with the raise of her eyebrow.
She's what you dream about when you've worked three double shifts and lived on coffee for two days.
It seems Pontiac thought she would be an appropriate commercial mascot.
What on earth does a big nurse head have to do with cars?
Small. Claustrophobic. Windowless.
And now, thanks to JACHO, the door must be closed and you need a code to get in.
Enter at your own risk.
A nauseating bouquet of a myriad of body fluids in various stages of decomposition arises from the biohazard box in the corner whose lid lay slightly off-center. Three commodes line the opposite wall; one of them emits the subtle essence of the GI bleed who was its last customer. A sharp hint of ammonia breaks through the olfactory cacaphony; urine soaked test strips are lined up on paper towels in military formation to the left of the sink. Deflated foley bags and used suction canisters rest in the garbage. The linen bag adds the contributions of various excretorily challenged patients to the odiforous symphony.
And through it all is the pungent smell of dirty instruments soaking in Cidex.
I have an irrational fear of being in the dirty utility room when the big earthquake hits and not being able to get out.
I need a Xanax just to get through the two minute wait for the urine dipstick results.
That's GI Bleed Olfactory Hallucination Syndrome?
The precise mechanism for GIBOHS is unknown. Sufferers have been known to say "Blech!" out loud in the middle of the night and compulsively bleach all their scrubs until the fabric frays. They believe that GI "odor" molecules have been fused with their hairshafts at the genetic-molecular level.
Should a fellow colleague experience GIBOHS, be supportive. Tell him you believe that he believes he smells what he smells. And then get as far away as possible.
It may be contagious.


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After a lengthy discussion Monday evening, the El Dorado City Commission voted 3-1 for an ordinance which would allow golf carts, mini trucks and other small vehicles on city streets.
One obstacle with the issue was a state statute that prohibits such vehicles from being on streets over 35 miles per hour.
After a lengthy discussion Monday evening, the El Dorado City Commission voted 3-1 for an ordinance which would allow golf carts, mini trucks and other small vehicles on city streets.
One obstacle with the issue was a state statute that prohibits such vehicles from being on streets over 35 miles per hour.
All of the roads that are in excess of 30 miles per hour, in addition to the state highways, are collector or arterial streets.
"There is an engineering judgement involved in setting those speeds," said Scott Rickard, assistant city engineer.
One option was to change the speed limits on some of the roads, with them specifically looking at Country Club and McCollum.
"We would be remiss if we didn't tell you vehicles not built and designed like regular cars and trucks, if they are involved in an accident their outcome is not going to be very good," said Herb Llewellyn, city manager.
With the ordinance, only licensed drivers can operate the vehicles, and drivers would be required to register with the city and show proof of insurance.
One concern was there would be some people in areas of town who couldn't get to the golf course or even downtown because of the restrictions on speed limits for streets.
"Personally, I think since we're considering making this change for a very small group of people and it doesn't affect everyone equally. I'm not in favor of making any changes," said Commissioner Shane Krause.
Commissioner Nick Badwey didn't see a problem with it and suggested making Country Club 30 miles per hour, although a traffic study would have to be done by the city before speed limits were changed.
"I feel we're really blessed to have a golf course that's actually in town," Badwey said.
Commissioner David Chapin was in favor of making it legal to drive such vehicles on streets, but he didn't want to drop any speed limits.
"I'm not going to put 10 carts ahead of thousands of vehicles," he said, adding he felt those who drove carts to the golf course lived mainly in the northeast part of town.
Police Chief Tom Boren talked about calls they get on golf carts. He said they use "reasonable enforcement" when dealing with such calls and recent calls have been regarding teenagers driving golf carts on the streets.
Commissioner Bill Young was concerned about the police department having calls coming in and the perception nothing was being done about it.
"I think the mess we are in is far over exaggerated from the problems you could create," Boren said. "I'm afraid people are not going to be looking for these unusual vehicles, especially at intersections and corners."
Young said citizens in his neighborhood with golf carts are wanting to know if they are going to be able to drive them on streets.
City Attorney Jim Murfin said from a legal standpoint it would be better to have an ordinance allowing such use, rather than have police officers use their judgement if to allow it when they see it or get a call.
Chapin agreed it would be best to stay on the right side of the law and made a motion to approve the ordinance, although they decided not to change any speed limits. Chapin, Young and Badwey voted in favor of the ordinance, while Krause was opposed. Mayor Tom McKibban was absent.
The ordinance will take effect right away, but people will not be expected to register their vehicles or show proof of insurance until Jan. 1. This will include a $25 registration fee.


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i have a feeling the reds will make a trade by sunday and it will be Dexter Fowler
I'd take Fowler. De Aza will be a good player IMO but I think it'd be much riskier to trade just because we've seen less of him compared to Fowler. Honestly if De Aza for some reason would cost a lot less I'd take him. The difference between the two is very small. Bill James is projecting them to have almost identical stats in two hitters parks.
Really good thread everyone, good discussion.
I think what's great is if a move is made that fits the profile really of any of these players named, we'll be a much better club in 2013. I'm optimistic something will happen, just because I'm sort of a "where there's smoke, there's fire" guy. And not to beat a dead horse, but really almost anything in the OBP department is an improvement over last year.
All that being said, I guess I would prefer a guy with more than one year left of team control through trade... or for that matter a one year free agent contract for Bourn. (not likely on a few levels) I love that Billy is on the way and if he pans out perfectly right away, I wouldn't mind having an outfield with a few on-base guys since we have so much pop elsewhere in the order. But I'm worried there will be some growing pains with his development, and would like some depth to platoon with him if Billy struggles or even in a platoon with him.
I think we might be able to get Parra and perhaps a B/C prospect back for Didi Gregorious. I'm a big fan of Didi, but I kind of wonder if that's the most expendable chip at the moment because I'm pretty confident in Cozart's future. Arizona has an expressed interest in him. That might be the move that could impact the organization the least while filling a good platoon role with Parra until 2016.
You know, that LF field point is excellent.Originally Posted by drowg14
Fowler might be the guy I'd like to see the most, even considering the rumored price (now that we've established it ain't Bailey). Of the options I think we're realistically linked to, I might like his skillset the most. I do think it's fair to assume his extra base hits might suffer some without the forgiving gaps of Colorado. But I also think his HR power will always keep pitchers honest, letting Fowler work at-bats and thrive in the OBP category.
I do think it would start with Leake and Stubbs+. I would lead with Lotzkar or someone of that ilk, and it Colorado balks maybe consider Corcino. But that's probably it. No Cingrani.
I'll be happy with a lot of guys out there though and am excited to see if anything happens.
Last edited by Larkin88; 12-07-2012 at 11:17 PM.
Fowler, clearly.
I also agree with Larkin88 on his power potential (especially at GABP), and that Cingrani shouldn't be offered.
Last edited by malcontent; 12-08-2012 at 02:14 AM.
Alejandro De Aza all day, every day. Fowler hasn't hit away from Coors field and had a .390 BABIB in the first year he's ever hit above .266. People are getting fooled by his overall numbers due to Coors field inflated his numbers, .882 life time OPS there vs .698 on the road.
He has a higher OBP with the Cards but his numbers aren't as good as they were with Colorado .319 down to .308 and SLG .552 down to .528 and those numbers are with his good but not Matt Holliday level seasons his first year and a half when he was a .800 OPS player.
His BABIP is driven by playing in Denver and its giant park where balls find holes more than anywhere else. He has a .339 road BABIP and that's even after his high 2012.
Defense is an issue as well, -21 Defensive Run Saved for Fowler along with a -12.9 UZR/150 in his career.
When one plays all their games in a place like Coors, they have an approach at the plate tailored to hit there. Changing that approach for each road trip, and back for each homestead, can't be the easiest thing in the world. Getting out of Coors should help him become a better ballplayer overall. And the fact that 3 of the cities he plays the most away games in are LA, San Francisco, and San Diego can't help either.
So you are critical of his hitting because he plays in a large park but are also critical of his defense in that same park? I'm not saying he's a top notch fielder, but you can't have it both ways
If Fowler got traded his home split is going to fall but his road isn't going to magically spike just like Matt's didn't. I can't recall any player who has ever put up big numbers in Denver go somewhere else and improve across the board, even Matt saw his line drop leaving town.
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No. 1: Executive Director/Administrator
As administrators, leaders, department heads and directors, executive directors/administrators ranked No. 1 in terms of always-on jobs, according to Emerson's Business-Critical Continuity report. For all survey respondents who fell under the executive director/administrator title, they had a few things in common: They work on multiple projects simultaneously, their work requires "a high level of intelligence" and they are involved in all strategic, operational and technical aspects of their job, which better enables the director to make business decisions. "You have to think of the best way to make sound decisions and above all meet deadlines," a director in the banking/finance industry in Latin America said in the report.
Within in this group, 25 percent of respondents said they agree or strongly agree that their success is dependent upon factors out of their control. "I must always be available for an emergency, on alert and pushing the limits so we can deliver results to our clients," one director said in the report.


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LEONARD, TX -- Less than a week ago, a Collin County Deputy and his wife were found dead in their home after it caught fire. Friday, the two were laid to rest.
Family, friends and officers from several law enforcement agencies filled the First Baptist Church in Leonard, all paying their respects to Deputy Richard Fields and his wife Rebecca.
They shared their favorite memories of the couple and told of how the two impacted their lives.
"He was one of my best friends. We've been pretty tight, been through a lot, had a lot of fun," a co-worker and friend said.
"I will actually use the words, the last words that Becky ever told me. 'I will always love you no matter what your views are, even though you're wrong," Jamie Shaw said.
So many people attended the service, extra chairs had to be brought in and many could not fit inside the church.
"It tells me he's touched a lot of folks lives that we don't really know about," Sheriff Terry Box said.
Collin County Sheriff Terry Box says it's been a difficult week at work.
"It's been very solemn around the office. And everybody remembering him, remembering how he acted toward them when they first met him and how his personality was. It's all been very, very positive though," Sheriff Box said.
Deputy Richard Fields, also known as Dickie, worked for the Collin County Sheriffs Office for 18 years. His co-workers describe him as friendly, helpful and quite the talker.
"For knowing Dickie, I'm a better man," a friend said.
Friends say Rebecca was a wonderful wife and the two treated every one like family.
"They loved everybody," the Pastor said.
As the pall bearers carried the lone casket out of the church, people reflected on Richard and Rebecca and the impact we can all have on each other's lives.
"I don't think we realize till after times like this of how many lives we effect on a daily basis. And how much your friendship or your kind words or your deeds mean to everybody until something like this happens," Sheriff Box said.
"You know, if you have the opportunity to talk to your friends and family, seize that moment. Seize that moment," a friend said.
The Fannin County Sheriff's Office has not released what caused the fire that destroyed their Ladonia home. The state fire marshal's office is assisting in the investigation.


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This February, as the nation faces yet another round of fiscal crises, FRONTLINE investigates the inside story of Washington's failure to solve the country's debt and deficit problems. Drawing on interviews with key players in Congress and the White House, FRONTLINE goes behind the scenes to show how a clash of politics and personalities has taken the nation's economy to the edge of the "fiscal cliff," and now to a second round of standoffs over the debt ceiling and sequestration. The film explores the deep ideological divide inside the Republican Party and the struggle between House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and House Speaker John Boehner as they take on President Obama and the Democrats.
"Cliffhanger" on Frontline can be seen on Thursday, February 14th at 7:00 p.m.


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I've been playing WoW again after failing to find other MMORPGs of interest and I've been enjoying it a lot. All my friends are not playing at the moment as we're just going to play ArcheAge upon release.
Does anyone play or want to play? I'm on NA server Kel'Thuzad. The game is still doing very well and my server is highly populated. You can try out the trial or I can send you an invite for some extra perks if you've never played the game before. New expansion is coming out this year adding new content.
Still quite busy with school but I try to play when I can.
Oh and I could use a guild on Kel'Thuzad, should be active, social and welcoming.


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I SAY good for Russia for arresting these hooligans, whose interruption of a church service has been defended in the name of free speech. Try such "free speech" on them while they're recording or performing, and see if they practice what they preach.
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Vodafone have a group license for Symantec DLP - once again shown to be useless in the face of a determined data thief!
Had it been the NSA stealing the data there wouldn't have been a problem nor arrests.
And if Snowden was the one who stole the data you would call him a hero.
Please mod this up; it's important that people notice this detail.
Also interesting to note that they appear to be playing down the fact that the information required to withdraw money directly from a bank account or set up automatic payments was compromised. It doesn't really matter if your credit card was stolen when the account that the card gets paid off from is in the hands of the attackers. They can easily apply for NEW cards with this information.
Well to actually *withdraw* money they would either need my ID card (if they try to get it out of a human teller that doesn't know me personally) or my cash card and pin number (to get it at an ATM), too.
To set up automated payments they would either also convince a human teller that they are me, or log into an on-line banking account with the login credentials the don't have.
To apply for new cards the same thing.
They *could* of course pull money out of my account via direct debit, but then I would have 6 w
If they've got your name, address, bank account number and sort code, they can write a check or automated payment in your name. They MAY need your mother's maiden name as well as your DOB as verification, so you may be protected via them not having the maiden name. But that's not too difficult to find when armed with the rest of that info.
I've never seen bank account and sort code printed in business letterhead; that move seems awfully risky. There's a reason banks recommend you not put your full name an
they can write a check or automated payment in your name.
No cheques anymore in Germany (and the rest of Europe) for decades. We use bank transfers for which you either need login credetials for the internet access to the account or a somewhat similar looking signature for a written transfer form. And a scapegoat whose account you can use as the target account. So the GP is right. Not enough information to withdraw money or transfer it. Maybe the US is a bit behind in this
[... ] or browsing data was accessed
My guess is that they're talking about proxy servers here, which isn't too uncommon for ISPs.
The new euphemism for handed over by "request".
Somebody grabbed tons of personal data and it wasn't the NSA? Stop the presses!
Who said it wasn't the NSA? Do you believe what you read on Slashdot.
... most businesses will accept this information as if it came from the original person, without really checking who it is coming from. And thus identity theft works
That's so
From what I hear from an insider, with the near-catastrophic state that Vodafone IT is in, getting this much data out is quite a feat.
That may also be how the caught him: Even more catastrophically bad response times
Insider Steals Data of 2 Million Vodafone Germany Customers
Walking out with that many people without getting noticed would've been quite a feat.
In English, every word can be verbed. Would that it were so in our programming languages.


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Exhibition Guatemala: In Words and Images
This exhibition is in the elevator lobby on the 6th floor and may be viewed during open Glickman Library hours.
Guatemala: In Words and Images exhibits materials from The Guatemala Collection: Government and Church Documents for Sacatepéquez: 1587-1991, and is the culmination of four years of work by USM students Chriss Sutherland and Lucas Desmond who were responsible for arranging and describing the collection. Some of the documents from this collection informed the new publication Distilling the Influence of Alcohol, edited by David Carey Jr., USM Professor of History and CAHS Associate Dean.
The Guatemala Collection: Government and Church Documents for Sacatepéquez: 1587-1991.
This collection spans an extensive historical period and comprehensively represents the demographic, social, and political reality of one of Guatemala's most important departments. By providing evidence of the colonial and neocolonial structures of the Guatemalan government and Catholic Church, this collection shines a historic light on the present situation in Sacatepéquez and Guatemala more broadly. Guatemalan scholar and activist Christopher Lutz and two native Guatemalan archivists Eddy Gaytán and Héctor Concohá Ch'et assembled the collection throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. The materials are photocopies of original documents from the Archivo General de Centro América, the Archivo Histórico Arquidiocesano Francisco de Paula García Pelaez, both located in Guatemala City, and the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, Spain.
Distilling the Influence of Alcohol: Aguardiente in Guatemalan History.
Sugar, coffee, corn, and chocolate have long dominated the study of Central American commerce, so much so that researchers tend to overlook one other equally significant commodity: alcohol. Often illicitly produced and consumed, aguardiente (distilled sugar cane spirits or rum) was central to Guatemalan daily life. Alcohol helped build family livelihoods, boost local economies, and forge the nation. It also shaped Guatemala's turbulent categories of ethnicity, race, class, and gender. Drawing from archival documents, oral histories, and ethnographic sources, the contributors to this volume investigate aguardiente's role from the colonial era to the twentieth century. Topics include women in the alcohol trade, taverns as places of social unrest, and tension between Maya and State authorities. By tracing Guatemala's past, people, and national development through the channel of an alcoholic beverage, Distilling the Influence of Alcohol opens new directions for Central American historical and anthropological research.


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Texas-based Superior Silica Sands is building an 85-acre sand processing plant and rail storage facility adjacent to CN's Barron Subdivision near Poskin, Wis., capable of producing up to 2.4 million tons per year of high-quality frac sand products.
CN this spring launched a US$35-million project to restore nearly 40 miles of track between Ladysmith and Barron, Wis. CN will upgrade rail and replace ties, repair culverts and bridges and restore rail service along the line. The Barron Subdivision will connect to CN's North American rail network at Ladysmith and will be in service later this year.
CN will provide rail service to the new plant, moving frac sand from northern Wisconsin to shale drilling areas across North America, including Western Canada.
Superior Silica Sands President Rick Shearer said, "We are excited to partner with CN on this project, which will open a new supply chain for our customers and allow us to reach new markets across North America. This major expansion allows Superior Silica Sands to realize its business model for dynamic growth."
Superior Silica Sands broke ground on the processing plant and rail storage yard this month and expects to start production this November. Superior Silica Sands has invested more than US$50 million in this frac sand operation, which is expected to bring more than 100 new jobs to the area.


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Manchester City have confirmed that Shay Given suffered a dislocated shoulder in the 0-0 Barclays Premier League draw at Arsenal on Saturday, ruling the goalkeeper out of the remainder of the season.
The Republic of Ireland keeper had to receive oxygen as he was carried off on a stretcher having made a fine save from Abou Diaby midway through the second half at Emirates Stadium.
That meant an unexpected debut for Faroe Islands goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen who stepped in for his debut and he could now face Aston Villa, Tottenham and West Ham with regular number two Stuart Taylor recovering from knee surgery.
City manager Roberto Mancini told the club's official website: "Shay's injury will be a problem. It's not good for us because Shay is a fantastic goalkeeper. He is important to us, but in football you can always get injured.
"Shay is in hospital, but we have 10 days and must play three big games. Gunnar came on and did very well. Stuart is still some way off and everyone must be 200% now."
Mancini may investigate whether City have a recall clause in the terms of Joe Hart's loan move to Birmingham as City bid for fourth place although it is understood no such detail was included in the season-long agreement.
Copyright (c) PA Sport 2009, All Rights Reserved.
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Human Rights in Ireland is pleased to welcome this guest post from Ben Power. Ben is the Board and Company Secretary for Transgender Equality Network Ireland. For more information on TENI's work see www.teni.ie
Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) is Ireland's national trans organisation. We seek to improve conditions and advance the human rights and equality of trans people and their families. We are dedicated to ending transphobia, including stigma, discrimination and inequality. As part of this, one of the most important campaigns we are currently working on is the introduction of fully inclusive Gender Recognition Legislation. This provides a process enabling trans people to achieve full legal recognition of their preferred gender and allows for the acquisition of a new birth certificate that reflects this change. The introduction of legislation will make it easier for trans people in Ireland to lead safe, healthy and integrated lives. Legislation has been proposed, however, much of it is restrictive and would infringe on the rights and privacy of trans people. In October 2012, a blog carnival to mark the 5th anniversary of Dr Foy's victory in the High Court was used to highlight the issues with the proposed legislation. Read it here.
So why does Gender Recognition Matter so much? What makes it so important?
There are many situations in an individual's life where they are required to present a birth certificate in order to obtain their legal entitlements. For a transgender person this poses some complications. When the name and gender on your birth certificate is vastly different from the name you currently use and how you present your gender, questions will always be asked and this invariably leads to an awkward explanation forcing the trans person to "out" themselves, Continue reading "Diagnosis for Human Rights?"


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I hope everybody had a happy Halloween. That holiday kind of passed us by. There aren't many children on the Branch now.
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This would be funnier if it weren't completely retarded. Let me draw you a map. [photobucket.com]
I've explained enough times to want to make this short, but most of the ground up here is some variant on permanently frozen. At some point, all of that is likely to melt, and subside. We Alaskans know a lot about what that looks like, because if you build in the wrong way in the wrong place, you'll be filling out your cross-stitch with "Home Sweet Bog". Houses built on permafrost are built on stilts.
Also, while the Arctic is warming at a significantly greater pace [alaska.edu] than the rest of the world (1.6 degrees C up from last century, compared with
Plus, there's <1% of the land up in Alaska that's actually owned privately. The rest is owned either by the Feds, the State, or the Natives.
This is really just the tip of the iceberg. Your suggestion, and its underlying premise, are so wrong-headed that it's turning my stomach. Perhaps you can go be a real estate agent in Shishmaref, [wikipedia.org] or one of the other villages that we're having to relocate due to climate change. Hopefully at that point you might understand exactly what it is that is offensive about your comment.
Hmm, let me think... Was it Miley Cyrus? It was possibly part of the lyrics of her latest song, although to be honest I watched her video with the sound muted.
That's pretty good, I remember back in the late 80's that they said that it would all be gone by 2000 or so.
That's pretty good, I remember back in the late 80's that they said that it would all be gone by 2000 or so.
Ah, you remember that, do you?
"they" said.
Who was they? When in the late 80's. Where was this published? What does "2000 or so" mean?
This source is dated 1960.
New Scientist.
The year 2000.
That means maybe 2013, maybe 2019. We haven't passed 2019.
And, again, the claim wasn't that the ice would be gone, it would be a summer extent. We'd get ice back.
Moreover, that's one guy.
Now what about other predictions that AGW would be falsified by 2012 being about the 1956 average? Your statement merely shows one man was wrong. Big deal. Doesn't disprove the general science which has there being no sea ice by maybe 2040. But deniers you DO listen to are wrong in damn near (95%+) all cases. Yet y
Reliable monitoring with authoritative of sea ice extents began only with the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) on the satellite Seasat launched June 28, 1978.
Very spotty records before that time are not considered reliable.
The Danes have excellent records going back to the '30s.
And let's not forget that the volume is also dropping precipitously but that's much more difficult to measure.
Even if it goes back to the '30s, 80 years is a millisecond in geologic terms. There is too much emphasis put on "recorded history" when is is such a short time period.
True, but you can make some deductions from biology. The existence of polar bears, not to mention their threatened status with receding ice, paints a picture of a lot of ice going way back: had there been no ice 100 years ago, there would be no polar bears. 100 years isn't time enough for them to evolve from brown bears.
So where were they when it was warm enough that the Vikings had two separate colonies on the southern shores of Greenland? Or was Canada still frozen while Greenland was basking in warmth?
There is some discussion on this here [skepticalscience.com].
In particular, these two images from the same article are interesting: Temperature anomaly for the medieval warm period [skepticalscience.com] and temperature anomaly for the period 1999-2008 [skepticalscience.com]. Both are anomalies relative to the same 1961-1990 average, so they should be directly comparable, though of course the medieval warm period is a reconstruction with significant uncertainties.
So to answer your question. yes, you could say that "Canada was still frozen while Greenland was basking in warmth". Though temperatures slightly elevated in some parts of Canada, most of it was cold. And none of them were anywhere near as hot as they are now.
I looked at the article, and unfortunately its main point is based on work by Michael Mann. I wouldn't accept evidence from him of a cow farting. He did more to damage the reputation of "your side" than anyone else in these debates.
So, thank you for your time, but I have nothing to add to a discussion that is based on Michael Mann.
Yeah...you might just want to stop trotting out the "threatened status with ice" bit. There's no shortage of the bloody things, if anything there are more every passing year and their range of liveable area keeps expanding. In fact, there have been more than a few clashes between brown and polar bears in the last few years. As a fun point, we have them here in Ontario, and not all that far outside of the "southern half" of the province. And they range south, even in the summer here. There have been war
I did ask myself that very question. What could possibly cause increased contact between humans and polar bears? And it dawned on me that if their numbers were becoming smaller, contact between them and humans would be rarer and rarer even if they are pushed out of one ecosystem. You can not have contact with a species that basically does not exist. In that sense, the best bet is to indeed look to the experts and see what they say.
I saw a wide variety of reports, but the latest research that I could
You are still thinking too short a time period. I am thinking 1,000, 10,000 and 100,000 years ago. What happened in the last 500 years is still to short a time to say that ice loss similar to what is happening now has not happened before and without the help of man.. Recorded history is a snap of the fingers in geologic time.
100 years isn't time enough for them to evolve from brown bears.
They didn't evolve from Brown Bears. They transformed from Cartesian Bears
We may as well just laugh because the science deniers have even more of a problem with evolution than they do with the climate changing. Both argue against a perfect unchanging world since day 7 which Christianity-Lite likes to pretend is the state of things.
That's rich. You seem to be making a claim that global warming deniers like to use an argument that requires the earth to be a static system when the reality is that the earth is not and has never been static and nobody cared until one day some scientists declared that the climate was not supposed to be changing but it is changing so it must be the fault of humans. It seems that the climate change crowd is the one demanding "an unchanging world."
Healthy polar bear count confounds doomsayers
The debate about climate change and its impact on polar bears has intensified with the release of a survey that shows the bear population in a key part of northern Canada is far larger than many scientists thought, and might be growing.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/healthy-polar-bear-count-confounds-doomsayers/article4099460/ [theglobeandmail.com]
The greatest threat to polar bears is hunters.
Exactly. Because there are so many more polar bears now that we don't hunt them as much people might be inclined to allow more hunting of them and then their numbers will decline at which point hunting will be limited and their numbers will rise. Once the decline begins, the AGW crowd will use that as proof of their correctness. Once the rise begins, they will use the fact that they predict it will decline as proof of their correctness.
Geologic time scales aren't useful.
They're useful to geologists, and often to other scientists, sometimes, but not in this context.
Yes, pretty much no climate we could reach is really unprecedented on Earth. The ice ages are pretty cold. Other eras were quite hot and high in CO2. Hell, in still other eras, there was no oxygen in the atmosphere.
What's relevant is the climate of the last few thousand years and, to a lesser extent, the modern geologic era, because it's what our civilization is dependent on. Su
What's relevant is the climate of the last few thousand years
Considering the recorded history of ice coverage is only 40 years and using your "few thousand years" as a guide that is still only 1.3% of the relevant time period.
"The volume of sea ice – that is, how thick the Arctic ice is..."
Er, no, "how thick the ice is" is called "thickness". Volume is thickness times area (or more precisely, thickness integrated over area).
That said, two data points (last year's area and this year's area) do not a trend make. I can't believe how many people don't get that (or enjoy telling lies so much that they don't care that it contradicts reason).
You have to remember for the libertarians (the Heartland Institute's branch anyway) it's not really about the science it's about defending their ideology from an existential challenge. They believe that government is always bad and capitalism always good. The very idea of capitalism causing a massive global problem that can only be resolved by government intervention is unthinkable and thus must be false. The facts be damned, because they know the "The Truth of Capitalist Libertarianism" they know that AGW can not true.
Also, the Heartland Institute is funded by the true believers, so they will fight this to the last breath because both their identities and their jobs depend on it.
Hmmm...so what you are saying is that libertarians are a fragile species which might be on the brink of extinction due to political climate change and evolution of ideas. This is grave. Maybe we could enact a new government program to protect them as a species. We'll need to tag them and track their movements and observe their lifestyles. I doubt we could do this without significant increase in funding for science. Damn, I guess I'll have to stop shooting them too.
Nothing resembling "the arctic" is ever mentioned in the Bible.
Oh, I don't know. All pure white and bright... To a bunch of desert dwellers wouldn't "the arctic" be pretty much the definition of heaven?
Maybe that's where preachers go to get inspired, "Ah can see the light!!!" Oh who am I kidding, they get their inspiration from the collection plate.
Experience varies directly with equipment ruined.


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Governor Dennis Daugaard Casts Early Ballot
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard has cast his ballot early for this year's general election.
The Republican governor and first lady Linda Daugaard voted early Wednesday at the Hughes County Courthouse in Pierre.
Daugaard says he often votes early in elections because it's convenient to cast a ballot on a day that fits his schedule. He says that avoids problems that can occur if he's busy on Election Day.
With less than a week to go before Tuesday's election, Secretary of State Jason Gant's website reports that more than 61,000 early ballots have been turned in across the state.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Material may not be redistributed.


text: Join KLRU and the Austin Public Library for free Community Cinema screenings on the first Tuesday of the month at the Windsor Park Branch Library (5833 Westminster Dr,). Screenings will start at 7 p.m. with a discussion to follow each of the films. December's film is The Calling on Tuesday, December 7.


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Stickin' Out
Rory McIlroy is the winner of 2012 Honda Classic after a two-shot victory over Tiger Woods and Tom Gillis. With this victory, McIlroy has overtaken Luke Donald as the new number-one ranked player in the world. McIlroy completed all four rounds in the 60's for 12-under-par 268 to hold off a charge from Tiger Woods, who carded his lowest round ever on Tour on Sunday with 62.
Sunday morning at PGA National was going to start much earlier than scheduled due to impending severe weather on the East Coast of Florida. Tee times were moved up to try and avoid the inclement weather and it looked like we all were in for tape-delayed golf on Sunday afternoon. Thankfully, the weather DID NOT cooperate! Play at Palm Beach Gardens was a few holes old when a weather system moved through the area suspending play. This delay enabled the schedule to revert to the original tee times and making the event live on television as previously scheduled. Who would have wanted to read about this on Twitter instead of watching it develop live? Not me or you. Not after that show.
McIlroy, known for his sweet swing and smooth demeanor, can now add cool-under-fire to his steadily-growing resume that also includes major champion and number-one ranked player in the world. It's one thing to hold off young Jason Day at Congressional but it's an entirely different piece of finishing when Tiger Woods is in the rear-view mirror and charging on Sunday.
McIlroy held off Woods and Tom Gillis the old-fashioned way, with his short-game. He led the field in scrambling, getting up 20 out of 24 times throughout the week. None of these up-and-downs were bigger than the ones on 14, 15 and 17 after Woods was safely in the clubhouse at 10-under and McIlroy had a two shot lead. A fantastic pitch from a gnarly lie on 14 was even better after he sank the putt. Bunker shots on 15 and 17 were above average, but the flat stick still had to knock them home. After holing those putts and not dropping any shots, he stood on 18 tee with a two-shot lead over Woods and he had plenty of margin for error, if necessary.
He didn't need any of it as his final tee shot split the fairway on the par-five and he cruised home to victory. McIlroy finished the week fifth in strokes gained-putting on top his scrambling numbers. Not bad after he was near the bottom of the scrambling stats last week in his runner-up finish at WGC-Match Play.
Déjà vu All Over Again?
Rory McIlroy began the day with a two-shot lead over journeyman Tom Gillis and rookie Harris English and a nine-shot lead over an up-and-down Tiger Woods. As we've learned this year on Tour, no lead is safe on Sundays.
Yet, Rory McIlroy is not Kyle Stanley. Nor is he Spencer Levin, Charlie Wi, Keegan Bradley or Daniel Summerhays. Heck, he's not even Phil Mickelson, at least not yet. McIlroy did today what those golfers could not do earlier in the year: Close out and win after leading after 54 holes.
Last year, Rory McIlroy played "The Bear Trap" seven-over on Saturday. Yes, seven-over in three holes in one round.
What a difference a year makes. This week, he played the "The Bear Trap" three-under for the week and even on the day when it counted the most, Sunday. He could have easily remembered that experience on Saturday or Sunday of this year but he didn't. That's mental toughness.
Are there any other tournaments that McIlroy didn't play so well last year? If so, I'll take him to win on those tracks in 2012. What's that? The Masters where he blew a four-shot lead on Sunday and shot 80? I understand this was not a major, but when Tiger Woods is breathing down your neck with 62, bad thoughts can creep into your head. Jack Nicklaus remarked on the telecast, as McIlroy entered "The Bear Trap", that he would prefer to be in Tiger's shoes at that moment in the round. Yikes.
Hey, becoming number one in the world shouldn't' be easy and it wasn't. What started last summer at Congressional has blossomed into fantastic golf over the last nine months. He took the mantle by playing flawless golf this week, Tiger Woods or no Tiger Woods. Speaking of Tiger Woods, McIlroy becomes the second-youngest player ever at 22 years to be ranked number one. Tiger Woods was 21 years old.
At least I gave you folks a winner this week after last week's disaster. Thanks for reading as always.
Young Guns vs Old Guns
In 10 tournaments this season, the Young versus Old argument is now 7-2-1.
For the young, Johnson Wagner (31), Brandt Snedeker (31), Kyle Stanley (24) and Bill Haas (29), John Huh (21), Hunter Mahan (29) and now Rory McIlroy (22) lead the way for the Young guys.
Mark Wilson (37) is in the middle, a half-point for each.
Steve Stricker (44) and Phil Mickelson (41) are flying the flag for the old folks on Tour.
This is also the first victory for the rest of the world this season on Tour. U.S. players had won the first nine events. Not a bad start though!
One other note for gamers: This is the fifth-straight year at The Honda Classic that an international player has won. McIlroy joins Yang, Els, Villegas and Sabbatini as winners since 2008 at PGA National. Mark Wilson is the only U.S. player to win (2007) since the tournament moved there.
Tiger Woods: The magic returned on Sunday for Woods as he fired a career-low Sunday round of 62. Beginning the day nine shots behind McIlroy, Woods had no choice but to go low. After three rounds of inconsistent play, Woods put it all together on Sunday firing four birdies and two eagles. Woods only made seven bogeys on the week at a course he hasn't played since he was a teenager. Gamers, take the "love him" or "hate him" out of your analysis each week with Woods. This about picking guys who can take you to the next level. Remember this as well: Woods led the field in total driving and was T5 GIR. There's nothing fluky about those numbers to suggest he's heading the wrong direction.
Tom Gillis: Here's what's great about fantasy golf, Tom Gillis. His first five events of the season he was cut three times, WD once and his only finish was T40. His last top 25 was the first week of July last year. Gillis only made two bogeys in his first three rounds before carding three more on Sunday. Gillis led the field in strokes gained-putting on his home course and was T3 GIR. His closing birdie shared second place with Tiger Woods and eclipsed his third place finish last year as the best of his career. Raise your hand if you had him in your line up this week! Now, keep your hand up if you're lying!
Lee Westwood: As Woods was putting together his masterpiece, don't let Westwood's final round slip past when getting ready for next week. For the second week in a row, Westwood finished fourth and is quietly going about his business. His new fitness regimen is working and he showed off his nasty golf game as well finishing with 63 on Sunday. Five birdies and an eagle vaulted Westwood 23 spots to fourth alone. Westwood also only made five bogeys on the week but also carded a double. The knock on Westwood is that he's only won twice in over 100 attempts on U.S. soil. He's playing well enough right now to not worry about that moving forward evidenced by finishing this week second GIR. You don't think McIlroy's success is pushing any of his buttons, right? I didn't think so…
Charl Schwartzel: The South African who finished in the top 16 of every major last year continues his excellent play in 2012. Schwartzel T5 even though he made THREE double-bogeys on the week. He made 17 birdies that was T4 and led the field in GIR. In two appearances at The Honda Classic, he's finished T14 and T5. The reigning Masters champion is on your radar for next year and next week.
Justin Rose: Oy, Rosey! "The Bear Trap" earned it's keep at the expense of the Englishman on Sunday as he found the water on 15 and made another bogey on 17. Heading into "The Bear Trap" Rose was nine-under and just three shots back of McIlroy. He had played the previous three rounds three-under through this stretch but didn't have it on Sunday. He was T10 GIR and his putting stats were very steady but he played the weekend one-over to fade to T5.
Rickie Fowler: After finishing his round on Friday positioned at one-over for the tournament, it looked like Rickie Fowler was on pace for another quiet weekend. After being beaten in the first round last week, T62 at NTO and CUT at AT&T in his last three outings, this could have been expected. Instead, "Agent Orange" (my nickname, calm down) made 11 weekend birdies to hit the top 10 for this first time this season and the first time in full-field events since last August. He's playing new equipment this year and it looks like he's starting to figure it out. We might be seeing more Sunday orange in the future.
Dicky Pride: After T5 at Mayakoba last week, Pride was given entry into this week's field at Honda. He made the most of it, hitting the top 10 for the second-consecutive week. His hot played from Mexico carried over to the first two rounds as he made 10 birdies to just three bogeys. Not surprisingly, he cooled off on the weekend but still finished T7 to wrap up a fantastic two weeks on Tour.
Chris Stroud: Speaking of playing some excellent golf two weeks in a row, Chris Stroud backed up his T5 at Mayakoba with a T9 this week at Honda. I mentioned last week that Stroud has been all or nothing this season and he was "all" again this week. Stroud again was steady with his putter, his strong suit, as he embraced making par this week. He also was three-under through "The Bear Trap" on the week. In seven starts this season, he's been cut three times and been in the top 13 the other four appearances.
Kevin Stadler: After opening up with four-under 66, Stadler played steady golf throughout the weekend to hit his first top 10 since Crown Plaza last May. Don't let that last fact fool you: In his last four starts on Tour, he's been trending in the right direction finishing T9, T16, T24, and T25. He played his final 17 holes three-under after an unsightly double-bogey to open on Sunday. He only made five bogeys the entire week as well.
Graeme McDowell: After watching him knock it all over the desert last week, I thought I was safe in omitting G-Mac from my top 15 after his first round 73. Wrongo. McDowell tied the course record that he set last year on Sunday, 64, in second round and he was right back in the thick of things. McDowell did lead the field in birdies made with 20, was third in strokes gained-putting and T8 GIR but only carded 39 pars (T73) on the week.
"Hey, what ever happened to…"
Kyle Stanley: The No. 1 ranked player in the FedExCup season standings finally had a week to cool off after four great events. Stanley struggled, making four doubles and 11 bogeys in 36 holes this week and his putter wasn't cooperating either. It was also noticed on the course was his caddy was no longer lining him up on his shots. We'll see if that continues next week at Doral.
Rory Sabbatini: The defending champ struggled with his putter and made too many bogeys to successfully defend this week. His T62 finish broke a three-event streak of MC. Horse didn't run on this course this week. Rory needs to put a few rounds together to get back on my radar in the coming weeks.
John Huh: The winner last week in Mexico continues his excellent start to his rookie season in 2012. Yet to miss a cut in his six starts, he hit the board at T36 this week. He was right in the thick of things until a five-over 75 on Saturday effectively ended his chances of repeating in back-to-back weeks.
Y.E. Yang: The 2008 champion and 2011 runner-up hit the board with T30 which could have been better except for a double on 15 on Sunday. It was his second double of the week which cancelled out finishing in the top 10 for pars made on the week. Yang was T60 on driving accuracy and GIR this week and still managed a top 30.
Coming Tuesday: Range Rover WGC-Cadillac Championships Preview


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The John R. Massey Camp No. 152, Sons of Confederate Veterans, will dedicate the V.A. gravemarker for Capt. Nathan Boone of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's Escort, CSA, on Nov. 3 at 11 a.m.
Capt. Boone is buried in the Booneville Cemetery. He was from the Booneville area in Lincoln County and is a descendant of Daniel Boone, showing much of the resourcefulness of that old pioneer. He joined the Tennessee Volunteers to fight the Mexican War from 1846-1949. He was described as fearless, and his courage knew no bounds.
Boone was wounded several times during the War Between the States, the last time suffering a serious saber wound to his head during the Battle of Selma, Ala., in 1865.
Following the war, he was the sheriff of Lincoln County and was appointed the warden of the state prison in Nashville by Gov. Marks.
Boone died at his home in Booneville on Nov. 21, 1989.
The guest speaker for the dedication will be Dr. Michael R. Bradley, past Tennessee Division Commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, retired professor from Motlow State Community College, a well-known author of several books on Gen. Forrest and the War Between the States and also a retired Presbyterian minister.
The ceremony will feature uniformed re-enactors, United Daughters of the Confederacy in antebellum attire and musicians. Refreshments will be served following the dedication.
The dedication and program are free and open to anyone interested in southern history. The Sons of Confederate Veterans is a heritage organization for men who have an ancestor who served honorably in the Confederate Army or Navy. For more information on the SCV, visit www.scv.org.


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Irwin M. Stelzer is a contributing editor to The Weekly Standard, director of economic policy studies at the Hudson Institute, and a columnist for the Sunday Times (London).
Barack Obama doesn't have George W. Bush to kick around anymore. At least not credibly. Sure, he will continue to argue that he inherited such a mess that his own policies can only be regarded as a smashing success. But it's been four years since the patient was turned over to the new president for treatment, and the economy's stubborn failure to recover its robustness tells us something about the efficacy of the Obama medicine. Which makes it increasingly difficult for him to continue to play the blame-GWB game. So Obama has found a new cause of falling growth and stubbornly high unemployment: Europe.
Now, no one can argue that our European friends are paragons. They have fiddled while Athens burned; done too little too late to save Spain's financial system; forced an exodus of talent such as Ireland hasn't seen since the potato famine (I exaggerate); replaced democratically elected governments in Greece and Italy with "technocrats"; issued a plethora of communiqués that amused but did not calm the markets; and adopted policies that have driven deficits up by stifling growth. Plenty of stuff to warrant a presidential j'accuse. Except for two things: The American pot is ill-placed to call the European kettle black, and the president's lack of personal support from his colleagues at the G7, G20, and other meetings makes him a less-than-ideal policy salesman. More important, the president's attempt to set Europe up as the new fall guy for his failed policies — besides Bush, other alibis have included supply chain interruptions due to Japan's tsunami — seems, shall we say, lacking in empirical support.
Europeans are disinclined to accept American advice for two reasons. First, our deficit exceeds that of the eurozone as a whole, and according to the latest studies by the Congressional Budget Office, we are in danger of incurring so much debt that economic growth will be well-nigh impossible. Hardly a model to which Europe should aspire. When Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner tried to advise Europeans to step up borrow-and-spend, he was met with scorn. "It's always much easier to give advice to others than to decide for yourself," German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble announced to the press, a thought usually expressed in the privacy of a conference room. Second, our political gridlock makes the slow-moving decision process of the eurocracy seem speedy, and our partisan feuding the acrimonious Germany-versus-everyone-else circus in Europe a lovefest. Obama's pleas to the Europeans to speed up decision-making are, to put it mildly, lacking in credibility.
On a more personal level, Obama has trouble getting a hearing from his European counterparts, I am told by attendees at various G7, G8, G20, and G-whatever meetings. He stands aloof from them, a man apart in gatherings of politicians who are by instinct flesh-pressers. Reliable informants tell me that his colleagues at these meetings would at times do George W. Bush a favor when he needed one for domestic political purposes — they liked him even if they found some of his policies insufficiently pacific.
Obama enjoys no such advantage. This is the man who couldn't get the Olympics for his hometown of Chicago, and who was treated with contempt by China, and ignored by other nations at a meeting in Denmark when he sought some progress on global warming to advertise to his green constituents. This is also the man whose partner in a diplomatic reset, Vladimir Putin, said he was too busy to attend the G8 and NATO meetings at which President Obama served as host, and then found time between harassing dissidents to hop over to Beijing for a round of meetings.
The president's lack of standing with his European counterparts is unfortunate. With Germany so far sticking to its austerity über alles policy, an American voice calling for more emphasis on pro-growth policies would be an important counterweight. Never mind: The Europeans will have to work that out with German chancellor Angela Merkel, and persuade her that hardworking Germans should transfer more of their income and wealth to the rest of Europe — a task made more difficult by French president François Hollande's decision to roll back one of Nicolas Sarkozy's reforms and lower the retirement age for many workers from 62 to 60 years, while Germans are expected to remain in the traces until 65-67 years of age.
So much for where we are. Now for where we are going. Economists are uncertain, but the consensus seems to be that such growth as our economy will chalk up between now and the election will be insufficient to create enough jobs to make his stimulus program a talking point for the president and his supporters, especially if the recent slowdown in consumer buying persists. No surprise, says the White House: The European contagion has hit our shores. Why, just look at the devastating effect of Europe's unfolding recession on our exports. Well, let's look.
While exports have been contributing to our recovery, we remain a nation not highly dependent on peddling stuff to foreigners. To the extent that we do, our leading customers are Canada and Mexico, not widely considered European countries. Last year, total exports accounted for a bit less than 14 percent of our GDP, 22 percent of which went to the EU — or 3.1 percent of GDP. Last month, the month of the miserable jobs report that the president wants to pin on the EU, our exports to that troubled area dropped by some 11 percent, or 0.3 percent of our GDP. If anyone outside of the White House believes that such a trivial drop in shipments to Europe caused job creation here to slow, he has yet to emerge.
Indeed, the mechanism by which Europe's troubles will reach our shores is, to put it mildly, unclear. Our mutual funds have greatly reduced their exposure to Europe's banks, and our own banks are in far better shape and less linked to their European counterparts than ever. In fact, it can be argued that Europe's difficulties have made America more of a safe haven for flight capital, thereby helping to keep both interest rates and inflation here low as the strong dollar puts downward pressure on commodity prices.
There is one contagion mechanism that might, only might, fit the president's narrative as he attempts to divert attention from his failed policies by pinning blame on Europe — and most especially on Frau Merkel, who continues to link aid to her less fortunate eurozone colleagues to their willingness to rein in their trade unions, reform their labor markets, and take an ax to their public sector payrolls. Wall Streeters, or some of them, contend that a worsening of the situation in Europe, especially a Grexit — Greek exit from the eurozone — will rattle stock markets here, cause a flight from shares, and hit investors in their pocketbooks, with knock-on effects on consumer spending and business investments. But as the estimable Bret Stephens pointed out last week in the Wall Street Journal, previous overseas financial upheavals have had no such effects on the U.S. economy. Do not confuse the instantaneous response of the stock market with a fundamental change in the economy. After the 1997 collapse of Asian currencies, the Dow plunged, but the economy did not, growing at better than 4 percent, a feat it repeated after the Russian ruble crisis. "Bear this not-so-ancient history in mind," writes Stephens, "as the Excuse-Maker-in-Chief cites another imploding region to explain 1.9 percent growth and 8.2 percent unemployment."
None of this is to deny that some U.S. companies will find life a bit less pleasant should the European recession deepen and lengthen. They will: Starbucks is already seeing a slight drop in sales in Europe. Nor should we be as confident that we will escape any fallout from a European financial upset and its ripple effects as the president is that we will be hit hard by such an event. If we learned anything from the aftermath of the demise of Lehman Brothers it is that we should not be overly confident in our ability to understand all of the interconnections in global financial markets. So it is not inappropriate to worry. But neither is it appropriate to excuse the president's inability to cope with our economy's weakness by a serial hunt for some outside force on which to place the blame. Or the Republicans' willingness to make it easy for the president to avoid a grand compromise on fiscal policy by elevating a desire for lower taxes on high earners to the sole, or at least the primary goal of economic policy.
In the end the course of the American economy will be determined not in Berlin, but in the voting booths of America, where voters face a choice, not an echo — a choice between a candidate who believes, really believes, that America's future prosperity depends on an expansion of the public sector, and one who seems more likely to see our salvation in unleashing the private sector by reducing regulations and reforming the tax system. So far, Europe's voters have been denied a voice in their economic future by a eurocracy skilled at avoiding the ballot box. We are luckier here in America.


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By how many means is the coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as) concealed?
By how many means is the coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as) concealed?
There are a great many people who have fallen into various errors regarding the existence and coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as). Some of these errors are as follows:
1. Hazrat Mahdi (as) has come and gone. He appeared in the past.
2. Hazrat Mahdi (as) is a collective personality, in other words, an invisible spirit. And there is therefore no point in awaiting him.
3. Hazrat Mahdi (as) will come, but in many centuries' time.
4. Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be a regular human being. Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be an ordinary political leader who will not perform the second and third of the tasks that Bediuzzaman described in his works in the words "Hazrat Mahdi (as) has three duties," who will not wage an intellectual struggle against materialist, Darwinist and atheist philosophies and who will not tell people of the signs leading to faith. He will merely read the Risale-i Nur Collection, and is thus of little significance.
5. There is no such person as Hazrat Mahdi (as) and he will never come.
6. Hazrat Mahdi (as) may come but it is wrong to investigate these matters. Hazrat Mahdi (as) must find us busy working when he comes, so there is no need to investigate him. If he comes, he comes, and if not, then he does not.
7. There will be an Angel over his head telling people, "This is Hazrat Mahdi (as), follow him," and he should be immune to tanks and guns. Someone lacking these attributes cannot be Hazrat Mahdi (as).
8. Many Mahdis will come in the End Times. Three, five or ten Mahdis may come. They will all work silently and discharge the duties of the Mahdi and then die, so very few people will be aware of this fact.
Trying to confuse, complicate and cover up this issue, which the Messenger of Allah (saas) sets out so clearly in trustworthy hadiths and which Bediuzzaman Said Nursi describes so clearly and explicitly, is one of the terrible and peculiar characteristics of the End Times. Hundreds of millions of people have fallen into the errors concerning the existence and coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as) listed above. Initially, there will be 313 people who think that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will come this century. This can be seen from the general state of affairs today. The Messenger of Allah (saas) says in the hadiths that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will have 313 people around him.
According to these clear and explicit hadiths, nobody else apart from these 313 people will be able to understand Hazrat Mahdi (as). The reasons why people cannot understand are those set out above. Some people will genuinely fail to understand the existence of Hazrat Mahdi (as), while others will be incited by satan to pretend not to understand, and this will persist until Hazrat Mahdi (as) does appear. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi states that Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be known through the light of faith and that there will be few people with him capable of doing that:
"The force and spiritual army this duty depends on is only some students in full possession of titles of purity, loyalty and solidarity. No matter how few they may be, they are as powerful and valuable as a literal army. That abundant and capable army is family of the Messenger of Allah (saas) and very pure army of Hazrat Mahdi (as). (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Emirdag Addendum, p. 259)
It is a great miracle for Hazrat Mahdi (as) to remain unknown despite all the portents of his coming having taken place and these signs being so clear and so explicit. However, a veil has come down over most people's eyes and they are unable to recognize Hazrat Mahdi (as) despite all these evident facts. This shows the severity of the End Times, and how much foresight and perspicacity have disappeared, and the kind of thought structure that people now possess.
However, in the future, by the will of Allah, the whole world will realize that Hazrat Mahdi (as) is an individual and that he will appear this century.
[Hazrat Mahdi (pbuh) will prevent the Prophet (saas)'s complaint 'My community has ignored this Qur'an' to be lived in the End Times]
Raja Izzuddin Bin R.a. Jalil Azman on piZap.com
piZap on piZap.com
piZap on piZap.com 1
Saturday, September 10, 2011
By how many means is the coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as) concealed?
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 15th Sep 2011 08:58 UTC
The client version of Windows isn't the only one getting overhauled. It's a little less sexy, but Windows Server 8 is every bit as different from its predecessors as the Windows 8 client. Server Core (Windows Server running without the graphical user interface) is the, uh, core now, and everything is done using PowerShell - either directly, or through the new Metro-style Server Manager which is a layer on top of PowerShell. The buzzword here is cloud - not the big one, but those smaller ones on intranets.
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RE[2]: Remove PowerShell
by turrini on Fri 16th Sep 2011 17:39 UTC in reply to "RE: Remove PowerShell"
RE[3]: Remove PowerShell
by lucas_maximus on Sat 17th Sep 2011 03:51 in reply to "RE[2]: Remove PowerShell"
Have you ever read the unix haters handbook?
Edited 2011-09-17 03:52 UTC
RE[4]: Remove PowerShell
by turrini on Sat 17th Sep 2011 11:33 in reply to "RE[3]: Remove PowerShell"


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Restorative Justice Conference Attracts International Slate of Scholars, Practitioners and Policy Makers
- 07-02-2014
- By Jon C. Reidel
The implementation of restorative justice and its focus on bringing together the victim, offender and members of the community to repair harm caused by a crime has put Vermont at the forefront of the alternative justice practice. It's an ongoing process, however, with the coordination of regulatory agencies, communities and families to bring about responsive regulation to solve complex issues still presenting major challenges.
An international slate of experts on restorative justice practices and the emerging field of regulatory affairs will discuss how to merge these critical components at the upcoming Restorative Justice, Responsive Regulation & Complex Problems Conference on July 15-18 at UVM's Davis Center.
"Nationally and internationally, grass-roots groups, governments and researchers call for collaboration in tackling our most intractable or 'wicked' problems that impact families and communities. But few are able to take the next steps beyond cosmetic change to achieving and sustaining the working relationships that both set things right for people who are affected by crime and wrongdoing while at the same time holding to account people who have behaved badly" says Gale Burford, professor emeritus of social work and chair of the conference's steering committee. "Without this coordination, families and government cannot respond in timely ways to the uniqueness of each situation, let alone craft seamless links around needs that are more universal. We are hoping this conference generates ideas for how to address these issues by bringing together all of the people involved in tackling complex problems, both those who are affected by them and those with expertise in helping people to regulate their behavior."
Sponsored through the College of Education and Social Services by the Community Justice Consortium (CJC), a group brought together in 2005 by UVM and the Vermont Agency of Human Services to stimulate relevant research and education, the conference features more than 50 experts from 14 countries. John Braithwaite, distinguished professor and founder of RegNet (the Regulatory Institutions Network) at the Australian National University, will give a keynote address titled "The Evidence for Restorative Justice and Responsive Regulation." Valerie Braithwaite, professor, School of Regulation, Justice and Diplomacy, College of Asia and the Pacific, the Australian National University will speak on "Regulation and Social Capital," while Leigh Goodmark, University of Baltimore, School of Law Director, Clinical Education and Family Law Clinic, co-director, Center on Applied Feminism, will give a keynote titled "Creating Alternatives to the Criminal Justice System: Responsive Regulation and Intimate Partner Abuse."
"Professor Gale Burford is an internationally known scholar who several years ago founded the restorative justice consortium at UVM," said Fayneese Miller, dean of the College of Education and Social Services. "The consortium brings together UVM faculty, members from the various legal and justice communities, and social service personnel to discuss how Vermont responds to, supports, and implements practices that impact victims, offenders and community members. The conference on restorative justice, is a major component in the college's efforts to bring attention to the work of the consortium and highlight its importance to the state, local and academic communities. We, in the college, are pleased to be a part of a conference that includes some of the most highly regarded scholars in the area of restorative justice. And, a conference that brings critical attention to the quality of work occurring here at UVM and in Vermont."
Other conference highlights include Dorothy Roberts, the 14th Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor and George A. Weiss University Professor of Law & Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, who will speak on "Black Mothers, Child Welfare, and Prison: The Need for Restorative Justice." Margaret Burnham, professor of law and director of the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, Northeastern University School of Law, will speak about the North restoring justice to the victims of Jim Crow violence. Other speakers, including members of the UVM faculty, will address needed reforms in family law, education, prisoner re-entry, child and family welfare and youth justice.
Daily panels featuring breakout sessions with expert presenters will address the complex issues of power and privilege that sustain exploitive and harmful behaviors in different social environments and propose creative solutions.
"It is fitting that this international conference is taking place in our state," said Gov. Shumlin. "Vermont and Vermonters have a long-standing practice of refusing to acquiesce to the status quo. Vermont was the first state to abolish slavery, the first state to pass a civil union law and then the first to legislate marriage equality without a court order. Now we have become a national leader in disentangling the public health and criminal justice systems with an eye toward finding more effective solutions to the opiate problem plaguing much of this country. Vermonters pride themselves on questioning so-called conventional wisdom, we are not shy about speaking truth to power, and we celebrate creative, effective, alternative approaches to solving problems."
UVM President Tom Sullivan and Provost David Rosowsky are among a list of guests and speakers invited by the steering committee, which received support from UVM, the State of Vermont, and the Vermont Law School.
"The University of Vermont is committed to restorative practices and restorative justice," said Sullivan. "Restorative practices and restorative justice have been established across the university in the Division of Student Affairs, Academic Support Programs, Center for Student Ethics and Standards, and the Office of Student and Community Relations, among others. Residential Life at the university has embraced restorative practices as their departmental philosophy and offers training each year for staff members. This conference provides a wonderful opportunity for us to advance restorative practices, restorative justice, and responsive regulation for the benefit of our community and our state."
Proponents from the community, government, business, and academia on the integration of restorative justice and responsive regulation will also be on hand and are encouraged to register through July 5 or at the conference. There will be a hosted reception on the evening of July 15.


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We'll pause for a moment to consider a remarkable life:
"Albert Brown, the oldest living World War II veteran and survivor of the 65-mile forced World War II trek known as the Bataan Death March, has died," Illinois' The Southern Illinoisan newspaper reports.
He was 105 and passed away Sunday at a nursing home in Nashville, Ill.
The Associated Press report on his death begins with this:
"A doctor once told Albert Brown he shouldn't expect to make it to 50, given the toll taken by his years in a Japanese labor camp during World War II and the infamous, often-deadly march that got him there. But the former dentist made it to 105, embodying the power of a positive spirit in the face of inordinate odds."
The wire service adds that Brown, who joined the military in 1937 as a commissioned lieutenant in the Reserve Officer Training Corps:
"Was nearly 40 in 1942 when he endured the Bataan Death March, a harrowing 65-mile trek in which 78,000 prisoners of war were forced to walk from Bataan province near Manila to a Japanese POW camp. As many as 11,000 died along the way. Many were denied food, water and medical care, and those who stumbled or fell during the scorching journey through Philippine jungles were stabbed, shot or beheaded."
Brown told the Southern Illinoisan that when he was freed in September 1945, he was "blind, I couldn't hear, I was in terrible shape."
His sight slowly came back. And according to the AP:
"He took two years to mend, and a doctor told him to enjoy the next few years because he had been so decimated he would be dead by 50. But Brown soldiered on, moving to California, attending college again and renting out properties to the era's biggest Hollywood stars, including Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland. He became friends with John Wayne and Roy Rogers, doing some screen tests along the way."
The Southern Illinoisan writes that Brown's daughter, Peg Doughty of Pinckneyville, Ill., says her father "never considered himself a hero. ... I guess he just figured he was at the wrong place at the wrong time."
One more fascinating fact about Brown: The Nebraska native's godfather was Wild West legend "Buffalo Bill" Cody.
For some history of the Death March, there's material posted here from Public Broadcasting's American Experience. And Smithsonian magazine has retraced the route.


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Anna M. Walter died on Friday, July 13, 2012 at the Divine Providence Community Home in Sleepy Eye, at the age of 90 years.
Anna M. Walter died on Friday, July 13, 2012 at the Divine Providence Community Home in Sleepy Eye, at the age of 90 years. Visitation will be on Monday, July 16, 2012 from 4 to 7 p.m. and will continue on Tuesday from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Sturm Funeral Home in Sleepy Eye. There will be a Parish Prayer Service on Monday at 7 p.m. at the Sturm Funeral Home in Sleepy Eye. Mass of Christian Burial will be on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Sleepy Eye with burial at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Clements. Arrangements are with the Sturm Funeral Home in Sleepy Eye. On-line condolences may be left for the family at www.sturmfh.com.
Anna M. Walter was born on January 30, 1922 in Lake Henry, Stearns County, Minn., the daughter of Frank and Catherine Ann (Weber) Braunger. Shortly after her father's death the family moved to Morgan, where Anna graduated from St. Michael's School. She was united in marriage to George Walter on November 20, 1941 in Morgan. Shortly after their wedding George was drafted into the Army. Anna lived with her in-laws briefly before moving to live with George in Amarillo, Texas. Following George's discharge, they farmed near Clements for 40 years, until retiring and moving to Sleepy Eye. In November they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Anna enjoyed the last week of her life living at Lake Villa Maria Apartments. She was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church, Christian Mothers, Clements Legion Auxiliary and a former member of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Clements. Anna was a woman of deep faith spending much time praying for others. She enjoyed singing with the German choir, crocheting, gardening and writing letters. Family was always near and dear to her heart, she loved baking cookies and sharing them with her grandkids. Her exuberance for life will never be forgotten!
Anna is survived by her children, George Jr. (Mary) of Redwood Falls, Tom (Judy) of Clements, Steve (Alice) of Sleepy Eye, David (Muriel) of Springfield, Bill (Anita) of Sleepy Eye and Judy (Steve) Bloedow of Sleepy Eye, 22 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren, two great-great-grandchild; 1 brother, and 3 sisters.
She was preceded in death by her husband George on May 29, 2012, her parents, two brothers, three sisters, two granddaughters Carisa and Kasi and a granddaughter-in-law Therese.


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woohoo go Harry Boam (goes to my school)
good preformance from NZ have they ever beaten Pakisatn?
woohoo go Harry Boam (goes to my school)
good preformance from NZ have they ever beaten Pakisatn?
well looks like this one will be a struggle.
- Kiwis look like they have a pretty good bowling attack. But batting looks average, to below par. Need the improve that a lot if they are going to push past the Super 8s.
- India look pretty solid so far and look the side to beat ATM.
- Pakistan seem to continue their up and down performances from Sri Lanka. But they got some real match winners, who can win a match from no where.
- South Africa look like they will make it into the next round after beating West Indies first up, but don't look that impressive. Got a couple talented players like Smuts, who can create some trouble to the better sides.
- Australia and Sri Lanka are through now pretty much (Sri Lanka still has to beat Nambia). Both put in some average performances against Nepal. But personally I think that more of sign the fact that Nepal are pretty decent. Should push West Indies and Zimbabwe in the plate. I think we will get a better picture of where both sides are after they play each other.
- Bangladesh and England haven't really been tested yet. Though England has been clincial in their victories so far. Will get a better idea after they play each other though.
Last edited by chaminda_00; 19-02-2008 at 02:55 AM.
The man, the mountain, the Mathews. The greatest all rounder since Keith Miller. (Y)
Jaffna Jets CC (Battrick & FTP)
RIP WCC and CW Cricket
Member of the MSC, JMAS and CVAAS
India's Einstein Napoleon wins the award for having the best name in the entire competition.
Self Elected Vice-President of AAAS
(Ajit Agarkar Appreciation Society)
"Uniting Ajit Agarkar Fans World Wide"
Always Live Life With: Intensity, Integrity and Intelligence
Trent Boult 7-20
The Future of International Cricket - Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravi Bopara, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Shahriar Nafees, Raqibul Hasan, Salman Butt, JP Duminy
Proud Supporter of the Bangladeshi Tigers
Ryan ten Doeschate - A Legend in the Making
MSN: email@example.com
Southee and Boult are tearing it up. However, I think our batting may hinder any chance of progressing through the super stages.
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Construction Company And District Official Indicted For Diverting $3.6 Million From Schools
SANTA BARBARA--California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced a 74-count felony indictment against a former Santa Maria-Bonita School District official and three executives from TurnKey, a Temecula-based company, for misappropriating $3.6 million in public money for schools.

'TurnKey squandered public money that was designated for construction costs at sixteen schools in Santa Barbara County,' Attorney General Brown said. 'When TurnKey ran into financial problems, it began taking money from the school district--with knowledge by the assistant superintendent--in violation of state law.'

Between 2000 and 2002, TurnKey signed $62 million in construction management contracts with the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, promising to complete sixteen school projects. Financial records show that TurnKey executives instead used District money to pay for expensive cars, artwork, and to pay cash bonuses to themselves. TurnKey maintained very high overhead costs and began making late payments to its subcontractors.

As early as 2003, TurnKey fell behind in its payments to subcontractors who were building the schools. To service their rising debt, the company began submitting false invoices for services to the District funds, with knowledge from Assistant Superintendent Cynthia Lynn Clark. After the assistant superintendent took a leave of absence in 2004, the District discovered TurnKey's serious financial trouble and refused to continue advancing money to the company.

Only one TurnKey school project, Taylor Elementary, was completed by the time the company went bankrupt in February 2005.

A Santa Barbara grand jury returned the indictment on March 14, 2008 against former company executives Harold Leo Clark III, 46, Michael Patrick Bannan, 43, David Irwin, 39, and former Assistant Superintendent Cynthia Lynn Clark, 54, on 74 counts of Misappropriation of Public Monies, Embezzlement of Public Funds, Diversion of Construction Funds, and Grand Theft of over $3.6 million between June 2004 and September 2004.

The Santa Maria-Bonita School District applied for school construction funding for the state as a hardship district and depended upon funding from the California Office of Public School Construction to pay the costs of the school construction projects. The proposed school projects included: Taylor Elementary, Arellanes Elementary, Arellanes Jr. High, El Camino Jr. High, Fesler Jr. High, Liberty Elementary, Sanchez Elementary, Kunst Jr. High, Adam Elementary, Bruce Elementary, Oakley Elementary, Ontiveros Elementary and Rice Elementary.

The felony indictment, unsealed today, follows a three-year investigation into TurnKey by the Special Crimes Unit of the California Department of Justice with assistance from the Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office. The case will be prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Patricia M. Fusco in the California Department of Justice Special Crimes Unit. Defendants could serve 38 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Information about the individuals named in the indictment, unsealed today, includes the following:

Harold Leo Clark III, former TurnKey Chief Executive Officer, age 46, of Temecula

Michael Patrick Bannan, former TurnKey Chief Operating Officer, age 43, of Vista

David Irwin, former TurnKey Vice President, age 39, of Temecula

Cynthia Lynn Clark, former Assistant Superintendent for Business Services for the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, age 54, of Cape Canaveral, Florida

The 74-count indictment is attached. The grand jury testimony will be unsealed in 10 days in the Santa Barbara Superior Court. The arraignment is scheduled for May 19, 2008.


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Nicole Crafts Huggie Writing Tools HolderBack to category
Nicole Crafts Huggie Writing Tools Holder
Whether your kids call them doodling supplies, coloring tools or something else, they can store the tools of their crafting trade and then easily access them with this huggie holder. It's great for their playroom, desk at school or anywhere else they get creative!
Project Details
- Level:intermediate
- Time:1 hour
Project Instructions
1Join one green, one red and one blue hugie together at the top and bottom by wrapping with duck tape.
2Print and cut out words using pinking-edge scissors. Glue words to red, yellow and blue foam. Cut around foam with decorative-edge scissors.
3Glue one foam-backed word to the front of each huggie.
4Glue a rhinestone to the corners of each word.


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The founder and CEO of Really Big Coloring Books, Inc., will spend a day on the Truman State campus this week as the Bentele-Mallinckrodt Executive in Residence, talking business strategies and entrepreneur inspirations and motivations.
Wayne Bell is scheduled to give a campus and community presentation on business at 3 p.m. in Violette Hall 1000 Tuesday. Bell will talk about his experiences becoming an entrepreneur and efforts to stimulate creative, out-of-the-box business thinking.
Bell is the CEO and founder of Really Big Coloring Books, a company that publishes a variety of different coloring books including educational, political and cultural.
Founded in 1981, RBCB has four divisions and has been featured on national talk news shows.
The company also publishes cultural event coloring books on topics like the election of Barack Obama, the Tea Party, energy use, gay culture, the evils of terrorism and, most recently, "Ted Cruz in the Future."
The event is free and open to the public.


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Registration Open House
Over 80,000 2013 Winter/ Spring schedules were delivered to productive carrier mail routes, neighboring universities, libraries, businesses, local high schools, as well as made available on campus.
In addition to posters advertising student performances to the community, the Graphics Department also creates flyers (upon request) for classes and programs. See more flyers. To see an example of the range of promotional pieces produced by the marketing department for a single event, take a look at the collateral produced for "Night of the Iguana".
Every semester, West Valley College advertisements can be seen in local high school newspapers, San Jose State's Spartan Daily, and Silicon Valley Community newspapers highlighting concurrent enrollment, short sessions, tuition cost savings. See more newspaper ads.
During the festive weekend, approximately 40,000 people strolled through the streets of Downtown Campbell, where West Valley College administrators, faculty, counselors, and staff handed out flyers and pamphlets, as well as answered questions from prospective students.
25 VTA bus tails traveled through the "Chaboya" routes, which serve south, east, and west San Jose, Campbell, Saratoga, Los Gatos, and Campbell between mid-November and mid-January. See more bus ads
A Senior Mailer containing degree and certificates lists and financial aid information will be sent to high school students; last year, 65,000 Summer Mailers containing steps to enroll and important contact information were delivered to productive areas and currently enrolled students. See more mailer content.
Cost-effective, large, colorful posters are made and assembled in-house are placed in strategic high traffic areas around campus to highlight a particular message to students.
Often the first contact prospective students and their parents have is through the college website. The recent conversion to the OmniUpdate web management system was coupled with extensive design research methods to create a website that was pleasing to look at, organized in a structured and easy to navigate way, and features a style that is consistent across all college web pages. There are a variety of ways visitors can find information about all aspects of the college and the top of the homepage features rotating photos that highlight various college programs and offerings. An online orientation video is being produced that will give new and prospective students a general overview of the college. It will also provide step-by-step instructions on how to enroll and register for classes, seek counseling help, and get info about financial aid and assessment testing.
The Facebook page features college news, upcoming deadlines, course offerings, and provides updates on campus activities. The page is loaded with photos and graphics and promotes interaction between the college and viewers.
Twitter and Instagram feature short messages and stand alone photos, respectively, offering information and announcements about the college.
Our YouTube channel features dozens of college, faculty, and staff produced video and audio recordings including lectures, guest speakers, performances and events.
We also post college events on the SJ Mercury News and Metro online community bulletin board/event pages, and also on the Campbell, Saratoga, and Los Gatos Patch (local news) websites.
In new and remodeled buildings the AV design features large digital signage flatscreens, mounted in Fox, Science and Math, and the Campus Center. This effort includes graphics highlighting classes, programs, and events. Scrolling text offers a list of current events and activities, and important dates and deadlines. See more digital signage
Every semester thousands of students and hundreds of employees attach the generic WVMCCD parking permit to the front window of their cars. We are working with the district police and parking enforcement team in designing new permits that feature the college logo as the predominant element on the permit. A separate design for each campus is being proposed with the permit being good at both campuses. If approved, there will be no additional cost for the production of these new permits. See more proposed parking permit samples
West Valley College is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)