text:
First please read the resolution later passed by Indians in Kuwait 1994
Patron H.E ; Prem Singh
Ambassador of India
Chairman: H.S, Vedi
Vice Chairman: Raman Sharma
Secretary: Mathew Kurvilla
Treasurer: Abraham Mathew
To ; Shri P.V. Narsimha Roa ,.
Prime Minister of India ,
South Block.
N. Delhi
INDIAN CITIZEN'S COMMITTEE which was formed on the dusty evening of 2nd Aug. 1990
the day of lraqi brutal invasion of' Kuwait met in the afternoon of Friday the 1st April 1994 at its
office in Shaab Kuwait and unanimously passed thc attached resolution.
H.S Vcdi
Chairman I.C.C
2nd April I994..
1. Shri Dinesh Singh E.A.M, N. Delhi
2. Shri Salman Khursheed M.E A - N: Delhi
3. Shri K. Sri Niwasun F.S - N. Delhi
4. Secretary to President of India - N. Delhi
Issued 4/4/9
Resolution By Indian Citizen's
Committee Kuwait On 1st April 1994
We are extremely happy to have with us today H.E. Gajendra Singh presently Indian ambassador to Turkey, who is one of the few persons who will long be remembered in our minds and recorded in the history of evacuation of Indian citizens of Kuwait for his long dedicated and unstinted services during the dark and black days of vicious Iraqi occupation of Kuwait when he was to our good luck stationed in Amman as our Indian Ambassador.
During the seven months long period from Aug. 1990 to March 1991, the Indian Embassy in Amman under his unflinching leadership imbued with compassion for the plight of Indian evacuees that went beyond the call of duty, in the Herculean task of arranging transport for Indian citizens of Kuwait from the Iraqi Jordanian border, some times even from Baghdad, upto Amman to a distance of over 250 KM and refugee camps, reception and migration for citizens etc. at the border and in Amman, boarding , loading in Amman upto mid Sept. 1990 till international Agencies established refugee camps and finally making sure that our citizens reached India safely. It took nearly six hundred air flights including 420 Air India Flights, an aviation history record to evacuate nearly 140,000 Indian citizens from Amman.
Ambassador Singh stuck to his duties even during the war days of Jan/Feb, 1991, evacuating thousand of Indian citizens including nurses, under most trying and dangerous conditions.
We the members of the Indian Citizens Committee in Kuwait express our sincere thanks and gratitude to you for shouldering such enormous responsibilities under tremendous physical and functional tensions, working round the clock for months without any break during this period.
We had noted with satisfaction that your services and those of your colleagues were widely acclaimed in lndian media including Times of lndia, Indian Express, India To day etc. and even in the international media. The Crown Prince of Jordan, the foreign Minister of Bhutan, International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and other organizations, praised the remarkable work "of the Indian Embassy in Amman.
We have, therefore, learnt with great sorrow and anguish that the Govt. of India instead decorating you for your services, have instead punished you in 1992 and 1993 on the basis of
false allegations. We firmly believe and request the Government of India to undo this grave miscarriage of justice and accord you the reward and acclaim which you so surely deserve.
We also are reminded of your meetings with many of us with severe mental, physical tension, sick and dead where you kindly attention and services were of great solace.
We also are aware that had the Govt. of Indian then fully complied with your recommendations, the operation of refugee exodus would have been much smoother.
We also note with utter shame that so called national leaders of that time displayed utter ignorance and incompetence and arrogance in dealing with the situation and further making unforgivable statements in foreign countries . Their graceless behavior left a very bad impression with Jordanian leaders.
We recommend a high level enquiry to the Mismanagement of evacuation Sub-committee of Ministry of External Affairs.
P.O.Box 23228 Safat, Kuwait 13093
Tel: 2624719 - Fax 2623124
Tel/Fax ; 004016374602 Amb (Rtd) K Gajendra Singh
Emails; email@example.com Flat No 5, 3rd Floor
email@example.com 9, Sos Cotroceni,
Web site W3.geocities.com/Kgsngh Bucharest (Romania ).
12 December, 2002
ASIA TIMES online –December 13, 2002
Gulf crisis: Lessons from 1991
K Gajendra Singh, who was stationed in Amman as India's ambassador to Jordan during the Gulf crisis of 1990-91, recalls the frantic efforts and bureaucratic bungling in handling the flood of Indian refugee workers from the troubled region. And he ponders whether the Indian government is any better prepared this time around. Ed
Gulf crisis: Lessons from 1991 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DL13Df01.html
By K Gajendra Singh
Dinner on January 15, 1991, at the Indian embassy residence in Amman, the capital of Jordan, turned out to be a much bigger affair than I had bargained for. On January 1, I had casually asked US Ambassador Roger Harrison if he would be free for dinner on the 15th, the deadline given by the coalition led by US President George H W Bush to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to withdraw from Kuwait, which he had invaded in August 1990.
When Roger said yes, apart from senior Jordanian officials, journalists and others, I also invited ambassadors from the countries represented in the Security Council, my human shield against the coalition attack, as I jokingly remarked. Soon word went round and everyone wanted to join in, and suddenly 70 guests were expected.
I had to dust off ceremonial and personal crockery and cutlery, and set up bridge tables and garden chairs to seat them all. I also had to borrow my cook's TV so that guests could watch King Hussein deliver a stirring speech on Jordanian TV as many were already watching the latest news from Israeli TV. CNN had not yet reached Amman. Guests were sprawled on sofas and wandering through my study and bedrooms. When King Hussein heard about this unusual get together, he remarked that only an ambassador from India could have thought of such a dinner. A great compliment indeed.
Most embassies in Amman had already sent their families home and were functioning on skeleton staff. The cook at the Chinese embassy, though, was considered essential, and understandably, as I have never eaten such tasty Chinese food. There were regular meetings among ambassadors. Tony, the British envoy, would turn up on odd occasions for a spot of bridge to take our minds off the mounting tension. No politics, we had agreed. Once, he got me three down doubled (a rare thing). Tony was delighted, "I do not care if Saddam wins now," he teased. His armed bodyguard would watch TV with my cook, sharing samosas. The Romanian ambassador handed out gas masks designed for oil drilling while the Chinese loaded me with various safety devices to counter poisonous biological attacks. But I used to show them the strong life line on my hand and say that nothing untoward was indicated.
The worst case nightmare for the coalition was that a few germ-loaded Iraqi Scuds (which we could see over the Amman sky cruising towards Israel) would kill a few hundred Israelis, and even the presence of senior US officials stationed in Israel to restrain them would not have stopped the Israelis from joining in the fray and directly marching to Iraq, the first stop being Amman. In the event of that happening, the coalition, almost a mini-UN force, with Pakistani, Egyptian and even Syrian and other Muslim troops in it for the money and other considerations, would have been impossible to hold together.
In this contingency, Western diplomats were to rush to the desert southeast of Amman, from where helicopters would ferry them to war ships positioned in the Gulf of Aqaba, cruising there to enforce the embargo against Iraq. The embassy Indians, though, were to remain in Amman as the ministry in New Delhi could not accommodate the families in its hostels. So our plan was to get into our cars and speed north, if we could, for shelter with the Indian ambassador and his colleagues in Damascus, the capital of Syria.
Having seen rich Indians from Kuwait reduced to sharing or fighting for food or a bottle of water with their workers in the infamous Shalan camp on the way from Kuwait to Jordan via Iraq, the only thing worth saving, I used to say, were my 10 favorite and priceless long-playing records. Only Jordan had kept its borders open with Iraq, so Amman was the only point for entry and exit from Iraq.
Meanwhile, during the evening of January 15, there was an atmosphere of great gaiety and excitement, with adrenaline levels running high after months of anxiety. Apart from sharing an historic evening and exchanging the latest news, everyone was dying to see my collection of LPs. Among them were; Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Amir Ali Khan, Beethoven, Strauss, Chopin and Mozart. But only Lata Mangeshkar had two LPs in this set, and people were asking who she was. I had to tell them she was one of India's all-time great singers and she had sent me two autographed records (Geeta and Ghazals) after a meeting in 1974 in Paris, where I was then posted. My family and I, aware that she sang only light music, and fearful that thousands of people might be about to die, put on the funereal Requiem. But animated and absorbed in conversation, few heard it. But Roger did, and we both became very sad.
The grand coalition attack on Iraqi forces did not begin that night. It came the next day, January 16, actually in the early hours of the 17th. Despite requests to all journalists to inform us immediately, and a pact with other ambassadors to inform each other, my son Tinoo from New York was the first to telephone me at 00210 hrs (LST) on January 17, and tell me that the attack on Iraq had commenced. Only just woken up, I queried how the hell did he know. CNN, he said. Soon journalists from the Jordan Times and others followed with calls. No wonder that world presidents and others confess that they learn about world events first from CNN. It takes too long for secret messages to be coded and decoded in the chancelleries.
August 2, 1990: The Gulf crisis begins
It all began on August 2, 1990. A day earlier, I had been in the Nabatean pink city of Petra, in the south of Jordan, some 262 kilometers from Amman, once the stronghold of the gifted Nabateans, an early Arab people. The Victorian traveler and poet, Dean Burgeon, gave Petra a description that holds to this day, "Match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime, a rose red city half as old as time."
After a morning visit to the sprawling ruins, just before going for lunch at the hotel restaurant, as per habit, I switched on the BBC news. The news of Iraqi troops entering Kuwait shocked me out of my reveries of the magnificent pink Hazane (treasury ) monument that suddenly comes into view as one rides through a narrow gorge. Truly a marvelous sight. Although Baghdad was 1,200 kilometers from Amman and Kuwait even farther, after three decades in diplomacy I instinctively felt that something was seriously amiss. The next morning I returned to Amman, although I had planned to explore Petra at leisure.
Yes, tension had been building up between Kuwait and Iraq, but an invasion was not on the cards; after all, inter-Arab tensions are not exactly uncommon. The last round of negotiations between Iraq and Kuwait in Jeddah over disputed territory had collapsed on August 1, and Saddam Hussein was incensed, feeling squeezed. Instead of being grateful, Kuwait, with encouragement from the West, was insisting on the repayment of "loans", and it was flooding the oil market, thus lowering the price of a barrel of oil from US$18 to $12 to $14, which hurt Iraq the most.
Saddam also felt that he had saved the Arab Gulf states, many with large Shi'ite populations, from the fury of the Shi'ite revolution in Iran, for which he had been lauded by the Arab masses and governments, and gifted billions of dollars and friendly loans. Western nations, notably the United Kingdom, France and even the US, granted him credit, dual use of technology, chemicals and machinery and even aerial intelligence on Iranian forces.
And of course there remains the mystery and enigma of the full details of the last meeting between the US ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, and Saddam in Baghdad on July 25, when she told Saddam that his dispute with Kuwait was a bilateral Arab matter. Glaspie then disappeared from public view, and was barred from giving interviews or writing a book. The Western media did not pursue her as they do others, and with a few exceptions the media have subsequently functioned as a handmaiden of the Pentagon and Western spokesmen.
In the first week of August, there were hectic international political developments, with King Hussein of Jordan playing an active and constructive role in trying to defuse Iraqi aggression with an Arab solution, with help from Saudi and Egyptian leaders. There have been various versions of these events, but it appears that the US finally prevailed on President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, so dependent on US aid, and he fell into line.
On returning to Delhi in 1984 after six years, having headed missions in Dakar (Senegal) and Bucharest (Romania), I served as chairman-managing director of the Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals company, with 13,000 personnel in five units, and established the Foreign Service Training Institute in New Delhi. So my posting in July 1989 to Amman, with only a first secretary and an attache, was considered a light mission. So in Amman my bridge game improved, but I was getting distrait - bored - as the French would say. But this was only the lull before the storm.
From India's point of view, the serious issue was the safety of its foreign workers - about 180,000 in Kuwait and 10,000 in Iraq. By early August they had started to trickle into Amman as refugees. The earliest batches were mostly Indian Hajis - pilgrims to Mecca - a thousand odd, who had been stranded as Air India flights to Iraq and back had been cancelled after August 2. After Mecca, many Hajis, specially Shi'ites, go on a pilgrimage to the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in neighboring Iraq.
But soon the numbers of refugees from Kuwait reaching the Amman embassy started growing. In the beginning, whatever the time of the day or night, the small Indian staff of half a dozen would rush to make tea or buy food to make the tired Indian arrivals feel at home. In the evening, the embassy would telephone that two or three more buses had arrived from Baghdad - 100 or 150 Indians. This meant arranging places to stay, and providing food until air transport to India could be arranged. Soon the staff were exhausted, but their dedication and that of others who were deputed to help the embassy later, barring a few black sheep, never flagged.
There were more frequent meetings between ambassadors. I would see Crown Prince Hassan and other important persons to assess the political situation and its likely impact on the influx of refugees. In between, I made a few trips to the Jordan-Iraq border, where there was little in terms of facilities and infrastructure. But we had still not envisaged the deluge that was to hit us.
Soon, Amman became vital as it was the only point of access to Baghdad by air, road or telephone. Apart from short telephone contacts allowed between me and the Indian ambassador in Baghdad (the Indian ambassador to Kuwait had shifted to Basra), Iraq and Kuwait were effectively cut off from the world. So, with other countries closing their borders, apart from the refugee flood, Amman became the staging point for international politicians and others visiting Iraq. Soon, too, Amman was crawling with international media.
Because of more than half of Jordan's population being of Palestinian origin and Yasser Arafat's full reciprocal support to Saddam, and Amman's close relations with Iraq, there were regular demonstrations in Amman in support of Saddam and Iraq. Jordan TV gave the Iraqi viewpoint, which was drowned elsewhere by anti-Saddam rhetoric spread by the Western media. For us, the Western viewpoint was available from Israeli TV, across the Jordan Valley 40 kilometers away. It was necessary to keep a watch on political developments to help assess their impact on the influx of refugees.
Jordan had only a small Indian community, mostly workers earning barely $75 to $100 per month, hoping to migrate to better-paying Gulf states. We hired some of them to help us out. Only a few families were well off, but I regret to say that we were let down. In the first week of refugee arrivals, before we had assessed the situation, we requested one family completing a big project to put a van at our disposal. This was refused. We requested another Indian who had an empty warehouse to let us use it to temporarily house the refugees. He also refused. In countries like Saudi Arabia or Iran or Turkey, where only a few thousand refugees in all went in the first few days, there was full support from the well-organized and large Indian communities. Soon, we started hiring whatever accommodation we could find in hotels and flats, and making arrangements for food.
Nearly a million refugees, a majority from Egypt, mostly working in Iraq, and Yemenis and others transited through Jordan, a country of less than 4 million. It was the equivalent of 200 million refugees wading through India and using its infrastructure. There was pressure on accommodation, food and transport and decisions had to be taken on the spot. Apart from morning and evening policy sessions with my colleagues, I would invite them by turn for a meal to maintain espirit de corps and I tried to make their living conditions as smooth as possible. They were working 14 to 18 hours every day, many even when ill and down with fever. The main stress was on patience against all provocation from the refugees, who, while they had been silent while in Kuwait or Iraq, started shouting and abusing once they saw Indian embassy personnel. As the majority of the refugees were from Kerala in India, four officers who had come to assist us had to pretend that they did not understand the abuses showered on them in Malyali. Some of our personnel were even assaulted and embassy cars stoned by tired and jittery Indian refugees. On many occasions the Jordan police had to step in.
The Indian government did not appreciate the gravity of the situation and gave us too little too late. In a fast-changing situation, when I requested Delhi to depute more staff, they quoted back the previous week's telegram. They even sent a junior officer to study the situation, who, on arrival, appeared more interested in visiting Petra. We had to carry out the evacuation as per normal rules designed for a few or 50 or even 100-odd stranded Indians abroad. We had to follow them, even though three to four thousand Indians per day were flying out on 10 to 15 Air India and International Movement Organization (IMO) flights. This included making them sign indemnity bonds and providing individual tickets. Despite my pleas, these superfluous formalities were not done away with. It meant queuing up for registration, air tickets and the return of forms etc, by tired and hungry refugees, even when there were up to 8,000 of them in Amman.
Once the evacuation was over, the government of India did decide to waive the indemnity ie repayment of the cost of the ticket. In 106 charity flights organized for Indians by the IOM, the only formality was the registration of the passengers in the flight manifest with passport details, etc. Without time-consuming and unnecessary formalities, the refugees would have been saved much stress and strain and my colleagues (15 to 25 at the peak ), who had to be at the embassy, hotels, apartment blocks, airports, border points and even in no man's land, could have devoted more time to looking after the comforts of the evacuees.
External Affairs Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, during his transit stay in Amman in early August 1990 on the way to his famous hug with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad and the "Millionaire's flight" in an Indian Air Force aircraft from Kuwait, as the media described it, appeared curiously reluctant to meet King Hussein and Crown Prince Hassan. They received him with great warmth and brought him up to date on the situation, of which he appeared to have little grasp. Later, a non-professional Indian diplomat was sent to Amman by Gujral, who wanted to be included with King Hussein and King Hassan of Morocco, then planning to take a peace mission to Saddam. The Hashemite palace was most embarrassed. Gujral made extravagant promises to Indians in Kuwait, such as flying them out from Basra and Baghdad, with planes waiting for them. In my office, Gujral told waiting Indian refugees that they would get air tickets for their home towns on arrival in Bombay. All they got were the lowest class train tickets. He was making extravagant promises as if he were fighting a parliamentary election.
To overcome the staff shortage problem at the embassy on a permanent basis, Gujral, in consultation with the Foreign Secretary Muchkund Dubey, selected an officer. But that officer never reached Amman to assist "people like us". Gujral kept shouting at everyone in Amman until he left for Baghdad, much to the disgust of the officers and staff who had just started trickling in from India to assist us in our monumental task, which even we had not envisaged. Gujral appeared to be edgy, short-tempered and rude. But much worse was to follow. Except for Civil Aviation Minister Arif Mohammed Khan, who flew in with the first Air India plane on August 12, who was a gentleman of the old school.
It speaks volumes for the Indian government's perspective and contingency planning under I K Gujral and the foreign secretary that it held the only conference of Indian ambassadors in the region to discuss the refugee problem and international political developments just a few days before the deadline for Iraq's withdrawal on January 15.
Now the US, with support from the UK, is threatening a war and regime change in Iraq. If it takes place, it will be a terribly messy affair, overflowing if not involving neighboring Turkey and the Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, which is also under scrutiny and attack by the hawks in the US administration. Unlike 1990-91, when they were enthusiastic allies, these states are now reluctant to support the US' unilateral action. The gulf region has nearly 5 million Indian workers. The question is, has the Indian government learned from its mistakes, and is it prepared this time around?
K Gajendra Singh, Indian ambassador (retired), served as ambassador to Turkey from August 1992 to April 1996. Prior to that, he served terms as ambassador to Jordan, Romania and Senegal.
(©2002 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please email@example.com for information on our sales and syndication policies.)


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After several discussions and shared thoughts between the Mobicents team and the community, it has been decided to align the Mobicents license with the remaining JBoss projects, changing to the LGPL 2.1 Open Source license!
Mobicents SIP Servlets was already using such license, but now it is applied to ALL Mobicents Projects (Diameter, JAIN SLEE, Media Server, SS7, etc), effective March 1, 2011.
We hope the community enjoys the change!
Mobicents is now LGPL 2.1
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 em 12:16 | Publicada por Alexandre Mendonça
Posted In community, diameter, gpl, jainslee, lgpl, license, media server, mobicents, open source, sip servlets | |
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subset: commoncrawl


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Bryan Garcia needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 134 designs submitted by 49 freelance designers.
Clean Energy Finance Center
Local, state, and federal policymakers and advocates are in desperate need of guidance when it comes to which specific financing models they should be employing to finance large scale energy efficiency, renewable energy or carbon reduction initiatives. The Clean Energy Finance Center is focused on the local, state and national level efforts to mobilize the public and private sectors to direct capital towards financing our country's transition to a clean energy economy. The Center serves as a convener of and an independent, trust-worthy, and fact-driven resource to policymakers, governments, regulators and the investor community.
The Center conducts research in clean energy finance, energy efficiency finance, environmental finance (http://www.environmental-finance.com/), and carbon finance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_finance). An example of the types of analyses that are undertaken by the Center are:
➢ Analysis of state revolving loan programs – efficacy and performance of different models from a financial and energy savings or clean energy generation perspective; detailed analysis of financial and legal structures; exploration of credit enhancement models
➢ Analysis of the most effective project finance models for clean renewable projects – studying use of loan guarantees, renewable energy credit revenue, leasing models, various tax credits/incentives
The research findings of the Center are disseminated to policymakers and market makers including advocates, local, state and regional governments, academics and private sector investors. The research by the Center is disseminated through online webinars, podcasts, conferences and other innovative information dissemination means.
The logo should attempt to depict:
• Objective, trustworthy, and independent research-based analyses
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• National priority to achieve a clean energy economy through public and private sector investment
• Focus on both energy efficiency (consuming less energy) and clean energy (producing more energy from clean renewable resources)
• The logo needs to be in a format that is suitable for use on websites, reports, presentations, letterhead, business cards, webinars and other promotional materials.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
L. Neil Smith's
Number 295, October 31, 2004
The Nightmare After Halloween
Here and Now
Special to TLE
There's nothing like death to bring home the truth behind some old sayings. A few days ago, I attended a memorial service for the daughter of an acquaintance of mine. She was just 27, dead as the result of a car crash. Her parents buried her on what would have been her 28th birthday.
As I waited for the service to begin, this young woman's sudden death reminded me that we might all be best served to remember that we should "seize the day" given that any one of us could be "here today, gone tomorrow." And that, in turn, reminded me of something even more important: Today is all any of us have got. Regardless of the number of todays each of us is given, tomorrow never comes.
Of course, it's impossible not to look to the future in some ways. There are things that simply cannot be managed day-to-day. One of those things involves the selection of those who will be charged with the administration of a country. Even so, there are important factors to think about when considering "this election" versus "the next election."
There are any number of independent voters who are largely ambivalent toward this year's major party candidates. Yet about half are lining up in Kerry's camp, and most of the rest are standing sturdily behind Dubya. Even those who are admitted Democrat or Republican voters aren't thrilled about their party's candidates this year. But the money keeps pouring into the campaigns, the signs continue to go up, and myriad volunteers are still calling around and asking for votes. Why?
Those who previously backed a third party candidate be he Michael Badnarik or Michael Peroutka, David Cobb or Ralph Nader, have also started to talkagain, without enthusiasmof voting for John Kerry or George W. Bush. Why?
In almost every case, the classic "lesser evil" explanation crops up more often than not.
John Kerry will sell us out to the United Nations. He'll lose the War on Terrorism. He'll raise taxes. We'll go broke over his entitlement programs. He'll take our guns away! We must keep George W. Bush in the White House if we wish to preserve America and her interests.
George W. Bush is stuck in the quagmire of Iraq. He's taking our civil liberties away from us in the name of the War on Terrorism. His loyalties are entangled with "big oil," not with the good of the country. We must get George W. Bush out of the White House if we wish to preserve American freedom, even if it means we have to put John Kerry there for a little while! (Bizarrely enough, even many Democrats acknowledge a Kerry presidency likely wouldn't be good. But, they say, "Anybody but Bush!)
Third party voters say that this year they're voting for John Kerry or George W. Bush because George W. Bush or John Kerry would be the worst possible thing that could happen to us in this country. They say that they'll vote their conscience in the next election, but that this time around they have to vote for one of the major party candidates. They don't have the statistical room, they say, to vote for their candidate. Besides, they'll tell you, they don't want to "waste" their vote.
Many voters from all parties have, at one time or another, used the same arguments. But none of them have grasped one salient fact: like "tomorrow," the "next election" never comes. All we've got is today and this election.
I understand "the lesser evil" argument. I'm just not so sure it should apply to people of conscience. I suppose if there were only two choices and you had to pick one of those two no matter how you felt about either of them, then you'd have to vote for the evil you considered to be the least. But there aren't only two choices. In almost every state, there are at least three. In some, there are significantly more than that. The only barrier to you choosing a greater good rather than a lesser evil involves the constraints you've placed on yourself.
I also understand the idea of the "wasted" vote. But consider for a moment those who live in states where the presidential balloting is a foregone conclusion. For example, unless hell freezes over, California will go to John Kerry (in fact, given the California mentality, I suspect California will go to John Kerry even if hell posts record low temperatures on November 2). Now, if you're a Californian who genuinely thinks George W. Bush is the best candidate for president, then vote for him. But if you prefer Michael Badnarik, then why wouldn't you vote your conscience? It's not like you doing so will swing the electoral votes over to the "other guy" there!
To vote for George W. Bush when you don't care for him and you already know he's going to lose in your state is a truly wasted vote. At least a vote for Michael Badnarik there will send a message at the same time it will let you get a good night's sleep with a clear conscience on Tuesday night! Messages and the knowledge you did the right thing aren't indicative of a waste, are they?
In fact, messages and doing the right thing are so important to me that I'm voting for Michael Badnarik myself. And I'll tell you right now: I live in one of the so-called "battleground states." Every individual vote cast for either Kerry or Bush will likely matter in my state. And you know what? I'm still voting for Michael Badnarik. I'm voting for him not because I think he'll win, but because I think he should win. Isn't that why we accept the responsibility of voting? Surely we don't engage in the election process just to vote for the politicians we think are the least corrupt or who we can almost stand to have in office!
Here's something else to think about: So many say they're worried about the greater and lesser evils. Well, how about the silver lining to all those clouds of evil? If you're voting for George W. Bush solely so John Kerry won't win, consider the bonus to us all if Kerry does take the presidency: no more John Ashcroft! And if you're voting for John Kerry just to get George W. Bush out of the White House, imagine if you will the delight of all on Wednesday morning when we discover a Bush win means that our First Lady won't be Theresa after all!
The bottom line is that our founders gave us a Republicif, as Benjamin Franklin said, we can keep it. If we do want to keep it, we need to start voting as the founders knew we must. That means with some knowledge of the candidates and issues. It means with an even-handed dose of pragmatism seasoned by optimism. It means voting according to our conscience rather than as a result of scare tactics or cynical rationales. And it means doing so not in the "next" election, but in this election, and in every election. After all, we should none of us "put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today."
A final note to those of you who don't vote based on principles you hold against voting: I respect your views and admire your decision to adhere to them. I believe that if all of those who do vote would stick to their principles as you do to yours, we'd likely see an improvement in the quality of candidates and officeholders over time, and we'd certainly see more legitimate election results almost immediately.
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As was reported in a few places, Steffi Graf appears in the May issue of Glamour. I haven't been able to read the article — it seems like every newsstand I go to doesn't carry the book — but I've found the main photo of the article via WTA World.
Photo of Graf, in a white Jean-Paul Gaultier dress, after the cut.
>> Federer in Men's Vogue
>> Sharapova in April 2007 Vogue
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Hôtel Malte - Astotel
Property Details
Property Location
With a stay at Hôtel Malte - Astotel, you'll be centrally located in Paris, within a 5-minute drive of Palais Royal and Louvre Museum. This 4-star hotel is 0.5 mi (0.8 km) from Opéra Garnier and 0.5 mi (0.9 km) from Paris Olympia.Rooms
Make yourself at home in one of the 64 air-conditioned rooms featuring minibars and flat-screen televisions. Complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected, and satellite programming is available for your entertainment. Private bathrooms with bathtubs or showers feature complimentary toiletries and hair dryers. Conveniences include phones, as well as safes and desks.Amenities
Take in the views from a terrace and make use of amenities such as complimentary wireless Internet access and concierge services.Dining
Grab a bite from the snack bar/deli, or stay in and take advantage of the hotel's room service (during limited hours). Buffet breakfasts are available daily from 7 AM to 10:30 AM for a fee.Business, Other Amenities
Featured amenities include complimentary newspapers in the lobby, dry cleaning/laundry services, and a 24-hour front desk.Attractions
Distances are displayed to the nearest 0.1 mile and kilometer.
Rue de Rivoli - 0.4 km / 0.3 mi
Palais Royal - 0.6 km / 0.4 mi
Place Vendome - 0.8 km / 0.5 mi
Louvre Museum - 0.8 km / 0.5 mi
Opéra Garnier - 0.8 km / 0.5 mi
Boulevard Haussmann - 0.8 km / 0.5 mi
Paris Olympia - 0.9 km / 0.5 mi
Galeries Lafayette - 1 km / 0.6 mi
Grands Boulevards - 1 km / 0.6 mi
Grevin Museum - 1.1 km / 0.7 mi
Les Halles - 1.2 km / 0.8 mi
Place de la Madeleine - 1.4 km / 0.8 mi
Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore - 1.4 km / 0.9 mi
Pont Royal - 1.4 km / 0.9 mi
Theatre Mogador - 1.5 km / 0.9 mi
The nearest airports are:
Paris (ORY-Orly) - 20.1 km / 12.5 mi
Paris (CDG-Roissy-Charles de Gaulle) - 28.4 km / 17.7 mi
The preferred airport for Hôtel Malte - Astotel is Paris (ORY-Orly).
Hotel policy
Bed Types are requests only and may not be honoured at the hotel if availability does not permit.
Property Policies
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed. No onsite parking is available. Please note that cultural norms and guest policies may differ by country and by property. The policies listed are provided by the property. Additional policies and fees may apply when booking more than 5 rooms. For more details, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
Important Information
Please note, there is important information about this property to know before you arrive.
National Rating
This property has received its official star rating from the French Tourism Development Agency, ATOUT France.
The following fees and deposits are charged by the property at time of service, check-in, or check-out.
- Fee for buffet breakfast: EUR 10 per person (approximately)
The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change.
Mandatory Fees and Taxes
You'll be asked to pay the following charges at the property:
- A tax is imposed by the city: EUR 2.53 per person, per night. This tax does not apply to children under 18 years of age.
We have included all charges provided to us by the property. However, charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the room you book.
- -Fireplace in lobby
- -Snack bar/deli
- -Free WiFi
- -Smoke-free property
- -Dry cleaning/laundry service
- -24-hour front desk
- -Breakfast available (surcharge)
- -Concierge services
- -Elevator/lift
- -Free newspapers in lobby
- -Coffee/tea in common areas
- -Multilingual staff
- -Terrace
- -Tours/ticket assistance
- -Number of floors - 6
- -Total number of rooms - 64
- -Luggage storage
^ Earn 3 Qantas Points per AU$1 spent on eligible Qantas Hotels worldwide. Eligible Qantas hotels excludes Classic Hotel Rewards. Qantas Points are not earned on any amounts payable directly to the hotel. Conditions apply
* Businesses earn 1 Qantas Point per AU$1 spent on eligible Qantas Hotels worldwide. Eligible Qantas hotels excludes Classic Hotel Rewards. A business must be a Qantas Business Rewards Member to earn Qantas Points for your business. Qantas Points are not earned on any amounts payable directly to the hotel. Conditions apply
∼ Saving is off the hotel's generally available rate for the same property, room type, days, inclusions and conditions
† Includes fees payable in local currency direct to hotel. Prices in AUD are approx and based on today's exchange rate.
Hotel ratings and reviews provided by TripAdvisor


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Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer says USDA and the Department of Energy will invest up to $18.4 million in 21 biomass research and development and demonstration projects over the next three years.
These projects are designed to address barriers to making production of biomass for biofuel production more efficient and cost-effective to help meet the renewable fuel goals set by Congress in the energy bill it passed in December.
"These grants help fund the innovative research needed to develop technologies and systems that lead to the production of bio-based products and biofuels," Schafer said. "Funding new technologies will help make biofuels competitive with fossil fuels in the commercial market, putting America on the path of reducing its dependence on foreign oil."
The projects could help further the administration's Advanced Energy Initiative, which aims to change the way the nation powers its cars, homes and business by increasing energy efficiency and diversifying energy sources in effort to increase energy, economic and national security.
Funding for these projects will be provided through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative, a joint USDA-DOE effort established in 2000 to develop the next generation of clean, bio-based technologies.
Grant recipients are required to raise a minimum of 20 percent matching funds for R&D projects, and 50 percent matching funds for demonstration projects. Of the $18,449,089 announced today, USDA will provide up to $13,225,554, and DOE will provide up to $5,223,535 (Fiscal Years 2007-2009).
Grants are subject to negotiation and will begin immediately, and funding is subject to appropriations from Congress.
Schafer made the announcement while delivering remarks at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference 2008. WIREC 2008, held in Washington this week, aims to garner broad, high-level international support for developing and deploying clean, renewable energy technologies.
The recipients of the grants announced today (March 4) include:
University of Florida, up to $866,576, to address genetic engineering of sugarcane for increased fermentable sugar yield from hemicellulosic biomass in Florida.
Ceres, Inc. (California), up to $839,909, to identify and characterize plant genes involved in biosynthesis and deposition of cellulose and hemicellulose in plant cell walls, with a focus on switchgrass throughout the U.S.
Ceres, Inc., up to $883,290, to evaluate herbacious and woody crops for use in thermochemical processing, specifically examining willow and switchgrass species grown throughout a wide range of geographies in the U.S.
North Carolina State University, up to $999,889, to develop advanced technology for low-cost ethanol from engineered cellulosic biomass.
University of Kentucky Research Foundation, up to $999,964, to develop advanced ceramic materials for the separation and recovery of high-value pentose derivatives from cellulosic biomass using molecular imprinting.
Kansas State University, up to $690,000, to demonstrate pelletizing forage crops and perennial grasses in the field to increase cellulosic ethanol production.
In addition, under the category of demonstration projects:
Texas Engineering Experimental Station, up to $600,000, to provide a demonstration of commercial feasibility of anaerobic fermentation of biomass for the production of carboxylate salts and their conversion to keytones.


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2013 Range Rover - First DrivePosted in Vehicle Reviews on May 2, 2013
Forget everything you thought you knew about the Range Rover, especially the painfully ingrained image of it being nothing more than a road queen used to cart celebutards through Los Angeles traffic. Does nearly 12 inches of ground clearance and a 36-inch fording depth sound like a street creep to you? Let us put it in perspective, the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon (considered the most capable factory SUV ever offered) only has 10.2 inches of ground clearance and a 30-inch fording depth. Having said all that, we recently had the chance to get behind the wheel of the 2013 Range Rover both on- and off-road in northern Arizona and southern Utah. We were surprised by what we learned.
A significant amount of engineering went into the latest version of the Range Rover. Among other things, the '13 Range Rover is 39 percent lighter than the outgoing model. The steel unitbody has been replaced with aluminum, resulting in a 400-pound weight reduction, making it the world's first SUV with an all-aluminum unitbody structure. An additional 300 pounds was lypo-sucked out of the chassis and interior without sacrificing comfort or performance. The use of aluminum in the body and chassis increases the rigidity and strength. Plus, removing a total of 700 pounds from any vehicle will improve handling, acceleration, and braking.
On-road the Range Rover drives like a well-tuned $90,000 SUV should. It's quiet and offers great visibility. The Range Rover's appearance and commanding seating position would lead you to believe it feels top-heavy in corners. We noticed quite the contrary. When cornering hard on twisty mountain asphalt the Range Rover sticks to the road with little to no head toss. It almost feels like there is no weight at all above the waistline. The optional Dynamic Response system (standard on Supercharged models) improves on-road handling and cornering even more. The standard 375hp, 375 lb-ft, 5.0L V-8 is a blast in the 4,850-pound Range Rover, but the optional 510hp, 461 lb-ft, supercharged, 5.0L V-8 pushes the SUV 0-60 in 5.1 seconds and musters a top speed of 140 mph. The Supercharged 5.0L is an absolute ear-to-ear smile-riot when launching from a dead stop or a rolling start. Both engines are backed with the ZF 8HP70 eight-speed transmission which is shifted by a knob in the center console and can be shifted via the steering wheel paddle shifters when in sport mode.
As you would expect, the interior is a luxury experience wrapped in fine leather, precision stitching, and an unmatched workmanship quality. Yet the control surfaces are not overly complex and confusing or festooned with Liberace glam and glitter. It's surprisingly utilitarian and easy to operate despite the significant amount of electronic comfort and chassis technology hidden inside and underneath. The buttons, knobs, and switches all have a solid feel. Unlike what you might find in many plastic SUVs, anything that looks like wood or metal in the interior of the Range Rover actually is real wood or real metal. With 37 exterior paint finishes, including 22 exclusive Autobiography colors, 17 interior color themes, two optional roof colors, and many other comfort, color, and performance options, there is almost no limit to customer personalization.
Off-road we were shocked by where we were able to steer the high-dollar SUV. The visibility from the driver seat is amazing thanks to the upright seating position, windshield and A-pillar design, and low hood. The Range Rover features the new fully automatic Terrain Response 2 system which includes a terrain-tunable knob with four different settings, as well as an auto mode. This knob automatically adjusts suspension height, traction control, and other chassis parameters for the best off-road performance in a given situation. With our limited time behind the wheel off-road we didn't notice a significant difference when adjusting the knob through its settings, but we did notice the extra ground clearance afforded by adjusting the air suspension both automatically via the knob and manually via the center console buttons (up to 7.8 inches). Speaking of ground clearance, we appreciated that the bottom of the Range Rover is nearly completely flat and fully skidplated.
We did have a few gripes with the Range Rover, though. The fly-by-wire throttle control needs some tuning, especially off-road. We found that we would often slowly roll into the throttle with no response. Then when the engine room finally did wake up there was too much throttle input. On-road the slow-to-respond throttle is noticeable, yet bearable in most cases, but off-road it's downright annoying. At the very least we'd like to see a different calibration used when the transfer case is shifted into low range.
The tire and wheel packages are understandably more tuned for street use. With no less than four different wheel sizes available we'd like to see at least one of them come with more aggressive tires with plenty of sidewall, perhaps the 19s could be reserved for a more aggressive tread or maybe an 18-inch wheel option with all-terrains?
And finally, the obstacle avoidance alarm should be deactivated when in low range, or at least there should be a button to deactivate it if desired. It's extremely annoying to be wheeling in tight quarters, shifting from forward to Reverse and back, with an incessant alarm sounding off—as if we didn't know there were going to be obstacles off-road when in low range.
It was nearly 45 years ago that the first Land Rover rolled off of the assembly line as one of the most utilitarian and capable 4x4s on the planet. Decades of off-road experience have gone into the design of the '13 Range Rover to make it the most capable Range Rover ever built.
Look, we get that the '13 Range Rover is not for everyone. Even a modestly equipped version costs more than a house in middle America. The Range Rover may be priced out of the reach of most of us, and the sad truth is that the consumers who do purchase one will likely never use it to its fullest potential, but that doesn't mean it's not capable. The specs and actual performance prove that it is, but keep in mind that when you purchase a Range Rover you are also buying unmatched interior comfort and a luxury experience. The seats even have a "Massage" setting for crying out loud! It's safe to say that you get what you pay for with the '13 Range Rover.
What's Hot, What's Not
Hot: Extremely comfortable, flat skidplated underside, optional rear locking diff
Not: Expensive, electronic throttle is slow to respond off-road, no front tow points
Our take: Far more capable off-road than anyone gives it credit for, few consumers will use it to its fullest potential
Quick Specs
Vehicle/model: 2013 Land Rover Range Rover
Price as tested: Starting at $88,545
Engine: 5.0L, V-8, 32 valves, Quad Cam Dual Independent Variable Cam Timing
Rated hp/torque (lb-ft): 375/375, 510/461 (Supercharged)
Transmission(s): ZF 8HP70 8-spd
Transfer case: 2-spd
4WD system: Permanent 4WD via center differential and optional rear differential
Low-range ratio: 2.93:1
Frame type: Aluminum unitbody
Suspension, f/r: SLA with twin lower links with air springs, Adaptive Damping, passive antiroll bar, Dynamic Response (Supercharged)/Integral link suspension with air springs, Adaptive Damping, passive antiroll bar, Dynamic Response (Supercharged)
Axles, f/r: Dana AdvanTek M200 (200mm ring gear diameter)/Dana AdvanTek M220 (220mm ring gear diameter)
Axle ratio: 3.31:1/3.55:1 (Supercharged)
Max crawl ratio: 45.54:1/48.85:1 (Supercharged)
Steering: Electric Power Assisted Steering (EPAS) rack-and-pinion
Brakes, f/r: 14.96-in ventilated disc, 6-piston Brembo calipers/14.37-in ventilated disc
Wheels (in.): optional 19-, 20-, 21-, and 22-in
Tires: 235/65R19, 255/55R20, 275/45R21, 275/40R22
Wheelbase (in): 115
Length (in): 196.8
Height (in): 72.3
Base curb weight (lb): 4,850
Approach/departure angles (deg.): 26 (standard height), 34.7 (off-road height)/24.6 (standard height), 29.6 (off-road height)
Min. ground clearance (in): 11.7
Interior cargo volume (cu ft): 71.7 (max behind row 1)
Max towing capacity (lb): 7,716
Fuel capacity (gal): 27.7
Fuel economy (city/highway mpg): 14/20, 13/19 (Supercharged)


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Aurora Church needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 87 designs submitted by 24 freelance designers.
We're looking for a new logo to effectively brand our ministry in the surrounding community. We are located in Shoreline, WA which is just north of Seattle.
Aurora Church of the Nazarene
We're looking for a logo that reflects our in, out, up, and down reaching ministry mindset. We have a heart for young families in our community and seeing people connect with God. We're passionate about local and global missions, social justice, families, the broken, and people who are not connected to faith.
Here's a verse that inspires us:
2 Corinthians 5:
16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
[update:] wanted to throw out a couple more words. It's not necessary to use this but just wanted to see what kind of results we get with this: Celtic...cross, tree of life.
We are looking for a logomark and a logotype. The logotype should feature "Aurora Church" and include "of the Nazarene." Of note, the word Nazarene has the word 'tree' as a possible root. More specifically, "offshoot" of an olive tree. You could consider this, although it's not necessary. We are looking for something relevant, organic, and inspired. Something fresh.
Final Design must be an eps file or Illustrator file.
Color is important, but it must look good in b/w. Please use gradients and transparencies sparingly, if at all. Dropshadows = automatic elimination:)
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Q. You spend weekends on a houseboat fishing, blog about it (www.rendezvouscentralsquare.com), and bring the bounty back to your restaurant. When did you become a fisherman?
A. It happened progressively. I started out by sharing a rental for a week in Westport. Then in 1995, I bought a boat and that's when my appreciation for Westport moved way beyond the beach to the entire watershed. The Westport River is in actuality an enormous saltwater estuary, which means it's tidal, and ocean water comes in and out. So you've got fish and shellfish - bluefish, striped bass, fluke, tautog, as well as oysters, clams, blue crabs. It's a lot to choose from.
Q. Are you a good fisherman?
A. I used to fish more than I do now. When I was in between restaurants in 2003 and 2004 - between the Blue Room and Rendezvous - I spent two full summers on the Westport River. I fished a lot, so I could keep track of the tide charts and where the fish were. I was pretty good at it. But my restaurant has cut into my fishing quite a bit. It's hard to just plop yourself in and catch fish.
Q. Tell me a dish you serve with fish you caught?
A. "Stuffed cherrystone clams, hand dug in the Westport River,'' on the Monday night tapas menu.
Q. What lessons have you learned on the water that help you as a chef?
A. I developed a greater appreciation for fish and their natural habitats. It's just like gardening. You learn about their seasonality, their life cycles, and you can appreciate their qualities more and take advantage of what they have to offer. What's best about bluefish, for example? For me, it's freshness: To see a fresh bluefish butchered on the houseboat just as I bring it back from a fishing expedition - you won't find anything like it on fish displays, even really good fish displays. A day or two makes a big difference with bluefish.
Q. You tend a rooftop garden above your Central Square restaurant.
A. I was a gardener before I was a fisherman. My story goes back to when I was a kid in Mount Vernon, Ohio, where my grandfather had a huge garden. I loved traipsing around with him; we'd go visiting in the summertime and take baskets of fresh vegetables to neighbors. My grandfather was a very popular man. What I saw there was the joy of gardening, the flavors and aroma, and the joy and the pleasure that come from the giving. I think that is at the heart of just about every cook or professional chef - the ability to give pleasure to others through food.
Q. Do you have a garden at home?
A. I live in Cambridgeport with a postage-stamp yard. I can't garden there, but I can at the restaurant. It's got a one-story flat roof with sun exposure and a water source which is the water that trickles out of the air conditioning unit on the roof. I've got a whole funky routine going on there.
Q. What's the next funky thing you want to tackle?
A. Another 25 years of this would be great.
This interview was condensed and edited.
Linda Matchan can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2010/08/18/steve_johnson_incorporates_his_passions_for_fishing_and_gardening_into_his_life_as_a_restaurateur/
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In its patent case against Apple, Samsung had recently asked that some of Apple's experts be dismissed from testifying, and now they're asking that one more be banned.
Apple's damages expert, Terry L. Musika, writes in his report that 'Apple has built a considerable and at times a cult-like following to all things Apple.' That cult-like following apparently includes several experts who are appearing on Apple's behalf in this case, and may explain why they have cast aside established scientific methods and governing legal principles in favor of slavish adoration of their client and platitudes about its alleged magical and revolutionary products, issues that are of no relevance to the claims and defenses at issue.
Zing. It might be hard to argue that Henry Urbach, another target of Samsung's, be barred since he has no marketing or product design experience beyond his fawning essay on Apple retail stores called Gardens of Earthly Delights, but Apple had similar complaints about eight of Samsung's experts too. Of course, through all of this, both sides are trying to have patent complaints from their competitor tossed out, even after both Apple and Samsung had dropped many at the judge's request to keep the case within a manageable scope.
It's fun to see Samsung get so catty about Apple culture, in any case. While I'm hesitant to apply the iSheep stereotype to all iPhone, iPad, and Mac users, it's clear that at least some of Apple's witnesses are lacking credibility due to their brand loyalty, and really don't belong on the stand. Generally speaking, how many iPhone, iPad, and Mac fans do you think have their judgement clouded by their predisposition towards Apple? How often are you willing to acknowledge that the competition is doing something right? Do any of your friends bust your chops for being an Apple fanboy?
Source: FOSS Patents


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April 27 (Bloomberg) -- Spain's sovereign credit rating was cut for the second time this year by Standard & Poor's on concern that the country will have to provide further fiscal support to banks as the economy contracts.
S&P lowered Spain to BBB+ from A, with a negative outlook. Spain's short-term rating was reduced to A-2 from A-1, New York- based S&P said in a statement yesterday. The yield on Spain's 10-year bond rose 16 basis points to 5.99%.
The nation's 10-year borrowing costs have climbed about 70 basis points this year as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy struggles to convince investors he can control public finances amid soaring unemployment and a contracting economy. Banks threaten to disrupt the premier's efforts as bad loans reach the highest levels in almost two decades.
"Spain's budget trajectory will likely deteriorate against a background of economic contraction," S&P wrote in the statement yesterday. "At the same time, we see an increasing likelihood that Spain's government will need to provide further fiscal support to the banking sector. As a consequence, we believe there are heightened risks that Spain's net general government debt could rise further."
No Bailout
Spanish banks won't need external aid, nor will Spain need a bailout from its European Union partners, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said.
"Nobody has asked Spain, either officially or unofficially" to turn to Europe's bailout mechanisms, he said in an interview in Madrid late yesterday. "We don't need it."
S&P first cut Spain this year along with France and other European nations on Jan. 13. Since then, the yield on Spain's 10-year bonds have risen to 5.99% from 5.22%, while borrowing costs for France are little changed at 2.98%. Spain's yields are up from about 4.13% in January 2009, when S&P stripped it of its top AAA rating.
The rate cut won't necessarily lead to higher yields. In the aftermath of S&P's decision in August of last year to strip the U.S. of its AAA rating 10-year Treasury rates declined, falling to a record 1.67% on Sept. 23.
Spanish Bonds
Yields on 10-year Spanish bonds surpassed 6% on seven trading days this month, boosting concern that borrowing costs may reach levels that prompted bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. The rate was 5.83%.
The Bank of Spain said April 23 that gross domestic product contracted 0.4% in the first quarter, tipping the nation into its second recession since 2009. Rajoy said March 2 that the nation would miss its 4.4% deficit target and then agreed 10 days later with euro-region finance ministers to a new goal of 5.3%.
Spain's budget shortfall will reach 6% this year and 5.7% in 2013, as the government pushes through the deepest budget cuts in at least three decades, according to forecasts from the International Monetary Fund published April 17. Debt will reach 84% of GDP next year. While that's less than France and Italy, it's up from 40% in 2008, when a real estate boom started to collapse.
Political Support
"We could also consider a downgrade if political support for the current reform agenda were to wane," the S&P statement said. "Moreover, we could lower the ratings if we see that Spain's external position worsens or its competitiveness does not continue to approach that of its trading partners, a key factor for Spain to return to sustainable economic and employment growth."
Spanish banks probably need 50 billion euros of additional capital, Morgan Stanley analysts estimate. The figure may rise to as much as 160 billion euros in a worst-case scenario, said Elaine Lin, a strategist at Morgan Stanley in London. The banks could try to raise the capital themselves or get it from either the Spanish government or the European Financial Stability Facility, she said.
Governments committed more than $430 billion in fresh money to the International Monetary Fund to help it protect the world economy against deepening debt turmoil in Europe. The near-doubling of the fund's firepower was announced after Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers met April 20 in Washington.
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


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Next spring, we can play a sequel to the only imported PlayStation 2 game I own. This is a new trailer for Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, a game that will hopefully be as insane as its framerate-limit-ignoring PS2 predecessor.
Earth Defense Force; Insect Armageddon is set for a spring release on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It's from Vicious Cycle, not Sandlot, the series original developers. I'm trying to not be worried about that. Sandlot, they had done quite well, horrible framerates in prior EDFs notwithstanding.
The new game is looking the part. EDF fans know that that part is: Intentionally schlocky.


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Subverting RFID Chips in ID Docs
Subverting RFID Chips in ID Docs
Written by Renee Ferguson; Illustrated by Stephen Anderson
Subverting RFID Chips in ID Docs - Introduction
Now that RFID-chipped passports are being widely distributed by the U.S. State Department and other chipped ID documents are under discussion, the question remains: How do you disable the damn thing if you dont want to broadcast your person
Subverting RFID Chips in ID Docs - Electronic Probe
Sort of like a cattle probe, but for passports. The idea is the electronic probe would essentially shock the tag into disrepair.
Subverting RFID Chips in ID Docs - Mylar
The Mylar bag, once sent by California's Sun Pass program to customers worried about privacy, wlll block the RF tag from being read-sort of like how lead blocks Supermans X-ray vision from seeing through Louis Lane's blouse. Tin foil will serve pretty
Subverting RFID Chips in ID Docs - Total Submersion
H20 will fry anything electronic. Since the RFID chips in documents are passive-they're 'awakened' when nudged by a reader, and thus don't require a battery-water might not work as effectively as, say, a cattle prod. But there's a remote possibility it co
Subverting RFID Chips in ID Docs - The Microwave
Pop an RFID-chipped passport in the microwave, set it on high and watch it spark. The cooking chamber is full of 2.54 GHz electromagnetic waves, with a wavelength of about 12.4 cm. But remember what your Mom told you about putting metal in the microwav
Subverting RFID Chips in ID Docs - Cut and Paste
Cut out the chip and carefully swap it with a friend's chip, so you can trade identities for a day. Kind of like that movie where a girl magically becomes her mom and the other way around, except you get denied re-entry into the country and jailed.
Subverting RFID Chips in ID Docs - Blunt Object
Another tried and true method: Hit something solid with a heavy blunt object - a hammer is a commonly used example - and it will break. The result is likely not very subtle, and also probably a pretty good reason for customs detainment.
Subverting RFID Chips in ID Docs - Nothing at All
Seriously, if someone is close enough to your RFID passport to be able to read the tag, they are too close to you period. If you aren't suspicious of a stranger pressed up against you in the immigration line, you have bigger things than RFID to be worri


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National Institute of Speech & Hearing
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The Department of Neuro Developmental Sciences cater to various developmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Learning Disability and various other disorders of neurological origin.
The objective of the department is majorly lay in areas of (1). Prevention (2) Detection (3) Intervention and (4) Research
To attain these goals the department gets involved in the following activities


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To the editor:
Anderson County has been out of the industrial loop a long time, so the criticism of our local officials is unjust.
Twenty-five years ago a few of us had a meeting with the Franklin County Economic Development committee. It recommended we come home and get six community-spirited business people with a genuine interest in the general welfare of all Anderson Countians and raise the funds to purchase the old Sherwood farm from the Greer brothers.
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Exercise Science
Leading a healthy, God-honoring life.
Interested in strength and conditioning or a career as a personal trainer or fitness specialist? Consider majoring in exercise science, one of the majors that falls under the physical education department.
Your studies will equip you to embrace and articulate a Christian perspective of physical activity and stewardship of the body that enable lifelong service to God. Professors view fitness, sports, and leisure from a biblical perspective as it relates to the discipline.
Professor Sharon Ostema on God's handiwork
"In the discipline of physical education and health, it is easy to speak of the handiwork of our Lord. It is exhibited in every part of our bodies and how all of our systems work together and complement each other perfectly.
For information on how to complete a bachelor's degree in this major in three and a half years, contact the Admissions Office at 1.866.TRIN.4.ME or e-mail email@example.com.


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So, you already have skills-based routing, advanced IVR menus and agent desktops in place at your contact center—what next?
While contact center systems enable inbound, outbound and multichannel interactions, efficiently scheduling agents to handle each channel can be a daunting challenge. Moreover, most contact center supervisors will want additional control over agent performance and the quality of customer interactions.
This is where contact center workforce optimization (WFO) and workforce management (WFM) software come in. Workforce optimization software is generally a separate solution that integrates with modules in your existing call center management software, particularly your automatic call distribution (ACD) system.
WFM is generally part of a WFO solution and enables automated scheduling and forecasting of staffing needs. WFO suites are broader than WFM applications, and also cover quality and performance management.
We'll take a look at the major components of a WFO solution and explain which types of contact centers can benefit the most from implementing a system. Here's what we'll discuss:
What Is Workforce Optimization Software?
Workforce Management Software Features
Quality Management Software Features
Performance Management Software Features
What Are the Benefits of Call Center WFO?
Business Model and Industry-Specific Considerations
Workforce optimization software isn't a single application, but an integrated suite of applications. Some vendors only sell WFO as a suite, whereas others sell individual modules on a standalone basis.
At first glance, you might think that these modules don't have all that much to do with each other, and you'd be right.
Originally, workforce management systems for employee scheduling were standalone solutions, as were the quality management systems that evolved on top of basic call recording software.
Over the past decade or so, quality management has become an increasingly complex task with the advent of multi-channel contact centers and sophisticated analytics, and the need for greater agent engagement has become more apparent. Performance management software solutions have thus emerged to complement existing quality management systems.
Each of the modules in the above chart includes a complex set of features, so we'll tackle them one at a time. Based on how your contact center is set up and your pain points with managing your operations, you may need one, two or all three of these modules.
It's important to note that not all vendors use the same terms for these modules, or group features in the same way.
For instance, some vendors lump KPI dashboards and scorecards in with performance management, while others group these features in with quality management. Some vendors treat interaction analytics as part of a quality management module, whereas others sell separate interaction analytics model.
The major decision you need to make is whether you need an integrated suite or just a few select standalone solutions. If you're going the standalone route, pay attention to how different vendors group features in modules, so that you can buy as few modules as possible.
If possible, try to find a solution from the same vendor that provides your contact center infrastructure to enable integrated capabilities. Some vendors even offer contact center management suites that include integrated WFM or full-blown WFO.
Workforce management modules are primarily designed to do two things:
Forecasting is a vital capability: Many contact centers deal with fluctuating call volume based on seasonal demand, product launches and promotional offers, as well as technical issues with products that necessitate intensive customer support etc.
WFM modules can forecast the volume of calls or other interaction types based on historical data collected from sources such as your ACD system and network switches. They can also forecast how many agents you'll need to have in place to handle this volume. Advanced solutions can even factor agents' skills and service goals (average wrap time, time to answer etc.) into forecasts.
Most contact center supervisors won't need an explanation of the benefits of automated scheduling. Simply scheduling agents according to their preferences is already complex enough when using an Excel sheet, but when you factor in the coverage needs of a multichannel contact center, scheduling can quickly become a nightmarishly complex process.
Contact center WFM software completely eliminates the complexity of scheduling by automating it based on rules that take the following factors into account:
Monitoring schedule adherence in WFM module of Cisco Unified Contact Center
One way in which WFM solutions boost agent engagement is by allowing agents to enter requests for time off and shift changes via self-service web portals and mobile apps. The system then automatically factors in requests when developing schedules.
Advanced solutions also include the following features:
|"What-if" simulations
|Assist in understanding the impact of potential operational changes, such as sudden spikes in call volume, changes to the ACD queue and/or IVR system, scheduled server maintenance etc.
|Self-service portals and mobile apps
|Allow agents both to view schedules in real time and to request time off and make other schedule changes remotely.
|Back-office scheduling
|Enables automated scheduling of back-office staff as well as agents. Sometimes sold as a separate add-on module.
|Intra-day scheduling
|Allows for task-level scheduling throughout the day to keep agents busy during periods of low call volume. Not all vendors offer this capability.
The most basic form of quality management used in contact centers will be immediately familiar to most supervisors and managers: call recording.
Contact centers have been recording calls for decades, but there's a catch: What happens to all these calls after you've recorded them? Contact centers still need to decide on:
The approach taken by many call centers in the past was to select a random sample of calls for analysis. For contact centers that deal with a high volume of interactions, however, the danger arises that a random sample won't be representative, and in particular that it won't capture the problem interactions that cost the business the most money.
Thankfully, there are now solutions to all of these issues:
Speech and text analytics. New analytics technologies have made it possible to evaluate 100 percent of a contact center's recordings instead of taking a random sample. For instance, speech analytics can be used to sift through and categorize recorded calls to spot signs of trouble by using keywords and determining the emotional state of a caller through tone of voice. Similarly, text analytics can be used on emails, SMS text messages, web chat interactions etc.
Solutions with speech and text analytics automatically flag problem interactions for supervisor evaluation via a rules engine that defines what counts as "problematic," and/or allow supervisors to search recorded calls and interactions for keywords and other signs of trouble.
Desktop analytics. This form of analytics addresses the problem of evaluating interactions that take place within software applications rather than over the phone. Desktop analytics captures how agents use software (e.g., clicks, time spent in applications).
Solutions with advanced desktop analytics allow supervisors to define processes for how agents should use applications, then measure whether agents are adhering. Such solutions allow for extensive quality control over interactions that don't involve a phone call.
Evaluation form templates and scorecards. Finally, quality management systems support templated forms for scoring calls, and feed call scores into key performance indicator (KPI) dashboards and scorecards for agents and supervisors.
Quality management scorecard in Genesys
Performance management modules go beyond basic quality management with the following features:
KPI monitoring is vital for both agents and supervisors. Generally, historical data is collected from sources such as the ACD system and the WFM system. It is then analyzed by the solution and fed into dashboards and reports that visualize KPIs.
KPI dashboard in quality management module of Enghouse Interactive
KPI dashboards and scorecards for agents give them overviews of their individual performance, while dashboards for supervisors allow insight into broader performance trends. Supervisors can view KPIs and create reports at the following levels:
Real-time compliance monitoring. In addition to visualizing KPIs, performance management solutions can automatically notify supervisors when KPIs drop below predefined thresholds. Modules that integrate with WFM systems can also compare agents' schedules to their activities in real time to ensure adequate coverage and adherence to best practices.
Agent training and coaching. Performance management extends into e-learning territory generally covered by learning management systems (LMSs). When an agent's KPIs drop, the system can automatically schedule an e-learning module for an agent to address the underlying issue at the most convenient time for the contact center (another use case for WFM integration).
Performance management solutions can also automatically recommend and schedule one-on-one coaching sessions between agents and supervisors, and track the impact of coaching through continuous KPI monitoring.
Gamification. Finally, performance management generally includes gamification capabilities for enhancing agent engagement. Common functionality includes tracking KPIs in terms of points, awarding badges to high performers and leaderboard displays for motivating competitive agents. We've touched on how gamification can improve customer service in a guest post we wrote for Freshdesk.
Team-level leaderboard in Avaya IP Office Contact Center
Contact center WFO offers benefits in a number of mission-critical areas. For an illustration, see the chart below:
Contact centers serve a number of functions across a variety of industries, so it's not surprising that some niche WFM capabilities are specific to certain verticals:
Our service is simple and 100% free to customers like you because software vendors pay us when we connect them with quality leads. You save time and get great advice. Vendors get great referrals. It's a win for everyone!


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I'm so excited to be sharing with you this tutorial. It's the very first tutorial that I've done ever so please bear with me on this. :)
WARNING: It's a looooooooonnnnngggg tutorial. I apologize. There are a lot of steps involved.
A lot of people have been inquiring and ordering these Lala Loopsy dolls as toppers for their cakes and cupcakes. Usually when I do figures, I try to check the web first for available photo or video tutorials on the figure that might help me mold it just to get a clear background on how it's made, proportions, etc. Lala Loopsy is fairly new so there aren't any online tutorials on it. I decided to check out the dolls itself at the toy store to see the designs and the colors as well and check the figures/dolls online as well.
The Lala Loopsy doll is a bit complicated to make given the different colors and costume details of the dolls. I decided to make it a bit simpler and not dwell too much on the costume detail but still making sure that the "look" and overall Lala Loopsy design isn't lost. My clients usually order these toppers in bulk and I don't have the luxury of time to make them as detailed as the dolls themselves. They're pretty cute and colourful and you can dress them up in a lot of different styles!
Here we go... My first gum paste figure tutorial. :)
REQUIREMENTS and TOOLS needed:
-Fondant: skin tone, white, black, magenta and orange
-Fondant or Clay extruder
-Tylose Powder
-Mini scrapbook scissors
-Fondant Modelling Tools: Ball tool, Bone Tool, Veiner
-Water brush OR gum glue with a small paint brush
-Black edible pens
-Small fondant rolling pin
-Crisco or Shortening
-X-acto Knife or Hobby Knife
-Wet wipes/Moist Towels (not in photo)
-styro foam
-Craft cutting board (optional: I like using a cutting board as the fondant doesn't stick to the surface)
If you may notice, I have a lot of extra tools in the photo. I got too excited and I grabbed whatever tools that I think is needed but there are some on the photo that I didn't use in this tutorial. :)
1. We start working with the skin tone fondant first. As much as possible, I work with the light coloured fondant/gum paste first so the darker colors don't stick on my hands and get on the lighter ones. Make two small balls with the skin tone fondant. One roughly the size of a big marble, the other just a bit smaller than a ping-pong ball. I add a little bit of tylose powder to my fondant to make it into gum paste and so it hardens quicker than regular fondant.
2.-3. Roll out the smaller ball with your fingers into a long log a little bit smaller in size than a pen or a pencil.
4. Pinch the log in the middle to make the legs.
5. Take the bigger ball of skin tone and knead it till soft and smooth.
6. Shape it into a smooth ball first and mold it into a slightly oval shape. This will be the doll's head.
7. Grab a nice and sturdy toothpick, dip it a little gum glue (a mixture of water and tylose powder) and stick it under the head.
8. Set aside and let the head set for a while by sticking the toothpick onto a small styro foam.
9. Take a ping-pong sized piece of black fondant and add a little bit of tylose powder to it.
10. Shape it into a ball and roll it a bit on one side to make a tear drop shape. This will be the doll's body.
11. Flatten the bigger base of the tear drop shaped gumpaste onto the surface.
12. Position it on top of the legs directly onto the folded part and make sure the proportion is right (the body is not too big or not too small). Gently press it down to get a mark at the bottom of the body shape as to where the legs will go and glue it down with a bit of gum glue.
13. For the skirt, take a piece of magenta coloured fondant and roll it into a long log. Gently flatten it with a rolling pin until it's flat and long.
14. Cut off the edges lengthwise until you have a clean long strip of fondant.
15. Do the same with a small piece of black fondant. Roll it out in a flat strip.
16. Cut the edges for a smooth and clean cut. *You can use a pasta roller if you want a thinner strip of fondant.
17. With your water brush, add a little water or gum glue to the black strip.
18. Glue the magenta strip to the black strip.
19. Once it's glued on, fold the 2 strips on itself like a fan or a ruffle.
20. Put a little glue on the body and legs of the doll and carefully stick the ruffled skirt on the body.
21. To cover the messy top part of the skirt, roll out another piece of magenta fondant.
22. Like the ones before and for a clean finish, cut the edges to size and make sure that it fits around the body and covering the top of the skirt. Don't knead or crumple the cut edges for the shoulder straps on the doll's dress.
23. Glue on the last magenta strip just above the doll's skirt. Make sure to not cover the top black part of the doll's body.
24. Using the edges from the last fondant magenta strip, cut 2 long and thin strips. Glue them on the body like on the photo.
25. Add a little glue to the top of the body for the neck.
26. For the shoes, take 2 small balls of orange fondant and roll them into clean balls.
27. Roll it out with one hand on one side to make a small cone shape.
28. Using your bone tool, make and indentation for where the legs will be glued.
29. Now for the belt. Roll out a small piece of white fondant with your fingers into a long, thin log.
30. Carefully flatten it out with your fingers as well. You can use your rolling pin if you're in the mood. :)
31. Glue it at the middle of the body like in the photo.
32. For the arms, roll out 2 logs of skin colored fondant. Make sure that one end is a bit bigger and rounded than the rest.
33. Flatten the bigger end for the hand.
34. Using the ribbon tool or a knife or any flat tool, make lines for the fingers on the flattened end.
35. For the sleeves, flatten2 small black fondant into half-cricles. You can use a small circle cutter and cut it in half if you want.
36. Add some detail to the sleeves with the veiner tool and glue on top of the arms.
17. Stick a toothpick through the body from the neck down. This will be the "spine" and will help hold the head without crushing the body down.
38. For the eyes, I make them manually. Roll and flatten 2 small black fondant balls. You can use a small circle cutter if you have available.
39. Glue the flat circles to the head.
40. Take a small magenta fondant and mix it with white to get a light pink or rose pink color.
41. Same with the eyes, make 2 small flat circles and glue them on the doll's face to serve as blush cheeks.
You still with me? Alright! We're near the finish line with this Lala Loopsy doll.
42. We're going to do the hair. Flatten a big circular piece of orange fondant.
43. Measure around the head of the doll and once you're happy, glue it down and around the head.
44. Using the veiner tool, run it along the orange fondant in horizontal stripes.
45. We're going to use the clay/fondant extruder to make the rest of the hair. Knead orange fondant and make sure your use enough shortening or Crisco so the fondant doesn't stick and it comes out smooth.
46. Roll the fondant into a log and load it into the extruder. I use the disc with the 7 holes.
47. Extrude directly on the head to measure the length for the hair. Glue it on.
48. For the ribbon, I use a silicon ribbon mold. It's small so it's perfect for ribbons on small figures. Use a little bit of red fondant and choose the ribbon design that you want.
49. Un-mold the ribbon from the silicone mold.
50. Glue it on top of the head, in the middle to complete the figure. WUHOO!!! You're done!
You can use this figure for cakes and cupcakes or for clays.
Hope you find this tutorial is helpful. :)


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10% of global population lives where same-sex couples are free to marry
July 15, 2014
Last month, as marriage supporters celebrated the freedom to marry coming to Oregon, Pennsylvania, and the European country of Luxembourg, the global movement for the freedom to marry surpassed an important milestone: As of May 2014, 10 percent of the world's population now lives in a place where same-sex couples are free to marry. Out of a global population of approximately 7.177 billion people, 718 million now live in a freedom-to-marry jurisdiction.
Same-sex couples can share (or will soon be able to share) in the freedom to marry in 19 countries. Nationwide, gay and lesbian people are free to marry in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England/Wales/Scotland, France, Iceland, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Uruguay. In Mexico and the United States, same-sex couples have the freedom to marry in some jurisdictions, with 44% of the United States population living in 19 marriage states and the District of Columbia and Mexico City and the state of Quintana Roo representing Mexico.
Freedom to Marry's founder and president Evan Wolfson celebrated the landmark occasion in a statement. He said:
The global momentum for the freedom to marry reflects and reinforces the progress we are making here in the United States – even as we need to finish the job here at home," said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry. "We're now at 10% of the world's population, up from zero little more than a decade ago. But with intensifying assaults on the human rights of gay people and women underway in so many parts of the world, we must get the U.S. where it should be and redouble the commitment to human rights worldwide. 10% with the freedom to marry is more than many people realize, and much better than zero, but far short of the 100% that human rights principles require and all the world's people deserve.
Thanks to Australian researcher Tony Pitman for the population analysis, which was confirmed by Freedom to Marry.


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No need to book, no forms to fill in just simple, friendly,urban yoga in the high street.
We have plenty of mats, blankets, blocks etc which you can borrow or you can bring your own.
Cost : 1 class £10, 5 classes £40 (valid 3 months), 10 classes £70 (valid 6 months) – We accept card, cash, cheque or BACS
Payments to:
Uckfield yoga studio
Sort code: 30-91-91
Acc no: 31807160
Studio opens approx 15 minutes before class.
Events for 18th December 2018
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Suitable for beginner's, pregnancy, remedial, restorative, and mature.Find out more »


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Contact: 321-500-1000, Toll Free 888-735-3448, ext. 251
Date: June 9,
Atlanta, GA – Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life
and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., today reacted to remarks by
late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart that compared the killing of George
Tiller to the assassination of her uncle.
"For LeRoy Carhart to mention the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who
worked through peaceful and non-violent means, in the same breath with that
of George Tiller, whose work ended peace and brought violence to babies in
the womb, is offensive beyond belief," said Dr. King. "The analogy is just
"Dr. Carhart also speaks of hate crimes," added Dr. King. "I would simply
ask him, is it not hateful to regard an entire class of people as non-human
because they're unwanted?"
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, also commented,
"The message of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was that every human being has
equal dignity. LeRoy Carhart and every other abortionist violate that
message every time they dismember a baby. The comparison is ridiculous."
Priests for Life is the nation's largest Catholic pro-life organization
dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia. For more information, visit
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Situated on two acres just three miles from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the Homestead at Rehoboth has become a destination for pets and their owners. The farmhouse is decorated in a warm cottage style that is pet friendly and yet offers all the amenities of a Bed and Breakfast.
We are an adult-only/pet friendly bed and breakfast.
Enjoy a delicious full breakfast in our guest common area, where the smell of fresh baked goods or specialty breakfast items being prepared will greet you in the morning. Please advise if you have any special dietary needs.
We have four bedrooms in the main house with private baths, cable TV/DVD, in room refrigerator, ceiling fan and individual climate control. Enjoy the guest common area, extensive DVD collection, books to read, and free wireless Internet.
During your stay, relax on the screened in porch, play with your pet on the two acres of grounds or relax with a book in the guest common area.
Celebrating a birthday, anniversary or special event? Check out our Gift Shoppe and add something special to be in your room upon your arrival.
Now offering small weddings and intimate parties. Contact us for more details.
Check out our Cottage located behind the main house - information and pictures can be found under the rooms tab and select the Cottage.
We are a few minutes from the many beaches, boardwalk, movie theaters, restaurants and shops of Rehoboth Beach, Dewey and Lewes.
Check the Specials Page!
Homestead Bed & Breakfast at Rehoboth
35060 Warrington Road
Rehoboth Beach DE 19971
Phone: 302-226-7625
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