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Fallen trees, signs ripped apart, businesses and homes flooded to their roofs. These scenes weren't just played out on the news and in the paper; they were right in the fitness community's backyard. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita left their mark on fitness facility owners, staff and members in the coastal regions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Florida. Numerous efforts across the country by the fitness industry have raised money, donated supplies and even offered housing and jobs to displaced evacuees.
Economic analysts estimate Katrina's total cost to be $200 billion and Rita's to be $7 billion, but of the clubs in the area that are still standing, damage estimates are still being calculated. As of press time, some clubs in the New Orleans area were still under water and were expected to be a total loss. Other clubs on the Mississippi coast, the area that Katrina hit the hardest, may be completely destroyed.
The magnitude of the disaster is still unknown and may continue to be for the coming weeks, months and possibly even years. But many fitness professionals say the industry will bounce back; it's just a matter of when.
The International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) estimated that roughly 173 clubs operate in the areas affected by Katrina.
"Obviously, the effect has been devastating on all of the businesses in that area," said John McCarthy, executive director of IHRSA. "And at the very least they have all had to shut down."
Facilities that were fortunate enough to have electricity right after the hurricanes opened their doors to their members and the community. Other clubs suffered from extensive water and wind damage that necessitated a clean-up job, and in some cases, a complete reconstruction. The storms' effect on the industry is devastating in a number of ways, McCarthy said. Facilities that had to close for days, weeks or even months incurred substantial revenue loss and the business interruption may have halted any momentum clubs had generated in their programming and memberships. The clubs also faced accounting issues such as how to handle active membership agreements and payroll with staff members, who were among the evacuees scattered across the country.
"The clubs will try to be as fair and as generous as they can, but they can't kill the company," McCarthy said. "I think everybody down there is attempting to put the pieces together and doing so heroically, but it's a challenge like no other."
Christy Murphy, marketing director of Cross Gates Athletic Club in Slidell, LA, a northeast suburb of New Orleans, said she hoped to be back at her club within a year. Murphy and her family fled to Tennessee after a mandatory evacuation. Of the club's two locations one suffered extensive damage and was closed indefinitely. The other incurred minimal wind and water damage and was opened a few days after the storm. Still, many residents who are back in the city are more focused on clearing trees or protecting their homes from growing mold than getting a good workout.
"Who would I market to?" Murphy asked.
It may take months, but Cross Gates plans to rebuild a bigger and better club at its location on Pontchartrain Drive despite not having flood insurance, said Dion Grossnickle, general manager. Weeks after the storm, he helped clear from his club 6 to 7 inches of mud littered with snakes and debris that washed in with the tidal surge that destroyed all of the equipment.
Michael Papamichael, CEO of Boca Raton, FL-based Michael's Body Scenes (which was damaged in two hurricanes last year), said about clubs devastated by Hurricane Katrina, "Clubs may end up losing members. It just depends on where the damage is. People aren't going to be thinking about joining a club even if you open your doors."
West Jeff Fitness Centers also had extensive damage to one of its two facilities. The 26,000-square-foot Oakwood location in Terrytown, LA, (about a seven-minute drive from downtown New Orleans) sustained broken windows and flooding that caused an outbreak of mold and mildew and ruined much of the fitness equipment. The company's Marrero, LA, facility survived Katrina with only minimal damage and served as a housing unit for the Disaster Medical Assistance Team. Tim Bracey, director of the West Jeff Fitness Centers, said for those in the affected region, life would never be the same.
"Hopefully, in time, things will continue to get better as we rebuild a city, a community, and ultimately the fitness center community within the community," he said. "As most of us in the industry know, fitness centers provide much more than exercise — we provide positive health and emotional, social, physical and even spiritual well-being for many people."
Curves had 72 franchises operating in the affected area, said Becky Frusher, communications specialist for Curves. While the first priority was making sure franchisees and members were alright, the company quickly waived all royalties for the month for affected franchisees and plans to continue to do so depending on a facility's condition.
"I think it's way too early to tell in some of those areas if they'll rebuild," Frusher said. "It may take us a year to learn everything that really happened."
Management at Franco's Athletic Club Lakeview in New Orleans couldn't be reached for this article, but the facility's Web site reported that the club was under 12 feet of water after the 17th Street levee gave way. Franco's other location in Mandeville, LA, however, had only minimal flooding, fences and trees down, sign damage and damage to the clay tennis courts. The Mandeville location opened in mid-September for limited usage.
Rebuilding a Region
Whether or not a club decides to rebuild depends on a number of factors. Some may choose not to rebuild because the market simply isn't there anymore, said Rick Caro, president of Management Vision, a New York-based consulting firm.
"The questions are, what's the timing, and when will it be rebuilt?" he said. "Those businesses should have a master plan to succeed, but not everything will come together quickly or at once."
Most large clubs have property, liability and business interruption insurance and could reopen and rebuild, but small clubs will have to be handled on a club-by-club basis, McCarthy said.
"Every one of them has to make their own decision," he said. "You have to look at each site and ask if this makes sense to do this again."
Insurance cost estimates are still uncalculated. Assessing the damage and lost revenue could take months, said Ken Reinig, president of Association Insurance Group, which still has outstanding claim issues from last year's Hurricane Ivan.
Stacy Andreas, a partner in Lathrop and Gage's Kansas City, MO, office who practices insurance coverage law, said in a natural disaster such as a hurricane, flood damage is the worst kind of damage because most people don't carry flood insurance due to cost or even availability. Even the National Flood Insurance Program has limited coverage with high deductibles on commercial buildings, Andreas said. For those with flood insurance, most flood-related claims will go unpaid, Reinig said.
In some cases, part of the flooding damage may be covered by insurance, but legally the issue gets complicated, Andreas said. Most business owner policies cover wind or wind-driven rain damage, meaning that clubs can get some coverage if part of the damage is caused by wind, even if flooding exacerbates the problem later.
"Nobody knows what the final tally will be, but this is right up there with the worst disaster the insurance industry has ever faced in my opinion," Andreas said.
Pricing had been dropping for commercial property insurance, and wind coverage was still available on a limited basis for the coastal states, but that's sure to change, Reinig said.
"I am anticipating that finding wind coverage will become problematic and rates will adjust upward slightly," Reinig said. "The real problem is availability of coverage through private insurance companies. They are starting to feel a little jinxed about writing business in the southern States."
A Renewed Focus
While complete recovery may take years, many facility owners are focusing on the future — and plans to make it brighter than before.
Olaf Ross, president and CEO of North Cypress Fitness Studio in Hammond, LA, also owns a consulting firm that has worked with many facilities in the South. Although many owners may not rebuild their clubs due to age, membership base and/or location — especially older facilities that didn't have coverage — some might, in fact, flourish, he said.
"It has become very expensive to open health clubs, and especially after a storm like this, it will be even more so due to the high cost of building materials, equipment and shipping," Ross said. "While this may be the demise of some clubs, others will flourish and new ones may find the opportunity to break into a market that may have been saturated before."
Ross' facility had minimal damage, but still had to close for a week after the storm, resulting in about $15,000 in lost income. Despite the loss, he is trying to stay positive, and he has talked to other clubs that plan to rebuild.
Brian Drum, president of Drum Associates, a New York City-based global executive search firm, said it is possible to come back from a disaster. Although not a health club, his business was shut down for months after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and it took the small business two-and-a-half years to rebound.
Above all else, fitness facilities should remember their roots, he said.
"The people who started these clubs shouldn't forget that they're entrepreneurs," Drum said. "They have that gusto."
Steps to Take After a Disaster
Notify all of your insurance carriers
Even if you think a policy won't provide coverage for the disaster, let all carriers know you were affected by the disaster. If you can't get through by phone, send a letter.
Do it quickly
The earlier you make your claim the better off you are.
Document everything
Take photos or videotape footage before and after the storm. Also, document all telephone conversations you have with your insurance company with a follow-up e-mail stating the purpose of your call. Photocopy all letters and information and document your loss of profit and loss of inventory.
Get an extension
Many companies have short timelines for filing claims (30-60 days for some), so if your claim is still unresolved, get the insurance company to commit to a deadline extension in writing.
Make sure it's an advance
If you are offered an advance from your insurance company, make sure it's an actual advance and not a final payment.
Apply, apply, apply
Numerous government grants are available. Appoint someone on staff to find out what you're eligible for and send in your application. A good place to start is the United States Small Business Administration at www.sba.gov.
Contact your bank and vendors
The most important thing for small businesses is cash flow. Make sure your suppliers and bank are aware of your damages, and they may cut you a break.
Goes with the Territory
George Brown, director of university recreation at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, will never forget the two weeks after Hurricane Katrina. His 200,000-square-foot student recreation center (SRC) that was usually a hot workout and intramural sport spot for students, staff and faculty, became a Red Cross shelter housing almost 600 New Orleans evacuees, many of them from the poorest areas of the city.
The SRC became a city in and of itself. Food was handed out, arts and craft activities were set up for the children in one of the group exercise studios and sleeping quarters were laid out in the north gym. The family changing rooms became a safe Internet zone where evacuees could search for loved ones and post their location online. A communications/social room with televisions allowed evacuees to watch the day's events unfold in their city a five-and-a-half-hour drive away.
As the days passed, Brown was concerned about filling his role as the director of university recreation since members of the university community were dealing with the tragedy and needed stress relief. On Sept. 1, just four days after the storm hit, he opened part of the recreation center for normal business, but many of the members were more interested in helping the evacuees than exercising. Some helped with child care, some donated toys, clothes and other supplies; others simply spent time with the new residents. The facility even held a teen mixer, organized an outdoor pool party and asked hairstylists to come into the club.
Brown said people in the fitness world may be better able to handle this type of a situation than other industries because they are used to dealing with cranky members, broken equipment and accidents — all of which have elements similar to crisis management.
"People in the fitness industry have unique capacities to do this because they deal with a myriad of challenges everyday," he said. "I think we were pretty well prepared for it, not perfect, but prepared."
Brown expected recreation centers to continue to play a large role on campuses as they reopened and rebuilt.
"I can't imagine a campus not rising back up and having a campus recreational center facility," he said. "It's too embedded in the campus culture. The question is, how long will it take?"


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Weather Blog: First Snow, Then Another Blast Of Cold
Thank you for stopping by the Weather Watch 12 Blog! From record highs in the low 60s to accumulating snow in less than 24 hours -- welcome to Wisconsin! In today's blog we discuss the snow that continues into this evening, and look ahead to another blast of arctic air.
Let's start with the snow. The steadiest period of snow should end by 12:30-2pm for much of southeast Wisconsin. Periods of light snow will continue into the late afternoon and early evening, with a few flurries through midnight. Final snow totals by 11pm Wednesday give or take a ~0.5" should fall in the range shown below.
Snow totals were held down by both the late change to snow, and also drier air arriving by early afternoon. Still a beautiful landscape with the fresh coating of snow in our area.
Please post your weather reports and snow totals to the Wisconsin Weather Updates Facebook page. You can also post your weather photos to Facebook, or email to email@example.com Any photos sent to Facebook or U-Local may end up on WISN 12 News!
Once the snow clears, the focus will shift to bitter cold. Highs in the teens are expected on Thursday. The Future Temps forecast map at 2pm Thursday is shown below. Add in winds of 10-25 mph and wind chills will fall to around -5 to -10!
The coldest air of this blast arrives Friday. Check out the forecast temperatures at 7am Friday morning! Around zero in Milwaukee, with readings well below zero inland.
At this same time winds will still be in the 10-20 mph range, driving wind chills to -15 to -25 across southeast Wisconsin!
Temperatures will rebound into the 20s, a little more typical for early February this weekend...yes it's almost February!
For updates throughout the day follow me on Twitter @jnelsonweather
Have a great day and watch WISN 12 News for the latest on the snow and cold!
Jeremy Nelson

subset: commoncrawl


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Freekey Zekey Interview "Talks bout everything" - Life After Prison
Freekey Zekey "president of Dipset" - Says would never be a dipset if it wasnt for him, Talks bout his Time in prison, Said he aint snitch on the Irv Gotti Trial. Talks Bout his School days w/ Jim Jones. Off the cheddar dvd 7
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Members of Sugarmill Woods Country Club and Southern Woods Golf Club have access to 45 holes of golf in Sugarmill Woods, a golfing community on the West Coast of Florida. Located in Homosassa, Florida, the club also offers members, for a limited time, access to 45 holes of golf at World Woods Golf Club a few miles away in Hernando County. In addition, membership and greens fees are a much better value than those at any golf or country club in the vicinity. For those who fancy other forms of physical activity, the Oak Village Sports Complex offers tennis, along with pool and fitness. Residents of all ages and all walks of life are welcome in Sugarmill Woods and all are eligible to become members and avail themselves of these amenities.
Situated in Citrus County three miles from the Gulf of Mexico, Sugarmill Woods is a piece of Old Florida in a rural community, with a deed-restricted, open-age community comprised of three villages populated by more than 9,000 residents. There are more than 4,000 homes and an additional 4,000 site-ready lots available for people seeking refuge from the cold and snow of the North or those seeking a new home in an area rich with Southern hospitality. People who live here call Sugarmill Woods a best place to retire, as well as a best place to raise a family.
Each village has a Property Owner's Association, which has responsibility for internal affairs such as resident adherence to deed restrictions. Membership in the POAs is mandatory, but the annual fee is minimal: $150 or less. There is also a civic association, which represents the three villages in external affairs and interacts with county and state officials on matters that affect the community, such as proposed new roadways, water regulations, etc. Membership in this group is optional, but the annual fee is only $15.00.
The natural greenbelts that back up to nearly every home, and the rural setting of this suburban-type community are just two of the many things that draw people to this little slice of Paradise. Property taxes are a fraction of what they are in northern states and there is no state income tax. Here, they find some of the best-value homes and best-value golf in the country.
And when they're not golfing, swimming, playing tennis, or at the fitness center, residents have the option of fishing, boating or kayaking in the Gulf of Mexico or any of the seven rivers nearby, as well as many other outdoor activities along the Nature Coast. For their cultural, fine-dining, sports, and entertainment desires, the one- or two-hour drive to Tampa or Orlando can satisfy the most discriminating tastes. In Sugarmill Woods they'll have the best of both worlds: a community in a rural setting with close access to many parts of Florida that reflect a time reminiscent of the 20th Century that boasts low crime, low taxes, and comparatively low living expenses, as well as easy access to big-city amenities.


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From Print Edition
September 15, 2012
How Brahamdagh Bugti got Swiss asylum
From Print Edition
A group of about 1500 Muslims staged an ugly demonstration outside the US Consulate-General in Chennai on the evening of September 14,2012, in protest against a derogatory film on Islam and its Holy Prophet produced by an unidentified person in the US.
2.A video clip from the film with Arabic sub-titles uploaded on to the Internet has led to a series of anti-US demonstrations by Muslims in some countries of the world, with the demonstrations taking violent form in some places.During a demonstration outside the US Consulate in Benghazi in Libya on September 11,2012, a small group of heavily armed Muslims launched a commando-style attack on the Consulate resulting in the death of the US Ambassador to Libya and three other US officials.
3. The involvement of the Ansar al-Sharia (Supporters of the Sharia), an affiliate of Al Qaeda, is suspected in the Benghazi attack.The Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), based in Yemen, is also called Ansar al-Sharia. One does not know as yet whether the Ansar suspected in the Benghazi attack is the Yemeni branch of Al Qaeda orwhether it is a different organisation of Libyan roots.
4. The Bengaluru Police are presently interrogating 18 educated Muslim youths arrested in Bengaluru, Hubli, Hyderabad and Maharashtra on charges of conspiring to assassinate a number of Hindu personalities believed sympathetic to the Hindutva movement.According to the Bengaluru Police, the Muslim suspects in their custody were self-motivated by visiting the web site of AQAP in Yemen, also known as the Ansar al-Sharia.
5. Muslim fundamentalist organisations in Pakistan and West Asia , including the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the parent organisation of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), responsible for the 26/11 terrorist strikes in Mumbai, had called for world-wide anti-US protest rallies against the film by Muslims after the Friday prayers on September 14.Media reports indicate that there was some response to this call in Jammu & Kashmir. Surprisingly and disquietingly, some Muslims of Chennai appear to have responded to this call after the Friday prayers in a local mosque.
6. To quote from the report carried by "The Hindu" on the protest rally in Chennai: " A protest against controversial American film Innocence of Muslims turned violent on Friday when the US Consulate-General on Anna Salai here was attacked by hundreds of protesters who breached police security cordon with ease.A crowd of 1500 people from the Tamil Nadu Muslim MunnetraKazhagam (TNMMK) and a few other Muslim outfits targeted the mission. They pelted it with stones, burnt the American flag and pictures of President Barack Obama and damaged CCTV cameras, a police booth and instructions boards for visitors…. A large group raising anti-US slogans marched from outside New College in Royapettah towards the Consulate. Consulate security personnel shut the doors to bar their entry.Iron railings and paintings on the building's compound wall were ruined.A small group tried to scale the Consulate's wall on Cathedral Road and damaged the doors and glass panels of the security chamber."
7. "The Hindu" has further reported as follows: " The State Intelligence had communicated a specific input on the possibility of an attack on the US Consulate in Chennai. However, the attack on the Consulate caught the police unawares as it was planned and well-organised with the protesters deviating from the original route to reach the target and having come armed with stones. Preliminary investigation revealed that a sizeable number of protesters came from the Tambaram side to join the main group of TMMK agitators. After burning a couple of US flags, they ran towards the Consulate raising slogans and stoned the building. They were joined by a few more youths from the Thousand Lights area."
8. The details of what happened in Chennai disturbingly resemble what happened in the Azad Maidan in Mumbai last month and what took place in Benghazi on September 11.While a large number of Muslims were peacefully demonstrating or holding a meeting, small groups of violent Muslim youth entered the scene and tried to indulge in violence.While in Mumbai and Chennai, the Muslim youth who indulged in violence were armed only with stones, in Benghazi they carried rifles and rocket-propelled grenades resulting in fatalities.
9. South India has had a history of Islamic radicalism. A founding father of the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was from Kerala.During the 1990s, a jihadi terrorist organisation called Al Umma was very active in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It carried out a number of acts of terrorism in Tamil Nadu, including the serial blasts in Coimbatore in February,1998, coinciding with a visit of ShriL.K.Advani, the BJP leader, to that town.The Tamil Nadu Police managed to arrest the leaders of the organisation and prosecute them.It has become dormant as a terrorist organisation, but it is believed that some of those presently associated with the TNMMK were originally associated with Al Umma when it was active.
10. Ten years ago, the Tamil Nadu Police discovered an attempt by a Saudi Arabia based cadre of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) to float a new jihadiorganisation in Tamil Nadu called the Muslim Self-Defence Force.It did not make much progress. It was reported that the investigations made by the Police in North India brought out that at least one training/motivational camp of the Indian Mujahideen was held in Kerala.
11. After the recent anti-Muslim violence in the Rakhine State of Myanmar and our Assam, an organisation based in Hyderabad , Andhra Pradesh, came to notice for disseminating exaggerated accounts of the violence with the help of morphed images. The recent exodus of a large number of our citizens from the North-East working and living in Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad followed dissemination of motivated rumours warning of retaliatory attacks on people from the North-East. The people and cells behind this conspiracy have not yet been identified, arrested and prosecuted.And then, we had the arrest of 18 Muslim suspects with ideological vibrations for AQAP of Yemen.
12. The chain of developments outlined above indicate a web of Islamic radicalism in the South the full ramifications of which seem to have defied detection by the police and the central intelligence agencies. The well-organised and ugly protests outside the US Consulate in Chennai draw attention to the need to unravel and neutralise this web before it gets out of control and embarks on a path of AQAP style jihadi terrorism.( 15-9-12)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: email@example.com Twitter @SORBONNE75)
September 14, 2012
- This book has emerged as a result of several experiences that have deeply influenced my research and scholarship over the past decade. In the 1990s, an African-American scholar at Princeton University casually told me that he had returned from a trip to India, where he was working with the 'Afro-Dalit Project'. I learnt that this USoperated and -financed project frames inter-jati/varna interactions and the Dalit movement using American cultural and historical lenses. The Afro-Dalit project purports to paint Dalits as the 'Blacks' of India and non-Dalits as India's 'Whites'. The history of American racism, slavery and Black/White relations is thus superimposed onto Indian society. While modern caste structures and inter-relationships have included long periods of prejudice toward Dalits, the Dalit experience bears little resemblance to the African slave experience of America. But taking its cue from the American experience, the Afro-Dalit project attempts to empower Dalits by casting them as victims at the hands of a different race.Separately, I had been studying and writing about the 'Aryans', as to who they were, and whether the origin of Sanskrit and Vedas was an import by 'invaders' or indigenous to India. In this context, I sponsored numerous archeological, linguistic and historical conferences and book projects, in order to get deeper into the discourse. This led me to research the colonial-era construction of the Dravidian identity, which did not exist prior to the nineteenth century and was fabricated as an identity in opposition to the Aryans. Its survival depends upon belief in the theory of foreign Aryans and their misdeeds.I had also been researching the US Church's funding of activities in India, such as the popularly advertised campaigns to 'save' poor children by feeding, clothing and educating them. In fact, when I was in my twenties living in the US, I sponsored one such child in South India. However, during trips to India, I often felt that the funds collected were being used not so much for the purposes indicated to sponsors, but for indoctrination and conversion activities. Additionally, I have been involved in numerous debates in the US with think-tanks, independent scholars, human rights groups and academics, specifically on their treatment of Indian society as a sort of scourge that the west had to 'civilize'. I coined the phrase 'caste, cows and curry' to represent the exotic and sensational portrayals of India's social and economic problems and their interpretation these as 'human rights' issues.I decided to track the major organizations involved in promulgating these various theories, as well as those spearheading political pressure, and eventually the prosecution of India on the grounds of human rights violations. My research included following the money trail by using the provisions of financial disclosure in the US, studying the promotional materials given out by most such organizations, and monitoring their conferences, workshops and publications. I investigated the individuals behind such activities and their institutional affiliations.What I found out should sound the alarm bell for every Indian concerned about our national integrity. India is the prime target of a huge enterprise—a 'network' of organizations, individuals and churches—that seems intensely devoted to the task of creating a separatist identity, history and even religion for the vulnerable sections of India. This nexus of players includes not only church groups, government bodies and related organizations, but also private thinktanks and academics. On the surface they appear to be separate and isolated from one another, but in fact, as I found, their activities are well coordinated and well funded from the US and Europe. I was impressed by the degree of interlocking and cooperation among these entities. Their resolutions, position papers and strategies are well articulated, and beneath the veneer of helping the downtrodden, there seem to be objectives that would be inimical to India's unity and sovereignty.A few Indians from the communities being 'empowered' were in top positions in these Western organizations, and the whole enterprise was initially conceived, funded and strategically managed by Westerners. However, there are now a growing number of Indian individuals and NGOs who have become co-opted by them, and receive funding and mentorship from the West. The south Asian studies in the US and European universities invite many such 'activists' regularly and give them prominence. The same organizations had also been inviting and giving intellectual support to Khalistanis, Kashmir militants, Maoists, and other subversive elements in India. So I began to wonder whether the campaigns to mobilize Dalits, Dravidians and other minorities in India were somehow part of the foreign policy of certain Western countries, if not openly then at least as an option kept in reserve. I am unaware of any other major country in which such large-scale processes prevail without monitoring or concern by the local authorities. No wonder so much has to be spent in India after such a separatist identity gets weaponized into all out militancy or political fragmentation.The link between academic manipulations and subsequent violence is also evident in Sri Lanka, where manufactured divisiveness caused one of the bloodiest civil wars. The same also happened in Africa where foreign-engineered identity conflicts led to one of the worst ethnic genocides ever in the world.About three years ago, my research and data had become considerable. Moreover, many Indians are simply unaware of the subversive forces at work against their country, and I felt that it ought to be organized for wider dissemination and debate. I started working with Aravindan Neelakandan, based in Tamil Nadu, to complement my foreign data with his access to the ground reality in India's backwaters.This book looks at the historical origins of both the Dravidian movement and Dalit identity, as well as the current players involved in shaping these separatist identities. It includes an analysis of the individuals and institutions involved and their motivations, activities, and desired endgame. While many are located in the US and the European Union, there are an increasing number in India too, the latter often functioning like the local branch offices of these foreign entities.The goal of this book is not to sensationalize or predict any outcomes. Rather, it is to expand the debate about India and its future. Much is being written about India's rise in economic terms and its implications to India's overall clout. But not enough is written on what can go wrong given the rapidly expanding programs exposed in this book and the stress they put on India's faultlines. My hope is that this book fills this gap to some extent.Rajiv Malhotra Princeton, USA January 2011
Breaking IndiaTitle: Breaking India
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1. DRAVIDIAN IDENTITY CONSTRUCTED, EXPLOITED & POLITICIZED:The fabrication of South Indian history is being carried out on an immense scale with the explicit goal of constructing a Dravidian identity that is distinct from that of the rest of India. From the 1830s onwards, this endeavor's key milestones have claimed that south India: is linguistically separate from the rest of India; has an un-Indian culture, aesthetics and literature; has a history disconnected from India's; is racially distinct; is religiously distinct; and, consequently, is a separate nation. Tamil classical literature that predates the 19th century reveals no such identity conflicts especially with "alien" peoples of the north, nor does it reveal any sense of victimhood or any view of Westerners or Christians as "liberators." This identity engineering was begun by British colonial and missionary scholars, picked up by politically ambitious south Indians with British backing, and subsequently assumed a life of its own. Even then it was largely a secular movement for political power (albeit with a substratum of racist rhetoric). In recent decades, however, a vast network of groups based in the West has co-opted this movement and is attempting to transform Tamil identity into the Dravidian Christianity movement premised on a fabricated racial-religious history. This rewriting of history has necessitated a range of archeological falsities and even epigraphic hoaxes, blatantly contradicting scientific evidence. Similar interventions by some of the same global forces have resulted in genocides and civil wars in Sri Lanka, Rwanda and other places. If unchallenged these movements could produce horrific outcomes in South India.
2. LINKING OF DRAVIDIAN & DALIT IDENTITIES:India has its own share of social injustices that need to be continually addressed and resolved. Caste identities have been used to discriminate against others, but these identities were not always crystallized and ossified as they are today, nor were they against a specific religion per se. Caste identity faultlines became invigorated and politicized through the British Censuses of India, and later intensified in independent India by vote bank politics. A dangerous anti-national grand narrative emerged based on claims of a racial Dalit identity and victimhood. But Dalit communities are not monolithic and have diverse local histories and social dynamics. There are several inconsistencies and errors in these caste classifications: not all Dalit communities are equivalent socially and economically, nor are they static or always subordinate to others. While Dravidian and Dalit identities were constructed separately, there is a strategy at work to link them in order to denigrate and demonize Indian classical traditions (including spiritual texts and the identities based on these) as a common enemy. This in turn, has been mapped on to an Afro-Dalit narrative which claims that Dalits are racially related to Africans and all other Indians are "whites." Thus, Indian civilization itself is demonized as anti-humanistic and oppressive. This has become the playground of major foreign players, both from the evangelical right and from the academic left. It has opened huge career opportunities for an assortment of middlemen including NGOs, intellectuals and "champions of the oppressed." While the need for relief and structural change is immense, the shortsighted selfish politics is often empowering the movements' leaders more than the people in whose name the power is being accumulated. The "solutions" could exacerbate the problems.
3. FOREIGN NEXUS EXPLOITS INDIA'S FAULTLINES:An entity remains intact as long as the centripetal forces (those bringing its parts together) are stronger than its centrifugal forces (those pulling it apart). This study of a variety of organizations in USA and Europe demonstrates certain dangerous initiatives that could contribute to the breaking up of Indian civilization's cohesiveness and unity using various pretexts and programs. The institutions involved include certain Western government agencies, churches, think tanks, academics, and private foundations across the political spectrum. Even the fierce fight between Christians and Leftists within the West, and the clash between Islam and Christianity in various places, have been set aside in order to attack India's unity. Numerous intellectual paradigms, such as postmodernist critiques of "nation," originating from the West's own cultural and historical experiences are universalized, imported and superimposed onto India. These ill-fitting paradigms take center stage in Indian intellectual circles and many guilt-ridden Indian elites have joined this enterprise, seeing it as "progressive" and a respectable path for career opportunities. The book does not predict the outcomes but simply shows that such trends are accelerating and do take considerable national resources to counteract. If ignored, these identity divisions can evolve into violent secessionism.
4. RELIGION's ROLE IN THE COMPETITION FOR SOFT POWER:Global competition among collective identities is intensifying, even as the "flat world" of meritocracy seems to enhance individual mobility based on personal competence. But the opportunities and clout of individuals in a global world relies enormously on the cultural capital and standing of the groups from which they emerge and are anchored to. As goes India and Indian culture (of which Hinduism is a major component), so will go the fate of Indians everywhere. Hence, the role of soft power becomes even more important than ever before. Religions and cultures are a key component of such soft power. Christian and Islamic civilizations are investing heavily in boosting their respective soft power, for both internal cohesiveness and external influence. Moreover, undermining the soft power of rivals is clearly seen as a strategic weapon in the modern kurukshetra.
5. INTERROGATING THE TERM "MINORITY":The book raises the question: Who is a "minority" in the present global context? A community may be numerically small relative to the local population, but globally it may in fact be part of the majority that is powerful, assertive and well-funded. Given that India is experiencing a growing influx of global funding, political lobbying, legal action and flow of ideologies, what criteria should we use to classify a group as a "minority"? Should certain groups, now counted as minorities, be reclassified given their enormous worldwide clout, power and resources? If the "minority" concerned has actually merged into an extra-territorial power through ideology (like Maoists) or theology (like many churches and madrassas), through infrastructure investment (like buying large amounts of land, buildings, setting up training centers, etc.), through digital integration and internal governance, then do they not become a powerful tool of intervention representing a larger global force rather than being simply a "minority" in India. Certainly, one would not consider a local franchise of McDonalds in India to be a minor enterprise just because it may employ only a handful of employees with modest revenues locally. It is its global size, presence and clout that are counted and that determine the rules, restrictions and disclosure requirements to which it must adhere. Similarly, nation-states' presence in the form of consulates is also regulated. But why are foreign religious MNCs exempted from similar requirements of transparency and supervision? (For example: Bishops are appointed by the Vatican, funded by it, and given management doctrine to implement by the Vatican, and yet are not regulated on par with diplomats in consulates representing foreign sovereign states.) Indian security agencies do monitor Chinese influences and interventions into Buddhist monasteries in the northern mountain belt, because such interventions can compromise Indian sovereignty and soft power while boosting China's clout. Should the same supervision also apply to Christian groups operating under the direction and control of their western headquarters and Islamic organizations funded and/or ideologically influenced by their respective foreign headquarters? Ultimately, the book raises the most pertinent challenge: What should India do to improve and deliver social justice in order to secure its minorities and wean them away from global nexuses that are often anti-Indian?
6. CONTROLLING THE DISCOURSE ON INDIA:The book shows how the discourse on India at various levels is being increasingly controlled by the institutions in the West which in turn serve its geo-political ambitions. So, why has India failed to create its own institutions that are the equivalent of the Ford Foundation, Fulbright Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, etc.? Why are there no Indian university based International Relations programs with deep-rooted links to the External Affairs Ministry, RAW, and various cultural, historical and ideological think tanks? Why are the most prestigious journals, university degrees and conferences on India Studies, in sharp contrast to the way China Studies worldwide is under the control of Chinese dominated discourse, based in the West and mostly under the control of western institutions?
Are you Scared the True Colours will Show if you Open your Mouth Dr. Singh?
Controversial Quotes
Controversial Quotes
"The Forum of Intentional Liars": The Indian Communist/Christian Missionary/Islamist Nexus and Its Anti-Hindu/Anti-India Agenda
- Do you think Hinduism is spiritual fascism?
- Do you think that the Ramayana is a book of colonizers?
- Do you agree that the lives of Hindu deities are filled with all kinds of outrageous, deceitful and incestuous acts?
- Do you think that Hinduism is a religion of violence where the killers have become Gods?
- Do you think NRIs (non-Resident Indians) are slaves of corporate America that are motivated by issues of exploitation and oppression of "desis" and others in the US?
- Do you agree that the Patel community of Gujarat sponsored or played a major role in the 2002 riots in Gujarat that killed many Muslims and Hindus?
Abhimanyu Arjun
Baloch Voice Foundation to hold conference in Geneva
The three important economic decisions taken by the Government of Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh on September 13 and 14,2012, are not going to herald an economic miracle for tomorrow.
2. These decisions relate to a significant increase in the price of diesel and permitting foreign direct investment in the civil aviation and retail sectors.The decision on civil aviation was expected by the political class as whole, but that relating to the retail sector was not. The Government's earlier attempt some months ago to permit FDI in the retail sector had to be given up due to strong opposition from some constituents of the ruling coalition as well as from the opposition BJP.
3. Despite the persisting slide-down in the economy, the Government of Dr.Manmohan Singh was avoiding taking these important decisions till now due to fears of adverse political consequences.Such adverse consequences might have been in the form of a break-up of the ruling coalition and consequent mid-term polls.
4. Another reason for the earlier hesitation of Dr.Manmohan Singh was the lack of enthusiasm for the proposal to permit FDI in the retail sector and to increase the diesel price from ShriA.K.Antony, the Defence Minister, who is perceived to be close to Mrs.Sonia Gandhi and enjoys her total political support despite his lack-lustre performance as the Defence Minister.The strong backing reportedly enjoyed by him from Mrs.SoniaGandhi came in the way of the Prime Minister overruling him.
5. ShriPranab Mukherjee, former Finance Minister, had little access to Mrs.Sonia Gandhi and did not enjoy her confidence.He was, therefore, not in a position to impart strength to Dr.Manmohn Singh in overcoming Shri Antony's foot-dragging on important issues of economic reforms.
6. The induction of Sri P.Chidambaram, who is believed to enjoy the confidence of Mrs.Sonia Gandhi to the same extent as Shri Antony, has given new confidence to the Prime Minister that he might be able to push ahead with at least some of the economic reforms because Shri Chidambaram shares the Prime Minister's views on the urgent need for some economic decisions, even if they be controversial, and his views will carry conviction to Mrs.Sonia Gandhi.
7.The immediate significance of the three economic decisions taken are more political than economic. Firstly, the negative drag that Shri Antony used to exercise with the backing of Mrs.Sonia Gandhi has now been neutralised by Shri Chidambaram.
8.Secondly,the Government and the Congress have realised that the impression of policy and governmental paralysis was not only adding to the negative drag on the economy, but was also creating a very poor image of the Government and the party in India and abroad. The "Washington Post's" negative projection of a worse-than-Hamlet Prime Minister has given a healthy shake-up to the Government.
9. The Government can afford to ignore the negative assessment of the "Time" magazine which is often prejudiced against India. Moreover, "Time" does not enjoy the same attention and respect in international financial circles as the WP does. The WP's assessment cannot be dismissed lightly as of no consequence.
10.Thirdly, as a result of the shake-up, the Government and the Congress decided to re-launch the stalling economic reforms even if there are negative political consequences. The Government has decided that the fear of a mid-term poll should not be allowed to stand in the way of important policy decisions relating to the economy.
11. Taking the important decisions is only the first step. Going ahead with their implementation despite the demand for a roll-back from coalition allies will be a more important second step.Even in the past, the Government had announced bold decisions, but subsequently abandoned or diluted them because of the threats and demands from the coalition partners.When there is a surge of such threats and demands, the Congress party tries to exercise pressure on the Government to roll back.When faced with mounting pressure from the party, Mrs.Sonia Gandhi had in the past shown a tendency to succumb to it.If she and her Party do it again and pressure the Government to roll back, the resulting loss of face for the Government and the Party could have incalculable consequencesfor the economy and for the political fortunes of the Congress.
12. There is a lot of unwarranted euphoria on the likely economic impact of the decisions, particularly those relating to the FDI.It will take at least five years or more for the beneficial economic impact to be felt. There is unlikely to be any poll dividends for the Congress as a result of these decisions.
13.These decisions are required to reverse the economic slide-down in the medium and long-terms. The Government should show a determination to implement them in the national interest even if the political consequences for the Congress may not be beneficial.( 15-9-12)
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Twitter @SORBONNE75)
September 13, 2012
The Lending Lindy
- Our entire finance-based monetary system – led by banks but typified by insurance companies, investment management firms and hedge funds as well – is based on an acceptable level of carry and the expectation of earning it.
- In a New Normal economy where lenders dance to the Blue Danube instead of the Lindy, how should we move our own feet? Carefully, I suppose, and with recognition that historic returns are just that – historic.
Citigroup's Chuck Prince will likely join Irving Fisher in the annals of market history for his now infamous "As long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance." Unlike Fisher's quote, however, which affirmed a permanent plateau of prosperity in 1929, Prince's faux pas may have been interpreted unfairly. History books will never record the context under which his statement was made, but what if instead of subprime-specific, Mr. Prince was referring to his job as a banker? What if he had rephrased his response to "It's the job of a banker to keep on lending"? Well now, that would be a different story altogether. Today, that quote would earn him a Medal of Freedom from President Obama at a White House gala! And so I suggest in this instance we don't take him at his literal word, but take him at his role as an ex-CEO of one of the world's largest banks and see just where that takes the lot of us – sovereign, institutional and individual investors who in combination comprise what we now call our global financial system – all $150 trillion or so of it.
Too much debt
Credit, of course, is what makes the global economy go. We wouldn't have gotten very far over the past several centuries despite Edison, Bell and Steve Jobs if barter was the accepted form of commerce. Even cash, serving as a medium of exchange and a disreputable store of value could not have promoted 3–4% real GDP growth in this gargantuan economy unless borrowers and savers were willing to exchange future promises – to utilize credit. Wimpy – in my oft-cited cartoon – said it best, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." So McDonald's grew from a million to 500 billion served and Wimpy and his wimpalikes were delighted in the exchange, although their arteries and midsections inevitably came out a loser. Still, the point is that our modern financial system, levered and fragile as it is, has been a beneficial and productive component of prosperity. If it were otherwise, our global economy would resemble something out of the dark ages in the early 20th century. High fives, then, for the Princemeister and his alter ego Mr. Wimpy – they have made a great combo-platter. But in order to promote and indeed foster continuing symbiosis, both borrower and lender need to operate in a nutrient-rich environment, a "credit" petri dish of sorts which fosters strong bones and healthy lenders and borrowers in their adult years. That unfortunately does not seem to be the case.
Wimpy's weight-challenged midsection is an obvious testament to the overleveraged condition of today's globalborrowers. Too much debt leads to forced diets and delevering, a process which has been ongoing since Lehman 2008. Not only households, but financial institutions as well as many countries have reduced their caloric intake which in turn has promoted slow growth and in some countries near recession and/or depression. Borrowers are just not in a healthy place and if history is our guide, their restoration may be almost Biblical in terms of timing: seven years of fat followed by seven years of lean – perhaps even longer.
Lender Chuck Prince's figurative health, however, is not so obvious. Certainly bank balance sheets and creditors in general need to downsize assets, increase equity, or both. That by itself will be a disincentive for economic growth. But in addition there is the lender's current precarious lack of return, yield, or call it "carry" that threatens additional credit extension in future years.
A lender will not easily lend money to an obese over-indebted borrower – that much is clear – but she will also not extend a check when the yield, carry and return on investment is so low that it cannot compensate for historic business model overheads. That is when Chuck Prince's dancing turns from a quick step into a waltz. When yields are too low, and acceptable risk spreads so narrow that top line interest revenue is increasingly marginalized, then lending is at risk. Excessive historical overhead represented by rents, salaries, pension and health benefits, to name just a few, force financial and lending institutions to do one of two things: They lever up to cover those costs or they slow or shut lending down to preserve equity and the ultimate franchise. The levering up is indeed difficult given the 2008 financial crisis and the ensuing follow-through of intensified regulatory oversight. And so, what we are witnessing instead is the beginning of a waltz, a dance where financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies and investment management firms fail to reap the economies of scale so reminiscent of the prior era of fat as opposed to the present one of lean. In the process, they lay off, instead of hire new workers; close branch offices or even ATM machines by the thousands as did Bank of America recently; and yes, ultimately reduce the rate of lending or credit growth which propelled the global economy so effortlessly over the past century.
If the dancing has slowed down, then the reason is not just an overweight partner. It's that the price of money (be it in the form of a real interest rate, a quality risk spread, or both) is too low. Our entire finance-based monetary system – led by banks but typified by insurance companies, investment management firms and hedge funds as well – is based on an acceptable level of carry and the expectation of earning it. When credit is priced such that carry is no longer as profitable at a customary amount of leverage/risk, then the system will stall, list, or perhaps even tip over.
For the current shipwreck perhaps we have the Fed and other central banks to blame. Zero bound interest rates according to their historical models should inevitably and inexorably lead to dynamic real economic recovery. Who wouldn't borrow at near 0% yields – namely the banks – in order to relend at seemingly profitable spreads? Who wouldn't borrow at 3.5% for a 30-year mortgage – namely homeowners – in order to match or even reduce current rent payments? Well, they haven't. Not in the amounts they were supposed to in any case. Structured impediments such as regulatory risk standards for banks and fear of losing money for households have thrown a monkey wrench into those models. Central banks are agog in disbelief that the endless stream of QEs and LTROs have not produced the desired result. Wimpy and Chuck are waltzing, not quickstepping, even with a band playing in up tempo.
Strategy recommendations
What then is an investor to do? In a New Normal economy where lenders dance to the Blue Danube instead of the Lindy, how should we move our own feet? Carefully, I suppose, and with recognition that historic returns are just that – historic. Last month's "dying cult of equity" Investment Outlook elicited a lot of excitement, but somehow failed to impress readers with its main point: Returns from both stocks and bonds will be stunted.How could one argue otherwise on the bond side with investment grade bonds yielding only 1.75%? How could one argue otherwise for stocks under the assumption that bond and stock returns were at least in part mathematically conjoined at the hip? How could one argue otherwise when it is obvious that boomers and X'ers, Y's and Z'ers are likely to be disenchanted for their own good reasons for years? How could one argue otherwise when it is apparent that stock market trading has been taken over by machines – that HAL rules the stock exchange roost and does a bad job of it at that? Well, some did and some will continue to argue the counterpoint. Chart 2, however graphically displays the mood of the public as opposed to the mood of the pundits. Only time will determine who was right and who was wrong, even if stocks outperform bonds as indeed I predicted.


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Mummy Dna Helps Researchers Solve The Riddle Of The Nile Crocodile main content.
by AMNH on
Extensive DNA detective work tracing the evolutionary history of the Nile crocodile brought researchers affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History a startling solution to a centuries-old mystery: the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is actually two distinct species. Conducting the study in the Museum's Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, first authors Evon Hekkala of Fordham University and Matthew Shirley of the University of Florida, and their colleagues, sequenced DNA from 123 Nile crocodiles collected throughout Africa as well as from 57 tissue samples harvested from mummified crocodiles - some of them 2,000 years old - from ancient Egyptian temples. They discovered evidence of two Crocodylus niloticus lineages - an ancestral western clade that has been named C. suchus, and a derived eastern C. niloticus. In a paper published in the early online edition of Molecular Ecology, the researchers estimate that the two groups last shared a common ancestor approximately 8 million years ago.
"Crocodiles are often portrayed as 'living fossils,' but that is a misnomer," says George Amato, director of the Sackler Institute. "Although they may look ancient and unchanging, the genetic evidence shows that these crocodiles are dynamic and adaptable and as modern as any other species alive today."
The Nile crocodile is a widespread, commercially exploited species throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Its striking size - crocodiles sometimes reach 18 feet or more in length - and streamlined body has long served as an iconic image of ancient Egypt.
"This is the most comprehensive survey ever conducted of the Nile crocodile, covering not only all the major biogeographic regions where it exists today, but exploring museum collections to uncover evidence from the historical record in areas where it no longer exists," explains Hekkala.
The taxonomic discovery reveals a level of biodiversity that was previously cryptic or hidden and has implications for future conservation management for the Nile crocodile.
"Agreements intended to promote the sustainable harvest of the Nile crocodile should be reconsidered to reflect the need to preserve two distinct species, not one," Amato says. "In fact, following the original quotas and policies may inadvertently result in a significant loss of crocodilian diversity."
The western Nile crocodile (C. suchus) is particularly vulnerable. This species is becoming increasingly rare due to disappearing wetlands, illegal harvesting of crocodile skins, and the bushmeat trade.
Researchers also gained new insights into the evolutionary journey of Crocodylus. The study revealed that the eastern Nile crocodile is most closely related to four species in the Caribbean. The research team hypothesizes that the global distribution of Crocodylus out of Africa occurred relatively recently - within perhaps the last 3 million years - with eastern C. niloticus rafting or possibly swimming thousands of miles over to the Western Hemisphere.
In addition to Hekkala, Shirley, and Amato, coauthors include James Austin, University of Florida, Suellen Charter of the Institute for Conservation Research at the San Diego Zoo; John Thorbjarnarson of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS); Kent Vliet of the University of Florida; Marlys Houck of the San Diego Zoo; Rob DeSalle of the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics at theAmerican Museum of Natural History; and Michael Blum of Tulane University. The research was funded in part by the American Museum of Natural History, the University of Florida, WCS, Columbia University, Conservation, Food, and Health Foundation, Columbus Zoo, Idea Wild, Conservation Leadership Programme, St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park, Disney Wildlife Conservation Grant, US EPA Star Fellowship, and the Zoological Society of San Diego.
Media Inquiries: Department of Communications, 212-769-5800


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Massive waves have been absolutely battering the Spanish coastline this winter. The latest incident happened at San Lorenzo beach when an absolutely ginormous wave breached a seawall, engulfing the shore — and the many spectators who gathered to watch.
Skip ahead to the 0:35 mark to see the action.
On a similar note, a woman dancing on a beach in Spain severely underestimated the strength and speed of this incoming wave:
And last week, a man was swept to his death during storms in northern Spain:


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At Misano this morning, Valentino Rossi debuted another of his famous helmet designs for his home crowd. Adorned with a painted clock on the top of helmet, Rossi will use a different helmet for each session during the San Marino GP. The time on the clock is set to five minutes before the session's start, and labeled with "wake up and get going," which for Rossi is both a literal and figurative reminder.
Critical of his results lately, Rossi is acknowledging that he needs to start turning around his season at Misano, and once again ride at the front of the pack. Hopefully these helmets (last year Rossi was the donkey) will be a reminder to the Italian rider, who has struggled since returning from a compound fracture to his leg.


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An agricultural business used RDP support to improve its capacity to process and store its produce, while producing renewable energy from the sun.
Projects & Practice
A young farmer invested in precision farming through the acquisition of a new sprayer; combining cost savings and environmental protection.
A pilot project to create an innovative pig farm based on the principle of processing fresh manure to minimise GHG emissions and increase the farm's profitability.
RDP support enabled a home-based business that sells quality vegetarian food products to increase its production capacity and reach out to an international market.
Modernization of a poultry farm by installing new, laying hen equipment and by renovating the production buildings.
A project to enhance the facilities on a geological site, enable new visitor-based activities and attract more visitors who will spend more time in the area.
Expanding a viticulture business to meet market demand by investing in modern and efficient equipment.
Set up an operational group to improve the efficiency of the fruit production sector in Spain by developing new approaches for joint management of farms.
An investment project to modernise a buffalo dairy farm through the introduction of new processes and equipment.
The Walloon RDP supports the provision of quality healthcare services for ageing inhabitants of rural areas in Belgium.


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Founders' Symposium 2012
Date: 1/14/2013; 113 minutes
Celebrating UC San Diego's 52nd year, six dynamic faculty members share their inspirations for research, education and technological developments that are changing the world. These back-to-back talks from Adah Almutairi on nanotechnology, Seth Lerer on the social impact of reading and writing, Stephen Mayfield on biofuels, Amanda Datnow on the future of teacher education, Valerie Ramey on government spending and Todd Coleman on wireless tattoo electronics, showcase the great work being done everyday on the campus of UC San Diego. (#24193)
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Governor McCrory's 2015 budget proposal makes progress in certain areas but overall fails to meet the needs of North Carolinians, while also being hampered by the tax plan legislators passed last year, a new report finds.
The proposal leaves too many vital public services operating at diminished levels, said a new report from the Budget & Tax Center, a project of the NC Justice Center. Although it includes a small pay raise for teachers and state employees, further progress is impeded due to the revenue shortfall of $446.5 million the state faces in the current budget in addition to the projected shortfall for fiscal year 2015.
Last year's tax plan, which gave a substantial tax cut to the state's wealthiest households at the expense of low- and middle-income residents, will drain hundreds of millions of dollars in 2015 from the very resources that could be used to invest in the building blocks of a strong economy, the report said.
"Despite scaled-back revenue projections, the Governor chose to move forward with the next phase of tax rate cuts that will go into effect next January, rather than stopping these costly cuts," said Tazra Mitchell, a policy analyst with the Budget & Tax Center and author of the report. "As a result, North Carolina will find it more difficult to regain lost ground."
While the Governor's proposal would take some small steps toward getting North Carolina back to pre-recession levels of spending, most of the spending increase is targeted to Medicaid and pay raises for teachers and state employees, leaving little for education and other pressing needs. In the fiscal year starting on July 1, the state would invest $1.6 billion—or 7 percent less—in schools, health care, and other public services than it did prior to the Great Recession, adjusting for inflation.
"Overall spending would still be well-below the 45-year average as a share of the state's economy," Mitchell said. "As such, the Governor's budget would not keep up with growing needs across a number of vital services that directly benefit North Carolina families and the state's economy."
The Governor also breaks from precedent in his budget, employing his own form of smoke and mirrors: he provides pay raises to teachers and state employees but places these expansion items in the agency sections of his proposal, rather than in the salaries and reserves section of the budget. Doing so artificially inflates spending levels for core areas of the budget like public education.
Read the full report at this link.


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An ultimate shout-out for TAR:According to an Access Hollywood interview with creator Ryan Murphy, Glee is casting two of its characters, Sue Sylvester and Holly Holliday (played by Jane Lynch and Gwyneth Paltrow as a team that tries out on a fictional season of TAR. (Supposedly they'll be seen on Glee's 100th episode; but it could be used to deal with Sue's character for the balance of the show's current season as the story forcus shifts from Lima to New YorK)http://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/GLEE-Spoiler-Find-Out-Which-Two-Characters-Will-Team-for-The-Amazing-Race-20140213Original Ryan Murphy interview on Access Hollywood:http://www.accesshollywood.com/ryan-murphy-on-gwyneth-paltrows-return-to-glee-its-really-fun_video_2017437
FRIDAY8 pm The Amazing Race9 pm Hawaii Five-010 pm Blue Bloods
'Amazing Race' renewed for another season http://www.hitfix.com/the-fien-print/good-wife-amazing-race-odd-couple-lead-cbs-renewals
Quote from: Oddarane on May 11, 2015, 01:53:29 PM'Amazing Race' renewed for another season http://www.hitfix.com/the-fien-print/good-wife-amazing-race-odd-couple-lead-cbs-renewalsFinally confirmed!
I wanted to talk with Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri, executive producers of "The Amazing Race," about the future of the show and found them easily. When I told them fans had been concerned that CBS had lost faith in the show, they said that wasn't their impression at all. And in more good news, they said they had just met with the network and were casting another season to follow the one airing in the fall.
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Terrigal High School
Wanderlust: the desire to travel…
And travel I did – a ten-month odyssey around the world as a fifteen-year-old. Influenced by Rauschenberg, I created an eclectic mix of glorious colours and collaged images organised in layers to become a metaphor for the multidimensional experiences I enjoyed and wanted to share.
Colour is a dominant element in these abstract paintings by Elysha Hickey and Grace Crowley. Analyse the subtleties of paint application and arrangement of colour planes to create a harmonious and vibrant work. What is your emotional response to these works? Consider the works in relation to the rational and expressionist traditions of abstraction in Western painting.


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You are going to be given many shipping options with checkout. The cheapest option for you will be called Uninsured Regular Shipping Zone Rate (you assume responsibility for all risks associated). We expect you to understand the meaning of the word responsibility if you select this option. You cannot have your cake and eat it too and you cannot save the money in your own pocket by selecting this method and then later demand all the rights and priviliges that accompany more expensive shipping methods that absolve you of responsibility for your order as if you had paid for those services. We usually photograph our outgoing parcels just to prove they exist, and this photo can be e-mailed to you upon request, but that is where the buck stops. This applies to shipping to other countries as well. We are in the business of providing quality reflex hammers, tuning forks, stethoscopes, etcetera. It is not our business to be experts in the courier services of every country in the world. If you select an uninsured method that actually warns you that you assume responsibility, do not expect us to talk to customs and ask them to track your package and find out what privatized delivery service within your own country is allocated to outgoing first class international parcels from the US if there is more than one postal service in your country, or this or that. If you go for the cheapest method possible, you get what you pay for, and insured methods are available and they do not cost a lot more. If the concept of us not being responsible for your purchased item is abhorrent to you, well then DO NOT select that shipping option, there are many others to choose from!
Express mail: those stinkers at the post office will use ANY excuse they can to get out of giving a refund. One Monday night we got an express mail order, and we scheduled a pickup on Tuesday specifically for the express mail package. At 10 am Tuesday the postman picked it up and they delivered it on Thursday. Did they honor their next day guarantee? No they did not, because it has to be at the post office by 3:30 pm, and even though I specifically scheduled a pickup the day before, they excused themselves of their own obligations because their own employee failed to get it to the post office within 6 hours. Since then I have actually made a special trip to the post office for such orders, and even then, what did they do? I handed a package to a postal clerk at the counter at about 1 pm, and because she did not scan it in when I handed it to her, they delivered it 2 days later, and their excuse was that the package must not only be handed to the clerk, but I must specifically ASK her to accept it. They will avoid their obligations even when it would not even cost them any more money to just put it on the next plane, they take pleasure in holding onto it for an extra day whenever they feel they have an excuse. And finally, be aware that I do need time to actually process the order and make a special trip to the post office, and I may not even see the order immediately if you place it online (be sure to CALL to inform us you have placed the order in such a case), so if the clock is near 2 pm pacific, 5 pm Eastern, you might consider having it sent by another method because probably I will not be able to make their stinking deadline that day and priority mail will be just as fast. You have been warned. The amount charged for express mail may be the USPS charge plus a small premium because remember, WE have to go OUT OF OUR WAY to deliver it to the post office in person before their deadline. If, no surprise, something goes wrong, but splendifourous miracle, they actually provide a refund, we will be happy to pass it right on to you, we are supposed to be able to get not just the shipping refunded but the COST of the items in your order as well. Since they are so eager to break their guarantee at any ridiculous excuse, I think I am justifiably eager to stick it to the man at any opportunity, so if you get all your money back, more power to you! Bravo! You will not, however, get back the premium in addition to the express mail cost most likely, however, because that was charged by us for the service of bringing it to the post office.
Priority mail flat rate envelopes: Anything I can stuff in one of them will cost you $5.45 uninsured as of the time of this writing. I am good at that. I may be able to fit an order you may not be expecting into one of those little envelopes, and will charge you shipping accordingly. Your card is not charged when you place an order online, it is only authorized, and I can charge any amount up to and including the authorized amount, so you may pay less in the end if I save you money on shipping in this way. Insurance will bring it up a little, $6.95 for 100 dollars of coverage. Please use your logic to decide if the order CAN in fact fit in the envelope. If there is any doubt, please call. If the item is too large, like say you are ordering 10 stethoscopes, or if it is not large but it is long, like the queen square set, it will decidedly not fit.
What the heck is partially insured, you ask? Well, I figured, what if your order size is 102 dollars for instance. Surely you see the logic in not wasting an extra dollar just to insure the last 2 dollars, since insurance is sold in blocks of 100 dollars. This of course makes no difference if the total order size is less than 100 dollars, and if your order size is 180 dollars, you could certainly justify insuring it for all 180 instead of 100. So I give you the option of fully insured, and partially insured, which insures it up to the order value rounded down to the next lower multiple of 100 dollars. You decide if that last partial block is worthwhile to insure.
RETURNS: Despite your impressions from having read up to this point, we are not total jerks. We recognize that defects DO occur in our items, however we are also aware that capricious individuals exist in this world. If you purchase something and there is something genuinely wrong with it and significant, we will refund your original shipping and the cost of your return shipping, or just the cost of your return shipping and provide you a replacement, and you will have our apologies. If you are just returning something because you feel you do not like it, however, you pay return shipping and you do not get the original shipping cost refunded AND your order total will be subject to a 10% restocking fee (the actual subtotal of the order will only be refunded 90%). And there are varying shades of gray in between. One of those shades of gray, by the way, is if you use a wasteful and horribly expensive method of shipping to return the item to us! Use a sensible method and we will not be averse to reimbursing you for it. When you deal with Medworks, you do not deal with an unthinking, nameless, faceless organization. We apply common sense to our actions and expect you to do likewise.


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By Piotr Naskrecki - Once again things have been slow on my blog as I am trying to finish a million little things before my upcoming departure for Mozambique. I will be arriving there at the beginning of the rainy season, which means tons of insects and other invertebrates, a multitude of frogs, and hopefully some great new stories for this blog.
Photo: A young nymph of Glass katydid (Phlugis teres) from Suriname sitting on the tip of my finger.
One of the animals that I hope to see there is a pretty, yet unnamed katydid from Mount Gorongosa, which I first found last year in the mid-elevation rainforest on the mountain slopes. I am now working on its formal description and will post its photos as soon as the paper is out. In the meantime I thought I would present one of its close relatives, the amazing Glass katydid from Central and South America, a member of the genus Phlugis (Listroscelidinae).
Photo: As they age, Glass katydids begin to lose their transparency, and older nymphs and adults acquire pale green coloration.
I coined the name Glass katydid after seeing for the first time young nymphs of Phlugis teres, a species found in Suriname, who display remarkable, nearly complete transparency of their bodies. These minute insects truly look as if they were made of glass and, peering closely, it is possible to see most of their internal organs, including the entire tracheal system. Unfortunately, these katydids lose most of the transparency as they get older, and eventually acquire pale green coloration, occasionally marked with brown accents.
It would seem that something so seemingly fragile cannot feed on anything other than dew and rose petals, but in fact Glass katydids are agile, powerful predators. Unlike most of neotropical katydids, the genus Phlugis includes many diurnal species that use their excellent vision to find prey, and their hunting technique is very clever. Glass katydids are sit-and-wait predators who spend most of the day sitting upside down on the underside of large, thin leaves, usually at the edge of the rainforest or in open, shrubby habitats. They prefer leaves that are fully exposed to the sun so that any insect landing on its upper surface will cast a dark, sharply defined shadow. And that shadow is what Glass katydids are waiting for – it tells them whether the insect is a hard beetle (not good) or a soft fly (excellent), and if the insect looks like a good meal they launch themselves from under the leaf and onto its surface, and capture the victim with their long, very spiny legs in a blink of an eye.
In addition to being some of the most sophisticated and fastest orthopteran predators, Glass katydids are famous for the sound they produce – their call exceeds the frequency of 55 kHz, which is about three times the frequency a human ear is capable of hearing. A closely related genus Archnoscelis holds the record of producing the highest frequency call among all invertebrates – a whopping 129 kHz, twice the frequency of echolocation of most bats, and about 10 times more than the hearing ability of most adult humans. Another reminder that the ability to look cool and do amazing things seems to be inversely correlated with the body size.
Photo: Their huge eyes are a good indication of Glass katydids' mode of hunting – they are diurnal sit-and-wait predators of small flies and other soft insects. This newly discovered, yet unnamed species of Phlugis from Costa Rica hunts small flying insects along the edges of mid-elevation rainforest.
Read more on Piotr's blog The Smaller Majority


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Translated by Azfar Hussain
This is an excerpt from Reading
About the World, Volume 2, edited by Paul Brians, Mary Gallwey, Douglas Hughes, Azfar Hussain, Richard Law, Michael Myers, Michael Neville, Roger Schlesinger, Alice Spitzer, and Susan Swan and published by Harcourt Brace Custom Books.
The reader was created for use in the World Civilization course at Washington State University, but material on this page may be used for educational purposes by permission of the editor-in-chief:
Paul Brians
Department of English
Washington State University
Pullman 99164-5020
This is just a sample of Reading About the World, Volume 2.
Try Chambal:
http://www.chambal.com/csin/9780155674257/ (vol. 1)
http://www.chambal.com/csin/9780155128262/ (vol. 2)
This page has been accessed times since December 23, 1998.


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An attorney for the New York Federal Reserve tried to convince AIG to renege on a million-dollar bonus for a top executive, concerned about how the public would view such a cash reward for a company that received a taxpayer bailout.
Marshall Huebner, an attorney in private practice working for the Fed, wrote in an email that it was "very bad timing" to file an Securities and Exchange Commission report that showed AIG executive David Herzog having received upwards of a $1 million bonus. Huebner worried that this would be revealed "just before [then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson] and the [Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke] go before [House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry] Waxman, right as the other TARPeys are announcing zero bonuses," according to an e-mail subpoenaed by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and obtained by POLITICO.
Huebner, according to the Nov. 17, 2008 email, asked three New York Fed officials and a Treasury employee if there was "any chance" to get Herzog's compensation "unagreed to" so it would not be reflected on a public disclosure form. The e-mail did signal, however, AIG was planning to "fundamentally redirect on retention and annual bonuses."
The House Oversight and Government Reform committee Wednesday will hold a hearing on the New York Fed's involvement in AIG's fully paying out pricey insurance contracts to big banks after receiving a government bailout.
Lawmakers have accused Fed officials of attempting to persuade AIG officials to keep the payment of credit-default-swap contracts off their Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
These emails, which have been included in a memo for Republican members for the hearing, seem to show a certain level of influence from the Federal Reserve's lawyers in disclosing a potentially controversial bonus.
"The means to which the New York Fed has gone to avoid disclosure is reaching ridiculous proportions," the committee's top Republican Darrell Issa of California said. "It is very clear that the New York Fed was more concerned with public relations than with disclosing the truth. The more we are learning about the operations at the NYFRB, the more I am wondering why no one within the Fed's leadership put a stop to this ongoing effort to subvert transparency."
N.Y. Fed Wanted AIG Bonuses Yanked
NY Fed concerned a public relations nightmare
An attorney for the New York Federal Reserve tried to convince AIG to renege on a million-dollar bonus for a top executive, concerned about how the public would view such a cash reward for a company that received a taxpayer bailout.


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December Holidays Lessons & Resources, Grades K-5
Curriculum Resources Covering Holidays & Observances from Around the World
Celebrate the holiday season and learn how others celebrate with these lessons and resources for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ashura, Pongal, and New Years.
Lesson Plans
Wild Christmas Reindeer Lesson Plan
Students in grades K-3 listen as Jan Brett's story is read aloud, and then discuss the story and its illustrations.
The Christmas Tree
Students in grades 4-5 work in small groups to investigate the origins and symbolism of the Christmas tree.
A Colonial Christmas in Williamsburg
Students in grades 5-8 plan and participate in a colonial Christmas event.
Celebrate Hanukkah in Israel!
Children in PreK-K learn about Hanukkah, make a dreidel, and play the game.
How Do You Celebrate? An Introduction to Holiday Customs
Students in grades 1-2 use a graphic organizer to compare the similarities and differences in Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa celebrations.
In this mini-unit, Students in grades 4-5 learn why Hanukkah is celebrated and identify symbols associated with Hanukkah.
Kwanzaa Mini-Unit
In this mini-unit, students in grades 2-3 learn about the seven principles of Kwanzaa and symbols associated with its celebration.
Let's Celebrate Diwali!
Students in grades 1-2 learn about Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Light.
Christmas Alliterations
Students write alliterative tongue twisters.
Christmas Price Index
Includes lesson plan and downloadable coloring book.
Natural Resources and Your Christmas Tree ( PDF, 86 KB, 1 pg.)
Students research and list raw materials used to make some items associated with Christmas trees.
Dreidel Game
Play an online version of the Dreidel game.
Background & History
Celebrate Winter Holidays: Activities and Resources for Teachers
Online scrapbooks describe how children around the world celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Find articles, activities and crafts, printables, curriculum connections, clip art and images, and a teacher guide.
Celebrating December
Print information and audio clips about December holidays from around the world.
Christmas for Jews: How Hanukkah became a major holiday.
Discover how Hanukkah, traditionally a minor Jewish festival, evolved into "the Jewish Christmas."
Hanukkah basics, traditions, activities, and stories.
About Chanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. Learn the rules for playing dreidel and try a recipe for latkes.
Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture
The Official Kwanzaa Website.
Seven Interesting Facts About Kwanzaa
Christmas Printables
Hanukkah Printables
Kwanzaa Printables
Christmas in America: A History by Penne L. Restad
A look at our evolving Christmas holiday from colonial times to the present.
The Story of Hanukkah by Norma Simon and Leonid Gore
The history and traditions of Hanukkah for grades 2-5.
Hanukkah Trivia: 150 Fun & Fascinating Facts About Hanukkah by Jennie Miller Helderman and Mary Caulkins
Facts about the midwinter Jewish holiday in multiple choice question format. Answers are provided at the end of the book.
The Complete Kwanzaa: Celebrating Our Cultural Harvest by D. Winbush Riley
Examines the seven principles of Kwanzaa-unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
Kwanzaa: Black Power and the Making of the African-American Holiday Tradition by Keith A. Mayes
An examination of Kwanzaa from Black Power beginning to mainstream black holiday.
Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Diwali: With Sweets, Lights, and Fireworks by Deborah Heiligman
Explains the holiday's traditions, food, and rituals.
- History of Christmas (21 video clips)
- Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" (1966) 6 Parts in this playlist
- A Child's Christmas in Wales (54:23)
- History of Hanukkah (4 video clips)
- Rebellion in the Holy Land! - "Live" minute by minute news coverage of the story of Chanukah as it unfolds.
- Kwanzaa (6 clips in this playlist)
- History and Traditions of Kwanzaa
- How to Celebrate Kwanzaa: Part 1, Part 2
Jean Shepherd: A Christmas Story WOR Radio (1974): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
A Christmas Story has been a popular holiday movie since 1983. In this five part audio resource, the author reads the original story in a WOR radio broadcast from Christmas Eve 1974. (5 parts, 45 min. total)
- A Child's Christmas in Wales Read by Dylan Thomas (20:46)
- Hanukkah Lights - Stories 2002-2018
Other Winter Holidays
Ashura, one of the major holidays of Islam, is a time of fasting and of inner thoughts. It is celebrated on the 10th day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic Calendar.
Provides more historical background.
Pancha Ganapati
Pancha Ganapati: The Family Festival of Giving
Describes the holiday as the Hindu Christmas with five days of gifts for kids. Explains what happens on each of the five days and provides a recipe for Vadai, a spicy donut.
New Year
- New Year's - video and prose (includes Rosh Hashanah)
- The Origin of New Year's Eve Traditions
Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year)
- Judaism 101: Rosh Hashanah - describes traditions of the celebration
Ras as-Sana al-Hijreya
- What is Pongal?
This comprehensive website explains traditions and provides recipes as well as other information.
last updated: October 30, 2019