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Teachers or Facilitators - what do schools need?
Posted 11 June 2003 - 04:55 PM
I took a cover lesson today, maths. Expecting the usual scrabble around for the work which was set by my absent colleague, I was amazed and relieved as the normally hyperactive year eights shuffled in, and without prompting, dished out the textbooks, exercise books and all turned to the page they were up to previously.
Measuring cubic volume was to be the cardiac-inducing excitement for the next fifty minutes. I thought to myself - how on earth could you make that interesting? It didnt bother the pupils as they quietly ploughed on with their sums. I sat there for 50 minutes bored rigid, wishing I had been put down for some GCSE invigilation instead. The textbook was so straight forward even I could understand how to work out the volume of various sized boxes and cubes, and I thought how useful this skill would be later on this evening.
It struck me that maybe our esteemed rulers are right perhaps you dont need teachers in the classroom maybe teaching assistants (TAs) could supervise the kids while one teacher per cluster of schools wrote lesson plans and marked work? It would solve the education crisis in one fell swoop employ TAs at a fraction of the wage, they wouldnt need qualifications just fill in the form on page 12 of the Daily Mail, Mrs Wilson and you can show those teachers how its done!
Those of us left in the education sector could be facilitators allowing students to follow their own learning pathways along the ready-prepared and prescribed National Curricula (with little tick-boxes for numeracy, literacy, science, ICT, citizenship, personal, social, health and moral education encountered in each lesson). We facilitators would write individual lesson plans for each of the children in the teaching groups, based on computerised tests taken when they were 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 years old, and the TA or person-off-the-street would deliver the lesson! They could even deliver a lesson to several classes at once via video-link and the students would be supervised using CCTV controlled by a private security firm! Think of the savings!
It would free up the teachers, sorry, facilitators, to do more important tasks like half-termly progress reports on the students, assessment spreadsheets and NC level tracking charts. We would be able to inform parents that their little Johnny has progressed from Level 3.25 to 3.36 over February because he has started to use full-stops at the end of his sentences!
I am seriously convinced that the staid old teaching profession needs a good shake-up, and more roles from the successful, lean, efficient private sector need introducing. Improved job titles such as Team Leader for History Facilitators (LHFs) , and Executive responsible for Curriculum Delivery Associates (ECDAs) would undoubtedly attract more people into a modernised and streamlined education sector.
Admittedly, I neglected to mention my other lesson today, an off-the cuff history lesson with one of my year nine groups. After dealing with a scuffle in the corridor, and pulled up the kids in hoodies and trainers, I read an extract from To Make the People Smile Again, a recent book by George Wheeler, a local man who fought in the Spanish Civil War with the International Brigades. (I happened to have the book in my bag) We had a great discussion about the motives of a young man who went off to fight in a foreign land in a war which on paper he should have had no concerns. Morality, duty, loyalty, family ties, nationality and other aspects of the human spirit were explored, as well as a potted history of the war in Spain which fired them up to embark upon a research project into the International Brigades for homework over the next fortnight.
I am sorry to say that my ECDA would have failed my curriculum delivery for that lesson as no lesson plan was produced, and more than likely it would not have been statutory material for the National Curriculum for History. Ah well, maybe Mrs Wilson would have passed it with a detailed lesson plan and some specially prepared worksheets.
Posted 11 June 2003 - 06:29 PM
However i am very proud to tell anyone who asks that i see my main role in the History classroom as a facilitator of learning, although in a very different sense to the 'classroom assistant' approach you so rightly describe.
I find that increasingly i go through lessons 'teaching' the students very little or nothing, but i do a great deal to facilitate their learning through focused open questioning, thinking skills activities involving paradoxes/images/key info etc, kinaesthetic activities and so on. this is very often far more taxing upon me than good old fashioned 'teaching', but also far more effective.
i guess that in a nutshell what i am saying is that i feel my role to be a 'facilitator of understanding' rather than a 'teacher of knowledge'.
facilitators of activity can go to subjects that only need this: those where knowledge is gained through repetition of tasks, but in history i believe that the future lies with the facilitators of understanding - through the ever expanding variety of excellent ideas generated by members of this site amongst other places.
Posted 12 June 2003 - 06:47 AM
Others saw schooling as providing an opportunity to develop in the working class a moral framework which emphasised an oppositional interpretation of class inequalities. This tradition has remained and on my PGCE course in 1977-78 there was a significant number of students who had a strong desire to teach against the dominant ideology. These students were invariably being trained to become History, English and Sociology teachers. I did not come across any who were planning to teach Maths, Science or Modern Languages.
Daffyds history lesson could be interpreted as an attempt to teach against the dominant ideology. Partly because of the methodology but more importantly because of the book he used. For example, would he have been willing to use Roy Campbells Flowering Rifle or Eoin O'Duffys Crusade in Spain in the lesson instead of the book by George Wheeler? I ask the question because these are two accounts of people who took the same risks as Wheeler in order to defend fascism rather than republicanism. If these books had been used the learning outcomes of the lesson would have been very different.
The problem for all those who wish to teach against the dominant ideology is that they are unable to undermine the main purpose of schooling the legitimisation of inequality. A school system with streaming, exams, grading, class positions, etc. will develop the aspirations of a minority but at the same time it will gradually lower the expectations and self-esteem of the majority. For the later, this contributes towards preparing them for low-status occupations. This is a vital role of schooling for as Clarence J. Karier has pointed out: If a man truly believes that he has a marginal standard of living because he is inferior, he is less likely to take violent measures against that social system than if he believes his condition a product of social privilege.
Daffyd is of course right to suggest that it is now possible to replace teachers with facilitators. If the government wanted to it could employ a small group of teachers to produce online learning materials (they would then be dismissed after they had produced all the necessary lessons). The staff of the school would then mainly comprise of teaching assistants and armed security guards. Students could be forced to sit in front of their computers until they had completed the necessary number of exercises. The work would be marked by the computer and the student would receive regular feedback about their performance and therefore it would be an efficient way of preparing them for their future role in society.
Although this would be a far cheaper way of educating (training) our people it has one major disadvantage. It too clearly illustrates the purpose of schooling. It might even increase resistance to authority.
Therefore I do not expect this system to be introduced. However, it is inevitable that given the technology now available, it is in the interests of the government to reduce the numbers of qualified teachers in schools and to replace them with low paid teaching assistants, technicians and security guards. The unions will obviously fight these changes. However, I do not give them much chance of success. After all, when was the last time trade unionists won an industrial dispute.
Edited by John Simkin, 12 June 2003 - 06:51 AM.
#4 Guest_andy_walker_*
Posted 12 June 2003 - 09:10 AM
It reminds me of a common response from many of my A1 Sociology students when they study the Education unit and are exposed to non-dominant ideology thinking
"Why weren't we told this before?"
Posted 12 June 2003 - 09:26 AM
I did not know that I had included any jokes. Not depressing because some people always escape the brainwashing process. While that happens, reform is always possible. In fact, it is essential if the capitalist system is to survive.
Witty, intelligent if somewhat depressing John.
I first developed these views as an 18 year old trade unionist when I began asking questions about how I ended up working in a factory. When I was training to be a teacher my tutors provided the academic background to these views. This view of education was rejected by the majority of students but at least them came into contact with these ideas. Out of interest, were recent PGCE students taught about the history of state education with the various theories of why the government at the time considered it was such a good idea?
#6 Guest_andy_walker_*
Posted 12 June 2003 - 10:51 AM
I'm by no stretch of the imagination "recent" but even in 1988 PGCE's were well down the road towards the "sheep dip" approach that's current now.
Out of interest, were recent PGCE students taught about the history of state education with the various theories of why the government at the time considered it was such a good idea?
What I find most depressing is the proliferation of school based TT where there is NO opportunity for sociology, history, philosophy or psychology. Not only because it is designed to create unthinking operatives rather than educators, but also because teachers themselves need some sort of "inspiration" and vision to survive 35 years in this profession. I'm not sure they're getting it.
I share your view of the role of schooling in capitalist society but do my best to "educate" where the opportunity arises!
I'm not sure "reform" is the answer though brother (or was that the joke?? )
Posted 13 June 2003 - 10:14 PM
I see myself as, and try to encourage other teachers to be, a teacher who facilitates. One of the things that marks out the successful from the unsuccessful teacher is the understanding that a lesson should be developed around the skills process involved in delivering the content, not the other way around. In this respect I stand at the front of my class with the aim of facilitating the personal development of my students by teaching them how to develop this.
On the wall outside our Head's office is a pyramid diagram about the most effective methods of teaching and learning. It is something that I am sure people have seen many times. It is the one about how much of something students remember if you deliver it to them in a number of ways. So at the bottom it says "I remember 10% if you tell me", and at the top it says "I remember 90% if I do it myself" - or something like that (it is late on a Friday night after all!)
I hold to this pyramid and its basic principles about effective teaching and learning. Therefore I could be arguing that my role in the classroom is not to teach students in the traditional sense of the word. I am not there to fill them with knowledge, I am there to create the environment in which they can learn and develop according to their own styles and requirements. I will explain what has to be done, provide the materials for the students to do their learning, then help them to find out what they need to know, before creating opportunities for them to communicate what they have learned in order that they might be able fully reach their personal potential.
So does this make my teacing ethos that of a faciliator? After all am I not describing a situation in which I am on the outside of the learning process, simply creating the environment for learning and providing the resources for students to develop themselves? Could this not be done by me for say 6 schools in Harlow at once and then for dozens at once? The actual control of the class could be left to a suitably responsible person who could get the children to behave and focus on the work / learning for the required period of time. That person could then ask the students my predetermined set of plenary questions in the correct order, targeting them at the right level of ability students before setting the homework and sending me their students' exercise books by courier each day?
So therefore facilitators are perfectly acceptable and will still deliver the goods?
Absolutely not.
Nothing could be further from the truth. I am a facilitator, but I am also a teacher. I am only able to facilitate the learning of students because I am a trained and skilled teacher. I can see where things are going well and where they are going badly. I know when to divert from my plans and pursue a more fruitful avenue of learning. I know which questions to ask and in which order because I understand my students. I do not always get it right, but because I am a reflective practitioner I am hyper self-critical and always strive for improvement.
My lessons only work becuase I develop them from my experience, observations and knowledge of my students. Without this I cannot develop the lessons and they will not work. I almost never lift a lesson straight out a textbook because it is not written for my students and is not my work. I cannot facilitate the learning of my classes if I do not know how to teach them to learn and develop.
So to some extent I agree with Dafydd's original post that started off this thread. It is patently ridiculous to suggest that untrained and unqualified people could be put in charge of classes on a regular and long term basis. They can facilitate dry and uninspired work, maybe even a bit of learning, but not real success and not real progress by students. Only a professionally trained, experienced and qualified teacher can do that.
However at heart I am a teacher who sees his role as the facilitation of learning and development by my students. So in that respect my take on Dafydd's choice of title for the seminar is perhaps different to what he originally intended. Schools need teachers who facilitate learning, not people who just seek to facilitate classroom control and uninspired learning. So in that respect I agree with you Dafydd.
Posted 14 June 2003 - 12:23 AM
This week I taught the Ghettos to Yr. 9. If we followed the facilitator approach then a TA could have handed out a worksheet, read through it and set the girls on task! What do they really learn from that? The dry facts!
I have trained for my job and I am paid to act, enthuse, stimulate and hopefully educate the students in front of me. In my lesson I combined emotional narrative, stimulating poetry and the use of ICT - I did it all!
All three classes who have experienced this lesson with me this week have been stunned, shocked, taken on an emotional rollercoaster, challenged and even those not taking GCSE History were definitely educated.
So how could my time have been better spent?
1. Completing the 7 sets of reports currently sitting in my tray!
2. Marking the 2 sets of Yr. 10 papers.
3. Marking my Yr. 7 exercise books.
4. Telephoning primary schools to sort out my journalism project.
5. Organising the details of a Social Science Competition.
Yes - I could have done all of this with a TA minding my class- but a facilitator in the classroom does not bring passion, enthusiasm and knowledge to the lesson - a teacher does and that is why I do all of the other stuff in frees and at lunchtime and after school!
Just a point of view!
Posted 14 June 2003 - 12:15 PM
I have used faciliation techniques in independent research projects in which the students become teachers to each other but, at first as a teacher I has to highlight learning skills, communication skills and how to research effectively.
I do think that the education world will have to adapt to the pace and access to information so I do agree with Dafydd on that point. However as Stephen said that fact that we are Teachers makes us able to adapt our teaching to accomodate facilitation in our teaching - we can be imaginative not just a conveyer system of education factories.
Let us shake up the system! The TES are refering to the need to be creative - well lets be that - so many on this forum do this regularly I can't see where the lines between a faciliator of learning and the teacher begins or ends.
Q) How do we teach in a Homework environment - or are thern a faciliator?
Q) How do we make sure students don't think that learning is in the classroom but throughout the school/community?
Q) How can we be more creative in a curriculum that has ever more constraints?
In conclusion the main difference between the faciliator and teacher is the ability for Teachers to adapt and be creative - lets be that then.
Just had a look at the 2002 Vision 2020 on-line conference - there is a discussion paper on this see Facilitation/Teaching
Edited by neil mcdonald, 14 June 2003 - 07:07 PM.
Bernard Woolley: That's one of those irregular verbs, isn't it? I give confidential security briefings. You leak. He has been charged under section 2a of the Official Secrets Act.
Posted 21 June 2003 - 12:01 PM
In my final evaluation from my second placement my school supervisor wrote this about my performance, 'John has had an average placement, we feel he has made suitable progress in several areas of his professional development, but we feel he must improve his classroom management techniques and lesson planing." Vague is the first word that springs to mind. The comment on classroom management came from one incident where the only available class for my supervisor to so call 'assess' was bottom set Year 9. The comment on lesson planning came from a 'spot check' for my lesson plan which I didn't have in the classroom. It didn't matter that I was teaching 'The Great War' which also happened to be my special subject which I studied for over year at University. The point being is that my time on the P.G.C.E qualification was a complete waste of time. Not at one point did I get the sense I was entering a profession, I learnt nothing that I couldn't have worked out for myself if I had simply taken a job after my degree in a school and was left to my own devices. In fact I worked out that quite quickly that I was working for a slave wage, well below the minimum wage, teaching classes and doing jobs that one elso wanted.
It seems to me that debate about teacher or facilitator is a semantic arguement and doesn't deal with the reality of the teaching environment in Britain. It covers the issues in pervasive language. To answer John Simkin question - We were taught about the history of state education, but unfortunately the central concepts were not dealt with in such an way as criticise the over arching motivation for the job we were about to undertake.
If teaching is a professional job, a professional entity, why does everybody pass the P.G.C.E? You either pass the course or drop out because you can't stand shouting at kids for eight hours a day. In reality, my teaching last year was of a poor standard, to a degree that I feel I should have never passed the course, but this was no reflection of on me, it was a reflection of the sub-standard conditions in British schools. The university and the school knows this so therefore they pass everyone. I know for a fact there were people who passed the P.G.C.E who shouldn't have passed. In the law profession if you are not sharp enough for the profession you can't get through the test. What does teaching have as a quantive assessment the GTTR skills tests, where I'm asked to sit in room and take a test I could have passed when I was 14. I was neither a teacher or a facilitator last year, just a baby sitter who had to fill out loads of forms and was often criticised for not filling out bits of paper in correct fashion. A lesson goes bad and I must 'critically reflect' on my mistakes, if you don't fill out 'teaching files' you can't pass the course.
Teachers make the comment that TA can't perform the role of the teacher, in the current situation in Britain I would argue they can. How hard is it give books out and say turn to page to 10, because this is the level that teachers operate on in Britain. I have seen it with my own eyes. Bad practice indeed, but it is everywhere, endemic in every school. In most of the school's you work in, you will know teachers like this, even if you will not publically admit to knowing. Year 10 being given historical crosswords. So on so forth. Face it, teaching just is not a profession anymore. I personally sympathise with the bad practioners of the world, whose lives resemble office filling clerks, the kids resemble football hooligans, the management wouldn't know an orginal idea if fell out of the tree.
My university asked me to read a book about multiple intelligence, which I did read and tried to glean from some infomation. The central concept I took from the book was that everybody has different learning styles which help us process infomation in different way. The practical application of the infomation was vary your teaching methods to encompass a variety of styles. Yet the G.C.S.E's only test in one style. University applications can only be written in one style. Job applications are written in one style. People don't say 'O.K kinesthic learner we are going to give you a kinesthic interview.' If the world works in this way, why in a history lesson can I be critised for not doing a kinesthic activity. One suggestion to me was as an approach to history teaching I might try a 'freeze'. A group of kids pretend to be in social historical setting and then they freeze and I walk aroung explain who is who etc... So I did this in an assessed lesson, and praise was heaped upon me. Next lesson not one person could remember a thing about social life in 18thc. Britain.
Posted 24 June 2003 - 09:26 AM
John raises some very important points and is a savage indictment of our education system.
Last year I passed my P.G.C.E and I am confused even over the definition of a 'teacher' let alone a teacher or a facilitator, surely these two terms are not mutally exclusive in any educational sense.
... my time on the P.G.C.E qualification was a complete waste of time. Not at one point did I get the sense I was entering a profession, I learnt nothing that I couldn't have worked out for myself if I had simply taken a job after my degree in a school and was left to my own devices. In fact I worked out that quite quickly that I was working for a slave wage, well below the minimum wage, teaching classes and doing jobs that one elso wanted.
It seems to me that debate about teacher or facilitator is a semantic arguement and doesn't deal with the reality of the teaching environment in Britain. It covers the issues in pervasive language. To answer John Simkin question - We were taught about the history of state education, but unfortunately the central concepts were not dealt with in such an way as criticise the over arching motivation for the job we were about to undertake.
If teaching is a professional job, a professional entity, why does everybody pass the P.G.C.E? You either pass the course or drop out because you can't stand shouting at kids for eight hours a day. In reality, my teaching last year was of a poor standard, to a degree that I feel I should have never passed the course, but this was no reflection of on me, it was a reflection of the sub-standard conditions in British schools. The university and the school knows this so therefore they pass everyone. I know for a fact there were people who passed the P.G.C.E who shouldn't have passed.
It is not a new development for poor students to be passed to enter the teaching profession. The same thing happened in my year at Sussex (1977-78). Some of the worst students dropped out but others carried on regardless and passed. It was also clear from my teaching practice that there were qualified teachers who should never have been allowed to enter the profession. The one thing that I agreed with Chris Woodhead about was that there is a significant percentage of the teaching profession who are not up to the job (not that anything he did helped to improve this situation).
Why does this situation continue? The short answer is that the government need a surplus of teachers available to Britains schools. This applies pressure on those in work to behave themselves. It is difficult for unions to negotiate a better deal for teachers if there is a surplus. This is how our market economy works. When I began work in the printing trade in 1960 the number of apprentices allowed to enter the profession was controlled by the unions. I soon discovered why the unions insisted on this. In this way they kept the number of unemployed printers down to a minimum and therefore increased their bargaining power. Our high incomes was based on this principle.
There is nothing new about allowing poor teachers to enter the profession. What is changing is the role that the teachers are playing. This is happening so fast that John is able to argue that the teacher or facilitator is a semantic argument and doesn't deal with the reality of the teaching environment in Britain.
In my view the Key Stage 3 strategy in a further development in changing a teacher into a facilitator. I am convinced that within a few years the government will have commissioned companies or organizations to produce exemplary online lessons for every part of the national curriculum. While this may help some of the poorly performing teachers it will severely damage the creative, committed teachers producing good lessons against the odds. It will also make it more difficult for the unions to defend the pay and conditions of its members.
Posted 24 June 2003 - 10:39 AM
A worrying development John. The idea of the creative teachers that innovate and offer dynamic lessons could be seen as a dying breed with the advent of exemplar material is a distinct possibility but then again, I think back to the time when teachers began to use video and TV as opposed to the textbook and then the development of IT in the classroom and I am warmed by the fact that no matter what there will always be teachers who stretch the boundaries of convention by their desire to teach.
In my view the Key Stage 3 strategy in a further development in changing a teacher into a facilitator. I am convinced that within a few years the government will have commissioned companies or organizations to produce exemplary online lessons for every part of the national curriculum. While this may help some of the poorly performing teachers it will severely damage the creative, committed teachers producing good lessons against the odds. It will also make it more difficult for the unions to defend the pay and conditions of its members.
Maybe the government will create resources for every lesson but the deathknell for teaching is only when they force us to use it.
Bernard Woolley: That's one of those irregular verbs, isn't it? I give confidential security briefings. You leak. He has been charged under section 2a of the Official Secrets Act.
Posted 24 June 2003 - 03:47 PM
The only part of the Key Stage 3 strategy that has offered prepared lessons has been the ICT strategy - and this has been specifically because many ICT teachers are actually teachers of other subjects, and thus need materials. It would indeed be an awful day when each lesson is pre-prepared for you via government instruction, but I really don't see the KS3 strategy as this.
The entire thing is optional, but of course recommended. There is nothing in the Key Stage 3 strategy to force teachers to be facilitators. In fact I personally feel that the Key Stage 3 strategy actually pushes the situation further back towards teachers being teachers!
The Key Stage 3 strategy ecourages use of good teaching practice that can help all teachers. From its impact on my school it has been really, really positive. Each department has been forced to evaluate their teaching techniques and all have improved because of this. The strategy audit has forced departments to wake up and realise that they have to make use of ICT, differentiate activities fully and provide lessons that engage and encourage students to learn.
I fundamentally believe the KS3 strategy has had an immense positive impact - it has forced teachers to develop better lessons. It hasn't provided resources, but rather provided the opportunity and the encouragement to share good practice.
Before the KS3 strategy I could never have imagined representatives of each department sharing their ideas in the context of "One thing we find really effective is...."; "Something we'd like to develop further is....".
In terms of my own role I've now had departments approaching me and asking to do the things I want them to do. No way has this pushed teachers to be facilitators - it has encouraged teachers to do what they do best AND make the most of great ideas and try new techniques in the classroom.
It may just be the brilliant way it has been handled by the people responsible at my school, but I have been amazed and really, really impressed by its impact.
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Posted 24 June 2003 - 05:44 PM
Bernard Woolley: That's one of those irregular verbs, isn't it? I give confidential security briefings. You leak. He has been charged under section 2a of the Official Secrets Act.
Posted 24 June 2003 - 06:17 PM
The KS3 strategy merely espouses a three part lesson. This is fundamental good practice whether you trained in the 1950s or 1990s. There is no rigour attached to the strategy - it suggests good practice. You use the bits you like, you don't use the bits you don't.
I think that the way it is 'spun' does have an impact but what I do see is a turn towards a homogonised lesson - little dynamic involvement. Andrew you are right in that the KS3 Strategy has enabled the ability to be more innovative but how does this relate to school strategies?
Surely you've answered your question yourself about school strategies - the fact the strategy allows you to be innovative. As I mentioned before, the KS3 strategy has forced all departments to evaluate their current practice. If you have a look at the KS3 Audit form
This asks a department to complete an honest audit into their current practice - what they feel they do well, where they'd like to improve and so on. This is nothing any good department wouldn't be doing anyway, but the KS3 strategy has formalised the process, creating the whole-school need to make sure each department keeps up. It is an excellent document to have on hand and completed, allowing Threshold, OFSTED, HMI or whatever friends are visiting you at the time to see how the department is working, and how they plan to improve in the future.
My school has approached this from a 'whole school' angle, and thus I'm seeing this very much from my perspective, particularly someone who had some significant changes to push out to the entire school, and to encourage departments to focus on their own work. The KS3 strategy has been an excellent vehicle for this. What I've liked even more though is that it has stimulated discussion, creating the situation where people feel confident to share their viewpoints and ideas.
It now moves towards KS4 and is the most successful whole-school strategy that I've experienced so far. Yet some might say it is the only whole-school strategy that I've experiened so far....
Whatever, I stand by what I say in that I'm certain the KS3 strategy has moved us further away from becoming facilitators rather than the other way round.
Despite all this, I think John's points about his PGCE experience are very important. I remember how my wife and I worked all hours during the PGCE to produce immaculate teaching files and accompanying documentation. The 'pass all' mentality only dawned on me when we'd finished it.
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Industrial Robots; Robot Arms; Cameras, Scanners and Vision Systems; Collaborative Cage-free Robots; Mobile Robots; Robot Operating Systems; Warehousing and Materials Handling; New Technologies, and Jobs
By Frank Tobe, Editor and Publisher, The Robot Report
|Fanuc robot bench pressing train wheels
Note that all of the companies mentioned are either European or Asian; that's where the industry is located even though all these companies have marketing and support offices in the U.S.
Cameras, Scanners and Vision Systems:Despite the powerful presence of the major robot manufacturers, this year's Automate seemed all about integrating vision capabilities into robotic tasks. Camera and vision integrator companies were showing the various applications enabled by such visual additions to robotic technology. These included tools for inspecting for errors; identifying surface defects and missing features; identifying the shape and position of objects; measuring components for sorting and classification purposes; and systems to quickly read and verify markings on parts and labels.
ABB's PickVision is an example. Their video of a food-handling process [click the image at the right to see the video] demonstrates the system locating, stacking and packing pancakes. During his keynote address to the combined Automate and ProMat audience, Henrik Christensen noted that bin-picking didn't exist 10 years ago and is now just one of many examples of how new cameras, lasers, sensors and software are augmenting robots to new heights and applications. The paradigm was the smoothly-running Industrial Perception (IPI) robot choosing and grabbing randomly stacked boxes from the back of a truck and placing them on a conveyor or pallet. The 3D software and advanced spatial recognition algorithms integral to making the IPI robot work are continuing this progression of new developments breeding new applications.
IPI's robot consists of their new tool designed to grab cases off a truck or shelf, their use of various vision and lighting systems to "see in 3D" [what's out there], and their proprietary software to determine dimensions and exact locations. It then decides which is the safest and most expeditious package to pick, and, using an industrial arm grabs and then swivels around to place the box or package on a pallet or conveyor. It all works quickly and smoothly and seems logical and conceptually easy. But IPI has made a significant breakthrough in putting it all together and making it work seamlessly. To see the device at work unloading random sized cases off of a truck - (as can be seen in the video above from an IEEE/Spectrum posting - is an ingenious achievement yet simple combination of vision, data analysis, a creative gripper and an industrial strength robot arm.
Collaborative Cage-free Robots:Two robot makers, Rethink Robotics and Universal Robots, have focused on selling to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and both had big crowds of interested prospects. Baxter, Rethink Robotics' new $22,000 two-armed robot, had the biggest assemblage of interested people followed closely by 8-year old Universal Robots, the Danish company displaying their very polished and similarly capable $34,000 robot arm.
Both companies offer new methods of training their robots: Baxter is taught via a graphical interface and direct manipulation of its arms; Universal offers a hybrid of the clunky industry-standard teaching pendant and a simple teaching-style point and click programming environment.
Transitioning from Industrial to Service Robots:In fact, Universal Robots' two robots, UR5 and UR10 (5 kg and 10 kg respectively), are more comparable to the new and more expensive lightweight one-arm offerings from KUKA, Yaskawa Motoman and others that are making these new single- and dual-arm robots safe to work un-caged and alongside human workers. Rethink Robotics' Baxter is in a category all its own for the present because of price and capability. There is no cheaper two-armed robot and there is nothing with the capabilities and flexibility that Baxter offers (particularly down the road as they improve it). But competition is coming from creditable players - perhaps as soon as Automate 2014.
The major robot makers appear to be slow in transitioning into this next generation marketplace, perhaps because they are just barely keeping up with the current one which is expanding in double digits all over the world. This may be one explanation for Universal Robots low-cost-of-entry robot having so much success. Or perhaps because they aren't ready to move into the lower-priced arena just yet. Major robot makers are transitioning from single task to multiple tasks, from single arm to dual arms, in large factories and auto plants. The next round of advances, whenever it happens, appears to be the merging of safety, mobility, vision, flexibility and dexterity that enable new collaborative cage-free robots to assist humans in various short-run tasks including assembly, transport, tending other machines, etc.
Robot Operating System (ROS) Industrial:I noted a growing use of ROS and ROS-Industrial for the development and integration of add-on systems and equipment to existing robots. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) showed their ROS-Industrial software and libraries and how its use is growing amongst robot manufacturers and integrators. Nearby, an integrator was showing three robots (a Fanuc, Kuka and ABB) all working together - collaborating - on a packaging line. In the example they were all sharing a single control box - a remarkable software achievement. And Gumstix, the $100 computer on a chip, announced support for ROS — and introduced a bootable microSD card with ROS preloaded.
Mobile Platforms:Adept and their new mobility platform, Lynx. Adept's line of robots were shown on the recent CBS News 60 Minutes segment about robots and jobs and included an interview with Adept's CEO John Dulchinos. Similar to the platform iRobot developed with InTouch Health, Adept's Lynx doesn't require floor or ceiling markings for it to safely guide itself from place to place. It uses natural feature navigation and is designed to work in existing, peopled environments such as warehouses, factories and offices. It has an innovative blue wheel on the side that communicates status and intent of the robot to surrounding people. Lynx can haul 130 pounds for up to 13 hours at up to 4 mph before needing a recharge. It can be programmed by voice prompts or through a tablet.
Warehousing and Materials Handling:
Across the hallway in the ProMat material handling show held in conjunction with Automate, the major vendors tended not to call their products robots; they referred to them as being automatic or autonomous material handling devices and systems. The booths for Dematic, Swisslog, Egemin, Raymond, Seegrid, Murata, Beumer, Elettric80 and Schaefer were as prominent in ProMat as the big gun robot makers were at Automate. Dematic's booth in particular had overhead screens - like at a basketball arena -- as well as hundreds of feet of moving conveyers, elevators, bins and cases. Perhaps they needed to specially promote at ProMat in order to distinguish their products from Symbotic's very similar ones which debuted last year. Symbotic didn't exhibit at either Automate or ProMat.
It's All About Jobs and New Tech:Henrik Christensen's keynote address discussed his efforts in the halls of Congress and at the White House to convince lawmakers that automation and job growth were not mutually exclusive. "It's about how to leverage and empower the workforce, not remove it," he said. "Once we bring manufacturing here, we also have more control over jobs in the associated supply chain." He went on to attack the recent CBS News 60 Minute segment which showed many robotic advancements but also implied that robots take jobs, as being "a piece of crappy journalism."
In that same CBS 60-Minutes piece, one of the authors of a study about jobs and the future, said, "Even if offshore manufacturing returns to the U.S., most of the jobs will go to robots." The International Federation of Robotics, in a press conference the day after Christensen's talk, revealed the contents of a new study it had commissioned. That report indicated a number of trends: (1) the economy always picks up much faster than job growth; (2) for every job created in manufacturing, there are 1.3 jobs created in other areas because of it; and (3) that investments in technology lead to unemployment in the short term, but a much higher job comeback just 3-5 years out.
Further, noting that bin-picking wasn't even possible a decade ago, Christensen suggested that within the next 10 years autonomous cars may be able to serve as driverless parcel carriers and that un-piloted drones may ship packages coast to coast.
He endorsed the concept currently being used by mobile robot company Aethon which provides a service to manually override their robots when the robot signals for help. Generalizing this service to others, Christensen suggested that robots could be serviced and directed by their manufacturer through the cloud as needed so that the customer wouldn't have to be involved with robot maintenance.
All in all the buzz of both shows was that (1) there were more buyers and strong leads than last year and (2) that investment in capital purchases for new robots and warehousing systems, which had been put off for years because of the recession, was now back on and companies were reflecting that with their orders and comments.

subset: commoncrawl


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Batman will be getting bigger this summer, with The Dark Knight Rises featuring more than an hour's worth of full-size IMAX footage.
That compares with just 40 minutes of such footage in 2008's Dark Knight, meaning that bat-fans will be getting more bang for their IMAX buck when the movie hits the super-sized theatres on July 20.
The fact appeared in a lengthy Wall Street Journal article about the increasing popularity of IMAX, wherein director Christopher Nolan revealed that his directing the threequel was contingent on Warner Bros. allowing him to shoot scenes with the 90-pound IMAX cameras.
"There was a huge irony that we were told it would be too difficult to shoot a Hollywood movie on IMAX when we had this gigantic camera department, grips, electric, hundreds of people working for us," he explained. "These were cameras that had been to the top of Mount Everest, to the bottom of the ocean and into outer space, but people thought we couldn't make a feature film. It was absurd."


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|System: X360, PS3, PSP
|Review Rating Legend
|Dev: Namco Bandai
|1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
|4.0 - 4.4 = Great
|Pub: Namco Bandai
|2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
|4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
|Release: Oct.27, 2009
|2.5 - 2.9 = Average
|5.0 = The Best
|Players: 1-2
|3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
|ESRB Rating: Teen
|3.5 - 3.9 = Good
Believe it or not, there is also a component to the online mode which seems to have been lifted from the racing genre: ghost functionality. This feature allows you to download ghosts of any opponent you have ever faced online, and lets you play and replay matches as many times as you want offline. The ghost functionality certainly isn't the selling point of Tekken 6, but it is a nice little addition that will give players some extra training options.
Technically speaking, Tekken 6 is very sound. The visuals in the game are top-notch, and they feature high-quality character models and plenty of memorable stages. The visual design maintains the Tekken signature look, complete with hard lines and bright colors. The cutscenes in the scenario mode are of very high quality as well, and the mode actually begins with a highly-stylized black and white montage of important plot elements in the Tekken series thus far. The game is a jewel to look at, no matter which system you play it on. Except for some minor framerate issues, the visuals are first-rate.
One thing that does hamper the game severely though is its abundance of loading screens. Even after the game is installed, you can expect loading screens to pop up everywhere, from the character select screens to the middle of a cutscene. This wouldn't be terribly egregious if the loading screens were at least short, but they generally last between 5-10 seconds, becoming quite frustrating, especially if you are trying to keep your "fighter's mojo" up.
Sound in the game is hit or miss. If you like the Japanese voiceovers in past Tekken games, then you're in luck, because there is a full Japanese voiceover in both scenario and arcade mode. If you are a fan of English voiceovers, however, you'll be disappointed, as there is no English voiceover in Tekken 6. The background music is good regardless of language. There are rich, orchestral themes that accompany the different stages, and the music in Scenario mode is always very fitting.
If you are a fighting fan, you've had plenty of options this year. From the stellar Street Fighter IV to the surprisingly great BlazBlue, there has been no shortage of excellent fighters from which to pick. Though your shelf may be getting crowded, you simply must make some room for Tekken 6. Forget the fact that Tekken is one of the most renowned franchises in fighting history. Tekken 6 has plenty of merits to go on without riding its predecessors' coattails. With a solid battle system that incorporates plenty of defensive techniques and emphasizes combo mastery, this fighter will keep you engaged for quite some time. Add a brawl-style story mode and plenty of online possibilities, and you've got yourself a fighter that deserves to be played.
Amanda L. Kondolojy
CCC Staff Contributor
Game Features:


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Whether current market and political pressures will ultimately succeed in eliminating powerful American pickups, SUVs and V-8-powered cars from showrooms and roadways entirely or just significantly shrink their number, enthusiasts could soon find their high-horsepower American vehicles of choice relegated to car museums and collectors' garages.
The disappearance of the V-8 is unlikely, says Ken Gross, who was director of the Petersen Museum, a world-class automotive collection in Los Angeles. But he lists a few V-8-powered American automobiles enthusiasts might consider purchasing while the selection is still relatively substantial.
Click ahead to see a handful of today's V-8 muscle soon-to-be collectibles.
By Bankrate.com
Posted 11 August 2009


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Amid-sized electrical contracting firm was on the constant lookout for a strong business development resource. Time and again, the CEO interviewed potential candidates, believing that a qualified resource should cost the firm no more than $50,000 a year with a small commission based on closed sales. While the idea of maintaining a low fixed salary was prudent for a business development position, the CEO added an additional wrinkle that immediately reduced the size of his candidate pool — he limited the upside compensation. So no matter how much revenue the employee generated, the cap for that particular position was $75,000 — the CEO's opinion of high-end compensation. Needless to say, the only candidates interested in applying were those who were either happy with the $50,000 base salary or those who exhibited no real hunger to be a top-level producer.
Does your electrical firm follow the practice of limiting the compensation of its employees, regardless of their contribution to the bottom line? As an owner, do you feel a sense of short-term entitlement that allows you to sweep the majority of firm profits into your pocket each year, leaving your staff to fight over meager bonus pools? If so, your firm could be heading for trouble — a brewing discontent that will push away productive employees and replace them with clock watchers.
Many electrical contracting firms follow the "caste" system of compensation where a select few employees — usually owners and a few key management types — receive the predominant share of operating profits, leaving the majority of workers to toil for their base salaries. This inequitable compensation-sharing arrangement eventually boils over into high levels of discontent, resulting in complacency. Employees work enough to keep their jobs, and owners are dismayed when employees choose life-balance philosophies over working a few hours of overtime. Fortunately, there is a solution that provides benefits to both the owner and employee — sharing the booty.
Breaking your business down
Shared compensation is based on recognizing the quantitative contributions of each employee. However, the expectations for contribution are dependent upon which segment of the organization the employee works. For example, if would be difficult to assign the same contribution measures to your marketing or business development person and bookkeeper. While both people are important to your operations, the expectations of each position are vastly different.
Most electrical contracting firms logically break their workforce down into the following business segments:
Sales and marketing — these employees are evaluated on revenue and profit generation (i.e., marketing or business development manager, sales manager).
Delivery and operations — these employees are evaluated on chargeable hours, customer feedback, and overall delivery excellence (i.e., electricians).
The sales and marketing solution
Finance and administration — these employees are evaluated on cost containment and increasing the corporate value of the enterprise (i.e., bookkeeper, office manager, purchasing clerk, human resources).
Each business segment must be viewed independently when crafting a shared compensation plan. Where most business owners salivate over sales success and high levels of chargeability, very often it is the bookkeeper that ensures the profitability of the firm. So, how can each individual share in your business' success?
Many owners of mid- to large-scale electrical contracting firms are stymied as to the parameters that should be in place for an effective shared compensation arrangement for sales professionals. Many believe in the commission-only philosophy while others, such as the CEO mentioned earlier, are more comfortable limiting any upside surprises. Remember, the goal of sales and marketing is to generate profitable work for your business. Don't make the mistake of providing bonuses to salespeople based on their level of activity (i.e., number of sales calls, participation in networking organizations). If these activities do not produce profitable work, they are of no value to you — the owner.
Let's look at a quick case in point. An electrical contracting firm located in Virginia was turning over its sales and marketing positions nearly every six months — much to the dismay of the owner. An examination of the problem revealed that while the compensation structure was adequate, the firm had never established effective value propositions for its service offerings. As a result, sales success was only achieved when the electrical contractor was the lowest price provider, wiping out any level of appreciable profit (and, in many instances, not fully recovering all of the firm's overhead costs). Although revenues were admirable, the sales resource did not benefit because shared compensation was calculated not only on revenue levels but also on profit contributions. Without any realized profit, there was no appreciable upside compensation.
In this case, the problem stemmed from the firm's sales and marketing philosophy. By not crafting effective value propositions, the firm was forced to sell its services using commodity pricing — a practice where low price wins. As bonus arrangements with sales professionals were based on both revenue and profit, talented individuals found themselves working hard but not obtaining any monetary benefit. In short order, these individuals moved on to greener pastures.
The goal of an effective shared compensation arrangement for sales and marketing professionals is to establish a structure that rewards both revenue and profit contributions. This way, sales professionals are focused on bringing "good" work to the business — not just any work. In addition, as related in the story at the beginning of this article, a business owner should never "cap" an employee's potential earnings — to do so limits their ambition and reduces your upside corporate growth.
The operational solution
Finding a shared compensation solution for the operations and delivery component of your firm is a straightforward process. Owners of electrical contracting firms can easily assess the productivity of their electricians — literally measuring the per customer revenue that is generated for a stated period. As with sales, the goal is to measure the profitable contribution of each employee — not just the chargeable hours. To reward just the hours worked without recognizing the real monetary contribution is missing the real value contribution.
Falling further behind on its delivery promises, one mid-sized electrical contracting firm in New York is a good example of how this mind-set can backfire. The CEO, who was also the lead business development person, was constantly looking for new customer opportunities. He literally spent every day beating the bushes for new work. Once he found it, he said "yes" to every possible opportunity — regardless of the project's profitability. Unfortunately, delivery personnel were going out of their minds as new and different jobs continued to appear, and the customer work list continued to grow. In time, deadlines were missed, and high levels of re-work became necessary as delivery personnel tried to cut corners to clear customer projects. Finally, completely worn out, delivery people started to leave.
In this case, a shared compensation arrangement based solely on hours worked would have been disastrous. The electricians were working hard but not effectively. As levels of re-work and customer complaints increased, the profitability of each job disappeared. Because the profitability of each job was suspect, it was difficult to determine which hours worked were realizing any real quantitative contribution.
In a perfect pricing environment, each employee should generate gross revenues that equal approximately three times their cost (salary and benefits). As an example, a an electrician who makes $50,000 a year with a 20% benefits component should generate approximately $180,000 in gross revenues for the firm. Under this scenario, a rationale charge rate for this employee would be approximately $100 an hour — assuming an 1,800 chargeable year target. However, because many projects are bid based on fixed hours, a more competent employee may complete the job in less time than bid yielding a far higher level of profitability on the project. This, of course, is contrasted with another employee who works more hours to complete the job, thereby reducing the profit contribution to the firm.
The administrative solution
Finance and administration is an area where a shared compensation plan has always been difficult to develop, as these employees are not viewed to have a direct impact on either revenue or profitability. Companies typically provide modest cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) to these employees — more as a way to reward longevity as opposed to any monetary contribution. This is not always the best approach, because administrative personnel have more of an impact on your profitability than you might think.
For example, an electrical contracting firm was seeking to implement a comprehensive compensation sharing plan with all of its employees — including the bookkeeper. As administrative costs continued to climb each and every year (increased health insurance premiums, higher energy costs to heat the building and fuel the trucks, and more complex telephone requirements), the owner came upon a perfect way to measure the bookkeeper's performance — reduce the overall administrative costs of the business as a percentage relationship to labor dollars spent. In other words, prior to implementing this metric of performance, the electrical contracting firm was spending approximately 30 cents of every dollar billed on administrative (or indirect) charges. The bookkeeper's goal was to reduce this expense, thereby spreading a lower administrative cost burden across the organizational revenue. After the first year, she was successful in dropping it down to 24 cents per dollar earned — a savings of 20%! Her shared compensation amount was based on a percentage of the dollars the firm saved.
For owners of electrical contracting firms, it's important to remember that every employee has an impact on firm value — even the forgotten administrative personnel. For many companies, the bookkeeper is the employee with the most tenure (a logical assumption if it is your spouse!).
The three-tiered compensation approach
Should you reward an exemplary employee even though the firm lost money for the year? Cash flow logic suggests that paying out any bonuses in a down financial period further risks the cash reserves of your firm. Conversely, punishing an employee who has exceeded his or her performance metrics sends another less attractive message — specifically, the firm has let you down. The answer may actually be a compromise that ensures good employees obtain some reward but not to the complete detriment of the firm. Enter the three-tiered compensation approach, which examines upside bonuses based on the performance of the following: the individual, the business unit, and the corporation.
To illustrate this approach, let's say a large electrical contracting firm had two divisions — a residential and commercial business. The employees were assigned to a specific division by the owners, and rarely did an employee work for both divisions simultaneously. The firm followed the three-tier approach where bonuses were calculated equally based on the success of the individual, the division, and the entire firm. In 2007, it was not unusual for employees in the residential division to only receive 66% of their bonus allotment — 33% for individual performance, 33% for overall firm performance, and 0% for the performance of the residential division. For this firm, exemplary employees were still rewarded — recognition that they achieved their objectives — even though the firm, as a whole, may have come up short.
Contrast this approach with a smaller firm — also located in the same geographic area. The owner, ever mindful of his bottom line, took the approach to cancel all compensation sharing arrangements when his firm suffered an operating loss for the year. While this reaction was prudent from the owner's perspective, it had negative connotations to those employees who had "busted their humps" that year. Not surprisingly, the firm's two top electricians resigned soon after the end of the year.
In general, employees should be rewarded for those activities that are under their control and not be punished for the actions of others in the corporation.
Owner benefits
Owners of electrical contracting firms are always suspect of implementing a shared compensation arrangement. Many argue that such a process reduces their personal take-home compensation or unfairly rewards "lucky" customer situations where an employee just happened to be at the right place at the right time (see Luck of the Draw on page C22).
One reason is because the workforce is changing. Today, where terms such as "work-life balance" have entered the lexicon, owners are finding it more difficult to attract and retain employees with a real drive to succeed. Gone are the days when electricians joined an electrical contracting firm and were driven to maximize chargeable hours and reap larger monetary rewards. Those employees will find employment elsewhere nowadays.
Because of the competitive job market, downturn in economy, and labor shortage in the electrical industry, owners may want to take a second look at the benefits of implementing a shared compensation plan. Beyond ensuring a productive environment for driven employees, it provides you, the business owner, with ever-increasing corporate value — the real measure of your success and, for many owners of electrical contracting firms, your retirement.
Dawson is managing director of LTV Dynamics, an international sales management and business consulting firm in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. He can be reached at [email protected].
Sidebar: Luck of the Draw
Sometimes, you're just in the right place at the right time. A junior electrician who had accepted a position at an electrical contracting firm learned this lesson firsthand. Little did he know that his rather impressive network of contacts (thanks to his new wife's family connections) would pay off big time.
As had been its practice for many years, the firm provided a 10% bonus to any employee that brought new work into the company. After only a couple of months, the electrician "lucked" into a connection that yielded a $1 million project — an amount that was approximately one-third the annual revenue of the firm. At first, the owner of the firm was hesitant to pay out the $100,000 bonus due to this new employee — an amount that was far more than the electrician's current annual compensation. However, after much reflection, he realized that the revenue associated with this new customer had substantially increased the corporate value of his firm, making the $100,000 payout a reasonable business development expense.


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Tony Iommi takes his Epiphone to Hell
Back in 1979, original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath split. With Ozzy's departure, Sabbath needed a frontman that could fill his shoes and found one with former Rainbow vocalist, Ronnie James Dio. As a result, heavy-metal's founding group took on a whole new sound and direction with the release of "Heaven and Hell."
Now, reuniting once again as "Heaven and Hell", Ronnie James Dio joins Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice and hits the road with 20 stops in the US and 11 in Canada currently scheduled. They also headline Germany's infamous "Bang Your Head!!" festival June 22nd -23rd in Balingen, Germany.
On the road with axeman Iommi will be his signature Epiphone guitar. If you aren't familiar with this badboy, here's a close look at this devilishly cool guitar with the tone that's all Tony.
All the bite, tone and playing comfort you need, featuring a 24-fret Slim-Taper™ neck, Gibson USA Tony Iommi Humbuckers and Tony's distinctive "cross" inlays.
Rock solid tuning stability and performance with Grover machine heads.
These are the pickups your Mom warned you about! The Tony Iommi Signature Pickups are the same humbuckers that the Black Sabbath guitar legend uses in his guitar. Using a totally unique design, this was the first signature pickup made by Gibson. With its closed cover it's built to pack a real punch, with blistering mids, razor-sharp highs and balanced low-end. The "patent-applied-for" magnet configuration and special wire winding ensure maximized sustain, while the wax and epoxy potting protects against unwanted feedback.
The Iommi features Tony's signature "crosses" inlays and a glued-in Mahogany 24-fret Slim-Taper™ neck for a full two-octaves of blistering guitar riffs.
CLICK HERE to read Guitar World Magazine's review of the Epiphone Tony Iommi.
The Tony Iommi Signature G-400 is available now, from Dolphin Music. VIEW PAGE


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Sayoko Tachibana lost her parents amidst war. In order to save her fatally injured brother, she chooses a fateful future for herself…?! This is a science fiction action novel depicting the story of a young woman baring the title of "Sirius", battling through her last 7 days.
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U.S. Consumer Confidence Drops
The Dow industrials edged up as better-than-expected profits offset an unexpected drop in a measure of consumer confidence. WSJ MarketBeat reporter Paul Vigna reports on The News Hub. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the ... state live I'm Simon Constable is a live shot of them a lot ... the Dow up about fifty four points to the tech heavy Nasdaq basically unchanged points and the big stock index the the SB five hundred up five point three for his much from the school ... to explain what went on the go one nonlethal holding in ... every dollar of one didn't go on ... we didn't we didn't use the insulin to try and hold on and see that most of the gains in the last hour ... yes those really if he were to lose it all came in the last hour really ... mostly think the ... market kind of fun now ... to take on that same weekend we had any news about consumer confidence which slipped as the Antad ... Dom you know ... there's movie they wouldn't know it is not good news because consumer spending is ... two-thirds the comics a seventy percent typically right gets me and it matters to consumer mood matters but it was a huge move and should be an expected ... I mean consumers go on Mondays J Simon Constable and you will not to shouldn't really be expected to move the market too much ... earnings this morning General Electric Morgan Stanley ... Wealth did OK both stocks did ok Intel report last night they are down ten percent today ... did not like their earnings report and the outlooks that was a tough one it's now look the masses with these ideas is not yet met with problems for Zoetis is the fourth quarter most Discover reported fourth-quarter so what you're getting is the first quarter beginning of this year the entire year so that the people and what they see for twenty thirteen now we also to take on an insight into what I call the iam the attack of the kill a zombie banks show ... which was of was playing back in two thousand and seven minutes the five minute ride was the release of minutes from two thousand and seven ... yet it's not the other banks right they are the least on a five-year laksa were now getting the minutes from the to the downside ... and didn't even which is just the milk the transcript from the two thousandseven this ... direction would see the beginning of the year is not a lot of concern ... as the year one on there is more more concern about what is going on ... in the banking sector ... in the housing market ... high ... no plan level ... PT one panicking ... and they should have been taken down and a new home already but yet very lot of interesting reading ... to top like that much of it and ... how much of the ... fault of The will Street gentle lamb long now on the vs day don't come ...


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LONDON - This is my 16th Olympic Games.
It is also the first in which I will see the Olympic Games rather than be focused on one sport, track and field at the Summer Games, figure skating at the Winter Games.
I love those two sports, and they have given me some unforgettable moments.
But I am excited to see sailing and equestrian and men's gymnastics and fencing, especially now that an athlete I profiled at length in the Tribune, Mariel Zagunis, has been chosen as U.S. flagbearer at Friday's opening ceremony.
I long have wished the air-sucking pros in basketball and soccer and tennis would be out of the Olympics, so the incredible athletes in sports like wrestling and rowing and archery would have all the attention on them.
I am waiting for the serendipitous moment that will be my Olympic highlight.
At the Summer Games, it has occurred in one of the sports I was able to drop in on before track and field began.
In Atlanta, I happened to be there the night injured Kerri Strug landed that vault on one leg, the vault that assured the U.S. a gold medal in gymnastics.
In Beijing, I was there the morning Jason Lezak improbably caught a Frenchman on the final leg of the 4x1 free relay to keep Michael Phelps' quest for eight gold medals alive.
I wish I had been at fencing in Athens to watch coaches throw Zagunis in the air after her surprise gold medal.
I expect to be at the track to watch Usain Bolt, superman become mortal, try for a second straight 100-meter gold.
And to be at the pool when Michael Phelps, a living immortal in his sport, breaks the record for most total Olympic medals.
But - and excuse me for using a recent U.S. Olympic Committee slogan - amazing awaits, and often at the most unexpected moments.
Maybe I will be lucky enough to see one.


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The parents of an 11-year-old leukemia patient who was snuck out of Phoenix hospital have come forth to say that the girl is fine and being treated in Mexico.
Authorities are concerned that Emily, who had undergone a month of chemotherapy and lost her right arm to complications, is at risk of dying from an infection. When her mother and brother snuck her out of the hospital last month, they removed an IV drip from a catheter that remains in her chest.
In an interview with Spanish-language television network Telemundo, Emily's mother Norma Bracamontes claimed she had no choice but to secretly remove her daughter because their insurance was running out and she wouldn't be allowed to take her daughter to Mexico.
In a separate interview with NBC News on Wednesday, her father Luis said Emily safe in Mexico, without giving any specifics.
"She's well and she's fine," Bracamontes told the network.
A Phoenix police spokesman said investigators have yet to verify the father's claims and remain focused on finding the girl.
"There still is the possibility of criminal charges," Sergeant Steve Martos told Reuters. "Right now we're waiting to get all the facts on what happened and why."
Plus: Mom Treats Daughter's Leukemia With Medical Marijuana, Dad Objects
On November 28, Norma Bracamontes, 35, was filmed slipping out of the hospital with Emily and Emily's brother.
Police said the mother unplugged the IV feed from her daughter's catheter, changed the youth's clothing in a hospital bathroom and walked out of the building. But because the catheter remains wedged in the girls heart, her risk of contracting a life-threatening infection have seriously increased.
Emily's father told Telemundo that the medical bills had reached $1.37 million, close to his $2 million a year limit. He say they were told if they did not apply and get approve for Medicaid, they would have to start paying out of pocket.
What do you make of Bracamontes' saga? Can you empathize what they're going through or do you think they're selfishly putting their daughter at risk? Let us know in the comments.


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Editor's note: Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist, is vice chair for voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee and founder of Brazile & Associates, a political consulting firm. She was the campaign manager for the Al Gore-Joe Lieberman ticket in 2000 and wrote "Cooking With Grease."
Donna Brazile says the Oscar-nominated "Benjamin Button" and New Orleans celebrate redemption.
(CNN) -- There's an old saying down in my hometown of New Orleans about how to tell the changing of the seasons. I'm not referring to winter, spring, summer or fall, but rather to the aroma of what someone's cooking up fresh and delicious.
Shrimp, oysters, crabs, crayfish -- those are our seasons. It's all a cycle, and before we enter the Lenten season, we gather together to celebrate Mardi Gras.
The parades that began earlier this month won't end until late Fat Tuesday, February 24. This Sunday most of us will come home soon after the Bacchus float rolls down Canal Street, to watch the 81st annual Oscars and root for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
"Benjamin Button" is about transformation and renewal, and one of the film's key characters is New Orleans. Filmed in some of my hometown's most cherished neighborhoods and historic sites -- the Garden and Warehouse districts, the French Quarter, Uptown and the shores of Lake Pontchartrain -- the diversity, spirit and special grace that imbibe the culture of New Orleans also enrich and inform the film.
While we celebrate the film's 13 Oscar nominations, we should also celebrate its contribution to the rebirth of New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf Coast.
Based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who chose Baltimore, Maryland, as its locale, the film version of "Benjamin Button" was instead set in New Orleans by Paramount Pictures. Almost four years after Katrina, one of the most destructive and powerful hurricanes to hit our nation's shores, the movie has ushered in a reawakening and refocusing on New Orleans that will help this treasured city move past the tragedy that almost destroyed it.
Like New Orleans itself, Benjamin Button was born old. Literally. While other children played, young Benjamin sat as a wizened old man in a wheelchair among the old folks who accepted him for who he was, not how he looked -- unlike the widowed father who abandoned him to the care of a stranger, a black woman capable of loving Benjamin despite his grotesque appearance and infirmities.
Raised in a rest home, Benjamin grows younger as those around him age and die. He meets the love of his life while both are in their tender years, though they don't become romantically involved until their bodies and emotional maturity are compatibly developed.
As oblivious to his own good looks as he was to his initial ugliness, Benjamin has an innate appreciation for the values many young people typically take for granted -- physical labor, survival despite great obstacles, loyalty.
As Hurricane Katrina wheels itself ever closer to shore, its fierce winds and drenching rain pounding at the window, Benjamin's story unfolds as his now-elderly childhood sweetheart lays dying, listening to her (their) daughter read from his diary, a journal neither had ever before read.
Just as New Orleans is loved and revered for its rich and unconventional cultural characteristics, the tragedy of Katrina has allowed a quixotic renewal -- a rebirth, if you will -- of New Orleans' physical structure while maintaining a reverence for its spirit, historical architecture and traditions, so beautifully captured in the film.
People from all over the country embraced the displaced natives of the Big Easy with open arms until they were able to return home, much like Benjamin's adoptive mother did. Today, New Orleans has the look of a fresh young city complemented with a deep wisdom that only can be gained through near-death experiences.
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" stands as an example of Hollywood "doing right," both artistically and with a social consciousness that expended millions of dollars and created thousands of jobs in an area that desperately needs them. This celebrated picture is a reminder to all that supporting American industry is the key to the rebirth of this incredible region.
The scars of New Orleans' recent past are fading as she welcomes the future, dressed to the nines in fancy new lingerie and prepared for a romantic encounter with the future. New Orleans is about redemption and renewal -- as is the most curious case of Benjamin Button.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of Donna Brazile.
All About New Orleans • Hurricane Katrina • Hollywood