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Source: In These Times
Shifts in global power, ongoing or potential, are a lively topic among policy makers and observers. One question is whether (or when) China will displace the United States as the dominant global player, perhaps along with India.
Such a shift would return the global system to something like it was before the European conquests. Economic growth in China and India has been rapid, and because they rejected the West's policies of financial deregulation, they survived the recession better than most. Nonetheless, questions arise.
One standard measure of social health is the U.N. Human Development Index. As of 2008, India ranks 134th, slightly above Cambodia and below Laos and Tajikistan, about where it has been for many years. China ranks 92nd-tied with Belize, a bit above Jordan, below the Dominican Republic and Iran.
India and China also have very high inequality, so more than a billion of their inhabitants fall far lower on the scale.
Another concern is the U.S. debt. Some fear it places the U.S. in thrall to China. But apart from a brief interlude ending in December, Japan has long been the biggest international holder of U.S. government debt. Creditor leverage, furthermore, is overrated.
In one dimension-military power-the United States stands alone. And Obama is setting new records with his 2011 military budget. Almost half the U.S. deficit is due to military spending, which is untouchable in the political system.
When considering the U.S. economy's other sectors, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and other economists warn that we should beware of "deficit fetishism." A deficit is a stimulus to recovery, and it can be overcome with a growing economy, as after World War II, when the deficit was far worse.
And the deficit is expected to grow, largely because of the hopelessly inefficient privatized health care system-also virtually untouchable, thanks to business's ability to overpower the public will.
However, the framework of these discussions is misleading. The global system is not only an interaction among states, each pursuing some "national interest" abstracted from distribution of domestic power. That has long been understood.
Adam Smith concluded that the "principal architects" of policy in England were "merchants and manufacturers," who ensured that their own interests are "most peculiarly attended to," however "grievous" the effects on others, including the people of England.
Smith's maxim still holds, though today the "principal architects" are multinational corporations and particularly the financial institutions whose share in the economy has exploded since the 1970s.
In the United States we have recently seen a dramatic illustration of the power of the financial institutions. In the last presidential election they provided the core of President Obama's funding.
Naturally they expected to be rewarded. And they were-with the TARP bailouts, and a great deal more. Take Goldman Sachs, the top dog in both the economy and the political system. The firm made a mint by selling mortgage-backed securities and more complex financial instruments.
Aware of the flimsiness of the packages they were peddling, the firm also took out bets with the insurance giant American International Group (AIG) that the offerings would fail. When the financial system collapsed, AIG went down with it.
Goldman's architects of policy not only parlayed a bailout for Goldman itself but also arranged for taxpayers to save AIG from bankruptcy, thus rescuing Goldman.
Now Goldman is making record profits and paying out fat bonuses. It, and a handful of other banks, are bigger and more powerful than ever. The public is furious. People can see that the banks that were primary agents of the crisis are making out like bandits, while the population that rescued them is facing an official unemployment rate of nearly 10 percent, as of February. The rate rises to nearly 17 percent when all Americans who wish to be fully employed are counted.
Bringing Obama to heel
Popular anger finally evoked a rhetorical shift from the administration, which responded with charges about greedy bankers. "I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat-cat bankers on Wall Street," Obama told60 Minutes in December. This kind of rhetoric was accompanied with some policy suggestions that the financial industry doesn't like (e.g., the Volcker Rule, which would bar banks receiving government support from engaging in speculative activity unrelated to basic bank activities) and proposals to set up an independent regulatory agency to protect consumers.
Since Obama was supposed to be their man in Washington, the principal architects of government policy wasted little time delivering their instructions: Unless Obama fell back into line, they would shift funds to the political opposition. "If the president doesn't become a little more balanced and centrist in his approach, then he will likely lose" the support of Wall Street, Kelly S. King, a board member of the lobbying group Financial Services Roundtable, told the New York Times in early February. Securities and investment businesses gave the Democratic Party a record $89 million during the 2008 campaign.
Three days later, Obama informed the press that bankers are fine "guys," singling out the chairmen of the two biggest players, JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs: "I, like most of the American people, don't begrudge people success or wealth. That's part of the free-market system," the president said. (Or at least "free markets" as interpreted by state capitalist doctrine.)
That turnabout is a revealing snapshot of Smith's maxim in action.
The architects of policy are also at work on a real shift of power: from the global work force to transnational capital.
Economist and China specialist Martin Hart-Landsberg explores the dynamic in a recent Monthly Review article. China has become an assembly plant for a regional production system. Japan, Taiwan and other advanced Asian economies export high-tech parts and components to China, which assembles and exports the finished products.
The spoils of power
The growing U.S. trade deficit with China has aroused concern. Less noticed is that the U.S. trade deficit with Japan and the rest of Asia has sharply declined as this new regional production system takes shape. U.S. manufacturers are following the same course, providing parts and components for China to assemble and export, mostly back to the United States. For the financial institutions, retail giants, and the owners and managers of manufacturing industries closely related to this nexus of power, these developments are heaven sent.
And well understood. In 2007, Ralph Gomory, head of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, testified before Congress, "In this new era of globalization, the interests of companies and countries have diverged. In contrast with the past, what is good for America's global corporations is no longer necessarily good for the American people."
Consider IBM. According to Business Week, by the end of 2008, more than 70 percent of IBM's work force of 400,000 was abroad. In 2009 IBM reduced its U.S. employment by another 8 percent.
For the work force, the outcome may be "grievous," in accordance with Smith's maxim, but it is fine for the principal architects of policy. Current research indicates that about one-fourth of U.S. jobs will be "offshorable" within two decades, and for those jobs that remain, security and decent pay will decline because of the increased competition from replaced workers.
This pattern follows 30 years of stagnation or decline for the majority as wealth poured into few pockets, leading to what has probably become the greatest inequality between the haves and the have-nots since the end of American slavery.
While China is becoming the world's assembly plant and export platform, Chinese workers are suffering along with the rest of the global work force. This is an unsurprising outcome of a system designed to concentrate wealth and power and to set working people in competition with one another worldwide.
Globally, workers' share in national income has declined in many countries-dramatically so in China, leading to growing unrest in that highly inegalitarian society.
So we have another significant shift in global power: from the general population to the principal architects of the global system, a process aided by the undermining of functioning democracy in the United States and other of the Earth's most powerful states.
The future depends on how much the great majority is willing to endure, and whether that great majority will collectively offer a constructive response to confront the problems at the core of the state capitalist system of domination and control.
If not, the results might be grim, as history more than amply reveals.
Noam Chomsky is Institute Professor & Professor of Linguistics (Emeritus) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the author of dozens of books on U.S. foreign policy. He writes a monthly column for The New York Times News Service/Syndicate.


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subset: commoncrawl


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In what follows, I'll talk a bit more about how the Activity Journal displays extended periods of your past computer life in terms of your activities, and thereby gives you access to the entities you directed these activities at.
Subsequently, activity browsing by time is contrasted to other means for relating specifically to information you've used in the past. These include file browsing by folders and by recently visited folders, access via recent documents lists, as well as file search with date or date range constraints (over 'creation', 'last accessed', and 'last modified' timestamps, as portrayed in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), and, finally, searching with the Synapse launcher (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) or using the also Zeitgeist-powered Ubuntu Unity file browser (1, 2, 3) and Unity's scopes and lenses. Please note, that the discussion of most-used access notions and of browsing and search in application-specific histories will be postponed.
As a final introductory remark, it seems overall way less common to have results of users' re-finding attempts ordered by time, than what could be expected from research findings, presented by one of the thought leaders in the field of information retrieval: In experiments with the 'Stuff I've Seen' system, it was found that date was by far the most preferred sort order of users, searching and browsing the stuff they'd seen before (slide 7).
With this outline and comments in mind, let's now resume the recap of the Activity Journal.
Display & Access … of your day-by-day computer work
Just as the prototypes of the new Journal (depicted here and there), their ancestor Activity Journal shows your day-by-day computer work, thus, what you worked on, when you did so and, to some extent, also together with whom.
The Activity Journal can not only be used to display and browse a chronological record of the information you've considered in your computer work, but also to regain this very information, that is, first of all, your files. Surpassing display and access of file activity only, other relevant activities such as commits to code hosting platforms, chat conversations in channels and in in private, as well as web activity are also exposed and can be returned to.
To this end, the time-anchored data from your Zeitgeist activity log are presented to you via three separate views, which can be switched among. These views are the default three-days-in-columns view (called 'multi view') and the two single-day thumbs and timeline views. For illustration, see this video (multi view: 0:00 – 0:29, thumbs view: 0:30 – 0:52, timeline view: 0:53 – 1:01). Each of the views emphasizes different aspects of your prior activity.
Multi View and Thumbs View
The multi view shows three days in a row (e.g., 'today' and the two previous days), and so gives you simultaneous access to structured lists of what you then did (e.g., chatted with a colleague) and touched (e.g., documents and diagrams).
While the multi view also provides file preview on mouseover, the thumbs view brings you per-day overviews, particularly useful for file contents which are easy to recognize graphically.
In order to have both thumbs view and multi view better scale with the number of files and other information touched per day, these two views group your activities into categories by type, with numbers in brackets indicating the size of these groups.
Timeline View
A visualization of your activities, which focuses on their detailed distribution over time, can be achieved with the timeline view.
Recognition of Workflow. With the timeline view, it is particularly convenient to recognize your workflow, i.e. the progression and course of your activities over a day, overall as well as in detail: Overall processes, such as from 'planning out a day' to 'diving into the planned work', and onto later 'sharing or reporting about it' (as was discussed in our talk at the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit in 2009, slides 15f.) can be just as well recognized as a detailed sequence, like in 'directing your attention away from a certain document' to 'finding and inserting an image', and 'back to the document'.
Simultaneous Activities. In addition to visualizing, which activities you performed one after another, in the timeline view, it is well visible, what you've done in parallel. This, for instance, shows you, which documents you used in preparing a presentation and makes it immediately apparent, which code files you edited, while chatting with a colleague. Likewise, it becomes straightforward to regain the music, you listened to during a chat with your loved one.
Time Tracking. Finally, the timeline view also holds information on how long you worked with a document or with a set of information over a day. Consequently, beyond tracking your activities with files and the like, the Activity Journal also provides basic support for time tracking.
However, please note, that information about duration of your activities can be imprecise at times. This is due to principal difficulties with the tracking of thereto relevant events. Although, the focus time extension for tracking window focus (geared to produce more reliable duration information) has received some attention in the past (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), there is still some hard road ahead.
In both timeline and thumbs views, zooming can be utilized for smooth transitions between broad visual scanning and more detailed inspection.
Activity Browsing … by time
In contrast to file browsing by folders, activity browsing by time helps you remember and re-find what you've done during days in the past, rather than it supports the recollection of what you've explicitly stored and linked together, e.g., into folders, in your keeping, organization, and maintenance.
Referring to a broad classification of human memory, a time-wise representation of activities focuses on episodic relationships such as co-occurrence, 'did this before' and 'that after' (as emerging from your courses of action directed at information and people here and there). On the other hand, hierarchical and interlinked groups, and also tags, emphasize what belongs together topically or in terms of projects (i.e. designating more static, but still developing, semantic relationships).
In other words, activity browsing by time is less based on structures as expressed in manually kept information collections, but instead enabled by temporal structures (such as 'on that day', 'in the morning', or 'at 5 p.m.'), which can be understood as labels, your memory often implicitly assigns to you're doings (i.e. to your activities). These labels become reflected in your activity log and are surfaced (i.e. made available) by the Activity Journal.
Recognition over Recall … of what you've done
Re-membering with your prior activities and the involved information is supported via cued recall , which, in many situations, beats free recall in convenience and efficiency: often, it is simply easier to recognize something than it is to remember that thing off the top of your head, or to think up, how to describe or specify that thing, for example, via a query term.
In accordance with this observation, each of the three views of the Activity Journal enables you to recognize previous document and image use, chat conversations led, and the like, as well as other information and media use, which occurred around these example activities, and vice versa.
(Recent Documents) ++
The Activity Journal's approach to overviewing, browsing, regaining, and resuming activities can be understood as bearing some basic resemblance to employing recent document lists, in that it frees you of having to remember files, their names and their locations. However, it goes beyond the limited time range and the confined number of entry types typically covered by these lists.
Plus, the Activity Journal pictures your return and reuse (i.e. repeated activity directed at a certain piece of information). The timeline view, for instance, shows multiple return and reuse occurrences per day, in one row per file. In multi and thumbs views, on the other hand, reuse within days is not displayed, but each day anew at the time when you last accessed a file.
Finally, the Activity Journal also facilitates text searching through your past activities. This is in a way similar to what Synapse and some of the other means, mentioned in the second and third paragraphs of this post afford, but differs in so far as with the Activity Journal you can see your reuse and activity distribution over time, where results are highlighted within the context of your other displayed activities, which is again known to foster the understanding of search results.
Regaining Previous Information Experience as Anchored in Personal Narratives
Depiction of reuse over time in the Activity Journal specifically points out that the temporal maps of your personal information space displayed by the Activity Journal put you vis-à-vis with a re-narration of your activities rather than just providing menus or lists for accessing before used documents and media. Instead, what is shown, can be thought of as pictures of how your lines of action touched upon and (r)evolved around web pages, images, and other objects, which contain the information you work with.
What's Next?
In the following posts, first, the conceptual placement of Zeitgeist log data (and thereby also of the thereon-based Activity Journal) between lists of recently used information and detailed version histories will be discussed. Second, I'll review in more detail issues related to re-finding and will explain re-finding strategies, which are specifically enabled by the Activity Journal. Finally, third, the means for enabling user control (beyond view manipulations as to an otherwise sometimes considered 'not manipulable' log), implemented in the past two releases of the Activity Journal will receive some attention. See you soon!


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Black Icicle Chandelier Crystals Pendants Pack of 5
Black icicle chandelier crystals. Icicle has a tiny hole at the top for hanging. These are high quality glass crystals. We never sell any plastic or acrylic icicles. These are perfect for making jewelry. Please choose your size from the drop down menu.
- 38mm = 1.5"
- 80mm = 3.1"
Our crystals are perfect for refurbishing chandeliers, suncatchers, wedding decor, jewelry making.
Please check out our other listings for chandelier magnets, chandelier connectors, and hundred of crystals in dozens of colors and shapes.
We have the largest selection of chandelier prisms in the USA.


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Last updated: Thursday, 3 November 2022 | Rāpare, 03 Whiringa ā-rangi, 2022
The actual process of appointing a new director or trustee is likely to be set out in the constitution or trust deed. Once a new director/trustee is appointed or elected, the chair should send a formal letter of appointment setting out what is expected.
Key points to include are:
- The term of appointment
- The obligations of directors/trustees
- Times of board meetings and the time commitment required in preparation and attendance
- Fees, if any are to be paid to the director/trustee
- Criteria and process for reimbursement of expenses
- The evaluation process for directors/trustees
- Ask to be informed of potential conflicts of interest in other activities or directorships
- The induction process
- The process for getting independent advice
- Liability insurance — if this is relevant
- Confidentiality
- Acknowledgement of receipt of the letter


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Dale Chihuly's Cool Collections Take Center Stage At New Cafe
By Seattle Mag June 1, 2012
There are some showstoppers at the new Collections Cafe, where Crush chef Jason Wilson collaborated on the menu with Space Needle executive chef Jeff Maxfield and resident chef Ivan Szilak. A tart salad tossed with watermelon rind pickles, the pressed pork sandwich wearing a crown of crunchy slaw and prawns bathed in salsa verde top the list.
But it was the vast collection of whimsical treasures collected by Seattle's most famous artist that took center stage at a media tasting event this week at the new cafe in the Chihuly Garden and Glass at the Seattle Center. Yes, of course, there was the usual snapping of food-porn-worthy shots of the bite-size dishes passed through the crowd. And yet, everybody I bumped into couldn't stop talking about all the STUFF, displayed under glass at each table, on shelves in the dining room and even overhead. Look up and gaze at a field of vintage accordions.
The mission's right there on the menu: "I love to find the beauty in everyday objects," Dale Chihuly.
It all started with beach glass, when he was 7 and he hasn't stopped since. Each table features a different collection, 28 in all.
There are adorable ceramic dogs, antique inkwells, pocket knives, vintage shaving brushes, transistor radios, tin toys and fishing decoys. Then, feast your eyes on the retro Christmas ornaments and cameras from the 1950s. And get a load of the intricate designs on those silver ashtrays from Mexico. My favorite blasts-from-the-past were the Chalkware figurines.
I sure don't envy the chef who must compete with all this eye candy. Then again, maybe the Brownie Bites with the Snicker Brittle will serve as the cherry on top of this novelty-filled venue.


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Next: Using kill
for Communication, Previous: Signaling Another Process, Up: Generating Signals [Contents][Index]
There are restrictions that prevent you from using kill
to send
signals to any random process. These are intended to prevent antisocial
behavior such as arbitrarily killing off processes belonging to another
user. In typical use, kill
is used to pass signals between
parent, child, and sibling processes, and in these situations you
normally do have permission to send signals. The only common exception
is when you run a setuid program in a child process; if the program
changes its real UID as well as its effective UID, you may not have
permission to send a signal. The su
program does this.
Whether a process has permission to send a signal to another process is determined by the user IDs of the two processes. This concept is discussed in detail in The Persona of a Process.
Generally, for a process to be able to send a signal to another process, either the sending process must belong to a privileged user (like 'root'), or the real or effective user ID of the sending process must match the real or effective user ID of the receiving process. If the receiving process has changed its effective user ID from the set-user-ID mode bit on its process image file, then the owner of the process image file is used in place of its current effective user ID. In some implementations, a parent process might be able to send signals to a child process even if the user ID's don't match, and other implementations might enforce other restrictions.
The SIGCONT
signal is a special case. It can be sent if the
sender is part of the same session as the receiver, regardless of
user IDs.
Next: Using kill
for Communication, Previous: Signaling Another Process, Up: Generating Signals [Contents][Index]


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The Aro history starts in 1885, when in Campulung-Muscel the "Campulung Letea" paper factory is founded. Between the two world wars the factory has been producing propellers and shooting gear for the Brasov IAR airplanes. After the World War II, the plant was producing textile machines, locks, chains and others.
- 1950s
In 1953 was developed the first romanian motorcycle, the IMS 53. It was made in only 12 units, it had a two-cylinder, 350 cc engine. The motorcycle whereabouts are unknown. In the same time at Campulung were produced spare parts for the URSS all terrain vehicles GAZ-67 and GAZ MM. Spare parts like pistons, radiators, springs, or even complete engines. In 1957, the engineers from Campulung-Muscel developed the first romanian 4×4 vehicle, using asimilated spare parts from those produced for GAZ vehicles. It was named simply IMS 57, initials from the "Intreprinderea Metalurgica de Stat" and the year of production. IMS 57 had an four-cylinder, 3260 cc, 50 HP at 2800 rpm engine. The all terain has a total weight of 2265 kg, a load capacity of 650 kg, and a fuel consumption of 24 l/ 100 km at the maximum speed of 80 km/ h.
Two years later, the IMS 59 vehicle has been developed. It used some pressed bodywork elements from the Steagul Rosu vehicles. It uses an improved 56 HP at 2900 rpm engine, an romanian carburetor UT 550 and electric windscreen wipers (the IMS 57 had manual wipers). The max speed was increased at 90 km/ h, the fuel consumption was reduced to 21 l/ 100 km and the maximum slope climb was increased at 30º from 25º. In 1959 were produced 760 units of IMS 57 and 803 units of IMS 59. Production of the IMS 59 rose to 3222 units in 1963.
- 1960s
In 1964 began the production of the M-461 model. M-461 was a lot more competitive, regarding reliability, performances and quality which lead to exports starting the following year. The new model has a total weight of 2200 kg, reaches a maxium speed of 100 km/ h and has a fuel consumption of 17 l/ 100 km at 80 km/ h. The M 207 engine is now developing 70 HP at 3800 rpm, and was later upgraded to 77 HP at 4000 rpm. Until 1975, when production of M-461 ceased, were built 80223 units, with 46549 units exported. The exports of M461 began in 1965.
The engine cylinder capacity was reduced from 2512 cc to 2495 cc for customs taxes purposes. The L25 was once again improved by redesigning the filter, the intake and exhaust pipe by incresing the compression ratio to 8 : 1 the engine power was increased to 80 HP at 4000 rpm. These improvements lead to a fuel consumption of only 16 l/ 100 km. In 1965 the factory expanded and the production capacity increased to 10000 vehicles/ year and 5000 equipments for "TV"/ year. Factory`s built size increased to 33000 m2 from 13000 m2 in 1955. After 1966 began the designing of a complete new vehicle. It was later named Aro 240.
- 1970s
The new family of Aro 24 was a very daring project. Aro 24 came with a brand new bodywork, curved chassis and it was the second after Range Rover to implement front independent suspensions.
Discussions about Aro and others on this forum.
Great pictures from romanian alternative website. Automobile Romanesti.
Older romanian article: Istoria Aro.


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Blingle's Best Outdoor Lighting Contractors Serving Arrington Tennessee
Stress-free landscape lighting installation for Arrington TN year round
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Saral Nepali
Saral Nepali is a collection of Online Nepali utility tools Nepali Calendar, Nepali Unicode, Nepali Date Converter and Nepali Rashifal i.e Nepali Horoscope.
Anno Domini (AD or A.D.) and Before Christ (BC or B.C.)
Anno Domini (AD or A.D.) and Before Christ (BC or B.C.) are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term Anno Domini is Medieval Latin, translated as In the year of the Lord, and as in the year of Our Lord. It is sometimes specified more fully as Anno Domini Nostri Iesu (Jesu) Christi ("In the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ"). This calendar era is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus of Nazareth, with AD counting years from the start of this epoch, and BC denoting years before the start of the era. There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. This dating system was devised in 525, but was not widely used until after 800. The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used calendar in the world today. For decades, it has been the unofficial global standard, adopted for pragmatic interests of international communication, transportation and commercial integration and recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations and the Universal Postal Union. Traditionally, English followed Latin usage by placing the abbreviation before the year number for AD. Since BC is not derived from Latin it is placed after the year number (for example: AD 2014, but 68 BC). However, placing the AD after the year number (as in "2014 AD") is also becoming common usage.[citation needed] The abbreviation is also widely used after the number of a century or millennium, as in "fourth century AD" or "second millennium AD" (although conservative usage formerly rejected such expressions). Because BC is the English abbreviation for Before Christ, it is sometimes incorrectly concluded that AD means After Death, i.e., after the death of Jesus. However this would mean that the ~33 years commonly associated with the life of Jesus would not be present in either BC or AD time scales. source: wikipedia
Nepali Calendar
Nepali Calendar is based on the Bikram Sambat calendar and nepali calendar is approximately 56 years and 8.5 months ahead of the English Calendar known as Gregorian Calendar or AD. Nepali Calendar in nepal is called as nepali Patro. The new year starts from the middle of april(approximately 14th of the april). In Gregorian Calendar the days of the months are known but in nepali calendar its not the case i.e. they change yearly. The maximum number of days in a month in Gregorian calendar is 31, but in the Bikram Sambat nepali Calendar it can have upto 32 days. Bikram Sambat Nepali calendar is mostly used in Nepal and India. Some countries like Indonesia, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Thiland, Malaysia and Bhutan are also using Bikram Sambat Nepali Calendar. We have introduced this calendar to provide exact english date to nepali dates calendar along with the festivals, Public holidays, Marriage dates , Bratabandha dates and date converter tools etc. Peoples mostly use online nepali calendar for the festivals like Dashain(Bijaya Dashami), Tihar(Depawali), Chath Parba etc. Current Nepali calendar year is Nepali Calendar 2080 and new Nepali Calendar is new Nepali Calendar 2080 Bikram sambat. Visit Nepali Calendar
Nepali Unicode Converter
This Nepali Unicde converter is one of the most efficient converter that exists. Nepali Unicode converter/writer software helps to convert English/Roman word to Nepali unicode. Nepali or Type unicode nepali is one of the most used application because many nepali people need to express their information in Nepali Language. This nepali unicode converter is one of the easiest way to type in nepali unicode font. User need to type or write in nepali romanized font then this application will automatically convert romanized nepali text into nepali unicoe font. After typing in nepali unicode copy the text and use it whereever you can like chatting, email writing, media news writting etc. Visit Nepali Unicode Converter
Nepali Date Converter
This Nepali Date converter is one of the most efficient date converter that exists. Nepali Date converter software helps to convert Rnglish date to Nepali Bikram sambat date and Nepali Bikram sambat date to English date. Nepali or Bikram sambat date converter is one of the most used application because many nepali people need to interact with the foriegn countries for study, dv applications and so on. Bikram sambat date converter is widely used in Nepal, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, SriLanka, Thailand, Malaysia etc. Visit Nepali Date Converter
Contact us: facebook page: Saral Nepali


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Old Star, New elemental Tricks
Janet Kuypers
bonus poem from the "Periodic Table of Poetry" series, with Arsenic (#033, As) and Selenium (#034, Se)
When the Big Bang first exploded,
the only elements it could muster
were hydrogen and helium
and a smidgen of lithium and boron.
Higher elements were only created
after the creation of stars.
But scientists have now discovered
that in an ancient star
in the faint stellar halo
surrounding the Milky Way,
astronomers have detected
the presence of Arsenic and Selenium.
Now, I've only known Arsenic
as highly toxic, and scientists
pulling phosphorus from the sextet
of life while down at the Arsenic-rich
Mono Lake to fill DNA with Arsenic.
And Selenium is used for horses,
but can kill a person if ingested
regularly (even leaving a garlic
taste when given to victims).
Hmmm, and I like garlic so much…
But these two elements,
sitting right next to each other
in the Periodic Table, transition
from light to heavy elements,
and have never been found
in old stars — until now.
You see, stars like our sun
usually make the lighter elements
(like, up to oxygen),
and heavier stars can make
elements as high in the Periodic Table
as iron. Any elements
heavier than that
(like Arsenic and Selenium)
have to be made by
neutron-capture nucleosynthesis.
So, thanks to the nuclear reaction
from inside the heaviest of stars,
scientists found Arsenic and Selenium
in a 12 billion year-old halo star.
And they say the universe
is like 13.77 billion years old,
so when I'm talking old star remanants,
I'm talking infancy of the universe stars.
(And we thought we were the only ones
who know how to utilize these
poisonous elements here on earth,
and now we see that stars
from the ancient history of this universe
have been creating this stuff for eons…)
So they've discovered
quite a new trick
from this old star,
which means we now know how to look
for elements in other stars,
and maybe explain why
some elements appear on earth.
Cause, it's all science,
and we can explain away
the mysteries of what's good
and bad here on planet earth,
and trace it all the way back
to the toddler years of
this entire universe too…


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Microsoft Boosts OneDrive: 1 TB Per User
Microsoft bumps OneDrive for Business capacity to 1 TB per user -- and draws the ire of Box CEO Aaron Levie.
Microsoft Office For iPad: 7 Questions Answered
Microsoft Office For iPad: 7 Questions Answered (Click image for larger view and slideshow.)
Microsoft on Monday upgraded its OneDrive for Business product, boosting per-user storage capacity to 1 TB. The company announced the change in a blog post titled "Thinking outside the box," an ostensible jab at competitors such as Box and Dropbox.
Earlier this month Microsoft introduced OneDrive, previously available only as part of certain Office 365 subscriptions, as a standalone offer with 25 GB of storage. With the newest announcement, the company not only expanded OneDrive for Business's storage capacity, but also added the product to additional Office 365 packages and announced a new migration service to help customers move their data.
In the blog, Microsoft Corporate VP John Case noted that many business apps invade the enterprise through individuals or departments rather than via companywide deployments. According to Microsoft, this tactic is disjointed.
"Smart businesses are now choosing partners that have a holistic, comprehensive, and connected set of cloud offerings, and in doing so [are] creating a 'data culture' in their organization," wrote Case, arguing that a tightly integrated suite of products beats one that's been cobbled together from disparate sources.
[How is new CEO Satya Nadella shaking up Microsoft? Read Microsoft's Mobile First, Cloud First Strategy, Explained.]
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said earlier this month that Office 365 will help companies to implement "data cultures" via newly announced tools such as Office Graph, which learns the collaborators and content most important to the user, or Power BI, which can translate abstract analytics into intuitive visualizations.
Some Office customers maintain that older versions are good enough and they do not need to upgrade. Others have moved on to competing, and often cheaper, productivity products such as Google Docs or Apple's iWork. Nadella's "data culture" plan attempts to circumvent these challenges by creating new value within Office's somewhat commodified feature set -- including, in the case of OneDrive for Business, a storage and file sync product that stitches everything together.
Most new Office features are available first -- and in some cases exclusively -- in Office 365 rather than standalone licenses. Since launching over a year ago, the cloud-based service has grown rapidly. Microsoft recently announced Office 365 is on pace for over $2.5 billion in annual revenue, helping Windows Azure to a 150% year-over-year revenue increase. CFO Amy Hood said during last week's earnings call that initial subscription renewal rates were promising.
As mentioned, Microsoft's references to a "connected set of cloud offerings" and "thinking outside the box" appear to be shots at competitors. Box CEO Aaron Levie certainly seemed to think so. In a blog post, he responded to Microsoft's news, writing, "By keeping Office 365 users on the closed OneDrive 'island,' Microsoft is stranding hundreds of millions of users and customers that have chosen Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, and others."
Levie added that Microsoft's recently release Office for iPad suite, widely heralded as a cross-platform play, has made it harder -- not easier -- for users to get the most out of the software, because it syncs with OneDrive but not with other popular services, such as Box. Box and Dropbox both say their products offer unlimited storage.
All Office 365 products that are already included OneDrive for Business now include the 1 TB upgrade. Microsoft also added OneDrive for Business to its Office 365 ProPlus subscriptions. Office 365 costs vary according to features and number of users, with many packages running between $5 and $20 per month per user. Until October, Microsoft is offering OneDrive for Business at promotional prices as low as $2.50 per month per user.
Microsoft said it will help customers move their data from other storage products, but customers will need to contact their account managers for additional details.
Can the trendy tech strategy of DevOps really bring peace between developers and IT operations -- and deliver faster, more reliable app creation and delivery? Also in the DevOps Challenge issue of InformationWeek: Execs charting digital business strategies can't afford to take Internet connectivity for granted.
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text: In addition to Goyen, we make OEM Replacement filters for all the top dust collectors and industrial ventilation in the industry today. We guarantee fit and function at an unbeatable price. If you don't see the industrial filter you need, call us today at (844) 605-3266. We can cross reference any filter for your specific industiral application.


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Alberta Votes Day 17: Conservatives Attack Conservatives for Being Conservative
Alberta Tories play race card, call Wildrose party of old, white men in election
EDMONTON - Alberta's Progressive Conservatives appear to be actively painting their Wildrose opposition as the party of old, white males.
Tory strategists in recent days have begun warning voters that the Wildrose roster of candidates is dominated by Caucasian males and that if the Wildrose wins power it will sanction policies that cater to them.
For those keeping score at home, Alison Redford's Cabinet is 86% male and 95% white. Her two female Cabinet Ministers have been entrusted with the portfolios of Environment and Culture, while her single visible minority runs Service Alberta.
I don't know which party is older, but just three of Redford's Cabinet Ministers were born since the PCs took power 41 years ago.
This is yet another example of how awkward the entire PC campaign has become, as they try to swat at the Wildrose Party from the left.
Take the two words the PCs are trying to make the defining issue of the campaign: conscience rights. For the past week, the PCs have made it a point to imply the Wildrose stand on conscience rights would threaten everything from same sex marriage to women being able to get prescriptions for birth control pills.
However, Redford's very own Minister of Energy Ted Morton put forward a conscience rights bill in 2006, nearly identical to what Danielle Smith is proposing today. It was only defeated because of a Liberal-NDP filibuster, and Morton claimed 75% of the PC caucus supported his position.
All of this underscores how incredibly uncomfortable Redford's attacks on Danielle Smith must be for many members of her old white male caucus - and many long time PC voters. Although Redford will continue to paint the Wildrose Party as a right wing Frankenstein, the truth remains that the monster was created in the PC's image.
Labels: Alberta 2012 Election, Alison Redford


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You don't need a ton of clothes to look great every day. Streamlining your wardrobe to only the clothes you'll actually wear will, in fact, save you time and stress. Here are some suggestions for both men and women for the main necessities.
Apartment Geeks offers these suggestions for women, based on The Pocket Stylist: A nice dress, two jackets, three skirts, three sweaters, two dark trousers, two jeans, three coats, a white button-down shirt, and a few t-shirts should be flexible enough for both casual and dressier occasions. (Of course, you can add in shorts or substitute a blouse for the button down if that's your style.)
The suggestions are pretty similar for guys in this infographic from Lifestyle by PS (mentioned in passing in our how to build a budget work wardrobe post), which adds accessories like belts and ties. Again, tweak to your lifestyle, since not everyone would consider bow ties or tuxedos clothing essentials.
Source: lifehacker.com


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Hari Om! Salutations to Sri Vyasa, the Avatara of Vishnu, the wise Badarayana and Sri Krishna Dvaipayana.
Vedas consist of three portions viz., the Karma Kanda which deals with sacrifices or ceremonial rites, the Upasana Kanda which treats of Upasana (worship) and the Jnana Kanda which deals with knowledge of Brahman. Karma Kanda represents the feet of a man, Upasana Kanda the heart, and the Jnana Kanda the head. Just as the head is the most important portion of a man, so also the Upanishads which treat of the knowledge portion of the Vedas is the head of the Vedas. Hence it is said to be the Siras (head) of Vedas.
Mimamsa means the investigation or enquiry into the connected meaning of the sacred texts. Of this Mimamsa two branches have been recognised, the Purva Mimamsa (earlier) and the Uttara Mimamsa (the latter). The former systematises the Karma Kanda – the portion of the Veda which pertains to action and sacrifices and which comprises Samhitas and the Brahmanas; the latter systematises the Jnana Kanda i.e., that part of the Vedas which includes the Aranyaka portion of the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. Jaimini is the author of the Purva Mimamsa. Sri Vyasa (Badarayana or Krishna Dvaipayana) the Guru of Jaimini is the author of the Brahma Sutras otherwise known as Vedanta Sutras. The study of Brahma Sutras is a synthetic study of the Upanishads. It treats of the Vedanta philosophy.
The Vedas are eternal. They were not written by any individual. They came out from the breath of Hiranyagarbha (Lord Brahma). Vedanta is the end or gist of the Vedas. It deals with the knowledge portion. Vedanta is not mere speculation. It is the authentic record of transcendental experiences or direct and actual realisation of the great Hindu Rishis or seers. Brahma Sutras is the Science of the Soul.
Sutras are concise aphorisms. They give the essence of the arguments on a topic. Maximum of thought is compressed or condensed into these Sutras in as few words as possible. It is easy to remember them. Great intellectual people only, with realisation, can compose Sutras. They are clues or aids to memory. They cannot be understood without a lucid commentary (Bhashya). The commentary also is in need of further elaborate explanation. Thus the interpretations of the Sutras gave rise to various kinds of literary writings such as Vrittis (gloss) and Karikas. The different Acharyas (founders of different schools of thought) have given their own interpretations of the Sutras to establish their own doctrines. The Bhashya of Sri Sankara on Brahma Sutras is known as Sariraka Bhashya. His school of thought is Kevala Advaita. The Bhashya of Sri Ramanuja who founded the Visishtadvaita School is called Sri Bhashya. The commentary of Sri Nimbarkacharya is known as Vedanta- parijata-saurabha. Sri Vallabhacharya expounded his system of philosophy of Suddhadvaita (pure monism) and his commentary on the Brahma Sutras is known as Anu Bhashya.
Sanskrit is very elastic. It is like Kamadhenu or Kalpataru. You can milk out of it various kinds of Rasas according to your intellectual calibre and spiritual experiences. Therefore different Acharyas have built different systems of thought or cults by interpreting the Sutras in their own ways and became founders of sects. Madhva founded his own system of Dvaita. The cults of Vishnu known as Bhagavata or Pancharatra and those of Siva, Pasupata or Mahesvara have interpreted Brahma Sutras in accordance with their own tenets. Nimbarkacharya interpreted the Vedanta system from the standpoint of Bhedabheda-Dvaitadvaita. He was largely influenced by the teachings of Bhaskara who flourished in the first half of the ninth century. The theory held by Bhaskara and Nimbarka was held by the ancient teacher Audulomi. Badarayana himself refers to this theory in his Brahma Sutras.
There are more than fourteen commentaries on the Brahma Sutras. Sri Appaya Dikshita rendered the commentary of Sri Sankara more clear by his Parimala, Sri Vachaspati Misra by his work Bhamati and Sri Amalananda Sarasvati by his Kalpataru.
The erroneous identification of the body with the pure Atman is the root cause for human sufferings and miseries and for births and deaths. You identify yourself with the body and say, 'I am fair, dark, stout or thin. I am a Brahmin, I am a Kshatriya, I am a doctor'. You identify yourself with the senses and say, 'I am blind, I am dumb'. You identify yourself with the mind and say, 'I know nothing. I know everything. I became angry. I enjoyed a good meal. I am suffering from this disease'. The entire object of the Brahma Sutras is to remove this erroneous identification of the Soul with the body which is the root cause of your sufferings and miseries, which is the product of Avidya (ignorance) and help you in the attainment of the final emancipation through knowledge of Brahman.
The Upanishads seem to be full of contradictions at first. They do not contain consistent system of thought. Sri Vyasa systematised the thoughts or philosophy of the Upanishads in his Brahma Sutras. The Sutras reconcile the conflicting statements of the Upanishads. In reality there are no conflicts for the thinker. Audulomi and Asmarathya also did this work in their own way and founded their own schools of thought.
Those who wish to study the philosophy of Vedanta should study the Ten Classical Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras. All Acharyas have commented on Brahma Sutras. This is a great authority for every philosophical school in India. If any Acharya wishes to establish his own cult or sect or school of thought he will have to write a commentary of his own on Brahma Sutras. Then only it will be recognised.
The five great Acharyas: Sri Sankara the exponent of Kevala Advaita or uncompromising monism, Sri Ramanuja the exponent of Visishtadvaita or qualified monism, Sri Nimbarka the exponent of Bhedabheda-vada, Sri Madhva the exponent of strict Dvaitism or Dvaita-vada and Sri Vallabha the exponent of Suddhadvaita-vada or pure monism agree that Brahman is the cause of this world and that knowledge of Brahman leads to Moksha or the final emancipation, which is the goal of life. They also emphatically declared that Brahman can be known only through the scriptures and not through mere reasoning. But they differ amongst themselves as to the nature of this Brahman, the relation of the individual soul to Brahman, the state of the soul in the state of final emancipation, the means of attaining It and Its causality with reference to this universe.
According to Sri Sankara, there is one Absolute Brahman who is Sat-chit-ananda, who is of an absolutely homogeneous nature. The appearance of this world is due to Maya – the illusory power of Brahman which is neither Sat nor Asat. This world is unreal. This world is a Vivarta or apparent modification through Maya. Brahman appears as this universe through Maya. Brahman is the only reality. The individual soul has limited himself through Avidya and identification with the body and other vehicles. Through his selfish actions he enjoys the fruits of his actions. He becomes the actor and enjoyer. He regards himself as atomic and as an agent on account of Avidya or the limiting Antahkarana. The individual soul becomes identical with Brahman when his Avidya is destroyed. In reality Jiva is all-pervading and identical with Brahman. Isvara or Saguna Brahman is a product of Maya. Worship of Isvara leads to Krama Mukti. The pious devotees (the knowers of Saguna Brahman) go to Brahmaloka and attain final release through highest knowledge. They do not return to this world. They attain the Nirguna Brahman at the end of the cycle. Knowledge of Nirguna Brahman is the only means of liberation. The knowers of Nirguna Brahman attain immediate final release or Sadyomukti. They need not go by the path of gods or the path of Devayana. They merge themselves in Para Brahman. They do not go to any Loka or world. Sri Sankara's Brahman is Nirvisesha Brahman (Impersonal Absolute) without attributes.
According to Sri Ramanuja, Brahman is with attributes (Savisesha). He is endowed with all auspicious qualities. He is not intelligence itself. Intelligence is his chief attribute. He contains within Himself whatever exists. World and individual souls are essential real constituents of Brahman's nature. Matter (Achit) and soul (Chit) form the body of the Lord, Lord Narayana who is the Inner Ruler (Antaryamin). Matter and souls are called modes of Him (Prakara). The individual souls will never be entirely resolved in Brahman. According to Ramanuja, Brahman is not absolutely one and homogeneous. The individual souls undergo a state of Sankocha (contraction) during Pralaya. They expand (Vikasa) during creation. Sri Ramanuja's Brahman is a Personal God with attributes. The individual soul of Ramanuja is really individual. It will remain a personality for ever. The soul remains in Vaikuntha for ever in a state of bliss and enjoys the divine Aisvarya of Lord Narayana. Bhakti is the chief means to final emancipation and not Jnana. Sri Ramanuja follows in his Bhashya the authority of Bodhayana.
According to Sri Nimbarkacharya, Brahman is considered as both the efficient and material cause of the world. Brahman is both Nirguna and Saguna. The universe is not unreal or illusory but is a true manifestation or Parinama of Brahman. (Sri Ramanuja also holds this view. He says "Just as milk is transformed into curd, so also Brahman has transformed Himself as this universe"). This world is identical with and at the same time different from Brahman just as the wave or bubble is the same and at the same time different from water. The individual souls are parts of the Supreme Self. They are controlled by the Supreme Being. The final salvation lies in realising the true nature of one's own soul. This can be achieved by Bhakti (devotion). The individuality of the finite self (Jivatman) is not dissolved even in the state of final emancipation. Sri Ramanuja also holds that the Jiva assumes the divine body of Sri Narayana with four hands and enjoys in Vaikuntha the divine Aisvarya of the Lord.
You may ask why do such great realised souls hold different views, why have they started different cults or systems. The highest philosophy of Sri Sankara which bespeaks of the identity of the individual soul and the Supreme Soul cannot be understood by the vast majority of persons. Therefore Sri Madhva and Sri Ramanuja started their Bhakti cult. The different schools are different rungs in the ladder of Yoga. The student must place his foot step by step and finally reach the highest peak of perfection the – Kevaladvaita realisation of Sri Sankara. As temperaments are different, different schools are also necessary to suit the taste, capacity, and stage of evolution of the aspirant. Therefore all schools and cults are necessary. They have got their own place and scope.
The views of various Acharyas are all true in respect of the particular aspect of Brahman dealt with by them each in his own way. Sankara has taken Brahman in His transcendental aspect, while Sri Ramanuja has taken Him chiefly in His immanent aspect. People were following blindly the rituals during the time of Sri Sankara. When he was preparing his commentary he had in view the purpose of combating the baneful effects which blind ritualism produced. He never condemned selfless service or Nishkama Karma Yoga. He condemned the performance of rituals with selfish motives.
Sankara Bhashya is the oldest of all commentaries. It upholds Suddha-Para-Brahman or the Supreme Self of the Upanishads as something superior to other divine beings. It propounds a very bold philosophy and declares emphatically that the individual soul is identical with the Supreme Self. Sankara's philosophical view accurately represents the meaning of Badarayana. His explanations only faithfully render the intended meaning of Sri Vyasa. This is beyond doubt and dispute.
Students of Kevaladvaita School of Philosophy should study the Sariraka Bhashya of Sri Sankara which is profound, subtle and unique. It is an authority which leads to the right understanding of the Brahma Sutras. The best thinkers of India, Germany, America and England belong to this school. It occupies a high rank in books on philosophy. Advaita philosophy is the most sublime and the grandest philosophy of the Hindus.
You can understand the Brahma Sutras if you have a knowledge of the twelve classical Upanishads. You can understand the second chapter if you have a knowledge of Sankhya, Nyaya, Yoga, Mimamsa, Vaiseshika Darsana and Buddhistic school, too. All these schools are refuted here by Sri Sankara. Sri Sankara's commentary is the best commentary. Dr. Thibaut has translated this commentary into English. Brahma Sutras is one of the books of Prasthanatraya. This is an authoritative book on Hindu Philosophy. The work consists of 4 Adhyayas (chapters), 16 Padas (sections), 223 Adhikaranas (topics) and 555 Sutras (aphorisms). The first chapter (Samanvayadhyaya) unifies Brahman, the second (Avirodhadhyaya) refutes other philosophies, the third (Sadhanadhyaya) deals with practice (Sadhana) to attain Brahman and the fourth (Phaladhyaya) treats of fruits of Self-realisation. Each chapter contains four Padas. Each Pada contains Adhikaranas. Each Adhikarana has separate question to discuss. The first five Adhikaranas of the first chapter are very, very important.
Glory to Sri Vyasa Bhagavan, son of Parasara, the mighty sage, a Chiranjivi who has written all Puranas and also divided the Vedas. May his blessings be upon you all!


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DOHA: An independent auditor's report into financial management of the Asian Football Confederation by its disgraced Qatari president has set the stage for major investigations by Malaysian judicial authorities and international soccer bodies into governance of world soccer and the awarding to Qatar of hosting rights of the 2022 World Cup, the world's biggest sporting event.
The report by PriceWaterhouse Cooper of disgraced former FIFA vice president Mohammed Bin Hammam who was last week suspended for 30 days as head of the Asian Football Confederation as a result of the report suggests cases of money laundering, tax invasion, bribery and busting of US sanctions against Iran and North Korea.
The report provides the Kuala Lumpur-based AFC with the reasonable suspicion of a legal offence that it under Malaysian law is obliged to report to authorities. It also leaves the AFC with little choice but to launch a full-fledged investigation of its own. The AFC, which has Malaysian nationals, including a member of a royal family on its executive committee, can extend Mr Bin Hammam's for a maximum of another 20 days, 10 of which must be used to prepare a case against him.
The report coincided with a verdict last week by the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) that acquitted Mr Bin Hammam of charges that he had bought votes for his failed challenge last year of Mr Blatter in the soccer body's presidential election.
Insufficient evidence
The court said FIFA had provided insufficient evidence but went out of its way to state that its verdict was not a declaration of innocence. Suggesting that it believed that Mr. Hammam was guilty, the court effectively invited FIFA to retry Mr Bin Hammam on the basis of enhanced evidence.
The PWC report, according to a source involved in AFC's investigation of Mr Bin Hammam, said that it raised questions about the timing of flows of monies in and out of AFC accounts linked to the charges that Mr Bin Hammam had sought to buy votes of Caribbean soccer officials in his failed challenge to FIFA president Sepp Blatter in the soccer body's presidential election last year. The charges formed the basis for Mr Bin Hammam's ousting from FIFA and for the CAS case.
"The report prompts questions about the flows of money from the AFC to other (soccer) confederations that were perhaps intended to influence matters like presidential elections or the World Cup . . . A direct link appears to exist between the inflow of just under $1 million into MBH's (Mohammed Bin Hammam) sundry account and the payment in May of $1 million at a Caribbean Football Union meeting. That link is still a bit unclear," the source said, adding that it would likely be subject to further investigation.
Feeding into imminent multiple investigations that could provide the monkey wrench to clean up scandal-ridden world soccer is FIFA's appointment earlier this month of former US New York state attorney Michael J. Garcia as its anti-corruption prosecutor to look in to the awarding of the Qatar World Cup as well as multiple corruption scandals in recent years.
Qatar has over the past 16 months sought to put a distance between itself and Mr Bin Hammam official, denying that he played a role in its bid. Sources close to the investigations of Mr Bin Hammam believe that the inquiries could produce a different picture.
Mr Bin Hammam has consistently denied the allegations against him and vowed to keep fighting them. In a July 18 letter to the AFC executive committee written on AFC letterhead that was accompanied by a letter from his lawyers appealing his AFC suspension, Mr Bin Hammam denounced the PWC report as "mere weak theories which are badly orchestrated exactly like the Chairman of Disciplinary Committee verdict… Is not this conspiracy and corruption???"
PWC was given a limited mandate and resources to do an initial, precursory investigation of specified accounts and dealings of Mr Bin Hammam seven months after the AFC decided on a far-reaching restructuring designed to make the organization more democratic and transparent as well as rollback changes that effectively concentrated power in the Qatari's hands.
Allies of Mr Bin Hammam in the AFC executive committee some of which according to the PWC report dated July 13, 2012 were beneficiaries of the Qatari's dealings are believed to have delayed the commissioning of the audit.
PWC warns in the report that "it is our view that there is significant risk that: i. The AFC may have been used as a vehicle to launder funds and that the funds have been credited to the former President (Bin Hammam) for an improper purpose (Money Laundering risk), ii. The AFC may have been used as a vehicle to launder the receipt and payment of bribes."
The report cites a slew of not justified and at times questionable payments to AFC executive committee members and their families and Asian and African soccer officials and associations as well as to Jack Warner, the disgraced head of North and Central American and Caribbean soccer who resigned last year to escape investigation of his alleged role in Mr Bin Hammam's purported bribery of Caribbean Football Union executives.
More questions
Representatives of various federations named as beneficiaries of Mr Bin Hammam's largesse denied knowledge of any payments or insisted the transactions were legitimate.
The report further questions a $1bn master rights agreement (MRA) between the AFC and World Sport Group negotiated by Mr. Bin Hammam without putting it out to tender or financial due diligence. The agreement fails, according to PWC, to give AFC a right to audit WSG's services or costs. "In comparison with similar-type agreements for other sports, it appears that the current MRA may be considerably undervalued," the report said.
Similarly broadcast licensing agreements with Qatar-owned Aljazeera valued at $300m were not tendered. PWC, noting that the contract was for a relatively long period of eight years said there was "a risk this significant revenue stream could be well below market rates in later years."
Report claims
The report, a copy of which was obtained by this reporter, asserts that Mr Bin Hammam:
1, "used the AFC's company bank accounts to facilitate personal transactions as if they were his personal bank accounts" with the knowledge of the soccer body's finance committee and under the management of AFC finance director Amelia Gan who was fired last year after he was suspended;
2, received in February 2008 $12 million from Al Baraka Investment and Development Co , believed to be owned by Saudi billionaire Sheikh Saleh Kamel. "We understand that the Al Baraka Group may have been a 20% beneficial owner of the WSG group" (World Sport Group) with which the AFC signed a $1 billion master rights agreement (MRA) in June 2009 negotiated by Mr Bin Hammam;
3, received $2 million from International Sports Events (ISE) in November 2008, "an entity which is currently a 10% shareholder of the WSG Group." The report says that PWC's "enquiries indicate that Mr Mohyedin Saleh Kamel, the Assistant Chief Executive Officer (Investments) of the Dallah Al-Baraka Group may have been (from 2005 –2009) the Managing Director of ISE;" It said that a significant portion of these funds were subsequently transferred to Mr Hammam's personal and company bank accounts" in Jordan and Malaysia but that "no direct evidence has been identified to confirm a link between the payments purportedly for the benefit of Mr Hammam and the awarding of the MRA."
4, transferred $4.9 million to Kemco Real Eastate, part of Kemco Group that is allegedly owned by Mr. Hammam
5, made "significant and notable payments… in relation to individuals, member associations, and travel and accommodation for AFC and FIFA events" for which there "does not appear to be any clear purpose for a number of these transactions. That is, payments were made to entities and individuals with no corresponding explanation."
6, made cash payments to North Korea and Iran that could contradict international sanctions against those two countries;
7, paid "certain fines and levies charged by the AFC to member associations (ie. Jordan, Syrian, Iraqi and Lebanese Football Associations) that were borne by Mr Hammam. This appears highly unusual. In these instances payments were not made to the individual Member Associations. Instead, fines were charged (debited) to the sundry debtors account as an amount due from Mr Hammam."
8, handed out some $700,000 to family and friends, including buying suits for himself and Confederation of African Football head Issa Hayatou who is likely to a target of the FIFA investigation of the Qatar bid, an aiirline ticket for AFC Vice President Ganesh Thapa's wife and son; settling a $19,767 car loan belonging to former AFC assistant secretary general and WSG vice president for corporate security Carlo Nohra; purchasing for himself fitness equipment in Kuala Lumpur and Doha; a $10,000 Bulgari watch; paying $15,000 for unspecified cargo from Switzerland to Qatar, and shouldering the dentistry, evening gown, facial and saloon charges of his daughters and honey moon of his son; and transferring $100,000 to his wife with no justification.
'Common belief'
The report says: "The arrangement with Mr Hammam's use of the sundry debtors account is, in our view, highly unusual and reflects poor governance. This use by Mr Hammam of the sundry debtors account continued even after the external auditor's recommended that it be stopped. Our review indicates that it was common belief that this account was for Mr Hammam personally and all funds flowing through it were his personal monies.
"We question why Mr Hammam would conduct his personal financial transactions through the AFC's bank accounts when the documents we have seen indicate that he already has several personal bank accounts in various countries," the report said.
= = = =
James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer
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How Office Delve works
More and more small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are relying on Microsoft's Office 365 as their productivity suite of choice. When this software solution was released years ago, the developers mentioned that they see Office 365 as the ideal tool to help colleagues become more productive, collaborate more efficiently, and get work done. Bringing all these elements together is Microsoft's Office Delve.
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Office Delve is a cloud-based data visualization tool that helps business users get the most out of their data related to Office 365. This nifty tool allows you to:
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Grain Drying, Safety Management, Material Handling Courses
July 8, 2014
Registration is open for three courses from the Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS) and Kansas State University Distance Education Program. GEAPS 524: Grain Drying, GEAPS 540: Safety Management for Grain Facilities and GEAPS 552: Materials Handling III run September 2-October 3.
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Courses are administered entirely online and consist of 10 hour-long lectures developed and peer-reviewed by industry specialists. Tuition is $625 for GEAPS members and $795 for non-members. To register, please visit www.geaps.com. Registration closes Aug. 26. For more information about the courses or the GEAPS/K-State Distance Education Program, contact Rose Miller at [email protected] or Chuck House at [email protected], or call 952-928-4640.
The Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS) is a professional association that supports its members and the industry by serving as the knowledge resource for the world of grain handling industry operations. GEAPS addresses the industry's critical operations needs by providing the finest networking, education and professional development programs. GEAPS global network of industry professionals includes more than 2800 individual members from about 1150 companies.
For related articles, equipment reviews, and news, visit our Material Handling & Transportation Equipment Zone
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Lyndsey Gavin and Chris Leroux' awkward exchange on After the Final Rose
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Neil Turok
Neil Turok is a South African physicist. He has held the Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics at the University of Edinburgh since 2020, and has been director emeritus of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics since 2019. He specializes in mathematical physics and early-universe physics, including the cosmological constant and a cyclic model for the universe.
Neil Turok is a South African physicist. He has held the Higgs Chair of Theoretical Physics at the University of Edinburgh since 2020, and has been director emeritus of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics since 2019. He specializes in mathematical physics and early-universe physics, including the cosmological constant and a cyclic model for the universe.
Neil Turok In..
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The CEOs of the nation's largest companies typically don't have a reason to fly to Butte, Montana. But that's where they are this week, a who's who of corporate America, participating in the Montana Economic Development Summit, billed as an effort to "boost our state's economy by finding Montana solutions for Montana jobs." That may sound like a regional concern, but the non-Montana titans of industry in attendance include Google CEO Eric Schmidt; Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg; Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk; and many more, including executives from Ford, Boeing, Hewlett-Packard, ConocoPhillips, Oracle, FedEx and Delta Airlines. Sponsors of the event include even more behemoths, like Walmart, Pfizer, Pepsi, Microsoft, Nike, Lockheed Martin and dozens more.
How can a local Montana jobs summit attract the giants of American commerce, few of whom have any business interests in the state? Well, the convener of the event, Max Baucus, happens to chair the Senate Finance Committee, the key tax-writing panel in the upper chamber. And when he throws an event, nominally about "bringing jobs to Montana," corporate America recognizes that this gives them another opportunity to dole out favors to the senator who wants to lead a massive rewriting of the nation's tax laws, designed to lower corporate rates and allow companies to bring back money stashed overseas with impunity. In fact, every corporation associated with the Montana Economic Development Summit has a stake in the tax reform debate, and most have officially lobbied for favorable treatment. Considering the tens of billions that these companies stand to gain if they are successful, a couple days in Butte doesn't sound like such a bad trade.
Baucus inaugurated the jobs summit in 2000, but this year's affair is significant because of the emphasis the Democrat has placed on tax reform. Baucus is retiring at the end of this term, and he clearly wants to use a sweeping tax bill to cement part of his legacy. In fact, Baucus isn't shy about stating outright that his work on tax reform brought these luminaries to Butte this year.
But pitching the jobs summit as a "non-political" conference is a bit much. The event sponsors and keynote speakers represent almost the entire coalition pressuring Baucus for a corporate-friendly tax reform plan. Featured speaker Fred Smith runs FedEx, the delivery service, a company that paid an effective tax rate of 4.2 percent on $9.4 billion in total profits over the past five years, according to Citizens for Tax Justice. They sit on two coalitions that have led corporate lobbying efforts on tax reform—the Alliance for Competitive Taxation (ACT) and Reforming America's Taxes Equitably (RATE). FedEx has spent $31 million on lobbying from 2011-2013.
Both ACT and RATE support a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, which is supposed to be "paid for" by closures of loopholes. But the biggest loophole of all would be pried open with ACT's plan for a "territorial" taxation system, exempting from taxation profits earned by U.S. multinationals overseas or simply booked offshore, and allowing corporations to repatriate offshore profits at a rate as low as single-digits. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities believes such a system would create incentives for global corporations to move more of their operations overseas to avoid taxes, "hurting domestic businesses… and weakening the economy."
This is of course the polar opposite of the stated goal of the Montana Economic Development Summit—to create good jobs in America, specifically Montana. But numerous sponsors of the Baucus conference are also members of these lobbying coalitions. ACT members sponsoring the summit include General Electric, Google, Nike, Oracle, Pepsi, Pfizer, UPS and Walmart; RATE members lending a hand to Baucus in Butte include Boeing, Ford, Lockheed Martin, Disney and Northrop Grumman.
In addition, several corporate trade groups are sponsors of Baucus' conference, including PhRMA (the prescription drug lobby) and AHIP (the health insurance lobby), both of whom know Baucus well from the health care debate. Jim McNerney, the CEO of Boeing and a keynote speaker, also serves as the head of the Business Roundtable, a major industry lobbying group.
This looks like a form of soft corruption from a senator who wields enormous power. Tax reform has already generated an orgy of lobbying in Washington on what has thus far been an under-the-radar issue. But in this case, Big Business can donate to the "non-political" jobs summit and send their CEOs to speak there. It's not technically called lobbying, but the man with as much power as anyone to lower their corporate tax rates will get to hear from them up-close, interact with them on the side, and generally welcome their efforts to boost the fortunes of his tax-reform pet project, an event Baucus has said he wants to continue after leaving the Senate. In fact, Baucus boasted to reporters that he would discuss tax reform with the many leaders on hand at the summit. This is less a jobs conference than a corporate-underwritten lobbying junket.
Predictably, most of the major speakers on Monday managed to hit the talking point that the best way to create jobs in Montana is to lower the taxes multinational corporations pay. FedEx CEO Fed Smith said, for example, "If the people in this audience and the people of Montana and the people of the United States want to invigorate the American economy, there is a very straightforward path to do so and that is get with Sen. Max Baucus and reform the tax code." Others highlighted domestic energy production in Montana, home to part of the Bakken shale region, a burgeoning oil exploration site. ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said in his speech that the Keystone XL pipeline would be critical to carrying Bakken shale gas, along with Canadian tar sands oil, to market. TransCanada, the company behind the pipeline project, is also a sponsor of the Montana Economic Development Summit.
Obviously getting Democrats and Republicans to agree to anything in Congress will be difficult, but with the whole of corporate America behind him, Baucus certainly has a running start. Moreover, Baucus gets to look like a statesman talking jobs for his constituents while achieving his real goals: a high-profile event that made business press headlines and brought more attention to his long-shot tax reform bid. And he added to his Rolodex of those who might need the services of an influential ex-senator come next year, when he's looking for work.
The 3,000 Montanans at the summit didn't leave empty-handed either. From the stage, Baucus announced that another event sponsor, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Montana, planned to open a new call center in Great Falls, bringing 100 to 150 jobs to the city. So in the midst of a staged event designed to build support for multi-billion-dollar tax breaks for the biggest corporations in America, at least a handful of Montanans can realize their dream of becoming customer service representatives.
In a PSA promoting the event, Baucus seemed to back off any responsibility to create jobs from the summit. "I'll bring the big names to Montana. Then it's your job to turn handshakes into Montana jobs," Baucus says in the ad. I'm sure the senator would like to help out with that, but he's presumably too busy compiling a corporate tax break wish list from the CEOs in attendance.
David Dayen is a contributing writer at Salon.