text:
For the most current version of this Note, see Background Notes A-Z.
Republic of Macedonia
Area: 25,713 square km. (slightly larger than Vermont).
Cities (2001 est.): Capital--Skopje 600,000; Tetovo, Kumanovo, Gostivar and Bitola 100,000+.
Geography: Situated in the southern region of the Balkan Peninsula, Macedonia is landlocked and mountainous.
Climate: Three climatic types overlap--Mediterranean; moderately continental; and mountainous, producing hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters.
Population (2006 est.): 2,042,894.
Growth rate (2006 est.): 0.2%.
Ethnic groups (2002): Macedonian 64.18%, Albanian 25.17%, Turkish 3.85%, Roma 2.66%, Serb 1.78%.
Religions: Eastern Orthodox 65%, Muslim 29%, Catholic 4% and others 2%.
Languages: Macedonian 70%, Albanian 21%, Turkish 3%, Serbian 3%, and others 3%.
Education: Years compulsory--8. Literacy--94.6%.
Health (2006 est.): Infant mortality rate--11.1 deaths/per 1,000 live births. Life expectancy--males 71.79 years; females 76.43 years.
Labor force (2006): 903,576; employed 578,810: services--37.5%; industry and commerce--44.9%; agriculture--17.6%.
Type: Parliamentary democracy.
Constitution: Adopted November 17, 1991; effective November 20, 1991. Amended January 6, 1992.
Independence: September 8, 1991 (from Yugoslavia).
Branches: Executive--prime minister (head of government), council of ministers (cabinet), president (head of state). Legislative--unicameral parliament or Sobranie (120 members elected by popular vote to 4-year terms from party lists based on the percentage parties gain of the overall vote in each of six election units, with 20 seat per unit). Judicial--Supreme Court, State Judicial Council, Constitutional Court, Public Prosecutor's Office, Public Attorney. Legal system is based on civil law; judicial review of legislative acts.
Subdivisions: 84 opstini (municipalities) plus the city of Skopje.
Suffrage: Universal at age 18.
Main political parties: Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE); Social-Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM); Democratic Union for Integration (DUI); Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA); New Democracy (ND); New Social Democratic Party (NSDP); Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP); Albanian Democratic Union (DUA); Democratic Renewal of Macedonia (DOM); National Democratic Party (NDP); Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP); Socialist Party of Macedonia (SPM); Liberal Party (LP); Democratic Union (DU); Democratic Party of the Turks in Macedonia (DPTM); Democratic League of Bosniaks; Democratic Party of Serbs in Macedonia, United Party of Romas in Macedonia; Democratic Union of Vlachs from Macedonia; Labor-Agricultural Party of Macedonia, Socialist-Christian Party of Macedonia.
GDP (2008 est.): $9.624 billion.
Per capita GDP (2008 est.): $9,200.
Real GDP growth (2008 est.): 4.8%.
Annualized inflation rate (2008 est.): 8.4%.
Unemployment rate (2008 est.): 34.5%.
Trade: Significant exports--steel, textile products, chromium, lead, zinc, nickel, tobacco, lamb, and wine.
Official exchange rate (2008 avg.): 41.9 Macedonian denars = U.S. $1; (2007 avg.): 44.7 Macedonian denars = U.S.$1.
Macedonia is located in the heart of south central Europe. It shares a border with Greece to the south, Bulgaria to the east, Serbia and Kosovo to the north, and Albania to the west. The country is 80% mountainous, rising to its highest point at Mt. Korab (peak 2,764 m).
Since the end of the Second World War, Macedonia's population has grown steadily, with the greatest increases occurring in the ethnic Albanian community. From 1953 through the time of the latest official census in 2002 (initial official results were released December 2003), the percentage of ethnic Albanians living in Macedonia rose threefold. The western part of the country, where most ethnic Albanians live, is the most heavily populated, with approximately 40% of the total population. As in many countries, people have moved into the cities in search of employment. Macedonia has also experienced sustained high rates of permanent or seasonal emigration.
Throughout its history, the present-day territory of Macedonia has been a crossroads for both traders and conquerors moving between the European continent and Asia Minor. Each of these transiting powers left its mark upon the region, giving rise to a rich and varied cultural and historical tradition.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the territory of Macedonia fell under the control of the Byzantine Empire in the 6th and 7th centuries. It was during this period that large groups of Slavic people migrated to the Balkan region. The Ottoman Turks conquered the territory in the 15th century; it remained under Ottoman Turkish rule until 1912.
After more than four centuries of rule, Ottoman power in the region began to wane, and by the middle of the 19th century, Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia were competing for influence in the territory. During this time, a nationalist movement emerged and grew in Macedonia. The latter half of the 19th century, and continuing into the early part of the 20th century, was marked by sporadic nationalist uprisings, culminating in the Ilinden Uprising of August 2, 1903.
Macedonian revolutionaries liberated the town of Krushevo and established the short-lived Republic of Krushevo, which was put down by Ottoman forces after 10 days. Following Ottoman Turkey's defeat by the allied Balkan countries--Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece--during the First Balkan War in autumn 1912, the same allies fought the Second Balkan War over the division of Macedonia. The August 1913 Treaty of Bucharest ended this conflict by dividing the territory between Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles sanctioned partitioning Macedonia between The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Bulgaria, and Greece. In the wake of the First World War, Vardar Macedonia (the present day area of the Republic of Macedonia) was incorporated into the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.
Throughout much of the Second World War, Bulgaria and Italy occupied Macedonia. Many citizens joined partisan movements during this time and succeeded in liberating the region in late 1944. Following the war, Macedonia became one of the constituent republics of the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under Marshall Tito. During this period, Macedonian culture and language flourished.
As communism fell throughout Eastern Europe in the late 20th century, Macedonia followed its other federation partners and declared its independence from Yugoslavia in late 1991. Macedonia was the only republic of the former Yugoslavia whose secession in 1991 was not clouded by ethnic or other armed conflict, although the ethnic Albanian population declined to participate in the referendum on independence. The new Macedonian constitution took effect November 20, 1991 and called for a system of government based on a parliamentary democracy. The first democratically elected coalition government was led by Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and included the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP). Kiro Gligorov became the first President of an independent Macedonia.
President Gligorov was the first president of a former Yugoslav republic to relinquish office. In accordance with the terms of the Macedonian constitution, his presidency ended in November 1999 after 8 years in office, which included surviving a car bombing assassination attempt on October 3 in 1995. He was succeeded by former Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Trajkovski (VMRO-DPMNE), who defeated Tito Petkovski (SDSM) in a second-round run-off election for the presidency on November 14, 1999. Trajkovski's election was confirmed by a December 5, 1999 partial re-vote in 230 polling stations, which the Macedonian Supreme Court mandated due to election irregularities.
In November 1998 parliamentary elections, the SDSM lost its majority. A new coalition government emerged under the leadership of Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE). The initial coalition included the ethnic Albanian Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA).
During the Yugoslav period, most of Macedonia's Slavic population identified themselves as Macedonians, while several minority groups, in particular ethnic Albanians, retained their own distinct political culture and language. Although interethnic tensions simmered under Yugoslav authority and during the first decade of its independence, the country avoided ethnically motivated conflict until several years after independence. Ethnic minority grievances, which had erupted on occasion (1995 and 1997), rapidly began to gain political currency in late 2000, leading many in the ethnic Albanian community in Macedonia to question their minority protection under, and participation in, the government. Tensions erupted into open hostilities in Macedonia in February 2001, when a group of ethnic Albanians near the Kosovo border carried out armed provocations that soon escalated into an insurgency. Purporting to fight for greater civil rights for ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, the group seized territory and launched attacks against government forces. Many observers ascribed other motives to the so-called National Liberation Army (NLA), including support for criminality and the assertion of political control over affected areas. The insurgency spread through northern and western Macedonia during the first half of 2001. Under international mediation, a cease-fire was brokered in July 2001, and the government coalition was expanded in July 2001 to form a grand coalition which included the major opposition parties.
The expanded coalition of ruling ethnic Macedonian and ethnic Albanian political leaders, with facilitation by U.S. and European Union (EU) diplomats, negotiated and then signed the Ohrid Framework Agreement in August 2001, which brought an end to the fighting. The agreement called for implementation of constitutional and legislative changes, which laid the foundation for improved civil rights for minority groups. The Macedonian parliament adopted the constitutional changes outlined in the accord in November 2001. The grand coalition disbanded following the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement and the passage of new constitutional amendments. A coalition led by Prime Minister Georgievski, including DPA and several smaller parties, completed its parliamentary term.
In September 2002 elections, an SDSM-led pre-election coalition won half of the 120 seats in parliament. Branko Crvenkovski was elected Prime Minister in coalition with the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) party and the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP).
On February 26, 2004 President Trajkovski died in a plane crash in Bosnia. Presidential elections were held April 14 and 28, 2004. Then-Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski won the second round and was inaugurated President on May 12, 2004. The parliament confirmed Hari Kostov, former Interior Minister, as Prime Minister June 2, 2004, but Kostov resigned on November 15 of the same year. On December 17, 2004, former Defense Minister Vlado Buckovski was confirmed by parliament as Prime Minister, maintaining the coalition with the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) and the Liberal-Democratic (LDP) parties.
With international assistance, the SDSM-DUI-LDP governing coalition completed the legislative implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, which is a precondition for Macedonia's integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions. A November 7, 2004 referendum opposing completion of this process failed, freeing the way for the government to complete Framework Agreement implementation.
Local elections were held in March-April 2005 under a new territorial reorganization plan that consolidated the overall number of Macedonia's municipalities and created a number of ethnically-mixed municipalities in which ethnic Albanian populations were dominant. The process of decentralization began in the new municipalities in July 2005 and is continuing.
The July 2006 parliamentary elections resulted in a VMRO-DPMNE-led government under Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski assuming power, in coalition with DPA, NSDP, and several smaller parties. The new government, which was confirmed in office by a parliamentary vote on August 26, 2006, stated its commitment to completing Framework Agreement implementation and reaffirmed its commitment to pursuing NATO and EU membership.
At NATO's Bucharest Summit in April 2008, all 26 NATO Allies agreed Macedonia had met the criteria for membership. Consensus on extending a NATO membership invitation could not be reached, due to the unresolved dispute with Greece over Macedonia's name.
Following the Bucharest Summit, the opposition DUI party, in collaboration with the governing VMRO-DPMNE and DPA parties, called for the dissolution of parliament and for early parliamentary elections, which were held in June 2008. On July 26, Prime Minister Gruevski was reconfirmed in office with a new coalition along with the DUI party and one smaller party. Next regular parliamentary elections should be in 2012.
In 2009, Macedonia held presidential and local elections in March (first round) and April (second round). In the presidential race, VMRO-DPMNE candidate Gjorge Ivanov won with 64% of the vote.
The unicameral assembly (Sobranie) consists of 120 seats. Members are elected by popular vote from party lists, based on the percentage parties gain of the overall vote in each of six election districts of 20 seats each. Members of parliament have a 4-year mandate.
The Prime Minister is the head of government and is selected by the party or coalition that gains a majority of seats in parliament. The Prime Minister and other ministers must not be members of parliament.
The President represents Macedonia at home and abroad. He is the commander in chief of the armed forces of Macedonia and heads its Security Council. He also appoints the Chief of the Defense Staff (CHOD). The President is elected by general, direct ballot and has a term of 5 years, with the right to one re-election.
The court system consists of a Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and local and appeals courts. The State Judicial Council monitors the ethical conduct of judges and recommends to parliament the election of judges. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country and is responsible for the equal administration of laws by all courts. Its judges are appointed by parliament without time limit. The Constitutional Court is responsible for the protection of constitutional and legal rights and for resolving conflicts of power between the three branches of government. Its 9 judges are appointed by parliament with a mandate of 9 years, without the possibility of re-election. An independent Public Prosecutor is appointed by parliament with a 6-year mandate.
Principal Government Officials
President--Gjorge Ivanov
Prime Minister--Nikola Gruevski
Deputy Prime Minister (Economic Affairs)--Vladimir Pesevski
Deputy Prime Minister (Euro-Atlantic Integration)--Vasko Naumovski
Deputy Prime Minister (Framework Agreement Implementation)--Abdulaqim Ademi
Foreign Minister--Antonio Milososki
Education Minister--Nikola Todorov
Information Society Minister--Ivo Ivanovski
Defense Minister--Zoran Konjanovski
Economy Minister--Fatmir Besimi
Finance Minister--Zoran Stavreski
Interior Minister--Gordana Jankuloska
Agriculture, Forestry and Water Minister--Ljupco Dimovski
Justice Minister--Mihajlo Manevski
Ambassador to the United States--Zoran Jolevski
Ambassador to the United Nations--Slobodan Tasovski
The country maintains an embassy in the United States at 2129 Wyoming Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel: (202) 667-0501; fax: (202) 667-2131). It maintains a Consulate General in Detroit: 2000 Town Center, Suite 1130, Southfield, MI 48075 (tel: (248) 354-5537; fax: (248) 354-5538); and a Consulate General in Chicago: 121 West Wackor Drive, Suite 2036, Chicago, IL 60601 (tel: (312) 419-8020; fax: (312) 419-8040).
Macedonia is a small economy with a gross domestic product (GDP) of about $9.6 billion, representing about 0.01% of the total world output. It is an open economy, highly integrated into international trade, with a total trade-to-GDP ratio of 106.8% at the end of 2007. Agriculture and industry have been the two most important sectors of the economy in the past, but the services sector has gained prominence in recent years. Economic problems persist, even as Macedonia undertakes structural reforms to finish the transition to a market-oriented economy. A largely obsolete industrial infrastructure has not seen much investment during the transition period. Labor force education and skills are competitive in some technical areas and industries but significantly lacking in others. Without adequate job opportunities, many with the best skills seek employment abroad. A low standard of living, high unemployment rate, and relatively modest economic growth rate are the central economic problems.
Five years of continuous economic expansion in Macedonia was interrupted by the 2001 conflict, which led to a contraction of 4.5% in 2001. Growth started to pick up in 2003 (2.8%) and continued in 2004 (4.1%), 2005 (4.1%), 2006 (4.0%), and 2007 (5.0%). Living standards still lag behind those enjoyed before independence. Real growth was 4.8% in 2008, with inflation of up to 8.4%. The United States is supporting Macedonia's transition to a democratic, secure, market-oriented society with substantial amounts of assistance.
After the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Macedonia, the former Yugoslavia's poorest republic, faced formidable economic challenges posed by both the transition to a market economy and a difficult regional situation. The breakup deprived Macedonia of key protected markets and large transfer payments from the central Yugoslav government. The war in Bosnia, international sanctions on Serbia, and the 1999 crisis in neighboring Kosovo delivered successive shocks to Macedonia's trade-dependent economy. The government's painful but necessary structural reforms and macroeconomic stabilization program generated additional economic dislocation. Macedonia's economy was hurt especially by a trade embargo imposed by Greece in February 1994 in a dispute over the country's name, flag, and constitution, and by international trade sanctions against Serbia that were not suspended until a month after conclusion of the Dayton Accords. The impact of the 2001 ethnic Albanian insurgency in Macedonia, decreased international demand for Macedonian products, canceled contracts in the textile and iron and steel industry, and poor restructuring of the private sector affected Macedonia's growth and foreign trade prospects through 2004.
Macedonia's political and security situation is stable. This has allowed the government to refocus energies on domestic reforms, boosting economic growth, and attracting increased levels of foreign investment. In 2004, the government passed a progressive Trade Companies Law aimed at easing impediments to foreign investment, providing tax and investment incentives, and guaranteeing shareholder rights. In 2007, the government finished implementing a one-stop procedure for business registration that considerably shortened the time required to register a new business. The government's fiscal policy, aligned with International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank policies, helped maintain a stable macroeconomic environment. Legislation that would further liberalize the telecommunications market, and completion of the first phase of privatization of the electricity sector, sent promising signals to investors. However, economic growth remained sub-par in 2005 and 2006, due in part to poor government results in combating corruption, weak judiciary, poor contract enforcement, and high domestic finance costs. The new Government of Macedonia that took office in August 2006 put the fight against corruption and attracting foreign investors at the very top of its priority list. In 2007, it launched an expensive marketing campaign promoting the country as a good investment destination. It provided business incentives by cutting rates on profit tax and personal income tax, while implementing a "regulatory guillotine"--an activity which aims to significantly reduce procedures and legislative requirements for doing business.
Real GDP growth continued in 2008 at approximately the same tempo as in 2007. After growing by 4.1%, 4%, and 5% respectively in 2005, 2006, and 2007, it reached 5.2% in the first quarter of 2008. The growth was broad-based as value added increased in all sectors. Wholesale and retail trade sectors led the growth with a 10.2% annual increase, and construction followed with 9.7%. Agriculture turned from a 3% dip in 2007 to a 4.2% rise in the first quarter of 2008. Industrial output in the first five months of 2008 was 8.3% higher than in same period of 2007. Inflation unexpectedly surpassed projections, with the year-on-year consumer price index (CPI) rising by 6.1%. Growing food and energy prices pushed inflation up to 10.1% in the first half of 2008. The official unemployment rate came down a bit to 34.9% in 2007. Strong collection of revenues throughout 2007 resulted in a budget surplus of 0.3% of GDP, despite the projected deficit of 1% of GDP. Tax collection continued the upward trend in the first half of 2008, surpassing last year's first half performance by more than 20%. Expansionary monetary policy continued in 2008 as well, providing for total credit to the private sector at the end of May to grow by 43.4%. This alerted the Central Bank to raise interest rates on Central Bank bills, and put a ceiling on credit to households, but interest rates spreads continued to narrow. Import growth doubled while export-led growth remained stagnant, thus presenting a large trade deficit. At the end of May 2008, it amounted to 13.3% of GDP. As a result, the current account deficit widened to over 5% of GDP, already breaching the end-year target. Private transfers are stagnant compared to last year, and foreign direct investment (FDI), although higher than the same period of last year, is not enough to cover it. Foreign currency reserves dropped down to levels that barely cover three months of imports; further loss would seriously undermine the stability of the domestic currency. Public debt remained low at 29.3% of GDP at the end of April 2008, due to pre-paying debts to international financial institutions in 2007.
In late 2005, Macedonian authorities concluded a three-year Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the IMF and a Programmatic Development Policy Loan (PDPL) with the World Bank. In 2007 both financial institutions positively assessed the enforcement of the programs, allowing the Government of Macedonia to withdraw a tranche of the PDPL 2 agreement worth $30 million. Since the first withdrawal of $15.4 million in 2006, the SBA has been only precautionary as balance-of-payment support was no longer needed. In April 2008, the IMF Board approved the third positive review of the SBA, and the fourth and final review was to take place in September together with Article IV consultations. As of the end of August 2008, when the previous SBA expired, the Government of Macedonia had not initiated negotiations for a new arrangement with the IMF. In March 2007, the World Bank Board adopted a new four-year Country Partnership Strategy for Macedonia, which could potentially bring to the country total lending of up to $280 million.
Macedonia remains committed to pursuing membership in the European Union and global economic structures. It became a full World Trade Organization (WTO) member in April 2003. Following a 1997 cooperation agreement with the European Union (EU), Macedonia signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU in April 2001, giving Macedonia duty-free access to European markets. In December 2005, it moved a step forward, obtaining candidate country status for EU accession. Macedonia has had a foreign trade deficit since 1994, which reached a record high of $1.871 billion in 2007, or 23.3% of GDP. Total trade at the end of May 2008 (imports plus exports of goods and services) was $4.515 billion, and the trade deficit already amounted to $1.150 billion, or 13.3% of GDP. A significant 51.5% of Macedonia's total trade was with EU 27 countries. By separate countries, Macedonia's major trading partners are Serbia, Russia, Germany, and Greece. In the first five months of 2008, total trade between Macedonia and the United States was $37.6 million. U.S. exports accounted for 1.2% of Macedonia's total imports. U.S. meat, mainly poultry, and electrical machinery have been particularly attractive to Macedonian importers. Principal Macedonian exports to the United States are tobacco, apparel, footwear, and iron and steel.
Macedonia has free trade agreements with Ukraine, Turkey, and the European Free Trade Association countries. Bilateral agreements with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), and Moldova were replaced with the membership in the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), which the other countries joined in December 2006.
Macedonia established its armed forces following independence and the complete withdrawal of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) in March 1992. The Macedonian Armed Forces consist of an army, navy, air and air defense force, and a police force (under the Ministry of Interior). Under its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Membership Action Plan, Macedonia has made strong strides on major reforms and reconstruction of its armed forces toward the goal of building and sustaining a modern, professional defense force of about 12,000 troops.
Successive Macedonian governments have viewed integration into Euro-Atlantic political, economic, and security institutions as the country's primary foreign policy goal. In pursuit of these goals, Macedonia is restructuring its military to be smaller, more affordable, defensively oriented, and interoperable with NATO. The Macedonian Government has welcomed close cooperation with the U.S. military and seeks to deepen this relationship as it restructures its forces.
Macedonia continues to play an indispensable role as the Kosovo Force's (KFOR) rear area, hosting the logistical supply line for KFOR troops in Kosovo. As part of these efforts, Macedonia hosts NATO troops, including U.S. troops, in support of NATO operations in Kosovo and to assist Macedonia's efforts to reform its military to meet NATO standards. Close U.S.-Macedonian bilateral defense cooperation continues. Macedonia has contributed troops to international coalition operations in Iraq, and continues to have troops in Afghanistan and in the EU peace support operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In February 1994, Greece imposed a trade embargo on Macedonia due to disputes over the use of the name "Macedonia" and other issues. Greece and Macedonia signed an interim accord in October 1995 ending the embargo and opening the way to diplomatic recognition and increased trade. After signing the agreement with Greece, Macedonia joined the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP). Athens and Skopje began talks on the name issue in New York under UN auspices in December 1995, opening liaison offices in respective capitals January 1996. These talks continue.
The stability of the young state was gravely tested during the 1999 Kosovo crisis, when Macedonia temporarily hosted about 360,000 refugees from the violence and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. The refugee influx put significant stress on Macedonia's weak social infrastructure. With the help of NATO and the international community, Macedonia ultimately was able to accommodate the influx. Following the resolution of the conflict, the overwhelming majority of refugees returned to Kosovo. A small number of Roma refugees from Kosovo remains in Macedonia, most of them housed in the predominantly Roma municipality of Suto Orizari in the Skopje suburbs, and supported by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Macedonia enjoys good relations with its neighbors. It has strong trade and tourism ties with Greece, and has developed similarly robust political and trade ties with Albania and Bulgaria. Relations between Belgrade and Skopje are good overall, although a dispute between the Macedonian Orthodox Church and the Serb Orthodox Church has strained ties over the past two years. Relations with Kosovo are good, with Macedonia having signed an Interim Free Trade Agreement with UNMIK in 2005 and with regular bilateral political contacts occurring between Pristina and Skopje since 2005. Under the auspices of the International Civilian Office, which is supervising independent Kosovo's implementation of the Ahtisaari Plan, the Government of Macedonia and Government of Kosovo are in discussions with the aim to complete the demarcation of their common border.
Macedonia has made important strides toward Euro-Atlantic integration. Macedonia is an active participant in NATO's Partnership for Peace and Membership Action Plan, the OSCE, and United Nations, and was accepted as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in October 2002. In May 2003, Macedonia, Albania, Croatia, and the U.S. created the Adriatic Charter, modeled on the Baltic Charter, as a mechanism for promoting regional cooperation to advance each country's NATO candidacy. Since then, the Adriatic Charter countries have cooperated closely in regional military exercises, and have deployed a joint medical team to support international coalition operations in Afghanistan. The Adriatic Charter expanded to include Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro as members in December 2008. At the NATO Bucharest Summit in April 2008, Albania and Croatia received invitations to join the Alliance. NATO Allies noted that Macedonia met NATO membership criteria, but could not reach consensus on issuing an invitation for membership, in the absence of a solution to Macedonia's dispute with NATO member Greece over Macedonia's name. The United States believes Macedonia has met the performance-based standards for membership.
At the April 2009 Strasbourg-Kehl Summit, Allies re-confirmed the commitment to invite Macedonia to join NATO as soon as the name issue is resolved.
In 1999, the EU agreed to pursue a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Macedonia; negotiations with Macedonia were launched April 5, 2000. The SAA was signed April 2001 and came into force in April 2004. Its trade and trade-related provisions have been in force since June 2001. In December 2005, the European Council granted candidate country status to Macedonia, taking into account the "substantial progress made in completing the legislative framework related to the Ohrid Framework Agreement, as well as its track record in implementing the Stabilization and Association Agreement (including its trade-related provisions) since 2001." It recommended beginning formal accession negotiations after Macedonia had made further progress on a number of reform fronts, including combating corruption; enacting judicial, administrative, and economic reforms; and conducting free and fair parliamentary elections, in accordance with European standards, in 2006. The Council also noted the need to consider further steps toward membership in light of the debate on the enlargement strategy, and the need for Macedonia to continue strong progress toward meeting the Copenhagen political criteria, as well as Stabilization and Association Agreement requirements. In March 2008, the Council provided the Government of Macedonia a list of benchmarks to guide Macedonia's preparations to open formal accession negotiations.
The United States and Macedonia have enjoyed good bilateral relations since Macedonia gained its independence in 1991. The United States formally recognized Macedonia on February 8, 1994, and the two countries established full diplomatic relations on September 13, 1995. The U.S. Liaison Office was upgraded to an Embassy in February 1996, and the first U.S. Ambassador to Skopje arrived in July 1996. The development of political relations between the United States and Macedonia has ushered in a whole host of other contacts between the two states.
The United States, together with its European allies, strongly condemned the initiators of the 2001 insurgency in Macedonia and closely supported the government and major parties' successful efforts to forge a peaceful, political solution to the crisis through the Ohrid Framework Agreement. In partnership with the EU and other international organizations active in Macedonia, the United States is facilitating the Macedonian Government's implementation of the Framework Agreement and fostering long-term peace and stability in the country. Macedonia continues to make an important contribution to regional stability by facilitating the logistical supply of NATO (including U.S.) peacekeepers in Kosovo.
The United States strongly supports Macedonia's aspirations for full integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions. Today, Macedonia and the United States enjoy a cooperative relationship across a broad range of political, economic, cultural, military, and social issues. The United States has supported Macedonia's progress in building a democratic, secure, and market-oriented multiethnic society with large amounts of foreign assistance for democracy and economic reforms, defense reforms, and projects to strengthen rule of law and improve education. Bilateral assistance budgeted to Macedonia under the Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act totaled over $440 million from 1990 to 2008. Macedonia received approximately $28 million in SEED Act assistance in 2007 and was receiving approximately $22 million in 2008.
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs in Macedonia promote accelerated growth, support stronger democratic institutions, and help educate Macedonians for a modern economy. A focus of U.S. assistance has been to assist Macedonia in implementing the August 2001 Framework Agreement. Successful completion of the decentralization process is a remaining priority for framework implementation. USAID is targeting capacity building for local government officials, who will have more authority and responsibility devolved from the central government, as well as providing grants to fund small-scale infrastructure projects.
A further priority of U.S. assistance is to facilitate Macedonia's transition to a market economy and increase employment and growth levels. USAID economic assistance is focused on two levels. At the macro-level, programs target improvements in the business-enabling environment by helping to bring legislative and regulatory frameworks in line with EU standards and improving the transparency and efficiency of government services through technology. At the micro-level, assistance is given to firms and agribusinesses to increase their competitiveness and productivity, coupled with initiatives to attract foreign investment and stimulate local investment. Training programs that provide career-enhancing education to prepare youth and adults for growth sectors are also supported. A resident U.S. Department of Treasury advisor, who was to be phased out in 2008, has assisted the Ministry of Finance in improving strategy, planning and execution, and public expenditure management.
USAID is also focused on helping the Macedonian Government and civil society combat corruption, enhancing democratic political competition, supporting government decentralization and promoting the rule of law. USAID also supported the Government of Macedonia in developing a comprehensive State Program for the Prevention of Corruption with a detailed performance management system in 2007. A U.S. Department of Justice Resident Legal Advisor and a Senior Law Enforcement Advisor focus on strengthening the independence of the judiciary, efficacy of public prosecution, reform of criminal codes, increasing police capacity, and abating trafficking in persons and organized crime.
Complementing its assistance in Macedonia's political and economic transition, USAID programs improve education and human capacity in Macedonia through projects on the primary, secondary, and post-secondary levels. Targets include improving teaching techniques, modernizing vocational education, introducing information and communication technology (ICT) as a learning tool in the classroom, and providing broadband Internet service throughout the country using primary and secondary schools as a platform. Other programs address crosscutting issues, including interethnic cooperation, assistance to the Roma minority, performance improvement of key institutions, and corruption.
On May 7, 2008, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki signed a joint Declaration of Strategic Partnership and Cooperation affirming the determination of our governments to further expand and deepen the partnership between our two countries based upon common goals, interests, and values. The full text of the declaration is available at http://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/or/104441.htm.
Principal U.S. Officials
Ambassador--Philip T. Reeker
Deputy Chief of Mission--Tom Navratil
Political and Economic Affairs--David Burger
Economic/Commercial Affairs--Darren Hultman
Consul--Lauren May
Management Affairs--Bruce Wilson
Public Affairs--Ryan Rowlands
Defense Attaché--Col. Chris Benya
The U.S. Embassy in Macedonia is located at Str. "Samoilova" Nr. 21. 1000 Skopje (tel: [389] (2) 310-2000; fax: [389] (2) 310-2299).


text:
Home | CML TV - Experience the Cayman Islands Video in HD | Video about Cayman Islands Offshore Jobs
CML Offshore Recruitment started the CML TV Department three years ago with one important mission: to showcase the Cayman Islands, its people, and the companies that do business here so that persons abroad will know that it is a great place to work, and where anyone can lead an enviable lifestyle. To achieve this, we have invested ourselves in social media.
Social media is a means by which to advance a wide range of business goals but there are very few companies, both locally and internationally, that have been able to successfully harness its full potential. At CML TV, we work with clients on a one-to-one basis to produce high quality online video content that is custom fit to their precise specifications. Our dedicated and talented professional team and over three years experience in creating, developing, and managing successful social media campaigns. We know how to get the news out about your company or small business operating in the Cayman Islands by helping you connect, engage and strengthen relationships with your followers.
The overall service we offer encompasses many different and intricate parts, starting with our first meeting to the final cut, and CML TV has a team in place that works together with you to produce an authentic HD video representation of you.
As they say, seeing is believing - so get in touch.
For more information about our videos or to find out how we can assist in promoting your company, please contact us by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com or call +1 345 949 1345.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
No comments posted. |E-mail|Print | Text Size | Bookmark
Solid start just what Naugatuck football needed
WATERBURY — Right from the outset, the Naugatuck High football team wanted to set a strong defensive tone.
Led by a relentless pass rush featuring Matt Carda, William Paul, Devon Watkins and Dennis Murphy, the Greyhounds stymied Wilby to cruise to a 48-20 victory in the season opener for both teams at Municipal Stadium Wednesday.
The Greyhounds handed interim head coach Shawn Kuczenski his first career win.
"Naugatuck's defense was real tough," said Wilby coach Gino Capuano. "They blitzed their outside linebackers and brought everyone on every play. They outnumbered us and just outplayed us."
Maleek Brooks recovered a fumble and Bryan Coney intercepted a pass, both leading to second-half scores, for the Greyhounds.
The Greyhounds' defensive game plan was simple: Contain Wilby tailback Jacob Thomas, who was limited to 64 rushing yards. With that accomplished, Wilby quarterback Brandon Sierra was consistently being chased down behind the line.
"We knew Jacob Thomas was fast, and he could juke us," said Carda, a defensive tackle. "We had to try to contain him and play lockdown defense. Everyone did their job."
So did the players on the Greyhounds' offense.
Senior running back Mick Pernell rushed for 187 yards on 16 carries and scored four touchdowns on runs of 4, 83, 12 and 35 yards.
Naugatuck sophomore quarterback Jason Bradley, making his first career start, tossed for two touchdowns, both of eight yards, to Brandon Kuczenski and Ryan Grisenauer. Bradley completed his first five passes and finished with 98 yards, completing 8-of-12 passes.
"Jason was so calm out there," said Carda. "He played with a swagger."
Pernell wasn't surprised by Bradley's ability or composure.
"I've been playing football with Jason forever and love what he does on the football field," said Pernell. "I know he will be a great quarterback."
Bradley praised his offensive line and his supporting cast.
"The skilled guys were able to get down field and make plays," said Bradley.
Besides Pernell, running backs Jerome Love and Nate Franklin also showed glimpses of being able to move the chains. That coupled with Bradley's ability to find the open receiver made the offense go.
"We really showed that we could pass the ball with five different guys catching the ball," said Shawn Kuczenski, referring to his son, Brandon Kuczenski, along with Michael D'Agnone, Pernell, Ricky Plasky and Griesenauer.
"Everything just clicked tonight," said Shawn Kuczenski. "We had played well in our scrimmages against Hall, Amity and Notre Dame of West Haven. We knew that we had a lot of offensive weapons all over the place. Our confidence kept building the last few weeks. We had great practices leading up to this game."
Kuczenski, who was appointed the head coach on Aug. 23 in place of Rob Plasky, who had resigned amid allegations of recruiting violations, said the team couldn't wait to get the season started.
"The kids had no nerves," said Kuczenski. "They wanted to make a statement and send a message that we were a contender before all of this mess (Rob Plasky's suspension and resignation), and here we are. We knew we could score quick and that jacked up our defense."
Naugatuck took the opening kickoff and drove 53 yards on 11 plays, culminating on Pernell's first TD of the season.
"We were hyped up and ready to go," said Pernell.
Reader Comments
The following are comments from online readers like you. In no way do they represent the view of The Republican-American.
Submit a Comment
We encourage your feedback and dialog.
Please be civil and respectful.
Registered users comments will be posted automatically.
All other comments will be reviewed by our staff before appearing on the Web site.
If you're witty, to the point and quotable, your reader comments may also be included on the Around the Towns page of The Sunday Republican.
Redzone News
Redzone Videos
Redzone Blog
XML_Parser: undefined entity at XML input line 8:18
Photo Galleries


text:
Jackie Price, 67, of Crawford died Sept. 23, 2012, at the Chadron Hospital. She was born Feb. 23, 1945, at Nebraska City, to Stella (Briley) and John Peterson Sr.
She was married to Jerry Walters. They were later divorced. She then married Raymond Price Sr.
Her survivors include sister Irene (Don) Stelle of Grand Island; brothers Robert Peterson of Wilbur and Larry Peterson of Beatrice; children Shirley Walters and Bob Walters of Nebraska City, Jerry Walters of Crawford, and Vickie (Leroy) Landreth of Alliance; and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She also is survived by her first husband.
She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and brother John Peterson Jr.
A graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, at Wyuka Cemetery at Nebraska City.
Gude Mortuary is in charge of local arrangements.
Location, ST | website.com


text:
Countdown to PDC2008: Open Space Opens the Minds
- Posted: Jul 24, 2008 at 7:11PM
- 53,162 views
- 7 comments
Loading user information from Channel 9
Something went wrong getting user information from Channel 9
Loading user information from MSDN
Something went wrong getting user information from MSDN
Loading Visual Studio Achievements
Something went wrong getting the Visual Studio Achievements
Right click "Save as…"
Special guest star Jason Olson explains Open Space at PDC2008. The "Birds of a Feather" sessions were considered too structured and too boring. Enter Open Space, the new (to the tech industry) way to create ad-hoc
"un"-conferences. Open Space will be located in the main room right next to the track lounges and not shunted to some back corner in the middle of the night.
The topics are driven 100% by the attendees. No demos, no podiums, just conversation and lots of fun! Watch the video to learn more.
Oops, something didn't work.
Yet another informative episode,
(Although I felt like cursing the timer this time I understand that you guys must be busy but can we inrease the minutes so that atleast we don't cut the conversation in between)
Woud the open space sessions also be recorded ? It would be really interesting to watch it.
Comments have been closed since this content was published more than 30 days ago, but if you'd like to continue the conversation, please create a new thread in our Forums, or Contact Us and let us know.


text:
WyzAnt's network of tutors is nationwide, making it easy for everyone to find an expert who can meet for general computer lessons. Find your general computer tutor today.
Work closely with the best tutors, even if you're miles apart. Search for online general computer tutors to find one who is right for you. Visit WyzAnt Resources for homework help or to ask questions and get free general computer help from expert tutors.


text:
The third time was not the charm for the Pratt Community College baseball team as they dropped another contest to Barton County on Tuesday, this one a 17-13 slugfest. They have now lost three straight to the Cougars in a series that has been intermittent due to the weather.
This game was frustrating as the Beavers got up big early and could not hold the lead. The Beavers were on top 8-1 after two frames. Pratt's offense was clicking and Barton was running themselves out of innings in the early going. C Jordan Jones gunned down a Cougar attempting to steal second, and BJ Dean and John Lassiter executed a perfect relay combination to erase a Barton batter trying to stretch a double into a triple.
The Beavers added on in the 3rd, a Jake Siroky RBI double scoring runners from 2nd and 3rd to get the count up to 11-3 PCC. The middle innings proved disastrous for Pratt, however, as they coughed up the big lead—in large part due to the 16 Cougar runners who reached via walks, errors or HPB.
By the 7th and final inning, the Cougars had fashioned a 16-12 lead. Each team would tally once more in the 7th, with the result being a 17-13 come-from-behind Barton win over the Beavers.
The Beavers fall to 4-8 (2-5 conference). They get one more crack at the Cougars Wed. at Stanion Field, 4 p.m.
Location, ST | website.com


text:
For instance, if I try to cast Army of the Damned and my opponent uses Cancel to stop it, can I still cast Army of the Damned from the graveyard for it's Flashback cost?
Sign up
- Anybody can ask a question
- Anybody can answer
- The best answers are voted up and rise to the top
Yes. The only requirements for Flashback are that the card is in your Graveyard, you are able to pay the alternate Flashback cost, and you are capable of casting the Flashback spell at that particular time (you have priority, if the Flashback spell is a Sorcery then it is you turn's first or second Main Phase and the stack is empty, etc.).
Keep in mind that if your opponent Cancels your Army of the Damned spell, that you must wait until Cancel to resolve before your spell will be in the graveyard. If it was Dissipated, it would never hit the graveyard at all.
Yes. Flashback simply lets you cast the spell from your graveyard, it does not matter how the spell got there.


text:
home > first aid & injuries center > first aid & injuries a-z list > thermal (heat or fire) burns article
Thermal (Heat or Fire) Burns
Thermal Burns Overview
From simple sunburn on vacation to touching a hot pot on a stove, many of us have experienced minor burns at one time or another. Thermal burn injuries are very common. Children are particularly at risk due to accidental burns.
The type of burn and the severity of the burn depend on the number of layers of skin affected. Most burns are mild, but some may be severe. Most importantly, a majority of burns are estimated to be preventable.
Medically Reviewed by a Doctor on 9/8/2015
Medical Author:
Medical Editor:
Next Page:
(Page 1 of 13)
Must Read Articles Related to Thermal (Heat or Fire) Burns
Burn Percentage in Adults: Rule of Nines In adults, the "rule of nines" is used to determine the body surface area that has been burned. learn more >>
Tetanus Tetanus is an infectious disease caused by contamination of wounds from the bacteria Clostridium tetani, or the spores they produce that live in the soil, and a...learn more >>
Wilderness: Burns Heat, chemical, or electrical injury to the skin, eyes, nerves, blood vessels, and internal organs can cause burns.
Patient Comments & Reviews
The eMedicineHealth doctors ask about Thermal Burns (Heat or Fire):
Healthy Resources
Featured Centers
Health Solutions From Our Sponsors
Read What Your Physician is Reading on Medscape
Burns, Thermal »
Burn injuries account for an estimated 700,000 annual emergency department (ED) visits per year.


text:
I have two line shapefiles. I want to find between them, where are located all share segments and extract the new selection shapefile. Can anybody help me? I am using Quantum Gis. I know that in ArcGis, there are a tool, named "share line segment with". There is some tool like this in Quantum Gis or other open source software?
Thank you all. Cristina Soares


text:
GOPer Gregg: Party risks permanent minority' status in immigration fight
Republican Judd Gregg, the former New Hampshire governor and U.S. senator, joined conservative columnists like the New York Times' David Brooks in urging Republicans to embrace immigration reform or face becoming a "permanent minority" in an op-ed published on Monday in The Hill.
Post a comment
You must sign in before you can post comments. If you are experiencing issues with your account please e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
The 7 Most Terrifying Mouths in Nature
#3. Penguins Are Stashing Teeth in Their Beaks
You'd probably have to agree that there's nothing scary about a penguin. If there was, they wouldn't keep making animated children's movies about them tap dancing. But what Happy Feet never cared to show you, for obvious reasons, is what a penguin looks like with its beak open.
At this point, Mr. Freeman stopped narrating and started screaming.
Once you start the journey into the center of a penguin, it's teeth all the way down. There are teeth in their beaks, teeth on their cheeks, teeth on their tongues, and probably teeth on the backs of their eyeballs if you ever care to check (we don't recommend it).
Liam Quinn
This is why you never see any penguin dentists.
Because penguins swallow their food alive and wriggling, they need some way to both keep hold of their prey and maximize its suffering. The penguin's spiny tongue and mouth parts work like a conveyor belt to keep things moving in one direction -- and it's not someplace anyone wants to go.
Liam Quinn
"JESUS CHRIST! I think I'll just starve, thanks."
#2. Woodpeckers Have Spears for Tongues
We already have a lot of respect for the woodpecker for having the highest density of dick references in a single name, but while we're discussing large, phallic protrusions, check out the woodpecker's tongue, which suggests that it is definitely compensating for something.
"I appreciate the offer, but I think we'll just stick to the full sex, thanks."
The woodpecker basically has a gaffing hook for a tongue. Not only is it up to three times the length of the bird's beak, but it's tipped with a barbed spearhead that impales bugs in trees and drags them screaming to their end.
Oh, excellent. It turns corners.
You might be wondering how the woodpecker keeps this whole thing inside its head. Even if you weren't wondering that, we're going to tell you anyway. You see, when it's not using it to stab things, the woodpecker wraps its entire tongue around the back of its skull, behind its eyeball, and then back into its nostril, like so:
Every party has that one guy who's all "Hey, look what I can do!" Woodpecker parties are full of those guys.
#1. The Pacu Has People Teeth
We're going back to the Amazon now, if only because it seems like the world's premier dumping ground for Lovecraft-style eldritch horror. For instance, nature saw fit to create something called the pacu fish. It just looks like a pretty ordinary fish until it opens its mouth, and suddenly you can think only in nightmares. In a remarkable (though incredibly disturbing) example of evolution repeating itself, the pacu fish has a human mouth.
Several human mouths.
Why would nature do this to us? Well, it's the same reason we have them -- teeth like ours are able to chew anything, and unusually for a fish, their favorite foods are seeds and nuts.
You'd be tempted to make a bad joke here about "keeping your nuts out of the Amazon River," at which point we'd be forced to tell you that, all jokes aside, the pacu will in fact eat your testicles. That's why Papua New Guineans have nicknamed it the "ball cutter."
"Testicle trap," "sack hacker," "jewel thief," "plum poacher" ... all of these could work.
The pacu was introduced to Papua New Guinea in the 1990s to provide a local food source (because people just love eating something that looks like man contorted into an eternal scream), and since then, the "nut"-eating bastards have been credited with the deaths of at least two men in the region from a combination of blood loss and shame. Happy swimming, guys.
The Telegraph
"Insert here."
Monte Richard is a columnist at DaftGadgets.com, Warren Tilson has a book, and E. Reid Ross lives in the Craption Forums.
For more nightmare fuel, check out 7 Terrifying Giant Versions of Disgusting Critters and 7 Terrifying Prehistoric Creatures (That Are Still Around).


text:
If I'm not mistaken, the set of all functions $f(x)$ satisfying the first order homogeneous ODE:
$$f''(x) - 2x = 0$$
is a Vector Space (as in, the elements of the Vector Space are its solutions).
Two solutions for the above ODE are $f(x) = x^2 + 7$ and $f(x) = x^2 + 9$.
Therefore, if they are elements of the Vector Space, a linear combination of them say: $2x^2 + 16$, should also be a solution to the ODE above. However, it is not.
Where is the flaw above?


text:
11 Mar 2011 5:40 AM #11
This looks good. One suggestion. The second date picked should black out all the dates before the first date selected.
11 Mar 2011 8:38 PM #12
Hello, and thank you for your suggestion. With this new version, it doesn't matter which side you pick from, it will always deliver "[lowest date] to [highest date]". So the need to black out dates isn't necessary anymore. However, if you would like to do that, it's very simple to hook into the events for those pickers, or also you can make an extension of that renderer function to accommodate that functionality.--
Hans Doller
Senior Web Developer & Consultant
Contributed Plugins: Ext.date.RangeField, Ext.money.Exchange, Ext.locale.Format, Ext.ux.Bootstrap
11 Mar 2011 9:57 PM #13
Looks great!! I will give it a try...Greivin Britton
My Extensions:
Ext.ux.NumericField: Number field with support for currencySymbol, thousand separator, international...
Ext.ux.PagerSizeSelector: A plugin that allows the change page size with just one click.
Ext.ux.FieldAccess: A plugin to let the user know which fields are editable.
22 Mar 2011 1:04 PM #14
Good job on the new version. Been using the old one and it was a pain to manage all the i18n stuff. Now its easy. Also good job on adding events that we can trap.
9 May 2011 7:44 AM #15
I am using this plugin and I was wondering how can I extend it so that it contains also time along with dates? Something like Ext.form.TimeField has.
Many thanks!
9 May 2011 9:39 AM #16
Hi lizucagirl,
The way the pickers are generated is by using renderer functions, defined in the object: Ext.date.MenuRenderer
You can define a new renderer function that returns a configured time field and/or datetime field. To hook this renderer into the Ext.date.RangeField object, you can extend/overwrite the pickers() method which is defined by default in Ext.date.RangeField.defaults.
The values used internally for this object are JS Date() classes. So there shouldn't be any problem with storing the time value internally, but you'll also need to change the "format" configuration of the Ext.date.RangeField class, so that the time is displayed in the field.
Hope this helps!--
Hans Doller
Senior Web Developer & Consultant
Contributed Plugins: Ext.date.RangeField, Ext.money.Exchange, Ext.locale.Format, Ext.ux.Bootstrap
8 Dec 2011 3:00 AM #17
Any plans for ExtJS 4.x compatibility? thanks for the good extension!Wemerson Januario
Site/Blog: http://wemersonjanuario.com.brFrom: Goiânia, GO, Brazil
Consulting Training and Web Development
12 Dec 2011 3:40 AM #18
How are you leading with DateJs Vs Ext.Date incompatibity? Any Override dor Ext.3.++?
ThanksWemerson Januario
Site/Blog: http://wemersonjanuario.com.brFrom: Goiânia, GO, Brazil
Consulting Training and Web Development
27 Feb 2012 5:04 AM #19
how can i use it in ext2.0
I use it in ext2.0 . But I find when click the button "Custom date range",the right menu cannot show . How to resolve!
Thanks you!
8 Jan 2013 11:53 PM #20
Is this control updated for extjs version 4.1.1a?
Similar Threads
How can select future day date only not a past date and current dateBy painter in forum Ext 2.x: Help & DiscussionReplies: 2Last Post: 6 Apr 2009, 10:11 PM
GridView date and date store DateBy saipkjai in forum Ext 2.x: Help & DiscussionReplies: 1Last Post: 21 Jan 2009, 7:19 PM
How to set month start date month end date default in date fieldBy frank_ash in forum Ext 2.x: Help & DiscussionReplies: 1Last Post: 17 Oct 2008, 6:59 AM
Newbie Question about disable shadow of the date picker's date fieldBy fm424946 in forum Ext 2.x: Help & DiscussionReplies: 0Last Post: 13 Nov 2007, 9:02 AM


text:
To avoid the $600 + cost of a replacement and just because I accepted the challenge on a Miller XMT 350 repair. I decided to test and repair the board that failed, PC1, well to an extent. (PCB part# 242-812) Before I go on, thank you but please hold all comments about the dangers of this machine. I am aware of the theory miller came up with on this newer design (great idea btw), I can respect how it works, and I am not an amateur at this, this is what I do. I was just looking for a place to bounce ideas off of capable people. That being said; the issue was that the power circuit on PC1 that drives the control power transformer had failed. I traced the failure to U1, U6, Aux power IGBT and protection diode. (finding the replacement IGBT was a challenge in itself. Semikron SK10GHR123) Verified all power off test ok, power up and all seemed ok, then the entire unit would cycle on and off. I noted power to U6 (PWM driver) @ 3.6 v after the unit would not turn back on. I am repairing this blind, I have no prints, I was wondering if someone knew what regulates logic power to this circuit. It appears to operate on a zenor regulator off of rect_+, but not quite. Any thoughts would be appreciated. I walked away from it for the weekend, but suspect a power issue or U6 is soft cycling for some reason, such as over current from china replacement part. Mike
No announcement yet.
Has anyone repaired PC1 on XMT 350 cccv?
new posts
Has anyone repaired PC1 on XMT 350 cccv?Tags: None
PC1 is a very rare on these units to up and blow, what was the error code? Repairing a board without the circuit diagram is somewhat stupid and rather dangerous.
What is the serial# of the machine? If its a MAxxxx+, its likely that Miller will cover the repair, parts wise, ie, parts only, labour not includedLast edited by cruizer; 09-03-2013, 10:25 AM.
I've seen your responses to other posts and figured I'd get one similar. Thanks for the brilliant insight. miller no long gives the prints for the newer boards. The power circuit failed so there for there is no power up to give a code. I know PC1 is rare to go, like I said, this is not my first go around, I'm reaching out to other minds . thanks for your input. BTW not MA #, out of warranty, already went that route w miller. just trying to help a customer out, we repair many boards when possible.
Originally posted by cruizer View PostPC1 is a very rare on these units to up and blow, what was the error code? Repairing a board without the circuit diagram is somewhat stupid and rather dangerous.
What is the serial# of the machine? If its a MAxxxx+, its likely that Miller will cover the repair, parts wise, ie, parts only, labour not included
So its a mid year LK serial#. as that is the one that comes up for that board, really better off getting a replacement. Alot of those chips / linears are programmed, and the boards appear to be layered, making em pretty tough to fix. Personally I wouldn't bother. I too fix many boards, but these I don't bother with due to the cascade problems with them. Miller never gave the prints to the newer machines, because of copyrights, and becase they changed quite a bit from manufacturer to manufacturer.


text:
September 11, 2012
The Affordable Care Act has been the subject of a great deal of scrutiny and controversy. But what do we actually know about how the ACA will impact public health?
On Friday, September 21, the NYU Master of Public Health program will host a discussion of the ACA by a group of expert panelists, including senior officials from the New York Academy of Medicine and the National Physicians Alliance, as well as a former national legal director of the ACLU. The panelists will provide an update on the legal status of the ACA and the controversy over individual mandates, and discuss the components of the ACA related to prevention and public health. They will also examine opportunities in the ACA to improve population health. Bring your questions and expect a lively and informative discussion.
The event begins at 6:00 p.m. at the NYU Kimmel Center for University Life, Room 914, at 60 Washington Square South, New York, N.Y.
RSVP is required – go to http://www.nyu.edu/rsvp/event.php?e_id=4282.
Featured panelists will include: Valerie Arkoosh, MD, MPH, President of National Physicians Alliance; Ruth Finkelstein, ScD, Senior Vice President for Policy and Planning, The New York Academy of Medicine; Burt Neuborne, LL.B., Inez Milholland Professor of Civil Liberties, Legal Director, Brennan Center for Justice, NYU School of Law.
Moderated by John Billings, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Public Service at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
For more information, please call 212-998-2175.
This Press Release is in the following Topics:
Health, events, Steinhardt, School of Law, Around the Square, Events and Traditions, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
Type: Press Release
Press Contact: Robert Polner | (212) 998-2337


text:
7 Viral Videos You Didn't Know Were Staged (and How They Did It)
What's funnier than Homer Simpson getting hit in the face with a shovel? A real person getting hit with a shovel, of course.
Creators of internet videos realize this, and in the last few years we've seen the rise of the staged viral video, regular people faking some spontaneous bit of hilarity to make sure grandmas everywhere will be emailing the link for years. Well at Cracked, the truth still matters. Today we're taking a stand and saying, "Fuck you, Grandma. That shit was staged."
So read on at your own risk, because some of you are about to find out there's no Santa Claus.
#7. Pauly Shore Punched Out On Stage
Behold as Pauly Shore, now working the stand-up comedy circuit in Texas so he doesn't have to live in his car, badgers a redneck heckler. The man takes the stage, punches Shore right in his annoying face, and a viral sensation is born:
This clip showed up in November of '06, got linked on Defamer and then hosted on every site in the world capable of hosting video. Across those sites the clip saw at least two million views and more than a thousand user comments. Fierce online debates raged as observers were forced to side with the violent hick or The Weasel, which is like being forced to pick whether you want to be stabbed in the left testicle or the right.
Sample comments:
"The people in the crowd as well as the guy who went up are nutfuckers. Thats just fucked up."
"lol. sweet justice"
"Gee Pauly what did you expect in Wacko, Texas? It's where men are men and the sheep are nervous. These people have sex with barn yard animals and think that it is OK. Pauly, truly your movies mostly suck big time except Encino Man, which was pretty funny, thanks mainly to Brandon Frazier."
The Evidence:
Frame-by-frame examination of whether or not the punch actually landed doesn't help, with the dark stage and shitty quality.
Above: blob
The fact that no charges were filed was also meaningless, since many legal experts say beating Pauly Shore is not technically a crime.
The cynics among us were undeterred. The fact that this video turned up barely a week after the Michael Richards racist fiasco made us wonder if a publicity-starved Shore wasn't playing the internet like the Machiavellian genius he so clearly is.
Sure enough, a couple of weeks after the video made its way around the net, TMZ.com called the cops in Odessa and asked them about it. They confirmed the whole thing had been set up. Finally, in January Pauly Shore himself uploaded a video with the behind-the-scenes rehearsal of the incident:
The trouble is that as of this writing, that video had only been viewed about 75,000 times, a tiny fraction of the people who enjoyed the original punch. Once again mankind rejects reality to cling to a happier fantasy.
#6. Counter-Strike Cheater Gets His Computer Smashed
What happens when you attend a massive Counter-Strike LAN party and use your hacking skills to cheat everybody? They smash your freakin' computer, that's what!
It's amazing how popular this video got, considering it emerged in a pre-YouTube era when a one-minute video could take 15 minutes to trickle down a spotty dial-up connection. Six years after it appeared, it's still making the rounds (that copy on YouTube up there is fairly recent, and still has half a million views and a thousand comments).
For you aspiring staged viral video makers, the lesson is clear: If you want traffic, try recording yourself performing some kind of unjust destruction of valuable property.
Sample comments:
"These guys are crazy. man this is fuck."
"lol i hate cheaters.. but thats too evil. poor guy."
"This was Real: I was at that LAN party.. The kid was warned twice, The LAN was in Alabama. I was one of the people that where admin'ing the servers at that party. This video was recorded 7-27-99 I know the guy that recorded the video.. When this guys machine was unplugged.. it was anything but done properly. We YANKED! The SVGA just about pulled out the video card. OWNT."
The Evidence:
If you read a lot of video comments (like maybe some creative judge has sentenced you to do that because of some terrible crime you committed) then you'll recognize that last comment. The, "I was there, that's me in the back" guy is a video comment archetype. Usually there are several of them in each video's comment section and usually their accounts conflict.
In this case the person doesn't explain why manufacturers of the cheater's PC seemed to have forgotten to actually fasten the parts together in any way, causing the machine to spill apart on impact. Or, perhaps the more relevant question is in what part of the country is destroying $2,000 worth of personal property not a fairly serious crime.
The story is that back in 2001, a group called LANtrocity (organizers of these huge LAN parties out in Los Angeles) announced a humongous gaming get-together coming the next spring (that's the "Million Man Lan" link at the end of the video up there). They released this little video to promote it, which was shot at one of their Counter-Strike tournaments in October of 2001 using an old computer case with some unused video cards and RAM sticks tossed inside.
This video has been a curse on the organizers of the Million Man Lan events ever since, as six years later people still turn up on their forums every couple of weeks and ask why they destroyed that poor man's computer. These days, asking that question may get you yet another patient explanation or simply a collective groan of dread from the regulars.
What is interesting is the recurrence of the "Hey I saw the video and totally agree with what you did" commenters. Look, we don't want to reinforce a stereotype here, but when you find yourself so into gaming that you think cheaters should be taken in back to have their fingers crushed with a ball-peen hammer Casino-style, it's probably time to turn off the computer. Stand up, stretch, open the curtains. There's a whole world out there, son.
#5. Waitress Crashes Through Window
A waitress is straightening up after hours, when she trips over a stool and goes crashing wackily through a window, at best suffering lacerations and bruises, at worst plummeting 30 stories to her splattering death.
Her stumble and subsequent horrible suffering was good for nearly a million views and more than a thousand comments across various sites. The clip was featured on The Fox News Blast, their mash-up of shocking videos. "This video may be a fake," says the anchor. "But we hope not!"
Yes, friends, Fox News Inc. would much prefer that a real lady be in a hospital bed with stitches in her face and her jaw wired shut, than to think it was simply a stunt. That's journalism right there, ladies and gentlemen.
Sample comments:
"HAHAH AH AHA HA H A : thats what she gets for being a stupid white bitch"
"If that were my restaurant I'd deduct the cost of the window from her paycheck."
"Geez. Sickening how some of you people 'cant stop laughing'. Your complete insensitivity to human suffering puts you on an intersect path with the litany of psycho doofuses who 'snap' and go shoot up a mall or school."
"that was my cousin. its real, the window hadnt been replaced since 1947 thats why it sucked"
The Evidence:
Commenters who analyzed the video frame-by-frame point out a mysterious disappearing stool (the one next to the window, at 11 seconds) as proof that the whole thing is CGI. Could this woman have hired a special effects studio, paying tens of thousands of dollars to digitally enhance her viral video for a mere taste of internet fame?
We were afraid we would never know. After all, the Fox News Blast guys couldn't even track it down, and were forced to throw up their hands and simply hope that the woman bled as much as possible. If the full investigative power of the Rupert Murdoch empire could not uncover its origins, what hope did we have?
Oh, wait. Three minutes of Google searching turns up the clip in its original form:
The moment the "Stools causing you pain?" slogan appears you realize this was originally just a commercial (for DulcoEase, a turd-softening agent). The whole stool thing admittedly is a stretch, but advertising this product isn't exactly the easiest job (you can't just show a guy straining on a toilet in a cold sweat, face beet-red, screaming "OH GOD I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN DULCOEASE YOU COULD BUILD A FUCKING BRICK SCHOOLHOUSE WITH MY SHITS").
So, while the thought of some lady hurdling herself through a plate glass window for the sake of a viral video would have been sad, it's actually even sadder that some dude spent 30 seconds hacking the end off a commercial and passed it off as real. But, hey, it fooled Fox News.


text:
Kenny Perry shoots 63 to win U.S. Senior Open
By ERIC OLSON AP Sports Writer
Not a subscriber? You can purchase a single-day subscription for only $0.75 to read this and access all of our content and our E-Edition. CLICK HERE purchase a single day subscription.
Become an electronic subscriber to the Republican-American for only $8 a month. CLICK HERE.


text:
9 Apr 2012 8:15 PM #41
Sqlite proxy
Hello Team,
I took the latest sqlite proxy code from github. After 3 days, I finally figured out how to remove the errors from the code and get it running to the previous state.
But the database table is still not created. I have the SqliteProxy.js and SqliteConnection file.js which is supposed to create the table(I assumed).
Any suggestion is welcome.
Thank you in advance.
10 Apr 2012 8:22 AM #42
I have a question, and i wish someone teach me...
I'm trying to make backup system in my app.
Is it possible that dynamically reload store from sqlite database ?
My app is sencha touch(1.1.1) with phonegap(1.5).
My condition is...
1: copy websql file to another directory as "buckup.db".
2: save new record to the store. and new one is in the list.
3: copy "buckup.db" to original place back (with original name).
4: store.load(); and refresh list.
5: new one still in the list.
6: I quit app. and restart. new one disappear correctly.
I hope that new one could be disappeard in 4 (without restart app).
Any Idea ? please !
thank you.
15 May 2012 1:47 AM #43
Does this work for offline storage of data ?? Because as of now when I clear the browser cache the database empties
15 May 2012 1:55 AM #44
Hey this should work perfectly with offline storage. I did this in multiple apps.
What I do is trying to load data from external and save this data into the database. Next time I try to load data from external I can load the "cached" data if the request fails.
Greetings Eryx
19 May 2012 5:24 PM #45
I tried to build your sqlitedemo in phonegap for android but it did not work well. is there anything i'm missing?
here's the error:
E/Web Console(537): Uncaught Error: [Ext.Loader] Failed loading 'app/util/InitSQLite.js', please verify that the file exists at file:///android_asset/www/sdk/sencha-touch-all.js:8010
3 Dec 2012 6:09 AM #46
IS the MVC SqLite available ?
After dowloading the lastest github sources, i'm not able to make it work in a MVC structure , does it will take long to be available ?
3 Dec 2012 7:30 AM #47
3 Dec 2012 7:33 AM #48
ok thanks , i missed this one
11 Mar 2013 5:37 AM #49
Sqlite Proxy
Can u plz tell me, How to add the differenrt file
in the project structure.
Same Above problem is coming
Ext.DbConnection.dbConn is undefined...
27 Mar 2013 12:52 AM #50
i'm trying to use this for reading some data from a database
i've managed to remove the errors (working on ST2.1.1) ,but i still can't figure out how to get it working
i tried to see how sqlDemo works,but i can't even find its database, i'm stuck
any one can help?
Thread Participants: 22
- Salva (1 Post)
- goeast (1 Post)
- ultimate5289 (2 Posts)
- digeridoo (1 Post)
- bastard (1 Post)
- Sasha172 (1 Post)
- eryx (5 Posts)
- temolesto (3 Posts)
- disy_schmidt (2 Posts)
- karthiktheraja (2 Posts)
- diesalher (1 Post)
- hihei (1 Post)
- naokazu.terada (1 Post)
- ahaeusse (1 Post)
- dmregister (1 Post)
- bstrappazzon (1 Post)
- gcw07 (1 Post)
- khushkedia (2 Posts)
- jigiman (1 Post)
- Gaspard22 (2 Posts)
- Prabjot (1 Post)
- mohamedSabry (1 Post)


text:
12/16, 6:15 pm
Puyallup Public Library
324 South Meridian
History Room, 2nd Floor
Puyallup, Washington
The Puyallup Public Library Board typically meets on the third Monday of each month at
6:15 pm in the History Room located on the 2nd Floor.
© 2005-2016 City of Puyallup. All rights reserved. Site Design & Development by SiteCrafting Inc.


text:
Event date
Full Address
2000 Fearrington Village Center, Fearrington Vlg, NC 27312
Dovecote Shop at Fearrington Village
Contact Phone Number
SKIF International is a small production knitwear company that uses natural fibers like silk, wool and unprocessed cotton to spin yarn into soft, perfectly draped, body-loving designs. With a small staff of 8 to 15 artisans, each special, one-of-a-kind garment is knitted on a machine over the course of three to six weeks. Surprising free-form style and asymmetrical details are packed into every piece. This is such a special line available this weekend only at Dovecote in Fearrington Village.


text:
I just started playing Nine Men's Morris. I have tried playing with both the computer and on online multiplayer settings and have been doing abysmally. I tried finding some good resource on the net that could give me some in depth study of useful strategies for this board game but I found very basic guides that were basically just a rehash of the rules. Could somebody help me in my dilemma, I want to start winning at least a few of the games.
Sign up
- Anybody can ask a question
- Anybody can answer
- The best answers are voted up and rise to the top
There's some information available in German. The game's called "Mühle" (= mill) in German,
and there exists at least one book on this subject.
The book can be found online here: http://www.hubbie.de/
It should be possible to understand a lot of the strategies even without knowledge of German, but with "Google translate", or dict.leo.org you should be able to make sense of most of the text.
There's even an organization which organizes (European) championchips, see
With respect to basic strategy, I'm assuming that you've found this, which seems to have scraped the text from this page (or vice versa).
In the early '90s, at least one person believed that the strategy you are seeking was not possible to describe.
I've not found anything to contradict him, so unless someone else has more recent experience to share, you may be out of luck.
I realize you are searching for a human strategy, but it might be useful to look at this:
Problem was solved by Ralph Gasser for an AI player.


text:
special events
à la carte series
Mahnaz Newman, chair
Join us for premium events sampling the cultures around the world at private, international residences throughout Los Angeles. Each à la carte event features an exceptional chamber music performance by LACO's distinguished musicians or guest artists and concludes with a delectable authentic dinner and drinks.
These events support the education outreach programs of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Check back later for information about our 2016 à la carte series.
la vie en rose
an evening in paris
sat feb 13 2016 @ Millennium Biltmore Hotel4
Immerse yourself in "an evening in Paris!" Anne Carrere, star of the international touring revue PIAF! transports you to the city of love with the legendary music of Édith Piaf. LACO musicians and music director Jeffrey Kahane bring to life music of the great French composers as only the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra can.


text:
The Kids Are Alright
From my hometown diocese, another gay Catholic school employee (this time an administrator) fired for marrying. And, as in other cases, students have responded by protesting:
Eastside Catholic president Sister Mary Tracy said she discussed Zmuda's case in person with Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain within the last two weeks and they had what she described as a collaborative conversation. Sartain didn't give her an explicit order to fire Zmuda, Tracy said. Rather, "We were directed to comply with the teachings of the church."
"The Archdiocese works through me as the head of the school," Tracy said. "It was clear that this is the teaching of the church. I know what we need to do." Patterson said he and Tracy met with Zmuda in a cordial meeting on Tuesday and everyone understood that Zmuda could no longer work at Eastside Catholic.
"It was just one of those situations where he knew ... that he needed to comport with the [teachings] of the church, and his same-sex marriage was not comporting with that," Patterson [a lawyer for the archdiocese] said. Patterson said Zmuda's same-sex marriage, not the fact that he is gay, is the reason he cannot work for the school. "He's a great administrator," Patterson said. "We fully support him. We're going to give him glowing reference letters, all that sort of thing. But Eastside Catholic doesn't have the power to change that law," Patterson said, referring to church teachings."The students were pretty upset about that so we all came together and rebelled against it," he said. "Once one person found out it went on Twitter and then everyone found out. He and others started rounding up students for a sit-in at the school commons area around 9 a.m.
He said the students then hiked outside to the turnoff for the street that winds up a hill to the campus to show their support for Zmuda to the media gathered there. "We did not know he was gay before today," Leider [a student at Eastisde Catholic] said. "He's always looking out for the best in everyone and he always wants everyone to do their best." Sophia Cerino, a freshman at Eastside Catholic, said most students support the rights of gays to marry. "Just because I'm Catholic doesn't mean I need to believe every rule the church has," Cerino said. "We think the rule over gay marriage is totally unfair. Everyone seems to think the same thing — that we should all be treated equal."
I have to wonder what effect this kind of thing is having on the younger generation of Catholics and their relationship to the Church.
[UPDATE: I've modified the post a bit to identify some of the speakers and provide the context. Go read the whole story, though.]
About the Author
Eduardo Moisés Peñalver is the Allan R. Tessler Dean of the Cornell Law School. He is the author of numerous books and articles on the subjects of property and land use law.
23 comments
- All
- Editor Featured
Thanks for this. The end of the Seattle Times story hints at one of the problems for the archdiocese when it fires gay teachers for violating the clause in their employment contract to "uphold church teaching". Does this mean that divorced (straight) employees will now be fired? Does it mean that the Baptist janitor or Mormon secretary or Lutheran teacher at a Catholic parish or retreat house or school is at risk of losing his or her job?
And if not, why not?
The high school president, Sr. Mary Tracy, was "directed to comply with the teachings of the church."
Where in "the teachings of the church" do we find anything that necessitated the firing of Mr. Zmuda?
Sure the teachings of the Church contain all sorts of prohibitions against same-sex sexual activity. Fine. Well, not fine -- but yeah, I get it and look forward to the day our Church loses the bad theology upon which it is based. But in the meantime, why do any of these anti-gay teachings of the Church necessitate this man's termination? It is fairly clear Mr. Zmuda lived a fairly open life. The only thing that has changed is that he is exercising his legal right to access the rights and responsibilities afforded to him in the state of Washington and under federal law.
Catechism teaches us that gay people MUST "be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity". Firing this man merely for entering into a civil recognition of his pre-existing same-sex relationship shows little respect and zero compassion or sensitivity.
I will also note it is simply no one's business why Mr. Zmuda married this man or the details of their life together. The catechism says gay people should live chaste lives -- as it says for straights too. Why should anyone assume this relationship violates the call to chasitity? That is no one's business but Mr. Zmuda's and his conscience.
As Luke Hill suggests, if the Church is really going to be consistent here then we must become a Church of nosy, sexual busy-bodies.
Do we have any sense of how the cases of straight people in irregular marriages are handled? If a divorced teacher at a Catholic school is re-married without a declaration of nullity of the first marriage, is he or she terminated? If a principal at a Catholic school overheard a young teacher engaged to be married in the Church talk about a pre-nuptial agreement, should that principal terminate the teacher because a lack of belief in the indissolubility of marriage?
And one day after this story hit the wires, the state of Utah (UTAH, fer crying out loud!) is not … at least temporarily … performing same-sex marriages:
As far as I can tell, there is no Catholic doctrine against two men who love each other from making a public commitment to each other in a ceremony such as state marriage and living together chastely.
A great deal of damage is being done to the Church by condemning such unions which are not contrary to Catholic doctrine.
God bless the students who stood with this teacher, they know the gospel better than some of those running the Church.
God bless
Very we'll said, Jack.
God bless
On the bright side, the students at Eastside Catholic are exhibiting critical thinking skills, a practical understanding of the Gospel, and way more courage than I think many of us had at that age. They are prophetic.
OK, so the power-that-be were wrong. What to do now? I say that just calling those powers ignorant, hypocritical, stupid, , evil, etc., etc., etc. will only make matters wore. So how do we persuade those powers and the people who follow them that they are wrong?
I don't think we do it by demonizing them or calling them names. Even if some of the names we feel like calling them are deserved, that doesn't imply that these people are dishonest nor that they are unloved by God. (And remember, God is not a fool. He doesn't love something for no good reason.) We persuade them by giving reasons to think there is a more truthful way to think. So what are those reasons???
Ann -- Well, we could start by pointing out that the administrator made a life-long, monogamous commitment to his partner -- marriage, in short -- and that marriage, so we were taught, is one model of truthful living.
Gay people are reviled for promiscuity, and then when they wish to choose monogamy and commitment, they are reviled and punished for that too. Whatever is going on here, it doesn't look much like 'love the sinner."
As for a life of perpetual chastity, I think that only has merit, if it does, when it is chosen, not when it is imposed. And even when chosen, it seems not always to be perfectly fulfilled.
Facts? Facts?? We don't need no stinkin' facts!!!!!
"[F]acts, as history teaches, carry greater weight than pure doctrine." Joseph Ratzinger, HIGHLIGHTS OF VATICAN II, Paulist Press/Deus Books, 1966, p. 17.
"You can believe in facts or you can believe in doctrine, you must choose. There never was a doctrine strong enough to shift a single fact. When facts get lost, it's because someone wanted to lose the fact. And where does it get lost? In some doctrine: some set of words. So the fundamental pastoral chore of the church is to remind people that facts are God's language, while doctrine is our language. What is the saying, the Holy Spirit is known by its works?" (Christopher Rushlau 9/13/2013 http://americamagazine.org/issue/murray%E2%80%99s-mistake)
Whether Zmuda left voluntarily or was forced out, once he married another man his fate at the school was sealed. While parochial schools and other Catholic institutions do hire gay people, many employees, particularly those in schools overseen by dioceses, sign a contract promising to uphold the teachings of the church as a condition of their employment. Same-sex unions violate church teachings.
Nobody wants to see a person lose a job, particularly right before the holidays. But given Catholic teaching, the school's set of policies seem consistent and fair - they seem to me to be the right policies. Inasmuch as the article states that this is the 15th case of this sort across the country, it may be that this set of policies is being adopted as a more or less standard approach. It's non-discriminatory, it's in line with Catholic social teaching - in short, there is nothing unjust about it.
He can't simultaneously be in a same sex marriage and work for the church. Why he would sign a contract that stipulates this if he doesn't agree with it?
From my hometown diocese, another gay Catholic school employee (this time an administrator) fired for marrying.
No, fired for entering into a same sex marriage. Had he entered into marriage that the Catholic church understands and recognizes as marriage, presumably he would still be employed today.
A previous time you posted about one of these cases, I believe you claimed the person was fired for being gay, and then declined to make a correction when I pointed out the inaccuracy. Twice seems to be a pattern. Why do you consistently misreport the single most important fact in these cases?
there is nothing unjust about it
It is unjust that a particular way of not upholding church teachings is a cause for termination, and not others. Why fire those who are gay and married, and not those who are divorced and remarried?
If the contracts contain the words "uphold the teachings of the Catholic church", then that's too vague and open for abuse. A legal contract should be much more specific and give a list of concrete offenses that risk leading to termination.
If that list is restricted to gay marriage and gay marriage only, the school can probably be sued for discrimination, can't it? Unless they can prove that gay marriage is the single most serious forbidden public act in church teaching.
If the list contains other items, the school can probably be sued for discrimination by singling out one item of the list in its application of the contract and ignoring the other items in practice, can't it?
Thanks for the clarification, Jim P. @11:38pm. Otherwise, with my limited English and innocence of modernity, I might have thought that a gay Catholic school employee was fired for entering into one of those totally straight, boy 'n girl, open-to-life, heterosexual marriages, which would have been even more disheartening than the truth.
But I don't think anyone else was in danger of misunderstanding.
It is unjust that a particular way of not upholding church teachings is a cause for termination, and not others. Why fire those who are gay and married, and not those who are divorced and remarried?
When a string of twenty vehicles is driving 80 mph in a 65 speed zone, only one is pulled over and given a ticket. The driver gnashes his teeth at being thus singled out and cries out, "What about the other 19?!". I'm told, though, that this line of reasoning doesn't hold up in court; if the guy actually pulled over was guilty, he is expected to pay the fine.
FWIW - if employment contracts are to be enforced, then my view is that they should be enforced consistently. I wouldn't object if an employee who is divorced and then remarried in violation of church teaching is subject to the same discipline as this administrator who was fired. Same with an employee who is living together with a partner outside of marriage.
Jim, sure, but if it's always the same sub-category of people who are singled out, (if, for example, among all the ones who drive at 80mph, it's always the ones who are African-American who are pulled over), then there's reason to complain about discrimination.
We are told that there have been between 10 and 20 cases of employees being terminated because of gay marriage. How many cases of employees being terminated because of a remarriage after divorce?
Jim, sure, but if it's always the same sub-category of people who are singled out, (if, for example, among all the ones who drive at 80mph, it's always the ones who are African-American who are pulled over), then there's reason to complain about discrimination.
Claire - yes, I agree. I don't know how many cases there are of termination for reasons besides sames sex marriage.
Our opposition to legalising same sex marriage hinges on our Social Justice belief that the state is obliged to uphold the unique and distinct institution of heterosexual marriage because of its role in procreation.
That opposition does not extend to individual cases because there is nothing in state same sex marriage ceremonies which conflicts with any Catholic doctrine, and neither is there any problem in two men living together chastely in comitted faithful love.
God Bless
Chris - my view is that the Catholic opposition to same sex marriage is rooted in a desire to protect the integrity of the sacrament of marriage. Two men living continently in the same household in close friendship does not constitute a marriage, and I know of no reason that Catholic authorities would object to such an arrangement, whether the men in question are gay nor not. (And in fact, the Catholic church traditionally has housed diocesan and order priests and religious in such households).
Terms such as "chastely", and "committed, faithful love" are powerful and even poetic but they tend to obscure rather than clarify the critical moral distinctions that must be made.
Jim - I see same sex marriages as essentially Civil Unions. My Catholic Bishops supported some form of legal recognition of same sex unions 13 years ago.
I think there are important distinctions between sacramental marriage, natural marriage, civil unions, and the state's legal concept of marriage which we need to recognise.
Unfortunately, today's secular society does not see marriage as permanent or necessarily open to having children. We need to find a way to live with the state's understanding of marriage even though it differs from ours.
I think the start is to recognise and support the love and comittment in such relationships. My Bishop teaches that such same sex love can be real and genuine.
The essence of a same sex marriage ceremony is for the couple to make a loving, faithful, permanent comittment to each other. I see that as something very good and something Christians ought to support.
God Bless


text:
/var/lock doesn't exist in OSX, so where do the lock files / PID files go?
Locking is more complicated (or simple depending on your POV) with the system/API arbitrating device locks rather than writing them to the filesystem.
Do consider the implications of fast user switching and the documentation on Multiple User Environments or simply calling
Wherever you want to there is no standard place for lock files in Unix. Only the Linux Filesystem Hierarchy Standard provides for /var/loc See Wikipaedia for some examples of the hierarchies used from there is FreeBsd
As for direct OSX references see NSDistributedLock which gives no directions or example of paths to be used and shlock which gives the BSD example in /tmp


text:
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - An NCAA Division II men's basketball national championship would be special for anyone involved with the West Liberty program, but maybe even more so for sophomore guard Kelvin "Bubby" Goodwin.
He grew up just a stone's throw from the hilltop campus and eventually became the only three-time West Virginia Class AAA first-teamer in Wheeling Park history.
"It's really special,'' Goodwin said Friday morning, one day before he and his Hilltoppers (31-3) take on Central Missouri (29-5) with a title hanging in the balance. "I am getting a lot of texts every day telling me the community is behind me and stuff like that.
Article Photos
"It's a blessing to even be here and have this opportunity."
Not that it hasn't been earned, though.
The go-to player at every level during his career, Goodwin has had to learn to adjust to coming off the bench with West Liberty.
"At first it was kind of tough because I wasn't used to it," Goodwin said. "But you've got to mature and know what your role is.
"That is the only way we can win, is if everybody knows their role. That's what works."
Hilltoppers coach Jim Crutchfield said he's been impressed with Goodwin's ability to put the team before himself and that was one of the things that drew the 10th-year boss to him.
"It's not as easy to do like when he was at Wheeling Park High School where he played all game every night," Crutchfield said. "You never know when you're going to be in (the game) or what the situation will be and that has put him in a different role.
"I think he's responded to it very well."
Has he ever.
Goodwin is one of seven double-figure scorers for West Liberty, checking in at 10.8 points per game - a number that will grow signficantly in the coming seasons. He has shown both the willingness and ability to take the big shot, regardless of the moment.
"It's not like he's playing because 'gee, somebody has to play,' " Crutchfield said. "He's playing because I think he is very capable of playing at a high level and contributing in a big way.
"It seems like the bigger the stage, the better he is."
Goodwin has improved his game in nearly every facet, and with that, Crutchfield said, will come even more minutes down the road.
"His ability to score is his biggest asset right now," the coach said. "He's capable of getting to the basket and his shooting is getting better and better. He's gone from a guy who can keep you honest to a very good shooter.
"His ability to go to the next level is about developing guard skills - the whole package. Can I become a great defender, a great off-ball defender? Can I become a better passer? Can I be a hard-nosed guy with the basketball and not give it up?
"He's getting better at all those phases."
In addition to his scoring, Goodwin shoots 43 percent and has made 56 from 3-point range. He scored a career-high 24 points in a Mountain East Conference Tournament victory against Notre Dame College.
Goodwin doesn't need to be the star to be effective. In fact, he is enjoying just being a piece of the puzzle.
"Everybody on the team, we enjoy each other's company," Goodwin said. "We like to have fun and can make any situation fun no matter where we are or what we're doing."