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Would You Drive This Car?
Auto Makers Unveil New Concept Cars; Corolla Tries to Shed its Dowdy Image
What if you could exit your car through gull-wing doors and control its interior features with a wave of your hand? Would a back-seat wine cooler enhance your driving experience? These are just a few ideas car makers are testing at the Detroit auto show over the next two weeks.
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The North American International Auto Show kicks off the car industry's pageant season, giving would-be tire-kickers a preview of new models and technology headed to show rooms.
Auto makers care what people think of "concept" cars: Positive reactions to prototypes can help push vehicles into production. The latest generation Chevrolet Camaro, first showcased in 2006, is one example.
Concept cars provide a preview of coming technologies. In the 1990s, concept vehicles began sporting dashboards with computer-like displays and hybrid-electric powertrains—features that didn't make it into mass production for at least a decade. Systems that connect cars to the Web and social media have moved more rapidly from show to market. This year, one of the newer features being showcased is "gesture recognition" controls that promise to facilitate hands-free driving.
Here are some notable prototypes auto makers are showcasing in Detroit this week:
Tesla Model X
Like Tesla's luxury all-electric roadster before it, the Model X prototype, due to launch next year, has its share of forward-looking Tesla features: an electric power train, the array of batteries built into the vehicle's floor and a set of striking "falcon wing" rear doors that lift up over the roof. That's why its play-it-safe profile may look so ... surprising. But Tesla chief designer Franz von Holzhausen says his intention was to create a car that will be approachable to affluent families considering a BMW BMW 1.42 % X5 or other luxury SUV. Inside, its most striking feature is the plus-sized iPad dashboard screen, but that's no concept. The company's current Model S sedan uses a similar system now.
Build It: The Model X, unconventional doors and all, is exactly the way to overcome the prejudice that electric vehicles are only for tech geeks and Hollywood types who don't mind compromising usefulness and comfort—as long as a car runs on batteries.
Bag It: Tesla has every intention of building this car. But is it too late to re-think the doors? Opening them in a cramped garage could be a problem, and tall people could get tired of having to duck under the wings.
Hyundai HYMLY 0.00 % HCD-14
This four-door coupe concept offers a bigger, sleeker vision of the company's higher-end Genesis model, which launched to critical acclaim in 2009.
Hyundai Motor Co. has zoomed ahead in the U.S. market over the past several years, powered by stylish, affordable cars such as the Sonata sedan in its bid to pull drivers from German luxury sedans like the BMW 5 series and Mercedes E-Class. While Hyundai designer Chris Chapman calls the HCD-14 more concept than actual prototype, it may very well point the way to the next Genesis evolution, where technology like eye-tracking (to identify drowsy or distracted drivers) will play a even bigger role. And forget buttons and knobs. New "motion-capture" technology lets a driver set music volume and cabin temperature by waving a hand over a steering-wheel sensor.
Build It: Hyundai is following the playbook that led Toyota TM 0.76 % to launch Lexus. The idea of a more athletic, elegant premium sedan makes sense if Hyundai seriously aspires to compete with the Germans.
Bag It: The HCD-14 is a big, expensive car in a world that's going small. The front end leans over the boundary between expressive and overdone. And rear-hinge doors?
Toyota Corolla Furia
The Corolla Furia concept, presented in Detroit as a shell with no interior, is aimed at preparing the public for an overdue reincarnation of Toyota's best-selling small car. Toyota says its "ferocious" look is designed to challenge "preconceived notions about the future of Corolla." That's because Toyota Motor Corp. is tired, very tired, of being criticized for bland styling. The company has given its Lexus luxury line an aggressive new face, added a sporty coupe to its Scion lineup and now is signaling plans to add more spice to its Toyota lineup.
Build It: Toyota is overdue to catch up with styling trends in the small-car market, where the old Corolla is almost invisible. The Furia is a step in the right direction.
Bag it: Unfortunately, Furia's exterior is a step in the same direction Honda Motor Co. already took with its rival Civic. Toyota needs to rethink the front end and give it a more distinctive profile.
Lincoln MKC
Ford Motor Co. F -0.39 % 's Lincoln luxury brand made a killing during the 1990s selling super-sized Navigator sport utility vehicles. The Lincoln MKC concept is Lincoln's attempt to show it can win over customers who like their utility vehicles smaller -- a lot smaller. The Lincoln MKC concept is similar in size to the recently launched Ford Escape crossover wagon, which shares the basic underpinnings of the Ford Focus. The Lincoln concept's interior expands on the brand's moves to project a sort of retro-modernism. There's lots of chrome -- that's retro. But there's no hand brake lever or shift lever in the console. Drivers choose gears by hitting a button embedded in the console. (That revives a push-button shifting concept Lincoln used years ago.) The MKC has fanciful touches – including a wine cooler in the console between the rear bucket seats – but overall this show car is intended as a signal to Lincoln dealers and would-be customers that Ford is serious about keeping the brand alive, and making it relevant in a market where sales of small crossovers are surging.
Build It: Lincoln has some of the oldest customers, on average, in the luxury business. The MKC -- particularly the interior -- would surprise younger shoppers who associate the brand with Grandpa's Lincoln Town Car.
Bag It: The MKC is appealing, but unless Lincoln offers it at a low price compared to the similar vehicles coming from rival luxury brands, such as the Audi A3, it could struggle.
Nissan Resonance
The Nissan Resonance concept is a fairly straightforward presentation of what Nissan's next Murano mid-sized crossover wagon will look like. The prototype's hybrid powertrain will more likely be an option, if offered at all. The glass roof is a feature that was fanciful not long ago, but could be offered in the real vehicle, as could touches such as the narrow-profile LED headlights. Inside, the Resonance features white leather seats that Nissan describes as a "VIP lounge."
Build it: The Resonance's exterior styling – particularly, the sleek headlights and lower stance – give a fresh look to a utilit\arian vehicle that's long overdue for a makeover.
Bag It: The Resonance looks fine, but compare it to the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, already on sale, and the forthcoming Toyota RAV-4 and ask if Nissan could do more to break through the design group-think in this segment.


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Dominican Domination« Back to Stories
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HONOLULU, Hawai'i-- A day removed from one its most humbling losses, the Azusa Pacific tennis team recorded a dominating win over Dominican, sweeping the Penguins 5-0 to advance to the Pacific West tournament fifth place match.
The Cougars, who had their earlier season win over Fresno Pacific avenged on Thursday, didn't miss a beat on Friday, sweeping through doubles before tacking on a pair of singles wins to earn their 16th victory of the year.
Brejohn McCrary and Kim Koetterheinrich opened things up in impressive fashion, blasting Ariana Paradis and Marissa Frazer in an 8-0 sweep at No. 2. Emily Harris and Danae Ingwaldson registered an 8-3 defeat of Irina Morozova and Gaby Verspieren at No. 1, while Samantha Kaneta and Stephanie Quan tabbed an 8-2 win against Francesca Katafias and Emily Prescott at No. 3.
In singles Koetterheinrich put the Cougars ahead 4-0 with a swift 6-0, 6-1 over Paradis before Yeom sealed the victory with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 5. Azusa Pacific was leading on the other four courts when the match was sealed.
With the win the Cougars advance to the fifth place match tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. (HAST).

subset: commoncrawl


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TORONTO - It was the night the lights went out in Toronto.
Toronto High School celebrated the final game in George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium Saturday, which opened in 1939, with "Lights Out Knight" during the Red Knights game with Wellsville.
"It's really special and it means so much to a lot of people," said Toronto Athletic Director Andy Reeves. "In the last month I've talked to several people, that are significant alumni, who are here tonight.
Article Photos
"The thing about it was, the late idea my father gave me on Wednesday, Bill Garman, who is a realtor here in Toronto, was, in 1939 and 40 when this gym was dedicated, in the eight grade and a manger and is here tonight as an honorary captain. We have bookends. We have our 2013 senior captains and a guy that was here when the gym was opened.
"I think that's really cool."
Garman, who is also a former Red Knights basketball player who graduated in 1945, was thrilled to be there for the gym's final game.
"I'm the latest one they could find," Garman said. "I enjoyed this. Toronto, in my opinion, has always been a basketball school? It has a great tradition, and we've had some great athletes in Toronto that played basketball.
"I really enjoyed being here with everyone tonight."
Throughout the evening former coaches, players, and teams were remembered and celebrated as people shared memories of good times had at the old gym.
"We kept the night more about the gym," said Reeves. "We are honoring specific teams, 1,000-point scorers, and coaches. We will honor them tonight, but its more about the gymnasium and the alumni and sending this place out the right way.
"It's been a truly humbling experience because when I'm making all these calls and looking up all these yearbook pictures and dedications it made me realize how big something like this really is.
"It touched so many people. From 1939 and here we are now in 2013 with someone from that era to celebrate with us. We're going to send it out the right way."
Tom "Chip" Coulter (Class of 1964) and Dick Simons (Class of 1967) were among the 1,000-point scorers in attendance.
"The way I look at it, it's always good coming to these events, seeing people like Dick Simons, and people I haven't seen in a few years," said Coulter. "It's always good just to reminisce and talk about the old times."
Added Simons, "It's great to be back and see a place like Toronto has maintained it's own integrity, and see a lot of people I haven't seen for a long time.
"It's just good to be back in the old gymnasium again. It brings back a lot of wonderful memories."
Also in attendance for the event were the Red Knights' boy's and girl's all-time leading scorers - Natalie Burchfield (Class of 2007) and Otis Winston (Class of 1992).
"It obviously feel great to be a part of it," said Burchfield. "It's just a great experience and a great atmosphere.
"Sorry the gym has to go, but it will carry on hopefully into the future."
Added Winston, "It's amazing. I can't put it into words. To walk into the gym and see my coaches and all my former teammates is just amazing. This is where I started. Now I'm doing stuff in movies and things, but this feeling, to be embraced by all these kids and friends and family, is just amazing.
"Kudos to Andy Reeves for having us back. It's amazing, I'm just speechless."
Current girls' head coach Mallory Blanton was thrilled to be a part of such a long, and amazing history.
"It's awesome to see the past coaches, and see how they're doing," said Blanton. "To hear their stories about successes and failures, and try to learn from that is a special thing.
"I don't remember the last time there was so many people in the stands. It's amazing."
Current boys' head coach John Leary concurred and believed his players lucky to be able to be a part of the event.
"That was an awesome experience for these kids," said Leary. "I'm really glad they got to experience this.
"They've all worked very hard the two years I've been with them, and to get to see this in their own gym is something I kept reminding them as young men you might not think a whole lot about it now, but someday you'll be very proud to tell people you played in the last game in the old gym.
"It was very unique and very special. I thought it was awesome."
And when the game was over the 2013 senior boys and girls cut down the nets before the Toronto family circled the court, and the lights were turned out for the last time on the old George J. Kunzler Memorial Gymnasium.


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6 Shockingly Affordable Sci-Fi Inventions
As we here at Cracked are fond of pointing out, technological advancements are causing real life and science fiction to overlap in increasingly interesting ways. Still, most of the really cool gear must cost a fortune and a half ... right?
Actually, no. A lot of this stuff that not too long ago was only available in your daydreams is actually well within an average person's budget. And if it's outside of yours, who would ever deny you a loan once they hear you're going to use it for ...
#6. A Zero-Gravity Flight
Price: $4,950
Seriously, gravity is the worst. There's a reason why when we design a superhero, the first thing we do is give him the ability to fly, or at least glide, like Batman does. If you had a switch in your house that would let you turn off the gravity and just drift around, we're guessing you'd never turn it back on.
"It's great until you try to masturbate. Then it's fucking incredible."
But only a fraction of humans in the history of the species have ever experienced weightlessness, considering it requires you to go to freaking outer space, and that you need a lifetime of astronaut training to achieve it. Or, you can do it right here on Earth, for less than the price of a 65-inch LED TV.
You might have heard that when NASA astronauts are training for zero-G conditions, they go up in one of NASA's wonderfully nicknamed "vomit comets." They are special fixed-wing aircraft that are able to induce a state of temporary weightlessness by flying in a series of tight parabolic arcs (basically, going up and down and up again really quickly). This gives the passengers approximately 25 seconds of total weightlessness at a time.
"You'll want to use a hustler on the way up."
Well, you don't have to work for NASA to experience that. There is a private company called Zero G Corporation, and they have their very own vomit comet in the form of a customized Boeing 727-200. They call it the goddamn G-FORCE ONE, and holy shit yes you can ride it.
Zero Gravity Corporation
You can even get married on it.
For less than $5,000, you get a short training session, a flight with a total of eight minutes of weightlessness, a signed copy of the space tourists handbook ... and a hat. The hat is important.
The actual weightlessness part is just moments of your life, and the whole experience is but a day. But the hat will remain. You can wear it as a trophy every day of your life, secure in the knowledge that for an eight-minute period, you fought physics and freaking won.
Ladies, this could be you!
#5. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Price: $19,995
Predator drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles are seeing action in Iraq and Afghanistan, piloted from the ground in a comfy chair in a manner that a bystander could mistake for a guy playing a video game. For most people, buying a Predator drone to survey the skies and vanquish their enemies seems like overkill. Those people clearly aren't fans of Cracked, and as such are dead wrong.
"We were using one of the screens to play WoW, but the general got real pissed."
It's true -- for less than the price of a decent car, you, too, can have what is essentially a military grade UAV scanner. For the connoisseur who prefers scouting your enemy at his own base, an extra investment of just a few hundred dollars will buy the long distance airplane version. The company doesn't specifically mention where you can fit the minigun and homing missiles, so we'll just assume they're open for negotiation.
Draganfly Innovations
You could probably fit a flamethrower right where that camera's sitting.
What they do mention is that both versions of the UAV can be equipped with an HD-quality camera capable of both hi-res pictures and video footage. Hell, for a little extra, you can attach a thermal imaging option. So basically this gives you the opportunity to roam the real world like a video game, using the UAV as your character, and take screencaps from the best bits of its rampage. Or, if you're not a violent person, you can enjoy the sensation of flight without the risk of crashing.
Also, imagine the look on that census guy's face when a large helicopter robot rises from your backyard to chase him back to his car. See those Jehovah's Witnesses break the world record for the 100-meter dash-the-fuck-away. Or, hell, just paint "SKYNET" on the thing's side and unleash it in a movie theater during a Terminator matinee.
Draganfly Innovations
We're one smartphone app away from the greatest breakthrough in stalking history.
Really, the only drawback we can imagine for this product is that you're more likely to be attacked by bounty hunter types in futuristic armor who mistake you for their final boss. Which, with a goddamn UAV at your disposal, you totally can be.
#4. A Matter Replicator
Price: $1,299
As we've discussed before, the day that we come up with matter replicators is the day that the global economy shuts down. Not only has humanity gotten one step closer to that, but also it has chosen to do so in the exact way you imagined when you were 8 years old. Meet the MakerBot Thing-O-Matic:
MakerBot Store
Name courtesy of Bill Watterson.
Wait, what the hell? No way can that be a real product. That looks like an unfinished set piece for a Futurama live-action movie, for crying out loud!
But real it is, and work it does. Granted, it's not quite at the level where it can crank out, say, edible hamburgers or flawless diamond rings like you see in Star Trek and whatnot, but it is a huge step in that direction, and cheaper than a new sofa. It is what they call a 3-D printer -- it literally "prints" actual physical objects.
bre pettis
At this point, we're about five product generations away from the end of the economy.
All you have to do is design a 3-D model using a program provided with the machine and send the data over to your MakerBot, then it brings your model to life. It uses something called Makerbot Plastic, with the machine putting layer upon layer of the stuff together until the desired item is produced. And you can manufacture whatever shapes you want -- be it boobs, a new part for your ceiling fan, boobs, a scale replica of the Enterprise or even boobs. If you're feeling lazy, you can just download one of the designs that are user-uploaded to their website and bring it to life.
Boobs are also an option, in case you were unaware.
Designers of the MakerBot Thing-O-Matic boast that the machine is completely automated, reliable and very easy to use. And better yet, this isn't one of those situations where you pre-order the thing and just hope like hell that the project takes off and they actually start making them -- you can buy your own 3-D printer right now.


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Europe ACCESS Global MSL Pressure/Thickness/Rainfall +240 hour Chart
- location
- Africa
- Asia
- Europe
- New Zealand
- North America
- South America
About ACCESS Global
Australian Community Climate and Earth-System Simulator (ACCESS). Based upon the UK Met Office Unified Model system. ACCESS G is the global numerical forecast model operated by the BoM. It is run twice daily (00Z and 12Z) and provides forecast data out to 240 hours with a horizontal resolution of 80km and 50 vertical levels.
Weather News
QUT-designed portable flood levee aimed at protecting low-lying towns goes into production
An Australian-first portable temporary flood barrier designed by a group of Brisbane university students for a competition will go into production.
Winter returns in a hurry
After unseasonable mid-winter warmth winter has returned in a hurry to both eastern and western Australia as temperatures drop by as much as 15 degrees in 24 hours.
Cold front roars through VIC
A cold front has brought damaging wind gusts to parts of Victoria with more on the way.


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Hey are you looking for a fun new bar? Here is one.
Retired police officer of 27 years Stephen Barounis missed his old job so much, he decided to open a police-themed bar in Midtown called The 46th Street Stationhouse — complete with a police car, a precinct desk, a jail cell and a commissioner's room.
"I can bring you in in handcuffs and you'll actually think you're in a precinct," said Barounis
See u there.
[DNAinfo. Photo of the bar's hostesses: Getty]


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This could be a trivial question, but what is exactly the difference of between these two expressions? Am I correct to state the both interchangeably whenever I need to express the approximation of pi? I'm bit confused as here it states pi can be express by ≒ as it's not a rational number, but pi can also be expressed by a series (asymptotic), so it should be ≈ as well.
π ≈ 3.14..
π ≒ 3.14..


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N +40º 28' 18.87" / W -3º 41' 5.18"
Tel: (34) 91 7333400Fax: (34) 91 3146047
Check-in after 14:00h
Check-out until 12:00h
Exclusive, spacious and airy room, with views of the interior garden, the pool or the mountains north of Madrid. The Premium room comes with kettle for coffee and tea, free WiFi, minibar, as well as the new Dreamax bed, developed exclusively for us by Flex, providing the perfect night's sleep.
(*) With charge


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Economic opportunity
Watch the video above to learn how we're empowering young people in Africa to go after their dreams, start their own businesses, and succeed — no matter what challenges they may face.
A roadside stand in South Sudan selling soap; an internet start-up in Gaza; a. tofu processing plant in Indonesia: The global economy is connected by complex and dynamic markets. Mercy Corps believes in harnessing this inherent power to provide better opportunities for the world's poor and vulnerable, half of whom live on less than $2/day.
Local communities themselves have the ability to drive this change and no two situations are alike. For this reason, we take a holistic, locally-led approach, working with communities, their systems and structures to build businesses, increase income and improve employment opportunities. Even in the most fragile and informal markets, we focus on intentional, market-based solutions, ones which can succeed and expand long after we've left.
Learn more about our approach to market systems development ▸
Mercy Corps promotes safe, decent and equitable income opportunities for individuals around the world.
Learn about our approaches to the "world of work " – employment, employability, entrepreneurship and job creation ▸
Forty-two percent of the world is under the age of 25; Mercy Corps tailors employment programming to the unique needs of male and female youth.
Learn about Mercy Corps' youth employment work ▸
All stories about Economic opportunity
DR Congo: Cash and the family goat: Sifa's story of survival
When Sifa and her children fled their home, the only thing they had to rely on was the family goat. Learn how we helped her recover what she lost.
Steps toward a bright future
Against a backdrop of unemployment and scarce opportunity, we see youth as changemakers who are rising to meet the tough challenges they face with energy, optimism and success.
Lebanon: Economic stability in Lebanon helps both Lebanese and Syrian refugees
The Bekaa Valley is a picturesque, fertile valley in east Lebanon. Situated about 30 kilometers east of the capital Beirut, it is Lebanon's most important farming region.
Tunisia: How we're empowering young entrepreneurs in the wake of revolution
Revolution five years ago began the Arab Spring and brought democracy to Tunisia, but it also resulted in economic struggles. We're working with young entrepreneurs to revitalize the economy and build stability for the future.
Afghanistan: Addressing anger, not just income, is key to fighting instability in Afghanistan
We're tackling insecurity and violence in Afghanistan by providing young people with the support they need to build stable livelihoods, cope with life's challenges and bolster stronger, more just communities.
The truth behind 5 myths about global poverty
If the United Nations wants to truly end global poverty, its member nations will have to face some hard truths first.
Nigeria: In vulnerable communities, young women dream big
Abasiya used to be like many young women in Nigeria — out of school, poor, and with few opportunities in front of her. How did she build dreams for the future?
Guatemala: Tea and spice growers working for healthier futures
Growing tea ingredients is a precarious livelihood. That's why we've worked with Tazo Tea over the last decade to support farming communities in India and Guatemala. Meet a few people who now have a brighter future.
Central African Republic: Building towards a better future
As the only woman in her carpentry workshop, Berthe has to be tough. But the skills she's learning will help give her family the future they deserve.
Nepal: A smart matriarch turns pickles into profit
In hot western Nepal, Harikala Yogi and her family have mastered the art of pickling mangoes. See how Harikala broke boundaries and took the family business to new heights.


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Not-So-Happy Holidays
For this installment of Holiday Home Disasters, we've gathered Facebook fodder to serve as cautionary tales. From bursting pipes to spider mite-infested Christmas trees, here are the terrifying tales of your fellow DIYers, who made the mistakes once so you won't have to. Look for related how-to links on every slide, and you just might arm yourself with the know-how to save the day in the event of your very own holiday emergency.
Ask TOH users about Safety & Prevention


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Marvel Assembles an Official Title for Third "Avengers" Movie
Comic Books, Film
Film, Comic Books
Comic Books
The Buy Pile
The Buy Pile
The Buy Pile
Comics Should be Good
Robot 6
Comics Should be Good
Robot 6
Robot 6
Comics Should be Good
Jul 30, 00:06am
Jul 29, 23:49pm
Jul 29, 22:40pm
Jul 29, 20:36pm
Jul 29, 20:25pm
Jul 29, 19:48pm
Cupertino, CA
In the wake of Steve Niles, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Justin Gray's Creator-Owned Heroes, it's nice to see other creators establishing informal studios to take a stab at the ongoing-anthology format. Anthony Marques, Fernando Ruiz, Bob Hardin and Fabio Redivo are graduates and current staff instructors of the Kubert School who have teamed to produce Epics, a quarterly comic that serializes four pulp-inspired stories. Marques is creating Katyusha, Ruiz has The Iron Ghost, Hardin's making A Racy Story and Redivo presents Drake.
The first issue was paid for by fans via Kickstarter and released Sept. 15 during a special signing at Dewy's Comic City in Madison, New Jersey, but subsequent issues will be published by A Wave Blue World. The publisher has the first issue for sale right now (it's also available digitally through comiXology) and promises that Issue 2 will be released in March. There are also plans for Katyusha and Iron Ghost spin-off series next year.
Check out previews of all four stories after the break.
Home | News | Columns | Reviews | Video | Blogs | Forums | Find A Comic Shop
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Up to 6 credits of graduate work taken as a graduate student at another institution may, with written approval, be incorporated as part of the graduate student's program at IUP. These courses must be taken from a regionally accredited institution, within the past five years, and the grade earned must be a "B" or its equivalent or better. The time limitation rule and residency requirements pertain without modification to transfer credits.
Up to twelve graduate credits originally earned in one graduate program at IUP may be applied toward a different graduate program if: 1) the receiving department and 2) the School of Graduate Studies and Research both approve the credits as meeting degree requirements. These courses must have been completed within the past five years, and the grade earned must be a "B" or its equivalent or better. The combination of transfer credits earned at another institution and those earned at IUP may not exceed 12 credits.
To request transfer credits, the student must complete the Request for Graduate Transfer Credit Review form and follow the instructions listed on the form. A catalog course description or course syllabus must accompany the request. An official graduate transcript showing the earned credits must be provided by the school at which the credits were taken. To be considered official, the transcript must arrive in a sealed envelope bearing the official seal of the issuing institution. The request is reviewed in the School of Graduate Studies and Research and the academic department. After review, the student's department and the student are notified of the transfer decision.
It is strongly recommended that students seeking to transfer credits from another institution while enrolled at IUP receive advance written authorization for credit acceptance from the School of Graduate Studies and Research and the academic department prior to enrolling in that course.
If credits earned at another institution are approved for transfer, only the credit, not the grade or accompanying quality points, will appear on the student's IUP transcript.
Credits earned at IUP that are approved for transfer to a second program will not be posted to the transcript a second time.
All credits may be transferred between a COR and a graduate degree program at the recommendation of the program and approval of the School of Graduate Studies and Research, and these transfer credits must otherwise adhere to existing SGSR transfer credit policy. Transfer credits from other institutions are not permitted, unless the COR is part of an interinstitutional cooperative program.
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Heather Moore Jewelry Je t'aime " I Love You" Sterling Silver Mini ID Tag Charm. Measures 3/4" x 3/8".
These 14K gold and sterling silver charms are handmade from 100% recycled metals, in combinations of sterling silver and a rainbow of 14K golds (yellow, white, green, or pink), you can personalize each charm with your own names, dates, initials, monograms, or a favorite quote or mantra.
Each piece is handmade to your specifications, so you are able to create a piece that is completely unique to you!
Please call for pricing.
Note: Customized pieces can have additional charges. Call 402.926.3479 with questions.
Metal Sterling Silver
Designer Heather Moore Jewelry


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New study on CEO-to-worker pay ratio
One of the most memorable seminars I ever attended as a student was in a political philosophy course, in which one week covered debates about wealth stratification in ideal and real societies. We students were to submit short position papers about what we thought would be the ideal ratio of income inequality in a society. That is, how much gap would be necessary to inspire innovation, excellence, and risk-taking, while also not being so large that it would lead to societal breakdown, unjustifiable poverty, dangerous concentrations of power, or, at worst, armed revolution.[caption id="attachment_26974" align="alignright" width="300"] "No, no, dear. It's only 20 times more than yours."[/caption]As I recall it, the most left-wing students in the class were in the 10-to-1 range (200K income vs. 20 K income), and the more libertarian students rejected the very notion of an ideal ratio ("let the market do its thing, and let the people revolt if necessary"). There were lots of folks in the middle (20-to-1 or even 100-to-1).The real ratios of income inequality in the U.S. have become basically unimaginable since then (as in, I have real trouble imagining the fact that the one Walton family has as much wealth as the bottom 35-40% of our country). Discussion of these ratios has recently focused instead on individual companies. The data is easier to imagine and is, I think, more meaningful, since all the members of a company are, in some sense, working toward common goals and have very clear rewards for working toward them together.Yesterday Bloomberg news put out an excellent story and data infographic of current CEO-to-worker pay ratios. (Fortune did a smaller graphic last year.) In short, the ratio has grown by 1,000% since 1950. Many of us already knew that. What I did not know was that it has even grown since the financial crisis and Great Recession -- up 20% since 2009.The attention-grabbers are the top ratios, with J. C. Penney winning the inequality award at 1,795-to-1. (That's one loaf of bread vs. the Empire State Building, to help you imagine it.) The story profiles a sales employee as contrasted to the ousted C.E.O.But it's the overall picture that is worth pondering. Most real people do in fact retain drive for innovation, excellence, and risk-taking with much lower ratios than companies currently have. I have no doubt some of CostCo's employees are working hard to innovate and excel, even though they only have the "low" ratio of about 50-to-1.For those who often pine for the 1950's, the relatively low income inequality of that era should be remembered as a central aspect of overall stability. And the unprecedented income equality in our own era should be considered a bellwether of further instability.
About the Author
Michael Peppard is associate professor of theology at Fordham University, author of The World's Oldest Church and The Son of God in the Roman World, and on Twitter @MichaelPeppard.
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While helpful other statistics that I would find helpful would be... manager vs. food worker at fast food franchises, IT directors vs. data entry, foremann vs. assembly line (for the ones left!), construction boss vs. worker. I may not have the vocabularies correct, but I am trying to get at what differences there are that might be more reasonably achieved within groups... This is not to say that the current distibution is not the neo-gilded age!
If the purpose of the ratio is to stir up class hatred and warfare, I suppose this can be an important issue. If the purpose is to call boards of directors of publicly traded companies to responsibility, it's a necessary issue. But if the purpose is to help the plight of retail workers, I don't think it's where energies should be focused.
Why do people want so much money? 1795-to-1, for what? You can't eat more than your stomach's fill, can't stay under more than one roof, can't sleep in more than one bed and can't wear more than one outfit at a time. You cannot travel further than to the other side of the earth. Isn't consumption bounded by our personal physical limitations? Of course one can always pretend to need, say, a bed that is ever more comfortable, or a watch that is ever more fancy and costly, but it seems rather silly to me. The one thing that extreme money buys is power and influence. It replaces democracy by the power of the rich.
Jim, I would think inequality, at the levels it has currently attained, is a story regardless of the motives of whoever is "stirring" it up. And considering that the current "stirring" is coming from Bloomberg -- let me repeat that, Bloomberg -- News, it hardly looks like the statistics are being driven by class warfare. One might even suspect the statistics are driven by reality.I am sure you have a better place to focus our "energies." Perhaps we are not putting enough "energy" into making our tax system entrepreneur friendly. That will certainly create a lot of "on-call" jobs where employees are not allowed to work more than 30 hours a week, lest they trigger fringe benefits, but they must work their 29 hours whenever management needs them, subject to call on two hours' notice. A lot of our retail companies and restaurants seem to have achieved that nirvana. But maybe our further energies devoted to cutting their taxes will produce similarly joyful outcomes. Just saying.
It seems to me that a lot of the frustration of trying to establish "fair wages" is due to the fact that economic theory has to try to measure what is subjective (e.g., the appeal of products or the difficulty of work) and what is objective (most products), by some common measure. Consider a hula hoop. Let's say that it costs x-many man hours to produce and the work is work of X difficulty. Say that a new toy is introduced (let's call them "goofies"), and they cost exactly the same in man hours to produce as the hula hoops and the work is exactly as difficult. You'd think that the wages of the goofies workers should be the same as those of workers who produce the hula hoops. But let's say that when the goofies are introduced they are so popular that hula hoops lose half their market share, and profits dive. ISTM that since fair wages have to be tied to sales that we have an intrinsically unfair situation here -- the two sets of workers do the same sort of work, but they aren't entitled to the same amount of pay. In other words, a fair system of wages is not always one in which "fair wages" are necessarily "equal wages for the same work". So the very notion of a "fair wage" seems to be flawed, at least when we try to identify "fair" pay with "equal" pay. And if we can't equate fair with equal on the lowest wage level, how can we possibly hope to establish the fair but unequal wages of underlings and bosses? I have no idea what the solution might be except for starters to recognize that subjective and objective values seem to be incommensurable.
"That will certainly create a lot of on-call jobs where employees are not allowed to work more than 30 hours a week, lest they trigger fringe benefits, but they must work their 29 hours whenever management needs them, subject to call on two hours notice. A lot of our retail companies and restaurants seem to have achieved that nirvana. "Tom - your last sentence is exactly right: what you're describing here is pretty much the life today of a JC Penney retail store floor associate. Don't make me do math here again to show how 29 hours per week at minimum wage leaves a family of four stuck at the bottom of the economic well, so far below the poverty level that it can't climb out.Now, suppose we enact a cap on CEO salaries, such that it can't exceed, say, 300 times that of its workers (however that is calculated).My contention is that it won't do a darned thing for the wages of those retail workers, but will initiate heretofore unseen legal/financial gyrations by the guys whose wages have been reduced, as they seek ways to get their wages back to the level to which they're accustomed (and they believe they deserve).
Many, many years ago there was a study (I forget where) which showed that when unions negotiate new wage scales that hourly workers in one category will fight like hell to maintain their relative position in the wage scale, even when the differences are matters of pennies. In other words, wage satisfaction is in large part a matter of *position* in the work force, not just monetary reward. But these same workers simply don't care how much the uber-bosses make -- they seem to be outside the system as far as the hourly workers are concerned. These days, however, if the low level people get to see that humongous salaries for bosses affect their own wages, they might start to fight the system. But how? Most unions are weak these days and government isn't interested in fairness.
Very interesting.On a different topic; does anyone have any thoughts or concerns about handing out morning after (RU487) pills to 15-year olds without a prescription and without parents' approval?Is anyone concerned that a 15 year-old girl might buy the pills for her 13-year old friend?Can 15-year old boys buy the pills for their girlfriends?
Jim, we can't enact a cap on salaries. Not all income is salaries, anyway. And, Claire, the definition of a "fair" wage can never include a hard number -- fair is different in midtown Manhattan and rural Manhattan, Kansas. Which does not mean there is nothing to be done.We did not have a gap this big, and increasing when we had labor unions in this country. We had a gap almost this big, though, BEFORE we had labor unions in this country. So, duh. This is not a deep metaphysical problem. Msgr. George Higgins could have solved it while he was trying his shoes. Now, whether his solution is still possible is a function of the denatured media and the canonization of St. Ronald the Patco killer and of states taking from the poor to incentivize companies to relocate to them until a better offer comes along. But eventually, people will wake up to what's causing their misery. Or they will deserve it.
Tom - I agree entirely that organizing retail workers is part of the solution.
Hey, Michael - did that course include any philosophical writing on this topic that you could point the class to?
Ken: "Does anyone have any thoughts or concerns about handing out morning after (RU487) pills to 15-year olds without a prescription and without parents approval? Is anyone concerned that a 15 year-old girl might buy the pills for her 13-year old friend? Can 15-year old boys buy the pills for their girlfriends?"Yes, I think this is nuts. But I have no idea what to do about it. I also think the sexual mores of teendom, maybe even tweendom, feeds into the topic of this post. Economic inequality starts early (at birth), continues through bad schooling, and culminates in girls (and boys) not finishing high school. I don't think the morning after pill is going to solve this problem--all arguments to the contrary, but perhaps exacerbate it by giving half-formed minds (on how to calculate risk) a false sense of sexual security.Do you have a plan?
If I were faced with a choice of working for a) a company where the CEO was paid a loaf of bread and I was paid a slice of bread or b) a company where the CEO was paid enough loaves of bread to fill the Empire State Building (and assuming no laws were broken) and I was paid one loaf I would make the latter choice.I distrust surveys that ask about ideal ratios. They almost always assume a happytalk assumption like "innovation would not suffer under smaller ratios." If we allow happytalk assumptions like that then I get to assume my CEO is becoming filthy rich because his company is doing something socially beneficial. Perhaps the company is about to find a cure for cancer. Maybe the CEO will spend his money discrediting the progressives' favorite bogeyman (or bogeywoman).I pay more attention to the revealed preferences of individuals, how they act rather than how they respond to loaded questions on a survey. How many people look into CEO-to-average-wage ratios before accepting a job? How many turn down a higher paying job because the Gini index within their company is above an arbitrary range?
Jim P., I don't think I could find that syllabus, but it was a "classics" of the field kind of syllabus: Adam Smith; Karl Marx; Robert Nozick; John Rawls; etc. It was an undergraduate class.
The point of the ideal ratio was to do our thinking about the "ought" and then compare it with the "is" of the data that we studied. Everyone was surprised by the actual ratios and how they have changed over time. That was the point of the exercise, and why I still remember it. Similar things have been done recently with U.S. attitudes about income graphs. The most famous study is here (I think behind paywall): http://pps.sagepub.com/content/6/1/9.abstract. A summary is here: http://journalistsresource.org/studies/economics/taxes/perceptions-incom... don't know what a "happytalk assumption" is, but we don't need assumptions because there are lots of data, the most relevant of which are the data of our own country's history. The "rising tide" did "lift [most of the] boats" from roughly the 50's to the 70's, but since then, only the top quintile (or less) of U.S. citizens have gone up and the rest have stagnated. This is, in part, because of greater income inequalities within corporations that, when scaled up, led to grand inequalities overall. I don't think those facts are controversial. As for potential employees checking these kinds of things out, no, most of them probably don't. But they are indicative of a culture that employees do check out. The contrast between Costco and Walmart on these issues is the one cited most often. A Costco job is the closest thing to a good-ol' days 1950's middle-class industrial job as there is right now in the U.S. (he said, overconfidently).
An example of a happytalk assumption: we can reduce CEO to worker pay ratios without sacrificing economic growth or absolute levels of pay. On the other hand suppose one has to make difficult tradeoffs. One can reduce the ratios when the high and mighty and the lowly both lose but the high and mighty suffer more severely. Is that desirable? Or is it really terrible if we go from a 100 to 10 ratio to a 500 to 40 ratio? Should the lowly prefer not to move from 10 to 40 if the rich go from 100 to 500? When those alternatives are presented I don't think the "ideals" are necessarily a good guide. Too often they apply only to a fantasy world.I think there's also often a hidden assumption in these comparisons, namely that the rich get rich by exploiting the poor. What if that's not the case. And I alway watch for the definition of "exploit;" it can be very elastic.
Thanks for this. It's probably worth repeating that the primary reason labor unions have less power now than they did in the mid-20th century is because the laws have changed, making it virtually impossible for workers to organize a union. There are more recent books that cover this topic, but Thomas Geohagen's 1991 memoir, "Which Side Are You On: Trying To Be For Labor When It's Flat Own Its Back" is still well worth reading.
"A society that fails to pay a fair wage or one that seeks only personal profit is unjust and goes against God, Pope Francis said in a May Day message Wednesday...Pope Francis concluded by calling on people to listen to the voice of God, as when he spoke to Cain in the Old Testament and said: "Cain, where is your brother?" Today, he said, Gods voice says: "Where is your brother who has no work? Where is your brother who is subjected to slave labor? "http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/pope-francis-may-day/2013/05/01/id/5022... May Day, people.
"An example of a happytalk assumption: we can reduce CEO to worker pay ratios without sacrificing economic growth or absolute levels of pay."Well, Mr. Molloy, there is J.C Penney, mentioned above. Investors (see stock prices) seem think there has been a problem with economic growth there. If they are having trouble meeting their growth needs while leading the pack, would you pile more money on the leader and really expect that to help the company? Stock market suggests: No.You seem to think criticism of our Gilded Age wage gap (Manhattan > Swaziland) is somehow morality based. Mine isn't. I learned a long time ago there is no percentage in arguing morality with people who deify markets. There are economic problems with the gap we have it well.
Owners of stock in a company do have control over some CEO salaries. The problem is when companies are largely owned by major owners-executives and -- listen up -- when people like you and me don't send back those proxies to our brokers to vote on matters benefitting everyone including the little-guy-owners. I confess I file those things in file 13. Does anyone know whether it would really make a difference if all the people with investments (including investments through brokers and retirement plans) sent that stuff back signed? Have there been any reliable studies done?
Mr. Blackburn,You misunderstand me if you think I deify the market. But I don't automatically demonize it. Perhaps you mistake that position for deification. In my view the wage ratio may be 200 to 1 and the CEO can be underpaid; or it can be 2 to 1 and the CEO can be overpaid. Poorly run companies where CEO's are overpaid deserve to go bankrupt. Likewise Solyndra type operations subsidized by the government on the theory that our leaders need to chart a new path. It's just that I don't swoon when I hear that aggregate ratios have changed. Usually there's an equity/efficiency tradeoff that needs to be considered before turning to WWII times as a standard good for all time.And I will believe that academic critics are seious when they stop accepting jobs at Harvard because they object to the President/ janitor wage ratio as exorbitant. In the long run, I believe reducing the aggregate ratio will only hamper those companies where the ratio is insufficiently high unless the government can choose wisely. You can probably guess I fear the resulting political inequality much more than economic inequality. I don't have to read Bloomberg's magazine but I do have to pay taxes for his crazy ideas.
What really gripes the blankety-blank-blank-blank out of me about our current capitalist system is that many corporations pay NOTHING in profits to the shareholders. Money is made on such stocks only by buying and selling them. That just fuels the non-productive financial industries with all their particularly outrageous salaries and bonuses. Apple, with its hundreds of billions of dollars is finally paying a small dividend. Sheesh.I think that economics should be a required subject in the high schools. Otherwise the system cannot work. Too many people don't even know which questions need to be asked, so they can't possibly know which political party or candidates to support.
Here's my loony idea: we lower the ratio (which, btw, tells us nothing meaningful, and according to the Bloomberg article, doesn't even tell us what the Bloomberg article tells us it tells us) by bringing about labor market conditions such that workers are in-demand and are able to bid up the price of their labor.
@Patrick Molloy (5/1, 5:21 pm) "In the long run, I believe reducing the aggregate ratio will only hamper those companies where the ratio is insufficiently high unless the government can choose wisely. "Which companies today have an aggregate ratio that is insufficiently high? And how has it hampered them?
"In the long run, I believe reducing the aggregate ratio will only hamper those companies where the ratio is insufficiently high unless the government can choose wisely."Who said anything about the government choosing anything? As Jim Pauwels (no shill for my leftwing notions) suggests (6:23) if workers as a group had a real bargaining position (as they did after WWII, when, pardon me, the economy worked better for everybody than it does now) the problem could begin to resolve itself.As we are constantly lectured by people who don't automatically demonize markets, just throwing money at a problem won't solve it. That includes problem CEOs.
Intelligent people in this day and age do not really care about ratios and what the lower paying jobs make because the intelligent people gravitate to those industries in which the pay is very high, the perqs are amazing and the income potential, i.e., incentive/variable/stock option or grant income, can be stratospherically high.Why do execs lust after so much money? Because very high income is the visible end product of achieving power.Why do people who can, pay $3,000 (or comparable for the women) for a suit when a $300 suit would serve the same purpose? Status symbols. Ditto for high-end autos, shoes, homes, trophy spouses, etc.Why are nerds willing to work obscene hours here in my lovely SF Bay Area for truly amazing work perqs, quite unstructured working conditions and the often far-fetched possibility of (literally) becoming millionaires if their company grabs the next brass ring? These kinds of jobs appeal to their sense of creativity, innovation, lack of interest in structured work environments, and the old Horatio Alger story.I spent many years working in the areas of compensation and benefits and before I retired 10 years ago I noticed huge swings in what motivates whom. The old things still have meaning (cash, benefits, perqs, variable income) but the younger people assume that these things will be there and they want what factory, service and part-time workers cannot ever expect because of highly controlled nature of what they do.
Luke Hill,The aggregate ratios in the Bloomberg article, in my understanding, refer to a weighted average of the individual ratios for some select (top 500) companies. No single company has an aggregate ratio.But if you are asking for examples of companies where the individual ratios are insufficient then my response is that it takes close and practical knowledge of particular situations. To take Penney's, the poster child of horrible ratios in the article, my calculation is that the CEO multiple of 1,795 in 2012 fell to 64 in 2013. I have no practical knowledge of Penney's situation but it's conceivable to me that if they hired a reputable turnaround wizard at an obscene wage package employee could benefit, even if the ratio skyrocketed.Can you tell me what the proper ratio should be for Apple? or if the IBM multiples increase over WWII levels at what point do you get indignant and pronounce the situation intolerable? Please show your math.
Patrick ==If Steve Jobs was paid an outlandish amount in $ and stock, then, as an Apple fan, I'd say that could be justified. But Jobs was the most conspicuous exception you could find. He and Wozniak revolutionized the world and *positively*, He rescued people from deadeningly boring jobs and made possible the creation of many new ones, not to mention the fun factor of Apple's products.Compare Jobs with the top brass of some of the investment banks which did more harm than good by any measure. Yes, yes, I know that start-ups need capital and investment banks make it available. But they also indulged in the derivatives scam which has plunged the world into recession if not depression, and yet those guys are making even more now than before.Something is wrong, wrong, wrong, and I mean morally as well wrong with the system when such incompetence is not just tolerated but rewarded.
@Patrick Molloy (5/1, 9:50 pm) Thanks for your response.Speaking economically, it's my understanding that there's a growing body of economic research that indicates higher levels of income and wealth inequality are associated with boom-and-bust-type economic cycles.Speaking morally, there's a reasonable and common argument that high levels of income and wealth inequality are, at a minimum, less than optimal.Speaking politically, I'm reminded of former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell who, in his usual calm, clear and understated way, would observe (paraphrasing) that all societies in human history have redistributed wealth, and they have all done it in one of two ways: taxation or revolution.
Ann,I believe most people are willing to allow many IT gurus, not just Steve Jobs, huge salaries. But what bothers me is that armchair critics who know nothing about a company like Penneys pontificate about what the legitimate levels of its CEO's compensation should be. There is no principled way to draw a line. I would not be concerned if the CEO of Penneys earned at least as much as Lady GaGa.Regarding the financial industry I wonder if you are not more concerned with illegitimate bailouts and not absolute levels of reward when accompanied by social benefits. I would like to see the compensation of index fund managers increased so that more wizards would be attracted to that sector. And again, I wouldn't care if the multiples that have spooked the Bloomberg authors increased as a result of this socially beneficial (IMHO) change.BTW, economist James Galbraith claims that the entire recent increase in inequality can be traced to 15 counties: Manhattan, parts of Connecticut, Silicon Valley, Seattle (Microsoft), and a few others. I would bet the DC suburbs also contribute. But in the rest of the country little change.
Luke,You are asserting rather than arguing. I'm not persuaded, though I agree your views are widely held. Forgive me if I find George Mitchell's pronouncements less than authoritative.
Mr. Molloy, You are defending your wicket very well, but you still have to hit the ball as it is bowled. I can't see any contributors to this string pontificating about "legitimate" levels of compensation. You seem to have a level in mind, and it seems to be higher than this country's historic levels. And you are worried about a CEO who might not make as much as Lady Gaga. That's income.The rest of us are talking about the gap. It is not good for social solidarity. It is not good for families on the wrong side of the gap. It is not good for companies in which decisions are made by people with no earthly idea of how their customers live. And, yeah, it is a sign of social sin.If I were to try to establish legitimate levels of compensation, I would be inclined to pay your turnaround artist more -- if and when she actually turned the company around -- than the guy getting a big payout for running his company into the need for a turnaround because that's what his peer group gets. But that is a whole other set of questions. As the Brits say, mind the gap.
@Patrick Molloy (5/1, 11:03 pm) Again, thanks for your reply. I thought I was referencing (in the first two cases) reasonably solid bodies of data and research, not merely asserting. (Oh well.)There's no need for you or anyone else to find Mitchell's observation "authoritative". (On the other hand, if there's a third option for redistributing wealth that societies have utilized throughout human history I, for one, would be interested to hear about it.)
Luke Hill,Another way: establish incentives that favor economic growth. For further details see Adam Smith and any reading list in economic history. Or examine some of the dramatic recent success stories in underdeveloped countries. There's been substantial progress in all parts of the world if one wants to look for it, perhaps not fast enough by your standards, and not universally successful, but steering a path between redistribution / heavy taxation and revolution. Workers of the world, put aside your Bloomberg tracts - you have nothing to lose but your slogans!
@Patrick Molloy (5/2, 8:20 am) Thanks, but "incentives that favor economic growth" don't necessarily deal with the issue of how wealth is distributed in a society. Over the past century in the US, the era that saw 1) the fastest sustained economic growth, 2) the least disparity in incomes and wealth was the generation from 1946 - 73, when incomes basically doubled for all economic quintiles of the population, with the fastest growth in the lowest two quintiles.That may or may not have lessons for today. It's indisputable that the past generation has seen slower economic growth combined with increasing wealth and income inequality.
We've seen substantial growth in parts of the world, but not substantial social development as popes from Leo XIII to Francis or economists from Adam Smith to (fill in the blank; I don't want to start a sideshow) would understand it.
All this talk about organizing workers is great, but let's be realistic: Unions are often hampered by "right to work" laws (like Michigan's brand spankin' new one!), and unions often represent a small fraction of folks who should be in the bargaining unit because its easier to get admin to pony up for full benefits and higher pay for a few than for many. Go to any American college--large, small, private, community--and you will see an increasing percentage of adjunct who are paid much less than tenured or full-time faculty, and who are not represented by the faculty union. Often adjunct are not offered benefits, or must pay premiums they can't afford to buy into the plan. I have a colleague who works at one college for the benefits (which takes virtually all her pay) and at my college for the income. If she is not teaching at College #1 in any given term, she is not eligible for insurance, so she has to have all her medical stuff done during terms when she is teaching. Problem is, she has no sick days, so will be docked for any days she might have to take off for medical procedures. If she gets really sick and can't come back for a term, she loses her coverage. If work peters out at College #2, she has benefits, but can't pay the rest of her bills. Both of us have been assigned courses to teach, only to have unionized faculty bump us out of them because theirs failed to fill (even though our performance reviews are very high).In addition, earning potential for adjuncts is dwindling at many colleges b/c administrators don't want to have to pay health insurance for adjuncts under Obamacare rules. So they've cut the number of courses that adjuncts can teach, thus reducing the ability for adjuncts to pay out of pocket for medical care.I've tried to organize, and Our Young People are very chary of unions. They think that if they're good boys and girls as adjuncts that they'll be rewarded with cushy full time jobs. They also don't think unions do much good ... and about that they're more right than they know (because unions often don't include part-timers in the bargaining unit).Yeah, yeah, quit whining and go work in the private sector, Jean. I'd love to. But I'm almost 60, and I was lucky to find the measly employment I have. Happy May Day.
"The rest of us are talking about the gap. It is not good for social solidarity. It is not good for families on the wrong side of the gap."Those are legitimate concerns. But surely the solution is to improve the employment and wages of those on the wrong side of the gap, yes?
Speaking of JC Penney, here is its attempt to recover from its scandalously overpaid CEO:http://bigstory.ap.org/article/jc-penney-ad-apologizes-customers
My last contribution: The same type of exercises that Peppard cites (re ideal ratios of inequality) have been carried out re ideal maximum tax rates. Respondents usually cite rates that are woefully insufficient to achieve redistributional nirvana. I wish our redistributionists would tell us what rates they think are required, and why they would not impede innovation, excellence and risk-taking (to repeat the same provisos in the original exercise). We would learn something about the tradeoffs they are prepared to make and which a good many in the real world might find less than optimal, to invoke another popular standard.
And one more article snatched from the front of the business page, and filed under, "What "for the love of Mike were they thinking?":http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/05/01/2580082/pepsico-pulls-mountain-...
My last contribution: Markets could solve most of the problems of inequality if workers, or their organizations, could compete on an even playing field. The winning side of the gap now has the political influence to keep the field tilted in its direction, so government is not the solution. I never said it was (at least not since Reagan showed how easily the modern union can be crushed).
"It is not good for social solidarity. It is not good for families on the wrong side of the gap. It is not good for companies in which decisions are made by people with no earthly idea of how their customers live. And, yeah, it is a sign of social sin."Bravo, Tom Blackburn.I would also add, the greater gap is becoming permanent and reducing social mobility. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_StatesThe fact that the true extent of the inequality is not widely known is part of the problem.The charts here are instructive:http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america...
Today's tweet from Pope Francis "My thoughts turn to all who are unemployed, often as a result of a self-centred mindset bent on profit at any cost."It's causing just a little bit of a stir among the banker-dudes.http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/02/18018846-pope-francis-pull...
Irene - that is an extremely interesting article, and the reactions to his tweet are quite interesting, too. People with a social conscience, and business leaders, should get together and have regular dialogue. Twitter isn't the best forum. Calling one another greed-heads and socialists doesn't really accomplish much, either.Too many corporate leaders don't know anything about Catholic social teaching, and too many social activists don't know anything about business or economics.
Patrick: if you use "executive pay" and "legitimate levels" in the same sentence, then you know nothing of the chicanery behind how executive pay is determined.I do.
"People with a social conscience, and business leaders, should get together and have regular dialogue."I'd be interested to know what possible incentive business leaders and high-level administrators would have in dialoguing with "people of conscience." In my experience, the less your boss pays you, the less respect he has for you. I remember being in a meeting with my former CEO who made an offhand comment about "losers who can't find a job that pays more than $35,000" ... which was exactly what he was paying me. I excused myself to go dust off my resume. High-level business leaders also believe that they've "earned" their privileges because of hard work (and if you're poor, you haven't "paid your dues"). The reality is that upward mobility based on merit and hard work is less common in the U.S. than people think it is ... and so is downward mobility.Pew has done extensive studies on this. This page has some interesting links: http://www.pewstates.org/projects/economic-mobility-project-328061
Christians in name only like to use scare tactics by calling those who seek social justice for the poor as "socialists." Advocates for the poor support capitalism. It is when banks scam the poor and companies lobby to not raise the minimum wage that Christians get alarmed. As talented as Microsoft was/is it was still merciless towards competitors because of its windows monopoly. Companies need to be regulated because of greed and ruthless tactics. Because too many of the greedy have the lobbyists the impression goes out that advocated for the poor are socialists. Companies who complain about the health care law are being disingenuous. They do not like the free market when they cannot manage it. Jesus mentioned the eye of the needle for a reason. Money still is the root of all evil. Francis of Assissi made that point and this Francis is reminding us of it. People who do not care for the poor will not be viewed kindly at the judgment. Matthew 25. They certainly should not pretend to be Christians.
Bill: actually it is the LOVE of money that is the root of all evil (1 Tim 6:10), but, in this day and age, that is a distinction without a difference.
Just a few truisms.1. Economics deals with human performances and choices. These performances and choices are imputable to those who make them as praiseworthy or blameworthy. 2.These performances and choices are reflected in deliberately adopted policies.3. Present policies in the U. S. and many other nations consistently result in serious undeserved and unnecessary hunger and health problems. That these problems exist is unjust.4. All of us who benefit from these policies bear some responsibility for the injustices they produce and have some responsibility to reform them.At the very least, this means that we all have to recognize the injustice that is the outcome of these policies and to support efforts to reform them. That there are no perfect policies in sight is no reason not to keep looking for better policies. Of course, there could be worse policies, but that fact in no way mitigates the injustices produced by the prevailing policies.Simply to acquiesce in the present policies is to treat them not as the outcome of human doings, as they obviously are, but to act as though they are somehow "laws of nature."Given these truisms, I have to say that I cannot see any justification for policies that lead to exorbitant wealth for some (however acquired) in the face of the drastic poverty of others. The very wealthy are simply not entitled to such wealth when so many other people are in need. All of us have an obligation to say so and press however we can for a fairer distribution of the financial and cultural resources available in our society. Longstanding and complicated injustices remain injustices for which we bear some ongoing responsibility.
Readers may be interested to learn that, a few days ago, RR Reno at First Things posted (from his conservative point of view), some ruminations on the reality of increasing income inequality.http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/04/the-triumph-of-capitalism..., Robert T Miller (another economic conservative) posted a reply.http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/05/response-to-reno
"Id be interested to know what possible incentive business leaders and high-level administrators would have in dialoguing with people of conscience."Some of them (quite a few, in my experience) are persons of conscience themselves, albeit not always particularly enlightened. I.e. they'd like to do the right thing, or at least like the idea of doing the right thing, but perhaps because they live in a bubble, they don't really understand how the other 9/10 lives and its implications.In addition, there is the question of social solidarity. A lot of business leaders understand the importance of keeping the community more or less on their side. They may see it in their own self-interest to listen.
Bernard, Thanks for laying that out so clearly. The very important point you raise at the end bears repeating: "The very wealthy are simply not entitled to such wealth when so many other people are in need."Wealth, goods of the earth, are for the purpose of meeting needs. We forget that.
JIm P. --I agree with you that many businesspersons are persons of conscience, but they often just don't know not just *how* the other half lives but *how many* people there are in the other half. Another good reason to require economics in the high schools, not just facts and figures but the reasoning behind economic policy, such as it is and isn't.I read just this morning that Amartya Sen, the great economist, was 10 years old before he found out that there were many people in India who were starving. He wasn't a rich Indian, just lower middle-class. It gave him a life-long interest in the causes of starvation, and the non-causes as well. He discovered, for instance, that lack of food is not the problem. The cost of food is typically the problem.
"Given these truisms, I have to say that I cannot see any justification for policies that lead to exorbitant wealth for some (however acquired) in the face of the drastic poverty of others."Well, when you put it that way...When I type the word "exorbitant" into Google, it gives the following synonyms:"excessive - inordinate - extravagant - undue"I ask this in all seriousness: is there such a thing as due wealth - as wealth that is not exorbitant? And if we deem that some class of business owners or professionals or heirs or pop stars or lottery winners has non-exorbitant wealth, must their wealth also be redistributed?Should the wealth of the exorbitantly wealthy only be given to those in drastic poverty? That's actually a pretty small part of the population, percentage-wise.If it turns out that the accumulation of exorbitant wealth isn't a zero-sum game - that its accumulation is only weakly connected, or not at all connected, to the plight of those in drastic poverty, should your statement be revised?If it turns out that redistributing the wealth of the exorbitantly wealthy to the drastically poor doesn't materially improve the plight of the drastically poor, should we then conclude that it is imprudent to redistribute that wealth?
@Jim Pauwels (5/4, 10:17 pm) Some quick (perhaps too quick) answers to your questions:1 - Yes, there's non-exorbitant wealth. No, it doesn't have to be redistributed. (Although perhaps we should check with the poor for their judgments on this matter.)2 - No, excess wealth shouldn't be returned only to those in drastic poverty. It should be returned to all from whom it has illegitimately be taken. (Who that is, and how it's to be done is another conversation.)3- Actually, it turns out that the accumulation of exorbitant wealth isn't a zero-sum game...but in the opposite direction from the one you suggest. There's a considerable and growing body of economic evidence that high degrees of wealth and income inequality generate slower economic growth and greater economic instability. 4 - Yes, but the overwhelming majority of economic evidence points to the contrary conclusion.
"A lot of business leaders understand the importance of keeping the community more or less on their side. They may see it in their own self-interest to listen."Yes, of course that happens occasionally. Nike apparently learned from its sweatshop debacle, though other companies apparently have not (see any sad tale of women dying in garment factory fires in Bangladesh leaving a trail of charred American brand labels in the ruins). Moreover, I wonder whether an American society that is increasingly struggling financially has the will to work up outrage over criminal labor practices. In any case, real moral discussions about labor practices among the captains of industry are generally turned over to PR hacks, of which I was one once upon a time. Wal-Mart distracts attention from its purchase-from-sweatshop practices by claiming that their prices are so low that they've effectively given everybody who shops there a something-percent salary raise. The more a business relies on local labor, the more likely it is to meet local wage and benefit norms to maintain good community relations. But these businesses are in constant jeopardy from large multi-nationals that can set up or purchase from offshore factories where working conditions are out of sight/out of mind.Yes, I agree that some business leaders want to be people of conscience, and that's why they created the bubble in the first place. I see no reason why they'd want to leave that circumscribed world where they're seen as upright pillars of the bubble community to face up to business realities that might be very uncomfy.
Thanks, Luke. Jim P.,, in all seriousness. Sometimes in history, a political or economic policy that has been billed as providing a much better and more just fairer distribution of resources to the members of a political society turns out, after a period of time to have been a mistake, even a disaster. The French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty once supported the Soviet political and economic policies but in due course found that they had utterly failed to live up to the billing they had received. The kind of seriously underregulated capitalism we have experienced in the last decades, under various headings, such as "supply side capitalism" or free market capitalism has consistently produced growing inequities both here and elsewhere. To insist that these policies will IN TIME work out well, all presently available evidence notwithstanding, is hard to accept. I have to admit that I don't have an alternative to put forth, but that does not make the case in favor of what's presently in place, any stronger. Rather, it gives me reason to encourage technically competent people to work for alternatives.Take one example. If Wall Street Journal reporting is to be taken as representative of prevailing capitalist views, then the capitalist's task is to make sure that as few employers have to provide health care coverage to as few of their employers as possible. Hence the pressure to make sure that as few employees as possible work as much as a 30 hour week. Under this sort of capitalist flag, there will be an unending "race to the bottom." This example is not, regrettably, atypical.In sum, I have no good reason to see in the prevailing capitalism any movement to "self-correction."
Bernard --As some of us see it, the WSJ is unredeemably conservative in its editorial pages but progressive in its reporting. How it can retain this schizoid mish-mash of opposing attitudes is a true wonder. Then again, maybe it succeeds because the American culture is a mish-mash of basically conservative principles (individualism, right to the fruits of one's own labor, respect for physical force, loyalty to the past) versus progressive/pragmatic responses to matters of fact. I dunno.
Many of the wealthy already benefit from redistributed income:Mortgage interest deductions for any number of properties.Tax shelters.Charitable contribution write-offs."Carried income" very low tax rates.If they are business owners, accelerated depreciation schedules.Tax write offs for private aircraft .. a "business" expense.General liberal interpretations, all allowed in the tax codes of course, of what is a legitimate tax deductible business expense.The ability to shelter certain kinds of current income until a later date when your tax situation may be more favorable to you, even though you have current use of that income.And, if I would bother to take the time I'm sure I can find more.Their tax benefits are paid for by countless others who do not have the political or economic "juice" to structure good deals for themselves.So don't talk to me about income redistribution: it happens on a grand and priviliged scale already. And these people didn't even have to attend that new school for the priviliged mentioned in the posting above.
When a number of large corporations went to the government for a bailout during the recession a few years ago, one of the first things the American people wanted curbed was executive compensation. A business that unsuccessful miserably and wanted TARP help shouldn't be lining already padded pockets. However, a brand new report has found executive compensation slightly dipped even while a number of firms, such as General Motors, AIG and Ally Financial, were receiving TARP funding. Get more details here.
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Maileg Metal Cabinet with Shelves, Purple
by Maileg
High quality metal toy closet from Denmark.
Beautifully metal cabinet with 3 shelves from Danish toymaker Maileg. This high quality cabinet has dye cut flower patterns on both front and back. A beautifully decorated door knob is hard to miss. The 3 shelves can be removed and rearranged.
Size: 14.5" x 6.
Available in 3 beautiful colors. - Off white, Turquoise and Purple.
Size: 14.5" x 6.
Recommendations: 3 years+
Made in China. Designed in Denmark.
Safety: This product meets or exceeds safety specifications set forth by the BSI (European standard).
© 2016 My Sweet Muffin illustrations by Mariah DeMarco site by Aeolidia


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Tom Kuhlmann: Become a Rapid eLearning Pro and Articulate Storyline workshop - Virtual attendees welcome!!
Event Options
Event Information
New York Institute of Technology, 16 W. 61st St., New York, NY and VIRTUALLY
From : Tuesday, 24 September 2013 09:00
Until : Wednesday, 25 September 2013 17:00
Until : Wednesday, 25 September 2013 17:00
(UTC -05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada), Bogota, Lima
Seats available:
57 (60 total)
Event Creator:
Event Details
STCNY Metro is proud to present Tom Kuhlmann, popular eLearning guru who will run a two-day master class loaded with hands-on activities.
September 24-25, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm - two- day workkshop (Live or Virtual)Day 1: Become a Rapid ELearning Pro
8:15 am - 9:00 am - Registration & Breakfast
9:00 am - 5:00 pm - Workshop
Today's tools are making it easier than ever to build eLearning courses because they don't require any programming. This presents a lot of opportunities, but the reality is that there are also many challenges. On top of that, quite a few eLearning developers work with limited budgets and resources. Is it possible to build good courses with these constraints?
Let Tom Kuhlmann show you the way! This national speaker and popular Rapid Elearning Blogger provides weekly tips and tricks to help people build better eLearning modules to over 100,000 subscribers.
What's covered in this session?
• Simple ways to get started and move your ILT content online
• Working with your subject matter experts
• Explore techniques that will help you create the right look and feel for your courses
• How to create interactive content with re-usable, interactive models
Hands-on workshop: Bring your laptop with Microsoft PowerPoint installed. There will be power sockets available for you to charge up your laptops.
Day 2: Articulate Storyline
8:15 am - 9:00 am - Registration & Breakfast
9:00 am - 5:00 pm - Workshop
Articulate Storyline enables anyone to create interactive eLearning that goes far beyond simple click-and-read courses. Using a series of activities, you'll learn how to use Articulate Storyline to build engaging, interactive courses. We'll review the core authoring process, introduce you to key Storyline features, and then practice creating interactive content using the Slide Layers, Triggers, and States features in Storyline.
In this workshop, you'll learn how to:
• Insert and work with various types of content on a slide
• Work with Storyline's built-in characters
• Create interactivity using Slide Layers, Triggers, and States
• Customize the course player
• Publish to Flash, HTML5, and iOS for iPad viewing
Are you confident about how appealing your visual communication and design skills are? Is your creativity hiding somewhere inside? Then get unstuck and liberate your inner designer at this workshop.
In this session, you'll review the basic principles of visual communication and design so you can feel knowledgeable when you select, create, and evaluate graphics to use for learning and information purposes.
You'll learn how to optimize visuals so they are compelling as well as effective. Through presentation, activities, and discussion, you'll learn both the principles of visual design and how to discriminate between effective and ineffective graphics.
Topics will include:
• Visual grammar
• Selecting fonts
• Choosing a color palette
• Layout
• Design principles (contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity)
• Building a visual hierarchy
• Directing the eye
• Making the abstract concrete
Intended audience: Technical writers, learning professionals, presenters, documentation managers, project managers
Hands-on workshop: Bring your laptop with the trial version of Articulate Storyline installed.
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Codependents in overspending
The Great Recession was the worst downturn most of us have experienced. The "recovery" that followed remains tepid and tenuous.
Question: If states won't reduce spending during an economic cataclysm, when will they?
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Nichols KE, ... Diller L
Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania
Ultima Vez Modificado: 1 de noviembre del 2001
Reviewers: John Han-Chih Chang, MD
Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology 1999, Volume 17, Number 4: pages 1259-1266.
BackgroundHodgkin's disease (HD) in children and young adults has been very successfully treated. Nearly 80% or more are "cured" or have become long-term survivors of those diagnosed with early-stage HD. Unfortunately, these survivors are at significant risk for secondary malignancies, the most common of which are acute myeloid leukemia (AML), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), breast cancer in women and a host of other solid tumors (soft tissue sarcomas). By 20 years out from therapy for HD, the late mortality from secondary cancers becomes significantly higher than the mortality from the initial HD itself.
Ataxia-telangiectasia (AT) is an autosomal recessive disease resulting from the inactivation of the ATM gene by mutations. This leads to a defect in the p53 dependent DNA-damage response pathway. Essentially, patients are at a higher than normal risk for other genetic mutations. Thus, they are more susceptible to developing lymphocytic leukemias, HD, NHL, breast and gastric carcinomas. Studies have demonstrated increased susceptibility of cultured cells with the mutated ATM to the ionizing effects of radiation therapy. Approximately 1% of the general population are AT carriers or heterozygotes. In vitro studies of AT heterozygote cell lines have shown an impaired response to the DNA damage induced by ionizing radiation, intermediate in effect between that of AT homozygotes and normal controls. AT families have demonstrated in epidemiological studies that there is an increased incidence of breast cancer among relatives considered to be carriers.
The focus of this article was to elucidate whether the high rate of second malignancies in young patients treated with HD could be correlated to an increased incidence of ATM mutations.
Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was utilized for gene amplification from the immortalized cells developed from each patient. The subsequent mutational analysis method is described in detail in the paper. Briefly, the method required that the amplified genes were to be inserted into a certain type of yeast. The yeast was then plated onto agar plates. The wild-type ATM gene (non-mutated) would yield a high number of colonies (> 75%), whereas heterozygotes (35 - 55%) and homozygotes (< 5%) had a much lower yield. Intermediate results lead to a repeat of the test to confirm the findings.
The incidence of positive family histories for malignancy in association with secondary neoplasms was evaluated. Eleven of those that had developed secondary malignant neoplasms had a positive family history of cancer. In the HD cohort that did not develop a secondary cancer, only 3 of the 68 had a positive family history. Therefore, those that had developed a secondary malignancy had a higher rate of cancer in their family history (21% versus 4%). No significant differences were seen between those that had multiple secondary malignant neoplasms versus those that had only one, concerning family history of cancer.
The ATM mutational analysis using a yeast-based protein truncation assay found no patient in the cohort of 52 who had developed secondary cancers to be carriers or heterozygotes of the AT mutation. No mention was made in reference to the control cohort as to the frequency of AT heterozygotes or homozygotes.


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2k – LESS/Bootstrap Photography, Portfolio Theme
- 2k is a HTML5/CSS3/Bootstrap/LESS optimized responsive theme perfect for photography, portfolio, personal and business websites.
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Pain Management Health Center
Bladder Pain
In this article
Interstitial Cystitis continued...
Bladder instillation. A thin tube (catheter) is used to fill your bladder with the medications such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), heparin, steroids, or a local anesthetic. You hold the liquid in your bladder for up to 15 minutes and then release it. This treatment is thought to work by reducing inflammation and decreasing the sensation of pain.
Bladder distention. While you are asleep under anesthesia, the doctor fills your bladder with a liquid to stretch its walls. Bladder distention is a technique used to diagnose IC, but it also helps relieve pain for some patients, possibly because it increases the bladder capacity or interferes with the nerves that transmit pain signals from the bladder.
Nerve stimulation. For some patients, a technique called transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) helps relieve pain and the urge to urinate. Electrodes placed on the skin or implanted in the body send electrical impulses to the nerves controlling the bladder. This technique can help strengthen the muscles controlling the bladder, and may trigger the release of chemicals that block pain.
Acupuncture . Limited research has shown that acupuncture may provide relief to some people with interstitial cystitis.
Surgery. If other treatments aren't working and your bladder pain won't go away, the doctor may recommend surgery as a last resort.
The following lifestyle changes may also help relieve IC:
Diet. Certain foods, such as tomatoes, citrus fruits, coffee, chocolate, or alcohol, may worsen symptoms of IC for some people. To identify which foods, if any, irritate your bladder, keep a diary of what you eat during the day. When you have flare-ups of bladder pain, see if you can find a pattern in your diet.
Bladder retraining. This method can help if you're constantly feeling the urge to urinate. Keep a diary of when you use the bathroom. Gradually try to increase the time between bathroom trips, for example, by 10-minute increments. Eventually you'll be able to go longer periods of time without urinating.
Stress management . People with IC often report worsening of symptoms related to increased physical, mental, or emotional stress.
Pelvic floor exercises. Repeatedly squeeze and release the muscles that control urination to help strengthen these muscles. A doctor or nurse can help you find the right muscles to exercise.


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Last week, Derek and Romaine discussed statements made by Pastor Joel Osteen on "The View" talk show, where Osteen said, ""What I believe the scripture teaches is that homosexuality is not God's best." Tonight, Rev. Gil Caldwell will respond to Osteen's comments and provide a broader view of faith communities as part of the LGBT movement. Listeners are welcome to participate by calling 866-305-6887. For those who don't subscribe to Sirius, a free online trial is available at www.Sirius.com.
Below is a letter from Rev. Caldwell to Pastor Osteen.
Dear Pastor Osteen,
I am writing to you as one pastor to another, as a follower of Jesus who shares with you the Christian walk, and as one who believes that, too often, the Bible is used to demean and diminish people.
I have seen the video of your appearance on "The View" on November 3, 2009, where you say that "homosexuality is not God's best," and that, while God loves all people, for LGBT people "their sexuality is a flaw." I am disappointed that you would use your position and prominence to perpetuate the idea that God made a mistake in creating those whose sexual orientation or gender identity are different than your norm.
I am dismayed that you and others continue to use the Bible to justify prejudice toward and denial of rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. The Bible was once used justify the reprehensible enslavement and segregation of persons of African descent. Even the Ku Klux Klan, with their white robes and burning crosses, found justification in the church for their acts of hatred and violence against black people and communities. Following the words from the pulpits, the KKK sought to punish and diminish black people, whose "flaws" made them "not God's best."
Do you understand, Pastor Osteen, how your negative statements about LGBT people provide substance to misguided and violent groups?
I was a foot soldier in the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King, Jr., and his words and actions have served as a model for my life and ministry. In Strength to Love, Dr. King wrote: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
We know that this is a time of change and controversy related to equality and equal access for LGBT people. Lawmakers in Washington have not yet resolved the irrational and illogical Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy of the military; the state of Maine has just become the 31st state to deny marriage to same gender couples; and yet, 11 years after the beating death of Matthew Shepard, Congress has finally added sexual orientation and gender identity to its hate crimes provisions.
If we are to measure a man by where he stands during this time in our history, then your words have made you an accomplice to those who deny equality to LGBT people and their families.
This is a new century, Pastor Osteen, and I have faith that the God in whom we both believe expects us to cease using the Bible to support bias and hatred.
I have no national prominence as you have. You have never heard of me and it is likely that our paths will never cross. But, in the spirit that is at the heart of our faith, and as a fellow American who believes that the genius of our nation is our commitment to become one out of many, I felt compelled to share these words with you. I hope this letter finds you strong in faith.
Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell
Asbury Park, N.J.