text:
Care Watch is a volunteer- run, not-for-profit advocacy organization led by seniors.
We work with policy makers and those who influence policy. As well, through public events and research we raise issues relative to older people. We drive positive action.
CHOICES – Opportunities to make choices that will enable living at home with dignity and as much independence as possible.
A VOICE – The right to be involved in decisions about policies and practices that affect their lives.
SUPPORT – Access to services and programs that help them to be productive, active participants in their own communities.
Care Watch fights for services and programs that facilitate "aging at home". Read our Pragmatic Proposal
Be a part of Care Watch! Shape the future you want.
There are many ways you can get involved in Care Watch and have your voice heard. Become a member to stay abreast of issues affecting older Ontarians. Join our mailing list to receive our bimonthly e-bulletins. Contact us to participate in advocacy initiatives.
Sept 30, 2016
Valued members and supporters,
Care Watch has worked hard over the past year to refresh our website to ensure that it is user-friendly, and meets accessibility standards. Launched in June of this year, Care Watch's new website can now be visited at www.carewatchontario.com.
All senior citizens' voices count, and we endeavor to provide materials to help communities engage in meaningful conversation around the need to improve home care and community services for older Ontarians. We hope you will be able to visit our new website to access these materials, and keep up-to-date on our advocacy work.
Care Watch Board of Directors
June 8, 2016
Let's think about the new Patients First Act before jumping on or off the bandwagon!
Introduction of Bill 210, the Patients First Act, 2016 offers a key opportunity for Ontarians to assess the health system changes that Minister Hoskins proposes. These changes will have a significant, long-term impact on the range and quality of health services Ontarians receive through our publicly funded Medicare system. They will affect our experience as users, providers and taxpayers.
The draft legislation will amend approximately 20 pieces of legislation in order to implement the proposed reforms. The Bill is complex and the way it amends these other Acts requires careful analysis of the intent as well as effects or probable outcomes.
Care Watch has a longstanding commitment to advocate for better, more accessible home care for senior citizens. It is through this lens that we will be watching and commenting on the proposals.
Several commentators, such as The Toronto Star's Bob Hepburn, note that it is a "first step" in the reform and restructuring process to reduce bureaucratic barriers, improve coordination, access and geographic equity for patients; facilitate patient transitions from hospital to home care; and reduce wait times for home care services, all while re-directing spending from management to front line services. These are high hopes indeed, but Ontarians are capable of amazing things given sufficient political will and resources!
Also, legislation alone will not change the less than healthy culture of our health care system – affecting both providers and patients – which underlies or exacerbates many current problems. Long term improvements will require changes in the way we think of and use health services, in our expectations and requirements, and in the ethos of providers we employ.
In the short term, changes will need to be carefully synchronized with appropriate transitional funding and risk management.
There is a lot to ponder. Care Watch encourages senior citizens to think about the proposals and share your thoughts with us. We will offer advice to Minister Hoskins through the public legislative committee hearings that the government promises to hold.
Board of Directors, Care Watch
May 10, 2016
The Ontario Health Coalition is collecting information from individuals, and their families, who have been charged extra fees for medically necessary services. They have asked us to share their survey with our members and supporters. If you have been charged, follow this link to participate: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/OHC-user-fees-survey
Please assist them in collecting this important data.
April 7, 2016
Care Watch thanks The Toronto Star's Carol Goar, who announced her retirement in an article yesterday. Read our farewell to Ms. Goar, written by long-time Care Watch member and former Chair of Care Watch's Social Action Committee, Dr. Sheila Neysmith, here.
February 29, 2016
Submission to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Re: Call for Feedback on Patients First: Proposal to Strengthen Patient-Centre Health Care in Ontario
Dear Minister Hoskins:
Care Watch, a not-for-profit, volunteer-run organization led by senior citizens, advocates for quality home and community care services in Ontario. We are pleased to provide input to the consultation process regarding the restructuring of Ontario's health care, and home and community care systems. We appreciate and applaud the Province's willingness to engage system users, especially seniors, along with service providers in the discussion and decision-making process.
Care Watch supports the two principles of "patient-centeredness" and "client choice in service provision and providers" which are intended as foundations for restructuring. We would, however, add a third principle – provision of public service to Ontarians. While efficiency and efficacy in the use of public dollars should always be goals, and are demonstrably essential respecting health expenditures, reducing, eliminating or privatizing needed public services primarily to achieve "cost savings" is the antithesis of caring government policy.
February 3, 2016
Care Watch Ontario Budget Submission 2016
In its pre-budget consultation submission to the Government of Ontario, Care Watch hihglighted the following priorities:
1. Increase investment in the Home and Community Care Sector to Support System Change
2. Ensure Dedicated Funding to Set Up and Support Local Service Coordination at the Community Level
3. Develop A Dedicated Envelope of funding for Community Care Sector and Services – not Integrated Funding
Click here to read the full submission.
January 12, 2016
For Ontario's seniors, "Patients First" mistakenly emphasizes clinical solutions to community issues
Re-release: For immediate release (Toronto) January 12, 2016
Care Watch commends Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Dr. Eric Hoskins on his recent Discussion Paper, "Patients First: Proposal to Strengthen Patient-Centred Care in Ontario". However, Care Watch has significant concerns about several aspects of the Paper:
1. Restructuring Discussions – The paper focuses almost exclusively on the organization and support required by clinical care providers. However, to get the best system change outcome for Ontarians, the Ministry should ensure that restructuring discussions are also accessible to and incorporate the voices of seniors, family caregivers, and non-health community-based organizations which also provide critical home and community care services.
2. Expansion of LHIN Mandate and Responsibilities – The Paper does not identify community social and support services as being part of either primary care or the continuum of care. Services like transportation, home-making, meals-on-wheels, adult day programs, and respite care are essential to support autonomous living for seniors, the chronically ill, and people who live with disabilities. Care Watch advocates that the primary care sector, including community and social services, be addressed in the earliest phase of a carefully planned and timely process to implement proposed changes. The Ministry should also second senior staff from the home and community care sector to inform its analysis of needed changes with current practical experience.
3. Local Service Coordination – Care Watch opposes the further medicalization of the design and delivery of services to seniors and people living with disabilities, who are striving to maintain their autonomy in their homes and communities. This is reflected in the repeated references to "patients", "health care" providers, and "clinical" services. Care Watch advocates that multi-disciplinary, primary health and/or community care agencies assume local care coordination and be funded appropriately.
4. Integrated Funding – An ageing population needs community-based chronic care, yet Ontario's health system continues to operate on an antiquated, acute care model. The powerful influences of the acute care sector drown out the voice of the community services sector. Care Watch opposes the "bundling" of funding that encompasses hospitals, primary care, and the community services sector. Instead, Care Watch advocates the establishment of a protected budget envelop dedicated solely to home and community services, an envelope that cannot easily be re-allocated elsewhere.
5. Increased Investment in Home and Community Care – System reorganization requires extra resources. Care Watch recommends that the Ministry set aside funding to assist community agencies in undertaking the necessary research, planning and organizational changes required for successful system restructuring.
6. Significant Missing Details – The Paper fails to enumerate the range of services to be delivered within the restructured home and community care sector. As well, the Paper lacks details about how to fix the perpetual problems of system navigation, problems consistently voiced by users for countless years.
"Care Watch welcomes the Province's willingness to engage system users, especially senior citizens, and looks forward to being an integral part of the restructuring discussions and decision-making processes," says the Chair of the Care Watch Board of Directors Josephine Grayson.
"Unfortunately, the Discussion Paper gives insufficient recognition to the central role that home and community services must play in the long term care of ageing Ontarians. We need to reframe the discussion to avoid further medicalizing the system, and to ensure its sustainability and affordability."
– 30 –
Originally released January 7, 2016
For more information contact Care Watch:
Michèle Harding,
Board of Directors
Direct: (416) 465-6438
Cell: (416) 573-6438
Care Watch:
Care Watch is a not-for-profit, volunteer-run advocacy organization led by senior citizens. We work with policy makers and those who influence policy to raise issues relevant to older people. We believe that we – the senior citizens of Ontario – must have a say in how services are organized, delivered and evaluated. Care Watch advocates for quality home and community services that are:
- Seamlessly integrated with primary, secondary and tertiary health services;
- Effectively coordinated;
- Securely funded; and,
- Led by not-for-profit, community-based agencies.
January 12, 2016
For Ontario's seniors, "Patients First" mistakenly emphasizes clinical solutions to community issues
On December 17, 2015, Dr. Eric Hoskins, Ontario's Minister of Health and Long-Term Care released a new Discussion Paper "Patients First: Proposal to Strengthen Patient-Centred Health Care in Ontario." While espousing principles of patient choice and health equity, this paper provides a high level outline of proposed restructuring of the planning, funding and delivery of health services, to achieve service integration, increased efficiency and improved health outcomes. All of these objectives are highly desirable, but, to paraphrase an old saying, the "devil will be in the details".
Restructuring Discussions:
Care Watch welcomes and applauds the Province's willingness to engage system users, especially seniors, and service providers in discussion regarding the future of home and community care services, and looks forward to full participation in restructuring discussions and decision-making processes.
Care Watch also appreciates the "patients first" principle underlying the Discussion Paper, despite the Paper's almost total focus on the organization of and support required by "clinical" care providers. The proposed maintenance of client choice in service and service providers is essential in a client-centred system. We anticipate that a variety of legislative mechanisms and culture-change strategies will be needed to guarantee user choice.
However, to get the best system change outcome for Ontarians, the Ministry should ensure that restructuring discussions are also accessible to and include the voices of seniors, family caregivers, and non-health community-based organizations which also provide critical home and community care services.
Expansion of LHIN Mandate and Responsibilities:
Care Watch acknowledges the potential efficacy of transferring current CCAC functions to the LHINs and the proposed expansion of the LHINs' mandate to include primary care planning and performance management; home and community care management and service delivery; and the development of formal linkages with population and public health planning, in order to improve system planning and accountability, funding equity, delivery standards and client outcomes. Integration of the primary health care sector (e.g., community health centres, Aboriginal health access centres, and family health and nurse practitioner teams) within the ambit of the LHINs is required to provide critical local anchors for the continuum of health care.
Care Watch is concerned that despite repeated references, the Discussion Paper does not identify community social and support services as being part of either primary health care or the continuum of care. Services which support autonomous living for seniors, people with disabilities and persons with chronic illnesses – like transportation, home-making, meals-on-wheels, adult day programs and respite care – are critical to the success of any home and community care plan.
Additionally, the scope and complexity of the anticipated system change cannot be achieved all at once. The Ministry needs to identify priorities for incorporating and integrating the various existing sectors and proceed in a phased manner along agreed time lines. Care Watch advocates that the primary health care and community social and support services sectors be addressed in the earliest phase. The Ministry should also second senior staff from the home and community sector to inform and augment its analysis of needed changes.
Local Service Coordination:
Care Watch supports the proposal that home care coordinators be housed at the LHIN sub-region level and deployed into community settings. However, the Paper is silent on how the sub-LHIN areas will be selected, governed, and operated. Repeated reference to "patients", "health care" providers and "clinical" services and leadership demonstrates that medicalized paradigms still dominate the government's discourse and priorities in designing and delivering home and community-based services to seniors and people living with disabilities who, in fact, strive to maintain their autonomy in their own homes and communities.
Based on prior experience, Care Watch worries that local service coordination responsibility will be delegated predominantly to local hospitals and that home and community care services will consequently become even more medicalized and expensive. Based on cost alone, Care Watch disagrees with the apparent perception that hospitals are appropriate lead agencies for "home and community care coordination", and advocates that multi-disciplinary primary health and/or community care agencies assume local service coordination responsibilities and be funded appropriately.
Integrated Funding:
In order to remain affordable, Ontario's health system needs to respond to the demographic implications of an ageing population. An antiquated model oriented to acute care is clearly no longer sustainable; it cannot meet the needs of people living with chronic health conditions. Service users live in the community and that is where services must be provided. However, hospitals and acute care services consume the lion's share of health budgets. The influence of the acute care sector, with its powerful advocates, easily drowns out the voice of the community services sector.
Based on experience, Care Watch opposes the proposed "bundling" or integration of funding that encompass hospitals, primary health care, and community care sectors and services. Care Watch advocates that instead of bundling funding, the government establish a protected budget envelope that is dedicated solely to home and community care services; a budget envelope that cannot easily be reallocated elsewhere, even when increasing hospital, physician or pharmaceutical costs stretch existing resources.
Increased investment in home and community care:
System reorganization requires intensive planning, support and evaluation, especially during transition periods. These activities require investment. Perhaps in the long run the savings generated by eliminating the CCAC structure may be sufficient to support the enhanced responsibilities of LHINs and other organizations, but this is unlikely to be true in the short term. It is unclear what new funds will be provided to support the change process.
Care Watch recommends that the Ministry set aside funding to assist community agencies to undertake the necessary research, planning and organizational changes required for successful system restructuring.
Significant Missing Details:
Multiple system reviews have identified gaps and inconsistencies in accessibility and service provision across the province.
A significant missing detail in the Ministry`s Discussion Paper is consideration of the range of services to be delivered within the restructured home and community care system. Redefining government and provider relationships and accountability outside the context of required services and supports will not, in the long term, produce better outcomes for Ontarians.
Multiple reports have also highlighted the difficulties that seniors and caregivers have navigating the health care system.
While having "services closer to home in sub-LHIN areas" may mean smaller bureaucracies, we do not yet understand what mechanisms will be put in place to improve system navigation and wait times for home and community care.
Care Watch:
Care Watch is a not-for-profit, volunteer-run advocacy organization led by senior citizens. We work with policy makers and those who influence policy to raise issues relevant to older people. We believe that we – the senior citizens of Ontario – must have a say in how services are organized, delivered and evaluated. Care Watch advocates for quality home and community services that are:
- Seamlessly integrated with primary, secondary and tertiary health services;
- Effectively coordinated;
- Securely funded; and,
- Led by not-for-profit, community-based agencies.
– 30 –
Media contact:
For more information contact Care Watch:
Michèle Harding, Board of Directors
Direct: (416) 465-6438
Cell: (416) 573-6438
November 19, 2016
The 16th Annual General Meeting of Care Watch
Please join us for the 16th Annual General Meeting of Care Watch, From Policy to Action
Date: Thursday, November 19
Time: 2 – 4 pm
Place: The Older Women's Network Co-op, 115 The Esplanade, Toronto
Program: Mary Kardos Burton, former Assistant Deputy Minister of the Acute Services Division with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, will address Bringing Care Home, the March 2015 report of the Ontario's Expert Panel on Home and Community Care.
Light refreshments will be served.
Election 2015 — Please check our blog for up-to-date commentary on election issues. Remember to vote on October 19th!
Five federal parties completed the Canadian Nurses Association platform questionnaire on home and community care. Answers may be accessed at Party Platforms
The College of Family Physicians of Canada have released their infographics on the 2015 federal election platforms. View their grades for National Home Care Programs
Visit the Canadian Medical Association site "Demand a Plan" and sign the online petition in support of a National Seniors Strategy
Canadian Medical Association press release "Canadians to federal candidates: Ignore seniors care at your peril"
"Health care gets short shrift on campaign trail" Theresa Boyle, Toronto Star
"Elizabth May pledges health transfers to reflect aging populations" CBC News
"Canada needs a national seniors strategy: Editorial" Dr. Chris Simpson, Toronto Star
"Canadians not confident about future of seniors' health care: polls" André Picard, Globe and Mail
"Canadian Medical Association urges health-care strategy for seniors" André Picard, Globe and Mail
Nov 19, 2014
Annual General Meeting
Please join us for Care Watch's Annual General Meeting, 2014 "Mobilizing Against Ageism!" Thursday, December 4, 2:00 – 4:00 pm, at the Older Women's Network. This year's program will feature a presentation and workshop on strategies to eradicate ageism through direct action.
Add your voice. Act with us.
Click here to view the event invitation.
Sept 22, 2014
Globe and Mail health columnist Picard cites 2014 Statistics Canada Study to highlight the unmet home care needs of Canada's growing elder population. Please visit our Care Watch blog for an on-line discussion of Picard's article and the study it refers to.
August 29, 2014
Important Toronto Seniors Forum notice
Also, don't miss the following advocacy messages.
Ageism Exists: Name it! Resist it!
May, 26 2014.
Dear Fellow Member of Care Watch
Below is a letter and package of material the Care Watch Board has sent out to all provincial candidates in both hard copy and electronic format. We are very concerned that during this election campaign there has been very little discussion of the increasing need for supportive home care services. Care Watch has been pursuing several avenues to turn up the volume on this issue. However, it is an uphill battle. We ask you to forward this to the people you are in contact with. Please also put a link to it and/or the Care Watch website http://carewatchtoronto.org /on your Facebook page.
Care Watch
Dear Candidate:
The 2014 Provincial election is occurring as Ontario faces a number of challenges. How we address these will determine what kind of a society Ontario will be in the years ahead.
Frequently one hears concerns about issues that many people associate with population aging. Care Watch is an advocacy organization composed of Senior Citizens. Our sole purpose is to ensure that Senior Citizens receive the supports they need in order to sustain the quality of their lives as they age.
Attached are several short documents that outline key issues that are affecting supportive home care policies and programs in Ontario today:
Ø The rationale for implementing designated funding for supportive services;
Ø The impact of ageism on policies and programs;
Ø An election post card with questions that we are encouraging Senior Citizens to ask of all candidates during the campaign.
We are sending these materials to you to inform you of issues that are important to senior citizens — major voters in the upcoming election. For further information, please visit our website http://carewatchtoronto.org/ where we will be posting updates throughout the election period.
Finally, we welcome the opportunity to meet with you around issues affecting Senior Citizens.
For important resource information on what electoral candidates need to know about supportive home care services, please click here.
Care Watch's Bea Levis, honoured with the Ontario Gerontology Association's 2013 Positive Aging Award, shapes policy discourse on ageism and senior citizenship. Click here for the tribute.
Care Watch's Charlotte Maher, posthumously awarded the Francis Lankin Community Service Award from Social Planning Toronto: Click here for the tribute.
Care Watch mourns the loss of its founder and leader, Charlotte Maher. A long-time social activist with a hunger for justice and the capacity to make a difference. We will miss her deeply, but will continue to follow her lead.
In The News
Home-Care Crunch Coming by Sherri Torjman of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy
On Saturday October 6 2012 Sherri Torjman, Vice-President of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, wrote an op-ed piece in the Toronto Star articulating some of the implications for home care as the Canadian population ages. She reiterates the well-known cost concerns that accompany most discussions of population aging. Home Care is usually proposed as one response because studies document that it is cost efficient and effective. Of course, these calculations do not include the costs that families bear (see Care Watch's Pragmatic Proposal for a graphic presentation of these private costs). As more and more people embrace the idea of home care, how to finance it is seldom seriously considered. In this article Sherri points out that Canada has confined its use of social insurance to income security, while other countries have used it to finance home care. She also notes several other approaches that are in use. Importantly, she highlights that the funding issue has been addressed in other jurisdictions – it is not insolvable but it does require innovation and an active debate about alternatives. Care Watch, in our Pragmatic Proposal, raised very similar concerns. In the past year we have made numerous presentations to groups on the topic but have found that when it comes to debating new ways of funding home care people get nervous. Why are we so reluctant to consider options that have worked elsewhere? Thank you Sherri for raising this central home care issue in the media.
In response to: Aging with Dignity – Globe & Mail Editorial Sept. 9, 2012
"Care Watch also praises Susanna Lafarge for her generous gift to Mac Masters for the purpose of studying optimal aging. It holds promise for those of us who are aging and all the rest who will age. Care Watch has for many years promoted preventative options. Some of the innovative ideas described in the editorial are truly remarkable and perhaps life changing but, not for today.
The purpose Care Watch is to promote the development of early need, supportive home care which is easily assessable and consistent as has been shown empirically (Hollander and others) to reduce admission to hospital and long tern care, aiding optimal aging and economy. We have great trouble understanding why this piece of the puzzle is consistently missed by editorial writers and , indeed, the government"
– Charlotte Maher


text:
It's arguable that no other personal computer can match the style or the class of the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, which prominently features Bose speakers, has a built-in TV and radio tuner, came with a leather CD case and a leather holster for a matching pen and pencil set, and also included the unheard of luxury of a man in a tuxedo coming to your house to deliver, set up, and help you learn how to use this computer. The final product was intended to show off the superiority of Apple's technology and industrial design, something which it still excels at-- the TAM (as the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh is often abbreviated) was a set piece in Seinfeld and other television series, as well as Children of Men.
The TAM started out as a project code-named Spartacus, headed by none other than the now well-known Jonathan Ive. Apple had experimented with radical-looking designs that are strikingly similar to the final product as far back as 1992, but the small form factor components were too expensive to allow for mass production. The Powerbook 3400, which shares an LCD, keyboard, and trackpad with the TAM, started out at nearly $5,000. Ultimately, the decision was made to sell Spartacus for the twentieth anniversary of Apple Computer's existence, even though there was very little market for a $9,000 computer and the high component cost did not allow for significant price drops without selling for a loss. After a few months of poor sales, the price was dropped to $7,500, then $4,000, then $2,000 and even less through developer channels.
Architecturally, the TAM is a near-copy of a Power Macintosh 6500 with a built-in TV/FM card. 32MB of EDO RAM was standard, and 128MB is the limit. The bus is 50MHz and the processor is a 250MHz PPC 603e. The CD drive is limited to 4X because of its vertical orientation, and the floppy drive is on the right edge of the computer. You can upgrade the processor up to a 500MHz G3 via the L2 cache slot, but that requires you to use the included "fat back", as the normal back doesn't have enough room for any expansion cards to be installed. Even with a G3 upgrade, there is a firmware bug that results in total PRAM corruption if you try to install OS X by any method. The subwoofer-cum-power supply, external from the computer to save space and reduce heat, can develop an annoying buzz which is complicated and even dangerous to fix.
Steve Jobs has said that he hates the TAM, because it represents everything wrong with Apple at that time. That is absolutely the truth: the hardware is beautiful, but it's limited and expensive. It cost Apple a great deal of money; less than 12,000 were sold, and its role as a loss leader didn't entice more people to purchase cheaper Macs with bigger margins. Jobs even rejected Ive's original TAM-like design for the iMac G4, opting instead for a "sunflower" shape. The iMac G5 and current iMac designs are more direct descendants, made practical instead of extravagant. Despite all of its problems, the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh still stands as the very model of a beautiful computer.
Further reference: How to fix the speaker buzz, Low End Mac entry. Also see the ridiculously expensive Appledesign: The Work of the Apple Industrial Design Group by Paul Kunkel.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
NYC Offers $350,000 in Free Food to Residents Who Use Food Stamps at Farmers Markets
by Leon Kaye, 07/06/12
New York City offers a wealth of farmers markets throughout the boroughs, but for many New Yorkers, they are still too inaccessible or unaffordable. Luckily, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Speaker Christine Quinn have announced a new program that will change that and give less wealthy NYCers on food stamps a healthful break for both their wallets and kitchens. The program will reward shoppers who use food stamps at the city's 138 farmers markets by giving them coupons for free produce.
All of the city's farmers markets now accept Health Bucks coupons, which allow New Yorkers who receive food stamps to redeem them for fresh fruits and vegetables. For every $5 spent, shoppers will then receive a voucher good for $2 of free fruits and vegetables valid at any of the city's markets. The program, which started this week and will run through November, is expected to result in $350,000 of free fresh fruits and vegetables given away to participants.
According to Mayor Bloomberg, who says he snacks on fresh carrots, cucumbers and radishes constantly, the expansion of the Health Bucks program will expand accessibility to fresh produce, reduce the consumption of junk food and help combat the obesity epidemic in New York City. City officials revealed statistics claiming that the percentage of adult New Yorkers who go a day without eating fresh fruits or vegetables is on an overall downward trajectory, but residents in low-income neighborhoods still eat fresh food less frequently than residents living in more expensive neighborhoods.
With one in three New Yorkers either suffering from diabetes or pre-diabetic, the hope is that more healthful eating habits can trickle down to NYC's youth. Despite New York's reputation as a healthy city where walking and public transportation reign, the percentage of children ages six to 11 who are obese is actually higher than the national average. Could produce trucked in from upstate's incredible farms and orchards help make a difference? As in the case of the mayor's plan to ban the sale of large-sized sugary drinks, the intentions are good, but the results will not be known for some time.
Via Eco Anchor NYC, DNAInfo.com
Photos courtesy Wikipedia (Postdlf), Harvest Home
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text:
Canadian producer Lunice has made his name both via killer YouTube videos and solid remixes with some great collaboraters; check this Lunice collab remix with Diplo of Deerhunter's "Helicopter" for a solid example. "Freaky" is a solo Lunice tune, released via Lunice's Twitter today, and it is an absolute banger, sounding like someone threw Missy Elliott's "Work It," Big Boi's "Shutterbugg" and some Joker tracks into a pot and boiled them down to their bare essential elements. The beat straddles Timbaland electro hip-hop, Boi's future funk and some purple dubstep for a killer swag. The man's also willing to accept dance routines and freestyles of the beat, so if you think you can rock this, let him know. If this doesn't turn your subwoofer on high, nothing will. Listen below. [Fader]
Starkey - "Robot Hands" (Video) | TV Girl "On Land" |


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Football vs. Baseball? The Same Old B.S. Argument.
It's the time of year for that oddest subgenre of sportswriting, the "Football vs. Baseball" column. Pro football, of course, always wins in these debates, largely because they're argued along the only terms that sportswriters know: television ratings.
First out of the gate is David Steele on AOL Fanhouse yesterday. It's classic because it contains all the usual nonsense arguments, but Steele manages to add a couple of more that are even nuttier.
"The NFL is pushing baseball off the front page," he writes, "replacing it as the lead story, dominating it in clicks, tweets, commentary. Every tangible and intangible measure of interest."
Steele doesn't tell us how he knows what the "intangible" interests are. For that matter, he doesn't tell us how he knows how many clicks, tweets, etc. are sent on football or baseball matters. Here's one of the yardsticks that he does mention:
Isn't it a huge deal that the Phillies added even more punch to a roster that's running away from the rest of the National League [by acquiring Houston's Hunter Pence] . . .? BUT HOW ABOUT THE GREATER AMOUNT OF INK SURROUNDING DEFENSIVE BACK NNAMDI ASOMUGHA GOING TO THE EAGLES? HOW DID THEY PULL THAT OFF? (Emphasis Steele's.)
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Whoa, hold on. The reasons Asomugha going to the Eagles was such a big story are that (a) he was regarded as the best free agent in the NFL and (b) both New York teams were trying desperately to sign him. He was even the lead back page story of the New York tabloids after he went to Philadelphia.
And there's yet another reason: Football fans are frantic for news since the lockout was finally lifted. It's purely accidental that the NFL's free agent season collided with baseball's.
But all of this is beside the point. The "football is beating baseball" argument is mostly lazy writing and sloppy thinking. The NFL is a national interest where fans in Dallas, Kansas City, Miami or wherever are concerned about whether or not the Jets or Eagles win the battle for a player like Asomugha — even if they didn't know his name two days before the deal was made.
That's the nature of pro football. At least 95 percent of NFL fans have never seen their favorite team — or any other team — in person. I'm not pulling that figure out of a hat. A couple of years ago George Will, when he served on baseball's Blue Ribbon Panel, told me they conducted a survey indicating that the number of football fans who only knew the game from their living room sofa was in the mid-to-high nineties.
In other words, following football is a TV thing — the football season is just another long running mini-series. With baseball it's the opposite: Many fans go to a game or games over the course of the season and use TV, radio or the internet to keep up with their favorite clubs. (That some clubs, like the Yankees, are pricing out their working-class fans is an ugly fact and another issue.)
The football/baseball issue has always been largely bullshit anyway, one created by sportswriters to give them something to write about every year about this time. First, and you'd think this would be obvious but it never is: There is no conflict. The seasons don't intersect by that much.
Second — and you'd think they would have noticed this, too — but football is a once-a- week event for just sixteen regular season Sundays. There's very little conflict between watching your favorite team on Sunday — or, once in a while, Thursday or Monday nights — and still following your baseball team (or basketball or hockey) the rest of the time. Or even on the same day.
Which brings us to another point: Why do sportswriters seem to think that football and baseball fans are some kind of separate breeds? Fans of one sport are invariably fans of the other. What makes sportswriters think that fans feel compelled to choose between the two? Most fans choose to have both.
Why these simple truths seem to elude writers like David Steele is baffling. No one, I think, is dim enough to suggest that pro football is more popular than college football because ratings for NFL playoff games are higher than the ratings for Alabama vs. Tennessee, Michigan vs. Ohio State, or UCLA vs. Southern Cal. It's assumed that those rivalries are the kings in their respective areas and generate at least substantial interest in other parts of the country. But in their areas, those college teams and those rivalries are dominant, drawing much more local interest than the Giants vs. Cowboys or Raiders vs. Chiefs.
If you must have a pro football vs. baseball argument, let's try framing it another way. Don't talk to me about clicks and tweets or even TV ratings. Let's ask fans in New England whether they care more about the Red Sox winning the World Series or the Patriots winning the Super Bowl. And then let's ask New York fans a similar questions about the Yankees (or Mets, too, I guess) vs. the Giants or Jets.
You might get some arguments on a couple of these, but I guarantee that if you ask Philadelphia fans if they would choose having the Phillies win the World Series or the Eagles win the Super Bowl, you'd be met with looks of astonishment and replies of "Are you kidding?"
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Marcy Olympic Bench Press w/Walk-In Squat for Home Gyms - The Marcy MD-857 is more than just an Olympic Weight Lifting Bench for use in the home or garage gyms. The 857 integrates numerous exercise capabilities within a manageable footprint responsible for adding strength and mass to the upper body as well as the lower body. The MD-857 is for the home gym enthusiast that wants more out of a bench than most basic bench presses offer. It is also great for those that would like to go above and beyond simply toning and becoming more flexible. If you've got a passion for fitness and want to pack on the gains in the comfort and convenience of your own home, then the MD-857 by Marcy just may be for you.
If you're a parent that is considering purchasing a bench press or home gym for their child, the first and foremost qualification should be safety. For starters, the MD-857 is made from robust 2" x 2" and 2.5" x 2.5" steel tubing with a thickness of 14 gauge. Combined, this gives the 857 a total weight capacity of 600 lbs. The 857 features wide uprights to accommodate a 7' bar. This not only allows wider bar gripping options, but helps to better balance the bar when changing weight plates and also increases the overall stability of the bench while in use. Integrated safety catches can be a lifters best friend when lifting at home and suddenly gassing out during a set of bench presses. While safety catches will never take the place of a good spotter, they are very helpful in catching the bar when the upper bar catches can't be reached.
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Poaching fresh powder in Jackson Hole Mountain Resort's famous backcountry.
The hike to Four Pines is a long one, about 45 minutes from the top of the tram, but it isn't unpleasant. Brief bursts of sunshine light up the falling flakes and make the air sparkle. Fleet-footed locals cheerfully thank me for stepping aside on the boot-packs to let them pass. Strangers all, they greet me with conspiratorial grins confirming that, although I am a visitor to this mountain, I am participating in one of its most cherished rituals.
After a few moments at the top, Barnes gives the nod and we drop into the most luscious turns of the day. A fountain of snow cascades over my shoulders as my legs spring down the untracked slope. We regroup, then dive into another pillowy run. I hear no droning motors from lifts or snowmobiles, just silence—broken only by my whoops. No, it wasn't the steepest run at Jackson, but I never felt like we were risking death by avalanche, and the freedom from worry let me enjoy the powder with total abandon.
When we cruise back to the base area this time, my new pals and I head for Cascade, a chic après spot in the Teton Mountain Lodge that caters to locals who have outgrown the frat scene at the legendary Mangy Moose. We rest our muscles in upholstered armchairs, devour a plate of nachos, and drive into town to the Alpine House, where we've booked rooms.
Run by former Olympic skiers Hans and Nancy Johnstone, who liked the European inns they frequented on the competition circuit, the 22-room Alpine House includes public lounges where guests mingle. A cash bar serves beer and wine, the library's armchairs and fireplace invite relaxation, and the bedrooms' French farmhouse decor feels comfortable and crisp—like your grandmother's spare room (if she lived in Provence).
Skiers find it to be an especially welcoming spot since the staff freely shares suggestions for nearby ski runs likely to hold the best snow. Hans Johnstone, an accomplished mountaineer and guide for Exum (one of the most famous and respected guide corps in the nation), is the first person to have skied all the major routes off the Tetons' tallest summit and holds a wealth of knowledge about other, easier adventures that guests might want to attempt. In fact, Alpine House started offering its own backcountry packages that present an alternative to the resort's lift-assisted excursions: Pairing a week's lodging with Exum-led powder missions to some of the most spectacular parts of the Tetons, the Alpine House's ski weeks appeal to folks who want to delve deeper into Grand Teton National Park and the big backcountry runs surrounding Jackson Hole.
That could make a fitting sequel to today's sidecountry exploits, I think. But for now, I'm content to sit in my socks by the fire and sip a glass of Pinot Noir. I gorged myself on powder, and the feast should keep me sated for a while. At least until tomorrow.
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Guided Backcountry Tour from $400; 307-739-2779,
Cascade 3385 Cody Lane, Teton Village; 307-734-7111, tetonlodge.com
The Alpine House 285 N. Glenwood St., Jackson; room rates start at $135; 307-739-1570, alpinehouse.com
Exum Backcountry Ski Weeks offered January 27 to March 8, 2013; packages start at $1,450, including accommodations, guides, yoga, massage, and most meals; 307-733-2297, exumguides.com


text:
Teaching Carol, Ch.10
Fiction, BDSM, Blowjob, Cum Swallowing, Discipline, Domination/submission, Erotica, Humiliation, Male Domination, Male/Female, Oral Sex, Spanking
Author's infos
Gender: male Age: N/A Location: N/A
Posted Sat 9th of June 2012
A young student-teacher learns the joys of submission
That weekend there was a salsa band playing in the town square late one afternoon. Carol and I hadn't planned to meet but I was passing by and had stopped to listen for a moment when I spotted her. She was standing near the front of the crowd that formed a semi-circle around the flatbed truck where the band was playing. Within the semi-circle a lot of people were dancing enthusiastically and I could see Carol was watching them. She was wearing sandals, a pair of baggy red shorts that came almost to her knees, a white t-shirt, and an oversized man's long-sleeved shirt in pink, worn unbuttoned with the sleeves rolled up past her elbows. I walked up behind her and without speaking or stopping propelled her out into the throng of dancers. She turned around immediately and smiled as she recognized me. We put our arms around each other's waists and began dancing together.
One thing that I knew made Carol uncomfortable was public behavior on my part that gave any hint of the nature of our sexual relationship—she loved being humiliated but didn't want anyone else to know because it would be...humiliating. Go figure. So of course I took any opportunity I could find to do things to her in public, such as the incident at the bus stop shelter a few days back, because first it embarrassed her, then it angered her...and then it aroused her.
As we danced I noticed that her shirttail hung down nearly to her thighs, concealing my hands, which were still around her waist. Holding her close with my left arm as we continued to dance, I slipped my right hand down inside the back of her shorts and panties and squeezed her right buttock. She stopped dead still and said "Jonathan!" out loud, almost yelling it in her shock. Fortunately the band was playing extremely loudly and anyone who heard her must have thought she was simply calling to someone. I immediately removed my hand from her shorts and put my arm back around her waist as I urged her to continue dancing. After a moment she did, looking up to me and hissing, "Cut it out, Jonathan! Not here!"
I gave her an innocent look and said, "What, you mean this?" as I began insinuating my fingers under the elastic waistband of her shorts again. She quickly pushed my arm away from her, her expression becoming thunderous.
"Stop it!" she whispered harshly, her eyes boring into mine.
I held her gaze and grinned as we continued to dance. "Why? Are you afraid someone will find out that you're..." I leaned forward and down until my nose was nearly touching hers. "...a nasty little girl?"
Her face, already red with anger, suddenly flushed more deeply and she looked down and muttered, "Yes..."
I raised my hand, still hidden under the back of her shirt, and gave her a smart slap on the behind. Her gaze jerked up to mine.
"Hey!" She tried to pull away but I held her to me with my left arm and continued to move her around to the music as if we were dancing. "That's for being a nasty little girl." Before she could reply I gave her another open-handed swat on the behind, harder this time.
"OW! Jonathan, what're you...stop it!" It was perfect—she couldn't tell that the stinging blows she was receiving were completely hidden from the dancers around us. She must have thought everyone was watching me spank her while we danced. Her lips were compressed with anger and when she spoke it was through clenched teeth: "I said, not here!"
I said, "All right then, come on," and, grabbing her by the arm led her out of the crowd of dancers and onto the sidewalk behind the flatbed truck. She struggled to free herself from my grip as I dragged her along—but not hard enough to draw attention to herself.
From the sidewalk I led her into the network of alleys between and behind the buildings there. I didn't take her far—only taking a couple of turns—and we wound up near the end of a blind alley that was almost as close to where the band was as we had been before—except now there were brick buildings all around us. We weren't completely concealed, of course; anyone walking through the alley connected to the one in which we were standing had only to look in our direction. Which was why I'd chosen it.
When we finally stopped in that windowless alley she said nothing, just looked as if she wanted to spit in my face. I turned her around so that her back was to the alley's entrance—that way she would be unable to tell if anyone was passing by—and the sun was in her face. I stood in front of her, close, then grabbed her wrists and roughly placed her hands around my waist, holding them there until I felt her lace her fingers together and stop struggling. I reached around her and tucked the back of her shirt into the waistband of her shorts so there was nothing to obstruct my approach to her behind. Then I took her chin in one hand and tilted her face up until her eyes met mine. I held her gaze, angry as it was. I loved that she was furious with me but unable to tear her eyes away. And when I raised my hand and gave her a much harder swat on the behind than any of the previous ones it was fascinating to see how her pupils dilated.
Aside from a sudden huff of breath as the blow struck her she said nothing. But she was getting angrier, I could tell, and when she tried to remove her arms from around my waist I had to forcefully put them back. Even then she continued to stare into my eyes.
Now she knew what she was in for. Or so she thought.
I made her stand there like that, arms locked around my waist, gaze fixed on mine, while I delivered nine more slaps to her behind, sometimes left-handed, sometimes right but each one hard enough to echo through the alley. And each one jerking her loins against mine. She must have been determined to stay silent because, aside from an inadvertent grunt after each blow—Unh!"—she made no sound.
When, after the final blow, I disengaged her hands from behind my back she must have thought that we were done. At least until I pulled the tail of her pink shirt free of her waistband, then lifted the shirt from her shoulders and let it slide off her arms to the ground behind her. Her gaze was furious as I placed her hands on top of her head, then reached down and gently eased the elastic waistband of her shorts down over the curve of her buttocks, then slowly lowered them until I could let them fall around her ankles. She still said nothing, even though I could tell she was dying to. I pulled off her white t-shirt and then lowered her arms just long enough to remove her bra, dropping both items of clothing to the ground beside her before returning her hands to the top of her head—leaving her standing before me wearing only her sandals and panties.
Her panties had obviously been inspired by The Little Mermaid—they were ocean blue with bright yellow trim and decorated with Ariel and her friends in full color and were extremely cute. I walked around her a few times admiring them, much to her embarrassment—which only increased, I'm sure, when I suddenly knelt in front of her and addressed her there with my lips and tongue. She gasped—"Ahh!"—as I worked my tongue between her legs, but she kept her hands on top of her head...although I did glance up more than once to catch her looking anxiously over her shoulder.
When the crotch of her panties was good and wet from our combined juices and she was standing with her head back, panting with her tongue out, I stopped what I was doing and stood. Her eyes, which had been closed, flew open as I put my hands on her waist and pulled her against me. And when I gave her a sudden open-handed swat on her already tender behind, now protected only by the thin fabric of her panties, she cried out before she could stop herself.
I made her kiss me with her tongue in my mouth and mine in hers while I gave her nine more, pausing occasionally to caress her behind while I pressed her against me. After each blow she would grunt—"Unh!"—her mouth still open against mine, and then immediately try to put her tongue even further into my mouth while grinding her crotch into mine. At first this was all with her hands still on top of her head but soon she was unable to resist dropping them to grab my waist, the better to rub herself against me.
I'd never seen her quite this frenzied. After the tenth blow, without being told she pulled her panties down to join her shorts around her ankles, then fell to her knees on the hot concrete—and nearly stripped the zipper of my pants in her hurry to get my cock out and into her mouth.
I was already quite aroused and she worked so furiously, licking and slurping, that in no time at all I was ready to come. When I pulled my cock out of her mouth she knew immediately what I had in mind, and tilted her head back, mouth open like a baby bird, to receive my come.
I let it spurt onto her face and into her mouth, and let her lick the last few drops as they dribbled down the shaft of my cock. Then I straightened my clothes and zipped up.
When I was done I had her put her hands behind her head and told her to stay there.
Then I left the alley.
I made my way out to the square again and bought an orange popsicle from a street vendor. When I returned to where I'd left Carol she was, of course, exactly as I'd left her: kneeling on the concrete with her back to the alley's entrance, hands locked behind her head and naked except for her sandals and the shorts and panties tangled around her ankles. Her behind was still a brick red that contrasted with the rest of her white skin. When she heard my footsteps approaching she quickly turned her head to make sure it was me, then returned to her position.
I walked around in front of her. It was hot that day and sweat, mixed with my come, was dripping from her face. I knelt down and held up the popsicle in front of her and let her watch as I peeled off the wrapper and broke the popsicle in half. I lay one half down on the wrapper in a shady spot. Then I held the remaining half up to her lips.
She must have been dying of heat and thirst after everything that had happened because she attacked that popsicle with her lips and tongue even more vigorously than she had my cock. I slid the glistening orange ice in and out of her mouth a few times while she devoured it.
When she had eaten it all and licked the stick clean I tossed it aside and picked up the other half of the popsicle, already melted somewhat despite having been left in the shade. I took a few slurps to refresh myself then held it up in front of her as I had the first one. But instead of bringing it to her lips I lowered it slowly, watching her head tilt down as she followed it with her eyes. When I touched the icy tip to the depression in her collarbone she gasped.
But when I dragged it slowly down her chest, leaving a sticky orange trail, she began breathing hard through her mouth. Especially when I used the tip to paint first one breast then the other, tracing a spiral design leading up to each nipple, which I then circled and teased in turn until they were rock-hard and dripping with orange sweetness.
By then she had thrown her head back as far as she could with her hands still locked behind it. Her eyes were tightly shut and her mouth hung open as she gasped and moaned, but she shut it—and began biting her lower lip, breathing quickly through her nose—when I removed the popsicle and began licking the juice from her breasts.
As I continued to scour her breasts with my tongue I pressed my left hand, the one not holding the popsicle, flat against her stomach and slowly allowed it to drift down, gradually turning so that the fingers combed through her pubic hair before coming to rest between her legs and beginning to caress her there—not penetrating, just lightly teasing her lips apart with the middle finger.
It was driving her crazy, I could tell by the way she started gasping my name over and over—"Jonathan! Jonathan! Jonathan!"—as if she wanted desperately for me to do something but had been made so mindless with desire that she could no longer find the words.
This effect was only increased when I took the now dripping remnant of the popsicle and, turning it horizontal, reached behind her and starting at the tops of her thighs began drawing it slowly up over the tender, burning skin of her buttocks, all the while maintaining my attentions to her breasts and between her legs.
Suddenly it was as if she were having a religious experience, her body shaking in place as she began to babble incoherently, her voice getting louder and louder as she neared her climax.
When I judged she was unable to hold back any longer I did three things simultaneously: I seized her right nipple with my teeth; I slid my middle finger deeply into her pussy, pressing the heel of my hand against her clitoris...and I shoved the dripping, ice-cold tip of the popsicle right between the cheeks of her behind.
It was unfortunate that the band was between numbers at that particular moment. The scream that came out of Carol was so loud, and so long, that I'm sure it carried all over the square. I was forced to grab the rest of her clothes, scoop her up in my arms—even though she was still twitching and jerking in the reverberations of her orgasm—and run, before a mob came looking to see if someone had been murdered.
I carried her as far away as I could without actually leaving the maze of alleys. When I finally set her on her feet she was still so wobbly that she had to lean against a wall, eyes closed, while I pulled up her underwear and shorts and helped her into her bra and t-shirt and wrapped the pink shirt around her shoulders.
Her lips and the area around her mouth were still stained orange from the popsicle and the rest of her face still glistening with sweat and come. I said, "I'll get you some water so you can clean up before we head for the bus," and started to leave, but her voice, barely audible, stopped me.
"No...like this."
I turned back to face her. Her eyes were still closed. I said, "You want to get on the bus the way you are?"
Her eyes opened to bare slits, their expression glazed with exhaustion, and she answered, "Yesss...want people to see ...I'm your...property."
She used her hands to push herself away from the wall and started to straighten up when suddenly her eyes popped wide open. She exclaimed, "Oh! OH!" and suddenly started jerking her hips from side to side and shivering.
For a moment I thought she was somehow having another orgasm. But then without warning Carol jerked her shorts and underwear back down to her ankles and squatted to the ground, still shaking back and forth.
"Oh! C-c-cold!" she gasped between chattering teeth. She strained for a moment...then suddenly relaxed, her expression one of great relief. As she stood up again I looked behind her and there on the ground was a piece of orange popsicle about the size of a peach pit. It must have broken off inside her when I let go of the popsicle to pick her up.
And it must have been considerably larger to begin with because it had melted all the way through the back of her shorts before she'd noticed. I had to root around in a nearby dumpster to find a plastic bag for Carol to stuff down the back of her shorts and another one for her to sit on so she wouldn't stick to the bus seat.
Later she had to buy a special plastic page insert to seal her panties in before she added them to her scrapbook. She showed it to me, but before she did she told me she'd made a special trip back to the alley where we'd been. Then she opened the scrapbook to the most recent addition and there, sealed in the plastic next to her stained and sticky "Little Mermaid" panties...was a popsicle stick.
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3 comments
anonymous reader
2013-10-25 19:02:53
iCtiXH Looking forward to reading more. Great blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Great.
anonymous reader
2013-10-23 22:09:00
9RKSOA I really enjoy the blog post.Much thanks again. Want more.
anonymous reader
2012-06-09 19:17:55
I have been waiting so long for this, Mr Zenmackie. Why the huge gap between stories?
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The Redrock Follow Focus unit is Redrock's latest flagship follow focus system. The unit mounts solidly on any 15mm rod support system. Compatible with cinema lenses, this follow focus incorporates unique hard stops for perfect focus every time. Additional features of this unit include: 0.8 film pitch drive gear, 3D marking disk, industry-standard accessory port for focus pulling whips and cranks, and a quick release clamp.
Follow focus unit, A ring, B ring and C ring.
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Let me present to you a my new project of "Metal Lower Thirds" Metal Lower Thirds are a great way to add a modern look to your video project. Ideal to add style in your corporate video, television, news, show, on-air graphics, movie, documentary, presentation, flash, DVD , sports, product video project.
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Please rate it if you like it. Thank you!
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The death toll is rising quickly as more families in South Sudan, Northeast Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen fall victim to acute food shortages and famine. Giro555 started a campaign to save lives. Donate Flying Blue Miles now
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GIVEN that we are celebrating a royal birth, it seems appropriate to say "Happy birthday!" to the UK's economic recovery, which is four years old this quarter. To celebrate, the Office for National Statistics has presented us with one of the better GDP figures we have had in recent times. The output of the UK economy is estimated to have grown by 0.6 per cent in the three months May to June. All the main sectors of the economy contributed to growth in the past quarter – manufacturing, services and construction.
But to paraphrase Mr Spock of Star Trek: "It's a recovery, Jim, but not as we know it". A number of aspects of the recovery have been disappointing. I would highlight four in particular – one for each year of the recovery's short life.
First of all, growth has been slow. Even if we take out the depressing impact of North Sea oil and gas, the average annual growth rate over the past four years has been just 1.3 per cent. That compares with growth of 3.3 per cent in the decade before the financial crisis, and a longer-term trend growth rate of around 2.5 per cent. Second, we haven't seen the much anticipated rebalancing of the economy towards manufacturing. Manufacturing output is still over 10 per cent below its 2008 peak, whereas the services sector has more-or-less recovered all of the ground lost in the recession.
A third area for disappointment is productivity growth. Output per worker has barely increased over the course of the recovery to date. And we are a long way from recouping the drop in productivity during the recession. Finally, this has been a high inflation recovery – despite the fear four years ago that the economy was going to lapse into deflation. Consumer price index inflation has averaged 3.2 per cent since June 2009, requiring many explanatory letters from the former governor of the Bank of England to the chancellor.
But before we write off our fledgling recovery as a total disappointment, there are some positives. The flip side of the disappointing productivity performance of the UK economy is that employment has held up well. Despite worries that unemployment could rise above 3m, as it had done in the 1980s and 1990s, it has stabilised at around 2.5m and is currently falling. A million new private sector jobs have been created in the past two years, even though the public sector has been cutting back.
Second, the lack of rebalancing towards manufacturing does not mean that the UK lacks success in overseas markets. We are one of the biggest exporters of services in the world. Data on services exports takes a while to catch up with reality. But the strong growth in some areas of the services sector – like professional and business services – must surely reflect success in winning new business overseas.
Third, despite the slow progress in reducing the budget deficit, the UK government has maintained the confidence of the bond markets. Our longer-term interest rates remain low, and we have not suffered from the lack of confidence affecting the troubled economies of southern Europe. But that can only be sustained if we stick to the course of public spending restraint and deficit reduction.
Where is this recovery heading? In the short term, I am moderately optimistic. The GDP figures suggest we can achieve 1 per cent growth this year or perhaps a bit better. And 2 per cent growth or more is likely next year, which would be the best growth year for the recovery so far.
But we should not get carried away with this short-term improvement. The UK – along with other western economies – has lost the tailwinds of easy money, cheap imports and confidence, which supported our economy from the 1980s until 2007. And we should not be trying to recreate these conditions artificially. A stronger sustained period of growth will only emerge when our economy has adapted more fully to the "new global economy" in which the Asia-Pacific region, led by China, is the dominant force.
Until then, the "new normal" for the UK will be economic growth of 1.5 to 2 per cent, not the 3 per cent plus we became accustomed to before the financial crisis. It will be the services sector – which employs over 80 per cent of the UK workforce – that will continue to lead this recovery. We should expect the economy to continue to improve and unemployment to come down gradually. But it will be slow progress – though hopefully more sustainable as a result.
Andrew Sentance is senior economic adviser at PwC, and a former member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee.


text: Texas Longhorns Kicker Has The Best Roster HeadshotSamer Kalaf7/29/14 10:57amFiled to: hairnick rosetexas longhornscollege footballteam photos726EditPromoteShare to KinjaToggle Conversation toolsGo to permalink Texas Longhorns placekicker Nick Rose looks like he got lost on the way to Warped Tour. Where's the rest of Family Force 5? Advertisement Honestly, though, his roster headshot is beautiful. There's bed head, but what Rose is exhibiting is more like coma head.Rose's headshot from last season isn't this glorious, so the wind-swept hair is a new look. Apparently, he's now thinking about cutting it. Please don't, Nick. Advertisement In case you think it's all about the hair, Rose is proficient at Twitter, too:Update: Rose's beautiful headshot might not be up for much longer. So sad. [Paul Myerberg] Advertisement Sponsored Image by Sam WoolleyReply72 repliesLeave a reply


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The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
Larry Ellison on his last earnings call said "SAP" must be on drugs" to think it can compete with Oracle in database. The database is Oracle's core competence. Ellison said Hana lacks the security and recovery features needed to compete with Oracle. Well SAP is doing some really good performance enhancing drugs. SAP is standing tall shouting that they are indeed in the database market. Alex Williams of SiliconANGLE.com has all the coverage.
It is all about HANA today at SAP's press event in San Francisco. HANA as a real-time platform and HANA as the foundation for a major push to attract developers through a new $155 million fund for startups.
With the news comes the announcement that SAP is acquiring Syclo, the largest mobile app developer for the enterprise. Undisputed leader in mobile asset management.
In addition, SAP is pouring money into the ecosystem. The$155 million fund will be managed by SAP Ventures and will be called the SAP HANA Real-Time Fund. SAP is also launching a $337 million database adoption fund. Its intent is to provide consulting services to customers transitioning from legacy databases.
In addition, SAP announced agreements with Adobe, Appcelerator and Sencha to provide developers with a mobile app development framework. Appelerator Titanium is an Eclipse-based IDE, SDK and library of connectors to build, test and deploy mobile, desktop and Web apps. Sencha Touch is an HTML 5 mobile application framework. The framework allows for development on iOS, Android, Blackberry and other platforms.
SAP will have to attract developers to develop an ecosystem. Its goal is to be the number two database company in the world. Innovation is one way to get there but the path is still unclear. There are few apps that run on HANA. It will need far more to make a dent in IBM and Oracle's armor.
SAP is really pouring it on one year after Sybase move and now Hana is delivering.


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There are loads of compact speaker systems on the market offering you the chance to upgrade your sound system without making a big dent in your bank balance or taking up half the living room. Systems from Jamo, Tannoy, Cambridge Audio and Teufel have all impressed us with their superb sonics and space-saving designs, but now here's another one to consider – the Movie 125 MX from German manufacturer Canton. Like its above rivals, this system sells for around £500, but with such fierce competition at this price point Canton will need to do something special to really stand out.
It's a straightforward 5.1-channel package that throws four identical 115mm-high satellites, a bigger centre speaker and an active subwoofer into a single box. It's one of ten different systems within Canton's 'Movie' range, which also includes systems with tall column speakers and some with even smaller satellites.
The design of the 125 MX's satellites is exceptionally good. As you pluck the components from the box you can tell they're cut from a different cloth than the hollow, lightweight speakers you get with many all-in-one systems. Each satellite speaker weighs 0.8kg and boasts a classy high gloss black finish, although they also come in a choice of silver and white. An extra touch of elegance is provided by the curved sides, but it's a shame Canton blotted its copybook with some ridiculously fiddly springclip terminals on the back, which are sunk into a deep recess that makes it really tricky to guide the cables into the holes. Ironically, Canton has called this system 'Easy Link'.
The 195mm-wide centre channel shares the satellites' superb build quality, down to the lustrous black finish and curved sides, but sadly it also shares those ultra-fiddly speaker terminals. It looks like an elongated version of the satellites, horizontally orientated in order to slot easily under your TV. As for the sub, it shuns the high-gloss black finish for less glamorous black styling and at 425(h) x 240(w)mm it's not particularly compact, but it's robustly built and inoffensive to the eye.
sounds good - will this make it into your top 10 surround sound systems?
How about a review of the Boston Acoustics SOUNDWARE XS?
Need to decide once and for all between:
Tannoy HTS-101
Jamo A 101 HCS 5
Boston Acoustics SOUNDWARE XS
Canton Movie 125 MX £349ß
More information -
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or Connect
Microsonic Epic 3D
The EPIC 3D home-made, custom made ear earphones peaks form. Three special speakers to build the house, which are separately liable bass, mid and highs for lifelike reproduction. The three speakers work includes a passive crossover unit, thus making it a rich, all at the same time be exposed to high sound image. The user füllenyomata prepared according to unique earphones fit very good...
Kuromi Glam Earphones
Enjoy your favorite music the super stylish way with this neat Kuromi glam earphone. The ideal accessory for your iPod or other audio players. The cute design features Kuromi with shimmery pink metallic highlights. Digital stereo sound. Super lightweight.


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I know I can't expect much from earbuds but the more bass the better. I listen to a lot of Hip Hop, DnB, and American Dubstep.
They have to be earbuds because I want something I can shove into my pocket & I don't want to drown out background noise when at work or going for a bike ride.
A volume control that works with the Galaxy S3 is required. One of those knobs that uses resistance in the headphone cable itself to control volume is fine too.
A built-in mic would be nice, but isn't necessary. Same goes for bluetooth.
Oh, and they should be sweatproof.
Ideally I don't want to spend more than $40-50, but I'll go all the way to $100 (inc. shipping/tax) if I have to. Suggestions?


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For a building that Henry Cobb, FAIA, says is the closest he's come in his long career to poetry, the John Hancock Tower in Boston's Copley Square rose amid a rather inelegant and loud public squabble. For starters, local residents and architects fiercely opposed the idea of situating a 62-story skyscraper directly adjacent to H.H. Richardson's 1877 Trinity Church, a National Historic Landmark. Relegating that treasured icon to the shadow of a modern office building? Scandalous. And that was before the project attracted international ridicule during construction because of structural issues and window failures: 500-pound panes crashed to the sidewalk during high winds, earning the boarded-up structure the derisive nickname "Plywood Palace." But the sensitivity and deftness of Cobb's design—the way the emphatically minimalist exterior and diagonal siting of the rhomboid-shaped tower paid deference to historic Trinity—proved undeniable. In May, Cobb, a founding partner of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, secured the AIA's Twenty-Five Year Award for the project, completed in 1976. spoke with Cobb, 85, about the Hancock, which has become an unquestioned—even beloved—Boston landmark.
What was so challenging about the project? And why did it inspire such a public outcry?
It's unlike any other commission we've had: the dilemma of being asked to put a skyscraper not only next to a very highly valued historic monument, but also in the most important civic space in Boston. And the general view was that it was impossible as a premise, and therefore it was professionally irresponsible to accept the commission. People generalized the problem: In principle it's wrong and unacceptable to put a skyscraper next to Trinity Church. It doesn't matter how it's done. … I don't think that I would have done that building if I had not been born and grown up in Boston and really believed that I understood the problem better than my critics did. It's not a causal thing to do something as universally thought to be outrageous as the Hancock Tower was.
Did you ever question the decision to accept the commission?
No, we never questioned the decision to go forward with it. There were some very difficult periods when it was even questioned whether the project would be completed or abandoned, but in terms of our commitment to the project as a concept, I don't think we ever lost faith. And, in fact, sometimes when things are extremely difficult, you acquire a kind of strength of purpose, which carries you through the difficulties. It's difficult for me to talk about these things, because it's so far beyond what I would call normal professional relationships. … It was such a complete break between us and the professional community in Boston that it was a breach that could not be mended, let's put it that way. If there is an extreme sport of architecture, the Hancock Tower is an example of it.
Would the use of current technology have changed the building's design? Would it have prevented the window and structural issues?
No. The issues we faced with the project, it wasn't that the knowledge wasn't there to deal with them. It's because the knowledge wasn't applied. Would the design be different today? The answer is, curiously, no. For example, you may find it strange, but the Hancock Tower recently received a LEED Gold Existing Building rating. One of the reasons that it's now such a hot property in the marketplace is because of the qualities it has, which is a lot of glass and shallow floor plates, which means everyone has daylight and a view. That is something which is rather rare in American office buildings. … To be sure, there are [now] different technologies of glass and different coatings and different mechanical systems, but the fundamentals of the building would not be different today.
The project marked a turning point—a hinge point, you've called it—in your career. How so?
I talk about the contingent skyscraper, and it's a concept which I think is not only exemplified by, but was sort of invented in, the Hancock Tower. If I was going to say, "What have I contributed as a professional in my life?" I would say the idea of a contingent building. That is to say, a building that is not autonomous, not self-referential, but which is shaped by its place. That's not such an unusual concept in itself but it's very unusual when applied to tall buildings. Most tall buildings are self-referential by definition. If there was one singular quality that has made Hancock Tower not only acceptable, but I would say even loved in Boston, it's that it's not self-referential. It's clearly about its place. It doesn't diminish the quality of the city; it enhances the identity of the city. Now, most people today couldn't imagine Copley Square without that building. It's seen as a companion to Trinity Church. That was the goal of the building as a work of architecture.
How would you define the Hancock's legacy?
I think that the Hancock Tower, if it doesn't solve problems, it illuminates problems. It illuminates the issue of, for example, the transformation of scale that has taken place in cities in the last century. It says something about that problem, it says something about how you can join memory to invention. … I think to the extent that architecture can provoke that kind of reflection, Hancock Tower does that in conjunction with its neighbors. That's the crucial thing. Not by itself, but in conjunction with its neighbors, it helps people think about the city.
What was your reaction to winning the Twenty-Five Year Award?
A sense of great satisfaction, because the Twenty-Five Year Award is not about immediate impact, it's about enduring value. That to me is more important than any lack of immediate impact. … And, of course, it's very nice to be still around. Lou Kahn didn't live to see any of his Twenty-Five Year Awards. I'm very happy to be around.


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Scarlett Johansson's Average SAT Score
This just in: Contrary to all appearances, Scarlett Johansson is not perfect.
In an interview with Darren Aronofsky, the "Don Jon" actress revealed her SAT score — and it was just average.
"I think the way it worked when I took them was that they were out of 1,600, so maybe you'd get a 1,240 if you were a smarty-pants," Johansson said. "I got a 1,080, which was pretty low. But that was probably because I didn't answer half of the math questions."
According to the Huffington Post, the 29-year-old would have taken her test around 2002, when the average score was 1020 (so, just above average).
Something to think about next time you're hate-watching one of her movies.
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The place to be....for the Characters, Places & Things on Television
In a parody of this outrageous request, a Texas disc jockey reported that a giant Lassie dog came to him in a dream and told him to build a huge cat and dog hospital.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE on their "Weekend Update" segment said that God's lawyers had denied any such allegations concluding "If we had plans to 'smoke' the little toad, we'd have done it by now!"
Weathering the public reactions to his fantastic revelation Oral Roberts said he expected to live beyond the "deadline," all the while pleading "I speak for money to be released from your purse, your billfold, your wallet. I expect a miracle." Bookies in Las Vegas wanted to bet on the event but their request was denied.
The whole ordeal climaxed a few days before his expected death when a millionaire donated the remaining million plus dollars. Comedians commented that he wouldn't be safe until the check cleared.
External Links


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John Legend 'Tonight' Video: Singer Bares Skin, Taps Ludacris
John Legend debuts the visuals for 'Tonight (Best I Ever Had),' a song featured on the 'Think Like a Man' soundtrack.
In the clip, which premiered on Essence.com and features a shades-wearing Ludacris, the Chicago native sits on a bed, displaying his bare chest and abs — an indication the crooner has been hitting the gym.
He flaunts his frame and gets close with his lady, caressing her as she returns the favor. Luda drops by to deliver his verse, giving the refreshing R&B track some hip-hop edge. There's also a woman covered in body paint — eye candy at its finest.
The singer is crafting his fourth studio album, currently untitled. The project is set to debut this spring and will feature production from Kanye West, Bink and Paul Epworth. The LP serves as a follow-up to his 2008 solo studio album 'Evolver.'


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A collection of scholarly works about individual liberty and free markets. A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.
The Italian legal philospher Bruno Leoni in a lecture entitled "Voting versus the Market" noticed a key difference bewteen the choices made by individuals in the free market and choices made by those same individuals in voting for candidates for political office:
We have seen in the preceding lecture that notwithstanding many similarities that may exist between voters on the one hand and market operators on the other, the actions of the two are far from actually being similar. No procedural rule seems able to allow voters to act in the same flexible, independent, consistent, and efficient way as operators employing individual choice in the market. While it is true that both voting and operating in the market are individual actions, we are compelled, however, to conclude that voting is a kind of individual action that almost inevitably undergoes a kind of distortion in its use.
About this Quotation:
Bruno Leoni critices the common comparison which is made between "voting" in the market place for brand "X" over brand "Y" and voting in the political arena for candidate "Tweedle Dee" over candidate "Tweedle Dum". In the market place, choice is considerable, flexible, efficient, and one can usually get one's money back if one is not satisfied. Political voting on the other hand, is a distorted form of "consumer choice". It is also quite hard to "get one's money back" if a candidate does not live up to his election promises.


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DETROIT (AP) – The United Auto Workers' membership and dues are down sharply from just six years ago. In another sign of weakness, the union suffered a stunning defeat this month when it tried to organize a Tennessee factory run by labor-friendly Volkswagen.
The rejection, by a close vote, was a major setback in the union's effort to expand in the South, where non-union, foreign companies such as VW, Nissan and Hyundai are rapidly growing.
But instead of relief, Detroit's three automakers – Ford, Chrysler and General Motors – are increasingly anxious about the 78-year old union's future.
For them, it's a "devil you know" situation. They worry that the 382,000-member UAW could be absorbed by a more hostile union. Such a merger could disrupt a decade of labor-management peace that has helped America's auto industry survive the financial crisis and emerge much stronger, according to a person with knowledge of executive discussions.
Another union might not be as willing to keep labor costs competitive with overseas automakers, says the person, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are confidential.
Despite talk of a union merger, Gary Chaison, a labor relations professor at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., says he doesn't see the UAW giving up its identity and history by combining with another organization.
"It's something that the employers always fear," he says.
Spokesmen for Ford, GM and Chrysler declined comment, and a top UAW official says the automakers' worries are unfounded.
Even as it struggles, the UAW remains the wealthiest union in the nation, with assets of more than $1 billion at the end of 2012. Officials point to a revived U.S. auto industry and more hiring at UAW-represented factories, moves that have stabilized membership dues that have been falling since 2006.
Still, the union's loss at the VW plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., heightened concerns about how it can grow.
Annual dues collected were down more than 40 percent to $115 million from 2006 to 2012, as the union's ranks fell by 30 percent. Thousands of members took buyouts and early retirement as Detroit's auto industry lost billions during the financial crisis and worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Membership has risen slightly since 2009, but dues collected continue to decline.
The union had hoped VW would give it a foothold in the South and help revive its fortunes. Even though the Detroit Three have hired thousands in the past four years as auto sales have recovered, union membership is nowhere near a 1979 peak of 1.5 million. And the new hires are paid only two-thirds of what veteran workers get, keeping dues revenue down. The union agreed to the lower wages and became more cooperative seven years ago to help the companies survive the recession.
As it struggles to reverse declines, the union has been forced to tighten its belt. It cut spending 15 percent from 2006-2012, but still had to sell more than $300 million worth of assets, mainly securities and other investments, to pay operating expenses. Last year alone, the UAW raised more than $47 million by selling assets to balance its budget. The union may even raise dues this year for the first time in 47 years.
"That right there tells you it's fairly dire," says Mike Smith, director of the Walter P. Reuther library, an archive of union history at Wayne State University in Detroit.
A weaker UAW is worrisome for American automakers who only recently reached a labor peace with the union after decades of fighting. The peace resulted in lower wages for new hires and in health care concessions that nearly erased a $1,500 difference in production costs per car between U.S. and Japanese automakers.
A more radical union could bring a return to strife-filled days, when UAW strikes cost automakers dearly. The last major strike, in 1998 at a GM factory in Flint, Mich., cost the company about $2 billion in profits.
The UAW isn't alone in its struggles. The decline in membership is consistent with unions overall in the U.S., where only 11 percent of workers were unionized nationwide last year. That's down from 20 percent in 1983, the Labor Department says.
For the UAW, dues won't rise by much without an influx of fresh recruits in the South, where most of the auto industry's growth is occurring.
Bob King, the UAW's president, has said the union has no long-term future if it can't organize southern foreign-car plants. Automakers from Japan, Korea and Germany have 14 assembly plants in the region, including eight built in the last 10 years, a time when Detroit was closing factories.
Yet Dennis Williams, the UAW's secretary-treasurer and likely its next president, says the companies' worries about the union's demise are off-base. He says dues and membership are now on the rise from new hiring by Detroit automakers and recruitment in areas such as casino workers and heavy truck assembly.
More spending cuts also are coming, and the union plans to balance its budget and stop selling assets in the next 2 ½ to 3 years, Williams says. He knows of no talks to merge with another union.
"The UAW can survive a long time," Williams says. "They'll be here far after you and I pass away."
Williams says the UAW will show higher dues revenue when it files a 2013 report with the Labor Department next month.
Still, the union can't fully replace dues paid by longtime workers who retired at $28 or more per hour, says Art Wheaton, an industry expert at the Worker Institute at Cornell University. Lower-tier workers for the UAW start at $15 per hour, although recent raises can make over $19.
"What you're getting per hour to deal blackjack is nowhere near what you're getting per hour as a skilled tradesman at General Motors or Ford," Wheaton says.
There have been merger talks in the past between the UAW and the Steelworkers and Machinists unions, but nothing came of them, Wheaton says.
Spokesmen for both unions say there are no current discussions.
Williams is not giving up on organizing a southern auto plant, saying that the union recently signed up parts-supply and truck-building factories in the region.
And the union on Friday challenged the recent VW vote in Tennessee. In an appeal filed with the National Labor Relations Board, it asserted that "interference by politicians and outside special interest groups" swayed the vote.
The challenge comes days after the top labor representative on VW's supervisory board suggested that the anti-union atmosphere fostered by some southern politicians could lead the company to make future investments elsewhere.
Even without an expansion in the South or into other industries, the UAW is trying to boost its ranks and revenues now that the financial crisis is over and the industry is strong again.
Williams says the union wants more pay for the new hires, and will work with automakers to figure out how to get there while keeping the companies competitive.
But higher pay presents a quandary. If new hires at Ford, GM and Chrysler make more than workers at southern factories, Detroit's cars and trucks will be more expensive and they won't be as competitive. That could threaten union jobs.
In Detroit, workers aren't worried about the VW loss in Tennessee, or the financial pressures on the UAW, says George McGregor, president of a local union office at a factory that makes the Chevrolet Volt electric car. He thinks workers will approve the dues increase, which amounts to about one-half hour of pay per month. And he says the union will be back for another vote at VW.
"We'll try again another day," McGregor says. "It's not going to break the UAW."