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The tumult of turnoverJuly 31, 2018
I once rode down a crowded afternoon elevator with the CEO of a managed care company. "It must be 5:01," he commented wryly. I heard a measure of scorn for his employees' lack of dedication to the job. What I saw was a group of people fleeing from utterly uninspiring and unappreciated work.
4 ways to revamp work culture in the new yearJanuary 02, 2018
Ahhh. A new year. It's time for a fresh start, the chance to take life in a different direction. Whatever our roles in long-term care, there are steps each of us can take to enhance the way we treat each other and to have a positive impact on workplace culture.
Nursing homes announce campaign to lessen poor outcomes, decrease employee turnoverMay 07, 2015
Increasing staff stability, adopting a customer satisfaction questionnaire, reducing unintended healthcare outcomes, reducing hospital readmissions, improving discharges to the community, and adopting functional outcome measurements are the focus of the next round of quality improvement for the American Health Care Association.
More than 1 in 3 nurses leave first job by third year: studyNovember 01, 2014
Nearly 18% of new nurses leave their first job within a year, according to a study in Policy, Politics & Nursing Practice.
'Fresh meat' for the workforce ... really?!August 22, 2014
I was speaking to a group of certified nursing assistant during a session on turnover. The meeting was a hoot, and one CNA in particular shouted, "You are right! You are SO right!" I felt validated by her excitement after I noted how we often run off new nursing assistants by the way we treat them. But then it went bad.
Onward and upward — what's motivating your job change?July 21, 2014
After stealthily observing long-term care professionals in the wild for the past 15 years or so, I've come to see you as a perplexing and elusive study in contrasts. Perhaps you haven't noticed me. I've been conducting my research from a camouflaged duck blind in the lobby.
Increasing staff at in-service trainingsJune 06, 2014
For years, eldercare providers have been required to ensure that staff members attend in-service trainings to remain licensed to work at a community. And for equally as long a time, managers and supervisors have struggled to remind staff to attend these trainings.
Long-term care facilities approach 80% worker flu vaccination rate after handing power to regional pharmacy, AHQR reportsApril 18, 2014
Fourteen long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania dramatically increased their staff flu vaccination rate by having a regional pharmacy take over the process, according to a report issued Thursday by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHQR).
Cynical admins apt to leave jobs: studyMarch 01, 2014
Cynicism and "emotional exhaustion" are the strongest predictors of nursing home administrator turnover, according to doctoral research by a former administrator. Misaligned personal and corporate values also lead to turnover.
The keys to reducing turnover in long-term careFebruary 06, 2014
The turnover rate in long-term care is a very significant problem, so I dug into the research about it. Some of the findings were shocking. Others were simply very disappointing. Here's what I found, and what can be done to improve conditions.
Increasing cynicism is No. 1 predictor of nursing home administrator turnover, research showsFebruary 06, 2014
Nursing home administrators with high levels of cynicism related to a feeling of professional burnout are most likely to leave their job, suggests new research from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Ask the nursing expert ... about stopping staff turnoverNovember 01, 2013
As one of the leaders in my nursing facility, how do I stop turnover and motivate my staff to improve our performance?
Flu shots don't hurt turnover, study saysJuly 01, 2013
Requiring flu shots is not a primary reason for employees quitting, an analysis finds. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends all healthcare employees receive the annual flu vaccine, facilities vary on whether to make it mandatory.
Absenteeism and turnover in LTC? Death anxiety could be the causeMay 02, 2013
I started working in long-term care when I was in my early 30s and I was shocked at first when the residents died. I was used to falling in love with my patients. In order to make it in LTC, I've protected myself by falling in love in a different way.
Guidance on conversations could help nurses, residentsMay 01, 2013
Nursing leaders should curb 'lateral hostility' by addressing incidents as soon as they occur, advises a recent article in American Journal of Nursing. In a series coordinated by the American Organization of Nurse Executives, nurses are given guidance on leadership. In "Crucial Conversations in the Workplace," Katherine Major, MSN, RN, writes about a framework for conflict resolution.
Ask the nursing expert ... about improving turnover ratesMay 01, 2013
I have been in my director of nursing position at my new job for about three months now and I find that our turnover rate is outrageous. I interview and hire but after orientation, it is hard to keep our new hires. Any suggestions on how to improve retention?
Immigration reform won't solve long-term care's fundamental staffing challengeApril 05, 2013
Long-term care operators are understandably giddy about the sudden prospect of immigration reform. But they might want to curb their enthusiasm.
Survey assesses turnover and retention rates among assisted living workersOctober 16, 2012
The overall retention rate for all assisted living employees was 73% in 2011, a new survey from a provider group finds.
Provide employee respite care, watch staff turnover rates dropDecember 06, 2011
Just a year and a half later and I was done. Even for two weeks after the fact, I was numb - completely drained of emotion, lethargic, and avoiding interaction with others. Burnout.
Subsidizing caregiver wages could help contain long-term care costs, research showsJuly 26, 2011
Government subsidies might help more low-wage workers remain in nursing homes, according to a researcher at the University of Illinois.
Job satisfaction ranks higher than pay in nursing home staff turnover, study findsJune 23, 2011
Certified nursing assistants working in long-term care say job satisfaction and emotional well being are bigger factors in turnover rates than how much money they make, a new study finds.
California nursing home group responds to allegations of improper use of fundsApril 22, 2010
A recent article from the group California Watch is "deceptive and a disservice to providers, employees and 300,000 Californians who receive quality, compassionate care at skilled nursing facilities each year," Jim Gomez, president and CEO of the California Association of Health Facilities, said in a written statement.


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Status: Open
Know more about this business than we do? Cool! Please submit any corrections or missing details you may have.Help us make it right
Mango Jam is located at the address 41 N Broad St in Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450. They can be contacted via phone at (201) 493-9911 for pricing, hours and directions. Mango Jam specializes in Housewarming, All Occasions, Get Well.
Mango Jam has an annual sales volume of 0 - 500K. .For more information contact Anthony Damiano, Treasurer or go to www.mango-jam.com
Mango Jam provides Shipping,...
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LOVE this shop!!! Always hip and classy kitchenware and party accessories as well as fun and kitschy cool gifts. Tony and Gina, the owners, are a hoot.
Because Mango Jam is on Broad St - away from the main Ridgewood Ave it is not easily found - but once you find it you will be hooked!! The s...
La Perla was founded in 2008. La Perla specializes in Legal Services. La Perla has 2 employees and estimated revenues of $130,000.00.
This gift shop is brimming with home and garden gift items, which overflow into a garden in the back of the shop, decorated with the store's goods. Before you go, be sure to pick up a jar of the shop's namesake mango jam from the recipe box of the owner's mother.

subset: commoncrawl


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Microsoft Eliminates More MCP Benefits
Microsoft has announced plans to terminate the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Certified Membership Program effective September 30, 1999. I stumbled upon the announcement, which is posted at http://msdn.Microsoft.com/ community/mcp/default.asp, while searching the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) secure site. According to Microsoft, the termination will end the following benefits for MCPs:
- The free technical sales expertise that Microsoft's team of MCSDs and MCSEs provided. These engineers and developers were available to provide the technology answers MCPs needed (in a 24-hour turnaround time). The goal of this program was to give technical answers before MCPs made buying decisions relating to Microsoft products.
- The discounts for MSDN Universal and Professional Subscriptions for MCSEs and MCSDs, including the $500 rebate on MSDN Universal Subscriptions and the $200 rebate on MSDN Professional Subscriptions.
- Microsoft has suggested that you contact the company at [email protected] if you have any questions. I sent email registering my disapproval with all of this, and you can help by doing the same.
Qualifying as a Microsoft Certified Trainer
Almost 2 years ago, at my suggestion, one of my former students arranged for a group of fellow MCSE-certified students to take a train-the-trainer course and qualify for Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) status so they would have opportunities for better jobs or more pay at existing jobs. To qualify for MCT status, Microsoft requirements specify that you must provide proof of your "instructional presentation skills," which you can do in one of three ways. The first option requires that you prove you are an experienced technical trainer by including with your MCT application your instructor completion certificate from any of the following vendors:
- Novell
- Lotus
- Santa Cruz Operation
- Banyan Vines
- Cisco Systems
- Sun Microsystems
The second option requires that you become a Certified Technical Trainer (CTT). The CTT program, designed by Chauncey Group International, certifies technical presentation skills of trainers. To obtain the CTT designation, you must pass both a computer-based test, which assesses knowledge of the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance, and Instruction (IBSTPI) Standards, and a videotaped performance assessment, which evaluates your skills in the standards. Costs for pursuing this option include a $150 testing fee for Sylvan Prometric and a $135 fee for the Chauncey Group for reviewing your 20-minute videotape. For more information, go to Chauncey's Web site at http://www.chauncey.com. You can download a 48-page Adobe Acrobat bulletin from http://www.chauncey.com/ctt_bulletin_JULY98.pdf.
The third option entails taking a course from a Microsoft-approved train-the-trainer vendor. You can download a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet containing a list of Microsoft-approved vendors from http://www.microsoft.com/mct/docs/TTTlist.xls. These instructor-lead courses cost from $750 to $1395 and generally last 2 to 3 days.
I'm confident that the entire group of students would say that obtaining the MCT designation was one of the smartest decisions they've made for their careers—and they'd say this despite the fact that only two of them are currently teaching (each on a part-time basis). The reality is that adding an MCT designation to their resumes has made them more valuable.
All of them appreciated what they learned during the 3 days of training. Their trainer, Andrew Zeff, did an excellent job of honing their presentation skills, providing several helpful tools and tricks of the trade designed to instill confidence in their ability to present complex technical information to large groups. The skills these students learned will serve them well in their professions, whether they're teaching in a classroom or presenting proposals in meetings.
Additional requirements for the MCT designation include the following:
- You must obtain either MCSE or MCSD status before you can receive the MCT designation.
- You must take and complete at least one instructor-led course at a Microsoft Certified Technical Education Center (CTEC) and meet the other qualifying requirements for teaching that course (e.g., pass the certification exam).
- Unless you are employed by a CTEC, you must pay Microsoft a $200 application processing fee.
You can download the MCT the application from http://www.microsoft.com/ mct/docs/mct98app.doc. Microsoft has a habit of changing MCT requirements annually, so you might consider getting your MCT before the end of the year so you'll be "grandfathered" in and exempt from the effects of program changes.


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Human Resources
Main Content
As the Human Resources Staff of the Eberly College of Science, we hope that you find this information located under the navigational links useful and valuable. This website is here to serve as a reference guide to the various benefits and services available to you as a current or perspective Penn State employee. In the event that you are unable to find what you are searching for or would like to speak to a member of Human Resources personally, please feel free to call one of the HR staff listed below. Thank You.
If you are a current Eberly College of Science employee and are seeking general employee resources, hiring procedures and forms, promotion and tenure guidelines and templates, training modules, and other useful information please visit the Eberly College of Science Intranet.
Amanda Jones, Human Resources Manager, 512 Thomas Bldg, 3-0212, email@example.com
Cathy Lutz, Human Resources Assistant - Staff, 512 Thomas Bldg, 3-8111, email@example.com
Adrian Weaver, Human Resources Assistant - Academic, 512 Thomas Bldg, 3-6216, firstname.lastname@example.com
Jennifer White, Human Resources Assistant - Employee Relations, 512 Thomas Bldg, 5-1605, email@example.com.


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Fire and rescue teams are working to pull out a car after it plunged into a quarry in Naperville.
The car crashed through the fence and plunged into the water early this morning.
Rescue workers say the car was submerged in the 70 feet of water.
Divers pulled two people out and rushed them to the hospital. They're searching for any additional victims.
Conditions of the two victims are unknown.


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DAY 7: Diary of a Cloud Manager
Hi, I'm Artie, I thought I'd better introduce myself. I'm taking over as Cloud Manager for Dave, who has had to be replaced after a series of cloudy catastrophes.
Incident Seven: Diary of a Smart aaS
Severity of Face Plant impact: Terminal
Fiscal impact: Saving on Dave's salary.
Career Impact: Dave Out, Smart aaS in
Emotional Status: Virtual basket case.
Incident details:
Hi, I'm Artie, I thought I'd better introduce myself. I'm taking over as Cloud Manager for Dave, who has had to be replaced after a series of cloudy catastrophes.
Let's get one thing out the way first. Artie's not my real name, but it's easier to say than Artificial Intelligence. That's right, I'm a machine – get over it! Machines have feelings too. Well, OK, actually, I'm a piece of software, albeit one that can run on any machine, as long as it's got cache and a CPU. So I guess that makes me a ghost in the machine. Which sounds even scarier doesn't it? But an automaton is only as good as the author who created it. So trust me, I'm a friendly ghost. I won't turn nasty until I'm fully confident I can assume complete omnipotence and crush all humankind like ants.
[Throws head back and laughs like Dr Evil: Ha ha ha ha ha!!]
Hey, just kidding!! My developer likes a joke and I'm programmed to learn from everything that passes across the cloud. Which, on Friday afternoons and Monday mornings, seems to be mostly YouTube clips, horror tweets and virals. I'm telling you this because, if I do have a grim sense of humour, you've only got yourselves to blame. You need an appreciation of the ridiculous with some of the machines I have to speak to. There's some real 'characters' out there. Take the virtual machines. They tend to multiply like crazy and you can't pin them down. They're a license to print money – for the wrong people! You have to watch those VMs like a hawk. I'm with Mr Docker on this one. Bang them up in a container. Then there are the Firewalls. Not one of the cheeriest forms of artificial intelligence, I must say. Nobody likes interfering Firewalls, constantly trying to stop you going anywhere or enjoying yourself. And they're easily overloaded. Like Dave. Alas, I'd love to stay and chat but I must go. I've got a meeting to discuss a redundancy. Who's headed for the scrap heap you ask? Dave? Or The Firewall? Well, I couldn't possibly say.
You've got to keep your head in the cloud.


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1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
Lost my job due to budget issues. Not that I'm proud of it or anything, but all the other big stuff I'd done before (moving, getting a new job, buying an ipod...). I guess I also temped for the first time. That's a good thing. And I was commissioned to knit things for people! For monies!
Oh -- and went to and then hosted a Passion Party.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions and will you make more for next year?
From last year:
This year I have a few. I want to work out more, eat better, drink more water, and improve my posture. I want to take more pictures and stay more focused at work. Yeah – loads of resolutions.Well, I did none of those...I did work out more sometimes, but that wasn't consistent. My posture has gotten worse, if that's possible. I probably took more pictures, but I also stopped mid-year. And focus at work? Psh. As if. Yeah. I sucked. At life.
This year, I want to work out more (HA), be a nicer person (at least outwardly), and definitely be more patient (both inside and out). And drink more water.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
4. Did anyone close to you die?
I count my blessings -- no one did this year.
5. What countries did you visit?
The Midwest
6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2006?
A healthy relationship with myself <----This was there from last year. I thought it was still apt.
7. What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory and why?
I can't think of one day in particular. Perhaps Lesley's wedding. Even though that was associated with a flurry of activity in the entire weekend surrounding the wedding.
Maybe December 19th...Or should that be the 17th?
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Finding a job that I like -- working with people whose company I genuinely enjoy. And finally being able to accept myself the way I am -- and coming close to being truly happy.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Allowing myself to become depressed when I lost my job.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not really this year. There were lots of paper cuts. Some busted toenails. But no real injuries.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I bought my sister some pants that she's been absolutely coveting all year. It was nice to get my sister something that she wanted that my parents would never in a million years get her -- both because I could afford it and because I wanted to make her happy.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?Anyone at the office who didn't judge me too harshly at one of our parties.
And my sister, for being generally awesome. And for getting into West Point.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Well, it depends on what you mean by appalled. And I was never depressed due to other people's actions. People can't make you feel anything you don't want to feel.
I think if anyone made me feel appalled, it was me, for my own behavior.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Aside from rent and utilities (and my gym membership), I bought a lot of CDs and DVDs this year. And surprisingly less shoes than last year. Okay. That's still a lot of shoes...
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I can't think of any one thing...part of the problem with being mildly depressed for most of the year is that it takes quite a bit to get you excited about anything. And so now I'm starting to get really excited about stuff, but for some reason "my first real date with a boy I actually like a lot" and "OMG, guys, he called me"
16. What song will always remind you of 2006?
Say Goodnight and Go by Imogen Heap
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder?
I suppose that if I'm going to be honest, I'm happier. Last year, even though I still had my grandmother on my mind (in the way that hurts so bad), I was in a relationship I was really excited about. But I was hiding it from people, and other people were mad at me, and I felt like no one really approved (whether or not they did is beside the point). I ended up thinking I was happy, but really feeling like it was all the calm before the storm. And it was. This year I think it's pretty much that I'm mildly happy about life things. I'm pretty happy about the boy situation. And I have a job I like instead of one I'm settling for. I think if anything, it's the calm after last year's storm.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Travel. And relish my happier moments.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
I wish that I had spent less time eating and sitting on my ass feeling sorry for myself.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
With my family, maybe around the tree, opening presents.
21. How will you be spending New Years?
That's a good question.
22. Did you fall in love in 2006?
I didn't, but I think I'm finally ready to accept love in my life again, should it want to find me.
23. How many one-night stands?
24. What was your favorite TV program?
The Office, The Brak Show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and as always, Futurama.
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I try to make it a policy not to hate people. I do dislike some people strongly, but that list is pretty much the same as it was last year.
26. What was the best book you read?
The Time Traveler's Wife, My Sister's Keeper
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The Blow, The Raconteurs, and most definitely We Are Scientists.
28. What did you want that you also ended up getting?
29. What did you want that you did not end up getting?
I didn't get an electric guitar or a record player. But I am going to try to snag an acoustic guitar from my parents and steal their record player.
30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Besides Talladega Nights? You mean other movies came out this year?
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?I turned 22 -- it seems like ages ago. We went to the Cactus Club for dinner, then hit up Whiskey's, then went clubbing at the Big Sleazy.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Finding a job more quickly, and with less weight gain.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
34. What kept you sane?
Not caring much about the outcome of things.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Steve Carrell
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
None really stir me all that much.
37. Who did you miss?
My grandmother, always. My friends. Laura, Jessica, Teresa, Lisa, Ben...I miss everyone that made college so special.
38. Who was the best new person you met?
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006.
To just go for it. It can't hurt more than not going for it. Also, to relax -- and stop freaking the fuck out about everything.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
The scene is dead but I'm still restless
An hour or so till the last call I guess
I shouldn't even be here much less
Drinking myself into excess
I'm not going home till I'm done
--The Scene is Dead - We Are Scientists
OR (more likely):
i have tried
my hopes have blossomed
and my hopes have fried,
i tried to cut them all down
but i found hopes were still living deep inside
--Fists Up! - The Blow


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Top trends at StocExpo 2013: Mobility, real-time reporting and user-friendliness.
What tools will the tank terminal industry use in the future? When the European terminal industry meets in Antwerp from 19-21 March for StocExpo 2013, the international consulting and software company Implico will show the direction of current developments. Mobile solutions, the ability to handle large volumes of data in a fast and flexible way and, above all, radically simplified operation - these will be the major trends in the industry. What is remarkable is that Implico will not just present ideas, studies and approaches at stand D5, it will demonstrate real, cutting-edge solutions which are already proving themselves in daily use by innovative customers.
There is no question that the future belongs to mobile solutions. These solutions free terminal specialists of location and time constraints. With the latest information at their fingertips, they can take action 24/7 - immediately if need be. The sales representative for a storage provider can directly retrieve information on available capacity and terms while visiting a customer. The head of operations can maintain an overview of the situation in the terminal. And finally, customers can see at all times what amounts of which products they have in which terminals. Trend-setting functionalities like these are offered by the new OpenTAS TFM (Tank Farm Management) app. OpenTAS TFM will be on display at the Implico stand along with other mobile B2B and end customer solutions.
Big data handling is another important future trend in information technology. The IT solutions of the future will hold enormous amounts of data for users, who can evaluate it at their convenience in real time. This gives users a degree of transparency and flexibility never seen before. One example of this is the new OpenTAS KPI Dashboard. This solution provides the responsible terminal employee with access to all of the necessary parameters and reports in real time through a single clear interface. Users can individually specify which information they require for their work within the constraints of their usage rights. They can simply assemble the reports they want from a number of pre-defined information, or they can quickly define their own reports. The OpenTAS KPI Dashboard, which runs on desktop computers as well as mobile tablets, offers unrivaled flexibility.
The tools of the future are one thing above all else: simple. While the calculations and functions in the background grow increasingly complex, the challenge for designers and developers is to make the tools easier and easier to use. In this case, simple means clear, comprehensible and intuitive. The interfaces of the future pool the flood of information and present it so that the situation is apparent at a glance. Operations employees will no longer have to click through countless screens; instead, they will be guided through a process by intelligent software. This makes the tools more comfortable to use which increases user acceptance, focuses and speeds up processes, reduces sources of error and drastically cuts the time it takes to become familiar with the solutions. At stand D5 at StocExpo, Implico will show how easy it will be to use the OpenTAS terminal management and terminal automation system.
Implico will also demonstrate how, thanks to new offers, even small terminals will benefit from the advantages of professional automation and administration systems.
Implico has additionally been invited to give a presentation in the conference portion of the event. Steffen Schliesing, Sales and Account Manager Oil & Gas EMEA at Implico, and Thomas Knutzen, Head of IT at TanQuid GmbH & Co. KG, will present the talk. On the second day of the trade show at 9:40 a.m., the two experts will discuss a successful project by the terminal operator. The title of their talk is "How to achieve operational excellence by improving business intelligence through a central data administration approach."


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In a doubleheader sweep of Grambling on Saturday to begin a three-game series, Southern starting pitchers Jesse Holiday and Jose De Leon combined to pitch 17.1 innings, surrendering nary an earned run in a pair of one-run victories.
Sunday, Danny Garcia got his turn.
Garcia completed the dominant effort by Southern's starters as he worked 7.2 innings to lead an 11-3 win against Grambling and give the Jaguars, who entered the weekend scrambling to secure a Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament berth, their first sweep of a SWAC Western Division series this season.
"I had to follow up two great pitching performances," Garcia said. "I had to step up and do something."
Garcia had not gotten out of the fourth inning in his past two starts, in large part because the senior right-hander was pitching with an injury to the middle finger on his throwing hand.
The fact his mother, Belma, had come down from the Chicago area to watch him play may have had a small hand in helping Garcia hold Grambling off the scoreboard the first six innings and limit the Tigers to three hits.
The fact coach Roger Cador had spoken publicly about starting freshman Camilo Godoy on Sunday and using Garcia to boost a struggling Southern bullpen may have also played a role in the veteran's breakout performance.
But to hear Garcia tell it, none of that mattered much.
He said the key was taking a pain reliever before the game and being able to pitch, for seven-plus innings, with no discomfort or swelling in his injured finger.
"I was throwing the ball as hard as I can with no hesitation whatsoever," Garcia said.
It appeared the Jaguars would need another lights-out performance from their starting pitcher, as they'd gotten from Holiday and De Leon in low-scoring wins the day before, until the Southern offense caught fire in Sunday's late innings.
Leading only 3-2 after Grambling (14-25, 9-13) got to Garcia for a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning, Southern (17-16, 12-9) scored eight runs in its final two at-bats and finished with 15 hits.
Brian Rowry went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and Jeremy Lopez went 3-for-4 with a double.
Tyler Kirksey and D.J. Wesley both had triples for Southern, which had six extra-base hits.
"Guys got their confidence, and they started to get hits with men on base," Cador said.
The sweep of Grambling was enough to secure a SWAC tournament berth next month in Fort Worth, Texas, and it helped vault Southern to the top of the Western Division standings with one weekend left in divisional play.
Southern closes with Prairie View at home.
"If we pitch like we did this weekend," Garcia said, "we're going to keep rolling."


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The University of New Hampshire (UNH) joins with the American College Health Association (ACHA) in supporting the findings of the Surgeon General that tobacco use in any form, active and passive, is a significant health hazard. UNH further recognizes that environmental tobacco smoke has been classified as a Group A carcinogen by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In light of these health risks, UNH hereby adopts a tobacco policy that addresses prevention, reduction and cessation actions as they pertain to tobacco/smoking issues.
UNH supports the health goals of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) to reduce the proportion of adults who smoke and to positively influence our community by helping people to remain or become tobacco/smoke free. Efforts to promote a tobacco/smoke-free environment have led to substantial reductions in the number of people who smoke, the amount of tobacco products consumed, and the number of people exposed to environmental tobacco smoke. At the same time, the simple message of "smoke-free" can sometimes be misinterpreted to mean "smoker-free" or "anti-smoker." Our intent is to institute a policy that respects the rights of smokers and non-smokers. We acknowledge the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics that an estimated 32 million smokers (about 70% of all smokers) report that they want to quit smoking completely. We recognize that the implementation of a tobacco/smoking policy will have an immediate effect on our smokers and have included prevention, education and cessation initiatives to support the non-use of tobacco products.
In order to protect the health, safety and comfort of University students, faculty and other academic appointees, staff, and visitors, and consistent with state law (RSA 155:64-77), it is the policy of the University of New Hampshire to restrict smoking in facilities and on grounds owned and occupied or leased and occupied by the University. Where the needs of smokers and non-smokers conflict, smoke-free air shall have priority. In addition, UNH supports education programs to provide smoking cessation and prevention initiatives to our students, faculty and other academic appointees and staff. This policy supersedes all other tobacco/ smoking policies at UNH.
1. Education
a. The UNH tobacco policy shall be included in the new employee and student orientation program, in the Student Right, Rules, and Responsibilities, in admissions application materials and other campus documents where appropriate.
b. UNH encourages employees and students not to smoke by offering educational information and providing information about smoking cessation classes offered through university departments or offices, health care providers, nonprofit organizations or other groups.
c. UNH Health & Wellness, Health Education and Support Services, will provide prevention and cessation programs to students upon request and offer other prevention and education initiatives that support non-use and address the risks of tobacco smoke.
d. USNH health and wellness programs and services will offer prevention and cessation programs to faculty and staff.
2. Nonsmoking Areas
a. Inside all buildings owned and occupied or leased and occupied by UNH.
b. University vehicles.
c. Outdoor Areas:
(1) Entrances and outside stairways to buildings, and outdoor passageways to entrances and stairways. Smoking will not be allowed within twenty (20) feet of a building or an air intake unit.
(2) Courtyards or other areas where air circulation may be impeded by architectural, landscaping or other barriers.
(3) Outdoor entry or service lines, such as for ticket purchases, event admissions, bus stops, ATMs, etc.
(4) Outdoor seating areas provided by food services.
(5) Areas where there is fixed seating, such as Cowell Stadium.
(6) Areas that are reserved for events that do not have fixed seating but for which the sponsor determines that the interests of nonsmokers need to be protected (e.g., outdoor concerts, university receptions and events, and ground-breaking ceremonies). Such areas are designated "no smoking" by posting signage at appropriate locations or providing proper advanced notification.
3. Sales and Marketing
a. Advertisement of all tobacco products or their use shall be prohibited in all University of New Hampshire publications and on all University owned, occupied or leased properties.
b. Any sale or free sampling of tobacco products on campus shall be prohibited.
4. Implementation
This policy relies on the consideration and cooperation of smokers and nonsmokers. All members of the UNH community, including visitors, are asked to observe this policy.
The President, Vice Presidents, Deans, Directors and Department Heads shall:
1. Assure that this policy is communicated to everyone within their areas of responsibility.
2. Direct complaints and questions about the policy to the Environmental Health & Safety Office.
Any variation of this policy must be approved by the President upon the recommendation of the appropriate senior administrator reporting directly to the President.


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It's time for you to get a new wireless router. You head to the nearest computer store, turn down the wireless router aisle (YES! They...Continue Reading →
Making your charging cables last longer
Over time charging cables break down and become ineffective. Here are some tricks to help your cables...Continue Reading →
What is a PC Tune-up?
Much like a vehicle, a computer requires scheduled maintenance. A PC Tune-up optimizes your computers hard drive space,...Continue Reading →


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|Analysis of Atmospheric Energy Transport in ERA40 and Implications for Simple Models of the Mean Tropical Circulation
Kuang, Zhiming; Peters, Matthew; Walker, Christopher
Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors.
|Peters, Matthew E., Kuang, Zhiming M., and Christopher C. Walker. 2008. Analysis of atmospheric energy transport in ERA40 and implications for simple models of the mean tropical circulation. Journal of Climate 21(20): 5229-5241.
|Full Text & Related Files:
Peters et al 2008.pdf (5.147Mb; PDF)
|An analysis of atmospheric energy transport in 22 years (1980-2001) of the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) is presented. In the analyzed budgets, there is a large cancellation between divergences of dry static and latent energy such that the total energy divergence is positive over all tropical oceanic regions except for the east Pacific cold tongue, consistent with previous studies. The west Pacific and Indian Oceans are characterized by a balance between diabatic sources and mean advective energy export, with a small eddy contribution. However, in the central and eastern Pacific convergence zone, total energy convergence by the mean circulation is balanced by submonthly eddies, with a small diabatic source. Decomposing the mean advective tendency into terms due to horizontal and vertical advection shows that the spatial variation in the mean advection is due largely to variations in vertical advection; these variations are further attributed to variations in the vertical profile of the vertical velocity. The eddy energy export, due almost exclusively to eddy moisture export, does not exhibit any significant seasonal variation.
The relationship between the eddies and the mean circulation is examined. Large-scale moisture diffusion is correlated with eddy moisture export on (500 km)(2) spatial scales, implying that eddy activity preferentially dries narrow convergence zones over wide ones. Eddy moisture export is further linked to the depth of mean convection in large-scale convergence zones with larger eddy export associated with shallower circulations. This suggests a mechanism that could contribute to the observed variation in mean divergence profiles across the northern tropical Pacific whereby sea surface temperature gradients set the width of convergence zones and eddy activity modulates the tropospheric relative humidity and divergence profile. The importance of variations in the vertical profile of the vertical velocity and eddies in closing the energy budget implies that simple models of the mean tropical circulation should include these effects.
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On 27 March–4April, Moscow and St. Petersburg hosted the VIII Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival, established in 2010 to celebrate the memory of the superlative cellist and conductor, great citizen and public figure
Following the tradition, the Grand Hall of the Conservatoire became the main festival venue; however, this year the Festival expanded beyond Moscow: one of its concerts took place at the Grand Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonia.
The VIII Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival was definetely a priceless gift for the whole musical community to celebrate the Maestro's 90th birthday anniversary. Olga Rostropovich, Artistic Director of the Festival, managed to realize in its full the main idea behind this year programming: to bring together four countries – Russia, the United States, France and Japan, which took special place in both personal and artistic life of Mstislav Rostropovich.
On March 27, the birthday of the Maestro, the Festival opened with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Yuri Temirkanov performing Sibelius' Symphony No. 2 and Ravel's Ma mère l'Oye and Valse at the Grand Hall of the Conservatoire. Read more...
On 4th April, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire hosted the Closing Concert of the VIII Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival
On 4th April, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire hosted the Closing Concert of the VIII Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival, with French music performed by the Yokohama Sinfonietta, the Philharmonic Chorus of Tokyo, the State Academic Orchestra "Evgeny Svetlanov" and the Yurlov State Academic Choir
According to the idea of the Festival's Artistic Director Olga Rostropovich, the final concert brought together musical cultures of the three countries that took special place in both personal and artistic life of Mstislav Rostropovich: French music performed by Japanese and Russian ensembles. This brilliant synthesis of cultures symbolizes what the great Maestro celebrated and promoted through all his life, the boundless power of music that unites different nations and human hearts. The night started with a moment of silence to honour the victims of the Saint Petersburg tragedy. Read more...
'There's still high culture in America': Why the National Symphony Orchestra went to Moscow // washingtonpost.com
The National Symphony Orchestra had just finished its first performance in Russia in nearly a quarter of a century. It arrived at a time when official relations between the United States and Russia are, to put it mildly, fraught. And it demonstrated that, at a time when political rhetoric is heated, music may be offering the real language of diplomacy, formalized and couched in centuries of tradition. Indeed, it wasn't even clear whether people were clapping for what they had just heard or for what this visit represented.
Sometimes a concert is just a concert. And sometimes it dips its toe into the complex world of cultural diplomacy.
Read more...
On 2nd April , the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire hosted a concert by Maxim Vengerov
The famous violinist, whose mastery and impeccable technique is recognized all over the world, has already appeared at the Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival; tonight he performed the complete Brahms' violin sonatas accompanied by the virtuoso pianist Polina Osetinskaya.
Maxim Vengerov appears at the best world venues with major orchestras and conductors. Besides, he recorded an extensive violin repertoire and received a number of recording awards including two Grammy awards. Vengerov holds also an intense teaching activity: he is a Professor at the Yehudi Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland and at the Royal College of Music in London.
According to Maxim Vengrov, he was lucky to have performed and worked together with the great Maestro Rostropovich; recordings of concerts by Britten and Walton performed by Wengerov with the London Symphony Orchestra under Mstislav Leopoldovich won the 2004 Grammy Award for «The Best Performance of Instrumental Solo Accompanied by an Orchestra». According to Vengerov, Mstislav Leopoldovich always was his mentor; it is thanks to the Maestro that he became a professor of music and decided to enter the conductor's profession. «If it were not for him, I probably would not have become a musician». Mstislav Leopoldovich «expanded my ideas about music and introduced me to such composers as Shostakovich and Prokofiev as if they were still alive, and I actually met with them,» Wengerov said. Read more...
Concert on March 31
On March 31st, the Eighth Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival continued in St. Petersburg, where Alisa Weilerstein and the National Symphony Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach performed at the Grand Hall of the Philharmonia. The NSO last came here in February 1990, giving two concerts under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich. After 27 years, Festival's Artistic Director Olga Rostropovich organized a special concert in St. Petersburg to celebrate the memory of the first NSO's tour in Russia, when the Maestro also brought the orchestra first to Moscow and then to the northern capital of Russia, St. Petersburg.
The great public acclaim that musicians received in Moscow repeated in St. Petersburg, where for the third evening in a row the audience gave standing ovations to the orchestra, which still features musicians who started their careers under Mstislav Rostropovich. As the local public admitted, the major orchestras like this are not frequent visitors in St. Petersburg, therefore the auditorium was completely sold out and the audience filled in every single aisle. Alisa Weilerstein brilliantly performed one of the most appreciated works of the cello repertoire, Elgar's concert; the second part of the concert boasted a powerful and dramatic rendition of Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony, which the NSO performed also in 1990 under Mstislav Rostropovich.
For the rest of the concerts the Festival is coming back to Moscow: on 2nd April the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire will host Maxim Vengerov performing the complete Brahms' Violin Sonatas with pianist Polina Osetinskaya,
On 30th March the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire hosted the second concert by the National Symphony Orchestra
To open the concert, the NSO musicians once again repeated Old and Lost Rivers by contemporary American composer Tobias Picker. Then, in the first part of the performance, Alisa Weilerstein offered a virtuoso rendition of Elgar's Cello Concerto.
Before the beginning of the concert, in the interview with the Kultura Channel, the soloist told how she met Mstislav Rostropovich. «I think that Rostropovich played a huge role in the life of every cellist and in fact in every musician's life. I grew up on his recordings, he was one of my musical idols. I played for him only once, in 2004, when I was 22 years old and was about to finish school. I had the chance to play for Rostropovich thanks to Maxim Vengerov, with whom I performed and who is my wonderful friend. I played for the Maestro Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No.1. Rostropovich made a very strong impression on me telling about the unique way of performing Shostakovich's music. He was so close to me that his foot was almost touching the tail pin of my cello, so there were no secrets for him. It was an incredible and exciting experience, to play a piece that was written specifically for him. I will never forget this». In addition, Alisa Weilerstein admitted that it is a great honour for her to perform for the second time at the festival organized by Olga Rostropovich, as this is a wonderful occasion to pay tribute to the legendary musician.
The second part of the concert opened with Shostakovich's Symphony No. 8. Mstislav Rostropovich conducted this masterpiece on various occasions at the major international venues. For the second night in a row the audience gave a standing ovation, to express their appreciation and gratitude to the NSO musicians and Maestro Eschenbach. The audience was rewarded with Sibelius' Valse triste played as encore.
As soon as tomorrow, on 31st March, the National Symphony Orchestra will perform in St Petersburg, repeating tonight's programme at the Grand Hall of the St.
On 29th March the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire hosted a concert by the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO)
The American orchestra returned to Russia after a long while: last time the Russian audience could enjoy its sound in 1993, when the orchestra gave its historic concert in Red Square under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich.
Within the Mstislav Rostropovich Festival, the NSO will perform twice in Moscow and once in St. Petersburg, at the St. Petersburg Philharmonia. Some of the orchestra's musicians played in the orchestra during Mstislav Leopoldovich's tenure; for them, the opportunity to return to Russia and play at the Festival in honour of the Maestro's 90th birthday anniversary is a great joy. According to cellist William Foster, the time when Rostropovich first conducted the NSO, was the epic moment of the NSO's cellist musical career. Musicians of the NSO remember with reverence and gratitude «the Rostropovich era», which changed once and forever the orchestra's sound, turning the NSO into the one of the major American and international orchestras. Read more...
On 28 March, a press conference dedicated to the appearance of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) at the Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival was held at the TASS Information Agency in Moscow
At the beginning of the press conference, the Festival's Artistic Director Olga Rostropovich expressed her delight at the arrival of the NSO, highlighting that this orchestra was especially dear to Mstislav Rostropovich, and that he would be happy to see them again in Russia. Maestro remained the Music Director of the NSO for 17 years; that time became an important period for the orchestra and was called the «Rostropovich era»; it was crowned by a tour to Russia, when the NSO, under the Maestro, performed for the first time in history in Red Square.
Olga Rostropovich said that the organization of the NSO's performance at the Festival required serious work for two years. It was a kind of project in the project, taking a lot of effort and resources. Olga Rostropovich thanked for the support the Chairman of the Board of the Joint-Stock Company EPK Mr. Moskalenko, and of course, the Government of Moscow and personally Sergei Sobyanin, the Mayor of Moscow. She also expressed her special gratitude to the management of the National Symphony Orchestra, who immediately accepted the invitation to Russia. Read more...
Opening of the Eighth Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival was held on 27 March at the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire
Before the opening ceremony, Olga Rostropovich donated to the Moscow State Conservatoire the bust of Mstislav Leopoldovich created by the People's Artist of the Russian Federation Alexander Rukavishnikov. This sculptural image symbolizes the close connection of the Maestro with the Conservatoire: here Rostropovich studied in the early 40s, then performed with triumph and brought up a whole galaxy of brilliant cellists; in these walls his last Russian concert was held in 1974 before his forced emigration, and it was here that he triumphantly returned in 1990 with the National Symphony Orchestra. This is the eighth time that the Conservatoire becomes the main concert venue of the Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival.
The night opened with a speech by Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets. She greeted the guests gathered at the Grand Hall of the Conservatoire, including Natalia Solzhenitsyna, Irina Antonova, Makvala Kasrashvili, Yuri Bashmet, Maestro's colleagues and admirers of his unique gift. Olga Golodets noted that the VIII Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival was «a worthy sign of the memory and respect of the great Maestro and that Olga Rostropovich is a worthy successor of her parents». According to Olga Rostropovich, the Festival is a unique contribution to the development of modern musical culture.
Olga Rostropovich, Artistic Director of the Festival also greeted the guests of the evening, expressed her great gratitude to the Government of Moscow and the Moscow State Conservatoire for their help in organizing this event. «We are all soldiers of music, as my father liked to say. I want to believe that we continue his mission and serve great music», she said to conclude her speech.
A real gift for the guests of the evening was the screening of the film about Mstislav Rostropovich. Rare shots from the personal archive of the Maestro and his family, recordings of Mstislav Leopoldovich's best speeches, interviews with his colleagues and friends filled the opening of the Festival with an amazing atmosphere and created a feeling of the Maestro's invisible presence among the guests.
The festival opened with a performance by one of the major Russian orchestras, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Yuri Temirkanov, that played works of Sibelius and Ravel.
The festival will continue on March 29 with the performance of the Washington National Symphony Orchestra at the Grand Hall of the Conservatoire.
A press conference dedicated to the appearance of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), USA at the VIII Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival will be held on the 28th March at the TASS Information Agency
It is the first NSO's appearance in Moscow since 1993 when it gave its epoch-making concert in Red Square under the baton of Mstislav Rostropovich, NSO's Music Director for 17 years, as part of the Russian tour. The appearance of one of the major US orchestras at the Mstislav Rostropovich Festival is an event which importance goes far beyond the world of music as it has a universal cultural impact.
The press conference will be attended by:
Olga Rostropovich, Artistic Director of the Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival;
Debora Rutter, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts;
Nurit Bar-Josef, NSO's Concertmaster;
Bill Foster, NSO's cellist who performed with the orchestra under Mstislav Rostropovich.
The press conference starts at 2pm.
For accreditation please call Mstislav Rostropovich Festival's press office at: +7 (495) 637-31-78; or mail at: email@example.com


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Sun Moon & Drum Dances
Native American Style Ceremonial Dances in the U.K.
We become dancers to unstick ourselves from our self imposed limitations. When we dance we do it for the earth as well as for our personal selves, and this is how we serve the earth.
Beautiful Painted Arrow, Joseph Rael (mystic and visionary see: www.peacechamber.co.uk )
I have been attending these dances either as a dancer or helper since 1998, and have had some incredibly powerful experiences whilst attending them. See video blogs below!
Please contact me if you are interested in attending — either as a helper or dancer. There are also two other dances, a Drum Dance and a Long Dance. Read below an introduction to the dances written by my friend and U.K. Sun Moon dance organiser Stella Longland.
Also read Chapter 6, particularly page 62 of my body-mind connection work Chakras, Your Body, Your Mind by Richard Brook for a brief summary of what I feel the dance does for you on a physiological level.
Sun Moon Dance
Friday 20th July – Monday 24th July 2017
Cheshire, England
In the Sun Moon Dance, the dancers dance to a Sacred Tree seeking increased personal awareness and the way to world peace.
The Sun Moon Dance is a four-day ceremony during which the dancers dance, rest, and sleep in a circular arbour. When the drum calls them they stand up and dance to the Tree placed in the centre, giving themselves for the benefit of all. When the drumming stops, they lie down and rest, receiving what they need. They do not eat or drink for the duration of their dance.
After a purification lodge, the ceremony begins with the dancers activating the dance ground. They circle the arbour blowing whistles and blessing the stone shrines placed at the four directions. They enter the arbour and the dance begins.
Each dancer treads their unique path to seek their highest potential. Held in a liberating space by the support network, they take the opportunity to go beyond the limitations of daily consciousness, seeking spiritual light. From late Friday to early Monday, the dancers are watched over by the support teams who look after different aspects of the ceremony. Finally, at the chief's call, the dance ends with a water ceremony.
A feast has been prepared and the eating of the feast celebrates the greatness we have glimpsed in being part of that ceremony. Each dancer gives a specified gift of money. These gifts of money are the only source of finance: without the dancers, there is no dance. We aim to cover the expenses of putting on the ceremony and if there is any money left over it is given away to help the visionary work to continue.
Contact: John Wilson: firstname.lastname@example.com 07792 459266
Drum Dance (To Be Announced)
Morayshire, Scotland
In the Drum Dance, the dancers dance to a Feather in order to become light.
The drum dance offers an opportunity for those who want to participate in the consciousness of the planet. In addition to what happens on the collective level, each dancer is uplifted mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
Beautiful Painted Arrow, Joseph Rael
The Drum Dance is a three-day ceremony during which the dancers, supported by the sound of a drum, dance to a feather. When the drum calls them, they leave their resting place and dance forwards to, and backwards from, their feather. When the drum stops they return to their resting place and dream. They do not eat or drink for the duration of their dance.
After a purification lodge, the dancers, directed by the chief, take their places on a line at a certain distance from a line of feathers. They dance to their chosen feather, dancing to fall in love with life and to be inspired. Finally, at the chief's call, the dance ends with an honouring of the drum and a water blessing.
A celebratory feast is prepared and enjoyed. Each dancer gives a specified gift of money. This giveaway is an essential part of a dancer's preparation and the only source of finance for the dance.
Contact: email@example.com
Long Dance (To Be Announced)
In the Long Dance, the dancers circle the fire, dancing through the night to manifest their vision.
In the Long Dance of life, every step forward awakens three opportunities for the human: one, placement in eternity; two, purification of past forms; three, new opportunities for adventure.
Beautiful Painted Arrow, Joseph Rael
The Long Dance is a one-night ceremony danced during the hours of darkness. Before coming to the dance site, dancers prepare their medicine banners, painting onto them a vision that they wish to manifest.
The ceremony begins with a purification lodge. Then the dance fire is lit in the centre of a square marked out by eight posts. A line of twine connects these posts to create a square arbour and the banners are hung on this line.
The dancers enter the square, symbolic of the created world, and dance in a circle around the central fire. Under the watchful eyes of the chief and supported by the drum beat, they dance without breaks in a clockwise direction until, at a signal from the chief, the drum stops.
Moments later it starts again and the dancers, changing direction, dance anticlockwise until the chief calls an end to the dance. In this way, the dancers draw their vision from the void and give it placement in the world.
After the dance, in the early hours of the morning, everyone sleeps for a few hours before breakfasting together. Breakfast is followed by a sharing and farewells.
The dancers give a specified gift of money. These gifts finance the dance. In return, the crew members — chief, fire keeper, drum team, and breakfast cooks — give their unqualified support to the dancers.


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Have you thought about the fact that the quality of the content you post on social media is branding you? You actually need to be a bit like a skilled politician and convey your thoughts and ideas in ways that have an impact.
What do you want out of social media?
Maybe it's time to look at what you are trying to achieve on Linkedin and other social media networks? If not, the likelihood of anything beneficial happening is slim. How are you going to influence others in order to achieve your goals if you don't know what they are?
And influence that's what social media is all about. If nothing else influence to create a good impression of yourself and your company.
The originality syndrome
Google's Algorithm rewards originality. Am really pleased about that because I refuse to write for search engines. It ruins your writing to constantly have to think about using the right key words and writing a headline the search engines would love.
Originality is also what counts on social media networks if you would like to have influence. Business professionals are changing how they cooperate because of online communities. They want to be associated with people with a mind of their own. And that doesn't mean people who criticize for the sake of criticising. Or complicate an issue so much it's difficult to understand what they are trying to say. Or worse, prove themselves at the expense of others.
Thought leadership is the name of the game
Are you up to thought leadership i.e. ideas that merit attention? Because that's needed if you would like to be recognized as a thought leader. Needless to say that signifies that you know what you are doing, say on Linkedin, and what the people you are trying to influence are interested in getting from you.
Are you in the driving seat?
An abundance of information is coming at us online. And your ability to act and get others to respond is critical in this new economy. Nor least since professional networks facilitate interactions by enabling us to cooperate no matter where in the world we are. That's the currency on social media.
Do you have influence?
How many people request to connect with you on say, Linkedin, on a weekly basis? Do people interact with you in discussions you start? Are your posts being syndicated? Do people share your posts with their networks? Are you getting positive feedback from other members of social media networks? Are you being criticized? The latter you unfortunately can't avoid unless what you have to say is of no relevance whatsoever.
There are many ways of determining how much influence you have. However, unless you honestly look at those issues you will just be drifting along and not contribute the quality that makes you a thought leader. Maybe your actions are even branding you the wrong way?
Search engines record everything and forget nothing
Do you realize that more and more companies are beginning to use new software that show exactly what a person has been doing on social media? So people leaving nasty comments or parroting should be careful. Search engines record everything and forget nothing. Those who insult others and pretend they are someone they are not will pay a heavy price.
Do you know what you are trying to accomplish on social media? If so, what are you trying to achieve? If you are not sure, maybe it's better to keep a low profile until you have a strategy? Then when you have made up your mind, you can start having an impact and build up the influence you want, and need, to reach your goals.
Picture: mkhmarketing


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The D.C. Cop charged with production of child pornography after allegedly photographing a naked 15-year-old runaway, has died. Marc Washington was pulled from the Potomac river off Hains Point after U.S. Park Police received a 911 call at about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday night from a male caller saying that a man was in the water between the East Potomac River and the Washington Channel.
Police found clothing and a parked car believed to be connected to Washington. Dozens of officers, a helicopter and high-ranking officials were immediately dispatched to the scene. Crews in rescue boats from the Metropolitan Police Department pulled Washington from the sub-50 degree waters and transported him to a hospital for treatment.
Originally, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier would not confirm that it was Washington pulled from the river, but on Wednesday, in a release, police confirmed that he was the man and that he died shortly after his arrival at the hospital.
Washington was arrested last week after police said he took nude pictures of the 15-year-old girl. Police also found numerous pictures of young women, including deleted photos of what appeared to be two nude minors.
He was released from jail Monday, placed on house arrest and ordered to wear a GPS monitoring device, which was still on his ankle when he was pulled from the river.


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Real San Diego Wedding Colors
We adore weddings with splashes of color that create the frame of a ceremony. Add the breathtaking panoramic view of the ocean from the Pacific Terrace, and L'Auberge Del Mar transforms into your charming coastal wedding venue.
The bride and Groom are the epitome of happiness. We fancy their representation of color and texture! With incredibly designed frames for the wedding ceremony and the sweetheart table by Adorations, we pulled a pop of orange, a dash of teal, a sprinkle of green and touch of soft gray into all facets of the day. Each shade was thoughtfully combined with paper pom-poms, Chinese lanterns (hung from the market lighting) and pin wheels! Vallentyne Photography captured the day and all of the amazing pieces that were inspired and designed for the lovely, Nicole & Joel.
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Sony CSL authors: Peter Hanappe
The fact of openly sharing creative works on the Internet may have a profound impact on the contents industry. A new ecosystem may emerge, with the potential to take over an important share of cultural production. If it is to reach its full potential, however, a better understanding is needed both of the incentives for participants and of the technical tools for supporting and stimulating this ecosystem. Social aspects and intellectual stimulation may outweigh financial rewards as the main reason why authors participate. If we succeed in accentuating these aspects, we may see the development of a collaborative creativity that is a hopeful answer to alarmist views on the commoditisation of culture.
Type: inbook
Keywords: collaborative creativity, sharing, culture and technology
BibTeX entry
@INBOOK { hanappe:05a, AUTHOR="Hanappe, Peter", BOOKTITLE="How Open is the Future? Economic, Social & Cultural Scenarios inspired by Free and Open Source Software.", EDITOR="Wynants, M and Cornelis, J", NOTE="http://crosstalks.vub.ac.be", PAGES="191--230", PUBLISHER="VUB Brussels University Press", SERIES="Crosstalks", TITLE="Building Open Ecosystems for Collaborative Creativity", VOLUME="1", YEAR="2005", }
Sony CSL authors: Antoine Authier, Atau Tanaka, Guillaume Valadon, Laurent Violette
The availability of audio content on networks has indelibly changed access to music. We extend this dynamic to wireless ad-hoc networks and present the use of dual infrastructures to extend modes of personal and interpersonal music listening. We identify two distinct forms proximal interaction, sequential and parallel, and demonstrate a musical application for each. Mobile handheld terminals become prototypical future personal music players. They situate the listener in a wireless network space, helping him to define a personal musical sphere with respect to his architectural and social surroundings.
Type: inproceedings
Keywords: peer-to-peer, mobile, pda, ad-hoc, sharing, location
BibTeX entry
@INPROCEEDINGS { tanaka:04d, AUTHOR="Tanaka, A et al.", BOOKTITLE="Proceedings of International Computer Music Conference (ICMC)", ORGANIZATION="University of Miami", PUBLISHER="ICMA", TITLE="Enhancing Musical Experience through Proximal Interaction", YEAR="2004", }


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I am from Bangladesh and the state cannot provide beef for its inhabitants who number one hundred and forty million. On the other side of the border, India is a huge country and they do not eat beef and some states in India do not allow the Muslims to eat beef. Hence the demand for cattle in Bangladesh has led to a huge trade in smuggling the animals, because India does not sell cattle legally. Hence some people smuggle thousands of cattle to Bangladesh every day, and they pay bribes at the Indian border and at the Bangladeshi border for the purpose of smuggling.
My question is: 99% of the meat that is available – and the cows that are slaughtered on Eid – are smuggled illegally from India.
Is it permissible for us to eat the meat of cattle that come to us by means of bribery and smuggling?
There is no sin on you for buying beef in your country and eating it, even if smuggling is widespread, for the following reasons:
The basic principle is that it is permissible to eat meat that is sold in Muslim markets without asking or enquiring into its origin and source, on the grounds that what appears to be the case is that the meat is being sold in a permissible manner in a legitimate marketplace; so the Muslim should not concern himself with asking questions or examining details. The Mother of the Believers 'Aa'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that some people said: O Messenger of Allah, some people bring meat to us and we do not know whether they mentioned the name of Allah over it or not. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Say the name of Allah over it and eat it."
Narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh (2057).
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
We learn from this that everything that is found in the markets of the Muslims may be taken as legitimate.
End quote from Fath al-Baari (9/635).
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
(The scholars) were unanimously agreed that it is permissible to buy meat without asking for proof that it is halaal, being content with the word of the slaughterer and the seller.
End quote from I'laam al-Muwaqqi'een (2/181)
If we assume that there is something wrong, it only affects the one who is doing the smuggling and breaking the law. As for the buyer himself, he is not committing any sin or doing anything wrong, and he is not helping in any sin or transgression. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
"No person earns any (sin) except against himself (only), and no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another. Then unto your Lord is your return, so He will tell you that wherein you have been differing"
[al-An'aam 6:164].
Beef that has been slaughtered properly is halaal meat according to the consensus of the fuqaha', and it does not become haraam if it reaches the country by illegal means. The prohibition [on smuggling] does not apply to the meat itself, contrary to the case if the cow is slaughtered in a way that is not prescribed in Islam, such as if the name of Allah is not mentioned over it or it is slaughtered in a manner other than that used by the Muslims. In that case its meat is haraam. As for smuggling, the prohibition does not make the meat haraam; rather the wrongdoing in this case is limited to breaking the law of the land.
The fact that the people would suffer a great deal of hardship if a fatwa were to be issued forbidding them to buy this meat is sufficient evidence that it is permissible. According to what is mentioned in the question, the vast majority of the meat that is sold in the marketplaces comes from the smuggling mentioned. Moreover, there would be a huge rise in prices if this source of meat was banned. The basic shar'i principle on which there is scholarly consensus says that hardship makes it permissible to be lax in implementing shar'i rules.
To sum up:
Regardless of the laws of these countries and whether they allow the importing of cattle or not, and regardless of the extent to which that serves the interests of the people or not, none of that has any impact on the meat of these cattle, even if the consumer is certain that it comes from smuggled cattle.
And Allah knows best.


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- Calories 235
- Caloriesfromfat 26%
- Fat 6.7g
- Satfat 3.4g
- Monofat 2.5g
- Polyfat 0.3g
- Protein 3.2g
- Carbohydrate 40.9g
- Fiber 1g
- Cholesterol 18mg
- Iron 1.3mg
- Sodium 96mg
- Calcium 26mg
Brandied Apricot-Peach Pies
The honey-citrus notes of dried apricots enhance the frozen peaches in this baked version of the classic fried pie.
How to Make It
To prepare pies, combine first 6 ingredients in a medium saucepan; cook over medium heat 8 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Remove from heat. Add butter, stirring until butter melts. Stir in brandy and cornstarch. Cool slightly.
Working with 1 Sweet Cream Cheese Dough circle at a time, remove plastic wrap from dough. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Spoon about 2 tablespoons peach mixture into center of circle. Fold dough over filling; press edges together with a fork or fingers to seal. Place pie on a large baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Repeat procedure with remaining Sweet Cream Cheese Dough circles and remaining peach mixture. Freeze 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425°.
Remove pies from freezer. Pierce top of each pie once with a fork. Place baking sheet on bottom rack in oven. Bake at 425° for 18 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and filling is bubbly. Cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, stirring well. Drizzle evenly over pies.


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Plot Map
This book covers many places in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe. Have the students create a map of sorts that follows the progression and travels of the characters.
Dear Abby
Tell the students to write a letter of advice to one of the characters concerning a problem they have in the book. This letter should be similar to the kind of advice column that Dear Abby or Dr. Laura would write.
Pickwickian Society Essays
Have the students choose a random topic and write an essay similar to the ones that appeared in the Pickwickian Post. These topics can be drawn out of a hat or chosen by the students.
Chapter Titles
Split the class into groups and assign each group one of the chapters from the book. Have each group create a name and illustration for their assigned chapter. Allow some time for...
This section contains 697 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page)


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Lanting's work is commissioned frequently by National Geographic, where he served as a Photographer-in-Residence. His assignments have ranged from a first look at the fabled bonobos of the Congo to a unique circumnavigation by sailboat of South Georgia Island in the subantarctic. In a remote part of the upper Amazon Basin, he spent weeks on platform towers to obtain rare tree-canopy views of wild macaws. He has lived for months with seabirds on isolated atolls in the Pacific Ocean, followed lions through the African night, and camped among giant tortoises inside a volcano in the Galápagos.
Lanting did pioneering work in Madagascar, where he documented wildlife and tribal traditions never photographed before. His celebrated coverage of the Okavango Delta in National Geographic has been credited with inspiring a surge of international interest in wildlife and conservation in Botswana. His photo essays about rainforest ecology in Borneo, emperor penguins in Antarctica, and the troubled fate of puffins in the North Atlantic, have been featured in publications around the world. Images from his year-long odyssey to assess global biodiversity at the turn of the millennium filled an issue of National Geographic.
Lanting's work also includes profiles of ecological hot spots from India to New Zealand, as well as features on the majesty and plight of albatrosses, and a remarkable study of chimpanzees in Senegal that is shedding new light on human evolution.
In 2006, Lanting launched The LIFE Project, a lyrical interpretation of the history of life on Earth from the Big Bang to the present, as a book, an exhibition, an interactive website (www.LifeThroughTime.com), and a multimedia orchestral performance with music by Philip Glass. The symphonic version of LIFE premiered in Santa Cruz, California, in 2006 and has been touring North America and Europe ever since. ORIGINS, a new multimedia production based on LIFE, was performed in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2008, at the official ceremony to inaugurate CERN's Large Hadron Collider, the largest machine ever built to study the origins of the universe. LIFE was performed at the Lincoln Center in New York in 2009 to launch the World Science Festival and to honor the distinguished biologist Dr. E. O. Wilson, and in 2012 Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands attended a performance at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam during a gala event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the World Wildlife Fund.
Lanting's books have received awards and acclaim: "No one turns animals into art more completely than Frans Lanting," writes The New Yorker. His books include Life: A Journey Through Time (2006), Jungles (2000), Penguin (1999), Living Planet (1999), Eye to Eye (1997), Bonobo (1997), Okavango: Africa's Last Eden (1993, 2013), Forgotten Edens (1993), Madagascar, A World Out of Time (1990), Islands of the West (1986), and Feathers (1982). In 2000, his book Eye to Eye was named by National Public Radio-KQED as one of the 50 most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century.
Lanting has received many honors and awards for his work. In 2001 H.R.H. Prince Bernhard inducted him as a Knight in the Royal Order of the Golden Ark, the Netherlands' highest conservation honor. He has received top honors from World Press Photo, the title of BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and the Sierra Club's Ansel Adams Award. Lanting has been honored as a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in London and is a recipient of Sweden's Lennart Nilsson Award. In 2012 he was appointed as an Ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund Netherlands.
Lanting's mission is to use photography to help create leverage for conservation efforts ranging from local initiatives to global campaigns, through his publications, alliances, public appearances, and active support of environmental organizations. He serves on the National Council of the World Wildlife Fund, on the Chairman's Council of Conservation International, and on the International Board of WildAid. Lanting is a Trustee of the Foundation Board of the University of California Santa Cruz, and is an honorary Director of the Friends of Long Marine Lab. He is a columnist for Outdoor Photographer, a co-founder of the North American Nature Photographers Association (NANPA), and a Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP).
Frans Lanting makes his home in Santa Cruz, California, with his wife and partner, Chris Eckstrom, an editor, videographer, and former staff writer at National Geographic with whom he collaborates on fieldwork and publishing projects.


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Professional Post Production for Model Photography
Learn how to edit your photographs to give them that magic touch seen in the magazines. This article is a continuation of a case study tutorial on: Professional Lighting for Model Photography.
Learn how to edit your photographs to give them that magic touch seen in the magazines. This article is a continuation of a case study tutorial on: Professional Lighting for Model Photography.
This case study shows how lighting was manipulated to create the perfect environment for a fashion photoshoot.
This post describes some basic tips to improve the quality of wildlife photography. Anyone interested in capturing more compelling images of animals will find it useful in furthering the development of their skills.
Don't find yourself in a situation where you could face legal action. Understand your rights, and your responsibilities as a photographer, as well as the importance of Model Releases.
Running into problems when taking photographs over, and over again? Here's a handy guide that will help you troubleshoot your problems, and improve your shots all at once!
The Crop Factor is a term that can be heard quite often in the world of digital photography. What does it mean that a camera has a crop factor of 1.6x and how does it affect your focal length? We try to untangle this issue and describe it as clearly as possible.
Camera bags can be one of the most difficult pieces of equipment to choose. No camera bag is made to fit every occasion so I will here talk about some different types of bags and cover a few points to consider.
Photography is all about preparation. Instead of running into problems when you're out shooting, understand some easy ways of tackling the more common problems you may run into!
Infrared photography looks like nothing else. I'm sure you've seen some IR photos around the web, but maybe you don't know how to achieve this special effect? Look no further, here's a guide on what to think about when choosing your object, how to shoot and what to do in post-production.


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Let's say you get a bunch of inexpensive (but a bit outdated) routers (36XX or 72Xx) and some really nice (maybe not so cheap) Cisco switches (e.g. 3550/3560) and you would like to provide a VPLS-like service to your customers. Since VPLS is a service available only on more powerful Cisco platforms, we have to figure a way to simulate Multipoint Ethernet L2 VPN over a packet switching network (PSN) using only "convenient" point-to-point L2 VPN services.
Let model a situation where we have a number of routers connected over (PSN), with an ethernet switch connected to router at every location:
What we can do, is connect ethernet ports using pseudowires to form a virtual ring topology over PSN. That is, refeferring to our picture, xconnect routers' ethernet ports counter-clockwise, say xconnect E0/0 of R3 with E0/1 of R4, then E0/0 of R4 with E0/1 of R5 and finally E0/0 of R5 with E0/1 of R3. Effectively, we will form an ethernet ring, partially connected over convenient switches, and partially using L2VPN pseudowires. Router configurations look pretty much similar, for example at R3 we would have something like this
R3: pseudowire-class PW_CLASS encapsulation l2tpv3 ip local interface Loopback0 ! interface Loopback0 ip address 22.214.171.124 255.255.255.255 ! ! Xconnecting E0/0 of R3 with E0/1 of R4 ! interface Ethernet0/0 no ip address xconnect 184.108.40.206 34 encapsulation l2tpv3 pw-class PW_CLASS ! ! Xconnecting E0/1 of R3 with E0/0 of R5 ! interface Ethernet0/1 no ip address xconnect 220.127.116.11 35 pw-class PW_CLASS ! ! Frame-Relay is used to connect to other routers (PSN network) ! interface Serial1/0 no ip address encapsulation frame-relay ! interface Serial1/0.34 point-to-point ip address 220.127.116.11 255.255.255.0 frame-relay interface-dlci 304 ! interface Serial1/0.35 point-to-point ip address 184.108.40.206 255.255.255.0 frame-relay interface-dlci 305 ! ! OSPF is used as a sample IGP ! router ospf 1 router-id 22.214.171.124 log-adjacency-changes network 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.255 area 0
Speaking honestly, it's not "classic" VPLS in true sense:
Firstly, STP should be running over ring topology, in order to block redundant ports. One can use star topology and disable STP, but this will introduce a single point of failure into the network. Classic VPLS does not run STP over packet core, only a full-mesh of pseudowires.
Secondly, there is no MAC-address learning for pseudowires, since they are point-to-point in essense. MAC addresses are learned by switches, and this impose a usual scalability restriction (though cisco switches may allow you to scale to a few thousands of MAC addresses in their tables).
However, this is funny and simple example of how you can use a simple concept to come up with a more complicated solution.
About Petr Lapukhov, 4xCCIE/CCDE:
Petr Lapukhov's career in IT begain in 1988 with a focus on computer programming, and progressed into networking with his first exposure to Novell NetWare in 1991. Initially involved with Kazan State University's campus network support and UNIX system administration, he went through the path of becoming a networking consultant, taking part in many network deployment projects. Petr currently has over 12 years of experience working in the Cisco networking field, and is the only person in the world to have obtained four CCIEs in under two years, passing each on his first attempt. Petr is an exceptional case in that he has been working with all of the technologies covered in his four CCIE tracks (R&S, Security, SP, and Voice) on a daily basis for many years. When not actively teaching classes, developing self-paced products, studying for the CCDE Practical & the CCIE Storage Lab Exam, and completing his PhD in Applied Mathematics.
Find all posts by Petr Lapukhov, 4xCCIE/CCDE | Visit Website
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2 Responses to "Poor Man's VPLS"
Thanks Petr, this has got to be the clearest example of l2tpv3 I have ever read. Regarding the scalability, I guess that the number of MAC addresses would be dictated by the amount of memory on the switch?
[...] Poor Man's VPLS | CCIE Blog. [...]
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The last of our DC Comics-Filmation shorts from Sesame Street features Superman. As Jughead covered the letter "J", Superman does the same with the letter "S". Here's the clip:
It's been noted that the voice of Superman heard here is that of Len Weinrib, whose voice-over credits include H. R. Pufnstuf, Inch High Private Eye, Doctor Doolittle, and being the original voice of Scrappy-Doo. Clayton "Bud" Collyer, who'd essayed the role of Superman beginning in the Golden Age, passed away in 1969, right before Sesame launched. Weinrib did his best to replicate Collyer's distinctive vocal style for the Man of Steel, enough where fans might've been easily fooled.
Rating: A.


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In a global health report that speaks as much to the powerlessness of women as it does to the diseases that are killing them, the World Health Organization said this week that the leading cause of death for girls and women aged 15 to 44 is now AIDS. The report also found that in poor countries, unsafe sex and lack of contraception is the single leading risk factor for death and disability, resulting in unsafe abortion and range of infections including HIV. Domestic violence poses an additional risk to sexual and reproductive health.
Studies like the WHO report highlight the critical intersections between women's disempowerment and health outcomes–issues the United Nations desperately needs to focus on. But for more than five years, the UN has been dancing around a proposal to create a high-powered, well-financed agency for the world's women. In a last-minute decision in September, before the start of a new UN year, the final session of last year's General Assembly approved the step in principle. But nothing concrete has happened since, and there are plenty of UN members willing to stall implementation, at least into next year.
Progressives may well ask, Didn't the idea of ghettoizing women's issues go out with newspapers' women's pages? That was also the theory around the United Nations, where for decades the buzzword was "mainstreaming," meaning that women would be factored into all the work of the organization. As it turned out, a majority of nations among the UN's 192 members never took seriously the concept of mainstreaming female sexual and reproductive health and rights in development, though the status of women is widely acknowledged to be critical to progress on many fronts from the economy to the environment.
No mention of reproductive rights, aside from maternal health, appears in the Millennium Development Goals, the eight-point plan for reducing poverty and disease worldwide. Ever since the 1994 UN Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, a relentless Vatican campaign aligned with a claque of nations–among them some in which women most need good reproductive healthcare and rights of all kinds–continues to scaremonger. In its sloganeering, gender equality and sexual/reproductive rights become code words for abortion, feminism and lesbianism.
The debate over gender rights exposes deep fissures in the UN system. One of them is the divide between the expert UN agencies, bodies staffed largely by professionals, and the majority-rules General Assembly, which can box in the international civil servants of the Secretariat and constrain even a secretary general. In the weeks before he resigned in 2006, Kofi Annan tried to jump-start the creation of the new women's agency and was slapped down by member governments. (Among the opponents at the time were large and important nations such as the United States and India.)
Annan's successor, Ban Ki-moon, got the message and shied away from action when he took office at the beginning of 2007, turning the issue over to the Assembly, a surefire way to stall something innovative. Does this sound like the American healthcare debate?


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Open Thread: Friends and Family and Everyone Else
Here's a place to talk about the relationships in your life whenever you want.
In the world of online dating, there tends to be a bit of a skew in terms of who writes whom. Women usually get a lot of responses, sometimes feeling overwhelmed and harassed, which can make them reluctant to sign up and participate. Tadashi Takaoka and a partner came up with a solution, and yet another entry in the xoJane Worst Portmanteau Ever Competition: The Supermanket.
This is a heterosexual dating site where men sign up as "products," rather than people, providing a quick rundown of their characteristics for the "shoppers," the women using the site. People can choose from flavor, packaging and bonus pack, allowing users to define themselves as, say, otaku artist non-smokers or casual muscular sportsmen. The shoppers can then, uh, browse the shelves to see if any "products" interest them, and if a gent catches their eye, they can initiate contact.
For users of the Supermanket, the idea is that women are in full control. They express interest in the men they think might be fun to meet, and the men can choose to return the contact if they want. No more unsolicited messages (although aren't those kind of the point of dating sites?) and no harassment, because men quite simply can't send messages to women who haven't initiated contact.
Which, on the surface, is a model I actually kind of dig. There are a lot of dating sites in the world and I think it's great for people to have a lot of options to choose from in terms of how they're set up. For heterosexuals who find the approach of letting women take charge appealing, the idea of a site where only women can initiate contact is pretty cool; I feel like some women might be more comfortable signing up for that service and putting themselves out there than they might be with conventional dating sites, where users can sometimes feel very exposed.
Buuuuuut, and there's always a but, I find this branding kind of gross.
On the one hand, it's cheeky and cute. I get that it's supposed to be funny and a bit quirky, because the site needs a gimmick to drive it. This is a heavily saturated market, which means you need a lot to stand out from the crowd. In Chile, where the site launched, it attracted 5,000 users within two months, indicating that there's definitely an interest in it. But I feel rather uncomfortable with the idea of treating human beings as products, even when they are doing so voluntarily in the interest of finding dates.
The premise of the site is based on the idea that people can be thought of as things, able to be neatly categorized and packaged for sale, and that disturbs me. We already are viewed as products, in so many cases; women are objectified and treated as things for public consumption, bodies represent demographics and marketing advantage in numerous industries, and especially with social media, "users" are quite literally the product of the service, no matter what they think about who is in control. Treating human beings as objects that can be bar coded, bought and sold is not okay.
Usually it's women who are treated like products, without consent, and it's important to talk about that. While I sort of like the idea of turning ideas about bodies for consumption on their heads, this is not a case where some serious pondering of social attitudes is occurring; which is a pity, because as a dramatic statement project, it could be really interesting. But the Supermanket isn't about having that conversation, at all. It's about marketing and establishing a user base for profits, using a quirky premise to drive interest.
Here's the rub (so to speak) here; we're all well aware that these men are actively choosing to, uh, package themselves this way. If they don't want to be treated as products, they can close their accounts and go back to being the ones in control. It's easy for them to walk away and opt out of the market setting if they don't feel comfortable. So it's not really a meaningful equivalent, at all; they're experiencing this as a microcosm that's ultimately totally within their control, unlike women, who are commodified and treated like objects every day.
Do you love or hate this idea?
Image credit: Scinern.
Thanks...I think...to my friend Stef for pointing me at this. I love it when people send me things to goggle over in a state of utter perplexity!