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Cutting-Edge Philanthropy: 21st Century Ways IT Is Giving Back
The holidays are the time of year when philanthropic organizations of all kinds -- from local food banks and winter coat drives to global efforts to reduce hunger -- can count on the spirit of giving to kick in. Many of us feel inspired to open our wallets to help those less fortunate and support charitable causes as we celebrate the season. In fact, Americans are a pretty generous lot overall, giving about $218 billion last year to charities, according to the "Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy."
But what do the big IT companies -- and IT CEOs and entrepreneurs -- do to give back? Are they using their wealth to help others or are they just squirreling it away? Is the industry filled with Santas or Scrooges?
As it turns out, a lot of tech companies make philanthropy a big part of what they do. They donate their technology, their employees donate time and expertise, and they give cash donations to a variety of causes in the U.S. and abroad, including efforts to address educational, health care and environmental problems. And some tech leaders have made a name for themselves in the world of philanthropy, most notably Microsoft's Bill Gates.
[Related: Channel Charity: Holiday Philanthropy From Solution Providers ]
In 2010, Gates and his wife, Melinda, together with renowned investor Warren Buffett, established the Giving Pledge to encourage the wealthiest Americans to commit to giving the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes. The 93 billionaire families who have signed the pledge include Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff; even Oracle CEO Larry Ellison joined, perhaps to the surprise of some.
Glasspockets.org, a website created by the Foundation Center, a New York-based organization that tracks philanthropy, profiled the pledge signers and mapped out the sources of their wealth. Twenty-four percent are from the technology services and software sector. Banking and investment was the top industry represented, at 29 percent.
"If this was done 50 years ago, you would have seen most of the wealth coming from industrial manufacturing, energy and mining," said Bradford Smith, president of the Foundation Center. "That's a tremendous shift -- the source of wealth that's coming into philanthropy is coming out of technology and finance."
But true to their innovative nature, IT entrepreneurs and companies aren't content with old styles of philanthropy. Throughout the tech sector, you'll find disdain for "checkbook philanthropy," and a penchant for innovative giving that tries to address social issues over the long term.
"In general companies are no longer writing checks and sponsoring a function. Instead, they are thinking about how to best invest in the community," said Jackie Norris, executive director of the Points of Light Corporate Institute, which provides resources and consulting services to companies on community services initiatives. "Tech companies have been on the cutting edge for quite some time."
NEXT: Shunning Old Models At IBM, corporate philanthropy focuses on the idea that companies should move beyond "spare change to real change," said Stanley Litow, IBM vice president of corporate citizenship and corporate affairs and president of IBM's Foundation. The idea was advanced by Rosabeth Moss Kanter of the Harvard Business School, who wrote in 1999 of the need for companies to do more than throw money at social problems and instead take nontraditional approaches that lead to sustainable change in communities.
"A company should think about what it has that it could contribute that is more valuable than its excess cash," Litow said. "For IBM, that's our innovation, our technology and our talent."
For example, IBM created its World Community Grid, which pools surplus processing power from individual computers into a massive computing system that is used for scientific research such as studies on malaria or clean water. The company also established a program called Reading Companion, which uses IBM voice-recognition technology to help children and adults learn to read. Last year, it helped teach 212,000 children, Litow said.
Both projects are examples of devoting resources to finding long-term solutions to large-scale problems, Litow said. "Investing in this isn't checkbook philanthropy."
IBM also has programs to get its employees involved in philanthropic efforts, which Litow said helps IBM build their skills and retain top talent. The Corporate Service Corps, for example, sends teams of top leaders in the company to countries around the world to address social and economic problems. One team came up with a management structure behind a program to provide free health care to poor women and children in a province in Nigeria. The IBM Smarter Cities Challenge teams IBM employees to work on urban problems such as services for disadvantaged youth in North Carolina and a transportation strategy in Nairobi. Last year, IBM employees donated 3.2 million hours worldwide.
"Money from a corporation or private foundation is never going to be enough to solve a problem," said Litow, who previously served as deputy chancellor of the New York City Public Schools. "What people really need is the best talent, skills and innovation to be able to think in a serious way about a sustainable, long-term approach to a problem."
Kathleen McCarthy, founding director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (CPCS) -- part of the Graduate Center of The City University of New York -- said philanthropy in the IT sector runs from the "more plain vanilla" older foundations like the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation that focus on giving money to leading educational and cultural institutions to Google's cutting-edge efforts to help educate girls in developing countries. Gates also has taken public-private partnerships to a new level in philanthropy, she said.
"You have this whole kaleidoscope of activities that are all over the map," McCarthy said. Innovation is something you'd expect from IT leaders, she added.
"Because they reach into folks' homes in ways earlier businesses didn't, you'd expect them to come up with something that's different and calibrated to the 21st century," she said.
Wendy Hawkins, executive director of the Intel Foundation, said philanthropy in the IT industry typically eschews the traditional model of corporate giving in which a company simply throws a check at a nonprofit program. Instead, Intel finds partners that fit with its philosophy and develops programs with them, she said.
"We do almost all our philanthropy with public-private partnerships involving government and educational institutions as well as nonprofits," she said. "The high-tech industry in general is involved in a lot of innovative philanthropic practices."
NEXT: Priority On Education Intel's total charitable contributions will total $110 million this year, including $45 million from its foundation, Hawkins said. Like the rest of the technology industry, Intel applies much of its innovative approach to philanthropy for educational efforts, particularly in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. When the Intel Foundation formed in 1988, its educational focus was making sure there was a workforce it could hire from, Hawkins said. Today that mission has expanded far beyond the U.S. and higher education in engineering.
"Now it's K-12 and global and focuses on not only an educated workforce for Intel but the entire high-tech ecosystem and an educated populace that can understand and use the technology we make, and can hold down the jobs that will allow people to afford technology and ensure people have the education that will allow them to live lives so all of us can thrive," Hawkins said.
One of Intel's educational programs is Intel Teach, which instructs K-12 teachers how to use technology effectively in their classrooms. Since its inception in 2000, the program has trained more than 13 million teachers around the world.
According to the 2012 Giving in Numbers report, an analysis of 2011 corporate giving by 214 top companies showed that 40 percent of the IT industry's giving goes to education, levels K-12 and higher.
"That's over 10 percent higher than what's typical [across all industries]," said Margaret Coady, director of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP), which conducts the survey that feeds the report.
"The tech companies are really thinking holistically about, 'What do we have to give?' " she said. "We want to make cash grants, but we could also provide some training on cutting-edge technologies and not just donate products for the classrooms but teaching teachers how to use them. ... They're equipping classrooms to teach kids to have the skills for the 21st century."
What she likes about the Intel Teach program, Coady said, is that it takes a comprehensive approach. "It's about professional development, curriculum, policies and equipment in the classrooms and saying, 'How can we be more complete partners in the drive to prepare kids for the future?' "
Microsoft also takes a holistic approach to educational philanthropy, Coady said, citing the company's relatively new YouthSpark program. According to a Microsoft spokesperson, the software giant is committing the majority of its corporate cash giving to support nonprofits that serve youth by providing them with technology and business training to help them pursue additional education, obtain employment or start a new business or social venture.
YouthSpark aims to bridge the global "opportunity divide" -- the gap between young people who are prospering and those who lack the skills, education and experience to be successful. The program includes a student technology competition and a micro-giving portal, where youths can post projects and donors can provide seed funding.
In addition to the educational focus, the tech industry's philanthropy is often more international than other industries, Intel's Hawkins noted. According to the 2012 Giving in Numbers report, 23 percent of the total giving by the technology companies in the study was international. The energy industry had the highest percentage at 26 percent.
NEXT: Starting Young At the individual level, giving in the IT industry also leans toward finding innovative approaches to educational and other causes, oftentimes beyond U.S. borders. IT entrepreneurs also bring a youth that philanthropy hasn't traditionally seen from corporate leaders.
Philanthropists from previous generations such as industrialist Andrew Carnegie turned to philanthropy after successful careers, noted the Foundation Center's Smith. In the tech industry, entrepreneurs such as Facebook's Zuckerberg are accumulating wealth at a young age but not waiting until their careers are over to give back.
"In the tech world, we're seeing people in their late 20s, 30s or early 40s saying, 'I transformed the way people network and use technology. What will I do next?' " Smith said. "A lot are turning to philanthropy."
Coady from the CEPC said the Giving Pledge has been "game-changing" in how people understand the concept of legacy.
"Legacy is something that has an association with what you leave behind after you're gone," she said. "Buffett and Gates are challenging some of the most financially fortunate people to consider this: What if we shifted the time horizon of legacy and thought about it as what we're leaving behind right this minute."
A lot of people in the tech sector have come into their wealth at a time when this concept is gaining traction, Coady said.
Salesforce.com's Benioff has been a leader in encouraging young entrepreneurs to bake philanthropic values into companies from the start, she said. When Benioff founded the cloud computing company, he made a commitment to a 1/1/1 model of corporate philanthropy by donating 1 percent of equity, 1 percent of profit in the form of product donations, and 1 percent of employee time to charity.
"Benioff has been a mentor to a lot of entrepreneurs in helping them wrap their heads around that idea -- when you start a company, you're also starting a relationship with society and you should think about that as much as anything else in your business plan," Coady said.
Over its 12 years, the Salesforce.com Foundation has donated about 360,000 hours of community service, provided its product for free or at steep discounts to more than 16,000 nonprofits and awarded $40 million in grants.
Barbara Kibbe, chief operating officer at the Salesforce.com Foundation, said the 1/1/1 model was easy in the company's early days since it had no employees, profit or equity, but has grown to be much more than 1 percent. Today the San Francisco-based company has more than 8,000 employees and makes nearly $3 billion in revenue.
Employees have the opportunity to donate six days of paid time off to a charity of their choice, and those who use all six days earn the opportunity to make a foundation-funded grant to their charity. "Volunteer time is important," Kibbe said. "It's part of the culture."
Salesforce.com gives 10 licenses for free to any legitimate nonprofit; if the organization needs more, the company sells the cloud service at a 74 percent discount.
Matching employee giving -- up to $5,000 per employee -- is a big part of Salesforce.com's cash grant program, Kibbe said. The company also provides grants to nonprofits that innovate on the Salesforce.com platform and share their work with other nonprofits. For example, the Family Services Agency of San Francisco created a case management system that is mobile and compliant with federal privacy health-care rules, she said.
Earlier this year, the Salesforce.com Foundation said that it will donate $10 million over the next five years to projects that improve the lives of children and families in a disadvantaged area of San Francisco.
Of course, not everyone in the industry has such a public reputation for being philanthropic. Apple, for instance, has long been criticized as a laggard when it comes to giving to charitable causes. However, a report earlier this year indicated that CEO Tim Cook has instituted a charitable matching program for employees and, in an internal meeting, talked up Apple's contributions to Stanford University hospitals and the (RED) fight against AIDS in Africa.
While Stephen Vogelpohol, CEO of SocialGood.TV, said he was encouraged by the report of Apple's philanthropic efforts, he added, "I think they have a long way to go." Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
And while Zuckerberg has donated $100 million to improve the public school system in Newark, N.J., one corporate social responsibility expert questioned his company's charitable efforts.
"What are Facebook employees doing? How is Facebook, the platform, being used as a tool for good?" the expert said. "The question becomes: Are companies devoting the same energy and vigor to help solve social problems as they are about making money?"
Facebook could not be immediately reached for comment. The company recently added functionality on its Facebook Gifts feature that allows users to make charitable contributions to its nonprofit partners.
NEXT: Investing For A Social Return Some IT entrepreneurs, however, are breaking new ground in charitable work. Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, and others like him have helped reshape traditional philanthropy, said Smith of the Foundation Center.
"We're seeing in their philanthropy an attempt to remake or advance the field of philanthropy to be not just about making grants but thinking more in a framework of social investment," Smith said.
In 2004, Omidyar and his wife founded the Omidyar Network, which describes itself as a philanthropic investment firm. The organization supports both for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations to further its mission of economic and social improvement. So far, the Omidyar Network has committed $545 million to various projects, including $248 million invested in for-profit companies and $297 million donated to nonprofits.
"Omidyar Network is structured to support the notion that philanthropy is more than a type of funding. In its truest sense, philanthropy is about improving the lives of others, independent of the mechanism," the organization states on its website.
Last year, the organization teamed with a venture capital firm to lead $13.75 million in financing to a Mexican provider of mobile telephony services to low-income populations in Mexico. "You're not going to fund a nonprofit to build a cell network. You need a cell phone company to extend a network," Smith said.
Another organization that takes a different approach to philanthropy is based in the heart of the technology industry, the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2). Organization members -- called "partners" -- pool together their individual annual donations of $5,000 or more and award the funds to cutting-edge nonprofits in education, health, environmental sustainability and international development. Partners, who come from a variety of industries including technology, also provide their skills and expertise to help the nonprofits, said Holly Goodliffe, SV2 director of communications and training.
"It's a great way for individuals to bring their skills to the table," she said.
SV2 was founded by Laura Arrillaga‐Andreessen, wife of IT entrepreneur Marc Andreessen, in 1998. She wanted philanthropy to be "something you can engage in in a meaningful way earlier in your career and not wait until you're retired," Goodliffe said.
"When they first come to us, partners have great skills but don't know how that translates to the nonprofit world," Goodliffe said. "We specialize in being able to make those connections."
Smith said venture philanthropy, which takes a venture capital approach by pooling resources and aims for a social return on investment, is interesting but works for some issues better than others. Some issues such as violence against women and children can't be addressed by a market solution, he said.
Overall, one major influence the IT industry could have on philanthropy is decentralization, the CPCS' McCarthy said. Previous philanthropists such as Carnegie built tangible, centralized institutions such as universities and museums.
"In the 21st century, everything is so decentralized because of the democratizing effect of the IT industry," she said. "So that's where they have the potential to make the biggest impact -- thinking about how do you decentralize philanthropy."
While the broad range of philanthropic activity in the technology industry makes it hard to pin down, its sum total is so huge that it's taking philanthropy to a new level, McCarthy said. "In that respect, we may see the beginning of a new era of big philanthropy that will take it to a previously unimagined scale."
EDITOR'S NOTE: On May 1-2, 2013, in Anaheim, Calif., Business4Better will bring together 2,000 business executives from midsize companies who want to establish corporate philanthropic programs. CRN's parent company, UBM, also will offer free exhibitor space, signage and marketing services to 200 nonprofits who will be exhibiting at the show looking to create partnerships with midsize private sector companies. The goal of the conference is to bring together midsize businesses and nonprofits with a mission to create successful partnerships. If you are interested in creating a philanthropic program or are interested in the conference, please check it out at business4better.org or email UBM Channel Senior Vice President, Editorial Director Kelley Damore.

subset: commoncrawl


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WASHINGTON — Three years ago, the Supreme Court warned there could be constitutional problems with a landmark civil rights law that has opened voting booths to millions of African-Americans. Now, opponents of a key part of the Voting Rights Act are asking the high court to finish off that provision.
SEE ALSO: 'Childish' White People Think Colin Powell's Obama Endorsement Based On Race
The basic question is whether state and local governments that once boasted of their racial discrimination still can be forced in the 21st century to get federal permission before making changes in the way they hold elections.
Some of the governments covered – most of them are in the South – argue they have turned away from racial discrimination over the years. But Congress and lower courts that have looked at recent challenges to the law concluded that a history of discrimination and more recent efforts to harm minority voters justify continuing federal oversight.
SEE ALSO: Romney Adviser Back Pedals From Colin Powell Endorsed Obama Due To Race Comments
The Supreme Court could say as early as Monday whether it will consider ending the Voting Rights Act's advance approval requirement that has been held up as a crown jewel of the civil rights era.
The justices sidestepped this very issue in a case from Texas in 2009. In an opinion joined by eight justices, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote then that the issue of advance approval "is a difficult constitutional question we do not answer today."
Since then, Congress has not addressed potential problems identified by the court. Meanwhile, the law's opponents sensed its vulnerability and filed several new lawsuits.
The advance approval, or preclearance requirement, was adopted in the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to give federal officials a potent tool to defeat persistent efforts to keep blacks from voting.
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The provision was a huge success, and Congress periodically has renewed it over the years. The most recent occasion was in 2006, when a Republican-led Congress overwhelmingly approved and President George W. Bush signed a 25-year extension.
The requirement currently applies to the states of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. It also covers certain counties in California, Florida, New York, North Carolina and South Dakota, and some local jurisdictions in Michigan and New Hampshire. Coverage has been triggered by past discrimination not only against blacks, but also against American Indians, Asian-Americans, Alaskan Natives and Hispanics.
Before these locations can change their voting rules, they must get approval either from the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division or from the federal district court in Washington that the new rules won't discriminate.
Congress compiled a 15,000-page record and documented hundreds of instances of apparent voting discrimination in the states covered by the law dating to 1982, the last time it had been extended.
Among the incidents in the congressional record:
-In 1998, Webster County, Ga., tried to reduce the black population in several school board districts after citizens elected a majority-black school board for the first time.
-In 2001, Kilmichael, Miss., canceled an election when a large number of African-American candidates sought local office following 2000 census results that showed blacks had become the majority in the city.
-In 2004, Waller County, Texas, sought to limit early voting near a historically black college and threatened to prosecute students for illegal voting after two black students said they would run for office.
But in 2009, Roberts indicated the court was troubled about the ongoing need for a law in the face of dramatically improved conditions, including increased minority voter registration and turnout rates. Roberts attributed part of the change to the law itself. "Past success alone, however, is not adequate justification to retain the preclearance requirements," he said.
He also raised concern that the formula by which states are covered relies on data that is now 40 years old. By some measures, states covered by the law were outperforming some that were not.
Jurisdictions required to obtain preclearance were chosen based on whether they had a test restricting the opportunity to register or vote and whether they had a voter registration or turnout rate below 50 percent.
In the federal court of appeals in the District of Columbia, Circuit Judge Stephen Williams objected that the law specifies that these criteria are measured by what happened in elections several decades ago. But writing for a majority that upheld preclearance, Circuit Judge David Tatel said the question is not whether old data is being used, but whether it helps identify jurisdictions with the worst discrimination problems. "If it does, then even though the formula rests on decades-old factors, the statute is rational," Tatel said.
Shelby County, Ala., a well-to-do, mostly white bedroom community near Birmingham, adopted Roberts' arguments in its effort to have the voting rights provision declared unconstitutional, but lost in the lower courts. The county's appeal is among those being weighed by the high court.
Yet just a few years earlier, a city of nearly 12,000 people in Shelby County defied the voting rights law and prompted the intervention of the Bush Justice Department.
Ernest Montgomery became the only black member of the five-person Calera City Council in 2004, winning in a district that was almost 71 percent black. The city redrew its district lines in 2006 after new subdivisions and retail developments sprang up in the area Montgomery represented, and the change left Montgomery's District 2 with a population that was only 23 percent black.
Running against a white opponent in the now mostly white district, Montgomery narrowly lost a re-election bid in 2008. The Justice Department invalidated the election result because the city had failed to obtain advance approval of the new districts.
A lifelong resident of Calera and a church deacon, the 56-year-old Montgomery said he doesn't know whether discrimination was involved in the redistricting decision six years ago. But, he said, discrimination still exists and the law is still needed.
"I think things have gotten a lot more leveled out, but we're not to the point we need," he said.
High Court To Rule On Key Voting Rghts Act Provision was originally published on newsone.com


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Most of what Toyota builds is "product." Very good product, to be sure, but—from the Camry to the RAV4 and even the out-there Prius—Toyotas are mainstream: solid and reliable, nearly invisible and generally non-aspirational.
We don't lust after a Toyota; we buy them by the millions because we need Toyotas to get through life.
Toyota FR-S, as in Front-engine, Rear-drive Sport, a brand-new niche vehicle that was jointly hatched by Toyota and Subaru.
Maybe to distance itself from such a fringe item, Toyota sells its version of the car as a Scion, the brand it invented for Gen-Y types who don't see themselves as boring old Toyota owners.
(The plan is, Get 'em young with Scion, then move 'em into a Toyota when the offspring arrive, with Lexus waiting as the prize for career success.)
Subaru owners who look under the hood of an FR-S will find a familiar flat-four engine, its cylinders set horizontally, two on each side, instead of in a vee or an upright row. Such a low-profile "boxer" motor helps drop a car's mass toward the pavement, which improves the handling. This one is tuned for 200 horsepower and 151 lb-ft of torque—which may not be all the power we think we want, but in a car that weighs only about 2,800 pounds, it's plenty.
Another benefit of light weight is economy. After a day of whooping around on corkscrew back roads, we were astonished to find that we'd averaged 28 miles per gallon of gas. (Toyota claims as much as 34 MPG on the highway.) We also realized that the FR-S could handle more power without getting twisted out of shape or over-running its excellent brakes. So it's just a matter of time before one or both makers sticks a turbocharger onto this motor and offers an uprated "R" model.
Our FR-S came with the optional 6-speed automatic. Say what you want about slushboxes in sports cars, but this is a good one. It has three settings—snow, normal and sport—and can be shifted manually with the stick or with paddles on the steering wheel. As an automatic, it's rarely in the wrong gear; in M mode, it doggedly holds each gear until the driver calls for the next one, and a rev-matching blip of the throttle comes with each downshift. The quick, high-effort steering wants both hands on the wheel, so the paddles are useful. Just pretend it's a sequential racing transmission—or get the 6-speed manual gearbox and learn to use a clutch.
As one might expect, the FR-S's ride is hard—we feel every ripple in the pavement—but it is reasonably composed, so potholes don't knock us unconscious. The payoff comes in sharp turn-in, lots of control through fast corners, and occasional feelings of heady self-congratulation.
One might also expect mild claustrophobia, but the cabin turns out to be comfortably wide, deep and roomy, at least up front. There are back "seats," complete with belts, but at best they are padded repositories for your tablet and your lunch. Fold down the rear seatbacks, however, and a snowboard fits under the trunklid.
Just like boring cars, modern sports cars have to meet all sorts of safety standards, so tell your parents that the FR-S is stuffed with airbags and all the electronic nannies—ABS, VSC, TRAC, EBD, BA, SST at al.—found in Mom's Camry. They're there when we need them and unobtrusive otherwise (and if you wish to indulge in anti-social behavior, the stability control can be switched off). The FR-S is also quite up-to-date in other ways, with features like LED tail lights, halogen reflector headlamps and all the hands-free connectivity stuff that you Gen-Yers can't live without.
Whatever your definition of a sports car—front-engine, mid-engine, rear drive, clutch or clutchless, hardtop or softtop—there is one thing that a sports car absolutely must deliver: that sense of being hard-wired directly to your butt. After many gratifying miles in the FR-S, I believe a small portion of my jeans is still stuck to the driver's seat, and not just because of the clingy upholstery in those form-fitting buckets. The FR-S is a proper sports car—even if it is a Toyota (or a Subaru).


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So that's that. QUITE THE BUSY WEEKEND INDEED.
Oh, and Hanukkah! Happy Hanukkah, fellow Jews!
This is one of the dresses from the Rodarte for Target collection, worn last week I think? And since this dress was inspired by Rosemary's Baby, I tried to style my hair like Mia Farrow like I used to when it was shorter. And by "style" I mean "not clip my bangs to the side with some type of butterfly hairclip from the 90's." Beauty is hard work, I'LL TELL YA.I didn't realize it until I actually was wearing it but the silhouette of the bottom of the dress is a lot like the flowery ones from Rodarte SS07. This picture is from their studio in LA when we were trying to put together a look for the MOCA event ("I don't rely on mirrors, so I always take polaroids!" Or in this case, digital, lameeee) but I don't think it shows the bottom very well, herm.
Well, it's not like if I don't have a good picture of the bottom of the Rodarte flowery dress from SS07 anyone will DIE, or anything. This is my new excuse for my laziness: WELL, IT'S NOT LIKE I'LL DIE IF I DON'T [insert something having to do with medicine, turning off stoves, making sure our numerous tractors aren't roaming around our house sans supervision.] Well, that and: I WAS JUST IN TOKYO A FEW WEEKS AGO SO I'M KIND OF OUT OF IT. This one I will keep using for a few months, I'm sure it'll still work by May, right?
And on the back of the dress, my weakness: REDDI WHIP. Wait, no, my other weakness: REBA MARATHONS. Wait, no, my other other weakness: BOWS.
Allllsooo, because of that new law, I am supposed to let you know that I receieved compensation and pieces from the Rodarte for Target collection for my collaboration with Target.
Once I was home from school the day I wore this all plain I actually tried a more interesting outfit.
I need, need, need, need, NEED to just start waking up earlier. I miss being creative! Oh farts.
Rodarte for Target dress, blue dress kind of showing underneath, and denim jacket. Random buttons. Vintage belt and yellow necklace. Other necklace, hat, and ring from Monsoon Accessorize. Celeste Stein tights via mytights.com. Comme des Garcons shoes.
Inspired by this spread from the P.Y.T. issue of i-D this past September:
So basically, mixing blue, orange, yellow...a little red, a little black. And animal print. Argh such good styling.
Details, etc etc. The hat is EPIC and has peaccok feathers embroidered on using sequins. Whaaat. The wonderful folks at Monsoon Accessorize sent it to me along with this chunky necklace and ring and some other goodies that will pop up here eventually because they are insane.
Time to find a baby picture for the yearbook. I was thinking of bringing in one of an old man, Y/Y/Y?


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Hello fellow Art Gallery Fabric lovers! I'm Amy Smart from Diary of a Quilter and today I am sharing a quick little table topper project using one of my new, favorite collections, Color Me Retro by Jeni Baker. I have been collecting vintage pyrex and other dishes for a while now so when I heard Jeni was designing a vintage-dishware-inspired fabric collection, I knew I would love it! And I was right.
Playing with this fabric made me so in the mood for spring! I'm glad I have some cheerful color on my table to keep my hopes up.
Here are the fabric requirements for this 24" x 24" square table topper. (The same yardage will work for a 12" x 48" table runner.)
- 10 Fat Quarters from Color Me Retro collection (I used all 10 because I wanted to feature the entire collection, but you really only need 4 fat quarters worth of yardage for this project.)
- ⅝ yard solid turquoise. (The coordinating Pure Element is Fresh Water)
I sewed my blocks 4 across by 4 down to create a 24" x 24" square. You could also sew them 8 across by 2 down to create a 12" x 48" table runner.
I then used my remaining fat quarter prints to piece together a quilt back 27" x 27". (You could also use ¾ yard of fabric for this backing.) I like that I can have a reversible option for my table.
From there layer the top, batting and quilt back and quilt as desired. I used my walking foot to sew quilting lines ¾" apart. When quilting is finished, trim excess batting and backing fabric so that edges are clean and square.
For the binding, cut 3 strips 2 ½" wide from your remaining solid and sew them together end to end. Here is a binding tutorial if you need one.
And that's it! This is a quick pinwheel-type block if you want to make lots of blocks and create a bigger version of this look too.
Winner: BKringelFebruary 19, 2013 at 5:10 PM
Thanks so much, Bernadine


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Sociable's Podcast
Brains Byte Back interviews startups, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders that tap into how our brains work. We explore how knowledge & technology intersect to build a better, more sustainable future for humanity. If you're interested in ideas that push the needle, and future-proofing yourself for the new information age, join us every Friday. Brains Byte Back guests include founders, CEOs, and other influential individuals making a big difference in society, with past guest speakers such as New York Times journalists, MIT Professors, and C-suite executives of Fortune 500 companies.
In this episode, we sit down with Ricardo Ramon, Chief Sales Officer at Fracttal, an innovative maintenance management solution platform. Maintenance solutions have long existed, but according to Ricardo, they weren't as accessible to all businesses needing a solution— until now. The company aims to revolutionize and transform the asset maintenance industry for a remote, sustainable, safe, and efficient world. We discuss how they found a niche in the market and grew from there, their early integration of AI technology and why cybersecurity remains a top priority for their team at Fractall.
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BP agrees to pay $4.5B; 3 employees charged
Published 12:31 pm Friday, November 16, 2012
A day of reckoning arrived for BP on Thursday as the oil giant agreed to plead guilty to a raft of criminal charges and pay a record $4.5 billion in a settlement with the government over the deadly 2010 disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Three BP employees were also charged, two of them with manslaughter.
The settlement and the indictments came 2 1/2 years after the fiery drilling-rig explosion that killed 11 workers and set off the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
The settlement includes nearly $1.3 billion in fines, the largest criminal penalty in the nation's history. As part of the deal, BP will plead guilty to charges involving the 11 deaths and lying to Congress about how much oil was spewing from the blown-out well.
"We believe this resolution is in the best interest of BP and its shareholders," said Carl-Henric Svanberg, BP chairman. "It removes two significant legal risks and allows us to vigorously defend the company against the remaining civil claims."
Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said the deaths and the oil spill "resulted from BP's culture of privileging profit over prudence."
Separately, BP rig workers Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine were indicted on federal charges of manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter, accused of repeatedly disregarding abnormal high-pressure readings that should have been glaring indications of trouble just before the blowout.
In addition, David Rainey, BP's former vice president of exploration for the Gulf of Mexico, was charged with obstruction of Congress and making false statements. Prosecutors said he withheld information that more oil was gushing from the well than he let on.
Rainey's lawyers said he did "absolutely nothing wrong." And attorneys for the two rig workers accused the Justice Department of making scapegoats out of them.
"Bob was not an executive or high-level BP official. He was a dedicated rig worker who mourns his fallen co-workers every day," Kaluza attorneys Shaun Clarke and David Gerger said in a statement. "No one should take any satisfaction in this indictment of an innocent man. This is not justice."
The settlement, which is subject to approval by a federal judge, includes payments of nearly $2.4 billion to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, $350 million to the National Academy of Sciences and about $500 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC accused BP of misleading investors by lowballing the amount of crude that was spilling.
"This marks the largest single criminal fine and the largest total criminal resolution in the history of the United States," Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference in New Orleans. He said much of the money will be used to restore the Gulf.
Holder said the criminal investigation is still going on. Before Thursday, the only person charged in the disaster was a former BP engineer who was arrested in April on obstruction of justice charges, accused of deleting text messages about the company's handling of the spill.
The settlement appears to be well within BP's means, considering the oil giant made a record $25.8 billion in profits last year. And it will be given five years to pay. The company still faces huge additional claims.
For one thing, the settlement does not cover the billions in civil penalties the U.S. government and the Gulf states are seeking from BP over the environmental damage.
Also, a federal judge in New Orleans is deciding whether to approve an estimated $7.8 billion settlement between BP and more than 100,000 businesses and individuals who say they were harmed by the spill. They include fishermen, charter boat captains, restaurants, hotels and property owners.
Under the settlement with the U.S. government, BP will plead guilty to 11 felony counts of misconduct or neglect of a vessel's officers, one felony count of obstruction of Congress and one misdemeanor count each under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Clean Water Act. The workers' deaths were prosecuted under a federal law that protects seamen.
The largest previous corporate criminal penalty assessed by the Justice Department was a $1.2 billion fine against drug maker Pfizer in 2009.
Greenpeace blasted the settlement as a slap on the wrist.
"This fine amounts to a rounding error for a corporation the size of BP," the environmental group said.
Nick McGregor, an oil analyst at Redmayne-Bentley Stockbrokers, said the settlement would be seen as "an expensive positive."
"This scale of bill is unpleasant," he said. But "the worst-case scenario for BP would be an Exxon Valdez-style decade of litigation. I think that is the outcome they are trying to avoid."
The Deepwater Horizon rig blew up 50 miles off Louisiana on April 20, 2010, in an explosion that investigators blamed on time-saving, cost-cutting decisions by BP and its drilling partners in cementing the well shaft.
The well on the sea floor spewed an estimated 172 million gallons of crude into the Gulf, fouling marshes and beaches, killing wildlife and shutting vast areas to commercial fishing.
Following several failed attempts that introduced the American public to such industry terms as "top kill" and "junk shot," BP finally capped the well after more than 85 days.
Nelda Winslette's grandson Adam Weise of Yorktown, Texas, was killed in the blast. She said somebody needs to be held accountable.
"It just bothers me so bad when I see the commercials on TV and they brag about how the Gulf is back, but they never say anything about the 11 lives that were lost. They want us to forget about it, but they don't know what they've done to the families that lost someone," she said.
Sherri Revette, who lost her husband of 26 years, Dewey Revette, of State Line, Miss., said the indictments against the employees brought mixed emotions.
"I'm saddened, but I'm also happy at the same time that they will be prosecuted. I feel for them, of course. You never know what impact your actions will have on others," she said.
Frank Parker, a shrimper from Biloxi, Miss., said: "I just hope the money gets down to the people who need it."
Scientists warn that the spill's full effect on the Gulf food chain may not be known for years. They have reported oil-coated coral reefs that were dying, and fish have been showing up in nets with lesions and illnesses that biologists fear could be oil-related. Oil churned up by storms could be washing up for years.
The spill exposed lax government oversight and led to a temporary ban on deep-water drilling while officials and the industry studied the risks, worked to make it safer and developed better disaster plans. BP's environmentally friendly image was tarnished, and CEO Tony Hayward stepped down after gaffes that included his saying at the height of the crisis: "I'd like my life back."
The cost of the spill far surpassed that of the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989. Exxon ultimately settled with the U.S. government for $1 billion, which would be about $1.8 billion today.
The government and plaintiffs' attorneys have also sued Transocean Ltd., the rig's owner, and cement contractor Halliburton, but a string of pretrial rulings by a federal judge undermined BP's legal strategy of pinning blame on them.


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Product 40/106
Montblanc's logo stands for 'peak of excellence'. The brand epitomizes all things luxurious.Mont Blanc pens are exquisitely made, the fountain pen nibs are handmade and are like writing with silk. From the traditional Mont Blanc Meisterstuck collection, to the modern Mont Blanc Starwalker range, the Mont Blanc pen collection has something for all tastes and desires. To own a montblanc is the true meaning of luxury and style.
Fountain pen with piston converter, 14 K gold nib with rhodium-plated inlay, barrel and cap made of black precious resin inlaid with Montblanc emblem, gold-plated clip and ringsWriting Instrument Size: 14 cm
We usually use the shipping methods by EMS, DHL, the tracking numbers are available after we ship.
Orders received on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, as well as orders received after 1pm on weekdays, will be processed the next working day. We will do our every effort to make sure you receive the parcel in time, but we are not responsible for shipping delays, which can be affected by the shipping carrier, delivery destination, weather, holidays or incorrect/insufficient delivery information.
1.For Specially Tailor-made for Your Tailoring Service��
Dresses which are tailor-made CAN NOT be cancelled once you place order because we start to work on your dress as soon as we get your order. Any order information, including the fabric, color, size and style, can not be changed once you place the order. So, would you please make sure you provide correct information when you place the order? We thank you in advance for your understanding.
2.For Standard Tailoring Service:
All dresses of Standard Tailoring Service ordered from us can be cancelled or be changed within 48 hours since you place the order. Because we will work on the dresses in 48 hours. Would you please think it carefully before ordering? If you have any questions before order, please contact us. We thank you in advance for your understanding.
3. Usually we will process your order once you finish your payment. But sometimes, we have to verify your order before we process it by sending you an email . Your cooperation will be much appreciated.
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EMS: http://www.ems.com.cn/mailtracking/e_you_jian_cha_xun.html
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1.VISA Card We are through the VISA Card Company to accept your payment! When you create the order information on our site, you could choose to pay the bill via Visa, which is absolutely secure. You could check on www.visa.com to make sure its security. (1) NOTE: If returned as DECLINED, please call your bank and tell them to unblock your deal. VISA Card is easy and safe to make an online purchase with. Please feel free to contact us if you need further help. (2) Possible reasons for payment declined: 1. Guests did not correctly fill out payment information 2. Issuing bank does not support online shopping 3. Guest card balance is not enough 4. Guests have an adverse payment records which did not pass the VISA Card filtration system (non-payment, document deception etc.)
Please feel free to contact us if you need further help.


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8-Year Above-Ground Covers
Above-Ground Arctic Armor Bronze 8-Year Warranty
Our entry level cover has the strength and durability of covers costing twice as much. Rugged polyethylene scrim and coating means this cover can withstand winter's worst. Arctic Armor covers are U.V. protected so they will last for years in direct sunlight. The cover's black underside retards algae growth and heat sealed seams means a crystal clear pool next spring. The big 4 foot overlap ensures a proper fit and helps the cover from stretching and ripping like covers with 3 foot overlaps.
The Bronze cover is held secure on your pool with a heavy duty vinyl coated cable and tightener that is anchored by rip proof metal grommets. This cover is backed by an 8 year warranty (1 year full rated) and is navy blue with a black underside.


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Large Charleston Polo Hand Made Cushion
- Regular Price
- $175.00
- Sale Price
- $175.00
- Regular Price
- $279.00
- Unit Price
- per
You Save $104.00 (37% off)
This beautiful recycled leather and canvas cushion, will add a rustic charm to any room. The Softened leather covering, with its impressive polo branding is incredibly stylish and comfortable. Recycled Indian Army tent canvas, leather handle
- Softened leather covering, with its impressive polo branding is incredibly stylish and comfortable
- Material: Leather and recycled tent canvas
- Recycled leather and canvas
- Overall: 40cm L x 70cm W x 15cm D
- Overall Product Weight: 4 Kilogram
Notbrand strongly believes in giving back to the community and therefore A Fix Percentage from every sale is donated to the charity body 'Care Australia', whose mission is to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice.
It is not just an ordinary online store but strongly believes in supporting the deprived communities.
You can know more about Care Australia by following the below link:
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In most cases delivery is completed within 7-14 working days. But in some cases may take longer depending on the location and size of the item to be delivered.
Lead Time on products in Around The World category is 2-4 weeks.
Lead Time on Made To Order items is 12-18 weeks.
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We deliver Australia wide. Please double check the delivery address before finalizing your order. All orders are delivered during business hours.
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Usually, our freight deliveries are sent straight to your doorstep and require a signature upon delivery to acknowledge that the items have been received in a reasonable order. However, if you anticipate that you might not be at home for your delivery, please select the option to leave the order at your door at checkout. Due to security and liability restriction of our carriers, the customer is responsible for bringing any of such merchandise into their home, so we recommend that you have someone available to help you carry the items into your home, unpack and install your furniture.
For items that can be handled by one man for instance small table, chairs etc. time scheduled deliveries may not be possible.
For Large/Bulky or heavy items specialized freight courier is used. Unfortunately, online tracking is not available for such service. But, we will notify you via email once the order is dispatched.
We use professional carriers for delivery of large furniture pieces. Many of the carriers no longer offer unpacking and placement of the items. We do our best to provide a two man delivery that includes taking your purchase inside. However, this largely depends on where you live and what the item is. The standard delivery arrangement does not include unpacking the goods and positioning them in your home.
You may be required to assist the driver with unloading of your order, especially if you are in a regional area.
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Quick Hacks to Start Your Exercise Program In Lombard IL
The Eleatic philosopher Zeno, writing almost 2,500 years ago, famously propounded several paradoxes purportedly proving that various conceptions of the physical universe were false. The most famous of these involves the Greek hero Achilles and a tortoise, stating that if the tortoise started ahead of Achilles in a race, the fleet-footed Achaean warrior could never catch the plodding turtle. Zeno also claimed to prove that a moving arrow is actually at rest. His main purpose was to defend the philosophy of the "one" of his great teacher, Parmenides, as against the "many" of competing philosophies such as those of Empedocles, Anaxagoras, and Democritus. Parmenides wished to demonstrate that reality is a unity, and that the world as interpreted by the senses is unreal. Zeno's paradoxes have stumped many thinkers over the ensuing millennia. The main flaw in his brilliant puzzles is that he blurred the distinction between "discrete" and "continuous" phenomena. We can put the solutions to Zeno's paradoxes to work in our understanding of the best method by which to approach our philosophy of exercise at Lombard IL chiropractic clinic.
Step-by-step, day-by-day, In Lombard IL
Many of us prevent ourselves from beginning an exercise program by focusing on the daunting perspective of the necessity of doing exercise for one's entire life. We allow the enormity of the ongoing, continuous nature of such an enterprise to deflate our resolve. The result of this flawed point of view is that we stop ourselves before we can even get started. But if we radically modify our interpretation of the "continuous" nature of the work to be done and instead approach our exercise activities from the "discrete" standpoint, we would then be able to take each exercise session on its own merits. Whole and complete in itself, today's exercise only needs to be done today. Tomorrow's exercise, which when it arrives is now "today's" exercise, is done similarly. Do today's work today. Over time, the discrete method results in a continuum of results. We accomplish our long-term goals step-by-step, giving our full attention, focus, and concentration to what needs to be done right now, today ¹, ².
Make it enjoyable to stick with it
Once we become willing to take on this deeper understanding of the nature of the process of exercise, the next step is to investigate and choose our preferred types of exercise activities. The good news is that, other than making sure we're doing both cardiovascular and strength training exercises, the specific type of exercise doesn't matter. As long as we're doing some form of cardiovascular exercise on a regular basis, whether we run, walk, swim, bike or cross-country ski is up to us. Similarly, as long as we're doing some form of strength training on a regular basis, whether we use kettlebells, medicine balls, or a combination of free weights and stationary equipment is our choice. The key, overall, is to avoid Zeno's critical error and be well aware of the distinction between "discrete" and "continuous" events. This empowering distinction will be of value, not only in terms of exercise but in all aspects of life ³.
If you're ready to get help with your health, contact us at the BrightLife Clinic - Lombard today to schedule an appointment.
Innes KE, Selfe TK: Yoga for Adults with Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review of Controlled Trials. J Diabetes Res 2016;2016:6979370. doi: 10.1155/2016/6979370. Epub 2015 Dec 14.
Skórkowska-Telichowska K, et al: Nordic walking in the second half of life. Aging Clin Exp Res 2016 Jan 23. [Epub ahead of print]
Haider T, et al: Yoga as an Alternative and Complementary Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review. J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med 2016 Jan 19. pii: 2156587215627390. [Epub ahead of print]
9:00am - 6:00pm
2:00pm - 6:00pm
9:00am - 6:00pm
2:00pm - 6:00pm
9:00am - 1:00pm
Saturday & Sunday
BrightLife Clinic - Lombard
442 E Roosevelt Rd
Lombard, IL 60148


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As bad as the players on the Toronto Blue Jays must feel about losing to the Oakland Athletics by a score of 16-0 Wednesday night, they can at least take comfort in knowing that other teams have suffered worse losses in the past.
-- Philadelphia's Phillies were pounded by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1929. Final score: 28-6.
-- The New York Giants' thumping of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1944, winning 26-8. Correction at 2:45 p.m. ET: Our thanks to reader "Tom Delfs" who spotted that we had mistakenly reversed things and credited the Dodgers with that win. He adds that: "In the game, Phil Weintraub of the Giants went 5-for-5, driving in 11 runs, and hitting for the cycle (a single, two doubles, a triple, and a homerun). The Dodgers' final pitcher for the day was Tommy Warren, who was a rookie at age 26. He pitched five innings and gave up 15 runs."
-- The Chicago White Sox destroyed the then-Kansas City Athletics 29-6 in 1955.
-- And in 2007, the Baltimore Orioles watched as the Texas Rangers scored 30 runs. The Orioles reached home just three times.
The Rangers' 30 runs is a "modern era" record for most in one game, by the way.
So take heart, Blue Jays. It could have been — and has been — worse.
Then again, at least in those previous debacles the losing teams scored.
Update at 2:55 p.m. ET. Readers Remember Some Other Lopsided Losses.
From the comments thread:
-- "evan dreyer" reminds us that the New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians 22-0 on August 31, 2004. He adds that "The Bronx Bombers went on to win the division. We wont talk about what happened after that."
-- "(Another_Great_Idea)" says at least the loss didn't happen on Opening Day, citing the April 18, 1991, loss of the White Sox to the Detroit Tigers on the occasion of the new Comiskey Park's opening. The final score was 16-0. (We used his "nickname" because he's got an often-used handle that's one step to the risque side of monikers such as "Ben Dover.")
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Margaret with young readers |
Margaret Peterson Haddix grew up on a farm near Washington Court House, Ohio, and is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio.
She worked as a newspaper reporter and community college instructor before her first book was published in 1995.
She has since written more than 30 books for kids and teens, including the Shadow Children series, the Missing series, and the tenth book in the 39 Clues series. Her two newest books are Torn (the fourth book in the Missing series) and The Always War. In fall 2012, she looks forward to the release of Caught (the fifth book in the Missing series) and Game Changer. Margaret's publisher is Simon & Schuster.
Her books have been honored with New York Times bestseller status; the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award; American Library Association Best Book and Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers notations; and more than a dozen state reader's choice awards.
Margaret and her husband, Doug, live in Columbus, Ohio, with their two teenaged children.
How do you define success?
Margaret as a young reader (with furry friend) |
My definition has changed dramatically over the years. In the beginning, my goal was simply to get a book published–at a time when I was receiving nothing but rejection letters, publication alone seemed like the pinnacle of achievement.
Then I sold my first two books just as my husband and I were starting a family, and the equation shifted. With so many other demands on my time, finding time to write seemed like too much of a selfish luxury unless it also paid off financially.
(In retrospect, I realize that I should have looked at the big picture: Writing helped keep me sane—or, semi-sane, anyway–during that challenging early-motherhood phase, and there's no way to put a price tag on that.)
But the first time my editor offered me a contract for a book that I would be paid to write—not one that was already finished—I felt like I had truly arrived.
Then my goal became to do well enough with my writing that I wouldn't have to go back to a full-time "real job" when my kids started school. I was writing to buy time to write, but also to buy control over my own time, so I had enough flexibility that I could be a PTO room mother and a Girl Scout leader and a Sunday school teacher and a volunteer in my kids' classrooms—which conveniently also gave me a lot more material to write about. This arrangement seemed ideal.
Now I'm about to send my youngest off to college. He'll start just a few days before my thirtieth book comes out (Caught, on Sept. 4), and I have the luxury now of being able to be a lot more philosophical about how I define writing success.
I hear a lot from parents who tell me, "I couldn't get my kid to read until he read one of your books, and now he's reading like crazy" or from kids who tell me, "I used to hate reading, but now, because of your books, I love it," or from kids/teachers/parents who tell me specific examples of how specific aspects of my books have helped specific readers navigate real life.
And all of that seems like the truest definition of writing success.
How have your marketing strategies changed over the years? Could you tell us about one strategy that worked and why you think it was a boon to you?
I have spent many years resisting the notion that I have to have "marketing strategies," because I would always, always, always rather write another book than do any marketing. But I do realize that the internet makes marketing much easier and more effective, even as internet-related changes makes self-marketing more necessary.
I finally got around to starting my own website
only when it began to seem that Harper Lee was probably the only other
living author who didn't have one.
My then-fourteen-year-old daughter
was actually the person who set up my Facebook fan page,
because she deemed it "embarrassing" that I didn't already have one.
For the first year or so, my husband maintained that page for me because
it was a time when I was overwhelmed with other work. Then his own job
became overwhelming, and he passed it off to me.
that time, the Simon & Schuster online marketing department told me
they could link my Facebook fan page to another fan site, and suddenly I
had the potential to reach more than fifteen thousand readers with a
single post. Even a lazy, reticent, marketing-averse writer like me can
grasp that that's a wonderful thing.
By Kerry Madden |
I would still not say that I am good at using any type of social media to its fullest advantage, but I am getting better at it. I fully realize that authors nowadays have to take some responsibility for their own marketing (unless they are, you know, Harper Lee), and the internet does make that relatively easy and painless.
I know this is hardly ground-breaking, but I have been trying to do a better job of using the Facebook fan page and website together. For example, I'll put a full list of my upcoming appearances on my website, and then post a mention of it on the Facebook page, so people will know that I've made the update. Or, I'll post the new cover art for my next book on the Facebook page, and tell people that they can go to the website for a description of the book or for answers to FAQs.
It's amazing to me how much response I can get to something like that, almost instantly. I am coming to appreciate having the ability to quickly announce something on Facebook, but also have a place where I can direct readers for ongoing information.
Did you ever consider giving up? What happened? What kept you going?
I did. After a few small, early successes with my fiction—and four years of working as a reporter for a metropolitan newspaper—I went through a two-and-a-half-year spell when I was concentrating much more on writing fiction and trying to get it published and having no success whatsoever.
At one point when I was distraught over receiving yet another rejection letter, my husband tried to comfort me by saying, "You know, there are people who spend their entire lives trying to get published and never succeed. If it turns out that you never get published, are you going to be miserable your whole life? Isn't it enough to have a good life otherwise? Why write if it's just going to make you miserable?"
Our joke now is that he told me I should give up, and I got published right away just to prove him wrong. In reality, it wasn't that simple (or quick). But I do remember letting myself imagine what he described: giving up, collecting the rejection letters for everything I had out at that moment and not sending anything else out, not writing anything new, stomping out every new story idea instead of exploring wherever it might lead… and that seemed totally wrong.
The words playing in my head were, But I'm a writer. I write. That's what I do. That's who I am.
There may have even been some religious overtones to my conviction: Why would God make me feel so strongly called to be a writer if that isn't what I'm supposed to do?
So I ignored my husband's advice and I kept writing and kept submitting and kept collecting rejection letters. And eventually I did succeed.
Recently I read Madeleine L'Engle's first Crosswicks Journal, A Circle of Quiet, and I came across a passage where she describes her moment of deciding to give up: when she received a rejection letter on her fortieth birthday, after a whole decade of discouragement.
And a second later she was imagining the next thing she wanted to write—which made her realize that no matter how much the publishing world rejected her, regardless of anyone else's opinion, she couldn't stop being a writer. And I felt like she was describing exactly the same epiphany I'd reached.
And I am so impressed that she could still feel that way on a dismal fortieth birthday, after ten years of discouragement. And I am stunned that the books she was having rejected were two that had a huge, huge impact on my childhood, and probably played a large role in convincing me that I wanted to be an author: Meet the Austins and A Wrinkle in Time.
What's the secret of your success?
I mostly feel like I've done a lot of things wrong over the course of my career. I have not been particularly good at marketing or self-promotion or navigating the publishing world or, at certain points, even staying up to date with what's going on in the publishing world.
But I guess a large part of the reason that I've succeeded, to the extent that I have, is that I always kept writing, and always considered that the most important part of my job.
I wrote my second book before my first book was published; whenever I finish a book, I usually start the next one right away, even if I've told myself, "Now you need to take care of all those other things you're supposed to be doing."
And it's not because I'm such a virtuous person (if I were that virtuous, my office would be much neater) but because that's what I want to do. What mattered to me in the beginning was writing stories that felt true and important to me, and writing them as well as I could, and that's still what matters the most to me. If I stopped feeling that way, I think I would have to stop writing.
The other big factor that has helped my books and my career is that I think I have gotten very good advice and support from my editors and agents over the years.
Probably the biggest boost my career ever got—the change that bumped me up from one level of success to another, much higher up—was when I continued my book Among the Hidden into a seven-book series, the Shadow Children.
And that wasn't my idea at all—David Gale, my editor at Simon & Schuster, suggested it, and even when I kept saying, "I guess that's a good idea but I can't see how it would work," my agent, Tracey Adams, kept calling me back and saying, "What about doing it this way? Keep thinking about it—don't say no yet."
I had very little faith in my ability to continue Luke's story past the first book, but David and Tracey did, and they essentially nagged me into developing a vision for the series and having the courage to follow that vision. And I am very grateful that they did.
Cynsational Notes
Discussion guides for the Shadow Children series and The Missing series from Simon & Schuster.
The Career Builders series offers insights from children's-YA authors who written and published books for a decade or more. The focus includes their approach to both the craft of writing and navigating the ever-changing business landscape of trade publishing.
Cynsational Giveaways
Enter to win one of five sets of Margaret's classics: Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey and Leaving Fishers (both Simon & Schuster).
From the promotional copy of Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey:
Things are so bad, I feel like I'm going to explode if I don't do something…
Everyone has to keep a journal in Mrs. Dunphrey's English class, but the teacher has promised she won't read any entry marked "Do not read this." It's the kind of assignment Tish Bonner, one of the girls with big hair who sit in the back row, usually wouldn't take very seriously. But right now, Tish desperately needs someone to talk to, even if it's only a notebook she doesn't dare let anyone read.
As Tish's life spins out of control, the entries in her journal become more and more private…and dangerous. Is she risking everything that matters to her by putting the truth on paper? And is she risking more by keeping silent?
From the promotional copy of Leaving Fishers:
Dorry is unbearably lonely at her new high school until she meets Angela and her circle of friends.
She soon discovers they all belong to a religious group, the Fishers of Men.
At first, as Dorry becomes involved with the Fishers, she is eager to fit in and flattered by her new friends' attention.
But the Fishers make harsh demands of their members, and Dorry must make greater and greater sacrifices.
In demonstrating her devotion, Dorry finds herself compromising her grades, her job, and even her family's love.
How much is too much? And where will the cult's demands end?
Publisher sponsored. U.S. only.
Enter to win one copy of Margaret Peterson Haddix's Torn (Simon & Schuster, 2011). From the promotional copy:
Still reeling from their experiences in Roanoke in 1600, Jonah and Katherine arrive in 1611 only moments before a mutiny on Henry Hudson's ship in the icy waters of James Bay.
But things are messed up: they've lost the real John Hudson, and they find what seems to be the fabled Northwest Passage—even though they are pretty sure that that route doesn't actually exist.
Will this new version of history replace the real past? Is this the end of time as we know it?
With more at stake than ever before, Jonah and Katherine struggle to unravel the mysteries of 1611 and the Hudson Passage…before everything they know is lost.
Publisher sponsored. U.S. only.
Enter to win one copy of Margaret Peterson Haddix's upcoming release Caught (Simon & Schuster, 2012)(see cover above). From the promotional copy:
Jonah and Katherine come face to face with Albert Einstein in the fifth book of the New York Times bestselling The Missing series.
Albert Einstein |
Jonah and Katherine are accustomed to traveling through time, but when learn they next have to return Albert Einstein's daughter to history, they think it's a joke—they've only heard of his sons.
But it turns out that Albert Einstein really did have a daughter, Lieserl, whose 1902 birth and subsequent disappearance was shrouded in mystery. Lieserl was presumed to have died of scarlet fever as an infant.
When Jonah and Katherine return to the early 1900s to fix history, one of Lieserl's parents seems to understand entirely too much about time travel and what Jonah and Katherine are doing. It's not Lieserl's father, either—it's her mother, Mileva. And Mileva has no intention of letting her daughter disappear.
Publisher sponsored. U.S. only.


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Sports pitches with synthetic turf surfacing in Northumberland NE65 9 are now all the rage in schools and clubs because they give perfect playing characteristics. However artificial hockey turf maintenance on these pitches is vital in making sure the sports surfaces are kept clean and safe for the players. It is incredibly important that sand-filled artificial surfaces are regularly swept and cleaned in order to remove any litter or dirt from within the pile. We can complete this work and also give professional advice on how you can clean the flooring yourself.
Our team can offer professional help with creating an artificial turf maintenance plan, as well as giving advice on costs to carry out this work. Please use the short contact form on this page to send us your details so we can get in touch with you to discuss this further.
The first stage of upkeep for hockey surfaces should always be a regular proactive process which can be completed by someone at your organisation. Upkeep of sports surfaces is vital if you want to keep the facility in the best condition. For a sand-filled or sand-dressed surface, the infill is extremely important in keeping the synthetic pitch fibres upright and giving the pitch good playing qualities. If the sand infill is left to get dirty and compacted, this can lead to drainage problems as water can't soak through and ends up pooling on top of the surface. Drag brushing, deep cleaning and specialist chemical treatments can all help to keep dirt off the pitch and stop it from getting stuck in the infill. The drag brushing will also redistribute the infill throughout the whole sports surface to keep the playing characteristics even and consistent. As one of the most popular surfacing types for hockey, sand-dressed pitch maintenance https://www.artificialpitchmaintenance.co.uk/sand-dressed/northumberland is vital for maintaining and good quality surface which is safe for the users.
The work of maintaining synthetic hockey pitches can vary for each establishment depending on its location and other features of the surrounding area. For example, a sand-filled sports field which has a lot of trees nearby would probably require more maintenance as leaves and dirt are more likely to fall onto the area. With a surface like this, care should be taken to prevent contamination from things like moss and algae as these can escalate to further damage.
While carrying out synthetic field maintenance can prevent issues, over time some damage can still occur, however, we complete repairs to get the surface back to its best quality. If the sand infill gets dirty and compacted, we will do a test to check the level of contamination and then complete a sports pitch rejuvenation process in Northumberland. To learn more about rejuvenation please click here https://www.artificialpitchmaintenance.co.uk/rejuvenation/northumberland. This is done to remove the dirty infill completely and then install a new layer which gives the facility greatly improved performance. Maintaining synthetic pitches can also include specialist seam repairs if the carpet has become ripped or damaged. Depending on the level of work needed, we will devise a personalised quote for the work to ensure the best results at a good value price.
If you've got a sports surface in Northumberland NE65 9 and surrounding areas, which is in need of maintenance, you can speak to a member of our team today. Fill in the simple enquiry box with your details so we can email you back and discuss what you need as well as costs for our services.
You may want to know how to repair a hockey pitch if your facility has started to hold water. These simple steps can return your surface to its former glory:
Inspect surfacing for flooding and waterlogging
Extract dirty sand infill
Replace with new sand infill (or clean existing)
Distribute the infill throughout the facility
If you'd like to discuss the rejuvenation process with our professionals in more detail, we are able to offer you advice and information on the repair process. For more details please fill in our contact form.
Some people do not follow the correct maintenance plan which causes synthetic turf to become damaged and worn out. If your synthetic field is beyond repair, we are able to carry out a resurfacing service in Northumberland and surrounding areas, to make your facility look brand new. A full resurface is generally needed when the artificial grass field has been neglected and not properly maintained; this type of surfacing can be quite costly which is why we recommend setting up an upkeep programme when you have had your facility constructed.
Resurfacing surfaces for hockey are different to football resurfacing. To find out about football maintenance please click here https://www.artificialpitchmaintenance.co.uk/football/northumberland. Hockey pitch resurfacing can improve the performance of your facility and enhance the overall look and safety properties. By resurfacing your artificial field, all the accreditations will be met just like when the surface was first installed. A number of schools, professional sports clubs and leisure centres often have their pitches resurfaced to upgrade the facility. Upgrades are popular as they allow for even better performance characteristics.
Artificial Football Pitch Maintenance in Northumberland - https://www.artificialpitchmaintenance.co.uk/football/northumberland
Artificial Rugby Surface Maintenance in Northumberland - https://www.artificialpitchmaintenance.co.uk/rugby/northumberland
Athletics Track Cleaning Maintenance in Northumberland - https://www.artificialpitchmaintenance.co.uk/athletics/northumberland
3G Pitch Surface Maintenance in Northumberland - https://www.artificialpitchmaintenance.co.uk/3g-pitch/northumberland
4G Astroturf Maintenance in Northumberland - https://www.artificialpitchmaintenance.co.uk/4g-pitch/northumberland
Astroturf MUGA Pitch Maintenance in Northumberland - https://www.artificialpitchmaintenance.co.uk/muga/northumberland
Sand Dressed Pitch Maintenance in Northumberland - https://www.artificialpitchmaintenance.co.uk/sand-dressed/northumberland
Sand Filled Pitch Maintenance in Northumberland - https://www.artificialpitchmaintenance.co.uk/sand-filled-pitch-maintenance/northumberland
Astroturf Rejuvenation Cleaning Maintenance in Northumberland - https://www.artificialpitchmaintenance.co.uk/rejuvenation/[locaiton_link]
If you would like to learn more regarding artificial hockey turf maintenance in Northumberland NE65 9 or you are interested in having your facility resurfaced, please fill in our contact form. Our professionals will respond to your enquiry as quickly as possible with information on upkeep plans and a quote if required.
We cover Northumberland


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Rumors of a ridiculously named Apple iPhone have taken a backseat today, as the Samsung Galaxy S4 is back, and it's back with a vengeance. Samsung-focused blog SamMobile claims to have the scoop on a few features and the release date of the highly-anticipated follow-up to the Galaxy S3.
The phone will have the model number of GT-i9500, but is currently known by its codename of Altius. The Galaxy S4 name, although widely used in the press, hasn't been confirmed, supposedly due to the number four being bad luck in Korea. The battery is said to have a capacity of 2600mAh and a wireless charging dock will be sold separately, while the phone will come in either black or white. SamMobile says this information is, "100-percent confirmed."
We're also expecting the Galaxy S4 to have a 4.99-inch, 1080p touchscreen, just like the one pictured during CES, plus the Exynos 5 Octa processor which also made its first appearance at the Las Vegas show. Previous rumors have added the phone will have a 13-megapixel camera, 2GB of RAM and a version of Android Jelly Bean.
Mid-April launch?
Apparently, the Galaxy S4 will go on sale during week 16 of 2013, which equates to being somewhere between April 15 and April 19. An Unpacked event will be held to reveal the phone, which would logically come about a month before the phone goes on sale; so around March. The Galaxy S3's Unpacked event was held on May 3 2012 in London and the phone subsequently went on sale across Europe on May 29. The Galaxy S2 was 13-months old when its successor was unveiled.
Returning to the Galaxy S4's naming issue for a moment, the number four is considered unlucky in Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan and other Asian countries primarily because it's pronounced in a similar way to the word death. So, do those suffering from tetraphobia at Samsung wield enough power to veto the S4's name?
A look back at Samsung's model numbers from the past does reveal a distinct lack of any starting with the number four, despite many starting with a three, five, six, seven, eight and nine. So what will it be instead? According to a post made on a blog about the Chinese language, the number four isn't as regularly skipped in Korea as it is in China, and is often replaced by the letter F. So perhaps we could be welcoming the Galaxy SF rather than the S4 later this year?
This leaves us with the mid-April release date. We're still expecting Samsung to stick to an annual update schedule, and doubt it'll hold an Unpacked event so soon after Mobile World Congress closes. If anything, that mid-April date sounds about right for the launch event rather than the phone going on sale. Despite SamMobile's confidence, we're still putting all this down as speculation.
Editors' Recommendations
- Save up to $1,150 on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra today
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6: news, rumored price, release date, and more
- Best Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra deals: How to get the phone for free
- Samsung Galaxy Ring: news, rumored price, release date, and more
- Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. S22 Ultra: Should you upgrade?


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Almco Plumbing
Drain Cleaning San Diego
Business Description
Almco Plumbing is a leading drain cleaning company that has, since 2001, delivered top-notch solutions. Our technicians use eco-friendly methods and state-of-the art equipment to clear even the most stubborn clogs. Committed to exceptional customer service, our firm offers fast response times, transparent pricing, and a 100% satisfaction guarantee. We understand the importance of a properly functioning plumbing system. That's why we offer 24/7 emergency service and work hard to ensure that your drains are unclogged. Trust us to keep your drains flowing freely and your home or business running smoothly. We aim to provide long-term solutions to keep your drains flowing freely and your water running clear.
Business Hours
People Love {mb_location_business_name}
About San Diego
San Diego ( SAN dee-AY-goh, Spanish: [san ˈdjeɣo]) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast in Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.3 million residents, the city is the eighth-most populous in the United States and the second-most populous in the state of California after Los Angeles. The city is the seat of San Diego County, which has a population of nearly 3.3 million people as of 2021. San Diego is known for its mild year-round Mediterranean climate, extensive beaches and parks, its long association with the United States Navy, and its recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center. Historically home to the Kumeyaay Native Americans, San Diego has been referred to as the Birthplace of California, as it was the first site visited and settled by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States.


text: No music lover can remain untouched by the emotional quality of this work, composed in Schubert's last year. The monumental weight of the outer movements, the intimate lyricism of the Adagio, as well as the unusual timbre ensure the uniqueness of this quintet. An additional cello, which takes on an essential melodic role, joins the classical string quartet. The editor of our new Urtext edition, Egon Voss, not only does justice to the difficult source situation; with new and convincing solutions for difficult page turns, he also takes into account the demands of musical practice.


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French Word A Week: Pomme de terre
I don't know if you have noticed but I am not very good with routine. Monotony. Habits. I have my moments with continuity, stillness and straight lines. But as soon as Spring comes around, whoop-de-doo, I am like a butterfly. Especially when it comes to carbs as I found out while conversing with friends about our favorite carbohydrate.
I started with "Potatoes for sure!" only to recall a sudden love affair between my fork and a bowl of stir fried rice the week before. And let's not forget the month I fixed myself a plate of spaghetti, sprinkle of basil, parmesan and olive oil everyday for lunch. Well, and beans. More so if they are surrounded with cassoulet. But deep down? I am a potato girl.
So, you guessed it, the French Word A Week is "Potato" = Pomme de terre (click on word to hear the pronunciation).
I'm not "potatoes any way all day" though. Short of being able to cook them in the ashes of a good fire like we used to do back home, I'd rather have mine roasted than mashed. Come Spring and Summer and one of my favorite side dishes to make and eat is a simple bowl of warm roasted potatoes.
Every week at the farmers market, I load up on the tiniest white, red and purple potatoes I can find, wash them well, spread them out in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and voila! A light accompaniment to a nice steak on the grill or a weeknight omelette. Add some chopped oregano, thyme or basil and you can pair this with almost anything you like.
If you are planning a brunch or a picnic for Mother's Day this weekend this salad would be particularly great to bring along. It requires very little actual making time, roasts itself up in 30 minutes and keeps well for hours at room temperature.
If you need more picnic ideas as the warm days roll in, you can find more options in this article I styled and photographed for Charleston Magazine. The print version with the full length article with more pictures and recipes will be available on news stands this week I hear. No one on the staff asked me to promote them but I do love when they hire me(obviously!) and I love that we have such high quality prints, artisans and creative minds here in town. Makes me proud. Thank you for indulging me.
– wooden bowl: Star Provisions, Atlanta
– dark Ovenex roasting pans (8×8 and 9×13): ebay.com
– wooden cutlery: Sprout Home
– other flatware/serving sets: etsy.com


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About the Brand:
Known for its vibrant colors and innovative designs, Indah roots itself in a life of adventure. Created and produced on the island of Bali, Indonesia, Indah draws its vision each season from an international community of artists, travelers, and local beauty. Lavish prints and luxurious fabrics are an exclusive trademark of the Indah family and have given the line a bold edge in a world of the little black dress. Super-fine eyes for detail and an endless love of life and excitement truly encapsulate Indah and all that we seek to create.


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Campagnolo Super Record Ergopower Shifters
Dominate your bike at every turn, relax on the long straights, and prepare for the final sprint: whatever your racing position, Ergopower controls, with the exclusive Campagnolo mechanism allows you to shift up 3 sprockets at a time and down 5 sprockets. Make every movement natural, fast and precise. The Super Record series Ergopower Ultra-Shift controls are the top product in terms of technology applied to ergonomics, safety, speed, and precision shifting.
Your every wish is a command.
- Composite body, carbon-inlay shift lever and carbon fiber brake lever
- Ball bearing shift mechanism combined with titanium internals
- Ergonomic hood design follows the asymmetry of the hand, increasing the contact area of the palm and offering multiple riding positions
- Two clicks downshift into the small chain ring, while a third shift is used for trim
- Hypoallergenic silicone with multiple densities is used as hood material offering greater softness in the palm area and greater rigidity in the gripping area
- No-Bulge technology smoothes the cable passage as the housing exits the controls
- Campagnolo 2015+ 11-speed specific, not compatible with previous versions of Campagnolo 9/10/11 speed, Shimano or SRAM derailleurs
- Speed: 2 x 11-speed
- Front/Rear: set
- Adjustable Reach: Yes
- Ultra-Shift cables and housing included
- Weight: 339g
Part Numbers
Option | UPC | MPN | Store SKU |
Carbon/Black | 08056734286663 | EP15-SR1C | 210000061317 |


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Proven Performance
These amazing motors are the building blocks upon which our enviable reputation has been built…
Yamaha's V4 range of legendary Saltwater Series two strokes have always been a family favourite. Renowned for their reliablity, power and value, Yamaha's range of large two strokes are proven performers.
Packed with the latest features such as micro computer controlled ignition and Precision Blend oil injection system, Yamaha's Saltwater series guarantees optimum smooth running and excellent durability.
These engines are a great option if you're looking for big horsepower and great value.
- Great power to weight ratios
- Punchy acceleration
- Loop charging boosts power and fuel efficiency
- Precision Blend oil injection system guarantees the optimum smooth running and excellent durability. It also eliminates the need for pre mixing two stroke fuel.
- Multi function gauges come standard giving the driver all the information needed such as speed, trim angle and other vital engine functions