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We've set sail. The world's first crowd-funded, hyper-efficient, purpose-built environmental activist sailing ship has left harbour in Bremen and we're on our way to Hamburg.To all of you who made this voyage possible, you have the thanks of some very happy and inspired crewmembers who are quite literally learning the ropes as we begin the maiden voyage. We'll be putting the ship through its paces, sea trialling the sail rig as we make a thank-you tour to show off the ship that 100,000+ donors bought piece by piece. Ports of call include Hamburg, Amsterdam, London, Stockholm, Marseilles, Genoa, Barcelona, then across the Atlantic to the Amazon and the Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero, before heading to New York. We'd like you to come along and find your own way around this historic ship, meet the crew, and learn some of the lore of the Rainbow Warrior. We've put some activist storytellers on board to help with that. Over the next several weeks, Pablo, Helene, Harmony, and Seychelle and the other New Hands on Deck will be bonking their heads on bulkheads and tripping over bowlines as we all learn our way around, and you can follow along through our web video mini-series, Stories from the Rainbow Warrior.
You'll also be meeting some of the good folks that have sailed this ship and her predecessors, like Maite, featured above -- a longtime crew member from Mallorca who is the curator of a small museum's worth of objects we're moving into the new ship from the previous two Rainbow Warriors: pictures, masks, posters, buttons, banners, binoculars, a guitar, woven mats and watercolors, pencil drawings and carvings. She's been telling their stories to us as she carefully cleans each piece, and finds a place for them in their new home, hanging them on the bare walls of the lounge and corridors, gently waking the new steel and wood of this modern ship to the memories of its ancient stories and its former lives.
There's a picture of Jon Castle, steering the ship steadily toward the nuclear weapons testing ground of Moruroa from his secret perch in the crow's nest, wired into the steering system, while the French military, having seized the vessel, try to figure out why she is still underway after they've locked the empty wheelhouse, rounded up the crew, and arrested a fellow who had said he was the captain.Here is the carved wooden statue of the Hindu Elephant God, Ganesh, the remover of obstacles, gifted to the ship in 2003 by Shailendra Yashwant as the Rainbow Warrior headed for India to demand compensation for the victims of Bhopal and to document the horrors of the shipbreaking yards where on average a worker a day dies removing asbestos and cutting up the scrap wrecks. Ganesh has the goofy grin of a God who knows he failed us utterly. The Indian government revoked visas and clearance papers and in what can only be described as a monumental effort of bureaucracy, managed to put enough small obstacles in place to keep the ship away -- that time, anyway.Here's the picture of Fernando Pereira, killed in the bomb attack that sunk the first Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbour when the French government, in a massive miscalculation, sought to shut us down for opposing their nuclear weapons testing programme in the Pacific. And here's one of Dave the Dolphin, a meter-high wood carving that graced the bow of the second Warrior. I remember watching flying fish in the dawn light over the Bay of Bengal with Dave, and hearing Pete Willcox tell the story about how Dave once was a real dolphin who loved playing in the bow wave of the ship and wanted desperately to join the crew. Alas, as he was a dolphin, he was turned down, so he went to Neptune, the God of the Sea, to ask for help. Neptune asked if he had heard the story of Pinnochio, and Dave eagerly accepted the proposal that they turn that story on its head, and turn the real dolphin into a wooden one, so he could join the Rainbow Warrior.The mystery about Dave is his name. Some say he's named for the Bible story of David and Goliath -- a fitting fable for Greenpeace's slingshot battles with corporate, military, and government giants since our founding.Others say he was named for my former boss, David McTaggart, who wrangled the early organisation from a disjointed collective of scattered offices linked only by name, into a globally coordinated force.I like to think the latter.Both Dave the Dolphin and David McTaggart are only with this ship in spirit now, David having died in 2001 and Dave finding a new home at the Greenpeace International headquarters where he's been given a desk job. Alas, there's no room for him aboard the new ship with its tight quarters and a deck that's rigged for five sails as big as four tennis courts.But as I heard the watch working through the cabins this morning to wake the crew, I like to think that McTaggart himself was making those rounds with him, rousing us from slumber in his hyperactive, don't-waste-a-minute way to say there's environmental crimes to be challenged, a storm ahead, and an elusive dream of a green and peaceful planet that may not yet be visible on the charts, but which might be just beyond that western horizon, and which we need to head for at full sail.
Catch our web video series "Stories from the Rainbow Warrior" and see the maiden voyage through the eyes of our newest activists, the New Hands on Deck: www.facebook.com/newhandsondeckIt's our way of saying "Thank you" and to show off what 100,000+ of you bought when you funded the ship bolt by bolt, cleat by cleat, and sail by sail.
Brian Fitzgerald is a Story Advisor at Greenpeace International.
(Unregistered) gypsydee
Woohoo! Journey safely Rainbow Warrior and all who sail with her. Fight the good fight! Shame you couldn't have sailed to NZ for the world cup 23 Octo...
Woohoo! Journey safely Rainbow Warrior and all who sail with her. Fight the good fight! Shame you couldn't have sailed to NZ for the world cup 23 October - All Blacks v France, a fitting symbolic gesture =)
22 October, 2011 at 2:52
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(Unregistered) sidewaydown345
Greenpeace is awsom lovin it now doin a project about it MANNNNNNNNN
22 October, 2011 at 10:31
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(Unregistered) Fair Transport
Great friends, congrats, and up to the (new world) of sails at the oceans.
23 October, 2011 at 16:16
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(Unregistered) mattdame
Entertaining post - kudos. You always write a riveting blog post. I wish to find more soon.
14 November, 2011 at 3:29
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(Unregistered) tijdregistratie boy
This guys is showing the the world that they are protecting the sea. and by its mean protecting the sea is also protecting the environment and most of...
This guys is showing the the world that they are protecting the sea. and by its mean protecting the sea is also protecting the environment and most of all they are preserving the earth.
Tijdregistratie boy
17 November, 2011 at 14:34
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(Unregistered) Bedtime Stories for Kids
Great! Warriors, explore the ocean. I'll keep up with your stories at your web video mini-series.
Have a nice trip.
28 December, 2011 at 6:49
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About me
I am a Professor in the Department of
Computing and Mathematical Sciences at Caltech, where I currently serve as the Executive Officer, a.k.a., chair. I also serve as the Director of the Information, Science, and Technology (IST) initiative at Caltech.
I am the founding Director of the Rigorous System Research Group (RSRG, pronounced "resurge") and an active member of the new Decision, Optimization, and Learning at the California Institute of Technology (DOLCIT) research group.
"CS+X" research is a strength of Caltech (see my recent talk) and I participate actively in four interdisciplinary "CS+X" centers at Caltech: I am currently co-director of the Social and Information Sciences Laboratory (SISL, pronounced "sizzle"), which focuses on the intersection of Economics and Computer Science. I am on the board of directors of the Linde Institute of Economic and Management Sciences. I am a member of the Center for the Mathematics of Information (CMI), which focuses on the intersection of Applied Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science. Finally, I am a member of the Resnick Sustainability Institute, which is an interdisciplinary initiative at Caltech connecting researchers focused on energy related issues from all across the campus.
I also maintain an academic blog, titled Rigor + Relevance, where you can find thoughts about research issues, conferences, academic life, and teaching.
I am actively recruiting students and postdocs. See see this page for information about joining RSRG and this page for information about joining DOLCIT. Note that we recently started a new, unique, interdisciplinary PhD program in "Computing and Mathematical Sciences" available this fall. You can also take a look at my blog post about it for more information.
My research focuses on seemingly distinct areas: cloud computing, network economics, power systems, and heavy tails. Though diverse, the areas are all essential to my broader research goal: easing the incorporation of renewable energy into IT and, more generally, into the electricity grid. Broadly, my particular research style can be described as: "Rigorous system design." I use mathematical models to provide insight into the design of computer systems, markets, and power systems by applying techniques from algorithms, operations research, economics, and control. The major topics that I'm focusing on these days are:
Algorithms for Sustainable ITEveryone has heard the statistics about how much of an energy hog IT has become: The emissions of a server are nearly that of a car! The electricity usage of data centers is growing 12 times faster than that of the US as a whole! While the last decade has led to significant improvements in energy-efficiency across IT, there is still a long ways to go to be truly sustainable. You can find out more at the RSRG Sustainable IT group page and the Resnick Institute website. You can also take a look at my papers in this area, a video of a recent talk on this topic I gave in the Distinguished Lecture Series at UC San Diego, and a recent profile of the work in the ENG magazine at Caltech.
Markets for the Smart GridOver the coming decade, the electricity network will undergo a complete architectural transformation, similar to what has happened to the communication network over the last decades. However, there are huge engineering and economic challenges in making this transformation possible. In fact, unlike in the case of communication networks, the economic market structure and engineering architecture are inherently intertwined in the electricity grid, which necessitates a new architectural theory for guiding this transformation. You can find out more at the RSRG Smart Grid group page and the Resnick Institute website. You can also look at my papers in this area, a video of a recent talk I gave at a workshop on "Data-aware Energy Use", and slides from a recent talk on this topic given as part of the Grid 2020 series at the Resnick Institute.
Platforms and Networked marketsThese days it is almost impossible to study communication networks without considering economic incentives. From net neutrality to the sharing economy, understanding the economic incentives in networks has become crucial. However, our understanding the interaction of economics and networks is still in its infancy. You can find out more at the RSRG Network Economics group page and the SISL website. You can also take a look at my papers in this area and a couple of recent talks on the topic regarding networked Cournot competition (part II is here) and cloud computing markets.
Heavy tailsHeavy-tails are a continual source of excitement and confusion across disciplines as they are repeatedly "discovered" in new contexts. This is especially true within computer systems, where heavy-tails seemingly pop up everywhere -- from degree distributions in the internet and social networks to file sizes and interarrival times of workloads. However, despite nearly a decade of work on heavy-tails they are still treated as mysterious, surprising, and even controversial. We are in the process of writing a new book on the topic that will (hopefully) highlight that heavy-tailed distributions need not be mysterious and should not be surprising or controversial. You can download pre-publication versions of completed chapters here. For details about our research on this topic you can check out my papers in this area and slides from a recent tutorial on the topic.
"Empirical" Algorithmic game theoryOne of the fundamental tasks for research at the intersection of CS and Economics is to understand how to incorporate "computation" into classic economic theories. Toward this end, over the last decade, the task of understanding the computational complexity of economics models has been a cornerstone of the field and an understanding has emerged that many standard economic models are "hard" in the worst case. Motivated by this, our work looks at the question of whether these "hard" examples appear in real-world economic settings. More specifically, we look at whether data can reveal hard instances of economic models and we seek to quantify what properties of data sets necessitate hardness in inferred economic models. For details you can see our papers in this area or the slides from a recent talk I gave on the topic at UIUC
Fairness and schedulingModern designs often improve user response times by giving priority to small job sizes. But, this leads to worries about whether large job sizes receive fair performance. So, we need to ask: How much starvation/unfairness is caused to large jobs by prioritizing small jobs? For an introduction to the topic you can check out my PhD thesis, and for more details you can read my papers in this area.
For more information about these and other current projects see my publications.
Professional service
I am very involved in the ACM SIGMETRICS community, and have served for many years on the program committee as well as on the board of directors for the SIG. I currently serve as Vice Chair of SIGMETRICS and PC Chair for Sigmetrics 2018.
I am also active in the INFORMS Applied Probability Society and have held editorial positions at IEEE Transactions on Networking (ToN), Operations Research (OR), ACM Transactions on Modeling and Performance Evaluation of Computing Systems (TOMPECS) Performance Evaluation (PEVA), IEEE Transactions on Internet Technology (TOIT), IEEE Transactions on Cloud Computing (TCC), Queueing Systems (QUESTA), IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering (TNSE), and Sustainable Energy, Grids, and Networks (SEGAN).
Additionally, I have frequently served on the program committees and organized workshops/tutorials for conferences in networking and systems conferences, e.g., NSDI, Sigcomm, Sigmetrics, Performance, Infocom, ICDCS, DCPerf, ITC, and ICCN; algorithmic game theory and network economics conferences, e.g., EC, NetEcon, WPIN, and NetCOOP; and power systems conferences, e.g., e-Energy, IGCC, and SmartGridComm.
Yearly, I co-organize the Southern California Network Economics and Game Theory workshop as well as the Greenmetrics workshop.


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NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Sophomore pitcher Shannon Orton allowed two runs over 12 innings to help UMass Dartmouth sweep intra-state rival UMass Boston, 8-0 (5 innings) and 3-2, Saturday afternoon at the UMass Dartmouth Softball facility.
The doubleheader sweep raises the Corsairs overall record to 6-10 and 2-0 in the conference circuit, while the Beacons slipped to 5-12 and 0-4.
Freshman Ally Santerre went a combined 4-for-6 with three runs scored as UMass Dartmouth combined for 15 total hits. Classmate Alea Martinelli was 2-for-3 from the plate with double and four runs driven in.
In the pitching circle, sophomore Shannon Orton recorded a pair of victories for the Corsairs. She limited UMass Boston to a total of nine hits and two earned runs over the course of 12 innings of work.
Junior Kelsey Svenson (Oxford, Conn.) led UMass Boston with two hits and two RBI, while three other Beacons added two hits on the afternoon.
UMass Dartmouth 8 UMass Boston 0 -- 5 innings
UMass Dartmouth jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Santerre led off with an infield single and moved to second on a ground out. Freshman Marissa Spinuzzi looped a single into centerfield and classmate Chelsea Correia followed suit with an RBI single. With two outs, Martinelli delivered a run-scoring single to cap the first inning scoring.
The Corsairs broke the game wide open in the second frame, when the hosts batted around and produced six runs. UMass Dartmouth capitalized on a bases loaded opportunity with one out, recording three consecutive RBI singles. Martinelli provided the key hit for the hosts, clearing the bases with a three-run double into the left centerfield gap to stake the Corsairs to an 8-0 advantage.
Orton was in complete control in the pitching circle, limiting the Beacons to just three singles. She retired the final eight batters she faced to seal the victory.
The Beacons had their best chance to score in the top of the third but left two runners on. Kaitlyn Morse (Arlington, Mass.) and Kristina Bove (Medford, Mass.) recorded back-to-back singles with one out, but Orton induced a fielder's choice and a pop-up to second to get out of the inning.
Freshman Jillian Shepherd (Norwood, Mass.) shined in relief for the Beacons, allowing one walk and no hits over the final 2.2 innings of the contest.
UMass Dartmouth 3 UMass Boston 2
UMass Dartmouth broke a scoreless tie in the third inning, when Santerre led off with a bunt single to first base and Correia drew a two-out walk. Senior Emily Pontes laced a bases-clearing double to the base of the centerfield wall to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
Sophomore Kayla Kirby provided the Corsairs with an insurance run in the fourth inning, when she recorded her first home run of the season over the left field fence.
UMass Boston was finally able to solve Orton in the sixth inning. Bove opened the frame with a lead-off double to break up a string of five retired batters in a row by Orton. Freshman Gia Raczkowski (Stoneham, Mass.) also stroked a double to centerfield, but Bove was only able to advance to third. With two outs, Svenson hit a soft liner that appeared to be caught by the UMD second baseman that allowed Bove and Raczkowski to score, cutting the Beacons' deficit to 3-2.
Orton regained her form in the final inning, setting UMass Boston down in order to earn her second victory of the afternoon and raising her individual record to 4-5.
Santerre and Pontes accounted for four of UMass Dartmouth's five hits. Kirby reached safely in two of her three plate appearances with a home run and a walk.
Junior Michelle Zullo (Everett, Mass.) was the tough-luck loser in Game 2, throwing six quality innings. Zullo surrendered just five hits and two walks, while striking out six batters.
UMass Boston will finish off their four-game road trip Tuesday when they travel to take on MIT at 3:30 p.m. in a non-conference doubleheader.


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After Speaker Robert DeLeo's speech last week outlining the House's agenda for the coming year, the idea of tax increases appears verboten once again on Beacon Hill.
After Speaker Robert DeLeo's speech last week outlining the House's agenda for the coming year, the idea of tax increases appears verboten once again on Beacon Hill.
But what about a tax cut?
DeLeo last week ruled out any new taxes or fees in the budget his deputies will produce this spring.
But as Democrats rally around the idea of a minimum wage increase to restore the purchasing power of a wage last raised in 2008, the idea of reducing the income tax – often pushed by Republicans during annual budget debates – has been less discussed as another way to put money in consumers' pockets without hurting business.
"Right now, I think that budgetary matters being what they are, I think although we are working our way out of our economic problems I don't think that we're quite there yet, so right now I'm not sure if we're in a position that we could forgo the income that we presently have," DeLeo said Monday, when asked about an income tax rollback.
Cutting the income tax to 5 percent would eliminate roughly $500 million in revenue to the state, based on Department of Revenue estimates, while providing an equal amount of tax relief to workers.
Gov. Deval Patrick and legislative leaders would have to trim funds from spending plans for next year as members and interest groups lobby for enhanced spending on everything from early education and transportation to legal aid.
But the economy has also been showing signs of improvement, with budget leaders anticipating 4.9 percent revenue growth next year and the Patrick administration recently revising its revenue estimates for fiscal 2014 upwards by more than $400 million.
Massachusetts voters in 2000 approved an initiative petition calling for a reduction in the income tax rate from 5.95 percent to 5 percent by 2003. But in 2002, in order to raise $215 million as part of a larger tax package, the state Legislature froze the income tax rate at 5.3 percent and conditioned further reductions on economic growth triggers.
Since then, the rate has ticked down just a tenth of a point to 5.2 percent, most recently falling last month from 5.25 percent. On the current schedule, and assuming an automatic income tax rate cut every January for the next four years, the earliest the rate could hit 5 percent would be 2018, or 18 years after the ballot initiative passed.
DeLeo on Monday reiterated his plan to develop an economic development bill this session that would encourage businesses in Massachusetts to stay, and to attract new businesses from outside the state. He has also conditioned a minimum wage increase on reforms to the state's unemployment insurance system to reduce costs for businesses.
"Our record in terms of providing various tax incentives and tax cuts for various things have happened, but on the other hand you have to have enough revenue that you can operate government as well so I think it's a fine line," DeLeo said. "It's always been my position we don't want to tax so much to the fact that we prevent people from having a good quality of life, but on the other hand you need revenue in order to provide what we always talk about whether its teachers, education, whether it's police fire, public safety, whatever it may be."
The Department of Revenue in December estimated that the reduction in the income tax to 5.2 percent on Jan. 1 would take $65 million off the table for the current budget and reduce estimated tax collections for the fiscal 2015 by $125 million to $140 million.
Based on those figures, another immediate reduction of two-tenths of a point would reduce income tax collections to the state by another $500 million to $560 million for the next full fiscal year, which begins in July.
With his fiscal 2015 budget, Patrick filed a $126 million supplemental budget for fiscal 2014, which ends on June 30, that proposed to expend a portion on the unanticipated revenues.
Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor suggested the remaining cushion would be needed by the end of the year for items like snow and ice removal and the Committee for Public Counsel Services, accounts that have historically been underfunded in the annual budget process.


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Gratis Konto Vergleich
Die Kommunikation per E-Mail erfolgte auf deutsch.
This includes Caffeine, Green Tea and Glucomannan (a fiber that can reduce appetite). However, the results are usually weak and inconsistent and certainly nothing to get excited about. At the end of the day, the only thing that is really proven to help you lose weight is changing your diet.
Exercise can help too, but what you eat is by far the most important. For a proven way to lose weight without hunger, check out this article.


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Details of the Spring Statement. Our summary focuses on the issues likely to affect you.
Details of the Autumn Budget 2018. Our summary focuses on the key issues.
I initially engaged the services of Quantum for my web design business, but this has now extended to my other businesses and also my husbands. The advice I received has been invaluable. I have no hesitation in recommending the services of Quantum to any of my clients, friends and family.


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Union Flags Superior Admiralty Approved Material
Our flags are manufactured using best quality Ministry of Defence approved woven polyester material as used by the British Admiralty. Badges of those world nations depicting armorial symbols or designs would be appliquéd (sewn), printed or hand painted.
Copyright Newton Newton Flag & Banner Makers Limited. Company No. 07669766 (Registered in England & Wales).


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By Rob Glidden
Staff Writer
A small group of Southington athletes will use an upcoming soccer game as a chance to raise funds for the Wounded Warrior Project.
When the boys soccer team plays at home on Friday, Oct. 5, guests will be asked to donate $5 or more to "Headers for Heroes." The donation is voluntary, but the players are hoping the enthusiasm in Southington for veterans translates to a successful fundraiser.
Leading the effort are seniors Eddie Klein and Andrew Goralski and junior Dan Connolly.
"We've seen how other teams came up with events like this, like the baseball team's cancer awareness night," Klein said. "We thought we could do something similar for veterans and things just fell into place."
Before the game begins on that afternoon, a brief ceremony will be held in honor of veterans in Southington and across America. Local veterans will be invited onto the field and Superintendent Dr. Joseph Erardi is expected to speak. There will also be a color guard presentation. The soccer team will be wearing special uniforms with a camouflage design.
"They don't get thanked enough for what they do," Goralski said of the veterans. "Every time we mention this idea, people are really positive. Hopefully that means a big turnout."
The Wounded Warrior project is an initiative aimed at raising awareness of wounded veterans and creating programs to support them. Inspired by the struggles of veterans coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq with injuries, it has grown significantly over the past several years.
"It is a win-win for the soccer team and the WW project," said Leonard Marcheselle, a former Board of Education member and advocate for local veterans. "The young boys are putting on the event to show their respect, support and appreciation for all the men and women who have put their lives on the line for us."
With the football field out of commission as the artificial turf is installed, the bleachers on the soccer field could fill up quickly if the fundraiser draws a crowd. Klein advised guests to bring lawn chairs.
The students agreed that the community enthusiasm they have already seen meant that this event would likely return for another year and beyond. This year's event will begin at 3 pm at the high school on October 5.
"It's the least we can do," Connolly said. "Looking forward, it could be a great thing the team could do annually."


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NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who very well may have been a Michigan primary win away from being the Republican nominee, gave a rousing defense of social values here at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
"For those in our movement who want to abandon our moral underpinnings to win, what does it profit a movement to gain the country and lose its own soul?" Santorum told this room of thousands of conservative activists at CPAC to raucous applause. "The left in America has made that Faustian bargain… We must not."
Santorum's speech, which led off with an emotional recounting of the untimely death of his nephew, will only likely stoke speculation that he is thinking about another run in 2016. He set out what conservatives should fight for, had plenty of attacks on President Barack Obama, distanced himself from Congress -- despite having served there for 16 years, and even noted that he had created a conservative advocacy group, something that will help keep him in the conversation on the right.
Santorum accused the president of wanting to "close the deal" on a transformation of America 100 years in the making. He said Obama "wants to replace the 'why' of American Revolution for 'why' of French revolution –- a society that is Godless without faith," that is "anti clerical, anti-God, where the government is the center, and they are the ones who care for us. This is President Obama's New Deal."
He added, "How do we turn this around? How do we make a difference in America today? I've tried to do my part."
He contended that the problem on the right is not that there are not enough conservatives, it is that that conservatives -- and churchgoing social conservatives, in particular -- are not fired up enough.
"The passion in America has been on the other side," Santorum said before warning, "They live their lives every day to transform us. Those who think America will be just fine … we just go about our lives. But we don't have the passion that they do. To rise up and fight against what our founders said was the greatest threat to freedom -- time. Time. The erosion of our values over time, that we will lose that revolutionary fervor… Karen and I are committed that we are not going to let that happen on our watch."
Of course, after the 2004 election, there were books written about the influence of social conservatives. They had helped re-elect President George W. Bush and were being touted as potentially spurring a permanent "Red America." But white born-again Christians actually made up a higher share of the electorate in 2012 than 2004. In 2004, they made up 23 percent of the electorate; in 2012, they were 26 percent.
Santorum continued, "Don't look to Washington, D.C. to solve this problem. There are very few leaders in Congress. There are a lot of followers. If you look to them to solve their problems, you will be disappointed. … The answer is here."


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The Early Bird Business Exchange, Sherborne
Would you like to be a part of a networking group that promotes leads for its members alongside offering support, friendship and an invaluable contacts source?
EBBX is a Great Business Tool
This independent member run group was started in early 2013 and already has 22 members who are doing business and giving referrals.
Join a group that gives you an opportunity to share the services that your business offers, where you can ask for specific or general leads and where you can make good connections with other local businesses.
EBBX Sherborne meets every other Wednesday morning at Castle Gardens from 7am to 9am. Our next meeting is on Wednesday 18th December.
Come along and find out how EBBX can benefit you and your business.
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I'll do my best to meet these shipping estimates, but can't guarantee them. Actual delivery time will depend on the shipping method you choose.
Buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may apply. I'm not responsible for delays due to customs.
But please contact me if you have any problems with your order.
We'll only use your information to contact you regarding your order with us and for shipping purposes.
Due to the nature of all items being handmade and/or personalized, returns or refunds will not be processed under any circumstances unless a mistake is made on our behalf.
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We are not accepting any rush orders currently until after the Christmas season.


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My Wharton Experience
Chris Vollmer has earned a Certificate in Retirement Planning from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and has been awarded AXA Advisors' Retirement Planning Specialist title for completing the AXA Equitable At Retirement® education program. Only a select group of AXA Advisors financial professionals nationwide complete this elite program.
The Wharton School is recognized around the world for its academic excellence at every level of business education.
The certificate curriculum was developed for AXA Advisors' Financial professionals to provide a higher level of preparation and knowledge to best serve the retirement planning needs of their valued clients. This weeklong course included 50 hours of intensive study taught by 10 Wharton School faculty members. Topics covered included:
The Wharton program is part of AXA Equitable's overall commitment to providing clients with the most comprehensive and up-to-date advice on a broad range of financial topics related to retirement. After completion of the initial program, participants are also invited to attend an annual At Retirement® forum featuring Wharton faculty and industry experts to further continue their retirement education. AXA Equitable chose Wharton because of its leadership in management research, education and knowledge creation.
Focusing on specific concepts and issues that are most important to the At Retirement® generation, AXA Equitable and The Wharton School developed this comprehensive program. Selected on the basis of their value-based approach to relationship management, participants worked to strengthen their retirement risk-management and financial asset allocation knowledge and methodology.
Chris Vollmer works with individuals and business owners to help them define their retirement goals and formulate strategies to help meet their unique needs and objectives.
Securities offered through AXA Advisors, LLC (NY, NY 212-314-4600), member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory products and services offered through AXA Advisors, LLC, an investment advisor registered with the SEC. Annuity and insurance products offered through AXA Network, LLC. AXA Network, LLC does business in California as AXA Network Insurance Agency of California, LLC and in Utah as AXA Network Insurance Agency of Utah, LLC. AXA Advisors, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (AXA Equitable) (NY, NY), and AXA Network are affiliated companies and do not provide tax or legal advice.
GE 2171144 (7/18)(Exp 7/20)


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A jury has found a San Diego County man guilty of first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon in the death of his neighbor over a tree-trimming feud last year.
Defendant Michael Vilkin of Encinitas showed little emotion as the verdict was read in a Vista court Friday afternoon, capping his trial for the shooting death of his neighbor, filmmaker John Upton.
Vilkin is set to be sentenced Aug. 27 and could face 50 years to life in prison.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
"It's not a happy day. It's just that the truth came out," said Upton's good friend Elizabeth Bailey.
The verdict followed nearly a week of deliberations that saw one juror replaced with an alternate due to misconduct.
The trial had wrapped Monday, and jurors began deliberating Tuesday morning. On Thursday, the court said a juror had been dismissed for misconduct, following a hearing with both sides present, and was replaced by an alternate juror. The jury resumed deliberations Thursday afternoon.
Vilkin fatally shot Upton in March 2013 after a year-long dispute that began over tree-trimming.
Last week, Vilkin testified that Upton's body language had become threatening over time and said he even saw Upton with a gun once. Vilkin testified that he feared his neighbor would hurt him.
On the day of the confrontation that led to Upton's shooting, Vilkin said he "prepared for the worst."
That day, as Vilkin was working on some property he owns next door to Vilkin's Encinitas home, Vilkin testified that Upton approached him angrily and holding what looked like a gun.
Vilkin was armed and shot Upton on the stomach and head. Prosecutors said Upton was not armed at all, but was instead carrying a phone in his hand.
Last Friday, Vilkin took the stand once more and said he wasn't happy about killing Upton and called the shooting an "automatic action to protect my person."
Bailey told NBC 7 the trial was emotionally draining for everyone sitting in the courtroom, but with this guilty verdict, justice has been served.
"He was just my dearest soul friend," said Bailey, tearing up as she remembered Upton. "He was very supportive and fun and a good friend. I would call him a fierce Leo, lion protector because he truly was a protector."


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Search by Tour StyleSearch by Tour Style
Escorted Tour
Escorted Tours are our most popular product. Escorted tours are normally conducted by a tour director who takes care of all services from beginning to end of the tour. Escorted tours normally include flights, hotels, transportation, transfers to the airport/hotel, most meals and sightseeing. Escorted Tours are conducted by motor-coach and usually no more than 2 nights are spent in each location visited. Escorted Tours are usually fast-paced and prices include much of the sightseeing.View Tours
Guided/Hosted Tour
Guided Tours are somewhat similar to Escorted tours but passengers are greeted by a local representative rather than a Tour Director and will not be escorted to all activities and functions. Local guides will be available to answer questions through the duration of the tour. Some meals, accommodations and sightseeing may be included in your tour. This style is ideal for people who want some freedom but still have the comfort of a guide.View Tours
Independent Vacation
These vacations usually spend 2 or 3 nights in each location visited and usually only a few locations are visited. A tour guide is normally not included, but there is a usually a host available to answer questions and suggest sightseeing. Few meals and some sightseeing are typically included, but a lot of free time to explore is available. These vacations are ideal for independent travelers looking to set their own pace.View Tours
Rail Tour
Rail tours offer a unique type of vacation in which much of the transportation is conducted via rail. Trains have been a fascination of many for years and with these select rail journeys you will get to experience the wondrous view, comfort and excitement of a train with the in-depth experience of a hosted or escorted tour.View Tours
River Cruise
A River Cruise is basically a tour that is conducted on a small or medium sized cruise-ship and travels via rivers instead of rail or road.View Tours
Small Ship Cruising
Small ship cruises take travelers where big ships simply cannot, such as to the exotic Galapagos Islands, where colorful birds and reptiles make their home in this remote location. Small ships also visit "mainstream" locales, such as the Caribbean, Alaska, Hawaii and the Mediterranean¦ but because the ships are able to maneuver in small coves and channels, they can dock at more intimate ports, making for a fascinating travel experience.View Tours
Tour and Cruise
When you combine a cruise with your tour package you get the best of both worlds. Enjoy part of your vacation by land staying overnight in some locations at hotels, taking in the local life and exploring day trips in your area, then enhance the remainder of your vacation on a cruise taking in all the benefits a ship has to offer.View Tours


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K.C. Weston '14
Status: Current Student, Class of 2014
Major: Communication Management and Design
Hometown: Bronx, New York
Works: For the Office of Admission
Tuition Assistance: An MLK Scholarship of $25,000 to $50,000
Student Debt: $20,000 to $29,000
K.C. Weston '14 thought she had experienced culture shock before, but during a trip to Ecuador, she wasn't prepared for what she felt. Weston traveled to Ecuador and the Dominican Republic as part of the MLK Scholar Program at IC. She says the trips gave her the opportunity to study abroad in an academic setting as well as the chance to have emotional conversations about important issues and feel supported by a group of peers.
"Those trips were a pivotal experience for me," she says. "There's only so much you can learn through reading about social issues without going to those countries." While in Ecuador, Weston did a comparative case study she titled "Female Bodies: The Intersecting Politics of Beauty in Ecuador."
The MLK Scholar Program at Ithaca College has been one of her favorite parts about attending IC. "I knew being part of a group like that would push me academically," she says. "They're all really dedicated, ambitious people. Sometimes we get grouped together as minorities, but we're all really different individuals with varied interests."
In addition to her MLK scholarship, Weston works as a tour guide for admissions. She saves money by living off-campus, but she estimates she will graduate with debt somewhere in the $20,000 range.
She plans to stay in Ithaca after graduation but admits it will be tough. "I'm not looking forward to it at all," she says. "It's like I'm on a flying carpet ride, and the rug is about to be pulled out from under me."
A scholarship student in high school and now in college, Weston said she feels the pressure to prove she's worthwhile. "Someone's paying for you to do something, and you want to be a worthwhile investment," she says.
She plans to start applying for Fulbright and Rhodes scholarships so that she can continue to travel and research, as she's been able to do through the MLK program.
"With my debt, I won't be able to afford graduate school unless I can find a program that's willing to support me if I give it my all," she says.
What advice would you give to prospective students about taking on debt to finance their education?
"You've got to understand the term 'higher education' means a lot more than sitting in a class, listening to a professor, and taking notes. It's about making connections, gaining life experiences. Otherwise, all college would be online. If college was sitting at home and reading and sponging information, it wouldn't be worth it. But at college you have the opportunity to wring out your sponge, share your ideas, and take in other ideas."
Read more about the value of an IC education here.


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|Chandler, Ariz.
|High School:
|Arizona Connections Academy
|History and Science
|House Affiliation:
Junior • 2012-13
Named to the All-ECAC third team ... A second-team All-Ivy choice ... One of the top offensive threats for the Crimson ... Tallied a natural hat trick to give Harvard a 4-0 lead in an eventual 9-1 win at Princeton Oct. 27 ... Had two assists to help the Crimson to a 3-0 win at Brown Nov. 2 ... Earned her third straight multi-point game with a goal and an assist in a 4-0 win over Yale Nov. 3 ... Notched an assist vs. Colgate (W, 4-1) Nov. 23 and scored an open-net goal in a 3-1 win over No. 2 Cornell Nov. 24 to push her points streak to six games ... Scored the first two goals in Harvard's 6-0 win over Dartmouth Nov. 30 ... Netted two goals and added an assist in a 9-0 victory at Union Jan. 4 ... Had two assists in three straight games Jan. 11-15 ... Contributed her fourth multiple-goal game against RPI Jan. 18.
Sophomore • 2011-12
Selected to the All-ECAC third team ... Named to All-Ivy League second team ... Scored a pair of goals and handed out an assist in season-opening 7-1 win at St. Lawrence Oct. 28 … Added an insurance goal in 2-0 win over Colgate Nov. 11 … Dished out a pair of helpers in 6-1 win over St. Lawrence Nov. 19 … Netted the game-winning score at Dartmouth Nov. 30 in a 2-1 comeback win … Had a goal and an assist in a 5-1 win over Providence Dec. 8 and matched season-high point output with a goal and two assists the following night against New Hampshire … Notched three points on a pair of goals and an assist in 8-1 romp at Connecticut Jan. 3 … Picked up a goal and an assist in 3-3 tie at Quinnipiac Jan. 7 … Had the game-winning goal and two assists in 4-0 blanking of Colgate Jan. 21 … Returned from a two-game injury absence and notched a goal and two assists in 4-2 win against Quinnipiac Feb. 3 … Collected career-high five points on five assists in 10-1 romp over Princeton Feb. 4 … Ended the regular season on a four-game goal-scoring streak, including Harvard's third hat trick of the season, scoring four in regular-season finale against Yale Feb. 18 ... Scored three goals against Princeton in Game 1 of ECAC quarterfinal Feb. 24 for back-to-back hat tricks.
Freshman • 2010-11
Finished freshman season with 11 points on six goals and five assists ... Led all rookies with a +10 rating on the year ... Logged an assist in first collegiate game against No. 9 Dartmouth Nov. 19 ... Picked up an assist on Jill Dempsey's game-winning tally at No. 9 Dartmouth Nov. 20 ... Scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner, in 3-1 win at New Hampshire Dec. 9 ... Tallied one goal and one assist in a 5-0 win over Union Jan. 7 ... Scored a goal in a 3-2 win against Clarkson Jan. 15 ... Scored a goal Jan. 29 at Yale in a 5-3 win ... Potted a goal in 7-0 win over Colgate Feb. 18 and contributed an assist against No. 2 Cornell the next afternoon ... Had an assist in 6-1 win over St. Lawrence in ECAC quarterfinal Feb. 25.
Before Harvard
Attended Corona Del Sol High School for two years before finishing at Arizona Connections Academy … Served as captain of four teams in the Chandler Polar Bears youth system before captaining the Colorado Select U19 AAA team in 2010 … Named team MVP of Chandler Jr. Polar Bears in 2004 and '06 … Earned a bronze medal in 2008 with the USA Hockey U16 AAA squad and again in 2009 and '10 with the U19 team … Four-year participant in USA Hockey development camps … Helped the U.S. National Under-18 team win a gold medal at the world championships in 2009 and a silver medal in 2010 … Named to the USA Hockey development camp All-Star team in 2008 and '09 … Named USA Hockey National Championships overall skills champion in 2008 … Valedictorian of senior class at Arizona Connection Academy … Recipient of the Byrd Scholarship as a senior … Academic Letterman at Corona Del Sol in 2007 and '08 … MWEHL Scholastic Champion from 2007-09 … Enjoys singing, songwriting, guitar, juggling, Broadway shows, painting, building things and anything Disney.


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Seven marketing operations best practices
By Chetan Saiya, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Assetlink
With the proliferation of media channels, microsegmentation of customers and increased globalization, marketing is becoming more complex. This article lists seven best practices that marketing executives can use to significantly reduce the gap between expectations and results, and increase the returns from marketing spending.
1. Bring transparency into the marketing planning process
Top 3 benefits of marketing operations management:
- Get campaigns to market faster. Align all staff around a common marketing enablement infrastructure by streamlining and automating marketing processes as well as accelerating review and approvals.
- Enable more reuse of existing assets. Marketing collateral, advertisements, product photos and brand identity elements can be quickly accessed and customized online for real-time, one-on-one personalized communications.
- Achieve greater marketing accountability. Provide management with complete visibility into time schedules, budgets, cost overruns and more through graphical and interactive dashboards.
Challenge: Complete alignment between marketing plans and corporate objectives is difficult to achieve. As a result, marketing spending fails to deliver on an organization's brand awareness and revenue growth objectives.
Best practice: Require various stakeholders to collaboratively and transparently work together in creating and approving marketing plans. Marketing objectives, target products, customer segments, distribution channels, a list of campaigns (along with key activities within a campaign) and expected results should be documented in a marketing plan. Once the marketing plan is approved, detailed milestone and deliverables for each campaign can be created by marketing managers. Such a process brings complete transparency, accountability and alignment into the planning process by providing full visibility into the objectives and schedules of each plan to all stakeholders.
2. Integrate budgeting and spending tracking into the marketing planning process
Challenge: The marketing budgeting process is under increased pressure for better visibility, transparency and accountability. Marketing typically is one of the largest budget items, yet most marketing organizations lack a consistent, clear way to integrate budgeting and spending tracking into their marketing planning and execution processes. As a result, they are challenged to ensure that budgets are appropriately allocated to each program; track program spending for each plan/campaign at a detailed level; and easily report on planned vs. committed vs. available funds for plans/campaigns.
Without this detailed visibility, it is difficult to put controls in place to reduce or eliminate negative spending surprises. It's also difficult to realign marketing budgets mid-year because one cannot easily understand the impact of any realignment on current campaigns and overall marketing objectives.
Best practice: Integrate the budgeting and marketing planning processes, as well as the spending tracking and marketing execution processes. It enables marketing managers to define and track how much is budgeted, planned, already committed, already spent and remaining at an overall marketing plan or at a detailed campaign or activity/event level; track these numbers by month or quarter or fiscal year; and link them to specific G/L accounts in financial systems.
Instead of using multiple spreadsheets and reconciling them manually, a marketing operations management (MOM) system makes it easy to achieve these objectives.
3. Create and manage a detailed plan for a marketing campaign
Challenge: Most marketing organizations are challenged to ensure close cooperation and coordination between various internal and external teams that are working together on a campaign. In addition, they struggle to maintain an updated marketing calendar of key milestones, and roll up the planned vs. actual schedule for each task in the marketing plan.
Best practice: Address these issues by requiring marketing managers to create detailed project plans at the task and role level for each campaign, with the ability to roll up the information to report at any summary level. The marketing manager should define various tasks within a campaign and related deliverables, associate briefs and other essential documents with the task, then assign tasks and define the workflow for the approval process for the deliverables. This ensures close coordination between the project's virtual team members and enables the marketing manager to reduce the cycle time and increase predictability in delivering the campaign on time and on schedule. While these details can be tracked in a spreadsheet, using a MOM system ensures that the assignment tracking process is streamlined and information is centralized so it's easily accessible for all team members.
4. Manage and track spending commitments at a detailed level
Challenge: Marketers need to ensure purchase orders are issued to external service providers once the detailed milestones and deliverables for each campaign are created and approved. As a result, spending commitments on a project get automatically aligned with the specific deliverables, as well as overall budgets and targets. However, most organizations do not have an integrated view into detailed marketing plans and budgets. As a result, it's a challenge to align third-party spending commitments with project deliverables, goals and objectives.
Best practice: Use a system that manages planned and budgeted amounts for each activity/event in a marketing plan before the plan is approved. Once the tasks and deliverables are defined, the system should prompt marketing managers to issue purchase orders to external vendors.
Once the purchase order is issued, the dollar amount of the purchase order should automatically be tracked as a "committed" amount in the campaign/activity/event listing. Similarly, when the invoice is received, the dollar amount of the invoice should be tracked as "spent" in the campaign/activity/event listing. While possible to do all this using manual spreadsheets, as the scope of the marketing operation grows, managing commitments and actual spending using spreadsheets becomes cumbersome. It is recommended that organizations use a MOM system to manage this process.
5. Manage project collaboration and execution
Challenge: Marketing organizations have typically managed their creative development process – which includes creating content and presenting it to the review team; markup and feedback from the reviewers to the content creation team; and approval of content and execution of the tasks in the plan – through a series of ad hoc meetings, phone calls, e-mails and hallway conversations. Lack of a transparent and integrated creative development process leads to longer review cycles and more revisions than required, which results in higher marketing costs and longer delivery times.
Best practice: Use a collaboration framework that's enabled by technology (such as a MOM system) to manage project collaboration and execution. As a result, workflow capabilities of the system will move the process along and provide visibility to marketing managers.
For example, the marketing services teams use the system to assign tasks to external creative agencies and internal contributors and reviewers. These extended team members continually update the task status on the system. External creative agencies and internal contributors use the system to review and approve creative artwork. All stakeholders work together in a collaborative manner - resulting in reduced creative development cycle times, shorter review cycles, lower marketing costs and increased predictability in hitting milestones.
6. Share, reuse and leverage existing marketing assets
Challenge: In a large distributed organization, teams don't have good visibility into existing marketing assets (such as brand logos, product photos, collateral, packaging material, etc.). As a result, money is wasted on new assets instead of reusing existing assets. Plus, it's often difficult for sales and field organizations to find and use the right assets created by the marketing organization.
Best practice: Implement an easy-to-use digital asset repository system. Approved marketing assets can be easily stored, searched for, downloaded and printed by marketing, sales and partners. Guidelines for use and templates can also be associated with specific content.
Templates enable field marketing, sales and distribution partners to localize and customize any content for specific geographies, customer segments and customers. These capabilities promote sharing and reuse by sales and field organizations – delivering a better return on investment. Most MOM systems come with an asset repository.
7. Gain visibility into schedule and budget performance of marketing projects
Challenge: When the marketing organization runs its operations using manual and ad hoc processes, teams end up operating in multiple silos and visibility into the status of various activities is affected.
Marketing managers cannot get easy access to key operational metrics to measure the performance of their plans. Without such clear insights, it becomes difficult to remove the "credibility gap."
Best practice: Dashboards give the marketing organization instant visibility into key operational metrics, as well as the day-to-day status of various components of the marketing plan.
Visibility into planned vs. actual budget usage, as well as future commitments of any campaign/activity/event is easily available. Campaigns that are not meeting planned performance metrics (or are delayed) can be easily identified and proactive actions taken. Bottlenecks in the planning, content creation and content distribution processes can be easily identified and the process streamlined. While such dashboards can be created and tracked manually, it's a painstaking process that can be difficult to keep up-to-date. MOM systems enable organizations to create and manage these dashboards in an automated manner.
As marketing processes become more complex, these seven best practices enable marketing organizations to significantly reduce the gap between expectations and results, and increase the returns from marketing spending.
For more tips, register to download the white paper: How to Prep for Success with Marketing Operations Management
More Insights
- For more tips, register to download the white paper: How to Prep for Success with Marketing Operations Management


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Following the deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon, investigators mounted a massive investigation that includes close scrutiny of digital photos and videos taken about the time of the blasts from citizen smartphones and area surveillance cameras.
"It's our intent to go through every frame of every video we have," said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis told reporters in a news conference in Boston.
FBI officials have set up a hot line at 1-800-Call-FBI to let investigators know of images taken in the area. The FBI has posted a statement saying "no piece of information or detail is too small" to report.
FBI Special Agent Rich DesLauriers said "assistance from the public remains critical" to the investigation. He added that the FBI had received "voluminous tips" in the first 18 hours after the bombings that killed three and injured 173 others.
The digital videos and photos will be processed at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. In addition to the images and videos received from citizens, the agency will study the output from surveillance cameras located at stores and businesses in a 12-block area near the Marathon finish line where the two blasts occurred about 2:50 pm Monday.
Investigators said that citizen photos and videos need not be only from the finish line area, and can be from before and after the blasts.
Davis said the crime scene under investigation extends for 12 blocks in the Back Bay area of Boston. "It's the most complex crime scene in [Boston police] history," he said.
Analysts said the extent of the digital investigation will be vast, given the number of surveillance cameras and people with smartphones.
An image of a man on a nearby Boston rooftop about the time of the bombings has gone viral. The FBI has refused to comment on the image.
The FBI is heading up a joint task force that includes city and state police from Massachusetts, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency and others.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen, or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed . His e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com.
Read more about government/industries in Computerworld's Government/Industries Topic Center.


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Global Legal Practice Fellowship Program (GLPF)
Each summer, GLPF places students in internship positions at local law firms around the world, giving students cross-cultural experience and a better understanding of foreign legal practice.
Corporate and Transactional Law from a Local Perspective
Lawyers today are increasingly expected to consult international sources, draw from comparative examples, or reconcile different cultural expectations as they tackle legal issues. By utilizing our exceptional network of international alumni and professional connections, Penn Law is able to offer pre-selected internship opportunities with preeminent law firms around the globe. GLPF supports fellowships in foreign firms, rather than the foreign offices of American or multinational firms.
How it Works
1L or 2L students currently enrolled at Penn Law are eligible to apply for GLPF. All applications are submitted January. Students may apply for multiple fellowship placements - but must submit a separate resume and cover letter to each placement for which they wish to be considered.
Please note that the individual criteria used for selecting a fellow lies solely within the discretion of the overseas firm, as does the degree of follow-up they choose to pursue with their candidates. Notifications of internship offers are generally made in February or March.
A Selection of Former Placement Organizations
Aluko & Oyebode (Nigeria)
Barun Law (Korea)
Beijing Arbitration Commission (China)
Bermeo & Bermeo (Ecuador)
Bradin Prat (France)
Brigard & Urrutia Abogados (Colombia)
Celfin Capital (Chile)
Cocuzza & Associati (Italy)
Kim & Chang (Korea)
Lamy Lexel (France)
Lehman, Lee & Xu (China)
Melli Darsa (Indonesia)
Nishimura & Asahi (Japan)
P.R.I.M.E. (The Netherlands)
Richards Cardinal (Argentina)
Wiener.Soto.Caparros (Argentina)
XXIV Old Buildings (United Kingdom)
Yulchon LLC (Korea)


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Multiple Sclerosis Program: Therapeutic Art
Good Shepherd's MS Wellness Program offers a series of six-week therapeutic art classes where individuals with multiple sclerosis and other disabilities are encouraged to explore the healing benefits of art creation and participation.
No specific art skills are needed for the class, which introduces students to various art mediums that provides the freedom to create and explore art. Assistance is provided to participants if necessary, and participants are invited to bring a family member or care provider if required.
Students complete at least one original art piece that is matted. All art materials are supplied by Good Shepherd. Assistance will also be provided throughout the class for those who require additional help with participation in the art experience.
Each class runs from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The cost for the program varies depending on class materials. All art supplies are included. To inquire about the next scheduled class, call Jerry Werner at 610-778-9303.
Be Well Blog: Art can help people with MS deal with stress.
Good Shepherd Health & Technology Center
Good Shepherd Plaza
850 South 5th St.
Allentown, PA 18103
Phone: 610-776-3585
Contact Us
The National MS Society has designated Good Shepherd and our partners at Lehigh Neurology as a Comprehensive Care Center for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.


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The Bird Scarers of Honolulu International Airport
How a handful of Wildlife Services officers with a mixed bag of tricks safeguards aviation at Honolulu International Airport.
(page 1 of 8)
by David Thompson; Photography by Elyse Butler and Matt Mallams
It's the late afternoon rush hour at Honolulu International Airport. Airplanes take off or land every few minutes, and the cattle egrets are heading for home, a tiny, mangrove-covered island in Keehi Lagoon, 1,700 feet from the Diamond Head end of Runway 8L.
Over the next couple of hours, 300 to 500 of these scrawny white birds will return to their island for the night, flying in small groups and mostly avoiding the runways. But on this particular day a lone egret breaks the pattern. It's winging away from the island at top speed, flying along a runway—the worst possible flight path for a bird at a busy airport.
"Where is he going?" says Erik Rutka, who watches the bird approach his truck then zip by overhead. Rutka pulls a quick U-turn, stops, loads a shotgun, then speeds off in pursuit, one hand on the wheel, the other holding the shotgun out the window.
While the Transportation Security Administration is inside the terminal X-raying our shoes to keep the skies safe from terrorists, a little-known band of federal wildlife officers like Rutka are outside on the airfield safeguarding aviation from another threat: birds.
Rutka is a biological-science technician with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services' airport wildlife-management program. In other words, he's a bird scarer.
When birds and planes collide, the results are inevitably bad for the birds, often costly for airlines and potentially disastrous for air travelers. While a tiny bird might bounce off a plane leaving nothing more than a blood smear, larger birds can smash into airliners like feathery cannonballs, tearing holes in wings and fuselages, smashing cockpit windshields, and damaging the components of jet engines.
Remember the Miracle on the Hudson, in which Captain "Sully" Sullenberger safely ditched a disabled US Airways' jet carrying 155 people into New York's icy Hudson River? That was a bird strike. Only Canada Geese were killed in the incident, but air travelers aren't always so lucky.
Worldwide, more than 400 people have died in plane crashes caused by bird strikes since 2003, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization. Dollar-wise, the Federal Aviation Administration estimates that bird and other wildlife strikes cause more than $6 million in damage annually in the United States alone.