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"The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable," said John Kenneth Galbraith, the wisest American economist of his generation. ("A paltry honour," he would have murmured.) But you still can't resist wondering when the Chinese economy will be bigger than the US economy – or the Brazilian bigger than the British, or the Turkish bigger than the Italian – as if it were some kind of horse race.
The latest document to tackle these questions is "The World in 2050″, drawn up by HSBC bank, which ranks the world's hundred biggest economies as they are now, and as (it thinks) they will be in 2050. It contains the usual little surprises, like a prediction that per capita incomes in the Philippines and Indonesia, now roughly the same, will diverge so fast that the average Filipino will have twice the income of the average Indonesian by 2050.
The Venezuelan economy will only triple in size, but Peru's economy will grow eightfold. Per capita income will double-and-a-bit in Nigeria; in Ethiopia it will grow sixfold. Bangladesh powers past Pakistan, with a per capita income in 2050 that's half again as big as Pakistan's. (It's only two-thirds of Pakistan's at the moment.) And so on and so forth: local phenomena mostly of interest to local people.
But what's happening at the top of the list is of interest to everybody. That's where the great powers all live, with the BRICs nipping at their heels. Or rather, some of the BRICs are nipping at their heels, and some are not. That's the big news.
We owe the concept of the BRICs to Jim O'Neill, who came up with it almost fifteen years ago when he was head of economics at Goldman Sachs. He was the first to realise that some big, poor countries were growing so fast economically that they would overtake the established great powers in a matter of decades.
The really impressive performers were Brazil, Russia, India and China, so he just called them the BRICs – and pointed out that at current growth rates the Chinese economy would be bigger than that of the United States by the 2040s. We're quite familiar with that kind of prediction today, but at the time it was shocking (especially to Americans), and the term BRIC has become firmly entrenched in the language. Just in time for HSBC to spoil it.
By now the BRICs are formally the BRICS (with a capital S added for South Africa), . But the South African economy is only in the group out of courtesy, because you couldn't leave Africa out altogether. It's much smaller than any of the others and growing very slowly, so you can safely leave it out of the calculations altogether.
China is performing roughly as expected, and by 2050 its economy will be around 10 percent bigger than that of the United States. (Per capita income, of course, is a different matter, and even then China's will be only a third of America's.) India will come next, but with an economy only one-third as big as China or the United States
But the other BRICs practically vanish from view. Brazil hasn't even overtaken Britain by 2050, despite having three times as many people. And Russia's performance is downright embarrassing: its economy barely doubles in the next 35 years, and it ends up smaller than Spain's. So six of the top ten countries in the 2050 list are already there today, and the world isn't going to look so dramatically different at all.
Now, predictions like this are open to all sorts of criticism. China's growth rate has consistently been two or three percentage points higher than India's for several decades. Project that to 2050, and China ends up far ahead of India. But China's growth rate is falling, and India's may even overtake it this year.
India will almost certainly grow faster in the long run, because it has a young, rapidly growing labour force and China does not. There's enough time for that to change the pecking order radically by 2050.
The recent performance of the economy obviously affects the long-range forecast more than it should, so Russia drops down the list and Mexico goes soaring up. Five years ago it would have been the other way around, and yet there's no reason to believe that the fundamental strengths of either economy have changed.
And then there are the "Black Swans", events like the Sarajevo assassination that tumbled the world into the First World War and invalidated all existing assumptions about the economic future. Not to mention the disasters that you know are coming, like catastrophic climate change – but leave out of your calculations anyway, because you don't know how to quantify them and don't know when they will arrive even to the nearest decade.
All that said, some sketchy notion of what the future may bring is better than no idea whatever. And the basic idea behind the BRICs is still sound: the centre of gravity of the world economy is moving south and east.
To shorten to 725 words, omit paragraphs 3, 7 and 12. ("The Venezuelan…people"; "By now….altogether", and "The recent…changed")
"We will not be cowed by these sick terrorists," said British Prime Minister David Cameron after ISIS produced a grisly video of the mass beheading of Syrian captives by foreign jihadis who allegedly included British fighters. "We will not be intimidated," said Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper after the recent attacks in Montreal and Ottawa. As if the purpose of terrorist attacks in Western countries was to cow and intimidate them.
You hear this sort of rhetoric from Western leaders all the time, but Harper went further, and demonstrated exactly how they get it wrong. "(This) will lead us to…redouble our efforts to work with our allies around the world and fight against the terrorist organisations who brutalise those in other countries with the hope of bringing their savagery to our shores. They will have no safe haven." Sound familiar?
Sure enough, there are now half a dozen Canadian planes bombing ISIS jihadis in Iraq (although it's unlikely that either of the Canadian attackers, both converts to radical Islam, had any contact with foreign terrorist organisations). But Harper has got the logic completely backwards.
The purpose of major terrorist activities directed at the West, from the 9/11 attacks to ISIS videos, is not to "cow" or "intimidate" Western countries. It is to get those countries to bomb Muslim countries or, better yet, invade them. The terrorists want to come to power in Muslim countries, not in Canada or Britain or the US. And the best way to establish your revolutionary credentials and recruit local supporters is to get the West to attack you.
That's what Osama bin Laden wanted in 2001. (He hoped for an American invasion of Afghanistan, but he got an unexpected bonus in the US invasion of Iraq.) The ISIS videos of Western hostages being beheaded are intended to get Western countries involved in the fight against them, because that's how you build local support. So far, the strategy is working just fine.
The "Global Terrorism Index", published annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace, reported last week that fatalities due to terrorism have risen fivefold in the 13 years since the 9/11 attacks, despite the US-led "war on terror" that has spent $4.4 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and anti-terrorist operations elsewhere. But it's not really "despite" those wars. It's largely because of them.
The invasions, the drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Africa, the whole lumbering apparatus of the "global war on terrorism" have not killed the terrorist beast. They have fed it, and the beast has grown very large. 3,361 people were killed by terrorism in 2000; 17,958 were killed by it last year.
At least 80 percent of these people were Muslims, and the vast majority of those who killed them were also Muslims: the terrorists of Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria, Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and al-Qaeda and its offspring in other parts of the world (like al-Shebab in north-east Africa).
That is not to say that terrorism is a particularly Muslim technique. Its historical roots lie in European struggles against oppressive regimes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it gained huge currency in liberation struggles against the European colonial empires after the Second World War. Even the Stern Gang in Israel and the Irish Republican Army can be seen as part of this wave.
Later waves of fashion in terrorism included the European, Latin American and Japanese "urban terrorist" movements of the 1970s and 80s – Baader-Meinhof Gang in Germany, Red Brigades in Italy, Montoneros in Argentina, Japanese Red Army and so on – none of which has any political success at all. Specifically "Islamic" terrorism really begins only in the 1990s, with the rise of radical, anachronistic forms of Sunni Islam.
Only about 5 percent of the victims of this latest wave of terrorism lived in developed countries, but it was their deaths, and their governments' ignorant responses to them, that provided the fuel for the spectacular growth of jihadi extremism. So what can be done about it?
The Global Terrorism Index has some useful observations to offer about that, too. It points out that a great many terrorist organisations have actually gone out of business in the past 45 years. Only 10 percent of them actually won, took power, and disbanded their terrorist wings. And only 7 percent were eliminated by the direct application of military force.
EIGHTY percent of them were ended by a combination of better policing and the creation of a political process that addressed the grievances of those who supported the terrorism. You don't fix the problem by fighting poverty or raising educational levels; that kind of thing has almost nothing to do with the rise of terrorism. You have to deal with the particular grievances that obsess specific ethnic, religious or political groups.
And above all, keep foreigners out of the process. Their interventions ALWAYS make matters worse. Which is why the terrorists love them so much.
To shorten to 725 words, omit paragraphs 9 and 10. ("That is…Islam")
6 April 2014
The Return of the Dictators
"I prefer death to surrender," said Pakistan's former military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, on 1 April to the special court that is trying him on five counts of high treason, but it's a reasonable guess that he'd prefer exile to either of those options. The real puzzle is why he ever left his comfortable exile in England in the first place.
In theory Musharraf, who seized power in Pakistan in 1999 and finally gave it up under great pressure in 2007, could face the death penalty if he is found guilty, but in practice he is protected by the Important Persons Act, an unwritten law that operates in almost every country. High political office is a club, and the members look after one another.
Nevertheless, Musharraf is being greatly inconvenienced by the trial, and last week the Taliban nearly got him with a roadside bomb near Islamabad. Doubtless he missed Pakistan, but what bizarre calculation could have led him to go home and put himself in the hands of his many enemies?
Musharraf said he was coming home to run in the 2013 election, which was delusional in the extreme. There was little reason to believe that many Pakistanis would want to vote for him after living under his arbitrary rule for eight years. There was no reason at all to think that he would not be disqualified from running in the election and put on trial for grave crimes.
Yet Musharraf is not alone. Other ex-dictators, far nastier than him, have succumbed to the same delusion and gone home convinced that they would be welcomed back. Another recent case is Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, who took over as Haiti's dictator at 19 when his father "Papa Doc" died in 1971 and ruled it until he was overthrown by a popular revolt in 1986.
Haiti was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere when he took power, and still the poorest when he lost it, but he took an alleged $120 million with him into exile in France. His dreaded Tonton Macoute militia murdered thousands and drove hundreds of thousands into exile, and many of them were massacred in the revolution that ended his rule, but he lived on in Paris in great luxury.
Eventually Duvalier's spendthrift ways and an expensive divorce got him into financial difficulties, but just going back to Haiti was not going to fix that. Yet he went home in 2011, after a quarter-century in exile. He said he was "just coming to help," whatever that meant, but he arrived just as the recently elected president was facing charges of election-rigging, which led some to speculate that Duvalier still had political ambitions.
He was arrested and charged with embezzlement, human rights abuses, and crimes against humanity. Three years later the courts are still pursuing him on those charges, but in the meantime he is frequently seen lunching in the bistros of Petionville, and has even been welcomed at the same events as the current president, Michel Martelly. It's safe to say that he will not die in jail.
And then there was Jean-Bedel Bokassa, president of the Central African Republic, later known as Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire. He was a brutal soldier who had served in the French colonial army, and seized power from his country's first president (a cousin) in 1966. For the next thirteen years he ruled the country with great violence and practically bankrupted it.
The mass murder of schoolchildren and rumours of cannibalism finally moved the French to intervene militarily and overthrow Bokassa in 1979 while he was travelling abroad. He was sentenced to death in absentia in 1980 for the murder of many political rivals – but he returned from exile in Paris in 1986, seemingly confident that he would be welcomed with open arms.
He was put on trial and sentenced to death again – in person, this time. But the following year his sentence was commuted to life in prison, and in 1993 he was set free. In 2010, President François Bozizé issued a decree rehabilitating Bokassa and calling him "a son of the nation recognised by all as a great builder."
Two things are odd about this phenomenon of ex-dictators confidently returning to the scene of the crime. One, obviously, is their belief that they are still loved (as if they ever really were). But that is less strange than it seems, for during their time in power very few people dared to tell them anything else.
What's much more curious is the fact that the countries they misruled eventually find it necessary to forgive them. They do this not so much out of sympathy for the man who committed the crimes, but rather out of a need for the nation's history not to be merely a meaningless catalogue of blunders and misdeeds.
Musharraf may have come back a bit too early to benefit from instant forgiveness, for some of the people he hurt have not yet retired. But he will not face really serious jail time or the death penalty, because Pakistan's army would not permit it. And he will be forgiven by Pakistan's historians and myth-makers in the end, because somehow or other the history has to make sense.
To shorten to 725 words, omit paragraphs 9, 10 and 11. ("And then…builder")
12 February 2014
Israel: Nuclear Hypocrisy
When Mordechai Vanunu, a humble Israeli technician who worked for years at Israel's secret nuclear site at Dimona, spilled the beans about Israel's nuclear weapons in 1986, very bad things happened to him. He was lured from safety in England for an Italian holiday by a woman who was an Israeli secret agent, drugged and kidnapped from Italy by other Israeli agents, and imprisoned for eighteen years (eleven of them in solitary confinement).
When Avraham Burg, the former speaker of the Israeli parliament, said last month that that Israel has both nuclear and chemical weapons (you know, like the nuclear weapons that Iran must not have and the chemical weapons that Syria must give up), nothing bad happened to him at all. He is protected by the Important Persons Act, the unwritten law that gets powerful and well-connected people off the hook in every country.
They didn't even go after Burg when he said that Israel's long-standing policy of "non-disclosure (never confirm or deny that it has nukes) was "outdated and childish." But even ten years after Vanunu finished serving his long jail sentence, he is not allowed to leave Israel, go near any foreign embassy, airport or border crossing, or speak to any journalist or foreigner.
Vanunu defies the Israeli authorities and speaks to whomever he pleases, of course. But he really can't get out of the country, though he desperately wants to leave, and his decision to live like a free man gives his watchers the pretext to yank his chain by arresting him whenever they feel like it.
The Israeli government's excuse for all this is that he may still know secrets he might reveal, but that is nonsense. Vanunu hasn't seen Dimona or talked to anybody in the Israeli nuclear weapons business for 30 years. What drives his tormentors is sheer vindictiveness, and he may well go on being punished for his defiance until he dies – while Avraham Burg lives out his life undisturbed and offers occasional pearls of wisdom to the public.
So here are the "secrets" that Vanunu and Burg revealed, in rather more detail than Burg chose to give and in a more up-to-date form than Vanunu could give from personal knowledge.
Israel has a minimum of eighty and a maximum of four hundred nuclear weapons, those limits being based on calculations of the amount of fissile material that it has enriched to weapons grade. The best guess is that the total is around two hundred warheads, most of them two-stage thermonuclear devices (hydrogen bombs).
At least some dozens are "tactical" weapons designed to be fired by 175 mm and 203 mm artillery pieces at ranges of 40-70 km. The remainder are meant to be delivered by missiles or aircraft, and Israel maintains a full "triad" of delivery systems: land-based missiles, sea-launched missiles, and aircraft.
The missiles are mostly Jericho II medium-range ballistic missiles, which can reach all of Europe and most of western Asia. Since 2008 Jericho III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) have also been entering service, with a range that would allow Israel to strike any inhabited point on the planet except some Pacific islands. Both can carry a one-megaton warhead.
Why such remarkably long ranges, when Israel's avowed enemies are all relatively close to hand? One speculation is that this is meant to encourage caution in other nuclear states (Pakistan? North Korea?) that might at some future time be tempted to supply nuclear weapons to Israel's near enemies.
The maritime leg of the triad is highly accurate cruise missiles that are launched from underwater by Israel's German-built Dolphin-class submarines. These missiles constitute Israel's "secure second-strike" capability, since it is extremely unlikely that even the most successful enemy surprise attack could locate and destroy the submarines. And finally, there are American-made F-15 and F-16 strike aircraft that can also carry nuclear bombs.
Israel probably tested its bomb in the southern Indian Ocean in 1979 in cooperation with apartheid South Africa, which was also developing nuclear weapons (subsequently dismantled) at that time. The test was carried out under cover of a storm to escape satellite surveillance, but a rift in the cloud cover revealed the characteristic double flash of a nuclear explosion to an American satellite, Vela 6911.
This was a violation of the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty, which forbids open-air nuclear tests, but the United States did not pursue the matter, presumably in order not to embarrass Israel.
The United States did not help Israel to develop nuclear weapons in the first place (France did that), and even now Washington does not really approve of Israel's nukes, although it tolerates them in the interest of the broader alliance. But why, after all these years, does Israel still refuse to acknowledge that it has them?
The only plausible answer is: to avoid embarrassing the United States in ways that would make it restrict its arms exports to Israel. But realistically, how likely is that to happen? The US Congress will ensure that Israel goes on getting all the money and arms it wants no matter what it says about its nukes, and it is high time to end this ridiculous dance around the truth.
To shorten to 725 words, omit paragraphs 4, 12 and 13. ("Vanunu…it"; and "Israel…Israel")


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Marion County Democratic Women observed National Day of the Cowboy at their lunch Friday at Marion Senior Center.Marilyn Cox, Estelle McCarty, Connie Fisher, and Janet Bryant read cowboy poetry.
Members also brought liquid dish detergent to contribute to the Marion food bank. Copies of a state convention program book, in which the Marion County group purchased an ad, were available.

subset: commoncrawl


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Waldorf Homeschooling Materials
Waldorf curriculum, resources, and materials for homeschooling.
Waldorf Homeschooling Method
Developed by Rudolf Steiner, this method emphasizes arts and crafts, music and movement. Students learn to read and write by making their own books.
Washington – WA
Resources, support groups and laws for homeschooling in this state.
Associations | Events | Field Trips | Learning Centers | Legal Information |
Online | Resources | Support Groups | Support Group Lists
Washington D.C.
Resources, support groups and laws for homeschooling in the District of Columbia.
Weather … or Not KIDS
Loads of experiments to learn more about weather.
Website Design 4 Kids KIDS
Sites for kids and other beginners to learn to design their own webpage.
Web Writing – 8/31/00
Teri Brown writes on how to become a paid published writer on the web or for homeschool-related magazines.
Weight Loss ~ see Losing Weight with Kids Around
Losing weight with big kids around all day every day can be a mighty big challenge. Take time to include healthy eating and exercise habits in each homeschooling day.
Welcome to college. Now start an argument.
Of all the advantages homeschoolers have over their public school friends, none exceeds their better understanding of the purpose of scholarship. By Stephen Combs.
West Virginia
Resources, support groups and laws for homeschooling in this state.
West Virginia Homeschooling Academic Assessment Report
A written narrative is a document which states that a certified teacher has reviewed a portfolio of work on behalf of a home schooled child, and states whether or not the child has completed successfully, understood completely, and has comprehended his or her academic studies throughout that grade level.
What About Socialization?
I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. I was mentally planning her week of Girl Scouts, 4-H, dance class, karate, and soccer. What were you saying about socialization?
What DeVos Appointment Could Mean to Homeschoolers
Should we homeschoolers, all of us, be concerned about the appointment of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education, if her appointment is approved?
What is the best homeschool curriculum?
I get this question so often and without any supporting information that I thought I'd post an analogy.
What is Homeschooling?
A variety of writers answer the question from different viewpoints.
What's the difference between a resolution and a bill?
Resolutions allow the legislature to recognize people, events, groups, issues without actually making law.
What?! No School Today?
What?! Where did you guys come from?! I thought I told you to stay at school! I'm sorry. This happens all the time. (sigh)
What to Know Before You Join a Homeschool Co-op
Carol Topp discusses some of the disadvantages of co-oping.
Where Do I Start?
Where to start looking for homeschooling information and advice.
When the Media Calls, YOU Can Answer
With accelerating media interest in homeschooling, chances are increasing that you will receive a request to speak with a reporter for a magazine or newspaper article, a television or radio program. What will you do?
Why Can't Homeschoolers Play on School Sports Teams?
Years ago there were major problems with ringers, or players who weren't qualified, playing on teams in league sports.
Why Not Homeschool?
Doubts and concerns about homeschooling. What worries us most.
Wikipedia Homeschooling is Highly Flawed Postcard
Just what is the Wikipedia for anyway? I really thought it was about being a collaborative effort among those who know homeschooling? Apparently not.
The Wild and Free Pigs of Okefenokee Swamp
The parable of the pigs has a serious moral lesson. This story is about federal money being used to bait, trap and enslave a once free and independent people.
Winter Olympics 2010 Unit Study KIDS
This will be an ongoing resource through the Winter Olympics in Vancouver February 12-28, 2010.
Winter Sports KIDS
Getting Started with snow and ice sports such as ice hockey, skating, skiing, snowboarding, and sledding.
Winter Unit Study KIDS
Find out about really cold places, about the science of cold, fun in the snow, and winter tales.
Resources, support groups and laws for homeschooling in this state.
Witch Trials of Salem see Salem Witch Trials KIDS
One theory that has come out recently is that the girls had been traumatized by earlier events: Indian massacres of families familiar to them.
Wolves Unit Study KIDS
There's so much to know about wolves – where they live, how they communicate, what they eat. Let's learn more about wolves!
Women In History KIDS
Famous and outstanding women throughout the world and throughout time.
Word Games KIDS
Improve your reading and writing skills while playing games online.
Word Problems KIDS
Learn and practice word problems K-8.
Work and Homeschoolers see Homeschoolers At Work
Young homeschoolers working. Choosing a career. Homeschoolers in the workforce – and succeeding!
Working & Single Parents
Being a single parent, or needing all adults to go to work can seem undaunting barriers to homeschooling, but with support you can do it.
Working from Home and Homeschool
Replies to the question: Any suggestions from those of you that do work at home or know someone that does. I would like to have an honest business, something that I could be proud of!
Working from home on eBay
How to succeed running your own sales business on eBay while also teaching your homeschooled kids how to help out, so you can afford to homeschool in the first place. By Lori Dake.
World Geography KIDS
Participate actively in geographical quests and meet kids all over the world.
Working Parents – See Single Parent and Working
Advice on how to homeschool if you are a working single parent. (Applies to families in which all adults must work as well.)
Working With Museums
Report from the Effective Strategies for Working with Homeschoolers session at the Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums (ALHFAM) Conference. By Debi Richter.
World Trade Center Crumbles
Use It to Strengthen Learning Environments – Advice on how to help children and teens understand what happened September 11, 2001.
Word Games KIDS
Improve your reading and writing skills while playing games online.
World Culture & History KIDS
Fun sites with ideas for social studies in general. Learn about people all over the world.
Worms – see Wiggly Worms KIDS
A kids place to study about worms by keeping them in a cool compost bin. Also known as vermicomposting.
- The Writing Process: Easy as 1-2-3-4-5 KIDS
Don't stress over writing! Follow these steps. Remain calm. You will be able to write beautifully! By Kim Kautzer, from WriteShop.
Writing & Sensory Strategies Reading Instruction Materials
Suppliers of reading instruction curriculum for sale to homeschooling families.
Writing Resources
Online classes and other commercial resources to help your young writer.
Writing Right see Creative Writing KIDS
Learn to write stories and essays and find places to post them online.
Writing Software
Mac and Windows, free and commercial software programs to aid in learning to write.
Resources, support groups and laws for homeschooling in this state.


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Chi Corporation is a leading networking storage, data security, and virtualization integration solution provider. Our primary focus is to LEARN our customers' company data needs and requirements and to deliver complete IT solutions that exceed their expectations.
Contact Chi Corporation to learn more about our solutions for computer, backup, data storage, networking (core, edge and wireless), security and virtualization. We look forward to learning more about how we can serve your company secure data and networking needs.
To reach us immediately, please call 440-498-2310 or email us at email@example.com.


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This is Sherwin, the election officer for the March 2018 BurnT election.
There were 4 positions open. Initially, it was communicated that there were 2 positions open, but the most recent minutes posted and by-laws indicated that it should be 4 positions. Therefore, 4 positions it was.
We had 7 persons that were nominated:
Seth Hardy
Steph Santos
Dave McKay
Franklin Warhol Call
Magill Foote
Drake Burns
Martin Sneath
Seth Hardy and Dave McKay were not accepted since they were prior board directors. My decision was based upon reviewing the board minutes ( http://burntoronto.ca/minutes ), there was a passed motion in the most recent minutes affirming that prior board directors could not hold any position of responsibility until reviews were completed.
The board reaffirmed its previous unanimous decision that none of the last board directors or officers should hold any position of responsibility, including leads at events, until a full financial review and review of the legalities and was concluded by the Board.
I couldn't accept their nomination since they were a previous board director and those reviews are still in progress.
Steph Santos was not accepted since they were not a GTA individual. After reviewing the by-laws, http://burntoronto.ca/by-laws, the applicable one was the April 2014 by-laws. Section 1.2 reads
The burnT OUT Interactive Arts Society shall be organized exclusively for charitable, artistic, and educational purposes, specifically to provide support and organizational structure to the community of Burning Man attendees and likeminded individuals (hereafter referred to as the Community) in the Greater Toronto Area.
I couldn't accept their nomination since to provide support and organizational structure to the community in Greater Toronto Area, you'd have to be an individual in the Greater Toronto Area. This was a difficult decision, and subsequent election officers can interpret this differently, I'd recommend that the board clarifies this prior to a future election.
These disqualifications were made by myself based on the effective by-laws and recent board decisions. I've had feedback questioning why I followed the 2014 by-laws and board decisions, and my response is that they were the rules and guidelines in place provided to me by the board. I ran an election using them, and it wasn't my role to debate those rules and guidelines. Persons are welcome to bring up issues with these rules and guidelines with the new board.
This left 4 nominees with 4 open positions. Martin Sneath and Magill Foote withdrew their names from consideration since they didn't want a position by acclamation.
The new board members are:
Franklin Warhol Call
Drake Burns
There are still two open positions, that I assume the board will call another election to fill. Due to the acclamation, there is not a need for a balloted vote. The election is complete.
Now with the benefit of hindsight, here are my recommendations for subsequent elections:
I hope the board and future election officers consider these for subsequent elections.
All the best.
thanks … sherwin
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.


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Anyway...why I still had a MySpace account, I have no idea.
So before I deleted it, I dug through the archives of embarrassing [and awesome] memories. It was a slam in the face of duck faces, questionable clothing choices, and cheesy profiles. Kind of cute and fun to look at for a second, but pretty embarrassing overall.
That's probably how I'll look back on this blog one day.. but whatev.
I'll probably say things like:
Why did I write about 83 subjects in one post and think it was even coherent enough for people to follow along? (Note to future self: it's because you have a hard time containing your excitement for anything.)
Why did I use words like whatev, holla, hollaaaaaa (emphasized version), and obvi (meaning obviously. obvi.)? (Note to future self: You should use these words when you're 80 because that's hilarious.)
Why did I discuss the Royal Wedding in more depth than any conversation I've ever had in my life? (Note to self: Ok not that in depth, but you were intense.)
It's whatev.
xo tosh.


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"It is through my passion of cut and fabrics that I am able to create garments of the highest quality,"
Welcome to the world of Michael Kaye Couture. The Award-winning Canadian fashion designer Michael Kaye, who resides in New York City has a clientele that includes some of America's "BEST DRESSED WOMEN".
Michael Kaye Couture was founded in 2001 with the idea of forwarding the concept of the modern couture philosophy for today's lifestyle. He honed his design skills after graduating cum laude from New York's Fashion Institute of Technology with design positions at Adele Simpson, Scassi Dress, Albert Nipon, Jones New York, Steven Stolman and MICHAEL KAYE NYC. His creativity ranges from lace, ruffles and bias tartans to sleek modern double-faced crepe dress and coat styles and this bridge dress line was carried at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Jacobson and Holt Renfrew.


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Friday, December 19, 2014
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
ROAD TRIP! December Block
Download Block 4 HERE as a PDF!
We hope you enjoy our Road Trip as much as we do! If you have any questions or comments we'd love your feedback!
P.S. Find all the links about our Road Trip adventures HERE.
P.S. Find all the links about our Road Trip adventures HERE.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Postcard Party Swap
From the organizers of this year's wildly successful Row by Row comes the Postcard Party!! It's a quilted postcard swap! This is a great way to try a new technique on a small project, or just have a quickie project that you can have fun with.
Want to play along? Pick up a template (or more!) at StitchCraft and make a quilted postcard. Bring us your completed postcard(s) by January 15, and we'll coordinate having them swapped with other postcards from all over the country. See more about the Postcard Party by clicking here!
On December 30 and January 3 we'll be having Postcard Parties at StitchCraft - join us any time from 1 - 4 pm to work on your postcard. We'll be set up to make some postcards and have a great time!
Friday, December 5, 2014
We are CRAZY for WOOL!!
We have been bitten by the hand stitching bug - we love hand embroidery, cross stitch, hand piecing - even hand quilting. We have brought in wool stitchery kits for classes but now we have committed to our wool relationship. Charms, chunks, rolls and large pieces of luscious hand dyed wool has started to arrive in our shop. We have all been stitching up projects to show (and keep), ranging from scissor sheaths and needle keeps to adorable owls and pillows.
We will have everything you need to stitch with wool - a perfect 'on the go' project. Classes will be scheduled for after the new year so we can ALL fall in love with wool.
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I thought I'd make this a new 'sticky'
If you are in the Brentwood / Billericay area of Essex you can get my show on 98FM on your wireless.
You can also listen live on the internet
To hear the audio just click on 'listen now'
If you want to both watch and listen there is a live web-cam feed. Just click on the webcam picture and follow the instructions.
You can message me direct from the website or email the studio email@example.com with requests and suggestions.


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Partnership with Healthy Transitions
Baldragon Academy pupils have been working in partnership with The Corner as part of their Healthy Transitions (Peer Education) Programme for a number of years now.
The group is run by Christine Greig and her team. Second year pupils are selected annually following an application process and in discussion with Guidance staff members.
The 26 pupils follow a 6-week intensive training programme every week after school which enables them to be well versed in such topics as Transition from Primary to Secondary School, Alcohol and Drugs so that they can teach our P7 Feeder Primaries as part of the ongoing and developing Transition Programme.
Throughout the process pupils develop a range of transferrable skills in preparation for the world of work and they get a real sense of achievement at completing the programme. All participants have the opportunity to achieve a Dynamic Youth/Saltire Award for their work.


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The Office Depot Story
(First, sorry I wasn't around yesterday at all. Hubs and I went to Bath, which was fantastic. Of course we didn't have the camera with us, although he took some photos with his phone, which if I can get them on my computer I'll post a few tomorrow.)
Inspired by Paca's post about the evils of Verizon, I thought today might be a good day to post a chappy story. A story about why, given the choice, I will always, always shop at Office Depot (even though they treat their employees rather shittily, which I know because for a short time I worked there.)
About three and a half years ago now, I took the Princess to Office Depot. Or rather, I called Princess's Godfather and asked him to take the both of us to Office Depot, because I needed to buy an office-y gift for one of Princess's teachers.
I was basically looking at briefcases while Godfather kept an eye on Princess. At one point, he needed to get something out of his car and offered to take Princess with him. I said fine.
He wasn't gone two minutes before a breathless Office Depot employee came up to me to ask if I'd had a little girl with me, and had I given permission for someone to take her out of the store? I said yes, explained who Godfather was, and thanked the girl for her concern.
A few minutes after that, Godfather and Princess came back in. Godfather had been held by store security, who refused to let him get into his car or even into the parking lot until they'd determined that I knew Godfather, and had allowed him to take my daughter out of the store.
I found the manager to thank him, and learned that it's now part of training for Office Depot employees to note when children come into the store and who they come in with, and to keep an eye on them in the store. It's store policy.
Maybe a lot of stores do this, I don't know. And maybe Office Depot only started doing it to cover their own asses. I don't really care. It's enough for me that they do it, frankly, because I thought that was great. And I wrote a letter to their corporate office and told them so, too.
And that's why given a choice, I will always shop there.
office depot
child safety


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Well, I have made the news! Here is the press release from my school system. It was also mentioned in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution – in the Cobb County section. Thursday, I went to the local meeting for all of the Fund for Teachers fellows. It was held at Lovett (private school) and it was short and sweet.
There, we were given a check for 90% of our award money, and were walked through the required expense recording and other paperwork. We are required to submit a final reflection by the end of September, wherein we will be awarded the final 10% of the money. Seems fair to me! Then, we took individual and group photos for future press releases.
At first, I debated about whether or not to link this blog to my school affiliation – and I still may separate it later. I don't think that I have said anything controversial, but you never know… Both FFT and MCS want to make sure that I do not misrepresent those organizations – so I don't know… I don't want to be repetitive about my grant proposal, so here is the post with a description.
Yes, I still don't know if I am going to drive or fly – although I am leaning towards driving. I also keep wavering between leaving the dog here and taking her with me – er, us. My husband will be going with me as a technical aide :-). If we drive, it will add about 10 days to our trip – it will take about 5 days to get from Atlanta to Morelia. My thought is that if we drive, then we might as well bring the pooch – the apartment that we are renting in Morelia allows pets. And my dog is so neurotically attached to me that I don't know how she will do being left for 5 weeks.
In the meantime, I am doing some research on the arts and crafts that I would like to include in my project. This week, I finally dove into tin embossing (aluminum, actually). I first heard about it a while back, but I was listening to this podcast on the Crafty Pod, and really became inspired. I tried working with four layers of heavy duty aluminum foil, but that was unsatisfactory. Then I moved on to aluminum from one of the roasting pans I purchased to try this with. That was great! I also did one on a flattened inside of a Diet Coke Can, but that was a little too stiff.
Needless to say, I have one sore left hand and thumb! I produced this beautiful piece by tracing over a design from one of my Mexican folk design books, then coloring it with Sharpie markers. I cut it out with one of my ornamental scissors. I love it! So did my students – I was doing some of this during CRCT testing. I plan on letting them do some, but I have to iron out some safety issues – sharp edges being the main one. I plan on tying it in to our Mayan unit, which I will begin next week.
I also did some experimentation with faux amate bark painting. I took some brown craft paper my husband uses to cover things he mails out and cut out an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet. I flattened it and put it through my laser printer. Then I used some of the many tempera paints I have to paint it. Pretty awesome.
Here is what I am learning about 7th graders. Whereas elementary school students are generally happy to do crafts and drawing and have it look like elementary school children's work, middle school students have entered into this "perfectionist" phase. They are afraid (or don't want to) to do art projects because they have suddenly found out they "can't" draw and don't want people to see their work. Most students that I see actually drawing things are tracing – tattoo images are popular (but they sometimes don't realize that the words are backwards…).
I can identify, because I have always been that way. Even as a small child artist, I was VERY frustrated that my pictures did not look like the things in real life. I was constantly wanting to be as talented as my mother without putting in the years of practice. That is why I generally drew things from my imagination – they couldn't be compared to real-life items. I think that is also why I am drawn to collage. I am able to draw, but I am not shy about using tracing to get a foundation for many of my pieces.
So, I am trying to make the art experience as friendly as possible for my fragile middle-schoolers. I will introduce the tinwork and amate by incorporating tracing and coloring. The only thing I will have to insist upon is that they don't talk or socialize a lot. Many of my students are satisfied with inferior work, if they can get it done without their full attention (meaning while talking to others) or quickly, perceiving that there are more fun things to do after they are done.
Mrs. Williams don't play that. This is not play time. I fully expect my students to incorporate a written response or report on the type of art they are doing. I am so tired of students thinking everything is "boring". That's just a cop-out for not caring about learning – or being afraid to seem nerdy for wanting to learn things. This attitude will be intensified by the approach of the end of the year. We just finished CRCT testing, and we have 5 weeks left – it's always a challenge to keep them focused!


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- "This strike is only Ten Rings' latest step in global destabilization. There will be more..."
- ―Richard Frampton
Richard Frampton was an Australian billionaire, owner of Sojourn Enterprises and a member of the Ten Rings terrorist organization.
Richard Frampton founded Sojourn Enterprises, a transport multinational with a space tourism division, that in reality was a cover for some of the Ten Rings activities.
After acquiring many of the parts to assemble a Hammer Industries version of the Jericho Missile, Russian arms dealers Mikhail Fjodorov, General Starodoub and Yuri Klementiev refused to sell the targeting software needed for the launch after realizing all the purchasers were in reality fronts for the Ten Rings.
Frampton then hired an assassin known as Sofia to retrieve the targeting software for the Jericho, in possession by the arms dealers. She clashed with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff, who was also trying to recover the software without knowing its real nature.
Sofia's personal grudge against Romanoff first helped to acquire the software, but Romanoff was able to track it to the launching site where Frampton had built the Jericho and was planning to launch it to North Korea to destabilize the region.
Before battling Sofia, Romanoff was able to change the target of the missiles to their original launch site, killing Frampton in the subsequent explosion.[1]
- Ten Rings
- Sojourn Enterprises
- Sofia † - Employee


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Quiz night a success
BADMINTON NOTES-A big thank you to everybody who supported the Badminton Club Quiz night held last Friday night in Mooneys.
The night was a huge success with a great turnout from far and near. A total of 25 teams took part on the night and with everything running so smoothly this could be an annual event. Quiz master for the night was Tomas Breathnach from Kilmacow who has a mountain of experience in this field. The questions were very fair and this reflected in the high scoring. One or two sticklers sorted out the men from the boys with the winning score being 59 out of 60. The winners on the night were Tommy Farrell, Breda Farrell, Rose Power, and Aiden Power. The club also held a raffle during the night which was a great success as well. Lots of winners and everybody fed and watered with cocktail sausages and nuggets. So a good night and great credit to the club for their efficient organisation.
MULLINAVAT GAA CLUB-The local GAA club will hold its A.G.M. in preparation for the 2013 season in the club room in the hurling field on Friday the 23rd of November.
Any nominations or motions to be forwarded to the Secretary before November the 18th
SOUTH OSSARY PIONEER DINNER DANCE-The above organisation will hold their annual dinner dance on Friday 23rd November at 8.30pm.
Music will be provided by twice shy. Tickets for the event are available from Dan Fitzpatrick @ 051-898286 or Richard Grant at 051-898179. The cost of this night is €30 and is taking place in The Rhu Glen.
DRUG AWARNESS NIGHT-A meeting on Drug Awareness will be held in the Parish Church Hall on the 16th of November at 7.30pm for all who are interested. The boys and girls that are making their confirmation in 2013 are also invited to attend.


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The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, Hong Kong Tour, Press Release
For Immediate Release
The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge University
Tour of Hong Kong and Australia in July 2016
The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge is embarking on a tour to Hong Kong on 9th July to 14th July 2016. It is voted by Gramophone Magazine as one of the top five best choirs in the world. The Choir will be singing at the Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre on 11th July 2016 in a programme entitled Choral Masterworks and at the Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall on 12th July. The programme on 12th July is, It don't mean a thing (if it ain't got that swing). The choir is directed by Stephen Layton, who is described by Classic FM as 'One of the finest interpreters of choral music.'
The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge comprises around thirty choral scholars and two organ scholars, all of whom are ordinarily undergraduates of the College. The College's choral tradition dates back to the all-male choir of the fourteenth century, when former Chapel Royal choristers studied in King's Hall which later became part of Trinity College. Directors of Music have included Charles Villiers Stanford, Alan Gray, Raymond Leppard and Richard Marlow. Female voices were introduced in the 1980s by the then Director of Music, Richard Marlow, in a new departure for Cambridge choral music. Stephen Layton has been Director of Music since 2006.
During term, the Choir's main focus is the singing of the liturgy in the College Chapel, exploring a repertoire drawn from both Catholic and Protestant traditions. Outside term, the Choir's programme of performances and recordings recently included a BBC broadcast of Bach's Christmas Oratorio with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in London, Haydn's 'Nelson' Mass with the City of London Sinfonia in Aldeburgh and Cambridge, Poulenc's Gloria with Britten Sinfonia in Norwich Cathedral, and Handel's Dettingen Te Deum and Chandos Anthems with the Academy of Ancient Music in London and Cambridge.
Recent additions to the Choir's discography include Beyond all mortal dreams, settings of contemporary American a cappella music, Baltic Exchange, choral music from the Baltic region, David Briggs' Mass for Notre Dame, Handel's Dettingen Te Deum and Chandos Anthems and new works by Polish composer Pawel Lukasewski, all released on the Hyperion label. Its most recent release, of Howells' Requiem and other works, won a Gramophone Award in 2012.
Its programme of tours has taken the Choir to destinations in Europe, the USA, Canada, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Peru. In 2010, the Choir spent a month touring Australia, performing to sold-out halls in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Hobart.
Stephen Layton is the Director of Music at Trinity College, Cambridge. He is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the City of London Sinfonia. He guest conducts widely, including the Philadelphia, Minnesota, London Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Ulster, Bournemouth and Royal Scottish National orchestras; the Britten Sinfonia, Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Academy of Ancient Music, and the English, Scottish, Irish and Australian chamber orchestras. For English National Opera he conducted Bach's St John Passion in a stage production with Deborah Warner.
A champion of new music, Layton has premiered works by Pärt, Adès and MacMillan. His bold realisation of John Tavener's epic seven-hour vigil The Veil of the Temple, a new departure in British music, was premiered in the Temple Church in London and later performed at the BBC Proms and in New York at the Lincoln Center Festival.
Layton founded Polyphony in 1986 whilst organ scholar of King's College, Cambridge. He is Chief Guest Conductor of the Danish National Vocal Ensemble and Music Director of Holst Singers. In 2006 he was made a Fellow and Director of Music of Trinity College, Cambridge. He has been Director of Music at the Temple in London and Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Kammerkoor.
Stephen Layton's discography on Hyperion ranges from works by Handel with original instruments to music by Bruckner and Poulenc, Pärt and Tavener, Lukasewski and Whitacre. He has received the Gramophone Award in the UK, the Diapason d'Or in France, the ECHO Deutscher Musikpreis in Germany, the Compact Award in Spain and three Grammy nominations in the United States.
Website of the Choir: http://trinitycollegechoir.com//
Website of The Music Director: http://www.stephenlayton.com/
Tickets: $480, $380, $280 and $180 (30 % discount with quota for full time students and seniors except for D category.)
Tickets are available at www.urbtix.hk
PRESENTER: Christine N Concerts Ltd
Media Enquiries:
Ms Christine Nigam
Christine N Concerts Ltd 1801 Hollywood Centre, 1 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Tel: +852-9464 1941 www.christinenconcerts.com
Notes to the Editors
11th July 2016, Monday Great Masterworks
Venue: Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Bogoroditse Djevo Pärt
O Lord, make thy servant Byrd
Salvator mundi Tallis
Remember not, Lord, our offences Purcell
O sacrum convivium Stucky
The heavens' flock Ešenvalds
Evening Hymn Rautavaara
Ekteniya of the Litany Rautavaara
The wings of the wind Park
Give unto the Lord Elgar
Hymn of ancient lands Twist
Mass Martin
Agnus Dei
Te Deum (Collegium Regale) Howells
Organ Scholar: Owain Park
12th July 2016 Tuesday It don't mean a thing (if It ain't got that swing)
Venue: Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall
Sumer is icumen in Anon (c13th)
Now is the month of Maying Thomas Morley
The silver swan Orlando Gibbons
Pastime with good company King Henry VIII arr. Kirby Shaw
Hark all ye lovely saints Thomas Weelkes
Draw on, sweet night John Wilbye
Irish folk tune from County Derry arr. Percy Grainger
Australian up country song arr. Percy Grainger
What shall we do with the drunken sailor English Traditional arr. Jonathan Rathbone
Joshua fought the battle of Jericho Spiritual arr. Jonathan Rathbone
Way over in Beulah-lan' Spiritual arr. Joseph Jennings
Ain't that a kick in the head? James van Heusen arr. Owain Park
Long ago (and far away) Jerome Kern arr. Ken Naylor
Cheek to cheek Irving Berlin arr. Ken Naylor
Once upon a dream Kirby Shaw
Teddy bears' picnic John Walter Bratton arr. Keith Roberts
Michelle Lennon and McCartney arr. Peter Gritton
Silence is golden Bob Crewe & Bob Gaudio arr. Owain Park
It don't mean a thing (if it ain't got that swing) Duke Ellington arr. Ben Parry
My funny valentine Richard Rogers arr. Owain Park
All the things you are Jerome Kern arr. Robert Rice
The carnival is over Tom Springfield arr. Martin Bussey
Spiderman Bob Harris arr. Steve Friedman


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2011 Conference Proceedings Available
NASIG is pleased to announce the publication of its 2011 Conference Proceedings! Co-edited by Wm. Joseph Thomas and Sharon Dyas-Correia, the Proceedings have been published by Taylor & Francis as volume 62 of The Serials Librarian. The Proceedings provide a written record of the presentations given at NASIG's 26th Annual Conference held in St. Louis, Missouri on June 2-5, 2011.
To access the Proceedings online, NASIG members can log in to the NASIG homepage and then select Publications > Conference Proceedings. Online access to the Proceedings is also available to subscribers of The Serials Librarian via the InformaWorld platform (http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=t792306962).
The editors wish to thank all speakers and recorders for their contributions to the Proceedings.
OCLC Global and Regional Councils announce election results
"Anne Prestamo, Associate Dean/Collection & Technology Services, Oklahoma State University, University Libraries (Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA), has been elected Vice President/President-Elect of OCLC Global Council. Her term as Vice President will commence on July 1, 2012, followed by a one-year term as President of Global Council beginning July 1, 2013.
Election results for OCLC's three Regional Councils, Americas Regional Council (ARC), Europe, Middle East and Africa Regional Council (EMEARC), and Asia Pacific Regional Council (APRC), were also announced during the Global Council Meeting in Dublin, Ohio, April 16–18. A total of 48 delegates from 17 countries participated in the Global Council Annual Meeting, led by Berndt Dugall, President, OCLC Global Council, and Direktor/Librarian, Universität Frankfurt, Universitätsbibliothek Johann Senckenberg…"
LOCKSS Program Receives Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant
"The LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) Program at Stanford University has been awarded a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The two-year grant accelerates work on new ways to gather and preserve the kinds of dynamic and diverse digital content that 21st century scholarship demands… The Mellon Foundation grant will enable LOCKSS to develop new techniques for collecting dynamic digital content from modern publishing platforms, and ensuring its long-term preservation. Incorporating these techniques into future versions of the award winning, open-source LOCKSS digital preservation software will benefit the entire academic community…"
New CAA Standards and Guidelines on the Fair Use of Images
The Board of Directors of the College Arts Association has adopted the following two documents "that address fair use of visual resources in teaching, scholarship, and libraries:"
- Fair Use of Images for Academic and Research Libraries
The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries (2012) describes eight examples of common library practices that are affected by the rules of copyright and fair use. Because the prevalence of digital technologies in higher education has changed the way in which students and faculty use libraries and offer access to academic coursework, the code urges institutions to clarify and update research database systems and to transfer archive material deemed as "at risk items" into a digital format. The code also discusses the need to reproduce library material for disabled students and faculty without bias.
- Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research, and Study
Visual Resources Association: Statement on the Fair Use of Images for Teaching, Research, and Study is a helpful tool for educators and scholars who rely on images for teaching, research, publishing, and other academic work. The statement describes the six uses of images that fall within the doctrine of fair use according to United States copyright law: the use of images for the purpose of teaching; the preservation and transferring of images from one format to another; the creation of online image resources for students; the use of images by students in the context of the classroom; the sharing of images among cultural or educational institutions; and the inclusion of images in theses and dissertations.
Tom Gilson. Test Bio


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Welcome to Still Chasing Fireflies, a blog about the emotional roller coaster that we call the human experience.
If you are going to be sharing my innermost thoughts and dreams, then I should probably introduce myself. My name is Mary Ann. I am a loving mama, an okay wife, a passionate teacher, a loyal friend, an aspiring writer, a wannabe runner, a tireless encourager, and a recovering perfectionist, just to name a few. While I feel pulled a thousand directions every day, my faith and family keep me grounded.
At our house, we try to focus on the bright spots. And, as elusive as they sometimes are, there are ALWAYS bright spots. Fortunately, like fireflies, their shine is even brighter when the darkness settles in.
I guess even now, as an adult, I am still chasing fireflies. I invite you to chase fireflies, too! I hope you will join this journey with me!


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Sharing my progress; one black, white, and brass step at a time.
HELLO. I Live Here. // What's new.
My Black Foyer
I made my decision.
Light Drama
Picking a foyer fixture for Project #rusticeuroluxe
as long as you can find them on Craigslist…
Like a Boss
Shop the flea market LIKE A BOSS
{Weekly Wrap Up}
Settee crushing/Tribal Nails/Vintage Poster Love/Equestrian Coat Holder/Milo Baughman-esq side table acquisition/Animalistic fabric choices/Neon and Coral
{Weekly Wrap Up}
Clockwise {Opening Day/Brass Overload/Amazing Discoveries/Plannin Stuff/XO/Vintage Abstract/Decisions decisions/#SexyModernBoudoir/Bar stockin for a bachelor}
{Weekly Wrap Up}
Clockwise {Easter/Ballroom/Original Art/Charity Gala/Wish I had a place for it/My personal fabric choices/Girls Night/Cheesy find/Fabric hunt}
Vintage Mastercraft Furniture on my Mind…..like, a lot…..
Last month I roamed around the Palm Springs desert on a top-secret design mission. It was an amazing adventure where, in addition to learning hair extensions get matted in arid climates, I gained A LOT of knowledge on Mid-Century Modern home furnishings. That place is packed with breathtaking, treasure filled Vintage home furnishing galleries. Some […]


text: Upward spiral of costs preventing access to justice in class actionsClass Acts October 28, 2013|Written By Kirk Baert In a recent decision on costs arising from a motion for certification, Justice Paul Perell of the Superior Court acknowledged the ever-upward spiral in costs awards in class proceedings are becoming an impediment to the viability of the class action regime. The reason for these enormous costs awards is the tendency for the parties to the certification motion to use it as a road test for the merits of the litigation. The focus of the certification motion ought to be whether the certification criteria are satisfied and that the some-basis-in-fact evidentiary standard in this regard is very low. In ordering half of the costs awarded on the motion payable forthwith and the other half in the cause, Perell struck an appropriate balance between compensating the victorious parties to the motion for the costs they incurred and ensuring these motions are not prohibitively expensive, which will result in a chilling effect on the purposes of the class proceedings legislation.Lipson v. Cassels Brock & Blackwell, was a costs decision arising from a proposed class action claiming a law firm negligently provided a tax opinion in support of a donation scheme. Participants in the scheme would donate both cash and resort timeshares to Canadian athletic associations in return for tax credits for their charitable donations. In the marketing of the scheme, a tax opinion prepared by Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP was included in the promotional material. That opinion said it was unlikely the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency could successfully deny the tax credits. However, Canada Revenue ultimately disallowed the anticipated tax credits in their entirety. To recover his losses, Jeffrey Lipson commenced a class action against Cassels Brock and a number of other defendants. After a two-day hearing, certification of the class action was denied on the basis the class' claims were statute-barred under the Limitations Act, 2002. The Court of Appeal reversed the lower court's judgment and certified the action.At the motion for the determination of costs, the plaintiffs sought payment on a partial indemnity basis of $298,582.71. Cassels Brock submitted that Lipson should receive costs of $100,000 plus reasonable disbursements, some of which should be made payable in the cause.Perell went further. Although he acknowledged the motion for certification was hard fought and called for a vigilant and concerted effort from class counsel, he commented that a $300,000 costs award for a certification motion for this case was excessive. A significant amount of the evidence went to the merits of this action, which is contrary to the purpose of the motion for certification, which is procedural in nature.In the end, Perell ordered costs payable to Lipson of $298,582.71, with $150,000 of that payable in the cause. This amount provided fair compensation for the successful certification hearing, and preserved to the prosecution of the litigation the work effort of class counsel, much of which would be carried forward into the action.Over the last few years, costs awards against unsuccessful parties in class proceedings have skyrocketed despite the potential chilling effect such awards can have on the purposes of the class proceedings legislation. A review of recent costs awards arising from motions for certification demonstrates this trend: Martin v. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals PLC (2012) $475,000 plus disbursements McCracken v. Canadian National Railway Co. (2012) $475,000 Fresco v. CIBC (2010) $525,000 Lambert v. Guidant Corp. (2009) $650,000 plus disbursements Ruffolo v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada (2008) $215,000 Enormous costs awards at certification typically result from the tendency to use the certification motion as a road test for the merits of the litigation. By reducing the amount of costs awarded to class counsel and splitting the costs and by making half of the costs award payable forthwith and the other being payable in the cause, there is hope the tide is turning, and that both parties to the motion for certification will recognize a certification motion remains just a procedural motion and the merits of the litigation remain to be determined.


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about us
sponsorship committee
our team
our work
our mission
our issues
momagri model
ggovernance & regulation
momagri agency
A new vision for agriculture
momagri, movement for a world agricultural organization, is a think tank chaired by Christian Pèes.
It brings together, managers from the agricultural world and important people from external perspectives,
such as health, development, strategy and defense. Its objective is to promote regulation
of agricultural markets by creating new evaluation tools, such as economic models and indicators,
and by drawing up proposals for an agricultural and international food policy.
Chiffres-clés de l'Agriculture
Every single day, over 550 acres of agricultural land, the equivalent of four average-size farms, are disappearing in France
Between 1960 and 2010, France's Utilized Agricultural Area (SAU) fell from 89 million to 67 million acres, a decline of 25 percent.
Today, France is losing an average of 202,550 acres
of farmland every year, or close to 550 acres daily.
Even though France remains a largely agricultural nation, with about 50 percent of its territory used for agricultural activities in 2010
, farmland keeps declining.
A European phenomenon that is more prevalent in France
The whole of Europe is affected by vanishing
farmland, but France is reporting a faster rate than other European nations.
Indeed, Germany only lost five million acres of its Utilized Agricultural Area (SAU) between 1960 and 2010, a decline of almost 11 percent
The destruction of agricultural land is due to several factors, among which:
- The country's urbanization,
as urban areas doubled between 1960 and 2010, increasing from 6.2 million to 12.4 million acres
- The exodus from farming or the sale of farmland by farmers,
a trend that has escalated in the past few years due to rising real estate prices.
As well as stagnating agricultural yields
Following fifty years of continued growth, wheat yields have been stagnating since the 2000s. The problem lies with bypassing crop fertilization and protection due to rising costs and the depreciation of agricultural revenues
. The fact concerning wheat is also true for other crops.
As a result,
our capabilities to increase agricultural production are being questioned.
The G20 Summit called for an increase in global production and productivity in order to feed eight billion people in 2030. Both France and the European Union, which benefit from favorable climate conditions and advanced know-how, must play a key role to meet this challenge.
This is the reason why curbing the farmland destruction process is a key issue.
momagri believes that, beyond fiscal and administrative measures to preserve farmland, we must enable farmers to earn a living from their land.
Otherwise, the rural exodus will still intensify to reach a point of no return.
Agreste Primeur, issue #260 of April 2011, French Ministry of Agriculture.
French Ministry of Agriculture, 2010 census
With 16% of the total EU agricultural area, France holds the largest share of farmland, followed by Spain, Germany, The United Kingdom, Poland, Romania and Italy.
Germany's SAU declined from 47 million to 42 million acres between 1960 and 2010 (INSEE and FAO).
French Ministry of Agriculture
INRA and Arvalis Institute 2010 study.
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Paris, 16 June 2019


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The Accounting Program produces students who will be able to:
- Cultivate transferable skills such as verbal and written communication, teamwork, leadership, research and demonstrate use of the current accepted technical language of accounting and accounting practices.
- Recognize the potential of emerging technologies and the globalizations aspects in the context of modern day business practice and acquire a spirit of life-long learning.
- Recognize and analyze ethical and regulatory problems, choose a resolution, support an ethical choice in accounting situations and build self-confidence and problem solving abilities in a variety of work situations.
- Analyze a wide range of accounting problems, provide a suitable rationale of the analysis, provide solutions through suitable text, diagrams, quantitative illustrations, simulations etc; and communicate effectively with peer groups about professional and accounting matters
- Apply accounting knowledge in new and unfamiliar circumstances through a conceptual understanding of accounting practices. Apply financial and management accounting techniques to practical situations.
- Conduct an audit and prepare auditing report for different organizations.
Detailed aims of research:
- Enrich curriculum design, content and organization research activities.
- Provide incentives for staff members to conduct relevant research on areas of accounting.


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by: Sarah Joson
Wednesday, May 29, 2013 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
According to a study done by the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), the outsourcing sector is a crucial contributor to the continuous growth of the country's services sectors and economy. In fact, last year, the outsourcing industry contributed $13 billion in revenues and produced 780,000 jobs.
Furthermore, IBPAP anticipates that the employment rate and revenues from the outsourcing sector will improve further as investors are planning to increase outsourcing operations outside the four key business process outsourcing (BPO) hubs of the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Bacolod, and Metro Clark were recently dubbed by IBPAP as the "centers of excellence" or the best locations for information technology-business process management (IT-BPM).
IBPAP also collaborated with the Department of Science and Technology-Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO) in creating the "Next Wave Cities" or the key locations that have the potential for growth in the outsourcing segment.
by: Sarah Joson
Monday, May 27, 2013 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
The government is planning to spend P5 billion yearly in order for the IT offshore industry of the Philippines to reach its targets in the Information Technology Road Map (IT-RM) 2012-2016 and boost its contributions to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
According to DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo, the funding will cover different objectives of the industry. He noted that several organizations will collaborate to identify and solve the challenges faced by the IT-BPO industry. These include 10 line agencies, several bureaus, and even the central bank.
One of the goals of the IT-RM is to build the local talent pool and reach 1.1 million candidates by training experienced workers and attracting new ones.
IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (ITBPAP) Representative Jose Mari P. Mercado said they are getting the results they wanted as the government-sponsored training program will produce new graduates trained by professors from key universities and experts in the field.
Other key targets of the IT-RM are properly promoting the country as an ideal IT business process management (IT-BPM) destination and a GDP of eight percent by 2016.
by: Sarah Joson
Friday, May 24, 2013 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Mario Go Montejo addressed the bullish information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) of the Philippines. He said the local government will continue to support and help in the development of the sector.
The Information and Communications Technology (ICTO), a sub-organization of DOST, recently joined forces with the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) and TeamAsia and formed the strategic communications division for the IT-BPM Road Map 2012-2016.
In Montejo's speech, read by ICTO Deputy Executive Director Monchito Ibrahim, he emphasized the role of the government in helping the sector grow as well as fostering an environment where it will be able to sustain its competitive edge. He added that the entire IT-BPM sector can grow to US$240-250 billion by 2016.
BPM is formerly known as business process outsourcing (BPO), an industry that provides countless opportunities for over half a million Filipinos.
According to Senior Executive Director of the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP), Gillian Joyce G. Virata, the change from "outsourcing" to "management" was done to address the management aspect of the sector, rather than outsourcing.
by: Sarah Joson
Thursday, May 23, 2013 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
The Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) and the Science and Technology department of the country released the latest 'Next Wave' Cities list. It included Baguio City, Davao City, Dumaguete City, Iloilo City, Lipa City, Metro Bulacan, Metro Cavite, Metro Laguna, Metro Naga, and Metro Rizal.
The so-called 'Next Wave' cities are identified to score well in terms of talent, infrastructure, cost, and business environment. These locations are also called Centers of Excellence. These do not receive government incentives but are highly regarded and promoted to investors.
Bacolod City is also dubbed as a Center of Excellence alongside Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Clark.
Areas that are grouped as "metro" are said to have the appropriate talent and infrastructure. These include Baliuag, Calumpit, Malolos City, Marilao and Meycauayan City of Metro Bulacan. Bacoor City, Dasmariñas City, Cavite City and Imus City for Metro Cavite and for Metro Laguna, there's Cabuyao City, Calamba City, Los Baños, Sta. Rosa City, and San Pablo City. There's also Naga City and Pili of Metro Naga, and Antipolo City, Binangonan, Cainta, and Taytay for Metro Rizal.
IBPAP is also keeping an eye on Batangas City, Cagayan de Oro City, Dagupan City and Tagbilaran City as these are considered as emerging locations.
by: Sarah Joson
Wednesday, May 22, 2013 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
A number of local business process outsourcing (BPO) firms recently said some of their clients are planning to withdraw operations in Manila if the peso continues to rise.
According to the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), majority of the organization's members are seen deferring expansion plans or are moving their business to less expensive outsourcing hubs.
Moreover, Gillian Joyce Virata, Deputy Executive Director at IBPAP, said the PHP 41 to USD 1 exchange rate is tolerable for the outsourcing industry, but if the peso strengthens further, they will have no other choice but to opt for more economic allocations.
However, she said the local BPO industry will retain its goal in the industry roadmap for 2016 because the Philippines is still the leading destination for voice-based processes. Furthermore, the country is the second largest outsourcing hub for non-voice processes. The industry is projected to represent eight percent of the country's gross domestic product by 2016 by contributing $25 billion in revenues and employment of 1.3 million Filipino workers.
by: Sarah Joson
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
A report from market intelligence firm IDC indicates that the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector could be valued at $209.4 billion in 2017 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7 percent. Of that amount, $97.3 billion will be contributed by the growing US BPO market, which is predicted to post a slower CAGR of 4.3 percent.
According to Mukesh Dialani, Research Manager for worldwide BPO and engineering services at IDC, with the experience and data most providers have accrued over the years, they are now able to present clearer and more concise ideas and scenarios to probable customers. Clients are realizing the improvements and benefits that reformed BPOs can bring to their businesses.
IDC added that for voice-based processes, other channels and platforms are now being used by providers. For instance, there's mobile customer care, remote agent delivery centers, and on-demand contact center services.
by: Sarah Joson
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 | Outsourcing News | Comments (0)
Even with the continuous rise of the peso, the Aquino government remains positive that the local information and communication technology (ICT) sector will be able to achieve $50 billion in revenues by 2016.
According to the deputy executive director of the Department of Science and Technology-Information and Communication Technology Office (DOST-ICTO), Monchito Ibrahim, the government has furnished the requirements needed by the ICT sector. He estimated that the information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) segment will contribute $25 billion and other ICT-sectors such as animation will deliver $25 billion by 2016.
Moreover, Ibrahim pointed out that the reliable and abundant transmission networks and cable landing stations provided by key telecommunications companies such as the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. are key factors for the sector's growth.
Other influencers identified by Ibrahim are the special five-percent tax on gross income, other tax and duties exemptions, four to eight years income tax holiday, sales grants amounting to 30 percent of total sales and discounts on training costs.
Meanwhile, DOST noted that Metro Manila isn't the only hub equipped for IT-BPO operations as Cebu and Davao have similar infrastructure as well.


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Christopher Wright
M.A.(Oxon) in economics and politics, Cdip.AF., Foundation Fellow Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Formerly Global Head of Private Equity and management board member Dresdner Kleinwort. Director of Merifin Capital. Co-founding board member of Roper Industries Inc (NYSE listed), Chairman of Yimei Capital Ltd (China), director of Yatra Capital Limited (ASE listed, India related), Strategic Adviser to Surya Capital LLP (East Africa related), and advisory director of GP Investments Ltd (LuxSE listed, Brazil related). Advisory Director of Campbell Lutyens and Co. Ltd. Chairman of EM Alternatives LLC. Christopher is based in New England in the United States.
Oliver Drews
Chief Executive Officer
B.A. (Hons) Witwatersrand, M.A. (Johns Hopkins) in economics, politics and law, has an established track record spanning over two decades in bulge-bracket corporate finance and private equity as Managing Director with Credit Suisse and Dresdner Kleinwort. He founded Clifftop Colony in 2012, where he supports clients, looks after transactions and provides overall leadership to the teams. Oliver is based in Cape Town.
Prem Trojan
Head of Investment Services and Corporate Operations
M.Com (Prague) in accounting, previously Head of Finance for Philip Morris for Eastern Europe and Africa. He is a co-founder of Clifftop Colony where he leads the investment services & corporate operations team. He is based in Cape Town.
Alessandro Materni
Continental Europe
MBA (St. Gallen), European Certified Financial Analyst, track record in various financial services roles at Ernst & Young, Credit Suisse, Boston Consulting Group, Swiss Re and Capital Efficiency Group, Europe's largest corporate mezzanine investment fund. Alessandro is based in Zurich where he works with European investors on their Africa strategy.
Euan Crawford
UK Representative
M.A. Hons (St. Andrews) and Chartered Accountant (ICAS). Track record of emerging markets deal execution in Sub-Saharan Africa and Russia. In addition, he has managed projects in the Middle-East and Central Asia. At Clifftop Colony he focuses on UK based investors, cross-border corporate finance transactions and Africa strategies for our UK clients. Euan is based in London.
Kevin Mahoney
Corporate Finance Analyst
M.Com (UCT) in Investment Management. Kevin is an analyst in the corporate finance team where he focuses on mergers & acquisitions, capital raisings for unlisted companies, capital market transactions and operational & financial management issues. He is based in Cape Town.


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1000 Northern Blvd., Suite 230
Great Neck New York 11021
Phone: 800-775-4902 Ext. 346www.newyorkbioidenticaldoctor.com
HealthBridge – Great Neck Bioidentical Hormones Clinic
HealthBridge is widely recognized as one of top healthcare facilities on Long Island, both in the "Best of Long Island 2012" competition, as well as through local and national media coverage. Having recently moved to a brand new state-of-the-art facility in Great Neck, NY, HealthBridge offers a comprehensive array of healthcare services all under one roof. Our highly experienced, university affiliated physicians are established leaders in their fields, and provide compassionate, personalized care to each and every patient. Working hand in hand with top professionals in nutrition, physical fitness, esthetics and stress management, they form a preventative healthcare team that has become a model for the future of primary care. With all the uncertainty on the healthcare horizon, now more than ever, you need a team of experts in your corner. Every member of our support staff is dedicated to providing you with the best possible healthcare experience. From the moment you walk through the door, you'll experience the HealthBridge difference.
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