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Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum
Teacher professional development and classroom resources across the curriculum
Create a Handbook
In this ongoing activity, you will collect literacy resources in a Handbook for Effective Literacy Practices to use in your classroom.
Today, you will create a section for your classroom environment and literacy routines. Include resources you already use, and plan to use in the future. Place them in the section for Creating a Literate Community. You may want to include:
Review the contents of the handbook for how well they correlate to the principles of Dr. Paratore's lecture and the readings.
© 2003 WGBH Educational Foundation. All rights reserved.
© Annenberg Foundation 2017. All rights reserved. Legal Policy


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Will Smith's new movie "Concussion" tackles one of the NFL's biggest controversies: traumatic brain injury experienced by players.
The film is based on the true story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist who first discovered that chronic brain injury played a role in the deaths of some former NFL players.
The degenerative disease is known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
RELATED: Will Smith and his "Suicide Squad" co-stars are nearly unrecognizable
As Smith's character tries to bring the truth to light, he's met with roadblocks by NFL officials, who try to discredit and silence him.
"You're going to war with a corporation that owns a day of the week," he's told.
The movie is set to hit theaters on Dec. 25, right in the middle of football season.
PHOTOS: Biggest sports scandals


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Blogs and HR: which HR manager is right?Posted by Mark White, Blog Consultant in Business Uses , Corporate Blogging , Internal Communications , Social Networking
I was interested to see two opposing views expressed recently in Personnel Today of whether blogs and social media were of use in general and particularly whether they had a role to play in the area of company HR (Human Resources).
On the one hand, there is the take that blogs and social network sites are nothing more than gimmicks and toys used by the younger generation and for time wasting by chatting with friends. The other view is that they are tools which have real potential to help HR managers in their work by improving internal communications and employee engagement, as well as changing how recruitment is carried out.
As you might imagine, I am hardly an unbiased observer but I will try to give an objective overview of the value of blogs and social networks here.
Using online Social Networks
When we consider "social networks", there is a range of different ones that we need to consider. These vary from primarily social to business social and through to purely business networks – examples being MySpace, Bebo and Facebook to eCademy, Xing and LinkedIn. The relative value of each from an HR perspective will vary, but I believe that when it comes to recruitment, the use of the internet and hence these networks is a legitimate (and increasingly important) method to identify potential candidates as well as gather additional information about candidates. Therefore my advice to individuals looking to use these networks for business purposes, either now or in the future, is to remember that you should never say something online that you wouldn't stand by and be quoted on. The internet doesn't forget and is seldom forgiving! Recruiters much less so!!
Using Blogs: external and internal
In terms of blogs, they can be used in a number of different ways from an HR perspective. On the recruitment front once again, from a Researcher angle, an HR manager interested in recruiting a candidate can get a much more in depth and rounded view of an individual's knowledge and general suitability via a blog rather than simply from a traditional CV. This approach may also help with the anticipated skills shortage which seems to be expected by the majority of companies. If the company is open to embrace the use of blogs (as a 'Builder') in their own recruitment process, then using them to demonstrate how current graduate recruits view working for the company, as Cadbury Schweppes did, is certainly an excellent option.
However, perhaps the biggest gains can be made through the use of internal blogs on general HR issues and the opportunities that they provide to open up the channels of communication within an organisation. Improved internal communications, dissemination of important HR information, better team working opportunities, improved employee participation in the company are all benefits that have been reported by companies such as Allen & Overy, Dresdner Kleinwort and Microsoft. They are also all benefits which are available to companies of all sizes through the planned use of blogs internally which can be combined with other collaboration tools such as Wikis.
Safety Measures
Of course, as with anything, this is open to abuse. It is possible that employees spend too much company time on social networks or in writing either their own or company blogs. It is also possible that there may be inappropriate posts made by employees on blogs which could lead to problems or even legal issues. For these reasons, it is always advisable that a company has a blogging policy, whether they are actually running a company blog or not. (For help in drafting one, contact details here.)
Just as important is the employees' education in the whole area of blogs and online communications. Running workshops which help employees to understand where blogs can be beneficial and which also outline the corporate lines which should not be crossed will often be the best way to approach this matter. They should give clear guidelines without stifling the benefits that blogs can accrue.
So which view of the interaction between blogs and HR do you go with? Well, for me, without doubt, there are potential issues raised by the use of blogs and social networks within a company. However, it is clear that trying to suppress this is unlikely to work and dismissing it is simply handing a golden opportunity to your competition to steal a march on you.
Instead, I believe that embracing these communication media will reap rich rewards for companies though I'm also all in favour of ensuring the confidentiality of company information through education of potential bloggers among the workforce. Harness the energy, passion and ideas rather than try to suppress them and you'll be onto a real winner!
Tags: Bebo, Business Blogs, Corporate Blogs, ecademy, Facebook, HR, HR Blogs, HRM, Human Resources, Linkedin, Myspace, Personnel Manager, Social networks, Xing


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This privacy policy sets out the personal information handling practices of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). As an Australian Government agency, we comply with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) and handle your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). The APPs regulate how we may collect, use, disclose and store your personal information, and how you may access and correct the personal information that we hold about you.
We handle your personal information when performing our functions under the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975 (ABS Act) and the Census and Statistics Act 1905 (Census and Statistics Act). For further information about the legislated functions of the ABS, please see ABS Legislative Framework.
Your personal information collected by the ABS under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act is protected by additional secrecy provisions. The Census and Statistics Act secrecy provisions contain standards, rules and obligations for the collection, use and disclosure of information (which may include personal information) which operate alongside the requirements of the Privacy Act. The Census and Statistics Act prohibits the disclosure of your personal information, except in the case when it is returned to the person from whom the ABS collected the information or, in certain circumstances, where the data needs to be queried with a contact person from the business that the data is about. As a result, your personal information remains confidential to the ABS.
We may collect personal information about you relating to:
- · the Census of Population and Housing and surveys conducted under the Census and Statistics Act; or
· surveys conducted under the ABS Act; or
· administrative data collections; or
· other data collection activities (including statistical research); or
· your involvement in activities that support statistical coordination and dissemination; or
· you contacting the ABS; or
· your employment by or contract to the ABS.
Kinds of personal information that we collect and hold
In performing our functions, we may collect and hold the following kinds of personal information about you:
- · name, address and contact details (e.g. phone number, email address);
· basic demographics (e.g. age, sex, marital status, relationship with other household members);
· personal characteristics and personal opinions (e.g. date of birth, country of birth, languages spoken, housing tenure, education qualification, employment information, income and financial information);
· business characteristics which relate to sole traders and partnerships (e.g. business name, business address, business contact details);
· personal identifiers (e.g. government related identifiers or payroll identifiers);
· employee records; and/or
· photographs, video recordings and audio recordings of you (as part of testing, and with your consent).
In performing our functions, we may also on occasion collect and hold the following kinds of information considered sensitive under the APPs:
- · your racial or ethnic origin;
· your religious beliefs or affiliations;
· your membership of a trade union;
· your criminal record; and/or
· your health information (e.g. physical health, mental health, disability).
How we collect and hold personal information
We may collect personal information about you directly from you as well as indirectly from third parties.
In performing our functions, we may collect your personal information using a variety of methods including:
- · paper-based and electronic forms;
· in person and over the phone;
· administrative data sources;
· recording and surveillance devices (for staff and office security);
· paper and electronic correspondence;
· ABS, Australian Statistics Advisory Council (ASAC) and National Statistical Service (NSS) websites; and
· ABS' social media accounts.
We collect and store your personal information securely. Electronic and paper records containing your personal information are protected in accordance with the Australian Government Protective Security Policy Framework. We manage your personal information in accordance with the Australian Government records management regime. When no longer required, your personal information is destroyed or deleted according to the Administrative Functions Disposal Authority and our records authorities (2001/00000540 and 2007/00105946).
We only use or disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it was given to us, i.e. purposes which are related to our functions as described under the ABS Act and the Census and Statistics Act.
We do not usually disclose your personal information and are unlikely to disclose your personal information to overseas recipients. The ABS will never release any information of a personal or domestic nature that has been collected under the Census and Statistics Act. Instances where the ABS may disclose your personal information include where:
- · you have consented;
· you would reasonably expect, or have been told, that we usually disclose information of this kind; or
· the disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law.
Purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information
We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information for statistical and non-statistical purposes.
For statistical purposes, your personal information may be handled in relation to statistical collection activities or statistical coordination and dissemination activities.
Statistical collections include:
- · the Census of Population and Housing and surveys conducted under the Census and Statistics Act;
· surveys conducted under the ABS Act;
· administrative data collections; and
· other data collection activities (including statistical research).
Statistical coordination and dissemination activities include contact with stakeholders, event participants, consultancy clients and those individuals who collaborate with us on statistical development activities.
For non-statistical purposes, your personal information may be handled in relation to you contacting the ABS (public contact) and your employment by or contract to the ABS (ABS staff).
Statistical collections
As part of its statistical collections, the ABS collects data from individuals, households and businesses, as well as from administrative sources. These collections support activities related to the compilation, production and analysis of statistics on a wide range of social, population, environmental and economic matters.
The ABS collects, compiles, analyses and disseminates nationally representative statistics on a wide range of social, environmental and economic matters. The personal information collected as part of these activities varies with the collection topic and the collection unit. Most individual and household collections include basic demographics; some collect personal characteristics and personal opinions. Most business collections include point of contact details; some include details that relate to employees, sole traders and partnerships. Various administrative collections usually include basic demographics and may include personal characteristics relating to individuals and their family.
All survey, Census and research data, including data from administrative sources, is collected by the ABS under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act, unless explicit approval for the collection is provided by the Australian Statistician. In a small number of collections, data is collected under the authority of the ABS Act. This is usually done on a contractual basis to allow the clients to access unit record survey data for the purpose of producing statistics. Any collection of data under the ABS Act is on an overtly voluntary basis.
Personal information collected under the Census and Statistics Act remains confidential and is used for statistical purposes only. For further information about the privacy of survey data, please see Survey Participant Information.
Statistical coordination and dissemination
We collect personal information including name, address and contact details about our stakeholders, event participants, consultancy clients and collaborators in statistical development activities. We collect this information through direct contact with these individuals.
We use this personal information to manage:
- · stakeholder contact for collaboration on national statistical activities
· participant contact for education and training activities
· client contact for statistical consultancy work
· volunteer contact for survey testing to assist in the development of surveys
· volunteer contact for testing infrastructure in the development and evaluation of the ABS website
· authentication to access online resources (e.g. group membership lists)
· notification about ABS products and services (e.g. distribution lists).
Public contact
We collect personal information including name, address and contact details as part of our usual communication and correspondence processes, including when you write to or email us, when you call us, or when you hand us your business card.
We use personal information associated with public contact to respond to complaints, Freedom of Information requests and other inquiries.
ABS staff
We collect and hold personal information about our staff; regarding personnel and payroll, recruitment and other matters (such as those relating to work health and safety).
We collect this personal information through our corporate systems and only use or disclose it to facilitate the effective business operations of the ABS.
OUR WEBSITES - ABS (www.abs.gov.au), ASAC (www.asac.gov.au) and NSS (www.nss.gov.au)
We will keep the information you submit via our websites secure.
We monitor the use of our websites in order to improve them and the services we provide to you.
We use first party cookies to collect the following information:
- · your IP address
· the date and time of your visit
· the pages you accessed and the documents you downloaded
· the search terms you used
· the previous site you visited
· your top level domain name (such as .com, .gov, .au)
· your network location name (such as your internet service provider or organisation's name)
· any cookies that your browser has presented to our server
· your browser, operating system and other information about your computer (such as your screen resolution, colour depth and various plugins that you used in visiting our site).
More information about first party cookies can be found below.
This information is used by the ABS only for the purpose of improving our online offerings. We do not collect identifiable personal information about you if you only browse our websites.
Email addresses
We will only use your email address for the purpose for which you provided it. It will not be added to a mailing list without your permission, and will be removed at your request. We will not disclose your email address without your consent.
A first party (or persistent) cookie is a very small text file placed on your hard drive by our web server. It is essentially your identification card, and cannot be executed as code or deliver viruses. It is uniquely yours and can only be read by the server that gave it to you.
Using cookies allows the ABS to be more efficient. We can learn what information is important to our visitors, and what isn't. We can discard Web pages you don't use, and focus our efforts on information you need.
Some ABS online products and services also require your web browser to accept persistent cookies. If you do not or cannot store cookies, it may be possible to acquire versions of these products and services on CD ROM or other media not connected to the Internet. Please contact us for further information.
In order to help you further protect your privacy, we have also implemented the files required to support the Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P) recommendations. P3P enables the ABS to express our privacy practices in a standard format that can be retrieved automatically and interpreted easily by P3P compatible browsers. For more information on P3P, please read the Frequently Asked Questions about P3P.
Google Analytics
In addition to web server logs, our websites use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google Inc. ("Google"). Reports obtained from Google Analytics are used to help improve the efficiency and usability of our websites.
Google Analytics uses cookies to gather statistics about how the website is accessed. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers located outside Australia.
Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of our websites, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf.
Other sites
These sites contain links to external websites, which are not covered by this privacy policy. We recommend that you review the privacy policy statement of each site you visit.
These sites are accredited and maintained to Australian Government Internet security standards to ensure the confidentiality and/or integrity of information posted on the site. These standards meet or exceed Australian information security management standards (AS/NZS 4444).
If you prefer not to submit information via these websites, please contact us for advice on how to proceed. Survey respondents should phone one of the following numbers, depending on the state or territory in which you reside:
New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory: 1800 813 025
Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania: 1800 060 911
Queensland: 1800 636 809
Western Australia: 1800 643 777
Northern Territory: 1800 111 994.
All other enquiries should be forwarded to the National Information Referral Service on 1300 135 070.
You have the right to request access to the personal information that the ABS holds about you and to request its correction. If you are seeking access to personal information in relation to a survey, please contact the 1800 phone number you have been provided with (listed above in 'Alternatives to the ABS website').
If your request to access personal information does not relate to a survey, you may request access to or correction of the personal information that we hold about you by contacting us using the details provided below.
We are committed to protecting your privacy. We treat any accidental or unauthorised disclosure of your personal information seriously and deal with it promptly.
If you think we may have breached your privacy rights or our privacy responsibilities, you may contact us using the details provided below.
We will acknowledge the receipt of your complaint within five business days of receiving it. In most cases, we will complete our investigation into your complaint and respond to you within 30 days. If the matter is more complex and our investigation may take longer, we will let you know when we expect to be able to provide our response.
A complaint should first be made to us and we should be given 30 days to respond. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of or our response to your complaint, you may refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Please contact us if you have any queries about the personal information that the ABS holds about you or the way that we handle that personal information.
Our Privacy Officer will deal with your inquiries or complaints about our compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).
The Privacy Officer can be contacted:
By email: firstname.lastname@example.com
By phone: 02 6252 7203
By post: Privacy Officer
Policy and Legislation Section
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Locked Bag 10
Belconnen ACT 2617
The Privacy Officer will respond to your inquiry or complaint promptly, if you provide your contact details.
The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.
If you wish to access this policy in an alternative format (e.g. hard copy), please contact us using the details provided above.


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• Cameron, King, Turner to discuss eurozone today
• Rajoy: EU bailout fund should be able to help banks
• Spain could recapitalise Bankia with bonds
• Spanish bond yields at seven-month high
• Spain 'may need another €30bn for its banks'
17.15 With US markets closed for the Memorial Day holiday, that's where we end our live coverage this evening. We'll be back first thing tomorrow.
17.05 European markets are now closed for the day and have fallen, apart from the UK.
The FTSE 100 added 0.1pc to close at 5,356.34 points, the CAC slipped 0.2pc in Paris and the German DAX fell 0.3pc.
In Spain, the IBEX dropped 2.2pc as the markets reacted for the first time to Bankia's state bailout, and in Italy the FTSE MIB fell 0.7pc.
16.50 A little bit more Greece - Reuters is reporting that the country still has €3bn left from its first EU-IMF bailout, which it could use to cover the government's expenses eg. paying the wages of state workers, if its plan to collect more in taxes does not succeed.
16.20 We knew it was due to happen, but it will come as a relief to Greece's banks anyway - the Greek government's bank support fund has handed out €18bn to the four biggest banks in the country, to shore up their capital levels after they took big losses on their holdings of Greek bonds as part of the country's debt restructuring.
The Greek government got the money to give to the banks from bonds issued by the EFSF eurozone bailout fund. If that all sounds to you like a massive game of pass the parcel, you're not alone...
15.50 Spain's been hogging the headlines today, but esteemed commentator and Breakingviews founder Hugo Dixon has been looking at the Greek situation and come up with a solution that is for the brave:
15.30 Sticking with the bond markets, the yield on German five-year government bonds has fallen to a record low of 0.421pc - the lowest since Bloomberg data started being compiled in 1990.
Meanwhile, across the eurozone - the yield on Spain's 10-year government debt was trading with a yield of 6.5pc.
The gap, or spread, between the yield on Spanish borrowing costs and those of Germany has increased to its widest since the euro was created today.
15.00 Meanwhile, the European Central Bank says it held back from using its government bond-buying programme for the 11th week in a row last week, despite growing political pressure for the ECB to do more to help indebted eurozone nations.
The ECB has spent has spent €212bn on bonds since launching the Securities Markets Programme in May 2010, but has used it only once since February, after offering a series of cheap short-term loans to European banks at the start of the year, a move which contained the last crisis of confidence, which peaked around Christmas.
14.32 Reuters has quoted a Spanish government source as saying that a bank recapitalisation with bonds (possible plan for Bankia) "has been used by Germany and Ireland in the past and is perfectly valid".
14.23 Chancellor George Osborne and Deputy PM Nick Clegg are to join the Cameron-King-Turner meeting this afternoon (see 11.22).
14.20 Philadelphia Fed president Charles Plosser says US Federal Reserve is well equipped to deal with any fallout from the European debt crisis.
14.10 Ambrose Evans-Pritchard believes Spain has run out of money:
Where is the €23.5bn for the Bankia rescue going to come from? The state's Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring is down to €5.3bn, and there are many other candidates for that soup kitchen... I fail to see how Spain gains anything durable from an EFSF loan package. The underlying crisis will grind on. Yes, the current account deficit has dropped from 10pc to 3.5pc of GDP, but chiefly by crushing internal demand and pushing the jobless toll to 5.6m. The "unemployment adjusted current account equilibrium" — to coin a concept – is frankly frightening.
Spain is quite simply in the wrong currency. That is the root of the crisis. Loan packages merely drag out the agony.
13.55 Steve Collins, at London & Capital Asset Management:
12.56 Quick look at the markets following Rajoy's speech:
FTSE 100 +0.8pc
CAC +0.9pc
DAX +0.7pc
IBEX -1.4pc
MIB +0.2pc
Spain down heavily. Only one of the main European markets in the red. Spanish 10-year bond yield now at 6.4pc. If you're wondering why high bond yields are so important, the Telegraph's Amy Wilson has written an article explaining everything you need to know.
Nicholas Spiro, at Spiro Sovereign Strategy:
The Spanish crisis has reached a tipping point. Investors have lost confidence in Spain. The botched bail-out of Bankia was the trigger for this morning's abrupt sell-off - a sell-off that threatens to turn into a rout unless bold and decisive measures are swiftly taken by eurozone policymakers to shore up the bloc's endangered sovereigns and their banks.
Spain has become the focal point for market anxiety about the pernicious links between distressed sovereigns and their banks. Although Spain's banking woes are much less severe than Ireland's, the same negative feedback loop that felled Ireland in 2010 is undermining confidence in Spain.
What is most concerning, and what necessitates speedy action on the part of the eurozone, is that the Rajoy government is stuck in a rut. It is in a 'damned if it does and damned if it doesn't situation'.
12.54 Asteris Masouras, a freelance photographer in Athens, says this picture shows members of right-wing extremist political party Golden Dawn (anti-bailout) throwing rocks at the University of Economics and Business:
12.49 Meanwhile, ECB Governing Council member Klaas Knot believes Portugal is making "huge strides"; euro area in better shape.
12.43 Rajoy calls for the EU bailout fund to be able to recapitalise banks directly, and that's the end of his speech.
12.26 More from Rajoy: Spain's debt sustainability problem needs solving. He rules out external rescue of Spanish banks. Satisfied with regions' move to rein in spending. Rajoy says when Bankia is recapitalised, it will be sold and state investment recovered.
Spanish government looking at best way to inject public funds into banks. Hasn't asked ECB to inject funds into Bankia. Bankia rescue does not affect deficit, no decision yet on how to fund rescue of lender.
Catalonia not bankrupt, but there are liquidity problems. Rajoy states he will not allow any autonomous region to fall.
12.19 Rajoy calls on Europe to make structural reforms and that there must be a "decisive and clear move" to dissipate doubts over the euro.
Europe must go towards more monetary and fiscal integration. Europe must act in defence of the euro.
Rajoy dismisses talk that Bankia bailout influenced risk premium. Bailout aims to bolster confidence. Adds that we will have to wait for audit to see total figure for bank rescues.
12.15 Back to Rajoy. He says country could run risk of not being able to finance itself if it does not cut deficit. He adds that it is hard to "raise finance" with a very high risk premium, the problem of debt sustainability must be solved.
12.12 Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan believes a rejection of the EU Fiscal Treaty would "mark down growth".
12.10 Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy has started his press conference. Says Spain must continue reducing its deficit.
12.08 We are hearing that the Cameron-King-Turner meeting this afternoon (see 11.22) is to discuss how plans to stabilise UK banks are progressing.
11.58 ECB Governing Council member Jens Weidmann: "Every month, ingenious ideas to counteract the crisis surge out of nowhere, before they disappear a month later."
His colleague Klaas Knot believes the crisis shows banking regulatory framework has to be updated due to inadequate solvency levels.
11.56 Greece will leave the eurozone on June 18 following the country's elections on the 17 as the rest of the eurozone rounds on "cheaters," Nick Dewhirst, director at wealth management firm Integral Asset Management, told CNBC.com.
The eurozone is a club but you get cheaters who get away with it until everyone finds out and at that point you need to remove them otherwise everyone will cheat. It's better for Greece to leave.
11.39 Hans Michelbach, a ranking member in the German parliament's finance committee for Chancellor Angela Merkel's caucus partner the Christian Social Union has called on Europe to temporarily stop aid to Greece. He cited political turmoil as the reason.
11.33 Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy to hold news conference at 12pm (UK time). We'll have the latest here.
David Cameron to meet Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King and FSA chairman Lord Turner this afternoon to discuss eurozone.
11.13 Spanish Treasury says it is in a very strong position to repay maturing debt. Bankia shares have rebounded from -27pc to -9pc.
11.09 As Ireland heads to the polls for its referendum on the Fiscal Treaty (see 10.13), it has been revealed that retail sales fell 1.5pc (month-on-month) in April. Largest fall in six months.
10.52 Trader @Cigolo on Twitter:
10.50 Time for an update on the markets:
FTSE 100 +1pc
CAC +0.7pc
DAX +0.6pc
IBEX -0.5pc
MIB +0.4pc
Ilya Spivak, currency strategist at DailyFX:
European shares are trading broadly higher amid a pick-up in risk appetite. The chipper mood follows reports that Greece's pro-austerity New Democracy party is leading in opinion polls ahead of the June 17 general election. The news alleviated fears that Athens' next administration will renege on its EU/IMF bailout commitments, which would presumably precede a much-feared exit from the eurozone.
10.29 Spain hasn't taken any decisions on how to recapitalise Bankia, the lender has reportedly said.
10.28 So, Sweden won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday night, but the results tell us a lot about the debt crisis.
Italy's Nina Zilli, who did get votes from Greece
Analysts at Renaissance Capital point out that although Germany came eighth overall, with 110 votes, it got no points whatsoever from Greece. Indeed, of all its eurozone partners, only Italy and Cyprus won any votes from Greece at all.
"Well, the Greeks have to protest somehow," said Charles Robertson at the bank in London.
10.21 Italy sells €3.5bn zero-coupon 2014 bonds at a yield of 4.037pc versus 3.355pc on April 24. Bid to cover 1.66 versus 1.8. Sells €418m of September 2016 inflation-linked bonds at 4.39pc - up from 2.71pc at end of February.
Yield up, demand down. Not good. Nicholas Spiro at Spiro Sovereign Strategy: "Demand is holding up but at an ever steeper price for the Treasury. While Italy's debt market has so far remained fairly resilient to the recent escalation of the eurozone crisis, it is also becoming increasingly vulnerable."
10.13 The first votes in Ireland's referendum on the EU fiscal pact were cast on Monday on five remote islands off the northwest coast ahead of Thursday's ballot on the mainland, the government said.
People living on Irish islands in the Atlantic Ocean off Counties Donegal, Mayo and Galway traditionally vote early, in case bad weather delays getting the ballot boxes back to count centres on the mainland.
The Irish environment ministry, which administers referendums, said 765 people living on five islands off Donegal would be able to cast their votes on Monday, followed by 194 on three islands off Mayo on Tuesday.
Some 1,164 voters on five islands off Galway can vote on Wednesday.
09.59 The BBC's Business Editor Robert Peston has suggested that Spain's Bankia rescue may backfire:
Bankia can take €19bn of Spanish government bonds and swap them for cash at the European Central Bank. Hey presto, as if by magic, problem solved: Bankia would have billions in new capital and cash.
Except that if Bankia has really been strengthened by this financial engineering, then there would have to be a very significant transfer of risk to the European Central Bank - and therefore, by implication, to its shareholders, or the other central banks and taxpayers of the eurozone.
However, the European Central Bank, under its statutes, is not supposed to take that kind of risk. And, on the basis of recent history, it is fair to assume that the Bundesbank and many Germans would go bonkers if they thought they were really being forced to bail out a bank that bankrupted itself by rampant speculation on land and property.
So presumably, if the deal is allowed to proceed, the ECB will ensure that all the risk actually remains with Bankia and the Spanish government - and therefore with Spanish taxpayers - by imposing a massive discount (or haircut) on the amount of cash it would exchange for the bonds.
Which means that the deal may turn out to be too clever by half.
09.36 ECB's Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo has said Spain should not have a 6pc interest rate.
He adds that the government's GDP forecast is "realistic". It expects the economy to shrink 1.7pc in 2012 before expanding 0.2pc next year.
09.30 Anita Paluch, senior German liaison-sales trader at Gekko, on this morning's events:
The markets started on a firm note, supported by the promising results of the polls in Greece pointing to conservative (i.e. pro bailout) parties regaining the lead and helping to ease the risk aversion.
The encouraging signs of Greek politics stabilizing after a bearish and volatile May help to appease fears of the country's disorderly exit, especially as it presents a nice change in the political-economic landscape of lots of rhetoric on the issues not followed by any significant actions so far. Today's trading is expected to be light with US markets closed for Memorial Day, but we can expect more volatility later this week, when the non-farm data will be published.
Also, the Italian bond auction on Wednesday could provide some clues as to the crisis from Greece can be considered contained or is spreading to other European economies.
09.01 Italian business confidence fell to 86.2 in May versus revised 89.1 in April - lowest since December 2009.
08.50 Spain's stock market - the IBEX - has turned negative after opening strongly. Now down 0.6pc.
Ten-year bond yield hits 6.5pc - highest since November.
08.40 Shops in Clones, an Irish town close to the Northern Ireland border, are now accepting the pre-euro currency - the punt.
The Guardian has reported that residents are taking part in an experiment to boost a town ravaged by the economic downturn. It exploits a financial loophole which deems that up to 285m punts stuffed under Irish mattresses, inside piggy banks, salted away as souvenirs in shoeboxes or in latent bank accounts are still legal currency.
Holders of the old currency are invited to visit Clones and hand over their punts in exchange for blue and yellow laminated vouchers, which are then usable at any of the 45 businesses that have signed up for the scheme.
08.39 Standard Chartered believes a Greek exit is more likely than not.
08.37 JPMorgan says Bankia share value is 35 cents (-80pc). Nomura says value is 20 cents.
08.32 Spain, Italy and Greece are facing an olive oil crisis.
The price of the Mediterranean diet staple has plunged to a 10-year low as domestic consumption in the top producing southern European countries has fallen because of the economic crisis. That fall has coincided with a bumper olive crop in Spain, the biggest grower, creating a glut that has forced the EU to intervene to reduce the surplus amid worries about rural incomes.
08.23 Spanish/German 10-year government bond yield spread hits euro-era high at 505bps. Spanish 10-year yield rises to 6.43pc, Italian climbs to 5.86pc.
Bankia shares fall 27pc on opening.
08.07 A fight broke out in the corn pits of the Chicago Board Of Trade late last week.
According to Business Insider, one trader thought that the other stole an order.
The brawl could result in a $10,000 fine for both traders.
08.02 European markets are open:
FTSE 100 +0.3pc
CAC +1pc
DAX +1.3pc
IBEX +0.8pc
MIB +0.9pc
Strong start from Europe. Helped by earlier gains in Asia.
07.58 Pascal Lamy, World Trade Organization's director-general: "A stable trade environment is important for China's economic success."
07.56 Alberto Fabra, president of the Valencian government, has called for a jointly-issued regional bond. His move comes after the Catalonian government asked Spain for a bailout last week.
07.50 Moody's has said a growth collapse in China could move its rating down. Further economic stability could help rating. Moody's added that a severe deterioration in trade relations could harm rating. Debt/GDP ratio may reach low teens in 2017. Assumes GDP growth around 8pc. Moody's rates China at Aa3.
07.41 Asian markets have risen this morning. Tokyo gained 0.15pc, while Hong Kong was 0.7pc higher. Shanghai was up 0.4pc. Markets have reacted well to an opinion poll indicating a victory for pro-austerity conservatives in next month's Greek general election, but gains were tempered by concerns about Spain.
07.36 Linda Yueh at Bloomberg:
07.32 Bankia's trading suspension has been lifted. The shares were suspended on Friday, shortly before it announced it made a €3bn loss in 2011 and was seeking the government aid.
07.29 The UK's beleaguered high street will not recover for another three years and will underperform for the rest of the decade, according to leading economic commentators.
Retailers will have to weather a "tough trading environment" as householders' hoarding of cash and debt repayment mean consumer spending will fail to return to pre-recession levels before at least 2015.
The forecast from the Ernst & Young ITEM Club suggests the worst of the recession could be behind us but warns a recovery could be derailed by consumer habits and put under renewed pressure by rapidly increasing mortgage costs.
07.12 The Telegraph's Ambrose Evans-Pritchard has been looking at the crisis in Spain.
The damage from this double-barrelled contractionary shock on a fragile Spanish economy is before our eyes, conforming with precision to textbook time-lag theories. Private sector credit has fallen for 18 consecutive months. Industrial output fell 7.5pc in March. Brussels expects the economy to shrink 1.9pc this year, with the crunch yet to come.
Unemployment has reached 24.4pc, or 32pc in Extremadura. More than 1.5m households have no earner at all. They have exhausted their benefits, surviving on savings and - for now - on €420 a month in back-stop support.
Faced with such woes, any sovereign country would call for full engine reverse with every policy lever. The Faustian Pact of EMU allows no such escape. Europe has ordered premier Mariano Rajoy to cut the budget deficit from 8.9pc to 5.3pc in a single year, four times the therapeutic pace.
07.06 Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, has been forced to express her sympathy for the Greek people after receiving 10,000 messages on Facebook, many of them obscene.
Politicians and irate locals had vilified her for saying the country was a nation of tax dodgers.
06.58 Reports this morning suggest Spain may recapitalise Bankia with Spanish government bonds in return for shares in the bank which last week asked for rescue funding of €19bn.
Bankia could use the sovereign paper as collateral to get cash from the European Central Bank, forcing the ECB to get involved with restructuring Spain's banking sector, laid low by lending to property developers in a boom that ended in 2008.
06.45 Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of the European debt crisis.


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My philosophy with wedding planning is simple — just let the woman have what she wants as long as it doesn't involve future shame. Engagement photos are future shame.
Even if the engagement photo is normal, twenty years from now, it will look ridiculous. Won't the horribly comical wedding photos be enough? Do we really need a photo to remind the world there is more awful photos to come?
People still take awful and awkward engagement photos and there is nothing I can do to stop them…so…I'll just make fun of them and hope it prevents future photos.
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Olubunmi Blogs on No Impact Week
Click here for more stories from No Impact Week.
So far this week:
Live a fuller and happier life by buying less stuff.
Click here for more stories on Day 1: Consumption.
Dallas, Texas
Today was… EASY! Ha! Take that No Impact Week!
Although, if I'm honest, not consuming anything was only easy because I'm still on vacation, and I'm not following my normal day-to-day habits.
To be even more honest, I had all intentions of doing some "New Year shopping" today, until I remembered that I wasn't allowed to consume anything new except food. And at first, that completely put a dent in my day. But now that the day is over, it honestly didn't matter. Did I really need more shirts, pants, skirts, shoes, or leggings?
To some degree—yes. At least I thought so. I thought I needed a new wardrobe for my new student teaching job, but after taking mental inventory of my closet, I realized I already have plenty of appropriate clothes: Enough to wear something different every day for at least two or three weeks! Isn't that enough? Plus, my sister cleaned out her closet, allowing me to "shop" there, and I have tons of friends with whom I can easily swap clothes. Since I'm technically unemployed at the moment, "hand-me-loves" are probably a much better option for me anyway, right?
I am concerned that it might get a little bit harder to not consume stuff as the week goes on. But being broke might come in handy for once, encouraging me to keep up the process. And for the must-have products, I'm looking forward to exploring better options and supporting people and places by what I do purchase.
So while I consumed little today, I did think a lot about my habits and hope to continue to do so over the course of the week.
Biggest lesson of the day: There's a huge difference between want and need. Most of the things I buy are things I really just want.
Here's hoping Day 2 is just as enlightening!
Discover how wasting less improves your life.
Click here for more stories on Day 2: Trash.
How is it possible to have no trash? It seemed like everything I thought about doing today would have produced some level of trash.
I stopped myself from eating a sandwich on the go, because that would require wrapping it in a paper napkin—trash. I couldn't go to Jack in the Box or Chick-fil-a (which I was seriously craving)—trash. Thankfully that can of Sunkist and bottle of Izzie are recyclable. I finally caved and HAD to eat, and since I was too lazy to cook, and there was a perfectly good box of Marie Callender's in my freezer… yeah
Although, since I was feeling very guilty about the prospect of making trash, I decided to recycle the box it came in. And then I looked at the bottom of the tray and noticed the recycling sign! I never knew those things were recyclable! I just used to trash them. Because of this new discovery, I washed the tray and put it in the recycling bin, too!
But now, it's the end of the day, and I'm longing for my usual cup of flavored tea. And… both the tea bag and its paper wrapper are trash. This is HARD!
I know I'm a skeptic here, but really? HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE NO TRASH?!
For the most part, I think I do a pretty good job at being trash conscious. I recycle what I can. I have a Brita filter and have reusable water bottles and travel mugs. I have a few reusable shopping bags—although I've never actually used them to shop. But I do save and re-use all the plastic bags I get—they tend to act as trash bags.
Heck, I'm having my tea! The packaging is recyclable, I'm sure. And what's in the tea bag is biodegradable… I think.
Burn calories, not fossil fuels.
Click here for more stories about Day 3: Transporation.
Day Three has been about transportation, and this is a concept I could get down with.
When I lived in Chicago, I didn't have a car and took the train or bus almost everywhere. There were downsides—like when I needed to go grocery shopping, or had a lot of errands to run in general—but overall it was a lot of fun. I was saving tons of money by not having to buy gas or do other car maintenance. And it was great downtime to read or just people watch.
But now, I live in Dallas. And let's just say that Dallas (and Texas in general) is not the most commuter-friendly place in the United States. While people do get by without a car, it's close to impossible. Or your days are limited to simply working and sitting on the bus.
I actually live along the DART line and have relatively easy access to the train. Except the only place I really had to go today was to work. And that would have meant taking two buses and the train for an hour-long commute. In my car, it takes about 15-20 minutes, depending on traffic.
An hour really isn't all that bad. Before checking the Trip Planner, I was envisioning a much worse scenario. And if I wasn't wasting time on a bus, I'd most likely just be wasting time at home.
In the end though, I drove to work. Because I didn't get off until nearly 9 p.m. and wasn't comfortable with the idea of riding the bus and train back so late. Which is kind of funny since I rode the 'El' in Chicago at all hours of the day when I lived there. And on my few visits to New York, I was all about riding the subway and rarely hailed a cab. But I guess those times felt different because it was what everyone was doing. And here in Dallas, it's more what people-who-have-no-other-option do.
Which is something I feel has come up a lot when I think about "green living." While there are some changes everyone can make, there are some things that cost more money or take more time—two things not everyone has the luxury of having. And yeah, yeah, yeah, you can do the math and prove that it saves more money in the long run to choose x over y. But what if you just don't have the money to put upfront to get that long-term gain?
Like I'd love to bike around more, but I haven't had access to a bike in almost three years. And at the place I am financially right now (read: unemployed), I can't afford to buy one—even a used one. I just can't justify spending that money right now, when there are days when I'm not sure if I'll even make rent.
The money thing is actually making me nervous in relation to Wednesday's challenge: Food. My fridge is currently void of anything edible except a Popsicle, frozen chicken drumsticks, and some milk. I also have some canned tuna, pasta, and spaghetti sauce. But pretty much everything would lead to me creating trash, which breaks Tuesday's rule.
(Confession: I've already created more trash today—at my part-time tutoring job, I threw away some paper. And to ensure I didn't starve, I warmed up the last frozen dinner. Please know that I feel extremely guilty for both. But I also feel today was more proof that it is IMPOSSIBLE to create NO trash).
Anyway, tomorrow I will have to go shopping and so I'll try to find places and/or products that will put food on my table AND decrease my carbon "foodprint"—all without breaking my already meager bank account. It's been my experience that organic food is more expensive, and the fresher a product (while definitely nutritionally better for you) tends to spoil faster… and it's just me, and I hate grocery shopping multiple times a week.
But this No Impact Week wouldn't be a challenge without some challenges.
Wish me luck!
Healthy eating can also lessen your footprint.
Click here for more stories on Day 4: Food.
I spent $100.
Not exactly what I would call cheap grocery shopping. Although, I think I got enough food to last the month with maybe only a few occasional trips to pick up one or two more items. I have chicken, pork, fish, ground turkey (as you can see I have not chosen to go the vegetarian route of reducing my carbon "foodprint"). I have bread, an assortment of preserves, peanut butter, fruit, vegetables, and juice. I already had rice and pasta at home.
As much as possible, I tried to stay away from processed foods and things in packages. But really, everything seemed to come in a package—if not a box, then plastic packaging. But I did try. So much so that it took me over an hour to shop! You would be proud to know that I decided to forgo using the plastic bags for some of the fruit and vegetables I bought. I just put them in the basket as they were.
You might also be proud to hear that I used my reusable bags today! First time I've used them for grocery shopping! And I got rewarded by getting a 10 cent discount for each bag I brought at the checkout line. Who knew living a No Impact lifestyle had such perks! Granted I only brought two bags and 20 cents didn't put that much of a dent to my total, but it still felt good. I felt like I was being recognized for going through this process.
And this has definitely been a process. I think about almost everything I'm about to do now, wondering if it's making an impact on the planet and how I can reduce that impact. There are moments I just want to say "screw it"—after all, I've broken that whole No Trash rule a few times today (although I completely felt guilty about it each time). This is too hard. But I'm also realizing that even if I don't do this thing 100 percent right, I can still make little changes. And I'm of the school of thought where even the smallest effort counts and can make a difference.
Like, I downloaded a shopping list application on my smart phone yesterday. Normally I write down a list to take to the store, but now it's on my phone! And in a cute and easy-to-use format!
And today was my first time in a farmers market… although, I guess it's not a traditional one since it's an actual store. I had a list of seasonal fruits and vegetables and focused on only buying from that list. (Side note: I've always kind of thought of spring is for farming, summer for growing, fall for harvesting, and it's never really occurred to me that things could have different seasons. It makes perfect sense… I've just never actually thought about it until today). I also discovered that my favorite brand of bread, Mrs. Baird, is local to Texas! (Something I probably should have known/remembered since my dad used to bring fresh, hot bread home from the factory when we were kids.)
I know that I come off as unwilling and just not "in" to the green lifestyle. And in some ways, that's true. Being green isn't easy. You have to make tough choices sometimes, make sacrifices, and sometimes drastic life changes. I'm not sure if I'm "willing" to dive in that deeply. But I am willing to get rid of bad habits and make small changes here and there. One small step at a time.
Replace kilowatts with ingenuity.
Click here for more stories on Day 5: Energy.
In Nigeria, the electrical company is called NEPA. I can't remember what the acronym stands for, but we used to say it meant, "Never Expect Power Always (Please Light Candle)." And this pretty much sums up electricity over there. I hear it's getting better, but anyone who visits can expect NEPA to "off the light" at any time—no forewarning, and with no clue as to when it'll come back. We used to go days without electricity. Although, since my family and I lived in a seminary with a generator we would get occasional reprieves that others did not.
I thought a lot about my life in Nigeria today while I tried to conserve the amount of energy I use. For the most part, since I live alone I don't think I use a whole lot of energy. I only do laundry about two or three times a month and I never use the dishwasher. I have an electric stove in my apartment, but I only cook once or twice a week (and if I'm honest, sometimes not at all). I'm anal about having lights on, so generally if I'm not in a room the lights are off.
But I realize that because I know I always have power (unless I forgot to pay my bill or a bad storm knocks down some lines), I use a lot more than I should. Like, I tend to always have the TV on when I'm home. Because I live alone, my apartment often feels too quiet and so I like to have some sound going. So whether I'm cooking, cleaning, reading, or about to go to bed—it's on.
I also forget to unplug things I'm not using, like my phone charger and laptop. You know that commercial where the girl is trying to impress this guy and she pretends like she doesn't own a phone just so he can't be disapproving about the charger in the wall? Yeah… I'd be that girl.
I woke up this morning and noticed mine was still in the wall. And I was too lazy to get up and pull it out. When I eventually did, I noticed that I had left my printer on … and I hadn't used it since yesterday morning.
The plan for the day was to not watch TV at all, and to only use my laptop when I was writing my blog. The laptop thing went out the window about halfway through the day. I was using my phone to check my mail, and then realized that if I wasn't charging my laptop I'd have to charge my cell phone, so might as well use the dang laptop.
No TV went a lot smoother. I honestly didn't mind the silence too much—I mostly read and worked online. But at dinner, I couldn't do it anymore. Who wants to eat in total silence? Not me. I needed the company of Chef Symon while he beat the pants off of his Iron Chef challenger. I did leave the TV off while I cooked and washed dishes though, something I generally wouldn't do. So while I'm sure some of you are shaking your heads at my lack of resolve, I think I get a point or two for that.
For the rest of this week, I plan to keep the TV off as much as possible during the day. Play the piano, do more reading, write a little bit—basically not let TV be the only way I fill the void.
If I were still in Nigeria, a lot of these decisions would be a lot easier: I might not have electricity anyway and wouldn't have to worry about my energy consumption.
But … when we didn't have power, we used kerosene lamps and/or florescent lights at night. And kerosene comes from petroleum and the fluorescents were battery-powered. Energy was still being consumed.
I guess it's more important not to waste energy versus avoiding using it altogether. So my goal is to be more conscious of that from now on.
Soak up the personal benefits of using less water.
Click here for more stories on Day 6: Water.
My total water footprint is 557 cubic meters per year.
I have no clue what this means. Is that good? Is that bad? Is that average? And how is it honestly measured? Some days I barely use water, except to drink it. And other days I'm sure my consumption is through the roof.
I decided not to worry about actual numbers, and just become more conscious of how and when I consume water—kind of like I did with my energy. In a lot of ways, energy and water go hand-in-hand. The washing machine uses water and energy, but luckily it's something I don't use very often. I need water to cook—wash off vegetables and meat, boil pasta, clean up the mess when I'm done—and energy is often used in that process, too—with the refrigerator and stove, maybe even the blender or rice cooker.
I live in a LEED-certified apartment complex. It was an exciting choice for me to make in May, because I saw myself saving money and saving the planet. The saving money part hasn't exactly been true—while my electric bills are lower (we're all required to use Green Mountain, which is a renewable energy provider, and all the appliances are Energy Star), the rent is pretty high.
Since it's an eco-friendly building, we have dual-flush toilets and low-flow faucets and shower heads, so I end up using a lot less water than most with those activities. However… when I brush my teeth, I realize that I tend to let the faucet run. Today, I made sure to turn it off. And with the shower, I like to let it run for at least 5 minutes to let the water warm up. Today, I jumped right in, ended up screaming at how COLD the water was, but it heated up within about 30 seconds or so. I tried to cut back my typical 30-minute shower, and I think I felt clean in about 15.
Thinking about how I use water took me back down memory lane in Nigeria. Like electricity, water is not necessarily something you have running out of faucets all the time. Occasionally, you turn it on and nothing comes out. And then you have to grab a bucket, head out to the well and "fetch" water. My dad eventually had a reservoir built in our backyard, and while the faucets were running, we'd make sure it stayed full so that when they weren't, the walk to fetch water was more manageable.
As a family, we already conserved water quite a bit because we were never sure how much was available. But when water wasn't coming out of the faucets, we conserved even more. One bucket of water was your bath. You quickly mastered the art of lathering up and rinsing yourself off with a minimal amount of water. Thank goodness I'm black and only wash my hair about every two weeks, but I have a white friend who had to master washing her hair daily with only a coffee cup full of water while she was in South Africa.
I lived a relatively privileged life in Nigeria, but the average family has to fetch water daily. They carry buckets on their heads, filling up basins or barrels or other containers to hold all the water they need for that day. And then that was it—until tomorrow. Unless they wanted to go fetch even more water.
Water isn't as ubiquitous as we act like it is in North America. Other parts of the world have no choice but to conserve water. So why does it seem to us like conserving is such a big deal? Why do we waste so much of it? Why don't we force ourselves to do better?
Why don't I?
I'm pretty sure I could still get by on a bucketful of water for a bath, use less water to wash dishes, hand wash my clothes, could just use less water all around like I did when I lived in Nigeria. But I don't just because I know in the U.S. it's readily available.
My parents aren't like that though. Nigeria is ingrained in every fiber of their being—they've even gone back to live there now. And I sometimes when I'm in the shower for 45 minutes I can hear my dad's voice yelling, "Why are you wasting water?!"
And honestly, I don't really have an answer. Do you?
Energy update:
I continued to try to remain conscious of my energy consumption throughout the day—kept the TV off until 9:30 p.m., and instead read (and finished) a book, played the piano, and volunteered at a homeless shelter. The volunteering allowed me to practice another part of this No Impact Week—transportation.
I had wanted to take the train out, but it would have been a bit dangerous , and the closest train stop wasn't close at all. But I was able to work out a carpooling arrangement instead, which was awesome! Not only was gas saved, but I had a companion to laugh and joke with on the way there and back!
Pay it forward. Feel the benefits of service.
Click here for more stories on Day 7: Giving Back.
For some reason, today felt harder than the rest of the week. While I didn't always follow the instructions exactly, cutting down on trash and consumption, buying local food, and conserving water and energy all seemed like concrete things to do. But giving back? That was broad. And I'm not so sure if I gave back today.
I mean, I went to tutor for about four hours, and on my way in there was an old lady walking to the hair salon next door. I greeted her cheerfully, and to my surprise she struck up a conversation. I have always found it funny how we often ask, "How are you?" but don't really care to know the answer. Personally, I like knowing the answer.
And so a part of me was like, "Hey… This could count as giving back, right? I'm listening to this lady talk when probably no one else has today."
I thought about going to Starbucks and using one of the gift cards I got over Christmas to treat the next person who walked in with their own travel mug. I thought about going to the park and picking up trash. I thought about going to my aunt and uncle's and helping out around the house. But instead I just went home, warmed some leftovers for lunch, read, and took a nap. I felt appropriately guilty when I woke up.
But then I remembered what I did yesterday. I went to a homeless shelter with three other friends and we babysat kids while the parents took showers or just had some alone time. It's something a group of us do once a month. And man was it fun. I built a house and castle out of blocks with a three-year-old, cheered a 'tween girl into winning a round of "Don't Break the Ice," tried to convince a 12-year-old boy he was too young to be kissing girls (I was woefully unsuccessful), and had a four-year-old snuggle in my lap while I read him picture books. These kids loved to have us there. And watching the playful way they interact with regular volunteers, it was obvious relationships have been forged and that our presence mattered. And to think that I almost didn't come. All because of No Impact Week.
You see, before I figured out a carpooling option, I was too concerned about my carbon footprint to want to drive to volunteer. I had been driving all week, and I knew I would volunteer on Sunday anyway (I go to the Ronald McDonald House weekly—help in the kitchen, at the front desk, or with family activities), so I was really hesitant about going. Eventually, I convinced another friend to come along, making it a carpool.
I can't believe I almost gave up the chance to do something good for someone just because I was concerned about my carbon footprint. While I'm all for being green and making less of an impact on the world, I can't forget that the world is made up of people, and I don't think automatically dismissing the chance to help and connect with someone in order to avoid driving is necessarily the right choice.
Day 6: Gratitude
- Being a part of a church that focuses on "giving back" – every fourth Sunday, instead of church we spend the morning doing something good for the community. We've landscaped an elementary school, held a free fall festival, and throughout this year I'm excited for other projects we'll do to impact the community around us.
- Volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House every week—honestly, it's such a blessing and just so much fun! It's the highlight of my week to serve the families that stay there.
- My family—my parents are in the U.S. at the moment and today they drove up to spend the weekend in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. So while I had to drive about 30 minutes to see them, it was so good. And when I told my dad about No Impact Week, his response was, "Praise the Lord! Olubunmi is concerned about conserving energy and water!"
- The privilege to participate in No Impact Week—reminiscing about Nigeria and going to the homeless shelter yesterday made me realize how lucky I am to even have the choice to do something about my carbon footprint. While I am not in a great financial situation at the moment, I'm not homeless. And in general, I have choices.
- Friends to volunteer with and friends who will bring you their old clothes—like my friend Sofie is doing tomorrow so I don't have to buy new things to look appropriate when I start student teaching on Monday.
Take a break from it all. Ohm Shanti.
Click here for more stories on Day 8: Eco-Sabbath
My Eco-Sabbath lasted two hours. And it was… nice. I came home from church, made lunch, and just curled up on my couch and read. No TV. No phone. Natural light flowing through the window. It was a really good day to curl up with a book too, since Dallas got its first bit of snow this afternoon. It didn't last long, and it's already melted and disappeared, but it made the day perfect.
I reflected a lot of this No Impact Week. I was hesitant to do it, but now I'm not sure if I would have traded this week in for the world. It was a week where I really evaluated myself and my choices. Here's what I hope to implement into my life as No Impact Week comes to a close:
Consumption: I will focus on things I need to buy over things I want to buy. This does not mean I'll deprive myself of fun things, I'll just be more conscious of how much I spend on wants versus needs. Also, not everything has to be new. Someone else's trash can easily be my treasures.
Trash: As much as possible I will reduce, reuse, and recycle. While I don't believe there is a way to create absolutely NO trash (at least not from what I experience this week), I also make a lot of unnecessary trash. There are some things I'm hesitant to eliminate completely—like using paper towels or my Swiffer Wet Jet (cloths and mops are so germy)—but I think from now on I'll at least ask myself if there is a way to do things without creating trash, or at least creating less.
Transportation: Once I can afford it, I'm buying a bicycle. While Dallas isn't exactly bike-friendly, I could at least bike to the store on occasion. Also, if I ever need to go downtown, I'll take the train. I love the train, and I've always wished Dallas was more like Chicago or NYC. And since us DFW people tend to drive a lot, I'll also try to carpool as much as possible.
Food: I'll always bring my own cloth bags to go shopping. I think I'll buy some to just stay in my car; just in case I make an impromptu trip. And I think I'll make the Farmers Market my regular grocery store. I'll increase my cooking repertoire to go beyond rice, pasta, chicken, and pork chops, so that fewer things come out of a can or are microwavable meals. I'll also put myself through rehab and try get over (or at least reduce) my Jack in the Box and Chick-fil-a addictions.
Energy: I'll keep lights off unless I need them and unplug what I'm not using. I'm not sure there's anything I'm willing to eliminate, but I'm pretty sure I could mitigate a lot of things and will continue to take stock of where and how I can do this—like using fans versus the A/C, or just open the window.
Water: I'll… take shorter showers. Or I'll go buy one of shower flow control things so I can turn the water off while I lather and scrub down without wasting water. I'll turn off the faucet and not let the water run mindlessly.
Giving Back: Between church, the Ronald McDonald House, and occasionally volunteering at the homeless shelter, I have a lot of "organized" ways of doing this. Now I think I'll also try and focus on the little moments. Throughout the day I'll seek opportunities where I can give back and make the most of them. And maybe one day I can snag a really cool non-profit job.
Eco-Sabbath: I didn't really get a chance to take a break from everything, but I'm looking forward to doing this at least one day this year. It's so easy to get caught up in all the technology and "things to do," but we need to rest, too. So… I'm promising myself at least one day of absolutely nothing: Turning off my phone, leaving the computer behind, and just enjoying the earth. Maybe I'll plan a hiking trip, or attempt a camping trip. Until I have that day, I'll dedicate an hour or two each day as my Eco-Sabbath.
The above probably doesn't sound like a lot to most of y'all, but for me it's a start. I'm kind of like fellow blogger Cooper Bates' friend—I'm more lime than green. But who knows? Maybe next year I'll do No Impact Week again. And the year after that. And the one after that. And each year I'll move further along the path to being green.


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April 21, 2004-Beating to Galera
Oh how I love a day at sea when the wind blows strong and the sea turns midnight blue and is flecked by whitecaps as far as you can see, and you sheet the sails in hard and carve a course against the wind, straight into the teeth of it, and then you feel the power a great boat driving to windward.
On Sunday we sailed up Verde Island Channel to Puerto Galera, forty four miles to windward, on a single, long, windy, rough, and intensely sunny, but glorious day of sailing. We arrived at Puerto Galera just at sunset, salt encrusted and sun burnt, tired and a trifle sore, but happy, satisfied that we had been tested by the sea and we had met the measure.
It was a great sail. I love it when a cape you worked hard to get around in the morning is left far behind in the afternoon, and then fades into gray haze, followed by three others after it.
I love it all. And no boat can do it like WINGS, she is just superb in these conditions, 25 knots of wind in the open sea, and she flies upwind, throwing aside the waves, making miles disappear astern. If only there was another boat out here with us so we could astonish them with our performance.
But there wasn't, it was only our boat and us, the blue sky the sea, the spray, and the cloud capped mountains on the islands we passed.
This kind of a day doesn't come exactly easy. The wind was strong and we had to reef, and there was a lot of tacking and some of the waves we knocked aside blew back onto us and we got drenched. Just moving about on the boat was difficult; we put on safety harnesses.
Since we needed to go fast, we worked the boat hard too, and that wasn't easy either. Without the full power of the main it was hard to keep the speed up in the lulls, and we had a worse time getting the speed back after the tacks. It took ten minutes after each tack to get the boat dialed in.
To make our forty-four miles we'd had to get up early, and we'd have to sail all day long. Almost too long. It was a tough beat, tough as they come, with winds in the high twenties and a big chop, and we did it dawn 'til dusk, endless tacks, endless grinding in of the jib, setting the runners, adjusting the windvane. We worked hard, tacking on every shift, watching every shade of the sea to find the best wind, the smallest waves, the right course to the mark. Then there were the lulls. At times the wind dropped to 15 or less, and the leftover waves just about stopped us. We tracked our speed towards the mark, (VMG) and calculated when we would arrive. Five o'clock was looking iffy; we shook out the reef, and it got better. The boat powered up quicker, pointed higher. The VMG improved.
Then in the afternoon the wind got back up to near thirty, (thirty six over the deck) and we had to put the reef back in. The waves got bigger than ever and Judy's back was starting to hurt; we got depressed. Judy cried in frustration that maybe we couldn't do this any more, maybe we wouldn't make it to Galera by dark. Then what? Go in after dark? We didn't relish the thought. Judy took a pain pill, and we both just sucked it up and got back to work.
The wind saved us, it shifted NE at just the right time giving us a big lift, right up the track. The VMG climbed into the sixes, and we sailed just parallel to the shore for once, instead of getting knocked as we closed to it and having to tack out again. We got better at dialing in the boat after the tacks, found the right settings for the jib, the traveler, the wind vane. The boat sailed higher, faster, and carried the speed through the lulls.
At four o'clock in the afternoon we reached the shelter of Minolo Point, and while the wind stayed in the high twenties the sea went completely flat. We tacked one last time and caught another big lift up the shore. More our speed climbed; still we pointed higher. We took over steering from the windvane and gloried in the conditions, hitting seven knots and pointing like bandits, coasting up in the puffs, carving even higher.
We reached Puerto Galera just before sunset, and made the channel in daylight. A friendly voice on the radio, Russ, from KARIS, talked us past the reef. Just before darkness fell completely, we picked up a yacht club mooring and rested.
A great day, all in all, wouldn't have missed it.
After an hour's rest and a shower, we went in to the yacht club and had a great steak dinner, some wine, and plenty of good Philippine rum. Sleeping was easy that night.
Click here for more photos from Philippines
Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Puerto Galera
Labels: Philippines, sailing


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This is regarding the trial license issue I am facing.We are using the MegaMatcher SDK for Finger print support .To use the SDK I have to start the license app which fetches the trial license online.It takes some time for that and once it fetches all licenses the SDK works.But if the app is closed or gets closed due to power failure etc then the SDK does not work again even after starting the license app ,as now it 's again trying to fetch license but even after hour of waiting there are no trial license fetched and SDK samples gives license expire errors. It only works the next day. So I have observed that everyday the app must be started once and if gets closed for any reason relaunching it does not get license again and SDK samples gives license expire error's. So is this how it behaves or we need to do some more thing's?
Earlier SDK was working atleast next day .But now it does not work at all. ..Not all Fingerprint Licenses are fetched and does not work.


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Ray Brazier is a veteran tournament angler with 20+ years' experience. He gained recognition in the early years as the engineer that could tweak a boat to its fastest speed. He was surrounded by some of the fastest people in the world on water such as Jerry Jaco and Darrius Allison.
When B.A.S.S. introduced the WFC- World Championship Fishing - of course, Ray was among those chosen. In the first event, anglers fished the first half of the day and then with the same boat, ran a slalom course, with the fastest time around the course winning the event. That first WFC paid $200,000!
Ray went on to work with Earl Bentz and his team of seven Triton Pro Staffers and was eventually hired by Honda as a performance engineer. He has also worked with propeller companies and other performance related industries all over the US because of his skills that are in such high demand.
Brazier's father carried him sauger fishing to the Tennessee River when he was a toddler. He has been an avid angler ever since, fishing ponds and creeks as a youngster. It wasn't until 1986 that he took up tournament fishing.
At that time he was a manager at a subsidiary of Coors. He was either working at Coors or fishing or tweaking a prop or a jack plate or anything else that would improve a bass boat's performance.
Thanks to Brazier's motocross and maritime racing experience, he is uniquely qualified to get the most out of a bass boat. He could probably build one from scratch if he had to, including the outboard.
Brazier's intimate knowledge of boats and his working relationship with sponsors as a motocross and maritime racer encouraged him to change professions. He quit his job at Coors and embarked on a professional bass fishing career.
For more than 20 years, he has made his living exclusively through the fishing industry. Besides fishing tournaments, Brazier helps design boat performance products, works promotional shows and occasionally helps out a shorthanded support crew at a tournament.
"My Raymarine units are awesome. The CHIRP DownVision System gives me the clearest picture on the market... it's like going from a black and white TV to a high definition flat screen. You can really see what's 'down there'. The product fits great in the boat, is easy to operate with the touch screen or manually, and when you turn it on, it works every time. The definition on the screen is unbelievable - for example, when you go over a stump, it appears as a stump. It's like seeing the bottom as if you were using an underwater camera."
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P74 Transducer
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Posted by Editoress on 06/28/12
Anton Cooper (New Zealand) rode away from the Junior Men's field in the Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup, finishing the race in one hour and nine minutes, over six minutes ahead of second-place finisher, Canadian Marc-Antoine Nadon. Keegan Swenson (USA) was the third-fastest finisher.
"I'm feeling really good at the moment, really strong," said Cooper. "I knew I had a win in me. So I just had to go out there and put in a solid performance and I did that so I'm pretty happy."
The New Zealand rider said that his goal this year is to win the World Championships title that eluded him last year before moving on to the U23 ranks next year.
"That's my big target. So hopefully I can continue the form through to it. I want that title and I want that jersey."
Nadon, the newly crowned Canadian Champion, will also be moving on to the U23 ranks next year. He said that he was expecting a top five finish today, and surprised himself by being able to stand on the World Cup podium for the first time.
"It's really amazing for it to be on home soil. I'm really proud. It was a really good race," he said. "My legs just felt amazing today. My coach, Kyle Douglas, and I just nailed it this year."
Nadon said he went really hard off the start since he knew that the Beatrice rock garden would be hard to navigate from behind. He went through the technical descent in third place and was able to take the downhill safely and avoid getting caught behind any slower riders. During the second lap, Nadon attacked Keegan at the bottom of the Marmotte zig-zag climb and stayed ahead of him for the rest of the race.
"I just gave it from there and never looked back. But I could sense that he was gaining on me and that just made me push even harder. I wasn't going to settle for third."
First-year Junior rider, Peter Disera, was also surprised with how well he performed in his first-ever World Cup. He was the second Canadian finisher of the day in sixth place.
"I came into it not really expecting anything. I just didn't want to get pulled," he said.
Disera said that there was always someone he could see in front of him and so on the switchbacks he would pedal hard to catch up. Then he would gain time on them on the slippery Germaine downhill.
"There were a couple really, really scary sections but it was good," he said.
The other Canadians in the race were Alexandre Vialle who finished 12th, Vincent Belhumeur (15th), Julien Gagné (18th), Jean-Daniel Boily (19th), Pierre-Olivier Veillette (21st), Elliot Galbraith (22nd), Merlin Dallaire (26th) and Charles Dubeau (DNF-flat).
Report by Sarah Moore
Full results
Marc-Antoine Nadon
Peter Disera


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D.D. Jackson Press Photo
Photo by Dave Kaufman.
D.D. Jackson Press Photo
Photo by Jamie Johnson.
D.D. Jackson Production Studio
in Maplewood, NJ
D.D. Jackson Production Studio
in Maplewood, NJ. Photo © by Francesca Isa.
I am a two-time Emmy Award-winning composer, and Juno Award-winning jazz pianist and educator. As a composer, I specialize in writing, arranging, and producing memorable, custom-made music for t.v., film & other media. I consider myself an "artistic problem solver": I strive to get to the essential conceptual truth of what the client is looking for - and to express it in a creative and supportive way. [READ MORE] or [BIO]


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"TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!" raves the New York Post for JERSEY BOYS, the 2006 Tony Award®-winning Best Musical about Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Four Seasons: Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, Tommy DeVito and Nick Massi. This is the story of how four blue-collar kids became one of the greatest successes in pop music history. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide – all before they were 30! JERSEY BOYS, winner of the 2006 Grammy® Award for Best Musical Show Album and most recently, the 2009 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, features their hit songs "Sherry," "Big Girls Don't Cry," "Rag Doll," "Oh What a Night" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." "IT WILL RUN FOR CENTURIES!" proclaims Time Magazine.
Note: Jersey Boys contains authentic "profane jersey language" and is not recommended for all ages.
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Adding a Little Spice to Life
It was nice to be the world's unparalleled superpower following the fall of the Berlin Wall but it was also a little boring. A little rivalry goes a long way and without it, life just isn't quite as spicy. Luckily we now have plenty of new enemies who are redefining the terms of the conflict and we can once again experience the existential angst our parents knew during the 60's and 70's.
At the same time, even within smaller rivalries you want to see a little spice. I'm sure Yankees fans love to see their Bronx Bombers beating up on this season's hapless Red Sox. But does it feel quite as rewarding as beating them when Beckett was in top form? Sure, the Sox took one last night but that wasn't exactly vintage Beckett.
Same goes for our current battles in the Islamic world. Many pundits have imagined Islamic society to be one monolithic bloc that seeks the destruction of the Great Satan but that's a generalization that serves no real purpose. Cultural battles continue to roil majority Muslim states from Morocco all the way to Indonesia. Sometimes it's deadly serious. Sometimes you can't help but laugh and maybe even wish you had been there to see it.
Healthy rivalries keep the competitive juices flowing. There's no way our space program would have reached the heights it attained without the constant pushing of the Soviets. Likewise, our current conflicts are forcing us to re-examine policies and their long-term effects on our safety and well being. And who knows, maybe if a couple more women beat up a couple more "religious" policemen, even the Saudis might grow up.


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Large Rorstrand Vase by Gunnar Nylund.
HEIGHT: 21 in. (53 cm)DIAMETER: 7.5 in. (19 cm)


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Now that Russell Crowe is done with his "Les Miserables" award season duties, he's turning his attention to stars of a different kind.
The Oscar-winning actor uploaded videos to YouTube of a bright, orange-red object that appears to be flying through the sky near Crowe's office in Woolloomooloo, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. The footage, which lasts 23 seconds, begins with the following wording: "Time lapse photos outside RC's office in Woolloomooloo…These are real…UFO?"
"A friend and I set camera to capture fruit bats rising from Botanic Gardens, this was a big surprise," Crowe tweeted alongside the link to the video.
The YouTube posting has garnered more than 300 comments, the majority laced with skepticism over the validity of the footage.
One viewer posted a message reading: "I don't understand, if this was time lapse photography then that could just be a plane? What am I missing here?" Another: "The camera is pointed at the glass window!!! The lights are indoors and behind the camera and reflecting in the window!!!!!!!"
One even praised the actor's attempt at an "X-File" moment: "Its a heli. if you look very close you can see the blades all he did was blur it out. But all and all good effort."
See the video below: