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Voices of Faith: If God is neither male nor female, why do most people say 'Father God'?
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
Voices of Faith: If God is neither male nor female, why do most people say 'Father God'?
Rabbi Avi Weinstein, head of Jewish studies, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, Overland Park, Kan.: Even though God is in the purest sense neither male nor female, the way one perceives God requires some definition. The Jewish mystics felt that there were 10 emanations of God, some of which were designated as masculine while others were feminine. In fact, the divine presence for which the Temple was home, the "Shechina," was decidedly feminine, and described as such in the Talmud. It would be more accurate to call God masculine and feminine. Nevertheless, God in Jewish liturgy is usually referred to as "the father," or "the king."
Unlike English, in Hebrew each noun has a gender. The Hebrew word for bottle has a gender. In fact most body parts have a gender, and they are mostly feminine, except the Hebrew word for breasts which for some reason is masculine. Go figure.
If the question is why don't we refer to God as "it," God as an "it" is too distant. Nobody has a relationship with an "it." Sometimes expecting parents refer to the fetus as "it," but that is precisely because the fetus is not known and cannot yet be in a meaningful relationship. The only choice in Hebrew was whether to address God personally as male or female since his "itness" would make God an inanimate object and that doesn't quite cut it.
When addressed, God is often called the Master of the Universe, or the Holy One Blessed Be He, the quality that is emphasized is God's authority and our desire to submit to him. Classically, these were male qualities, but this is an evolving relationship, and there is ample precedent for God in Jewish tradition to be imagined as female.
The Rev. Holly McKissick, pastor, Peace Christian Church, Kansas City, Mo.: It's been more than 30 years, but I still feel bad that I voted against her. Even as a teenager, she was a strong leader: smart, creative, confident. He was no match, but I voted for him. I don't even remember his name — tall, cute, a jock — and inexperienced and irresponsible. Our group floundered under his direction. I've thought about that vote many times. I voted for the guy because he was a guy.
It's called patriarchy. It's nearly universal; it crosses time and tradition, the preference for male over female. In a system where the male is supreme, it follows that the Supreme One will be identified with masculine imagery and identity.
Unlike the patriarchy found in Judaism, Christian patriarchy has its foundation in dualism. Christianity draws a sharp and naive divide between male and female. The male is equated with God, light, spirit and good, and the female is equated with sin, dark, flesh and evil.
In our poems and our prayers, God has many names: River, Rock, Mother, Prince of Peace, Source of Light. It is not only girls and women who lose when we limit God's name and nature, but boys and men, too, for our true potential is hidden from our view. God only knows how humankind could flourish if we embraced the fullness of God in one another.
Send your questions for one of our panels of religion columnists to Helen Gray at The Star, 1729 Grand Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64108. Send email to hgraykcstar.com.


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If you you think you want to be a CEO, what should you do?
I was talking to a former CEO who had a very successful exit almost two years ago. This a good friend who I have known for over 20 years now. I first met him when I interviewed him to take my job when I was being promoted in 1990 at Oracle.
He worked for me for seven years before he left to take his first role outside of Oracle as a president of a startup. I enjoyed working with him, mentoring him and learning as much from him as he learned from me. We have stayed close professionally and personally, as we both enjoy the outdoors.
During our discussion the other day, he gave me his perspective on what a business person needs to do if they want to be a CEO later in their career. I though I would share his thoughts with you…
1) Get to work…once you get in the door of a company no one will care if you have a Harvard MBA or not.
2) Pick the right software company in the right market segment… you are looking for
a) High organic growth
b) Culture that rewards technical and emotional competence …not age or tenure or title or who is the most political.
c) A company that can give you the credentials to be a CEO
3) Don't job hop, be patient but have a realistic plan and objectives….if it becomes obvious you cannot reach your goals, then it's time to leave.
4) Once you feel that you have the qualifications to be a CEO….leave. Odds are high that if you stay you will never be the CEO.
a) Leaving can mean a big company or a small company or a new company…
b) If you leave before you are qualified you can become a CEO….but not for very long.
I think my friend's advice is to the point, simple and pragmatic. I have met a lot of people who have wanted to be CEOs and the advice above is a great framework to follow.
By the way, the most common mistakes I have watched people make in aspiring to become a CEO have been:
- Not being patient enough with their current company and role they are currently in
- Leaving before they were qualified to become a CEO.
All the best!
Read more posts on OpenView Venture Partners »

subset: commoncrawl


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Sometimes it seems Superbowl Sunday is about the advertising as much as it is about the football game being played. After a week of previewing the newest Superbowl car commercials we thought it was worth a look back at the great car commercials of the past. What is your favorite TV car commercial of all time?
This special bonus edition Question of the Weekend comes to you just in time for Superbowl Sunday. Whether you love Football or hate it, many great car commercials have been debuted over the years on this day. Between your lifetime of television watching, reading countless classic ad watch articles right here on Jalopnik and general automotive awareness, which is the car commercial that sticks out in your mind as your favorite?
My favorite advertisement would have to be the Chevrolet "Like a Rock" commercial I featured in my first weekend posting on Jalopnik. For me this commercial has everything you could look for in a great TV commercial. Nostalgia, unnecessary truck abuse, Amerigasmic back patting and entertainment value wrapped into one great ad I can't stop watching. What about you, what is your favorite TV car commercial of all time?


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A meeting of the two most important men in the entire history of country music.
- 'One more thing gets thrown up on stage and I'm leaving'… Meat Loaf in Ireland '89In 1989 Meatloaf was in a sort of rock 'n' roll
- NEW SITE COMING SOONThanks for the visit. There's a new site coming soon,
- Terry McMahon's Mullingar Patrick's Day paradeToday (Wednesday January 28) will see writer/director Terry
writing about…808 State Andrew MacManus Bell X1 Big Tom Come Taste the Band david kitt Declan Murray Declan Nerney Deep Purple Des Bishop Dire Straits Duffy Eric Bell Frank Byrne Greville Arms Hotel Hayseed Dixie HotHouse Flowers Joe Dolan Johnny Cash Joseph Arthur Kíla Luka Bloom Mary Coughlan Mike Scott Mojo Mullingar Mundy Paddy Casey Pink Floyd Rodrigo y Gabriela rte Saxon Sunday World The Aftermath The Blizzards The Frames The Jimmy Cake The Saw Doctors The Stables The Stables Mullingar The Walls Tommy MacManus TV3 U2 Watercress
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After being told she was just a sickly child by doctors, Mary Neville went through most of her youth not knowing what was wrong. Finally, after having three children and weighing only 89 pounds, a doctor diagnosed her with Celiac Disease.
"I was kind of at the point where I was telling God 'if you let me live, I'll do anything'," Neville said. "I had three babies to take care of and I was critically ill. Once I was diagnosed, it became easier. I've done what I can to help others who are diagnosed with Celiac Disease."
Celiac Disease is a disease in which chronic failure to digest food is triggered by hypersensitivity of the small intestine to gluten. Intermittent diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating are some symptoms of the disease. People diagnosed can maintain a healthy life and receive the necessary nutrients from food if they stick to a gluten-free diet. Wheat, oats, rye and barley all contain gluten. Unlike most ingredients, gluten is not shown on labels so those who have Celiac Disease have to watch closely what they eat.
When Neville moved to Sun City in 2008, she partnered with Hilton Head Hospital registered dietitian, Holly Mlodzinski to set up a local celiac resource center. Neville was diagnosed with celiac sprue disease in 1972 and continues to inform and educate those in the community about Celiac Disease.
As a volunteer coordinator for the Greater Hilton Head Celiac Resource CSA/USA for the areas of Bluffton, Sun City, and Beaufort, Neville is the "go to" person for gluten-free information. Neville also serves as the recording secretary for the national celiac AACSA Foundation.
"I send out regular emails to residents informing them with the latest news on Celiac Disease," Neville said. "I've tried to set up meetings inside Sun City but only about 14 people have attended, so I stay in touch via email."
For Laurie Levine, dealing with celiac disease has become harder since moving to Sun City.
"Living in Sun City with Celiac Disease is harder because most clubs and social gatherings involve food," Levine said. "I cannot have anything that contains gluten so I constantly have to question what ingredients people have put in their food when they bring it to social gatherings. It has become such of a hassle that I usually don't go."
After being diagnosed 46 years ago, Levine knows all about the disease. One long-term side effect of Celiac Disease Levine received is Osteoporosis. Due not getting enough calcium as a child, Levine now makes sure to take supplements and vitamins to help get enough nutrients.
Levine wants to see more residents in Sun City be gluten-free sensitive. With a new restaurant to open inside the community, Levine wants the future chefs to be aware of the gluten allergy.
"I love to eat out despite how cautious I have to be," Levine said. "I wish a group of us from Sun City would get together to go eat at local restaurants so more chefs become extra cautious when making our food. It would be great if the new restaurant in our community could provide gluten-free items so we don't have to search out new places."
Levine believes there is power in numbers when attending restaurants. She said if more residents with Celiac Disease could dine together, chefs would have to be more cautious.
"Chefs must be very cautious to not cross-contaminate spoons or other utensils used to make food with gluten when making gluten-free food," Levine said. "I would like to see a group in Sun City not dwelling on the disease, but helping each other. Gluten-free food is expensive but you can order in bulk online. I want a group where we can split the costs and share the gluten-free food so it becomes a less of a burden for all of us."
Neville said most local supermarket stores provide gluten-free products but it is less expensive to order food online.
"You can find gluten-free products at Publix, Kroger and Food Lion but they can be expensive," Neville said. "I have many friends from the North who send me many products from Whole Foods. I've traveled to Charleston to Trader Joe's to get gluten-free products but I've also found some products at Big Lots."
Levine and Neville have tried to gather residents for dining out occasions and monthly meetings but only about 14 people showed up. Neville said since many residents are part-timers, they don't want to commit to another club or monthly meeting.
Levine said she is lucky to not only a few neighbors who understand the disease but also to have a husband who supports her.
"Marvin has become knowledgeable about what is safe for me to eat," Levine said. "He never complains even when we have to check out multiple restaurants to find one who will deal with my needs."
Levine said some local restaurants where she feels comfortable eating at is Outback, Truffles and Stooges.
"Outback offers a gluten-free menu and Truffles offers gluten-free pasta, bread and rolls," Levine said. "Also, the manager of Stooges will discuss the items on his menu that are safe and make sure that the kitchen is aware that my food must be strictly gluten-free."


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Sorting out the bishops' lobbying budget
What seemed at first glance to be a fairly straightforward report on the increase in lobbying efforts by religious groups has turned into quite a complicated ordeal.
As I wrote last week, the U.S. bishops' conference had disputed a report by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life about religious advocacy groups in Washington, D.C. which stated that the U.S. bishops spend upwards of $26 million each year on advocacy efforts. Sister Mary Ann Walsh, media director for the USCCB, took Pew researchers to task for the numbers they came up with and for what seemed like a broad definition of lobbying.
As I originally noted in my blog post last week, Walsh pointed out that Catholic News Service was among the items included in Pew's report under the bishops' lobbying/advocacy budget, which Walsh felt was quite a stretch. As it turns out, Pew researchers agree with her.
Though disputes over the report were only mentioned as an aside in my original post, it still drew the attention of the Pew Forum, who called today in hopes of clarifying the issue. Alan Cooperman, associate director of research for the Pew Forum, explains:
"What the report said is that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' publicly reported $26.7 million in expenditures for 'policy activities' (the USCCB's term, not ours) seems to 'blur the line between advocacy and non-advocacy initiatives' by including CNS in that budget category together with the USCCB's Government Relations office, its 'Pro-Life Activities' and its 'Human Development, Justice and Peace' program, among other initiatives."
Allen Hertzke, the lead researcher on the study, also issued a response to Walsh, essentially agreeing with her point on CNS and calling for more precise data, which would lead to a more accurate report.
Adds Cooperman, "As Professor Hertzke explained in his response to Sister Mary Ann, we relied on the figures for all the groups in the report on publicly available financial statements, which is important for transparency, consistency and verifiability. And we acknowledged in the report that some organizations' publicly reported budget figures made it difficult to separate advocacy and non-advocacy initiatives; this was clearly the case for the USCCB."
Since the USCCB's available data didn't break down its spending on "policy activities," Cooperman says, it was impossible to distinguish between actual advocacy efforts and things like CNS (which it turns out is actually not even part of the USCCB budget, leaving an unsolved mystery of why it was on the report to begin with). Pew Forum was reluctant to move away from the standard of publicly available information, Cooperman says, but the USCCB's complaints about the report led them to offer to revise the figure if more accurate data were supplied by the bishops' conference.
Thankfully, all of this will hopefully be sorted out soon. USCCB secretary of communications Helen Osman has informed the Pew researchers that she will provide a breakdown of their spending to clarify what does and does not go toward actual advocacy, and Pew will revise their numbers using this data.
The end result will be a more accurate number of what the bishops actually spend on advocacy efforts. But with a big election year ahead of us, it remains to be seen just how influential their voice will be in Washington--and that's something you can't put a price tag on.
[UPDATE: Faith in Public Life reports that the USCCB wasn't the only group that took issue with the numbers reported by the Pew Forum, as now PICO (People Improving Communities through Organizing) says their budget isn't as high as what the report suggests.]


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Works boots custom shaped into a USB Flash Drive
Let Promo Crunch help your business or event turn your next marketing initiative on its ear!
Promo Crunch and its specialty web site www.USACustomFlash.com can show you how to turn your idea or product into a cool, custom shaped USB Flash drive.
With Flash Drive (Nand) memory at a historic low price there has never been a better time to order your custom flash drives.
Minimum orders start at just 250 units and as low as 512 MB. Memory sizes range from the meager 512 MB all the way up to 128 GB.
Using state of the art design techniques let us turn your idea into a marketing superstar! Send us an email at firstname.lastname@example.com


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Cluster in Magenta & Turquoise
Cluster in Magenta & Turquoise
from 20.00
Watercolor Art Print
This is an archival inkjet print of the original painting.
PAPER: Printed on a 100% cotton rag, 330gsm archival matte & archival inks.
SIZE: Available in a variety of sizes from 8" x 10" to 16" x 20". Read more about our art prints here.
SHIPPING: Each art print is individually signed. 8" x 10" & 11" x 14" prints are shipped flat in a bio-degradable sleeve with fiber boards. Larger sizes are shipped in a sturdy tube. Every package is carefully packaged to ensure a safe arrival on your door step! We ship via USPS. Visit here for more info on shipping.
© 2017 Yao Cheng Design. This artwork may not be reproduced in any way, thank you kindly!


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- History shows that secular changes in the investment environment force dramatic changes in asset allocations.
- Low bond yields, along with outsized equity market volatility and modest equity returns, have brought us to a new asset allocation "tipping point."
- Global real assets—real estate, infrastructure, transport and natural resource assets that can provide higher income than bonds and superior risk adjusted returns to equities—will increase in size and importance in investor portfolios.
- In the next decade we believe real assets will move from an alternative to a mainstream asset class. Portfolio allocations could rise from roughly 5%–10% today to as much as 25% in the next decade.
- Investors are at various stages of what we call the Realization, a structural shift toward higher real asset allocations.
- Those investors who recognize, embrace and act on this Realization in their portfolio allocations are likely to have better investment outcomes than those who do not.
The traditional mix of equities and bonds has long held unchallenged sway within pension fund and private investor portfolios, with fixed income offering yield and lower volatility and equities delivering earnings-driven capital appreciation. Recent shifts in allocation have largely been tactical (i.e., cyclical) moves between the two or, more recently, a gradually increasing strategic (i.e., structural) tilt to alternatives, including real estate, infrastructure and private equity.
But a convergence of slowly emerging trends and rapidly changing realities has given rise to concern over the ability of equities and bonds to realize the absolute and/or risk-adjusted investment performance necessary to cover liabilities for pension funds or meet wealth creation targets for other investors. Fixed income sectors are generally offering yields that are at or close to historic lows just as debate rages over whether stimulus will ultimately push inflation up from its current levels. The March 2012 yield-to-worst for the U.S. Barclays Aggregate Bond Index was 2.2%—and future returns are not likely to exceed the coupon by much, if at all. Equities have lagged over the most recent ten years, with an annualized total return of 2.9% (as of December 2011). Uncomfortably elevated volatility implies a decline in the prospects for attractive risk-adjusted returns as expectations for the U.S. economy have plunged—during the most recent decade (2000–2009) GDP growth averaged just 1.7% per year.1
WHAT ARE GLOBAL REAL ASSETS?Real assets are characterized typically by investments in tangible "hard" assets that provide a blend of stable income, equity-like upside potential, inflation hedging, lower volatility and, in general, low correlations to the two current "traditionals"—equities and fixed income. For the purposes of this discussion, we focus the bulk of our discussion on global real assets that include investments in real estate (including REITs), infrastructure and shipping, as well as commodities and related investments such as timber land, farm land and natural resources. However, we acknowledge that many investors consider real assets to include any investment that is designed to provide a "real return" and frequently achieve higher allocations to the overall real assets category by including financial instruments such as TIPS, inflation-managed bonds and other inflation-sensitive investments. These instruments can certainly be considered within the scope of real assets and can be helpful in achieving a globally diversified real assets allocation.
The tectonic shift in standard asset allocation
A new normal? A new world of uncertainty, heightened volatility and slower growth? Perhaps, but investors are beginning to search out and invest strategically in alternatives that can deliver when the Big Two traditionals, bonds and equities, cannot. "Real assets" is one category that is fast gaining acceptance as an essential portfolio component, a third traditional alongside equities and fixed income. Real assets encompass a wide variety of tangible investments that give investors "optionality" in a world of uncertainty—the ability, that is, to serve as a stable source of income in weak markets and to participate in the capital appreciation associated with strong markets.
Global real assets' typical performance bridges the gap between fixed income and equity


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sponsored by
takes swipe at Snowden in spy reform speech
Send a link to a friend
[January 18, 2014]
By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — President Barack
Obama on Friday took a swipe at Edward Snowden, the former U.S. spy
contractor whose revelations about American surveillance practices
tarnished relations with foreign allies and prompted reforms in
Obama unveiled those reforms during a long-awaited speech that
balanced pledges to increase privacy protections with a warning that
intelligence gathering would continue.
But the president could not get through his remarks without
mentioning the man who, to the Obama administration's chagrin,
forced its hand in changing the system.
"Given the fact of an open investigation, I'm not going to dwell on
Mr. Snowden's actions or his motivations," Obama said in his address
at the Department of Justice, taking the somewhat unusual step of
mentioning the former National Security Agency contractor by name.
"I will say that our nation's defense depends in part on the
fidelity of those entrusted with our nation's secrets."
The White House has argued that Snowden — along with other
whistleblowers — had other options for raising concerns about
intelligence practices without making massive and damaging leaks.
Snowden fled to Hong Kong and then to Russia, where he currently has
asylum. The White House wants him returned to the United States for
"If any individual who objects to government policy can take it into
their own hands to publicly disclose classified information, then we
will not be able to keep our people safe, or conduct foreign
policy," Obama said.
"Moreover, the sensational way in which these disclosures have come
out has often shed more heat than light, while revealing methods to
our adversaries that could impact our operations in ways that we may
not fully understand for years to come."
[to top of second column]
A legal adviser to Snowden, Jesselyn Radack, said Obama's comments
framed the issue in a false way of making people choose between
liberty and security.
"His unnecessary swipe at Snowden for the unauthorized disclosure
... was really unwarranted," Radack, the national security and human
rights director at the Government Accountability Project, said in an
Obama noted he had called for a "robust" public discussion about the
balance between providing security and protecting personal liberty
only weeks before the Snowden revelations.
"What I did not know at the time is that within weeks of my speech,
an avalanche of unauthorized disclosures would spark controversies
at home and abroad that have continued to this day," he said.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; editing by Lisa Shumaker)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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'I can't let my mother find out,' Wayland murder defendant says to doctor
Nathaniel Fujita charged in death of Lauren Astley in Wayland
A Wayland man suffered a psychotic episode when he strangled his girlfriend and dumped her body in a marsh, an expert for the defense testified in the death of a recent high school graduate.
Nathaniel Fujita is charged in the death of Lauren Astley, 18, his former girlfriend. Prosecutors said Fujita strangled Astley, slit her throat and then dumped her body in a marsh.
The defense called Dr. Wade Cooper Myers, a forensic psychiatrist, to the stand Friday morning. He testified that Fujita described his role in Astley's death as an "out-of-body" experience.
"After it was over, Fujita thought, 'I can't let my mother find out what happened,'" Myers said. He testified that after Fujita dumped Astley's body, he went home, took a shower, watched a movie with his parents and smoked marijuana.
Myers testified that his diagnosis of Fujita was a "major depressive episode leading up to murder, followed by brief psychotic episode and cognitive disorder from football injuries." Myers said he saw no evidence that proved Fujita planned the attack.
Myers said after reviewing Fujita's medical records, there were symptoms of mental illness as early as age 5.
Myers described Fujita's mood in 2011 as "very depressed," saying the defendant felt helpless. He said Fujita took fish oil supplements, but did not want to take prescription medication.
Astley's mother, Mary Dunne, testified Thursday, describing her daughter as an outgoing teen who loved to help others. During Dunne's testimony, she looked at her daughter's accused killer just once.
"He's at the defendant's table, in the middle seat with his head down," Dunne said as she pointed out Fujita.
For much of the testimony, Fujita was sobbing with his head down, but the pain for Dunne was much more intense, as she was asked to identify the girl in a photo.
"This is my only child -- Lauren Astley," Dunne said.
Fujita is accused of killing Astley in July 2011, just weeks after they graduated from Wayland High School.
On the witness stand, Dunne described the problems her daughter faced after breaking up with Fujita, recalling an incident at Astley's graduation party.
"I told Nathaniel that he needed to settle down, that he and Lauren were no longer dating," Dunne said.
Fujita's aunt, Joyce Saba, was also called to the stand. She said mental illness runs in their family.
Saba said her uncle was a paranoid schizophrenic.
"He would believe the CIA would be watching him through the television," she said.
Fujita's younger sister also spent eight days in a locked child psychiatric facility in 2010, she said.
Saba described Nathaniel Fujita as "sweet, honest, athletic, quiet," but said he changed in 2011.
"Nathaniel was withdrawn and seemed depressed," she said. "It was an extreme change in his behavior."


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Hello, America. The fact that you are reading this says your day is likely much, much different than it would be in Guatemala.
Can you imagine if your commute involved trekking to work on foot, with a hoe on your shoulder or a machete in your hand? Or if daily labor meant heavy-duty farming on nearly vertical surfaces? What if we all regularly saw heavily armed individuals guarding things we take for granted as "safe," like gas stations and trucks' cargo? "Public transportation" has a whole new meaning when you're crammed shoulder to shoulder with many other people into unsafe vehicles speeding fast on skinny, potholed roads.
Let's think about working as hard, or exponentially harder, than we do now -- but receiving only $2 per day. Not only that, but lacking electricity, flushing toilets, and clean water despite our labors. Some of us "rough it" by chopping wood to cook on an open fire when we temporarily "get back to nature"; imagine doing that every single day because it's the only option.
In America, most of our education worries involve whether we can afford to shell out tens of thousands of dollars on private schools and college. Still, we generally don't need to pull our kids out of school to help bring in a few more dollars a day, or to take care of their siblings. Even more, most of us aren't faced with a life in which we have absolutely no schools in our remote communities.
In other words, we don't live in Guatemala, a country that lacks many of the basic necessities Americans take for granted. However, we can invest in better futures for others across the globe. I recently saw firsthand the power of a pencil -- and the power of working together to invest in a brighter future.
Investing for positive impact, not charity
Long-term investors reap many rewards for our efforts, compounding our returns over time. However, as we build our wealth, we can help improve economic lots even beyond our own. Some organizations take each dollar and really make it matter to combat some of the world's greatest ills, such as lack of basic education.
Pencils of Promise is one such organization. It prides itself on being different: it's a for-purpose organization that works diligently to build schools for communities looking for a leg up, not a handout. I was fortunate enough to be part of a group that saw Pencils of Promise's work in several Guatemalan communities.
PoP founder Adam Braun has melded for-profit and nonprofit ideals into "for-purpose" organizations that pack serious effectiveness. His book, The Promise of a Pencil, outlines the history of the organization. One child in India told him that if he could have anything, he'd ask for a pencil -- a perfect symbol of the tools and resources needed for learning.
Braun's background in the financial industry prepared him to think in terms of "maximizing the return on investment from every dollar we receive and by rigorously measuring our impact." Here's more on his strategy, in his own words.
Organizations such as Pencils of Promise allow us to use our prosperity -- including our traditional investment returns -- to invest in economic prosperity that ultimately stretches to all economies.
Progress, not charity
Pencils of Promise was the beneficiary of The Motley Fool's highly successful Foolanthropy campaign last winter. A contingent of Motley Fool members and employees traveled to Guatemala several weeks ago to see PoP's work at ground level, and exactly who we are trying to help.
Our group was awed by the quality of the new schools the campaign is funding, the Pencils of Promise team's intrepid dedication, and, most of all, the passion and enthusiasm of the Guatemalan staff, schoolchildren, and communities that the organization is working with.
These people are embracing progress under the toughest of circumstances, not least of which is the boundary formed by the lack of infrastructure in the country. The school sites we visited in ultra-remote communities, hardly reachable unless you have heavy-duty trucks to withstand what we would never call "roads," show that this organization isn't playing around and taking the cushy path of least resistance.
Pencils of Promise isn't a charity, it's a partnership for positive purpose. The local communities it works with must "buy in" with a 10% to 20% investment of their own, illustrating their deep commitment to education. Their investments can include local labor, materials, and staff. Our group mingled with a community, including laborers, and got a dose of hard work by helping to mix, lug, and pour cement down a steep hill.
The organization is also offering a solution where many nonprofit organizations have failed terribly. Pencils of Promise directs 100% of online donations directly into the schools, and is fully transparent about where the funds go. This is not one of the tragic stories about donations that end up going more into marketing or overhead than to the people they are meant to help. In addition, the organization tracks actual results at its schools, and those results have been impressive.
Every school PoP has completed is fully operational and teaching kids daily. PoP has great data on its side. Its scholarship students go on to secondary school two times more than national averages. PoP students have three times higher scores on language and literacy tests than their counterparts.
Investing in a positive future for all
Here at The Motley Fool, we are all about long-term investing. It comes in many forms, though. Directing money into organizations such as Pencils of Promise allows us to dedicate some of our investing gains and overall prosperity toward a holistic vision of how we can bolster economic well-being across the world.
Someday, these children may use their talents to build great businesses that touch their own communities, and that can radiate out into economies worldwide. They will be our suppliers, or perhaps form companies that will one day be our most popular international investments. Simply helping emerging markets develop more quickly, sending more individuals on a path to prosperity, gives us exponentially more trading partners and consumers.
All young people have the potential to go on to invent amazing solutions to ease our daily lives or even solve the biggest global problems; who knows, one of these kids could cure cancer.
The sky's the limit with every child, and it all starts with access to great education. After doing well by investing in stocks, we can also remember investing in the change we want to see. Our group could see the seeds of such change in Pencils of Promise's work in Guatemala. To learn more about Pencils of Promise or to donate to their cause, click here.
Check back at Fool.com for more of Alyce Lomax's columns on environmental, social, and governance issues.


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Bringing Hidden Biases Into the Light
Big Businesses Teach Staffers How 'Unconscious Bias' Impacts Decisions
ARLINGTON, Va.—Everyone has hidden biases. For Denise Russell Fleming, a vice president at BAE Systems Inc., they include overlooking quieter colleagues during meetings. "I may have not made the best decisions" because of inadequate input from introverts, she says, adding that she tends to favor more talkative personalities.
As they struggle to diversify their workforces, big businesses are teaching staffers to recognize that "unconscious bias"—or an implicit preference for certain groups—often influences...


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Growing up days as a Black girl scarred
In every way, still; you've come so far
They just know the name they don't know the pain
So please hold your heads up high
Don't be ashamed of yourself know I
Will carry it forth til the day I die
They just know the name they don't know the pain, Black girl
[Verse 1: Talib Kweli]
I do it for the people, I do it for the love
I do it for the poet, I do it for the thug
This is for victory, and this is for the slaughter
I do it for my mother, I do it for my daughter
Promise I'll always love ya, I love to kiss and hug ya
You and your brother should be looking out for one another
I'm so blessed, man, y'all the reason I got up
Somebody put his hands on you I'm getting locked up
I'm not playing, that's the prayer I'm saying for Diani
And if I die then she'll be protected by Amani
That's her bigger brother and I love the way he love her
She a girly-girl, she love to imitate her mother
But she a Gemini, so stay on her friendly side
She'll put that look on you, it's like somebody friend just died
My pretty Black princess smell sweet like that incense
That you buy at the bookstore supporting Black business
Teach her what black is; the fact is her parents are thorough
She four reading Cornrows by Camille Yarborough
I keep her hair braided, bought her a black Barbie
I keep her mind free; she ain't no black zombie
This is for Aisha, this is for Kashera
This is for Khadijah, scared to look up in the mirror
I see the picture clearer through the stain on the frame
She got a Black girl name, she living Black girl pain
This is for Makeba, and for my Mamacita
What's really good Ma, I'll be your promise-keeper
I see the picture clearer through the stain on the frame
She got a black girl name, she live in black girl pain
[Verse 2: Jean Grae]
This is for Beatrice Bertha Benjamin who gave birth to Tsidi Azeeda
For Lavender Hill, for Khayelitsha
Athlone Mitchell's Plain, Swazi girls I'm repping for thee
Manenberg, Gugulethu; where you'd just be blessed to get through
For beauty shining through like the sun at the highest noon
From the top of the cable car at Table Mountain; I am you
Girls with the skyest blue of eyes and the darkest skin
For Cape Coloured for realizing we're African
For all my cousins back home, the strength of Mommy's backbone
The length of which she went for raising, sacrificing her own
The pain of not reflecting the range of our complexions
For rubber pellet scars on Auntie Elna's back, I march
Fist raised, caramel shining, in all our glory
For Mauritius, St. Helena; my blood is a million stories
Winnie for Joan and for Eadie, for Norma, Leslie, Ndidi
For Auntie Betty, for Melanie; all the same family
Fiona, Jo Burg, complex of mixed girls
For surviving through every lie they put into us now
This worlds yours', and I swear I will stand focused
Black girls, raise up your hands; the world should clap for us
Momma said they'll be days like this...
On "Black Girl Pain", Talib Kweli and Jean Grae celebrate the lives of young black women.
Though the title of the song is "Black Girl Pain," much of its lyrical focus is directed at relatable experiences that Black women might undergo – and later on, on describing black women with aspirational imagery that might inspire or captivate a listener.
This is an ode to the black woman.


text:
Saltar ata a navegación Saltar á procura
Salam, welcome to my user page.
My name is Ramzy. I first edited Wikipedia on February 2007 and has been involved ever since.
My "home" wiki is id.wikipedia and min.wikipedia; the latter which I helped co-found back in 2013. I also contribute some photographs to the Commons. Please see this category for my photographs collection.
I primarily contribute about (in no particular order) football, history, politics, law, and international affairs.
I am an Indonesian who have lived in Malaysia and the States. I am part of the Wikimedian community of Padang, Indonesia, and a member of Wikimedia Indonesia.
The best way to contact me is to send an e-mail.


text:
Sorry, the page you're looking for is not available.
Please check the address that you typed is correct. If it's correct, the page may have been moved or expired.
If you're having trouble locating a page or are experiencing issues please try the options below.
You can also try the following options:
Culture and leisure services including libraries, sports, arts, venues and community facilities are now managed by East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure (ERCL).
They have launched their dedicated website. For information on forthcoming arts and library events, sports activities, leisure centres, opening hours and prices please visit www.ercultureandleisure.org
If you would like to alert us to a problem (such as missing content) please use the feedback form on this page or email the web team: email@example.com.


text:
Update Accuweather or Wikipedia
(Redirected from Unable to Download Updates for Accuweather or Wikipedia)
This article is no longer maintained, so its content might be out of date.
If you have the blue ZTE Open phone and try to download updates for the Accuweather and Wikipedia apps, you may find that they never finish downloading.
Here's how you can get the updates to install:
- Try downloading the updates for Accuweather or Wikipedia again. The update will not download but that's OK.
- Tap the download progress and then tap the
button that comes up to confirm that you want to stop the download.
- Now, restart your device by pressing and holding the power button and then selecting .
The updates will be installed during the restart and the notification will be cleared.


text:
Apple 12.9-inch Apple iPad Pro
At Sprint 1 Padanaram Rd, Danbury, CT
At Sprint 1 Padanaram Rd, Danbury, CT
- $30.42 / mo. and $100.00 down today
Buy or upgrade today
Get in-store AvailableDirections Call store Make an appointment Get in line
Immensely powerful, portable, and capable, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro features a redesigned Retina display that is the most advanced on the planet, while the A10X Fusion chip delivers more power than most PC laptops. With Apple Pencil (sold separately), the Smart Keyboard (sold separately), and iOS-the most advanced mobile operating system-iPad Pro is designed for the world we live in today.
Feature list
- 12.9-inch Retina display
- A10X Fusion chip with 64-bit desktop-class architecture
- Touch ID fingerprint sensor
- 12MP camera with 4K HD video and Quad LED True Tone flash
- 7MP FaceTime HD camera
- 802.11ac Wi-Fi with MIMO
- LTE cellular data connectivity
- Up to 10 hours of battery life
- Four speaker audio
Similar Products In Stock at Sprint 1 Padanaram Rd
Nearby Sprint LocationsFind a store near you
Sprint Plumbtree Plaza
- Open from 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
67 Newtown Rd
Danbury, CT 06810
AvailableView at this store
Sprint Crown Point Plaza
- Open from 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
494 Bridgeport Ave
Shelton, CT 06484
AvailableView at this store


text:
(CNN) -- While Sen. Barack Obama has campaigned on a message of hope, his wife, Michelle, has talked about the realities of American life -- the gaps between rich and poor, black and white.
Sen. Barack Obama has spoken out against criticism of his wife, Michelle.
She's publicly criticized the United States as "guided by fear" and "just downright mean."
The woman known as "the rock" in the Obama family will now appear before the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, on Monday -- and before the world -- with a clear message: "One Nation."
But will Michelle Obama -- who could be the nation's first African-American first lady -- carry a theme of unity in light of controversial comments she's made on the campaign trail that resulted in speculation about her patriotism?
Aides in the Obama campaign say she's already honing her message for the fall.
"Michelle wrote her own stump [speech]. And you know, she's refining it now, I think, as we're going into the general election," said Valerie Jarrett, a senior Obama adviser.
"We have an opportunity for her to kind of step back and think about the message she wants to deliver. So she's really working on it as we speak."
Her new speeches will include more details about her family and humble upbringing on Chicago's South Side, aides say.
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, 44, was born in Chicago, Illinois. She attended Princeton University and then went on to Harvard Law School.
She later became a vice president at the University of Chicago and landed a job as a health care executive making $275,000 a year. Barack, Michelle and their two daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, live on the South Side of Chicago.
But along with her success has come criticism.
Robin Givhan, fashion editor with The Washington Post, told CNN that people see Michelle Obama in different ways.
"Some people will see confidence, and others might see cockiness. I think some people will see strength. Others might see arrogance," she said. "She comes across as someone who is extraordinarily independent and very much a force to be reckoned with."
Behind the scenes, she maintains that independence. But with the election just months away, the potential first lady is trying to connect with voters on a more personal level.
In June, she made an appearance as a guest co-host on ABC's "The View," and later, she and her husband graced the cover of Us Weekly.
The magazine, headlined "Michelle Obama: Why Barack Loves Her," included details about her love for Target, "Sex and the City" and her daughters' recitals.
Asked on "The View" if she's going through a makeover, she said she realizes that "I wear my heart on my sleeve" and that "it's a risk you have to take." She said she thinks people will change their perception of her as they see her family more.
Carl Sferrazza Anthony, a first ladies historian, told CNN that it's important for Michelle Obama to define herself before others define her.
"One comment made off-hand ... might be easily misinterpreted by the opposition," he said in June.
Michelle Obama saw that in February when a Tennessee Republican ad used a snippet from a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There, while referring to record voter turnout in the Democratic primaries, she said, "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country."
The Obama campaign called the ad "shameful," and it was condemned by the state's two Republican U.S. senators.
But the ad's message caught on in conservative blogs -- and later forced Michelle Obama to clarify her remarks.
"What I was clearly talking about is that I am proud in how Americans are engaging in the political process," she responded. "I mean, everyone has said what I said, in that we haven't seen these record numbers of turnouts, people who are paying attention, going to rallies, watching debates."
Cindy McCain, the wife of Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, also took a shot at Michelle Obama at the time, saying, "I am proud of my country. I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier. I am very proud of my country."
More recently, controversy erupted over a July 13 New Yorker magazine cover showing Barack Obama in the Oval Office dressed in traditional Muslim attire, and Michelle Obama with an Afro hairstyle and a machine gun slung over her back. An American flag can be seen burning in the fireplace, and a picture of Osama bin Laden hangs on the wall.
Shortly after the magazine was published, Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton called the cover "tasteless and offensive." John McCain later said it was "totally inappropriate."
But the overall issue of Michelle Obama as a potential liability has made headlines on both coasts -- with articles in both The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times in early June.
The newspapers pointed to relentless online rumor mills, criticism on conservative blogs and articles in conservative magazines, like the National Review, critical of Michelle Obama.
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote in June that the backlash against Michelle Obama was a "good preview of how Republicans will attack Michelle, suggesting that she does not share American values, mining a subtext of race."
Conservatives view the presumptive Democratic nominee's wife as a target of opportunity. But one Republican consultant has said attacks on candidates' wives often backfire.
"Considering there are so many issues -- legitimate issues -- that you can use on Barack Obama, to attack his wife to me is sheer utter stupidity of the highest level," Stephen Marks, a Republican strategist, told CNN in June. "Mr. Obama is going to come to his wife's defense, and it's going to humanize both of them."
Republican strategists say the wife of the Democratic presidential nominee is fair game.
"There is less information about him to temper her comments against, so what she says represents something a lot more important than perhaps other candidates in the past who have had a longer track record," Rachel Marsden, a Republican strategist, also told CNN.
The potential first lady, however, appears to be bracing for what may lie ahead.
"We're trusting that the American voters are ready to talk about the issues and not talking about things that have nothing to do with making people's lives better," Michelle Obama told ABC News during a joint interview in May.
But Barack Obama quickly added, "I also think these folks should lay off my wife."
CNN's Randi Kaye and Jonathan Mann contributed to this report.
All About Michelle Obama • Barack Obama


text:
Huawei Ascend P1 Video clips
More Videos
The Huawei Ascend P1 is the thicker brother of Huawei Ascend P1 worlds slimmest smartphone. The P1 has some descent hardware including a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video capture. It is running Android 4.0 and sports a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED screen with 540x960 pixels resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass protection.


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For a long time, the cure for diabetes type 1 and type 2 has relied on agonizing insulin shots for patients or insulin infusion via mechanical pumps. Regarding this, experts have been creating artificial pancreatic beta cells with the he…
This report studies the Portable Ultrasound Equipment market status and outlook of global, from angles of players, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global market, and splits the Portable Ultrasound Equipment market by product type and application/end industries.
The global Portable Ultrasound Equipment market was XX million US$ in 2017 and is expected to XX million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2017 and 2025.
Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share and growth Rate of Portable Ultrasound Equipment in these regions, from 2013 to 2025 (forecast), covering
- North America (United States, Canada and Mexico)
- Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Turkey etc.)
- Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam))
- South America (Brazil etc.)
- Middle East and Africa (North Africa and GCC Countries)
The major companies in this report including
- Philips
- Siemens
- Fujifilm
- Toshiba
- Samsung
- Hitachi
- Mindray Medical
- Boston Scientific
- BenQ Medical
- Chison
- Ecare
- Esaote
- Telemed
- Zoncare
- MedGyn
By the product type, the market is primarily split into
- Cart-/Trolley-Based Ultrasound Equipment
- Handheld Ultrasound Equipment
By the end users/application, this report covers the following segments
- Hospital
- Clinic
- Home Care


text:
Resting on a slight knoll in a quiet, shaded yard above the Potomac River Valley, a large, pale yellow, warehouse-like structure stands as a memorial to the complicated personality and persistent character of Clara Barton. Gazing at the house, one can imagine the click of typewriters as clerks respond to the voluminous correspondence which arrived daily. The murmur of voices can be detected as Barton discusses Red Cross business with her loyal field agents. The smell of the mid-afternoon meal drifts over the house, alerting the staff that even as they work to benefit others, their leader would supply their own needs.
Built in 1891, the structure was initially used as a storehouse for American Red Cross supplies. It was remodeled in 1897 to serve also as the headquarters of the American Red Cross and the home of its founder. Rising three stories high, its 30 rooms soon became crammed with thousands of items stockpiled to help victims of war and natural disasters, box upon box of official Red Cross papers, and Barton's personal belongings. Few homes in America tell more about their owners than the Clara Barton House just outside Washington, D.C.
About This Lesson
Getting Started: Inquiry Question
Setting the Stage: Historical Context
Locating the Site: Maps
Determining the Facts: Readings
Visual Evidence: Images
Putting It All Together: Activities
How the National Register
Clara Barton National Historic Site
Teaching with Museum Collections: Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross, Pioneer and Innovator
Teaching with Museum Collections: Clara Barton Needs You!
Teaching with Museum Collections: Preservation at the Clara Barton National Historic Site
American Visionaries: Clara Barton
This lesson is based on the Clara Barton National Historic Site, one of the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places.


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There are total 10 letters in Flattering, Starting with F and ending with G.
Flattering is a scrabble word? Yes (14 Points) Flattering has worth 14 Scrabble points.
Definition of the word Flattering, Meaning of Flattering word :
p. pr. & vb. n. - of Flatter
An Anagram is collection of word or phrase made out by rearranging the letters of the word. All Anagram words must be valid and actual words.
Browse more words to see how anagram are made out of given word.
In Flattering F is 6th, L is 12th, A is 1st, T is 20th, E is 5th, R is 18th, I is 9th, N is 14th, G is 7th letters in Alphabet Series.
Copyright © Word Creation 2017. All Rights Reserved


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How to Check whether You're on an E-Mail Blacklist
If you're marketing your products or services via e-mail, you need to know when your IP is being blacklisted. If your message isn't being delivered customers can't flock to buy your products, and your bottom line suffers. Bounce-back e-mails are often the first indication that your e-mails are being blocked, and if the message tells you why your e-mail didn't get delivered, you have your first tool for getting your IP off the blacklist.
Part of your e-mail marketing strategy relies on systems to optimize your message deliverability rate and to monitor non-deliveries and the reasons for them. As well as pursuing solutions to nondeliveries internally, you can build in a routine of checking to see whether your IP is listed on some of the largest blacklists. You simply input your IP address at one or more anti-spam websites:
CBL (Composite Blocking List)
NJABL.org (Not Just Another Bogus List)
SORBS (Spam and Open Relay Blocking System)
If you find your IP listed, search the site for instructions on how to get off the list.
You can also sign up for commercial auditing services with a number of companies who charge a fee to monitor your domains and alert you to any problems; some will even help you get off a blacklist and offer a variety of e-mail marketing tools. Many of these companies offer free trials:


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Competition Information
Male/Male RX
Male/Female RX
Female/Female RX
Male/Male Novice
Male/Female Novice
Female/Female Novice
Male/Male Masters 40+
Female/Female Masters 40+
Check In
All competitors must check themselves in to sign our waiver, get your competitor number, and collect your athlete bag. Check-in times will be announced the week of the event. For large events, there is typically an early check-in the evening before, in addition to a check-in the morning of the event. There will be NO LATE CHECK-INS, so please arrive on time.
Parking and Tent Set Up
Parking details will be released the week of the event.
A full schedule will be released the week of the event.
General Event Information
Competition Format
The SuperFit Games competition will incorporate a variety of different skill sets. We will include traditional movements (bodyweight, weightlifting, kettlebells, running, rowing, etc…) in workouts that will be selected to test athletes in strength, endurance and skill. We will announce the 3 events that all competitors will participate in 48 hours prior to the competition. We typically hold a finals workout for the top 5 competitors in each division.
Sample Workout Formats
Event 1: 7 minutes to establish a 1 Rep Max Hang Snatch
Event 2: 3 Rounds of Row 500 Meters, 21 Squat Cleans, 21 Burpees
Event 3: AMRAP 10 Toes-to-bar 10 Thrusters
Available divisions can be seen in the registration options.
RX: RX means you can do almost every "girl" workout without modification. In some cases, weights and movement requirements will be more challenging than the "girl" workouts. We encourage competitors to look over workouts at previous events to determine if they should compete in the RX division.
Novice: Novice is for athletes new to SuperFit, or competitions of it's kind. Expect weights and movements that are still challenging, but not as difficult as the RX division.
Masters: While not always available, the Masters division is for athletes 40 and older. Expect the workouts to be somewhere between the challenge of the Novice and RX divisions, though they may sometimes be the same as RX or Novice, depending on the workout.
We will have a prize basket for our winners from our sponsors, as well as a custom SuperFit medal. RX competitors will generally receive more than our Novice competitors in the prize packages. There are no cash prizes at our regular season events.
All athletes will receive a great contest shirt, as well as a variety of samples and freebies from our sponsors.
Games will be open to all level athletes over the age of 16. We encourage athletes to be familiar with different fitness domains and have exposure to CrossFit style workouts.
We do not do refunds for our events, but will happily accept ticket exchanges if you can find someone to buy your ticket. Please make sure to fill out a registration change request if you sell or buy a ticket. Ticket changes must be made at least 2 weeks before the event.
Please bring $10 if you want to spectate. Kids 16 and under are free.
We will hold the event, even in a blizzard. Please come prepared.


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I'm reading Accelerated C++ and in Chapter 4 they bring up the concept of lvalues. There's an example of something that shouldn't work, but after trying it myself I found that it does indeed work.
Specifically they state that, given these functions:
// return an empty vector
vector<double> emptyvec()
vector<double> v;
return v;
// read things from an input stream into a vector<double>
// (I'm leaving out the function body here because it's irrelevant)
istream &read_things(istream& in, vector<double>& hw);
This should not be allowed:
read_stuff( cin, emptyvec() );
Because emptyvec() is an expression and returns a temporary object (a non-lvalue as they called it in the book). However, this not only compiles but actually runs (Windows 7/VisualStudio 2010).
So, what's going on? Was this just a bad example on the authors' part, or is there something else happening that I don't understand.


text:
I posted a list of taveling sites just have a look at it and let me know if it is ok with the links.
hi im came just to say hello
Having trouble with Lenzr post - shows up as invalid post to visitors that have not registered
Wow, you are gorgeous
approve my Virgin Mobile thread I want to bookmark the crap out of it
Zap, I started new thread in Politics and Debate forum but... where did it go?
Where is it? Is your forum ware has bug?
Zap, is your avatar your photo?
why does it say tourist under my username?
Zap, who owns Toronto Forums?
Lives Here Now
Staying For A While


text:
It's almost shameful… it feels like it's been ages since I've traveled at all, much less gotten a new stamp in my passport! Fortunately that dry run is about to end, and I can finally post something on the Travel Junkie blog that's actually about travel! (And maybe even update those "feet" photos to the right.) Go figure…
As any regular readers know, I'm about to leave for a trip to Singapore, then Hong Kong. The Singapore trip has filled up amazingly well—other than the conference I'm speaking at, I'm leading two photowalks (one with over 40 people attending!), doing some Aperture 3 training, possibly speaking at a major corporation on small-flash lighting techniques, and shooting a group portrait of the entire conference attendees on the last day.
Hong Kong is a bit quieter though… one small photowalk in the works, plus a TWiP listener was kind enough to arrange a gathering of like-minded professionals for a casual meet-and-greet. Other than that I suppose I'll have a suit made and stuff myself on the local street food!
The Things I'll Eat…
In honor of this upcoming trip, I wanted to share a couple of old photos. The second you've seen before; it's from the Beijing Olympics when I ate something… odd… at the Donghuamen market. The first is a photo my father scanned and sent me from an old photo album, dated 1985. I was 11 years old in this photo, taken in Gijon, Spain. Some things never change.
Singapore and Hong Kong
Here's a shot from my last trip to Singapore. It was taken from my hotel room as a storm rolled in just before sunrise.
And a couple from previous trips to Hong Kong.
More will follow!


text:
In MAME 0.144, a new "World" romset for Ikari Warriors 3 with regular 8-way joystick control became the new parent romset. The existing Rotary joystick control romset was moved to "ikari3u". All existing recordings on MARP that are under ikari3 were all recorded before MAME 0.144, and should be moved to the ikari3u romset.
ikari3 -> ikari3u
Discussion about MARP's regulation play
Moderator: BBH
Post Reply
2 posts • Page 1 of 1
Re: ikari3 -> ikari3u
Corrected! Thanks for pointing this out...
To summarize the changes at MAME 0.144:
To summarize the changes at MAME 0.144:
Code: Select all
ikari3 -> ikari3u "Ikari III - The Rescue (Rotary Joystick)"
ikari3nr -> ikari3 "Ikari III - The Rescue (8-Way Joystick)"
Post Reply
2 posts • Page 1 of 1


text:
Nice work! Enjoy the show!
Link Copied!
VERBATIM: Lowering U.S. taxes in priority No. 1
Opening Sequence
Johnson defiant after Brexit delay vote
Clinton probe finds no mishandling of classified emails
Gabbard calls Clinton 'personification of rot'
Erdogan vows to "crush the heads" of Kurdish fighters if ceasefire fails
Canada's Trudeau says fighting for every vote
At least 62 killed in Afghan mosque bombing
New safety questions about Boeing's 737 MAX
Apple to debut a new TV show tackling #MeToo
World in Pictures
Closing Sequence


text:
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
I might be in the minority here, but I feel that if people had conversations in relevant threads rather than in the shoutbox, we'd have better engagement on certain topics - with or without new membership. Call me Mr. Old-Fashioned.
How about reddit? Like on /paulthomasanderson etc.
I guarantee a falloff in making posts would have happened regardless of the shoutbox. But the inverse is also true a lot of stuff in the shoutbox should probably be in an actual thread. If we put more effort/thought into that, I see a good equilibrium being achieved there.


text:
ANOH Conference 2018 date changes to November 4th - 6thANOH-Con 2018 is now rescheduled dates to 2 days later that previously planned. The conference will now take place on the 4th - 6th of November, 2018 at National Yang-Ming University
CTSafe proctors exams for World Safety Organization thorough 2018, HCMC, VietnamCTSafe is the principal sponsor for WSO National Office in Vietnam. They play a role of proctor for all WSO exams of professional certifications.
The 5th International Conference on OEH scheduled for September 10 to 12, 2018 in Hanoi, VietnamThe 5th International Conference on Occupational & Environmental Health is planned to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam on September 10 to 12, 2018. The conference will examine workplace safety and environmental health conditions and describe methods to evaluate and control hazards.
Board of Certifications


text:
Writing a rhetorical piece for my high school english class, I wanted to emphasize the sheer increase from 10 million to approximately 2 billion.
Conveniently, 10 million is 200 times smaller than 2 billion. That makes a nice, clean number to work with, even though it really doesn't have any significance on the quesiton I'm asking here.
What I wanted to do is to say something like this:
two hundredfold
two hundred-fold
Just as
means two times as many. The pattern appears to be placing the number before
fold like
fivefold, etc.
Yet, with something like two hundred, how should I space, hyphenate and spell it correctly?
Just wondering because I'm a little ocd about this and would like to get it right.


text:
Tag: group
|Userform Checkboxes - Select All/Unselect
(23 responses) Hi - I'm creating a userform where I'd like to have about 10 checkboxes. How would I go about creating another check box that woul...
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|NHL.com website; How to get tables into PQ
(12 responses) Can someone please help me? I am trying to import this webpage to PQ but the Navigator lists no tables at all. Is there some special techniq...
|VBA to create a named range on each sheet with name of value in cell A2
(10 responses) I have a workbook with 468 sheets of data. Each sheet has a table in the range of A4:AA500. I need to create a named range for each of the t...
|MrExcel LX Book
The Holy Grail of Excel Tips $12.60


text:
Bellydance has always been a dance form shared by women from generation to generation, and this workshop reclaims those roots. Open to Mother/daughter pairs with daughters aged 4 and up, this class focuses on gaining comfort in your body and boosting self-esteem through dance. Daughters attend free &ndash you only pay for mom!
Sundays, 1/6 - 2/10
12:30 &ndash 1:15pm
Tuesdays, 1/8 &ndash 2/12
5:30 &ndash 6:15pm
Cost: $60 per family through 12/30, $70 thereafter (or $15 Drop-In, space permitting)
FREE to Hip Circle Studio Full-Circle Members!


text:
A defiant Abdullah Abdullah asserted Tuesday that he had won Afghanistan's bitterly disputed presidential election as outraged supporters threatened to back a breakaway government, raising the specter of a prolonged and perhaps bloody political crisis.
A day after preliminary results gave a commanding lead to Abdullah's rival, Ashraf Ghani, U.S. officials were scrambling to salvage the legitimacy of an election that the Obama administration hoped would usher in a stable, post-American era in Afghanistan, but which has become tainted by accusations of serious fraud.
President Obama and Secretary of State John F. Kerry called Abdullah, urging him to abandon the idea of creating a "parallel government." The U.S. officials didn't, however, threaten to cancel the proposed U.S.-Afghan bilateral security agreement that both candidates have said they would support.
Kerry, on a two-day visit to China for strategic talks, plans to visit Kabul this week for further consultations, Abdullah told supporters. U.S. officials said Kerry hasn't yet made a decision on whether to stop in Kabul.
"We are the winner of the elections with no doubt," Abdullah, a longtime opposition figure, told the supporters at an impassioned rally in Kabul. "We are not allowing a fraudulent government in this country even for one day."
A few hours later, Ghani struck a measured tone, saying, "Our votes are clean." He said he welcomed an audit of several thousand ballot boxes to be undertaken in the next two weeks. But the Afghan election bodies already suffer from a major credibility gap, and Western officials were worried that neither candidate would accept defeat.
The standoff grew tenser as Abdullah's supporters tore down a picture of President Hamid Karzai at Kabul's most prominent meeting hall and replaced it with one of Abdullah.
Abdullah later addressed the gathering and condemned the gesture, but repeated his allegations that Karzai's presidential palace had conspired with election officials to rig the vote against him.
"If they abuse our loyalty and think that whatever they do, we will keep quiet, they are making a mistake," he said. "They are making a historic mistake."
Among Obama administration officials, there was growing concern that the crisis could undo many of the democratic strides Afghanistan has made in the 13 years since U.S. forces invaded and toppled the Taliban government. All U.S. forces are due to depart the country at the end of the year, although an accord awaiting the approval of Afghanistan's next president would allow 10,000 American troops to remain for an additional two years. Until fraud allegations surfaced in recent weeks, the election had been hailed as largely peaceful.
Kerry issued a statement late Monday expressing "grave concern" at the reports that a breakaway government could be formed. He urged Afghan election officials to investigate all fraud allegations thoroughly, but warned that any attempt to subvert the process could result in a cutoff of U.S. and foreign assistance to Afghanistan, which provides nearly all of the government's operating money.
"We call on all Afghan leaders to maintain calm in order to preserve the gains of the last decade and maintain the trust of the Afghan people," Kerry said. "Any action to take power by extralegal means will cost Afghanistan the financial and security support of the United States and the international community."
U.S. officials said they believed the recount can be completed before the scheduled inauguration of the new president on Aug. 2. They urged Abdullah and his supporters to be in touch with Ghani to begin trying to work out a unity government to hold the polarized country together.
The preliminary results from the June 14 runoff gave Ghani a lead of about 1 million votes out of 8 million cast, a remarkable turnaround from April's first round of balloting, in which the former finance minister finished a distant second. Abdullah has released audio recordings purporting to show election officials working to rig votes in Ghani's favor. One top election official resigned last month over the allegations but denied wrongdoing.
United Nations diplomats appeared to have brokered a deal late Monday under which both campaigns agreed to have 7,000 out of 23,000 nationwide polling stations investigated for fraud. But Ghani's supporters already have claimed victory, and Abdullah's partisans on Tuesday were calling for their candidate to announce his Cabinet.
Amid the uncertainty, violence blamed on the Taliban has intensified, raising fear that insurgents could exploit the political chaos. Earlier Tuesday, a suicide bomber killed 16 people, including Afghan schoolchildren and four Czech soldiers, in eastern Afghanistan's Parwan province.
The bombing took place near a school where soldiers from the U.S.-led military coalition were handing out educational supplies to children, said Waheed Sediqqi, a spokesman for the provincial governor. About 7:30 a.m., a suicide attacker riding a bicycle detonated explosives near a crowd of international soldiers and civilians in the village of Qalandar Khail, killing the Czech service members, two Afghan police officers and 10 civilians, including children, Sediqqi said.
The U.S.-led military coalition confirmed in a statement that four of its personnel were killed in an attack but gave no details.
Special correspondent Baktash reported from Kabul and Times staff writer Bengali from Mumbai, India. Staff writer Paul Richter in Washington contributed to this report.
Follow @SBengali for news from South Asia


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Growing Evidence Links Resveratrol to Extended Life SpanMarch 2007
The Life Extension Foundation has a 27-year history of introducing cutting-edge therapies for extending life and preventing disease. In 2003, we reported on findings that resveratrol (a substance found in red grapes and other plants) extended the life span of certain cells by as much as 70%.
Since our initial report, resveratrol has continued to demonstrate extraordinary potential in prolonging life. In numerous studies—including those at BioMarker Pharmaceuticals, a Life Extension-sponsored research institution—resveratrol has demonstrated effects that mimic those of caloric restriction, the best-documented anti-aging strategy to date. In all animals in which it has been tested, caloric restriction—the practice of restricting calorie intake while maintaining good nutritional status—improves multiple aspects of age-related decline. Caloric restriction does this, in part, by producing changes in gene expression that are associated with long life and a slowing of the aging process.
Resveratrol is also gaining growing recognition for its promise in fighting age-related diseases ranging from dementia to diabetes. For example, the National Institutes of Health is currently sponsoring a clinical trial investigating resveratrol's ability to fight colon cancer.
In this article, we bring our readers up to date on the latest clinical research on resveratrol, and why leading researchers believe this remarkable nutrient may hold the key to living a longer, more vibrant, disease-free life.
What you need to know
Pre-clinical results in scientific literature have shown that resveratrol extends lifespan and delays disease. However, the dosages used vary from study to study making it difficult to find the right dosages. In addition, research shows it is not just resveratrol alone that offers these benefits, but many of the compounds found in the grapes, as well. We at Life Extension® analyzed the data to figure out what was the most effective study, and what the human equivalent dose of resveratrol should be to optimally utilize its health benefits.
Resveratrol and Caloric Restriction
To date, the most reliable, best-researched way to extend life span is through the practice of caloric restriction, which involves reducing calorie intake while simultaneously maintaining good nutritional status.
In numerous studies, restricting calorie intake in laboratory animals has been shown to prolong their life span by as much as 60%.1-3 While scientists have not yet determined whether caloric restriction extends life span in humans, the preliminary evidence is very promising. In humans, consuming a low-calorie diet is associated with several possible markers of greater longevity, such as lower insulin levels and reduced body temperatures, along with less of the chromosomal damage that typically accompanies aging.4 Furthermore, people who consume a low-calorie diet may be less prone to diseases associated with being overweight or obese, such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cancer, and atherosclerosis.
Although caloric restriction may be effective in promoting longevity, the problem is that most adults find this stringent lifestyle strategy to be impractical. As a result, scientists have sought to uncover the precise mechanisms by which caloric restriction promotes longevity, in order to help people capture its life-extending benefits through more practical means.
Resveratrol Offsets Perils of a High-Calorie Diet
Remarkable new research suggests that it may be possible to achieve the life-extending benefits of caloric restriction using the readily available, plant-derived compound known as resveratrol. Resveratrol and caloric restriction appear to work via similar mechanisms to promote health and longevity in numerous animal species.
In an interview, a leading resveratrol researcher, Dr. Xi Zhao-Wilson of BioMarker Pharmaceuticals, told Life Extension, "There has been a great deal of attention focused on resveratrol in the past few years, following a study showing that resveratrol activates molecular pathways involved in life-span extension, now demonstrated in yeast, worms, flies, fish, and mice, and which possibly bear a relationship to mechanisms under-lying caloric restriction."
This heightened interest in resveratrol has produced several recent breakthroughs. In a landmark study, Harvard University scientists showed that resveratrol could prolong survival by regulating a gene associated with aging that is present in all life forms.5 They demonstrated that while middle-aged mice fed a high-calorie diet suffered the ravages of obesity—including metabolic changes resembling diabetes, liver and heart damage, and premature death—mice that were fed resveratrol in addition to the high-calorie diet actually exhibited beneficial changes in their physiology, resembling those of mice fed a standard diet.5
Among the life-prolonging benefits of resveratrol supplementation demonstrated in the study were:
While mice on the non-supplemented high-calorie diet developed enlarged, fatty livers, resveratrol supplementation prevented these changes. Similarly, heart disease and evidence of atherosclerosis were seen in mice fed the high-calorie diet, but not in those that were also given resveratrol. Resveratrol significantly increased survival, reducing the risk of death from the high-calorie diet by 31%. Together, these findings offer powerful evidence that resveratrol protected the animals from the harmful effects of a high-calorie diet.5
Resveratrol's positive impacts on insulin sensitivity and survival were apparent after only six months of treatment.5 Resveratrol also improved the animals' quality of life, as reflected in their physical abilities. On a test of balance and coordination, the resveratrol-fed mice on the high-calorie diet steadily improved as they aged.5 The obese resveratrol-supplemented animals experienced all of these benefits without a significant reduction in body weight.5
"These data demonstrate that resveratrol can alleviate the negative impact of a high-calorie diet on overall health and life span," the Harvard scientists concluded. "The ability of resveratrol to prevent the deleterious effects of excess caloric intake and modulate known longevity pathways suggests that resveratrol and molecules with similar properties might be valuable tools in the search for key regulators of energy balance, health, and longevity."5
Mechanisms by Which Resveratrol May Extend Life
Today, scientists around the world are studying resveratrol to determine how it helps fight aging and prolong life span. Current evidence suggests that resveratrol exerts antioxidant effects, boosts energy production, and favorably alters patterns of gene expression.
Oxidative stress is implicated in numerous disease processes and in aging itself. Resveratrol demonstrates powerful antioxidant capabilities, with profound implications for human health. Scientists report that resveratrol inhibits the oxidation of dangerous low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and scavenges harmful hydroxyl radicals. Resveratrol also helps preserve levels of glutathione, one of the body's most essential antioxidants.6 According to prominent resveratrol investigator Dr. Milos Sovak, "There is no question that resveratrol is one of the best free-radical scavengers and that it has many effects whose ramifications might affect not only longevity but also general health."
Resveratrol stimulates energy production in the cellular powerhouses known as the mitochondria. Diminished mitochondrial energy production is associated with reduced longevity. By enhancing the production of life-sustaining energy, resveratrol may help protect against metabolic disease and obesity, thereby improving health and prolonging survival in animals.7
Growing evidence indicates that resveratrol influences many genetic pathways, which may underlie its ability to lengthen life. In the recent Harvard study, investigators noted that a high-calorie diet produced numerous changes in gene expression. However, supplemental resveratrol opposed the effects of this high-calorie diet in 144 of 153 significantly altered genetic pathways. Moreover, resveratrol's effects were dose dependent, with larger amounts yielding greater effects, leading the investigators to suggest that resvera-trol may offer "new approaches for treating obesity-related disorders and diseases of aging."7
Some of the genetic pathways influenced by resveratrol are similarly affected by caloric restriction. For example, caloric restriction is associated with long-term activation of AMP-activated kinase (AMPK), a metabolic enzyme promoting insulin sensitivity and fatty-acid oxidation. Resveratrol likewise increases AMPK activity, which is associated with life-span extension.5
Scientists believe that caloric restriction increases life span in part through its effects on the sirtuin genes.5 Present in all life forms, sirtuin genes are associated with aging and longevity. Resveratrol may confer benefits similar to those of caloric restriction by influencing the sirtuin gene known as SIRT2.5,8-10 In the Harvard study, resveratrol helped counteract changes in SIRT2 expression induced by a high-calorie diet.5
"The genes and pathways [affected by resveratrol or by caloric restriction] are related to activation of sirtuins, a class of histone deacetylase enzymes (HDACs) involved in cell death and life-span regulation," Dr. Zhao-Wilson told Life Extension. "Based on the large body of evidence, the resveratrol/sirtuin activators have become the focus of pharmaceutical drug discovery efforts now [targeting] HDACs."
Researchers believe that compounds like resveratrol that either activate or inhibit sirtuin activity may have therapeutic potential for a broad array of human diseases, including cancer, diabetes, heart failure, and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease.11


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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Vaughn Davis knows what it is like to go from living as alone on the streets in the dead of winter to sitting inside a warm apartment after securing a job.
Davis is one of many who have found success with the help of a case worker, who directed him to permanent supportive housing (PSH) while he got on his feet.
Davis lives at Kelly Benson Apartments, a complex that provides low cost housing for up to 70 people who are seniors with disabling conditions or are chronically homeless. Through the program, Davis now works at the front desk of the West Valley apartment complex.
"Through my case worker, I now have a part-time job and it's wonderful," Davis said during a panel discussion on homelessness at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics on Thursday.
Shrinking the homeless population is a goal several advocates who spoke at Thursday's panel believe can be achieved.
Davis shared his story during the discussion, which also included community advocates, directors of nonprofit organizations and the Department of Workforce Services.
Among the issues addressed was the inaugural campaign of the Pamela Atkinson Trust Fund. When Utahns file their state taxes this year they can donate on line 28 a minimum of $2 to the trust fund to help build more housing for the homeless population.
Director of The Road Home, Matt Minkevitch, said a recent study done at Penn State University showed 90 percent of those entering a homeless shelter stayed for only a short time, and never needed the services again. The remaining 10 percent had a chronically homeless problem.
"We are serving more men than we ever have before, that's a problem," Minkevitch said, adding that typically the shelter houses up to 200 children and finds challenges with keeping the youth up to speed on education.
He said as more housing is created, the facilities around the valley will be able to shrink the shelter populations through offering other housing options.
"We are going to get there. That isn't Pollyannaish, pie-in-the sky thinking," Minkevitch said, noting that it is a collaborative effort with the community and agencies and no one can pull themselves up by their "bootstraps" to change life alone. "What baby nurses themselves to adulthood? I haven't seen that."
Anne Burkholder, CEO of the YWCA of Salt Lake City, said many of the people who seek the YWCA's services have homes, but often have chosen to leave to escape a domestic violence situation. Up to 175 individuals stay at YWCA, with some women and children staying up to 2 1/2 years.
"Our hope is to surround them with love and normality … to help them see that life can be different and support them," Burkholder said.
Twitter: @CimCity


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MPs criticise banks on online fraud despite declining losses
Official figures put fraud bill at £46.7m for 2010
A House of Commons Treasury Select Committee report has criticised banks for failing their customers in the fight against online fraud.
Members of the influential committee criticised banks as being "unprepared" to deal with internet fraud as part of a wider study into retail banking, whose main conclusions called for greater transparency on charges and steps to make it easier for consumers to switch accounts.
MPs criticised banks on fraud prevention despite official figures from UK Payments, published last month, that show online banking fraud losses totalled £46.7 million in 2010, a 22 per cent fall on figures for 2009. Better fraud detection software from banks and improved customer awareness of the need to guard against phishing scams and malware is credited with the improvement.
Security experts said it was wrong to tar all UK banks with the accusation of being weak on cybercrime.
David Belchick from IT security software developer ActivIdentity, said: "The Treasury Select Committee was correct in highlighting the issue of online banking security as recent research shows that attacks on large corporations such as banks has doubled since 2008, and the damage costs more than tripled.
"While we agree with the Treasury Select Committee that there can be improvements in online security, we caution against the typical rush to judgment that all banks are not doing enough," he added.
Belchick said that if MPs were serious about banking security they should impose tougher regulations, such as the requirement to provide two-factor authentication for bank logins (a step that would help firms that sell the technology, of course, such as ActivIdentity).
"Regulatory guidelines for strong, versatile authentication have been established in the United States, India and other nations. If the Treasury Select Committee desires real change, it will establish a panel or organisation, such as the UK Payments Association, to set regulations to protect all UK banking customers." ®
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. — When Florida's pro-gambling groups launched a series of advertisements pushing voters to allow slot machines in 2004, they claimed gambling would rake in $500 million for state schools annually.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — When Florida's pro-gambling groups launched a series of advertisements pushing voters to allow slot machines in 2004, they claimed gambling would rake in $500 million for state schools annually.
In reality, those slot machines have generated roughly $600 million in total for the state over six years — only 20 percent of what was promised.
Casinos have expanded across the country in the past two decades, as cash-strapped states have looked for new sources of revenue to plug their budget holes. Before 1989, only two states allowed casinos in the modern era — New Jersey and Nevada.
Since then, lawmakers in 20 other states have approved casinos, betting on the promise of high returns to fund public programs like education or to cut taxes. But in many of those states, the actual payoff has been lower than what supporters initially promised, a Capital News Service review of nationwide casino expansion found.
"The fact is that revenue projections and benefits to the state are widely exaggerated as a PR mechanism," said John Kindt, a professor at the University of Illinois.
Maryland voters approved Question 7 in November, which allowed casinos to stay open for 24 hours and added table games. It also authorized the construction of Maryland's sixth casino, in Prince George's County.
Supporters of casino expansion in Maryland billed it as a much-needed boost for the state's education sector. Some advertisements claimed it would add around $200 million annually to the education fund.
But opponents called these claims misleading as they expected the state to cut other education funds, leaving schools with little to no gain.
"It's true that all of Maryland gaming revenue is going to education, but it's also true that states are free to subtract an equal number of tax dollars. So there's no guarantee that school funding would increase dollar for dollar due to casino expansion," said Neil Bergsman, a spokesman for the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute.
As Maryland expands its casino industry, the experience of other states offers reasons to be skeptical of the promised boost for education, opponents said.
Gambling critics label casino-funded public programs, like education, as empty promises.
"Funding for education is just a PR move. The actual funding for education in real dollars has gone down in gambling states versus non-gambling states," Kindt said.
When state economists in Florida released casino revenue estimates in 2004, they said revenues could range anywhere between $200 and $500 million per year. But legislators and pro-gambling groups focused solely on the higher end of the estimates in their promotions. And even the low-end number offered by state economists proved too optimistic.
The single largest annual revenue figure from gambling was $138 million in 2010 — only a third of the projected $500 million.
"Casino gambling never generates the jobs or revenues that they (legislators) promise," said John Sowinski, president of the Florida division of NoCasinos.org.
By the end of the 1980s, only four states had some form of legalized gambling. But the 1990s saw 11 more states bringing casinos to their turf.
In Illinois, legislators promised to use casino revenues for education assistance and to help local governments when gambling was legalized in 1990. State officials said the first 10 casino licenses would be sold for $5 million each, bringing state coffers nearly $50 million in revenue.
Instead, the licenses went for $25,000 a pop to "political insiders," Kindt said.
In the 2000s, another wave of casino expansion hit the country as seven more states made gambling legal.
Pennsylvania legalized gambling in 2004, with legislators promising that casino expansion would provide major statewide property tax relief. Former Gov. Ed Rendell said casinos would pay the state more than $1 billion in slots revenue annually to offset property taxes.
The numbers tell a different story. Roughly $700 million has been injected into property-tax relief each year, even though casino revenues have increased drastically.
The benefits are also not as widespread as promised, said David Baldinger, president of the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition. While a few residents have seen up to $400 of tax relief, many have seen none or very little, because of a "complicated state formula" that makes taxes vary greatly from community to community, Baldinger said.
"No, (gambling) hasn't brought the property-tax relief that was promised, not by a long shot. It's nothing but a smoke screen to pay back gambling interests," Baldinger said.
Colorado extended casino hours and added table games through a referendum in 2008 with the promise of using a majority of the revenue — nearly 80 percent — to help community colleges. But the revenues have fallen significantly short of state estimates.
Economists projected casino expansion would bring colleges $22 million in its first year and $38 million this year. Actual revenues for community colleges have amounted to roughly $6 million for the first year and $7 million this year, according to Colorado Joint Budget Committee reports.
Some argue that despite worse-than-expected returns, casinos generate at least a minimal income for public programs.
"Even if they don't match the estimates, these are new dollars for education programs that would not have survived otherwise," said Chad Marturano, a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Higher Education.
Nearly 200 community leaders weighed in on the social effect of casinos in a study this year by consulting firm VP Communications and pollster Peter D. Hart Research Associates. Most respondents said casinos had delivered on their promises of jobs, growth and tax revenues, and these benefits have been felt throughout the communities.
More than half of the community leaders surveyed said casino revenues helped them avoid cutbacks in public programs and start new community projects.
"Results reveal that those who know the industry best say that the gaming industry has delivered on its promises to bring jobs, economic development, tax revenue, increased tourism and more to casino communities," American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. said in the group's annual report on the casino industry.


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Moto rolls out Xoom 2 Android fondleslabs
Little and large tablets to swallow
Motorola officially announced its fondleslab followups today, launching the anticipated Xoom 2 and a smaller sibling, the Xoom 2 Media Edition.
The Motorola Xoom 2 boasts a 10.1in display made from super-tough Corning Gorilla glass. It sports a 1.2GHz dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 processor running Android 3.2 Honeycomb and comes with 1GB Ram and 16GB storage, as well as 5Mp rear-facing and 1.3Mp front-facing cameras.
The Wi-Fi only device is a 100g lighter than its predecessor at 599g, with a brighter display and a "more comfortable" design thanks to specially flattened edges.
The smaller 8.2in - the Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition - packs the same specifications under the hood, apart from a smaller battery, but weighs even less at 386g. The display, also made from rugged Gorilla glass, has been optimised for wide 178-degrees viewing angles.
Both rock up with the company's latest media-streaming feature, MotoCast, as well as easy access to Google's Mobile services.
The Motorola Xoom 2 and Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition will touch down in Blighty mid-Novemeber, priced at £330 for the 8.2in model and £380 for the ten-incher. ®
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