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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Private employers hired more workers than expected in February and demand for a range of factory goods was solid in January, hopeful signs for the economy as it deals with higher taxes and deep government budget cuts.
The reports on Wednesday suggested economic activity picked up after it stalled in the final three months of 2012.
"They provide some signs that the economy is doing a little bit better," said Michael Strauss, chief economist at Commonfund in Wilton, Connecticut.
Private employers added 198,000 jobs to payrolls last month, the ADP National Employment Report showed, handily beating economists' expectations for an increase of 170,000. There were solid gains in construction, where payrolls rose by 21,000.
Adding to the report's firm tone, January's count was revised to show 23,000 more jobs added than previously reported. The report is jointly developed with Moody's Analytics.
"It feels like underlying job growth continues to improve, and at the current pace, this should be enough to start bringing down unemployment," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. The jobless rate is currently at 7.9 percent.
"In a really rip-roaring economy, we'd be creating closer to 300,000 jobs a month or a bit north of that. So we're not there yet, but we're moving in the right direction," he said.
A separate report from the Commerce Department showed orders for manufactured goods dropped 2 percent, weighed down by a plunge in demand for transportation equipment.
But orders excluding the volatile transportation category increased a healthy 1.3 percent, pointing to underlying strength in a sector that carried the economy out of the 2007-09 recession.
The department also said non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, increased by a more robust 7.2 percent in January instead of 6.3 percent, as it reported last week.
That optimism was also captured in the Federal Reserve's Beige Book, which showed growth improving gradually in January and early February, largely thanks to a broad-based housing market recovery.
The signs of underlying strength in the economy are encouraging, given a recent tightening in fiscal policy.
A 2 percent payroll tax cut ended and tax rates went up for wealthy Americans on January 1, hurting consumer spending. In addition, $85 billion in federal budget cuts, known as the "sequester," started on March 1, and could cut as much as 0.6 percentage point from growth this year.
Stocks on Wall Street ended mostly up on the data, with the Dow Jones industrial average setting a record high for a second day. The dollar rose against a basket of currencies, while prices for U.S. Treasury debt fell for a third straight session.
"Manufacturers and business leaders are telling us that demand has picked up, that they are short of inventory and that they are adding workers," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.
The ADP employment data may bode well for the government's more comprehensive labor market report, due on Friday. However, the ADP data has not always been a good predictor of the government report, which captures both public and private jobs.
Also, economists noted that the ADP report made no estimate of any impact from the snowstorm that buried the East Coast during the survey week for February U.S. nonfarm payrolls.
"We believe the payroll count was reduced by around 30,000 because of the weather," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York.
According to a Reuters survey of economists, nonfarm payrolls likely increased 160,000 in February, up from a gain of 157,000 in January.
The gains in construction jobs evident in the ADP report underscored recent signs of an acceleration in the housing market recovery. Home prices have been rising since last February and the sector last year contributed to overall U.S. growth for the first time since 2005.
A third report from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed applications for loans to buy homes, a leading indicator of home sales, surged 15 percent last week, snapping three straight weeks of declines.
Economists believe the housing market recovery may just have enough strength to help the economy weather tighter fiscal policy.
Hiring last month was spread evenly across small, medium and large businesses, the ADP report showed. Private sector hiring in January had been skewed heavily toward small businesses.
Editing by Andrea Ricci and James Dalgleish


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Wis. man dies after slipping on ice, hitting head
VILLAGE OF MIFFLIN, WI (AP) — An ice fisherman in southwestern Wisconsin who fell and hit his head on an icy street has died.
Iowa County deputies say 52-year-old Doug Halverson was preparing to go ice fishing Saturday afternoon in the Village of Mifflin. He slipped and fell on a snow-covered road, striking his head.
He lost consciousness and stopped breathing. A bystander began performing CPR until emergency responders took over.
Halverson was taken to a hospital, where he died.

subset: commoncrawl


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While we started off with a good running in the JIBs...the Muqata has been overtaken in almost every single category! What is this?! This blog has hundreds of readers...where are they?! Unless...maybe most of you are really Arabs who hate this blog. Could that be? If you haven't voted in the JIBs yet (here are the reasons and links to vote for me)
And now, on to the regularly scheduled post.
The Mrs. and I rarely go out to movies, and I can even count the number of movies we've seen in the past 5 years in the theater on one hand.
So...last week, we went to see Spiderman 3. With Lag Ba'Omer having come and gone, we went out with some friends to Cinema City, Israel's coolest cinema. Since we rarely go out, we treated ourselves and paid extra money with our friends to get upgraded seats.
It's like flying First Class instead of Coach.
Picture the following: Before the movie, you arrive early with your prepaid tickets and reservation to a private VIP lounge. Sitting down with your friends, all the food in the lounge is free (well, you did pay extra!!) -- eat and drink as much as you like.
Champagne and Wine...ice cream (Ben & Jerry)...soft drinks...fresh cut fruit and vegetables...coffee, espresso, latte, tea...take your pick...it's all there for you to eat as much as you wish.
When it's time for your movie to start, the movie hostess announces that the movie is about to begin, and you exit the VIP room directly into the private balcony of the movie theater.
You can't even see the "coach class" seats below!
With only about 40 seats, the VIP exclusive treatment means you get a large leather seat with electronic controls (and footrest!) that competes with LAY-Z-Boy chairs (or first class seats on British Airways). With mini tables between the seats, there is ample room for the food you bring with you from the "lounge"...ice cream, popcorn and drinks. You get the same wide screen movie experience with stomach churning Dolby Surround-Sound TM, and yet, you get pampered with additional luxuries and extras.
Now, so why is it so much better to see movies here? Not because there are tons of commercials before the actual movie starts, but because there are now COOL "only in Israel" commercials!
What's a COOL "only in Israel" commercial? Where it asks you Jewish related trivia questions on expressions, and you have to figure out what the Jewish source is. I'll try to have some examples in a later post.
About the movie itself...
Well, movies at the theatre are apparently not meant for my wife and I. As on our first movie date, she fell asleep during the movie -- I assumed because I was just too boring a person. (Luckily for me, she married me anyway) I guess the extra comfortable seats in the VIP section caused her to fall asleep...again. (I didn't take it personally).
I liked the movie, since its exactly how I would expect a comic book to be thrown onto a movie screen -- Dizzying digital ink with computer enhanced graphics.
Now, if there were going to be a Spiderman movie based on the JBlogosphere, or the Jewish world, who would the villains be?
1. CANDYMAN! This guy from the shul, larger than life with a tallit-bag full of weaponized candies to be thrown.
2. Hot Chanie. 'nuff said.
3. Holy Hyrax, Batman! Ooops, sorry, wrong comic.
4. The Gabbai. This particularly ferocious character comes after you when you least expect it to give you hagba. Actually, a group of super-heroes who should join the comic book could be the HRT. The Hagba Rescue Team (read about them here). These fearless superheroes allow us to continue to eat week after week. (We had a close call last week as well...)
5. Would the Renegade Rebbetzin be a superhero or villain?
After voting for the Muqata blog in the JIBs, let me know what you think...This could easily turn into an interesting JBlogosphere project, which I'm sure the Holy Hyrax would love to illustrate.
Shavua Tov!
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael


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"Joe's Adventures," a Mafia II DLC extension whose name has been known for some time, will arrive on November 23. A narrative flashback, you'll play as Joe Barbaro during the time the main game's protagonist, Vito Scaletta, is in prison.
A news release bills it as a combination of "a dramatic storyline with intense arcade-style gameplay". There will be a story-based progression, followed by "a slew of optional city-based quests packed with arcade action gameplay and a points-based system", i.e. what we saw earlier with The Betrayal of Jimmy and Jimmy's Vendetta.
2K Games says the extension will open up new areas of Empire Bay for exploration, including "a train station, the cathouse, a boat yard, a seasonally changing lakefront and some never-before-seen buildings in Empire Bay". It'll also feature new clothing, 20 more Playboy collectibles and more period 1940s and 1950s music.
So it sounds more substantive than the preceding two DLC packs, and Mafia II was a very strong game up through Vito's incarceration. While it would have been nice to get this on the main disc, those with a Mafiosi fix should give it serious consideration.
The extension will cost $US9.99 on PlayStation Network, 800 Microsoft Points over Xbox Live.


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On the PATH to a Jesus WAY by focusing on: GOD (walking with Him) EACH OTHER (supporting each other's walk with God) WORLD (sharing our walk with God with others).
Welcome to Pathway Church of Byron Center!
On the Path to a Jesus Way
As a group of people saved by Jesus, we have a passion for Him - to follow, love, and serve Him, to worship, know, and honor Him, to walk and talk with Him, to share Him with others - to always ask: What would Jesus do? and then try to do it. This passion for Jesus influences how we work and play, how we create and innovate, how we relate to and care for others, how we do family, how we use our resources, and how we interact with our world. Allowing Jesus to influence all we are and all we do as a community is the walk with God - the Jesus Way - we seek.
It is our prayer and earnest desire that God, by His grace, would bring this Jesus culture about by transforming us and the people to whom we are connected – as we seek to follow Him, step by step, through the power of the Holy Spirit as He works through prayer and the Word.


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- Serviços de consultoria
This hands-on training workshop will teach you the the ins and outs of PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, and CDS.
This two-day workshop conducted onsite at your facility will jump start your team's proficiency on PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, and CDS.
Each topic will commence with an in-depth overview of the platforms, benefits, and roadmap. The overview will be followed by a hands-on lab that tests your skills at building on these platforms.
Our resources will be there to help you so your team will have a deep understanding of the platform and walk away with expert tips.


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Center Publication
When is Too Young or Too Old to Work—Global Issue Brief
by Stephen Sweet
March 2009—Our Global Issue Brief When is a Person Too Young or Too Old to Work? draws from the European Social Survey (2006-2007) to study the differences in age expectations across Europe. By surveying societal expectations, our research has found that, "while aging is driven by biological factors, the statuses associated with age are socially conferred." Women, for example, were found to reach major milestones such as adulthood, old age, and retirement earlier than men, adding gender distinctions to the societal variations. Cultural factors affect the workforce by altering the number of years men and women are considered eligible to work during their adult life. The range of years between reaching adulthood and the age at which men and women are considered to old to work, varies by society and gender. "At the low extreme is Ukraine, where the span between the onset of adulthood and the incapacity to work later in life is 34.4 years for women." This is in contrast with Ireland where, "men could be expected to be capable of working for 47.5 years in their adult life." These discrepancies in cultural expectations could significantly affect the labor force turnover rates in European countries. While physical ability does affect the years a person works, the Issue Brief argues that societal expectations are the main dictators of the ages at which people enter and leave the workforce. Employers could use the findings of the Global Issue Brief to target the age groups more likely to be receptive to career development in various societies.
» Read more findings in When is Too Young or Too Old to Work—Global Issue Brief


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We seriously need an invention....one that can uppercut punk asses through the computer screen. This would be so awesome in so many ways. It would be practical for all online use....especially games.
Obviously there would have to be a Muthaf@cking Uppercut filter that decided if the person on the other end deserver the Muthaf@cking Uppercut. Maybe a program where you can type in a reason and it will decided if the person does inded need a Muthaf@cking Uppercut and at what force the uppercut will be delivered.
For example, if you type in "Annoying belf dancing naked in Dalaran". That would deliver a light uppercut just to say..."Hey...knock that shit off."
If you type "Dumb Cow on a Mammoth sitting on the mailbox" it could deliver a Mike Tyson like uppercut.
The Muthaf@cking Uppercut would make it so people would stop being douchebags on the internet. Don't worry though. Darraxus has a product for all age groups. For those 12 and under, we have the Muthaf@cking Belt Strap. It will bring back memories of the beating they got from their Grandpappy all those years ago.
Perhaps someday, the Muthaf@cking Uppercut could expand to the real world as well. Waitress has an attitude? Muthaf@cking Uppercut. Mother-in-Law won't stop calling? Muthaf@cking Uppercut! Meter maid gives you a ticket? Say it with me....Muthaf@cking Uppercut!!!
It slices, it dices, it makes mincemeat out of punk asses. Call now and I will also throw in Muthaf@cking Pepperspray. Specially made for those perves who keep trying to ERP with you! Never be harrased to ERP again. One facefull of Muthaf@cking Pepperspray will do the trick.
How much does a package like this cost? $99.99? NO! $59.99? NO! For a limited time you can get Muthaf@cking Uppercut, Muthaf@cking Belt Strap, and Muthaf@cking Pepperspray for the low low introductory price of free-ninety free!!
All Muthaf@cking products are intellectual property of Muthaf@cking Darraxus. Copying with out express written consent of the NFL is prohibited.


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A fire destroyed a van owned by Carolina Cab Wednesday afternoon in Havelock.
A fire destroyed a van owned by Carolina Cab Wednesday afternoon in Havelock.
Driver Don Daugherty said he had just dropped off a customer near 110 Lynnwayne Circle when he noticed smoke coming from the vehicle.
�I was coming down the driveway and the cab started filling up (with smoke),� he said. �I thought it was steam at first. I got out and opened the hood and it took a couple of seconds to see where it was coming from.
�It didn�t start flaming up until I got all my stuff out of the cab. I just got away from the cab and stood by a tree until another cab showed up.�
The Havelock Fire Department was called at 1:42 p.m. but the flames destroyed the van in minutes. The fire was under control by 1:50 p.m., but by then the damage had been done.
Daugherty was not injured.
�I�ve been running that cab all day,� he said. �I made an airport run with it. It went up real quick.�
The cause of the fire has not been determined.


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Is your company a member of The RBL Institute?
Click below to setup your account.
As a registered user of the RBL Institute, you have access to the very latest research publications in HR, leadership, and organization from RBL.
If you're not an Institute member, we still have free content available in The RBL Library and offer our insights in our blog!
If your company is a member of The RBL Institute be sure to use your company email address. You will be able to create an account to access the full, latest publications of our Playbooks, Toolkits, and White Papers. Click here for a list of member companies.
Access to articles and videos on the latest research in HR, leadership, and organization in our Institute Library.
Monthly updates about our latest research and events.
In this powerful new book, world-acclaimed leadership expert David Ulrich teams up with clinical psychologist Wendy Ulrich to explore the "why" of work—the common driving force behind every successful organization. Once you learn how to harness this force, you can:
*MAKE MEANING in the workplace—to bring out the best in everyone.
*CREATE VALUE for your employees, your customers, your company, and yourself.
*BUILD HOPE for the future by building "the abundant organization."
The Ulrichs' unique step-by-step system combines proven professional techniques and sharp psychological insights to bring new meaning to our work and its impact on the world outside the workplace. Filled with revealing questionnaires, checklists, interviews, and case studies, it's all you need to fully engage your team in the most challenging times—and to create a renewed sense of purpose, a sustainable source of commitment, and an environment that encourages and supports outstanding performance.
Why We Wrote This Book
This morning, people all over the planet got out of bed and got ready for work. Some headed out before dawn in high-end cars to claim high-rise offices with high-tech computers and high-brow clients. Some headed out before dawn to walk barefoot, wares on their head, to claim a choice spot in the dirt near the entrance to the village market. Some people wrestled with the muses to create artistic masterpieces or solve perplexing scientific problems. Some wrestled with boredom to complete their shifts at cash registers, call centers, or assembly lines. Some pitched their resumes in business suits, looking for good benefits and a sure path to comfortable retirement. Some made their pitch in ragged jeans on street corners, looking for someone to rent their muscles for at least the day.
Some people in every one of these and many other categories by which we could define work found a sense of meaning, purpose, even abundance in their labor today. Other people in every category found world-weary tedium, frustration, and a sense of despair.
Which were you? Which were the people you lead?
Before you ask, "What do my employees put into their work?"… ask yourself, "What do they get out of it?"
According to studies, we all work for the same thing—and it's not just money. It's meaning. Through our work, we seek a sense of purpose, contribution, connection, value, and hope. When we achieve meaning through our work, we succeed beyond our wildest dreams.
That's the simple but profound premise behind this groundbreaking book by renowned management expert Dave Ulrich and psychologist Wendy Ulrich. They've interviewed thousands of people—from rank-and-file workers to day-to-day customers to top-level executives—and synthesized major disciplines to identify the "why" behind our most successful experiences.
Using the model of the "abundant organization," they provide you with the "how" to create meaning and value in your own workplace. Learn how to:
• Ask the seven questions that drive abundance
• Understand the needs of your customers and staff
• Personalize the work to motivate your employees
• Build and grow your business in any economy
When you understand why we work, you know how to succeed.


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Don't miss out on this General Cardiology opportunity with a busy, successful, established and TRUSTED interventional group in Southwest Las Vegas that seeks to add a General Cardiologist to their group! Below is a snapshot of the details as well as hyperlinks to acquaint you with the practice, community and our affiliate hospital, St. Rose Dominican-San Martin campus (Dignity Health). The Opportunity:
The Community:
SOTHLV St. Rose Dominican-Sienna Campus
Name: Teresa Elliott
Email: email@example.com
Telephone Number: (888) 599-7787
Welcome to Las Vegas, Nevada - so much more than just the Strip! Our beautiful valley is surrounded by mountainous desert scenery, and our sunny year-round climate sets the stage for hiking, biking, championship golf, and sight-seeing...all just minutes from world-class restaurants and limitless entertainment options. Among the fastest growing cities in the nation, the Las Vegas metro area offers world-class schools, unparalleled cultural/recreational amenities and cutting edge health care. Las Vegas and its surrounding suburbs offer a multitude of home choices, ranging from affluent family-friendly neighborhoods and high-rise condos overlooking the Strip to guard-gated custom-built homes and upscale apartments with a wealth of amenities. Less than 45 minutes from your home, you will find a world of natural beauty with Red Rock Canyon, Mt. Charleston, and Lake Mead. Weekend getaways to the Grand Canyon, Brianhead Ski Resort, Palm Springs, and Zion National Park are easy to reach with a short drive. McCarran Airport makes flights to the Pacific Northwest, ski destinations, and wine country convenient and affordable. Come join us in the middle of everything - there is no better place to live!
Community Based Recruitment involves a variety of unique and independent practices. Please contact the recruiter for additional specific information about the medical group recruiting for this opportunity. St. Rose Dominican Hospitals are part of Dignity Health, one of the nation's five largest health care systems with a network of Hospitals, Urgent Care centers, Home Health and Medical Group models. Our healing philosophy focused on Humankindness serves all people in need including our patients, visitors, guests, staff, physicians and the communities we serve. The Dignity Health system in southern Nevada has the only not for profit, faith-based network with three hospital campuses - Rose De Lima, Siena and San Martin. These mission-driven Hospitals are guided by our vision and core values providing compassionate, high quality, patient-centered care to address each patient's physical, mental and spiritual needs. Rose DeLima Campus - Situated in the community of Henderson, the Hospital opened in 1947, guided by the care and commitment of the Dominican Sisters of Adrian, Michigan. Over six decades later, the Hospital still serves the mission of the Adrian Dominican sisters with 119 beds, 24/hour acute-care and emergency services, as well as a state-of-the art 38-bed inpatient Rehabilitation unit housing innovative therapies such as the Hocoma Lokomat system. Siena Compus - Opened in 2000 to enhance and expand the services provided by the Rose De Lima Campus; this acute-care hospital houses 230 beds and is in the midst of an expansion that includes a new five-story hospital tower and four-story parking garage. The nearly 220,000 square foot tower will offer some of the most advanced medical amenities available today and will add almost 100 more private patient rooms. The tower will complement the tertiary services already available as well as the community based services of a Level III NICU, Level III trauma center, accredited chest pain center and Joint Commission accredited Primary Stroke Center. San Martin Campus - The third acute-care facility in the Dignity Health - St. Rose Dominican Hospital system opened its doors to the public in late 2006 to serve the needs of the growing southwest Las Vegas community. The more than 346,000 square foot hospital offers nearly 150 private patient rooms and offers a large variety of health services including a cardiac cath and electrophysiology lab, open heart surgery program, Da Vinci Surgical System, Level II NICU and Joint Commission accredited Primary Stroke Center. In, 2010, San Martin was named the 6th most beautiful hospital campus in the country.
Dignity Health - Las Vegas: https://www.dignityhealth.org/las-vegas
Apply Now
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Copyright © 2014 American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation


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Pale owl; white below and orangey with gray spotting above. Heart-shaped white facial disc. Hunts primarily rodents in open areas by night. Roosts in old buildings and nest boxes by day. Widespread across every continent except Antarctica. Appears very white in headlights at night. Its call is a bone chilling, rising shriek.
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The agreement, between the Australian government research organization CSIRO and China's Thermal Power Research Institute, TPRI, will see TPRI install, commission and operate a post-combustion capture pilot plant at the Huaneng Beijing Co-Generation Power Plant as part of CSIRO's research program.
Post combustion capture, PCC, is a process that uses a liquid to capture the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from power station flue gases. The technology can potentially reduce carbon dioxide emissions from existing and future coal-fired power stations by more than 85 percent, CSIRO said in a statement.
The pilot plant is designed to capture 3,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year from the power station and begins the process of adapting this technology to evaluate its effectiveness in Chinese conditions.
CSIRO's involvement in the project is made possible through $A4 million in funding from the government of Australia.
Dr. John Wright, director of CSIRO's Energy Transformed National Research Flagship, said low emission energy generation is a key research area for the Flagship and he welcomes the support of the Australian government.
Carbon capture and storage plant in Australia (Photo courtesy CSIRO)
"Climate change is a critical issue for Australia and internationally, and we're delighted to be working with TPRI to help find solutions to this global challenge. This project is part of a major research program to identify ways to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector," he said.
"The project will focus on assessing the performance of an amine-based PCC pilot plant under Chinese conditions. It will allow PCC technology to be progressed in the Chinese energy sector which will have a much greater impact than operating in Australia alone," Wright said.
The TPRI is aiming for the Beijing pilot plant to be up and running before August.
The installation of the post combustion capture pilot plant in Beijing forms part of the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate initiative. This program also includes a pilot plant installation at Delta Electricity's Munmorah power station on the New South Wales Central Coast, with an additional Australian site currently under negotiation.
The Energy Transformed National Research Flagship is also undertaking post combustion capture research with a $A5.6 million project in the Latrobe Valley, which focuses on brown coal.
Coal accounts for about 70 percent of China's total energy consumption. In addition to producing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, coal burning in China is producing acid rain in other Asian nations, such as Japan, Taiwan, North and South Korea, and the Philippines.
Australia is the world's biggest coal exporter, and black coal is Australia's largest export, worth around $A24.5 billion in 2005-06, according to the Australian Coal Association.
In addition to providing Australian consumers with affordable electricity, coal underpins the international competitiveness of the entire Australian economy, the association says on its website.
After a November 2007 meeting to prepare for the early global deployment of carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies, Australian Coal Association Executive Director Ralph Hillman said, "Australian coal producers were leading the way on developing a portfolio of demonstration clean coal projects through the world's first industry-levied $1 billion COAL21 Fund."
COAL21 is a partnership between the coal and electricity industries, unions, federal and state governments and the research community. It started in March 2003 when the Australian Coal Association issued invitations to participate in a process aimed at first identifying and then realizing the potential for reducing or eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from coal-based electricity generation in Australia.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.


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App Review: BioSub by Origin8
by Dorothy on
October 2, 2009
Filed under Daily App Reviews, Entertainment, Games, Kids
I have long been a fan of the Sentinel games by Origin8. These tower defense games are some of my favorites. In creating BioSub, Origin8 explores a very different type of game. BioSub combines physics and problem solving into one very challenging and unique game. You are a mini sub and your goal is to destroy the canisters in the water around you. This is done by bumping into the canisters to propel them into one another. A canister is destroyed when you make it bump into another canister of the same color. If you make two canisters of different colors bump into each other, instead of being destroyed, they will cause a third container of a different color to be formed. The hardest part of the game is that you only have 30 seconds to destroy all of the canisters on the screen in each level.
There are two types of controls available to use. I recommend trying both to see which one is more intuitive and easy for you. The first is tilt controls that take advantage of the accelerometer. Using these controls, you tilt your device to tell the sub which direction to move in. The farther you tilt it, the faster the sub will move. Controlling the sub by tilting alone is extremely difficult. However, by touching the screen you can apply the brakes. Thankfully, these brakes work very well and can be very helpful in controlling the sub. You can calibrate the tilt controls as well as adjust the sensitivity of the controls in the options menu. The second type of controls are touch controls. Using these controls you tap and drag on the screen to direct your sub. An arrow will appear on the screen in front of the sub indicating the direction that you have told it to go. The length of the arrow indicates the speed that the sub will move at.
BioSub is a clever game. As you move through the levels, the challenge gets harder and harder as obstacles are placed in your way or canisters are tethered together with different types of materials. It takes some thinking to figure out some of the levels. My only complaint with the game would be that I found the controls hard to master. At first, I had a hard time controlling the sub. With the two types of controls and the ability to calibrate them, you can find the controls that work best for you.
Tips and Tricks:
- Remember that if your sub or the canisters go off the screen on one side, they will appear again on the other side of the screen. Everything wraps around.
- Moving your sub too quickly and hitting canisters too hard can often slow you down instead of making things faster. Use your brakes if you have to.
- You may have to create another canister of another color in order to get rid of all the canisters on the screen.
Developer's Website: http://www.origin8.com/


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END OF THE RAINBOW Opens Tonight at the Belasco
The Broadway production of END OF THE RAINBOW will open tonight, April 2, at the Belasco Theatre. Michael Cumpsty, Tom Pelphrey and Jay Russell join two-time Oliver Award-winner Tracie Bennett in Peter Quilter's acclaimed play about the legendary Judy Garland, directed by the Tony Award winning Terry Johnson.
The landmark 1954 world premiere of A Star Is Born will be recreated on 44th Street as the Belasco Theatre transforms into Hollywood's famed Pantages for one night only. Throngs of fans and theatrical luminaries, including Whoopi Goldberg, Joel Grey, T.R. Knight, Hunter Parrish, Jane Krakowski, Elaine Stritch, Jennifer Tilly, Stephanie J. Block, Richard Kind, Larry Kramer, Tovah Feldshuh, Montego Glover, Stacey Keach, Isabel Keating, John Pizzarelli & Jessica Molaskey, Molly Ranson, Charles Osgod, Edward Hibbert, Lisa Lampanelli, Kathleen Chalfant, Susan Jaffe and more will turn out in high style to cheer for Tracie Bennett making her electrifying Broadway debut as Judy Garland, alongside costars Michael Cumptsy, Tom Pelphrey, and Jay Russell, as well as director Terry Johnson and playwright Peter Quilter.
Starring Olivier® Award-winner Tracie Bennett in a bravura performance as Judy Garland, End of the Rainbow received four Olivier® Award nominations in London. The setting is December 1968, and Judy Garland is about to make her comeback... again. In a London hotel room preparing for a series of concerts, with both her new young fiancé and her adoring accompanist, Garland struggles to get "beyond the rainbow" with her signature cocktail of talent, tenacity, and razor-sharp wit. This savagely funny drama offers unique insight into the inner conflict that inspired and consumed one of the most beloved figures in American popular culture. End of the Rainbow features some of Garland's most memorable songs, performed with the show-stopping gusto for which she will always be remembered.
Prior to its Broadway run, End of the Rainbow was performed at Minneapolis's Guthrie Theater, with the full Broadway cast.
End of the Rainbow recently played a run in London's West End, produced by Lee Dean, Jenny Topper, Laurence Myers, Charles Diamond, Hilary Williams, David Bailey in association with Royal & Derngate, Northampton.
Tracie Bennett (Judy Garland). West End theatre: Jacqueline in La Cage Aux Folles (Playhouse Theatre, for which she received the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical); Velma von Tussle in Hairspray (Shaftesbury Theatre, for which she received the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance and the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical); Madame Thenardier in Les Misérables (Queen's Theatre, London); Ray Cooney's Cash on Delivery (Whitehall Theatre, London); and She Loves Me (Savoy Theatre, London, for which she received the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance). Television: Tracie has played leading roles in numerous programs, most recently: "Candy Cabs," "Doctors," "Dalziel and Pascoe," "Casualty," "Northern Lights," "Vincent" with Ray Winstone, "The Royal," "The Court," Judy Garland in "The Long Firm," "MIT," "The Bill," "Heroes and Villains," "Keen Eddie," "Burn It," "Mersey Beat," "Where the Heart Is," "The Ambassador," "Verdict," "Heartburn Hotel," "Heartbeat," "Next of Kin," "Joking Apart," "Making Out," "The Gingerbread Girl," "Rich Tea and Sympathy," "Ruth Rendell Mysteries," "Made in Heaven," "The Bretts," "The Ritz," "The Refuge," "Unnatural Causes," "The Rector of Stiffkey," "Boon," "The Courtroom," "Brush Strokes," "Coronation Street," "The Upper Hand," "Alias Smith and Jones," "Black Silk," "Relative Strangers," "Going Out," "Educating Marmalade" and "Jackanory." Tracie also won "Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes" as Judy Garland and played God in "Harley's Angels." Presenting: Anchorwoman for "Soap Fever," "The Bombing of Manchester" (Documentary), OKTV for Carlton and had her own show called "Tracie Goes to Hollywood." Film: Shirley Valentine (Paramount); Knights and Emeralds for David Puttnam; Deep Red Instant Love; Lofty Life (animated short) and F2.8. Tracie also produced a short - French Fries on the Golden Front - which won "Best Short" at the Miami Film Festival. Concerts: An Evening With Cy Coleman (St David's Hall, Cardiff); An Evening of Gershwin (Royal Albert Hall); and An Evening With Tommy Steele (tour). Recordings: Forever England, People Like Us and The Snowfield. Tracie is the recorded voice of Bridget Jones for both books of Bridget Jones' Diary and The Edge of Reason for which she received the International Audi Award for Comedy Best Actress. Tracie has a Green Card and splits her time between London and Los Angeles.
Michael Cumpsty (Anthony). On Broadway, Mr. Cumpsty has appeared in Sunday in the Park with George, The Constant Wife, Democracy, Enchanted April (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination), 42nd Street (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination), Copenhagen, Electra, 1776, Racing Demon, The Heiress, Translations, Timon of Athens (Bayfield Award), La Bête and Artist Descending a Staircase. His off-Broadway credits include Hamlet (OBIE Award), Richard II and Richard III (all for Classic Stage Company); Twelfth Night, Timon of Athens, All's Well That End's Well, Hamlet, Cymbeline and The Winter's Tale (all for the New York Shakespeare Festival); The Art of Success (Manhattan Theatre Club); Man and Superman (Roundabout Theatre Company). He has appeared in many of America's premiere regional theatres, including the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Mark Taper Forum, Hartford Stage, ALLIANCE THEATRE, McCarter Theatre Center and Guthrie Theatre. He starred in The Winter's Tale for the Royal Shakespeare Company at their home in Stratford-upon-Avon. On television he has appeared in the TV films "Dolley Madison" (PBS), "Alexander Hamilton" (PBS), "The Lady in Question" (A&E), "Night Sins" (CBS), "Mistrial" (HBO), "Hamlet" (PBS) and "The Kennedys of Massachusetts" (ABC). Mr. Cumpsty has appeared as a series regular on Fox's "King of New York," CBS's "Bob," and NBC's "L.A. Law," and has played recurring roles on "Nurse Jackie," "Star Trek: Voyager," and currently "Boardwalk Empire." His film credits include "Eat Pray Love," "Wall Street 2," "Starting Out in the Evening," "The Ex," "Flags of our Fathers," "The Visitor," "The Ice Storm," "Fatal Instinct," "State of Grace," and the forthcoming "Downtown Express" and "Burning Blue."
Tom Pelphrey (Mickey) is a 2006 and 2008 Daytime Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Younger Actor for his work on CBS's Guiding Light, on which he played bad-boy heartthrob Jonathan Randall. Teen People named Tom one of their "hot Hollywood" actors to watch. Tom gained recognition for his compelling portrayal of Roy in the Apothecary Theatre Company's Off-Broadway production of In God's Hat at Playwright's Horizons: The New York Times said, "in a word; terrific." He has guest starred on Numb3rs, Ghost Whisperer, CSI Miami, Law & Order SVU, The Good Wife, Body of Proof, and Blue Bloods. He recently completed lead roles in the films Junction, Tiger Lily Road, and Excuse Me for Living. Other film work includes Birds of America (director Craig Lucas) and The Girl is in Trouble (director Julius Onah, executive producer Spike Lee).
Jay Russell (Various) was seen on Broadway in The Play What I Wrote (directed by Kenneth Branagh). His Off?Broadway credits include Our Town (Barrow Street), Around the World in 80 Days (Irish Rep), The Normal Heart (Public), Private Jokes, Public Places, The Green Heart (MTC) and many more. National Tours include Beauty & The Beast (Lumiere), and Applause. His Film and TV work includes Morning Glory, Louie, Ugly Betty, The Sopranos, Bored to Death, The Unusuals, Onion News Network as well as numerous Law & Orders. Regional work includes City of Angels (Goodspeed), A Civil War Christmas (Long Wharf), Noises Off (Arena Stage), Tarzan (North Shore),
Natural Selection & Listeners (Actors Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Utah Shakespeare Festival), Anything Goes (Ordway), Gross Indecency & An Ideal Husband (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Importance of Being Earnest (Cincinnati Playhouse) and many more. Internationally he was seen in Fully Committed (English Theatre of Vienna) & Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (English Theatres of Frankfurt & Vienna).
Peter Quilter (Playwright) is a British playwright whose work has been translated into 21 languages and produced in 27 countries around the world. End Of The Rainbow marked the launch of his career with its award-winning premiere in 2005 at Sydney Opera House in Australia. The play has since had successful runs throughout Europe, including a sell-out seven-month tour of Holland, which concluded at the Royal Le Carre Theatre in Amsterdam. Just two months after the opening of this play, came the premiere of Glorious! (the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, the worst singer in the world) at Birmingham Rep. The show transferred immediately to London's West End, where it played six months at the Duchess Theatre, starring Maureen Lipman. Glorious! was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award as Best New Comedy. Peter's recent work includes the two-actor comedy Duets (which premiered last year in Atlanta and just finished a sell-out run in Sydney), and the female monologue Just The Ticket, which will open in Germany, Australia and Brazil in the coming year. He is also the author of Boyband (London, South Africa, Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Slovakia); The Canterville Ghost (UK tour starring Ron Moody) and the screenplay The Coogan Act (filmed as Rodzinny Show for Polish Television).
Terry Johnson (Director) won the 2010 Tony® Award for Best Direction of a Musical for his acclaimed revival of La Cage aux Folles. His work has been performed all over Great Britain and worldwide. He is the recipient of 11 major British theatre awards including the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival and Critics' Circle Best Musical 2009 for La Cage Aux Folles. He also won the Olivier Awards for Best Comedy of 1994 and of 1999, Playwright of the Year 1995, Critics Circle Best New Play 1995, the League of American Theatres and Producers Best Touring Play 2001, two Evening Standard Theatre Awards, Time Out Best Play Award 1995, Writers' Guild Best Play 1995, Writers' Guild Best Play 1996, the Mayer-Whitworth Award 1993 and the John Whiting Award 1991. In addition he has received over a dozen further nominations for various awards. In recent years he has had 12 productions running in London's West End: The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice, La Cage Aux Folles, Rainman, Whipping It Up, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Hitchcock Blonde, Entertaining Mr Sloane, The Graduate, Dead Funny, Hysteria, Elton John's Glasses and The Memory Of Water. He has twice worked with Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, directing John Malkovitch in The Libertine, which was nominated for five Jeff Awards, including Best Production, and Lost Land, both plays by Stephen Jeffries. For the Royal National Theatre of Great Britain he has written and directed three productions: Cleo Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick, The London Cuckolds and Sparkleshark by Philip Ridley. In addition he has written and directed television drama that has been broadcast worldwide, most recently: "The Man Who Lost His Head" for ITV and "Not Only But Always" for Channel 4, which won five international award nominations, Best Film at Banff, and the Best Actor Bafta for Rhys Ifans. He wrote and directed "Cor Blimey!" for ITV, which was nominated by the Royal Television Society as Best Drama. He also wrote "The Bite" for the BBC and ABC Australia. His film Way Upstream was chosen for the London Film Festival and Insignificance was the official British entry at Cannes in 1985. He is a former Literary Associate at The Royal Court Theatre where he has had five of his own plays, Insignificance, Cries From The Mammal House, Hysteria, Hitchcock Blonde and Piano/Forte. He has produced and has directed two further premieres including: Joe Penhall's Dumb Show. He is exceedingly proud that his play Hysteria is currently featured on a Royal Court 50th anniversary mug.
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Not appreciably. A red (yellow, green, blue) LED is as close to a single wavelength you can get to without a laser. My headlamp has a clear lens, 2 white LEDs and a red LED that can be solid or blink. All switchable. Single AA.most red-colored lenses still allow the other colors through to some degree.
You are going to be a vision and lighting expert in no time!


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The Fitzwilliam Museum facade is my muse, which I photograph on an almost daily basis. Obsessive? Absolutely. The light changes minute by minute in the early morning and in summer, I cycle down to take a look at it before breakfast. My excuse - if one is needed - is that the pictures sell well and can be exhibited. But even if I did nothing with them, I would still want to record the way the light changes colour on the stone pillars, the shadows moving across the back wall. The building faces East and so it has to be caught in the early morning.
There is little space around it, and so it has to be seen, close up, eyeball to eyeball. In any other city, the Fitzwilliam Museum would be presented as a temple of the arts, to be seen at a distance, from the end of a long street. But not in Cambridge, where buildings of world importance are shoe horned into corners and so viewed from whichever angle is available.
When the light is flat and blankly white, the stone has an ethereal opacity and in the evening, the ceiling under the portico is illuminated, and this gives a low, husky gold light, against the deep city blue of the night. In October, when the low sun is still quite strong, it becomes a shining orange object, spinning in light, the shadows deep purple or indigo. Over the last few years, the light has changed from soft East Anglian wash to something sharper and more aggressive. Is this significant? Are we governed by the weather? Is life today harsher, more polarised? Or is it because I now use a digital camera, with a sharper focus?
Robin Stemp (b. 1944)
Born into a distinguished but eccentric family in 1944, Robin Stemp was known for trouble rather than trophies at school. She then trained as a dress designer, together with Caroline Yorke set up her own label and successfully traded 'Robin Yorke' designs to Harrods in London and Bloomingdales in New York. Having married and started a family, Stemp advised museums in Lincolnshire on textiles and then moved to Cambridgeshire where she found her niche: art criticism, painting and photography.
A regular contributor to Arts Review and The Artist from 1983 to 2000, Stemp has been a prize winner in the BP Arts Journalism Award and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics. Her paintings have featured in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and can be found in public and private collections in Britain and abroad. Equally, her photographs have featured in exhibitions in Britain and abroad and can be found in private collections worldwide. Indeed, having first been given a bicycle when she was six and a camera when she was eight, Stemp now enjoys the combination of slow transport and quick recording more than ever!
Robin Stemp lives with her family in Cambridge.
E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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H.E. Jacob Zuma
President of the Republic of South Africa
Pretoria, South Africa
Via facsimile: (27) 12 323 8246
Dear President Zuma:
We are writing to express our concern about legislative proposals that would severely restrict South Africa's independent press corps, which is distinguished for its dynamism and professionalism. We call on you as the head of state and leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to ensure that such proposals are either amended in line with constitutional safeguards for freedom of the press and access to information, or withdrawn altogether in the interest of preserving the transparency, accountability, and democracy gained after apartheid.
The Protection of Information Bill currently before parliament is meant to replace an apartheid-era law dating from 1982. Yet the broad language and far-reaching provisions of the legislative proposal introduced by Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele is reminiscent of apartheid-era regulations since it would virtually shield the government from the scrutiny of the independent press and criminalize activities essential to investigative journalism, a vital public service. Journalists, under the proposed law, would face heavy jail time for violations.
Under the bill, officials and state agencies would have unchecked authority and discretion to classify any public or commercial data as secret, confidential, protected, or sensitive based on vaguely defined "national interest" considerations and without any explanation, according to our research and legal experts. National interest would, for instance, include "details of criminal investigations," a definition that risks chilling coverage of public law enforcement and judicial matters. Political appointees overseeing state intelligence agencies would have final say over which information should be classified or not. The bill places the onus on journalists to establish "public interest" (broadly defined as "all those matters that constitute the common good, well-being or general welfare and protection of the people") to justify declassifying any information. Journalists and others found guilty of unauthorized disclosure of official or classified information could face up to 25 years in jail.
We are also concerned about an ANC proposal to establish a special tribunal called the Media Appeals Tribunal that would issue unspecified sanctions for complaints against the press. As the leader of the ANC, we call on you to urge the ANC General Council to abandon this proposal as government-sponsored media regulatory agencies across Africa have been used time and time again as instruments of political censorship. Moreover, we believe members of the public already have mechanisms of legal redress to settle disputes with the press in addition to the existing media self-regulatory institutions.
Beyond our concern about legal developments, finally, we are concerned about the August 4 arrest and ongoing prosecution of Sunday Times journalist Mzilikazi wa Africa on charges of "fraud, forgery, and uttering," (which, in legal terms, means "to issue a forged document") over an unpublished story critical of the police--especially in light of reports that suggest his arrest may have been in retaliation for critical coverage of ANC officials in Mpumalanga, particularly Premier David Mabuza.
Mr. President, we welcome government spokesman Themba Maseko's recent assurances that the government has no plans to "muzzle the media in any shape or form." The growth of South Africa's democracy will depend on the government's acceptance and tolerance of the media's scrutiny of its performance.
We therefore call on you to amend or shelve the Protection of Information Bill and the Media Appeals Tribunals proposal as they undermine guarantees for a free media and access to information as enshrined in the Constitution, the Johannesburg Principles on National Security, Freedom of Expression and Access to Information and the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa. We ask that you ensure that any media reform in South Africa is the result of a transparent, consultative process reconciling the interests of government, the ANC, and the concerns expressed by the overwhelming majority of civil society.
Thank for your attention to these important matters. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,Joel Simon
Executive Director


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This classic collection of vector clip art and embroidery designs is not only very low cost, it's all completely editable. So the base collection becomes a limitless collection of potential original art that you create in Adobe Illustrator or your favorite vector editing program. Okay -- the second package says it's for Machine Embroidery, but designers can easily see there's an entire collection of color palettes and inspiration there, even if you don't actually use the first file!
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Full story : Dover Electronic Clip Art
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Christmas Vector Clip Art for Machine Embroidery
Fast-forward to the fun part of machine embroidery with this gallery of ornaments, wreaths, Santas, trees, and other holiday motifs. Eliminate the time-consuming efforts of finding and copying patterns from elsewhere with the 100 motifs in this CD-ROM and book set, which are optimized for embroidery digitizing software. Use your creativity to personalize each design by selecting size, colors, stitch types, and other elements. The book offers a visual index of the designs, showing each one in black-and-white and in different color combinations. Each design is offered on the CD-ROM in both JPG and EPS formats.
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Check out the Publishers' Warehouse for hundreds and hundreds more samples that are actually ready to use! And, please don't forget ... we encourage you to share your discoveries with other readers. Just send and email, contribute your own reviews of your favorites!
Also See :
Vintage Thanksgiving Vignettes for Designers and Illustrators
Vintage Holiday Cuts copyright free clip art on CD-ROM, and
Vintage Holiday Vignettes copyright free images and resource art on CD-ROM, and
Vintage Holiday Greeting Cards art on CD-ROM
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Women's Tea in Oneida a fun way to celebrate community, Mother's Day (video)
ONEIDA >> More than 80 women adorned their fancy hats, shared fellowship, and enjoyed a day dedicated to women Saturday at the second annual Women's Tea hosted by the First Presbyterian Church of Oneida.
In Victorian times, similar tea parties were elaborate social events where ladies donned their finest dresses and hats and traveled by carriage to the host's home, where they dined on an array of sweets and delicate sandwiches. After light refreshments they spent time discussing the topics of the day.
Saturday's event held many similarities as the church's auditorium was transformed into an elegant gathering place with tasteful decorations, lovely tea services and ornamental cake stands and place settings.
Kathy Bruno is in her second year of organizing this pre-Mother's Day celebration. "I was inspired to start this tea last year because I thought it would be a fun way for women to come together and enjoy each other's company," Bruno said.
The Women's Tea also provides the ladies of the church a chance to reach out to members of the local community and promote fellowship.
Last year the focus was on a mother/daughter tea, but Bruno had feedback from some people who did not have children and felt awkward attending. "The name changed so that all women - young and old, who were related or just friends -- could attend." she said. This year's event was changed to a Women's Tea.
The ladies of Oneida First Presbyterian Church helped by making their favorite finger sandwiches or desserts that were carefully displayed amongst the flowers and decorations. Attendees could choose from an assortment of delicacies, ranging from chicken salad, cucumber and chive, ham, tuna, egg or shrimp salad finger sandwiches. Desserts ranged from cookies to cupcakes, brownies, chocolate covered strawberries and other tempting sweets.
After lunch the enthusiasm heightened as shouts of "bingo" filled the auditorium. Caller Bruno began holding up pictures of an array of tea items such as a teapot, teacup, desserts, napkins, flowers, etc., that young and old matched to their individual bingo cards as they waited in anticipation for the one image to come up so that they could fill a line and yell bingo.
Another activity involved decorating a hat with items found in purses and on the tables. Bruno said the table had to select one model and the table with the best hat would be declared a winner.
According to Bruno, the Women's Tea brought together people of all ages. "We had a very broad range of ladies attending from 1 to 94," Bruno said. "The wonderful thing was that we had women of several generations. There were three generations here".
This year the female residents of the Hazel Carpenter Home were invited and eight of the residents participated in the day's festivities.


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Guidelines to Prepare Your Annual Report
Tuesday 8 May, 2012 - 10:41
Annual Reports are excellent marketing tools for your nonprofit organisation
Your nonprofit organisation's annual report allows you to share the story of your organisation and its successes with your various target audiences. It is through your annual report that you build and maintain support for your organisation's brand. This is achieved by encouraging, inspiring, thanking and motivating current donors, volunteers your organisation's staff. They are also wonderful marketing tools for potential donors, volunteers and staff.


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Senate Leader Phil Berger made several adjustments to the Excellent Public Schools Act before Tuesday's committee hearing, but Senate Democrats found more room for improvement.
Wake County Senator Josh Stein said he was troubled by Part III of the bill, which would issue a letter grade for each public school. Stein worried certain achievements could be overlooked under this rating system, leaving parents with a less than accurate assessment of their local public school.
"This I feel is part of a trend, disparaging public education to set up an environment where by it makes sense to have school vouchers for private school," argued Stein."This just seems too simplistic and too punitive in my opinion."
Senator Floyd McKissick of Durham County questioned why another part of the legislation would strip away public financing for the state Superintendent of Public Instruction race.
Finally, Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe County chastised Berger for eliminating effective teacher training programs last year, while trying to make it easier to dismiss educators this year under this bill.
Despite their concerns, the committee advanced Senator Berger's bill on a voice vote to the the Senate appropriations and finance committee .
To hear more of Tuesday's debate on Senate Bill 795, click below:


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So at Ashland High basketball games this season, you can't even use the old "Fundamentals!" cheer when that opposing player gets called for traveling. Because that would be unsportsmanlike and wrong.
The athletic director at the Wisconsin high school is cracking down on all "negative" cheering, including just about everything you've ever done at a basketball game. This is going over quite well with the student body as you might imagine.
The issue came to light last year when a visitor, noticing the fans' behavior, asked if school officials were familiar with the WIAA sportsmanship rules. Ever since then the athletic director has been enforcing the rules. "You can't turn your backs, you can't single out an opponent, you can't single out a team, you can't say anything negative," Olson said.
That includes using phrases like "sieve," "what's the score," "overrated," "airball," and even singing "nah-nah-nah-nah, nah-nah-nah-nah, hey-hey-hey, good bye."
True story: At the high school where I formerly coached basketball, Serra in San Mateo (Calif.), we had an annual showdown with St. Ignatius of San Francisco (home of Dan Fouts!). It was called the Jungle Game, due to the St. Ignatius coach one year commenting that "Playing at Serra is like playing in a jungle." Students ran with the theme, decorating the gym with palm fronds and stuffed jungle animals. The atmosphere was raucous; one had to arrive at the gym an hour early just to get a seat.
Then one year the St. Ignatius principal called the Serra principal and demanded that the jungle game be toned down. No more negative cheering, and, get this: He claimed that the decorations were "intimidating the St. Ignatius players." A compromised was reached, in which Serra agreed to remove "two-thirds of the palm fronds." I am not lying about this.
We live in an unsportsmanlike world, and high school is supposed to prepare young people for it. Spineless compromise sends the wrong message, unless you're planning to live in Disneyland, or Congress. (Rumor has it that when bin Laden heard of the palm frond compromise, he released a video which included nothing but him giggling).
Besides, what fun is a basketball game in which you can't wave a Peyton Manning big head?
Ashland Cracks Down On Unsportsmanlike Cheers [Duluth Tribune]


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text: Monday, February 04, 2013 CMS Bundled Payment Initiative to Begin Testing in April More than 500 organizations will begin participating in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) bundled payments for care improvement initiative, made possible by the Affordable Care Act. Through this initiative CMS will test how bundling payments for episodes of care can result in more coordinated care for beneficiaries and lower costs for Medicare. The bundled payment initiative includes 4 models of bundling payments, varying by the types of health care providers involved and the services included in the bundle. Depending on the model type, CMS will bundle payments for services that beneficiaries receive during an episode of care, encouraging hospitals, physicians, postacute facilities, and other providers as applicable to work together to improve health outcomes and lower costs. Organizations of providers participating in the initiative will agree to provide CMS a discount from expected payments for the episode of care, and then the provider partners will work together to reduce readmissions, duplicative care, and complications to lower costs through improvement. Last week's announcement includes the selection of 32 awardees in model 1, who will begin testing bundled payments for acute care hospital stays as early as April. In the coming weeks, CMS also will announce a second opportunity for providers to participate in model 1, with an anticipated start date of early 2014. CMS' announcement also marks the start of phase 1 of models 2, 3, and 4. In phase 1 (January-July 2013), more than 100 participants partnering with over 400 provider organizations will receive new data from CMS on care patterns and engage in shared learning in how to improve care. Phase 1 participants are generally expected to become participants in phase 2, in which approved participants opt to take on financial risk for episodes of care starting in July 2013, pending contract finalization and completion of CMS' standard program integrity reviews. A list of the model 1 awardees and participants for phase 1 of models 2, 3, and 4 is available on the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation's website. Hear how physical therapists are getting involved in bundled payment initiatives by attending APTA's Innovation Summit: Collaborative Care Models. This groundbreaking virtual event will bring together physical therapists, physicians, large health systems, and policy makers to discuss the current and future role of physical therapy in integrated models of care. A panel of experts, moderated by a physical therapist who is highly involved in bundling initiatives, will provide you with perspectives on bundling from large health systems, a physical therapy private practice, and private payers. Registration for the Summit closes Friday, February 8. Interested in attending a viewing party in your area? APTA will soon list viewing parties and their locations at www.apta.org/InnovationSummit/ViewingParties/. Comments What is the incentive for the first provider to "pass on" the savings from the efficeint care they provide? Dollar amounts per Dx only promotes limited care for the patient. How many providers will treat beyond the "bundled/discounted" rate CMS will pay? How much longer can we accept pay cuts every year? Posted by Brett Michener on 2/4/2013 1:53 PM


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Robotic Palletizing
EasyPallet's more than 60 canned palletizing patterns are independent of box sizes. This allows a box size to be applied to any stacking pattern to create a unique layer configuration. Patterns adjust to changing box and pallet sizes, saving programming time. Layers can be stacked on top of one another, resulting in a column-stacked pallet, or they can be rotated for an interlocked pallet. EasyPallet supports vacuum-style grippers capable of picking one to four boxes stacked end-to-end or side-to-side.
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See also: Yaskawa America, Inc.
Related Enterprise Zones: Automation


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Hats, Picnics, and Ice Cream
Oh but how twee...
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, having not been photographed together in over 6 weeks, went for ice cream in LA yesterday before heading out on a picnic.
Jesus these two are photogenic together, aren't they? It would have been so wasted if the cameras weren't around.
Safe House is on track to go over $200 million worldwide. It's considered a win, both for Denzel Washington and especially for Reynolds who took a hit in 2011 with Green Lantern and The Change-up. Now he has over a year to go before R.I.P.D. (with Jeff Bridges) opens next summer, a film the geek boys are already pretty excited about. Beyond that...there's nothing immediate on his schedule. A few projects he's committed to still don't have start dates and confirmed casting. Which means a lot of free time to be with his girl, ensconced in her apartment in New York, and minibreaks every other weekend around the USA. Summer in Europe or African Safari?
It'll have to be in between promotion for Savages. The film is due out July 6th and as mentioned last week, they say Blake is really strong, especially in the third act. How much of that is the work of her PR remains to be seen, but, you know, I wonder if Scarjo isn't hoping desperately that she has more than 3 lines in The Avengers. If you're editing that movie though, and you have to decide, do you keep an extra quip or two from RDJ, or do you give Scarlett Johansson an extra 15 seconds? Is what I'm saying...


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02.23.09 Fast BreaksPosted by nvr1983 on February 23rd, 2009
We'll be bringing you these Fast Breaks more frequently thanks our new intern who will be sending me the best of the web, which I will then filter and send out to you, our loyal readers.
- Seth Davis doesn't think the NCAA tournament should expand.
- A bunch of bloggers trying valiantly, but failing to match the standard set by RTC's own Zach Hayes. Searching For Billy Edelin has their own prediction for the field of 65. So do Shawn Siegel.
- RTC friend Jeff Goodman has made an all-freshman team that is pretty solid. I like the fact that he included Gordon Hayward (Butler) on there with all the BCS guys.
- Will Smith is a either a fan of Brian Collins or he is a devoted follower of Rush the Court. I'm going with the latter.
- Outside the Lines with a report on "package deals" in college basketball.
- Jameson Fleming drops some Zone Defense knowledge on you.
- Mark Schlabach makes the questionable argument that Elliot Williams is the answer at the point for Duke. So Jeff Teague having his way with you is a credential for good point guard play…but I guess its not that bad an argument.


text:
[Verse 1]
Ten years ago I used to listen to rappers flow
Talkin' bout the way they rocked the mic at the disco
I liked how that shit was goin' down
Dreamt about ripping the mic with my own sound
So I tried to write rhymes something like them
My boys said, "That ain't you, Ice! That shit sounds like them."
So I sat back, thought up a new track
Didn't fantasize, kicked the pure facts
Motherfuckers got scared cause they was unprepared
Who would tell it how it really was? Who dared?
A motherfucker from the West Coast, L.A
South Central, fool, where the Crips and the Bloods play
When I wrote about parties, it didn't fit
"6 N' the Mornin," that was the real shit
O.G. Original Gangster
[Verse 2]
When I wrote about parties, someone always died
When I tried to write happy, yo, I knew I lied
'Cause, I lived a life of crime Why play ya blind?
A simple look and anyone with two cents would know I'm
A hardcore player from the streets
Rapping bout hardcore topics over hardcore drum beats
A little different than the average though
Jet you through the fast lane, drop ya on death row
Cause anybody who's been there knows that
Life ain't so lovely on the blood-soaked fast track
That invincible shit don't work
Throw ya in a joint, you'll be coming out feet first
So I blast the mic with my style
Sometimes I'm ill and other times buckwild
But the science is always there
I'd be a true sucker if I acted like I didn't care
I rap for brothers just like myself
Dazed by the game in a quest for extreme wealth
But I kick it to you hard and real
One wrong move, and your cap's peeled
I ain't no super hero, I ain't no Marvel comic
But when it comes to game I'm atomic
At dropping it straight, point blank and untwisted
No imagination needed, cause I lived it
This ain't no fucking joke, this shit is real to me
I'm Ice-T, O.G
[Verse 3]
Two weeks ago I was out at the disco
Two brothers stepped up to me and said, "Hey yo, Ice
We don't think you're down. What set ya claiming?"
E drew the Glock, yo my set's aiming!
Dumb motherfucker, try to roll on me, please!
I'm protected by a thousand emcees
And hoodlums and hustlers and bangers with jheri curls
We won't even count the girls
Cause they got my back and I got theirs too
Fight for the streets when I'm on Oprah or Donahue
They try to sweat a nigga but they just didn't figure
That my wit's as quick as a hair trigger
"He's not your everyday-type prankster."
I'm Ice-T, the original gangster
[Verse 4]
So step to me if you think that you're ready to
Got on your bullet proof? Well mine's going right thru
This ain't no game to me, it's hollow fame to me
Without respect from streets, so I don't claim be
The hardest motherfucker on earth
Catch me slipping, I can't even get worked
But I don't slip that often, there's a coffin
Waiting for the brother who comes off soft when
The real fucking shit goes down, take a look around
All them pussies can be found
They talk a mean fight but fight like hoes
I'm from South Central, fool, where everything goes
Snatch you out your car so fast you'll get whiplash
Numbers on your rooftop for when the copters pass
Gangbangers don't carry no switchblades
Every kid's got a Tec 9 or a hand grenade
Thirty-seven killed last week in a crack war
Hostages tied up and shot in the liquor store
Nobody gives a fuck
"The children have to go to school!" Well, moms, good luck!
Cause the shit's fucked up bad I use my pad and pen
And my lyrics break out mad
I try to write about fun and the good times
But the pen yanks away and explodes and destroys the rhyme
Maybe it's just cause of where I'm from
L.A. (*bang!*) that was a shotgun!
This is the 10th track from Ice t's fourth album, O.G. Original Gangster.
This album is said to be Ice-T's best album, with this being one of his greatest tracks.
On the song, Ice narrates about the life and times of an O.G. Ice was affiliated with the Crips gang of South Central L.A