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Forest Governance and Food Security of Adivasi and Traditional Forest Dependent Communities
Forests have been a source of food and shelter for millions in India. The poor, especially the tribals, have been dependent on forests round the year as it provides employment during agricultural lean season in the form of collection and sale of minor forest produces, fuel wood, etc. Various studies by government and non-government agencies have established that about 40% of the annual income of poor and the landless come from non-timber forest produce (NTFP)1. It is estimated that 80% of the population of developing countries use NTFP to meet their needs in health and nutrition (FAO, 1997). A World Bank estimate shows that the medicinal plant industry/herbal market in India is worth 5000 crore INR. NTFP provide about 40 percent of total forest revenues and 55 percent of forest-based employment. In Odisha, the contribution is about 80% and 50% respectively.
As per government figures about 65% of the forest cover is in 187 tribal dominated districts, out of 50 districts which have dense forest cover, 49 are tribal districts. (MoEF: 2006). About 260 million people live below poverty line, out of which 100 million are partially or wholly dependent on forests, out of which 70 million are tribals. (FSI: 2004). Odisha has about 29302 forest fringe villages and out of the total number of forest fringe villages of the country, 60 percent belongs to the Central Indian states. The central Indian forest patch that extends from western Odisha to eastern Maharastra is a rich reservoir of wide variety of flora and fauna, where tribal dependence on forest is fairly high. These central Indian states apart from having good area under forest cover also have major portion of the Schedule V areas of the country.
As per various studies undertaken at different points of time, in most forested parts of Odisha, especially in northern, southern and southern-western, forest dependence amongst tribals and other traditional forest dwellers have been fairly high with an income from forests ranging between 30 to 40 per cent from non-timber forest produces and other forest produces. However, dependence on forest produces for sustenance for the tribals has been a rollercoaster ride with issues concerning shifts in forest governance, market fluctuations and associated low returns, migration and growth of other local livelihoods opportunities.
More information on the Website of Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung South Asia in New Delhi.


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On-line Computer Hardware Shop For Gaming PCs, Laptops And Peripherals
It's an age-outdated question that can solely get increasingly more intense in the coming year as the Xbox 360 is in full swing and the PS3 and Revolution launch. A. construct it your self is the best way to go so it should come true, a gaming LAPTOP including a monitor and keyboard & mouse. Meaning you'll get a low high quality power provide, motherboard, and hard drive… and people are three parts that can have a very unfavorable impact in your computer if they die.
Mouse customers preferring to have the mouse act as a supporter for the palm of their hand could select to increase the size of the mouse in order to do so, and the identical applies to the width. Q. I would like a great gaming computer that will play video games like Left4Dead with out lag.
Q. Good day, I used to be marvel what are some key things/hardware to keep in mind when building a gaming laptop. Second: Processor / Video Card/ RAM – The 3 most essential things when selecting a pc. Now I only have a funds of $600 or so to make a great gaming computer from scratch.
Research on the parts wanted for your desired spec gaming machine can simply be discovered by way of google and various forums. Generally computer (and console) video games will help improve high quality motor abilities by improving hand/eye coordination. I suggest constructing a custom gaming computer, you get higher specs and save a lot of money.
Sometimes the pc game is just thinking that the information are on a CD. In that case you discover the shortcut of the game and right click on. Q. I'm wanting to buy a gaming pc desktop, however I haven't got sufficient cash to buy an enormous costly one. A. OK, nicely I do not assume you're going to get precisely what you might be looking for and the upgradable demands from purchasing a pc for beneath $600.

subset: commoncrawl


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Updated April 13, 2018
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Passive Income Goal: Near Miss and New Plans
Nearly a year ago I wrote about a goal to create passive income of $500/month. In that post I outlined 4 different things that would contribute to the goal. Over time those changed, but the result is that only one of them counts at this point. Our investment portfolio is, for the purposes of this goal, creating a passive income of $426/month. None of the other projects led to any income which means that I fell short of the goal. All of those projects eventually ran into obstacles that I didn't feel were worth overcoming so they are currently on hold.
Good Leads On New Income Sources
As I mentioned before one of them did lead to another product that is more promising. My first attempt at selling it didn't get me any results. Since then I have updated it to look a lot better and do a bit more and I expect the first sale this week from someone I have been talking to a bit. So far I have earned an hourly rate somewhere under $1 for this project based on the time put in but I am now working on promoting it to get more sales. If that generates even minimal results it should easily bring in at least $100/month soon, putting me past my original goal. Unfortunately that product is in an area where I don't know enough to practice all the marketing techniques I have been learning about.
But the good news is that I have come up with another service where I can do most of those. Once again I saw a comment on a blog hinting at the need for it, and within a week I had created something for it and replied. In this case my strategy is to create a free version that does some basic tasks and then later sell additional services if there is enough interest. I have spent enough time researching the market that this service is for so I can do quite a bit of marketing. The fact that I'm giving something away for free makes it easier to get attention. And if that makes a good impression it will make it easier to sell something later.
Branching Out
I've also come up with some other ideas recently that I'm starting to test. Following my past experiences I am focusing on the first big step of getting potential customers on board before actually building the thing. I'll spend a little money and time to try this but I'll cut off the projects quickly if they are too hard to promote.
Two of these projects are e-commerce websites which are somewhat related. Usually when you hear about someone launching an e-commerce website to build passive income it tends to be pretty hokey. But these websites are based around things I would like to be able to buy more often, and I know what it takes to make them high-quality (if there is enough interest) and create lots of value in the market. To test these websites I am planning to set up very simple pages advertising 1-2 products and then try to get a few interested buyers. If that works I will build them up from there. Within hours of having the ideas I came up with some pretty extensive marketing plans that I can roll out in stages if things are going well.
Another project is a sort of affiliate site with a twist. It's a comparison shopping site that's focused on finding the exact product you want in a certain category. That part will probably have to be free but I could build some affiliate deals for the products it recommends. This site is also something I would personally want to use for purchases so I know how to make it better than anything currently available. To start with I will set up a website that shows the first search page and see if I can get people to try using that. If that works I will set it up to actually find the right products and then once that starts getting enough people using it I can work on affiliate deals.
Putting It All Together
If all of these projects work out it will give me experience with a variety of businesses. I would have one software product, one online service, two e-commerce websites, and one affiliate website. Setting up that range of businesses could take a lot of work up-front. Many people struggle to operate just one business. I think my past business experience, my constant study of other businesses successes, as well as my current energy and focus can take me further than the average person but it will still be challenging.
My strategy is to test the big obstacles early and kill off the projects that don't overcome it. If they do work I want to quickly get them to a point where they can sustain a very minimal level of revenue without taking up much of my time. From there I can go around and focus on whatever looks like the biggest opportunity to build revenue. I will do everything myself at first but start outsourcing or hiring when it can be done profitably.
All of this has to be done on the side of my main business. Fortunately that business has improved a lot this year so I can take more time to do things like this. One big part of this was to "productize the services" by setting certain limits and requirements on them so that I can sell them more like products without having to spend as much time doing everything differently for each customer. That has made things simpler for me and my employees. Another part is a marketing plan that I'm rolling out now to get access to more customers. Combining a simpler business plan with more customers is always good 🙂 Even though all these side products and websites aren't directly related to my main business, each one is an opportunity to practice things that can be re-used in other businesses and in many other ways that I can't even see yet.
New Goal
Based on this I think I can create a passive income of $750/month by the end of the year. One component of this will be the investment portfolio. With regular additions alone I expect this to count for about $500/month at year-end. The other part will be results from my recently-launched product and service as well as the new projects. I will only count the income net of any expenses so they need to create a profit of at least $250/month in the next 6 months.
Even getting to that low level of income will take a lot of work. But based on some things I've been reading recently and changes made this year, I am already working actively to get things started. I'm more interested than ever before in my main business so this isn't about retiring to a beach. I just want to find the right combinations to create even more profitable assets. This chance to practice marketing skills and build more businesses is very motivating for me right now.
Financial Ratios Revisited
I recently started tracking a few ratios that show how well we're managing our finances. In the months since the last update we haven't made any major changes, but we have seen some improvements anyways.
We now have the following monthly ratios:
- Investment savings (actual investment amounts and mortgage principal payments, all of which reduce our future income needs): 49.9% of net income (was 48.6%)
- Total savings (investment savings plus things such as saving for the next vehicle we will need and the anticipated monthly increase in our general cash account): 63.2% of net income (was 60.9%)
- Core living expenses (what we would need each month to live a normal life without mortgage payments or extras such as vacations): 27.8% of net income (was 27.7%)
- Investment savings / core living expenses (what we invest compared to what we spend on ordinary living expenses): 179.8% (was 175.5%)
- Housing costs / gross income (similar to the GDS used to qualify for a mortgage): 16.6% (was 16.4%)
Part of the reason for the change is that we removed a small source of part-time income. A lower income makes most of these ratios look a bit better since we are still saving and investing the same amount. However we're starting to get some real momentum too. As our regular mortgage payments increasingly go towards the principal, the investment savings ratio has nearly reached 50% without having to change our monthly cashflow.
In our investment portfolio we're also seeing momentum. When I look at it I can't remember why it's so high since the market gains are carrying it further than our own contributions. Even thought it's only a fraction of the way to our goal we're starting to see the rewards.
One of the places that shows up is in the other ratios:
- Investment portfolio total value / mortgage balance (how close we are to having investments worth more than our loans): 45.8% (was 30.3%)
- Estimated investment income / core spending (how close we are to paying the bills without working, not counting the mortgage): 19.3% (was 13.2%)
- Net worth gain over the last year: 55.0% (was 53.9%)
These are looking a lot better compared to the start of this year. It shows the growth of our portfolio, and once again I can't explain why it's grown so fast even though we are investing a lot every month. At the end of the year I estimate that our portfolio will be around 2/3 of the value of our mortgage assuming markets don't rise anymore. That would give us a nice level of safety, and by the end of next year our investment balance could be greater than our mortgage balance (less than 4 years after buying our house). It could also be enough to pay about 35% of our core monthly expenses.
For some reason, Quicken is saying we have less than 15 years left to pay off our mortgage which is shorter than I expected. Either way that isn't a priority for us now since I believe that investing as much as possible will give us more freedom.
We've recently started watching our spending more closely and made a one-time extra investment this month, so the total amount we put in this month was nearly 4 times the usual. We may be able to increase our monthly investments later this year without taking more income. My business income also looks like it may turn up by the end of the year, allowing further improvements. But even without any of that the gradual improvements in our mortgage payments will inch us over the mythical 50% savings rate. Will we be able to make it to 55% this year?
For years it's seemed like we worked hard with little results to show for it. Now we're starting to see them.
You Need To Aim Higher
Since I graduated from university years ago and decided not to get a job, I've spent a lot of time learning about two things in parallel. One was "online income", with things such as PPC, affiliate marketing, and blogging. The other was a service business. My lifetime online income amounts to less than $10 (not counting a website that a bought for $1000 and barely made back the cost of purchase before it stopped earning an income). I decided years ago that the best use of my time was my other business which has provided a good income for my family and now employs several other people.
This might lead you to conclude that online income is just a pipe-dream promoted by hustlers who are looking for an easy audience to scam. While that's certainly true in some cases I believe that the opposite applies to many others. Witness the many articles that talk about reaching 6 figures in online income like this is some kind of mythical unicorn that no one has seen.
The truth is that whatever you create, whether it's a new blog with 1 post and 2 affiliate links or an empire of 50 sites that get 1m visitors per month, you are building a business. That business can do one or both of two things: sell your time to the highest bidder, wherever they are in the world, or sell something that doesn't depend on your time. In both cases there is a lot of potential. Whatever you are selling there is someone, somewhere, who can make a lot of money from it and can pay you well.
The mistake most people make is that they compare this to income from a job. In that context someone who is young and earning $60-100,000/year might think they have reached the limit because that seems like a lot for a job. But when you realize that they are starting a business and not just a job numbers like that are too low to even be on the charts. A couple of years ago I went to visit a prospective client in the US, which was a company of 100 people. On my return a friend commented "over there, they call that a tiny startup". Turn your thinking in this direction and the possibilities become much larger.
I don't want to diminish anyone's accomplishments. It is a great step to show that you can create something yourself and not rely on a narrowly-defined job. I'm cheering for anyone who does this since I've never been able to live by someone else's rules. For some people that is enough, and a good place to stop. But thinking that there is some kind of inherent limit in numbers like that is a big mistake. There are always people who are willing to pay more for what you sell and many others who want to buy it if you can find a way to scale up.
Whether you know it or not, when you create something where you don't have a boss you are creating a business. It could be a marketing businesses, a trading businesses, a retail businesses, a trend-following businesses, a service businesses, or a business-to-business business. And in the world of business, bringing in $100,00/year is the table stakes. Unless your business is so big that your name is printed in the newspaper every day there are many ways you could grow your income by 10x.
Of course that's before expenses which are everywhere in business and frequently overlooked when people talk about online income. You need to make sure you are establishing a sustainable profit margin in your business. Otherwise you are just giving away your work. At times you may accept a lower profit margin to grow faster but you need to know that it will be worth it in the long run.
I'm not someone who needs a $1m income just to get by. In fact that that rate I expect I would need to work less than a year in my life. But if such a need comes up I know the pathways to get there. Learn the ways of business and you will have no limits.
Passive Income Update: Still Waiting to Start
My original passive income goal set back in August was to build up to a level of $500/month, starting from $223/month. In the time since my last update I have kept doing what I do well and gotten up to $325.69/month. This is the current status of each part of that original goal:
- Investment portfolio and interest income: this counts for $324.69/month. By the time of the deadline this should be producing at least $375/month, or higher if we can invest a bit more along the way. This is going well because we've been doing it for a while and we know how to step it up. The other things are going slowly because I don't know them as well yet.
- My blog with adsense: the $3 click I got a few months ago was an anomaly. So far this is worth about $1/month. I haven't been active on the blog or the Twitter marketing I'm trying out but I should be freeing up more time to write regularly and increase the traffic (and thus the revenue).
- Product #1 (partnership with blogger): a couple of months ago I learned that the blogger I was working with was no longer interested in launching this product under his brand. I understand this because it's not really like the things he's doing now and he has a lot of other opportunities to pursue. If he's interested in using the product personally and setting up an affiliate deal I would still be happy to do that since the marketing exposure would be hard to beat. Since this was close to being ready I made a few final changes and released it last week. This means it's available to buy but I haven't gotten anyone to the website yet. My first marketing attempt was selling through another website that takes a 60%+ fee. I was rejected from there so I will carry on with the rest of my marketing plan. If I sell just 3 copies of this every month it will easily make up the gap to hit my goal.
- Product #2 (service for small businesses): this is a lower priority at the moment. Once I run out of productive things to do on other projects I will come back to this. In thinking about it I remember what a potential customer said about a similar problem they were having. This gave me an idea for another related product that is much simpler to create and easier to sell (it directly makes them more money instead of just saving their time like the old idea). I think I will lead with that and then offer the original product as an add-on. This could be generating a bit of revenue by year-end.
You may be wondering why I don't include the business opportunity I found recently in this list. Although that could potentially generate enough extra income this year to completely crush my goal without cutting into time devoted to other income-generating activities, it does look like it would require ongoing maintenance.
For my passive income goal I want to count only things that can generate a consistent (or slowly declining) level of income with very little upkeep once they are created. Anything else, along with the new services I want to launch in my main business to increase revenues, are just additional bonuses.
Business Opportunities Are Everywhere
Sometimes you hear stories of people who quickly create a profitable business seemingly out of nothing and make a lot of money. Are these one in a million stories, or scams? Is a unique skill that no one else has? No – a lot of them are just people who opened their eyes to the possibilities. I may have come across something like this recently in a perfect example of the type of unexpected opportunities that have launched many good businesses. With a little persistence you can find these just about anywhere.
I'm moving my business into an office but we're in a very tight real-estate market so it's been hard to find something available. It's even harder because the space we need is too small for many property managers to bother leasing. I considered the possibility of getting a larger office and then setting up a co-working space, renting out desks or rooms to freelancers and small businesses, since those are becoming popular in many cities.
I decided not to do that for several reasons. Signing a long-term lease or buying a building is a major expense I can't take on now. I don't have a lot of time to market and promote a co-working space and try to build a community with events to attract people. The margins seemed small since everything was expensive already and it would be hard to pass on an even higher price to customers.
So I decided I would just look for an office suitable for my business. Finally after trying some slightly unconventional tactics I found something that shouldn't exist: a large unused space in a great downtown location where I can rent a small portion at a very low cost (no more than half the market rates) without needing a long-term lease. That's one example of a deal that you just can't get… unless you look a bit.
It gets better though. Another place I looked at was a co-working space someone else was setting up, at a location I had considered a few months earlier and rejected. I thought the prices they were talking about were well above the market rate, but I recently heard that it quickly filled up.
All of this adds up to a very interesting opportunity. I can rent office space at less than half the market rate, and it's clear that there is demand from others who are willing to pay above market rate for individual rooms or smaller spaces. I don't need to tie up $500,000 or $1M to buy a building because no one is using the space now, so I can work out a deal to only pay for the parts that are actually generating revenue. My friend is renting out a few offices in her building and I've learned what she does to keep them occupied so I can probably find customers without spending a lot of time.
I still need to test my assumptions but this is looking like a very interesting business opportunity. It may evaporate in a few years if demand dies down, but if I can make a profit with very little risk that's worth a try. This kind of opportunity isn't easy to find but if you know where to look sometimes it does come up. You just need to be aware of the problems that you and other people have. My difficulty in finding an office space shows the demand in the market, and a building owner who doesn't have time to manage it creates a unique supply.
A deal like this exists on the margins of what is possible and may not last for long. But once you start down that path it becomes easier to leverage what you have into different suppliers, customers, and/or products to create a business that can go much further. An example of that is documented in The Fish That Ate The Whale, which tells the story of an immigrant who started off by selling a product that was about to be discarded after noticing it on a dock one day and grew from there to control the majority of the market (not to mention overthrowing a few pesky governments, which led to the term "banana republic").
I'm not interested in commercial real estate management at the moment so I have no grandiose plans. I'll just take the easy profit while it lasts. All the same I might learn more about profitable ways to put my future capital to work. If you look at this there are all kinds of reasons to believe that it doesn't exist or it can't work. Many well-known businesses today are a testament to the fact that such popular views are wrong.
Making Saving More Exciting: Early Results Are Good
One of the biggest reasons people don't manage their finances well is that it takes a long time to see the payoff. Most people can understand the idea of investing for the future but when you start off and you're getting $0.30/month from your investments while your friends are whipping out their iPhones that's not very motivating.
This year I came up with the idea of combining smaller wins with an old fundraising tool. I started to track an estimated income from our investments and used a spreadsheet to make a "thermometer chart" to show how much of our expenses this covers. It's more of a brick than a thermometer but it shows our progress.
That's still not very motivating since no one gets excited about being 3% of the way there so I moved the goal line. Instead of tracking it against all our expenses I started off comparing it to our utility bills (heating, water, power, tv/internet, and phones). And then I added a running start by including the full value of the bills and adding a monthly re-payment from my business (since I use some of these for business with my home office) to our investment income.
I'm well aware of how much I'm cheating here but the results are accurate. This shows us how much of our utility bills we still need to work for. I organized these from smallest to largest so we could knock off a few quick ones. For example we could say early on that we never had to work to pay for the heat or water again. At first our plan was that everything but our phone bills would be covered by the end of this year and our additional savings next year would cover that.
We've managed to take a few extra steps this year and got ahead of the plan. By the end of the month we'll be more than half-way through the amount needed to cover the phone bills and we'll reach that full amount in another 6 months just from automatic transfers. If we do anything extra we'll get there even sooner.
We look at the chart every 1-2 months so it's been a constant reminder of how things are moving forward. I'm not sure exactly how much it helped since I am naturally motivated to invest. But seeing visible progress every few months made it more real and gave us results that are easier to see and understand.
Once we reach an amount high enough to cover all our utility bills that will give us a real accomplishment to celebrate even if we still need to work for another decade or more. At that point I'll expand the chart to include some more expenses. I think an ideal would be to make the next target twice as high so I'll find a few more categories to reach that.
Food would be a natural next step since it's important but our current food spending is about 50% higher than our utility bills so that might be too big to add now. We're hoping to reduce that average cost so maybe it would work. Or the new goal could be a combination of smaller things such as property taxes, regular car expenses, and personal care. That would create more steps to reach along the way even if it adds up to the same amount.
Still food may be the best thing to add. If we can say in a couple of years that our investments are enough to pay for our bills and our food, that doesn't leave a lot of ongoing essential expenses. Having a bigger goal like that would be a motivation and a challenge to do more which makes sense since we still have a long way to go and we need to work hard for it. It might even lead us to spend less so we can move the goal closer.
Overall this is a great way to track your progress and even more useful when you have to explain it to someone else and help them to share in your motivation. Maybe it's the long-awaited trick to help reach smart goals after someone has paid off their debts. Paying off a $20,000 credit card balance in 2 years is easy to understand. Paying off a mortgage is harder but still a visible goal. When you set goals this way you can pay off all your living expenses one by one and then truthfully say that you never need to work for them again.
Starting a Business is Easy
Many people think that it's hard to start a business and you need a brilliant idea. I have mostly followed an approach that's pretty much the opposite of that. I recently joined a mastermind group with others who are dedicated to pursuing the easy approach to business so we can further refine and practice these ideas.
The "business ideas" you see on TV that seem like a lot of work and a big struggle are really just examples of bad business ideas. The reason they are so hard to do is that people do a lot of work before even knowing if anyone cares so most of their work is wasted. And as a result they are very likely to end up going down a path with results that are mediocre at best. Lots of work + weak results = bad idea.
The way I approach it turns everything around. As Ramit Sethi likes to say you don't need a business card, a website, or a twitter account. All you need to do is talk to people until you find someone who needs help and will pay for it. Once the first person pays you, you have a business.
Then you keep telling stories about how you have helped people. By doing this you will find more people asking for help. Over time as you get a better idea of what people need you for and the demand grows, you can raise prices. If you discover new needs along the way you figure out a way to sell something for that. When things are really rolling along you can start hiring people to help you and make sure you have the right profit margin to support that.
Keep doing this and you'll get steady growth in your business. Keep up the steady growth and you can get it to any size you want. There are challenges along the way, but if you keep an open mind and you stay as flexible as you can for as long as you can, you can take it anywhere you want. Keep trying new ideas along the way and you can build up new lines of business to grow faster. Even large corporations will go down quickly if they forget these principles.
And that's all you need to know about starting a business in 300 words.


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I believe in trust within a community. Regardless to whether the trust shared between a group of friends, classmates, or even county, it is necessary in each one of our lives. Without trust we are nothing more than self-centered individuals who only work for the well-being of themselves. By working in a community and being able to take a risk or sacrifice and know that your friends will be there for you is something that everyone needs in their life. Having something to fall back on is a perfect safety net in the real world, and your friends will always be there for you and that circle of trust is never broken. The family is the closest knit circle of trust that we have to answer to on a daily basis. These encounters not only represent yourself, but your name as well, and that is when you must make conscious decisions before you act.
Being trust-worthy is a difficult lifestyle to live, but it is a characteristic that most long for when they are being described. It is easy to claim that you are trust-worthy, but it is never fully proved until you are called upon to act it out in a given situation. Whether it is helping out a friend or knowing when to tell a friend to stop is something that a friendship can be based around. Surrounding yourself with people who make a positive impact on you and propel you to be a better person is what most teenagers are missing in their lives. Situations testing your trust are thrown at you almost every day, and the way we react to them is how we are classified by those around us, and I recommend being ready for any situation possible.
If you enjoyed this essay, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to This I Believe, Inc.


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Back from Florida and Boston and NYC. Should really visit there more often. Yes, even Florida.
For the first time ever didn't go anywhere at all in Boston, just spent my time seeing people, and still didn't see everybody I wanted to see.
This was my first time in Florida, and it was quite lovely, much better than expected. They have sandy beaches, and warm sea, and little lizards, and iguanas, and weird-looking turtles, and weird-looking birds, and flying fish.
Like almost any American I occasionally have some grievances against the federal government, but I could never imagine that I'd add "they hid all the crocodiles and alligators in Florida" to the list. But they did. We didn't get to visit Everglades or see any crocodiles at all.
Realized I actually like beaches quite a lot as long as there is no hot yellow thing in the sky.
Wish I could have taken some pictures of the flying fish, but they absolutely refused to pose in midair.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Back from the US
Posted by Vera at Monday, October 28, 2013 Labels: life, travel, USA
2 comments:
- kellogs said...
uhm. now, you were american all along ?
- 28/10/13 04:03
- Vera said...
Heh, you didn't know?
- 28/10/13 09:20
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2019 – How Did That Happen?
Happy New Years!! The older I get, the faster time seems to go. 2018 is now gone, but it was a busy year in our house. I started back to work full time after being out of commission for May and June 2017, on sick leave July to September, part time in the fall. The most exciting...


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I wrote this piece after last year's Presidential election. At the time I was raked over the coals by some, but the current climate in Washington and the absolutely pitiful, hateful, unloving, disrespectful, and quite frankly ill-informed political opinions (on all sides) have demonstrated that I was on to something. In short, Christians have traded their birthright of the Kingdom for a bowl of political porridge.
You've heard, "Actions speak louder than words." I'm sure the old axiom is true. We are defined by what we do more than by what we say. That said, our words and language have the pesky ability to reveal our hearts in ways little else does.
Jesus said, "The mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart." He meant that what is in us will come out of us. The human heart has an exhaust pipe – our mouths.
That's why I have been so disconcerted this past week by the way my Christian friends have expressed their disappointment in the outcome of the Presidential election. Our heart-revealing language has found us both sinful and idolatrous.
On the sinful spectrum, I've seen Christians refer to President Obama as a "nigger" – one of which is a former student from one of my youth groups. When called on the carpet by another one of "my kids," he quickly removed his Facebook status. He apologized and expressed his disappointment by other means – but the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.
Worse -and more important- than the racial slurs have been the myriad Christians now extolling fellow believers to "Trust in the Lord." Believe me, I'm all for trusting God. It's this trust in God that leads me to distance myself from American politics.
It seems like trusting God — for some of us, at least — becomes a viable option only after our candidate loses.
Oddly, some of the same people now extolling the trustworthiness of God's rule were urging us to "vote our values" a few weeks ago and prophesying the apocalypse if we didn't. It's odd because they don't really want us to "vote our values." They want us to vote their values. The rule and reign of God shouldn't serve as a concession prize when the country doesn't select the candidate we hoped it would select.
I'm neither naive nor partisan. I know that had the Electoral College swung away from President Obama, my friends on the Christian left would have lamented the plight of the poor and disenfranchised, complained about the marginalized and oppressed, but finally comforted themselves with the sovereignty of God.
This isn't about politics. It's about idolatry. This is about the evermore obvious ideology of more and more Christians that assume politics and the Kingdom of God are the same thing (which happens on both the left and right).
The post-election eruption of utterances urging a newfound trust in God is perplexing. It's enough to give the distinct impression that the will of God had somehow become warehoused in one or the other political party and we needed to elect that warehouse's gate-keepers in order to access it.
It reminded me of my college days. Every now and then a student would leave our Christian university to continue their education at a "state school" or worse, take some time off. Each time, friends whispered and worried about their "spiritual life" as if God could only be accessed at Abilene Christian University. To leave "the hill" meant endangering your soul.
When — after losing an election — Christians, who are supportive of the losing party, respond with sentiments like, "Trust in the Lord," an independent observer might ask, "Who were you trusting before?" Why does it require unwelcome results at the ballot box to ignite our passion to be governed by God?
No where in Christian social media did I see anyone express the sentiments of Daniel 5:21: "The Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes." At no time did I hear us echo the sentiments of Psalm 20.7: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses (governmental strength), but we trust in the name of the Lord of the LORD our God."
Thankfully and ultimately, many of us got to this lofty theological position….
After CNN called Ohio.


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Bump The Morning (Original), the latest cut from The Weeknd. It was released on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011. Things are improving for The Weeknd with each new offering, and The Morning (Original) is certainly no exception. It's a worthy addition to the The Weeknd's catalogue, which has seen much evolution as of late. We're definitely anticipating the next step.
Hear more of The Weeknd on Cure (Unreleased). Check out The Weeknd's profile page for the most recent info, news, songs, and mixtapes. Check out The Weeknd's Facebook and Twitter.
How do you feel about the production here?
Quotable Lyrics
"From the morning to the evening
Complaints from the tenants
Got the walls kicking like they six months pregnant
Drinking Aliz� with our cereal for breakfast
Girls calling cabs at dawn quarter to seven
Sky's getting cold, we're flying from the north
Rockin with our city like a sold out show
House full of pros that specialize in the ho'in"


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First, Caitlin gets to have a little chat with the producers of CrimeCon, Kevin Balfe and Alyse Powers! Fun announcements abound! Then the ladies cover the very-intense documentary Audrie & Daisy. Things get very real, and we hope you enjoy the show!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed


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Monday, December 1st, 2008
Kojax? Huh?
Mary Jo Foley has an article called Move over, Ajax. Here comes Microsoft's 'Kojax'. The thing is, I don't get what it actually is:
Kojax is a mobile development platform, according to my sources, that will allow Microsoft- — and third-party-developed — applets run in an Ajax-like way, using a combination of Visual Studio tools and JavaScript, on Java-based mobile phones.
Erm, is this just JavaScript running on the JVM? This is the big deal instead of the PDC touted "write using .NET and deploy everywhere"?
Mary goes on:
What kinds of mobile applets are we talking about here? Nothing iPhone-like, such as restaurant reviews or "I am Rich." More like a virtual wallet for online payments, a group messaging service and photo-sharing app — things that build on top of Windows Live for Mobile services. Some of these Kojax-based applets will ad-funded; others will likely be transaction- and subscription-based.
Another interesting part of the Kojax tips I've received: Microsoft allegedly is aiming its Kojax applet plans primarily at users in emerging markets.
The Kojax work may or may not be related to a recent Unlimited Potential initiative about which I recently heard, known as "Mobile First." Mobile First is all about users whose first Microsoft-related experience tends to be in the mobile-phone, rather than the PC, realm. (Given Microsoft's recent acknowledgment that China Mobile will offer the first handsets running Internet Explorer 6, it's not far-fetched to see how/why Microsoft is putting so much emphasis on emerging-market customers.)
I haven't been able to glean much more about Kojax and Microsoft's mobile applet plans. So before you ask, I don't know what stage Kojax is at: It could be anything from a glimmer in a Microsoft development team's eye, or something in private beta.
Posted by Dion Almaer at 4:00 am
5 Comments


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(Most recent posts and articles at the top.)
Year 2017
Area Woman Magazine
Design & Living Magazine
- Deck The Halls – 9 Tips To Help You Create A Warm & Inviting Christmas Atmosphere
- Rusty Barn Junque – Blessing People With Unique Antiques, Raw Junk Refurbished Furniture
- Insert Some Mint & Basil Into Your Life
- Tech & Public Art Collide
- Have Yourself A Rustic & Glittery
Year 2016
CoSchedule Blog
- 150+ Blog Ideas That Will Absolutely Kill Writers' Block – CoSchedule
- 8 Social Media Best Practices That Will Save You 25.5 Hours In A 2-Week Sprint – CoSchedule
- This Is What Happens When You Say Good-Bye To Writer's Block – CoSchedule
- How To Think Outside The Box With 200+ Writing Prompts – CoSchedule
- How To Stand Out In A Crowd With Creative Marketing Ideas – CoSchedule
- The Simple 6-Step Social Media Workflow That Will Get You More Organized – CoSchedule
- This Is How To Write An E-Book And Publish It On Amazon KDP – CoSchedule
Year 2015
- 7 Best Books for Boys – Creative Child Magazine
- Tooth Fairy Activities – Creative Child Magazine
- Documenting Your Child's Life with Instagram – Creative Child Magazine & babyMaternity Magazine
- 3 Sensational Summer Activities – Creative Child Magazine
- Fun in the Sun at Red Rock Canyon, Nevada – Creative Child Magazine
Year 2013
- Are You In A Complicated Relationship With Your Characters? – The Write Practice
Year 2012
- Boost Your Writing Creativity With A Camera – Write It Sideways
- Small Country Girl Flying Over The Top Of The World – The Minneapolis Star Tribune "World Class" Travel Blog
- How To Get Inspired In A Less Than Colourful World – Seriously Write
- Climbing Mount Tibrogargan – Glass House Mountains – The Minneapolis Star Tribune "World Class" Travel Blog
- A Relaxing Weekend In Toowoomba – The Minneapolis Star Tribune "World Class" Travel Blog
My Past Online Writing
Life in Oz – Creative Non-fiction/Memoir from my time abroad in Australia.
My England Trip 2010 – In 2010, I went on a Creative Writing Trip with my college to England. I was there for a total of 2 weeks and saw some very inspirational sites! I totally can't wait to go back again someday.
Past Blog Entries – From 2010-2011
Old Blog – From July 2010-August 2013 (This Blog followed me across the ocean, as I studied abroad in Australia for a semester. Also a year living as an expat there and the many adventures of being in a long distance relationship.)
Short Stories
The Collectibles (This short story is included in this FREE anthology with Monsters in White)
After losing her husband to a car accident, Silvia yearns for the normal life she once had and the love she lost. One night, while walking through the forest, her life is turned upside down when she discovers a mysterious secret in the forest.
This is a twist on the fairytales we were told while we were young. It's a story about fate, loss, and giving life a second chance.


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Monday, February 24, 2014
Corrupting the Word
I was raised in a medical family; my father and uncle had a clinic attached to the house, my mother was their first assistant/secretary, and most of their friends were doctors or dentists or nurses. I grew up reading medical journals and medical texts, and learned quite a bit thereby. I might have gone into medicine myself if I hadn't been so bad at mathematics. One thing that came to annoy me considerably was the misuse of medical terms, ignorant or otherwise.
I am very tired of people misusing the word "addiction". "Addiction" is a precise medical term describing a specific physical phenomenon -- namely, the body's adjustment to regular doses of a foreign substance, to the point where removal of the substance causes a painful readjustment back to normal. In other words, there is no such thing as a "mental addiction", regardless of what ambitious politicians and their flacks may say. You can become addicted to morphine, cocaine, alcohol, and even caffeine; you can not become addicted to marijuana, sex, or video-games. The mental phenomenon whereby people lust madly after such items or actions is properly called "obsession". Yes, obsession can also be joined to addiction, which is what really makes the addiction hard to break; there are countless cases of non-obsessed patients walking away from addictions without a backward glance, but any doctor can tell you the difficulty of weaning a patient away from an obsession.
So why has the term "addiction" been used so sloppily? My guess is that the accurate term, "obsession", implies that the problem is all in the patient's mind -- which is true -- and that s/he could free themself from it if they really wanted to (which is also true). In other words, a person with an obsession is responsible, while a person with an addiction is a victim. Everyone knows that responsible people get sued, while victims get to do the suing. In our present lawsuit-mad society, this is a serious consideration.
But more to the point, an obsession is a personal problem while an addiction can be manipulated into a social problem -- and from there into a political one. You can stump up more than money by declaring war on an addiction than an obsession, and the more addictions to raise hysteria about the better. You can get yourself a political reputation as a great moral crusader by going after a so-called addiction, and ride that hobby-horse into high political office. Or you can ruin a businessman's product, or a whole industry, by calling it "addictive", thus clearing the market for your own -- or your cronies' -- product (for which the cronies will be grateful at election time). This is exactly what happened to marijuana, originally called hemp, which was a major industry prior to 1932.
This is why corrupting language is so useful to politicians, big businessmen, and their assorted minions. Hitler and Stalin were far from the first practitioners of this trick, and our current crop of VIPs will certainly not be the last.
Posted by Leslie Fish at 7:12 AM 10 comments:
Labels: addiction, corruption, drugs, marijuana, obsession
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Police Pity-Parties
I've known a few honest cops in my life -- a city cop here, a sheriff's deputy there -- and 90% of them quit the job and took up other work instead. I've also -- having lived in central New Jersey, Chicago, and northern California -- had a thwacking acquaintance with a good many dishonest cops. I'll admit that 90% o them were not crooked for money but for power, for the fun of making civilians "show proper respect". I also must say that the ones who were crooked for money often got it by politicking rather than suborning bribes. For that reason, I'm rather cynical about police department spokesmen and their various claims at budget-review time.
I'm exceedingly tired of hearing police whine about how dangerous their jobs are, and that old cliche about how they have to go down dark alleys at night where Dangerous Criminals might be hiding. Tsk.
When I hear that hoary old tale, I can't help thinking about the people who have to walk down those same dark alleys -- with no gun, no club, no taser, no tear-gas, no armor, no partner, and no back-up troops waiting in the wings -- every night of their lives, because they live there. I've lived in poor-working-class neighborhoods like that. Believe me, the police were very slow to come when called for emergencies there. Instead, we relied on our neighbors for help, and those neighbors did a damned good job of it -- for the simple reason that they knew it would be their turn to need help soon enough.
As for the fearful-terrible danger of police work, any insurance company can list for you at least ten jobs that are more dangerous -- jobs that are more likely to leave you dead or permanently injured -- than being a cop. These include:
Farmer (farm machinery and large farm animals are not safe)
Coal Miner (they've died on the job at the rate of one man per shift, per day, per year, for the last century)
Sandhog ('nuff said?)
Hire-Iron Construction Worker (")
Chemical Plant Worker
Heavy Equipment Repariman
Professional Football Player (no kidding!)
High-Wire Electrician
Timber Worker (including sawmill worker and lumberjack)
A little searching can add several more to the list. I've deliberately left out military jobs, such as paratrooper or Explosive Ordnance Disposal worker; we're just talking civilians here. On occasion the media will carry stories of workers at these various jobs going on strike or otherwise agitating for higher pay, or better health insurance, or safer working conditions -- and the tales are inevitably accompanied by the usual grumbles about the greed of uppity workers, and how this will raise prices/taxes/insurance payments for everyone else.
You don't see those grumbles when police departments agitate for higher pay, better benefits or bigger/better equipment, and the reason given is that police work is necessary and -- of course -- dangerous.
Why don't jobs that are equally necessary (except maybe Pro Football Player) and provably more dangerous get at least the same respect?
Posted by Leslie Fish at 12:25 PM 3 comments:
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It has been going on there for nine years and counting. Nearly 100,000 American troops are currently deployed there. More than 1,300 American service members have lost their lives there. The United States has spent over $300 billion on the effort so far. Yet polling suggests that the war in Afghanistan is barely a blip on voters' radars as the midterm elections approach.
Given the condition of the economy and the high unemployment rate, the fact that most Americans largely cite those problems as the nation's top issues is not surprising. What is surprising is that hardly any Americans cite the war in Afghanistan at all.
In a nationwide New York Times/CBS News poll conducted last month, 60 percent of Americans said that the economy or jobs were the most important problems facing the country. A mere 3 percent mentioned Afghanistan or the war.
A Pew poll earlier this month found that 23 percent of Americans said they were following the situation in Afghanistan very closely, far fewer than the 43 percent who were following the condition of the economy very closely.
When an ABC News/Washington Post poll released in early September directly asked how important a number of issues would be in deciding how to vote for Congress in November, the economy, health care and the budget deficit were all rated as very important or the single most important issue more often than the war was.
In contrast, in the period leading up to the 2006 midterm elections, the war in Iraq and concerns about terrorism trumped all other issues in Times/CBS News national polls. Amid broad dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq that year, American voters ushered in a new Democratic majority in Congress.
But Americans' priorities shifted dramatically in 2008, as the economy took a severe turn for the worse. In the Edison/Mitofsky exit polls on Election Day 2008, with the country in the midst of an unfolding financial crisis, the economy was chosen by more than 6 in 10 voters as the most important issue facing the country, while 1 in 10 chose the war in Iraq (these voters were more apt to be Democrats) and another 1 in 10 cited terrorism (voters who were mostly Republicans and conservatives).
John Mueller, a professor of political science at Ohio State University, said the "rubber band theory" explains the lack of interest in the war. "People mainly think about domestic issues, particularly economic ones, and from time to time their attention is pulled away by international events, but their natural tendency is for it to snap back to what they're really interested in."
Lack of focus should not be confused with support for the war. On the contrary: Americans' assessments of the war are grim. A majority in the September Times/CBS News poll said the United States should not be involved in Afghanistan now, up 15 percentage points since December. And most said the war was going badly, down from its peak but well above the reading in the early years of the war, when broad majorities said it was going well.
Mark Janssen, 54, an independent voter from Traer, Iowa, was one of the few Times/CBS News poll respondents citing the war in Afghanistan as the most important problem facing the country. In a follow-up interview, Mr. Janssen said, "The economy is terrible, but if nukes get into the wrong hands, it's going to make all this other stuff seem insignificant."
Speaking about the candidates, Dr. Mueller explained: "They would talk about it if they thought it would win them votes. It just doesn't have much political traction. The big thing is the overwhelming impact of the economy, which is certainly straightforward and obvious."
The Democratic party is split over the war, with many elected Democrats uneasy with or opposed to President Obama's decision to send more troops. That makes it all the more likely that Democratic candidates will avoid bringing up the issue with voters. With the poor economy contributing to a favorable electoral climate for them, Republicans have no particular political need to bring up the war which, in any case, most Republican political leaders support. Republican voters are the most apt to support the war, and to say the United States is doing the right thing by fighting.
Until the unemployment rate begins to fall dramatically, most Americans seem to feel that they cannot afford to focus on the war. "Jobs are the prevailing issue for everyone right now we need to focus on jobs," said one poll respondent, Michael Santalucia, a 47-year-old Democrat from Beavercreek, Ohio. "I don't know how much we can do about Afghanistan right now, but we can do something about jobs here."


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Guest post by Iain Gillott, iGR Research
We in the mobile love to discuss 'the next big thing' – we are never happy living in the present and always want the next new shiny thing. Perhaps this is because of the way the industry developed in the mid-1980s, from humble analog networks (really, they were not that good!) to digital networks and then to 3G and beyond. Of course, along the way we never agree on a single network technology (2G was covered by at least four standards) and so even as the latest-and-greatest technology was always been promoted.
Now that we have got to LTE (which most of the world agrees on for '4G'), it is time for the next shiny thing: 5G. The problem with 5G at present is that if you talk to five people about 5G and what it is, and you will get at least seven answers! What stands out more than any new 5G technology, air interface or spectrum is the general level of confusion and lack of definition.
So when iGR came to trying to size the 5G infrastructure opportunity, we had a problem: how do you size something that is not firmly defined? With LTE, we know which piece of infrastructure will be deployed in which part of the network, so determining costs is (relatively) easy. But with 5G, it is far harder.
Our first step was to listen to the technologists, which will tell you that real 5G is IMT-2020, just as the 'real' 4G systems were defined by the IMT-2000 standards. Follow the standards and it is unlikely that 5G IMT-2020 will be deployed before (you guessed it) 2020.
The next step is to consider what will be needed to deploy IMT-2020. 5G will be about high speeds, lower latencies and more dense networks. The first 5G networks are likely to include some or all of the following: a virtualized mobile core over which a preponderance of traffic flows, some type of "evolved" IoT (Internet of Things) use case, and LTE-Advanced deployed along with new spectrum. In order to deliver the required functionality, iGR believes that spending will be required for RAN upgrades, cell site densification, and data centers / Central Offices / Mobile Edge Computing.
Look at this description and it is clear that 5G deployment will depend on the continued evolution of the current LTE networks, including support for upcoming releases. In the U.S., iGR forecasts that $48 billion will be spent to upgrade LTE between 2015 and 2019 in preparation for 5G. Note that no IMT-2020 radios or cells have been deployed at this point!
For 5G itself, costs were modeled for densification (obviously a lot more cells, specifically small cells), RAN upgrades (putting IMT-2020 into existing cells) and data center/CO/MEC infrastructure to push processing closer to the edge. The cost of this infrastructure between 2017 and 2015 is estimated at $56 billion (again, just for the U.S.).
So properly deploying 5G, the next great, new, mobile shiny thing, is expected to cost $104 billion for the U.S. alone. While this is a big number and many in the industry get very excited about the opportunity, there is cause for some caution here: the industry needs the business models and revenues to support this level of investment. Expecting consumers to pay more for faster video delivery, for example, to their smartphone and tablets is unrealistic – look at the current competitive pricing between the largest operators and it clear that increasing prices for 5G is not on.
Instead, the industry needs to move toward innovative shiny new business and revenue models to go with the shiny new LTE and 5G networks.


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The Ideal Marriage
Contributed by Russell Brownworth on Jun 7, 2001 (message contributor)
Summary: How can I take steps to help my marriage become better? Consider the "stumbling signs" and Use the "stepping stones".
The Ideal Marriage
(Senior Adult Sunday)
Matthew 19.8 June 10, 2001
He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
The preacher said I could have 16 wives;
four better,
four worse,
four richer,
four poorer.
The sayings and stories surrounding the subject of love and marriage are legion. For instance: What is the difference between a woman and a man in love? When a woman is in love she acts like a fool; when it's a man, he's not acting!
Divorce was a common practice in Jesus' day, as in ours. But divorce was a side issue in our text. The Pharisees were just using the issue as a smoke screen (Mt. 19.3,7) to trap Jesus into one of those have you stopped beating your wife questions. Their real agenda was to discredit Jesus' teaching. In answering them, however, Jesus not only silenced his enemies, but his answers show the long term IMPACT our choices make on our own lives, and the lives of our families and neighbors. Consider Jesus' teaching on…
The Holiness of Marriage
Few of us would argue that God has a blueprint for marriage. A man and woman are to leave their respective families, and cleave to each other, forever! My favorite way of expressing that is to be joined at the heart. If you do not believe that can happen, you have no business getting married.
The holiness of marriage is foreign to our culture today. Most people view it as a civil arrangement, or contract, that is up for scrutiny whenever one of the partners feels uncomfortable with the terms. The commandment of God makes it a holy commitment (see Exodus 20.14).
What does an "Ideal" Marriage Look Like?
May I say, It doesn't matter what it looks like? Listening to a National Public Radio broadcast the other day , I heard the storyteller talk about the German occupation of France during the Second World War. The Nazis sent out officials to many of the vineyards to confiscate the best bottles of wines. Many of the managers hid their best, oldest stock. They took dust and coated the bottles some of the newer (and cheaper) wines.
Although history records how France's wine industry was preserved with this trick, the dust on the bottle could not change the quality of the wine inside. It is that way in marriage. No matter what your neighbors, church family, or even you might imagine about what a marriage looks like, it cannot change the value of what is happening on the inside, where it counts!
In honor (and with all truthfulness), on this Senior Adult Day in our church, where we are affirming our Seniors, and especially those with forty-plus years of marriage, I want to announce that we have not the first perfect couple among us!
We do, however, have the Scripture, which points out the ideal – and our responsibility to move in that direction. Let's investigate that direction.
Weatherly, in his work The Ten Words, says,
Marriage is the union of one man with one woman for the purposes of sex fulfillment, the procreation and nurture of children, and the completion of the basic development and expression of personality through intimate communication and interaction with another human being enough like him/herself to be congenial, and sufficiently different to be enduringly attractive and stimulating to the point of exciting him/her toward the fullest and richest possible realization and employment of his/her potentialities as a person.
Whew! Don't you love clear thinking?. In short (if you can shorten that at all) Weatherly agrees with me – marriage is when people are joined at the heart!
Spend Time Choosing
In order to be joined at the heart, those contemplating marriage should spend large amounts of time selecting a mate. There is great depth of truth in the experience of a young seminary grad, who was to conduct his first marriage ceremony. He asked a retired pastor what advice he'd give. The senior pastor said, If, in the middle of the ceremony you forget the words, just quote the first passage of scripture in your mind. The young pastor did forget; the first words that came to mind came stumbling out; Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Andy Capp's wife, Flo was listening to a young lass. She couldn't make up her mind about the right fella. She asked how it was with Flo and Andy. Love at first sight, dear, said Flo, My own fault for not taking another look.
It pays to spend a long time courting. It's a little like deep-sea fishing; you never know what you've got until you get it in the boat.
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15 July 2015
Nichole is inspired by son to follow university dream
A young Burnley mum feels she has done her son proud after securing a sociology degree from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan).
Local student Nichole Watson celebrated her degree success this week with her three-year-old son Jack who was only nine-months-old when she began her studies in 2012.
During the last three years 22 year-old Nichole has juggled being a single mum with full-time study and says not wanting to let Jack down was what spurred her when it became challenging.
The former Townley High School and Nelson and Colne College pupil said: "There were many times when I thought I wouldn't finish my degree but I don't think I could've looked Jack in the eye if I'd have dropped out. I just had to remind myself of the reasons why I was doing my degree and the time I had already sacrificed away from my son, giving up when things get tough would not be setting a good example to him. I've spent a lot of time studying in the library during the last three years but thankfully Jack's dad and his grandma have been a great support network."
"I want to be a role model for Jack as he grows up and in years to come when it comes to his own academic exams I hope my hard work will motivate him."
"I want to be a role model for Jack as he grows up and in years to come when it comes to his own academic exams I hope my hard work will motivate him."
Nichole decided to study sociology at University after she completed an A Level in the subject in only three months after having Jack and walked away with an A*.
"It's a subject that makes me think outside of the box and gives me a fresh perspective on things so I wanted to take it further," she said.
Nichole has now secured an administrative job working for the NHS and is looking forward to building up her CV before she decides her next career step. She's already considering returning to UCLan to complete a master's or applying to study for a PGCE in primary education.
She added: "I feel like I need a break from education for a bit and am looking forward to starting my new job. My studies have really increased my confidence and I would always advise anyone in the same position to go for it and think about the long-term picture and what it could lead to."


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Get Out of My Seats! A Remarkable Design Turns One Chair Into Three (Video)
Photos Courtesy of Paul Menand
One chair, two chairs, three chairs more. That might be what French designer Paul Menand was thinking as he designed the Triplette Chair, three chairs built into one. We've seen a lot of interesting stackable chairs, but what's especially cool about Menand's design is that even when all three are stacked, they still function as a single chair.
>> WATCH SLIDESHOW: 10 Coolest Multifunctional Furniture Designs
Check out the video, which I promise isn't an optical illusion:
CHAISE TRIPLETTE Paul Menand par PaulMenand
A friend arrives at the apartment? Stand up, give him a chair from under you. Friend number two, repeat the drill. When they go and you want to clean up a bit, just restack the chairs, sit down and have a rest after all that entertaining. We only wish you could stak one Triplette on top of another!
Menand said of his design:
Starting from a work around space saving, trying to find an alternative to the folding chairs we used to use when we had somebody over, which end up, after the party, in a corner, a closet or against a wall. The Triplette chair allows users to "stack up" their unused seats without loss of space and then to multiply, quite simply, the chair when friends come over unexpectedly.
For now, the Triplette Chair (the chaise Triplette, in French) is just a prototype, but keep an eye out for when it hits stores. Designs that are this clever, simple and terrifically space-saving won't stay on the shelves for long.
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More chairs that stack in unexpected ways:
A Different Kind of Stacking Chair from Jun Murakoshi
STACK Furniture STUCK with VELCRO
PUUR Magic Chair Stacks Up


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Dr. Wehrman
Dr. Wehrman received his undergraduate degrees from UND-Williston, UND-Grand Forks, and Northwest Technical College-Moorhead. He then earned his Doctorate of Dental Surgery from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN. in 2004. Dr. Wehrman focuses on providing function and comfort along with aesthetics and longevity with each dental procedure. Through the art and science of cosmetic dentistry, Dr. Wehrman is able to achieve optimal results that surpass the highest expectations of each patient. While the State of ND requires 32 hours of continuing education every 2 years, Dr. Wehrman far exceeds that amount annually. By continuing to improve his dental skills and knowledge, Dr. Wehrman is able to provide his patients with the most effective and advanced dental care available. Dr. Wehrman enjoys exercising, downhill skiing, and spending time with his wife, Tashie and their children Kourtney, Cade, and Ben.


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TROY — Two Troy High School Senior Band students recently were selected to play in the Honor Band of America.
Brett Galey and Kane Feltner were joined by nearly 100 students from 26 states to form The Music For All Honor Band of America as part of the Music For all National Festival in Indianapolis.
They spent four days together learning music that they then played in Clowes Memorial Hall for a sold out crowd. Brett plays trombone in the high school band, bass guitar in jazz band and plans to attend the University of Cincinnati — College Conservatory of Music for music education next fall. Kane is one the bands field majors, plays saxophone and plans to attend Bowling Green for music education in the fall.
photo is Kane, Brett. also Kane, Brett and Troy Band director Kathy McIntosh who was there see their concert.
Visit the Music for All website at musicforall.org for more information.


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Five La Follette School faculty members and several faculty affiliates presented their work on a wide range of issues at the 2016 Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Annual Fall Research Conference from November 3 to 5 in Washington, D.C.
Faculty members Maria Cancian, J. Michael Collins, Greg Nemet, Tim Smeeding, and Dave Weimer gave presentations and participated in roundtable and panel discussions at the country's foremost policy analysis conference. In addition, Profesor Jason Fletcher attended the conference as a member of APPAM 'sPolicy Council and as a co-editor of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management.
Cancian and Smeeding – both former directors of UW-Madison's Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) – participated in the roundtable Anti-Poverty Policy Innovations for the U.S.: Cash Transfers, while La Follette faculty affiliate Lawrence Berger moderated Family and Work Support Innovations for the U.S.: Supporting Self-Sufficiency and Access to Basic Material Needs, which was organized by former La Follette School Director Carolyn Heinrich. Berger is the IRP's director, and Heinrich (now with Vanderbilt University) recently joined La Follette's Board of Visitors.
The IRP also sponsored two roundtable discussions to mark its 50th anniversary. Other participating IRP scholars are listed online.
Collins, faculty director of UW-Madison's Center for Financial Security, discussed Improving Financial Decision-Making, Financial Health and Well-Being: Insights from Field Experiments and presented his paper Competing Methods of Informing Student Borrowers: A Randomized Field Experiment at an Online Proprietary University.
Nemet chaired the discussion Global Policy Analysis on Environment, Climate, and Energy and discussed Science and Technology Research and Development Funding. He also presented his paper Structuring Public Support for Radical Low-Carbon Innovation in Industry: The Valley of Death and the Technology Pork Barrel.
Weimer also participated in three sessions: Democracy and Policymaking in an International Context (chair); Behavioral Economics and Cost-Benefit Analysis: Benefit Transfers (paper presentation); and The Three Faces of Access: The Affordable Care Act, Insurers, and Physicians (paper presentation).
Cancian's other presentations were:
- Welfare Policy in the 21st Century: The Role of Research in Breaking New Ground to Reduce Poverty (symposium with Judy Gueron of MDRC, who will present the La Follette School's seminar November 29).
- On the 20th Anniversary of Welfare Reform: Changes to the Social Security Net and Their Consequences (panel discussion chair)
- Evidence Building for Policymakers: Census Bureau Efforts (roundtable discussion speaker)
- Noncustodial Fathers' Contributions: Recent Trends and Consequences of Child Support Policy in the United States (paper presentation)
Smeeding's other presentations were:
- Use of Large-Scale Data to Assess Social Mobility (roundtable speaker)
- Rising Income Inequality and Educational Outcomes for Poor Children (panel discussion)
- Inequality in 3-D: Income, Consumption, and Wealth (paper presentation)


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OUR VISION: Kyowa Kirin International is a part of the Kyowa Hakko Kirin Group, a Japan-based Global Specialty Pharmaceutical Company contributing to human health and well-being, worldwide, through innovative drug discovery and global commercialization, driven by state-of-the-art antibody technologies mainly in the core therapeutic areas of oncology, nephrology, and immunology.
Kyowa Kirin's Mission and Values
Kyowa Kirin's mission is to make steady advances as we do our utmost to respond to the requests and hopes of patients suffering from diseases for which there are currently no adequate treatments, as well as their families and medical professionals. To deliver the fruits of our dedication and commitment to large numbers of patients as quickly as possible.
Every Day, We Live Our Values:
- Believe in ourselves.
- Strive to be fearlessly innovative.
- Honestly pursue our objectives.
- Find strength in numbers.
- Support wellness and quality of life.
- Accelerate our efforts.
- Celebrate and take pride in our shared vision.


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Did you know that there are several benefits that veterans of the United States military are entitled to for their burials? There are both ceremonial and financial benefits available to any veterans that have served our country and were honorably discharged.
You may have attended a funeral that had a flag draped over the casket, heard the moving sounds of a bugler playing Taps at the cemetery, and then witnessed the flag being folded and presented to a mourner on behalf of our grateful country. It can be a powerful and meaningful moment in what is already a very emotional experience.
If you wish have military honors at your own or a loved one's funeral, all you need to provide to your funeral director is what is known as form DD-214. This form states that the veteran has been honorably discharged from his or her service and is eligible for an honor guard to be present at the funeral. There is no charge for this service and it is something that Levinson's will coordinate on your behalf with the United States military. If you have already pre-planned your funeral with Levinson's, we can keep this document on file to present at the time of burial. If you do not have access to the DD-214, you can obtain one by going to this web site or by contacting the National Personnel Records Center at 314-801-0800.
There are also several financial benefits that are provided to veterans for their burials. For example, every veteran who has been honorably discharged (and their spouse) is entitled to a grave at a state veterans cemetery at no charge. The veteran is also entitled to a free lining in the grave, a grave marker, and the opening and closing of the grave at no charge (spouses of veterans are entitled to extreme discounts for these items). Burial at a veterans cemetery does sometimes entail a little bit of a wait for interment and our funeral directors can provide you some information on that. Families of veterans can be reimbursed (up to a certain amount) for the cost of a grave at another cemetery, as well as for some funeral expenses. These amounts vary and to receive them the family must apply directly to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs after the veteran's death by going to their website or calling 1-800-827-1000.
Membership in Jewish War Veterans of America (JWV) also provides benefits. Members of JWV will provide a ceremony (upon request) that involves standing at attention in front of a casket in our chapel, and they will also serve as honorary pallbearers. According to jvw.org "The Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America is an American Jewish veterans' organization created in 1896 by Civil War veterans to prove that Jews have proudly served this country since the Revolutionary Era." The JWV works to help preserve veterans' healthcare, as well as benefits for their caregivers, and can even help to provide service dogs to veterans in need. For more information about how to join or donate to the JWV please visit their website.
For more information about veterans' benefits related to the funeral, please give us a call or schedule a time to sit down and speak with one of our funeral directors.