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Take a look around your favorite national park and you'll notice a uniformity in your fellow visitors that is not representative of the American population. The average park visitor is overwhelmingly older (50-plus) and white. The National Park Service is doing its best to appeal to a younger and more ethnically diverse audience, but are those efforts too little, too late?
Last year brought a record number of visitors to the national parks — 292.8 million to be exact. But a vast majority of those visitors were white and aging. The most recent NPS survey of visitors, conducted in 2008-2009 and released in 2012, found that 22 percent of visitors were minorities, though they make up some 37 percent of the population. "Those U.S. residents who could name a unit of the National Park System they had visited in the two years before the survey were disproportionately white and non-Hispanic," the report concluded. The report also noted that those percentages have hardly budged since the last visitor survey by the NPS in 2000.
Park service leaders are aware of the issue and are taking steps to get more visitors through the park gates. On Aug. 25, 2015, for example, admission is free to all national parks in celebrating of the park service's 99th birthday.
"The National Park Service's 99th birthday is an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the role of national parks in the American story," National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis said in a statement. "And it's also a time to look ahead to our centennial year, and the next 100 years. These national treasures belong to all of us, and we want everyone — especially the next generation of park visitors, supporters and advocates — to discover and connect with their national parks."
Why do some groups visit national parks while others don't? When survey respondents were asked why they don't visit NPS sites more often, Hispanic and African Americans respondents both cited high cost and transportation issues as the main barriers. African Americans also noted that they simply did not know much about the parks and what they could do there. In addition, both African American and Hispanic visitors were more likely than non-Hispanic
whites to find NPS sites unsafe or unpleasant to visit.
When asked about the lack of diversity within the national parks, park representative Linda Friar told me that "a general description of our visitor is complicated," as the service maintains 408 different sites around the country including parks, battlefields, historical sites, lake shores, monuments and memorials, and seashores. Each type of site attracts a different type of visitor, Friar noted, so it's impossible to generalize.
A whopping 96 percent of the visitors who go to Yellowstone to see the bison and watch Old Faithful erupt are white. (Photo: Wollertz/Shutterstock)
But take a look at the visitor surveys conducted at different park units and the results show that in almost every park site, park service visitors are white — very white. Here's a quick sample of park service sites and the percentage of visitors who identified themselves as white in 2012 surveys:
- Steamtown National Historic Site: 95 percent
- Yellowstone National Park: 96 percent
- Mount Rushmore National Memorial: 93 percent
- Petersburg National Battlefield: 87%
- Congaree National Park: 93%
- Springfield Armory National Historic Site: 93%
- Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area: 96%
- Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: 85%
- Mesa Verde National Park: 94%
- Shenandoah National Park: 92%
These are NPS sites located in Pennsylvania, California, Virginia, South Carolina, Colorado, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. They are parks, memorials, battlefields, rivers, historic sites and recreation areas. And their visitation is almost exclusively white.
The NPS is not blind to its diversity problem. On Aug. 25, 1916, Congress established the National Park Service with the mandate to protect park areas for the "unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." But according to a policy report entitled, "Rethinking the National Parks for the 21st Century," the NPS is not fulfilling this mission. "The Park Service must recognize that the complexion of America is changing," noted the report's authors. "More minorities must be included in the workforce, which, if more representative of the nation, will in turn attract a broader representative range of park visitors."
According to a 2013 report by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, 80 percent of NPS employees are white. And of the 22 members of the National Park Foundation's board, an organization whose mission is to raise much needed funds to support the parks, only four are minorities.
So minority populations simply don't have NPS sites on their radar, and when they do visit, it's likely that they feel uncomfortable due to the lack of racial diversity among the NPS employees they encounter.
Friar commented that the NPS is working to "connect with and create the next generation of park visitors, supporters, and advocates," through digital communication tools and the NPS' recent Find Your Park initiative. But it's unclear how these programs will bring awareness about park service sites to an otherwise unaware segment of the population.
More than half of the people who visit national parks, like Shenandoah National Park, are over 50. And those numbers keep going up. (Photo: S.Borisov/Shutterstock)
And then there's the issue of the aging park visitor. Take a look at surveys conducted at some of those parks listed above, and you'll see that more than half of the visitors to NPS sites are 50 years old or older — and those numbers continue to climb. A report from the National Forest Service (a separate agency from the NPS but one that also caters to outdoor recreation and activities,) found that the average age of a visitor to Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area was 26 in 1969, 36 in 1991, and 45 in 2007. It's the same people who keep coming back. The NPS is seeing a similar trend.
To directly address this issue, the NPS announced an initiative to give all fourth-graders free passes to national parks for the next year. They are also improving Wi-Fi access within parks and bringing in more concerts and speakers in an effort to draw a younger crowd. NPS officials are hoping that these efforts will bring more kids — and their families — to NPS sites, encouraging the next generation of park stewards to care for our nation's parks.
Next year, the National Park Service will celebrate it's 100th birthday. That's 100 years of protecting and preserving park sites for the enjoyment of future generations. But just who will make up those future generations of park visitors? It's too soon to tell. Hopefully — for the sake of the parks and monuments around the country — future park visitors will be folks of all ages and ethnicities who feel a connection with our nation's treasures.


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SMC Heads-Up: Ministry merger, dolphin dilemma, Pink Terraces find
Issue 173 - March 16 - 22
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Super ministry
mirrors overseas
Wellington is abuzz with news of the 'super ministry', which was unveiled yesterday and will have major implications for a large number of public servants.
Some leaders in the science system have commented about the implications of the Ministry of Science and Innovation being bundled into the new Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Professor Shaun Hendy, who is President of the New Zealand Association of Scientists, said the merger could have major benefits on the economic development front, but may marginalise important environmental and health research that didn't have an immediate economic outcome.
In a press release he commented:
"We know that more scientific research is needed to grow industry, manufacturing and exports. But large components of the science system are concerned with the broader view, such as environmental and health science research, areas that do not often deliver an immediate payoff but which can be immensely valuable over longer time frames. Further change such as this is likely to add more uncertainty to funding structures and to science career paths, especially for younger scientists".
The Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor, Sir Peter Gluckman, also weighed in, saying:
"This reorganisation highlights the role that science and science-based innovation can play in a country's development, be it through direct impact on greater productivity from enhanced services, advanced manufacturing and the primary industries, or indirectly through greater environmental sustainability and social development.
"It will be important that the new Ministry continues to give focus to the broader ways in which science advances New Zealand and I have no doubt that will indeed be the case."
Overseas precedents
He points out also that the grouping of science, skills and economic development under one roof is not uncommon overseas.
Indeed, the UK's Department of Business, Innovation and Skills was formed in 2009 as the result of a merger, one of several the coalition government has undertaken there in a drive to reduce national debt. Australia's Department of Industry, Innovation, Research, Science and Tertiary Education came into being officially just a few months ago. If anything stands out as unique about the merger here is that it did not include tertiary education.
It is too early to tell if these major science-business mergers in the public sector have worked particularly well, but there's plenty of evidence to suggest that mergers in general are tricky to get right. The merger study Disappointing Marriage: A Study of the Gains from Merger is often cited, though looks at the the private sector. In anticipation of a large amount of public sector merger activity, Grant Thorton and the Guardian newspaper in 2010 commissioned a survey of 600 directors and senior managers to gauge attitudes in the public sector towards mergers. In the report's intro the authors note:
"While few
precedents exist and little practical guidance on successful
implementation is available, there is copious evidence that
reorganisation and restructuring often result in failure.
This is not a problem unique to the public sector. Indeed, a
review of the literature shows that between 50-80% of
private sector mergers disappoint, with many destroying
shareholder value.
On the science radar...
Super Mario maths, catholic crocodiles, sex-deprived alcoholic flies, urbane frogs and trans-fat fury.
Further protection for rarest dolphins
A new Department of Conservation report estimates there are only 55 Maui's dolphins left in the world, sparking action to save the species. The report, which was released on Tuesday, estimates that there are somewhere between 48 to 69 Maui's dolphins left, with a middle estimate of 55.
Based on previous dolphin surveys, the researchers estimate that the population is declining at a rate of 3% per year.
In the light of the report, the government has announced plans to hasten a review of threats to dolphins and, as an interim measure, extend current fishing bans.
"Maui's are critically endangered so any decline is very concerning. It is important that we act now, which is why the Government has proposed the interim measures and has brought forward the review of the plan." said Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson.
The government will be consulting on the proposes measures with a decision expected late May.
Maui's dolphin expert Assoc. Prof Liz Slooten, University of Otago, told the SMC that one of the most important areas to protect was the gap between the North and South Islands.
"Any dolphins that venture into this area
have a very high probability of being caught in a gillnet or
trawl net," Dr Slooten said."This is a serious problem in
terms of causing fragmentation of the population"
"The current government proposal also begs the question as to why they are not putting in place better protection in the harbours. A dead Maui's dolphin was found in the Manukau Harbour late last year. And our research has also documented their use of the Kaipara Harbour, well beyond the current protected area."
Your read Dr Slooten's full comments and a round up of media coverage on the SMC website.
Survey expands
on Terraces find
"Drain the lake! Drain the lake!" That was the cry from enthusiastic Stuff readers on hearing confirmation from scientists today that a large section of the Pink Terraces survived the Mt Tarawera eruption and sit intact on the floor of Lake Rotomahana.
GNS Science's Cornel de Ronde and his team returned to Lake Rotomahana recently to conduct sonar and seismic surveys of the lake floor. The surveys - much higher resolution than those that revealed the presence of part of the terraces last year, show a 40 metre wide, three-storey high mass of solid material.
Scientists believe they are the Pink Terraces, though they are not visible as they are covered in two metres of sediment. The faith of the white terraces, positioned in another part of the lake, is still unknown.
GNS Science today released a video featuring Dr de Ronde explaining the latest finds. TVNZ's Sunday programme will also feature the research - 7.30pm, TV1, Sunday.
MRIs, Telsa and food for the brain
The University of Auckland's Centre for Brain Research foreshadowed tomorrow's Brain Day with a lively and informative event looking at the science of imaging of the brain.
A Q&A session MCed by Media7's Russell Brown on Wednesday featured imaging scientists Associate Professor Brett Cowan and Dr Donna Rose Addis, with the resulting video available online. It is well worth a look.
Quoted: New Zealand Association of Scientists
"Such a merger shows a desire for science in New Zealand to focus on the short-term bottom line"
"But, it makes no sense in terms of environmental science for environmental sustainability or in terms of health science to improve the well-being of New Zealanders"
-- NZAS President Prof Shaun Hendy on the new Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
New from the SMC
Experts Respond: Quake
Quake questions:Following from last month's SMC Q&A with earthquake engineers, we have several more earthquake related questions answered by a panel of expert engineers.
'DIME' not so legal: The active ingredient in a supposedly legal party drug sold in New Zealand has been revealed to be a obscure - and illegal - hallucinogen. Read commentary from NZ experts and the Danish researchers who first synthesised the chemical.
More Maui protection: In the wake of a DOC report estimating that there are only 55 Maui's dolphins left, scientists call for better measures to ensure the survival of the species.
Labour pain
relief: An authoritative systematic review has
analysed the evidence for a a range of labour pain relief
approaches. Experts respond to the findings.
Mega ministry merger:
Reflections on Science:
Mega ministry merger:Read commentaryfrom science leaders responding to the announcement of the new Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment.
Sciblogs highlights
Some of the highlights
from this week's posts:
The (supposed) myth of the 8-hour sleep - Somnologist Karyn O'Keeffe takes a look a the idea of biphasic sleep - splitting your sleep into two chunks.
Sleep on it
A solution to the world's energy
problems? - Can device truly put out more energy than it
takes in? Marcus Wilson investigates.
Physics Stop
Pure, white and deadly? - Nutritionist
Amanda Johnson adds a spoonful of reason to the current
debate over the health consequences of sugar.
Food Stuff
Give us something simple, Steven - Ahead
of John Key's Mega Ministry announcement, Peter Kerr has
some advice for the assumed new minister, Steven
Research highlights
Please note: hyperlinks
point, where possible, to the relevant abstract or
paper. Genetic clues may show cancer risk:
Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences
Genetic clues may show cancer risk:A New Zealand researcher has helped a global team of scientists identify more than 500 genes that may trigger or contribute to the most common form of pancreatic cancer. The new research has identified 20 genes linked to the poor survival rate (1-in-20) in patients with pancreatic cancer, and may be used to pinpoint those people most at risk of developing the fourth-deadliest cancer.
Deep water: Nearly four
million Americans are at risk of severe flooding even if sea
levels rise only 1m in the coming century. Researchers also
point to a substantially higher frequency of storm-driven
high water levels by the middle of the century; water levels
that have previously been encountered only
Environmental Research Letters
Salt resistant wheat:
Tolerance to soil salinity has been bred into a variety of
wheat, which will be particularly useful in developing
countries where wheat is commonly grown in arid or semi-arid
areas with high-saline soil. This breeding line of wheat is
not a transgenic, as it was created by conventional
crossing, and highlights the potential of using
biotechnology to harness genetic diversity found in
undomesticated plants to improve modern crops without
necessarily creating transgenic organisms.
Nature Biotechnology
Heroin beats methadone for rehab: Medically prescribed heroin is more cost-effective than methadone for treating long-term street heroin users, according to a new Canadian study. Researchers attributed most of the economic benefits to the fact that recipients of medically prescribed heroin stayed in treatment longer and spent less time in relapse than those receiving methadone. Both results are associated with reduced criminal activity and lower health care costs. Canadian Medical Association Journal
Breaking the cycle: Children with disruptive
behavioural problems and their parents can benefit from
peer-led parenting classes, say UK researchers who created
an "Empowering Parents, Empowering Communities" (EPEC)
programme. Families proved more likely to seek out and
continue treatment if it was delivered by fellow parents in
local community settings, rather than professionals working
in clinics.
Going to seed?:
Fatty diets may be associated with reduced semen quality
according to researchers who linked diets high in omega-3
polyunsaturated fats (the type of fat often found in fish
and plant oils) with better-formed sperm in the men. Men
could reduce the amount of saturated fat they ate and
increase their omega-3 intake to improve not only their
general health, but their reproductive health.
Human Reproduction
Sounds like
a winner: US research suggests that voters favour
political candidates with lower-pitched voices. The new
study found that, when asked to pick a hypothetical
political candidate on the basis of their voice, voters
consistently choose the option with the deeper voice -
whether male or female. The authors also suggest that voice
pitch may be factor in the disproportionately low levels of
elected female leaders.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Tasty looking: Just looking at
images of food can change our taste experience. A new study
found that participants reported tastes to be more pleasant
when preceded by images of high-calorie foods, such as pizza
or pastry, as compared to low-calorie foods like watermelon
or green beans. The researchers also conducted neuroimaging
studies that identified previously unknown brain mechanisms
of visual-gustatory sensory interactions involved with food
PLoS ONE
Policy updates
Some of the policy highlights from this week:
'Super ministry' : The government has announced the new Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which will help the Government's business growth agenda by implementing integrated policies to build a more competitive and internationally-focused economy.
Positive parenting: Trials are underway for a programme training child health and development professionals to support parents who want to improve their parenting skills. MoH is spending nearly $4 million over three years to trial this programme, which is described as one of the world's most effective parenting programmes.
Upcoming sci-tech events
• Pacific Health Fono 2012 - March 18,
• Ethylene 2012 - The IX International Conference on the Plant Hormone Ethylene - March 19 -23, Rotorua.
• Forestwood 2012 - Forestry and timber conference - March 21, Wellington.
• Ever green but seeing red? Deciphering the palette of New Zealand's flora - 2012 Leonard Cockayne Memorial Lecture by Professor Kevin Gould, Victoria University - March 20, Palmerston North; 21, Wellington; 22, Hawke's Bay; 27, Rotorua; 28, Christchurch.
For these and more upcoming events, and more
details about them, visit the SMC's Events Calendar.

subset: commoncrawl


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2LO Plug & Play Harness Discussion
Discussion in '3rd Gen. Tacomas (2016+)' started by lapoltba, Feb 7, 2019.
Page 13 of 19
Page 13 of 19


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Recipe by:Chef Dustin KaragheusianCatania, La Jolla
For vinaigrette: Whisk together ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
For salad: Place ingredients in a large bowl and mix together. Drizzle salad dressing on top and plate. Add extra pistachios on top for garnish, if you wish.
Serves 2 (main course salad)


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Compliance interview
I had a visit from a ' Compliance officer' someone had made an allegation against me, that I'm able bodied, that I'm up and about, doing my own housework, walking my dog. Those who have firstly, read my previous blog know this is far from the truth, in fact impossible.
I have friends who voted Tory, for which I do not judge them ( it's part of the ' human condition ' to do so ) but those who know me in real life please put aside your images of what people who are in receipt of National insurance claims are like. I'm the true face of ' benefits street '. Not those you see on Television or read about in the press. I and many others like me. We're the True face. I would ask you to look at what the government that you voted for is doing to…
View original post 441 more words


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Journey through the Salcha trails on horseback with a ranch professional. Meet at Raven's Nest parking lot to depart at 3pm, arrive at Celebration Ranch at 3:15pm to mount up and begin our one hour trail ride at 3:30pm. Depart Celebration Ranch at 4:45 to return to Eielson by 5pm. Cost per person is $5.
This trip is R4R, open to USAF Active Duty or Air Reserve Component and their family members, For more information, contact Raven's Nest at 669-2537.
|Event Date
|07-27-2019 3:30 pm
|Event End Date
|07-27-2019 4:30 pm
|Available place
|Cut off date
|07-26-2019 6:00 pm
|Individual Price
|Raven's Nest


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Byco Byco Petroleum Pakistan Green Campaign wins Best Ad of Pakistan award
Karachi: Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited has won the award for the Best Ad of Pakistan from Herald magazine. On the occasion of Pakistan's 71st Independence anniversary, Byco conceived of launching their sustainability initiative to plant trees and to distribute seeds through its 350-outlet strong retail network across Pakistan. To kick off the campaign, Byco planted 1000 trees at the Urban Forest Park at Clifton, Karachi which uses the Miyawaki method of afforestation. The company also planted 2000 trees at its Bowzer Village next to its refinery in Balochistan.
The award-winning design of the "Fuel Up, Green Up" Public Service Message (PSM) was developed by Spectrum Y&R. The campaign promotes tree plantation across Pakistan by distributing Moringa Tree seeds at Byco's retail outlets. Complimentary seed pouches were distributed to Byco fuel customers. This public service message was launched to help Byco lead the way for Pakistan's citizens to Be the Change that they want to see in the world and promote environmental consciousness throughout the nation. Azfar Saeed Baig, Vice President of Byco said on the occasion, "It gives me great pleasure to announce that Byco and Spectrum have won this award for our Green Campaign, which is in line with the Government's initiative for a Green and Clean Pakistan. We believe it will help highlight even further the need for Pakistanis to work together to Make Pakistan Green Again and plant trees across the nation so that we protect and conserve our environment."


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Discovery Channel Contributor Derek Markham put together a nice write up on Velolet. Can't thank him enough for the kind words and the exposure to our great service for bike owners.
…This service seems like a great way for bike shop owners to also get their bikes out and working for them, instead of waiting until someone calls or walks in asking about the bike. It also seems a natural fit for travelers, who might want the option to cruise around on a bike while at their destination, or who get the urge to rent a mountain bike after seeing some sweet trails nearby, or who get drafted into 'just a little road ride' by their cycle-crazy relatives."
Read more here and thanks again to Derek and Discovery Channel


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Concepts of Copyright
You are a reader.
What books you have to read depends, to a large degree, on copyright.
If there was no copyright protection, arguably, a lot of existing books would suddenly become available to you for free.
One of the questions, though, would be how it would affect future books.
Could someone make a living writing books if anyone could reproduce them and sell them with nothing paid to the author?
It is possible.
People might make a point of paying the author to support them.
Many people, though, wouldn't, of course.
The USA didn't invent copyright…it was at the least inspired by England's Statute of Anne. America's copyright came about 80 years afterwards, but even the idea that copyright belonged in the courts was derivative.
The copyright clause from 1787 explains the reasoning this way:
"To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
There was a lot of discussion of the clause at that time…and the discussion still goes on today.
The way it is written, it doesn't say anything about a natural right to the copyright…that authors should own their creations because they created them.
It says it is to "promote the Progress": I think we can safely say that means to encourage the production of new works.
With that idea, it goes basically like this:
"Authors will not create if they can't have compensation for having created their works, so we offer them protection for a limited time."
After that, the works then become available to everybody.
How long should that term be?
That's where some of my readers, have a very definite idea.
I respect these readers a great deal, and am…impressed by their passion.
I wanted to take a post to explore this a bit more.
First, I do want to bring up one thing that to me seems quite weird.
In much of the world, including the USA, the copyright term is based on the author's life plus a certain number of years.
I'm open to a lot of things, but I particularly don't like that one. 🙂
It seems inherently ageist and unfair, and I'm surprised that there haven't been legal challenges to it.
It's simple.
If you publish a book when you are 90 years old, and the copyright term is Life+70 years (which it is in the USA right now), you and your estate will be able to make a lot less money on it than if you published it when you were 20.
People also talk about Life+70 as being designed for the author's kids to become mature adults.
So, should a childless author get a shorter copyright term?
The other reason I don't like life+ systems is it makes it much harder to tell if something is in copyright or not. You can't just look at the publication date and know.
My readers haven't proposed that change (to a finite term), by the way.
I think a finite term would tend to "promote the progress". Some books take a considerable amount of time and effort to create, especially some non-fiction. While a 90 year old might have the same passion to create as a 20 year old, the money they could get for the book would be less…because the publisher would have a shorter time to make money.
If there is a finite term, how long should it be?
Ah, there's the rub. 😉
Proponents of shorter terms (as short as fourteen years) may believe that we have a shared culture. They may point out that, if Shakespeare was still under copyright, poorer people would have less access to it.
I think that's a reasonable point…I read a lot of public domain works which I got legally for free.
However, those of lesser means can read in-copyright books now…through public libraries and donations, often from the publishers.
When I've explored the idea of permanent copyright (which would require amending the Constitution, so it's very unlikely), I have suggested that, in exchange, greater Fair Use rights would be made available. I would allow the use of copyrighted books for scholastic study without compensation, for one thing.
Let's ignore permanent for now.
What would be different if copyright was fourteen years versus if it was fourteen hundred years?
With the fourteen year term, you would be able to read a book published today for free in about a decade and a half.
That sounds good…but it seems obvious to me that publishers would have to do something different to make anything like the same amount of money they make now.
One option would be to charge a lot more money for the book. If a book can sell for, oh, one-fifth the amount of time it can now (at least, sell with compensation to the publisher), one could hypothetically charge five times as much for it to make the same amount of money.
That, of course, doesn't work very well. 🙂
You wouldn't sell the same number of copies.
Let's go with $10 as a price for a new e-book novel (you can pay a lot less than that, of course, but we are really looking at the traditional publishing model right now). If the book cost $50, would as many people pay for it?
Would piracy also increase?
Very likely.
Licensing might also tighten. We have what I consider to be quite generous licensing terms right now from the Kindle store. Typically, six people on the account can be reading the same book at the same time for one purchase price (what you are purchasing is a license). You could have 100 people (or more) on the account, and they could all read the same book…just, usually, not all at the same time.
If the rights are for a much shorter time, I would expect them to want to crack down on "serial reading", where one person (or set of people) read the book, then another person does. I expect that my descendants can read my ebooks…clearly, with a fourteen year term, that's not going to happen as much the same way. They'll read the books for free.
As a purchaser, the value of the book goes down considerably if it's only good for a relatively limited time…why not wait?
The value comes in reading it before other people, and while it is "hot".
It becomes a luxury.
The value has gone down in terms of multiple readers with shorter terms, which could drive down the price, but the prestige has gone up, which could drive up the price.
Read the current Stephen King for $100, or one from the year 2000 for free? There would be people who would pay the $100, but there would be fewer of them.
I want to return at this point to the purpose of copyright.
I would say there are two basic conceptions here:
- It is a business license
- It is to protect a natural right
As a business license, it makes sense that it can be for a limited time. The only considerations, really, have to do with money. Authors are granted a limited term to have exclusive rights to the work so they can make money on it to encourage them (and others) to write more works, which benefits the culture.
After that limited time, the book becomes the property of the public, and becomes part of our shared culture.
The "natural right" concept says that the author created the work, and has a natural right to control its use. In that case, it seems to me that an unlimited copyright is a reasonable possibility.
One argument against the natural right means permanent argument is that the natural right only exists for the creator, and some extend it to the creator's children. That creator's children part supposedly explains life+70: seventy years is a reasonable approximation of life expectancy, so it means that if an author writes a book, dies right away, and has an infant child, that child can be supported by the book throughout its expected life. I find that a pretty unlikely scenario, personally.
Some people don't like that properties end up under the control of a corporation: they say it then becomes "profits in perpetuity", and that it likely is no longer benefiting the author or the author's descendants.
They wouldn't want Disney or Sony determining how Mark Twain is used by the world, for example.
They also see it as benefiting an entity which has done nothing to deserve it.
The author, though, chose to license the rights to the publisher. If the author has control over the work, why isn't that something they should be able to control? The longer the copyright term, the more potential value to the company, the more the likely purchase price will be. Authors should theoretically make more money when the copyright is longer, in terms of licensing fees.
It also seems to me that Disney has done a great deal of work on perpetuating the value of Mickey Mouse. The example of Mickey is often brought up in copyright discussions. We go back to Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse cartoon (1928). The Disney company has undeniably lobbied to have the copyright terms extended when Steamboat Willie's protected end time was nigh. A 1998 act is sometimes colloquially referred to as the "Mickey Mouse Act".
I'm not talking about those lobbying efforts as things Disney has done with Mickey…although that does show time and effort.
They have carefully promoted the character.
They have built on it over time.
Anybody who doesn't think the Disney corporation is a large factor in why we even think the rights to Steamboat Willie are valuable…well, I'd be interested in hearing the arguments that without the Disney corporation, Mickey Mouse would be equally as valuable today as it would be if copyright had run out on Steamboat Willie in 1942 (or 1956…the original 14 year copyright term was renewable once).
Another argument in favor of earlier public domain status is that it allows more creative works to happen. People can then build upon the earlier works.
Two iconic examples of that are West Side Story (based on Romeo and Juliet) and Forbidden Planet (based on The Tempest).
The argument goes that those wouldn't exist if the original Shakespeare works weren't in the public domain.
I'm not convinced of that.
If the creators of those works had to license the originals, would that have made been an impossible hurdle or unreasonable burden?
Sure, it would have been up to the rightsholder. If the hypothetical "We Bought Shakespeare Corporation" didn't like science fiction, or didn't want the social commentary of West Side Story to happen, they could have refused the rights.
That is a perfectly legitimate argument: that's a point I understand, about not wanting a limited group to control how something which is part of our shared culture to be used.
I also think it isn't as simple as to say that when something is in-copyright, creativity is stymied.
Let's say you wanted to take the beloved Archie Andrews characters (Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and so on), and put them into a violent zombie comic. That would be up to the publisher…and Archie Comics allowed just that with the popular and critically-acclaimed
Afterlife with Archie (at AmazonSmile: benefit a non-profit of your choice by shopping*)**
If Archie had been in the public domain, anyone could have created an Afterlife with Archie type comic, of course…but how many people would ever have seen it? Since it was under license (being in-copyright) to a major distributor, it could get comic book store distribution…and the company spent money on promotion and quality control.
What about Superman flying or the existence of Kryptonite? Both brought to the company from outside, both approved by the company (see my article, xxy).
Remember, also, that in the USA, parody is protected by copyright. There are also some rights around "fanfic" (fan created fiction), at least where characters are not trademarked. What allows both of those? Fair Use. I do think that balancing longer copyright terms with greater Fair Use provisions is a possible balance.
Stepping away from the corporations for a minute, another argument I hear is that people don't want there to be a class of people who are well off through inheritance, in this case, inheritance of intellectual property rights. That's an interesting question of social engineering. My own feeling on that is that it should apply in a similar manner to other property rights. If intellectual property rights have limited inheritance, so should other property rights. I'm sure there are people who would agree with that: I've seen serious proposals for a 100% death tax: you die, and your property goes to the government, which then uses it to for the public good…including taking care of orphans, presumably.
I think that sort of discussion is beyond the scope of this post. 😉
Oh, I also hear people say that authors are only able to create their works because of the society in which they grew up, and that the audience for their works exists because of society. The public paid for their educations, and the readers can read because of the school system. When people say that, I wonder…do they think someone who immigrated here as adult and then wrote a book should get a longer copyright term, because they don't have to "reimburse" society for the public schooling? 😉 Do we really educate people only as a loan for the good they can do society, and they should have to pay it back? What if someone calculated the costs of their education, then paid the government that money, then wrote a book…should they be entitled to longer copyright terms?
I've gone on quite long enough, but I do want to make one more point.
The 14 year term came about in 1787.
What was the intent of that length?
Presumably, it had something to with exploitation of the value of the created work, and the point at which it would benefit the public for it to be free to copy
I would suggest that neither of those are the same today.
There are so many more revenue streams today than there were in 1787.
One of the most significant is movie/TV adaptation.
Publishers, and authors, can make a great deal of money from licensing the rights for the kind of media adaptations which just didn't exist in 1787.
If the copyright term was fourteen years, how often would a movie or television studio simply choose to wait fourteen years before spending significant money on the production? A book might not become popular for a few years after publication, which makes it a shorter time from interest to screen.
Of course, on the flip side, how many movie studios would pay $200m to make a blockbuster movie…when it would be free to distribute in fourteen years? I'm guessing you could say good-bye to movies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Jurassic World if the copyright term was significantly shorter.
At any rate, this is all a very complex topic. I'm not decided on anything (although, as I mentioned, I really don't like life+ terms). There are people who have it as a matter of faith (they believe they will never change their minds) that copyright terms should be short, or that there should be no copyright, or that it should be permanent. I'm not one of those folks.
I know, as a writer myself, I'm probably emotionally prejudiced in favor of longer terms. I do feel like I should own my creations (although I 100% accept the idea of Fair Use, including where my own works are concerned). I can set aside emotional prejudice, though: I suppose that's one reason I've been on three juries in the past ten years. 😉
I'm very interested in what you think about this. I have no doubt many of my regular readers are skipping this one, and waiting for something lighter in the next post…which is okay by me. Others of you are deeply interested and will want to express your opinions to me and my readers. Feel free to do so by commenting on this post.
Join thousands of readers and try the free ILMK magazine at Flipboard!
* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you'll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you'll get. Shop 'til you help! By the way, it's been interesting lately to see Amazon remind me to "start at AmazonSmile" if I check a link on the original Amazon site. I do buy from AmazonSmile, but I have a lot of stored links I use to check for things.
** A Kindle with text-to-speech can read any text downloaded to it…unless that access is blocked by the publisher inserting code into the file to prevent it. That's why you can have the device read personal documents to you (I've done that). I believe that this sort of access blocking disproportionately disadvantages the disabled, although I also believe it is legal (provided that there is at least one accessible version of each e-book available, however, that one can require a certification of disability). For that reason, I don't deliberately link to books which block TTS access here (although it may happen accidentally, particularly if the access is blocked after I've linked it). I do believe this is a personal decision, and there are legitimate arguments for purchasing those books. In this particular case, text-to-speech is not available, but that will be due to a technical issue. The "text" is actually part of the illustrations, and not available to TTS.
This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the I Love My Kindle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.


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Field Trip!
We had an impromptu field trip this week. We were going to try a new PE class, but once there we discovered it had been cancelled. To say the kids were bummed is certainly an understatement. This is something Ryan especially had been looking forward to. So, I asked them where they'd like to go for fun and the answer was unanimous, Wild Animal Safari! That is how our field trip for this week was born.
I had hoped to pack two field trips into this day. We'd just finished reading the 26 Fairmount Avenue series (which is fabulous by the way!), and FDR was mentioned quite a bit in the later books. His birthplace isn't far from this zoo, but we spent nearly five hours at Wild Animal Safari. Needless to say, we did not make it to Warm Springs, GA on this day. We will need to plan specifically for an adventure to the Little White House.
We completed two reviews recently. One for Math U See, Alpha and the other for A Journey Through Learning - The Earth. They are both neat products.
In addition to our regular studies,we are currently working on the following review items: Math Rider, Progeny Press, and Supercharged Science
Compassion International and World Vision:
We sent gifts to both of our sponsored children this week.
Her birthday is coming up soon. We plan to donate money so that all of the little ones with birthdays in July can have a combined party for the whole village full of games, food and presents. We will also send an extra little gift to her in the mail, along with a singing birthday card.
Compassion International:
Melany is our second sponsored child, and she lives in Ecuador. The envelope we can send to her is 8 1/2 x 11. So, we were able to fit almost everything we bought in her package. The packages for Compassion are sent directly to Colorado first and then they forward them on to the child. This is what we were able to fit in Melany's envelope (not pictured is a puzzle and a personal letter.)
Also, for Compassion children puzzles must be fully assembled in a Ziploc bag and then placed into the envelope. This is how we accomplished that:
Co-op and a Talent Show:
We had our last day of co-op for the year this week. Daddy came to class with us, too!
I had no voice left by Thursday, just a squeak. Thankfully, my friend and co-teacher, Mary could do all the speaking this last day.
There was a talent show after the last class. Caraline signed Jesus Messiah by Chris Tomlin for the show. It was beautiful. We have a lot of talented little ones in our group!
After co-op, our boys and few others stayed outside and played kickball - for nearly two hours. They had the best time.
~ I can't believe this school year is winding down. We begin our new studies in July and finish up in April. We are almost there! I will have a kindergartner and second grader and fourth grader! My how time flies.
This week we are linking with:


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5 minute raspberry chia jam
Ever since I first made this Raspberry Chia Jam, I've been finding excuses to make it over and over again. It is quick, delicious and a lot healthier than most store-bought jams. If you want something to spread on toast, dollop on porridge or drizzle over pancakes (or if you're like me and just want to eat it by the spoonful) give it a crack. It will be ready in a matter of minutes with very little effort.
I use frozen raspberries to make it (which keeps the cost down). I buy organic frozen ones because berries tend to have some of the highest levels of pesticide residue, but if you can't get organic ones, non-organic won't kill you. Sometimes we have to pick our battles.
It's the chia seeds that 'set' the jam. They absorb liquid to form a gel-like consistency. They also provide a bit of crunchy textural interest, which I like. I add a small amount of rice malt syrup to sweeten the jam slightly, but you can adjust the sweetener to taste or leave it out altogether.
1 cup frozen raspberries
1 x 20ml tablespoon water
1 x 20ml tablespoon rice malt syrup
2 x 20ml tablespoons chia seeds
1. Place the raspberries in a small frypan over a medium heat. As the berries start to defrost and soften, squash them with the back of a spoon to turn them into a paste. Add the water, rice malt syrup and chia seeds and stir everything together.
2. Reduce the heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer, continuing to stir regularly. The jam should thicken as the chia seeds absorb the liquid.
3. Once the jam has reached your desired thickness, take it off the heat and transfer to a clean jar or bowl to cool. The jam should keep in the fridge for about a week (if you can make it last that long).
Serve your homemade jam with these delicious lavender scones, get the recipe here!


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Saturday, 7 April 2012
Zulus (HaT)
Well, There´s only the 8 poses in the set as seen here
Not historically accurate..but then again they are meant to come from a Jungle type area in Khandibar and aren´t really Zulu´s at all and I liked the idea of a B/W colour scheme on the shields. Zebra skins...with wide stripes..that´s it!!..widestriped Jungle Zebras. Common in Khandibar.
Peter´s cave Blog..............he´s been lazy and not yet painted his part of the swop :-D
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I´d say the shields are Okapi hide. Very popular in Khandibar in the 19th century. That´s why the beasts became nearly extinct (Prof Dr Mallebrootje African Shield Coverings And Other Oddities Of Ye Darke Continent).ReplyDelete
They look great, as usual!Replies
LoL..I like it..:-D Was that in the original or the abridged addition? My copy reckons that the Okapi had stripes 3.7mm´s smaller (the white ones) than those on the shields I´ve painted.Delete
Some wild looking stuff...nice work PaulReplyDelete
Nice figs!! - I take my HaT off to you!ReplyDelete
These are nice figures and the skin tones look good.ReplyDelete
nice work Paul.ReplyDelete
Oooooh! He said I'm lazy!!!!! That's isn't true! I've painted one :-DReplyDelete
They look good Paul!
well paul at least your not going to have to worry about being overrun by them. Good job, and expect to see my terrorists done soonReplyDelete
Beautiful Zulus!!ReplyDelete
excellent choice of colours!
The brown skin is perfect!
Very nice Zulus Paul.ReplyDelete
A cool set this is, and as usual you did a great job on the little bods!ReplyDelete
Cracking bunch of angry young men. Great skin tone.ReplyDelete


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Call Us Today (727) 847-2288 or
Email us: email@example.com
Jaleh - What Do You Like About Being A Lawyer?
Video Summary
What do I like about being a lawyer?
Well, there's really many things that I like about being a lawyer. But if I had to narrow it down, I would probably say the top two things that I enjoy about being a lawyer would be: problem-solving, and also helping people.
Well, let's start with problem-solving. So, problem-solving is really integral to everyday, and being a lawyer. Whether it's a problem involving an estate, or whether it's a problem involving a piece of real estate, it's always a problem. And your clients come to you, usually in their darkest hour, when they're having an issue and they have nowhere else to turn. So, for me, I really enjoy being able to take a problem, and to be able to help them by reaching a resolution, sometimes in very creative and unique fashions. So, problem-solving is definitely number one for me, as far as enjoying what I do.
Number two, helping people. Well, there's nothing greater than the satisfaction of knowing that somebody's life, or day, or even maybe that hour is made better, because you've given them peace of mind, by giving them clarification and direction in which way to proceed. You know, whether it's involving a Medicaid plan for their mother or their father. Or whether it's just simply drafting a power of attorney for them, to ensure that if anything would ever happen, they'd have somebody that would be able to act as their agent.
So, really, helping people is integral to what I do, and why I really enjoy being an attorney.


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Here's another character concept set for a client's book. The character is named Harold, and he's the companion to the character in this set of concepts.
The character, Harold, is loud, prone to histrionics, and generally obnoxious. He's also a made-up creature with very little by way of a physical description in the text, so the visual options were pretty much wide-open.
Here's the first round:
Ordinarily, I wouldn't have drawn two different sets for one character (mostly because almost all of the concepts in the first round will get rejected). But in this case, I wasn't sure if the character was more animal-like or more of an insect and I wanted to present both options to the client and let her react to the drawn options.
Often, with character concepts, (at least in my experience), the process of deciding how the character will look is part intellectual and part visceral. As with the Sylvester character, the client chose a concept from the first lineup. I made it clear that I would be happy to keep drawing if none of the options fit the bill, but she was adamant. She liked one in particular and that was that.
So, after some refining, this is the character that came to fruition:
(She chose the clothes from the middle sketch.)
This set of character concepts was an intense amount of fun. Trying to capture a personality is way more fun than trying to capture a "look". I can't really articulate why, exactly, but I think it has something to do with the energy contained in a personality. Even a very boring personality has boring energy that comes out in every facet of that character. Whereas a "look" doesn't necessarily have energy of its own.
This was one of those projects that reminds me how lucky I am to draw for a living.


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Eugene Rogan's The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East; 1914-1920 is a brilliant book that combines the academic rigor one expects from a serious work of history and a fluid writing style that makes it an enjoyable read. Like his earlier work, The Arabs: A History (2011), the ultimate success of this volume comes from the fact that Rogan places the Ottoman Turks and other natives of the region at the heart of the narrative. Many titles dealing with this important period of Middle Eastern history fail to do so. Reducing the locals' role to little more than bystanders in their own story is often the result of relying solely on English-language resources. Here, Rogan's use of both Ottoman Turkish and Arabic archives and secondary sources does much to make this book stand out from the crowd.
The centenary of the Great War was always going to throw up any number of titles on that devastating conflict. That war continues to hold a particular fascination, especially in Western Europe, where much of the grimmest slaughter took place. This interest would appear to be undimmed in spite of the fact that the last of the roughly 65 million participants have died in the past three or four years. Just a generation later, World War II's roughly 60 million fatalities eclipsed those of 1914-18: approximately 10 million combatants and 7 million civilians. Yet there is much about this earlier conflict that captures the imagination of historians and readers alike. No doubt the madness of men being made to walk slowly, through mud, towards enemy machine-gun fire helps one focus on the insanity of trench warfare as implemented on the Western Front.
The fact that on the Western Front one has access to more eyewitness accounts — not to mention poems — written in English also plays a part. When British and American readers turn their attention to World War I in the Middle East, the ill-planned Gallipoli campaign and the legendary Lawrence of Arabia loom so large as to hide much of the background and details of that theater of operations. However, focusing on Allied decision makers and soldiers, whether the thousands of British, Australians, New Zealanders and others who fought at Gallipoli or on T.E. Lawrence, is not only misguided; it distorts the reality of the Great War in the Middle East to such an extent as to make these accounts largely invalid as serious works of history. Here, one sees the Middle East as so much more than "a sideshow," as Allied planners viewed it at the start of the war.
The Fall of the Ottomans offers a comprehensive history of one of the most tumultuous and least understood fronts of the Great War. It was important not only in terms of the conduct of World War I; it also laid the foundations for the modern states and enduring conflicts of today's Middle East. Through private diaries and official papers, one is exposed to the voices of both Ottoman and non-Turkish Arab forces in the service of the sultan, as well as members of various nascent Arab nationalist groups, civilians and government employees who knew when to keep quiet. By drawing heavily on a wealth of local accounts, as well as those of British and French officials involved in the war in the Middle East, The Fall of the Ottomans is perfectly situated to offer more than just military history. It also gives readers the best single-volume account of the region's social and diplomatic history at this time.
It was the Ottoman entry into the Great War in November 1914 that really turned a war between European empires into a world war. The Ottoman Front extended across three continents, where soldiers from Australia and New Zealand, India, North Africa and Europe fought pitched battles over the full four years of the war. The war led to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of nation states across the Middle East, all of which felt the impact of the Great War even before their creation. Conscription, willing or otherwise, into the ranks of the Ottoman army resulted in massive social upheaval across the region, added to which were the ravages of famine and disease, not to mention the bloodshed of the war itself. Beyond Gallipoli, Ottoman forces were engaged as far afield as Iraq and Iran, Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt and other parts of North Africa, as well as the whole of the Levant, covering the as-yet-uncreated state of Israel, the Palestinian territories, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
The Fall of the Ottomans opens with a pitch-perfect account and analysis of the 1908 Young Turk (constitutional) Revolution, which weakened the standing of "the Sick Man of Europe" in the eyes of its fellow European rivals. From this dramatic start to the postwar dénouement of flawed peace, Rogan's narrative is both precise and unhurried, while at the same time capturing the urgency and drama of events on the ground. The Allied powers believed the Ottoman Empire was already a spent power, so it made sense to knock it out of the war as swiftly as possible, leaving more troops available for the real action on the Western Front.
Alas for those patronizing planners who lacked genuine insight and intelligence into the disposition of Ottoman forces, the twin disasters of Gallipoli and the surrender at Kut al-Amara led to a re-evaluation of their initial misguided analysis. A declining power the Ottomans may have been, but their development of a modern, European-style army, which began under Muhammad Ali shortly after Napoleon's 1798 invasion and conquest of Egypt, was not in vain. Instead of providing a quick solution to the war on their Eastern front, campaigning against Ottoman forces actually occupied millions of troops from both the Allied and Central coalitions and arguably extended the duration of the Great War.
Had it not been for the embarrassment and bloodshed of Gallipoli and Kut al-Amara, there is a good chance that the planners in Whitehall and Cairo might not have offered their — limited — support for the Arab Revolt of Sherif Hussein of Mecca when it was eventually initiated in June 1916. The declaration of a jihad by the Ottoman sultan certainly worried Britain and its Allies. The fact that Indian Muslims in particular failed to answer the call is neither here nor there. The threat of a widespread uprising in British India, not to mention French North Africa, was enough to tax the military planners and their political advisers. Small though their contribution may have been, this is the point at which the Cairo-based Arab Bureau, a unit of British Military Intelligence, came into its own.
For a legend-free account of the undeniably important work of T.E. Lawrence and his colleagues in the Arab Bureau, there's no better choice than The Fall of the Ottomans, which places them all in context and devotes an appropriate, not inordinate, number of pages to the otherwise haunting Lawrentian specter.


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|Version 19 (modified by 9 years ago) (diff),
Table of Contents
0 A.D. Design Document
0 A.D. Online Design Document v 2.1
Licensing and Disclaimer
All info in this document is licensed as CC-by-sa.
The info contained in this Design Document is provided as-is. It represents the current plan for 0 A.D. but the final game might not be exactly as described here due to for example issues found when balancing the game or features cut to make it possible to release the game in a reasonable time.


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10 Apps All Food Lovers Should Know About
10 Apps All Food Lovers Should Know About
Yummly is a recipe discovery app that contains beautiful pictures with recipes from around the web. One can filter recipes by the ingredients they have in store and create different recipe boxes. They can also build their shopping lists for the week based on the recipes they choose.
This app lets you save bars and restaurants that you want to try to your phone and maps their locations. So the next time when you're out looking for a place to eat, you can find all the places you wanted to remember in one place.
Open Table
This app is best in the slot as it helps you to make reservations in your most favourite restaurants. Browse restaurants in your city, select the date, time, and number in your party and your reservation will be done in no time.
Taste Made
Tastemade is a great app for the foodies who love to travel around the globe. Through a strong network of "Tastemakers" in 22 cities around the world, Tastemade offers you the platform to showcase short videos about the coolest food hubs you have visited in the course of your journey. You can also use the app to make your own videos during your food tour and create lists of the places you have visited and the ones still in your wishlist.
Human eating project
This app is a blessing for the people who wants to have animal-friendly dining experience. The app marks the restaurants that are especially vegan or vegetarian – friendly with a green marker and restaurants with humanely-raised meats with a brown marker.
This cool app enables you to use your phones camera to scan products at the grocery store and find out if it's a healthy choice or not. This app assigns a grade to each product based on its nutritional value. It also shows you the ingredients actually present in your food and even recommends alternative options.
This app is a must for all the wine lovers. You can use your phones camera to research on wines while you are at the grocery store. All you have to do is take a picture of the label and Vivino will return a list of customer reviews and the average price of the bottle. It also gives you the option to create your own profile and save wines you want to try later and add reviews of your own.
Foodspotting is an app that puts smartphone snack snaps to good use. Rather than rating the restaurant as a whole you can rate the dishes individually and can even upload images to give a peek into what's on offer in your locality. It is the easiest way to find the perfect dish you're after in no time.
It is a great new app that lets you link coupons to your grocery store's rewards card. All you have to do is register your rewards card with your account, then use the app to browse for coupons. The coupons will be added to your card and applied automatically.
This app is the best thing for party lovers. You can tell the app which ingredients you have on hand, and it will create a list of drinks you can make with them.


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Hearings slated on National Grid rate change
A series of hearings will be held next week for the public to comment on a National Grid proposal to change its gas and electric charges.
The New York State Public Service Commission announced Thursday it would hold the hearings on the three-year rate plan, which was first proposed in April 2012.
National Grid first proposed to increase annual electric delivery rates by $145.4 million, or 5.6 percent of total electric bills, and annual gas delivery rates by $29 million, or 4.8 percent of total gas bills. An expiring $190 million surcharge and customer credits would decrease electric bills by 1.7 percent, but increase gas bills by 2.4 percent.
Have your say
In addition to formal hearings, comments on the National Grid rate plan can be:
• Emailed to [email protected]
• Phoned in to the Commission's opinion line at 1-800-335-2120.
• Mailed to Hon. Jeffrey C. Cohen, acting secretary of the Public Service Commission, at 3 Empire State Plaza in Albany.
The state Public Service Department investigated the initial proposal, as well as a joint proposal submitted by National Grid and other parties in December. The second proposal called for rates to be set for three years, with electric revenue requirement increases of $43.39 million in the first year, $51.36 million in the second year and $28.34 million in the third year.
The expiring surcharge and proposed use of customer credits would reduce overall electric revenues by 6.2 percent in the first year and increase them by 1.9 percent in the second and third years.
Gas revenue would decrease by $3.29 million in the first year, but increase by $5.85 million in the second year and $6.26 million in the third year. Overall gas revenues would decrease by 4.3 percent in the first year, but increase 2.9 percent in the second and third years.
The first public hearing will be held from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the McChesney Room at the main branch of the Schenectady County Public Library. Four more hearings will be held Thursday across Central and Western New York.


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BRAC is committed to ensuring the Capital Region has a robust workforce pipeline set to fill the needs of growing and evolving industry clusters. Our annual workforce report both gauges where our workforce pipeline is in relation to projected demand for various occupations, and offers substantive insights on workforce topics such as the de-stigmatization of skilled craft training, the benefits of public-private partnerships in workforce solutions, and the benefits of diversity within occupations.
As industries in the Capital Region become more diversified, it is vital that the workforce mirrors this evolution. Baton Rouge is home to the state's flagship university, one of the nation's top HBCUs, and several colleges that excel in training individuals for careers in healthcare, skilled craft, and other high-demand/high-wage occupations.
Customized Workforce Solutions
BRAC's strategic plan calls for directly assisting employers, economic development prospects and industry with workforce needs. To do this most directly, we rely heavily on our community and technical college partners in the region — Baton Rouge Community College and River Parishes Community College. They are part of the statewide community and technical college system known as LCTCS.
Similarly, the LCTCS has set a goal of significantly increasing partnerships with businesses and industries over the coming years. These partnerships come in a variety of forms, but all offer businesses the opportunity to shape their future workforce or to upskill their current employees. LCTCS envisions business partnerships with our region's community colleges taking many forms, including:
BRAC's focus is mainly on facilitating connections between local businesses and LCTCS schools to develop customized workforce solutions.
BRAC will monitor these partnerships to ensure that businesses are receiving timely and relevant customized training, that students are being properly prepared for available jobs, and that the skills needed for tomorrow's jobs are being developed today.


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Find Hostels all over the World
Rest Up London, HOSTEL in London England.
Rest Up London.
172 New Kent Road, London, England
Located near: We are located in Central London!
RestUp London is set in a large building steeped in history and tradition but combined with all the state-of-the-art convenience perfect for today's travellers.
Our hostel provides excellent value-for-money accommodation together with cutting edge technology to ensure you have a home-from-home ex


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How quick we are to judge other people! First impressions are made sometimes with lightning fast precision. That's what the audience and judges of Britain's Got Talent did to this middle-aged Scottish woman whose appearance was, well, a bit off. Were they ever surprised! You will be too! Four million people have watched this clip of the show on YouTube so far -- wait, since I saw it two hours ago it's now over five million viewers! Watch it and find out why. [I had to post a lower quality version of the video here. For the best quality, click here to go to YouTube for the HQ version.]
The song was telling her life story and she sang it with passion, even though it was terribly sad, about the loss of dreams and hope. Near the beginning Susan Boyle sang:
I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living...
I have found that it's hard to live up to our dreams and that it is so easy to lose hope. When life takes a wrong turn, despair is right there. Without God, I would be nothing today. I would have given up. I would not have had the courage Susan Boyle showed to keep trying at age 47! What I have found, instead, is that with God, the ability to dream is brought back to life. Christ is our hope. In faith, we turn to a God who goes so far beyond our dreams that we must learn how to dream all over again!
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21, TNIV)


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You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'books' tag.
Juxtaposed is a well-told memoir of a sexual abuse survivor. Despite being abused by her stepfather, a minister in the church, Daisy Rain Martin still believes in God. She won't tell you how or why, really, just that it's a part of who she is. Martin isn't here to tell anyone how to survive, how to get out, or how to deal with the aftermath. She just tells her own story.
I'm not an abuse survivor, so I can't particularly relate to that subject, but I do recognize good storytelling, and I'm sure there are many others who can relate.
I got a free PDF of this book for blogging purposes, but I liked the first chapters so well that I paid for the actual ebook so I could finish reading it on my phone (which is where I seem to do most of my reading now).
I also told my husband that this book could have been written specifically for him. And then he read it and agreed!
Being Jesus In Nashville started off as a bit of a gimmick – Jim Palmer was going to do a modern version of In His Steps, the 19th century classic that first asked, "What Would Jesus Do?" He was going to apply the question to his own life and write about his experiences. Simple enough, right?
But it turned into a book that his publisher declared "outside the bounds of biblical, orthodox Christianity." And he suddenly found himself without a publisher. So this book is now self-published.
What happened? It's hard to explain quickly – but really, it's right there in the title. Jim asks whether a person, like himself, can BE Jesus. Not just be LIKE Jesus — BE Jesus. That's the controversial part. But he's not saying I'M GOD, WE'RE ALL GOD, either.
It's worth reading just to try to make sense of it all. Palmer's written a couple of other books, which he refers to during this one. I rather wished I had read them before, but I don't think its necessary, either.
Find out more about Being Jesus in Nashville (and how to buy a copy on Amazon) at Palmer's blog.
I guess I didn't notice that this is really a book for pastors. I am neither a pastor, nor currently a church leader, so it didn't exactly speak to me. It is full of good information and ideas, though. The first section is about power; how power has traditionally been used (or in some cases, abused) in the church, and how pastors can change that. The second section deals with servant leadership, and the third is a practical section about prayer, scripture reading, following the ancient monastic vows of povery, chastity and obedience, and becoming a servant leader.
I found the practical information most helpful — it was a good reminder to add some structure to my spiritual life, with concrete ideas for doing so.
I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to change the way you pastor.
Before reading this book, almost everything I knew about Justin Bieber came from Glee. Or secondhand from Twitter (I don't follow Bieber, who's a fairly prolific and honest tweeter). And maybe a little bit from my kids, but they're not huge fans either.
So Bieber's story was completely new to me anyway, but reading it with a spiritual twist, and from the point of view of a woman my own age, put it into a good context for me.
Cathleen Falsani (author of The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers) admits that she was only minimally aware of Bieber before writing this book. She became interested after seeing a February 2011 Rolling Stone article titled "The Adventures of Super Boy: God, girls and boatloads of swag."
And indeed, Justin was open about his faith in the interview. This is the one where he talked about homosexuality (he thinks it's none of his business) and abortion (he's against it, but also says "I haven't been in that position, so I wouldn't be able to judge that").
But faith is part of his overall story, too, especially from his mother's point of view. Much of the book really discusses Justin's mother's faith, rather than his own.
Falsani takes us through Justin's history starting from before he was born to a teenage mother, through his childhood and into his current teen years. She recounts events that are probably familiar to the true Beliebers, like how he became a YouTube sensation, and how he ended up with a record deal.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to directly interview Bieber or people close to him for the book. So the information is coming from other interviews, and from Twitter. In fact, the advance copy I read includes several pages of tweets by Justin and his mother.
What's clear is that Justin Bieber has grown up surrounded by faith, and that it's part of who he is. I'd also say that's he's still very young, and his faith is still developing. Right now, he's got the faith he's grown up with; the faith of his family and friends. Like other young people, he's still going to have to figure out whether this faith is authentically his own, and something he can live out as an adult.
ADDENDUM: I had my 11-year-old daughter read the book, too. She said that a lot of it was things that she already knew from Bieber's movie. She also didn't like reading pages and pages of tweets. She thought some younger people and teens might be interested, but that this book was geared more toward adults.
This book has a SQUIRREL on the cover. I have no idea why. Somebody should figure that out. [update: my husband reminded me that there's a story about a squirrel in the introduction. I was too busy thinking "SQUIRREL?!" and thinking about this.]
The subtitle is The Art of Not-Evangelism. I love this. I have never felt like traditional, getting-people-saved evangelism was an effective tactic. Actually, I've never felt like the whole philosophy of "let's convert people and get them to attend our church on Sunday" was a good one. So this book is right up my alley.
According to Medearis, "making disciples of all nations" doesn't mean we have to get everyone to go to church on Sunday, subscribe to a certain set of theological beliefs, or recite a certain prayer or prayers. It just means helping people to develop a relationship with Jesus and to follow Jesus.
And that's it. It's about Jesus. Not about Christianity or any other religion.
I loved it. It's well-told and easy to read.
Here's a sample:
If you've ever done any therapy, you're probably familiar with the idea that we all live by scripts. Sometimes we're living out scripts that are unhealthy, even though they're familiar. Author Frank Viola suggests that as Christians, we need to look at the scripts we're using to live out our Christianity with a critical eye, because not all of these scripts actually come from God. He exhorts us to re-center on God, and let Him revise our lives.
Revise Us Again: Living from a Renewed Christian Script is short, to the point, and full of good examples, including some humorous stories and some that will probably make you cringe. If you've read and liked Viola's other books, you'll appreciate this one, too.
We went to see the movie version of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader last weekend, and while it was often quite different from the book, the Christian messages included by C.S. Lewis were definitely still there.
Not everyone sees this, though, so if you're interested in knowing more about the Christian themes in the book, Carl McColman's book The Lion, the Mouse, and the Dawn Treader: Spiritual Lessons from C.S. Lewis's Narnia is a great place to start. McColman goes through the book chapter by chapter, tracing the lessons. It's a good analysis, especially for those who are new either to Narnia or to Christianity.
Want to read a FUNNY book about Jesus? This is it! Imaginary Jesus is a novel, in which Mikalatos introduces us to various familiar versions of Jesus — King James Jesus, Testosterone Jesus, Magic 8-Ball Jesus, while he searches for the REAL Jesus.
I was a tiny bit disappointed at the end…real Jesus didn't quite work for me. But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and its reminder that we're not always following the real Jesus, even (or especially) when we think we are.
My husband managed to snatch this book and read it before I did, and he posted his review a long time ago. He also included Todd Agnew's song "My Jesus," which totally fits with this book.
Finally, I'm proud to say that Matt Mikalatos is from our own Portland, Oregon. I look forward to reading more of his work.
Check out Matt's imaginary website for Imaginary Jesus! You can even download and read a sample chapter there.
Disclosures: I received a free copy of the book through The Ooze Viral Bloggers in exchange for this review. I do receive a small commission for any purchases made through Amazon.com links above. Thanks!
Colors of God: Conversations about Being the Church was co-written by three authors/pastors: Quentin Steen, Dave Phillips, and Randall Peters. The three are or have been leaders of an emerging church called neXus in Abbotsford, B.C., Canada.
The book draws on their experiences working with an emerging congregation, but the three also come from an Evangelical background, which is reflected in their theology. In fact, the evangelical aspects were a little off-putting for me at first. I come from a Roman Catholic and United Methodist background, so I have a hard time with statements about "the finished work of Jesus Christ", like "the gospel says that Christ has fully met all the expectations and requirements of God on my behalf."
I think behind the language we probably do agree more than disagree, though. I do agree that we should not be worrying so much about whether we are pleasing God with our holiness. God is already pleased with us and loves us, and nothing can come between us and the love of God! And I do think we need to acknowledge our brokenness and our need for God's grace. I just don't necessarily believe in the theology of atonement that goes along with that.
Anyway. The book is divided into four sections. Blue represents Gospel Faith, Green is Healthy Living, Red is Inclusive Community, and Yellow is Cultural Engagement. These are the tenets that neXus is based on. In each section, the three authors carry out a three-party conversation, which is apparently to the sermons/teaching they do at neXus. This is followed by a chapter of question and answer with questions frequently asked by other people, and a chapter of additional notes on the topic, again in a conversational style.
I really enjoyed the conversational style and humor of the authors. In one of my favorite exchanges, Randall references Karl Barth on whether everyone goes to heaven (Barth says no, because some will choose not to), and Dave and Quentin respond.
Dave: By the way, let me say, I believe you just quoted a German theologian. I kind of think that makes you a dangerous liberal, but I'll leave it at that.
Randall: He's actually Swiss, by the way, not German.
Quentin: Nicely played.
The authors also refer constantly to scripture, and specifically to Jesus' parables. They do look at Scripture a little differently. I thought their take on the Good Samaritan was a little odd (the injured man represents Jesus?), but I thought their look at Matthew 18 was interesting. Matthew 18 begins with the disciples asking "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" It then moves quickly from "unless you become like little children" to "If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away," and on to the parable about leaving the 99 sheep to look for the one lost one. This is followed by the instructions for what to do if your "brother" sins against you:
If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. (NIV)
And then we get Peter asking how many times we must forgive someone (seventy times seven, says Jesus) and the parable of the unmerciful servant.
The interesting part to me is the authors' interpretation of treating someone like a pagan or a tax collector. They point out that many churches use this passage as instructions for (or justification for) kicking someone out of the church. However, how did Jesus treat pagans and tax collectors? Levi/Matthew WAS a tax collector who became Jesus' disciple. And Jesus was well-known for treating outcasts with love.
I think this book is great for anyone with a fairly orthodox theology who's interested in the emerging church, or the future of the church in the 21st century and beyond. I found it easy to read, but also thought-provoking and spirit-stirring. I definitely recommend it.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review as part of The Ooze Viral Bloggers program.
This is life: noisy, dirty, dangerous. And it's the best we get in this fast-paced, hard-nosed, crazy-making world. But is there more than chaos, commotion and calamity? Is there some majesty even in the dust?
In this unique compilation of journey notes, new author Krista Finch asks these questions, speaking honestly about herself and the world around her. With curiosity and passion, she digs into ordinary moments for the truth about awakening and reawakening. Brokenness and beauty. Ruins and restoration. And what she keeps finding in the clumps and clods is nothing short of glory. Welcome to life as is – unfinished but beautiful.
As Is by Krista Finch is a well written series of notes and vignettes. It's just not really my thing. I prefer to read something with an overall story and/or structure, and this is really just a series of short pieces. If you enjoy short, beautifully-written vignettes, you might really like this book. It just didn't work for me.
I received a free copy of this book from The Ooze Viral Bloggers in exchange for this review.


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Lincoln says no to AV
The vote count for the referendum on alternative voting (AV) in Lincoln is in.
With a turnout of 36.8%, 6,951 people voted Yes, while 16,099 voted No.
Lincoln's response to the referendum will now be tallied towards the national count.
This was only the second national referendum Britain has ever seen. The first, in 1975, asked if Britain should stay in the European Economic Community (EEC).
National results on the referendum are expected throughout the weekend.
Preliminary national results indicate 70% voted no in the referendum.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.


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Integrated Research Project (IRP) 5 Workshop
The CRCWSC IRP5 Workshop will be held on Thursday 6 April 2017, at The University of Western Australia, University Hall.
The IRP5 project scoping workshop will initiate the process for developing a consensus on IRP5: Knowledge-based WSC solutions for groundwater impacted developments, proposed as a national-scale project within the CRCWSC Integrated Research Program.
The objective of the workshop will be to bring together representatives spanning the relevant regions and industry sectors to develop a project proposal outline which further defines and prioritises the aims and the desired outputs.
While attendance is by invitation only, we also welcome additional nominations of other relevant researchers or industry partners. We will consider these nominations across all regions to ensure we have a good coverage of the key industry sectors and research expertise at the workshop. Please provide a short outline of the nominee's specific expertise or contribution to help in the selection process.
IRP5: Knowledge-based WSC solutions for groundwater
8:00am – 3:00pm, Thursday 6 April, 2017
Registration for this event is by invitation only. If you would like any further information or would like to nominate someone to participate please contact the event manager, Eloise Larsen at email@example.com or 07 3365 4725.


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More than 50 million people travel to the Orlando area annually to visit the theme parks, head over to the beaches and enjoy the other attractions in Central Florida. If you are looking to enjoy the comforts of home and not be cramped in a hotel room, check out some of the area's vacation homes. There are larger homes in the area that offer six bedrooms, three that are suites, private pools and are large enough for the entire family to go on vacation together.
Six Bedroom Homes
Check out some of the six bedroom rental homes in the area where you and your family can enjoy the luxury of having your own private room. Vacation rentals of this size are large enough to accommodate travel parties up to 15 guests and have four and one half bathrooms, three of which are in the master suites. Some of the six bedroom vacation homes in the area offer one master suite with a king bed and the others with either a queen bed or two full size beds. Most offer screened in pool and patio area to sit, relax and enjoy time away from the busy theme park life. Six bedroom vacation rentals offered through Florida Leisure will put you minutes from the Walt Disney World Resorts and a short drive to the other attractions.
Five Bedroom Homes
Five bedroom homes in the Orlando area also offer four and one half bathrooms with three in the master suites. Vacation rentals through Home Away offer pools, Jacuzzis, high-speed Internet, barbecue grills and can sleep up to 12 guests. Five bedroom vacation rentals are also available through Florida Leisure and Orlando Supreme Vacation Homes both putting guests close to all of the area's attractions and entertainment.
While in the Orlando check out some of the dinner shows and dining venues at the theme parks throughout the area. Stop by the Walt Disney World Resort for a character dinner or a luxury dinner at Victoria and Albert's at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. Or make plans to head on over to Universal Studios CityWalk where you can enjoy dinner before stopping in one of the night clubs.
There are also dinner shows throughout the area, including the Pirate's Dinner Adventure and Medieval Times.
Orlando is one of those travel destinations where tourist go to enjoy the many attractions and entertainment venues. Theme parks in the area include Walt Disney World, SeaWorld and Universal Studios Orlando.
However there is more to the area than just the major theme parks. Other attractions in the area include Old Towne, Central Florida Zoo and Gatorland. Orlando is also home to International Drive where there is plenty of shopping, dining and recreation activities available. Guests visiting International Drive can shop at the Pointe, play mini golf or go on an adventure at WonderWorks.
When visiting Orlando you will also be able to drive to Kennedy Space Center on the east coast of Florida or head west to Busch Gardens in Tampa.
Hopefully this helps you plan your upcoming vacation to the Central Florida area, including choosing a vacation rental, versus staying in a hotel.
Happy traveling!


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I've been gone for a few years. Time has been tight with our second child in the picture. I've focused all my "extra" time on making the garden work. But I have been taking pictures all along. She's 4 1/2 now and our oldest is 9 1/2. I'm going to try to go back and retroactively post my pics and do the same going forward. Probably not a lot of time for text but at least I'll get back into it.
Bought a bass today 'cause I missed butchering.
Pan seared bass, poached potatoes, sauteed green beans and a blistered sungold tomato and basil sauce. Everything but the fish was from the garden!


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Tonight's show had medicinal, healing magic in it. I had fun. I met new people. I worked with people I knew and didn't know. But on stage…. Thank God for what happened tonight on stage. I can go home happy to my husband. I can sleep better tonight. I can be a nicer (or, at least, more fully present) coworker tomorrow.
The crowd was warm, willing to be engaged and seemed very nice. I think I ended a minute ish early but I got a good laugh that I wanted to end on.
Thank you, Adam Oliensis, for booking me. Thank you, Molly Spillane's for being such a nice venue. And thank you, good people of Mamaroneck. You gave me so much.


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Hail, my friends. Let's get right into the battle.
First up we have the hair which is from Exile. I've been wanting a hairstyle like this for awhile, a good quality one I should say. It fits a Norse look like a glove and comes with a different version that just has the tied back part like a mohawk. Exile is definitely in the top 3 of my favorite hair places. They have a big selection, great color options, and reasonable prices.
Next on the agenda we have the sweatpants, they're from Razor at the Men Only event. Razor…thank you. Like L&B they've taken up the Niramyth Aesthetic sword and wield it with might. Aesthetic isn't the only extra version that comes with these sweats, oh no. Slink, Belleza, Maitreya, SL body male and female. Tons of options, what's not to like? Being that it's an event item it only comes with red, orange, and greytones for color options..but still..very nice.
LAST UP we have the boots from L&B. To put it plain and simple, I love em. Top notch quality, easy to adjust, tons of color options. The socks aren't part of it, mind you. Those are from Tonktastic, and they fit pretty damn well. The boots look great, nice and chunky but they don't suffer from the clown shoe syndrome that I've seen a lot of others have. If you're looking for a new pair of ass-kickers…get to L&B and pick these up ASAP.
[ hair ] Exile – Fallout
[ pants ] Razor – Hooligan Sweats
[ boots ] L&B – Ranger Boots
[ socks ] Tonktastic – Sock Tops
[ body ] Niramyth – Aesthetic Mesh Body Enzo
[ skin ] Aeros – Arrow
[ tattoo ] The Sanguine Tree – Aesthetic Nordic Tattoo
[ scars ] L&E – Scar Body
[ eyes ] Buzzeri – Bewitched
[ beard ] DECO – Bandit


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Bedroom Lighting Ideas for Home Staging in Santa Fe
Bedroom Lighting Ideas Santa Fe
When it comes to bedroom lighting, home staging in Santa Fe can become a challenge. However, with these helpful tips you will be able to create the look of elegance in a bedroom just by using different lighting features.
The First Steps
Before selecting lights for the bedroom you need to do some homework. This includes considering the size of the room and the placement of furniture. The outlet locations in the bedroom will also provide you with design options.
As bedrooms have lower ceilings, scale is important. This means that lighting fixtures that are on shorter bodies are the best choice followed by flush-mounted fixtures. Keep in mind that you will be lighting the bedroom primarily for reading and dressing purposes.
The way you use your bedroom in Santa Fe will have an effect on lighting. A computer desk or sewing machine will require direct lighting while a reading corner will only need softer options. This also means lamp shades should not be used as they can darken a bedroom.
The Next Steps
When home staging in Santa Fe with bedroom lighting, location is the main factor. This means lighting should not be installed on the ceiling but is more effective when at eye level and softer in tone. This also provides better coverage reaching into corners of a room.
Plus, do not leave all the lighting work to a single source. Multiple lighting sources allow you to create layers of light for different tasks within the room. When home staging in Santa Fe, this is a general rule of thumb.
In addition to creating various layers of light with more than one light source, mood enhancing is vital and dimmers are the best for this. Soft or colored light bulbs can assist with setting a mood and high tech lighting controls give you complete control over what lights are on and how bright.
The Final Steps
Now that you have taken care of bedroom lighting, what about the areas attached to the room? If you have a walk-in closet or small storage closet they also need light to function their best. Closet lights come in different styles but fluorescent are best for brightness and cost effectiveness.
Let Showhomes Light Up Your Bedroom
For more information on home staging in Santa Fe, contact Showhomes. Our lighting professionals will be able to assist you in creating the perfect bedroom setting with light fixtures and features that will enhance the room – making your home increase in value. Call Showhomes today for assistance before you list your home for sale.