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We love February — with a handful of dates to celebrate like Groundhog Day, Black History Month, Valentine's Day, and more, we're overwhelmed with opportunities. We've gathered some of the month's top events in the Boston area:
February 6
Digital Transformation in Action: Sales and Marketing Alignment via Microsoft & Adobe
How are you creating exceptional personalized experiences in the digital age?
Welcome to the digital age, where buyers expect you to already know their needs and 89% of organizations compete based on customer experience. How are you connecting data and insights to create compelling, personalized experiences for the empowered digital customer?
In this age of customer experience, Adobe and Microsoft have partnered to provide you with the best of Adobe's design, documents, and digital marketing solutions and Microsoft's intelligent cloud, expansive ecosystem, and world-class CRM, Microsoft Dynamics 365.
February 9
Roadmap to an Inspiring Career
At a time when you can literally get paid to do anything, it is more important than ever to align your career with your passion. Melissa James, author of "When are you going to get a real career?", will discuss how being a first generation American influenced her career, the value of following your passion, as well as share her roadmap for being thoughtful about the next steps in a career, whether just starting out or an experienced executive.
February 12
The event will offer attendees the opportunity to choose from 40 mentors who are the most influential women in the community for one-on-one coaching sessions for seven minute conversations.
Women in Data Science 2018 Datathon Workshop
The Datathon, a new feature of the global Women in Data Science (WiDS) conference in 2018, will run from February 1-28. The competition seeks to encourage women data scientists to engage in social impact solutions by participating in a predictive analytics challenge. Learn more about the data set and challenge!
To support teams and entries in our region, Harvard, MIT, Microsoft New England R&D have a workshop and team formation session on Monday, Feb 12th from 4pm-9:30pm. The workshop will be taught by Weiwei Pan from Harvard Institute of Applied Computational Sciences and Anastasiya Belyaeva from MIT Institue of Data, Systems and Society.
February 13
Microsoft Business Mixer with Lovepop Founder Wombi Rose
Join us for a free event for entrepreneurs and small business owners at the Microsoft Store. Wombi Rose, founder of Lovepop, and Jozef Karpiel, Paper Engineer, will discuss how Lovepop has combined art and science to scale the creative process and build a successful company.
February 15
Venture Cafe Corporate Innovation Night
Save the date for Venture Cafe's Corporate Innovation Night, taking place on February 15, 2018. This event is designed to help corporates and startups form better collaborations to catalyze sustainable innovation. This event will also help entrepreneurs understand the specific problem-sets corporate innovators are battling and practical ways to co-create on solutions.
The Black Panther Experience: Welcome to Wakanda
Gear up to watch The Black Panther with Black Market at 2136 Washington Street in Roxbury.
A portion of the proceeds for each event go to Diamond Girls Boston (doing business as) the DIAMOND DIASPORA PROJECT.
Diamond Girls Boston is a Roxbury based 501-C3 organization that serves girls 11-17 years helping them to realize self-sufficiency through entrepreneurial thinking and action. THE DIAMOND DIASPORA PROJECT aims to accomplish the same mission in and around the African Diaspora.
February 20
On Tuesday, February 20th, Roxbury Innovation Center is hosting a Maker Movement Café Night, our Café Nights are evenings in which local entrepreneurs can connect over common industries or themes through presentations or panels with entrepreneurs and startups.
February 23
Microsoft Excel Training Class
Microsoft Excel is the premier spreadsheet application.In this Microsoft Excel training class you will learn how to create spreadsheets using formulas, functions, data sorting, custom charts, link building, macros, and 3-dimensional worksheets. This Microsoft Excel Training course will also teach you how to sort and analyze data, create custom charts and graphs, and much more.
February 27
Conversations in Civic Innovation — Housing in Boston
As a relatively small city, housing is limited. Many people commute great distances to work in Boston. There is a growing need for diverse housing options in Boston. Please join us for a discussion about Housing in Boston where we will explore:
- How is Boston doing on the MA housing report card?
- When does the cost of commute outweigh the benefit of lower cost housing?
- Can we use data and technology to inform and plan?
- What housing innovations could be relevant for Boston?
- How do we begin to address equity in housing in Boston
February 28
The Business Leaders Learning Project: Workforce/Middle-Income Housing
Greater Boston is facing a major shortage of housing that average workers can afford, and chances are that is impacting your business. Your region's high cost of housing is making it hard to attract and retain top talent up and down the workforce. As a business leader, you're uniquely positioned to advocate for positive change. We want to give you the tools to make a difference.


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Acoustics Maths Modeller - Applications Engineering (23800)
Sited in the historic city of Cambridge, home to world-leading academics and innovative engineering companies, our client provides mathematical applied modelling tools for a range of engineering disciplines. Their expertise is showcased by their technical team which support, guide and train their customers in use of their technologies.
The Cambridge team is looking for their next Applications Engineer who will have broad engineering / maths skills with specific experience in acoustics – especially sound-generating / -receiving transducers; thermoacoustics; aeroacoustics; or piezoelectronic transducers.
- Strong applied mathematical or engineering background – MSc / PhD level academics.
- Good broad understanding of acoustics including the application from first principles. This should cover vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound.
- Experience with maths modelling tools.
- Good commercial awareness and understanding the key aspects of being a customer-facing applications engineer (prior relevant commercial experience is beneficial).
- Ability to travel on occasion – mostly within the UK.
Any experience evidencing teaching, customer support or technical training would be desirable. Preference of for UK based candidates. No sponsorship is available.
The company prides itself on the career support they provide as well as an excellent remunerations package and modern work environment.
MSc / PhD / Postdoc, Sound / Vibrations, Acoustics, Maths Modelling, MultiPhysics / MATLAB, Applications
Please note: even if you don't have exactly the background indicated, do contact us now if this type of job is of interest - we may well have similar opportunities that you would be suited to. And of course, we always get your permission before submitting your CV to a company.
Recommend for £250 – see www.ecmselection.co.uk/tell-a-friend for details.

subset: commoncrawl


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BY IAIN COLLIN – @CCP_sport
HEARTS head coach Robbie Neilson is poised to make a decision on trialist goalkeepers Danny Amos and Viktor Noring in the next 24 hours.
The duo played 45 minutes each in Thursday's friendly defeat to Aberdeen in a bid to land deals with the Tynecastle outfit.
Amos, the 29-year-old former Hapoel Tel Aviv and Israel under-21 player, and 25-year-old Swede Noring, who was most recently with Lyngby in Denmark, have both spent this week with Hearts at their training camp in St Andrews.
Neilson has indicated Scotland squad goalie Jack Hamilton is set to begin the campaign as the Jambos' number one following the departure of Neil Alexander.
But, with Paul Gallacher arriving as goalkeeping coach and back-up, the Gorgie side are keen to recruit another custodian to battle with Hamilton for the number one spot.
Whether either Amos or Noring fit the bill remains to be seen but Neilson has revealed he is poised to make up his mind.
He said: "We've got them for another day or so and then we'll make a decision on them.
"The two of them played well on Thursday, so I need to make a decision."
Perry Kitchen
Meanwhile, Neilson is set to plunge midfielder Perry Kitchen straight back into European action without a summer holiday.
The 24-year-old has been with the United States in recent weeks at the Copa America and, following their semi-final defeat to Argentina, will conclude his international duty with Saturday's third-fourth play-off against Colombia in Arizona.
The March signing is then due to return to Washington for a couple of days before jetting back into Scotland on Wednesday.
And, with the former DC United player having enjoyed a break prior to his arrival on a two-and-a-half-year deal, Neilson insists he will have no qualms about throwing Kitchen straight back into action with Hearts in Thursday's Europa League qualifier against Estonians FC Infonet.
He added: "We hope to get him back on Wednesday. Obviously, he finishes up with the third-fourth place play-off and then he has to go back to DC to pick up some stuff, and then he comes over.
"So, he should be here by Wednesday.
"He's involved, he's registered for the Europa League, so, whether he starts or he's on the bench, he'll definitely be part of it."


text: So many of our holidays and trips are built around watching live bike racing. This photo was taken by my beloved at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, the ladies event. A race which was as equally thrilling as its men's counterpart the following day. Unusually, my beloved had gone off on the back of a motorbike to watch the race unfold on the roads around Geelong which we first visited back in 2010 for the UCI Road World Championships. This photo showcases the verdant landscape and gives a flavour of the mounting excitement as the riders approach.


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Market Traders Institute, Inc.
Market Traders Institute is leading the world in FOREX training. With offices in 8 different countries MTI has been teaching people how to trade the FOREX longer than any other company on the planet. MTI offers a state of the art industry leading FOREX trading methodology--The Ultimate FOREX Traders Package-- unlimited lifetime training for one fee.


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Dear Customers
We are proud to introduce our Comfort Bus service that was started to better meet the transportation needs of our hotel business. We can confidently say that many years of experience in serving business people, individual guests as well as groups will allow us to satisfy the needs and expectations of our customers by providing the highest quality of service. The fleet of cars that we have at our disposal offers you comfortable and efficient travels to rural and urban areas into the most remote destinations of Poland and Europe. All of our cars are equipped with air conditioning, adjustable seats, and sound systems and undergo routine maintenance and inspections.
In order to provide you with the highest standard of service and most importantly safety, we have secured the assistance of chauffeurs with many years of driving experience as well as completed training in group transportation, first aid and professional people skills. Because of the international character of our company, our drivers are fluent in English and have basic conversational skills in German and Spanish.
We specialize in:
• Transportation support for conferences, reunions, training workshops and events
• Shuttle bus service, airport shuttle
• Travels to the most desirable destinations in Poland and abroad


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Quietly, David Letterman has quietly built quite the music legacy. His Live on Letterman webcasts have been featuring bands like Mumford and Sons, Taylor Swift, John Mayer, Kings of Leon, Adele and lots more. Recorded in the hours before the show airs on TV, but just after the talk show is actually taped, it's a up-close, high-production, intimate venue featuring bands letting loose for the audience sitting in the same building where The Beatles performed on the Ed Sullivan Show
Coming up on October 30, a particularly noteworthy show is worth catching. Fans can watch the Avett Brothers' webcast live or on-demand. Also during CBS.com's live webcast, fans will have access to multiple camera angles, and the ability to pick the last song in the band's set.
According to the Letterman show, the performance will feature songs off of their newly released album, Magpie and the Dandelion, including "Another Is Waiting," as well as songs from their previous albums 2012's The Carpenter and the band's 2009 major label debut, I and Love and You.
Additionally, the webcast is available live and on-demand on Radio.com, and on-demand via the CBS App for iOS, Android and Windows 8.


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The holiday season has arrived yet again, and this year the hustle and bustle means that your customers will give you the perfect opportunity to end the year on a high note. Retailers are opening their doors earlier than ever to accommodate demand and launching sales promotions even earlier. The good news is that you don't need to have crazy holiday hours to take advantage of all the opportunities the holiday season has to offer. We've got some easy marketing tips to help you make the most of the busy holiday shopping season.
It seems like we just entered the new year, and yet six weeks have already flown by! That means you have 46 weeks left until the end of the year, which still gives you plenty of time to plan your marketing campaigns. In this article, I'm going to share a few resources to help keep your audience engaged with relevant campaigns.
In today's data-driven world, it's important to focus on the right metrics to make better decisions that will drive your business forward. In the past, we suffered from a lack of resources and tools to help us understand and measure key metrics. Today however, we have the opposite problem - there's just too much data to sift through.
Get the latest company news and strategies to help increase your direct-to-consumer wine sales.
(707) 253-7400
(707) 253-0990


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Apartment in the design-residence Lomocubes
This exclusive apartment in the Residenza Lomocubes, is located in Lugano. Thanks to its south-east orientation it enjoys a beautiful panoramic view over lake, city and mountains. The neighbourhood is quiet and sunny and in walking distance to the city center and 5 minutes drive from the highway.
The condominium built in 2013, has 12 luxury apartments and nice areas in shared ownership such as outdoor pool and wellness-fitness area. The apartment on the 1st floor offers 178 sq.m. living area, a balcony, a private garden of 119 sq.m., a cellar, a private laundry and an indoor parking place. The materials as well as finishes are precious and natural. The Residence is built in accordance with the latest ecological standards and energy control.
The apartment is so divided:
entrance, bedroom with fitted wardrobe, bathroom, master bedroom with en-suite bath, spacious living room with dining area and open kitchen. Access to garden from each room.
Design-apartment close to city center.


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So pretty!!!!
The Katia Triana yarn has been a big hit!
Here is Betty with hers:
And this is Lois':
Love them -- fun and funky!
Trudi with her Brigid Jacket from the Vintage Modern Knits book (and what we are knitting for the knit-a-long!):
Mary Kate in her Lala's Shawl made with Cascade Eco Wool:
and here she is in her other shawl made with Royal Llama Silk and very pretty buttons!:
Ethel's hats and socks:
Millie's crocheted car seat blanket and adorable hat/sweater set, made with Baby Bamboo:
Jan's first pair of socks! (she's working on the next pair already...)
Lisa's very pretty shawl made with Panda Wool:
Iryth's double knitted hat and mittens:
Christine's children's sweater made with Encore Colorspun:
Phyllis with one her crocheted afghans:
Sue with her shawl made with Baby Alpaca DK:
Deirdre's Autumn Vines Beret, made with Rustic DK:
Kathy L's feather and fan hat and scarf, made with Tupa:
Stevie's teeny tiny animals:


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'No taxation without representation'.
NSW local government minister Paul Toole wrote in a comment piece for SBS on 18 August, apparently with his tongue firmly planted on his palate. As fond as I am of American history, pinching a line from the colonists to describe a legislative overhaul which will result in a blatant malapportionment of votes within the City of Sydney (CoS) is lazy and misleading.
Under the City of Sydney Amendment (Elections) 2014 bill, introduced by the Hon. Robert Borsak of the Shooters and Fishers Party:
- the General Manager, not the Electoral Commissioner, will be responsible for keeping and maintaining an automatic non-residential roll. The Electoral Commissioner will review it to check the nominated voters are eligible (i.e. over 18 years old, eligible to vote in Australia and not on the CoS residential roll)
- if a corporation is the owner, lessee or occupier of rateable land, the GM will enrol two people to vote based on a majority written nomination
- if no nomination is received, the GM will automatically enrol the first two people from an alphabetical list of owners, lessees or occupiers
Mr Toole likens this malapportionment to four people living in Redfern each having a vote despite occupying the same address. This ignores the fairly basic concept that four individuals on the electoral roll all contribute to, and use services provided by each level of government, and only get one vote in the divisions in which they are enrolled.
Mr Toole is correct that non-residents have the right to vote in the City of Sydney, and that the poor turnout at the last election suggests they find the relatively new re-enrolment provisions cumbersome. I don't have a problem with business people who have a stake in the way the city is run having a say at the ballot box. I'm no fan of the current Lord Mayor, and after 12 years living in an inner city suburb, I proudly support local, independent businesses. What I object to is the malapportionment of votes. A single business entity with multiple business locations (such as a fast food chain) might 'only' be eligible to two votes, but that's still twice what mine is worth. Further, who is to say that the 'small business people' the minister speaks of will actually get a say? An absentee landowner living interstate could nominate themselves over the people who deserve it – the ones who run the business, whose livelihoods are affected by council decisions such as metered car parking. Also, the model proposed by the Shooters Party means a corporation with interests in several separate business entities with a physical address in the City of Sydney could have multiple punts come election day. #Imagen this: just a few years ago, a certain family's group of companies leased two shops at Circular Quay. Fast-forward a few years and under the same circumstances, that family could arrange for different companies within its control to nominate up to four people to vote in the council election based on holding those two leaseholds alone. Tops.
According to Mr Toole, the 'Australian Securities and Investment Commission, Land Property Management Authority and business surveys will guard against fraud or scam electors'. Who will pay for, and resource this extra policing of the vagaries of some 40,000 businesses, which could be under administration or investigation, change hands or directors? The minister talks of cutting red tape, but the Shooters Party Bill will create another task for both Federal and NSW government agencies. The minister appears to be unaware the LPMA was itself abolished in 2011, with its three divisions now under the purview of two State government departments.
State MP for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, has introduced his own Bill into the Legislative Assembly. In addition to pointing out the inconsistencies with adopting a model based on Melbourne city council, the City of Sydney (Business Voting and Council Elections) Bill 2014 address several concerns I have about the Shooters Party Bill, including the CoS GM's management of the roll. Why should the GM keep the non-residential roll when the Electoral Commissioner is responsible for the residential roll? Regardless of the nature of the elected council, a council employee with oversight of who votes for the composition of the council which pays their salary is low-hanging fruit for vested interests. Further, the Greenwich amendments provide for in person or postal voting, and importantly, does not make voting compulsory for non-residents. Let's face it: the person who owns my flat may not give two stuffs who's in charge at Town Hall. Compelling people to vote in an election they give even fewer fucks about will do nothing more than boost the number of invalid/donkey votes. While the changes to the CoS Act don't affect other local government areas, Mr Toole has signalled his support to roll out the changes to other 'key cities and economic areas' such as Parramatta and Newcastle (because having a developer as Lord Mayor worked so well…).
I started writing this piece a few days' ago (c'mon, you don't think I could read this much draft legislation before midday on a Saturday), only to be beaten to the punch by Secco, who has written a #getClover feelpiece for The Saturday Paper. This, I hope, delves deeper into the nature of the proposed changes and the long-term impact on the residents of the City of Sydney, because it is much more than an attack on the political survival of one person as per the current narrative. The Tea Party-lite sloganeering adopted by Toole, Borsak et al is a reminder that money will equal speech, regardless of how sick to the stomach NSW is of those who sought, and succeeded to steal elections. Set aside political affiliations, apathy, personality-based views: malapportionment of votes; an electoral roll kept by a council employee; more red tape caused by the multi-layered policing of the roll and no clear indication of which corporation will wield the business vote where more than one exists on a rateable property make the amendments unworkable. Let MPs know, and don't forget it in March 2015.


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Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Can robots behave morally better than humans ?
3 comments:
If morality can be boiled down to a formula or an algorithm then yes robots would be the ultimate arbiters of justice, free from any bias or prejudice whatsoever. You make a convincing argument but we know that right and wrong are not clear concepts. This is why different legal systems around the world rely to varying degrees on the laws themselves, on juries, on elders or just on someone with a funny wig making their own call. I wonder what the robot would decide on the dilemma of Jim and the Indians http://www.e-mago.co.il/e-magazine/jatiamq-kgng.htmlReplyDeleteReplies
I think that's why the maleficence score is more important than the beneficent score. Basically, the more people it can save, the more likely it will proceed to the sacrifice... Sure, it's a cold and straightforward way to make a decision but it is honest and rational.Delete
This work seems to borrow heavily from this:ReplyDelete


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ASPP Spotlight: Hockey, PQ: Canada's Game in Quebec's Popular Culture
By Amy J. Ransom, Associate Professor of French at Central Michigan University
Hockey is arguably the most identifiably Canadian cultural marker. We can take its national significance as a given considering that even the Prime Minister has found time in his busy schedule to write a book about the sport!
My goal in Hockey, PQ: Canada's Game in Quebec's Popular Culture (University of Toronto Press) was to convey the meaning of hockey in Francophone Quebec to the Rest of Canada. It might be argued that the love of "la game" is the only thing uniting the two solitudes, as illustrated by the popularity of the Quebec film Bon cop, bad cop (2005) across Canada.
Although regional and linguistic rivalries are not absent from the sport—particularly when the stakes are high, as in the NHL draft or the choice of players for Canadian national teams—Franco-Quebeckers are just as concerned about the Americanization of the game, the problem of violence and the spectre of coach sexual abuse as Anglo-Canadians. It is my hope that readers of my book—Anglophone and francophone, hockey fans and non-hockey fans—will see this common ground that unites the nation.
More importantly is the point made here about the significance of everyday, popular culture in the creation of national identities. On the one hand, I want to celebrate and analyze texts and activities that give pleasure to large audiences; on the other, I want to underscore how hockey and other loyalties of taste are coming to replace more obvious, institutional and traditional forms of national and individual identity expression.
This has been one of the most fun academic projects I have ever undertaken! After completing my book, Science Fiction from Quebec: A Postcolonial Study (McFarland & Company), I was looking for a new project. A felicitous combination of events—a well-timed Sport Literature Association conference in London, Ontario, the centennial of the Montreal Canadiens, and the release of hockey-related songs by Mes Aïeux and Loco Locass (two quintessentially Quebecois pop groups)—got me interested in the academic study of hockey.
But it was the 2010 Vancouver Olympics that got me hooked on hockey as a fan. Attending a Red Wings-Canadiens match in historic Joe Louis Arena, it was hard to decide who to root for: my home team, or the Canadiens, whose history I now knew inside and out. Most exciting was the number of Quebecois fans in Detroit for the evening.
Working in academia doesn't get better than this: when head and heart are both involved in a project!
Image: University of Toronto Press
In this series, we highlight books that have received funding from The Awards to Scholarly Publications Program (ASPP). ASPP is a competitive funding program run by the Federation that assists with the publication of scholarly books in the humanities and social sciences. Since 1941, the ASPP has funded more than 6,000 works, contributing directly to the creation of a distinctly Canadian body of knowledge in the humanities and social sciences. Read more about the ASPP here.


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Get a free Bloomin' Onion at Outback Steakhouse with any purchase on Monday, Nov. 19, when you mention NASCAR driver Ryan Newman's name. No coupon is necessary.
Outback is one of the Rocketman's 2012 sponsors. When Newman and his souped-up Chevy place in the Top 10 in any 2012 Sprint Cup race, as he did Sunday at Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Newman placed 3rd, so you get the free appetizer on Monday.
Click here to sign up. The offer is one per table.
Three ways to keep up with the latest deals: "Like" our Sentinel Deals page on Facebook; follow Doreen Christensen on Twitter@PrettyGoodIdeas and sign up for Deals text alerts.


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Looking for a fun and cheerful design for your bridesmaids? How about polka dots dresses? For me a polka dot dress means elegance and femininity. It is an ideal dress for the bridesmaids.
If you want to create a wedding that is cheerful and unique, you could choose dresses with smaller or bigger dots, different colours, and I think that black and white coloured dots dress is an especially amazing idea. The polka dots dresses are always cheerful and never too serious and it is also a great choice for an adorable dots wedding theme. These dresses may be in short or full length, in 1950s vintage looks or with an alluring cutout back. Check below pictures to get a dose of inspiration!


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What Makes an Effective Nonprofit
- Beryl May
- 5 years ago
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1 What Makes an Effective Nonprofit The nonprofit sector now encompasses 1.5 million organizations, from universities to hospitals to environmental groups. Human service organizations alone account for nearly one-third of public charities. With so much choice, donors tend to consider two questions as they decide where to invest philanthropic dollars: the donor s philanthropic goals and the nonprofit s effectiveness, which is the degree to which a potential grantee delivers results over time. What makes an effective nonprofit? To a significant extent, a nonprofit s effectiveness depends on your goals as a donor. For you, effectiveness will mean delivering results on issues you deem important. That being said, in this paper we address five qualities and characteristics common to effective nonprofits. Organizations with these elements are likely to deliver results and have impact. Keep in mind: Effective nonprofits and those having the potential to be effective are often underfinanced and stretched to their limits. Many worthy nonprofits suffer cash flow problems; poorly developed finance, management, and fundraising systems; and inadequate training of board and staff in essential skills. If you are open to strengthening those organizations aligned with your goals, then huge opportunities emerge for you as a donor Association of Small Foundations. All rights reserved.
2 Qualities and Characteristics Common to Effective Nonprofits The five qualities and characteristics that follow are common to effective nonprofits. Clear mission and purpose. The most fundamental quality of an effective nonprofit is clarity about its mission both what it seeks to accomplish and why this purpose is important. The nonprofit should communicate its mission clearly to all its stakeholders board, staff, donors, volunteers, partners, and the general public so that everyone understands its goals and works toward a common purpose. All the nonprofit s programs and operations should be aligned to advance its mission. In addition, effective organizations document the need for their services and explain the value they add. For example, human service organizations should be able to explain how their services meet real demands and fill gaps. Arts and culture groups should be able to describe how their work enriches the community and specific audiences. Ability to perform key functions. Effective nonprofits are able to perform essential functions necessary to fulfill their missions. The authors of How Effective Nonprofits Work cite six essential functions: Communicate vision and mission Engage and seek stakeholders input in designing programs, including people who use its services, and serve its target community appropriately Achieve results and track impact against a few key measures, at least through basic means Manage an active and informed governance structure Secure resources appropriate to its needs Plan for the future A seventh function is key to effectiveness: making it part of the organization s culture to evolve its programs and operations as it learns from stakeholders, from its assessment of impact, and from new knowledge in its field. In short, the nonprofit should be a learning organization Association of Small Foundations. All rights reserved. 2
3 Strong practices, procedures, and policies. Effective nonprofits also follow good practices in three functional areas: finance, governance, and organizational and program development. (Thanks to How Effective Nonprofits Work for this framework.) As a donor, look for the following factors: Financial Yearly audits are conducted and made available to you upon request. (If a small nonprofit, it should provide you with a copy of its IRS Form 990. Or you can look up Form 990s for any nonprofit at GuideStar, Financial statements are prepared quarterly, following a consistent format. Solid fiscal management processes are in place. Good practices include a board finance committee, careful cash monitoring, and regular budgets monitored with monthly cash flow statements. There is a diverse range of supports, such as individual donors at varying levels, foundations, and government or other institutional contributors. Efforts are in place to establish and maintain a reserve fund, ideally equal to 3 to 6 months of operating expenses. Governance Strong leadership runs the organization. An active process exists to properly handle governance issues. A board nominations process and board term limits are in place. Regular and ongoing evaluation of programs and fundraising plans takes place. Board meetings are scheduled for the year. Written policies set expectations, increase efficiency, and promote transparency and accountability in operations. Examples include policies for board term limits, personnel hiring and management, conflicts of interest, and investments. The organization demonstrates flexibility to adjust to environmental shifts Association of Small Foundations. All rights reserved. 3
4 Organizational and program development A strategic plan is in place and used. It is reviewed annually and adjusted as necessary. Key staff refer to it when talking to you. Regular client input is welcomed and used for continual program improvement. The organization can demonstrate involvement of constituents in planning and evaluation. Other organizations doing similar work speak highly of the organization. Staff can articulate key accomplishments, lessons learned, and future directions. The organization is recognized as an institution; it is not identified solely with one or two individuals who work there. The organization is able to demonstrate measurable outcomes. Note: If you are thinking of supporting a new or younger organization whose work you admire, recognize that it may not yet have in place all the above practices, procedures, and policies. Good people. Above all, nonprofits depend on one key resource to fulfill their missions: qualified, skilled, and talented board members, staff, and volunteers. Boards should be diverse, talent-rich, informed, responsible about stewardship, dedicated to the nonprofit and not their self-interest, and, above all, engaged. When nonprofits lack the resources and know-how to recruit and train effective board members, their governance, oversight, and leadership suffer accordingly. In addition, the effectiveness of a nonprofit largely depends on employing an appropriate number of staff who are talented, adequately trained, and properly supported and compensated. Since people are key to performance, look for nonprofits that invest in their human resources. Recognize that recruiting, training, and supporting board, staff, and volunteers requires substantial investment. And realize that measures of nonprofit efficiency the ratio of program expenses to total expenses, for example might only tell one small part of a much bigger story. Ability to mobilize others. The ability to mobilize and engage volunteers, other nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies is an essential skill for nonprofits seeking to address the root causes of problems and bring about long-term change. Building awareness and support among key audiences and bringing more people and resources to the table are essential to change. If change is part of your goals, look for nonprofits that have the following characteristics or develop them in your favorite organizations: 2011 Association of Small Foundations. All rights reserved. 4
5 Staff skilled in working with government or advocating for policy change A willingness to partner with businesses to stretch their influence The capacity to inspire and engage volunteers and constituents/members as passionate partners and spokespersons A willingness to partner with other nonprofits working to address the same issues, regarding those groups as allies not competitors A commitment to sharing leadership with staff, volunteers, and constituents/members to empower more people to make impact Clarifying Your Values and Goals for Philanthropy Identifying the impact you want to make will help you narrow the field of potential grantees to those that fit your values, goals, and interests. Clarifying your goals also opens up opportunities to build and strengthen those groups aligned with your interests, helping them accomplish the work you care about. What kinds of nonprofits do you most want to support, build, and strengthen? Here are some questions to help you clarify the values and goals for your philanthropy: What are your values? Being clear about your values can inform the kinds of organizations and approaches to change about which you re most passionate. What do you want to achieve with your giving, volunteering, and even your skills and experience? Other ways of asking this are: What is your desired impact? What difference do you want to see in your community or society? At what level do you wish to make change? When considering where to target your dollars and time, do you wish to impact individuals, organizations, networks, policies, or ideas? Scanning the Field for Potential Grantees Once you ve identified the impact you want to make and considered the level you wish to make change, spend some time scanning the landscape of your chosen field of interest. Get a sense for the range of organizations in terms of size, approach to the work, and specialties. If the impact you want to make is in your local community, then focus your scan locally Association of Small Foundations. All rights reserved. 5
6 Good ways to scan your field of interest include talking with local foundations and United Ways, and with any organizations and individuals who are knowledgeable in your areas of interest. These may include university researchers, business leaders, government agencies, associations, journalists, and other donors and foundations. Make a list of potential grantees, and add and update it as you scan. Through your conversations, you will identify organizations that are particularly effective or have good potential. Keep in mind the level at which you wish to make change, so that you can consider and compare organizations that do similar work. For example, if you wish to support groups that advocate for greater access to quality early education, then you will want to focus on organizations that make advocacy part of their mission. Your scan may also reveal useful information about which strategies are successful for accomplishing the work you care about. For example, you may hear from several informants that strategies x and y have been effective in helping at-risk teens complete high school, whereas strategies j and k have not been as successful. You can then scan for organizations using more effective strategies. Once you ve catalogued the organizations working in your field of interest (or a sample of the groups, if your community is large), choose 5 or 6 groups to research in more depth. Consider both established groups and younger, smaller ones that could deliver higher impact with support and strengthening. Performing Due Diligence The purpose of due diligence is to confirm the good things you ve heard about organizations, find out more about their work and effectiveness, and determine whether you wish to make an investment. Keep in mind the characteristics of effectiveness outlined previously a clear mission and purpose; ability to perform key functions; strong practices, procedures, and policies; good people; and ability to mobilize others. Here are some tips for due diligence: Begin by reviewing information on mission, programs, and outcomes; then get a sense of staffing and governance; and finally review financials. Also seek out the opinions of other donors and knowledgeable people in the field in which the agency operates. Tailor the time and effort you devote to the size of your intended grant. For example, if your grant is a few thousand dollars or less, it may not be worthwhile to spend a lot of time examining financial documents. Focus your due diligence on mission, programs, outcomes, staffing, and governance; and seek out the opinions of other donors and knowledgeable people. The first time you perform due diligence, find a friend or colleague who has done it before to guide you especially on what to look for in financials Association of Small Foundations. All rights reserved. 6
7 Sources of written information. A significant amount of information about nonprofits is available in writing and easily accessible online or upon request. Annual reports Many nonprofits voluntarily publish annual reports featuring financial information and a report on the year s activities. Annual reports can orient you to what a nonprofit does and why. What are its goals? Why does it choose to spend its resources in particular ways? What are its results and programmatic outcomes? Annual reports also tend to supplement financial statements with charts, graphs, or other visuals to convey important points or trends. IRS Form 990 Perhaps the most accessible source of information on virtually any nonprofit with annual gross receipts of $25,000 or more, the Form 990 is filed annually and provides a host of information about a nonprofit s governance, oversight, policy, and financials. The form, a required annual filing for most public charities, is publicly available for review, free of charge, at GuideStar is a comprehensive database of information on more than 1.5 million U.S. charities. Financial statements (audited or unaudited) Many nonprofits subject their financial statements (statement of financial position, statement of activities, statement of cash flows) to an auditor s outside review and testing, but other nonprofits are likely to have unaudited financial statements available for review. Note: The fact that an organization does not have audited statements does not in itself raise red flags and should not disqualify the organization from your consideration. Budgets By comparing budgets to financial statements, you will see how nonprofits are progressing and may notice trends from one year to the next. For larger organizations, most of the above will be available online. For smaller organizations, your best bet may be to contact them directly for internal documents. Not only will you be more likely to receive the information you re requesting, but you ll also get firsthand experience in how the organization responds to a donor s requests and questions. Visiting the Organizations Visiting your top prospects will reveal so much. Observe how staff members interact with constituents. Talk with the organization s staff, board members, and volunteers. Do you see and feel commitment and passion for the work? Is there a clear sense of mission and purpose? Members of the Association of Small Foundations were asked what they looked for on site visits, and here is what they said: I look for clients! Believe it or not, I did a site visit to an emergency shelter, and no one was there. I look to see if there is structure to the programs, and if staff are engaging clients. We watch interactions between staff and staff, staff and clients, and clients and clients Association of Small Foundations. All rights reserved. 7
8 The executive director is the driver, leader, and visionary, and I learn a lot by talking to this person. If the director is not involved in a site visit, I question his or her commitment to establishing new partnerships within the community. We look for competence and professionalism among staff. I always ask about strategic planning efforts, and expect both staff and directors to be able to articulate what the organization does, why and how it meets community needs, and what the basic roadmap is for the future. I ask the staff how long they ve worked there, their biggest challenge in running the program, and the backgrounds of their clients. The site visit is more about the staff and clients getting a feel for who they are, who they are serving, how they are fixing a problem, and how they see us in the solution. Knowledge versus fluff. I am not impressed by fund developers who appear to be telling me what they think I want to hear. I expect honesty about funding and about their strengths and weaknesses (no organization or person is perfect). Look for adequate resources being applied to a program but not excessive administration and overhead. We look for recruitment and coordination of volunteers where possible and happy faces on children, parents, clients, and staff! Recognizing Your Opportunities as a Donor Recognizing As a donor, Your you have Opportunities not only the as power a Donor to identify effective nonprofits but also to build and As strengthen a donor, you the have ones not most only aligned the power with to identify your goals. effective In other nonprofits words, but excellent also to build nonprofits and strengthen are often the made, ones most not aligned found. with your goals. In other words, excellent nonprofits are often made, not found. Through conversations with with your your favorite favorite grantee grantee organizations, organizations, whether whether about financials, about financials, training for training board and staff, for systems board and staff, policies, systems fundraising and policies, capacity, fundraising equipment, or capacity, other issues, equipment, you ll discover or other what issues, they you ll need to move forward. discover Can what you they make need the types to move of grants forward. they need Can most? you make Would the you types consider of grants general they operating need most? support, Would which can you free consider many organizations general operating to focus support, on their services? which can Would free you many consider organizations grants to to help focus train on board, their staff, services? and volunteers Would you or to consider build systems grants or to technology help train capacity? board, staff, Can you and offer volunteers support or beyond to build grants, systems such or as advice technology on fundraising, capacity? Can communications you offer support expertise, beyond or connections grants, such to other as advice funders? on fundraising, communications Above expertise, all, your or commitment connections to to finding other funders? effective nonprofits and lending the support they need will pay off in greater results and greater satisfaction as a donor. Above all, your commitment to finding effective nonprofits and lending the support they need will pay off in greater results and greater satisfaction as a donor Association of Small Foundations. All rights reserved. 8
9 Additional Resources How Effective Nonprofits Work: A Guide for Donors, Board Members, and Foundation Officers. Marcia Festen and Marianne Philbin. GivingGreaterChicago & New Ventures in Philanthropy, Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits. Leslie Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant. Jossey-Bass, Due Diligence Tool. Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, Nonprofit Lifecycles: Stage-Based Wisdom for Nonprofit Capacity. Susan Kenny Stevens. Stagewise Enterprises, Inc., About ASF The Association of Small Foundations enhances the power of philanthropy by providing donors, trustees, and professionals with peer learning opportunities, resources, and a collective voice in and beyond the philanthropic community. DISCLAIMER: The Association of Small Foundations cannot be held liable for the information provided in this publication. We strongly encourage you to consult your attorney to ensure compliance with federal and state laws. This reprint of the 2010 issue is supplied by the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund ( Gift Fund ) with permission from the Association of Small Foundations. The Gift Fund is an independent public charity with a donor-advised fund program. Various Fidelity companies provide investment management and administrative services to the Gift Fund. Fidelity and Fidelity Investments are registered service marks of FMR LLC, used by the Gift Fund under license. Clearing, custody, or other brokerage services maybe be provided by National Financial Services LLC or Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Members NYSE, SIPC Association of Small Foundations. All rights reserved. 9
10 2011 Association of Small Foundations. All rights reserved. 10
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text:
Celebrating the New Year in New York!!!
Ti..s is the place!!!
Not TIMES Square at the centre of Manhattan, but TITUS Mountain on the Northern edge of the Adirondack mountains a few miles south of the Whippleville near Malone, New York.
In the last days of 2013 I received an email from Titus informing me of their plans. I thought it would so cool. I had skied a number of times on the first day on New Year, but never at the stroke of midnight.
This New Year's Eve, we're pulling-out all the stops to ring in 2014 & you don't want to miss it!
Great food & beverages, LIVE entertainment, nightskiing & much, much more!
Our lifts will be OPEN 'til 1am on New Year's Day! For the FIRST TIME, you can lay down the FIRST TRACKS of the New Year!
As midnight approaches, you can enjoy our Torchlight Parade down the main slope in front of our expanded lodge & patio area . . .
. . . and, at the stroke of midnight as the last torch goes out, the FIREWORKS explode over the mountain!
The North Country has never seen a New Year's celebration like this! Join us & welcome in 2014 the Titus way!
It was something that I had looked for New Year 2000, but I didn't find. Now we were going into 2014 and a family ski area few miles south of the border was going to make it happen. The month of January 2014 was also a personal skiing milestone for myself.
Wait at US Customs on New Year's Eve
Although I was skiing locally at Edelweiss almost every day during the Holidays, the family thought it would be so cool to drive to Malone, New York. The forecast was calling for an extremely cold night, but the lowest temperatures of the week was pushed back 24 hours making me breath a sign of relief as my youngest daughter had a hard time the previous day at Edelweiss. We hadn't planned to ski for the whole day, but the last few hours of the year and getting first tracks of the year past midnight was on a "Bucket list somewhere". We left Ottawa after 6pm to make the 100 miles 2-hour journey across the border. Between the traffic, slippery roads with snow and the cold below -21c, the longer than average wait at the US Border and the odd extremely slow driving individual such as 30mph in a 55mph zone (they were either drunk or never drove when snowing types): the drive took us over 2:40. We arrived shortly after the torchlight parade (which had been moved earlier in the evening) which gave us a parking spot not far from the lodge.
Party in the Base Lodge with band playing some Guns
We walk through the the bar which was rocking with lights and a live band playing stuff like Guns N' Roses. It was passed 9pm when we got our lift tickets. This was my third trip to Titus: the last one involved us showing up at unfortunately closed ski area during a terrible Spring Break 2012. The only visit which featured actual skiing was in February 2005. Morgane was only 7 at that time and it proved to be an excellent family ski area. It is a 1200′ vertical area with 3 small mountain with a calm atmosphere. The night skiing is limited to two sides of the smaller of these hills.
Ski Map
This was the 'least' good and the iciest conditions I had experienced in 18 outings so far this season. I have to say that the conditions for the last month have been consistently amazing. It was snowing and there was a nice layer of fresh snow, however the base was slick and firm and would have called for sharpen skis to fully appreciate it. It is true that ski areas north of the St.Lawrence divide hadn't suffered any real thaw this season, unlike near or south of the border.
A trip to Titus is a bit of travel to simpler time with old lifts, old lighting and quieter trails. I always love skiing at rustic ski areas. The terrain offered to us didn't add any extra value to make the trip from Ottawa, especially for the night skiing. The skiing isn't steeper and the vertical isn't really greater than the Ottawa locals have to offer. For the same distance, you can make it to Tremblant, but you won't be able to find that rustic feeling, excellent family, quiet and beginner ski area.
Our late evening started with a slow ride up the triple and a descent towards the other side of Moon Valley. Morgane mentioned that the black run wasn't that much harder than Edelweiss' green run Easy Street. There was maybe 7 various descents to be skied on this night. The plan had to ski non-stop until next year, but it was a cold night. The temperature was warmer than anticipated with a -14c compared to the -20c it was in Ottawa when we left, but it didn't stop us from taking a small break to warm up.
Fireworks and snowflakes galore
Our last moments of 2013 we done riding the slow double. Certain trails had their light shutoff and the trail closed by a simple chair during the fireworks so we could ski back to the main side from our location. With a few other skiers, we watched the fireworks from behind the chair then heading down the still blackened trails. The darken trails reminded me of night skiing when I was in High School in the early 1980s.
The run on the side of the double chair (chair I) with runs like Whistler, Sunset and Milky West-Ravine Run were more interesting than the flatter main side with chair IV with Milky West, Little Dip/Meadow Run, Chocolate Chip and Ridge Run, however that more remote Pine Run was nice and quiet. The Face was a sheet of ice-covered by small layer of snow. Besides the entertainment inside the Base Lodge, there was also a few people riding the beginner handle tow, in the novice terrain park or at the snowtubing park. A wonderful evening to spend outside.
First turns of 2014 in the dark
Tara and my wife were cold and called it quits for the night with maybe 30 minutes left. Morgane and I closed off our evening until last chair on the main side at 1am. It was a wonderful evening and I could see a better great way to celebrate the New Year and reaching month 100 in the ski streak. I have a voucher for Titus and I might make a return visit when the bigger mountain is open, because 2-hour
is a long drive for this skier to only ski 155 meters (508ft) vertical which is smaller than the hills next door. Still I wouldn't have wanted to be at another place on this day.
MadPat celebrating the 100-month mark
Happy New Year everyone in the Ski Mad World.
MadPat's Gallery:
Titus NY – December 31, 2013 – New Years


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We Need Heroes!
We Need Heroes!
By J. D. Longstreet
In my youth heroes did abound. There were, first and foremost, the military heroes, then the sports heroes, even the guy down the block who saved the neighbor's cat by climbing the tree to retrieve the cat, he, too, was a hero. But it is not so, anymore.
Humans need heroes. Heroes remind us that there is a better side to us. Heroes remind us that we DO have it in us to be better than we are… to accomplish what was thought to be the impossible, and that we do have it in us to defend those things most precious to us, like our families and our homes and even our country. But today you would think there are no heroes.
There are the quiet heroes who live among us, even in our very homes, every day. The parents striving to make a living and see that their kids get what they need to create, for themselves, a better life than that of their parents. Rarely are they ever mentioned among the phalanx of everyday heroes.
Military heroes went out of style during the Vietnam War. Although many, many, Vietnam veterans came home as a heroes, they were not accorded that status by their fellow Americans. Many were reviled and even spat upon. Men who had answered their country's call and gone to war, and had every right to be accorded the status of heroes were, instead, shunned by American society.
When I was a boy, there actually were sports heroes. Oh yes. Joe De Maggio, Ted Williams, and the list goes on and on. No any longer. Professional athletes tell us they have no desire to be a ROLE MODEL, A HERO, if you will. And they aren't. Many we would silently think of as heroes turn out to be abusing drugs, which brings into questions their athletic triumphs. So, we no longer have sports heroes.
Well, you may ask, what about the neighborhood guy who climbs trees and rescues felines for the neighbors children? What about him, huh? Well, that cat is stranded now, for good and all, except in the rare case where the local fire department will agree to come rescue the critter. Why? Well the neighborhood guy is concerned that if he should climb that tree and break a limb, some enviro- nut group will sue him. If he should accidentally harm the kitty, while in the attempt to rescue her, then the animal welfare groups might sue him, and if the kitty scratches the kids he returns it to, he might well be sued for allowing those children to play with a dangerous animal.
See the direction America has taken… and why, there are no heroes today? It is, indeed, far too risky to be a hero today.
And then there is the "Moral Relativity" problem. Here in America, the Moral Relativity adherents rule the day. Now known as "political correctness", we are indoctrinated, from day one, that all men are created equal. Well, one can easily put the lie to that… if one wanders into the shower room of any military barracks in the world, or walk down a crowded beach in July. All men are NOT created equal. All men are guaranteed an equal shot at life, and it's abundance, here in America by the constitution, but that is as far as it goes… or at least, that is as far as it SHOULD go.
Now, if you believe that all men are equal then you cannot have heroes. Because the very nature of heroism means that one person has exceeded the level playing field of equality and has become better than his fellow man in some way.
We used to understand that, in this country, and we celebrated our heroes. Look back at Audey Murphy, the most decorated soldier of the Second World War. A tiny little fellow, unimposing, but the man had the heart of a lion. He was a true hero.
And there was The Duke. Yep, John Wayne. So far as I know Duke never served his country in uniform. Except that, actually, he did. He portrayed such heroes, so often, and so convincingly on the American movie screen, that he became one. He played role after role of a hero in different uniforms of our military service. Those western characters he portrayed paid homage to the early days of America on the frontier. He became a hero. The thing with Wayne was that "what you saw was what you got". Off screen, he was the same man he played on screen. And that came through, clear as a bell, in the characters he portrayed.
Say what you will about the Duke, but he taught, at least one generation of American men, what it meant to be a man… and even more importantly what it meant to be an American man.
Heroes provide us with role models. "We don't need role models", you may argue. Oh, but we do, I would argue back. Role models teach our children important lessons about who they are and of what they are capable.
When I first reported for military training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, back on July 5th, 1959, I had no idea what I was capable of. None. I thought I did. But, boy, how wrong I was.
I weighed approximately 126 pounds. And that was soaking wet! And then they took us up to a place known then as "Tank Hill". That's where you went, in those days, when you reported to Ft. Jackson to be whipped into shape as an American soldier. Eight weeks later, having survived pure hell, I left that Army post a brand new American soldier, believing I could lick the world, if necessary, single handed.
How did it happen? One important factor of that training was that there were genuine heroes training us. The Instructor cadres were men who were veterans of the Second World War and the Korean War. Men who had seen the worst the enemy could throw at them and they rose above it… and won!
We had a First Sergeant, with an Irish name, and all the accoutrements, including the blue eyes and red hair. Never saw him that he didn't have a bayonet scabbard hanging from his web belt. Never. He was a sergeant in the manner of old first sergeants. That guy was something to behold. When he walked into a room, or onto a training field, all the noise became muted and all eyes were on him. He commanded respect. For those of us un-initiated, at the time, there was one huge question we all wanted ask and that was… "Why"? After a few weeks, I screwed up enough courage to ask one of the lowly buck sergeants what it was about the Top Kick that brought all that respect.
The sergeant pointed to the Top Kick's bayonet. "You see that", he asked? I assured him I couldn't miss it. The sergeant went on to say there was a story behind that bayonet. He told me that even though he didn't know all the details he knew that the Top Kick had saved his squad, in Korea, by charging an enemy machine gun nest with nothing but that bayonet in his hand. He over ran that enemy gun emplacement and put the machine gun out of action and saved the lives of his men. For his actions the Army had award him a medal. His fellow soldiers had awarded him something far more precious… their respect.
As I listened in awe, I came to understand the awe, in which his men held him, that day. And… I had something of an epiphany, and that was… that… even heroes need heroes. The men training me were genuine war heroes, and yet… they looked up to the Top Kick as THEIR hero.
It is the nature of the human beast. We need "markers" to show us what we can achieve. Those who rise above the rest ARE those "markers" and we call them heroes.
America has become a nation in limbo. Having no markers, no heroes, to look to we are wandering about in a sea of disillusionment, not knowing who we are. Oft times we are discouraged from accomplishments, which exceed the norm. We are told it is better to remain a non-entity than to accomplish more than one's neighbors, and rise above them, for in so doing we make those who seek to remain equal feel ashamed, or less important that we.
To that I say… "Tough!" It is that kind of thought that is killing the American spirit. It is that kind of thought that is killing America… period! It is that kind of thought that is ushering in socialism in America with Mr. Obama at the point of the socialist spear.
America used to be a "can do" nation. Now we are a "can you do it for me?" nation. We have not yet recognized that those who willingly "do it" for us will soon reign over us. Why, the naysayers have us believing we can actually lose the war in Iraq! They have us believing we can't fight two wars, on two fronts, and win! We've already put the lie to that argument. We fought the Germans, the Italians, and the Japanese, all at the same time, and came away victorious over all of them. And we fought, not just in two relatively small countries in the same region, but all over the GLOBE!
Regardless of what you may think, or you may have been taught, there are persons among us who are heroes. These are persons who have risen above and simply not been recognized by a society that has chosen to hide itself in the mire of equal aspirations based upon our society's lowest common denominator.
We desperately need a hero to lead this nation through the dark decades ahead. We are facing an enemy, which wants us dead and will stop at nothing to wipe us out. We need a leader who is not afraid of taking the tough stands, and making the hard decisions, which may lead to the deaths of countless numbers of our enemies, but, in the end, save the USA.
But can a man, such as that, be elected in America anymore? Probably not. Can a man, such as that, be found among us? Oh yes! But I must warn you… they are few and far between. You see… some say America stopped producing "real men" in the 1960's. And those of the male persuasion, who survived the '60's, are now teaching our male children what THEIR definition of a real man is and, dear reader, it is far from what nature created the human male to be.
So what are America's options? Frankly, I don't see any. We, as a nation, are destined to ride this train to the end of the line. You see, when a people, voluntarily, choose to emasculate themselves, they must pay the price. America has only begun to pay that price.
J. D. Longstreet


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The film unit of Vijay's 59th flick has been working round the clock. After finishing the Chennai schedule, the team has now moved to Goa to shoot the next part.
The team will be shooting some action sequences in Goa, say sources. Amy Jackson is also likely to take part in the latest schedule, and expected to shoot a few action sequences with Vijay.
Before leaving to Goa, the team was filming in Chennai. Inspiringly, while the whole Chennai has come to a standstill due to heavy rain, the "Vijay 59" unit was filming action sequences as though nothing had affected the spirits of the team.
More importantly, Ilayathalapathy turned up at the sets without complaint and worked like regular days. The makers want to wrap up the shooting on time and the whole team is cooperating to get it done, say sources.
First look delayed
The first look of "Vijay 59" was supposed to be released for Diwali in November. But it was postponed due to some reasons. It was speculated that the posters might be released this week. Now, it appears that those plans have changed. Even the title announcement has been delayed.
The latest buzz is the first look of "Vijay 59" will not be released any time soon. The makers are expected to reveal their plans in December.
"Vijay 59" is written and directed by Atlee Kumar. Samantha and Amy Jackson are playing the female leads in the film in which Ilayathalapathy plays a cop.


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Teen Wolf Season 3 Episode 8
Air Date:
Scott, Allison, and Stiles hear stories from two unlikely sources.
Peter tells Stiles about Derek being in love while he was a teenager.
Gerard talks to Allison and Scott about Deucalion.
Dr. Deaton and his sister Morrell are emissaries.
Deaton and Morell can shift back and forth, keeping them connected to humanity.
Peter asked Ennis to turn Paige so she could be with Derek forever and they would be in good with Talia.
Deucalion and his pack wanted to meet with Gerard but Gerard ambushed them.
It's because of Gerard that Deucalion cannot see.
Derek's hardened hard is explained.
- Show:
- Teen Wolf
- Season:
- Teen Wolf Season 3
- Episode Number:
- 8
Show Comments


text:
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Valstagna is a town of about 1,800 inhabitants, which covers an area of 26 km². Its inhabitants are called the Valstagnesi. The town is located along the Valsugana, and is crossed by the river of Brenta, which over the centuries has carved the rock, on which man created the typical terraces. For this reason, the town is located in a breathtaking natural environment.
Town hall
Piazza San Marco 1, 36020
Tel. 0424 99813
Web: www.comunevalstagna.it