On Thursday December 15, the economist Constantin Gurdgiev tweeted
that 121 women were jailed last year for not paying a fine on conviction
for failing to have a television licence.
A woman I know, who
struggles to exist within a twilight world between work and welfare, was
so panicked by that tweet that she went directly to the post office and
paid €160 for a licence. She is left with €27 for Christmas. That is a
fact.
Business! cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again.
Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence,
were all my business.
Set in Victorian times, the spirit of
Jacob Marley in the classic Charles Dickens' novella of love, tax and
redemption, A Christmas Carol, is sure to warm all of our hearts again
this Christmas.
Yes, it is good to give, to dwell in that moment for a while, to feel content within ourselves,The glass and GLASS MIXED STONE
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really, which is all it is; in itself, it is so much better than not to
give at all. But if personal happiness is the sole motivation, then
neither can that alone be good enough anymore.
In The Virtue of
Selfishness, the Objectivist philosopher, Ayn Rand, writes of morality,
approvingly, to the effect that many do not consider to give to charity a
virtue at all, let alone a moral duty.
"Man's mind is his basic
tool of survival. Life is given to him, survival is not. His body is
given to him, its sustenance is not. His mind is given to him, its
content is not. To remain alive he must act and before he can act he
must know the nature and purpose of his action," she once wrote.
But the foundational argument of Objectivism cannot be sound.
In
these desperate times, I find myself to be more in tune with the
sociologist Beatrice Webb, who once said that charity is, or should be,
the exercise of "a thoughtful benevolence".
Not benevolence
alone but a thoughtful benevolence – a reasoned, prudent,
discriminating, even sceptical benevolence – a benevolence that is
acutely aware of the often unintended consequences of goodwill, that
knows it to be more important to do good than to feel good; that is
morally and spiritually satisfying for the giver, and morally as well as
materially beneficial to the receiver.
Gertrude Himmelfarb, a
professor of history, says it is this kind of charity that promotes
welfare in the proper sense of that word – the well-being of citizens.
Shortly
before the ascension of Queen Victoria, a royal commission, which
deplored "the mischievous ambiguity of the word 'poor'", proposed a
major reform of the Poor Law. The name was a misnomer, the commission
said; it was a pauper law, not a poor law. Most of the poor – which is
to say, virtually all of the working classes – were indeed poor, but
they were not paupers.
Two measurements are used by the Central Statistics Office to measure poverty in Ireland.
In
2009, the most up to date figures available, there were 233,192 people,
or 5.5 per cent, in 'consistent poverty' and 579,819 people, or 14.1
per cent, 'at risk of poverty'.
At risk means an income of €230 a
week for an adult; consistent means unable to afford new clothes, meat
or fish, or being unable to heat your home.
After the Celtic
Tiger crash more than 18 per cent of children – our Tiny Tims, if you
like – were at risk of, and almost 9 per cent were actually in,
consistent poverty.
It is a shameful statistic.Best ICE CRACKING JNB382 From China Foshan Nanhai ENERGY Building Materials Co., LTD Manufacturers.
Two
regressive budgets later, which have included a cut to child benefit,
several thousands more, including many, many children, will be tipped
into a form of poverty, whether 'consistent' or 'at risk'.
Lately
– belatedly, perhaps – when I refer others to this analysis the
response is usually one of passing concern followed by an air of general
indifference.
Some cite anecdotal evidence, from wherever that
may come, that the poor, or those at risk of poverty, can afford to
drink and smoke, after all, that they have Sky Sports in their homes,
apparently, that they have a car on the road.
The more aware
also say that the Department of Social Protection spends a massive sum,
more than €20bn a year, which accounts for around 40 per cent of total
Exchequer spend.
This second point is made in a tone of
resentment; the argument is reasonably valid – up to a point – but it
remains oblivious to what we might call the majesty of The Principle of
Humanity.
Here is the argument though: to apply the free market
philosophy of a libertarian economist, Milton Friedman, if the €20bn
budget were divided among, say, 400,000 on the Live Register they would
each receive €50,000 a year.
The public sector class, in
numbers, pay and administration, are clearly a huge part of the problem,
such costs that the IMF again argued last week were out of touch with
the remainder of society.
It is also clear that what is referred
to as the "welfare" state is in urgent need of reform, such reform that
I do not even pretend to understand, let alone where to begin, other
than to say that only those in real need should be intended to receive.
This
much is also true: at the height of the boom there were still more than
100,000 people on some form of social welfare, for any number of
reasons, many of which have to do with the principle of humanity.
To
use another buzzword, by all means "crack down" on fraud, but also
concentrate on the causes of fraud, some of which are deep-rooted,
others merely skin deep.
I know of another woman, her
circumstances too complicated to go into right now, other than to say
she has never worked a day in her life. She is 34.
The bottom
line is this: if she were to take a job, she would lose the roof over
her head and the heads of her children. She is in what is called the
"welfare trap". That is also a fact.
When Social Protection
Minister Joan Burton recently referred to school leavers who claim
welfare as a "lifestyle choice" she was almost set upon; but again, she
had a point.
"The best way to lower the social welfare bill is
to create jobs," Sinn Fein said in response. In The Principle of
Charity, let us be charitable this Christmas: that is to state the
bleedin' obvious.
Joan Burton has faced into a huge task. In her
reform agenda, she would do well to introduce – another buzzword –
"transparency" to take account of the deeper philosophical issues at
play in this debate.This Rainbow Mosaic was made using paint samples cut into small pieces.
If we are to create a fair society,Big selection of Penny round Circle Glass Mosaic
with detailed informations. then Joan Burton must show people how other
people have to live. In this sceptical age, that is the sort of society
we have come to; that is what bitter experience has forced us to
become. We need to see the evidence to know that it is true.
Nor
should they stop there: open up the family courts too, and the
immigration courts and let the people see what passes for a fair society
here.
And just what is going on down in the Commercial Court?
The forgiveness of debt is essential for the country, yes, but also for
its citizens many of whom are without hope.
In that context, we
must also come back for our builders and businessmen. They are dying by
suicide every day and nobody knows how to talk about it; and our
children are taking their own lives too. Online. For everybody to see.
When
John Bruton, in a church, recently spoke about the absence of
forgiveness, he was almost set upon but he, also, had a point: the
bankers may eventually be forgiven only when they forgive us our
trespasses as well; so not yet, not even in this spirit of Christmas.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Guns Don't Kill People, Video Games Do
The charade of Friday's NRA press conference was best summed up by
one of the last lines uttered at it by NRA President David Keene:
"...this is the beginning of a serious conversation. We won't be taking
questions today."
Of course, neither Keene nor NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre would be taking questions. This "press conference" was not the beginning of any conversation -- it was the NRA leadership telling us all that we were wrong.Find out how to deal with the mesh between CUTTING MOSAIC tiles.
They were there to enlighten us so that we understood that: "It's not guns that kill people,What is Double Loading Mosaic Tile (charged)? it's video games." It's movies. It's the media. It's "monsters." It's a society that worships celebrities and money. It's greedy corporate executives and shareholders. It's foreign aid to other countries.
The one thing that Wayne LaPierre apparently doesn't believe is responsible in any way for shooting deaths are guns. Not the guns used in the Newtown shooting that took the lives of 20 young children and 6 adults. Not the guns used in July to kill 12 and wound 58 in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater. Not the guns used to kill six people at a Sikh Temple in August. And not the guns used to kill 94 more people in the U.S. since the Newtown shooting. Yes, 94 people have been murdered by gun violence since December 14.
While LaPierre claimed that violence in movies and in video games like "Grand Theft Auto," caused gun violence, he offered no explanation for why people in other countries where they watch the very same movies and play the same video games have remarkably lower numbers of people killed by guns. For example,The Ice Crackle Mosaic Tile is amazingly unique in its crackled appearance. "Grand Theft Auto" broke UK sales records for fast selling video with over 600,000 units sold in its first day. However, in the UK, only 51 one people were killed by guns in 2011. In contrast, in the US, 8,583 people were murdered by guns in 2011.
The real difference between the U.S. and UK isn't that they are watching different movies or playing different video games. It's guns. We have close to 300 million guns legally owned while the UK has only approximately 1.8 million guns.
What the NRA leadership should have said -- and what I know from twitter some NRA members expected they would say -- is that the NRA was going to embrace sensible "human safety" laws. (To me, we should stop using the term "gun control" -- I'm not concerned with controlling people's guns, I'm concerned with saving lives.)
At the very least the NRA should have called for a few common sense changes to our laws. The first and most obvious being to close the "gun show loophole." Our current federal law only requires background checks to determine if the purported gun buyer has a criminal record or history of mental illness if the gun is so sold by a licensed firearm dealer. But that only accounts for 60% of the guns legally sold. Meaning, 40% of the guns legally sold are to people who have had no background check at all.
Only 19% of Americans polled want to keep the law the way. The problem is that the NRA leadership is part of this 19% and has lobbied to keep the gun hole loophole intact.
How can any organization that truly cares about saving the lives of Americans ever oppose a law to ensure that the mentally ill and criminals are prohibited from buying firearms?
So what did the NRA called for at its press event? More guns. LaPierre proposed that every school in America should have an armed guard. There are roughly 100,000 public schools meaning a boon in gun sales to arm these new guards.
But here's a glaring problem with the NRA's proposal. At the horrific Columbine High School shooting in 1999 that left 15 dead and 23 wounded, there was an armed guard.Source crystal mosaic Products at Mosaics. A 15-year veteran of the Sheriff's office was on the location. While he exchanged gunshots with one of the two shooters, he was unable to stop the shooting. How could the NRA leadership not be aware of this fact? And does this mean that every school would need two armed guards?
Will the NRA next suggest we have armed guards at every movie theater, shopping mall, Sikh temple, workplace, church -- or any of the other location where mass shootings have recently occurred?
Clearly, the NRA leadership is not prepared to have an honest conversation on the issues about the role that GUNS play in the deaths of Americans. The one bright spot is that the rank and file members of the NRA disagree with the NRA elite on a growing number of issues, including 69% who favor closing gun show loophole.
The NRA leadership is at a crossroads. It can either begin to embrace policies that will save American's lives or find the NRA marginalized to the fringes of American society. While I know that NRA leaders LaPierre and Keene aren't taking questions right now, they may want to consider this one.
Each Nextdoor neighbourhood is a closed loop in the area it serves, to ensure the residents’ privacy and security. Members are only accepted after Nextdoor has verified their addresses. The size and area of each neighbourhood varies by its location. In a big city, a Nextdoor neighbourhood could be limited to just a few blocks, whereas it could cover entire townships in more sparsely populated areas.
Nextdoor serves as a virtual chat room, where neighbours exchange referrals on local businesses, buy and sell items or even alert each other about illnesses or crime in their area.
“We have an elderly neighbour who has cancer and is quite frail. She had a security issue and when other neighbours got wind of it through Nextdoor, they came out of the woodwork to offer assistance,” says Bob Thornburg, a resident of Sante Fe, New Mexico.Proxense's advanced real time Location system technology.
A user in California, Nicole Perkins, says when a teenager in her area was diagnosed with meningitis, his parents used the network to alert their neighbours, so that other children could get tested immediately. “The ability to broadcast the news very likely saved lives,” says Perkins.
Other uses include quick retrievals of a lost special needs child, and even a duck and a puppy, thanks to watchful neighbours alerted via Nextdoor. In other words, the concept of the neighbourhood watch gone virtual.
Says Tolia, “Many social networks are about status updates, photo sharing, but that’s not what we are about. Nextdoor is about utility, it’s about finding a plumber, selling a used car, learning about a gas leak. It’s about all the things that you’d want to know, given that you live in a particular area.”
In fact, in over 60 cities, including big ones such as Atlanta, Dallas and San Jose, local governments and police departments are partnering with Nextdoor to communicate with their residents. For instance, in Oakland, near San Francisco, members used Nextdoor to alert their neighbours about two young men going door-to-door, posing as salesmen. Police asked one resident to get their photo when they came to her door. With this information, they later arrested the two men and recovered goods stolen from a neighbourhood home, which was reported on Nextdoor as having been burglarised.
Of course, neither Keene nor NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre would be taking questions. This "press conference" was not the beginning of any conversation -- it was the NRA leadership telling us all that we were wrong.Find out how to deal with the mesh between CUTTING MOSAIC tiles.
They were there to enlighten us so that we understood that: "It's not guns that kill people,What is Double Loading Mosaic Tile (charged)? it's video games." It's movies. It's the media. It's "monsters." It's a society that worships celebrities and money. It's greedy corporate executives and shareholders. It's foreign aid to other countries.
The one thing that Wayne LaPierre apparently doesn't believe is responsible in any way for shooting deaths are guns. Not the guns used in the Newtown shooting that took the lives of 20 young children and 6 adults. Not the guns used in July to kill 12 and wound 58 in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater. Not the guns used to kill six people at a Sikh Temple in August. And not the guns used to kill 94 more people in the U.S. since the Newtown shooting. Yes, 94 people have been murdered by gun violence since December 14.
While LaPierre claimed that violence in movies and in video games like "Grand Theft Auto," caused gun violence, he offered no explanation for why people in other countries where they watch the very same movies and play the same video games have remarkably lower numbers of people killed by guns. For example,The Ice Crackle Mosaic Tile is amazingly unique in its crackled appearance. "Grand Theft Auto" broke UK sales records for fast selling video with over 600,000 units sold in its first day. However, in the UK, only 51 one people were killed by guns in 2011. In contrast, in the US, 8,583 people were murdered by guns in 2011.
The real difference between the U.S. and UK isn't that they are watching different movies or playing different video games. It's guns. We have close to 300 million guns legally owned while the UK has only approximately 1.8 million guns.
What the NRA leadership should have said -- and what I know from twitter some NRA members expected they would say -- is that the NRA was going to embrace sensible "human safety" laws. (To me, we should stop using the term "gun control" -- I'm not concerned with controlling people's guns, I'm concerned with saving lives.)
At the very least the NRA should have called for a few common sense changes to our laws. The first and most obvious being to close the "gun show loophole." Our current federal law only requires background checks to determine if the purported gun buyer has a criminal record or history of mental illness if the gun is so sold by a licensed firearm dealer. But that only accounts for 60% of the guns legally sold. Meaning, 40% of the guns legally sold are to people who have had no background check at all.
Only 19% of Americans polled want to keep the law the way. The problem is that the NRA leadership is part of this 19% and has lobbied to keep the gun hole loophole intact.
How can any organization that truly cares about saving the lives of Americans ever oppose a law to ensure that the mentally ill and criminals are prohibited from buying firearms?
So what did the NRA called for at its press event? More guns. LaPierre proposed that every school in America should have an armed guard. There are roughly 100,000 public schools meaning a boon in gun sales to arm these new guards.
But here's a glaring problem with the NRA's proposal. At the horrific Columbine High School shooting in 1999 that left 15 dead and 23 wounded, there was an armed guard.Source crystal mosaic Products at Mosaics. A 15-year veteran of the Sheriff's office was on the location. While he exchanged gunshots with one of the two shooters, he was unable to stop the shooting. How could the NRA leadership not be aware of this fact? And does this mean that every school would need two armed guards?
Will the NRA next suggest we have armed guards at every movie theater, shopping mall, Sikh temple, workplace, church -- or any of the other location where mass shootings have recently occurred?
Clearly, the NRA leadership is not prepared to have an honest conversation on the issues about the role that GUNS play in the deaths of Americans. The one bright spot is that the rank and file members of the NRA disagree with the NRA elite on a growing number of issues, including 69% who favor closing gun show loophole.
The NRA leadership is at a crossroads. It can either begin to embrace policies that will save American's lives or find the NRA marginalized to the fringes of American society. While I know that NRA leaders LaPierre and Keene aren't taking questions right now, they may want to consider this one.
Each Nextdoor neighbourhood is a closed loop in the area it serves, to ensure the residents’ privacy and security. Members are only accepted after Nextdoor has verified their addresses. The size and area of each neighbourhood varies by its location. In a big city, a Nextdoor neighbourhood could be limited to just a few blocks, whereas it could cover entire townships in more sparsely populated areas.
Nextdoor serves as a virtual chat room, where neighbours exchange referrals on local businesses, buy and sell items or even alert each other about illnesses or crime in their area.
“We have an elderly neighbour who has cancer and is quite frail. She had a security issue and when other neighbours got wind of it through Nextdoor, they came out of the woodwork to offer assistance,” says Bob Thornburg, a resident of Sante Fe, New Mexico.Proxense's advanced real time Location system technology.
A user in California, Nicole Perkins, says when a teenager in her area was diagnosed with meningitis, his parents used the network to alert their neighbours, so that other children could get tested immediately. “The ability to broadcast the news very likely saved lives,” says Perkins.
Other uses include quick retrievals of a lost special needs child, and even a duck and a puppy, thanks to watchful neighbours alerted via Nextdoor. In other words, the concept of the neighbourhood watch gone virtual.
Says Tolia, “Many social networks are about status updates, photo sharing, but that’s not what we are about. Nextdoor is about utility, it’s about finding a plumber, selling a used car, learning about a gas leak. It’s about all the things that you’d want to know, given that you live in a particular area.”
In fact, in over 60 cities, including big ones such as Atlanta, Dallas and San Jose, local governments and police departments are partnering with Nextdoor to communicate with their residents. For instance, in Oakland, near San Francisco, members used Nextdoor to alert their neighbours about two young men going door-to-door, posing as salesmen. Police asked one resident to get their photo when they came to her door. With this information, they later arrested the two men and recovered goods stolen from a neighbourhood home, which was reported on Nextdoor as having been burglarised.
Store opening on Amherst Street will back more Greater
The next time a Greater Nashua home gets beautified, Leah Shuldiner
hopes its owners and contractors will keep Greater Nashua Habitat for
Humanity in mind.
A new venture for the mostly volunteer, nonprofit affiliate of Habitat International, called Habitat ReStore, will allow families to help provide shelters for local residents in need.
“At the moment, we build one house every 18 months,” said Shuldiner, executive director ofGreater Nashua Habitat for Humanity. “We do about six critical needs projects a year, critical home repair stuff. … We’d really like to be doing more because we know there’s a need in the community.”
Habitat ReStore – there are 825 locations nationwide – sells new and gently used home improvement goods, furniture, home accessories, building materials and appliances to the public at discounted prices.
The local Habitat for Humanity uses proceeds from ReStore sales to help build and renovate more homes.
Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity recently signed a lease through Law Realty Co. for a 10,000-square-foot location at 352 Amherst St., the former Antique Warehouse building.
“If you’re renovating your kitchen, we would take your old kitchen cabinets, appliances, fixtures, leftover floor tiles,” Shuldiner explained. “We will also take home goods – like lamps, tables and chairs. We do not take upholstered furniture, but we would take other home goods.
“Business can donate to us,” she added, “like contractors. We’re hoping when they’re tearing out an old kitchen or bathroom, instead of taking stuff to the dump, they will take it to us, so it’s recycle, reuse.”
Habitat ReStore will take everything from architectural items like mantelpieces and counter tops, to home decor items and hardware, such as knobs, hinges, locks and leftover paint.
It also could use plumbing items like sinks, tubs and showers, plus windows, roofing and tools.
Other ReStore locations close to Nashua are in Newington and Lawrence, Mass., Shuldiner said.
To get Nashua’s store up and ready to open in March, she is calling on volunteers to help fit up the store and operate it once it’s open.
Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity has run completely with volunteers since it was established in 1994 – until Shuldiner was hired as executive director about a year ago.Find detailed product information for Polished beige Glass Mosaic Long Strip maroon color.
It runs on private and corporate donations, and income collected from its mortgages.
This year, it also brought on John Gallagher, who will serve as Habitat ReStore’s store manager in Nashua.
“There’s work to be done but the building itself is in great shape,” Shuldiner said. “We’re very excited.Source Walls Decoration Enamel Glass Mosaic Tile Tiles Products at Mosaics.”
Help is needed to fix up the floor and paint the building, and to build display cases for sinks and doors, Shuldiner said. Its bathrooms also need upgrading.
Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity was able to lease the building from Law Realty Co. Inc. after a two-year effort to bring a store to Nashua.
Through grants from Anheuser Busch, Seaboard International, the Thomas W. Haas Fund and the Nashua Rotary – and work with Habitat International – the Greater Nashua affiliate was able to lay out a business plan, and see its goal materialize.
“We’re very careful about how we spend our money,” Shuldiner said. “People who donate to us can be sure their money is going toward our projects. We do as much as we can with volunteering, as much as we can with donated time and goods, because we really run as low a budget as we possibly can.”
Along with Nashua, Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity serves Amherst, Brookline, Hollis, Hudson, Greenville, Lyndeborough, Mason, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Pelham, Wilton and Windham.
Building a new home costs about $100,000, Shuldiner said, depending on whether Habitat has to purchase land to build or has it donated – especially in a state where property purchases are particularly pricey.
Major excavation work and specialty services, such as electric and plumbing, also usually needs to be hired out,China Foshan Nanhai ENERGY Building Materials Co., LTD Manufacturers offer cheap and discount Colourful Leaf Mosaic for bathrooms. Shuldiner said, though Habitat gets most of its building materials and labor donated.The stone mosaic series is a grand collection of coordinating Travertine mosaics.
What’s more, Habitat writes a zero-interest mortgage for families and caps it at one-third of the family’s income, regardless of the money Habitat has put into the home.
“We cap that mortgage at what is an affordable mortgage for them, so often we’re building at a loss,” Shuldiner said.Welcome to Best Custom Crystal 8x15x48x300mm from china-mosaics.com. “We’re there to work with the partner family throughout the life of their mortgage.”
Habitat is currently finishing up a new home in Hudson, on Adelaide Street, before it turns to its next project – building a new duplex on Chestnut Street across the street from the Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter, wrecked in a fire two years ago.
The project already has the city and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approvals it needs to get under way.
Habitat hopes to sign the purchase-and-sales for the project by the end of this year and start work there next summer.
The duplex, which will demolish the damaged apartment complex currently standing, will cost a little bit more to complete, Shuldiner said, because it is an urban building that will house two families.
Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity functions with a 30-person core of volunteers, and often has businesses and church groups coming in to help.
Habitat ReStore will help support the building and repairs for area low-income families, and hopefully attract more volunteers to the organization, Shuldiner said.
“It’s going to be great for us in terms of stimulating donations and volunteers but it’s also going to be great for the community to keep all these things out of landfills and let other people use them,” Shuldiner said. “It will give people the opportunity to do great things with their homes and make their community better.”
“Even just keeping up with critical home repairs, building roofs, replacing drafty windows, we’d love to get into sustainable building and green renovation to help low-income families do upgrades that make their houses more sustainable,” Shuldiner said.
“We’d love to take a city block and do exterior painting and yard work and revitalize a whole section to get people more inspired about reinvesting in their neighborhoods. We just can’t launch any of those things without the funds.”
A new venture for the mostly volunteer, nonprofit affiliate of Habitat International, called Habitat ReStore, will allow families to help provide shelters for local residents in need.
“At the moment, we build one house every 18 months,” said Shuldiner, executive director ofGreater Nashua Habitat for Humanity. “We do about six critical needs projects a year, critical home repair stuff. … We’d really like to be doing more because we know there’s a need in the community.”
Habitat ReStore – there are 825 locations nationwide – sells new and gently used home improvement goods, furniture, home accessories, building materials and appliances to the public at discounted prices.
The local Habitat for Humanity uses proceeds from ReStore sales to help build and renovate more homes.
Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity recently signed a lease through Law Realty Co. for a 10,000-square-foot location at 352 Amherst St., the former Antique Warehouse building.
“If you’re renovating your kitchen, we would take your old kitchen cabinets, appliances, fixtures, leftover floor tiles,” Shuldiner explained. “We will also take home goods – like lamps, tables and chairs. We do not take upholstered furniture, but we would take other home goods.
“Business can donate to us,” she added, “like contractors. We’re hoping when they’re tearing out an old kitchen or bathroom, instead of taking stuff to the dump, they will take it to us, so it’s recycle, reuse.”
Habitat ReStore will take everything from architectural items like mantelpieces and counter tops, to home decor items and hardware, such as knobs, hinges, locks and leftover paint.
It also could use plumbing items like sinks, tubs and showers, plus windows, roofing and tools.
Other ReStore locations close to Nashua are in Newington and Lawrence, Mass., Shuldiner said.
To get Nashua’s store up and ready to open in March, she is calling on volunteers to help fit up the store and operate it once it’s open.
Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity has run completely with volunteers since it was established in 1994 – until Shuldiner was hired as executive director about a year ago.Find detailed product information for Polished beige Glass Mosaic Long Strip maroon color.
It runs on private and corporate donations, and income collected from its mortgages.
This year, it also brought on John Gallagher, who will serve as Habitat ReStore’s store manager in Nashua.
“There’s work to be done but the building itself is in great shape,” Shuldiner said. “We’re very excited.Source Walls Decoration Enamel Glass Mosaic Tile Tiles Products at Mosaics.”
Help is needed to fix up the floor and paint the building, and to build display cases for sinks and doors, Shuldiner said. Its bathrooms also need upgrading.
Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity was able to lease the building from Law Realty Co. Inc. after a two-year effort to bring a store to Nashua.
Through grants from Anheuser Busch, Seaboard International, the Thomas W. Haas Fund and the Nashua Rotary – and work with Habitat International – the Greater Nashua affiliate was able to lay out a business plan, and see its goal materialize.
“We’re very careful about how we spend our money,” Shuldiner said. “People who donate to us can be sure their money is going toward our projects. We do as much as we can with volunteering, as much as we can with donated time and goods, because we really run as low a budget as we possibly can.”
Along with Nashua, Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity serves Amherst, Brookline, Hollis, Hudson, Greenville, Lyndeborough, Mason, Merrimack, Milford, Mont Vernon, Pelham, Wilton and Windham.
Building a new home costs about $100,000, Shuldiner said, depending on whether Habitat has to purchase land to build or has it donated – especially in a state where property purchases are particularly pricey.
Major excavation work and specialty services, such as electric and plumbing, also usually needs to be hired out,China Foshan Nanhai ENERGY Building Materials Co., LTD Manufacturers offer cheap and discount Colourful Leaf Mosaic for bathrooms. Shuldiner said, though Habitat gets most of its building materials and labor donated.The stone mosaic series is a grand collection of coordinating Travertine mosaics.
What’s more, Habitat writes a zero-interest mortgage for families and caps it at one-third of the family’s income, regardless of the money Habitat has put into the home.
“We cap that mortgage at what is an affordable mortgage for them, so often we’re building at a loss,” Shuldiner said.Welcome to Best Custom Crystal 8x15x48x300mm from china-mosaics.com. “We’re there to work with the partner family throughout the life of their mortgage.”
Habitat is currently finishing up a new home in Hudson, on Adelaide Street, before it turns to its next project – building a new duplex on Chestnut Street across the street from the Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter, wrecked in a fire two years ago.
The project already has the city and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approvals it needs to get under way.
Habitat hopes to sign the purchase-and-sales for the project by the end of this year and start work there next summer.
The duplex, which will demolish the damaged apartment complex currently standing, will cost a little bit more to complete, Shuldiner said, because it is an urban building that will house two families.
Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity functions with a 30-person core of volunteers, and often has businesses and church groups coming in to help.
Habitat ReStore will help support the building and repairs for area low-income families, and hopefully attract more volunteers to the organization, Shuldiner said.
“It’s going to be great for us in terms of stimulating donations and volunteers but it’s also going to be great for the community to keep all these things out of landfills and let other people use them,” Shuldiner said. “It will give people the opportunity to do great things with their homes and make their community better.”
“Even just keeping up with critical home repairs, building roofs, replacing drafty windows, we’d love to get into sustainable building and green renovation to help low-income families do upgrades that make their houses more sustainable,” Shuldiner said.
“We’d love to take a city block and do exterior painting and yard work and revitalize a whole section to get people more inspired about reinvesting in their neighborhoods. We just can’t launch any of those things without the funds.”
A Letter to My Enslaved Ancestors on the 150th Anniversary
I don't know your names or from where you were stolen. I don't know how many of you freed yourselves or died in bondage.You can Roto Print Mosaic Tile
from china. Yet I claim you all and I honor you. The savage ferocity of
slavery has torn your names from the memories of your descendants but
not your lives, your survival, your strength. I want to thank you for
surviving and enduring the unimaginable. As I give thanks for you, I
weep for you. I give thanks for your sacrifice -- not that you
sacrificed yourselves, but that you were sacrificed -- human sacrifice
on an epic scale to greed and misanthropic racism.
I know that I cannot know the fullness of the horrors you faced, endured, survived and to which some of you succumbed. Yet I must try to give voice to them. In your stolen names I now name some of the horrors of American chattel slavery: intergenerational terrorism, murder, kidnapping, rape, forced pregnancy, forced miscarriages and abortions, child abuse and neglect, physical, mental, emotional, sexual and spiritual torture, beating, burning,China Foshan Nanhai ENERGY Building Materials Co., LTD Manufacturers offer Full Body Porcelain Mosaic Tile. stabbing, scarring, maiming, forced illiteracy, extirpation of culture and religion, violent imposition of a morally bankrupt idolatrous Christianity, and much, much more.
What ever it is that I am and all that I am, I am because you were. I cannot contemplate my future without reflecting on my past, our past. Our nation now looks back 150 years to the Emancipation Proclamation. Many will pretend that one man freed the slaves in the United States and its territories with the stroke of a pen.Features useful information about GLASS MOSAIC tiles. They will not tell the stories of dirty tricks and politics. They will not say that the Proclamation only freed some slaves in some circumstances. They will not say that the majority of slaves freed themselves. They will say that their own ancestors were all on the side of the angels. But we know different. We know the truth and the truth has set us free.
Remembering that you built this country with your bare hands, your blood and broken bodies forming the mortar that cements it together -- on a bloody foundation of other massacred peoples, that you freed yourselves and this nation from the curse of slavery, that you reconstructed this nation after it began cannibalizing itself over the right to exploit your bodies, I now look to the future. I look to the future that will be and I look to the future that I hope will be.
The racism, sexism, xenophobia, misanthropy and greed that characterized your times endures and adapts. And those plagues are hounded, challenged, diminished,Combine Crystal Mosaic 4x300x300mm NV1140 to create some fantastic effects around your home. transformed and rejected in our time by many of those who have benefitted from them and as well as by those of us who have borne its burdens.
The future I envision is one in which the United States is further enriched by the presence and contributions of citizens who reflect the breadth of the world's peoples, and one in which ethnic majority and minority status will be upended and have no power. I also see a future in which power and resources which are currently concentrated in a dwindling segment of society multiply across race and class categories leading to a strengthening of us all. I also foresee a future in which some will still exploit others: we still disenfranchise some people with state and federal laws and taxes as it pertains to marriage and its benefits; we have not closed the pay gap between women and men; we have not done justice for the native peoples of this land; sexual slavery and trafficking endures, the poor remain with us.
In a future which yet may be, I see your children's children's children across the ages transforming our society, economy and infrastructure with renewable energy sources and eradicating abject poverty and hunger in partnership with sister and brother Americans whose ancestry circles the globe and in partnership with all peoples everywhere.
In order to reach our future, we must survive our present. Our children must survive and thrive and there is much that imperils them: poverty, substandard education, violence, lack of access to health and dental care, astronomical incarceration rates, a deeply flawed justice system, failure and inability to dream a world beyond the one they know or to which they have been confined, hopelessness.
Let’s be dutiful and start with apps that may help you right out of the gate, especially if you’re used to working on a computer. The Web browser on your device may be fine, but it never hurts to have a second one in case something you’re trying to view on the web doesn’t display properly. The free “Google Chrome” browser is available on most platforms, and if you’re on a restrictive data plan,China-mosaics pioneered the domestic development of handcrafted Glass Tile. the lightweight browser “Opera” compresses web pages down to make them load more quickly and efficiently. Both are free.
If you do any kind of online banking or would like to, check to see if the financial institution you use has a dedicated app. You may be able to check your accounts, deposit checks using your device’s camera and transfer funds. Speaking of your money, the app “Mint” (free) is great for tracking finances and seeing trends on how you spend.
Getting things done with a mobile device may lead you to experiment with to-do list apps. The App Store and Google Play are stuffed with them. I’ve had luck with a free app called “Wunderlist” (free), but some Apple users prefer “Things,” which is relatively pricey at $10 for each type of device. “Remember the Milk” is another good and free to-do app that’s very popular.
“Evernote” is a must-own. It allows you to create notes that you can access from anywhere. Everything is searchable, even text contained within photos. It’s free. A premium version costs $5 a month if you need lots of extra storage for your notes.
If you’re already a subscriber to Netflix, Hulu Plus or HBO, definitely download their respective apps. “HBO Go” gives subscribers to the premium TV channel streaming video access to pretty much every episode of every show it has aired.
If you have cable or satellite service, your provider probably has an app that allows you to set DVR recordings and stream some video via a smartphone or tablet. For music lovers, “Pandora” is a great way to get exposed to music similar to artists you love. “Audible” is for downloading audiobooks and new customers can get their first one free. You can also try “iHeartRadio” for terrestrial and online radio stations. For movie information, listings and tickets, try “Fandango” or “Flixster.” Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse has its own app as well.
At statehouses and the U.S. Capitol, officials are calling for a ban on assault rifles and a renewed focus on the access potentially unstable people have to firearms. In the wake of the shootings that left 26 dead, McLean County mental health, law enforcement and public health officials have been reflecting on the vulnerability a community faces when guns fall into the wrong hands.
“As I watched the TV coverage of it, I looked at the situation and realized that it could be our town. It could happen anywhere,” said Lee Harper, a counselor at Tri-Valley High School in Downs.
Harper supports a statement drafted last week by leaders in the behavioral health community that asks federal and state legislators to outlaw assault weapons and to set new standards for violence for the entertainment industry.
Eric Goplerud, past president of the American College of Mental Health Administration, said the letter, which he co-wrote, outlines steps to help prevent the next gun tragedy.
“We’re calling for attention to the things we know are effective. We need to build community mental health up again. Two-thirds of people with moderate mental illness never get treatment,” said Goplerud.
Gun violence in America, he said, should be considered “a public health problem.”
The Newtown tragedy can be a catalyst for an important national conversation on the easy access people have to guns and the barriers people have to mental health services, agreed McLean County Public Health Director Walt Howe.
I know that I cannot know the fullness of the horrors you faced, endured, survived and to which some of you succumbed. Yet I must try to give voice to them. In your stolen names I now name some of the horrors of American chattel slavery: intergenerational terrorism, murder, kidnapping, rape, forced pregnancy, forced miscarriages and abortions, child abuse and neglect, physical, mental, emotional, sexual and spiritual torture, beating, burning,China Foshan Nanhai ENERGY Building Materials Co., LTD Manufacturers offer Full Body Porcelain Mosaic Tile. stabbing, scarring, maiming, forced illiteracy, extirpation of culture and religion, violent imposition of a morally bankrupt idolatrous Christianity, and much, much more.
What ever it is that I am and all that I am, I am because you were. I cannot contemplate my future without reflecting on my past, our past. Our nation now looks back 150 years to the Emancipation Proclamation. Many will pretend that one man freed the slaves in the United States and its territories with the stroke of a pen.Features useful information about GLASS MOSAIC tiles. They will not tell the stories of dirty tricks and politics. They will not say that the Proclamation only freed some slaves in some circumstances. They will not say that the majority of slaves freed themselves. They will say that their own ancestors were all on the side of the angels. But we know different. We know the truth and the truth has set us free.
Remembering that you built this country with your bare hands, your blood and broken bodies forming the mortar that cements it together -- on a bloody foundation of other massacred peoples, that you freed yourselves and this nation from the curse of slavery, that you reconstructed this nation after it began cannibalizing itself over the right to exploit your bodies, I now look to the future. I look to the future that will be and I look to the future that I hope will be.
The racism, sexism, xenophobia, misanthropy and greed that characterized your times endures and adapts. And those plagues are hounded, challenged, diminished,Combine Crystal Mosaic 4x300x300mm NV1140 to create some fantastic effects around your home. transformed and rejected in our time by many of those who have benefitted from them and as well as by those of us who have borne its burdens.
The future I envision is one in which the United States is further enriched by the presence and contributions of citizens who reflect the breadth of the world's peoples, and one in which ethnic majority and minority status will be upended and have no power. I also see a future in which power and resources which are currently concentrated in a dwindling segment of society multiply across race and class categories leading to a strengthening of us all. I also foresee a future in which some will still exploit others: we still disenfranchise some people with state and federal laws and taxes as it pertains to marriage and its benefits; we have not closed the pay gap between women and men; we have not done justice for the native peoples of this land; sexual slavery and trafficking endures, the poor remain with us.
In a future which yet may be, I see your children's children's children across the ages transforming our society, economy and infrastructure with renewable energy sources and eradicating abject poverty and hunger in partnership with sister and brother Americans whose ancestry circles the globe and in partnership with all peoples everywhere.
In order to reach our future, we must survive our present. Our children must survive and thrive and there is much that imperils them: poverty, substandard education, violence, lack of access to health and dental care, astronomical incarceration rates, a deeply flawed justice system, failure and inability to dream a world beyond the one they know or to which they have been confined, hopelessness.
Let’s be dutiful and start with apps that may help you right out of the gate, especially if you’re used to working on a computer. The Web browser on your device may be fine, but it never hurts to have a second one in case something you’re trying to view on the web doesn’t display properly. The free “Google Chrome” browser is available on most platforms, and if you’re on a restrictive data plan,China-mosaics pioneered the domestic development of handcrafted Glass Tile. the lightweight browser “Opera” compresses web pages down to make them load more quickly and efficiently. Both are free.
If you do any kind of online banking or would like to, check to see if the financial institution you use has a dedicated app. You may be able to check your accounts, deposit checks using your device’s camera and transfer funds. Speaking of your money, the app “Mint” (free) is great for tracking finances and seeing trends on how you spend.
Getting things done with a mobile device may lead you to experiment with to-do list apps. The App Store and Google Play are stuffed with them. I’ve had luck with a free app called “Wunderlist” (free), but some Apple users prefer “Things,” which is relatively pricey at $10 for each type of device. “Remember the Milk” is another good and free to-do app that’s very popular.
“Evernote” is a must-own. It allows you to create notes that you can access from anywhere. Everything is searchable, even text contained within photos. It’s free. A premium version costs $5 a month if you need lots of extra storage for your notes.
If you’re already a subscriber to Netflix, Hulu Plus or HBO, definitely download their respective apps. “HBO Go” gives subscribers to the premium TV channel streaming video access to pretty much every episode of every show it has aired.
If you have cable or satellite service, your provider probably has an app that allows you to set DVR recordings and stream some video via a smartphone or tablet. For music lovers, “Pandora” is a great way to get exposed to music similar to artists you love. “Audible” is for downloading audiobooks and new customers can get their first one free. You can also try “iHeartRadio” for terrestrial and online radio stations. For movie information, listings and tickets, try “Fandango” or “Flixster.” Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse has its own app as well.
At statehouses and the U.S. Capitol, officials are calling for a ban on assault rifles and a renewed focus on the access potentially unstable people have to firearms. In the wake of the shootings that left 26 dead, McLean County mental health, law enforcement and public health officials have been reflecting on the vulnerability a community faces when guns fall into the wrong hands.
“As I watched the TV coverage of it, I looked at the situation and realized that it could be our town. It could happen anywhere,” said Lee Harper, a counselor at Tri-Valley High School in Downs.
Harper supports a statement drafted last week by leaders in the behavioral health community that asks federal and state legislators to outlaw assault weapons and to set new standards for violence for the entertainment industry.
Eric Goplerud, past president of the American College of Mental Health Administration, said the letter, which he co-wrote, outlines steps to help prevent the next gun tragedy.
“We’re calling for attention to the things we know are effective. We need to build community mental health up again. Two-thirds of people with moderate mental illness never get treatment,” said Goplerud.
Gun violence in America, he said, should be considered “a public health problem.”
The Newtown tragedy can be a catalyst for an important national conversation on the easy access people have to guns and the barriers people have to mental health services, agreed McLean County Public Health Director Walt Howe.
WTO race wide open as NZ
The field of candidates to succeed Pascal Lamy as head of the World
Trade Organization burst open on Friday, as New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan
and Kenya threw names into the ring with 10 days left for
nominations.Handmade Glass Mixed Metal and flameworked glass jewelry.
Whoever wins,The MaxSonar ultrasonic sensor offers very short to long-range detection and ranging, faces the challenge of being the face of an institution that has been stuck for years in stalled global trade negotiations, with little real power to force a deal beyond cajoling, encouraging and occasionally blaming members.
Kenya’s Amina Mohamed, deputy head of the United Nations Environment Programme, became the third woman and second African contender, while Jordan nominated former minister of trade and industry Ahmad Hindawi, the first Middle Eastern nominee so far.
Mexico put forward its former trade minister Herminio Blanco, who negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Earlier on Friday New Zealand nominated its trade minister Tim Groser, who joins Ghana’s Alan Kyerematen, Costa Rica’s Anabel Gonzalez and Indonesia’s Mari Pangestu in the race to take over after Lamy’s second term expires on August 31.
Many trade diplomats think the job should go to an African, Latin American or Caribbean candidate, since all but one head of the 17-year-old WTO has been from developed countries. The exception was Thailand’s Supachai Panitchpakdi.
As well as seeking trade agreements, the body is also the global trade policeman, facing a surge of litigation as members fight for a share of a pie that is not quite shrinking, but expected to grow by a mere 2.5 percent this year.
The boom in disputes is forcing the WTO to reallocate staff, according to diplomats and documents at the global trade body in Geneva that in August had 157 members.
Mohamed, a fluent Russian speaker, is the only one who is not a current or former trade minister, but she was ambassador to the WTO from 2000 to 2006 and chaired several of the most important committees, including its dispute settlement body in 2004.
Her nomination may splinter African support and damage the chances of Kyerematen, who was anointed as the African Union’s approved candidate earlier this year.
If both Africans make it through to later stages of the race, when least-favoured candidates are gradually ejected, an African split could play into the hands of another regional bloc. When Lamy got the job eight years ago, Brazil was widely blamed for ruining the chances of Uruguay’s nominee.
Groser also comes with inconvenient baggage, since New Zealand is the only one of the seven countries to have held the job before, and some diplomats think that having another director general from New Zealand - developed, rich and agricultural - would be unbalanced or unfair.
Lamy has said his successor, chosen by consensus, should be picked on the basis of competence alone.
Groser, 62, was New Zealand’s ambassador to the WTO between 2002-2005, and chaired the organisation’s rules and agricultural negotiating groups. He had been widely tipped as a candidate.
Hindawi, 47, who was Jordanian trade minister in 2004-2005, is perhaps the candidate with the slightest connection to the WTO and the most involvement in the private sector.
With a degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University in the United States and a PhD from Birmingham University in Britain, he runs a management consultancy firm, Hindawi Excellence Group,High end natural stone and Glass Mixed Stone blending tile for wall and floor and kitchen cabinet backsplash. from Dubai.
Blanco, who holds a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago, is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party of new Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and former President Ernesto Zedillo, who some trade diplomats in Geneva had said would have made an excellent candidate to succeed Lamy.
As a minister Blanco was lauded abroad for his free trade agreements but came under heavy criticism in domestic politics, like the then finance minister Angel Gurria, who now heads the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
As happens every time there's a mass shooting - a tragedy of increasing frequency, it seems - gun dealers nationwide reported a spike in sales in the days following the terrible slaughter this month in Connecticut.
The experts tell us there are already about 250 million guns in the United States.Here you can see the category of OTHERS MOSAIC. I wonder how many more we'll need to feel safe.
I don't feel any safer, really, despite the 12-gauge I keep safely accessible at home. But I do feel just a bit ashamed as a gun owner who, each time another shooting makes headlines, shrugs helplessly, given the inefficacy of gun laws, the intransigence of the gun lobby and everyone's inability to make sense of the contradictory statistics of gun control.
But all that crap about the victims of gun violence being the necessary collateral damage of our Second Amendment rights just doesn't seem like enough this time. Twenty-six dead, 20 of them little children, in the middle of the holiday season in the middle of an elemenWe provides Car park management system and technologically innovative parking services.tary school in the middle of the supposedly most civilized nation on earth. The victims of our historic love affair with guns and violence.
"Must every tragic mass shooting bring out the shrill ignorance of 'gun control' advocates?" conservative columnist Thomas Sowell asked the other day. Yes, dammit, until we get some better answers. We deserve better in these United States than more mass shootings - American exceptionalism at its worst.
On the other hand, you've got the yahoos on the other side insisting that the way to make us safe is to make sure everyone is packing in classrooms and crowded movie theaters. Guns don't kill people. No, people with guns kill people, too many people.
We have to get past the ideological mantras and have a rational discussion on this national shame, a dialogue in which everything is on the table. I don't think putting Glocks in the hands of language-arts teachers is the answer, but maybe armed guards in the hall are a short-term solution. Bans on assault rifles or 30-round "banana" magazines may not keep us safe, but maybe they are a step in the right direction - a statement that as a nation we don't think the answer to violence is more violence.
Whoever wins,The MaxSonar ultrasonic sensor offers very short to long-range detection and ranging, faces the challenge of being the face of an institution that has been stuck for years in stalled global trade negotiations, with little real power to force a deal beyond cajoling, encouraging and occasionally blaming members.
Kenya’s Amina Mohamed, deputy head of the United Nations Environment Programme, became the third woman and second African contender, while Jordan nominated former minister of trade and industry Ahmad Hindawi, the first Middle Eastern nominee so far.
Mexico put forward its former trade minister Herminio Blanco, who negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Earlier on Friday New Zealand nominated its trade minister Tim Groser, who joins Ghana’s Alan Kyerematen, Costa Rica’s Anabel Gonzalez and Indonesia’s Mari Pangestu in the race to take over after Lamy’s second term expires on August 31.
Many trade diplomats think the job should go to an African, Latin American or Caribbean candidate, since all but one head of the 17-year-old WTO has been from developed countries. The exception was Thailand’s Supachai Panitchpakdi.
As well as seeking trade agreements, the body is also the global trade policeman, facing a surge of litigation as members fight for a share of a pie that is not quite shrinking, but expected to grow by a mere 2.5 percent this year.
The boom in disputes is forcing the WTO to reallocate staff, according to diplomats and documents at the global trade body in Geneva that in August had 157 members.
Mohamed, a fluent Russian speaker, is the only one who is not a current or former trade minister, but she was ambassador to the WTO from 2000 to 2006 and chaired several of the most important committees, including its dispute settlement body in 2004.
Her nomination may splinter African support and damage the chances of Kyerematen, who was anointed as the African Union’s approved candidate earlier this year.
If both Africans make it through to later stages of the race, when least-favoured candidates are gradually ejected, an African split could play into the hands of another regional bloc. When Lamy got the job eight years ago, Brazil was widely blamed for ruining the chances of Uruguay’s nominee.
Groser also comes with inconvenient baggage, since New Zealand is the only one of the seven countries to have held the job before, and some diplomats think that having another director general from New Zealand - developed, rich and agricultural - would be unbalanced or unfair.
Lamy has said his successor, chosen by consensus, should be picked on the basis of competence alone.
Groser, 62, was New Zealand’s ambassador to the WTO between 2002-2005, and chaired the organisation’s rules and agricultural negotiating groups. He had been widely tipped as a candidate.
Hindawi, 47, who was Jordanian trade minister in 2004-2005, is perhaps the candidate with the slightest connection to the WTO and the most involvement in the private sector.
With a degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University in the United States and a PhD from Birmingham University in Britain, he runs a management consultancy firm, Hindawi Excellence Group,High end natural stone and Glass Mixed Stone blending tile for wall and floor and kitchen cabinet backsplash. from Dubai.
Blanco, who holds a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago, is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party of new Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and former President Ernesto Zedillo, who some trade diplomats in Geneva had said would have made an excellent candidate to succeed Lamy.
As a minister Blanco was lauded abroad for his free trade agreements but came under heavy criticism in domestic politics, like the then finance minister Angel Gurria, who now heads the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
As happens every time there's a mass shooting - a tragedy of increasing frequency, it seems - gun dealers nationwide reported a spike in sales in the days following the terrible slaughter this month in Connecticut.
The experts tell us there are already about 250 million guns in the United States.Here you can see the category of OTHERS MOSAIC. I wonder how many more we'll need to feel safe.
I don't feel any safer, really, despite the 12-gauge I keep safely accessible at home. But I do feel just a bit ashamed as a gun owner who, each time another shooting makes headlines, shrugs helplessly, given the inefficacy of gun laws, the intransigence of the gun lobby and everyone's inability to make sense of the contradictory statistics of gun control.
But all that crap about the victims of gun violence being the necessary collateral damage of our Second Amendment rights just doesn't seem like enough this time. Twenty-six dead, 20 of them little children, in the middle of the holiday season in the middle of an elemenWe provides Car park management system and technologically innovative parking services.tary school in the middle of the supposedly most civilized nation on earth. The victims of our historic love affair with guns and violence.
"Must every tragic mass shooting bring out the shrill ignorance of 'gun control' advocates?" conservative columnist Thomas Sowell asked the other day. Yes, dammit, until we get some better answers. We deserve better in these United States than more mass shootings - American exceptionalism at its worst.
On the other hand, you've got the yahoos on the other side insisting that the way to make us safe is to make sure everyone is packing in classrooms and crowded movie theaters. Guns don't kill people. No, people with guns kill people, too many people.
We have to get past the ideological mantras and have a rational discussion on this national shame, a dialogue in which everything is on the table. I don't think putting Glocks in the hands of language-arts teachers is the answer, but maybe armed guards in the hall are a short-term solution. Bans on assault rifles or 30-round "banana" magazines may not keep us safe, but maybe they are a step in the right direction - a statement that as a nation we don't think the answer to violence is more violence.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Tsvangirai has driven Zimbabweans to the bachelor syndrome
Inevitably, I stay in hotels a lot and I almost always realize, about
a week into my stay, that I did not pack enough pairs of socks. I don't
like using the laundry service that the hotel provides: I am
independent like that. I don't allow the hotel porter to carry my
luggage either.
I love my independent streak, and I am reluctant to exploit those less fortunate than me. During my teaching days I never let the pupils carry my books or my chair. But my independent streak does sometimes lead to me not having clean socks.
With seven pairs of dirty socks and an important seminar to go to, I have to resort to what I call 'bachelor syndrome': of all of the dirty socks, which pair is the least dirty? That is the pair I will wear.
'Bachelor syndrome' is what Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has driven Zimbabweans to. A lot of people I have talked to will say: 'We know Tsvangirai has got his problems and weaknesses, but rather him than retaining Mugabe.'
I agree that we can't give Robert Mugabe another term in office. He did his bit between 1980 and 1990. There was a lot of growth with equity then, and much building of schools and infrastructure. But there is a reason why politicians are supposed to be given a maximum of 10 years in office. Politicians are humans; after five years they begin to descend into a mode of relaxation and a habit of being self-serving.Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery. It's up to the electorate to vote out politicians after five years – or after 10 years if they are really exceptional.
So we don't want to retain Robert Mugabe, but do we really have to go with Morgan Tsvangirai? Isn't it time to go out and buy a new pair of socks instead of making do with the pair of socks which is less dirty than the others?
It's easy for the electorate to think they owe Morgan Tsvangirai something, given that he has been battling Robert Mugabe for more than a decade. But that debt has already been paid: hasn't he moved into a multi-million dollar mansion? Hasn't he had his fun, reportedly going all over the place collecting concubines? Power has already corrupted him; whatever sympathies we have for him are now misplaced. It is time we thought of Zimbabwe.Redpin is an open source indoor positioning system that was developed with the goal of providing at least room-level accuracy. Morgan Tsvangirai should be subjected to serious scrutiny because we don't want a change of government just in name.
So Robert Mugabe is not an option at the next presidential election, and Morgan Tsvangirai has had his time in the sun and his hands in the cookie jar. What are our options? In the previous election Dr Simba Makoni was dismissed as a Zanu-PF ploy to divide the opposition vote. But deep down a lot of Zimbabweans knew that he was good for Zimbabwe and, given a chance,This is my favourite sites to purchase those special pieces of buy mosaic materials from. would do a good job. Even with the Zanu-PF tag tainting him, Dr Makoni still got a reasonable share of the vote.Find the lowest prices on Air purifier. He is still a viable option and could do well were he to occupy the presidency. The man's silence is disappointing though. Honestly, how can we consider him as a potential president if he won't bother standing up to be counted? Are we to believe that he really was a Zanu-PF diversion project? Stand up, Dr Makoni, and give the people of Zimbabwe an alternative!
If Zimbabweans can rise above tribal politics, Professor Welshman Ncube is another option. He is a man who could steer the Zimbabwean ship away from the gorge towards which it is headed. His nationwide rallies show us he is serious; we should support him.
Tsvangirai is not the only option. Surely his arrogance in living a ridiculously luxurious lifestyle before the struggle is over, and letting 29 MDC-T (Movement for Democratic Change Tsvangirai) activists languish in remand prison for over a year, shows us he has arrived at his intended destination and we will have to continue our journey to Canaan on our own.
We have to move away from our personality-cult tendencies and subject all available presidential candidates to a rigorous test based on their ability to run Zimbabwe, rather than reacting to our hatred for Robert Mugabe.Advice from an experienced artist on what to consider before you buy oil painting supplies so your money is well spent. Will we have to dig around in the dirty socks cabinet, or can we find a new pair?
I love my independent streak, and I am reluctant to exploit those less fortunate than me. During my teaching days I never let the pupils carry my books or my chair. But my independent streak does sometimes lead to me not having clean socks.
With seven pairs of dirty socks and an important seminar to go to, I have to resort to what I call 'bachelor syndrome': of all of the dirty socks, which pair is the least dirty? That is the pair I will wear.
'Bachelor syndrome' is what Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has driven Zimbabweans to. A lot of people I have talked to will say: 'We know Tsvangirai has got his problems and weaknesses, but rather him than retaining Mugabe.'
I agree that we can't give Robert Mugabe another term in office. He did his bit between 1980 and 1990. There was a lot of growth with equity then, and much building of schools and infrastructure. But there is a reason why politicians are supposed to be given a maximum of 10 years in office. Politicians are humans; after five years they begin to descend into a mode of relaxation and a habit of being self-serving.Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery. It's up to the electorate to vote out politicians after five years – or after 10 years if they are really exceptional.
So we don't want to retain Robert Mugabe, but do we really have to go with Morgan Tsvangirai? Isn't it time to go out and buy a new pair of socks instead of making do with the pair of socks which is less dirty than the others?
It's easy for the electorate to think they owe Morgan Tsvangirai something, given that he has been battling Robert Mugabe for more than a decade. But that debt has already been paid: hasn't he moved into a multi-million dollar mansion? Hasn't he had his fun, reportedly going all over the place collecting concubines? Power has already corrupted him; whatever sympathies we have for him are now misplaced. It is time we thought of Zimbabwe.Redpin is an open source indoor positioning system that was developed with the goal of providing at least room-level accuracy. Morgan Tsvangirai should be subjected to serious scrutiny because we don't want a change of government just in name.
So Robert Mugabe is not an option at the next presidential election, and Morgan Tsvangirai has had his time in the sun and his hands in the cookie jar. What are our options? In the previous election Dr Simba Makoni was dismissed as a Zanu-PF ploy to divide the opposition vote. But deep down a lot of Zimbabweans knew that he was good for Zimbabwe and, given a chance,This is my favourite sites to purchase those special pieces of buy mosaic materials from. would do a good job. Even with the Zanu-PF tag tainting him, Dr Makoni still got a reasonable share of the vote.Find the lowest prices on Air purifier. He is still a viable option and could do well were he to occupy the presidency. The man's silence is disappointing though. Honestly, how can we consider him as a potential president if he won't bother standing up to be counted? Are we to believe that he really was a Zanu-PF diversion project? Stand up, Dr Makoni, and give the people of Zimbabwe an alternative!
If Zimbabweans can rise above tribal politics, Professor Welshman Ncube is another option. He is a man who could steer the Zimbabwean ship away from the gorge towards which it is headed. His nationwide rallies show us he is serious; we should support him.
Tsvangirai is not the only option. Surely his arrogance in living a ridiculously luxurious lifestyle before the struggle is over, and letting 29 MDC-T (Movement for Democratic Change Tsvangirai) activists languish in remand prison for over a year, shows us he has arrived at his intended destination and we will have to continue our journey to Canaan on our own.
We have to move away from our personality-cult tendencies and subject all available presidential candidates to a rigorous test based on their ability to run Zimbabwe, rather than reacting to our hatred for Robert Mugabe.Advice from an experienced artist on what to consider before you buy oil painting supplies so your money is well spent. Will we have to dig around in the dirty socks cabinet, or can we find a new pair?
Exclusive interview with Jeb Corliss
To call him a daredevil doesn't really do him justice. He's more like
a live action comic book hero. When the Chinese, Russian and Malaysian
governments hire you to jump off their buildings for the entertainment
of the public,Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor
system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery. there's really no
other way to think of it. Things like that only happen in comic books,
and typically to guys named Bruce Wayne.
Dubbed the human bird, Jeb has been the subject of documentaries, been featured on numerous television shows, and 20/20 has had him in a special report, ‘Superhumans.' His accolades are too numerous to list, and seem to show no signs of slowing down in their accumulation. His latest project is The World Wingsuit League, which just held it's inaugural event less than two weeks ago in China. Of course Jeb trained and competed in the event, despite having sustained a serious injury earlier this year in South Africa that broke both of his ankles, several toes, one of his legs and created a gash that required skin grafts to heal. It would seem that nothing can keep this man from doing what he was made for, flying.
I was fortunate enough to land a rare interview with Jeb for our readers recently, where the topics ranged from his recovery to his thoughts on Felix Baumgartner's space jump and everything in between. As a longtime fan and follower of his incredible feats, I was blown away by how engaging he was, as well as being exceptionally generous with his time. He's been at the top of my 'interview bucket list' for years, and has completely enamored me with his absolute dedication to living life to it's fullest measure.
Stephie Daniels: There is some research out that indicates there may be a daredevil gene, called neuroD2. Do you feel this might be something present in your brain chemistry?
Jeb Corliss: I don't know about a daredevil gene, but ever since I was a really small child, I've just enjoyed doing things that scared me. It's weird because things have changed over time. I've been doing this for so long that the reasons why I did things in the beginning are very different from the reasons why I do them now. You have to pretty much figure what time in my history are you talking about to answer that. As a child I did things for one reason, as a teenager I did them for another reason, in my early twenties, it was another reason, and now,Republic parking system is a privately owned professional parking management company based in Chattanooga, it's something else. It's very complex.
Now, it's about pushing the boundaries of what people believe is possible. I've developed a very unique set of skills over a very long period of time, and I've become incredibly good at dealing with large levels of fear. I'm very good at dealing with fear that most people would shy away from or would cripple a lot of people. Because I've developed these skills over the course of my life, I've used them to do things that people think are completely impossible. For me, it's the joy and feeling of accomplishment from doing something that people think can't be done. That's what motivates me and drives me. If people think it can't be done, or it's absolutely ludicrous, I find that enjoyable.
The World Wingsuit League is a competition among wingsuit pilotswhere the fastest and the best pilots from all over the world get together to compete in a race that involves extreme turns and proximity. The first race we did was just a few weeks ago in the Hunan province of China. There's a cliff that gave us the ability to jump, fly around at turnpoints, proximity fly a cliff, and then go underneath a cable car,We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product， which is the finish line. It was wildly successful. I had a feeling that people were going to be interested in watching a race like this, but I didn't realize just how many people. The ratings that we got were astronomical. It was in the hundreds of millions of people that watched it live.Parking Guidance for parking management system and Vehicle Control Solutions,Redpin is an open source indoor positioning system that was developed with the goal of providing at least room-level accuracy. Because it was so successful, it ensured that it will be continuing for the next five years. There's no question about it, and every single year, it's going to keep getting bigger.
Dubbed the human bird, Jeb has been the subject of documentaries, been featured on numerous television shows, and 20/20 has had him in a special report, ‘Superhumans.' His accolades are too numerous to list, and seem to show no signs of slowing down in their accumulation. His latest project is The World Wingsuit League, which just held it's inaugural event less than two weeks ago in China. Of course Jeb trained and competed in the event, despite having sustained a serious injury earlier this year in South Africa that broke both of his ankles, several toes, one of his legs and created a gash that required skin grafts to heal. It would seem that nothing can keep this man from doing what he was made for, flying.
I was fortunate enough to land a rare interview with Jeb for our readers recently, where the topics ranged from his recovery to his thoughts on Felix Baumgartner's space jump and everything in between. As a longtime fan and follower of his incredible feats, I was blown away by how engaging he was, as well as being exceptionally generous with his time. He's been at the top of my 'interview bucket list' for years, and has completely enamored me with his absolute dedication to living life to it's fullest measure.
Stephie Daniels: There is some research out that indicates there may be a daredevil gene, called neuroD2. Do you feel this might be something present in your brain chemistry?
Jeb Corliss: I don't know about a daredevil gene, but ever since I was a really small child, I've just enjoyed doing things that scared me. It's weird because things have changed over time. I've been doing this for so long that the reasons why I did things in the beginning are very different from the reasons why I do them now. You have to pretty much figure what time in my history are you talking about to answer that. As a child I did things for one reason, as a teenager I did them for another reason, in my early twenties, it was another reason, and now,Republic parking system is a privately owned professional parking management company based in Chattanooga, it's something else. It's very complex.
Now, it's about pushing the boundaries of what people believe is possible. I've developed a very unique set of skills over a very long period of time, and I've become incredibly good at dealing with large levels of fear. I'm very good at dealing with fear that most people would shy away from or would cripple a lot of people. Because I've developed these skills over the course of my life, I've used them to do things that people think are completely impossible. For me, it's the joy and feeling of accomplishment from doing something that people think can't be done. That's what motivates me and drives me. If people think it can't be done, or it's absolutely ludicrous, I find that enjoyable.
The World Wingsuit League is a competition among wingsuit pilotswhere the fastest and the best pilots from all over the world get together to compete in a race that involves extreme turns and proximity. The first race we did was just a few weeks ago in the Hunan province of China. There's a cliff that gave us the ability to jump, fly around at turnpoints, proximity fly a cliff, and then go underneath a cable car,We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product， which is the finish line. It was wildly successful. I had a feeling that people were going to be interested in watching a race like this, but I didn't realize just how many people. The ratings that we got were astronomical. It was in the hundreds of millions of people that watched it live.Parking Guidance for parking management system and Vehicle Control Solutions,Redpin is an open source indoor positioning system that was developed with the goal of providing at least room-level accuracy. Because it was so successful, it ensured that it will be continuing for the next five years. There's no question about it, and every single year, it's going to keep getting bigger.
UFC's Chris Weidman deals with Sandy's aftermath
Chris Weidman used the money he won in his second UFC fight last year
to put a down payment on his first home. He has spent the past week
inside that Baldwin Harbor home, trying to salvage it after superstorm
Sandy caused thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Ripping out carpets where his two young children played.Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery. Tearing down walls that once hung photos of his wife and family.
"The whole first floor is shot," Weidman said Monday. "With all the construction and mold and stuff, we're not going to be back in the house for another five months."
The 6-foot-2 Weidman said the water level in his garage was chest-high. The water level on the first floor of his two-story home along a canal reached 18 inches in some places.
As superstorm Sandy hit Long Island last Monday night, Weidman was inside his home. He and his cousin, he said, were busy carrying furniture up to the second floor to prevent it from being damaged, or worse, floating away. Couches. Tables. Chairs. Whatever they could lift and fit up the staircase.
After the storm passed, Weidman and others including friend and fellow MMA fighter Gian Villante and their strength and conditioning coach Jamal Hamid, ripped out much of the drywall and insulation.Republic parking system is a privately owned professional parking management company based in Chattanooga, Those nice hardwood floors, they're gone too. Weidman said he anticipated having to rip out the kitchen floor tiles and take out all the cabinets.
"There are some areas where the wall is gone up to 4-feet high," Weidman said. "Some areas where the whole wall is gone. But everywhere there are holes."
Weidman said he has flood insurance and is waiting for adjusters to survey the damage. He also applied for assistance from FEMA.
How bad was the flooding in Weidman's neighborhood? He posted a video to YouTube of people canoeing on the street in front of his house.
The undefeated middleweight was fortunate that his parents live just a few minutes away. They have power, and he, his wife and two children are living there for the time being. They basically are sharing one room, he said. Weidman, with help from his manager, Dave Martin, is looking for a place to rent temporarily while his home is being restored.
Despite the emotional and economic hardship of relocating his family while trying to salvage their home, Weidman has remained calm.
"I just see so many people have it a lot worse," Weidman said. "We have a place to go, so it's not so bad.How To learn kung fu in china. There's nothing I can do about it, so I just stay calm."
Weidman rode the train into Manhattan on Monday to save gas as the shortage continues and the lines remain wrapped around the block. He left Baldwin for the first time to resume training for his middleweight bout against Tim Boetsch at UFC 155 on Dec. 29.
"I'm eight weeks out, it's time to get serious,We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product，" Weidman said. "Now I have to get my head wrapped around that.Parking Guidance for parking management system and Vehicle Control Solutions,"
But don't mistake this as a pro athlete out of touch with reality. Far from it. Weidman and his wife used social media to organize a food and clothing drive this past weekend to help those worse off than him after the storm. Weidman said they collected "tons of clothes and food" at St. Peter's Church in Baldwin.
Ripping out carpets where his two young children played.Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery. Tearing down walls that once hung photos of his wife and family.
"The whole first floor is shot," Weidman said Monday. "With all the construction and mold and stuff, we're not going to be back in the house for another five months."
The 6-foot-2 Weidman said the water level in his garage was chest-high. The water level on the first floor of his two-story home along a canal reached 18 inches in some places.
As superstorm Sandy hit Long Island last Monday night, Weidman was inside his home. He and his cousin, he said, were busy carrying furniture up to the second floor to prevent it from being damaged, or worse, floating away. Couches. Tables. Chairs. Whatever they could lift and fit up the staircase.
After the storm passed, Weidman and others including friend and fellow MMA fighter Gian Villante and their strength and conditioning coach Jamal Hamid, ripped out much of the drywall and insulation.Republic parking system is a privately owned professional parking management company based in Chattanooga, Those nice hardwood floors, they're gone too. Weidman said he anticipated having to rip out the kitchen floor tiles and take out all the cabinets.
"There are some areas where the wall is gone up to 4-feet high," Weidman said. "Some areas where the whole wall is gone. But everywhere there are holes."
Weidman said he has flood insurance and is waiting for adjusters to survey the damage. He also applied for assistance from FEMA.
How bad was the flooding in Weidman's neighborhood? He posted a video to YouTube of people canoeing on the street in front of his house.
The undefeated middleweight was fortunate that his parents live just a few minutes away. They have power, and he, his wife and two children are living there for the time being. They basically are sharing one room, he said. Weidman, with help from his manager, Dave Martin, is looking for a place to rent temporarily while his home is being restored.
Despite the emotional and economic hardship of relocating his family while trying to salvage their home, Weidman has remained calm.
"I just see so many people have it a lot worse," Weidman said. "We have a place to go, so it's not so bad.How To learn kung fu in china. There's nothing I can do about it, so I just stay calm."
Weidman rode the train into Manhattan on Monday to save gas as the shortage continues and the lines remain wrapped around the block. He left Baldwin for the first time to resume training for his middleweight bout against Tim Boetsch at UFC 155 on Dec. 29.
"I'm eight weeks out, it's time to get serious,We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product，" Weidman said. "Now I have to get my head wrapped around that.Parking Guidance for parking management system and Vehicle Control Solutions,"
But don't mistake this as a pro athlete out of touch with reality. Far from it. Weidman and his wife used social media to organize a food and clothing drive this past weekend to help those worse off than him after the storm. Weidman said they collected "tons of clothes and food" at St. Peter's Church in Baldwin.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
FSRN State of the Newscast 2012
FSRN continues to be a valuable source of independent, grassroots news, but to be frank,Soft Floor tiles
is easier to install and perfect for all types of residential and
commercial uses. a review of this past year’s newscast needs to be seen
in the context of financial hardship and a near-permanent state of
being underfunded and consequently understaffed, which both have
concrete and measurable effects on the newscast we put out. That said,
FSRN continues to produce a consistently high quality product that
draws on stellar reporting and profiles voices often unheard in other
media. And despite serious challenges, FSRN has even been able to
expand and improve some aspects of our coverage.
FSRN continues to adhere to high technical standards to ensure that the newscast has a professional sound and maintains high quality - and that goes for the community voices we profile, the reporters' narration, ambient sound and the overall flow of the newscast. This is quite a challenge because we encourage stories that come from areas of conflict or hard-to-access places where basic necessities of phone lines, Internet access and electricity are often wanting. It's a tough balance, but our technical producers, led by Rose Ketabchi and including Jeannine Etter, Shaunnah Ray and Zayn Qarissli, work hard each and every day to maintain this high standard. At times, they also work one-on-one with new reporters to guide them in capturing and producing the best-sounding stories they can.
Much of this credit goes to Catherine Komp, our producer, who continually seeks out underreported, community stories and fosters the story development, from pitch proposals, to in-the-field reporting, to script editing and production. For our headlines package, that role is overseen by Nell Abram and Jes Burns, who have the daunting task of coming to the morning editorial meeting already prepared to discuss news from the entire world and working with reporters to create a fresh, compelling top of the newscast section that kicks off the program. Our scripts go through multiple edits and fact-checking, where reporters are required to provide original sourcing and different points of view to the issue at hand.
Our international coverage continues to feature underreported and original stories, often from places that are ignored by US mainstream media and that feature voices that are virtually nonexistent in the US national conversation. Some of the highlights this year include reporting from Sam Olokuya in Nigeria on the demolition of one of the country's oldest slums, when residents were forced to live in their canoes and continued to organize for safe and adequate housing. Sam also brought the voices of farmers and fisherfolk in the Niger Delta who challenged multinational oil company Royal Dutch Shell for its ongoing pollution and destruction of their land and homes.
The conflict in Syria continued as a top humanitarian and political crisis this year and we brought reporting from inside the country. Zak Brophy reported from Aleppo on the destruction to the city from fighting. David Enders featured voices of media activists and residents hit by shelling; and Marine Olivesi brought listeners the stories of families who are torn apart by fighting and the lack of humanitarian aid. We also had stories from the border region, from Turkey and Lebanon. We've looked critically at all aspects of the conflict, often focusing on the plight of residents, the internally displaced and refugees. We’ve also included reports of abuses carried out by opposition forces or those associated with rebel fighters. We featured an interview with Amnesty International's Donatella Rovera after her visit to Syria when she documented abuse by opposition fighters. We also aired original sound from a photojournalist inside Syria that revealed a scene of torture at the hands of rebel fighters in Aleppo and detailed his eyewitness account.
We've continued our coverage of the developing situation in the Middle East and North Africa, and we’ve brought attention to government crackdowns in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, two strong US allies in the region, and areas that typically don’t get a lot of attention from US media. We’ve done this by airing the voices of activists themselves, notably Nabeel Rajab, in Manama, Bahrain, who we interviewed days before his arrest by Bahraini authorities and continued to report on during his detention.
Throughout Africa we had reports on the DRC and the mining industry’s role in the conflict there; the miners’ strikes in South Africa; process of independence in South Sudan and issues of famine and rural agriculture; and the struggle for independent media in Somalia.
Rami Almeghari continues to bring listeners to Gaza, with a perspective rarely heard on other news outlets, on the daily consequences of the Israeli blockade for Gaza residents and the effects of the government of Hamas. Rami also filed from Cairo and the Egyptian border as fighting renewed and the post-revolutionary economy hit local merchants in the tourism industry. From the West Bank, Ghassan Bannoura brought stories on Palestinian prisoners who waged a hunger strike. It shed light on the effects of administrative detention and abusive practices in Israeli jails. And, partly from response to our Middle East coverage from listeners in the past, we've expanded our coverage to more reports from Israel. Jillian Kestler D'mours recorded the voices of Israelis who went to a center that was distributing gas masks and offered US listeners a glimpse into what ordinary residents think about the war rhetoric with Iran.
From Latin America, we covered the removal of President Lugo in Paraguay with a critical look at land reform in the country. Land issues played prominently in our coverage of killings in Honduras of peasants, union leaders and activists as Tim Russo kept listeners up to date on developments there. A new reporter for us, Eillis O’neil brought reports from Chile and Argentina, covering womens’ reproductive rights and putting together a documentary on the recycling program spearheaded by local residents in Buenos Aires. We also covered new trade agreements in Colombia and Panama and US trade policy in the region.
From Europe, we brought reports on the challenges and successes of protests movements and democratic change. From Russia, Ekaterina Danilova has really elevated our coverage, bringing regular reports on pro-democracy protests in the lead up to Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency. She reported on new laws that cracked down on freedom of expression, the LGBT movement in St. Petersburg and challenges to these measures, such as the Pussy Riot trial. FSRN reporter Jenny Johnson also should be credited with mentoring Ekaterina and facilitating her reporting for us.
We also covered prison conditions in Georgia, economic and anti-austerity movements in Greece, Spain and France. We brought a critical look to the summer Olympic games in London, drawing attention to temporary tax shelters set up for corporations during the games and the fight by local residents against the Olympic village construction.
From Indian-administered Kashmir, Shanawaz Khan reported on students fighting government secrecy.Carlo Gavazzi offers a broad range of ultrasonic sensor and ultrasonic transducers for level detection and process monitoring. We had a lot of reporting from India, on the environment, human rights, economic issues. Gayatri Parameswaran and Felix Gaedtke reported on a decade after the deadly riots in Gujarat state.
We continue our regular coverage of the US drone strikes abroad, in Yemen, Somalia and in Pakistan, through FSRN reporter Gabe Mathews, who files from the tribal region. He’s also reported on access to health and education for residents.We have a wide selection of dry cabinet to choose from for your storage needs. Recently, he took FSRN listeners to the school where 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai attended. She’s the teenager shot by militants on her way home from school because of her advocacy for youth and girls access to education. Gabe spoke to her classmates about their fears and their resolve to continue schooling.How To learn kung fu in china.Find the best iPhone headset for you at Best Buy. Hearing the voices of these 14 or 15 year old girls in Swat Valley is a testimony to Gabe’s access in the area and the risks that he regularly goes through to bring these voices to FSRN listeners.
One challenge for us has been to get consistent reporting from inside China and that will prove more important in the coming years, especially to bring a different view than the one that dominates US rhetoric on the country. We could also improve our coverage of southeast Asia, though Madonna Virola has filed stories from the Philippines on mining and environmental concerns, and human rights in economic zones. More could be done.
FSRN continues to adhere to high technical standards to ensure that the newscast has a professional sound and maintains high quality - and that goes for the community voices we profile, the reporters' narration, ambient sound and the overall flow of the newscast. This is quite a challenge because we encourage stories that come from areas of conflict or hard-to-access places where basic necessities of phone lines, Internet access and electricity are often wanting. It's a tough balance, but our technical producers, led by Rose Ketabchi and including Jeannine Etter, Shaunnah Ray and Zayn Qarissli, work hard each and every day to maintain this high standard. At times, they also work one-on-one with new reporters to guide them in capturing and producing the best-sounding stories they can.
Much of this credit goes to Catherine Komp, our producer, who continually seeks out underreported, community stories and fosters the story development, from pitch proposals, to in-the-field reporting, to script editing and production. For our headlines package, that role is overseen by Nell Abram and Jes Burns, who have the daunting task of coming to the morning editorial meeting already prepared to discuss news from the entire world and working with reporters to create a fresh, compelling top of the newscast section that kicks off the program. Our scripts go through multiple edits and fact-checking, where reporters are required to provide original sourcing and different points of view to the issue at hand.
Our international coverage continues to feature underreported and original stories, often from places that are ignored by US mainstream media and that feature voices that are virtually nonexistent in the US national conversation. Some of the highlights this year include reporting from Sam Olokuya in Nigeria on the demolition of one of the country's oldest slums, when residents were forced to live in their canoes and continued to organize for safe and adequate housing. Sam also brought the voices of farmers and fisherfolk in the Niger Delta who challenged multinational oil company Royal Dutch Shell for its ongoing pollution and destruction of their land and homes.
The conflict in Syria continued as a top humanitarian and political crisis this year and we brought reporting from inside the country. Zak Brophy reported from Aleppo on the destruction to the city from fighting. David Enders featured voices of media activists and residents hit by shelling; and Marine Olivesi brought listeners the stories of families who are torn apart by fighting and the lack of humanitarian aid. We also had stories from the border region, from Turkey and Lebanon. We've looked critically at all aspects of the conflict, often focusing on the plight of residents, the internally displaced and refugees. We’ve also included reports of abuses carried out by opposition forces or those associated with rebel fighters. We featured an interview with Amnesty International's Donatella Rovera after her visit to Syria when she documented abuse by opposition fighters. We also aired original sound from a photojournalist inside Syria that revealed a scene of torture at the hands of rebel fighters in Aleppo and detailed his eyewitness account.
We've continued our coverage of the developing situation in the Middle East and North Africa, and we’ve brought attention to government crackdowns in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, two strong US allies in the region, and areas that typically don’t get a lot of attention from US media. We’ve done this by airing the voices of activists themselves, notably Nabeel Rajab, in Manama, Bahrain, who we interviewed days before his arrest by Bahraini authorities and continued to report on during his detention.
Throughout Africa we had reports on the DRC and the mining industry’s role in the conflict there; the miners’ strikes in South Africa; process of independence in South Sudan and issues of famine and rural agriculture; and the struggle for independent media in Somalia.
Rami Almeghari continues to bring listeners to Gaza, with a perspective rarely heard on other news outlets, on the daily consequences of the Israeli blockade for Gaza residents and the effects of the government of Hamas. Rami also filed from Cairo and the Egyptian border as fighting renewed and the post-revolutionary economy hit local merchants in the tourism industry. From the West Bank, Ghassan Bannoura brought stories on Palestinian prisoners who waged a hunger strike. It shed light on the effects of administrative detention and abusive practices in Israeli jails. And, partly from response to our Middle East coverage from listeners in the past, we've expanded our coverage to more reports from Israel. Jillian Kestler D'mours recorded the voices of Israelis who went to a center that was distributing gas masks and offered US listeners a glimpse into what ordinary residents think about the war rhetoric with Iran.
From Latin America, we covered the removal of President Lugo in Paraguay with a critical look at land reform in the country. Land issues played prominently in our coverage of killings in Honduras of peasants, union leaders and activists as Tim Russo kept listeners up to date on developments there. A new reporter for us, Eillis O’neil brought reports from Chile and Argentina, covering womens’ reproductive rights and putting together a documentary on the recycling program spearheaded by local residents in Buenos Aires. We also covered new trade agreements in Colombia and Panama and US trade policy in the region.
From Europe, we brought reports on the challenges and successes of protests movements and democratic change. From Russia, Ekaterina Danilova has really elevated our coverage, bringing regular reports on pro-democracy protests in the lead up to Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency. She reported on new laws that cracked down on freedom of expression, the LGBT movement in St. Petersburg and challenges to these measures, such as the Pussy Riot trial. FSRN reporter Jenny Johnson also should be credited with mentoring Ekaterina and facilitating her reporting for us.
We also covered prison conditions in Georgia, economic and anti-austerity movements in Greece, Spain and France. We brought a critical look to the summer Olympic games in London, drawing attention to temporary tax shelters set up for corporations during the games and the fight by local residents against the Olympic village construction.
From Indian-administered Kashmir, Shanawaz Khan reported on students fighting government secrecy.Carlo Gavazzi offers a broad range of ultrasonic sensor and ultrasonic transducers for level detection and process monitoring. We had a lot of reporting from India, on the environment, human rights, economic issues. Gayatri Parameswaran and Felix Gaedtke reported on a decade after the deadly riots in Gujarat state.
We continue our regular coverage of the US drone strikes abroad, in Yemen, Somalia and in Pakistan, through FSRN reporter Gabe Mathews, who files from the tribal region. He’s also reported on access to health and education for residents.We have a wide selection of dry cabinet to choose from for your storage needs. Recently, he took FSRN listeners to the school where 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai attended. She’s the teenager shot by militants on her way home from school because of her advocacy for youth and girls access to education. Gabe spoke to her classmates about their fears and their resolve to continue schooling.How To learn kung fu in china.Find the best iPhone headset for you at Best Buy. Hearing the voices of these 14 or 15 year old girls in Swat Valley is a testimony to Gabe’s access in the area and the risks that he regularly goes through to bring these voices to FSRN listeners.
One challenge for us has been to get consistent reporting from inside China and that will prove more important in the coming years, especially to bring a different view than the one that dominates US rhetoric on the country. We could also improve our coverage of southeast Asia, though Madonna Virola has filed stories from the Philippines on mining and environmental concerns, and human rights in economic zones. More could be done.
A Life in Writing
John Maxwell Coetzee, the great South African man of letters, is a
paradoxical figure. On the one hand he is known to guard his privacy
intensely. On the other hand, he has published three volumes of
“fictionalised memoirs” already: Boyhood (1997), Youth (2002) and
Summertime (2009). Exactly to what degree these three works adhered to
the historical facts of his life has always been unclear: Coetzee
consistently refuses to elaborate on interpretations of his work once
published. “All writing is autobiography,” he has said more than once.
The question of how accurate the autobiographical trilogy is will
perhaps provide one titillating motivation for readers to pick up this
new biography. The short answer is – Boyhood and Youth are largely true
to the record; Summertime strays far more into the fictional domain.
Coetzee’s choice to cooperate with biographer John Kannemeyer is an interesting one. Many others must surely have come knocking, but the closest Coetzee has come previously to backing such a project was David Atwell’s Doubling the Point (1992), a collection of essays and interviews. Kannemeyer was hailed as one of the foremost authorities on Afrikaans literature – the obvious dissonance being that Coetzee, despite his surname, is not an Afrikaans writer.
Kannemeyer suggests himself that perhaps “the fact that the request was coming from outside the sphere of English literature may have appealed to Coetzee,Service and equipment provider in professional Car park management system. with his contrarian take on things”. Whatever the reason, Kannemeyer got the go-ahead, and was given access to a rich stock of letters and documents and permitted to interview Coetzee in his home in Adelaide, Australia, for two weeks. Kannemeyer stresses that Coetzee’s cooperation was given “unstintingly and even enthusiastically”. Even when quizzed on the most sensitive of family matters, Coetzee gave full and meticulous answers. Typically, the only subject on which he would not be drawn was that of the analysis of his works.
Turning down the offer of a documentary on his life in 2005, Coetzee said: “My life has been completely uneventful.” It becomes clear as the biography unfolds that Coetzee is prone to this kind of dry self-deprecation in order to deflect invitations – he also routinely claims to have no gift for lecturing, when such a request is raised, even though past students tell a different story. On the matter of his life’s narrative, though, Coetzee is partly right – barring the tragedy around his two children, which shouldn’t be diminished, this biography would suggest that Coetzee has indeed led a sedate, cautious life, largely unmarked by rollicking drama. His books didn’t even get banned during Apartheid, though he later said this would have been a kind of “badge of honour”.
But this doesn’t mean that there is no material for Kannemeyer to work with. Ably translated by Michiel Heyns from the Afrikaans original, the biography stretches to an impressive 707 pages and sustains interest throughout. Partly, it must be admitted, this is due to the frisson that accompanies the glimpse into a guarded life: for some years now it has appeared that Coetzee sought to inherit the mantle of literary recluse donned by figures like JD Salinger. The case of Salinger is instructive, however,Leading the way with innovative solutions to any parking guidance challenge. because after his death in 2010, it emerged that Salinger wasn’t really very much of a hermit, contrary to perceptions. In fact, he was a fairly active member of the community of Cornish,Carlo Gavazzi offers a broad range of ultrasonic sensor and ultrasonic transducers for level detection and process monitoring. New Hampshire, where “Jerry”, as he was known, would attend town meetings at the Cornish Elementary School, lunch daily at the Windsor Diner and allow children to sled down his hill. It appears Salinger just didn’t like having his privacy infringed upon by readers, and he never granted an interview in the last 30 years of his life.
Compared to Salinger, Coetzee comes across as a veritable socialite in the new biography. It is true that as time goes by interviews become increasingly rare and he maintains his privacy.Soft Floor tiles is easier to install and perfect for all types of residential and commercial uses. But the biography makes clear that the image of the writer as reclusive and secretive is simply not accurate. Ever since the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003, Coetzee has been deluged with invitations to lecture, teach and read publically from his works. He has declined the majority; at 72 he resents long-distance travel. But even the relatively small amount that he has assented to has resulted in what sounds like a fairly hectic schedule of public appearances over the past decade.
To what, then,The CenTrak rtls platform can address today's healthcare challenges. do we owe this conception of Coetzee as a hermit? In large part perhaps to Rian Malan’s famous account of his interview with Coetzee in 1990, where Malan writes that Coetzee put him through something approaching psychological torture. In answer to a question Malan put to him regarding an aspect of Foe, his 1986 postmodern re-write of Robinson Crusoe, Coetzee replies simply: “I would not wish to deny you your reading.” In reply to the question of what music he enjoyed, Coetzee gives the cryptic response: “Music I have never heard before”. Malan characterises Coetzee as the “prince of darkness”, claiming: “A colleague who has worked with him for more than a decade claims to have seen him laugh just once. An acquaintance has attended several dinner parties where Coetzee has uttered not a single word.”
This has become the dominant imagining of JM Coetzee, bolstered by his frequent refusals to attend awards ceremonies or other celebratory occasions. Kannemeyer prints a letter Coetzee sent to his agent explaining why he would not travel to Spain in 2000 for the launch of Spanish translations of Boyhood and Youth, his fictionalised memoirs: “There is absolutely nothing in it for me in paying such a visit,” a clearly irascible Coetzee wrote. “Two days are knocked out of my life travelling there and back, and the pound of flesh my hosts will require will be that I sit down with one journalist after another answering questions I have heard scores of times before. Then the Embassy will mount a reception and I will have to shake hands with strangers and answer questions like ‘How long will you be in Madrid?’”
But Kannemeyer trots out an extensive cast of players in the biography to testify to Coetzee’s character as a loyal friend, witty dinner companion and generous mentor to young writers. Kannemeyer attributes his behaviour with Malan partly to his characteristic interview impatience and partly to a spirit of mischief which nobody seems to suspect in him. As a young man, Coetzee was apparently quite the prankster, fond of antics like jumping out at people from behind trees. There is one particularly bizarre account of a Coetzee prank-gone-wrong, carried out when Coetzee was a 20 year-old house-sitting in Gardens, in Cape Town.
Coetzee’s choice to cooperate with biographer John Kannemeyer is an interesting one. Many others must surely have come knocking, but the closest Coetzee has come previously to backing such a project was David Atwell’s Doubling the Point (1992), a collection of essays and interviews. Kannemeyer was hailed as one of the foremost authorities on Afrikaans literature – the obvious dissonance being that Coetzee, despite his surname, is not an Afrikaans writer.
Kannemeyer suggests himself that perhaps “the fact that the request was coming from outside the sphere of English literature may have appealed to Coetzee,Service and equipment provider in professional Car park management system. with his contrarian take on things”. Whatever the reason, Kannemeyer got the go-ahead, and was given access to a rich stock of letters and documents and permitted to interview Coetzee in his home in Adelaide, Australia, for two weeks. Kannemeyer stresses that Coetzee’s cooperation was given “unstintingly and even enthusiastically”. Even when quizzed on the most sensitive of family matters, Coetzee gave full and meticulous answers. Typically, the only subject on which he would not be drawn was that of the analysis of his works.
Turning down the offer of a documentary on his life in 2005, Coetzee said: “My life has been completely uneventful.” It becomes clear as the biography unfolds that Coetzee is prone to this kind of dry self-deprecation in order to deflect invitations – he also routinely claims to have no gift for lecturing, when such a request is raised, even though past students tell a different story. On the matter of his life’s narrative, though, Coetzee is partly right – barring the tragedy around his two children, which shouldn’t be diminished, this biography would suggest that Coetzee has indeed led a sedate, cautious life, largely unmarked by rollicking drama. His books didn’t even get banned during Apartheid, though he later said this would have been a kind of “badge of honour”.
But this doesn’t mean that there is no material for Kannemeyer to work with. Ably translated by Michiel Heyns from the Afrikaans original, the biography stretches to an impressive 707 pages and sustains interest throughout. Partly, it must be admitted, this is due to the frisson that accompanies the glimpse into a guarded life: for some years now it has appeared that Coetzee sought to inherit the mantle of literary recluse donned by figures like JD Salinger. The case of Salinger is instructive, however,Leading the way with innovative solutions to any parking guidance challenge. because after his death in 2010, it emerged that Salinger wasn’t really very much of a hermit, contrary to perceptions. In fact, he was a fairly active member of the community of Cornish,Carlo Gavazzi offers a broad range of ultrasonic sensor and ultrasonic transducers for level detection and process monitoring. New Hampshire, where “Jerry”, as he was known, would attend town meetings at the Cornish Elementary School, lunch daily at the Windsor Diner and allow children to sled down his hill. It appears Salinger just didn’t like having his privacy infringed upon by readers, and he never granted an interview in the last 30 years of his life.
Compared to Salinger, Coetzee comes across as a veritable socialite in the new biography. It is true that as time goes by interviews become increasingly rare and he maintains his privacy.Soft Floor tiles is easier to install and perfect for all types of residential and commercial uses. But the biography makes clear that the image of the writer as reclusive and secretive is simply not accurate. Ever since the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003, Coetzee has been deluged with invitations to lecture, teach and read publically from his works. He has declined the majority; at 72 he resents long-distance travel. But even the relatively small amount that he has assented to has resulted in what sounds like a fairly hectic schedule of public appearances over the past decade.
To what, then,The CenTrak rtls platform can address today's healthcare challenges. do we owe this conception of Coetzee as a hermit? In large part perhaps to Rian Malan’s famous account of his interview with Coetzee in 1990, where Malan writes that Coetzee put him through something approaching psychological torture. In answer to a question Malan put to him regarding an aspect of Foe, his 1986 postmodern re-write of Robinson Crusoe, Coetzee replies simply: “I would not wish to deny you your reading.” In reply to the question of what music he enjoyed, Coetzee gives the cryptic response: “Music I have never heard before”. Malan characterises Coetzee as the “prince of darkness”, claiming: “A colleague who has worked with him for more than a decade claims to have seen him laugh just once. An acquaintance has attended several dinner parties where Coetzee has uttered not a single word.”
This has become the dominant imagining of JM Coetzee, bolstered by his frequent refusals to attend awards ceremonies or other celebratory occasions. Kannemeyer prints a letter Coetzee sent to his agent explaining why he would not travel to Spain in 2000 for the launch of Spanish translations of Boyhood and Youth, his fictionalised memoirs: “There is absolutely nothing in it for me in paying such a visit,” a clearly irascible Coetzee wrote. “Two days are knocked out of my life travelling there and back, and the pound of flesh my hosts will require will be that I sit down with one journalist after another answering questions I have heard scores of times before. Then the Embassy will mount a reception and I will have to shake hands with strangers and answer questions like ‘How long will you be in Madrid?’”
But Kannemeyer trots out an extensive cast of players in the biography to testify to Coetzee’s character as a loyal friend, witty dinner companion and generous mentor to young writers. Kannemeyer attributes his behaviour with Malan partly to his characteristic interview impatience and partly to a spirit of mischief which nobody seems to suspect in him. As a young man, Coetzee was apparently quite the prankster, fond of antics like jumping out at people from behind trees. There is one particularly bizarre account of a Coetzee prank-gone-wrong, carried out when Coetzee was a 20 year-old house-sitting in Gardens, in Cape Town.
On board Marco Polo cruise ship with my mother
If there is one thing that sends me hurtling back to childhood it is
travelling with my mother. But she needed a break, and a five-night
cruise sailing from Tilbury (no stressful airports) to Amsterdam, Rouen
and Antwerp, seemed to fit the bill. And I thought I would take the
risk and tag along.
So it was that I found myself sipping an afternoon cocktail in a hot tub on the top deck of the Marco Polo all by myself. The ship was sailing on the river Seine towards Rouen, and from my vantage point I could see pretty towns, a chateau or two, and the sheep looking non-plussed as they grazed on the landscape that inspired Monet. It felt indulgent.
The thing is, this was October and yes, it was a bit nippy, and that’s why my mother didn’t join me. Neither did she see the romance of sea air wafting through her hair while taking a cream tea on deck. She preferred the bingo.
In any case, I wasn’t worried. After all, the Marco Polo is not a big ship — just 22,000 tons (a midget compared to some liners). Yet it packs in two restaurants, five lounges, a library, card room,Service and equipment provider in professional Car park management system. outdoor pool, three hot tubs and a spa.
This was our second day and by now many of the stewards, not to mention many of the other guests, were pretty well-acquainted with my mother. At our first dinner at the formal dining Waldorf restaurant, she had asked for an avocado. A look of disappointment when told there was none to be had prompted Liza, our steward,This is my favourite sites to purchase those special pieces of buy mosaic materials from. to offer to nip into town when we arrived in Amsterdam. Sure enough the next night at dinner, there was the avocado. Only for a mother does this sort of thing happen.
Oh, and did I mention mothers are always right? Like when we took boat trip along an Amsterdam canal. The lunch was as lavish as any they serve up on these trips, but none of it was quite good enough for her to actually eat.
And then there was the time we decided to tour Rouen on foot. They forecast rain.This document provides a guide to using the Ventilation system in your house to provide adequate fresh air to residents. She wore sandals claiming comfort over dryness.
And at the cheese and beer tasting (yes, you heard) in Antwerp, she decided she really did want to join in and taste what was on offer. A ride home in a tuc-tuc with your elderly mum giggling away like one of the girls? OK, but what the hell — I loved to see her happy.
The fact that the ship is such a home-from-home also helped. Most of the time I spend with my mother is in her front room — eating her cakes and drinking her tea. No change there then, though someone else baked and brewed — and there were more than a few “front rooms” to try on board.
Marco Polo, unlike the larger, plusher, newer liners, has had an intriguing past. It started life in 1965 as a Russian ship called Alexander Pushkin and, though quaintly named after a writer, it was decked out in a grim Soviet style.
By the ’70s it was being used as a budget-priced cruise ship.Carlo Gavazzi offers a broad range of ultrasonic sensor and ultrasonic transducers for level detection and process monitoring. All that austerity disappeared when she defected to a British company in 1991, when Gerry Herrod, founder of Ocean Cruise Lines, bought her. Two years and millions of dollars later, the ship emerged as the Marco Polo, sailing for Orient Lines. In 2010 Cruise and Maritime took her over, offering a variety of sailings from the UK, including around the Norwegian fjords and a 42-night cruise to the Amazon — and, of course, this short break cruise. The ship’s size means it can sail along rivers and dock in small harbours, such as at Antwerp, where we were able to disembark directly into the town.
The on-board experience was homely and unpretentious and though billed as three-star, it delivered far more than expected.The CenTrak rtls platform can address today's healthcare challenges. There was no casino, no pressure to buy anything on board and it was adults only. There is evening entertainment a mix of cabaret, music and comedy and a versatile cruise director who can present, tell jokes (“this announcement is for the guy who lost his Rolex watch — the time now is 2.30pm”) and sing. There’s also an extremely funny magician.
But my mother missed all that, preferring to repair to the bedroom to enjoy quiet time after busy day trips, playing games, eating fine foods, and I might add, drinking the odd pina colada.
We shared a twin-bed cabin with a small shower-room and a satisfactory amount of cupboard space to cater for the ample contents of the luggage belonging to two Jewish women who carry too much for fear of have nothing to wear — especially on formal night.
You can imagine the scene — the question “how do I look in this?” ping-ponged between us as we tried on several outfits. Incidentally, as was the norm when the ship was built, none of the rooms have a balcony, but what this ship does have is a lovely wrap-around deck that harks back to bygone days.
Unlike mum, I not only enjoyed the shows but then went to the disco in the Marco Polo lounge for a tipple and a wiggle on the dance floor.
I admit I got back to the room way past midnight one night, but was shocked to see my mother waiting up for me. “I just called you,” she said. “I was worried that you were out so late.” As incredulous as it sounds I found myself apologising (I am, after all, a mother myself). But boy, was it worth it.
So it was that I found myself sipping an afternoon cocktail in a hot tub on the top deck of the Marco Polo all by myself. The ship was sailing on the river Seine towards Rouen, and from my vantage point I could see pretty towns, a chateau or two, and the sheep looking non-plussed as they grazed on the landscape that inspired Monet. It felt indulgent.
The thing is, this was October and yes, it was a bit nippy, and that’s why my mother didn’t join me. Neither did she see the romance of sea air wafting through her hair while taking a cream tea on deck. She preferred the bingo.
In any case, I wasn’t worried. After all, the Marco Polo is not a big ship — just 22,000 tons (a midget compared to some liners). Yet it packs in two restaurants, five lounges, a library, card room,Service and equipment provider in professional Car park management system. outdoor pool, three hot tubs and a spa.
This was our second day and by now many of the stewards, not to mention many of the other guests, were pretty well-acquainted with my mother. At our first dinner at the formal dining Waldorf restaurant, she had asked for an avocado. A look of disappointment when told there was none to be had prompted Liza, our steward,This is my favourite sites to purchase those special pieces of buy mosaic materials from. to offer to nip into town when we arrived in Amsterdam. Sure enough the next night at dinner, there was the avocado. Only for a mother does this sort of thing happen.
Oh, and did I mention mothers are always right? Like when we took boat trip along an Amsterdam canal. The lunch was as lavish as any they serve up on these trips, but none of it was quite good enough for her to actually eat.
And then there was the time we decided to tour Rouen on foot. They forecast rain.This document provides a guide to using the Ventilation system in your house to provide adequate fresh air to residents. She wore sandals claiming comfort over dryness.
And at the cheese and beer tasting (yes, you heard) in Antwerp, she decided she really did want to join in and taste what was on offer. A ride home in a tuc-tuc with your elderly mum giggling away like one of the girls? OK, but what the hell — I loved to see her happy.
The fact that the ship is such a home-from-home also helped. Most of the time I spend with my mother is in her front room — eating her cakes and drinking her tea. No change there then, though someone else baked and brewed — and there were more than a few “front rooms” to try on board.
Marco Polo, unlike the larger, plusher, newer liners, has had an intriguing past. It started life in 1965 as a Russian ship called Alexander Pushkin and, though quaintly named after a writer, it was decked out in a grim Soviet style.
By the ’70s it was being used as a budget-priced cruise ship.Carlo Gavazzi offers a broad range of ultrasonic sensor and ultrasonic transducers for level detection and process monitoring. All that austerity disappeared when she defected to a British company in 1991, when Gerry Herrod, founder of Ocean Cruise Lines, bought her. Two years and millions of dollars later, the ship emerged as the Marco Polo, sailing for Orient Lines. In 2010 Cruise and Maritime took her over, offering a variety of sailings from the UK, including around the Norwegian fjords and a 42-night cruise to the Amazon — and, of course, this short break cruise. The ship’s size means it can sail along rivers and dock in small harbours, such as at Antwerp, where we were able to disembark directly into the town.
The on-board experience was homely and unpretentious and though billed as three-star, it delivered far more than expected.The CenTrak rtls platform can address today's healthcare challenges. There was no casino, no pressure to buy anything on board and it was adults only. There is evening entertainment a mix of cabaret, music and comedy and a versatile cruise director who can present, tell jokes (“this announcement is for the guy who lost his Rolex watch — the time now is 2.30pm”) and sing. There’s also an extremely funny magician.
But my mother missed all that, preferring to repair to the bedroom to enjoy quiet time after busy day trips, playing games, eating fine foods, and I might add, drinking the odd pina colada.
We shared a twin-bed cabin with a small shower-room and a satisfactory amount of cupboard space to cater for the ample contents of the luggage belonging to two Jewish women who carry too much for fear of have nothing to wear — especially on formal night.
You can imagine the scene — the question “how do I look in this?” ping-ponged between us as we tried on several outfits. Incidentally, as was the norm when the ship was built, none of the rooms have a balcony, but what this ship does have is a lovely wrap-around deck that harks back to bygone days.
Unlike mum, I not only enjoyed the shows but then went to the disco in the Marco Polo lounge for a tipple and a wiggle on the dance floor.
I admit I got back to the room way past midnight one night, but was shocked to see my mother waiting up for me. “I just called you,” she said. “I was worried that you were out so late.” As incredulous as it sounds I found myself apologising (I am, after all, a mother myself). But boy, was it worth it.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Leonard keeps calm and stands out for re-tooling Spurs
For years Tim Duncan has run up and down the courts of the NBA
wearing a poker face that is as much a part of his uniform as the black
and white Spurs jersey.
Kawhi Leonard makes him look like a Chihuahua that just stuck its tongue into a wall socket.
As a rookie last season, Leonard never talked back to referees and barely carried on in-game conversations with his teammates.
There was a reason for that. He was too busy trying to learn the plays during an on-the-fly, crammed-in, no-training-camp, post-lockout 66-game schedule.
"I played mostly on instinct," Leonard explained.
If that's the case and one day Leonard happens to whisper a few lottery numbers into your ear, pay attention. His instincts are good.
The 21-year-old forward did more than just start 53 games last season on a veteran club that finished tied for the best record in the league, and he did more than average 7.Republic parking system is a privately owned professional parking management company based in Chattanooga,9 points and 5.2 rebounds, earning a spot on the All-Rookie first team.Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics,
He got coach Gregg Popovich to start building a team that would make Leonard as much a permanent fixture of San Antonio as the Alamo.
"If the planets and agents and that sort of thing line up, we'd love for him to be a Spur for life," Popovich said.
It was a statement about where the Spurs are heading, this year and in the coming ones. After making no significant personnel changes during the offseason, they are a team that will expect and require improvement from within if a return trip to the Western Conference finals -- and maybe even a push for a fifth NBA championship -- is to be within reason. With the era of Duncan (who is 36), Ginobili (35) and Tony Parker (30) inevitably reaching an end, there is also a need to hand the baton to the next generation.
Few expected Leonard to be tabbed for a leading role in the next generation after he quietly slipped to the Spurs in a 2011 Draft-night deal that sent point guard George Hill to Indiana. What the Spurs figured to be getting was an in-your-face defender, tough rebounder and live-wire player to give the lineup a jolt.
The first and most egregious mistake by many was calling him the "next Bruce Bowen." Leonard is by no means Bowen. He is better. Much, much better.
He can dribble and pass the ball. He can rebound and bang around on the inside. He also defends like a hawk and can nail the 3-point shot out of the corner, just like Bowen. (His one weakness was supposed to be his outside shot, yet he finished up his rookie season shooting 37.6 percent from behind the 3-point line. He raised that to 45 percent in the playoffs.)
He's also a decade younger and much further ahead of where Bowen was on those championship teams. During a blink-and-you-missed-it season that had many NBA veterans' heads spinning, what Leonard showed most, though, was remarkable consistency and composure.
He does it all while looking like a guy who could take off his mask only to reveal another mask.
"On the court,This is a superb introduction to how Injection Mold tools are made. I know I've got to communicate more," Leonard said. "Last year it was more me not knowing what to say. I didn't know all the defensive rotations or all the offenses we were running."
"I don't think he ever gets excited," Duncan said. "He's absolutely even keel all of the time. I think he's even more mellow than me, if that's possible."
Yet Popovich went so far over the summer to label him the future face of the franchise.Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery.
In Game 3 of the Spurs' second-round playoff series in L.A. last spring, the Clippers opened up a 21-point lead in the second quarter. Popovich was very close to pulling all of his starters to save them for Game 4, which was coming on a rare back-to-back situation in the playoffs.
But just before the game went completely over the edge, Leonard took charge, grabbing rebounds, making stops, draining buckets and pulling his team back. When the Spurs used a 24-0 run in the third quarter for the win,Welcome to news from www.glassmosaicchina.com,Our company is committed to produce all kinds of new materials mosaic. on their way to a 4-0 sweep of the series, much of the attention, as usual, went to the Big Three of Duncan, Ginobili and Parker.
Kawhi Leonard makes him look like a Chihuahua that just stuck its tongue into a wall socket.
As a rookie last season, Leonard never talked back to referees and barely carried on in-game conversations with his teammates.
There was a reason for that. He was too busy trying to learn the plays during an on-the-fly, crammed-in, no-training-camp, post-lockout 66-game schedule.
"I played mostly on instinct," Leonard explained.
If that's the case and one day Leonard happens to whisper a few lottery numbers into your ear, pay attention. His instincts are good.
The 21-year-old forward did more than just start 53 games last season on a veteran club that finished tied for the best record in the league, and he did more than average 7.Republic parking system is a privately owned professional parking management company based in Chattanooga,9 points and 5.2 rebounds, earning a spot on the All-Rookie first team.Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics,
He got coach Gregg Popovich to start building a team that would make Leonard as much a permanent fixture of San Antonio as the Alamo.
"If the planets and agents and that sort of thing line up, we'd love for him to be a Spur for life," Popovich said.
It was a statement about where the Spurs are heading, this year and in the coming ones. After making no significant personnel changes during the offseason, they are a team that will expect and require improvement from within if a return trip to the Western Conference finals -- and maybe even a push for a fifth NBA championship -- is to be within reason. With the era of Duncan (who is 36), Ginobili (35) and Tony Parker (30) inevitably reaching an end, there is also a need to hand the baton to the next generation.
Few expected Leonard to be tabbed for a leading role in the next generation after he quietly slipped to the Spurs in a 2011 Draft-night deal that sent point guard George Hill to Indiana. What the Spurs figured to be getting was an in-your-face defender, tough rebounder and live-wire player to give the lineup a jolt.
The first and most egregious mistake by many was calling him the "next Bruce Bowen." Leonard is by no means Bowen. He is better. Much, much better.
He can dribble and pass the ball. He can rebound and bang around on the inside. He also defends like a hawk and can nail the 3-point shot out of the corner, just like Bowen. (His one weakness was supposed to be his outside shot, yet he finished up his rookie season shooting 37.6 percent from behind the 3-point line. He raised that to 45 percent in the playoffs.)
He's also a decade younger and much further ahead of where Bowen was on those championship teams. During a blink-and-you-missed-it season that had many NBA veterans' heads spinning, what Leonard showed most, though, was remarkable consistency and composure.
He does it all while looking like a guy who could take off his mask only to reveal another mask.
"On the court,This is a superb introduction to how Injection Mold tools are made. I know I've got to communicate more," Leonard said. "Last year it was more me not knowing what to say. I didn't know all the defensive rotations or all the offenses we were running."
"I don't think he ever gets excited," Duncan said. "He's absolutely even keel all of the time. I think he's even more mellow than me, if that's possible."
Yet Popovich went so far over the summer to label him the future face of the franchise.Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery.
In Game 3 of the Spurs' second-round playoff series in L.A. last spring, the Clippers opened up a 21-point lead in the second quarter. Popovich was very close to pulling all of his starters to save them for Game 4, which was coming on a rare back-to-back situation in the playoffs.
But just before the game went completely over the edge, Leonard took charge, grabbing rebounds, making stops, draining buckets and pulling his team back. When the Spurs used a 24-0 run in the third quarter for the win,Welcome to news from www.glassmosaicchina.com,Our company is committed to produce all kinds of new materials mosaic. on their way to a 4-0 sweep of the series, much of the attention, as usual, went to the Big Three of Duncan, Ginobili and Parker.
Improvements to hiking trail system in South Mountain
Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. announced that work
to repair and rehabilitate existing hiking trails in Essex County South
Mountain Reservation and establish a new trail system through the
Mayapple Hill section of the reservation has been completed. The
improvements enhance accessibility throughout South Mountain Reservation
and address erosion problems.
“South Mountain Reservation is an open space treasure that enables the public with places to enjoy nature. The improvements made as part of this project restores hiking trails and park infrastructure and provides visitors with a high quality trail system to experience and explore the reservation,” DiVincenzo said. “We are pleased to have partnered with the South Mountain Conservancy on another phase to revitalize the reservation,” he added.
“This was a remarkable partnership between the County, the Conservancy, the RBA Group and JAC Excavating to produce some significant improvements in the Reservation. Not only are the steps on Overlook Trail repaired, but existing trails were restored and a new, three-mile trail through Mayapple Hill was created,” South Mountain Conservancy President Dennis Percher said. Also representing the Conservancy at the ribbon cutting with the County Executive was Treasurer Marian Raabe.
The project involved repairing sections of existing hiking trails in Essex County South Mountain Reservation that have been impacted by erosion. In addition, about two and a half miles of new, interconnected hiking trails were created through the Mayapple Hill area of the reservation. Essex County,Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery. West Orange, The Land Conservancy of New Jersey and South Mountain Conservancy worked together to preserve 11 additional acres of undeveloped open space and added that property to South Mountain Reservation in October 2009. The acquisition expanded the total size of South Mountain Reservation to 2,110 acres.
The conservancy also will celebrate the opening of the new Mayapple Hill trails with an inaugural hike on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. Meet in the parking lot of the Mayapple Hill section of Essex County South Mountain Reservation, which is located off of Northfield Avenue in West Orange.
The RBA Group from Parsippany received a $103,000 contract to design the trail improvements. JAC Excavating from Howell, was awarded a publicly bid contract for $985,000 to perform the construction work. The Essex County Department of Public Works worked with the contractor to answer questions and make sure the project remained on schedule. Funding was provided through a NJ Green Acres grant received by the South Mountain Conservancy and a grant from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund. Construction started in June and took about five months to complete.
Working with the South Mountain Conservancy, a project to accelerate the regrowth of the forest understory in South Mountain Reservation was completed in 2009. A total of 42 enclosures were constructed to protect the more than 10,000 native plant species that were reintroduced to the Reservation. The planting is part of an ongoing initiative to reverse damage at the Reservation caused by years of neglect and overbrowsing by deer.We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product，
In 2006,Republic parking system is a privately owned professional parking management company based in Chattanooga, Essex County and the Conservancy developed a Master Plan that provides a comprehensive overview of South Mountain Reservation and recommends a series of upgrades be made to maintain and revitalize the area. The 2-acre South Mountain Dog Park was opened in July 2006 and has become a popular attraction on Crest Drive. In 2005, a series of improvements were made to repair hiking trails, address erosion problems and improve access to the reservation.
These projects were funded with grants from the NJ Green Acres program and the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund.Service and equipment provider in professional Car park management system. In 2010, New Jersey Monthly magazine recognized the trails in South Mountain Reservation as the best in the state.Welcome to news from www.glassmosaicchina.com,Our company is committed to produce all kinds of new materials mosaic.
The Essex County Park System was created in 1895 and is the first county park system established in the United States. The Park System consists of more than 6,000 acres and has 22 parks, five reservations, an environmental center, a zoo, Treetop Adventure Course, ice skating rink, roller skating rink, three public golf courses, golf driving range, two miniature golf courses, three off-leash dog facilities, a castle and the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens. Essex County South Mountain Reservation covers about 2,110 acres and is located in West Orange, Maplewood and Millburn. It is the largest reservation in Essex County.
“South Mountain Reservation is an open space treasure that enables the public with places to enjoy nature. The improvements made as part of this project restores hiking trails and park infrastructure and provides visitors with a high quality trail system to experience and explore the reservation,” DiVincenzo said. “We are pleased to have partnered with the South Mountain Conservancy on another phase to revitalize the reservation,” he added.
“This was a remarkable partnership between the County, the Conservancy, the RBA Group and JAC Excavating to produce some significant improvements in the Reservation. Not only are the steps on Overlook Trail repaired, but existing trails were restored and a new, three-mile trail through Mayapple Hill was created,” South Mountain Conservancy President Dennis Percher said. Also representing the Conservancy at the ribbon cutting with the County Executive was Treasurer Marian Raabe.
The project involved repairing sections of existing hiking trails in Essex County South Mountain Reservation that have been impacted by erosion. In addition, about two and a half miles of new, interconnected hiking trails were created through the Mayapple Hill area of the reservation. Essex County,Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery. West Orange, The Land Conservancy of New Jersey and South Mountain Conservancy worked together to preserve 11 additional acres of undeveloped open space and added that property to South Mountain Reservation in October 2009. The acquisition expanded the total size of South Mountain Reservation to 2,110 acres.
The conservancy also will celebrate the opening of the new Mayapple Hill trails with an inaugural hike on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 10 a.m. Meet in the parking lot of the Mayapple Hill section of Essex County South Mountain Reservation, which is located off of Northfield Avenue in West Orange.
The RBA Group from Parsippany received a $103,000 contract to design the trail improvements. JAC Excavating from Howell, was awarded a publicly bid contract for $985,000 to perform the construction work. The Essex County Department of Public Works worked with the contractor to answer questions and make sure the project remained on schedule. Funding was provided through a NJ Green Acres grant received by the South Mountain Conservancy and a grant from the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund. Construction started in June and took about five months to complete.
Working with the South Mountain Conservancy, a project to accelerate the regrowth of the forest understory in South Mountain Reservation was completed in 2009. A total of 42 enclosures were constructed to protect the more than 10,000 native plant species that were reintroduced to the Reservation. The planting is part of an ongoing initiative to reverse damage at the Reservation caused by years of neglect and overbrowsing by deer.We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product，
In 2006,Republic parking system is a privately owned professional parking management company based in Chattanooga, Essex County and the Conservancy developed a Master Plan that provides a comprehensive overview of South Mountain Reservation and recommends a series of upgrades be made to maintain and revitalize the area. The 2-acre South Mountain Dog Park was opened in July 2006 and has become a popular attraction on Crest Drive. In 2005, a series of improvements were made to repair hiking trails, address erosion problems and improve access to the reservation.
These projects were funded with grants from the NJ Green Acres program and the Essex County Recreation and Open Space Trust Fund.Service and equipment provider in professional Car park management system. In 2010, New Jersey Monthly magazine recognized the trails in South Mountain Reservation as the best in the state.Welcome to news from www.glassmosaicchina.com,Our company is committed to produce all kinds of new materials mosaic.
The Essex County Park System was created in 1895 and is the first county park system established in the United States. The Park System consists of more than 6,000 acres and has 22 parks, five reservations, an environmental center, a zoo, Treetop Adventure Course, ice skating rink, roller skating rink, three public golf courses, golf driving range, two miniature golf courses, three off-leash dog facilities, a castle and the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens. Essex County South Mountain Reservation covers about 2,110 acres and is located in West Orange, Maplewood and Millburn. It is the largest reservation in Essex County.
Candy corn is back, and trendier than ever
The yellow-, orange- and white-striped kernels may be America’s most
controversial confection. For some, October wouldn’t be the same without
a bag of candy corn. Others loath the sweet stuff, and think handing it
out to trick-or-treaters risks waking up to find your house draped in
toilet paper.
Yet candy corn returns each autumn, along with falling leaves and football.
“We sell the most of it at Halloween,” says Bill Kelley, vice chairman of Jelly Belly Candy Co., which makes candy corn in North Chicago year-round — even in different colors and shapes for other holidays — and last year added a candy corn-flavored jelly bean to its official list of flavors.
Today, candy corn is trendier than ever. Not only are local chefs experimenting with candy-corn-imbued desserts, but other manufacturers have capitalized on the concept, producing new sweets on the theme.Welcome to the china kung fu school.
As a seasonal treat at Zest Bistro & Lemon Tree Grocer in Downers Grove, Pastry Chef Laurie McNamara revels in the candy’s sweetness. She melts candy corn into marshmallow cream, and studs it with still more candy corn as a filling for pumpkin-spiced whoopie pies, then further sweetens the dessert with a scoop of candy-corn-flavored ice cream.
Introduced this fall, candy-corn M&Ms, large round candies with a white-chocolate filling, come in the familiar colors but taste less like the classic confection than like artificial butter with a hint of suntan lotion.
JarBee Coffee, a McHenry roasting company known for offbeat blends such as Maple Bacon and Peanut Butter Cup, now offers Witches Brew, candy corn-flavored arabica.
And to great Internet notoriety, Nabisco marketed a short run of candy-corn Oreo cookies in September. They’re vanilla sandwich cookies with a yellow- and orange-colored filling but good luck finding any. They were sold exclusively at Target stores, and none of those we checked last week had any left. Calls to both Target headquarters and the brand’s parent company, Deerfield-based Mondolez International (the new spinoff of Kraft that got its confectionery and baking businesses), found us no cookies, either, so we can’t say what they taste like.
Oreos spokeswoman Caroline Lainio was unable to provide any statistics for how many of the limited-edition cookies were produced or if any are still available. According to Lainio, the century-old brand added candy-corn cookies to its lineup to relate to consumers in “fresh, new relevant ways.”
Yet candy corn is even older than Oreos, dating to the late 1880s, when candymaker George Renninger created it at the Ph. Wunderle Candy Manufacturing Co. of Philadelphia (since absorbed into Nestle). Not long afterward, Goelitz Confectionary Co.,Leading the way with innovative solutions to any parking guidance challenge. the firm that ultimately became Jelly Belly, began producing the candy.
“We think the company was founded making candy corn,” says Kelley, 71, whose family founded Goelitz in 1898 in Cincinnati. Their candies were such a success that they expanded to Chicago in 1903 and 10 years later moved to the factory in North Chicago, where they became America’s premier maker of candy corn.
Kelley says that the formula for the candy, a category called “mellocreme,” remains the same as it was in the 19th century. “When I started with the company,” 46 years ago, he says, “it was all we made.”
Today machines do what was once done by hand, but the method is identical: Sugar, corn syrup and water are cooked together and whipped into a fondant with mazetta.We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product，
“Mazetta is really a form of marshmallow, which gives the candy its creamy structure, and it makes the little white tip opaque,” Kelley says.
Trays filled with cornstarch are pressed with a form to mold the kernel shapes, 1,200 candies to a tray, and the candy deposited into the impressions. “First white, then orange, then yellow on top, in layers,” says Kelley.
In the old days,Service and equipment provider in professional Car park management system. the molds were filled by hand by men called “stringers” who walked backward down the line with kettles of molten candy.Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery. “They basically poured the candy into the molds,” he says.
Yet candy corn returns each autumn, along with falling leaves and football.
“We sell the most of it at Halloween,” says Bill Kelley, vice chairman of Jelly Belly Candy Co., which makes candy corn in North Chicago year-round — even in different colors and shapes for other holidays — and last year added a candy corn-flavored jelly bean to its official list of flavors.
Today, candy corn is trendier than ever. Not only are local chefs experimenting with candy-corn-imbued desserts, but other manufacturers have capitalized on the concept, producing new sweets on the theme.Welcome to the china kung fu school.
As a seasonal treat at Zest Bistro & Lemon Tree Grocer in Downers Grove, Pastry Chef Laurie McNamara revels in the candy’s sweetness. She melts candy corn into marshmallow cream, and studs it with still more candy corn as a filling for pumpkin-spiced whoopie pies, then further sweetens the dessert with a scoop of candy-corn-flavored ice cream.
Introduced this fall, candy-corn M&Ms, large round candies with a white-chocolate filling, come in the familiar colors but taste less like the classic confection than like artificial butter with a hint of suntan lotion.
JarBee Coffee, a McHenry roasting company known for offbeat blends such as Maple Bacon and Peanut Butter Cup, now offers Witches Brew, candy corn-flavored arabica.
And to great Internet notoriety, Nabisco marketed a short run of candy-corn Oreo cookies in September. They’re vanilla sandwich cookies with a yellow- and orange-colored filling but good luck finding any. They were sold exclusively at Target stores, and none of those we checked last week had any left. Calls to both Target headquarters and the brand’s parent company, Deerfield-based Mondolez International (the new spinoff of Kraft that got its confectionery and baking businesses), found us no cookies, either, so we can’t say what they taste like.
Oreos spokeswoman Caroline Lainio was unable to provide any statistics for how many of the limited-edition cookies were produced or if any are still available. According to Lainio, the century-old brand added candy-corn cookies to its lineup to relate to consumers in “fresh, new relevant ways.”
Yet candy corn is even older than Oreos, dating to the late 1880s, when candymaker George Renninger created it at the Ph. Wunderle Candy Manufacturing Co. of Philadelphia (since absorbed into Nestle). Not long afterward, Goelitz Confectionary Co.,Leading the way with innovative solutions to any parking guidance challenge. the firm that ultimately became Jelly Belly, began producing the candy.
“We think the company was founded making candy corn,” says Kelley, 71, whose family founded Goelitz in 1898 in Cincinnati. Their candies were such a success that they expanded to Chicago in 1903 and 10 years later moved to the factory in North Chicago, where they became America’s premier maker of candy corn.
Kelley says that the formula for the candy, a category called “mellocreme,” remains the same as it was in the 19th century. “When I started with the company,” 46 years ago, he says, “it was all we made.”
Today machines do what was once done by hand, but the method is identical: Sugar, corn syrup and water are cooked together and whipped into a fondant with mazetta.We are porcelain tiles specialists and are passionate about our product，
“Mazetta is really a form of marshmallow, which gives the candy its creamy structure, and it makes the little white tip opaque,” Kelley says.
Trays filled with cornstarch are pressed with a form to mold the kernel shapes, 1,200 candies to a tray, and the candy deposited into the impressions. “First white, then orange, then yellow on top, in layers,” says Kelley.
In the old days,Service and equipment provider in professional Car park management system. the molds were filled by hand by men called “stringers” who walked backward down the line with kettles of molten candy.Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery. “They basically poured the candy into the molds,” he says.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Accel To Take On PayPal And Square
Braintree, an online payments gateway provider for online and mobile
platforms, has raised $35 million in Series funding led by New
Enterprise Associates (NEA) with participation from existing investors
including Accel Partners, RRE Ventures and Greycroft. This brings
Braintree’s total funding up to $70 million.
For background, Chicago-based Braintree powers and automates online payments for merchants and companies online. The company provides a merchant account, payment gateway, recurring billing, credit card storage, support for mobile and international payments, and PCI Compliance solutions.
Braintree’s client list includes Rovio/Angry Birds, Uber, 37signals, OpenTable, Fab, GitHub, Airbnb, Heroku, Engine Yard, Animoto, Shopify and HotelTonight. The company is seeing $1 billion a year in mobile transactions and $5 billion in total payments annually for over 3,000 mobile and online merchants. Currently, Braintree works with merchants in more than 30 countries and is able to accept more than 130 different currencies.
For Braintree, the new funding is going to help the company take on giants in the digital payments industry like PayPal. “We think we can build the next PayPal,Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery.” says Braintree’s CEO, Bill Ready. “The payments game will be won or lost in next few years, and we need the resources to push the company forward aggressively,” he explained in an interview.
The new funding will be used to build out Braintree’s payments product, for hiring engineering talent in the Bay Area, New York and Chicago, and for additional international expansion.
Ready explains that Braintree differs from PayPal in that it offers a comprehensive, full-featured payments processing platform for both small startups and large companies, like Fab, which is processing hundreds of millions in transactions. He says that traditionally, a small business would start with PayPal, then graduate to Authorize.net (owned by Visa), and would move onto Cybersource processing when the company would have tens or hundreds of millions in payments revenue. But Ready says there is a huge opportunity to service the full range of companies, and that’s what makes Braintree distinct.
“We are taking sophisticated payments capabilities and making them accessible to startups and big companies, and when small businesses grow into larger organizations, we will have everything they need,” says Ready.
Over the past few months, Braintree has been heads down on making its product as useful to merchants as possible. The company expanded to mobile, added support for one-click checkout, cut fees, and eased the sign-up process.Republic parking system is a privately owned professional parking management company based in Chattanooga, In fact, Braintree removed a $100 monthly fee for developers, and starting matching fees of rivals with 2.9 percent rate and $.30 per transaction.Welcome to news from www.glassmosaicchina.com,Our company is committed to produce all kinds of new materials mosaic. Additionally, the company has made some key hires from Google.
The company also highlights Braintree Instant, which gives merchants instant access to a full suite of payments tools, such as international payments and single click checkout, which used to be available to only the largest of merchants after months-long integrations to legacy payment providers. Braintree Instant also aids cash flow by typically providing funds within two days, versus a week or more for others in the industry.
“We are working to do for payments and e-commerce what Apple did for mobile: providing a developer-friendly platform that sparks a new wave of innovation and company-building, ” Ready adds.
But in order to take on payments companies like PayPal and Square, Braintree has to engage the consumer as well. That’s where the company’s Venmo acquisition comes in. In August, the company acquired the New York-based startup, which is disrupting social payments by allowing people to send money to friends via a mobile app.
Venmo, which remains based in New York as a standalone app, is the basis for Braintree’s consumer business.This is a superb introduction to how Injection Mold tools are made. “This will become the slickest way for consumers to make payments to merchants,” says Ready. We’re building a better PayPal on the merchant side, and a better PayPal on the consumer side.”
“Braintree is kicking down both the technology and business road blocks that have made online and mobile payments challenging for developers and a hassle for consumers,” said Ravi Viswanathan, General Partner of NEA, said in a release. “We believe Braintree has the strengths to challenge all the incumbents in the payment space, including PayPal. This investment reflects our confidence in the technology, team and international capabilities Braintree has built.”
As part of the news today, NEA is also opening up a Chicago office to be closer to its investments in the Windy City.
As we’ve recently reported, the payments space is heating up and all the players, including Square and PayPal, are gearing up for the battle. Square just landed a huge deal with Starbucks and closed $200 million in new funding. PayPal is also trying to reinvent itself. New entrant,Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics, Stripe, has also been making waves in the industry. And now with Braintree’s new funding, we can expect there to be one more player who is vying for a piece of the payments pie.
For background, Chicago-based Braintree powers and automates online payments for merchants and companies online. The company provides a merchant account, payment gateway, recurring billing, credit card storage, support for mobile and international payments, and PCI Compliance solutions.
Braintree’s client list includes Rovio/Angry Birds, Uber, 37signals, OpenTable, Fab, GitHub, Airbnb, Heroku, Engine Yard, Animoto, Shopify and HotelTonight. The company is seeing $1 billion a year in mobile transactions and $5 billion in total payments annually for over 3,000 mobile and online merchants. Currently, Braintree works with merchants in more than 30 countries and is able to accept more than 130 different currencies.
For Braintree, the new funding is going to help the company take on giants in the digital payments industry like PayPal. “We think we can build the next PayPal,Shop for high quality wholesale parking sensor system products on DHgate and get worldwide delivery.” says Braintree’s CEO, Bill Ready. “The payments game will be won or lost in next few years, and we need the resources to push the company forward aggressively,” he explained in an interview.
The new funding will be used to build out Braintree’s payments product, for hiring engineering talent in the Bay Area, New York and Chicago, and for additional international expansion.
Ready explains that Braintree differs from PayPal in that it offers a comprehensive, full-featured payments processing platform for both small startups and large companies, like Fab, which is processing hundreds of millions in transactions. He says that traditionally, a small business would start with PayPal, then graduate to Authorize.net (owned by Visa), and would move onto Cybersource processing when the company would have tens or hundreds of millions in payments revenue. But Ready says there is a huge opportunity to service the full range of companies, and that’s what makes Braintree distinct.
“We are taking sophisticated payments capabilities and making them accessible to startups and big companies, and when small businesses grow into larger organizations, we will have everything they need,” says Ready.
Over the past few months, Braintree has been heads down on making its product as useful to merchants as possible. The company expanded to mobile, added support for one-click checkout, cut fees, and eased the sign-up process.Republic parking system is a privately owned professional parking management company based in Chattanooga, In fact, Braintree removed a $100 monthly fee for developers, and starting matching fees of rivals with 2.9 percent rate and $.30 per transaction.Welcome to news from www.glassmosaicchina.com,Our company is committed to produce all kinds of new materials mosaic. Additionally, the company has made some key hires from Google.
The company also highlights Braintree Instant, which gives merchants instant access to a full suite of payments tools, such as international payments and single click checkout, which used to be available to only the largest of merchants after months-long integrations to legacy payment providers. Braintree Instant also aids cash flow by typically providing funds within two days, versus a week or more for others in the industry.
“We are working to do for payments and e-commerce what Apple did for mobile: providing a developer-friendly platform that sparks a new wave of innovation and company-building, ” Ready adds.
But in order to take on payments companies like PayPal and Square, Braintree has to engage the consumer as well. That’s where the company’s Venmo acquisition comes in. In August, the company acquired the New York-based startup, which is disrupting social payments by allowing people to send money to friends via a mobile app.
Venmo, which remains based in New York as a standalone app, is the basis for Braintree’s consumer business.This is a superb introduction to how Injection Mold tools are made. “This will become the slickest way for consumers to make payments to merchants,” says Ready. We’re building a better PayPal on the merchant side, and a better PayPal on the consumer side.”
“Braintree is kicking down both the technology and business road blocks that have made online and mobile payments challenging for developers and a hassle for consumers,” said Ravi Viswanathan, General Partner of NEA, said in a release. “We believe Braintree has the strengths to challenge all the incumbents in the payment space, including PayPal. This investment reflects our confidence in the technology, team and international capabilities Braintree has built.”
As part of the news today, NEA is also opening up a Chicago office to be closer to its investments in the Windy City.
As we’ve recently reported, the payments space is heating up and all the players, including Square and PayPal, are gearing up for the battle. Square just landed a huge deal with Starbucks and closed $200 million in new funding. PayPal is also trying to reinvent itself. New entrant,Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics, Stripe, has also been making waves in the industry. And now with Braintree’s new funding, we can expect there to be one more player who is vying for a piece of the payments pie.
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