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Hi, welcome to our time of tea & reflection dear friend! Today we are reflecting upon a very important topic which is relevant to all!
I have just recently completed a University course on its prevention so I will share an updated summary on what we can do to considerably lower our risk for this insidious disease, hopefully preventing it all together!
Dementia is the most concerning disease of our time
For governments & Epidemiological departments globally…so much so, that researchers from around the world are joining forces to try & alleviate population risk for the future development of this growing disease that has no known cure!
First let's get comfortable with our cuppa's, I have combined two tea blends today a Japanese Apple tea with a Lady Grey tea, accompanied by a GF Double Choc Brownie with candied citrus peel & walnuts to munch upon… absolutely delicious & so morish!
Again, it's cold here today but the Winter Sun is shining & we have found a sheltered sunny spot under our big beautiful Jacaranda tree.
Now we are enjoying our beautiful sunny spot with our cuppa's & treats, shall we begin our reflection together…
A little background for you, I have always had a professional interest in Dementia & how this condition develops & irreversibly affects the patient's quality of life, as well as, the devastating impact upon their families.
Thus, I like to keep updated with the latest research findings & proven best practice therapies for this disease. Last year I did Understanding Dementia & this year part two, Preventing Dementia with the University of Tasmania, Australia, for continuing professional development.
These are free academic online courses open to all interested parties, world wide. I highly recommend them!
Now let's see what we can do…
The longitudinal research has found that the earlier in life we start the following lifestyle inclusions the better the outcome.
However starting these lifestyle inclusions at any age showed a huge improvement in quality of life & considerably lowered the risk for Dementia.
Did you know there are several types of Dementia not just the commonly known one of Alzheimer's Disease. There is also Vascular Dementia, Lewy Body Dementia, Frontotemperal Dementia, Younger onset Dementia & Dementia that may be brought on by other medical conditions.
Though today my emphasis will be on the preventative measures…Research has found that;
What is good for heart health is good for brain health…
"Take care of your heart with all diligence for it is the wellspring of life!" Proverbs 4:23
At least 150 minutes of physical activity per week is the ideal target, this can incorporate walking, house chores, gardening or the more active aerobic exercise (for those fitter ones out there).
Any activity that gets our hearts pumping faster is good! Please check with your physician if you have heart problems before increasing your physical activity.
- This can be done in the following increments of time each week… 7 days ÷ 150 minutes p/w = approximately 22 minutes per day of activity that gets your heart rate up!
Healthy Diet plays a large part too, so a well balanced diet similar to the Mediterranean diet is recommended! Fresh fruit & vegetables, grains, nuts, olive oil, dairy & lean meats. Which makes sense as this is also great for our cardiovascular health.
Moderation of alcohol consumption…only 1 glass of wine per day is recommended. No catching up on weekends, no binge drinking. All alcoholic beverages impact neurological functionality & brain health!
Quality Sleep, is one of the important factors in this preventative prescription. Quality restorative sleep of at least 6 – 8 hours per night gives the brain time to clean the days accumulated plaque away & to organize it's memory files.
Social & leisure health is also a part of the Preventing Dementia prescription… Those who have an active face to face social group that they can enjoy regularly, we're seen to create healthy neurological chemicals & pathways.
Isolating oneself is unhealthy for social, mental, neurological & spiritual wellness.
Learning new things & educating ourselves throughout our life…Challenging our brains consistently & constantly creates new neural pathways that help build a Cognitive Reserve for healthier brain function & an investment for our quality of life in the future. This can be learning a new language, a new skill, doing puzzles, reading, going to museums or studying etc…
Keep Mentally healthy is also very important, making room for good mental health practices is essential. Getting professional help & treatment when needed. Making time for restorative activities.
The research found unaddressed or untreated Depression is one of the higher risk factors for Dementia (please note: not everyone who has Depression will get Dementia but rather the risk increases markedly if left untreated).
There was also good news for those of us who have chronic health conditions that cause Brain Malaise aka brain fog or fibro fog, research found there is no demonstrated higher risk between Brain Fog & Alzheimer's (ref)! Yay!
So to personalize this, I am slowly building my physical activity to the target of 150 minutes per week, which seemed an absolute impossible task at first with having Fibromyalgia but I am already up to 75 minutes now! Slowly increasing the time over the past few weeks by walking.
I invite dear hubby out for a walk each time I go
So he is getting his physical activity increased too & I have noticed we talk about things that interest us more while we walk!
While we have always mostly followed a well balanced diet, similar to the Mediterranean one. I have cut back (though still have a small treat each day) on my sugary treats with my cuppa's replacing most with fruit or nuts instead.
As you can see above I enjoy research, I find writing for this blog constantly challenging for building my Cognitive Reserve. I also enjoy reading & word puzzles.
I do try & socialize with friends & family as able. Over the past year, when possible, I have enjoyed a lovely time in morning tea & prayer with a little group of ladies from our village church.
And if you visit here often you already know I enjoy journaling, reflection & taking time to smell the roses.
The biggest challenge on the prescription for me is quality of sleep! As having Fibromyalgia, quantity & quality of sleep is often allusive. Though I had already began the following Sleep strategies… to help this…which has improved it for the moment.
What could you do to improve your lifestyle from the preventing Dementia prescription?
Until next time,
You're most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook
Or in Prayer
© 2019 Jennifer M. Ross, teawithjennifer.blog All Rights Reserved. Photos on Pexels.com


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The ACM SIGACCESS Scholarship Award aims to provide support for practitioners, researchers, members of advocacy groups, and individuals with disabilities who are interested in the field of computers and accessibility, to actively participate in the ASSETS conference. The scholarship award is in the amount of $2,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Practitioners, members of advocacy groups, and individuals with disabilities who apply must have demonstrated a commitment to or interest in the field of accessible computing. Researchers should have completed an academic degree and should be actively engaged in research and/or practice in the general domain of computers and accessibility;
- Preference will be given to applicants who have not previously attended ASSETS;
- Scholarship funds can only be used to cover the cost of participating in the ASSETS conference;
- Applicants should have a demonstrated financial need and a sincere interest in expanding their knowledge in the area of computers and accessibility.
Application Requirements
Candidates interested in applying for a SIGACCESS scholarship award are required to:
- Create an application portfolio, composed of:
- A 2-page resume;
- A 1-page essay discussing their background or interest in the area of computers, accessibility, and assistive technologies, and the benefits the applicant expects to gain from participating in the ASSETS conference;
- For students, a statement from their advisor to confirm that funding is not available through their institution.
The portfolio should be prepared in electronic format (PDF).
- Commit to attend and actively participate in the ASSETS conference; in particular
- The applicant should participate in the complete ASSETS event;
- The applicant is expected to develop a poster, highlighting experience and interests in the areas of computers and accessibility; the poster will be presented during the ASSETS poster session. Applicants with accepted technical posters or papers in the ASSETS program will not need to develop a separate poster.
- Develop a 2-page report, to be submitted within 1 month from the end of the ASSETS conference, summarizing the benefits gained through participation in the ASSETS conference.
The deadline for applications is July 1st; applicants will be notified of the decision by July 30th.
Applications should be sent in electronic form to: firstname.lastname@example.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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Top Items:
Jeff Weiner / Orlando Sentinel:
Trayvon Martin shooting: It's not George Zimmerman crying for help on 911 recording, 2 experts say — As the Trayvon Martin controversy splinters into a debate about self-defense, a central question remains: Who was heard crying for help on a 911 call in the moments before the teen was shot?
Gaius Publius / US Politics: Zimmerman will walk in the Trayvon shooting case—"Sanford is the new Selma"
Ben Yakas / Gothamist: Experts Say It Was Not George Zimmerman Crying For Help On Trayvon Martin 911 Call
Matt / Conservative Hideout 2.0: Trayvon Martin Update: Leftist Twit Flips Out on CNN, More Information on the Police Video, and Voice Recognition
Michael Brendan Dougherty / Business Insider: Forensic Expert: It's Not George Zimmerman Screaming For Help In The 911 Calls
Dan Abrams / Mediaite: Its Not George Zimmerman Screaming For Help on 911 Tape, Audio Experts Tell Orlando Sentinel
Meteor Blades / Daily Kos: Orlando Sentinel: Forensic voice identification expert says screaming is not George Zimmerman's
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
NBC to do 'internal investigation' on Zimmerman segment — NBC told this blog today that it would investigate its handling of a piece on the "Today" show that ham-handedly abridged the conversation between George Zimmerman and a dispatcher in the moments before the death of Trayvon Martin.
Eugene Volokh / The Volokh Conspiracy: NBC Internal Investigation of the Apparent Gross Mis-Editing of the George Zimmerman 911 Tape
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
I Screamed It Couldn't Be Done — The Orlando Sentinel brings on some voice experts to analyze a 911 call in the Trayvon Martin shooting to attempt to establish whether it is Zimmerman or Martin screaming for help. I have previously expressed my skepticism of this process:
Discussion: Riehl World View
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
Send Better Witnesses — CNN pretends to reprise the witnesses to the Trayvon Martin shooting and aftermath. They paint a picture of a 'fair and balanced' effort but omit 'John', the most important eyewitness to the scuffle that preceded the shooting. John says Zimmerman …
Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:
NBC News Accused of Editing 911 Call in Trayvon Martin Controversy (Video)
NBC News Accused of Editing 911 Call in Trayvon Martin Controversy (Video)
Discussion: americanthinker.com, Taylor Marsh, protein wisdom and Sister Toldjah
Darleen Click / protein wisdom: NBC "Waiting to Explode" - Trayvon Martin edition
Orlando Sentinel:
Trayvon marchers: 'We want an arrest. Shot in the chest"
Trayvon marchers: 'We want an arrest. Shot in the chest"
Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Other McCain, The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine and americanthinker.com
Dalina Castellanos / Los Angeles Times: Trayvon Martin marchers: 'We want an arrest. Shot in the chest'
Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain: The Riot Ideology — Yesterday, I mentioned Fred Siegel's …
Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit: Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and NAACP Leader Ben Jealous March for Trayvon in Florida
Caroline Bankoff / New York Magazine: Marchers Demand Arrest in Trayvon Martin Shooting
Rich Lowry / National Review:
The Murders That Don't Count — Delric Miller IV died in a hail of bullets a month ago.
The Murders That Don't Count — Delric Miller IV died in a hail of bullets a month ago.
Discussion: The Mahablog, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Reaction and The Agonist
Steve M. / No More Mister Nice Blog: WHY RICH LOWRY IS AN IDIOT
Michael J.W. Stickings / The Reaction: Idiot extraordinaire Rich Lowry attacks liberals over Trayvon Martin murder
Trayvon Martin marchers to Sanford, Fla., police: 'We want an arrest. Shot in the chest'
Trayvon Martin marchers to Sanford, Fla., police: 'We want an arrest. Shot in the chest'
Discussion: Daily Kos, The Raw Story, Associated Press and The Hinterland Gazette
David Ferguson / The Raw Story: Thousands of protesters attend rally in Sanford, Florida
David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Signs of Supreme Court activism worry Reagan administration lawyers — Advocates of judicial restraint say conservative justices should be wary of the impulse to strike down the healthcare law passed by Congress. — John G. Roberts Jr., now chief justice of the Supreme Court …
Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly and The Volokh Conspiracy
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice: Sign of Changing Conservatism: Reagan Administration Lawyers Concerned About Supreme Court Activism
Kathleen Geier / Washington Monthly: And this year's Claude Rains Memorial Captain Renault award goes to . . .
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Supreme Court health care debate: If the law fails, what's next? — The Supreme Court has yet to rule on President Barack Obama's health care law, but court watchers already are handicapping the domino effect if it falls. — If the justices knock out key parts of the law or bring down the whole thing …
Discussion: americanthinker.com and Right Wing News
Jonny Paul / Jerusalem Post:
British lecturer: Jerusalem doesn't belong to Jews — University of Exeter lecturer tells Global March to Jerusalem protesters, "the only way we can stop Israel is to act against it." — By TOVAH LAZAROFF — LONDON - A British university lecturer told Global March to Jerusalem protesters …
Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
Keith Olbermann Complained To Current That Car Service Drivers 'Smelled, Talked To Him' — On the heels of Countdown host Keith Olbermann's firing from Current TV, the network and sources close to it have been quick to buttress their case for the dismissal with details of the temperamental star's antics.
Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Weasel Zippers
Henry Blodget / Business Insider:
Households Earning Less Than $13,000 A Year Spend 9% Of Their Income On Lottery Tickets — It has often been said that lotteries are a tax on the poor. — And that's a fair description. — Joe Weisenthal pointed out yesterday that poor people regularly buy lottery tickets …
Discussion: Ed Driscoll
Obama Campaign Erases State Lines — Fairness Meets Federalism In One Obama Campaign Chart. Supporters say: "Equality and fairness!" Opponents say: "Hey, what happened to all those state lines?"
Discussion: Hullabaloo
Nick Gillespie / Wall Street Journal:
Stop Panicking About Bullies — Childhood is safer than ever before, but today's parents need to worry about something. Nick Gillespie on why busybodies and bureaucrats have zeroed in on bullying. — "When I was younger," a remarkably self-assured, soft-spoken 15-year-old kid named Aaron tells …
Discussion: Hit & Run and Joanne Jacobs
Nick Gillespie / Hit & Run: Is There a Bullying Epidemic in the U.S.?: Nick Gillespie in the Wall Street Journal
New York Times:
Romney Looks to Wisconsin Primary for Closure — WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney is on the cusp of taking firm control of the Republican nominating contest for the first time, neutralizing his most powerful critics and rallying a broad spectrum of conservatives behind him as party leaders grow increasingly eager to take on President Obama.
Discussion: Washington Post, Towleroad News #gay, State of the Union, The Caucus and Politico
Brandon K. Thorp / Towleroad News #gay: A Death In The Family, Mitt Romney, Strange Eggs, And Google's April Fools Joke (VIDEO)
Emmarie Huetteman / The Caucus: Sunday Breakfast Menu, April 1
Maggie Haberman / Politico: Mitt prepares for general election


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Alcatel Plus 10 Windows Tablet
| MWC, Barcelona, 22 February, 2016 – Increasing its offering of Windows devices, ALCATEL announced the launch of its PLUS 10 2-in-1 device, running on the latest Windows 10 operating system.
"PLUS 10 is ALCATEL's first 2-in-1 device with Windows 10, and we're very proud of all the functionality we've built into it," said Vittorio Di Mauro, General Manager of Smart Connectivity at ALCATEL. "PLUS 10 goes everywhere I go – the house, the office, even the park! It's a fun product that sparks a lot of conversation (and jealousy)."
"We are excited to welcome ALCATEL to the Windows ecosystem and add their innovative LTE 2-in-1 tablet to our Windows device portfolio. The PLUS 10's unique features, combined with Windows 10, provide the optimal balance between productivity and entertainment from wherever you go," said Peter Han, Vice President, Worldwide OEM Marketing, Microsoft Corp.
3 Modes, 1 Irresistible Price
Mobile office: With its compatible 4G/Wi-Fi-connected keyboard, PLUS 10 offers a complete mobile desktop experience. It can be used in laptop mode to type documents or create spreadsheets, and in dock mode to display presentations or slides. With its multiple ports — rare to see in this device category — PLUS 10 further shows its hard-working sensibility, by enabling connections to a hard drive, mouse, USB key, secondary screen and more.
In addition, PLUS 10 has a default memory of 32 GB that can be ramped up with an external SD card for extra space for holding pictures, videos etc.
Entertainment center: PLUS 10 can be used in dock mode to view videos or movies. To top it off, the dual front speakers, with immersive 3D sound, coupled with the high-resolution (1280 x 800) IPS screen technology, make film watching and gaming an extra pleasure.
Travel companion: Exceptionally convenient to carry, PLUS 10 is compact and 40 percent lighter than an average laptop. When used in tablet mode, without the keyboard, it is even more portable and is an ideal companion for travel or commutes, to browse the Web, play games or serve as an e-book reader.
Powerful Battery, Wi-Fi Hotspot and Cameras Add Functionality
PLUS 10 is equipped with a double battery. The tablet and 4G LTE keyboard offer a total of 8,410 mAh, which lasts a full 8-hour working or playing day. The unique, connected 4G LTE cat 4 (150Mbps) keyboard works double-time to serve as a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to 15 users.
To complete PLUS 10's long list of functionalities, it has both a front and rear-facing camera, with front flash which is ideal for video calls.
PLUS 10 will be offered in several different finishes and in an elegant, subdued palette of colors: metallic silver, matte white, matte volcano black and a unique warm gray leather finish, which is silky to the touch.
PLUS 10 will be available for sale in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa in June 2016.
|259.3 x 156.2 x 8.35 mm
|10.1" HD IPS (1280 x 800),
Capacitive multi-touch 10 points
|Windows 10 Desktop
|Quad Core, 1.92 GHz
|Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n,
Bluetooth 4.0
|5 Mpxl camera, 2 Mpxl front camera
|Internal memory: 32 GB ROM / 2 GB RAM
MicroSD up to 64 GB
|5830 mAh (Tablet) + 2580mAh (Keyboard)
|Intel ATOM Z8350
|Dual front speakers, LTE Keyboard (Can served as Wi-Fi hotspot for up to 15 users)


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EDGE Press Room
Southern Nevada Association of Pride and EDGE Media Network Announce Free Las Vegas Pride App Available for iPhone
For Immediate Release August 27, 2012
The Southern Nevada Association of Pride announced today that the official Las Vegas Gay Pride iOS App is now available as a free download from the iTunes App Store. The app, a joint development effort with EDGE Media Network, will allow iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users to view up-to-the-minute information about Las Vegas' annual Gay Pride Parade, Festival and associated events.
"We are excited to launch our Las Vegas iPhone app and make it part of our social media network," said Ernest Yuen, president of Las Vegas Pride. "I think it is important to be in touch with everyone in our communite and communicate the latest events and news going on in our organization."
The app includes news stories, event listings, interactive maps, sponsor and hotel listings, plus photos from official photographers and revelers at the yearly event. Developer EDGE Media Network is the largest network of local Lesbian, Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) news and entertainment portals in the world, serving about 1 million dedicated readers from a variety of metropolitan areas around the United States and beyond.??
"Gay Pride is going mobile," asserted David Foucher, chief executive officer of EDGE. "These new platforms bring information and interactivity directly to the LGBT public who are celebrating at Las Vegas Pride; they can upload their own photos and get late breaking news. We're thrilled to launch this innovative product with the Southern Nevada Association of Pride, and we can't wait to see how Las Vegas takes the party to their phones."
Las Vegas Pride includes a variety of social events already underway, and the celebration culminates in a nighttime parade on September 7th and a festival on September 8th. The iOS app is immediately available for iOS mobile devices from the iTunes App Store.
EDGE is the largest network of local Gay, Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) news and information in the world, serving over 1 million dedicated readers each month online and on our mobile platforms. We are dedicated to the delivery of local, national and world content targeted to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community in a fair, entertaining and interactive format. Our sites deliver eight major channels of information to our readers, including daily news, arts & entertainment, business & finance, technology, health & fitness, style, nightlife, and travel. Additional channels provide local coverage of nightlife, shopping, plus a local business directory and calendar of events. We publish across the USA at www.edgeonthenet.com and in local city markets in Atlanta GA, Boston MA, New York NY, Los Angeles CA, San Francisco CA, Washington DC, Miami FL, Dallas TX, Chicago IL, Las Vegas NV, Philadelphia PA, Fort Lauderdale FL, Fire Island NY, Orlando FL, Providence RI, Seattle WA, San Diego CA, Provincetown MA, and New England. You can also access content via our gay mobile device apps (www.edgeiphone.com), (www.edgeandroid.com), Twitter @EDGEOnTheNet and on Facebook (@EDGE Media Network).
# # #
For more information:
John Welton
Director Public Relations
[email protected]


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When sitting down to compose a bucket list, most people include traveling to incredible places on it too. And we're not necessarily talking about booking a vacation to Paris or New York, even though they are, indeed, incredible places. We're talking about undiscovered beauties or destinations that will surely make you feel like you can die without regrets. That may have sounded a bit gloomy, but it wasn't, we promise. We're just trying to give you some of the most beautiful places on earth that you must absolutely visit.
#1 Bora Bora
We'll start off with a section that refers to tropical places, beaches, and generally warm destinations. As far as sandy shores and crystalline water go, Bora Bora is definitely one of the most stunning beach vacation spots in the world. Its true selling point is the fact that the island fosters a deformed volcano which evolved into flora and reefs that give the water its glass-clear appearance.
#2 Victoria Falls
If you're planning to head to the Niagara Falls anytime soon, we recommend postponing this trip and swapping it for Victoria Falls, a location stranded on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. It's the largest waterfall in the world, as proven by the statistic measurements of the overall area, and among the most beautiful places on our planet.
#3 The Rainbow Mountains
You can absolutely take the name literally. Zhangye Danxia, China can be proud of the incredible landscape it provides. Its mountains are the victims of years of weathering and erosion that created some sort of blending reactions between minerals and sandstones. As a result, the mountains are now painted in swirls of multiple bright colors.
#4 Neuschwanstein
Located in southern Germany, this beautiful castle opens up our section that refers to the multitude of gorgeous frozen destinations. Built in the 19th century, this fairy-tale-like castle was the inspiration for Disney's iconic trademark castle. You can always visit Neuschwanstein over the Disney World one, mostly because people actually used to live in it. Definitely worthy of being deemed as one of the top beautiful places.
#5 Antarctica
Yes, just all of Antarctica. Pretty much the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, this snowy waste is definitely not for those who cannot handle their icy beautiful places. The huge icebergs and glacial sights make for a unique experience, which is only topped by the many penguins you may encounter.
#6 The Temples of Bangan
For our next phase, we take a look at the beautiful places that manage to make our jaws drop through the sheer beauty of their architectural mastery. Located in Burma, Myanmar on the grounds of the ancient capital of the civilization, the temples are reminiscent of the Buddhist populations that used to inhabit them.
#7 Petra
Petra is an ancient city in Jordan that is guaranteed to make everyone stop questioning how the Great Pyramids were built to, instead, start asking who came up with the idea to carve a city in the side of a rock. Dating back to centuries before the first Christian year, Petra was, actually, unknown to the rest of the world until the 19th century. It's now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the beautiful places on this list.
#8 Machu Picchu
We can't talk about architectural masterpieces and beautiful places without referring to Machu Picchu, at least, once. This incredible site makes us remember the greatness of the Inca people, who inhabited the ancient city for no more than a hundred years before the Spanish Conquest shunned them away.
#9 Venice
The only city per se on this list, there's no place on Earth quite like a Venice. The very concept of a city surrounded by waters which can only be navigated through boats sailing on its canals is fascinating enough. As a bonus, Venice is also a historical masterpiece and it benefits from a unique vibe that can't be experienced anywhere else.
#10 The Taj Mahal
Considered to be a masterpiece of Muslim art in India, the Taj Mahal is a bearer of many stories and a lot of historical significance in addition to an incredible and easily recognizable design. It's absolutely worth it to pay it a visit and allow yourself to be awed by the architectural prowess of this fascinating land.


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Samuel L. Jackson said he voted for President
Obama because of his color: "I voted for Barack because he was black. 'Cuz that's why other folks vote for other people — because they look like them," the actor says in an outspoken interview in the March issue of Ebony. Jackson sounds off on his feelings for Obama to writer Kevin Powell, saying: "That's American politics, pure and simple. [Obama's] message didn't mean [bleep] to me. In the end, he's a politician. I just hoped he would do some of what he said he was gonna do. I know politicians say [bleep]; they lie. 'Cuz they want to get elected." Repeatedly using the N-word, Jackson added that Obama's philosophical presence had been universally appealing: "When it comes down to it, they wouldn't have elected a [bleep]. Because, what's a [bleep]? A [bleep] is scary. Obama ain't scary at all. [Bleeps] don't have beers at the White House. [Bleeps] don't let some white dude, while you in the middle of a speech, call [him] a liar. A [bleep] would have stopped the meeting right there and said, 'Who the [bleep] said that?' I hope Obama gets scary in the next four years, 'cuz he ain't gotta worry about getting re-elected." Defending his repeated use of the taboo epithet, the "Pulp Fiction" Oscar nominee added, "[It] became a part of my vocabulary when I was born . . . Because it was used on me in my house, often . . . I know the word [bleep] as an admonishment, an endearment, a criticism and an invective. So I use it; I don't run from it. I don't have an issue with it or who says it. I always put it in the context of how it was used on me."
Politics of color
Samuel L. Jackson said he voted for President


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Predator drones to start operations over North Dakota
The FAA has authorized the use of remote-controlled Predator drones in the airspace above nearly 10,000 acres in North Dakota. As of this fall, unmanned military aircraft will use lasers to aim at ground targets from nearly 2 miles above the earth.
Grand Forks, North Dakota — the third largest city in the state — will host a domestic training facility for the military's unmanned aerial vehicles starting in October. Several times a week pilots will remotely guide robotic drones through the sky at altitudes as high of 9,999 feet above sea level and zone in on ground targets with the use of dangerous lasers."People may hear airplanes flying above, but there will be no lights visible and no explosions," Col. Rick Gibney, commander of the 119th Wing of the North Dakota Air National Guard, tells the Grand Forks Herald. The lasers the drones will be equipped with are reported by the Herald to help pilots practice on designating targets for bombing and missile launching missions overseas. Gibney adds that the site at Camp Grafton will allow pilots to have real-world training instead of relying on flight simulators to learn the basics of drone operation. And while he doesn't expect for the base to be flooded with flights anytime soon, he says operations will increase over time, especially on an as-needed basis."A lot of it will be dependent on real-world situations," he tells the Herald.Meanwhile, the FAA says that traditional airplanes will continue to fly through the airspace, with around four flights currently traveling through the area each day. Gibney doesn't expect that to be a problem though, because in other training grounds, such as other drone-licensed parts of Nevada and California,"There's a lot of other aircraft in those areas, and a lot of commercial aircraft around those areas."Given the limited but still substantial amount of traffic in and around the airspace, opponents of the drone training ground are asking for more oversight into how the planes will behave come this fall. Specifically, some have raised questions about the dangers that could come from the lasers utilized by Predator drone pilots."Since the MQ–1 Predator [UAS] laser is non-eye safe and will be used during training sorties flown by the military, its use constitutes a hazardous activity that must be confined within restricted area airspace to protect nonparticipating aircraft," the latest FAA regulations read.Additionally, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association are arguing that the use of the lasers, if not properly announced to pilots ahead of time, could put their flights in grave danger. The Electronic Frontier Foundation estimates that the number of domestic drones in the US will be 30,000 by the end of this decade. The Federal Aviation Administration is drafting ground rules right now that will lay out operation standards for UAVs in America, but some critics have suggested that the rate at which the US is accelerating its drone program is outstanding, citing concerns over both safety and privacy.Within the last month, a military drone crashed during a routine training mission just outside of Washington, D.C. Days later, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin showed the US Department of Homeland Security that he was able to essentially hijack a drone using less than $1,000 in parts. On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said that the state of California is currently considering using surveillance drones as a means of proactively monitoring suspicious activity on the ground on the basis of "public safety" issues. At a recent lecture on domestic drones given by the EFF at New York City's Hackers on Planet Earth Conference, Timm and fellow activist Parker Higgins said during a presentation that some surveillance UAVs "can zoom in and read a milk carton from 60,000 feet" off the ground.


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Welcome to
This site is mainly devoted to scripting and automation of Corel graphics applications - CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT. You will find tons of useful information on Corel SCRIPT and Visual Basic for those applications.
Along with automation, there are generic Desktop publishing articles as well as tips and tricks for CorelDRAW and Photo-Paint.
Please feel free to send me your comments and suggestions so I could make this site even a better resource. Thanks a lot for your attention and I'm really glad I can offer you something useful and interesting...


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I almost never remember on time: September 8 is International Literacy Day, a day designated by the United Nations to celebrate literacy.
From the Dag Hammerskjöld Library:
Literacy is a cause for celebration since there are now close to four billion literate people in the world. However, literacy for all – children, youth and adults – is still an unaccomplished goal and an ever moving target. A combination of ambitious goals, insufficient and parallel efforts, inadequate resources and strategies, and continued underestimation of the magnitude and complexity of the task accounts for this unmet goal. Lessons learnt over recent decades show that meeting the goal of universal literacy calls not only for more effective efforts but also for renewed political will and for doing things differently at all levels – locally, nationally and internationally.
In its resolution A/RES/56/116, the General Assembly proclaimed the ten year period beginning 1 January 2003 the United Nations Literacy Decade. In resolution A/RES/57/166, the Assembly welcomed the International Plan of Action for the Decade and decided that Unesco should take a coordinating role in activities undertaken at the international level within the framework of the Decade.
Sources listed by the Dag Hammerskjöld Library:
Links to UN and UN System sites:
- International Literacy Day
- UN Literacy Decade (2003-2012)
- UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014)
- Literacy for All
- Education for All
- Literacy Exchange – World Resources on Literacy
- EDUCAIDS – The Global Initiative on Education and HIV/AIDS
United Nations
- Literacy rates – Achieve universal primary education (Millennium Development Goal 2)
- UN Education Portal
- UN Works for Women – Education
- UN Literacy Decade – Education for All (2003-2012)
- UN Cyberschoolbus
United Nations Development Programme
- Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education (Millennium Development Goals)
World Bank Group
- International Literacy Day
- Achieve universal primary education (Millennium Development Goal 2)
- Education
Additional resources:
The additional resources links on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not necessarily represent an endorsement by the United Nations.
Asia-Pacific Literacy Database
International Reading Association
— International Literacy Day
Even more resources:
On eve of Literacy Day, UN Secretary-General highlights literacy's role in 2030 Agenda, press release
- International Literacy Day: How has India fared in eradicating illiteracy? First Post India, September 8, 2016
Take the annual Literacy Day Challenge from the Ontario Literacy Coalition
- International Reading Association has a slate of activities on the web and in Washington, D.C.
- Winnebago County Literacy Council (Wisconsin) has a list of things you can do
- Richard Bammer at The Reporter in Vacaville, California, worries about the 1 in 7 American adults who is functionally illiterate
- Swazi Observer notes that illiteracy affects women disproportionately, and that hammers families
- UNESCO talks about the power of women's literacy
- Call for more volunteers to teach reading in the Orlando Sentinel
- In Monterey County, California, they celebrate literacy for the entire week
It's fascinating to me that activities on International Literacy Day seem to be noted in out-of-the-way U.S. newspapers, and even there not much. Do Americans care about literacy, really?
I half expect the Texas State Board of Education to pass a resolution condeming literacy, since the UN worries about it.


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Movie Review: 'Les Miserables' leaves you feeling that way
One would assume that the misery in "Les Miserables" is limited to its many down-trodden characters. But in Tom Hooper's big-screen version, it's the audience that's truly feeling the agony, especially in the vicinity of the ears. Mine are still ringing from the bombastic vocalizing by A-list actors singing C-list lyrics that a 10-year-old could – and possibly did – write. But that's nothing compared to the physical pain in the butt this nearly three-hour musical monstrosity creates.
Like Anne Hathaway's doomed waif, Fantine, I was ready to check out around the 45-minute mark. But unlike her, I wasn't lucky enough to die. I had to endure two more grueling hours of monotonous songs sung by blah singers shot in such extreme close-up that I could actually see the spit spewing from Russell Crowe's mouth. At least the saliva was preferable to what else was seeping from his trap, and that would be his voice, or lack thereof. Dogs could be heard howling in the distance whenever the failed rocker opened his lips in service of his role as the sanctimonious French constable, Javert. No wonder his chief adversary, the reformed criminal, Jean Valjean (a fine Hugh Jackman), is so desperate to remain from his sight.
Unfortunately, there's no place for us to hide from this tale of crime and punishment, and no regress beyond asking for your money back. I can count a grand total of three transcendent moments in this never-ending opera, and those would be Jackman's singing of "Look Down" in the opening scene, Hathaway knocking "I Dreamed a Dream" out of the bastille and Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter performing the movie's liveliest number, "Master of the House," with hilarious zest. The rest is like one long, slow dirge that woefully attempts to encapsulate 17 years of French history via a couple dozen indistinguishable tunes.
The story, loosely culled from Victor Hugo's classic 19th century novel, is as thin as Fantine's emaciated body, pitting Jackman's pitiful prisoner, a man who served 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread in 1797, against Crowe's letter-of-the-law peace officer, a man obsessed with returning Valjean to jail at all costs.
Shortly after Valjean's release from captivity in 1815, he breaks parole, runs away, assumes a new identity and establishes himself as a successful factory owner and politician (no vetting back then). But just when everything is going great, he gets the double whammy of having Javert show up at the same time that one of his factory workers, Hathaway's Fantine, is unjustly fired and forced to take to the streets, selling her hair, teeth and body in order to support her fatherless child, Cosette.
True to the film's soap-opera tenor, Fantine quickly takes ill, and as per her dying wish, asks that Valjean take over guardianship of her daughter, now stuck living with Cohen and Carter's thieving innkeepers, M. and Mme. Thenardier. Cut to nine years later, in 1832, and Cosette, now grown and played by Amanda Seyfried, is falling for a revolutionary named Marius (the drippy, Seth Meyers look-alike Eddie Redmayne from "My Week with Marilyn"), whose treasonous activities threaten to tear numerous lives asunder, including Valjean's and Cosette's. This is when the movie grows hopelessly silly and maudlin, emotions that Hooper, an Oscar winner for "The King's Speech" and Emmy recipient for the "John Adams" miniseries, sentimentalizes to the hilt. So much so, I was moved – moved to laughter. Many wept during the finale, but I had to strenuously fight a bad case of the giggles. It's simply one of the dumbest, sappiest endings ever set to film.
Perhaps Hooper should have taken a gander at the best "Les Miz" treatment ever, the tune-free 1935 version starring Fredric March and Charles Laughton, to learn how to do Hugo right. Where that film was blessed with a fully fleshed-out story and characters, this "Les Miz" is little more than an enigma in which the songs, as bland as they are, take precedence over narrative. And don't get me started on all the inaccuracies, chief among them, Daniel Huddlestone's street urchin Gavroche, a French lad with a Cockney accent so heavy he sounds like a refugee from "Oliver."
About the only thing truly productive regarding Hooper's Les Miz" is that it renews your appreciation for great musicals by the likes of composers such as Rodgers and Hammerstein ("South Pacific," "The Sound of Music") and directors the caliber of Vincente Minnelli ("Meet Me in St. Louis"). You can cite all the box office records "Les Miz' has set around the world and all the awards it has – and will – win, but the truth is that this "Miz" ain't nothin' but a miss.
LES MISERABLES (PG-13 for suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements.) Cast includes Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried. Directed by Tom Hooper. Grade D


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The Windermere Children: In Their Own Words
Special | 58m 53s | Video has closed captioning.
In the year that marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Holocaust, this powerful documentary reveals a little-known story of 300 young orphaned Jewish refugees who began new lives in England's Lake District in the summer of 1945.
Aired: 04/03/20
Buy Now:
Problems Playing Video? | Closed Captioning


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Joining Red Hat, Oracle, Canonical and others, Hewlett-Packard is releasing its own distribution of the OpenStack cloud hosting software.
The distribution will be a cornerstone of a set of cloud products and services HP will offer, under the Helion brand.
The Helion brand "will encompass all of the cloud portfolio across the company," said Kerry Bailey, HP senior vice president for the cloud. Helion follows up on the work HP announced last November to unify its cloud offerings under a single architecture.
HP plans to invest US$1 billion of research and development into the Helion portfolio over the next two years and to provide OpenStack-based services in 20 data centers worldwide over the next 18 months. The company currently operates more than 80 data centers across 27 countries.
HP has been running OpenStack as part of its own HP Public Cloud services for over three years now, and is a significant contributor to the OpenStack project.
On Wednesday, HP released a no-cost community edition of Helion OpenStack, which could be used for pilots and basic production duties. The inaugural edition will be based on OpenStack Icehouse,the latest version of the software released in April.
The company plans to release a commercial edition, with support and additional features, within the next few months. It will also launch a set of professional services around OpenStack, to help enterprises with cloud planning and deployment.
In addition to Helion OpenStack, HP's Helion line will include a distribution of Cloud Foundry, a package developed and open sourced by VMware—and now managed by VMware spinoff Pivotal software—to host PaaS (platform as a service) services.
A preview edition of HP's Cloud Foundry distribution, to be called HP Helion Developer Platform, should be available by September.
Other existing HP cloud services and products, such as HP CloudSystem and Cloud Services Automation (CSA), will fall into the Helion line, as well as new and existing cloud consulting and support offerings as well.
Bailey said that a significant portion of HP's enterprise customers have been asking for open cloud software, mostly as a precaution against being locked into proprietary software. HP will indemnify commercial users of Helion against any intellectual property infringement claims, which dogged enterprise Linux users briefly in the last decade.
OpenStack has clearly caught the eye of enterprise software vendors.
Last month, Oracle announced it has added OpenStack to its Solaris Unix distribution. Red Hat offers OpenStack in Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) as does Canonical with its Ubuntu server edition.
HP will hold a webcast on 11:30 am U.S. Eastern Time on Wednesday to explain the new Helion line in greater detail.


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Tweetbot for iPad iTunes App Store
Full features below:
Tweetbot is a full-featured iPad Twitter client with a lot of personality. Whether it's the meticulously-crafted interface, sounds & animation, or features like multiple timelines & smart gestures, there's a lot to love about Tweetbot.
Tweetbot for the iPad is everything you love about the iPhone app and more!
What people are saying:
"Couple an excellent feature set with an app that's both chic and a delight to use, and you have the recipe for a real winner." – Lex Friedman, Macworld. 5 Mice
"Tweetbot surpasses Twitter for iPad to become the new Editors' Choice award-winner." – Jeffrey Wilson, PC Magazine
Brief Highlights:
◆ Multiple Timelines. Quickly switch between your lists as your main timeline.
◆ Smart Gestures. Use Twitter more efficiently with time-saving and configurable gestures.
◆ Native Push Notifications.
◆ Sync timeline position, direct message read statuses and mute filters between iPhone and iPad via iCloud.
◆ Customizable Navigation. Hide the navigation tabs that you never use.
◆ Support for multiple services like Pocket, Instapaper, Readability, CloudApp and Droplr.
◆ Save drafts, add locations and POI's, attach photos/videos, manage your lists, and much more.
FTC: 9to5Toys is reader supported, we may earn income on affiliate links
Subscribe to the 9to5Toys YouTube Channel for all of the latest videos, reviews, and more!


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From joining One Direction's upcoming tour to starring in Justin Bieber or Cody Simpson's next music video, celebs have been using social media to give fans a chance to be a part of their next projects. And now Ariana Grande is jumping on the band wagon, taking to Instagram to ask followers which cover artwork they liked best for her upcoming single.
"neither have been edited properly but I wanted to get your input on which cover y'all like better for my upcoming single... whatcha think? #coverproblem"
What do you think of Ariana's cover art choices? Do you think more artist should reach out to their fans over social media? Comment below!


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Denying Access to Plan B: An Act of Political Cowardice
On contemplating, again, what it feels like to be thrown under the bus by politicians who take women for granted.
See all our coverage of the Administration's 2011 Emergency Contraception Reversal here.
Fool me twice. I'm an idiot.
I keep thinking someone in this administration is going to take a stand that will mean something.
It's a small thing, really, but a huge thing when you're a teenager. You need access to emergency contraception and you can't get it because your government is controlled by fundamentalist body haters who think that sex is for procreation only.
I'm still hunting for the right words to say. Nearly 40 years after abortion was made legal in this country, 50 years since we've had the Pill, and women are still told, day-after-day, that the only thing that matters about them is their ability to bear children. And if bearing a child costs you your life, well, what greater sacrifice can you make? (And besides, there are plenty of women to replace you.)
To visit the local cemeteries is to see this philosophy carved in stone–acres of stones that tell the same story. One man will be buried with two, often three, wives. He died in his 80s. The first two wives died in their 20s or early 30s, but the third wife grew old with him. Frequently, there are newborns whose death dates approximate the death dates of their mothers.
We tell ourselves that this was before modern medicine. That puerperal fever, or ruptured uteri, or hearts weakened by childhood diseases and then too weak to bear the strains of pregnancy, that these things are all things of the past.
But, we maintain maternal mortality statistics because pregnancy is still potentially deadly. And lest any American think that we have the best health care system in the world, ask yourself why our rates of maternal death are among the highest in the industrialized world?
The FDA cannot find a single reason why Plan B contraception can't be on a shelf where anyone can buy it. Katherine Sebelius, and her boss, Barack Obama, they moved the football again.
We were all so happy when Obama chose a pro-choice champion to head HHS. But, it turns out, just like her boss, she's a political coward.
So what, the right wing thinks teenagers shouldn't be having sex? How has that changed in all the years that we've been talking about it?
Sebelius, no doubt ordered to by her boss, overruled the FDA, denied scientific evidence, to make moralistic assholes happy.
I really thought you were going to hold the football steady this time, Obama. I really did.
I'm an idiot. I keep hoping against hope that you're not going to throw women under the bus. That you can stand up to the ladies who swoon at the Concerned Women for America. You think they're going to vote for you because you said no to Plan B?
I know you're not stupid.
You're a coward.


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I have to admit it, I don't have much money. I have plenty of enthusiasm when it comes to making a family tree, but I'm not a millionaire. I make a salary, but there isn't much left after rent and food. So, when I first started making my family tree, I was determined to make it without spending anything. In actuality, I wound up spending a lot more than nothing. In my eyes, it was more like a fortune, but to be honest, I think it was worth it. What I've learned about my family is priceless and the adventure isn't over yet. It makes it possible for me to go to my job and not complain (much); because I have something else in my life. I have spent protracted periods of time talking to various people, and I know how to make a family tree with zero cost, but and this is where the big but comes in, it depends on where you are starting from. I was starting from ground-zero, so I had to spend something to find out stuff.
If you live in the United States, you will discover that it is not that easy to finish a family tree without spending something. One of the biggest reasons it is harder to accomplish is that United States records are done at the local level which means that the county is in charge and at times it even goes down to the parish level. Secondarily, there is no central repository; therefore, no central records that you can check details unless you are willing to part with some of your hard earned money. You probably can't afford to go to every location to physically check the records so you will have to rely on the local records office to provide you with copies. Copies cost money, and you're off and running up the family tree bill.
With that said, when researching your family tree, you need to prioritize. You know it's going to cost you something, but realize that the largest expenditure generally comes from purchasing certificates related to your family. Record holders and government agencies can charge anywhere from $15 to $30 per certificate depending on type and location of purchase. Pricing is taken care of at the state and county level so it is varied and subject to change at any time.
Generally, marriage, birth and death certificates in the United States were available from the late 19th century onwards, so you are going to have to do some heavy duty research to find documents farther back. In addition it was only at this point was there any requirement imposed to store records and prior to that it was catch-as-catch can. Many folks just didn't see the need to let anybody know about births, deaths and marriages in their family, preferring if they recorded it at all, to put it in the family Bible rather than some official agency.
Privacy laws also play a part when you are trying to get copies of various documents unless you can prove that you are related to the person you are trying to track. Many times you will need to prove your link to the person in question, so before you get started you will want to talk to relatives about what you are attempting. They might have documents you can copy, reducing both costs and bureaucratic red tape.
One of the best record sources in the United States is the census and if your family is of a certain religion, the church. The census is pretty comprehensive and is chocked full of useful information. The church also tends to keep very detailed records of full families if you attend the same church for years.
Let's face it. Nothing in life is free, and tracing your family roots is no exception. I will tell you there is actually quite a bit of information out there if you are willing to look, and there are many possible resolutions to the issues you might face when doing family tree research in the U.S. There are many sources of free info, but you will have to spend more time gathering the information. Sometimes, paying for a bit of documentation will make your life much easier.
One place that has a wealth of knowledge is The Church of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) – They house an extensive set of records relating to most countries, and more specifically to the United States that they have gathered from various churches and parishes. Much of this material is available for free at familysearch.org. They have birth, marriage and death records as well copies of the censuses for FREE! The amount of information outweighs the few drawbacks which are that things haven't been fully transcribed yet. but as a good place to start, LDS is wonderful.
Cindy's List – cyndislist.com/ – A huge resource of information, broken down by state and counties, with literally thousands of links. The only issue with this site is that it can be somewhat difficult to navigate. You can spend hours trying to find anything!!! However, if you don't have gobs of money to spend, you will need to give up your time in research and sometimes frustration.
Please do a search for these in google:
Rootsweb – World Connect Project – Put in your ancestors name and hit the search button, and it will check millions of existing records and return the results.
HeritageQuest Online – Usually this site is only available via subscription, but your local library may have access for free. It includes census bureau results as well as vital statistics.
Interment.net – Free Cemetery Records Online – Over two million records are stored here taken from literally thousands of cemeteries around the world.
US Genweb – The original and largest storehouse for United States genealogy.
Ancestry.com – This website offers a free 14-day trial of their service.
USGenWeb Archives – Search engine that will go through every United States record without visiting each state's website. Very timesaving, this is a very well-hidden service that is, as a result, under used by most people
US Social Security Death Index – Easy to use database has 64 million records of deaths that occurred after 1962. Searches return birth date, death date, residence and inheritor.
Ellis Island Records – Nearly half of all American immigrants arrived through Ellis Island, New York. There's is easy access to ships' passenger manifest records from 1892-1924. Original manifests and photos available.
Illinois State Archives – Free databases available from the Illinois State Archives, includes marriage records.
Castle Garden Online – Search by name and time period for immigrants who landed at Castle Garden between 1830 and 1890.
Geneanet – This 85 million name database is culled from free websites worldwide.
Michigan Genealogical Death Indexing System – 170,000+ Michigan death records are available from 1867 to 1897. It's a free index.
Kentucky Vital Records – The Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics in conjunction with the University of Kentucky have transcribed three million state vital records for Kentucky.
Utah Census Search is a free search tool for the Utah Federal census – 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880.
GenCircles – Global Tree is a well-liked web location for searching and submitting family trees using GEDCOM files. Over 32 million surnames can be searched with cross matching to other trees possible.
Obituary Central – If you need death records for the United States or Canada, then the search tools at OC will make it a breeze.
Pennsylvania Digital Archives – The Pennsylvania Archives Records Information Access System houses over 600,000 digitized records.
Maryland State Archives – Free Genealogy Indexes – Maryland State Archives site has lots of great info on it.
Oregon Historical Records Index: This is a free index of surnames compiled from a first-rate list of documents held by the Oregon State Archives.
There are also loads of forums geared towards assisting in your search to find your ancestors such as Discover like minded folks who are willing to aid you in your search with tips, techniques and advise.


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Leonard C. Soffer
Adjunct Professor of Accounting
Adjunct Professor of Accounting
Leonard Soffer studies corporate valuation, capital markets, and accounting information. Soffer's publications include Financial Reporting and Analysis (8 ed.) with Lawrence Revsine, Daniel Collins, Bruce Johnson, and Fred Mittelstaedt; Financial Statement Analysis: A Valuation Approach with Robin Soffer; "SFAS No. 123 Disclosures and Discounted Cash Flow Valuation" in Accounting Horizons; "Earnings Preannouncement Strategies" with Ramu Thiagarajan and Beverly Walther in Review of Accounting Studies; "Post-Earnings Announcement Drift and the Dissemination of Predictable Information" with Thomas Lys in Contemporary Accounting Research; and "The Relative Informativeness of Analysts' Stock Recommendations and Earnings Forecast Revisions" with Jennifer Francis in Journal of Accounting Research. He has been quoted in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Crain's Chicago Business, and has been interviewed by WBBM (Channel 2) Chicago.
As a consultant, he worked with numerous companies, including the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, where he developed an interactive computer-based model for pricing industrial chocolate contracts. He was a manager of corporate development at USG Corporation; a senior consultant for corporate development at Northwest Industries, Inc.; a liaison between accounting and information systems groups for the McDonald's Corporation; and a staff auditor at Touche Ross & Co.
He is a member of the American Institute of CPAs, the American Accounting Association, and the Illinois CPA Society, where he has chaired the Accounting Principles Committee.
Soffer earned a bachelor's degree in accountancy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1977, an MBA in finance from Northwestern University in 1981, and a PhD in accounting from the University of California at Berkeley in 1991.
With Robin Soffer, Financial Statement Analysis: A Valuation Approach, Prentice Hall (2003).
"SFAS No. 123 Disclosures and Discounted Cash Flow Valuation," Accounting Horizons (2000).
With Ramu Thiagarajan and Beverly Walther, "Earnings Preannouncement Strategies," Review of Accounting Studies (2000).
With Thomas Lys, "Post-Earnings Announcement Drift and the Dissemination of Predictable Information," Contemporary Accounting Research (1999).
With Jennifer Francis, "The Relative Informativeness of Analysts' Stock Recommendations and Earnings Forecast Revisions," Journal of Accounting Research (1997).


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KinderCare has partnered with Lake Grove families for more than 50 years to provide award-winning early education programs and high-quality childcare in Lake Grove, NY.
Whether you are looking for a preschool in Lake Grove, a trusted part-time or full-time daycare provider, or educational before- or after-school programs, KinderCare offers fun and learning at an affordable price.
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Today's global leaders guide their companies with a higher purpose. Purpose acts as an illuminating compass for business strategy, employee engagement and collaborations with partners. By working towards solving issues larger than your brand or industry, you can scale business growth and positive impact in the process.
A global company doing innovative work to that end is the Manitou Group. The construction equipment manufacturer is aligning its business with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) using three key impact priorities: youth empowerment, environmental responsibility and building communities. Its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are intertwined to those ends.
Manitou puts this strategy into practice by collaborating with platforms such as I Make America, "which advocates for policies that support manufacturing jobs and help America's equipment manufacturers compete globally." Manitou's Elevation Frontiers initiative challenged universities around the world to come up with innovative solutions that will improve sustainability for Manitou and work toward the SDGs. The "I Make America" event brought together a wide coalition of partners and teams from five countries, as well as Wisconsin's Lieutenant Governor, the Senator's office, representatives from the United Nations Global Council, the University of Wisconsin, and leadership from Manitou Group.
© Copyright 2018. All rights reserved. A Manitou Group Brand.
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Ramadan is almost Rama-done. When I arrived in the Middle East in '07, I couldn't even remember the holdiay greeting "Ramadan Kareem'. (I had to create a pneumonic trick and say, "Rub it on Cream" to get by.) But now I'm on my fifth round as an expat during the Islamic Holy Month and by rights a seasoned pro. Last year I sang the praises of this month long holiday/test of human restraint and I stand by every word: Ramadan is a phenomenon.
After reading this very helpful piece on the dos and don'ts for Westerners during this time, I thought I would add a few more observations about daily life during Ramadan.
The Storm before the Calm
Naturally when people have been forgoing food and drink all day, they are in a bit of a rush to get home. So about an hour or two before the Iftar, the roads can get a bit dicey. Not surprisingly, I've seen many accidents during this time and find it amazing there aren't more fender benders because I know I can't even drive well without my morning cup of coffee. Imagine working all day and then driving after nothing but a full Cup o' No.
As soon as that call to prayer goes off though, the streets are practically bare and the entire city turns into a quiet diner at 6 in the morning. The only noises are utensils hitting plates and the low hum of families chatting and chowing down together. Sometimes I grab a bite to eat at home beforehand and walk through the neighborhood just to take in the peace of the Iftar meal sounds.
Morning and Noon Breath
One of the other natural repercussions of abstaining from all things all day is a bit of bad breath. Well, maybe a little more than a bit. In fact, if the police really wanted to check to see if someone was truly partaking in the fast, they just need to take a whiff.
I'm not being critical and it gives me a little more respect for the chap who chooses piety over Pepsodent. In fact, Islamic weddings aren't even permissible during this time which is probably a good idea- that first kiss would be brutal.
Like any rule, there is no inherent power in said law to fulfill it. Not everyone can keep the fast all month, which is really between him or her and God. Let's face it, all of us expats are impressed when someone does it for even one day! That being said, as the month is winding down, I've walked into a few situations where I thought I had stumbled upon a robbery.
Here's a classic example: Yesterday, I decided to pop into my buddy's office for a visit during lunchtime. After I knocked several times, he cracked the door, saw my face, yanked me inside and slammed the door shut. After bolting it tight, he embarrassingly smirked, "Sorry man, I couldn't make it." That's when I saw the Big Mac and fries strewn about his desk. I insisted his apology was not necessary and then threatened to call his parents if he didn't split his fries with me.
Again, I find this season to be special and unlike years past, I have looked forward to its arrival. As a Christian, I am still allowed to get off work early, go to all the events and see my Muslim friends in their absolute best. I do have one complaint- why don't they make those ridiculously awesome pancakes all year around!
By Brett Weer
Via SyndiGate.info
© 2000 - 2022 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)


text: Recipes Breakfast + Brunch Eggs Eggs in Tomato Sauce 5.0 (5,388) Add your rating & review Mediterranean cooks make many versions of eggs poached in tomato sauce, but this one is slightly unusual because it involves cooking the egg whites in the sauce, almost like egg drop soup, to add substance. Marco Canora got the idea from Fabio Picchi, owner of the legendary Cibrèo restaurant in Florence. More Italian Recipes By Marco Canora Updated on June 27, 2016 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Total Time: 20 mins Yield: 4 Ingredients Four 1-inch-thick slices of country bread 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing 4 large eggs 1 small garlic clove, thinly sliced Pinch of crushed red pepper One 14-ounce can whole tomatoes with their juices, crushed Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 teaspoons chopped oregano Directions Preheat the broiler. Brush the bread on both sides with olive oil, arrange on the baking sheet and broil for about 3 minutes, turning once, until golden and toasted. Place the toasts in 4 shallow bowls. Arrange 5 small bowls on a counter. Crack the eggs: Reserve 2 of the whites in one of the bowls and one yolk in each of the other 4 bowls. Refrigerate the remaining 2 egg whites for another use. In a medium nonstick skillet, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil with the garlic and crushed red pepper. Cook over moderate heat until the garlic is golden, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook over high heat until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes. Beat the egg whites with a fork and gently fold them into the tomato sauce. Cook over moderately high heat just until the whites are set, about 1 minute. Using the back of a spoon, make 4 indentations in the sauce. Slide a yolk into each indentation and cover the skillet. Cook over very low heat just until the yolks are warmed but not set, about 1 1/2 minutes. Spoon the sauce and yolks over the toasts, garnish with the oregano and serve right away. Rate it Print


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[Update 7:00 a.m. ET, 1:00 p.m. in Egypt] ...250...the number of arrest warrants for Muslim Brotherhood members in connection with killings in front of MB headquarters, which came under attack days ago. Egypt's new prosecutor general, who Morsy had deposed, issued the warrants.
[Updated at 6:50 a.m. ET, 12:50 p.m. in Egypt] Bahrain's King al-Khalifa, who has had to deal with his own popular uprising, enthusiastically congratulated interim President Adly Mansour "on taking over the reins of power in Egypt at this important time in history." Iran's state-run Mehr News Agency gave Morsy a kick over his religious orientation on his way out: "Sunni Morsi immediately turned into a critical figure against the Iranian Shia government and has not allowed Iran to appoint an ambassador in Cairo."
[Updated at 5:28 a.m. ET, 11:28 a.m. in Egypt] Mansour says the Egyptian people have empowered him to "amend and correct" the revolution.
[Updated at 5:28 a.m. ET, 11:28 a.m. in Egypt] Who is interim President Adly Mansour? His low-key demeanor might be the very reason the military picked him, analysts say. CNN's Faith Karimi explains.
[Updated at 5:11 a.m. ET, 11:11 a.m. in Egypt] Mansour appears before Egypt's assembly, prepares to speak.
[Updated at 5:11 a.m. ET, 11:11 a.m. in Egypt] Did Morsy's personal style rub Egyptians the wrong way and contribute to his downfall? Read this portrait of the deposed president by CNN's Laura Smith-Spark.
Also, "coup" or no "coup?" CNN's Christian Amanpour does not mince words:
[Updated at 4:50 a.m. ET, 10:50 a.m. in Egypt] Reactions have been pouring in from world leaders. Most of them are along the same lines: carefully formulated, and express respect for the will of the Egyptian people. Among the countries that have sent in reactions are Morocco, Jordan ....
[Updated at 4:38 a.m. ET, 10:38 a.m. in Egypt] CNN's Ian Lee reporting in front of the high court: This is the same place, where Mosry was installed just a year ago.
[Updated at 4:34 a.m. ET, 10:34 a.m. in Egypt] Mansour remains chief justice, as well, Egyptian state TV reports.
[Updated at 4:28 a.m. ET, 10:28 a.m. in Egypt] Interim Egyptian President Adly Mansour was sworn in in Cairo.
[Updated at 4:16 a.m. ET, 10:16 a.m. in Egypt] Two leading figures of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested today, Egytian state radio reports. The former speaker of parliament and a member of the party's executive office were taken to Cairo's Torah prison.
[Updated at 4:10 a.m. ET, 10:10 a.m. in Egypt] Today, the European Union called on Egypt to go down the path of democracy, human rights and non-violence. Its head of foreign affairs and security, Catherine Ashton, said:
"I welcome the peaceful manner in which most demonstrations have been conducted thus far, but I find continuing cases of sexual abuse of female protesters deeply troubling. I urge all sides to show restraint.... Confrontation cannot be a solution."
[Updated at 3:53 a.m. ET, 9:53 a.m. in Egypt] Egypt's military has arrested Morsy and other members of the Muslim Brotherhood. It shut down pro-MB broadcasters and raided al Jazeera's Cairo office after it aired a statement by the deposed president. Then army leaders say today that the military will protect Islamists from attacks and intimidation, state-run Nile TV reports. And they say they will not shut any factions out of political life. That brings up an interesting question:
[Updated at 2:52 a.m. ET, 8:52 a.m. in Egypt] Human Rights Watch weighs in on what the Muslim Brotherhood should do next:
[Updated at 2:41 a.m. ET, 8:41 a.m. in Egypt] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said he is concerned about stability in Egypt but also respects the will of the people. He hopes Egypt will exit the current crisis stronger.
[Updated at 2:28 a.m. ET, 8:28 a.m. in Egypt] Health officials say 32 people were killed in clashes in Egypt yesterday.
[Updated at 2:10 a.m. ET, 8:10 a.m. in Egypt] This is a statement from the UAE, which says it is "following with satisfaction" the developments in Egypt. In the UAE, the Muslim Brotherhood is a banned organization.
"H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said that the UAE has full confidence that the great people of Egypt will be able to overcome the current difficult moments that the country is experiencing in order to reach a safe and prosperous future. ...
"His Highness added that the great Egyptian army proves, once again, that it is the strong shield and the protector that guarantees that the country is a land of institutions and law that embraces all the components of the Egyptian people."
[Updated at 1:52 a.m. ET, 7:52 a.m. in Egypt] Instagram has put together a collection of the best photos and videos by its users. View here.
(from @AishaalShabrawy)
[Updated at 1:45 a.m. ET, 7:45 a.m. in Egypt] Morsy deprived the opposition of a political process, activist Ahmed El Hawary told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "We don't have - we didn't have any outlets or anyway to be heard unless we go down to the streets and chant our demands, and even though, he ignored us."
[Updated at 1:27 a.m. ET, 7:27 a.m. in Egypt] A popular image on the photo social media site Imgur, allegedly from Egypt.
[Updated at 12:19 a.m. ET Thursday, 6:19 a.m. in Egypt] Welcome to Thursday's Egypt live blog. With Mohamed Morsy out of power, some of his opponents are making plans to clean up Tahrir Square, while his supporters say they will protest until he is reinstated as president. CNN's Ben Wedeman, a veteran journalist, who was long based in Cairo, warns that there will likely be no calm after the storm of recent protests.
[Updated at 11:52 p.m. ET, 5:52 a.m. in Egypt] Some 40 anti-Morsy protesters are planning to meet with cleaning equipment to polish up their former protest campground, Tahrir Square. They have invited over 2,000 people to join them on Facebook.
[Updated at 11:03 p.m. ET, 5:30 a.m. in Egypt] CNN's Jake Tapper outlines some fine points of Obama's reaction to the Egyptian military's actions:
President Obama's statement Wednesday evening about the Egyptian military's seizure of power from President Mohamed Morsy is as telling for what he doesn't say as for what he does: he doesn't mention the word "coup." He doesn't call upon the Egyptian military to restore power to the "democratically elected civilian government," but rather to a"democratically elected civilian government" - in other words, it need not be Morsy's.
The thinking of the president and senior Obama administration officials, according to a knowledgeable source, is that while the administration is not explicitly supporting the removal of Morsy from power - it expressly did not support the move - it is seeking to now push the Egyptian military in a direction.
If the Obama administration were to use the word "coup." that would have legal ramifications that would result in the end of U.S. aid. If White House officials were to pull the plug completely, they would be removing themselves from the picture altogether. Read the story.
[Updated at 10:19 p.m. ET, 4:19 a.m. in Egypt] CNN's Ben Wedeman, who spent time at a pro-Morsy rally in Cairo on Wednesday evening, reported he spoke to one protester who said he felt demonstrators would stay there "until Mohamed Morsy is once again president of Egypt."
Wedeman recalled the exchange early Thursday after leaving the pro-Morsy rally to go to the larger gathering at Cairo's Tahrir Square, where people still were celebrating Morsy's ouster.
Wedeman said that although much focus is on the joy and excitement at Tahrir Square, "there's a significant portion of the Egyptian population - (although) I wouldn't suggest it's a majority - who are very upset at what has happened."
Wedeman, a CNN senior international correspondent who'd previously served as CNN's Cairo bureau chief, said it appeared the overall mood in Egypt would be different than 2011, when then-President Hosni Mubarak was deposed. In 2011, Wedeman said, Mubarak's supporters kept a low profile for months.
"There's not going to be that quiet after the storm this time around," Wedeman said.
[Updated at 10:06 p.m. ET, 4:06 a.m. in Egypt] Get ready for an extremist backlash to Morsy's ouster, says Mohammed Ayoob, Michigan State University professor emeritus of international relations.
"The major lesson that Islamists in the Middle East are likely to learn from this episode is that they will not be allowed to exercise power no matter how many compromises they make in both the domestic and foreign policy arenas," Ayoob wrote for a CNN.com opinion piece. "This is likely to push a substantial portion of mainstream Islamists into the arms of the extremists who reject democracy and ideological compromise."
CNN's Ben Wedeman, reporting from Cairo, also said there's a danger that some members of the Muslim Brotherhood will break from the main group and "challenge (Egypt's new leaders) with violence."
They may take the attitude of "we tried to play the game, our leaders were jailed, our media have been shut down ... so we're going to destroy the system," said Wedeman, who is a CNN senior international correspondent and had previously been CNN's Cairo bureau chief.
Read Gilad Atzman article" Death Merchants of Tel Aviv" in Veterans Today, folks and what 6'800 arms exporters are doing there. Then reflect on these news.
" Israel test fires nuclear capable ballistic missile on Friday".
"World should take Iran nuclear threat seriously" Netanyahu.
"Israel will attack Iran before its too late"Netan yahu
""Israel increase pressure on US to act"
"US assures Netanyahu that the new Iranian Pr would be met with hostility"
Great machinations going on to plunge the world into a fiery pit of epic proportion with US spearheading.
Lol @ saywhat, and no i would not tweak anyone elses nose. Ty for your updates tho. Is cnn taking applications? Maybe you should apply eh?
It is really way past time for the american people to let our representatives know how we feel about the current activities!
Lol @ banasy, i figured i was missing the bigger picture on that.
I think George Zimmerman should taste prison at least for a few years and get some probation time. Feds should charge George Zimmerman now before its too late. He killed an innocent minor. Yes, Trayvon may not be an angel but he was a child and he got killed plain and simple. George Zimmerman was lying!
Yea ok. Make things up. Here's a fact for ya. � of black people murdered are murdered by black people. Where is your outrage on that?
That's ninety two percent. Thx c n n
Ninety two percent of black people are killed by black people? Dayum! Where is Sharpton or the NAACP?
Blaming the victim? Typical.
Yeah? What's the percentage of white on white crime? Where's the outrage from the teavangicals? Too busy worrying about women's reproduction?
Oh is that supposed to justify what happened to Trayvon? A child is still dead and a murderer is allowed to walk free! Zimmerman made alot of CHOICES that day. He CHOSE to ignore the 911 dispatch. He CHOSE to ignore the neighborhood watch rules. And he CHOSE to pull the trigger! Now he needs to be held accountable for HIS CHOICES! And your statistics only trivialize the death of a teenager!
Shame on you @ black on black. Bet you would feel different if it was your kid. And i dont care what color a child is, they dont deserve to be shot by some egotrippinmaniacwannabecop!
No he wouldn't, Chrissy. He cares ONLY about himself.
No wonder you get deleted all the time. Do you think your trash talk is amusing @ pianki? Because i assure you it is not.
Good morning@chrissy
@BB's remarks were a crude attempt at mitigating the puzzling & to most an unfair outcome of Trayvon murder.Zimmerman walks free from a murder and that is the issue.
A very big issue if you ask me @ saywhat. It sure doesnt send a very positive issue to our children today now does it?
People go to prison every day for commiting crimes of lesser things. How do we justify THIS when our children ask about this? Tell them they cannot count on the judicial system??
People go to prison when they are in auto accidents if someone dies simply because they were driving in inclement weather. Doesnt matter if they intended to hurt anyone or not, the deciding factor, they shouldnt have been driving if the weather is bad. Even if the weather got bad in the MIDDLE of their journey!
Its called "involuntary man slau ghter" which, at the very least, Zimmerman should've recieved.


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Midrash in the Prince of Egypt
Jeffrey Katzenberg's Prince of Egypt is a midrash on the exodus story, a specimen of reader participation in the recounting of ancient Israel's foundation epic. While respecting the articulate contours of the biblical narrative, Mr. Katzenberg fills in the gaps with a distinctly contemporary sensibility. To my mind, the most imaginative and effective of these additions to the text is the relationship between Moses and the pharaoh of the exodus. They are portrayed as half-brothers and childhood friends. The film takes advantage of the Torah's complete silence on Moses's long years in the pharaoh's palace to introduce a dramatic twist and humane subtext to the well-known cosmic contest between the God of the patriarchs and the gods of Egypt. It would have us imagine that in the royal domain Moses not only assimilated the mores of the Egyptian aristocracy, but also became the closest friend of Ramses, who was destined to be the next ruler of Egypt. The first quarter of the film is in fact devoted to the escapades of this carefree and destructive twosome, with Moses clearly the dominant figure.
Though destiny will soon pit these erstwhile "brothers" as mortal enemies, the underlying personal regard and affection are never completely eradicated. Mr. Katzenberg never allows the enemy to be demonized as the wholly other. Their frequent confrontations as national leaders are softened by memory of a time when their individual lives were not yet freighted with such gravity. In a poignant denouement, Ramses, the only Egyptian to survive the surging waters of the Sea of Reeds, fills the air with plaintive calls for Moses, tempering ever so slightly the triumphant rendition of "The Song of Moses" in Hebrew by the Israelites on the other side. A note of sorrow and sadness commingles with the joy of redemption.
The humanization of this ancient conflict, however, reflects not just the war-weary sentiment of American culture at the end of the most bloody century in human history. It also echoes the sacred texts of those once redeemed from Egypt. Mr. Katzenberg's midrash is authentically Jewish.
As we begin the book of Exodus afresh, we might recall a legislative fragment that embodies an unexpected measure of compassion. Deuteronomy takes up the subject of who may be allowed to join the nation of Israel once it is settled in its own land. Ammonites and Moabites, though distantly related to Israel, are excluded forever, because they treated Israel with unrelieved hostility in the wilderness (23:4-5). But Edomites and Egyptians are to be admitted in the third generation (that is, after living for two generations among Israelites), because the former is descended from Esau, Jacob's brother, and the latter at one time dealt kindly with Israel. "You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your kinsman. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land (23:8)." Thus, remarkably, the Torah exhibits no lasting hatred for Egypt. The memory of oppression and suffering is never to obliterate the truth that Egypt was a land that rescued Jacob and his family from famine and afforded them the circumstances to multiply and flourish. Whatever may have happened later, Israel is indebted to Egypt for a short-lived extension of genuine human kindness to total strangers.
The Talmud preserves a popular saying in Babylonia that captures the full force of this magnanimous verse: "You should not throw stones into a well from which you have drunk (B.T. Yevamot 77b)." What I find particularly noteworthy is that this adage does not orginate in the learned circle of the Rabbis. They only justify its thrust by associating it with our scriptural verse. The Torah's openness to the inclusion of Egyptians into Israel's body politic is surely informed by this common spirit of human decency, first expressed in folk wisdom.
But elsewhere the Rabbis do voice with equal flair the same noble idea on their own. Their conception of God does not envision any divine joy at the sight of justice meted out to the wicked. God takes no pleasure in the suffering of the sinner. Hence, when the Egyptians drown in the Reed Sea, the Rabbis imagine the angels on high breaking into jubiliation, only to be sternly rebuked by God: "The works of my hands are sinking into the sea and you want to sing (B.T. Sanhedrin 39b)?" The moral force of this searing reprimand asserts that God cares deeply for all the children of Adam and Eve. They are uniformly endowed with God's imprint, even if they deviate from the paths of justice and righteousness.
Ever since, Jews have tempered their own celebration of Passover, which commemorates the exodus. The full Hallel, the psalms of joyous thanksgiving (113- 118) recited on holidays in the synagogue, is intoned only on the first two days of Passover. On the other six days, several are omitted in deference to the loss of Egyptian life in the wake of Israel's redemption. Morality is meant to curb our innate disposition for revenge, no matter how warranted or licit. The hope of the future must not be held hostage by the horrors of the past.
Not only does Jeffrey Katzenbeg's empathetic spirit rest on strong Jewish precedents; it is a timely message for a world wracked by the pathology of victimhood.
Shabbat shalom u-mevorach,
Ismar Schorsch
The publication and distribution of Dr. Schorsch's commentary on Parashat Sh'mot are made possible by a generous grant from Rita Dee and Harold (z"l) Hassenfeld.


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6. Leverage Strengths – An outline of why employee engagement needs to be strong stuff.
(Part 6 of an 11 part series on how managers can improve employee engagement)
Let's get strong in 2012.
Engagement is strong stuff. When you know your strengths, live your strengths, and leverage your strengths in the service of others you will have increased engagement, happiness, and well being. To bring out the strengths of others we must be aware of our own strengths. Powerful managers "spot" employees' strengths and make strength training and strengthening routines a daily endeavor.
Strength Based Leadership. I have been a student of strength based leadership for 7 years. If you go back and read blog posts on this site from 5 years ago you will see most of them had a strength based leadership focus. In fact, this specific blog was started November 11 2005, the day Peter Drucker died. I dedicated the website to his legacy and encouragement of a strength based approach to work. I have taken inventories of my strengths, taught strength based approaches, encouraged thousands of employees to learn more about their strengths and believe that strengths are a foundation cornerstone in the pyramid of employee engagement. Overtime I realized that strength based approaches for work were best subsumed under the broader perspective of employee engagement.
5 pathways to strengthen your engagement and work:
- Don't be a sucker, heed the advice of Peter Drucker.
- Follow Martin Seligman's strong path towards happiness and well being.
- Gallup along with your strengths, your winning combination is 40-22-1.
- Set aside your trombone and find your strengths by looking at what engages you (Marcus Buckingham).
- See your best reflections as others offer you your reflected best self.
Don't be a sucker, heed the advice of Peter Drucker. Peter Drucker was a prolific management writer who focused intently on strengths at work in his final years. In 1999 in an article in managing our own career Drucker said we have to place ourselves where we can make the greatest contribution to our organizations and communities. And we have to stay mentally alert and engaged during a 50-year working life, which means knowing how and when to change the work we do. It may seem obvious that people achieve results by doing what they are good at and by working in ways that fit their abilities but Drucker believed very few people actually know–let alone take advantage of–their fundamental strengths. He challenged each of us to ask ourselves and hold conversations with others at work about:
- What are my strengths?
- How do I perform?
- What are my values?
- Where do I belong?
- What should my contribution be?
Accept yourself. Don't try to change yourself, Drucker cautions. Instead, concentrate on improving the skills you have and accepting assignments that are tailored to your individual way of working. If you do that, you can transform yourself from an ordinary worker into an outstanding performer. Today's successful careers are not planned out in advance. They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they have asked themselves the above questions and rigorously assessed their unique characteristics.
Follow Martin Seligman's strong path towards happiness and well being. If Drucker is the dean of management then Seligman is the dean of psychology and leader of positive psychology. Seligman is a cautious academic, former head of the American Psychological Association, and a true difference maker. He was instrumental in turning psychology toward a balance of the positive and the negative. Starting with Learned Optimism and then moving to Authentic Happiness Seligman created a constructive and positive foundation for psychology. In regards to strengths the single greatest resource Seligman was involved in creating was the is the VIA Strength Survey of Character Strengths – measuring 24 character strengths. Of all the strength assessment inventories available I recommend this one the most. It has a universal perspective, it can be applied both inside and outside of work, and best of all it is free. Research has gone on to demonstrate that is you know your top 5 strengths, use them on a daily basis, and leverage them in the service of others you will have a much higher level of happiness and well being.
My top 5 VIA strengths going back to November 2004 were: humor, creativity, curiosity, love of learning, and perspective.
Gallup along with your strengths, your winning combination is 40-22-1. As an organization Gallup has been at the forefront of helping individuals and organizations bring strengths to work. The third question in their famous Q12 survey of employee engagement is: At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day. Marcus Buckingham and now Tom Rath have created powerful and popular books and resources for strength based work. Their primary strength-based assessment is StrengthsFinder 2.0. You can take the online assessment after purchasing one of their books related to strengths at work and entering the code at the StrenghsFinder website. Gallup does an impressive job of creating helpful information and resources to learn more about your strength and how to put them to work. They offer a number or resources in addition to StrengthsFinder 2.0 to get the most from your strengths.
My top 5 StrengthsFinder 2.0 strengths are: maximizer, strategic, positivity, ideation, and empathy.
Set aside your trombone and find your strengths by looking at what engages (Marcus Buckingham). Marcus Buckingham worked with Gallup and is now a very popular independent strength based speaker, writer, and coach. He has just developed yet another strength assessment tool for work in StandOut – designed to help you find your edge and win at work. His assessment is okay but I believe his best contribution was in the book Go Put Your Strengths to Work and the video, Trombone Player Wanted. I especially appreciated how, at that time, Buckingham encouraged us to find out strengths not in an assessments or inventories but by paying very close attention to what we looked forward to doing each day at work, what fully engaged us at work while we were there, and what gave us our greatest sense of satisfaction. In other words, we looked at what engaged us to determine our strengths and then we maximized these activities and roles to enhance our engagement. There was no need for an inventory or test. I think his delightful video series on Trombone Player Wanted was a great way to help a team build strengths by watching the videos together, having conversations about the applications and implications of what he said, and holding each other mutually accountable for bringing their best to work each day.
Here is a sample video from that series:
If the video does not load in this window, click here.
See your best reflections as others offer your reflected best self. The University of Michigan's Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship developed the Reflected Best Self Exercise to use stories collected from people in all contexts of our life to help us understand and articulate who we are and how we contribute when we are at our best. These stories collected from people who know us can strengthen and connect us to others, help us experience clarity about who we are at our best, and refine personal development goals so that we can be at our best more often. I think the strength of this approach is the social element and as opposed to the anonymous feedback of a 360 evaluation it offers triggers for further discussion and elaboration from the people who let us know what we were like when we were at our best. Many of us have blind spots or lacunas about our strengths and the reflected best self exercise can fill in the holes.
Seven strong suggestions:
- Ensure you go beyond taking a test and saying you've "done that strength thing."
- Don't merely reduce strengths to a list of 5 attributes.
- Be mindful of what truly engages you and work backwards from engagement to strengths.
- Notice other people's strengths and give them lots of strength based feedback.
- Develop a daily structure or reminders so that you don't lose your strengths in the flurry of demands and activities.
- Be disciplined about your strengths and turn your strength based work into the foundation of your work.
- Gain additional strength perspective and insight by taking another popular assessment for strengths at work: Strengthscope.
Consult these 5 sources to enhance your engagement and put you in the moment:
- Peter Drucker, Managing Oneself.
- Martin Seligman, Flourish: A Visionary new understanding of Happines and Well-being
- Tom Rath, StrenghtsFinder 2.0
- Marcus Buckingham, Go Put Your Strengths to Work
- Marcus Buckingham, Trombone Player Wanted (Video)
Building the pyramid of employee engagement. Review the 7 previous posts listed below as we build the 10 block pyramid of employee engagement actions for managers:
- 12 Keys to Achieve Results with Employee Engagement
- 6 Ways Managers Can Maximize Performance through Employee Engagement
- 7 Significant Steps to Employee Engagement Progress
- 4 Ways Managers Can Build Relationship BACKbone into Employee Engagement
- Don't Blink: How to Foster Recognition for Employee Engagement
- 6 Powerful moments of employee engagement
Next post in this series: Make meaning.
David Zinger built the 10 block pyramid of employee engagement to help managers bring the full power of employee engagement to their workplaces. If you would like to arrange to have this course or workshop for your organization or conference contact David today at 204 254 2130 or email@example.com.
Bonus Trombone Player Wanted Guide
Here is a free e-book I created for the Trombone player video series which includes a review of StrengthsFinder 2.0. Click here to read or download.


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Nicki Minaj - Up In Flames
Nicki Minaj "Up In Flames" music video
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Retellings are pretty popular right now. Game of Thrones is a retelling the War of the Roses. The Thirteenth Warrior is a retelling of Beowulf, and The Lion King is a retelling of Hamlet. Why do we write these? What do we like about them?
Familiar stories let us explore things in new ways, both because we know what's coming, and because we don't need to be brought up to speed on the story.
The line between retelling and adaptation is a blurry one, though. For writers, a good approach, especially early on, is to grab a great story, peel everything away to the plot and key characters, and start writing something new.
On This Date Five Years Ago: the very first episode of Writing Excuses appeared online. 260 weekly episodes later, here we are.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:27 — 11.3MB)
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Do a retelling of a Bible story in a science fiction space setting.
Cinder, by Marissa Meyer, narrated by Rebecca Soler


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Motor skills as mental lubricant?
Over at the Boston Globe today, there's an interesting story about the buzz surrounding "embodied cognition." As in, when squirming helps you solve that quadratic equation.
A series of studies, the latest published in November, has shown that children can solve math problems better if they are told to use their hands while thinking. Another recent study suggested that stage actors remember their lines better when they are moving. And in one study published last year, subjects asked to move their eyes in a specific pattern while puzzling through a brainteaser were twice as likely to solve it.
I'm a good example of this...I mean, if you make me sit on my hands, whole areas of my brain seize. If we're having a tête-à -tête, you're going to need a generous radius, because my hands will be underlining everything I say. A lot of women open their mouths while putting on eye makeup, and when I was a gymnast there were the girls who were chastised for sticking their tongues out while on the balance beam. There was typically a "But I can't help it!" in response, and now it seems, in fact, you wouldn't want her to help it: it's keeping her balanced...So what do you think: do motor skills help you solve certain problems?