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Disc brakes: The future for all bikes
After a cyclo-cross season on discs, we have a verdict
In June 2010, the UCI announced they would allow disc brakes for cyclo-cross and techno geeks rejoiced. They knew the rule reversal was the first step to seeing the technology trickle to the road, and trickle it will.
We have good information that Shimano's future update to Dura-Ace will offer a mechanical disc option, and there are believable rumors that SRAM are working on a hydraulic disc system for Red. And of course there are viable stopgaps available now, TRP's Parabox being the best, followed by a host of mid-grade mechanical options from Avid, Hayes and Shimano.
We've put a full season on multiple disc brake equipped cyclo-cross bikes and we've come away sold on the concept, and much of the technology currently available.
Putting discs to the test during the 2011 Boulder Cup, a UCI C1 event – if we'd only won, we'd have beat Tim Johnson to the punch
On the last weekend of our local cyclo-cross season we were presented with a gift: two true mud races. At these events we ran discs alongside both high-performance cantilever and linear-pull brakes. The discs came out on top, offering more control than either of the other two options, not to mention the fact they kept our bike cleaner, longer.
Even wheel changes can be quicker and easier with discs, if you do a little work up front. Syntace offer shims that allow you to set the rotor spacing on all of your wheels to exactly the same position. So if you have to change a wheel in the pit, there are no cables to undo, no arms to open up and no rim dimension variations to account for.
Mud tire testing at 'Cross of the North (credit: Brian Patrick, OnSight Media)
These last two races were the icing on the cake for our season on discs. In our opinion, there are only a few small issues holding mass acceptance back: weight and the current lack of a full-hydraulic option. And those downsides aren't deal breakers by any means.
Tim Johnson's (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) Cannondale SuperX still weighs just 16.42lb with Avid BB7s front and rear, and one of BikeRadar's writers is riding a 2012 Dedacciai Super Cross that weighs 7.7kg (17.0lb) with a relatively conservative, but still elite-level, build that includes SRAM Force, Avid BB7s, Stan's NoTubes ZTR Race Gold alloy tubeless clinchers, Shimano XTR pedals and all-alloy cockpit components.
Even smaller companies like Dedacciai are placing themselves on the cutting edge with disc-only carbon 'cross framesets like the Super Cross
It's not just about better braking…
We're not the only ones who can see the advantages of disc brakes for drop-bar bikes. Last week, VeloNews tech writer Caley Fretz penned a piece on discs for road in which he highlighted the potential safety benefits they would provide. Fretz's argument is based upon that fact carbon fiber is far from an ideal braking surface.
In mountainous terrain, carbon clinchers battle tire pressure changes, and the wringer their sidewalls are put through, by the heat that builds under the friction of braking. Carbon tubulars, while safer, still present issues, even when they're ideally set up. Just about all of the issues surrounding carbon wheels are rooted in the task of braking and thermodynamics, so when you remove the braking duties from the rim, things get a whole lot better, and safer.
Discs offer safer braking with carbon wheels
So for that reason alone, discs have clear benefits for road bikes, and still there are a host of other advantages:
- Better modulation, which is more important in braking performance than power (of course, there's the possibility of more power too)
- The ability to build new rim shapes that are more aero, more compliant or stronger, due to the fact that they don't have to accommodate a brake track
- Faster wheel changes, especially between wheels equipped with different rim shapes
- Possibility of less rotational weight, due to the reduced material needs of a brake-track-free rim
- The ability to further tune chassis components (seatstays, fork) for ride characteristics, rather than reinforce them to accommodate brakes
- The consistency, durability and adverse condition performance of hydraulics versus mechanical systems
- Ending premature wear to rims and wheels by moving braking wear to a rotor
- No need for ultra expensive carbon-rim-specific brake pads
- And, for advanced users, a new ability to drive their bikes with their brakes
It's a list that can continually be added to as a rider becomes more and more familiar with riding discs on the road or for 'cross.
Pioneers, take advantage
The momentum is building behind those test mules (both products and riders) for the concept of discs for 'cross and road. Manufacturers are readily building prototypes; we sourced high-end carbon disc wheelsets from both Easton and Zipp.
And one progressive pro has taken to riding them for more than just photo opportunities: Tim Johnson became the first pro cyclo-crosser to win a UCI C1 event with disc brakes at Jingle 'Cross in November, and raced round five of the 2012 World Cup in Namur, Belgium on discs.
Tim Johnson won a UCI C1 event this season on his Cannondale SuperX disc prototype
He's the first rider to help prove the brakes, and he's turning heads. "We decided that we wanted to try it, because I felt like, at certain events, it would make a pretty big difference," Stu Thorne, Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com team owner, told BikeRadar. "In LA, Tim won on Saturday and [Ben] Berden came up to me Sunday morning and he wanted to ride the bike around in the parking lot.
"So he was riding TJ's bike around there, and came back and said, in typical Belgian [fashion], 'whoaf, this is awesome'. He said that every corner where there was heavy braking, Tim would open up a gap on him, and it made him work just that little bit more."
Volagi's Liscio disc road bike
Past that, progressive road brands, like Volagi are putting disc road bikes out, now. Finally, chew on this: every other high-performance wheeled vehicle uses disc brakes, from car, to motorcycle, to racing lawnmower, to mountain bike. Is it time for 'cross and road bikes to step up? We think it is.
Once component manufacturers start to offer integrated hydraulic setups and frame companies start optimizing designs for discs, we'll be left asking why it took so long. It's only due to legacy that we've all come to accept that squishing a couple of little rubber blocks against a carbon or aluminum rim is something other than ludicrous.


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Google Ventures is no longer an investor in Bustle, a women's site founded by Bleacher Reporter co-founder, Bryan Goldberg.
TechCrunch's Alexia Tsotsis says Google Ventures took back its $100,000 after Bustle's founder became a controversial figure. He made a mess of the company's launch and insinuated that no good female-targeted websites existed. This upset a lot of women in tech.
But Pando's Sarah Lacy says Google Ventures didn't take back it's $100,000. Instead, she says Goldberg paid $100,000 from his own pocket and bought out Google Ventures' initial stake.
What really happened to Google's $100,000 and why aren't the two companies partners any more?
Goldberg declined to comment on the record and we haven't heard back from Google Ventures. But the nice thing about being at South by Southwest, a 40,000-person tech conference in Austin, is sources are plentiful.
Here's what seems to have happened according to earlier reports by TechCrunch, Pando, and what we've heard at South by Southwest.
Kevin Rose, a partner at Google Ventures, led Bustle's seed round one year ago. Google Ventures often leads seed deals with the intention of getting a first look at a startup's Series A. But Rose wasn't offered a first look at Bustle's Series A round when Goldberg raised it a few months later. Instead, Time Warner Investment's Allison Goldberg had the first crack at it and joined Bustle's board. Afterall, she's a woman and Bustle is a site for women.
This miscommunication caused tension between Bustle and Google Ventures. Ultimately, Google Ventures opted not to invest in Bustle's Series A and the two companies mutually agreed to part ways. Google Ventures asked if anyone would be interested in buying out its stake in Bustle. Goldberg decided to pay $100,000 out of pocket for it.
It's all really strange. And stranger is the fact that this story leaked to TechCrunch, where Google Ventures partner MG Siegler used to work. TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, who formerly worked with Siegler at his investment vehicle CrunchFund, left a comment on the Bustle article:
"I get why Google would want to uninvest in this person, but what's inexcusable is that they made sure everyone knew about it afterwards by leaking it here. He'll probably never be able to raise money again with this hanging over him. Google could have acted far more professionally by doing this without the press."
It's important to note that the tension between Bustle and Google Ventures seems to have been caused before Bustle's messy launch in August 2013. TechCrunch initially reported that the Google-Goldberg fallout may have been caused by the media backlash after Bustle's launch. But that can't be true, since the Series A was raised before Goldberg made any controversial statements.
While Goldberg declined to comment for this story, he did fill us in on Bustle's current stats. He says his site is generating 3 million monthly uniques, up from 1 million monthly uniques in September.

subset: commoncrawl


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Depression Treatment by Phone
June 5, 2012 — People suffering major depression are more likely to get psychotherapy if it's offered by phone, Northwestern University researchers find.
Psychotherapy is an effective treatment for depression. Patient surveys show most would prefer psychotherapy to antidepressant drugs. Yet only a small fraction of patients referred to psychotherapy actually show up for sessions.
Would more depressed patients get psychotherapy if it were offered by phone? Would phone therapy be as effective as face-to-face therapy? Yes, say David C. Mohr, PhD, Joyce Ho, PhD, and colleagues.
The researchers randomly assigned 225 adults diagnosed with major depressive disorder to receive 18 weekly psychotherapy sessions either by phone or face to face. The treatment was cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression. Patients work with a therapist to learn to manage their moods and to focus on activities that increase feelings of pleasure and accomplishment.
"Telephone therapy was able to reduce dropout. Four out of five who got therapy over the phone could complete 18 weeks of treatment, while only two out of three assigned to face-to-face therapy could complete treatment," Ho tells WebMD.
Most of the dropouts in the face-to-face group were in the first few weeks of treatment. This suggests that phone sessions overcome some of the barriers to psychotherapy. These may include transportation, time constraints, and the sheer effort that it takes for a depressed person to get dressed, get out of the house, and go to a therapist's office.
Phone Therapy for Depression Effective
But does phone therapy work as well as face-to-face therapy?
"After 18 weeks of treatment, the depression declines were equivalent in the two groups," Ho, a clinical psychologist, tells WebMD.
Six months after completing therapy, patients who received face-to-face treatment were less depressed than those who got phone therapy. That could be because something about face-to-face therapy makes it more effective. Or it could be that more of the patients who were not doing quite as well with the treatment dropped out of face-to-face therapy.
What do therapists think? Gary Kennedy, MD, is director of geriatric psychiatry at New York's Montefiore Medical Center. He was not involved in the phone therapy trial, but earlier led a study showing that phone follow-up worked to screen patients for symptoms of depression.
Kennedy says most therapists feel that nonverbal communications such as body language are important to psychotherapy. But he says quibbling about whether phone therapy is every bit as effective as face-to-face therapy misses the point.
"The point of this study is that people do stick with telephone therapy," Kennedy says. "Depression, especially depression later in life, may be associated with conditions that make it impossible to come into psychotherapy on a regular basis. You don't want to skip a session of therapy any more than you want to skip a dose of medication."
Phone Therapy for Depression: Who Pays?
Ho and Kennedy note that Medicare and many private insurers do not pay for phone therapy.
"We hope studies like this will encourage insurers and Medicare to cover phone sessions," Ho says. "Patients a lot of times tell us they prefer this. And it could be especially attractive for people in rural areas or those with physical disability."
Kennedy agrees.
"Few patients with depression actually get to effective psychotherapy," he says. "Phone sessions make a qualified and effective therapist available to people who would not otherwise have access to one. … This has tremendous promise."
A report on the Mohr/Ho study appears in the June 5 issue of JAMA.


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Yankees GM Brian Cashman breaks ankle while sky diving
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- It was a good thing for the Yankees that it was only their general manager and not their shortstop who jumped out of an airplane Monday morning because the result was a broken right fibula and a dislocated right ankle.
GM Brian Cashman, who went skydiving in part for the thrill of it, but also to support the Army's Wounded Warrior Project, was supposed to make one jump in tandem with Sgt. 1st Class Noah Watts of the U.S. Army Golden Knights at the Air Reserve Base. But he loved it so much he made a second, unscheduled leap, and that's when he got hurt.
"It was exhilarating. It was amazing," Cashman, 45, said after his first dive. "Jumping out of that plane was like nothing I can even describe. It was all really fast. You could feel it."
And after the second?
"It was awesome," Cashman said via text message.
Watts has made about 3,500 jumps in his career, including 800 in tandem, and Monday's first landing was smooth.
Cashman could certainly feel the second jump because that is when he said he felt a "pop" in his ankle, according to Golden Knights videographer Michael Battise. Cashman found out later about the extent of the damage. Dr. Dominic Carreira was scheduled to perform the surgery Monday at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale.
Before the first jump, Cashman said, he was "nervous" when Watts "walked me to the edge, and the wind was blowing, and we were 12,500 feet up."
Watts said they were actually 13,650 feet up, and they did a free fall for 48 seconds, with an average speed of 129 mph.
Cashman was asked after his first dive if he would do it again, and he had a quick reply.
"With these guys," he said, referring to the Golden Knights, "I'd do it anytime."
The Golden Knights have a long history with Cashman's team, flying into Yankee Stadium and hitting their precise marks dozens of times over the years. They are also experienced jumping with celebrities, including golfer Tiger Woods, actor Bill Murray, race car driver Tony Stewart and President George H.W. Bush.
"While I certainly didn't intend to raise awareness in exactly this fashion, I'm extremely happy that the Wounded Warrior Project is getting the well-deserved additional attention," Cashman said in a statement. For the past several years, Cashman also has rappelled down a building in Stamford, Conn., in the offseason as part of the city's Heights and Lights holiday festivities.
With Erik Boland


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This has been a maddening season to be a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Yet, here they are, playoff bound, thanks to an epic shellacking of one of the more despicable Dallas Cowboys teams in recent history.
And, yes, that video is of Eagles owner Jeff Lurie clocking his wife, Christina, right between the thousand-dollar specs after the Eagles scored their 45th touchdown of the afternoon. (After the 46th touchdown, he kneed her in the stomach.)
There are plenty of reasons why the Eagles shouldn't be in the playoffs, but thanks to the futility of the Buccaneers, Bears, and, yes, 'Dem Cowboys, the Birds travel to Minneapolis next week to face the Vikings in what will heretofore be called the Battle of Big Daddy Balls.
How great is it that Tony Romo once again ends another season with his hands covering his face in shame? Weeping Romo Pose should become a yoga position. And already, the Cowboys are looking for scapegoats for this latest disaster and surprisingly, they're not pointing fingers at Wade Phillips. And guess what? Neither is Jerry Jones, who stated in the post-game press conference that the Son of Bum is safe.
Anyway...who's knobbed-up for a two-day work week! We'll be short on posting the next few days, but do everything possible to keep you busy while you clean out your desk and make New Year's plans.
Thank you for your continued support of Deadspin and Andy Reid's scary playoff beard.
Go back to yammering...
Video: Philly Sports Cast and BlackSportsOnline
Eagles Finally Soar [The Idle Rich]
Terrence Newman: This Wasn't Wade Phillips Fault [Dallas Morning News]


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OTTAWA—Tony Clement may be king of social media in political circles on Parliament Hill, but he didn't get to be mayor of his own Twitter town hall.
During an online chat on the subject of open government, the Treasury Board president, who is a prolific tweeter, had a ghostwriter doing most of the work for him.
Last December's town hall made federal political history as the first live online chat to be hosted by a cabinet minister using the popular microblogging service.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper once took questions via YouTube, but that experiment was never repeated.
The subject of Clement's town hall was the Conservatives' recently launched open government strategy, a three-prong effort which seeks to increase transparency around the official workings of Ottawa.
Clement has been a vocal champion of the strategy, as well as for the increased use of social media by politicians to communicate with Canadians.
He's regularly ranked among Parliament Hill's top tweeters and lauded by social media watchers as having a natural touch with the technology.
But when it came to formally engaging with Canadians, bureaucracy ground his freewheeling ways to a stop.
An analysis on the town hall obtained by The Canadian Press under Access to Information legislation highlights the struggle facing MPs seeking to use social media tools in a world of tightly controlled communications.
"Twitter and its applications are in constant evolution, as are the conversations that take place within it," the report said.
"The trick to successfully using the platform is to allow room for this evolution, all while keeping in mind communications objectives."
The two 45-minute chats — one in English, one in French — took more than a month to organize.
Three dry runs were held ahead of the main event, with staff even creating bogus Twitter accounts in order to practise using the service.
More than 40 stock responses were drafted so they could be quickly copied and pasted to reply to questions, while a ghostwriter was engaged to get Clement's responses out faster.
A spokesman for Clement called that a natural practice.
"Use of a moderator (what the department called a "ghost writer") was a practical decision based on the fact that the minister could respond quicker verbally as the moderator simply typed out the response keeping it within the 140-character limit for Twitter," Sean Osmar said in an email.
"I should point out too that the minister did take to the keyboard himself for a few responses — he does like to get hands-on sometimes," he added.
Clement was flanked at the Twitter table by two subject matter experts and two other communications staff, in addition to the one moderating the chat and the one acting as his ghostwriter.
A photographer was hired and according to the report, overstayed his welcome.
"There were too many people in the room," said one comment in the report's section on lessons learned.
"Efforts should be made to keep the number of participants to essential staff only."
The chat didn't happen over the government's standard Internet connections.
Staff used mobile Internet technology in order to bypass any possible network filters, according to the report.
One of the sticking points among public servants is the lack of access many have to social media tools, with government servers in several departments routinely blocking blogs, Facebook and file sharing sites.
During the Summer Olympics, one department shut down video sites for fear that public servants would spend too much time watching events.
Other tools are blocked for security risks; Treasury Board and the Finance Department fell prey to hackers last year.
Osmar said the use of the mobile Internet connection was in part to test its capabilities.
"We were also testing the feasibility of using these mobile Internet devices for future tweet chats that may occur from different locations, remote events, and international travel," he said.
"Departmental employees have all the Internet tools they need to carry out their business on a day-to-day basis."
Overall, Treasury Board staff considered the event a success and were enthusiastic about doing it again, going so far as to suggest the platform be used for scrums, to consult on draft documents and for program announcements.
"Yes, we plan to host more tweet chats in the future, the minister believes it can be an effective way to hear from and speak with Canadians directly on government," Osmar wrote.
"Stay tuned."


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Before getting to the 2013-14 college football bowl schedule and associated predictions and operations, a note on sponsored discourse. In this post-Musburger-for-all-the-Tostitos world, it is an unremarkable fact that the bowl games are not merely sponsored football contests but business entities in and of themselves, the sponsorship-style nomenclature– e.g., "the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl"– a mere reflection of the game's less overtly monied past. Even the ostensible bastion of postseason intercollegiate purity now is known as "the Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio."
When a bowl game is a business, and not merely a happening, there is an associated shift in the commercial advertising language referential to that business. The NFL's decision to prohibit the use of "Super Bowl" by non-league advertisers, who now must offer you late-January deals on new televisions for watching "the big game," provides a rough analogy.
I understand and accept the logic behind a business' desire to control its portrayal in other business' advertisements and insist on inclusion of a game's full, sponsored title in that portrayal. What I do not understand is why the news media plays along. This week, I heard a local sports talk show talk about talking about Georgia's appearance in "the Taxslayer dot com Gator Bowl," and that's far from the only example. I understand that some of the sponsors have integrated their names into the bowl games' names in such a way that it's difficult– or, where the sponsor's name and the bowl's name are one and the same, impossible– to say the bowl's name without saying the sponsor's name as well (e.g., the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl and the Capital One Bowl, respectively). "Taxslayer dot com" is a mouthful, though, and everybody already knows the Gator Bowl. "The Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio" is ridiculous to say, and things like "the Allstate Sugar Bowl," "FedEx Orange Bowl," and "Tostitos Fiesta Bowl" simply are superfluous. Why the sports news media feels obligated to append these sponsor names when discussing the bowls is beyond me, and you won't find us doing it here, unless it's something humorous like the Beef O'Brady Bowl or the RealOakFurniture.com Bowl.
Onto the bowl schedule, which begins this Saturday. Continue reading


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Environmental Science
College of Arts and Sciences
201 Memorial Hall, 419-372-8207
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the baccalaureate degree, students in Environmental Science are expected to:
- Understand basic characteristics of ecosystems and environmental problems and be able to identify, investigate, and propose solutions to environmental issues as informed by an interdisciplinary background in the natural sciences;
- Understand the interrelationships between environmental problems and human societies and cultures;
- Engage in rational, civil discourse about complex environmental issues in a manner that considers all viewpoints;
- Participate in practical, experience-based learning through internships, field experiences, workshops, and independent research projects;
- Communicate effectively in written and oral forms;
- Gain facility with technologies and tools used in environmental analysis, such as geographic information systems, global positioning systems, statistical analysis, and remotely sensed images.
Major, Bachelor of Science (56 - 60 hours) - no minor required - Spring 2020 course requirements
This interdisciplinary major emphasizes the multidisciplinary nature of environmental issues and the role of the natural sciences in addressing and solving environmental problems. Students receive a basic understanding of the sciences, particularly biology and geology. Additional courses in the social sciences and humanities are included to help the student obtain a holistic view and understanding of the overall context in which environmental issues are placed. Each student also takes courses in a specialization designed to prepare for a career field. A 3-hour internship or independent study (ENVS 4890 or 4700) is required. Close consultation with advisors in the Department of the Environment and Sustainability is essential.
The areas of specialization include: Sustainable Management, Restoration, Education and Interpretation, Watershed Management, and Geospatial Analysis.
Minor (20-24 hours)
- Select two from: BIOL 2040, CHEM 1250, GEOL 1040 (8-9)
- Select three from (including at least one course with a ENVS designation): ENVS 3010, ENVS 3100 or ENVS 4150, ENVS 3340, ENVS 4010, ENVS 4020, ENVS 4120, ENVS 4200, ENVS 4930, GEOL 3220, GEOL 3230 (9-12)
Other programs
A B.A. in Environmental Policy and Analysis is offered that emphasizes interdisciplinary study of the environment from the perspective of the social sciences and humanities.
A minor in Sustainability is offered that emphasizes the interaction among environmental quality, economic prosperity and social equity.
Updated: 04/02/2020 10:51AM


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Fair Trade USA Announces Innovation Strategy to Double Impact for Farming Communities by 2015
Sep 19, 2011, 09:00 ET
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Fair Trade USA, the leading U.S. certifier of Fair Trade products, today launched a new innovation strategy – Fair Trade for All – to double U.S. sales for Fair Trade farmers and extend Fair Trade benefits to millions of additional farmers and workers by 2015. This bold new vision will generate significantly more additional income and community development funding for farming communities around the world. Fair Trade USA's President and CEO made the announcement today at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting.
Building on the momentum of the past 12 years, Fair Trade USA's new strategy will strengthen farming communities through investments in cooperatives and the formation of powerful new partnerships to provide more impact; innovate the Fair Trade model to include more people in more communities around the world; and ignite consumer involvement to increase awareness and build the Fair Trade movement.
"Fair Trade is a comprehensive approach to sustainable development that improves lives and protects the planet," said Paul Rice. "Since 1998, Fair Trade USA and our many partners have generated $220 million in additional income for farmers and workers and placed nearly 10,000 Fair Trade Certified products on store shelves across the nation.
However, according to the World Bank, there are still more than two billion people living on less than $2 (USD) a day. This figure is as shocking as it is morally challenging. And while we recognize that Fair Trade is not the complete solution for everyone who struggles with poverty, we do believe that Fair Trade can and must do more."
Strengthening Farming Communities
Farming cooperatives that produce and export on behalf of their members are the backbone of the Fair Trade model today, representing over 1.2 million farming families in 70 countries worldwide. Fair Trade USA and partners recently launched a cooperative development program called Co-op Link. The program is designed to help cooperatives develop the business capacity to become competitive and stay that way well into the future. Co-op Link addresses four key areas: 1) access to affordable short-term working and long-term investment capital; 2) training to strengthen organizational business capacity; 3) research and training to improve quality and productivity; and 4) market linkage support to help cooperatives find U.S. buyers and diversify markets.
Plus, innovative new partnerships with leading social entrepreneurs will provide Fair Trade farming communities with expertise to convert Fair Trade community development funds into effective solutions to address critical social challenges including water, food security, healthcare, education and sustainable agriculture.
Innovating the Fair Trade Model
Today Fair Trade standards successfully support cooperatives, small farmers unable to access the support of a cooperative and farm workers in cotton, rice, tea, flowers and bananas, but not in coffee, sugar or cocoa. As a model that seeks to alleviate poverty and empower farming communities, this inconsistency and systematic exclusion within the Fair Trade system is no longer acceptable.
To create a more just and consistent Fair Trade model, Fair Trade USA will adapt existing international Fair Trade standards from tea, bananas and flowers, and apply them first to coffee and then to additional categories over time. Rice adds, "We must innovate responsibly, including the entire rural community while ensuring that growth also benefits our historic partners in the Fair Trade system. In this respect, Fair Trade USA is conducting feasibility studies in a few coffee-producing regions to determine how best to pilot standards that will include additional producer groups."
In addition to significantly increasing impact opportunities for farmers and farm workers, the expanded sources of high-quality Fair Trade supply will increase opportunities for U.S. businesses and consumers to do more good for more people.
Igniting Consumer Involvement
Since Fair Trade launched in Europe 50 years ago, European consumer awareness has grown to well over 80 percent in many markets. In the United States, however, the movement is much newer and only 34 percent of consumers are aware of Fair Trade. Given the extraordinary size of the U.S. consumer market, and the massive annual expenditures in coffee, chocolate, sugar, produce and other key Fair Trade products, even modest increases in consumer awareness and involvement will return significant impact for farmers.
At the heart of this effort is the growing grassroots movement led by the national Fair Trade Towns and Universities campaigns. For the socially-conscious consumer, Fair Trade provides a framework for sustainable consumption and positive community action that leads to immediate impact on farming families. Over the next two years, we expect to see active campaigns in more than 100 towns and universities.
Complementing grassroots efforts, Fair Trade USA has partnered with brands, retailers and NGOs to launch our most comprehensive national awareness campaign ever for Fair Trade Month in October. This annual promotional campaign promises to gain a whole new level of industry involvement and consumer impact, based on our new messaging platform – Every Purchase Matters – brought to life through social media, digital advertising and public relations.
Fair Trade advocates now have access to awareness building materials that can be customized and downloaded to educate diverse audiences about the positive impact of Fair Trade Certified products. To further engage consumers, Fair Trade USA will introduce a Fair Trade Finder application for Facebook and mobile phones on October 1, 2011 to help consumers search for, discover, and share Fair Trade products in their communities. This tool will continue to grow over time and be a key driver of awareness and understanding as we help consumers make every purchase matter.
Making it Happen
To achieve these ambitious goals, Fair Trade USA is creating new partnerships with expertise in:
- Access to Capital: Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, Kiva, Rabobank, ResponsAbility, Root Capital
- Producer & Farmer Support: Latin American and Caribbean Network for Small Fair Trade Producers (CLAC), AVINA Foundation, VIVA Trust, Global Coffee Quality Research Initiative, Green Mountain Coffee, Sustainable Harvest, United Farm Workers, Heifer International
- Impact Assessment: Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) The Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA)
- Standards and Certification: Scientific Certification Systems (SCS)
Moving forward, we will work together to foster sustainable solutions that will strengthen farming communities for generations to come.
Fair Trade USA (previously TransFair USA), a nonprofit organization, is the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. Fair Trade USA audits and certifies transactions between U.S. companies and their international suppliers to guarantee that the farmers and workers producing Fair Trade Certified goods were paid fair prices and wages, work in safe conditions, protect the environment, and receive community development funds to empower and uplift their communities. Fair Trade USA educates consumers, brings new manufacturers and retailers into the Fair Trade system, and provides farming communities with tools, training and resources to thrive as international businesspeople. Visit www.FairTradeUSA.org for more information.
SOURCE Fair Trade USA


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Linguiça Hodge Podge
Curry'ed Menudo (Tripe)
Jumped Shark Fin Soup
Carbonnade à la Flamande Hash
Banh Tieu Chiffonade
Dog(ma) Imbottito con Ideologia
Trockenbeerenauslese Trifle
Lemon Curry Fool
A recipe for Ms Curry
Curry şiş Kebabs
I have finally gotten around to reading Judith Curry's contributions to the climate change debate and I have to say Stewart Shaw's paraphrasing of the old axiom sums it up best:
"It's like making sausage. The more you know about what goes into it and how it's done, the less you like it."
Insomuch as Ms Curry's stated objective is to build bridges and "have a civil conversation about climate" I thought it would be interesting to have a look at the Curry phenomenon from a conflict resolution perspective. Specifically to look at and assess Ms Curry's contribution to facilitating civil discourse.
Curry and her take on climate science has been much discussed and vivisected (Curry şiş Kebabs below) and although I present some samplings to illustrate how she deals with contentious issues, I will not be repeating or reviewing the scientific or political perspective. There are far too many threads and Curry's dissembling has made most of them more convoluted and Byzantine than they needed to be.
What I found is that while Curry claims to want to build bridges, she is going about it with a flame thrower. Her approach, whether intentional or not, is a recipe to make matters far worse, and it's working!
Linguiça Hodge Podge
In her piece Doubt Ms Curry begins her incendiary bridge building by attempting to conflate the the terms "Denier" and "Skeptic", and does so by referring to them as "labels." She states "Not only do these labels have nothing to do with science, but the labels are polarizing and are used to denigrate opposing "tribes""
First let's drop the label "label" as it is a loaded word meant to denigrate the practice of using precise terminology to communicate information.
"Nothing to do with science"? perhaps not, but:
- using precise language accurately is very much a hallmark of science, and arguing for the obverse is not. Why not then also conflate "skeptics" and "AGW crowd"? then there is no division at all! (reductio ad absurdum)
- insomuch as the discussions involving the term "Denier" are not about science per se, but about the ideologically motivated campaign of disinformation to discredit science, how is your point even relevant?
- "tribes"? … interesting "label."
"Denier" and "skeptic" are not synonyms as has been pointed out both generally and specifically with respect to Curry (and here); they are almost polar opposites. They describe radically different, indeed antithetical, approaches to information and knowledge.
Both exist within the climate debate, and that Denierism is real and rampant within the social discourse about climate is well documented and indisputable.
If one wishes to do away with the term "Denier" the logical and scientific approach would be to show that it is unnecessary, not useful, or is consistently being used inaccurately.
That it would be impossible to do any of the above might be one reason Ms Curry does not attempt it (more likely it never occurred to her).
Regardless, I have some questions for Ms Curry
- Did you not take the trouble to investigate why many people use the term "Denier"? and whether they use it correctly? or did you just launch into a polemic based on your assumptions and biases?
- If so, not a good start for a piece admonishing people for presumably acting on assumptions and biases.
- If not the former, do you not understand the difference between the frauds and hoaxes of Denierism and actual climate science? (there is some evidence for this, but also con).
- If so, not a good start for someone pretending some authority on the subject.
- If not the former, why seek to obfuscate the difference between the two? what possible purpose could it serve other than to grant the Deniers a totally undeserved and false appearance of legitimacy?
- If so, not a good start for someone pretending to be impartial.
- Is there some other explanation for this?
Using muddled and imprecise language to obfuscate seems to be a consistent problem with Curry (eg here, here, and here).
Curry'ed Menudo (Tripe)
From there "Doubt" goes on:
"A considerable amount of climate skepticism has been fueled by big business, attempting to protect their personal financial interests (e.g. the Koch brothers, ExxonMobil). True, but so what?"
"So what"? the "so what" is that they have not fueled "climate skepticism", they have bought and paid for an orchestrated campaign of misinformation and fraud, of outright climate change Denial. That is well documented and commonly known, so I have more questions for Ms Curry:
- Where are the published peer reviewed papers that any of these businesses have funded? where exactly is the legitimate scientific skepticism that came out of their frauds?
- Why do you misrepresent this campaign of disinformation and lies as merely 'promoting scientific skepticism'?
- Are/were you not aware of the extent and nature of their lies and frauds?
- Do you wish to go on record as explicitly stating that lies, frauds and disinformation contribute to healthy scientific debate? You have said so implicitly, how about saying so explicitly?
A little further along we get:
"I'm hoping that this strategy takes the wind out the sails of "support the consensus or you are a skeptic,"[1] making the merchant of doubt strategy [2] basically irrelevant and labels such as "denier" [3] unecessary [sic]. Then science can be science again and the politicians can stop waging their political battles through the science and start grappling with the hard problems. We have to start somewhere, lets start here and give it a try.[4]
[1] Straw Man argument – There never was such a position, so refuting it is inane and pointless (except as a strategy to trivialize your opposition by misrepresenting them). The position has always been "Accept OR refute the science [not the consensus]; if you can't refute it then say so" (and by the way, you are parroting Denier talking points again).
[2] The Merchants' strategy is to create doubt by pretending certainty, including certainty about inadequacies in the science that do not in fact exist … a strategy that you Ms Curry, have started to use liberally.
[3] As long as there is Denial and Deniers the term will continue to be useful.
[4] A Disney movie hockey Mom/Coach's "gosh golly kids, let's do it" is no substitute for an actual strategy based on techniques that actually work to resolve conflict, which this clearly isn't.
Ms Curry's "strategy" is nonsense.
Put bluntly, it boils down to dismissing the concerns of the climate science community and accepting the lies and frauds of the Deniers at face value. Even some of her supporters acknowledge the double standard.
This is not an actual, sincere attempt at conflict resolution; it is a disingenuous attempt to get one side to capitulate by misrepresenting them as intractable and unreasonable while misrepresenting the other as reasonable and legitimate. It is a partisan ploy trying to masquerade as mediation (but then she is just parroting the Denier talking points). It's a lie.
And on it goes. These examples of vacuous dissembling and disingenuous remonstrating seem to be pretty typical of her idea of mediating conflict and creating dialogue.
Jumped Shark Fin Soup
From there Curry launches into what she says is an attempt to quantify scientific uncertainty with her Italian Flag model of classifying the scientific evidence. It makes no sense at all as far as anyone can determine.
Michael Tobis put it "Somebody has to call "horseshit" here, and it might as well be me", although James Annan trumped him with "While it might be possible to reverse-engineer some semblance of sense into some of her statements regarding it, they are mutually incoherent.":
In my opinion what she really seems to be doing is trying to cloak her own subjective opinions in some sort of mantle of seemingly objective and scientific respectability. The method did not determine the conclusion, the conclusion determined the method. It seems to be a prime example of "motivated reasoning."
Carbonnade à la flamande Hash
Curry seems to have no compunction about going off half-cocked, making wild claims about the science itself that are demonstrably false. Quite disturbing to see in a scientist.
"she has stated multiple times that she believes if we can not confidently attribute early 20th century climate change then we can not confidently attribute late 20th century climate change. I'm sorry to be blunt and with all due respect to her CV, this is grossly illogical"
As she is actually a climate scientist this is doubly disturbing. Indeed a consistent habit of Curry's seems to be that of charging into discussions while having little or no idea what she is talking about, and that is the kinder version. A more cynical interpretation would be that of deliberate misrepresentation (ie lying) to make her main point.
Examples include (but by no means limited to):
- misrepresenting the claims about Wegman and making unfounded counter accusations;
- unsubstansitated (and hence hypocritical) claims of conspiracy and faith based science in the IPCC report;
- uninformed critiques (and here) of Tamino & "the Hockey Stick";
- solar forcing.
The failure to respect one's opposition enough to know the topic while still demanding to be treated as an equal in the debate is simply arrogant. All the more so when making serious accusations about other peoples honesty, integrity and ability, as she has done.
Unfortunately outright lying (or more charitably, gullibly repeating lies aka Denier talking points) seems to have become another practice of hers (eg here, here and here).
Banh Tieu Chiffonade
Ms Curry explains her position:
"When I refer to the IPCC dogma, it is the religious importance that the IPCC holds for this cadre of scientists; they will tolerate no dissent, and seek to trample and discredit anyone who challenges the IPCC. Who are these priests of the IPCC? …. This advancement of their careers is done with the complicity of the professional societies and the institutions that fund science. Eager for the publicity, high impact journals such as Nature, Science, and PNAS frequently publish sensational but dubious papers that support the climate alarm narrative.
While the IPCC priests loudly cry out against the heretical skeptical scientists and the dark influences of big oil and right wing ideology that are anti-science … "
Nothing inflammatory about that … other than it being a bunch of non-specific, baseless, hysterical accusations of corruption, dishonesty, opportunism and what have you. Just plain old honest " accusatory framing, based on mere innuendo and speculation."
And again with "Some people were getting their papers rejected because they disagreed with the IPCC."
Which people? what papers? what are the specifics? There are none of course. How could there be? it's a complete and total fabrication.
And again "she is also very good at refusing to define her terms or clarify her open-ended smears on the integrity and judgment of climate scientists — no matter how often you ask."
No worry though, because Curry never mentions specifics so she will never accept accountability for any of it, never have to demonstrate that she has the slightest idea of what she is talking about, all the while maintaining that it has never been refuted.
Any time that someone does manage to get hold of something specific or tangible Curry merely disavows it and changes her stance ie does not acknowledge having been wrong, but rather pretends her error wasn't what she actually meant or wasn't the real point, aka moving the goal posts.
Of her comments on Montford's book she states "Note, this is off the top of my head"; more plausible deniability? whatever she said isn't what she meant, nor will what she now says be what she really means if you are able to demonstrate that it is nonsense, and besides, you missed her real point which she hasn't made yet.
Dog(ma) Imbottito con Ideologia
The thing that most baffles the science community is that even as Curry is claiming/attempting to hold it, and the IPCC in particular, to a high level of accountability and standards of accuracy, she gives the Denier frauds and charades an uncritical pass. Welcome to the blogosphere, Dr. Curry! does a 'somewhat' sarcastic review of this.
She cannot be said to be an apologist since there is no apology. Nor can it really be said to be a double standard since she holds the Deniers to no standards at all.
Her claim is that we benefit by embracing the Deniers because "If only 1 percent of it or 10 percent of what the skeptics say is right, that is time well spent because we have just been too encumbered by groupthink." Well:
- 1% would be a staggering new high for the Deniers, 10% is just delusional;
- why not continue as the science community already has done, which is to accept the ≤1% when it comes up and reject the 99%+ for the idiotic drivel that it is?;
- why not ask the Denier community to drop the 99%+ that is lies and frauds so that it is easier to take them seriously?;
- "that is time well spent"? no it isn't. The miniscule contributions that the Deniers have actually made are dwarfed by the damage they have done;
- "too encumbered by groupthink"? yet another Denier talking point (and a "label") begging the question. Demonstrate it or drop it, but spare us the barrage of baseless accusations.
And that is just "off the top of my head."
Yet Curry does not seem to be an ideologue sensu much of the Denier community; she mouths the talking points, but lacks the knee jerk frothing hysteria that characterizes them. Nevertheless, by embracing the Denier dogma she is also picking up some of their ideology since the two are inextricably linked; the one follows on the other.
There does seem to be something personal about her virulent antipathy to the IPCC. Her railings against it are extreme (above) and quite illogical. I have no idea what it could be, but given her many other signs of niavite perhaps it is a sense of betrayal. What she took as the true god turns out to be only human and hence must be cast into the pit of fire.
What seems to have happened to Curry looks like a variant of the false dichotomy fallacy, if not A then B. She feels that there are some problems in the science community and the IPCC in particular, therefore she allies herself with the not-science not-IPCC community as a response. Illogical, but not inconsistent.
Regarding Curry's tirade about the IPCC (Banh Tieu Chiffonade above), climate scientists, and the scientific community in general , do you detect any uncertainty there? any room left for a more charitable interpretation of the IPCC and the scientific community? any hesitation or allowance for the possibility of error?
Of course not. This is not science, which according to Curry is riddled with uncertainty. This is Curry's ideology and personal dogma, about which she is absolutely certain. No room for doubt or questions there.
The only time the word "doubt" seems to enter her vocabulary is when she is berating others about their supposed shortcomings and apparent unwillingness to conform to her projections of what they should say and do.
Here are some more questions for Mrs Curry.
- If being right merely 1% of the time (still a gross overestimate for the Deneirs, but let's humour her) is sufficient to justify praise and uncritical acceptance, what should the IPCC's 99% (98? 99.9?) level of accuracy earn them? Roughly a 100 times more praise? even more uncritical acceptance?
- Or is there some threshold (50%?) beyond which being more right earns you the condemnation and abuse that you have been flinging at the IPCC? If so, what is the level, how was it determined, and what is the reasoning for it? Or is this another Italian Flag? is there a mid-zone where you are neither praised nor condemned?
Bear in mind that we are simply trying to understand the obvious contradictions in your behaviour and speech. Your rampant hypocrisy may be invisible to you, but it is glaring to everyone else.
Trockenbeerenauslese Trifle
Some have noted that Curry responds with politeness and more good grace than has been seen in her critics, including themselves.
I do not get any sense of true politeness from Curry; more that she is "correct"
By that I mean there does not appear to be any genuine interest in the point of view or well being of others, merely an adherence to forms in such a way that leaves no obvious cause for offence, but is devoid of actual good will.
I suspect that this superficiality is at least in part a clumsy attempt to avoid personal confrontation and the attendant discomfort, hence pretending the real causes of conflict do not exist.
It is the same time honoured technique whereby families ignore alcoholism, domestic violence, infidelities and diverse other abuses. Wielded by Curry the technique is every bit as effective at problem solving as it always has been.
More to the point, a key thing to note here is that Curry's tone is consistently dismissive of her opponents positions and points (what Beck describes as "as-common-as-it-is-infuriating hand wave"; nicely put).
She does not take any of it seriously enough to actually address their points, to know what she is talking about, she accepts the climate science critics claims on faith, and certainly never troubles herself to actually understand why the climate science community has concerns about the Deniers.
All of the above communicate a profound lack of respect for the people she is talking to and about. That she does so in a tone that is superior and glib combined with the arrogance of expecting to be treated as an equal in the discussions while not doing the work to earn it is all the more infuriating.
Frankly, Curry's artificial sweetness is cloying and nauseating; unpleasant when first ingested and leaving a bitter aftertaste. It fails to disguise, and insomuch as it is false, accentuates rather than hides the underlying sourness.
Being blunt, she is being rude, arrogant, disingenuous and quite probably dishonest.
Her conscious motives may be as noble and in good faith as some suggest, but her methods most certainly are not.
Lemon Curry Fool
So what are Curry's actual methods for "conflict resolution?"
- not taking others seriously, being dismissive of their points without ever addressing them;
- using double standards and being hypocriitcal;
- moving goalposts & other failures to be accountable;
- evading by dissembling, lying and using language to confuse rather than clarify;
- baselessly attacking peoples honesty, integrity and ability
From conflict resolution and mediation work we know that attacking and evading are two types of behaviour that will invariably escalate conflict, and Curry constantly does both .
Curry Attacks directly with baseless accusations etc, and indirectly through acting dismissive, arrogant and superior.
She Evades by being disingenuous, dishonest and insincere.
She does not seem to use any of the behaviours that would actually de-escalate conflict, viz:
Informing: Honestly, clearly and fully stating your own position (and being accountable for it). No hidden agendas or changing it (as opposed to clarifying).
Opening: Sincerely enquiring about and looking into the other position. Honestly seeking to understand it in it's entirety.
Understanding: Demonstrating and communicating that you have clearly understood the others point of view as they presented it.
Curry's approach is a case study in how to escalate and exacerbate conflict while trying to appear guiltless. At best she seems to be trying to avoid personal confrontation while pretending the role of mediator, but without doing the actual work of mediation.
The most charitable interpretation is that her understanding of the causes of the conflict is niave and facile; not surprising given that she simply dismisses what the climate science community has to say.
A recipe for Ms Curry
Ms Curry recommends Andrew Montford's book, 'The Hockey Stick Illusion' to help climate scientists learn "how to avoid unnecessary conflict in the climate debate."
Curry is clearly one of the last people one would ever want to consult on that topic (or on more than a few aspects of climate science it would seem). If Ms Curry really wants to help resolve the conflicts in the climate debate here are some helpful hints for curtailing her campaign of bridge burning:
- actually know what you are talking about;
- do not make unsubstantiated claims or accusations;
- stand by what you have said (easier done if you abide by point #1);
- do not be dismissive, glib or superior;
- as a corollary to point #4, learn some humility;
- treat your opponents points seriously (see point #1) and actually address them;
- avoid double standards, be consistent and apply the same standards to all, and most particularly yourself;
- use language for clarity, not to confuse and obfuscate;
- stop preaching, start listening;
- learn to accept that you may be wrong and the others in the right;
- be honest, genuine and sincere.
Take large amounts of each, mix well, repeat indefinitely.
Curry şiş Kebabs
An alphabetical collection of posts in which Ms Curry has been skewered and grilled:
- A take on Curry
- At Kloor's and at Curry's
- Attribution errors
- Beef with Curry
- Can't think of any more amusing Curry jokes
- Confusionist Judith Curry goes 'wicked' and mangles the work of Martin Weitzman
- Curry
- Curry, part 2: the papers
- Currygate, part 3: the key papers exposed
- Curry, part 4
- Currying confusion
- Curry jumps the shark
- Curry's Hallowe'en Piece
- Duck Curry
- Favoring Curry
- Hey JC, JC, that's not alright by me
- Hockey Stick fight at the RC Corral:
- How the mighty have fallen
- Judith Curry advocates for a climate change "Team B"
- Judith Curry: Born Beyond the Shark?
- Judith Curry goes from building bridges to burning them
- Judith Curry on anthropogenic versus natural causes of global warming
- Judith Curry on climate science: Introspection or circling the wagons?
- Judith Curry sticks her neck out
- JC does not understand the internet!
- Judith Curry abandons science
- Judith Curry and the hockey stick
- Judith Curry on 'dogma' and ideology
- Judith Curry plants her flag
- Lost in translation
- Maybe it ain't an act
- More Curried leftovers
- My response to Dr. Judith Curry's unconstructive essay
- Round in circles with Accelerated warming of the Southern Ocean and its impacts on the hydrological cycle and sea ice?
- "(S)He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense"
- The curious incident of Judith Curry with the fringe
- The Judith Curry Debunking Room is open
- The paradox of Curry
- UnScientific American: In Lionizing Curry, a Lion Loses its Way
- Who's being naive? Yet more from J. Curry
- Welcome to the blogosphere, Dr. Curry!
- Willard on Curry
1) proving the axiom "Fools seldom differ" Stoat seems to have been the first to have characterised Curry's gibberish as 'tripe' (Stoat has tripe as it's own, separate category) followed by Coby Beck, but I swear I thought to do so independently.
2) Given Curry's methods for "reconciliation" Sherman's March to the Sea was a tempting metaphor for this piece, however Sherman's Campaign had a certain honesty and forthrightness about its' purpose and hence was felt to be inappropriate.
We give our consent every moment that we do not resist.
Menudo! It's what's for breakfast… by zarzoso
Puffy rice balls (Bánh Tiêu) by add1sun
Trockenbeerenauslese by milst1
Rich Apple Fool by the justified sinner
Kashgar lamb kebabs by Swamibu
Comment Policy
Comments that are not relevant to the post that they appear under or the evolving discussion will simply be deleted, as will links to Denier spam known to be scientific gibberish
- The "Mostly" Open Thread" is for general climate discussion that is not relevant to a particular post. Spam and abuse rules still apply;
- The "Challenging the Core Science" Comment Thread is for comments that purport to challenge the core science of anthropogenic climate change.


text:
Send your personal stories, video on unrest in the Arab world.
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Monday rejected criticism of his decision to commit U.S. forces to the U.N.-authorized military mission in Libya, telling the American people there were strategic and moral reasons to act.
In a nationally televised speech at the National Defense University, Obama said his administration kept its pledge that the mission would be limited in size and scope, announcing that the NATO alliance would assume full command on Wednesday.
The United States now will play "a supporting role -- including intelligence, logistical support, search-and-rescue assistance, and capabilities to jam regime communications," Obama said, noting that both the risk and cost of the operation to America "will be reduced significantly."
Some Republican and Democrats have criticized the president's policy in the war-torn North African nation. Among other things, they have questioned the purpose of the mission, as well as its cost, endgame, and consequences for the broader Arab world.
Responding directly to critics, Obama detailed some of the nuance and strategy of his Libya policy and described the complaints as presenting "false choices" on the issue.
To those who question the need for a U.S. role in the Libya mission, Obama cited several reasons for joining allies in acting on the U.N. Security Council resolution that called for a no-fly zone and arms embargo in Libya and protecting civilians as necessary.
Failure to do so would have allowed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to unleash his military on his own people and signaled the world that such violence would go unchallenged, Obama said.
In addition, the violence from an expected attack by Gadhafi's forces on Benghazi, the rebel stronghold of 700,000 people, would have sent thousands of refugees into neighboring Tunisia and Egypt as they deal with emerging democratic movements, the president said.
"To brush aside America's responsibility as a leader and -- more profoundly -- our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are," Obama said. "Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as president, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action."
He also dismissed criticism by some conservatives that the Libyan mission fails to go far enough, particularly that Gadhafi's downfall is not a specific objective.
In this case, Obama, said, making the ouster of Gadhafi a targeted outcome would have been a mistake.
"If we tried to overthrow Gadhafi by force, our coalition would splinter," he said. "We would likely have to put U.S. troops on the ground to accomplish that mission, or risk killing many civilians from the air. The dangers faced by our men and women in uniform would be far greater. So would the costs, and our share of the responsibility for what comes next."
At the same time, Obama repeated that resolving the Libya crisis requires Gadhafi's ouster, and said the coalition military mission was giving the Libyan people the opportunity to make that happen.
"It may not happen overnight, as a badly weakened Gadhafi tries desperately to hang on to power," Obama said. "But it should be clear to those around Gadhafi, and to every Libyan, that history is not on Gadhafi's side. With the time and space that we have provided for the Libyan people, they will be able to determine their own destiny, and that is how it should be. "
Looking directly into the television camera, Obama also described a policy of using military force when circumstances require action to protect vital interests and uphold core principles.
Citing times "when our safety is not directly threatened, but our interests and values are," Obama said such problems require the world's most powerful nation to play a role in helping.
"In such cases, we should not be afraid to act -- but the burden of action should not be America's alone," Obama said. "As we have in Libya, our task is instead to mobilize the international community for collective action."
In response to some conservative critics who called his response in Libya too timid and beholding to the United Nations, Obama cited the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein but brought on a war now winding down more than eight years later.
"Contrary to the claims of some, American leadership is not simply a matter of going it alone and bearing all of the burden ourselves," Obama said. "Real leadership creates the conditions and coalitions for others to step up as well; to work with allies and partners so that they bear their share of the burden and pay their share of the costs; and to see that the principles of justice and human dignity are upheld by all."
Initial political reaction welcomed the success of the Libyan mission so far, but continued the criticisms from both sides that preceded the speech.
Conservative Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said Obama erred by stating that the coalition would split if the mission was expanded to seeking regime change.
"If we tell Gadhafi, 'Don't worry, you won't be removed by force,' I think that's very encouraging to Gadhafi," McCain said, adding that the United States should act alone if necessary to oust Gadhafi.
Overall, however, McCain said Obama made a "strong case" for the military effort in Libya.
Another prominent Republican, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, disagreed.
"The speech failed to provide Americans much clarity to our involvement in Libya," said Boehner's spokesman, Michael Steel. "Nine days into this military intervention, Americans still have no answer to the fundamental question: What does success in Libya look like?"
Boehner sent a letter to Obama last week in which he asked specific questions about the Libya mission, including whether the U.S. military would take on a larger role if the coalition fell apart.
Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine also said Obama's speech fell short of what was needed.
"President Obama's current challenge is not to reassure us that the U.S. role was justified; his challenge is to tell us what's next and when our involvement will end," Snowe said in a statement.
Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley of Iowa, meanwhile, complained Obama provided no specifics Monday on what the Libyan mission would cost.
"We've got two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and Americans deserve to hear from our president what this third conflict is going to cost us," Braley said in a statement.
The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, said he was pleased that NATO was taking over the Libya mission and "equally pleased that the United States will take a supporting role in this effort."
"We cannot afford another Iraq or Afghanistan and I firmly believe that the president fully understands that," Cleaver said in a statement.
CNN's Tom Cohen, Alan Silverleib, Dana Ford and Gabriella Schwarz contributed to this story.


text:
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text:
A moment in Philmusic.com's History: The site domain was registered in December 1996. We are at most, probably one of the longest running Philippine websites around!
Welcome to TALK @ PhilMusic.com - The Online Home of the Pinoy Musician, powered by Simple Machines® Forum (SMF) software!
SMF® is the elegant, effective, powerful and free forum software solution that this site is running. It allows users to communicate in discussion topics on a given subject in a clever and organized manner. Furthermore, it has a number of powerful features which end users can take advantage of. Help for many of SMF's features can be found by either clicking the question mark icon next to the relevant section or by selecting one of the links on this page. These links will take you to SMF's centrally-located documentation on the Simple Machines official site.
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text:
Nigel Humphreys is an Anglo-Welsh poet living in the Aberyswtyth area. Since retiring early in 2000 he has devoted much of his life to poetry. During that time he has won several poetry competitions and been highly placed in others.
He continues to be involved with Aberystwyth Arts Centre Poetry Workshop, Poetry Reading Set and The Word Distillery performances. He runs Poetry Courses at the Arts Centre and reads his work regularly to local and London audiences.
In 2007 his first Collection The Hawk's Mewl was published by Arbor Vitae Press, London followed in 2010 by The Flavour of Parallel and Of Moment in 2013.
The Love Song of Daphnis and Chloe will be published next year 2015 by Circaidy Gergory
Nigel Humphreys is a member of The Welsh Academy and Literature Wales.


text:
Immanuel Williams' face barely showed over the witness stand.
Many in the courtroom could see only the top of his chair swivel slightly and his eyebrows scrunch up in confusion.
Sign-language interpreters relayed questions to the deaf 12-year-old boy,
and the answers flashed from his fingertips.
"Very often that happened," he signed, "that I went without food."
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Immanuel's adoptive parents, Larry and Carri Williams, of Sedro-Woolley, are on trial in Skagit County Superior Court, charged with homicide by abuse, manslaughter and child assault for allegedly abusing Immanuel and their adoptive daughter, Hana, and causing her death. They have entered pleas of not guilty.
The couple adopted both children from Ethiopia
in 2008. Three years later, Hana was found dead of hypothermia, face down in the mud, in the family's backyard, her malnourished body covered in scratches and bruises. She was about 13 years old.
The case has highlighted the gaps in oversight of adoptions in Washington and drawn attention to the challenges that some Ethiopian adoptees and their new parents may face. Parents and leaders in Washington's adoption system are closely following the trial, as are Seattle-area Ethiopians, who have attended proceedings every day, almost as a vigil.
After China, most children adopted into the United States from abroad now come from Ethiopia, according to the State Department. Disease, poverty and fraud have increasingly brought children to Ethiopian orphanages and eventually to American homes — from a little more than 100 adoptions in 2002 to more than 1,500 in 2012.
Many of these children are 5 to 12 years old and may have lived in an orphanage for years. For some, past traumatic experiences, coupled with language and cultural differences, can bring challenges within a family.
Defense lawyers have sought to portray Carri and Larry Williams as misguided but well-intentioned parents, saying she worked to make the house peaceful and home-schooled their seven biological and two adopted children while he worked from noon to midnight as a millwright at Boeing.
Hana and Immanuel's health problems, including their scars and a stomach condition that hastened Hana's death, existed before the children were adopted, defense attorneys have said.
Neither side disputes that the couple harshly disciplined their children — and the defense says both regret certain parenting decisions. What jurors must decide is whether their parenting amounted to criminal behavior.
Family's home life
Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich has charged that the Williamses engaged in a pattern of abuse that left permanent physical scars and was tantamount to torture, harming Immanuel and causing Hana's death.
The maximum penalty for each of the charges of homicide by abuse, manslaughter and child assault — Class A felonies — is life in prison without the possibility of parole and/or a $50,000 fine.
Since the trial began July 26, experts, adoption workers, relatives, acquaintances and law-enforcement officers have answered questions about the family's home life, Hana's death and the details of the adoption.
Immanuel has told the court that he and Hana were beaten, made to eat outside or deprived of food altogether.
was made to sleep in a
closet, bathe outside with a garden hose and relieve herself in a portable toilet
instead of the family bathroom.
Five of the Williams' biological children have also testified, describing details of the punishments their adopted siblings received.
The evening of May 12, 2011, was rainy and cold
when Carri Williams called 911 and told dispatchers that Hana was unconscious and face down in the mud after refusing to come indoors. The biological children have testified Hana was in the cold for hours as punishment, and that their mother had told Hana to do jumping-jacks to stay warm.
When Hana stopped, her brothers were instructed to hit her legs with a plastic switch, according to court testimony.
An autopsy showed that Hana, 5 feet tall and weighing 78 pounds, was covered in scratches and bruises and that her hypothermia was hastened by malnutrition and a stomach ailment.
Defense attorney Laura Riquelme has told the court that Carri Williams tried repeatedly to get Hana to come inside that night but she refused. Riquelme also said that Immanuel did not suffer marks and scars at the Williams' house but rather had them when he came into the family.
Larry Williams' defense attorney, Rachel Forde, has presented him as unaware of Hana's condition on her last night and that "certainly he cared about whether Hana lived or died."
After the state rests its case, perhaps this week, the defense lawyers are expected to call just a handful of witnesses, possibly including acquaintances of the family to testify that the couple were loving and affectionate toward their children.
Hana's age will continue to be an issue, as the charge of homicide by abuse applies only to children under 16.
No one knows for sure when Hana was born because proper documentation is often missing in adoptions from Ethiopia.
Better oversight needed
The case of Hana and Immanuel is an extreme example of the gaps in Washington's adoption system.
A variety of agencies oversee the fate of adopted children, whether the child was adopted through a private organization, the courts or the state's welfare system.
In general, adoptions go very well, said Mary Meinig, director of the Office of the Family and Children's Ombudsman, an independent agency housed in the governor's office and charged with protecting children from harm in the child-welfare system.
"I wouldn't say it's a failed system in any way," she said. "I think it can be improved."
The biggest need is better oversight, whether by the state or a private agency, she said. The state has laws to protect adopted children, but its authority is limited in private adoptions, such as that of Hana and Immanuel.
"They don't have the power or responsibility to oversee all these adoptions," she said.
In 2012, a committee of private and public child-welfare agencies, led by the ombudsman's office and by the Children's Administration in the Department of Social and Health Services, highlighted 15 cases where an adoption agency or court had "scrutinized and approved" a family for internationally and domestically adopted children who later suffered at the families' hand.
The families showed a common pattern of physical and emotional abuse, including isolating and depriving children of food.
"In many of these cases, it just continues to spiral to a point where the discipline practices get way out of hand," ombudsman Patrick Dowd said.
Another problem is that there is no way to track the rates of abuse and neglect in adopted families, he said.
The committee reported that responsibility for the problems is diffuse, with shortcomings at every step in the adoption process — assessing a family, identifying red flags and following up.
"It's not like we identified a smoking gun," Dowd said.
Meanwhile, the committee, comprising representatives of the Children's Administration, Child Protective Services, private adoption agencies and others, is plodding forward, figuring out how to put recommended changes in place, DSHS spokeswoman Chris Case said.
Stronger laws are needed, the committee found, but a bill before the Legislature foundered last session after it was proposed by Rep. Mary Helen Roberts, D-Edmonds, to improve the adoption process.
"These things grind ponderously slow sometimes," Case said.
Parents following the trial have been shocked by Hana's death and have tried to understand what went wrong at the Williams' house.
"We do not do enough to prepare adoptive parents," said Maureen McCauley Evans, a Seattle-based mother of Ethiopian adoptees and former executive director of three child welfare and adoption organizations on the East Coast. She has been observing the trial since the beginning.
U.S. adoption agencies accredited under an international treaty known as The Hague Convention require parents to undergo at least 10 hours of pre-adoption training that can be completed online — which McCauley Evans called inadequate.
The Ethiopian Community Center in Seattle has tried to help families with adopted children from Ethiopia, offering parenting classes, cultural camps and a welcoming ceremony based on Ethiopian traditions.
"We want others to know that we're here as resources for them," outreach-committee member Metti Mulugeta said.