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Central American migrants in Mexico want buses to US border
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Central American migrants in a caravan that has stopped in Mexico City demanded buses Thursday to take them to the U.S. border, saying it is too cold and dangerous to continue walking and hitchhiking.
About 200 migrants, representing the roughly 5,000 staying in a stadium in the south of Mexico's capital, marched to the United Nations office in Mexico City to make the demand for transportation.
The office was closed when the migrants arrived, but a dozen were received by U.N. representatives at a nearby location, said Ilberto Sosa Montes, a 45-year-old Honduran who is one of caravan's coordinators.
"We need buses to continue traveling," said Milton Benitez, a caravan coordinator. Benitez noted that it would be colder in northern Mexico and it wasn't safe for the migrants to continue along highways, where drug cartels frequently operate.
"This is a humanitarian crisis and they are ignoring it," Benitez said as the group arrived at the U.N. office.
The plan was that when the migrant delegation returned to the stadium, roughly a three-hour walk from the U.N. office, the migrants would gather in an assembly to decide when they would leave Mexico City and what route they would take to the U.S. border. But the meeting with U.N. officials was continuing into the evening Thursday, representatives of the U.N. and the caravan confirmed.
Mexico City authorities say that of the 4,841 registered migrants receiving shelter in a sports complex, 1,726 are under the age of 18, including 310 children under five.
The Mexican government has said most of the migrants have refused offers to stay in Mexico, and only a small number have agreed to return to their home countries. About 85 percent of the migrants are from Honduras, while others are from the Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
"California is the longest route but is the best border, while Texas is the closest but the worst" border, said Jose Luis Fuentes of the National Lawyers Guild to gathered migrants.
There have already been reports of migrants on the caravan going missing, though that is often because they hitch rides on trucks that turn off on different routes, leaving them lost.
However, the U.N. human rights agency said its office in Mexico had filed a report with prosecutors in the central state of Puebla about two buses that migrants boarded in the last leg of the trip to Mexico City early this week, and whose whereabouts are not known.
Mexico City is itself more than 600 miles from the nearest U.S. border crossing at McAllen, Texas, and a previous caravan in the spring opted for a much longer route to Tijuana in the far northwest, across from San Diego. That caravan steadily dwindled to only about 200 people by the time it reached the border.
Activists and officials explained the options available to migrants in Mexico, which has offered them refuge, asylum or work visas. The government said 2,697 temporary visas had been issued to individuals and families to cover them while they wait for the 45-day application process for a more permanent status.
Thursday's meeting with U.N. representatives comes two days after U.S. midterm elections in which President Donald Trump had converted the migrants into a campaign issue, portraying them as a major threat.
Marlon Ivan Mendez, a farm worker from Copan, Honduras, was waiting in line for donated shoes to replace the worn crocs he has used since leaving his country three weeks ago. He said he left because gangs were charging him rent to live in his own home.
"It is not fair that the good ones pay for the sinners," Mendez said of fears that gang members are coming with the caravan.
Christopher Gascon, the Mexico representative for the International Organization for Migration, estimated there are perhaps another 4,000 in caravans that are working their way through southern Mexico.
But some migrants had been visiting the organization's tent asking about how they can return home.
On Wednesday night, a bus left from Mexico City to return 37 people to their countries of origin.
In the stadium, hundreds of Mexico City employees and even more volunteers helped sort donations and direct migrants toward food, water, diapers and other basics. Migrants searched through piles of clothes and grabbed boxes of milk for children.
Darwin Pereira, a 23-year-old construction worker from Olanchito, Honduras, left his country with his wife and son, 4, for the very simple reason that "there is no work there."
Pereira, who still wears the same cheap plastic sandals he left Honduras with a month ago, thought about what he would do if he met the U.S. president.
"If I meet Donald Trump, I am going to cry. I will cry because there is nothing else to do," he said.


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A recent study suggests that people bond more securely over shared dislikes than over mutual enthusiasms. Spouses will apparently attach more closely over a common hatred for hip-hop than over a shared love for Mozart. It's the old, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" approach to relationships.
It seems easier for us – more in line with human nature, perhaps – to gripe about what we dislike than to praise what we like. And in the age of social media, with its opportunities for instant expression, we can virtually congregate with people (called "friends") who hate what we hate and oppose (at least verbally) what we oppose.
Americans are becoming positively tribal, but its tribes are not like those of the past. They do not share a tradition or history or even a common taste. They share a common distaste. This is especially apparent in politics. Conservatives have fewer things in common than they did in the past. What unites them now is their hatred of progressives. Progressives bond over their repugnance for conservatives. It's not a shared vision but a shared aversion that increasingly unites groups.
Because our "friends" are people who share our hostility, we have a strong incentive to remain hostile. We may say that we want our cause to triumph, but we know that when it does, our "friends" will disappear. We find ourselves in the unenviable position of needing the things we despise while doing without the things we love. And so we raise a cup of bile to our common enemy, and give a curse rather than a toast.
It's a sick way to live. Grumbling is a leprosy knowingly transmitted between people, and some social groupings are little more than leprosariums, filled with complainers with rotting souls. Grumbling is so contagious that only those with strong spiritual immune systems can be exposed without being infected.
But might it not sometimes be necessary to complain in order to get a problem fixed? That all depends. Bringing a complaint to your congressman (or boss or pastor) can be an appropriate way to begin addressing a problem. Griping to and with your "friends" about it is not. The rule of thumb is this: only complain to people who are in a position to do something about the problem. Otherwise, you are the problem.
What is causing all this grumbling? There are many contributing factors, both sociological and technological, but a significant one is found in the pervasive idea that an individual deserves to get his way. It is a part of the American credo: "I believe in my right to have my own way."
What do people do when this sacred right is violated? They whine. If no one listens, they scream. And often, others around them join in.
After college, my first job – I, who knew nothing about children – was to manage a day care and nursery school. Sometimes I would hear a toddler outside my office begin screaming, either because he was hurt or because he didn't get his way, and a group of other screamers would join in. What is currently happening in society, sometimes at the highest levels, looks a whole lot like that nursery.
Ecclesiastical leaders have warned that this infection poses a threat to the church. Christians, commissioned to take the good news of Jesus Christ to the world, are in danger of bringing the bad news of self-interest, transmissible through complaining, into the church.
Christians, however, have a ready vaccine for this disease, which might be called "Persistent Self-Interest Disorder" (or PSID for short). It works prophylactically (to prevent) and therapeutically (to heal) PSID. St. Paul says: "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
To do something in Jesus's name is to do it as his representative. Can you complain as his representative? If so, complain. Will a Facebook post or Tweet speak for Jesus? If so, post and tweet away. But if you can't say what you want to say (or scream what you want to scream) as a representative of Jesus, you'd better not say it at all. You might infect someone.
First published as "Grumbling: A Disease Knowingly Transmitted" in The Coldwater Daily Reporter, 3/4/2017

subset: commoncrawl


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Earth Cycles
The Hydrologic Cycle: Water's journey through time
Further Exploration
Water Resources of the United States
US Geological Survey - Extensive information on water resources, quality and hazards including storm and flood data.
A comprehensive website from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - A compilation of resources important for watershed protection and restoration, including the condition of water resources, vulnerabilities, and human health.
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Address Delivered Before the British Association Assembled at Belfast
John Tyndall's 1874 address to the British Association, advocating for rationalism, skepticism, and consistency in science.
News & Events
Black carbon creates droughts and floods in China
News from around the world of science.
US Global Change Research Program
Research report from the Water Cycle study group
Google - Research database allows searching of the scholarly literature.
A movie showing sea level change over the past 10,000 years, created by INSTAAR at the University of Colorado.
Trace the path of a raindrop as it moves through the hydrologic cycle.
Investigating the Precipitation-Streamflow Relationship
Step-by-Step Guides for Investigating Earth System Data from Earth Exploration Toolbook.
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States
National Academies Press: A Framework for K-12 Science Education


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A tiled desktop allows you to group favourite and frequently used application modules and vary their size, icon, name, position and color, so they're quickly recognisable. A tile can represent any action-it could be an iScala function, a report or dashboard, an HTML link or an external program, for example. The workspace is easy to set up, simply drag and drop the items from a collapsible tree menu on the left. If you are looking for a specific function, you can use the free text search box at the top of the menu to find candidate modules-the menu expands and highlights all the matching items.
Application modules also sport new user interfaces designed to save time and cut down on repetitive entries. For example, drop down menus offer contextual content choices or allow easy access to options such as postcode lookup. You can copy and paste a completed form as a template. The links are removed, so the content can be edited and new links forged. You can complete forms in the traditional way, through a tabbed interface or you can expand each section and stay on the same page.
Once you're working, you may have several activities live at the same time. These appear in tabs at the top of the screen, rather like a browser. Moving between activities is fast and intuitive. In the unlikely event that you overflow the tab bar, a drop down link gives you access to the hidden activities. A 'recent activity' window provides another way to jump back to previously launched modules or functions.It's important to note that although this release of iScala brings new ways of doing things, it's important not to slow users down with the new interface. For this reason, users can continue to use the existing navigation methods until they're ready to start using the new interface.
Something you will be seeing more of before long is mobile applets. They are already available for warehouse operations and they run on Android and iOS. The Epicor iScala Warehouse Manager increases agility and efficiency for its users. The first release supports a number of stock-taking operations.
We look forward to welcoming you to the new platform soon. Visit EpicWeb to find more information. And please make sure you tell us what you think. It's your feedback that drives our continuous improvements.


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Firefighter Exam For Dummies by Stacy L. Bell
|Firefighter Exam For Dummies
|Stacy L. Bell
|John Wiley & Sons
|Study Aids
|Total Pages
|English, Spanish, and French
Book Summary:
The fast and easy way to score your best on the Firefighter Exam In addition to physical tests of strength, agility, and coordination, firefighters must also pass a difficult written test that requires serious preparation to fare well, and many applicants fail to succeed. Firefighter Exam For Dummies gives you a complete review of the most commonly tested topics that are typical of firefighter exams given to candidates across North America, as well as tips and advice on how to pass the oral interview, psychological testing, and the Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT). Coverage of reading comprehension, math, principles of mechanics, tool usage and recognition, memorization and visualization, and on-the-job scenarios Study advice and test-taking tips 4 full-length practice exams with answers and detailed explanations including the National Firefighter Selection Inventory (NFSI), a battery of 105 questions that assess the job-related cognitive skills required of a firefighter, and a test based on the New York City (NYC) firefighter exam-one of the most demanding Complete with advice for conquering test anxiety, Firefighter Exam For Dummies covers everything you need to know to confidently tackle-and pass-the big exam.


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Pharoahe Monch – W.A.R. (ft. Immortal Technique, Vernon Reid)April 4th, 2011
DOWNLOAD MP3 PharoaheMonch-WARftImmortalTechniqueVernonReid.mp3
Summary: Rise Up! Pharoahe Monch is Back!
About Artist: Pharoahe Monch is a rapper with a concious and is one of my personal favorites. Immortal Technique is even more a political rapper, also love him because he's in it for the movement and to make a change. No clue who Vernon Reid is, but I just read he's an all time great guitarist.
About Song: This hip hop song is off of Monch's recently released W.A.R (We Are Renegades) album which is AWESOME! I like this song because it really sums up the military feel of the album. In my mind W.A.R. is what Lupe's Lasers should have been. All I can see is you like responsible Hip Hop go listen to W.A.R.
Favorite Part:
This song just goes hard with two of my favorite political rappers. Really though this song just represents how great We Are Renegades is.
Pharoahe Monch Wikipedia
Vernon Reid Wikipedia
AdeleImmortal Technique Wikipedia


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Club News
District News
National News
Beachport - Rivoli Bay Lions Club
Ordinary people doing extraordinary things - supporting people with a disability, community greening, fundraising for worthwhile causes.
Be a part of the change. Join the LionsClub.
We are the Lions
We meet the needs of our local communities and the world.
1.3 million men and women in 205 countries and geographic areas conduct
vision and health screenings, build parks, support eye hospitals, award
scholarships, assist youth, provide help in time of disaster and much
Join us in making our communities and the world better places to live.
Becoming a Lion
Lions club members are men and women who strive to make a difference in
their local community as well as in communities worldwide. Their
volunteer efforts go beyond the support of vision care, to addressing
unmet health and education needs worldwide.


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As a newcomer to this, is it possible to stop HardwareGrowler (Growl?) notifications which have been triggered by a particular underlying application?
In my case I am running virus barrier and whenever it checks a disk image I get the notification of the disk being loaded. I could do without the distraction.
Stopping HardwareGrowler notifications
The Growl forums have moved to Google Groups, this forum is read only.
2 posts • Page 1 of 1
Re: Stopping HardwareGrowler notifications
As far as I know, there's no way to tell what mounted a volume—only that it mounted. So no.
2 posts • Page 1 of 1


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Forgot password?
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Energy costs are on the rise. Learn what you can do to find the best electric rate and save money here.
Please review the information below so we can send you important account updates.
We offer superior customer service and reliability to more than half a million customers and counting.
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To begin service with DLC, fill out the online form. Note that you must be 18 years or older to apply for service.
Please notify us of your request for service at least three business days in advance by applying online or calling us at 412-393-7300.
By entering your Social Security number or Tax ID, you agree to allow DLC to access your credit report to determine if a security deposit will be required before we provide electric service. If you elect not to provide a Social Security number or Tax ID, please call 412-393-7300 Monday through Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. to complete your application over the phone.
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DeM Banter: Guest curation from John Knight…thank you for the article… tons to think about here. Strong piece I will have to pull apart many times over.
Philosopher Peter Koestenbaum poses the truly big questions: How do we act when risks seem overwhelming? What does it mean to be a successful human being? Who hasn't stared out an airplane window on yet another red-eye and thought, What exactly is the point of this exercise? Or sat through a particularly senseless meeting and wondered, How in the world did I get here? Or wrestled with a set of strategic choices — all of which seem hard and unpleasant — and said, What happened to the fun part of being in business? According to Peter Koestenbaum, those uncomfortable questions — those existential quandaries — are at the root of issues that great leaders deal with all the time, and they influence every decision that must be made.
A classically trained philosopher with degrees in philosophy, physics, and theology from Stanford, Harvard, and Boston University, Koestenbaum has spent half a century pondering the questions that give most of us headaches: Why is there being instead of nothing? What is the ultimate explanation of the universe? What does it mean to be a successful human being? After fleeing pre-World War II Germany with his parents, Koestenbaum was raised in Venezuela; later, he emigrated to the United States to pursue his studies. He taught at San Jose State University for 34 years, and during that period he focused on creating a "practical philosophy" — a philosophy that is linked to education, psychology, and psychiatry. His many books include "The Vitality of Death" (Greenwood, 1971), "The New Image of the Person" (Greenwood, 1978), and "Managing Anxiety" (Prentice Hall, 1974). One of his books, "Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness" (Jossey-Bass, 1991), has been translated into several languages, and Koestenbaum is now at work on a new book, tentatively titled "Diamond Reverse Engineering."
More than 25 years ago, Koestenbaum traded the cloistered halls of academia for the front lines of the global economy. It's not unheard-of for this philosopher, now a tireless 71-year-old with thick glasses and a flowing beard, to visit clients across three continents in a single week. His agenda: to apply the power of philosophy to the big question of the day — how to reconcile the often-brutal realities of business with basic human values — and to create a new language of effective leadership. "Unless the distant goals of meaning, greatness, and destiny are addressed," Koestenbaum insists, "we can't make an intelligent decision about what to do tomorrow morning — much less set strategy for a company or for a human life. Nothing is more practical than for people to deepen themselves. The more you understand the human condition, the more effective you are as a businessperson. Human depth makes business sense."
Koestenbaum's wisdom makes sense to leaders at such giant organizations as Ford, EDS, Citibank, Xerox, Ericsson, and even one of Korea's chaebols. All of these companies have welcomed him into their offices to roam free as a resident sage, company therapist, and secular priest. His involvement with them ranges from one-on-one coaching sessions to decade-long engagements featuring intensive leadership seminars. At Ford, Koestenbaum contributed to the company's 2,000-person Senior Executive Program throughout the 1980s. In more than a decade at EDS, he led seminars and coached hundreds of top executives, including then-chairman Les Alberthal. He also coached Alexander Krauer, a prominent Swedish industrialist, when Krauer was chairman of Ciba-Geigy. Picking up on that momentum, another leading Swedish industrialist, Rolf Falkenberg, founded the Koestenbaum Institute to disseminate the philosopher's teachings across Scandinavia.
"Everything I do," says Koestenbaum, "is about using themes from the history of thought to rescue people who are stuck." His logic: Change — true, lasting, deep-seated change — is the business world's biggest and most persistent challenge. But too many people and too many companies approach change by treating it as a technical challenge rather than by developing authentic answers to basic questions about business life. "We've reached such explosive levels of freedom that, for the first time in history, we have to manage our own mutation," declares Koestenbaum. "It's up to us to decide what it means to be a successful human being. That's the philosophical task of the age. Nothing happens unless you make it happen. As a leader, everything is your responsibility, because you always could have chosen otherwise."
In an interview with Fast Company, Koestenbaum explains how age-old questions apply to the new world of work.
Why does being a leader feel so hard today?
Because reckoning with freedom is always hard — and the powerful paradoxes of the new economy make it even harder. We're living in a peculiar time: It's marked by a soaring stock market, the creation of tremendous wealth, an explosion in innovation, and the acute alienation that occurs when the global economy hits the average individual. What I call the "new-economy pathology" is driven by impossible demands — better quality, lower prices, faster innovation — that generate an unprecedented form of stress. People feel pressure to meet ever-higher objectives in all realms of work, wealth, and lifestyle — and to thrive on that pressure in the process.
This condition is exacerbated by the pornographic treatment of business in media and culture. The message is, You're living in the best country in the world at the best time in history; you have an amazing degree of freedom to do what you want, along with an unprecedented opportunity to build immense wealth and success — and to do it more quickly than ever before. Of course, the average individual has as much of a chance of launching a skyrocketing IPO as he or she has of becoming a movie star.
What's even more disturbing is that the ascendancy of shareholder value as the dominant driving force in business has resulted in a terrible insensitivity to basic human values. That's the real "stuck point" for leaders: How do we cope with a brutal business reality and still preserve human values? How do we handle competition without becoming either the kind of fool who allows it to crush us or the kind of fool who forgets people?
Resolving that paradox requires something like an evolutionary transformation of who we are, how we behave, how we think, and what we value. We've reached such an incredible level of freedom that, for the first time in history, we have to manage our own mutation. It's up to us to decide what it means to be a successful human being. That's the philosophical task of the age.
In some sense, of course, that has been the task of every age. There's nothing in today's economic disruptions that equals the horror of World War II. According to some estimates, nearly 100,000 people were killed during every week of that war. In 1935, when I was a seven-year-old boy, I once stood in the Alexanderplatz, a square in Berlin, and watched Hitler parade by in his Mercedes, just a few feet away. I'll never forget the mothers with babies in their arms, the children holding up swastikas. That leaves a mark on you that can't be erased — and it leaves you with questions that you have to confront: Who am I to have witnessed such acts? How am I to live meaningfully in a world such as this?
The new economy just happens to be the form that our existential challenge takes today. As always, the real obstacle is existence itself.
That's a heavy burden to place on leaders. They must not only guide organizations but also wrestle with basic philosophical questions.
There's a terrible defect at the core of how we think about people and organizations today. There is little or no tolerance for the kinds of character-building conversations that pave the way for meaningful change. The average person is stuck, lost, riveted by the objective domain. That's where our metrics are; that's where we look for solutions. It's the come-on of the consulting industry and the domain of all the books, magazines, and training programs out there. And that's why books and magazines that have numbers in their titles sell so well. We'll do anything to avoid facing the basic, underlying questions: How do we make truly difficult choices? How do we act when the risks seem overwhelming? How can we muster the guts to burn our bridges and to create a condition of no return?
There's nothing wrong with all of those technical solutions. They're excellent; they're creative; they're even necessary. But they shield us from the real issues: What kind of life do I want to lead? What is my destiny? How much evil am I willing to tolerate?
Reflection doesn't take anything away from decisiveness, from being a person of action. In fact, it generates the inner toughness that you need to be an effective person of action — to be a leader. Think of leadership as the sum of two vectors: competence (your specialty, your skills, your know-how) and authenticity (your identity, your character, your attitude). When companies and people get stuck, they tend to apply more steam — more competence — to what got them into trouble in the first place: "If I try harder, I'll be successful," or "If we exert more control, we'll get the results we need."
The problem is, when you're stuck, you're not likely to make progress by using competence as your tool. Instead, progress requires commitment to two things. First, you need to dedicate yourself to understanding yourself better — in the philosophical sense of understanding what it means to exist as a human being in the world. Second, you need to change your habits of thought: how you think, what you value, how you work, how you connect with people, how you learn, what you expect from life, and how you manage frustration. Changing those habits means changing your way of being intelligent. It means moving from a nonleadership mind to a leadership mind.
What are the attributes of a "leadership mind"?
Authentic leaders have absorbed the fundamental fact of existence — that you can't get around life's inherent contradictions. The leadership mind is spacious. It has ample room for the ambiguities of the world, for conflicting feelings, and for contradictory ideas.
I believe that the central leadership attribute is the ability to manage polarity. In every aspect of life, polarities are inevitable: We want to live, yet we must die. How can I devote myself fully to both family and career? Am I a boss or a friend? A lover or a judge? How do I reconcile my own needs with those of my team? Those paradoxes are simply part of life. Every business interaction is a form of confrontation — a clash of priorities, a struggle of dignities, a battle of beliefs. That's not an invitation to wage an epic battle of good versus evil or right versus wrong. (Chances are, your boss is less of an SOB than he is an agent of the cosmos.) My point is, you have to be careful not to bang your head against the wrong door. Polarities are in the nature of things. How we act, how we respond to those polarities — that is where we separate greatness from mediocrity.
That doesn't mean that we don't have to make decisions. Tough choices are a daily requirement of leadership. Leaders have to hire and fire, to sign off on new strategies, and to risk investments — all of which can lead to stress and guilt. The presence of guilt is not a result of making the wrong choice but of choosing itself. And that is the human condition: You are a being that chooses.
A young, ambitious guy whom I worked with at Amoco got a double promotion that required a transfer to Cairo. He went home to his new wife and young baby and said, "Great news, we're moving to Cairo." Appalled, his wife said, "You're moving alone. I'm going home to my mother." That was the first test of leadership in that family. There was no viable compromise: If he relinquished his promotion, he would resent his wife for ruining his career; if she just went along with the move, she would hate him for squashing her ideals for her baby and herself. What to do?
After some discussion, they might have been tempted to believe that maturity required them to deny their feelings and to sacrifice on behalf of each other. But that actually leads to illness, depression, and the end of affection. Instead, they went back to the fundamentals: Is it my career, or is it our career? Is it your baby, or is it our baby? Are we individuals, or do we operate as a team? What are our values? That marriage had to grow up by the equivalent of five years in about two weeks. They ended up going to Cairo, but their relationship had been transformed: She understood that his career was important to her; he recommitted to his values as a participant in the family. What matters is not what they ended up choosing, but how. They took the courageous step to redefine, from the inside out, who they truly were. The how is what gives you character. The what, which at first appears paramount, is ultimately of no emotional significance.
Managing polarity teaches us that there are no solutions — there are only changes of attitude. When you grapple with polarities in your life, you lose your arrogant, self-indulgent illusions, and you realize that the joke is on you. To get that message makes you a more credible human being — instantly.
It's one thing for a leader to embrace the contradictions of the new economy. But how does he or she persuade colleagues to go along with this kind of thinking?
The best leaders operate in four dimensions: vision, reality, ethics, and courage. These are the four intelligences, the four forms of perceiving, the languages for communicating that are required to achieve meaningful, sustained results. The visionary leader thinks big, thinks new, thinks ahead — and, most important, is in touch with the deep structure of human consciousness and creative potential. Reality is the polar opposite of vision. The leader as realist follows this motto: Face reality as it is, not as you wish it to be. The realist grapples with hard, factual, daily, and numeric parameters. A master in the art of the possible, the realist has no illusions, sees limits, and has no patience for speculation.
Ethics refers to the basic human values of integrity, love, and meaning. This dimension represents a higher level of development, one ruled not by fear or pleasure but by principle. Courage is the realm of the will; it involves the capacity to make things happen. The philosophic roots of this dimension lie in fully understanding the centrality of free will in human affairs. Courage involves both advocacy — the ability to take a stand — and the internalization of personal responsibility and accountability.
The real challenge of leadership is to develop all four of these often-contradictory modes of thinking and behaving at once. Leaders tend to operate on two dimensions at most — which has more to do with a lack of insight into human nature than with corrupt intent. Reality dominates, and the second-most-common attribute is ethics: Consider the statement "People are our most important asset." Unfortunately, those are often empty words — not just because too few people make the connection between profits and human values, but also because there is no adequate understanding of what it means to be a human being in a brutally competitive environment. "Vision" might be one of the most overused words in business, but in fact vision — in the sense of honing great thinking and fostering the capacity for ongoing inventiveness — is rarely practiced. And courage is demonstrated even more rarely.
When we talk about courage, we usually mean having guts or taking risks. But you talk about courage as if it were an almost mythic quality — one that lies at the heart of leadership success.
It goes back to the beginning of our discussion. Aristotle believed, correctly, that courage is the first of the human virtues, because it makes the others possible. Courage begins with the decision to face the ultimate truth about existence: the dirty little secret that we are free. It requires an understanding of free will at the archetypal level — an understanding that we are free to define who we are at every moment. We are not what society and randomness have made us; we are what we have chosen to be from the depth of our being. We are a product of our will. We are self-made in the deepest sense.
One of the gravest problems in life is self-limitation: We create defense mechanisms to protect us from the anxiety that comes with freedom. We refuse to fulfill our potential. We live only marginally. This was Freud's definition of psychoneurosis: We limit how we live so that we can limit the amount of anxiety that we experience. We end up tranquilizing many of life's functions. We shut down the centers of entrepreneurial and creative thinking; in effect, we halt progress and growth. But no significant decision — personal or organizational — has ever been undertaken without being attended by an existential crisis, or without a commitment to wade through anxiety, uncertainty, and guilt.
That's what we mean by transformation. You can't just change how you think or the way that you act — you must change the way that you will. You must gain control over the patterns that govern your mind: your worldview, your beliefs about what you deserve and about what's possible. That's the zone of fundamental change, strength, and energy — and the true meaning of courage.
Does developing the will to transform mean that you can actually will others to change?
Taking personal responsibility for getting others to implement strategy is the leader's key polarity. It's the existential paradox of holding yourself 100% responsible for the fate of your organization, on the one hand, and assuming absolutely no responsibility for the choices made by other people, on the other hand. That applies to your children too. You are 100% responsible for how your children turn out. And you accomplish that by teaching them that they are 100% responsible for how they turn out.
So how do you motivate people? Not with techniques, but by risking yourself with a personal, lifelong commitment to greatness — by demonstrating courage. You don't teach it so much as challenge it into existence. You cannot choose for others. All you can do is inform them that you cannot choose for them. In most cases, that in itself will be a strong motivator for the people whom you want to cultivate. The leader's role is less to heal or to help than to enlarge the capacity for responsible freedom.
Some people are more talented than others. Some are more educationally privileged than others. But we all have the capacity to be great. Greatness comes with recognizing that your potential is limited only by how you choose, how you use your freedom, how resolute you are, how persistent you are — in short, by your attitude. And we are all free to choose our attitude.
Polly LaBarre, a Fast Company senior editor, is based in New York City. Contact Peter Koestenbaum by email (firstname.lastname@example.com) or on the Web (www.pib.net).
Sidebar: Fear and Trembling in the New Economy
You don't need a philosopher to tell you that anxiety is one by-product of what Peter Koestenbaum calls "the brutality and promise" of the new economy. But you do need a philosopher to explain how anxiety rules the human condition — and how it can serve as a powerful, productive force in your life. The best thinker for the job, says Koestenbaum, is Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher who did as much for the analysis of anxiety as Freud did for the analysis of the subconscious. Here's a short course from Koestenbaum on the value of anxiety.
Anxiety generates knowledge. "As Kierkegaard explains it, anxiety is the natural condition. It's a cognitive emotion that reveals truths that we would prefer to hide but that we need for our greater health. In an essay called 'The Concept of Dread,' Kierkegaard draws a connection between anxiety and free will. We cannot prove that free will is true — because we freely choose the meaning of truth in the first place. But our anxiety tips us off to the existence of our freedom: It reminds us of our huge responsibility to choose who we are and to define our world."
Anxiety leads to action. "Kierkegaard wrote that the most common form of despair occurs when one does not choose or 'will' to be oneself — when a person is 'another than himself.' The opposite of despair is 'to will to be that self which one truly is.' That's the experience of anxiety. It is choosing life in the face of death; it is the experience of thought becoming action, reflection becoming behavior, and theory becoming practice. Anxiety is pure energy."
Anxiety makes you a grown-up. "Anxiety is the experience of growth itself. In any endeavor, how do you feel when you go from one stage to the next? The answer: You feel anxious. Anxiety that is denied makes us ill; anxiety that is fully confronted and fully lived through converts itself into joy, security, strength, centeredness, and character. The practical formula: Go where the pain is."
Peter Koestenbaum was my coach 2002 – 2006. Create meaning based on traditional concepts of goodness and greatness. Things that are common to most of the great philosophers and religions about what the good life is. Big organisations will always resist that…..but greatness in leadership requires that the fight be taken.


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Sanzhi might look like an outcropping of structures from an episode of Star Trek, but the site is actually home to the remains of an abandoned tourist destination resort in the north of Taiwan.
The concept behind Sanzhi was futuristic pods that would function as summer villas for the affluent who wanted retreats from the city.
What is it?
San Zhi was an idea that was well received and even gained financial backing from the government. Construction began in 1978, but investment capital dried up in 1980 before the project was completed.
The company went bankrupt and the project was abandoned, leaving the mostly-finished property to rot.
What Went Wrong?
There is much speculation and legend associated with what caused the now abandoned resort Sanzhi to fail. The most common reasons suggested were a combination of poor financial prospects combined with intense regional superstition.
Workers have cited a number of fatal accidents during construction, some so severe it forced the contractor to temporarily stop construction.
As the number of fatalities increased, the government's support of the project waned until it would ultimately discontinue subsidizing the project.
This lack of funding combined with a high number of fatalities helped grow rapid speculation the land was cursed. Regardless the reason, too many had lost their lives in what should not have been a risky construction project.
Unfortunately, the construction company responsible for the project has destroyed all records – possibly in an attempt to remove any evidence or proof of culpability.
Since all records have been destroyed, details of the fatal accidents – and even the architect of the project's name – are things we may never know.
In 2011, the still abandoned resort Sanzhi sits as it has for decades because it has little redevelopment value. Local legend still seems to suggest this property is cursed. Lore says the spirits of those workers who lost their lives in the fatal construction accidents still roam the abandoned resort Sanzhi as well. If it wasn't cursed before, it surely is now.
Will this project ever be finished or the land developed? By the late 2000's, the Taiwanese government finally decided to tear down the failed resort. Demolition was supposed to have begun in 2008.
See overhead satellite image: click here
Update 26 March 2014: Thanks to information from reader John Wilkerson, we know the San Zhi resort has been demolished. As of the date of this update, you can still see the resort on Google Maps. However Bing Maps does indicate the land has been cleared.
Before & After: Google (top) & Bing (bottom)


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Did you ever ask yourself why there's actually only one opening for the camera while there are flashes on both sides of the two installations at Camp Chapelon?
This is the front of the camera, with the lens hidden behind the glass window.
Have you been fooled?
I always had doubts about this point but this is now confirmed.
Be careful, the police usually hide somewhere in between the 2 camera installations, ready to take your picture just in case you want to speed beyond the authorised 80km/hr.
And NO, yashvinblogs.com does not encourage you to drive beyond speed limits.
Please SHARE and bon weekend 🙂


text:
Find Your Next Vehicle
Welcome to International Motor Cars
Serving the Calgary area, International Motor Cars is one of your premier retailers of high end and luxury vehicles. Our dedicated sales staff and top-trained technicians are here to make your auto shopping experience fun, easy and financially advantageous.
Our experienced sales staff is eager to share its knowledge and enthusiasm with you. We encourage you to browse our online inventory, schedule a viewing and investigate financing options. You can also request more information about a vehicle using our online form or by calling (844) 288-8918


text:
ok, so the general assignment is to create a class called SearchMyString and its driver that allows the user to enter any word or words that they want, and then choose to find the number of vowels, find the number of words, and search their entry for any word (which will either tell them the word is found in their original entry, or not). i know, very simple, but i am only in a high school computer programming class; give me a break. what i am having trouble with is creating the third method (searching their entry). the teacher told us that we need to use boolean for it, obviously, but i'm not quite sure how to make it work in my code because every time i compile, something is wrong (i am using blue j, by the way). i have been working on this for hours, and i just really need some help on this! if you could explain to me how to do it (not just do it for me, please), that would be amazing! thank you!
import java.util.Scanner; public class SearchMyString { public String userStr; Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in); public SearchMyString(String userStr) { this.userStr = userStr; }
here are the choices the user has:
public void displayMenu() { System.out.print("What would you like to do with your entry?\n"); System.out.print("(1) Find Vowels\n"); System.out.print("(2) Find Number of Words\n"); System.out.print("(3) Search Word\n"); }
method to find vowels (im finished with this already):
public int findVowels() { int counter = 0; System.out.print("==============================\n\n"); for(int i = 0; i < userStr.length(); i++) { if(userStr.charAt(i) == 'a') { System.out.print("a is at position " + i + "\n"); counter++; }else if(userStr.charAt(i) == 'e') { System.out.print("e is at position " + i + "\n"); counter++; }else if(userStr.charAt(i) == 'i') { System.out.print("i is at position " + i + "\n"); counter++; }else if(userStr.charAt(i) == 'o') { System.out.print("o is at position " + i + "\n"); counter++; }else if(userStr.charAt(i) == 'u') { System.out.print("u is at position " + i + "\n"); counter++; }else if(userStr.charAt(i) == 'y') { System.out.print("y is at position " + i + "\n"); counter++; } }//looks for only vowels. if found, adds +1 to counter System.out.print("Number of vowels = " + counter + "\n\n"); System.out.print("==============================\n\n"); return(counter); }
the method to find the number of words (finished this, too):
public int findNumOfWords() { int numWords = 0; System.out.print("==============================\n\n"); for(int i = 0; i < userStr.length(); i++) { if(userStr.charAt(i) == ',') {//if the character is "," numWords++;//+1 to numWords (if true) }else if(userStr.charAt(i) == '.') {//if the character is "." numWords++;//+1 to numWords (if true) } } System.out.print("Number of words = " + numWords + "\n\n"); System.out.print("==============================\n\n"); return(numWords); }
AAAAAND here's where the trouble starts... i am so lost:
public boolean searchWord(String srchTerm) { for(int i = 0; i < userStr.length(); i++) { if(srchTerm.charAt(i) == userStr.charAt(i)) { boolean srch = true; break; }else { boolean srch = false; break; } } if(true) { System.out.print("That word was found!\n\n"); }else if(false) { System.out.print("That word was not found.\n\n"); } System.out.print("==============================\n\n"); return(srch); } }
THIS IS MY DRIVER CLASS CODE (in case any of this matters...):
import java.util.Scanner; public class SearchMyStringTest { public static void main(String args[]){ while(true){ Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in); System.out.print("Enter Your Words! (Separate with commas (,) End with period (.))\n"); String userInput = in.nextLine();//receives the user input SearchMyString str = new SearchMyString(userInput);//holds the user input str.displayMenu(); int ans = in.nextInt(); if(ans == 1){ int counter = str.findVowels(); }else if(ans == 2){ int numWords = str.findNumOfWords(); }else if(ans == 3){ System.out.print("==============================\n\n"); System.out.print("Please enter the word you would like to search for:\n\n"); String word = in.nextLine(); SearchMyString newSearch = new SearchMyString(word); int srch = str.searchWord(word); } System.out.print("Would you like to play again?\n"); System.out.print("1. Yes\n"); System.out.print("2. No\n"); int c = in.nextInt(); if(c == 1){ System.out.print("==============================\n\n"); }else if(c == 2){ System.out.print("==============================\n\n"); System.out.print("Thanks for playing!\n\n"); System.out.print("==============================\n\n"); break; } } } }
thank you so much!!!


text:
In 1966 England won the World Cup. And firemen stopped
putting out flames with water, to start them with kerosene to burn books.
Francois Truffaut's film version of Ray Bradbury's classic
20th century novel Fahrenheit 451 was released in 1966. It starred
Julie Christie in a dual role and Oskar Werner as main character Montag.
According to IMDb, Truffaut wanted Terence Stamp for the lead role but the
British screen legend was uneasy about being overshadowed by his former lover
Christie. Truffaut and Werner, with his thick Austrian accent on an English
production, had fiery differences about the film's interpretation of Montag's
character. It's not surprising that there was passion on set because there was
a great deal within the pages of the book.
Bradbury's book is the tale of Montag, a fireman whose job
it is to burn books. In the world of Fahrenheit 451 (the temperature at which
book paper catches fire) the state has banned the owning and reading of books.
Indeed in the film Werner is shown "reading" a newspaper or story consisting
entirely of images, without even speech bubbles. Why the ban? Books are "the
source of all discord and unhappiness". Materialism, based on equality, is
encouraged, as opposed to the competing lies and raised expectations sold by
authors. Montag's wife is reliant on state sponsored drugs and spends her days
in front of state television. She barely speaks to him and all are ignorant of
impending war.
Bradbury was a master of science fiction and he churned out volumes of beautiful and imaginative short stories, as part of collections like The Martian Chronicles. But Fahrenheit 451 merely has elements of sci-fi. For the most part its world is uncomfortably close to our own.
Truffaut's adaptation has a fairy tale quality, and indeed
the novel is somehow magical. It is an incredibly intelligent book, packed with
literary references and joining the likes of George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous
Huxley's Brave New World, as one of the great prophetic dystopias with powerful
warnings about society. But it is not at all patronising and far more uplifting
than both of these books. It lays out its moral arguments more passionately and
poetically and tells a breathtakingly absorbing and thrilling tale, laced with
beautiful metaphors. Orwell and Huxley's books were urgent and thought
provoking but lack the vibrant colour given by Bradbury's imagery of flames.
Bradbury could also be funny rather than drab and his ideas were grounded in the realities of modern culture.
In short then, Truffaut had an enormous task to match a book
which simultaneously had pace, power, poetry and passion. I was therefore
surprised by how much I enjoyed his adaptation. It lacks the book's excitement
and indeed many of its qualities but its opening scene, six minutes
uninterrupted by dialogue, is suitably atmospheric. The film as a whole evokes
the experience of reading and the worth of literature through the relatively
new medium of cinema: not an easy achievement. By quoting from great works as Bradbury often does the film benefits from some of the novel's rhythm and can show the mesmerising effects of fire, leaving pages "blackened and changed", shrivelling up like dying flowers.
All in all it was an entertaining watch, faithful to the book's message, even if it was not "the most skilfully drawn of all science fiction's conformist hells", as Kingsley Amis described the novel. It was inventively shot and hauntingly scored. And its wonderful final scene got me thinking.
In it the "book people" are wandering in the woods by a lake. They are all reciting or learning a book. The book people commit a book to memory and become that book. So when Montag meets a pair of brothers, one is introduced as Pride and Prejudice Part 1 and the other as Part 2, a woman is Plato's Republic and a shabbily dressed man Machiavelli's Prince and so on. In effect the community of peaceful outsiders are a human library.
But aren't we all libraries really? We may not have devoted
our lives to the word for word memorisation of our favourite books but our
opinions and outlook on the world are shaped by them. The impressions and
traces of good and great books we read can truly change us, inform us and
enlighten us, as well as entertain us.
Equally us film lovers are archives of all the movies we've
ever seen. Some of them will be forgettable but should we get a jolt to remind
us memories of even the poorest film will come flooding back. Others made us
stretch new emotional muscles or were so terrifically dramatic we had never
felt so alive and full of possibility.
The copy of Fahrenheit 451 that I own contains an
introduction written by Ray Bradbury for the 50th anniversary
edition in 2003. He describes how he wrote the novel on a typewriter in the
basement of a library, darting up the stairs now and then to do rapid research
and pick randomly inspirational quotes to sprinkle into the narrative. His love
of libraries is evident and he calls himself a lifelong "library person". I
couldn't help but think that a cinema or movie theatre could never give birth
to a work of art or vital piece of culture in quite the same diverse and
autonomous way.
Of course some fantastic films have their beginnings in
great directors being inspired by other great directors in a darkened cinema.
Last year Christopher Nolan's Inception was seen and adored by millions, with
the director freely admitting influences as varied as James Bond, Stanley
Kubrick and the Matrix trilogy. There's no doubt that I would prefer to spend
an afternoon in my local cinema than my local library. Both are arenas of
escapism but both are changing.
At the cinema 3D may or may not breakthrough as the next big
wow factor for audiences. Box office figures continue to remain high and
records were broken throughout the global recession. People will always flock
to the multiplex to give themselves up to the immediacy of film. They want to
be transported to another world in moments.
Libraries are undoubtedly in decline. In the UK local
libraries are understaffed, underfunded and short on stock. The coalition
government is happy to snatch away even more support for them for tiny savings, despite promises about getting more children to read from Education Secretary Michael Gove. Children's author Patrick Ness used his Carnegie medal acceptance speech to launch a stinging attack on the policy.
As a child I got into reading because of the ease and
assistance of a library. Its poor range of choice wasn't good enough as I got
older but I might still use it now if it were better equipped. In any case
libraries are a vital stepping stone into independent reading and education for
youngsters. The grander buildings full of history and knowledge have the
potential to be truly magical gateways to new novels, screenplays, election
campaigns or God knows what. Libraries empower the imagination and the
intellect. But so do cinemas, just in a different way. Both can keep us
entertained and thinking, as Fahrenheit 451 proves. Both deserve to thrive.


text:
Spiritual Voices in Modern Literature
Read Books, May 1, 2006 - Literary Criticism - 312 pages
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
What people are saying - Write a review
We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.


text:
A small collection of electronic circuits for the hobbyist or student. Site includes 100+ circuit diagrams with text descriptions, several electronic calculators, links to related sites, commercial kits and projects, newsgroups, and educational areas.
Most of the circuits can be built using common components available from Radio Shack, Digikey, Jameco, Mouser, Allied electronics, or salvaged from scrap electronic equipment. Most circuits have been built, tested, and believed to perform as described, however possible mistakes may be found.
What's New Here? (09/15/16)
Power Circuits
Semiconductor Data Sheets
TI Semiconductors (search) National Semiconductors (search) Motorola NTE Datasheet Archive
Java Script CalculatorsResistor Color Code Calculator - Graphical resistor color code calculator by Danny Goodman. Uses pulldown menus and a realistic picture of a resistor.
4,5,and 6 Band Resistor Color Code Calculator - Graphical 4,5 and 6 band resistor color code calculator including tollerance and tempco.
Another Resistor Color Code Calculator - This one uses check boxes instead of pulldown menus and also calculates the equivalent value of two resistors in parallel. My own creation.
Ohm's Law Calculator - Java Script to solve Ohm's Law for Voltage, Current, Resistance and Power. Enter any two unknowns and solve for the other two.
Voltage Divider Calculator - Solves voltage, current, and power dissipation problems for two element resistive voltage dividers.
L or C Reactance Calculator - Java Script to calculate capacitive or inductive reactance and resonant frequency. For ideal devices only, resistance not included.
RC Time Calculator - Java Script to solve R and C values for given values of time or instantaneous voltages.
RL Time Calculator - Java Script to solve R and L values for given values of time or instantaneous current.
555 Timer - Frequency and Time Interval Calculator - Calculates positive and negative time intervals for the 555 timer based on R and C values. Also contains descriptions and operation of each input and output of the timer and schematics for the two basic modes of operation (monostable or "one-shot" and astable or "rectangular wave oscillator"). Also contains a pictorial diagram of the timer connected as a LED flasher and a table of connections for the 556 timer (dual 555 timer).
LED Series Resistor Calculator - Finds the series resistance needed for various series LED combinations and supply voltages.
Several JavaScript Calculators by John Owen. - Audio op-amp filter, Op-amp circuit, Decibels, Zener Diodes and more...
Air Core Inductance Calculator - Calculates number of turns and layers needed for air core inductors.
Gregorian Calendar - Displays any month from Oct 1582 forward.
Links to Other Hobby Electronics Sites and Useful Information
Don Klipstein's LED Website - Lots of useful LED information, FAQs, and sources for the brightest and most efficient LEDs.
Circuit Archive - University of Washington Circuit Archive, lots of good circuits and links.
Tomi Engdahl's Electronic Info - Links to a wide variety of analog and digital circuits.
Imagineering Imagineering On-Line Magazine,The Design Corner, over 100 circuits in pdf format.
Links for FM Transmitter Kits, Circuits, Electronics ...
Tony's Website - Free electronic circuits, R/C Gadgets, and tutorials for the hobbyist. Site in operation since 1995.
Steve Walz's FTP Site - FTP Resource Site, 1000 Files in 50 Directories.
Wenzel and Associates (Circuits) - Technical Library, Hobby Circuits.
Samuel M. Goldwasser Homepage - Silicon Sam's Technology Resource - FAQs, Links, Troubshooting & Repair, Laser info, Circuits.
Deep Cycle Battery Frequently Asked Questions
Wonton Soup Recipe This recipe was copied from a local Chineese take out place. Costs $5 to buy it, and only $2 to make it.
Commercial Electronic Sites, Kits and Projects
Electronics Educational Sites
Electronic Component Suppliers
For help with circuits not listed here, please post a message with details to one of the electronic newsgroups, either sci.electronics.basics or sci.electronics.design Many readers of those groups will offer ideas and a few specifics at no charge.
For help with specific circuits on this site, or some minor modification, please email the details and I will try to resolve it. I can also build completed circuits shown here for a small fee depending on time involved.
Please do not attach large files over 200K to email messages. I still use a dial-up connection with minimal bandwidth, and cannot download large files over 200KB.


text:
Los Angeles Rams Personalized AJD13 Sneakers BG195
$119.99Save 33%
- Amazing colours and vibrant print
- 100% Vegan leather
- Memory EVA insole for maximum comfort
- Robust and flexible rubber outsole with steel shank
- Real stitch on the outsole for style & durability? Water resistant
- Due to manual measurement, there will be an error of +/-0.3-0.5 cm. Please be understanding.
- Any modifications must be done within 12 hours after placing order. All orders will be produced after 12 hours so once exceed 12 hours, you CAN NOT cancel/change the order. Please understand for us.
- Production Time: 7-10 business days. This item is made-to-order so the production time will be a little bit longer than usual. Please be patient.
Shipping Time: 7-15 business days.
Size chart:
Return & Warranty
- 100% Secure payment with SSL Encryption.
- If you're not 100% satisfied, let us know and we'll make it right.
Shipping Policies
- Orders ship within 5 to 10 business days.
- Tip: Buying 2 products or more at the same time will save you quite a lot on shipping fees.


text:
#BonusMom 20 oz Skinny Tumbler
#BonusMom 20 oz Skinny Tumbler
Insulated - 6 hours for hot, 12 hours for cold
Top-Rack Dishwasher Safe
20 oz
Comes with plastic straw and lid with slide opening that can be used with or without the straw.
Sublimation or DTG?
Sublimation or DTG?
So you might be wondering what the difference is between sublimation and DTG.
With sublimation tees, the ink is infused into the shirt. You literally cannot feel it. The ink will outlast the shirt itself. It will never crack or peel. But sublimation has limitations - colored designs can only go on light colored shirts, black designs can go only go on light and medium colored shirts. There are no black or dark colored shirts, and no white ink. Shirts will have a vintage look (the mockups do not display this).
With DTG or direct to garment tees, the ink is laid on top of the shirt. The ink does have a slight feel on the shirt but its very light. There are no limitations to shirt color or design. We can also offer a larger selection of brands and shirt styles. If you're looking for black or other dark colored shirts choose DTG!
Still unsure of which to choose? Contact us and we can talk through your needs.
Shipping & Returns
Shipping & Returns
Shipping Policy
Shipping costs vary based on the quantity and weight of the items you select.
All of our products are made to order based on your choices during the ordering process. Because of that orders normally will take 7-10 business days to ship. This does not include time in transit.
Once your item has been lovingly created by me. You will receive a USPS tracking number via email. You can use that tracking number to stalk your package straight to your door step.
Return Policy
Because all of our products are made to order, we are not able to accept returns under any circumstances. If you happen to receive a damaged or incorrect item please reach out to us within 3 business days via the contact form or by email at anchoredgraceboutique @ gmail.com. We strive to have happy customers and will replace any damaged or incorrect items at no additional cost to you.
If you have questions about your order, please don't hesitate to reach out at any time. I'd be happy to chat with you.


text:
The statement:
Complaints that those in the United States illegally would get benefits under the health-care bill now before the House of Representatives have been a staple of the raucous public meetings some members of Congress have been hosting during their August break. At least two people raised the issue at a forum held by Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, on August 12, and Cardin's insistence that "Illegal aliens will not be in this bill - period - the end" was met with a round of jeers.
Facts and the Truth Squad verdict after the jump:
The facts:
The bill, HR 3200, would set up a health insurance "exchange," in which consumers could compare policies and choose a plan. It would create a government-run health plan to compete with private insurers in that exchange, and extend subsidies for coverage to people who aren't already covered by employers or federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
It specifically bars illegal immigrants from receiving those subsidies. Section 246, which is included in the part of the bill that sets up the exchange, forbids payments "on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States."
But when Cardin said undocumented workers "will not be in this bill," he appears to have missed one point: It may require them to buy their own coverage.
That's the conclusion of the Congressional Research Service, which issued a report on the topic this week. According to the CRS, noncitizens who can be considered "resident aliens" under U.S. tax law would have to buy insurance - and unlike immigration laws, the tax code doesn't distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants.
"Thus, legal permanent residents, and noncitizens and unauthorized aliens who qualify as resident aliens ... would be required under H.R. 3200 to have health insurance," the new report states.
Critics say there is no way to enforce the ban on subsidies for undocumented workers, since the Democratic majority in the House turned back a Republican effort to explicitly stiffen citizenship checks. But Medicare and Medicaid already require those enrolled to provide "a substantial number of documents" to show they're U.S. citizens or legal residents, said Henrie Treadwell, a professor of community and preventive medicine at Atlanta's Morehouse University medical school.
Treadwell calls the issue a "red herring," since many of the estimated 10 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States are getting treatment at emergency rooms already. Doctors are obligated to treat people who show up regardless of citizenship, and most of those costs are being absorbed by hospitals and state and local governments, Treadwell said.
"It is certainly not just something that disappears," she said. "We are paying now for care that is not preventive, and we are paying millions."
Some Republicans argue that the measure has left a loophole for undocumented relatives of legal residents to be covered. But Treadwell disputes that, telling CNN that based on her reading of the bills, "There is no loophole currently." The language in Section 242 of the House bill limits benefits to family members who are citizens or legal residents, she said.
In addition, a widely circulated e-mail critical of the bill states that a non-discrimination clause in Section 152 would require illegal immigrants to be covered by a public health insurance plan. But the first line of that provision forbids discrimination "except as otherwise explicitly permitted by this act."
The verdict:
False. A new report finds the bill could require illegal immigrants to buy coverage, but it clearly restricts subsidies to U.S. citizens and legal residents.


text:
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas House is considering a bill that would allow some religious symbols on public lands.
The religious symbols would be permitted if they are part of the community's history or heritage.
The Wichita Eagle reports the bill is a reaction to an incident last summer, when a group threatened to sue the town of Buhler because its official city sign included a cross. The town replaced it with similar signs on private land.
The bill would also allow religious displays in public schools, if they are part of a course of study.
Rep. Don Schroeder of Hesston told a House committee Thursday that he believed religious displays like Buhler's do not violate the U.S. Constitution.
House Majority Leader Arlen Siegfried expects a vote on the bill next week.


text:
Strategies to Max Out Social Security Benefits
Much of my mail these days seems to start with the same warm greeting: "What planet are you from?" That's invariably the case when I suggest that readers consider ways to maximize Social Security benefits instead of grabbing a check at age 62, as about half of all retirees do.
I know: Waiting to claim Social Security until your mid-60s or later isn't easy. Many people need the cash, are fearful that the program might change (or collapse), or are trying to avoid tapping their savings for as long as possible. But two trends make this a good time to look at "claiming strategies" for Social Security and help illustrate just how much money is involved.
First, a recent report from the Census Bureau highlights a startling fact: The 90-plus population is projected to quadruple in size between now and 2050 -- meaning that living into your tenth decade is something to factor into Social Security planning. Second, a growing number of Web-based tools now allow you to run dozens of possible claiming strategies -- and can recommend how to maximize benefits.
For the examples below, I asked the folks at SocialSecuritySolutions.com in Leawood, Kan., for help; I like that the company's lead researcher, Baylor University finance professor William Reichenstein, has written extensively about how best to tap nest eggs. (Using the site's tool runs between $20 and $125, depending on how much personal attention you want interpreting your report.) Given the stakes, I suggest comparing results from a few different sites. You'll find free tools at the Social Security Administration's site, AARP.com and AnalyzeNow.com; another site, MaximizeMySocialSecurity.com, charges $40.
Now some numbers. First, we need a way of measuring why one claiming strategy might be better than another. I'm going to use cumulative lifetime benefits as a yardstick. In other words, I want to see, given a specific starting age and life expectancy, which claiming strategy will pay me and a spouse the most money over a lifetime (or, considering there are two of us, lifetimes). You also could look at monthly income, but it can be misleading. More on that in a moment.
We'll start with a simple example. Joe and John can begin collecting $1,500 monthly from Social Security at age 62, or $2,640 a month at age 70. Let's say both live to 92. If Joe claims benefits at 62, his lifetime total will be $540,000. If John waits until 70, he'll net $696,960 -- almost $157,000 more.
If you look solely at monthly income, claiming benefits at 62 looks smart; Joe is getting $1,500 a month for eight years, and John is getting zilch. But again, "longevity risk should be part of your planning," says William Meyer, founder and managing principal of Social Security Solutions. What are the odds that you will live to 85 or 90 -- or longer? The answer for many: increasingly good.
[Also see: States With the Most Homes in Foreclosure]
Now let's look at a husband and wife: Bob and Carol, ages 62 and 58. Bob is scheduled to receive $2,000 at his full retirement age of 66, while Carol is scheduled to receive $1,600 at her full retirement age, also 66. Each, of course, can claim Social Security at age 62. If they do so -- and Bob lives until 83 and Carol lives until 90 -- their cumulative benefits will be $840,600.
But Social Security Solutions offers a more lucrative -- and slightly more complex -- strategy. At his full retirement age, Bob claims a spousal benefit of $800. (Yes, Social Security allows this.) Carol, meanwhile, claims a benefit (based on her earnings) of $1,200 at age 62. Finally, Bob, at age 70, switches to a monthly benefit of $2,640, based on his earnings history, a move that falls under "delayed retirement credits." In this case, the couple's lifetime benefits will total $1,043,520, a gain of almost $203,000 over the let's-jump-in-the-pool-as-quickly-as-possible approach.
The other interesting piece of these two strategies: survivor benefits. If both spouses claim benefits at age 62, Carol -- when Bob dies -- will be eligible for a survivor's benefit (under Social Security's rules) of $1,650 a month. But under the second claiming strategy, she would get a survivor's benefit of $2,640, an extra $1,000 each month.
Now, consider the options for a woman, age 60, who loses her husband. Her benefit at full retirement age is $1,400; his would have been $2,000. She could begin collecting a widow's benefit of $1,430 at age 60. But it might be better for her to pursue a different strategy -- claiming a reduced benefit, based on her earnings history, of $1,050 at age 62 and switching to a widow's benefit of $2,000 at age 66. The difference in total benefits if she lives until age 89: an extra $112,000.
Yes, the numbers can get a little head-spinning. But I hope these examples give you an idea about how much money might be forfeited if you claim benefits early -- and how many claiming options are available. I recently heard this from Mark Ellingson, a retiree in Lake George, Colo.: "Take benefits [at age 62] while you still have good health and can enjoy life." That's tough to argue with. But please, do consider the alternatives.


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My interest in climate change derived in part from experience in the stock market where "consensus" is not infrequently established in favor of opinions that are completely incorrect. And, in many cases, the people promoting the views are competent and serious people. How are such things possible? I read about the Bre-X and Enron failures, trying to distinguish between the "shame on you" and the "shame on me" components – i.e. yes, the original misconduct and deceit was deplorable; but at what point should proper independent due diligence have been able to detect misconduct? At what point were regulatory agencies negligent? Obviously we're going to see a new spate of such inquiries in the wake of the recent collapses.
I was particularly intrigued in the cases of Bre-X and Enron failures by the tremendous acolades meted out to the promoters right up to the eve of their collapses.
As evidence of this ongoing interest, a reflection on Bre-X was one of the very first Climate Audit posts (Feb 6, 2005). I observed that Felderhof and de Guzman were lionized at the 1997 PDA convention (March 10-16, 1997) and walked around like royalty only a few days before the fraud was revealed. de Guzman literally disappeared a few days later, supposedly either jumping or being pushed from a plane over the Indonesian jungle. Others speculate that he may have assumed a new identity in a Third World barrio somewhere. The "consensus" disappeared quickly. Take a look at the post.
In another early post, I observed the "consensus" that Enron was not only a well-managed company, but the most outstandingly managed company in the U.S., citing a couple of quotes from Kurt Eichenwald's Conspiracy of Fools:
The next morning just after ten, Skilling stood beside Lay as a photographer snapped their pictures for an article in Fortune. They were more than happy to participate; already that year, in its annual rankings, Fortune had hailed Enron as America's best-managed company, knocking General Electric from the number-one perch. (p.227)
After months of effort, Karen Denne from Enron's public relations office landed the big fish: CFO magazine had selected Fastow as one of the year's best chief financial officers. (p. 260)"
Lay opened his briefcase and pulled out the latest issue of CFO magazine, glacing at the cover. The Finest in Finance. Lay smiled to himself. He found the table of contents, looking for Fastow's name. Beneath it were the words: How Enron financed its amazing transformation from pipelines to piping hot. Lay turned to the article, "When Andrew S Fastow, the 37-year old CFO of Enron Corp. boasts that "our story is one of a kind' he's not kidding" it began". Fastow was obviously as creative and sharp as Lay and Enron's board of directors had come to believe" (p. 267)
Turning now to Lehman Bros. I looked quickly at their website this morning, which reports that in the last two years, Lehman Bros has been ranked #1 by both Barron's and Fortune:
2006 – Ranks #1 in the Barron's 500 annual survey of corporate performance for the largest companies in the U.S. and Canada.
2007 – Lehman Brothers ranks #1 "Most Admired Securities Firm" by Fortune.
One more example of "consensus".
I don't want readers to start piling on with accusations or making uninformed comparisons of climate change to these corporate failures. For once, I want to be able to be nuanced statements without provoking a lot of piling on. I personally am unimpressed by "consensus", especially when there is no independent due diligence. That doesn't mean that I'm impressed by "skeptic" proposals either (BTW).
One of the curious aspects to Enron's rise to prominence is that nobody understood how they actually made money. That's one of the reasons why I'm so adamant about wanting clear A-to-B explanations of how doubled CO2 leads to 3 or more deg C and why excuses for not providing such explanations are so disappointing. I believe that forcing oneself to provide such an explanation would be very healthy for the AGW community.
In passing, recall that Enron had an early interest in climate change policy. I was prudent enough to save a pdf of their policy position, which I reported on a couple of years ago.
Lehman Bros also seem to have been actively interested in climate change, producing a couple of reports, most recently here dated Sept 2007. In their acknowledgements, they thank James Hansen for clearing up some "questions that had been niggling us":
On the scientific side, we are grateful to Dr. James Hansen, Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who, at the end of a particularly informative dinner hosted by Ben Cotton of the Man Group, gave generously of his time to clear up a number of scientific questions that had been niggling us. Dr. Peter Collins and Richard Heap of the Royal Society provided valuable input and brought us up to date on the more controversial areas of scientific developments in the domain of global climate change.
In the summer and September of 2007, we also spent a lot of time trying to understand "questions that had been niggling us" – like what data set was used in GISTEMP, why Hansen changed the provenance of GISTEMP data sets, how GISTEMP adjustments were done and why. Hansen was notably uncooperative, even saying that he refused to "joust with jesters". Maybe we went about it the wrong way. Maybe we should have asked Lehman Bros to find out for us.


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September 2, 2013:-
Daniel Sturridge grabbed Liverpool\'s winner for the third straight Premier League game to condemn fierce rival Manchester United to a 1-0 loss on Sunday, handing David Moyes his first defeat as manager of the champions.
The England striker flicked home a close-range header following a fourth-minute corner to maintain his red-hot form and his side\'s perfect start to the season. Liverpool has won all three of its games 1-0 and Sturridge is providing the cutting edge in the continued absence of suspended Luis Suarez.
\"I\'m delighted with his application because he was nowhere near fit today,\" Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said. \"But even at 70 percent, he\'ll be as good, if not better, than a lot of Premier League strikers.\"
United dominated possession in the second half but barely created a clear-cut chance in the absence of Wayne Rooney, who was missing after sustaining a head injury in training on Saturday. With just four points from a possible nine and an away match at Manchester City to come in his fifth league match, Moyes isn\'t having a comfortable start to life as Alex Ferguson\'s successor.
\"I thought we played very well, probably the best we have played this season,\" said Moyes, who didn\'t win at Anfield in his 11 years across Stanley Park at neighbor Everton either. \"Tell you what, I could really see why this team are the champions.\"
Moyes was putting a brave face on his current situation, but this display - coming after a 0-0 draw with Chelsea on Monday - showed why United has been in the transfer market for attacking midfielders this summer. Robin van Persie wasted a good late opportunity but he was largely starved of service by a sturdy Liverpool backline.
There\'s always motivation for Liverpool to beat United, its biggest rival, but there was even more on Sunday.
The match was played on the eve of what would have been the 100th birthday of the late Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, who died in 1981 after helping turn the club into the leading force in English football in a 15-year spell from 1959-74.
Shankly\'s daughter and six grandchildren stood on the touchline as Liverpool fans - and most of United\'s travelling fans - took part in a minute\'s applause in the Scot\'s honor before kickoff. There was a mosaic of Shankly in The Kop stand, along with a banner saying \"He Made People Happy,\" while a stirring rendition of club anthem \"You\'ll Never Walk Alone\" was belted out.
It certainly got Liverpool\'s players fired up and they were first to every ball in a breathless opening spell in which Sturridge grabbed an 11th goal in his last nine Liverpool games.
Daniel Agger beat Rio Ferdinand to Steven Gerrard\'s outswinging corner and Sturridge was there inside the six-yard box to stoop and flick home a deft header. The sound was deafening as Sturridge and the whole Liverpool team ran to Rodgers, who has instilled belief into the striker since his move from Chelsea in January.
That was enough to ensure a third straight win to start a season for only the second time in the Premier League era. Rodgers laughed out loud when a reporter asked if Liverpool could be classed as title contenders but Suarez is returning soon from a ban for biting and Chelsea winger Victor Moses is one of three players expected to sign Monday on transfer deadline day.
\"We won\'t be getting carried away,\" Rodgers said. \"The initial challenge is to get in the top four and I don\'t think we can look at anything beyond that.\"
But with Ferguson gone, Liverpool can maybe start dreaming of closing the gap to United.
This was a tight, frenetic and typically feisty encounter between England\'s most successful clubs, who have won the top-flight title 38 times between them. Van Persie spent most of his time tangling with Agger and Martin Skrtel while two defenders, Phil Jones (United) and Glen Johnson (Liverpool), went off with ankle injuries.
United improved after the break, pressing higher and starving Liverpool\'s lightweight forward line of possession but worryingly there was no end product without Rooney.
\"Wayne Rooney is world class ... he\'s a top, top operator and when we heard he wasn\'t playing, it gives you a tonic,\" Rodgers said. \"We were defensively strong and I thought the players\' concentration was very good.\"
News From: http://www.7StarNews.com
Monday, September 2, 2013
Liverpool stun Manchester United to clinch top spot in EPL standings
Posted by cypeecom at 2:56 AM
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Wednesday, 6 July 2011
This is part of a general profile-raising campaign ahead of Blue Remembered Earth's release in January, but hopefully I'll enjoy it well enough to stick with afterwards.
7 comments:
- Anonymous6 July 2011 at 09:22
Hey Al,ReplyDelete
Can I ask that you link your Twitter feed to your Facebook status bit? That way I can follow you there..
I dont understand twitter
Hi BobReplyDelete
I ain't got no Facebook status - anything that's up there is not official and isn't anything to do with me.
We may do something with Facebook at some point, but for now I don't have a presence.
You may want to update the link above to something more like http://twitter.com/AquilaRift losing the #! bit. If you include that bit, Twitter does funny things on the other side. Can't wait for the trilogy to begin!ReplyDelete
Cheers, Alex - done now.ReplyDelete
Hi Alastair! I'm kind of a new fan and couldn't find another way to message you than here. I'm churning my way through your novels now; read "Revelation Space" and "Redemption Ark" and now reading "Absolution Gap", plus I've listened to "Chasm City" and "House of Suns" on Audible and listening to "The Prefect" now. John Lee is AWESOME at making your stories come alive. Did you hand-pick him to narrate your stories?ReplyDelete
I also am a huge fan of Jonn Serrie. His "Thousand Star" album has several tracks devoted to your work and I listen to them sometimes as I read your books. Hope you don't mind if I ask: Is he a fan of yours who asked to devote some of his work or are you two friends? I noticed you are something of a musician yourself. Do you enjoy ambient music and/or use it as inspiration as you write? (I do personally).
Sorry to take up your time, but I've been itching to find out!
Hi Josh - no, the choice of narrator was entirely out of my hands, but I'm glad that you enjoy John Lee's work on the books.ReplyDelete
Can't say I was aware of John Serrie: I don't listen to much ambient music, other than the occasional Brian Eno record. Mostly when I'm working it's rock, pop, world, jazz, blues or a bit of classical. Yesterday was an Eels day. I guess when you're working on your own for long hours, it's nice to have some vocals in the mix.
- Anonymous7 July 2011 at 10:43
Hi Al Welcome to the Twittersphere - must confess I'm quite a Twitter fan for keeping up with stuff. Not such a fan of those who want to share their every waking thought! Interesting to read you're not on Facebook - Y was sure that she's found you on there.ReplyDelete
All the best


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Charles Pierce: Is anyone taking seriously the complaints now coming about how the president's re-election campaign is using the decision to kill Osama bin Laden to its own advantage? I think the killing of the author of the 9/11 atrocities, and a considerable international murderer even beyond that particular crime, is something that a president who wants to be president again is within his rights to use…..
…. it's no more or less "fair" on the merits than is Romney's constant refrain that the president "doesn't understand how the economy works" because he's never been a vulture capitalist.
….. demonstrating the pure class and raw political courage that has marked his entire political career by throwing a cheap shot at someone who wasn't in the room, Romney said that, "Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order." This from a man whose toughest decision in his life has been which house to sleep in.
…. every time he talks about foreign policy, Romney is a blindfolded man in a yard full of rakes. He wrote a Washington Post op-ed about arms control that proved Romney didn't know enough about the subject to feed to his fish. He flirted with advocating a trade war with China, and he and his advisors occasionally slip and call Russia "the Soviet Union." Of course, he did make the bobsleds run on time, so there's that.
More here
Washington Post (Chris Cillizza and Rachel Weiner): The one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden has occasioned a fierce political debate about the appropriateness of President Obama's reelection campaign touting the death for their partisan benefit.
It shouldn't. Here's why …. simply because the death of bin Laden bolsters Obama's case for reelection doesn't mean that it is out of bounds. What's good for the political goose is good for the political gander.
In case you need a little more convincing, remember that President George W. Bush stoked considerable controversy when just one day after formally announcing for reelection, he launched TV ads that prominently featured imagery from Sept. 11, 2001. "Sept. 11 changed the equation in our public policy," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said at the time, defending the ads. "The president's steady leadership is vital to how we wage war on terrorism."
That's, in essence, the same argument that Obama and his team are making about the use of bin-Laden in two web videos released by the campaign over the last 96 hours. If the American public needs to make a judgment on Obama's first term decision-making, then it doesn't make sense to ignore one of the major moments of those four years….
More here
Charles Pierce: Good on the Obama people for taking on the current national campaign of voter-suppression at the local level. Back in Mississippi during the Freedom Summer, volunteers were deeply schooled in the various regulations and tactics used to deprive African Americans of their right to vote ….
The new Florida rules … were the centerpiece of a training effort over the weekend by the Obama for America staff in the state. All volunteers and staff members in Florida are required to attend a mandatory session on the new laws … Those who go through the training must pass a quiz administered by the campaign before they can attempt to register voters on the president's behalf.
This is absolutely the same thing that those people did in Mississippi 50 years ago, and it's become necessary to do it again because the same foul impulses that brought us literacy tests and the poll tax is bringing us these latest attempts to make difficult what should be the easiest right for us to exercise. And, not for nothing, but Greg Palast brings our attention back to 2000 again, and the effect that what looks today like a rudimentary exercise in voter-suppression had on our history.
More here
The Fact Checker (Washington Post): Two well-funded Republican groups began running hard-hitting ads against President Obama last week, aiming to spend an estimated $8 million in key battleground states. The spots hit similar themes, attacking Obama on green-energy investments, and even cite similar sources.
Watching these ads is a depressing duty for The Fact Checker, because many of their claims – regarding "billions" of stimulus dollars going overseas – had been debunked two years ago by our colleagues at PolitiFact and Factcheck.org. Yet here the erroneous assertions emerge yet again, without any shame, labeled as "the truth" or "fact."
….. One can certainly raise questions about how stimulus funding was used and whether it was effective. But there is no excuse for these kinds of ads, which take facts out of context or simply invent them. These groups should be especially ashamed, given that these claims have been previously debunked, or, in the case of the erroneous ABC report, withdrawn.
More here
Annika Shepp basks in the arms of First Lady Michelle Obama at Tucson International Airport on April 30. Shepp was one of nearly twenty youth volunteers to greet the First Lady as she arrived to speak at a campaign event downtown
President Obama has no public events listed on his schedule. First lady Michelle Obama will attend campaign events in Las Vegas, Nev., and Albuquerque, N.M.
Morning everyone 😉


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Seasons of Sacred Celebration: Flowers and Poetry from an Imperial Convent
While attempting to organise some of my books, I came across this one. I've owned it for some time and have read it before, but now, re-reading it I was thrilled all over again.
It presents a set of poetry cards from the Diashoji Imperial Convent in Kyoto. Each card is reproduced on its own page and opposite are a Japanese and English version of the poem. The publishers are the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies, part of Columbia University, New York.
The poems are waka (also called tanka), a style of short poem with a long history in Japan. Like most Japanese poems they are direct and seemingly simple but say so much:
Could it be that the maple leaf
fathoms the heart of one who feeds the fire …
The book is beautiful – the illustrations are magical; the poems show new ways of looking at flowers and trees; the scholarly introduction and essay are fascinating – I learned an amazing amount; the index to the calligraphers is well organised and useful.
And there is a mystery – who initiated the production of the set of cards and why?
And they are part of women's Buddhist history and were published to celebrate a great woman, Zen Abbess Mugai Nyodai (1223 – 1298).
What more could one want?
The cover art is from Floating World Editions.


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Why I voted for Ron Paul
I operate on instinct. So I should not have been surprised by my own gut reaction to the absentee ballot that lay before me on the kitchen table.
I scanned the list for Republican primary candidates and let instinct take over.
Mitt Romney? Not on your life. A big government Republican who will say anything to get elected.
Rick Santorum? No way. A pro-life statist who helped George W. Bush double the national debt.
Newt Gingrich? Ideologically unmoored. A champion of liberty one day, a central planner the next.
Ron Paul? Yep. I quickly checked his name and moved on to a far more complex task: fixing my daughter a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
After spending six months analyzing each candidate's every move for three hours a day, five days a week, it never occurred to me that my decision to vote for the quirky congressman from Texas would happen as fast as a tornado whipping through an Amarillo parking lot. After all, who would vote for a candidate that criticized the killing of Osama bin Laden, blamed U.S. foreign policy for Sept. 11 and wants to abolish Social Security?
Certainly not me.
But I also would never vote for a GOP candidate who was the godfather of Obamacare, or another who added $7 trillion to Medicare's debt or yet another who bashed Paul Ryan one week and venture capital the next. Faced with this truckload of big government Republicans, I cast my vote for the only candidate who spent his entire public career standing athwart history yelling "stop" to an ever-expanding centralized state.
While Romney was distancing himself from Ronald Reagan, Paul was fighting with Republicans to balance the budget for the first time in a generation. While Santorum was supporting an unprecedented expansion of entitlement spending, Paul was warning of a great recession that would be caused by government interference in the housing market. And while Gingrich was talking about how he would build up the federal government to push his conservative agenda, Congressman Paul spent all his waking hours focused on dismembering that big government beast.
It was the first "protest" vote I've ever cast, and it felt … well, it felt good. Suddenly I understood a bit better why the Ross Perot or the Pat Buchanan or the Ralph Nader voters did what they did.
They thought the system was so broken that they couldn't sit out but also couldn't stomach voting for a conventional candidate at a time of unconventional problems.
Do I think a Ron Paul presidency is ever possible? No, I don't. But I do want some of the Pauline virtues of candor and non-poll-tested conviction to play a larger role in our politics.
So now I've cast my protest vote. It felt good.
What I really want, though, is a party and a politics that's commensurate with the problems and possibilities of the country. We'll get there one day — and then we can focus on progress, not protest.
A guest columnist for POLITICO, Joe Scarborough hosts "Morning Joe" on MSNBC and represented Florida's 1st Congressional District in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001.


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When I started my business in 2012, I knew that gratitude and helping others would play a large part. Each year, I write down 50 things I'm grateful for as a reminder to not take any blessings for granted, large or small. Show your gratitude by sharing your list (of any size) in the comments or linking to your own blog post.
50 Things I'm Grateful For, Fall 2017 Edition
- Golden retrievers and four-legged furry friends of all kinds
- Espresso blend dark roast coffee
- Quiet (a lack of noise and the book)
- Soothing sounds of nature
- A good laugh
- Firefighters, EMS professionals, police officers and first responders
- The feeling of crossing the finish line
- Reading the paper while sipping a latte
- Our wounded veterans and those who never make it home
- Cracking open a peanut at the ballgame
- Fireworks
- Firetrucks in a parade
- Fourth of July
- Sending a card to celebrate, console, thank or say hello
- Lunch with friends
- Getting lost in a good book
- A Swenson's Salad Boy burger
- My family's health and happiness
- Live music on a summer night, cold brew in hand
- Solving a crossword puzzle over coffee
- The small business journey
- A sunset over water
- A handwritten note
- The sun shining on my face during a trail run
- That sibling bond
- CCC's 5th anniversary
- A day or night at the ballpark
- The feel of a felt tip pen on paper
- Lunch on a patio under blue, clear skies
- Waving to the train conductor on a run through the Summit Metro Parks
- Enjoying the beauty of nature in the middle of the city
- Bright ideas and brainstorming sessions
- The ability to unplug (occasionally)
- Good advice
- My night owl nature
- A beautiful fall day
- Helping clients achieve success
- Small wins
- Contributing to something bigger than myself
- Accomplishing something I've worked hard for
- A conversation with a longtime friend
- Hitting the trails
- Exploring Main Street in Park City, Utah
- Talking shop with fellow marketing professionals & small business owners
- Learning
- A place to call home
- The ability to donate platelets to help others
- When social media is used for good
- Writing, writing, writing (and reading)
- Strong women, in fiction and real life
There's so much in life to be grateful for. What's on your list?
Let's chat (about gratitude, hopes and dreams, your marketing needs or otherwise):