text:
The coronavirus outbreak will have a deep and negative impact on the achievement of the SDGs and the objectives of the European Green Deal. For this reason, the EESC insists on the need to face this urgent threat as soon as possible and focus our recovery efforts without undue delay on the SDGs and the Green Deal. The Sustainable Europe Investment Plan (SEIP) is the first comprehensive policy measure to fulfil very ambitious targets of carbon neutrality until 2050 in line with the EU Green Deal. While saluting the Green Deal's ambitions, the EESC regrets the lack of consistency with the budgetary allocation within the next Multiannual Financial Framework and also expresses its doubts about the effectiveness of climate mainstreaming in all EU programmes and calls on the Member States to involve civil society organisations in pushing for climate-proof EU spending.
The EESC is concerned to note the euro area's economic downturn and the gradual end to a fall in unemployment, wedded to the persistent higher incidence of risk factors affecting economic performance. It is the European Green Deal that the EESC sees as the backbone of the future EU and euro-area economic configuration – the potential start of a fundamental change and a turning point. If managed successfully, it could move Europe up a gear economically and socially; if not, its failure could fatally jeopardise the integrity of the EU.
Although considerable progress has already been made towards completing EMU, there is still a need to significantly reinforce all four of its pillars, taking care to maintain the balance between them, as neglecting one or more of these pillars could result in dangerous disparities. Resilience to crises is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for completing EMU: it also requires a positive vision, as set out in Article 3 of the EU Treaty. The EESC generally calls on the European institutions and national governments to take much more ambitious action in the context of EMU reform in order to achieve a more integrated, more democratic and socially better developed Union.
In the opinion, the Committee states that taxation policy in general and combating tax fraud in particular must remain a priority for the next European Commission. In this line, the EESC endorses a debate on gradually shifting to QMV and the ordinary legislative procedure in tax matters, while recognising that all Member States must at all times have sufficient possibilities to participate in the decision-making process. Moreover, the Committee believes that any new rule must be fit-for-purpose and that certain conditions need to be met to successfully implement QMV: a sufficiently strong EU budget; better coordinated economic policy; and a substantial analytical work assessing to what extent current tax measures have been insufficient.
The EESC welcomes the Investment Plan for Europe for its contribution to the promotion of investment in the EU. The Committee calls for clearly set investment targets, regulatory simplification and further guidance in order to achieve greater geographical and sectoral balance. The EESC advocates for strengthened financial capacity for the InvestEU programme within the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 and calls for more efforts to raise awareness among European businesses and citizens about the benefits obtained from the Investment Plan for Europe.
The EESC notes that the international role of the euro has not yet recovered to the pre-financial crisis level. Whereas the European Commission's proposed measures are welcome and deemed necessary by the EESC, they may not go far enough given the extent of the euro area's social and economic challenges. Social cohesion, economic upward convergence and the promotion of competitiveness and innovation should be the basis on which the euro area's economy gathers pace and supports a stronger international role for the euro.
The Future of the EU: Benefits to citizens and respect for European values (Exploratory opinion at the request of the Romanian Presidency)
The opinion tables proposals on how to enhance the European project and bring it closer to its citizens.
The EESC welcomes the reforms aimed at increasing high-quality investment and productivity growth, inclusiveness and institutional quality, and to ensure macro-financial stability and sound public finances. The EESC also welcomes the recognition of the need for investment focused on education and training and the need to strengthen the EU's social dimension. However, it remains to be specified how these objectives are to be achieved. The EESC underlines that progress is very slow and proposals often rather modest in areas where new policies have been proposed, including fair taxation, the banking union and the functioning of the euro area. Moreover, the EESC recognises the importance of addressing climate change but measures so far adopted remain insufficient.
The EESC is of the opinion that building economic resilience, an objective that underlies the recommendations of the European Commission on the economic policy of the euro area, is of the utmost importance for the euro area economies. However, the Committee would like to stress that the pursuit of economic resilience should go hand in hand with increased labour market resilience, that is, the capacity of labour markets to weather shocks with limited social costs.


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Gibbs, Donald
Donald Gibbs
Services: Have been held.
Mr. Donald Ray Gibbs, 65, of Clovis, a brand inspector, died Friday, Sept. 12, 2003, in Clovis.
He was born on March 5, 1938, in Littlefield, Texas, to Alvis Craven and Ora Bell Estill Gibbs. He married Jackie Shelton on Nov. 15, 1957. Family members said he loved his family and the outdoors. He retired from the New Mexico Livestock Board as a brand inspector after 28 years.
Mr. Gibbs was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Kirk Gibbs.
Survivors include his wife, Jackie of Clovis; three sons, Randy (and wife Cheryl) Gibbs of Salt Lake City, Utah, Duke Gibbs and Jonathan Ingram, both of Clovis; two daughters, Donna (and husband Phillip) Hogan and LaRonda Ciciarelli, all of Clovis; two brothers, A.J. Gibbs of Corona and Archie Gibbs of Clovis; one sister, El Juena Jacquez of Clovis; five grandchildren, Jared (and wife Trish) Gibbs and Jory Gibbs of Salt Lake City, William "Bill" Wanzor and Brian Wanzor, both of the U.S. Navy, and Koleby Hogan of Clovis; and three great-grandchildren.
The Rev. Dean Turvaville will officiate during the memorial services.
Cremation will take place.
Arrangements are by Steed-Todd Funeral Home of Clovis.

subset: commoncrawl


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Kanagawa Prefecture
This article may have too many red links. (November 2020)
Kanagawa Prefecture (神奈川県, Kanagawa-ken) is a prefecture in the Kantō region of Japan on the island of Honshu.[1] The capital city is Yokohama.[2]
History[change | change source]
Kanagawa was created from lands of Sagami Province and Musashi Province.[3]
In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry landed at Kanagawa.
In 1854, the Japanese-American Convention of Kanagawa opened Japanese ports to the United States.
In 1923, the center of the Great Kantō earthquake was deep beneath Izu Ōshima Island in Sagami Bay.[4]
Geography[change | change source]
Kanagawa is in the southeastern corner of the Kantō Plain. The prefecture is between Tokyo on the north, the foothills of Mount Fuji on the northwest, and the Sagami Bay and Tokyo Bay on the south and east. The western border is shared with Yamanashi Prefecture and Shizuoka Prefecture.
Cities[change | change source]
There are nineteen cities in Kanagawa Prefecture:
Towns and villages[change | change source]
National Parks[change | change source]
National Parks are established in about 23% of the total land area of the prefecture.[5]
Shrines and Temples[change | change source]
Samukawa jinja and Hikawa jinja are the chief Shinto shrines (ichinomiya) in the prefecture.[6]
Related pages[change | change source]
- Provinces of Japan
- Prefectures of Japan
- List of regions of Japan
- List of islands of Japan
- Kawasaki Frontale
- Shonan Bellmare
- Yokohama F.C.
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Kanagawa" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 466; "Kantō" at p. 479.
- ↑ Nussbaum, "Yokohama" at pp. 1054-1055.
- ↑ Nussbaum, "Provinces and prefectures" at p. 780.
- ↑ Hammer, Joshua. (2006). Yokohama Burning: the Deadly 1923 Earthquake and Fire that Helped Forge the Path to World War II, p. 278.
- ↑ Japan Ministry of the Environment, "General overview of area figures for Natural Parks by prefecture". Retrieved 2012-3-13.
- ↑ "Nationwide List of Ichinomiya," p. 2 Archived 2013-05-17 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2012-3-14.
Other websites[change | change source]
Media related to Kanagawa prefecture at Wikimedia Commons


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Good news! Our bid to get into SXSW made it's way into a session called Future 15, hosted by Ryan Junell. The panel on Tuesday March 15th features 15 guest speakers including our own Evan Spiridellis, who will talk about Starring You technology and how the world of interactive entertainment is evolving.
Thanks to our voters for their support casting votes for our panel, it definitely helped to get us in. We will have more info below as the date approaches. Until then… calling all JibJabbers, South by SouthWest Festival fans and Texans of all shapes and sizes!
FUTURE 15 "Post Post-Modern Celebrity"
hosted by Ryan Junell
TUESDAY, MARCH 15th
11:45am – Evan Spiridellis "Starring You"
[UPDATE January 24th: Two links with more info. Our official panel description. The Future 15 Panel Hub.]


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What your car knows about you
If you bought your car in the last few years, chances are it's equipped with a device that records such data as how fast you are driving and whether you're wearing your seat belt. Chances are you don't know it's there.
Black boxes aren't just for airplanes anymore. They were first installed by automakers as a way to analyze the performance of their cars if that became necessary, but it didn't take long for crash investigators to see them as a source of information about what led to an accident. Was the motorist really traveling within the speed limit, as he claims to have been? When did she begin to apply the brakes? Because of the boxes' value in accident investigations, and in determining recall-worthy safety issues, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this year proposed that they be required in all new cars and light trucks beginning in 2014. Car companies are willing, and insurance companies support the idea because the information could be used to determine who is at fault in accidents.
But various consumer groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for individual privacy rights in the digital world, have their doubts. Right now, the information recorded by the black boxes is very limited. Though they continuously gather information, they also continuously erase it. If a crash occurs or an air bag deploys, the boxes retain only the data from a few seconds before to a few seconds after. But with new advances, the boxes might retain data for longer stretches of time. They might also include new information, such as the car's location or cellphone calls that were made using the car's equipment and how long they lasted. Another problem is that black box data are not considered 100% reliable at this point.
SLIDE SHOW: 10 reasons to salute L.A.'s transportation future
That shouldn't rule out their use in investigations. But the NHTSA, in its enthusiasm, has neglected to include adequate protection for consumers in its proposal. To start, the buyers of new cars should be informed, clearly and verbally, that the boxes exist and what they record. Right now that information is tucked away in the owner's manual, which isn't exactly bestselling reading material.
Information gathered by the devices should be limited to safety data, and the only information that should be available to investigators and insurance companies should be what's directly related to a crash — meaning the seconds immediately before and after. The boxes should not collect audio or video data; the conversation in the car before an accident should not be recorded. And the information should be available only by warrant or subpoena, unless the owner voluntarily surrenders it. Beyond that, the data gathered about a driver in the car he owns belong to him alone.
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2013 Tax Rate Changes
Here's how the last-minute budget deal will affect you
I'm betting you've already felt the sharp pain in your wallet from the expiration of the Social Security payroll tax break. Perhaps some of you have given up your daily $5 morning cup of joe to make up for the $20 decrease in your weekly paycheck (based on $50,000-a-year earnings). Or maybe you're just learning to live with less, now that the payroll tax has returned to its traditional 6.2 percent rate.
Either way, that tax bite may be the biggest change most of you will feel in 2013. The last-minute "fiscal cliff" deal that went down over the New Year holiday kept the income tax rates the same for just about everyone and extended some of the Bush-era cuts.
But because that legislation was passed late (Jan. 2), the IRS says it's beginning to process tax returns on Jan. 30, eight days later than it had planned. April 15 is still the deadline for filing, however.
Here's how some of these tax rules for 2013 may affect you:
• The personal exemption increased by $100 to $3,900. There are a number of situations that allow you to take advantage of this credit. For example, if you provide at least half the support for an adult child who is under the age of 19, or age 24 if in college, and his or her income doesn't exceed the personal exemption of $3,800 in 2012, you may qualify for the exemption. The rules are similar for relatives (parents, aunts, uncles and the like) for whom you may care. But they don't necessarily have to live with you. If you provide at least half their support and they didn't earn more than $3,800 last year, you may take advantage of the credit.
There's another note about the personal exemption for 2013 — a provision phasing out higher earners' exemptions has been reinstated. So if your adjusted gross income exceeds $250,000 (for single taxpayers), $300,000 (for married filing jointly) or $275,000 (for head of household), this is the deal: For each $2,500 of earnings over the threshold, your personal exemptions are reduced by 2 percent.
- The maximum earnings subject to the Social Security tax rose to $113,700, up from $110,100 last year.
- Annual contributions to plans such as 401(k)s are at a maximum $23,000 — $17,500 in regular contributions, plus $5,500 in catch-up contributions for those 50-plus.
- The threshold on medical deductions increased. You can only deduct medical expenses that exceed 10 percent of your adjusted gross income (up from 7.5 percent in 2012). However, if you are 65 or older, the threshold stays at 7.5 percent. Beginning in 2017, everyone will be subject to the 10 percent limit.
- On a related note, the maximum on deductions for long-term care insurance premiums rose. This is a tax break that many people don't know about. If you're age 51 to 60, you'll be able to deduct up to $1,360; age 61 to 70, up to $3,640; after 70, up to $4,550 for such premiums.
"That extra couple of thousand dollars you pay for premiums could push you over the limit so you can deduct your medical expenses," says Gil Charney, principal tax researcher with the H&R Block Tax Institute.
- For upper-income filers, there's a new 3.8 percent Medicare tax on investment income over the adjusted gross income threshold amount as a provision of the Affordable Care Act. If you're single, the threshold amount is $200,000; married and filing jointly, it is $250,000. Your net investment income (interest, dividends, annuities, investment gains and the like) that is greater than the threshold may be subject to the 3.8 percent tax.
- The Medicare-funding hospital insurance tax rose by 0.9 percent to 1.54 percent for high earners, another provision of health care reform. The increase applies only to wages and net self-employment income that's in excess of $200,000 for single taxpayers and $250,000 for those married and filing jointly.
- Flexible spending accounts now have a $2,500 annual cap for the first time. These pretax accounts, used to pay for family medical expenses, had no federal caps previously, although most employers had imposed a $5,000 cap.
- The maximum federal rate on long-term capital gains remains at 15 percent for most filers.
- The alternative minimum tax exemption amount is $51,900 (or $80,800 for married couples filing jointly).
- College tuition breaks were extended. Through the American opportunity tax credit, families can take a credit of up to $2,500 in related expenses.
- The child and dependent-care credit remains at a maximum 35 percent of $3,000 ($1,050) in qualified expenses for one dependent grandchild, or a spouse who needs care while you work, and 35 percent of $6,000 ($2,100 for two or more).
- IRA owners age 70-1/2 can distribute from their IRAs up to $100,000 tax-free, as long as it's sent directly to a charitable organization. (This makes more sense for higher-income folks — some of their itemized deductions will be lost because of the deduction phase out starting this year, but the IRA distribution to a charity is 100 percent tax-free). The distribution can also be used as part or all of the annual minimum required distribution from IRAs.
Now that you're focused on filing your tax return, Mark Steber, chief tax officer with Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, says it's a good time to remind people to throw away their returns after about three years.
"If there's no fraud involved, the IRS can go back and look at returns for only three years, unless there is a gross understatement of income or fraud," he says. "Destroying old records and returns minimizes the risk of identity theft."
As always, check with your tax adviser for guidance regarding your personal situation.
Carole Fleck is a senior editor at AARP Media.
Also of Interest
- 10 bad spending habits you should break
- The worst-rated states for retirement
- Are you worried about your credit rating?
Visit the AARP home page for great deals and savings tips


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Happy Birthday Janelle!
My daughter Janelle turns 21 today. I remember the day she was born, 21 years ago in Seattle. There as a big thunderstorm and it even snowed a bit. An appropriate welcome to the world for a girl who has always been her own person – often to the chagrin of her dad when she was growing up. Now, she's a fine young woman of whom I couldn't be prouder. Janelle will graduate later this month from University of California at San Diego with a double major in mathematics and econ science. Following graduation, she is planning a 2-month trip to Europe with her boyfriend, before heading to Seattle to start a job with Amazon.
Happy birthday Janelle from your very proud father. Have fun (and stay out of trouble)!


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ConAgra To Palin: Cost Of Snapping Into A Slim Jim Hasn't Spiked
We all know the rising cost of food is a real problem — but apparently, it hasn't had much of an effect on the meaty, salty snack staple known as the Slim Jim.
That's what Slim Jim maker ConAgra told PolitiFact.com when the news operation set out to fact-check potential presidential candidate Sarah Palin's recent complaint in an interview with Newsweek that due to inflation, the price of her husband Todd's Slim Jims had gone up from 99 cents to $2.69.
And food marketers everywhere are probably applauding, because ConAgra got a big PR boost out of the whole thing.
What Palin said:
I was ticked off at Todd yesterday. He walks into a gas station as we're driving over from Minnesota. He buys a Slim Jim — we're always eating that jerky stuff — for $2.69.
I said, 'Todd, those used to be 99 cents, just recently!' And he says, 'Man, the dollar's worth nothing anymore.' A jug of milk and a loaf of bread and a dozen eggs — every time I walk into that grocery store, a couple of pennies more...
The suggestion that Slim Jim prices had nearly tripled brought a response from ConAgra Foods.
Teresa Paulsen, a ConAgra spokeswoman, told PolitiFact, "We admire Mr. Palin's taste and appreciate his support." But Paulsen added, "We haven't raised the price significantly on any Slim Jim products."
Paulsen also offered a potential explanation for what the Palins saw as a price hike.
"Our iconic Slim Jim Giant Sticks are priced around $1.30," she said. "Mr. Palin might have been reaching for one of our Slim Jim Monster Sticks, which offers double the meat for $2.30, or our Slim Jim Kippered Beef Steak, which typically sells for around $2.65."
Now, we know that politicians everywhere like to use folksy anecdotes to show they are just like us. And it's not just Republicans — remember candidate Obama's flop with the price of arugula at Whole Foods comment?
If all this talk of Slim Jim makes you think about the recent death of "Macho Man" and Slim Jim spokesman Randy Savage, MEDIAite has a nice link to an old commercial that will give you a fix.


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It all began in a horribly innocent fashion, as such things often do. The Center for Middle East Studies in Brown University, near my home, has held a "public discussion" about the futures of Palestinians in Israel. Naturally, as a Israeli living in the States, I'm still very much interested in this area, so I took a look at the panelist list and discovered immediately they all came from the same background and with the same point of view: Israel was the colonialist oppressor and that was pretty much all there was to it in their view.
Quite frankly, this seemed bizarre to me: how can you have a discussion about the future of a people in a region, without understanding the complexities of their geopolitical situation? How can you talk about the future in a war-torn region like the Middle East, when nobody speaks about security issues, or provides the state of mind of the Israeli citizens or government? In short, how can you have a discussion when all the panelists say exactly the same thing?
So I decided to do something about it, and therein lies my downfall.
I am the proud co-founder of TeleBuddy – a robotics services start-up company that operates telepresence robots worldwide. If you want to reach somewhere far away – Israel, California, or even China – we can place a robot there so that instead of wasting time and health flying, you can just log into the robot and be there immediately. We mainly use Double Robotics' robots, and since I had one free for use, I immediately thought we could use the robots to bring a representative of the Israeli point of view to the panel – in a robotic body.
Things began moving in a blur from that point. I obtained permission from Prof. Beshara Doumani, who organized the panel, to bring a robot to the place. StandWithUs – an organization that disseminates information about Israel in the United States – has graciously agreed to send a representative by the name of Shahar Azani to log into the robot, and so it happened that I came to the event with possibly the first ever robotic-diplomat.
Things went very well in the event itself. While my robotic friend was not allowed to speak from the stage, he talked with people in the venue before the event began, and had plenty of fun. Some of the people in the event seemed excited about the robot. Others were reluctant to approach him, so he talked with other people instead. The entire thing was very civil, as other participants in the panel later remarked. I really thought we found a good use for the robot, and even suggested to the organizers that next time they could use TeleBuddy's robots to 'teleport' a different representative – maybe a Palestinian – to their event. I went home happily, feeling I made just a little bit of a difference in the world and contributed to an actual discussion between the two sides in a conflict.
A few days later, Open Hillel published a statement about the event, as follows –
"In a dystopian twist, the latest development in the attack on open discourse by right-wing pro-Israel groups appears to be the use of robots to police academic discourse. At a March 3, 2016 event about Palestinian citizens of Israel sponsored by Middle East Studies at Brown University, a robot attended and accosted students. The robot used an iPad to display a man from StandWithUs, which receives funding from Israel's government.
Before the event began, students say, the robot approached students and harassed them about why they were attending the event. Students declined to engage with this bizarre form of intimidation and ignored the robot. At the event itself, the robot and the StandWithUs affiliate remained in the back. During the question and answer session, the man briefly left the robot's side to ask a question.
It is not yet known whether this was the first use of a robot to monitor Israel-Palestine discourse on campus. … Open Hillel opposes the attempts of groups like StandWithUs to monitor students and faculty. As a student-led grassroots campaign supported by young alumni, professors, and rabbis, Open Hillel rejects any attempt to stifle or target student or faculty activists. The use of robots for purposes of surveillance endangers the ability of students and faculty to learn and discuss this issue. We call upon outside groups such as StandWithUs to conduct themselves in accordance with the academic principles of open discourse and debate."
I later met accidentally with some of the students who were in the event, and asked them why they believed the robot was used for surveillance, or to harass students. In return, they accused me of being a spy for the Israeli government. Why? Obviously, because I operated a "surveillance drone" on American soil. That's perfect circular logic.
There are lessons aplenty to be obtained from this bizarre incident, but the one that strikes me in particular is that you can't easily ignore existing cultural sentiments and paradigms without taking a hit in the process. The robot was obviously not a surveillance drone, or meant for surveillance of any kind, but Open Hillel managed to rebrand it by relying on fears that have deep-roots in the American public. They did it to promote their own goals of getting some PR, and they did it so skillfully that I can't help but applaud them for it. Quite frankly, I wish their PR guys were working for me.
That said, there are issues here that need to be dealt with if telepresence robots ever want to become part of critical discussions. The fear that the robot may be recording or taking pictures in an event is justified – a tech-savvy person controlling the robot could certainly find a way to do that. However, I can't help but feel that there are less-clever ways to accomplish that, such as using one's smartphone, or the covert Memoto Lifelogging camera. If you fear being recorded on public, you should know that telepresence robots are probably the least of your concerns.
The honest truth is that this is a brand new field for everyone involved. How should robots behave at conferences? Nobody knows. How should they talk with human beings at panels or public events? Nobody can tell yet. How can we make human beings feel more comfortable when they are in the same perimeter with a suit-wearing robot that can potentially record everything it sees? Nobody has any clue whatsoever.
These issues should be taken into consideration in any venture to involve robots in the public sphere.
It seems to me that we need some kind of a standard, to be developed in a collaboration between ethicists, social scientists and roboticists, which will ensure a high level of data encryption for telepresence robots and an assurance that any data collected by the robot will be deleted on the spot.
We need, in short, to develop proper robotic etiquette.
And if we fail to do that, then it shouldn't really surprise anyone when telepresence robots are branded as "surveillance drones" used by Zionist spies.


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At a recent Republican debate, Rick Santorum fielded a question via video by a gay soldier, Stephen Hill. Hill asked what the Republican candidates intended to do in reference to the excellent repeal of DADT. Here's the video:
Rick Mix of Lube Santorum has been on a crusade through most of his lack-luster campaign to get the conservative social vote, so the awful things he said in that video aren't a surprise. For instance, when he says sex should not be involved in the military, he's implying that being gay means doing nothing but having crazy, crazy butt sex anywhere and everywhere. We all know that's what he means because the Christian right actually thinks that's what it's all about. And I know I often say what a fan of rhetoric I am, but just because what someone says is effective – it is in this case because he's appealing directly to the misconceptions and ignorance of his audience – that doesn't mean it isn't really shitty.
In better political news, President Obama took on the Republican answers at the debate as well as the boos the soldier received from the audience:
"We don't believe in standing silent when that happens," Obama said in the keynote address at the annual convention of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest U.S. gay lobby group…
"You want to be commander in chief?" he asked. "You can start by standing up for the men and woman in uniform" and support them even when it is not politically convenient.
To be fair, Obama is obviously waiting until after the 2012 elections to come out in favor of gay marriage – we all know he will – and that is political convenience, but I can't imagine him standing for an audience that boos a service member. For that matter, I don't know as Dubya would have stood for it. Of course, except for perhaps Huntsman, this is a notably crazy crop of Republicans this year so maybe I shouldn't hold them to very high standards.
Filed under: News, Politics and Social | Tagged: Frothy, President Obama, Rick Santorum, Stephen Hill | 2 Comments »


text:
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At the confluence of engineering, operations, research, and finance, DASTUR welcomes both recent graduates and professionals in a variety of fields. The culture encourages a desire to learn, to take ownership of issues and the pursuit of excellence for clients unadulterated by secondary interests. The work is fast-paced, multidisciplinary and bottom line oriented. Dastur presents a unique opportunity in the engineering space to work with a global company with colleagues and clients around the world. If this sounds like you, please apply to one of the positions below or reach out to us with your resume.
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Serve the C-suite in financial institutions, investors and promoters in answering owner-oriented questions on capital allocation, operating efficiency, technical feasibility, and investment phasing.
Translate multiple engineering inputs into financial metrics affecting P&L and cash flow, and frame capital investment alternatives for decision making.
Develop and maintain industry and competitive cost database from worldwide plant infrastructure, production, material price movements, supply chain understanding and industry trends.
Help develop, maintain and standardize financial and operational models to be applied for delivering customer solutions quickly and productively.
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Julius and Ida Haufler Adam
William Kuhfuss, Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1 in Kendall County, united in marriage Julius Adam and Ida Haufler on 28 December 1890. Ida told the family they met when Julius stopped by her family home in Waring, Texas. The rest is history. She remembered from this visit how dashing he looked sitting on his horse with his shiny black boots. They had five children with four living to adulthood. The children were Willie Eugene born 1893, Hildegarde born 1895, Eugene Conrad born 1898 and Erna born 1902. After Julius' father Conrad died in 1894, the family moved into the family home in the Balcones Community four miles south of Boerne. Ida was the daughter of Johann Gottfried and Louise Magers Haufler.


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2009 Detroit Auto Show: Mercedes-Benz unveils 2010 E-Class luxury sedan
See Also: EV-Motoring.Com
SEE ALSO: Detroit Auto Show Coverage-Video Enhanced
Mercedes-Benz upgrades E-Class sedan, outlines plans for electric car at Detroit auto show
DETROIT January 11, 2009; Ken Thomas writing for the AP reported that Mercedes-Benz is upgrading one of its top luxury sedans and giving consumers a glimpse of a planned electric car.
Daimler AG unveiled the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan Saturday on the eve of the North American International Auto Show. The E-Class will arrive in U.S. showrooms next summer, offering an array of new safety features and two engine variants.
With many shoppers seeking green cars, the German automaker also showcased Concept BlueZero, three vehicles with alternative electric drive systems that could travel up to 375 miles on a single charge.
The vehicles will utilize lithium-ion batteries, which are already widely used in consumer electronics but are being adapted to meet automotive requirements. An hour of charging time can provide a range of about 60 miles.
BlueZero F-Cell, a fuel cell vehicle that uses electric drive, will be produced in limited numbers later this year, Daimler executives said, and offer a range of up to 250 miles.
By 2010, Mercedes-Benz plans small-scale production of BlueZero E-Cell, a similar vehicle with only battery-electric drive, offering a range of up to 125 miles.
The third electric concept, BlueZero E-Cell Plus, has electric drive and a more conventional internal combustion engine to extend the vehicle's range to up to 375 miles on a single charge.
The pod-shaped electric cars provide ample space for luggage and can hit zero-to-60 miles in less than 11 seconds.
"Zero emissions does not mean zero performance at all," said Dr. Thomas Weber, a Daimler Board of Management member responsible for research and development.
For more conventional car buyers, the E-Class, which features more of an angular front end, builds upon several safety technologies found in previous Mercedes vehicles. It has technologies that assist braking to avoid an accident or notify a driver who is exceeding the speed limit. Monitoring systems recognize when a driver is tired or is drifting into another lane.
"This system can and will save lives," said Daimler AG chief executive Dieter Zetsche.
Consumers will be able to choose between a 268 horsepower V6 engine in the E350 and a 382 horsepower V8 in the high-end E550.


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Barnes Solar
Best Solar Energy Contractor in Lake Forest, CA
Barnes Solar is the best local solar energy contractor. We are experienced and professional, and always put our customers' needs first. We can provide you with the best solar energy solution for your home or business.
Going solar is one of the smartest decisions you can make for your home or business. You'll not only be helping to reduce your carbon footprint but you will also be saving money on your energy costs for many years to come. Contact us today to learn more about our solar energy systems!
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23201 Orange AveLake Forest California 92630United States
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Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 85,858 at the 2020 census. Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Prior to incorporation, the community had been known as El Toro. Following a vote in 2000, Lake Forest expanded its city limits to include the master-planned developments of Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills.
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Apr, 2014
It has designed a comprehensive program of actions aimed at VET institutions attached to the UV . This program has been reported in a variety of media centers and developed properly during the measurement period of this report.
Aprèn i Emprèn program consists of the following actions:
1. Zero Workshop : "From the degree training cycle "
This workshop sought to show the possibilities of future training and employment that could have vocational training students continuing their studies at the University.
2. Meet the School of Economics
The main objective was to inform the School of Economics , their qualifications and access made possible among students of vocational training through a briefing and a visit to Campus Tarongers .
3. The Bar of Sciences : Nutrition and Dietetics
This is an initiative for dialogue and debate open to students of vocational training whose main objective was to bring science , in this case studies nutrition and dietetics.
April . Workshop of the School of Engineering
The workshop aims to motivate students to learn about the techniques and methods of engineering.
The topics are: Computing and Multimedia ( web portal management , editing and publishing digital image and audio ) , Industrial Electronics Technology (programming and robot communication , instrumentation and measurement , applications of digital signal processing ) and Chemical Technology and Industrial Processes (manufacture ice bath ; obtaining essential oils of orange and lime) .
May . Audiovisual Communication Workshop
Introduce the spaces that the University of Valencia made available to students audiovisual training cycles . Students were able to learn the Faculty of Philology, Translation and Communication , the degrees offered and the facilities and capabilities of the Audiovisual Workshop UV .
June . Geographers Future Workshop : GIS Laboratory CAMPUSHABITAT5U
The purpose of Teledetecció GIS Laboratory of the Department of Geography at the University of Valencia is to provide researchers of the university community with the necessary infrastructure to carry out mapping associated with their research projects as well as research in the field of Geographic Information Systems . With this workshop we try to bring the profession geographer from the perspective of a current issue such as Geographic Information Systems .
Prospective students may also learn about the improvements that have been introduced in this exercise in this lab thanks to the aid of the Campus of International Excellence CH5U
July . Saturdays information
In addition to the attention the Revitalization Information Service (SEDI ) provides usually been open two Saturdays to advise and inform students of vocational training and their families on access to the University and offer degrees .


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there was a thread about how many ways the "support your local terrorists" at the begining of sidstyler was misinterpereted, i tink fallout started it by saying like "support your yellow terrorists or somehting", it eneded up getting completely out of hand, liek most of our threads
"my mind has become the darkest place I've ever noon"actually thats how they say it. Do the swedish really pronounce it as 'noon'?
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text: Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe NEW YORK, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- David Axelrod, U.S. President Obama's senior strategist, shaved off the mustache he has sported for 40 years Friday to raise funds for epilepsy research. Axelrod, whose daughter suffers from epilepsy, shaved his upper lip Friday morning live on NBC's "Today" show in an attempt to raise $1 million for Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, the charity run by his wife. Advertisement "There are people who have lost a lot more than a mustache to epilepsy -- 50,000 people a year lose their lives," Axelrod said while having his mustache shaved. Axelrod was joined by "Morning Joe" hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Axelrod and Scarborough had a wager prior to November's election stating the Obama adviser would shave his mustache if the president failed to carry Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Axelrod won the bet but shaved his mustache anyway to benefit the charity.


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The Expendables (2010)
by Steve Habrat
I avoided seeing The Expendables like I was avoiding a plague when it was released back in August of 2010. I just couldn't bring myself to care about a handful of has-been action stars (and two still respectable ones) stomping around on the movie screen while trying to relive their glory days. I finally forced myself to sit down and endure the Sylvester Stallone action vehicle and my worst fears were confirmed. This movie has got to be one of the most astonishing things I have ever laid eyes on. The Expendables is a completely delusional film, one that doesn't settle on reminiscing about the good old days, but rather painstakingly tries to make the plea that there is still a place for these mindless and ultra-violent shoot-em-ups in the cinema world. I hate to break it to Stallone, but there just isn't a place for this kind of crapola. The Expendables is so jacked up on testosterone, that the mere hint of vulnerability and emotion practically makes Stallone and his beefcake crew sick to their stomachs and calling anyone who shows some of vulnerability or emotion a sissy.
The Expendables follows a group of highly trained mercenaries lead by Barney Ross (Played by Stallone) who are enlisted by the mysterious Mr. Church (Played by Bruce Willis) to travel to a small island between the Gulf of Mexico and South America and bring down a brutal dictator (Played by David Zayas). Rounding up a team that includes blades specialist Lee Christmas (Played by Jason Statham), sniper Gunnar Jensen (Played by Dolph Lundgren), martial artist Yin Yang (Played by Jet Li), heavy weapons expert Hale Caesar (Played by Terry Crews), and demolitions expert Toll Road (Played by Randy Couture), The Expendables, as they like to call themselves, head to the island where they discover that the dictator is backed by nasty ex-CIA officer named James Munroe (Played by Eric Roberts) and his personal bodyguards Paine (Played by Steve Austin) and The Brit (Played by Gary Daniels). Ross also makes it a personal quest to see to it that he protects the beautiful Sandra (Played by Gisele Itié), the helpless daughter of the dictator who is being savagely tortured by Munroe and his men.
If you are looking for anything that resembles depth, character development, or a beefy plot, you better start looking somewhere else. The Expendables couldn't be a more straightforward film. It is also incredibly empty-headed and stupid, filling out its runtime with extended shoot-outs, car chases, and bone snapping mano y manos. You're probably saying to yourself, "Hey, that is why we are watching this!" The problem with the film is that it has absolutely no point whatsoever. It exists solely to blow things up, waste some fake blood, and allow Stallone to still think he has some form of relevance in our current world. What he completely misses is that audiences have embraced much more vulnerable heroes, ones who have some complexities and layers to them. There is a reason that action films of this sort have been largely left in the past and a good majority of these actors have been almost entirely forgotten by audiences.
The acting in The Expendables is basically what you would expect. It's almost all one dimensional, blank, and consists of lots of flexing. The only two actors who check in any sort of noteworthy performance are Willis as the briefly seen Mr. Church, who grins through his dialogue and all but winks at the audience as he asks, "Gotta problem with that?" The very talented Mickey Rourke shows up as Tool, the groups mission coordinator who also runs a tattoo parlor the gang likes to hang out in. Rourke ends up being the only character that reveals some emotional scars, wounds caused by the grisly stuff he has seen in the past. His eyes leak in one scene, a sequence I'm surprised that Stallone even allowed into the film. Everything and everyone else ends up being a blank slate with a machine gun. To make matters worse, the dialogue that is provided by Stallone and David Callaham is all written to set up for cringe inducing one-liners for the group members to spout off to each other as they riddle soldier extras with bullets.
I suppose if you are in the target audience for The Expendables, you are absolutely going to love it regardless of what I say. If you are the type who enjoys spending your weekend watching 80's action movies and wrestling, you have probably already seen this more times than you can count. There are two minor positives in The Expendables, mostly in the expertly photographed action sequences and the editing. To be honest, I never thought I would praise the editing in a film like this in a million years but I guess there is a first for everything. The climactic shoot out boasts incredibly well done editing, allowing all the action to be extremely coherent and clear. Alas, a turd is still a turd and The Expendables is most certainly a turd. If Stallone would have forced his rag tag crew to confront the traits of the new breed of action films, the ones where the heroes wear their emotions on their sleeves, The Expendables may have turned out to be an interesting fusion of old school action with new school sentiment. I guess I'll be one of the sissy men here and say that I did not favor Stallone's tasteless and irresponsible testosterone boost.
Grade: D
The Expendables is now available of Blu-ray and DVD.
Posted on April 18, 2012, in REViEW and tagged 1980s, 2010, action, action films, adventure, bruce willis, david callaham, david zayas, dolph lundgren, eric roberts, gary daniels, gisele itié, jason statham, jet li, mickey rourke, randy couture, steve austin, sylvester stallone, terry crews. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.


text: This paper presents an example-based method to interpret a 3D shape from a single image depicting that shape. A major difficulty in applying an example-based approach to shape interpretation is the combinatorial explosion of shape possibilities that occur at occluding contours. Our key technical contribution is a new shape patch repre- sentation and corresponding pairwise compatibility terms that allow for flexible matching of overlapping patches, avoiding the combinatorial ex- plosion by allowing patches to explain only the parts of the image they best fit. We infer the best set of localized shape patches over a graph of keypoints at multiple scales to produce a discontinuous shape represen- tation we term a shape collage. To reconstruct a smooth result, we fit a surface to the collage using the predicted confidence of each shape patch. We demonstrate the method on shapes depicted in line drawing, diffuse and glossy shading, and textured styles.


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Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem
Dear All,
Assalaamu Alaikum.
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Put Babar Ahmad on trial in the UK - e-petitions
Life is One Big Road- Put Babar Ahmad on Trial in the UK - YouTube
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Please spare a few minutes for an innocent man who has served seven long years of his life in high security prison, despite of having no charge or conviction of any kind against him, awaiting extradition and a subsequent trial in a country he has never set foot in. The extradition request is based on the same evidence gathered during 2003 raid, which the British courts of justice found insufficient to charge Babar Ahmad with any crime.Stand up for Babar
Babar's family and friends have initiated a petition campaign on the government's website demanding that Babar must be tried in this country, where crime is supposed to have been committed. The petition MUST get at least 100,000 signatures before 10/11/2011 for the parliament to consider this issue.
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- Sign the Babar Ahmad petition by TEXT: 90,000 signatures needed in 50 days to put Babar on trial in the UK. Text your full name, full address including postcode and email, to 07949178942 and we will sign it for you. Ensure you click on the verification link which will be emailed to you or your signature will not be added. Forward to all your contacts.


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Search Buddhist Channel
The thorny path to enlightenment
by Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, San Francisco Chronicle, April 29, 2007
Buddhists bringing ancient faith to U.S. at odds over role of martial arts in Shaolin -- former allies deeply divided on physical, spiritual aspects of the misunderstood culture
San Francisco, CA (USA) -- Stephen Ho dreamed that he'd be the one to introduce to America an authentic version of one of the world's most misunderstood religions.
<< Monk Shi GuoSong watches his students -- Shi LongHu, Shi HuHu and Shi BaoHu -- perform Shaolin exercises in Golden Gate Park. Chronicle photo by Michael Macor
He would build a San Francisco temple to be a branch of the legendary Shaolin Temple in China, where Zen was born and kung fu emerged as its most fabled expression.
The San Francisco businessman and longtime Buddhist went to China and asked the temple's abbot for his assent. In December 2004, the abbot sent Shi GuoSong, an experienced yet youthful Shaolin monk, to be a true and rare face of the ancient faith.
The culture portrayed by television and movies as exotic violence would be shown in its true form: a message of peace.
GuoSong, through Ho's connections, dutifully led troupes in performances of Shaolin kung fu at venues ranging from a Sacramento Kings game to the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum.
They just finished a highly celebrated, weeklong collaboration with Alonzo King's Lines Ballet in San Francisco.
But more than two years after their journey began, Ho and GuoSong have become mired in a dispute over what Shaolin is and which one of them represents the authentic faith. They are at fundamental odds over an age-old question: To what extent can a martial art express religion?
Legend says that more than 1,500 years ago, an Indian monk named Bodhidharma sat meditating before a wall for nine years on Mount Songshan in northern China. When he finished, he began teaching at the Shaolin Temple that long periods of seated meditation would lead to enlightenment -- the essence of Chan Buddhism, popularly known as Zen.
But the extended meditations also atrophied the monks' bodies. So Bodhidharma developed a series of calisthenics that evolved into kung fu, a form of martial arts.
Shaolin believe meditation clears the mind, preparing it for purer action. But a weak or sick body hinders clarity of thought. Kung fu, by building the body, complements meditation.
Over the centuries, the Shaolin Temple in Henan province has been razed and resurrected several times. After the communist government's Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, many of the nation's religious institutions were purged or destroyed. Only a handful of Shaolin monks in the temple survived.
Then, in 1982, came the Jet Li movie "Shaolin Temple," inspiring a wave of tourism the Chinese government supported; it even helped rebuild the temple as a tourist destination.
There are now about 60 schools associated with the main Shaolin Temple, and they teach an estimated 40,000 full-time martial artists. But those who've been accepted and taken vows as Shaolin monks are rare: There are fewer than 200 in the main temple.
From Bruce Lee's epic 1973 film "Enter the Dragon" to Jackie Chan movies to "The Matrix" and "Kill Bill," pop culture has long tried to represent elements of Shaolin practice or lore.
But that has skewed understanding of Shaolin culture, said Matthew Polly, the first American disciple of the Shaolin Temple.
"Westerners have this fantasy of what Shaolin is supposed to be -- David Carradine and (the 1970s television show) 'Kung Fu,' " said Polly, 35, of New York. "It's not what you wanted it to be or expected it to be. Shaolin has been, since 1982, trying to figure out what it is again, with a lot of competing pressures. Like China in general, Shaolin is still in the process of coming to terms with modernity."
Into this vortex came Ho. A retired IBM engineer who says he often travels in China on business, Ho said he studied Buddhism for 40 years in Hong Kong before coming to America.
In recent years, the main temple's abbot, Shi YongXin, has tried to copyright the Shaolin name. He's also been criticized for commercializing the faith. YongXin gave his approval to Ho's venture in San Francisco.
Ho, 60, had never trained at the temple. GuoSong, 34, has trained at the temple since he was 13.
There are roughly a dozen monks in the temple who, like GuoSong, are in their 30s and have trained for two decades, GuoSong and Ho estimate. Scores of other Shaolin monks have come to the United States and set up kung fu studios, but Ho's nonprofit is believed to be only the second attempt to establish an institution for Shaolin as an American religion.
The first temple, run by a former Shaolin monk in Flushing, N.Y., is beset by its own struggles to establish itself.
GuoSong came with a 53-year-old fellow monk and five disciples -- 10-year-old triplets and two men in their 20s. His disciples say GuoSong is a "father" to their "family." Since arriving in San Francisco in 2004, they've lived in a series of apartments and now stay in a ramshackle former rooming house near downtown Oakland, their fledgling Shaolin Temple.
Their kung fu performances have been sporadic, generally coming every few weeks. But the Shaolin lifestyle consumes their days in small details. In addition to many explicitly religious rites, the monks wear simple clothing made from rough material and have an array of rituals, including one to ensure the right flavor and temperature for green tea.
A simple morning practice at the Oakland temple illuminates how Shaolin strengthen their bodies, the role of the natural energy force known as qi -- or chi -- and how physical work can be meditative.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Shi ChangQiang, 22, repeatedly slapped a canvas sack packed with dried beans he'd put on top of a 3-foot-high stump in the backyard of the Oakland temple. In one minute, he hit it 38 times with his right hand. His pace gradually increased as he hit the bag of beans with his palm, the back of his hand and both sides.
Seated meditations like the 45-minute session every morning are part of the group's daily routine. But GuoSong can be found meditating in many places, such as in a parked car.
The meditations and ChangQiang's painful ritual are intended to lead to the same mental state -- clearing the mind of all thoughts.
"The most important thing is that you must keep your mind quiet without any disturbances," Shi YongYao, the other monk with GuoSong, said in Mandarin as he explained the sack-smacking.
Despite the ferocity of ChangQiang's slaps, Shaolin belief holds that breathing with intention to circulate one's qi prevents pain. It's a practice called Qigong, and it can be used to toughen many parts of the body.
ChangQiang is working on his hand. YongYao, a Qigong master, is a specialist in the "iron crotch."
Sometimes at exhibitions, YongYao invites people to kick him repeatedly in the groin. He doesn't flinch. At a performance at a Tenderloin community center in October, YongYao broke steel bars over his head that this reporter could not bend. At the Sacramento Kings game, a Shaolin trainee took a sledgehammer to YongYao's arm as it lay across roughly a dozen steel bars, according to a video of the event. The bars broke. His arm was fine.
Qi enters the body just above the belly button, YongYao said. Through Qigong, practitioners learn to move it throughout the body.
"If some part of your body hurts, the qi has not gotten through yet," YongYao said. "Once the qi gets through, you don't feel pain there."
YongYao believes Qigong can help cure heart disease, cancer or diabetes, which he has, but he says it doesn't work "miracles." The group uses Western medicine, too.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
ChangQiang stopped hitting the bag of beans after 14 minutes.
Two hours later, ChangQiang inspected his calloused right hand. It was dry, raw and cracked. "It hurts," he said in English. -- -- --
Ho sees little that's religious in these actions. He's come to believe that GuoSong is more kung fu than Buddhist -- possessing rare physical skills but lacking equivalent spiritual depth.
Ho justifies his view by saying GuoSong and his disciples don't do enough of what Ho thinks defines a Buddhist monk of any sect: seated meditation, study of Buddhist texts and philosophical discussions about Chan.
"They're really good martial artists, but how much they know about Buddhism, I don't know," Ho said.
GuoSong believes there are many equal ways to practice Chan. Walking, sitting or eating can be Chan practices.
"In everything you do, you always have the chance to seek the truth" and free the mind of disturbances, GuoSong said.
But audiences rarely hear GuoSong speak because he speaks only Mandarin. The result is that they are left to interpret through the monks' bodies a scripture that's expressed solely through movement. One scene in the recent Lines Ballet performances revealed the challenges.
ChangQiang and Shi ChangJun, 23, acted out a series of punches, sidekicks and a head butt. One kick sent ChangQiang flat onto his chest.
Shaolin monks believe you can never fight to attack, only to defend. But it's not hard to see why their kung fu has been glorified as violence made beautiful.
GuoSong said it's reasonable to be drawn to Shaolin for the techniques of combat -- as he was at age 13 -- and not for any spiritual reason. But he hopes a few people see deeper -- and pursue Chan.
"The audience should not pay attention to one or several criteria, but the dialectic of everything," he said. "If you just pay attention to the speed -- you say 'fast is good' -- that would be wrong. If you say 'strong is good,' that is wrong. ... The right way to appreciate is the dialectic, the tension between fast and slow, the tension between strong and soft, the tension between agility and stiffness."
Plus, he said, the fight is fake. Every move is answered with a block. Either of the performers could maim with a real kick or punch. Sparring "is just a way to train their reflexes." A strong mind, built through Chan meditation, requires a strong body, he said.
"Each movement will make you work your body, from top to bottom, from hand to foot," he said. "The motivation for practicing is to be flexible, quick on your feet, strong. And your body will be naturally healthy."
Audiences see many messages in their performances. Their speed and strength inspire awe. Some men wince at displays testing YongYao's "iron crotch." Others laugh.
Alonzo King, the ballet choreographer, said believers of any faith interpret religious texts in myriad ways. Movement should be no different, and just as valid as any written scripture or spoken sermon.
"The principle expression of life is movement," he wrote in an e-mail. "Dancing and martial arts are movement. When it is well done, it is about poise, control, governance, majesty, power and grace. ... These qualities are teaching us how to behave."
Gerard Hoatam, 25, watched the Tenderloin performance but had no idea that it was an expression of faith.
"If your purpose is to go out into the community and tell people about your religion, it's a lot better than Jehovah's Witnesses knocking on your door," said Hoatam of Sunnyvale.
Others have come to share Ho's opinion of GuoSong and his group.
Many of the monks' performances, including the Lines Ballet series, have been initiated or coordinated by Bernadine Lim, Mayor Gavin Newsom's liaison to the Chinese American community. She said Ho knows more about Buddhism than GuoSong, who she said barely practices essential elements of the faith.
"I've never seen them meditate," she said, adding that the ballet "has nothing to do with religion."
But Polly, the former Shaolin Temple disciple who wrote the memoir "American Shaolin," said Lim and Ho have created a false dichotomy. There's no distinction, Polly said, between sitting meditation and what can happen while doing kung fu -- a meditation through dynamic movement, like yoga.
"If you're practicing Shaolin kung fu properly, it is a form of meditation," he said. "It's just fast and hard meditation, instead of slow or sitting. And that's why many of those moves seem so strange -- because they're actually moves that were developed for meditation purposes as well as self-defense and not purely self-defense purposes."
Gene Ching, associate publisher of Fremont-based Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine, which has reported on Shaolin practitioners and beliefs for 15 years, believes GuoSong is authentic. Ching was stunned that directors of a Shaolin nonprofit would not understand that kung fu is an expression of Chan, or Zen. For non-Shaolin to define the faith is troubling, he said.
"It's disturbing in a way," Ching said. "It's corporate religion." -- -- --
GuoSong declined to discuss Ho, and Ho is an elusive man. But some facts are plain.
More than two years after GuoSong and his disciples arrived, Ho has made little headway on a temple.
GuoSong is a elite teacher of Shaolin kung fu -- his martial arts training videos are sold on Chinese Web sites. But in San Francisco, GuoSong had only a handful of students through Ho's networks.
Instead of living in a monastery dedicated to a life of faith, GuoSong's group of Shaolin -- including young triplets Shi LongHu, Shi HuHu and Shi BaoHu -- were crammed into apartments.
Ho said he will sever his sponsorship of GuoSong, a move that would make him an illegal immigrant.
If ChangQiang, ChangJun and YongYao choose to follow GuoSong, Ho said they will "be on their own."
Ho said he planned to bring 30 more Shaolin to the Bay Area in the future. He said he would interview them himself to make sure they're more spiritual than GuoSong.
GuoSong, without referring to Ho, said he's long been aware that others might criticize him. But that's not the point.
"If you take this mission personally, you can never achieve it," he said. "Shaolin Buddhism -- Shaolin culture -- does not belong to any particular person. ... Even if I come back empty-handed, maybe there will be other people who will come in the future to continue to promote Shaolin Buddhism."
If people disparage him, GuoSong said, "the words may affect my career here. However, the words will not affect the goal."
Chan: The Chinese word for what became known as Zen in Japan. This school of Buddhism
teaches that the path to enlightenment is cultivated through long periods of seated
Kung fu: A Shaolin martial art intended to develop the body and mind as one in an
expression of Chan.
Qi: A natural energy or force that fills the universe. Also known as chi.
Qigong: An umbrella term for many types of qi-based practices that use breathing with
intention. They can use movement, as the Shaolin do.
Shi: A name used by these Shaolin to identify as Buddhists.
Shaolin Temple: Built in 495 on Mount Songshan in Henan, a northern Chinese province.
Bodhidharma -- whom the Chinese call "Damo" -- arrived three decades later and taught Zen
for the first time at the temple. Legend says that he meditated before a wall for nine years.
Source: Chronicle research


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Sheraton Maldives nominated for Indian Ocean's Leading Family Resort Award
Maldives Promotion House – Sheraton Maldives Full Moon Resort & Spa has been nominated for the 'Indian Ocean's Leading Family Resort 2012' award announced by World Travel Awards.
Situated on its own island and surrounded by tropical landscaping and turquoise lagoon, Sheraton Maldives staying true to its nomination truly makes it easy for families to bring the kids along, as kids under the age of 12 years old gets to stay free.
As part of the 'Kids Stay Free' offer, kids on the island enjoy other benefits such as complimentary shared airport transfers, all meals from the children's menu, daily breakfast in Feast (for parents too!), complimentary sofa bed and welcome snack for kids.
"We are delighted to have been nominated for this prestigious award. We want our guests with kids to relax, connect with each other and be able to enjoy their time together in the Maldives.," said Shumaes Rasheed, Marketing Communications Manager.
Sheraton Adventure Club, its branded Club Kids Programme, also promotes exciting activities and introduces local traditions to the young ones where parents can enroll children aged between 4-12 years, free of charge.


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Many people assume that Europe is the land of high-tax welfare states and America is an outpost of laissez-faire capitalism. We should be so lucky. The burden of government in America is still lower than it is in the average European nation, but the United States is a lot closer to France than it is to Hong Kong – and the trend is not comforting.
We recently endured the embarrassing spectacle of President Obama arguing with Europeans that they should increase the burden of government spending. Now we have a new report from the European Commission indicating that the average corporate tax rate in member nations of the European Union has plummeted to just 23.5 percent while the corporate tax rate in the U.S. has stagnated at 35 percent. In the past dozen years alone, as the chart illustrates, the average corporate tax rate in the European Union has dropped by nearly 12 percentage points. To make matters worse, the corporate tax rate in America actually is closer to 40 percent if state tax burdens are added to the mix.
This is not to say that European politicians are reading Hayek and Friedman (or watching Dan Mitchell videos on corporate taxation). Almost all of the positive reforms are because of tax competition. Thanks to globalization, it is increasingly easy for labor and (especially) capital to cross national borders to escape bad policy. As such, nations now have to compete for jobs and investment, and this liberalizing process is particularly powerful among nations that are neighbors.


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So this my final post in this week of blogging about the challenges and issues I have faced/been talking about with colleagues – with the express aim of trying to draw out who is thinking about what and what happens next.
It has been an amazingly useful exercise, taking time to write down these thoughts and discussions; I have found myself researching more, asking questions, learning and meeting new people. I shall certainly continue to write posts more often and in this style of writing less about what I think and asking more about what you think.
It strikes me that there is still a great need to seek out the futurologists of today, to reignite the discussions about what the landscape might look like in the digital world as well as in the political and social realms.
So I would like to suggest that we have a weekend away towards the end of the Summer, where we all get together in an informal setting to talk about this. I do not think we need to have people formally speaking, nor any organised activites – but what we do is have people of different interests and specialities having conversations. What comes out of these should be tweeted and blogged over the course of the weekend – to engage those unable to attend and to widen the conversation.
We should hold it somewhere with a big field for camping as well as being close to accomodation for those who just hate camping with a passion – we have fun, we relax, we talk and most importantly – we amplify the conversations. Nothing is disallowed (families are welcome) but I don't imagine this working if it is in any shape a conference or unconference. However, I am going to give it the hashtag of #campcon because that is all I can think of.
So who's in? I am happy to throw my hat in and help organise some of the logistics, also spread the word with the developer communities (including Young Rewired State) and people with whom I have the most interesting discussions. But it will need far more than me to get this off the ground.
Just to reiterate, this is a weekend about the future, not issues and problems of the present – there are many, many people successfully holding local and national events to try to address these issues. It is about painting a picture of the world into which we are going to be delivering digital products and solutions:
- borders: are they open or shut? what happens in either case?
- data – is it open or increasingly regulated?
- space travel
- virtual reality
- climate
- natural disasters
- population
- migration
- shopping
- music
- travel
- television
- time machines
- science
- politics
- royalty
- gypsy weddings
Anything, anything at all – but it must be about the future. Probably need a wiki for this…


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If we talked about nothing else in 2013 -- and, all right, 2012, too -- we talked about the question of whether technology is going to take all our jobs. This latest surge of the age-old debate seems to have abated, for now, with the anti-robot contingent in America somewhat mollified by the promise that additional automation may be the one advance that allows for manufacturing jobs to return from overseas and relieves humans of the most dangerous and unpleasant tasks. Theoretically, the robotic gospel goes, that talent is then freed up for more fulfilling and productive work. (Hint: The more "creative" and "social" you are, the more likely you are to survive.)
Either way, it's worth looking at the different ways automation began rendering new classes of jobs obsolete this year.
1. The people who mail stuff
Back in 2012, Amazon acquired Kiva Systems, a maker of robots that can be programmed to pick up online orders in a warehouse and shuttle them to their departure points. The company now has 1,382 of the machines in three fulfillment centers, which means it eventually may not even have to hire the tens of thousands of temp workers it brings on for the busy holiday season. And if you had any doubts that Amazon could eventually do the same with flying drones, well, let this be a lesson. (Amazon chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
2. The people who reheat pre-cooked food
The nationwide fast-food strikes brought dire warnings from restaurant industry-backed researchers that if line cooks cost too much, they could easily be replaced by robots. That hasn't quite happened yet, but at least one company is working diligently to make it possible. It's reasonable to believe that McDonalds -- which is already replacing cashiers with touch screens in Europe -- would jump at the chance.
3. The people who sell clothes
E-commerce has been steadily eating away at brick-and-mortar stores for years now, but what's been cropping up more recently is a breed of business that sees taking retail out of the picture as a point of pride. American Giant, for example: The purveyor of basic, high-quality clothing makes its stuff just outside San Francisco, which it can do affordably because it sells to in-the-know urban sophisticates purely online, skipping the American Apparel-style marketing blitz altogether. That may mean you can get a high-quality, U.S.-made hoodie for a competitive price. It also means that the people who might otherwise have sold it to you don't have jobs.
4. The people who stock shelves and return shopping carts
Not all labor-saving innovations are high-tech. The discount supermarket Aldi -- which is owned by the same corporate parent as the more bourgeois Trader Joe's -- keeps payroll down by requiring a 25-cent deposit for shopping carts so employees don't have to return them, and stocking shelves with boxes full of goods rather than placing the individual items in neat rows. Again, great for shoppers on a budget -- at the cost of employment.
5. People who drive trucks
Autonomous vehicle technology is accelerating, and for now, is focused on passenger vehicles. But the real labor shortage is in long-haul trucking, and as my colleague Brian Fung pointed out, that's a job that might be more safely filled by a remotely-controlled robot that never gets tired or lost. Which just means that the 5.7 million people who do the job now will have to find a new way to make a living.
6. People who operate farm equipment
The history of agriculture has been one long tale of automation, to the point where almost nobody works on farms in America anymore. The exception was supposed to be people who operated the machines that replaced people who tilled the soil and harvested the crops by hand. But even they're not safe anymore, with the advent of tractors that can be piloted around the fields by computer or even programmed with the right coordinates and set loose, like a gigantic dirt-treading Roomba.
7. The people who make iProducts
After years of close scrutiny for the working conditions in its factories, Foxconn -- which makes most of Apple's computers, phones, and tablets -- decided to swap people out for machines as much as possible. The process hasn't been as quick or as easy as anticipated, but with wages rising in China, Foxconn has little choice but to keep cranking out the one-million-strong army of "Foxbots" it promised back in 2010.
8. The people who do low-level lab work
In North Carolina's Research Triangle Park, a company called LabCorp is hard at work developing machines to sort and split blood samples, which is just one of hundreds of thousands of menial laboratory jobs that pay decent money but could more efficiently be done by robots.
We may be able to add bartenders next year, but at this point, it still seems that man has an advantage over machines in making a decent Manhattan.


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Looks like the black farmers got shafted again –
Congress misses deadline for payments to black farmers
The federal government promised last month to pay more than $1 billion by the end of March to tens of thousands of black farmers who had filed decades-old discrimination complaints against the U.S. Agriculture Department.
But Congress headed home for a two-week recess without appropriating the money, and the farmers are frustrated that the agreement's March 31 deadline was not met. The White House and congressional leaders say they want to pay the restitution, but farmers in the case say the government has been slow to deliver.
"The administration announced this settlement like this was all over, but we haven't gotten a dime," said John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association. "Right now, it's planting time, and we thought we would have the funds in time for this season."
Boyd said he is sure the government and the farmers will be able to agree on an extension to the settlement, which compensates black farmers who were unfairly denied farm operating loans. But he is worried that with a tight budget and busy schedule, the farmers' case — known as Pigford — will continue to be overlooked when Congress returns.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack sent letters last month to congressional leaders, who have been embroiled with health care legislation, asking them to appropriate money for the settlement, and said this week that resolving cases of discrimination is a department priority.
The White House is also "working with Congress with some urgency to get this done as fast as possible," deputy press secretary Bill Burton said.
Native American farmers, who filed an unresolved lawsuit alleging discrimination against the USDA in 1999, are watching the Pigford settlement closely. Court proceedings in the case of Native American farmers, known as Keepseagle, have been put on hold while they negotiate with the government. The deadline for a settlement in their case is April 21.
Late last week, Rep. Dale E. Kildee (D-Mich.) and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) — co-chairmen of the Congressional Native American Caucus — sent a joint letter to Vilsack and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. asking for an update on the case and saying Native American farmers and ranchers had "lost substantial revenues and lands that had been in their families for generations" because of years of "offensive discrimination."
The Keepseagle case is not contingent on congressional approval, unlike Pigford, and if the settlement deadline is not met, the case could go to trial in district court.
"All our clients seek is to have their claims compensated at a level that is comparable to the settlement in the Pigford case," said Joe Sellers, lead attorney for the Native American farmers. "There's still several weeks before the stay is due to expire where we can make progress. I know our clients are frustrated, [but] they haven't given up hope."


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Someone is shooting up Dirty Sam's.
Will the Long Harbor police get their man, or woman, before a casino heist, a slots player who disappears in a puff of smoke, a crossbow-toting florist, and an undercover agent who makes a mean goulash, complicate the investigation.
Oh, for the simpler days of illegal gambling.
The quirky character descriptions alone intrigued me before I even knew what this book was about. A cross-bow toting florist? I needed to know more about this person.
Long Harbor is filled with some unsavory characters, and it's difficult to figure out who's trustworthy – but that's part of the charm of this book. There's no shortage of suspicious characters, and they'll keep the reader guessing where their loyalties lie, and who did what.
Character development is a strength for this author, and I could easily envision each character, along with their good traits, flaws, and weaknesses. I also snickered several times over things they did or said, and imagined an Ocean's Eleven-type soundtrack playing in the background.
Although the author wrote another book set in Long Harbor with several of the same characters, both are considered standalones. I struggled with the extensive character list – remembering who was who, but that could be because I didn't read the first book. I wouldn't say reading it is a necessity, but it may help with the confusion.
If you enjoy quirky, well-written characters, a briskly paced plot, and a good heist story, I highly recommend The House Always Wins.
I received an ARC from the author.


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Growing Patterns on the Radio
- font size decrease font size increase font size
Mississippi Arts Hour
After winning a fellowship in the literary arts from the Mississippi Arts Commission in 2011, I was invited to talk about my writing and photography on the Mississippi Arts Hour. The host of the show is Diane Williams.
Suzanne - Book Bites for Kids-Sarah Camp
Suzanne - Book Bites for Kids-Sarah Camp


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Rum Running
President Trey Litel of the 3-year-old Louisiana Spirits rum-distilling company in Lacassine has announced the company's new Silver Bayou Rum and Spiced Bayou Rum, both created from molasses and raw, unprocessed sugar sourced from Louisiana. Litel described Silver as having a rounded, rock-candy sweetness. The Spiced variety infuses the Silver with a secret blend of spices including "one ingredient that we're never going to tell anybody, and that ingredient comes out of Louisiana agriculture," Litel told the Lake Charles American Press.
Rodeo Wranglers
Derrick Chaisson, Cade Morgan and Ethan Morgan, all students at Kentwood's Jewel Sumner High School, will join the Louisiana team at the National High School Rodeo Championships in Rock Springs, Wyo. They qualified at the Louisiana High School Finals Rodeo at McNeese State University in Lake Charles. High school rodeo is very competitive in Louisiana, but it's rare to have three qualifiers from a small community, noted the Kentwood News Ledger.
Living Legend
Jimmy Dardeau, a retired Vermilion Parish county agent, has been inducted into the Order of Living Legends at the Acadian Museum in Erath. The order is designed to honor individuals who have made major contributions to Cajun culture, the Lafayette Advertiser reported. The Ville Platte native was a pioneer of the double-cropping of crawfish and rice.
Marker for Metairie Ridge
The Jefferson Parish Historical Commission and the Jefferson Historical Society of Louisiana have unveiled a Louisiana highway marker on Metairie Road at Orpheum Avenue, commemorating the former town of Metairie Ridge, founded in 1927 and dissolved just 18 months later, The Advocate reported. Historical Society president G. Leighton Ciravolo explained that the city of Metairie Ridge existed only briefly, because the Jefferson Parish government insisted that the city was not properly created, a point on which the Louisiana State Supreme Court agreed.
Three-Day Weekends!
Mayor David Amrhein of Zachary has announced that city office workers are switching to a four-day work week. The new hours of operation will be 7 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Zachary Fire and Police will continue their regularly assigned shifts, the Zachary Plainsman News noted. Earlier opening and later closing will accommodate customers' needs, and online payments plus a new 24-hour payment kiosk at the City Billing office, will offer alternatives to in-person service.
LSU AgCenter entomologists have confirmed the arrival of the kudzu bug, the bean plataspid, in a soybean field in Madison Parish. The pest, a native of India and China, can stress soybean plants by using its piercing and sucking mouthparts to extract plant fluids. "We knew the insect was in Mississippi," LSU AgCenter area agent Sebe Brown said, "and that it would only be a matter of time before it arrived in Louisiana." Chemicals used to control stinkbugs have been shown to be effective on the kudzu bugs as well, but "there's no need to start spraying until the insect numbers are high," said Brown.
"Once the Atchafalaya River starts to fall as summer begins in late June, the fresh river water becomes less of an influence on West Cote Blanche, Weeks and Vermilion bays. With mild southeast and southwest winds, often some of the best days fishing are during the dog days of summer, when the birds start working these bays."
"Here are Some Hot Baits for Hot Summer Fishing," John Flores, St. Mary and Franklin Banner Tribune


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Aug. 29, 2008 — -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain's surprise vice-presidential pick, is the subject of a legislative probe into claims that she abused her office by trying to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as an Alaska state trooper.
Palin is likely to be deposed soon in the case, according to State Sen. Hollis French, who leads the state Senate's Legislative Counsel Committee.
French's committee unanimously authorized an investigation into the dismissal of the state's public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, who claims he balked at pressure to remove Trooper Mike Wooten, who had an acrimonious divorce from Palin's sister.
"I saw e-mails from [independent investigator Stephen] Branchflower two days ago to the Department of Law saying it's time to schedule a deposition of the governor, her chief of staff and the attorney general who had some contact with the case," French tells ABCNews.com.
While Palin was being introduced to the world at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, today, thousands of miles away in an Anchorage office, Branchflower was preparing to interview principals in the case, French said.
Branchflower did not return calls for comment.
Palin's press secretary Bill McAlister says that the governor denies that she pressured Monegan, attributing his dismissal to "other issues with the public safety commission as to how he was doing his job."
McAlister says that Palin only discussed Wooten once with Monegan, at a routine security briefing shortly after she won election in 2006 when she cited her former brother-in-law as someone she was concerned about as a security threat.
As for Wooten, McAlister maintains that her concern was justified, alleging, "He Tasered his 11-year-old stepson. He was observed drinking and getting into a squad car. And he illegally shot a moose, which doesn't sound like much -- but in Alaska, state troopers have wildlife authority."
Wooten was suspended over the allegations for five days in 2006, but is still on the job.
Two weeks ago, one of Palin's aides, former boards and commissions director Frank Bailey, was placed on administrative leave by the governor after admitting he made phone calls to Wooten's boss, Lt. Rodney Dial, in which he asked why the trooper still had his job. Bailey told reporters at the time that no one asked him to make the call, explaining, "My fear was (Wooten) could fly off the handle and do something that was irreversible."
A woman who answered the phone at Wooten's house declined to put him on the phone, saying, "He's putting his children first ... and has nothing to say about the campaign or Palin."
The legislative investigation centers on Palin's dismissal of Monegan, who says that he was contacted several times by the governor and her husband, Todd Palin, and that they pressured him to fire Wooten, who was locked in a contentious divorce and custody battle with Palin's sister, Molly McCann.
"Obviously, there was an issue," says Monegan, who claims that the governor talked to him twice and e-mailed him two or three times about the issue. "And did she want us to do more than discipline him? Yeah, anyone can tell you that.
"No one ever -- not her, not her staff -- has ever said, 'Fire Trooper Wooten,'" adds Monegan. "They all said, 'He's not the sort we'd like to have represent Alaska state troopers.' But the intention was clear."
Monegan says that he also met with Todd Palin in the governor's office in January 2007 and claims, "He showed me ... private investigator reports, letters, correspondence" that raised issues suggesting Wooten should be punished.
But Monegan says when he brought the information back to his office and compared it to the commission's internal file on Wooten, which contained complaints filed by Palin's sister, he says he didn't find anything new.
Monegan says Wooten had already been disciplined by his predecessor for the same complaints raised by Palin and her husband.
"They were already done deals and he had already been punished," says Monegan, who adds that the governor called him late at night on his cellphone a few days after his meeting with Todd Palin.
"There was no new evidence, and I called [Todd Palin] back and told him it was a closed case," Monegan says. "He wasn't happy to hear that. I got a subsequent phone call from the governor about it, and she wasn't happy, either."
In total, Monegan says he and his office received 24 calls over 17 months from the governor, her husband and her staff about Wooten.
Monegan suspects Todd Palin was tracking Wooten's activities because Monegan says the governor's husband once called to complain that the trooper, who was on light duty because of an injury, was snow-machining at his residence far from Palin's home.
Monegan declined to discuss details of Wooten's alleged misdeeds, citing the ongoing investigation and Monegan's upcoming Sept. 10 interview with Branchflower, the independent investigator hired by the state senate's Legislative Counsel Committee.
On July 11, Monegan says he was called to the governor's office where chief of staff Mike Nizich told him he was being removed from his position because Palin wanted to take the Department of Public Safety in a different direction.
Monegan is convinced that his refusal to discipline Wooten was a major factor in his dismissal. He says he understands Palin's passion about the issue.
"I've been a cop for a long time, and I know how emotional divorces can get," Monegan says. "If, in fact, it turns out to be the case [that the investigation determines that Palin abused her office by exerting pressure], she's just being human."
The alleged meetings with Monegan may have been just the latest steps in Palin's apparent campaign to alert Wooten's superiors to his alleged misbehavior.
In 2005, less than three months before she began her campaign for governor, Palin sent an e-mail from her personal account to the head of the Alaska state troopers about Wooten. The e-mail was obtained by ABC News and other outlets.
In the message, Palin relayed more than two dozen incidents in which she or others alleged Wooten had driven drunk, made threats, violated game hunting laws, hurt his son, abused his authority as a law enforcement officer, been unfaithful to his wife, and more.
Palin noted allegations that Wooten had threatened to "bring Sarah Palin down," as well as make Palin's father "eat a f******* lead bullet."
The allegations, taken together, "would lead a rational person to believe there is a problem inside the [state troopers'] organization," asserted Palin in the e-mail.
"I have objectively separated the divorce and Wooten's threats against me and my family with the fact that the troopers have a loose cannon on their hands," Palin wrote.
Justin Rood also contributed to this story


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Growing soft fruit with limited space and light!
sparklygardener Posts: 11
in Fruit & veg
I have limited space in a fruit cage for raspberries. Plus it is not quite sunny enough.
Do you think that this would work?! Planting a double row of rasps and then pruning the front row so that is not as tall as the back row so that the sunlight is maximised for each row. Also could I do this with autumn flowering rasps as well?


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15 Mar 2013 15 Mar '13
7:47 p.m.
Hi all,
In a recent scipy pull request (https://github.com/scipy/scipy/pull/459), I ran into the problem of ufuncs automatically generating a signature in the docstring using arguments such as 'x' or 'x1, x2'. scipy.special has a lot of ufuncs, and for most of them, there are much more descriptive or conventional argument names than 'x'. For now, we will include a nicer signature in the added docstring, and grudgingly put up with the one generated by the ufunc. In the long term, it would be nice to be able to disable the automatic generation of the signature. I submitted a pull request to numpy to allow that: https://github.com/numpy/numpy/pull/3149
Comments on the pull request would be appreciated.


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The U.K.'s Biggest Distributor of Children's Books Is About to Be ... McDonald's
Happy meals in Britain are getting a little more literary.
Is there an activity that combines whooping and weeping and shaking one's head at the weirdness and occasionally the wonderfulness of the world?
If so, that activity would make an apt reaction to the following news: McDonald's restaurants across the U.K. are going to start distributing books, instead of toys, in their Happy Meals. For the next five weeks, as part of the chain's "Happy Readers" promotion, the McDonald's kids' meals will include non-fiction books from DK Books's "Amazing World" Series -- books with kid-friendly titles like "Stars and Planets," "Big Cats," and "Oceans."
It's easy to make fun of the experimental McLiterature initiative -- in the way that it's easy to make fun of McDonald's itself. But the chain is, like it or not, a juggernaut ... one that has, as such, immense power over the impressionable kids among its customers. And this could be one way -- one small way that, via McDonald's mass impact, could prove significant -- to get kids excited about reading. The initiative, Yahoo Shine reports, was inspired by data from Britain's National Literacy Trust -- data revealing that, out of a group of 21,000 only half of them said they liked reading "very much" or "a lot."
Which is both unfortunate and reversible. As Jonathan Douglas, director of the NLT, told The Telegraph:
Our research tells us that there is a very clear link between book ownership and children's future success in life, so it is very concerning that one in three children in the UK doesn't own a book, and half of kids don't really enjoy reading.
Initiatives like McDonald's Happy Readers campaign play an important role in getting more books into the hands of children, and inspiring families to read together as a fun and interactive pastime.
What initiatives like the "Happy Readers" campaign also mean, however, is a new logic for book distribution -- particularly when it comes to children. We're a little bit desperate to get kids to read, which means that we're a little bit more amendable than we used to be to finding innovative new methods of getting books into kids' hands. And that's a good thing. But it means a strange, telling twist: McDonald's expects to distribute 15 million books over the course of its initiative, between now and 2014. Which means that it will become the biggest distributor of children's books in the entire United Kingdom.