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Bernanke to face Fed critics in testimony to Congress
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faces the first of two days of congressional testimony that will subject the Fed's controversial bond-buying program to tough scrutiny and gauge his confidence in the resilience of the U.S. economy.
Coming just a week after the Fed's meeting minutes sent U.S. stocks reeling by suggesting the central bank could pull back its economic stimulus earlier than had been expected, and a day after another sharp stock market drop, investors are certain to hang on every word.
Beginning with the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, the scholarly Fed chief will be quizzed by some bitter critics of the aggressive steps he has championed to spur growth. On Wednesday, he will appear before the House Financial Services Committee.
"His opinion remains that there is still not enough growth, that high unemployment is a cyclical issue, that there is not enough inflation," economists at TD Securities in New York said in a note to clients. "He will keep the pedal to the metal deep into 2013."
The Fed chairman's prepared testimony is scheduled to be released at 10 a.m. (1500 GMT) on Tuesday, followed by a lengthy question-and-answer session. By tradition, he will issue the same statement on Wednesday before facing the House panel.
Lawmakers in both chambers will seek his comment on the likely impact of $85 billion in across-the-board government spending cuts that are set to take effect on March 1.
Bernanke is likely to repeat his line that the indiscriminate axe they take to the budget will hurt the recovery, and argue that it would be better to cut the deficit over time and avoid the risk of a near-term fiscal shock.
Lawmakers will also question him about the Fed's bold bond- buying program, which has tripled the size of the central bank's balance sheet to $3 trillion since 2008.
The Fed, which cut overnight interest rates to near zero more than four years ago, is currently buying $85 billion a month in government and mortgage-backed bonds to keep longer- term borrowing costs low and spur the economy's recovery. The Fed has said it would continue to purchase bonds until it sees a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market.
That still appears a long way off. In January, the jobless rate ticked up a tenth of a percentage point to 7.9 percent.
Many Republicans have criticized the Fed's aggressive easing of monetary policy for risking inflation and asset bubbles, and for facilitating excessive government spending by keeping the nation's borrowing costs low.
Some of the same concerns have resonated within the central bank.
Minutes of the Fed's Jan. 29-30 policy meeting, released last week, showed that a number of officials felt the potential risks posed by buying bonds could warrant tapering or ending the program before hiring picks up. However, several others argued there was a danger in halting it prematurely.
Financial markets are keen to find out where Bernanke stands. Expectations that he would offer reassuring words, coupled with fears that Europe's debt crisis could grow worse, led on Monday to the biggest drop in the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note since November.
"You are probably going to hear a message that does not lean so heavily on the costs" of bond buying," said Michael Feroli, an economist with JPMorgan in New York.

subset: commoncrawl


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Waldrant History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Early Origins of the Waldrant family
The surname Waldrant was first found in Sussex at Waldron, a parish, in the union of Uckfield, hundred of Shiplake, rape of Pevensey. [1]
The place name dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 where Iohannes filius Waleranni, Galerami was first listed. Richard Walram was listed in the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1262 and Robert Waldrond was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 lists Matilda Walrond in Warwickshire [2] and Walarinus de Cartone. [3]
Early History of the Waldrant family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Waldrant research. Another 96 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1412, 1422, 1640, 1615, 1689, 1683, 1650, 1730, 1690 and 1730 are included under the topic Early Waldrant History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Waldrant Spelling Variations
It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, early Anglo-Saxon surnames like Waldrant are characterized by many spelling variations. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages, even literate people changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Waldrant include: Waldron, Walrond, Walrand, Waldren, Waldrond and others.
Early Notables of the Waldrant family (pre 1700)
Distinguished members of the family include Sir John Walrond of Wiltshire; Major Richard Waldron (Waldern, Walderne) (1615-1689), English settler and magistrate to colonial Dover, New Hampshire from Alcester, Warwickshire rising to become Chief Justice for New Hampshire in 1683, later killed viciously in the Cocheco...
Migration of the Waldrant family to Ireland
Some of the Waldrant family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Migration of the Waldrant family
Many English families tired of political and religious strife left Britain for the new colonies in North America. Although the trip itself offered no relief - conditions on the ships were extremely cramped, and many travelers arrived diseased, starving, and destitute - these immigrants believed the opportunities that awaited them were worth the risks. Once in the colonies, many of the families did indeed prosper and, in turn, made significant contributions to the culture and economies of the growing colonies. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families has revealed a number of immigrants bearing the name Waldrant or a variant listed above: Alexander Waldron, who came to New Hampshire in 1630; Isaac, William and Richard Waldron, who settled in Rhode Island in 1630; Edward Waldron, who arrived in Boston in 1630.


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"Alteva is adding personalization capabilities to its hosted VoIP services. The unified communications (UC) provider has launched Local Anywhere, which assigns multiple direct inward dialing, or DID, numbers to one VoIP desk phone. That way, Alteva's hosted VoIP users can see which phone number is calling and decide how to treat the call," writes Frank Ohlhorst on PhonePlus.com
"Outbound caller IDs, too, are assigned to each phone number, so people receiving the calls are less likely to ignore them. That's especially useful for companies trying to reach customers, Alteva said," Ohlhorst writes.
Follow the link below to read the full article:
Alteva Personalizes Hosted VoIP Calling with Local Anywhere


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Windows 7 a Big Improvement over Vista
,----[ Quote ]
| In the day and a half I've spent using Windows 7 on a Microsoft-provided Dell
| XPS M1330 machine preinstalled with Build 6801 of the OS, I've found its
| polish and performance a world away from the first Longhorn build I tried out
| at PDC 2003. At this point, Windows 7 feels more like a second beta or an
| early release candidate than a developer conference sneak peek.
Microsoft bribes again?
,----[ Quote ]
| But, if as appears may be the case Microsoft is letting people have Dell XPS
| M1330 laptops with 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processors and 3GBs of RAM
| on 'indefinite loans (wink, wink) then it's a bribe in my book. What do you
| think? If you knew someone had been given a PC with a list price of $1,956
| and then wrote nice things about the operating system that came with it would
| you be inclined to think that they might be just a wee bit influenced by the
| almost two grand worth of computer?
Blacklisted by Microsoft!
,----[ Quote ]
| Basically, they blacklisted me from certain super-secret (i.e.
| pre-conference, NDA, off-the books) sessions at their Professional Developer
| Conference (PDC) –- this after formally inviting me to attend those sessions
| as an "esteemed reviewer" representing InfoWorld.
| [...]
| Oct. 9, 2008 -- A short while later, I get my first hit. It seems that the
| whole mess started when the Windows Server team made the mistake of inviting
| yours truly to an event hosted by the Windows Client team. Apparently, the
| folks on the Server team were unaware of my decidedly negative views towards
| Vista, and when the Client folks found out they had invited Randall C.
| Kennedy -– a.k.a. Vista's most vocal and effective critic -– to their
| special, "for fanbois only" (nice photos, Paul) shindig, they went ballistic.
| First, it appears that someone high up on the Client Team (Steve?) really
| doesn't like me. I mean, really, truly loathes me. And it's not just your
| run-of-the-mill frustration with a journalist who picks on them. This thing
| is personal, and the executive in question is allowing his or her personal
| feelings to spill over into the company's handling of formal press relations
| with InfoWorld.
PC Mag May Boycott Edelman PR
,----[ Quote ]
| Transparency is a word that's been kicked around a lot lately. But
| too much transparency is what got Edelman PR pro and blogebrity
| Steve Rubel kicked around this week, instead. An early Friday
| 13th comment about PC Magazine is fueling a potential boycott,
| as well as fulfilling what the PR world had feared about blogging.
Bribing Bloggers
,----[ Quote ]
| It's a bribe. Period. You say nice things about us, you get nice
| things from us. Heck, just say neutral things about us-we'll give
| you a killer new laptop and we know that you'll be inclined to say
| better things about us.
Microsoft Sent A Free Laptop With Windows Vista
,----[ Quote ]
| I'm not sure how I was selected to be one of the people receiving this
| (I'm assuming there are others, but I haven't come across any yet).
| It could be that they are reaching out to bloggers who are Mac users
| (I switched to a Mac back when OS X came out) or it might just be that
| people I know who work for Microsoft or other influential bloggers
| recommended me
Microsoft Traps and Hunts for Bloggers in India !!
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has announced the "Microsoft BlogStars" contest, to Hunts
| for Developer Bloggers in India. After feeling the power and increase of
| the Bloggers community in India, Microsoft tries to trap and hunt Bloggers
| in India to buildup the blogging community, for writing blog posts
| supporting towards Microsoft Technologies.
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BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese police on Wednesday said they had charged the former British boss of drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC's China business and other colleagues with corruption, after a probe found the firm made billions of yuan from elaborate schemes to bribe doctors and hospitals.
Mark Reilly and two Chinese executives, Zhang Guowei and Zhao Hongyan, were also suspected of bribing officials in the industry and commerce departments of Beijing and Shanghai, the official Xinhua news agency reported, quoting police in Hunan province.
The case is the biggest corruption scandal to hit a foreign company in China since the Rio Tinto affair in 2009, which resulted in four executives, including an Australian, being jailed for between seven and 14 years.
GSK is Britain's biggest drugmaker.
"(GSK) departments offered bribes to hospitals and doctors as well as personnel to boost their sales. The money involved was in the billions of yuan," a Ministry of Public Security official told a press conference in Beijing.
The charges - which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison in the case of bribery - were seen as harsher than many industry insiders and China-based foreign executives had expected.
Officials gave no specific details on the amount of bribes paid or exactly how much the company had illegally earned, although they had previously accused the firm of funneling up to 3 billion yuan ($482 million) to travel agencies to facilitate bribes to doctors and officials.
GSK said it was cooperating with the authorities.
"We take the allegations that have been raised very seriously. They are deeply concerning to us and contrary to the values of GSK," the drugmaker said in a brief statement issued in London, its headquarters.
"We want to reach a resolution that will enable the company to continue to make an important contribution to the health and welfare of China and its citizens."
Shares of London-listed GSK were trading down one percent, underperforming a 0.2 percent drop in the broader FTSE 100 index.
GSK has said that some of its senior Chinese executives appeared to have broken the law. It has also said it has zero tolerance for bribery, calling the allegations in China "shameful".
Reilly briefly left China when the scandal broke in July last year but voluntarily returned to cooperate with police. Attempts to reach him on Wednesday were unsuccessful. He was replaced as GSK's China head on July 25 last year, 10 days after the initial Chinese police accusations.
A spokesman for the British consulate in Shanghai said officials were in regular contact with Reilly and were providing consular assistance. The spokesman declined to comment on Reilly's whereabouts.
The charges against the British executive shocked the business community as GSK had previously said it believed the alleged corruption involved senior Chinese staff only.
Kenneth Jarrett, president of the American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai, said he was surprised at the "strong response" from the police.
"I would agree that it's not what I would have expected because it seemed like GSK were cooperating very closely with the authorities," he told Reuters.
"I don't think that anyone had been lulled back into complacency, but if anybody had this will wake them up," Jarrett added. The GSK scandal had spurred many foreign corporations in China to increase vigilance against bribery.
Other large international drugs manufacturers including Novartis AG, AstraZeneca Plc, Sanofi SA, Eli Lilly & Co and Bayer AG were also visited by Chinese officials in 2013 as part of a broad investigation into the business.
The allegations against GSK have damaged its reputation, thrown its China management team into turmoil and forced it to change its China business model, although the firm says head office had no knowledge of alleged wrongdoing. [ID:nL6N0FU27B]
China is a key growth market for large drugmakers, which are counting on its swelling middle class to offset declining sales in Western countries. China is set to be the second-biggest pharmaceuticals market behind the United States within three years, according to consultants IMS Health.
But bribery between sales staff and doctors is rife in the world's second-biggest economy, and it remains to be seen whether the GSK case will be a one-off or the first of a broader campaign to clean up the Chinese health sector.
Reilly and the executives were charged with corporate bribery, bribing non-government officials and bribing business units.
Chinese officials on Wednesday made no mention of possible sanctions against GSK itself, although Xinhua said the firm had forged accounts, faked transactions to inflate revenue, pressed sales staff to engage in bribery and tried to cover its tracks.
"Later they could bring an action against the company and seek penalties against the company and I wouldn't be surprised if they did that actually, because the claim is so egregious that the company could be charged and fined," said Steven Dickinson, Qingdao-based partner with law firm Harris Moure.
"But the thing is you can't put a company in jail and they want someone in jail. They want Mr. Reilly in jail for about 10 years. That's what they're looking to do," he added.
Any bribery charges against GSK as a company could also lead to the authorities stripping it of its business licenses.
GSK's revenue in China leapt to 6.9 billion yuan ($1.11 billion) in 2012 from 3.9 billion yuan in 2009, the first year that Reilly headed operations, Xinhua said.
Before the scandal, GSK's China sales had risen 14 percent year-on-year in the three months to end-June, but revenue in the country plunged 61 percent in the third quarter. Since then, the decline has moderated but sales were still down by 20 percent from a year ago in the first quarter of 2014.
Since the bribery scandal, GSK has announced an overhaul of its sales and marketing practices worldwide in a bid to prevent future wrongdoing. The company, however, has continued to face corruption allegations in other countries and is now investigating claims that bribes were also paid to doctors in Poland, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.
In an attempt to clean up its reputation, GSK aims to become the first company in the drugs industry to stop paying outside doctors to promote its products. It also wants to end payments for medics to attend conferences and separate incentives for sales representatives from individual sales targets.
A key challenge in the process, which is due to be completed by 2016, is how to make the transition without ceding business to rivals in the $1 trillion-a-year global drugs industry.
The crackdown on GSK reflects a growing determination by Chinese authorities to stamp out corporate bribery and corruption, which can drive up prices for consumers.
"This GSK case is very well-known in the public domain, drawing everyone's attention. The government wants to kill the chicken to scare the monkey and I think this will have a ripple effect," said Shanghai-based lawyer John Huang, co-founder and managing partner at MWE China.
Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler in LONDON, Adam Jourdan and John Ruwitch in SHANGHAI and Michael Martina in BEIJING; Editing by Stephen Coates, Miral Fahmy and Mike Collett-White
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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DDR1 Versus DDR2 Notebook Memory
DDR2 Finally Makes It Into Notebooks
Almost one year ago Legit Reviews published an article titled "Is DDR2 Ready to Replace DDR1" and shocked many in our community with our findings. It was determined that DDR2 desktop memory was not going to show an improvement over DDR1 till speeds reached over 667MHz. At that time 667MHz could only be done on very few modules, so it was a big deal to enthusiasts. Our DDR2 performance prediction from 2004 came true just a couple months ago when Corsair Memory was among the first companies in the world to launch a high performance 667MHz part that really did improve DDR2 performance. For many years Intel had plans on launching DDR2 on notebooks back in 2004, but the new Sonoma and Alviso notebooks were not seen on the market till mid 2005. Now that the DDR1 to DDR2 transition is starting to gain momentum in the notebook segment many are unsure of the performance increase or decrease due to this.
When it comes to DDR2 SDRAM for desktop computers the memory has been out now for over a year and has yet to truly make significant impact in terms of market share for desktop computers. The mobile market has seen benefits of DDR2 and leading market analysts and notebook builders believe that by then end of 2005 that DDR2 will be the memory module of choice in 90% of all shipping notebooks. This is vastly different than desktops and since mobile platforms are currently out selling desktop computers (May 2005) many users are going into unfamiliar territory when it comes to hardware.
Intel originally planned to release the Centrino platform code-named Sonoma in 2004, but after a number of roadmap changes things got delayed a bit. In late 2004 Intel started shipping the chipsets to OEM builders and the Sonoma platform from was officially launched by Intel on Janurary 19, 2005 and for many they have proven to be worth the wait. At first these new platforms were only available on high end notebooks with DDR2 and MXM graphics modules, but now we are seeing many notebooks come with integrated Intel Extreme Graphics (no MXM slot) at lower price points. The notebook we got our hands on is the AOpen 1558 that features the Intel 915PM chipset (integrated graphics) with some of the latest features one can get in the mobile market. What makes this notebook different from others is that you can buy it assembled or as a whitebox (where you assemble it using hardware that you select and install) or as a pre-built system. In the above image you can see a pair of Corsair DDR2 SODIMM's installed into the dual channel memory slots.
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How To Use Google Drive In School is a three hour interactive course for educators who want to learn how to use Google Drive (Google Docs, Presentations, Forms, Spreadsheets) in their classrooms. This course covers everything from the basics of document creation to using scripts to automate workflow in Google Drive.
Registration is limited to 25 people per course. For only $97 all participants receive digital how-to guides, access to three hours of live webinar training, access to all webinar recordings, and access to a dedicated course discussion forum. The cost of this course is $97.00 USD. The next section is scheduled to meet on April 28th, May 5th, and May 12th at 7pm Eastern Time. Registration is limited to 25 people.
Click here to register today!
Course Highlights
*Creating and sharing documents, presentations, and spreadsheets.
*Using Google Documents and Presentations for collaborative writing and reading exercises.
*Using Google Forms and Spreadsheets for collecting and analyzing data.
*Using Google Documents as a publishing platform.
*Managing the flow of files in your Google Drive. Registration is limited to 25 students per course.
Participants receive:
*Three hours of live instruction with Q&A opportunities.
*Access to recordings of each session (recordings can be downloaded for unlimited personal use).
*Digital hand-outs to download and re-use for personal use as well as re-use within their school districts.
*A dedicated discussion forum to access throughout the three week course.
*Certificate of completion.
This course is designed for educators who:
*Are new to using Google Drive/ Documents/ Sheets/ Drawings/ Slides.
*Have previously used Google Drive/ Documents but would like a refresher course.
*Would like to learn how Google Drive/ Documents can be used to help their students meet ELA Common Core Standards.
Nice Things People Have Said About This Webinar:
Very good Webinar yesterday. One of the few I've heard that was so well organized!
Your workshop was so informative and got me going as well. A big "thank you"!!
Click here to register today!
Register by April 24th and use the discount code "Drive" to save $10.
About the cost and my decision to advertise it on my blog:
Sometimes when I advertise one of these webinars I get messages from people who are upset that I am advertising it here and or that I am charging for it. I understand why some people feel that way. I thought long and hard about how to offer this series. In fact, I thought about it and talked about it with trusted advisors for a year before offering the first webinar series last year. The purpose of this blog and my goal for years has always been to help people use free technology in their classrooms. The tools and strategies featured in my webinars are free to use. However, my time for teaching isn't free. Further, I pay licensing fees to GoToTraining and to Wistia for hosting all of the media content of the courses.


text: NAWCA - North American Wetlands Conservation Act © Michael Furtman TAKE ACTION - Urge your Representatives and Senators to support NAWCA funding NAWCA Overview The North American Wetlands Conservation Act conserves North America's waterfowl, fish and wildlife resources while producing a variety of environmental and economic benefits. Its success is driven by partnerships involving federal, state and local governments; nonprofit organizations like DU and community groups. This program represents a sound investment of limited federal dollars as each must be matched at least one-to-one but funds are often doubled or tripled at the local level. In fact, NAWCA grants totaling more than $1.6 billion have leveraged over $4.68 billion for NAWCA projects through matching and nonmatching funds. Since its inception in 1989, more than 2,833 NAWCA projects have contributed to the conservation of almost 29.8 million acres of habitat across North America. NAWCA History NAWCA was enacted more than 30 years ago to provide federal cost-share funding to support the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, an international agreement that provides a strategy for the long-term protection of wetlands and associated uplands habitats needed by waterfowl and other migratory birds in North America. NAWCA is a non-regulatory, incentive-based, voluntary wildlife conservation program. NAWCA stimulates public-private partnerships to protect, restore, and manage wetland habitats for a diversity of migratory birds and other wildlife. NAWCA partnership grants play an important role in meeting DU's mission, from restoring wetlands that have been altered, and enhancing water availability, to reducing soil erosion and the likelihood of floods. NAWCA grants also help improve water and air quality and recharge ground water. In addition, many projects provide outstanding recreational opportunities, from bird watching to hunting. NAWCA provides challenge grants for wetlands conservation projects in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Every dollar of federal money allotted to NAWCA must be matched by a dollar or more from non-federal sources like DU, or state fish and wildlife agencies. Because this program is so effective, funds are often doubled or tripled at the local level. Funds from U.S. Federal sources may contribute towards a project, but are not eligible as a match. In Washington, D.C., the Ducks Unlimited Government Affairs staff works with Congress in support of annual funding and the reauthorization of NAWCA to keep building on the Act's waterfowl conservation success. To date, NAWCA has helped fund more than 2,833 projects on almost 29.8 million acres in all 50 states, areas of Canada and areas of Mexico. More than 6,000 partners, including private landowners, industry and state governments have worked together to conserve wildlife habitat through NAWCA grants. Other resources: NAWCA fact sheet (PDF) NAWCA fact sheets by state: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming


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Obama seeks to end NSA holding of metadata
- President Obama delivers major speech on surveillance policy
- The president says government should be the one to store phone data
- Congress%2C the DOJ and the intelligence community will be consulted on new plans
President Obama called Friday for ending the National Security Agency's ability to store phone data from millions of Americans, and asked Congress, the Justice Department and the intelligence community to help decide who should hold these records.
The president laid out a series of new proposals on government surveillance and bulk data collections, saying they strike a balance between national security and personal privacy even as some civil libertarians argued that they are filled with loopholes.
In a long-awaited speech, Obama outlined adjustments to rules on surveillance of foreign leaders and the secret court that oversees the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He also aggressively defended NSA programs as important tools to combat terrorism.
The president said civil libertarians have raised legitimate worries about the potential for abuse.
"We have to make some important decisions about how to protect ourselves and sustain our leadership in the world, while upholding the civil liberties and privacy protections that our ideals -- and our Constitution -- require," Obama said during his speech at the Justice Department.
He added: "We cannot unilaterally disarm our intelligence agencies."
Some NSA critics said the president's plans don't go far enough and are riddled with loopholes that intelligence and law enforcement agencies can exploit.
'I am unwilling to sacrifice the privacy rights and civil liberties of Americans for the excessive collection of personal data," said Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif., saying Obama's proposals did not go far enough.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., predicting that the Supreme Court will ultimately decide the NSA's authority, likened Obama's speech to his health care promises. Paul tweeted: "If you like your privacy, you can keep it."
Two Senate Democrats who have criticized NSA policies -- Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado -- praised Obama for ending part of the bulk collection programs, but also pledged to push for more changes.
"We will work to close the 'back-door searches' loophole and ensure that the government does not read Americans' emails or other communications without a warrant," the senators said in a joint statement that included Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.
Obama said he has ordered Attorney General Eric Holder and the intelligence community to deliver a report by March 28 on how to handle and store bulk data collections. The president will also consult with the relevant committees in Congress on their views.
A special committee appointed by Obama last year has recommended that telephone metadata by held by a third party, or the phone companies themselves. But some phone providers have balked at the latter idea.
In the speech and in a flurry of written government orders, Obama also:
-- Said the NSA can only access the current database "after a judicial finding or in the case of a true emergency."
-- Called on Congress to authorize "a panel of advocates from outside government" to raise possible privacy and civil liberties concerns within the special court that oversees the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and approves warrants for snooping.
Obama did not adopt outside proposals to create a permanent "public advocate" position at the FISA Court. Some judges have criticized that idea, questioning whether a public advocate would have legal standing.
-- Ordered annual reviews of the government's surveillance activities and rules.
-- Issued a presidential policy directive outlining general rules and restrictions on "signals intelligence activities."
-- Announced new requirements for surveillance of foreign leaders, saying they should demand "a compelling national security purpose."
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have protested NSA spying on their governments. Rousseff canceled a state visit to the United States over the issue.
Some of the new rules apply to spying on any foreign citizen, Obama said.
All countries should know that "the United States is not spying on ordinary people who don't threaten our national security," and "we take their privacy concerns into account," Obama said.
"This applies to foreign leaders as well," he said.
The address was the latest phase in a months-long review of NSA policies, spurred by news leaks from former contractor Edward Snowden about the scope, reach and possible abuses of spying programs.
Obama made two references to Snowden. He said at one point, "I'm not going to dwell on Mr. Snowden's actions or his motivations," but added that "our nation's defense depends in part on the fidelity of those entrusted with our nation's secrets."
His new plans "should give the American people greater confidence that their rights are being protected, even as our intelligence and law enforcement agencies maintain the tools they need to keep us safe," Obama said.
The president repeatedly defended the NSA, saying that surveillance programs are essential tools in preventing terrorist attacks and that employees consistently follow the rules.
After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Obama noted, government officials and citizens demanded that intelligence agencies improve their performance in order to break up future plots.
"Laboring in obscurity, often unable to discuss their work even with family and friends, the men and women at the NSA know that if another 9/11 or massive cyber-attack occurs, they will be asked, by Congress and the media, why they failed to connect the dots," Obama said.
The president's NSA speech will not end the privacy/security debate, however.
For one thing, Congress must sign off on many of Obama's proposals.
The surveillance programs are also the subjects of multiple lawsuits, and the security-privacy issue could wind up before the Supreme Court.


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BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio (CNN) -- After two years of traveling around the country and criticizing President Bush, President-elect Barack Obama said Friday that he "always thought [Bush] was a good guy."
Barack Obama tells CNN's John King that it was "tough" for him to request the additional bailout funds.
"I mean, I think personally he is a good man who loves his family and loves his country," Obama said in an exclusive interview with CNN's John King.
During the election season, Obama frequently campaigned against what he called Bush's "failed policies" and promised a "clean break" from the past eight years.
Asked if there was anything he wanted to take back, now that he has spent more time with the president, Obama praised Bush's team for helping with a smooth transition and said part of what America is about is being able to have "disagreements politically and yet treat each other civilly."
Obama also said he thought Bush made "the best decisions that he could at times under some very difficult circumstances."
"That does not detract from my assessment that over the last several years, we have made a series of bad choices and we are now going to be inheriting the consequences of a lot of those bad choices," Obama said.
In addition to his relationship with Bush, Obama also discussed some key issues that he will face in the first days of his administration, including national security and the economy.
Even before taking the oath of office, Obama has already faced a showdown with Congress over releasing what remains of the $700 bailout bill that Bush and Congress authorized before the election.
The $350 billion that the Senate approved will come with specific conditions, Obama said.
"There's nothing wrong with us placing some conditions, making sure that the money's not going to executive compensation, making sure you're not seeing big dividend payoffs to shareholders and making sure that money is being left so that we can get credit flowing again, not just for individual homeowners who are losing their homes, but also small businesses who are the lifeblood of this economy.
"If they can't get credit, then they end up having to shutter their doors. And when they shutter their doors, people lose jobs. They then can't pay their mortgage, and you start down the road that we're on. We want to reverse that path, and that means that's the way we use the next $350 billion that Congress voted on, and that was a very tough vote for a lot of people. And it was tough for me to have to request it," he said.
Obama sat down with King after he took a factory tour in Bedford Heights, Ohio.
All About Barack Obama • National Economy


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Minibus Hire with a driver in Fulbourn
Looking for a reliable minibus hire provider? If so, then we would love to help, with we at Cheap coach hire boasting a great reputation for our minibus hire with a driver and Mini bus hire deals. Operating a stunning fleet bursting with a variety of great brands, we can offer choice in abundance when it comes to Minibus Hire.
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So, if you are looking for Minibus Hire with a driver or mini bus hire for any of the below events, we'd be happy to help
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- Hen and stag parties


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IBM Launches New Software and Social Business Consulting Services
ARMONK, N.Y. - IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new software and services to help organizations improve business performance in an increasingly connected global environment. The new enterprise social software delivers advanced analytics capabilities that helps users gain access to information and people on the fly to accelerate collaboration and be more effective in their jobs.
Increasingly, an organizations brand is experienced through its people, leading to a significant increase in customer demand for social networking capabilities in business. IBM is responding to this market opportunity by launching a new Global Business Services initiative to help companies understand how social networking is being used today and how it can best fit into their business.
IBM Lotus Connections 3.0
IBM Lotus Connections 3.0 provides tools such as communities, forums, wikis and blogs and new capabilities like advanced social analytics, enabling users to expand their network with recommendations of people to connect with based on prior connections and similar interests.
A transformation is taking place as a new generation of social media savvy workers are emerging. In fact, according to the 2010 IBM Chief Human Resource Officer Study, financially outperforming organizations are 57 percent more likely to allow their employees to use social and collaborative tools. However, fewer than 23 percent of employees use social networking or collaborative technologies to preserve critical knowledge, while just over a quarter use those tools to spread innovation throughout their organizations.
To help organizations transform into social businesses, IBM today is unveiling IBM Lotus Connections 3.0, the first social networking platform with advanced analytics capabilities that helps people gain faster insight and access to relevant information for improved productivity. The new software helps users more easily connect, create global communities, and find information and resources.
Social business helps organizations transform the way they work by connecting people and accelerating decision-making, said Alistair Rennie, general manager, collaboration and social software, IBM. IBM is at the forefront of enabling social business, and driving a new generation of organizational productivity, with a secure and compliant social collaboration platform.
New Software and Services Help Cultivate Relationships for Todays Social Business
IBM was first to market with a social networking platform for business, and is responding to the changing needs of todays organizations as they continue to shift towards a more social form of collaboration. Social collaboration is the new mode of working that helps people deepen relationships, generate new ideas faster and be more effective overall through the use of social software.
New IBM services will draw from experts in IBMs Strategy and Transformation consulting practice and the companys deep understanding of vertical industries and people management issues to help companies understand how social software can be used within an organization and to identify a roadmap to systematically embed social business tools throughout their organization.
IBMs services offerings will use IBMs social collaboration platform to help clients in all industries achieve greater utilization of social software capabilities for actionable outcomes and return on investment. The social business services offerings include:
* Social business strategy, assessment and implementation programs;
* Social network analysis readiness and maturity modeling;
* Leadership and skills development in a social workplace;
* Governance, policy and privacy management.
The next version of IBMs industry-leading social collaboration platform, including IBM Lotus Connections 3.0, provides tools such as communities, forums, wikis and blogs to help users discuss and refine ideas. With new capabilities like advanced social analytics, users can expand their network with recommendations of people to connect with based on prior connections and similar interests. Lotus Connections users are also given recommendations of content they would be interested in based on their actions -- for example, if they commented on a specific blog or tagged a Web site. The new software allows users to discover people and content in a network, helping users to build broad, powerful networks to reach new resources and experts, especially those that a user did not know previously. These advanced analytics capabilities were born out of IBMs social software Research lab in Haifa, Israel.
In addition, expanded mobile support allows users to access their Lotus Connections home page, bookmarks, communities, forums, files and wikis all from their Apple iPad or iPhone, Android or Nokia S60 devices. In addition, LotusLive Connections, the cloud-based version of Lotus Connections, can help advance an organizations ability to collaborate both inside and outside their enterprise.
Organizations Worldwide Embrace the Power of Networks with Lotus Connections
As part of todays news, industry-leading organizations worldwide are using Lotus Connections 3.0 to collaborate, share knowledge and discover experts including Bayer MaterialScience, CEMEX and global technology consultancy Sogeti.
Bayer MaterialScience, a Bayer Group company headquartered in Germany and a manufacturer of high-tech polymer materials, is using Lotus Connections to significantly improve the way employees communicate, collaborate and process information globally. With Lotus Connections, Bayer employees can more readily find experts that specialize in specific areas of the business, and can easily collaborate on projects with coworkers that are located at different areas of the globe.
The power of Connections is that the knowledge sharing process is totally embedded in the tool, said Kurt De Ruwe, chief information officer at Bayer MaterialScience . When a person adds a piece of information, it is automatically linked to other information available in communities, wikis or blogs. Connections 3.0 has increased these capabilities even more so. You can now see what areas of interest you have in common with other people, what communities you share, and what people and information topics you are following. Connections 3.0 comes with other enhancements that empower users to share and find relevant information even better.
CEMEX, one of the top building material companies in the world, has embraced social software from IBM to help them move towards a new culture of innovation through global collaboration. CEMEX has empowered every employee to connect with colleagues, share ideas and make live interactions a part of their daily work. With Lotus Connections, called Shift, employees can follow other contractors and colleagues in the network based on areas of interest in order to collaborate with them more easily and efficiently to reach goals more quickly. Shift has enabled meaningful collaboration among employees worldwide, and has earned CEMEX a prestigious social media award. This years Forrester Groundswell Awards recognized Shift as the worldwide leader in employee collaboration less than one year after inception.
The rapid viral spread of our employees interest and adoption of Lotus Connections, which we call Shift internally, has been a huge success, said Sergio J. Escobedo, Innovation Director, CEMEX. What started with a few hundred users in April of this year grew to 17,500 today. But, its not the numbers that defines this success. We see a marked increase in blogs, and blog comments, as well as in the creation of more than 350 communities to bring people with common interests and goals together. Now, thats the power of social networking.
Sogeti, one of the worlds leading providers of professional technology services with 20,000 experts located in 15 countries worldwide, is using Lotus Connections to connect all employees across fields and borders. Lotus Connections provides Sogeti experts with personalized recommendations that help make connections with those that share similar interests and encourages them to participate more broadly across organizational boundaries.
With Lotus Connections as a social collaboration platform, we have a global tool to connect our thousands of employees in all of the countries where we work, said Michiel Boreel, CTO of the Sogeti Group. Were excited about Lotus Connections 3.0 as it provides us with enhanced functionality. With the newest application, Forums, we foster innovation and the enhanced document management functionality will increase usability.
For more information on IBM Lotus Connections, please visit www.ibm.com/software/lotus/products/connections.
This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.
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Thursday, July 15, 2010
Life is Messy - Art is Cruel
8 comments:
- J said...
The Wiki says Seidel likes Ducatis.
Cool. Alas, his writing seems a bit more like a Honda... :). Tho' given that he's independently wealthy (sort of traditional starting point for the belle-lettrist, really), Seidel can probably say anything and it'll be accepted as liter-ah-ture. The Aynnie Rand lemma
Then poetry was stillborn (or appears to be) say sometime after WB Yeats was pitched in a nazi-hole. Then, they may have done the right thing. Auf-veeder-zehen, poet
- July 15, 2010 at 2:20 PM
- Kirby Olson said...
I actually enjoyed this a lot. I shall read further.
I didn't see anything icky in it at all.
But maybe that in itself should give you pause.
- July 15, 2010 at 9:33 PM
- Steven Fama said...
Your numbered listing of the "charges" against Seidel focuses entirely on things about him as a person.
You might have included criticisms made about his poems. The most trenchant are Ange Mlinko:
"the repetitiveness of . . . autopilot rhythms . . . singsong, staccato sentences and cartoonish images."
Your comment about the book as a whole, re "the lack of prosodic progress," echoes some of Mlinko's response, yes?
The poem you write about it, I understand how it rings for you, but it seems for all its concealment more than a tad cloying, and overwrought.
- July 16, 2010 at 8:24 AM
- Curtis Faville said...
It's true. Seidel's not an avant garde formalist--his poems aren't preoccupied with that.
They're about the sly use of metaphor and dramatic tension. They sound to me like Sylvia Plath's poems in Ariel. Have you read that book?
It would be easy to complain about Seidel's lack of experimentation, because he puts so little store in it. You can't demand things of people (or poets) to suit your own taste. You have to build your taste out of what's been done. Or write the work yourself, to satisfy your craving for what doesn't already exist.
I.e., I understand McClure's need to write the poems he's written, and there's a certain honesty and forthrightness about that. But as a method of conveying what he thinks to say, I find it no more convincing than Seidel's choice(s), perhaps even less so.
In Seidel, content is "more important" than the method of its saying. I think the first stanza is quite good, probably as good as most anything in Pound. I can think of more abstract ways of saying what the second and third stanzas say, but I don't think anything would be gained thereby; they're perfectly concise and ingenious as they stand, albeit in simple, unadorned language.
- July 16, 2010 at 8:49 AM
- J said...
I have never had a serious thought in my life on Gibson Lane.
A man turning into cremains is standing on the beach.
I used to walk my dog along the beach.
This afternoon I had to put him down.
Jimmy my boy, my sweetyboy, my Jimmy.
It is night, and outside the house, at eleven o'clock,
The lawn sprinklers come on in the rain.
Seems like something a faux-aristocrat might write, like in some posh New England town with a garage full of Ducatis that he's ridden once or twice, and a library of Klassix, of which he's read one or two, and probably some...Aynnie Rand potboilers (fess up Sir Faville, you still love the Fountain Head, or Atlas Slugged, etc) . Could even be...a parody of sorts, like one of Vonnegut's portraits of a fratboy jagoff
Cremains. whoa.
- July 16, 2010 at 8:49 AM
- Curtis Faville said...
I tried to read The Fountainhead once, but couldn't make it past page 100 or so.
The movie they made from it is mildly diverting--Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal in their prime--sparks!
But Rand's philosophy is a crock.
So was she.
- July 16, 2010 at 9:37 AM
- Kirby Olson said...
The first stanza is very powerful and lovely.
After that, it strikes me as barely poetry at all.
- July 17, 2010 at 12:34 PM
- Delia Psyche said...
This essay has convinced me that I should check out Seidel. Before reading it I'd read--or perhaps heard a recording of Seidel reading--one or two poems, and I remember thinking the Plath influence was obvious. But I really like Plath--even imitators of Plath, like Thomas James.
- July 19, 2010 at 4:40 AM


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Oakfield residents feel for those in Oklahoma
Few people know what the tornado victims are going through in Oklahoma like those in Oakfield, Wis.
In 1996, the town was leveled by one of the most powerful tornadoes ever in this state.
It's been nearly 17 years since that July night when a massive tornado tore through the heart of Oakfield. But for those who survived the storm, the memories are still vivid.
"I was going down in the basement and I saw the garage blow right off the house, just like a piece of paper," tornado survivor James Ford said.
Ford's house was flattened. Then the twister took aim at Tim Shady's home.
"Decapitated the top of the house. Pulled the walls off the side, and the front of the house was gone," Shady said.
It destroyed dozens of homes, a church and a school but, miraculously, everyone survived. Shady said his thoughts are with those Oklahoma families who were not as fortunate.
"I really feel sorry for them people, I really do," Shady said.
For Ford, the images from Oklahoma bring back memories of the sight he saw seconds before his home was destroyed.
"I looked to the west, and you could see that big old ugly tornado, just like the one in Oklahoma. It looked exactly like it," Ford said.
"So, when you see those pictures from Oklahoma, what goes through your mind?" WISN 12 News reporter Kent Wainscott asked.
"I'd like to go down there and help them clean the place up," Ford said.
Folks here in Oakfield said the lesson of their town is one of resilience that a town devastated by a tornado can rebuild, and in this case, is stronger than ever.
Seventeen people were injured in the Oakfield tornado. It did an estimated $40 million in damage.


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Milton Keynes, UK, 25 May 2021, ZEXPRWIRE, Win500, a DApp built on TRON, Win500 aims to build a leading gaming platform on the blockchain through the development of high-quality applications. This will be done by leveraging the Win500 team themselves to design products while allowing other groups and users to contribute to the development and direction of the Win500 platform.
What Is Win500 Goal?
Win500 is a platform for gaming. Therefore, Win500 will focus on providing a unique and engaging user experience with the following:
- The game will have auditable smart contracts
- Most games will allow the user to have full supervision of their money
- Users will receive tokens and other rewards while playing
- There are social features and exclusive events to engage the community
- Brands collaboration between TRON and BitTorrent to support the development and use of DApps
- By providing users with the right to monitor their money and deploy DApps transparently, Win500 main goal is to serve users/players.
- Besides, improvements such as exclusive WIN token and "play to mine" mode will attract and maintain the community – a prerequisite for blockchain projects to survive.
Coin Metrics
To promote the blockchain-based platform WIN500, the development team has released the W500 as a utility coin across its entire ecosystem.
Blockchain: TRON
Standard: TRC20
Ticker Symbol: W500
Token Name: WIN500
Decimal Places: 6
Total Supply: 5,000,000
WIN500 mining capacity will decrease gradually over 3 years
About Win500
WIN500 is a decentralized project integrating DApp and Staking technology, allowing the community to actively mine simultaneously two coins Win500 and WIN500 with an algorithm that helps promote the full potential and capacity of the entire WIN500 community.
Media contact
Company: WIN500 Limited
Contact Name: WIN500
E-mail: [email protected]
Address: C/O Mazars Llp, The Pinnacle, 160 Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, MK9 1FF
Website: https://win500.net/


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Gretchen Wilson, Bill Engvall to Headline SeaWorld Concert Series
One week after Alan Jackson and Kid Rock kicked off SeaWorld's 2014 Bands, Brews and BBQ concert series, another country act has been announced to headline week No. 2. Gretchen Wilson will perform on Saturday (Feb. 8), while comedian Bill Engvall will take the stage on Sunday.
Despite protesters from PETA and other animal rights groups, Jackson and Kid Rock both played to capacity crowds in Orlando, Fla. last weekend. Nine other performers backed out of the concert series -- including Martina McBride, Willie Nelson and Trace Adkins -- after CNN aired their controversial 'Blackfish' documentary on television.
SeaWorld has worked to keep its performers a secret until days before each concert. Wilson and Engvall are listed as replacements by the Orlando Sentinel, meaning they were added after the mass exodus. The 'Redneck Woman' singer will play Bayside Stadium at 4PM on Saturday. The show is included with tickets to the theme park.


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Are you an employer?
This guide calls you an employer if you are the person making decisions about what happens in a work situation. Most situations are covered, even if you don't give your worker a written contract of employment or if they are a contract worker rather than an employee. Other types of worker such as trainees, apprentices and business partners are also covered. Sometimes, equality law only applies to particular types of worker, such as employees, and we make it clear if this is the case.
What else is in this guide
- Information about making reasonable adjustments to remove barriers for disabled people who work for you or apply for a job with you.
- Information about when you are responsible for what other people do, such as your employees.
- A list of words and key ideas you need to understand this guide – all words highlighted in bold are in this list. They are highlighted the first time they are used in each section.
- Advice on what to do if someone says they've been discriminated against.
- Information on where to find more advice and support.
Throughout the text, we give you some ideas on what you can do if you want to follow good equality practice and do more than equality law says you must do. This can help you focus on what your workers contribute to your organisation, rather than on their protected characteristics.
Making sure you know what equality law says you must do as an employer
First, use this list to make sure you know what equality law says you must do.
Does the job or position you are dealing with count as a work situation for equality law? Most situations are covered, even if you don't give your worker a written contract of employment or if they are a contract worker rather than an employee. People in other positions like trainees, apprentices and business partners are also covered. If you are not sure, check the list under 'work situation'.
Make sure you know what is meant by:
- age
- disability
- gender reassignment
- marriage and civil partnership
- pregnancy and maternity
- race
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation.
These are known as protected characteristics.
- You must not treat a person worse than someone else just because of a one or more of their protected characteristics (this is called direct discrimination).
For example: An employer selects a woman for redundancy because she is pregnant.
For example: An employer uses the excuse of persistent lateness to dismiss a gay man because he is gay; a straight man who has the same pattern of lateness is not dismissed.
- In the case of women who are pregnant or on maternity leave, the test is not whether the woman is treated worse than someone else, but whether she is treated unfavourably from the time she tells you she is pregnant to the end of her maternity leave (equality law calls this the protected period) because of her pregnancy or a related illness or because of maternity leave.
- You must not do something to someone in a way that has a worse impact on them and other people who share a particular protected characteristic than it has on people who do not have the same characteristic. Unless you can show that what you have done, or intend to do, is objectively justified, this will be indirect discrimination. 'Doing something' can include making a decision, or applying a rule or way of doing things.
For example: An employer has a policy of providing references for former employees which simply state length of service and the number of days they were absent from work regardless of the reason. If the employer cannot objectively justify this approach, it is likely to be indirect discrimination against former employees who were absent because of protected characteristics, as it has a worse impact on them and others who share the same characteristics.
- You must not treat a disabled person unfavourably because of something connected to their disability where you cannot show that what you are doing is objectively justified. This only applies if you know or could reasonably have been expected to know that the person is a disabled person. This is called discrimination arising from disability.
For example: A small beauty products company employs a receptionist who is in an accident, as a result of which when she returns to work she has a severe facial disfigurement. Clients of the company make remarks about this and suggest she is unsuitable for this outward-facing role. The company considers dismissing her because of the amount of time other staff spend explaining her situation and how this makes them feel. However, when considering the decision, they realise that the dismissal would be for a reason connected to her disability (the attitude of clients and the impact on the other staff). Instead, the company keeps her in post and trains other staff to challenge the negative attitudes displayed by visitors. Whilst the company may have considered whether they could objectively justify dismissing her, instead it decides to retain a valued employee and avoid the prospect of a claim for discrimination arising from disability.
- You must not treat a person worse than someone else because they are associated with a person who has a protected characteristic.
For example: An employer selects a person for redundancy not because they meet the selection criteria, but simply because they have a disabled child and the employer believes they may need time off to care for their child.
- You must not treat a person worse than someone else because you incorrectly think they have a protected characteristic (perception).
For example: An employer makes a member of staff redundant because they incorrectly think they have a progressive condition (in other words, that they are a disabled person). This is almost certainly direct discrimination because of disability based on perception.
- You must not treat a person badly or victimise them because they have complained about discrimination or helped someone else complain or done anything to uphold their own or someone else's equality law rights.
For example: An employee complains of discrimination and a colleague goes to their Employment Tribunal to give them support, although they do not give evidence. The colleague is subsequently selected for redundancy because the employer resents their support for the original employee. This is almost certainly victimisation. This would also apply if the colleague had given evidence in the case.
This also includes dismissing someone or selecting them for redundancy or discriminating against them after they've stopped working for you because they have discussed whether they are paid differently because of a protected characteristic.
For example: A woman thinks she is underpaid compared with a male colleague because of her sex. She asks him what he is paid, and he tells her, even though his contract forbids him from disclosing his pay to other staff. The employer takes disciplinary action against the man as a result and dismisses him. This would be treated as victimisation.
If this applies to you, you can read more about this in our guide: What equality law means for you as an employer: pay and benefits.
- You must not harass a person.
For example: A shopkeeper propositions one of his shop assistants, she rejects his advances and is then selected for redundancy which she believes would not have happened if she had accepted her boss's advances. This is likely to be harassment.
- In addition, to make sure that disabled people have the same access, as far as is reasonable, to everything that is involved in getting and doing a job (including disciplinary procedures) as a non-disabled person, as far as is reasonable, you must make reasonable adjustments.
For example: An employer is considering dismissing an employee who happens to be a disabled person who happens to have a visual impairment, and their employer is considering dismissing them . It is likely to be a reasonable adjustment for the employer to make sure that the information the person needs about the disciplinary procedure is available to them by checking what format they need the documents to be in.
For example:A disabled person has a learning disability and their employer agrees, as a reasonable adjustment, that they can be accompanied to a disciplinary hearing by a support worker as well as by their union representative.
- You must make reasonable adjustments to what you do as well as the way that you do it.
For example: A disabled person has a spinal condition that causes them severe pain. This sometimes makes them short-tempered. One day, the person shouts at their employer. This is completely out of character, and is because of the pain they are experiencing. Usually, this would lead to an employee being considered for disciplinary action. However, their employer knows about the person's disability and, as a reasonable adjustment, operates a higher threshold before considering their behaviour to be unacceptable. (They have also encouraged the disabled person to be open with colleagues about their condition so that other staff understand the reason for the difference in treatment). This does not mean that the disabled person can behave as they like; the employer only has to make reasonable adjustments, so if their behaviour is unacceptably bad, the employer still has the option of disciplinary action. If this was the case, although the disciplinary action might amount to treating the disabled person unfavourably for something arising from their disability (their short temper), the employer would probably be able to objectively justify their approach.
You can read more about making reasonable adjustments to remove barriers for disabled people.
Last updated: 19 Feb 2019


text:
Coup opponents warn Egypt heading towards civil war
Opponents of the coup that toppled Egypt's elected president Mohamed Morsi in July warned Wednesday the country was headed towards civil war and urged the international community to pay attention.
"The present regime since the coup is pushing Egypt towards civil war," journalist and former chief editor of the Al-Shorouk newspaper, Wael Kandil, told reporters in Geneva.
He warned the security forces' crackdown on supporters of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, which has resulted in more than 1,000 people being killed and more than 2,000 arrested nationwide, was ripping the country apart.
Kandil was in Geneva to help launch a new loose coalition of coup opponents from diverse political backgrounds, based inside the country and abroad.
Calling themselves the "Anti-coup Egyptian delegation of public diplomacy," the group said it was visiting UN agencies and diplomatic missions to press its case that the military had hijacked the 2011 revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak.
Hatem Azzam, vice president of the moderate Islamist Al-Wasat Party and a member of the now disbanded 2012 parliament, compared Morsi's overthrow with the 1973 coup in Chile, when socialist President Salvador Allende was ousted by a military junta.
Eslam Lotfy, a lawyer at Egypt's High Court of Appeals and member of the leftist Third Square Movement, said while had been against Morsi, he was "also against the coup".


text: Mediterranean food has grown to be extremely popular in recent years. There are a variety of dining places in La devoted to this well-known food items that you can try to enjoy. For those who have never used some time to use Midst Eastern and Mediterranean food items, it is actually something you must check… Continue reading Mediterranean Restaurant


text:
A reader called Kathy and her new husband got three Aer Lingus vouchers – one for €350 and two for €250 – as wedding presents last October.
"We decided we would book our honeymoon to America using these vouchers; without the vouchers the honeymoon isn't a possibility," she writes.
"When we went to book the flights, which came to €1,050 return, we were informed that only one voucher can be used per transaction. I thought this strange as vouchers are essentially cash. I thought perhaps it was to do with online booking that the system could only process one voucher at a time, so we tried ringing.
"So today we've eventually spoken to a human in Aer Lingus who said there is a one voucher per transaction policy and nothing would change that."
Not to be defeated, the couple decided to book their flights one way at a time thereby using at least two of the vouchers. "When we tried this the price of the flights doubled. This seems totally outrageous. It looks like we have no options except to use one voucher and pay over €700.
"To make matters worse, the other two vouchers must be used before October and can only be used if my partner is travelling as they are not in my name."
She adds: "Even if there is no way around this for us, we would like other people to be aware of this especially if they are good enough to purchase these vouchers as gifts, so at least they have the option to pool their resources and buy a single voucher. I'm sure Aer Lingus have covered themselves as the voucher states only one can be used per transaction, but I feel their tactics are cynical to say the least. I imagine a huge amount of vouchers are left unused as people simply can't afford to book several trips in one year."
We contacted the company and were told that only one voucher is allowed per booking. A spokeswoman said this was a systems issue.
We pointed out that what was necessary then was a change in the system and in response the company said "We are working towards creating greater flexibility for customers wishing to use our vouchers. The conditions of use are clearly stated on our website but as this customer was not aware of the restrictions, we will be contacting them to provide a satisfactory resolution."
Fast ferry exit shows signs of slowing down
David McConnell travels regularly with Irish Ferries from Rosslare to France and, as he has a long onward journey at both ends, he books the "speedy exit" at an additional cost.
By doing this he can disembark, and clear police and customs within a few minutes.
In April last year and April again last month, instead of being placed on deck three at the exit doors, his family have been directed to deck four via the ramp. "This means deck three lorries, vans, camper vans and other high-sided vehicles may disembark before us. In 2012, when I complained I received an apology and compensation.
"The reply also stated: 'There is a special parking space set aside on the lower deck for cars with 'speedy exit' status'."
Last month he got a different response. "This time I have been told the speedy exit option only guarantees the customer will be one of the first 20 cars to exit. The explanation is that on the day we travelled the predicted cargo loads were high. This appears to happen only during the winter sailing schedule.
He has asked Irish Ferries if any other class of vehicle had to pay an additional amount to be one of the first 20 of its kind to disembark but has not received clarification on this.
"It would be informative to know how often this situation occurs and if it does so on both the journey to and from Ireland – as it has been at Cherbourg both times for us.
"Perhaps other readers might share their experiences. It would also be interesting to know whether people are generally aware of the exact nature of the speedy exit offer."
He says it also seems "strange" that in summer there are many more high-sided vehicles which have to be placed on the lower deck, yet this seems to be a winter phenomenon.
"Perhaps, though, it would be somewhat more controversial in summer as there are more cars in the speedy exit category".
Revenue? No thanks
Billy Wall was delighted to receive a cheque from Revenue for a couple of hundred euros as the result of an overpayment of income tax following a claim for medical expenses.
"I decided to lodge the cheque in an account with KBC bank. You can imagine my amazement when I was told in the bank's Baggot Street branch that they could not accept a cheque for lodgement from Revenue! Do they know something we don't know?"


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Fitness gifts for the athletes on your holiday list
From gear to gadgets to grub, help keep them working out
Some folks might dream of sweater sets, cuff links or sugarplums, poor things, but we know the athletes on your holiday gift list really want stuff that makes them sweat.
We've rounded up a collection of goodies that'll keep those cardio-happy hipsters moving at the speed of fitness. And unlike fruitcakes and eggnog, these suggestions will keep your loved ones healthy, too. What better gift could you ask for?
Rapha clothing
Mellow Johnny's recently opened the only Rapha concept shop in the Southwest, where it peddles top-of-the-line, retro-themed clothing that's more wool than Lycra. Think cyclo-cross jerseys with a single padded shoulder for carrying your bike across race fields or a fitted (not boxy) high-visibility cycling vest. Who knew cycling gear could be stylish, too? ($210 long-sleeved cyclo-cross jersey, matching $60 winter cyclo-cross hat, $160 women's high-visibility pink vest at Mellow Johnny's, 400 Nueces St.)
Bike bag
Want to cycle to work but don't want to sling a backpack over your shoulders? Try this old school, eco-friendly, waxed cotton bag, perfect for stashing your laptop and lunch. Attach the bag to your handlebars with Velcro straps for the ride, then sling it over your shoulder once you arrive at your destination. ($35 at www.greatusefulstuff.com)
Running shoes
We love the cushy, loopy soles and snowy good looks of the Cloudsurfer Prism model of the Swiss-made On running shoes. Drenched in white, with three pairs of colorful laces, the shoes make you feel like you're running on soft, shock-absorbing sand — except you don't get bogged down on the push off. ($129 at specialty running stores including RunTex, or at www.on-running.com)
Event entry
Sometimes the best gifts are the kind that don't take up space on the shelf — like entry fees for a local bike ride or foot race. Our favorites include the Livestrong Austin Marathon on Feb. 17 ($120 full marathon or $100 half, prices increase by $15 on Nov. 28, at www.youraustinmarathon.com), the BP MS 150 bike ride from Houston to Austin on April 20-21 ($100; tinyurl.com/a9vepd7) and the Statesman Capitol 10,000 on April 7 ($35; www.cap10k.com).
"The Ultimate Hiker's Gear Guide: Tools & Techniques to Hit the Trail," by Andrew Skurka
From trekking poles to sleeping bags, portable stoves to water purification systems, this book explains what you'll need on the trail and what to look for when you're gearing up. (Published by National Geographic, $19.95; available at Amazon.com or bookstores)
Dog-E-Glow LED collar and leash
Sometimes the best exercise partners are the four-legged kind. Make sure your pup stays visible if you're walking after dark - and show your school colors, too - with this light-up collar and leash. Choose from University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Texas Christian and other major college versions. ($25.99 for collars; $29.99 for leashes at University Co-op and www.futurepets.com or www.dogeglow.com)
Nutcase bike helmet
Protect your shell with a funky bike helmet from Nutcase. We like this yellow taxi-cab number, but who wouldn't want to swath their head in pink leopard skin, tie dye, polka dots or even a watermelon motif? (About $60 at specialty bike shops including Eastside Pedal Pushers and Ozone Bike Dept.).
Fitness classes
How about the gift of flexibility? YogaYoga offers an array of classes, from hatha to flow to relaxation (unlimited classes for $99 per month, a year of unlimited yoga plus a massage for $995 or 5 classes for $55 at www.yogayoga.com). Rogue Running offers training classes that will help get you ready for a 10K run, including one geared toward the Statesman Capitol 10,000 ($182 at www.roguerunning.com). Or heat things up with a Brass Ovaries pole dancing fitness class that'll knock your socks off ($35 for a group class; $150/month for unlimited classes at brass-ovaries.com/).
Cycling magazines
To call Privateer and Rouleur magazines is like calling Whole Foods Market a convenience store. These publications read more like books (and cost as much), and they're packed with beautiful photos and in-depth articles on mountain biking and road cycling. You'll read every bit of text and display 'em on your coffee table. ($20 at Mellow Johnny's, 400 Nueces St.)
Timex Marathon watch
Runners can be obsessive when it comes to checking pace, distance and calories burned. This sweat-proof workout watch uses GPS to monitor both, and stores up to 30 workouts. Comes in black, turquoise or this chipper pink. ($99.95 at Hill Country Running, 9900 W. Parmer Lane or 215 S. Lamar Blvd., Amazon.com or REI.com)
NiteRider cycling lights
Light up your commute with a Lumina headlight — it's the size of a tamal, clips neatly to your bike handlebars and easily recharges by plugging it into a cable that attaches to the USB port on your computer. Or opt for the less-expensive, pint-sized Lightning Bug. (Lumina series starts at $89; Lightning Bug starts at $11.95 at Bicycle Sport Shop, 517 S. Lamar Boulevard, and Texas Cycle Werks, 5300 S. Mopac Blvd., No. 501)
"Fifty Places to Bike Before You Die," by Chris Santella
Have wheels, but need to know where to pedal? Bicyling experts including Steve Coyle, past president of the Austin Cycling Association, share their picks for the world's greatest destinations. Among the recommendations? Through fields of tulips in the Netherlands, past giraffes in Botswana, and, yes, into the scrappy, undulating terrain of the Texas Hill Country. (Published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $24.95; available at Amazon.com and bookstores)
Texas Chip Seal Embrocation
Slather on this Hill Country lavender-scented warming cream that acts as your skin's protective barrier from cold and wind. As the shop says, "It may be the dead of winter, but your legs are vacationing in Cabo." Made by Mad Alchemy. ($24.99 at Mellow Johnny's, 400 Nueces St.)
Clif bars
Can the candy canes and stuff your sweetie's stocking with a handful of iced gingerbread, peppermint stick or spiced pumpkin pie-flavored Clif Bars instead. ($1.39 at grocery stores and sports stores)


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At Kuss Middle School, officials say aim is to promote 'en environment of safety' from bullying
FALL RIVER — Over the past few years, schools in the public school district have been tracking bullying allegations — from when they are reported and investigated, to when findings are made.
Each school has a designated person tasked with investigating bullying allegations. Districtwide during the 2012-13 school year, those coordinators reported that of those allegations, 131 were determined to be actual bullying incidents.
So far, from September 2013 to mid-January, coordinators have reported 47 bullying incidents. Those findings came out of 237 bullying allegations made, 216 of which were investigated.
At Matthew J. Kuss Middle School, 109 allegations have been made and investigated. Two of those have been found to be bullying cases. The numbers may appear disproportionate. Kuss's bullying coordinator Cathy Montle, who also serves as a guidance counselor, along with wellness coordinator Harry Potter and Vice Principal Matthew Silva, explained the process and how it led to those results.
Part of it is because Kuss has built a culture where students trust adults, they said. The other part is because students often misunderstand the difference between a conflict and bullying. A conflict can be a single incident, sometimes among friends, whereas bullying is ongoing, and usually involves an imbalance of power between victims and perpetrators.
"I'm the contact person," Montle said. "More often than not, it's conflict. We help students to understand the difference."
Montle outlined the bullying reporting process at Kuss. In some cases, students go directly to her, reporting a conflict or potential bullying. In other cases they tell their teacher, who in turn reports to Montle.
Montle then fact-finds, getting statements from the students involved.
"If the word 'bullying' was used, we would have to inform the parent," Montle said. "Usually, it ends right here with a conversation in our office."
If a similar complaint occurs later, there is an additional procedure. The matter goes from the bullying coordinator and the wellness coordinator to the vice principal, who may determine detention or Saturday school is necessary.
"If it happens a third time, that child can actually be placed on a monitoring plan," Potter explained. "Then the parents are called in."
The student, parent and school staff discuss "the sort of behaviors that have to happen for the child to correct their behavior."
"We're checking in all the time, two check-ins a week," Potter said.
If, during the monitoring period, "there aren't any more infractions, that child is removed from monitoring," Potter said.
For the victim, measures can be taken in the form of a safety plan to ensure that there is no contact with the perpetrator.
"But the onus is on the bullier to stop," Potter said. "There are teachers involved, monitoring involved. It's been pretty effective."
Kuss has fostered a culture where students are comfortable coming to adults, Potter, Montle and Silva said.
When asked about his impression of the impact of the state law on bullying since it has been enacted, Potter replied, "More faculty members, parents and kids are aware of a process, because of a pressure out in the community.
"Specifically here we have become very conscious about it," Potter said. "Everybody is on board. I'm glad it's happening. If it's not bullying, it's a conflict, which means people need to learn how to co-exist."
Teaching students how to resolve conflicts, including teasing, is a life skill, Potter said. "There are conflicts you have in life you have because you are human beings, and you have to have the right skills. If you don't, you become a target.
"From grade 6 to 8, it's how do you deal with your peers."
Despite having a school population of about 780 students, Potter said adults know the students in their building very well. Students don't always report possible bullying or other issues, but there are adults whose role is to pick up on cues when things are not going well for those students.
"That's our life," Potter said. "It's why we have interventionists, wellness teams. We spend a lot of time looking for those behaviors. There's people in this place whose sole work is to identify those kids. We are all looking for that... We know when it's not well."
"Sometimes their friends will come to us," Montle added. "They'll say, 'Ms. Montle I'm noticing a change in so-and-so.'"
In addition to tracking allegations and determining which bullying allegations at Kuss and at other schools are actual bullying incidents, the district has also taken measures to prevent bullying in the classroom.
Bullying prevention and conflict resolution are part of the curriculum. In some schools, it's part of the health curriculum. In others, it's a unit in the social studies curriculum, according to Superintendent Meg Mayo-Brown.
"The emphasis is clearly on prevention and intervention, with prevention in capital letters. That's the goal," Mayo-Brown said.
Kuss has a new enrichment class on bullying.
Silva said cyber-bullying is one of the biggest issues among administrators at Kuss.
As early adopters of social media, students can also find sites that "foster bullying," Silva said. "There always seems to be a new one on a weekly basis."
Silva referenced Ask.fm, a relatively new site that allows users to post questions anonymously to a user's page.
"We've tried to get parents on board," Silva said. "Somebody can post a question on a kid's website. Because it's anonymous, you can't tell who's putting it on it. And then they may think they have an idea of whose putting it on it. It kind of becomes tedious. We try to stay on top of it."
"A lot of it comes down to the culture of the school," said Silva, who has been an administrator at Kuss for the past two years. "It's on us to create an environment of safety where it's fun to learn. If a kid feels safe, they're happy to be here.
"We make sure we're visible. We enjoy watching these kids grow."


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BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Qian Zhiya may be Starbucks' worst nightmare.
The 42-year-old Chinese entrepreneur says she is betting that her fledgling Luckin Coffee brand will eventually have more cafes in China than Starbucks SBUX.O, and she has Singapore's sovereign wealth fund and other investors bankrolling her plan.
Luckin, which only officially launched in January, has opened more than 660 outlets in 13 Chinese cities thanks to a supercharged growth plan based on cheap delivery, online ordering, big discounts and premium pay for its staff.
Its assault comes at a crucial time for Starbucks, which has 3,400 stores in China – its second biggest market after the U.S. - and plans to almost double that number by 2022.
And the speed of the attack is a warning to other established consumer brands in China that they too could be vulnerable to a start-up's attempt to reinvent a market, brand consultants say.
Starbucks' shares were pummelled in June after it warned same store sales growth in China had plunged to zero or worse last quarter, against 7 percent growth a year earlier. Its fiscal third-quarter results are due out on Thursday.
Starbucks said some new café openings were cannibalising customer visits at nearby stores and it also blamed a drop-off in orders through delivery firms.
While it did not mention increased competition, investors and analysts said it is clear that Luckin does represent a threat.
However, they also point out that Starbucks' brand has been very resilient to challenges from rivals around the world over the years, largely because of the ambience of its stores, its service and the consistent quality of the coffee served.
There is also no sign that Chinese consumers have turned against such a very American brand as a protest over U.S. President Donald Trump's imposition of punitive tariffs on Chinese exports.
Reuters spoke to 30 consumers in Beijing Yintai Center, a shopping mall that has a Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Luckin outlet, among others. Half of those polled said they had tried Luckin; most said they liked it, though more than two-thirds said their top choice remained Starbucks.
The majority drank coffee in-store or bought to take away, with only a small number saying they had coffee delivered, a potential challenge for Luckin's delivery-focused strategy. Taste, convenience and environment were their top three priorities, more than price.
Luckin's customers can order coffee via an app, watch a livestream of their coffee being made, and have it delivered to their door in an average of 18 minutes, the company says. A regular latte, roughly the size of a Starbucks grande, costs 24 yuan plus 6 yuan for delivery (free delivery for orders of more than 35 yuan), but can be half price after promotions. A grande latte at Starbucks costs 31 yuan.
More than half of Luckin's stores are larger "relax" outlets or pick-up stores with some seating. The rest are delivery kitchens.
The speed of Luckin's growth is extraordinary – it took Starbucks about 12 years to open as many stores. In many ways it echoes the way in which some major Chinese technology firms, such as ride hailing platform Didi Chuxing, have burned through cash to grab market share and been valued highly as a result.
Qian, who was previously chief operating officer at Chinese ride hailing firm Ucar, says Luckin's focus now is all about increasing customers.
"I don't have a timeline for profit," Qian told Reuters at the firm's Beijing headquarters as she sipped her third Luckin coffee of the day. "For us, what we care about now is the number of users and if they are coming back to us, whether they recognise us, whether we can take market share."
The firm raised $200 million this month to help fund its expansion, including an undisclosed sum from Singapore government fund GIC, a funding round which Luckin said valued the firm at $1 billion.
"In the future we will have more cafes than Starbucks," she declared.
One of the investors in the latest fundraising said it is the logical time for there to be a shake-up of the coffee world in China.
"This model will appeal to young customers amid the country's consumption upgrade," said David Li, former head of Warburg Pincus Asia Pacific. He led the financing round for Luckin via his new investment firm Centurium Capital.
The use of online ordering and delivery should be enough to unnerve many established brands, said Bruno Lannes, Shanghai-based partner with consultancy Bain & Co.
"It's a big threat, that's why western brands need to pay attention," he said.
Still, not everyone agrees the internet model translates easily to the coffee business, given the need for costly stores and quality control.
"It remains to be seen if they can really hook consumers in and create a monopoly in the market, like those we see in sectors like cab-hailing," said Liu Xingliang, president of tech consultancy China Internet Data Center.
And some of the consumers Reuters spoke to in the Beijing mall saw hurdles ahead for Luckin.
Liu Xu, 23, an advertising professional, who compares Luckin to a "flash mob" that came out of nowhere, said he tried the firm's coffee out of curiosity but prefers hand-drip single-origin coffee.
And Lian Yiheng, 22, a student, said she was attracted by Luckin's promotions and the convenience of delivery, but felt it needed to improve its selection of coffees and store decoration to lure people in the longer run.
Qian said the plan was to have more sit-in stores and reduce the proportion of delivery-only outlets, which would require higher spending on setting up in better locations and on décor. On the question of quality, she says that it uses select arabica beans from Ethiopia.
Luckin's expansion comes as Starbucks' global rivals, like Canadian chain Tim Hortons, are also pushing hard in China. Tim Hortons plans to open 1,500 outlets in China over the next 10 years, while smaller local chains are also popping up fast.
As China's middle class continues to increase in size and the coffee chains move into many smaller towns and cities, the market is growing at 5-7 percent a year, according to research firm Mintel.
Li Yibei, owner of Double Win Café, which has a chain of eight coffee shops in Shanghai, said Luckin would have an impact on the market, but there was plenty of space left.
"Maybe they will hit Starbucks to some extent, but remember Starbucks has many die-hard fans. Maybe they can grab some followers from them, but I don't think that many," she said.
Starbucks may also soon be moving more formally into online delivery in China. Howard Schultz, Starbucks' departing executive chairman, said in Shanghai this month that he was close friends with Jack Ma, the head of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.N, which controls food delivery platform Ele.me., and suggested the two could work together on Starbuck's online delivery in China.
Schultz also said he isn't wasn't worried about the China slowdown.
"The more good coffee and competition that comes into the market, the more the Chinese people will be exposed to good coffee," he said. "Emerging new players that are coming into the market will actually benefit Starbucks."($1 = 6.8142 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Reporting by Pei Li in BEIJING and Adam Jourdan in SHANGHAI; Additional reporting by Julie Zhu in HONG KONG and BEIJING newsroom
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.