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I cannot believe it is July! I ended off June by getting incredibly drunk and nursing a monster of a hangover with McDonalds chicken nuggets. xD
Oh dear. It's a lovely warm day though, I'm between doing housework and blog work and getting ready to go out to a wedding this evening. I usually get my monthly blog posts written up and scheduled about a week in advance, but sadly that isn't the case this month… OOPS! 😛
Anyway, enough blabbering, on with the favourites this month! 😀
- Australian Bodycare Tea Tree Oil Skin Wash.
If there is a product that I have REALLY loved lately, it's definitely this tea tree skin wash, which you can use all over your body, including your face. My skin has been breaking out really bad lately, so much so that I worried I might have acne. Alas, it was just some of the products I was using on my skin as since I started using this stuff on my face it has changed dramatically! Not only that but I use it on my body too as a shower gel and I always get out of the shower feeling fresh and clean! I always forget how much I love this skin wash and from now on it's definitely going to be a constant piece of my shower/bath!
- Simple Kind To Eyes Soothing Eye Balm.
I recently picked up this old favourite again as I was in need of a new eye gel. I've used this on and off over the years and never had a problem with it, but sometimes I've found it to be too expensive for what it is and that's why I didn't pick one up. However, recently I found it at a price I was willing to pay and oh man, I forgot how great this eye balm is! As many of us Brits know, it's been really hot in the UK most of June so this eye balm has come in handy for helping cool down my eyes early in the morning, as well as in the evening before bed.
- L'Occitane Almond Foot Cream.
I don't actually know if L'Occitane even sell this anymore but I've started using it lately to help soften my feet. On and off for about a year now I appear to now have eczema on one of my feet, which sucks. Since using this food cream in the mornings before work the eczema has improved dramatically! Some days I don't use it, but most days I do. Due to the almond it smells really good too and has a matte texture to it so it doesn't leave your feet feeling greasy after use, which is great!
- Le Mini Macaron Gel Manicure Kit in Midnight Blueberry.
I've wanted to try the Le Mini Macaron gel kits for agggges! It started off as a Kickstarter and I remember discovering it after it had finished. I've had my eye on the kits online for a while but I didn't feel that the £30-£35 price tag was really worth it for what you get. However, recently House of Fraser had some of the kits on offer for just £10! So I finally picked one up. I'm so glad I did as I now have a new found love for gel nail polish and since then I've used more gel polishes with it than the one provided in the kit. Sadly House of Fraser don't have anymore of these kits left. 😦
- Tangle Teezer The Ultimate Finishing Brush.
I picked up this hair brush when I went to Bristol at the start of June and oh my God, it has changed my life so much! For about 5-6 years now I've been using this style of brush, but never the Tangle Teezer brand. I knew I was in need of a new hair brush so I decided to use my Boots points to pick up one of these brushes, as well as their smoothing tool brush which you use when blow drying your hair. Their brushes are just amazing and I cannot wait to review them both on my blog.
So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!
Favourite TV Show – RuPaul's Drag Race Season 10.
Holy shit this season was crazy of RuPaul's Drag Race and I'm not going to lie or reveal any spoilers, but I am so annoyed at who won… But whatever. If there was one queen on this season who I loved to the moon and back, it's Monet x Change. She is such an amazing queen and she made me laugh constantly and SHE SHOULD HAVE FUCKING ONE! My favourite moment in this season is the clip I've posted above, and it's definitely one of my favourite moments EVER! 😀
Favourite Film – The Shawshank Redemption.
This is such a random film to have on my favourites this month, but it's probably the only one I've actually watched. I fancied watching it after realising that Hank in Detroit:Become Human is the mean prison ward in this film! I just felt the need to watch it again really and I always forget what an amazing film this is. I'm watching it right now as I write this blog post… 😛
Favourite Book – Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid.
I bought quite a few Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid manga's in June as 2 of them came out. I always love when I get the newest volume because I can carry on where the anime left off. I don't feel like I need to write too much about this manga series as I feel like I wrote WAY TOO MUCH about them throughout June. 😛
Favourite Song/Album/Artist – Panic! At The Disco – A Fever You Can't Swear Out.
I don't know quite why, but recently on my journeys to and from work I've been mostly listening to A Fever You Can't Sweat Out and it really took me back to over 10 years ago when it came out. I remember going and buying it one weekend and I listened to it so much at school. I just forgot how much I love it and it's such a great album for summer too. I don't care how old the album is, it's still a classic!
Favourite Game – VR Chat and Pokemon GO.
Well this is a game I've wanted to play for the longest time and although I only have a handful of times, I LOVE IT SO MUCH! The first time I went on the game I was incredibly overwhelmed and confused, I didn't even turn my microphone on as I was too anxious to talk. The second time I went on the microphone was on and I had an amazing time with random people, one even told me how to do bits and pieces on there and it was lovely. As I wore a skin of an anime girl, I become some Ugandan Knuckles's queen! It was hilarious and Dane filmed the whole thing. I'm really hoping to start making gaming videos with Dane. Keep eyes peeled for that in the future. 😛
I couldn't not talk about Pokemon GO this month as I recently downloaded it again and since playing it with Dane and our friends I am in love with it! 😀 We've been out with our friends a few times now to play it and walked around our area as well as parks. I've also bought the Pokemon GO Plus so I can still play whilst I'm out and about without pulling my phone out of my handbag. I'll be talking about that very soon! But yeah, I love Pokemon Go and I cannot wait to play it more over the summer.
So those are my favourites from June! What were you loving throughout last month? Make sure to let me know in the comments.
Until next time, I hope you all have a lovely day and are enjoying the warm weather.


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October 18, 2000 -- It's no secret that frontman Zack de la Rocha is angry. But now he's so angry that he's quitting Rage Against the Machine.
"I feel that it is now necessary to leave Rage because our decision-making process has completely failed," de la Rocha said in a statement today. "It is no longer meeting the aspirations of all four of us collectively as a band, and from my perspective, has undermined our artistic and political ideal. I am extremely proud of our work, both as activists and musicians, as well as indebted and grateful to every person who has expressed solidarity and shared this incredible experience with us."
De la Rocha did not announce any future plans, though he is reportedly working on a solo album, and may collaborate with The Roots' ?uestlove. The duo teamed with Public Enemy's Chuck D for the aggressive "Burn Hollywood Burn," which appears on the soundtrack to the new Spike Lee film, Bamboozled.
?uestlove tells Wall of Sound that he and de la Rocha have talked about a more extensive team-up, which will probably occur in the second half of 2001, after The Roots record their next album.
"Zack wants to come to the experimental side of things," says ?uestlove. "I know for his solo album he's working with Roni Size, Outkast, me, [Cypress Hill's] DJ Muggs, DJ Shadow. He's doing a lot of experimental stuff. We'll talk about it and see where we're gonna go. I'm looking forward to it."
Formed in 1991, Rage Against the Machine has released three studio albums and has regularly been in the forefront of a number of social and political causes, including that of death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. Recently, Rage gave a free performance outside this year's Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles that ended in chaos as fans fought with the Los Angeles Police Department.
At press time, the remainder of the band and its record label, Epic, had yet to make a statement as to the future of Rage Against the Machine. The group has faced several obstacles in the recent past: A scheduled tour with the Beastie Boys, originally slated for August, was postponed in late July, following an injury to Beastie Boy Mike D, and canceled for good in September. Additionally, recording sessions for a live album had been canceled twice, though they finally were completed in September.

subset: commoncrawl


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When I think of sand I think of dirt, and when I think of dirt, I don't think of clean water. But sand is used to filter water in lots of places. This "coated sand" developed by Rice researchers? It's like a super filter.
The regular sand often used to filter water is typically too coarse to catch all of the nasties passing by, and its filtering capabilities are overloaded fairly quickly. The Rice-developed sand, coated with graphite oxide, can trap more contaminants for a longer period of time.
When scientists in Professor Pulickel Ajayan's lab put water contaminated with mercury (at 400 parts per billion) through their modified sand, the resulting brew contained less than one part per billion of mercury—within the EPA's safe rating of two parts per billion—and far below the levels left by regular sand.
The stuff that comes out of your Brita pitcher has probably been cleaned with carbon—which is expensive to implement on a large scale. This super sand is just as effective, but it can help out way more people than just the ones who are able to buy pricey filters every couple of months. [PhysOrg]


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Your marker can fire thousands of rounds every week, puts up with the beating of countless rainy Sundays, and withstands a number of slides through the dirt and mud. Through all of this, you still expect your marker to perform week in and week out. A small bit of maintenance is key to ensuring that your marker functions and performs at its best.One major aspect of marker maintenance is replacing your o-rings. The o-rings in your marker wear down over time by withstanding thousands of cycles along with coming in contact with dirt/debris. Our kits provide an easy and inexpensive way to keep your marker in top shape by swapping out your o-rings.
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After a bevy of forums and closed-door powwows, the field of City Council speaker candidates appears to be set at seven. But some insiders are increasingly buzzing about one dark horse contender for the second-most-powerful post in the city: Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras.
In interviews, multiple sources said the Queens councilwoman has discretely indicated that she would still like to be considered for the job and has allowed surrogates to boost her candidacy behind-the-scenes, remaining a quiet contender in the backroom race. And insiders said Ms. Ferreras, who has enjoyed a rising council profile, remains a viable–if perhaps unlikely–alternative to front-runners like Council members Melissa Mark-Viverito, Dan Garodnick and Mark Weprin.
"She is making her play for speaker," one Queens Democrat insisted. "She's doing a lot of quiet work, reaching out to people, trying to become a consensus candidate."
Two Queens sources said the prominent Queens-based lobbyist Bill Driscoll is at least one of the insiders floating her candidacy. Mr. Driscoll, a former staffer to Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz and Queens Democratic Party chair Joe Crowley's predecessor, Thomas Manton, has strong ties to the county machine that is expected to play a significant role in the decision-making, along with the 22-member Progressive Caucus bloc. He declined to comment for this story.
"If the county leaders don't want Melissa, the members don't want Melissa and the mayor wants a Latina, then Julissa would be a dark horse candidate," a source close to the Democratic county organizations told Politicker. "Things still have to break her way. She wouldn't be a miracle candidate to get it, though."
Reached for comment on her potential candidacy, Ms. Ferreras did not deny her interest but said she was focused on making sure the City Council gets the "best candidate" for speaker.
"Whoever is elected as Speaker will need to face some of the greatest challenges confronting our city and the incoming administration," she said in a statement. "As a Council Member who is now entering a second term, I am committed to making sure that this process results in electing the best candidate to meet those challenges and ensure a strong legislative body."
Ms. Ferreras's strengths, her supporters argue, lie in her proven deal-making ability, membership in the Progressive bloc and close ties to the Queens county machine. As a Hispanic woman in a body hungry for a diverse leader, Ms. Ferreras is potentially a more palatable alternative to Ms. Mark-Viverito, a close ally of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio and an unabashed liberal who makes some council moderates wary. (Two other minority councilwomen–Annabel Palma and Inez Dickens–are openly vying for the speakership but are not widely seen as top-tier candidates.)
For several close watchers of the race, Ms. Ferreras could represent the ultimate compromise candidate if deals for other contenders fall through.
Ms. Ferreras nonetheless remains a long-shot for several reasons. For one, her potential rivals have been aggressively lobbying their colleagues for months, making their cases at public forums while she has been out on maternity leave. Some progressives might resent Ms. Ferreras's 11th-hour ascension after she did not speak at the forums. And one Queens source argued that Ms. Ferreras, by pledging to vote with the Progressive bloc instead of the county organization, had alienated Mr. Crowley. Mr. Weprin, also from Queens, remains a county favorite, others said.
The final mark against Ms. Ferreras is her past association with disgraced former Councilman and State Senator Hiram Monserrate. Ms. Ferreras served as chief of staff to Mr. Monserrate, who would later go to prison on mail fraud and conspiracy charges, after being expelled from the Senate for an assault conviction. (Ms. Ferreras was never charged in any wrongdoing.)
"She still has to overcome Hiram Monserrate," the Democratic Party source said.
Update (2:30 p.m. 12/14): A spokeswoman for Ms. Ferreras reached out to Politicker Saturday to say Ms. Ferreras does not consider herself a speaker candidate.
"While I am committed to voting in line with the Progressive Bloc for the next Speaker, I am not a candidate," Ms. Ferreras said in a statement.


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In this post, I want to return to the idea of NP-Complete problems. There is a more technical, more formal definition that I can refer you to, but I like to refer to the images from Garey and Johnson's "Computers and Intractability: A Guide to the Theory of NP Completeness". The images helps to understand the difficulty of NP-Complete problems by presenting two images. The first image shows a single individual speaking to someone saying that he has been unable to solve the problem. The second image shows that same individual speaking to the same person behind the desk, but saying that not only was he unable to solve the problem but neither was a long line of people. The theory of NP Complete problems revolves around the concept that if an efficient algorithm exists for an NP-Complete problem, then an efficient algorithm exists for all problems in the class NP.
Today, I would like to present a puzzle I created to play with the Independent Set problem. This is the problem where we are given a graph G = (V, E) and are asked to find a maximum set of vertices S such that there is no edge in the graph G between any two vertices in S. The decision version (the problem asking whether there is an independent set of size k) of this problem is NP-Complete, so the known algorithms for problem either have a slow running time, or do not solve it exactly.
This problem is very related to another puzzle I posted last year called the clique problem. In fact, Karp originally proved that Clique was NP-Complete by showing that if Clique could be solved efficiently, then Independent Set could be solved efficiently. He did this by constructing a second graph [G bar], called the compliment of G (containing the same vertices in G, along with the edges that are not present in G. Any edge present in G will not be present in ). Then he showed that the nodes representing a maximum clique in G would represent a maximum independent set in . He had already shown that Independent Set was NP-Complete, which meant that both Independent Set and Clique were among the most difficult problems within the class known as NP.
The puzzle begins with an undirected graph and asks users to find a maximum independent set. Users should click on the numbers in the table below the graph indicating the nodes they wish to select in their independent set (purple indicates that the node is selected, gray indicates that it is not). Once a user have a potential solution, they can press the "Check" button to see if their solution is optimal. If a user is having trouble and simply wishes to see the maximum independent set, they can press the "Solve" button. And to generate a new problem, users can press the "New Problem" button.As a result of this relationship between the Clique problem and the Independent Set problem, the Bron-Kerbosch algorithm that was used to find maximum cliques previously can also be used here.


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August 29th, 2013
Former staffer: Measles church counseled faith, not shots
By Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor
(CNN) When Amy Arden joined Eagle Mountain International Church in 1997, her 11monthold daughter had received all the recommended vaccinations. But in the six years the young, single mother worked and worshipped at the evangelical megachurch, Arden didn't take her child to get a single shot.
"There was a belief permeating throughout the church that there is only faith and fear," Arden said. "If you were afraid of the illness enough to get vaccinated, it showed a lack of faith that God would protect and heal you."
Members of Eagle Mountain International Church also believed that childhood vaccinations could lead to autism, said Arden, who is 35.
Arden said she was taught by a supervisor at the church's nursery how to opt out of a Texas law that requires most children to be immunized. She now regrets passing the same lesson on to other parents.
"I didn't know a single mother who was vaccinating her children," she said.
Eagle Mountains teachings on health, including disparaging remarks about vaccinations, have been called into question since an outbreak of measles in Texas – an outbreak that state officials tie to the church.
As a Word of Faith church, Eagle Mountain is part of the booming prosperity gospel movement, which holds that God wants to reward believers with riches, health and happiness, if they will just recite certain Scriptures, pray and trust in divine providence.
The church is part of Kenneth Copeland Ministries, a vast and profitable multimedia ministry led by its namesake, a longtime prosperity preacher and television evangelist.
In the prosperity gospel world, Copeland, 76, and his wife, Gloria, are considered royalty, said Kate Bowler, author of "Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel."
"He is a major grandfather of the movement, starting to age out but still incredibly influential,"
Bowler said. "They've been on the air forever and stayed largely scandalfree. That's partly why they are so trusted by lots of people."
According to Kenneth Copeland Ministries, the Copelands' daily program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network reaches millions of viewers, their magazine more than 500,000 readers.
Based in Newark, Texas, a rural community 25 miles north of Fort Worth, Eagle Mountain is copastored by Copeland's daughter, Terri Copeland Pearsons, and soninlaw, George Pearsons.
Twentyone people in Tarrant County and nearby Denton County have contracted measles during this outbreak, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. The victims include nine children and range from 4 to 44 years old..
Tarrant County epidemiologist Russell Jones said the confirmed cases can be traced back to a person who attended Eagle Mountain International Church after visiting Asia, which has higher rates of measles infections than the United States.
Health officials are not releasing the name of that person or the particular country.
Jones said he doesn't know exactly how many of the infected people are members of Eagle Mountain. At least 11 of the 21 did not have any measles vaccinations, he said. (Doctors usually recommend two shots.)
"Our concern would be that if you have a pocket of people who associate and think alike, if they don't believe in immunization there's going to be some other vulnerable people," Jones said.
Neither Eagle Mountain International Church nor Kenneth Copeland Ministries responded to repeated requests for comment.
Eagle Mountain Pastor Terri Copeland Pearsons has said that "while some people may believe she is against immunizations, that is not true."
"I believe it is wrong to be against vaccinations," she said in a statement.
But the pastor hasn't always preached a proimmunization message.
In an August 15 statement, Copeland Pearsons drew a link between vaccinations and autism, saying, "The concerns we have had are primarily with very young children who have family history of autism and with bundling too many immunizations at one time."
Likewise, in 2010, during a broadcast about health, Kenneth Copeland – whose followers consider him a prophet – voiced alarm about the number of shots given to his grandchild.
"All of this stuff they wanted to put into his body," Copeland said. "Some of it is criminal!"
Copeland was particularly agitated about the Hepatitis B shot.
"In an infant? That's crazy! That is a shot for sexually transmitted disease!" he said.
"We need to be a whole lot more serious about this and aware, and you don't take the word of the guy who's trying to give you the shot about what's good and what isn't."
Dr. Don Colbert, a "divine health" expert who has appeared with Copeland in several broadcasts, then said the autism rate among children has increased with the number of childhood vaccinations.
"I have had so many patients bring their children in and they say, you know what, the week after I had that immunization, for MMR – measles, mumps and rubella – my child stopped talking, my child stopped giving me eye contact. He was not alert, he was not coherent. he quit speaking, he quit being the child I had," Colbert said on the webcast.
Colbert and the Copeland family are wrong about immunizations, said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University.
"It's painful because these pastors are trusted spiritual leaders who are speaking to people not only in their congregations but also on television," he said. "They are putting people at risk."
There is no link between vaccinations and autism, and hepatitis can be passed from mother to child, making the shot necessary and effective, Schaffner said.
Schaffner said that doctors call concerns about bundling immunizations the "pin cushion effect." It's a common but unfounded fear, he said.
Most health experts, including the American Pediatric Association and the Tarrant County Public Health Department, agree with Schaffner.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, the church and ministry said that they believe in, and advocate the use of, medical professionals.
"If an individual is faced with a situation that requires medical attention, that person should seek out the appropriate medical professional and follow their instructions using wisdom," the church leaders said.
After the measles outbreak, Kenneth Copeland said that he "inquired of the Lord as to what he would say regarding these vaccinations," according to a statement posted on the church's website on August 15.
The pastor said that God told him to "pray over it," and then to "take advantage of what I have provided for you in Jesus' name."
Since the measles outbreak, Eagle Mountain has held two free immunization clinics, where about 220 church members received vaccinations, according to Jones, who said the county assisted with the clinics. Jones said that he is working to ascertain how many of the church's 1,500 members have still not been immunized.
Eagle Mountain and Kenneth Copeland Ministries also disinfected their shared 25acre campus, including the nursery and day care center, Pearsons said at an August 14 church service titled "Taking Our Stand of Faith Over Measles." The church runs schools for children through the sixth grade.
When Copeland announces a change in church policy, it's often after he has claimed to receive a new divine revelation, said former members of the church.
"Kenneth would always come up with a new prophecy to match what's going on," said one
former church member, who wished to remain anonymous in order to maintain business ties with the church.
In this case, Copeland's new revelation – and the church's recent statements –represent a big shift, said the former members.
Amy Arden worshipped and worked at the church, including in its nursery, for six years, first as a volunteer, then as paid staff from 2000 to 2003.
Arden said she now deeply regrets teaching other parents how to access the Texas immunization exemption forms. But she and another former church employee described a closed spiritual world in which doubts are kept quiet and leaders' words are rarely questioned.
"This was Kenneth Copeland's ministry, and we did nothing that he did not approve of," Arden said.
"It's hard to believe that hundreds of his children in his church were not getting vaccinated and he didn't know about it. If he was provaccination, we would have vaccinated our children."
Arden recalled a 2002 lecture to church employees in which they were told that every part of Eagle Mountain International Church and Kenneth Copeland Ministries must reflect the founder's vision.
Arden said she was fired from KCM in 2003 for disagreeing with the church's willingness to take donations from the mentally ill, including institutionalized patients.
She later cooperated with a U.S. Senate investigation into Copeland's and other prosperity preachers' finances. The church was not penalized, but Sen. Chuck Grassley's 2011 report raised questions about the pastors' use of churchowned luxury items like private jets. The Copelands and Eagle Mountain called the investigation an attack on Word of Faith pastors.
Another former church member and Kenneth Copeland Ministries employee who volunteered in the nursery corroborated Arden's account.
"Being vaccinated was like working against your faith," said the former church member. "You were trusting a disease's power to infect you over God's ability to protect you."
Neither Arden nor the other former church member recalled hearing the Copelands or Pearsons preach specifically against vaccinations, however. Nor did the Copelands counsel their flock to reject medical treatment for serious ailments, they said.
More often, the prosperity pastors would preach that faith is the best preventive measure and that some ailments can and should be prayed away, the church members recalled.
That's a common belief among Pentecostals, said Bowler, the historian and Duke Divinity School professor. According to a 2006 Pew Study, 62% of American Pentecostals say they have witnessed divine healings.
But many Christian traditions teach that God can heal believers. What separates preachers like the Copelands is that they believe Jesus died not only to save humanity from sin but also from sickness.
"When Jesus bore away our sins, he also bore away our diseases," Gloria Copeland has said in sermons about spiritual healing.
The Copelands also teach that they have unlocked the formula – a combination of words and Scriptures – to guide believers from optimistic faith to tangible results.
"The places they look for those results are their bodies and their wallets," Bowler said.
In many ways, the Copelands are the spiritual successors to last century's revival preachers, Bowler said, trading traveling tent meetings for lucrative television ministries.
Kenneth Copeland learned at the feet of prosperity gospel founders Kenneth Hagin and Oral Roberts. Copeland calls Roberts, who believed that God had anointed his right hand with healing power, his "spiritual father."
The Copelands have since created their own unique brand of theology, emphasizing that the
spoken word – a Word of Faith – can turn prayers into reality. Kenneth Copeland teaches that simply uttering the words "I'm sick" can lead to illness, and that proclaiming yourself well can likewise lead to health.
"Our health, our wealth and our place in eternity is in our mouths. Everything about us has been, and will be, determined by the words we speak," Copeland has said.
Arden said that church members were taught to repeat certain Bible passages, almost like a magic spell, to ward off disease.
"There were healing Scriptures we had to recite over and over again, and eventually, whatever you say will come to pass."
The Copelands don't claim to be healers, though they teach that believers who sow "seeds of faith" – sometimes through donations – can see miraculous results.
One account on the ministry's website says that a Dutch boy was cured of autism after his mother attended Gloria Copeland's healing school and watched Eagle Mountain church services online.
Arden recalled donating $400 – all she had in her savings account at the time – to the church when her daughter had a serious ear malady.
"I was a broke, single mother earning $7.50 an hour, so that was a fortune to me." Her daughter required four surgeries before she was healed, Arden said.
Now a financial analyst in New York City, Arden said she keeps her distance from organized religion, but understands what draws certain kinds of Christians to churches like Eagle Mountain.
"About 90% of the people were just like me," she said. "They needed hope, and they needed to believe that there was something bigger than themselves that would guide and protect them and keep the whole crush of life from pressing down on them."
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About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.


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A key Kansas senator says legislators are going back and looking at all recommendations for education funding in order to comply with a court mandate to boost school aid.
Sen. Tom Arpke says the Senate Ways and Means Committee anticipated reopening discussions of the public school budget on Thursday.
Arpke and two senators met briefly Monday to enable that debate through a minor addition to a budget report.
The House Appropriations Committee planned a briefing Tuesday from Attorney General Derek Schmidt on the Kansas Supreme Court's recent ruling in a lawsuit filed by parents and school districts.
The court said past cuts in aid to poor school districts created unconstitutional gaps in funding between them and wealthier districts. It ordered lawmakers to fix the problem by July 1.


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|RSS Feed
Lt Gov. Candidate Kerrigan Confident With Berkshire Support
|Former City Councilor Pete White, Pittsfield's Shannon Grant Coordinator Adam Hinds, lieutenant governor candidate Steve Kerrigan and Sheriff Thomas Bowler at a meet and greet at Mad Jack's last Tuesday.
|Kerrigan, left, fields questions from resident Frank Sturgis.
|Related Stories
Attorney General Candidate Shares Views in Pittsfield
|AG candidate Maura Healey met with voters on Saturday in Pittsfield.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Maura Healey has already overseen half of the attorney general's office. Now, she wants to take it all over.
With Attorney General Martha Coakley now seeking election as governor, Healey has launched a campaign to replace her.
Currently overseeing the attorney general's public protection and business and labor bureaus, the Democrat says she knows the "power and possibilities" the office has to make positive impacts in people's lives.
"I know how important it is for Massachusetts to have an attorney general's office that is nation leading, that leads the nation in standing up for civil rights and giving a voice to those who are vulnerable," Healey told members of the Berkshire Brigades on Saturday at Dottie's Coffee Lounge.
"And in leading the nation in protecting consumers and leading the nation in thinking about smart approaches to criminal justice reform, public safety and drug addiction."
Healey grew up in Hampton Falls, N.H., and moved to Massachusetts to attend Harvard, where she received her undergraduate degree in government. She is the oldest of five siblings with her mother being a school nurse and father a high school teacher.
After graduating, she went overseas to play professional basketball. She returned to Massachusetts and received her law degree from Northeastern University.
Healey worked for a federal judge overseeing the cleanup of Boston Harbor before becoming a litigator at a private law firm.
"I jumped at the chance seven years ago to take a 70 percent pay cut and join the attorney general's office as chief of the civil rights division. And I saw, over the last several years, that there is no office where you can have a greater impact on people's lives," she said.
One of her largest accomplishments in the office was successfully fighting against the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), she said. At the time, the president and U.S. Department of Justice were defending the law.
"To me it was a matter of fairness," she said, adding a story about how a couple wanted to be buried together in a state veterans cemetery but were being blocked by the government.
She also took on predatory lenders, putting together a litigation team to go after banks participating in those practices. Healey was the first in the nation to bring a civil rights case against a lender and she also started the Home Court program, which used settlement funds to help residents modify their mortgages.
One of her first issues she tackled in the attorney's general office was writing the buffer zone law regarding access for women to abortion clinics. That law survived supreme court challenges. She has challenged laws that allow physicians to deny contraceptive care to patients.
And she says there is a lot more she can do if elected. Healey wants to "really tackle" the issue of drug abuse, which has become an epidemic across the state. She says there is a real shortage of beds for mental health and addiction treatment programs.
State Sen. Benjamin Downing was on hand to hear about Healey's campaign.
"Using settlement proceeds from the office — when we sue pharmaceutical companies and others — I want those resources to go to beefing up services for those kind of treatments and care," she said.
From the office, she says she will also "bring people together" to do a better job at prescription drug monitoring.
That stance earned her the endorsements of the mayors of Holyoke and Northampton and Hampshire County Sheriff Robert Garvey on Tuesday.
She also vowed to go after the growing for-profit schools market that "pocket" federal student loans but do not provide an education that gives students the tools for jobs.
"It is predatory and it is wrong," she said.
Healey also wants to advocate for a revamping of the state's criminal justice system. She says the state needs to provide more job training, life skills training and counseling to those in jail so that they don't come back. Meanwhile, on "the front end," there needs to be more options than jail. She wants courts to identify individuals who are in danger of continually going through the court system and provide drug treatment and other programs to stop the slide.
"I think you have a real opportunity to convene and lead that conversation," she said.
Entering the race in October, when she resigned from the attorney general's office, Healey says she wants "to be the people's point guard."
"I've been in that office. I've seen the power and the possibility of that office. In my mind it was a very easy decision because I am so passionate about this and so committed to building on the success of that office," she said, and boasts of being the only candidate who has worked in the office. "I think Massachusetts can lead on all of these issues."
She has gained support from state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield.
"When it comes to equal rights, when it comes to consumer protection, when it comes to making sure everybody in the commonwealth is treated fairly, the office of attorney general really leads that fight. So it is important to pay attention to all of the offices that are being fought for this year," Farley-Bouvier said. "I'm supporting Maura because she's done the job. She is a lawyer. She has run about 50 percent of the attorney general's office for about seven years."
Healey is vying for the Democratic nomination with former state Sen. Warren Tolman of Watertown, an attorney and former gubernatorial candidate, and champion of the clean elections law.
John Miller of Winchester, an attorney and expert on construction law and public infrastructure contracting, is the Republican candidate.
Green Rainbow Party Places 3 Candidates on Statewide Ballot
|Both Daniel Factor and Ian Jackson gave stump speeches at the meet and greet event.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Green Rainbow party is putting three candidates on the statewide ballot.
Last week, two of the three rallied party members at the Rainbow Restaurant, just a few weeks prior to when the campaign officially kicks off.
Attorney Daniel Factor of Acton is seeking election as the secretary of the commonwealth. Factor says he is running to spread ideas currently unheard under the current, mostly Democratic, government.
"We're at a point right now in Massachusetts where basically there is only one party running the show. But when we have conversations with people all over Massachusetts, there is a very wide diversity of views but those view don't end up being represented," he said.
Factor wants to shift the focus of elected officials and policies from catering to large corporate interests to focusing on human rights.
"I am against having a society and a commonwealth that is based on corporate greed. There are things we can do if we recognize that every person in Massachusetts has basic human dignity, respect and love."
One idea Factor poses is that the state ends foreclosures altogether by using eminent domain to take the properties from mortgage holders.
"We can take the real estate from the mortgage company and guarantee that everyone has the right to remain in their home. It is these types of ideas that people have that aren't reflected in our elected officials," Factor said.
Meanwhile, he says job creation needs to be a focus and workers need a "living wage." He calls for a creation of an "economic bill of rights" guaranteeing people have enough to live.
"One day there will be a state that eradicates poverty. I'm not talking about tolerating poverty or ameliorating it. What we need to do is talk about eradicating it," he said.
He supports a single-payer health insurance system, bans on fracking and nuclear power while moving toward more renewable energy, he opposes casinos and is calling for the creation of a "bank of the commonwealth." That bank will invest in creating more co-operative business ownership.
|Daniel Factor of Acton is running for secretary of the commonwealth.
Further, from the secretary's office, he wants to change the way corporations are chartered by making any company prove they are working for the public good before earning the designation.
"Our policy has to be that people matter more than profits," Factor said.
Factor grew up in New York City before going to Northwestern University for his undergraduate degree in political science. He then went to Vermont Law School, where he earned his law degree with a focus on environmental law.
Ian Jackson, of Arlington, is hoping to win the treasurer's seat. His goal is to create a "bank of the commonwealth" focused making "investments we can be proud of."
He doesn't want the state to put their money into fossil fuels but rather invest in greener companies. He feels that won't just help with the environment but also makes "financial sense."
Jackson said he would also be pleading the case for a single-payer health care system to help save businesses and the state money. Further, he wants the state's money to be allocated in helping "the common man."
"We need people who will be for the common man and try to restore us to a commonwealth where we are trying to do for the common good," Jackson said.
The treasurer sits on the Massachusetts School Building Authority board and Jackson says he'd use that seat to help streamline the building of new schools.
|Ian Jackson of Arlington is running for state treasurer.
"My town like many other towns are going through the process of building a school. I'm sure there are plenty out here in the Berkshires. Half of the schools go through the process more than once. Something is wrong with the process. I believe most school committees, when they get together are reasonable," Jackson said.
"I'm sure the superintendents have better things to do than filling out the application a second time."
He earned a business management degree from Clark University and then his master's degree from Northeastern in computer science. He currently works as a software engineer while also investing on the side.
Jackson opted to run for the seat after the Green Rainbow party helped his son. He is now lending his time in hopes to help the party.
His son, Frank, got involved with the party when he was working as a residential assistant at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
"He realized he was making less than minimum wage. When he brought that up to the administration, they wouldn't help him. Nor would the people in Boston," Jackson said. "He organized as a union with some of his fellow students and with the help of the Green Rainbow party candidates was able to get enough money so that the students could live."
M.K. Merelice is also running for auditor but she was not in attendance at the meet and greet.
The Green Rainbow party is still a small but growing sector of voters. Locally, L. Scott Laugenour, a member of the party's state committee and former Green Rainbow party candidate, says the party is growing.
When he first joined the party, only eight registered voters in Lenox were Green Rainbow. Now, there are 34 and as the warm weather comes, the party will be out there growing the membership even more.
Laugenour says people feel "disempowered" with politics and the Green Rainbow party is hoping to turn that around. He says everybody agrees that money and politics should be separate and the best way to send that message is to vote for the Green Rainbow party candidates, who do not take in corporate donations.
Having candidates on the ballot every year helps spread the word about the party as they seek to become larger players in state government.
"We like, as a party, having statewide candidates because it gives every voter in the commonwealth an opportunity to vote Green Rainbow and to think about 'hey, politics can be different,'" Laugenour said.
Downing Kicks Off Senate Re-election Campaign
|State Sen. Benjamin B. Downing kicked off his re-election campaign Monday night at Spice Dragon with St. Patrick's Day flavor.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — At age 24, Benjamin B. Downing stood on the steps of City Hall with a speech he rehearsed dozens of times to announce his candidacy for the open state Senate seat.
Eight years later, and seeing yet another term come to an end, he looked back on that speech and focused on a Bill Clinton quote he had altered: "It it our job not only to build a bridge to the 21st century but make sure that every one in every corner of the Berkshires and the commonwealth has the opportunity to cross that bridge."
He thought of the $90 million broadband expansion, the new center for science and innovation at MCLA, upgraded downtowns and reforms to government to say the bridge is being built.
But, he also looked at a rising poverty rate and homelessness.
"No. No we can't say that everyone has as good of an opportunity that they should to make use of their God-given talents," Downing said Monday night as he kicked of his campaign to keep the seat he's had for eight years.
Downing kicked off another campaign as he has begun gathering signatures to be on the ballot. Among a room full of municipal, state, business and cultural leaders, Downing said his job on Beacon Hill isn't done.
"I am running for re-election because this community, Pittsfield, the Berkshires, Western Massachusetts has given me everything, every opportunity anyone could ever ask for," he said. "But until every single kid in every corner of the commonwealth from Boston to the Berkshires, from Provincetown to Pittsfield, from North Adams to North Attleboro can say the same thing, then our work is not done."
He boasted of making "government smarter and more efficient" to ensure that the tax dollars are going to programs and "not bureaucracy."
But child poverty has increased from 12 percent to 15 percent — with the Berkshires 20 percent higher — and 135,000 people are dependent on food banks and more than 20,000 people statewide homeless, Downing said.
While still seeing those numbers after eight years in office could make someone "cynical," Downing says he is "more hopeful" than ever. His job takes him to meet volunteers passing out Thanksgiving meals to the needy, teachers inspiring classrooms, community activists fighting for the environment and "decent hard-working people" in all 52 of his Senate district's communities, he said.
"Today, more so than any day since I took to those steps at City Hall, I am more hopeful today than ever before," said the Democratic senator. "I am hopeful because of all of you. Because of the good decent hard-working people that make up the 52 communities."
Downing said government still needs "new energy and new ideas to make decisions with future generations in mind and not future elections in mind." And he believes he can provide that.
"I am running for re-election because if the last two years have taught me anything is that we can take absolutely nothing in this life for granted. We don't know if the sun is going to come up tomorrow. We don't know if we will get to see it. But we do know that if we do everything in our time, everything in our power that whenever that last sunset comes, whenever we see it. .... whether we are 27 or 72, whether we are 107 or 12, we will be able to say we made the most of every opportunity that was given to us," Downing said.
|Attorney Don Dubendorf and state Rep. Steve Kulik were among those in attendance.
"If you continue to give me the opportunity in the Senate, I may not be able to say that I am always be right. I won't. I may not be able to say that we will always agree. We won't. But you will be able to say that your state senator worked harder than anyone else, drove farther than anyone else, listened more than anyone else and was more committed to making sure that we ... we will be able to say we have done everything we could to make sure that everyone can cross that bridge."
Downing is still collecting signatures for the ballot and doesn't know if he'll have a competitor. The senator has run unopposed since 2008. He said he plans on running the campaign as if he does have an opponent.
"Whether there is another candidate or not, it is a great opportunity to get out and talk to people and make sure you are in touch with the municipal leaders and the voters," Downing said after his kickoff speech.
Besides poverty, which Downing has placed high on his priority list, he also expects substance abuse and treatment to become hot topic issues.
Besides being an incumbent, Downing also received support on Monday night from many county leaders and elected officials. Those in attendance included Sheriff Thomas Bowler, state Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, state Rep. Paul Mark, state Rep. Gailanne Cariddi, state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, state Rep. Steve Kulik, District Attorney David Capeless, Adams Town Administrator Jonathan Butler, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal's representative Dan Johnson, Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, City Councilor Jonathan Lothrop, and Register of Probate Court Francis Marinaro among an array of business and cultural leaders.
"He's done a fantastic job. We need to clone him. We need to get this guy tenured. Ben Downing's been a great friend to all of us and he's been a mentor to me," Pignatelli said.
Candidate Kayyem Talks Development With PEDA
|PEDA Executive Director Cory Thurston explained to Juliette Kayyem what has happened and what is in the plans for the William Stanley Business Park.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Following what she believes was a good response at Democratic caucuses across the state, gubernatorial candidate Juliette Kayyem is ramping up her campaign to show the party that she is the voice of a new generation and the best person to take on the Republican candidate in the general election.
"The true winner in the caucus was the undecided. That is a fabulous opportunity for a candidate like me," Kayyem said on Friday. "The core of my party did not feel ready to commit and that's an opportunity for me and an opportunity to provide and discuss with the Democratic base on where we go from here."
Kayyem carries an underdog mentality into the race for state's highest office, coming in as a virtually unknown.
She doesn't currently hold an office. But, she has a resume that spans from being a civil rights attorney to the assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She was the state's first undersecretary for homeland security and served on the National Commission on Terrorism.
"We need a new generation of leadership, a new approach to how we view politics," she said.
Kayyem is one of five Democrats seeking to replace Deval Patrick, who is not running for re-election. On Friday, she continued a tour of the state' gateway cities to get a better understanding of the challenges each face. Those trips are helping her craft what she'll emphasize in policies if she is elected.
"Here some of the solutions are coming out of this park — that you take a filthy place, that is an eyesore, that is making people feel like Pittsfield is not attractive to live and work and you turn it around," Kayyem said, after meeting with Pittsfield Economic Development Authority Executive Director Corydon Thurston. "You use a lot of agencies, a lot of cutting across the boundaries of state and federal government, of public and private sector to invest and lure businesses here."
And she believes she can be the one to help with economic development for the city through funding and supporting best practices. She is a supporter of the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, which PEDA accessed to remediate the former General Electric property that is now the William Stanley Business Park.
But she heard from Thurston that there is more than just that fund in which she can help if elected.
PEDA has been trying to redevelop the land. So far MountainOne Financial has built a center there and Western Mass Electric Co. has installed one of the largest solar arrays in the state. But there are 52 acres remaining for redevelopment.
Thurston said PEDA is making pitches to companies looking to apply for the multimillion state contract to construct new rail cars for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority and has a $6.5 million earmark to build a life sciences center.
The biggest thing for Thurston is to create continuity among visions and not drastic changes in leadership.
"Things change, society changes, trends change. I don't know how you do it but it is very important," he said. "I think education from a standpoint of planning and a conceptual approach."
The planning to market the property needs to coincide with government officials' policies and they need to stick to it, Thurston said. Changes to opinions about development throws things off.
|Juliette Kayyem is one of five Democrats seeking the office.
There has been a recent push for science and math education and that Thurston said needs to continue to reach an end goal.
Right now it is difficult to get young students interested in manufacturing, he said, because of the bitter taste in parents and grandparent's mouths from GE.
The state and the region need to stick with that push because the city is primed to reap benefits from a life science industry. Thurston said the business base needs to grow so the students can see the future of manufacturing.
"STEM has to go somewhere. It has to have continuity. We can't get to the edge of a cliff and then all of a sudden have it drop," he said.
Changes in opinion has created a nearly impossible situation when it comes to the property and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. GE and the EPA agreed to a cleanup of the land and a permit for a storm-water system was in place for when the property was redeveloped.
The land has switched to PEDA's hand at the approval of the EPA, but now that the storm-water permit is expired, the EPA wants a better system that could end up being a $6 million treatment center. PEDA is still working with the EPA on that issue.
"We haven't added to it and there is no ongoing industrial use," Thurston said. "That's tantamount to every dollar plus that we have for redevelopment purposes."
Thurston said there is an array of important initiatives put forth by Gov. Deval Patrick that the organization is "banking on." The primary one is the effort to expand broadband across the state.
"I see that as a huge opportunity for us and what we are doing at the park to seed new businesses. With that, you can basically be anywhere. We need that and we need access to it," he said.
The focus on transportation — both rail and public transportation — and the push for life sciences must continue with a new administration, Thurston said.
Many of those topics Kayyem has already taken a stand to support. She wants to continue those while using her experience at preparedness from Homeland Security to set forth long-term, sustainable growth for the state.
Friday was Kayyem's third trip to the Berkshire since entering the race.


text:
21/02/2012 - Governments should do more to boost competition in international mobile roaming markets in order to drive down the high prices being paid by consumers and businesses, says the OECD.
To help them, the OECD has laid out a series of measures that governments could take that would encourage effective competition, raise consumer awareness and protection and ensure fairer prices.
The mobile phone sector is considered generally competitive in domestic markets. But for users travelling abroad, OECD analysis says roaming prices are excessive compared to the costs incurred by operators. A recent OECD report revealed that prices of up to USD 25 were being paid for downloading 1 MB of data while roaming abroad.
The OECD Recommendation says that promoting transparent information on roaming prices would protect consumers and businesses. A financial limit for data roaming services would also help.
It is essential to remove barriers that prevent mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) from having access to wholesale mobile services on local conditions and on fair and reasonable terms, says the OECD. These MVNOs should also benefit from regulated wholesale roaming rates between operators.
If other measures are not effective, governments should consider price regulation for roaming services. Wholesale roaming services could be regulated by means of bilateral or multilateral wholesale agreements with mutually established price caps.
For comment or further information, journalists should contact Dimitri Ypsilanti in the OECD's Science, Technology and Industry Directorate or the OECD's Media Division (tel. + 33 1 45 24 97 00).
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