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THURSDAY, May 15, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Kidney patients may make real strides against death or disability by routinely walking, a new study shows.
Reporting online May 15 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, Taiwanese researchers found that regular walks helped kidney disease patients live longer, and also cut the odds they'd need dialysis or a kidney transplant.
"A minimal amount of walking -- just once a week for less than 30 minutes -- appears to be beneficial, but more frequent and longer walking may provide a more beneficial effect," study co-author Dr. Che-Yi Chou, of China Medical University Hospital in Taichung, said in a journal news release.
His team tracked outcomes for more than 6,300 Taiwanese people with chronic kidney disease (CKD), who averaged 70 years of age. The patients were followed for an average of 1.3 years, and about 21 percent of them called walking their most common form of exercise.
Overall, patients who walked cut their risk of dying within the study time frame by a third, and they were 21 percent less likely to need dialysis or a kidney transplant, compared to those who did not walk.
And the more that patients walked, the greater the benefits. Compared to non-walkers, those who walked 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7 or more times a week were 17 percent, 28 percent, 58 percent, and 59 percent less likely to die, respectively, the researchers said.
They were also 19 percent, 27 percent, 43 percent, and 44 percent less likely to need dialysis or a kidney transplant, respectively.
The difference wasn't pinned to the walkers being healthier than the non-walkers -- The researchers note that walkers and non-walkers were equally likely to have other health problems, such as heart disease and diabetes.
Even with other health issues, many kidney patients "were able to walk if they wanted to, and walking for exercise is associated with improved patient survival and a lower risk of dialysis," Chou said.
More information
The National Kidney Foundation has more about chronic kidney disease.
This article: Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.


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With the PC returning to the forefront of the video game scene, gaming laptops are booming in popularity. Almost every major vendor – Lenovo, Asus, Dell and more – has a solution for what I call semi-mobile PC gaming. (And I say "semi-mobile" considering few, if any, gaming laptops can play for longer than an hour on their batteries.) But as it stands, few put forth a better value proposition than Gigabyte, a Taiwan-based firm that until recently was better known for its components than its full-built systems.
The company's latest, the 15.6-inch Gigabyte P35W v2, cements Gigabyte's status as one of the leading value brands in mobile gaming hardware. In short, you're going to get more for less with this machine, even if it looks a little rough around the edges.
While the Razer Blade and MSI GS60 Ghost Pro 3K offer superior looks and superior screens they come with a premium price tag. (Not to mention that neither can match the amount or quality of components on offer here for the price.) That said, the Taiwanese vendor has made significant gains when it comes to build quality.
At just 0.83 inches thin, Gigabyte has actually managed to craft a 15-inch gaming laptop that's slimmer than some Ultrabooks. What's even more impressive is that the company did it while stuffing a 2.5-inch bay just underneath the clickpad that can hold either an additional storage unit or optical drive. (TechRadar's review unit came with a Blu-ray disc R/W drive, but the space can also hold a 2.5-inch SSD or hard drive.)
With the deep gray brushed aluminum finish on its lid and palm rests, the P35W v2 does offer some of the trappings of a premium machine. Unfortunately, though, its thick black plastic bezel and smooth gray plastic base betray its less-than-fancy roots. It's almost tragic, given how much is right about this machine, design-wise.
The P35W v2 wins major points for dispersing heat through two rear vents in the base. The dual-intake design, with fans located just above the keyboard on the base, manages to help the system keep relatively cool while gaming – "relatively" being the operative word here. It runs cooler than MSI's latest thin and light gaming notebook, but I still wouldn't play games with this thing on my lap.
The vent placement leaves the speakers to the front of the base, just underneath the edge. But, as with most laptops, you'll be better off plugging in a pair of headphones. The Gigabyte's 1.5W speakers offer excellent volume, but produce middling bass and a thin register on the higher notes.
Both the keyboard and clickpad are vast improvements upon Gigabyte's previous offerings. With bright, well-spread white backlighting, the membrane keyboard on the P35W v2 gives a bit of flex, but only under more pressure than you would exert typing. Otherwise, the keyboard offers strong feedback and quick travel – I had no tapping through games like World of Warcraft and Titanfall.
While the clickpad won't get you through any game that's more intense than Hearthstone, the soft touch plastic tracking surface serves well for web browsing. The ElanTech-made sensor also tracks right-clicks with brilliant accuracy, though palm rejection is a bit hit-and-miss.
Let's move right along to what counts in a gaming laptop: the inside.

subset: commoncrawl


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LONG BEACH >> The Long Beach Register, a publication of Freedom Communications, is dropping to one day a week, company officials announced Tuesday.
The company will fold news coverage of Long Beach into a local section of the newly launched Los Angeles Register, the company said. The Long Beach Register will publish Sundays only beginning June 15.
Freedom Communications will impose furloughs and offer voluntary severance packages to all employees, according to a memo sent to employees Tuesday morning from Aaron Kushner and Eric Spitz, CEO and president of Freedom Communications, respectively.
The Long Beach Register launched in August and the Los Angeles Register in April.
The memo states that companywide two-week furloughs will be put in place in June and July. Voluntary severance packages will be offered within the newsroom along with a "restructuring" of the sales team.
Calls to Eric Morgan, communications manager at Freedom Communications, and Ian Lamont, publisher of the Long Beach Register, were not returned Tuesday.
"The level of investment made into the business and the enhancements to our portfolio have been dramatic," the memo said. "To continue to invest and grow over the long term, we have to align our cost structure with what we now know we can achieve in revenue growth. Doing so will not be easy and will impact all of us, but it is necessary to ensure a strong and healthy future for our newspapers."


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Cleaning Assistant
Why Superdrug
Passionate about delivering great results? Want to be part of a face paced and demanding retail environment? As a Superdrug Cleaning Assistant, you'll support the retail store to deliver great service to our customers. In a fast-moving environment, you'll know how to have fun too, while keeping the store standards on track.
We're a team that puts our customers and our teams at the heart of everything we do. At Superdrug, we aim to be the best in accessible health & beauty, loved by our customers for value, choice, friendly advice, service and fun.
Our success comes from our people – they make the difference. We're all about personality, we have fun, and we work hard to deliver That Superdrug feeling!
Here's the exciting bit…a great day includes
Our Cleaning Assistants provide an excellent service to customers through being part of the store team and delivering high standards of cleanliness across the store
The role of Cleaning Assistant involves the below:
• Maintaining front and back of house cleaning
• Excellent attention to detail
• Duties will include vacuuming, mopping, surface cleaning, floor polishing and cleaning of the kitchenette and bathroom areas
• Using heavy floor polishing buffer machine
Being responsible for your own and colleagues health and safety
• Take reasonable care of the health and safety of yourself and of others who may be affected by what you do or do not do at work;
• Cooperate with the employer on health and safety matters
• Not misuse any equipment that is provided for safety purposes (e.g. fire extinguishers or safety goggles);
• Follow instructions from the employer on health and safety matters and attend relevant health and safety training;
• Report hazards and defects observed in the workplace; and
• Report any accident, injury or near miss in the workplace
What you'll need to succeed
To join the team you'll need:
• Customer Focused - An obsession to exceed customer and colleague expectations
• Results Driven – A Passion to achieve results with a clear focus.
• Anticipate & Innovate- Actively looking for new ways of working that would benefit the business
• Problem Solving – Solving problems and making decisions in fast changing conditions
• Excellent punctuality.
• Previous experience is desirable but not essential as training is provided.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
Here's how you are rewarded
• Up to 28 days holiday
• Up to 30% discount for you and a nominated friend or family member
• Excellent training
• Internal progression opportunities
Hours: 3 hours a week
Pay: Up to £9.65 an hour
Come and be part of something special!
For information on how we manage and store your data please go to https://www.superdrug.jobs/privacy-policy/
Apply now to become part of more
By joining us, you will be part of More than just a health and beauty retail group. You'll become part of an organisation which is well-recognised all over the world.Apply


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Apple iPhone 3G and 3GS owners should expect a software update on Sept. 25, AT&T revealed today, and while the new software will let U.S. customers send MMS text messages, it won't switch on tethering, the company confirmed Thursday.
Earlier today, AT&T announced that it would make multimedia messaging service (MMS) available via an iPhone update later this month. Tethering, however, won't be part of the package.
"As for tethering, by its nature, this function could exponentially increase traffic on the network, and we need to ensure that some of our current upgrades are in place before we can deliver the expanded functionality with the excellent performance that customers expect," an AT&T spokeswoman said in an e-mail. "We expect to offer tethering in the future."
She declined to provide additional comment on tethering.
Previously, AT&T had said it would offer a tethering plan at some indefinite point in the future. "[Tethering is] a matter of when and not if," AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel told Computerworld in June.
The iPhone update, slated for Friday, Sept. 25, will be delivered via the iTunes software. "The [MMS] service will be enabled with a software update on the launch date. Customers can obtain the update from iTunes, just like all other iPhone updates," the spokeswoman said.
Both MMS and tethering, which some mobile carriers supporting the iPhone have had in place since June, have been unavailable for U.S. users, something that raised the ire of developers at Apple's annual conference in early June, and has led to at least two lawsuits seeking class-action status.
Tethering lets mobile phone users access the Internet from a laptop by linking it, usually via Bluetooth, to an iPhone's wireless data connection, essentially turning the smartphone into a movable Wi-Fi hotspot.
Tethering has been a contentious issue for U.S. iPhone users. In August 2008, for example, Apple yanked a tethering application from its App Store only hours after it had been approved and added to the online market. Over the next several days, Apple restored the Netshare software to the App Store, only to again pull it.
Although AT&T doesn't offer tethering to its iPhone customers, it does sell the service for $15 extra per month to owners of a wide range of handsets sold by LG, Motorola, Nokia, Research In Motion, Samsung and others.
Apple and AT&T are under investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over why some applications, most notably Google's Voice software, have been rejected for the App Store. That inquiry is part of a wider-ranging probe by the FCC into exclusive arrangements between handset makers and mobile carriers.


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MONTREAL – The outlook for Canada's two largest railways remains bright for 2014 even though the year got off to a rocky start due to winter weather woes and a fiery derailment.
Total volumes shipped in the first week of the year decreased 4.4 per cent as bone-chilling cold swept much of the continent.
Canadian National Railway's (TSX:CNR) carloads declined 4.4 per cent for the week ended Jan. 4 as an 8.8 per cent decrease in bulk shipments was partially offset by 2.9 per cent growth in intermodal, according to the Association of American Railroads.
Total carloads shipped by Calgary-based Canadian Pacific Railway (TSX:CP) slipped 4.5 per cent as bulk shipments decreased 4.8 per cent and intermodal volumes were down 4.2 per cent.
CN and CP both said the entire North American rail industry was effected by extreme weather in the first two weeks of the year.
"CN was no exception, with extremely cold weather affecting operations across Canada, as well as its northern U.S. network," spokesman Mark Hallman wrote in an email.
CP spokesman Ed Greenberg said the extreme weather caused temporary slowdowns.
"Now, as conditions improve, we are returning to strong performance levels," he said.
CN's year also got off to a difficult start when one of its freight trains derailed Jan. 7 near Plaster Rock, N.B., and caught fire.
About 150 people were evacuated when the 122-car train derailed, with 19 cars and one locomotive leaving the tracks. Five of the derailed tanker cars were carrying Western crude oil to an Irving Oil refinery in Saint John, N.B., while four tankers carried liquefied petroleum gas.
The suspected cause is a cracked wheel, but Hallman said there's no indication that weather was a contributing factor.
Analysts say weather will put pressure on Canadian rail results when CN and CP report later this month.
Analyst Walter Spracklin of RBC Capital Markets wrote in a report that he expects both railways will underperform U.S. carriers, citing the extreme cold temperatures, shortened train lengths and increased labour costs among other things.
Analyst Turan Quettawala of Scotiabank said the cold weather should "cascade" through CN's income statement compared with last year when weather was not a major negative factor.
He expects the railway's operating ratio, a measure of productivity where lower numbers are better, will increase to 64.9 per cent from 63.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012.
The two analysts reduced their fourth-quarter estimates for Montreal-based CN.
The country's largest railway was expected to have earned 79 cents in adjusted profits in the quarter on $2.76 billion of revenues, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. That compared with 71 cents on $2.5 billion in revenue in the prior year. For the full year, adjusted profits are expected to have increased seven per cent to $2.6 billion or $3.09 per share, on $10.6 billion of revenues.
At CP, adjusted profits are forecast to have surged 51 per cent to $1.94 per share on $1.6 billion of revenues in the quarter. That compared with $1.28 per share on $1.5 billion of revenue in the 2012 quarter. Full-year adjusted profits are forecast to have risen 50 per cent to $1.1 billion or $6.47 per share on $6.15 billion of revenue.
CP is expected to issue its 2014 revenue and earnings guidance with its results. CN should reiterate its forecasts provided during an investor day in December and announce a dividend increase of at least 15 per cent, said Quettawala.
And analysts say weather challenges in the quarter shouldn't dampen investor enthusiasm because of positive trends for agriculture with a record Canadian grain crop, the continued growth of crude-by-rail and intermodal demand.
"We expect CN to deliver another record volume year in 2014 based on recent contract wins and positive trends across the company's book of business. CP has strong volume prospects due to the company's high exposure to strong grain and petroleum products markets," Spracklin wrote in a report
On the Toronto Stock Exchange, CN's shares closed down 54 cents to $58.29 in Tuesday trading. CP's shares gained 27 cents to $163.71.


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At one point or another I've had the pleasure of owning each of the major types of air-conditioning units: central AC, ductless mini-splits, and window units.
When considering cost, ease of installation, DIY friendliness, and the ability to set different temperatures in each room, window units are often the best choice. However, they are generally lacking when it comes to aesthetics, noise, and perceived quality.
Maybe the Kühl line of connected window units from Friedrich will change that. These units are highly efficient, stylish, quiet, and can be controlled via Wi-Fi by your smartphone. They can also be connected to all the other Kühl units in your home to create a kind of central-air system.
More From Popular Mechanics
That's cool.
Tim Layton is a home and DIY blogger for Popular Mechanics. Follow him on Twitter: @RemodelingGuy


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If you're hosting a big crowd for Thanksgiving, you don't want to break the bank with your wine choices. At the same time, gross wine does no favors to all the food you slaved over. We sought out the best wines for pairing with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and more, all $18 and under (and some way under.)
Here are our top picks and a few general tips for seeking out tasty Thanksgiving wine on a budget.
White Wine Bargains
When looking for white wines that will be delicious with the Thanksgiving meal, we generally lean toward lightly oaked or unoaked examples that won't make it taste like we're swallowing a mouthful of firewood with our turkey. Medium-bodied wines are going to stand up to the richness of the meal nicely, and it doesn't hurt to have a slight hint of aromatic sweetness to stand up to dishes like stuffing and sweet potatoes.
For around $11, we were pretty pleased with the Blue Plate 2010 Chenin Blanc from Clarksburg, California, which offers richness and body without the interference of oak (which can be a barrier when you're drinking wine with food.) This wine has bright tart highlights from the addition of 12% Sauvignon Blanc, but it's mellow, with a little asian pear, apricot, and beeswax-and-honey flavor that's common in Chenin Blanc (there's also a drop of Chardonnay in there, and only the Chardonnay is aged in oak, the rest is all clean stainless steel.)
Even better is Montinore Estate's Borealis, a white blend featuring Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Gris, and Gewürztraminer. With a remarkable clarity and purity of flavor, this wine seems crystalline and infused with aromatic jasmine and grapefruit, with palate-cleansing tartness to balance a whisper of residual sugar. A refreshing wine that's perfect for the herbal flavors of stuffing, turkey, and gravy, and a killer deal at $15 or less. I would buy a case of this in a heartbeat if I had any more storage space.
When you think of Beaujolais, you think of red wine, right? But Chatelard Beaujolais Blanc is an unoaked Chardonnay—yep, a white wine—that's just right for Thanksgiving. It's lightly tangy, but supple and creamy enough to support mashed potatoes. And no vanilla-perfume oak flavor to stand in the way of the food-wine harmony. For $15, we're in; our tasters assumed this wine was pricier when tasting it blind.
Grüner Veltliner is a remarkably food-friendly grape variety; we tend to drink examples from Austria. But it's popping up in the States too, and if you're drinking domestically this holiday, we encourage you to seek it out. We recently enjoyed the Chehalem 2010 Ribbon Ridge Grüner Veltliner from Oregon; it offers a rich medium bodied feel without oakiness to interfere with your food. This wine, which runs about $18, has hints of peaches (with the pit), honeydew, and sweet celery, and a pleasant corn-like graininess that makes it a good match for cornbread stuffing.
Red Wines That Won't Break the Bank
Red wine for Thanksgiving should complement, not overpower your food. Turkey is not the thing to pair with a super heavy, oaky, full-bodied red. Save it for short ribs! Instead, we look for easy-drinking red wine with nice tart acidity to refresh the palate as you eat.
We'd happily pour Pittnauer Bürgenlander Rot at a big Thanksgiving gathering. Don't be afraid of the name: 'rot' in German just means red (it's pronounced 'rote'.) This biodynamically farmed blend of Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch, and St Laurent (a relative of Pinot Noir) from Austria is so easy to drink you'll find your $13 liter is gone quicker than you expected. It tastes like tart pomegranate and Bing cherries, spiced with clove. There's lots of nice acidity and a bit of black earth, but this is a friendly, chuggable wine that won't make you think too hard.
We often think of Spanish wines as robust, oak-aged beasts, but Jeromin Zestos (2010) is an unoaked blend of Tempranillo and Grenache that's aged in stainless steel and cement tank, leaving it with a fruity freshness that makes it work well for Thanksgiving. The dark fruit flavors (blueberries, dried currant) come together with a bit of black pepper and great acid to make a remarkably balanced wine for 8 or 9 bucks.
Best Bang for the Buck: Gamay
"Gamay makes up some of our favorite Thanksgiving wines—at any price."
Fruity, early-release Beaujolais Nouveau from huge producers often tastes mostly like the banana-like esters produced by the yeast that's used to ferment it. It can be pretty unappealing. But that doesn't mean you should stay away from the Gamay grape, or from real Beaujolais—please don't. Gamay makes up some of our favorite Thanksgiving wines—at any price.
Pierre Chermette's Beaujolais 2010 runs around $16 or less and is amazingly well fitted for the Thanksgiving meal, with its lovely pomegranate flavors, hints of black pepper and clove, plus its sour-cherry acidity that cleanses the palate. It's a fresh-tasting, deliciously juicy-tart wine that should be served with a little chill (if you have room in the fridge.)
We were thoroughly seduced by Nicole Chanrion's Cote-de-Brouilly Domaine de la Voute des Crozes, imported by Kermit Lynch. This elegant, luxurious option (around $18) from the slopes of Cote de Brouilly in Beaujolais offers deep berried fruit (like baked blueberries and blackberries) and hints of baking spices and cocoa, plugging in nicely to the sage and mushrooms in our Thanksgiving stuffing.
In Burgundy, blends of Pinot Noir and Gamay are called Bourgogne Passetoutgrains. These can offer tremendous value, and it's a great grape combination for Thanksgiving. Taupenot-Merme's $17 version is peppery and leathery, tasting like iron-rich clay and really tart cranberries and cherries. The tart acidity keeps the meal lively.
What's your budget for Thanksgiving wine? Got any great under-$18 bottles to recommend?
Disclosure: With the exception of the Zestos and Pittnauer Bürgenlander, all wines were received as samples for review consideration.


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REAL GERMAN SWINGERS!!! - chapter #03
An unfaithful husband touches his stepdaughter, imperceptibly jerks off a dick while her mom is resting right next door
Vanessa Vega, Naked Wrestling, banged hard by Jason Michaels
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I caught him wanking in the bathroom and i give him some help
Sex With Gina 3 - Episode 4
Sweet family teaches new boyfriend how to be BI
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Dude Got A REACH AROUND HANDJOB From Busty Milf
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Geheimer Skandal 20 - Episode 3
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Referencing the latest scientific research, Sarah J. Buckley, MD focuses on how common birth practices can make birth more difficult and dangerous for mother and baby. The presentation also includes recommendations for enhancing safety and ease in birth. One of six lectures in our Gentle Birth: The Science and the Wisdom series, lectures that focus on the natural processes of birth, and the impact of interventions in pregnancy and birth on both mothers and babies.
These ground-breaking lectures, based on Dr. Buckley's public talks and conference presentations in the US, Australia and New Zealand, are educational and informative for midwives, nurses, childbirth educators, doulas, natural health practitioners and others. This series is also valuable for parents who want to be fully informed about their choices in pregnancy and birth.
This session is 90 minutes in length.
Cost: $7.50
Certificate of Completion: $7.50 (completion of post-session questionnaire required).
Continuing Education Units are available for some professional groups. To view a listing of CEU opportunities, click here.


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All over the country, education budgets are being slashed, teachers are having their pay cut, and students are struggling. Classroom libraries, which tend to be teacher-funded (out of teachers' own pockets), are certainly suffering. However, research shows that classroom libraries are vital – they encourage students to read more! We need to do everything we can to encourage students to become lifelong readers. But it takes a village to raise a reader. 🙂
As a blogger/reviewer, I am extremely lucky. I have access to review copies and ARCs, which are all donated to my classroom library. The books are reviewed by me (most of them), then passed on. My students, all members of Goodreads, then share their thoughts on Goodreads, so the authors and books receive more word-of-mouth advertising. Inevitably, some students end up purchasing a copy (e-book or paper) because they want their own copy. It's a win-win situation.
My students love review copies, but ARCs are even more magical. Nothing hooks a reluctant reader like the promise of reading a book before the rest of the world has access to it. That, plus the knowledge that they can then share their thoughts on Goodreads is the best motivator I have! So many bloggers have ARCs collecting dust on their shelves, or end up tossing them into the trash because they plan to purchase the hardcover when it is released. Recycle those ARCs and get them into the hands of kids and teens!
But we need bloggers! I have over 200 teachers, with more signing up everyday, looking to partner with bloggers/reviewers. The teachers are divided by age level. I have early elementary looking for picture books and early readers, middle grade teachers, and high school teachers looking for YA and adult books. How can you help? Sign up and become a book fairy! Tell me what type of ARCs or review books you are looking to "float on" to students and teachers. Teachers have volunteered to pay for shipping via USPS flat rate mail. None of the teachers are picky- they will take any books you are able to stuff into the flat rate box!
How does it work? You sign up via the Googledocs form. I then pair you with a teacher looking for books in the category you place yourself in. You will be contacted with the contact info for a teacher or two. At that point, you can email the teacher(s) and set up shipping payment via Paypal, check, or anything else you are comfortable with. Then, you mail out your books and somewhere, students are very, very happy! The books you send are up to you- ARCs, review copies, anything you have. Classroom libraries are in need and YOU can help. Plus, you get to clean off your bookshelves and make room for new books!
It's easy. I've already mailed off about 10 packages to teachers in elementary school and middle school, clearing my shelves of the books not appropriate for my current grade level. It's a fantastic feeling, knowing how those students light up when their classroom teacher brings in a box of brand new books. Don't you want to be a part of that magic, too?
Questions? Comment here, or contact me on Twitter @thereadingzone. And please- pass on the word to other bloggers/reviewers!
*#ARCsFloatOn is endorsed by many of the major publishers! They are happy to see ARCs getting into the hands of students. 🙂 ARCs can not be cataloged in a library, but classroom libraries are a-ok. The ARCs don't last long (a season or so) and most teachers then end up purchasing a hardcover copy. Again, a win-win for publishers and students alike.
Filed under: ARCsFloatOn | Tagged: ARCsFloatOn | 4 Comments »


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Law will force public companies to give shareholders a binding vote on compensation
ZURICH (Reuters) — Swiss citizens voted on Sunday to impose some of the world's strictest controls on executive pay, forcing public companies to give shareholders a binding vote on compensation.
The government said 67.9 per cent of voters had backed allowing shareholders to veto executive pay proposals as well as banning big rewards for new and departing managers, one of the highest approval rates ever for a popular initiative.
While anger at multimillion dollar payouts for executives has spread around the globe since the financial crisis, Swiss direct democracy — including four national referendums a year — means public outrage can be translated into strong action.
Brussels agreed to a cap on bankers' bonuses last week and countries, including the United States and Germany, have introduced advisory "say on pay" votes. Britain also wants to give shareholders a binding vote on pay and "exit payments" at least every three years, but the Swiss plans go further.
The clear majority in pro-business Switzerland was unusual given fierce campaigning by corporate lobby group Economiesuisse, which warned the proposals would damage the country's competitiveness and scare away international talent.
Support for the move was driven partly by big bonuses blamed for fuelling risky investments that nearly felled Swiss bank UBS, as well as outrage over a proposed US$78 million payment to outgoing Novartis chairman Daniel Vasella.
"The clear support for the initiative reflects the understandable anger of the electorate at the self-serving mentality of certain managers," said a group representing most of the parties in parliament which opposed the plan. "With their misconduct, they have done the economy as a whole a disservice."
Thomas Minder, the businessman-turned-politician behind the campaign who says his proposals are aimed at ending a culture of short-termism and rewards for managers of badly-run companies, said intense corporate lobbying had backfired.
"This is a clear sign of the distance between the people and the political and business establishment," he said.
Despite threats from some executives, Switzerland is unlikely to see an exodus of big companies, drawn to the country by low taxes, stable politics and business-friendly laws.
Activist shareholder group Actares welcomed the result of the referendum: "Actares is convinced that the electorate has improved Switzerland's position as a place to do business by strengthening shareholders' rights."
Ways around
Companies will likely seek ways around the new rules to reward executives, just as banks in Europe are looking to soften the impact of a cap on bonuses for top staff agreed by European politicians on Thursday.
"If a company wants to pay a top executive $25 million, then they will find a way to do so regardless of the initiative," Rolf Soiron, chairman of cement maker Holcim and drugs industry supplier Lonza, told Reuters before the vote.
Experts also question whether shareholders in Swiss companies will make full use of their new rights.
Of the top 100 Swiss companies, 49 already give shareholders a non-binding vote on the pay of executives. But while opposition to pay deals is on the rise, a majority of investors have never voted them down.
Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said implementing the proposals would be challenging, but said Switzerland would remain an attractive location for business, due to its educated population, quality of life, security and political and economic stability.
"I am sure the economy can cope with this."
Swiss companies employed five of the top 10 best-paid chairmen in Europe in 2011, but only the heads of Novartis and Roche made it into the continent's top 10 for chief executives as under-fire big banks UBS and Credit Suisse reigned in pay.
Minder's initiative forces binding votes on compensation every year as well as on board composition and would also ban bonus payments to managers if their companies are taken over.
The plan also includes possible jail sentences and fines for breaching the new rules.
While Switzerland has fared relatively well through the financial crisis, the government bailout of flagship bank UBS in 2008 stoked anger among Swiss who blamed its heavy losses on hefty rewards for bankers who made risky bets.
Last year, more than one third of UBS shareholders rejected the bank's plans for executive pay, including a 4 million Swiss franc signing-on fee for new chairman Axel Weber, after a sub-par 2011 profit and a US$2 billion rogue trading scandal.
The centre-left Social Democrats are already pushing for another referendum on even tougher curbs on executive pay — they want to limit the annual compensation of top managers to just 12 times that of their lowest-paid worker.


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Nearly sixth months ago, I posted "The Evaluation," a near-future science fiction short story imagining public school teaching as day-labor inside a techno-bureaucratic panopticon.
Since then, I've tried to hold myself accountable for posting about the work that my kids and I do together, which I love and in which I believe. I want to take the energy I've put into criticizing "what is" and channel it instead into documenting and sharing "what (I think) should be."
At the same time, I've been writing more of "The Evaluation." It's the piece of writing that has most sustained my interest and attention.
Sometimes, I try to be clever just to be clever; it's a flaw (one of many). I had this big plan to gamify a release of the story at EduCon 2.5. Interoffice mail envelopes addressed to future phantoms and taped under tables. Easter eggs. Stuff.
But that's kind of silly while life, teaching, and learning in the United States remain sadly, deeply vexing.
It's not that I've giving up on what we do. It's not that I don't find joy in the work. It's not that I'm turing my back on play or any of the other things that should be in our schools and classrooms.
It's that right now is a time for me to be critical.
Kids deserve care, health, and safety. The deserve to be able to make things – including what we think of as "mistakes" – while building futures that matter to them.
We keep talking methods without talking motive. We keep punishing kids who want to be free and who want information to be free.
It will be okay if schools eventually go extinct because we will still have people teaching and learning together in community. However, it will only be okay for schools to survive if they become something better – more human and humane – than they are now. And then, maybe, society will follow.
We want our schools to be community centers. We want them to be democratic institutions – safe and engaging places where kids discover "the best of what's been thought and said" and then go on to make discoveries of their own. But our schools – systemically – are not these things. They never have been. They have only ever carried the potential for being so because of the good people teaching and learning in them. Schools will never realize their potential by being schools.
School cannot act, so we must – and we must act in ways that are antithetical to schooling and the public school system as embodied by the federal department of education, state departments of education, and school boards that are compliant with test-driven state and federal agendas.
Inquiry is an act of rebellion. Unpacking a problem instead of shipping a kid to ISS is a revolt. Learning to live with a less so we can learn more together is a revolution. Moreover, unless we do these things, we will never really see or understand how they are so in the eyes of our colleagues and handlers and the parents and students who have been sold the phony goods of standardized schooling. Equities of access, care, information, and pedagogy are not the same as the equities of pacing guides, seat time, standards, and test-bank questions.
In the end, none of this is really about schools or society; it is about us and our kids all together and whether or not what we expect is really what we need – if playing our roles is the best we can do.
If we refuse both to reevaluate our work and enact inquiry, democracy, and care in our classrooms, then not only is "The Evaluation" what I believe we can expect, it is what we may deserve.
And while there is still time, it is yours.
Update: Bethany Nowviskie has most graciously reformatted The Evaluation in multiple formats over here.


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Dress codes set tone for Florida school dances
Dress code policy enforcement at several Florida high schools have changed the tone for school dances, reducing the need for constant tugging at skimpy outfits and hitching of low-slung pants.
| Clearwater, Fla.
Students at Dunedin High School knew what to expect when they walked into the school gymnasium this month for the homecoming dance: "Nothing too short, nothing too tight, keep everything covered and no sexual acts or (explicit) dancing," said sophomore Alexander Booker.
School administrators even made students sign a contract stating they understood the requirements before they were allowed to attend the much-anticipated dance. But, according to junior Kiyana Scott, the rules made the night a better experience.
"There was a huge difference; the dance my freshman year was way worse," Scott said. "Most kids were OK with the dress code, and everybody acted real respectful instead of just wanting to look good or show off."
Many Pinellas County high school officials attribute the change in attitude to stricter dress codes that have made short shorts, mini skirts, and in some cases even cheerleading uniforms worn during school hours a thing of the past. This school year many of the county's 17 high schools, including Dunedin High, enacted new dress codes regulating everything from logos on clothing to the fabric from which apparel is made. Homecoming, prom and other school dances are no exception.
High schools sent home letters and emails, made automated telephone calls, issued morning announcements in classrooms, and had students sign contracts before the dances to ensure they complied with the school's standards. At many dances that meant dresses could not be shorter than 3 inches above the knee, and pants had to fit at the waist or else a school official would hold it up with zip ties.
Though the school district's dress code states that students are expected to wear formal or semi-formal attire to school dances, it's up to school administrators to determine whether outfits are appropriate, said school district spokeswoman Melanie Marquez Parra.
In Hillsborough County, high school principals did not send formal letters about wearing appropriate clothing to homecoming dances this year, but they did make informal announcements to students, said school district spokesman Stephen Hegarty.
For instance, students are told not to wear jeans or sneakers to dances, he said.
Unlike years past, Pinellas school board member Rene Flowers said, she has not heard of any student being told to leave the school's dance for dressing inappropriately.
Many principals enforce a stricter dress code throughout the year to encourage better behavior, and the lack of disciplinary issues at this year's homecoming dances appears to support that practice, Flowers said. Girls have been told to dress for the dances like they would for a fancy office party, portraying a professional image without "overly cleavaged, bare-backed" dresses, she said.
"I do think it changes the way you think about your education because you're dressing like you're going to work, and it helps you enjoy moments like dances because you're not worried about pulling your tube top up every five minutes, or holding your pants up with one hand while you walk," Flowers said.
Creating a fancier atmosphere for the dances also helped students dress and act "classy, not trashy," said Bob Vicari, principal of Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg. The school's homecoming dance was held at the Gulfport Casino instead of the school gym as it has been in years past.
Students were willing to pay $30 for tickets to have a bigger event, and the combination of the special venue and months of dress code enforcement resulted in "kids dressed to the nines," Vicari said.
"When they have to pay for the tickets they don't want to do anything to be sent home, and with the new dress code this year they know we mean it," Vicari said. "I didn't see anything real provocative."
Though Largo High did not switch to a modified dress code this school year, students were told they were expected to make efforts to "look better and act better" than previous years, said Largo High School Principal Brad Finkbiner.
When it came to the homecoming dance, school officials left it up to student government members to create this year's dress code, which was "very formal and respectable," Finkbiner said. No students were sent home from the dance, held in the school's gym, for being inappropriately dressed, and the exercise proved "the higher we set standards for students, the higher they'll rise to meet them," he said.
Jade Copeland, a sophomore at Northeast High School in St. Petersburg, said the fact her school did not change its dress code this year makes students even more conscious of what they wear to school and dances. There's always a risk that if they don't follow the rules, students might get a uniform, too, she said.
"They let people express themselves through the way they dress as long as they don't have their chest out, but they warned us to follow the rules," Copeland said. "At the dance everyone was covered up."


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Entering into a free-agency period before his next contract, Josh Barnett wants to mix fighting with other pursuits.
"It would take the right kind of deal to get me to be locked into some place entirely and exclusively," he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
While battling the flu, Barnett (32-6 MMA, 3-1 SF) closed out a two-fight deal with a first-round submission over Nandor Guelmino (11-4 MMA, 0-1 SF) at "Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine" this past Saturday.
Already better a day later, he said it feels good to be "a healthy guy able to fight wherever he wants."
The 35-year-old heavyweight inked an extension this past year with Strikeforce, which UFC parent Zuffa acquired in early 2011, after his deal with the promotion's previous owners expired.
Barnett, who signed with Strikeforce in 2010, ended his tenure with a 3-1 record. He submitted two opponents before losing an exciting decision to Daniel Cormier in the finals of the world heavyweight grand prix.
Long considered one of the top heavyweights in the sport, Barnett's fans have voiced a desire to see him back in the UFC, where in 2002 he won the title. (The UFC later stripped him of the belt after he tested positive for steroids and left the promotion to fight overseas.)
But the open market also includes the Viacom-owned Bellator MMA, which makes its long-awaited Spike TV debut on Thursday. Showtime, whose Strikeforce deal concluded with this past weekend's event, is in talks to partner with a new MMA promotion. In fact, officials said multiple organizations could fill the void.
Unlike others, Barnett is not bound to waiting periods that obligate him to first negotiate with Zuffa or allow the promotion to match other offers, but his manager's intention is see what the industry-leader has in store.
"We have not entered into negotiations with any company," manager Leland Labarre said. "We know the fans would love for Josh to fight in the UFC, and Josh would love to fight in the UFC, if that's the way things work out.
"We want to find something that's hopefully going to be his last contract and find a permanent home."
Since his exit from the UFC, Barnett has struggled to find that. He has fought for a litany of promotions that have gone out of business, including PRIDE, Affliction and now Strikeforce.
Barnett anticipates a long negotiating process to get the right deal. While signing with the UFC doesn't hinge on exclusivity, he said he would be "giving up money" by staying in one place.
"But there's a possibility a deal can be worked out with anybody," he said. "I think that they could come to a position with myself where it would work for both parties and everybody would be happy."
Barnett has a sizable list of activities he'd like to pursue while winding down his career: acting, pro wrestling, racecar driving and grappling tournaments. He recently purchased a video camera with plans to shoot an instructional video series, and he expressed interest in learning how to drift race.
Most of the interests by themselves make Barnett an insurer's nightmare. Together, they amount to one big deductible.
These days, though, Barnett is thinking about possibility over risk.
"The limitations of your standard fighter, they don't apply to me," he said.
For complete coverage of "Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine," stay tuned to the MMA Events section of the site.


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There are some people who think Internet service should be regulated as a public utility, like the electric grid, water supply, or phone network.
Michael Powell, who was chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 2001 to 2005 and is now CEO of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), is not one of them.
As leader of the FCC, Powell decided in 2002 that Internet access would be treated as an "information service" rather than telecommunications, exempting it from common carrier regulations that apply to the traditional phone network.That decision indirectly led to the recent failure of the FCC to enforce network neutrality laws that prevent broadband providers from discriminating against Internet traffic.
Today's FCC—led by former cable and wireless lobbyist Tom Wheeler—could reverse Powell's decision but has thus far chosen not to. For that, Powell is thankful.
"Because the Internet is not regulated as a public utility, it grows and thrives, watered by private capital and a light regulatory touch," Powell said today in a speech at the Cable Show industry conference. (Full text here.) "It does not depend on the political process for its growth, or the extended droughts of public funding. This is why broadband is the fastest deploying technology in world history, reaching nearly every citizen in our expansive country."
Because utility-style regulation can't be placed on Internet service providers under their "information service" classification, a federal appeals court this year threw out the FCC's rules against blocking or discriminating against traffic. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is trying to comply with the court ruling by proposing no-blocking rules that allow ISPs to charge Web services for faster access to consumers. Net neutrality advocates say this isn't net neutrality at all, since it would create a two-tier Internet, with only deep-pocketed companies able to buy preferred access to Internet users.
Internet customers who are worried about net neutrality or frustrated with the paucity of choice from broadband providers might wish that Internet service was regulated as a public utility. But Powell says the country's other utilities show why strict regulation would fail.
Roads and bridges are in poor condition, with the "Federal Highway Administration estimat[ing] that $170 billion is needed annually just to fix our congested and crumbling roads," Powell said. "Most of America's drinking water infrastructure is nearing the end of its useful life. There are an estimated 240,000 water main breaks per year, and reports say the water system needs $1 trillion in improvement."
The electric system likewise "needs a $768 billion shot in the arm by 2020 to keep it from failing, and the number of massive blackouts has increased. In 2007, there were 76 major blackouts. In 2011, there were 307. Can you imagine if the Internet blacked out 300 times a year?"
The US Internet service market has been boosted by $1.3 trillion invested by ISPs since 1996, Powell said.
Powell acknowledged that it's the "Internet's essential nature" that fuels debate over whether it should be "regulated as a public utility, following the example of the interstate highway system, the electric grid and drinking water. The intuitive appeal of this argument is understandable, but the potholes visible through your windshield, the shiver you feel in a cold house after a snowstorm knocks out the power, and the water main breaks along your commute should restrain one from embracing the illusory virtues of public utility regulation."
"The contrast is striking when you compare the crisis in public utility infrastructure with the dynamism and stable investment in broadband Internet services," he said.
Prominent people who disagree with Powell include former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, who has called on the current FCC to reclassify broadband providers as common carriers.
The "information service" classification was created under President Clinton in the 1996 Telecommunications Act, leaving it up to the FCC to decide whether broadband would get light-touch information service regulation or stronger common carrier rules.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) today criticized Wheeler for proposing to allow pay-for-play payments to Internet service providers. "This proposal would create an online 'fast lane' for the highest bidder—shutting out small businesses and increasing costs for consumers," Franken said in a letter sent to Wheeler. "Your proposal would grant Verizon, Comcast, and other ISPs the power to pick winners and losers on the Internet, which violates core net neutrality principles that you have publicly supported in the past."
Susan Crawford, a law professor and former tech policy advisor to President Obama, wrote in a New York Times opinion piece this week that the FCC is "bowing before an onslaught of corporate lobbying, [choosing] short-term political expediency over the long-term interest of the country."
Crawford sees hope in municipal fiber networks, although ISP lobbyists have helped push through limits on public broadband in 20 states.
"As a first step, Americans need to focus their efforts on getting these laws taken off the books," Crawford wrote. "Mere legislative change won't be enough, however. We need to elect leaders on the basis of their commitment to changing America's stagnant communications infrastructure."


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In a way, a wine cellar is kind of like a wardrobe. You have your sparkly Champagne for special occasions, your comfortable Cabernet for when you need something familiar and reliable, and that dusty old bottle in the back that no longer fits your taste but you just can't bring yourself to throw away. You might favor one color over all others, or perhaps you have a balanced mix. Maybe you have a favorite brand, or a particular appreciation for fine Italian craftsmanship. Whatever your wardrobe or cellar preferences, it is important to have a few versatile pieces that can work for any occasion.
Garnacha, a grape variety native to Spain and known as Grenache in France and elsewhere, may be just the thing you need to round out your wine rack—but don't call it basic. Garnacha can be found in red, white and rosé varieties, and can range from dry but fruity table wines to jammy, sweet dessert wines that bear a close resemblance to Port. Continue reading Garnacha is the New Black


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When working with Excel in Microsoft Flow you will find that there are 3 connectors available.
- Excel
- Excel Online (Business)
- Excel Online (OneDrive)
When you compare the 3 connectors you will quite quickly find out the differences.
What is the difference between these connectors?
Obviously the Excel Online (OneDrive) connector will give you access to Excel files stored in OneDrive.
The Excel Online (Business) is a bit less clear. This connector offers a similar set of actions that give you access to Excel files stored in SharePoint.
Then there is the last one left Excel.What is this about then? Apparently this is the old version of the Excel connector. When I tried it I couldn't select the file name by clicking on the little folder icon.
Are there any triggers for Excel?
Yes there is a trigger but there is only one, but the weird thing is that when you search for excel and then click on a connector the trigger disappears. So it looks a bit like the trigger isn't part of a connector. Which confirms my first screenshot in this post where the Excel connectors didn't show any triggers.
And not until the tool tip appears is the trigger becoming a bit clearer.
So it is possible to specify a number of things here.
- me
- SharePoint Site URL
- users/someone's UPN
- groups/group Id
- sites/SharePoint Site URL: /teams/team name:" (the colon are required)
Aaaaahhhhh, which techie put this tool tip together. Do you understand this?
I really wish that my uservoice was implemented here. Of course the SharePoint URL option I can figure out. but "me"??? what does that mean?
Then now it's time to look at the real stuff that you can do with Excel. For my examples I'm going to place my Excel file in SharePoint. then I"ll have a look at how to build a table in my excel file.
In most of the actions you will find a source (In my example this is a SharePoint site). Ok, I can still understand this.
But then the option Drive? Again what does this mean. Luckily Flow offers my suggestions and Drive is the document library.
Ok, The Excel connectors are still preview. So hopefully these issues will all improve soon.
After running the create table I got the following result in my spreadsheet
The second attempt ( after I emptied my spreadsheet) I had more luck.
Ok, this is great! With all the other option available like adding row, get a row I've got yet another option to store my data in. Personally I don't like storing data in spreadsheet. My main reason for this is that people build up their spreadsheets manually and spreadsheets easily become unstructured. However, using the data table structure in Excel is a great way to store data from Flow or PowerApps.


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- Spring Fling offer includes 1 nights lodging, continental breakfast and Wine Tasting for $79.00. Good through the month of May 2013.
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Apologies to all the loyal readers of this blog, but unfortunately the blog won't be updated for an undetermined length of time. Please check back periodically, as we hope to be up and running again soon.
-The George Hail Library
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
(Spring in Giverny by Claude Monet)
The Blog will be on hiatus for a few days, but we'll be back soon!
Posted by George Hail Library at 11:45 AM
Monday, March 12, 2012
(Samuel Menashe, 1925-2011, American poet)
As an infantryman during the Second World War, Samuel Menashe (1925-2011) fought in France, Belgium, and Germany. He took part in one of the bloodiest conflicts, the Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944. In that battle, in just one day, only 29 of Menashe's company of 190 men were not killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.
"When I came back, I heard people talking about what they were going to do next summer," he later said. "I was amazed that they could talk of that future, next summer. As a result, I lived in the day. For the first few years after the war, each day was the last day. And then it changed. Each day was the only day."
At first, he wrote stories about his childhood and his years during the war. And then, "one night, I woke up in the middle of the night and a poem started." His poems are verses of few words, never longer than ten short lines, using very little punctuation. In their brevity and their focus on the sacredness of life and meditations on death, they could be compared to the verses of William Blake. "The more alive you are," he said, "the more you are aware of death."
For what I did
And did not do
And do without
In my old age
Rue, not rage
Against that night
We go into,
Sets me straight
On what to do
Before I die —
Sit in the shade,
Look at the sky
Posted by maria horvath at 6:26 AM
Sunday, March 11, 2012
In Commendation of Music
(Illuminated manuscript of Gregorian
chant, likely fourteenth century, part
of the collection at McMaster University,
Hamilton, Ontario)
For almost ten years now, I have begun my mornings by listening to Gregorian chants. My favorites are the recordings by the monks of St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes, France, and of Stift Heiligenkreuz, near Vienna (click here for a sample of their singing).
Gregorian chant, also known as plainsong, is named after Pope Gregory I (540?-604), who is said to have standardized this form of liturgical music sung in Latin. It is composed of a single vocal line, free of rhythm and sung in unison.
This beautiful and serene music points my day in the right direction. "Chant calls us first and foremost to a sense of unity," writes Katherine Le Mée in Chant: The Origin, Form, Practice, and Healing Power of Gregorian Chant, "a unity that exists between singer, listener, and the sound itself. It invites us to join together for a few moments in what is essentially an act of worship. We fall still, and then quietly and gently the chant rises. We are carried along together on the crest of its wave . . . As the wave touches back to shore we remain awake and more at rest. We have experienced what [the French philosopher] Jacques Maritain speaks of as 'the intercommunion of all things, among themselves and with us, in the creative flow from which all existence comes.'"
When whispering strains do softly steal
With creeping passion through the heart
And when at every touch we feel
Our pulses beat and bear a part;
When threads can make
A heartstring shake,
Can scarce deny
The soul consists of harmony.
When unto heavenly joy we feign
Whate'er the soul affecteth most,
Which only thus we can explain
By music of the wingéd host,
Whose lays we think
Make stars to wink,
Can scarce deny
Our souls consist of harmony.
O lull me, lull me, charming air,
My senses rock with wonder sweet;
Like snow on wool thy fallings are,
Soft, like a spirit's, are thy feet:
Grief who need fear
That hath an ear?
Down let him lie
And slumbring die,
And change his soul for harmony.
~ William Strode (1600?-1645), English poet
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Afternoon on a Hill
(The Monongahela, a river flowing through Pennsylvania
and West Virginia, white-line woodcut by Blanche Lazelle,
1876-1936, American artist)
Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) was a prolific writer of novels, libretti, lyric poems, and some of America's finest sonnets. Her poetry could be flippant and even brittle at times, but her best work reflects a sensitivity and appreciation of beauty and nature.
I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.
I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
And the grass rise.
And when lights begin to show
Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
And then start down!
Posted by maria horvath at 7:44 AM
Friday, March 9, 2012
Who's Who
Each Friday we provide the link to the blog that is hosting a celebration of poetry around the blogosphere. At that site you can find the links to the many other blogs that are posting poems (new and old), discussions of poems, and reviews of poetry books.
Enjoy the festivities!
The host this week is Myra. You can visit her here at Gathering Books.
(Lost Time by Annelisse Molini, artist born
1966 in Puerto Rico)
"There is no use in talking as if forgiveness were easy. We all know the old joke, 'You've given up smoking once; I've given it up a dozen times.' In the same way I could say of a certain man, 'Have I forgiven him for what he did that day? I've forgiven him more times than I can count.' For we find that the work of forgiveness has to be done over and over again."
~ C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), English writer of essays, poems, and novels, including The Chronicles of Narnia
A shilling life¹ will give you all the facts:
How Father beat him, how he ran away,
What were the struggles of his youth, what acts
Made him the greatest figure of his day:
Of how he fought, fished, hunted, worked all night,
Though giddy, climbed new mountains; named a sea:
Some of the last researches even write
Love made him weep his pints like you and me.
With all his honors on, he sighed for one
Who, say astonished critics, lived at home;
Did little jobs about the house with skill
And nothing else; could whistle, would sit still
Or potter round the garden; answered some
Of his long marvelous letters but kept none.
~ W. H. Auden (1907-1973), English-born American poet and essayist
¹shilling life – a short biographical sketch in the tabloid or penny press
Posted by maria horvath at 6:26 AM
Thursday, March 8, 2012
A Hymn to God the Father
(from the series Homage to the Square, by Josef Albers,
1888-1976, German-born American painter, writer, and
theorist of color)
Sooner or later, serious contemplation involves an examination of oneself.
Today's poem is by John Donne (1572-1631), the greatest of the English Metaphysical poets.
Wilt Thou forgive that sin where I begun,
Which was my sin, though it were done before?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin, through which I run,
And do run still, though still I do deplore?
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done,
For I have more.
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I have won
Others to sin, and made my sin their door?
Wilt Thou forgive that sin which I did shun
A year or two, but wallowed in a score?
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done,
For I have more.
I have a sin of fear, that when I have spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore;
But swear by Thyself, that at my death Thy Son
Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore;
And having done that, Thou hast done;
I fear no more.
Posted by maria horvath at 7:40 AM
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
The Soul and the Body on the Beach
(Martinique, 1971 by André Kertész, 1894-1985, Hungarian-
born photographer)
The soul on the beach
studies a textbook of philosophy.
The soul asks the body:
Who bound us together?
The body says:
Time to tan the knees.
The soul asks the body:
Is it true
that we do not really exist?
The body says:
I'm tanning my knees.
The soul asks the body,
Where will the dying begin,
in you or in me?
The body laughed,
It tanned its knees.
~ Anna Swir (1909-1984), Polish poet, translated by Czeslaw Milosz and Leonard Nathan
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Vermont Spring
(Spring on the Oxtongue River, 1924, by Lawren Harris,
1885-1970, Canadian artist)
"We need the tonic of wilderness — to wade sometimes in the marshes where the bittern and the meadow hen lurk, and hear the booming of the snipe; to smell the whispering sedge where only some wild and more solitary fowl builds her nest, and the mink crawls with its belly close to the ground. At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all things, we require that all things be mysterious and unexplorable, that land and sea be infinitely wild, unsurveyed. and unfathomed by us, because unfathomable. We can never have enough of nature."
~ Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), American writer and naturalist, from Walden
Walking in spring
never far from the sound
of rushing water
I came to a clearing
in the woods.
A silver birch stood
with me, silent.
A woodpecker beat time,
with my pounding heart,
and, in a marshy pond,
swollen with liquid snows,
something small, unseen,
broke the surface
to breathe the air.
Back in the brittle city,
where voices and corners
are sharp,
the surfaces concrete-hard —
important —
and silence is a memory,
something small, unseen
within me
breaks the surface
to breathe the wooded air.
~ Letha Elliott, American singer and poet
Posted by maria horvath at 8:08 AM
Monday, March 5, 2012
Although the wind
(Number 10, Art Print Poster by Mark
Rothko, 1903-1970, American artist)
Poets, especially, know how to point out apparent contradictions that reveal a truth, as did Emily Dickinson when she wrote, "Who never lost, are unprepared / A Coronet to find."
Although the wind
blows terribly here,
the moonlight
also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house.
~ Izumi Shikibu (circa 974-1034), Japanese poet
Posted by maria horvath at 7:39 AM
Sunday, March 4, 2012
(Red Plum and Moonlight, woodblock print by Utagawa
Hiroshige, 1797-1858, Japanese artist)
From the earliest years of the Christian Church, both clerics and lay people have been reciting the Divine Office or Liturgy of the Hours. This tradition can be traced to the Jewish practice of saying or chanting certain prayers and psalms to a set schedule of hours of the day and the night. The office of Matins (from the Latin matutinus after the dawn goddess Matuta) was originally said at midnight (at 2 a.m. under the Benedictine Rule). It is now said most often, in anticipation, earlier in the evening.
A sickle of moon is caught
in the branches of cottonwoods
along the ice choked river.
A black night.
Stars in their constellations
so far away,
my prayers fly nakedly,
shadows among them.
It is cold.
With broken star gazers who pray,
I await a reply.
Simple worship does not seek
the approval of an echo.
Freezing, yielding to the shivers
of cooling blood, I stumble in
to wait by my fire
of forest wood.
I hear silver chimes
hanging in the blue spruce
outside my frozen window
played by mercy of sudden wind.
A sickle moon, a star,
a wrung out prayer,
matins sealed with silver chimes.
~ Charles Van Gorkom, Canadian poet, artist, and bootmaker, found here at Rainforest Soul
Posted by maria horvath at 9:27 AM
Labels: Hiroshige, Van Gorkom
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Sherbourne Morning
(Postcard of Allan Gardens and Sherbourne Street, 1908,
Toronto, Ontario; found at Chuckman Toronto Nostalgia)
"There is kindness in Love: but Love and kindness are not coterminous, and where kindness . . . is separated from the other elements of Love, it involves a certain fundamental indifference to its object, and even something like contempt of it. Kindness consents very readily to the removal of its object — we have all met people whose kindness to animals is constantly leading them to kill animals lest they should suffer. Kindness, merely as such, cares not whether its object becomes good or bad, provided only that it escapes suffering. . . . It is for people whom we care nothing about that we demand happiness on any terms; with our friends, our lovers, our children, we are exacting and would rather see them suffer much than be happy in contemptible and estranging modes."
~ C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), English writer of essays, poems, and novels, including The Chronicles of Narnia, from The Problem of Pain
I begin to understand the old men, parked on benches
smoking a bit of July, waiting for the early
bottle; the large tears of the passers-by, wrapped
in white cotton, the world bandaged at 7 AM;
when the day goes old, they lean over
and nod into their arms, lovers, one-time carriers
of their separate hearts; their wives, their children
are glass partitions through which they see themselves
crying. Love them, or better yet, imagine a world
without a footstool for the creased and lame; imagine how that
sun above them spins halos for angels gone berserk.
~ Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, born 1949, Italian-born Canadian poet, appointed the second poet laureate of Toronto, 2004-2009
¹Sherbourne – a somewhat run-down street in downtown Toronto
Posted by maria horvath at 8:17 AM
Friday, March 2, 2012
Each Friday we provide the link to the blog that is hosting a celebration of poetry around the blogosphere. At that site you can find the links to the many other blogs that are posting poems (new and old), discussions of poems, and reviews of poetry books.
Enjoy the festivities!
The host this week is Dori. You can visit her here at Dori Reads.
(Bird and Vine, tapestry fabric by William Morris, 1834-
1896, English textile designer, artist, and writer)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a German Lutheran theologian and pastor, a pacifist who was arrested by the Nazis for his involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler.
"The essence of optimism is not its view of the present," Bonhoeffer wrote while in prison awaiting his execution, "but the fact that it is the inspiration of life and hope when others give in; it enables a man to hold his head high when everything seems to be going wrong; it gives him strength to sustain reverses and yet to claim the future for himself instead of abandoning it to his opponent."
He was hanged in particularly cruel and painful circumstances on April 9, 1945.
"Hope" is the thing with feathers —
That perches in the soul —
And sings the tune without the words —
And never stops — at all —
And sweetest — in the Gale — is heard —
And sore must be the storm —
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm —
I've heard it in the chillest land —
And on the strangest Sea —
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb — of Me.
~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), American poet
Posted by maria horvath at 5:53 AM
Labels: Bonhoeffer, Dickinson, Morris
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Who Speaks
(Sunrise by J. M. W. Turner, 1775-1851, English Romantic "painter of light," watercolorist, and printmaker)
This month, we continue with poetry that can lead us to moments of quiet contemplation.
Today's verse is a song by Tree-Leaf Woman, one of the poets whose works are preserved in a collection of poems by Tibetan Buddhist women from the eighth to the eleventh centuries. It was found in Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women, edited by Jane Hirshfield.
Who speaks the sound of an echo?
Who paints the image in a mirror?
Where are the spectacles in a dream?
Nowhere at all — that's the nature of the mind!
Posted by maria horvath at 7:25 AM
Labels: Hirshfield, Tree-Leaf Woman, Turner
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
(New Growth by Danna Ray, born 1981, American artist)
āmĕʹn (or ah-) int. & n. "so be it," an exclamation expressed at the end of a prayer or hymn; recorded from Middle English through ecclesiastical Latin, from Greek, from Hebrew "truth, certainty"
It is over. What is over?
Nay, how much is over truly! —
Harvest days we toiled to sow for;
Now the sheaves are gathered newly,
Now the wheat is garnered duly.
It is finished. What is finished?
Much is finished known or unknown:
Lives are finished; time diminished;
Was the fallow field left unsown?
Will these buds be always unblown?
It suffices. What suffices?
All suffices reckoned rightly:
Spring shall bloom where now the ice is,
Roses make the bramble sightly,
And the quickening sun shine brightly,
And the latter wind blow lightly,
And my garden teem with spices.
~ Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), English poet
Posted by maria horvath at 5:57 AM
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The Grand Canyon
(National Park Service silkscreen poster
for Grand Canyon National Park, 1938)
"Simplification of outward life is not enough. It is merely the outside. But I am starting with the outside. I am looking at the outside of a shell, the outside of my life — the shell. The complete answer is not to be found on the outside, in an outward mode of living. This is only a technique, a road to grace. The final answer, I know, is always inside. But the outside can give a clue, can help one to find the inside answer."
~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906-2001), American writer and aviator, from Gift from the Sea
As if there were instead some limit
To this world which follows where we go;
As if we could renounce the many
Habits we acquired long ago;
As if we could embrace the infinite
Spaces we traverse like falling snow;
Or as if we ourselves had any
Substance, and were present; even so,
Just when we are ready to admit
Defeat we find ourselves on this plateau
Staring out across long violet
Reaches filling up with indigo.
~ Stephen Lefebure, American poet
Posted by maria horvath at 7:47 AM
Monday, February 27, 2012
(Kwakiutl House Frame, on Vancouver Island, British
Columbia, circa 1910, by Edward Curtis, 1868-1952,
American photographer)
"Wherever the arts are nourished through the festive contemplation of universal realities and their sustaining reasons, there in truth something like a liberation occurs: the stepping-out into the open under an endless sky, not only for the creative artist himself but for the beholder as well, even the most humble. Such liberation, such fore-shadowing of the ultimate and perfect fulfillment, is necessary for man, almost more necessary than his daily bread, which is indeed indispensable and yet insufficient.
"In this precisely do I see the meaning of that statement in Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics, 'We work so we can have leisure.'"
~ Josef Pieper (1904-1997), German philosopher, from Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation
This is the house
that must be entered,
the house whose doors
do not lock,
whose walls are shadows
of moving trees,
the house whose table
is heavy with food
already blessed,
waiting under
the mouths in need
of food, of blessings,
the house whose windows
were polished until
they vanished,
whose moon and sun
once painted there
moved inside,
the one whose chimney
breathes a visible
breath at night,
the house whose walls
must be swept
with the wing of a bird.
~ Paulann Petersen, born 1942, American poet and current poet laureate of Oregon
Sunday, February 26, 2012
(Hedgehog by Hans Hoffmann, circa 1530-1591, German
artist whose watercolors of animals are sometimes mistaken
for Albrecht Dürer's work)
Carmen Bernos de Gasztold (1919-?) was a French poet whose best-known works are two collections of poems expressing the thoughts of a menagerie of animals, Prayers from the Ark and The Creatures' Choir.
These were translated into English by the British novelist Rumer Godden. She wrote, "'Anyone could write such poems,' said one critic when [the poet] first showed them to him. Perhaps the simplest answer to such obtuseness is that no one but Carmen de Gasztold has ever done it. . . . Each animal, bird, fish, reptile, or insect voice makes, as it were, a statement of its situation, its circumstances — what, perhaps, we humans would call its problem."
Yes, Lord, I prick!
Life is not easy —
But You know that —
and I have too much on my shoulders!
I speak of my prickles
but thank You for them.
You at least
have understood me,
that is why You made me
such a pinball.
How else can I defend myself?
When people see me,
my anxious nose
searching for the fat slugs
that devastate the garden,
why can't they leave me alone?
Ah! But when I think proper,
I can roll myself up
into my hermit life.
Posted by maria horvath at 6:58 AM
Labels: de Gasztold, Dürer, Godden, Hoffmann
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Refusing at Fifty-Two to Write Sonnets
(Rainy Day in Brussels by Léonard Misonne,
1870-1943, Belgian photographer)
Thomas Lynch (born in 1948), the poet who wrote the sonnet below, is also a funeral director in Michigan.
To him, the work of a poet and of a mortician are "the same enterprise."
"But here's the quiet little truth of the matter," Lynch wrote in a collection of essays, Bodies in Motion and at Rest: On Metaphor and Mortality. "Requiems and prosodies, sonnets and obsequies, poems and funerals — they are all the same. The arrangement of flowers and homages, casseroles and sympathies; the arrangement of images and idioms, words on a page — it is all the same — an effort at meaning and metaphor, an exercise in symbol and ritualized speech, the heightened acoustics of language raised against what is reckoned unspeakable — faith and heartbreak, desire and pain, love and grief, the joyous and sorrowful mysteries by which we keep track of our lives and times."
It came to him that he could nearly count
How many late Aprils he had left to him
In increments of ten or, say, eleven
Thus: sixty-three, seventy-four, eighty-five.
He couldn't see himself at ninety-six —
Humanity's advances notwithstanding
In health-care, self-help, or new-age regimens —
What with his habits and family history,
The end he thought is nearer than you think.
The future, thereby bound to its contingencies,
The present moment opens like a gift:
The greening month, the golden week, the blue morning,
The hour's routine, the minute's passing glance —
All seem like godsends now. And what to make of this?
At the end the word that comes to him is Thanks.
Posted by maria horvath at 5:53 AM
Friday, February 24, 2012
Each Friday we provide the link to the blog that is hosting a celebration of poetry around the blogosphere. At that site you can find the links to the many other blogs that are posting poems (new and old), discussions of poems, and reviews of poetry books.
Enjoy the festivities!
The host this week is MsMac. You can visit her here at Check It Out.
(Grandmother Knits by David Foggie, 1878-
1948, Scots painter)
"I can't tell if the day is ending, or the world, / or if the secret of secrets is within me again." ~ Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966), Russian poet
So much of what we live goes on inside —
The diaries of grief, the tongue-tied aches
Of unacknowledged love are no less real
For having passed unsaid. What we conceal
Is always more than what we dare confide.
Think of the letters that we write our dead.
~ Dana Gioia, born 1950, American poet and critic
Posted by maria horvath at 7:27 AM
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text:
Design submitted by Cory from the USA.
Cory says: "I'm a big fan of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and my favorite character was always the Cheshire Cat. I don't much care for most of the depictions of the cat in popular culture, so I thought I would make my own. Most depictions of the cat are either too playful, or too sinister. I aimed to create a work of art that depicted the cat as mischievous, playful, and a tad sinister; one that is also a timepiece.
The hours are affixed around the outside of the case in normal clockwise fashion. The cat himself is segmented into 5 minute intervals, the grin, appearing first, is 5 minutes, his head is the 10 minute mark, and each stripe is five minutes. The singular minutes are four dots affixed just below and between the 12 and 1 hour markers.
`Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'
`How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
`You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'
So, yes. People who are mad about Lewis Carrol's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" as well as the many fans of popular culture references to the Cheshire Cat himself.
The only way to have a proper Cheshire Cat timepiece, I decided, was to do it as a Pocket watch design. The distinctive chain links flowing from one's belt loop to the watch pocket of their jeans makes for a great conversation piece. Then revealing the ornate case, and opening it to reveal the cheshire cat inside makes for a unique timepiece."


text:
Kouraku Kiln Bowl, Kobachi, Leaf Pattern
$ 45.00
Kouraku Kiln started when Kosuke Tokunaga fired the first order 150 years ago. Kouraku Kiln controls the entire process, from molding to firing to glazing. Their in-house design team creates many beautiful items to fit the needs of their diverse customers. They employ talented artists, all with unique levels of experience. Since 2013, Kouraku Kiln has offered an Artist in Residence program. They welcome artists from all around the world.
- Product Origin: Japan
- Width: 3.5"
- Height: 2.5"
- Product #: KK59
- Code: NWS


text:
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text:
Hi beautiful people this is your girl Tashnee. V. Mavee. Welcome back to my blog. I hope you love today's post.
As you all can see summer is already here and I am enjoying every bit of it. The sun is looking so bright and beautiful.
Everyone is getting ready to enjoy summer holidays. I am one of those people who is getting ready to go on vacation. I am thinking about visiting Greece these holidays. At least just to relax for a week
Back to my outfit
What I wore was a navy blue shorts, stripe top and white soviet sneakers.
Every time I am wearing a sporty look I feel so comfortable, especially when I am going to do shopping for the house.
Summer here I come.
Thank you for stopping by my friend, hope to see you soon.


text:
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text:
May 17, 2012 -- If you're an upstart Republican running for your life in a primary in the middle of the country and hoping beyond hope to gain traction against the "establishment" candidate, who you gonna call?
Sarah Palin could be the answer.
In 2010, Sarah Palin was the sought-after kingmaker for establishment and upstart candidates alike hoping to get her blessing to help them make it to Washington, D.C.
She had a strong record of endorsements to wins then, but after remaining out of the spotlight after deciding against a presidential run, does she have the same influence two years later? With two wins under her belt so far and a stake in Texas ahead of a primary there next month, could Palin and her ability to help out the underdog be back?
ABC News' political analyst and longtime GOP analyst Matthew Dowd described Palin as the "spark" that can light the fire of certain campaigns.
"Singularly, she doesn't win these races," Dowd said. "But if there is a forest with a bunch of kindling, she puts a match and a light on it. The forest wood had to be dry, but she's a spark."
He also points out her record, which has some high profile wins, such as state rep. Deb Fischer in Nebraska for that state's U.S. senate primary last week. Even some of Palin's losses have been victories of a sort. She backed Christine O'Donnell in the 2010 Delaware U.S. senate race and Sharron Angle for the U.S. senate race in Nevada in 2010. Neither woman won the seat, but they both upended establishment favorites in the primary.
"If I were a long shot taking on an establishment candidate, Sarah Palin is who I would want to come and charge up the race. She would be number one or two on the list," Dowd said. "She has as much ability to charge up the race as a former president."
And while her record is not perfect, she has backed two successful upstarts.
The former Alaska governor backed Richard Mourdock over Dick Lugar in the Indiana U.S. senate primary. But so did many Tea Partiers and other conservatives. He beat the six-term senator by 20 points.
It was more impressive last week when Palin made a late-in-the-game endorsement of rancher and state rep. Deb Fischer. Fischer sailed to victory Tuesday night, defeating both Jon Bruning, considered to be the state party favorite, and Don Stenberg, who had the backing of Tea Party groups.
Fischer was actually seen as more moderate than Bruning and Stenberg, but her message of reform coming from a mom and rancher played right into Palin's mama grizzly profile for endorsees. Palin even recorded robo-calls for her. Fischer will now take on former Nebraska governor and senator back to retake his old seat, Bob Kerrey. Despite his experience, it will be a hard battle in the very red state.
Palin endorsed Fischer not in person, but with a note posted to her 3.3 million Facebook fans, and it noted that Fischer was campaigning largely outside the party establishment and without outside funds, unlike the two other candidates.
"Your efforts remind us of those our family put forth for Sarah's races here in Alaska," read the message from Todd and Sarah Palin. "Winning over voters through personal interactions is the way to go. People are tired of outside interests spending millions of dollars in political attack ads. We're glad to see your grassroots efforts paying off!"
It's impossible to draw a bright line between Palin's endorsement and Fischer's victory. Fischer was the relative unknown in the race and Palin's endorsement, if nothing else, brought some much-needed attention to her campaign. Bruning and Stenberg were in a well-financed mudslinging contest that left Fischer largely unscathed. Bruning was dogged by questionable financial dealings.
And Palin wasn't Fischer's only backer: Former Nebraska governor Kay Orr was an early supporter of Fischer and reportedly helped secure Palin's endorsement.
But what probably had the most influence for Fischer was a late $250,000 ad buy by the Ending Spending Action Fund super PAC, funded by Chicago Cubs co-owner and Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts. The New York Times reported Thursday that Ricketts is behind a proposal to start a SuperPAC that goes after President Obama in a much more aggressive way than has been done so far, stressing his ties with controversial preacher Jeremiah Wright, something John McCain prohibited in 2008. (Coincidentally, Palin wanted more of a focus on Wright during the campaign, but McCain said no.)
Late Tuesday, Palin congratulated Fischer in a statement that also jabbed at those who thought Fischer didn't have a shot (Rick Santorum and Sen. Jim DeMint endorsed losing candidates), saying she was "not part of the good old boys' permanent political class" but rather one of the "commonsense conservatives .... who are bold enough to step up and run on a conservative platform to restore America and protect our children's future."
But Palin's streak will be on the line in Texas later this month. Just four days before early voting began ahead of the state's May 29 U.S. Senate primary, Palin endorsed Texas solicitor general Ted Cruz. He's taking on a strong, self-financed candidate, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who started with better name recognition and is still holding the frontrunner spot. They are running to take the place of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, who is retiring. In red Texas it's likely that whoever wins this primary will head to victory in November. The situation in Texas is different from that in Nebraska. Palin's support for Cruz puts her on the same side as national Tea Party groups like Freedomworks and anti-tax groups like the Club for Growth, which are pouring millions of dollars into the race.
James Bernsen, Cruz's communications director, said right after the Palin endorsement, they received between 900 and 1,000 online donations almost immediately. A huge boon to their campaign.
Going forward, Palin will include Fischer as a notch in her belt, but some Nebraska political watchers doubt Palin's nod did anything to help Fischer. John Hibbing, a political science professor from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, believes it wasn't Palin or any of the endorsements because they just don't matter to Nebraskans.
"I'm skeptical the Palin endorsement in and of itself did anything," Hibbing said, adding he was one who thought just a month ago Fischer did not have a chance.
Instead he believes "it was a series of events," including the superPAC money, which Hibbing said was the first time Fischer went negative and was able to separate herself from Bruning and Stenberg. He also said to pay attention to the timing. The Palins endorsed one week ago.
"Movement in the polls had already taken place," Hibbing said. "There was dissatisfaction with the frontrunner [Bruning], no one really thought anything was wrong with [Fischer], her negatives were extremely low ... she appealed to the Western part of the state, which has a strong element of the Republican Party."
One big endorsement Palin hasn't made: Mitt Romney, of course. Palin clearly preferred Newt Gingrich and voted for him in the Alaska primary, but never technically endorsed him outside of her Fox News hits.
It will be hard for Palin to spin the anti-establishment Mama Grizzly brand she has cultivated into vocal support for the GOP nominee.


text:
Which Seed Do We Carry?
I'd like to watch this on TV but probably won't. There are growing numbers of space movies with the general theme about the need to move human civilization off to another planet. The aerospace industry is doing mass marketing for their expensive technology venture.
You can find many links between outfits like Lockheed Martin and corporate front-groups such as the Mars Society. The Mars Society line is that the Earth is a rotting, dying, stinking planet and we need to terraform Mars and move our civilization there. Likely ride on a nuclear powered rocket to a nuclear powered Martian mining colony. I'm not interested in that trip.
It looks like this TV production called Ascension might cross a few of those themes and I'd be interested to see how they treat them. Here is the official description of the program:
Who will save Humanity's last chance for survival? Ascension, a three night event, begins Dec. 15 at 9/8c.
A young woman's murder causes the subjects of a century-long mission to populate a new world to question the true nature of the project as they approach the point of no return.