text:
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Orange-Infused Cake with Candied Oranges
I've been meaning to blog about this cake for quite a while, but, as a lot of good food, it seems that as soon as it comes out of the oven it's off to a friend's house or half finished before I have time to take my camera equipment out. I love this cake because it really does bring out the intense taste of oranges, inside and out. The secret to this cake is to pour an orange juice based syrup on the cake just as it comes out of the oven, so that the orange juice can make its way through the just-baked cake batter and infuse every inch of the cake with delicious, sweet, orangey goodness.
Making candied oranges is optional here but it's really a nice touch to finish off the cake. I would suggest trying to make them if you never have, because the results always look impressive and they're such a nice treat to have around the house. You can also use leftover slices and dip them in melted chocolate which really brings them over the top! They're easy to put together (although a little time consuming)and they really taste amazing. You can apply this method to all citrus - the key being to simmer the fruit slices in water 3 different times, discarding the water after each use. Citrus rind, because of its bitterness, needs to be boiled in this way in order for the end result to be nothing else but candied deliciousness!
Orange-Infused Cake with Candied Oranges
Serves 6-8 people
4 eggs
180 grams of butter at room temperature
150 grams of sugar
200 grams of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
A pinch of salt
Juice and zest of 1 orange
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
50 grams of confectioner's sugar
1 orange, juice and zest
Preheat your oven to 350F.
In a medium-sized bowl, add the egg yolks reserving the whites in a separate bowl. Add the sugar to the yolks and mix until homogeneous. Add the room temperature butter and beat using a mixer until creamy (about 3 minutes). Add the orange juice, zest and the vanilla extract and mix until just combined. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Mix until the mixture is homogeneous.
Beat the egg whites (with a pinch of salt) to hard peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the flour mixture into the mixture is just combined. Pour the batter in a cake mold and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, make the glaze. In a small bowl, whisk the confectioner's sugar, orange juice and zest making sure there is are no lumps.
Once the cake is cooked, let cool for a couple minutes and un-mold on a cooling rack. Place an sheet of aluminum foil underneath the cooking rack. Using a spoon, pour the glaze over the cake, making sure to cover every surface of the cake. Fold the foil to recuperate the glaze the poured off of the cake and re-pour it on the cake. Adorn with the candied oranges and serve.
Candied Oranges
3 oranges
1 1/2 cups of sugar
Thinly slice the oranges. Fill a medium-sized pot with water. Once the water reaches a simmer, carefully add the orange slices. Blanch the orange slices for about 5 minutes, discard the water and blanch them again with a new pot of water. Repeat the process 3 times. Re-Fill the pot with 1 1/2 cups of water and 1 1/2 cups of sugar and place on medium heat. Once the sugar has completely dissolved into the water, add the orange slices and leave them to simmer in the syrup for 45 minutes. Using a flat spatula, turn the oranges a couple times during that time. Gently remove the oranges from the pot and place them on a wax paper lined cookie-sheet to dry out.
48 comments:
- Rebecca said...
Picture perfect! I'm glad you were able to snap a picture of this one before it was sent to a friend's house! I just made some banana bread this morning and that is going to a friend as well. Giving baked goods as gifts is the best! Don't you think?!!
- January 20, 2010 at 11:57 AM
- Mary Bergfeld said...
Thanks so much for sharing the technique for the candied oranges with us. The cake is gorgeous.
- January 20, 2010 at 12:31 PM
- Deana Sidney said...
I just happen to have blood oranges asking to be used... on top of this cake... love the candied oranges!
- January 20, 2010 at 1:40 PM
- kimberleyblue said...
So beautiful! I've never candied anything citrus, but now you've convinced me to give it a go.
I like how this is different from the usual lemon loaf. I love any citrus dessert, so I'll have to try this.
- January 20, 2010 at 3:33 PM
- Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...
These are gorgeous cakes and so are the photos.
- January 20, 2010 at 5:16 PM
- Deborah said...
What a gorgeous cake. I'm definitely saving this recipe!
- January 20, 2010 at 10:11 PM
- Patricia Scarpin said...
I have made something similar with lemons, but after cooling the lemon slices turned out to be too tough and it was hard slicing the cake.
Your petit cakes are so pretty! And I love how they shine with the orange slices on top.
- January 21, 2010 at 7:18 AM
- Justin said...
how pretty with the slices on top!
- January 21, 2010 at 8:03 AM
- Deeba PAB said...
Just gorgeous. I absolutely adore citrus in bakes,and am trying to post one at the moent. This is beautiful!
- January 21, 2010 at 9:53 AM
- modcom said...
What a sensational recipe. We're snowed under, so to speak, with tangerines in our home garden, and I devised a cake recipe this week to use some of them up. Bushels to go, though!
- January 21, 2010 at 9:58 AM
- The Cooking Ninja said...
ooh...it must smells heavenly. Gorgeous cake and I love your candied orange - very pretty. I made a orange-coconut version. :)
- January 21, 2010 at 10:05 AM
- Lisa said...
I love citrus cakes and the candied oranges look gorgeous on top. I've made lemon and lime cakes but have yet to do an orange. Thx for the wonderful recipe!
- January 21, 2010 at 12:35 PM
- Simones Kitchen said...
I can see why this cake would disappear too fast for you to take a photo! How delicious does this look! Love the look of the candied oranges too.
- January 21, 2010 at 1:37 PM
- Trissa said...
Beautiful cake! I would love to make candied oranges one day and you are right - it really does elevate your cake from special to elegant!
- January 21, 2010 at 3:48 PM
- Teanna said...
Oh my goodness that is just STUNNING. I am putting this on my must make list immediately!
- January 21, 2010 at 6:14 PM
- Memória said...
What a lovely, refreshing cake!!! I have candied pineapples, limes, and cherries but not oranges. I bet they taste amazing. I'm bookmarking this one.
- January 21, 2010 at 7:15 PM
- my spatula said...
wow, wow, and wow again. i'm such a fan of citrusy cakes...but yours takes the blue ribbon! gorgeous.
- January 21, 2010 at 7:35 PM
- Agnieszka said...
Beautiful photos and so yummy content! These candied oranges look so beautiful on the top of your cake! Here in Portugal we are in the middle of the citrus harvest season so I have to give your gorgeous recipe a try.
- January 22, 2010 at 10:43 AM
mmm candied oranges! This looks delicious!
- January 22, 2010 at 10:57 AM
- Mini Baker said...
what a refreshing cake! And perfect for tea on a rainy day!
- January 22, 2010 at 2:13 PM
- Barbara said...
A beautiful, sunshiny cake! I love the candied oranges on top. Do you have to remove them before cutting?
- January 22, 2010 at 7:09 PM
- Chocolate Shavings said...
Barbara: No you don't - the oranges are very soft once they have been candied, so they can be sliced as easily as the cake!
- January 22, 2010 at 10:56 PM
- Pam said...
I love candied oranges and this recipe looks outstanding! Can't wait to try it!
- January 23, 2010 at 7:48 PM
- zested said...
Lovely cake. What happens if you don't blanch the oranges multiple times in different pots of water? Do they come out more bitter?
- January 23, 2010 at 10:32 PM
- Julie said...
This is stunning! I'll bet it would be as delicious done up in lemon. So glad I found your blog!
- January 23, 2010 at 10:54 PM
- Chocolate Shavings said...
Zested: You should make sure to change the water after every blanching to remove the bitterness in the orange's skin, otherwise your candied oranges will indeed taste bitter!
- January 24, 2010 at 12:09 AM
- sbhdawn said...
What is the correct conversion from grams to cups?
- January 24, 2010 at 3:18 AM
- Carsten said...
Hi, I didn't know how to contact you so I left a comment here. I like to invite you to http://www.tasteandshare.com, a food & wine social network, where you can share photos, videos and a link to your own blog.
- January 24, 2010 at 1:39 PM
- Katie @ Cozydelicious said...
This looks like the perfect cake to bring to a friend! I love th candied oranges - they make it so beautiful. I'm going to make it today! But I'm trying to think of other things to do with candied oranges since I bet I'll have extra... I wonder if they'd be good chopped up in scones?
- January 24, 2010 at 3:44 PM
- ♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...
What a marvelous recipe and a truly wonderful blog...
bjs e boa semana.
- January 25, 2010 at 4:04 PM
- Christine said...
Your cake looks so good, I'm drooling!
- January 26, 2010 at 11:36 AM
- tasteofbeirut said...
Beautiful cake and orange and cake go so well together!
- January 27, 2010 at 5:08 AM
- Tara Vorhes said...
Oh wow- this looks soooo good!
- January 27, 2010 at 11:31 PM
- CookiePie said...
Ooooh - that is gorgeous! Such a perfect winter dessert.
- January 28, 2010 at 4:35 PM
- Amanda said...
Gorgeous recipe! The glaze and orange slices are so simple and delicate but they add so much to the look of the cake. Love it!
- January 29, 2010 at 11:10 AM
Beautiful cake!
- January 29, 2010 at 2:09 PM
This cake looks amazing! I love a good orange cake and will definitely try your recipe.
- January 31, 2010 at 3:49 AM
- El said...
I love the look of this cake and especially love the addition of candied oranges. Gorgeous!
- January 31, 2010 at 10:51 PM
- Lori said...
I love these kind of tea cakes and the oranges make it that much better! Very pretty.
- February 1, 2010 at 8:17 AM
- Megan Gordon said...
I know what you mean about not bothering/having time to break out the camera...sometimes seems like such a burden! This looks so lovely though. Excited to try the candied oranges out at home. Plus, citrus is a stand-by at this time of year...not a ton of fresh other options...
- February 4, 2010 at 7:19 PM
- Sari @ Cook Your Dream said...
I'm not a big fan of candied oranges, I actually don't like a marmalade. However this cake looks delicious! :) Your photos make it looks divine!
- February 4, 2010 at 8:08 PM
Oh my gosh, I am actually salivating by looking at this post! I could lick the screen and roll around in it a bit too! (I wonder if that counts as calories?) Thanks for the wonderful post!
- February 5, 2010 at 1:37 AM
- Zsofi Anna said...
Infusions of orange + cake. What could be better, especially in the dark days of February?!
I know what you mean about missing photo ops--I do that all the time, too. :)
- February 10, 2010 at 10:35 PM
- Eileen @ Passions to Pastry said...
This is just lovely! Beautiful photos on your site.
- February 17, 2010 at 1:20 PM
- Michael said...
Wow! This is an amazing recipe! I tried baking this up 2 weeks ago for a friend's birthday and everybody loved it! They ask me for recipes and I gave them your link. It went really well with a cup of hot coffee made from my cuisinart coffee maker Great post!
- April 20, 2010 at 12:09 PM
- Chocolate Shavings said...
mike: I'm glad you are your friends enjoyed the orange cake - it's an easy and tasty dessert isn't it?
- April 20, 2010 at 1:03 PM
This is such an amazing swweet little thing, I made it while ago and was a success, easy to make and more enjoyable to eat!
- June 15, 2010 at 11:55 AM
- Michael said...
Absolutely delicious recipe! I have made this last night and everyone loved it. The instructions are very easy to follow too. Hope I can post this in one of my espresso machine reviews as this went really well with a hot cup of coffee. Thanks!
- August 12, 2010 at 9:59 AM


text:
Tokyo elects first openly gay politician in the history of modern Japan
Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
It is hoped that Taiga Ishikawa will soon become known for being a politician rather than the first openly gay individual to enter political office in Japan in the modern period. After all, when this happens, then the people of Japan and throughout the world will know that sexual discrimination is being tackled openly and this applies to discrimination against homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) individuals.
This issue is important because Japan is a democratic nation but like many nations open discrimination against people from different sexual backgrounds is the norm.
Therefore, Taiga Ishikawa is breaking ground in a mainly conservative nation and just like other politicians in other nations who are openly gay; then it shows you that steps are being taken in the right direction in Japan.
The electorate should not care in an ideal world about the sexual orientation of the individual because the only important factor should be the political factor. This applies to the individual being highly motivated and representing his or her constituency.
Harvey Milk in America also broke fresh ground when he became elected to public office because he also was the first individual to be elected who was openly gay. Unlike Taiga Ishikawa, Harvey Milk was based in a political hotbed of gay activism because the gay rights movement in San Francisco was very political.
Taiga Ishikawa, on the other hand, was elected on a much more quiet ticket and thankfully the electorate chose him because they deemed him to be the most suitable candidate.
Ironically, while LGBT issues may appear to be about a new awakening and moving towards sexual equality and being more pro-active. In an historical context, then Japan before the Edo period and during the Edo period was very open about sexuality. Therefore, several important figures in Japanese history had bisexual tendencies or preferred men and in art and culture you can find depictions of homosexual sex and so forth.
The Meiji period (1868) was much more conservative and sexual orientation became more important within the structures of society. Therefore, it could be argued that Taiga Ishikawa is re-connecting Japan to its past tolerance of sexuality.
Taiga Ishikawa stated, after being elected, that "I hope my election victory will help our fellows nationwide to have hope for tomorrow, as many of them cannot accept themselves, feel lonely and isolated and even commit suicide."
Taiga Ishikawa continued by stating that "Many LGBT's, or sexual minorities, realize the fact when they are at elementary and junior high schools, many of which are operated by the municipality…….As a ward assembly member, I would like to reinforce support to LGBT children at schools."
It is obvious that Taiga Ishikawa wants to raise serious issues related to LGBT rights and this is clearly understandable. However, it is hoped in time that he will become known for being a politician who represents the electorate in the Toshima ward of Tokyo.
Taiga Ishikawa is 36 years old and he is the author of Boku No Kareshi Wa Doki Ni Iru (Where Is My Boyfriend?). His youthfulness is also welcomed because the younger generation needs to get involved in politics because the stranglehold of politics by association is hindering Japan.
He also expressed that he will do his best to make Toshima ward friendly towards the younger generation and foreign residents. This is welcomed because you have a lot of political apathy in Japan, and in other nations, whereby the younger generation either feels alienated or they have lost trust in politics.
The foreign angle is also welcomed because Japan, like all nations, will have elements of discrimination and the ethnic map of Tokyo is changing in many areas despite Tokyo being overwhelmingly Japanese.
http://moderntokyotimes.com (please visit)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
No document matched your search criteria.
To help ease the application process for our bureau-operated schools, this link provides information regarding the most commonly requested materials for employment consideration. Keep in mind that some schools may require additional documents other than those listed.
All Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools and facilities in this state are listed below, separated by those operated by BIE and those operated by the tribe via a contract or grant. All schools have the authority to advertise vacancies, to receive and evaluate applications for their vacancies, and select applicants for their vacancies. Some positions which are not based at Schools may be advertised by the BIE Human Resources Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Therefore, it is very important that you read carefully the vacancy announcement before you begin putting together your application package. The vacancy announcement will contain contact information in case you have questions. It is very likely that different positions will have different application requirements and procedures. Schools and facilities may submit vacancy announcements for publication here; however, they are not required to do so. You will need to contact the schools directly for all information on vacancies at their location.
Pay careful attention to the application process outlined in vacancy announcements, and submit your application materials in accordance with those instructions.
The following schools and offices are operated by the Bureau of Indian Education:
There are no BIE operated schools or facilities in this state.
The following schools and offices are funded by the Bureau of Indian Education, and are operated by the tribe or tribal government via a contract or grant:
St. Stephens Indian School (Grade Range: K-12)
128 Mission Road
PO Box 345
St. Stephens WY 82524
307-856-3742 (fax)


text:
In the comments to an old post that Becky did in 2009, about Instructable user brokengun's single-engine single rotor wind turbine (pictured above), a maker from India is trying to build a similar turbine and having problems:
I'm Mohammed from India, and I have been working to design a wind turbine (alternator), searched everywhere, but am not sure how to wire a coil. I don't wanna give up, please forward me your email I will send an email of the rotor which I have made. It's been a year, yet no progress. I tried all the possible ways to make such type of alternator (the one which you have made), I'm not getting any results, and have come to a conclusion that I need someone who can guide me on this. Please help (my email: [email protected]).
Can someone reach out and try and help him? And Mohammed, can you attach pictures of your rotor here and describe the nature of the problems you are having? I will also contact "brokengun" and see if you can chime in here.


text:
"Join Our Community" and get started marketing your products, services and/or business.
Members click "My Account" to update your listing and apply new categories! We have been serving our Communities, Business Marketing since 1997!
You may select a new business category from the menu at the top of the Business Directory page. (all communities)
« Edit your profile/business categories
Thank you for visiting!
ComunityHotline.com Business Directory
Using an Online Business Directory to Stay Competitive
Businesses are constantly trying to work out the dual problems of catering to their local customers while also competing against large corporations that have the ability to reach consumers everywhere.
How does a small, local business owner stay relevant and competitive in her community? Signing up to an online business directory is an excellent strategic move to make. How can a directory help a small business owner that primarily caters to people living in the area? Even if you rely on walk-ins and people in the neighborhood stumbling upon your business, an internet presence is mandatory these days. More and more people are doing business with people that they initally find online.
An online business directory, at the very least, puts your name out there. You'll be able to reach the people in your community who, for whatever reason, may not be aware of your business.
Directories help shoppers, too. Most people feel like they're being pulled in two different directions. They like the convenience of shopping online, but they also understand the importance that shopping locally has to the state of the economy. Using an online business directory to find a business nearby satisfies both those mindsets. They can conveniently find a place to shop online, while also keeping their money in the local economy.
Directories are a win-win situation for both businesses and their customers.
| Anderson Farm
Phone: (888) 700-FARM
| Breezy Point Farm
Phone: .
| Cosca Livestock and Cowgirl Artist
Phone: 558-868-3436
| D and Z Miniature Herefords
Webster, WI
Phone: 715-349-7795
Website Email
|View all posts by this member
| Westdale Farm LLC
Phone: 715-646-2447


text:
Borrowing a line from my favorite trash cinema seems apropos as the Lehigh Valley Roller Girls take on Charm City's Female Trouble this coming Saturday, July 14 at the Independence Family Fun Center in the lovely industrial quarter known to locals as Schnecksville, PA.
You don't have to be a nice girl or wear cha-cha heels, but you must come to the IFFC and watch the ladies of LVRG battle it out against Charm City. As always the facts are the same, doors fly open at 5pm, first whistle blows at 6 and no glass bottles please. BYOB, leave the large coolers in the car. Bring ID if you want to drink adult beverages, no exceptions.
Tickets are $10 in advance, kids are half price, $12 at the door. The clock is ticking away so catch up with the nearest roller girl and save a couple bucks while avoiding the long ticket line. This will be a good one for sure (aren't they all?). And if you haven't been to a bout yet, get down to the IFFC this weekend! If you are a regular reader of this blog you know it's always massive fun. Charm City is coming to the Valley from Baltimore, so you can certainly drive a few miles to Schnecksville, PA. No excuses! See you there or I'll send Dawn Davenport to get you!
To purchase your tickets online, click the handy link here.


text:
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Guest Post: Some Economic Observations on the Current Kiruv Framework
Some Economic Observations on the Current Kiruv Framework
by Rabbi Dr. Daniel P. Aldrich
After observing the current state of kiruv for the past few years, I have come to feel that some of the popular methods and frameworks may also providing external incentives that are not ideal for student growth. If I can be blunt, the current system is a pay to play system– one organization even calls it "Earn and Learn." That is, to attract students – initially to a [Program Name Redacted] or similar seminar program, and then to yeshiva – mkarvim have a number of incentives, ranging from 500 dollars a semester in cash to free books and plane tickets. My biggest concern is that the system is, as we say in social science, "crowding out the intrinsic motivation" of the students who want to go. Fortunately, I don't have to rely on my own intuition to understand the theoretical and empirical problems with paying people to do something that they (and others) may actually really want to do. A lot of peer-reviewed research on this topic has been done by others.
More than four decades ago, the economist Richard Titmuss argued that paying regular donors to give blood actually decreased their willingness to donate. His book, titled The Gift Relationship, suggested the radical notion that offering incentives to volunteers made them less interested in volunteering (you can buy an updated, edited version of the book at http://www.amazon.com/Gift-Relationship-Human-Social-Policy/dp/1565844033).
Titmuss showed that, in contrast to the American system with incentives and marketization of blood, the British system of pure volunteerism produced more blood. Scores of studies followed these initial observations. In 1978, Mark Lepper and David Greene showed (in their book entitled The Hidden Costs of Reward) that monetary rewards reduce motivation across the board. In 2008 Mellstrom and Johannesson showed (in their peer-reviewed article entitled "Crowding Out in Blood Donation") that introducing monetary rewards for donation decreased blood donations by half. Closer to my own academic work on social capital and civil society, economist Bruno Frey (1997, 1999, and especially his 2000 paper "Motivation Crowding Theory: A Survey of Empirical Evidence") showed that offering money to communities to host "unwanted projects" such as nuclear power plants and garbage dumps actually made them less likely to accept the offer. Without the incentives on the table, Frey showed, many local residents would have been glad to host a nuclear power plant. For readers interested in seeing how states have tried to solve the problem of building controversial facilities with a variety of tactics, please see SITE FIGHTS (http://www.amazon.com/Site-Fights-Divisive-Facilities-Society/dp/0801476224/). But once developers of these facilities started offering incentives, the residents lost their enthusiasm, calling the incentives "blood money."
Economists, recognize this same effect, but label this phenomenon "crowding out." In general, our cognitive space is divided into our intrinsic motivations (those things that we want to do) and external motivations (things we do, like coming to a seminar for fear of failing, because of incentives or disincentives). Offering incentives to a volunteer makes him or her less likely to participate – because if you're offering money for the person to take on a facility or to give blood, then that signals to the volunteer that the outcome must have a negative value. In contrast, valuable things are pursued, and strong demand drives up their price. If a food manufacturer has to pay consumers to eat its products, it probably won't last long. Parents fork out 45,000 dollars a year to send their precious charges to Harvard because they believe that it is worth it. Therefore, by paying students to participate in kiruv programs, we may be inadvertently telling them that being Jewish, rather than being a wonderful goal to aspire to, is an undesirable outcome that they have to be paid to accept!
The terrible irony with the kiruv system is that the problem is worse than just "crowding out" of the motivation of students who may have otherwise had a strong interest in furthering their Judaism. Imagine a student who is truly interested in learning more about Torah. He joins a [paid program] type class – and is placed with 10 to 20 other people, most of whom don't share his natural motivation. They are there because they're being paid to do so. They tap their pens, bounce their foot, repeatedly look at their watches, and shuffle impatiently as the time ticks down. I've spoken to local Shabbos hosts in various communities who have told me that their experiences with [paid program] students – who, to receive their checks, must go to several Jewish experiences like a Shabbos – have been less than rewarding. Those of us who do kiruv the "old fashioned way" (that is, without incentives, and based on long term relationships and incremental growth) feel very blessed that the students who show up at our table – and it may be as few as five, or as many as thirty five –seem engaged and interested in what's going on.
So it is a double whammy – offering students money or incentives to do what they want to do actually decreases their motivation. Social scientists and economists have produced four decades of empirical evidence supporting this claim. And, on top of that, we're forcing naturally motivated students to sit in close quarters with many other students who completely lack interest.
I wonder if others have noticed a similar trend, or feel that the system is okay as is?
Related reading from your truly:
Subsidizing the Ba'alei Teshuva
also posted at Beyond BT under the title The Benefits of Buy In for the Newly Observant
47 comments:
A number of years ago, I noticed a shift in the motivation for kiruv from "show unaffiliated Jews the beauty and meaning of Torah" to "the entire Jewish people must do tshuva before the redemption will take place". The latter is a lot more self serving than the former. It's like saying, "I don't care so much about another Jew's neshama, but the redemption - well, there's something in in that for me!"
Maybe that's one of the reasons for pay-for-mitzvos. I'm not really familiar with this model myself, thank God.
- December 23, 2010 4:16 PM
I've done campus work for over a decade and I have watched the growth of the type of kiruv programs you are talking about. The students were always trying to get out of Shabbatonim or class, and in many cases exhibited exactly the behavior you describe. BUT the enrollment was high. Most students said it was because of the money. There was a small percentage (under 20%) in every class that was joining for the money, but was truly interested in learning. I always got the impression that these pay-to-play programs were really to boost numbers. The students who were really interested in becoming more observant studied one-on-one with the rabbis anyway, as they would have done with or without the class.
- December 23, 2010 4:39 PM
For some, kiruv is an end in itself. For others, its at least in part a business. If you need to attract attendees to justify your paid kiruv job and need numbers of attendees to justify the fundraising, then I can understand why the attempt at paying people to attend programs. For those who are less cynical, I can also understand the logic of let's at least give it a shot and maybe some people who come for the money might actually like what they hear and return for more.
- December 23, 2010 5:34 PM
- H. K. said...
Having run successful kiruv programs for many years, and as the product of successful kiruv for more than 25 years, I think that both ideas can be reconciled. Getting them in the door is the main thing. There are many programs, clsses, and activities competing for people's attention, and without incentive, they will not venture forth. Once in the program, students have the opportunity to interact with others their age, and discuss topics that they are learning from the rabbis and other speakers. There is less initial awkwardness in going for Shabbos because they will be with friends. Successful mekarvim are warm, personable, and real, and they will make every effort to get to know and connect with their students. Even though only a small percentage will ultimately become shomer mitzvos, they will be left with positive feelings about Orthodoxy, and will likely maintain contact with their rabbis as they go on to marry and raise their own families.
- December 23, 2010 6:14 PM
Have other people seen fewer students going to yeshiva? Or perhaps fewer ba'alei teshuva attending shul? That is, has this new method of kiruv resulted in more yidden engaged in our community?
- December 23, 2010 6:33 PM
The only way to really know the effectiveness of monetary rewards and other "carrots," would be to do long-term controlled studies. That would be rather difficult to do since it would be hard to keep all the other factors equal and there would be some self-selection. It is also hard to fathom how the study could be blinded with respect to the kiruv workers and families, so anecdotal evidence will have to do. Bottom line is that unless you are indoctrinated from an early age to be observant, there has to be some carrots to get people interested. Those carrots might be social or emotional, but we have to be honest that those are still carrots and feelings that kiruv workers use.
- December 23, 2010 6:58 PM
One can call the intrinsic motivations of wanting to connect with your past, connect with G-d or live a meaningful life "carrots", but that misses the point of the post. Intrinsic motivations and external motivation are both, indeed motivations ("carrots"), but they are different. At the end of the day you want people being Jewish out of intrinsic motivations, even just for the practical reason that such motivations are more durable over a lifetime.
What's been driving the kiruv Fellowships with their stipends is a "mitoch shelo lishmah ba lishmah" approach, with the hope that once you get people in the door, you can facilitate a transformation of the initial external motivations into intrinsic ones.
What Rabbi Aldrich points out is that the potential effect of such programs is not just limited to being between a maximal positive effect (the kid becomes frum, loves G-d and loves Yiddishkeit) and no effect at all (the kid stays frei). The very introduction of external motivations can actually introduce a negative effect and hurt the kiruv process.
- December 23, 2010 8:04 PM
This type of critique of the pay to play model of kiruv has been around since such programs were first conceived. However, it's starting to be raised again now because the enrollment at kiruv yeshivas and midrashas in Israel (which is one of the primary goals of organized college kiruv in America) has been flat across the board for the last decade (precisely the time period when enrollment in these Fellowhip programs skyrocketed). Considering how much donor funds these expensive Fellowship type kiruv programs tie up, people are beginning to wonder if it's sufficiently successful to justify the price tag. (In some ways, this issue is similar to the arguments surrounding the effectiveness of Taglit.)
- December 23, 2010 8:09 PM
- JewintheCity said...
Having done recruitment in kiruv for several years, I can tell you that getting people through the door is one of the biggest challenges and the people that I nudged the most (not a monetary incentive in this case, but rather an incentive for me to stop calling!) almost always were not affected as deeply as the people that who were easier sells.
I very much hear Rabbi Dr. Aldrich's point. I decided to use new media - YouTube videos and funny short blogs - as a way to try to put the message out to as many people as possible and let them come to me. And when they do, no incentives or arm twisting is necessary - they're already interested.
- December 23, 2010 8:29 PM
A fascinating article. However, as someone who has worked on a college campus for a number of years, I disagree with the underlying premise. Surely paying someone to do something they intrinsically do not want to do will not serve as a "magic bullet" of religious inspiration; on the contrary, it may even have negative consequences. This would be analogous to the nuclear waste plant in the proverbial backyard.
Here, however, we are discussing something fundamentally different: incentivizing students to give a try to something they otherwise would never even consider, simply out of fear or ignorance.
My golden rule would be as follows: incentives can be meaningful and effective if they will bring a student to an experience that he/she will ultimately appreciate and recognize he/she needs.
Thus, incentives serve an important role because even to participate in a rudimentary way students need to overcome so many obstacles - peer pressure, negative preconceived notions of Orthodox Judaism, time constraints, etc. But clearly the "carrot" at the end of the incentive "stick" must be of sufficient quality, so that ultimately the student does come to love Judaism per say.
Just as a small example: every semester we take a group of students on a long-weekend Shabbos retreat to New York (from out of town). This weekend often is the most impactful to date of a student's Jewish life; and yet, I am fully convinced that not even a small fraction of them would participate if not for the lure of an incentive, and the specter of its attendant consequences.
Of course there will be "low hanging fruit" on every campus - students who were basically waiting for the rabbi to walk on campus and meet them. Naturally, they have the intrinsic motivation to grow and will do so with loving guidance. These were likely the students of a decade ago, and I would imagine that a greater percentage would have exhibited interest.
But for the vast majority of the precious men and women who do not fit in to that category, they likely do not even know what they are rejecting or avoiding, and need a justification to give these opportunities a try.
Of course, in terms of attracting less interested students, a seasoned m'karev will learn how to recruit effectively via word of mouth, ensuring initial buy-in and quality control. If the program itself is of outstanding repute, then the incentive becomes a mere background justification to the student for his/her time and emotional commitment.
Which leads me to a deeper/quasi-Kabbalistic point: if we are to assume that at some deep level of consciousness students do in fact want this connection to their neshama, then surely some form of incentive might help shake off the "klipos" and allow the student access to this deeper self.
Certainly this is neither a statistical analysis nor a panoramic view, but it is my set of strong impressions borne of years in the field.
- December 23, 2010 10:46 PM
- SJ said...
Kiruv needs to be reduced to basic social skills. Stop being judgemental assholes and have some fun, and maybe people would want to be orthodox. O.O
(psst, real fun, not let's not do anything for 1 day a week and call it FUN!!!!! YEAH CAUSE DETENTION IS SO MUCH FREAKEN FUN!!!!)
- December 23, 2010 11:54 PM
I understand that funders want transparency and want results so that they know that their money isn't just being blown. On the other hand, the effet of what is being described above is that yiddeshe neshamos have become mere widgets on an assembly line that need to be produced. I don't think the gedolim foresaw kiruv rechokim as missionary work. G-d forbid that we should be like Mormon's. It's not about how many kids we were able to bribe by coming to a keg party. What a topsy turvy world we live in. What's the answer?
- December 24, 2010 7:16 AM
Bewildered - I really must say I strongly resent comments such as yours. The accusation that those in kiruv look at students as "widgets" is not only inaccurate, but it is also an extreme affront to those (very) few people today who dedicate their lives to our most distant brothers and sisters.
Of course there are unideal practitioners, as I'm sure exist in your profession as well; but the overwhelming majority of those in kiruv are motivated by a profound sense of ahavas Yisroel and an appreciation for the individual beauty of each of their students.
Your statement about bribing kids to come to a keg party is also a gross distortion of what campus kiruv is all about - namely, connecting curious students with meaningful educational opportunities and experiences, while building strong and lasting personal relationships. IY"H the fruits of these efforts should help acheynu b'nai Yisroel connect to Avinu she'ba'Shomayim, no less than we would hope for ourselves and our own descendants.
- December 24, 2010 8:55 AM
- Miami Al said...
If you grow up non-Orthodox, you fall into two camps:
1. Very involved egalitarian families, complete with summer camps, Havdalah in parks/beaches/etc., activities, etc. (< 1%)
2. A few years of Hebrew lessons to prepare for Bar/Bat Mitzvah, then suffering through Yom Kippur service before breaking the fast in the early afternoon. (99%)
There might be some middle ground, but there isn't much.
The MOST effective Kiruv experiences are Purim or Simchat Torah, NOT because they are "keg parties," but because it shows someone that grew up with Judaism as a painful thing you do 1-2 times/year people celebrating their Judaism. It's NOT a Judaism=keg party, but it's compensating for the Judaism=funeral that is contemporary American non-Orthodox Judaism.
The MOST important part of Kiruv is the children meeting open minded, non judgmental Orthodox Jews. They can be the most modern of Modern Orthodox, or the most dedicated Hassid, but they have to be people that your target thinks, "I want to be like them."
If you really wanted to do Kiruv, you'd simply flood American Jewish life with Orthodox kids, so Orthodox wasn't a concept, it was real. The non-Orthodox would see that the Orthodox kids weren't backward, sexist, judgmental jerks like they've been told, and they'd show an interest. OTOH, you'd need to have enough confidence that your Orthodox kids, upon meeting non Orthodox Jews, wouldn't want to run away.
If you think given the fair an honest choice between Orthodoxy and non-Orthodoxy, if the Jews see each other, the Orthodox would run to be non-Orthodox, then your Kiruv movement is going to be inherently dishonest.
I don't think that the stipend is right/wrong, I see reasons for it (serious graduate students get stipends), but I do see the problem with it, it takes away from the "giving" nature of it. But it's absolutely a function of a system that thinks you have to trick people into exposure.
Agreed that the HARDEST part is getting them through the door the first time... But you do that by doing social stuff/activities that will get them to show up and not "kiruv events" that you have to pay them for.
- December 24, 2010 9:17 AM
Everyone knows that what motivates college students (and most other people) is FREE FOOD. Activities offering free food get the most attendees - whether you are trying to get them to support Tibetan independence, support gay rights, or to be frum. People may be mercenary and practical about money; but free food is not only free, it also fosters a social atmosphere that furthers the cause. That's why Lubavitch shuls offer big buffet kiddushes, and that's probably one of the best ways to get that first step in the door for kiruv.
- December 24, 2010 10:15 AM
I'm not entirely familiar with the entire kiruv system, but if you're talking about incentives to just "walk in the door" then they absolutely work. Having been heavily involved in Orthodox groups on campus when I was in college, I can absolutely assure you that they work. Many more students will come to an advertised FREE Shabbat dinner than would come on any given week no matter how much it was advertised. After all, every group on campus uses similar incentives from the frats having free "keggers" to the campus environmental group offering free pizza. That's just a fact of campus life.
But, once people come in that door, I think incentives are no longer so valuable. What's a LOT more valuable is showing the worthiness of what you do. If the free Shabbat meal is just a cheap way to grab a meal with your friends Friday night before heading out to a frat party, the incentive was worthless. But, if the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and other involved kids talk to people as normal people, one-on-one, it breaks down a lot of stigma and awkwardness associated with religion. Most unaffiliated people have a negative impression of Jewish observance either because it's meaningless, antiquated rituals or because they remember some jerk Hebrew school teacher or being teased for being different. Overcoming that requires just being a nice, normal person.
Unfortunately, it sounds a lot easier than it is. The biggest difficulty we had on campus was getting Orthodox kids to go along with the program. Some simply had no interest because they were tired after a long week of classes and didn't want to be putting on a show - they wanted to eat with their friends and leave not talk to strangers and explain the rituals and just be "normal." Others though were actively against kiruv because they felt the people coming in were at best ignorant and at worst a bunch of schnorrers looking to score a free meal before heading out to get drunk and have sex (a lot of Orthodox kids assume if you're not frum your life is one big debauchery). Some of these kids would make disparaging marks about Conservative and Reform and unaffiliated Jews and were angry at attempts to integrate the various Jewish communities on campus (e.g., at communal sedarim mocking egalitarian efforts at a Miriam's Cup - Kos Miriam).
- December 24, 2010 10:38 AM
I've read the original article (has everyone in this thread?) and the following comments with interest. But I wonder if some if these discussions - especially about free food, for example - are missing the point. Is the goal of kiruv to "get the foot in the door" so that students come in? Or is kiruv about altering behavior? Because the original article says that offering cash to people to give blood, for example, makes them less likely to go on with giving blood. Offering food to get students to a meal will get them to a meal. Must we offer them cash to get them to take Judaism seriously? Or should we not offer the money and see who is serious about attending?
- December 24, 2010 10:49 AM
- Orthonomics said...
I was thrilled to receive a guest post that looked at economic and social science research and a current economic model used in kiruv. I'd be thrilled if some commentors could try to keep the discussion at the same high level (as most have).
I think a great follow up discussion might be rewards in Jewish (yeshiva) education. Many parents are concerned about what the constant flow of prizes, raffles, rewards are doing to internal motivation, and middot.
- December 24, 2010 11:04 AM
- Ariella's blog said...
The clash between altruistic and materialistic motives is also examined in the book Sway (discussed http://kallahmagazine.blogspot.com/2008/09/power-of-single-word-could-sway.html) I just want to mention another incentive for giving blood. Those called to jury duty in Mineola, Long Island, are given the option to donate blood and get off. Some do opt for to give rather than to serve.
For some things, ideal participation is only achieved by offering monetary rewards. Some sites don't only pay the writers but even the people who comment on them to keep up a certain level of activity. If you get the right people for the job, it can work out well. If you get the wrong people, they will just make a lot of inane comments to make their quota.
Parents will sometimes offer bribes to children to get them to do what they want. I don't offer bribes for grades, but I will once in a while reward a job that is not part of the regular chores, like raking leaves, shoveling snow, etc.
- December 24, 2010 11:39 AM
- Ariella's blog said...
Paying students in this way reminds me of the model used a few decades back when some yeshivas and other organizations capitalized on grant money to open up college programs. They signed up Russian immigrants who showed low income and so qualified for scholarships that also left over enough for a stipend. Then the yeshivas who hosted made money, the colleges who participated made money, and the students made money. No one ever got a degree, though, which tipped the government off. That was the end of that, except for Touro that still has programs going for Russian students.
- December 24, 2010 11:43 AM
I think that offering money to attend kiruv events demeans religion. It suggests that if the mormons or buddhists or whoever are offering more, then go to the highest bidder (not that I can envision buddhists doing this). I agree with js, however, that getting ones foot in the door is the problem, and that you have to have a way to show secular and non-orthodox jews that orthodox jews are "normal," nonjudgmental and warm and good people to spend time with. Therefore, wouldn't it make more sense to make sure that more orthodox people are stepping outside of their isolation and getting to know other jews as fellow students, team mates, and colleagues, etc. In other words, the best college kiruv might be to have orthodox students who are interested in kiruv actually attend college and interact with others as fellow classmates and peers.
- December 24, 2010 2:13 PM
It's the great cache 22 of kiruv: If you want to attract non-frum kids, you need Orthodox kids to get out of their enclaves and interact with other people, but if Orthodox kids leave their enclaves, they may not remain frum.
- December 24, 2010 2:28 PM
- Miami Al said...
"at worst a bunch of schnorrers looking to score a free meal before heading out to get drunk and have sex "
Funny thing about that, most of the Orthodox kids all looked like a bunch of schnorrers... They showed up to Hillel every week for a free meal, but when the organization charged dues, they'd never ante up. They sat in their own table and wouldn't talk to anyone. The most successful Kiruv on campus were the few "normal" Orthodox kids who were just friends with other people. I'd guess that of the handful of observant people that didn't arrive at college that way, that was a big part of it.
Most useful Kiruv, within a 2 year span, the Jewish fraternity and Jewish sorority each pledged a MO kid. The integrated socialization was huge. I don't know how much that did for "kiruv," but it resulted in 150+ people over a 7 year period to have an Orthodox friend instead of thinking of them in caricature (there really are so few Frum Jews that most Americans will go their entire life without meeting one).
To my knowledge, both of those individuals are still Frum despite being exposed to secular Jewish life.
I presume there are plenty of college students that do lots of drugs and have lots of sex. That certainly didn't describe the secular Jewish people I know. Life in secular Jewish America really isn't a debased orgy, it's mostly socially awkward kids trying to get into good colleges and live up to parental expectations.
My wife went to a very "diverse" high school, plenty of people dropped out because they got pregnant. Not one of them was Jewish.
- December 24, 2010 4:32 PM
I don't know that anyone is questioning the mesiras nefesh of those that do kiruv work. Most of the people I know who do this work, including yourself are really on the "front lines" doing something that many see a value in doing. Yet, if indeed $60 million dollars has been spent on kiruv (by whom?) in today's world there needs to be a very serious look at that return on investment. While I may have exaggerated about keg parties, I have heard from someone who has worked on a major college campus that some mekarvim are held to a "numbers game" and if a kid isn't "moving along" then they are dropped like a "hot potato" in favor of someone else who could help boost their numbers. Is this what it's all about? Look at the success of birthright. They can point to studies that show what effect a birthright trip has on a participant and the likelihood that it will increase the chance that someone will marry Jewish and become active in the Jewish community. What is the ultimate goal of college kiruv? Sending people to Eretz Yirsroel to learn?
- December 25, 2010 11:43 AM
- Miami Al said...
If a secular kid is exposed to college Kiruv, and marries another Jew, is that a success if they never become Frum but he "gets" his heritage? What if he doesn't become Frum, but goes to Chabad twice/year instead of a Reform Temple twice/year, is that a success?
What if he becomes quasi-observant, but doesn't go to Israel to learn? What if he becomes observant, but doesn't go to Israel to learn? Is the only goal to get more kids to go to Yeshiva in Israel and drop out of college?
Is there even any evidence that secular kids exposed to Kiruv that go to Israel to learn are any more observant in the long run?
- December 25, 2010 8:18 PM
SL you completely read my mind with this comment:
"I think a great follow up discussion might be rewards in Jewish (yeshiva) education. Many parents are concerned about what the constant flow of prizes, raffles, rewards are doing to internal motivation, and middot."
R. Aldrich's article is very interesting and the discussion comments have been interesting as well. Reading them prompted me to think about my own kids and then your comment came along!
Throughout my 15 years of frumkeit I have frequently struggled with my level of observance.
I'm one of those Yidden who had very positive non-frum experiences growing up. Miami Al supposes 1% but there were a lot of us so I'm thinking it has to be more than that.
There was a strong and warm chavurah presence in the neighborhood where I grew up. My labor zionist summer camp experience totally rocked. :-) Without a doubt these positive experiences contributed to my wish to spend my life as a shomer Shabbos Yid, immersed in the Jewish community.
For a variety of reasons my own kids are just not that "into it". I am conflicted about how much to push them (ie make them sing zemiros and they will come to see how fun it is and how much they like it), how much to entice them with external motivation (ie give them candy to go to shul), and how much to simply leave them alone, make it cozy and comfy and fun for them, so that when they are older and ready to choose their path in life they will feel pulled toward Yiddishkeit. My natural inclination is #3, but it's something I am by no means certain of and I struggle with it constantly. Am I simply a lazy (tired, really) parent? My co-parent is very confident that strategy #1 (pushing them) is the way to go, but I feel it has contributed to their lack of enthusiasm over all. But maybe my reluctance to push them has just given them an out, ie it's easier to hang out in bed on Friday night than come to the Shabbos table.
I find this information about internal and external motivation to be very interesting and I wonder how it works with kids. Do the data apply to children as well? Kids are certainly internally motivated for many things, but perhaps they have more room for accepting external motivators before it starts to crowd out the internal motivators.
My oldest son has had some behavior problems in school and the administration is motivating him with various behavioral techniques (ie charts, slurpees, cold hard cash) to work hard to control himself so as not to disrupt the class. They do what they have to to make things work. I have to think that in time, with the help of external motivation, my son will figure out how to behave better. But in light of this article I wonder about the longterm. Is all this external motivation going to backfire ultimately? I'm not sure what their other options are. They believe my son is very special and are concerned about "losing him." (lately it has come to light that he has a learning disability and hopefully managing that will help with the other behavior problems)
One reason I am such a big fan of Hold On To Your Kids is I think Dr. Neufeld gets to the heart of what inspires kids from the inside... namely strong relationships with responsible adults starting with (but not ending with!) the parents. He even observes that the weakening of child-adult relationships has correlated inversely with the rise of behavior modification "tricks" (i.e. external motivators) that parents have to rely on to get cooperation from their kids.
- December 26, 2010 8:00 AM
So happy to see Dr. Neufeld mentioned here again. I can't say enough times how important his work is. Find his website here - http://gordonneufeld.com
- December 26, 2010 8:20 AM
I think the relationship with the parents is really key in transmitting any set of values to kids be it religious, moral, ethical, or otherwise. If that relationship is strong there is at least the possibility of transmitting values, if the relationship is weak it's more of a crapshoot.
I don't know how old your kids are, but when they are older and start making decisions of your own, the relationship you have with them is going to shape how they process outside influences.
The important thing now, in my opinion, is to show your kids how much Judaism means to you while fostering as close and open a relationship as you can with them. If Judaism is something you shove down their throats or something only worth doing for a bribe, Judaism will not be valued down the line when it comes time in their lives to make their own decisions. Further, if their relationship with you is weak there's less reason to follow in your footsteps.
All that said, each child is his/her own person. No one is a carbon copy of you, the parent. But, if a kid is not going to choose your values and religious observance, better to have a good relationship with them despite that than one clouded by memories of forcing them to wake up early for shul and yelling at them for not making brachot or whatever.
- December 26, 2010 8:24 AM
I guess I used my comment to angst a little about my own situation vis a vis my kids. Yes, I agree with your reply, JS. And thanks, Shoshana for posting the link to R. Neufeld's site.
One question I'm interested in knowing the answer to is this:
What do we know about behavior or children vis a vis internal/external motivators? Does it mirror the behavior of adults? Or is it different for them?
- December 26, 2010 9:19 AM
- Anonymous in Teaneck said...
@JS - it is not "cache 22" but "Catch-22" - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22.
- December 26, 2010 11:44 AM
- Abba's Rantings said...
"I think a great follow up discussion might be rewards in Jewish (yeshiva) education. Many parents are concerned about what the constant flow of prizes, raffles, rewards are doing to internal motivation, and middot."
i can tell you that in my son's public school they use rewards too. not as extravagant as in his yeshivah and not as incesant (and certainly not with candy as in his yeshivah), but i don't know if it's exclusively a yeshivah problem. (on the other hand, my wife works in a public school and she was shocked by the use of rewards in my son's school, so maybe it isn't that common in public schools and my son is an exception?)
- December 26, 2010 12:29 PM
- Miami Al said...
I really enjoyed How to hold on to your kids. Paying attention to issue of attachment and some minor ways it plays out has been tremendously helpful for us. It's very easy to line up a "play date" lunch with kids to play with, which the children enjoy, but cut into parent-child time. It is very difficult after a long week to spent the quantity of time (a little quality time during the week is easy).
I agree with JS. If you have a strong parent-child bond, the child is very likely to pick up on the parent's values. If you have a weak one, there is very little likelihood of transmittal.
If your concern is that your children, as adults, will choose to continue following in your path, then a strong parent-child relationship is key. If your concern is that your child EVER flips a light switch on Shabbat, then lifetime control is key. Plenty friends that did the RWMO -> YU cycle that used the freedom of being college students at YU as an informal Rumspringa, only to return to Yiddishkeit as adults.
Is that a successful transmittal?
Is that a failure because the child was non-frum for 2-4 years?
In terms of the 1%, maybe that's too small, 2%? 4%? It isn't high. My parent's synagogue had 400 families when I was growing up... one serious hard-core egalitarian observant family (mom leined at the synagogue, Israeli dancing at the Bar Mitzvah, Shabbat observant home)... a handful of active families with kids at Jewish summer camps. And then the "getting Bar Mitzvah'd circuit."
Anon 426, how many families in your synagogue growing up, and how many were "into things?'
- December 26, 2010 1:53 PM
When I was in college, I used to go the the local Chabad House for a free shabos dinner and free alcohol on Purim. We actually made them our first stop before we went to frat parties. This did not make me or my friends want to be more observant. I found out later that a girl I met through these free dinners did, however, become Baal Tsuvah. She had some obvious emotional problems at the time, and I later learned through experience and talking with former Chabad members that they tend to attract a lot of Jews with drug problems who never got proper treatment because they listened to some know nothing Chabad Rabbi. This might help to explain some of the dysfunctionality described by many on orthodox leaning blogs.
- December 27, 2010 8:26 AM
I also had similar experiences as a college student traveling through Israel. Free shabos dinners and arranged at the Kotel and free tours, meals, and lodging in Tsfat by a Chabad group. I have to admit I was poor at the time and went for the freebies. These activies were clearly targeted at potential Baal Teshuva. Problem was those who bought into it often had deep seated emotional problems, including one guy who was formally diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and stopped taking his meds, that could not be cured by a massive dose of Torah study or taking on an observant lifestyle.
- December 27, 2010 8:49 AM
Miami Al,
I'm not sure counting families in the synogogue is a good way to judge how many kids held onto Yiddishkeit. It was more loosey-goosey than that. I hardly ever went to synagogue. All the "happening" Jewish activities were taking place in people's homes. (West Mt. Airy in Philadelphia -- anyone reading this know of it??)
I am in touch with many of my old Habonim friends via Facebook. While a small handful became frum, it seems that the overwhelming majority maintain a string Jewish identity, ie marrying "in", kids in Hebrew school, etc.
Clearly the very positive experience we had back then was more influential than any learning we did (which was none).
I had one sister in Hashomer Hatzair. I was Habonim. And one sister who had no Jewish "chevra" to speak of.
My Hashomer sister maintains her strong Jewish identity but remains completely outside the religious world. The other sister remains completely outside Yiddishkeit. She even seems either unable or unwilling to pronounce the "ch" in my daughter's name.
- December 27, 2010 9:03 AM
- Miami Al said...
I think you and are are largely in agreement in concept, just disagreeing in terminology.
I think that learning is valuable in and of itself, but I believe that the value of learning in terms of preservation of Yiddishkeit is pretty close to nil (and history agrees, the handful of people that can trace their lineage back to the centers of Jewish learning are tiny and make a big deal of it, those that can trace it back to more integrated areas dominate the population).
I don't know that counting families is good, or bad. I just know of the hundreds of families I knew that were Jewish, most didn't "do much Jewish" beyond whatever was done in their family. Those that did a lot in their family have generally in-married children with strong identities (not 100%, but mostly), those that did little in their family have generally inter-married children. -- I am counting spousal conversion as in-married, even though the conversion might not be 100% under Halacha.
My point was that most non-Orthodox Jews have mostly negative experiences with Judaism... those that have positive experiences tend to remain attached to Judaism, those with negative experiences tend to disappear.
One of the most positive aspects of Chabad Kiruv is giving Jewish youngsters a positive impression of Judaism, particularly it's observant wing.
Look the Kiruv "success stories" tend to involve the mental cases, I get that. But what I've seen, via Facebook, is much more of what the Conservative leadership is bemoaning.
A Reform/Conservative "success" case, involved, Hebrew High School, Jewish Summer camps, at college went to Hillel, affiliated with Jewish social clubs, dated amongst the Jewish population... The people we are talking about. Lots of them have floated into the Modern Orthodox sphere. Because if you are looking for a real expression of Judaism, it happens more there.
Positive Experiences = Interest in Judaism
Amongst my crew of involved families, there was strong identity and involvement. But when I think back to Hebrew School, we really were a small fraction of the group. In college I met plenty of secular Jews who had never been to synagogue, Hebrew school, Jewish camp, etc., maybe a Seder or two growing up. Looking at your involved group years later, you see a "handful" being frum (5%, 10%, 3%). What about the Jewish kids from your high school NOT affiliated with those groups? Are they more like your full assimilated sister or the non-observant religious one?
- December 27, 2010 10:18 AM
I can attest to the fact that these outreach programs can defintely backfire. My personal experience, as a non-observant Jew who is professionallly successful,is that many of those who hang out at Chabbad Houses appear to be real losers. Many of the guys, who were actually not born in observant families, had marginal educations and were unemployed. They had no interest in the outside world and appeared to be waiting for a better deal in the world to come. What a turn off. I am not intending to hurt anyone's feelins really has been my experience.
- December 27, 2010 11:11 AM
I know a guy from a MO Yeshiva who pretended to be reform so he could get free room at board at a hostle for Ba'alei Tshuva college students in Israel. He was outed by a guy from home who ran into him while he was with one of the guys who ran the hostle. Let's just say it turned into a hotile situation.
- December 27, 2010 11:32 AM
I was part of a group of friends who all became religious in high school, partly through NCSY. During our seminary year, many of us denied being baalai tshuva when asked point blank. (I don't remember if I denied it or not, honestly, but I know others who did). The perception that baalai tshuva have emotional problems and/or dysfunctional family backgrounds is very strong. I don't know if there's a correlation, but it seems possible.
Along the lines of Miami Al's comments, my motivation for becoming religious in my teens has to do with coming from a family that was not "Orthodox" but nonetheless very religiously involved, i.e. Friday night kiddush, kosher and kosher for Passover, Hebrew school, shul every single Shabbos morning. If you want to continue this lifestyle, where is there to go from there, socially and religiously? The chance of meeting friends and a future spouse with a similar background is small.
- December 27, 2010 11:54 AM
- Unknown said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- December 27, 2010 12:52 PM
- Unknown said...
Are we really to believe that "shelo lishmah" crowds out or prevents "lishmah"? Why do we teach about Divine reward and punishment at all, given the "risk" that someone would then go and do the right thing for not totally altruistic reasons?
In the case under discussion, involving payment for doing things that are already obligations for Jews (not only kiruvees), it's inevitable that some will get involved in order to cash in. The other side of this is that some who start off this way may grow to see the inner truth and progress toward lishmah. While studies such as those Dr. Aldrich cites can be instructive, I'd like to see some (maybe he can be persuaded to do one) specifically in the kiruv context.
Such initiatives vary in purpose and scope, and the outlooks and abilities of the rabbinic leaders also vary, so generalization may be misleading. I know one rabbi who innovated one such university-level approach starting in the Midwest, and he's one of the finest, most inspiring people I've ever met. He has been a success at kiruv in whatever form.
- December 27, 2010 12:59 PM
I'm really surprised no one has mentioned the success Aish (and others) have had at kiruv for wealthy, successful professionals, many of whom essentially pay FOR kiruv by making significant donations to the organization.
See the article on the "Executive Learning Program".
- December 27, 2010 1:04 PM
- Alex Howie said...
A few years ago, I signed up for a learning program through a kiruv rabbi on campus before I was even aware that it involved getting $500. The other students who signed up did know they were getting $500, and the program was thoroughly boring because others cared less that I did, and now I am the only one still involved in traditional Judaism.
- December 29, 2010 11:47 PM
Something to keep in mind: rewards may only undermine internal motivation when it already exists. For example, Loveland & Olley (1979) showed that Lepper and colleagues' results only held for individuals with initial motivation. The rewards actually increased motivation in kids who didn't find the activity fun to begin with.
- January 03, 2011 2:50 PM
The hot summer swept across as a tornado ,and then took off heavy spring overnight. This is a season of blooming female charm. In the summer, coach outlet prepares you for every kind of coach handbag, coach Sunglasses Outlet. whether you are a beautiful youth, the remarkable grace or elegant, every woman has a unique meaning. coach outlet store can also create a suitable product for you in the coach outlet online store. Go quickly into our coach outlet online store to choose your favorite and required coach handbag which is the latest series. In the summer for you coach outlet online deducts publicity unruly or understated elegance, simple or extravagant, which let you charm every moment.
- July 18, 2012 9:11 PM
The hot summer swept across as a tornado ,and then took off heavy spring overnight. This is a season of blooming female charm. In the summer, coach outlet prepares you for every kind of coach handbag, coach Sunglasses Outlet. whether you are a beautiful youth, the remarkable grace or elegant, every woman has a unique meaning. coach outlet store can also create a suitable product for you in the coach outlet online store. Go quickly into our coach outlet online store to choose your favorite and required coach handbag which is the latest series. In the summer for you coach outlet online deducts publicity unruly or understated elegance, simple or extravagant, which let you charm every moment.
- July 22, 2012 10:52 PM
- Blogger said...
You could be eligible to receive a $1,000 Amazon Gift Card.
- March 05, 2017 1:17 PM


text:
Press Releases
Carl's Jr. and Hardee's Warn Consumers Not to Fall for the McHype
Aug 18, 2009
Chains Respond to McDonald's Angus Burger Launch with Facts and The Big Carl
CARPINTERIA, Calif. – August 18, 2009 – Carl's Jr.® and Hardee's®, the pioneering chains that first brought sit-down restaurant quality burgers to fast-food consumers, have a message for America: Don't believe the McHype. The McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD) recently launched Angus Third Pounders, its first major burger introduction in eight years. The time frame is rather ironic since it was eight years ago that Carl's Jr. introduced The Original Six Dollar Burger® - so named because it was comparable in taste and quality to a sit-down restaurant burger costing six dollars or more. Hardee's rolled out its own line of comparable Thickburgers® in 2003. Both the Six Dollar Burger™ and Thickburger® product lines are made with 100 percent Black Angus Beef. The Six Dollar Burger patty weighs in at about a half pound, the Original Thickburger is one-third pound, and both are charbroiled for that backyard grill taste.
The McDonald's Corporation launched its Angus offerings earlier this month after two years of regional testing and was even longer in development. Carl's Jr. and Hardee's have introduced more than 40 limited-time burgers in the same eight-year window, many of which have become permanent menu items.
"We're glad being copied is considered the highest form of flattery, since we have been seeing a lot of it lately," said Andrew F. Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:CKR), parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's. "Fortunately for our guests, our burgers are still better tasting and lower priced than the other guys'. We've successfully faced similar attempts to copy Carl's Jr. Six Dollar Burgers and Hardee's Thickburgers, and we've seen how McDonald's® versions fared against ours in their various test markets. No one has been able to match our taste, quality or price. However, we do want burger lovers everywhere to know the facts and, once they do, we're certain that they will continue to believe that the first fast-food restaurants they could go to for premium-quality burgers – Carl's Jr. and Hardee's – are still the best places to go for premium-quality burgers.
"The Original Six Dollar Burger at Carl's Jr. has 24 percent more meat than McDonald's Third Pounders, yet costs the same - $3.99," said Puzder. "And at Hardee's, the 100% Black Angus beef Original Thickburger has just as much meat as McDonald's Angus burger, but costs 60 cents less. Those are the facts and that's the value of our burgers."
Carl's Jr. offers nine varieties of the charbroiled 100% Black Angus beef Six Dollar Burgers that include premium toppings such as Portobello mushrooms, with a patty weighing about a half pound. Hardee's also offers a full line of nine charbroiled 100% Black Angus beef Thickburgers, available in one-third to two-third pound sizes.
To ensure consumers have the opportunity to taste this difference, CKE Restaurants will be offering a money-back guarantee that will give customers a refund if they don't agree that Hardee's Thickburgers or Carl's Jr.'s Six Dollar Burgers are better tasting than the McDonald's Angus burgers. The offer will begin in mid-September and will be supported with advertising.
In addition, since turnabout is fair play, starting tomorrow, Carl's Jr. locations throughout the Western states will launch the company's newest product: The Big Carl™. A counterpunch to McDonald's iconic burger, the Big Carl has twice the meat as a Big Mac®, twice the cheese and sells for just $2.49 or less in most restaurants. The Big Mac ranges in price, but averages more than $3.
"While McDonald's is trying to convince people that they can make as good a premium-quality burger as Carl's Jr. or Hardee's can, we knew we could make a better double burger for less money," said Puzder. "The Carl's Jr. Big Carl costs a lot less than the Big Mac, is charbroiled, and has twice as much meat and cheese. Burger fans should love that."
An ad campaign supporting The Big Carl will begin airing tomorrow as well. The commercials, created by Mendelsohn Zien Advertising, can be viewed at www.YouTube.com/CarlsJr.
The premium burger wars have just begun, and CKE will not let the McDonald's Corporation's McHype go unanswered. Stay tuned to Carl's Jr. and Hardee's Twitter (www.twitter.com/carlsjr and www.twitter.com/hardees) and Facebook pages (www.facebook.com/carlsjr and www.facebook.com/hardees) for more details.
About CKE Restaurants Inc.
Headquartered in Carpinteria, Calif., CKE Restaurants, Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CKR." As of the end of its fiscal 2010 first quarter, CKE Restaurants, Inc., through its subsidiaries, had a total of 3,133 franchised, licensed or company-operated restaurants in 42 states and in 14 countries, including 1,205 Carl's Jr. restaurants and 1,915 Hardee's restaurants. For more information about CKE Restaurants and its brands, visit www.ckr.com, www.carlsjr.com or www.hardees.com.
# # #


text:
According to Windpower Intelligence, the two companies, which were both ranked in first and second places in terms of installations in 2012, were far ahead of the remaining manufacturers.
However, most of GE's contracts were confined to the US. This was in contrast with Vestas, whose orders included Romania, Italy and Ukraine.
South American manufacturer Impsa was in third place with 180MW of orders, followed by Nordex and Gamesa on 161MW and 154MW respectively.
Elsewhere, the UK installed the greatest capacity over the April period by adding 699MW. In second place was Italy on 182MW. The US was back in sixth place, on 112MW, behind China and Australia.
"The two giants are locked in stiff competition," said Eric Prideaux, editor of Windpower Intelligence and Data, the market research unit of Windpower Monthly.
"GE's lead in April is attributable to a small number of large projects in the uncertain US market," said Prideaux. "Though Vestas' total orders were smaller, that firm stands to benefit from strategic footholds in several emerging markets."
In April, Windpower Intelligence tracked Vestas orders totalling 108MW in Chile, signalling a keen focus on the buzzing Latin American market.


text:
dingalew necesitaba un nuevo diseño de camiseta y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 65 diseños de 24 diseñadores freelance.
PAHR Golf
Adding to our t shirt line which we add to often and produce on regular schedule not fall / spring like rest of line. we're a brand that's in the midst of relaunch. haven't yet scaled up to full time graphic designers so looking for good partners.
Golfers 26-34 is core but goes broader than that. Action sports oriented people... like the X Games. Surf, Snow, Moto, Skate, etc.
Attached is a picture of a golfer on the green with the golf club up close and in focus and the golfer is slightly out of focus. I'm not sure if this can be brought over into a graphic or a line drawing, but I like the focus and perspective.
I've attached a second photo which is our logo, and I'd like that to be on the hat. Doesn't need to be extremely obvious that that's the logo but it would be nice to be somewhat recognizable.
I'm really interested to see what artists do here because I can see it looking good as a line drawing / sketch style, or totally different graphic design.
T shirt design would be ideally be 3 colors or less.
Wondering if there needs to be a box or rectangle around the image so that the golfer doesn't look asymmetrical???
Thanks for the help.


text:
The Senate Banking Committee failed Tuesday to get enough members for a quorum in order to consider several high-profile nominations, including the two new appointees to be SEC Commissioners, Kara Stein and Michael Piwowar.
SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White (right) was also scheduled to be confirmed to serve a full five-year term, expiring June 5, 2019. She was initially confirmed in early April to serve out the remainder of former SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro's term.
A Senate Banking Committee spokesperson told ThinkAdvisor that it was "purely a scheduling issue" that prevented a majority of the senators from gathering to vote on the nominations, which also included Rep. Melvin Watt of North Carolina to be director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. "This was a hard morning to get everyone in the same place at the same time, with the swearing in ceremony for Sen. [Edward] Markey [of Massachusetts], all the nuclear option negotiations [over some of President Barack Obama's other nominees], etc.," the spokesperson said.
The nominations were to occur starting at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, but the senators wrapped up quickly after seeing there was a lack of a quorum and headed to the Senate floor for a cloture vote on Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Senate voted 71-29 soon after to advance Cordray's nomination, a move that Republicans had been blocking, and he was confirmed by the Senate later that day.
The vote on the SEC and FHA nominations will occur Thursday, just before Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke appears before the Senate Banking Committee to give his semiannual monetary policy report.
Obama picked Stein, an aide to Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., to replace SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter, and Piwowar, an economist on the Senate Banking Committee's staff, to replace Troy Paredes, a Republican.
Check out SEC Nominees Support Changing 'Neither Admit Nor Deny' Policy on ThinkAdvisor.


text:
Train Frankfurt → Besançon
Duration 3h47 - From €52
- Departure station : Frankfurt main hb (Im Hauptbahnhof 60329 Frankfurt)
- Arrival station : BESANCON FRANCHE COMTE TGV ( )
Frankfurt, the largest financial centre in Europe
Frankfurt, the largest financial centre in Europe Frankfurt, also known as Frankfurt am Main, ranks among the most popular cosmopolitan urban cities of Europe. The city is one of the most important cities in Germany and is now a major financial and business hub. The city is dotted with a main railway station which connect Frankfurt to the rest of Germany and Europe. Frankfurt is home to a large number of finance institutions and other businesses who have their headquarters and offices in the skyscraping zone of the city. Frankfurt's social scene is very multicultural and the city is home to Germany's most celebrated museum landscape, offering its guests a colourful variety of cultural highlights throughout the year. Learn more about Frankfurt
Besançon, the fortified city Bescançon's old town La Boucle nestles in a tight meander of the River Doubs in Eastern France. The World Heritage-listed 17th-century citadel looks down on streets of white stone buildings dating as far back as Roman times. Archways and secretive courtyards are ripe for aimless wandering. Learn more about Besançon
Book your journey from Frankfurt to Besançon From €52
Practical information
Reviews & ratings
Overall appreciation
No reviews for this product yet


text:
Homelessness among families jumped 9 percent in 2008, the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported.
Homelessness for families grew primarily in rural and suburban areas of the country, the agency said.
Members of homeless families now make up nearly a third of all homeless people in the country, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan told reporters during a July 9 telephone conference.
In releasing the agency's Annual Homeless Assessment Report, Donovan said statistics showed that 1.4 million people were homeless for at least one night in 2008.
On one night in January 2008, when HUD conducts its annual census of homeless people, the report showed that 664,000 people were without shelter or a bed.
The highest concentrations of homeless people were found in California, Hawaii, Nevada and Oregon.
Half of all homeless people were in four states — California, Florida, Michigan and New York. Twenty percent of all homeless people were in Detroit, Los Angeles and New York City.
The full report will be posted at some point on the HUD Web site at www.hud.gov.
Donovan told reporters in a telephone conference call that the number of people who are homeless held steady between 2007 and 2008, but that data was collected before the full impact of the housing crisis hit last year.
The secretary also announced that $1.5 billion was being released through the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program to local communities to offer assistance to families and individuals who are facing homelessness or are already homeless.
The money is part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package passed by Congress in February.
CNS will provide additional coverage of the issue of homelessness in the coming weeks.


text:
|Date of Build
|Port of Regestry
|Supply Vessel
|IMO Number
|Official Number
|Call Sign
|Gross tonnage
|Net tonnage
|Deadweight tonnage
ISLAND PRIDE Owner, Manager, Shipyard
Maritime News
Tankers Carrying Iranian Fuel Approach the Caribbean
A flotilla of five tankers carrying Iranian fuel for gasoline-starved Venezuela is approaching the Caribbean, with the first vessel expected to reach the South American country's waters on Sunday, according to Refinitiv Eikon tracking data.Iran is supplying about 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and alkylate to Venezuela, according to both governments, sources and calculations made by TankerTrackers.com based on the vessels' draft levels.The shipments have caused a diplomatic standoff between Iran and Venezuela and the United States as both nations are under U.S. sanctions. Washington is considering measures in response, according to a senior U.S.
Japanese Partners Join Asahi's Electric Vessel Project
A group of Japanese partner companies have signed onto a project initiated by Asahi Tanker Co., Ltd. to build the world's first zero-emission, fully electric-propulsion bunker supply vessel.The so-called e5 Consortium, including Asahi Tanker Co., Ltd., Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., Exeno Yamamizu Corporation, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd., Tokyo Electric Power Company, and Mitsubishi Corporation, say they will work toward developing, realizing and commercializing zero-emission electric vessels.
President Trump Issues National Maritime Day Proclamation
In recognition of National Maritime Day, held on May 22 each year, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation honoring the U.S. maritime industry. The full text is below.Since the founding of our great Nation, we have relied on merchant mariners to deliver goods to market and strengthen our national security. On National Maritime Day, we recognize the United States Merchant Marine for all it does to facilitate our commerce and protect our interests at sea.Our Nation's merchant mariners enable peaceful trade with countries around the world and provide vital sealift support to our Armed Forces.
Smith Named CEO of Fincantieri Marine Systems N.A.
This week marked the start of new leadership at Chesapeake-based Fincantieri Marine Systems North America, as Ryan W. Smith assumed the position as CEO for the company.Smith brings over 15 years of experience in program management and engineering roles with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems, as well as project management and lifecycle consulting services for major defense contractors and ship repair organizations focusing primarily on support of U.S. Navy programs. Smith brings over a decade of waterfront management experience at multiple ports to help lead the expansion into total ship sustainment.FMSNA is a U.S.
When the Bell Rings: Honoring US Merchant Mariners
This Memorial Day, as we rightfully honor the military men and women who gave their lives winning and protecting our freedoms, let us not forget an often-overlooked remembrance for the thousands of U.S. merchant mariners who also died serving our country in their own selfless ways.In 1933, by a joint Resolution of Congress and by Proclamation of the President of the United States, May 22 was set aside as National Maritime Day to honor the sacrifices of U.S. merchant mariners during wartime and in peace.


text:
Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the Facebook campus earlier this week and decided to pose for a cheeky photo where he could create a "bad boy" vibe.
"Facebook's philosophy is Move Fast and Break Things, which I love. So naturally I broke some rules at their headquarters. Thanks for a great visit!" the former governor and action star wrote on his Instagram account as he posed with a cigar under a "Welcome to Our Tobacco Free Campus".
Schwarzenegger was visiting Facebook on Tuesday for a Q and A with fans to hype his new film "Sabotage" which opens March 28. He also mentioned on Facebook that he stopped in San Francisco to meet with "my great friend" Willie Brown and took a selfie.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Schwarzenegger's photo under the sign showed no indication the cigar was lit or he was smoking, but that's not really the point of the photo, right? It's to let you know that Schwarzenegger was at Facebook and he has a sense of humor -- or at least his assistant did.


text:
Dumped: The reservoir's trashy visitors
There's a certain zen associated with living on a body of water like the 450-acre Rivanna Reservoir, a place where a heron or hawk glides above the water in search of breakfast and where early morning rowers cut through the mist, their oars breaking the glassy surface in unison.
That's not exactly Karen Grenadier's experience. Up on the north end of the reservoir, trash dumping and drunken fishermen sully the once-pristine beauty.
In a turnout past the bridge on Reas Ford Road, a pile of demolition debris didn't make it to the dump. Nor did a mattress. A steep, rutted path, suitable for four-wheel drive only, goes down to the water, where an abandoned sofa sits in its own little pool of recent rain.
"When people aren't throwing trash, they're getting drunk and high," Grenadier says. "It's not very pleasant."
In her 20 years of living on the reservoir, she's seen people change the oil in their vehicles by the water, dump deer carcasses and tires, and play loud music. They get stuck and knock on her door at midnight to call a tow truck. The latter happens "at least once a week during the summer," she says.
Grenadier is particularly concerned about the environmental hazards of oil, anti-freeze, and deer carcasses getting into the reservoir– the source of local drinking water.
"The problem is getting the police to come," she says. "The police have bigger fish to fry."
"We respond to all citizen's complaints," says Lt. Greg Jenkins at the Albemarle County Police. He doesn't recall many complaints from the area on Reas Ford Road near the reservoir– but he knows where Grenadier is talking about. But in a check of records since 2003, he says, he finds no arrests there.
"Some areas are real prone to litter," says Jenkins. "It's deplorable to see the amount of trash."
Richard Defibaugh at the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority would agree with that. He sent someone to pick up trash a couple of weeks ago. "We pick up refrigerators, a lot of couches and chairs, and the most popular by far and leading candidate– tires," he says.
The enforcement problem? "We're a small department," says Defibaugh. "I have to pull a man off to go pick up trash, and I don't have the manpower to do a daily patrol."
Besides the aesthetic concerns, "we're always concerned about people putting things in the reservoir," he says. That's why gas motors aren't allowed on the water.
"I would love to see this taken care of," he adds. "It's an eyesore and drain on our resources."
The water in the reservoir is heavily monitored, and an oil spill has never compromised water quality, according to Anne Bedarf, RWSA environmental and safety manager.
"If a truck fell into the reservoir and was leaking all its oil, even that's not enough to contaminate it," she claims, something western U.S. 29 bypass opponents may be relieved to hear.
However, Bedarf shares Grenadier and Defibaugh's disgust with the dumpers. "It really is an added burden," she complains. "It's something the police should be handling."
Defibaugh urges people who see dumping to get a license number and call the police.
"That's awesome if a citizen gets a tag number," says Lt. Jenkins.
"Ideally, it would be fenced and no one could get in," suggests Defibaugh. But even in the post-9/11 world of heightened terrorist alerts, do people really want to see a fence around the popular recreation site?
"Unfortunately, people like this ruin it for everyone," says Bedarf.
Grenadier would like to see additional patrols and barricades installed to stop those who choose such a scenic spot down by the water to change their oil.
The police aren't the only agency with jurisdiction. County zoning enforcement is also looking into the problem. "We treat it like any other dumping violation and get with the owner," says Bart Swoboda, manager of zoning.
"If someone dumps a dead elephant on your lawn," he adds, "it's your responsibility."
In this case, the land around the reservoir is owned by the City of Charlottesville, but a call to the city was quickly routed back to Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority.
"If it's the city, we'll contact them just like any other violator and ask what their plans are," says Swoboda.
Residents near the Reas Ford pull-off have to deal with another nuisance: noise pollution. When Virginia Gardner first moved there 14 years ago, she says she called the police "every other night" because of the noise after 10pm, when the area is supposed to be closed.
Now, when she hears gunshots at night, she figures someone's seen a snake. Or when she hears screams, she assumes it's from people partying. It's disconcerting nonetheless.
"We don't know if someone's fallen in when we hear screaming," she says. "We heard gunshots the other night and had to wonder, what's that about?"
Giving fishermen a bad name: This unofficial access to the Rivanna Reservoir is also an unofficial dump.


text:
Finding a faraway home in Japan
This fall, Lufthansa launched a new series of #inspiredby-videos: using the hashtag #Heimweh, the campaign examines what it means to feel a sense of belonging and where our memories come from
The first episode features Satoru and Kiyoshi Inoue, two Danish designers who have Japanese roots. Born and raised in Copenhagen by Japanese parents, the brothers always felt more connected to Japan and their parents' background. Their father passed away early in their life. Growing up, they forgot some of their childhood memories of him; until a journey to Japan changed something in the brothers' lives.
"When we were kids, our father used to tell us stories about two young boys who lost each other in the dark. When my brother and I heard these stories, we were so scared, but we learned something: Always be there for one another!"
In the current film, we portray the brothers traveling to the place their father came from, where he developed his art and craft. Revisiting these places together, Kiyoshi and Satoru had to cast their minds back to moments in their past. These places were key to unlocking those moments of reunion and personal identification.
What does 'Heimweh' mean to you?
To us, it means more than longing. Heimweh is not a longing but more a belonging. We want to belong.
What was it that kept you from feeling at home in Copenhagen?
As a child you want to be part of the majority, not the minority. Because we didn't have blond hair, back then, we looked different. Looking different was the biggest fact; we felt different, we felt alienated. As a kid, the only thing you want is to be accepted for who you are. We felt the difference when we went to Japan as kids.
Describe your relation as brothers.
Honestly, we did fight a lot when we were kids. Sometimes we even argued in Danish… Kiyoshi: … whispering to each other… Satoru: … so they wouldn't know we were fighting (both laughing).
What is your relationship like today? Did it change?
No, we still fight a lot. But we have each other's back. I can count on my brother, and he can count on me. There's a strength that grows out of that. We both know that.
One brother always represents both.
It sounds weird but it's true.
Where does the connection to nature come from? And how important is it?
Our dad used to take us to the botanical garden in Copenhagen, which is part of the university. He told us we had to respect nature and needed to understand that nature is not just a part of us and our lives, but that we are a part of nature. It's easy to forget that. In our work we work closely with nature, with the people in our environment. We want to give back to those who make possible what we do.
The video is out. Did anything change for you?
It was surprising how many people had seen it. So many people we had no idea would see it. And now everyone we meet talks about it. We love this endorsement. We're overwhelmed.
Your favorite reaction to the video?
It was funny, but we received an email from someone asking how to get to Kagoshima. We thought they should have asked you. You're the airline (both smiling).
What did your mother say when she saw the film for the first time?
She was proud. And she was happy to see that our dad was in it, was part of it. This made us all proud to be able to remember him that way.
You were still young when he taught you all these things. But it wasn't until now that you understood what he had told you. How?
He talked to us like we were grown-ups. There is a saying in Japan that people should talk to their kids like the adults they will be in the future. And he was right. All along.
What brought the memories of your father back to your mind?
It was the film, actually. Going to Kagoshima, we had to dig deep into our memories. We remembered things we had blocked out about him.
And now you're releasing a ceramics line in December 2016 that contains the ashes of the Sakurajima volcano from your childhood.
Yes, through that we can feel the joy he had working with natural materials. It's like we had helped complete and realize the vision our father had. When you lose a parent early in your life, living up to that parent means a lot.
What do you think or hope your kids will keep alive as your heritage?
We hope they continue the business, The Inoue Brothers, or the Inoue Sisters, who knows? (smiles)
What is the thing you enjoy most when you return home?
Satoru: For me, it's my children. When I come home after a long trip, they come running to greet me. I hope that never changes. Kiyoshi: I live in London, and the best moment for me is when I see all these different people from all over the world living together. This makes me feel good about myself. About the place and the people that surround me every day.
Last question. What is home today?
Home is not a place. It is the people you are surrounded by. It is the people who make you feel that you can just be yourself. They make you feel you belong.


text:
Mpsevigny brauchte ein neues Logo Design und hat einen Wettbewerb auf 99designs gestartet.
Aus 68 Designs von 24 Designern wurde eine Gewinner gewählt.
Pura Vida Urban Fitness
We are a Brooklyn based fitness studio with an enthusiasm for inspiring our clients in their pursuits of personal wellness and growth.
I have two specific "character types" that I market towards - first, young urban professionals: men and women (usually more women than men), ages 25 to 35, career driven/goal oriented, BA or possibly Master's Degree, interested in personal health for social/personal reasons (yoga, group classes, etc.), they don't have huge amounts of expendable income, but they are open to spending on health/social/local/status items (group fitness, social outings to local restaurants/bars). They live in rented apartments (often with roommates or a significant other).
And second, urban professionals - men and women, ages 35 to 45, used to be career focused, and still are to some extent, but they also have young families (children ages 2 to 6). They often have advanced degrees (such as lawyers) or work for large companies (usually in upper management positions related to marketing, development, etc...). They have expendable income that they often spend on their children (hiring a nanny, buying organic foods (via Fresh Direct or farmer's market), vacations, children's groups/activities such as SuperSoccer, 78th Precinct sports leagues, art classes). They are motivated to get in shape for family and personal reasons (often they have neglected to take care of themselves while workings/raising a family).
As far as workout gear, both groups tend to associate with brands like Lulu Lemon, New Balance, Asics, Nike, etc.
I threw together a very rudimentary idea of a flower (growth) coming out of a crack (urban), but I'm afraid it looks a little too feminine.
I am very open to creative suggestion!
Finden Sie heraus, wie ein Designwettbewerb funktioniert, oder lernen Sie mehr über unsere Logo-Design-Angebote.