2013年9月2日星期一

Scientists find plastic in all Great Lakes

They had previously discovered them in Lakes Superior, Huron and Erie last year and new summer research uncovered small concentrations also in Lake Michigan and Lake Ontario.Mary Balcer, director of the Lake Superior Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, who has studied more traditional Great Lakes threats such as zebra mussels, said plastics are a new culprit on the list of Great Lakes ecological troubles.

“The accumulation of plastic particles is a great threat to our natural ecosystem and to the humans who use Lake Superior for our drinking water supply,” Balcer said.Fresh off the research boat, Lorena Rios-Mendoza, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, presented her preliminary findings to reporters Thursday.


She said Lake Erie seems to hold the highest concentrations of plastics, probably because the particles float downstream from the upper lakes, according to the Duluth News Tribune.The plastic has also been found in Lake Superior sediment, meaning it’s not just floating on the China beads, Rios-Mendoza said.

“It was very shallow where they were found, but they were in the sediment,” Rios-Mendoza said.The researchers dragged fine-mesh nets across the surface of lakes. Some of the plastic can be seen only under a microscope.So far, Rios-Mendoza’s hypothesis is that the plastic in the Great Lakes starts small, possibly as scrubbing beads in household or beauty products, facial scrubs and even some toothpaste.

The particles are tiny enough to slip through the screens at wastewater treatment plants and then start their journey across the Great Lakes.Not only is the plastic itself an issue, she noted, but research has found that plastic can absorb persistent toxic chemicals, some of them known endocrine disrupters. So the floating plastic beads act like tiny, toxic sponges.

Two Melia Trees in Grey Street outside Gisborne Motors will be removed as part of Gisborne District Council’s focus on actively managing street trees. The health of the 80 year old trees is in decline, and they are causing significant damage to property, says parks and community property manager Grahame Smail. "Trees don’t last forever and council is committed to maintaining a streetscape with healthy trees. Where trees are sick or becoming a hazard we want to remove them before they cause injury to passers-by."

Council looks after 4700 street trees planted on the sides of roads within the city and at Wainui, Makaraka, Manutuke, Patutahi, Te Karaka and Tolaga Bay. This is in addition to thousands of trees planted in the parks throughout the district.

"Our abundance of street trees adds a unique character to the city and council wants to keep it that way. They are an important asset recorded in our tree register which keeps track of the age, species, health and expected lifespan of all street trees."

"This will help us to identify when trees need to be replaced. We are also developing replacement guidelines for street trees. The aim is to ensure the right trees are planted in the right places. For instance the Melia trees planted in Grey Street have caused issues for business owners and passers-by for years. Melia trees drop beads and leaves four times a year. They are a large tree with an intensive root system that lifts and breaks paving causing a trip hazard. They will be replaced with trees that are not so large and do not drop as much onto our footpaths but suit the style of our city centre."

Four palms will be removed in Heipipi Park by the Courthouse. "They were never meant to have been planted there under the original landscaping plan. One is obscuring the lights that illuminate the canoe prow (Tauihu) that was carved by Te Aturangi Nepia-Clamp in 1990. They overshadow the iconic sculpture and are obscuring an important acknowledgement to that site. "Tauihi gives recognition to the district’s voyaging ancestors who settled our turquoise beads. This is a theme that will become more apparent as we move towards 2019, 250 years since the arrival of the Endeavour. The palm trees have been planted where additional sculptures were proposed in the original landscaping plan. Their removal opens up this significant area for alignment with the Tairawhiti Navigations project," says Mr Smail.

Once again the summer has flown by much faster than I thought possible. I make plans, certain projects that seem 'Summerperfect' and only a few come to fruition. One favorite ongoing project is the memory project. There are certain memories from our childrens' childhood that are classics. They are the ones someone is bound to bring up at family gatherings, "Remember the time we ..."

Some were planned and some just happened. I have more time with the grandkids and take great delight in developing adventures and memories to hold on to.

We made a few over the summer, from the planting of certain flowers and watching them bloom to the introduction of lychee nuts in their spidery, scary raw form.

The trip was Nya's first train trip. The autotrain was made to order for making memories. We left in the middle of the night and drove to Lorton, Va. Nya was fascinated as she watched them load our van onto the train. The ride is from 4 p.m. Friday and an arrival at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, in Sanford, Fla.

There is a community feel to train travel that delights me. We quickly got to know our neighbors from Connecticut. David and Jossetta Andrews and their three children, Corin, Caylee and Cash were on their first trip to Disneyworld. The grownups chatted and we settled everyone in. Toddler Cash giggled and shouted Disneyworld. It was Caylee that sealed the friendship. After talking to Nya and admiring her afro puffs and beads, Caylee wrote a note to Nya that said: "Do you want to be my friend? Circle one, yes or no" They were coloring buddies for the rest of the trip.
Nya giggled along the wobbly walks to the bathroom, the lounge car to play Uno and war and the dining car. She was pleasantly surprised that we were having dinner on the train car that looked like a restaurant with tables and linen napkins and very good food. Nya tasted my braised beef sirloin, her grandfathers' lemon pepper cod and decided her chicken tenders were the best. Our server was Kevin Clement , a wonderfully kind and efficient young man, who made it seem his only wish was to serve Nya as he balanced trays with grace. We toasted: "Here's to you, kid!" with chardonnay for Andy and I and apple juice for Nya. We renamed the autotrain the dream train as we settled in for the night.

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The business of making prayer beads

Koonammavu is a small village on the NH 17 a few kilometers to the north of Kochi. This village, however, is on the global business map, thanks to a cottage industry – rosary-making.People of Koonammavu proudly call their village ‘little Rome’ as it ships the prayer beads all over India and abroad. “Wherever there are Christians, there are rosaries from Koonammavu,” claims Ravi Jose Thannikot, who owns a shop that sells rosaries and other items of religious use.

Mr. Thannikot is one of Koonammavu’s many entrepreneurs who procures beads, thread and wire from parts of North India and supplies them to women in the village. The women return finished rosaries for a pay and these are sold locally or exported by him. Mr. Thannikot says around 2,000 women from Koonammavu and surrounding areas bring him finished rosaries. Twelve women are employed full-time on his staff too.

“If you’re an expert you can finish one rosary of 59 beads in under 10 minutes,” says Swapna, who works at the store and makes rosaries in her spare time too. Young girls here learn how to make rosaries from their friends at school and older siblings at a young age. Even those who don’t make rosaries for a living have learnt the craft from their friends as children. They may start making rosaries to help out at home and soon become experts. Swapna’s mother-in-law has been making rosaries for several decades now. She is an expert on the ‘thudal kettu,’ a complicated chain link usually seen in gold chains that these women complete with nothing but a wire and pliers. She gets Rs.7 for each rosary she makes with the ‘thudal kettu.’ A rosary on wire can fetch the women Rs.3.50 each and the thread rosary Rs.1.60. These sell in the market for Rs.15 or more.

The cottage industry helps women supplement the family’s income. “Those who need the money spend longer hours making rosaries. People do it according to their need,” says Mr. Thannikot. Some in the village also make rosaries as a service. These are usually handed over to the church when complete. “Rosary-making was started off by nuns here almost 150 years ago to empower local women. A lady from Kollam was brought in to teach a few women here how to make rosaries. These women taught others and now everyone here makes rosaries,” says Fr. Cherian Kuniyanthodath of the St. Joseph’s CMI monastery at Koonammavu. What started off as a cottage industry is now a big business at Koonammavu. Women from Koonammavu who married into families in other parts of the city also practice their craft there. “There are many people here who have come out of poverty and prospered in life through the business of jewelry findings,” says Fr. Kuniyanthodath. Rosaries in different materials and patterns have now in the market. Those produced in factories in China have also made their way to Koonammavu. But for thousands of women here, the prayer beads are a way to good fortune and a better life.

Walking as quickly as she could in her sequined silver high-heel boots, Electra City stalked down Bourbon Street on Sunday afternoon, heading for the start of the Southern Decadence parade. Although she was in a hurry, the drag queen couldn’t help stopping whenever someone wanted to snap a picture.

She was an obvious target for anyone with a camera, starting with her towering orange-and-pink wig and the orange and pink boas that hung from her shoulders, front and back, encircling her torso but not quite hiding her sequined mini-dress. Despite the 90-degree heat and wiltingly high humidity, she wore three pairs of black tights.

In the 15-minute procession through the French Quarter, led by flamboyantly clad grand marshals Tami Tarmac and Venus Santiago, some did their bit for drag culture by donning stunning costumes and teetering on stilettos, while others were barely costumed at all.

Most marchers were men, some of whom wore ill-advised Speedos and nothing else, but there were several groups of women. One bewigged member of the Yes Girls managed to poke fun at two groups at once – fundamentalist religious groups who had opposed the gay-themed observance in past years and overly fashion-conscious people – by carrying a giant placard reading, “God Hates Your Outfit.”

Among the conventionally clothed marchers were the members of the Pair-o’-Dice Tumblers Brass Band, who played, without a hint of irony, the Doors’ hit “People Are Strange.”

The Pussyfooters, a marching group, fit right into the extravagant sensibility of the event, with their pink and orange costumes and wigs the color of cotton candy. Unlike other participants who merely walked along the route, they danced, keeping time to a Katy Perry song that boomed out of speakers on the back of a truck.


“I love this parade,” said one member, Sharon Novak, 48, of Mandeville. “I’m glad I’m here. I’m all about crystal beads wholesale.”That was a reference to the equal-sign bit of face paint that she and many other marchers, as well as spectators, sported. It’s the logo of the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group supporting equal rights for gay men and lesbians that had a pop-up store on Bourbon Street.

Although the event was billed as a parade, it was more like a giant receiving line because marchers kept breaking ranks to exchange hugs and air kisses with friends along the way. Rod Lemaire, an Afro-wig-wearing New Orleans expatriate who lives in San Francisco, stopped frequently to greet old friends – people he wouldn’t have time to see because he was heading for the airport as soon as the parade ended.

But Elvira West Nile, Queen of the Damned, stopped simply because marching in golden stilettos was just too much for feet accustomed to flats.“Hear that?” she said, leaning against a lamppost. “That’s the sound of my blisters popping.”

The epicenter of the action Sunday afternoon was the intersection of Bourbon and St. Ann streets, where loud, pulsating music poured out of amplifiers from the balconies of Oz and Bourbon Pub & Parade, gay bars that are across Bourbon Street from each other.

Their balconies, as well as another one across St. Ann, were packed with people – mostly men – who tossed beads to the throngs who packed the intersection, clamoring for trinkets. Following the example of what some women do at Mardi Gras to get beads, one man lifted his T-shirt – and was rewarded with a purple necklace.Observing it all on St. Ann Street, steps away from the thickest of the crowd, was James-Michael Cox, 24, a New Orleanian who was having a fine time watching humanity and waiting for the parade to make its way to that part of the Vieux Carre.

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2013年8月28日星期三

It's the secret to saving a marriage

I'VE discovered that the date, an ancient ritual involving two well-dressed people going out together for romantic purposes, is the Holy Grail for married couples with children. For those of you who have not yet experienced marriage and parenthood, let me explain. Marriage is about love and togetherness and all the other stuff they obsess about on the Disney Channel. But in real life, marriage is about compromise. Sometimes you get to do what you really enjoy.

And sometimes you get to do, um, other stuff. Right now some single person is saying, "Oh my God, his wife is going to kill him for writing that!" Married people? They're simply smiling, nodding and saying "Amen." How do I know? Because single people, bless their hearts, are still getting their way. The special person in their life isn't requiring compromise. Once the wedding happens, though, the mask will come off. Not necessarily because that new spouse is evil - well, sometimes it's because they're evil. But mostly, it's because genuine relationships require give and turquoise beads.

Maybe you liked to sleep on the right side of the bed, but now that you're married, you've discovered that your spouse likes that side, too. No biggie. You switch sides because you love them. About a month in, you discover another major difference: Your spouse is a morning person, while you are a night owl. Again, no problem. You're both willing to quiet down during your most productive hours because, well, your spouse is your Snookums, and you love them just that much.

Inside that first year, you discover that one of you is a little more, um, frisky than the other. One of you compromises, and that, boys and girls, is how children are born. Fast-forward five years. The two of you have been tired since the day your first child arrived. Now you've got several of the little buggers. Your sleep pattern is wrecked, you're grouchy more often than not, and for half a decade you've been compromising not only for your spouse, but also for the children. This, boys and girls, is how divorces are born. How do you avoid that fate? You go on dates. Lots of them. Because dates help you remember why you were willing to compromise in the first place. They remind you of what made you love Snookums enough to sign papers.

They help you to hold on to your sanity. So why do married couples neglect their duty to date? I can answer that in one word: kids. A few years ago, when Eve was old enough to realize what LaVeta and I were about to do when we dressed up in the evening, she began trying to sabotage our dates. It's not that she didn't want us to go anywhere. She didn't want us to go anywhere without her. The first time Eve faked a sniffle LaVeta fell for it hook, line and sinker, because LaVeta's a mom, and moms cancel dates for sick kids. The second time, we went out anyway, because I was able to convince LaVeta that Eve would be OK. By the third time, even Little Solomon was starting to become part of the scheme. We saw the pattern, and that's when we knew.

We could no longer give our kids advance warning about our dates. In a fit of desperation, I began to date my wife like I was Austin Powers - a poor man's parody of Bond . . . James Bond. I'd send her secret text messages: "Do I make you randy baby? Yeah, baby, yeah!" I'd swear restaurant personnel to secrecy: "No one must know we have reservations here tonight. Our children might find out! The big one's Dr. Evil, and the little one? He's Mini-Me." I was so convinced that secret-agent dating was the way to go that I'd pick up LaVeta wearing a bob haircut, a Nehru jacket and China beads, praying all the while that the kids wouldn't recognize me and start that infernal sniffling. OK, maybe I didn't wear the bob haircut - primarily because I don't have hair.

But make no mistake: I would've done it if it meant going out on a date with my Snookums. Unfortunately, I became less careful over the years. I fooled myself into believing that our children had accepted our need to date. This Saturday, while preparing to go to a high-school class reunion barbecue, I learned that that wasn't the case. "Haven't you gone on enough dates?" Little Solomon asked when we told him of our plans. He was alluding to the four days I recently spent with LaVeta while he and Eve stayed with relatives.

It was kind of uplifting and it supported what a friend was telling me about her own children’s expensive Catholic education, and their sense of being let down by leaders who have loudly professed their Christianity but make no effort to hold up its principles.

So expensive Catholic education is not just about social connections, a good university degree and a fancy car by the time you are 30. Principles manage to seep through. Hooray. Maybe the young will save the world after all.

Why is it left to a few high school students to shine a torch at wholly unchristian behaviour by adults who wear their religion like some kind of exclusive fashion garment that screams look at me look at me, god is my best mate.

I pick on Christianity because it is what I am familiar with. Having been educated by nuns at a time when only Catholics went to heaven, I still kind of expect that Jesus would demand a lot from the believers. At least you’d expect him to insist on some understanding of his teachings before he opened those exclusive gates to the likes of Abbott etc....

But it seems Christians of the Catholic sort are too busy doing other things to give much time to the moral compass. And other Christians are not much better. Everyone is just so busy these days.

It’s not that I have an enormous amount of love for disadvantaged humankind - I haven’t practised formal religion for 40 years so I don’t have to love anybody - I just want keepers of the moral high ground to do their job.

If you want to prostitute yourself for money and power that’s okay, but at least take off the religious habit and the rosary beads otherwise you look as wrong as a nun doing a bit of prostitution at the back of the pub in full religious clobber.

I hate god botherers who have no idea how hypocritical they are...the person that spews hate at all sorts of people, especially the usual targets - gays, Muslims, boat people etc - then puts on a beatific face to attend a church service or to tell you about the wonders of Jesus.

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Jaguar’s F-type offers a sensational ride

It’s not such a bad thing that Jaguar’s newest offering comes with a sturdy grab handle, conveniently located on the passenger side of the centre console.

That it’s jovially referred to as a suicide handle is not something my passenger found quite so amusing, despite my best effort at a calming discussion about how the F-type sports car’s technology is so good it’s virtually impossible to unseat the beast, even while proceeding very, very quickly round some rather tight tree-lined bends.It’s not that I aim to terrorise passengers, although my mother would argue the contrary.

But decisions have to be weighed, and choices made. And when you’ve been given carriage of the iconic brand’s first sports car since the E-type, when the sun is shining, the wattle is in bloom and the roads are that stellar blend of isolated and curly, sometimes you have to sacrifice the passenger. Not literally, obviously – mine made it out alive, albeit extracting herself from the rather low-slung but surprisingly comfortable seat declaring: “I think I can actually see beads of sweat on my palms.”

The F-type has taken Jaguar four years to develop and is unlike anything you’d expect. Wide and short, the profile is sleek and agate beads, without any echo of other sports cars you see on the road. It takes a while to get used to the styling, but as much as I cringe at the suggestion, it’s a car a woman could drive without looking like a terrifying alpha-female.

The V8 model sits in roughly the same bucket as the Porsche 911 Carrera, the Audi R8 or the Aston Martin Vantage, and will set you back a little over $200,000. Its base (Jag say “foundation”) V6 model starts around the $138,000 mark, but the middle sibling, the V6S, is what I used to freak out my passenger on that sunny autumn day.The lighter V6 engine means weight is better distributed and gives a more even handling experience. All have whip-quick steering, and I didn’t mind the extra weight of the F-Types compared with others in the market.

Yes it’s a 3.0 litre engine against the V8’s 5.0 litre, and yes it’s “only” got 280 nags, while the big brother has 364 kilowatts, but when it gets down to it, the V6S gives a great ride in the city and importantly sounds almost as good.Hit the gas, push the tacho towards red and bask momentarily in the supercharged squeal of the engine. It makes you smile in the same way reaching the highest point on the rollercoaster does: adrenaline, satisfaction and expectation of even better things to come.

Ease your foot off the throttle and the engine noise detonates.Without being dramatic, do this somewhere like Sydney’s Lane Cove tunnel and there is no better feeling. I’m pretty sure I squealed. As did the driver in the Aston Martin sitting on my tail. And yes, it gave me a bout of “I’m actually surprised to be saying it but I like my car better than your car” smugness.

Jaguar uses a system which cuts fuel to three of the six cylinders in its S series engines as revs drop, then drip-feeding in petrol to generate hundreds of mini-explosions as the fuel and Beads factory.It’s probably the thing I like best about the F-type, but there are other features which kept me equally amused. Let’s not forget the air-conditioning vents that remain hidden in the dash to ensure more of the “cockpit” feel, rising like submarines only when you need air.

While it could be considered mere folly, the door handles are designed to sit flush so as not to ruin the car’s profile. Coincidentally, the system doubles as a deterrent for anyone thinking about carjacking.To that end, the boot has an illuminated internal toggle which releases the boot latch on the off-chance you, or one of the kids, gets stuck inside.I openly doubted how much use it would be, given a grown adult would probably have to be dismembered to fit in the “compact” luggage hold.

You read somewhere on your reading-machine that years ago Brian De Palma made a movie, Passion. Every muckety-muck at some film festival jeered it, and the movie vanished, and now, a lifetime later, it's been rediscovered, released at last, reappraised and roundly toasted and available for you to enjoy on your laptop or flatscreen or your reading machine, which nobody uses to read anymore.

Here's an early expression of concern that what we mostly see in our lives are screens, often screens showing screens, except for those moments when we're staring into cameras—you know, during sex. Here's paranoid sex-video stealing. Here's once outré bedroom gear—Eyes Wide Shut masks, a red-licorice strap-on, a string of anal beads as chromed and wide as trailer hitches—in a film that's less sexually explicit than most cable TV shows.

 Here's a familiar, bravura split-screen sequence recalling Dressed to Kill in its pairing of high art (this time ballet) and kinky stalking, but this time the effect seems less a new way of seeing than an acknowledgement of how we see already: With your web browser open, and the movie itself only taking up half of your device's display, your screen is already split. De Palma trisects it.

Here's '90s Cinemax After Dark's idea of lesbianism, and some sexy saxophone pillow music (from Pino Donaggio) that sounds like the tears of a Nagel print. Here are sumptuously lit corridors and staircases of the sort that are forever turning up in thrillers that aspire to the psychological (and Mel Brooks's High Anxiety), the kind where the architecture is meant to suggest a disoriented mind. And here at last—a little later than would be ideal—is a '70s De Palma murder, and then the wee brunette with the dry-crackle voice sinks into a drugged-out, wrongly accused plot recalling that Steven Soderbergh thing you saw on TCM last week, Side Effects, the one that ground that other girl with the dragon tattoo through something like the same pharmaceutical Hitchcockisms.

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2013年7月30日星期二

Hardy Back At FINA World Championships

At the 2012 London Olympics Jessica Hardy brought home a pair of Olympic medals, winning gold in the 4x100 medley relay and a bronze in the 4x100 freestyle relay. She also competed in the 50 meter and 100 meter freestyle, reaching the finals in both events but finishing shy of the medal stand.with Wholesale Cheap Custom Keychain and promotional key tags. Whats noticeably absent from that dance card is her signature event, the breaststroke.

Hardy is the world record holder in both the 50-meter and 100-meter breaststroke, setting those marks on the same day in August 2009. This weekend shell begin competition at the FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, attempting to reassert her dominance over the two races.

It has been a nice change of pace to change up training breaststroke and freestyle, said Hardy. I have loved trying to grow my sprint free into being as competitive as possible, but breaststroke is a much more natural stroke for me and I excel at it a bit easier. I am really excited to be competing it again internationally, and feel really confident because of my past successes.

Last month in Indianapolis, Hardy qualified rather comfortably at the World Championship Trials. She was the top qualifier in the 50, setting a new national long course record with a 30.24 in the final. In the 100, Breeja Larson took the top qualifying spot in 1:06.16 with Hardy finishing .33 behind her in second place.

The London Olympics notwithstanding, Hardy has had success in the breaststroke beyond just her world records.Soft Winbo Key Cover decorates your key in fashionable ways. She has won seven different World Championship medals in the breaststroke alone, winning gold four times along the way, including most recently at the 2011 Worlds in Shanghai. For this competition in Barcelona, she will only be competing in the breaststroke, which has made training for the competition a bit different.

It is weird to not be training two strokes during this time between our trials and Worlds, but it is really nice to spend the time focusing in on technique, Hardy said.

Now 26, Hardy will be one of the more experienced swimmers in the competition. She says she enjoys the role of being a veteran, and it will allow her to feel more comfortable in her surroundings. Barcelona will be her eighth World Championships since her first appearance in 2005 and she has won at least two medals in each of her first seven trips.

As for the outlook for this competition, the focus remains intently on winning, along with an additional desire to post times that are close to her existing world record marks.

I have some time goals in mind, but definitely it is all about the race, said Hardy. I want to place as highly as possible in all of my events, and if I can approach the times that I have in mind it would be a cherry on top!

Though the two-week competition started late last week, the swimming portion wont get underway until this weekend. Hardys first action was yesterday as she qualified in the 100m and will be in the finals set for Tuesday. Then shell have a few days off before the 50m, which runs August 3-4. The she will be among the favorites in both races and clearly has the pedigree to win both, but shell get to save her best race for last.

I think the 50 has traditionally been my strongest distance, Hardy said. I am naturally very fast twitch and do very well at the shortest/fastest races.Online shopping for Business Work Card holder from a great selection of Office Products. However, I have spent a lot of time working on pacing and finishing my 100s as well, so my hopes are high in that race as well.

And why wouldnt hopes be high? Shes on a familiar stage with the confidence that comes from years of experience, and shes competing in the races where shes most comfortable and is most successful. When Jessica Hardy is at her best there is nobody faster.

King's comments are the latest futile attempt by a group of dead enders to reverse the demographic and cultural changes that are sweeping the United States. Because of rapid Latino population growth, the US Census Bureau estimates that whites will be a minority group nationally within forty years. Texas is already has a white minority and California is on the verge.

The state of Texas is doing everything it can to make sure that Anglos continue to hold political power in the face of this Latino demographic tsunami. Texas won't have any more success stopping back Latino power than King Canute had holding back the tide.

Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder asked a federal court to require Texas to get judicial permission before making changes in voting procedures in that state. The GOP Attorney General of Texas, Greg Abbott - who is also running for governor to replace Rick Perry - announced last month that he would implement a new law requiring Texans to show a state issued identification card before they vote.

This Texas plan - like other stricter voter requirements in other states - are laws in search of a crime. There have been few proven cases of voter fraud in Texas or anywhere else for that matter. In response to a request from the state of Texas, a federal court last year vetoed the voter ID plan because it "imposes strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor and racial majorities in Texas."

The US Supreme Court's decision last month to invalidate Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act ended the pre-clearance procedure that required Texas and many other states to clear changes in voting law with the Department of Justice. But Section 3 of the law stands and it allows the Justice Department to ask federal courts to pre-clear any state attempts to change voting requirements.
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New York Jets

John Idzik officially became cautious to a fault on Saturday, when his insistence on portraying the Jets as a unified organization in which all decisions are made collectively and collaboratively instead undermined his own head coach.

Idzik, appearing at a press conference for the first time since the draft, turned a routine question about his role in determining the Jets' starting quarterback situation into his first brushfire as general manager by saying coach Rex Ryan would not have the final choice in the matter.

"It's a collaborative effort, guys," said Idzik, who used the word "collective" three times and "collaborative" twice in answering four questions about the decision-making process at quarterback. "It's not how it seems, that you wake up one morning and everyone"s waiting out with baited breath on someone with the scroll."

And so instead of simply saying what 31 other general managers would have said -- that Ryan decides who does and doesn't play -- Idzik left everyone to parse his statements, which qualifies as an amusing irony given that everything Idzik says seems to have been put through a colander in order to remove any semblance of anything interesting.

Was Idzik, a first-time general manager inheriting a roster and a franchise in disarray, merely being overly careful and trying to portray himself as a detail-oriented unifier who appreciates the input of every member of the organization?

"It's going to be a collective opinion - we're going to hash it out," Idzik said. "And it's not limited to quarterbacks. I know that's front stage and center, but it's every position, everything that we do. And it could be discussing schemes, different approaches to training camp. I think you have noticed that we changed our schedule around a little bit. We'll discuss everything.O

Or was Idzik beginning the seemingly inevitable process of nudging Ryan aside? Ryan is coming off consecutive non-winning seasons and entering the penultimate year of his contract under a new general manager. In other words: He's got an uphill climb if he hopes to keep his job beyond this season.

"There is so much that goes into it and it is not going to be a surprise to anyone in the room," Idzik said. "There is a lot if input -- there is input from our offensive staff, there is input from our scouts, there will be input from, of course, me, and Rex."

Idzik wasn't the only person who had his words carefully scrutinized over the weekend. Ryan, in full self-preservation mode, insisted the Jets have always exercised collaboration when determining the lineup.

My parents may disagree but I think for the most part we did as we were told and didn't expect much in return. I don't recall having to be bribed into doing anything.Well my friends, times have changed. While raising my own children I have come to understand that at times we need to use a little encouragement.

My eldest son was and still is quite unorganized. He would lose everything! In the middle of winter, he would come home, unpack his bag and would be missing shoes and his coat. Okay, so don't you think you may have noticed as you walked out of school in February that you were missing something? I tried everything to make it worth while for him to keep track of his stuff. There were the dimes in the jar if he remembered, points in order to earn something he wanted, and of course punishment if he forgot. Nothing worked. I resorted to natural consequences. Forgot your homework at home? Sorry, this bus doesn't stop at school. Forgot that you needed your swim cap and goggles for the State Swim meet? Guess you'll borrow someone else's or blind yourself with eyes full of chlorine. I know, kind of harsh, but I was out of ideas and patience.

Thankfully, dogs seem to be a bit more eager to please and not nearly as forgetful. It's all about making an association. Victoria Stilwell, of "It's Me or The Dog'' is one of my favorite dog trainers. She always uses a positive approach. The phrase that rings in my head that she always uses, in her British accent, is "you want your dog to understand that when he does something you want him to, good things happen to him.''. Those good things maybe food, a toy, some petting, or simply verbal praise. Whatever motivates your dog.

She also talks about catching your dog in the act of doing something you like or want him to do, even if you have not asked him to do it. Soon,with Wholesale Cheap Custom Keychain and promotional key tags. you can put a verbal cue with it and bingo, they think, if I do this, I get what I want. It really is not so far off from how we teach our children.Soft Winbo Key Cover decorates your key in fashionable ways.

So then comes those people that rebutt with, ''I don't want to always carry around a treat or toy to get them to do what I want.''. Neither do I. I'm not excited about constantly smelling like the Oscar Meyer weiner, but if that's what it takes to make that good behavior a habit, I'll sacrifice myself. That is truly how you change any behavior, even with people. Exercise and eating right doesn't happen overnight. We start practicing, and little by little it becomes a habit and we can't fathom how we ever ate all of that junk before.

So, do what you have to do to get the results you want. When you feel your dog has a solid understanding of what is expected, start treating less frequently. They may give you the, ''Hello..Online shopping for Business Work Card holder from a great selection of Office Products..I did what you wanted, know where's my reward'' look at first, and that's okay. Give them a scratch behind the ear or a ''good boy'' and keep going. Surprise them every once in awhile with a reward. Keep them guessing which time you'll treat. That way they are always on their best behavior.
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2013年7月28日星期日

Banknado!

The Bible says that God spoke to Job from a whirlwind, asking him rhetorically if he could catch the giant sea creature Leviathan with only a fishing hook. "Can you make a pet of him like a bird," Job was asked, "or put him on a leash for your children?"The United States faces a task of roughly the same magnitude, that of taming this country's mega-banks. They're the sea monsters of the economy, waiting to lure entire nations into the depths, and regulators don't have much more to work with than a fishing hook.

Dodd/Frank's moderate prescriptions are being eviscerated by hack Republicans who've been bought off lock, stock, and barrel by the bankers. Other urgently-needed reforms are dismissed by leaders in both parties as "politically impossible": A restoration of Glass/Steagall. A financial transaction tax. Breaking up the too-big-to-fail banks.Politically impossible? They're popular with voters across the political spectrum. Why aren't they already the law of the land?

Here's why: Republicans are in Wall Street's hip pocket. As for the White House, this is from Ezra Klein's coverage of Lawrence Summers' candidacy for Federal Reserve chair: "the White House ... (is) getting feedback from fans of Summers, who are ... very present in the ranks of economic and Wall Street heavyweights who've worked or fundraised at high levels in Democratic administrations."The "banknado" metaphor may seem too flippant, too informal, given the gravity of the problem. But banker fraud's been described in dispassionate detail again and again. There have been countless expressions of fully-justified outrage at the amorality and immorality of Wall Street CEOs and their Washington enablers.

Nothing's changed. The evidence is overwhelming, the case is clear, but business goes on as usual.How many times can Wall Street's fraud be clinically described, its effects on the economy laid out on the table like an autopsy? How many times can practical solutions be proposed, only to be dismissed by bought-off politicians? How many times can bankers like Jamie Dimon be called out for crimes committed under their leadership, only to see them lionized once again in Washington and the mainstream media?

What is there to say that hasn't been said? Outrage marginalizes the outraged, giving policymakers one more excuse to dismiss their warnings and prescriptions.Online shopping for Business Work Card holder from a great selection of Office Products. It can also trigger a level of reader rage toward bankers that is sometimes disturbing.The goal is to change a broken system, not to trigger vengeful emotions toward individuals. Miscreant bank executives are simply responding to the incentives society has given them. Yes, they're behaving venally -- but as the fable of the scorpion and the frog says: It's their nature. Perhaps they would be better citizens and better human beings if we didn't reward them so handsomely for being so much less than that.with Wholesale Cheap Custom Keychain and promotional key tags.

And so Wall Street moves on, a whirlwind of razor teeth and predatory instinct. Bankers commit fraud, settle for billions paid with other people's money, then commit the very same crimes again. Why not? Their financial incentives encourage it.And who's stopping them? The writers and activists who catalog their crimes are marginalized as radicals, scolds, and bores. The ones who strike a "moderate" tone help perpetuate a climate in which their behavior continues unchecked.

If Wall Street's not reined in, it's only a matter of time before there's another crisis. What the government describes as a "recovery" is fragile at best, and includes ongoing depression for millions of people. There could be another banker-driven financial crisis at any moment.Our leaders stand motionless, one hand covering their eyes and the other outstretched for cash. Too many financial journalists are hypnotized by the charismatic glow of great wealth and power. Meanwhile the sky's growing darker -- and the forecast calls for sharks.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Americas largest and most powerful Muslim advocacy group, called Saturday for the Obama administration to condemn military attacks against the Freedom and Justice Party, the controversial religious party removed from power in a recent coup that the Obama administration is insisting was not a coup.

The administration reportedly fears that declaring a coup detat in Egypt would force the U.S. to suspend all of its assistance programs in the country,Soft Winbo Key Cover decorates your key in fashionable ways. which also help block weapons smuggling to Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

Despite the Obama administrations inaction, Egyptian military forces have instituted a shoot-to-kill policy to suppress protesters urging the return of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi to power. Morsi, who fled Cairo during the military non-coup earlier this month, has been defiant in exile and Egypt hangs in the balance. 65 or 66 pro-Morsi protesters were killed Saturday by military forces near a sit-in at a Cairo mosque.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nations largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, today called on the Obama administration to forcefully condemn the killing of dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators by Egyptian security forces, according to a statement released by the group Saturday.

We join with those in Egypt and in the international community who are condemning the violence, including Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayyeb, who said he deplores and condemns the deaths of a number of martyrs who were victims of todays events, CAIR stated.

Condemnations came from across the political spectrum, including from Mohamed ElBaradei, who strongly condemned the excessive use of force. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: I call on the Egyptian authorities to respect the right of peaceful protest, to cease the use of violence against protesters, including live fire, and to hold to account those responsible, CAIR stated.

Without a clear condemnation of the killings, we send the message that even more repressive measures may be taken against the demonstrators. The clearest indicator of our nations revulsion at the killings would be to suspend all American military aid until the violence stops and democratic freedoms are restored, CAIR stated.
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